The history of Mower County, Minnesota : illustrated, Part 24

Author: Curtiss-Wedge, Franklyn
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: Chicago : H. C. Cooper, Jr. & Co.
Number of Pages: 1246

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The Austin Canning Factory .- The idea of establishing a canning factory at Austin was conceived by C. H. Davidson, the proprietor of the Austin Transcript. His attention was called to the matter by a gentleman who had a factory of this nature

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at Gilman, Iowa. Mr. Davidson agitated the matter by talking up the project with some of the leading business men of Austin and G. Schleuder, Rev. A. Morse, John Walsh and others were awakened to the fact that it would be an important enterprise among Austin's industrial interests. This was in the fall of 1882. The company began canning September 4, 1883, arrange- ments having been made with the farmers in the vicinity for the raising of sweet corn. The factory had been in operation but three days when the boiler of the engine exploded, instantly kill- ing the engineer, Fred G. Knox. This sad occurrence ended the work of the factory for 1883. The company was organized March 28, 1883. The first board of directors was composed of the following named gentlemen: John Walsh, C. H. Davidson, H. W. Page, G. Schleuder, W. H. Sutton, D. J. Ames and W. T. Wilkins. John Walsh was elected president and C. H. Davidson secretary. The company prospered for a time, but is now out of existenee. The buildings were located on the south side of Bridge street, just east of the river. A. B. Hunkins also conducted a canning concern here in 1896 and 1897.

The Austin Plow and Harrow Works is the oldest of Austin's industries, putting out plows and harrows of exceptional wear- ing qualities. The company was formerly known as the Smith & Johnson Company and its name is a familiar one to all agricul- tural implement dealers and farmers of the Northwest. The Everlasting steel harrow, made in the Austin Plow and Harrow Works, is shipped to all agricultural states. It is a hand-made product and the best of material enters into its construction. The company was established in 1867 by Seymour Johnson and R. O. Hunt. In 1870, L. S. Mitchell entered the firm in place of Mr. Hunt, and in 1872, H. S. Smith replaced Mr. Mitchell. Mr. Smith died in 1893, and in 1900, Mr. Johnson sold out to the Smith heirs.

MODERN INDUSTRIES

George A. Hormel & Co., pork packers and provision dealers, operate Austin's largest industry; and with the railroads this company constitutes the chief source of revenue of Austin's laboring population. It has also been an important factor in developing the dairy and swine interests of the surrounding country districts. During the past year the sales of this com- pany have amounted to over $4,000,000. The total tonnage of this year's business was 59,179,521 pounds, an increase of some 4,000,000 over the previous year. The product is marketed in all parts of the United States and in England, when conditions in that market are favorable.

H. G HORMEL VICE PRES

A L.EBERHART SECRETARY

G: :

L. PRES.

A. H

RMEL·

JOHN G.HORMEL TREAS.

BENJ. F. HORMEL DIRECTOR

GEORGE A. HORMEL & CO.

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HISTORY OF MOWER COUNTY

In 1887, a young man, George A. Hormel, who had previously had considerable experience in the provision and packing trade, selected the prairies of southern Minnesota as the field of his future operations; and, as a beginning of greater work which he hoped later to accomplish, came to Austin, and with Albert L. Friedrich engaged in the retail meat business under the firm name of Friedrich & Hormel. October 1, 1891, this partnership was dissolved and in January, 1892, Mr. Hormel started in the retail meat business, this being the beginning of the present institution of George A. Hormel & Co. In November, 1901, the company incorporated with a capital stock of $50,000, equally divided between preferred and common, the organizers being George A. Hormel, Herman G. Hormel, A. L. Eberhart, John G. Hormel and B. F. Hormel. These gentlemen are still identified with the company, and being particularly well fitted for their positions they have labored together for what has become the Hormel "idea" and "ideal." Realizing that the superior quality of the Hormel product is responsible for the growth of the busi- ness, the men who have been active in its development have had an unusual incentive to maintain its high standard. In their personal supervision of the various departments, this is their constant aim. The first officers were as at present : President, George A. Hormel ; vice president, Herman G. Hormel ; secretary, A. L. Eberhart; treasurer, John G. Hormel; director, B. F. Hormel.

The packing business of the concern was inaugurated on the present site of the plant, in a small frame building, in 1892. During that year 610 hogs were slaughtered. From this begin- ning the plant has increased until it now has a capacity of 2,000 hogs daily. Buildings have been erected and extensive altera- tions made every year as the business has increased. At the present time the plant has 224,000 square feet of floor space, and from 300 to 550 men are employed, according to the season of the year. April 13, 1906, the capital stock was increased to $1,000,000. and May 1, 1909, to $1,150,000. Aside from the pack- ing plant the company condnets a model provision market, which is one of the most modern and sanitary in southern Minnesota.

Ever since the beginning, it has been the aim of the company to reach out for the fancy meat trade, which is supplied with Dairy Brand hams, bacon and lard, which for quality and fine flavor have no equal. The hams and bacon are cured by a special process discovered by Mr. Hormel after a quarter of a century of experimenting. The brand "Dairy" is placed upon the highest grade of meats only. The pig from which this brand of meats is made is found only in the dairy distriets of southern Minnesota. This pig is fed on skim milk from the ereameries and upon corn.

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This kind of food produces a rich lean ham and bacon. In estab- lishing the plant in Austin the purpose was to be at the center of the dairy districts, where hogs, fattened under ideal conditions of climate, pasturage, pure air and sparkling spring water, might find a market at home, with none of their excellencies marred by long travel. Absolute cleanliness has been the idea and per- fection the ideal. In addition to the minute care exercised by the Hormel company, the government also maintains a corps of skilled veterinarians and inspectors at the plant.

With Austin as headquarters, branches are maintained at Minneapolis, St. Paul and Duluth, and the business is constantly growing.

The Minnesota Farmers' Brick and Tile Company is one of Austin's newer industries, but already gives promise of becoming one of its most important. The Indians who hunted through this county used clay from the vicinity of Austin for their rude pot- terv. Soon after the settlers came, the value of the clay deposit here was realized, and at various times efforts have been made to manufacture and market clay products. For various reasons none of these efforts except the latest one continued, although each successive effort demonstrated more thoroughly the excel- lence of the clay and shale found here.

In the fall of 1909, a body of men determined to take advan- tage of this rich deposit by manufacturing tile and brick on an extensive scale. A company was therefore duly organized and incorporated and capitalized at $400,000, divided equally between common and preferred stock. The officers were: President, L. A. Smith; vice president, W. H. Gleason; treasurer, R. L. Johnson ; secretary, W. H. Gleason, Jr. The directors were L. A. Smith, W. M. Colby, R. L. Johnson, W. H. Gleason, W. H. Glea- son, Jr., J. A. Sullivan and W. M. Sweiger.

The buildings were started December 16, 1909, and the first carload of finished product was shipped July 16, 1910. The daily output is now about ten carloads. The present officers are as at first. About one hundred men are employed. The company owns 100 acres lying on the main line of the Chicago Great Western, and it is expected that quite a village will spring up around the plant. At the present time the site is occupied by an office building which demonstrates the beauty of the brick manufac- tured by the company, twelve kilns, a large brick dryroom four stories high, a millroom where the manufacturing is done, a boiler and engine house and an electric light and power plant, as well as the large clay pit.

The process starts at the clay bed. This deposit of clay is fully described in the United States geological survey report, and is too lengthy for reproduction here. It is sufficient to say that

MINNESOTA FARMERS BRICK AND TILE CO.

HISTORY OF MOWER COUNTY

for its own particular purpose this deposit has no superiors in the Northwest, its peculiarity being its conjunction with a fine quality of shale. The clays are varied in color, running through bright greens, blues, reds and yellows, with all their shades and tints. The quantity and quality of the deposits have been thor- oughly examined and tested, both chemically and structurally. It has been demonstrated that the material is practically pure and entirely free from any substance that can be detrimental to its use. The discovery of this deposit will be more fully appreciated when its physical properties are fully understood. The bed of clay lies high above the railroad and has an absolutely perfect natural drainage. It is easily secured, as it is covered by an average drift of less than twelve inches, and in some spots no stripping at all is required.

The material, which is soft and putty-like as it lies in its pocket, is excavated and placed in storage, where after a few days it becomes thoroughly seasoned. From this storage the clay is loaded into iron cars and is drawn by steel cables to the mixer, which is at the top of the building. From the hopper into which the material is dumped the clay goes into the granulator, where whatever is coarse is ground into powder. Never ceasing its motion from the time it leaves the pit, the clay, now graulated, moves in to the pug mill, is there dampened and then forced out through the die, in one continuous piece, of the shape and size desired. An automatic cutter cuts the product the desired length, and the pieces of brick or tile, as the case may be, are then loaded on cars and run through the drier. The product as soon as cured is taken to the kilns and burned with soft coal, after which it is loaded into railroad cars or piled in the yard and is ready for shipment. The principal product of the plant is building mate- rial and drainage tile, though other departments of the clay- working industry are being investigated and experimented with.

The product thus obtained is a much superior one. The tile is of a ware practicably indestructible. It is as hard as stone, it rings like a bell when struck, its glazed surface is as smooth as glass, it is waterproof and dustproof and impervious to acids and alkalies. Nothing sticks to it and nothing harms it. Frost and heat, wear and weather have no effect on it. It lasts prac- tically forever. The government has accepted the brick as meas- uring fully up to government contract standard.

The company has done much and will do still more for the development of southern Minnesota. It furnishes employment for a number of men, it is increasing the manufacturing im- portance of Austin, it affords an opportunity for safe investment, and it is becoming a campaign of education by which the farmers

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1 are coming to realize more and more the advantage of subsoil drainage.

The Gilbert Improved Corrugated Company conducts one of the growing industries of Austin. The heavily galvanized steel culvert which this company manufactures is unlike that of any other make, by reason of a fastener used in joining the parts. This fastener is not a rivet, which leaves an unprotected line the entire length of the culvert which sooner or later rusts out, but a contrivance which is galvanized and lasts as long as the culvert. The company's plant is located on the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul line, so that the product, which is shipped to all parts of the Northwest, can be loaded onto the cars at the firm's very doors. The machinery for making the culverts and the fasteners was invented and patented by the company. A branch is maintained at Aberdeen, S. D., and there, in addition to culverts, tanks and smokestacks are made. The concern was incorporated October 20, 1908, with a capital stock of $25,000. The incorporators were Jens Larson, John Larson, W. E. LeBaron, C. E. Gilbert, A. O. Nelson, J. F. Austin, T. E. Wilson and L. A. Sherman. The first officers were: President, Jens Larson; vice-president, W. E. LeBaron ; treasurer, A. O. Nelson ; secretary, L. A. Sherman ; gen- eral manager, C. E. Gilbert. The present officers are the same, with the exception of L. A. Sherman is now both secretary and treasurer. The capital stock has been increased to $35,000.

The Austin Weed Exterminator Manufacturing Company, manufacturers of the Austin Quack Grass Destroyer, condnet one of Austin's growing industries. The officers are: President, A. W. Wright ; vice-president, Matt. Smith ; secretary, E. H. Smith; treasurer, T. A. Revord; assistant secretary and manager, T. A. Revord; directors, A. W. Wright, R. R. Murphy, Matt. Smith, T. A. Revord, E. H. Smith, J. L. Gulden, J. E. Pitzen, N. Nicholsen and C. A. Hegge. This company was incorporated in 1905 and for the first three years put out a machine which, while it did good work, was far too expensive. About two years ago the company started another Quack Grass Destroyer, which sells for half what the first machine did and still does very much better work. No farmer need have much fear of this pest while such a machine can be obtained. The company is selling a great many of the ma- chines, being behind on orders most of the time. Several dealers buy the machines in carload lots, as where they have been intro- dueed they sell very easily.

The Austin Gas Company supplies some 600 customers and pnts out about 1,000,000 cubic feet of gas a month. The company was incorporated for the manufacture and distribution of gas Angust 25, 1905, with the following officers: President, John R. Howie; vice-president, F. J. Gates; secretary, C. Leckbank. The

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HISTORY OF MOWER COUNTY

incorporators were these gentlemen and R. J. Breckinridge and LaFayette French. The present offieers are: President, John R. Howie; vice-president, R. J. Breckinridge; secretary, F. J. Gates. The capital stock is $60,000. The office of the company is at 133 Bridge street and the plant is on the east side of River street, north of East Winona. May 6, 1911, the plant was sold to Z. T. F. Runner, of Freeport, Illinois.

The F. H. McCulloch Printing Company was established in 1892 under the firm name of Hunkins & McCulloch, Mr. Hunkins then publishing the Austin Daily Herald and Mr. McCulloch having charge of the job printing. This partnership was dis- solved in 1894 by the purchase by Mr. McCulloch of Mr. Hun- kins' interest in the job department. The job printing business was then conducted separate from the Herald under the firm name of the F. H. McCulloch Printing Company. This business was first conducted in the rooms over the building on the corner of Main and Water streets. Later it was moved to the south end of Main street, and after a period of one year removed back to the old quarters. Owing to inereasing business in 1900 larger quarters were secured in the Schleuder block, west of the court- house, and in 1902, again becoming cramped for space, they removed to the Joseph Keenan one-story building, on Bridge street, where they occupied the entire building until 1910, when they removed to the present location, 200-202 Chatham street. In 1908, owing to the fast inereasing business and the necessity for more capital, the business was incorporated under the firm name of The F. H. McCulloch Printing Company, with an author- ized capital of $50,000. The first officers under the corporation being: F. H. McCulloch, president and manager; A. M. Lewis, vice-president ; W. B. Edwards, secretary, and J. L. Mitehell. treasurer. The same officials are holding the same positions at the present time. Printing and publishing is the business of the company, making a specialty of the finest kind of catalog work, both in color work and half-tones. Their product is shipped to every state in the Union west of the Mississippi river and to a few states in the East. An np-to-date linotype plant is run in connection, setting the type for from twelve to fifteen newspapers in this section. From fifteen to twenty people are constantly employed and the prospects indicate that this number will be doubled in the next two years. At the present time two floors of the building occupied are devoted to the business. with the third floor held in reserve for future needs. This year a new line of business has been added in the importing and jobbing of wall pockets, leather goods, aluminum goods, advertising novelties and the manufacture of calendars, which necessitated a salesman being placed on the road. This establishment is equipped with

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the latest and best machinery for the execution of high class printing and its present large elientage is an excellent criterion for its future success.

The Peerless Rolling Mills. Since the earliest days the east side of the Red Cedar river, near where Water street crosses it. has been the site of a mill. For many years the Engle mill was there, and in modern times the Peerless Roller Mills, owned and operated by A. S. Campbell, occupy the same site. The modern history of the mills dates from 1886, when A. S. and L. G. Camp- bell purchased a small mill near the C., M. & St. P. railroad sta- tion. In 1890 they purchased the old Engle mill. Alexander S. Campbell is now the sole proprietor. The mills are run partly by power derived from a water wheel, but the greater part of the power is generated in the lower mill, some miles down the river, and transmitted by wire to the mills on Water street, where it is belted to the main driving shaft.

The Austin mills have a capacity of 200 barrels of flour every twenty-four hours. They manufacture the celebrated Peerless, Diamond White and White Rose wheat flour, not only for domes- tic trade, but for export, the company making large shipments to Great Britain. They also manufacture buckwheat flour and corn meal. A. S. Campbell is the proprietor of the Peerless Flour Mills in Austin and also of the Red Cedar Mills, which are located five miles south of the city. These mills run constantly, never shutting down except for repairs. The product is the equal of any in the great flour state and enjoys a reputation with the best. It is in greatest demand by the discriminating housewife and baker.

The Red Cedar Mills, located south of the city, are under the same ownership as the Peerless Roller Mills. The mills were built in 1867 and 1868, by Jonathan Gregson. In 1875 the build- ing was enlarged and improvements were again made in 1879. The first roller system in this county was introduced in this mill. The plant is now equipped with a dynamo, which furnishes power for the mills and also for the Peerless Mills at Austin.

The Schleuder Paper Company, wholesale paper dealers and manufacturers of souvenir postal cards, was started in January, 1901, at 305 Main street. Later it was moved to 124 Bridge street, where the company expects soon to open a large retail store, to be devoted exclusively to the stationery business. The building and warehouses were erected in 1903, and all the build- ings now occupied by the concern furnish a floor space of about 15,000 square feet. About twenty hands are employed. The printers' stock, wrapping paper, stationery and bags handled by the company find a ready market in Minnesota, Iowa and North and South Dakota, while the souvenir postal cards made here are

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HISTORY OF MOWER COUNTY

sold from coast to coast. The concern manufactures a great many of its specialties, such as tablets, etc., and has a large plant devoted to the making of souvenir postal cards and to the hand coloring of local view post cards. The officers of the company are: President, G. Schleuder ; vice-president and treasurer, F. A. Schleuder.

Sven Anderson & Son started in the implement and carriage business March 1, 1896, in a building at 212 Bridge street, on the present site of the Elk Hotel. About January 1, 1897, the monu- mental and cut stone business was added to the implement busi- ness. During the winter of 1899-1900 the building at 216-218 North Chatham street was erected and occupied. There the busi- ness was conducted until February 15, 1909, when the implement department was sold to Anderson & Brown. The monument de- partment was continued at its present location. January 1, 1906, the shop, stock, etc., of T. J. Abrahams was purchased and con- dueted at the corner of Water and Franklin streets until the lease of the grounds expired, August 1, 1908, at which time the present shop building was completed and oceupied. The business is principally confined to the making and setting of monumental work in this and adjoining counties, although work has also been done in all of the adjoining states. The soldiers and sailors' monument and in fact all the larger monuments in the local ceme- tery are from this concern, as indeed are most of the larger monuments throughout the county. In connection with the monumental work the company furnishes cut stone work and has executed many heavy contracts in this line in Mower and Free- born counties, as well as in other parts of Minnesota and in Iowa.

Railroad Industry. The railroads in Austin give employment to some one hundred and fifty men. In 1867 the machine shops and roundhouse of the C., M. & St. P. were constructed here. In 1887 this company moved its shops here from Wells, receiving as a bonus from the city $10,000 in money and ten acres of land.

Austin is one of the big railroad centers of Minnesota. Here passengers change cars going north, south, east and west, for Austin is the division point of six divisions of the Chicago, Mil- waukee & St. Paul railroad. Through the heart of the city runs the through line of the Chicago Great Western, between St. Paul and Omaha. Through the city will pass the fast freights from Puget Sound to Chicago over the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul road. Fourteen passenger trains and forty freight trains run into and out of Austin on an average every day in the year. The Chicago. Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad Company pays from $23,000 to $25,000 every month to its employes in this city. The shops and roundhouse of this company give employment to a large and increasing foree of the best mechanies, for here every

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engine on 1,000 miles of road comes to be repaired and refitted at stated intervals. Forty-six of these iron horses are cared for exclusively in these shops. Every day from thirty to thirty-five locomotives may be counted in the yards and the roundhouse. Austin is the inspecting point and every time, night or day, that a train comes into this city on the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul line, every Pullman car, every day coach, every freight car is inspected. There are fifty-two Pullman and day coaches cleaned here daily and their sanitary condition inspected.

The Austin Dairy Company was organized April 1, 1903, under the name of Austin Co-Operative Milk Company, for the pur- pose of bottling and selling milk and cream, and later for buying hand-separated cream for making butter. The company was organized with a capital stock of $6,000, with F. W. Kimball, president ; C. B. Dibble, treasurer, and J. J. Rugg, secretary and manager. The business was located on the corner of Chatham street and Oakland avenue. On September 30, 1905, a meeting of the stockholders was held, at which time the capital stock was increased to $20,000, the name changed to Austin Dairy Com- pany, the same officers, except treasurer (D. H. Stimson being elected for that place), elected, and the company incorporated. The building at 112 East Maple street was bought and put in shape to be used as a milk station and creamery, and the latter part of October, 1905, the company moved from their old quar- ters to their own building. In the fall of 1906 the building was enlarged and ice cream machinery put in, since which time they have manufactured ice cream during the summer time. After the death of Mr. Stimson in July, 1907, Mrs. D. H. Stimson was elected treasurer. Otherwise the officers have remained the same. In the fall of 1910 the company bought the property on the corner of Mill and Franklin streets, known as the Majors building, since which time they have been carrying on a produce business in eggs and poultry. The company employs six men and two women regularly, and in rush seasons a half a dozen more men are employed ..

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The history of Mower County, Minnesota : illustrated, Part 24

Author: Curtiss-Wedge, Franklyn Publication date: 1911 Publisher: Chicago : H. C. Cooper, Jr. & Co. Number of Pages: 1246

Author: Curtiss-Wedge, Franklyn
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: Chicago : H. C. Cooper, Jr. & Co.
Number of Pages: 1246