History of Saginaw County, Michigan; historical, commercial, biographical, Volume II, Part 58

Author: Mills, James Cooke
Publication date: 1918
Publisher: Saginaw, Mich., Seemann & Peters
Number of Pages: 838

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The Sanitary Making of "Tip-Top" Bread

The first operation in making "Tip-Top" and other Wolfarth bread and bake products is the mechanical sifting of the flour. A mammoth scientific flour sifter, holding several barrels of flour, sifts and resifts, bolts and rebolts

THE WOLFARTH BAKERY Home of "Tip Top." "Buster Brown," "Mothers" Bread, etc

the substance through the finest and closest screens made. The meshes of steel, as fine as silk and meshes of silk as strong as steel, sift the flour so that only pure "Tip-Top" bread flour remains.

In the mixing room great batches of flour, milk, sugar and yeast, of exact proportions automatically weighed by a delicate machine, are thoroughly mixed into dough in the big mixers, the giant arms of which know no weari- ness as did our mothers' arms of old, and whose backs ached by the exertion. Round and round go the giant arms steadily kneading the dough, mixing, combining and mingling the ingredients over and over again until the sub- stance becomes thicker, smoother and yet still smoother.

All the time the watchful eye of the white uniformed baker is upon it. now adjusting, now slowing it down, until at length he pulls a lever, the giant arms stop revolving, and the mass of dough falls into a waiting steel trough, which is clean and polished like a mirror. The dough is then wheeled into another room where it is allowed to "rise." All the air is purified before entering. After rising the dough is shaped and rounded into loaves in mould- ing machines and proving boxes.

FRANK J. WOLFARTH

The Guiding Spirit of Saginaw's Sanitary Bakery

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HISTORY OF SAGINAW COUNTY

BATCHES OF DOUGH

MIXING DOUGH

.A complete record is kept of each batch so that the office can tell the time cach one began any day in the year ; and the amount of each ingredient which enters into it is set down with every mixing. In this way the bakers are checked in order to prevent slackness or carelessness.

Most interesting, perhaps, are the great white ovens where the bread is baked, and by which, due to their construction, fumes and gases from the fire are prevented from getting to their baking contents. Just pure, clean, dry heat of 550 degrees Fahrenheit, which never varies, accomplishes this opera- tion. When thoroughly baked the loaves are drawn piping hot, and giving out a rich buttery flavor. They are then placed upon clean, sanitary steel racks and run into the cooling room. The cooling operation is deemed neces- sary because hot bread is a cause of indigestion, and "Tip-Top" bread must be just right. The bread is then wrapped in a wonderful machine which per- forms the operation with surprising precision and rapidity. Throughout the various operations neither the ingredients, the dough, the moulded loaves or the bread itself has been touched by human hands in this beautiful, modern sanitary bakery. The equipment includes six steam ovens, each having a capacity of five thousand loaves of bread in ten hours, or thirty thousand loaves in all. About fifty persons are employed in the various departments of the Wolfarth Bakery. The annual output is valued at two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.

MIXING AND MOLDING

FRESH BREAD FROM OVENS

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DIVERSIFIED INDUSTRIES

IN THE OFFICE

RETAIL SALES DEPARTMENT

American Cash Register Company

Although the cash register as we see it today, with its wonderful record- ing mechanism and features of great utility, is comparatively a modern invention its origin antedates that of some other useful inventions now con- sidered old. The development of this invention, from a position of doubtful utility to one of almost universal use in the world of business, has been slow and attended with many difficulties. From a narrow and restricted fiekl of usefulness twenty years ago it has evolved into a necessary accessory to modern business systems, and is indispensable to the proper recording of all cash transactions, large or small.

In this evolution the American Cash Register was a most prominent factor, inasmuch as it was the original machine of its kind, the old Ilallwood register : and today it is one of only two cash registers of importance manu- factured in the whole world. Its history is a romantic story of human endeavor beset by the most unholy trade competition, intrigue, and unscrup- ulous practices on the part of the competing company. Only recently have the trade difficulties, which encompassed the Company for more than twenty years, been overcome and the future of the parent cash register company placed upon a solid and enduring basis.

The original cash register, the one now manufactured by the American Cash Register Company, of this city, was the invention of H. S. Hallwood, the patentee, who for several years made a small number of registers in a machine shop at Columbus, Ohio. Later he sold the manufacturing business and major patent rights to a company of Columbus capitalists, known as the American Cash Register Company, which made practically all the parts for the machine and assembled them in its own plant.

In 1912 this company sold all its rights, title and interest in the cash register to a new corporation -The American Cash Register Manufacturing Company, of Columbus, Ohio, and with increased capitalization and renewed energy in manufacturing the prospects were very bright for a time. But the following Spring the great floods which devastated a large part of Ohio, de- stroyed the cash register factory and much of its valuable equipment, entail- ing a heavy loss to the company already burdened with costly litigation to defend its patent rights from infringement. After this unfortunate event the company sought a new location for its plant, one which would be safe from any danger of flood.

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HISTORY OF SAGINAW COUNTY

SALESMEN OF AMERICAN CASH REGISTER COMPANY IN CONVENTION, SEPTEMBER, 1916

At this juncture F. M. Caldwell, industrial agent for the Michigan Rail- way Company, informed the officials of the Saginaw Board of Trade and the Merchants and Manufacturers Association of the contemplated change of location of the cash register plant. The matter was taken under advisement and inducements made to the register company to locate here. The local trade associations furnished a factory site on South Jefferson Avenue, and loaned the company thirty-five thousand dollars for the erection of a new modern factory building. Construction work on the one-story brick structure was begun in August, 1913, and in December the machinery and other equip- ment was placed in position and made ready for operation. At this time the company was managed by C. G. Heine, who brought with him from the Ohio city a considerable number of skilled mechanics and their families. Manufac- turing of cash registers was begun under very favorable conditions, and the future of the American Cash Register seemed very bright.

Upon the declaration of war by the European nations, in August, 1914, a cloud passed over the bright prospects of the company. Sixty per cent. of the business in cash registers was foreign trade with the belligerent nations, and this was at once cut off or very heavily curtailed. As a result of this condition and the general unsettled state of commerce and trade in this country during the first months of the war, the register company was soon in dire straits and the factory was closed down.

At this critical point in the affairs of this promising industry. aid was sought from the local trade associations, and a committee composed of Ralph C. Morley, Arthur W. Seely and Hiram A. Savage was appointed by the Board of Trade, to investigate the situation and to work out a plan for refinancing the company, furnishing sufficient capital to carry on extended operations, and establish a large domestic trade. Under recommendation of this committee, stock to the amount of thirty-five thousand dollars was taken over by representative business men, and the company again put on its feet.

In the reorganization which followed this action of our enterprising citizens, the name was changed to The American Cash Register Company.

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DIVERSIFIED INDUSTRIES

and Hiram A. Savage was chosen president and general manager, and William Seyffardt secretary and treasurer. The board of directors is composed of Messrs. Hiram A. Savage, Wm. Seyffardt, Joseph Seemann, M. W. Tanner. Christian F. Bach, John F. O'Keefe, Otto F. Dittmar, Ben. G. Appleby and John Cimmerer.

The American Cash Register is known in almost every civilized country on the globe, and is especially well received in Cuba, South America and Australia. Besides a constantly growing domestic trade a large business is in prospect for the company upon the termination of the European war, as all belligerent nations will be in need of new and improved facilities for regaining their share of the world's business. The world market has yet only been touched by cash registers and a great field in America is still undeveloped. When it is considered that only two or possibly three concerns are manufac- turing cash registers in the whole world, the future of this corporation seems very bright.

The capacity of the present efficient plant, under conditions of maximum production, is about six hundred machines a month valued at about one hun- dred thousand dollars. To make this number of machines would require nearly three hundred skilled mechanics and other workmen, who would re- ceive about twenty thousand dollars a month in wages. Under the manu- facturing schedule of December, 1916, the production was about two hundred and seventy-five machines, worth forty thousand dollars, and giving employ- ment to one hundred and thirty mechanics, who were paid about eight thousand dollars in wages monthly. In addition to this factory force there are sixty agents and salesmen, to whom is distributed a large sum in commissions.

In the rehabilitation of this important industry, the placing of its affairs on a substantial basis such as determining the exact cost of production and

ASSEMBLING "AMERICAN" CASH REGISTERS

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HISTORY OF SAGINAW COUNTY

regulating its finances, and opening up a large domestic market for its pro- duct. the managing directors of the company deserve great credit. To Hiram A. Savage and his sound business policy are due the very satisfactory results now obtained, and William Seyffardt has proved a most reliable and efficient executive, during a period in the affairs of the company when unusual ability and business capacity was demanded. It is the opinion of astute business men who fully understand the situation that within five years the American Cash Register Company will be the largest manufacturing establishment in Saginaw, giving employment to thousands of skilled mechanics, and adding greatly to the city's prosperity.

Wickes Brothers

Comparatively few of Saginaw's leading industries, though tracing their origin to an early date in local history, have had so successful a career, or have contributed so much to the city's prosperity, as Wickes Brothers. This old and substantial concern was established at Flint in 1855 by H. W. Wood, in association with Henry D. and Edward N. Wickes, young men who had been born and reared in Yates County, New York. The Genesee Iron Works, as the business was then known, comprised a general foundry and machine shop, where plow shares and odd castings, rough and finished, were made, and repair work of all kinds required by a frontier settlement was done. From this small beginning. made more than sixty years ago, has developed an extensive and growing business, with iron and steel products which reach every section of this country, and are sold in foreign lands.

During the early years, before the era of railroads or modern transpor- tation facilities, the pig iron used in the foundry was brought to Saginaw by vessel, and hauled over the plank road to Flint, to be made into castings. Much of this product was used in the building of saw mills and shingle mills in the Saginaws, which were then attracting attention for activity and enter- prise in manufacture of lumber and forest products. To the practical minds of the Wickes brothers this haulage back and forth across the country was an unnecessary waste, and in 1860 they removed the iron works to East Saginaw.

Here they began to realize some of the great opportunities offered in their business. A plot of ground along the river. the site of a part of the present plant, was cleared of timber and a foundry and machine shop erected : and the concern began making saw mill and salt block machinery, including engines and general repair work. As river navigation increased rapidly much attention was given to repairing steamboat engines and machinery. In 1864 the brothers purchased the interest of H. W. Wood, and the firm became Wickes Brothers by which the business is known today.

Both brothers were gifted with fine mechanical minds, coupled with inventive genius, and because of these qualities and business integrity of the highest order, their names are indissolubly linked with the lumber industry. Soon after coming here the defects and imperfections of the existing type of gang saws used in the saw mills along the river, were brought to their attention, and their mechanical ingenuity was at once turned to the improve- ment of such machinery. To their ability and efforts is undoubtedly due the great success of the Wickes gangs, which for fifty years have been a standard sawing machine wherever timber and logs are made into lumber.

The principal improvement to the gang saw was a device, invented by the Wickes brothers, which, by giving an oscillating motion to the saw frame, caused all the teeth of the saws to cut smoothly and evenly. This overcame the difficulty arising from only the lower teeth of the saws doing all the cutting. as the machines were heretofore operated. The first gang of the

OLD EMPLOYEES OF WICKES BROTHERS IN FRONT OF SHOP, ABOUT 1873

Left to right-Top row, J. Ayles, John Barlow, unidentified, Morris Renehan, Mose Roderick, S. A. Foster, John Mcclellan, unidentified (2) Michael Renehan, F. B. McCormick. Middle row, Harry T. Wickes, H. R Good, Mike O'Donnell, unidentified, John Q. Anderson, Fred Rademacher, F. D. Farrell, Hugh McCourt, John McQuillan, Tom Pine, unidentified. Lower row, John Duggan, W. L. Richardson, unidentified, Sam Medler, A. E. Boes, William Johnson, Michael W. Madigan, A. O. Woodruff, unidentified, George Golding, Thomas Arnold, H. Rademacher.

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HISTORY OF SAGINAW COUNTY

ERECTING A WICKES GANG SAW

new type was erected in the mill of Hackley and Humes, of Muskegon, in 1868. Other improvements followed in quick succession, permitting in- creased speed of the saws, and the use of saws of thinner gauge, whereby the kerf was reduced and the cutting capacity increased four fold, besides making cleaner and better lumber with much less waste. Various types of gangs, all embracing the same principle, to meet every requirement of the lumber industry, were developed, and the business became the largest of its kind in the United States. Mammoth gangs of wonderful capacity are still made to order by Wickes Brothers for the demands of extensive lumbering operations in the Southern States and on the Pacific Coast.

Until 1840 the business was conducted as a partnership, but in that year it was incorporated with a capital of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Henry D. Wickes was president, Edward N. Wickes was vice-president. Harry T. Wickes, secretary and treasurer, and William J. Wickes, general manager in charge of manufacturing and sales. The elder Wickes brothers, the founders of the business, died in 1901, and shortly after the following officers were elected : Harry T. Wickes, president and treasurer : William J. Wickes, vice-president and general manager ; and E. C. Fisher, secretary. In November, 1905, the capital was increased to one million dollars. The present board of directors is composed of Harry T. Wickes, president : William J. Wickes, vice-president ; Frank H. Payne. secretary and treasurer ; and Robert M. Randall.

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DIVERSIFIED INDUSTRIES

The third generation, grandsons of the founders of the business, namely, Harvey Randall Wickes, son of Harry T. Wickes, and Edward B. Wickes, son of William J. Wickes, have for several years been actively identified with the corporation. Starting in the shops in the daily tasks of the me- chanics and workmen, these energetic young men have acquired a thorough understanding of the business, and won for themselves positions of respon- sibility and trust.

In the most active period of lumbering on the Saginaw River, the firm of Wickes Brothers filled contracts for complete mill installations, including boilers. They were having some trouble with the boilers riveted by hand, which local boiler shops made for them on sub-contract, and the difficulties led to their adding a first-class boiler shop to their large plant. They were then able to compete with any and all makers, and soon after began making Scotch marine boilers for F. W. Wheeler & Company, of Bay City. the Chicago Shipbuilding Company, and Alexander McDougall for some of his whaleback steamers. Afterward, when this part of their boiler business interfered with more profitable work, it was discontinued. The firm had meanwhile developed a high type of vertical water-tube boiler, and under the able management of E. C. Fisher built up a large business. In December, 1907. a new corporation, the Wickes Boiler Company, was formed for the purpose of taking over the boiler department, and since that date has carried on an extensive business.

U'pon the decline of the lumber business in Michigan in the early nineties, the corporation added a department of used mill machinery. They purchased saw mills in process of liquidation, dismantled the mills, rebuilt the usable machinery and resold it to the trade throughout the country. This part of the business was extended in 1893 by the purchase of some of the fine machinery at the Columbian Exposition at Chicago, which was then being dismantled. The business stretched into Wisconsin and far into Minnesota,

PUNCH ERECTION FLOOR

WICKES BROS. MACHINE SHOP Nº 1.

THE MODERN PLANT OF WICKES BROTHERS

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DIVERSIFIED INDUSTRIES

and for a number of years was a large and profitable department. Owing to the depletion of lumbering operations in the Northwest, this business was finally ended.

Meanwhile, the enterprise and ingenuity of the present Wickes brothers. who inherited the mechanical ability of their father, developed new lines of manufacture, and in fifteen years the corporation has acquired an even higher position in the machinery world. They began the manufacture of general machinery, shipbuilding and boiler shop tools, such as plate and angle bend- ing rolls, plate straightening rolls, Hanging clamps, punches and shears, and extended the lines to include coping machines, stake riveters. radial wall drills, boiler head facing machines, plate planers, hydraulic flanging presses. pit lathes, etc. Today they produce a full line of boiler shop and structural steel-working machinery, which has been in specially active demand since the beginning of the war.

The Wickes heavy and medium duty bending rolls, of the pyramid type. were designed and first built in their own boiler shop in ISS8. They were made in capacity to bend five-eighths inch by twelve-foot plates; and the upper roll bearing was in knock-down housing for easy removal of full circles. They are equipped to be driven by either belt, steam engine or electric motor. In angle bending rolls all three rolls are gear-driven, and will bend T bars and flat and square bars, or Z bars, T rails, round bars, pipe, channels. I-beams and many other structural shapes by the addition of special collars, with capacities from three by three by one-half inch to six by three-quarter inch.

The Wickes Mangle, or plate straightener, is a tool built for the United States Government. It is very largely a special machine and the corporation is prepared to build this tool in a wide variety of combinations, with any number and arrangement of rolls desired for any required duty.

GROUP OF WORKMEN IN WICKES BROTHERS IRON WORKS. 1914

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HISTORY OF SAGINAW COUNTY

In the building of vertical punching and shearing machines, as univer- sally used in shipbuilding plants, boiler shops and structural steel works, Wickes Brothers are especially strong, these tools being recognized all over the country as standard of their kind. It is believed that the corporation has a more thorough, practical knowledge of the requirements concerning bending rolls, punches and shears than any other builder in this country.

This contention is substantiated by the special types of shears developed, such as the Wickes Alligator Shear, with length of shear blades from twelve to eighteen inches, the Wickes Plate Splitting Shear, using long blades to preserve as nearly as possible the flat condition of the plate ; and the Wickes Sprue Cutter, which is used to clip sprues from crucible steel castings, and from brass and other soft metal castings. The Wiekes Radial Wall Drill. made for rigid attachment to column or wall, or with bracket for vertical adjustment, is also a useful tool found in all well-equipped shops and iron and steel works.

A more recent addition to their machinery output is a line of heavy duty engine lathes, the building of which was begun in July, 1915. This line consists of a thirty-two inch three-step cone, double back geared lathe, built from nine feet six inches up advancing to two feet lengths; a twenty-six inch three-step cone lathe, and a seventeen inch three-step cone heavy duty rapid production lathe, having a swing over the bed of eighteen and one- quarter inches. Present plans of the corporation contemplate the building of still larger sizes of lathes to meet increasing demands of the trade.

All the heavy iron castings and the brass and other metal castings for all the machinery lines, are made in the well equipped and efficient foundry, which since the beginning of the business has been an important part of the works.

With the growth of the plate glass business the corporation has become interested in the building of glass making machinery of improved types, and this is now a promising addition to the large lines manufactured.

A unique feature and side line of possibilities is the Wickes Continuous Electric Blue Printing Machine, which was developed and perfected to meet their own large and exacting needs. Its principal features are: economy of operation, noiselessness, perfect lighting, and automatic devices by which an unskilled office boy can operate it successfully.

With all these important lines of manufacture requiring skill and effic- iency of the working force, which numbers some three hundred mechanics and workmen. Wiekes Brothers corporation ranks among the most important industrial institutions of Saginaw Valley.

The Wiekes Boiler Company

Another of Saginaw's oldest and most successful industries is The Wickes Boiler Company, which, with its parent concern, Wickes Brothers, and still earlier, Il. W. Wood & Company, was established in July, 1860, upon the east banks of the Saginaw river where today stands the busy manufac- turing plant of Wickes Brothers and The Wickes Boiler Company.

The Wickes Boiler Company was organized and incorporated in Decem- ber, 1907, taking over the rapidly growing boiler business of Wickes Brothers. This company was incorporated under the laws of the State of Michigan and commenced its active business January 1, 1908.

The Wickes Boiler Company distributes its boilers to every State in the Union, as well as to foreign countries.

The present manufacturing plant covers under one roof more than a city square. It fronts on Washington Avenue and is bounded by Carlisle Street,

PRESENT PLANT OF WICKES BOILER COMPANY

THE WICKES WATER TUBE BOILER

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HISTORY OF SAGINAW COUNTY

Astor and Water Streets. The last three named streets have been closed and the building now occupies a portion of these original streets.

The shop, for convenience in handling work, is divided into two central main aisles two hundred and forty feet by fifty-two feet and forty-seven feet wide respectively. These bays are equipped with two trolley electric traveling cranes having a capacity of thirty-five tons.

The fitting up and assembling of the boilers is carried on in these main aisles, while the forging and machine work is done in five side bays approxi- mately two hundred and forty feet by thirty-five feet wide each. The bays are equipped with every possible tool pertaining to excellence in boiler inaking. as well as being equipped with traveling and jib cranes for hasten- ing the progress of the work.

The office is located on the corner of Carroll and Water Streets, and the yards extend to Potter Street, bounded by Washington Avenue and Water Streets.

This company manufactures the Wickes Vertical Water Tube Steam Boiler (illustrated on the preceding page ) as its specialty.

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History of Saginaw County, Michigan; historical, commercial, biographical, Volume II, Part 58

Author: Mills, James Cooke Publication date: 1918 Publisher: Saginaw, Mich., Seemann & Peters Number of Pages: 838

Author: Mills, James Cooke
Publication date: 1918
Publisher: Saginaw, Mich., Seemann & Peters
Number of Pages: 838