History of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, Ohio; their past and present, Part 50

Author: Nelson, S.B., Cincinnati
Publication date: 1894
Publisher: Cincinnati : S. B. Nelson
Number of Pages: 1592

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This vast establisment has been conducted on the profit-sharing plan since 1887. The sales of soap, etc., bring in an annual revenue of about ten millions of dollars. The company is officered as follows: President, William A. Procter; vice-president, James N. Gamble; second vice-president, H. T. Procter; general manager, William Cooper Procter; secretary and treasurer, D. B. Gamble; manager sales department, H. L. French; assistant manager, H. W. Brown; cashier, J. H. French; assistant superintendent, J. W. Donnelly.

Wheeled Vehicles .- Another notable fact should not be omitted in this connec- tion. It was in Cincinnati that the manufacture of vehicles was first systematized and produced at a cost that puts them within the reach of the masses. To-day her yearly output of vehicles is about one hundred and fifty thousand in number, repre- senting a value of about ten million two hundred and sixty thousand dollars, exceeding both in quantity and value that of any four cities in this country. From the cruder product of twenty years ago, the trade buggy has risen to a high grade, so that nowhere in the world can as good and cheap a vehicle be bought for the money as in Cincinnati.

A committee at the recent Carriage Makers' Convention reported eighty shops. There are now eighty-six, and the annual output is about 150,000 vehicles. These, estimated at an average of $75 each, would give a total of $11,250,000. Mr. Lowe Emerson, president of the Emerson & Fisher Company, claims that the city stands to-day as the great carriage mart of the world. The census returns show that out of the 300,502 vehicles built during the year, Cincinnati produced 115,672. G. H. Burrows, president of the Standard Carriage Company, and the Davis Carriage Com- pany, and connected with other concerns, says: "At the convention of October, 1891 [over which he presided], a committee fixed the output at 115,672-value of product $8,663,613, but I think the committee's work was incomplete; 150,000 car- riages would be more correct."

Manufacture of Harness .- Where there are so many vehicles there must be harness. This business, therefore, is one of the leading productive industries of the city. There are some eighty factories, and their yearly output reaches about three million five hundred thousand dollars. There are firms that turn out as many as from 20,000 to 52,000 sets of harness, from 10,000 to 30,000 riding saddles, and from 100,000 to 180,000 horse collars yearly. Some of the factories are mammoth in proportions, and their facilities are great. The firm of Graf, Morsbach & Com- pany turns out annually from 25,000 to 30,000 riding saddles, 40,000 sets of harness, and from 15,000 to 20,000 dozens of collars.

THE BREWING INDUSTRY.

Cincinnati is one of the great brewing centers of the continent. Its peculiarly eligible location makes it possible to successfully meet the competition of other brewing centers, and as a distributing point it is unexcelled. To Mr. Shaw, of the Board of Trade, and industrial articles published in the Commercial Gazette, we are indebted for a vast array of " facts and figures" relating to this colossal industry, the material portions of which are condensed and given herewith. The thirty-two breweries in and about Cincinnati pay the United States revenue department for

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stamps yearly nearly a million and a half of dollars. The local brewers are thor- oughly up to date in all the improvements in the line of their business, and as a result their products find a market not alone in every State of the Union, but in Canada, Mexico, South America, China, Japan and far away Australia. The export beer of Cincinnati has achieved a high-class reputation all over the world, and has made serious inroads into the export trade of Germany.

The Cincinnati brewers fear no competition, because the excellence and fame of their brews create a demand for them even in cities whose brewers have a greater aggregate capital invested. The trade has increased steadily, and all plants been enlarged and improved to meet the demand. There is not a brewery in this city and vicinity to-day whose plant is adequate to the demand for its product. Twenty years ago the aggregate output of the breweries here scarcely amounted to a half million barrels. In 1891-92 the aggregate output was 1,350,865 barrels, which record will this year be greatly increased. In 1872-73 the shipments of beer from Cincinnati breweries aggregated only 123,625 barrels; in 1891-92, 600,000 barrels were shipped. This shows the enormous growth of the brewing industry of Cin- cinnati, a growth which is being maintained despite the competition from all sides.

The local consumption of beer and ale is big enough to consume the product of many breweries, being last year some 815,000 barrels, representing 22,265,000 gallons, or an average of fifty gallons per capita for a population of 500,000. The amount paid by local consumers was approximately $10,000,000, or $20 per capita. The consumption of malt was about 2,200,000 bushels, and of hops 1,525,000 pounds. The breweries of Cincinnati employ a vast number of men. Wages are good, from that of the brewmaster at from $15,000 a year to $7,500, down to the common laborer, who gets $1.50 a day and all the beer he can drink. This industry of the city is one of its most progressive and valuable. Its wage rolls are immense, and this money finds its way into the various channels of trade. To notice all the brewing industries in detail would be impossible in the scope of this chapter, but a few of the firms will be described in brief for the purpose of showing more clearly the magnitude of the business.

The Windisch-Muhlhauser Brewing Company was incorporated in 1881, with a capital stock of $100,000 paid in. Before this the firm was known as C. Windisch [see biographical sketch], Muhlhauser & Bros., the original business having been established in 1867. The success these gentlemen have met with is astonishing but, nevertheless, deserving. Strict attention to business, and the placing on the market of beer of the very best quality, soon gained for the firm an enviable reputation.

The Windisch and Muhlhauser boys are well known over the entire country and State. Being young men, always ready to help a friend in distress, it did not take long to build up for them a lucrative trade. To-day the brewery is one of the largest in the country, manufacturing no less than five brands of beer: The Lager, the Pilsener, the Standard, the Lion Brew and the Lion Export, the latter being bottled beer only.

The brewery, the product of which is shipped into ten different States, is situ- ated on Liberty, Wade and Fifteenth streets, having a frontage of 1, 100 feet on both sides of the canal. In the first year 20,000 barrels were brewed, in 1868, 30,000 barrels, in 1880, 100,000 barrels, and in 1892, 175,000 barrels.

Gottlieb Muhlhauser is president of the company; Henry Muhlhauser, vice-presi- dent; Henry Muhlhauser, Jr., treasurer; Charles F. Windisch, secretary; William A. Windisch, assistant secretary, and Edward Muhlhauser, brewmaster.

The Herman Lackman Brewing Company .- No property is more familiar to the student of Cincinnati's prosperity and of the factors thereof than that of the Her- man Lackman Brewing Company. With a frontage on Sixth street, extending from No. 503, corner Stone street, 300 feet, to No. 525, it runs back 200 feet to Carlisle avenue, and on the latter rises a monument, indeed, to the founder of the business,

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HISTORY OF CINCINNATI AND HAMILTON COUNTY.

a model mill-house, brew-honse, engine and boiler-house, whose cap-stone was laid three years after the founder's death [see biographical sketch ], and just that long after he had superintended the building of the foundations. In this building, except one small house, there is not an inch of wood. Stone, iron, steel and brass are its components. It is fireproof, and enduring, like the memory of the good man who planned it, whose four sons carried out his designs.

One of them, Edward H. Lackman, has since followed his father to his long rest. He was the youngest son, an athlete and an enthusiast, like his brothers, in physical sports, but died early-not, however, before he had contributed his portion of loving labor to the enterprise with which the family name is identified.

In the new building all modern methods of brewing are perfected. The com- pany does its own milling. Its malt is made from the cream of the barley market. No steam arises from the brew kettle. The great engines move without noise or smoke. The vast ice machines are silently at work. Everything is as neat as the parlor of a painstaking house-wife, from floor to ceiling. Stone floors are clean and ceilings shine. Brasses are burnished and steel glitters.

The father of the Lackman boys believed in beer as an agent of good-as a pro- moter of temperance. He held, however, that to accomplish this good it must be pure-made of the pure malt of barley and hops alone. His principles became known and became part of his capital. In 1855, as one of the firm of Landman & Lackman, he leased the Schneider Brewery. At this site he remained until 1860, when the present location was chosen for enlargement of capacity, by Landman & Lackman. In 1868 the title became Herman Lackman, and in 1890 the present company, with $600,000 capital stock, was incorporated.

In 1855 the sales were 2,000 barrels, in 1870, 10,000 barrels, in 1880, 30,000 barrels, in 1890, 45,000 barrels, and in 1893, with the increased facilities described, tlie output was 60,000 barrels, or 240,000 kegs-the results of the merits of the goods alone and as rapid an increase as the company desire, being what is considered legitimate or about ten per cent. increase per annum. The founder's methods and principle of business have been religiously followed. There has been nothing but pure barley malted at the brewery, and hops used-all, with commendable patriot- ism, purchased in the United States. Well water from five wells on the premises is used in the process of manufacture. With no rice, no corn-in fact, no substitutes or adulterations whatever, the goods have marketed themselves. The consequences have been no drummers, no spending account, no chattel mortgages from the retail dealers or leases carried for them. And all this purity of method the government records will show. The model character of the brewery plant is carried into the dis- cipline and administration of the business. No immoderate use even of the pure product of the brewery is permitted, and though it is not measured to the men, all seem to understand the rule, and the example of the officers-abuse of privilege means "quit." The "tone" of the establishment is throughout good.

J. H. Landman, having retired from the business in 1868, died in 1872, with the respect of all who knew him. Herman Lackman conducted the business alone, and, as said, became the real founder of the present company. His first brewery work was with Foss & Schneider, where his wonderful energy and strength, backed by giant-like stature and unfailing good nature, made itself felt, and, as shown, he was soon a proprietor himself. He became prominent in city affairs, and served with honor in the school board, as president of the German Orphan's Asylum, as president of the Third German Reformed Church, as trustee of the Bodmann's Widows' Home, director of the Sun Mutual Insurance Company, major in the militia, and president of the Cincinnati Brewers' Association-which position his son Albert now so worthily fills. Open-hearted and charitable, thoroughly believing that his life work was one of real practical temperance reform. His death, just as he was beginning extensive improvements to his business, was a public bereavement. He left four sons to take up his work where he left it off, one of them since deceased, as mentioned.

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Albert Lackman, president of the company, and also of the Brewers' Association of Cincinnati, Covington and Newport (which has a membership of twenty-six with- out the Aurora, and an output in 1893 of about a million and a half of barrels), was born in this city in 1855, and is therefore just as old as the brewery business of which he is the head. Tall and commanding in stature, he does not run to adipose, perhaps because beer does not agree with him, and he has preferred other stimulants in moderation for the last fifteen years. He is one of the few of the big brewers who are frequently on 'Change, and takes a keen interest in public affairs. After a business education he entered the iron architectural iron works of M. Clements, and in the office of that concern received a sound financial education. In 1884 he joined his father in business, and has since been there a controlling influence. He is a man of affairs, being a director of the Atlas National Bank, and has served in the town council of Glendale, where he makes his home, and active in other enterprises than that which commands his immediate attention.

The Moerlein Brewing Company .- The Cincinnati brewery covering the largest area of ground is owned and operated by the Christian Moerlein Brewing Company. The office of the company is situated on Elm street, while right opposite is the immense plant where the beer is manufactured.

The success of the firm is due to the indefatigable efforts of Christian Moerlein, who was born in Germany in 1818. Believing that he could better his condition in this country he crossed the ocean, landing in Ohio in 1841, with very little money. A year later he became a resident of the Queen City. He established a blacksmith shop on the west side of Elm street, near McMicken avenue, and upon the ground, where many a hard stroke was made, is the malt-house of the well-known brewery. Fortune smiled upon him. In a few years he had established a large and lucrative business, and in 1853 he concluded to go into the business at which he has accumu- lated such a deserving fortune.

Very few people then thought that Mr. Moerlein, who was brewing about three barrels a day, would at this time be at the head of one of the biggest breweries in the country. It required hard work to accomplish the object in view. He was a business man in every sense of the word. Being a man of good judgment, and far- seeing, he took advantage of every opportunity that afforded itself, and it was not long before he had acquired the reputation of being one of the shrewdest men in his line of business. He is often sought after for advice, and is always ready and willing to lend a helping hand. He is charitably inclined, but never cares to tell of his many kindly acts.

Mr. Moerlein's first partner [see biographical sketch] was Mr. Dillman. At his death, in 1854, Mr. Windisch became associated with him, and remained a member of the firm until 1866, when his interests were purchased by Mr. Moerlein.

In 1881 the Christian Moerlein Brewing Company was formed with a capital stock of $1,000,000 paid in. In 1853 common beer was brewed; in 1856 lager beer was introduced, and in 1864 common beer was discontinued. The output in 1853 was 1,000 barrels; in 1860, 20,000 barrels; in 1870, 60.000 barrels; in 1880, 100,000. barrels, and the steady increase since has placed this brewery as the largest one in the State of Ohio, and one of the largest in the United States. During all these years of competition, and during the panics of 1857 and 1873, the reputation of this house, as far as the finances are concerned, was never questioned. It is now on as solid a basis as it ever has been.

When first reorganized under the articles of incorporation, in 1881, the officers were as follows: Christian Moerlein, president; George Moerlein, vice-president; John Goetz, Jr., secretary; Jacob Moerlein, treasurer; John Moerlein, general super- intendent. After the death of George Moerlein, August 31, 1891, the following officers were elected September 15, 1891: Christian Moerlein, president; John Moer- lein, first vice-president and general manager; John Goetz, Jr., second vice-president; Jacob Moerlein, treasurer; William Moerlein, secretary.

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They are all well known as efficient officers and business men. The capacity of their immense establishment is 500,000 barrels a year. The machinery is of the modern pattern. In the last twelve years a great many changes have been made in the way of erecting buildings and cellars, and the second largest refrigerating machine plant in the United States can be seen here.

In a recent interview with a representative of the Commercial Gazette, on the subject of beer and its manufacture, Mr. Moerlein said: "I believe Cincinnati, through producing lager beer, is destined to play a still more important part as a temperance factor. Why," said the gentleman, with great emphasis, "here are 23 lager beer breweries, and the output for the fiscal year ending May 1, 1891, is 1,254,848, the increase over that of 1890 having been 139,795 barrels. By these figures Cincinnati ranks seventh in the United States as a beer-brewing center. The population of Cincinnati is 296,309. Baltimore numbers in inhabitants 433,547, and brews 540,951 barrels ; Boston has a population of 448,477, and its output is 865,416 barrels. San Francisco numbers 297,990 inhabitants, and has an output of 509,234 barrels. Chicago with a population of 1,099,576, brews 2,034,696 barrels. New York City, with 1,513,501 inhabitants, has an output of 4,488,314 barrels; Philadelphia, whose inhabitants number 1,044,891, manufactures 1, 705, 915 barrels. All these figures are favorable to Cincinnati as a brewing center. Why," ejaculated Mr. Moerlein, "look at New York, with a population of more than five times that of Cincinnati, and having more Germans in it than any other city in the world, save Berlin and Vienna, brewing but 32 barrels more than the Queen City."

The Foss-Schneider Brewing Company is one of the oldest enterprises in its line in Cincinnati, having been started in 1849, on Augusta street, between John and Smith, and removed to the present site in 1863. Since then there have been four firm titles, namely: The Louis Schneider Brewing Company, Foss. Schneider & Bren- ner, Foss & Schneider, and the present one, the Foss-Schneider Brewing Company, which was taken in 1884, when the company was incorporated with a capital stock of $600,000, all of which has been paid up. The growth of the business has been sure and steady.

The plant is located on Freeman avenue, and is about 250 feet square with a frontage of 250 feet. The structure is an imposing one, and never fails to arrest the attention of the passer-by. The front is of pressed brick, trimmed with decorations of cut stone and terra cotta. Three hundred and fifty barrels per day is about the average production, though no less than 40,000 barrels can always be found on the premises in various stages. The bottling department was added to the brewery in 1879, and the building is located on Fillmore street, or just north of the main build- ing, and has proved a complete success, since the innovation was started.

In 1883 the output was but 5,000 barrels a year. In 1870, 20,000 barrels were manufactured ; in 1880 this had increased to 40,000, and in 1890 it had reached 80,000. Since then the increase in the output has been remarkable, and it is now estimated to be no less than 130,000 barrels per year. Since the reorganiza- tion in 1884 all the latest and most modern devices that ingenuity could construct have been placed in the brewery, and to-day it stands forth second to none in the country. Of the five directors of the concern, John H. Foss is president, A. Foss, vice-president, and P. W. Schneider, secretary and treasurer.

The Gerke Brewing Company .- This company is also one of the oldest in the State. It has been in operation now for nearly forty years, during which it has been well and favorably known to the residents of the Queen City. The very excellent brands of beer that it produces are due in no small degree to the substantial manage- ment which has existed since the plant was first erected in 1854. The Gerke Brew- ing Company is located at the corner of Plum and South Canal, and when first erected was thought to be on the outskirts of the city. Great changes have, how- ever, taken place in this locality since the brewery was erected, and it is now in the very heart of the city.

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The annual capacity of the plant is in the neighborhood of 140,000 barrels, and 35,000 barrels can always be found on the premises. Since the structure was built many important changes have been made. The cellar capacity has been increased, ~ and Arctic ice machines have replaced the older process of cooling beer. These various improvements have cost considerable money, but the benefit derived has repaid the extra outlay. In 1890 the vacuum process was added, and in the fall of the same year the bottling department was also started, which to the present day has proven a complete success.

The first title of the firm was Schaller & Schiff; the second Schaller & Gerke, and the third the Gerke Brewing Company, which was adopted in 1881, when a corporation was formed with $600,000 capital. Joseph Schaller, John Schiff and John Gerke [see biographical sketch] died in 1888, 1878 and 1876, respectively.

The following figures showing the sure and steady growth of the concern are interesting: In 1860 the output was but 3,000 barrels a year; in 1870 it was 15,000; in 1880, 40,000; in 1890, 80,000; and last year's report showed that the figures had- jumped to 140,000. The present officers of the firm are: Robert M. Kuerze, presi- dent; E. Kuerze, vice-president; J. Herman Grueter, secretary and treasurer; directors, Jacob Dorse, Jacob Walter, J. G. Closterman, and attorney Louis Kramer.

The John Hauck Brewing Company .- This great company was incorporated in 1879. Previous to that, for fifteen years, it was known as the Hauck & Windisch Brewery. John Hauck, the founder and president of the business which bears his name, was born in Rhenish Bavaria, Germany, in 1826, coming to this country at an early age. Shortly after his arrival he secured employment in the brewery with his uncle, Mr. Herancourt. There he learned the rudiments of the brewing business. A few years after this he made a trip to Europe, sojourning there for over two years, and when next he came to America he landed at Philadelphia, obtaining employment there with his father-in-law, Mr. Billiod, as a foreman in the brewery.

With thrift and assiduity he soon accumulated a small fortune. With this he made his first venture in 1864, forming a partnership with Mr. Windisch. This partnership lasted until 1879. Mr. Hauck bought his former partner's share, and has since continued the business under his name.

The present vast establishment at the corner of Central avenue and Dayton street, covering nearly five acres, occupies the site of the original plant, which cov- ered only about one and a half acres. The site of the old Protestant graveyard is also now occupied by the brewery. In 1882 a stock company was formed, with a capital of $1,000,000. The brewery has a capacity of 300,000 barrels per annum, which will compare favorably with the most extensive plants of this kind. It is sup- plied with two 150-ton ice machines, which are, perhaps, the second largest in the country. At this time the following officers, who still retain their offices, were elected: John Hauck, president; Lewis J. Hauck, vice-president; F. J. Werner, secretary and treasurer. John Hauck has figured very little in political life. He is president of the Western German National Bank of this city, which position he has been holding for several years.

The Jung Brewing Company .- To this company belongs the distinction of turn- ing out a grade of beer not excelled anywhere in the United States. Since 1885 the business has almost doubled, and between 1891 and 1892 the increase in sales was 12,000 barrels.

The plant, which is located on Freeman street, has a frontage of 200 feet by 290 deep. The structure is one of the most imposing along the avenue, and never fails to arrest the attention of passers-by and visitors to the Queen City. Important additions have been made from time to time, one building erected in 1890 costing $75,000. Everything in and about the place is modern, newest ideas have been adopted, and not a single improvement or invention in any way applicable to the requirements of the building has been left untested. The old methods of cooling

Christian Moulin

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beer by ice have given way to three handsome sixty-ton ice machines. The capacity of the plant is about 175,000 barrels a year. Three hundred barrels a day are the average production. The bottling department, which is situated in the rear of the building, was an important addition, made in 1887. It has proved an indispensable adjunct to the brewery.

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History of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, Ohio; their past and present, Part 50

Author: Nelson, S.B., Cincinnati Publication date: 1894 Publisher: Cincinnati : S. B. Nelson Number of Pages: 1592

Author: Nelson, S.B., Cincinnati
Publication date: 1894
Publisher: Cincinnati : S. B. Nelson
Number of Pages: 1592