The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1874-02-28
The BeIIaIre NON WOrks.

duslries, since Wheeling "a the genuln
mother oi all the manufacturing establish
nents which have sprung up on the wes
side Of the river. They sustain to her Ii
same relation that chAracterizes the va
riouS interests located on either aide q
the rivers OF Pittsburgh, with reference L
that city. Wheeling men, with WheelInI
capital for the most part, built them. The,
are mainly, or at least very largely, dc
pendent upon Wheeling banks for theiI
financial accommodations, and they ar
still largely owned and managed by act
ual residents Of Wheeling. We-do no
speak ol these conditions invidiously, bu
merely to demonstrate how closely are al
lied the great manufacturing interests OF
both sides Of the river.
The project Of building Nail mill Ii
BellaIre was first considered among thI
workmen Of the La Belle, and the mem
bership Of tho Company, when formed
came mainly from that mill. A charter
was secured under the auspices Of the fol
lowing corporstors: A. L. Wetherald
Thos. Harris, IT,, ]. Percy Harden, Il. L
Beck, Il. Hardestein, and Geo. Leisure.
The site occupied by the works was
purchased, with fifty acres Of land and the
coal privilege, from W. g. Barnard for
ten thousand dollars. On the 18th Of
November, 1865, organization was effect
ed with fifty stockholders representing 0
paid up capital stock Of one hundred and
fifty.seven thousand dollars. All these
stockholders, with the exception of W.
G. Barnard, General B. r. COwan, james
McGourtney and Fred shenck, were regu.
lar operatives. Atthe first election for Of.
icers Gen. B. R. Cowen was made Presi-
dent, and D, ]. Smith Secretary, with A.
L. Wetherald as mill manager. The
work Of building commenced In March,
1857, and the mill with It's twenty-iour
nail machines, eight boiling furnaces and
one heating furnace was finished and in
active operation by the middle Of Decem.
Der.
Alter q brief run oil about six weeks,
much the largest portion of which was
upon muck bar only, the mill was entirely
destroyed by fire on the night Of February
22d, 1868. Out OF On insurance of forty
nine thousand dollars the company never
received but twenty.eight thousand.
Nothing dsunted, however, by their heavy
misfortune, the company Immediately set
about the reconstruction Of the works,
and such was the energy oil their action
that by the middle Of June the mill was
again running.
1t has been a characteristic feature Of
the manufacturing interest Of Wheeling
and vicinity, that there has always been
a considerable number Of the employees
who owned more or less stock in the
mills. Generally speaking, however, the
interests owned By such parties have
not so fur, as much as might
have been expected, obviated un-
pleasant and Improbable antagonisms
upon the labor question. Those Of
Our readers who are not familiar with
the operations Of these extensive works
must remember that the matter OF wages
is Of far more importance even to the
stock holding operative than that oI divi.
dends, so that the interests Of all the work.
men as TO wages have been practically the
same. One OF the avowed objects to be
attained In tho organization Of the Bel
laire Mill was 10 form such combination
as would so closely ally the interests Of
the operative and non.operative partners
as TO entirely overcome this antagonism.
In Its cooperative character we believe
the Bellaire Company has very nearly
accomplished this desirable end. There
is an existing understanding that no
strikes shall ever occur, and that the
same wages that are paid at the Wheel
ing mills shall always be paid in this mill.
In every respect the Bellaire mill has
been successful enterprise, and has con-
ributed largely to the general prosperity
OF the town, Out OF its esrnings 1t has
increased It's working capacity from "a
nail machines to 81, and instead Of 8
boiling furnaces 1t has increased 10 II,
and its heating furnaces have been in.
creased from ono to three. In 1873 the
company capitalized $4,000 of Its earn.
ings, or just doubled It's original stock,
making a total of $S14,0O0. Ten acres
Of land were added 10 the mill site, and
they have also added 200 acres to their
original coal field, obtaining thereby the
key to other extensive fields. The nail
product Of the mill for the years 1928
has been: for II, s4.776 kegs '72, 81
5l5 kegs; '7S, 1OS9e6t kegs, giving to-
tai for three years Of a7621si kegs, or q
yearly average in round numbers OF o.
073 kegs, making a weekly average of
l770 7.10 kegs, stoppsges for repairs
and other lost time will make the actual
weekly product about 2,100 kegs.
In 1873 the Company concluded to
build a furnace, and further increased
their capital stock $4,000, and with
Characteristic energy pushed the work to
completion All the buildings connected
win 1t are OF brick, and substantially
built and are conveniently located both
as TO railroad and river facilities for ship.
ping. The furnace was lit up on,the cad
Of September, and up to October lat had
made GO tons Of pig iron. On tho Cd Of
October they made casting Of 4S tons
and on the Sd, Al tons, and up to the time
she blew out, on the 4th OF January, 1874,
had made 1000 tons. By these
figures we find that after the
ninth day from her lighting up