It is our pleasure to present today a picture of the magnificent shop. of the Beloit Iron Works, an Institution In which Beloit has great pride because it not only is one of the best factories In the country, but because it is a Beloit Industry, built with Beloit brains and Beloit energy by Beloit boys, or men who were Beloit boys.
The new plant of the Beloit Iron Works is eminently a modal machine shop and foundry, built on the latest approved and popular plans as to furnishing light, heat and ventilation for the workmen and expediting work by the use of every appliance known to the trade. With Its electric traveling cranes and Improved machinery, this great shop stands second to none in the world in Its facilities to make paper mill machinery which is the specialty of the Beloit Iron Works.
The new shops in which the company is getting settled are of brink and glass. One building Is 65 by 400 feet in size, and there are various annexes and additions for the accommodation, of the boilers, engines, electric appliances and Innumerable things necessary to a great Iron working shop. The foundry is 75 x 85 feet In size.
The buildings are located on a romantic and Ideal spot for a factory. The place is know as the Island In the river east of the water power district, and a short distance north of the central city bridge. Here on the southern portion of the Island, amid the shady trees, with the refreshing water of Rock River and the "tail race" flowing Peacefully on either side, is situated this model shop, away from the traffic of the city, on Its own premises and beyond the danger of fire from other structures, yet within the very heart and accessible to all the conveniences of a thriving town. So much for the plant itself.
But a factory is of consequence to a place because of the business it furnishes and here is wherein the Iron Works is a truly great institution for Beloit and important in the industrial affairs of the country, for it furnishes employment to many men and generally keeps them at work all the :year round, thus steadily contributing to the support of the mercantile interests and the entire business life of the city.
The Beloit Iron Works has: long been a busy place and its output has reached the handsome sum of $200, 000 per annum, but with the development of the business has come Increased competition until the old crowded shops ceased to be adequate for the requirements of the business. So for a long time the new shop was in the mind’s eye of the proprietors, which vision has crystallized into these splendid works where for the ordinary run of business about 150 men will find steady and lucrative employment and whose product will go to all parts of the Union, yes, even beyond the realm. The Beloit Iron Works is unquestionably the leading manufactory of paper mill machinery exclusively in the world and the scores of successfully operating machines that have been constructed at these shops attest this claim. Very many of the machines have been made by the Beloit Iron Works, and is a compliment to observe that in the large mills more than one of their machines is in operation, showing that the Beloit machine Is in demand where it 15 best known.
A BIG THING.
A paper mill is a big affair. Very few realize the magnitude of a paper mill outfit or what it costs to make a machine, which is only one part: of a mill, yet the important part.
We presume many machines running in. the country have cost. from $25, 000 to $30,000 apiece. Of course, there are grades and sizes and consequently there is a wide range of price. Of late years the demand has led to the need of larger machinery for their production and so a new shop was required to accommodate larger machinery. It has been an evolution all along the line of the industry.
ITS EARLY HISTORY
The Beloit Iron Works dates its origin in the 0. E. Merrill and Company plant, a machine shop of small, but promising proportions, which was instituted about 1857, and made among other things, paper mill machinery.
In 1872 the company reorganized as the Merrill & Houston Works. In 1883 this company went into the hands of a receiver and R. J. Burdge,
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Assignee, operated the plant for two years, when the plant passed into the hands of the Beloit Iron Works of which Fred Messer was President and Manager; Alonzo Aldrich, Secretary; W. H. Grinnell, Treasurer;
N. J. Ross, Superintendent; and all old trusted employees of the old company. The capital stock of the new company was $10,000 in money, a practical experience on the part of the owners and a great amount of hope and pluck. The possessions of the new company were the large wooden factory building with its machinery on Third Street, which were all the worse for wear, and In those days, so dark in a business way, that only a few men could see on the dark horizon a speck of the light of returning prosperity. But these energetic and practical young men did see light. But they felt their way cautiously and for awhile after the new flag had been raised over the enterprise, the entire shop force numbered seven men. This was not long the case, however, and the out— put grew steadily and the pay rolls increased accordingly.
In 1889 the new company sent; out their greetings,, announcing that they were employing 100 men, had added a lot of new machinery and enlarged their plant. Thus the ray of hope they saw in the beginning had become a sunburst of bright possibilities.
A CLOUD.
Then came a sudden and fearful blow to the organization, Mr. Messer’s death. He was a tower of strength to the company and -more than all that he was a friend of his partners. They had grownup together. as workmen and his associations with them was as a brother. His death was a sore bereavement to his companions. But they soon re-organized, electing Mr. Aldrich President, Mr. Ross Superintendent, R. J. Burdge Secretary and W. H. Grinnell Treasurer, which is the organization we find
today.
The success of the company has been remarkable, If not phenomenal. They have not as yet increased their capital stock, though we are happy to learn that they have greatly increased their surplus. And the company has earned every cent they have got; they are a remarkable. organization, a pulling-together concern, each man has his place and keeps it, has a duty to perform and performs it, each seeking to benefit the company.
THE NEW SHOP.
As before stated the new shop is thoroughly up to date.. The buildings are of brick with a generous number of windows, securing the best possible’ light. The main’ shop is 400 x 60 feet in size one high.
story. Here In the north are situated the Iron working tools of the works, occupying about half the great room. The balance of the shop is used for setting up the big machines, and at the southern extremity is a door that admits a car on the railroad track so the car can be loaded Indoors and the use of the electric crane applied. Over at the east Is the foundry, 70 x85 in size, where there is an electric crane, and the engines and boilers are also situated at the east of the main building. The pattern and wood-working shops are at present across the race.
A handsome and convenient office building has been built at the north of the big shops.
It will be of Interest to know that the power for running the works is all electric motors, over a dozen being In use. This dispenses with long lines of main shafting, for the motors run sections of counter shafting as required. This is the first big shop In Beloit to run almost exclusively by electricity. The motors were supplied by the Northern Electric Mfg. Company of Madison. The shops are heated by the hot air system and every attention has been given to sanitary arrangement for the comfort and convenience of the men.
The company Is certainly In shape to handle all the business it can now secure and we hope it will find much to do and to do profitably both to the employers and these employed.