The weekly Republican., November 30, 1911, INDUSTRIAL NUMBER, SECTION FOUR, Image 25

About The weekly Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1911-1922

Image provided by: Indiana State Library

                
(INDUSTRIAL NUMBER
r
R
CAN
SECTION
FOUR
SECTION
FOUR
H
volume: fifty-seven
PLYMOUTH, INDIANA, NOVEMBER, 1911
NUMBER FORTY-SEVEN
.The Largest Basket
Manufacturing Plant
in the United States
Basket making is older than civil
ization. Back in the age of tlie cave
dwellers people learned to -weave
tbem. At first sticks were crossed
to help carry an injured person, or
to bring stones to make defense for
the cave home. This suggested weav
ing twigs and willows together into
a flat wickerwork to hold small
things such as berries, so that food
could be carried to the cave.
Then some smart savage thought
of turning up the edges, so the
wicker-work would hold more ber
ries. Another thought of binding"
the edge of the wicker to make it
stronger, and later a particularly
bright one put on a handle.
Then they had the basket one of
the most useful and most universal
inventions ever made by man an
instrument never used to harm, to
destroy or to waste, but always to
save, to transport, and to store the
riches of earth for the health and
happiness of mankind.
Many Kinds of Baskets
All nations of the earth have
made and are making baskets " of
many kinds. The ancient Britons
seem to have excelled in the art of
basket making, and their baskets
were highly prized in Rome. Today
the finest of all basket-making wil
lows are cultivated along the river
Thames. The Mound Builders of
America carried in baskets the earth
for their immense military defenses,
and the Indians made a strong and
water-tight basket from a species of
root.
Modern Basket Making
It was left for the modern manu
facturer, however, to develop basket
making to its highest state of per
fection; to weave from woods of all
kinds baskets of the greatest
strength, lightness and durability as
well as convenience and beauty. To
see present day basket making at its
best, one should visit the plant of
The Edgerton Manufacturing Com
pany at Plymouth, Indiana. This
plant is the largest institution of its
kind in the United States, and makes
more baskets, as well as more kinds
of baskets, than auy similar factory.
Headed by f did Ability
The more on nows about the
ability neeessary for the proper or
ganization, direction and operation
of a business of any magnitude, the
greater becomes his respect for the
man or men who have that high or
der of brain and skill which enables
them to successfully carry on a
large manufacturing plant. To sur
mount the difficulties occasioned by
the endless detail, and at the same
time form and carry out plans for
enlarging the business while holding
that already obtained, demands the
best ability "known, to our land.
It is ability of this high character
which has donminated the business
of The Edgerton Manufacturing
Company "at Plymouth, and that has
brought that company its pre-eminence
in the field of basket mak
ing. With a plant covering nearly three
acres of ground, equipped with the
best possible machinery and organi
zation of workmen, and an output
of approximately one and three
quarter million baskets annually,
sold into every state and territory
oi the Union, this company is with
out a peer in the field of basket
making.
A Varied Output
The output of The Edgerton
Company is made up of thirty-nine
different grades of baskets, and of
ITS different sizes. Some of these
sell as low as thirty cents per dozen,
an. I others as high, as $tOG per doz
en. The grades are known as the
BRIGGS OAK STAVK In three
styles the Special Oak Wide Band,
Racine Pattern Wide Band, the
The Largest Basket
Manufacturing Plant
in the United States
The ILdgerto.n anufacturing- Co.
PLYMOUTH, INDIANA, U . . A.
Double Lap Stave and the Common
Stave all used for grain and pro
duce purposes, as well as for ship
ping the larger fruits. There are
shipping baskets for fruits, vege
tables, crackers, candy and coffee;
carrving baskets for coal, lime and
cement; bamboo and splint round
baskets for feeding and cotton pick
ing; reed, splint and diamond bas
kets for clothes; bamboo, splint and
diamond baskets for delivery, mar
ket, display, crockery, satchels, or
lunch, fancy, waste, hampers, and
all kinds of laundries.
1,632,892 Baskets Sold In 1910.
The amounts of all these varied
kinds of baskets sold in the year
1910 are shown by the following fig
ures. Remember that the figures
are in " dozens.' '
10,286 dozen Oak staves, consist
ing of 3,209,232 stock parts.
37,713 dozen Common staves con
sisting of 12,671,568 stock parts.
4,036 dozen Bamboo staves, con
sisting of 1,574,440 stock parts.
605 dozen Reed staves, consisting
of 232,320 stock parts.
12.733 dozen Splint staves, con
sisting of 4,880,472 stock parts.
53,117 dozen Diamond, consisting
of 16.572,504 stock parts.
21,231 dozen all others, consisting
of 2,123,100 stock parts.
This makes a total of 140.241 doz
en, with a total of 41,273,636 pieces
in 1,632,892 baskets.
Tower 319 Miles High.
This output represents shipments
to the amount of 547 carloads or
twenty-seven trains of twenty cars
each reaching over four miles long.
This would require a warehouse
2,900 feet long by n"fty feet wide
and ten feet high and would take
one man two years to stack them up
in one half and one dozen bundles.
If placed end to end 1,682,892
baskets would make one row 4,206,
230 feet long or about 415 miles,
and if piled one upon another would
make a tower 319 miles high.
'The logs from which these bas
kets were manufactured amount to
2,150,000 feet or about 15,000 logs
cut twelve feet long, whieli if placed
end to end would, make a row thirty
four miles long, and would require
600 cars to deliver them to the facto-
. . :
All Kinds of Logs Used.
The logs used consist of oak, elm,
beech, maple sugar, basswood, pop
lar, Cottonwood, gum, sycamore, ash,
hickory and other kinds.
4 ,
PJ
J
C S. CLEVELAND. President.
There were fifteen "cars of elm
hoops shipped from the elm dis
trict of upper Michigan, averaging
170,000 pieces to the car or 2,550,000
pieces cut five feet long, which
would make a strip of wood over
2400 miles long.
In some baskets manufactured
there "were used 55,900 pounds of
rattan imported from Germany at a
cost of five cents per pound, which,
if the strips were laid end to end,
would reach 6,300 miles.
Many Pieces Used
In one of the grades of baskets
made there were used about 40,000
pounds of galvanized iron bands No.
28 gauge, which cut in strips of
about four t nd a half feet long and
three quarters of an inch wide,
O 3t
X v -
PLANT
would make one strip 150 miles
long.
There were nearly 101,000,000
nails and tacks used in these bas
kets, averaging one inch long, which
if placed end to end would make a
row about 1,600 miles in length.
An expert nailer can drive 18,000
nails in ten hours and it would take
him over 5,600 working days, or
nearly eighteen years, to drive the
nails used.
The manufactured stock parts
used and counted for cost purposes
amounted to 41,273,636 pieces, nine
ty per cent of which were from ro
tary veneer and the balance from
saw material.
A Quick Inventory
The anifual inventory was taken
0
f
-x ft
in one day Nov. 30, by four per
sons and consisted of 67,260 finished
baskets, 4,021,752 pieces of finished
stock parts the weighing of 22,900
pounds of nails, tacks, rivets, wash
ers, staples and iron bands, and the
log measure of 508,941 feet of logs,
together with 27,500 items in
factory supplies used in the manu
factured product.
Some Comparisons
A comparison of the year 1910
and the year 1892 will show the
splendid growth of The Edgerton
plant. The year 1892 was the first
year baskets were put out in Plym
outh and the sales amounted to $23,
000, with an output of 14,000 dozen
baskets. There were employed in
the manufacturing and selling de-
A"
- v ä-ä-.-
m rati.' (Sj. v4;:j?fjfjig-
OP THE EDGERTON MANUFACTURING COMPANY
partment in 1910 an average of 175
Deople, as against sixty people in
1892.
The sales were increased $65,000
over 1908 and $35,000 over 1909.
There were 2,150,000 feet of logs
used in 1910 as against 375,000 feet
in 1892, with an average cost of $80
per thousand in 1910 and $10 per
thousand in 1892.
The relative expenses for the two
years were:
1910 . 1892
Material $ 42,509 07 $ 4,240
Selling 35,404 90 3,200
Operating 65,092 15 13,165
Total $143,006 12 $20,605
A difference of about $123,000.
The payroll shows for the factory
an increase of $40,000.
History of Company
The Edgerton Manufacturing com
pany was organized at Edgerton, O.,
in 1885 by a stock company of about
fourteen local business men, with a
capital stock of $15,000, and buying
A. C MORTLAND. Vice President.
out the handle manufacturing fac
tory of Larason and Cleveland. A
year later they commenced the man
ufacture of the Briggs Oak Stave
basket, which is now known in every
state of this country as the Stan
dard grain basket.
Of tho stockholders at that time,
but one is connected with the com
pany at this time C. S. Cleveland,
then superintendent of factory and
now president.
In 1891 the company moved to
Plymouth and commenced operation
in the spring of 1892 with J. R.
Smalley as manager. Mr Smalley
sold his interest in 1894 and entered
the glass business.
That year C. S. Cleveland wa9
made president and manager and A.
M. Cleveland entered the company as
prr
secretary.
In 1900 the Clevelands bought the
controlling interest and today own
all but 12 shares of stock which are
held by local interests.
In 1899 D. E. Snyder bought an
interest in the company and has been
its treasurer since that time.
In .1908 A. C. Mortland was elecU
ed vice-president and a director to
fill the vacancy caused by the death
of J. M. Cleveland.
In 1891 the capital stock was
raised from $15,000 to $25,000 and
the company commenced to add new
lines of baskets and to enlarge the
plant so that today they are making
the largest line of baskets of any
factory in the United States and
the plant covers nearly three acres
with its buildings.
After 25 years of successful bas
ket making the Clevelands promot
ed, organized and placed in opera
tion the largest fruit plant in tho
southwest at Marshall, Texas, and
known as The Marshall Manufactur
3m
The Largest Basket
Manufacturing Plant
in the United States
ing company; the stock of which is
owned largely by them and other
local business men. This plant was
started on January 23, 1911 by stak
ing out the property lines and the
first baskets were made on April 24,
1911.
The Edgerton Manufacturing com
pany came to Plymouth through a
contract made with a committee rep
resenting the business men with the
undertsanding that for a considera
tion of $1000 to cover the cost of
the north half of the present prop
erty, they would agree to stay and
operate a basket plant Jhree years
and employ on an average 50 work
men nine months each year.
The books of the company show
that they have employed during the
20 years in Plymouth an average of
80 workmen for every working day
in the year.
The officers of this company are:
C. S. Cleveland, President
A. C. Mortland, Vice-President
A. M. Cleveland, Secretary
D. E. Snyder, Treasurer.
The "Working Organization is com
posed of the following:
A. M. Cleveland, General Manager.
A. C. Mortland, Salesmanager
Carl Strombeck, Superintendent
Will Hahn, Asst Superintendent
Chas Garver and Chas Fruits, Me
, chanical Department
Paul Hintz, Veneer Department
George Seeger and W. J. Nier,
Shipping Department
John Strombeck, Stock Keeper
M. J. Miller, Timber Buyer
Jeff Florian, Stave and Mill De
partment Will Shoner, Stave and Mill De
partment. The Selling Department is com
posed of
G. E. Meek, Kokomo, Ind.
W. J. Spruce, Kokomo, Ind.
E. E. Tyner, St Louis, Mo.
S. C. Tyner, Indianapolis, Ind.
D. B. Tyner, Omaha, Nebr.
J. J. Flynn, Whitehall, 111.
E. W. Schröck, Plymouth, Ind.
E. L. Tanner, Plymouth, Ind.
O. W. Moeller, Chicago
W. R. Wood, Wilson, N. C.
J. Bany, Cincinnati
W. A. Pyle, Chicago
A. B. Enoch, Buffalo
L. M. Kenny, Saginaw, Michigan
S. M. Wells, Grand Rapids, Mich.
George Clayton, Milwaukee
Loy Zangmaster, Columbus
E. T. Steel, Pittsburg
C. L. Taylor, Canton, Ohio
G. D. Taylor, St. Paul, Minnesota,
Territory was covered and sales
made in every state, except Maine
and Vermont, showing the effort
made by the selling force to make
the $35,000 increase over last year.
A. M. CLEVELAND. Secreurv.
. -
The Largest! Basket
Manufacturing Plant
in the United States