USA > Ohio > History of the Ohio falls cities and their counties : with illustrations and bibliographical sketches, Vol. I > Part 107
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Carpenters' and builders' product, $631, 100.
Cider and vinegar product, $89,000.
Cigar box product, $21,000.
Coppersmith, one establishment, material used annually worth $50,000.
Corks, 'one establishment, material used an- nually, $3,500.
Cutlery product, $7,500.
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For making chains, one establishment has been recently founded; material used annually, $26,400.
Dress-making product, $354,700.
Dentistry product, $49,500.
Dye-houses product, $7,000.
Electrotyping, one establishment, materials used annually, $2,500.
Electroplating, materials used annually, $700.
Electric batteries, one establishment, materials used annually, $1,600.
Elevators, one establishment, materials used annually, $1,500.
An establishment for the manufacture of edge- tools was started at Louisville in 1869, and in a year or two grew into a quite extensive trade, employing fifty hands. The articles turned out were carpenters', coopers', carriage and wagon- makers', and stone-masons' tools, also machine knives, etc., besides hot-pressed nuts. The quality of the work was first-class, but either from lack of encouragement or from the undue pressure of competition from other cities, or from some unknown or at least unexplained cause, the works failed, and the remains were moved to Cincinnati after an existence of four years.
The manufacture of furniture, including chairs and cabinet-making, is one of the large and im- portant branches of Louisville's productive com- merce, and one which has materially increased in magnitude and importance since the war. Sever- al factories are engaged in the business, with sales aggregating over $1,000,000. Before the war the total sales of furniture would hardly exceed $200,000 per annum. Cabinet-making, as dis- tinct from furniture manufacturing, is confined mostly to small shops, and does not form an im- portant feature of Louisville commerce. For 1880 the statistics were: Capital, real and per- sonal, $551,600; hands employed, 971 ; value of product, $1,029,910.
In January, 1882, there were eight flouring- mills, with a daily capacity for producing 1,575 barrels of flour, and a yearly production (1881) of 129,000 barrels. Statistics showed in 1880: Capital, real and personal, invested, $260,000; greatest number of hands employed, 105; esti- mated capacity per day, bushels, 3,247; wheat ground per annum, 633,600 bushels; value, $625,850; other grain ground per annum, 377,-
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HISTORY OF THE OHIO FALLS COUNTIES.
Soo bushels; value, 168,300; value of mill sup- plies, $43, 165; total value of materials used per annum, $837,315. Product-wheat flour, 132,- 168 barrels; rye flour, 1,600 barrels; corn-meal, 12,990,000 pounds ; mill feed, 6,376,000 pounds ; hominy, 1,800,000 pounds; total value of prod- ucts, $951,850.
There are two large architectural foundries, besides several of lesser magnitude, in Louisville, producing architectural iron-work, including cast- iron columns and fronts, iron fences, wrought- iron girders, etc. They have been in successful operation since several years before the war (one of these started in 1853 with an annual product of $20,000 and now turns out work yearly amounting to $150,000). The business is stead- ily growing at the rate of ten to twelve per cent. per annum, and the work wherever known is satisfactory. The total product for all the archi- tectural foundries at Louisville, per annum, is $216,799.
Brass foundries reported as follows in 1880: Capital, real and personal, invested, $33,600; hands employed, 61; value annual product, $111,276.
Bell foundries, value annual product, $34,300.
Car-wheel foundry, one establishment, materi- als used annually, $154,000.
One cast iron pipe foundry, at Louisville, which is quite an extensive one, has been in operation about fifteen years, during which time it has increased from an annual product of about 5,000 tons to the present capacity of 20,000 tons. Materials used annually, $425,000; annual product, 800,000.
A limited business in stoves, mantels, and grates was done at Louisville before the war, but the main trade in mantels and grates has grown up since, mostly within the past six years. About 68,000 mantels are now made in Louisville per annum, ranging in price from twelve to fifty-five dollars each. Six establishments make these goods here. The manufacture of stoves and hollow-ware is also 'an increasing business. About 60,000 stoves of all kinds are made here annually, and the trade is prosperous. Value of annual product, $736,000.
The total statistics for iron castings, stoves, etc., are as follows: Capital, real and personal, invested, $1,569,250; number hands employed, 1, 119; value annual product, $1,531,709.
Files and saws, annual product, $6,000.
Feather dusters, one establishment, material used per annum, $4,000.
There are at Louisville two or three extensive manufacturers of frames, moldings, etc. (besides the small shops), who export a very fair percent- age of their product. For 1880, value annual product is $111,557. The export trade in these goods has grown up entirely since the war, as also has the larger part of the entire business.
Fringe and buttons, one establishment, mate- rials used per annum, $1,400.
Fertilizers, annual product, $40,000.
Gas, capital invested in 1880, $1,500,000; hands employed, 189; value materials used per annum, $54,782.
The manufacture of glue commenced on a small scale directly after the war. Product for 1869-70 was reported at $5,019 in value. All of the factories for this article are outside the city limits.
There were at one time three large plate- glass manufactories around the Falls, one of which was located in Louisville. The business of the last-named enterprise, however, became involved, through some disagreement of the stockholders and mismanagement of its affairs, and it wound up at a severe loss to all con- cerned. The only glass works now existing in Louisville is a small concern making only fruit jars and glass bottles; capital and trade limited.
The manufacture of stained glass is a new en- terprise at this point. It has commenced in a modest way, but bids fair to increase steadily, and has every indication now of permanent prosper- ity. Value of materials per annum, $5,000; product, $54,782.
The industry in human hair has been repre- sented in the city since before the war. In 1880 the value of its product was $25,600.
Statistics of hats and caps only for 1880 show value and annual product, $7,000.
Hide curers and tallow manufacturers, annual product $125,700.
Hosiery, annual product $6, 100.
Hubs and spokes, annual product $34,000.
Hickory handles, for tools, furnish a new in- dustry at Louisville, comprising but a single firm, which came to the Falls City three years ago on account of an easy access to abundant supply of timber. This firm works about one hundred
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HISTORY OF THE OHIO FALLS COUNTIES.
hands, making nothing but hickory handles of various kinds. Value materials used per annum, $58,740.
Galvanized iron, annual product, $38,493.
Ink, annual product, $11,800.
Ice cream, annual product, $17,630.
Surgical instruments, annual product, $10,000. Jewelry, annual product, $59,903.
The leather trade has grown from very small beginnings in 1864. Now the tanneries of Louisville and the Falls represent a very import- ant element in the productive commerce of that city. Sole and harness leather are made exclu- sively. The business is now at least twenty times as large as before the war. The reputation of Louisville sole-leather is second to none in the world. Formerly there was a large amount of leather made here and exported. Now none whatever goes abroad, the exports being confined to a cheap quality of leather made East.
Seventeen of the twenty-three tanneries about the Falls are located at Louisville. They con- sume from 150,000 to 200,000 hides per annum. Statistics as follows, in 1880 : Capital invested, $1,704,000 ; greatest number of hands employed, 518 ; tons oak bark consumed yearly, 28,245 ; number of hides tanned, 154,334; number of skins, 5,320 ; total value of materials, $1,294,- 381 ; of annual product, $1,916,850.
Planed lumber, including sash, doors, and blinds : Capital invested, $398,376 ; hands em- ployed, 449 ; value annual product, $740,194.
Lumber- and saw-mills, for 1880: Capital in- vested, $300,000 ; greatest number hands em- ployed, 118 ; total annual wages paid, $25.582 ; value of logs, $124,000 ; value of mill supplies, $2,375 ; value of other material, $126,375. Pro- duct 10,800,000 feet lumber and 3.342, 500 laths. Total value of product per annum, $212,500.
Locks and bell-hanging, annual product, $35,400.
Liquid salts, annual product, $3,900.
Lithographers, annual product, $59,270.
Linseed oil, one establishment, materials used per annum, $50,000.
Malt for 1880 : Capital invested, $89,000 ; hands employed, 31 ; value annual product, $510,000.
Marble and stone works for 1880: Capital in- vested, $172,395 ; hands employed, 386; value annual product, $365,400.
Machine shops, product, $388, 200.
Cotton gin machinery, one establishment, ma- terials used per annum, $11,711.
Mill-wrights, product; $136,000. Mineral water, product, $26,693. Millinery, product, $176,900.
Music-publishing, product, $6,227.
Mattresses and bedding, product, $56,800. Musical instruments, product, $31, 150.
Church organs, one establishment, materials used per annum, $9,000.
Oleomargarine, one establishment, materials used per annum, $200,000.
Vegetable oil, capital invested, $75,000 ; num- ber hands employed, 18.
The pork-packing industry, measured by the amount of money which is annually employed for its necessities, is by far the largest and most important element in Louisville productive com- merce. It represents an annual product in value two or three times as great as the business in manufactured tobacco at Louisville, and prob- ably almost as much larger than the whisky and distilled spirits produced in the immediate vicin- ity of Louisville. The entire slaughtering in- terest here is larger in fact than the product per annum of the entire Fifth Kentucky District in distilled spirits. Until recently Louisville stood fifth in the list of magnitude of Western pork- packing cities, but, in at least five out of the six past seasons, it must exchange places with In- dianapolis and rank sixth. The business in Louisville is not nearly so large as it was twenty-five years ago, before the war. The special statistics of hog packing at Louisville for the winter season 1879-80, are as follows: Number of hogs killed, 231,269; average weight, 212.5 pounds.
The statistics for the entire industry of slaugh- tering and meat packing, including pork packing, for 1880, are as follows: Capital invested, $2,520,000; Greatest number of hands employed, 1,224; number of beeves killed, 23,731; value, $699,500; sheep killed, 21,903; value, $58,052; hogs killed, 241,261; value, $2,511,061; value of animals slaughtered, $7,716,586; of other materials, $64,937; total, $7,812,720.
Product: Beef, fresh, 10,155,290 pounds ; beef, salted and cured, 300,000 pounds; mutton, fresh, 1,679,940 pounds; pork, fresh, 3,708,832 pounds; pork, salted, 89,198, 161 pounds; bacon
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HISTORY OF THE OHIO FALLS COUNTIES.
and hams, 82,780,345 pounds; lard, 8,276,343 pounds; value of other products, $352,027; value of all meat products, $9,006,718.
Proprietary medicines : Capital invested, $105,- 500; hands employed, 71; value annual product, $264,800.
Before the war there was only one paper mill at Louisville, making about 4,500 pounds "news" per day. There are now four mills, making about 30,000 pounds daily, including "news," "book," and "manilla." One of the largest of these mills runs entirely on "news," the other solely on "book," whilst the third mill in size makes only "manilla," and the last and smallest concern makes "wrapping" and a little "news."
Statistics of this industry are as follows: Cap- ital invested, $600,000; greatest number of hands employed, 220; wages paid for year, $92,- 460; value materials, including mill supplies, $363,070; total value of product, $619,420.
Job printing and publishing: Capital invested, $991,900 ; hands employed, 853. Annual pro- duct: Publishers, etc., $633,115; book and job printing, $307,225; printing and binding, $124,- ooo; total, $1,064,340.
In this summary the statistics of one of the largest establishments are omitted, a fact which makes the total value of the product show 25 per cent too small.
Pumps: Capital invested, $22,250 ; hands employed, 40; value annual product, $33,789.
Paints (not including white lead) capital in- vested, $14,200; value of material used per an- num, $25,733; value of annual product, $42,480. There was before the war one white lead fac- tory, making 450 tons of all grades, equivalent to about 350 tons of pure lead. Capital in- vested, $302,000; value of materials used per annum, $152,500; hands employed, 65; annual value of product, $195,555.
House-painting, product, $107,127.
Sign and carriage painting, product, $13,000. Photographers, product, $68,685.
Plumbing and gas fitting, product, $123,975. Patterns, product, $18,400.
Pickles, sauces, etc., product, $3,800.
Pipe, one establishment, materials used per annum, $10,500.
Refrigerators, one establishment, materials used per annum, $1,900.
Roofing, product, $40,000.
In saddlery and harness there was consider- able done before the war in a distributive way. Three or four houses employed perhaps 10 to 12 hands each, also in manufacturing. Now there is a single house in the trade, which employs 150 hands. All of the manufacturers are doing a good business, and have fine prospects for in- creasing their trade. Capital invested, $366,- 750; hands employed, 398; value of annual pro- duct, $749,000.
Horse collars, value of annual product, $133,- 542.
Saddlery hardware, one establishment, materi- als used per annum, $2,200.
Scales, product, $28,500.
Show cases, product, $6,900.
Spice mills, product, $112,900.
Shirts, product, $65,513. Louisville is an ex- tensive producer of shirts, custom-made.
Street cars, product, $39,500.
Stair-building, one establishment, materials used per annum, $1,000.
Tin, copper, and sheet-iron works, capital in- vested, $172,200; hands employed, 125; value of annual product, $253,460.
Tin-ware and roofing, product, $192,920.
Toys, one establishment, materials used per annum, $9,500.
Taffy, tolu, and chewing gum, one establish- ment, materials used per annum, $4,500.
Tools, mill picks, etc., product, $7,850.
Trunks, valises, etc., capital invested, $59,800; hands employed, 137; value annual product, $164,000. The manufacture of trunks may be called one of the staple industries of Louisville.
Umbrellas, one establishment, material used annually, $2,000.
Upholstery, capital invested, $13,100; hands employed, 18; value annual product, $38,200. Underwear, one establishment, materials used annually, $25,000.
Before the war there were at Louisville but two small woolen-mills. Now there are three on the Kentucky side of the river and one in New Albany. As an indication of growth of this in- dustry, one of the mills, above mentioned as existing before the war, ran from 1858 to 1865 with one set of looms (about 15); now they have seven sets, and have not shut down a day in four years, except during the strike. This re- port may be taken as a fair index of all the
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HISTORY OF THE OHIO FALLS COUNTIES.
trade. The Louisville mills run exclusively on "jeans." The New Albany mill has done some work for the Government (all wool).
Wood turning, product, $12,250.
Wire sifters, one establishment, material used $650.
Wire signs, one establishment, wages paid for year, $4,890.
Watch-making, product, $14,650.
The trade in distilled spirits belongs virtually to the productive element of Louisville com- merce, although, as the product is mostly made outside the city limits, it can only lay claim to the trade strictly as a part of that city's distribu- tive commerce. With regard to breweries it may be stated that this industry has only gained prominence or magnitude since the war. There are in or near Louisville, twenty-one distilleries and twenty-two breweries. One of the former covers twenty-five acres with its buildings, etc. TOBACCO.
The importance of the tobacco trade and manufacture in the business of Louisville de- mands that they receive some special notice in this chapter. Statistics of this trade have hap- pily been preserved from a quite early day. During the year from the opening of Todd's warehouse in 1826 to November 1, 1827, the total receipts there were 2,261 hogsheads ; at Booth's warehouse, during the same time, 2,093; total, 4,354, at an average price of $2.59 per hundred weight. During the preceding year (ending November 1, 1826,) the total receipts were 1, 100 hogsheads; the succeeding two years (1827-29), 6,984. During the decade 1829-39. 31,983 were received ; 1839 49, 62,135; 1849- 59, 136,360; 1859 65, 237,300. In 1839 were received 46 hogsheads that sold for an average of $73,73 each, or $3,390,84 in all. The largest sale in any one tobacco year (November Ist to October 31st) before 1865 was in the next pre- ceding year 1863-64, when sales aggregated 63,322 hogsheads, at an average of $188.90 apiece, or a total value of $11,961,802.
The sales of the tobacco year 1864.65 were 46,677 hogsheads, with a total value of $6,519,- 289; those of 1865-66 were 37,373, at $4,379,- 717; 1866-67, 34,902, at $4.434,758 ; 1867.68, 29,568 ; 1868-69, 29,419, at $4,315,968 ; 1869- 70, 43,351, at $4, 823, 330.48 ; 1870-71, 48, 165, at $4,601,416.38.
From this time we have used the remarkably full and lucid reports of Colonel W. H. Chilton, commercial editor of the Courier-Journal, to prepare a brief history of the local market dur- ing most of the years since the date last above given.
1871-72. The tobacco year now, as before, and for several years to come, did not correspond with the calendar year, but reached from No- vember ist to October 31st, inclusive. Louis- ville was now designated at "the central empo- rium of the West" for the tobacco trade, "the point where the greatest accumulations of the staple come to meet the most varied demand and the largest capital." The bulk of sales, however, was below the high standard that had prevailed in 1870-71, by nearly ten thousand hogsheads. The money balance, however, was the other way, and represented a gain on the transactions of the year. It was expected that fifty thousand hogsheads of the current crop would be marketed in Louisville. Prices dur- ing the year ranged from $6.00 to $7.50 at the beginning for common lugs to $6.25 @ 8.25 at the end; good lugs, $6.25 @ 7.75 to $7.00 @ $8.75; common leaf, $6.75 @ 9.25 to $8.75 @ $10.50; medium leaf, $7.75 @ 10.00 to $9.75 @ $11.50; fine and choice leaf, $8.75 @ 14.00 to $13.00@ 17.00; bright wrappers, $30.00@60.00 to $25.00 @ 55.00; and bright fillers, $20.00 @ $30.00 to $15.00 @ 25.00. Cutting sorts-good leaf, $10.00 @ 12.00 to $15.00 @ 18.00; fine to choice leaf, $28.50 @ 30.50 to $20.00 @ 30.00. The sales of the year were 38,342, with an aggre- gate value of $4,616,459. Hogsheads received, 37,008; delivered, 36,684.
1872-73. This was reported as a "prosperous one to all classes concerned, whether as produ- cers, warehousemen, or buyers." The only un- favorable periods were at the beginning and the end of the year, and they were transient. Prices ranged somewhat lower than in the next preced- ing, principally from an extraordinary advance in the cost of exportation. An eager competi- tion in buying, however, had aided to keep up the market. In the spring the movement of tobacco became more active than it had been at any time since the war. The money market was fairly encouraging until the panic of the fall of 1873 set in, when it suffered more from the immediate results of the crisis than any other
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HISTORY OF THE OHIO FALLS COUNTIES.
interest. The exhibit of warehouse transactions was very favorable, showing inspections of 15,300 hogsheads more than in the previous year, and 5,600 over the very active season of 1870-71. The total inspections were 53,607. The sales were $1, 175,000 above the aggregate of 1871-72 ;-- total, $5,775,983.03. Receipts, 51,494, and de- liveries 50,498.
1874-75. A curiosity of trade was made man- ifest this year, in the shape of five hogsheads of tobacco shipped across the continent from Cali- fornia, for sale in Louisville. It brought $8.20 @8.30 per cental. The year was one of shrink- age and loss, although it closed hopefully. Lou- isville continued to lead the van of the primary markets of the world, and there was not a single failure among its tobacco firms. The Exchange warehouse closed in July, but only by reason of the closure of the bank connected with it. The city had become well known in both Europe and America as a distributing centre, as well as a forwarding market. "There is no other market," said Colonel Chilton, "which presents as great a diversity of styles or affords so liberal a supply. Buyers are resorting here who formerly confined their operations to New York. There has also been during the year a consider- able amount of direct exporting to Europe." Freights were lower than in any year before known-20@40 per cent. below the average of former years. The receipts of the year were 25,087 hogsheads; deliveries, 24,956; sales, 28,- 525; values, $3,880,326.13. The extreme range of prices October 31, 1875, as compared with the market of the corresponding day in the four previous years, was $4.00@7.50 for hogsheads, against $9.50@ 14.00 in 1874; $5.25@10.00 in 1873; $6.25@ 13.00 in 1872, and $6.00@7.75 in 1871. For leaf tobacco in the same years, $7.00@25.00, against $12.50@ 35.00, $7,00 @ 30.00, $8.75@ 30.00, and $6.75 @ 30 50.
1876. The crop of 1875 is described as "not only a decidedly low average in quality, but also a high average in quantity." All who dealt with it, except as mere agents or forwarders, lost money. At least three- fourths of it was "nonde- script and inferior." A brisk speculative move- ment occurred in the spring, resulting in a de- cided advance in medium to good grades, but with disastrous results to those engaged in it. Some spring buyers, it is said, lost $30 to $40 a
hogshead. There was considerable fluctuation in prices through the year, which closed with a market slightly in advance of its beginning. The trade was dull in the winter months, but lively and uninterrupted from February to October. The total handling of the year was: Receipts, 54,883; deliveries, 53,611; sales, 61,322; val- ues, $5,878,789. Three new warehouses were started during the period reported. The Falls City, opening in November, 1875, retired in the following October. The Grange Warehouse be- gan operations in December, 1875; but was small and limited in its transactions, and closed after less than six months' business. The third, Gilbert, Hudson & Co.'s, began in April, 1876, about the time the Grange retired, and held its own to the end of the year. The older houses maintained themselves, with some changes in their owners. Transportation was uncommonly cheap during the year, most shipments to New York being made on the basis of 20@27 cents per 100. The trade year was changed to correspond with the calendar year, and reports were there- after made up accordingly.
1877. The general summary of receipts for the year exhibited a total of 50,532 hogsheads; deliveries, 50,462 ; sales, 56,219; values, $4,374,- 580. The receipts for the last quarter of the year were 5,878 hogsheads, against 3,215 in the corresponding quarter of 1876. A decline of 50 cents to $5 was experienced in various types of tobacco between the beginning and end of the year. One prominent concern, the Louisville Tobacco Warehouse, went to the wall during the year, from old losses and advances to country shippers. But many dealers lost money, and few made any. Says the reporter for the year: "In its great character as a distributing market, Louis- ville has fully maintained its pre-eminence. The whole tobacco world is represented in the daily auction sales, and nothing in the shape of tobacco comes amiss." The tobacco for this year, in general, was of "exceeding inferi- ority."
1878. An immense crop was on hand at the beginning of the year's business ; but it was of unsatisfactory character. The year's trade de- veloped as a prominent feature the constant and increasing popularity of colony leaf and lugs. These advanced 25 to 40 per cent. over the prices of 1877, while most dark tobaccos fell off
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HISTORY OF THE OHIO FALLS COUNTIES.
10@25 per cent. The stemming trade had been overdone and declined materially, closing the year with prices extremely low. Planters were earnestly advised to decrease the area of tobacco cultivation, and devote their energies to the im- provement of the quality. The principal statis- tics of the year are as follow: Receipts, 69,016 hogsheads; deliveries, 61,072 ; sales, 70,528; values, $4,196,978. This was the largest volume of business recorded here to that time, the re- ceipts exceeding those of 1874 by 4,574 hogs- heads, and the receipts and deliveries showing an excess of 3,610.
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