USA > Michigan > Saginaw County > History of Saginaw County, Michigan; historical, commercial, biographical, Volume II > Part 57
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Summary of Saginaw's Industries in 1914
According to the special census reports issued by the Department of Commerce, Washington, D. C., for the year 1914 (the last report). the population of Saginaw was estimated to be fifty-four thousand, and the number of employees in local industries was eight thousand four hundred and sixty-six. The capital invested increased from twenty-six million seven
Theodore Huss
John L. Jackson
Harry T. Wirkes
Arthur Eddy Max Heavenrich
Benton Hanchett
A. 6. Molze
TRUSTEES OF MERCHANTS AND MANUFACTURERS ASSOCIATION 1909 TO 1913
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HISTORY OF SAGINAW COUNTY
hundred thousand dollars in 1910 to thirty-three million one hundred and forty thousand dollars in 1914; and the value of products, representing value or price at the plants as actually turned out during the year but includ- ing amounts received for work done on materials furnished by others, increased Irom eighteen million eight hundred and thirty-three thousand dollars in 1910 to twenty-four million two hundred and seventy-nine thousand dollars in 1914. Meanwhile the wages and salaries paid in our industries increased from four million one hundred and ten thousand dollars in 1910 to five million five hundred and eighty thousand dollars in 1914. In the two years which have intervened since the period of the last report, the industrial situation in Saginaw has greatly improved, and it is confidently believed that at this writing ( May, 1916) the figures in some of the above departments would show a substantial increase.
The Sommers Brothers Match Company
This successful industry had its beginning in the old Saginaw Match Company, which was organized in 1903 by Charles F. Sommers, Sylvester A. Sommers and Frank F. Sommers. They bought a brick factory building on South Jefferson Avenue, made their own match machinery, and invented the now famous "Saginaw Tip" match. At first they placed on the market such limited quantities of this newly invented match as they could manufacture.
The double tip match revolutionized the match business and in a short time its popularity became so universal that imitators sprang up like mush- rooms over night, and filled the market with imitation matches which they claimed to be just as good as the original "Saginaw Tip." The public, how- ever readily detected the difference, and the Saginaw Match Company was unable to manufacture double tip matches fast enough to supply the demands.
In 1909 the directors of the Company, realizing that a much larger factory was necessary, organized a new company to be known as the Sommers Brothers Match Company, with a capital stock of two hundred and eighty thousand dollars. The new stock was quickly sold at par, and with the funds the Company erected a new, modern factory, a five-story white sandstone brick structure one hundred and twenty feet by one hundred and fifteen feet in dimensions. A complete power plant and laboratory and chemical build- ings adjoin the factory on the east and west.
The new plant was equipped with the most modern facilities and match- making machinery of the most approved type, designed by Charles F. Som- mers, the president of the Company, under whose personal direction the new factory was erected. Each match-making machine is ninety feet in length, sixteen feet in height, and weighs eight and a half tons. It carries four hundred feet of chain, consisting of twelve hundred match plates, each plate holding seven hundred and fifty matches. Small match blocks are placed in the "stamper" at one end of a machine, and converted into match sticks with the amazing rapidity of eighteen thousand sticks per minute. These sticks are automatically placed and held in the match plates, dipped in paraffine, double-tipped in match head composition, and then carried up and down over and under dozens of wheels and pulleys and through air blasts from electric fans so that they become perfectly dry. At last they reach the turning table where they are automatically packed in match boxes.
An idea of the quantity of matches made each working day may be obtained from the statement that each machine makes eighteen thousand matches per minute, or ten million eight hundred thousand matches in ten hours. The eight match machines produce a total of eighty-seven million matches a day, filling one hundred and seventy-five thousand boxes, or one thousand seven hundred cases, equivalent to three car loads. If laid end to end a day's production would make a continuous line twenty-five hundred and thirty-five miles in length.
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The match timber used by the Company is straight grained Idaho white pine, which is cut by a block plant owned by them at Sand Point, Idaho. This timber is first sawed into proper sized planks, and after thorough sea- soning the best stock is shipped to Saginaw, all knotty and cross-grained blocks being left in Idaho to be sold for fuel. In every department of this important industry the enterprise of the Sommers Brothers is clearly mani- fested, and is one of Saginaw's largest manufactories.
Erd Motor Company
A rapidly growing institution is the Erd Motor Company, manufacturers of marine, truck and tractor motors, whose efficient plant is located at Niagara and Mackinaw Streets. Like some other of Saginaw's flourishing industries, this concern started in a modest way. In 1902 John G. Erd and Harry S. Erd opened a small machine shop in the Barnard Block, at the corner of Niagara and Hancock Streets. They were practical machinists and mechanical engineers and made marine engines to order and did general motor repair work for local boat owners. The output was about one com- plete motor a month, but they were of such excellent design and workman- ship that in a short time the capacity of the shop was overtaxed.
In 1906 the shop was removed to a larger frame factory building on North Niagara Street, and the equipment and working force largely increased. The production soon reached ten or twelve marine motors a month, which were shipped to the East and South. By judicious advertising the demand for Erd motors, of sizes ranging from one to six cylinders, increased very rapidly and the plant and manufacturing facilities were taxed to the utmost.
On December 11, 1909, the business was incorporated by John G. Erd. Harry S. Erd and William J. Passolt, with a capital stock of twenty-five thousand dollars. The stock was later increased to one hundred and twenty- five thousand dollars, and the business expanded to a remarkable degree. In addition to turning out one complete six-cylinder motor a day, there was the same production of smaller motors, mostly for marine use. This expansion soon necessitated increased plant facilities for production, and in 1910 the present brick factory building was erected and equipped with modern machinery, tools and jigs.
PLANT OF THE ERD MOTOR COMPANY
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HISTORY OF SAGINAW COUNTY
Later the manufacture of heavy truck and tractor motors was added to the product, and this part of the business has grown to such a volume that the Company is now turning out about fifteen motors a day. The success of the Erd Motor is due to its great power and reliability at comparatively low speeds, and to the general excellence of workmanship. It is a valve-in-head type with long stroke, the cylinders being of four-inch bore and six-inch stroke. These features give from ten to twenty per cent more power with ten to fifteen per cent economy in fuel consumption. The bearings are of ample size and an oiling system which gives perfect lubrication to every part, is provided.
About eighty-five mechanics are steadily employed by the Company, and the force will eventually be increased by a number of molders in a foundry which it is proposed to add to the equipments for making of all castings used in the motors, many of which are now made in other cities.
The present officers of the Company are: John G. Erd, president ; R. H. Knapp, vice-president ; Harry S. Erd, secretary and treasurer ; and the board of directors comprises the officers and William J. Passolt and E. M. Marshall.
The Saginaw Manufacturing Company
One of the oldest and most successful of local industries is the Saginaw Manufacturing Company which, with its parent concern, the Saginaw Barrel Factory, has had an active existence of forty-five years. The Saginaw Barrel Factory was established in 1871 by a company of local capitalists, headed by Messrs. Ballentine, A. F. R. Braley, William Binder and C. A. Lee, who were the first officers of the Company. The capital stock was seventy-five thou- sand dollars, but was afterward increased to one hundred and twenty-five thousand.
From the nature and variety of its products the ohl barrel factory was one of the most interesting concerns in Saginaw Valley. The factory was a three-story brick building, one hundred by one hundred and fifty feet in dimensions, and with the blacksmith shop, saw mill and salt block, extended three hundred and sixty feet along the bayou. About one hundred and fifty men were employed with labor saving machinery in the manufacture of axle grease boxes, Wilson's patent wash boards having crimped zinc facing, of which the output was three hundred and fifty dozen daily, step ladders, pails, wooden measures for grain, curtain poles and rollers, tobacco drums and cheese boxes. The barrel factory burned in 1882 and for several months the business was suspended.
In the following year the Company was reorganized under its present name by Ammi W. Wright, Charles H. Davis, Newell Barnard and Thomas Merrill, and the business continued on a larger scale than ever before. A new and complete factory of increased dimensions was erected on the site of the old and thoroughly equipped with modern machinery and power plant.
In 1892 Henry J. Gilbert and Arnold Routell, both of whom had pre- viously been connected with the Company for several years in subordinate capacities, were put in charge of its affairs, Mr. Gilbert as vice-president and general manager, and Mr. Boutell as secretary and treasurer. To their ability and business sagacity is largely due the marvelous strides made by the Com- pany within the last twenty-five years, which have placed the Company at the head of the lines manufactured. Gradually the great variety of useful products made was cut down, and about fifteen years ago the production was reduced to wash boards and wood-split pulleys, to which it has since been confined.
For many years the average number of employees has been about four hundred, and the amount paid in wages has been about two hundred thou-
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7
EXTENSIVE WORKS OF THE SAGINAW MANUFACTURING COMPANY
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HISTORY OF SAGINAW COUNTY
sand dollars yearly. The value of the annual production exceeds one million dollars, which places the Company among the leading industries of this city.
In the manufacture of wash boards this Company is the largest producer in the world, the average daily output of various sizes being one hundred and twenty-five thousand. The Gilbert Wood Split Pulleys are in ahnost uni- versal use, the production being the second largest in this country. They are made in sizes from three inches diameter and two-inch face, in the solid wood type, to large drive pulleys twenty feet in diameter and four feet or more face and ranging in price from less than one dollar to nineteen hundred and twenty-eight dollars each. All pulleys are made from selected clear Michigan maple which, after air-seasoning for eighteen months or more is thoroughly kiln dried, dressed and cut into rim cants. In all there are more than eighty distinct operations in making a Gilbert Wood Split Pulley, and the output of six and eight-inch pulleys is three hundred per day.
The present officers of the Company are: Henry J. Gilbert, president and general manager : Harwood J. Gilbert, vice-president ; Arnold Boutell, secre- tary and treasurer ; Charles T. Gilbert, superintendent : Roger Boutell, assist- ant secretary.
SAG. TINA SHEET METAL
FORMER SHOPS OF SAGINAW SHEET METAL WORKS ON TUCOLA STREET AND LAPEER AVENUE
Saginaw Sheet Metal Works
To what extent a small struggling business may be developed into a large and successful industry is clearly shown by the remarkable record of the Saginaw Sheet Metal Works. From a small beginning in a tin shop established in 1902 by A. C. Klopf and A. B. Lewless at the corner of South Washington Avenue and Atwater Street, this city, the business outgrew two other enlarged shops and increased in volume to such an extent that in 1917 it was occupying quarters in a specially built and well equipped plant on Genesee Avenue and the Belt Line crossing, which contained over forty thou- sand square feet of floor space.
The guiding spirits of this concern are Arthur J. Beese and Andrew B. Lewless. Arthur J. Beese first became interested in the infant industry in 1903 and during the Fall of that year the business was removed to 113
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Lapeer AAvenue. Later, during the same year, Mr. Beese and Mr. Lewless purchased Mr. Klopf's interest in the co-partnership. The business was oper- ated as a co-partnership by the above persons until the year 1910, when it was incorporated. During its early existence as a co-partnership, it employed from three to five tinsmiths, doing a general tin shop business such as eaves- trough work, tin roofing, repair work and furnace work. Such strides were made in developing the business that in 1907 it was necessary to obtain larger quarters and they built a considerably enlarged brick factory building at 513 Tuscola Street.
In this new factory the scope of the business was broadened to include the manufacture of metal cornices, skylights, ventilators, windows, ornamen- tations, etc., and also to the engaging in tile, slate and metal roofing. In this building they employed from twenty to thirty skilled artisans, and their work at that time is notably exemplified by such buildings as the Cleveland Hippo- drome. Cleveland, Ohio; the Auditorium and Manual Training School, Sagi- naw: the Masonic Temple, Bay City ; the Buick factories, Flint, and many churches, libraries, etc. During this time they also did extensive work for
ISEGINEW SHEET METAL. WORKS
I
EFFICIENT PLANT OF THE SAGINAW SHEET METAL WORKS
the United States Government, mainly on post offices. In less than three years the business became so large that the factory on Tuscola Street was inadequate and larger quarters were necessary.
In 1910 it was decided to incorporate the business, to build a larger factory, and to engage in the making of hoods. fenders, and other sheet metal products for the automobile trade in addition to continuing in the already well established lines. The Company was incorporated for one hundred thousand dollars, and the following officers were chosen : A. J. Beese, presi- dent and general manager: . 1. B. Lewless, vice-president ; F. W. Bremer, secretary and treasurer. There has been no change in the officers of the Company since that time. Their principal products now are automobile fenders and sheet metal stampings, although the construction work is still a very important part. This latter line is under the personal supervision of Mr. Lewless, who is also president ( 1917) of the Michigan Sheet Metal Con- tractors' Association.
Their present plant on Genesee Avenue is equipped with the latest approved and up-to-date machinery. In the sheet metal department are huge shears, stamping presses, electric welding machines and much special
PLANT OF THE SAGINAW LADDER COMPANY
.
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DIVERSIFIED INDUSTRIES
machinery of their own design which has been developed at a great expense. In their enameling room are huge vats in which the fenders and other pro- ducts are immersed, and large baking ovens which bake off the products at between four hundred and five hundred degrees Fahrenheit. They also have a modern forging shop equipped with power forging hammers, punches and other machinery, and a machine shop in which they make all their own tools and dies. The capacity of this efficient plant, worked at its maximum with about two hundred mechanics, is more than a half million dollars yearly. At the present time it is giving employment to a goodly number of well-paid mechanics whose average earnings are about one thousand dollars a year, and about one thousand five hundred tons of sheet steel are converted into pro- ducts yearly.
The progress made by this Company is a monument to its founders. and a good example of what industry, integrity and perseverance, rightly directed in practical channels, will accomplish.
Saginaw Ladder Company
The history of the Saginaw Ladder Company, which is one of Saginaw's prosperous institutions, is one of evolution or development of a practical idea. To make an article of household use and of large utility in trade, better than had ever before been attempted, with all the United States east of the Rocky Mountains as a market, was the sensible idea. A national demand exists for step and extension ladders of various kinds, and with the rough material close at hand and favorable labor conditions in this valley, it was good busi- ness to establish here an industry of this nature. As a result of this idea and the enterprise of several local business men, this Company was organized in 1903 by William Williamson, Carrie H. Fairman and W. F. Stevens.
The first factory for the manufacture of ladders was located on Mackinaw Street, in a building owned by Mr. Williamson, and here the foundation for a successful business was laid. The product consisted of ordinary forms of step and extension ladders which, because of the clear, straight lumber from which they were made and the care in assembling, found a ready sale. The line was gradually increased to include the now famous center-rail ladder. flat step extension ladder, windlass ladder, painters combination trestle and extension ladder, and swinging ladder scaffold. Later single and "Oregon" fruit step ladders, collapsible carpenters horses and other wooden specialties, were added to the already popular lines.
After several years of successful operation, in which the business gave great promise of permanency, the Company suffered a heavy loss by the burn- ing of their manufacturing plant. In 1906 the Company was reorganized with Sidney L. Eastman and J. F. Boynton added to the list of incorporators and to the directorate. The factory was rebuilt and plans made for an extension of the business into every State east of the Rocky Mountains. The strength and comparative lightness of the ladders, together with the superior quality of materials and workmanship, gained for the Company many customers in remote sections of the country. But misfortune again attended the Company in the fire on the evening of March 16, 1914, which entirely destroyed the woodworking plant.
At this juncture the Company, instead of rebuilding on the site of the old, purchased the large and well equipped plant of the Saginaw Wheelbarrow Company, at the corner of Florence and Niagara Streets. By this arrange- ment they were able to resume business with little delay, and they added to their line the manufacture of wheelbarrows which previously had found a ready sale. The business was thus increased and now requires five traveling representatives to take care of the trade.
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HISTORY OF SAGINAW COUNTY
The present officers of the Company are: S. L. Eastman, president : J. F. Boynton, vice-president : C. H. Fairman, secretary; W. F. Stevens, treasurer and general manager.
William F. Stevens was born at Newboro, Ontario, in 1853, and came to Saginaw in 1876. For several years he engaged in the manufacture of salt and shingles at South Saginaw, with his brother the late George W. Stevens. Later he operated the Melbourne shingle mills, but in the eighteen-nineties became interested in getting out and shipping telephone poles, ties, etc., in which business he continued for many years. At length the camps, mills and timber were destroyed in a great fire, and the business was thereupon abandoned. Shortly after this unfortunate occurrence the Saginaw Ladder Company was organized with Mr. Stevens as general manager, in which position he has since remained.
The Wolfarth Bakery
Baking is one of the oldest of earth's arts, its great antiquity being only equalled by the art of tanning skins and the burning of pottery. Like most arts of ancient origin its history is very obscure, and is based entirely on tradition. The earliest methods of which there is any knowledge consisted of soaking the grains until they had become swollen, then subjecting them to pressure, afterwards drying them into cakes by natural or artificial heat. This method was subsequently improved by crushing the grain before moistening. It was a long time before man learned how to make risen or leavened bread. the Egyptians probably being the first people to use leaven, which was of the simplest kind.
Progress in the art of baking has been so notable and so beneficial to the human race, that the mind fails to grasp its full significance. In no other industry has science and intelligent application made greater strides in the direction of human advantage during recent years than in the art of baking bread. Compared with the loaf of our grandfathers' modern baker's bread is a positive delight. The old-fashioned spongy loaf with its big holes, a taste- less indigestible mass, has been displaced by a food substance which in color. texture, favor and nutritions qualities has never been equalled since man ceased to subsist on roots and herbs.
The philosophy of baking, it seems, is understood by but few housewives. Most women follow the same process as was employed by their mothers, with no scientific knowledge of the causes which produce effects. Of the recip- rocal relations of the various ingredients that compose good bread they know little, and success or failure in baking is generally ascribed to good or bad luck.
It is entirely different, however, with the Wolfarth bakers. With the aid of chemistry and scientific skill, they have gone to the bottom of things ; they have eliminated many useless practices and adopted improved methods so that the whole process is carried on with a degree of ability that practically admits of no error.
Almost everyone knows how bread is made in the home, but few know anything concerning the best practice of baking today as exemplified in modern bakeries. such as the Wolfarth establishment. The story of this baker's loaf of bread begins in the Spring of 1867, when John G. Wolfarth opened a small bake shop in East Saginaw, then a struggling, backwoods lumber town. The bakery was located in South Franklin Street, on the site of the present Gately building, a fact which will be recalled by pioneers still living. In the Spring floods of 1870 this section of the town was inundated, and that year Mr. Wolfarth moved his shop to the present location on Gen- esee Avenue, which was then on the outskirts of the town. He was a prac-
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JOHN G. WOLFARTH Founder of the Wolfarth Bakery
tical baker and made such excellent bread and other bake goods that his modest establishment became the Mecca of tired housewives, who were thus able to eliminate baking from their household duties. So successful was this well conducted bakery that now, after fifty years of continuous opera- tion, the name of WOLFARTH is synonymous of all that is pure, wholesome and appetizing in bread and bake goods.
In 1893, Frank J. Wolfarth, only son of the pioneer baker, who had been "brought up" from boyhood in the bake shop, assumed charge of the busi- ness thus relieving his father of large responsibilities which the growing trade entailed. From that time the business made greater strides than ever before, necessitating modern machinery, steam ovens and improved facilities for making baker's products. In a few years the capacity of the bakery was increased to ten thousand loaves a day, giving employment to twenty-five skilled bakers and other workmen; and shipments of bread were made to about one hundred towns and villages in Saginaw Valley. The well known brands were "Butternut," "Home Made," and "Jersey Cream," which were distinctive of the best in the baker's art. By 1911 the demand for Wolfarth Bakery products so far exceeded the capacity of the bake shop that an entirely new plant was begun on the site of the old, at Genesee Avenue and Walnut Street.
The new plant is a two-story brick building eighty-six by two hundred feet in size, and extends from Genesee to Hoyt Avenue. It is a model struct- ure for cleanliness and light, the sanitary measures for the making of abso- lutely pure bake products being perfect. The interior is finished throughout
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HISTORY OF SAGINAW COUNTY
in white tile and enamel, and every facility is provided for clean, pure air in every room in the building. The retail department on the ground floor front is largely of plate glass with large windows separating it from the bakery. making it possible for customers to see the modern sanitary method of mixing dough in the big mixers, in which no hand touches the dough or any of the ingredients. Electricity is used for both power and light throughout the building. The latest type machinery was made by the home institution, the Werner & Pfleiderer Company. Special brands of bread made are the famous "Tip-Top," "Jersey Cream." "Buster Brown," and "Mother's," all well known in thousands of Saginaw homes and in a wide territory round about.
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