USA > Texas > Tarrant County > Fort Worth > History of Texas : Fort Worth and the Texas northwest edition, Volume II > Part 25
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The improvements begun in 1910 included the erection of the bridge across Marine Creek on Exchange Avenue. This structure, costing approximately $50,000, was one of the finest of its size in the state. The
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southern yards were also paved at considerable expense, and an $18,000 addition was made to them in the shape of eighty carload pens, seventy- nine catch pens and a new scale house. The sewerage, water and elec- tric light systems were also extended, to keep pace with the increased capacity.
Both packing plants made a good showing for this year. An impor- tant feature added by Armour & Company in 1910 was the demonstra- tion department, occupying a large room in the basement of the office building. In this room a neat display of the various products manu- factured by the company was shown, making a most interesting and instructive display.
Two fires visited the yards in 1911, the first destroying the horse and mule barns and the second making practically a clean sweep of the entire Stock Yards. This made it necessary to entirely rebuild; and the very best that could be obtained was contracted for. The entire Stock Yards district was rebuilt as nearly fire-proof as possible, and as an extra precaution fire-walls were constructed in the various divisions. Steel. concrete and brick were used in the place of timber, and absolutely no attention was paid to cost.
Absolutely fire-proof, Fort Worth's new horse and mule barns, erected during 1911, at a cost of approximately $300,000, are without doubt among the finest sales stables in the world. These barns are 540 feet long and 350 feet wide and have a capacity of fully 3,000 animals. Their foundation is concrete, all outside walls are of brick, all columns of steel, and the girders beams and roof slides are of reinforced con- crete. The feed storage houses are veritable vaults, with automatic closing doors. Even the heat of a lighted match will prove sufficient to close these doors. All mangers are of steel construction, and the water troughs are of concrete. The only lumber in the entire building is found in the gates, food troughs, office fixtures and in the floors. The barns are divided into two general sections, each of which faces a sixty- five foot street, running from Exchange Avenue southward. This thoroughfare is paved with macadam and is devoted exclusively to the horse and mule barns. It serves as a show ground and display park for the many fine horses and stallions that are housed in the barns and thus relieves the main street, Exchange Avenue, of this traffic.
There is also a side street thirty feet wide, which may be used for show grounds. One feature in connection with these barns is the inde- pendent fire system. In addition to the pipe lines from the Stock Yard Company wells there are four fire hydrants in each division, these getting their pressure from the city water works plant. The city water is reserved exclusively for protection in case of fire. All feeding is done overhead, so that it is not necessary to enter the pens. Concrete walks lead from each feed storage room, and the feed is carried in wheel- barrows and dumped off into the mangers and troughs. Water may also be turned on in the mule barns without having to enter the pens.
There are five divisions for mules and two for horses. The horse barns are 78x190 feet, each with a total of 240 stalls. The mule divisions are 165x190 feet each, there being twenty-one pens to each section. One barn was erected exclusively for stallions, it having an accommoda- VOL. II-15
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tion for ninety-nine. Each mule barn has a comfortable capacity of 450, though many more may be accommodated if desired. Each barn is equipped with well furnished offices, sleeping rooms, etc. The light- ing system is so arranged that each section is under the command of a touch button or switch, and the entire barns may be lighted by the mere move of the hand, or darkened in the same manner ; but each section of the barn is so well lighted by long rows of windows that it is not neces- sary to use electricity except on very cloudy days. In addition, the ventilation is ideal.
The new hog yards erected after the fire are divided from the sheep house by means of an immense fire wall extending from one end to the other. The posts and roofing are of solid concrete, reinforced. This division of the yards alone represents an expenditure of $75,000 or $100,000.
With the exception of that portion of the Exchange building the cattle yards were entirely rebuilt in 1911, and were made better than before. In doing so an expenditure of about $150,000 was called for. The yard office, a handsome structure of brick and cement, and the hay barns of the same material, absolutely fire-proof, are among the most modern to be found anywhere.
One feature in connection with the rebuilding of the yards is the underground chutes. These chutes run from one end of the yards to the other and lead to the packing houses. By putting them underground an unsightly construction was avoided, they are more convenient to drivers, afford a quicker way to the plants, and form another link in the chain of fire-proof structures at the yards. Concrete was also used here to good advantage.
SOUTHWESTERN EXPOSITION AND FAT STOCK SHOW
The predecessors of this organization were instituted by a few advocates of the better breeds of animals. Among the promoters were H. C. Holloway, F. J. Hovenkamp, Stewart Harrison, John I. Burgess, L. B. Brown of Smithfield and B. C. Rohme of Rohme.
The first annual exhibits were held under the trees about where the packing houses now stand, there being no buildings or enclosures, and the show was open to the public without cost. Small premiums were offered by the business men of Fort Worth, and the show increased in interest and attractions from year to year. Finally, when exhibitors came from Kentucky, Missouri, Illinois, Iowa and Kansas, the scope of the show was enlarged and an organization perfected, larger premiums offered and inducements extended to exhibitors to bring their cattle, sheep, horses and hogs to the annual meetings. The Fort Worth Fat Stock Show was finally organized and incorporated, modest, unpretentious buildings erected and additional inducements in the way of enlarged premiums were offered exhibitors. This continued for a few years, when the citizens of Forth Worth raised a fund of $50,000 as in induce- ment to the Stock Yards Company to erect the Coliseum, guaranteeing by this fund that the show would continue for ten consecutive years, and that the people of Forth Worth reimburse the Stock Yard Com- pany for any deficit accruing for the annual exhibitions. This contract
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was strictly complied with, and the Fort Worth Fat Stock Show became a recognized institution throughout the country. Large exhibits of all kinds of animals, including poultry, were added from year to year.
Subsequently the Southwestern Exposition and Fat Stock Show was organized, with S. B. Burnett as President, Marion Sansom as vice- president, the secretary and general manager being changed from year to year as circumstances demanded. The present secretary-manager is Marion Sansom, Jr., who has made it a pronounced success during the years of his incumbency of office. It is now recognized as among the leading exhibitions of this character in the country, and Blue Ribbons are eagerly sought by breeders throughout the Middle and Western states.
In connection with this enterprise has been the Horse Shows. These were originally inaugurated by W. P. Galbreath, the Live Stock Agent of the M. K. & T. Railway in Texas, O. W. Mathews, formerly secre- tary of the Union Stock Yards, and other equine lovers and admirers. The first show was held under a large tent on the T. & P. Reservations, and most of the exhibitors were professionals, who came from Kansas City and other points and carried away the ribbons and the premiums.
The Horse Show was finally merged with the Fat Stock Show and held the arena at the Coliseum for matinee and night exhibitions. This branch has also proved a decided success, and exhibitors come hither every year from distant points to compete for premiums and purses.
It is the hope and aspiration of the management that very shortly large grounds and buildings will be secured on the banks of Lake Worth. as soon as transportation facilities to that point can be secured.
AUTOMOBILE FACTORIES
Among the most extensive and successful industries in Fort Worth is the Chevrolet Motor Company. It celebrated its fourth anniversary on November 4, 1920, on which occasion about one hundred and twenty- five of the prominent business men of the city rode to the plant in new Chevrolet cars which they had purchased during the preceding thirty days. They were royally entertained at luncheon by the management and shown through the plant.
The company owns about twenty acres of land just west of the cor- porate limits of the city, on which is erected a three-story, fire-proof structure 125x300 feet in dimension.
The company is capitalized at $60,000, of which $250,000 is owned by Fort Worth business men. During the four years that the company has been in existence it has manufactured and sold about forty thousand cars. It employs on an average of five hundred skilled mechanics, who live in Forth Worth, contributing their income to the business of the city.
The Chevrolet Motor Car Company of Texas is an adjunct of the General Motor Car Company, which is a guaranty of its substantial character aside from the business of the local company.
The Texas Motor Company is another enterprise established in Fort Worth which has constructed a large number of cars and trucks. It has a large plant in the southwestern part of the city, and has as an adjunct the Southland Tire Company. This has not been as successful as its promoters and stockholders could wish, from the fact that it did
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not provide, in its organization, for a sufficient amount for working capital. It has recently undertaken a reorganization of the company, and as there are men of large wealth connected with it the hope is enter- tained that it will overcome its financial difficulties and become a success- ful and profitable enterprise.
In addition to the automobile plants above described there are 111 dealers in automobile accessories. There are thirty-six public garages and an almost innumerable number of filling stations and eight manufac- turers of bodies and tops. There are twenty-four oil well supply houses. which find a ready market for their wares in the oil fields to the north and west of the city.
GEORGE W. ARMSTRONG & COMPANY, INC.
This enterprise is entitled to more than ordinary mention because of the many vicissitudes attending its development and the obstacles it has encountered and overcome.
It is a pioneer in the iron and steel business in the Southwest, and like all pioneers has had many troubles and tribulations. The initial plant was brought here from Alliance, Ohio, in 1904, where, by reason of active competition in that vicinity, it had not been a success.
The stockholders of the Alliance Company put in their machinery and subscribed to some of the capital stock of the Fort Worth Company. which was never paid for, and the citizens of Fort Worth put in con- siderable sums to establish the plant. Upon the failure of the Alliance people to comply with their contract additional capital was secured in Fort Worth and another effort was made to put the concern on a paying basis.
Prior to the panic of 1907 Messrs. George W. Armstrong, William Capps, William Bryce and others put up more money and borrowed money from the banks on their personal endorsements, but it was soon consumed and the company again became bankrupt. The principal stockholders, appreciating that Fort Worth was a good point for an industry of this character, continued to put up money and endorse the notes of the concern.
The first six years of its operation was a period of losses varying from $25,000 to $50,000 per year. None of the stockholders were familiar with the business, and every new manager wanted to change what his predecessor had done and to put more money into the plant. These managers were one disappointment after another. During these years it was establishing the value of its products and was also training young men in the organization as skilled mechanics and as business men. and the stockholders themselves were learning something about the business, which is now firmly established. It is capable of unlimited development. It is owned entirely by Mr. Armstrong and members of his family and by its employes, the latter constituting its officers and board of directors.
Its sales for the year 1920 will amount to about $2,000,000, most of which are mill products and oil well supply products. Its product is now accepted by all the railroads of the state and by all the engineers and architects without question.
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It employes around 400 skilled men, and the payroll is approximately $500,000 per year.
It is contemplated to add at an early date a gray iron foundry, an electric furnace, two open hearth furnaces and a cotton tie mill. The present management is entitled to, and enjoys the appreciation of every citizen familiar with its history and is congratulated upon its success.
FLOURING MILLS
The first flouring mill was established by Mark Evans and was located about where the Fort Worth & Denver freight house now stands. It had a capacity of about 100 barrels per day. Mr. Evans left Fort Worth about 1880 and the mill was suspended.
The next enterprise was that of Wolcott & Blandin. Work com- menced on this mill on November 28, 1874, and the first flour was ground June 26, 1875. Later Joseph H. Brown, then a leading grocer in this section, bought an interest in the mill and secured the expert services of James W. Swayne as manager. Swayne, who was called "Jim" by his friends, was educated for the law and of course knew all about the manufacture and sale of flour. The second mill was built by M. P. Bewley, whose worthy son, E. E. Bewley, is at this writing the manager of the Medlin Mills. This was followed by the Cammeron Mill & Eleva- tor Company, which is now known as the Burros Mill. Then followed the Medlin Mills, of which Frank M. Rogers was the promoter. This mill was subsequently acquired by Mr. Bewley and is now known as the Bewley Mills. There are now four flouring mills in the city, with an aggregate daily capacity of about thirty-two hundred barrels of flour and six hundred barrels of corn meal. The total value of this produc- tion, together with the feed products, is around $40,000 per day. Invested capital represents about $1,500,000.
There are about 200 men employed, with an average monthly pay- roll of approximately $20,000. It is well known that Texas flour, because of the dryness and hardness of the wheat from which it is produced. is better adapted for export than any other flour in the country, and in normal times there are large shipments of flour to foreign countries.
GRAIN
Fort Worth is conceded to be the largest grain market in the South- west. There were received, up to the first of December, 1920, 14,881 cars of grain, which was largely purchased and handled by grain mer- chants, mills and elevators in the city.
The first grain elevator in the city was erected by Mark Evans, and stood about where the present depot of the Fort Worth & Denver City is now located.
There are at present fifteen grain elevators, representing an invest- ment of $4,000,000, that have a capacity of 3,000,000 bushels of grain.
Full cargoes of grain are received here from Argentine and dis- tributed from this point to the various flouring mills throughout this section.
The grain business accounts in a large measure for the great volume of business transacted in Fort Worth.
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RALSTON PURINA COMPANY
The Ralston Purina Company of Texas, known as the Purina Mills, and operating a large plant in Fort Worth, is a subsidiary company of the Ralston Purina Company of St. Louis, Mo., which has branch mills at East St. Louis, Ill., Nashville, Tenn., and Buffalo, N. Y. This cor- poration is the largest factor in the livestock feed business in the world ; capitalized for $9,000,000 and doing a $26,000,000 yearly business.
The Fort Worth Mill was built in 1917 to keep pace with the rapid agricultural department and expansion in Texas. The plant, which represents an investment of over half a million dollars, is the most mod- ern and best equipped feed mill in America. It consists of a six-story mill, a ten-story grain elevator and two cisterns for molasses, with a capacity of 75,000 gallons each, or a total of twenty tank cars. The building is fire-proof and constructed on the unit basis so that it may be enlarged from time to time to handle several times the large original tonnage output. The spout from the public elevator of the Fort Worth Elevators Company handles 1,500 bushels of grain an hour. The capac- ity of the mill is fifty-five hundred 100 pound bags of Checkerboard Chows per day, which can be loaded in seven freight cars at the same time.
The company maintains a research department, which keeps in touch with the feeding problems in Texas and carries out special experiments and research work. Educational literature is distributed throughout the state, keeping the feeders in touch with all the latest scientific develop- ments in the farm stock industry. Fourteen salesmen cover Texas, and the number is being increased as fast as territories are developed and capable men are found to fill them. Special courses on animal nutrition are being given to Texas feeders by experts who have given their lives to the study of hogs, steers, dairy cows, horses and poultry. The Ralston Purina Company is educating the farmers throughout the state as to the best methods of handling their farm crops and produce. Timely advice is given regarding the best disposition of their crops. Specialists show how to supplement home grown products with manufactured products so as to get maximum results.
COTTON -
Fort Worth is one of the leading cotton markets in Texas and prob- ably purchases and handles more cotton than any interior point in the state. The direct purchases for the last year by the cotton factors in this city amounted to over 600,000 bales. This is below the normal amount handled by Fort Worth interests, as the cotton crop was unusually short in 1920. Ordinarily Fort Worth will handle around one million bales of cotton per year.
There are several large firms engaged in the business both for domes- tic and export trade. Several large, exclusive cargoes have been pur- chased here for export to Japan.
The first cotton compress erected in this city was by Col. E. W. Morton and was located near the foot of Commerce Street. The first bale of cotton was compressed on the 17th day of September, 1877, with appropriate ceremonies. On September 2, 1878, a second compress
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was erected, which now stands on Pecan Street, near Tenth Street. It is now owned by the cotton firm of Neill P. Anderson & Co., and has a capacity of 100,000 bales per annum.
This firm is now erecting, and has near completion, a cotton ware- house on the Denver & Rock Island Railroad, in the northeastern portion of the city, with a storage capacity of 10,000 bales.
COTTON SEED PRODUCTS
Fort Worth has four of the most modern cotton seed oil mills in Texas, with a combined investment of about $1,500,000, and a daily crushing capacity of approximately 500 tons of cotton seed.
The combined purchases and crush of the four mills for the season of 1919-20 were 16,000 tons, which, at the average price of $70 per ton, aggregate $4,200,000 paid to the farmers for cotton seed.
The four mills employ 150 men, with an annual payroll of $250,000. Fort Worth is the greatest distributing point in Texas for cotton seed cake on account of its proximity to the cattle trade of West and North- west Texas and because of its favorable location and transportation facilities offered by the many railroads that center here.
COTTON OIL MILLS
Among the many industries which contribute to the prosperity and business activities of Fort Worth and its tributary territory that of the Cotton Oil Mills occupies a prominent place. They furnish to the farmer a ready market for his cotton seed and about $4,250,000 are annually paid for this one product of the farm.
There are four of the largest and most modern Cotton Oil Mills in the South located in Fort Worth, representing an investment of $1,500,- 000, with a daily crushing capacity of five hundred tons of seed of the value of $5,000,000. It is the largest cotton seed market in Texas, owing to superior transportation facilities and because of its proximity to the vast cattle raising and feeding area.
WOMEN'S READY TO WEAR
The largest factory for the manufacture of "Women's Ready to Wear," outside of Cleveland and New York, is that of the Stripling- Jenkins Company of Fort Worth.
They manufacture coats, suits, dresses, waists, middies, in fact any- thing that women wear.
This concern was started in. April, 1910, with one machine. It was then called The Goodtex Company. It was incorporated in May, 1912, under the name of Stripling-Jenkins Co., with a capital of $25,000, employing eleven operators and had ten machines. It is now using 150 machines and have 175 employes. It occupies a four-story "all day light" factory, with 20,000 square feet of floor space.
It is one of the most successful and prosperous enterprises in the city. It is taking advantage of the prospective closer business relations with Mexico and is sending representatives there to solicit orders. The initial order has been received and was reported to the Directors of the
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Chamber of Commerce as evidence that it is worth while for Fort Worth to encourage commercial relations with Mexico.
MEN'S GARMENTS
There are at present five concerns in Fort Worth engaged in the manufacture of overalls, jumpers, pants, middy blouses and ready to wear for men. The capital invested is approximately $675,000, they employ 500 people with a payroll of $10,000 per week.
The first successful enterprise of this nature in Texas was organized in Fort Worth in 1902 with Byron Miller as president and general man- ager, and practically all of the overall industry in Texas has been the outgrowth of this one concern.
The Fort Worth plant had extensive contracts with the government during the war for the manufacture of uniforms for the soldiers.
ACME BRICK COMPANY
This enterprise is one of the most successful in this city where indus- trial enterprises have been a pronounced success.
It was organized in 1893, with a capital of $50,000, and with a "Face Brick" capacity of a little over a million brick per year. It has grown to an institution with capital stock of $600,000, with capacity of twenty- five million brick per year.
Its officers are W. R. Bennett, president ; William Bryce, vice-presi- dent, R. E. Harding, treasurer, and J. E. Fender, secretary.
It has plants at Milsap and Denton, and offices are maintained in all the principal cities of Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma, and its prod- ucts are distributed in other states through the medium of agencies.
By the use of the most up-to-date machinery known to the ceramic industry practically any kind, color or texture of facing brick is manu- factured by this concern.
The number of men employed varies from 275 to 325, with a monthly payroll running from $35.000 to $50,000.
COBB BRICK COMPANY
In the year 1907 the International & Great Northern Railroad pur- chased three acres of gravel in the southeastern suburbs of the city for ballast for their road. In taking this gravel off they uncovered a bank of blue shale, which, on being tested, showed that it was suitable for brick, tiling, etc.
The Cobb Brothers started a brick plant with a capital of $30,000, with a capacity of 20,000 brick per day, which was subsequently increased to 40,000. The dry press is used in the manufacture of these brick. The factory now manufactures fire brick, face brick, mantel brick and tile, and enjoys a good trade in Fort Worth and in the territory con- tiguous thereto. It employs thirty-five men, with a payroll of $750 per week.
ATHENS POTTERY COMPANY
This is an unincorporated, joint stock association with capital to the amount of $500,000. It was originally located at Athens, Texas, where it still has a factory. Recognizing the superior facilities for
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transportation enjoyed by Fort Worth, it established its principal factory here, with branches at Wichita Falls and Mexia. Its main factory is 75x270 feet, two-stories high, and it turns out all kinds of stoneware, consisting of churns, jars, flower pots and kitchen utensils.
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