Moline Quarry--2nd attempt

[ddurbin]

Let me try this again.  These articles all deal with the early days of the Moline Quarry and since it is coming up for sale at auction in December, they are rather timely right now.  All come from THE MOLINE REVIEW.

Feb. 23, 1906
Receiver's Sale
State of Kansas
County of Elk
In the District Court sitting within and for the said County of Elk and State of Kansas
J W Farrow, Plaintiff,
      vs
The Moline Lime and Cement Company, Defendant

    By virtue of an order of the District Court, sitting within and for the County of Elk and State of Kansas, I will on Monday, February 26, 1906, at 10 o'clock A. M. of said day, at the South door of the Court House in Howard, in the County and State aforesaid, offer at public sale and sell to the highest bidder for cash in hand, all right, title and interest of the above named Defendant in and to the lime kiln plant consisting of the following described property to-wit:
    The East half of the Northeast quarter of the Southwest quarter of Section Twelve, in Township Thirty-one, Range Ten East, a side track or spur of railroad, one stone crusher, one engine, one set of cooper's tools, a lot of barrel material, one horse, one buggy, and one set of harness, and 10000 feet of gas pipe line said property being situated and located about two miles east of Moline, in said county.
Dated this 22nd Day of January A. D. 1906
          W. S. Beaty, Receiver

March 9, 1906
ELK COUNTY REALTY RECORD
for week ending Mar. 6, 1906
Moline L and C Co to J W Farrow Recivers Deed e ne sw 12-31-10

March 2, 1906
LIME PLANT SOLD
Dr. J. W. Farrow purchased the plant of the Lime and Cement Co and a company will soon take hold of it and begin to operate it.

April 27, 1906
ELK COUNTY REALTY RECORD
for week ending Apr. 17, 1906
J W Farrow et us to W A Elstun w d E ne-sw 12-31-10

April 20, 1906
LIME PLANT SOLD
The New Company Takes Charge Immediately and the Plant Will be Enlarged
NEW BUILDINGS TO BE ERECTED
It Will be Known as the Moline Lime, Stone and Cement Company.

W. A. Elstun has succeeded in interesting some eastern parties with unlimited capital in the lime plant and has sold it.  A new company has been incorporated for $50,000 under the laws of Ohio to operate the business.  It will be known as the Moline Lime, Stone and Cement Company.  H. Ackerman is president, L. B. Uncapher, secretary; John A King treasurer, and W. A. Elstun, of this city, general superintendent.  Dr. J. W. Farrow, of this city, is also a stockholder.  Dr. Farrow is also on the board of directors.  The others are of Marion, O.

These Ohio men are experienced in the business as they own and operate five large plants there.  They know the business thoroughly and have looked over the field and material here and say there is no doubt but that they can make first-class lime here.  They intend to erect six lime kilns, put in a grinder to prepare stuff for glass factories, and erect a crusher to maek ballast for railroad making.  Work has already commenced under the direction of Richard England, who came from Marion, O., to take charge of the operations.

This means much to Moline as it starts the town on an industrial career.  This plant will employ from twenty-five to fifty men and bring in much money from outside sources.  It opens the way to develop the resources in which this portion of the state is rich.  Other industries will follow.

Mr. Elstun desrves much credit for interesting the eastern capitalist in the development of the lime business here.  He will have charge of the business here, having the office of general superintendent of the company.  He deserves to succeed and the success of the business is now practically assured.  There is much demand for the products of the factory, and with plenty of capital, experenced operators, abundance of material easily accessible, the enterprise should proceed without delay to a successful career.

------to be continued------

[genealogynut]

There is also a biography on Dr. J. W. Farrow on the genealogy board.

[Janet Harrington]

So, the Moline Quarry was sold back in 1906 and it will be selling again in 2006.  How ironic about the years!!!!

[ddurbin]

As promised (some time ago) here are more articles on the history of the Moline Quarry.  All are taken from THE MOLINE REVIEW, and are not to be considered as totally complete.  I'm sure to have missed some. 

May 25, 1906---H. Ackerman, of Marion, Ohio, president of the Moline Lime, Stone and Cement company, was here Monday to look over their business.

June 8, 1906---The Moline Lime, Stone and Cement company sold its third car of lime Tuesday.  The Paper company at Independence telephoned for this car.  The plant is now turning out a car of lime every second day.

June 8, 1906---L. V. Uncapher, of Marion, Ohio, was here last week to look over the work of the Moline Lime, Stone and Cement Co., of which he is secretary.  He was well pleased with what he saw and left Saturday evening for his home.

June 29, 1906---Richard England, who has been the foreman at the lime plant, returned Tuesday to his home in Marion, O.  His place has been taken by Lew Ward, also of Marion.

October 19, 1906---LIME PLANT TO BE ENLARGED
L. V. Uncapher, of Marion, Ohio, has been here this week making arrangements for the enlargement of the plant of the Moline Lime, Stone and Cement company, of which he is secretary.

On Tuesday, C. S. Osborn, the county surveyor was down and laid off the ground for the new building.  They expect to make an outlay of $50,000, and will begin at once to do so.  There will be six new lime kilns, a stone crusher, for preparation of material for railroad ballast and macadam for roads and street and concrete structure, and a stone grinder to prepare lime stone to use in the manufacture of glass.  The machinery has been ordered including two 75-horse power boilers.  They will increase the railroad side track to 1,600 feet.  They have a good market already for the product of their plant, and will make a success of it.  They have been burning lime in one kiln all summer, and are turning out quite a good bit of lime, but they can sell all they can burn in the seven kilns.  The glass factories east of here will take all the product of their stone grinder.  The crusher will turn out twenty-five or thirty cars per day.  There is a growing demand for that kind of material and they have a market already for a lot of it.

They have an unlimited amount of raw material, a ledge of lime rock fourteen feet thick overhangs the site of their works and can be handled mostly by gravity.  Underlying this is 21-inch of the nicest kind of lime building stone for which there is a good market.

Hon. W. A. Elstun in general superintendent of the works here.  He interested the eastern capital in the project and secured their business for Moline which will employ about 100 and fifty men when completed.  Dr. J. W. Farrow is also interested in the enterprise.

October 19, 1906---Mr. and Mrs. L. V. Uncapher, of Marion, O. arrived in the city last Friday evening.  Mr. Uncapher is secretary of the Moline Lime, Stone and Cement Co., and came to look over their affairs and make ready for the large increase they are going to make in their plant.  Mrs. Uncapher came along to see Kansas.  They are the gurest of Mr. and Mrs. W. A. Elstun.

October 19, 1906---Hon. And Mrs. W. A. Elstun and Mr. And Mrs. L. V. Uncapher spent Sunday with Mr. and Mrs. P. P. Rhodes, ten miles northwest of Howard.  They had a most delightful time barring a little discomfort coming home in the rain.

October 19, 1906---Mr. and Mrs. L. V. Uncapher and Mr. and Mrs. W. A. Elstun spent Wednesday in Wichita, the men in the interest of the Lime company, and the ladies in their own interest.

October 26, 1906---Seven car loads of material for the Lime company arrived this week and are being unloaded.  The work of enlarging the plant will be pushed vigorously as the weather will permit.

February 1, 1907---Mr. and Mrs. L. V. Uncapher left Thursday morning for California to remain a short time before returning to their home at Marion, Ohio.

August 16, 1907---WANTED—Twenty-five men at the Moline Lime plant at $1.75 per day.  See W. A. Elstun, Supt.

August 16, 1907---Hon. W. A. Elstun went to Topeka Tuesday to figure with some parties on a bill of goods from the Moline Lime Plant.  He also will represent the Brick Company on this trip.

August 16, 1907---AN OPPORTUNITY—The Lime Company had the misfortune to have a lot of lime burned at a time when they couldn't get barrel material and the weather being excessively hot it slacked on their hands, so it had to be dumped outside.  There is nothing so good for some of the old land in this vicinity as a slight dressing of lime and any farmer can get the lime for the hauling of it away.  No one should neglect so good an opportunity to get material for enriching his land at so little cost.

September 20, 1907---The lime company have a larger force of men at work than ever before, but they can not yet keep up with their orders.  The crushed rock business is growing to great proportions.

November 15, 1907---Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Thew returned Sunday morning to their home at Marion Ohio.  He had been here two or three months looking after the interest of the Moline Lime, Stone and Cement company, of which he is vice-president.

March 20, 1908---The Lime company are bringing in a new rig and will drill five or six wells at once on their leases near their plant.  They have some of the best oil and gas lands in this territory, and will develop it thoroughly.  Charlie Wilson and Higgenbotham will do the drilling.

J. W. Thew and family, who have been here several weeks while he has been looking after business for the Lime company of which he is vice president, returned Sunday to their home in Ohio.  Mr. C. D. Resler will assume the active management of the plant now.  Moline people would have been glad to have the Thews remain here.

The Lime company are cleaning up their quarry, laying new tracks and making other changes and repairs on their plant and machinery preparatory to the season's business which promised to be very good.  They have a large number of orders now in and are making preparation to handle the business to an advantage and promptly.

February 19, 1909---LIME PLANT TO BE ENLARGED
      Growing Business Demands Greater Facilities
Through the kindness of C. D. Resler the writer was given an opportunity to see the plant of the Moline Lime, Stone and Cement Co, in operation last Friday.  They had over fifty men employed.  The lime kiln was going and the crusher running and a gang of men were working preparing to lay some additional rail road trackage about the plant.

The plant now consists of a power house, one crusher and three lime kilns, and the demand for their products can not be supplies with these so they contemplate adding an additional boiler, an electric plant, three more kilns, a larger stone crusher and a hydrated lime plant in order to take care of their trade.

The stone drills will be driven by electricity and the buildings will be lighted by electric lights.  The new kilns will be about forty or fifty feet high and will be made of steel with a hoisting device for elevating the stone into them. 

The new crusher will be large, but will not crush the stone so fine as the one in use at present.  After the stone goes through the large crusher it will be screened and what will not go through the screens will then be run through the old crusher and reduced down to desired size.

The building will all be rebuilt of stone and enlarged to accommodate the new machinery and when done will greatly add to the appearance of the plant.

One of the unique features of the plant and one that is of great advantage in carrying on the work is the arrangement of the rail road switches.  When complete it will be so arranged that the switch engine can back in a string of twenty-five or thirty cars and they can be let down to the loading chutes by the force of gravity and by the same force, ater being filled, switched off on a side track until all are full.

The hydrated lime plant will supply a growing demand for a new product that is destine to play a great part in the future of architecture.  Hydrated lime is a superior sort of cement and is used in plaster to a large extent.  When used as a cement it is used with Portland cement in proportion of 2 to 1 and the work made from it is perfectly impervious to water and has a beautiful white smooth finish.

The additions to the plant will cost thousands of dollars but the success of the work justified the expenditure.  The demand for the products of the plant is almost overwhelming in view of the facilities for production at the present, and the demand is growing rapidly as the quality of the products is becoming known.

Moline will profit greatly by the industry as the pay roll is already over $500 per week and is likely to be doubled.  Most of it goes to support Moline people or people who make their homes here.

The railroad switching will be done in the future by the crews of the Emporia branch in the mornings and will increase their pay.  The lime switch will be made a flag station so that parties can stop there from the passenger trains.

It will pay you to keep your eyes on Moline.  She is going to grow.

February 19, 1909---John Faulkner, president of the Hutchinson Soda-Ash Company was here last Friday to buy stone for use in his factory.  He found the out put of the lime plant the best he had so far found and ordered six cars on trial.  If it is as good as he thinks it will prove he will take several car loads a day right along.

February 19, 1909---The lime plant is furnishing stone for the fine large hotel at Oklahoma City.  They can't fill all the orders that come in from different places.

April 9, 1909---The Moline Lime Stone & CoCement Company have moved their office from the old Deal Lumber yard office to the office vacated by Dr. Houser in the Elstun building.

April 9, 1909---WANTED—A couple of small mule for use at Lime plant.  Apply at Company's office.

May 14, 1909---IMPROVEMENTS AT THE LIME PLANT
The Moline Lime, Stone & Cement Company unloaded their dynamo at the plant this week and they are working to get the new engine and boiler in position so that the electrical equipments to be used may be set up.  The will use electricity in drilling and lightening up the works so that that they can run a night force as is often needed to keep up with the demands for their products.

The plant is employing about sixty or seventy men now.

May 14, 1909---J. W. Thew, the secretary of the Moline Lime, Stone and Cement Co., went to Independence Tuesday on business for the company.

April 1, 1910---The carload of the new stone crusher for the lime plant has arrived.  It is too large to go on one car.  It weighs over 50 tons in all.  It will be placed in position as soon as it all arrives and the foundation is ready.  It will be a hard task to get it where it will perform its labor of eating the lime rock out of the bluff on Wild Cat creek.  It has a large capacity for crushing rock and will turn out many car loads a day and require many, many men to keep it going.  Moline will furnish lots of labor for all who desire it.

June 17, 1910---THE LIME COMPANY
The institution that is coining the abundant lime rock east of town into dollars and passing the dollars to laboring men of this community has just about completed arrangements so that they can carry on the work on a larger scale than ever before.

The third boiler has been connected up and the large new engine is in position.  The new crusher and rock elevator has been installed.  The new lime kilns are abut ready to fill and light.  There has been a lot of work done around the plant lately and soon the results will slow in the great outut that will begin to show up.

The pay roll of the plant is now about $3,000 per month.

November 10, 1911---      DISPLAY OF
      The Moline Lime, Stone and Cement Co.
         Attracts Much Attention at Kaffir Korn Karnival
                             Held at Moline, Kansas
At the Kaffir Korn Karnival recently held at Moline the display made by the Moline Lime, Stone and Cement Company was one of the most interesting among those made at the big tent erected for that purpose.

Their display consisted of samples of crushed and prepared limestone of different sizes as used for the many purposes to which it is put throughout the state of Kansas and Oklahoma.

It may be interesting to the readers of this county to know that Moline Stone is the kind that is hard, compact and breaks into cubical particles, packs closely and excels by reason of it cementing properties.  It is the kind that can show undisputed records of successful results under rigid and varied conditions.  It has rapidly been finding favor among boards of public authority, contractors and others vitally interested in the subject of limestone for street paving, road building and concrete purposes in general.

It is therefore only natural that the popularity of this high grade product will continue to increase as its superiority becomes more generally known.  The benefits already derived are highly appreciated by its users.

It is generally conceded by the citizens of Moline that the stone industry here is one of the greatest benefactors in this section of the country and it is with much and justifiable pride that Elk County claims the distinction of being home of this popular and valuable product.

May 31, 1912---KILLED IN EXPLOSION
          Wm. Darr Loses Life at Lime Plant
An explosion occurred at the plant of the Moline Lime, Stone & Cement Co. Monday afternoon about two o'clock that instantly killed William Darr, severely hurt Robert Hicks and caused minor injuries to O. A. Scoggan and several others.

Darr was a quarry man and was working loading stone into a car when the explosion occurred.  It is supposed that his pick struck an unexploded charge of dynamite.  He was thrown into the air and landed forty feet away.  When picked up it was found that his head was partially blown away and his body was horribly mangled and mutilated.  His companion Robert Hicks was severely injured about the back and legs, small fragments of stone being driven into the flesh.

Darr was standing over the explosion in such a way that he received the full force of it in his face and body.  Mr. Hicks was working a short distance away and he  was injured by flying particles but the car into which they were loading stone was blown on him and nearly crushed him.  Mr. Scoggin was working on the adjoining spur of track and was struck on the left ankle with a flying particle of stone  which cut to the bone.  However he ran at once to the aid of Mr. Hicks and lifted the car off of him, a good load for two men.

The dynamite was left in the rocks when the blasting was done.  The powder men knew it had failed to explode at the first shot and put in another close behind it and thought all the dynamite had exploded at the second shot.  However they were wrong and the life of William Darr is the price of their mistake. 

[Janet Harrington]

October 19, 1906---LIME PLANT TO BE ENLARGED
L. V. Uncapher, of Marion, Ohio, has been here this week making arrangements for the enlargement of the plant of the Moline Lime, Stone and Cement company, of which he is secretary.

On Tuesday, C. S. Osborn, the county surveyor was down and laid off the ground for the new building.  They expect to make an outlay of $50,000, and will begin at once to do so. 

Isn't that something?  In 1906, the county had a county surveyor.  How interesting that we no longer have such services.

[W. Gray]

And, an elected position.

Some Kansas counties still have surveyors. I am not sure of their duties, say, in relation to a private surveyor. Maybe someone can chime in.