Owens-Illinois Glass Company

OWENS-ILLINOIS

COMPANY BUYS

LOCAL INDUSTRY

Hemingray Glass Factory

Becomes Unit of Corporation

— New Product.

Purchase of the Hemingray Glass Company by the Owens-Illinois Company, announcement of which was made yesterday by William E. Levis of Toledo, President of the Owens-Illinois, brings into the hands of the Owens-Illinois people practically the last of the unlimited licenses held by any independent glass company.

It has been generally understood in the trade that the Hemingray Company was the only independent company still operating under an unlimited license from Owens-Illinois and that the latter company has been desirous of obtaining this license for some time.

New Products Developed.

Negotiations for purchase of the local plant started more than a year ago but were not completed until just a few days ago when final sanction was made to the sale by the stockholders of the Hemingray Company. The Owens-Illinois Company operates some twenty plants and the local factory will become a unit of this big operation.

Although announcement was made that another tank will be started in the Hemingray plant for the manufacture of beer bottles, the official announcement of Mr. Levis would indicate that eventually the local plant will engage in the manufacture of another class of glassware.

The industrial materials division of the Owens-Illinois Company has recently developed a number of new glass products and these may enter into the future operation of the local plant. The Owens-Illinois Company is now operating at full capacity to meet its bottle demand and just recently let a sub-contract to the Ball Brothers Company for bottles. The Hemingray tanks can now be operated at full capacity to aid Owens-Illinois in meeting its bottle demand. With a slackening of the bottle demand, it is supposition that the Hemingray plant will then turn its attention to insulators and glassware other than bottles.

Some of the officials of the Owens-Illinois Company are expected in Muncie today to make a survey of the local property, and some announcement may be as to changes, if any, in the operation of the local plant.

Announcement Is Surprise.

With an unlimited license for the manufacture of glassware, and the recent advent of legal beer and its subsequent influx in the beverage bottle industry, the outlook for the future at the Hemingray company was unusually bright and news of the purchase by the Owens-Illinois was somewhat a surprise here, despite the fact that negotiations began some time ago.

According to the announcement received yesterday from President Levis relative to the local factory purchase, it was said the glass insulator business carried on by the Muncie factory will become a part of the industrial materials division of the Owens-Illinois Company, which has recently developed a number of new glass products, among them glass wool for building insulation and for air filtering installations. A glass building now under construction at the Century of Progress Exposition at Chicago will introduce glass block as a structural and decorative material to the public.

For the past seventy-five years the Hemingray Glass Company has manufactured high grade glass insulators, and during that time has built a tremendous business and precedent in this line of the glass business. Besides selling insulators in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, they sent large shipments to twenty seven other countries, and the caliber of insulators was perhaps recognized as the best in the world. Due to this fact it was thought likely that the local plant would be maintained primarily for the continued manufacture of these products.

The Hemingray Glass Company was established in 1848 in Cincinnati. In 1861 the plant was moved to Covington, Ky., where it remained until 1887. During the gas boom of that year the plant was shifted to Muncie, where the gas supply was seemingly unlimited and exceedingly cheap.

Destroyed By Fire.

During the summer of 1892, just as the factory had become definitely established here, the plant was destroyed by fire. But those in charge of the operation and management rebuilt it and after rebuilding it Ralph Hemingray assumed executive charge. Previous to this Robert Hemingray, father of Mrs. P. H. McAbee, of Muncie, was president.

Weathering the smallpox and other epidemics and also the depression of 1893-94, business at the Hemingray plant began to pick up in 1895. The manufacture of glass insulators was begun in 1858, but it was not until 1900 that the company devoted its attention to the glass insulators. Then, due to the large market resulting from the growth of independent telephone companies and rapid expansion of the telephone and electric light industry, the manufacture of the insulators was stressed more than ever.

At the death of Ralph Hemingray in 1920, Philip W. McAbee became president and general manager, with A. C. Shinkle, vice president; W. P. Zimmerman, secretary-treasurer; C. M. Smith, assistant treasurer and purchaser, and F. J. Leah, auditor.

Since the establishment of the factory until the present time, employment driven by it has been a tremendous factor in the welfare and life of the city of Muncie. The average employment of the company during these years was estimated at 250, although the peak years of 1928-29 resulted in an employment staff of approximately 750. At the present time there are about 275 employed, with contracts insuring steady employment for these men for an indefinite period, plus the probability of additional contracts which would likely increase the employment staff