Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1911-08-11
The knoW|tOn Gas
Engine Factory
A Plant That Will Cost $40, 900 To Es
tablish and the Opening Whistle
Will Blow January 1, 1912.

"A reporter Tor The LEADER 1Ound
Jefferson Knowlton at the machine
building of the new gas engine factory
Monday afternoon, as he stood watch
ing workmen put in the sash on the
north side of the 200 foot building.
YES" said Mr.. Knowlton II am
rushing things generally, and l have
a great deal of work to do between
this time and January lst, 1912, when
l will open for business. This build
ing is 4Sx2OO feet, with a second story
in front for offices, and when the
foundry building is completed, which
will be 54xl3S feet, and when every
thing is ready for the automatic ma
chinery to begin making the various
parts of our stationary and traction
engines, the plant will represent an
Investment OF something over $40, 1000,
and the beauty of this important
feature; the money is In sight to set
the machinery going. The stock
holders will not be very numerous as
two gentlemen have subscribed SlO,0
but if necessary small amount Of
stock will be sold to increase the
number of stockholders rather than
limit the number.
The foundry building will be abso-
lutely ire-p proof as nothing but iron
and cement will be used in its con-
struction, and there is very little in
the machine building that can burn.
only the roof and the outside Of that
will be proof against locomotive
sparks. l have travelled and studied
in various gas engine factories and
this plant will combine every modern
feature so far invented for complete,
systematic and rapid work, even down
to the automatic time keeper for the
men employed; with cranes for handl-
ing and loading engines on freight
cars, and sidetrack will connect the
plant with transportation north,
south, east and west, as good shipping
facilities as any city in the northwest
can furnish.
When the foundry and machine
houses are in perfect running order,
and that means January l, 1912, the
40 men employed can turn out 40
finished engines in days work Of 10
hours, and this is made possible by
the latest and most perfect automatic
machinery for cutting and drilling
and the drills will be self oiling.
1t would have cost $75, 900 ten years
ago to put up a plant equal to the
finished work of this plant, and 1t
would have taken one hundred men
to turn out what 40 can do now with
our improved machinery in ten hours,
for such is the wonderful progress
made possible by the inventive genius
of man in the last ten years., Hand
work Is reduced to a minium-auto-
matte machines do the work guided
by skilled mechanics
This is the substance of the inter-
view, and no man was ever more
thoroughly convinced of the success
of any undertaking than Mr.. Knowl-
ton is of Canton's gas engine factory.
He is the owner of patent on a
traction engine that Is superior'to any
now made and the manufacture OF
these engines will be his greatest
ambition. Waterloo, Iowa, parties
offered him big money If he would let
them manufacture his traction engine
at their factory, but he said to them
that they had made money enough
out OF his inventions and he Thought
he could do better by manufacturing
them himself. His gas engine Is
simple In construction and far more
powerful than any other engine OF
equal registered power owing to
simple invention OF his own. Ills