The Town's New Mill Promises Prosperity
A new lumber mill is nearing completion, promising to keep capital within the Snohomish community and provide steady work for local men.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
We took a walk last Wednesday to the site selected by Messrs. Bennett & Witter for their mill. We found the race nearly completed, the foundation already up, a temporary roof erected over the works, the flume and bulkhead finished, the huge turbine wheel in its place and ready to run, and the finishing and adjusting of the machinery being all that remains to be done before the mill will be ready to commence manufacturing lumber. Considering the short time and the unfavorable weather, this enterprise has been carried forward with all possible dispatch. The proprietors expect to have it in running order in a week or ten days. The manufacturing of lumber will supply a want long felt in this community. A great deal of the money spent abroad for lumber will be retained and circulated among our own people. There will also be a saving of freight. The mill will give steady employment to a number of men and consume some of the products of our farms. We wish the proprietors every success possible.
“A great deal of the money spent abroad for lumber will be retained and circulated among our own people.”
The drive to keep local capital circulating by manufacturing goods locally was a cornerstone of 19th-century boosterism. Today, this focus has shifted toward supporting local small businesses and cooperatives to combat the 'leaking' of town wealth to global e-commerce platforms.
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