Asbestos manufacturers consolidate

Prominent Asbestos Manufacturers

Consolidate.

The H. W. Johns Manufacturing company and the Chalmers-Spence company, New York; the Asbestos Packing company and Chas. W. Trainer & Co., Boston, and the Shields & Brown company of Chicago, the five largest asbestos manufacturers in the United States, have formed a corporation under the name of the H. W. Johns Manufacturing company, to control most of the output in their line of business. The officers of all the companies and their chief employes will remain with the new concern. H. W. Johns is the president; R. H. Martin, formerly president of the Chalmers-Spence company, the new vice-president; C. H. Patrick, treasurer, and G. P. Erhard, secretary, both of the last two named having previously been with the H. W. Johns Manufacturing company. The H. W. Johns Manufaciuring company was the name chosen for the new corporation because the old company of that name was the pioneer in the business, and had besides the largest factory. H. W. Johns began the manufacture of asbestos goods in 1858. Englishmen took their cue from him and have set up asbestos factories, but American manufacturers export their goods to Great Britain and elsewhere in Europe in considerable quantities. The factory of the old H W. Johns Manufacturing company at the foot of Thirty-ninth street. Brooklyn, N. Y , is already the largest one devoted to the manufacture of asbestos goods in the world; about 125 men being employed. A new building will shortly be erected which will employ double that number. Factories will also be run in Chicago and Boston. The old H. W. Johns Manufacturing company also made asbestos fire and water-proof paints and roofing, an important branch of the business, while the other concerns confined themselves solely to the manufacture of asbestos steam pipe and boiler coverings, steam packings, fire proof cements, fabrics, ropes and twines. The new company will also be sole agent for the sale of Vulcabeston, which is used largely for electrical purposes in the manufacture of switch-boards, armature sleeves, battery cells, and insulating parts for arc and incandescent lights, motors, etc. The new H. W. Johns Manufacturing company will have headquarters at 87 Maiden Lane, New York City. There will be branch offices in Boston, Chicago and Philadelphia, and agencies in London and elsewhere abroad.