USA > Massachusetts > Bristol County > Fairhaven > Brief history of the town of Fairhaven, Massachusetts; prepared in connection with the celebration of old home week, July 26-31, 1903 > Part 5
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The ships visited every sea in search of whales, and endured every climate from the heat of the tropical sun to the Arctic regions where the sun does not sink below the horizon during the long summer day, nor rise above ittthrough the dreary night of winter. No sea was too distant for the whalemen, if there they conld find the object of their pursuit, and no risk 400 hazardous for those intrepid men. And it was not always alone they were permitted to peacefully pursue their vocation, for sharp and keen . competition sometimes entered into the pursuit of the whales. Starbuck gives many very interesting accounts of the rivalry and sometimes strategy between and among the ships that were seeking the same object.
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He relates one instance as follows : " Many years ago an English, a French, a Portuguese and an American ship lay becalmed within a radius of a mile of each other in the Sonth Pacific, when a whale was 'raised'. With the celerity peculiar to whaling, a boat from each ship was down and in pursuit. The American whaleman is the only one who attends exclusively to his own duty ; the oarsman leaves the watching of the whale to his officers and tends strictly to his oars. The boatsteerer of the American boat in his account of this international race said : ' Placing the pahn of my hand under the abaft oar, while with my right I guided the boat, and at each stroke threw a part of my weight against it, our boat would . skim the water like a thing of life'. A few moments from the start brought us up with the Portuguese. The crews of the four ships were witnessing the chase ; the excitement was tremendous. Our shipmates cheered us as we came up to the first boat, and as we passed her the whale again made its appearance. Singing ont to the men . There she blows ! right ahead. Give way, my boys, ete.', we were soon alongside the Frenchman. The Frenchman was too polite to oppose us, and we passed him with case. The English boat was now about ten rods ahead of us, and the whale about one and three-fourths of a mile. Now came the trial. The English boat was manned by the same number of hands as ours, and see- ing ns pass the other boats, their whole strength and force were put to their oars. We gained on them but slowly, and such was the excitement of the race that we were in danger of passing over where the whale last blowed'. At this moment, theEnglish boat- steerer noticed the manner in which I had placed my left hand and weight against the (abaft) oar. Instantly laying hold of his own in like manner his first effort broke it short off at the lock.
. Thus disabled he gave us a hearty curse as we shot by him like a meteor. We had been so excited with the race that we had lost sight of the whale, but as hick would have it, at this instant she
OLD CANDLE HOUSE - FORMERLY AT NORTH END OF MIDDLE STREET
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.blowed' but a few rods ahead. In a moment we were fast and all hands stern."
" That whale stowed us down eighty-five barrels of oil and shortened our voyage two months."
THE BEGINNING OF MANUFACTURING
While yet the whaling industry was flourishing, the first distinctive investment in manufacturing was made, and the buildings subsequently occupied by the Fairhaven Iron Works were erected on Lanrel street. The business engaged in, was the manufacture of cotton bagging and cotton cloth. It was prose- ented but a few years, when the Fairhaven Iron Works took possession of the buildings for a fonndry and machine shop. This latter business was the pioneer in the transition from the whaling to a successful manufacturing community, and it es- tablished a reputation for superior quality of castings that it still retains, and the Fairhaven Iron Foundry Co. is today one of the flourishing industries of the town, furnishing employment to from 35 to 40 hands, and sending its products to many parts of the country.
In 1864, the American Nail Machine Co., of Boston, bought the Rodman property on Fort street, including some twenty acres of land, the large buildings that had been used for the manufacture of spermaceti candles, and the stone wharf that had been built to accommodate the largest whaling vessels during the palmy days of that business.
The making of spermaceti candles was one of the profitable auxiliary industries that had furnished the people with employ- ment, but with the decline of whaling that disappeared with it. . By making some changes in the interior of the buildings, which were of stone and substantially built, they furnished quite com- modious and suitable accommodations for the manufacture of tacks, and such other goods as were germain to it.
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The Company was organized to build and operate patented nail machines, which were invented by two mechanies to secure a self-feeding nail machine. At that time, there were in operation in New England over 1000 nail machines, which were producing nearly all the nails which were then made in the country. The Bridgewaters, Warcham, Weymouth, East Taunton, Somerset, and Fall River, being the principal locations of the mills, all of above, except Somerset, which was not started until 1856, were located where water could be used as the power to drive the mill machinery to make the plate, and the machines for cutting the nails. The location at Somerset was made after steam had be- come the factor for driving machinery. These 1000 nail ma- chines required, at the time of the invention of the automatic feeding machine, a feeder to cach machine, the feeders earned on an average $1.25 a day. It was therefore costing over $1200 a day for hand labor, and it was to supplant this hand labor by automatic feeding that the self-feeding machine was invented. To save one-half of this $1200 a day was the object sought.
It is a remarkable coincidence, that the first certificates of the Fairhaven Bank, organized in 1831, should have on them a cut representing a nailer and a nail machine, the nailer feeding the machine by "turning plate." It was to substitute mechanism for this hand feeding, that incited the builders of the double head- ing mail machine to construct the machine, the patent for which formed the basis of the American Nail Machine Company, and this was the foundation of the American Tack Co.
At that time, Fairhaven presented a different appearance from what it does today. The whaling business was nearly dead, only two vessels were fitted ont for whaling ; those who had been engaged in the business had lost their property, the wharves which had presented a scene of activity during the prosperous era of whaling, were silent and deserted, yet there were a few men at work building vessels at Blackler's ship-yard, and whale- boats were still built at the shops whose reputation for superior
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FOUNDED 1810. CONSOLIDATED 1891.
WHITMAN
HALVT ..
FAIRHAVEN BRANCH
FIELD BRANCH
PLYMOUTH BRANCH
TAUNTON BRANCH.
GROUP OF ATLAS TACK CORPORATION'S FACTORIES
ATLAS TACK COMPANY'S FACTORY 1902
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boats secured them orders for the few vessels that were still fitted ont at New Bedford; but the life of the business had been quenched by the Confederate rebel cruisers, and the supply of petroleum oil, the retining of which on a small scale, was done in Fairhaven as a natural result of the familiarity of the people with oil; but even the refining of oil was destined to be done where it could be handled in large quantities, and the re- fining cheapened because of such quantities, and the prox- imity of the producing fields and the markets-so gradually whale-oil was displaced, both as an illuminant and a hibricant, yet for certain kinds of machinery no kind of oil has yet equalled sperm oil.
Gradually the new industry made itself felt in the town, and the natural repugnance of the people to manufacturing be- cause of mill operatives, who were necessarily brought into the town at the outset, was overcome, for the skilled workmen, who accompanied the advent of the business, were men of intelligence and good morals, and their quiet demeanor and attention to business, secured the respect of the citizens, and elicited the en- cominm from no less a man than Capt. John A. Hawes, to the manager: " You are entitled to the thanks of the citizens of the town for the kind of men you brought into it."
Capt. Hawes know whereof he spoke, for he had several of them as tenants in houses which had been vacant before the starting of the tack works.
By the purchase of several small concerns, the Tack Com- pany removed competition, and took the field to itself-but the most important purchase made was that of William S. Guerineau, of New York city. He had succeeded to the business of Arby Field who started in the manufacture of tacks in New York in . 1824. By this purchase, the complaints of the old manufacturers, that the tack company of this place was an interloper, was ef- fectually silenced for Arby Field was an older manufacturer than his brother Albert, of Taunton. But though their taunts were
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silenced, their efforts to keep the American Tack Company out of the market were not in the least relaxed, nor their determina- tion to compass its defeat abated. But the local company adopted original methods of selling its goods, and sought the trade of the small buyers and consumers. This course baffled the old manufacturers and seenred a permanent line of enstomers whose purchases, though small singly, netted larger profits than conld be obtained from the jobbers and large dealers.
By close attention to the requirements of the trade, and the most rigid economy of manufacture, the business grew gradual- ly year by year until the company operated 130 tack machines and fifty auxiliary machines, making it the third in production and sales of its goods, in the country.
The general tack business had been managed by a combina- tion of the manufacturers, and the law of supply and demand recognized ; the supply being restricted to the consumptive de- mands of the period. By this measure, stable prices were main- tained and good profits realized. This is the basic principal upon which all trusts should be organized, and is essential to the successful proseention of all productive industries.
But by 1880, several new tack concerns had started, and were running independent ; it became necessary, therefore, to adopt more stringent measures than had been effective, and the Central Manufacturing Company was organized. Every tack concern in the country was merged in this trust, including the Judson Manufacturing Co., of Oakland, Cal., and for two years it controlled the business; but the workmen. at some of the factories, became ambitions to be manufacturers themselves, and before four years had elapsed, 51 new tack concerns had started up, some to manufacture goods, others to be bought out. Several were bought, others subsidized and controlled.
This policy was pursued until more new concerns were started, than were silenced, and in the spring of 1886, after fon years of effort, when the original number 39, had grown to 93
SMALL ENGINE ROOM ATLAS TACK CO
LARGE ENGINE ROOM- ATLAS TACK CO.
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tack concerns, the Central Manufacturing Company was dissolved, and sharp competition ensued. Let it be said to the credit of the workmen of the American Tack Company, not one of its skilled workmen engaged in destroying the industry, but stayed loyally by the company, and by the business that furnished them employment.
For twenty-one years, from 1865 to 1886, the relations between the management and the employees were cordial and harmonious. The readjustment necessary after the dissolution of the Central Company, brought the Knights of Labor into the industrial field, and the first signs of discord appeared resulting in a strike of the tack makers ordered by their Union.
Informed of the strike, Mr. Beauvais, the Treasurer, said : "Shut down the mill if it takes a year." But that would have ruined the business, so no shut down, but the mill continued to run, although the company was boycotted for three years by the then powerful organization of Labor.
But the company had a large export trade unaffected by the ediet, so found a ready market for its products and established the right of the owners to control their own property.
In 1891, the five largest companies were merged into the Atlas Tack Corporation, which was subsequently reorganized as the Atlas Tack Company, and the present extensive buildings erected. Here in this great mill the best machinery of the old companies was concentrated and the most modern and improved machines built to fill the mill.
Fairhaven today can justly boast of the largest and best equipped tack mill in the world; furnishing employment to some 450 hands, and sending its products to every civilized country in the world.
Thus from the modest beginning of forty years ago, the business in this town has grown to its present proportions and is justly the hope and pride of its people.
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THATCHER BROTHERS MANUFACTURERS OF DIAMOND FINISH CUT GLASS
Mr. George T. Thatcher began the business in a very small way on Purchase street, New Bedford, about 1890, with two cutting frames. In a very short time six more frames were added. In 1891, Mr. Richard Thatcher bonght an interest in the business, and it was then carried on under the firm name of Thatcher Bros., and was moved into the old Hathaway, Soule & Harrington Shoe Factory, on Second street, where more frames were added, making thirty in all. After three years, it was seen that those quarters were not large enough for their fast increasing trade, and the firm decided to build a factory for their use.
The site in Fairhaven, where the present factory is located, was selected, as it gave them direct drainage into the river which was considered necessary on account of the deposit of silica and lead of which the glass is composed.
Formerly the blanks in a rough state were imported direct by the firm, from England, on account of the purity of color of the glass, which is a great factor in the trade.
Of late, the product of the American manufacturers is supe- rior to the imported, and the firm now use the domestic blank.
Abont four years ago, a blowing furnace was added to the plant and carried on until the increased cost of fuel made it impossible to make blanks with any profit in a small plant.
The firm employ from fifty to seventy hands; both members are practical workmen and not afraid to soil their hands with hard work. The product of the factory is sokl all over the country, and is well known for its richness in designs, purity and brilliant polish, which gives it its name of Diamond Finish Cut Glass.
E. G. SPOONER
Located on Middle street, just south of the bridge, is the marble works of Mr. E. G. Spooner, where may be found a choice assortment in his line.
TACK MACHINE ROOM ATLAS TACK CO.
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Mr. Spooner is prepared to execute plain and ornamental designs, to suit the wants of the community, and the calls for his products from the city, the Vineyard, and other localities, show that they give his many patrons satisfaction.
THE BRISTOL BUILDERS SUPPLY CO.
The Bristol Builders Supply Company occupy the large and commodious building on the north side of Spring street between Main and William streets. As their name implies, they are prepared to furnish builders with such furnishings as they may require for house and ship joinery.
The company employs from ten to twenty hands in the erection of buildings, and in operating the machinery installed in the building, the power for which is furnished by a 50-horse power engine.
The enterprise shown by the managers of this company, and the work done by them, justly entitles the company to rank as one of the industries of the town.
As the future welfare and prosperity of Fairhaven depend largely on manufacturing, it is fortunate the town wisely retained a portion of the old town farm as a site for a cotton mill, which it is hoped will be utilized at no distant future day, for that purpose.
A wonderful change has taken place in Fairhaven during the past forty years, and she has now entered the domain of manu- facturing provided with all the modern elements to ensure success.
Without water there can be no power, and without power there can be no modern manufacturing, therefore, no water, no manufacturing.
In 1865, nearly forty years ago, with above proposition in mind, the manager of the American Tack Co., while carefully examining the topography and hydrography of the town in search
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of a supply of water came across one of Fairhaven's old whaling captains.
Expressing his perplexity and doubts regarding the necessary supply, the captain ejaculated : " Water! why, there is plenty of water and there isn't a better place in the old Bay State to carry on manufacturing than right here in this town."
And, added he, " If you live long enough you will see what I say is true." " No other place has the advantages possessed by Fair- haven."
Asked to name the advantages he exultingly said : " Look at our water front, no other town has its equal." The reply : ". It water front constitutes advantages, Nantucket surpasses Fairhaven."
However, by sinking five large wells on the company's twenty acres, a limited supply of water was obtained, but the calcareous mineral in it would be precipitated to the bottom of the boilers, requiring frequent and regular cleaning to save them from being burnt, and to keep them in condition to make steam economically.
This was strictly attended to by Mr. Clark, the faithful engineer, to whose unremitting care and applied skill the compa- ny and its employees were indebted for the uniform power he always supplied.
During the many years that he had charge of the power department, the generation of steam and the running of his engines, no delays or stoppage occurred and the machinery was run with the regularity of the clock that pointed the hour to start and to stop the engines that drove the machinery.
During the last fifteen years of his services, more than twenty , tons of water were converted into steam each ten hours, and as much more used to dilute the acid used to vitriolize the steel plates, to dissolve the necessary lime, and to furnish water to clean the sealed plates thus prepared for the tack makers.
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FAIRHAVEN WATER WORKS PUMPING STATION
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But the disadvantages resulting from a lack of water, and its mineral character have been overcome.
Just as in the city across the harbor, so when the demand came for more and purer water suitable for steam purposes, the requisite supply was furnished.
One of Fairhaven's intelligent and educated young men saw the need, the absolute prerequisite, of pure water in abundance if the town were to make any progress in manufacturing, and the need of it too as a sanitary measure.
Ability, persisteney and capital were required, and these were at his command, resulting in the present water works, their source of supply, its efficient steam plant, its system of pipes, and lofty tower, grand results that he can contemplate with supreme satisfaction and deserved complaisancey.
That abundant supply of pure water makes it possible to prosecute manufacturing as a successful industry, and the donghty captain's prediction that " Fairhaven possesses superior ad- vantages" may yet be verified by the judicions nse of water and capital.
Without the former, there can be no effective power, and the latter is indispensable to utilize it whether the result of gravity or the molecular force of expansion.
Passing down the harbor and out into the bay, towards the islands which shelter its waters from the rougher waves of the ocean that lies beyond them, the objects on the receding shores gradually grow less and less distinct, but above them piercing the sky, are seen the noble water tower and the tall, symmetrical stack of the Atlas Tack Co.
These prominent objects grow more and more distinct in their outlines the farther the observer goes from them, and are visable long after the most elevated objects in New Bedford have disappeared. So, too, as one returns from the islands, or as he enters the bay from the broad ocean by Gosnold's temporary home, the first objects to be seen are these two monuments significant of supply and industry : of sanitation, comfort and opportunity.
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FISHING
As the Pilgrims depended largely on the edible fish taken from the sea, so today, fishing is not an entirely neglected industry, but the catching of them by seines and pounds has been prohibited. On this subject Mr. Daniel W. Deane, who was largely interested in the trapping of fish, writes as follows :
" The pioneer in the industry, Mr. S. P. Dunn, set the first weir or pound in our waters in 1868, and from that time on, the business grew very rapidly until we had 28 within the limits of Fairhaven, taking annually from a million to a million and a half of edible fish, and furnishing employment not only to the owners but to numerous others who bought and sold the catch.
" The industry had hardly become established, before it was discovered that there were many varieties of fish visiting our waters in large numbers of which we had previously no knowledge, and consumers of fish in this vicinity were privileged to enjoy a greater variety of fish food than ever before.
" For something over twenty years, the industry flourished wonderfully, furnishing some thirty-tive kinds of edible fish, and large quantities of others for bait to the deep sea fishermen, and to the farmers for the enrichment of their lands and the conse- quent increase of their crops.
" The industry was finally destroyed by an act of the Legislature, which prohibits the use of weirs, pounds, nets or seines in the water of Buzzards Bay."
Mr. Deane made the fish question one of careful study, and his extended experience qualified him to judge the subject intelli- gently. He has stated that the carnivora fish destroyed immense quantities of fish, and by catching them, more edible fish were saved from destruction than were caught in the traps ; besides the carnivora furnished good dressing to enrich the lands of the farmers; the need of fish as a fertilizer was one of the first lessons learned by the English from the Indians.
In the bay, tautog, seup, and other bottom fish are quite
FOUNTAIN -ERECTED BY IMPROVEMENT SOCIETY
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numerous, but no one has followed fishing as a vocation since the days of Nathan Allen, and those who ago a fishing" go for the sport rather than for the profit or as a vocation for a livelihood. Some years ago Captain Kelley came to this port from Harwich and engaged in codfishing, sending his vessels into the waters between Block Island and Noman's Land. He was very successful and at his death was succeeded by his son, David Kelley, who continues the business left him by his father. He owns several vessels, and cures the fish caught by them, on Old South wharf which he purchased for the exclusive use of his business. He has recently erected a large and commodious building on his premises for the curing and packing of fish which requires several hands. This may justly be considered one of the town's successful industries.
But our harbor and bay afford employment to some seventy men, citizens of this town, who follow the catching of quahogs as a regular daily vocation : and the catch finds a ready and steady market, summer and winter. These bivalves are raked from the bottom of the river, harbor, and bay, and are sold in the large cities as " Little-neck Clams." They furnish a course in our aristocratic clubs, and constitute a delicacy in the first- class restaurants. It is safe to state that more than 100 bushels of these mollusks are taken by the fishermen of Fairhaven per day as an average catch, netting the men engaged in the business good pay ; some of the more expert earning from $20 to $30 a week under favorable conditions.
Although this is a comparatively new industry, it has become of considerable commercial vale, and brings into the town many thousands of dollars a year as a reward for the hard labor of those engaged in the business. The supply seems in- ' exhaustible, and the market equal to the supply, readily absorb- ing all these shell fish that are now canght.
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PRESENT CONDITIONS
A comparison of the industrial condition of today, with that of forty years ago, presents a marked contrast. No signs of whaling are seen about the wharves where formerly activity reigned. The building of ships no longer furnishes employment, the rope-walks and sail-lofts have disappeared, and nothing re- mains of the industry but two shops that still find work, building whaleboats they know so well how to build. But in the place of these departed industries, the great tack mill, where many skilled hands find employment, and the other active industries, have contributed to the welfare of the town. And as in all communities where manufacturing has been established, farming has flourished, and the farmer finds a ready and profitable market for the products of his farm.
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