The Grange advance., 1874-02-14
NO J |! O.l.|8,EXTRA. ]. !

NO. 'll[ l8,---E
! Creator has eom1aanded decrease in IS
the percentage q crime, and the bur:
den Of TAXATION There is much good
to be anticipated Sfrom men or commit
tees who truly ana energetically labor. y
There is no standard in wealth, power
and intelligence . which they may not.
legitimately aspire: .: 8. - >
E AN OLD CITIZEN. ,+,s
Hub and Spoke Factory OF Betcher l.
ALLEY. %,.: %,.:
This factory 4as lately come into. the
hands Of its present proprietors, Messrs.:
Chas. Betcher apd E. H. Alley, who are =
two of the first and most prominent business
men Of our city. Mr. Betcher has been
engaged in the hardware business in our
city since 1856, and Mr.: Alley has for many
years dealt lar kely in agricultural ma
|
city. The firm keep in the city ware rooms.
for storing their manufactures preparatory
to sale and shipment. We called at the
Office Of the company and their gentlemanly
book keeper, Mr.. G. c. Childs, gave us
look into these ware rooms, and we were
somewhat surprised at the stacks of hubs,
bedsteads, SC.
The factory itaelf is situated at the vii
lage Of Eslaile, Pierce county, Wis, some
eight miles from this city, in the midst of
, the heavy timber. 4 little stream, known
! as the Isabelle, supplies a fine water power
by which the saw mill is run. The water
power has been considerably improved dur
ing the past year by raising the dam ants
other improvements, and is capable Of be-.
ing further enlarged. In the saw mill the
logs are sawed in lumber, and the l,1noer
re-sawed and prepared for the factory.
proper. e. 49, a
The factory proper is building two,
t stories in height, ,.40xl20 feet, and is con-
y nected with the saw mill 4by railway tracks.
a On the first floor of the factory we find a.
number one steam engirf, a common plan
q ing machine, circular blaming machine,
tenoning machines, hub machines capable
. Of making one hundred sets of hubs per
q day, spoke with capacity Of
e making fourteen spokes per minute; board
d saws, cut off saws, &C., SC.
r The second story contains turning lathes
4 for turning all kinds Of handles, bedsteads,
&C., &c. E is .,ssfs& 80, !
The loft is used for storing manufactured
't articles. .-...
e Next is the ste4ming and bending house,
e which is 30x3O feet and two stories high.
Here the timber is steamed and bent into
shape for bob runners, wagon-felloes,
:" plow handles, ~. The hubs are steamed
e and then painted with q coat Of varnish
It paint to exclude. the air and then dried
r The machinery Isl all Of the latest improved
kinds. The spoke machine alone cost ST.
200. 1t works like being of life and intel
ligence; it seizes the timber, dresses, turns
and curves each spoke in q manner that
l. looks q little marvellous to one not accus-
toned to seeing dts operations The end
d less saw used fpr saving plow beams is q
vast improvement over the old kind that
! required all ths muscle Of two strong men
~ to operate; it comes around with the regu.
l. larity Of clock Iwork and enables one man
'e to place the timber so IS to cut into any
+ desired shape Jas easily as to cut out pic
Re crust. The firm deal largely in these plov
70 beams, having.just received an order from
= one firm for FIVE thousand. It is surpris-
- ing the tnumbsr Jof buildings it takes 70,
y one of'these Actories. Il Besides the build
" ings mentioned there are numerous sheds
d for storing fstshed work, blacksmith shops,
E, dry honse, Ind. shops for inisAidg. The
- company noHs have on bapd . bfge amount
- of excellent timber: .
or The villag IS covered >kith logs belong
:. ing to the, Ictory. We heard sn expert
enced wagon, maker, who had been looking
OF through the works, and examining The
n. quality Of he.timDsF, say that the presen,
], stock Of timber was as good, ifsnot better
s- than that used BY any Of the best factories,
" and that there was no reason Why, Will
s. Esuchs timber, this factory could not success.
NJ. $s.11..# ,;xI, ~ 80 1.As -.