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MILLIONS IN BUTTON INDUSTRY Pennsylvania held the fourth place in the manu ¬ facture of buttons in 1914 and as the report for that year indicated a steady annual Increase for the pre ¬ ceding fiveyear periods it may be that when the next report is issued this state will be found to have climbed a little higher in the sqale of buttons buttonsAs As it is the Industry In Pennsylvania in the year mentioned made almost as many buttons as were imported which as it happened was an extraordi ¬ nary twelvemonth fot button importation importationThere There is something staggering in the quantity of buttons of all kinds that are yearly made in this country One might naturally think that the great ¬ est quantity made were shoe buttons but while this is large the fresh water pearl button holds the lead there having been made in 1914 according to a recent report issued by the Federal Tariff Commission more than 21000000 gross This pro ¬ duct was valued at 4879844 4879844Shoe Shoe buttons come next In importance in the in ¬ dustry and there were made more than 15000000 gross and this despite the fact that the majority of the shoes worn are laced lacedOf Of the elusive species known as collar and cuff buttons there were manufactured 1771000 gross grosstlued tlued at 50201 50201Agate Agate buttons appear to be the most expensive variety made here for the 3000 gross made in 1911 were valued at 5100 5100Xew Xew York continues to be the leader in the man ¬ ufacture and from products valued at 2371000 in ISO the industry has grown until in 1914 the pro ¬ duct of the button factories had a value of 7821 000 In 1909 however the product rose to 9373 000 but in that year the countrys industry slfbwed a product valued at 22708000 or about 2000000 more than in 1914 1914There There are few things valued less by the average person than a button but in the aggregate buttons form an important place in the countrys imports and exports Virtually every country In the world makes buttons The bone button is largely made in Asiatic countries and the pearl button is made in large quantities in Japan Since the beginning of the war Japan has in ¬ creased its exports of fresh water pearl to the United States by about 2700 per cent and to Great ISritaln by 300 per cent These figures represent to some degree the loss of trade by Germany to both the United Kingdom and the United States Philadelphia ledger
