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The Era yTH- Ma J L r NORTH YORK INTELIIGSNGSR AN Ki io to utter and to freely according to conscience above all other liberty i v No paper cent outside of North York unless paid in advance J26 I I JT ttttjHts L It pays to the best -oxo- If you that want Binder to the other runs pound twine more than you Work on every tag HARDW must buy Plymouth Special ure Manilla Wo other twine is Just as Good PLYMOUTH lb lb as nrvarket Friday July 1900 per annum if paid in advance 1 little KoWo by otr people The and Hon Davie PAIN ETC Try Our Homomade Bread wholesome arid sweet We please two- thirds of oho people of Newmarket with our Bread Why not you of the Our Aim Is not How Cheap How Good 0 The has how enter ed upon its year The following testify to its Stab Liber ality PopOlarity Accumulated Funds over Spring Goods Cannot Surpassed and our of woolcofl season Bonuses Already Paid i During year 1898 or for vartoty tivo designs and general The latest styles of shades of ex ceptionable value and wearing durability Fancy Vestings and Fancy Trouserings included Call and examine and make your soleotion His son J the trade when served a full the age of The baa in Canada to over Four Dollars Assure now avid a share of GEO HUNT j J cbool Work CLASSES From to pin for and jduds Now to Improve your education moderate J POLLOCK A Huron at Weal Gold 285 150 yrfl Gold WatGlasw- Toronto a on Lake Erie the Idler by Mr James of Cleveland went down with and five Other members of family Tha Pearl with dureionists on board ran oh at Crystal and her with difficulty rem elegit Hay is no more country in York coun ty than the high lands of Ontario known as Oak running thru the lovvn- of King as anyone who has tra velled this municipality to any extent well and on a branch of Dumber liver which takes its rise the Ridges nut far from source Of the Holland hut flows in he oppos ite direction emptying into Lake On tario in i most romantic situation a ho a mile and a quarter west of King City are located the tannery and residence of Hon J Davis num ber for York in the Ontario Very few of our readers have any conception of the extern carried ojt by the I on Commissioner of Crown Lands assistance of his sons The tannery was purchased by Mr And rev Davis father of Hon J Davis in woo apprehended that the water contained properties- most admirably adapted to the tanning busi ness being also removed from any large centre of population where it might be considered an inconvenience by some on account of the odor there from although with the modern introduced an carried on and even one unaccustomed to the- trade would scarcely perceive an odor and yet in the midst of a thickly wooded district affording a supply of bark necessary for business operations From the very first the success of the enterprise was assured Mr Davis was a prac tical man and thoroughly understood tanning as it was then carried on Davis began to learn years of age and apprenticeship and at had a complete know ledge of the manufacture of leather in all its branches and was taken into partnership under the style of A Da vis Son- At this time the number of men employed was about six The demand for Davis leathers continually increased The firm began to intro duce machinery and in the num ber of men employed reached In this year Mr Andrew Davis decided to retire and sold out his interest to his son J who then became sole own er and has continued the business un der the same firm style to the A month after Mr Davis retir ed the whole plant was destroyed by fire entailing a heavy financial loss to the new proprietor as only a partial insurance was carried owing to the heavy rate charged on tanneries As in all such cases the stoppage of busi ness for a considerable length of time was an additional loss The future course of the enterprise was now to be decided Requests came in by wire and letter from nearly municipali ties that the business should be locat ed within their limits offering cash bo nuses of various amounts exemption from taxation for a term of years and other inducements At the time of tho fire Mr Davis was Warden of York County in which he was horn and where he had lived and served a number of years in the Municipal Council of the Township of King and was acquainted with the people and had received many expression of confi dence from them Although a change could have been made to the financial advantage of the business both by way of bonus and more convenient railway facilities Mr Davis decided to rebuild on the old site without any bonus and continue to live where his boyhood and business days had been spent and give any advantage which might flow from the harness in future to the Township of Kiiimd North York Plans on a larger scale were prepared and in a few months a fully equipped double the that our readers would lie interested in knowing something about this industry which today not less than men giving constant j work the year round an Km re- porter look a drive down to the a few days ago and made some notes of what he saw the result of is this Jtrticle Which J city of the old was in fanning order business continued to inertias more hands were employed and as years went on improvements and ad ditions were continually made to meet j the demands of trade and the altered processes of manufacture Hie years and large additions were made to the buildings and chine at a total cost of about which about doubled the form er capacity i 1 Tins Is an immense wooden struc ture feet long and CO feet wide A stories high with a wing feet stories high the whole being paint- red with trimmings The process of manufacture is full of The hides are purchased in car load Jots in the old country or Canadian each hide being tied up separately for convenience in shipping Oil reaching the tannery they are Opened and suspended in fresh water large vats being used for this purpose holding hides each and the water is changed every day As soon as they are taken out of these vats hides arc cut down the back and thereafter called tildes They are then passed through a Vaughn fleshing ma chine an American invention which has a capacity of sides per day This machine cuts off all the fat or fleshy substances which may he left on the hide by the butchers The sides then go into a series of lime vats of graded strength where they remain from to days for the purpose of loosening the hair being removed from one vat to another by a power reel There vats used for this process The sides are then taken out of the lime and the hair is taken off by an attachment to the Vaughn flesh ing machine having a capacity of hides per day The hair is placed on racks where it drains for hours then wheeled to the drying room plac ed on racks and dried by means of hot air passing through it being driven by a fan and heated by passing through steam pipes The hair is then put in to sacks and shipped in car load lots for builders use with the exception of the white hair which is separated from the other and sold for manufac turing purposes The sides are then washed in large wheels about 10 to feet in diameter and into which a stream of water is constantly pouring with holes through the wheel out of which the water and dirt run in this way cleansing the sides The water is pumped from a dam in the creek by a duplex water pump and everything throughout the tannery is studied to lessen manual labor The sides now pass Into what is known as the bait wheel about at a time where the lime is removed by a chemical wash From the bait wheel the sides are fine haired by hand process and after be ing washed again go to the coloring wheels of which there are in use They are then suspended in vats of graded liquor for three weeks 36 vats being used for this purpose After this they thrown loosely into other vats of stronger liquor also graded where they remain till suffici ently tanned to be taken out for split ting purposes vats in all being re quired for tanning purposes From these vats the leather goes to the steam press where 20 tons pressure is given to squeeze the liquor out the leather The sides are then put through a drum wheel and afterwards passed under an Iron jack making Die leather smooth and in good shape for the splitter The leather then sort ed into various grades and run through a belt knife splitting machine which can bo adjusted to any substance may bo desired This is a fine piece of machinery the latest kind one of its advantages being the auto matic sharpening of the knife as it continually revolves That for black shoo leathers is then run through the wheels where a sufficient quantity of grease is put in to the leather to make it pliable hav ing been previously dissolved in tubs fitted with steel coils It is then sent upstairs to the currying shop and set out by hand then hung up and dried The leather intended for shoes bag and strap to do what employed a number form erly The colored leathers are set by band after being dyed then taken up stairs stretched and dried then print ed by iron jacks and finished in vari ous ways according to the class of The blacking is done by a machine introduced since the first of the year which does excellent work and also saves much labor All scrap leather and are sent to the lop floor by steam elevator where bides it is dried and packed ready for ship ping On the second floor there is a large brush wheel which gives a pol- to the leather and it is after wards glazed by machinery and hoard ed by band to produce a fine soft grain Splits are divided into two classes the lighter ones being finished into wax splits for the English mar ket while the heavier arc finished into flexible inner soloing for the Canadian market As almost the whole output of the tanner v is sold by measure it is from otic to the other all worked on the principle of what is known as the system of leaching said by experienced men to be the best ii use on the continent The liquors are cooled in in a building adjoining the leacH house These tanks are feet in depth and feet in diameter After the liquor is cool ed il is ready to be conveyed to the tannin- vats in main building the leach house is the bark how feet where the hark is cut by a Daisy planer and conveyed to the leaches in order to take the strength out for tanning The consumption of bark is atom cords per annum the principal part of which is brought from the northern districts of the Province by rail Several teams are constantly employ ed in hauling supplies of bark and and shipping leather The stables are located on the op posite side of the stream from the tannery They are commodious con veniently arranged and painted a uni form color with the A wind- mill a few yards away from the pumps all the water required for and a fool into a at the top of llc and water is con veyed underground pipes on the principle of Water work Just in front of reservoir is located the tannery slorv house 6n feet convenient places also for putting down cut feed bedding etc stable is fitted up more particularly for the feeding of having spe cial regard to ventilation water feed ing and other conveniences The man ure cars are simple ingenious contriv ances being large boxes suspended a steel cable running the whole of the walls and feet stable door giving ample on length outside the room for HON J DAVIS Commissioner of Ontario bands to have accurate machine for that purpose and the one used is the Sawyer measuring machine ac cepted as the standard machine by tanners and shoe manufacturers the stories high Oils grease and hides are stored here as well as any finish ed leather that may be on hand Wonderful changes have taken place in the tanning business during the last world over It is of very ingenious j few years Formerly construction run by power and the all sold by weight now number of feet each side or split con- entirely sold by the leather was it is almost measure It used to tains is shown on a dial like a large clock as it passes through the ma chine The whole premises are heated by the heating and ventilating system manufactured at Gait which is a much better system than the ordinary steam heating used pre vious to its introduction There is no difficulty in keeping the whole premises comfortable during the coldest days in winter and at the same time it gives good ventilation which is of advant age for the drying of stock as well as for the health of those engaged in the work The air is driven by a fan through a coil of steam pipes con taining a good many thousand and then distributed by galvanized iron intended pipes to all parts of the building as required The power is supplied by a Wieelock engine located in the power bouse a separate building at the rear of the tannery along side of which are two of and each and the fuel used is spent bark and coal screenings The spent is brought from the kadi of carriers and lifted take four to months to turn out col- house by means of carriers ieathers is and deposited so as to feed the fur- automatically an average slock now light leathers can be tanned properly and a good ar ticle produced that will wear well in from to months- There is one pleasant feature in connection with this industry that while a great many labor saving machines have been intro duced still no men have been displac ed but on the other hand the number of employees has been increasing steadily from year to year This has been caused by the increased output of the plant THE FARM About three years ago Mr Davis purchased a farm near the tannery containing acres which with the land adjoining the tannery gives him about or acres for farming purposes and as during the year there are two or three loads of re fuse from the tannery which is excel lent foe fertilizing purposes it is much easier to keep a farm good condi tion and although the farm was very much tun down it is beginning to show the result of work and manure A new barn was erected last year feet feet posts hip roof on a The leach house cement wail On the main is located the tank which holds 130 bar- dumping the manure The ventilation shafts for the stable receive the puro air and discharge the impure air with out going through the ham and has proven by experience to be an excel lent and effective system of ventilation which is very important where a num ber of cattle are being fed The wa ter is supplied automatically from tank to a small basin in front of each animal The stalls arc fitted with a patent feeding apparatus the wood work is made from elm and is light and neat so constructs that there is the least possible waMe in with the feeding is a very portent matter in feeding cattle fc market Each animal a chain tie so arranged as to keep in the elevated stall and yet allow feet freedom with its head Trie were head of tattle feeding at time of our visit a number of had not heen out of their stalls sin- the 1st of November On the samp floor is the root j with a capacity of several thousand bushels of roots as well as a horse stable which is entirely separated from the cattle by a board partition I An opening leads to the silo situated outside the building which is circular in form feel deep and has a capa- city of from to tons thing is so arranged that j the cost of feeding is reduced to a minimum I There is also on the farm a piggery 70 feet and another equal size on the land near the and the stock of begs varies from to The farm piggery has a cement floor throughout and is divided into lS pens The granary holds enough feed to do from to months Corn oats shorts bra and sugar beets are used for the quantities of each kind of being varied according to the price There is also a large furnace for boil ing the feed when required Two large tanks are placed overhead which are supplied with water by the mill with pipes running to each pen so that there is a constant supply of pure water There is one very important part- of the tannery which we have forgottet to mention and that is the office though not very pretentious it is con Yemeni comfortable and compact It is divided into two apartments the private office being finished in natural wood oiled and varnished Every thing in this Department is under the supervision of Mr Aubrey Davis who also assists in the colored leather de partment Mr J Johnston is on the road most of the time selling tic product of the tannery throughout the Dominion The balance of the work in connection with the tannery as well as the farm is looked after by Mr Elmer Davis and all three have a practical knowledge of the business and are on the alert continually to improve the quality of the stock in troduce new lines and increase the output It is a remarkable freak of trade that some of the hides purchas ed in the old country are from Cana dian cattle shipped to that country and arc here and manufactur ed into leather some of is re- shipped to England Id competition with the home product In connection with the situated alongside of the tannery is a large platform scale with a capacity is weighed that Is bought and sold of tons On these scales everything and this applies to farm supplies and stock as well as to the tannery In this way there is no juess work but accurate knowledge of every de partment The office is directly con nected with the Ml Telephone sys tem of Ontario and in touch with outside points There also branch lines connecting the tannery tho farm and the residences of both Hon J Davis and his son Elmer Many thousands of dollars are paid out every year for wages in connection with this business all of great advantage to the country J the coloring Is another two buildup the tame now w receives lone and ft wide situated the eels of water and which is by shade e be wind mill pumping from shade can Tho bulk of bulled on a Vaughn whitening machine This machine one of the latest ad ditions to the tannery and is a won derful labor saver one man being able six separate leaches A3 feet deep nnrt feet deep feet- in diameter fitted with a ays- granaries tern of pumps which keep the liquor in building continuous circulation by the main floor axe one at each end of with chutes to the stable There are trap doors loo two the un fit It is announced that the Ontario of Public Works has it the plans and specifications for the ico house and cold buildings for which the will give grants The system cold storage buildings be liable durable simple of to maintain and within reach persons of limited means The big on the plans presented will for labor and materials