CONTINUOUS DEVELOPMENT.
PROPAGANDA IN IRELAND—MR M‘CULLOCH READS A PAPER—SEEKING TRADE IN
ENGLAND—C.W.S. OBJECTIONS—THE SOCIETY AND ITS EMPLOYEES—A GENERAL
MANAGER—THE TEAROOMS—THE DELIVERY QUESTION—GLASGOW
EXHIBITION—IRISH VISITORS—EXTENSIONS—A PROVIDENT FUND
DISCUSSED—STABLE INSPECTOR RESIGNS: POSITION ABOLISHED—IMPROVING
FINANCIAL POSITION.
The development, which had been so marked a feature of the Society’s
business ever since the removal from St James Street to M‘Neil Street,
continued during the next four years, if not with such markedly rapid
progress as during those which have just been reviewed, at least at a
rate which must have proved eminently satisfactory to directors and
shareholders alike. One of the results of the slight slackening down of
the rate of growth was that the directors had more time to devote to the
thorough reorganisation of the business and to bringing all the
knowledge and experience which they had gained to bear on its extension.
They were not unmindful of the need for extension and reorganisation at
the bakery itself, and this work received a good deal of attention
during the period, but they also kept in view the desirability of
bringing in new trade from every quarter where it could be procured, and
so we find strenuous efforts being made to develop connections in
England and Ireland, as well as to widen the scope of their operations
in Scotland.
PROPAGANDA IN IRELAND.
The first attempt to do business with Irish societies was made in the
summer of 1898, when Mr Petrie, traveller, and Mr Hamilton, director,
visited a number of societies in the North, with the object of inducing
them to do business with the Baking Society. This visit proved to be an
eminently satisfactory one. Several good orders were secured, and at the
Irish Conference, which had been attended by Mr Hamilton, it had been
agreed that the president of the Baking Society should be invited to
read a paper on “Federated Baking Societies” to a later conference. This
conference took place on the 27th of August, when, in addition to Mr
M‘Culloch, Mr Deans of the Scottish Section was present, and, at the
request of the delegates, gave a report of the position of the boycott
in Scotland. In the course of his report, Mr Deans pointed out that Mr
Robert Walker, the organising secretary of the Traders’ Defence
Association, had already turned his attention to Ireland, and had held
in Belfast a preliminary meeting with the merchants of that city. He had
received an invitation to address a larger meeting at an early date, but
Mr Deans expressed his confidence that, if an attempt was made to
introduce the boycott there, the Co-operators of the North of Ireland
would know how to deal with the situation.
The address of Mr M‘Culloch was published in full in the local
_Wheatsheaf_ of the Lisburn Society, and from that report it appears
that he began his address by quoting from Ben Jones: “If Co-operation is
to be as rich in benefits to working people as its advocates have always
expected it to be, it must be successfully and universally applied to
the production and manufacture of all the commodities that are used or
consumed by the human race.” With this as his text he proceeded to
develop his theme by pointing out that bread was the safest and best
commodity with which to begin production, for it was the most important
of all commodities. In times of dull trade they could do without
everything which might be considered a luxury, but they could not do
without bread. “The question which was before the conference that day,”
he proceeded—“Is it possible or is it desirable to have a Federated or
United Bakery?”—depended so much on local circumstances that he was sure
they would not expect him to give a definite answer, and what he
proposed to do was to tell them what had been done in Scotland. After
describing the progress of the U.C.B.S. from its inception, he examined
the position in the North of Ireland. There, there were five
societies—Belfast, Lisburn, Portadown, Cullybackey, and Londonderry—with
an approximate membership of 919 and a trade of £5,930 a quarter. Of
these societies Londonderry was 101 miles distant, and it might be
better at present not to consider that society, but, if they took the
other four, they found an approximate trade in bread and smalls of £720
a quarter. This represented a trade of 20 sacks per week to start with.
Their distributive expenses, if they decided to start, would be greater
because some of their trade would be 7, 25, and 32 miles away; but on
the other hand the possibilities of Belfast itself were so great that he
thought they need have no difficulty in answering in the affirmative the
question which they were considering, and saying that a Federated Bakery
was both possible and desirable. Continuing, he said that if they
decided to begin he would advise them to lease a small bakery with two
ovens or more. They would thus require so much the less capital, and
would gain time to acquire experience and confidence in themselves, and
to inspire their members with the necessary confidence to invest their
capital. If, on the other hand, they could not get a bakehouse, or
preferred to build, he had prepared a plan for a bakehouse with two
ovens, a barm cellar, flour store, stable, and van shed, which would
cost approximately £600.
After some more practical hints had been given by Mr M‘Culloch, the
paper was thoroughly discussed, and the conference committee recommended
that the paper should be read and discussed at a general meeting of each
of the societies. This paper is of very considerable interest in a
history of the United Co-operative Baking Society, for it may be claimed
for it that it was the foundation of that bond of unity between the
Co-operators of the North of Ireland and the U.C.B.S., of which the
magnificent building at Ravenhill Avenue is the outward and visible
token.
Meantime Londonderry Society had become a member of the Baking Society a
week or two before this conference was held, and was followed a little
later by Lisburn Society. Belfast Society did not join up until the end
of 1900, and was followed by Armagh in June 1901.
SEEKING TRADE IN ENGLAND.
The work in England proceeded on somewhat different lines. There the
Society worked on the plan of appointing travellers on commission. These
activities of the Society, however, were not viewed with favour by the
C.W.S. directors, and in May 1899 a meeting of representatives of the
two boards took place, at which the situation was discussed. The English
Society complained of the action of the Baking Society in putting
travellers on the road, and stated that from the report of the quarterly
meeting which had appeared in the _Co-operative News_ they had learned
that it was the intention of the Baking Society to alter their rules so
as to permit of the admission of English societies to the Federation.
They contended that hitherto there had been a clear line of demarcation,
and they regretted that the Baking Federation now saw fit to overstep
this. In reply the representatives of the U.C.B.S. stated that they were
not going into England for the purpose of competing with the C.W.S., but
with the object of getting the Scottish trade there which was going past
the movement at present, and they stated that if the C.W.S. had
consented to become agents for the Baking Society when the last
interview took place the present difficulty would not have arisen. The
Baking Society representatives were pressed to withdraw their traveller,
and, although they would not consent to do this, they promised that
before any English society was admitted a member of the Baking
Federation, the Wholesale Society would be acquainted with the fact.
Again in September of the same year a request that the Baking Society’s
travellers should be withdrawn from England was received from the
Wholesale Society, but this the directors refused to do. Instead of
withdrawing, two additional representatives were appointed in the
following year, and, some time later, Mr Forshaw, the Society’s
traveller in the East of Scotland, was sent on a visit to
Newcastle-on-Tyne and Gateshead, which resulted in good orders being
received and shortly afterwards in Newcastle-on-Tyne Society joining the
Federation. At the quarterly meeting, which was held on 2nd September
1899, the rules of the Federation were altered to permit societies which
were not customers for loaf bread to become members on taking out not
less than fifty shares in the Federation, and at the same meeting it was
agreed to raise the value of the shares from 15/ to 20/ each. The date
of the quarterly meetings was altered from the first Saturday to the
third Saturday of the month, and the basis of membership was altered so
that, instead of a second delegate being allotted for £160 of purchases,
the purchases of the largest society, divided by fifty, formed the basis
of representation. It was also agreed that in future the balance-sheet
be issued half-yearly instead of quarterly.
THE SOCIETY AND ITS EMPLOYEES.
Hitherto the relations of the Society with its employees had been
cordial, but with the growth of the Operative Bakers’ Trade Union
restrictions began to be applied which sometimes worked a little
unfairly against the Society, particularly in its competition with firms
in which the bakers were not well organised. The directors always came
to an amicable arrangement with the Union, however. A rather remarkable
decision by the Union is referred to in the minute of 19th August 1898,
which states that “A deputation from the Bakers’ Union had waited on us
anent our foreman having suspended thirty men for two half-days. This
had been done owing to our stock accumulating, and this was explained to
the deputation, who stated that the Union preferred the dismissal of men
and jobbers taken on when required.” The minute proceeds, “Although this
was much against the wish of the committee, they had no alternative but
to dismiss eight men from the smallbread department.” The question was
raised at the next quarterly meeting, and the chairman somewhat
amplified the statement contained in the minute by stating that the
difficulty had been with the biscuit bakers. At that season of the year,
the trade in hand-made biscuits went down owing to the holiday season,
and as it was not desirable that these biscuits should be kept too long
in stock the foreman had suspended the men for two afternoons. The usual
procedure was to do the pastry in the mornings and the biscuits in the
afternoons, and the foreman thought it better to suspend the men than to
do without the services of any of them. The Union pointed out that their
great difficulty was to prevent this practice creeping in all over the
city, as it might become a serious thing for the men. The sub-committee
had a meeting with the men, and a vote was taken on whether they
preferred to be suspended or that some of their number should be
dismissed, when, by a very large majority, they voted in favour of
suspension. The following week, however, they held another meeting under
the auspices of their Union, at which they reversed their former
decision, and intimated that they were now unanimously in favour of
dismissal, so that the committee had no alternative but to agree and
engage “jobbers,” although this meant increasing this class of worker.
At this time there was also some friction amongst the workers in the
oatcake factory. When the oatcake factory was started, the women engaged
mixed their own meal, but, later, with the object of introducing
machinery into this section of the factory, a man was put in to do the
mixing, as an experiment. The man was mixing for twenty-four women, who
had only to do their own cutting and firing. The chairman explained
that, as the result of a week’s experiment, the foreman had fixed the
number of parcels to be baked by these women at nineteen, which was the
average of the numbers produced by all these women. All the women said
the mixing of the dough was the heaviest part of the work, and the
result was that those who were getting their dough mixed for them were
finished before those who had to do their own mixing, and, in addition,
with the new arrangement, the dough was more evenly mixed. The subject
was not pursued further at that meeting, but from what took place at the
following meeting, it seemed that it had been much canvassed in the
interval, especially in Kinning Park Society. According to the chairman,
[2]“There had been some discontent after the last general meeting,
and they were just getting over it when certain statements were made
in Kinning Park Society which again caused discontent amongst the
girls. Previous to this question being raised, the girls were doing
all that was asked of them without complaint. The system was an
experiment, and would have been past that stage now had the question
not been raised. It was the intention of the committee to consider
the girls’ wages in event of the trial being successful, but even
that had been prevented now. As a result of the discussion, the work
was not being done. The Society was not getting one third of the
work which was being got by other bakers in this department. It had
been stated also that the department was in an insanitary condition,
and the gentleman who made the statement confessed that he had done
so simply from report. It had been said that the girls were being
slowly poisoned. The books of the Society, however, showed that that
was not so, but that the average sickness here was not half of other
departments where extreme heat had not to be contended with.”
Footnote 2:
_Co-operative News_, 10th December 1898.
After some discussion and an expression of opinion that the chairman had
vindicated the position of the board, the subject was again dropped. At
a later period it was stated that the arrangement referred to had proved
so satisfactory that the wages of the girls were increased by 1/ per
week.
At this meeting the appointment and wages of the engineer were discussed
at some length, and it was suggested that the wages which were being
paid to him were not enough for the job, but it was explained by the
chairman that his wages would be raised after he had proved his
capacity.
A GENERAL MANAGER.
The directors were gradually coming to the opinion that it was not
possible for them to keep in that close touch with the work of all the
various departments in their spare time which was necessary, and had
discussed the subject on several occasions. The result was that a
definite motion “to appoint a general manager” was tabled and was
discussed on two or three occasions, after which a special committee was
appointed to go into the whole question of the management of the
Federation. When this special committee brought in their report, it was
adopted in principle in the somewhat vague form, “that someone be
appointed to represent the committee during working hours.” Naturally,
this gave rise to several questions at the following general meeting of
the Society, but no definite expression of opinion for or against was
forthcoming from the meeting, so that the committee were left to pursue
their own way unfettered. This they did at a later meeting by
advertising for a general manager, who should be possessed of a good,
general knowledge of business, and be in sympathy with the movement. As
to his duties, it was agreed that all goods should be purchased by the
committee through him, and invoiced to one centre, and that he should
conduct all correspondence and see that the instructions of the
committee were carried out, as well as maintaining discipline,
regularity, and good order. Mr James Bain, secretary, and Mr James
Young, director, were amongst the applicants for the position, and,
perhaps for that reason, it was decided to take a ballot vote on the
seven candidates who had been interviewed. The result was that Mr Young
was appointed, and it was agreed that he take up his duties on 29th May
1899.
THE TEAROOMS.
The tearoom adventure was proving only moderately successful, and, in
reply to a question, the chairman admitted at one meeting that the
profit shown on the balance-sheet had all been made by the purvey
department. At another meeting, he stated in reply to a question about
electricity that at M‘Neil Street, where they generated their own
current, they found electric lighting to be cheaper than gas, but where
they had to take their supplies from the Corporation it was more costly,
his reply being—“In West Nile Street, where we get our supply from the
Corporation, it is nearly killing the place.” The organ of the Traders’
Association made great fun of this remark, stating that “the tearooms in
West Nile Street must be in a perilous condition when the difference in
the cost of gas and electricity is nearly killing the business”; and
went on to point out that “tearooms must have a practical proprietor.”
“Here, then, is an excellent example of the fact that where overcharges
cannot be made on the goods sold, Co-operation cannot prosper.”
Doubtless the _Commercial Record_ man was entitled to his little
chuckle, but his premises being faulty, his conclusions were equally
faulty. There were other factors than overcharges which entered into the
failure of the U.C.B.S. to make a commercial success of their tearoom
business, and led to its being finally abandoned. It is probable that
the West Nile Street place was too large and too heavily rented to
permit any firm, however experienced, to make tearooms a success in a
back street. Then, the people who acquire the tearoom habit are business
people, and are therefore not too friendly disposed to any Co-operative
enterprise and, having a very wide choice of such establishments, their
prejudices took them elsewhere. That Co-operative tearooms can be made a
success, even in Glasgow, the Drapery and Furnishing Society has proved,
but it is questionable whether Co-operative tearooms anywhere, which are
not conducted as an adjunct to other businesses, and very near to
central drapery or similar premises, have ever proved successful, and
there is no place in Great Britain where the ordinary tearoom is so good
as in Glasgow, and, therefore, where a Co-operative tearoom which is
called to stand on its own legs, so to speak, has such strenuous
competition to face.
In August 1899 Mr Robert Watson resigned to take over the management of
the S.C.W.S. dining and purvey department, and a Mr J. M. Picken was
appointed his successor. The management of the purvey and tearoom
departments were also separated. Mr Picken did not prove a success,
however, and was succeeded by Mr Thomson. At the end of the lease, the
Society decided to give up the Main Street purveying branch, but to keep
on the tearooms. At several general meetings suggestions had been made
that the Society should open tearooms of a cheaper class, to suit the
pockets of the workers, and the committee made some inquiries about this
but found that the rents in the city were very high. A place in
Clydebank was considered but abandoned owing to the lack of
accommodation, and also because of opposition to the project from the
committee of Clydebank Society. It was decided finally to fit up the
Main Street shop for this purpose, but, after a short trial, the tearoom
there was given up.
THE DELIVERY QUESTION.
For some unexplained reason the people of Glasgow and district have
always been particularly addicted to the consumption of new bread. Time
after time efforts have been made to wean them from this
indigestion-producing habit, but all in vain until the Great War came
and with it a shortage of grain, necessitating the husbanding of the
nation’s bread supplies. Then, without any fuss, with scarcely a murmur
even, the people submitted for two years to a restriction which
prohibited the sale of bread until it had been out of the ovens for a
period of at least twelve hours. This demand for new bread had always
been a source of worry to the Baking Society. There was, on the one
hand, the restrictions imposed by the Operatives’ Union as to the hour
of commencing work, which regulated the hour at which the bread came out
of the ovens; on the other hand, there was the demand of the members of
local societies for new bread at an early hour and, as a consequence,
the demands by the societies for early delivery of bread. These demands
for early delivery the Society was only able partially to meet; and the
distance of some of the shops from the centre made it quite impossible
that they should be supplied with bread which was steaming hot from the
oven. Hence, week after week, the committee had to deal with complaints
about lateness of delivery. Time after time the chairman appealed to
societies at the quarterly meetings to be less insistent in their
demands for hot bread, but without avail, for no sooner did one society
respond for a little to these appeals than others began to demand that
they get the bread hot and early.
At length, toward the end of 1898, the subject was taken up by the
Convention of City Societies, and the Baking Society’s board being only
too willing to render all the assistance in their power, a
representative meeting was held in the Union Hall, West Nile Street, at
which Mr James Bain, secretary of the U.C.B.S., read a paper. Mr Bain
entitled his paper “Our Bread Delivery,” and dealt at length with the
craze for new bread and the difficulties which it imposed on bakers and
baking firms. He began by describing the evil conditions which it had
introduced into the baking trade, the principal of which was probably
the “jobber,” or half-day man. Alluding to a correspondence which had
been going on in a Glasgow paper for some time, he said that they, in
M‘Neil Street, could not describe the jobbers as anything but clean,
respectable, intelligent tradesmen, the majority of whom were only
waiting until a regular opening occurred for them. Under a more humane
system, however, they could all be dispensed with, and all the men
required could be employed regularly. Mr Bain pointed out that the
limited time between the hour when the bakers started work and that at
which societies demanded that they should have their bread delivered was
too short to allow the bread to be thoroughly and carefully prepared.
The rush did not allow the bread room workers the time necessary to pack
the vans carefully, so that it frequently happened that the bread was
crushed and bruised into shapes it was never intended to assume. The
demand for new bread also entailed great hardships on the bakers because
of the early hour at which they had to begin work, and he was convinced,
he said, that bread baked in the morning and delivered in the afternoon,
and bread baked in the afternoon and delivered next morning, would be
healthier and more suitable for use. All the medical opinion was against
the use of new bread; certain chemical changes took place in the bread
after it was baked and before it was fit for consumption, and some hours
were necessary to permit these changes to take place. He suggested, as a
remedy, that the Co-operative societies should lead the way in fostering
a demand for stale bread, and that the bakers, through their Union,
should assist in educating the general public into a more rational
system.
Commenting on this subject, the _Scottish Co-operator_ said:—
“It is the duty of co-operators to make arrangements which will
allow those who produce the bread to work under conditions which
will allow them to live more enjoyable lives than they do at
present. There are no reasons why they should not begin work at 6
a.m., and the first delivery of bread might be made by 11 o’clock,
while that baked in the afternoon could be kept until next morning,
and delivered as soon as the stores are open. All that is required
to make this possible is a little rational co-operation between the
Baking Society, the distributive societies, the salesmen, and the
members.”
Unfortunately, this rational co-operation was not forthcoming; the
practice continued, and it required a world war, which accustomed the
people to many other and greater inconveniences, to bring about a reform
which practically everyone believes to be desirable.
GLASGOW EXHIBITION.
The Society had guaranteed £500 towards the expenses of the Glasgow
Industrial Exhibition, and the directors were desirous of taking every
advantage of the Exhibition as an advertising medium. At first it was
proposed that there should be a joint Co-operative stall, in which the
two Wholesale societies, the Paisley Manufacturing Society, and the
Baking Society should take part. The S.C.W.S. had been trying to obtain
a plot of ground, and had succeeded, on the understanding that they
should pay £2,000 of the cost, and the U.C.B.S. £1,300, but this
arrangement was departed from, on the ground, as stated in the Baking
Society’s minutes, that neither the English Wholesale Society nor the
Paisley Manufacturing Society were taking part. The Baking Society then
decided to proceed themselves and, after having made arrangements with
two bakery machinery manufacturing firms, they made an offer for the
right to erect a model bakery in the Exhibition. This offer was not
accepted, however, although it was considerably higher than the offer
which was finally accepted, the reason given being that the exhibit
offered by the Baking Society was not likely to be so interesting as
that of either of the two other firms which offered. The affair caused a
considerable amount of discussion at the time, and the opinion was
freely expressed that, while no doubt could be cast on the good faith of
the Exhibition committee themselves, they had been misled by the experts
whom they had consulted, and that the most interesting of the proposed
exhibits, as well as the one which would have paid the Exhibition
committee best to accept, was that of the Baking Society. However, if
they were unable to exhibit a model bakery in full working order, and
including a biscuit oven as well as bread making, they were able to
secure a stance where they were able to make a display of goods which
attracted much attention.
Among other methods which they adopted to advertise their goods and to
keep the salesmen of the societies in touch with new departments and new
goods, was a monthly letter, which they issued to salesmen, in which
attention was called to anything which was new. During this period,
also, they began to pack their biscuits in fancy, enamelled tins, and
these had a great sale. The cake shows also were proving of great value
in increasing the trade in this Christmas luxury; each year’s show
meaning a big increase in sales; that for 1901 showing an increase of
6,255 large cakes and of 629 dozens of small cakes over the sales of the
preceding season.
In the autumn of 1901 the delegates to the Irish Conference Association
were the guests of the Federation in Glasgow, which provided them with
lodgings and took them for visits to Shieldhall, the Bakery, and the
Municipal Buildings, as well as for a drive round the principal places
of interest in the city. In 1901 the Society won first prize for
oatcakes at the Bakers’ Exhibition held in the Agricultural Hall,
London. Earlier, too, as a result of a discussion which had taken place
at a meeting of Glasgow Town Council, the committee sent one of their
loaves to the City Analyst to be analysed. The analyst’s report was to
the effect that the loaf had been weighed before being analysed; and he
stated:—“We are of opinion that this is a loaf of the best quality. It
contains an extra large proportion of albuminous compound and the
minimum of water.”
At the beginning of 1902 the directors agreed to furnish one of the
bedrooms at Seamill Home, while another was furnished by the heads of
departments, and, at the quarterly meeting immediately following, the
delegates voted £500 as a donation towards the building fund for the
Inland Home at Galashiels. Other donations were:—£20 to the Gladstone
Memorial, £50 to the Festival Fund, £40 to the Indian Famine Fund, £50
to the Lord Provost of Glasgow’s Special War Relief Fund, £25 to the
Owen Memorial Fund, £500 to the Glasgow Technical College Fund, and £20
to the Thomas Slater Testimonial, as well as smaller sums to many other
deserving objects.
EXTENSIONS.
During this period the extensions were neither so numerous nor so
extensive as in that which immediately preceded it, for the increase in
trade did not continue at a rate quite so rapid, but, nevertheless,
several rather important extensions were made. Entry into the workshops,
which were in course of completion in the summer of 1898, was secured in
the autumn of that year, and to the new stables shortly afterwards, and
about that time it was agreed to extend the biscuit factory and to
utilise the old stable building, after reconstruction, as a biscuit
warehouse and packing department. A considerable number of new machines
were also purchased, these including fourteen or fifteen
“dough-dividers” of a new pattern, manufactured by Werner, Pfleiderer &
Perkins Ltd., at a cost of over £200 each, and a machine for the
manufacture of sugar wafers. Three new travelling ovens were also
procured for the biscuit factory. At the June 1899 quarterly meeting
power was given to complete the South York Street building, operations
on which had been suspended for nearly two years. At a later period it
was agreed to roof in the north end of the courtyard and build a new
reel oven there. It was also decided to increase the accommodation for
the oatcake factory, so that the number of hot-plates might be increased
from 80 to 140.
A proposal which occasioned some discussion at one or two of the general
meetings of the Society was that of the directors to begin a provident
fund for the employees. A number of employees had a sick benefit fund of
their own, but it was proving inadequate to meet the demands on it, and
those in charge approached the directors for assistance. This was
granted, but, as the directors recognised that unless it was placed on a
more or less compulsory basis it was not likely to secure the necessary
stability, they had several consultations with representatives of the
employees, and then took a ballot vote of the whole of the employees on
the proposals which were submitted to them. This vote showed a majority
of three to one of the employees in favour of the scheme, which was then
brought before the delegates for their consideration and approval.
Permission to hold a special meeting of the Society for the purpose of
altering the rules to permit of a provident fund for the employees being
established was granted, but at the special meeting the vote for the
alteration of the rules was one less than the number necessary to give
the requisite two-thirds majority, and so the proposal was defeated for
the time being.
In the autumn of 1898 Mr Ballantyne resigned from his position of stable
inspector, after having acted in that capacity for the long period of 28
years. At the quarterly meeting he was thanked for the long service he
had given to the Society. The committee decided that the office should
be abolished. Just at the end of this period it was decided to open a
distributive depot in Falkirk, for the purpose of supplying the
societies in that district. It was reported to the committee that there
were altogether nineteen societies within a radius of twelve miles
having 38 shops, which were purchasing over 500 tins of biscuits and
5,000 lbs. of oatcakes weekly. The new system was going to be more
costly at the beginning, but the committee were under the impression
that the trade would so increase under the new system that it would more
than compensate for the additional cost.
At the end of 1901 the value of the Society’s property, including land,
buildings, and fixtures, was £145,450, while the share capital, reserve,
and insurance funds amounted to £102,441. Thus 70·5 per cent. of the
total value of the buildings was covered. At the end of 1889, only 23
per cent. of the value had been so covered, and, notwithstanding the
great increase in the value of the properties which had taken place
since that time, the capital, reserve, and insurance funds had increased
so much more rapidly that this very desirable result had been achieved
in twelve years. The trade had grown very rapidly also in the same
period, and, just at the close of the period, permission was granted to
the directors to hold a demonstration for the purpose of celebrating a
turnover of 3,000 sacks per week.