Page:Historical and Biographical Annals of Columbia and Montour Counties, Pennsylvania, Containing a Concise History of the Two Counties and a Genealogical and Biographical Record of Representative Families.pdf/381

This page needs to be proofread.

COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES of the S ta le . The erecting shop and the foundry a r c complete in every re.spcct. The m achinery in the machine shop and part of the p atte rn shop is operated b)' steam engines, the balance of the plant being operated by electricity, with individual motors on the saw and the planer and in the erecting shop. T h e c la ss o f material m anufactured includes building fron ts, fire escapes, elevator inrlos* urcs, sta irw a y s, grills, window guards and bank inclostircs. all of the most delicate filigree work in w rouglit iron. .Ml th is requires the services o f fourteen pattern m akers o f exceptional skill. T he pat­ terns a r c made in wood, alumimim. brass, plaster and w ax. In the draftin g room arc live d ra ftsm e n : lifty men arc employe<l in the erecting room; sixty in the fo u n d ry: twenty in the m achine shop: as well as a number of heljicrs in the shipping and packing depart­ ments. T h e officers of the company are : T . .1. Price, president and treasu rer; C. K. Haupt, vice p rcsiilen t; Irvin X'annan. general man­ a g e r; C . L. Foulk. assistant m anager; E . W. Peters, secretary; Paul X’annan. electrical engineer. T h e forem en of the departments a rc; .Albert Behrens, erecting departm ent; W . K . Lunger, machine shop; A rthu r H . Foulk. pattern shop: C. K . H aupt. fo u n d ry; George Lunger, ship­ ping department. //otiY & Sam uel

335

are both new enterprises, but seem to promise saiisLvctory results in the near future. S ilk M ill In >894 M r. F . Q. H artnun came to Dan­ ville, looking fo r a site u^ion which to erect silk mills. T h e situation m Danville pleased him and in 1896 he commenced the erection o f mills on W ater street on the site of the old tannery. The mill w as al>out completed when a cyclone damaged it to the extent o f over eight thousand dollars. H ow ever, this simply caused a delay, and in Jan u ary, 1897. the machincr)' w'as first started. 'The building is a brick 50 by 1 1 5 feel, two stories in height, and was erected by F . Q. Hart'man. Incorporated. .At the time of the first o])eration there were 65 employees, and they controlled 6,000 spindles in the produc­ tion o f silk yarn from the raw material, im­ ported from Italy, China and Japan. T he mill w as called Mnenvoloton. from its situation o]>]K)site the Blue H ill on the south side of the Susquehanna river. During the year i8i>7 the number o f employees had in­ creased to 12 0 and the numlKr o f spindles to 2(>,ooo. In the follow ing year it l>ccame neces­ sary In build an addition 5 3 by 145 feet, three stories in height, to accommodate the increas­ ing tn u le; and the muiiber o f employees was increased to 300. T he Ontiora Silk M ill w as built on the Bloom road, just outsi<ic of the Imrough line, ill 19 12 . It is a one-story brick building 53 by 100 feet. Fifty-five hands are employed and Ih e jiayroll fo r the year averages .ilmut $20,000. The annex at Riverside w as built in 1907 ami employs about 1 1 0 hands. In 19 14 M r. Hartm an severed his connection with these milts .and sold his interest to Jouvoud & Lavigne. o f New Y o rk . M r. / . F . 1.avignc has moved to Danville and expects to give his jicrsonal attention to the management of these works.

F ra n k P . H ow e and Fran k Samuel have o{>cratcd in Danville for some twenty years, m anufacturing low phosphorus muck liar. U n ­ til within the last year their operations were carried on in the puddle mill of the Danville Structural Tubing Company. W ithin the Ust year they purchased, from Thom as J . Price, trustee, a portion of the property form erly of the Danville Bessemer Company, and have erected a large mill o f ihcir own. T h is mill is built on the site of the old Danville Furnaces K nitting M ills and is a modem puddle mill o f structural steel. Fight large fumacc.s have been installed, m ak­ T he Susquehanna Knitting M ill w as a ing this the most modem and complete steel branch of the W yom ing N'allcy Knitting Mill, plant in this part of the State. Bloomsburg. F a., o f which Thom as W est was the owner, and was located on W est Centre T w o new industries have, within a short time, been started in the old stone grist mill street, in the old Flat schoolhouse. Clark Kern on Church street. One is the M etal Fn<;iftccr- w as local manager. T his mill contained 32 in j Com pany, which m anufactures corrugate<l knitting machines o f modern make and the pipe; and the other is the M ela l & M aehine product was silk hosiery. T he mill w as a fte r­ Company, which manufactures oil cups. These w ards rcmovc<l.