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Weu-KTIOWH xuru WVy UUtoiliW*and who Is president of the borough council.y5t.enycsi-rialr.hasraveNfowaorenali in was s in um-i in , the :ttue, X H.iorbrickFotstillanceer of Garretts Run, being the attending- physician.While Squire Nelson was in charge of the preliminary work in. connection with breaking the ground and erecticm fa buildings, Capt. Ford and his *P 'Edward Ford, as well as Sam V -yman, made daily trips to Ford City,Artimus Pitcairn was the comptroller ot the Company as well as being in. charge of the gas field.He was the gentleman who hired me as interpreter of the French,German and English languages in which capacity I started for the. Pittsburg Plate Glass Co., January 1, 1887. Besides Mr. Pitcairn, there were just the three of us in. the office, the General Book-keeper, Shipping Clerk and myself. Mr. Pitcairn and the three of us did all the work, including the keeping of the General Book Accounts which had to dowith. Creighton, Tarentum and FordCity. For years we worked every night after supper until ten o’clock and thought nothing of it. Laborers received 12 cents per hour and the best wages paid was 25 cents per hour for 11 hours a day and 12 hours at night. 1 know what X am talking about because I had. to do the check ing of tiie payrolls not only for Tarentum but also for Ford City. We found time for recreation occasionally because X remember distinctly on two or three occasions when Mr. Artimus Pitcairn had to go to Ford City missed the train and caught us outside on the railroad tracks playing ball.AnoUn** .thing I remember clearly also 3t we had to keep two sets of books, one under the name of J. B. Ford Co., which consisted of Mr. John Pitcairn, Mr. Artimus Pitcairn, Capt.'J. B, Ford, his sons Edward and Emory Ford, who financed all the Ford City factories and later sold to the P. P. G. Co (at a profit of course). This little profit caused quite a little dissatisfaction among stockholders and a long drawn out suit in the Allegheny courts by the . minority stockholders, of which Mr. Scott was the principal leader. The controversy lasted for a number of years and was finally decided in favor of J. B. Ford Co. The little fel* lows thought they were being handed a lemon when in. reality they; were getting a gold mine.“Soon after factory No. 3 was built the erection of No. 4 was started and about 1899 Works 5 commenced operations. Mr. Geo. Penn was the first acting superintendent for a short time, then Mr. Matt Pepper, who .was buried not long ago in the Manor cemetery and who was an expert plate glass man took charge. About 1892 Mr. Warner who had charge of the work house at Etna was appointed manager of the FoTd City Works. He was supposed to be a good executive, but apparently did not know much about making plate glass and was succeeded by Mr. D. H Robinson, a coal operator, who was even less competent to oversee the supervision of plate glass operations.“I remember a humorous Incident In connection with Mr, Robinson. As you men are all aware, when theboth ot p other fell*'Ic woi to tell yo the ups t red in asta-■ the 1917andtown.erredigentwhenstore the ugh-J. M.the u wefirsteem-men areglass is being laid in the plaster the men. wearing rubber shoes, tramp the glass down in sort of a side way motion and when Mr. Robinson first saw this operation, he thought the men were having a dance all to themselves on the tables, which he Intended to have stopped Immediately. Well, he did not last long and Mr. Artimus Pitcairn was transferred to Ford City to take charge in 1893. Ke stayed on the job until the
Newspaper Details
Kittanning Simpson Leader Times
Kittanning, Pennsylvania, US
Mon, Nov 25, 1929
Page 14
Full Page
Clipped by
Chris J.
USA 14 Jun 2022
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