50 



has enriched the manufacturer, given comfort to the farmer, 

 pleasure to the wealthy and homes and happiness to the artisan. 

 Rapid development ensued and its influence was felt at all 

 points, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana and other states were 

 called upon to furnish white wood, hickory, bass, elm, oak and 

 ash ; Pennsylvania, Alabama, Norway and Sweden contributed 

 iron and steel; New Jersey gives up its leather, and Germany, 

 France and England their cloths, silks and laces. Capital and 

 brains have evolved a class of carriages that for lightness and 

 durability, elegant lines and beautiful finish, diversity of style 

 and superior workmanship are not surpassed, if equalled, in the 

 world. Excessive freights, first on the raw material, then on 

 the finished production have somewhat hindered our manu- 

 facturers, but with their indomitable pluck they have pro- 

 duced and placed in distant markets goods that commend 

 themselves to the consumers. In consulting the statistical 

 tables of the last Report of the Bureau of Labor for Massa- 

 chusetts one fails to find even to an approximation the number 

 of carriage manufacturers, capital invested, value of produc- 

 tion, number of skilled and unskilled workmen employed, 

 amount of material consumed in the construction or the source 

 of supply. In fact the Bureau appears to know but little of an 

 industry that is estimated to stand the fifth in the industries of 

 the State. One can hardly find an hypothesis on which to base 

 an estimate of the financial position of this large industry. Of 

 the capital invested in the building of carriages in Massachu- 

 setts the best attainable authority give to Essex County five- 

 eights of the total amount. Of the 35 towns and cities in the 

 County, twelve reckon carriage and wagon building among 

 their industries ; these give employment to two thousand skilled 

 workmen. "Amesbury is fast gaining a world wide fame as a 

 o-reat carriage producing centre," and its claim in conjunction 

 with its sister town of Merrimac, "of employing the greatest 

 percentage of skilled mechanics in the carriage industry, pro- 

 portionate to the population, of any city or town in the world" 



