Polk's Baltimore city directory : containing an alphabetical list of business firms and private citizens, 1923, Part 2

Author: R.L. Polk & Co
Publication date: 1922
Publisher: Baltimore : R.L. Polk & Co.
Number of Pages: 2202

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WATER SUPPLY

Baltimore derives its water supply from a 2,000,000,000 gallon capacity reservoir at Loch Raven in the Gun- powder River Valley, a few miles northeast of the city. From Loch Raven the water is pumped to the filtration plant at Lake Montebello in the northeastern part of Balti- more. This plant, which is one of the largest in the country, is of the mechanical filter style. After filtra- tion the water is treated with chlor- ine as a further precaution. The city water rate is 65 cents per 1,000 cubic feet. Pressure ranges from 45 pounds to 110 pounds per square inch in the city mains, with an additional high- pressure system for fire protection in the business section.

Many Baltimore industries obtain their water from artesian wells on their own property, as excellent water comparatively free from scale-forming substances can be se-

cured with little lifting. About $25,000,000 is already invested in the water works system and $15,- 000,000 additional has been provided for extensions.

SEWERAGE SYSTEM

Baltimore has the most modern and efficient sewerage system in the world. The main arteries were com- pleted in 1916, at a cost of $23,000,- 000, and the total cost of the house connections is estimated at $12,500,- 000 additional. An immense sewer- age disposal plant has been con- structed six miles from the city. There are 180 miles of storm sewers and 625 miles of sanitary sewers in the system. No charges are made for tappage, maintenance and operation. An $8,000,000 General Improvement Loan fund is being expended to pro- vide additional sewerage facilities, particularly in the outlying districts of the cty.

POWER AND LIGHT

The cost of electricity and gas in Baltimore is lower than that of any other seaboard city, and, indeed, lower than the majority of inland points. Implicit reliance can be placed upon this statement and its proof can be readily demonstrated in any given case. A portion of the electricity comes from the great Mc- Call Dam on the Susquehanna River. Not only has Baltimore an adequate power supply to meet all the de- mands which can be placed upon it, but the Consolidated Gas, Electric Light & Power Company also has steam power plants of sufficient capacity to take care of the full elec- trical demand in case of any acci- dent to the hydraulic plant or trans- mission lines.

DISTINCTIVE HOME ATMOS- PHERE

Cosmopolitan in its origin and American in its development, Bal- timore stands today unique among the larger cities of the United States in that, more completely than any other, it has successfully blended the elements of real joy in living with the activities of industrial and commercial life. There is no other large city where the influence of dis- tinctly home and neighborly atmos- phere reflects itself so powerfully in the life of its citizens-a condition due in large measure to the very tenacious manner in which Balti-

INTRODUCTION

moreans of all classes cling to home life. It is therefore not difficult to understand why over 62 per cent, by actual count, of the houses of Baltimore are occupied by their owners. Baltimore also leads in the number of rooms per person, having 1.37 rooms available for each inhab- itant. Much of the charm of Balti- more's distinctive atmosphere arises from the city's location midway be- tween the North and South. While its business is largely fashioned af- ter Northern methods, the life of Baltimore is guided by Southern ways and traditions.

Baltimore's suburban development is concededly the most picturesque and attractive of any city in the United States. It presents more var- iety and more artistic possibilities than any other big cities in Amerca. Living by the laboring class is far above the average city. Neat homes, instead of tenement-house living, is the rule here.

TAX RATES

Baltimore's tax rate is slightly less than $3.00 per hundred. As Bal- timore City is a separate political unit there are no county taxes to be paid. Manufacturers are exempt from city taxation on all tools and machinery, raw materials, goods in process of manufacture and bills re- ceivable.

GROWTH OF TAXABLE BASIS

Assessment

1900

$ 394,113,499

1905

502,144,182

1910

682,633,316

1915 818,102,313

1920 1,129,112,032

1922.

1,249,646,431

BALTIMORE'S MUNICIPAL MARKETS

Baltimore's municipal markets are one of the city's most character- istic institutions, and play no small part in reducing the cost of living to lower levels than obtain in other large eastern cities. The City of Bal- timore owns and operates eleven open markets in various sections of the city, but all within easy access to centers of population. There are approximately 6,000 stalls within these market enclosures. The Lex- ington Market, with 61,000 square feet of covered space, contains 1,223 stalls, the largest number in any municipally-owned market in the

United States. It is estimated that there is a daily average of 50,000 shoppers in the various markets ex- cept on Saturday, when the number swells to about 100,000. The most modern is Centre Market, construct- ed after the fire of 1904 at a cost of over $500,000, and extends for three blocks. Baltimore may easily claim the distinction of being the original market city.

The Baltimore markets, by their more direct transferance of produce from grower to consumer, make for economy in living. The Chesapeake Bay is a store house at Baltimore's door for sea food, fish, oysters and crabs. The reasonable price at which these can be purchased locally has a tendency to lower prices on com- peting products. The splendid truck farms nearby and on the Eastern Shore of Maryland also insure an abundance of fresh vegetables at minimum cost.

STREET RAILWAY SERVICE

It is generally admitted that Balti- more has one of the best and most efficient street car services in the United States. The mileage is wide- spread; the cars are commodious and comfortable; the schedules are convenient; the speed is fast; the free transfers are generous, and the management is excellent.

BALTIMORE AN EDUCATIONAL CENTER

Baltimore is an important center of learning. It is the home of one of the leading institutions of the world-The Johns Hopkins Univer- sity. Johns Hopkins is the foremost institution in the United States de- voted to research work. As a medical school it is world-famed and it has not been surpassed in contributions to scholars of world-wide import- ance. In a similar way the Johns Hopkins Hospital is unequalled by any similar organization. Johns Hopkins, Goucher College and Loy- ola College represent the scholastic ideals of Baltimore. Prominent in the city's college center is the Pea- body Institute, the Maryland Insti- tute of Art and Design, the Walter's Art Gallery, the Enoch Pratt Free Library, with its many branches; the Maryland University, with its various departments of learning, and many other noted institutions devoted to culture and intellectual pursuits. Baltimore public schools,

INTRODUCTION

with their several colleges, place Baltimore on high intellectual level as a seat of learning. Baltimore has many medical colleges, as well as those devoted to law. The Baltimore College of Dental Surgery is the old- est college of its kind in the world. Thousands of students from many parts of the world, as well as this country, are receiving their educa- tion in Baltimore, which occupies a commanding position in the arts, sciences and culture generally. The public school system of Baltimore is modeled in accordance with pro- gressive educational standards and furnishes free education to over 100,- 000 pupils. Thoroughly equipped high schools, vocational schools and teachers' training schools are pro- vided. A splendid Polytechnic Insti- tute is also part of this system.

GEOGRAPHICAL ADVANTAGE

Baltimore is nearer the center of population of the United States than Philadelphia, New York or Boston. It is nearer the centers of the great- est proportion of improved farm lands which are located, in order of rank, in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Illinois, Iowa and Missouri; nearer the leading corn states (Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Missouri, Nebraska and Ohio), and nearer the centers of largest wheat production in the Western and Middle Western States. Baltimore is closely connected by short distance rail routes with the chemical plants of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Ohio; also with the pig iron and steel centers in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, New York and Indiana. It is also cennected with the important centers of the following industries: Electrical machinery in New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey; cars and car repair parts in Pennsylvan- ia, Illinois and Ohio; carriages and wagons in Ohio, Indiana and Illi- nois; automobiles in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana and New York, as well as with the coal mining centers in Pennsylvania, Illinois, West Vir- ginia, Ohio and Indiana. In fact, ac- cording to the United States census of 1910, 43.6 per cent of the products manufactured in this country are lo- cated in states which are directly connectea with Baltimore by shorter rail routes than other ports.

HARBOR DEVELOPMENT

Baltimore's stragetical geograph- ical location has made it an import- ant railroad center, and one of the greatest export and import centers in the Unitetd Sates. In the late years, Baltimore's advantages as a seaport has assumed unprecedented importance and been accorded uni- versal recognition. The geographical position of Baltimore, closer than the other Atlantic ports to the great industrial and farming regions of the Middle West and to the fields and steel districts, nearer to the Pan- ama Canal and the West Indies than either New York or Philadelphia, and in an exceptionally favorable situation as regards South American commerce, warrants the city in claiming to be the natural gateway for the exports and imports of the Middle West.

Baltimore is the nearest port to the center of population, to the greatest improved farm lands, and to the bituminous coal fields.

That this is being realized to an ever increasing extent is demon- strated by the fact that before the war Baltimore had but twelve over- seas steamship lines serving fifteen foreign ports, while at present there are fifty-two regular steamship liner services controlled by forty-three companies, operating steamers to over 100 foreign ports.

Baltimore possesses one of the finest harbors in the United States, with large anchorage areas. The channel is thirty-five feet deep right up to the piers. The tide variation is only fourteen inches.

Baltimore harbor comprises 127 iniles of deep water frontage, forty- five miles of which are developed with water front warehouse space of 1,081,775 square feet; covered pier space of 998,104 square feet, and a terminal storage capacity of 8,909,920 square feet; together with the most modern accomodations for the handling of grain, coal, oil, sul- phur, fertilizer and other specialized shipments.

Baltimore harbor is a very busy one. It sails and shelters all man- ner of craft, from the ponderous ocean liner to the oyster pungy. All sorts of cargoes are shipped and re- ceived from almost all principal parts of the world.

INTRODUCTION

Those who have not seen these great marine stations have little idea of their magnitude. They are not solely colossal specimens of engi- neering skill, they are for use. Those who would enter the shipping busi- ness, or whose industry is dependent upon shipping, to or from, have their most vexatious problems set- tled in advance, namely: terminal facilities, magnificent docks and piers and unrivalled harbor facili- ties are available for advantageous arrangements.

The harbor is Baltimore's great- est asset. Land-locked, with a maxi- mum tide of fourteen inches only, and a 35-foot channel to the Atlan- tic Ocean, it is served by three trunk lines, two belt railways connecting them, grain elevators with 10,000,- 000 bushels capacity, 47 railroad and municipal piers, four ore piers, coal piers with a capacity of 10,000 tons an hour, the largest drydock on the Atlantic coast and six others, rail- road yard capacity for 15,000 and ground storage for 14,000 freight cars.

SOUTH AMERICAN, PACIFIC COAST AND FAR EASTERN TRADE

Baltimore occupies a strategic po- sition in relation to coastwise, West Indies, South American, Pacific Coast and Far Eastern trade. A con- siderable trade with these countries has recently developed, and gives promise of future permanent mar- kets of prime importance.

In addition to being the most western of the eastern ports, the most northern of the southern ports, and the most southern of the north- ern ports, Baltimore is also closer than any of her rivals to important European and African harbors.

The port is served by many regu- lar steamship line services con- trolled by companies which operate a large number of steamers to more than 100 foreign ports. In addition to these overseas line vessels, the port is served by coastwise steam- ship lines regularly trading between Baltimore and the principal ports on our Atlantic and Pacific seaboards. These overseas and coastwise steam- ship services, transporting general cargoes of miscellaneous freight, together with the large number of tramp steamers and industrial car- riers of bulk cargoes of ore, oil, sul-

phur, fertilizers, coal, grain, etc., constantly trading to and from the port, constitute the entire shipping activities of Baltimore.

FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS SPE- CIALIZING ON FOREIGN TRADING

The financial institutions of Balti- more and other money centers are fully cognizant of Baltimore's pres- ent important status in foreign trade operations and they clearly foresee the inevitable big expansion in that trade which is already mani- festing itself. In order to take ad- vantage of the foreign trade activi- ties, local institutions are putting in foreign trade departments under the directions of experienced foreign trade financiers.

ORGANIZED BODIES WORKING TO PROMOTE FOREIGN TRADE

The Merchants and Manufactur- ers Association, which is the largest business and civic body in the city, is an active factor in helping to pro- mote and upbuild foreign trade. This Association has specially constituted departments which engage in this work in divers ways. Moreover, the Association is in direct working re- lations with those particular agen- cies which are specializing in export and import matters and in the ex- pansion of Baltimore's overseas trade. This is true as to shipping as well as to cargo movements.

PIERS AND WAREHOUSES

The City of Baltimore has expen- ded over $9,000,000 for the erection of modern public wharves, docks and approaches. There are ten muni- cipal wharves with a total area of 1,262,647 square feet and an average length of 750 feet. The longest muni- cipal pier has a length of 1,456 feet.

The three great trunk line rail- roads have adequate pier facilities. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad has nine covered piers, three open piers, two waterfront warehouses and four coal piers, affording oppor- tunity to 26 vessels to load simultan- eously. The Pennsylvania Railroad has four covered piers, three open piers, an ore pier, two waterfront warehouses, and a coal pier, capable of accommodating 23 vessels at the same time. The Western Maryland Railway opssesses a covered pier, an open pier, three waterfront ware-

INTRODUCTION

house groups, and a coal pier, cap- able of loading eight vessels at the same time. The Canton Company loads 13 vessels at its covered pier, ore pier and open pier. It also possesses ten waterfront ware- houses.

The total waterfront warehouse space available at the Port of Balti- more is 1,081,755 square feet; cov- ered pier space 1,409,126 square feet; 998,104 square feet of open pier space; municipal piers, 1,262,647 square feet.

GRAIN ELEVATOR CAPACITY

The splendid outlook for this city in the matter of a very large increase in the volume of Trans-Atlantic and South American shipping, mean that many additional millions of bushels of grain are certain to come here from the West and Canada for pur- poses of export. Hence the coming demand for greater elevator service. The total grain storage capacity of the Baltimore elevators of the three railroad systems operating here is 10,000,000 bushels.

PORT IN WHICH SHIPS CAN BE OPERATED MOST CHEAPLY

Exports and imports pass through the port without congestion or de- lay and with lower costs than is the case in New York. The turn around of steamers costs less in this port than in New York, recent com- parisons showing an average saving of more than $4,000 per vessel each time for similar ships and cargoes in favor of Baltimore, and even this does not take into consideration provisioning in this port, nor the more rapid turn around of vessels with the financial saving that this implies.

The absence of dockage assess- ments and wharfage charges on freight brought to port by rail, the free delivery of less-than-carload shipments paying a small minimum rail charge to any point in the har- bor, are advantages which should influence operators in assigning ves- sels and exporters and importers in routing shipments.

DRY DOCKS AND MARINE RALWAYS

A floating dock, twelve marine railways and three dry docks, the largest which is 628 feet long and 125 feet wide, are located at this port.

BALTIMORE A GREAT INDUS- DUSTRIAL CENTER

So many and so varied are the in- dustries in which Baltimore leads, that it is impractical to describe them all here. Yet the diversifica- tion of her industries has been one of the strongest factors in the City's unprecedented growth over a long period of years. A total lull of busi- ness in Baltimore is practically un- known. When the tides of commerce cause one industry to cut down ac- tivities, the City's trade as a whole is barely affected. The output of Baltimore factories approximates a billion dollars a year. It matters not what an industrial enterprise may need, those needs can be found advantageously in Baltimore. Water facilities, railroad accommodations, reliable labor, financial institutions, fine shipping terminals, exception- ally fortunate geographical position, attractive sites for manufacturing plants, superabundance of cheap power, and a city delightfully charm- ing to live in.

The twelve months ending May 20, 1922, saw new industries estab- lished in Baltimore as follows:

100 New Industries with plant In- vestment of $34,691,700.

134 Expansions with a total in- vestment of $37,920,500.

The Columbia Graphophone Com- pany Plant $3,600,000.

The General Electric Company.

The Bethlehem Steel Company in- tends to spend $85,000,000 and will employ 20,000 persons.

The Steinmetz Electric Motor Company.

Eastern Rolling Mills expect to double their plant capacity.

The American Sugar Refining Company $8,000,000 plant com- pleted.

When it is recalled that Balti- more's industrial employment list in 1922 passed the 120,000 mark it can readily be seen that manufacturing here has lifted Baltimore to a high rank nationally as an industrial cen- ter. Indeed, Baltimore's rating has made it possible for the State of Maryland, as a whole, to be classi- fied as the 17th manufacturing state in the Union. This represents in Baltimore City for 1922 an annual pay-roll of $101,000,000 despite cer- tain wage reductions which have marked the year. These activities are predicated upon an industrial

INTRODUCTION

capitalization of $510,000,000; and the year 1922 witnessed an aggre- gate production valued at $654,000,- 000. Such a wide range of manufac- turing puts Baltimore in the buying field in the purchasing of raw ma- terial to the tune of $400,000,000 in 1922.

The wide diversity of manufactur- ing is evidenced by the following list of leading industries. This list includes those lines which are not- ably active here in large measure:

Iron and Steel in various forms: Car Wheels; Rails; Ship-building and Repairs; Clothing -- including Men's and Boys' and General Under- wear; Middy Blouses and Pajamas; Women's Garments; Tin and Sheet Iron Products; Black Sheets; Canned Goods, including Meats; Vegetables and Sea Foods; Tin Cans; Chemicals and Acids; includ- ing Fertilizers; Sugar Refining; Slaughtering and Meat Packing; Tobacco; Straw Hats, Hats and Caps; Cotton Duck and Print Goods; Enameled Ware; Shirts and Over- alls; Ladies' Apparel; Millinery and Lace Goods; Copper-Smelting; Cop- per Pigs, Rods, Sheets, Tubes; Oil Refining; Olive Oil Refining; Com- mercial Alcohol; Umbrellas; Drugs and Preparations; Licorice; Paints and Varnishes; Bakery Products; Candy and Confectionery; Mill Work; Hardwoods; Machinery; Spices; Structural Iron; Paving and Roofing Material; Shoes, Bricks; Belting; Harness and Saddlery; Boxes (wood and paper) and Bar- rels; Furniture; Talking Machine Cabinets; Bottles and Glassware; Cotton and Burlap Bags; Ice Cream Products; Stone and Monument Work; Mattress and Spring Beds; Aeroplane Propellors; Veneering.

MANUFACTURERS ORGANIZED AMONG THEMSELVES

In order to produce effective co- operation among kindred industries themselves, the Merchants and Man- ufacturers Association has organ- ized and is operating, as one of its functions, group meetings and con- structive plannings among the fol- lowing nineteen groups:

Food and Kindred Products; Mis- cellaneous Textiles and Products; Clothing (Men and Women's) ; Mis- cellaneous Wearing Apparel; Mil- linery and Laces; Iron and Steel and Their Products; Lumber and Its

Manufacturers; Leather and Its Fin- ished Products; Paper and Printing; Beverages; Chemicals and Allied Products; Fertilizers and Heavy Chemicals; Stone and Glass Prod- ucts; Metal Products (Other than Iron and Steel); Tobacco Manufac- turers; Vehicles for Land Transpor- tation; Ship-building; Miscellane- ous (This is subdivided).

FACTORY SITES

Good land, well-located, can be procured at fair prices. There are factory sites of sufficient variance in character and location to suit the needs of any industry; on rail, on water, on both or on neither. Manu- facturing in Baltimore is not con- gested into any one district. It is scattered. All sections carry a sub- stantial proportion. This spreading out of industries has made possible the development of conveniently dis- tributed labor residential districts. Labor is thus enabled to live close to its place of work.

BALTIMORE'S SITUATION IN RE- GARD TO RAW MATERIALS

For all raw materials originating in the mid-west, Baltimore is the nearest sea-board city. Raw ma- terials from overseas and southern markets come, or can be brought, direct to the Port of Baltimore. Coal will almost roll by gravity to Balti- more from mines only 167 miles away in the Alleghany Mountains. Petroleum comes by pipeline from the Southwest fields, and direct from Mexico by water. High grade chem- ical limestones and dolomites are readily available at a number of lo- cations not exceeding 100 miles in distance from Baltimore. Steel is made in enormous quantities at the Bethlehem Steel plant, only seven miles from the heart of the city. The largest copper refining plant in the world is situated at Baltimore. Lum- ber, including both hard and soft woods is available on short haul and at low freight rates. A rich agricultural section and the Chesa- peake Bay supply a great variety of food products.

LABOR CONDITIONS

A feature which particularly ap- peals to the manufacturer is that the vast bulk of Baltimore's labor is of a steady and dependable class, and not subject to strikes which are not -: ably prevalent in other large cen,

INTRODUCTION

ters. One of the chief reasons for this contentment is the fact that a workman can buy a home in Balti- more for an initial payment of as low as 10 per cent. of cost, and sometimes even lower. For this rea- son the majority of workmen have found it possible to purchase homes of the two or three-story type, typi- cal of the city's industrial life, and have, therefore, become responsible members of the community. In ad- dition, a better understanding be- tween employers and employees exists in Baltimore than is the case elsewhere. As one significant in- stance of this, the Workmen's Com- pensation Law of Maryland was framed by representatives of both the employer and the employee to the mutual satisfaction of all con- cerned.

That labor is never scarce is largely due to the fact that Balti- more has a labor reservoir to draw from, which includes the city with its population in excess of 800,000, the neighboring counties of Balti- more, Anne Arundel and Harford, with a combined population of 100,- 000, and the adjoining territory of southern Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, the eastern part of West Virginia and the District of Columbia. As there are few manu- facturing cities within these limits, Baltimore is a natural focus for labor of all kinds.

POWER

Electric power is available, being derived from a big hydraulic plant on the Susquehanna River and transmitted to customers through the Consolidated Gas & Electric Company, which is under the super- vision of the Public Service Commis- sion. The rates for electricity are below those of any city on the At,- lantic Seaboard.

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Polk's Baltimore city directory : containing an alphabetical list of business firms and private citizens, 1923, Part 2

Author: R.L. Polk & Co Publication date: 1922 Publisher: Baltimore : R.L. Polk & Co. Number of Pages: 2202

Author: R.L. Polk & Co
Publication date: 1922
Publisher: Baltimore : R.L. Polk & Co.
Number of Pages: 2202