The text describes Porzecze, located in the Minsk province and Pinsk district, where there is a textile factory and a sugar factory. These factories were to be established through the efforts of Aleksander Skirmunt. The note goes on to give a physical description of the Porzecz area and the production issues of the weaving factory headed by Aleksander Szupiewski (Source: Tygodnik Illustrowany, Warsaw 1878, Series 3, T:6, p. 261, after: University of Łódź Digital Library).

A modernised reading of the text

Porzecze

This town, located in the Minsk province, Pinsk district, has had a factory since 1837. Let us start with the Germans. They occupy the last but one of the larger salons of the exhibition; and since, as they explained, their artistic exhibition (as they do not have an industrial one) was decided quite late and is not very large, they remove themselves from any competition for prizes. Therefore, although there is no shortage of beautiful paintings and many exhibitors hold important positions both at home and abroad, they have not been awarded prizes. There is a factory for fine cloth and other fabrics, and since 1860 a sugar factory with a refinery. Both of these industrial plants were established thanks to the efforts of the late Alexander Skirmunt.

Established at first on a smaller scale, today they are among the most important in the Lithuanian governorates, and in terms of equipment and products they can compete with the best in the country. Poreče, on the right bank of the Yaselda River, surrounded by oak groves, with a view of vast marshes on the other bank, can be counted among the most beautiful places in Pinsk. The factory itself, owned by the Skirmunt brothers, with its associated residential buildings, warehouses, stables and gardens, occupies up to 35 Lithuanian morgas of space. The extensive, beautifully and meticulously maintained buildings, beaten paths and flower gardens with a water feature, exemplary cleanliness on the inside, represent a sight that is still quite rare, unfortunately, in our country.

The cloth factory is housed in two larger buildings; in one of these, a 30-horse standing steam engine moves the appretory and the mills; in the other, a 60-horse horizontal steam engine of the latest design ("Sulzer" patent) runs the spinning and the workshops; the dyeing plant is housed in the third building. The spinning mill has 10 assortments, while the weaving mill has one hundred workshops, exclusively machine. Up to 5,000 boxes of wool, mainly Lithuanian, are processed at the factory. Dye cones are also used from local production, supplied by the porzek economy. The factory is headed by Aleksander Szupiewski, who has worked continuously at the factory since the 1930s, first as a dyer, then simultaneously as chairman director.

The factory's foremen are all nationals, so Porzecz's cloth industry stands on its own merits. Products from Porzecz are distinguished by the goodness of their wool, durability and finish; they are also very much in demand and the factory cannot even half live up to the numerous orders. The annual production reaches the value of 300,000 r. and the cloth is made by 400 workers of both sexes. In the event of illness, medical care is provided free of charge at the local hospital. Minor children can receive education in the folk school, which exists in the neighbouring village. A savings and advances company is soon to be established on the initiative of the owners.

The sugar factory is housed in a large brick building right by the river, amidst a grove of oak trees. It processes 500 crowns of beet per day in the diffusion method and employs 200 workers during the beet campaign. Sales are mostly local, and in Moscow. A machine is currently being set up for the production of refined sugar in cubes. The director is Mr Stegemann, born in the Kingdom of Poland. There is a mechanical workshop for repairing the machinery used in both factories. Both in the cloth factory and in the sugar factory, several young people ("apprentices") are practically apprenticed, receiving a table and a flat free of charge from the owners.