Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 22, Number 105, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 September 1901 — Factory Investigating Committee’s Report. [ARTICLE]

Factory Investigating Committee’s Report.

At the Commercial Club meeting Wednesday evening, the committee appointed to investigate the Chicago factory proposition, made the following report: Your committee appointed to go to Chioago to investigate the factory under consideration beg leave to submit the following report. We arrived at the factory of the above named firm about nine o’clock, we found the senior partner in the decorating room hard ,at work making his hand with rest of their men, be filling the place of a laborer who did not show up for work that morning. His partner was in the office attending to the business of the office. We found the factory to consist of a brick building solidly built* 50 by 120 feet, two stories high with a basement; The basement is used for engine and boiler room and general storage room for their dry lumber, which seemed to be well filled. The next room or ground floor was occupied as a work room also storage room for their finished product. The second floor from the ground, is also occupied as work and storage room for finished work. In these two rooms are situated the most of the machinery, which consists of a planer, saws of all kinds, emory wheels and other machinery for polishing and finishing up work. Their machinery seemed to be all in good condition, and to run smoothly and nice, so that hardly a jar was perceptible. We found a large amount of stock or work in different stages of .completion some ready to ship, even packed, some ready to pack, some ready for the decorators and all down along the line to the raw material. All this taking large space of room, and from twenty to thirty-five men at work, makes them very badly crowded. We found twenty men at work when we were there, they stated that their power was not sufficient ( to run the enlarged plant they would build here, therefore would have to buy entirely new boiler and engine their other machinery they would bring with them, and add suoh new machinery as they would need for their enlarged plant. Their financial standing as shown by Bradstreet and Dunns agenoies, is as follows, from ten to twenty thousand dollars with fairly good credit, this we looked up ourselves. The yearly out-put of their plant is $60,000 which they say with ample room and increased facilities oan be increased to double this amount. Their present pay roll is from S4OO to $475 per week. They seemed to be clever and industrious men, who mean business, and do their business in a straight, honorable and upright manner, and your committee are of the opinion that the city would do well to make all reasonable efforts in their power to secure this factory. Respectfully Submitted, o’ ONowels I CommiltM -