Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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||p p The Watchman and S?uthron^l% fmi , SUMTER, S. C., WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 2, 1901. ~ tfeaa ? 3fil?ion Dollars Invested 'a . ?ieat Enterprise-Cae J^^^^?^tin?::3B[<H?' than . _^p^000\ Spwdles -The '?^^o??Rpor?????t?e? Offered >' iUnsJdl?ed andXrn . trained Help? Convenience "and Comfort Iggisred Iffi?l Help-A Happy and Contented Family* ^fee-.clrmax pf' cotton .'mill' development ^G^jSt?te'. for the -Century .just .closed f??^ichedin the;.OIymp2a/Cotix>hMi^ It ^^^ont conspicuously as the highest tee^rj?ctt? construction in this country, feay^?ronounced: by competent; m?l peo aV^bst complete? up-to-date and %amffing: ? cotton manufacturing plant in S^BOTontry. It" represents the type of ?D pf- which are successful, ^^^wi?iout- douW the largest ; cotton g&?^ ,a ;aa^exoof-in the entire Sbuth ga?jSj??Se^ and competent judges;announce ^?le most complete mni plant in to|countryi-^and no nation-.is ahead <k ?sico?stss'-?a the "cotton m?l.business. heai" and jmow that the Olympia te^-the largest, in-the' South,-"but;, they la^bt 'know;' nor do they think, of what rraabina tions go to make this magnificent Lructure what ?t is.' 33?i?3r of a single ?'colton mill consuming j?jMlSb&es cf cotton. ' . i: employ, when all (machinery is iru f||g^izboperation, more than, 1,200 If.operatives.^ AN AVENUE OF OPI ?p, ;3? has the most modern and improved j ?^t'chinery and, with the new and up-to-j machinery, operatives can readily *?earamore than they would in old plants ?With antiquated equipment. |?:"?It nus the- 'best class and most up-to-date i?S"tor'irs operatives. ?. It is on the direct line-of the Columbia ^Electric Street Railway, and within a few ^^ainutes' ride of the heart of the city. . - It is near enough to the- city to give all rv^t??- advantages and pleasures of the city ^<sf. Columbia. Sit will buiid a $20,000 school building for ?Jlj?ife"..children of its operatives and support, ^I'tie. scnool cf its own accord and out of its 1 ||ptfwrfc funds. ggf' It offers the best school and church op ipipwtuniti?s to its help. lt is a mill operated, owned and man ? : aged *by South Carolinians, who have the |rV same sentiments, purposes and feelings as ir ' . those who do the work. % li has lavished money in installing the 5. most thorough sanitary arrangements in the mill and its village. It employs a mill physician, whose ser? vices are at the call of employees without [cost - . i The wages are full and the piece work as other classes permit better incomes usual, -because of the improved facil and new machinery I The plant is operated throughout with] electricity. The expectation is to soon offer j electric lights to all of the operatives for their, homes. The pictures indicate the neat%.and atf tractive homes that are provided, for -the help. , ABOUT THE MILL BUILDING. . Something of the giant min itself: The,] mill building of the Olympia : Mill is . S3 feet 2 inches long and-151 feet 2. inches wide, and contains four floor s and- a base? ment, .each story being IS -feet high. There are two; towers about 24 hy 22 feet and -139 feet 6 inches high, containing-the j stairways and the tanks for the, sprinkler j system. Adjoining, the rear wall of the mill at the ? ? middle is a machine shop and-in the rear I of this is the engine and -boiler rooms. The j ! engine room being 120 'by 50 feet, and the ) boiler house 140 by 40 feet in. plan.. In the rear of. the latter is the building for the mechanical draft plant. The first: floor of the building is devoted to opening bales and weaving; the second floor to weaving, slashing, spooling and waxpingr the' third to carding, drawing and lapping, and the ?RATrVES* HOMES, fourth floor to spinning. Communication between the floors is also afforded by two Otis" electric elevators driven by alternat? ing-current motors. The mill will operate 104,000 spindles and the latest Draper looms have "been put into the mill. The total number of looms to ba operated wm be 2,400 40-inch loomsf The electric equipment at the mill com- ' poses every thing ? that has been construct? ed by electrical or mill engineers. It is hy odds the most thorough that has yet been undertaken. By using electricity the cost of the mill "buildings was -reduced, by IO per cent on account of the absence of heavy transverse walls through the mill, necessary for the head shafts at the beltway, with the belt and shafting system. Sixty-one per cent of the shafting cost was saved by the use of electricly. Three-inch shafting is the largest in the building. Sixty-six per cent of the cost of the belts and ropes * was saved with the electrical system. The sav? ing due to these three items was sufficient, it is said, to more than pay for the cost of the electrical equipment of the mill. Part of the electrical generating plant is used to light the town and also to run a street railway. The maximum power re? quired by the mill is about 3,600-horse power: THI The generating plant consists of three McIntosh & Seymour engines, each of a normal rating of 1,600-borse power, capable of developing a maximum of 2,000-horse power, directly connected to alternaiing -current generators. The engines are of the vertical cross compound condensing type, with cylinders 20 and 48 inches in diameter, and a stroke of 42 inches. The cylinders are steam jacketed,' and a reheating receiver is placed between them. . PLENTY OF PURE WATER. The water supply for the mill comes -from a spring-fed reservoir of some 800,000 gallons* capacity, which also supplies the mill village with its drinking water. The mill is heated by two 14-foot electri? cally driven Sturtevant fans, blowing^ ah> .through horizontal ducts along the front and rear walls of the mill, as shown in the half plan and section of the mill-huild ing. . The mill architecture is imposing and the structure is beautiful. Considerable money was expended in beautifying the building, and every possible convenience is provided in and around the mil. The closets and wash rooms are finished in marble and mosaics, and elevators are at hand for the operatives. A 5,000-pound Schane bell is in one bf-the towers and with beautiful tone strikes' the hours, and in the second tower there is a standard time clock. The .officers of the mill company are: President, W. E. Smith Whaley. Vice -president. W. A. Clark. General manager, J- S. Moore. Secretary and treasurer, W. H. Rose. Superintendent, F. S. Barnes. A SUBJECT" OF PRIDE. The mill was constructed on the plans of W. JB. Smith Whaley & Co, the most successful mill engineers in the South. This firm has left its deep imprint on the industrial development of the Southland especially in South Carolina. In a recent article it was stated that: "The record of the firm is that of 530,676 spindles, 14,560 looms and $8,500,000 capital in a working period pf seven years, unapproached by any mill engineering firm in the South, and should be a subject of pride to South Carolina and to Columbia, as well as to the members of the firm." When we consider thar in 1S80 the entire State of South Carolina contained only 26 cotton mills, with 181,743 spindles, 13,418 looms and $4,084,000 capital, against this aggregate for one young South Carolina I firnTof 539,676 spindles, 14,560 looms and j S OLYMPIA COTTON MILL COLUMBIA, $8,50G,000 - capital, the; extent of its con? structive' achievements' may be better realized. \ THE GENIUS OP W. B. SMITH :"~ :>' T7KALEY. Ii Columbia alone it has planted 197,000 spindles and 4,840 looms,: or more than the whole* State\bad twenty-years ago, and the capital employed in these mills-$3,100, 000~is. -only 'less : than . : that required for the smaller humber of "looms and spindles I in 1880, because, of the greater economy possible-no w in building the best mills. It is. proper to add that Mr JWhaley- is the president of all but the smallest of j these four Columbia .mills which he "has j planned,, and which,.with 191,000 spindles, I 4,620 looms 'and $3,000,000 capital, represents i the largest cotton manufacturing invest ' ment in the South and one of the largest ! in the United States. ! An example of his far-sightedness and ! quick business perception may be noted ?in connection with the electrical installa ; tion of the- Olympia Mills. As "soon as the ! electrical transmission of power had been ! definitely determined upon for that, mill j and its. location determined, he at once ! purchased the. .existing- electric car lines ! of the .-cixy: also .the .electrical lighting business, and ,will^furnish the power and current- from - the Olympia; also provide ? electricity, for the other mills. The re : sultant. economies will not only be factors in the.; net earnings of the railway and lighting " systems., but will also add an appreciable net income to credit of the min. OLYMPLVS GREATNESS ACK?OWL . EDGED. Last April, when the great Olympia Mill was: started up, it was examined by a number of the leading cotton mill officers in the'country, men who lead in the cotton industrial movement., One of these was Capt Manning, o?', the Amoskeag Company, who said: "The Olympia was the finest structure of the sort he had ever seen. He was glad the Olympia was not a com? petitor of the.-Amoskeag Company." j Mr Richardson, of" Massachusetts, said ! that the Olympia Mill was, in his opinion, i the. finest cotton mill in the world-the finest in architecture and equipment-and he -said this with a full realization of what i he was saying, as he was connected with New England mills. Not long ago .Mr H. E. C. Bryant made a trip through the mill territory and made disinterested and impartial in? quiries and wrote a series of articles on the result of his inquiries in the various mills in this State and North Carolina, ONE OF THE OLYMPIA HOMES* s. c. . - . '.. -. I \ , \ : and here is an interesting summary i one of his letters: "In .passing- through a mill settlemei some weeks ago I stopped at the home < a middle-aged man who had five childre working in the mill. He Ijiyes in a si: room, two-story house. I "met him som distance from his house; I said: 'I wai to see how you people.live. I would Iii to go in some home where several childre live.' He started in a jiffy- and said a he walked: 'Come and go in my hous? I I have five children, but; they are in .tl mill.' Entering the house from the res j we went through the dining room into : bed room, and then into . the. parlor. Tfc old gentleman was proud of the parl?: He threw back the window curtains an pointed to the large pictures on the wal They were paintings from photographs c his children. The floor of the room wa carpeted and in one corner was an orgai I From kitchen to garret the house wa I clean. When mine- host had seen me t I the door he said: 'I farmed on rented lan j before I came here,-but I could not fee my family there now. I lite the/Iii j here. I like my employers.' They trea j us well if we behave in-like manner to j ward them. If we misbehave they tur: us out and get ethers in our stead.' Whei I moved here the\ superintendent warne? me against drinking. :. He. said that h would have none but xsober help. H meant what he said, for I have not- see J a drunken man on the .hill since I can* here two years ago. My children are ii good health and seem satisfied. "We ar< all contented. All of us belong to th? Church and attend regularly,' "I went from house to house and\hear< the same story. Indeed,, there is no prob lem at the best mills between capital-ant labor, for the mill owners and operatives dwell in harmony. The various religious, denominations ii the mill sections are doing a great deal: foi the factory element in .the South. Preachers call on the operatives and their families at their homes. Churches are*built"anc preaching and Sunday-school conducted ai nearly every mill. Within the last five years in the South much has been don* for the betterment of the condition of th? cotton mill help. The work is till go'ing on. "No one who knows the. facts, as any one can learn by going to the mills, can doubt that the people who work in the coton mills of the South are far better off in every way than ever before. "Such are the conditions in all the Caro? lina mills.'" Mr E. G. Dunnell, an experienced news mmm agaa ss ates SS ?? /. * ?s--,* >V ; vs .. . '. .fe ii j ?.* ir-iJ -. >, f,-' r< -* paper man on the editorial staff of the New York Times, visited the South and made a careful study of the mill situation, and in one of his letters recently to his paper this New York writer had this to say, among dither things: "While the owners and stockholders are /making- money they are conferring per? manent blessings upon the people. As in ; other towns where hew mills haye -de* mand?d increasing numbers of operatives shops have started to supply the needs of operatives or those-who were employed i? new industries, called forth because of the -coming of a laboring population. Stores; have been obliged to carry large and. more varied stocks. There is more travelling. by raiL It is a matter of daily occurrence that among the passengers who overcrowd the trains of the Southern Railway there - are inquirers arriving at various points to look over the land with the view of set? tling, either as persons already , concerned in cotton manufacturing or hoping to be, \ or tradesmen seeking a new market. "The country is beautif ul. It is charm I ing to the eye: it is naturally healthful',:. I and in the towns will be mor? healthful - 1 with a little criticism and sanitation. The I summers are long and the winters brief j and unusually mild. HOME OFFERED < "But it is not alone in the coming of the trolley, the expansion of the shops, the. paving of streets in towns, the sanitation', of all places of large population, the sen? sation of earning money with a regularity and certainty never before enjoyed in the section, .that occasion for rejoicing is "found in South Carolina. Attention was directed by a thoughtful and observant citizen to a sociological phase of the in? dustrial development that is most satis? factory, and that it seems a pity could not be extended in some way to the State of Kentucky. "When Columbia began to build mills, and the operation of the mills had made a perceptible drain upon the most conven? ient and willing class of the population that was fitted to work in the mills, that drain was felt a little at points more or less remote from Columbia. Men and wo? men who had yearned To*- opportunity to j get money -without dissing or hoeing for. it. moved from the foothills into town.? first into places vacated by the people who moved earliest, and afterward, as the j mills began to rise nearer to the hills, into the manufactories elsewhere. EFFECT OF PROSPERITY. "Most of these people were of the real hardy mountaineer sort, with the same soft, deliberate courteous address that. Is characteristic of all che mountaineers in the Virginias, the Carolinas. Tennessee or Kentucky. They brought with them stal? wart frames, dimple appetites and igno? rance of letters. But they were not al? together at fault for that. They had not been treated as wards of the State. There was a moving down from the mountain districts into a region where there were schools and stores and churches of a proud but earnest and ambitious multi-, tude that had sotten along without these things, simpl^ because all their neighbors .had- done**3i2ewlse for years.-; But the pride rhat-ihad been satisfied .in ,the moun? tains and: back country ina them ambi? tious to keep:<'vp with the order of things in ; the r?gion ; t?. which they had nrigraxed The . ch?ds^^ust^b? clothed . like other I chiidrerti; :the> wife-' must not. be compelled to live in a sun bonnet. BEsB? . ; ?cBpOLS FOR ALL. '.^^e^it?Kcvschoois were at-once-patron ?'.iz?d;-hy/'-vChil3ren. who might have deyel ^oped1 lik?i ?the?r^-parenis if it had not been for the;hu?ding. of new cotton mills. New needs 'demanded money to gratify them. .^The^Utt'^c^Hizat?on was rising; ."In man^^esi^ts .thds is the very-best -result ^??rit?.i industrial awakening \iny ^?^vGaroi&a> The m?li- towns are* toound to become centres of intelligence, taste, de ; velop?ng ???p?tite for necessary and "Imbi rious surroundings, and, with the passing of ' year^-ac?;the"ac(mrmiIation of means;: ? groups "of .^l?^^wned liomes of thousand? who cairn^^^the towns penniless and igno- ' rant, a?d-^ve been fcy industry and thrift converted? into law-abiding, temperate^, ih.^ dependentvand-self^specting Americans;** Air that Mr linnell .has to say is correct, but mor?>%>^here; as the mill o wners real? ize ?th^i|^t??K^'iheIp_ is that- which is best I 'paid- an??g^ea-t? Oft-home com- - 1 forts, :and_<$?? is the purpose of the Olym -pia's^?n?gement '.^Bg?B?SS??I^SIm W?B^f^jf THE TEAR RO?NX>. - ; OperativesIn^the South can and do workV ail^?i-y^? iouiid if they wish ro ;ax^Cit is ?b?Cher?^?sS?t Hs up in the Kew Kngfand ' "O^i^??t^pj^;..--cold weather mterferes" wlth^ wortolfct.several months in eac& year. : THE BESTrOEOFFICERS. i The Olymfpfet Cotton ' Mill- has_col?ected all the hje^thlngs. that are to bei^rad. 3t has the/?M^inffl:buiIdmg, the finest ..ma-/ '?hte?ry^':th?. latest looms, : spindles and other; ;macb&ejTi'-but the policy of the mfil "has h??fi^^ most expe? fiencedmen?a^^e.hiead of the various?de^ > par rmeh1si|jp>re^ident W. B. Simith.Whaley. knoi^:'fh^rdI?-business from the ground floor up. . He workedhisway from th? bot- ; tom-to th^io^ost^TX^ -ot- the. ladder,,. and' so General Manager J. -SV Moore has '^b?e^brought^up.in ;:th?::imp-tbusihe^;an?.c . knows i^eyery -detail, and so on down'the line; "a^nd^t?tat^is- why, its management ' is ai?iouiia'o^curfetmskilled help and tiaini rth?^work?r^;;wifh the skilled ami- compe- f ^ent ;b^5p^bVi;?5ed. It is a matter .of;t>ixt. a short tim^-4^ vary short ;tim?^before the ^n?w ?h?lp;?c^>;ahd; does earn as much a? ? any in\?^:??S^iJ??:O?Ynw^'^e??.wili^be robm^for-a?: - T^'-BEST PEOPLE AT WORK. i _ ':Ther?~ar^^o^day:^.tho?sands ' of the .best ; : tpeople in^SohtIaS<-^bliha: who ?xe working '.. '' hr the infl^^id-who ' are .' delighted that '. they <mange- -' /Families"_ who. had \i/b?C;i ? mer?:to?^)a?d eked to-day Hving) comfortably iii mill c#mmnni? - tles; -the?r.=^chiiaren have, the best-of school I fac2ft?es;f:^yThaye th? hest?f chtcrch op-. p?rtiinihes;j| and when, pay-day' comear around 'tit?^an?.^.?eir^working family re 'cefV? the?ri^y^imd caa; and do -put asid? \ money. ; ^niHi?s who worked 'mid?r:th?iS ;?e?; syst?ihljaa^ in. ds??.; "and;,th^-|?f?)t^growjtag month; by m?nt?. ' ^?nd'year.by^year^ ^fi?aUy^abandoned farm ing':tod?th^ae^t>'hasis,- and wehr into tho mills withi^heJr -grown children ^and short , ; ^e1aj.<^?d^0ln^ortahIe~.and It is. the constant aim:of such ; corpora-.; . tioiasL as the" Olympia to have competent ; v ; aid hWpy^elp. and to havea.healthy and satisfied community,, and to that- end evr ,erythi^vp^^ 'been; and is l>eing,. . ..^o?^'^.^ijp.??e?ttth. and pleasure of -tho ? :Oparattve&^-: ???- , ''' ?. '4-Ther^^^4^th?er:- - commuiiity- thia that at;:1h^OIympia. Mill. The company-;. has ^^ejp^ptiona? sewerage and drainage -: . system?^a^<^ carted away hy the g^l^^csj^foimed^by ;the,. ;. mill. The . company.; ha? Employed arxompecent, wt?l knoira; physician,' whose business -and . " " -" OLYMPIA'S. HELP. pleasure it ?^o attend to'every medical want of Tl^^peratives at the expense of the mill comp??ty. ; The ma?a^emeht is.desirious of having the very hesirf?ass of 'operatives to live in -their v??g?' an'd to work in the mill. As .the mill' is^ust starting up this enormous plant, the ,compairy.' win require several hundred families "to give it the full num? ber- of operatives. The mill, therefore, . ia offering to receive "green" help and to teach thern^o' work in- the faet?n?. Anyone. dfeiri?^ to invesagate with a. ; view of accepting this offer, can get all' the niformatioi?,- such as regards to wages of the different kinds of work, etc, by writ? ing to the'.superintendent of the Olympia MiHs. or anysjf the mill officials, at Colum? bia, s . c. '??BB?B? Columbia c^ers a great many advantages .to people-moving into the city. Its fine: churches and- fine schools give to those .persons living in^^ ?CoIuz?bia\advantages not possessed by-a: good many other localities. The mills; are all located on the street car line, macing them very accessible to any part bf "ihe^city. A good many, families in the past have moved in from their farms to work in the factories here.-They seem to be perfectly satisfied and in many instances have- bet? tered their condition considerably^ The mill o?icials will he glad to commu? nicate with any. parties desiring to come to the mills for;;.the purpose of working in them, and a*e satisfied that the opportuni? ties are such as to satisfy them. The story of" the Olympia Cotton Mill is one of intense, interest to every Carolinian, and wheii one thinks it will be realised how very intimately the cotton mills of the State axe as%-.ciated with the industrial development of the State.