COLUM BIA A N D M ONTOUR COUNTIES signs o f g ro w th and improvement. Previous to that time the town had been sixteen miles from a railroad and the only public conveyance was the stage to Bloom sburg, the trip taking some hours o v e r rather poor roads. A fte r the railroad opened up communication a planing mill was established by W esley & Sm ith (later R. T . Sm ith Sc S o n ), the flouring m ills o f John J . M ather w ere built, and 'many o f Ihe small mdustries g rew into large establishments. .Among the more recent industries started in Benton which thrived, w as the shirt factory which J . D . Sallad c established in 1907 and which w a s sw ept out o f existence by one of the fires which raged in 19 13 . The Ucnton M ill w as converted into a flour ing mill in the early seventies, having previ ously been operated as a planing m ill by Jo h n Chauin. T h e owner since then has been John J . M ather, who has also served for tw elve years as Benton's postmaster. T h e mil] is o f four stories, fille d with the E llis system o f roller milling, lias five double stands o f rolls, steel attrition m ills fo r grinding chops, and a daily capacity o f t5o barrels o f buckwheat an<l Oo barrels o f wheat flour. T h e elevator capacity is 10.000 bushels o f grain. T h e plant is ojicratcd by th ree turbines, with w ater from a dam of concrete, built in 1908 at a cost o f $2,000. A steam plant is also in o]>cration during low stages o f w ater. The Benton Sh irt F acto ry w as opened in 1907 by J . D . Sallad c, an<l w as burned out in 1913. T h e present proprietor, W . W . Sm ith, has built an e w, and is doing a successful busi ness, em ploying thirty-five girls and prrxlucing a fine g rad e o f dress shirts fo r men. The p l.v in g mill o f R . T . Sm ith & Son w as one of the largest In the county wht*n it w as destroyed by the fire o f >913. T h e firm lias partially rebuilt and has a rapidly grow ing business. The Ix>ng W ation W o rk s came from N ew Columbus. Luzerne county, where they had been established in 1874 by O . M . and J . F . Long, and located in 1909 in a buikling licside the raiiroa«l tracks, on M arket street. Benton. The firm w as cnilw rrasscd badly by the failure of the R o h r M cH en ry D istilling Com pany, but has now recovered a m easure o f prosperity. The present proprietor is Stanley P . -ong. T h e works arc second in size lo any in the count)', that o f Jo h n E v e s o f M illville leading. T h e product is solely farm wagons, and all of the work in wood and iron is done in Renton, the timber even being a product o f this section. The wagons a rc in many respects superior to those o f larger factories, all of the woodwork
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being bent, instead o f sawn. T h e establish ment is valued at $to ,o o o and on an average tw elve workmen are continuously employed. T h e Benton Sto re Com pany has one of the leading establishments in (his part of the county, occupying a large brick building in the center of the town. T h e officers a r c : K . T . Sm ith, T . C. Sm ith, W . A . B u tt, P . G . Shultz. O ther inercliants o f Benton a r c : J . W . Belles, 11. W . Biddle, H . W . Belles, C . L . D avis, F . G . Dodson, C . A . Edson, C . J . H ess, H ess & Sm ith, M ax H err, K e lle r & Conner, B . G . K eller, K a y B . K eeler, Elw ood Knouse, Peimington & Seely, F red W ood, Jo h n F . W'rigbt, (ieo rgc Y ost. T h e Benton M anufacturin g Com pany and W . P . K lin e are m anufacturers o f fru it and vegetable crates and do a large business. Banking T h e Columbia County N ational Bank, B en ton, w as chartered in {902 with Jo h n G . M c H en ry, president; and J . Boyd M cH en ry, Alfrc<l M cH en ry, C harles A . W esley, Russell K ariis, C. F . Seely, G eorge B . H um m er, W . L . Y o rk s, directors. T h e capital w as placed at $25,000. T h e liank occupied a fram e building next to the site of the present post office, until the fire o f 19 10 . T h e present attractive and modern brick building w as erected immediately a fte r the fire, and cost, including the interior furnishings, over $16,0 00 . T b e bank has de posits at present o f o ver $t54 ,o o o and a targe suiqilus fund. T lic officers a r c : A . R . Pen nington, presiden t; S . B . K arn s. ca sh ie r; A . R. Pennington, C. F . Seely, H . II. K lin e, directors. IV a ten i’o rks and F ir e Protection O w ing to the num erous fires in Benton the townsiieople have been aroused to the neces sity fo r adequate protection. Som e years before the fires occurred the charter of the present w ater com pany w as .secured, in order to prevent speculators preying on the town by means o f "fa k e ” organizations. .After a time the charter w as tran sferred to a company which proposed to drill a well and lay pipes in the town. T h is com pany, how ever, w as with out sufficient funds and did not carry out the contract. T h e wooden pii>cs brought on the ground w ere sold by the constable in 19 14 to sa tisfy a judgm ent. F in ally the people took the m atter into their own hands and formed a company under the old charter to supply both w ater and light to the town. T h is com pany, the Benton W ater Supply Com pany, is build
