Vigo County, Indiana - Chapter 28: Manufacturing and Other Industries, 1891

THE chief requirements of our advancing civilization are the creation of manufactures, and the building of those industries that dot the land with their flaming forges and their flying spindles, whose whistles call the "bucket brigade" to the hours of work, and bid them rest from toil. The great plant, with its tall chimneys and thick rolling black smoke, and its whirring wheels, and its hum, and clang and roar, may be traced back in its slow development to the first savage, fighting his way on the borders of brute creation, who learned to rub two sticks together and start his camp fire in the jungles of the deep forests. All this industry we see about us is man's response to man's increasing desires. The utter savage has no more wants than the brute - the partially perfected man wants not only the earth, but the infinite, and one man dreams, another thinks, and all work, and the whirligig of time, and the rush and whir of the busy struggling generations go hand in hand through the centuries and the eons.

The little old first water-mill in the county, of Lambert & Dick¬ son, on Honey creek, was a vast advance on the old stump and the horse mills, that in their slow and imperfect way, had furnished the people bread. As utterly trifling as this old mill would be now to the country, when it was washed away, not a great while after being built, it was a real calamity to the people in a wide stretch of country. This water-mill was built in 1816.

The next year, 1817, Maj. Abraham Markle built his much better and more substantial mill in the north part of the county, on Otter creek. This was a great improvement for the time. On the same spot now is a fine roller-process mill, owned by the Major's grandson.

A steam saw-mill was put up in Terre Haute by the Wallace brothers some time about 1823. The people subscribed funds and gave it to these men to build their mill here. These brothers were the sons of the preacher who came here at an early day and preached in the court-house.

David Linton built liis famous old brick mansion on the corner of Sixth and Ohio in 1830. At first it stood near the center of the block, but afterward was moved out to the street. It was "a long way out of town " then to his house.

But returning to the subject of the growth of manufactures and industries. As stated elsewhere, as early as 1824, Mr. Gilman started in Terre Haute the business of pork-packing. A history of the coming and final departure of that industry is given on another page.

John F. King built the first distillery. This was out on the com¬ mons and not far from where is now the Polytechnic. It was burned and was among the first noted Terre Haute fires. A landmark for a long time, even after it was destroyed by fire, by the tall chimneys left standing as sentinels over the ruins, were the chim¬ neys of Charles Bupp's old mill. In its early day this was the greatest institution in the country. It stood away a mile out of the city northward on the big sandy common where the town milch cows disported themselves and nibbled the dainty dog fennel blos¬ soms. This is now a built portion of the city, and its neat -cot¬ tages tell of the thrift and happy homes of many of the working¬ men of the place.

Iron Industry. - Alexander Crawford, who died the present year at his home in New Castle, Penn., was one of the pioneers of the Wabash valley in the manufacture of iron. His sons, A. J. and James P. Crawford, are now the leading iron mongers of Indiana. Alexander Crawford, at the time of his death, was seventy-six years of age. He was president of the New Castle & Beaver Valley and the St. Louis, Salem & Little Bock Bailroads, and general manager of the Nashville & Knoxville, in which latter he invested $2,000,- 000. He built a rolling-mill at New Castle in 1839, and founded the Wabash Iron Company at Terre Haute, Ind., now managed by his sons. He had extensive iron and coal interests, east and west. Four sons and a daughter survive him. The nail works were projected in 1867.

The iron and nail works of Turner, Glover & Co. were prom¬ ised the citizens to'be in operation by February 1, 1868. It was the indomitable energy of George Turner, manager; Benjamin Wilhelm, machinist; William Crawford, master builder and Joseph A. Morgan, treasurer, that enabled the work to be completed at the promised time.

The institution was originally known as the Terre Haute Iron & Nail Works of Turner, Glover & Co. The stockholders were: George Turner, Joshua E. Glover, Joseph S. Glover, William Craw¬ ford, BenjaminWilhelm and Jasper A. Morgan, all from Youngstown, Ohio. These gentlemen came here with their families and made this their home; capital stock, $120,000. The iron they used came from the blast furnace at Harmony, Clay county, and the coal from Sullivan county, it being preferred to Brazil coal. There were then six puddling furnaces, and these were only operated by daytime - sixty men employed. The first day the mill started up was* Feb¬ ruary 12, 1868.

Terre Haute Iron & Steel Company. - This was originally "The Nail Works," or the Terre Haute Iron Works of Turner, Glover & Co. It was sold to the latter company in September, 1889, and capitalized at $60,000, and was changed to the making of bar iron, of which the output is 15,000 to 20,000 tons annually. They are now better equipped than before for the making of nails, and con¬ template renewing that branch of their industry. This is the Crawford Bolling Mill, in the south part of the city. It is situated at the crossing of the Evansville & Terre Haute Bailroad and Thirteenth street, where they have eleven acres of ground and over three acres of buildings. During the twenty years the concern manufactured nails it put out 2,648,489 kegs. It now employs 235 men, and will increase the force in a short time to 450 men. Present officers: James P. Crawford, president; A. J. Crawford, vice-president and treasurer; Samuel L. Bridwell, secretary.

Wabash Iron Company was organized in 1872, and the prin¬ cipal incorporators were Alexander Crawford and his sons, A. J. and J. P., and two brothers of Alexander Crawford, J. A. and G. W. Crawford, and W. B. McKeen, D. W. Minshall, Frank Paddock and Alexaiider McGregor. Capital' stock, $80,000. It manu¬ factures merchant bar iron and small T rails for mines, lumber camps and mills,|etc. The works were pat in active operation in 1873, with a capacity of 5,000 tons annually, and gave employment to seventy-five men. It now fiias a capacity of 12,000 tons and employs a force of 225 men. It has spacious and ample buildings, in which are twenty puddling and other furnaces, three trains of rolls, six boilers and twelve powerful engines. The present officers of the company are A. J. Crawford, president; J. P. Crawford, sec¬ tary and treasurer. It has fsix acres of ground, and about three acres under roof, with railroads on three sides - the Yan and also the Big Four north and south, and the Evansville & Indianapolis on the west. These give the mills the amplest shipping facilities.

Railroad, 1421 Washington avenue ; was incorporated August 9, 1869 ; capital stock, $125,000, and is one of the only two concerns in Indiana engaged in the manufacture of pig iron. It occupies twenty acres in the extreme southeastern portion of the city, where is the furnace and all necessary buildings with a 250-horse-power engine and machinery. The products of this mill have always been recog¬ nized of superior excellence. Thirty-two skilled men are employed at the furnace and the output reaches 12,000 net tons of iron bar, and finds, its market in the northwest. The raw material is chiefly from Iron Mountain, but large quantities of superior kidney iron is obtained from the streams of Yigo county and the immediate vicinity. This important industry is the main feeder to the two iron mills above mentioned, and is in the same proprietary inter¬ ests. It is in the hands of Messrs. A. J. Crawford, president, and J. P. Crawford, secretary and treasurer.

Terre Haute Car Manufacturing Company , for the manufacture of railroad cars, car wheels and machinery, was incorporated July 19, 1875, and grew out of the small shop and foundry built and operated some years by James Seath. It is a monument to the genius and energy of this man, who is now at the head of one of the most important industries in the State. In 1887 the works were burned to the ground, involving a loss of nearly $300,000, but were immediately rebuilt and upon a far better basis than before. The plant is located in the southeastern part of the city and covers an area of twenty-six acres, the buildings being chiefly one story in height and iron clack Three miles of standard gauge track traverse the yards in every direction, and the shops are so arranged as to neces¬ sitate the least possible rehandling of the various parts of the cars until they meet at the erecting-shop, which has an area of 40,000 square feet, and has space for ten cars; the annual output being about 3,000 cars. Six hundred workmen are employed in the works and the output embraces every description of railroad cars except passenger cars, and a leading specialty is the manufacture of the Barr's patent process car wheels, of which about 8,000 are annually produced beyond what is required for their own uses. These wheels are made with a chilled iron rim, which is afterward ground true upon an emory wheel, rendering them particularly durable and desirable. The officers of the company are Messrs. James Seath, president; Lewis J. Cox, vice-president and treasurer; G. W. Gillespie, secretary, and R. L. Cox, superintendent.

Terre Haute Distillery , the largest concern of the'kind in the world, has a working capactiy of 10,000 bushels of grain a day. This is equal to 50,000 gallons of spirits. The govern¬ ment tax on this wonderful output would be $40,000 a day. It would be an expert's work to count out each day this one item of expense. Four large engines and eighteen steam pumps are in operation when it is working. Tt requires a twelve-inch main to supply the needed water. There are not many water works that have a greater capacity than that required at this concern. The waste water leaving the buildings makes a small creek. This mammoth plant is located on the banks of the Wabash river, and is owned by the Terre Haute Distilling Company. It is little known that Terre Haute is one of the finest, if not the very best dis¬ tilling points in the United States. It has an inexhaustible supply of fine cold water, and the corn-producing country of the Wabash valley can not be surpassed anywhere, and is surrounded by the richest coal fields in the land. Spirits can be manufactured at this point for a little less than in any other place, Peoria, Ill., not excepted. In the year 1849, on the same grounds where now stands the mammoth establishment of the Terre Haute Distilling Compauy, there stood the old McGregor House. The latter had a capacity of twenty-five bushels per day, producing seventy-five gallons of whisky. This, in those days, was called a large house. Forty years have gone by and we behold a distillery which has no equal in the world. The mill, boiler house, distillery proper, cis¬ tern room, bonded warehouse, cooper shops, malt houses, corn cribs, pump houses, fermenting house, offices, stables and cattle barns and other buildings cover a space of twenty-nine and a half acies. On entering the premises we first see the immense corn ctibs. Farmers bringing corn drive up an elevated roadway, and by an ingenious operation the whole load is dumped without un¬ hitching the horses or the use of a shovel. More than 1,000 loads of corn can be handled daily with the greatest ease. The ear corn is handled by machinery to a giant corn sheller. A large belt ele¬ vator takes the corn, cob, chaff and all ninety feet to the top of the storage elevator where each is separated. The cobs go through a suction fan and drop in front of the boilers to be used as fuel. &The chaff goes through a simple conveyance to the chaff house and is used for cattle food. After the corn has been thus separated it is stored in the grain elevator, the latter having a capacity of 85,000 bushels. Following the raw material on its route we enter one of the most perfect mills in the country.

I lie starch in the corn is by a patent process separated from the bran and hearts of the corn, the absolutely pure starch only being used for the production of spirits. The bran, hearts, etc., is used for cattle food. Experience has shown that by this way of puiifying the grain before entering the distilling apparatus a muchimproved spirit is obtained. The cooking of the meal is done in large iron kettles under high pressure. For malting and cooling the mash the vacuum process is used. No impurity whatever can enter the mash, the latter being conveyed in air-tight copper pipes to the fermenting room. The fermenting house is a separate building, a perfect model for the purpose. It contains twelve large fermenting vessels, each of which seems large enough to float a good-sized ship. The beer still has a capacity to separate the high Avines from the fermented beer at the rate of 2,500 gallons per hour, and when separated produces a four-inch stream of high wines. The redistilling apparatus is immense, charging 36,000 gal¬ lons of high wines at a time. Three of these copper kettles liaAre so large a diameter that a man with great ease could drive a twoliorse team through them, buggy, horses, driver and all, Avitliout touching. The rectifying process is done by charcoal, sixty Sin¬ clair machines, which is one-third more than any other house in the United States uses, besides a large number of open leaches. The capacity of the rectifying department is larger and more perfect than any other distillery now in operation. Double rectification and redistillation is the mode of operation.

What experience and money can produce can be seen in this department. It is the most perfect and complete rectifying estab¬ lishment ever erected anywhere. The goods this firm produces are far superior to any in the market.

The Sand ford Fork & Tool Company. - At this time, owing to a temporary financial difficulty, this splendid plant is closed. It is in the process of reorganizing, and it is expected that it will very soon be in operation upon a solid and permanent basis. It is situated on South Third street, and has easy access to the railroad and switches that give it fine shipping advantages. The building and machinery are neAV and elegant. It was built to completion in the early part of 1888, and Avork commenced.

This company is a consolidation of the shovel works of East Taunton, Mass., and the Sandford Tool Company of Cortland, N. Y., which was brought about after extended negotiations, to the credit of a few of our enterprising citizens. The old company was re¬ organized, and the capital increased from $100,000 to $150,000. Among the new stockholders may be mentioned Messrs. H. Hulman, D. W. Minshall, Josephus Collett, Willard Kidder, Anton May el¬ and W. R. McKeen; Mr. Robert Nixon president of the company, The original capacity of the tool works being doubled, it became necessary for them to change their location in order to obtain better advantages for carrying on their western trade, and the inter-state commerce laAv made Terre Haute the most desirable place to locate, the saving to the company on a carload of freight as between

Cortland and Terre Haute being more than $60 in favor at their new location. The buildings cover an area of 40,680 square feet, not including the yard area, but the ground under cover only will surprise many. The following shows the exact size of the different buildings: Forge room, 50x300 feet; boiler, engine and dry house, 40x50 feet; finishing house, 40x150 feet; machine shop, 25x72 feet; shearing house, 50x100 feet; handle house, 40x150 feet; warehouse, 40x122 feet.

In the spiing of 1890 the company encountered financial distress and made an assignment, and the works are temporarily closed. It is understood that as soon as a reorganization can be effected it will resume on a secure basis and increased facilities.

The principal product is shovels, forks, and all manner of farm tools. The capacity of the shovel department alone is 150 dozen a day - the hoe and fork department but little inferior.

The motor of the plant, a 300-horse-power Corliss engine, is a model of beauty and strength combined. The machine shop where they are pi ©pared to do all sorts of light and medium work is sup¬ plied with a 15-horse-power independent engine. The polishing loom is supplied with 60 emery wheels, and the grinding room with 10 run of stones, each 6 feet in diameter and 1 foot thick, revolving with a velocity of 250 revolutions per minute. When in full operation it gave employment to 300 men.

Phoenix Foundry and Machine Works. - This institution is one of the oldest of its kind in this part of the State. On the ground covered by its buildings there were, in 1865, two separate indus¬ tries, owned by different individuals. In that year these two were united under the present name, and in 1879 were incorporated. Fiom such small beginnings it has grown to its present proportions, and is now, after more than twenty years, the leading industry in its line in the Wabash valley.

Being located in the heart of the city, on all the street-car lines, it is midway between the Union depot and the post-office. The buildings, busy sights and sounds of this industry, attract the attention of every stranger who comes to Terre Haute. The plant consists of a block of ground bounded by Ninth, Eagle and Mul¬ berry streets and the yards and tracks of the Yandalia Railroad Company. It is nearly covered with substantial buildings, which furnish a floor space of more than 33,000 square feet, which is filled with machinery, the best of its kind for the purposes for which it is used. The yards and grounds are used for material, such as pig iron, coal, coke, scrap iron, which is constantly being received, and for manufactured articles which are made from this material, and are constantly changing. In the yards are also stored the machinery for foundry use, such as flasks, etc. There is also the boiler shop, around and in which one sees boilers of all kinds, in all stages of completion. Here one sees many second-hand boil¬ ers, which have been received in exchange for new work.

The reputation of the Phoenix is enviable, as its widely-extended and extending business attests. Its friends are those for whom the establishment has done work, and they are legion. They live in parts of western Indiana and eastern Illinois, and the Phoenix has never lost a customer for whom it has done work of any kind. The management have always prided themselves on this - a pardonable vanity. They do all sorts of work and make all kinds of machinery.

They make a specialty of architectural iron work, house fronts, etc., and point with pride to the numerous fronts of business houses which they have designed and erected, notably that of the McKeen building at Main and Seventh streets. Anyone who looks at the new court-house will see their handiwork in the cast-iron part of the roof and dome, the windows and cresting.

Vandalia Railroad Shops. - This is a great hive of industry that commenced but a small affair and has grown with the growth of the Van system until it is one of the most important industries of Terre Haute. The road between Indianapolis and Terre Haute was completed in 1852, and immediately the work of erecting shops was commenced, these being finished in the following year. The total cost of construction was about $15,000, and the buildings put up form, in fact, part of the present shops. They consisted of an engine house, machine shop, and carpenter shop, and the total number of men employed was not over forty. The road then had an equipment of only seven engines and the outfit of freight and passenger cars was so small that it required but this small force to do all the work of overhauling and repairing. The only business done by the company was between Terre Haute and Indianapolis, and all the repairing was easily handled here. Mr. C. R. Peddle was master mechanic and master of motive power, from the start, and continued in that position for thirty years. No particular addition was made to the shops until 1869, when the present round¬ house was built for the accommodation of the increased equipment of engines, and the old engine-house was transformed into what is now the erecting department. A large car shed was also built, and altogether these improvements amounted to many thousand dollars. Gradually all the departments were enlarged and new additions built, until the shops reached the present proportions. Paint shops, tin shops, boiler department, large planing-mill and an enlarged blacksmith shop were among the improvements.

1\ ew Foundry. - In July, 1890, Mr. F. H. McElfresh, formerly at the head of the Phoenix foundry, purchased a plat of ground at the corner of Ohio and Canal streets, and designs putting up an extensive foundry. It is expected that this will be an important addition to the city. No time is fixed for completing the budding.

In 1882 Mr. Peddle accepted the position of purchasing agent and Mr. Cleaver was given the position of master mechanic under Mi. Prescott as master of locomotive power. Under the manage¬ ment of Mr. Cleaver the work has been systematized and divided up, until, at present, every department works with almost clockwork regularity. Under Mr. Peddle the shops were gradually raised to the excellent condition in which they were found when Mr. Cleaver was appointed, and the work of improvement was enabled to go on without any interruption. At present the shops cover an area of about eight acres, and the entire value of the buildings is estimated at $200,000, although that amount would not place them in theii piesent condition. Irom time to time the tools belonging to the company were replaced by various new improvements, among them an immense wheel lathe costing $5,000, and a steam hammer costing $8,000. The larger amount of tools are owned by the em¬ ployes, but as those tools belonging to the company became worn out or broken they were replaced by new ones, until now the shops are among the best equipped in the country. The number of men em¬ ployed, exclusive of engineers and firemen, and employed in the shops alone, is 393, distributed as follows : Machine shop, 45 ; car¬ penters in planing-mills, freight-car house, passenger-car house, caboose shop and carpenter shop, 140; paint shop, 20; tin shop, 5; yardmen and laborers, 22; boiler shop, 34; blacksmith shop, 33; biass foundry 3; pattern shop, 3; erecting department, 32, and round-house, 57. The total pay-roll is $27,000 per month. The pay-roll of the engineers and firemen is $17,000 per month. The shops have facilities for making freight cars, passenger coaches, cals, cabooses, and engines, with the exception of making the iron castings a^nd wheels. The castings are furnished by the Phoenix Foundry and Machine Shops, of this city, and the wheels are supplied by the Terre Haute Car Works, Indianapolis Car Works, and Fort Wayne foundries. The car lvorks in this city furnish 200 wheels a month, and they are as good as any which the company uses. A general idea of the amount of work done can be gained from the statement that four-fifths of the work of the road is done here. The equipment of engines is now 107 engines, the Terre Haute & Indianapolis owning 47, Terre Haute <fc Louisville, 16, and the St. Louis & Terre Haute, 44.

Terre Haute is, in some respects, as it is in regard to block coal. The supply is uot within the immediate limits of the county, yet it is so contiguous as to make this city the natural headquarters and distributing point. One of the finest building stone in the world is the Indiana Oolitic or " Bedford " stone. The Terre Haute Stone Works Company now have customers from New York City to the Bocky Mountains. Prof. Collett, State geologist of Indiana, in Yol. XI of Reports, says:

"The Oolitic limestone (of Monroe and other counties) average over ninety-nine per cent carbonate of lime; a degree of purity scarcely excelled in the world. It was adopted, after a long and careful investigation, in competition with the most favored stones in the nation as the handsomest and best material for the new statehouse. A similar conclusion was arrived at by authorities charged with important public structures in this and other States throughout the Union.

" It is used for the court-house, post-office, residences and churches of Indianapolis, and the best court-houses in this and ad¬ joining States. It is also used for the Cotton Exchange at New Orleans, the custom-house at Louisville, the most exposed parts of the new city hall, and water tables of Lincoln park, Chicago, and many of the expensive structures of St. Louis.

" The stone comes soft from the quarry, and is easily sawed, but, being tough, it can be carved with facility and rapidity into any desired forms. Its rich gray color, close uniform texture, and facil¬ ity for working, and its assured strength and durability, make it extremely desirable for permanent engineering works.

For many of the finest buildings in New York City, notably the Vanderbilt mansion, the stone quarries of the east were passed by and the Oolitic stone selected as being superior to any other to be found in the country.

The fame of the Terre Haute Stone Works Company's quarries is already widespread, and Wichita (in a State which claims to have fine building stone), Kansas City, Des Moines, Iowa, and other western cities, draw largely from these quarries for their supply of building stone. The recognized superiority of the stone from these quarries is the more strongly emphasized when the fact is borne in mind that the freight rates on stone to Wichita are 34 cents per hundred.

Wabash Manufacturing Company, on North Sixth street, was organized in 1886, and occupies the four stories and basement of Nos. 19-21. It manufactures overalls, trousers, shirts, etc., and is

Wood Work. - Messrs. Clift, Williams & Co. established them¬ selves in the present business in 1860, although the firm name at that time was Clift & Williams, which in 18^0 was changed to Clift, Williams & Co. The main building of their planing-mills is 60x96 feet in dimensions, and contains three floors; the warehouse and office building is 40x70 feet, with two floors; and the whole amount of ground covered is about 150x260 feet. July 10, 1884, their buildings were entirely destroyed by fire, upon which they were rebuilt with brick, new machinery being used throughout, and they have now one of the handsomest and most convenient structures in the city. These gentlemen employ from seventy to one hundred men, and they claim with justifiable pride that their house is one of the largest and most comprehensive in all its departments in the State, and one which manufactures every¬ thing pertaining to building material. The latest improved and best machinery and tools are used in all departments: The variety of their products is found in sash, doors, blinds, moldings, cornices, newels, stair work, lattice work, brackets, shelving and counters, lath, shingles, etc.

The Metallic Wheel Company. - This plant is located on the southeast corner of Cherry and Eighth streets, and covering a quar¬ ter of a block, was put up in 1887. The entire fagade is sur¬ mounted with wheels. It commenced operations with a capacity of 100,000 a year. The inventor of this wheel, Mr. Alexander Messmer, a designer and manufacturer of fine furniture in the east, was met in Chicago by Mr. Horatio Keyes, of the Keyes Manufact¬ uring Company, where he was exhibiting the metallic wheel, and was persuaded to come to Terre Haute. Mr. Louis Duenweg, one of the leading citizens, and a capitalist, saw the merits of the me¬ tallic wheel, and at once formed a company for the manufacture of the wheels. All kinds of metallic wheels, baby carriages, tricycles and bicycles, gold, silver and nickel plating, as well as reed and rattan furniture; employs from 150 to 200 men.

The Keyes Manufacturing Company. - Situated in the north¬ eastern part of the city just outside of the corporation limits, is the immense plant of the Keyes Manufacturing Company. The magnitude of the works and the amount of goods turned out is surprising, even to those who have heard the plant mentioned and have had some idea of its capacity. The works are most familiarly known as the "Hub and Spoke Factory," and the place is generally spoken of by that name. As this signifies, hubs and spokes are manufactured, and these constitute a large portion of the output.

But iu addition, phaetons, carriages, buggies, sulkies and wagons of all kinds are made. The original company was organized in 1864, and the works were situated on the corner of First and Poplar streets. The building is still standing and is used as the store¬ house for the distillery. With the various additions and improve¬ ments the firm was compelled to seek more commodious quarters, and built the large plant in the northeastern section of the citv. Several years ago the entire plant was destroyed by fire, but enter¬ prise and the great demand for their goods built up the works immediately, and now the company is receiving an immense trade, scattered over the entire United States, and is having a very pros¬ perous business. The drying-house and contents were destroyed by fire in the spring of 1890, but were quickly rebuilt and work resumed with but slight interruption.

The main building is the wood- work department. An adjoin¬ ing building is the immense blacksmithing department. All the various rings, rods, etc., used in the wagon or buggy, whichever it may be, are manufactured here. Then in the main building the body of the wagon is constructed. The facilities are the same for making complete wagons, buck-boards, phaetons, etc. Then in the setting-up department the various parts are put together, and the whole wagon appears. In the painting department the finishing is done and the wagon is ready for the market. The machines are all run by power obtained from one immense engine. Indeed, the entire works are very complete. In the large storeroom are materials for getting out large orders on short notice. In every department of the shops is continually noticed the skill and knowledge of the complete construction, and accurate fitting of the parts, which only comes with long experience. The firm gives employment to several hundred men, and at the present time the demand for all kinds of buggies and wagons is so great, that every department is crowded with work.

Terre Haute Electric Light and Power Company , J. A. Crawford, president; Edwin Ellis, secretary; Samuel McKeen, treasurer. This company commenced operation in April, 1885, with fifty arc lights of the Thompson-Houston system. In the fall of the year they competed for lighting the city by electricity, and were successful. This company use the Hammerstein lamp sup¬ port (of which they own the patent) for suspending their light over the street crossings, and it is so far superior to the tower method of lighting that "comparisons are odious." More than 200 lights are used to light the streets of the city, while over 100 arc lights and some 500 incandescent lights are used in the business houses, hotels, etc. In the plant of the Terre

Haute Electric Light Company's works are eight large boilers of total capacity of 500 horse power, two 250-horse-power engines, two 100-horse-power engines, ten arc-light dynamos and two incan¬ descent dynamos on the ground floor. The plant is located on north Center street and Yandalia Railroad.

Hudnut Milling Company. - From a small beginning in 1852, at Edinburg, Ind., this has grown to be one of the famous great in¬ dustries of the country. The making of hominy was known to the housewives of our ancestors since the day that corn came into use. This, of course, was the old-fashioned lye hominy, and formed much of the healthy food of our ancestors. The name of Hudnut will go into American history as the founder of the present remarkable out¬ growth of this industry. It was moved from Edinburg to Terre Haute in the early sixties, and work was commenced in an humble way in the old wooden building at the foot of Walnut street, on the river. This was burned, and the works then went into the old canal Avareliouse. It was operated and known as "The Hudnuts." In 1886 the pres¬ ent company was incorporated: Theodore Hudnut, president, and B. G. Hudnut, secretary and treasurer.

In Terre Haute the company have two mills - a frame and a new brick, and also an elevator; the latter is an iron-clad building. Their bins, buildings, elevator, etc., cover about five acres, all con¬ nected with the railroads, and having ample shipping facilities. They give employment to 100 employes in their mills, etc., in this city, and their output is 1,200 barrels daily.

Two other mills, one at Mount Vernon, Ind., and one at Pekin, Ill., are owned and operated by these gentlemen. Two mills in Terre Haute, and the two just mentioned. The main mills are in Terre Haute, and here is the largest output. The four mills con¬ sume 16,000 bushels of corn daily, and send out 2,000 barrels of corn goods daily. In order to meet the daily demand, the company has established grain offices and elevators at a large number of points in the corn-growing districts of Indiana and Illinois. They now have as many as twenty-two such supply points in operation. This company has converted into white corn goods as many as 17,000 bushels a day. The products of these mills are hominy grits, clean meal, corn flour, pearl meal, corn meal, hominy feed and Maizone - the latter is used by brewers. These goods are sent all over the world. The Hudnuts are the inventors and pat¬ entees of the machinery and devices used in their factory. The growth of this industry, in its rapidity and expansion, is one of the marvels of this country - celebrated as it is for its inventive in¬ genuity and boldness of enterprise.

is located on the Y-sliaped piece of ground between the Chicago & Eastern Illinois switches and the Polytechnic Institute. A switch will be built to the factory. The work on the building was com¬ menced July 25, 1890 and it is the intention to have it completed in sixty days or sooner. There will be three main buildings - one 108x78; one 109x70 and the other 56x24. Two 100-horse¬ power engines will supply the motive power. Its capacity is to be between 4,000 and 5,000 barrels a day, and give employment to 155 men in the building, besides the outside force; G. B. Parsons superintendent.

Cooper Shop. - For some years Messrs. Griffith & Co. have carried on a cooper shop. From the day they commenced their custom has grown, until just now they have enlarged their shops and substituted steam and machinery for the old style hand work. This shop is on North Second street. They are just completing their improvement.

Hanly'' s Tent Awning , Parlor Bed , and Lounge Factory. - In 1871 John Hanly made the humblest possible beginning in Terre Haute, himself being the entire force and an old outbuilding being his workshop, in the making of tents, sails, awnings, mattresses and lounges. He was a quick and expert workman, and his industry and pleasant manners soon brought him employment. For eight years he toiled alone, and would go out and hunt up work and on his shoulders carry it in and out. In 1880 he opened a shop in the basement of Cook's block, and boldly ventured on this advance step to employ a force of a man and a woman. This was encouraging and people began to call him " Mr. Hanly." He then moved into his present quarters 319 and 321 Cherry street, and in a short time was compelled to rent the upper floor of Oriental Hall, coruer of Third and Main and is employing forty-one hands. He is now building on the corner of Third and Mulberry and expects to have his new brick factory complete in the early fall (1890). The main building is 40 feet front, 100 feet deep and three stories high ; an L 35 feet front, 100 long, one story, for machinery when in his new building; will employ seventy-five men and women. He has not yet determined whether he wrill use steam or electric power. Mr. Hanly's sales in 1889 were $45,000 and for 1890, estimated $80,000.

Wabash Flouring Mill is at the foot of Wabash avenue. This was the first to introduce the roller process on the Wabash. Willard Kidder is the sole proprietor. The output is 800 barrels per day, and the high-grade flour is sent to all parts of the coun¬ try. Mr. Kidder has made the manufacture of first-class flour one of the most important industries of Terre Haute. He com¬ menced with the old-style buhr stones and a limited local sup¬ ply. Here is a center of an important wheat belt - the best quality of winter wheat, with all its possibilities has been kept in view. The mill is a fine three-story-and-basement brick, and has its railroad track for loading and unloading, and its pon¬ derous steam shovels.

W. L. Kidder & Sons'1 Flouring Mill. - This is one of the fin¬ est and largest mills in the State. It has a capacity of 1,000 bush¬ els a day. The enterprise was started in 1879, and the mill built in 1880, and at once commanded a large trade. The firm now ship upon orders to England and Europe generally. The excel¬ lence of its products are known everywhere. The mill is a fourstory-and-basement brick structure, 50xl00feet, with separate build¬ ings for engine, storehouse, elevator and office, and is equipped in every department with the latest improved machinery. The full-roller process is run by a 600-horse-power engine, and furnishes employment for forty-five men, and a still larger number are in the cooper shops. This mill grinds only winter wheat. This noted flouring-mill is situated corner of Washington and Tenth streets.

Wabash Lumber Company, 133 North First street. The ex¬ tensive lumber enterprise of the Wabash Lumber Company was incorporated July 1, 1889, and forms one of the most important features of the trade in lumber and its products for building pur¬ poses in Terre Haute. The premises occupied by the company cover three city blocks, and besides extensive yards and sheds for storage, and a commodious office, they operate a well-equipped planing-mill, which is provided with all the necessary machinery and a seventy-horse-power steam engine, and is devoted to the manufacture of sash, doors, blinds, moldings and builders' finish¬ ing, and general mill work. The company handles about 3,000,000 feet of lumber annually, consisting both of pine and hardwoods, and they carry in stock about 1,000,000 feet with which to promptly fill orders. The trade of the house is largely local, and shipments are also made to surrounding towns. All stock is procured direct from the original sources of supply in large quantities, and the location of the yards alongside of the railroad tracts affords the most complete facilities for receipt and shipment with the greatest economy. The officers of the company are Messrs. Crawford Fair¬ banks, president; John Beggs, vice-president; H. C. Miller, treas¬ urer, and W. B. Steel, secretary.

The Ehrman Manufacturing Company, 124 and 126 Wabash avenue. Messrs. C. H., A. and E. E. Ehrman are the founders and proprietors, and whose operations embrace the manufacture of pants, sliirts, overalls, etc., for workingmen, mechanics and others. This enterprise was established in 1888, and gives employment to about 250 operatives, in the factory and at their own houses, and the trade of the house extends throughout the northwest and southwest and is annually increasing in volume. The fac¬ tory is a three-story brick building 50x100 feet in dimensions, the first floor being used as the stock room, the second floor for cutting and the third floor for manufacturing, the whole being equipped with sewing machines, button and button-hole machines, etc., operated with an electric motor. The products, which are in high favor with the trade and consumers, under the trade-mark of "Farmers and Mechanics," are all carefully made, are strong, serv¬ iceable garments, are produced at low cost, and are particu¬ larly desirable for the purposes for which they are designed.

Electro-Plating, Steam Fitting, etc., house of D. W. Watson & Sons, was founded thirty-five years ago by the late D. W. Watson, and has been conducted under its present style since the death of the founder in 1883, by his son John C. Watson, who has been connected with the business for many years. The headquarters of the business are embraced in a three-story building, 35x150 feet in dimensions, which is equipped with a twenty-horse-power steam engine, and all necessary tools and machinery for the work in hand, employment in the several departments being given to about sixteen assistants. The ground floor is used for the steam - fitting and plumbing department, the second floor contains the stock of chandeliers, the third contains the electro-plating depart¬ ment, and the basement is used for storing heavy stock. In the plating department, which is a new feature of the business, added in December, 1889, gold, silver, nickel, brass, bronze and copper plating is accomplished by skillful workmen in the best manner. Old chandeliers are refinislied in the latest styles, and oxidizing old iron and ormolu or any color or finish desired are given. The chief specialties of the house are steam heating and plumbing, and in this line of work contracts are made to as distant points as Kansas, and generally throughout this State and Illinois. The facilities of the house are unsurpassed in this vicinity, and the work executed has always been of superior excellence.

Stove Manufactory of Messrs. King & Seath, 603 North Sixth street, was originally established in 1872, by Messrs. Ball & King, and from 1876 to 1887 was conducted by Mr. E. J. King a]one, the present firm having been organized in the latter year, its mem¬ bers being Messrs. E. J. 'King and J. R. Seath, Jr. The plant of the firm is embraced in a three-story brick factory 50x50 feet in dimensions, with a one-story foundry in the rear, 90x50 feet. The works are fully equipped with all necessary tools and appliances, operated by a 15-horse-power steam engine, and furnishes employ¬ ment to about 25 skilled mechanics during the busy season. The products of the firm consist of a general line of cooking and heating stoves. It is situated at the corner of Sixth street and the Vandalia Railroad.

Hominy Mills. - The business was established in 1878, under the firm name of Newhart & Garner, with a capacity of 150 barrels per day. In 1880 Mr. Garner retired, when it was conducted by Philip Newhart until 1883, when he admitted his son. In 1884 Philip Newhart died, since which time the business has been con¬ ducted by the widow and son under the old firm name of Newhart & Son. But before his death, Mr. Newhart, by close application had laid the foundation of a large and lucrative trade, and in 1885 the mills were newly constructed throughout, with an enlarged ca¬ pacity of 400 barrels per day. In 1886 they were destroyed by fire, the flames sparing nothing, save the bare walls, but they were re¬ built the same year with a capacity of 500 barrels per day, new machinery being used and every invention of modern science and ingenuity which could economize time and labor, or which could improve the quality of the goods produced was pushed into service. The old buhr stone has been discarded and in its stead are the latest patents of rollers; the machinery is operated by a magnificent engine; automatic scales measure and weigh the corn as it enters the mills and the hominy as it leaves them; and the whole enterprise from the basement to the topmost story evinces intelligent manage¬ ment and a prosperous business. The buildings are on South First street, being 130x142 feet in dimensions and three stories high. There is also an elevator attached, all grain from the moment of leaving the wagon being under the control of machine power, and we know of no better example of the triumph of labor-saving machinery than is here exhibited. Newhart & Son make shipments of their goods to all parts of the United States.

Cooperage. In the southwestern part of the city on the river, connected by a side-track entering the premises, is the extensive plant of Mr. James Nichols, covering ten acres of ground and fur¬ nishing steady employment to seventy-five skilled workmen. This enterprise is the oldest and largest of its kind in this section of the State, and embraces the operation of the only saw-mill in the city. The products of the plant include hard and soft wood lumber of all kinds, slack barrels for flour, produce, salt, etc., headings, staves, and hoops, packing boxes, poultry crates, etc., and is one of the most self-contained establishments of the kind anywhere. The mechan¬ ical equipment embraces a saw-mill for lumber, hoops, staves, head- iug, box and other machinery of improved character, operated by an engine of 80-horse power, and every operation in connection with the manufacture of barrels and cooperage stock is performed on the premises from the receipt of the logs to the shipment of the com¬ pleted product. The timber is purchased in the forests standing, is cut and rafted down the river to the mill, where the logs are sawed into lumber, and then passed through the various operations required. The trade of the establishment is largely in Terre Haute with local millers, and also extends throughout Indiana and Illinois, and shipments of cooperage stock are also made to more distant States, notably Kansas. In lumber, oak, black walnut, and other hardwoods form the chief product, and this is marketed locally. The present capacity of the barrel department is about 1,500 daily. Mr. Nichols has been engaged in the cooperage business for the past nine years, and has operated his present plant since November, 1888, succeeding to the business originally established some years ago by Gilman & Reynolds.

Terre Haute Boiler Works , Ninth and Mulberry Streets. The business was originally instituted by Mr. William Cliff, who ad¬ mitted his son, J. H. Cliff, to a partnership in 1878, under the style of Cliff & Son, and in 1884 his nephew, C. N. Cliff, joined the firm, which has since been known as Cliff & Co. The works are em¬ braced in a one-story building, which is equipped with punching machines, rolls, dishing machines, etc., operated by a 12-horse-power engine, and furnish employment to twenty-five skilled workmen. The products embrace locomotive, stationary and marine boilers, stand pipes, oil, lard and water tanks, jail and prison work, furnace, cupolas, smoke stacks, fire-proof doors and shutters, and indeed anything in the way of boiler, tank, sheet and plate iron work. At present the firm is making more tubular boilers than others. The location of the works being contiguous to the railroad have unsur¬ passed facilities for the receipt of the raw materials and the ship¬ ment of the finished products, and the trade of the house extends throughout this State and Illinois, while the home demand in Terre Haute is practically controlled by the firm.

Challenge Manufacturing Company. - Boiler Scale Solution. The works, located at 129 Ohio street, are being operated success¬ fully and profitably.

Terre Haute Brewing Company. - As a correct measure of the growth and importance of Terre Haute as one of civilization's cen¬ tral points, there is perhaps no one thing that will furnish a more correct gauge than Anton Mayer's brewery. He came here nearly half a century ago, and about 1850, with very limited means and the most primitive appliances, commenced the brewing of beer.

Limited as were liis means, it was not more so than the wants of the locality at that time. Mr. Mayer had been thoroughly trained in the business, and was possessed of that spirit of enterprise that anticipated the public want as it grew and kept in the fore front with his tiade increasing facilities and enlarging capacity as wrell as improving products as the public want demanded, not outrunning it and then waiting at a ruinous loss for it to catch up, but using rare judgment, and thereby prospered and grew in even pace with the city and surrounding country. It had been a very small affair before he took hold of it and was undergoing frequent changes of piopiietors, but from 1850 to October, 1889, he was the sole master of its destinies. October 14, 1889, he sold and it became a stock company affair, with the following officers: Crawford Fairbanks president, and John Beggs secretary and treasurer; capital $500,000.

The plant covers an entire block, bounded by Poplar, Swan Jn mth and the tracks of the Evansville & Terre Haute Railroad. The buildings embrace the brewery proper, the malt-house, offices, stables cooper shops (all of brick from one to four stories high), artificial ice machines, immense and elegant cellars, the whole being furnished with six steam engines. The main building is an imposing structure, and fine and well-ventilated cellars are a prominent feature. In con¬ nection with the brewery is a bottling department, consisting of a twostory brick building located on the opposite side of Poplar street where the company bottles their beer for the use of families, hotels and tor shipment. Thirty workmen are employed in the several depaitments, and six teams are used to deliver the product to the trade the capacity of the brewery being 70,000 barrels per annum

Mikado Road Wagons. - This is now one of the leading industiies of Terre Haute, upon a firm basis - prosperous and growing Like many of the great industries of the world it had its inception' not only m a small way, but from another but kindred branch of in¬ dustry. Nearly thirty years ago A. B. Fouts and W. R. Hunter had a livery and sale stable and dealt extensively in horses and carriages. Mr. Hunter had a quick eye for the wants of his business, and when he saw there was no road wagon that exactly filled that want, his in¬ genuity was challenged to produce it. In 1883 the firm of Fouts, Hunter & Co. was formed, and they commenced making the now celebrated Mikado wagons - the result of much investigation and experiments. The first year the firm made and sold only four wagons, the second year six, the third year eighty, the fourth year one hundred and eighty, and the present year they will manufacture at least five hundred. Since their first introduction they have been greatly improved, and new designs have been issued until at present the firm are making them in several different styles with or without leather tops, or canopy tops, one and two seat, and also one-man speeding wagons and pony wagons. Their shops are 121, 123, 125 South Third street.

Boiler Makers. - Clift' & Co. The senior member of this firm is William Cliff, who came to Terre Haute in 1856. He was eight years foreman in the Yandalia shops; he established the business in 1864. The other members of the firm are J. H. and C. N. Cliff. This firm does an annual business of about $20,000, and employs on an average twenty-eight workmen, and sometimes as high as thirtysix. They manufacture all kinds of locomotive, stationary and ma¬ rine boilers, iron tanks, jails, smoke stacks, breeching and sheet iron work. The building in which the business is conducted is 120x40 feet in dimensions, situated on First street, between Walnut and Poplar.

Carriage Factory. - Scott & Graff, 5 and 7 south Second street, gives employment to ten men; all work is done by hand. It com¬ menced operations in 1870. A two-story brick, divided into the iron and wood departments. The products are buggies, light car¬ riages, business wagons, grocery wagons, etc.

Shirts, Overalls, etc., Factory. - The large establishment of Zim¬ merman & Stahl, North Sixth street, was founded in 1871 by C. Zimmerman, who was succeeded in 1887 by the present firm, and since 1888 has been conducted under the sole proprietorship of

C. Stahl, retaining however the old firm name. It is a three-story brick, 28x150, and equipped with all needed machinery and oper¬ ated by electric motor. It furnishes employment to 270 operatives.

Greiner Shoe Manufactory. - This became an incorporated com¬ pany in 1889, with a paid-up capital stock of $15,000, being suc¬ cessors to the business established in 1884 by Mr. H. C. Greiner. The plant is situated on Eighth and Wabash and is a one-story brick, 25x100 feet, and has a five-horse electric motor. The products are exclusively ladies' fine shoes and slippers. The output is ten or twelve dozen pairs daily. The officers of the company are Messrs.

Overalls, Pants, Shirts, etc. - The factory of Samuel Frank is at 17 South Fifth street. The business was established in 1878. It has a four-story brick building 25x150 feet in dimensions, elevator, etc., and is operated by electric power, furnishing employment to eighty operatives in the building and gives out work to about two hundred others; one of the prosperous institutions of the city.

Carriage Factory. - A. E. Herman. This was commenced in 1886. It occupies a three-story brick 60x150 feet, and has steam power and employs thirty skilled workmen. It is situated 1,001 - 1,007 Wabash avenue and 2-22 Tenth street.

Clift, & Williams & Co., Planing Mill - This enterprise was established in a limited way in 1861, by Clift & Williams. In 1880 they were succeeded by Clift, Williams & Co., and in 1888 by the present company. The extensive and modern plant of the company occupies an area of 150x260 feet, upon which are erected a three-story mill 60x90 feet, and a two-story warehouse and office 40x70 feet, the two being connected by a covered bridge at the second floor, and the whole forming one of the most com¬ plete establishments of the kind in Indiana. The mechanical equipment embraces all the latest improved machinery usual to the tiade, operated by a fifty-horse-power steam engine, and the loca¬ tion of the plant being adjacent to the trunk lines of railroad, affords the most convenient receiving and shipping facilities. Em¬ ployment is furnished to about seventy-five skilled workmen. The officers of the company are J. H. Williams, president, J. M. Clift, secretary and treasurer.

Cracker and Bread Factory. - ' The chief enterprise of this character in this section of the State is that of Messrs. Miller Bros & Co., which was originally instituted by John Houck, in 1881 the present firm composed of Christian F. and Henry G. Miller,' and Christian Han sing, having succeeded to the business in 1882.' The firm's factory is in a commodious building, 75x150 feet in dimensions, of which they occupy the entire ground floor for manufacturing purposes. It is equipped with a tliirty-horse-power steam engine, a reel oven, and all the latest improved flour-siftincr mixing, kneading and cracker-making machinery, having a capacity for converting about fifty barrels of flour daily into bread, crackers cakes, and fancy biscuits of all kinds, employment being given to about twenty-five operatives, and three teams being required for delivering the product to the trade. It is located 22, 24 and 26 North Sixth street.

Slack-Barrel Factory. - The slack barrel factory of Mr I W Griffith was founded in 1883, and has since been conducted with prosperity and success. The plant covers four citv lots, and is con¬ tiguous to the railroad system of the city, the buildings, two in number, being suitable for the purpose. Thirty-five skilled coop¬ ers are employed, the products being hand-made flour barrels and the annual output is about 100,000 barrels, the majority of which are used by the Hudnut Milling Company for their corn goods It is located on Second street, 605-617.

Straw-Board Factory is situated on the railroad about six mdes northeast of Terre Haute, at Ellsworth. It is a very impor¬ tant affair to our farmers, giving them a market for their straw. When m full operation it employs 125 persons. All the strawboard factories of the country are in the syndicate.

Citizens' Gas & Fuel Company. - Next to the question of plentiful and cheap food comes the question of clothing and fuel. These are the fundamentals of advancing and an ever-growing and broadening civilization. When our naked, wild ancestors, fighting with the brutes for life in the darkest jungles, discovered fire which they originally found by rubbing sticks together, here was the im¬ measurable first step toward the world's mastery - not by the fierce instincts of destroying, but by the advances to that high plain where reason, thought, memory and reflection rule with imperial power over all brute force. Heat, simply heat, is one of the most interesting and yet unsolvable problems that has yet confronted the scientific investigators. Is it a law of matter or simply a result? Is it merely a chemical action resulting from certain easily con¬ trolled conditions? Is it, in other words, as Tyndall has expressed it, "A mode of motion?" To prevent the waste of artificial heat has been the first great problem in its use and improvements. A hole in the center of the roof was the incipient chimney as the old fire-place was the precursor of the Franklin stove and the fire¬ box beneath the steam boilers. This is about a parallel of the pine knot and greasy-rag lights that finally led to the electric lights that now fairly turn night into day. The advances here came slowly, but in the work of saving all or a large portion of heat that comes of combustion the discoveries have lagged in a marked degree. The use of steam and machinery has increased immeasurably the needed supply of fuel, and now one of the most important questions is that of cheapening its cost. The development of natural gas supply for both heat and light has brought us anew to the question of cheaper fuel and light outside the gas belts - which is the world at large, as the natural gas is limited to very small districts, and in addition the supply in the best districts is limited. The failing of the supply of natural gas brings the wits of inventors face to face with the question of finding some cheap substitute to take its place when the wells cease to yield their supplies. When this demand is successfully met the failure of natural gas will not be seriously felt. The elements are full of fuel. They must be gathered, bottled up, as it were, and put to man's use. When a family's domestic fuel costs not hundreds of dollars every year but a few hundred cents, then only will the public rest content.

The Citizens' Gas & Fuel Company of Terre Haute was or¬ ganized in August, 1890, with the following officers: President, H. B. Townley; vice-president, Anton Hulman ; secretary, Willard, Kidder; treasurer, Frank McKeen; superintendent, George B. Burns. Their plant is erected and mains and pipes are laid in the northern portion of the city. The company has the Archer process for making the raw gas, and then the McKenzie patents to fix, condense and purify it, and render it suitable for light and heating in all domestic purposes. They make a gas of 22-candle power, and for cooking and heating about the same per cent of heat as natural gas. It is intended as a substitute for natural gas, and can be made very cheap. This is a cheap gas made from the crude oil that is found m the wells of Terre Haute, and is intended to be used for lighting, heating houses and in cook stoves.

Tinware. The Townley Stove Company use the upper floor of their business house in the manufacture of tinware. The company employs about twenty-five men in this department. This house was established in 1878 by Townley Bros., and incorporated as the Townley Stove Company in 1888; H. P. Townley, president, and Albert Harstine, secretary.

Piano Manufactory. - This important addition to the city is now erecting their large plant and expect to be able to commence work m the early fall. This is more than merely an accession to Tene Haute of a first-class industry, but it is an important index in the movement of the times. From the east to the west the industrial star, at least, is moving. The land of clocks, wooden nutmegs and wooden gun-flints, will, in a few years, instead of sending its mis¬ sionary peddlers to the wild west, be sending to our factories for most of the comforts and luxuries of life. The great factories are now going to the sources of supply, and this will soon reverse in toto the old way of shipping the raw material to the eastern factory and then shipping the products back over the same lines of transportation to the market. This old-fashioned process was on a par with the good old way of a stone in one end of the sack and the grain in the other.

Mr. C. J. Cobleigh is the proprietor of a piano case factory in eominster, Mass., which he has been successfully operating some years. To keep in the fore of the times it became potent to him that, at least to supply his western trade, it would be policy to estab¬ lish a factory in the west, and it was but natural that he should select Terre Haute as the eligible point for his new plant. He pui chased the ground on Sixteenth and Maple avenue, and work was commenced in the spring of 1890 and are now (August) rapid- 1 y approaching completion. The entire buildings will cover an aiea of neai ly three acres. The main building is handsome in archi¬ tectural design and is three stories. Ample steam power will be provided, and all new machinery and latest improvements will be introduced. It is calculated to commence with a force of 250 oper¬ atives, which will be increased as rapidly as the trade may justify. Mr. Cobleigh brings nothing from the east that enters into his Terre Haute factory except many of his most skilled and trusty employes who have been with him for years. These workmen command large salaries and will be a most important addition to the city's popula¬ tion - men who will own their own homes and who are accustomed to live as well as their employers.

This will be one of the completest factories of the kind in the country. The products will be all kinds of piano cases in the white, ready for varnishing, embracing all the latest designs for the bestgrade instruments.

Kester Motor. - Terre Haute is forging to the front among the inventors in the new world of electricity. A most important motive power now being manufactured in this city is the Kester Electric Motor. This important industry has not more than fairly com¬ menced yet, but bids fair to revolutionize the old-fashioned motive power, and many of our small factories are now using the new mo- - tors and pronounce them the best and cheapest in the market.

Buggy Factory. - In a preceding page is an extended account of the Keyes Hub, Spoke & Carriage Factory. In the latter part of July, 1890, owing to the immensity of the growth of busi¬ ness, it was determined to separate the carriage-making from the original purposes of a hub and spoke factory, and a joint stock company was organized with a capital of $35,000. The new company intends to immediately erect their own plant, leaving the Messrs. Keyes to devote their concern to the wheel business. The officers of the new carriage company are: President, J. H. Williamson; vice-president and general business manager, Lucius Lybrand; secretary and treasurer, D. E. Powers; directors, J. W. Miller, Robert Snider, J. H. Williamson, Lucius Lybrand and D. E. Power. Mr. Peter Husseny, of the Buckeye Buggy Com¬ pany, at Columbus, Ohio, has been secured as superintendent.

Creamery. - The Fort Harrison Creamery Company had every¬ thing in order and started in business in the spring of 1890. It commenced running in a small way, but has ample facilities to increase with the trade to a large concern. Mr. King is president, and gives it his personal supervision.

Artificial Ice. - The Terre Haute Brewing Company put up their ice factory in the spring of 1890 and commenced operations. It is intended to be of thirty -five tons daily capacity.

Soap Factory. - You may, they say, measure any people's civili¬ zation by the amount of soap they use. It is but natural, Terre . Haute then, should have its own soap factory. Messrs. Grafe & Co. are now successfully making a fine line of toilet soaps. They found it necessary to add this department to their confectionary. Their place is located at 31 North Sixth street.

ill 1854, by the late G. F. Ellis, and operated in full to the time of Ins death, when for about five years they were portions of the time idle, and at times were operated in part only, by the estate. In 1890 an order of the court was secured and the property sold, and

Sqa^aa C?nmpany was at once formed with a capital stock of 880,090, all paid up, to remodel and add machinery, etc., and oper¬ ate the mill. The works were started again in May, 1890,

^nnnn°rce °f seventy-five employes. The present capacity is 400,000 pounds of products. It is now making jeans, flannels blankets and yarns. The machinery for doubling the capacity is purchased, and will be placed in position in the early fall of this ^ea* (^^0). Officeis of the company: Robert Geddes, president; Or. Gokler, secretary; Frank McKeen, treasurer, and J. W. Johnson,

Paper Box Factory , of Elliott Bros, is at Fifth and Cherry ®'re®ts' i,haYe the facilities for making 3,000 boxes per week. Most of these are disposed of in the city, and it is one of the great conveniences of our business men.

Telegraph. - The first telegraph line was strung through Terre Haute m 1849. This was a great day. It frightened the old ladies past whose houses it ran, lest it would tell all the family news and interested the boys, who would put their ears to the poles and listen to hear the conversations over the wires. Until after the railroads came it was a very primitive affair. Mr. E. L Norcross m charge of the commercial office in this city, has been here since 18bl. When he came there was one wire, from Cincinnati to St. Eouis. Now there are thirty-seven wires entering the office and five operators are in constant employ.

Business Men's A ssociation lias taken the place of the effort to organize a board of trade. This is one of the most useful and effective institutions of the city. It is for the purpose of promoting the general prosperity of the place and to properly encourage meS looking for the most eligible business and manufacturing locations to come here The headquarters are on Wabash avenue in the old .board of Irade rooms and are spacious and elegant. The Board of Trade was organized in 1884 and in 1887 it was succeeded by the Citizens Manufacturing Association, which was in operation two years, and in 1889 the present title was adopted. In it are the leading businesses of the city. The association has done and is doing a great deal to influence capital and manufacturers to come here. &The di rectors are Herman Hulman, John G. Williams, Elisha Havens" A Hertz, B G. Hudnut, John W. Cruft and Frank McKeen.' The officers; H Hulman, president, B. G. Hudnut, vice-president,

Terre Haute Water Works. - The plant is located on the river,, at the Indianapolis & St. Louis Railroad crossing. Works were constructed in 1873. The new works, with a capacity of 3,000,000 gallons per day were commenced in 1888, and completed and the water turned on in the summer of 1890. These are as fine wa¬ ter works as the country affords.

Terre Haute Gas Works , incorporated in 1856, situated on the river, between Poplar and Swan streets. They have the Diall Artesian Well, 2,900 feet bore; commenced furnishing gas in 1858. Officers: Demas Deming, president, J. B. Harris, secretary, Henry Heming, treasurer, W. N. Diall, superintendent; Directors: D. Deming, D. W. Minshall, C. Fairbanks, J.W Cruft, H. S. Deming, M. Diall and I. B. Harris.

Coal. - For those manufactories already in operation and for those that are now being so rapidly added there is abundant cheap fuel. Terre Haute is in the center of one of the most valuable coal fields in America. Indeed the whole area of the city is built over a vast and almost unexhaustible coal deposit, and about her con¬ fines is found in every direction the hidden sea of coal - coal of every kind and quality except the anthracite. One fact of much significance is that while Vigo county is one entire coal field, yet the celebrated block and splint coal of Clay and Parke counties, and the bituminous coals of Yigo county in the region about the city, are so easy of supply that it may yet be many years before will arise the necessity to go delving and digging in our back yards for the black diamonds that will wait in perpetual patience. The mines that are worked in Yigo county are simply those of easiest access, many of those being strip banks and new ones of this kind are be¬ ing constantly opened. In 1865 when the oil excitement prevailed, a number of wells was drilled in search of the article. One well was located in the old canal bed near Main and Canal streets, anoth¬ er in the rear of the Terre Haute House, and a third on the river bank and which is now the artesian well. In each of these a num¬ ber of coal veins was penetrated. The vein of most importance lies under the city at a depth of 164 feet. Beneath this there are four more strata of coal of the following thickness : three feet nine inches, two feet, three inches and three feet. The upper vein is six feet six inches in thickness, which is thicker than the cele¬ brated block coal veins. However, because of the proximity of the city to other rich bituminous coal deposits, the mining of the vein would not be profitable, owing to the cheapness of this class of coal in the home market. By referring to a geological map of the ver¬ tical section of the land between Greencastle and Terre Haute, it was learned that the bituminous seam at Newburg, two miles west of Brazil, is identical with the deposit under the city. The rock formation begins an ascent at the river and continues eastward. A sudden break is made in the coal at Newburg and Brazil, which are only two miles apart. At Brazil block coal is found and the belt extends eastwaid beyond Harmony. At Newburg, however, the block coal is not found. The subcarboniferous limestone strata which, according to the record of the artesian well bore is 600 feet deep, appears at the surface at Greencastle. It underlies the Bra¬ zil coal fields. Geologists say that there is no doubt but that the strata of limestone under the city and at Greencastle is identical, and support the statement by citing relative positions of other stra¬ ta to the subcarboniferous seam. Between the city and Newburg there is an upper vein. It does not reach Newburg, and is cut out before it reaches this city, being found at various points in the bluffs east of the city. From the river west the indications are that the strata begin an ascent. The surface vein east of the city commences again in the bluffs west, and the lower vein is also found. While di filing for water near the west bank of the river about four miles north of the city the six-foot vein was reached at a depth of about 160 or 170 feet. Coal of the bituminous quality is found south of the city, and also in Otter Creek township north. On all sides the seam appears to be present, and establishes the fact that lerre Haute is situated in the heart of a vast coal field.

Teiie Haute will probably not secure natural gas in commercial quantities, but the coal deposits amply compensate for the absence of gas. In Indiana, where natural gas has been found, steam coal is

Manufacturers should take this fact into consideration before deciding upon a location. Should the natural-gas supply dwindle away at any time large, manufactories would be put to great expense m securing steam coal, which would place them at a decided disad¬ vantage In this city, where good coal can be secured for making steam at 50 and 60 cents per ton, no such risks are taken. With immense deposits on all sides there is not the slightest liability of

On all lines of railroad entering the city there are large coal mines. The Vandalia line is especially favored. It passes through the heart of the Brazil block-coal district. Shipments over the Yandaha are enormous and form a source of very large revenue to the lerre Haute & Indianapolis division. The Yandalia has a branch coal line extending south of Brazil for a number of miles. Manv switches extend from the main line into the coal fields in and about

Brazil, Knightsville and Harmony, and a number of switch engines is required to look after coal alone. The road has opened up an extensive territory south of Brazil by the completion of a branch to the Evansville & Indianapolis. When this line was built from Wash¬ ington to Worthington several years ago it penetrated the rich coal fields in Sullivan and Greene counties. New mines were opened, and now the output is immense. About a dozen mines were opened in what is called the new territory. Accounts are read of rapid growth of western towms by reason of booms which are worked for all there can be gotten out of them. Every railroad built into the city has opened up new and valuable coal territory; especially was this the case when the Evansville & Indianapolis road was built. Alum cave, a beautiful and romantic spot was so rich in this respect that a new town sprang up on the road called New Pittsburg. The Indianapolis & St. Louis is well located as regards the coal fields. There are extensive mines at Coal Bluff, Eontanet and Carbon. Considerable of the coal finds a market in this city, but the most of it passes in other directions. On the Chicago & Eastern Illinois road there are mines at Clinton, and also on the branch of the road which extends to Brazil. The branch passes through an excellent coal territory which has not yet been fully developed. The Logansport division of the Yandalia hauls the output from the mines at Minshall and Rosedale. The mines are quite large, and the coal is of a good quality of bituminous. On the Evansville & Terre Haute there are mines at Shelburn, Sullivan and other places. This road brings a large quantity of coal into the city. At Sullivan in drilling for gas an excellent quality of cannel coal was discovered. The question is being seriously considered of sinking mines to the vein which is about nine or ten feet thick. The coal would no doubt find a ready market. The Illinois Midland also has quite an ex¬ tensive coal traffic. It would be difficult to imagine a line of rail¬ road leading in any direction from the city that would not pass through coal lands. So extensive have the coal fields proven to be that good coal lands can be purchased at a very reasonable figure, and at little if any increase over the value of the land for farming purposes. When the Brazil block coal region was first opened it was not supposed that such an enormous coal belt existed. Early operators were so anxious to secure land that they paid as high as $200 per acres for it and even went beyond this figure. Coal lands have depreciated in value, and tested land can now be bought at from $75 to $100 per acre, depending largely upon its location and the facilities offered for mining it.

establishments such as the nail works, Wabash rolling mill, dis¬ tillery, flour-mills, etc., each consume a number of car-loads per day. Besides the coal shipped into Terre Haute the amount hauled in by wagon will aggregate a considerable quantity for the year. The most of it is received during the fall and winter months. It is bituminous, but in quality is not quite so good as that of deeper veins, though it answers many purposes.

At present the chief supply of coal in the county is from the mines in Nevins township. And here the principal mines are at Coal Bluff and Fontanet. These are operated by the Coal Bluff Mining Company, which was organized in 1875, and is officered as follows: J. Smith Tally, president; R. W7. Rippetoe, vice-president; L. D. Thomas, treasurer, and W. E. Eppert, secretary.

The mines in Coal Bluff were opened in 1875. The company has two shafts at this point. They are the " Edgar " and " Dia¬ mond " at this point, and at Fontanet they have three mines - five in all the output of the five shafts being 250,000 tons annually. Coal mines were first opened in this place by Dan Webster in the early sixties. The quality of the coal of these mines may be taken as the average of the commercial coal of the county. It is a supe¬ rior article of gas and steam coal. The depths of the mines at Coal Bluff are thirty and sixty feet. At Fontanet the shafts are 125 feet and 150 feet in depth. Fontanet and Coal Bluff are immedi¬ ately on the line of the Big Four Railroad, and have the best facili¬ ties for shipment to all points of the country. They employ a force of 450 men. The company has a store in connection with its works. The business of this establishment in 1889 was $118,000.

The entire coal output of the county is about 400,000 tons annually. In addition to the yield at Coal Bluff and Fontanet, the three other principal mines are in Nevins township, on the line of the Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad. These are J. P. Foley's, John Triplett's and Woodruff & Trunkey & Bros.', of Chi¬ cago, mines. These eight mines are the principal ones from which are raised the shipping commercial coals of the county. There are fifteen oi sixteen other mines in the county that are worked to supply the local trade. There are employed in the three mines last mentioned, something over 300 men. The entire miners' force at work in the county is in round numbers 1,000 men. This would leave, after the eight principal mines in Nevins township, about 250 men employed in the small mines in different parts of the county.

locality was begun in 1865. This was the effort of Chauncey Rose to obtain soft water for the Terre Haute House. The sections of this well are given in the chapter on " geology." As this was the beginning of the subject of oil and gas in Yigo county, it may be well enough to give a brief account of it. In going down they struck oil and it came freely to the surface, and there was no mis¬ taking its presence by the smell. The Pennsylvania oil speculation was then at fever heat and Terre Hauteans were now wild with ex¬ citement. Mr. Rose was east, and when telegraphed answered : "Go on digging down, it is water and not oil wanted." The oil had ceased to flow in a short time. When the drill was sent deeper into the rock it struck a copious flow of sulphur water, and Mr. Rose now determined to utilize this, and he put up at the corner of Cherry and Eighth streets a bath-house, to which the water was piped. The old bath-house has been used as bottling works. These waters sprang into great popularity at once. A man was suffocated in the bath-tub by the gas and this destroyed the popularity of the water. Mr. Rose had built drinking fountains and people had begun to come for the water from a distance. The well was plugged.

Another company was formed to sink another well, Robert Cox, president; this was seeking oil. This was sunk in the old canal bed on Tenth street. They struck oil, the same strata of the Terre Haute House well, but the flow was weak, about only three barrels a day.

A pump was put in, the water and oil came together, and was collected in a large wooden tank. After standing long enough for the fluids to separate, the water was drawn from the bottom, and at regular intervals the free crude oil was removed from the tank. The odor of the oil was very disagreeable, and at that time was con¬ sidered a greater objection than now. About 700 barrels of the crude oil were collected and a quantity sent to Cleveland to be subjected to the crude refining process then known. The refin¬ ing companies found much trouble in deordorizing the product, and as the price of oil was very low, the expense would be too great to make the well a paying investment. No one thought of the oil as being a superior lubricator, and the remaining three or four hundred barrels were allowed to stand untouched for some time. Mr. Jo¬ sephus Collett was at that time president of the Evansville, Terre Haute & Chicago Railroad, and he determined to make a test of the oil as a lubricator. He purchased the remaining supply at a price of $1 per barrel, and put it to a practical test on the locomotives of the road. The oil proved to be of great value as a lubricator, and gave the greatest satisfaction. The entire supply was exhausted, and there would have been demand for more had not Mr. Rose complied with th6 requests of citizens and plugged the well to free the neighborhood of the very disagreeable ordor. And thus a very promising enterprise was permitted to die.

The next well was the one now known as the Conant well. There were twelve stockholders in this company, the total stock being $18,000, the shares being divided equally. Among the stockholders were Mr. Rose, Mr. Minshall, Mr. Deming, Mr. McKeen, Mr. Tuell and Mr. Hulman. The object was to find either oil or salt water. The site chosen was on the river bank, and drilling was done on a more liberal scale. No oil was found, but a copious stream of sul¬ phur water was struck, which was and is still utilized at the bath¬ houses. This well was sunk in 1868, and the volume of water still issuing is prodigious. This well was drilled with poles operated by a steam engine. The water was filled with gas, and when ignited would blaze up with a bright flame several feet high. The original company made no definite use of the water, and it was piped down to the river bank. The small boys in the neighborhood learned that the gas was inflammable, and in spite of all efforts would keep it burning. Finally an iron pipe was buried and the water was carried into the river underground. The well was very expensive, costing $15,000. The company finally sold out to a Mr. Delano, whose intention was to utilize the water as a power in the manu¬ facture of wooden buckets. He built a water wheel and made an attempt at manufacturing, but the experiment was unsuccessful and the project abandoned. Mr. Delano owned the well up to the time of his death, his widow finally selling to the bath company. The history of the well since that time is well known. Among the facts which will be recalled in this connection is that the volume of gas in the water was amply sufficient for all heating purposes around the bath-house until a few years ago, and that there is still enough to make a small flame on confining it for a minute or two. The won¬ derful curative properties of the water are familiar to all.

The history of the next well on the river bank, nearly a mile from the new oil well, the one commenced in February, 1886, and abandoned after a useless search for natural gas about eighteen months later, at a depth of over 2,400 feet being reached, is of too recent occurrence to be unfamiliar. There were, however, many things in connection with the drilling of more than temporary in¬ terest and importance. The well was put down by a company inde¬ pendent of the gas company, although most of the stock was held by gas company stockholders. Mr. Diall, the invincible superin¬ tendent of the enterprise, was quite confident of success, but in face of failure still held to his hopes with the success now so fully established at the new well, of whose company he is president. The cost of the river well was heavy because of many accidents. A spray gas from the water at this well is now carried to the boilers of the city gas works and furnishes ample fuel power.

Wells outside the city limits were several in number also. About 1867 or 1870 the county commissioners sank a well to the depth of about 1,800 feet at the poor-farm. What the object was is still a little indefinite, as the well resulted in no practical bene¬ fit. The drilling was the subject of much agitation at that time, people claiming that the commissioners stepped too far in using county funds for the purpose of experimenting.

The West Terre Haute gas well, which was commenced some time after the last river well here, was drilled about 1,400 feet and abandoned. The members of the company are now discussing the feasibility of opening it and going deeper in the search of oil or gas. They stopped in the shale that overlies the rock that should be penetrated, and this mistake is now realized, as the shale lies above the sandstone in which the oil is found. The shale at the last river well was found at a much greater depth than at West Terre Haute. Indeed, the last river well bears no comparison with any others. The record of the first river or artesian bath well not hav¬ ing been kept, this statement does not apply to it. In all the bor¬ ings there were found strong characteristics of a subterranean river, and the projecting rocks show an abrupt decline toward the bed of the present Wabash, which accounts for the greater depth the hole was found at the last river well than at the present oil well, or at the West Terre Haute well.

In 1889 a new excitement about oil and gas broke out in Terre Haute, and everybody became oil and gas experts, and right and left companies were formed and well-boring commenced. Fifteen or sixteen wells were sunk. Early in May the well sunk on the old canal bank was reported a " presser." It was reported that they had to stop the flow, and the oil around the well was gathered in a dry well. A high board fence was built around the lot, and people went in the morning and again in the evening, to sniff the oil odors and then dream of " Coal Oil Johnny " and millions and billions of dol¬ lars. This is the Diall well, near the river and a short distance below the Conant well. Preparations to erect immense tanks (3,000 barrels capacity), and 10,000 feet of piping was purchased. Experts and chemical analysts had their coats off, and set up at night with samples of the precious fluid. Supt. Diall began negotiations with the Pennsylvania tank line company for cars. Three carloads of barrels came on one train from St. Louis and Effingham. Reports went flying around the streets of the sale of stocks at fabulous figures. Seven companies were formed in a few days. The Diall well " is under surveillance," says a paper of that day. " Twenty companies are forming " rapidly, says the same paper. The Union Oil Company was the first to file papers for record. An option on the Cruft farm was secured. The following item tells:

" Another company of thirty well-known gentlemen is to meet to-day and organize with $6,000 stock. The propositions for sites are rumored as to various localities reaching as far east as beyond the fair grounds. The fact that the well came in nearly a week ago, with a capacity of not less than 1,400 barrels of oil of a qual¬ ity which visitors from Lima and Pennsylvania pronounce to be better than found at these favored localities, continues its pressure with all expectations of "keeping up the lick" has given a remark¬ able boom to the city. For a day or two there was a fear that the well might be a ' pocket ' well, and that it would not continue its output, but nearly a week having elapsed, conservative Terre Haute decided to take advantage of all the advantage there is in the find at the Diall well.

" Property owners are becoming wary, and are inclined to hold their land at advanced prices. To this may be attributed the lack of large real estate exchanges. There is an immense amount of talk, however, and things will come to a head in the very near future."

These days of excitement soon passed away. The result is, there are three wells now being worked, and the yield is about 200 barrels a day. One of these wells was dug in the spring of 1890, and promised the best flow of any, but in shooting it there was some misfortune that reduced it to about the average flow of the older wells. This is Guarantee No. 3. The Guarantee company is now sinking another well. Thus the Terre Haute wells are about sup¬ plying the home demand. The most of the oil will be used for the manufacture of fuel gas and as fuel generally.

There is gas escaping from all the deep borings about Terre Haute. At Diall's well the spray gives off sufficient gas to conduct it by pipes to the boiler, and it is utilized as fuel. There is, it is now well established, coal, oil and gas in commercial qualities, un¬ der the entire city and in almost every part of Vigo county.

Artesian or Medicinal Water. - The waters found in the deep borings, are but a part of the underground wealth of Terre Haute. We have now three fine, large bath-houses, whose fame is becom¬ ing spread abroad and the sick are beginning to come from distant quarters, bathe and be healed. These waters are advertising them¬ selves by their almost magical cures. These remarkable waters rush up with great powers, the old, or Conant well being about 2,000 feet, and the Diall well 2,900 feet, and the Bronson well about 2,300 feet deep. Sick people who have tried the hot springs in vain, have come here and been cured. The particulars of the dis¬ covery and qualities of these artesian waters are given elsewhere.