LOCAL HISTORY: Tarring S. Davis, History of Blair County, Volume I, 1931, Blair County, PA - Chapter 19 Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Judy Banja Copyright 2005. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/blair/ html file: http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/blair/1picts/davis/tdavis1.htm _______________________________________________ A HISTORY OF BLAIR COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA UNDER EDITORIAL SUPERVISION OF TARRING S. DAVIS LUCILE SHENK, ASSOCIATE EDITOR VOLUME I HARRISBURG: NATIONAL HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION, INC., 1931 CHAPTER XIX INDUSTRIES 262 BLAIR COUNTY HISTORY THE development of industries in Blair County is astonishing, but it typifies the tremendous movement onward that has characterized the industrial growth of the United States during the last century. In 1846, when this county was formed, there were no great financial institutions, no chain stores, no extensive insurance offices, no realtors. Paper was not manufactured on the great scale we find today. Ganister quarries were not opened. Chemical products, bakeries, ice cream factories, soft drink and confectionery factories, employing the numbers of people they do now, did not exist then. Refrigeration was unknown, just as certainly as ice was not manufactured. Textile and leather products were the result of hand labor by the village weaver and shoemaker. In some cases clothing was made at home exclusively. Light and power companies had not developed. Pure food laws were non-existent, and dairy products were sold from the farm. These are only a few of the activities and products which citizens of our county developed since the first court convened at Hollidaysburg. In 1856, remarkable changes had been wrought, and Mr. Jones, to whose book we are indebted for so much valuable information on the history of our county, gives an insight into the economic conditions of the period that preceded 1856 as follows: "In order to give the reader a little insight into the progress which has been made in the valley, let us turn statistician for a time, with the understanding, however, that we shall not be held responsible for the accuracy of dates. "Less than twenty-six years ago, George Law sat upon the left bank of the Juniata, two miles west of Williamsburg, cutting stones for building two locks at that place. Now the aforesaid Law is supposed to be worth the snug little sum of six millions of dollars, and not long since was an aspirant for the presidential chair! "Thirty years ago, when Frankstown was a place of some note, Hollidaysburg contained but a few scattered cabins. In fact, twenty years ago it was to fortune and to fame unknown; yet it now contains a population (including that of Gaysport) that will not fall much short of four thousand. "Less than twenty-five years ago, Dr. P. Shoenberger, while returning from Baltimore with $15,000 in cash, fell in with the celebrated robber Lewis on the Broad Top Mountain. The intention of Lewis, as he afterward acknowledged, was to rob him; but the doctor, although he was unacquainted with his fellow-traveler, had his suspicions awakened, and, by shrewd manoeuvering, succeeded in giving him the slip. Had the $15,000 in question fallen into the hands of the robber, Dr. Shoenberger would have been bankrupt, and the probability is that he would have lived and died an obscure individual. Instead of that, however, the money freed him from his embarrassments, and he died, but a few years ago, INDUSTRIES 263 worth between four and five millions of dollars - more than one-half of which he accumulated by manufacturing iron in the valley of the Juniata. "Less than sixteen years ago, a gentleman named Zimmerman was a bar-keeper at the hotel of Walter Graham, Esq., at Yellow Springs, in Blair County, afterward a 'mud-boss' on the Pennsylvania Canal, and subsequently a teamster at Allegheny Furnace. At the present day the said Samuel Zimmerman owns hotels, palaces, a bank of issue, farms, stocks, and other property, at Niagara Falls, in Canada, which swell his income to $150,000 per annum. He is but thirty-eight years of age. Should he live the length of time allotted to man, and his wealth steadily increase, at the end of threescore-and-ten years, he can look upon ordinary capitalists, who have only a few millions at command, as men of limited means. "Let it not be presumed, however, that we notice these capitalists from any adoration of their wealth or homage to the men, but merely because their history is partially identified with the valley, and to show in what a singular manner the blind goddess will sometimes lavish her favors; for hundreds of men without money, but with brighter intellects and nobler impulses than ever were possessed by Zimmerman, Law or Shoenberger, have gone down to the grave 'unwept, unhonored, and unsung,' in the Juniata Valley. Neither will the "soughing" of the west wind, as it sweeps through the valley, disturb their repose any more than it will that of the millionaires when resting from 'life's fitful fever' in their splendid mausoleums. * * * * * "Let us now proceed to examine the products of the valley. The lower end of it is a grain-growing region, and the upper an iron-producing country; and it is owing to the mineral resources alone that the valley maintains the position it does and boasts of the wealth and population it now possesses. The Juniata iron has almost a worldwide reputation; yet we venture to say that many of our own neighbors know little about the immense amount of capital and labor employed in its manufacture. * * * * * BLAIR COUNTY Name Location Owner Allegheny Furnace Logan Township Elias Baker Blair Furnace Logan Township H. N. Burroughs Elizabeth Furnace Antes Township Martin Bell Bald Eagle Furnace Snyder Township Lyon, Shorb & Co. Etna Furnace and Forge Catharine Township Isett, Keller & Co. Springfield Furnace Woodberry Township D. Good & Co. Rebecca Furnace Houston Township E. H. Lytle Sarah Furnace Greenfield Township D. McCormick Gap Furnace Juniata Township E. F. Shoenberger Frankstown Furnace Frankstown Township A. & D. Moore Harriet Furnace Allegheny Township Blair County Coal & Iron Co. 264 BLAIR COUNTY HISTORY Name Location Owner Hollidaysburg Furnace Gaysport Watson, White & Co. Chimney Rock Furnace Hollidaysburg Gardner, Osterloh & Co. Gaysport Furnace Gaysport Smith & Caldwell Portage Works (rolling-mill, etc.) Duncansville J. Higgins & Co. Maria Forges (two) Juniata Township J. W. Duncan Lower Maria Forge Juniata Township D. McCormick Gap Forge Juniata Township Musselman & Co. Elizabeth Forge Antes Township John Bell Tyrone Forges (two) Snyder Township Lyon, Shorb & Co. Cove Forge Woodberry Township J. Royer Franklin Forge Woodberry Township D. H. Royer Cold Spring Forge Antes Township Isett & Co. Allegheny Forge Allegheny Township E. H. Lytle Hollidaysburg Foundry and Machine Shop Hollidaysburg J. R. McFarlane & Co. Gaysport Foundry and Machine Shop Gaysport McLanahan, Watson & Co. Tyrone Foundry Tyrone City J. W. Mattern & Co. Williamsburg Foundry Williamsburg Loner & Hileman Martinsburg Foundry Martinsburg Crawford & Morrow Penn'a. Railroad Foundry Altoona Penn'a. Railroad Co. Duncansville Foundry Duncansville Mr. Gibboney Axe and Pick Factory Allegheny Township J. Colclesser * * * * * "It may be well to mention that the furnace of Watson, White & Co., is just completed; the Chimney Rock Furnace will be completed during the summer of 1856, as well as the furnace of Messrs. Smith & Caldwell, in Gaysport. These three furnaces follow the discovery of immense fossil ore-veins immediately back of Hollidaysburg, which are supposed to extend, in irregular strata, from the river east as far as the basin extends. In addition to this, in the Loop - a basin lying between points of the Cove Mountain, south of Frankstown - mines capable of the most prolific yield have also been opened. The ore, smelted with coke, is said to produce the best iron in the market, and commands a ready sale at excellent prices. From the discoveries of ore-deposits already made, and those that will follow future explorations, it is but reasonable to infer that, during the next four or five years, the number of furnaces will be considerably augmented; and at this time there is a project on foot for building an extensive rolling-mill and nail-factory at Hollidaysburg. "* * * * * Some years ago a gentleman in Huntingdon County took a tract of timber-land, lying at the base of the mountain in Blair County, for a debt of some four or five hundred dollars. The debt was deemed hopelessly bad, and INDUSTRIES 265 the land little better than the debt itself. Right willingly would the new owner have disposed of it for a trifle, but no purchaser could be found. Anon the railroad was built, and a number of steam saw-mills were erected on lands adjoining the tract in question, when the owner found a ready purchaser at $2,500 cash. A gentleman in Gaysport, in the summer of 1854, purchased twelve acres of ground back of Hollidaysburg for seven hundred dollars. This sum he netted by the sale of the timber taken off it preparatory to breaking it up for cultivation. After owning it just one year, he disposed of it for $3,000! A gentleman in Hollidaysburg, in the fall of 1854, bought three hundred and eighty acres of ground, adjoining the Frankstown Ore Bank, for three hundred and eighty dollars. The undivided half of this land was sold on the 22nd of February, 1856, for $2,900, showing an increase in value of about 1,400 per cent in fifteen months; and yet the other half could not be purchased for $5,000." A great variety of information on rural economy of the same period has been recorded for us by D. M. Bare in his book, "Looking Eighty Years Backward," published in 1920. Mr. Bare resided during his boyhood and early manhood in the Morrison's Cove section of Huntingdon and Blair Counties. There agriculture was a predominant means of earning a living. Extracts from his descriptions follow: "* * * * * I bought my first stock of goods for a general store in 1858, and I hardly think there were any canned goods in that stock and not much for some years afterwards. The first to come into the market, I think, were tomatoes and later other vegetables and corn. Before canning was introduced all the fruit and berries were preserved by drying. No farm with an orchard was likely to be without a 'dry house' This was a small building with a wood-burning stove placed in the middle with a number of long drawers on each side of it, in which the fruit was placed and there dried. Apples, peaches and plums were dried in this way for use during the next winter. People who did not have dry houses dried fruit in the sun and a still more primitive method was to dry it by the kitchen fireplace or chimney corner. At the time I am writing of I think nearly all houses had a good-sized open fireplace in the kitchen. It must be remembered that at this time cook stoves were not in general use and most of the cooking was done in pots hung in these open fireplaces. I remember going with my mother to make an afternoon call on a neighbor woman, Mrs. McNeal, living perhaps a mile away from our Three Springs home, and there I saw the other method of fruit drying referred to above. There in a large open fireplace were large strings of luscious looking peaches, cut in halves and strung up on good strong strings or cords. These were hanging on each side in the chimney corner with a subdued fire, perhaps live coals in the middle, drying the fruit. As stated above not so much sugar was consumed then as now and much of that was home-made. Farmers having sugar-maple trees on their farms tapped them in the spring of the year and collected the sugar water, boiled their own sugar and made syrup for table use. On our Three Springs farm we had what was called a 'sugar camp' which was located down the creek some distance from the house. This 266 BLAIR COUNTY HISTORY grove consisted mostly of sugar-maple trees. The process of making sugar and syrup was somewhat as follows: In the spring of the year about the time the sap began to rise a three-fourths or one-inch hole was bored into the tree some 18 inches from the ground and a little drain pipe, which I think they called a 'spile,' was driven into the suger holes. These 'spiles' I think were made of elder bushes. They were 10 or 12 inches long and the top half was cut of to within two or three inches of the one end which was left round and fitted to the holes in the trees. Of course, the pith of the elder stick was taken out, which made the channel to convey the water to the 'sugar trough,' and you may inquire, 'What was the sugar trough?' These troughs were made from trees about 12 inches in diameter, cut into 25 to 30-inch lengths and split in halves, then trimmed up and a trough cut out of each one. These troughs if taken care of would last for years. I have a dim recollection of how sugar making was worked in our camp. When the sugar troughs were getting pretty well filled up (which I think was generally in the afternoon) my mother and my sisters would go to the camp with their buckets and ladles and dip out the sugar water and carry it to the large iron kettle which had been placed in the central part of the camp. Under this a fire had been kindled some time previously and in that kettle our home-made sugar was manufactured." "* * * * Just when the grain cradle came to take the place of the grain sickle I do not know positively, but it was probably not much more than a generation before the reaper came into use. At least my father was quite handy in the use of a sickle and I think in his younger years much of the grain was cut with a sickle, at least we had a number of them on hand when I was a boy and we used them some in cutting badly lodged grain. The first horse-driven reaper that I can remember was used on the Rhodes' farm adjoining ours. It was a McCormick reaper and was owned by the Rhodes' farmer, Mr. Wolf; this was about the year 1856 or 1851. It merely cut the grain and dropped it on a platform from which it was shoved off by a man with a rake, standing on another platform. I am not sure whether the reaper or mower came into use first but rather think it was the reaper, at least I saw the reaper at work before I saw a mower. The reaper and mower were like many other new inventions, rather slow in coming into general use and I never owned one. * * * *" "* * * * * Farmers helped each other in harvest and if one farmer finished a day or two before his neighbor, he frequently went over and helped him out. He was always welcome and this gave the boys a chance to make a little pocket money. A month or two later apple 'snitzens' and apple butter 'bilens' (boilings) began to flourish. The boys, I think the girls, too, liked to be told to 'come over to our snitzen tomorrow evening.' The 'snitzen' proper generally lasted an hour and a half to two hours, then the boys and girls were allowed another hour to play 'plompsock,' or such other games as might suit their fancies before leaving for their homes. Many of these 'snitzens' were held the evening before the day set to boil apple butter. Some times a few persons were invited to come the next evening to help stir the apple butter. Under the old system of boiling it INDUSTRIES 267 was a pretty long day's job to boil a large kettle of apple butter, however, many more apples were prepared for drying than for use in apple butter, as this was before canning fruit had come into use. Nearly every farmer had a dry house not only to dry apples, but all kinds of fruit and berries, and also after the apple butter boilings came corn husking. When the corn was husked and put in the crib and the fodder hauled into the barn and the winter wood hauled to the wood yard, this about closed up the outdoor work for the season. But there was still butchering to be done, and the threshing of the grain was done along through the winter as we needed the straw. At that time nearly every farmer owned his own threshing machine driven by from four to six horses, requiring from eight to ten hands; about one hundred and twenty-five bushels of wheat was a good day's threshing. The thresher did not clear the grain, this required another day's work to run it through the wind-mill. * * * * *" "* * * * * Generally speaking, I think, farmers are good livers and their wives and daughters good cooks. They then used, however, much less fresh meat and more salt meat. Our immediate family was small, but in the summer season we had at times considerable hired help. Early in the fall of the year we usually killed one fat hog, not very large, for use as the weather began to get cool. Then in November, we killed probably two more and the balance of them just before Christmas, probably eight or nine in all. At one of these later butcherings we killed a beef. To take care of this meat we had one large hogshead and two smaller ones. The large one and one of the smaller ones we used to salt our pork and the other one was used for salting down the beef. The beef, I think, was generally used during the winter and early spring. Among this beef were several nice chunks intended for dried beef. This went to the smoke house and was well smoked and was the 'chipped beef' for summer use and I think was about as good as Armour's or Swift's. The balance of the beef I think was not smoked and I suppose was somewhat similar to the present corned beef. After the pork had been salted and remained in salt brine for some time, it was taken to the smoke house and was smoked and was the main meat staple during the following summer. * * * * *" "* * * * * I don't think there were many farmers in our neighborhood who didn't have a flock of sheep, and usually a flax patch every summer. These were important elements in the clothing of the family. Sheep are sheared once a year, usually in the first half of the month of May; although this only came once a year it made quite a day's work when the flock was large, between the clipping and the washing of the wool. A few temporary tables were provided and the sheep, of course, were in a pen or closed yard. Some were required to catch the sheep and tie their legs together and put them on the tables. The shearers consisted of both men and women, the women most likely in the majority. The same kind of sheep shears were used as we now use in trimming the grass along our walks. When the fleeces were clipped they were put into wash tubs and washed, which was no small job." 268 BLAIR COUNTY HISTORY "* * * * * After the wool was washed it was dried and bundled up with an old table cloth or sheet around it, and then sent to the Fulling Mill to be carded. The wool was run through the carding machine and came back to the farmer in rolls about one-half inch in diameter and about 25 or 30 inches in length. It was now ready for the spinning wheel to be spun into yarn. The spinning wheels generally in use got their motion from a treadle operated by the feet of the spinner. * * * * * The carding and fulling were both done at the same mill. The fulling and carding mills have been succeeded by the present woolen factories. Whether these old fulling mills had any looms in them for weaving cloth I am unable to say, probably they had the old-fashioned land loom. But of the time I am writing I think the most of the weaving was done nearer the homes of the farmers. Some farmers had looms of their own operated by one of the women of the house, but in every neighborhood there was a weaver who followed it as an occupation. Much of the wool was woven into cloth for clothing for the family. After the wool was spun into yarn used for making clothing it had to be dyed the color or colors desired, the farmer's women often doing their own dyeing. After the goods had been woven it was sent to the fulling mill to be fulled and finished ready for use. The blankets needed for the family were woven from the family wool. These, as now, were generally left the natural color of the wool. Hand looms at that time were not wide enough to weave a full width blanket, and they were woven half the width and sewed together * * * * *" "* * * * * The largest part of the clothing worn by the family was home-made, especially the winter clothing. At my home, while I was a small boy, my mother and sisters made all my clothes. They consisted of what was then called a 'wommus,' perhaps later called a 'roundabout,' and a little vest and trousers, but not the short knee-breeches of the present. The trousers were made long enough to come down well over the shoe tops." "* * * * * I probably discarded the 'wommus' for Sunday clothes when I was twelve or thirteen years of age. From this on I wore a little frock coat and I guess it was tailor-made, but for at least several years made from our home-made cloth. At that time I think the men generally wore what is probably called a 'swallow tailed' coat, and when boys got to be sixteen or seventeen years old they generally wanted that kind. But a young man that wanted to be looked up to generally wanted a broad cloth suit as early in the game as it could be bought, and with it a high fur or silk hat, preferably a silk one, but this outfit was only strictly for Sunday. The winter hats for every day were made by Samuel Hair, of Woodbury, or William Snyder, of Martinsburg. The every day summer hats were called 'chip' hats, and sold at 12 1/2 cents each, or a home-made straw hat, made in the neighborhood cost about 25 cents. When I was a boy I went to Sam Hair's and got my head measured, and he did the rest. The underclothes then were usually of canton flannel and made at home. Boys, I think, generally got through the winter season without underclothes. One fashion that was so much in use in my young days appears to have gone out INDUSTRIES 269 altogether, that of wearing woolen 'comforts' for the neck. This was a wrap for the neck worn in the winter by about every man and boy, and was knit or woven out of woolen yarn in bright colors. In size they started for boys at about four inches wide and thirty inches long, and from that on up for men to about ten inches wide and seven or eight feet long. It was then supposed to be a necessary part of a man's or a boy's outfit and especially so when he went out sleighing or sledding. * * * * * Sometime after the Civil War the fashion of men wearing shawls instead of overcoats came into use. A good heavy woolen shawl fastened at the chin with a safety pin made a fair outfit for a man on a winter day if he traveled on foot (that was much more largely the method of getting about then, than now) but it never came into general use as the lower part of the body got no protection from it, so that the overcoat was never put entirely out of use. In the preceding pages I have explained the use to which wool was put so far as the comforts of the house and the male members of the family were concerned; I will also explain what benefit was received by the women and girls of the family. The yarn for flannels was generally colored in two or three different colors and then sent to the weaver and he was told what kind of barred flannel was wanted and the weaver wove it accordingly. This also had to be sent to the fulling mill to be fulled; this was then made into garments for the winter wear of the girls and women of the family." "* * * * * Our flax patch was always in the oats field because it ripened about the same time as oats and the field was then plowed and sowed in wheat. Flax grew to about two feet in height, sometimes more. It was not cut but pulled up by the roots, and this was generally assigned to the boys and the women. I think it was spread out to dry for a day or two, then bound up in little sheaves and shocked much as we shock wheat, left to dry out well and then taken to the barn and the seed threshed out. This threshing was quite simple; it required a boy or man and an empty barrel laid on its side. The man or boy took up these little sheaves and pounded the top ends of them over the barrel until the seeds were supposed to be all pounded out. The seed was then cleaned and when convenient sent to the oil mill. One of these, 'Hipple's Mill,' just on this side of Waterside, made linseed oil for many years. Flax seed was worth about $1.25 to $1.50 per bushel. The flax could remain in the barn till later in the fall when work was not pressing. The farmer usually had a rough fireplace constructed in some out of the way corner, and several poles or lath were laid over it about five feet above the ground on which the flax was placed and spread out to dry before 'breaking' it. A 'flax break' was constructed of hard wood and consisted of a frame with four legs into which was framed about five strong wooden blades about four feet long. Then another frame with similar blades was constructed; this frame was fastened at the one end and worked hinge fashion. The 'flax break man' lifted the top and inserted his flax, having a tight grip on the flax with one hand and with the other pounding up and down till the shell or straw had left the fibre. After the breaking process was completed then the 'scutching' of the flax began which was work for the women and boys. 270 BLAIR COUNTY HISTORY This was done with a hard wood paddle with a hand hold at one end. A bunch of flax was drawn over a frame constructed for that purpose and the scutcher 'scutched' away until the 'shives' were all 'scutched' out, so that there was nothing left but the flax fibre. This was then ready to go to the spinner. We had two or three spinning wheels and my mother and two sisters were good spinners. When the flax was spun it was sent to the weaver and woven either for sheets or pillow cases or into shirting and sometimes for wagon covers. For shirts and bedding, the cloth after it was returned from the weaver was bleached white. This process was accomplished by spreading it out on the lawn and sprinkling it several times a day with water from a watering can. For good bed sheets nothing better then home-made linen has ever been discovered. From the information given on these few last pages it would appear that the flax patch and the sheep flock were two very valuable assets to the farmer in the good old days of home-made goods and home-made clothing." The Sixth Industrial Survey made by the Pennsylvania Department of Internal Affairs gives the following information on Blair County industries in a preface to the list published. "* * * * * Fire brick clay and ganister rock of superior quality abound. There are limestone valleys and coves of unusual richness of soil, and the county's acreage embraced 1,824 farms in 1925. "The County owes much of its best development to the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, whose main line to Pittsburgh was constructed through this County with headquarters and shops in the newly located town of Altoona. This has grown to become one of the important third-class cities of the State. Its growth and prosperity is a reflection of the conditions in this part of the State.* * * * *" "Considerable efforts have been put forth in the way of manufacturing, the combined capital invested in 1927 being $27,230,900, with a total value of production of $41,112,100. The outstanding classes of industry were Paper and Printing Industries, $13,231,800; Metals and Metal Products, $11,032,200 and Food and Kindred Products, $5,971,800." QUARRIES, BRICK AND MINES The quarrying of ganister or quartz rock in Blair County attained important proportions after 1880. Before that some had been shipped to the Cambria Iron Company but it was after 1880 that this rock came into use in the Bessemer process for the manufacture of steel. Later, when the manufacture of silica brick was perfected, most of the ganister rock quarried in Blair County was employed in its production. This rock is white in color, and is found in loose piles of stone on barren crags and peaks of mountains that are difficult of access. The best quality of ganister, however, is found in compact ledges, underground. Steam and electric drills are used to penetrate to this formation. The late Jesse L. Hartman, of Hollidaysburg, was the pioneer in the ganister industry. He INDUSTRIES 271 shipped the first lot of the rock that was used for silica brick from the south range of Dunning's Mountain near McKee's Gap, to A. J. Haws & Sons, of Johnstown. Thus began an important local industry. Before it was found possible to manufacture silica brick in this country, all that was used here, was imported from abroad at great expense. The silica brick is produced by the process of grinding pure ganister to the quality of sea sand, and then adding a one per cent solution of lime water so that CaCo3 is added to the pure rock. The ganister is moulded into green brick then, dried and burned in kilns at a temperature varying from 2,700 to 2,900 degrees Fahrenheit. About eighteen days is the length of time required to produce the brick. Then it is put in use in the open hearth process of manufacturing steel. It is used as a refractory lining for sides, roofs, and checker work in furnaces. The quality that makes it valuable is its capacity for expansion under heat of 2,800 to 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit. This expansion is so great that all crevices are closed and a compact furnace lining is the result. Silica brick is also used for bi-product coke ovens. The J. L. Hartman Company, of which J. Denniston Hartman is the present head, continues to quarry ganister from the works at Flowing Springs. More than fifty men are employed by the organization whose offices are in the Hollidaysburg Trust Company building. The General Refractories Company, of Philadelphia, employ between five and six hundred persons in the manufacture of silica brick from ganister, at Claysburg and Sproul. The Standard Refractories Company originally operated these plants, but it has become a subsidiary of the General Refractories Company. L. G. Kurtz, Lionel Y. Green, Peter M. Stufft, Harry D. Stake and James E. Dively are the officials in charge of production now. Mr. Kurtz is district manager of the eastern silica fire brick operations of the General Refractories Company. He has been connected with this business since 1913. L. Y. Green is manager of the Claysburg plant. He entered the business in 1916 under the Standard Refractories Company as foreman of the shipping department and now manages the plant. P. M. Stufft is superintendent of the Claysburg works. In 1915, he was employed as a timekeeper and pay clerk. When America entered the World War he enlisted, and served for two years, here and in France. After he returned in 1919, he became the company's storekeeper, bookkeeper and then assistant superintendent. In 1927, he was appointed superintendent by the General Refractories Company. Harry D. Stake is superintendent of the Sproul plant, and he has been engaged in brick manufacture since 1905. He came here as assistant superintendent in 1921, and the following year was appointed superintendent of the Sproul plant. Mr. Dively is following in the footsteps of his father, Robert U. Dively, who was associated with local refractories companies for twenty years. James E. Dively engaged in the work of the company here in 1914, and then served in the United States Army in France during the World War. In 1919, he resumed his activities with the company and is now assistant superintendent of the Sproul division. 272 BLAIR COUNTY HISTORY Other mine and quarry products are clay, bituminous coal, sand, gravel and stone. The Fair Valley Clay Company, with offices in Altoona, employs eleven people. Hollidaysburg is the headquarters for the Woodbury Clay Company where more than sixty persons are employed. The Argyle Coal Company and the Bradley Mine Coal Company operate near Gallitzin, on the western boundary of Blair County. The Bunier Coal Company, with offices at Patton, conducts mines at Buckhorn, on the Blair-Cambria County line. At Glen White, in the extreme western section of Logan Township, the Glen White Coal & Lumber Company employs nearly a hundred persons. At Kittanning Point, where the famous Horseshoe Curve of the Pennsylvania Railroad is located, the Liberty Coal Company operates. The Pennsylvania Coal & Coke Corporation has its coal mines in Allegheny Township and gives employment to about forty people. The Russet Coal Company, with about 125 employees, has offices at Mineral Point, and operates near Buckhorn. The Thermic Coal & Supply Company of which John B. Elliott, Hollidaysburg, is president, was organized in 1904 and in addition to handling coal and building materials, manufacturing ice, and engaging in road construction work, operates a sand and gravel quarry in Frankstown Township. Eleven people are employed in this business. The McGinley Cut Stone Company is located in Altoona and has twelve employees. Crushed stone is produced by eight different firms in Blair County, each of which employs people ranging in number from two to one hundred and thirty. Included in these operators are the Basalt Trap Rock Company, at Covedale, near the Huntingdon County boundary line, which employs sixty-seven persons; C. S. Baughman, at Martinsburg, with two employees; Blair Limestone Company, at Blairfour, has one hundred and thirty employees; Canoe Creek Stone Company, at Canoe Creek, has twenty-nine employees; Chimney Rocks Limestone Company, at Hollidaysburg, employs ten; Duncansville Lime & Stone Company, at Duncansville, eighteen; Eldora Stone Company, at Eldorado, twenty-nine; M. H. Gildea, at Frankstown, fourteen. Miscellaneous stone products are obtained by the Calcium Products Company which operates at Moore's Mill with ten employees; the National Limestone Company and the Pittsburgh Limestone Company, both at Williamsburg; the Saint Clair Limestone Company, at Ganister, employing one hundred and forty persons. Arthur V. Vanneman is a well-known Tyrone stone operator. He is president of the Tyrone Lime & Stone Company, which was established in 1917, and of the Laurel Run Coal Mining Company. PAPER Lumber and water power are two of the most valuable natural resources of Blair County, and as a result, the manufacture of paper and paper products has become a leading business here. The West Virginia Pulp & Paper Company has plants at Williamsburg and Tyrone, while the D. M. Bare Paper Company and the Roaring Spring Blank Book Company are located at Roaring Spring. INDUSTRIES 273 Mr. D. M. Bare's account of the development of the paper mill and Blank Book Company is as follows: "In the summer of 1865, three young men conferred together with the view of building a paper mill. These young men were John Eby, John Morrison and D. M. Bare. It was finally decided to build and to locate it at Roaring Spring, then a hamlet of eight or nine houses. Before the work was started, Isaac Bowers was added to the list of partners and these young men were long in energy and hopefulness but rather short in cash. However, they got the mill built and started it in April, 1866. But their hopefulness was turned to despondency long before the end of the first year for they had a boiler explosion in July which caused a shut-down of the mill for several months.' To add to their misfortune the whole plant burned in October of the same year, leaving but the smouldering ruins of what they had hoped would be a successful enterprise, but after some consideration it was decided to rebuild. However, before the work of rebuilding was well under way a most serious loss came to this firm in the death of John Eby, its general manager. Nevertheless the work of rebuilding was continued through the winter and the mill was again started up in the early spring of 1867 with John Morrison as general manager. The records at hand do not go back further than the year 1873, but the mill was run with one small machine from the start till 1878 when a second one, somewhat larger, was installed. There is no record to show what the daily production of the mill was up to the year 1873. That year the record shows a daily average of 1,860 pounds and the selling price was ten cents, nine and one-half cents and nine cents per pound. In 1877, the production had moved up to 4,500 pounds and the selling price was seven and one- fourth cents. In 1881, with two machines running the production went up to 12,300 pounds, but the price of paper had settled down to five and three-fourths cents. In 1892, we put in a third machine and in 1898 we remodeled the mill, increasing the capacity of the pulp mill. In the year 1904, we rebuilt the steam plant, and also installed the McDonald Bleach plant; since then we have made our own bleach. By the year 1905, our average daily production had moved up to 51,000 pounds, but the price had settled down to three dollars and twenty-seven cents per hundred pounds. Our present average daily production is from 60,000 to 62,000 pounds. For the first few years after starting the mill, we made what was called a bogus-manilla paper. It was made from straw and gunny-sacking and was used for grocer's bags and sold at from nine to ten cents a pound. Some time before 1870 we began to make white paper from straw and rags. The price of white paper at that time was about twelve cents a pound. In 1875, we began to use linn and poplar wood in making white print paper; however, we continued to use straw pulp with our wood pulp for several years, but abandoned the use of straw in the year 1880. For the past thirty years our product has been machine finish and super calendered book and writing papers. At the present time the mill employs about two hundred and fifty persons. * * * * * " "The Roaring Spring Mill is the pioneer paper mill of Central Pennsylvania. The firm of Morrison, Bare and Cass built the Tyrone Paper Mill in the year 274 BLAIR COUNTY HISTORY 1880, which is now the property of the West Virginia Pulp and Paper Company. About the same time John Dixon and the Armstrong brothers built the Lock Haven Paper Mill and about 1898 Charles Schwab built the Williamsburg Mill which also is now owned by the West Virginia Pulp and Paper Company. These three Blair County Paper Mills employ at their plants something more than a thousand persons and consume about sixty thousand cords of wood and probably two hundred thousand tons of coal annually. "After the death of John Eby, his interest in the mill was purchased by John Morrison and Jacob Eby and the firm name changed to Morrison, Bare and Company. This firm continued with John Morrison as manager till 1875 and in that year the firm established a paper warehouse in Pittsburgh with Mr. Morrison in charge, for the sale of their papers and also for the sale of other papers. In the year 1875, Isaac Bowers met his death on a railroad near Galesburg, Illinois, and his interest in the mill was sold to the surviving partners. In 1876, Joseph K. Cass bought a one-fourth interest in the property and the firm name changed to Morrison, Bare and Cass. Mr. Cass took charge of the business of the Pittsburgh House and Mr. Morrison again became the manager of the mill. In 1880, Morrison, Bare and Cass built the Tyrone Mill and Mr. Morrison became the manager of it. On the first of January, 1886, the firm of Morrison, Bare and Cass was dissolved and the property divided. Morrison and Cass took the Tyrone Mill and the Pittsburgh warehouse and D. M. Bare and Jacob Eby became the owners of the Roaring Spring Mill and two years later the old frame building was taken down and the present main buildings erected. In the year 1886, David R. Wike was admitted as a member of the firm of D. M. Bare and Company and became the master mechanic which position he held until his death. In the year 1887, Jacob Eby died and his interest in the property was purchased by the surviving partners. * * * * * The managers were John Eby, John Morrison, D. M. Bare, and E. G. Bobb. The following named persons were superintendents: John Lang, Frederick Kaufman, John Scott, E. C. Dixon, S. R. Wagg, Geo. Ehrhart, Eli Garber, Chas. Mickle, Joseph Spencer and Chas. Logan. E. C. Dixon and Eli Garber both served two separate terms. For about forty-one years the business of the mill had been conducted as a partnership business with from three to four partners as owners, but in 1907 the business was incorporated and has since been run as a corporation under the corporate laws of the state. "In 1886, D. M. Bare formed the acquaintance of George W. Cross, of Saugerties, N. Y., who had for a number of years been manager of a large blank book factory in that city, but at the time of his meeting with Mr. Bare was open for engagement. Mr. Cross urged the erection of a small blank book factory at Roaring Spring and after Mr. Bare had consulted with Mr. Wike and others, he decided to undertake it, and asked Mr. Cross to take charge of a factory at Roaring Spring. A partnership to conduct the new enterprise was then formed by the following: Messrs. D. M. Bare, E. G. Bobb, H. C. Lorenz, D. R. Wike, George W. Cross and Dr. A. L. Garver. Mr. Bare having furnished the entire INDUSTRIES 275 capital, twenty-five thousand dollars, was elected president of the company, while H. C. Lorenz became general manager and George W. Cross, superintendent of the factory. The first building was a one-story frame structure, one hundred by one hundred feet square, and by the middle of the year 1887, goods were being turned out and shipped and the new venture promised to be successful. However, adjoining the new frame building was a blacksmith shop and shortly after midnight on September 9th, 1887, the shop caught fire, and the flames being communicated to the factory, it was soon entirely destroyed. The insurance was inadequate to cover the loss, but not being discouraged the firm began the erection of a new two-story brick building on the foundation of the old one. This was completed in 1888, and the plant was again in operation in the summer of that year. Mr. Lorenz resigned from the company in 1889 and Mr. Cross in 1891, leaving their interests to be absorbed by the other members of the firm; A. L. Garver assuming the management. The growth of the plant from this time on was very rapid and the installation of up-to-date machinery and the invention of new machines and processes never before used in the manufacture of blank books, made possible the production of goods which found a ready market. In 1895, an additional three-story brick building, one hundred by fifty feet, was erected to accommodate the growing business, but it was soon necessary to enlarge again, and in 1900, a handsome three-story structure of native blue limestone sixty by one hundred and eighty-seven feet was built. In 1905, another three-story brick building fifty-seven by one hundred feet was completed, and in 1914 a five-story brick warehouse forty by one hundred and seventy feet was erected. The entire factory now occupies over three acres of floor space and is the third largest establishment of its kind in the world. "The goods manufactured include ledgers, day books, etc., of all sizes and bindings, for use in general accounting, counter books, pass books, memorandums, school composition books and tablets. The greater portion of the paper used in the manufacture of these goods is purchased from the D. M. Bare Paper Company, made at their mill in Roaring Spring, and amounts to over one-third of their production. The company employs a corps of salesmen who cover every part of the United States and Canada, Cuba and Porto Rico, and they are also represented in South America, the Philippines, Hawaii, and London, England." The present officers of the company are: E. G. Bobb, president; J. W. Smith, vice-president; Ivan E. Garver, treasurer; and Russell B. Garver, secretary and general manager. These officers together with Mrs. Anna Bare Eldon constitute the board of directors. Those in charge of the operations of the company at this time are: Russell B. Garver, general manager; J. W. Smith, general superintendent; J. Ray Smith, sales manager; James S. Williams, chief accountant; L. Oder Burket, assistant accountant; Frank K. Lorenz, traffic manager; Ira L. Dick, superintendent of school goods department; Blaine Butler, superintendent of full bound department; John Winters, superintendent of memorandum department; Warren Zook, superintendent of ruling department; Frank Snyder, superintendent of printing department; Samuel Gates, chief machinist. Among the 276 BLAIR COUNTY HISTORY officials and employees who have been with the company more than thirty years are the following: J. W. Smith, J. S. Williams, F. K. Lorenz, Ira L. Dick, D. L. Dick, W. E. Zook, Jacob McKee, Jesse C. Williams, Roy Hileman, Edgar Daniels, Josiah Hite, John Smaltz, Blaine Butler, Kate Myers, Susan Price, Lily Snively, Fannie Snively, H. D. Butler and A. D.. Hueston. At least two things are essential to the successful operation of any manufacturing plant, the one is mechanical efficiency and the other is business efficiency; both of these elements of success were well developed in Dr. A. L. Garver, to whom was due the large measure of success that has come to the Roaring Spring Blank Book Company during his twenty-eight years of successful management. In 1891, when he took over the management the factory was a small non-paying industry but under the efficient management of Dr. Garver and his sons it has now become one of the largest as well as one of the best equipped factories of its kind in existence." The preceding accounts were written by Mr. Bare in 1920. Since then Dr. Garver died and his sons, Ivan E. Garver and Russell B. Garver, have been the managers of the plant. The former was manager from 1920 to 1929 and the latter is the present incumbent. E. G. Bobb is president of the D. M. Bare Paper Company and Clarence Hair is sales manager, a position that he has held for twenty years. Employees who served for long periods of time in the work of this company include: C. W. McKee, William Albright, William Hueston, Harry M. Detrick, Royer Myers, George Hainly, Thomas Stevens, Samuel Lynn, George Pollard, Thomas Butler, Millard Bulger, Wesley Price, David Kaufman, Lloyd Shaffer, John Pressell, Edward Gates, Isaac Helsel, David Gates, John Hueston, William Nolen, Edward Butler, John Herron, William Steward, Harry Kurtz, Roland Smallwood, James E. Garber, Jacob Stonerook, Harry Burket, John Feathers, Martin Croyle, Oliver Butler, David Butler, Henry Stonerook and George Lear. It will be noted that the plants now conducted by the West Virginia Pulp & Paper Company at Tyrone and Williamsburg were established by Morrison, Bare & Cass, and Charles Schwab, respectively. More than eight hundred persons are employed by this firm in Tyrone and Williamsburg. A third paper mill, owned by the company, is situated at Piedmont, West Virginia. Edwin S. Hooker is general manager of the three mills. Harrison Henry, who was engaged in the business under Morrison, Bare & Cass at Roaring Spring from 1878 to 1890, has been superintendent of the Tyrone Mill of the West Virginia Company since 1906. Henry D. Stroup is assistant manager of the mills and maintains his office at Williamsburg. His father held the position until his death in 1929 when his son, Henry D. Stroup, succeeded him. The office manager is William Fenton Taylor, Jr., of Tyrone. He first became connected with the business as a clerk in 1905. PENN CENTRAL LIGHT & POWER COMPANY The Penn Central Light & Power Company has been mentioned in connection with the growth of Altoona. Seven hundred persons find employment in this company whose main plant in Blair County is located at Williamsburg. A total INDUSTRIES 277 of forty-six utilities are operated by this organization of which J. Harry Shearer, who is internationally known in engineering circles, is president. Benjamin F. Cleaves has been the vice-president since 1928. The other officers and department heads are: William H. Wade, assistant to the president; J. C. Scholl, general superintendent of production; Frank J. Henneman, general commercial manager; Edgar D. Williams, superintendent of transportation; Thomas R. Dobson, new business manager; Ralph M. Phelps, merchandise manager; John J. Clark, superintendent of electrical operations; James M. Hughes, laboratory superintendent; William P. Miller, superintendent of cost department; George T. Nophsker, purchasing agent; Robert F. Bailey, superintendent of the meter department; Charles A. Dougherty, electrical engineer. CHEMICALS Industrial chemistry is an application of the results of scientific research that practically belongs to the Twentieth Century. In 1895, George Cunningham Wilson established a business at Tyrone that has grown to such an extent that its products are now exported to every part of the United States and to many foreign countries. In a three-story stone structure the Wilson Chemical Company employs two hundred persons in the manufacture of white Cloverine Salve, gelatine and cough drops. Originally each of these products were made by individual companies organized by Mr. Wilson. The Wilson Chemical Company produced the salve; the Junior Food Products Company, the gelatine; and the Wilson Products Company, the cough drops. But in September, 1930, the three organizations were incorporated as the Wilson Chemical Company. George C. Wilson, Jr., is actively engaged in directing the business of the firm and is its vice-president. Other chemicals and allied products manufactured in Blair County, are cleansing and polishing preparations, patent and proprietary medicines, powder and other explosives, and toilet preparations. The Atlas Powder Company employs twenty-five persons in the manufacture of explosives at Horrell. Toilet preparations are made by the Barr Manufacturing Corporation at Tyrone where forty persons are employed. OTHER MANUFACTURED PRODUCTS Products manufactured in Altoona have been mentioned earlier. Throughout the county, food products, such as baked goods are made in most of the boroughs. The Morrison's Cove Cooperative Agricultural Association manufactures butter and cheese in Altoona. Soft drinks, grist-mill products, ice cream, planing-mill products, coats, suits, boilers, pumps, valves, caskets and undertakers' supplies are manufactured in Tyrone. At Hollidaysburg, ice, planing-mill products, silk, silk goods, boilers, machinery and parts, are produced. The Schwarzenbach Huber Company has two plants, one at Hollidaysburg and the other at Juniata, where more than a thousand persons are employed in the manufacture of silk goods. Bellwood has an ice plant, and is a center for the manufacture of iron 278 BLAIR COUNTY HISTORY castings and steam shovels. In Martinsburg, flour and various food products are made. Roaring Spring has in addition to the paper mill and blank book factory, a flour mill and a planing mill. Flour and silk are produced at Williamsburg in addition to the paper and electrical power already referred to. These are only a few of the industries in which citizens of Blair County are employed. The automobile has brought with it the necessity of repair shops. There are twenty-nine garages in Altoona alone. The Craig Chevrolet Company employs twenty-five persons in repair and office work in Altoona. The Ford Company represented by Ira Karns has fifteen men on day and night duty for repair work at Hollidaysburg. These establishments are not manufacturing industries, but they afford employment to many people in our county, who, had they lived a century ago, would have been engaged in vastly different ventures. A striking example of the changes that have come about in our agricultural life is evidenced in the management of the farms of Reuben B. Long, near Blue Knob. He has introduced motor equipment for his farms as well as for his saw-mills, and has a regularly employed mechanic to supervise the care of the machinery. Surely the pioneers of Blair County would marvel at the manner in which our natural resources have been made into products for the comfort and enjoyment of men!