Cortland
Semi-Weekly Standard, Friday, March 26, 1897.
A BUSY
PLACE.
GILLETTE
SKIRT CO. LOCATED IN ITS NEW QUARTERS.
Business
Rapidly Increasing—Thirty-six Machines Soon to be in Operation—
How the
Skirts are Made—The Man Who Manages the Concern.
One of the busiest places in Cortland county
at the present time is the factory of the Gillette Skirt Co., which is now located
in its new quarters In the third floor of the Wells building. The growth of
this concern and the demand for the finished product is something phenomenal.
The company commenced operations in the old McFarlan cabinet shop about December 1, 1896, using ten machines. It
was thought that this shop would be large enough for a considerable length of
time, but only a little over three months have passed and now the company has
nearly quadrupled the size of its plant. The skirts from the very outset met with
popular favor and only a few weeks had passed before the machines were running,
not ten hours a day, but fifteen hours, a second set of operatives taking the
place of the first set as soon as the latter had started for supper. Work would
have been continued all night if power could have been procured, but the power
was furnished by an electric dynamo, and the electricity came from the Traction
company’s power house, whose dynamos cease running at midnight.
THE NEW FACTORY.
Early in February it became evident that new
and larger quarters must be obtained, and Mr. N. H . Gillette, the president
and manager of the company, began to look around for them. A convenient location
w as found in the large hall in the third floor of the Wells building, and a
long lease for this was secured. The machinery has now been moved and a portion
of the new machines have been set up and are in full operation there.
The place proves to be admirably adapted to
its purpose. To begin with it is splendidly lighted, there being an abundance
of windows on every side, and no high buildings near enough to cut off the
light. Twenty-six machines have been set up and are now running, and in a few
days more there will be ten additional machines in operation, making thirty-six
in all. Power is furnished by a three horse power electric motor which is
placed in a house specially built for its protection upon the roof. This house
is fireproof, and is lined with asbestos and iron.
A STANDARD reporter recently paid a visit
to the factory and inspected the work done there. The machines are placed in
two long rows down the east side of the hall and the other ten machines will
soon form the third row. The operator manipulates the machine by a treadle, but
the treadle is not to propel it, as in the single machine in private use, but
to govern the amount of power which runs it. A gentle pressure of the toe and
the machine fairly flies, a slight touch with the heel and it slackens as much as
may be desired, as some difficult place in the work is passed, a touch of
the toe again and away goes the machine. Four of the machines are Singers, and
the remainder Wheeler & Wilson. The Singers as they are speeded are the
swifter machines and two of these are used in quilting, and these are speeded
up to 2,600 stitches per minute. The other two, running slower, are used for
ruffling and stripping. The Wheeler & Wilsons, upon which the bulk of the
work is done, can be speeded up to about 2,000 stitches per minute.
THE SKIRTS.
Three classes of skirts are made: French sateen,
taffeta silk and moreen. Nearly all the sateen skirts are black, but there is
some call for tan colored skirts and also for drab skirts. These of course are
furnished when desired. Each skirt requires about five yards of material for
its construction. One of the specialties of these skirts which make them so
highly prized by the ladies is the fact that they are stiffened with imported waterproof
French fibre cloth and will retain their shape and stiffening for an indefinite
time, no matter how hard the usage or how much they may be wet in rainy days.
HOW THEY ARE MADE.
The process of manufacture is interesting and
shows how rapidly and well work may be done by skilled hands. And nearly all
the employees are skilled operators, and many of them have been engaged in the
skirt manufacture elsewhere. Everything starts with the cutter, who lays on his
patterns and cuts forty-eight thicknesses of cloth at the same time. Next the pieces are separated,
and the different pieces which go into a single skirt are brought together and
the seams are run up; then the stiffening and facing is basted in; then a young
woman whose practiced eye is as true as a die trims the bottom of the skirts
and makes them even; next each seam is measured to be sure that they are all of
equal length; then the skirt goes to the quilter who makes the stiffening
secure for all time; then every skirt goes to a single operator whose sole
business it is to bind the bottom s of them all; then the yoke is put on and
the top is finished for the drawstring or band; then with a two-needle machine
at the same time the ruffle is sewed on and the strip which fastens the top of
the ruffle; lastly the ends of the ruffle are fastened together, an d the finished
skirt is turned over to the inspector to examine, and if it proves to be
satisfactory in every respect, is put with the finished goods for shipment.
HOW THEY ARE MARKETED.
These skirts are sent all over the country. They
are wholly sold by agents
who canvass for their sale at private houses, but the agents do a large
business, for the skirts are proving so popular. As stated some weeks ago in
The STANDARD, Mr. Gillette has had excellent success in securing agents,
for he has sent far and wide cards offering a commission of $5 to any one
securing for him an agent. That offer is still open. Each person who receives
one of these cards finds it a special personal inducement to him to secure a
good agent who will be accepted, as then he can collect his $5.
THE MANUFACTURER HIMSELF.
The organizer, president and manager of this
company is Mr. N. H. Gillette, who has spent his life thus far largely in just
this line of business. Mr. Gillette is a native of the town of Scott, in this county,
and was born and brought up in the picturesque valley known as Cold Brook.
Though still a young man he has had a wide business experience. He went West as
a boy and was in Helena, Mont., when gold was discovered there in 1868. He
remained there till the fall of 1876 when he came back to his native state and
went to New York City to take charge of the agents of the Warner Corset Co.
The Warners had begun the manufacture of
corsets two years before in McGrawville. They had a few rooms in the building
there over what is now Sweet’s hardware store in McGrawville. In 1876 they
decided that there was something of a future in corsets for them if they
continued in the same line, but that the shipping facilities of McGrawville
were far too limited. They decided upon Bridgeport, Ct., as the beet location
and moved their plant there. When they left McGrawville they were employing
about twenty hands. They built a three-story brick factory 30 by 100 feet in
size in Bridgeport and commenced and continued to grow. They established an
office in New York and here Mr. Gillette w as located. He was with them twenty
years, grew up with them, and when he left them their employees numbered over
1,400.
As stated, he had entire charge of their agents,
consequently entire charge of the sales. The man who is in touch with the
agents of any manufacturing concern is bound to know the whole business from
one end to the other. The agents meet the public, their patrons, hear the
complaints, are told of the good and bad points of the manufactured product,
come back to the home office prepared to give valuable points to the manufacturer
upon how his goods can be improved. The man in charge of the agents is bound to
investigate those criticisms and if he finds them worthy, see that the changes
are put into execution.
And so Mr. Gillette learned about all there
was to know of the manufacture of corsets and of its adjunct the manufacture of
skirts. During the latter part of the time that he was with the Warners he was
in charge of the credits of the company, and so became perfectly familiar with both
ends of the business. In these two positions his part was no insignificant one
in helping to build up the celebrated name of
the Warner corset and the extensive business connected therewith.
For thirteen months in 1895 and 1896 Mr.
Gillette had a responsible position with the McGraw Corset Co. at McGrawville, and
then he organized the Gillette Skirt Co. and launched out in this new enterprise.
Neither of the great corset companies with which he has been connected for over
twenty-one years started out with more flattering prospects of future greatness
or success than has the Gillette Skirt Co. During its less than four months of
existence it has branched out in every direction, and it remains for Mr.
Gillette with his excellent business ability and his thorough knowledge of the
subject in its every detail to build up an enterprise here in Cortland that
shall rival the largest manufactories of similar goods in the land.
THE NEW
BABY.
Dainty
Little Poem by Seven-years-old Frances Cleveland Lamont.
The following verses, very pretty in themselves,
will have an added interest to the many friends in this vicinity of Col. and
Mrs. Daniel S. Lamont when it is known that they were written by their third
daughter, Frances Cleveland Lamont, then 7 years old, upon the advent of the
little sister who came last summer to give added gladness to their home. The
verses appeared in “The Letter-Box” of the March St. Nicholas with the
following introductory note:
Washington, D. C.
My Dear St. Nicholas—I am seven years old,
and I wrote these little verses about my baby sister. I am one of your little
readers.
Frances Cleveland Lamont.
BABY.
A little baby has come to town.
The sweetest little sister,
With little white socks and a little white gown,
And I was the first that kissed her.
She has hazel eyes and brownish hair,
And a dimple in her chin,
Her complexion it is very fair,
And her name is Katharine.
SOUSA’S
GREAT BAND
To Give
a Concert at the Opera House Wednesday Afternoon, March 31.
Sousa’s celebrated military band will give a
concert at the Opera House on Wednesday afternoon, M arch 31. This band is now
on a tour of the United
States and
is putting in both afternoon and evening concerts. Cortland is not large enough
to secure an evening date, but is fortunate in getting and appointment for the
afternoon. The band goes to Binghamton for the evening. Every one has listened
with keen delight to the marches written by this great composer and bandmaster,
but to hear them played by Sousa’s own band of about sixty pieces is to get
them in their perfection. It is an inspiring sight to see Sousa conduct his band.
The Opera House will doubtless be filled to its utmost capacity, for this is an
entertainment to attract everybody.
COMMISSIONER
TO CUBA.
Gen.
Woodford May be the Man, and Afterward Minister to Spain.
New York, March 25.—A Washington special to
The Herald says, President McKinley and Secretary Sherman are understood to be
considering the advisability of appointing a special commissioner to look into
and report upon the Cuban situation. In considering the question of a new minister
to Madrid it is stated the idea occurred to the president that it would be
advisable for Minister Taylor’s successor to have some personal knowledge of
the situation in Cuba, and with that end in view he contemplated sending the
person he decides upon for this post on a special mission to Havana.
The new administration has some plan in
contemplation for a peaceful solution of the Cuban question and the dispatch of
a special commissioner to the island is a part of the project.
The name of Gen. Stewart L. Woodford of New
York is mentioned in connection with the Madrid mission. It is said Senator Platt will indorse Gen. Woodford
and in this event it is the general expectation of New Yorkers that Gen. Woodford
will be Minister Taylor’s successor.
Partners
Separate but Both Continue.
The partnership for the past two years
existing between A. S. Brown and
T. E. Dye
in the cold storage and produce business has been dissolved by mutual consent, but
both the former partners will continue in the same business and at the same place
[in Cortland]. They will both continue to use the cold storage building near the
Lehigh Valley station for storage, but each will make his own purchases and
sales independent of the other. They buy butter, eggs, and general produce.
Price of
Oil Going Up.
Lima, O., March 25.—The Standard Oil company
has advanced the price of Lima oil 26 cents per barrel and 22 cents for South
Lima and Indiana.
BREVITIES.
—Rev. J. L. Robertson will preach at the Presbyterian
church at Marathon on Sunday.
—A cow belonging to Eugene Watros of
Marathon was struck by lightning in the thunder shower Monday.
—The Loyal circle of King’s Daughters will
meet with Mrs. Jenkins, 50 Madison-st., Friday, March 26, at 2:30 P. M.
—The Woman’s
Relief corps is making preparations for the celebration of the tenth anniversary
of their organization on the evening of April 6.
—The record at the Cortland postoffice was
broken Wednesday when at 4:43 in the afternoon 1,250 pounds of mail matter were
taken north on the D., L. & W. R. R.
—The case of The People against George Robson was tried in police court
Wednesday,
and defendant found not guilty of assault on R. G. Owen, the complainant.
—Miss Eliza C. Willis and Mr. Charles Bailey
were married Monday evening at the home of the bride’s parents, Mr. and Mrs.
Orlando Willis, 14 Pomeroy-st., by Rev.
Edmund B. Gearhart, pastor of the Homer-ave. M. E. church, in the presence of a
few friends.
—Miss Abby L. Butler died early Tuesday morning at the home of her
parents, Mr. and Mrs. Samuel R. Butler, from solidification of a lung. She was
15 years, 5 months, and 28 days of age. The funeral occurred Thursday at 2 o’clock
P. M., burial in Cortland Rural cemetery.
—Last Monday afternoon, while John O'Connell
was trimming his lamps, a thunderstorm came up, and a streak of lightning came
out of one of the lamps and struck John full on the cheek. It is said that the
lightning reeled and trembled, and then sneaked back into the wire and started
for Gridley Hollow.—Marathon Independent.
—Cortland men who wear full beards will be
interested in the fact that the Central Labor union proposes a tax on whiskers.
In Indiana the Barber’s unions are trying to get a bill passed by the legislature
putting a tax on whiskers. This is to make business for the union barbers. It
is intended to agitate the subject, with a view to helping the barbers.
TRUXTON.
TRUXTON, March 22.—Owing to the heavy rain
Friday evening the Tioughnioga river overflowed its banks. Saturday morning the
flats were covered with water. Taking advantage of this many hunters took trips
down the river in boats shooting muskrats. Among the number were Messrs.
William Burroughs and Frank Medrim, who started down the river in a boat about
1 o’clock Saturday afternoon. When about two miles from the village they met
with an experience which neither gentlemen would care to repeat. In some way
the boat capsized and both were thrown into the water. Their loud cry for help
soon brought several to the scene and in the course of an hour with the aid of
a boat, a rope and a dog the men were rescued but not until both were badly
chilled. Had it not been for the timely arrival of help the men would probably
have perished.
Mrs. Livingston of Moravia is the guest of
Mr. and Mrs. John O. Wicks.
The Y. P. S. C. E. will hold a maple sugar
festival at Woodward hall Friday evening. A cordial invitation is extended to
all.
CRAZY PAT [local correspondent.]
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