USA > California > Alameda County > History of Alameda County, California. Volume II > Part 58
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that year, he entered the employ of the Union Iron Works, with which concern he remained for two years, and then entered the University of California, from which he was graduated with the degree of Civil Engineer in 1910, being one of the three commencement speakers of his class. He was made a professor of civil engineering in his alma mater, in which capacity he served for seven years.
In 1917, when the United States became involved in the World war, Mr. Eddy entered the officers training camp at Fort Scott, San Francisco harbor, and was there commissioned a lieutenant of heavy artillery. He saw two and a half years of active service, including six months overseas, and on receiving his honorable discharge in 1920 as major, he resumed his chair at the university for one term. Major Eddy then resigned and became structural engineer with the Standard Oil Company, in connection with the erection of the Standard Oil building in San Francisco, in which capacity he served until 1923, when he was appointed to his present position as city engineer and superintendent of streets for the city of Berkeley. In view of the rapid development of the city and the construction of many new streets, as well as the improvement and extension of old streets, his office has been in no sense a sinecure but has involved a vast amount of technical work, for which his training and experience has well qualified him.
Colonel Eddy was united in marriage to Miss Margaret Stone, who was born in Massachusetts, and they are the parents of three children, namely: Margaret Eleanor, aged ten years; James Stone, aged eight years; and Barbara, aged four years.
The Colonel is a member of Berkeley Lodge No. 363, F. & A. M .; Oakland Consistory, A. A. S. R., and Aahmes Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., at Oakland. He is a director of the Berkeley Rotary Club and a past vice president of the Berkeley Chamber of Commerce. He is colonel of the One Hundred and Fifty- ninth Infantry Regiment of the California National Guard, and during the big fire in Berkeley in 1923 he was, as lieutenant-colonel, in command of all the state and federal troops employed here to preserve order and protect property. Colonel Eddy possesses a fine personality, being cordial and affable in manner, and during the years of his residence in Berkeley has gained a host of warm and loyal friends, while throughout the community he commands confidence and respect for his ability and splendid public service.
FREEMAN & COX-ROACH & KENNEY CO.
The Freeman & Cox-Roach & Kenney Undertaking Co. is a merger of two distinct pioneer firms. The James L. McManus Co. was founded in 1888 and continued under management of James McManus, with location at Seventh and Castro streets until death of owner in 1908. P. J. Freeman, formerly of Rocklin, California, where he had engaged in the undertaking business, purchased a half interest in the McManus company a few weeks prior to sudden death of James McManus. Shortly afterward John J. Cox, who had been a resident of Oakland for years and was a member of the police department for fourteen years, purchased the interest of Mr. McManus. The business was continued at Seventh and Castro
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streets until 1914, when a new building was constructed on the corner of Eighth and Brush streets, and the business then became known as Freeman & Cox.
With the progress of the community, and the building and advancement north- ward, it was deemed advisable in 1917 to select a new and central location. Conse- quently, in that year negotiations were completed to buy the home of E. P. Heald, one of the showplaces of Oakland, on the corner of Twenty-seventh street and Telegraph avenue.
In 1879 James L. McCarthy, a pioneer of California, founded what was known and continued to remain as a distinct business, the James L. McCarthy Under- taking Company, located for years on the corner of Seventeenth and Clay streets. This firm had one of the leading establishments of its kind in the Eastbay. In 1919 Mr. McCarthy, having decided to retire from business, sold his interests to M. M. Roach & Joseph F. Kenney, two well known business men of Oakland, and for some years the business continued under the name of the James L. McCarthy Co. In 1914 the name was changed to Roach & Kenney and the business was removed to a new location at 3479 Piedmont avenue.
In March, 1919, the merger of the present firm, Freeman & Cox-Roach & Kenney, took place. Since that time the firm has conducted one of the leading undertaking establishments of the community, with branch offices at 2414 Grove street, Berkeley, and 2945 East Fourteenth street, Fruitvale.
ALAMEDA RUG WORKS
The Alameda Rug Works, one of the largest and most prosperous concerns in its line in the Bay district, stands as a monument to the sound judgment, sturdy industry and indomitable perseverance of J. A. Osterdock, the proprietor. Begin- ning in a small way, he has so managed his affairs that success in large measure has crowned his efforts and he now ranks among the leading business men of Alameda. Mr. Osterdock was born in Clayton county, Iowa, on the 18th of March, 1866, and in early boyhood accompanied his family on their removal to Ottumwa, that state, where they located on a farm. There he was reared to the age of seven- teen years, securing his education in the public schools, and then learned the trade of a cooper. Later he engaged in the meat business which he ran until 1897. Several years prior to that, while working as a cooper in Des Moines, he conceived the idea of going into the rug making business. He lacked the necessary money, as he was having a hard time to make even a good living, but eventually returned to Ottumwa, where he owned a ranch, which was rented. He arranged with the tenant to buy the property, and as a down payment received one hundred and seventy-five dollars in cash and four yearling colts. On his way back to town, leading the colts, he met a man to whom he sold the colts for forty dollars cash. With this capital of two hundred and fifteen dollars, he started in the rug business in Ottumwa, buying the lumber and making his own looms, and worked eighteen hours a day for two and a half years. However, he was successful in establishing a growing business and in 1901 he sold the plant for twenty-one hundred dollars. He then went to Pasadena, California, where he established the Pasadena Rug
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. Works, in the operation of which he met with substantial success, so that in 1906 he was able to sell a half interest in the business for six thousand dollars. He immediately came to Alameda, where he has since followed the same line of busi- ness, under the name of the Alameda Rug Works, and has built up an immense trade. He buys old carpets, which he unravels and weaves into rugs, which are both attractive and durable, and he also cleans carpets and rugs and renovates mattresses. The high quality of his work has been his best advertisement and his business has grown to the point where he now operates seven delivery trucks. His trade extends into Alameda, Solano, Contra Costa, Marin and San Francisco counties and as far south as Hollister, San Benito county. He has recently com- pleted a second plant at 1114 East Fourteenth street, Oakland, where he has a two-story building, twenty-five by seventy-five feet, and fully equipped with modern machinery.
Mr. Osterdock was united in marriage to Miss Mary E. Israel, and to them have been born two children, Harry E., who is manager of the Alameda Rug Company and is a member of the Alameda Kiwanis Club, and Louise M. Mr. Osterdock has led a busy life, having devoted his attention very closely to building up his business, and is now in comfortable circumstances. He has shown a proper interest in the welfare of the community in which he lives, giving his earnest support to all measures for the betterment of local conditions, and by his acquaint- ance is held in high regard for his business ability and splendid personal qualities.
PHILADELPHIA QUARTZ COMPANY OF CALIFORNIA
There is a branch in Berkeley of the Philadelphia Quartz Company, which together with its allied interest, the Pacific Silicate Company, covers about two blocks of ground on Grayson street, near Sixth street, and the company's trade territory extends from Seattle on the north to San Diego on the south and as far east as Salt Lake City, besides which it has a large export trade to the orient, where it sells to jobbers. There is a large distributing plant in Los Angeles, and the company owns land in Amador county, California, where are rich deposits of silica. A subsidiary concern, the Pacific Silicate Company, with an interlocked directorate, has recently built a large plant on the property of the Philadelphia Quartz Company of California, the two plants representing an investment of a half million dollars. A railroad spur from the Southern Pacific facilitates the receiving of raw material and the shipping of products, and fifty persons are given steady employment.
The official roster of the Philadelphia Quartz Company of California is as follows: A. C. Elkinton of Berkeley, president ; A. W. Elkinton of Orinda, Contra Costa county, vice president ; William C. James of Berkeley, secretary and treas- urer ; H. O. Fisher of Berkeley, sales manager ; C. L. Baker of Berkeley, chemist ; T. T. Harrington of Berkeley, traffic manager; F. E. Langlois of San Francisco, and E. M. Armstrong of Berkeley, salesmen.
Almost a century ago, in the summer of 1831, Joseph Elkinton opened a shop in Philadelphia for the manufacture of candles and soap. His business progressed
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steadily. The rosin used in making soap came from the south but during the Civil war era it could not be obtained. Other raw materials greatly increased in price and the demand arose for some suitable substitute for the rosin. Mixtures of silicate of soda and soap were tried and found useful. The kerosene lamp appeared at this time and the candle business waned. All efforts were now directed to the making of soap.
Others soon discovered the value of silicate in soap. The Elkinton family in 1864 formed a partnership with John Greacen, Jr., and Samuel Booth under the name of the Philadelphia Quartz Company. This continued until 1868, when the Elkintons purchased the interests of Greacen and Booth. The new chemical busi- ness developed slowly but gradual progress was made.
This was the humble beginning of the company's pioneer efforts to prove the value of silicate of soda, not only in washing processes, but in many other indus- trial practices. The Elkintons made it a policy to sell more than the mere com- modity; they incorporated satisfaction into their products. The sales of silicate increased steadily until it was necessary to further improve manufacturing facilities to serve the patrons of the trade. Plants were built at Anderson, Indiana, (1889) and Chester, Pennsylvania, (1905). The soap business was discontinued in 1904 and the firm, incorporated as the Philadelphia Quartz Company, devoted its entire energies to making silicate of soda. Eventually plants were established also at Buffalo, New York, Kansas City; Rahway, New Jersey; St. Louis, Missouri; Utica, Illinois. William T. Elkinton, grandson of the founder, is president of the Philadelphia Quartz Company of Pennsylvania.
High freight rates from the east and the necessity of consumers carrying large stocks to protect their requirements made the west coast a potential field for a silicate factory; so in 1917, after investigating conditions on the west coast and selecting a suitable factory site at Sixth and Grayson streets, Berkeley, California, Alfred C. Elkinton, vice president of the Philadelphia Quartz Company of Penn- sylvania, moved to Berkeley with his family to establish the California company. The Philadelphia Quartz Company of California was then incorporated, with Alfred C. Elkinton as president, as a representative of the Pennsylvania firm, to serve the trade west of the Rocky mountains.
The Berkeley plant began producing in the summer of 1918. Keen competition developed in the years immediately following. This era was successfully weathered and by the steady growth of the consuming industries on the Pacific coast, combined with the high standard of quality maintained, as well as their policy of honesty and fair dealing, the Philadelphia Quartz Company of California gained a firm foothold. Their tenth anniversary finds them operating their main plant at Berkeley, to which various additions have been made, and also a dissolving station at Los Angeles. Stocks of their various silicates are carried by jobbers in Los Angeles, California ; Portland, Oregon; Seattle, Tacoma and Spokane, Washington; Van- couver, British Columbia; and Salt Lake City, Utah. They are now the largest manufacturer of silicate of soda west of Kansas City, for almost a century of manufacturing experience stands behind Quartz Quality silicates.
Silicate of soda is a general name given to a number of considerably different commercial products. They are manufactured by fusing together silica (sand) and an alkaline soda salt, such as soda ash, to form a glass. By special processes
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ยท on a large scale, such glass can be made to dissolve in water; hence one name for siliacte, "water glass". Silicates with different properties can be produced by adjusting the amounts of silica and soda, by regulating the concentration of the solutions, and by other special and often delicate processes. Some of the brands are clear solutions, others cloudy ; still others are dry in lump or powder forms. In each of the brands some special properties have been developed which adapt it to some particular service.
As a chemical, silicate is used for a great many purposes. The heavy tonnage is all in soap manufacture and fibre shipping cases, but other interesting uses are : paper sizing, stainproofing lumber, ore flotation, deflocculating clays, oil refining, silk weighting, bleaching and rust prevention. Silicates have many uses as an adhesive besides corrugated paper board, combined fibre board and wallboard; such as, sealing shipping containers, asbestos aircell pipe covering, plywood, parquetry flooring, fibre trunks, china cements, and saggar mending. Most people know it as water glass for preserving eggs. It also has other important uses as a protective coating : testing and sizing barrels, grease-proofing paper, dustproofing concrete, fireproofing floors and curtains, sizing fertilizer bags, and cold water paints. Besides hardening to a very strong bond, dried silicates of soda have high heat resistance. They are not affected by ordinary temperatures. With this idea in mind, commercial and special brands have been developed for abrasive wheels, stove cements, furnace cements, digester linings, and acid concentrators.
New uses for silicate spring up very frequently. Almost daily some unheard of practice, involving silicate of soda, is discovered. Chemical and engineering de- partments are maintained with a staff of chemists and engineers who do research work, investigate the new applications, and devote their entire time to the study of commercial utilization of this versatile and inexpensive chemical.
JOHN LOCK
John Lock, who is a specialist and an expert in the manufacture of water-proof cement and in its use in the construction and repair of buildings, has a monopoly of this product in Alameda county, being the only one who has used it here, and has built up a large and prosperous business. Mr. Lock was born in Esthonia, Finland, on the 10th of October, 1866, and when ten years of age accompanied his parents on their emigration to the United States. They located in Philadelphia, Pennsyl- vania, and in the public schools of that city and of Chester, Pennsylvania, he received his educational training. In January, 1891, Mr. Lock enlisted in the United States Navy, serving for eighteen years in the engineering department, and during that period he made seven trips around the world. He saw active service in the Spanish-American war and in the Boxer uprising in China and had many interesting experiences in various parts of the world.
In 1921 Mr. Lock located in Alameda, where he has since been engaged in the waterproof cement business. He makes his own cement, the process of which is patented, and has filled many contracts for garages, foundations and like work and in repairing cracked and discolored walls, for which purposes it is an ideal sub-
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stance. This cement has been used in the construction of many of the finest homes in Oakland, Alameda, Berkeley and Piedmont, as well as the Neptune apartments in Alameda. He guarantees his material and his work, and thus far both have stood the test, so that he has gained a high reputation among builders and home owners. Mr. Lock is a member of the Oakland camp of the Spanish-American War Veterans. He is a man of progressive methods, honest motives and sterling integrity of character and stands deservedly high in the estimation of all who have come in contact with him.
ERNEST H. CARDINET
Ernest H. Cardinet, senior partner in the Cardinet Cleaning & Dyeing Works at Alameda, has exemplified in his career the possibilities open to anyone who will persistently and judiciously devote his talents and efforts to the attainment of a definite goal. Beginning his present enterprise in a modest way about fifteen years ago, he has, through his careful and painstaking attention, backed by square dealing and progressive methods, built up a good business which has had a steady and healthy growth until today he commands a large and representative patronage throughout the East Bay district.
Mr. Cardinet was born in San Francisco, California, February 17, 1874, and is a son of Emile and Cecelia Cardinet, both of whom were natives of France. The father, who is now deceased, was a pioneer of California, having come to this state on a sailing vessel by the way of Cape Horn in 1849. For a time he worked in the gold mines but later turned his attention to the poultry business in San Francisco, in which he was engaged for many years. He was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows in that city. To him and his wife were born ten children, five sons and five daughters, all of whom are living, though widely scattered, two residing in Paris, France, one in New York and the others in various parts of California.
Ernest H. Cardinet was about two years old when, in 1876, the family estab- lished their residence in Alameda, and in the grammar schools of this city he se- cured his education. At a youthful age he started to work, learning the plumbing trade with Mr. Furnly in Alameda. Later he entered the employ of F. Thomas & Company, owners of the Parisian Dyeing & Cleaning Works in Oakland, and he remained with that concern for twenty years, acquiring an intimate knowledge of every detail of the business. In 1913 Mr. Cardinet embarked in the same line of business on his own account in a small way, calling on his customers during the day and cleaning the clothes himself at night. He did good work; delivered the goods promptly, and thus, securing the confidence of the people, laid the founda- tion for his subsequent success. He now employs nine persons and has two auto delivery trucks. In accordance with a new law passed by the state legislature, Mr. Cardinet is contemplating the erection of a modern, fire-proof building, forty- five by seventy-five feet in size, in which will be installed up-to-date machinery, at a cost of eight thousand dollars, and he will then be in a position to take care of all the business that can be secured. His trade comes largely from Alameda,
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Oakland and Piedmont and contiguous territory, and the Cardinet Cleaning & Dyeing Works have gained an enviable reputation for the high quality of the work turned out.
Mr. Cardinet was united in marriage to Miss Claire Prescott, of Alameda, whose uncle, George W. Prescott, was one of the most prominent business men of San Francisco. To Mr. and Mrs. Cardinet have been born four children, namely : Ernest H., Jr., who is in the employ of White & Company in San Francisco; Eugene, who is with the Melrose Construction Company; Delma V., who assisted his father until he attained his majority, when he was admitted to a partnership in the business; and Lorraine, who is seven years old.
Mr. Cardinet has always shown a good citizen's interest in the affairs of his community and was at one time a member of No. 5 Hose Company of Alameda volunteer fire department. He was a member of Company G, Fifth Regiment California National Guard, and took part in quelling the railroad strike in 1893 .. He is a member of the Fraternal Order of Eagles and the United Ancient Order of Druids.
Mr. Cardinet has been an interested spectator of the wonderful transformation which has taken place in this locality. He has shot quail and rabbits where he formerly lived. He has done his full part in furthering the progress of the com- munity and is regarded as one of its enterprising and substantial citizens, com- manding the respect and good will of all who have come in contact with him.
His mother, who is now, at the age of eighty-two years, living at Hayward, has in her home a valuable heirloom in the shape of a velocipede over one hundred years old, and which was owned and ridden by Mr. Cardinet's grandfather.
ERNEST J. ENGLER
As chief sanitary inspector for the city of Oakland, Ernest J. Engler is per- forming a very essential public service and has earned the commendation of his fellow citizens for the excellent and effective work he is doing in the conservation and protection of the health of the community. Mr. Engler was born in San Luis Obispo county, California, on the 1st day of July, 1880, and is a son of J. Alex- ander and Ann M. (Wallace) Cooksey. His father came to San Francisco in 1862 and for a number of years was identified with business interests here, but eventually located in San Luis Obispo county. After his death, his widow became the wife of a Mr. Engler.
The son, Ernest J., was reared by his step-father, whose surname he eventually adopted as his own. He received a good public school education, graduating from high school, and then engaged in newspaper work, which he followed in various cities of the United States for twenty-eight years. For a while he was engaged in promotion work and then became a member of the health department of the city of Chicago, where he remained until 1915, when he returned to California and established a mercantile business in East Oakland. He always evinced a keen interest in local civic affairs and on July 1, 1927, was appointed chief sanitary
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inspector for the city of Oakland, a position of great responsibility and of vital relation to the well-being of his city.
Mr. Engler was united in marriage to Miss Sophie Elschroth, who was born and reared in Michigan, and they have a son, Ernest T., who is in high school. Mr. Engler has always given his political support to the republican party and is a member of the Knights of Columbus, the Native Sons of the Golden West, and is chairman of the board of directors of the Greater Oakland club. He is a veteran of the Spanish-American war, having served as a member of the First Regiment of California Volunteers. He is deservedly popular among his associates and throughout the city is held in high esteem.
RAYMOND W. ROBERTSON
Raymond W. Robertson, superintendent of recreation for the city of Oakland and director of physical education in the Oakland public schools, is performing a greatly appreciated work for the community. He was born at Sabetha, Nemaha county, Kansas, May 25, 1890, and is a son of William Belyea and Annie May (Wilks) Robertson, the former born in Benton Harbor, Michigan, in 1862, and the latter in Falls City, Nebraska, May 29, 1865. William B. Robertson, whose father was a native of Canada and of Scotch and English parentage, was a veteran of the Civil war, having served from March 25, 1865, to February 15, 1866. His wife was also of Scotch and English parentage. Her father, who was an Oxford graduate, came to California in the gold rush of 1849.
Raymond W. Robertson attended the public schools at Sabetha and Alta Vista, Kansas, from 1895 to 1906, also took a high school course and later entered the State Normal School at Emporia, that state, receiving from that institution a life teacher's certificate in 1912, and in June, 1915, the degree of Bachelor of Science. In the summers of 1915 and 1923 he took post-graduate work in the University of California and has also taken extension courses each year since 1923. From 1910 to 1917 Mr. Robertson gave his attention to the management of a farm of three hundred and twenty acres in Kansas, and during 1916 served as physical director of the Young Men's Christian Association at Emporia. He began his pedagogical career in 1912 as a teacher in the high school at Horton, Kansas, and during the following summer taught in the Normal Training School at Emporia. During the ensuing regular school year he was an instructor in the State Normal School.
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