|
Steiger Terra
Cotta & Pottery Works
The average observer does not see any beauty in the cloud of dust
following the harrow of the farmer, but to the eye of the farmer
there appears a field of waving grain and the promise of harvest.
Nor would thousands of people traveling daily back and
forth between the cities of San Mateo County and San Francisco ever
imagine that artists are busy making the dreams of architects into
beautiful realities out yonder at Point San Bruno.
Very few of us think of anything soulful or inspiring in a piece of
clay. It is but a bit of inferior earth, an unfit companion for
soil. True it may be used to make common bricks and common pipes,
but what sort of beings would ever think of pursuing Art in Clay? If
you would have an answer to this question turn from your usual
course in motoring through South San Francisco and take an hour with
the silent workers in clay. Heed not the dust from ponderous
grinding mills, nor the roar of red hot kilns, but seek the easel of
the strange man there who can hold fast in clay your most elusive
fancies. Or stand by others who are fashioning beautiful building
blocks with which to enrich the structures of man in our great
cities.
This is an invitation and there goes with it a promise
that you will be entertained in a most unusual manner with a real
live moving picture not of Indian pursuit and cowboy rescue, but of
the rescue of a piece of clay from the oblivion of earth and its
glorification in shaft and architrave.
The City of South San Francisco is the place where
Terra Cotta enrichment was made for many of the prominent buildings
of California, a partial list of which we give below:
Some of the common things made by this concern are,
sewer pipe, chimney pipe, flue lining, fire brick, furnace tiles,
conduit tiles and acid wares.
Some of the ornamental things made by this concern are,
urns, vases, seats, fountains, sun dials, garden ornaments, "gobelin"
and brick.
The following are a few of the terra cotta and pressed
brick buildings:
The High School, Town Hall and Library in Redwood City;
the City Hall in Burlingame; the Hotel, Bank and Royal Theater,
South San Francisco; the Rialto, Monadnock, Grant, Hooker & Lent, Y.
M. C. A., German House Association, Physicians' Building, Humboldt
Savings Bank, Levi Strauss, Jewelers' Building, Adam Grant, Lathrop,
Ghiradelli, Doe Estate, Jean Parker School, Girls' High School,
Oriental School, Hohweisner, Lent, Peltien and Payne residences,
Macbeth Apartments, Holluschickic Club, Olympic Club, California
Pacific Title, Underwood, Press Club, Holy Cross Mortuary Chapel,
Polytechnic High and Polytechnic Schools, Mary Elizabeth Inn and
Sacred Heart College in San Francisco; the Capital National Bank,
People's Saving Bank and State Armory in Sacramento; The Bank of
Arcata; The Bank of Eureka; the McHenry Library, Modesto; the
Pathological Building, San Francisco and Polytechnic High School.
Pacific Coast
Steel Company
The Pacific Coast Steel Company is the only concern west of the
Rocky Mountains making steel by the "open hearth" process.
The nucleus of this company was started in 1909 by D. P. Doak, and
plans were made for a modern plant at South San Francisco. In the
year 1911 a consolidation was effected with the Seattle Steel
Company and the Portland Mill-thus giving the organization three
mills. The South San Francisco plant was opened January 2, 1912,
employing at the outset from 150 to 200 men. Today about 400 men are
on the company's payroll in that city, while the entire organization
employs about one thousand men in all.
The South San Francisco plant has specialized on bars
of several kinds and shapes, among them corrugated squares and
rounds, twisted squares, merchant bars and angles.
The twisted and corrugated bars are only used in
reinforced concrete construction; and so great has been their
output, that it has immensely increased the California cement
output; its allied industry. This is particularly noticeable in the
Increased erection of reinforced concrete bridges and buildings upon
the Pacific Coast.
The Pacific Coast Steel Company has furnished nearly
all the reinforced steel used in the concrete piers on the San
Francisco waterfront. It furnished the steel for the foundation of
the Ferry Building, the Incinerator, the Sub-Treasury Building of
the Municipal Auditorium and many others.
The Company is reaching out successfully for business
into the Orient and Honolulu.
Mr. E. M. Wilson is president and treasurer of the
concern; D. P. Doak and William Pigott, vice presidents; W. S. Burt,
secretary; and E. S. Houdlette, assistant secretary.
Burlingame
Publishing Company
The Burlingame Publishing Company is the only real publishing house
in San Mateo County. About three years ago the owner of the printing
plant in Burlingame conceived the idea of enlarging the plant to a
point where all kinds of book work could be handled with the same
facility as the larger printing plants in the metropolitan centers.
The equipment has been added to since that time, until now the plant
is as complete as any. There are many larger printing plants in the
state, but none have better machinery than has the Burlingame
Publishing Company. A book cylinder press, a linotype machine
equipped with the latest book type faces, a power stitcher, and
numerous small machinery necessary to a complete plant are
installed; and to this more recently has been added a book bindery.
This book, The History of San Mateo County, including printing and
binding complete, was the product of this shop from cover to cover.
Hundreds of pieces of high grade printing are being produced by the
expert force employed. The foreman of this plant, Mr. George P.
Pracna, spent eleven years in one of the largest book plants in
Minneapolis. Mr. L. B. Lawrence in charge of the linotype
department, is a printer and operator of fifteen years' -experience
in California, and Mr. Jos. Trainor, is from Boston where he spent
years in the big printing plants as an expert pressman. The book
bindery is in charge of Mr. B. B. Kaufman, an expert in his line who
spent many years in the large plants in Chicago.
The Burlingame Publishing Company publishes The
Burlingame Advance, a weekly paper that serves the locality. The
owner of the publishing business and the Editor of The Advance is
Mr. S. D. Merk who has spent twenty years in the printing business
and as editor of papers in California.
The Enterprise
Foundry Company
The Enterprise Foundry Company was founded as the Enterprise Foundry
in October, 1886, by copartnership of H. Schrader, H. Martens, J. W.
Heaney, and A. Anderson.
The location was on Spear Street between Folsom and
Howard Streets. After one year's operation as a jobbing foundry, it
was found that the quarters were too small, end a new location was
found on Folsom near Main Street. Here, the business was carried on
successfully with H. Schrader acting as business manager and H.
Martens, as production manager.
These gentlemen deserve a great ,deal of praise for the
efficient manner in which they handled this foundry business. In
these modern days of short hours and high efficiency, we can but
pause and wonder at the achievements of these gentlemen, and their
crew.
The writer recalls with great interest, the scientific
manner used by H. Schrader in the handling of his employees. It was
not uncommon to be cautioned not to allow oneself to become
overheated above a certain temperature. The first large contract
'turned out, was an order for 15,000 Worthington meters for the
Spring Valley Water Co.
After ten years of operation at this location, a new
building was constructed at the northwest corner of Folsom and Main
Streets. Here, the business was conducted on a considerably larger
scale; and larger and more intricate work, such as marine steam
engines, pumps and gas engines were turned out.
In 1897, the Company incorporated as the Enterprise
Foundry. Since that time, it has been on a steady increase, and in
the year of 1908, it was found necessary to re-incorporate under the
name of The Enterprise Foundry Company, H. Martens, President; Chas.
Hoehn, Vice President; J. W. Heaney, Secretary; H. Niemann and J. L.
Moore, Directors. The main office and works were on the Company's
property, at 29022998 Nineteenth Street, between Florida and Alabama
Streets, and various plants were scattered about the city.
It was decided to select a desirable location outside
of the city, where plenty of space, cheap power and spur track
facilities could be had. South San Francisco was selected as an
ideal location, and twenty acres of land was purchased from the
South San Francisco Land & Improvement Company. Four steel
buildings, covering an area of 50,000 square feet, have been erected
on this site, and the Company is operating at present, four
different departments at the South San Francisco plant,
namely,-Brake shoe foundry, Gray iron foundry, Crucible steel
foundry, and a machine shop. A motor truck service is maintained
between San Francisco and South San Francisco by the Company. In
this way, it is possible to serve the city customers promptly. The
Enterprise Foundry Company is at the present writing, the largest
jobbing foundry on the Pacific Coast.
In addition to the South San Francisco plant, the
Company is operating two grey iron foundries, one brass foundry, a
pattern shop, and one sash weight foundry, in San Francisco.
All of the most modern equipment known to the foundry
trade is used by the Company. Thousands of dollars of old style
machinery were scrapped to make room for this modern equipment.
H. Martens has been guiding the destinies of the
Company for a good many years, and is still actively engaged in
building up this business. It is the intention of the Company to
maintain its very high reputation for turning out high grade work.
The Enterprise Foundry Company turned out all of the
iron and bronze castings for the High Pressure Fire Protective
System of San Francisco. This was one of the most important casting
contracts ever turned out on the Coast.
Every casting was subjected to a very high test and
only perfect castings were accepted. It was copidered practically
impossible to turn out the manganese forgings for the High Pressure
Gate Valve Stems, on this Coast, but the Company turned out
approximately 50 tons of these forgings to the entire satisfaction
of the highly efficient engineering staff of the Board of Public
Works of San Francisco.
At the present time, the Company is equipped to turn
out castings varying from one ounce to 25 tons, at its South San
Francisco shops. The Crucible steel castings turned out at this
plant, are of the highest quality of steel obtainable in the United
States.
The Steel Back Brake Shoe business is a new industry for this part
of the Country, all shoes of this description having formerly been
shipped in from the East.
The Company proposes to make this Brake Shoe business
one of the largest west of the Rockies.
Home |
|
