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Manufactures ib ans arboe. The Fiirnitiire Establishment of J. Keek & Co. WHAT THEY MAKE, HOW THEY MAKE IT, AND TVHEKE THEY SELL. - A DETAILED ACCOUNT OF THEIE BUSINESS. Aun Arbor is a modest town, and while she even Iets the thousands who come here and go away every year teil the story of her excelleucies in the field of eiucation aud social advantageB, slie isn't assuiniug enough to brag of her business relations. Envious neighbors suppose ('') she hasn't any business, and characteri.e our city as a good and beautiful home for sick old devotees of kuowledge and the elite of society. Of course no mountaiu streams turn the thousand spindles of some factorv, nor neighboring mines of coal or oil blacken and grease all within the city gatea, but businesB oí no meau proportions swells the hum of activity, Ringing in the ears of the listener, to a peal of startling intensity, and the stranger in Ann Arbor, who has passed nothing by in his'sauntennE;s may well say : " Here are beauty, learning and business most happily blended." To secure illnstration of this business capacity, the reporter of the Abous a day or two since stepped iuto the FUKNITURE ESTABLISHMENT of 3 Keek & Co., on Main and West Liberty streets, and was kindly conducted through it by Mr. Lausing, their gentlemanly salesman, and were invested with the following facta. Mr. John Keck started in business in the old Presbyterian church, but his business rapidly increased and in 18G7 he took George Keek in partnership and weut to manufacturing in the present Martin block. They afterwards removed to their present location, and have continued the business with constantly increasing faciiities. Few have supposed that f urniture was manufactured here to such an extent and that it was disposed oí largely at wholesale, but such is the fact nevertheless, and this portion ot the business brings in annually upwards of 30,000. A specialitt is made ot beds and bedroom furniture, and the excellence which the firm has attained in this branch of the business is noteworthy, Here are bedroom suits that will please the most fastidious, which the modest sum of 1150 will purchase. They are made of blackwalnut, highly ornamented with carvings of fruits, urns, &c, the bureaus with marble tops and the largest mirrors, and washstands with marble tops. In these higher priced suits a dressing case is made to take the place of the bureau, which having fewer drawers, is consequently lower, and is surmounted by a longer mirror. It is very handsome indeed. But the man ot fewer dollars can invest in bedroom suits for prices from 81Ö0 down to $40, and get them in walnut, oak, ask, or soft wood. üak surpasses one's expectations in adaptability to a high degree of finish, for it looks as well or better than ash, when properly oiled or varnished, and is said to retain its finishing coat a longer time and to keep it in better conditiou. Suits in soft wood are painted, and the inntation of walnut and ash or maple might easily deceive the eye of the novice. When carefully kept, they are recommended for their cheapness. They need to be guarded only against bruises. Nine pieces constitute a suit in these cheaper ones, viz. bed, bureau, washstand, 4 chairs, one rocker, center table, and towel rack, and when one considers that this is a good outfit for a bedroom, he can but be gratified that Í40 will buy it all. Childreu's cribs and bedsteads alone are manufactured in abundance. While the above is a speciality in the trade of Messrs. Keek & Co., it constitutes but a small portion of the furniture they prepare for the use of the public. Endless varieties of styles in bureaus, hall-trees, stands, tables, chairs, sofas. couches, &c, help to fill a three story building and basement. One haudsome set, consisting of a sofa and six chairs, upholstered in a brown repp, deserves especial mention. One of the chairs is a rocker and another is a large arm chair provided with casters. $150 will remove the set from its present locality. Handsome secretarles attract no little attention, and convenient writing desks for ladies and gentlemen are offered to buyers at all pricea. WIRE MATTBESSES of three styles invite one to peaceful slumber. Dunk's noisless mattress, the worm wire mattress and the Parello. But a step from there takes the patiënt observer to the undertaker's room, and he thinks it only too significant of the close relation of the easy couch which supports the feeble, wasted frame of man, and his last, uarrow bed, which crumbles iuto dust with its only oue occupant. Caskets, coffins, and 8hrouds are too gloomy a subject to consider long. So a withdrawal to the office is suggested to learu something of ITS DESTINATION. Messrs. Keek & Co. ship their goods to all parts of this State, not excluding Detroit; where they send more goods than to auy other city. This is a recommendation oí no mean importance to thia flrm. An amusing transaction was at this point related oí a oertain family of this city, wHo were on the point of furnishing their house not loug ago. They examined the goods of this establishment but were not suited. Detroit was of course the place to go, and fortunately ït had the very goods waated, cheap, stylish and durable. But their purchases were none other than the manufactures of J. Keek & Co., which had been sent to Detroit iu wholesale trade, and articles of the very same kind as were examiued at their store in Ann Arbor. They had the satisfaotion of payiug the freight from Detroit in addition to the retail prioe. The western part of New York receives large ahipment8 irom this flrm, and there is no city of importance along the Ene E. R. but sells their goods. They are also shipped to the northern and western parts of Fennsylvania, the northern and easteru parts of Ohio, and the northern part of Indiana. The have some trade in Canada which is constantly increasing. They have three agents in the field who are looking after sales in new cities and the old trade already established, although a large part of their orders are filled by firms who have bought their goods of agents once. Their business is constautly increasing, and additional facilities for manufacture, as will be presently noticed, have had to be secured. TIIB PROCESS OF MANUFACTUBE is no simple affair, yet it is conducted with all , the regularity and precisión that a oareful : architect exercises in the construction of a ' buildiug. Suppose beds are to be made, the I process is something like the following. A toremau secures the requisito amoünt oï lumber tor a dozen beds, has the parts for the same cut out aud then assigns the work for putting together to sonie man who has that duty to perform. Here thjs man's labor ende, ïhey go then to anotuer building and receive a thorough saudpapermg, till the wood is perfectly smooth. ïhis leaves it in the " white" as as it is called, which is the condition in which they are shippped, to be finished by the retail dealer. This finishing consists in the application first of a material composed of oil, white lead, &c, which filis the pores of the wood ; another rubbing removes all the little prominences and smooths the rough places. Tbis prepares the way for the filial coat of oil or varuish, which completes the work. UPHOLSTEEINO. The process of upholstering couches cousists iu tasteniug the sprial spriugs iu the frame work of the couch in such a manner that they caunot get out of place, and will be uoiseless, in coverUig them with coarse canvas and then applying a layer of curled hair, tow or excelsior to fiU up the cavities betweeu the springs, and theu securing the outside covering of carpet or repp as the case may be. The excelsior spoken of is nothiug more nor less than fine bass wood shavings or fibers, and ia considerad next in usefulness to curled hair. It is uaed in mattresses and sofaa also. THE LUMBEB used is all of the very best quality, and it is most carefully aeaaoned before use. People may wonder why walnut f uruiture ia more expeusive than oak or ash. It ia because walnut lumber costs more than twice aa much as the other lumber, and because it ia more dirficult to seaaon properly. Soit lumber, prinoipally whitewood is uaed for those parts of furniture not exposed. Messrs. Keek & Co. manufacture all their goods at their factory located in the 2d ward. It is at present uudergoing repairs, aud will be supplied with a new engine aud new machinery to meet the demanda of their rapidly increasing business. Thirty-five or forty men are kept constautly in their employ. The busy season opeua about the middle of next month, ind to meet thia fall trade the firm has stored away a large supply of goods ready for shipment at a moment's notice. KETAIT. T1ÍADK. Their retail trade ia by no meana inaigniticant, and their prices are suited to the capacities of all walleta. Gentlemanly dealers anti salejinen are ready to furuish any and all information about their stock and to fill all orders with promptnesa.