D. C. Hemingray elected to the Association of Flint and Lime Glass Manufacturers\'

OUR PITTSBURG LETTER.

The twenty-fifth annual meeting of the Ameri­can Association of Flint and Lime Glass Manu­facturers, held at Atlantic City, N. J., on July 20, was the most notable event of the kind that has occurred in recent years. Twenty-six members of the organization were present, and letters of regret for unavoidable absence were read from several ex-members who had been invited to at­tend.

The following officers were unanimously elect­ed for the coming year: President, D. C. Ripley, of the United States Glass Company, Pittsburg; vice president, D. C. Hemingray, of the Hemingray Glass Company, Marion [sic] Muncie, Ind.; treasurer, Thomas Evans, of the Macbeth-Evans Glass Company, Pittsburg; additional managers, George W. Blair, of Dithridge & Co., Pittsburg; James Gillinder, of Gillinder & Sons, Philadel­phia, and H. C. Fry, of the National Glass Com­pany, Pittsburg, George W. Easton was re­elected actuary.

An interesting feature of the occasion was the reading by Mr. James Gillinder of a paper giv­ing a history of the association from its organi­zation in 1875 to the present and a relation of the benefits conferred on its members by its operation during the period of its existence. A vote of thanks was accorded to Mr. Gillinder when he had finished his address, and he was loudly applauded for his effort.

At the time of this witting neither the chimney nor bottle scales of the flint-glass branch had been adjusted. It is expected that a settlement of the former will be made this week without much trouble, as both the manufacturers and workers seem Inclined to make concessions. No time has been fixed for the final consideration of the chimney scale, and some of the manu­ facturers claim they are in no hurry to resume work.

The majority of the tableware plants have been in operation for about two weeks, and the few that worked during July are now taking a month’s vacation. The season opens with ex­cellent prospects, and many of the traveling salesmen have started out on the road. There is a good demand for blown goods and a scarcity in some lines is reported. Trade in summer specialties has been unusually large this season, and stocks are reported light everywhere. Fruit jars show reasonable activity, and holders of them are quite firm in their demands. For that matter prices in all lines of glassware are well sustained, and there is no probability of any shading of them, as all the manufacturers hold well together in this matter.

The lamp trade continues in good condition, and the movement has been steady so far. All the factories have their new fall lines ready now, and they show a greater variety and more abundance of ornate decoration than ever be­fore. There is little change in the shapes, as a rule, from those in fashion last season, but there are a great many new things in the ornamental accessories of the goods which will strike the purchaser as an advantage.

Business in the flint bottle line has been the best in years, and it promises to continue that way to the close of the season. Prices, however, are still unpleasantly close to the cost of manu­facture and distribution, and this is the point that makers chiefly complain about.

The National Glass Company held a reunion of all their traveling salesmen and agents at Chautauqua Lake, New York on July 21, 22 and 23. It was a new idea on the part of the com­pany and its object was to bring all together for an interchange of views and to fix plans for the fall business. Besides the salesmen of the con­cern, the general offices and general factory su­perintendents were also present, and the meet­ing was a notable success. In his remarks at the close of it, President H. C. Fry announced the intention of the company to abandon five of their plants in the Indiana gas belt and replace them by new factories to be built in the vicinity of Pittsburg. Partial failure of the gas supply in Indiana and superior shipping facilities here were given as among the reasons for making the change. The National Company have most of their factories in operation now, and have a very fair trade for this time of year, with promise of a big fall business. A new designing depart­ment was opened last week on the fifth floor of the general office building, Eighth street, this city.

Dithridge & Co. have resumed operations in full at their works in Jeanette. They operated the decorating department all along, the making of glass alone being suspended during the month of July. During this period they gave the whole plant a thorough renovation, introducing many new improvements and extending their facili­ties in several directions. They expect to do the largest fall business they ever did, and have made the most extensive preparations to meet it, their new lamp exhibit being ahead of all former records of the house, flattering as these have been. Messrs. O. B. Craig, general man­ager, and A. B. Coates, salesman of the concern, are still at the Paris Exposition.

George Duncan’s Sons & Co., of Washington, Pa., are in full blast and turning out ware to their top capacity. During a brief shut-down, which they had to cut short on account of the pressure of orders, they put a new bench in their furnace, which had been in steady operation for several years, and made other needed improve­ments. They started in with the entire plant in excellent shape to attend to their big trade in the same satisfactory manner that they have done since they commenced business here, and which has brought to them a large and staying clientele of customers.

John C. Woods, secretary and treasurer of Dixon-Woods Company, manufacturers of glass­ house material, died at his residence in this city on Aug. 4. He had been ill for about ten weeks and suffered from a complication of diseases. When only a boy he entered the employment of the A. Garrison Foundry Company, of Pittsburg, and rose to the position of general manager of the works. He was one of the founders of the Dixon-Woods Company, and his general ca­pability and energy in connection with it was one of the prime factors of its unexampled suc­cess. Mr. Woods was never married. He is sur­vived by his mother, a sister and two brothers, one of whom, R. E. Woods, is the present head of the Dixon-Woods Company.