On the south side of the road leading around Horse-shoe Pond is the tannery and manufacturing establishment of the Page Belting Company, one of the largest and best known concerns in the country engaged in this branch of trade. By their new processes, they have revolutionized the business. The company was organized in 1872, and ever since it has been managed successfully by the brothers, George F. Page the president, and Charles T. Page the treasurer. Four or five hundred hides are used every week in making belting, the annual product of which in a straight line would extend across several States. They employ about one hundred men, and receive for their products nearly half a million of dollars yearly.
There is no branch of manufacture of leather goods in which the requirements are more exacting as to the quality of the material than in the manufacture of leather belting, as this class of goods is subjected to severe tests, and is used by a class of trade that discriminates very finely in all products that in any way affect the speed and effectiveness of machinery.
The aim of this concern has always been to make the best: and the wisdom of this policy is shown in the extensive business that they have established, and in the fact that, wherever this belting is used and known, its quality is never questioned; but it is acknowledged to be the very best in the world.
Another specialty with this house is the manufacture of the celebrated "Hercules" lacings, which are the result of long experience and observation, and possess points of excellence that commend them to all practical men. In addition to the Hercules, this house makes tanned lacing under the name of "Patna Brand." also Concord rawhide lacing. Some idea of the extensive business done by this house may be gained from a knowledge of the fact that they have branches in the following places: At 19 Federal Street, Boston; 111 and 113 Liberty Street, New York; 159 and 161 Lake Street, Chicago; and 209 and 211 North Third Street, St. Louis; and that, in all of these large cities, these establishments are recognized as the headquarters for the best goods in the market.
The quality of the products of the Page Belting Company is sufficient evidence that the facilities of the company are first-class in every respect; and the methods in use in their factory, the very best that experience can suggest, or ample means obtain.
The directors of this company are George F. Page, Charles T. Page, E. G. Wallace, Theodore H. Ford, John Abbott, L. D. Stevens, and B. A. Kimball, whose standing in the financial, commercial, and social circles of this city is sufficient guaranty of honorable business methods.
The market for the Page belting is extending from the extreme confines of this country to Europe, and wherever else machinery is used.
The Messrs. Page are yet young men, public-spirited, enterprising, reliable, and a force in the community. They have within a few years come into possession of the water-power at Sewall's Falls, and are designing great improvements in that section of the city.
William P. Ford & Co. at their foundery make stoves, ploughs, and agricultural implements. The business was started by the senior member of the firm, in 1837. George H. Marston was admitted to partnership twenty years ago; John W. Ford, five years later. The firm employ forty operatives.
