COLUMBIA AND MONTOUK COUNTIES would be no opportunity o f rising in his father's mill, he founded a partncrshi]> with a yam spinner and commenced the m anufac ture o f ingrain carpets. A fte r m nning the plant in Philadelphia sev eral years, believing (hat it would be more advantageou.s (o m anufacture in a countr>‘ town, he visited Bloom sburg, as well a s a number o f other places, and decided to rem ove his plant there, which he did in 18 9 1. H e brought with him his cousin, Jam e s M agee ( 1 s t ), and W . H . Vandcrherchen, both practical men. and with (hirt)‘-fivc looms the company w as started, making nothing but ingrain carpets. Foresee ing the grad u al disuse o f this class o f carpet in 1896, the tapestry mill and spinning mill were built and the m anufacture o f tapestry carpets w as started. T he com pany partnership meanwhile had .sold out to the Bloom sburg Carpet W o rk s and the latter meige<l a few years late r into the M a ^ Carpet W orks. The com pany's brand o f ‘"B ar None T ap estry” was fa v o ra b ly known throughout the country. short time a fterw a rd s velvet carpets were made, to be follow ed later by the m anufacture of seamed rugs. In this w ork the company brought out a grade o f velvets which had never been produced before. In fact, il w as freely asserted that the grade could not be done. B u t it w as, and ‘ ‘ Blue Ribbon V elvets” were sold in every city of the Union. A gain (be caprice o f fashion compelled a complete readjustm ent o f plant. T h e demand w as fo r a seam less'velvet rug. T o supply their trade with (his the company made the biggest effort of its business life, erecting in 1 0 1 3 one of the finest m ills o f Ihe country, with 500.000 feet of floor space, and enough looms to produce three hundred rugs every day. T he M ag cc Caqsct Com pany is one of the largest p n ^ u c e r s o f velvet carpet and rugs in the countr)', its plant covering ten acres o f floor space, and being a model o f its kind. .Ml of the c<|uipmcnt is up-to-date, and the product goes into every State of the Union, also to I’orto R ico, Chile, and H aw aii. .All processes of the business are done at the mills. T h e raw wool is im|)orted from R u ssia, China, T u rk ey and oth er foreign countries. Both worsted warp and woolen yam s are spun in the com pany's ow n plant. A large dyehousc and tap estry prin ting department color the yam s by the use of the latest machinery. .After licing sieamc<l. washed and dried, the printed yam s arc spooled, and then go to the setting depart ment. w h ere skilled operatis-es "se t” the pat tern, straightening out the crooked lines and beaming th e y a m s ready fo r the w eaver. The
115
w eaving dciwrtment is on the top fk>or of the new mill, where abundance o f light and ven tilation m ay be obtained. T o save vibration, the floor w as made 7 inches thick, resting on heavy steel girders. T he contract called for a carryin g load o f 300 pounds to the square foot. On this floor are narrow looms which w eave the carpets, the sm all ru gs and the car pets fo r carriages and automobiles. It may not be generally known that the M agcc Carpet com pany protluccs three fourths of the car pets usiffl in carriages and automobiles, having made a specially o f such carpets fo r many years. T h e w eavin g department also con tains broad looms which w eave a 9 by 12 rug without a scam. T h ey are nw rvcls o f con struction, handling a w ire 10 feet long, put ting them in and cutting the loops and w ith draw ing (hem, all autom atically. Som e idea of the size of these looms can be obtained when (he reader is told (hat they w eigh 22,000 |x>unds each. From the weaving room the ru gs are taken to the finishing room s, where they arc cleaned, steamed, stretched, worked and rolled up with a pole in the middle to kccj) them from breaking in transportation. T h e older ]Xirtions of the building are re served fo r storage puqxises. where many thou sands o f rugs are kept ready fo r prompt ship ment on receipt o f orders. T h e company has a private siding fo r shipping in carload lots and fo r taking in wool and coal in bulk. T he plant burns (>,000 tons o f coal a year, uses 500,000 gallons o f w ater per day, w orks up 6,000,000 puun<ls o f wools and yarn s every year, em ploys over seven hundre<l |>coplc and jw y s out in w ages every d ay over $1,2 0 0 . T he management is in the hands o f men who are practically conversant with the business, and who g ive their full time and attention to (he work. M r. M agcc also conducts the L ead er Depart ment Store, one of the largest o f Bloom sburg’s m ercantile establishments. T h e M o n ro e-H all F u n iitu re Com pany is among the Icaiiing progressive industries of the town. T h e plant is thoroughly equipped with modem w o ^ w o r k in g machinery for the iroductiun o f high-grade furniture o f all cimis. It w as originally built in 1S 9 1 by W. II. Schuyler, Theodore R cilckcr and Jaco b K e ife r, who conducte«l it about one year, when the Bloom sburg F'um ilurc Com pany took over the plant and conducted it fo r a time. T h is comiKiny w as reorganized under the name of the N orth Branch Furniture Com jiany, who ran
