Winona County, Minnesota - Chapter with an unread heading (no. 33 of those read), 1883

Chapter with an unread heading (no. 33 of those read)

The manufacturing industries of Winona, which have nearly doubled tlieir volume since January 1, 1879, may be said to date from the fall of 1855, at which time Messrs. James Wyckoft' and James Hiland erected a small sawmill, not far from the present site of the Winona Mill Company's flouring-mill. As nearly as can now be ascertained, this first lumber-mill was started for bifsiness December 17, 1855, and ceased operations after the season of 1860 closed. In the early part of 1856 Mr. Wyckofi' sold out his interest to Messrs. L. C. Porter and Wm. Garlock. January 1, 1857, Mr. Hiland disposed of. his interest to S. D. Yan Gorder, and the firm as thus constituted conducted business until the opening of the 1861 sawing season, when the mill was accidentally burned. In the meantime two new lumber-mills had been started, both in the fall of 1857, and within a very short period of each other, both now doing 29 business under substantially the same management as that of twenty-tive years ago, and both of them grow, through successive changes in buildings and machinery, to the very front rank of lumber manufactories in the northwest. The winter of 1S80-81 saw a worthy rival of these long established lumber-mills growing into place at the extreme eastern limits of the city, and in the spring of 1881 this mill, that of the Winona Lumber Company, began manufacturing.

Laird, Norton & Co., manufacturers and dealers in plain and dressed lumber, lath, shingles and carpenters' material. This company, the oldest lumber firm now doing business in the city, though not strictly speaking the pioneer sawmill men of Winona, have been in successful operation as lamber manufacturers for over a quarter of a century, their sawmill having been erected twenty-five years ago last spring, while their first lumber-yard was opened in May, 1855, two years earlier. This yard was on the present site of the L. C. Porter milling company's mill, and was opened by Messrs. J. C, M. J. and W. H. Laird, the latter the head of the present firm, the others having long ceased all connection with its operations. The firm became Laird, Norton & Co. in the fall of 1851), by the admission of Messrs. J. L. and M. G. Norton, an<l the following spring ground was broken for their sawmill upon their present location, and building energetically pushed until it was completed, and the saws set running in September of that year. This lumber mill was 50x70 feet, furnished with one muley and one small circular saw, and having a daily capacity of 20,000 feet of lumber. Their original property fronted 300 feet on the river, running eastward from Kansas street. This frontage has been increased from time to time, until they now own a frontage of 1,500 feet on the river, running eastward from Franklin street, and extending an average width of two blocks backward from the river. Additions were made'to this mill, and improvements introduced from time to time, until 1869, at which date two large double rotary saws were added, the daily capacity being increased to 75,000 feet, with, a corresponding amount of shingles and lath. The old engines were still in use, and in the fall of 1870 the boilers exploded, and the whole were replaced by engines and boilers of about double the former capacity.' Operations continued in the old mill, with its enlargements, until the close of the sawing season of 1877, when the old structure, which had been doinif duty for twenty years, was taken down and the present mill built.

This change did not include the boiler-house, which was left standing, but furnished with additional engines and boilers, increasing its capacity to present estimate, 600 horse power. The new mill is ironclad with iron roof, 190 X 60 feet, 30 feet posts, with an addition 40 X 50 feet of equal height with the main building, and a brick boiler-house 26x80 feet. The capacity of the new mill, as demonstrated by actual work, is 234,000 feet per day, with an average product of 175,000 feet; the shingle-mill can turn out 150,000 daily, and averages 120,000 ; the lath-mill product about 33,000. The mill is furnished with two gangs, one forty inches wide, the other thirty-six inches, iron gangs of the most improved make ; two double rotaries, steam feed, besides the saws for cutting, slitting, edging, etc. At the time this mill was built, it was the best sawmill on the Mississippi river ; and even now, after all the changes of the past five years, it is much to be questioned whether, all things taken into consideration, it has any superior. For economy of space, smoothness of work, facility for handling logs and discharging lumber, and amount of cut, it stands A 1 in all lumbering circles.

The planing-mill, built in 1868, one-half of its present size, to whicli it was enlarged in 1882, is a two-story frame, 70x140 feet, 24 feet posts ; the manufactory for sash, door, blind, frames, mouldings, etc., occupying the upper story. The boiler and shavings room is 68x28, the whole machinery driven by engines of 300 horse power. This mill is furnished with two Wood's planers and matchers, besides double surfacers and resawing machine, and has a capacity of 75,000 feet of dressed lumber daily. The manufactured product of the upper story reaches a weekly average of 500 doors, 1,000 sash, 500 frames, besides blinds, mouldings, brackets, etc. There are four dry kilns on the premises, Curran & WolfTs patent, each 17x72 feet, having an aggregate capacity of 30,000 feet a day. To man these mills, and do the necessarj^ work of the yards, requires a force of 300 hands and 20 teams, notwithstanding labor is largely economized by piling the bulk of the mill product from tramways. The mills are thoroughly protected from fire, the mains of the city water-works traversing their yards from east to west. In addition to this, the firm have expended nearly $20, 000 in private water-works, and from these two sources they have forty hydrants in their yards, with 1,500 feet of hose on carts ready for use. They have also attached hose on each floor of both saw and planing-mills. They have also a most conveniently arranged office,

30X48, steam heated, with lire-proof vaults, private offices, telephone attachment, and all the conveniences of a first-class office. They boom their logs at Beef Slough, and rafts are brouglit down, as required by their own boat, the Julia. The firm are members of the Beef Slougli Booming Company, the Mississippi River and the Chippewa River Logging Companies. They also own large tracts of private pine lands in the Chippewa valley, from which some supplies are drawn. Their lumber is marketed generally in the west and northwestern states, the bulk of it distributed along the lines of the Winona & St. Peter railway and its branches and tributaries. The present members oi the firm are W. H. Laii'd, James L. and Matthew G. Norton.

W. H. Laird is a native of Pennsylvania, from which state he came to Winona in 1855 to engage in the lumber trade, and has been actively operating in that industry for over twenty-seven years. He is president of the Winona board of trade, a member of the Congregational church, married, and has a wife and tliree daughters - one married and residing in the city, one at home and one attending the state normal school in this city.

James L. Norton is also a native Pennsylvanian, and was a railroad contractor before coming to Winona in 1856, the same year he became a member of the present firm. His family consists of a wife and four children, all of whom are graduates of the Winona high school, and two of them recent graduates of the Northwestern University at Evanston. The family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church.

Matthew Norton came to this city at the same time as his brother, entered the Laird & Norton firm at tlie same time, is a member of the same church and has the same number of children, all of whom are now attending normal school in the city. Matthew G. Norton is a member and director of the board of trade.

John Durham, foreman of sash, door and blind factory, is a native of Pennsylvania, a carpenter by trade, and came to this city with the Messrs. Laird in 1855. He has been more or less in the employ of the firm ever since their establishment in this city, and when not so engaged has been following liis original trade as carpenter. When the manufacture of sash, doors and blinds was commenced in 1868, Mr. Durham was employed in that department, and six years later, 1S74, became foreman of the manufactory. Mr. Durham is married, has one child, temporarily absent from school on account of her health. He is a member of the A.L.H. beneficiary and an officer of the Congregational church, having been elected deacon in 1880.

Timothy Burns, engineer of the planing-mill, entered the employ of the firm May 1, 1858, the day after he arrived in Winona, and has been in their employ ever since ; first as day laborer, then as fireman, and for some years past as engineer. He is a native of Ireland, and liad been in this country eleven years before coming to Winona.

TouMANS Bros. & Hodgins, manufacturers and dealers in lumber, shingles, lath, sash, doors, blinds, etc. This business was established in 1857 by E. S. & A. B. Youmans, under the firm name of Youmans Bros. The contract for their mill was let in April of that year, the foundations were laid the following month and sawing commenced the ensuing October. This mill, which stood substantially upon the same site as the one they now operate, at the foot of Grand street, was about 40x80 feet, and was furnished with one muley saw, the capacity of the mill being about 30,000 feet of lumber a week. In 1859 a small circular saw was put in, increasing the capacity to about 15,000 a day. In 1860 a shingle-mill, with a daily capacity of 15,000 shingles, was added, and two years later a large rotary by which the lumber cut was increased to 30,000 a day. This mill was operated until 1870, when it was taken down and the present one erected. The main mill as then constructed, and now standing, is 50x180 feet, iron roof, with an addition for shingle-mill 28X60; one engine and boiler-house 4:0x45 feet and an engineroom 18X50 feet, the aggregate capacity of the engines being about 350-horse power. This mill is furnished with one 42-inch gang saw, two double rotary saws, two shingle-mills and one lath-mill. The average daily cut of the mill for the sawing season is 140,000 feet of lumber, 90,000 shingles and 30,000 lath. The company's property, held in fee simple, fronts 150 feet on the river and extends south ward to Fifth street, having a width on Second street of two blocks and a half. Through leases from the Chicago & Northwestern Kailway Company they control a river front of 1,500 feet additional. Their booming facilities are not surpassed by any lumber-mill on the river. They boom a slough ten miles long, with good ingress for logs at its upper end, the lower terminating at the mill. In 1870 their planing-mill was built, and the following year Mr. A. F. Hodgins became a member of the firm. The planing-mill is a two story frame, and, as originally built, was 60x80 feet, the upper story used for tlie manufacture of sash, doors, blinds, frames, mouldings and cai-pcnters' materials generally. This present season (1882) this mill was enlarged to double its former capacity, and is now 60x160 feet, furnished with four planers, some of Fay & Go's patent, others of S. A. "Wood & Go's design, the whole having a capacity of 75,000 feet of dressed lumber daily. There are also on the premises four dry kilns, Gurran & Wolff's pattern, with an aggregate capacity of 40,000 feet daily. The work of the sash, door and blind factory is almost exclusively upon specific orders, the daily product in such work being less and the prices higher tlian for the usual stock work. Connected with the planing-rnill is the brick engine and boiler house and shavings room. There is also a twostory warehouse, 60x90 feet, for storing manufactured work, glass, nails, building paper, etc., and ample shed-room for dressed lumber. The pay-rolls of the company show a force of 275 men and eighteen teams constantly employed. The firm organized as a joint stock company in 1876 with a paid up cash capital of $250,000, absorbing the stock within themselves. The compan}- are members of the Gliippewa River and the Mississippi River logging companies, and also Beef Slough Boom Company. Their supply of logs is mainly from the Chippewa river, but some strings are received from the St. Croix valley. Lumber is marketed principally along the lines of the Chicago & Northwestern railway in Minnesota, Dakota, Iowa and Kebraska. Excellent })recautioiis have been taken against fire. Their own private mains are laid through the yards, pressure for which is supplied direct from their own pumps, which, in connection with those of Laird, Norton & Co., have hitherto supplied the city mains. Fifteen hydrants within their own yards and 600 feet of hose on carts ready for use, give ample security against fire, from which in the twenty-five years of their operations here they have been absolutely free. The present stockholders of the company are E. S. Youmans, A. B. Youmans and A. F. Hodgins.

E. S. Youmans is a native of New York, and had become somewhat familiar witli sawing operations in a small way in his father's lumber mill before coming to Winona in 1857. Mr. Youmans is married and has two children : one daughter married and residing in Connecticut ; one son, employed in the office of the company.

Manufactueestg Industries

strictly to business. He is married and has two children : one married, who is one of the engineers of the company; and one now attending the city schools.

A. F. Hodgins was born in Tennessee. Came from Galena, Illinois, to Winona in 1856, as agent for Carson & Rand, lumbermen. Was here in their interest some years, when, in company with H. Eaton, he bought tliem out and continued the business through several fii-m changes until 1871, when he became a member of the firm of Yonmans Brother & Hodgins. He is married and has one child, a daughter, now attending the State Normal School in this city.

James King, foreman of sash, door and blind factory and carpenter's department, is a native of Pennsylvania. Learned his trade as carpenter at Pittsburgli, in that state, and came to Winona in 1879. He was one year in the employ of Conrad Bohn, and then entered the service of the firm of Youmans Bros. & Hodgins, working for them one year in the little factory attached to the sawmill, then superintended the construction of the planing-mill and sash factory in 1875, assuming charge of the manufactui'ing department upon its completion. He is married ; has two children in school, and is a member of the A.O.U.W. fraternity.

B. S. Batchelor, foreman of the planing-mill, is a native of Michigan, and has followed his present business fifteen years, ten of them in the employ of the company with wliom he is now engaged. Mr. Batchelor has been an inhabitant of the state since 1856, and a resident of the city since 1871. Pie is a married man and has two children in the city schools.

W. L. Raymond, engineer and machinist, with Youmans Bros. & Hodgins, is a native of New York. Came to Winona with his parents when three years of age, and has been a permanent resident since his ninth year, a period of eighteen years. He learned his trade with W. M. Hurbert, of this city, with whom he remained nine years, six of them in charge of the shop, before coming to his present position in 1881.

Wm. Rogers, engineer in the Youmans & Hodgins mill, has become of age in their employ, having been on duty with them for twenty-one years. He is a native of Cayuga, New York. Came to Winona in 1858, and was in the old planing-mill of Porter, Garlock & Co., before assuming charge of the engine in this lumber-mill. He is married, owns a pleasant residence on Grand street, and has one

Winona Lumber Company. - This industry, one of the most important in the city, was organized as an individual enterprise, October 1, 1880, by Andrew Hamilton, who at that time owned a tract of land quite in the eastern part of the city, fronting 930 feet on the river and extending southward to Front street. Upon this property, during the winter of 1880-1, Mr, Hamilton erected his mill, E. White, as millwright, having supervision of its construction. This mill is 60x196 feet, with an addition 40x50 feet, and is provided with one 46-incli gang saw and two rotaries. The engine and boiler room is 36 X 84 feet, furnished with engines of 680 horsepower, which will be increased to 1,000 liorse-])ower before the sawing season of 1883 opens. The capacity of the mill, as tested by one day's actual cut, is 221,000 feet per day ; the average daily product 50,000 feet less than tliat amount. The shingle-mill has a capacity of 160,000, with an average product of three-fourths that amount. Lath, about 30,000 daily.

May 1, 1881, this individual enterpi'ise of Mr. Hamilton's was converted into a joint stock company, with a paid up capital stock of $250,000. The officers of the company are : Andrew Hamilton, president; W. H. Laird, vice-president; Wm. Hayes, secretary and treasurer. Since incorporation the company have acquired additional lands from time to time", until they now (October 1, 1882) own a river front of about 2, 500 feet, extending })ackward from the river a width of from one to three blocks. In the fall of 1881 ground was broken for a planing-mill on the southeast block of this property. The foundations were laid in November of that year and planing operations begun March 1, 1882. This mill is 70x116 feet, 28 feet posts, with an engine, boiler and shavings room, of brick, 50 X 70 feet. The planing-mill is run by a Corliss engine of 150 liorse- ])ower, and has a ca])acity of 60,000 feet of dressed lumber daily. The kilns for drying lumber are 36x84 feet, and have a capacity of 120,000 feet. The number of hands employed in the saw and planing mills is about 125, with an equal number at work in the yards, the pay-rolls of the company showing a grand total of 275 men and twenty-six teams. Preparations are now making to start a sash, door and blind factory in the upper story of the planing-mill, and operations will commence some time next month (November, 1882), This branch of their business will give employment to an additional force of from twenty to twenty-five hands. Their log supplies are drawn from the Chippewa river and its tributaries. Shipping facilities are good, tlie open tracks of the Chicago & Northwestern railway traversing their yards from east to west. The great bulk of their lumber finds its market in Minnesota, Dakota, Nebraska and

The pipes of the city waterworks are laid through their yards, and there are nine hydrants upon their premises. These, with the attached hose in both mills, afford excellent protection from fires.

Andrew Hamilton, president of the Winona Lumber Company, is a native of Armagh, Ulster county, Ireland, from which place he came to America in 1846, and ten years later to Winona. In 1860 he formed a partnership with Charles Horton in the lumber business, which they conducted jointly until 1880. For the past ten years Mr. Hamilton has been quite extensively engaged in stock raising, and now owns a tract of 1,200 acres, just east of Sugar-loaf Bluff, upon which he has a fiock of 1,000 merino sheep, seventy-five head of Jersey and grade cattle, from fifteen to twenty head of horses and 100 hogs. From nothing in 1856 to so considerable a financial and commercial standing in 1882 is its own comment upon Andrew Hamilton's business capacity.

Wm. Hayes, secretary of the Winona Lumber Company, is a native of Pennsylvania, and for seven years prior to coming to Winona in 1881 was at Beef Slough, in connection with the Mississippi River Logging Company.

£. White, millwriglit for the Winona Lumber Company, is a native of New York, learned his trade as a millwright in northern Ohio and came to Winona in 1857. With the exception of five years, from 1861 to 1866, when engaged as purchasing agent for the Winona & St. Peter Railway Construction Company, Mr. White has followed his trade. When Mr. Hamilton commenced constructing his mill in 1880 Mr. White was engaged as millwright, and upon its completion assumed charge, and the later buildings of t'lie company have all been built under his supervision. Mr. White is married, has two children, one in attendance at the city schools. He is a member of the A. O. U. W., of this city.

R. H. D. Morrison, engineer of the planing-mill of the Winona Lumber Company, is as proud of his Corliss pet as a grandmother of her first grandchild. He was born an engineer and bred a farmer, coming from Yermont, his native state, to Houston county,

Minnesota, in 1859. From 1866 to 1876 was in the farm machinery business, tlie last three years of tliat time dealing in portable engines. From 1877 to 1879, inclusive, was engineer in the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul elevator in this city, and then took charge of the Corliss engine in the Empire Lumber Company, which he retained until assuming his ])re8ent place in March, 1882, when the planing-mill was started. He is a Master Mason, member of Winona Lodge, No. 18. Married and has two children. One in business college, one in the normal school.

Empire Luimber Company. - This is a joint stock com])any, organized under the laws of Wisconsin, in 1881, and has a capital stock of $800,000. The officers of the company are : President, D. H. Ingraham, of Eau Claire, Wisconsin; vice-president, D. M. Dulany, Hannibal. Missouri ; secretary, Charles Horton, AVinona, Minnesota. The business of the company consists in manufacturing and dealing in lumber. Their mills are at Eau Claire, Wis. , and Dubuque, la. Yards at Winona, Minn., Dubuque, la., andPLmnibal, Mo. TheWinonabusiness at present is confined to dealing in lumber and the manufacture of dressed lumber, sash, doors, blinds, frames and carpenters' materials. The company's premises at this place front 1,200 feet on the river running eastward that distance from Vine street and extend from the river to First street. Here they have erected a planing-mill 60 X80, an engine-house 2-4x50, a sash, door and blind manufactory 42 XlOO, and a store-room 64x150. The engine-room is supplied with a Reynolds Corliss engine of 75-horse power, the planing-mill with two matchers, surfacers, resawing machines, moulders, etc., and has a capacity of 40,000 a day. The business is mainly contract work, but little being manufactured for the general market. The drykiln has a capacity of 10,000 feet a day, and the product is all used in the shop. Employes during the summer season number about 140.

Charles Horton, secretary of the company, and manager of its interests at this point, is a native of New York ; came to Winona in 1856, and has been in lumber business here since that date, first in connection with L. C. Porter, and afterward with Alexander Hamilton, with whom he was in partnership as a lumber dealer from 1860- 80. Mr. Horton is married and has five children, four of them in attendance at the city schools.

G. K. Adams, foreman of the manufacturing department of the Empire Lumber Company, is a native of Rome, New York, and learned his trade in the sash, door and blind factory of IT. S. Crosby

Manufacturing Industries

& Co. , in that city. He came to Winona in 1866, and was for eleven years foreman in tlie factory of Conrad Bolm before coming to his present position with the Empire company, which he did upon the completion of their sash, door and blind factory. Mr. Adams is married and has two children, one in the Winona high school. He is also a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and connected with the A. O. U. D. and A. L. H. beneficiary associations.

CoNBAD BoHN, manufacturer of sash, doors, blinds, mouldings and dressed lumber. This house affords another example of Winona's growth in industrial enterprise, showing how, from small beginnings, mammoth enterprises have been successfully built up and a constantly increasing volume of business secured. Mr. Bohn came to Winona in 1857, very early in the history of the now thriv- ing city, and established business as a carpenter and builder. In 1866 he started a small planing-mill on the corner of Main and Sanborn streets ; principally for the preparation of builders' material, and conducted operations there until 1873, when he removed to his present location at the corner of Front and Laird streets. His property lies principally between Front street and the river on both sides of Laird street, 'it has a frontage of 400 feet on Front street, of 300 feet on the river. Here, in 1873-4, Mr. Bohn erected a twostory and a-half frame manufactory 50x100 feet, and a brick engine and boiler house 45 X 60 feet. These buildings were burned in 1875, and immediately replaced by others, the new manufactory being ten feet wider than the old one. The following year, 1876, a two-story warehouse, 50 X 120 feet, was built. This building is used solely for storing and glazing, and is connected with the main manufactoiy by an elevated gangway. In 1880 a three-story addition, 40x80 feet, was built to the main manufactory ; and in 1882 the old engines of seventy-live liorse power were removed and engines of double that capacity substituted. In addition to the buildings here enumerated are the drying kilns which have a capacity of 8,000 feet of lumber a day, and sheds and temporary structures covering an area of several thousand square feet. Some conception of the operations of the manufactory may be gained from a statement of the raw material daily used. From 20,000 to 25,000 feet of lumber are daily manufactured into doors, blinds, sash, etc., besides which they turn out from 20,000 to 80,000 feet of dressed lumber. The regular monthly product of the manufactory is, 4,000 to 4,500 doors, an equal number of glazed sash and from 2,000 to 3,000 pair of blinds, and their working force 125 men, of whom from 40 to 50 are employed in the manufactory. Their principal market is in the northwest, with a smaller demand from the southwest. The premises are well provided with shipping facilities, as the spur tracks of the Chicago & Northwestern railroad extend along their entire front, and cars are loaded and unloaded from their doors. Their office is connected with the City Telephone Exchange, heated with steam, and furnished with all necessary appliances for the conduct of their constantly growing business. In 1880, in connection with Gebhard Bohn and Geo. W. Bohn, his brother and son, Mr. Conrad Bohn started a branch house in St. Paul ; ^ depot of supplies for the immense building demand of that market. This establishment gives steady employment to thirty men and nine teams. September 15, 1882, the business was converted into a joint stock company with a capital stock of $200,000, one half paid up. The officers of the company are: Conrad Bohn, jiresident; Gebhard Bohn, secretary ; Geo. W. Bohn, treasurer. The business of the manufactory had assumed such proportions that in 1882 Mr. Bohn determined to discontinue the business of contracting and building, in whieli he had been engaged for twenty-five j^ears, and with the expiration of tlieir present contracts his work as builder will be closed out. During the twenty-four years he has followed contracting and building Mr. Bohn has erected some of the notable structures of the state, among which may be mentioned the State Normal School. Winona, and addition to the State Insane Asylum in 1873. With the exception of a partnership with Wilse in 1880-1, Mr. Bohn

Mr. Bohn was born in Hesse-Cassel, Germany, in 1836 ; came to New York in 1851 ; was in that city five years, following his trade as a carpenter and builder, and in 1856 came to Chicago ; from there one year later to Winona, where he has kfept pace with the growth of her industries, himself no inconsiderable factor in the sum total of

Stroth & Aheens, planing-mill, sash, doors and blinds. This manufacturing establishment is located on the corner of Front and Franklin streets, on a lot 210 X 140 feet. The business was established in 1866 as Rose & Co., but was virtually the same establishment as at present, although it did not assume its present firm title ' until two years later. Their buildings are a main manufactory, 50X70 feet, with an addition 22x28 feet, the whole two stories in height and an engine-room 22x45 feet. The engines are of 40 horse-power, and the capacity of the planing-mill from 12,000 to 15,000 feet per day. Business consists in furnishing doors, frames, mouldings, cornice stuff and all carpenters' materials upon contract, as well as manufacturing general stock for which their principal market is Chicago. The manufactory employs a force of 'thirty-five hands on an average, and business for 1882 was about twenty-five per cent in advance of previous season. The members of the firm are C. F. Schroth & Henry Ahrens.

C. F. Schroth is one of the old residents of Winona, having taken up his residence here m 1856 ; has been engaged in business for himself since he was about sixteen years of age ; is married, has two children in the schools of the city.

NooNAN & Stellwagen, Contractors and builders, office and manufactory on the northeast corner of Third and Yine streets. This business was originally established by Wm. Rohweder, in 1863, and was conducted by him with some changes in the firm until 1877. John Stellwagen purchased an interest in the business, the firm becoming Rohweder & Stellwagen. The following year Rohweder sold his interest to Wm. Noonan, who had been taking small contracts here for several years, and the firm became Noonau & Stellwagen. Both members of the firm are excellent mechanics, and their business has rapidly increased during the four years they have conducted it, their contracts for the current year aggregating |100,- 000. Their manufactory for the preparation of building materials, is located on Vine street, between Second and Tliird. It is a twostorv frame bniMing, 30x50 feet, with a one-story addition, 18x50 feet, supplied with an engine of twelve-horse power, and fully equip] )ed with such machinery as is required in their business. They own a frontage of 110 feet on Tliird street and 150 feet on Vine, with a comfortable office, sheds for storage, etc. They emi)loy from fifteen to thirty hands, according to season and press of business. Among their more important constructions are the Winona Mill Company's mill, German Luther schoolhouse. Congregational church interior, })low factory, and have now under contract the German Catholic church, except the stonework, stained-glass windows and interior furniture. Outside of the city they have taken some good contracts, among them the Kasson school building, at a oost of $14,000.

Wm. Noonan was born in Perth, Ontario, in 1839, learned his trade there, removed to Winona in 1866, and has worked as journeyman carpenter or contractor in this city ever since. Was elected a member of the city council in 1877, and represented his ward during two terms, retiring from office in 1881. Mr. Noonan is a member of the Catholic church, married, has four children, all in attendance upon the public schools of this city.

John Stellwagen is a native of Hesse-Darmstadt, born in 1846, came to America with his parents when an infant, and in 1861 settled with them in Winona county. Learned his trade as a carpenter in Utica township, and in 1875 came to this city. Was foreman for C^^nrad Bohn when that contractor was erecting the first wing of the old Rochester Inebriate Asylum in 1876. Mr. Stellwagen is a member of the A. F. and A. M. and Druid fraternities, is married, and his children, six in number, are all in attendance upon the city schools.

A. W. Gage & Co., contractors and builders, manufacturers of sash, doors and blinds. The senior member of this firm is one of Winona's pioneer business men, having continuously conducted operations in this city since the fall of 1855, a period of twenty-six years. After following his trade as a carpenter and builder, in this city, for nine years, Mr. Gage built his manufactoi-y for sash, doors, blinds and building material, in the eastern part of the city, on lower Front street, near the present location of the Empire Lumber Company, to which corporation he sold his real estate in that location in the fall of 1882, after conducting business there for eighteen years. The manufactory at this point was a two-story frame building, 42x76 feet, and the business of the firm employs a force of from fifteen to twenty-five mechanics. Some of the buildings erected by Mr. Gage are veritable landmarks, not only in this city, but in the state. The old Methodist Episcopal church erected by liim in 1856, and still doing duty as a place of worship for the Scandinavian Lutheran church, was the pioneer Methodist Episcopal church of the state, and is so noted in the records of that denomination. The old frame courthouse, which ^11 good citizens desire to see replaced by a new one, was built by Mr. Gage, twenty years ago, on the corner of Third and Washington streets. Among the more modern buildings erected by him are the present Methodist Episcopal church, the Episcopal church and the Presbyterian church, allot them substantial brick and stone structures ; also the Madison school, the Republican block, Choate's, Mues', Wakefield's, and other business blocks, and many of the finest private dwellings in the city. His building operations outside of the city and county have been quite extensive. Among these may be mentioned the Caledonia jail, reputed one of the finest in the state, costing $35,000.

A. W. Gage was born in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania, April 26, 18.^2. Received such an education as the schools of his neighborhood afforded. Learned the carpenter's trade, at which he worked during the summer, teaching school in winter, until 1853, when he came to Dubuque, Iowa, where he was foreman in the mill of C. H. Dickinson & Co. until coming to this city in the spring of 1855. Mr. Gage has always devoted his attention to business and declined any official connection with municipal affairs until the spring of 1881, when he was elected alderman of the second ward, and is the present chairman of the waterworks committee ; a most important post in view of the erection of the new waterworks building and the completion of the water-supply system of the city. September 6, 1856, A. W. Gage was married to Miss Christie E. Gage. Of their three children, two only are living, Miss M. E. Gage, now teaching in the city schools, and A. John Gage, now in attendance at the normal school. Their eldest son, F. T. Gage, died in this city September 21, 1881, aged twenty-four years.

Daniel Gage is a native of Pennsylvania. Learned his trade in Binghamton, N. Y., and in 1856 came to Minnesota, settling in Belle Plaine, Scott countj^, from which place he removed to Winona in 1858. Here he followed his trade, working in town and in the surrounding country until 1864, when he formed a partnership with his cousin, A. W. Gage, which has remained unbroken during a period of eighteen years. The first building erected by the lirra was the Presbyterian church, now standing on the corner of Fifth and Main streets. Mr, Daniel Gage is married and has three children in attendance upon the city schools.

Samuel D. Van Gorder, contractor, is a native of Chemung county, New York. At ten years of age he left home to try his luck in the world, and six years later was running a sash, door and blind factory on his own account, at Catharine, in his native state. He was engaged in this business and in canalboat building until he came to Winona, in 1856. That same season, in company with Joel Mallory, he built the first road leading into Winona, a road across the slough from the city to Sugar Loaf Bluflt, and also the road over the Stockton Bluffs. In September of that year he went to Chicago, and purchasing machinery for a sash, blind and door factory that same fall, in company with Thomas Simpson and one Evans, commenced manufacturing. The following January the factory was sold out to Hamilton & Robinson, and Mr. Van Gorder bought out James Harlan's interest in the sawmill erected by that gentleman and James Wycoff in the fall and winter of 1855. This business was conducted until the spring of 1861, when differences of opinion concerning the management of affairs arising, it was mutually agreed to receive an order from the court for the sale of the property, which was accordingly done, and the property bought in by Mr. Harlan for Van Gorder, but before business was resumed the mill was accidentally burned. He was then in the lumber trade for eighteen months, when he sold out to Mr. Laird, and took the contract for driving the piles for the elevator and bridges of the Winona & St. Peter railway. In com]>any with Joel and R. P. Mallory, he built all the small bridges along the line of the old transit road as far as Rochester, and graded one mile of its track. In the fall of 1863 he took charge of the lumber, wood and tie supplies of the railroad, holding that position one year. In 1865 he put a ferrj^-boat upon the river at this point, and there being no eligible landiqg on the opposite shore, was obliged to land at the old stone house four miles up the river. The first season eleven teams were taken across. This ferry was sold to the city in 1880. In 1869 Mr. Van Gorder opened a stone quarry across the river, and contracted to furidsh and ferry the stone for the railroad bridge over the river at this point. The city having built a road across the Wisconsin bottoms to the blutfs in 1867, he was interested in establishing a stage route into Wisconsin, and providing for its transfer over the river. In company with one, Jenkins, in 1879, he took a government contract of $20,000 for river improvement. In connection with the waterworks improvements of tills year, he laid about 1,800 feet of water-main for the city, and dug the well at the works, fifty-two feet diameter, depth of stone curbing twenty-eight feet. In October, 1882, he contracted with the city to build a road across the Wisconsin bottoms, one and a quarter miles long, bridged and graded above high-water mark. He was chief of city police during the years 1877-78-80-81. Is a member of Winona Lodge, No. 18, A. F. and A. M., of Winona Chapter, No. 5, R. A. M., and of Coeur de Lion Commandery, No. 3. Mr. Yan Gorder has never married, but since his fifteenth year has chai-ged liiraself with the support of his parents and an invalid sister now living with him.

Nicholas Monk, contractor for stone and' brick work, is a native of Germany, born in 1842. He learned his trade in Holstein, his native place, and came to the United States in 1867, settling in Winona the same year. The stone and brick work of the Postofiice block, the Stevens^ block, the Wakefield block, the Congregational Church, and the new waterworks building and stand-pipe, are specimens of his mechanical skill. During the building season he employs a considerable force of men, according to the demands of business. His waterworks contract, for building and stand-pipe moving, is $22,000. Mr. Monk has a wife and two children living, one of the children now in the city schools.

DoDD, Son & Co., manufacturers of flour barrels, central office and main manufactory at Winona, branch manufactories at La Crosse Wisconsin, and Hokah, Lanesboro and Isenourse, Minnesota. The business of this firm consists in preparing material for flour barrels and manufacturing them, and no better sample of a growing Winona industry could be given than the history of the operations of this firm affords. During the twenty j^ears of their existence here they have grown from a small hand manufactory, employing two or three hands, to a giant industry, working extensive machinery and employing a force of 140 operatives. Business was begun in this city in 1862 by Chauncey Doud, who had previously been engaged in similar business in New York and Illinois. The name of the firm was Doud & Son, the "son" being at that time in charge of operations in Wisconsin. Their fiivst factory was located on Grand street, between Second and Third, and from there was removed to Wilson street, one block east of the original location, in 1864. Here they remained, gradually extending operations until they were burned out, in July, 1880, when a move was made to their present location. When the firm became Doud, Son & Co., in March, 1874, their manufactory had grown to include two shops, each 22 X 50, in which a force of twenty-five hands was employed, with a product of a little more than 300 barrels a day, no machinery being used. One of these shops was destroyed by fire in 1875, and a new one immediately erected, 24x100 feet. In 1878 an addition of 40 feet was made to this building, and machinery put in for champering, leveling, crozing and tressing. By this means their capacity was increased to 800 barrels a day, with an actual product of about four-fifths that amount. When these buildings were destroyed by fire, July 17, 1880, Doud, Son & Co. removed to their present location on the north side of Mark street, just east of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul passenger depot, where they immediately rebuilt and resumed operations. Their property extends along Mark street a distance of 332 feet, runs to the alley in the rear, and fronts the tracks of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul "railroad, with which they have ample switch connections. Upon these premises, in 1880, they erected a two-stc-ry frame manufactory, 140x28 feet, and a storehouse, 100 X 26 feet. They also erected, the same year, on ground leased from the railroad company, and along the main track of that corporation, a one-story stockhouse, 24x100 feet. In 1881 an addition of 112 feet was made to the manufactory and of 100 feet to the storehouse, making these buildings 252 feet and 200 feet respectively. When the 1881 additions were made the firm duplicated their machinery, and they have now in operation two complete sets, with an aggregate capacity of 2,000 barrels daily, an actual product of 1,500 barrels a day, and a working force of 140 hands. The Messrs. Doud have largely manufactured their own staves from the beginning of their business, but prior to 1876 this work was done where their barrel manufactories were located. Since that date their stave factories have been in the woods. These factories were located at Doudville and Kudolph, in Wood county, Wisconsin, and gave employment to a force of eighty operatives and nine teams prior to the disastrous fire of May 28, 1882, by which their Doudville factory and store were burned, and a loss of $40,000 sustained. The location at Doudville was then abandoned and a new factory erected at Pittsville, in the same county. No statistics of the Wisconsin and other Minnesota barrel manufactories are given, these not being legitimately connected with Winona county industries. The product of the Winona manufactory is largely marketed at home ; the other along the lines of the Minnesota Southern railroad. The present members of the firm are C. Dowd, K. T. Dowd, C. G. Doud and Geo. S. Doud.

Chauncy Doud, the senior member of the firm, was born in Turin, Lewis county, JStew York, August 15, 1809; was brought up on a farm, and followed that business from his youth until 1849, when he ^ceased farming and gave his whole attention to barrel manufacturing, a business in which he had been more or less engaged for some years. Leaving New York in 1837, Mr. Doud removed to St. Clair county, Michigan, farmed it five years, then located in Oswego, Kendall county, [llinois, where he was engaged in farming from 1842 to 1849, at which time he removed to Lockport, Will county, in the same state, and established his barrel raaimfactory, an industry he has now constantly followed for thirty-three years. Marcli 7, 1834, Chauncey Doud married Sarah C. Comstock, of Philadelphia, Jefferson county, New York, with whom he has now been living almost a full half-century. They have six children : two sons, members of the firm of Doud, Son & Go., and four daughters, tliree of them married, and residing out of the state, and one unmarried, residing at home.

The L. C. Portek Milling Company was organized under the firm name of Porter & Mowbray in 1874, and so continued until 1879, when L. C. Porter bought out the interest of Mr. Mowbray and continued the business under the name it now bears. The property occupied by this industry extends along the riverfront eastward from Market street 430 feet, and runs southward one block and a half. Upon this property, in 1874, their mill was erected, a five-story frame building, 70 X 40 feet, provided with nine run of stone and having a capacity of 250 barrels of flour a day. Their engine and boiler house was a two-story brick, 36x70, built the same year. Three years later they built their elevator, 50 X 70 feet and sixty feet in height, having a capacity of 50,000 bushels. This was increased in 1882 to 90,000 bushels storage, and a handling capacity of 5,000 bushels per day. The capacity of the mill was increased from time to time until in ISSl It had attained a capacity of 500 barrels a day, using both rollers and burrs. The mill was then comi)letely remodeled, the number of rollers increased to twenty-two and the capacity enlarii^ed to r)00 barrels. The redaction is done on rollers, tlie pulverizing of the middlings on burrs, of which there are live run. The capacity of the engines in the mill are rated 300 horse-power, the elevator is supplied with a separate engine of 25 horse-power. Grain is supplied from their own warehouses and elevators along the line of the Winona & St. Peter railway. Of these they have now in operation about twenty, and will double that number next season. Of the grain thus received from points westward as far as the Dakota grain fields, only the choicest samples are used for milling purposes, the inferior grades being shipped to the eastern market. They also handle great quantities of salt and coal through their western warehouses. Shipments of fiour are principally to the eastern home market and to the ports of Great Britain and Ireland. Sawdust is used exclusively for fuel, and their mill was the first one employing steam power exclusively in the state, such power being deemed too costly for profitable employment. The various departments of their business are officered as follows : O. L. Marheld, in charge of wheat department ; W. TI. Sims, head miller ; F. A. Coons, chief engineer. The whole force of the mill is about sixty hands.

Louis and came to this city in 1866. Was in the sliops of the Phoenix Iron Works two years, the engineer for Yonmans Bros. & Hodgins one year, then in the same position for Laird, Morton & Co. eight years, at the expiration of which time he entered the service of the Porter Milling Company. Mr. Coones is married and has one child. He is a member of Prairie Lodge, No. 7, I.O.O.F., and also a stockholder in the Winona Building Association.

O. L. Marfield, supe'rintendent of grain department of the Porter Milling Company, is a native of Ohio ; was bred a miller at Chillicothe, in that state, and conducted milling business there on his own account from 1860 until he came to Minnesota for his health in August, 1881, and assumed charge of the wheat department of this house.

W. H. Sims, head miller of the Porter Milling Company, is a native of England ; followed the trade of miller, to which he was bred, for twelve years in his native country before coming to Winona in 1866. Was in charge of the mill of H. Miller, his brother-in law, at Minnesota City, in this county, previous to accepting the position of head miller with the L. C. Porter Milling Company in 1879.

N. C. Gault, manufacturer of Schoonmaker's patent copper lightning cable. This industry is of recent establishment, the letters patent under which the manufacture is conducted bearing date June 28, 1881. These letters patent cover both the idea and process of forming a hollow zinc wire, overlaid with sheet copper, and twisting the same into a continuous flexible cable. The advantages of the cable rod are its superior conducting properties, its unbroken continuation from the point above the standard to its ground termination, its indestructibility, and its absolute flexibility, by means of which it is capable of the most natural adjustment to all surfaces. The portion above the roof is strengthened by the insertion of a solid steel rod in the center chamber of the spiral, which gives abundant security against possible displacement. The manufacture is superintended by the patentee, who has assigned all his right therein to H. D. Morse and N. C. Gault. The manufactory is a two-story frame building on the alley between Second and Third streets, in the rear of the ' 'Tribune" building, 20 X 70 feet. The manufactory has a present capacity of 5,000 feet of cable per day, with the hand machine now in use, but this capacity will be more than doubled by the introduction of some motor the coming season. Their cable coils are from 250 feet to 500 feet in length, of two sizes, one having a diameter of nine-sixteenths of an inch, the other of five-eighths of an inch. They also manufacture gold and silver plated points, arrows and vanes, as well as the necessary standards. The manufacture is exclusively for wholesale trade, as the manufacturers are not engaged in ]>utting up rods. Though yet in its infancy, the demand is rapidly extending, and already some fifty firms are handling the rod in the various northwestern states.

The proprietor, N. C. Gault, is a native of New Hampshire, born near Concord, in that state, in 1822 ; was brought up on the home farm, and followed farming until coming to Winona in April, 1856. He was engaged in the hardware trade here until 1863 ; closed business, and the following year entered the United States service with the 11th reg. Minn. Inf.; was soon after enlistment elected quartermaster of the regiment, and served with it until it was mustered out. Returning to Winona he was appointed United States ganger for the first congressional district of Minnesota, and served until 1875, during part of which time he was oil inspector under state appointment. Since 1875 was not actively in business until he engaged in his present industry. He is a prominent member of the Baptist church in this city, in which he has held the office of deacon twenty-four years.

James H. Schoon maker, patentee and superintendent of manufactory, is a native of New York ; came to Winona in 1869, and for the past ten years has been engaged in the manufacture of lightning rods, principally the old star rod, Chadwick's ])atent, for the firm of Morse, Miner & Co.

Lamprecht & Kaiser, manufacturers of glue, soap, tallow and neatsfoot oil. This business was established in 1880, in its present location, block No. 23, Bander's addition to the city of Winona. Their buildings are respectively 30 X 20 feet and 36 X 80 feet, and they employ an engine of fifteen-horse power in the manufactory. Their weekly product is 1,200 pounds of soap, 2,000 pounds of tallow, 4r>0 pounds of glue, and one-half barrel of neatsfoot oil, to produce which they employ four workmen.

John Lamprecht was born in Prussia in 1843, was bred a machinist, came to America in 1867, and worked at his trade in Chicago until he came to Winona in 1880.

Emil Kaiser was bom in Baden, Germany, in 1848 ; learned the trade of soapmaker in his native country, from whicli he came to America in 1868. In 1870 he settled in Winona, and conducted

SuCxAR Loaf Brewery, P. Bub, proprietor. This manufactory was established in its present location in 1862, by Jacob Weisbrod, at which time it had a capacity of about 500 barrels a year. This capacity was increased from time to time until 1872, when about 1,000 barrels a year were manufactured. In this year the old brewery burned, and Peter Bub, who had been Mr. Weisbrod's foreman for two years, purchased the property. This consists of a tract of about seven acres, at the junction of the old Sugar Loaf road, with that skirting the north shore of the lake. Here, in 1872, Mr. Bub erected his brewery, the main structure 48X52 feet, three stories in height, with a one-story addition 24x36 feet, and two icehouses, respectively, 60X100 feet and 20x80 feet. This brewery had a capacity of 4,000 barrels a year. In 1882 the whole was remodeled and a new three-story stone building, 52x70 feet, added, increasing the capacity of the manufactory to 20,000 barrels, with an actual product of about one-third that amount. The brewery proper as it now stands is a solid three-story stone structure, 52x118 feet, and cellars of 2,000 barrels storage capacity. An additional icehouse, 24X36, has also been built ; he harvests his own ice crop, keeps a force of ten hands and three teams, at least two-thirds of. his product finding a ready market at home.

Mr. Bub was born in Bavaria, in 1842, was bred to the brewer's trade, and at twenty-five years of age came to America, direct to Milwaukee, where he was for three years in the employ of the Best Brewing Company before coming to Winona in 1870. Here he was in the employ of Jacob Weisbrod, as foreman two years, then purchased the property.

The PtEBUiLDiNG AND REPAIRING Shops of the Wiuoua & St. Peter and the Dakota division of the Chicago & Northwestern railway at this point take front rank among the great industries of the city. These shops are located upon a tract of forty acres, owned and occupied by the railway company, situated just within the corporate limits of the city on the west. Upon this property have been erected from time to time the principal machine and other shops of the above-named railway divisions ; miles of side-track have been laid for siding cars, repairing same on track and giving ingress and egress to the company's own trains of coal, iron, timber and other supplies. The minor repair shops at Waseca, Sleepy-Eye, Tracy,

Watertown and Huron are only brandies from this parent stem, drawing their sup})lies from this d^pot, re))()rting all work done and supplies furnished to these headquarters, upon whose time-rolls they are borne and upon whose ))ay-rolls they are paid. The seventyfive engineers and firemen along both divisions in like manner report to and are connected with this center, from which emanates the authority controlling -900 miles of track and a working force of 450 mechanics and laborers.

The buildings now standing upon this property are : Machine shop (main building), 175 feet long, sixty-four feet wide, with walls twenty-four feet high ; opening into this building is the shop for boiler repairs, 66x40 feet with eighteen feet walls ; the blacksmith shop, 80x40 feet, with twenty feet walls, in which a steam hammer has just been placed that can strike a ten-ton blow. These buildings are all of brick, solid stone foundations and truss roofs. The rail mill, a frame building 80x40 feet, in which with a 40-inch steel disk they saw cold rails and drill, punch, straighten and saw cold iron. The power for driving the macliinery in these four buildings is supplied by an engine of eighty-horse power, stationed in an attached engine and boiler-house, 60x40 feet. The roundhouse, also of brick, has stalls for twenty-two engines. The water-tank has a capacity of 90,000 gallons, supplied by pumps for which the engine fui-nishes motor. Water is distributed through pipes to the several buildings with head sufficient to afford protection in case of fire, and is also utilized for washing engines. The clerks' office, 24x40, is a neat wooden building just between the main machine shop and the main track of the road which traverses the yard from east to west. These buildings are all on the south side of the main track, as are also the coal and sand houses. The house for Blossburg coal, usedin blacksmith shop, is 20X60, eighteen feet high, with a lean-to for charcoal ; the soft coal house is 100x46 with twenty-foot posts, and the sandhouse 40x60 with eighteen-foot posts.

Upon the north side of the track are the main car shop, a twostory frame building 150 feet long and SO feet wide, with a brick engine and boiler room on the northwest, 20 X 20, with iron roof, furnished with engines of forty-horse power. This car shop contains all the machinery for woodwork, the paint shop and the upholsterer's room. A second car shop, 40x120, with a lean-to for castings for cai- department, 20 X 60 ; a storeroom, 60 X 40, two stories for casting and su]»])lies for machinery department and an oilhouse,

16X36, complete the buildings on north side of track, and, with the exception of the bridge shop, concludes the catalogue of the buildings at this point.

The oifice of the master mechanic is in the main machine shop, where with his telegraph operator at his elbow he has direct communication with every station along the lines of his double division. The number of men in the employ of the company at this point are-: Machine shop, 50 ; boiler shop, 18 ; blacksmith shop, 24 ; rail mill, 16 ; roundhouse, 40 ; tin and coppersmiths, 5 ; carpenters and truckmen in main car shop, 25 ; laborers, 8 ; painters, 4 ; upholsterers, 1 ; car repairers on track and oilers, 15 ; engineers for stationary engines, 2 ; coal and wood men, 10 ; storeroom keepers, 3 ; a clerical force of 4 and 1 telegrapli operator.

W. A. Scott, master mechanic, is a native of New York, and has been in the employ of the company for twenty-four years, gradually working his way up. In 1867 he was appointed foreman of the machine shops of the company at Belle Plaine, Iowa, prior to which time he had been a locomotive engineer of six years' standing and three years' shop experience. Was there nine years, then transferred to Kendall, Wisconsin, from whicli place, after one year's service, he was assigned to duty as foreman of the shops at Harvard, Illinois ; remained there eighteen months, when he was appointed master mechanic of these divisions and removed to Winona in 1878. Mr. Scott was made a Master Mason in 1862, a Royal Arch Mason in 1863, and took the commandery degrees in 1864. He has held many positions of honor in the fraternity. Was grand' treasurer of the grand chapter of Iowa in 1874 ; eminent commander of St. Bernard Commandery, Belle Plaine, Iowa, from 1872-5 ; generalissimo of Woodstock Commandery, Blinois, in 1876 ; captain-general of Coeur de Lion Commandery in this city in 1881, and its most eminent commander in 1882 ; is a member and director of the boai-d of trade, Winona Mill Company, Winona Wagcm Company and the Winona Silver Mining Company ; is married, and has one child.

G. W. Williams, general foreman of the locomotive department of the Chicago & Northwestern railway shops at this point, was assigned to that position January 1, 1878, and has been in the employ of the company the greater part of the time since 1864. Mr. Williams is a native of New York ; served an apprenticeship of three years at his trade as a machinist in the shops of the Delaware & Lackawana railroad at Scranton, Pennsylvania ; entered the service of the

New York & Erie road at Susquehana and Port Jervis, a) id was in their emjjloy tour years, when he came to Chicago and entered the service of the Chicago & Northwestern raih-oad in 1864. He came from the Chicago shops to assume charge of his department here in 1878. As an inventor, Mr. Williams has acliieved success. In 1882 he took out letters patent for his " Piston-])acking Adjuster." This invention consists of a volute or spiral spring so mechanically connected that it will adjust the packing as it wears and balance the piston in the cylinder. This invention has been suthciently tested to prove its value as a force economizer. Its introduction in the Evartt's flouring-mill at Waseca enabled them to turn out twenty barrels of flour additional in each day's run. August 1, 1881, Mr. Williams took out letters patent for an invention destined in the opinion of competent judges to supersede all other journal bearings. This is the " Asbestos bearing," designed to prevent journals from running hot, as it sustains a heat of 1,800 degrees before burning. It consists of an asbestos filling compressed into a metal cylinder under a pressure of thirty tons, forming a cartridge of about one inch diameter. These cartridges are inserted into holes drilled in the bearing surfaces of boxes and journals and left flush, not only giving absolute security against hot journals, but greatly reducing the cost of lubrication, as the soapy nature of the asbestos constitutes it an excellent lubricator in itself The bearing has already been introduced into Youmans Bros. & Hodgins and Laird, Norton & Co's sawmills in this city ; into Troost's flouring-mill at Minnesota City, and ran 386 miles on the tender of a passenger engine over the Chicago & Northwestern railway without one drop of lubrication, giving no sign of overheating. It is a safety bearing, so far as danger from fire through overheated journals is concerned, and an economizer of force and oil, reducing, as it does, the amount of friction and the need of lubrication. Mr. Williams is married and has one child four years of age. He is a member of Winona Lodge, No. 18, A. F. and A. M., and of Winona Chapter, No. 5, KA.M. Wm. H. Bennett, foreman of car works, has been in the employ of the company for the greater part of the last twelve years, with headquarters at Winona. He is a native of Maryland, a carpenter by trade, and in 1869 came west to Chicago, thence the same season to La Crosse, and finally to Winona. Has been in charge of car department since May 1, 1879. Mr. Bennett is a member of

John McNalJv, foreman of the blacksmith shop, has been in the employ of the company since 1875, and since Angust 1, 1878, has been foreman in these shops. He learned his trade in the shops of the Cumberland and Pennsylvania railroad, in Maryland, and was with that company seven years ; then from 1871 to 1875 was at work in Pittsburgh and St. Louis.

Engineers' Department Chicago & Northwestern railway, for all divisions west of Mississippi river in Minnesota and Dakota, headquarters in depot building, Winona. John E. Blunt, chief engineer. This department has charge of all maintenance of ways and erection of buildings for the company within the territory above specified. The principal work now in hand is the construction of the Iroquois branch of the Dakota Central, from Iroquois to Callope, a distance of 127 miles. The buildings erected in Winona under the supervision of this department, not included among the shops under the master mechanic's charge, are notably the grain elevator, built under the management of the old transit company. Dimensions 60x450 feet, and the new depot building. This last structure, built during the season of 1880-81, and taken possession of in the spring of the latter year, is a two-story brick, stone foundations and basement, mansard roof, composite architecture, extreme length 150 feet, width 46-| feet. The exterior presents quite an ornate appearance, and the interior is conveniently arranged to meet the purposes of its construction. In it are the general offices of this division, ticket office, waiting-rooms, and depot hotel.

John E. Blunt, chief engineer, is a native of Tennessee. Graduated at Andover, Massachusetts, class of 1847, and from the mechanical school at Newburyport, same state, in the class of 1849. Leaving school, he attached himself to the engineering corps of B. C. Morse, and was with him in the south until 1857, principally in Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama, and was still in the south when the war of 1861-5 broke out. The following year, 1862, came to Chicago, and was in the employ of the old Galena Railroad Company (at that time the Chicago & Galena Union) when that road was absorbed by the Chicago tfe Northwestern system in 1864. Came, with the absorption of the Galena road, into the employ of the Chicago & Northwestern road, and was connected with the Galena division until he was transferred to Winona in 1878, in charge of the Western depart- mcnt, Mr. Blunt is a member of the Congregational church, married, has three children in school in this city, one daui»;hter pursuing her studies at Newburyport, Massachusetts, and one son, a physician, in ])ractice at Clinton, Iowa.

C. C. Puder, assistant engineer, is a luitive of Portland, Maine, and came to Winona in 1878, when Mr. Blunt assumed charge of the department.

Bridge ano Bcildkrs' de[)artment of Winona & St. Peter division Chicago & North western i-ailway ; Alex. Doig, foreman. This department of construction employs a force of from 120 to 220 mechanics and laborers, of whom one-fourth are i-esidents of Winona or tributary to its trade. The principal work of the past tliree years has been in the Stockton blufts, where a large amount of labor, money and material has been ex])ended. The accompanying statement will afibrd some idea of the work of this department within the county limits during the period above specified. Bridge No. 28, constructed in 1880, consists of a solid stone arch of 10 feet; No. 29, which was originally a wooden tressel-bridge 479 feet long, was replaced, in 1880-81, by a riveted iron bridge 85 feet long; No. 21, constructed in 1881 at Stockton water-tank, is a riveted iron bridge, single span of 64 feet; No. 26, originally a wooden tressel-bridge Y20 feet long, was replaced, during 1881-82, by a two-span riveted iron bridge with ])iers and abutments, each span 55 feet in length. The tresselwork of tlie approaches to this bridge is being solidly filled to make. a permanent roadway ; No. 27, which was originally a wooden tressel of 732 feet, is being replaced by two 32-foot arches, work not yet completed ; No. 30, recently commenced, is to consist of one 32-foot arch. The approaches to these constructions will all be made as suljstantially as possible, and as rapidly as may be a permanently soliil roadbed established.

Mr. Doig, the foreman of this department, is a native of Dundee, Scotland. Came to America in 1856. Learned his trade as a housebnilder in Illinois and Minnesota, and commenced work as a bridge builder the same year that he came to this city, 1865. Was assistant under D. Leary, the first bridge foreman on the road, until Mr. Leary went into the service of the Southern Minnesota road in 1876, when the assistant became forenuin. Mr. Leary, so well known to Winona county people, is at present the superintendent of bridges and building on the Canada Pacific I'oad, so that the Winona & St. Peter division of the Chicago & Northwestern mav be said to

S. Sanborn, superintendent of the Winona & St. Peter division of tlie Clnc'no^o & Northwestern railway, extending from Winona to Waterto wn, with branch ; aggregate mileage of track 407 miles. Mr. Sanborn commenced his raih'oad career in 185fi, at the very bottom of the hidder, first as depot employe and then as brakeman on the old Milwaukee & Mississippi railway, now the Prairie du Chien division of the Milwaukee & St. Paul. January 17, 1863, he entered the service of the Chicago & Northwestern road as freight ao-ent. In 1872 was appointed general agent for the road at Milw^iukee, and two years later, April, 1874, was assigned to duty as superintendent of' the Winona & St. Peter division, with headquarters in this city. He is married and has one child, now in attendance at the State Normal School here.

Wm. P. Cosgrove, chief train-dispatcher Winona & St. Peter division of Chicago & Northwestern railroad, is a native of Michigan and a telegraph operator of twenty-seven years' experience. In 1857 he assumed charge of the first telegraph office opened for commercial purposes in the city of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. In 1858 he took an instrument in the general office of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railroad at Milwaukee, and was chief train dispatcher there for twelve or fourteen years prior to assuming duties at their headquarters in 1874. He is married and has three children, one of them in attendance at the State Normal and one in

Phgenix Ironworks, corner Third and Winona streets ; W. M. Hurlbert, proprietor. These works were established in 1866 by Mr. Hurlbert, who, after fifteen years' experience in the machine shops of the Vermont Central railway, came to Winona in 1863 to establish the machine shops of the Winona & St. Peter railways. The Phcenix Works were started on the second block west from that now occupied, on rented ground, and here in September, 1866, Mr. Hurlbert erected his first manufactory, 30X90 feet. This building, destroyed by fire in February, 1867, was replaced the same montli by one 30x100 feet, business suffering interruption only for a short period. The lots upon which the manufactory stood not being in the market, in the summer of 1857 Mr. Hurlbert purchased one-half of the block lying between Winona and Huff, on the south side of Third street, along which it fronts 300 feet, having a frontage of 150 on Winona. To this property Mr. llurlbert removed his machine shop in 1867; built a two-story wood-sliop 30x60 feet and a blacksmith shop 20 X 30 feet. The foundry, a solid stone structure, 40X 65 feet, with iron truss roof, was erected four years later, in 1871. A general machine business is done, both repairing and jobbing, quite an extensive manufacturer of Minnesota seeders conducted and employment given to a force of from twenty-five to fifty hands, according to season. An engine of twenty-five horse-power supplies motor for the machinery, and steam for the heating apparatus. The works are furnished with lathes.

Mr. Hurlbert was born in Walpole, New Hampshire ; removed early in life to Northfield, Vermont, and there learned his trade as a machinist in the shops of the Vermont Central railway. Was in charge of their work at that point when he accepted a situation as master-mechanic of the Winona & St. Peter Railway Company, and in that capacity came to Winona in 1863, established their shops and managed them two years, when he resigned his position and soon afterward engaged in his present industry, which he has managed successfully for over sixteen years. In 1867 Mr. Hurlbert patented his Minnesota seeder, which has quite an extensive sale throughout the northwest.