The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1891-11-12
An Eventful Week IN the History OF
Clifton Forge.

era in the history of Clifton Forge which
may justly be regarded as the most I'M
portant which has taken place, in that
it has witnessed the starting of two new
plants. The long and impatient wait-
ing for practical results of the efforts OF
the town>builders has come to an end
by turning on the electric light and the
beginning of operations at the Wooden
Mills, both of which took place the lat
ter of last week, and the opening up OF
the new depot in the fiat beyond Smiths
creek.
THE ELECTRIC LIGHT
was turned on Saturday evening at a
quarter to seven O'Clock, and although
the moon was shining, the effect was
striking, The railroad tracks from the
county bridge to the machine shops
were lighted up in manner never be-
fore witnessed. There were thirteen
arc lights up between these two points,
one on the bridge in front of the Nettle
ton building and one in Roberts & KEEL
ler's store; and when electrician Taft
touched the keys at the hour named,
all the lower side OF town was bathed in
a mellow flood of light. The start was
entirely successful, and the light is of
the best quality. being somewhat re-
markable for its even burning. There
is no Pickering such as so often charac
terizes arc lights. All OF the arc lamps
are of 1900 candle power, and the Brush
system of electric lights is used. The
capacity of the plant is fifty arcs, and
800 incandescent 16 candle power lamps.
OF the arc lights the Chesapeake and
Ohio railway has contracted for twenty
four, the Clifton Forge Co. for nine, and
private parties for the one on the bridge,
in Roberts & Keller's store, one at the
intersection of Jefferson street and Main,
and one at the Staley building. Only
fifteen or sixteen of these are up yet
The start was made before the others
could be put up in order to accommodate
the railroad with light on the yards and
put up as rapidly as possible. Other
contracts viii be made shortly, also, for
arc lights and the fufl arc capacity of
the plant will soon be taken up; in fact
the question of increasing the power of
the plant is already being discussed.
None of the incandescent lights have
been put in yet, though number have
been contracted for, the railroad compa-
ny taking $50 to 500 for the depot and
shops. The demand will likely call for
the full incandescent capacity of the
plant.
Mr.. Anderson, the President of the
company, deserves great credit for the
energy he has displayed in putting the
plant upon a solid basis. Mr.. Taft is
the electrician, and deserves special
mention for his efficient labor
The plant was organized in February
last. under the name of the Clifton Forge
Electric Light and Power Company, with
Geo. K. Anderson as president. The or
iginal franchise was held by Messrs. J.
&. Woodward and B. T. Eeakle, who,
together with Messrs. Lewis Hartman,
Jas. 4. Frazier, A. E. White, Geo. K.
Anderson, w. F. SumInerson, II. E.
Jones and Thomas Woodward, were the
and public spirit is due largely the cfed-
it of the existence of the plant in our
midst to-day. Whilst 1t was the expec-
tation of the originators to receive some
pecuniary return for their investment,
the more weighty consideration and the
direct object was opromote the general
welfare of the town.
Since the original organization, how>
ever, other parties have become inter
ested, among whom is E. NJ Nettleton
THE WOODEN MILL
has commenced work and is filing Or
ders. 1t is necessary to explain that
this mandatory will make the finished
cloth from the raw material. out of GER
tain grades of wool, and will also sell
other grades of wool for special purpos-
es, only partially finished,-that is after
it has been turned into yarn. This lat
ter class of work is what the mill is now
turning out. The yarn it is manufac-
turing now is for making Smyrna rugs,
and it has orders for $4,000 pounds,
which are pressing. For this reason the
other branch of manufacturing has not
been commenced. AS soon as the orders
for yarn have been gotten in shape, at
tention will be paid to the other depart
ment. The Importance of these may be
understood when we state that this fac
tory and one other are the only ones in
this country which produce this class of
Smyrna rug yarn. Mr.. 3. K. Sergeant,
the manager of the mill here, has quite
reputation with the Smyrna rug man
ufacturers, and consequently this com
pany will have no trouble in placing all
of its product, and that, too, at remun-
erative figures. Mr.. Sergeant has had
large experience in northern mills, and
he is ''brim full" Of confidence in the
success Of the industry here, the
necessary conditions here being. he
claims, most admirable and complete.
A representative of the VIRGINIAN
went up to the mills yesterday and was
delightfully."- entertained with what he
saw. The building is three story
brick, and all of the rooms are equipped
with machinery. In addition to this
building there is also brick engine
house near by, the upper story of one
part of which is used for drying the
wool, and the other is the Willow" or
mixing room. = Here the wool goes
through the first process. It is put into
the mixing machine, which has a capac-
ity for handling 5000 pounds of wool in
ten hours. This machine takes all the
dirt and dust out of the wool, and then
by means of an air>conveyor attachment
sends it flying up two stories to the top
floor of the main building. Here it goes
into Parkhurst Burr Picker, with self
feed attachment, which thoroughly
opens the wool and then passes it along
to the cylinders and strippers, where the
burrs and other foreign matter are separ-
ated from the wool. This machine is
the finest and most complete made, and
has a capacity for picking 1000 pounds
of wool in a day of ten hours The wool