Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE ADVERTISER EDGEFIKLD, S- C., WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 1901. U ru ji Tin? nn 1) Her One Bool More than a Million Dollars Invested in a Great Enterprise-One Plant Operating More than 100,000 Spindles -The Opportunities Ottered Unskilled and Un trained Help. KOST MODERN AND ?P-TC-DiTE MILL PLANT IN THE C30NTR?. Every Convenience nnd Comfort Ottered Mill Help-A Happy 2nd Contented Family. \ Thc climax of cotton m!!! development In this State for the century just closed vas reached in the Olympia Cotton Mill. It stands out conspicuously as the highest type of mill construction in this country, and is pronounced by competent mill peo ple to be the mos: complote, up-to-date and promising cotton manufacturing plant in the country, it repres . type of Whaley mills, all of which ar-:- successful. It is without doubt tho largest cot.. . mill under a ?ingle roof in the entire South ern States, and competent ju.lg< s announce that it is the mos: complete mill plant in this country, and no nation is ahead of this country in the cotton mil! business. People hear an.l know that the Olympia Mil] Is the larges: in the South, but they may not know, mr do they think, of what combinations go :o make this magnificent structure what it is. Think of a single cotton ml!! consuming 15.000 bales of cotton. lt wiil employ, when all machinery ls in stalled and in operation, more tuan 1,200 able-bodkd operatives. I ' 7*' ? : '. . with antlfl lt has x\i homes f,r It is on AN* AVENUE OP On jt h"?3 th;-? most modern and improved] machines'* anJ' wi;:' tne ,,cw anc" !|;'"'''"; date roaefc??' ry. operatives can readily I earn m o rf- 'h-y would in old plants lated equipment, bes: class and most up-to-date operatives. direct line of the Columbia Electric Stn fit Railway, and within a few I minutes' ridi pf the heart of thc city. ? lt is near pough to the city :o give all | the advantag^^nd Pleasures of the city of Columbia. It will build a 820.0^0 schoo! building f ?r the children of its operatives and support, thc school of its own accord and out of Its! own fund?. j It offers the best s-hoo! and church op- \ poriuni:!'(S to its help. It is a mi!". operaUd. own??! and man aged by South Carolinians, w,o have the ?ame sentiments, purposes and feelings as, those who do the work. I- ha-* lavish-d money in instan** the mos: thorough sanitary arrangcmc.ts m the mid a nd its villas . j It employs a rn;H physician, whose ,r. | vices are at tho call of employees Withe*, cost. , , I The wages ire full and ti.- piece work as al! other ciasses p mil better ineorn.-s than usual, because of the improved f?cil ?tics and new machinery. The pinn: I* operated throughout v.i-.h j electricity. The expectation is to soon offer . lectric lights to al] of the operativos for ^ their homos. j The pictures indicate tho mat and at I tractive homes that aro provided for the ! help. ABOUT THE MILL BUILDING. Something of thc giant mill it^oif: Tho mill building of th? Olympia Mill is 533 ! fee: 2 inches lot:g and 151 feet 2 inches j wide, and contains iv.iir doors and a base ment, each story hoing IS feet hifth. There are two toweiTabout -4 by 22 feet and 139 feet 6 inches high, containing the stairways and the tanks for the sprinkler system. Adjoining tho roar wall of the mill at tho middle is a machino shop and in the roar of this is the engine and boiler rooms. The encino room !>. ins: 120 by CO feet, and the ! boiler house HO by l" feet in pinn. In the ! rear of the lat.or is the building for the ? mechanical draft pian:. The first ?loor of th^ building is devoted to op'nlng bales nnd weaving; the second floor to weaving. .??ashing, spooling and warping; !h.^ third to carding, drawing and lapping, and thc NATIVES' HOMES. fourth floor to spinning. Communication between tho floors is also afforded by two Otis electric elevators driven by alt crnat Ing-current motors. The mill will operate 104.000 spindles and thc latest Draper looms have been pur into tho mill. Tho total number of looms to i?e operated will be 2.400 40-inch looms. The electric equipment at the mill com pos< s everything that has been construct ed by electrical or mill engineers. It is by odds the mos: thorough that has yet boon und- rtaken. By using electricity the cost of the miil buildings was reduced by io per c< nt on account of the absence "f heavy transverse wails through the mill; necessary for tl.o head shafts ai the ivltuay. wish the belt and shafting system; Sixty-one per com at th? shafting <- ,.-; was saved by the use of olectricty. Throe-inch s!iaf:i:ig is the largest in the building. Sixty-six p r cent of the cost of the belts and ropes was suv. 1 with tho . l< --:ri< al systi tn. Til.- sav ing due to these three Items was stilHcient, :: i- ??aid, ;o more than pay for the cost of the electrical equipment .>!' th- mn;. Part of t)ii- electrical generating plan: is used'-to light tho town an.I also to run a irre< ' railway. Tit- maximum power rc .dred by tho mill is abju; J.?-w-horsc ?Pver: 'v"^??;-i-: :-.sM-.-r >.**.-."**'..?;-? ...... ..;>v* ? ' ' ' : . ; TI ir Tho generating plant consists of three McIntosh & Seymour engines, ? ach of a normal rating cf 1,600-horsc power, capable of developing a maximum of 2.000-horse power, directly connected to alternating current generators. The engines aro of thc vertical cross compound condensing type, with cylinders 2'i and 4< inches in diameter, and a stroke of 42 Inches. The cylinders aro steam jacketed, and a reheating receiver is placed between them. PLENTY OF PURR WATER. Thc wat^r supply for the mill come:? j from a spring-fed reservoir of some >*??..--? gallons' capacity, which also supplies the mill village with it-= drinking water. The mill is heated l?y two 14-foot eloetri caily driven Stnrtevant ians, blowing air through horizontal ducts along the front and rear walis of thc mil!, ns shown in the half plan and section of the mill build ing. Thc mill architecture is Imposing and ihe structure is beautiful. Considerable : money was expended in beautifying lh? i building and . very possible convenience is provided in and around iii- mil. The closets and wash rooms are finished in marble and mosaics, and elevators are at hand for tho operatives. A 5.000-pound Schane bell is in one of the towers and with beautiful lone strikes the horns, and tn lh< second lower there ls a standard time clock. The officers of the mill company are; President, W. ll. Smith Whitley. 1 Vice president. W. A. Clark. General manager, J. S. Moore. Secretary and treasurer, \\". Iii Hose. Superintcmlcnt, F. S. Barnes. A SUBJECT <'K PRIDE. The mill was constructed on the plans ot W. li. Smith Whaley ? Co. the must successful mill engineers In Hie South. This ?inn has Lit its deep imprint on Hie industrial development ut* th. South, .i?:.i especially in South ?"*:iroi?i?;i. In'a recent artie!.. it was stated that: "The record of td firm K that o? ri39,C7ti spindles, ll,.*'>*. looms and t$M*>,<M capital in n working j period of s< ven years, unapproacin ? by any mill engineering llrm in thc South, and should bi a subject o? pride to Sont ii Carolina and io Columbia, as well as lo the members of the linn." Wh. n we consider that In ISSO the entire Statt: of South Carolina contained only 2'i cotton mills with IS1.T43 spindles, Kt.ih looms and $I.OS4.00? capital, against this aggregate for one young South Carolina finn of 5CD.076 spindles, 14,StiO looma and :<.???? ? ? Wk HB OLYMPIA COTTON* MILL, COLUMBIA, S SS.SOCi.000 capital, thc extent of its con structive achievements may bo better realised. THE GENIUS OF VT. B. SMITH WHALE Y. In Columbia alone it. has planted 197,0( i spindles and 4.S40 looms, or mort- than ;!:. whole State had twenty years ago, an I the capita! employed in these mill---j::, i'". OOO-ls only lo?.* than that remiire?? f >r tho smaller number of lo? .tis and spin il? - in I iso. because <>( the greater economy | possible now in building thc best mills. | lt is proper **?-*add that Mr VVhnley isl the president nf .?ll but the smallest o'.'J those four Columbia mills which he has planned, and which, with lfil,?4? spindles, 4.020 looms anti $3,000.000 capital, r< presents j the largest cotton manufacturing invest-1 mont in tho South an<! one of tho larges: I in tho United Sta tos. An example of his far-sightedness nni? quick business perception ?nay be noted j in connection with the electrical limalla-1 lion cf the Olympia Mills. As soon as tis ! electrical transmission of power ?ia ! been definitely determined upon for that mi?l | an?l irs location determined, he a; ono.-1 purchased the existing electric car linos of tho lily, also tho electrical lighting business, and will furnish th-' power and current from thc Olympia; also provide electricity for the other mills. The re sultant economics will not only he factors ip the nor earnings of thc raliway and I lighting systems, but will also add an I appreciable not Income io credit ol' thc! mill. OLYMPIA'S GREATNESS ACKNOWL EDGED. Last Ap:-:!, when th- great Olympia Mill was started np. it was examined by a number of iii,, lending cot ton mill pffioers in thc country, mon who load in ll.tton Industrial movement. Ol.f these was ("api Manning, of the Amoskosig Company, who said: '"Tho Olympia was :h<- lines! ! structure of th" son ho had nvr seen. He was glad thc olympia was not a com petitor of tile Ainoskeag Company." .\?r Richardson, of Massachusetts, said that the Olympia Mill wa?, in lils opinion, tho finest cotton mill ?ti th- world- the finest in architecture ...!:'! equipment -and ho said tills with a lull realization of what lie was saying, ns he was connected with j New England mills. j Not long ago Mr I-f. E.. C. Rryanl made a trip through the mill territory j and made disinterested and impartial In- I qulrics and wrote .? serios of articles on | the result of his Inquiries in the var.ons mills In this State and North Carolina, | ONE OP THE OLYMPIA HOMES. ? . '&!???s?m .. . . -, S^SH ???? ^?^M^^^m . c. here is n:i Interesting summary ono of his letters: passing through a mill s>-trlern *omc weeks ago I stopped at tho home i in id il I -aged man who had five ohil<l .'. ?rk.'ng in tho mill, Ho lives in .1 t rnr.m. ttro-story house. I mot him sc disianct from his house; I said: 'i w to see how you people live. I would 1 ! ? go In some home where several chltd live;" He started in a jiffy and said ho walked: ..'orno and go in my hoi ? have five children, but ?hoy arc In mill.' Kai- ring the house from the r wo wen! through the dining mom inti bcd room, and thon Into the parier. 'I . .!<l gentleman was proud of the par! He threw back the window curtains II po in toil io tho largo pictures on tin? wt They were paintings from photographs his children. Tho Moor of tho room v carpeted and In ono corner was an org From kitchen to garret thc house v clean. When mino host had soen mo tho door he said: 'I farmed on rented la before j rame hore, but I could not (< my family there now. I like the 1 hore. I like my employers. They tr< t;s wi ll if we behave in Uko manner ward them. If wc misbehave they ti us out nnd get others in our stead. Wit I no. . il hero tho superintendent warn mo against drinking. He said that would have none but sober help, nu ant what li- said, for I have not so a drunken man on tho hill since I cai Itero two years ano. .My children are good health and seem satisfied. Wc a all contented. Ail of us belong to t Church and attend rcgulnrly.' "l wont from house to house and hen the same story. I nd coil, there is no pru lom al liie bes! milis between capital a labor, for the mill owners and operativ dwell ia harmony. Tho various religious denominations the mill sections are doing a great deal f ibo factory clement In tho South; Preac?< rall on tito operatives nnd their famill at ihoir Immrs. Churches aro built ai preach int' ano Sunday-school conducted nearly . very mill. Within the Inst ii yours In tito South much has been du for tho netti rae m of tho condition of i cotton mill help. Tho work ls till gol; oil. ">."o one who knows tho facts, as ni ono can learn by going to thu mills, ci . i'.u'.'L thai tile people who work in ll cot mi mills of Ihr S-oitii are far hotter i In every way than ever before. '"Sue!; aro i h..- conditions lu ail tho Car lina mills." Mr E. Ct. Dunne!!, an experienced new ~r "Li "*.'..??> ......r.;.-.V?".'.?i? C?3 W?m paper man on tho editorial staff of tho New York Time.?, visited thc South and made n careful study of the rai!l situation, and in one of his letters recently to his papel this Now York writer liad this to say. a mons other things: "While the owners and stockholders are making money they are conferring per manent blessings upon the people. As in oilier towns where new mills have de manded increasing numbers of operatives shops have .-tarre.l to supply the needs of operatives or those who were employed in new Industries called forth because of thc coming of a laboring population. Stores iiave lu i ii obliged to carry large and more varied stocks. There is more travelling by rai!, lt i?- a matt, r o? daily occurrence that among the pass, wirer* who overcrowd the trains of the Southern Railway there nr.- Inquirers arriving at various points to look over thc lund with the view of set tling, either as persons already concerned In cotton manufacturing or hoping to be, or tradesmen sei king a new market. "The country is beautiful, li ls charm ing to the ey.-: it is naturally healthful; and in the towns will be more healthful with a little criticism and sanitation. The summers are long and the winters brief and unusually mild. HOME OFFERED I "Bul it ls not alone In th.ming of the" trolley, the expansion of thc ??hops, the pavinu of streets ia towns, the sanitation of ali places <.:' larne population, tile sen sation ..f earning money with a regularity and certainty n< vcr !>. fore enjoyed in the section, that occasion for rejoicing I-' found In South Carolina. Al ten I ion wasj directed by a thoughtful and observant citizen to a sociological phase of the In dustrial development thal i* most salis-, factory, and thai i: seems a pity could not! lu- extended in .-.aie way to the State of Kenluck5. "When Columbia hogan to build mills, and th.- op. ration of the mills had made a perceptible drain upon the mosi conven ient ami wlliing class of po|Ml?atlon that was tin.-.! to work ia Hie mills, thai drain was fell a ll; tl.- at points more or less remote from Columbia. Men and v.o. men who hoi yearned ?e.- ?'?'port unit y to get money without digging ur hoeing for it moved from the foothills Into town, first into places vacated by th- people who moved earliest, and afterward, as the mills bega ii li? rise nearer lo the hills, into the manufactories < Isewhere. EFFECT OF PROSPERITY. i "M?sl ol these people wer.- of thc real hardy mountaineer sort, with Hie same soft, .lein? rate courteous address that is characteristic of all thc mountaineers in thu Virginias, the Carolinas. Tennessee or K-ntueky. They brough! with I hem stal wart frames, simple appetites and IK no ra nee <<f letters. Bul lliey were no: al together at faull for that. They hid not been treated as wards nf the State. There was a moving down frotn the mountain districts into a region where there were schools and stores and > burches >.:' a proud but eu mest and ambitious multi tildo that had gotten along without these things simply because all their neighbors had done likewise for years. Hut the pride tim: had boen satisliecl in tho moun tains and back cain:ry made them ambi tious tn keep un with ti:.- order of things in tho region to which they had migrated. Th" children most be clot Iud like other children: the wife mast not be compelled to live in a sun burnie:. SCHOOLS FOR A LI* "Tho public sca i ds were at once patron ized hy children who might have devel oped ?ike their parents it" it ?tad not been for the building >.!' new cotton mills. New needs il rn.m.! d money ;.? gratify them. The sun civilization was rising. "I . many respects this is the very best result of tin- industrial awakening In South Carolina. Tho mil! towns are bound to become o rirr.-s .-f intelligence, taste, dc vo! ?ping app ri'.- foi ncsessary -"ind luxu rious surroundings, an I. with the passing years .ind thc accumulation of means, groups of the owned homes of th . ida who carno to the towns p- nnlless and Igno rant, and have b en by industry and thrift converted Into law-abiding, temperate, In ri : end? ru nnd self-respecting Americans." All that. . lr Dunne!] has to say is correct, but mon- s i here, as the mill owners real ize that the bes: help is that which is best paid and given the greatest of homo com forts, and that ls the purpose of the Olym pia's managem. nt. WORK ALL THE YEAR ROUND. Operatives in the South can and do work all thc y ar round if they wish to and i: is no: here as it is up in the N'.-w England S: ues, that the cold weather inu-rferes with work for s. v. ra! months in each year. THE BEST OF OFFICERS. Th* f ympia Cotton Mill has collected all th? o.-st ?Mines that aro !<> bc had. It has the finest mill building, the tines: ma chinery, the ia;-st looms, spindles an.l ur!:, r machinery, but the policy of the mi'.l has b . ti and ls to put th* most cxpe rienc rd men at riv head of the various de partments. President W. 1!. Smith Whaley knows the mill business from tha ground fio ir up. Ii" worked his way from the bot tom to the topmost rung of the ladder, and General Manager J. S. Moore ha* !).-. n Drought up in the mill business, and knows its every detail, and so on down tho line, and that is why its management is anxious to secure unskilled help and train the workers with the ski?ed and compe te:'- h lp now used. It is a matter of hut a*short time-a very short time-before th.? new help can and does earn as much as any in the inti'.?. At Olympia there will ba room fur all. THE BEST PEOPLE AT WORK. There aro to-day thousands of the best p, ?plo in South Carolina who are working In rile mills, and who are delighted that they chango. Families who had boen nu re toilers and eked out an existence aro to-day iiving comfortably in mill communi ties: their children have the bes: of school facilities; they,have the bes: of church op portunities, and when pay-day comos around they and rhoir working fam?y re ceive ri:, ir pay and can and .lo put asido money. Families who worked under tho Hen system and were constantly in d' br, and that debt growing mo..ta by month and year by year, finally abandoned farm ing and the deb: basis, and wen: into tho milla with their grown children and soon enjoyed c mfortable and regular Incomes. lt is the eon-:.m: aim of such corpora tions as the Olympia to hive competen: and happy help, and to have a healthy and satisfied community, and to that end ev erything possible has bern, and is being, done for the health and pleasure of tho operatives. There ls no healthier community than tai: at the Olympia Mill. The company has an exceptional sewerage and drainage system: ail garbage is carrel away by tho garbage carts owned by the mill. The company has employed a competen:, well known physician, whose business and JLYMPLVS M ELT. pli isure ir is :?? nd to every medical want of th.- operatives at the expense of the mill company. Tie- management ls d?sirions of having the very h. st c! ?ss of op? rntiv s to live in their village and : ? w ok ia the mill. As the mill is just starting up this enormous pian:, the company will re?iuire several hundred families t . give It th-- full num il p of operatives; The mit!, therefore, is offering ; ? receive "green" help and to teach them :>> w irk in the facror.v. Anyone desiring :> investigate with a view of accepting rai- offer, can ge: ail the information, such .is regards : > wage.? ,?f the different ki" I : of work. etc. by writ ing :.> :a>- superintend..-ni of the Olympia Miiis. -fairy of the mill officials, at Colum bia. S. ?*. ?'???limbla offers a great ma ny advantages :o people moving Into the city. Irs Uno churches an.l line schools .??ve to those persons living In Columbia advantages not possessed by a g.-i?d ?nany other localities; The mills are all loo.ip'd on the street ear ?ino, ru ikinc ?hi ni very accessible to any part of t.?! y. A go ul many families In the past have moved rn from :he:r farms work in the factories here. They nt to !>.? perfectly satisfied and in matty iiistaneis have bet tered ;i?. ir condition considerably; The mill >'td.dals will be glad :.> commu nie.!; wirb any parties desiring t.?ruo to the mills :?>: the pina.f working in iliein. arid ar.- - itisli.-d that ihe opportuni ties are sticli as : . satisfy them. The story of the Olympia Cotton MK! is .?.:>' Intense In! rest to every Carolininn. and when ono thinks ir ?il be rea liz d how very intimately the cotton miiis of .he Smt< an n.-^oiated with the industrial development ot thc State.