HISTORY: Commemorative Biographical Encyclopedia, Chapter 8, Dauphin County, PA 

Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Judy Bookwalter

Copyright 2007.  All rights reserved.
http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm
http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/dauphin/
http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/dauphin/runk/runk-bios.htm
_______________________________________________________________ 

Commemorative Biographical Encyclopedia of Dauphin County, 
Containing Sketches of Representative Citizens, and Many of the 
Early Scotch-Irish and German Settlers.  Chambersburg, Pa.: 
J. M. Runk & Company, 1896, pages 152-164.
_______________________________________________________________ 

                             CHAPTER VIII. 

             Some of the Industries of the City and County. 

  Apart from Harrisburg being the Capital City of Pennsylvania, there 
is that which exists within it, and the surrounding towns, to make it 
of far greater importance - a city of industry.  From its earliest 
existence its location has been such as to invite capital, and it 
embraces within its industrial establishments, manufactories which in 
their great success show the financial and commercial progress of the 
city and county more than anything else.  The local situation has 
always been favorable for healthfulness and a desirable place for 
residence, while the abundant water supply, the railroad facilities, 
and whatever else is necessary for building up a large manufacturing 
metropolis is found within the county of Dauphin.  The markets are 
unexcelled; the fertile islands and plateau along the river, with the 
beautiful and productive valley lying between the North and South 
mountains, furnish supplies more than would be needed for a popu-

DAUPHIN COUNTY.  153

lation ten times greater than now within the limits of the county.  Of 
the character of the manufacturing enterprises it is needless to speak, 
and yet, at the same time it is necessary to show what has been 
accomplished within a few brief decades.
  Beginning with the Pennsylvania Steel Company, which was organized in 
June, 1865, the plant of which now covers 160 acres, one stands in 
wonderment at the marvelous strides made in the mechanical world.  The 
construction of the steel plant at what is now the city of Steelton 
(for city it ought to be termed), was commenced in December, 1865, and 
was ready for operation in May, 1867.  On the 25th day of the same 
month, the first steel ingots ever produced in Pennsylvania by the 
Bessemer process were made.  The rail mill of the Pennsylvania Steel 
Company went into operation May 15, 1868.  The importance to the 
railroad interests of the country, and to all consumers, of the 
successful commencement, at these works, of the manufacture of steel 
rails has been very great, and probably no one can appreciate the value 
to the country of the business which began at these works at that date.  
During the first years of operation the steel ingots were hammered 
before rolling in the Forge Department, where they had what was at that 
time the largest steam hammer in the country.  The practice of 
hammering was continued until December, 1876, when the present blooming 
Mill No. 1 went into operation.  Since that time the steam hammers have 
been employed in the production of forgings and other shapes of special 
steel.  In 1875 the company increased its capacity for the production 
of steel by erecting an open hearth furnace plant.  The original open 
hearth plant was later replaced by one of greatly increased capacity, 
and the capacity has been increased several times by the addition of 
new furnaces.  The original Bessemer plant, known now as Bessemer No. 
1, had two converters, the nominal capacity of five tons each.  In 1881 
an additional Bessemer plant, known as Bessemer No. 2, was completed 
and put in operation.  This plant has three converters of ten tons 
capacity each, and was arranged and constructed on plans which secured 
great facilities for handling material and products, and enabled it to 
develop great capacity of production.  The company commenced the 
erection of blast furnaces in 1872 to produce pig iron for their own 
purposes, and completed No. 1 furnace in 1873, No. 2 furnace in 1875, 
No. 3 furnace in 1883, and No. 4 furnace in 1884.  These furnaces are 
of highly approved designs, with the Whitwell patent hot blast stoves, 
and have produced outputs of iron comparing favorably with any blast 
furnaces in the country.  Rolling mills for making steel bars of the 
various sizes and shapes, known as "merchant bars," were erected in 
1882, the plant taking the name of "merchant mill," the product of the 
same consisting of merchant bars, billets, rail splices, angles, and 
various other shapes.  This plant has been enlarged by the billet mill 
building, with a large amount of machinery used in finishing the 
product.  In 1885 there was added to the Forge Department a train of 
rolls of the type known as "universal," driven by a powerful reversing 
engine, for rolling special qualities of steel into slabs and blooms of 
dimensions required by manufacturers of plates, etc., and this branch 
of manufacture has been fully employed.  In 1886 an additional mill, 
called Blooming Mill No. 2, was erected for the preparation of special 
steel required by manufacturers of nails, etc., and has also produced a 
great product.  The manufacture of switches, steel rail frogs, 
crossings, etc., commenced in 1872, and this branch having met with 
great encouragement from railway managers in various parts of the 
country, has been enlarged from time to time. 
  A substantial and handsome brick building 478 feet long and 78 feet 
wide was erected in 1882, replacing the building previously used for 
this business, and still greater enlargement having become expedient 
there was erected a very large addition, consisting principally of one 
building 210 feet long, 125 wide; another building 144 feet long and 35 
feet wide.  These buildings have been fitted with the most approved 
appliances for the production of frogs, switches, &c., and the business 
has grown to very large proportions, conducted under the title of Frog, 
Switch and Signal Department.  In 1893 a slabbing mill for rolling 
slabs, plates and other structural material was erected, still further 
adding to the immensity of the plant.  The company next organized a 
department for the manufacture of bridges, viaducts, roofs, buildings 
and other constructions, under the title of Bridge and Construction 
Department.  Several large buildings have been erected for the purposes 
of this department, and it has entered upon a very 

154  HISTORICAL REVIEW

busy career.  Departments for the manufacture and removal of various 
appliances were found necessary at an early day in the history of the 
company, and a foundry, machine shop and smith shop went into operation 
in 1867.  These were enlarged from time to time with substantial 
buildings, which at the present day rank among the largest plants of 
this description in the State, with building appliances in all manner 
of machine tools and other appliances for the reproduction and repairs 
of the heaviest class of machinery used in the works.  In 1867 the 
company's yearly product of steel ingots was 1,005 tons; in 1890 it was 
304,488 tons.  This gives some idea of the company's growth.  In 1890 
the product of one day was nearly equal to the whole year's product of 
1867.  The total product of steel ingots from 1867 to 1895 was four 
millions, twenty-six thousand, eight hundred and four tons!!  Think of 
this, if you can, and pause while you think.  There was a decrease in 
the output of the years 1891, 1892, 1893 and 1894, owing in part to the 
general business depression and also to a change in the character of 
the product.  A great proportion of the rails now manufactured are for 
electric roads, and are much more difficult to make than for steam 
roads.  The immense acreage of the company lies between the 
Pennsylvania railroad and the Pennsylvania canal.  The length of the 
plot is over a mile and a quarter, and the view presented to those 
passing in the trains of the Pennsylvania road is one of decided and 
unusual interest.  The tremendous quantities of metal to be seen from 
the train invariably attract attention, and persons frequently imagine 
the metal to be held for speculation, until they learn that the monthly 
requirements are twenty-five to thirty thousand tons.  The movement of 
the vast amount of material daily required in the works is a matter 
requiring extensive facilities, and the company has over twenty 
locomotives of various sizes plying upon tracks equal in extent to 
upwards of thirty miles of single track railroad.  The freight cars 
received and dispatched in some weeks exceed 2,500, or 400 per day.  
The pay roll of the company embraces five thousand names, and the 
annual disbursements for labor is nearly two million dollars.  There 
are over 20,000 persons who have their support directly from this 
company's disbursements for labor alone, and when we consider the 
disbursements for materials, supplies, &c., and for the freight paid to 
the railroad companies carrying the materials, &c., and endeavor to 
estimate the extent to which the material interests of those in various 
ways related to or in some manner dependent on the successful 
prosecution of this immense enterprise, we may safely estimate the 
importance of this company's affairs affects a population equal to that 
of many congressional districts.  It was computed by a recognized 
statistician that the railroad tonnage due to the transportation of the 
materials and products of a similar and less important establishment 
for a year represented more ton miles than the business of the great 
State of Texas for a corresponding period. 
  The works are reached by the tracks of the Pennsylvania railroad, 
also by the tracks of the Philadelphia & Reading railroad.  This 
industry has given birth to a city.  Steelton is the outgrowth of the 
Pennsylvania Steel Company.  Twenty-one years ago the site of the town 
was nothing but farm lands, to-day it is a bustling community that 
holds within her corporate limits several other large industries that 
would reflect credit upon any metropolis in the country, and which are 
known from the Atlantic to the Pacific on account of their various 
products.  Steelton is a well built city, mostly of brick, it is also 
well paved and is equipped with gas, water, electric light and electric 
railway accommodations.  The Steelton high school is one of the best 
structures in the State; there are palatial residences and comforts, 
and all the stores and commercial interests are thriving.  Samuel Morse 
Felton founded the enterprise and organized the Pennsylvania Steel 
Company.  He was born July 17, 1809.  At the age of fourteen he was 
employed as a clerk in a grocery store in Boston, and while there 
fitted himself for Harvard College, from which he graduated in 1834, 
beginning the study of law.  For the benefit of his health he soon 
adopted the profession of civil engineering, and in 1838 engaged in 
railroad construction in New England.  In 1845 he became 
superintendent, and in 1871 he became president of the Philadelphia, 
Wilmington & Baltimore railroad, and removed to Philadelphia.  
Paralysis compelled him to retire in 1865 for a short time.  After 
several months of rest, in connection with J. Edgar Thomson, president 
of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, and others, he took up the 
manufacture of 

DAUPHIN COUNTY.  155

steel rails, and the result was the organization of the Pennsylvania 
Steel Company.  Mr. Felton was elected president, and held that 
position during his life.  He died January 24, 1889, aged nearly 80 
years.  He was a man of marvelous executive ability, and was deeply 
interested in the welfare of the company.  His genial presence and wise 
counsel have been greatly missed by former associates, and his memory 
is highly honored by all who knew him in public and private life.  The 
Pennsylvania Steel Company was fortunate in securing, in 1874, the 
services of Maj. Luther S. Bent as superintendent.  From the date of 
his engagement by the company the history of the same has been one of 
continual progress and great prosperity.  The devotion with which he 
managed the multidinous affairs of the company has never been exceeded 
in any similar enterprise.  By his grasp of its affairs, and his 
foresight, he has been enabled to conduct it with a success, the fame 
of which is world-wide.  During the latter years of Mr. Felton's life, 
Major Bent assumed the position of general manager and vice-president, 
and upon the death of Mr. Felton was chosen president and continued 
such until 1896 when Mr. Edgar C. Felton, son of the first president, 
was elected.  The general superintendent of the company is Mr. Harry H. 
Campbell, who has charge of the practical affairs of the manufacturing 
departments, and upon his shoulders rests a great responsibility, which 
he assumes with the confidence born of success.  The president and 
general manager of the company, Mr. Edgar C. Felton, is the guiding 
spirit of the company's affairs, a born executive, a master of 
intricate detail and is possessed of that spirit of public progress so 
essential to the commercial success of all communities.
  The Chesapeake Nail Works, Central Iron Works, and the Universal 
Mill, under practically one management, come next in industrial 
productiveness.  The plant of the Chesapeake Nail Works was erected on 
the present site in the year 1866, by Mr. Charles L. Bailey.  Twice 
since the building was erected misfortune has fallen upon it.  In 1878 
a terrible explosion occurred, partially demolishing the machinery and 
buildings.  It was subsequently rebuilt, only to undergo the same 
misfortune by fire in September, 1882.  Mr. Bailey, not disheartened, 
determined to carry on the business, rebuilt the plant on a larger 
scale.  Under one immense roof are now to be found a puddle mill, plate 
mill, nail factory, blacksmith department, etc.  The various buildings 
of this plant cover a space of about four acres.  The company employs 
400 men, skilled and experienced in the manufacture of iron and steel 
nails and tack plates.  There are 103 nail machines in operation, and 
an immense warehouse, capable of storing 16,000 kegs of nails. 
  The Central Iron Works had long enjoyed a reputation for superior 
quality of iron and steel boiler plates.  Both are used all over the 
country in the largest boiler shops, bridge building and locomotive 
works, and by consumers generally.  Their plant is one of the largest 
and most complete in the United States.  It consists of two three-high  
plate mills, with all the necessary adjuncts, of the most modern 
construction, of large capacity (25,000 tons annually) and capable of 
rolling almost any sized plates required.  They have also added a new 
universal mill, the largest and most complete of its kind, capable of 
making plates 42 inches wide and of any lengths and thickness required.  
Capacity, about 50,000 tons annually.  Their business extends to all 
parts of the United States, from Maine to California.  The mills cover 
several acres, the universal mill being 200 feet wide by 400 feet long, 
the entire building being made of steel.  The plant is equipped 
throughout with machinery of the latest modern construction, having its 
own electric light and power plant for lighting and running its large 
electric cranes.  The mill is second to none, and has the reputation of 
manufacturing the best of all kinds of iron and steel used in the 
construction of bridges, buildings, &c.  
  The Universal Mill was built in the year 1892, it being the largest 
and best equipped mill of its kind in the country.  The Universal Mill 
is engaged in the manufacture of all kinds of bridge construction iron 
and steel, which is shipped to all parts of the United States from 
Maine to San Francisco.  Large shipments are made to the New England 
States, where the demand for the product of the mill is steadily 
increasing.  This concern has just completed an immense contract for a 
firm in San Francisco, which will go down in the annals of commercial 
history as an example of progress in mechanical skill seldom, if ever, 
equalled.  The Universal Mill occupies a building 150 feet wide

156  HISTORICAL REVIEW

and 500 feet long, the roof of the same being entirely of iron.  The 
capacity of the mill is 200 tons of finished steel per day.  The plant 
is equipped throughout with machinery of the latest improved kind, 
capable of rolling out plates 100 feet long, 42 inches wide, in gauge 
from three-eights of an inch to one inch in thickness.  The Universal 
Mill has turned out 256 tons of finished steel in twenty-four hours.  
This is wonderfully quick work, considering the immense weight.  The 
plant has its own electric motors and dynamos, which furnish power for 
running large electric cranes and manufacturing electric light for 
themselves, the Central Iron Works and the Chesapeake Nail Works.  The 
mill is also equipped with two immense cranes having a capacity of 
lifting twenty tons and carrying the same to any place in the mill - to 
the distance of 500 feet if necessary.  Besides electric and hydraulic 
cranes used for lifting and unloading steel slabs, ingots, cars, etc., 
there are a number of overhead travel cranes with 36 and 65 feet spans.  
In this department are two large Todd reversing engines 30x60, also 
pumps used for hydraulic pressure, which can give 900 pounds pressure 
to the square inch.  In the electrical department, besides test motors, 
there is a battery of ten boilers of 100-horse power each.  The mill is 
second to none, and has the reputation of manufacturing the best and 
all kinds of iron and steel used in the construction of bridges, etc. 
  The Harrisburg Foundry and Machine Works was incorporated in 1891, 
previous to which time it was the Harrisburg Car Manufacturing Company.  
The main building, the machine shop, pattern shop, yards, offices, 
etc., cover between three and four acres.  The annual output of the 
concern is large, and the pay roll presents a formidable array of 
figures.  The number of the employed varies from three hundred to four 
hundred, all of whom are skilled mechanics, drawing salaries that are 
in keeping with their skill.  A large portion of the trade of the 
company is handled by New York, Philadelphia and Boston concerns.  
Among the many large contracts on hand may be mentioned one for two 
eight-hundred horsepower engines at Wilkes-Barre, Pa.  They have just 
completed a large contract for the Soldiers' Orphans' Home at Scotland, 
Pa., and are also engaged upon a large contract for the Philadelphia, 
Castle Rock & West Chester Electric Railway.  The company manufactures 
the Weitmeyer Patent furnace, which saves from 15 to 20 per cent in 
fuel.  This furnace is to be seen under hundreds of boilers.  The scope 
of the work of this concern is so great that a detailed list of its 
many products would be too long for a single perusal, and a few will be 
mentioned.  The company is prepared, with endless beautifully executed 
cuts and engravings, to supply all information of whatsoever kind 
regarding their goods and correspondence is solicited.  A superb set of 
cuts, executed upon the finest calendered card paper will be sent upon 
application to consulting engineers, architects, electricians and 
purchasers.  They are pleased to submit them as a suggestion of the 
most advanced work in the line of automat engines, simply and compound, 
and especially their happy adaptation to direct-connected electric 
generators.  A large number of the Harrisburg Ide and Ideal engines, 
direct-connected, are now in operation - a method that will probably 
prevail in the near future for all first-class installations.  Owing to 
the large variety of sizes of Ide and Ideal, or side and center-crank 
engines, the Harrisburg Foundry and Machine Works is prepared to meet 
all requirements for electric light and railway work, direct-connected 
or otherwise.  In all the conventional and essential characteristics of 
automatic regulation, stability, good workmanship and economy, these 
engines are not excelled.  In addition to the positive and constant 
lubrication of the Ideal engine, it enjoys the unique distinction of 
being the only self-oiling horizontal steam engine in the world - self-
oiling without the parts being submerged in oil, without waste or 
throwing oil either upon the floor or belts, or if direct-connected, 
into the generator, and its ability to do unintermitted work, 
absolutely noiseless in operation and economy in oil are all features 
not obtained in any other engine.  In this respect the Ideal has no 
peer and recognizes no competitor.  Over 1,500 Ide and Ideal engines 
are in use, aggregating over 200,000 horsepower!  Catalogues will be 
furnished upon application for simple and compound engines, boilers, 
etc.  The Harrisburg Foundry and Machine Works has an endless variety 
of beautifully printed, engraved and half-tone matter, all of which is 
to enlighten the trade.  This concern has a printed list over twenty 
feet long, in nonpareil type and unleaded, which contains the names of 
the firms that have purchased Ide and Ideal engines, and 
 
DAUPHIN COUNTY.  157

includes the West Indies, Brazil, France, Sweden, Canada, British 
Columbia, Africa, etc.  It is a splendid enterprise, and we are pleased 
to announce the fact to the commercial world.  The company does steam 
engineering in all its branches and contracts for complete steam power 
plants, boilers, tanks, stacks, etc., and is the sole manufacturer of 
the Harrisburg Double Engine Steam Road Roller.  Harrisburg may well be 
proud of such an industry.
  The oldest of the large industrial establishments is that of the W. 
O. Hickok Manufacturing Company.  This company was established in the 
year 1848 by the late W. O. Hickok, and no other concern in 
Pennsylvania has given such a unique representation as this company, 
whose manufactures are shipped to all parts of the civilized world.  
The plant of this industry covers nearly two acres of ground, requiring 
over 40,000 square feet of floor space in order to meet all the 
requirements of their increasing trade.  The company is engaged in the 
wholesale manufacture of paper ruling machines, Jones' signature 
presses, Hickok roller backers, Hickok knife grinding machine, Hickok 
book sawing machine, Hickok gilding presses, Hickok standing presses, 
Hickok table shears, Hickok paging machine, Hickok numbering machine, 
Hickok round cover cutter, Hickok rotary board cutter, etc., 
bookbinders' machinery, full bindery outfits and so on until the list 
of the vastly useful and particularly well-made products of the company 
seems interminable.  During the past three years the company had a 
large number of orders from the Old World.  The trade in this country 
embraces every town and city of prominence from the Atlantic to the 
Pacific, and from Maine to the Gulf.  The machine department building, 
foundry, offices, etc., present an impressive view of commercial 
stability and progress and, as was noted before, cover one and a half 
acres of ground.  The machine department, on North street, is 50x150 
feet in dimensions.  The basement is half used for roughing out the 
lumber used and half for the storage of iron pipe and bar irons; the 
first floor as the machine department; second floor wood working 
department; third floor painting, varnishing and storage.  The first 
floor is used as a machine works, and the second is a store room, etc.  
The company employs over a hundred people, all experienced in their 
various departments, who are engaged the year through.  The capital 
stock of the company is $250,000 and the office is a scene of busy 
people transacting the business of a large and particularly successful 
company.  W. O. Hickok, the founder of the concern, and later its 
president after its incorporation, was for a long time an invalid, died 
in 1891, at quite an advanced age, deeply mourned by the many who had 
become acquainted with his sympathetic personality and his broad views 
of humanity.  Before he passed away he made a stipulation in his will 
to the effect that he wanted the W. O. Hickok Manufacturing Company to 
maintain its present firm title so long as the business shall exist.  
In the machinery building all the works and machines are operated by 
electric power, which gives better results than steam.  The plant is 
also lighted throughout by means of electricity. 
  The Lalance and Grosjean Manufacturing Company erected the rolling 
mill department of their giant enterprise in Harrisburg, in 1892.  With 
imposing ceremonies the establishment was opened in February, 1893.  
the Harrisburg plant covers over four acres of ground.  The first 
structure erected was 220 by 280 feet, but so grand was the success of 
the undertaking that an annex 80 by 160 feet was soon added, thus 
making the entire plant 288 by 380 feet.  All work is now executed 
under one roof, but in different departments and under a splendidly 
systematic method.  A bar mill, sheet mill, tin mill and appointments, 
a 5,000 pound steam hammer, two run-out fires, four charcoal fires, 
immense pair of bar shears, three double shears, three large engines 
and a battery of ten boilers of 125,000 horse power and which consumes 
175 tons of coal per week, are a few of the expensive equipments of the 
plant.  The concern gives employment to over 225 hands, which, using 
the accepted average, makes 1,125 people who derive their subsistence 
from the products of the enterprise.  Concerns of this character are of 
great moment to the local retail trade and are of paramount importance 
to the local property owners.  The company manufactures tin plate and 
"black plate," which is shipped to their immense plant at Woodhaven, L. 
I., where they employ from 1,400 to 1,800 people, and where tin plate 
and black steel iron sheets are converted into all kinds of cooking 
utensils, and which are sold all over the civilized world.  The output 
of the company is tremendous and the   

158  HISTORICAL REVIEW
 
names of Lalance and Grosjean are synonyms of progress in every 
household where order and neatness reign.
  The Harrisburg Manufacturing Company was organized in 1889 and 
incorporated June 10, 1895, the capital stock being $100,000.  The 
manufacture of boilers for steam and hot water, heating and for power 
is the business of the concern, the specialties being star water tube, 
volcano water tube, star gas burner, horizontal tubular and vertical 
boilers.  The company's boilers are applied to all manner and styles of 
engines, and have many points of vantage that can best be understood by 
perusing its catalogue, which gives in detail what must necessarily be 
omitted in a comparatively brief article.  The Harrisburg Manufacturing 
and Boiler Company has acquired a plant equipped throughout with the 
most modern tools and appliances of such general perfection that they 
are unsurpassed either as to facilities or the character of their 
product.  The company is specially equipped for the manufacture of 
complete and perfect boilers of the styles mentioned before.  The 
boilers of this company have been brought up to the very highest 
standard, both as to workmanship and efficiency, and the company 
respectfully invites careful consideration of all claims in this 
direction.  Knowing that their efforts have been recognized and 
appreciated in the past, it is the aim of the company to maintain the 
highest standard, and to excel, if possible, the well-established 
character of their product, keeping, in all respects, alive to the 
spirit and requirements of the times.  The trade of the company extends 
throughout the length and breadth of the land, and their boilers are in 
great favor with all who have used them - the rapidity with which they 
gather steam, their safety and their tremendous powers of resistance in 
the matter of pressure and their almost indestructible qualities have 
made them prime favorites in the manufactories of America.  The quality 
of boiler iron used is tested by the latest recognized and approved 
methods, and when in the shape or the finished product is as near 
perfection as human skill, ingenuity and money can bring it.  The 
company employs sixty people in the conduct of their business, and 
occupies a very large three-story brick structure, which contains the 
office, foundry and general work rooms.  The firm also makes a 
specialty of general repairs, and in this line probably do more than 
any similar concern in this entire section of the state. 
  The Paxton and Steelton Flouring Mill company was incorporated in 
February, 1891, for the manufacture of high grade flour, assuming 
control at once, through a lease for a term of years, of the Paxton 
Flour Mills, of Harrisburg, and the Steelton Flouring Mills, of 
Steelton.  The Paxton Mills, owned by the estate of James McCormick, 
dec'd, in 1862 succeeded the Eagle Mills, and increased its daily 
capacity from fifteen barrels to one hundred barrels.  In 1879 the old 
frame building was torn down, and the present large stone mill erected 
and fitted out for the burr process, with a daily capacity of 350 
barrels, but in 1880 the mill was changed from the old burr process to 
the new roller process - being the first mill in Pennsylvania to adopt 
the roller process - with a daily capacity of 500 barrels; since then 
the capacity has been gradually increased to meet the demands of its 
trade, until it is now 750 barrels.  The leading brands of this mill 
are "Paxton" and "Hoffer's Best," which have been on the local markets 
since 1862 and 1880 respectively, and "Castilla," which has been on 
foreign markets since 1868.  The entire plant at the Paxton Mills 
consists of engine and boiler house, 40x40, and mill proper, 64x85, 
five stories high, warehouse, 64x85, one story high, all built of heavy 
limestone; elevator, six stories high, built of stone and slated frame, 
with capacity of 80,000 bushels.  Also a cooper plant, consisting of a 
stock house, 50x120, two stories high; two barrel houses with a storage 
capacity of 15,000 barrels; a factory 30x120, fitted up with the most 
improved machinery, with a daily capacity of 1,500 barrels.  The 
Steelton Mill was built in 1882, by The Steelton Flouring Mills 
Company, fitted up with a full roller process, with a daily capacity of 
500 barrels, but has since been increased to 750 barrels.  The leading 
brands of this mill for local trade are "Hercules," "Pearl," and 
"Stella," and for export, "Crystal," which have been on the market 
since 1883.  The entire plant of the Steelton Mill consists of a brick 
engine and boiler house, 54x62, brick mill building, 62x74, five 
stories high, one brick warehouse, 50x78, three stories high, and one 
warehouse built of frame and corrugated iron, 34x120, one-story high, 
one slated-frame elevator, 40x62, five stories high, and cooper 
building, now used for barrel storage, with a capacity 

DAUPHIN COUNTY  159

for 10,000 barrels.  In its various departments this company employs 
150 men.
  In 1885 the Boll Brothers Manufacturing Company established its 
enterprise, and a company incorporated in 1893.  For eight years it had 
been known as the Harrisburg Woven Wire Mattress Company.  Its 
authorized capital was $100,000.  The company occupies a splendid five-
story brick building with dimensions 40x180 feet, which is equipped 
throughout with all the latest improved machinery for the special 
manufacture of their several grades of intricate and beautiful 
workmanship.  There are some seventy people employed, and the 
representatives on the road cover the New England and Middle and 
Southern States.  There are few thoroughly first-class, completely 
stocked furniture concerns in the country that do not handle the 
splendid goods of Boll Brothers Manufacturing Company.  The goods sell 
themselves; their beauty, solidity and intricate workmanship being 
silently eloquent of the merits of the same.  Losses by fire in no way 
impeded the progress of the company, whose able president, Mr. Charles 
Boll, seems fitted by nature to surmount difficulties that would 
discourage most men of his years - he is not yet thirty - and to gather 
strength from his misfortunes.  The building and equipment are models 
in every particular, the system that has been evolved is perfection 
itself.  The fifth floor of the factory is devoted to a feather 
purifying department, which is unique and original, being one of the 
latest and improved processes.  The model picking room, on the fourth 
floor, has a granolithic floor, and is lined with asbestos, thus 
avoiding any possibility of fire.  Here the material is carefully 
sorted and picked.  The latest improved machinery is employed, notably 
Boll's cotton curler, which gives the company the exclusive franchise 
to manufacture curled cotton mattresses.  The first floor is devoted to 
the elegant offices and immense sample room, where a sample of every 
product of the company is kept to show customers.  The managers are all 
practical men, educated in every detail of the business and all work 
and material are subjected to their personal inspection and direction.  
Every brass and iron bedstead, spring mattress, etc., made by the 
company meets every requirement of the trade, which explains the high 
appreciation in which dealers and the public hold their goods.  The 
company manufactures only for the wholesale trade.
  Reference has already been made to the early development of the 
Lykens Valley coal regions, and in this connection it is important to 
refer again to these celebrated mines in the upper end of Dauphin 
county.  The Lykens Valley coal is mined by two coal companies, the 
Short Mountain of Wiconisco, and the Summit Branch of Williamstown, 
both collieries now being controlled by the Pennsylvania Railroad 
Company.  The two collieries employed over 2,000 men and boys, who are 
paid on the third Saturday of each month for all work done during the 
previous month.  Thomas M. Williams is superintendent of both 
collieries.  The following table shows the output for the present year, 
1895, up to August 15, together with the amount shipped in 1895 to the 
same day, giving increase and decrease of each colliery:

Short Mountain . . . . . 4,794 17 . . . . . . 155,882 19
Last year,   . . . . . . 4,497 08 . . . . . . 116,821 09
                         ________             __________
  Increase,  . . . . . .   297,09 . . . . . .  89,911 10

Williamstown,  . . . . . 4,925 11 . . . . . . 177,608 17
Last year,   . . . . . . 6,242 06 . . . . . . 214,212 09
                         ________             __________
  Decrease,  . . . . . . 1,816 15 . . . . . .  86,608 12

Total amount,  . . . . . 9,720 08 . . . . . . 882,986 16
Last year,   . . . . . .10,789 14 . . . . . . 880,588 18

  The Hummelstown Brownstone Company was established in 1867, and the 
quarries, located about three miles from that enterprising town, have 
been worked for thirty years past.  For the last eighteen years, 
however, they have been more extensively operated, owing to the change 
of ownership and the business facilities and enterprise of the new 
management.  The plant consists of a railroad of some three and a-half 
miles, with extensive sidings, four locomotives and a number of freight 
and passenger cars.  There is a large stone saw mill of thirteen gangs, 
with a large stonecutter shop, thoroughly equipped with rub wheels and 
ten stone planers, together with all necessary appliances for doing 
first-class cut stone work.  There are four quarry openings, with some 
thirty steam hoist derricks, and in prosperous times the number of men 
employed has amounted to about 600.  The capacity of the quarries is 
practically unlimited, and in the summer season as many as forty cars 
of stone have been shipped in one day.  Perchance no similar            

160  HISTORICAL REVIEW

quarries in the United States are so thoroughly equipped in every 
respect with machinery and proper appliances, and these quarries are 
recognized as amongst the largest in the United States.  The building 
stone taken therefrom is of the most durable character, and the climate 
does not seem to have any effect upon it.  It may be proper to state 
that Professor Pond, who made an analysis of the brownstone, says that 
in comparison it is placed among the best, as far as the chemical 
determination of the constituents is capable of indicating, while 
Professor Reber, in testing the stone for compression states, that the 
crushing strain averaged over seven hundred tons to the square foot, 
showing that the stone is of excellent quality for building purposes.  
It may be well said that the Brownstone Company has been one of the 
most successful in the State of Pennsylvania, due to the fact of its 
high grade and excellent as building material.
  In the month of May, 1880, there was established at Middletown an 
industry which advanced with such marvelous strides that it has 
developed into the largest manufacturing pipe and tube works in the 
United States, if not in the world.  The new plant started with about 
seventy-five men, which rapidly increased until with the supplemental 
plant at Youngstown, Ohio, two thousand persons are employed.  The 
magnitude of the American Tube and Iron Company, at Middletown, must be 
seen to be properly estimated.  The mills are equipped to make all 
dimensions of pipe.  The sizes of pipe made in the butt mills run from 
1-16 inch diameter to 1 1/4 inches diameter, whilst the sizes made in 
the lap mill range from 1 1/2 inches diameter to 20 inches diameter.  A 
large galvanizing works filled with three immense baths is in constant 
operation galvanizing pipes.  Three car loads of spelter are used per 
week for this purpose.  This department is kept so busy that it was 
found absolutely necessary to enlarge it, and it was only recently that 
changes were made which increased its output fifty per cent., thus 
giving employment to additional workmen.  As it is not proposed to 
bring within the scope of this notice the methods of manufacturing 
pipe, no mention can be made of the many departments and buildings 
wherein pipes, tubes and fittings pass through the various stages of 
manufacture before being ready for market.  It is the admirable 
equipment of these mills and their mechanical departments that has ever 
distinguished the American Tube and Iron Company from other pipe 
concerns, and enables it to undertake successfully special lines of 
work requiring the highest engineering knowledge and skill to develop 
and apply the same with the greatest accuracy of detail.  This is one 
of the reasons why, during the dullest business seasons when all trade 
seems to flag, the mills are able to keep their large army of workmen 
fully employed; a body of men keenly alive to the value of steady 
employment, and for whose welfare they have made ample assurance. 
  For the character of work the American Tube & Iron Company could 
easily claim supremacy.  Several years ago, by way of illustration, the 
mill was running day and night for about one hundred miles of eight-
inch pipe to convey natural gas from the Indiana fields to Chicago.  
Six of the largest pipe concerns of the United States endeavored to 
meet the rigorous requirements of this company, but unsuccessfully.  
Every gas and oil field has the pipe manufactured by this company in 
use.  Among its largest customers is the Standard Oil Company, for whom 
it has furnished hundreds of miles of pipe.  The Sandwich Islands and 
other prominent countries have afforded promising fields for the 
production of this great industry.  For the great success of these 
works much is due to the enterprise and energy of the Mathesons. 
  Apart from this mammoth industry there are other enterprises at 
Middletown, which in prosperous times have added very much to the 
progress of that thriving town.  It has always been an important 
manufacturing center, and contains within and around it all the 
elements to make it a great industrial point.
  For a period of nearly forty years the McCormick estate has had 
control and management of the Paxton furnaces, which in the flush times 
of the iron trade have been successfully carried on, and the production 
of iron profitable demonstrated.  The capacity of these furnaces is 
about twelve hundred tons of pig iron per month.  In connection with 
these furnaces there is a rolling mill which has been one of the most 
successful enterprises in this locality.  The main buildings cover an 
area of ground, 250 by 160 feet, while the puddle mill has a large 
number of double puddling furnaces and a capacity of about 150 tons per 
week. 
  The Jackson Manufacturing Company
 
DAUPHIN COUNTY.  161

Portrait: Wm. H. Egle, M.D.

162  HISTORICAL REVIEW
 
[blank page]

DAUPHIN COUNTY  163

was established in 1880 with a paid up capital of $50,000, but owing to 
the vast increase of business, in 1889 the stock was increased to 
$100,000.  The company has a large and substantial building which 
extends a whole block, from New Fourth street to Fulton street along 
Boyd avenue.  The plant throughout is equipped with all the latest 
appliances and improved machinery, including heating furnaces, 
hydraulic presses, drills, etc.  The reputation of the Jackson 
Manufacturing Company is not only confined to the United States, but 
extends throughout North and South America, and across the waters.  
They construct the highest grade, scientifically, steel wheelbarrows 
for all purposes, used by mills, large industries, miners, railroads, 
public works, etc.  At present twenty-five experienced hands are 
employed at these works.  During the busy season this number is 
doubled.  A few years ago this company received a medal and diploma 
from the Exposition University at Barcelona, Spain.
  To show how the varied manufacturing industries thrive and succeed at 
Harrisburg, we need only refer, in conclusion, to the manufacturing of 
shoes.  The establishments of Forney Brothers & Company, Bay Shoe 
Company, and the Harrisburg Boot and Shoe Manufacturing Company, with 
two others, incorporated, whose combined products are valued at nearly 
a half million of dollars, go to show how successful these enterprises 
have proven to be in the Capital City.
  Although the foregoing industrial establishments are more prominent 
owing to their extensive works and the large sum of money invested 
therein, still there are other industrial concerns intimately connected 
with the prosperity of Harrisburg whose total value of stock and 
machinery with the other productiveness amounts in value to hundreds of 
thousands of dollars.  Limited as we must necessarily be, only an 
epitome of the industries of a large manufacturing city, like 
Harrisburg, can be given.  Its unequalled advantages, its facilities 
for transportation, in the midst of one of most productive regions in 
America, give to Harrisburg a supremacy offered by no other city or 
town in the American Union.  Capital has been invited, capital has 
located its establishments, and capital has received its rich reward.  
Closely allied to the various industries are the banking institutions 
of the city.  The various financial institutions have always been of 
conservative management.  And the new Harrisburg, and newer Steelton, 
with ten millions of dollars in their banks, show alike to capitalists, 
manufacturers, and skilled labor that no better financial institutions 
and greater manufacturing enterprises exist anywhere. 

164  HISTORICAL REVIEW

illustration