The evening Argus. [volume] (Rock Island, Ill.) 1861-1871, 1870-03-15
AN INTERESTING HI-TORY

Wenty SIX years ago the senior member
Of the hrm OF Herring Co., commenced
ais career in the safe business. Previous &c
Ihat date, with the exception of a few spas
modIc efforts, most ali safe manufacturer rs
mad confined their operations to safes o,
chests lined with wood, made after the pat
tern OF few that were first imported from
France.
a great trial of safes at Coffee House Slip,
foot OF Wall street, n. Y, in le40, III which
The leading IRE proof chests then made were
destroyed, while the newly introduced Sala,
mander bore off the palm of victory was
Witnessed By Mr.. Herring, and first
induced him to engage in terminating its
fortunes. Previous TO his EN- barking IN the
enterprise the history of the Salamsnder had
been one OF misfortune, owing to the want
OF means and ability of those having 1t IL
charge, and the natural slowness of the pub
tic to encourage new productions. The ex-
istence OF the new safe had been frful and
uncertain one. The want of experience i'll
the manufacture and the I'm perfect manner
IN which they had been made had dlscour
aged and bankrupted those who had at FRS,
attem pied It, and its reputation had reached
"a very low point when behring's name first
became associated with the enterprise.
Energy and perseverance, however, are
most certain TO bring their reward, particu
iariy where merit is really the basis of the
structure. Beginning with the determine
ton that a good safe was Attainable, and
that the public should always receive their
moneys worth, the popularity of the Rer
rings safe demonstrates how well that reso
luton had been adhered to, and its conse
quent reward. Twenty SIX years ego the
nrst stock OF safes was contained in little
room not more than 20 BY 40 feet, and
though prices then only ranged from $40 TO
$3.50, the sales of safes were very slow
Shortly afterwards, for economy's sake the
building first employed as q sales-room
Was turned into a mandatory. The base
ment was the blacksmith's shop, or forging
room, and filling room. The FIRST floor was
The sales and paint room. The two upper
stories were occupied by the iron workers,
who cut the iron, framed the safes, and the
one solitary loeksmith, who could furnish all
the locks as fast the safes were ready for
them. Here everything was under the eye
of the proprietar, and all worked for
the production of good article
fhe many imperfections of the
first manufacture were gradually
overcome, and he public began slowly to
appreciate the enterprise.
The great fires of 1916 gave the first i'm
petus to what has since become q grea t
business, when old fashioned FIRE proof
securities proved false to their professions
aud even solid vaults of stone and brick
yielded to the fiery adversary; the Herring
oalamander won its first laurels, and was
accepted by the community As the looming
safe, and stepped into the position it has
since SO we'll retained as "the best security
from fire now known"
The burning of the Tribune buildings and
the great FIRE in this city which destroyed
400 buillings) and IN other cities
during that memorable year, when the
behring's safe SO we'll earned its
claims to public trust and confidence, Great,
cd an era IN this branch of domestic manu-
tacture. Greater facilities and larger build
lngs were required for the worA; steam pow
er and machinery were brought into requlsi
zion, and the cluk of the hammer and the
song of the workman evinced that . new
teld Of enterprise had been opened which was
to help, in its place, to spread the fame OF
American ingenuity and add another perma
uent means to the prosperity of the com
nonwealth. Twenty-six years ago, and two
or three safes q weak were the limit of pro
iuction; since then, more than thirty thou
sand of Herrring's Safes have gone on
their way, messengers of hope and
trust to the civilized community, and earn
ing a good name for themselves, and q
reputation for their country. The first safes
were not, of course, perfections, and count
less have been the improvements which ex-
perience has suggested and which are con
tinually in progress. The old Salamander
gave way to the Champion wet filled safes
have b.en superseded by the dry-fled;
boiler iron has taken the place of sheet iron
in the manufacture, and the days of mouldy
,afes, rusty safes and dried out safes are now
being succeeded by those which are
damp proof, rus proof, and whoes FIRE
proof elements or compositions are
thu results of nearly thirty years
of study and experience, and will not dry
out or lose their FIRE proof qualities by age.
Twenty six years ago, and dozen hands,
all told, composed the pay roll of Herring's 8
safe mandatory. Now mora than three
hundred hands are constantly employed in
the work on Herring's safes. Then, i've
hundred dollar safe was q large sale; but
now single safe, or vault, as it is called, is
made at cost of nearly twenty thousand
dollars The Chicago branch of Herring Il
Co., is situated at 40 State street, and
through them the safe has been sold
throughout the whole West.