Fall Rivers' Industries

74 HISTORY OF FALL RIVE R
Works interests very strong. The profits
had been extremely large : in the case of th e
Metacomet they are said to have paid th e
cost of the mill in a single year, and in 185 9
new interests entered the field, headed b y
Hale Remington and the veteran Davi d
Anthony, and formed the Union Mills Company,
with the assistance of numerous smal l
investors. The success of the corporatio n
was immediate and gratifying, and led to the
building of the Granite mills in 1863, the
Durfee and Tecumseh in 1866, and withi n
fifteen years the starting of 25 distinct manufacturing
corporations. Eleven mills were
started in a single year, 1872, and the num -
ber of spindles jumped from 117,636 in 18 54
to 1,258,508 in 1874. Capital flowed in fro m
other cities, big dividends were paid and th e
business boomed .
Since this period the mill-building ha s
gone on steadily, though not with such rapidity
as in the early seventies. The tendency
has been rather for the enlargement of existing
plants than the forming of new corporations,
though numbers of these hav e been
organized. Old mills have been equipped fo r
the making of finer goods and the new one s
erected have in recent years been entirely
for the production of better cloths than
prints, following the success of th e King
Philip and Granite mills in making tha t
quality of goods .
There has been, too, a tendency towar d
consolidation . in the purchase of weake r
plants by stronger ones and in the electio n
of the successful treasurer of one mill to a
similar position in another, while still retaining
his former duties. In the summe r
of 1899 a considerable stir was caused by th e
receipt by nearly every mill in this city, fro m
a New York firm, of circular letters statin g
that financial houses of unquestioned standing,
represented by them, had considered th e
situation of the cotton industry here, an d
believing that its interests would best b e
served by consolidation, offered for a control
of the stock of each mill figures considerably
higher than the selling prices a t
the time. The matter was not favorably received
by stockholders and was dropped .
In 1898 a system of syndicate selling of
goods was inaugurated, October 22, by whic h
the mills pooled their product in the hand s
of two treasurers, Frank W. Brightman an d
C . C. Rounseville as trustees. The latter,
with the aid of an advisory board, sold th e
cloth from time to time and returned th e
proportional receipts to the corporations .
While the plan appeared feasible, difficultie s
were encountered in prosecuting it, and i t
was discontinued August 3, 1901 . The trustees
at first controlled only four grades of
standard narrow goods, but this wa s later
extended to cover all under 33 inches i n
width. The first committee consisted of th e
two trustees named, Thomas E . Brayton ,
Edward L. Anthony, Joseph A . Baker, Fre d
E. Waterman and James E. Osborn. Mr .
Brightman retired as trustee after a time
and was succeeded by Joseph A . Baker, an d
the committee was enlarged by the additio n
of Charles M . Shove and David A . Brayton ,
Jr. Mr. Baker later retired and was succeeded
as trustee by James E . Osborn
. Borden was selected to take . Na-thaniel B hi s
place on the advisory board .
The mills have suffered at times from th e
new Southern competition, and while thi s
has caused some uneasiness, that feeling has
generally passed, and it is believed that th e
Fall River mills, now reasonably prosperous .
will be able to hold their own against th e
newer factories of the South, despite some of
their admitted advantages . The lesson of
the necessity of the best of modern ma-
chinery, of liberal allowance for depreciation
and of competent management, has bee n
learned and will not be forgotten . The improvement
in machinery has been so rapi d
that present equipment is no longer allowe d
to wear out, and is discarded to make wa y
for new to meet competition .
The early operatives here were almos t
entirely of American birth, and their hour s
long—from daylight to dark—7 :30 in the
winter, with a half hour allowed for breakfast
at 8 A. M., and the same period fo r
dinner at noon. Before 1850 the English ,
Irish and Scotch began to come here, an d
after the Civil War the French entere d
the mills in large numbers . Now the race s
of Southern Europe, notably the Portuguese ,
are taking the places of earlier comers, wh o
have entered more congenial and better pai d
work. The hours of labor have been short-
ened to 58, working conditions have im -
proved, the Saturday half-holiday and weekly
payments granted, child labor prohibite d
or placed under severe restrictions an d the
corporation store and tenement have passed .
The conditions under which the operative s
work to-day are not enviable, but they are
far better than they were a score of year s
ago .
The city now has 40 cotton manufactur-
ing corporations, with a total capital of ap-