Venango County, Pennsylvania: Her Pioneers and People (Volume 1), Part 34

Author: Babcock, Charles A.
Publication date: 1879
Publisher:
Number of Pages:

USA > Pennsylvania > Venango County > Venango County, Pennsylvania: Her Pioneers and People (Volume 1) > Part 34

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It is the desire of the present management to improve not only the appearance of the works by cleaning up unsightly places and the planting of lawns and flower beds and window boxes, but to better sanitary conditions for the workingmen. At convenient places throughout the entire works are toilets and locker rooms equipped with wash basins and shower baths. In order to secure the purest possible drinking water and avoid all danger of contagion the company has secured the rights of a spring on the River Ridge farm of Hon. Joseph C. Sib- ley. The spring is boxed in with concrete and the water is not exposed to the air until it comes from the taps in the Eclipse works. It is piped under the river into the plant and a large number of bubbling drinking fountains have been installed. At frequent intervals the water is tested in the laboratory of the company and has always been found perfect for drinking purposes.

Owing to the character of the works the menace of fire is ever present, and despite the

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utmost precautions the Eclipse has experienced disastrous fires, but the damaged portions of the plant have always been restored as quickly as possible and its growth has been unchecked. The entire working force is organized into an efficient fire-fighting department. It is the duty of every employe, when the fire whistle blows, to hasten to the works at any hour of the day or night. The employes recognize that the Eclipse is their plant and its destruction would be a personal disaster for everyone. In conse- quence of this feeling the whole force is knit in a fire-fighting unit that is not surpassed anywhere and professional firemen who have seen Eclipse men fighting the most dangerous of all fires, an oil fire, could not say enough in their praise.

In their endeavors to secure the greatest pos- sible safety for employes the management ap- pointed a safety committee consisting of George Nicklin, W. J. Hamilton, George B. Clark, Donald Bleakley and J. M. Shoffstall. This committee holds regular monthly meetings and discusses thoroughly all suggestions of safety made by employes. It then makes its recom- ' mendations to the management and in prac- tically every case these recommendations have been promptly accepted and put into operation.

The private telephone system of the Eclipse, with sixty-two telephones, open day and night, has proved a great convenience and time-saver. By a system of signals any officer of the works may be summoned from any part of the works.

Taken all in all, the employes and manage- ment of the Eclipse compose one big family with the best of good fellowship prevailing. Employes are always free to consult the officers of the company at any time and the personal advice and encouragement extended have been a material influence in shaping the policy of the employes to own their own homes. That the Eclipse is strong in the hearts of the people of Franklin is indicated by the expressions of cordiality heard on every hand.

Franklin certainly has enough manufactur- ing interests with large capital and resources of many kinds to supply a city of 100,000 people. It has made its importance felt all over the world.

THE ACTIVITIES OF THE PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD,

As showing the importance of the county as a center of transportation, are worthy of mention.

In Oil City

The Pennsylvania Railroad has two general repair shops, one on either side of the river. Each employs three hundred to three hundred and fifty men, working in three shifts of eight hours, during every working day. The north side shop is for temporary repairs only. That on the south side is equipped for more exten- sive work, where anything needed for efficient service may be manufactured and supplied. Connected with each yard is a roundhouse for the storage of engines. The north side house is now being used for the passenger engines of the Pennsylvania Lines West, the Erie, the New York Central, and the Pennsylvania Rail- road. The freight engines of the first three roads mentioned, and a few of the Pennsyl- vania freight engines, are also accommodated here. Most of the freight power of the Penn- sylvania Railroad has been moved to the new roundhouse on the south side. This was be- gun about a year ago and was completed last September (1918). All the stalls here were built to hold the largest type of engines, while three stalls on the north side are adapted to the large engines. There are nine stalls on the south side, and additional ones may be provided whenever needed, as there is plenty of room, for years to come.

Among the improvements lately installed on the south side is an automatic coaling appli- ance, known as the Roberts and Shaffers sta- tion. The coal is dropped into concrete boxes beneath the cars, and is lifted by electric power to the storage bins ready for use. New ash pits and inspection pits are also provided, and a new water station is in use. Among the additions planned are a new machine shop and a turntable 110 feet long, which will handle the large engines with ease. Upon its require- ments at this point the Pennsylvania has spent during the last twelve or fifteen months nearly five hundred thousand dollars and the further ones already planned will call for another equal sum. It is the intention to make this one of the most completely furnished engine terminals in the country.

The city is the terminal of four branches of the Pennsylvania System, and a large num- ber of men besides those residing here stop off for a day or a night, or longer. As a rest- ing place for them, the company has pur- chased the former "Commercial Hotel" and fitted it with everything for their comfort. It has reading rooms supplied with papers, maga- zines and books, writing and sitting rooms,

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sleeping apartments, bathrooms and toilet conveniences.

The railroad business has greatly increased in Oil City during the last few years. A greater number of departments are here now than formerly and each of these has extended its activities. The management, from the superintendent's office through the various branches of the administrative and executive control, has been most efficient and modern in purpose and in realization. The service of the road maintains in the city, as residents, more than one thousand eight hundred people, many of them the heads of families, and num- bers of young people whose technical educa- tion and business experience have fitted them for responsible positions. A large railway ad- ministration resembles that of an army-there is a place for many kinds of special scientific training. In short, the railway has contrib- uted enormously to the volume and soundness of the city's business.

At Franklin

Below Big Rock bridge is the freight yard of the Pennsylvania Railroad, extending for a mile and a half along the east bank of the Allegheny river. Its width in some parts is sufficient for twelve tracks, in others for fifteen or more. A very busy place is this yard. Here are assembled all the loaded cars com- ing in on any branch of the Pennsylvania Rail- road, or those by any other road, which are to be sent forward on any branch of the Pennsylvania. The loaded cars are weighed, and their weights, numbers and destination are registered. The cars are then pushed from the scales, and assembled in trains most con- venient for the continued haul to other points. This yard requires the services of seventy-five to one hundred and fifty men. It is known as a classification yard, such being found only in large railway centers. It pays well in the time saved by doing away with much of the usual stopping and switching along the way. Many through solid freights are sent out to distant parts from this yard.

OIL CITY ENTERPRISES

Oil City was the natural center of the oil industry as it developed in this county. Oil had to come down Oil creek by the most tumul- tuous traffic that was perhaps ever seen on earth. Means had to be devised to send it down the river to market. Manufacturing be- gan at once on a small scale to take care of this new wealth. The character of the manufac-

turing has been largely determined by the oil industry. Everything from the drill point to gasoline was soon made within the city limits.

Charles Robson & Company were the first to start a small factory, near the site of the pipe line shops in the Third ward. They bought Hasson's hardware establishment on the corner of Seneca and Center streets, opposite the Ex- change site. This was in 1863. George Porter and F. Giegel joined the firm in 1864.

Cummings Brothers machine shops are prob- ably the next. They were flourishing in the later sixties. They gradually ceased doing business, and the shops stood empty with the old machinery still in them after the first Tran- sit shop was built. The Cummings brothers were Alexander, William and John. They held the land upon which their old shops stood at so high a price that their sale was prevented for several years.

The Imperial Barrel Works were ready for business in March, 1873. A force of 250 men and boys was employed. The plant had a daily capacity of one thousand barrels. Both force and capacity soon trebled. The first officers were: I. I. Wagner, president ; C. A. Cooper, vice president; C. W. Owston, secretary and manager. This concern was afterward bought by the Imperial Refining Company.

The Imperial Refining Company, Limited, with works at Siverly and general offices over the Oil City Savings Bank, was organized in 1871. The officers were : President, J. J. Van- dergrift ; treasurer, John Pitcairn, Jr .; general manager, John Gracie, who with J. J. Lawrence and G. V. Forman composed the board of di- rectors. It afterward became a limited com- pany, with B. F. Brundred, chairman, and G. H. Vilas, secretary and treasurer. It had a number of departments: The gasoline plant, with a capacity of one thousand barrels of naphtha daily; the refinery proper, with daily capacity of two thousand barrels of crude oil; the barrel works, with an annual capacity of three hundred thousand barrels; and a paraf- fin works, formerly owned by C. C. Beggs & Company, having a monthly capacity of five thousand barrels of paraffin oil.

The Oil Well Supply Company grew out of the needs of the oil development. Early in the sixties the New York supply firms began to have their western departments cover the oil fields. Thus the history of the Oil Well Sup- ply Company may be said to begin almost with the discovery of oil by Drake in 1859, as the late John Eaton, afterward president of the company, made his first trip in connection with the sale of oil well supplies to Titusville and

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Oil City in the year 1861, representing Joseph Nason, with whom was associated H. R. Wor- thington, the well known pump manufacturer. Later, about 1868, the partnership of Eaton & Cole was formed; and still later, the Eaton, Cole & Burnham Company. In 1870 the late Kenton Chickering, afterward vice president of the Oil Well Supply Company, moved to Titus- ville as the representative of the firm of Eaton & Cole, and when it in turn became the Eaton, Cole & Burnham Company he was made their permanent representative in Oil City. The first shop and office were located on Elm street, on the site of the present Mattern Pharmacy. In 1878 the principal stockholders of the Eaton, Cole & Burnham Company formed a limited partnership known as the Oil Well Supply Company, Limited, and in 1891 this limited partnership was discontinued and the present corporation of the Oil Well Supply Company was formed. At that time the officers of the company were: John Eaton, president ; E. H. Cole, vice president ; Kenton Chickering, secre- tary, and E. T. Howes, treasurer; Louis Brown, now president of the Oil Well Supply Company, being one of the assistant treasurers.

on which it is located comprising over forty- four acres.

The Imperial Works were erected under the personal supervision of Mr. Kenton Chicker- ing, vice president and manager of the Oil City factories of the company, assisted by Mr. E. R. Gnade, M. E. Upon Mr. Chickering's death, on Dec. 9, 1908, Mr. Gnade was made manager of the plant, a position which he has success- fully filled ever since. The buildings of the Imperial Works house among other depart- ments a gray iron foundry, a malleable iron foundry, drop forge shop, blacksmith shops and general machine shops. Among other well known products manufactured are the "Oil- well" line of steam engines, "Black Bear" gas engines, Mud Hog pumps, all steel rotary ma- chines, Oil Bath Rotary swivels, pumping powers, and over one thousand articles, large and small, of general oil well equipment. The plant employs an average of seven hundred and fifty to eight hundred high-grade men and maintains a large office force. The number at present is nine hundred and seventy-five.

The company also has other large factories, a boiler works being located at Oswego, N. Y., a large shop for the manufacture of packers at Bradford, Pa., and a very large plant operated at Pittsburgh in the manufacture of drilling tools.

The Oil Well Supply Company has repre- sentatives throughout the principal oil fields of the world, and in this country maintains a sys- tem of seventy-five branch stores supplied by a total of eight factories, including those men- tioned above, and nine subsidiary shops taking care of the repair and jobbing shop work for the branch store trade.

The company acquired the well known prop- erty along the old W. N. Y. & P. tracks (now the Pennsylvania railroad), opposite the union station, on which they erected an office build- ing and machine and drop forge shops; they also purchased the land back of the Blizzard office, which was used for warehouse purposes. In 1888 the Oil Well Supply Company, Lim- ited, purchased from the Innis Manufacturing Company the engine works plant then located on Seneca street, which they operated for the manufacture of steam and gas engines, the property along the railroad tracks being oper- Besides the Imperial Works plant, the com- pany maintains three branch stores in Venango county, the large store and warehouse along the Pennsylvania railroad tracks at Sycamore street, Oil City, a store and repair shop at Franklin, and a branch store at Clintonville. ated at that time in the manufacture of gen- eral oil well supplies. In 1900 the company acquired the land on which was located the old Imperial Refinery at Siverly, now the Tenth ward of Oil City. Ground was broken for the foundation of the first building of what is now The total number of employes of the entire company is in excess of two thousand. known as the Imperial Works in August, 1900. By the latter part of 1902 most of the buildings The officers at the present time are: Louis Brown, president; Louis C. Sands, vice presi- dent ; D. J. Brown, treasurer; Grant Hubley, secretary. were completed and the installation of machin- ery begun. By the early part of 1903 the old engine works plant and the larger manufactur- ing establishment along the Pennsylvania rail- After the sale of the Innis Manufacturing Company Mr. W. J. Innis, the originator and proprietor of the works, gave to each of the employes, numbering sixty-five, an order for the best suit of clothes obtainable at any mer- road tracks had been abandoned and the two factories consolidated in the present well known Imperial Works. This plant is prob- ably the largest establishment in the world de- voted exclusively to the manufacture of oil well . chant tailor's in Oil City. "They deserve it," machinery and supplies, the entire tract of land he said.

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Oil City Boiler Works .- In 1876 Michael Geary came to Oil City, attracted by the natural advantages of the place as a manufacturing center, its proximity to the oil fields as a mar- ket, and for the sources of the raw material needed in the business. In company with B. W. Vandergrift and Daniel O'Day he started a small tank and boiler shop on the corner of Duncomb street and the W. N. Y. & P. rail- road. Under the management of Mr. Geary the business grew rapidly and in 1881 several acres of land on Seneca street were purchased and the plant removed to that location. From that time to the present the business has shown a remarkable increase. In addition to the tank and boiler departments the manufacture of en- gines on a large scale was commenced, and for the manufacture of flues the tube works was added. Mr. Vandergrift's interests were bought by Messrs. Geary and O'Day. Year after year the plants were enlarged and the scope of the market for the products was widened. Distributing agencies were estab- lished in Los Angeles, St. Louis, Denver and Chicago in the West ; Philadelphia and New York in the East ; Pittsburgh, Sistersville, Cin- cinnati for the South, and Buffalo for the Great Lakes and Canadian points. From a small plant in 1871, employing half a dozen men, the Oil City Boiler Works and Tube Mills com- bined grew to a concern giving constant em- ployment to a force of fifteen hundred to two thousand men by 1896. Its products were known all over the world wherever oil was produced, and in all the leading cities where steam boilers were used, for heating or for power purposes. This is striking testimony to the ability of the men who planned and di- rected the work. After Mr. Geary's death the tube mills were sold to the National Tube Mills Company, which found the competition of the Oil City mills too strong to be comfortable. Had Mr. Geary lived, or had Mr. O'Day's di- versified interests not prevented his taking charge of the works here, it is probable that this sale would not have been made.

The Oil City Tube Company began in 1887 with a capital of $100,000, afterward doubled, and in charge of M. Lowentritt, president; N. F. Clark, vice president ; C. H. Duncan, sec- retary ; W. J. Young, treasurer; John O'Shea, manager; George H. White, superintendent ; with M. Lowentritt, Mr. Geary, Joseph Seep, R. G. Lamberton and C. H. Duncan, directors. The buildings erected were a lap-weld mill, 304 by 200 feet, of corrugated iron, containing four furnaces with a daily capacity of one hundred tons of pipe, 11/2 to 12 inches, by 30 feet; a

battery of boilers of about six hundred horse power; eight engines ranging from twenty-five to one hundred and twenty-five horse power; a hydraulic testing pump, two steam hammers, two belt hammers, thirty pipe cutting and cou- pling machines, etc .; and a butt-weld mill 100 by 250 feet, with three furnaces, and machinery to make 1/8- to 11/8-inch gas, steam, water and hydraulic pipe, with motive power composed of boilers of two hundred horse power and two engines of one hundred horse power each. The site covered five acres fronting on the railway and Seneca street, and six hundred men were employed. The works grew steadily to accom- modate their great and rapidly formed trade. On Jan. 1, 1888, Mr. Geary became president, Joseph Seep vice president, G. S. Oberly sec- retary, and soon after the stock was increased to three hundred thousand dollars. After Mr. Geary's death in 1896 the company did not think best to refuse the offer of the National Tube Company.

The boiler works are still carried on, and are owned by the heirs of the men who organized them. They employ about two hundred men. Their boilers and engines are in great demand and are used from San Francisco to New York and from the Great Lakes to the Gulf. In all the important cities they are used for heating large buildings and furnishing power for va- rious purposes (such as running elevators, elec- tric light power) and also by large manufac- turing concerns. They have a list of over sixty cities which have repeated their orders for the Geary boilers. Their drilling engines have a wide sale in the new oil fields that have developed all over the world during the last twenty years. C. P. Berry is now secretary and treasurer.

The Kramer Wagon Works were founded in 1861, by W. J. Kramer and D. L. Trax. The business grew from small beginnings till it was formed on its present basis in 1880, since which time it has increased in system and trade under the able management of its founders. Their specialties were farm, lumber and dump wagons, machinery trucks and special delivery wagons, all specially adapted to the rough roads and heavy loads of the oil country business. Their wagons are built to endure great strains, for example, a one-and-one-half yards Oil City dump wagon taken from stock, was loaded with five yards of sand, and hauled two miles, without a crack or broken or even deflected part. The total weight of wagon and load was 13,960 pounds. Being located in the famous oil fields of Pennsylvania, noted for their steep hills and rough roads, the firm had an excel-

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lent opportunity to study carefully the kind of wagons needed for such conditions, with the result that their wagons are considered the standard for quality. In 1891 the firm was in- corporated as the Kramer Wagon Company. About this time the large three-story double building was erected, giving the company about 130,000 square feet of floor space. The com- pany manufactures all kinds of one-horse and two-horse heavy wagons. Many thousands have been sold in all parts of the world, and especially wherever oil is produced. Some of the wagons are adapted to the carrying of oil well tubes, long tubes, pumping rods, etc., the wagons being furnished with chaser or ex- tension reach to make this possible. The com- pany employs about sixty men regularly. The demand is steady for all the wagons manufac- tured. Many of them are now used by the United States army in Europe in the transpor- tation of supplies. At this writing the company has just finished an order for two hundred and fifty army wagons and trucks, and the agent is inspecting the work to-day. The officers of the company at present are: J. D. Trax, pres- ident; E. McCracken, vice president ; Robert Woolley, secretary ; F. Z. Trax, treasurer.

The Enterprise Milling Company was estab- lished May 1, 1883, by L. R. Reed and W. W. McConnell. On Aug. 1, 1886, Mr. Reed pur- chased the entire interest, and in November the present company was formed. The fol- lowing year their capacity was about three car- loads daily. After their great fire, in Novem- ber, 1887, they rebuilt and put in rollers. Their plant and business is among the best of the city's assets. The present officers are: A. M. Lowentritt, president ; R. Lowentritt, treas- urer ; H. H. Culbertson. secretary. The mills are located on Elm and Railroad streets ..

The Model Milling Company mill is located on West Front street. The store is on Seneca street. This company has been organized about eleven years and has acquired a fine busi- ness. The present officers are: W. J. Magee, president ; M. B. Crowther, treasurer; Roy V. Lesh, secretary; H. W. Archer, general man- ager.

The Oil City Milling Company, Andrew Karg, secretary and treasurer, is located at Nos. 1104-1108 East Second street. The com- pany are manufacturers and dealers in flour, feed and grain. Buckwheat and graham flours are specialties.

The National Transit Pump & Machine Company has its main offices and factories at Oil City, with district offices in New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Kansas City and

Charlotte, N. C. About 1886 the pipe lines began making pumping machines, and repair shops were established at Tarport and at Pe- trolia. Fifteen years later these shops were removed to Oil City and began what is now the National Transit Pump & Machine Com- pany. The foreman was John Klein. who brought most of the tools in his hands, but he also brought a great, active brain. He was the man for the place, because he had notable powers of invention. In the supplement of the Oil City Derrick we find the following author- itative statement regarding this concern :

"From a small shop devoted to repair work it has grown to a great manufacturing insti- tution covering about ten acres of ground, with 330,800 square feet of floor space and having over 1,100 employes. Until the dissolution of the Standard Oil Company, in 1911, the function of the Transit Shops was to build machinery for the use of the old Standard Oil Company exclusively. The wealth of pipe line and refinery experience of the various Standard Oil subsidiaries was con- centrated in the product of these shops. In ordering machinery from the Transit Shops, the old Standard Oil Company had but one specification-make it the best that is possi- ble. Prior to the dissolution not a dollar's worth of machinery was sold to anyone out- side of the Standard Oil subsidiaries. To-day the experience gained by many years of asso- ciation with various authorities in the oil and gas business is available to the general public."

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Venango County, Pennsylvania: Her Pioneers and People (Volume 1), Part 34

Author: Babcock, Charles A. Publication date: 1879 Publisher: Number of Pages:

Author: Babcock, Charles A.
Publication date: 1879
Publisher:
Number of Pages: