Friday, October 4, 2013

Peerless Portland Cement Company

The following company history for the Peerless Portland Cement Company comes from the "Peerless Union City Michigan" booklet published by Tom F. Robinson in March of 1903. (To view the pages for the Peerless Portland Cement Company  from the booklet, go to the bottom of the posting.)

Question ....does anyone know the reason that the Peerless Portland Cement Company in Union City closed and what year?  Reading through the company history in Union City gives one the impression that it was a very profitable and thriving company when this article was written in 1903.  If you have any input, please email me at rchard1960@gmail.com

PEERLESS PORTLAND CEMENT COMPANY
hat Michigan's great subterranean wealth does not wholly consist of iron and· copper ore, salt, etc., has been plainly evidenced within the past five or six years, during which time the development is well under way of another underground source of wealth by the opening of the finest marl deposits in the country for the successful manufacture of Portland cement.  Until within a comparatively short time the importance of Portland cement was realized by comparatively few people.  While its use has been very large for many years, the demand for it has immensely increased during the past ten years.  New uses for the product are discovered almost every day, and, in fact, this has been termed, and not inaptly, the cement age.  Cement is now used so largely in all architectural construction that it requires millions upon millions of barrels to supply the demand in this direction alone.  Over 13,000,000 barrels of cement were used in this country in 1902, and the needs for 1903 are estimated at 20,000,000 barrels.

Today, Portland cement is recognized as one of the vital necessities in architecture, engineering, and building on land and water,” says one of the foremost authorities of the present day.  “It’s supreme value for constructive purposes lies in the peculiar property of hardening under water as well as in air, so that it finally becomes a solid rock; in its great tensile strength; and in the facility with which it is handled as well as in the ease with which it can be molded to take permanent shape.  For these practical reasons new avenues of usefulness are daily being opened for Portland cement.  There is not an engineering design to-day wherein the specifications do not call for a liberal a number of upright kilns to burn cement in Union City and this proved the inauguration of an industry which now promises to be one of the most important in the state.  Since the establishment of this plant in Union City great changes and improvements have been made in the process of manufacturing cement, and the factory here has ever been ready to adopt these improvements as fast as their value has been proved.  Not only this, but the Peerless Company has been instrumental in aiding the work by originating many changes in the old time methods of manufacture.
The plant of the Peerless Portland Cement Company is not only a mammoth one, but it is a model one as well, and it contains a number of original features not to be found in any other factory in the world.  A very satisfactory grade of cement was made by the old upright burning kiln method, but the process was of necessity slow and expensive.  In consequence the plant was reconstructed early in 1902.  The enlargement and improvements necessitated an additional expenditure of $350,000.  The burning is done by nine immense rotary kilns, each seventy feet in length, the output of cement being over twelve hundred barrels per diem.  Everything about the plant is modern and up to date, and from the time the raw material enters the factory until the finished product is ready for shipment, none but approved are taken for analysis.  If the composition proves to be lacking in any respect, the required ingredient is added and the whole mass mixed, sampled, and analyzed as before.  This is repeated as many times as necessary in order to obtain the correct chemical composition.
The slurry is then elevated and run into large cylinder tube mills half filled with flint pebbles.  As  these mills revolve, the slurry is ground to a fine silky paste.  Samples of this paste are tested every hour to be sure that there has been no change in the composition.  This is where the incomparable facilities of the Peerless Company are of the greatest advantage.  For besides the possession of a variety of grades of raw materials, they have better facilities for mixing large quantities at one time.  As the slurry leaves the tube mills, it is conveyed into large storage vats, with a capacity of two thousand barrels.  Here it is kept in constant motion by the aid of compressed air, thus avoiding all settling and assuring additional mixing.  From these vats it is again elevated and passed into the battery of eight of the latest pattern rotary kilns.  This is undoubtedly the most interesting part of the plant, and is one of the finest rotary plants in the country.  A number of innovations have been introduced here for increasing and improving the output, for which the Peerless Company may well feel proud.  This supply of Portland cement; “this demand is universal throughout the civilized world, and it will be many years, if not centuries, before the supply will be equal to the demand."
Another writer under recent date says: "I believe that the unlimited quantities of shell marl, practicality pure carbonate of lime, deposited in many parts of Michigan, will prove to be one of her richest legacies.  The copper country has proved to be a veritable Eldorado.  Michigan iron mines have made men multi-millionaires.  Michigan forests have been converted into fabulous fortunes.  The coal belt has enriched thousands.  The salt rock here is of such enormous proportions as to supply the whole world for thousands of year.  But the latest and not least important industry is the manufacture of
Portland cement."
It is not the intent of the writer, however, to enter upon a detailed account of the hundreds of uses to which Portland cement may  be put, but rather to sum up the history of the industry in Michigan by giving a brief account of the Peerless Portland Cement Company of this city.  The Peerless plant may with justice be termed the pioneer cement plant in the state.  Early in the sixties there was a little one kiln plant in Kalamazoo, which was abandoned after a brief existence.  In 1896 the Peerless Company built scientific methods are used and the result is that Peerless cement stands every required test and is in great demand for all classes of building and construction.
 The company owns several thousand acres of valuable marl land and clay beds of exactly the right kind for the manufacture of high-grade cement.  A brief account of the process of manufacture employed in the Peerless factory will prove of interest:  "The marl is dredged and loaded on cars and hauled to the factory by a railroad owned and operated by the company.  There the marl is weighed and dumped directly into a mixing- machine, where water and the right amount of clay are added.  After a thorough mixing in this, it is dumped into a pug mill where the mixing process continues.  After a sufficient pugging the mass, then called ‘slurry,' is run into a large vat, which has a capacity of one thousand barrels of cement, and furnished with mixing and stirring devices.  There are three of these vats in the factory.  As soon as one vat is filled and thoroughly mixed, two samples immense battery comprises eight rotaries, each being seventy feet long, ten feet longer than those in any other Michigan mill.  The slurry runs in at one end and in its progress through the kiln is thoroughly dried and burned, dropping out at the other end in the form of clinker.  The fuel used is pulverized coal, which is ignited and blown into the kiln at one end.  After the clinker is passed through the cooling machines, a steel conveyor delivers it into a set of very heavy steel rolls, where it is reduced to the size of rice.  Then it is conveyed to the hoppers which feed the eight Griffin mills and here it is ground to a fine powder.  Peerless cement is of exceptionally fine texture, and as this is a very important matter, the powdered cement from the Griffin mills is reground in large tube mills and it will, therefore, be found that Peerless cement contains a greater per cent of impalpable powder than other cements.  This accounts for its great sand carrying qualities."

Few people are aware of the importance of a well-equipped and carefully conducted laboratory in a cement factory, and here the Peerless Company is particularly fortunate.  In fact, much of the success attending the production of Peerless cement is due to the laboratory work and to the care which is exercised in testing the material at every stage of manufacture.  At the marl and clay beds samples of the raw material are regularly taken to the laboratory for analysis.  Repeatedly during the mixing process are tests made.  Nor does this thoroughness and care in mixing stop with the slurry, but is carried throughout the entire process of manufacture.  The efficient system for averaging and mixing the raw material is alone the best guaranty one can have of the strictly uniform quality of the product.  At each new stage the material is tested and approved.  The finished cement, too, as it comes from the grinding mills is tested twice each day and a careful record kept on file in the laboratory.  A sample is also taken from each car shipped and a complete test made.
The plant of the Peerless Portland Cement Company is not only a mammoth nee, but a model factory as well.  The buildings cover acres of ground and are of brick, cement, and steel construction.  The power to drive this immense institution is derived from one of the finest power plants in the state.  Four Scotch Marine internally fired boilers furnish steam for driving a 500 horse-power Hamilton-Corliss engine, a 400 horse-power Fitchburg tandem compound engine, and a 300 horse-power simple engine.  A 677 horse-power generator transforms a goodly portion of the power electrically, and twenty-odd electric motors drive a number of the machines.  Rope transmission is used from one of the engines.  The whole plant is lighted by electricity generated upon the premises - an important feature when it is considered that the factory is run night and day during the entire season.
The storage facilities of the institution are unsurpassed and provide for the storing of over 100,000 barrels of cement.  The factory lies close to the Michigan Central Railroad and switches enter the shipping department.

A vast amount of money has been spent by the Peerless Company in the effort to reach perfection in the manufacture of Portland cement, and that they have done so is evinced by the widespread popularity of their product and the fact that it has responded with credit to the most exacting tests made.  The gentlemen at the head of the institution have been untiring in their efforts and they are to be congratulated upon the success which has been attained.  The officers of the company are: President, A. W. Wright; Vice-President, S. O. Bush; General Manager, J. R. Patterson; Secretary and Treasurer, Wm. M. Hatch; Assistant Manager and Chemist, A. Lundteigen.
J. R. PATTERSON
Who has been the capable general manager of the Peerless Portland Cement Company of this city since September, 1899, was born at Buffalo, N. Y., July 28, 1861, and his early life was passed there and in Canada.  Twenty-four years ago he went to Chicago and within a year thereafter he became engaged in the cement business, a line which he has with success followed ever since.  For twenty years he was one of the leading dealers in cement in Chicago, doing a large business under the firm name of J. R. Patterson & Co.  His extended experience in this line has been of great value to him since he was called to take charge of the Peerless plant three years ago.  At that time the factory here was not the extensive and modern plant that it is today, and the main work of placing the institution in an up-to-date condition and upon a paying basis fell upon the shoulders of Mr. Patterson.  Through obstacle after obstacle he pushed his way with indomitable courage and perseverance and the result of his efforts is the plant of the Peerless Portland Cement Company as it stands to-day.  Mr. Patterson is a heavy stockholder in the enterprise and in his work he has been backed up by his fellow stockholders as well as by the capable assistance of his associates in the management of the business. Mr. Patterson is a thorough business man, alive to the needs of the moment and with dear discernment as to future conditions.  His is a pleasant and courteous nature and he is in consequence decidedly popular in business and social circles.  He was married June 3, l895, to Miss Nola Harned and they have one daughter, Hazel.  The family occupy a handsome and modern home on Barry Street.  Mr. Patterson devotes his entire time to the interests of the Peerless Portland Cement Company and he is known throughout the state as one of the successful manufacturers of this product.  He is also interested in various other local enterprises, and he is looked upon as one of Union City's hustling and progressive citizens.
COL. WM. M. HATCH
Who holds the responsible position as secretary and treasurer of the Peerless Portland Cement Company of this city, was born in Battle Creek, Mich., Jan. 14, 1872, and his home was in Calhoun's metropolis until he came to Union City, Feb. 26, 1896.  He graduated from the Battle Creek High School, and soon thereafter entered the offices of the Advance Thresher Company of that city, a position which he satisfactorily filled for six years, receiving in the meantime deserved promotion.  At the date of the organization of Company L, Second Infantry, M. N. G., in 1896, Mr. Hatch was elected as first lieutenant, and in July of the following year he succeeded Captain Caldwell as captain of the Company.  On April 23, 1898, the date of the declaration of war with Spain, the company was ordered to prepare for mustering into the U. S. service, and the members went south under the name of Company D, 32nd Michigan Volunteer Infantry.  After the dose of the war Captain Hatch remained at the head of the company until a year after he comes to Union City.  During the period of his captaincy the company was considered one of the best in the 32nd regiment and made an enviable record.  During the past three years, Col. Hatch has served upon the military staff of Gov. A. T. Bliss, the position carrying with it the title of Colonel.  Fraternally, Col. Hatch is affiliated with the local Masonic lodges and with Battle Creek Lodge No. 573, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and he also belongs to the Military Order of Foreign Wars.  In a business way he retains the high esteem of his associates, and socially he is most popular in this city and in Battle Creek.
ANDREW LUNDTEIGEN
Assistant manager and chemist for the Peerless Portland Cement Company of this place, is a man eminently fitted for the position, as regards both natural qualifications, education, and practical experience.  He was born in Norway, Sept. 29, 1862, and his early life was passed in his native country.  He pursued a course of study at the University of Christiania, in Norway, and he has made chemistry his life-work, especially as regards the application of the science to the manufacture of cement.  That he has been eminently successful in his avocation is evidenced by the fact that he has held positions as head chemist with some of the largest cement factories in this country.  He came to America in 1886, and he has ever since this time been interested in the manufacture of Portland cement.  Just previous to coming to Union City in the autumn of 1899 he had charge of the laboratory in a large cement factory at Yankton, S. Dak.  His reputation as one of the best cement chemists in this country led the management of the Peerless Company to seek to secure his services.  They were successful in this, and no small share of credit is due Mr. Lundteigen for the completeness of the plant as it now stands and the excellent reputation of the product upon the market.  The quality of the output of a cement factory depends so much upon the management of its laboratory, that a factory of this sort can ill afford to employ incompetent chemists.  In this instance the Peerless management was extremely fortunate in securing the services of the gentleman whose name heads this sketch.  Mr. Lundteigen occupies a handsome home on Barry Street, the structure being built almost wholly of cement.
In former years Portland cement was only used in rough construction, but all the beauties that are now created by architectural designs are being brought out by cement concrete moldings into any desired form and tint.  Constant tests are being made and experiments that bring out new ideas in construction.  It has been demonstrated that residences constructed of concrete cost only one half as much in fuel to heat as of any other material.   The combined power of chemistry and machinery has brought about wonders.  Cement stone is to-day being made that will not laminate and decay with age.  Entire houses are now being built of cement, and Chas. F. Limmins, the California educator, who has employed cement in the entire flooring of his dwelling, writes: ."When cleaning-day comes, the hose can be turned in upon the drawing-room floor, and, in fact, the entire establishment flushed with water."
Under the heading, "Michigan Leads in the Plastic Age," the Detroit News-Tribune says editorially: It is a matter of common knowledge that the use of Portland cement is steadily increasing.  Its use in concreting for foundations and basement flooring and for street pavements, account for a certain part of the increase.  It is becoming a recognized fact that it is easier and generally much cheaper to make an artificial stone, molded to size and shape, than it is to quarry a rock from its parent bed and hew it into proper form with mallet and chisel.  Cement offers itself to every caprice of the architect.  In many, if not in most, cases it is better for the required purpose than natural rock.  It makes admirable sidewalks.  It can be molded into all the forms that are possible with terra cotta, and it can be so molded about a steel column as to give it the appearance of a hewn pillar of rock, adding to the supporting strength of the steel and protecting it from rust.  That it is a permanent building material is well established.  The splendid hotels at St. Augustine, Fla., are examples of its utility in large buildings.  The homestead of James Vreeland in Monguagon Township, built in 1876, is another example of its utility for ordinary building purposes for the building is as solid as if hewn out of the living rock.
Michigan is one of the greatest producers of cement because of peculiar geological conditions.  The slate is gently rolling.  Most of the streams are sluggish, and many counties abound in numerous lakes of shallow depth and muddy bottom.  Some of these lakes were the creations of old beaver dams which backed up the waters of swamps and slow streams, until they filled the low ground about them, when the great processes of nature began, which ultimately transformed them into lands of the most fertile type.  Water-lilies, arrowhead, and marine grasses spring up, and each year they scatter their dead leaves and stems over the bottom to form a soft muck.  Myriads of crustaceans and mollusks appear in the bottom, and each generation as it dies leaves its shells, which are almost pure carbonate of lime.  The lime collects in a stratum, the thickness depending upon the length of time the pond or lake is in existence, and the prevalence of food for such animals.  Time and the action of the elements reduces all the shells to lime, and presently along comes an investigator who scoops up the marl, as this deposit is called, combines it with siliceous sand, and bums the two in intimate mixture until he has a fine, gray powder which when mixed with water will unite together with the firm cohesion of a rock.
"Another source of cement supply is in the outcropping beds of limestone, some of which are of particularly fine quality of carbonate of lime. This stone crushed and roasted in combination with the other ingredients of cement makes a very convenient and altogether perfect source of supply.  The limestone beds are merely older formations than the marl beds, which have to lie many ages before they cement themselves into solid rock.  The cement manufacturer sets up his business wherever he finds the material most convenient to his hand.  His market is constantly expanding as the demand for cement grows from familiarity with its usefulness."

The query has been made: How long will the material in Michigan for the manufacture of cement last?  Practical men, who have investigated the subject thoroughly, believe that the supply is almost inexhaustible.  This question asked at the different factories, shows that the material in sight would supply the factories now built, and in process of construction, at the rate of 30,000 barrels daily, over one hundred years, and the field is scarcely opened.
The question has often been asked if the consumption of cement will warrant its greatly increasing manufacture.  The introduction of improved American machinery has reduced the cost of manufacture until it is within the reach of thousands, who a few years ago were forced to deny themselves of its use.  It now enters into the construction of all kinds of structural work, bridges, roadways, sidewalks, foundations, and even into buildings, both in cities and on farms.  It is the one material that is impervious to heat, frost, and dampness.

Twenty years ago only 13 per cent of the cement used in this country was of domestic manufacture.  Ten years later our consumption had increased and only 25 per cent was imported.


2 comments:

Unknown said...

I have many family photos of this plant and workers circa 1903

Genealogy TidBits said...

John... would be most happy to post any pictures you have on the blog, if interested in sending me a copy to my email address. Ron