History of Madison County Ohio: Its People, Industries and Institutions, Part 29

Author: Chester E. Bryan
Publication date: 1915
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1207

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LONDON PRODUCE COMPANY.

Despite the fact that it might be distasteful to a few fastidious persons, a trip through the London Produce, and Cold Storage Company's plant would be decidedly interesting and instructive. Such a visit at this time (1915) makes one's thoughts turn to the battlefields of Europe and involuntarily a, mental comparison of the scenes there with the scene in the killing room of the packing house springs before us, and, as a big, fat porker swinging on high amid the shower of his own blood squeals out his death song to the accompaniment of the terrified and defiant squeals of his imprisoned .com- rades soon to meet their fate, one forgets one's surroundings and. imagines oneself standing waist-deep in the bloody current of the Marne, while all about struggle com- rades, panic-stricken by the horrible din and the sickening odor of warm blood.

Enough ! The reader will believe it's all fiction unless the chronicler gets down to the facts. The actual operations of a packing house are few, yet they are of interest to those whose walks of life do not bring them into close contact with such a business. Perhaps a detailed account of a swine's transmigration from "hog" to "pork" will be too sordid for some, yet for the instruction of the uninitiated it is here given.

Starting in the stock pens, where the hogs are lodged pending the call from the killing room, they are driven in small bunches into a basement pen and then, two or three at a time, up an inclined runway to the killing room. Here as needed they are captured, one at a time, by one who, for want of a better name, might be called the "matadore," who fastens one end of a chain about a hind leg of an animal and attaches the other end of the chain to a rope on a windlass, Kicking and squealing at this indignity, the hog is raised, head down several feet above the floor. Then the "mata- dore," armed with a gleaming, sharp knife, searches out a vein in the animal's neck and, with a practiced thrust, opens it and steps quickly out of range of the blood, which pours in a crimson stream on to the floor.

When the hog has been bled he is hoisted to a table at one end of a steaming vat of lye water, the chain is unfastened and the carcass immersed for several moments. The hot lye softens the hair and hoofs and a moment later the animal is lifted to the cleaning table, where practiced hands soon strip him of his hair and hoofs, leaving his hide smooth and clean. He is again hoisted by his hind legs and suspended on an overhead trolley, which conveys him to the butcher, who with neatness and dispatch relieves him of his entrails. At this point the United States government steps in and quietly and thoroughly inspects the animal for all signs of disease. The head glands, bronchial glands and mesenterics are inspected for tuberculosis and the body carefully gone over for signs of kidney worms and cholera symptoms. The successful contestants for the pork prize are next sent to the chill-room, where they are left at a temperature of from twenty-eight to thirty degrees for thirty-six hours. Then they are placed in the refrigerator cars for shipment to the East.

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MEASURES AGAINST INFECTION.

It is stated that about twenty-five per cent. of all hogs coming under government inspection in the United States are in some degree infected with tuberculosis. This statement, however, need cause no widespread alarm among pork eaters, for, so thor- ough is the government inspection that no infected meat ever reaches the consumer. There are various degrees of tubercular infection and some forms of the disease are not at all dangerous. For instance, if a form of tuberculosis is found in the head the body glands are at once carefully looked over. If no evidences of the disease are found there the head is removed and the body passed on, for the slight infection of the head is in no wise dangerous. If, however, the least symptom shows in the body glands, the entire carcass goes to the "tank."

This tank is a huge metal cylinder which holds the intestines of a two-days kill and the bodies of all rejected animals. Here also is placed the blood of all hogs that are killed. This refuse is left in the tank for six hours under a steam pressure of one hundred pounds, which leaves the entire mass a bone-dry powder. So powerful is this steam compression that bone left in it for six hours comes out mere dust. No germ can live in the tank for six hours. The product of this activity is known as tankage and forms one of the best known hog feeds. Traffic in tankage is profitable, for it sells at an average of forty dollars a ton.

The London Produce Company also deals in butter and eggs, and at times makes a killing of several hundred chickens for Eastern markets. Spring lambs and calves are delicacies which they permit themselves to handle occasionally.

Such are the cold storage operations now going on. It is impossible to give the "local color" which forms such an important part in this business, for odors and sounds do not lend themselves easily to printed description. While speaking of the odor it might be well to mention that the greater part of the odor so objectionable in the vicinity of a packing house has been removed by the London company through the use of a deodorizer. The steam used in the compressing tank is passed through water, which removes most of the odor. The remainder is forced into the chimney of the steam fur- nace and is burned.

Working at capacity speed, the London plant can kill about one hundred and sev- enty-five hogs a day. The daily yield of lard is about seven hundred and fifty pounds All the dressed pork is shipped to New England and is delivered as practically fresh meat, the journey occupying but three days from London.

The building which houses this flourishing company is one hundred and seventy- five by thirty-four feet, inside measurement, with a smokehouse twenty-four by twenty feet, and was built in 1909, when the company was organized. The plant is near the Pennsylvania railroad, from which a seven-hundred-foot spur has just been laid to the doors of the building, which greatly facilitates loading and shipping.

The officers of the company are: Xerxes Farrar, president; P. A. Lanigan, vice- president and general manager; Thomas J. Lanigan, secretary ; W. E. Farrar, treas- urer. Dr. M. R. Jollie, of the Columbus station, is the federal inspector now located at the plant.

LONDON CREAMERY COMPANY.

Almost over night, in 1913, a red brick building, with a tall smokestack attached, sprang up on the old Morgan lot at Oak and Fifth streets, and London people began at once to speak about the London Creamery Company. Its approach was made quietly but steadily, for the men behind it realized its opportunities and its possibilities, and they were of the quiet, unostentatious type of boosters. The company simply decided that it was to be, and in a short time it "was." In an agricultural community the word "creamery" is familiar-everyone knows what butter is and how it is made-yet, when

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High School Building Oak Street, Looking South

VIEWS IN LONDON.

Public School Building Main Street, Looking South

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it is stated that the London plant is a gathered-cream creamery, it probably arouses a question in the minds of many. A gathered-cream creamery simply means a plant where only separated cream is used. Very little sweet skimmed milk is used in such a creamery, and then only for a "starter."

Delivery of cream is made by anyone who has cream to sell. Only cream is pur- chased by the London company, and when it is delivered at the plant it is subjected to the butter-fat test to determine its percentage of butter fat. The cream is then placed in a large vat to await the inoculation with the lactic acid germs from sweet milk. A portion of sweet milk is heated to one hundred and forty degrees Fahrenheit and held at that temperature for about thirty minutes. It is then cooled to fifty, degrees and then gradually raised to seventy-five degrees, which is the, growing temperature for the lactic acid germs. This warm milk is then innoculated with a germ culture made the day before, and allowed to stand over night, forming the clabber which is used as the starter for the cream.

About two thousand pounds of cream are used for a churning. This cream is pas- teurized or heated to one hundred and forty degrees and then held thirty minutes before being lowered to seventy-five degrees, when it is innoculated with the lactic acid germs . formed the day before. The cream is then allowed to "ripen" for about four hours and afterward cooled to about forty-six degrees, which is the average churning temperature. The inoculating and ripening processes take place in large vats which hold about four hundred gallons each. Inside the vats are copper coils which are hollow and contain ; hot water or steam and cold brine or simply cold water, depending on the temperature of the season and whether the cream is to be heated or cooled.

HOW BUTTER IS MADE.

After the cream has ripened it is pumped into a large cylinder churn, which has a nine hundred-gallon capacity, but which contains only three hundred gallons at a churning. The churn is revolved at high speed until the butter comes up in granules about the size of a grain of rice and floats on top of the buttermilk like popcorn freshly popped. The buttermilk is then drawn off and water is passed over the butter to clean it. Salt is added and the churn revolved again. This time, however, the workers inside the churn are set in motion and the butter is thoroughly beaten and worked and salted. It only remains now for the butter to be taken from the churn and packed for shipment. This is done in sixty-two-pound firkins for the Eastern markets, and in one- pound prints for state and local consumption. It is stored away in an eight-thousand- pound. refrigerator until ready to be shipped, but never does it stay at the plant more than five days, so great is the demand for the London creamery product.

Shipments are made regularly to various commission houses in Columbus, Dayton, Springfield, Pittsburgh, and occasionally to New York and Boston. The Hartman farm, near Columbus, cannot make enough butter to supply its own demands, and has selected the London product as the one to satisfy its wants. Orders of one hundred pounds or more are sent each week to that place.

Although not in actual operation until May, 1913, the company from the date of its opening until January, 1914, did over twenty thousand dollars' worth of business. During the year 1914 the company paid out over, fifty thousand dollars for cream alone, and so far this year has exceeded that average per week. The business, in spite of the war. and general financial depression, has been booming and there is every reason to believe that it will continue to do so.

The directors of the company are: R. W. Boyd, president; Frank Kaufman, gen- eral manager; George Langen, secretary; John B. Van Wagener and T. H. Orcutt. (14)

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LONDON GRAVE VAULT COMPANY.

The London Grave Vault Company was not deterred by the knowledge that there were twelve other similar factories in the United States, nor did it bother the members of the company to know that nine of those factories were in the state of Ohio. With the firm conviction that they could furnish a grave vault better than the rest and could furnish it at a price decidedly favorable to all classes of trade, they faced the compe- tition and began the fight. Now the London Grave Vault Company fears no competitor.

Metallic grave vaults are of somewhat recent origin. Mausoleums have been in use and certain types of metallic casket coverings have been made in former years, but the light, strong, water and burglar proof metallic vault has but recently come into its own. Its rapid rise in favor and the wonderful increased demand attest its value. The vaults made by the local company are indeed beautiful. But the decorative features are not the most important. Those who purchase vaults of this type seek above all the ones that are guaranteed water- and air-tight and which are practically burglar-proof. These features are what make the London vaults the leaders with the wholesale and retail trade the country over.

The vaults are made of heavy annealed sheet steel, which is of the standard United States government specification, such as is used for battleships. This steel is placed in an enormous press, exerting a pressure of over thirty tons. Here it is bent, forming one side and. one-half of a vault top. The formed steel is then placed in another press, which places protective flanges on its edges and also punches holes for rivets and handles. The pieces are then placed on a frame and the seams are subjected to the terrific heat of an oxy-acetylene welder, which generates two thousand seven hundred degrees of heat. Four of these welding plants are in operation constantly, and so strong is the glare of white-hot steel that the workmen are forced to wear dark goggles. This heat welds the seams in such a manner that the top is practically formed of one piece of steel and is air-tight. One man now goes over each welded seam with a wire brush and removes all particles of melted steel and rust and leaves the surface smooth. Each vault, after the welding process, is tested for shape. Under such a 'high temperature the steel may be warped in spots, and before allowed to go farther the vaults are reshaped. Then they are sent on to the water test. A concrete tank of water is imbedded in the floor. The vault tops are placed on forms and lowered into the water, where they are left until it is determined whether there is any opportunity for water to enter. Those that leak are rewelded ..

THE FINISHING PROCESS.

.ext comes the painting and finishing rooms. Here the vaults are painted with a preservative coating, not flat paint. Then they are placed in ovens and baked with a slow heat. Again they are painted, this time with a special metallic copper solution and once more baked. The luster coating is now applied and the vault is to all appear- ance made of burnished copper. In order to insure an even distribution of the copper finish, the latter is sprayed on by means of compressed air. The inside base of the vault is made of one-piece steel treated in the same manner as the tops. On this are placed three massive bronze rests to hold up the casket. These rests can be orna- mented to suit the taste of the customer. The rests are high enough to insure a free circulation of air around the casket, which dries and preserves the casket indefinitely. Then locks are placed on each base forming a part of the decoration. Cast iron tongues and heavy steel rods lock the top and base together permanently, or, if so desired, the locks may be set so that the vault can be opened whenever removed from the grave. In no case can-it be opened while in the grave. Thus the vault can well be called air- and water-tight and burglar-proof.

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Vaults are made by the London company in five sizes. The smallest is fifty-two inches long, twenty-two inches wide and twenty inches high at the center, weighing two hundred and twenty-two pounds crated, while the measurements of the largest size are ninety-two, thirty-four and twenty-seven inches, respectively, and weighs five hun- 'dred and ten pounds. The small vault is finished in satin, silver or copper, as desired.

Such is the product of the London factory. Their vault is not an experiment, as is proved by the fact that the company now operates branch warehouses in Columbus, Kansas City, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and Peoria, Illinois, for the purpose of sup- plying trade in the thirty-two states in which the vaults are now sold. A warehouse on the Pacific coast and one on the Atlantic coast will be in operation in a few months.

The factory is able to supply a demand of two hundred vaults a week when operat- ing at full speed. At the present time' the pay roll numbers about thirty, including salesmen, and the gross business averages six thousand dollars a month. When it is remembered that the plant has been in operation but two years, these figures call forth praise for the men who are handling the business, and London has every reason to be proud of this growing industry.

The officers of the company are: F. H. Potts, president; C. C. Green, vice-presi- dent : E. P. Speasmaker, treasurer; C. L. Sherwood, secretary and general manager.

THE THOMAS & ARMSTRONG COMPANY.

The origin of the present firm of Thomas & Armstrong dates back to Jones & Thomas, hardware dealers, who began business some thirty years ago. With the retirement of Mr. T. R. Jones, M. M. Thomas took in partnership, W. B. Cryder, known as Thomas & Oryder, and in 1892, Mr. M. B. Armstrong became associated with this firm, in charge of their sheet- metal and roofing department. After 1904 W. B. Cryder retired and M. M. Thomas con- tinued to run the business alone.

However, the sheet-metal department, under the excellent and progressive manage- ment of Mr. Armstrong, had grown to such an extent that in 1906 M. M. Thomas disposed of the hardware business and continued the sheet-metal shop, roofing, plumbing and heat- ing under the name of Thomas & Armstrong Company.

In 1910 The Thomas & Armstrong Company was incorporated, to meet the increased demands; the shop had steadily grown until it had become London's foremost manufactur- ing concern. The members of the company are : M. B. Armstrong, Clyde and Fred Thomas, Ed and Walter Converse, Robert Boyd and Harry Hames. Mr. Harry Hames has charge of the sheet-metal manufacturing department; he has been associated with some of the largest sheet-metal manufacturing companies in the United States, including Berger Manu- facturing Company, of Canton, Ohio; F. O. Scheedinger, of Columbus, and understands the manufacturing of sheet-metal thoroughly.

In 1911 one of the most modern sheet-metal manufacturing plants was built, and arrangements were completed to furnish the farmer with everything that he may need in the way of manufactured sheet-metal direct from the factory. This includes all kinds of sheet-metal, roofing, heating appliances, metal roofing, shingle-metal siding, etc. The ven- tilators manufactured by this company are being almost universally used in all new farm building work, as they provide a cheap means of perfect ventilation, which gives better health to all kinds of live stock. This plant is also manufacturing several special sheet- metal articles and doing a general line of sheet-metal stamping.

"PUSH LONDON AND PROSPER."

Prior to 1910 there had not been in London any organization of the business interests of the village. All cities and many villages of the size of London and some even smaller boasted their successful boards of trade.

In the fall of 1910 a citizens' committee of twelve men was appointed by H. M. Chaney,

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then mayor of the village, for the purpose of outlining a plan for establishment of a local business men's organization. This citizens' committee named a temporary. organi- zation, and a called meeting was held at the council chamber on Tuesday evening, October 25, 1910, of which M. E. Dwyer was temporary chairman and Roscoe G. Hornbeck tem- porary secretary. Rules and by-laws were adopted and two tickets for the officers of the organization were, nominated. At the close of the meeting forty men signed the declara- tion to become members of the association to be known as the London Board of Trade, and paid their initial dues of five dollars each.

As stated in the constitution, the object of this organization shall be to collect information relating to manufacurers and commerce as may promote the welfare of the village of London and to protect, foster and develop the industrial and mercantile interests of the village." The slogan of the London Board of Trade, "Push London and Prosper," was chosen in February, 1911, by a committee appointed for that purpose from a number submitted in competition.

PROGRESS OF THE BOARD.

The first president of the board was M. E. Dwyer; second, M. B. Armstrong; third, R. V. D. Coons. The secretaries have been Dr. H. M. Chaney and Judge R. G. Hornbeck. The present officers of the board are as follow : President, Chester E. Bryan; secre- tary, J. A. Gardner; treasurer. W. E. Farrar; first vice-president, M. L. Rea; second vice-president, T. J. Dwyer; third vice-president, Rea Chenoweth. Directors, George H. Van Wagener, R. G. Hornbeck, R. V. D. Coons, Robert W. Boyd, Frank E. Noland, A. G. Cartzdafner.

... Work for the year 1914 was inaugurated at the annual banquet held at the Metho- dist church on Monday evening, March 23, 1914, with a membership of two hundred and three. The board had as its guests at this banquet a very distinguished company of. men, including the governor and lieutenant-governor of the state of Ohio, members of. the board of administration and penitentiary site commission, the warden . of the Ohio penitentiary, the superintendent of the Mansfield reformatory, State Librarian John H. Newman, Hon. D. K. Watson and others of prominence. The annual banquets of the board have always been well appointed and a time of delightful social intercourse among its members.

On Thursday evening, April 29, 1915, the annual banquet was graced by the pres- ence .of United States Senator Atlee Pomerene, Gen. D. K. Watson, Hon. John Henry Newman and Hon. Beriah Williamson.

The first project of interest to London in which this organization interested itself was the proposal to issue bonds for the erection of a new high school building and the improvement of the old building. On November 22, 1910, the board at a special meeting adopted resolutions favoring this bond issue, and gave material assistance toward the successful determination of this prop. s'tion at the polls. The troublesome questions of the waterworks contract between the village and the company owning and controlling the plant and the matter of better telephone service in the village have received the consideration of the board.

This organization is directly responsible for the location of the Bates canning fac- tory, which concern came to London in the year 1912. The board purchased at a cost of eight hundred dollars the site on which this factory now stands and presented same to Mr. Bates as a bonus for locating in London. This concern has been of much value in providing employment to many people in London and enabling farmers about the village to sell the produce used by this factory at a very good profit. The West Manu- facturing Company and the Ohio Metallic Specialty Company while tendered no financial assistance, were given moral aid and encouragement by the board in their organization.

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SECURED STATE REFORMATORY.

When the Legislature passed the act appropriating two hundred and fifty thousand douars for the purpose of a penitentiary site and creating a commission for that pur- pose, the London Board of Trade secured an expression from its members relative to the desirability of including the commission to purchase land for the reformatory and the state farm near London. It was the sense of the majority of directors of the board that it would be of great business advantage if the institution were located in the vicinity of the county seat.

A committee was appointed to call on the governor of the state and the penitentiary site commission, and to invite them to inspect the land which the commission thought would be suitable for their needs. This committee succeeded in convincing the commis- sion that the land which they inspected near London was ideal for a site on which to erect the proposed state reformatory and to carry on the farm work, with the result that the state did purchase the Ellsworth and Hardin land at a price of two hundred and fifty-four thousand dollars. It is estimated that the state of Ohio will spend in cash in addition to the great amount of labor of all kinds which will be done by the inmates of the reformatory, the sum of four million dollars, the benefit of a part of which will surely inure to London.

The board has been in communication at various times with individuals and com- panies desiring to establish factories and concerns of many kinds in London, and bas held options on several sites with the purpose of locating one of these factories there. The local council has always received the hearty support of the board in its effort to improve and beautify the town, and has contributed in no slight degree toward bringing about the laying of cement sidewalks and the building of paved streets.

One event in which the board takes great pride was the celebration of the Madison county home coming and centennial, held the week of July 4, 1911. A five days celebra- tion with events appropriate to the anniversary occasion was carried on in a highly satisfactory manner. The parade held on Wednesday, July 5, 1911, woman's day, was a beautiful spectacle, showing much originality and variety in the design of the floats and was enjoyed by the thousands who congregated on both sides of the line of march.

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History of Madison County Ohio: Its People, Industries and Institutions, Part 29

Author: Chester E. Bryan Publication date: 1915 Publisher: Number of Pages: 1207

Author: Chester E. Bryan
Publication date: 1915
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1207