Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-04-01
A HEALTHY INFANT.
Marvellous Growth of thePlate
Glass Industry.
AMERICADOWNING FRANCE
In Field Once Particularly Covered
by the Latter.
MERICADOWNINGF FRANCE
A DANGER In OvER-PRODUCTION

90 many plaVe glass Dooms naNe oeeL
started recently that a big over-productior
is threatened. The industry is one of the
Youngest in the United States. Its marvel.
Gus development here in only 21 years has
placed this country abreast of France and
all Europe as a plate glass maker, and over
there the industry is much over century
old. Allegheny county did more to achieve
this triumph than all the rest of the United
States put together, for the business was
never a paying one on this continent until
the last eight years, when the Pittsburg
Plate Glass Company introduced it here by
the erection of works at Tarentum.
There have been all sorts of reports within
the past few years of enormous profits made
by plate glass manufacturers in America.
These led to extensions of the industry.
Butler, Pa, 5000 had factory of its own.
Then an immense plant was put up at Ford
City, in Armstrong county, one at Du-
quesne, on the Monongahela, and another in
the State of Indiana followed. Now, the
American style Of OVERRIDING a good thing is
threatened, and there are movements on foot
to build great plate glass works al Charleroi,
on the Monorgahela; at Elwood, Ind. at
Lancaster, O., and at Pendleton, Ind, with
rumors of still others at GAINESVILLE and
various points.
THE EARLY DISASTERS.
The secrets held by the French, the pom
derous machinery required to manufacture
glass plates, and the costly character of the
plants, surrounded the inception of this
business in America with vast difficulties.
About the first piece OF the glass ever made
in the United States was at Lennox, Mass.
That, however, was not the real polished or
French plate, but was a rough plate used
only for floors and skylights. An attempt
was made by the Lennox Company to
grind and polish portion of their produc-
tion, but it proved unsuccessful and ended
in heavy losses to the company, and was
finally abandoned.
The first factory built expressly for the
manufacture of polished plate glass was by
a company at New ALBANY, Ind, in 1869
1t is reported that a large sum of money,
running into the hundreds OF thousands,
was lost by this company before they sue
ceeded in producing this article at a profit.
Owing, perhaps, to a partial success of the
New Albany works, Detroit capitalists pur-
chased large tract of land at Crystal City,
Mo-, containing inexhaustable deposits of
white sand. The works erected there we're
only operated a short time before it was
found necessary 10 increase capital and
capacity. To accomplish this final sale of
the plant had to be made to st. Louis capt.
talists.
GREAT STRIDES FORWARD.
G.
management OF the Crystal City concern,
and resumed operations. Owing to the then
high prices of plate glass (S2 to 50 so per
square foot), this and the New Albany
company succeeded in making plate glass
at a small profit.
Works were built in Louisville, Kv,, in |
1872, and also in Jacksonville, Ind, in !
1875. but owing to their small production !
they proved failures financially, and were /
closed down permanently.
In 1882 the PittsDurg Plate Glass Works |
was erected at Creighton station, on the |
West Penn Railroad. 1t had a capacity of |
$4,000 square feet of glass per month. 1t
was soon found necessary to increase this |
capacity, and an additional factory was
built by the company at Tarentum, the ad- |
joining town. The Creighton plant was
also enlarged, but so rapidly did the de- |
mand for American plate reach them that |
last year the same company purchased the |
Ford City Works.
Works were also erected in 1887 at Butler
Pa, by a company of Pittsburg and Butler |
capitalists, and are now in operation. The |
latest addition to the industry is the Howard |
Plate Glass Company at Duquesne, Pa,
completed last year.
There are now eight large plate glass
works in operation in the United States.
with the following capacity at present: