USA > Pennsylvania > Blair County > A history of Blair county, Pennsylvania. From its earliest settlement, and more particularly from its organization, in 1846 to June 1896 > Part 8
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Two Pawn Shops.
Seven Real Estate Agencies.
Thirty-four Building and Loan Associations.
One Theatre or Opera House.
One Music Hall-East Side Theatre.
One Variety Theatre or Musee.
One Natatorium or Swimming School.
Twelve Public Schools and Five Parochial Schools.
Three Business Colleges, or Commercial Schools.
Forty-two Churches, comprising sixteen denominations, with church property valued at $1,200,000.
TRANSPORTATION, LIGHT, ETC.
Two Railroads in operation and others projected.
Two Electric Passenger Railways with twenty-five miles of track; lines to Hollidaysburg on the south and to Bellwood on the northeast.
One Express Company.
Two Telegraph Companies.
Two Telephone Companies.
One large Electric Light Plant, whose 200 two-thousand candle power arc lights, supplemented by those of the Penn- sylvania Railroad Company, make Altoona the best lighted city in the country.
One Gas Company, with one of the finest plants in the state, making both coal and water gas.
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Pennsylvania Railroad Shops at Altoona.
These are the largest railroad shops in the United States and employ over seven thousand men. They consist of three distinct plants in different parts of the city.
The original plant lies between Ninth and Tenth avenues, between Eleventh and Sixteenth streets, and occupies twenty- eight acres of ground, the buildings having an actual floor area of over ten acres. Originally all the departments were located here: locomotive, freight car and passenger car, and machinery and supplies. This part is now called the "Machine Shops,,' and includes the following shops and departments :
One iron foundry, size 100x250 feet, where all the iron cast- ings used in the construction of cars are made, with the exception of car wheels.
One brass foundry, size 60x80 feet, where car wheel bearings and all brass castings are made.
One blacksmith shop, size 56x273 feet, with a wing 66x124 feet, containing thirty fires and three bolt furnaces.
One blacksmith shop, size 67x188 feet, containing twenty fires.
One blacksmith shop in part of old No. 2 round house con- taining twenty-six fires.
One wheel foundry, size 73X140 feet, and a wing, 56x94 feet, with engine-house and boiler-house adjoining. The cupola cham- ber of this foundry is 29x40 feet, and the ladle will hold 20,000 pounds of melted iron .
One new wheel foundry, size 66x160 feet, with cupola of forty tons capacity.
One boiler shop, size 70x125 feet, with an addition or L, size 53x62 feet, and another building used for finishing which is 58x124 feet. Also about two-thirds of the old No. 2 round-house is used as a boiler shop and devoted to repairs.
One flue shop, 45×126 feet, where the flues of the boilers are made and repaired.
One lathe shop, 70x426 feet, two stories high, where castings are planed and turned smooth, cylinders bored out, etc.
One vise shop, T-shaped, one part 60x250 feet, and the other 60x90; also a grinding roon 60x120 feet. It this shop the differ- ent pieces of steel used in the construction of engines are filed and ground smooth, and fitted with great precision, so as to work perfectly in the position for which they are designed.
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Semi-Centennial History of Blair County.
One air-brake shop, size 60x75 feet, in which the air-brake machinery and supplies are made; also steam guages, safety valves, etc.
Three erecting shops, two of which are 66x350 feet, and one 52×356 feet, in which the locomotive engines are put together and made things of life, power and beauty. Traveling cranes, capable of lifting twenty-five tons weight are used to handle the heavy pieces of iron and steel used here.
One paint shop, 36x300 feet, in which the engines, tanks and cabs are painted, ornamented and varnished.
One tin and sheet iron shop, size 67x150 feet, where all the tin work and many articles in sheet iron and copper are made.
One telegraph machine shop, size 48x60 feet, in which much fine work is done in the manufacture and repair of telegraphic and electrical apparatus and supplies.
One pattern shop, size 70x140 feet, furnished with a 30-horse- power engine, planers, saws and other wood-working machinery. Here all the patterns for the various castings used in the shops are made. A pattern storehouse, 50x100 feet, is connected with this shop.
One cab and tank shop, size 42×105 feet, in which cabs and tanks are repaired, wheelbarrows and cow-catchers made and other work done. The new cabs are now made at the Car Shops.
One carpenter shop, 28x60 feet, with office attached. This is the headquarters of the carpenters who repair roundhouses and shops, build signal towers, repair bridges, etc.
One roundhouse for Middle Division engines, size 235 feet in diameter, with turntable and thirty-one tracks. Here engines are groomed, cleaned, examined and have slight repairs made to theni when required after each trip, and prepared for the next run.
One roundhouse for Pittsburg Division engines, size 300 feet in diameter, with turntable and forty-four tracks. The men who take charge of the engines when they come in and make them ready for succeeding trips are commonly called engine hostlers.
One building, two stories high in part and three stories in part, size 40x200 feet, used as storehouse and testing room on first floor, and offices, testing department and chemical laboratory on second and third floors. The store contains the various small tools and supplies used about the shops and along the road between Pitts- burg and Philadelphia; and the storekeeper keeps a record of all material used in the construction of everything made in the shops or furnished to other shops along the road. Many thousands of dollars worth of goods pass through the storehouse monthly.
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Semi-Centennial History of Blair County.
The testing department examines and tests all material bought for use in the shops, before it is accepted; this being done by both mechanical and chemical tests.
The clerical department, keeping a record of all the work done, cost of the same and the time of the men, requires the assist- ance of more than forty accountants.
The department of labor is also one of considerable im - portance and requires over one hundred men loading, unload- ing and shifting cars and keeping the shop yard in proper shape. The foreman of this branch has a small office build- ing for his use.
The watchmen form another part of the service, not less important than the others, as it is their duty to guard against fires and theft. Over forty of them keep watch of the build- ings, grounds and merchandise; sixteen by day and twenty- five by night.
The different kinds of work done here will be apparent from the foregoing, and some conception of the amount from the following figures :
Average amount of iron melted at the iron foundry for the past ten years, 38,500,000 pounds, or 19,250 tons annually. This does not include the wheel foundry.
In the car wheel foundry 100,000 to 110,000 wheels are moulded annually, each wheel weighing 500 to 700 pounds.
In the boiler shop an average of two locomotive boilers per week have been made for ten years past, besides many sta- tionary boilers and repairs to to thousands of both kinds an- nually.
The other departments are conducted on a scale of equal magnitude.
G. W. Strattan is Master Mechanic of these shops.
The Car Shops, "Lower shops," as they are commonly called, though not so appropriately since the erection of the Juniata shops still farther eastward, were the first enlarge- ment made by the company after the original site at Twefth street became overcrowded. They were erected in 1869-70, and are situated between the main line tracks and Chestnut avenue, from Seventh street eastward to a point below First street, the lumber yard extending still further eastward for a distance of one-half mile to Juniata shops. Previous to the building of these shops, the car work, both new and repair, was done in the shops located near Twelfth street, but since then all such work has been done here at these car shops.
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Semi-Centennial History of Blair County.
The car shops occupy 91 6-10 acres, including yards, and con- sist of the following buildings: No. I planing mill, in size 72X 355 feet, filled with all kinds of planers, mortising and boring machines, and other wood-working machinery, driven by a 250 -. horse power Corless engine, which is located in an adjoining build- ing, 25x100 feet, and to which all shavings are carried through large iron pipes by force of suction of large blowers. The various pieces of wood used in the construction of cars are here made ready to fit into their proper places without change.
No. 2 planing mill, 44×77 feet, with carpenter shop attached, 40X115, and engine room 16x38, and boiler room 25x39. This planing-mill is engaged for the most part in getting out work for the company's buildings, depots, telegraph towers, etc., but much other work is done. There are machines for wood carving, and for turning all kinds of handles for tools.
A blacksmith shop 80 feet wide and 493 feet long, in which are fashioned all the various shapes of iron for use in carbuilding. Here are steam-hammers of 1,200 to 5,000 pounds stroke, used in forging heavy irons. A bolt machine weighing 60,000 pounds, capable of making 1,000 two-inch draft pins in a day; another of 40,000 pounds weight, which makes 3,000 coupling pins in a day. Immense iron shears, capable of cutting a bar of cold iron 3 inches thick and 6 inches wide in a second's time, or punch a hole three inches in diameter through a plate of cold iron two and one-half inches thick with the same facility.
A bolt and nut shop, 30X135 feet.
A truck shop, 75x85 feet, where car trucks are put together ready to set the car body on.
A machine shop 70x130 feet. Here are two hydraulic presses for forcing wheels on the axles and taking them off when unfit for further service. These presses can exert a power equal to the weight of one hundred tons, and wheels must go on the axle with a pressure of not less than twenty-five tons in order to be secure.
An upholstering shop, 70x200 feet, divided into several rooms.
A cabinet shop 70x167 feet, and another room 70x200 feet, formerly the passenger car paint shop but now used by the cabinet - makers; also a room on the second floor of this latter building 50x70 feet; also another room 12x25, used for steaming and bend- ing wood into various shapes.
A passenger shop (132x211 feet), and connected with this is a storage building for iron work 20x100 feet, and a shed for dry and worked lumber, 70x75 feet.
.
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Semi-Centennial History of Blair County.
This department is capable of building twenty-five passenger coaches per month, but as a great deal of repair work is done they seldom make so many new cars in a month. The magnifi- cently luxurious parlor cars of the company are all made here.
A paint shop, 135x420 feet, wherein all the passenger, parlor, mail, express and baggage cars are painted, ornamented and var- nished. It will hold forty of the largest, passenger cars, with room for men to work on all at the same time.
Another paint shop, 100x400 feet, in which freight cars are painted. It is not large enough, however, to hold all the freight cars usually in the process of building, and many are painted while standing on the tracks outside. Another paint shop, 53×54 feet, is used by the house painters who påint depots, telegraph towers and other company buildings.
An air-brake shop, 55x250 feet, with three tracks running the entire length of the building. Annexed to this building is a storage building. 25x60 feet, and an office for the foreman, 15x18 feet. Also a large covered platform, 20x90 feet, for storage pur- poses.
A freight car shop which is circular, 433 feet in diameter, with a turntable 100 feet in diameter in the open space, or court, in the centre. Within the covered space of this shop seventy-five freight cars can be built at once, and while numbers of others receive repairs on the tracks within the circle.
A tin shop, 70x175 feet.
A buffing room1, 37x100 feet, occupying the second floor of a brick building near the tin shop.
A store house, one floor of which is 36x124 feet, and another floor 36x87 feet, and an additional building, 30x50 feet, for storing nails.
An oil house, 16x26 feet, containing oils and cotton waste, used in the axle boxes of the cars.
A fire engine house, 30x50 feet, in which is kept a steam fire engine and hose carriage as a protection against fires.
A lumber yard covering twenty-five acres of ground, included in the 61 6-10 above, and in which are stored several million feet of the best lumber. The lumber being constantly received, dried and loaded for the shop, requires the assistance of seventy-five inen.
Thirty watchmen are employed in these shops.
The general foreman and the shop clerk's offices occupy a large brick building adjoining the storehouse, and the force, including officers and clerks, numbers twenty-three persons.
John P. Levan is the General Foreman of these shops.
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Semi-Centennial History of Blair County.
THE JUNIATA LOCOMOTIVE SHOPS.
This latest addition to the works of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company at Altoona were begun in September, 1888, and finished in 1889-90. The first engine was turned out July 29th, 1891. The buildings occupy a plot of ground 33 6-10 acres, lying just east of the Car Shops' lumber yard, and between it and the Bor- ough of Juniata, and comprise the following:
A machine shop, 75×258 feet, two stories high.
A boiler shop, 300x386 feet.
A blacksmith shop, 80x306 feet.
An erecting shop, 70x354 feet.
A boiler house, 45×78 feet.
An electricity and hydraulic building, 45x60 feet.
A paint shop, 67x147 feet.
A paint storehouse, 51-9x5-9 feet.
An office and storehouse, 52x71 feet, two stories high.
A gas house, 17x91 feet.
These shops furnish employment now to almost 800 men, and have a capacity for building 150 new locomotive engines per year. T. R. Brown is Master Mechanic of Juniata shops.
In addition to these shop buildings there are two large office buildings standing on Twelfth street, one at the corner of Eleventh avenue, a three-story brick, about 50x120 feet, and one on the corner of Twelfth avenue, about 80x100 feet, three stories high. The former is used as the offices of General Superintendent of the road, the Superintendent of Altoona Division, Superintendent of Motive Power, Principal Assistant Engineer, Maintenance of Way Department and Telegraph ¿Department. The latter contains the offices of General Superintendent of Motive Power, Motive Power Clerk and Mechanical Engineer. Other departments of the road, viz : Ticket Receivers and Relief Doctors have offices in the second story of the Passenger Station.
The Railroad Company also own the Logan House build- ing and grounds, and a large three-story brick double dwell- ing on Eleventh avenue, just west of the Superintendent's office, in which reside the General Superintendent of the Road and the General Superintendent of Motive Power ; also several other dwellings on Twelfth and Eighth avenues, occupied by others of high rank.
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Semi-Centennial History of Blair County.
Officers Pennsylvania Railroad Co., 1896
George B. Roberts, President.
S. M. Prevost, General Manager.
J. R. Wood, General Passenger Agent.
William H. Joyce, General Freight Agent.
A. W. Sumner, Purchasing Agent. James A. Logan, General Solicitor.
The foregoing have their office in the City of Philadelphia, in the magnificent building, erected for Passenger Station and General Offices, on the corner of Broad and Market streets.
The following officers are located in Altoona:
F. L. Sheppard, General Superintendent Pennsylvania Railroad Division.
C. A. Wood, Chief Clerk to F. L. Sheppard.
F. D. Casanave, General Superintendent of Motive Power.
W. H. Rohrer, Chief Clerk to F. D. Casanave
B. F. Custer, Chief Clerk of Motive Power.
J. M. Wallis, Superintendent of Motive Power Pennsyl- vania Railroad Division.
W. E. Blanchard, Chief Clerk to J. M. Wallis.
C. T. Witherow, Motive Power Clerk.
H. M. Carson, Assistant Engineer Motive Power.
M. W. Thomson, Principal Assistant Engineer.
A. C. Shand, Assistant Principal Engineer.
D. J. Neff, J. D. Hicks and A. J. Riley, Solicitors,
John R. Bingaman, Chief Clerk Maintenance of Way.
W. S. Humes, Chief Clerk of Transportation.
A. S. Vogt, Mechanical Engineer.
Charles B. Dudley, Chemist.
R. E. Marshall, Superintendent Altoona Division.
O. F. Delo, Chief Clerk to R. E. Marshall.
W. F. Snyder, Train Master, Altoona Division.
W. F. Taylor, Chief Telegraph Operator, Altoona Divis- ion.
Christ McGregor, Yard Master, Altoona Division.
G. H. Neilson, Supervisor, Altoona Division.
H. B. Weise, Assistant Supervisor, Altoona Division. D. Steel, Assistant Train Master, Pittsburg Division. William Herr, Assistant Train Master, Middle Division.
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Semi-Centennial History of Blair County.
G. W. Strattan, Master Mechanic, Middle Division. A. W. Mechen, Chief Clerk to G. W. Strattan.
John P. Levan, General Foreman Altoona Car Shops.
L. B. Reifsneider, General Inspector Altoona Car Shops.
T. R, Browne, Master Mechanic, Juniata Locomotive Shops.
Charles T. Wilson, Station Master at Altoona.
H. L. Nicholson, Ticket Agent at Altoona.
A. T, Heintzelman, Freight Agent at Altoona.
Other Industries of Altoona.
The Altoona Iron Company is the next in importance after the railroad shops. Their rolling mill was erected in 1872-3 and has been in almost continuous operation since April, 1873. Merchant bar iron of all kinds is manufactured here and the annnal product reaches into the hundred thou- sands ; 150 men are employed. H. K. McCauley is Secretary and Treasurer and Robert Smiley Manager of the mill.
A fine silk mill was erected in 1888-9 and has been in continuous operation ever since. A large annex was built a few years later and a still more important addition is now projected. About 300 employes find work here and the amount of wages paid out annually is nearly $40,000. No cloth is woven, but the yarn is prepared for weaving in the looms owned by the company in the East. Schwarzenbaugh, Huber & Co., of New York City, are owners of the new part and lessees of the original plant.
The ice plant of the Pennsylvania Ice Company, limited, located at Fifth avenue and Thirty-first street, is a large con- cern and supplies the greater part of the ice consumed in the city. They have a capacity for manufacturing 50,000 pounds of artificial ice per day and in addition have immense ice houses at Point View, between Hollidaysburg and Williams- burg, where great quantities of natural ice are cut and stored each winter. F. H. Seely is one of the heaviest stock- holders and resident manager of the company.
Of the twelve planing mills in the city, those of William Stoke, M. H. Mackey & Sons, Orr, Blake & Co., Frank Brandt, A. Bucher and the Parker Bros. are the largest.
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Semi-Centennial History of Blair County.
The four breweries of the city have an extensive trade, that of the Altoona Brewing Company on Thirteenth street being the oldest and largest. Wilhelm, Schimminger and Ramsey operate it now.
The gas works of the Altoona Gas Company are the largest between Philadelphia and Pittsburg. The company was chartered in 1857 and for many years their plant was at the corner of Eleventh avenue and Ninth street, but the present plant at Seventh avenue and First street was put into operation in February, 1892, shortly after which the old works were demolished and the ground is now occupied by track and a freight shed of the Pennsylvania Railroad Com- pany. John Lloyd is President of the Gas Company and George H. Harper Superintendent.
The Edison Electric Illuminating Company was organized in 1887, by John Loudon, A. J. Anderson and others and established a plant on Tenth avenue between Tenth and Eleventh streets, which was occupied until April, 1896, when the present large and thoroughly equipped plant at Union avenue and Nineteenth street was completed and put in oper- ation. W. R. Dunham is President, having been elected early in the present year, and A. J. Anderson Secretary and Business Manager, E. B. Greene, Superintendent.
The city water system of Altoona is one of great magni- tude, the plant having now cost over $1,000,000. The gather- ing and storage reservoirs at Kittanning Point, on the Penn- sylvania Railroad at the Horse Shoe bend, about six miles west of the city, are works of art as well as monuments of engineering skill and well repay a visit and inspection. They have a combined capacity of 430,000,000 gallons and over 45 miles of iron pipe, from 2 to 16 inches in diameter, convey the water by force of gravity to the city and distribute it to all residents.
The newspapers of Altoona city comprise four dailies and five weeklies, including the weekly edition of two of the dailies. Two of the dailies, the Tribune and the Times, appear in the morning and tell of the various happenings of the world during the preceding day and up until midnight, while two others, the Mirror and Gazette, coming from the press about 5 o'clock in the evening tell of the happenings, local and general, during the early part of the day. A num-
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Semi-Centennial History of Blair County.
ber of monthly publications are also issued in the interests of various lodges and societies, but none of general circulation. These will be referred to again in the article on the press of the county.
Altoona has a well organized paid Fire Department, which superseded the volunteer firemen May 1, 1895. It con- sists of a Chief Engineer and 35 men. Three steam fire engines in service and two for emergencies ; five hose car- riages in use and two extra ones, one hook and ladder truck, 7,000 feet of hose (114 miles) and 14 horses for hauling the engines, truck and hose carts.
There is in the city a library, the "Mechanics," which while not being free is largely patronized by the best class of citizens. It is fostered and materially assisted by the Penn- sylvania Railroad Company. G. W. Stattan is President Rev. Allan Sheldon Woodle Vice-President, W. C. Leet, Sec- retary, Miss L. L. Snyder, Librarian and Dr. C. B. Dudley, Chairman of the book committee.
Altoona has a public hospital. The building was first erected in 1885 at a cost of $40,000 and was opened for the reception of patients January 1, 1886. The building has since been enlarged and now, with the grounds, represent a value of about $60,000. John P. Levan is President, L. B. Reifsneider, Secretary. The medical staff consists of Drs. John Fry, Chief of Staff, F. N. Christy, W. S. Ross, J. N. Blose and J. F. Arney, who serve without compensation. It is supported by voluntaty contributions and State appropria- tions.
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Semi-Centennial History of Blair County.
Big Things of Altoona.
The people of Altoona are not given to boasting; they are, in fact, too modest in putting forth the claims of their city to prominence. If they had a city like Altoona in California, Colorado or Kansas it would be advertised all over the world and heralded as a marvel of the age, but when an Altoona man goes away from home or speaks of the town he only ad- mits that it is a pretty good place, business is good, the city is growing rapidly, etc. Some evidently desire rather to suppress than exagerate the facts, for fear too many people will came here.
Among the very large things of which they could boast, are:
The Pennsylvania Railroad passing through and giving the best possible service in the matter of transportation.
The freight yard of the railroad here is nearly five miles long and capable of holding half the cars in the United States when the tracks are all laid.
The largest railroad shops in America, building the finest cars and locomotive engines made and employing over 7,000 men.
A growth in the past forty-five years, unprecedented in the history of this country, from a few scattered families to al- most 50,000 people.
A future whose outlook is most promising.
A surrounding country unsurpassed in the world for beauty of location and picturesque scenery.
A climate more favorable to health and longevity than the boasted climate of California.
Water and air as pure as any uature has provided for man in any place.
Of manufacturing establishments the largest, after the railroad shops, are a rolling mill, employing 150 men, a silk mill with 250 employes, twelve planing mills, furnishing employment to 300 to 500 men, an electric passenger railway having 25 miles of track, employing 175 men and furnishing rapid and cheap transportation in the city and suburbs and to the county-seat and Bellwood.
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Semi-Centennial History of Blair County.
Hollidaysburg.
"Whoever is alive a hundred years after this will see a con- siderable sized town here, and this will be near about the middle of it."
Thus Adam Holliday is said to have spoken to his brother William, as he drove a stake into the ground on the hill above the Juniata river, in 1768, where Hollidaysburg now stands.
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