The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1904-02-19
NATIONAL BISCUIT co.

The Annual Meeting of the Stockholders
of the National Biscuit Company was
Held in Jersey City, Thursday, Febru-
airy II, 1904, at 2 p. m.-Mr. A. w.
Green, Chairman of the Board of Di
& rectors, Presented to the Stockholders
the Annual Report. Which Gives the
Assets at se2, 1os, o476s and Liabilities
at $54, o4o, 10000.
To the Stockholders of National Biscuit
Company:
The following is the balance sheet of
the at close s of 6Ss Inc jan
liabilities at 54,040, 10000.
The company has now completed the
sixth year of it's existence. 1t has paid
regular quarterly dividends on it's prefer
red stock at the rate of seven per cent per
annum since the beginning. The first
dividend of one per cent on the common
payable October 18th, 1899, and since that
time dividends have been paid on the
common stock regularly every quarter at
the rate OF four per cent per annum.
The total number of stockholders of the
company Immediately after it's organiza-
ton was about thirteen hundred. The
total number now is seven thousand, five
hundred and eight. OF this number, sew
enteen hundred and fiftyfour are en-
ployeS of the company, under the plan en-
aiding employees to buy our preferred
stock, paying for it in instaIlments, they
have purchased five thousand, two hun
dred and ninety eight shares. This, of
course is exclusive of the large amount
of stock, both common and preferred, held
by our directors, officers, and principal
managers
The balance sheet of the company,
shows that it has ample cash resources
for the conduct of it's business, and its
! haV
The profits of the Company, well as
the sales, have shown each year an in
crease over the preceding year, the year
| just closed being no exception to the rule.
The financial statement does not tell
the whole story of the year just closed.
A great work has been accomplished in
has not yet reached it's highest efficiency,
| but has passed the experimental stage
and the aim is to make it perfect.
The chairman of the Board says, the
quality of our goods is maintained at a
| high standard. The sales of our advertis-
| ed package goods are constantly increas-
| ing, and we are always charging the
| scope of our advertising, with the effect
( that the value of our goodwill, which
has become our most valuable asset, is
continually increasing.
In our last report we stated that We
| were building two large factories, one in
| New York and one in Chicago, especially
for the manufacture of Uneeda Biscuit.
Various things conspired to delay the
in New York has just been completed and
is now in operation, having proved a
complete success. A fire proof building
one hundred feet wide by two hundred
feet long, six stories and basement, equip
ped throughout with newly invented ma
chinery especially adapted for the manu-
facture and packing of Uneeda Biscuit,
lighted and operated by electricity-we
have no hesitancy in saying that it is the
most complete biscuit factory in the
world.
uIl,;r foo+or,- ie I,,,ilt ,,ax+ RI and ad
joining an existing factory which we had
in New York city at the corner of Fiji
teenth street and Tenth avenue, extending
through to Sixteenth street. That factory
was the largest bakery in the country; in
it was manufactured our general line of
goods, including sugar waters. When we
put the new sugar wafer, Nablsco, on the
market and advertised it. it INN ediately
developed such a large sale that the space
occupied for that branch of the business
became insufficient; and at the same time
the business on our general line of goods
manufactured in our Tenth avenue fac
tory so increased that not only was there
no space to furnish further room for the
DEVELOPMENT of the NabiScO business in
eral line of goods required even the room
occupied by the sugar wafer department.
Therefore, while the Uneeda Biscuit
Works were in course of construction
during the past year, a, piece of ground
one hundred and twenty five feet front on
! Fifteenth street by about eighty feet deep,
L
| was secured on long lease, and on that
plot of ground we at once commenced the
erection of another fireproof building, six
stories and basement, which is nearly
completed, the upper three stories and
basement of which will be devoted eX-
clusively to the manufacture OF NablSco
and other varieties of sugar waters: the
lower stories being devoted to our offices
1t may be of interest to state that this
plant practically all under one roof,
though separated by fire walls into dis
\ INellY
Establishment in the world and the largest
manufacturing plant in New York. An
| idea of it's size will be perhaps best I'M
derstood when we state that 1t has TWEEN
ty-one acres of floor space.
1t will also interest our stockholders to
know that it will not be an idle plant;
we have business already created to keep
| it reasonably busy. still leaving us some
room for the installation of new machin-
cry as our trade grows. In fact. it gives
us the opportunity to seek further i'm
crease of our business along profitable
lines which we have been unable to do
up to this time from lack of proper facil-
tiles
The Uneeda Biscuit Works in Chicago
is practically finished, the last of the new
machinery being now in course finstal-
lation. That factory when finished and in
operation will be practically a duplicate
in it's efficiency of the Uneeda Biscuit
Works in New York and between these
two factories we shall be able to turn out
over half million packages of Uneeda
Biscuit a QaV. we may dUu llldl we w
not believe this amount to be the limit, by
any means, of the consumption of Uneeda
Biscuit
The total cost of these three new build
ings, with their equipment, when COM
pleted and in operation. will be about
81, 800 600 upon which there has already
been paid the sum of s1,311, 0177S.
We recognize that the expenditure OF
this large sum of money brings to the Of
ficers of this Company added responsible
tiles. because the expenditures must be
justified in the future balance sheets OF
the Company. We are confident that this
result will be attained. We feel that 1t
is no ordinary spirit which animates the
officers and employees of this company.
AS our organization becomes perfected,
the loyalty and enthusiasm of the men in
the company. becomes more marked, and
the pride in the company becomes greater.
The devotion to the interests of the com
pany manifest in all the departments, is
q source Of great qualification to the Of
ficers of the company. and we know IT
will be TO our stockholders We are all
animated bv one great ambition-to make
the National Biscuit Company the ideal
industrial corporation.