The Princeton union., 1892-09-08
THE BRICK INDUSTRY.
In a Few Years It Will be the
Leading Industry Of
Princeton. /.
The Supply Of Raw Material In
Sight is Practically mex
haustible.

Three Million Brick Manufac-
tured at the Princeton
Yards this Year.
Three years ago two of Princeton's
enterprising citizens, Messrs. A. w.
Woodcock and F. M. Campbell COM
menced to prospect for suitable clay
out of which good brick might be
manufactured, two miles north of the
the village on the line of the railroad.
They were successful beyond their
most sanguine expectations. Samples
of the clay were shipped to Minneapo-
lis and pronounced by experts to be a
superior quality. Two years ago
machinery was put in, but only a few
hundred thousand brick was manu-
factured. Last year the output was in
creased, and this year Mr.. Woodcock
bought out Mr.. Campbell's interest,
and already 100000 have been manu-
factured. Mr.. Woodcock finds no
trouble in disposing of the output.
In fact, he cannot supply the demand.
The yards are located in section II,
town SO, range 26, just two miles north
of the Princeton depot. Mr.. Wood
cock owns six 40's, upon which there is
timber enough to furnish fuel for five
years. The plant is good one.
Nothing but the latest and most i'm
proved machinery is used. A crew of
80 men and boys are employed, and
most of the laborers are paid S1.75 per
day. W. Oakes is the general superin-
tendent, and Ernest Beutler, an old
and experienced brick-maker, is the
burner. The pressing machine has a
capacity of $4,000 per day of ten hours.
There are four kilns with a capacity OF
500, 900 each. It takes about two weeks
from the time the brick are pressed
and ranged in tiers in the sheds before
they are ready to burn. If the
weather is unfavorable it takes a few
days longer. Mr.. Woodcock runs an
excellent boarding house for the ac-
commodation of his men, also a general
supply store, Elmer Hatch manages
the hotel department., and c. a..
Schwartz has charge Of the store,
books, etc. IS
The clay beds extend for miles on
both sides of the railroad track, and
no finer material for making brick can
be found in Minnesota. The brick
when burned are of a rich creamy
color and when clashed together ring
like steel. Contractors pronounce
them the best brick in the market to-
day. The hole out Of which the raw
material for 5,00O,0 900 brick has been
taken is not much larger than the ex-
cavation for a good sized building
block in one of the cities. After scrap
ing off two feet of black earth the clay
bed is reached, and the average depth
OF the bed is 20 feet. In the yards at
Shingle Creek and other places it is
necessary to shovel off eight or ten
feet of gravel before brick-clay is
reached. Borings have been made in
all directions for miles and the supply
OF clay is found to be practically mex
haustible. There is room and material
for score of yards like Mr.. Wood
cocks. In, a few years the railroad
track will be lined for miles with brick
yards that will give employment to
thousands of men. This is no fanciful
picture. The raw material exists in
abundance and fuel is plentiful and
cheap; Duluth and Superior furnish a
ready cash market for all the brick
| oAAeoo Se1AA w Ctuu Gu0ro Is
no reason why this important industry
should not be fully developed.
The only drawback is the railroad
rates, and here is where the distance
tariff bill would cut some figure. The
rates from Chaska, 40 miles south of
Minneapolis, are only 25 cents per
thousand more to Duluth and Superior,
than from Princeton. to the same
points, and Princeton is 80 miles
nearer. The rates from Menominee,
Wis, on the Omaha road, to Duluth
and Superior, are the same as from
Princeton to those points, and Prince
ton is almost 100 miles nearer. Going
south the rates discriminate still more
against Princeton. Surely the railroad
company is blind to its own interests.
This season Mr.. Woodcock will pay the