GGleanedleaned fromfrom the TurnersTurtiersjalls Falls ReporterWeporter; ; 11872-1922872-1922
JulyJuly 1010, , 18187272 Directory of Corporations in Turners Falls KKeitheith PPaperaper CCo.o. John John Keith ...... President
-The Keith boarding houses are fast approaching completion. JohnJohn Keith, Esq., President of the Keith Paper Co., personally superintends the work, and he 1sis forcing it along as quickly as possible. Work on the east wing of the mill has been commenced, and everything looks fair for a rapid consummation of the wishes of the stockholderstockholders.s.
August 7 Directory of Corporations in Turners Falls KKeitheith PPaperaper CCo.o. John John Keith ...... President Wendell T. Davis . . TreasurerTreasurer H.H.C. C. PutnamPutnam...... Superintendent -Work on the Keith Mills is progressing rapidly. Mr. H. C.C. Putnam, the Superintendent, is1s pushing things. Mr. A. C. Waters has 128128 men now in his employ, on this work alone.
September 1111 -The Keith Mill has made the most rapid strides during the past two weeks, than in any similarsunilar period since its foundation was laid.
October 2 -We rambled through the Keith Mill the other day, and were surprised at the immense progress made during the past few weeks. Mr. Waters has been driving things to some purpose. The bleach and boiler house is1s nearly completed, and the machine room began, and the office about being begun. The bleach house is three stories high, and is intended to hold two large engines, over those will be iron tubular tresses, with arches, forming, when done, a complete brick floor. One other item attracted special attention, the immense harness work forthe the shafting. This special work in under the care of Mr. Merry, and attests his ability as a workman.
JanuaryJanuary 1,1, 18187373 A Glance at 18721872 Among the principal events that have affected our own town are the building of the Suspension Bridge, the completion of the Farren House and the Montague Mill, the building of the Keith MillMull and boarding houses, the Schuler Block, the new schoolhouse, the Baptist Church, Wiliam William P. Crocker's splendid residence, the extension of the Main Canal, the opening of the Crocker National Bank, the opening of the Crocker Institution of savings, the establishment of the Reportereporter, , the formation of the Turners Falls Lumber Company, the institution of the Good Templars and the "D. O. H." as permanent societies, the sale of the
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Griswold Mill site, the extension of First, Second andL Lstreets, streets, the building of the aqueduct to supply the Keith Mill with pure water; and the inauguration of a hundred other enterprises of a private character, all tending to the development of our vast resources. We wish them all success in the years to come.
JanuaryJanuary 1515 New Mills We have have the authority for justjust saying that another mullmill site has virtually beendisposed disposed of. The site in question is the one between the Keith Mill and the bridge; it 1sis intended to build a very large millmull for the manufacture of fine book papers. Some of the most prominent paper men in the state are connected with the enterprise.
Local Matters -The Keith Mill is making rapid strides. We hope soon to be able to give a full description of this noble mull.mill. -Workmen are actively engaged in digging a drain for the Keith Mill water pipes near the Clark & Chapman Machine Co.'s works.
March 1212 Already several large manufacturing companies are in full operation. Among these are the Clark & Chapman Machine Company, which makes a specialty of water wheels and saw mill machinery; the Montague Paper Company, manufacturers of fine printing papers, with a daily production of 6 tons; Turners Falls Pulp Company, John John Russell Manufacturing Company, whose cutlery is world renowned; the Keith Paper Company, manufacturers of fine papers, and the Turners Falls Lumber Company.
April 30 KKeitheith PPaperaper CCompany'sompany' s AqueductAqueduct It is known to almost every man, woman and child in our town, and also to many of the men in1n the trade elsewhere, that below the manufactories on the stream at Turners Falls, stands a magnificent mill for the manufacture of fine writing papers, but it is not so generally understood that this mill 1sis not surpassed by any other on this continent, and its reputation six months hence will establish the fact beyond the doubt. Holyoke at present supplies over three-quarters of the writing papers used in this country, but on the completion of the Keith Mill with its incomparable pure water supply, a rivalof of the most formidable character will have sprung into existence. We do not say this boastingly, but with the building, facts and figures directly before us, we feel a pride in calling our reader's attention to an enterprise of such incalculable benefit to our town. It has been asked on every hand, "Why do they delay the opening of the Keith Mill?" The question is easily answered. In the manufacture of fine writing papers, a generous supply of the purest water is indispensable, and as the nearest point where a sufficient volume could be obtained was at CColdbrook,oldbrook, the company had no other alternative but to dam the stream and lay their pipes to it. We yesterday walked the whole course from the millmull to the main stream (and they have dozens of
Keith Paper Co. 1872-1922 Page 2 of 107107 e.ge.g. . transcription 4.2018 tributaries besides, of which we will speak presently) and must confess that previously we had no idea of the magnitude of the undertaking. Having arrived at Coldbrook, we were cheerfully furnished all the information desired, and kindly shown about by the gentleman under whose personal supervision the undertaking 1sis conducted, and we will vouch that if any person who takes an interest in such matters desires to see the works. Mr. Keith will be only too happy to act as guide. The main spring is1s spanned with a afifty fifty foot dam, about twenty feet from which are two large stone walls, one inside of the other, not as high as the dam by a foot or so, and a pipe passes from the body of water in the pond outside to the inside well. Then the main pipe which leads to the mills commences at the opposite wall of the inner well, thus causing all the grains of sand which the water may contain (being too heavy to pass straight from the mouth of the main) to drop to the bottom of the well. The outside well is merely for the purpose of preventing the water from rising and flowing over the top of the dam, as above a certain height it flows into the well and finds an outlet by an escape pipe underground. From this brook, the main pipe,pipe,—which―which 1sis in twelve foot lengths, with a bore twelve inches in diameter, capable of carrying a volume of water 108108 inches in diameter greater than that of the Turners Falls Aqueduct, and sufficient for the household inhabitants,—followsinhabitants,―follows the course of the river, and TenTen ThousandThousand FFourour Hundred FFeeteet is required to complete the main to the mill. Over a dozen good sized springs flow the year round contiguous to the main, but as yet it has not been deemed expedient to utilize more than four of them. The water of all these springs, however, as well as that of Coldbrook, is unusually pure, and it is a matter of fact that no paper mill in the whole country will be better favored in this particular than the Keith, as scores of men engaged in the business, who have examined the water, have acknowledged. All that immense sand plain extending towards Millers Falls serves as a FFilterilter for this water, and in the case of all the springs they ooze out of the earth only a few feet from where they are tapped by the aqueduct, thus ensuring the freedom of the water from alall l vegetable matter. Another feature of this water is that the temperature is the same in JulyJuly as in January,January, and last winter when the thermometer stood at 3636° o below zero, then ponds were not frozen over. Ditches five feet deep, have for the most part, been excavated for the pipes, while well built cob work has been constructed for them when they come above the surface, and the entire main will be covered with at least five feet of sand. This covering will be so level as to form a bridal path by which the springs will be more readily reached than in their present almost inaccessible route. Between sixty and seventy men are at present employed on this work. Geo. L. Manchester having charge of the pipe laying, and the sum that it will cost the company, in dollars and cents, will be about $35,000, but you would have to add a couple figures to this sum to represent its worthworth to the mill.mull.
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JuneJune 44. -The Turners Falls Pulp Co. met on Friday last and adjourned till JuneJune 8th. -"Corporations have no souls," therefore it would be absurd to expect that the Pulp Company. The Russell Cutlery Co. and the Keith Company will plant shade trees in front of their whole streets of buildings, as required by their several deeds, or that the Turners Falls Company will insist that it shall be done. Is the clause in the deed meant to be binding only in the case of the manman—or,―or, perhaps, the poor widowwidow—who―who has a a lifetimes'lifetimes’ savings invested in a small lot in the place? -We learn from Myron A. Ward, the Superintendent of Geo. L. Manchester's work here, that his men have completed the laying of about 9,000 feet of the heavy cast iron 12-inch12-inch pipe for the Keith Company. The fidelity with which the work is1s executed may be instanced by the fact that on Friday last 516 feet was laid by two men and their assistants. The pipe 1sis now complete as far as the cove below the ferry. It is1s also laid from the Russell Co's. "gate" up to the Bardwell barn on First Street. -While men were at work in the Keith drain, on First Street, on Thursday, they exhumed the mortal remains of several noble red men of, probably, Capt. Turner's time. Dr. Coy was summoned, and he pronounced them deaddead—gone―gone to the happy hunting ground. There is not the slightest doubt that they are dead, for we took the trouble ourselves to whisper "rum brother," and no answer came. An Indian must be very dead when those mystic words wake him not. -The Keith Company will meet JuneJune 18th.18th.
JuneJune 1111 -The work of bringing water from Coldbrook to the Keith Mill has proven a perfect success, and the Major is in high glee. The gates were raised at 9:40 Monday morning and at 10:4510:45 a beautiful stream of pure water was pouring through the pipes under the mill,mull, after travelling within 160160 feet of two miles. It was a big undertaking, and its success reflects no little credit upon theability ability and persistency of Mr. Keith, who has devoted himself to the work with untiring zeal, regardless of the obstacles he was forced to encounter, every one of which he has overcome without a departure from his original plan.
JulyJuly 2 -The Keith Mill will commence onstock stock next Monday morning.
JulyJuly 30 TheThe KKeitheith PPaperaper MilMill l atat WorkWork AnotherAnother GrGreatea t FFeathereather IInn TurnersTurners FFalls'alls' CCap.ap . The Keith Paper Mill, of which we have spoken frequently while in course of construction, is now so far advanced that work has commenced in the rag room, and in two or three weeks the various departments will probably be filled with busy operatives. The millmull is principally noteworthy on account of the superior manner of its construction, its perfect adaptation to the work for which it is intended, and the especial pains which have been taken to make it, what experienced paper-makers unhesitatingly pronounce it—theit―the finest paper mill in the world.
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It is located next below the Russell Cutlery Works, a branch track of the railroad passing the door, from which a siding will be laid so as to bring the cars into immediate1mmediate connection with the elevators and coal rooms of the mill. The main building is 270 feet long and 45 wide, five stories in height, with two L's projecting toward the railroad, one 50 by 100100 feet, and the other 45 by 75, the latter also five stories high. The foundations are laid in the most substantial manner, all resting upon the solid rock, andseven seven feet in thickness at the bottom. Firm as are the walls, however, none of the fixed machinery rests upon them, but is all supported by masonry or "harnesses" of Georgia Pine, 20 inches square, so that the wall might all be thrown down, and still the heavy machinery would remain undisturbed. The building is light and pleasant throughout, and such precautions have been taken that it will, even when in full operation, be dry and neat. The surplus water, instead of running in an open gutter, 1sis all collected at the different points and taken by a 12-inch12-inch pipe directly to the wheel pit. Power is supplied by five LeffellLeffell' 1 wheels; three of 44 inches, supplying the main portion of the establishment, and two of polished brass, 22 inches each, for giving power to the two machinesmachines—the―the whole aggregating 500 horse-power. Having recently referred at some length to the extensive aqueduct of this fine mullmill we deem it necessary to more than mention the fact in this description of the mullmill proper. Appliances for extinguishing fire are very thorough, every room being provided with sprinklers,while while the mill has two force pumps of the largest size, one of which will be operated by steam and the other by water power. The machinery throughout is of the most perfect description; and it 1sis worthy of remark that it is all made in Western Massachusetts. American paper machinery being much more perfect than that made abroad. The machines of 62 and 72 inches respectively, are made by Rice, Burton and Fales of Worcester; the ruling machines and stamping press by E. J.J. Piper of Springfield; the Callendars and cutter by the HolyokeMachine Machine Company; and the engines by E.D. JonesJones of Pittsfield. The gears and belting are also protected that accidents seem well nigh impossible. The bleach room has a floor of artificial stone; and the arrangements in that portion of the mill are in all respects worthy of imitation, though space will not allow their description in detail. The mill will have a capacity of five tons, daily, will devote itself exclusively to the manufacture of the finest paper, and will probably give much attention to "special enterprises." About 300 hands will be employed, and, to properly abbreviate their slumbers, a seven foot steam gong has been placed on the tower, which will make itself heard for 30 or 35 miles around. An office and packing room, 25 by 50 feet, two stories, is being built, close by the mull,mill, and a stock-house 100100 by 50 50 feet, three stories,stones, will follow immediately. A three story brick tenement-block, 250 by 40 feet, has been built opposite the mill,mull, and another of similar size will be erected in due time, to accommodate the families of operatives. Work was commenced on the structure in September, 1871,1871, though much delay was experienced during the first winter, owing to the walls, which settled several inches, necessitating the entire rebuilding of one corner of the mill.mull. This was taken in charge by JohnJohn Keith, president of the company, under whose careful superintendencesupermtendence the work has been carried out thus perfectly.
1‘James James Leffel: Double Turbine Water Wheel Inventor
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Mr. Geo. O. Peabody did all the wood finish of the mill. Mr. Geo. L. Manchester the plumbing and water pipe fitting as well as the main drain from Coldbrook, and Bartlett Bros., the painting. Mr. R. B. Campbell built the main building and Mr. Chas. A. Waters the L's. Mr. H. C. Putnam and Mr. JohnJohn Fellows should not be forgotten, for under their careful eyes the orders of Prest. Keith have been faithfully executed. We are are not of those who believe all the credit belongs to the men who have influence enough to get the contracts, but rather incline to those who the work, or give it their special supervision. The cost of the building, thus far, has amounted to nearly $400,000, and the end of expenditures 1sis not yet. The Directors of the company are; Alvah Crocker of Fitchburg; Edwin Bulkley of New York, Thomas G. Carson of Dalton, A. H. Rice of Boston, A. Pagenstscher of New York, JohnJohn Keith of TurnersTumers Falls, President.
August 6 -The Montague Paper Co. have secured the Pulp Mill's reservoir on Prospect Street, together with the pipes leading to the mill, and Mr. M. A. Ward (Geo.(Geo. L. Manchester's foreman)commenced yesterday to take up the old pipes, and lay larger new ones through other streets to the mull.mill. A four inchpipe pipe will be laid down the hillto to and along L Street to the Keith Mill drain, and thence to the mull,mill, thus securing a descent all the way from the reservoir. About a mile of drain will be made for this enterprise.
Montague Taxes for A. D. 18731873 Keith Paper Co. 2,475.00 Montague Paper Co. 1,800.1,800.0000 Turners Falls Pulp Co. 1,500.001,500.00
August 1313 -Female pedestrians are numerous since the Keith Mill commenced work. -The difference between the Keith SpringSprmgWater Water and a poor joke joke is that one is far- fetched and is1s bad, and then other is far-fetched but good. -The Montague Paper Co. have secured the Pulp Mill's reservoir on Prospect Street, together with the pipes leading to the mill, and Mr. M. A. Ward (Geo.(Geo. L. Manchester's foreman)commenced yesterday to take up the old pipes, and lay larger new ones through other streets to the mull.mill. A four inchpipe pipe will be laid down the hillto to and along L Street to the Keith Mill drain, and thence to the mull,mill, thus securing a descent all the way from the reservoir. About a mile of drain will be made for this enterprise.
August 20 -The first sheet of writing paper from the Keith MillMull was made yesterday.
-The Keith Paper Company are laying the foundation for a stock house. It is to be 90 90 x 30 feet—threefeet―three stories on the river side, one story on the railroad.
August 27 -The Keith Mill is making some beautiful paper now.
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September 1717 -Next spring the Keith Paper Company will build another tenement block of the same size and description as the one they now occupy. -The Keith Mill aqueduct pipes that were above ground on First Street,Street, have been covered over with earth to prevent freezing up in winter. -The JohnJohn Russell Cutlery, the Keith, the Pulp and Montague Paper companies have contracted for the fire apparatus necessary for the protection of their works. They will have three rotary and three steam pumps, with all the modern appliances. Let us suggest that it would be well well for the Turners Falls Fire District to secure if they can, the proper connections to make this force available in case of fire up in the town. The stream of water from a 6-inch pipe should be a great inducement to the District to seek to make it available in case of need. We do do not know that the companies would consent, but presume they would, upon fair terms.
AboutAbou t TurnersTurners FFalls;alls; A travelingtraveling correspondent.correspondent. ((aa portion is presented here. e.ge.g: . ) ...... I must notforget forget to mention the fact that Turners Falls contains the most complete and finest paper millmull in the world. It is the Keith Mill,Mull, justjust finished and it machinery is of the finest quality and of the very latest patterns. The whole mull,mill, from its mechanism down to the wall is an interesting object of admiration to the visitor . . . -The machines at the Keith run night and day. -The Keith mill gong, which was broken, 1sis sound again, and does its best to make itself heard. -The Keith company have brought some fine fellows to town, to whom we extend a cordial welcome. -Next spring the Keith Paper Company will build another tenement block of the same size and description as the one they now occupy. -The Keith Mill aqueduct pipes that were above ground on First Street, have been covered over with earth to prevent freezing up in winter. -The JohnJohn Russell Cutlery, the Keith, the Pulp and Montague Paper companies have contracted for the fire apparatus necessary for the protection of their works. They will have three rotary and three steam pumps, with all the modern appliances. Let us suggest that it would bewell well for the Turners Falls Fire District to secure if they can the proper connections to make this force available in case of fire up in the town. The stream of water from a 6-inch pipe should be a great inducement to the District to seek to make it available in case of need. We do not know that the companies would consent, but presume they would, upon fair terms.
September 24 -Thehuge huge foundation for the Keith Paper Co.'sCo.'s Stock rooms is completed, and Geo. O. Peabody and Adams & Son have the contract for the erection of the building.
October 11 -They are running an excellent quality of Bristol BoardBoard’ 2 at the Keith Mill. Mr. John John Keith is the gentleman who was firstto to manufacture Bristol Board in the United States.
2* Bristol board (also referred to as Bristol paper or Super white paper) is an uncoated, machinemachine-finished-finished paperboard. ItIt is is named after the city of Bristol in the southwest of England. Common sizes include 22.522.5”″ ×x 28.528.5"″ (572(572 ×x 724724mm) mm) and its bulkthickness thickness is
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October 1515 -The walls of the new stock room for the Keith Paper Mill are rising rapidly.
October 22 -The walls of the new stock room for the Keith Paper Mill are rismgrising rapidly. -Several engines have been stopped in the Keith Mill, but no hands have been discharged.
December 1010 -Chas. JohnsonJohnson will complete the gravel roof of the Keith Mill stock room to-to-morrow.morrow.
JanuaryJanuary 1414 -The Keith paper Company have completed their new stock house. It has a one-story frontage on the railroad track, while the rear is three stories deep, each story being accessible from the elevator landings in the main building. Freight from the railroad is received through three large doors in the front, and 1sis distributed over the building through scuttle holes in each floor. It is regarded as very convenient and substantial. Peabody & Tylerand and H.H. Holland did the work.
February 1818 -The Keith Paper Company have one order of "flat cap" that will keep them running till June.June.
May 1313 -It is a pleasant sight to go into the Keith mill and see its life and bustle. The company are full of work and orders. If it were not for the agreement among the paper manufacturers, they could run their mill to its utmost capacity on orders.
JuneJune 21 -George L. Manchester has put in seven of the Easthampton Valley Co.'s pumps in our mulls,mills, distributed as follows: Montague mill, 4; Pulp mull.mill. 1;1; Keith mill, 2. Mr. Myron A. Ward, his foreman, 1sis engaged on the one being put in the Montague millmull at this time.
JulyJuly 8 -The Keith Paper Company, which was organized in 1871,1871, has recently completed a very fine mull mill just just below the cutlery company'scompany’s works. The capital of the Keith company 1s is $250,000, and JohnJohn Keith, formerly manager of Richardson & Upton's mill at North Adams, is president and manager. Five tons per day of fine writing and ledger paper 1sis the full product of the mill, but it was started up only last August, since the agreement of the paper makers association to reduce production, it has not yet been run to its fullest capacity. The value of the annual production will amount to $600,000. The paper finds a market mainly in New York and at the South and West.
.006.006 inches (0.15(0.15 mm) or higher and A4A4, , A3A38, , A2 and Al A1 Bristol board may be rated by the number of plies it contains or, in Europe, by its grammage of 220 to 250. It is normally white, but is also made in different colours.
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The mill is built of brick 300x40 feet, five stories high, besides a five story wing 100100 feet long and two smaller wings. The Turners Falls Railroad runs along the entire front of the mull,mill, giving facilities for shoveling coal directly into the boiler room and for handling other freight with equal facility. Ten large engines, 700 pound washers and 600 pound beaters, prepare the stuff, and two machines gauging respectively 72 and 72 inches make the paper. The total cost of the mill,mull, tenements for help, and a twelve inch aqueduct from a spring two and a half miles distant, was about $450,000$450,000—Daily―Daily UnionUnion
November 44: -The JohnJohn Russell Cutlery Company employs 450 hands at present and their business is1s steadily increasing. The Keith Paper Company are being a larger business than at any previous time in their history, and the Montague millmull is cramped keeping up with their orders. Things look lively at the Pulp mill, and Turners Falls has probably never been so prosperous.
November 1111 -Forty hands have been discharged from the rag-room of the Keith mill.
December 1616 -The Clark & Chapman Machine Company have work enough on hand to keep them busy all winter. They are now putting in a $2000 three-foot turbine wheel for the Montague Paper Company. -The Keith Paper Company are shipping large orders of theirthei fine writing papers to Canada, the Canadians finding the Keith paper much better than the English made papers, on which they have to pay the same duty as on the American manufactured articlearticle—fifteen―fifteen per cent.
JanuaryJanuary 6, 18187575 -The Keith Paper Company, which has been twelve hours a day for a month or two, 1sis now running full time.
February 3 -The Keith Paper Company, which has been twelve hours a day for a month or two, 1sis now running full time.
February 24 -The Keith Paper Company are running their mill to its fullest capacity, and have more orders than can be filled without delay. They are behind particularly on orders for their finest paper and Bristol boards.”boards. 3
*3 Bristol board (also referred to as Bristol paper or Super white paper) is an uncoated, machinemachine-finished-finished paperboard. ItIt is is named after the city of Bristol in the southwest of England. Common sizes include 22.522.5”″ ×x 28.528.5"″ (572(572 ×x 724724mm) mm) and its bulkthickness thickness is .006.006 inches (0.15(0.15 mm) or higher, and A4,A4 A3, , A3 , A2 and Al"A1[2][3] Bristol board may be rated by the number of plies it contains or, in Europe, by its grammage of 220 to 250. It is normally white, but is also made in different colors.
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March 31 -The Keith Paper Company are manufacturing five tons of paper a day. -The first freight through the Hoosac Tunnel was a car load of rags for the Keith Paper Co.
April 21 -The freshet has bothered the Montague Paper Company to some extent, rendering the river water too muddy for bleaching purposes. -The banks of the Keith spring caved in last week, and rendered the water unfit for use for several days. A dozen men were kept constantly at work remedying the fault, and now the water 1sis running pure as ever. -The Keith paper Company have been using straps and buckles in doing up their ledger papers for some time, but other manufacturers having commenced to use them on their stock, the inventor, JohnJohn Keith, Esq., president of his company, made application and was granted a patent on them as the trade mark of the Keith ledger papers.
May 5 -Some of the Keith mill boys have engaged Colle Hall for Saturday evening, May 15th,15th, for a social dance. -The end of a stock drainer in the Keith mill fell out one day last week, without doing any damage to the mill.mull. JuneJune 2 -The machine which JohnJohn Fellows has justjust got a patent on has been in the Keith mill for a year. -Thursday, at the annual meeting of the Keith Paper Company, JohnJohn Keith was elected President and Treasurer. JohnJohn Keith, Thomas G. Carson, E. Bulkley, A. Pagenstecher, A.H. Rice, E.D. Jones,Jones, Charles T. Crocker, B.N. Farren, Directors, and Wendell T. Davis, Clerk.
JulyJuly 7 -The new building for the Montague Paper Company is completed to the roof. -The first base ball match of the season was played on Pleasant Plain, Thursday, between the Farren House nine and the Keith nine. The Farren House club had not played any for a year, and did not make much of a show. The following in the score; Keith nine 63 Hotel nine 24 Gottleib Pfefferle - Umpire T. Reen - Scorer
JulyJuly 28 -A couple of engines for the Montague mill arrived, Thursday. They were manufactured by Me. E.D. JonesJones of Pittsfield, who is the most competent engine builder in America. Two Keith mill engines were also made by him. -The paper-makers clam bake was largely attended this year, many out of town folks being present. The prize, a silver cup, for the best song was won by George Henderson, beating Charles Jones,Jones, whom he tied at the first trial, and to whom many think the prize was due. Charles Sauter took the prize, a silver napkin ring, from Jacob Jacob Jacobus, Jacobus, for the best
Keith Paper Co. 1872-1922 Page 1010 of 107107 e.ge.g. . transcription 4.2018 standing jump, jump, the latter having slipped off his feetafter after passing his opponent's mark. The jumpjump that took the prize was eleven feet, four inches.
August 4 -No repairs were made in the Keith mill last Sunday. We shall shall be able to Christianize those people by and by!by!’ 4
August 1111 -As Nellie Lapine was feeding one of the calenders in the Keith mill Monday, a piece of paper adhered to one of the rolls, and in attempting to pick it off her hand got caught under the feed roll. She screamed as only a woman can scream and all of the rest of the women in the mullmill screamed in concert. JamesJames Packer, who has the appearance of a brave and cool man, had no sooner heard the first cry, then without looking to the cause, he sprang from a window on the second story to the ground breaking his leg. The boss of the finishing room, Taylor, on hearing the noise, ran to the girl, asked her what she was doing with her arm in there, and pulled it out. And it was found that after all the fuss, the girl wasn't hurt further than being burnt slightly on the wrist by holding her arm on the rapidly moving roll. The feed roll is very light and is held against the calender roll by its own weight, and no serious accident could possibly occur by getting the hand between the rolls. Why the man jumpedjumped out of the window on account of the cries of the girl, is something no fellow can find out.
September 11 -The town seems departed since the Keith mill has shut down. The operatives are nearly all out of town.
September 8 -The Keith mill will start up again, Monday, in full force. The washers will be started Friday.
September 1515 -The blowing of the Keith steam gong again 1sis like hearing the voice of anold old friend.
November 3 -The Keith Paper Company have justjust been awarded a contract for furnishing the state [illegible]lillegible]of of California with superfine flats at 21 cents a pound, and have already shipped six tons, a small part of the contract.
November 24 -The Keith mill will shut down for four weeks, commencing on the 15th15th of December, pursuant to the action of the Convention of Fine Paper Manufacturers at Springfield last week. About three-quarters of the writing paper mills in the country were represented. All agreed that rn4 This: comment is : made in : regard to some religious . zealots in : town complainingos of working: in : the mills “ on SundaySunday.~ .
Keith Paper Co. 1872-1922 Page 1111 of 107107 e.ge.g. . transcription 4.2018 some radical action was necessary to improve their business, most of the manufacturers having run at a loss for several months, and it is hoped that thiswill will enable the mills to work off their surplus stock and raise prices to living rates, while the month's notice would enable them to work down their stocks of raw material, and also give their hands time to prepare somewhat for their term of leisure.
December 1515 -The Keith Paper Company is closing the different departments as they finish up the various stages of the manufacture and these closing out which will commence labor before the last get through, so that the mill will not be virtually closed.
JuneJune 1313, , 18187777 -Several fine paper manufacturers have been looking at the Keith Paper mill lately, with the object of building mills in the same style. One manufacturer, recently burned out, said in our hearing that the Keith was the model fine paper mill of America, he believed. He was greatly pleased with the spring water supplied to the mullmill through two miles of twelve inch iron pipe. Visit of Governor Rice President Keith, of the Keith paper Company, was honored, last Thursday, by a visit from his Excellency Governor A.H. Rice, Lieutenant Governor Knight, Secretary of State Pierce, General Plunket, Colonel Whitney and the rest of the Governor's Council.
August 11 -President John John Keith of the Keith Paper Co., who has introducedmtroduced very many improvements in paper making and its machinery, has justjust patented an improvement in clamps for holing paper while being trimmed, that is worth thousands of dollars to paper-makers. Heretofore the paper could be trimmed only on three sides withoutbeing being taken from the form and replaced, but in the new arrangement the form revolves and allows the four sides of the paper to be trimmed without taking it from the form, thus saving nearly one-half the time. Mr. Keith was offered $1000 for his patent before it had a practical test. It is now used in the Keith Mill to the exclusion of all other methods.
August 1515 -The Keith Mill has shut down for a couple of weeks, for needed repairs.
September 1212 -There is work for every man in this vicinity now, at reasonable wages. The Keith, JohnJohn Russell Cutlery, Montague Paper and Clark & Chapman Machine Companies are all doing a thriving business, and the store-keepers have no cause to complain.
October 1717 -They have a habit in the Keith Mill of raismgraising a workman's pay whenever he deserves an advance, without informing him of the fact till he receivesrecerves his month's pay. It 1sis a pleasant surprise to a workman to receive the extra money on pay day, and makes him think it pays to be faithful.
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November 7 OOURUR GGREATREAT LLOSSOSS ! ! DiDisastroussastrous FFireire ThisThis MoMorning!rning! TheThe MMagnificentagnificent KKeitheith MilMill l BuBurnedrned to thethe GrouGroundnd ThreeThree HHundredundred Persons ThrownThrown OOutut of EEmployment.mployment. LLOSSOSS NNEARLYEARLY $4$400,000!00,000! Last night about 1111 o'clock, the villagers were almost panic stricken by the sounding of an alarm of fire from the Keith gong. It being at once understood that one of the mills was on fire. The watchman of the Keith MillMull had just just made his tour of the building when he discovered smoke coming from the paper shavings room in the lower story, next to the carpenter's room. He hurried to the engineer's room and had the gong sounded, and when he returned to the vicinity of the fire the smoke was so dense that he could scarcely breath. The fire had caught in the paper shavings probably, and the flames shot up through the paper shavings spout to the finishing room in an instant, instant, and from thence by way of the elevator to the drying lofts, taking up the rooms full of paper on the poles like so much gunpowder, and spreading instantly throughout the entire mull.mill. The fire department connected with the mill was promptly at work, the sprinklers were in operation, and the mullmill pumps were all throwing streams, while the Crocker engine was very promptly at work and threw two powerful streams incessantly from 1111 o'clock till 3, when she had worn out two boxes from hard work. But with all the promptness, it was early seen that there was no hope of saving the mill, even though a hundred streams were available to pour upon the flames. Mr. Keith directed the firemen to use their efforts to save the detached buildings, and they succeeded in saving without damage the office and stock house, and the machines, worth about $20,000 each were saved from entire destruction by a constant flood of water. At two o'clock the Greenfield hand engine and the Eagle Hose Company came over on a special train, and a strong stream was thrown constantly for the remainder of the night, the Greenfield boys working like beavers, every man of them. As we we go to press the fire is1s smoldering between the blackened and crumbling walls of the main building, and not a wall stands that can be used in rebuilding, except perhaps the upper end, with gong tower and the chimney. The loss of the magnificent mill is a serious blow to this village, throwing out of employment as it does three hundred well paid operatives. The mill was built in 18721872 at a cost of over $400,000, and was considered the finest structure for the purpose in the world. The main building was 170 170 by 45 feet, and five stories high, and had a capacity for five tons of paper per day. Fortunately the mullmill and stock, "raw, wrought and in process" was fairly insured,insured , being $200,000, although the loss must be considerably above this sum. President Keith feels keenly his severe loss, having started the enterprise when business was in its most depressed state, Just just before the panic in the fall of 1872-3,1872-3, but through his splendid management and hard work, he has made a world-wide reputation for his fine writing papers, and struggling against a heavy and continuous tide of business depression he has not only established himself as the leading fine paper manufacturer of this country, but has the satisfaction of having made his company financially successful to a gratifying degree, having had among other large contracts one from the government for $100,000 worth of ledger papers the
Keith Paper Co. 1872-1922 Page 1318 of 107107 e.ge.g. . transcription 4.2018 present year. The millmull will certainly be rebuilt, rebuilt, but how long before it will again be running it is impossible to say at present.
November 1414 -The cinders from the Keith Mill fire blackened the streets at Millers Falls, five miles distant. -The Crocker fire engine company did splendid service at the fire last Wednesday morning, and the work done by the engine more than paid for every cent that has been expended by the fire district since it was organized. It has always been the habit with a certain class to sneer at the firemen, without anycause cause whatever. Any person who watched the brave fellows work the other night, on the top of slate roofs and in every dangerous position conceivable, and then have the heart to sneer at them, hasn't the spark of manhood about hin.him. Even afterthe the Crocker engine had thrown two heavy streams for four solid hours, some of the crowd had the smallness of soul to taunt the firemen about their engine when it had worn out its boxes. The firemen have during the past year richly earned the warmest sympathy of this village, as well as the paltry $12 which comes from the treasury, and the man who would give them a hiss when a cheer was demanded, hasn't a spark of honest appreciation in him. The burning of the Keith mill threw many out of employment who can ilill afford to be idle, especially during the winter. It 1sis proverbial of operatives generally that they have "little though for the morrow," and many are not only without money but are in debt to the village storekeepers, to a greater or less extent. When the working people viewed the blackened and crumbling walls of the once handsome structure, on the day after the fire, they began to realize the situation, and many poor girls who had worked there for years, earning a comfortable living, wept bitterly at the fate that swept the means of gaining a a livelihood from before them Many of the young women sought work as domestics in well-well-to-doto-do families in Greenfield and adjoining towns, without success, although some offered to give their work simply to secure a home. President Keith speedily took an interest in the welfare of his operatives, and has so far secured situations for his best help in paper mills here,there there and everywhere. But many of the female help, especially of the rag rooms, will be unable to obtain employment at all during the winter. Fortunately work in the cutlery is very brisk, and therefore the blow will be less felt in the village than if the fire had occurred last winter, when the wives of many of the idle cutlery hands supported their husbands and families by working in the rag-rooms of the paper mills.mulls. The workmen will mostly all remain here, and will find something to do when the work of rebuilding is commenced. After the fire was thoroughly quenched, it was found that there was considerable of the Keith Mill property saved, after all. The office which was saved contained a quantity of paper besides the books and papers of the company. The Fourdrinier machines were somewhat damaged, and the machine room 1sis simply minus a roof, but a considerable quantity of stock "in"In process" uninsured, was destroyed in this room. The size room below was not much damaged. The bleach house, boiler rooms, with contents, were not greatly injured, and the stock house was not touched. The wheel pit, with the motors and famous "harness work" of Southern Pine, escaped very well. About $100,000 worth of property in all has been saved. Of course no action has yet been taken in regard to rebuilding, as the insurance has not been adjusted. The insurance on
Keith Paper Co. 1872-1922 Page 1414of of 107107 e.ge.g. . transcription 4.2018 what was burned amounts to$205,000 distributed among the following companies: Boston Manufacturers'Manufacturers’ Mutual, $66,250; Arkwright Mutual of Boston, $26,500; Mill Owners' Mutual of Boston, $13,250; Worcester Manufacturers'Manufacturers’ Mutual, $26,500; Fall River Manufacturers'Manufacturers’ Mutual, $26,500; Rhode Island Mutual,$26,500; Firemen'sMutual, Mutual, $26,500; State Mutual, $26,500; Mechanic's Mutual, $26,500 the last four being of Providence, R.I.. Representatives from these companies have been in town for several days, and experts are at work figuring on the loss. No doubt in a few days the insurance will be satisfactorily adjusted, and work will be at once commenced on the new mull,mill, which will probably be exactly the same as the one burned, although it has been said that it would be longer and not so high. No matter how speedily they begin to, however, it will be well on to a year before the mill will be back into the splendid trimtim in when the treacherous fire found it, last Tuesday night.
November 21 -The walls of the Keith Mill are standing taunts to the people who have so often said that they were not solid. -The mill owners are making a siding on their railroad between the Keith mill and the bridge. -The Montague Paper Company is making about ten tons of book and news paper daily. The 200 hands employed draw about $7,000 a month. -The insurance on the burnt Keith Mill has been adjusted very satisfactorily to all concerned, and it has been decided that the Keith Paper Company shall rebuild the mill, the insurance companies furnishing the money in sixty days. Work has begun clearing away the debris Monday. Before the fire Mr. Keith thought of enlarging the mill, and a director's meeting 1sis being heldto-day to-day to decide whether or not to enlarge or make alterations in the structure. It is1s possible that Mr. Keith will be making paper again before spring.
November 28 -Geo. F. Adams will furnish from 400,000 to 500,000 bricks for the Keith mull.mill. -J.F. Bartlett is doingdomg a splendid business this year, and he employs a dozen painter and paper hangers. Mr. Bartlett will furnish the windows for the Keith mill and do the painting. -At the meeting of the directors of the Keith Paper Co., last Wednesday, it was unanimously voted to rebuild the mull mill at once, without material change. President Keith immediately began operations, engaging Campbell and Hazelton to do the brisk work, and Hitchcock and Farnsworth the carpenter work. E.D. JonesJones will put in five engines at once, and do the whole of the mull-wrightmill-wright work. The walls are being taken down as rapidly as possible, some thirty or forty men being employed. When the walls are down, Mr. Campbell will work as many brick masons as possible, and it is expected that the northern wing of the millmull will be ready for the roof in less than a month. The machine room is1s being roofed now, and Mr. Keith's idea is to push the work on half of the mill, and be in a position to make paper, with half of the capacity of the mill, before the first of February, and then finish the remainder of the structure in all possible haste. It is fortunate for the village that the work of rebuilding is being done by the Keith Paper Co., as Mr. Keith always gives the local workmen the preference when anything's to be done.
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He 1sis a wonderfully practical man, and if a workman proves himself faithful, Mr. Keith takes a personal interest in him that is not common to men in his position, and he is spoken of universally as "an uncommonly fine man." Most of his male help are employed in the rebuilding.
December 5 -They are pushing the work on the new Keith mill rapidly. The ruined walls have nearly all been taken down, and the brick are being cleaned for immediate use. Mr. Campbell is working every man possible in his department, and the wall of three sides of the northern wing of the main building are above the second stories, while W.R. Farnsworth is as busy as a nailer putting in the beams for a floor to be laid as soon as possible above the engine room. The roof of the machine room is1s being slated, and the roof will be put on the upper L presently. The fine weather has been a great help to speedy work, and another mild month would be a great blessing to all concerned.
December 1212 -The Keith mill is fast regaining its old proportions. Before the week is out one half of the main building will be in a far way in completion, and work will begin on the machinery and fixtures.
December 1919 -Work has been commenced on the lower end of the main building at the Keith mull,mill, and the walls are nearly up to the top of the first floor windows. The walls of the upper end of the mill will be up to the roof this week, if the weather 1s is favorable. The machine room is nearlyfinished finished and the roof of the wing is being slated.
JanuaryJanuary 2, 18187878 -A timber fell on JoeJoe Charon's hand and smashed it, in the Keith mill, Friday. -Henry Lyons a Greenfield carpenter fell from the Keith mull,mill, a distance of twelve feet, and was slightly injured. -When the Keith mill was running, fifty of the best paid female operatives spent regularly in Greenfield fifty dollars on dry goods the year through. -George L. Manchester has several men at work piping the Keith mill. Some twenty thousand feet of iron pipe of various sizes will be required. The sprinklers are to be of steam pipe of galvanized iron as before.
JanuaryJanuary 9 -Messrs. Campbell & Hazelton are making great headway on the Keith mill. During the past two daysthey they have carried the walls up a full story, and in three days the buildingbuilding will be ready for the roof.
JanuaryJanuary 1616 -The shaft of the horse derrick at the Keith mull mill broke, Saturday, and the machine running backward, the fragment of the shaft struck Thomas Lapine on the legs at the first revolution, and on the nexttime time around struck him on the top of the head, stunning him. Had
Keith Paper Co. 1872-1922 Page 1616 of 107107 e.ge.g. . transcription 4.2018 he been struck a couple of inches lower he would have died an easy death. At it 1sis his injuriesmyuries are not serious.
JanuaryJanuary 23 -The county commissioners have refused to abate the Keith Paper company's taxes.
February 6 -From Chief StateState Detective Stephenson's annual report, we learn that the Keith, Russell and Montague mills were inspected during the year, but the authorities found it unnecessary to order any changes, in the way of swinging doors, fire escapes, &c. The churches of the the village were pronounced all right,mght, but it was ordered to have the doors to Colle Hall made to swing outwardly.
February 20 -Some time in the latter part of November, Messrs. Wise & Ripley missed a keg of tobacco from their wagon, one evening, about six o'clock. They did not have suspicion of the thief for some time, but at last it became evident that the theft had been committed by JamesJames Whitmore, a fireman in the Keith mill,mull, who lives in Sauter's block, and has always had ththee reputation among the neighbors of being president of some kind of life insurance company.
March 1313 -The Keith mill fast approaches completion, and paper making will commence in a few weeks. We shall fully describe the building and machinery when completed. -The rags that were saved from the Keith mill, are being sorted in the old mull mill at Factory Hollow.
April 1010 -Most of the Keith mullmill hands will return to fill their old places. The mill starts up to- day, not at full capacity, however, for the present.
April 1717 -The Keith Paper Co. have justjust placed in their mill one of W.O. Crocker's fire pumps of a capacity of 10001000 gallons a minute.
April 24 THETHE NNEWEW KEIKEITHTH MILMILLL TheThe MModelodel FFineine PaPaperper MilMill l of thethe WorldWorld AgainAgain inin OOperation.peration . On the morning of the 7th of November last, as the villagers sorrowfullygazed gazed upon the smoldering ruins of the famous Keith mill,mull, all thought at least a year must elapse before the beautiful structure would be replaced, but through indomitable perseverance of President JohnJohn Keith the mullmill has been again put in operation, in better shape than before, inside of four winter months from the date SEE 7 of commencement. JohnJohn Keith Mr. Keith has long since demonstrated to the trade that he has
Keith Paper Co. 1872-1922 Page 1717 of 107107 e.ge.g. . transcription 4.2018 the means at his command to lead all others in the manufacture of superior fine papers, to the amount of fully five tons per day, and he has now given unmistakable proof of his versatile genius, by showing himself as apt at building a mill as he is in running it. A man in the prime of his life, with whom success is1s a duty, he 1sis a splendid specimen of the class of men who have made America the wonder of the world. The Keith Paper Co, having decided to rebuild, President Keith made his plans for the new structure, following the style of the old mill in so far as it was expedient, making such changes as four years' experience suggested. Campbell & Hazelton were given the charge of the brick work and Wm. R. Farnsworth the wood work, and affairs were rapidly pushed under the general surveillance of Mr. Keith, the intention being at first to build and finish one half of the mill so that it could run with half its former capacity, and subsequently complete the work. But the good weather and other things conspiring to help matters along, the complete mill took the place of the first project in a surprisingly short time. For many years no noticeable improvement was made in the construction of paper mills,mills , it long having been considered absolutely necessary that in order to make good paper the rags must go in at one end of the mill and the finished paper come out the other end. The originator of the plan of the Keith mil,mill, knowing the inconvenience of moving stock in process from one room to another on the same level, saw how easily it was for the rags to be taken in at the top of the mill and lowered as they proceeded in the manufacture from floor to floor, and so what the Keith millmull lacks in length and width is made up in height. The main building is 270 feet long, 45 feet wide and five stories high. There are two L's projecting toward the canal, the first, which has the machine room above supported by heavy brick arches, and the size room below, being 50 by by 100100 feet, and the second which 1s is five stories high is 45 by 75 feet. Besides these a small fire proof house for shavings has been built at the north end of the mill,mull, where the trimmings from the cutters arte taken immediately, so as to reduce the chances of fire from what has been considered the most prolific source in a paper mull.mill. The stock house which is detached from the mull,mill, was not burned, neither was the other detached buildmgbuilding used for an office and packing room, the latter being 25 by 50 feet, two stories high, the former 90 by 50 feet, and three stories. EnteringEntermg the mill at the main door, at the tower, the visitor accustomed to the appearance of the old mill,mull, will see at first glance an improvement. What were formerly brick walls, klasominedklasomined’,5 , are now cased up and plastered. Descending the lower stairs we find a change in the lower story. Here arethe the repair and case making shops, the hydraulic pumps, the harness work for the calenders above, and space has been created for a new plating machine for giving to their fine papers that gloss so noticeable in wedding stationary. Ascending on an open elevator,with with self-closing floors, that calender room, next above, is reached. Stepping to a beautiful smooth rock maple floor the appearance of everything is neat and attractive. The lightof of day come streaming in through a profusion of large windows (there are over 500 in the mill), on to immaculate white walls and ceilings, relieved here and there with a subdued stripe from the painter's brush.
*5 Whitewash, or calciminecalcimine, , kalsominekalsomine, , calsomine, or lime paint is a low-cost type of paint made from slaked lime (calcium hydroxide) and chalk (whiting). Various other additives are also used.
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Eight stacks of calenders, from the HolyokeMachine Machine Co., handsome machines, artistically painted, are arranged on one side of the room, while on the other are the sorters tables, standards of Southern pine with highly polished black walnut tops. The ruling room is over the one justjust described, and is similar as to finish, rock maple floors, etc. The ruling machines are from E.J.EJ. Piper of Springfield, and are of new and improved patterns. The stamping process is the room also came from the same manufacturer, and the HolyokeMachine Machine Company supplied the cutters. The finisher's tables are similar to those in the room below, of Southern pine and polished black walnut. The three drying and joggingjogging rooms occupy the two remainingremaiming stories and the half-story under the roof of the west end of the main building, which we are describing. The rooms are light and capitally arranged for their uses. Leaving the west end of the millmull by a a fire proof door through the brick wall which divides the structure from the foundation to roof, the first room under that roof is also used for drying, and is arranged similarsimular to the others. Connecting with this story is the upper half-story of the large L, lighted as all of the roof lofts are, by numerous dormer windows. In this room is a large duster where all the rags received into the mill get the initiatory dusting before passing to the handle of the rag cutters. Descending a story you come to the rag room, 160160 feet long and the width of the mill, as light and pleasant a room as it is possible to make. Arranged in four parallel rows arethe the screens and knives for 150150 work-women, including sorters and carriers. The rags for cutting come from the duster down into the upper story proper of the L, connecting with the rag room. The story below the rag room, (the(the reader will remember that we are describing separately the east and west sections of the mill) is occupied by numerous rag bins, into which the rags fall when finished by the cutters, another drying and another jogging jogging room, connecting, as with the rooms above, is1s the fourth story of the L, where another duster gives the rags their final dusting. Below the last described room in the L, are situated the three huge rotary bleachers into which the rags fall through shoots from the duster. The floor of this room is of patent stonestone’,6 , held in squares of opposite colors. This room connects with the engine room, in the third story of the main building. For the experienced paper maker the engine room as now arranged, has a charm. Here are ten large washing and beating engines, made by E.D. JonesJones of Pittsfield, in one long line near the centre of a room remarkable for its light and cleanly appearance, whose floors of alternate blocks of colored stone give it a palatial appearance. The machine room also connects at this story. The two Fourdrinier machines have been thoroughly overhauled, painted and ornamented, and now present a handsome appearance, beside doing the best possible work. The painter's art has also imparted the cheerful appearance to the machine room so noticeable in all the rooms throughout the mill, and J.F.J.F. Bartlett has done himself much credit on this, one of his best jobs.jobs. Below the machine room the size vats are located. In the two lower stories of the main building are the drainers, the pulp vats, the three water wheels of five hundred horse power,
6 A mixture: of stone chips . or fragments, usually embedded in . a matrix . of mortar, cement, or plaster; the surface may be ground, polished, molded, or otherwise treated to simulate stone; variously called art marble,marble , artificial marblemarble, , cast stonestone, , marezzomarezzo, , patent stone, and reconstructed stone.
Keith Paper Co. 1872-1922 Page 1919 of 107107 e.ge.g. . transcription 4.2018 shafting, pulleys, etc. In the two lower stories of then large L the large boilers are situated, and convenient to them is the immense coal bin which is filled direct from the cars on the track overhead. Previous to the burning of the old mull, mill, the many appliances for extinguishing a a fire were considered sufficient to prevent any serious conflagration, but experience taught Mr. Keith that such was not the case. Heeding that experience, the mill is supplied now with protective appliances such as, in all probability, will utterly prevent a reputation of so severe a disaster. The galvanized iron sprinkler pipes have been replaced by larger ones of wrought iron, a Crocker fire pump has been added, and the other two pumps have been replaced so that there 1sis now a pump at three of the most convenient places in the mill,mull, the capacity of all exceeding 3,000 gallons a minute.Besides Besides this supply from the pumps, an eight inchpipe pipe has been laid from the canal to the mill which will flood, the two stories thatare are below the canal level, in case fire should break out there. M.A. Ward, Geo. L. Manchester's foreman, has so far laid over 20,000 feet of pipe in and about the mill, much of it for fire purposes. Taken altogether the Keith surpasses any mill of its kind in the world for convenience and arrangement, beauty of finish, and superior appointments for making first-class fine writing and flat papers. While the average mill is content to use for washing purposes such water as may be on hand, the Keith is supplied with the purest water that ever sprung from the mountain's side, carried to the mullmill through the company's own twelve inch iron pipes a distance of two miles, the cost of the aqueduct alone to supply this great element being in the vicinity of $35,000. Another secret of Mr. Keith's remarkable success is1s in the selection of men to superintend the several departments. H.C. Putnam, who has general superintendence of the mill, was bred a paper maker from boyhood, and no better man for the position he holds can be found inside the walls of a mill on the continent. A.A. Taylor, another experienced man, is foreman of the finishing rooms. L.C. Alexander of the packing room, and Thomas Salmon returns to his old position of rag-room boss.
May 22 -The Keith mill is again running in its accustomed way, orders coming in fats from all its old customers, who are delighted at being able to obtain such excellent papers. Thenew new plater is much used in finishing wedding stationary, which there is a great demand. -A high and substantial picket fence has been erected around the Keith mill yard to keep out people who have no business there. -Saturday there was a a trial of fire pumps in the Keith mill. The Holly pump threw six streams over the mill, and the Crocker pump seven. Altogether, twenty streams can be thrown continually from these pumps, and with a flow of 3000 gallons per minute, it would seem an impossibility for a fire to make any headway.
AugustAugus t 7 -The Keith Paper Company are making better paper than ever since the new mill was built. Some of their plated papers are extremely beautiful.
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September 4 -Henry C. Sheppard, a Canadian Frenchman (Peter(Peter Brasseau) employed in the Keith mill, had his hand caught in the elevator, then other day, causing a very painful wound.
September 1818 -Mr. Keith has been presented with a fine raven, and the bird makes itself quite at home around the mill. The otherday day it flew up town, and seeing a dove, concluded to have a feast. The dove was captured and torn to pieces in a twinkling.
November 1313 -A majority of the fine paper mills in the United StatesStates having signed an agreement to shut down two weeks this month, the Keith mill will be stopped Friday night, and be started again Dec. 2nd. The shut down is1s expected to eventually help business by causing a diminutiondimimution of 2000 tons of finished papers.
December 1111 -Katie Rochford almost severed her hand by striking it against a rag-cythe in the Keith mill the other day.
JanuaryJanuary 7, 18187979 -A.A. Taylor, foreman of the finishing department in the Keith mill, was on Christmas day presented with a handsome easy chair, a goldpen, pen, and an inkstand, by the hands in the calender and ruling rooms.
JuneJune 44. -At the annual meeting of the Keith Paper Company, last week, these officers were elected: JohnJohn Keith, President and Treasurer; C.M. Barnett, Clerk; Directors, Alex H. Rice, Edwin Bulkley, Chas. T. Crocker, A. Pagenstecher, E.D. Jones,Jones, B.N. Farren, Wm. C. Dutton.
JuneJune 1818 -The Keith Paper Company paid its help in gold, Monday.
JulyJuly 2 -The government of the United States has contracted with the Keith Paper Co., of this village to supply 2200 reams of first class ledger papers.
JulyJuly 9 -The Keith Paper Company are so pressed with orders for their matchless ledger papers that the mills were kept running on the Fourth, the workmen receiving double pay.
JulyJuly 23 -The Keith Paper Company are so pushed with orders lately that the workmen in the finishing rooms are compelled to work evenings.
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JulyJuly 30 -George E.FE. Marshall of the Montague Paper Company, and JohnJohn Keith, of the Keith paper Company, are at Saratoga, attending the Paper Manufacturer's Convention.
August 1313 -JohnJohn Kleizlee scalded his foot badly in the Keith mill, Monday.
August 20 -Randall, while gathering scrap iron in the Keith mill yard, the other day, was struck in the head with a piece of iron thrown by another person. Of course he wasn't hurt.
September 3 -Emma Strobel cut a hunk of her thumb off Friday with a rag knife in the Keith mill. October 1515 -The Keith Paper Company is doingdomg an excellent business this fall, and President Keith may call on his stockholders for increased capacity at no distant day.
October 22 -President Keith has also decided to light his fine paper millmull with gas and will draw from the cutlery's gasometer. Thenew new paper mill may also take gas from the same source, and the Messrs. Griswold are considering the desirability of using the same means of illumination.
November 1919 -A large pile of paper fell upon Julia Julia Craven in the Keith mill, Monday, inflicting serious injury to her shoulder and spine.
December 1717 -The Keith Paper Co. are doing a splendid business, and it would not be surprising if President Keith concluded to build another mill in the spring.
December 31 -A.A. Taylor is foreman of the finishing department in the Keith mill.
FFebruaryebruary 4, 18818800 Accident to the Keith Mill As a freight train was being pushed up the railroad track by the mills, Monday morning, the forward car was thrown from the track, and pushed through the end of the Keith mill machine room, demolishing the entire end wall, and considerable of the side of the building. Arthur Bidwell, a machine-tender, was seriously injured by the falling wall, and escaped with his life miraculously. The machines were only slightly injured, and were started up as soon as Mr. Keithcould could get the end of the building boarded up to keep out the storm. The accident is1s quite a drawback to the Keith Paper Company, coming as it did at a time when it is1s absolutely necessary for the mill to be running at its full capacity to keep up with orders.
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February 1111 -R.B. Campbell has a large force of men repairing the damage done to the Keith mill by the train which ran off the track last week.
JanuaryJanuary 5, 18811881 The Causes of Continued Prosperity (Paper (Paper mill references only. e.g.e.g) ) ...... The Keith Paper Company began in 18731873 to manufacture fine writing papers of a very superior quality, ini the handsomest and best mull mill in the country. No fine paper mill in ththee country has won such an enviable reputation, in so short a time, and no other concern of the class has approached any where near to its financial success. The president and treasurer, and absolute manager, is JohnJohn Keith, Esq., who has marvelous business capacity, and a progressive persistence that commands success against all odds. C.M. Burnett is clerk and book-keeper and H.C. Putnam superintendent of the mill...mill . . .
May 25 Editorial Editorial (a(a portion will be given. e.ge.g:).) The rumors rumors which became current last week, and which have scared the wits out of every property owner in the village, came from the fact that the Keith Paper Co. had been unable to make a asatisfactory satisfactory bargain with the water power company. It is an absolute fact that the Keith Paper Company have been desirous of putting up another mill for more than a year, and the village people have been buying lots and building houses on the strength of the mill going up this summer, at all events. The Keith mill employs about 250 hands, who all earn good wages and no other concern could be found that would do the village and the Turners Falls Company so much good as the contemplated extension of the Keith fine paper mill.mull. Factories employing a great many hands and using little power, of course would be far more desirable than paper mills, but such factories cannot be had without offeringoffermg extraordinary inducements. Towns by the scores are always on the alert to offer subsidies to manufacturing industries of that class, in some cases quite liberally, and it is very clear that it will be many years before this place will be greatly helped by such methods.
JuneJune 1515 -For want of employment several carpenters left town last week. Had the Turners Falls Company seen fit to sell a millmull site to the Keith Paper Company there would have been demand for such labor, and every train would bring mechanics to the place. -A few months ago, the holder of a building lot in this village was supposed to be a "lucky dog." Then, everybody supposed the Keith Paper Co. would be given a a site for a new mill. But now, when there appears to be little hope of any new mullsmills this year, the old settlers are pained to see signs bearing the words "This lot for sale," even on the Avenue.
JuneJune 29 -Last year, new buildings went up on the lower flat on every hand, but this year, the sound of a hammer is hardly heard there. The cause is easily explained; the Keith Paper Company were not given a chance to build a new mill. Everybody expected to see a new mill go up, and so everybody was disappointed.
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August 3 -It is said that the Turners Falls Company will soon begin to construct an extension to their canal. Why they should build new canals, when they can furnish water from the old without expense to the Keith Paper Company, at a fair price, is a great mystery to men who bought land on the Avenue at 50 cents a foot; but then great and conservative corporations are always mysterious.
November 2 -It is now clearly understood that President JohnJohn Keith will never build another mill in this town, although he was once quite anxious to extend the business of his company. So no one need henceforth build any hope on the prospect of a new mill in that direction.
JanuaryJanuary 4, 18188282 A Boom! Another Year's GrowthGrowth—The―The New City Strides Along! As Manufacturing Increases, SoSo the Town‘own Increases. (a(a portion will be given. e.ge.g:).) Another year has gone by, and we again take pleasure in giving a record of a year's growth of Turners Falls, which shows a vigor almost unparalleled in the history of rising factory towns in the state, notwithstanding the disappointmentdisappomtment occasioned by the decision which prevented the addition of another fine Keith paper mill.mull.
February 22 There have been so many fatal accidents here lately, that the latest casualty attracted little attention. A Lad, fourteen years old, named Michael Kelley, employed in the Keith Mill, was instantly killed on the elevator on Friday.Fnday. As no no one saw the accident, exactly how it occurred is not known. The unfortunate boy,with with an oil can in his hand, took the elevator to descend to the oil house. At the foot of the well, it is supposed he got off the elevator and forgot his can, and returning for it found the elevator going up. The platform being then breast-high it is1s believed he then threw himself on his stomach to reach the can, but before he could get out of the way his body was caught between the top of the door and the wall, and he was killed outright. The company did everything for the family in their time of grief, and a purse of $75 in cash was presented to his family by the employees.
May 31 The annual meeting of the Keith Paper Co. was held on Friday last, when the following officers were elected: President and Treasurer, John John Keith;Clerk, Clerk, C.M. Burnett; Directors, JohnJohn Keith, Alex H. Rice, of Boston; Albrecht Pagenstecher, W.C. Dunton, Moses Bulkley, of New York; W.H. Mairs, of Brooklyn; E.D. JonesJones of Pittsfield.
JulyJuly 5 -Mrs. Mussey of Springfield has taken charge of the Keith boarding house.
Damage by Fire and Water Last night, about ten o'clock, the village was startled by the sound of the fire-gong on the Keith mull,mill, as the alarm was at once recognized as an indication of fire in or about the mull.mill.
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The district alarm was instantly given, and the villagers, of all ages and sexes, ran with breathless haste to the scene. The firemen of the mill were ordered to their stations, and lines of hosewere were laid from hydrants connected with fire pumps of the JohnJohn Russell Cutlery works, Montague Paper Mills and the Keith Mills. The steamer was on the ground with steam up in a remarkably short space of time, but the course the mills were firstto to get water,not not having to wait for steam. The fire was discovered in the lower story of the stock house, among the rags, and so dense was the smoke that the firemen could neither enter the building nor determine the extent of the fire, and the only prudent course seemed a thorough drenching of the building. When the fire was extinguished, however, it was found to have destroyed only about $2,500 worth of stock, but the upper story contained about $40,000 worth of finished paper in cases, and this valuable stock was damaged to the extent of probably over $15,000. Fine writing papers become wrinkled and consequently of little value, when water or steam comes in contact with them in the slightest degree, and this was an instance where water did almost as much damage as if the fire had not been subdued. A few minutes after the alarm was given, nine streams of water were poured into the building, and the place was like a river. The people were in agony for fear the mill should catch fire, and a sigh of relief ran along the lines of people on the canal banks as the word was given that the danger was over. The poor rag-picking women, with heavy mortgages on their little homes, watch the decline or growth of this village with keen interest now, and the destruction of a mill would be desolation to the poor creatures. With no hope for other mills, the heart comes up in the mouths of many as the thought of the loss of what we have. Mr. Keith heard the alarm at his Greenfield home, and he was driven over by Thomas Nims at a speed never before attained by horse flesh.
September 20 -Eugene Briggs has his fingers flattened out in the callenders the Keith Paper mullmill the other day.
MaMarchrch 2121, , 18188383 The Turners Falls Company's Demand for Increased Facilities. The Turners Falls Company petitioned the Legislature for leave to raise their dam an indefinite number of feet to increase their facilities, and a hearing was held at the State House, in Boston, before the committee on manufacturers on Tuesday last. Austin DeWolf, Esq., represented the company, and said an addition of several feet, may be eight, was desired, but he would accept anything less. When the question was asked if there were any opposition, President Keith, on behalf of the Keith Paper Co., said he would be happy to favor any scheme that would benefit Turners Falls, but he could not afford to show the destruction of his business by allowing such an addition to the dam as would submerge his valuable spring water pipes. Leonard Barton also objected to the destruction of his low-lands. Three members of the committee were instructed to come to Turners Falls and look the ground over, and give a further hearing on the subject.
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They came in Friday and viewed the premises, observed the location of the Keith spring, and pronounced searching questions to all parties interested. Unfortunately, the Turners Falls Company made a very poor impression on the committee, not having any plans, or estimates of the damage likely to occur, and in fact, while a genuine desire to improve the water privileges was manifested, there was a great deal more mystery about their actions than some of the committee could quite fathom. In plain language, there was no business-likebusiness-like statement of the desires of the company, and an unfortunate impression got into the minds of very shrewd people that the matter of raising the dam was nothing more than a bluff game to legalize the height of the present dam, which the property owners up the river claim is "higher than the law allows." That part of the petition relating to an indefinite number of additional dams between Deerfield and Millers rivers was tacitly admitted to be merely a mental exercise, and passed over as such.
JuneJune 6 -At the annual meeting of the stockholders of the Keith Paper Company, yesterday, the following officers were elected: President and treasurer, JohnJohn Keith Clerk, C.M. Bur Directors, JohnJohn Keith, Alex H. Rice, Wm. C.C. Dunton, A. Pagenstecher, E.D. Jones,Jones, W.H. Mairs,Mars, C.T. Crocker and Moses Bulkley.
JuneJune 20 -William Desmond slipped off a coal chute at the Keith mullmill the other day, and was considerably injured.
JulyJuly 1818 -The Keith Fine Paper mill is1s being repainted throughout, and it will be brighter than a dollar when done. L. Bartlett's men do the work. -The Keith Paper Company have been awarded the contract to supply the United States government with a portion of ledger papers which it may need for a year.
September 1212 -The paper makers and others will have their annual clam bake at the Keith SpringSpring’ 7 next Sunday, the 15th.15th. These clam bakes have been kept up yearly for ten of twelve years, and have become one of the established institutions for the place.
FFebruaryebruary 6, 18818844 -The young women of the Montague andKeith Keith mills are to have a Leap-Year sleigh ride soon.
February 20 -A fire broke out in the rag room of the Keith mill this morning, at 2 o'clock, and it was thought the entire mill would be destroyed, so threateningthreatenmgappeared appeared the flames. But the
7” This site is today the Turners Falls Rod and Gun Club site . ... . where annual clambakes contincontinueue to be held. e.g.e.g:
Keith Paper Co. 1872-1922 Page 26 of 107107 e.ge.g. . transcription 4.2018 sprinklers were soon in action and a flood of water drenched the room,keeping keeping the fire in check. Streams of water poured from the hose of the mull,mill, the steam fire engine and cutlery. And in a a short time not a spark was left. The damage, which was not great, was mostly by water. The machinery was started up as soon as the excitement was over, and no break in manufacturing occurred. The mill 1sis now very busy, and President Keith 1sis much pleased that he gets off with do little damage.
May 14,14, -The annual meeting of the Keith Paper Co.,Co., will be held on Wednesday, the 28th, instant.
May 28 Keith Paper Company Officers President and Treasurer - JohnJohn Keith Clerk - C.M. Burnett Directors - Alexander A. Rice, Rice, John Keith, Chas. T. Crocker, E.D. Jones,Jones, W.H. Mairs,Mars, A. Pagenstecher, Moses Bulkley, Cornelius Perry, C.M. Burnett
October 8 -The Keith Paper Company have made larger shipments of paper last week than any time since the mill was built, owing to the rise in price. A man with a big stock of paper now has a little bonanza.
December 3 -A fire in the wood room of the cutlery the other night would have been serious were not the mills so well protected with their own fire departments, aided by the village firemen. Streams from innumerable nozzles from the cutlery, the Keith mill and Montague Mill, poured a a river of water on the fire. It seemed as though the whole volume of the Connecticut River was being diverted from its course to the fire.
December 1010 -The deluge of water made at the late fire at the Cutlery works (with(with the exception of the single efficient stream from the steamer) was delivered by the Crocker Pumps, only about one-third of their capacity being developed, however. The Keith pump furnished three streams, it can supply seven. The Cutlery pump three, it has thrown eight streams. The Montague pump blew out a joint joint in the main pipe, consequently but a small portion of the water from that source reached the fire. The safety valves had to be adjusted at half pressure to enable the hose men to control the pipes. These pumps have been in service from sixto to eight years. Their reliability has been demonstrated at every emergency.
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AprilApri l 11, , 11885885 -R.J.-RJ. O'Brien leaves the Keith millmull to take the position of foreman of the finishing department at the Turners Falls Paper mill.
JuneJune 2424. -The Keith mill is shut down for repairs for a few days.
JulyJuly 22 -The Keith Paper Co. have become disgusted with the water supply for their tenement block from the village aqueduct, and have broken connection with the pipes. A generous supply of pure spring water 1sis now obtained from the regular mill supply and forced up to the block with a special pump.
October 1414 -Adolph Morrison had his fingers caught inm the calenders at the Keith mullmill the other daday.y.
JulyJuly 1414, , 18188686 -The Keith Paper mill shut down all last week, to make the usual repairs and give the hands a chance to take little trips to the sea shore. -The several corporations have decided to pay their help at different times in the week. The Montague Paper Co. paying Friday; the Keith, Monday; the Turners Falls Paper Co., Wednesday; the Cotton Mill,Mull, Saturday;and and the Cutlery every day. This arrangement will be greatly appreciated by the merchants.
September 1515 -The Keith Mill base ball nine have left a purse of $25 at this office to be covered by an equal sum from the Montague Mill team, and challenge the latter to play for the purse of $50 on Saturday afternoon next on Goddard's grounds. The Keith nine expect their opponents to "put up or shut up" at once.
October 20 -JohnJohn Keith is dead. One of the most noted paper manufacturers in the world, and a remarkable man, died at his home in Greenfield, Monday morning, after an illness of several months.
November 24 -At a meeting of the Keith Paper Company, on Friday last, Ex-Governor Alexander H. Rice was chosen President, and Charles M. Burnett, Treasurer. Mr. Burnett has long been clerk, and will hold the office till the annual meeting.
JanuaryJanuary 1919, , 11887887 -Andrew A. Rock, foreman of the calendar room in the Keith mill,mull, one of the early settlers, goes to Holyoke soon to take a better position.
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April 6 -A.A. Taylor, who has been foreman of the finishing room of the Keith Paper Co.'s mill, has resigned to accept a a situation in the Union Paper Co.'s mill at Holyoke.
April 20 -The Keith Paper Company are making a very superior quality of chemical safety paper, a product but few mills in the country are capable of making.
JuneJune 11 -The annual meeting of the Keith Paper Company was held in this village on Thursday last. Officers of the Keith Paper Co.: President - Alexander H. Rice Treasurer & Clerk - C.M. Burnett DirectorsDirectors- - Alexander H. Rice, C.M. Burnett, A. Pagenstecher, Chas. T. Crocker, Moses Bulkley, Wm. H. Mairs, Cornelius Perry, E.D. Jones.Jones.
August 24 -C.M. Burnett, treasure of the Keith Paper Company, has plans for a fine residence on his sightly lot on High Street, and may begin to build this fall.
JanuaryJanuary 4, 18188888 -Sarah E. Keith, as executrix of the estate of the late JohnJohn Keith, has filed her first aandnd final account, showing that the estate footed up $54,440.
May 9 -Treasurer C.M. Burnett finds business good for the excellent papers of the Keith mull,mill, and at stock-taking the first of May there was less stockon on hand than any time in eight years.
May 1616 -The Keith Paper Company are connecting their automatic sprinklers with the city water works for better protection againstagaist fire.
May 23 -This week the N.E. Telephone Co. will complete their work in town, and the exchange will be running smoothly with 20 subscribers, as follows: N.H. & H. depot, N.E. Fibre Co., Fitchburg depot, Dr. E.G. Best, F.I. Webster, Crocker Bank, J.F. J.F. Bartlett, F.H. Brown, Turners Falls Lumber Co., H.O. Smith, R.N. Oakman, J.J. Russell Cutlery Co., Turners Falls Cotton mill, Manchester & Ward, Fred Colle, Clark Machine Co., I.A. Darling, Dr. E.C. Coy, Keith Paper Co. and Thomas Bros.
August 8 -Daniel J. J. Ryan, the foreman of the ruling department of the Keith Paper mull, mill, has bought a fine building lot on Central Street, and ahs let the contract to Thomas Brothers to
Keith Paper Co. 1872-1922 Page 29 of 107107 e.ge.g. . transcription 4.2018 build a residence. It will be 42 by 28 feet of brick, two and a halfstories stories high, with black slate roof. The building will be done early in the fall.
September 26 -The Keith Paper Company are building an addition to their stock house, 24 by 30 feet. Michael Sullivan is putting in the foundation.
JanuaryJanuary 9, 18188989 -The Keith Paper Company have gone on in the even tenor of their way for a year making the best paper in the country, which they find a ready market for at a good stiff price, and were content with the erection of one stock house.
May 29 -C.T. Crocker, son of Hon. Charles T. Crocker of Fitchburg, has come to the village to study the methods of fine paper making as practiced in the Keith Paper Mill.
Officers of the Keith Paper Company; President - Alexander H. Rice ClClerkerk & Treasurer - C.M. Burnett Directors - Alex. H. Rice, Chas. T. Crocker, E.D. Jones.Jones. A. Pagenstecher, Wi.Wm. H. Mairs, Moses Bulkley, Cornelius Perry, C.M. Burnett
JuneJune 1212 -The Keith Paper Company have contracted for an electric electric plant of the Westinghouse system of incandescent lighting for their mull.mill.
August 7 -J.F.J.F. Bartlett will begin at once with a number of men, to paint and renovate the Keith mill, while the annual repairs are being made.
August 1414 -The Keith mill is shut down while general repairs are beingbemg made, among the most important being the substitution of concrete for the wood floor in the machine room.
October 1616 --TheThe Keith Paper Company have just just issued a sample book of their incomparable papers for the use of the trade. It shows some fifty sheets of different weights and finishes of the linen ledger "Ravelstone" and "Westlock" brands. While the papers easily stand at the head for quality, the sample books are the best ever issued by a paper manufacturer.
November 27 -By agreement with all the fine mills in the country the Keith mullmill will shut down the rest of this week.
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December 25 All Fine Mills Shut Down The machinery in every fine paper mill in Holyoke was stopped at six o'clock Saturday night for a shut-down of 1010 days. The shut-down is necessitated by the glutted condition of the fine paper market, and is1s the result of an agreement made by manufacturers some weeks ago. The finishing departments will be in operation until the manufactured stockon on hand 1s is cleared. The move is expected to brighten the market at the resumption of manufacture, Jan.Jan. 2, 1900.1900. The Keith mullmill joinsjoins hands with all the other mills of this village shuts down till after the holidays, and fine mills all over the county follow suit.
AprilApri l 116,6, 1890 -Charles Crocker, Jr.,Jr., the very able young man who has been studying the art of fine paper making in the Keith mill, for a year, has "graduated," and will sail for Europe in a few weeks, to study the art as practiced in that country. He has an uncommonly level head, great industry and enthusiastic to be the master of his calling, and the world will hear more of him later on.
JuneJune 1111 -Superintendent H.C. Putnam of the Keith mill is having his Prospect Street residence remodeled somewhat and many improvements made before moving in. It will be heated with a hot water system.
August 13,13, -Thaddeus Carey lost three fingers in the calenders of the Keith mill, yesterday.
FFebruaryebruary 4, 18918911 -Some of the employees of the Keith mullmill had a asleigh sleigh ride to the Bloody Brook House in South Deerfield last Sunday.
March 1818 -JohnJohn Dunbar, master mechanic at the Keith Paper Company's mill, recently jammedjammed his hand badly. It was thought the forefinger would have to be amputated, but doctors are doing their best to save it.
May 20 -The Keith Paper Co. have boarded up their large stock platform near the tracks, to protect their property.
May 27 Officers of the Keith Paper Company: President - Alex H. Rice Clerk and Treasurer - C.M. Burnett DirectorsDirectors- - Alex H. Rice, Boston; Charles T. Crocker, Fitchburg; E.D. Jones,Jones, Pittsfield; A. Pagenstecher, New York; William H. Mairs,Maurs, Brooklyn; Moses Bulkley, New York;
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JuneJune 2424. -The Keith Paper Company are beautifying the surrounding area of their Canal Street block. The side of the street will be widened and a a strip of turf placed between the walk and the road. They will set a pattern that many other places in the village should follow.
JulyJuly 11 -The Keith paper Company has justjust received an order from the U.S. Government for the largest quantity of their famous ledgers ever made at one time.
JulyJuly 1515 Good Quality Always Brings Fame and Success It is with considerable pride that all interested know that the product of the Keith paper Company rather improves in excellence, while everything else in the paper line elsewhere has been cheapened, and to-day not even the most celebrated makers of ledger papers can match Keith ledgers for all around qualities. An order for 30 tons from the Government came one day recently, and every sheet was far above the rigidngid test stipulated, better in every way than the specially made samples called for. Every man with a dollar in the mill feels that it will be more than safe so long as the product gains in excellence,and and yet the mullmill started in the front rank.
JulyJuly 22 -The Keith Paper Company have greatly improved the appearance of their block by improving the walk and putting turf all about it.
JanuaryJanuary 1313, , 11892892 -Such is the confidence of the trade in the Keith Ledger papers and theirthei brands Ravelstone and Westlock Flats, they duplicate orders without the slightest doubt of the Keith Paper Co.'s failure to come up with the usual standard.
February 1717 -The Keith mill girls indulged in a a leap year sleigh ride to South Deerfield last Sunday.
September 7 The Keith Paper Company Prepares to Double its Capacity The most important business transaction that has occurred in the interest of Turners Falls we are permitted to make public to-day, the papers having justjust been "signed, sealed and delivered." As everybody knows, the Keith Paper Company is one of the soundest institutions inm the country, with a reputation second to none forthe the quality of its product, and its mills are a large source of prosperity to the town, employing many skilled work people. Treasurer Burnett has long felt the need of enlarging the mill and had thoroughly planned to see what was needed to take care of the ever growing business of his prosperous
Keith Paper Co. 1872-1922 Page 32 of 107107 e.ge.g. . transcription 4.2018 company. He made overtures to the Turmers Turners Falls Company, and found that company in sympathy with any improvement that good judgmentjudgment might commend, and a trade was quickly made. The Keith Paper Company by this transaction acquires the land between it old mall and the cutlery, some two hundred feet in extent, and the mill privilege on the stream below,below," 8 extending to within a couple hundred feet of the lower suspension bridge, with more than double their present power. Plans have been made for one new mill which will be commenced at once. This mill will be 190190 feet long, 41 feet feet wide, and four stories high. From this maimmain structure will be built a wing for a machine room, 115115 feet long, by 50 feet wide, three stories high. The main building will contain the engines, drainers, and loft room where fine papers are driedon on poles. The space between the two wings, the old machine room and the new, will be occupied by stock houses, coal bunkers, and boiler and bleach houses. The whole improvement, now almost under way, will double the capacity of the mill, while the company has with good business forethought, secured room and power for still further extension which 1sis quite apt to be an outgrowth of a more extended product. Treasurer BurnettBurmett having gone along in his quiet way in this matter of business extension, no one expected a boom to be thus ruthlessly sprung upon him, and now languishing Turners Falls will be apt to look to Mr. Burnett as the Moses opportunity come to lead us all out of the wilderness.
September 1414 -Thomas Brothers Have been awarded the contract to build the Keith Mill extension, and no doubt they will turn out a finished jobjob that will be a credit to them, as is their custom. Hardly a section of the stare but has a structure to which this enterprising firm of contractors can point to with pardonable pride for the faithfulness of their work. -50 men wanted to go to work art once on the foundations of the Keith Mill extension. Apply to Thomas Brothers Contractors.
September 21 -Thomas Brothers break ground Thursday morning, for the new Keith mill, and intend having the foundations in before the fall freshets trouble them.
November 2 -Thomas Brothers are working two gangs of men on the foundations of the new Keith mull,mill, working night and day, and they have made remarkable progress for such an extensive an solid job.job.
December 28 Must Have Greater Capacity The Keith Paper Company, of Turners Falls, Mass., have had a a lot of free advertising during the past month which has made the name and occupation of the concern familiarfamuliar to the great American public.
8* The Connecticut River.
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The story which went the rounds of the press a few days after election, to the effect that the company had canceled contracts for mill erection and equipment because of Democratic success, has been even more widely denied, and everybody now knows that the Keith Paper Co., manufactures of paper, at Turners Falls, have been so successful in the production and sale of good paper that they have not only started an addition to their mill,mull, but are going to complete it at a cost of $100,000 and run it. The Keith ledger papers are unsurpassed for record books, and their "Ravelstone" and "Westlock" flats are well known and approached by printers, lithographers, stationers and manufacturers of blank books. Geyer'sGeyer'’s Stationer
AprilApri l 5,5 , 11893893 -Certain employees of the Keith mill had a good deal of amusement furnished them last Saturday, at the nominal cost of only two cents. One of them expecting some fun, nailed down two pennies on the steps leading to the mill, as an April joke,joke, consequently all day every passer-by would invariablymvariably stoop down to pick up the coins, and each one, in that vulgar but expressive phrase, would "get left."
April 1919 -Certain employees of the Keith mill had a good deal of amusement furnished them last Saturday, at the nominal cost of only two cents. One of them expecting some fun, nailed down two pennies on the steps leading to the mill, as an April joke,joke, consequently all day every passer-by would invariably stoop down to pick up the coins, and each one, in that vulgar but expressive phrase, would "get left."
JuneJune 7 -A large number of Italians came to town the other day to work on the new Keith mill. It was impossiblempossible to find enough local workmen.
August 2 The Keith Mill Booms Instead of hearing about hard times around the establishment of the Keith Paper Co. the air is full of business enthusiasm. Work on the new mill is progressing rapidly, and plans have justjust been completed for a large extension not contemplated before the hard times scare began to appear. The newest addition will extend from the end of the south wing to the railroad track, and will be four stories high.
August 23 List of Business Tax Payers The following businesses pay a tax of $100 or more in the Town of Montague, this year of hard times and money. Keith Paper Co. 4387.50 -The Turners Falls Company are repairing the canal which necessitates shutting out much water, thus depriving the Keith Paper Company of power to keep all their machinery running. While business is fairly good with this company, a curtailment can be made now better than at any other season.
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August 30 -Charles Park expects to begin on the roof of the new Keith mull mill next week. He surprises the ordinary mortal at the speed with which he accomplishes such a vast amount of work of the heaviest and most substantial character.
September 30 -Ryan Brothers have the contract to slate the new Keith millmull roof.
November 1515 -JohnJohn Tyne, Jr.,Jr., a laborer on the Keith mill, fell a distance of about twelve feet, Friday, while at work. He was much bruised, but is able to be out, andexpects expects to go back to work in a few days.
FFebruaryebruary 28 18189494 -The Keith Paper Company is to build a large store-room near its mill,mull, and the Fitchburg railroad is to put in a spur track to it.
March 28 -Then Keith Paper Company is repairing one of the walls in the machine room and will put in a new water tank.
May 30 Officers of the Keith Paper Company President - Alexander H. Rice Clerk & Treasurer - C.M. Burnett DirectorsDirectors- - Alexander H. Rice, C.T. Crocker, A. Pagenstecher, W.H. Mairs,Mars, E.D. Jones,Jones, George L. Pease, JonathanJonathan Bulkley, C.M. Burnett
JulyJuly 1111 -The Keith Paper Company are making connections between the old and new millsmulls which necessitates shutting down for the remainder of the week. -Work has been begun on the foundation for a three story addition to the Keith millmull which will be used for a finishing room.
JulyJuly 25 -The finishing department which the Keith Paper Company is building on its mill will be four stories high.
August 22 -The Keith Paper Company have shut down for a week to connect the new mullmill with the old.
September 1919 -The Keith Paper Company have commenced laying brick on their finishing room.
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October 1717 -Napoleon Reneault while working on the Keith mill, had a very bad fall this morning receiving several bad cuts in the face, also on the head.
November 21 -The Keith Paper Company are crowded with orders and business is brisk in every department.
JanuaryJanuary 2, 18189595 OOurur TurnTurn atat FFortune'sortune' s WheelWheel Although hard times are felt most keenly in manufacturing villages, Turners Falls has been blessed with a fair degree of prosperity the past year, largely on account of the new Keith mull,mill, which has been ini contemplation and under construction for a couple of years, and is1s now drawing so near completion as to make its existence felt in a marked degree in the community. TheThe NNewew KKeitheith MilMill l Over twenty years ago ago the Keith Paper Company's fine paper mill was built in this village, and under the able management of JohnJohn Keith and Charles M. Burnett the product at oncewent went into the markets of this country and beyond, in competition with only the very best mills in existence. At the onset, the mark of excellence was set high, and while other manufacturers of high renown were not averse to adopting cheapening processes that unmistakenly pointed to deterioration and were charmed with the delusion that the new found substitutes for rag fibre would not lessen the esteem of their wares in the eyes of the public, the sturdy Keith management persistently turned a deaf ear to the sirens, and maintained the superior quality of their product, through poor time and through good, and reaped a rich reward for their steadfastness of purpose. For twenty years the loft dried, animal sized papers of the company have been noted for their purity, strength, body andgeneral excellence, generaland excellence, and the watermarks. "Ravelstone," "Westlock," "Keith Linen Ledger" and "Naples Lined" have become familiar to handlers of fine papers as "Day and Martin" is to those who deal with a remoter understanding, and of course the demand finally increased beyond their capacity. Treasurer Burnett carefully prepared his plans for enlargement, and gave the subject long and earnest thought before he had it in shape for definite action. At last it was decided to practically double the capacity of the mill,mull, along the lines of the previous experience making everything up to date and substantially to the utmost degree. Beginning on the main building a couple of years ago, work progressed rather slowly during the hard times, and the year just just closed must be given most of the credit for the the expenditure of some $250,000 for which a mill has been erected that has no superior, in detail and in general, in any part of the country, and the writer is1s quite familiar with paper millmull plants. The main building is an extension of the old mill proper, 42 x 180180 feet, five stories high, extending north along the river bank up to John John Russell Cutlery's line. The machine room building runs from the main building at the north end at right angles to the railroad track, and is 55 by 100100 feet, four stories high. The boiler and bleach house joins joins the main
Keith Paper Co. 1872-1922 Page 36 of 107107 e.ge.g. . transcription 4.2018 building at the new and old juncturejuncture and extends to the stock house running parallel with the railroad tracks. This building is 30 by 30 feet, and 1sis five stories high. At the extreme south of the old mull,mill, at mghtright angles and up to the railroad tracks is1s a new wing 100100 by 60 feet, and four stories high. The upper story of this will be used as a pole drying loft, the next story will be connected with the present finishing room and will be used for the same purpose. The two lower stories will contain stock. All of the buildings are on massive masonry resting on solid rock, the greatest care having been taken from the inception to secure the utmost solidity by the best skill obtainable. Beginning right,night, nothing has been left undone that experience could suggest to make the present finished edifice all that could be desired or produced for the purpose of maintaining the coveted place in the trade now occupied by this celebrated fine writing mill. In the basement of the main structure is a line of shafting firmly mounted on iron girders along the solid masonry, driven by five horizontal Leffell water wheels, dispensing with all the cumbrous and trembling harness work of huge pine timbers so common in then old methods of transmitting power from vertical shafts. Occupying almost the depth of two stories arethe the massive brick and cement drainers, some twenty in number; of the most modern construction. Extending along from the engine room of the old mill, is the new engine room, where are located at present three washing and three beating engines with room for four more. The paper millmull "engine" is a huge tub, in the center of which revolves a big wheel with metal teeth that gnash and shred the fibres as they go to their steady gait around their little race track; or wash the impurities from the stock by constant agitation inm an ever-changing volume of purest spring water. This room 1sis a sight to delight the heart of a paper maker. The finest of engines of their kind, on a a floor of solid brick arches between iron girders and covered with cement, very high ceiling, and the room lighted bygreat great windows in vast numbers, every inch of space as white as the paper fibres that are being prepared for the dainty sheets soon to be made on the Fourdriniers. The machine room, on the third story of the northerly wing contains at present but one Fourdrinier machine of 80 inch width, but there is1s room left for its mate to be put in later as the demands of business may callfor. for. This machine, which will start on its unwearyingly 24 hour a day task this morning, was built by the Smith & Winchester Co., of South Windham, Conn., one of the oldest firms of Fourdrinier builders in the country. It is a solid, modern machine, with all the improvements that experience has found profitable to adopt, including the Paul automatic system of drying the web sufficiently to be cut into sheets at the tail of the machine, from whence to be taken to the drying lofts, where they are driedon on poles, the only method by which a afirst-class first-class writing paper can be robbed of its moisture and strengthened at the same time by the "seasoning." The upper story of this building may eventually be used in the manufacture of some specialties which the company has had in view, or a store room for special stock. Beneath the machine room floor are the animal size tanks, built of brick and cemented, the stuff chests, and other receptacles of the mixed ingredients to be used on the machines overhead in the production of the paper web. On the lower story of this building, here and there among the massive arches of masonry, are the spring water tanks and filters. It may not be generally known that fine writing paper of the best quality cannot be made without the aid of absolutely pure water. With this
Keith Paper Co. 1872-1922 Page 37 of 107107 e.ge.g. . transcription 4.2018 well understood fact in mind, the first move made nearly a quarter of a century ago, was to obtain a sufficient supply of faultless spring water, and this was brought to the mull,mill, a distance of over two miles, at a cost of $30,000 or $40,000. This spring water now is in the mill and stored in tanks, from which it is taken and passed through improved gravel filters to make assurance doubly sure that not a speck of impurity may remain to contaminate the paper stock. From this filter 1tit is pumped into elevated wooden tanks of great capacity, from which it flows by gravity to its various places of use. Much of the preliminary washings of the stock may be done with a thoroughly purified river water, and this 1sis accomplished by several filters of recent invention, which can be thoroughly deprived of their accumulated impurities whenever the state of the water demands such treatment. In its appointments the new mill has many improvements in the line of economy and utility that easily put it up-up-to-dateto-date and far above and beyond mulls mills built at a past period. Knowing the old mill, it is not surprising to find absolute cleanliness from roof to basement floors, immaculate white walls and ceilings, cement floors, high rooms and a finished appearance everywhere, with the abundance of light light on every hand, even down among ponderous whit arches that play Atlas to the tons upon tons of glistening machinery overhead. Butone one is at once struck on a cold day with the utility of the windows of the new mill. One large lower sash is set solidly in the casing, and is glazed with two panes of glass a half inch apart. These double lights in no way interfere with the vision, and the small air space, together with the absence of loose jointsjoints in a a sliding sash, reduces the radiation of heat from the rooms immensely. Ventilation 1sis obtained by a small transom on the top of the main sash. The system 1sis not expensive, and yet makes a saving in fuel in such a large establishment a matter of dividend earning importance, besides renderingrendermg the work rooms uniformly comfortable unattainable with only a thin sheet of glass standing between zero weather and not over robust women operatives. Another notable improvement is the method of heating and ventilating by the Smith & Anthony hot air system. Instead of surrounding the rooms with tons upon tons of steam pipes, with their many disadvantages, steam is taken to a large covered coil of pipes in the basement. The heat generated through these is held by an iron case, out of which lead pipes like those from a hot air furnace. A fan forced the this hot air rapidly through the various conduits to the different parts of the mill,mull, and in an extremely short time the desired temperature is obtained, and easily regulated by dampers. In the summer the same pipes and the same fan are used to take pure air from the out-doors and distribute it to cool and ventilate the rooms of the army of operatives, contributing much to their comfort and healthfulness. A well-appointed dynamo room and two machines, and over three hundred incandescent lights are in the mulls.mills. It must be understood that although habit has made the common speech give the new mill almost a new local habitation and a name, it really is but extension and completion of the older structure all dovetailed easily into the workings and processes of the old, without change in many of the arrangements except perhaps top move the rag-assorting rooms to lighter quarters, a separation of bleach tanks, and the installation of a pair of 7½74 by 34 foot rotary bleach boilers, at more convenient stations in the new part. Altogether it is a mullmill the town may well be proud if, and treasurer Burnett is certainlycertamly to be congratulated upon the successful completion of a mill that stands second to none in all its appointments,appomtments, whose increasedimcreased product will be even better known from one end of the continent to the other among such
Keith Paper Co. 1872-1922 Page 38 of 107107 e.ge.g. . transcription 4.2018 users of fine writing and bond papers as know the value of a good article and are perfectly willing to pay for it.
JuneJune 5 -George Henderson, ruler for the Keith Paper Company, was away last week on a a little trip to the paper millmull centers of this region.
JulyJuly 1010 -Miss Gertrude R. March, who recently graduated from a business college, has obtained a position in the office of the Keith paper Company.
Aug. 28 -E.I. Cassidy, the very capable paymaster and salesman of the Keith Paper Company, was married this morning to MissKate Kate Rochford.
Jan.Jan. 2222, , 11896896 -E.I. Cassidy of the Keith Paper mill,mull, is on a two weeks business trip in the west. -The Keith Paper Company are making extensive improvements in the old part of their millmull buying many thongs up to date. Cement floors are being put in the engine room, and the old washers and beaters are being replaced with new ones. The old machine room 1sis also being refitted throughout, and when finished the whole plant will be equal to a spic-span new mill,mull, and up to the times in everything.
JulyJuly 8 -The Keith Paper Company are making repairs in their mill this week.
September 2 -The Keith paper Company was shut down last week, and many of the employees took advantage of the opportunity to enjoy a vacation.
December 2 -Samuel Emery, aged 20, fell into an elevator well with a roll of paper in the Keith mull,mill, a distance of some 1414 feet, and was badly bruised. Dr. Messer attended him.
AprilApri l 221,1, 18189797 -Treasurer C.M. Burnett of the Keith Paper Company, has returned from a business trip to Chicago.
May 1919 Officers of the Keith Paper Company President - Albrecht Pagenstecher Clerk and Treasurer - C.M. Burnett DirectorsDirectors- - A. Pagenstecher, C.T. Crocker, E.D. Jones,Jones, B.N. Farren, Jonathan Jonathan Bulkley, W.H. Mairs, William C. [Barnum],[Barnum], W. Warner, Thomas G. Carson, C.M. Burnett
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JuneJune 30 -Superintendent H.C. Putnam of the Keith Paper mill has been confined to his house for a couple of weeks with a bad attack of rheumatism.
August 25 -Clayton Goland, while at work on a machine in the Keith mill, recently, seriously bruised his hand.
December 1515 -Andrew A. Rock, boss of the calender room of the Keith mill,mull, is one of the leading poultry fanciers in the town. He recently took first prize for Plymouth's Rocks at the North Adams poultry show.
FFebruaryebruary 2, 18918988 -The Keith Paper Company of this village, whose mill is one of the very few high grade ledger mills in the country, have again secured the government contract for four items of ledger papers, being about the usual amount awarded to this company. -Edward I. Cassidy, who has been really the superintendent of the Keith Paper mullmill for a considerable time, since the breaking down of Mr. Putnam, 1sis now in fact the superintendent. Mr. Cassidy is a very capable young man, and has grown up with the company from its start, his father being a famous papermaker before him. He knows the business from raw stock to finished product in all its details, absorbed as only a business can be known—"through known―"through the fingertips,"—andfingertips,"―and has the added qualifications of considerable office experience andand_ the knowledge how to sell paper, both in the mill and on the road.
April 20 -The village enjoyed Patriot's Day by simply loafing, being too cold to ride wheels, play ball or take a walk. The news mills and Keith fine mill had to run full time to keep up with orders, but the cutlery and cotton mills were down. The stores were closed most all day.
May 1818 Officers of the Keith Paper Company President - Albrecht PagenstechPagenstecherer Clerk & Treasurer - C.M. Burnett DirectorsDirectors- - A. Pagenstecher, C.T. Crocker, E.D. Jones,Jones, B.N. Farren, W.H. Mairs, JonathanJonathan Bulkley, WiliamWilliam B. Boorman, E. Warner, C.M. Burnett, Thomas G.G. Carson
September 7 -The Keith mill is shut down for a week for necessary repairs. Two new boilers are being put in to to take the place of two that have outlived their usefulness.
September 7 -The Keith mull mill is shut down for a week for necessary repairs. Two new boilers are being put in to to take the place of two that have outlived their usefulness.
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JanuaryJanuary 4, 18189999 -Harry C. Hall of Co. L has returned to his old place in the Montague Paper mill.mull. -George Henderson, ruler for the Keith Paper Company, spent last week in Holyoke, with Mrs. Henderson.
May 24 OfOfficersficers of the Keith Paper Company President - Albrecht Pagenstecher Clerk and Treasurer - C.M. Burnett DirectorsDirectors- - A. Pagenstecher, B.N. Farren, C.T. Crocker, E.D. JonesJones W.H. Mairs,Mars, E. Warner, W.C. Boorum, C.M. Burnett, T.C. Carson JulyJuly 1919 -The Keith mill so far is not advertised in the conglomeration.
August 9 -Mrs. Gertrude March is typewriter for the Keith paper Company.
August 23 -Ulrich Richard has been an expert counter of paper in the Keith Paper Mill for 25
September 27 -A.A. Rock is foreman of the calender room of the Keith Paper mill.
October 25 -Miss Mary Scheiding has resigned her position as clerk in the Boston store and has gone to work in the Keith mill. She is1s succeeded by Miss Maggie Fritz.
December 6 -JohnJohn Schuhle, the Avenue A butcher, has taken into partnership, Andrew Hahan, who has been the foreman of the rag room in the Keith millmull for some time, and the firm name is1s now Schuhle & Hahn. Mr. Hahn was obliged to give up his position in the mill because the confinement was telling on his health, and he hopes that the change in his occupation will prove beneficial. -The Keith Paper Company is rushed with orders now that business has bnightenedbrightened up. A company making the best goods on the market soon feel the push of better timesttmes when the public has money to buy the best. Turners Falls never felt the hard tug of depression as bad as other places, still it is made happier by the boom.
JuneJune 2727, , 19190000 -Winifred Lapeane had the top of one finger cut off while at work in the Keith mill,mull, last week.
JulyJuly 4 -Wallace B. Marston of Montague City has gone into the office of the Keith Paper Company.
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August 22 -The Keith Paper Company's rag room help took a a trolley ride to Greenfield Thursday evening.g. The The partyparty was representedp d by by onlyonly a a half ddozen ozen males,ales, th the majorityyority being being females.females.femal
October 24 -The Keith mill steadily increases its products in all departments. New machines are constantly added to takecare care of their orders. A new edition 1sis a plater, a machine that puts the finish on some of their handsomest papers.
December 28 -The employees of the Keith mill were given a holiday Monday as well as Christmas.
JanuaryJanuary 1616, , 11901901 -The employees of the rag room in the Keith mill have been vaccinated.
February 6 -The Keith Paper Company has put in telephones in its mill, a call box in each room connected with theoffice. office. The arrangement 1sis very complete, and better than speaking tubes.
February 27 -Richard Miller whose family are paper mill owners near Berne, Switzerland, has come to the Keith mill to learn the paper making business.
April 1717 -The Keith Paper mill is rushed with orders all the time, and everybody is on the jumpjump day in and day out. The company has justjust put in a folding machine which will do the work of a score of girls, and also added a cutter to their equipment, andone one of the largest paper mullmill cutters ever built. A new plater and new calendaring machines have been among the recent additions called for on account of steadily increasing business.
May 8 -Michael Riley had one hand slightly injured while at work in the Keith millmull last week. -The annual meeting of the stockholders of the Keith Paper Co. will be held at the company's office on Wednesday, May 15,15, at 1010 o'clock a.m.
May 1515 -Maurice Carroll has gone to work as machine tender in the Keith mull,mill, having givenup up his jobjob in the Esleeck mull.mill.
May 22 Turners Falls Gradually Expanding The Keith Paper Company has justjust closed a year's business of the greatest magnitude the company has ever known. It has become absolutely necessary to increase their capacity, and a new Fourdrinier machine of the finest make, 86 inches wide, has been ordered and will
Keith Paper Co. 1872-1922 Page 42 of 107107 e.ge.g. . transcription 4.2018 be in position in July,July, it is hoped. This machine will increase the product of the mill about 50 per cent.
JulyJuly 3 Keith Mill Employees Get Shorter Hours Montague Lodge of the Brotherhood of Paper-Makers held a meeting Sunday afternoon to hear the report of the committee recently appointed to confer with Treasurer C.M. Burnett of the Keith Paper Company with reference to shorter hours in the mill. The Holyoke schedule of hours was adopted, with the exception of the finishing room. The reason forfor this exception is that owing to the late arrival of the afternoon mail at Turners Falls mail orders that come in the afternoon could not be filled that day.
JulyJuly 31 -Robert Miller of Fourth StreetStreet had his arm severely injured, Monday night by getting itit caught in the dryers, while at work in the Keith mill.
August 1414 -The bridge over the canal to the Keith Paper millmull is being repaired.
August 28 -The Keith Paper Company has leased the shoe-shop building for the storage of raw paper making material.
September 1111 -Wallace B. Marston is a member of the Keith mill office force.
December 4 -An alarm of fire was rung in at 8.30 o'clock Sunday evening, for a small blaze in the Keith mill. A bale of rags in the attic was discovered to be burning, but the fire was quickly extinguished with very slight damage.
JanuaryJanuary 8, 19190202 -D.J.-DJ. Leary, who has been assistant superintendent of the Keith Paper Company, for the past four years, has accepted a position as superintendent of one of the large mills owned by the West Virginia Pulp & Paper Co., at Piedmont, West Va. He leaves for his new duties Thursday morning.
JanuaryJanuary 1515 -The Keith mill added an immense knife grinder to their plant yesterday. -Maurice O'Keefe succeeds Henry W. Smith as foreman in the rag-room of the Keith mill. Mr. O'Keefe has many years service in the mill. Mr. Smith has accepted a night foremanship 1nin the International paper millmull at Niagara Falls, N.Y. -The Keith Paper Co.'s new Fourdrinier paper machine is1s about ready to start. The millmill is always crowded with orders, but this new machine will increase the product about 50 per cent. It is one of the finest pieces of paper making machinery ever set up in an American mill.
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February 26 -The manager of the Underwood Safety Paper Company of Chicago is at the Keith mill mixing the secret chemicals that go intoito the paper. The Keith company makes a batch of the safety paper several times a year.
March 5 -Bernard Dolan of Canal Street, while at work in the Keith mill one day last week, was severely burned on the arms and chest by hot stock which flew out of the engine.
April 1616 -An alarm was rung in, Saturday night about 8 o'clock, for a fire in the rag room of the Keith mull.mill. The fire extinguishers promptly put out the blaze with little damage, so the services of the fire department who quickly responded, were not needed.
April 23 -Repairs have been made at the Keith spring the past week.
May 1414 -The stockholders of the Keith Paper Company will hold their annual meeting at the company's office on Wednesday, May 21, at 1010 o'clock.
JuneJune 1818 -JohnJohn Korbel of Fourth Street,Street, while at his work in the Keith mill, Thursday morning, had several fingers on one hand crushed by getting them caught in the calenders. -Montague Lodge of Paper Makers will hold a picnic at the Forest Driving Park on JulyJuly 4th.Ath.
August 1313 -The employees of the rag room in the Keith mill, and their friends, went on a atrolley trolley ride over the whole line last night. October 1515 -Elijah-Elyah Young of L Street,Street, while at his work in the carpentry shop of the Keith mull,mill, yesterday morning, had the misfortune to severely cut several fingers by getting them caught in a lathe. He will probably lose some of the members. -Daniel O'Leary is a foreman at the Keith mill.
December 31 Alfred Neveau Killed at the Keith Mill Alfred G. Neveau, whose home was on T Street, was instantly killed near his machine at the Keith mill,mull, yesterday, shortly after 11 o'clock, in what manner will never be known as he was alone at the time. Fred Macker was on his rounds oiling machinery when he came upon the apparently dead body of Neveau, lymglying on the floor. He telephoned the office, and Dr. Messer was summoned. The doctor found the man beyond hope. One wrist was broken, and he had received a tremendous blow on the back of his head, blood oozing from the mouth and ears. It is supposed the unfortunate man attempted to shift a
Keith Paper Co. 1872-1922 Page 44 of 107107 e.ge.g. . transcription 4.2018 belt with a stick which caught in the pulley, broke his wrist, and then was thrown with such violence against his head as to cause instant death. He was a very capable man, and had been employed as a repair hand in the millmull for 1515 years. His daughter worked in the room above where he was killed, and his father-in-law,father-in-law, Elisha Young, is a machinist there. Mr. Neveau was 47 years old.
JanuaryJanuary 1414, , 11903903 -Herbert G.G. Edson, who has been employed in the Montague mill for over twenty years, has taken a jobjob in the Keith mill.
May 6 -Superintendent E.I. Cassidy of the Keith Paper mill, having been working very hard for these months that the business has been booming, finds his health impaired, and he is1s going on an extended vacation to recuperate. -Thomas Meany of Central StreetStreet was badly hurt, last Friday, while at work in the Esleeck mill.mull. His clothing caught in some shafting, and he was whirled rapidly around several times. He had an arm broken, a leg broken, sustained internal injuries, and was severely bruised generally. He has been removed to the Farren Hospital.
May 1313 -Miss Mary Barton of Riverside has taken a position in the office of the Keith Paper Company.
JuneJune 3 Officers of the Keith Paper Company: President - A. Pagenstecher Vice President - JonathanJonathan Bulkley Clerk & Treasurer - C.M. Burnett DirectorsDirectors- - A. Pagenstecher, C.T. Crocker, E.D. Jones,Jones, W.H. Mairs, B.N. Farren, E. Warner, JonathanJonathan Bulkley, C.M. Burnett -E.D. Severance has returned from Attleboro and has taken a position in the Keith mill.
JulyJuly 29 -A boy named Regan had two fingers caught in the calenders in the Keith mill, one day last week, while at work. The fingers were considerably crushed.
September 23 -Wallace Marston of Montague City is assistant in the Keith Mill office. -The Keith Paper Company is having their entire mill re-wired for electric light and power purposes, many individual motors being installed for various purposes. The Roland T. Oakes Company of Holyoke are doing the work.
November 44: -Most of the departments in the Keith mill were closed Monday to take inventory.
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-The girls of the Keith mill had a very enjoyable character party in the G.A.R. Hall lastlast Thursday evening. The sterner sex were barred entirely, and the girls had a good time and dancing all by themselves.
December 9 -The water in the Connecticut has fallen extremely low and rain is greatly needed. The Cotton mill had to close Monday for lack of water, and yesterday all the other mills with the exception of the Keithand and Montague mills had to shut down also.
JanuaryJanuary 6, 19190404 No School Signal As the fire gong on the Montague mill is not in use at the present time owing to extensive alterations being made there, the "No School Signal" will be given by the gong of the Keith mill, whenever, on account of inclement weather, 1tit seems advisable to close the schools. The signal in use is as follows: At 7.45 7.45 a.m., two short blasts of the gong repeated once (2-2)(2-2) will indicate no school for morning. If sounded at 1111 a.m. or 12.4512.45 p.m., it will signify no session for the afternoon. So far this year the schools have not closed on account of stormy weather.
JanuaryJanuary 27 -The employees of the rag room in the Keith mullmill has a sleigh ride to Montague on Wednesday evening of last week.
May 25 -The annual meeting of the stockholders of the Keith paper Company will be held at the company's office on Tuesday, May 21, at 9 o'clock a.m. JuneJune 11 Officers of the Keith Paper Company Clerk and Treasurer - C.M. Burnett Directors - Albrecht Pagenstecher, JonathanJonathan Bulkley, Charles T. Crocker, B.N. Farren, E.D. Jones,Jones, E. Warner, W.H. Mairs, C.M. Burnett
August 31 -The Keith Paper Company has added a very superior pasting machine equipment to their plant for the purpose of making the finest wedding bristols.bristols.” 9 The department is managed by William Carlisle, a son of the manufacturer of the machine.
*9 Bristol board (also(also referred to as Bristol paper or Super white paper) is an uncoated, machine-finished paperboard. ItIt is named after the city of Bristol in the southwest of England. Bristol boardboard may be rated by the number of plies it contains or, in Europe, by its grammage of 220 to 250. It is is normally white, but is aalsolso made in different colours. Bristol paper is used for printing documents, brochures, promotional materials and envelopes. It is is often used for water color painting. It is is also used for paperback book or catalog ccovers,overs, file folders, tags, and tickets.tickets . Another use is for scale models; some students use this kind of paperpaper for the walls in their scale models. One-ply Bristol is thin enough to be translucent, and two and three ply bristol are the most popular thicknesses.
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September 1414 -Wallace Marsden 1sis with the Keith Paper Company office force. -JohnJohn Short is foreman of the ruling department and Mathew Cassidy is foreman of the finishing room in the Keith Paper Company.
OOctoberctobe r 1199 Great Improvement in the Keith Mill Plant Work will commence at once on an important addition to the equipment of the Keith Paper mill. About the only part of that model fine writing and bond paper mill to-day thathat t is1s not modern in every particular, is the old two-story machine room, running from the canal to the main structure. This part has been, since the mullmill was built, the home of two Fourdrinier machines, upon which the loft dried papers for which the mill has become famous, have been made. The purpose now tsis to throw out one of these machines and replace it with a new one of the most modern type, calculated to be one of the very best that can be built. This will be an an 80 inch machine, supplied with everything that goes to make the highly developed modern paper machine. This machine will increase the output very materially of the finest grades of paper, and will necessitate much more room to takecare care of the product in process. The present machine room, which is 50 by by 100100 feet, will be taken down to the first story, at the canal level, and will be rebuilt with stronger walls to the height of three stories. The first story will remain a a size room, the second will be the machine room as now, and the third will be used as a drying loft for pole dried papers. The roof will be a truss and the building will have a modern millmull front, in fact a counter part of the wing built a few yearsago ago for the big new machines then added. To supply stock for the new Fourdrinier, a new engine room will be built for two additional beating engines and two Jordans, Jordans, with room for vats, etc. This building will be located in the space near where the spring water tanks are. Work will be pushed with all possible speed, and a part of the mill will be shut down for two weeks after Saturday of next week. A new water wheel will be put in while the finishing room is1s down.
October 26 -Arthur Daignault who has been employed by the Keith Paper Company, for the past few years, has accepted a position as clerk for Cassidy Brothers & Co. November 2 -Work has begun on the changes and additions to the Keith mull, mill, and is being very rapidly pushed. -Thomas Brothers, contractors, have the walls of the old machine room of the Keith mill torn down and the work of laying the new walls will be begun at once. It will take probably
Bristol board is commonly used for technical drawingdrawing, , illustration projects, comic book art, and other two- dimensional art forms. It provides two working surfaces, front and back. ThisThi s quality separates it from illustration board, which has only a front working surface. The surface texture is either plate or vellumvellum. . PlatePiafe finish is as smooth as glass, and it is very good for pen and ink. VellumVellum (or(or kid)kid ) finish is a medium texture more appropriate to friction-based mediamedia, , such as crayon, chalks, or charcoal. A third finish, engravers or weddingwedding; , bristol paper may be used for formal engraved wedding invitations.
Keith Paper Co. 1872-1922 Page 47 of 107107 e.ge.g. . transcription 4.2018 two weeks to complete the walls so that the machines may be started again. They are protected by the roof which was propped over them.
FFebruaryebruary 8, 19019055 -One of the old Fourdrinier machines in the Keith Paper mill has been taken out and workmen are building stronger foundations for the new machine which 1sis all ready to take its place. Thenew new machine is one of the most modern type and the best that could be produced.
May 1717 -The annual meeting of the Keith Paper Company will be held at the office of the company, on Thursday May 25, at 11.4011.40 o'clock a.m.
May 24 -Monroe Van Valkenburg, who has been foreman in the finishing department for the Keith Paper Company many years, is to leave the company'scompany’s employ to-morrow night, and will go to North Adams to engage in business. His place at the Keith millmull will be taken by Arthur Porter. -New gates are being erected at the entrance to the Keith mull.mill. May 31 Officers of the Keith Paper Company President - A. Pagenstecher Vice President - JonathanJonathan Bulkley Clerk and Treasurer - C.M. Burnett DirectorsDirectors- - A. Pagenstecher, JonathanJonathan Bulkley, Charles T. Crocker, B.N. Farren, William H. Mairs, E.EK. Warner, E.A. Jones,Jones, R. Pagenstecher, C.M. Burnett -Mathew Cassidy has taken the position of shipper in the Keith mill. -The Keith Paper Company took their annual dinnerdmner at the new Hotel Vladish, Thursday.
JuneJune 7 Shocking Accident at the Keith Mill Thomas Sullivan of Spring Street, who is less than 20 years old and is1s employed by the Keith Paper Co., met with a shocking accident on Wednesday afternoon of last week, just just before 5 o'clock, by having his right arm drawn into a super-calender. Mr. Sullivan was wiping off the rolls preparatory to shutting down for the day, when his cleaning rag caught in the rolls and drew his arm up to the elbow before the machine could be stopped. The member was horribly mangled but no bones were broken, and his hand escaped injury. Mr. Sullivan was taken to the Farren hospital.
JulyJuly 1919 A Five Story Addition to the Keith Mill The Keith Paper Company mill will soon begin the erection of a stock house justjust below their mull.mill. It will be of brick 105105 feet long and 50 feet wide, five stories high. The stories will be low as a stock house does not need much wasted space. The growing capacity of the mull,mill, with
Keith Paper Co. 1872-1922 Page 48 of 107107 e.ge.g. . transcription 4.2018 its new and improved machinery makes the demand for a larger stock house imperative. This mill has "gone to the good" with marvelous strides the past few years, and with all its expanse business keeps crowding on them like an avalanche. It is one of the finest paper millsmulls in the world, with a various product, including the finest ledgers and bonds, white and colored, superfines, bristols, and pasted wedding card, cover papers, and no end of fancy papers of their own origin, in all the finishes possible to produce, linen faced or what not. Nowhere on earth could it be possible to find a cleaner or more substantial looking mull.mill. It is an inheritance from the founder of the mill,mull, JohnJohn Keith, who was a great believer in absolute cleanliness as being a thousand times cheaper than dirt, an assurance of a clean product, and a sanitary help to keep the best of men and women in their employ. A constant object lesson is everywhere present which help cannot refuse to learn. Here is1s one secret of the great Keith success.
August 2 -A Polish workman got a hand caught in a a platerplater”10 in the Keith mill, Saturday afternoon inflicting a very painful wound.
August 9 -Thomas Frawley of Central Street has gone to work in the Finishing Room of the Keith mill.
August 23 The Keith Mill Addition Begun Thomas Brothers have been awarded the contract for the new addition to the Keith Paper mull, mill, and work was begun yesterday on the foundation, with Patrick Cunningham as foreman of the stone masons. The building begins on the line of the canal justjust three feet south of the plating wing, and will run 110110 feet toward the Esleeck mill. The building will be 50 feet wide and six stories high. At the south end an commodious coal pocket will be put in, in anticipation of additional boiler capacity in that direction whenever it becomes necessary to build another addition to the mill. The company have a site for a new mill of even greater capacity than the first mill had originally. If prosperity continues to follow the really wonderful paper mill,mull, whose reputation 1sis maintained at the top notch always, it goes without saying that another mill must soon be in sight. The history of every big and prosperous town has always shown that permanent success to all has usually come from the expansion of whatgrew grew up from the first, rather than from the importation of exotics. -Martin Kubovek employed in the Keith mill,mull, got his mghtright hand caught in the dryers of a paper machine and quite badly burned.
10” A plater is similar to a calender in the paper making process.
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September 1313 -Edward J.J. Treml of L Street received some painful injuries while at his work in the Keith mullmill yesterday afternoon. He was working about a winding machine when his overalls became caught in the machinery and his leg was drawn in. He received some severe bruises and a good sized section of the calf of his leg was torn out.
JanuaryJanuary 3, 19190606 -The new addition to the Keith Paper mill, the seven story storage building, is being roofed in. It is one of the best mullmill buildings in town, and a credit to the contractor, JamesJames H. Thomas. -The Junior Junior Endeavourers of the Congregational church will give a social and entertainment Friday evening, February 23rd.
February 7 -The fire department was called out at about nine o'clock last night for a blaze among the rags in the rag room of the Keith Paper mill. The automatic sprinklers had the flames out so promptly that there was nothing for the fire department to do when they arrived. The damage was slight. May 2 -The Keith mill was shut down yesterday for inventory. May 1616 Swept Over the Dam The village was shocked, Sunday afternoon to learn that three highly respected young men, Daniel Shea, Eugene Bourdeau and Alcide Belmore, all over 20 years of age or more, were swept over the dam, while starting for a boat ride up river, and lost their lives. The young men put out 1nin a flat bottomed boat from a point only a few feet above the dam, near where the saw mill was located. The river was quitehigh, high, four feet eight inches of water going over the dam on Sunday. The young men evidently did not realize their danger until they had been drawn into the current, and were so near the dam that their efforts to row up stream were futile. They were experienced swimmers, and jumpedjumped into the water as the boat was going, but were unable to overcome the current. It is thought they did not use their oars soon enough after pushing out from shore. The accident was not observed, except by two or three small girls, who saw the young men get into the boat, and then heard screaming. When the three did not return at the proper time, search was begun, and the boat was discovered below the dam, badly shattered by contact with the rocks. But the bodies of the three unfortunates have not been found, and it is doubtful if theyever ever will be recovered. Dynamite was used Monday, but without avail. The societies with whom the young men are affiliated are to hire a diver to make a search for the bodies. Belmore and Shea worked for the Keith mill. Bourdeau was employed by the Millers Falls Company. He was a member of the Father Mathew Temperance Society, as were the other two, of the Turners Falls Aerie of Eagles, the Red Men and the St. John John the Baptist Society. Belmore and Shea were members of the Turners Falls Council, knights of Columbus,
Keith Paper Co. 1872-1922 Page 50 of 107107 e.ge.g. . transcription 4.2018 and Belmore belonged to the Eagles. Shea was a member of the Hibernians and of the paper- makers union. All were popular young men of good character and their un-timely death is1s greatly deplored.
May 30 Annual Meeting of the Keith Paper Company The Annual Meeting of the Keith Paper Company was held at the office of the company last Thursday morning. The following officers were elected: President - Albrecht Pagenstecher Vice President - JonathanJonathan Bulkley Clerk and Treasurer - C.M. Burnett Directors - B.N. Farren, C.T. Crocker, E.A. Jones,Jones, W.H. Mairs,Mars, A. Pagenstecher, E. Warner JuneJune 20 -A tent show has been giving nightly performances the past week, in a tent at the head of Second Street, near the Keith Block, but the spectators have been so few that the company couldn't have made enough to pay for the lights.
August 2 -William Sanson 1sis the expert paper counter of the Keith mill.mull.
October 24 -Newton Clark, while employed in the Keith Paper mull,mill, fell on the cement floor and fractured one of hisribs. ribs.
JanuaryJanuary 1616, , 11907907 -C.M. Burnett, treasurer of the Keith Paper Company, will give an account of his trip to the Holy Land, on Tuesday evening, Jan.Jan. 22, at the Congregational church. The address will be illustrated with numerous pictures displayed by the reflectoscope.reflectoscope."'11 The Mandolin Club will furnish music.
February 6 -JosephJoseph Paulin had the top of his nghtright thumb cut off by as circular saw, while engaged at his work as a carpenter in the Keith mill yesterday afternoon. April 24 New Keith Sample Book Hot from the printery of the Griffith-StillingsGriffith-Stllings Press, Boston, Mass., came late last week a new sample book of ““CoverCover Paper Specialties," made by the Keith paper Company, Turners Falls, Mass The title is, however, somewhat restricted in meaning, as the book includes samples of bond as well as cover papers. The book will be found interesting to printers primarily because while it contains samples of the famous Keith Repoussé cover papers, it also contains
11" A device which projects an image of an object on to a screen by reflecting light from it. Now sarerare . .
Keith Paper Co. 1872-1922 Page 51 of 107107 e.ge.g. . transcription 4.2018 specimenspecunen sheets of what I understand is a new paper which the company is about putting on the market, which, is very handsome and which it 1sis believed will take the trade by storm. They are made in admirable imitation onyx, chalcedony, sardonyx,malachite malachite onyx and Mexican onyx, and those who appreciate the beautiful markings of these stones as made by nature, will wonder at their close reproduction in the art of the paper maker. The new new cover paper is made under the above mentioned names in 21x33-60 and eighty pounds, 500 reams (500(500 sheets) and half ream packages and in crash, respoussé crash, repoussé and vellum and plate finishes, and in bond 22x34-32 pounds, ream packages. These papers are also made in | different colors, as purple, brown, green, [ KEITHPAPERCOMP ANY | gray, blue, etc. Altogether thirty-three |! — samples of the company's papers are shown- eighteen onyx, etc., thirteen repoussé and one each of the glazed onion skin bond and half-tone writing. The whole is bound in 120120 pound malachite onyx bristol repoussé crash | covers, the front cover nearing an embossed | TURNERS FALLS, MASSACHUSETTS | design in green and gold. The fly leaf has a This copy in the writer's collection. fine half-tone view ofthe the company's mill, and each sample is printed with a special design in color, which harmonizing with the onyx shades, not only tends to enhance the inherent beauties of the paper, but also serves to show to printers the effects that may be secured by attention to proper combinations of ink and paper. Both the Keith Paper Company and the Griffith-Griffith-StllingsStillings Press are to be congratulated in havingturned turned out such fine samples of their respective arts. I am informed that 35,000 of these books will be distributed to the trade. —Walden’s―Walden's StationerStatoner and Printer
Base Ball A very interesting game of base ball was played at the South End grounds Sunday afternoon, between the Keith Block and South End team. The South End won by a score of 1313 to 11.11. Callahan and Foley, the South End's old battery, held the visitors down, but William Hanley nearly lost the game by making three errors, and allowing two runs to come in. McAllister made a double play in the sixth inning.mning. Vinnicombe, the Keith Block's pitcher, did great work, striking out seven, and allowing five to walk. Patrick Sullivan was the star for the visitors making five errors. The second game of the series will be played next Sunday afternoon at the park grounds.
May 8 -Miss Susie Carlisle of Springfield succeeds Miss Elsie M. Stemple as stenographer in the office of the Keith Paper Company.
May 22 A Valuable Invention JohnJohn C. Fellows has recently invented a water filter for paper mullsmills that is really a marvel for simplicity and effectiveness, and is being bought and used by paper mullsmills as fast as it can be
Keith Paper Co. 1872-1922 Page 52 of 107107 e.ge.g. . transcription 4.2018 manufactured, and every user is1s at once enthusiastic in its praise, and is quite willing to say so to the inventor. Mr. Fellows 1sis a mechanical genius, and was master mechanic of a paper mill in Adams before he came to Turners Falls, to become master mechanic of the Keith mill here. He thought of this filter 35 or 40 years ago, and made several models, but there was something lacking to make it a success. He took it up several times to half abandon the idea, until the secret of success flashed upon him in an instant. instant. He immediately built a machine, and the result was very perfect, and he applied for protection in the patpatentent office…office...
JuneJune 1919 Fell Seven StoriesStories Will North of Chestnut Street,Street, while employed at the Keith Paper mull,mill, fell down an elevator shaft Thursday morning, a distance of seven stories. He started to descend by the freight elevator, which had a broken cable, instead of walking down stairs as he was told to do. Dr. R.A. McGillicuddy was called to attend to the young man's injuries and he was removed to his home. He had some ribs broken and sustained other internal injuries,myuries, but 1s is now comfortable and doing as well as could be expected. That he was not killed is a miracle.
September 25 -Michael McCarthy, who has been employed at the Keith mull mill for several years, has gone to work for George Starbuck & Sons. -Elijah-Elyah Young, a veteran employee of the Keith Paper Company, had the tips of two fingers on the left hand crushed while cutting off a bolt on an emery wheel at the mullmill Saturday. Amputation of the fingers was necessary.
October 2 -The Keith Paper Company 1sis making repairs at their spring up the river.
November 6 -Miss Cora Girard, while at work in the Keith mill, accidentally cut her hand severely by pushing it through a large pane of glass.
November 1313 -JosephJoseph Poequette received a serious injury while at work in the Keith Paper millmull last Wednesday morning.He He was inside a dusting machine doingdomg some work when the machine was suddenly started up anda a spike driven into his back.
November 28 -JohnJohn H. Shea of Fourth Street,Street, while at work in the Keith mill, had one foot badly hurt by a 60-pound weight dropping upon it.
December 4 -The EsleeckFsleeck and Keith mills shut down Wednesday night for the rest of the week on account of Thanksgiving.
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December 1818 -Lyman B. Howe of Riverside, while at work as his buzz-saw in the carpentershop shop of the Keith mull,mill, yesterday, snipped off the top of his right thumb.
December 25 -The Keith and Esleeck mills shut down Saturday night for Christmas week. -There are many cases of hard cold and the grip paying a a visitin in the village. -The German Lutheran Sunday school will hold their Christmas tree and exercises this evening. -Miss Ruth Severance has taken a position in the office of the Keith Paper Co., succeeding Miss Mary Barton of Riverside.
JanuaryJanuary 1,1, 19190808 -The Keith mill started up Monday morning, but not the whole force of employees are yet employed.
JanuaryJanuary 29 -E.A. Rand, who has been superintendent of the Turners Falls Machine shop, has taken a position for the Keith Paper Company. -Arthur Matthieu, an excellent machinist who has been employed in the Turners Falls Machine Co., since the beginning, has taken a position as machinist in the Keith Paper Company.
March 4 -William Dawes, an employee of the Keith mill, had one hand burned quite badly, one day last week, by getting it caught in a dryer belt. -E. Scott,Scott, a millwright employed at the Keith mill,mull, while putting on a belt Friday, had a finger caught. Fortunately prompt action on his part prevented his hand from being drawn over the shaft.
April 29 -JohnJohn Farnsworth, who has recently been employed at Waterbury, Conn., has taken a position at the Keith mull.mill.
May 6 -The Keith mill was shut down for a a part of last week.
May 20 -Newton Clark, while at work in the Keith mill one day last week, had a hand injuredijured by getting it caught between two pieces of iron, one of which was stationary.
May 27 -The Keith mill has been shut down a number of days the past week.
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JuneJune 3 -The annual meeting of the Keith Paper Company, held Thursday, was adjourned to the 16th16th of July.July. JonathanJonathan Bulkley of New York, a large stockholder, is at present in Europe and will not return before that time, when the meeting will be held, probably on the same day of some of the other companies' meetings.meetings. JuneJune 1010 -W.A. Pollock, salesman for the Keith Paper Company, started yesterday on a western trip in hopes of finding a a little business somewhere.
August 5 The Minds That Led the Way to Cheap Newspaper. (Keith(Keith portion only e.ge.g:).) ...... Albrect Pagenstecher, his friend, was a paper manufacturer, with a view into the future few if any possessed. Edwin Bulkley, a retired sea captain, one of the best parcels of humanity that generation had ever seen put up, was a paper maker, withseveral several mills. All three men were soon led by that wonderful promoter, and forceful man, Col. Crocker. George E. Marshall was a relative of Col. Crocker. Not on that account, but because he was a born paper maker, he was selected to start the Montague mill,mull, making book and common news, while JohnJohn Keith was selected by Edwin Bulkley, who knew him well, to bring into existence and to lead to success a fine paper muill.mill. Both men were selected solely for their ability to do certain things and they made good in a manner that astonished the paper making world. Both men were geniuses of a superior order, and each as different from the other as it is possible to get two natures. JohnJohn Keith was a born mechanic without following out any particular line, or devoting himself to manipulation of any machinery to any extent. He simply knew all things mechanical without the trouble of hand practice, or apparently any deep study into the mystery of complicated cam motions or cycloidal gears. He was also a born salesman, and a judgejudge of human nature that did not need citations to refresh his memory. He made the Keith mill by the force of his marvelous abilities, and there it stands to-day the lasting monument of a genius. George E. Marshall, another genius, had a far different mental equipment, and he attracted like minds, and men of great business capacity and power were attracted to him, while the sane men would be repelled by Mr. Keith. John John Keith seemed to need few who knew anywhere near what he did in business or mechanics, while George E. Marshall naturally attracted every man with a paper making idea towards him. George E. Marshall's first and last impulse was to loan his creepers to every young man of ability he saw starting out to climb. Keith had a big a heart, and as fine an impulse, but his nature taught him to applaud every effort, and if anything to say "Climb, ye devvel,dewvel,climb." climb." . . . . August 1212 -The Keith Paper Company will be partly shut down all of next week for long needed repairs. A new water wheel is needed, and the work could not be delayed longer.
September 30 Change in Management of Keith Paper Company To-day,To-day, Charles M. Burnett, for many years treasurer and managing director of the Keith Paper Co., retires from the positions he has occupied, and will enjoy a well earned rest.
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Mr. Burnett came to this town in the fall of 1872,1872, to become book-keeper under JohnJohn Keith, the founder of the institution. He previously had paper mill experience at South Hadley Falls, his home, also at Holyoke. He proved a very valuable man to Mr. Keithand and the mill,mull, and at Mr. Keith's death he was promoted to the positions he hassince since filled with ability. A methodical mad and a hard worker, no one could meet him without being impressed with his knowledge of paper making in all its ramifications. Mr. Burnett was president of the Writing Paper manufacturers Association, and was always a valued guest at their social gatherings and banquets in New York. Being a large stockholder in the Keith Paper Company, he will take much pleasure in turning over his duties to his successor, with a feeling that the high place the millmull has attained under his able and successful direction, will be maintained. James James F. Bush. Thenew new manager, is a man of very commanding presence, has broad views of the world and all that's in it, and knows paper making, paper selling, mill management and the art of financing business enterprises. He got his experience in paper making in the Westfield valley, noted for its fine product, where he owned a paper mill. His larger ideas of management came to him inin several large enterprises which he has been called upon by stockholders to manage, his last position of management being the largest and best equipped paper making plant in the world, at Oxford, Maine, where a $4,500,000 millmull employs 11001100 hands in the manufacture of a fine product, including all the postal cards used by the government, which are printed there also. Mr. Chisholm, almost the sole owner of that concern, leaves the International to manage it, thus relieving Mr. Bush for the important position in this town. His very great abilities are well known to all the stockholders of the Keith, and they give him a most cordial welcome.
October 7 -The new manager of the Keith mill began business by taking stock, so that at next stocktaking he will know where he 1sis at, and where he will likely remain "at."
October 21 Vigorous New Blood Will Tell Treasurer Bush of the Keith Paper Company is hard at work systematizing the business of manufacturing and selling paper. He has moved the shipping department to the room next the railroad tracks, for convenience. The finishing 1sis now all done on one floor, to be better under the eyes of the bosses. Other changed will be made as soon as possible. The office building is1s to be made exclusively an administration building, the lower story being fitted up for Superintendent E.I.F.I. Cassidy's office, and for the office of Harry Dunbar, the master mechanic. A lavatory and laboratory will also be located there. Here all the heads of the leading departments will be congregated, in constant touch with the leading spirit in the management, who will be always at hand for suggestions, coming and going, a constant inspiration for all to show their best mettle in one of the finest and best appointed paper millsmulls in the world. -W.F.D. Ray, of Rumford Falls, Me., has come to the Keith mullmill to be an assistant to Treasurer and Manager Bush. He is1s an expert statistician.
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-Clarence Parsons of the Woronoco Paper Company at Russell where he has been boss finisher for the past 1414 years, five of them under Mr. Bush, has come to the Keith mill to take charge of the entire finishing department. Mr. Parsons is1s a first class paper maker and executive manager who learned the business in the celebrated ledger mill of L.L. Brown. He is1s a man of family and will take up his residence here as soon as he can find a suitable home.
October 28 A John John Keith Story The writer knew JohnJohn Keith, founder of the Keith Paper Company, very well. He knew him in all his moods, and possessed his confidence in matters below the ordinary intercourse of business life; knew a a little of his splendid inner self. A reference justjust made by some magnificent minds as to the peculiar male-up of the late Prof. NortonNorton—that―that specimen of the besttype type of idealized American manhood, such has not before been equaled, and may not be again for many generations—wheregenerations―where he is described as an aristocratic democrat or a democratic aristocrat, very vividly reminds us that JohnJohn Keith was mush such a man, in very many ways. He was honest to the utmost degree in everything, and to himself. He was cultured from association with the best of men, and from his close study of the best books. He brought his literature intomto his everyday life, and constantly made his favorite characters guests with his more tangible friends. Mr. Keith was a democrat in his thoughts and utterances, and somewhat in hid associations, and yet he was in every fibre and pulse of his being an aristocrat. This fact was at once stamped on his features, and in soul, his carriage and his speech, and yet he hated with all his might the snob, the pretender, the vast unthinkable horde of moderately prosperous mankind. An intense Yankee, to the manner born and bred, to him the old fashioned town meeting was a much higher body inim intellect and purpose than the House of Lords; and yet he had a marked pride in his Scotch ancestry, his lineage, his true aristocracy of blood. It was ththee pride of descent that gave the noted waterworks to the leading brands of paper in the mill bearing his name. "Westlock" and "Ravelstone," with the superlative brand of ledger bearing the double word, "Keith" crossed. Then in the days of folded papers, the stamp of the fool's cap did not appear in the corner of his paper, nor the image of the Capitol, as others had, but a Scotch thistle. It was this knowledge of the man that enabled the present writer to tell Mr. Keith's last story of life so as to attract very wide attention and comment, with its reproductions in very many trade papers. A hurried pen portrait thus done of the man to illustrate the following characteristic story was unavoidable. Although his millmull was officered by the best executive skill that he could so easily secure, Mr. Keith always reserved the right to hire and discharge men and women, delighting in their stories on application and dismissal. Studying human nature deeply as if for some momentous purpose. From a foreman to a woman in the rag room, all came to Mr. Keith with their tales of skill or utterances of woe, as those were times when the pennies were few and hard to get. Upon leaving, most of them gave their notice to him, and explained the reason for withdrawing. Maurice O'Keefe, a born and bred Vermont Yankee, with all the shrewdness of his country, with plenty of native wit, drifted down here to help slate the mill.mull. After the mull mill started, he was given a position inside, at a cutter. Most of the trimmingtrmmuing in those days was done
Keith Paper Co. 1872-1922 Page 57 of 107107 e.ge.g. . transcription 4.2018 on a guillotine, a knifewith with a constant,steady steady motion of about a cut a second. The paper was put in a form,and and clamped by hand, the form was the slid up to the knife, and the outside of the paper was trimmed off, the waste falling into a basket, mush as the murderer's head did when severed by the French guillotine. Mr. Keith, a mechanical genius, with his other vast accomplishments, invented a form of a swivel, that allowed all four sides of the paper to be trimmed in rapid succession. Mr. O'Keefe was given the inventionvention to use. It kept him hustling until he found he was losing weight at a fearful rate, telling upon his health woefully. The position of the first night policeman of the village was tendered to Mr. O'Keefe, and he decided to accept, going straightway to Mr. Keith to give his notice, which was accepted. Mr. Keith, true aristocrat that he was, always liked to call his assistants by their given names if they had such. It was 'Mun' O'Keefe then as it has always been."That "That is1s all ght,right, 'Mun,' saisaidd the employer, "but what in the devil are you gomggoing to do when you get through being policeman? Keep a saloon?" Mr. O'Keefe admitted that sometimes that was the sequence of graduation, but he would hope for better things. 'Mun,' Mr. Keith continued, "I have always noticed that the trade of policeman generally bred illness, which In time became so chronic that sixteen hours of service behind a saloon bar failed to eradicate it!" "Well, Mr. Keith," said 'Mun,'‘Mun,’ "I don't think this mill will ever be accused of breeding that dread disease of laziness so long as you are manager of it!" "Very likely," 'Mun,' as you know that I do not believe that a manufacturing plant should be turned into a snug haven or a 'soldiers' home." The participants in repartee separated with a laugh, but justjust as Mr. O'Keefe was going out the door, Mr. Keith shouted: "Say, 'Mun,' I hope you won't have forgotten where the Keith mill is when you get through being policeman! 'Mun' did not forget, and has been a valued foreman there many years, "after he got through being policeman."
November 44: -M.Q. Fong, a Chinese, later secretary of the Chinese Consulate at San Francisco, Cal., has come to Turners Falls to spend several months in learning the art of fine paper making at the Keith Paper Company's mill here. Mr. Fong is sent by the Chinese Government, and after leaving here will study in other of the foremost American paper mulls.mills.
November 1111 -Low water in the Connecticut river 1s is interfering with the running of the mills. The pulp department of the Montague mill cannot be run to anything like its full capacity, the Keith mill is depending on electric power to quite an extent and the Esleeck mullmill is able to run only in part. If good heavy rains do notprevail prevail over a wide extent of water shed before cold weather sets in, this town may suffer severely from the drouth all winter long.
November 25 -Another Chinese, Dan G.G. Lee, has come to Turners Falls to learn the art of fine paper making at the Keith mill.
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December 2 -Miss Rose Luippold has taken a position in the office of the Keith Paper Co.,Co., as assistant to Master Mechanic Harold Dunbar.
JanuaryJanuary 6, 19190909 -O.J.-OJ. Nevins of Chestnut StreetStreet has decided to move to Holyoke, where he has been employed for some time. He has rented the tenement in his housewhich which he has occupied to Mr. Parsons, boss finisher at the Keith Paper Co. -A number of Chinese government officials will visit the Keith Paper mill to-day, to confer with Messrs. Fong and Lee, who are familiarizing themselves with paper making under the direction of the Chinese government for the purpose of establishing a government paper mill in the flowery kingdom.
JanuaryJanuary 27 -William Grogan, while at work in the Keith mill, last week, slipped and sprained his ankle. -H. Clarence Parsons, boss finisher at the Keith mill,mull, has recently moved from the Hotel Vladish into his tenement formerly occupied by O.C. Nevins in Mr. Nevins' house on Chestnut Street.
New Superintendent of the Keith Mill Superintendent William E. Ramage,who who resigned his position with the Berkshire Hills Paper Company of Adams and has accepted the position of superintendent for the Keith Paper Company of Turners Falls, finished his work Saturday in Adams. Mr. Ramage has practically all his life been a paper manufacturer.
February 3 -Newton Clark is laid up with a sore thumb which was nipped by a buzz-saw at the Keith mill. -The John John Russell Cutlery Company closed its works last Friday night until this morning. -The Keith Paper Company has secured a United States Government contract for typewriter papers and bond papers at a handsome price for both. -Edward I. Cassidy has resigned his position as superintendent of the Keith Paper mill. William E. Ramage of Adams is his successor.
March 24 -Mathew Cassidy, formerly employed in the Keith mull,mill, has taken up the business of life insurance.
April 21 -JohnJohn Fitzgerald of Montague City has resigned his position as millwright at the Keith mill.
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May 5 -The Keith Paper Company has put in a new undercut paper cutter, one of the largest built, to takecare care of the increasing business of the company. This is one of the many improvements. Treasurer Bush is1s a great stickler for efficiency in men and machines, and has no patience in trying to do things in first-class shape with the tool and methods of a time when all things went on a dog trot.
May 1919 -The annual dinner of the stockholders of the Keith Paper Company will be held at the Hotel Vladish, to-morrow, at 1.30.1.30. The familiar figures of the Messrs. Pagenstecher will be missed this trip, as the elder Mr. Pagenstecher, the president of the company, is1s in Germany, visiting his home, while the hustling son, Rudolph, is in JapanJapan on an important business trip.
May 26 Annual Meeting of the Keith Paper Company Notwithstanding the unavoidable absence of the president, Mr. Pagenstecher, who is1s touring Europe, with a son, in a motor car, and the elder son, Rudolph, now in Japan,Japan, on a business trip around the world, there was a full meeting of the stockholders of the Keith. Thursday they inspected the mill more thoroughly than ever before, and were emphatic in their appreciation of the various radical physical changes and improvements in the plant this year, resulting in a vastly increased and better product, with greater certainty of lasting success. The older stockholders do not grow old in years and arejust just as alive to the necessity of life and action, improvement and modern methods as the younger set coming along. No better ilustrationillustration can be had than in the persons of Mr. Albrecht Pagenstecher and Mr. Charles T, Crocker. The fifty years of active part in manufacturing of various products has not lessened their activities one 1ota.iota. The sons of the older stockholders are a bright, shrewd, energetic lot of men, with a keen eye for a good product, a well managed mill—andmill―and incidentally some dividends. Jonathan Jonathan Bulkley, the vise president, the eldest son of the late Edwin Bulkley, 1sis very like his father in looks and in shrewd business ways, but does not take life so very seriously as the old gentleman did. Alvah Crocker is1s a Crocker through and through, which means paper-making, business and loyalty to associates clear through. He is1s the third generation of the family to take interest in Turners Falls. The younger Pagenstecher son has come into the local business enterprises of late. He is a hustling young business man and takes up matters of big business deals in the absence of the older members with the ease of a veteran. Director E.A. JonesJones of Pittsfield is the son of the late Deacon E.D. JonesJones of Pittsfield, the manufacturer of paper mill equipment. E.D JonesJones made frequent visits to this village when the Keith mill was being built and being re-built after the fire. Mr. Jones,Jones, then in his prime of life, was a mechanical genius, a far seeingseemg business man, and a manufacturer of paper mill machinery. The juniorjunior Mr. JonesJones is much like his father in all business ways, and bids to be even more successful. His father used to come in from Greenfield on the old stage coach, with a dozen kegs of beer for the natives on the trunk rack and on the roof, and make no complaint of the accommodation, or the loss of time on the weary trip.
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The young Mr. Jones Jones spends an hour at a business meeting, an hour at a banquet among associates, full of fun and mental alertness, and is off in an auto with all possible dispatch to take up the driving round of business. After the business meeting, a very fine dinner was served at the Hotel Vladish, to a large party of stockholders and invited guests. Treasurer and manager JamesJames F. Bush got out of the beaten path somewhat this year, and courteously invited to dinner many of his fnends friends not stockholders in company, among them the managers of the various corporations 1nin the village. The dinner was a very pleasant social occasion, full of life and animation. The following officers were elected: President - Albrecht Pagenstecher Vice President - JonathanJonathan Bulkley ‘Treasurer Treasurer - JamesJames F. Bush Clerk - A.R. Smith DirectorsDirectors- - A. Pagenstecher, N.Y., Jonathan Bulkley, N.Y., E. Warner, N.Y. Charles T. Crocker, Fitchburg, B.N. Farren, Philadelphia, E.A. Jones,Jones, Pittsfield, Mass., Alvah Crocker, Fitchburg, R. Pagenstecher, N.Y., James F. Bush, Greenfield
JuneJune 2 -Leon Lemaire, who has been night watchman at the Keith Paper mill, has gone to Easthampton with his family. -Superintendent Ramage of the Keith mill has taken a lease of Mrs. Fales' house on High Street and has moved his family from Adams.
JuneJune 9 -W.H. Ray, statistician of the Keith mill office, has recently moved with his family into one of the new houses built by Philip JacobusJacobus on Marshall Street.
JuneJune 23 -W.E. Ramage,who who came from Adams in February to succeed Edward I. Cassidy as Superintendent of the Keith Paper mull,mill, resigned yesterday morning. Mr. Ramage plans to take a vacation this summer. He came from the Berkshire Hills Paper Company of Adams to the Keith mill.mull. Clarence Parsons, who has been superintendent of all the finishing departments, now becomes the superintendent to succeed Mr. Ramage.
JuneJune 30 -Edward I. Cassidy, until last February, superintendentsupermtendent of the Keith Paper Company. Has accepted a position as superintendent of the Valley Paper Company's mill at Holyoke, and will assume his new duties to-morrow. Mr. Cassidy received his training in paper making at the Keith mull, mill, where he was employed from youth, and had worked his way up to the superintendency, which position he has held many years, succeeding the late Henry C. Putnam. Mr. Cassidy's hosts of friends wish him all the success 1nin his new field.
August 25 Tennis Match A tennis match was played Wednesday between the Keith Paper Company of Turners Falls and the New EnglandBox Box Company at B.W. Porter's, Highland Avenue court,
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Greenfield. The New England Box Company was represented by B.W. Porter and W.G. Humes, who defeated H.F. Dunbar and Carl Miller of Turners Falls, 6-4, 6-0 at doubles. Humes then defeated Miller, 6-1, 6-0 and Porter with W.S. Allen as a substitute during the latter set defeated Dunbar, 6-4, 6-6-2.2. September 22 -Henry W. Lowe, clerk at the Crocker Institution for Savings resigns Oct.Oct. 1st,Ist, to learn the automobile business, having accepted a position with the E.R. Clark Automobile Co. of Springfield. He is succeeded by T.H. Reynolds, formerly in the office of the Keith Paper Co.
JanuaryJanuary 5, 19191010 Bridge over Tracks to Keith Mill Treasurer JamesJames F. Bush of the Keith Paper mill has had large placards posted in and around the mullmill warning all employees not to use the railroad tracks to and going from the mull,mill, as the danger is great, as shown by two accidents occurring in other places than in front of the mill. Upon hearing of an accident to a woman, working in another mill, by being hit by a train on the track near the bridge he at once ordered plans to be made for a bridge from Canal Street over the tracks of both railroads, into the second story of the mill, thus ensuring safety to even the most careless pedestrian. Such is the perverseness of human nature that Mr. Bush'skindly kindly intentions in warning people against impending danger, was interpreted, by a very few, of course, to mean a curtailment of personal liberty to walk where they pleased or to select their own mode of death.
February 9 -M. Bridge, who has been Superintendent of the Esleeck Mfg. Co. for the past two years. Has resigned his position and left town. William E. Ramage, formerly Superintendent of the Keith paper mill,mull, is his successor.
February 1616 -Superintendent Parsons of the Keith Paper Company attended the meeting at New York last week of the Paper Manufacturers'Manufacturers’ Association. Porter Farwell and A.R. Smith also attended.
March 1616 -William Samson, an employee of the Keith Paper Company, is laid up with an injury caused by a wrench while at work in the mill.
March 30 -Albert R. Smith, who has been connected with the Keith Paper Company over 23 years, has tendered his resignation, to take effect the 1stIst of April. He was for years bookkeeper and paymaster and worked his way up to a responsible position. Since October, 1908,1908, he has been clerk and manager of sales, much of the time being on the road.
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May 25 -Albert R. Smith, who for over 20 years was nghtright hand man for Treasurer C.M. Burnett of the Keith Paper Co., has accepted an offer tendered him by Manager Nevins of the Springfield Printing and Binding Co., of a very favorable position in that company, and will begin his duties, JuneJune 1st.Ist.
JuneJune 11 Annual Dinner of the Stockholders of the Keith Paper Company The annual dinner of the stockholders of the Keith Paper Company was served last Thursday afternoon at the American House, and was a function of rare merit, as well as to the table service, the food for the inner man and the food for thought. Nothing was left undone which would enhance the pleasure of the occasion. Last year Treasurer J.F. J.F. bush broke away from a time honored custom, and invited his heads of departments, together with a number of local and Greenfield business men, to joinjoin the stockholders in their annual dinner, and the gracious act was appreciated alike by the stockholders and the invited guests. There was the usual list of stockholders supplemented by the president, Albrecht Pagenstecher of New York, who has been absent in Europe for the Past three years. His return to the head of the table was a decided pleasure to all the stockholders present, and was greeted by them with genuine enthusiasm. One of the younger men in the bantering way, asked for a reason for his absence, thus robbing them of the pleasure of association. Mr. Pagenstecher could for a second find no better excuse than that he had a feeling than that the Kaiser need be under his eyes, but then Theodore I, "the King of Kings," went over to hob-nob with the other great potentates, he felt all his responsibility had ceased, and he was thus enabled to meet again his old business comrades. There were toasts proposed by President Pagenstecher to Treasurer Bush for his able stewardship, and to his corps of able lieutenants, the men who make the paper, and the men who sell it. A toast was given to Ex-Senator JosephJoseph F. Bartlett to the revered president of the company, Mr. Pagenstecher, "a strong personality in the paper industry, and the father of the wood pulp industry in America." Charles P. Crocker, the veteran manufacturer in many lineslines, , proposed the health of Keith's aggressive and effective treasurer, Mr. Bush, extolling his progressive methods and telling ways of modern business. Mr. Crocker also was kind enough to propose a a toast to the editor of the Reportereyorter, , whom he has known these many years. To print a village newspaper and be able to stand up in your boots and say your soul is your own, be honest to yourself and to the world that is1s broader than self. Mr. Crocker thought to be qualities that should receive recognition of all men. Very likely Mr. Crocker did not know that many of the qualities he was good enough to admire were nurtured under the inspiration of his most excellent father, the late Colonel Crocker. This generation does not know much of the wonderful man to whom Turners Falls and its successful industries their existence. Colonel Alvah Crocker was a typical New England Yankee, a born manufacturer, a mixer, a promoter, a natural politician, the soul of honor and honesty, a loyal friend to all
Keith Paper Co. 1872-1922 Page 6368 of 107107 e.ge.g. . transcription 4.2018 business associates. He was the father of the HoosacHoosac” 12 tunnel, an aggressive force in the building of the greatest Massachusetts railroads, the V&M" V&M 13 being built by his influence and money, the engineerengineer"14 being his talented brother "Uncle William" Crocker, so many years the Turners Falls Company's treasurer here. Col. Alvah Crocker had mill interests in Lawrence, in Lowell, in Fitchburg and other places. His political influence in pushing to completion the great tunnel, and the railroads leading to it, brought him to Turners Falls, to view the barren rocky site, with its vast waters gomg going waste. Instantly he saw in his mind's eye, a great manufacturing center if the power were only developed. A company was at once organized, and a host of friends with capital were invited to develop the proposition. The John John Russell Cutlery Company were induced to come from Greenfield and quadruple the size of their plant, and that was the first mill on the stream. Capital was subscribed for by the enterprise of Mr. Crocker and his friends, and then came the waspish little Dr. Ayer” Ayer15 of pill fame, bluff old Ben Butler,Butler,”16 the Amese, the shovel makers, modest Tom Talbot,Talbot,”17 the Lowell manufacturer, (who(who went down with flying colors as the Republican-Prohibition exponent for Governor against the older Gaston,) and others, among them, that wonderfully successful man, tunnel builder and railroad constructor, B.M. Farren, who instantly became a leading spirit in all our enterprises, always taking a kindly personal interest in everything, leaving the only extensive memorial the town has, the splendid hospital at Montague City. Colonel Crocker knew the manufacture of paper from rag to the finished product as few men knew it, as it was developed as an art about a hundred years ago and onward to his death in 1875.1875. He knew the business as conducted by his own household, and knew it as conducted by others. He knew men as well as he knew machines, and understood their aspirations. He had the firmest conviction of success in anything he ever undertook, and inspired confidence in others. Being a paper manufacturer, of course the Colonel's thoughts first turned to paper. His acquaintance in the Berkshires soon led him to Albrecht Pagenstecher, a young German of magnificent physical proportions, well educated, and highly cultured, a striking figure among men, who had recently come to America with some money, unbounded hopefulness, and a patent, which has proved one of the greatest in the world's development. Of this later. The new company was formed and a pulp mill put up which is now part of the Montague millmull plant. This mill was managed by George Hance as superintendent, and F.I.FI. Webster as clerk. These gentlemen were friends of Mr. Pagenstecher when he set up his patented process in the Berkshires. Edwin Bulkley and his partner, Mr. Dunton, well known paper mill owners and paper dealers in New York, were induced to come to the new concern here.
12* Sometimes spelled as Hoosic. 13* Vermont & Massachusetts 14“ A design, concept. Mechanical & industrial engineer. 15* JamesJames Cook Ayer (5(5 May 18181818 Groton, Connecticut-3 JulyJuly 18781878 Winchendon, Massachusetts) was the wealthiest patent medicine businessman of his day. Dr. Ayer was also brother of wealthy industrialist Frederick Ayer. 16* Benjamin Franklin Butler (November 5, 18181818-January–January 11,11, 1893)1893)was was an American lawyerlawyer, , politician and soldier. Born in New Hampshire and raised in Massachusetts, Butler served in the Massachusetts legislature and as an officer in tthehe state militia. During the American Civil War, Butler served as a major general in the Union Army, in which he helped create thelegal legal idea of effecteffectivelyively freeing fugitive slaves as contraband in serviceservice of military objectives. He was the 33rd83rd Governor of MassachusettsMassachusetts. . 17" Thomas Talbot (September 7, 18181818-October–October 6, 1886) was the 31st Governor of Massachusetts, and a major textile manufacturer in Billerica, Massachusetts.
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No sooner had the colonel got the pulp mill going than he cast around for some one to take hold of a paper mill, and his mind soon turned to a a relative, George E. Marshall, one of the greatest paper makers of his day, who had experimented with all know fibres, from flax to straw, from corn husks to grass, and had tested their usefulness thoroughly a quarter century before the government amateurs began to proclaim the "discovery" of these fibres for use in paper making. The Montague millmull went up, and a high grade of book and newspaper was produced, and the great problem of making newspaper cheap and absorbent was worked out so that the daily paper to-day gomggoing through the press, printing both sides at once, at the rate of 50,000 an hour 1sis possible. Without the patent brought here by Mr. Pagenstecher and the development of its possibilities by George E. Marshall, the million circulation a day of a newspaper would be utterly impossible. Then came the Keith mill, Colonel Crocker insisting that the village must have one of the finest paper mill in the country too. His eye soon rested on JohnJohn Keith, who had made good in two mills, both as a manufacturer and a salesman, and with the advice of Edwin Bulkley and Governor Alexander Rice, Mr. Keith was selected for the the next winner on the stream. The very first thing Mr. Keith did was to secure a spring of the purest water for washing paper, and it cost $50,000 to pipe the precious fluid two miles to the mill. The mill was a winner under Mr. Keith's marvelous management, and what followed is common knowledge. Before any mill but the cutlery was completed, Col. Crocker wanted to see a village newspaper established. He always spoke a kind word for it, he put his hands in his pocket for it., and compelled every stockholder associated with him to become a subscriber. For many years almost every man having a dollar's worth of interest of Turners Falls was not only a subscriber but had friendly interest in the personality of the editor, as many a kindly note indicated. They all knew that no name would ever go on the list by solicitation, and when a subscriberhad had reasons for discontinuation, there was no regret. Well does the wnter writer remember one graceful act of the Colonel toward this newspaper. Here is a man of tremendous business interests, in mills, inn railroads, in real estate, in finance, who went to the trouble to pick a large basket of pears in his own garden in Fitchburg, put them on a seat beside him in the train,tram, transferred the load at Greenfield, and lugged the heavy burden in his hand up the cow path from the station to the ReporterWeporter office on Fourth Street, Justjust as a matter of kindly interest in a country editor whose star virtue was his ability to say at all times what he thought to be true! Only a basket of pears, but the memory of that gallant tug will last long after the many lemons that have been handed us sinceby by men who should be carting pears, have been forgotten. A few remarks the other day at the dinnerdiner relative to the non-appreciation of the village newspaper by the modern capitalists, will excuse us from remarking that under the old management of the Montague mill the ReporterWeporter went everywhere in the mill, and the corporation subscribed for a half dozen copies yearly. The very first act of the International Paper Company, when it acquired the mill, was to discontinue every copy of the local paper sent to the mill, and withdraw all its printing patronage, although this office is equipped to furnish printing to most of the large city banks in New England. This paper never resents the withdrawal of patronage, however, and in spite of flagrant neglect, the editor has taken pains to
Keith Paper Co. 1872-1922 Page 65 of 107107 e.ge.g. . transcription 4.2018 speak up for the right when the great corporation had costly strikes on its hands, or had been assailed by mendacious politicians. Recalling some names will explain why Mr. Pagenstecher sits to-day in a board of directors made up largely of the third generation from the men he first became associated with. He was a young man of brains and business capacity, owner of a valuable patent, and he seemed of an even age with hustling, bustling older men, such as Colonel Crocker, the refined Governor Rice, the suave and portly Willard rice, shrewd Edwin Bulkley and Deacon Jones,Jones, and such. To-day he greets with a wholesome greeting one of the second generation, Charles T. Crocker, 77, six years his senior, a son of the splendid Deacon Jones,Jones, two of his own sons, and two sons of Charles T. Crocker, and the sterling and aggressive son of Edwin Bulkley. These men who hold stock in these corporations are as alert as the founders, or more so, and all do business at the modern pace, and have no patience with laggards. This may explain their evident liking for the tremendous push and perseverance of their treasurer, Mr. Bush. Whoever expected to see less energy displayed by succeeding generations will be greatly mistaken. There 1sis no doubt Charles T. Crocker has larger interests to-day than his father had, but he attends to all with an energy and decision that 1sis simply marvelous. Strong and vigorous physically andmentally, mentally, no trifle escapes his notice, and is never at a loss time to do a generous and kindly act. In one of his smaller mills, the plant could never be able to make a asatisfactory satisfactory dividend, no matterwhat what methods were tried,yet yet as trustee of a saving institution he took a special pride in the fact that the workmen in that mill could get better dividends from their savings than the capital of the millmull could. Mr. Pagenstecher dropped a casual remark in conversation about the development of the wood pulp industry that throws a bright light on the efforts of great men o great endeavor in manufacturing. He said it was true that there was a certaincertam pleasure in watching the development of ant great industry from the point of view of the one who controlled its destinies, but that pleasure he said was nothing to be compared with that derived from the association of like spirits, each contributing a share to success. The studious German mind discovered the original wood paper makers in the wasps who gathered the wood fibers loosened by the attrition of rain drops on old fence rails, and with a rosin sizing made paper houses of sufficient tenacity to withstand all weathers. A patent patent covering a grindstone with pockets in which blocks of wood were placed to be pressed against the stonewas was all that was needed with years of experimenting, to make in quantities as good a fibre as the wasps find by the attrition of rainfall, and many more years of experimenting to so mix and manipulate those fibres in turning them into sheets of paper that the oil inks of the printing press would instantly be absorbed, so that the sheets would not be off-set in rapid handling. There were twoKeiths. Keiths. JohnJohn intensely practical, as well as aesthetic, and Henry, grown to be largely ornamental, with the graces finely cultivated. The Keiths were aristocrats in the blood. They were democrats in politics, and democratic in their thoughts, and yet were dignified and exclusive to a degree. They could be kindly and interested in all people, and yet draw the line inm social intercourse at culture and good breeding, John John Keith, who began business in Worcester as a stationer and pen manufacturer, was a born paper man. He was a paper manufacturer by instinct, and the first person in the world to suggest the possibility of
Keith Paper Co. 1872-1922 Page 66 of 107107 e.ge.g. . transcription 4.2018 making Bristols18 on a Fourdrinier machine. Previous to that time cardboard and pasteboard in truth, sheets of paper pasted togethertogether—two―two ply, three ply, four ply, meaning so many sheets pasted together by hand. This was expensive. JohnJohn Keith, with his superintendent,supermtendent, took a machine one Sunday, when nobody was by to laugh at them, and demonstrated against the judgmentjudgment of all seasoned paper makers, that 160160 pound Bristol could be made on a paper machine. When the Keith mill was started, one machine was run a large part of the time on Bristols, something which the papermakers of the world had said not long before was an impossibility. And by the way, one of the most astute pa[perpalper manufacturers to-day, Charles T. Crocker, Jr., Jr., a man of the accumulates ability of three generations, runs a family mill largely on mill Bristols, whose quality cannot be touched by any other mull,mill, and his first knowledge came through his fingers in our mills here of original methods. John John Keith, the founder and treasurer, brought with him his brother Henry, Major Henry Keith was a born newspaper man, and before the war edited the only democratic newspaper in Massachusetts, beside the Boston PostPost, , the WorcesterWorcesterDemocrat. Democrat. At the outbreak of the war, Henry Keith went to the front, and was mustered out at the close with the rank of Major. He was in the Customs Department in New York and then drifted back to newspaper life, first as night editor of the St.St LouisLows Democrat and then on the St. LouisLous RepublicRepublic. . His health failing, he came here when the mill started, and superintended the laying of the $50,000 aqueduct to the spring. When the mill began to make paper in the fall of 1872,1872, Major Keith went into the office as correspondent. In those days the typewriter was unknown, and if it were it wouldn't be tolerated for a minute. To-dayTo-day you see in the same Keith mill office a large force of men and women, many typewriters, statisticians, cost men, sales agents, sample clerks, all working for dear life, with business piled up before them sky-high, all nerved up to do their best. In the old time there was hardly work enough to keep one bookkeeper busy. There wasn't even the need for even an office boy, and the Major in the most elegant manner wrote with his own hand, using a stub pen, all the correspondence the business demanded, with an occasional letter from the pen of treasurer Keith, who was an artist with the pen and a magician with words, although the major was no slouch when it came to the literature of the business. And yet, with all that quietness and simplicity in the office, the mullmill was a winner. The Major became highly interestedmterested in the papermaker's art, and the present writer must now for the first time confess his innocent part in the great tragedy in the cause of the paper making science. Having become quite interested in the evolution of wood paper making from the wasps to Mr. Pagenstecher's patent, the writer had secured a very large hornet's nest, and presented the Major with it, with an accompanying tag saying it was the work of the original paper makers, as practiced for probably a million years. The Major was delighted, and he hung up the souvenir in his chamber in the Keith Block. When the mill was started all the help was brought from other paper mill towns, and there being no other place to live, the company was compelled to operate a boarding house for the girls. They occupied rooms ranging along a corridor extending the full length of the block.
18“ Bristol board (also referred to as Bristol paper or Super white paper) is an uncoated, machine-machine-finishedfinished paperboard. It is named after the city of Bristol in the southwest of England. Common sizes include 22.522.5"″ ×x 28.528.5"″ (572(572 ×x 724724mm) mm) and its bulkthickness thickness is .006.006 inches (0.15(0.15 mm) or higher and A4,A4 A3, , A3 , A2 and Al"A1[2][3] Bristol board may be rated by the number of plies it contains or, in Europe, by its grammage of 220 to 250. It is normally white, but is also made in different colours.
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The superintendent had a tenement at one enddownstairs, downstairs, and the boss finisher a home at the other. It was rather cold weather when the Major hung up his hornet's nest, and as he viewed it daily, and admired the work of the original paper makers, it looked as innocent as a smoked ham. The Major was a handsome fellow, of pronounced military bearing, a good dresser, and neat in his habits beyond all comparison. He always got up early to shave and dress, and on the fatal morning he found his room too cold to shave in his customary negligee costume. He built a large paper fire in the sheet iron stove, and proceeded to shave himself. The unexpected warm air rose to the confines of the home of the original paper makers and they came out in battalions to dispute the claims of the value of rags and Fourdriniers, and took a fiendish interest in all of the Major's anatomy not protected with the materialmaternal that bond papers are made of. The Major, a personification of dignity, coolness and courage, who more than once sought the bubble reputation even at the canon's mouth, opened his chamber door, and with razor in hand, darted for the end of the hall in the hopes of escaping his tormentors, all the while yelling like a Comanche Indian. But the worst was to come. The first millmull girl's door opened to see what this racket was, and whether it was the Major's agonized face, the razor brandished high in the air, or the Major's swiftly moving bare feet that satisfied her curiosity no one could ever learn, but the door was closed with a shriekshriek, , and everyother other door along that long corridor opened and closed with a shriek, until the whole scene seemed to be pervaded with the actions of a madman, accompanied by shrieks of varying tones much resembling the tuning up of a calliope at a circus. DoDownwn stairs the Major could not go with any sort of grace, and to stand still with those vicious devils at his heels was out of question, and he continued to run, razor high in air, damming the original paper makers to the south east corner of Tophet,” Tophet, 19 and his warmest friend who had been so generous with his souvenir to the utmost depths of a Simon Pure lake of molten brimstone. Exhausted, the Major was rescued by a genius who could handle Yellow Jackets Jackets by holding his breath, and the student of wood pulp making by the original artisans prayed to heaven that wood pulp would never enter into the manufacture of fine paper, and from that day his prayer has been answered except in such fine mills as choose to take the chances of being stung. Mr. Bush, the Treasurer of the Keith Paper Company, may be illustrated by story. The present writer met a very bright IrishmanInshman down the country not long ago. "I see you have Mr. Bush up in your country," said the man. "And a mighty good man he is."1s." "What do you know about him?" was asked. "The best way in the world to know a manman—I― I worked for him once sir. And he'll listen to reason in any man," said Pat, "but you can't fool him." Then the man wanted to tell a story to clinch his point.pomt. The man was a "handy" around Mr. Bush's mill, and knew papermakers everywhere. He had a weakness, he confessed, for conviviality on occasion, and Mr. Bush knew it. One day the man was asked if he knew where he could find a good loft man. He thought he could find
19* InTn the Hebrew Bible Tophet or Topheth was a location in JerusalemJerusalem in the Gehinnom where worshipers influenced by the ancient Canaanite religion engaged in ththee human sacrifice of children to the gods Moloch and Baal by burning them alive. Tophet became a theological or poetic synonym for hell within Christendom.
Keith Paper Co. 1872-1922 Page 68 of 107107 e.ge.g. . transcription 4.2018 a man in Holyoke, and a Saturday he was posted off to stay over Sunday and find his man when the mullsmills were closed. The "handy" thought he should have at least ten dollars for expenses. He knew Mr. Bush was not stingy, but he knew his own limitations when he got out with the boys, andMr. Mr. Bush was doing all he could to keep temptation out of his way by cutting down the allowance. "Pat," said Mr. Bush, "you do not need very much money; you can go to Holyoke and spend the time visiting among your friends you know." "Say now Mr. Bush, phat in the divveldiwel kind of friends do you suppose a man wud have if he had no money." Pat won his point. "Isn't thathat t listening to reason, sir," said Pat with a wink. And Pat could say again to outsiders who may criticize Mr. Bush as a free spender in business, "How in the divvel can you expect a man to have business without money!"
Annual Meeting of the Keith Paper Company These officers were elected: President - A. Pagenstecher Vice President - JonathanJonathan Bulkley Clerk and Treasurer - JamesJames F. Bush DirectorsDirectors- - A. Pagenstecher, JonathanJonathan Bulkley, Charles T. Crocker, F. Warner, F.A. Jones,Jones, Alvah Crocker, R. Pagenstecher, JamesJames F. Bush
JuneJune 1515 Dinner by the Keith Mill Management to the Heads of Departments and Foremen Treasurer and Manager, James James F. Bush of the Keith Paper Company tendered a complimentary dinner to the heads of departments and foremen of that vast paper making plant at the American House on Wednesday evening. Mr. Bush presided, and after seating his guests, spoke a few words of welcome and good cheer to his trusty band of lieutenants in manufacturing and management, intimating that he knew no better way to have his men get acquainted with each other and with him than in meeting in friendshipfnendship around the social board, and he trusted that such meetings would be beneficial in many ways, and do much to obliterate all sorts of unnecessary and unfortunate musunderstandings.misunderstandings. Mr. Bush introduced as the only outside guest the editor of the ReporterWeporter, , who by long association with men who make paper, and his intimate knowledge of paper and paper- making, entitled him to least to rank as a paper maker, and proposed him as a permanent honorary member of the Keith Guild of paper makers, an honor to be coveted by all appreciating skill at its highest development. After dreading the initiatory ordeal of bareback goat-riding and making an easy chair of a red-hot grid iron, the candidate was finally accepted in good standing under a promise to Night Foreman JohnJohnO'Connell O'Connell to add to his purchases of very many tons of Keith paper yearly to the exclusion of all inferior brands. It would be hard to find a finer looking lot of men anywhere than the thirty odd who sat at the table, intelligent,mtelligent, well mannered, kindly, and appreciative of all good things. There was a fine orchestra ini attendance, and among the guests where were many fine voices which went up in song between the courses, making the whole affair extremely interesting. There were in the party several impromptu song writers and arrangers, and when the first verse of "Has Anybody Here Seen Kelly?" was finished the song broke out in unlooked for words and phrase, to the great amusement of the party.
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Treasurer Bush gave one of the best little addresses to his guests that we have heard for many a day, and his sentiments were applauded to the echo. He said the order of the day was organization in everything, and it was well when it tended for good, as it almost always did. He believed in social organization of the heads of departments of the Keith Paper mullmillinto into a guild to promote a better understanding between the management and the different heads of departments and all with each other. He had known and they had known of petty jealousies jealousies fostered where there should have been unity, where loss had occurred on account of the non-affiliation of different heads and really enjoyed by those who were waiting for something to happen to "the other fellow." Mr. Bush deplored misunderstandings and shop jealousiesjealousies very much, and said that in nearly all cases they were the result of not knowing each other better. The best lubricant in any business 1s is a kindly feeling between man and man, with a sincere desire to avoid misunderstandings, and learn the spirit of desire of those having matters in hand. He said the success of no concern can be credited to the head of it. Every man working for a concern has it in his power to contribute his share, and he was always free to give full credit to every man in whatever station for faithful work. Night Foreman JohnJohn O'Connell in a splendid little speech assured Mr. Bush that since the men had come to know him as a man they had come to like him very much. Mr. O'Connell said the when Mr. Bush had anything to say to his men he said it personally and quick, andhad had matters straightened out before any one had a chance to mull over it. He never beats around the bush, nor did he allow any one else to beat around the bush. Mr. O'Connell said he spoke the mind of all the men in saying that all were in perfect sympathy with their leader, and felt satisfied in the physical fact that they couldnever never hope to work under a bigger or better man. Mr. O'Connell was cheered to the echo, and all drank a toast to Mr. Bush proposed by Superintendent Parsons, after which three cheers and a atiger” tiger 20 were given the host. Maurice O'Keefe, foreman of the rag rooms, said the ladies of the mill were entitled to much credit for their skill and loyalty to the management, and he proposed a a standing toast to all the lady employees who did much to make success sure when only the best product is desirable. The toast was followed by three rousing cheers and a half dozen tigers. Mr. Bush offered a toast to President Pagenstecher, America's greatest paper man, which was followed by cheers. Following is the list of Mr. Bush's guests: Heads of Departments and Foremen H.C. Parsons, Superintendent A.H.Porter, Head of Finishing Department Louis Hahn, Foreman, Plater and Super Calander S.W. Phelps, Foreman, Sheet Calander Lyman Howe, Foreman, Box Shop F.E. Dolan, Foreman, ShippingShippng Room Timothy Rochford, Foreman, Loft M.S. O'Leary - Foreman, Pasting Room M.M. Shea, Foreman, Cutters J.T. J.T. Short Foreman, Ruling M.J.MJ. Kelley, Foreman, Sorting John John Fitzgerald, Foreman, Repairs John John Foley, Foreman, Beater Room D.J.DJ. Kelliher, Colorman M. O'Keefe, Foreman, Rag room
2020 A collective. "roar!" from those in . attendance.
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John John Richardson, Asst. Foreman, Rag Room, George Keegan, Foreman, Machine Room John John O'Connell, Night Foreman Cornelius Shea, Foreman, Size Room Anton Meyers,Drainer Drainer Foreman Thomas Collins, Foreman, Yard W.S. Nelson, Chief Electrician Thomas Frawley, Advertising Department H.F. Dunbar, Head, Maintenance and Construction K.F. Miller,Miler, Order Department W.B. Marston, Cashier Franz Hoeling, Chemist and Microscopist C.T. Bagnall, Agent Publicity(without pay)
August 24 -William O'Keefe of L Street, an employee of the Keith mill, had the misfortune to get his left arm caught in a plating machine while at his work, Saturday morning. The arm was very badly crushed and it was some little timettme before it could be extricated from the machine. Mr. O'Keefe was taken to the Farren Hospital and it is1s hoped to avoid amputation of the injured member.
August 31 -JacobJacob Stotz was painfully injuredmyured recently while at his work in the Keith mill. His hand was drawn between the rolls on a machine, crushing the fingers badly but he is1s now able to work again. -At a regular meeting of the directors of the Keith Paper Company last week, the intervening business period was found satisfactory, and the usual quarterly dividend was declared.
September 28 -Miss Kathryn McClintock has taken a position as stenographer in the office of the Keith Paper Company
October 1919 -The Keith Paper Company has been awarded the contract to furnish the stateof of Massachusetts all its ledger papers for a yearyear—the―the grade being "Ravelstone Linen Ledger," a most excellent sheet of ledger paper. Never has the quality of the Keith papers been so high as it is1s to-day, and the product has never been equaled in extent. Never in the history of the millmull has its goods been brought to the favorable attention to such a wide range of buyers as it is to- day. Its sample books in great variety and beauty are being seen by consumers over the entire continent. The management is after business every minute of the day.
JanuaryJanuary 1111, , 11911911 -Irwin Hosmer, who recently completed his civil engineering work for the city of Holyoke, is1s now doing similar work for the Keith Paper Company.
March 8 -Miss Ramage of Central Street has taken a position in the office of the Keith mill.mull.
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-Henry Mayrand of Fifth Street, one of the backtenders in the Keith Paper Co.,Co., received severe injuries on the body and arms while at work Monday night, caused by the escaping steam from a valve which he tried to shut off.
May 24 Annual Meeting of the Keith Paper Company Owing to the death of Mr. Charles T. Crocker, the annualdinner dinner of the Keith Paper Company was omitted this year and therefore they did not have the pleasure of having with them any of theirlocal local friends, outside the stockholders. The company has enjoyed a most prosperous year. The annual meeting of the stockholders was held at the company'scompany’s office at ten-thirty, the treasurer's report was read and placed on file; the acts of the directors for the past year were passed upon and approved; appropriate resolutions were passed in regard to the death of Mr. Charles T. Crocker, who for so many years was prominently identified with the company. James James F. Bush was elected clerk and treasurer; A. Pagenstecher, JonathanJonathan Bulkley, E. Warner, Alvah Crocker, E.A. Jones Jones and James James F. Bush were elected directors. Mr. A. A . Pagenstecher was elected president and JonathanJonathan Bulkley vice-president; the usual dividends were declared.
JulyJuly 1212 -When the days were so hot last week that mortals could hardly breathe, to say nothing of working Treasurer Bush of the Keith company sent all the women employees of the mill to Equi's ice cream parlors where they were treated to generous servings of ice cream. The women greatly appreciated such thoughtfulness, with the mercury up to the 100100 mark.
JulyJuly 26 -Two-T'wo machines of the Keith Paper Company were shut down Saturday night for a week for necessary repairs.
August 2 A New Pad Shop John John H. O'Connell and P.J.PJ. McCarthy have started a new industry in the town to be known as the Turners Falls Pad Company. Machinery has been installed in the rear store of the Hibernian Block and work will be begun there at once. They will manufacture a full line of pads, tablets and papeteries, for the wholesale trade, and anticipate a big business. Mr. Mr. O'Connell has had over 1717 years experience in the art of paper making and 1sis at present night foreman of the Keith Paper Company. He will continue in his present position, and the new shop will be run for the present in spare moments and help will be added as needed. -Captain JosephJoseph F. Bartlett has a gang of painters at work painting and decorating the Keith mill.mull. No paper mill in the country is kept so well cared for and scrupulously neat and clean. From the first the management has contended that a perfect appearingappearmg millmull was necessary to a profit product. -Part of the Keith Paper Company is shut down this week for repairs and to give the help a vacation.
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September 20 -Sanford Phelps, foreman of the calender room of the Keith mill, has resigned his position to take a similar one for the Millers Falls Paper Company. He is1s Succeeded by JohnJohn Crane of Holyoke.
October 1818 -JamesJames Mullins of Park Street, while at his work at the Keith mill Sunday, broke his arm by falling to the floor on account of the ladder on which he was standing, slipping.[sic]slipping. [sic] November 11 -JohnJohn Shea of Holyoke, who has been employed at the Keith mullmill for some time, has resigned his position. He will be succeeded by William Connelly of Riverside.
December 20 Albert R. Smith Chosen to be the New Treasurer and Manager of the Keith Paper Company The directors of the Keith Paper Company met in Springfield this afternoon and appointed Albert R. Smith to the position of Treasurer and Manager of the Keith Paper Company to succeed JamesJames F. Bush, resigned, who has held the position for some three years. Mr. Smith is well and favorably known in this village, where he has spent the greater part of his live. He was in the Keith millmull office for many years as book-keeper and assistant treasurer, and at times has had control of the mill for months together, during the absence of Mr. Burnett in Europe, and his success during such periods of responsibility always recervedreceived favorablefavorable comment from the stockholders at annual meetings. A good thing for the mill and the community, is the fact that Mr. Smith will againagai make his home in Turners Falls, and he will live in Philip Jacobus'sJacobus's fine Prospect Street residence, which will be vacated in order to give Mr. Smith a comfortable and convenient home. -Louis Moranville, the 1919 year-old son of Louis Moranville of Fourth Street, met with a painful accident Monday afternoon while at his work at the Keith Paper Company, by getting his fingers caught in the calender rolls.
JanuaryJanuary 3, 19191212 -Edward North, son of Mrs. Mary North of Chestnut Street, met with a painful accident Saturday while at work at the Keith mill.mull. He is employed in the loft where the paper is dried, and he got his hand caught in a winder and badly torn.
JanuaryJanuary 1010 -The Keith Paper mill will close at 4 o'clock insteadmstead of 5 on Saturday afternoons hereafter. Treasurer Albert R. Smith has made this change to a shorter working day on Saturday and eliminated the fifteen minute daily recess which Mr. Bush instituted.
JanuaryJanuary 1717 -Treasurer A.R. Smith of the Keith mill has moved into the house on Marshall Street, recently vacated by S. Carter Hall now of Glens Falls, N.Y.
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JanuaryJanuary 24 Death of Bernard N. Farren (a(a portion 1sis given e.ge.g:).) ...... He then carried the canal to the Keith mill, and had the contract to build that mill, but unfortunately the walls were not put on firm foundations and the walls fell, and the mill was rebuilt by Mr. Keith, under the supervision of Charley Waters of Adams, whom Mr. Keith knew well when he ran the paper mill there . .. . . Development of the Water Power of the Turners Falls Company (a(a portion Isis given e.ge.g:).) ... . . New steel bridges will be put over the canal at the GriswoldGnswold mill, the lower suspension bridge crossing, the Keith mullmill and at the cutlery worksworks...... -The grocery business which has been conducted for a number of years by Charles Keith's Sons & Co. in Greenfield, has been sold to Gottleib Koch of Turners Falls, who has taken possession of the business. Wendell W. Partenheimer, who for several years conducted a grocery business on Main Street, will be employed by Mr. Koch and will have charge of the store. -JohnJohn E.FE. Foley, who has been foreman of the beater-room of the Keith Paper Company the past few years, has resigned and he will then take a similar position in a paper mill aatt Balston Spa, N.Y.
February 1414 The Canal Street Improvements The Selectmen have received the signed contract of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad to regrade and macadamize Canal Street from the Keith block to Sixth Street. The road 1sis to be made 20 feet wide and the best macadam will be used in repairing it. There are to be stone gutters and catch basins and the street will be underlaid with tile to carry away the surface water and it will empty into the canal. March 6 -Elric-Flnc Lamoureaux, who was burned about the face and neck while at his work as a fireman at the Keith paper Company last week, 1sis now able to be out.
April 1717 -JosephJoseph L. Moranville, who had his hand badly crushed while at work in the Keith mill a few months ago, had the little finger of his hand amputated Thursday. The hand and aarmrm had healed but the finger was bent out of shape and interfered with the free working of the others and it was thought best to amputate it.
May 1515 Increase of Wages and Three ShiftsShifts The Keith Paper Company has arranged to put the manufacturing department on a three-tour shift. Heretofore this department of the the mill has been on a two-tour plan, which means a ten-hour day one week and a thirteen-hour night the alternate week. This has been the practice observed for years in all high-grade mills. The new proposition, or the three-tour shift, will mean an eight-hour day for all tour workers. The tours will be from seven a.m. to threep.m.,three p.m., three p.m. to eleven p.m. and eleven p.m. to seven a.m. This will mean a number of additional employees. For three men will do the work heretofore done by two.
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Beginning with May 6th, there has also been a general advance in the wage schedule throughout the mill,mull, the increase in wages applying more particularly to the lower scale of wages. The Keith Paper Company, manufacturer of the highest grades of papers, inmn infinite variety, has for forty years held an enviable reputation for its product, and for the high class of employees it has always maintained, under all managements. It is remarkable the loyalty the workers have always shown to the mull,mill, and in all the years of its existence, the present writer has been in close touch with the institution, and he cannot recall a single instancestance where there has been any serious differences between employer and employee, but on the contrary mutual cordiality and good will. The change will cost the company a good bit of money, some of which they hope to recoup by increased efficiency, the balance to come from the buyer of the product. The only serious question in these continual, increases of cost is:1s: "Will the consumer ever rebel and cease to use goods that have got beyond this means?" Other periods of inflation have met with just just such results, and disastrous misery has followed kiting prices, but each succeeding generation hopes for the millennium. Our companies met the demand for a shorter hours and more pay cheerfully, in hope that the consumer will be as reasonable as other mortals, and take his medicine to cure all social and business ills, taking his toll from the next consumer, all down the line to the man who raises the food to eat, and the wool and cotton in the clothes to wear.
JuneJune 1919 Annual Meeting of the Keith Paper Company These officers were elected: President - A. Pagenstecher Vice President - JonathanJonathan Bulkley Clerk & Treasurer- Albert R. Smith DirectorsDirectors- - A. Pagenstecher, N.Y. City,City, JonathanJonathan Bulkley, N.Y. City, Alvah Crocker, Fitchburg, E. Warner, Troy, N.Y., R. Pagenstecher, N.Y. City, E.D. Jones,Jones, Pittsfield, Alfred Bowditch, Boston, Albert Re. Smith, Turners Falls, Mass. JulyJuly 1717 -William-Wilham E.L. West of Marshall Street in a member of the Keith Paper Company's office force.
September 1111 -The employees of the Keith Paper Co.'s, office went to South Deerfield last Thursday evening and enjoyed a banquet. The Building Up of Towns (a(a portion 1sis given e.e.g:)g.) ...... Everything Turners Falls has in the way of manufacturing came from loyalty of its own moneyed interests to the place. Every dollar in the cutlery was put in by men, or friends of men, owning the water and land, the old pulp mill the same; the Keith mullmill the same; the new mill to give the young men a chance; the cotton mill by a nearby friend of the town, and the earnest solicitation of another friend, Col. Crocker. Had not local boys, the Marshall brothers, put up the newest paper mill,mull, in all human probability Mr. Esleeck would not be making paper here to-day. The machine shop was put where it stands by local money for local people . . . .
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October 23 -Edward Weisman ofL L Street,Street, who 1sis employed on the calenders in the Keith mull,mill, had the misfortune to badly crush several fingers while at his work, Monday afternoon. Three fingers of his nght right hand and two fingers of his left were drawn into the rolls and painfully mangled.
-The Berlin Construction Company of Berlin, Ct., are building the new iron bridge over the canal at the Keith mill and the work will probably take about a month. The bndgebridge over the canal at Fifth and Sixth streets will not be put inim at present as it would be impossibleunpossible to get through the bed of the canal with the steam shovel if they were to be erected now.
JanuaryJanuary 8, 19191313 -The Keith Paper Company has had an intercommunicating telephone system installed in their mill, by which every department of the mill is easily accessible by telephone in short order. The company has its own switchboard and operator in the office, and now, quicker than it takes to tell it, all the department heads can be reached quickly and easily. The system is a great time saver, to say nothing of the fret and tear for busy people which it reduces to a minimum. All you have to do is call up central, and the rest is done by the alert switchboard manipulators.
February 5 -The new bridge over the canal at the Keith mill is now completed and 1sis in use.
March 5 -The Board of trade has issued a series of attractive illustrated folders, setting forth the advantages and attractions of Turners Falls, and these folders are beingused used by business firms and individuals as enclosures with their correspondence freely used, they ought to be very effective in making Turners Falls known abroad. The illustration and facts set forth on these folders certainly are bristling with telling points and being printed on some of the beautiful papers produced by the Keith Paper Company. This literature is bound to produce a favorable impression upon all who see it.
May 7 The New Sprague Factory James James H. Thomas has a good number of men at work at the shoe shop making the necessary changes preparatory to the coming of the FrederickFredenck H. Sprague Company of
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Orange. The building has been used as a storehouse by George Starbuck & Sons, who have stored their surplus goods there for a number of years. The Keith paper Company once used it as a storeroom for rags, and F.I. Webster one time carried goods there. Considerable repairmgrepairing will have to be done before the building is ready for occupancy by the new concern, both inside and outside, but when finished it will be a creditable looking building, one that the village will take pride in. -On account of inventory being taken at the Keith mill, Thursday, a number of the girl employees went to Springfield to see a play and had a very pleasant time.
May 21 -The Eastern Bridge and Structural Company of Worcester, who have the contract for building the new bridges over the canal, have finished the one leading to the John John Russell Cutlery Works, and will start on the Sixth Street Bridge at once. This is the last bridge to be built at present. The Keith Paper Co. have had a handsome gold lettered sign bearing their name, placed at the head of the bridge leading to their mull.mill.
May 28 Annual Meeting of Keith Paper Co. At ht eannual meeting of the Keith Paper Company, held Friday, May 23, the followinmg officers were elected: President - A. Pagenstecher Vice President - JonathanJonathan Bulkley Treasurer and Treasurer - Albert R. Smith DirectorsDirectors- - A. Pagenstecher, Jonathan Jonathan Bulkley, Alvah Crocker, R. Pagenstecher E.A. Jones,Jones, E. Warner, Alfred Bowditch, Albert R. Smith August 6 -A freight elevator dropped about 20 feet Friday morning in the Keith Paper mull, mill, causing injury to JosephJosephMullen Mullen of L Street, who stood near the gate when it came down. In some way he was caught so that his shoulder was injured and a few toes were crushed. crushed. An employee was on the elevator when it it fell, but he escaped injury. -The Keith Paper Company has secured one of the "plums" of the Massachusetts State contract, one of the leading items being awarded on their ledgerpaper. paper. -William Grogan, who has been in the employ of the Keith Paper Company for nearly twenty years succeeds JohnJohnO'Connell O'Connell as night foreman. Mr. O'Connell has taken a position as superintendent in a mill in the Middle West.
August 1313 -Lawrence McCarthy of Third Street has givenup up his position at the Keith mill and will take a position as clerk at Shanahan Brothers. grocery store on Eleventh Street. -Michael J.J. Driscoll, machine tender in the Keith mill, has resigned his position there and taken a similar one with the Millers Falls Paper Company at Millers Falls.
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August 20 -The display of the fine products of the Keith Paper Company, which attracted a great deal of attention on Hospitality day and since, was designed by Treasurer Albert R. Smith of the company, and executed by him and master mechanic Harry Dunbar.
September 24 -Lyman Howe of riverside lost a thumb while at his work in the Keith mill, Friday.Fnday. He is employed in the box-making department and cut off his thumb by having it come in contact with a circular saw. Mr. Howe recently recovered from a severe illness.
October 22 -Sanford Phelps of Canal Street, who has been a foreman for the Keith Paper Co. for a number of years, has resigned in order to accept as similar position in a mill at Hoosac Tunnel. The family will move at once.
November 1919 -William Bitzer, while working on a saw in the box-making department of the Keith Paper Company, had the index finger and thumb of his left hand injured yesterday by getting them in contact with the saw.
JanuaryJanuary 2121, , 11914914 -Through the courtesy of Treasurer A.R. Smith, the Keith Paper Company has presented the library with thirteen bound volumes of the InlandJna/and Printerand and four volumes of Printing Art.Art . The thanks of the trustees are extended to the donor for the gift.
March 4 -Dennis Sullivan of G Street was seriously injured while at his work at the Keith mullmill last Tuesday. He was unloading a car of coal and he slipped and was drawn through the chute with the mass of coal. A rib was broken, a lung injured and he sustained other injuries, but he will recover.
March 25 -JosephJoseph Sullivan of Spring Street, machine tender employed at the Keith mill,mull, suffered a scalp wound, Monday morning, by a piece of iron falling from the machine where he was standing, and hitting him on the head.
April 29 -JamesJames Bynan and Timothy Sullivan, firemen at the Keith Paper Company, were badly burned about their heads and faces, Friday morning, when the gas in the furnace under the boiler burst the door open, and the flames earning out caught them before they could get away.
May 20 -The annual meeting of the Keith Paper Co. will be held at the company's office, on Thursday, May 28th, at 9.30 o'clock.
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JuneJune 3 Annual Meeting of Keith Paper Co. At the annual meeting of the Keith Paper Company held Thursday, May 2828",th , at the companycompany’s’ s office, the following officers were elected for the ensuing year: President –- A. Pagenstecher, New York City Vice-president –- JonathanJonathan Bulkley, New York CityCity Clerk and Treasurer –- Albert R. Smith, Turners Falls. Directors -A Pagenstecher, JonathanJonathan Bulkley, R. Pagenstecher, New York, Alvah Crocker, Fitchburg, E.A. Jones,Jones, Pittsfield, Alfred Bowditch, Boston E. Warner, Troy, N. Y., Albert R. Smith, Turners Falls. JulyJuly 1515 -When the pulp mill started, there were still no homes for its workpeople and up went the Pulp block on First street, containing another forty houses.” houses. 21 The Keith mill block of tenements and boarding house on Canal street was all in readiness for the workpeople from paper millmull centres as soon as the mill wheels started.
September 23 -Miss Katherine McClintock of Marshall street has resigned her position a stenographer in the office of the Keith Paper Co., and has gone to Brunswick Maine, for an extended visit with relatives.
December 30 -Treasurer A. R. Smith of the Keith Paper Co. favored the mill's customers at Christmas, with gifts of handsome paperteries of Keith papers. These Keith quality papeteries are among the finest on the market, elegantly boxed and put up, and there is1s an enormous sale for them wherever the acme of quality and attractiveness 1sis desired.
FFebruaryebruary 2424, , 19191515 -Treasurer Albert R. Smith of the Keith Paper Co.Co. 1s is the owner of a new Hudson touring car.
March 3 -Leon Lemaire had his hand badly injured last week, by having it come in contact with a saw at the Keith mill where he was employed. He was removed to the hospital andone one of his fingers was amputated.
March 1010 -Willard Rice lost the little finger on his left hand Friday, while at his work in the carpenter shop of the Keith Paper Company, by getting into contact with a circular saw.
21” The First Street ‘block’ had eight ‘row house’ apartments on two floors with an ‘L’ at the west end containing two additional tenements. This made a total of 1818 apartments. I remember the place as a kid growing up in Turners Falls.Falls. e.gC8: .
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April 7 -William. E.L. West, who has charge of the Keith Paper Co. office in New York City, has moved his family to Flatbush, N. Y., where they will reside. April 1414. -H. M. Shea of Fifth street has resigned his position at the Keith mullmill and will carry on the Rix Bros, blacksmith shop in Millers Falls.
May 1919 -The annual meeting of the Keith Paper Co. will be held at the company's office here on Tuesday, May 25, at 9.30 o'clock a.m. -The employees of the Keith Paper Co. are organizing a baseball team. They had their first practice game at the new play ground on the lower end of Third Street.Street. A large squad turned out and a goodteam team is expected.
May 26 Annual Meeting of the Keith Paper Company At the annual meeting of the Keith Paper Company, held Tuesday, May 25th, at the office of the company, the following officers were elected: President -- A. Pagenstecher, N.Y. City. ViceVice President -- JonathanJonathan Bulkley, N.Y. City. ClerkClerk -- A. R. Smith, Turners Falls, Mass. TreasurerTreasurer - A. R. Smith, Turners Falls, Mass. Asst. Ass't. TreasurerTreasurer -- W.B. Mansion, Turners Falls, Mass. Directors: — A. Pagenstecher, New York City,City, JonathanJonathan Bulkley New York City,City, R. Pagenstecher, New York City,City, Alvah Crocker, Fitchburg, Mass., E. A. Jones,Jones, Pittsfield, Mass., Alfred Bowditch, Boston, Mass., E. Warner, Troy, N. Y., A. R. Smith, Turners Falls, Mass. JuneJune 2 TurnersTurners Falls Trades League Formed Four teams are comprised in the league which has been named the Turners Falls Trades league. The teams represent the Esleeck mill,mull, the Keith mill, the Turners Falls Power & Electric Co., and the Montague Machine Co. and International Paper Co., combined. Each of the companies represented by a team has supplied the players representing their shops with uniformsuniforms and equipment. It is planned to play double header baseball every Saturday afternoon throughout the summer, the first game scheduled being for Saturday, June June 19th.19th. Theemployers employers have given the project warm support and the members of the teams have already begun to practice with energy. The officers of the league are: President - A. I. Potter Secretary - Louis Hahn Treasurer - William Argy Board of Directors - W.T. Libby, A.R. Smith, William. H. Croft, Fred C.C. Abercrombie
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JuneJune 9 Turners Falls Base Ball Trade League At a meeting of the managers or acting managers of the baseball teams from the International Paper Company, Esleeck Manufacturing Co., Keith Paper Company and Turners Falls Power & Electric Company, held in the office of the Turners Falls Power & Electric Company on JuneJune 1st,Ist, 1915,1915, after, a conference held by an official and men from, each company for the purpose of formal organization of a league, the following officers were elected in the regular way. President - A.I. Potter, Turners Falls Pwr. & Elec. Co. Secretary - J.G.J.G. Short, Keith Paper Company. Treasurer - W.R. Argy, Montague Machine Company. DirectorsDirectors- - =W.T.W.T. Libby, International Paper Company, F.C. Abercrombie, Turners Falls Pwr. & Elec. Co.Co., , A.R. Smith, Keith Paper Company. W.H. W. H. Croft, Esleeck Manufacturing Co. SCHEDULE OF GAMES June June 19,19, 19151915 Esleeck Mfg. Co. vs. International Paper Co., 2. P: M. 1stIst game Keith Paper Co. vs. Turners-Falls P. & E. Co., P. M.2nd game June June 26, 19151915 Esleeck Mfg, Co. vs. Turners Falls P. & E. Co., 2: P. M. 1stIst game Keith Paper Co, vs. International Paper Co., 4 P. M., 2nd game July July 3,1915 Keith Paper Co, vs. Esleeck Mfg. Co., 2 P. M., 1stIst game Turners Falls P. & E, Co. vs. Int. Paper Co., 4 P. M., 2nd game July July S,S, 1915.1915. Esleeck Mfg. Co. vs. International Paper Co., 2 P. M., 1stIst game Keith Paper Co. vs. Turners Falls P. & E. Co., 4 P. M., 2nd game July July 10,10, 1915.1915. Keith Paper Co. vs. International Paper Co., 2 P. M,, 1stIst game Esleeck Mfg. Co. vs. Turners Falls P. & E. Co., 4 P. M., 2nd game July July 17,17, 1015.1015. Turners Falls P. & E. Co. vs. Int. Paper Co., 2 P. M., 1stIst game Keith Paper Co, vs, Esleeck Mfg. Co., 4 P. M., 2nd game July July 24, 1915.1915. Keith Paper Co. vs. Turners Falls P. & E. Co., 2 P.M., 1stIst game Esleeck Mfg. Co. vs. International Paper Co., 4 P. M., 2nd game July July 31, 1915.1915. Esleeck Mfg. Co. vs. Turners Falls P. &E. Co., 2 P.M., 1stIst game Keith Paper Co. vs. International Paper Co., 4 P. M., 2nd game August 7, 1915.1915. Keith Paper Co. vs. Esleeck Mfg. Co., 2 P. M., 1stIst game Turners Falls P. & E. Co. vs. Int. Paper Co., 4 P. M., 2nd game August 14,14, 1915.1915. Esleeck Mfg. Co. vs. International Paper Co., 2 P. M., 1stIst game
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Keith Paper Co. vs. Turners Falls P. & E. Co., 4 P. M., 2nd game August 21,1915. Keith Paper Co. vs. International Paper Co., 2 P. M., 1stIst game Turners Falls P. & E. Co. vs. Esleeck Mfg. Co., 4 P. M., 2nd game August 28, 1915.1915. Turners Falls P. & E. Co. vs. Int. Paper Co., 2 P. M., 1stIst game Keith Paper Co. vs. Esleeck Mfg. Co., 4 P. M., 2nd game
LIST OF ELIGIBLE PLAYERS. International Paper Company and Montague-Machine Company. G. Foley, T. Murphy, A. Guilbault,Guulbault, A. Mathieu, H. Grimard, E. Pocket, P. Derosier, W. Argy, R. Farnsworth, J.J. Dona- Dona- hue, W. Libby, A. Coberior, J.J. Togneri, (lives in town, works in Millers); H. Daily, (outside man,High High school). Keith Paper Company. L. Hahn, W. Hanley, J.J. Hanley, R. Lemaier, W. Conway, F. Dolan, F. Klaiber, J. J. Rice, J. J. Grogan, F. Bowman, D. Paulin, F. Murphy, L. Vassar, E. Caliban, T. Casey, (outside man,High High School); Mose Derosier, (outside man, High School).
JuneJune 1616 -The Trades league of ball players putout out two games Saturday afternoon for the delightful edification of the fans and fanners. It will be for first gamegame—Esleeck—Esleeck Manufacturing Co. vs. International Paper Company; second game, Keith Paper Company vs. T.F. Power and Electric Company. There will be real ball playing and delightful enthusiasm. 'Rah for our side, will be the slogan.
JulyJuly 7 Keith Defeats Esleeck, While the Turners Falls Power & Elec. Co. Hands the International Paper Co. a Whitewash On High School oval, Saturday afternoon, July July 3, the Trades League played their second double header of the season. The first game between the Keith and the EsleeckFsleeck resulted in a a victory for the former, the score being 1212 to 7. The Keith scored 4 runs in the first inning, the Esleeck fielding the ball poorly. The Esleeck had to change their line-up around in the first three inningsmnings on account of one of the players misunderstanding the time the game was to be played. After the third ininginning the scoring was about even. Batteries, Keith, Collins and Casey; Esleeck, Derosier and Milkey, Lamery; umpire, Sauter.
JulyJuly 1414 Local Baseball Keith Paper Company Wins Their Third Straight Game. On High school oval Saturday afternoon, JulyJuly 10,10, the Keith Paper Co. handed the I. P. Co. a badbeating beating score 1818 to 1.1. Derosier, the local High school pitcher, pitched a fine game for the Keith, the I. P. Co. being unable to solve his curves. Foley, who started the game for the I. P. Co., was hit freely and retired in the 4th in favor of Togneri, who was also touched up for a number of hits. Both I. P. Co. pitchers were wild, hitting several of the Keith players. Conway was the heavy hitter of the game, getting three safe singles, while E. Hanley played a good game in the outfield, getting two hard catches.
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Batteries, Keith, Derosier and Casey; I. P. Co., Foley, Togneri and Thomas. Umpire, Sauter of Greenfield. C. Derosier has Best of Pitcher's Battle in 1111 Inning Game.
Keith Now Leads the Trades League The Keith Paper Co. ball team, under the management of JohnJohn C.C. Short, stands inin first place in the Trades league, having won three straight games. The team has been playing good ball, considering that this is1s their first year together. They have two cancelled games to play with the Turners Falls Power & Elec. Co. which were called off on account of rain. The fansfans are anxiously awaiting for these two teams to meet. The Esleeck showed their strength in Saturday's game, by winning an 1111 inningmning game from the White Coal. They have a strong battery in Derosier and Milkey, who are considered the best in the League.
JulyJuly 1414 -The Keith mill, which was down for a few days for repairs, started up Monday.
JulyJuly 28 EsEsleeckleeck Takes Lead Away From Keith by Defeating Them 6 to 3 By defeating the Keith Paper Co. team 6 to 3, in the second game of the afternoon on High school oval, Saturday, JulyJuly 24th, the Esleeck stands in first place in the Trades League. The game was fought hard frombeginning beginning to end, the Esleeck having a slight advantage in runs through the game. The Keith gave them a a scare in the ninth inning, when they filled the bases with none out. A. Derosier strikes Klaiber out, passes Dolan, forcing in a run and strikes the next two men out, ending the game. The Derosier brothers faced one another in a pitcher's battle, A. Derosier having the best of it, the younger lad retirmg retiring in the eighth in favor of Collins, who did well, striking out 2 out of 3 men facing him. Esleeck Mfg. Co. Keith Paper Co. Milkey c.c. Casey Koskuba rf. r.f. A. Derosier Sullivan 2d Dolan Derosier p.p. M. M. Derosier (r.f.)(r.f.) Welcome s.s. W.W. Hanley Lamery 3d Conway Sprague Lf. l.f. Klaiber Care c.f.cf. E. Hanley Lemaire 1stIst Connelly Runs, Milkey 2, Koskuba, Sullivan, Derosier, Lemaire, E. Hanley, W. Hanley, M. Derosier. Stolen bases, Milkey, Koskuba. Two base hit, Sullivan. First base on balls, off A. Derosier 3, M. Derosier 2. Struck out by A. Derosier 10,10, M. Derosier 5, Collins 2. Hit by pitcher, Lemaire, Bowman ran for Conway in the 7th.
JulyJuly 28 Trades League Standing Won. Lost. P. C.C. Esleeck Co. 5 2 .714714 Keith Paper 3 2 .600
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Power and Electric 3 2 .600 International 11 6 .140140
August 1818 White Coals Hammer Keith Pitchers All Over Diamond, Winning EasilyFasily 1414 to 3 In what looked to be a, good game to: several innings, turned out to be a wall away, for the White Coals, against the Keith, in the second game of the afternoon Saturday, Aug. 14,14, the White Coals winning, 1414 to 3. The game was tie for several innings,mnings, each team playing good ball until the seventh inning, when the White Coals bombarded Derosier all over the lot, scoring several runs. | Conway was sent in to finish the seventh inning, but met his fate in the eighth, when six out of the eight batters to face him made a a clean hit off his delivery, scoring several more runs. The White Coals have strengthened their team this week by securing Nash, the Harvard first baseman and captain of the team next year. He is covering second base for the White Coals. Richardson was the star man of the game, getting four hits out of five times at bat, and his catching was a feature also. M. Derosier made the first home run of the season, the ball being knocked into right field and was lost in the bushes.
White Coals Defeat Keith in Twilight Game, 8 to 0 The Trades League played their first twilight game, Thursday evening, Aug. 12,12, at 5.30 on High school oval, between the T.F.P. & Elec. Co. and the Keith Paper Co., the former winning easily, 8 to 0. The White Coals hit Conway freely, while the Keith players were unable to hit Pfersick safe in the pinches,pmches, having men on bases several times. Score by innings:
League Standing Won. Lost. Power and Electric 6 3 3 Esleeck Co. 6 4 Keith Paper 3 5 5 International 3 6 6
August 2 I.P. Co. Defeats Keith in Ten Inning Battle, 4 to 11 In a hard fought game for 1010 inningsmnings the I.P. Co. defeated the Keith 4 to 1,1, on High school oval, Saturday afternoon, Aug. 21, at 2 p. m. The game was tie for eight innings, the I.P. Co. scoring one run in the first, and the Keith getting theirs in the second inning.mning. Both teams fielded the ball well in the pinches, each team having men on bases several times during the tie. Klaiber handled everything that flew out in his direction, getting five put-outs. Grimard opened up the 10th10th for the I.P.IP.Co. withCo. with a hit, and was advanced when Daly was passed, Brazeau, the next man up got a single, scoring both men. Sherman also got a hit and scored on an error by Casey. The Keith threatened to score in their half, when with one down, and two men on bases, Conway drove the ball into right field, but Pfersick was therewith with a one hand catch, and got the ball back to first before Smith could get back, ending the game. A feature of the game was a throw by Daly from left field to home-plate, getting Casey at the plate, who triedtned to make home from second on a single by Smith.
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September 11 Labor Day Program (a(a portion will be given e.ge.g.).) ...... It is proposed to blow the fire whistle at 9 a.m. Monday, one blast, and again at 9.9.3030 a.m., two blasts, so as to warn those of the parade to get in line. Among the societies which will be represented in the line, cither by a float or members, are: Board of Trade, St. Mary's Society, Eagles, Foresters of America, two Polish societies, two Bohemian societies, Catholic Order of Foresters, L'Union St. Jean Jean Baptiste Society, No.9; Lady Foresters, L.C.B.A.; Knights of Columbus, Rebekah Lodge, No. 123,123, I.O.O.F.;I.0.O.F.; Mechanics Lodge of Masons and Valley Lodge of Odd Fellows, St. Jean Jean Baptiste Society, St. Elizabeth and St. Cecile Societies, ththee entire Fire Department with 45 men with apparatus, in addition to the floats of the Turners Falls Co., Franklin ElectricFlectric Light Co., Keith Paper Co., Esleeck Mfg. Co., Sprague Mfg. Co., McLane Silk Co., F.I. Webster Co., L.A. Tapper & Co., C.A. Davis, and many autos and bicycles, and many more not mentioned. It has been suggested to the committee to ask all automobile owners who are not to take part in the parade to pick up the children and joinjoin the parade in the rear...rear . . .
Local Base Ball -The Keith are in third place, having lost continually the last four weeks, but won their game Saturday, justjust pulling themselves out of the cellar position. They held first position the first few weeks, having won their first three games. League Standing Won. Lost. Power and Electric 8 3 Esleeck Co. 6 66 Keith Paper 4 6 International 4 7
September 8 A Glorious Day for Turners Falls (a(a portion will be given e.ge.g:).) Keith Paper Company's trade float represented color tints of paper manufactured, with many young women peering from cornucopias of various hues, wearing dresses of corresponding colors, showing the splendid product of the famous mill,mull, with the beautiful handmaidens of the art. -JohnJohn C.C. Short, manager of the Keith Paper company's baseball team entertained the managers and captains of the teams of the trade league and the player of the Keith team at Camp Columbiad up the river. A fine dinner was served by Aubrey of the Columbia cafe. There was after-dinner speaking and sports were entered into during the afternoon.
OOctoberctobe r 2277 -A bowling league including the following teams: White Coal, Keith paper company, Clerks, Eagles, Knights of Columbus, German club, Independents and St. JeanJean de Baptiste, has been formed, and games will be commenced on Nov. 1.1. A large silver cup is to be given to the winner.
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JanuaryJanuary 5, 19191616 -Edward Fugere of Fourth StreetStreet met with a painful accident at his work at the Keith mullmill Friday. He was throwing some bales upon each other near a window when he slipped and his hand went through a lightof of glass, severing an artery. He will be incapacitated for work for a week or two.
February 1616 -William-Wiliam Beaumier, while at his work in the Keith mill, had his hand caught inim the gears of a plater and lost most of his right hand. He was taken to the Farren hospital, where the thumb and two fingers of the injured member were amputated. Dr. Messer attended.
March 11 LyLyricric Theatre The Massachusetts Savings Bank Insurance League have prepared a two reel moving picture which they are showing as a part of the educational campaign which is being conducted by the State to inform the people about the Savings Bank Insurance and the cast of characters include some of the best known financiers and prominentpromiment men in New England. The Savings Bank Insurance League has agencies established all over the State and the agency in Turners Falls is the Keith Paper Co. This picture will be shown in addition to the regular show at the Lyric theatre on next Monday. Miss Alice Grady, who is Secretary of the League, will explain the Savings Bank Insurance.
April 26 -Ferdinand Martineau of Seventh Street, while at work in the Keith Paper mill received a bad gash in the face from a wood splinter.
May 1717 Officers of Keith Paper Co. Officers elected at the annual meeting of the Keith Paper Company, held Friday, May 19:19: President - A. Pagenstecher, New York Vice President Jonathan Jonathan Bulkley, New York Clerk and Treasurer - Albert R. Smith, Turners Falls Assistant Treasurer - Wallace B. Marston, Turners Falls Directors: Directors: A. Pagenstecher, R. Pagenstecher, JonathanJonathan Bulkley, E. A. Jones,Jones, E. Warner, Alfred Bowditch, Albert R. Smith JuneJune 1414 New Boiler Plant at the Keith Mill Extensive changes and improvements are being made at the Keith Paper Co.'s mill, and when completed, the company will have a new boiler plant of the most modern type. The Keith Paper Co., always firm believers in the advantages of the finest equipment, appliances and machinery, found it necessary to remodel their entire boiler plant, as the old equipment had become obsolete. In replacing the same they are putting in a most modern equipment with new stack accordaccordingly.ingly. Thenew new stack however is being planned with a thought to future development so as to give the mill ample capacity in case the company should ever enlarge the
Keith Paper Co. 1872-1922 Page 86 of 107107 e.ge.g. . transcription 4.2018 mill plant, and is being built by the Alphons Custodis Chimney Construction Co., New York. TheTh e new stack is 175175 feet high with a 1919 foot diameter octagonal base. The base is constructed of red brick to a height of 30 feet, then the round chimney begins with buff brick. The stack is nearly completed. The company "hangs out their sign" on this chchimneyimney as the letters, "K.P. Co." appear in black brick running down from the top of the chimney. These letters are approximately six feet high. The stack is visible from almost every point in Turners Falls and is as Ornamental aass such a utilitarian thing may be. The old chimney will be taken down when the new plant is in operation. The new boilers are being furnished by D. M. Dillon Steam Boiler Works, Fitchburg, and they will be a first class equipment in every way. The Keith Paper Co. officials never do things by halves, and in making necessary changes, keep an eye on the future, as well as get the very best to be had.
JuneJune 1414 -Employees of the Esleeck Mfg. Co. have organized their baseball team for this season, with A. H. Moltenbrey captain and Louis V. Strahan manager, and will arrange a series of games with the Keith Paper Company team. -Arthur Mathieu, who has been employed as a machinist for the Montague Machine Company for the past 30 years, has taken a similar position with the Keith Paper Company.
Shorter Hours for Paper Mill Day Hands Beginning Saturday, JulyJuly 1,1, all the day hands in the mills of the Esleeck Manufacturing Co. andKeith Keith Paper Co., Turners Falls, and the Millers Falls Paper Co., Millers Falls, will operate on a 50 hour weekly schedule, a reduction of three to four hours per week with no reduction in pay. The hours under the new schedule will be: 7 to 12,12, and 1| to 5, for the first five days of the week; Saturday, 7 to 12,12, closing at noon. These mills have been operating for a good whileon on a 48 hour weekly schedule for all tour workers.
JuneJune 28 -Beginning Saturday, the 50 hour week will go into effect for day workers in the Keith and Esleeck mills,mulls, and they will not work Saturday afternoons.
JulyJuly 5 -J.J. F. Fielding, beater engineer of the Keith Paper Company, has resigned his position and with his family has moved to Newton Falls, N.Y., where he has taken a position as night foreman in the Newton Falls paper mills.mulls.
JulyJuly 1919 -The Esleeck Mfg. Company's baseball team played the Keith mill team on the High school diamond, Saturday afternoon. The Keith millmull team were the victors, the score being 1111 to 6 in their favor.
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JulyJuly 26 Keith Mill Office Force Entertained Treasurer Albert R. Smith of the Keith Paper Co. gave the office force of the company, and their families, a very enjoyable outing last Saturday. The party numbered 23 persons and were taken by automobiles to the Hotel Nichewaug in Petersham, where dinner was served, after which a very pleasant time was enjoyed until the hour for the return trip in the evening. Petersham is one of the prettiest) wealthiest and cleanest little New England villages on the map and the Hotel Nichewaug is widely known throughout the country for its excellence,and and so the selection of Petersham for the outing was a happy thought, the trip also bemg being made through a very pretty section. Mr. Smith is well known for his kindly thoughtfulness for his employees and this outing is1s only another evidence of his desire to make his workers happy.
August 2 Keith Paper Co. Products Willam William E. L. West, the energetic and efficient manager of the Keith Products Co, of New York, distributors of the papers made by the Keith Paper Co. of this town, and who was formerly employed here, has sent the Reporter a copy of the trade magazine, Printing, published in New York, which contains a well illustrated write-up of the Keith Paper Co. The Keith Products Co. carries one of the largest stocks of high grade fine wntingwriting papers in NeNeww York, and occupies a very deep store and basement at 417 Lafayette street, where complete lines of all Keith products are stocked, but this distributing centre 1s is only one of the many maintained in all the other large cities of the United States and Canada. Keith quality papers are favorably known everywhere. "There's a reason," and the prestige the company enjoys 1sis increasing every year.
August 2 -The base ball game between the Esleeck mill and Keith mill baseball teams, played on the High school grounds last Saturday afternoon, resulted in a victory for the Esleeck mill nine, the score being 1515 to 7.
AugustAugust 9 -A new cement sidewalk is being laid on Second Street,Street, from C.A. Davis's brick block to the corner of Canal Street.Street. This improvement will be particularly appreciated by the Keith mill employees and by the tenants of the Keith block.
August 1616 -The Keith mill and Esleeck mull mill baseball teams played another game, Saturday afternoon, on the High school diamond. This time, the Keith mullmill nine carried off the honors, they winning the game by the score of 27 to 5.
August 23 A New Bridge Between Turners Falls and Greenfield Agitation is now on for a new bridge between Turners Falls and Greenfield to replace what is known as the "lower suspension bridge." That a new bridge 1sis needed there is no doubt. The present bridge is too low and 1sis a danger point at two railroads and the canal. Higher up
Keith Paper Co. 1872-1922 Page 88 of 107107 e.ge.g. . transcription 4.2018 the hills on both sides could be vastly vastly improved in grade. The first suggestion is for a cement bridge. If a cement bridge 1sis to span the river, it would be well well to have the construction under the supervision of other than too up-up-to-dateto-date young men just just out of technical schools. Con- sultation with engineers who have known the vagaries of the Connecticut river for a half century would add much to the peace of mind of mill owners. Any obstruction to the flow of water by unusual piers might be a serious matter. Twice in the knowledge of the writer have ice jamsjams occurred in the spring of such serious consequences that the destruction of the Keith mill and Cutlery was feared. The lower, stories were flooded very seriously. With much of an obstruction at the point where the bridge now is might invite serious disaster. Young men are not apt to "winter and summer" on engineering problems learned from books. The elder JosephJoseph Griswold lost a mullmill on the judgmentjudgment of an engineer who persuaded him that water wouldn't run up hill. The levels showed him that by no possibility could harm come from water below the mill. The freshet came, with an ice jam, jam, and the mill went out. This testimony by Mr. Griswold was listened to by a committee of the legislature, and the charter for a dam at Montague City was refused largely on the strength of it. The engineers when building the dam at Vernon told to an inch on paper where the set back would come. When the water was set back it could double discount the engineers' story. -The old smoke stack of the Keith Paper Co. is being taken down.
September 6 Keith Paper Co. Entertains Selling Agents The management of the Keith Paper Co.Co. entertainedentertamed about 75 special selling agents connected with the stationery department of the great United Drug Co. of Boston, last Thursday, Aug. 31, and gave them a day which they will be sure to remember with pleasure and profit for a long time to come. The management of the Keith Paper Co., headed by Treasurer Albert R. Smith, and the heads of departments, met the guests at Greenfield in automobiles and took the party to the Weldon hotel where they were entertained at luncheon. After luncheon, the guests were brought to Turners Falls by automobiles and were given every facility and opportunity to become familiar with the process of manufacturing high grade papers, as carried out at the Keith mill. Keith quality papers have a country wide reputation and thistrip trip to the Keith Paper Co.'s mill,mull, one of the finest mills in the United States, was planned by the United Drug Company to make its special selling agents familiar with the method of manufacturing those high grade papers. The more a selling agent knows about the goods he handles the more intelligently he can sell them, and if he knows and is convinced from personal experience and study, that he is1s selling the finest papers possible to make, the fact 1sis apt to have considerable influenceinfluence on how much he sells and how intelligently he sells it. The United Drug Company is now a concern with over $30,000,000 capital and has grown tremendously in the past five years. It has 8,C30 branch stores in the United States, and thus through its stationery departments, dispose of an immense quantity of fine writing papers. The Keith Paper Company manufactures for the stationery department of the United Drug Company some of its leading lines of paper, which paper is1s distributed in very large
Keith Paper Co. 1872-1922 Page 89 of 107107 e.ge.g. . transcription 4.2018 quantities among the 8,000 stores, and distributed in some of the most attractive forms known to the trade. These keen, alert selling agents were greatly interested in what they saw at the mullmill and were most enthusiastic and appreciative observers, and Treasurer Smith and his assistants did all in their power to make them thoroughly familiar with the Keith output. After the party had finished their inspection of the mull, mill, they were taken back to Greenfield by automobiles in season to take the 5.26 train for Springfield.
October 25 -The finishing touch has been given to the extension of the Keith mill buildings by the erection of a very tall flagstaff from which "old glory" will wave. November 8 -A mammoth new flag now bravely floats from the new flag staff of the Keith mill. The grand old emblem is a a pleasing sight, and adds justjust the right note to the landscape.
December 6 Keith Paper Co. Advances Wages The Keith Paper Co. has to-day posted inm its mill,mull, the following notice of increase inmn wages for its employees: "Realizing fully that the increased cost of living 1s is hardly met even by the several increases in wages effective over the year, we have decided that some additional compensation should be arranged for, even though it may prove but a temporary arrangement. It is therefore arranged until further notice that on the 15th15th day of each month a special wage will be paid to all employees then at work. This special wage or compensation will equal ten percent cent (10%)(10%) of the wages paid during the previous month. The first payment under this arrangement will be on December 15.15. When the 15th15th falls on a Saturday this payment will be made the following Monday. We ask ask your continued interest and co-operation. KEITH PAPER Co." This latest wage increase means that the Keith Paper Co. has increased the wages throughout the mill duringdurmg 19161916 a a totalof of a little over 32%, besides Saturday afternoons off with full pay, which means another 8% as an item of labor cost to the company, or a total increased labor cost this year of something over 40%. This is based on the present full advance, and all these increases have been voluntary, as no request has been made for the same.
December 27 Keith Mill Presents Papeteries The Keith Paper Co. as has been their custom at Christmas for several years, presented each one of their customers and business friends with a handsome box of superb Keith stationery, all boxed in the finest manner, making a Christmas remembrance highly prized by all recipients. All the employees of the mill were also presented with boxes of stationery, and the finished product thus given each worker must be stimulating to the pride of everyone having a part in the production of “Keith quality” ppapers.apers.
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FFebruaryebruary 7, 19191717 -JosephJoseph N. Starbuck of the firm of George Starbuck & Sons, had the misfortune to sustain a severe scalp wound and to break his collar bone, yesterday morning, while engaged on a plumbing jobjob at the Keith mill. A heavy piece of iron pipe fell, and struck Mr. Starbuck full on the shoulder and a a glancing blow on the head, causing injuries from which he will be incapacitated for a time.
February 21 The Keith Paper Company Buys a New MillMul for Extension of Business The Keith Paper Company has purchased the finely built paper millmull justjust below the lower suspension bridge at Fifth street, from the International Paper Company, after a long period of negotiation, and will in the near future The illustration that appeared in this issue of the T.F. Reporter. remodel the structure, and produce the The illustration that appeared in this issue of the T.F. Reporter. . . ; Caption: same high grades bond and ledgerledge I The Keith Paper Company's New Mill for the manufacture of papers that have made an enduring more high grade bond and ledgerpaper. paper. name for the Keith Paper Company during its half century existence under the constant and proud management of the foremost papermaker of the world who always had in mind rare Ben Jonson'sJonson's immortal "Not for a day, but for all time." The building justjust acquired was erected for the Turners Falls Paper Company, a local corporation making news paper, fostered by George E.FE. Marshall, the pioneer in the development of wood news in America, and B.N. Farren, capitalist, for the purpose largely of encouraging worthy young men who had shown marked ability here in the development of the paper industry, among them, W.D. Russell, now a strong force in controlling the destinies of the International Paper Company. This mill, on account of the skill embodied in its construction and equipment, on lines developed by masters of the industry here, was a mar- velous winner from the start. At the time of the organization of the International, "the new mill,”mill," as it was known locally, went into the combine, and when the paper makers demanded three shifts a day, the plant, with one machine, was found to be ill-adaptedul-adapted to such working conditions, and so was dismantled and abandoned as a news print possibility. The Keith Paper Company, under the treasurership[sic] and management of Albert R. Smith, a born papermaker and of a noted family of papermakers, a keen and accurate conservative business man withal, has met with marked success, and the plant has been modernized in the highest degree to assure a continuous excellence in1m its famous product, and at the same time accelerate the production to help serve the ever increasing demand. The company has a large undeveloped mill site south of the parent four-machine mill, which may eventually be covered with a two-machine mill, but the "new mill", separated only by the Esleeck paper mill, will be the first developed, and we hope soon.
March 28
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-Thomas P. Frawley and Fred Klaiber are in Boston doingdomg special work for the Keith Paper Co., in the company'scompany’s ware rooms in1n that city.
April 1818 -Louis-Lous F. Hahn, foreman of the plating department of the Keith Paper Co., has resigned, and is succeeded by Wiliam William Keefe. Saturday forenoon, just just before leaving, Mr. Hahn was surprised by the employees of his department, who presented him with a fine travelling bag and a shaving set. The presentation speech was made by Leon Lemaire.
May 1616 -The annual meeting of the Keith Paper Co. will be held at the company's office on Thursday, May 24th, at 9.30 o'clock a.m.
May 30 Keith Paper Co. Will Buy Liberty Bonds for Employees The Keith Paper Co. has offered to secure Liberty Bonds for its employees, in any denomination the employee may like, on the following terms: For a $50 Liberty Bond, the company will purchase the bond and reserve from the weekly wages of the buyer, $1. per week for 50 weeks; for a $100 Bond, $2. per week for 50 weeks, and higher denominations accordingly. The company will not charge interest for the money advanced for these bonds and takes this step because it believes in the Liberty Bonds as a desirable and patriotic investment for its employees, and as a means to promote the habit of saving. Keith Paper Co. Elects Officers The annual meeting of the Keith Paper company was held Thursday, May 24, and the following officers were elected for the ensuing year: President - A. Pagenstecher Vice-President - JonathanJonathan Bulkley Clerk and Treasurer - Albert R. Smith Assistant Treasurer - Wallace B. Marston DirectorsDirectors- - A. Pagenstecher, JonathanJonathan Bulkley, R. Pagenstecher, E. A. Jones,Jones, Alfred Bowditch, E. Warner and Albert R. Smith
-The Keith Paper Company and the Esleeck Mfg. Co. have increased the bonus being paid employees from 1010 percent cent to 20 per cent, the increase going into effect May 1.1.
JuneJune 1313 -The Keith Paper Co. employees have subscribed for bonds to the value of $15,000.
August 8 -Miss Hester Holdsworth of Prospect Street and Miss Carrie Stotz of Third Street, are both employed in the office of the Keith Paper Co.
August 1515 Suicide by Drowning
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Stanley Macikoski, a Pole, aged 45 years, committed suicide, yesterday afternoon, shortly after one o'clock, by drowning. He jumpedjumped from the Keith mill bridge into the canal, first removing his hat and coat, and though he was pulled out very soon by workmen engaged in relining the canal, and first aid was administered,admunistered, life was extinct. Several persons saw the act and gave the alarm. Macikoski was a native of Russian Poland but had lived in this town for about 1515 years, beg being employed by the John John Russell Cutlery Co. as a grinder. He 1sis spoken of by those who knew him as a quiet, hard working, respectable, steady man of good instincts and habits. He had a family in Russia, livingliving in the path of the latest drive of the Germans after the retreating Russian army. He had heard nothing from his family for some time and the fear that they had become war victims so preyed on his mundmind that he decided to end his life. Medical Examiner Twitchell viewed the body and it was removed to C.E. McCarthy's undertaking parlors on Third Street.
November 1414 The Y.M.C.A. Red Triangle Campaign (Keith(Keith millmull participants only — e.ge.g:).) The local committee includes the following: following: Karl F. Miller and Thomas P. Frawley for the Keith mill. Turners Falls Raises More Than Quota For War Camp Community Fund (Keith(Keith mulmill participants only e.g e.g:).) Keith Paper Co., 100.00100.00
December 1919 Keith Paper Co. Entertains On Monday, Turners Falls was visited by about 80 representatives of the United Drug Co. of Boston, who were the guests of the Keith Paper Co. The visitors were royally entertained, and were shown through the mill, where they saw in process of manufacture, the well known lines of Symphony Lawn and Lord Baltimore writing papers, which are manufactured exclusively for the United Drug Co. These papers, which are sold by the 8000 branch houses throughout the country of the United Drug Co., have a splendid reputation, and it is certain that these 80 representatives of one of the greatest drug concern in the country, will be all the more enthusiastic over the splendid papers controlled by the company after seeing the careful methods and A No.1 conditions Used in their manufacture. There usually is a good reason for excellence in any line and the visitors know why Lord Baltimore and Symphony Lawn are "top notchers." The visitors represented every state in the union, and had been attending the company's big annual convention just just held in Boston. The visiting representatives were brought from Greenfield andtaken taken back by special electric cars, and were entertained at noon at luncheon at the Hotel Weldon in Greenfield, Treasurer Albert R. Smith of the Keith Paper Co. doing the honors. A buffet luncheon was also served at the Hotel Weldon after the party had returned to Greenfield, previous to boarding their train. -JohnJohn H. Hill of Montague City, known by everyone on the road as "Jack" Hill, has resigned as conductor on the street railway, in order to go to work in the finishing department of the Keith mill. Mr. Hill was the oldest conductor in point of service on the street railway line, and he will be missed by many patrons.
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December 26 - The Keith Paper Co., as has been their custom for several years, sent out as Christmas giftsto to business friends, a number of handsome papeteries of their Purity linen and Symphony lawn papers, and each employee of the millmull was also presented with a similar box of stationary These writing papers are among the finest known trade in their lines and are the quintessence of simplicity in boxing. -Dorothy Porter of Central Street is employed in the office of the Keith Paper Co.
JanuaryJanuary 3, 19191818 Entertains Office Force Treasurer Albert, R. Smith of the Keith Paper Co. and Mrs. Smith delightfully entertained the office corps of the company at the Hotel Weldon in Greenfield, at a Christmas party on Saturday evening, Dec. 22. After dinner,diner, which was a festive occasion and thoroughly Christmasy[sic]Christmasy|sic] sociability, music and dancing were. enjoyed, Harold F. Dunbar, the com- pany'spany’s master mechanic, was toastmaster at the after dinner exercises and each guest at the table responded in a a fitting manner.The The occasion was greatly enjoyed by all present and will be remembered as one of the pleasantest features of the Christmas season. The Keith office force has a splendid espirit de corps, which the General Treasurer, Mr. Smith, docs much to foster and develop. JanuaryJanuary 23 Five Day Shut-Down Hits Turners Falls In compliance with orders of the federal fuel administrator, which descended on the country like a bombshell, last Thursday, the local plants affected by the order promptly closed down Thursday night, for the five day holiday, and resumed operations this morning. Those plants in Montague and elsewhere which operate by hydro-electric power were not compelled to close. The JohnJohn Russell Cutlery Co., who were compelled to shut down two days on account of shortage of coal before the general five-day shut-down order was issued, were allowed to run Friday and Saturday by special permit, as they have an urgent government contract, and they also were allowed to run on Monday and Tuesday of this week. The federal order summarily stopped all paper making in town, the Keith, Esleeck, International and Millers Falls Paper companies all being affected. -The Keith Paper Co. is flying a a service flag with 1111 stars over their mull.mill.
February 1313 -Treasurer A.R. Smith and Karl F. MillerMuller of the Keith Paper Co., and Superintendent W.H. Croft of the Esleeck Mfg. Co., attended the banquet of the American Paper Manufacturers Assn. at New York last week. -Miss Eleanor Murphy of Park Street, who has been employed as bookkeeper for several years at the office of the Keith Paper Co., has taken a similar position in the office of the Hollingsworth Paper Co., of Mittineague.
March 1313
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-Murray C.C. Nelson, the 1818 years old son of William Nelson of Central Street,Street, has resigned his position in the office of the Keith Paper Co. and enlisted.
May 8 -The employees of the Keith Paper Co., upon opening their pay envelopes to-day, were pleasantly surprised to find that the company had voluntarily granted them a ten per cent increase 1nin wages.
May 1515 -Thomas Regan, engineer at the Keith mill, has resigned.
May 29 Annual Meeting of Keith Paper Co. The annual meeting of the stockholders of the Keith Paper Company was held at the office in Turners Falls, Thursday, May 23rd, and the following officers were elected: President - A. Pagenstecher, New York City Vice President - JonathanJonathan Bulkley, New York CityCity Clerk and Treasurer - Albert R. Smith, Turners Falls Asst. Treasurer - Wallace B. Marston, Turners Falls Directors: A. Pagenstecher, New York City,City, R. Pagenstecher, N. Y. City,City, Jonathan Jonathan Bulkley, New York City,City, W.D. Russell, N. Y. City,City, E. A. Jones,Jones, Pittsfield, Mass, E.A. Warner, Troy, N. Y. A. R. Smith, Turners Falls, Mass.
JulyJuly 3 -Miss Hester Holdsworth, who has been a stenographer for the Keith Paper Co. for several years, has resigned, and has taken a similar desirable position in the office of, the Boston & Albany railroad at Springfield.
August 1414 -The employees of the Keith Paper Co. were delighted to find last week that their wages had received another boost, the advance dating from JulyJuly 29.
September 1818 -Philip JacobusJacobus has sold his house on Marshall Street to a Mr. Berry, who comes to town to take an important position with the Turners Falls Power and Electric Company. The house is at present occupied by Treasurer Albert R. Smith of the Keith Paper Co.
October 9 The Influenza Epidemic (Keith(Keith mill only e.ge.g).) The Keith mill is hard hit by the epidemic, the sick employees inmn the finishing department being especially numerous.
Julian Julian A. Holmes Has Sold His High Street Home
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Treasurer Albert R. Smith, of the Keith Paper Company, has bought of Julian Julian A. Holmes his fine brick residence on High Street, one of the best built houses in town, and will move in as soon as Mr. Holmes can vacate. The house was built by W.T. Russell when he was treasurer of the Montague Paper Co., and is thoroughly made. Mr. Holmes will go to his winter home on an island off the South Carolina coast. He may buy a home in Greenfield for summer use. -William-Willam Tippett of Canal Street, employed as a millwright by the Keith Paper Co., had an exciting experience Monday morning. He was at work making repairs at the raceway of the mill, when a plank fell down, striking him in the head and knocking him into the water. He spun around in lively fashion for a few minutes, but fortunately someone saw his predicament and threw him a rope and he was drawn out. He was taken home and though he was thoroughly chilled, he was up and around yesterday, having suffered no bad results beyond considerable lameness. Mr. Tippett 1sis unable to swim.
November 1313 -The Keith Paper Co. has a large new automobile truck which has seen active Service during the celebrations the past week.
November 27 Attend Victory Rally in Boston as Guests of Keith Paper Co. The employees of the Keith Paper Company were invited to elect delegates to represent them at the big "War Victory meeting" in Symphony Hall, Boston, last evening.
JanuaryJanuary 1,1, 19191919 -The employees of the Keith Paper Co. had a pleasant Christmas surprise last week, on opening their pay envelopes, to find they had been paid in full in advance for Christmas day.
February 1212 -Among those who attended the annual meeting and banquet of the American Pulp and Paper Association held in New York last week, were: A.W. Esleeck, I.N. Esleeck and Wim.Wm. H. Croft of the Esleeck Mfg. Co., and Albert R. Smith, Wallace B. Marston, Karl F. MillerMiler and Arthur H. Porter of the Keith Paper Co. also several of the Keith agents as guests of the company. March 5 -William S.S. Nelson, chief electrician at the Keith Paper Co., has resigned in order to go into business with a brother-in-law brother-in-law at New York City.City. William Corbiere, who was recently discharged from the service, is Mr. Nelson's successor at the Keith mill.mull.
April 2 -About 100100 cords of wood have been secured from the trees cut down along the river bank above the narrows, this winter, and have been piled near the vicinity of Keith spring. A large quantity of chestnut timber has also been secured from the Park Street Grove, practically all the chestnut trees and the underbrush having been cut down. The grove now looks very bare and strange.
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April 9 -The Keith Paper Co. has on exhibit in H.F. Seller's store window, a most attractive showing of the Keith papers. The exhibit gives a comprehensive idea of the variety and beauty of the famous Keith quality papers. The papeteries[sic] cover and specialty papers inm the various beautiful tints and finishes arc featured, as well as the different brands of flat papers. In addition, the paper stock in the initial stages of manufacture are shown. This exhibit will be illuminating to many people who think that paper is simply paper, and who do not realize the variety and kinds of papers the Keith mullmill produces, each one being made for a special use and adding to the mill's reputation. This artistic display was arranged by Arthur H. Porter, superin- tendent of the mill's finishing department. April 23 -The Keith Paper Company and the Montague Machine Company closed Saturday on account of the holiday. April 30 -The Esleeck Mfg. Co. and the Keith Paper Co. closed their plants at 1111 o'clock, Monday morning, in order to give their employees the opportunity to visit the war relic traintram. . The High school also closed early to give their pupils the same opportunity. The grade schools being closed this week for vacation the youngsters were all on hand early and very numerously. They were as thick as the shells on the western front. May 28 Annual Meeting of Keith Paper Company The annual meeting of the Keith Paper Company was held at the office of the company, Turners Falls, Thursday, May 22nd22nd.and, and the following officers were elected: President - A. H. Pagenstecher, New York. Vice President,- Jonathan Bulkley, New York Clerk and Treasurer - Albert R. Smith, Turners Falls Assistant Treasurer - Wallace B. Marston, Turners Falls DirectorsDirectors- - A. Pagenstecher, J. J. Bulkley, R. Pagenstecher, W. D. Russell, of New York, E. A. Jones,Jones, Pittsfield, and A. H. Smith, Turners Falls JuneJune 25 Keith Paper Co. and Cutlery Co. Employees to Cross Bats Much interest is being taken in the baseball game which will be played on the High school grounds on Saturday afternoon at three o'clock, between a team composed of employees of the JohnJohn Russell Cutlery Co. and the Keith Paper Company employees. Both sides are putting in some strenuous practice and an interesting game is expected. There is a movement on foot to start a shop baseball league and play a series of games as was done here several years ago, and the baseball enthusiasts are in hopes that Saturday afternoon's game will be the forerunner of others. Shop leagues in other places are successful and tend to promote good fellowship, clean sport and good natured rivalry. JulyJuly 2
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-The JohnJohn Russell Cutlery Co. employees baseball team and the Keith mill employees crossed bats on the High school grounds, Saturday afternoon The cutlers defeated the papermakers, by the score of 1616 to 5. JulyJuly 1616 -The Esleeck Mfg. Co. andKeith Keith Paper Co. teams played ball on the South End grounds, Saturday afternoon. The Esleeck team won, by the score of 20 to 11,11, in 1515 innings. -Superintendent of Streets JohnJohn E. Sullivan has commenced work on the new cement walks. The first one to be laid will be around the Keith block on Canal and Third Street. He will also do a smallpiece piece in front of the McCarthy and Welch blocks on the Avenue and in front of the Hibernian block. -JosephJoseph Charron, who has been employed, as a clerk at the Fournier Drug Store, has gone to work for the Keith Paper Company. JulyJuly 30 -The Keith Paper Co. has practically discontinued its job job ruling plant, and John John C.C. Short, | who has had charge of the ruling work for many years, has been transferred to the finishing department. August 1313 -The Keith Paper Company and the Esleeck Paper Company have posted notices of an advance in wages of 1010 per cent, to take effect soon. August 20 -Henry LaRue and mother are to occupy one of the tenements in the LaChappelle block on Central Street. He is employed as plumber in the Keith paper mull.mill. August 27 -Henry LaRue and mother are to occupy one of the tenements in the LaChappelle block on Central Street. He is employed as plumber in the Keith paper mill. October 11 Editorial Comment The ReporterAXeporter has watched the news making methods for many years with great amusement, and is constantly reminded of the personality of JohnJohn Keith, founder of the Keith Paper Co. He always considered himself bigger than all possible publicity gained in the usualusua l manner, and carried his set purpose to the most amusing lengths, to be told among friends afterward with boyish glee. When the History of the Connecticut Valley was in course of construction by clever publishers, understanding rural vanity as a marketable commodity, a corps of trained canvassers of superior merit, artists in their line, came into these counties with a burst of glory, and brand new clothes of artistic cut and sartorial quality and value, supplementing the work of the historians if they did not precede it. Men were sized up by the phrenological chart, and made to appear of historical value in their accomplishments, and their faces of artistic value as far as the steel engraving, or the cheaper mechanical engraving, could make them, the place in history being accorded as the contribution to history ranged from $50 to $500. Nothing need be said of the raids on "artistic photographers" from the mountammountain towns of men to be prom-
Keith Paper Co. 1872-1922 Page 98 of 107107 e.ge.g. . transcription 4.2018 inent in future history, eager to have their pictures taken, their wives along to use comb and brush, so that straggling locks might not mar the pages John John Keith was invaded in his den by a choice lot of vanity spreaders and human persuaders. He curtly turned them down, as having no interestmterest in the honey market. They were persistent, and he decided he would let the story be rehearsed. They had not proceeded far when he discovered a "league of nations" document, much as we have to-day, and he said that if he parted with $500 for the sake of history and vanity, he would have to make a reservation; or so "Oh, certainly, everybody makes reservations. That was a simple matter." On they sped to the gold mine. The gentlemen would be reminded of reservations. The tongues wagged until the talking machines ran down. "Now, Mr. Keith," the new record said after a re- winding, "we feel confident we have convinced you, and you certainly must know the great history would be incomplete without a steel engraving of your noble face. What are your reservationsreservations?" ?"
October 22 -JamesJames K. Mullen, who has been beater engineer at the Keith mill for the past, ten years, has resigned, and will go to Crabtree, Province of Quebec, Canada, where he has taken a very fine position as Superintendent of the Crabtree mill of the Howard SmithPaper Paper Co. He will assume his new duties Nov. 1,1, and will move his family at once. The Howard Smith mill 1sis a large one, specializing in the manufacture of sulphite bond papers. Mr. Mullen is a born and bred paper maker, having learned the trade in practically all its branches, in his native Scotland. He came to Turners Falls from the Oxford mills in Maine. Mr. Mullen has made many friends during his residence here, and has been a prominent member of Turners Falls Council, Knights of Columbus, being grand knight of the council for several terms. He and his family will take with them the good wishes of all who know them. November 1111 Turners Falls CelebratCelebrateses (a(a portion given e.ge.g:).) The Keith Paper Co. float, winner of the second prize of $5, was a thing of beauty in purple and white. Four tall, classic pillars, and a mammoth white birthday cake, beautifully beautifully decorated and frosted, and with a single red candle, to mark the first anniversary of the signing of the armistice, were the features. Army and navy men in uniform were on the float, which was exceedingly chaste and highly effective in its simplicity and pictorial effect.
November 1818 Esleeck Mill Win The program of sports postponed from Armistice Day was carried out on the Avenue, Saturday afternoon and interested a large number of spectators. The chief featurewas was the tug of war, in which the Esleeck millmull team, the Keith mullmill team and the firemen took part. The Esleeck team outpulled[sic]outpulled|[sic] both opposing teams and won the prize. December 24 Keith Paper Co. Office Employees are Entertained Treasurer Albert R. Smith of the Keith Paper Co. and Mrs. Smith entertained the office force of the Keith Paper Co. at the annual Christmas party, at their hospitable home on
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High Street, Monday evening, and, as usual, the affair was keenly enjoyed by host and hostess and the guests. Decorations and favors were in keeping with the Christmas season and after the excellent dinner had been enjoyed accompanied by much merriment, a varied program which included music, speaking, etc., and a social time rounded out the evening. The spiritspint of Christmas and of good feeling were in marked evidence and the bond between employer and employees was more firmly cemented. Among the guests was Wim.Wm. E.L. West, manager of the New York office of the Keith Paper Co. He is a former resident of Turners Falls and his Turners Falls friends were delighted to greet him.
December 31 -The Keith Paper Co., following their pleasant custom for several years, sent their customers Christmas greetings in the shape of papeteries of their excellent Keith Purity lawn. For quality, attractiveness of boxing,and and general attention to the niceties of detail which spell perfection, the Keith papers are unsurpassed and recipients of these Christmas reminders are always proud and delighted with thesthesee tangible tokens of what "Keith Quality" means.
JanuaryJanuary 1414, , 11920920 Annual Meeting of the Crocker National Bank of Turners Falls The following officers were elected. The only changes being the choice of Charles W. Hazel ton as president, a position he held before and Albert R. Smith, treasurer of the Keith Paper Co., as a director: President - C.W. Hazelton Vice President and cashier, W. T. EllisFllis 2nd Vice President, JamesJames H. Thomas DirectorsDirectors- - = C.W. Hazelton, Hazelton, James H Thomas, Philip Jacobus,Jacobus, F.C. Abercrombie, F.W. Hance, H. A. McLane, Chas. W. Schuler H. McC. Knickerbocker, C.E. Hazelton, W.T. Ellis, Albert K. Smith
JanuaryJanuary 21 -Miss Eleanor Murphy, formerly employed in the office of the Keith Paper Co., but for the past year or two a bookkeeper for the South Worth Paper Co. of Springfield, has been promoted to be private secretary of the treasurer of that company.
JanuaryJanuary 28 -A poll taken among the employees of the Keith Paper Co. on the daylight saving law shows that a majority are against it. The employees of the Esleeck Mfg. Co., however, desire the continuance of the daylight saving system and most of them have signed a petition to this effect, which has been sent to Representative F.C. Haigis.
March 24 -The employees of the Keith Paper Co. have been given another wage increase of 12½12! per cent.
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April 7 Turners Falls Building Loan Assn. Effects Organization The Turners Falls Building Loan Association has been incorporated, and at a meeting Monday evening organization was effected with the following officers: (Keith members only e.ge.g:).) DirectorsDirectors- - | W.B. Marston of the Keith Paper Co. Albert R. Smith of the Keith Paper Co.
May 1212 -Miss Gertrude Kelleher, who has been assistant in the office of the superintendentsupermtendent of schools, has resigned to accept a position in the office of the Keith Paper Co.
May 26 Keith Paper Co. Elects Officers At the annual meeting of the Keith. Paper company, May 2oth, the following officers were elected for the ensuing year:—year:— President - A. Pagenstecher, New York. Vice Pres. - JonathanJonathan Bulkley, New York, Clerk - A. R. Smith, Turners Falls. Treasurer - A. R. Smith, Turners Falls Asst. Treas. - W. B. Marston, Turners Falls. Directors;Directors;—— A. Pagenstecher, NN.Y.,.Y. , Jonathan Bulkley, NN.Y.,.Y. , W. D. Russell, N.Y., R. Pagenstecher, N.Y., E. A. Jones,Jones, PittsfieldPittsfield, , A. R. Smith, Turners Falls.
JuneJune 23 -Wallace B. Marston, assistant treasurer of the Keith Paper Co., has bought the fine residential property of Robert E. Barrett on Marshall Street. Possession will be given in the fall.
JulyJuly 7 -Ferdinand Martineau, the well mown carpenter and contractor, hurt his hand painfully, while at work on a coal bin in the Keith mill,mull, Friday. While adjusting a piece of metal about the bin, he caught his thumb, breaking the bone, and crushing the finger and also mmjured injured several other fingers less severely.
JulyJuly 28 Important Repair Work Being Done Antone & Ransom of Greenfield are doing important work for the Keith Paper Co., repairing a portion of the water main which conveys the pure spring water from the Keith springs some distance up the Connecticut river, to the mill. The pipe was originally laid above ground tut when the dam was raised it was submerged. This caused the pipe to sag in places. The main will be laid on spruce piles and concrete work. Each length has to be taken out and cleaned to free it from refuse which has settled in and some lengths of new pipe will be used. A lighter has been constructed and a pile driver made for carrying on the work which also requires a hoisting engine. Many of the men will have to work in water while doing this job.job.
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The spring which furnishes abundance of the purest water to the mill is a precious asset. Its location and its acquisition for the mill years ago is an interesting story, and shows the far-sighted wisdom of the pioneers.
September 1515 Keith Paper Co. Presents Service Records The Keith Paper Co. 1sis paying a gracious compliment to its past and present employees who saw service 1nin the world war, by presenting each one with a handsome red leather bound book, "Our Family Service Record in the Great World War," in order that each may preserve for himself, his family and his posterity, a correct and permanent record of his service. Each volume has the name of the recipient stamped in gold on the front outside cover, and with each volume is enclosed a personal letter signed by Albert R. Smith, treasurer, on behalf of the Keith Paper Co. This service record is handsomely designed, the national colors providing an appropriate color scheme. Poems having their birth in the war, and including the immortal "In Flanders'Flanders’ Fields," and portraits precede more than a score of pages with fitting printed matter on which to keep a full and complete record, with dates, of everything connected with the owner's service in the war, in whatever branch of service, as well as pages for & family record. Then there are numerous blank pages in which experiences at home and abroad are to be (recorded,(recorded, also pages for pasting in newspaper clippings. To complete the volume and to have all facts about the war under one cover, there are printed "red dates in Europe's war calendar," and other statistics and valuable data, as well as a map to illustrate the Meuse-Argonne offensive. This 120-page120-page book 1sis sure to be highly prized and will be invaluablemvaluable to every service man receiving it. The Keith Paper Co. had 40 employees in the service, and all made good records. One, William A. Schweitzer, made the supreme sacrifice, and Sergeant William Connolly received the Croix de Guerre. The relations of the Keith Paper Co.with with its employee have always been very cordial, the officials of the company delighting to show their appreciation of their workers' efforts.
October 1313 -W.B. Marston, assistant treasurer of the Keith Paper Co., is1s on a business trip through the middle west.
December 11 -The Keith Paper Co. and the JohnJohn Russell Cutlery Co.Co. plants shut down, Wednesday night, for the rest of the week. -Antone & Ransom, the Greenfield contractors, have finished repairing for the Keith Paper Co. their pipe line which conveys the water from Keith spring, up river, to the mill. A breakwater is1s now being built at a bend in the river where the sand piles up.
December 22 Entertain Office Employees Treasurer Albert R. Smith of the Keith Paper Co. and Mrs. Smith delightfully entertained the office employees of the Keith Paper Co. and their wives at their hospitable home on High Street, Saturday evening. The affair was greatly enjoyed by the guests who
Keith Paper Co. 1872-1922 Page 102102 of 107 e.ge.g. . transcription 4.2018 numbered about 30, and the host and hostess who annually, at Christmas, entertain Mr. Smith's assistants in the office had arranged a charming musical program for the evening, all the numbers of which were splendidly given and gave great pleasure.
December 29 Keith Paper Co. Presents Gifts The Keith Paper Co., in accordance with the pleasant custom established a number of years ago, presented their customers and business friends at Christmas with choice papeteries of their justlyjustly famous Keith Purity Lawn. These papeteries are excelled by none on the market and year by year the sales steadily mount. The high quality of the paper itself is embraced by the dainty and artistic boxing, and nothing could be more fitting and appreciated as a Christmas gift by anyone having occasion to take pen in hand. The company, as a Christmas gift, presented each employee with advance payment in full for Christmas day. JanuaryJanuary 1212, , 11921921 -Lincoln S.S. Spencer, who has been an engineer in the Keith mill, and his family have moved to Templeton.
February 2 Moving Pictures Taken of Fine Paper Manufacture; at the Keith MillMull The Atlas Educational Film Company of Chicago have had a crew of men at the millsmulls of the Keith Paper Company for several days, taking pictures of the various operations in the making of high grade papers. Pictures were made of the complete operation from the raw material to the finished product. This included the various operations in ragrag’ 1 room, the bleaching, washing and beating the rag fibre, half stock in drainers, the actual making of the papaperper on the machine, followed by the various finishing operations.Theoperations.The work was done under the supervision of the Butler Paper Corporation of Chicago, among the largest distributors of papers in the United States. The Keith Paper Company supplies this company with many of their high grade paper requirements, and they selected the Keith Paper Company for the fine paper portion of the exhibit. The moving picture men went from here into the northern woods where they will film the logging operations, and will follow the with the manufacture of bleached sulphite pulp, and then go to other mills showing the manufacture of the better grades of book and news paper. These pictures will later on be shown all over the United States, and arrangements will undoubtedly be made for a local showing.
March 2 -The Keith mill is shutdown for this Week.
May 1818 Annual Meeting of the Keith Paper Co. At the annual meeting of the Keith Paper company, held Thursday, May i2th,12th, the following officers were elected: President - A. Pagenstecher, New York
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Vice President - J.J. Bulkley.Bulkley." " " Clerk and Treasurer - A. R. Smith, Turners Falls Ass't. Treasurer - W. B. Marston, Turners Falls DirectorsDirectors- - A. Pagenstecher, J.J. Bulkley, R. Pagenstecher, N.Y., W.D. W. D. Russell, N.Y., E. A. Jones,Jones, Pittsfield, A. R. Smith, Turners Falls. -The iron bridge leading to the Keith mill has been painted. -The mill of the Keith Paper Co. is shut down all this week, because of business depression.
May 25 -The Keith mill resumed operations, Monday, after a week's shut-down.
JuneJune 1515 -The Keith mill resumed operations, Monday, after a week's shut-down.
JulyJuly 6 -The Keith mill is shut down this week.
September 21 -Kendall Luther of Riverside cut his thumb quite badly, the other day, while at his work in the Keith mill.
October 1212 Keith Paper Co. 1871-19211871-1921 The directors of the Keith Paper Co, held a special meeting, Friday,Fnday, Oct. 7, at the company's office. This meeting was one of more than ordinary significance; forthe the year 19211921 marks the 50th anniversary of the incorporation of the Keith Paper Co. and plans for this special meeting had been made some time ago. Following the business meeting there was an inspection of the millmull by the directors and the ladies by whom they were accompanied, after which all enjoyed a dinner at the Hotel Weldon in Green field, Manager Campbell preparing and serving a special menu in honor of the occasion. While the directors of the company were holding their business meeting, the ladies were taken in an automobile tour into the surrounding country and were given the opportunity to see our Connecticut valley at its best. The Keith Paper Co. in the 50 years off its existence, has attained a prominent position among the fine writing paper industries of New England; its products bear an enviable reputation and are in demand wherever fine papers are required and appreciated. Founded by that splendid figure of a man, expert paper manufacturer and executive genius,genrus, JohnJohn Keith; whose works and name live after him in the mill which he founded, the foundations and ideals on which he built have been; strictly adhered to by those who have followed him. How worthily he built and what nice judgment judgment he displayed in that solution of the many trying problems which he encountered, the present Keith Paper Co. bears testimony.
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An interesting fact in connection with the Keith Paper Co.'s history, is that there have been but three presidents of the company in the half century of its existence. JohnJohn Keith, the founder, was the first president and served till his death. Hon. Alexander H. Rice, who succeeded him, was a former mayor of Boston and later became the Governor of Massachusetts, and he too, served till his death, in 1895,1895, when he was succeeded by Albrecht Pagenstecher of New York, who has ever since been as president. Did time and space permit, the editor of the Reportereporter could tell much of the early history of the company and of its founder, facts with which the present generation are unfamiliar. It is an interesting story, not devoid of romance and certainly full of inspiration for all who admire worth and integrity and for all who take an interest in the beginnings of successful enterprises. November 1616 "Fifty Years of QualityQuality—1871-1921."—1871-1921." In commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the company, just just passed, the Keith Paper Co. has issued a very handsome souvenir booklet entitled "Fifty Years of Quality," which all of its customers and friends will greatly appreciate. The booklet is a work of art, beautifully designed, printed and bound, and fully ulustratedillustrated with very fine portraits of John John Keith, the founder and first president of the company; Hon. Alexander H. Rice the second president, and Albrecht Pagenstecher, the third and present president, and also with various views of the mullmill and the interior. A brief review of what has been accomplished in the 50 years of the Keith Paper Co.'s history makes interesting reading. The booklet is a symphony in cream and tan, the stock used throughout being Keith quality papers, together making a harmonious whole, fully emphasizing what "Keith quality" means in fine papers. The booklet it enclosed in a box to harmonize and there 1sis no doubt but every recipient of this little booklet will wish to preserve it.
November 23 -Michael-Michael Kelley of Central Street, who for many years has been employed in the Keith mill, has bought a grocery store, and will soon leave town to take charge of it. Mr. Kelley's wife and son have already gone and are taking charge of the business.
December 21 -The Keith block is being wired for electricity.
December 28 -Following their usual pleasant custom, the Keith Paper Co. distributed very atattractivetractive boxes of their fine stationery to their customers and friends, at Christmas. A box of choice Keith stationery is the last word in elegance in correct writing paper, and is a gift than which none is more appreciated or enjoyed. -The Esleeck Mfg. Co. made all their employees happy, Christmas, by presenting each with $10. The Keith Paper Co. presented each employee with pay in full for the Christmas day holiday. Both companies sent out Christmas greeting cards to their trades which were very beautiful and of most artistic character.
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-The office force of the Keith Paper Co. surprised their chief, Treasurer Albert R. Smith, at his home on High Street, Thursday evening, in honor of his 56th birthday. Mr. Smith, always a happy host, though thoroughly surprised, was equal to the occasion, and with his wife, who had been let into the secret, made the guests right welcome. A delightful evening was spent, games, music, supper, and hours of good fellowship beingbemg thoroughly enjoyed.
JanuaryJanuary 1818, , 11922922 -Arthur H. Guilbeault of G Street, who has been employed in the Federal Forestry department, has resigned and has gone to work for the Keith Paper Co. -In a bowling match between the Esleeck mill team, Captain William Croft,Croft, and the Keith millmull team, under the captainship of Karl F. Miller, played at the Turners Falls Inn alleys, Thursday night, the Esleeck forces were defeated. February 11 -In an exciting bowling match played between the Keith millmull office force and the Esleeck mill office force at the American House alleys, Monday night, the Keith mill players defeated their opponents.
February 8 Fifth Victory for Keith Bowlers The Keith mull mill office force and the Esleeck mull mill office force bad their 5th bowling match, Monday evening at the Turners Falls Inn, and for the fifth time,tume, the Esleeck mullmill office workers under the captainship of W.H. Croft, went down in defeat before the onslaught of the Keith players under the captainship of Karl F. Miller. This fifth consecutive victory by captain Miller'sMuller's playerswas was to the merry tune of 193193 pins. The EsleeckFsleeck players are at a loss to explain their hard luck, but they are still hoping to show their opponents that the race is not always to the swift.
February 1515 ""TheThe Romance of PaperPaper."." It was "Keith night" at ththee Opera house, Friday evening, the Keith Paper Co. having leaded the theatre for the purpose of displaying for the benefit of their employees and invited guests, the motion picture film, ''The"The Romance of Paper," winch depicts the manufacture, from a to 1zzardizzard of paper, one of the most! mighty agents of civilization and one in which Turners Falls takes a pronounced interest because of the large quantities produced here and because a marked proportion of our population derive their bread, butter and cake, directly or indirectly, from it. The film bad a further and more particular interest, also, because some of the scenes were made inside the Keith mull,mill, and naturally everyone was anxious to see how they "came out." The film is well named. There certainly is romance in the making of the product on which a drop of ink will make millions think. Not so very long ago we had it bombed, shot, gashed, and blown into us generally that "a scrap of paper" is no such thing, and it was actually thrillingthrillmg to see unfolded before one's eyes, the various processes by which a sheet of paper is1s evolved.
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The film went into great detail and not only showed the methods of manufacturing fine papers such as the Keith Paper Co. produce but also the manufacture of wood pulp paperspapers. . The methods of priming were also graphically portrayed, and all was made so clear that even a tyro after seeing the pictures has a very good idea of what happens between trees or rags and the newspaper he reads or the document to which he affixes his JohnJohn Hancock. "The Romance of Paper" was filmed by the J.J. W. Butler Paper Co. of Chicago, great distributors of paper, for whom the Keith Paper Co. make vast quantities of the highest grades of bond and ledger papers other mills supplying the various other grades of paper the company handles. It is distinctly educational and is part of the Butler company's policy to educate paper uses and printers particularly, in their products. All who had the pleasure of seeingseemg the motion pictures here through the courtesy of the Keith Paper Co., certainly learned a good deal and will take a more intelligent interest in the paper they use. The scenes made locally were instantly identified as they appeared on the screen and aroused much enthusiasm and joyfuljoyful comment. It was very evident that there is a fine esprit de corps among the happy family of Keith workers. Esleeck Bowlers Win SixthSixth Contest Capt. "Bill""Bull" Croft's team has finally pulled out a game from their ''Keith"Keith Conquerors," the first in six contests, No one 1sis more pleased over the result than the Keith team, as they were afraid that after five earlier tries "Bill's""Bull's" team would never come through. But he has won, and is happy. He won by the narrow margin of 38 pins; he 1sis still some 400 pins behind, and it is feared by the Esleeck sympathizers that the winter will not be long enough for them to possibly catchup up in any event. It is hoped however, that this may not be their last victory, as they must win more games if the Keith it to continue the series with them,them,—the—the Keith already having been approached to get into a higher class proposition.
March 8 Keith Paper Co. Branch of Recreation League Organized At a meeting of the Keith Paper Co, branch of the Community Service Girls'Guls' Recreation League, held at the Turners Falls Inn, FridayFiday evening, Miss Marion Cray was elected president; Annie Koskuba, vice president; Emma Stotz, treasurer; and Regina Corbiere, secretary. A membership committee was elected with Blanch Wagner as chairman, also a program committee to plan the activities of the club, with Leah McCarthy, chairman; Florence Dube, Irene Dent, Mamie Conway, and Rosabel Woodin. The club will use Harugari Hall one night a week for basket ball and other games. The club enjoyed bowling after the meeting. -Wallace B. Marston of the Keith Paper Co. has gone on a business trip to the west in the interests of the company.
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