Marathon County, Wisconsin - Chapter 23, 1913

Curtis & Yale Company

The Curtis & Yale Company is not only the largest manufacturing and labor employing establishment in Wausau, but as a manufacturer of sash, door, blinds, mouldings, and interior finishings, it ranks among the most extensive and best equipped establishments in the state of Wisconsin. The factory was established in 1881 by Curtis Brothers & Co., of Clinton, Iowa, as a branch of their large Clinton establishment of the same kind, and grew from a modest beginning to its mammoth proportions of today.

In January i, 1893, the new firm succeeded to the business, having been incorporated under the laws of Iowa, with the following named persons as its officers: G. M. Curtis, president, residing at Clinton, Iowa; S. M. Yale, vice-president, residing at Minneapolis, Minnesota ; C. S. Curtis, secretary and treasurer, residing at Wausau. Wisconsin.

The fimi has jobbing houses at Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Detroit, Michigan; also branch sales offices at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and Washington, District of Columbia, and a purchasing office at Spokane, \\'ashington.

The firm has two plants in \\'ausau : Plant No. i located on Clinton street and First avenue, is the original plant for the manufacture of sash, doors, and all interior finishings. Plant No. 2 was originally a chair factory started as a stock corporation with municipal aid to the amount of $10,000, given by the city of Wausau, and like most plants of this sort, had a short existence. The factory was sold by the assignee and purchased by the Curtis & Yale Company, an entire set of new machinery was put in, and it became plant No. 2 of the Curtis & Yale Company. It is located on the east end of Sherman street, and there is manufactured basswood products and screen goods mainly. The main office is at Wausau, W^isconsin, on comer of Clinton street and First avenue.

ooo. It is incorporated with a capital stock of $300,000 and has a surplus exceeding the capital stock. It employs its own "designers" for planing "interior finishings'' and first-class mechanics and artists in the line of wood cuttings and engravings. Needless to say, it has an automatic sprinkling system for fire protection and powerful pumps able to throw four streams of water completely over the mammoth buildings. Steam engines of 500-horse power, and two other engines for generating electrical current furnish the motive power.

It employs on an average about 600 men and, excepting a few weeks, when the factories close annually for repairs, it has been in continuous operation since its beginning in 1881.

Its present officers are : George M. Curtis, of Clinton, Iowa, president ; Stephen M. Yale, of Minneapolis, Minnesota, vice-president; Cornelius S. Curtis, Wausau, Wisconsin, secretary and treasurer; Walter E. Curtis, \\'ausau, assistant secretary and treasurer.

The Barker & Stewart Lumber Company

has its mill on the Mclndoe Island on the main river just above the dam. It was erected in 1880 by Clark, Johnson & Co., which firm sold out in 1887 to C. C. Barker and H. C. Stewart.

This company organized later as a corporation doing business under its present title. It is a modern saw mill and capable of sawing about 80,000 feet of lumber in ten hours.

There is also a planing mill for planing, matching, and dressing lumber, capable of turning out 100,000 feet of dressed lumber in ten hours. Particular attention is given by this firm to the retail lumber trade. The power to run the mill is furnished by a Corlis engine ; boilers set up in battery supply the steam, and all machinery is of the newest approved patterns.

The company is capitalized at $300,000 and employs about 250 men, most of them at the mill in Wausau, only a few in the woods, as most of their logging is done by contract. The annual capacity is about 40 million feet of lumber, of which about 50 per cent is hemlock and the rest is hardwood and pine.

The officers of the corporation are: W. C. Landon, president and manager, Wausau, Wisconsin ; S. B. Stewart, vice-president, Portland, Oregon ; H. C. Stewart, secretary and treasurer, Wausau, Wisconsin.

The B. Heinemann Lumber Company

The first and oldest saw mill property at the site of the George Stevens mill, which was built at Wausau in 1839-40, passed into possession of W. D. Mclndoe in 1848, who tore down the old mill and erected a new mill a little further down. That mill passed into possession of the A. Stewart Lumber Company after the death of W. D. Mclndoe, and was operated by it until 191 1, when it ceased sawing having exhausted its timber supply.

The water rights were sold to the street railway company of Wausau, but not the mill proper, which passed into the possession of the B. Heinemann Lumber Company in 1912 by purchase, which has timber enough within less than fifty miles to keep up sawing for twenty-five years.

The saw mill proper consists of a Degroat, Giddings and Lewis band mill, one circular saw, each with steam feed, one combination Murray edger with strip machine, also shingle and lath mill, having a capacity for sawing 175,- 000 feet of lumber in 20 hours besides a large quantity of shingles and lath.

The planing mill has five machines for planing and matching lumber. One large double sur facer and cut off machine, and is capable of turning out 100,- 000 feet of dressed lumber in a run of 10 hours.

The power to run this mill is furnished by a Buckeye steam engine of 450 horse power, with 22-inch cylinder and 32-inch stroke. Four steel boilers each 16 feet by 60 inches set in battery supply the steam; the engine house is 23 by 34 feet, absolutely fireproof, the iron roof resting on iron beams. The planing mill is run by electric power furnished by the Wausau Street Railway Company.

The corporation is capitalized at $200,000. Its officers are : B. Heinemann, president; W. D. Heinemann, vice-president; G. B. Heinemann, secretary and treasurer. Office at Wausau, Wisconsin.

Mortensen Lumber Company

commenced business in 1893, purchased in that year the Leahy & Beebe mill, situated on the west shore of the river opposite of the pumping station. It is a first-class saw mill in every respect. Its capacity is 75,000 feet in ten hours with the usual quantity of shingles and lath.

It has a planing mill separate and distinct from the saw mill, operated under its own separate power, situated a short distance west from the saw mill. It is incorporated with a capital of $100,000. all paid up, gets its logs nearly entirely by rail, and has been running every year since the present manage-

Its present officers are : J. jMortenson, president ; F. P. Stone, vice-president and- secretary; Charles Edgar, treasurer; J. Henry Johannes, assistant treasurer.

The Schubrixg Lumber Company

is operating a first-class saw mill in the southwest part of Wausau. It was built only four years ago, although one of the incorporators, Mr. F. Schubring, had been in the lumber business for a number of years, and had owned a smaller saw mill in the town of Hamburg in this county. The mill has a band saw and a lath mill, is operated by steam, and has all the appliances of a modern mill, such as auto trucks, etc.

It is incorporated for $40,000 and does a large custom sawing besides sawing its own lumber. During the last two or three years, it was sawing for Boswell & Co., they bringing their logs for nearly one hundred miles to be manufactured by this mill.

Yawkey Lumber Company

has an office at \\'ausau, but does not manufacture here. The same is true also of the "Yawkey-Bissell Lumber Company," "Wisconsin Timber Company," and "Cisco Lake Lumber Company," in all of which C. C. Yawkey is interested. But he is also largely financially engaged in the "Wausau Street Railroad Company," in the "Marathon County Paper Mills," in the "Wausau Paper Mills," in other large industrial concerns, and a stockholder in the banks in the city.

Alexander Stewart Lumber Company

which succeeded to the mill property of the Hon. W. D. Mclndoe some years after the latter's demise, was the largest lumber fimi on the Wisconsin river until is ceased operations in 191 1, having converted all their timber into lumber at that time, and it has disposed of its manufacturing plant. The corporation is still alive, but employing but a few men, selling and disposing of the

It is incorporated for $500,000, and from the time of their organization their officers were : Alexander Stewart, president ; John Stewart, vice-president; Walter Alexander, secretary and treasurer.* is a well established institution. It was formerly located at Appleton, Wisconsin, but removed its machinery and business to Wausau in 1893, ^^'^ ^^^ been in continuous and successful operation ever since.

It has now one of the largest \eneer machines in the country, and is one of the best equipped factories in the West. It works up not only all kinds of native woods of Wisconsin, but imports and uses up large quantities of the finest southern woods. The products of this establishment is mainly used in the manufacture of fine furniture, but is not confined to that alone.

Picture backing "figured birch'' and "quartered oak" are also manufactured by this institution, which purchases the hardwood logs which the forests of Marathon county yield in abundant quantities, giving the farmer a chance to dispose of his surplus timber to good advantage. The log is first put in steam vats and remains under the action of the boiling steam for twelve hours ; then the bark is removed and the log put through the machines, which cut the timber in all thicknesses demanded from 1/64 to }i of an inch.

Most of the fine birch oak is cut up in 1-30, 1-20 and 1-16 of an inch, basswood mostly, from ^ to ^ of an inch, and other woods are worked up comparatively in the same manner. The fine hardwoods are, as a rule, always cut thinner than soft woods. This factory has in its equipment a patent drying machine invented by Mr. Underwood (its former president, now deceased), by means of which the factory is enabled to take a fresh cut log in the morning, cut it into veneer and have it dried by this process and made fit for use in one day.

This factory has run continuously even in the dull years from 1894 to 1896, losing no time at all, except on an occasional break-down. Some years ago it substituted electrical power furnished by the street railway company for its steam power. It employs on an average 125 hands.

The Wausau Box & Lumber Company

is situated on the site formerly occupied by tlie R. P. Manson planing mill. It manufactures all kinds of K. D. packages usually called box shooks. The material is cut to size ready to be nailed up into boxes at destination. This industry has grown to be a part of the commercial world, slowly but surely, the last hundred years, probably since goods began to be manufactured and shipped, as a package was necessary for the shipment.

This company is capitalized for $100,000. It was incorporated in 1892 and capitalized for $25,000 which was increased to $100,000. It employs on an average 125 men and boys and uses up 13,000,000 feet of lumber annually. The power consists of 350 horse power Allis engine.

This industry is more or less dependent upon local timber and lumber for its raw material. All kinds of low grade lumber are used. This business is interstate, and the products are shipped to nearly all parts of the United States. But it has also a large export trade to Mexico. From 1893 to 1897 it shipped as high as 200 cars annually to Mexico. This business has dropped off somewhat owing to the development of Mexico's forest products which supplies a share of the home demand and also by the stagnation of business in that country owing to its unstaple government in late years. The demand in other parts of the United States for the product of this fimi has more than made up, however, for the decreased supply to Mexico.

The president of this company. Mr. E. C. Turner, is the president of the Wausau public library board, and to his work in behalf of the library is due much growth of the library and its popularity. He is also a member of the board of water commission. William B. Scholfield is secretary and treasurer and has been on the school board for ten years or more. He is the son of Doctor Scholfield, the pioneer who build Scholfield mill on the Eau Claire river in the forties.

Goodwillie Brothers Company

In 1889 David L. Goodwillie and James G. Goodwillie came from Chicago where they had conducted a small box factory, and purchased the J. C. Smith planing mill situated on corner of Bridge and Main streets, east of the pumping station of the waterworks.

This concern manufactures shocks for boxes of all kinds, shapes and sizes for boxing all kinds of merchandise. While this is the principal article which their plant turns out, they deal also in special sizes of lumber manufactured to order from standard sizes.

The capacity of the factor}^ has been increased from time to time until they are now able to work up into shooks 125,000 feet of lumber a day, when working full time. The number of hands employed when running at full capacity is about 125. They use annually from 10 to 13 million feet of lumber. This firm is not incorporated and exists as it did from the beginning as a partnership.

The Wisconsin Box Company

is located on the southeast part of the city near the tracks of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad and the Northwestern railroad which have side tracks running in their yards. It manufactures boxes, box shooks, and lumber, and the annual output amounts to $200,000.

The incorporated capital is $2ro,ooo, and its officers are: E. A. Gooding, president; B. Heinemann, vice-president; E. \\'. Behlke, secretary, and G. K. Gooding, treasurer.

The Wausau Novelty Company

is located a short distance east of the fair grounds. It is another of the factories which from a very modest beginning worked up to its present formidable dimensions.

Incorporated with a capital of $50,000, its officers are : W. H. Thorn, president; Gustav A. Janke, vice-president and superintendent, and N. E. Pardee, secretary and treasurer.

J. M. Kuebler Company

succeeded to the factory and business of the George Werheim Manufacturing Company in 1912. It continues to manufacture sash, blinds, doors and inside finishings, and has its own special designers.

The factory and yards are located on Third street and east and north on the line of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad, which runs a side track along a platform on the factory, giving it excellent shipping facilities. Besides manufacturing for home consumption, the products are shipped not only to all parts of the state, but the western and eastern states as well. The increased demand on the productive powers of the company since it went into the hands of the new management, made it necessary to enlarge the factory. It employs about 35 men on an average.

The capital stock is $60,000; its officers are: J. M. Kuebler, president; John Lull, vice-president; George Silvernagel, secretary and treasurer.

Wilson-Hurd Company

manufactures some 70 different specialties of aluminum, wood, paper, sheet tine, and wire, all for advertising purposes. This firm began business in a small rented building about fifteen years ago, has been growing constantly, and two years ago erected a concrete factory building of respectable dimensions. It employs from ten to twenty hands during the year, and from present appearances will soon be forced to enlarge the factory again to supply the growing demand for their wares. It is incorporated with a capital of $50,000, and its officers are: G. G. Mcintosh, president; W. D. Siebecker, vice-president; A. J. Hurd, secretary; J. D. McKay, treasurer.

is located on the east shore on the river, a short distance above the pumping station; it began operations in 1892 and has been running ever since, turning out about twelve tons or more of excelsior on an average of every ten hours. It uses up on an average eighteen cords of basswood bolts per day ; the value

The Murray Manufacturing Company

In 1874 Ely Wright came simultaneously with the Wisconsin Valley Railroad to Wausau and commenced a machine shop. He had come from Marinette, Wisconsin, where he had been in the same business. D. J. Murray came with him as a partner, and after some years, Ely Wright sold his interest to his partner, who organized the Murray Manufacturing Company and has conducted the business since, and under his control and management it has grown and expanded to its present immense proportions.

The large machine shops and foundry are located on Third street about six blocks from the courthouse and on the line of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad. This concern makes a specialty of manufacturing saw mill machinery and is the largest institution of its kind in the central and northern part of this state. The excellence of its machinery and the many valuable inventions that have been made by this firm which have been covered by patents, have widened and expanded its trade so much that not only are the principal mills in Wisconsin supplied with machinery manufactured by,this fimi, but orders are constantly received from distant states, even as far south as Louisiana. Railroad supplies also form a large part of the output of this institution. The plant has been enlarged from time to time, until its building and shops cover more than one city block of ground. It employs on an average throughout the year eighty men, but this does not include the number of men engaged in putting up mills after the machinery is delivered. The incorporated capital is only $50,000, but that represents but a very small part of its value. A very consen-ative estimate of the value of the manufactured product of this firm would be $350,000 annually.

Wausau Iron Works

are located on Tenth avenue south. This is one of the factories that located at Wausau only a few years ago, coming from the city of Appleton. It manufactured steam boilers and similar apparatus, but soon branched out in the bridge building business, in which it was more than ordinarily successful. It found it necessary to greatly enlarge its plant, and employs on an average from 75 to 80 men, besides the men that are needed to put up the bridges over the streams. From the number of orders pouring in for their work, it is safe to say that it has a great future and will be one of the leading industries in this city. Its capital stock is $25,000, with the following persons as officers : F. W. Krause, president ; Charles C. Wegner, vice-president ; T. J. Schott, secretary and treasurer, and A. C. Heinzen, manager.

Wausau Foundry And Machine Shops

is one of the oldest manufacturing institutions in Wausau. It was founded by J. A. Frenzel in 1874 and by him conducted until the incorporation of the present company. The business of repair work for saw mills, etc., is still carried on besides the manufacture of feed cutters, wood saw machines, hose powers, and other farm machines, but in late years and under the present management, the manufacture of gasoline machines has become a specialty in which this firm excells.

The factory is located on Plumer street and Prospect avenue. It employs on an average fourteen men throughout the year and is run by electricity. It was incorporated in the year 1903. The capital stock is $25,000. Its officers are : Louis Kraatz, president ; B. Kraatz, vice-president ; Albert J. Kraatz, secretary and treasurer.

Wausau Quartz Company

is engaged in crushing, grinding, and grading the white quartzite rock which is found on Rib Hill, and which is used for grinding, polishing, and finishing metals and for filtering purposes, and in other industries. The rock exists on Rib Hill in inexhaustible quantities and is of fine clean quality. The company has been doing business for over ten years with a steady growing demand for its product.

The Wausau Sandpaper Company

The inexhaustable quantities of white quartzide forming Rib Hill were first put to commercial use about eighteen years ago, in a very small way.

Jacob Kolter being the first person to make the attempt, but it took several years before the excellent quality of ground quartzide became an article of commerce on a large scale.

That was a new venture in the industrial life of Marathon county which up to that time had been almost wholly confined to lumbering and the manufacture of the products of the forest.

But the venture was successful and the field for the use of the quartzide of Rib Hill is increasing every month and will in no distant day become one of the most important industries carried on in this city.

The Wausau Sandpaper Company gets its raw material from its own quarries and grinds it for making sandpaper, making on an average 9.000 sheets each day. In making sandpaper is had to meet the competition of the old established factories, but by perseverance and by the ven,' excellent quality of its product, it secured a steadily growing demand and an enlarged market.

The factory employs fifteen men ; the value of its output is $80,000 annually: its product is shipped to every state in the Union and to eight foreign countries. It is incorporated for $100,000. and its oflficers are : C. S. Curtis, president ; William Kuckuck, vice-president ; ^^^ ^^^ Albers, treasurer ; P. W. Sawyer, general manager.

stands at the site where the first flour mill was built in Wausau by ^lessrs. Thayer & Corey. \Vater furnishes the motive power to this large flour and grist mill. It employs on an average _about 45 men at Wausau and the same number at branches located throughout the Chicago & Northwestern and Chicago, ]\Iilwaukee & St. Paul railways. The value of their manufactured products during each year approximates $1,400,000. A considerable part of its product is shipped to the East. It is equipped with separate mills for wheat, rye, com. and oats and produces about 800 barrels of flour and about 40 tons of feed stuffs per day, running night and day practically every day in the year excepting Sunday and holidays. It deals in grain, hay, potatoes, peas, beans, and seeds and has warehouses and elevators located on the Chicago & Northwestern, Chicago, Milwaukee cSc St. Paul, Wisconsin Central, Chicago, St. Paul, ^Minneapolis & Omaha railways. Its capital and surplus is ^22^^- 000. Its officers are: H. E. McEachron, president; George Pfeift'er, vicepresident ; Charles Dodge, treasurer ; W. E. Dodge, secretary.

And Representative Citizens 389 The Northern Milling Company

purchased the flour and grist mill of F. W. Kickbusch located on Scott street, in the year 1906. It is engaged in the manufacture of flour and feed, and the jobbing of flour, feed, grain, and hay. It employs on an average 10 men during the year, its business amounting annually to about $250,000. Its capital stock is $100,000. It uses electrical current for motive power. Its officers are : C. G. Krueger, president ; Paul Gebert, vice-president ; C. H. Hooker, secretary and treasurer.

Wausau Canning Company

This was the first company in the central and northern part of the state to make a business of canning peas. It was organized in the year 1903 and has since been in operation every year and did a profitable business from its beginning.

The product of this firm has become a standard article of the trade and is much in demand, more so than the company was able to supply in later years.

The peas raised in this county and canned are held the equal to the best French imported peas, and are sold in every state of the Union. Thousands of acres are under cultivation to raise the delicious little pea, and hundreds of hands are busy during the season to can it for shipment. Besides peas, the company cans also other agricultural products.

The capital stock is $40,000, with the following officers : President, P. O. Means ; vice-president and treasurer. H. G. Flieth ; secretary, P. F. Stone.

Peth Candy Company

is a corporation organized to carry on the business indicated by its name. Its confectionery supplies the retail trade of a large territory and is always in good demand. Capital stock is $15,000. The officers are: President, Charles Peth; vice-president, G. D. Jones; secretary and treasurer, H. G. Flieth.

Central Leather Company

which is a foreign corporation, owns the tannery formerly conducted by Brodie Company. It was not operated during the last two years, but the thousands of cords of bark piled up at the tannery, together with the fact that a railroad side track was laid late last fall to the plant, is evidence that it will be idle no longer. All preparations are made for a large output in this year. When the tannery is in operation it employs from fifty to sixty men.

George Ruder Brewing Company

In i860 George Ruder established a brewery which was enlarged from time to time to suit the growing demand for the light liquid refreshment with which he supplied his customers. This brewery was destroyed by fire on June 12, 1892, but such was the confidence of the business men of Wausau in the business capacity and integrity of George Ruder that when he made known his plan of organizing a corporation and rebuilding the brewery on a larger scale, stock to the amount of $100,000 was signed in a very short time. The business was incorporated on the 29th day of July, 1892, and commenced active operations on the 17th day of August following. The fine large brewery and malt house was completed the next spring and Columbia Hall built, a large, spacious hall for concerts and public meetings, which burned down on March 29, 1908, and was rebuilt and converted into a bottling establishment. There is ample cellar room for aging 50,000 barrels of beer, but the brewing and malting capacity is much higher. The refrigerator has a cooling capacity equal of melting thirty tons of ice in twenty-four hours, which keeps the cellars at an even cool and dry temperature.

The founder of this brewery, George Ruder, emigrated from Germany (Bavaria) in 1854, coming to Stevens Point in the same year, where he remained until i860 when he came to Wausau and built the brewery and continually resided here until his death which occurred December 29, 1894.

He always took much interest in music, and through his efforts the first brass band was organized in 1867. and he took good care that it should never be without a good leader. Columbia Park, a part of the brewery ground, was cleared by him, and there was always a hall there for the amusement of the people, and the park was the picnic ground for all German societies and the German population generally, and his death was much regretted.

The company has an incorporated capital of $100,000, with the following officers : Jacob Gensman, president ; Julius Ouade, vice-president ; Henry Ruder, secretary and treasurer. Regular number of men employed annually, twenty-two.

The founder of this concern, Frank Mathie, was bom in Ellwangen, Wuerttemberg, Germany, and came to Wausau in 1858 from \A'aupaca. He came here with I. E. Thayer, who needed a good blacksmith and mechanic to help erect the first flour mill in Wausau. Having completed his work he found sufficient employment in shoeing horses and cattle, and doing general blacksmith work, and he opened a shop or bought the existing shop at the foot of Washington street, now the southwest corner of Mclndoe Park. He carried on this business successfully until 1868, when he sold his shop and lot to Aug. Lemke, the wagonmaker, and he himself put up his brewery. He first opened a brickyard in 1868, now the William Garske yard, in the town of Main to make the brick for the brewery, got his cellars ready in 1869 and made his first brew in that year. His beginning was on a small scale with a brew kettle holding seven barrels. From this modest start his business increased until in 1892 he detemiined to organize it into a corporation, withdraw from active participation in it, and spend the remaining years of his life in quiet enjoyment and rest. Accordingly he organized the corporation in October, 1892, with a capital stock of $100,000, which was rapidly taken by Wausau people, then turned his interest therein over to his four sons, Edward, Frank, Otto, and John who (with the exception of Edward who soon thereafter started in business for himself in California) have since carried on the business with much success until the present time. Frank Mathie died June 30^ 1900, having the satisfaction to see the business entrusted to his sons to grow to big dimensions which exceeded even his expectation. The capital has lately been increased to $150,000; the capacity of the brewery is 40,000 barrels annually; two refrigerator machines keep the cellars on an even low and dry temperature; there are two 200-horsepower boilers, but electric power is now used throughout the plant; a deep drive well furnishes clear pure water of 200 barrels per day; glass tanks are used where formerly wooden vats were used, and every sanitary contrivance is taken advantage of to make the product tasty and wholesome.

When the corporation started it increased the brewery, erected a large malt house to malt the barley for its own use ; a bottling department was added to care for the growing demand of bottled beer for family use. The present officers are: Otto Mathie, president; John Ringle, vice-president; John Mathie, secretary; E. C. Zimmennan, treasurer.

United States Forest Groundwork Laboratory

is in a building erected on Plumer's Island (now the street railway company) by the United States Government, a few years ago. The object was to find a substitute for spruce and poplar in the manufacture for pulp in the manufacture for paper. The investigation was carried on by the chemical experts of the department of agriculture and is claimed to have been highly successful. The chemical experts have completed their work, and the laboratory will be closed in a short time, until needed for other experimental work. The motive power for machinery used was electricity, furnished by the Wausau Street Railway Company.

Wausau Gas Company

operates under a franchise granted to John Hempfling & Co. in 1884. After the completion of the works during the same year or soon thereafter, it passed substantially in the sole possession and control of B. G. Plumer, and after his death of his brother, D. L. Plumer, and was by him sold to the present owners. The company is incorporated for $200,000. It employs at an average twenty men during the year. The business done in 19 12 in round figures was as follows: Gas sold, $33,000; coke and tar, $13,000; merchandise, $8,000.

Considering the high cost of freight on coal, the price charged for gas is reasonable, the rate for heating or cooking gas being 50 cents per 1,000 feet. Officers : K. L. Ames, president and treasurer ; George F. Goodnow, vicepresident; C. H. Whitelaw, secretary; H. H. Wilson, manager.

Badger Turpentine Company

is a" new business which makes use of material heretofore supposed to be worthless and expensive even to dispose of. It uses for its raw material Norway pine stumps, and it makes no difference how old the stumps are, and it extracts from them the turpentine, pine oil, creosote oil, pine tar, and other by-products.

To make use of Norway stumps certainly was something new, but it is profitable. The oils are extracted by subjecting the stumps to a high degree of heat in retorts made for that purpose. The whole process is patented and has proved feasible and does everything claimed for it. The capital stock, when first incorporated in 191 1, was $50,000, which has lately been increased to $100,000. The company was organized by C. V. Doran, L. B. Cate, W. H. Mylrea. Its working was interrupted in 191 2 by the floods of that year, in July, 1912, which did much damage to the plant., but prompt repairs put the plant in working condition again.

The present officers of the corporation are: President, Otto Mueller; vicepresident, L. B. Cate; secretary, W. D. Siebecker; treasurer and general manager, John Mohelnitzky.

And Representative Citizens 393 The Wausau Alkali Works

is a new enterprise, which is in operation in its second year. It collects the ashes and extracts therefrom the potash, making use of the ashes which were thrown to the winds and wasted. While the business is small at this time, it has all the appearance of a healthy growth.

Ginseng Raising

A New Farming Industry - About thirty-five years ago, some dealers in medicinal herbs discovered that ginseng was growing in the woods of Marathon county and offered a good price for the dried roots of the plant, which were exported to China. The gathering of ginseng roots was made a work for boys and girls, like the picking of berries, and as the price for it paid fairly well for the work, it was gathered up year after year, until it was all harvested, and wild growing ginseng has almost entirely disappeared. It takes seven years to grow roots large enough for commercial use, and then when the main root is dug up it does not grow again. But as there is a steady demand for this product, Mr. J. H. Koehler made a study of the plant, planted it under the same condition as it grew in the woods, in shaded enclosures, making shade by boards and brush and succeeded in raising the plant and large roots, and he became an authority in ginseng planting and raising. He has edited and printed a book, "Ginseng and Golden Seal Growers' Handbook," which is recommended to every prospective ginseng grower, and from which we quote the following:

"The root of ginseng is used for medicinal purposes, to some extent in this country, but chiefly in China. It is therefore an article of export, bought up by dealers in this country for that purpose. While an official drug in this country, according to the United States Pharmacopoeia from 1840 to 1880, it is at present classed among the unofficial drug plants and quoted as such on page 51, Bulletin, No. 89, United States Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Plant Industry. From the results obtained by recent scientific investigation, indications seem favorable that the real merits of ginseng may also soon be discovered in this country, and that it will prove to be a very valuable drug. The Chinese and Koreans place a high value on it, and, indeed, regard it as a remedy for nearly all diseases. From the humblest citizen through all the grades of society, including men of most profound eastern scholarship, high officials and emperors, the inhabitants of China for ages have had unlimited faith in the power of ginseng to prevent and cure many of the ills of the human body. It is also said to be used by the wealthy class for seasoning meat.

"Among chemists who recently examined ginseng as to its medicinal qualities, was, according to tha United States Dispensatory, Mr. S. S. Garrigus, who obtained from it an entirely new substance, the nature and value of which he seems to have been unable to determine. He names the element Panaquilon, and gave the formula C12H25O9 (United States Dispensatory 17th ed. 1896, p. 1712)."

Golden Seal

"Golden Seal (Hydrastis Canadensis) is another medicinal plant, which, on account of the rapid increase in prices paid for the root during late years, has attracted the attention of people who are inclined to embark in freak farming. While in 1895 the price paid was only 17 cents per pound, the prices have steadily increased since that time, so that in the fall of 191 1 $4.50 per pound was paid for the article, and indications are favorable that still higher prices can be expected, as the wild supply of the forest decreases.

"Experiments as to the possibility of growing the plant have been made at the Government Experiment Station, as well as by individuals in different parts of the United States, and it was found that it could be successfully and profitably grown even in 1906, at a time when the price was only $1.25 per pound."

Golden seal as a medicinal herb is used in the United States for its medical qualities with a steady increasing demand, and can be grown in Marathon county in shorter time and with quicker returns than ginseng and may become an article of commerce in Marathon county as well as ginseng.

Under the management of J. H. Koehler, ginseng growing has become an industry to a limited extent, and the following firms have engaged in it on a large scale, to-wit :

Badger Ginseng Company, a corporation which has 53/2 acres in the city of Wausau in ginseng. Capital stock is $50,000. Its officers are : J. H. Koehler, president; A. F. Rapraeger, vice-president; A. A. Bock, secretary; W. H. Koehler, treasurer.

The Wausau Ginseng Gardens have 3^ acres in ginseng. Capital stock, $35,000. The officers are : J. H. Koehler. president ; H. Denfeld, vice-president; H. J. Seim, secretary; W. H. Koehler, treasurer.

Wisconsin Ginseng Gardens, Incorporated. Officers : J. H. Koehler, president; Lydia Koehler, vice-president; W'. H. Koehler, secretary and treasurer.

There are several other gardens of from one-half to one and one-half acres in extent throughout the county and the raising of this medicinal root promises to become a profitable staple article of export from Marathon county.

The Marathon Granite Company

Ever since the creation of the world a source of wealth was stored under the soil of Marathon county, which remained unknown for half a century after it was settled upon by civilized men. It is only of recent date that some of it has been made useful to mankind, and by its production and preparation for use has added an industry to the county which bids fair to become of the greatest importance, and which will flourish until the end of time. This source of wealth is the granite deposits underlying the soil of Marathon county, outcroppings of which can be seen everywhere, and unlike the timber saw mill supply, the raw material to be worked up in this industry is inexhaustible.

The first quarry was opened and granite first used as an article of commerce by Adam Groth and Hugo Peters in 1884. Groth was the practical man, and Peters furnished some of the means to set the business in motion, relying on his partner for its successful operation.

They were the pioneers, and they shared the fate of most of them ; they were new in the business, unacquainted with market conditions, and found it unprofitable, mainly because the firm limited itself to the making of paving stones for street pavements for the Chicago market, which was at that time already on the decline, granite block pavement giving way to other, smoother ones. This firm went out of business in 1886 and was succeeded at the same place (Heights) by L. S. Cohn and Alexander Robertson, who sought to make use of the stone for monumental purposes, which required artistic workmanship, and brought consequential higher returns.

One of the best works gotten out by this firm is the Soldiers' monument at the courthouse square in Wausau, but the work was still carried on on a very limited scale, the market being confined to Wausau and the neighboring counties, furnishing building stone and cemetery monuments, witli a small number of men engaged in the work.

In 1897 Fred J. DeVoe, another quarryman and stonecutter, was attracted, saw its possibilities and bought the interest of Cohn & Robertson with a view of developing the property. He went into the business alone, working up a trade, before he appproached others with an intention to interest them in the venture. When his business was well established, knowing that good mate- rial and artistic workmanship would not of itself provide an extended market, but that it takes advertisements and introduction in other places before a profitable business on a large scale could be established, he busied himself to find the capital that was needed for that purpose.

After working the business alone for some time, to show just what could be accomplished and produced under good management, he interested some of the men of means in W'ausau in joining him in the development and extension of the works, and with R. E. Parcher, D. J. Murrey, Walter Alexander and D. L. Plumer as principal stockholders, they incorporated under the firm name of "Marathon County Granite Company,," with a capital of $100,000 - leaving the management to F. J. DeVoe as heretofore.

The works were removed from Heights to Wausau late in the fall of 1901 and they have been ever since in operation, with an output increasing from year to year.

The works are located on the north end of Second street, on the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad, which has a side-track to facilitate shipping. For some years after the incorporation there were no dividends for stockholders, but this did not surprise them, for they knew the business was not established on the "get-rich-quick" plan. It was first to be put on a solid foundation like the rock which it works and puts on the market : all available money was used to improve the works and introduce the product in other states to make it known and conquer a market. It was the effort of the company to make fine interior finishings, besides monumental work, and introduce and make a demand for them, and in that respect it succeeded beyond expectation.

Among the big contracts given this company may be mentioned : The inside finishings for the east wing of the capitol in Madison, to be furnished during the summer of 19 13 for $14,000; inside finishing for the big Insurance and Bank Building in Salt Lake City; a monument in memory of Haney, the builder of the Alaska Railroad, erected and set up in Seattle by his brother, consisting of an immense cross resting on bases, all polished, at a cost of $12,000. The monumental works of this institution are now sold and shipped to every state in the Union.

The Marathon coimty granite which furnishes the raw material for them is fine-grained, free from flaws or spots, which takes on a very high polish, which is practically as indestructible as the rock itself, which in every respect is equal to the best of Scotch,

The company has four quarries, the stone dififering in color from light to dark red, green and gray, to suit the taste of the individual buyer. The im- mense growth of the business is due to the strenuous efforts and excellent management of F. J- DeVoe, whose business capacity and integrity, coupled with his art as a stonecutter and sculptor, enlisted men of capital to furnish the means for a business venture wholly unknown to them, only relying on his competency and probity, and subsequent events have fully justified the trust imposed in him.

In spite of the enlarged capacity of the plant, the granite industry is still only in its infancy in Marathon county, and its growth will be the more speedy since access is already had to the markets of the states in the Union.

Another granite work is doing a large business, the same being still situated at Heights, which will be mentioned as being situated in the town of Texas.

The Marathon County Granite Work employ on an average 125 men throughout the year; its machinery was worked by steam, but of late electric power furnished by the Wausau Street Railroad is used.

The Wausau Street Railroad Company

was organized by the signing of the articles of incorporation on the 28th day of August, 1906, by Neal Brown, G. D. Jones, V. A. Alderson and M. C. Ewing. The original capital stock was $60,000 in 600 shares of $100 each. Actual work of construction was begun in the fall of 1906, and during the following year over two miles of track was laid in the city of Wausau. extending from the cemetery north. The road began operations May 25, 1907. The original capital for the stock was raised by local subscriptions of small amounts, there having been about 100 stockholders. The first extension to the road was made to the west side in 1907, and during the same year the line was extended to Wausau avenue north on Sixth street. In the spring" of 1908 the line was extended to the Eau Claire river, in the village of Scholfield, and during the same year extended further south to what is known as Rothschield Park. The company erected a rustic pavilion in this park, which was afterwards destroyed by fire and replaced by a larger building, built of stone, rocks and steel. In March, 1908, the company purchased the entire property of the Wausau Electric Company, consisting of their electrical distributing lines, real estate, water power, and power station. The company has been successful and has had good patronage from the beginning. At the present time the capitalization is $750,000. The company furnishes electric current for lighting the city of Wausau, the villages of Scholfield, the village of Rothschield, and furnishes electrical power to the majority of factories in the city.

Later the company purchased the D. L. Plumer saw mill property (formerly B. G. Plumer 's mill) with all water power rights, and later still the water power rights of the Alexander Stewart Lumber Company, and the real estate of the same west of Main street, not including the saw mill proper, so that it now owns the whole water power of the Wisconsin river at Wausau except the McEachron power.

The developed power is 2,700 hp. hydraulic power, and 1,000 hp. in steam. About one-half of the nomial flow of the river at Wausau is developed. The company also owns the water power above the Trappe Rapids, considered to be of the same size as the power at Wausau when developed. The following factories use electric power furnished by the Street Railroad Company, to wit : Wausau Sandpaper Company, Wausau Novelty Company, Underwood Veneer Company, Wausau Iron Works, Northern Milling Company, H. E. McEachron Company, Marathon County Granite Company, Mathie Brewing Company, Ruder Brewing Company, Heinemann Lumber Company, United States Forest Laboratory, Marathon Paper Mill Company. The company has $400,000 capital stock fully paid up, and $350,000 in bonds. The offices are located at 209 Third street, and the officers are : Neal Brown, president ; C. C. Yawkey, vice-president: V. A. Alderson, secretary; M. C. Ewing, treasurer and manager.

Wausau Telephone Company

The Wisconsin Telephone Company had been granted a franchise to set up and operate a telephone system in the city of Wausau, and about the year 1887 had its system in fairly good operation. For some time it was patronized only for business purposes, with not many residence 'phones, because the price, $4.00 per month for business and $3.00 for private 'phones, was rather a high price for the average person and business man to pay.

So long as the workings of the telephone and costs of maintenance were not fully understood it was paid without munnur ; but after some years some of the business and professional men had given the matter some thought, and they came to the conclusion that a service could be had for much less money and still be profitable. After an agitation and consulting among themselves, mainly by the directors of the present Wausau Telephone Company, they concluded to embark in the business, induce many others to go with them in a sort of cooperative society, until there were enough of them, agreeing to become a patron when installed, so that a new corporation was organized and incorporated in 1895; they obtained a charter from the city of Wausau and went to work to install the system, in which they had to overcome the enmity of the Wisconsin Telephone Company, which opposed the new company with every means in their power, but to no purpose. The new company, or corporation, had the backing of the city council and the people generally, and succeeded in having their system installed in a comparatively short time. It fixed the rates for business telephones at $1.50 per month for business and 75 cents for residence telephones, and soon had the satisfaction of having the Wisconsin Telephone Company withdraw from the city business proper, keeping up only its long-distance 'phones. After four years of existence, the Wausau company raised its rates to $3.00 for business and $1.50 to residence service. At about the same time it improved the service by installing the automatic service by means of which a person calls up the very person he wished to communicate with, provided he or she has a 'phone, without calling upon the central office for connection. In this telephone system there is a wire to every telephone, not four combined, as in the case in all large systems.

The corporation started out with a capital of $10,000, which has been increased to $80,000. It has a fireproof building for offices and exchange connections with the villages of Scholfield and Rothschield, at Wausau city rates, and connects with the long distance lines of the following companies : The Wisconsin Telephone Company, The Marathon County Telephone Company, The Farmers Eastern Company, and the Eldron Telephone Company. Its underground conduit system extends from the river to Fifth street, and on Fifth, Division and Grand avenue from near Fulton street on the north to Plumer street on the south.

This underground system extends over 5,886 feet and contains 29,494 duct, feet of conduit, also 22 manholes. In this underground system there are 11,538 feet (of 400 parties wire each) of cable. In addition there is 75,110 feet of aereal cable. In this cable there is a total of 3,276 miles of copper wire. The company has J2 miles of pole lines and 436 miles of line wire connecting its telephones with its cable system. There are 2,400 pairs or 4,800 single wires entering its central office, each wire insulated from all others and arranged and numbered and soldered to its own particular terminal. Its property is valued at $186,826.69.

The officers of this corporation, with only one exception, have not been changed since its organization, and are: President, N. Heinemann ; E. B. Thayer, vice-president; W. W. Albers, treasurer; James ]\Iontgomery, secretary; G. D. Jones, counsel.