Omaha daily bee., 1902-11-02
FROM OCEAN TO OCEAN.
The Fame Of the K~eIlerstrass
Whisky Extends All Over
the United States.

mat "A prophet Is not without honor,
cave In his own country" has so often been
verified In relation TO persons and things
An Kansas City, that Il seems almost SUI
perfiuous to call attention to II again, but
the fact Is II has been so strkingly i'm
pressed upon a man from Kansas City his
experience seems worth the telling. This
man has just returned from the east and
while there he noticed that in every paper
which he picked up there appeared the
name of the Kellerstrass Distilling com
pany of Kansas City. 1t always occupied
a conspicuous place and was always telling
stout whisky. The man had heard the
rame often in Kansas City and had used
Kellerstrass whisky himself, but beyond
the fact that the article was exceedingly
good he knew practically nothing and had
lever taken the trouble to investigate. But
the regularity with which the name greeted
him every time he read a paper caused him
TO do a little investigating on his return to
Kansas City, the result of which caused
him to eIclaim: who would have thought
itl' Who would, indeed, when It is made
known that here in Kansas City II a whisky
house which has 10000 regular customers
scattered all ove- the United States, from
Maine to California and from Florida to the
northern limits OF Minnesota The NAM
moth scale upon which this company trans
acts business IL truly In keeping with the
IAokIGS6lNt dk9 III WHICH We INV hNEB Az
wins the admiration Of everyone who APP
~preciates the ability and perseverance
necessary to develop such a business. The
advertising OF the company covers the en-
tire country and the amount OF money spent
for this publicity is very large. amounting
to an average daily expenditure of 500. All
the shipments of the company are prepaid
and the express companies alone receive
$4,000 a year. The postage bill Is enormous,
fha ropnnanw uafpC last war 9IG 90 worth
OF postage stamps These figures convey
but vaguely an idea of the gigantic business
done by this company. A year ago the
company went into quarters of its own, but
these proved too small and additional room
has been secured at two different times
and the company il again cramped for want
OF floor space. These are things to make
even the enterprising Kansas City man
think and 4. is only a wonder that more do
not know of these facts and realize the
immensely Of the dealings OF this house.
The Kellerstrass Distlling company owns
and operates its own distillery and bottles
its own whisky. There is no other such
bottling plant in the United States. The
building is located at Fourteenth street
and Baltimore avenue, and the grade being
very steep there II is enabled to take its
whisky directly from the barrels in which
II comes directly from the distillery and
place the Hquod in huge tanks on the top
floor. although the teams may drive d.
rectly up to them. As soon as the whisky
10 poured into the tanks a United States
government agent seals and stamps them 50
that there is no possible chance for adul-
teration- From this time until It Is poured
into a glass by the consumer the whisky
is never touched by human hands. The
tanks being upon the top floor, the whisky
runs down through troughs and tubes to
the bottling machines. where 1t is placed
in new bottles-for kellerstrass never uses
a bottle more than once-and is corked,
sealed. stamped and turned out complete,
without a hand touching 1t, the machines
doing all the work automatically. There
are three of these machines. each having a
capacity of 1900 bottles per day Of 10 hours.
h makes $4,000 quarts OF whisky that
this house turns out every twenty-folr
hours. Tn express companies are taxed to
transport this great load every evening.
hellerstrass was the originator of the idea
OF selling whisky direct from the distillery
10 the consumer. He believed tha the
consumer would appreciate this plan, as It
would insure the purity OF the whisky,
there being no chance for adulterauon by
INSCRIPTIONS dealers. Not only This, but
selling direct eliminates the middleman's
profit, which In the whisky business
amounts to nearly as much as the original
cost OF the whisky. A whisky that can be
sold by mail for S.l5 per gallon would cost
II purchased from the retailer at least S
per gallon Kellerstrass does a mall order
business la Is something wonderful. Al
though this department OF his business is
only hve years old. he moved It last year
into his present fine building. s0x152, three
stories high This building was built ac-
cording to the needs OF the business at
that time and the increase 1t was thought
the business would make In the course OF
half a dozen years. Then. II was caIcu-
lated. additional stories could be added So
rapidly did the business grow, however, the
entire building wa literally packed. The
building just east OF tia first one was leased
for a warehouse. The relief afforded by
this added floor space was only temporary,
however. and before long the need for more
room was as urgent as ever. Arrangements
were made for still another building ad-
joining the two already occupied. the d.
mansions Of this building being 7Oxl4O and
two stories high. From the present out
look Il is but the question OF a short time
until the present buildings will be too small
and II is the intention OF the ompan 10
build additional stories to the first Of the
experience viii at once realize that the
phenomenal growth Of the Kellerstrass Dis
uiling company is III result OF practically
one thing-the merit OF their whisky. A
temporary increase OF any business may be
attained by advertising. but unless the
expects them TO be this increase produces
no profitable business and viii not last
The kelerstrass company, by selling
absolute purity and delicious flavor, hold
all their old customers while securing new
ones. With $4,000 satisfied customers 10
and endorse them IL Is no won
der that the business increases by LEAPS
and bounds. The Kellerstrass Dlstiuing
company was Incorporated last month, the
charter being received September q. The
company has $4,000 capital and its net in
crease In business Is q per cent a wear.
That shows what Kansas City business men
can do when they get started. The firm OF
George Peake a Sons, certified accountants,
has just finished an examination OF the
companyis books from the beginning, and
has found that IL Is in excellent condition,
without an account for purchases on It's
books. Everything Is bought for cash and
paid for at noon every day, the company
figuring that every discount obtained by
raging cash Is so much profit. The report
OF the accountants was so good the Traders
National bank and the American National
bank gave the company permission 70 use
their names as references and endorsed IL
IN highest terms 1t Is interesting TO look
They range from Florida TO Oregon and
from California TO New Hampshire and an
the states IN between. The whisky Is sent
out in plain packages, free from s~tampings
or advertisements. and a man might be get
tina shoes for all his ~neighbors can tell,
when he receives his four quarts Of a.
year-old liquor. The fact that the company
has its own distillery Is a strong card with
buyers, becaust they know that no Hstii-