USA > Kentucky > Jefferson County > Louisville > The city of Louisville and a glimpse of Kentucky > Part 14
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Mr. Shulhafer does work for all of the leading architects of Louisville, and enjoys their confidence as a thorough, reliable, and painstaking plumber, who stands at the head of his profession.
76
C. C. Bickel & Co.
7 HE manufacture of fine cigars was not considered one of the leading industries of Louisville until within a few years past ; but now there are probably one hundred and fifty cigar factories registered in the collector's office, paying the government nearly $54,000 annually for cigar stamps. This embraces a few large establishments and a great many smaller ones, but the leading house in the city as shown by the collector's books is that of C. C. BICKEL & Co., who pay over $10,000 for stamps, or nearly one-fifth of the entire amount collected. The amount of stamps bought by this firm during the first nine months of the present year was $6,735 ; which, at the same rate for the remainder of the year, will exceed $10,000, representing three million cigars. This, however, only represents the cigars upon which tax has been paid, and does not represent a large stock on hand which have not been stamped, to say nothing of their large stock of fine imported and domestic cigars, probably two millions per annum, while the tax paid by smaller factories who make the cheaper grades for them amounts to half as much more.
Mr. Bickel embarked in the manufacturing business on his own account in 1870. He was thoroughly acquainted with the business, hav- ing commenced to learn the trade of cigar-making at an early age. He began business in a small way, working at the bench himself, and em- ploying only two hauds, in an old house on Main street, where the dry goods house of Carter Bros. & Co. now stands. After a short time he moved to Sixth street, in the old Adams Express building, remaining there until 1873, when he located at the present stand, Nos. 538 and 540 West Main street.
C. C. BICKEL
During the panic of 1873, and the hardships that followed for several years, Mr. Bickel saw nearly every cigar house in the city go down-and he ouly escaped the doom of the others by the most careful management, which, along with a practical knowledge of the business, and a determination not to fail, enabled him to weather the storm. His business has grown steadily, until he now employs about seventy-five hands, his pay-roll every Saturday amounting to about $1,000, while the demand for his popular brands of cigars is greater than at any former period.
The " Spotted Fawn " first became famous, and holds its own to-day among smokers of ten-cent cigars. After the first reduction of the tobacco tax, when it became possible to make a good cigar for five cents, he introduced the "Daniel Boone, " the "Corinne," aud the " Rose, " all of which brands have held their own, and are more popular to- day than any other five-cent cigar in the market, and have been the means of directing trade to Louisville, for strangers in the city who had a taste of these cigars would require their merchants at home to get them. In this way the cigars are known all over the country and in some parts of Europe, an order having been received from Liverpool recently for parties who had used them while here on a visit.
The historical name of the "Daniel Boone" may have aided in its introduction, but the quality of the material, which has been guarded very carefully, has given these cigars the lead in this city and throughout the whole country. With all of the competition in the cigar trade there is nothing that will down the " Boone" or the "Corinne," and there is nothing a drummer for other houses dreads so much as to find these cigars in his customer's case.
The best recommendation these cigars have is the fact that the brands are imitated by irresponsible manufacturers, who know the merits of these goods and hope to break them down.
One of the secrets of Mr. Bickel's success is his gentlemanly treatment of his employes, many of whom have con- tinued to work for him for years. They understand the wants of his customers, and are careful to keep up the standard of his celebrated cigars. He knows the wants of his men and pays good wages, and as a result, he has never had a strike in his establishment, and everything runs smoothly and successfully. Besides, he employs a number of regular Cuban cigar makers who are turning out Spanish work, superior in quality and workmanship, and equaled only in Havana and Key West.
Mr. Bickel buys his stock for cash, sometimes laying in a year's supply at one time, buying whenever aod wherever he finds stock to suit him, whether he needs it or not. In this way he is not affected by sudden fluctuations in the market.
In the purchase of Havana tobacco, be selects only the best that the Island of Cuba produces, and by purchasing very large quantities at a time, he not only gets it at the lowest prices, but secures an even quality of goods, thereby preserving the excellent quality of his cigars without deteriorization. One would be astonished at the enormous stock of fine leaf tobacco this house carries. There are tiers and tiers of bales of Havana and Sumatra tobaccos of the finest grades stored away, ready for nse, and improving with age, in their store-rooms.
Mr. William Kohlhepp. who has been with Mr. Bickel as book-keeper, and in charge of the sales-room and office, has rendered valuable aid in building up the business, and for his faithful attention to business was admitted to a part- nership in 1884. There are few more popular young men in Louisville than Mr. Kohlhepp, and Mr. Bickel recognizes the value of his popularity and his superior business qualifications.
Indeed, the citizens of Louisville may be proud of such an industry as the "Daniel Boone " cigar factory of C. C. BICKEL & Co.
77
The Louisville Bridge.
6 "HE magnificent structure crossing the Ohio at the head of the Falls, extending from a point just below Jeffersonville to the foot of Fourteenth street, in the city of Louisville, connecting the Indiana railroad system with the roads ou the south of the Ohio that center at Louisvi le, has proven a profitable investment, as well as an indispeu- sable adjunct to the traffic of the South and West. Formerly passengers aud freights coming to aud going out of Louisville, across the river, were transferred by ferry, a process that was tedious, expensive, and trouble- some, on which account the traffic was necessarily limited ; and now, look- ing back over a period of more than seventeen years, during which time the traffic of the bridge has grown in proportion to the increasing trade of Louisville, it is difficult to realize the progress that has been made and how much this enterprise has contributed to the prosperity of the city. It is certainly no exaggeration to say that no investment of a like amount of money in any other enterprise has contributed so much to the business growth of the cities of the Falls.
The construction of the bridge was commenced in the year 1867, and after repeated and vexatious delays, occasioned by floods and freshets in the river, was finally com- pleted and opened for traffic CHAS. H. GIBSON, PRESIDENT. on the Ist day of March, 1870. Considering the almost insuperable difficulties that had to be overcome in erecting the piers in the swift-ruuuing water of the Falls, and the facilities theu at hand for accomplishing such work, the time occupied in building the bridge was comparatively short. It is a railroad bridge, having a single track in the center, with foot-walks ou both sides. The superstructure, from abutment to abutment, is exactly one mile in length, having twenty-five spaus, two of which are four hundred feet long. The Bridge Company also owns aud operates tracks on Fourteenth street, connecting the Northern and Southern systems. The bridge proper is what is popularly kuown as the Fink Truss Bridge, and was constructed under the personal super- vision of Mr. Albert Fink himself,'assisted by Mr. F. W. Vaughn. At this time about one hundred and fifty trains per day cross the bridge, it having to carry the entire traffic of the four roads that approach Louisville from the West, North, and East. At the time of its erection it was estimated that not exceeding fifty trains per day could be accommodated on this bridge, but under the improved system of operating traius, it is able to accommodate four times that number.
W. F. BLACK, SUPERINTENDENT.
WALTER IRWIN, SECRETARY.
When the Jeffersonville, Madison & Indianapolis Railroad became part of the westeru system of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company's lines the latter company, appreci- ating the great and permanent value of the bridge, acquired, and has ever since held, about two-thirds of the capital stock of the Bridge Com- pany, thereby securing control of the bridge, aud making it practically a part of the Pennsylvania lines. The remaining shares are held princi- pally by fortuuate parties in Louisville and New York.
Mr. W. B. Hamilton was the first President of the company, which position he held until June, 1876, when he was succeeded by Dr. E. D. Standiford, who continued to hold the office until his death in July, 1887. Mr. Charles H. Gibsou, the present incumbent, also the attorney of the company, was elected to succeed Dr. Standiford, September 28, 1887. Mr. Walter Irwin, Secretary and Cashier, was for many years paymaster of the J., M. & I. Railroad Company, a position which he filled with great credit until the removal of the offices to Pittsburgh, after which he accepted a position with the Bridge Company, and was elected secretary and cashier, May 20, 1885. W. F. Black, the efficient superintendent of the bridge, is also superintendent of the J., M. & I. division of the Pennsylvania lines. Thus the management of the Bridge Company has been placed in the hands of young men whose qualifications have been recognized by the directory after years of faithful service.
78
Louisville Safety Vault and Trust Company.
H V. LOVING.
T HE LOUISVILLE SAFETY VAULT AND TRUST COMPANY was incorpo- rated under a special charter from the State of Kentucky in 1884, and organized in the latter part of the year. It has a capital stock of $300,000, fully paid up and a surpins of abont $32,000. Officers : H. V. Loving, President ; Theo. Schwartz, Vice-President ; Robert Cochran, Secretary and Treasurer ; Thos. J. Wood, Vault-Keeper. Directors ; John T. Moore, John C. Russell, W. C. Priest, St. John Boyle, Herman Beckurts, Theo. Schwartz, Theodore Harris, H. V. Loving, R. S. Veech, Geo. A. Owen, Samuel Russell, James S. Ray, John H. Detchen.
The modern SAFETY VAULT AND TRUST COMPANY is an outgrowth of the wonderful age in which we live, and we could no more dispense with its advantages, convenience, safety, and adaptability to all the varied wants and necessities of the times, than we could get along withont the railroad, the telegraph, or the telephone. Recognizing the necessity for a first-class institution of the kind in Louisville, some of her most enter- prising citizens organized the LOUISVILLE SAFETY VAULT AND TRUST COMPANY, and after a critical examination, by experts, of the hest vaults in this country, they had constructed one of the strongest and most se- cure depositories extant. Its vanlt is absolutely fire and burglar proof, and the doors are secured, not only by the best combination locks, but also by infallible time-locks.
Few, if any, so-called "fire-proof safes" offer any protection against a great fire, and the professional burglar laughs at the fancied security of the ordinary "hurglar-proof safe." Those who, through false ideas of economy, leave their valuables to the protection of the common bank vaults, should under- stand that the hanks are in nowise responsible, and that they take all the risk themselves. This is poor economy when for a very small sum the TRUST COMPANY will guarantee perfect security. The boxes of the SAFETY VAULT are rented at prices ranging from $5.00 to $45.00 per annum, the size of the hox determining the rate.
In view of the small annual rent of these boxes, no oue in city, town, or country should take the risk of keeping elsewhere, bonds, stocks, notes, wills, deeds, pension papers, valuable receipts, abstracts, mortgages, contracts, powers of attorney, articles of copartnership, life and fire insurance policies, claims, and important papers of any kind.
The LOUISVILLE SAFETY VAULT AND TRUST COMPANY acts, at any place in the State, as executor, administrator, guardian, receiver, assignee, committee for idiots or Innatics, as register or transfer agent of stocks and honds, as trustee for railroad and other mortgages, as attorney in fact for the collection of rents and income and the management of the estates of married women, as trustee of corporations alone or jointly with others, and in a word fills every position of trust that can be held by an individual. This company is also prepared to negotiate loans, deal in real estate paper and other securities, make desirahle investments for individuals and corporations and transact all business authorized by its charter, a copy of which will be furnished on application to the company.
Hector V. Loving, the President of the Company, was elected to that office at its organization and has given the business his constant and unremitting attention. Mr. Loving was horn in Bowling Green, Kentucky, in 1839, and attended school in that town until he was eighteen years of age, when he entered the sophomore class of Hamilton College, New York, and graduated in the class of 1859. On his return home he entered the Lonisville Law School, and received his diploma from that institution in the class of 1862. Mr. Loving has filled many positions of honor and responsibility during his residence in Louisville, aud his education and experience eminently qualify hin for the business in which he is now engaged.
Robert Cochran, the Secretary and Treasurer of the Company, has held that position since its organization, and gives his whole time and talents to the discharge of the important and responsible duties of his office to the entire satisfaction of all concerned He is also a native of Kentucky, having been born in Spencer county in 1829, attended school there and at the academy at Taylorsville, afterward for three years at the Kentucky Military Institute, Frankfort, Kentucky. Mr. Cochran is well read in law, and was for ten years Commissioner of the Louisville Chancery Court, under Chancellors Cochran, Bruce, and Humphrey. The gentlemen at the head of this popular institution have the confidence and esteem of all who know them, and are peculiarly well qualified for their respective positions.
The growth and progress of the LOUISVILLE SAFETY VAULT AND TRUST COMPANY has been somewhat remarkable, having been a divi- dend payer since the first year of its organization.
ROBERT OOCHRAN.
79
Cornwall & Brother, Soaps and Candles.
T HE firm of CORNWALL, & BROTHER, Manufacturers of Caudles and Soap, was established in Lexington, Ky., in the year 1838 and then consisted of John and William Cornwall, two brothers. John Cornwall died several years ago and the firm is now composed of William Cornwall and his sons, William Cornwall, Jr., and Aaron W. Cornwall. The manu- facture of a star candle seems a very simple matter ; but much scientific skill has been exhausted in producing this homely article. Early in the present century the great French chemist, Chevreul, took the first impor- tant step in this direction by discovering that fats were not homogeneous, but were capable of being reduced to several fatty acids. Then H. Lap- ham, who lived in Lexington, Ky., took out a patent for making lard oil, by pressing the oil out through sheep-skins, and for making stearine can- dles of the residuum. He sold his right to CORNWALL & BROTHER. Up to this time lard oil had been made only of lard itself. The first business of the firm in question was, therefore, the manufacture of lard oil and stearine candles, the oil being the most important of the two branches of their business. The candles gave a dull light and required coustant snuff- iug. Shortly after the first improvement ou this old process, in 1842, CORNWALL & BROTHER removed their works to Louisville, coming here iu 184.4.
WILLIAM CORNWALL, SR. Between 1834 and 1860 there were four processes invented for making candles, each being an improvement on the last. By the first lard oil and stearine were produced. In 1842 the "lime saponification" process was introduced. The tallow was melted with four- teeu per cent. of lime and boiled until the mass became solid. It was then put into tanks and the soap was decomposed by means of sulphuric acid. The fatty bodies thus parted with their glycerine and became fat acids. These were then subjected to hydraulic pressure, when the oleic acid flowed off and left a white, crystalline substance composed of stearic acid and margaric acid. This was then molded iuto candles. This process continued in use for about ten years. Then experiments were made which resulted in saponifying fats by meaus of sulphuric acid. By this process the most inferior fats were acidified and turned into a black mass. The process is still used in working with fats of an inferior quality ; but in it the glycerine is lost, as it was in the process before mentioned. In 1860 another process was discov- ered, called the "digester process," in which the fats were subjected to the action of water, with a small percentage of alkali. At a high pressure and temperature, continued for several hours, they are divided into fat acids and glycerine. The discovery of this process introduced glycerine into commerce, which has had so vast an effect upou the advance- meut of civilization ; since from it we have nitro-glycerine, giant powder, etc.
The "digester" has superseded the "lime saponification" process entirely, the soap made without the use of sulphu- ric acid being commercially much the best. Briefly stated, it may be said that candles are uow made by melting a neu- tral fat, like tallow, or cocoauut oil, extracting the glycerine, and leaving the stearic acid and oleic acid mixed. By meaus of hydraulic pressure the oleic acid is drawn off, leaving the stearic acid, which is then molded into candles.
CORNWALL & BROTHER make two grades of candles, the famous "Star" braud and Stearic Acid candles. The lat- ter are extremely pure, being entirely free from the oleic acid. These candles, especially the Star brand, are sold in California, all over the South, to some extent in Mexico, and also in the East.
But making caudles is by no means the most important part of the business of CORNWALL & BROTHER. For many years their laundry soaps have been widely sold, and in 1883 the firm began the manufacture of toilet soaps, after very elaborate preparations, and the importation from Paris of the most improved machinery for this purpose. The styles are all of the latest and are of the most approved, while the fine soaps compare favorably with any made in America. The process of manufacturing soap is too elaborate to be described here, and it is only necessary to say that for its high grades the firm has received the highest praise. The American Analyist has made very careful examinations of CORN- WALL's soaps, and commends them in the most unqualified manner for purity and excellence of manufacture.
Among the best brands may be mentioned the " Exquisite Bouquet," a most delicately scented and delightful toilet article that is prepared with the utmost care, and that meets the wants of the most fastidious. CORNWALL & BROTHER'S "Oatmeal Soap" is made with genuine oatmeal and is a most desirable soap for those whose business causes dirt to be grimed into their hands. All these soaps are most thoroughly milled, are firm and heavy, of desirable shape, and have a very pleasant effect upon the skin. A high laundry grade is the Mottled German, which is in great de- mand by the trade. In laundry soaps the firm makes everything from the common German soap up. At the first New Orleans Exposition-that of 1883-CORNWALL & BROTHER received the highest award for the best laundry soap, their "National" taking the honors over all competitors. The firm also makes a most useful article for the housekeeper. It is a soap powder called "Cleanit," and is of the greatest use in scrubbing floors, washing dishes, clothes, and in gen- eral house-cleaning. It does not injure fabrics or the skin.
CORNWALL & BROTHER employ an average of 100 men. Their factory is located on Preston and Washington streets, where they have a frontage of 275 feet, with a depth of 480 feet. The huildings are three and two stories above ground and have two stories under ground. All of their machinery and appliances are of the most approved kind, and the firm is one of the most important in Louisville. 80
Home and Parm.
H OME AND FARM is an eight-page agricultural paper, published twice a month, for fifty cents a year. This journal was founded ten years ago by B. F. Avery & Sons, the great plow manufact- urers. They recognized the necessity for a medium through which all the improvements in agricultural machinery and the latest results of agricultural experiments could be made known to the farmers through- out the South. Before that time, agricultural newspapers had sought only a local circulation, and devoted themselves to special fields and topics. It was necessary therefore in order to secure a general and con- tinuing circulation that many of the traditions of agricultural journalism be abandoned, and new plans adopted in every department.
The first decision was to. publish the paper at a price which would bring it within the reach of every farmer in the South, it matters not where located nor how narrow his resources, hence, the subscription was fixed at fifty ceuts a year.
The publishers determined in advance that nothing should prevent them from securing the assistance of recognized writers on agricultural topics, but in addition they decided that they would have the personal experiences of practical farmers through all the Southern country. Following this policy, HOME AND FARM has gathered about it a peculiar corps of correspondents, composed of men who are testing their theories RICHARD W. KNOTT. every year on farms of their own, and detailing their experiences, month by month, for the benefit of half a million readers. The most notable movements in Southern agriculture have found their first exponents and illustraters among the contributors to HOME AND FARM.
Perhaps nothing that has been done in agricultural matters in the South since the war bas had a wider influence than the experiments made by the late Farish C. Furman, of Georgia. Beginning with an abandoned farm, where the yield of cotton was only eight bales to sixty-four acres, by studying the constituents of the soil, and by fertilization sup- plying what it lacked, Mr. Furman brought the yield up to a bale and a half an acre in five years. He wrote for HOME AND FARM a careful record of this five years, and described so plainly and practically what he was doing that thousands everywhere were enlightened, and, following his directions, succeeded in vastly increasing the production of their own lands. The publishers of HOME AND FARM, after his death, gathered these letters of Mr. Furman's into a pamphlet, which they have circulated by the thousands to the very general benefit of the whole cotton region.
This is but one of a number of examples of what may be done by a wide-awake agricultural publication. HOME AND FARM treats in the same way all topics relating to the farm or household matters upon the farm. It has published a series of articles by J. B. Killebrew, upon tobacco, the most exhaustive treatment of this subject that has yet been attempted. It is now publishing a number of papers upon truck farming, by Mr. Waldo F. Brown, of the most valuable character. Its correspondents are everywhere, North, South, East, and West, and nothing escapes them that would be of interest to the farmers West and South. By following out these lines it has secured not only the largest subscription list, but the most hearty support from its readers. It is simply a great co-operative society, and the adver- tisers everywhere recognize this. Moreover, the publishers have made it a rule to exclude all objectionable advertise- ments, and have thus secured for their advertisers something of the same confidence that the readers bave in the paper itself, so that it is of the utmost importance to merchants and manufacturers seeking southern trade that they use the columns of HOME AND FARM. In character and extent its advertising patronage is the surprise and envy of news- papers everywhere. Throughout all the season of depression its pages were crowded with the advertisements of the most enterprising and trustworthy firms of the North and East, and to-day any one who desires to build up a Southern trade turns to HOME AND FARM for an audience.
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