The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1878-03-09
Letter From Virginia.
Correspondence of the Democratic Advocate
STAR TANNERY, FREDERIcK Co. VA
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STAR IANNERr, FREDERICK Co., Val
FEBRUARY %, 1878. !
Aessrs. Editors IL will give the readers
OF the AdrOcate a sketch Of Star Tanuery:
1t Is situated twenty miles northwest of Win
chester, the county seat of Frederick county.
and Is nine miles from Capon Road Station.
the nearest point of the Shenandoah Valley
Branch Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. at
which station the hides are shipped to and the
leather from. The proprietor, Mr.. Thomas
Cover, Is formerly of Uniontown, Carroll
county, Md at which place he learned his
trade with Mr.. Franklin Roberts Mr.. Cover
came here nine years ago and found nothing
but shell OF q Tannery, but from that time
TO the present he has made great improve
ments. The main building IS two hundred
and six feet long by fifty-four wide, and two
stories eigh; the first floor is used for a laying
away room, the second floor for drying and
rolling, IN which he has three rollers running
Leach house, bark room, and engine room,
are all under one roof; the roof is tin, so as 10
make 1t secure from FIRE. Seventy feet of the
building Is used for teaching, and contains
eight teaches, sixteen by seven feet deem.
The bark room contains two bark mills, with
which he can grind from twenty -four to TWEEN
ty-six cords Of bark day. The engine room
adJolns the bark mill room, in which there is
thirty-hve horse power engine that drives
all OF the machinery. Adjoining bark and
engine room Is tan oven and boiler house, in
which there Is two sets of ovens and four
large cylinder boilers that furnish steam suifi,
cient to drive the machinery and heat all of
the rooms A large portion of the improve.
ments were made during the last season. The
contractor being Mr.. Leonard Manger, of
Jnniata county, Pa, who certainly is an ex.
perleneed workman. The machinery WAS fur
nished by Messrs. Flynn 4 Enrich, of Balti-
more, Md. The beam house is a wing built
to the main building, in which there IS eight
pools and i've lines, and room to set eight
beams. The yard contains two hundred and
torty-hve Vats and all under roof, with the
exception OF fifty, which will average seventy
I'VE sides to the vat. The capacity of the
yard per year is thirty thousand sides of sole
leather. The water for use at the Tannerv
and dwellings is furnished by pipe of fopr
inch bore, and It is piped about 1--WE hundred
yards from the Gravel Spring stream, which is
formed by several mountain springs. There
are live bark sheds, one being one hundred
and twenty-eight feet by thirty three. another
eighty by twenty six, another two hundred
and sixty by twenty-six, another three hun.
dred by twenty-six, another one hundred and
twenty eight by twenty-six, giving plenty of
room in all to store away four thousand cords
of bark. There are nine dwellings, two of
them being brick; one being occupied by Mr..
Thomas Cover and the other by his brother:
the other seven dwellings are frame and are
occupied by the employees of the Tannery.
be works from twenty to twenty-fiv hands
and Is his own foreman in all of the works.
heard one of the hands make an expression
that he was the first man he ever saw at two
places at one time. The boarding house Is
kept by Isaac w. Webster, who was formerly
of Westminster, Md. Both he and his wife
seem to understand what il takes TO satisfy
the craving appetite of a tanner We have
country store within o quarter of a mile, and
also post Office, at which we have four diff
ferent mails a week. The store and Office Is
kept by Mr.. Watson c. Cooper, a very promi-
nent citizen of this place. There is Lutheran
Evangelical Church within one mile of this
place, also q large and comfortable school
house convenient, to cultivate the minds of
the young.
Farming is not carried on very extensively
IN this valley, as the people seem TO paw more
attention to the lumber business and 10 peel.
ing and delivering of bark.
l must tell the readers Of the Advocate
that the people of Star Tannery and the
neighboring vicinity are we'll enlightened in
political affairs, which, / hope, the readers
will agree with the writer, when l tell them
that they poll fifteen Democrat votes to one
Republican in this precinct.
will close my writing by saying hard times
does not stop improvements in this Valley.
RIP