COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES INDUSTRIES
One of the first of the industries of the town was a nail factory, operated by Thom as H art man, the pro<luct being handmade. In 1845 Fincher & Thonuis, ow ners of the Esther fu r nace. erected the " r c n n ” furnace near the mill o f Chri.stian Brobst, a short distance above C ataw issa. on the crcck. T h ey r.m it for a short time only, the cost o f transport ing the o re and coal being prohibitive, in competition with the fu n u c c s at D anville and Bloom sburg. T h ere w as also the foundry o f O. D. L c ib & Co., which made a s|>ecialty o f '■ten-pLite stoves. Owen and G eorge Hughes were its last ow ners. The larg e st m anufacturing cstablisliment in Catawissa w as the paper mill csLiblishcd in 18 11 by B en jam in Sharpless. H e w as a resi dent o f S u n b u ry, and while on a visit to a brother in O hio became acquainted with the process o f paperm aking. R eturning to C ata wissa he form ed a partnership with Jo h n C lark, bought the old Shoem aker gristm ill and altered it to accom m odate the new industry. T he ancient han<l process w as used, the raw mate rial being rags. .After passing through d if ferent h an d s and being greatly enlarged the mill cam e into the possession o f W illiam McKclxty, an d w as operated by his son. C . W. M cK elvy. A t the death of the proprietor the plant w as managed hy E . R . Guie, fo r the estate, until it w as sold to E d w ard and John M cCready. o f Philadelphia. It w as destroyed by fire in i8 8 a, but soon rebuilt fo r the exclu s ive m an u factu re o f wood pulp. M cCready Brothers met with financial reverses and the plant w as sold at sheriff's sale to a syndicate, which reorganized it a s the Pcnn.sylvanja Paper Mills in 1900. A fte r three years' o]Kration the mills closed dovsm to install m odem machinery to double the output, hut the new equipment was m ainly experim ental and did not fulfill expectations, so that a fte r an expenditure o f $275,000 the m ills passed into the hands o f a receiver. T h e plant w as then appraised at S396/XX). T h e receiver failed to rehabilitate the mill and at the end o f two vears It w as sold by order o f court to the N ew Y o rk & Pennsyl vania Paper Com pany, ow ners o f five other mills. T h ey dismantled the milt, distributed the machiiierx' am ong other plants, and in 1 9 13 sold the buildings to M rs. Josephine Beektey. A portion of the plant is now u.sed by Clinton E. and Frerlerick R . l>ong a s a m anufactory. They produce the Panam a Canal Puzzle, a sim ply constructed glider fo r children and an ad justable stilt which can ho made to fit almost
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any child. T hese toys they have designed and (xttcntcd them selves, and from a sm all begin ning have built up a trade that covers the entire Union and reaches into some foreign countries. Startin g in 1 9 12 with a smalt workshop, they now have a capacity almost unlimited and em ploy in the busy season sixty hands. T h e Knittle F lou rin g M ills were established in C ataw issa hy Jaco b Berninger more than thirty y e ars ago, since which time they have passed into the hands o f D . F . K nittle. a prom inent citizen of the town. Besides the milling business he has a large grain elevator, with a capacity o f fix'e thousand bushels, and deals in coal, lum lK r and builders' supplies. O ne of the valuable industries o f Cataw issa is the marble and granite w orks o f H. T . Young & Sons, where n io ik rii com pressed a ir machin ery and methods arc u.sc<l to design and com plete many of the most artistic monuments and tombstones to be found in the cemeteries of the county. T he Cataw issa K nitting M ills were incor porated in 1 9 1 1, with a capital o f $20,000, stock being held by variou s parties. T he product w as several varieties o f cotton stockings. T he officers w e re : T . E . H oover, president; Luther E yer, vice president; C. P.!*fahler, treasu rer; W . S. Laulxach, secretary and m anager; II. S. Grox'c, C . J . Fish er, M . J . Grim es, directors. T h e enterprise failed in 1 9 1 3 and the plant w as closed. In 19 14 the plant w as Icasctl from the C ata w issa Knitting M ilts Com pany by H arry W est, o f Plym outh. Pa., fo r a term o f five years. 1le installed thirty-five additional machines for the m anufacture o f half-hosc, thus doubling the ca|>acity of the w orks, and rc-cmploye<l most of the old operatives. M r. W est is a son of Thom as W'est. who made the town o f P ly mouth noted fo r its production o f knitted goods. T h e S h o e F actory T h e most imfiortant industrial plant now in C ataw issa is the A ll W ear shoe factory. T he m anufacture o f shoes w as established in 18K9 by a company composed o f W .!•'. Cream er, H . B . Anthony and C harles 0 . Brow n, the first named a native o f C ataw issa and the lat ter o f Camden. X . J . A building w as erected on land o f Fran k L . Shnman and machinery installed. From eighty to one hundred and twenty employees were occupied constantly in the p i^ u c tio n o f ladies’, m isses' and children’s shoes to the number o f from five hundred to seven hundre«l pairs a day. T h e 1897 panic
