Page:Historical and Biographical Annals of Columbia and Montour Counties, Pennsylvania, Containing a Concise History of the Two Counties and a Genealogical and Biographical Record of Representative Families.pdf/377

 COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES ihiriy-ninc stationary steam engines and four locomotives. The works are now (February, i S 8 i ) running to their full capacity* night and day. They are crowde<l with orders and all the arm y o f iron workers have constant em­ ployment. " J . K. Pliillips looks a fte r the healing, J . R. I.unger lakes his place at nicflit, and John M arks that o f Ridgw ay. E . C, *oris is vet­ eran among the patterns. E . O. Ridgw ay is roller, and Hiram Antrim runs the notifine m ill.” A fte r some years* association with the com|viny Mr. Howe severed his connection and Theodore F . M ctiinnis became general man­ ager. In 1895 the company became involved finan­ cially, ami Dec. 2 1, {^>5, the entire plant, in­ cluding store and gristmill, was sold by the sheriff and purchased by the Reading Iron Com jiany. who have successfully operated the sam e from that time to the present. The local su|Krintcndents and managers have been Theodore Patterson, David llio m a s, and the present very efficient ami successful manager, l i T. Ilecht. T his company has gradually cut o ff from its business the company store and the gristmill and has devoted its entire energy to the manu­ facture o f iron. T he present plant is the Montour Rolling Mil] department of the Reading Iron Com­ pany and consists o f Puddle Mill No. t, con­ taining fourteen double iniddling fu rn aces; Puddle M ill No. 2, containing seven double puddling furnaces and one bushcling furnace: one 12-inch train o f rolls, one 16-inch train o f rolls and one 20-inch skelp train, seven heat­ ing fum aces. four 20-inch muck trains, three n u ary squeezers, shears, straightening presses, etc. The annual capacity is 50.000 tons o f mer­ chant bar iron, angles, splice plates, tie plates, skelp iron and special shapes. 'Flic company employs about 750 men. This department also owns ami operates its own machine shop, blacksmith shop and carpenter shops, and owns 179 tenement houses, located in the l>orough o f Danville, which have recently been greatly improved. In 1905 the Reading Iron Company ac­ quired the plant of the Danville Rolling Mill i'om|K)ny, located near the D., L . & W. railroail tracks and above the IX, L . & V. railroad dein Danville. This plant is known as Dan­ ville Puddle Mill Defurtmcnt and contains eight double puddling furnaces, one train of

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rolls and one rotary squeezer. Its product is muck bar and it employs about 150 men. yj<rm*f7/c Slrt4Clurol Tubing Company T his plant is one of the great industries of Danville. It is located in a different portion of the town from the Reading Iron Company’s operations and fa r removed therefrom. It is a large and prosperous establishment and is the de])cndence o f a large portion of the com­ munity. being the successor o f several of the old-time iron works of the town which in their day were chief industries of (hat portion of the town. It is a combination of the old "Rough and Ready,” the "N ational Iron Com{>any/* "Hancock Steel and Iron Company,” " ( ilendower Iron W orks,” and "Mahoning Rolling Mill Company.” .Soon after the Columbia Furnaces were huilt by Grove Brothers, Burd Patterson be­ gan Ihe erection of a building near them, with the intention o f 0]>crating a nail mill. H e soon abamloned this enterprise ami the "ro o f on franic-likc stilts” stood idle and useless. William Hancock, a native o f Laineslield, Staffordshire. England, was brought to this country in 1844 by the Montour Iron ComjKiny, a s a skilled worker in iron. With him came John Foley, also an iron finisher o f great skill. These men fo r several years worked for the Montour Iron Company. In 1847 WiUiam Hancock and John Foley took the incomplete building o f Burd I’attersoii and turned it into a rolling mill for the manufacUire o f mer­ chant iron. T hey caltecration o f this mill. The partnership lasted un­ til 1866. when M r. Folcy permanently retired. .Act o f .Assembly o f .April to, 1867, the National Iron Company was incorporated, with William Hancock as president, F . C. Brink as vice president, and Benjamin G. Welcli as sec­ retary. treasurer and general manager. In 1870 William Hancock and A lfred Crcvcling built the first of "T h e Danville F u r­ naces'* and soon a fte r they erected a second and larger one. (ieorgc W. Miles Nvas superintemlent of these fumaces. In 1870 the National Iron ConiiKiny jml up a new rolling mill, some distance north of the original m ill In 1871 these plants were con­ solidated as the property of the National Iron