Transcribed by Marjorie Tittle rtittle@wf.net for the Dauphin County Pennsylvania Genealogy Transcription Project
Date of transcription: 13 Oct 2000
Copyright ã 2000 – All Rights Reserved: Use, duplication or reproduction for profit or presentation by any person or organization is strictly prohibited.

CHAPTER VIII.

Some of the Industries of the City and County.

A part from Harrisburg being the Capital City of Pennsylvania, there is that which exists within it, and the surrounding towns, to make it of far greater importance - a city of industry. From its earliest existence its location has been such as to invite capital, and it embraces within its industrial establishments, manufactories which in their great success show the financial and commercial progress of the city and county more than anything else. The local situation has always been favorable for healthfulness and a desirable place for residence, while the abundant water supply, the railroad facilities, and whatever else is necessary for building up a large manufacturing metropolis is found within the county of Dauphin. The markets are unexcelled; the fertile islands, and plateau along the river, with the beautiful and productive valley lying between the North and South mountains, furnish supplies more than would be needed for a population ten times greater than now within the limits of the county. Of the character of the manufacturing enterprises it is needless to speak, and yet, at the same time it is necessary to show what has been accomplished within a few brief decades.

Beginning with the Pennsylvania Steel Company, which was organized in June 1865, the plant of which now covers 160 acres, one stands in wonderment at the marvelous strides made in the mechanical world. The construction of the steel plant at what is not the city of Steelton (for city it ought to be termed), was commenced in December, 1865, and was ready for operation in May 1867. On the 25th day of the same month, the first steel ingots ever produced in Pennsylvania by the Bessemer process were made. The rail mill of the Pennsylvania Steel Company went into operation May 15, 1868. The importance to the railroad interests of the country, and to all consumers, of the successful commencement, at these works, of the manufacture of steel rails has been very great, and probably no one can appreciate the value to the country of the business which began at these works at that date. During the first years of operation the steel ingots were hammered before rolling in the Forge Department, where they had what was at that time the largest steam hammer in the country. The practice of hammering was continued until December 1876, when the present Blooming Mill No.1 went into operation. Since that time the steam hammers have been employed in the production of forgings and other shapes of special steel. In 1875 the company increased its capacity for the production of steel by erecting an open hearth furnace plant. The original open hearth plant was later replaced by one of greatly increased capacity, and the capacity has been increased several times by the addition of new furnaces. The original Bessemer plant, known now as Bessemer No.1, had two converters, the nominal capacity of five tons each. In 1881 an additional Bessemer plant, known as Bessemer No.2, was completed and put in operation. This plant has three converters of ten tons capacity each, and was arranged and constructed on plans which secured great facilities for handling material and products, and enabled it to develop great capacity of production. The company commenced the erection of blast furnaces in 1872 to produce pig iron for their own purposes, and completed No.1 furnace in 1873, No.2 furnace in 1875, No.3 furnace in 1883, and No.4 furnace in 1884. These furnaces are of highly approved designs, with the Whitwell patent hot blast stoves, and have produced outputs of iron comparing favorably with any blast furnaces in the country. Rolling mills for making steel bars of the various sizes and shapes, known as "merchant bars," were erected in 1882, the plant taking the name of "merchant mill," the product of the same consisting of merchant bars, billets, rail splices, angles and various other shapes. This plant has been enlarged by the billet mill building, with a large amount of machinery used in finishing the product. In 1885 there was added to the Forge Department a train of rolls of the type known as “universal,” driven by a powerful reversing engine, for rolling special qualities of steel into slabs and blooms of dimensions required by manufacturers of plates, etc., and this branch of manufacture has been fully employed. In 1886 an additional mill, called Blooming Mill No.2,was erected for the preparation of special steel required by manufacturers of nails, etc., and has also produced a great product. The manufacture of switches, steel rail frogs, crossings, etc., commenced in 1872, and this branch having met with great encouragement from railway managers in various parts of the country, has been enlarged from time to time.

A substantial and handsome brick building 478 feet long and 78 feet wide was erected in 1882, replacing the building previously used for this business, and still greater enlargement having become expedient there was erected a very large addition, consisting principally of one building 210 feet long, 125 wide; another building 144 feet long and 35 feet wide. These building have been fitted with the most approved appliances for the production of frogs, switches, &c., and the business has grown to very large proportions, conducted under the title of Frog, Switch and Signal Department. In 1893 a slabbing mill for rolling slabs, plates and other structural material was erected, still further adding to the immensity of the plant. The company next organized a department for the manufacture of bridges, viaducts, roofs, buildings and other constructions, under the title of Bridge and Construction Department. Several large buildings have been erected for the purposes of this department, and it has entered upon a very busy career. Departments for the manufacture and removal of various appliances were found necessary at n early day in the history of the company, and a foundry, machine shop and smith sop went into operation in 1867. These were enlarged from time to time with substantial buildings, which at the present day rank amongst the largest plants of this description in the State, with building appliances in all manner of machine tools and other appliances for the reproduction and repairs of the heaviest class of machinery used in the works. In 1867 the company’s yearly product of steel ingots was 1,005 tons; in 1890 it was 304,488 tons. This gives some idea of the company’s growth. In 1890 the product of one day was nearly equal to the whole year’s product of 1867. The total product of steel ingots from 1867 to 1895 was four millions, twenty-six thousand, eight hundred and four tons!! Think of this, if you can, and pause while you think. There was a decrease in the output of the 1891, 1892, 1893 and 1894, owing in part to the general business depression and also to a change in the character of the product. A great proportion of the rails now manufactured are for electric roads, and are much more difficult to make than for steam roads. The immense acreage of the company lies between the Pennsylvania railroad and the Pennsylvania canal. The length of the plot is over a mile and a quarter, and the view presented to those passing in the trains of the Pennsylvania road is one of decided and unusual interest. The tremendous quantities of metal to be seen from the train invariably attract attention, and persons frequently imagine the metal to be held for speculation, until they learn that the monthly requirements are twenty-five to thirty thousand tons. The movement of the vast amount of material daily required in the works is a matter requiring extensive facilities, and the company has over twenty locomotives of various sizes plying upon tracks equal in extent of upwards of thirty miles of single track railroad. The freight cars received and dispatched in some weeks exceed 2,500 or 400 per day. The pay roll of the company embraces five thousand names, and the annual disbursements for labor is nearly two million dollars. There are over 20,000 persons who have their support directly from this company’s disbursements for labor alone, and when we consider the disbursements for materials, supplies, &c. and for the freight paid to the railroad companies carrying the materials, &c., and endeavor to estimate the extent to which the material interests of those in various ways related to or in some manner dependent on the successful prosecution of this immense enterprise, we may safely estimate the importance of this company’s affairs affects a population equal to that of many congressional districts. It was computed by a recognized statistician that the railroad tonnage due to the transportation of the materials and products of a similar and less important establishment for a year represented more ton miles than the business of the great Stat of Texas for a corresponding period.

The works are reached by the tracks of the Pennsylvania railroad, also by the tracks of the Philadelphia & Reading railroad. This industry has given birth to a city. Steelton is the outgrowth of the Pennsylvania Steel Company. Twenty-one years ago the sit of the town was nothing but farm lands, to-day it is a bustling community that holds within her corporate limits several other large industries that would reflect credit upon any metropolis in the country, and which are known from the Atlantic to the Pacific on account of their various products. Steelton is a well built city, mostly of brick, it is also well paved and is equipped with gas, water, electric light and electric railway accommodations. The Steelton high school is one of the best structures in the State; there are palatial residences and comforts, and all the stores and commercial interests are thriving. Samuel Morse Felton founded the enterprise and organized the Pennsylvania Steel Company. He was born July 17, 1809. At the age of fourteen he was employed as a clerk in a grocery store in Boston, and while there fitted himself for Harvard College, from which he graduated in 1834, beginning the study of law. For the benefit of his health he soon adopted the profession of civil engineering, and in 1838 engaged in railroad construction in New England. In 1845 he became superintendent, and in 1871 he became president of the Philadelphia, Wilmington & Baltimore railroad, and removed to Philadelphia. Paralysis compelled him to retire in 1865 for a short time. After several months of rest, in connection with J. Edgar Thomson, president of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, and others, he took up the manufacture of steel rails, and the result was the organization of the Pennsylvania Steel Company. Mr. Felton was elected president, and held that position during his life. He died January 24, 1889, aged nearly 80 years. He was a man of marvelous executive ability, and was deeply interested in the welfare of the company. His genial presence and wise counsel have been greatly missed by former associates, and his memory is highly honored by all who knew him in public and private life. The Pennsylvania Steel Company was fortunate in securing, in 1874, the services of Maj. Luther S. Bent as superintendent. From the date of his engagement by the company the history of the same has been one of continual progress and great prosperity. The devotion with which he managed the multidinous affairs of the company has never been exceeded in any similar enterprise. By his grasp of its affairs, and his foresight, he has been enabled to conduct it with a success, the fame of which is world-wide. During the latter years of Mr. Felton’s life, Major Bent assumed the position of general manager and vice-president, and upon the death of Mr. Felton was chosen president and continued such until 1896 when Mr. Edgar C. Felton, son of the first president, was elected. The general superintendent of the company is Mr. Harry H. Campbell, who has charge of the practical affairs of the manufacturing departments, and upon his shoulders rests a great responsibility, which he assumes with confidence born of success. The president and general manager of the company, Mr. Edgar C. Felton, is the guiding spirit of the company’s affairs, a born executive, a master of intricate detail and is possessed of that spirit of public progress so essential to the commercial success of all communities.

The Chesapeake Nail Works, Central Iron Works, and the Universal Mill, under practically one management, come next in industrial productiveness. The plant of the Chesapeake Nail Works was erected on the present site in the 1866, by Mr. Charles L. Bailey. Twice since the building was erected misfortune has fallen upon it. In 1878 a terrible explosion occurred, partially demolishing the machinery and buildings. It was subsequently rebuilt, only to undergo the same misfortune by fire in September 1882. Mr. Bailey, not disheartened, rebuilt the plant on a larger scale. Under one immense roof are now to be found a puddle mill, plate mill, nail factory, blacksmith department, etc. The various buildings of this plant cover a space of about four acres. The company employs 400 men, skilled and experienced in the manufacture of iron and steel nails and tack plates. There are 103 nail machines in operation, and an immense warehouse, capable of storing 16,000 kegs of nails.

The Central Iron Works has long enjoyed a reputation for superior quality of iron and steel boiler plates. Both are used all over the country in the largest boiler shops, bridge building and locomotive works, and by consumers generally. Their plant is one of the largest and most complete in the United States. It consists of two three-high plate mills, with all the necessary adjuncts, of the most modern construction, of large capacity (25,000 tons annually) and capable of rolling almost any sized plates required. They have also added a new universal mill, the largest and most complete of its kind, capable of making plates 42 inches wide and of any lengths and thickness required. Capacity, about 50,000 tons annually. Their business extends to all parts of the United States, from Maine to California. The mills cover several acres, the universal mill being 200 feet wide by 400 feet long, the entire building being made of steel. The plant is equipped throughout with machinery of the latest modern construction, having its own electric light and power plant for lighting and running its large electric cranes. The mill is second to none, and has the reputation of manufacturing the best of all kinds of iron and steel used in the construction of bridges, buildings, &c.

The Universal Mill was built in the year 1892, it being the largest and best equipped mill of its kind in the country. The Universal Mill is engaged in the manufacture of all kinds of bridge construction iron and steel, which is shipped to all parts of the United States from Maine to San Francisco. Large shipments are made to the New England States, where the demand for the product of the mill is steadily increasing. This concern has just completed an immense contract for a firm in San Francisco, which will go down in the annals of commercial history as an example of progress in mechanical skill seldom, if ever, equaled. The Universal Mill occupies a building 150 feet wide and 500 feet long, the roof of the same being entirely of iron. The capacity of the mill is 200 tons of finished steel per day. The plant is equipped throughout with machinery of the latest improved kind, capable of rolling out plates 100 feet long, 42 inches wide, in gauge from three-eighths of an inch to one inch in thickness. The Universal Mill has turned out 256 tons of finished steel in twenty-four hours. This is wonderfully quick work, considering the immense weight. The plant has its own electric motors and dynamos, which furnish power for running large electric cranes and manufacturing electric light for themselves, the Central Iron Works and the Chesapeake Nail Works. The mill is also equipped with two immense cranes having a capacity of lifting twenty tons and carrying the same to any place in the mill - to the distance of 500 feet if necessary. Besides electric and hydraulic cranes used for lifting and unloading steel slabs, ingots, cars, etc., there are a number of overhead travel cranes with 36 and 65 feet spans. In this department are two large Todd reversing engines 30x60, also pumps used for hydraulic pressure, which can give 900 pounds pressure to the square inch. In the electrical department, besides test motors, there is a battery of ten boilers of 100-horse power each. The mill is second to none, and has the reputation of manufacturing the best and all kinds of iron and steel used in the construction of bridges, etc.

The Harrisburg Foundry and Machine Works was incorporated in 1891, previous to which time it was the Harrisburg Car Manufacturing Company. The main building, the machine shop, pattern shop, yards, offices, etc., cover between three and four acres. The annual output of the concern is large, and the pay roll presents a formidable array of figures. The number of the employed varies from three hundred to four hundred, all of whom are skilled mechanics, drawing salaries that are in keeping with their skill. A large portion of the trade of the company is handled by New York, Philadelphia and Boston concerns. Among the many large contracts on hand may be mentioned one for two eight-hundred horsepower engines at Wilkes-Barre, Pa. They have just completed a large contract for the Soldiers’ Orphans’ Home at Scotland, Pa., and are also engaged upon a large contract for the Philadelphia, Castle Rock & West Chester Electric Railway. The company manufactures the Weitmeyer Patent Furnace, which saves from 15 to 20 per cent. in fuel. This furnace is to be seen under hundreds of boilers. The scope of the work of this concern is so great that a detailed list of its many products would be too long for a single perusal, and a few will be mentioned. The company is prepared, with endless beautifully executed cuts and engravings, to supply all information of whatsoever kind regarding their goods and correspondence is solicited. A superb set of cuts, executed upon the finest calendered card paper will be sent upon application to consulting engineers, architects, electricians and purchasers. They are pleased to submit them as a suggestion of the most advanced work in the line of automatic engines, simple and compound, and especially their happy adaptation to direct-connected electric generators. A large number of the Harrisburg Ide and Ideal engines, direct-connected, are now in operation - a method that will probably prevail in the near future for all first-class installations. Owing to the large variety of sizes of Ide and Ideal, or side and center-crank engines, the Harrisburg Foundry and Machine Works is prepared to meet all requirements for electric light and railway work, direct-connected or otherwise. In all the conventional and essential characteristics of automatic regulation, stability, good workmanship and economy, these engines are not excelled. In addition to the positive and constant lubrication of the Ideal engine, it enjoys the unique distinction of being the only self-oiling horizontal steam engine in the world - self-oiling without the parts being submerged in oil, without waste or throwing oil either upon the floor or belts, or if direct-connected, into the generator and its ability to do uninterrupted work, absolutely noiseless in operation and economy in oil are all features not obtained in any other engine. In this respect the Ideal has no peer and recognizes no competitor. Over 1,500 Ide and Ideal engines are in use, aggregating over 200,000 horsepower! Catalogues will be furnished upon application for simple and compound engines, boilers, etc. The Harrisburg Foundry and Machine Works has an endless variety of beautifully printed, engraved and half-tone matter, all of which is to enlighten the trade. This concern has a printed list of over twenty feet long, in nonpareil type and unleaded, which contains the names of the firms that have purchased Ide and Ideal engines, and includes the West Indies, Brazil, France, Sweden, Canada, British Columbia, Africa, etc. It is a splendid enterprise, and we are pleased to announce the fact to the commercial world. The company does steam engineering in all its branches and contracts for complete steam power plants, boilers, tanks, stacks, etc., and is the sole manufacturer of the Harrisburg Double Engine Steam Road Roller. Harrisburg may well be proud of such an industry.

The oldest of the large industrial establishments is that of the W. O. Hickok Manufacturing Company. This company was established in the year 1848 by the late W. O. Hickock, and no other concern in Pennsylvania has given such a unique representation as this company, whose manufactures are shipped to all parts of the civilized world. The plant of this industry covers nearly two acres of ground, requiring over 40,000 square feet of floor space in order to meet all the requirements of their increasing trade. The company is engaged in the wholesale manufacture of paper ruling machines, Jones’ signature presses, Hickok roller backers, Hickok knife grinding machine, Hickok book sawing machine, Hickok gilding presses, Hickok standing presses, Hickok table shears, Hickok paging machine, Hickok numbering machine, Hickok round cover cutter, Hickok rotary board cutter, etc., bookbinders’ machinery, full bindery outfits and so on until the list of the vastly useful and particularly well-made products of the company seem interminable. During the past three years the company had a large number of orders from the Old World. The trade in this country embraces every town and city of prominence from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from Maine to the Gulf. The machine department building, foundry, offices, etc., present an impressive view of commercial stability and progress and, as was noted before, cover one and a half acres of ground. The machine department, on North street, is 50x150 feet in dimensions. The basement is half used for roughing out the lumber used, and half for the storage of iron pipe and bar irons; the first floor as the machine department; second floor wood working department; third floor painting, varnishing and storage. The first floor is used as a machine works, and the second is a store room, etc. The company employs over a hundred people, all experienced in their various departments, who are engaged the year through. The capital stock of the company is $250,000. and the office is a scene of busy people transacting the business of a large and particularly successful company. W. O. Hickok, the founder of the concern, and later its president after its incorporation, was for a long time an invalid, died in 1891, at quite an advanced age, deeply mourned by the many who had become acquainted with his sympathetic personality and his broad views of humanity. Before he passed away he made a stipulation in his will to the effect that he wanted the W. O. Hickok Manufacturing Company to maintain its present firm title so long as the business shall exist. In the machinery building all the works and machines are operated by electric power, which gives better results than steam. The plant is also lighted throughout by means of electricity.

The Lalance and Grosjean Manufacturing Company erected the rolling mill department of their giant enterprise in Harrisburg, in 1892. With imposing ceremonies the establishment was opened in February, 1893. The Harrisburg plant covers over four acres of ground. The first structure erected was 220 by 280 feet, but so grand was the success of the undertaking that an annex 80 by 160 feet was soon added, this making the entire plant 288 by 380 feet. All work is now executed under one roof, but in different departments and under a splendidly systematic method. A bar mill, sheet mill, tin mill and appointments, a 5,000 pound steam hammer, two run-out fires, four charcoal fires, immense pair of bar shears, three double shears, three large engines and a battery of ten boilers of 125,000 horse power and which consumes 175 tons of coal per week, are a few of the expensive equipments of the plant. The concern gives employment to over 225 hands, which, using the accepted average, makes 1,125 people who derive their subsistence from the products of the enterprise. Concerns of this character are of great moment to the local retail trade and are of paramount importance to the local property owners. The company manufactures tin plate and “black plate,” which is shipped to their immense plant at Woodhaven, L.I., where they employ from 1,400 to 1,800 people, and where tin plate and black steel iron sheets are converted into all kinds of cooking utensils, and which are sold all over the civilized world. The output of the company is tremendous and the names of Lalance and Grosjean are synonyms of progress in every household where order and neatness reign.

The Harrisburg Manufacturing Company was organized in 1889 and incorporated June 10, 1895, the capital stock being $100,000. The manufacture of boilers for steam and hot water, heating and for power is the business of the concern, the specialties being star water tube, volcano water tube, star gas burner, horizontal tubular and vertical boilers. The company’s boilers are applied to all manner and styles of engines, and have many points of vantage that can best be understood by perusing its catalogue, which gives in detail what must necessarily be omitted in a comparatively brief article. The Harrisburg Manufacturing and Boiler Company has acquired a plant equipped throughout with the most modern tools and appliances of such general perfection that they are unsurpassed either as to facilities or the character of their product. The company is specially equipped for the manufacture of complete and perfect boilers of the styles mentioned before. The boilers of this company have been brought up to the very highest standard, both as to workmanship and efficiency, and the company respectfully invites careful consideration of all claims in this direction. Knowing that their efforts have been recognized and appreciated in the past, it is the aim of the company to maintain the highest standard and to excel, if possible, the well-established character of their product, keeping, in all respects, alive to the spirit and requirements of the times. The trade of the company extends throughout the length and breadth of the land, and their boilers are in great favor with all who have used them - the rapidity with which they gather steam, their safety and their tremendous powers of resistance in the mater of pressure and their almost indestructible qualities have made them prime favorites in the manufactories of America. The quality of boiler iron used is tested by the latest recognized and approved methods, and when in the shape of the finished product is as near perfection as human skill, ingenuity and money can bring it. The company employs sixty people in the conduct of their business, and occupies a very large three-story brick structure, which contains the office, foundry and general work rooms. The firm also makes a specialty of general repairs, and in this line probably do more than any similar concern in this entire section of the State.

The Paxton and Steelton Flouring Mill Company was incorporated in February, 1891, for the manufacture of high grade flour, assuming control at once, through a lease for a term of years, of the Paxton Flour Mills, of Harrisburg, and the Steelton Flouring Mills, of Steelton. The Paxton Mills, owned by the estate of James McCormick, dec’d, in 1862 succeeded the Eagle Mills, and increased its daily capacity from fifteen barrels to one hundred barrels. In 1879 the old frame building was torn down, and the present large stone mill erected and fitted out for the burr process, with a daily capacity of 350 barrels, but in 1880 the mill was changed from the old burr process to the new roller process - being the first mill in Pennsylvania to adopt the roller process - with a daily capacity of 500 barrels; since then the capacity has been gradually increased to meet the demands of its trade, until it is now 750 barrels. The leading brands of this mill are “Paxton” and “Hoffer’s Best”, which have been on the local markets since 1868. The entire plant at the Paxton Mills consists of engine and boiler house, 40x40, and mill proper, 64x85m five stories high, warehouse, 64x85, one story high, all built of heavy limestone; elevator, six stories high, built of stone and slated frame, with capacity of 80,000 bushels. Also a cooper plant, consisting of a stock house, 50x120, two stories high; two barrel houses with a storage capacity of 15,000 barrels; a factory 30x120, fitted up with the most improved machinery, with a daily capacity of 1,500 barrels. The Steelton Mill was built in 1882, by The Steelton Flouring Mills Company, fitted up with a full roller process, with a daily capacity of 500 barrels, but has since been increased to 750 barrels. The leading brands of this mill for local trade are “Hercules,” “Pearl,” and “Stella,” and for export, “Crystal,” which have been on the market since 1883. The entire plant of the Steelton Mill consists of a brick engine and boiler house, 54x62, brick mill building, 62x74, five stories high, one brick warehouse, 50x78, three stories high, and one warehouse built of frame and corrugated iron, 34x120, one-story high, one slated-frame elevator, 40x62, five stories high, and cooper building, now used for barrel storage, with a capacity for 10,000 barrels. In its various departments this company employs 150 men.

In 1885 the Boll Brothers Manufacturing Company established its enterprise, and a company incorporated in 1893. For eight years it had been known as the Harrisburg Woven Wire Mattress Company. Its authorized capital was $100,000. The company occupies a splendid five-story brick building with dimensions 40x180 feet, which is equipped throughout with all the latest improved machinery for the special manufacture of their several grades of intricate and beautiful workmanship. There are some seventy people employed, and the representatives on the road cover the New England and Middle and Southern States. There are few thoroughly firs-class, completely stocked furniture concerns in the country that do not handle the splendid goods of Boll Brothers Manufacturing Company. The goods sell themselves; their beauty, solidity and intricate workmanship. There are some seventy people employed, and the representatives on the road cover the New England and Middle and Southern States. There are few thoroughly first-class, completely stocked furniture concerns in the country that do not handle the splendid goods of Boll Brothers Manufacturing Company. The goods sell themselves; their beauty, solidity and intricate workmanship being silently eloquent of the merits of the same. Losses by fire in no way impeded the progress of the company, whose able president, Mr. Charles Boll, seems fitted by nature to surmount difficulties that would discourage most men of his years - he is not yet thirty - and to gather strength from his misfortunes. The building and equipment are models in every particular, the system that has been evolved is perfection itself. The fifth floor of the factory is devoted to a feather purifying department, which is unique and original, being one of the latest and improved processes. The model picking room, on the fourth floor, has a granolithic floor, and is lined with asbestos, thus avoiding any possibility of fire. Here the material is carefully sorted and picked. The latest improved machinery is employed, notably Boll’s cotton curler, which gives the company the exclusive franchise to manufacture curled cotton mattresses. The first floor is devoted to the elegant offices and immense sample room, where a sample of every product of the company is kept to show customers. The managers are all practical men, educated in every detail of the business and all work and material are subjected to their personal inspection and direction. Every brass and iron bedstead, spring mattress , etc., made by the company meets every requirement of the trade, which explains the high appreciation in which dealers and the public hold their goods. The company manufactures only for the wholesale trade.

Reference has already been made to the early development of the Lykens Valley coal regions, and in this connection it is important to refer again to these celebrated mines in the upper end of Dauphin county. The Lykens Valley coal is mined by two coal companies, the Short Mountain of Wiconisco, and the Summit Branch of Williamstown, both collieries now being controlled by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. The two collieries employ over 2,000 men and boys, who are paid on the third Saturday of each month for all work done during the previous month. Thomas M. Williams is superintendent of both collieries. The following table shows the output for the present year, 1896, up to August 15, together with the amount shipped in 1895 to the same day, giving increase and decrease of each colliery:

WEEK YEAR

Short Mountain, 4,794 17 155,332 19

Last year, 4,497 08 116,321 09

_______ _________

Increase, 297 09 39,011 10

Williamstown, 4,925 11 177,603 17

Last year, 6,242 06 214,212 09

_______ _________

Decrease, 1,316 15 36,608 12

Total amount, 9,720 08 332,936 16

Last year, 10,739 14 330,533 18

The Hummelstown Brownstone Company was established in 1867, and the quarries, located about three miles from that enterprising town, have been worked for thirty years past. For the last eighteen years, however, they have been more extensively operated, owing to the change of ownership and the business facilities and enterprise of the new management. The plant consists of a railroad of some three and a-half miles, with extensive sidings, four locomotives and a number of freight and passenger cars. There is a large stone saw mill of thirteen gangs, with a large stonecutter shop, thoroughly equipped with rub wheels and ten stone planers, together with all necessary appliances for doing first-class cut stone work. There are four quarry openings, with some thirty steam hoist derricks, and in prosperous times the number of men employed has amounted to about 600. The capacity of the quarries is practically unlimited, and in the summer season as many as forty cars of stone have been shipped in one day. Perchance no similar quarries in the United States are so thoroughly equipped in every respect with machinery and proper appliances, and these quarries are recognized as amongst the largest in the United States. The building stone taken therefrom is of the most durable character, and the climate does not seem to have any effect upon it. It may be proper to state that Professor Pond, who made an analysis of the brownstone, says that in comparison it is placed among the best , as far as the chemical determination of the constituents is capable of indicating, while Professor Reber, in testing the stone for compression states, that the crushing strain averaged over seven hundred tons to the square foot, showing that the stone is of excellent quality for building purposes. It may be well said that the Brownstone Company has been one of the most successful in the State of Pennsylvania, due to the fact of its high grade and excellence as building material.

In the month of May, 1880, there was established at Middletown an industry which advanced with such marvelous strides that it has developed into the largest manufacturing pipe and tube works in the United States, if not in the world. The new plant started with about seventy-five men, which rapidly increased until with the supplemental plant at Youngstown, Ohio, two thousand persons are employed. The magnitude of the American Tube and Ion Company, at Middletown, must be seen to be properly estimated. The mills are quipped to make all dimensions of pipe. The sizes of pipe made in the butt mills run from 1-16 inch diameter to 1 1/4 inches diameter, whilst the sizes made in the lap mill range from 1 1/2 inches diameter to 20 inches diameter. A large galvanizing works filled with three immense baths is in constant operation galvanizing pipes. Three car loads of spelter are used per week for this purpose. This department is kept so busy that it was found absolutely necessary to enlarge it, and it was only recently that changes were made which increased its output fifty per cent., thus giving employment to additional workmen. As it is not proposed to bring within the scope of this notice the methods of manufacturing pipe, no mention can be made of the many departments and buildings wherein pipes, tubes and fittings pass through the various stages of manufacture before being ready for market. It is the admirable equipment of these mill and their mechanical department that has ever distinguished the American Tube and Iron Company from other pipe concerns, and enables it to undertake successfully special lines of work requiring the highest engineering knowledge and skill to develop and apply the same with the greatest accuracy of detail. This is one of the reasons why, during the dullest business seasons when all trade seems to flag, the mills are able to keep their large army of workmen fully employed; a body of men keenly alive to the value of steady employment, and for whose welfare they have made ample assurance.

For the character of work the American Tube & Iron Company could easily claim supremacy. Several years ago, by way of illustration, the mill was running day and night for about one hundred miles of eight-inch pipe to convey natural gas from the Indiana fields to Chicago. Six of the largest pipe concerns of the United States endeavored to meet the rigorous requirements of this company, but unsuccessfully. Every gas and oil field has the pip manufactured by this company in use. Among its largest customers is the Standard Oil Company, for whom it has furnished hundreds of miles of pipe. The Sandwich Islands and other prominent countries have afforded promising fields for the production of this great industry. For the great success of these works much is due to the enterprise and energy of the Mathesons.

Apart from this mammoth industry there are other enterprises at Middletown, which in prosperous times have added very much to the progress of that thriving town. It has always been an important manufacturing center, and contains within and around it all the elements to make it a great industrial point.

For a period of nearly forty years the McCormick estate has had control and management of the Paxton furnaces, which in the flush times of the iron trade have been successfully carried on, and the production of iron profitable demonstrated. The capacity of these furnaces is about twelve hundred tons of pig iron per month. In connection with these furnaces there is a rolling mill which has been one of the most successful enterprises in this locality. The main buildings cover an area of ground, 250 by 160 feet, while the puddle mill has a large number of double puddling furnaces and a capacity of about 150 tons per week.

The Jackson Manufacturing Company was established in 180 with a paid up capital of $50,000, but owing to the vast increase of business, in 1889 the stock was increased to $100,000. The company has a large and substantial building which extends a whole block, from New Fourth street to Fulton street along Boyd avenue. The plant throughout is equipped with all the latest appliances and improved machinery, including heating furnaces, hydraulic presses, drills, etc. The reputation of the Jackson Manufacturing Company is not only confined to the United States, but extends throughout North and South America, and across the waters. They construct the highest grade, scientifically, steel wheelbarrow for all purposes, used by mills, large industries, miners, railroads, public works, etc. At present twenty-five experienced hands are employed at these works. During the busy season this number is doubled. A few years ago this company received a medal and diploma from the Exposition University at Barcelona, Spain.

To show how the varied manufacturing industries thrive and succeed at Harrisburg, we need only refer, in conclusion, to the manufacturing of shoes. The establishments of Forney Brothers & Company, Bay Shoe Company, and the Harrisburg Boot and Shoe Manufacturing Company, with two others, incorporated, whose combined products are valued at nearly a half million of dollars, go to show how successful these enterprises have proven to be in the Capital City.