The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1917-04-22
WESTERN ELECTRIC COZ
N new QUARTERS
Local Branch EnIarGes Facjlitf6n.
Interesting Information About
Company. @

the southwest corner of Sixth ana
Cary streets, with approximately III
900 square feet of floor space AMI
thirty-two employees.
Recently they moved into the "a
Hutchinson tobacco warehouse now
owned by Desoto y. FitzCferald. at the
northwest corner ,of Sixth and Cary
streets the building having been n
tirely remodeled to suit their needs.
The. new building comprises neaIay
$4,000 square feet of floor space, s,E1g
square feet Of which on the secoid
floor is given over to Offices. whfff
are exceptionally comfortable AID
commodious. About 1000 squdre
feet on the second floor in devo&td
to the division supply stock of he
Western Union Telegraph Co. He
remainder of the second floor and tie
entire first floor is used for the coli IS
pany's own stock of telephone ana
electrical apparatus and supplEp,
power apparatus, storage batterf)s,
household devices wiring devices,
construction materials, special stools
! for the Chesapeake and Potond1c
Telephone Co. etc. In the BASEMENT
| is fully equipped garage, in whtch
may be found from fifteen to twenfy
| line trucks, construction trucks, b
| spectors' ears. etc, of the telephones
company
The company now employs fifty-
seven people. with an annual pay.
roll in excess of $50. eco.
| The Company. II
| The Western Electric Co. was Nr-
| ganiZed in lSS1-five years after AiSx-
ander Graham Bell invented the tee
/ phone. 1T was the successor OF he
Western Electric Manufacturing O..
which had succeeded the firm of CIV
! & Barton. organized in 1859 as ma Ii
+ facturers of electrical appara h..
/ Enos NJ Barton. the junior memler
! of the latter com pany, was for twerTy-
one years preside at--ef- the WestXfn
Electric Co, and from 1905 until .4is.
! death In 1916 was the chairman oE4ts
board of directors. The company
thus takes rank as the oldest in Haa
electrical field. q
The principal manufacturing plant
is at Hawthorne, Illinois, six mKes
from the center OF Chicago. at die
western boundary Of the city. This
plant covers a 2l1-acre plot 9Of
ground. and is the largest teleph4ae
manufacturing establishment In the
world.
In the Hawthorne works, the coin
pany manufactures complete te1e-
phone exchange equipments, incl1d-:
ing switchboards and all accessory
apparatus.
1t manufactures aerial, under
ground and submarine iead-coverrd
cable and associated protective &p~
paratus.
/ 1t manufactures telephones, inter
phones, mine telephones. train dts
patching telephone equipment print
ing telegra phs and, in fact. every kind
OF telephone and telegraph apparatus.
In addition to apparatus of its own
manufacture. the company distributes
a complete line of electrical PRODUCES.
I In its function as a johber of eIec-3
trical supplies manufactured by
! others. the company's organization1sS
the largest in the world It's buxf-s
ness includes the sale of poles. ptae
line hardware. electric light and
power apparatus. street railway sIe-
cialties electric wiring devices. house
hold electrical goods. and. in fsEt.
practically everything electrical. IN
the selection of the lines it handNA.
tie company Is In a position to cho@eN
and does choose those of the high>
quality so that the trade na14
I-1rEt esteFa- Electric" has come to ~
Nifty the highest standard OF exd<l-
lence.
The distributing organization Of a.
Western Electric Co. has deveioH&d
along with the extension of the con-
panys manufacturing activities I'D
now embraces thirty-two houses, -
Gated at principal business centerafDf
the United States. At each Of tn
is a sales organization and a cqn-
plete stock of electrical equipmentr
Outside of America. the company
has manufacturing and sales connAc-
tons In the principal cities of Sol IA
America Europe. Asia, Africa ~
Australia Western Electric produHfA
are distributed throughout the en@e
civilized world.
The total number of the compares
employees is now over $4,000,
1916 sales were s106.ssT goo. ss
Hawthorne Factory.
The Hawthorne works make -
Of over 100000 square feet of hSSF
space.
In the switchboard shop of tAs
Hawthorne works every type OF TO-
phone switchboard is manufactures
from the small magnetic hoard to DO
central battery central office equ n;
ment such as is used in the modt$M
city exchange. 49,
The annual output covers t04t
of over 10000 switchboard sectioAA
/ Here more than 1000, 900 teleph4A
instruments arc produced annualiN& Il
In making lead-covered cable, en-
nous quantities of raw materials ~
used. In one year the copper aniou
to more than $4,000 tons, the insutqx~s
4 ing paper TO more than 5000 tons -
4 the lead to over $4,000 tons.
The cable plant turns out annu4Ry
over so 900, 900 feet OF cable. This Ia
quires over ten billion feet OF Wxex
or enough to go around tho en-
at the equator more than sever
five times.
\ More than 100000 cords 4
manufactured annually for evA
kind of telephone service. N
Over 100000 tons OF merchand
are handled annually. This requs a.
more than $4,000 cars for shipma
in and out Of the factory. or IT,
average OF over seventy-five per
The water tower II one OF the ~
sentiai parts Of the ffre protec
system. With two large water fe -
lvoirs, enough water can be rpm
to supply ten nre engines Tor ~
ov;s a1.sss,sss s,i.s ~ e.