Muncie Industries, Hemingray mentioned

IN THE GAS FIELD

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MUNCIE'S LIST OF ENTERPRISES.

Only Two Enterprises Idle — A fortune

In Pay Rolls.

Special to the Indianapolis News.

Muncie, October 4. — The only idle industries in Muncie 's list of manufacturing concerns is the Nelson Fruit Jar Company and the Port Glass Company engaged in the same business. A strange coincidence is the fact that both of these establishments are owned by home capital. The Nelson Glass Company is preparing soon to start, but the Port works may not be started for some time yet.

The Waring-Hart [sic] Maring-Hart Window-Glass Company, employing 300 hands, is working a full force, as is also the C. H. Over & Co. window-glass works, with about two hundred hands. The common labor in these factories is paid about the same as last year, but the skilled labor is working at a reduction of about 22 1/2 per cent. Still the men are able to make what is generally termed good wages $20 to $40 a week. Orders are coming in rapidly.

Other Glass Factories.

About the same situation is developed from a visit to the other glass factories. At the Muncie flint-glass works a force of about 225 hands is at work. In this factory the small boys alone draw $5 weekly at Ball Brothers’ big factories there is much activity. This firm is recognized as the largest fruit-jar manufacturer in the world. It now has two factories in full operation and a large continuous tank in the third factory nearly ready for operation. Beside this, they employ a hundred hands in the “pressers” department, making their own white glass for the caps, which are made in the tin stamping works, where another 150 hands are employed. This firm employs about 800 hands now, and in a short time will reach the 1,000 mark. The blowers accepted a 15 per cent reduction when the factory started two weeks ago, but the pressers went to work at the old scale, refusing to work at a reduction.

The Hemingway [sic] Hemingray Glass Company, manufacturers of fancy table and other hollow ware have been running steadily all season, not even closing down the factory for the last summer vacation. Their force was not up to the standard, 150, but it is now increasing, and there is a probability that the factory will soon receive another addition. The weekly payroll is $1,200.

The Leader Glass Company, composed of Muncie capitalists, owns a fruit-jar factory at West Muncie, is not yet at work, but about $200 weekly is expended on improvements .

Iron and Steel.

In the iron and steel industries there also is a general resumption. The payroll at the Indiana iron-works for the last week's labor was over $12,000, and all departments of the big mill were not at full strength. There are now over 700 names on the payroll of this company, a much greater number than ever before. In the puddling department the men are working for $4.50 a ton and this is the same as last year. In the nut and bolt departments and the finishing mills the wages are about the same.

At the Muncie iron and steelworks (home capital) there is a boom. Preparations are making for six new scrap furnaces the company employs 150 hands.

The weekly pay-roll at the White river iron and steel works as $1,000, and the big mill is now rushed day and night with a force of about two hundred hands.

The Muncie Muck Bar Company is operating a part of the old Darnell iron-mill, which is in the hands of a receiver, but it will soon be sold at public sale.

The Muncie Architectural Iron Company has been steadily at work when most all other iron industries were closed. The weekly payroll is about $700. One of the big contracts was the iron work for the new Tipton county court-house.

The Common Sense engine-works is moving rapidly, and a large addition has just been completed to the large three-story brick factory building. The recent addition of new capital with J. Campbell Janney in charge of the concern, has placed the company in a position to do a large business.

The Patton hollow ware works is one of Muncie's newest industries. Colonel Patton has built massive brick buildings here, and has a force of nearly 250 men already at work.

The Whitley Malleable Coating Company is another new concern. The company needs molders and is adding to its force each week. The payroll for the last week amounted to $3,100 but will be double that soon. Burt H. Whitley is the proprietor. The factory is parfece [sic] perfect in every department. The buildings cover several acres of ground and the machinery throughout is operated by electricity. A thousand names will be on the payroll before long.

The Joseph Bell stove-works, which began operations in Muncie a year ago, are working steadily every day, turning out car loads of stoves, which find a ready market. The weekly payroll at the factory is about $500.

The Midland Steel Company is one of Muncie's manufacturing concerns that is pushing every department to the limit and then unable to accommodate the orders. The demand is so great that the company now has men at work building another open hearth furnace that will more than double the capacity of the plant. Here 300 hands received $7,500 in salaries last week.

The Muncie Pulp Company started its big plant last week after a long period of idleness and the 125 hands are at work again.

The Indiana Bridge Company, with a weekly pay-roll of $600; Magic canning factory, pay-roll $600; J. H. Smith & Co. bent wood works pay-roll $800; Muncie wheel works, pay-roll $600; Muncie shoe factory, pay-roll $400; A. L. Johnson and Co., hard wood lumber, pay-roll $300; Muncie foundry and machine shop, payroll $300; and the Gorman butter-dish factory, Gill Bros. pot works, Reed box factory, Vignier washing-machine factory, McKendry heading factory, Nellson & Miller planing mill, Bandy planning mill, R. M. ball washing machine factory, Hubbel sulky harrow-works, Tyler's planing mill, Kelley hominy mill, Muncie coil hoop works, McVay galvanized iron works, Crozier washing machine works, Muncie skewer works, Whitely reaper works, Boyce handle factory, Muncie Tack Company, Muncie electrical works, Muncie Artificial Ice Company and the Consumers paper mills, the latter employing 200 hands, are other Muncie establishments that are being operated regularly. Besides the asphalt street paving work affords $2,000 weekly to labor, and there are other small concerns in the city not mentioned.