The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1869-04-08
From the Daily Of March ;lst, 1859.
Immense Establishment.

w -. uhlMES, Lsq3 sHoWeu us
through his Wagon and Carriage
Manufacturing establishment a few |
days since, and wc came out convinc-
cd that it is a little the biggest |
thing on wheels" there can be found
west of Chicago.
To give our readers some idea OF
the extensive scale upon which his |
immense business is conducted, it
will be necessary to give short des
cription Of his building, the amount
of material he keeps on hand, and
the number OF men he has employed,
and the amount of work he is pre-.
pared to turn out every day; and if
the reader will go with us, we will
take peep inside of his shops:
We first enter the lower ware
room, which 1874 feet in length by %
in width, and find it is filled with
lumber, iron, and wagon gearing,
enough, all ready to put together, to
make IS wagons complete. Four
men are constantly employed in this
department putting work together.
From this room we pass into the
wheel and gearing departments
room sc feet long and % feet wide,
where we find s men making wheels
and other wood work. Passing from
this room, we entered the blacksmith
shop, e room 1874 feet long by 20 feet
wide, with it's nine fires aud benches,
and IS experienced and competent
workmen, beating out, and Welding
together, the various peices of iron
that belong to wagon, and scatter
ing sparks enough to make a first
class meteoric shower after night
From the smith shop we pass up
stairs and enter the carriage trim
ming rooms, and find some 10 or II
finished and unfinished buggies and
carriages, and competent workmen
finishing up and trimming them
Leaving this room, we pass out into
another large ware room over the
smith shop, about 100 feet long and
26 wide, which is stored full of wagon
material, there being enough in this
room alone to make 1900 wagons
and 100 carriages. Some of this ma
terial Mr.. G. has had on hand drying
and seasoning two years, and it is
now in most excellent order for
working up. Leaving this room VIC
go next into the carriage paint shop,
where we find seven or eight top
buggles, and tour or five painters
putting the finishing touches to them.
This room is over the wheel room,
and is G6x22 feet. Leaving here we
enter the wagon paint shop, located
over the lower ware room, which is,
consequently, l34x22 feet, and we
find four moro painters at work in
here; also 81 finished wagons, two
buggies, while over head, in the gar
ret, is stored gearing for 80 buggics,
and $50 spring seats.
Passing down stairs we enter the
Office, and pass into the iron room,
which is 66x22 feet, and find it filled
with iron of every description used
in wagon manufacturing.
These extensive buildings are sit
uatcd on Market, above I'd, and cover
an area of 134xS83 feet, and are all
two stories high, and around the Sec
ond story, on the outside, is a plat
form wide enough to run wagons,
extending some 25O feet.
We have now been through the
Ottumwa Carriage and Wagon Fac
tory, and pronounce it one of the
most perfect and complete establish
ments of the kind there is to be
found west of Chicago. Everything
has been arranged for convenience
and, every departm ent is conducted
with the regularity of clock work
while none but first class workmen
are engaged to build Grimes's ia
nous wagons. An immense num-
Der, running into the thousands, of
these wagons, have been built, and
the demand for them increase as
they become better known, and they
can be seen on the road any and eve
ry day, within radius of 200 miles
of Ottumwa. This fact, together
with the almost unlimited facilities
and advantages he has, which ena-
bles him to turn out from three to
four wagons per day, renders co,npe-
tition in his line, in every respect
price, quality, durability of work,
handsome appearance, easy running,
etc.-almost out of question.