PAST AND PRESENT OF MUSKINGUM COUNTY - 173 (RETURN TO THE TITLE PAGE) CHAPTER XVIII LEADING EXISTING INDUSTRIES, COMPOSING AMERICAN TILING CAUSTIC TILING COMPANY. BRANDY WORKS, BROWN MANUFACTURING COMPANY, GRIFFITH & WEDGE COMPANY, HARRIS BRICK COMPANY, J. B. OWENS POTTERY COMPANY, MARK MANUFACTURING COMPANY, MOSAIC TILE COMPANY, MUSKINGUM COFFIN COMPANY, OHIO POTTERY COMPANY, PINKERTON TOBACCO COMPANY, ROSEVILLE POTTERY COMPANY, S. A. WELLER, T. B. TOWNSEND BRICK AND CONTRACTING COMPANY, ZANESVILLE GAS LIGHT COMPANY, NATURAL GAS. EXISTING INDUSTRIES The existing industries of Zanesville are too diverse and numerous to describe, and the few which are enumerated were selected not because of uniqueness, but for their extent and prominence; others approaching in volume of business some of those named may be omitted, but the purpose has been to represent the city's manufactures, and not compile a directory. That the manufacturing and commercial interests of the extensive is attested by the membership of Zanesville Council, United Commercial Travelers, which has 300 enrolled affiliates, against 1,089 at Cincinnati. 857 at Columbus, 391 at Dayton 341 at Toledo, and 333 at Cleveland. Eight entrances by steam railroads and one by electric interurban, with two more in development, and a navigable river, afford facilities for rapid, convenient and economical communication with the rest of the country. Zanesville’s department stores take rank with any in the State; its wholesale houses command a large territory and successfully compete with the business houses of the other cities its hotels are ample for the needs of the city, and are famed for their hospitality; its markets are unsurpassed for the variety and fine quality of produce, and every natural and artificial condition is possessed for the development of a wealthy and populous city. AMERICAN ENCAUSTIC TILING COMPANY In 1874 F. H. Hall, then a resident of Zanesville, and possessing some knowledge of the quality of local clays, secured the attention of Mr. B. Fischer, of New York, to a project to manufacture encaustic tiling, which was at the time being imported as none as manufactured in the United States. Mr. Fischer and his business partner, G. R. Lansing, agreed to sustain the expense of experiments, and a beginning was made in a small brick building, on the canal bank. opposite Schults’s soap works, in south Seventh street, where the production of crocks and coarse kitchenware had been conducted on a small scale. The first two years' results were devoid of satisfactory conditions, kiln after kiln were failures and discouragement was the only asset. During these experiments Mr. G. A. Stanbery was at home on vacation, and visited the plant and his inventive mind conceived mechanical devices which would overcome the difficulties encountered; Mr. Fischer was informed of the suggestions and Mr. Stanbery was engaged to carry his plans into execution. In 1876 Gilbert Elliott succeeded Hall and 1877 the firm of Fischer and Lansing furnished the tile for the floors of the new court house, at Zanesville, and nearly thirty years' wear attest their quality. Having produced the first merchantable tile in America, a plant was needed to manufacture it and ground was purchased and a building, sixty-eight by one hundred and twenty-five feet, with six kilns, was erected : Mr, Stanbery was made superintendent and in 1878 a stock company was formed. The problem remained of proving to architects that the American product equaled the European in the qualities demanded for floor and mural purposes, and the company engaged in contracting to demonstrate the merit of the home material ; success followed, additions were made to the plant, and March 1, 1879, Mr. Stanbery was made General Superintendent, and March 20 the American Encaustic Tiling Company was organized. The company soon outgrew its accommodations, and as the majority of the stock was held at New York the owners reasonably favored the erection of the needed new plant nearer home, and the market, and determined upon a location in New Jersey. John Hoge, R. D. Schultz and G. A. Stanbery, tne Zanesville stockholders, demurred, and the local board of trade was made acquainted with the situation, and the citizens pledged a bonus of $40,000.00 to retain the plant at Zanesville ; a large tract of land was purchased on the west side of the river, north of the city, and bonds to the amount of $4o.000.00 were voted by the citizens in aid of the enterprise, which was warmly supported by the officials of the C. C. & S. R. R. The immense plant, the largest of its character in the United States, was completed and ready for occupancy in April, 1892, and the occasion was made one of general celebration in the city. The ladies of the Women's Benevolent Society and the Hospital Association were placed in possession of the building for April 19, 1892, and conducted several attractions in aid of their institutions. Booths for the sale of refreshments, jack Horner pies and souvenirs, an art gallery, and dancing hall were liberally patronized; special trams were run on the railroads and Governor William McKinley attended and made one of his characteristic speeches upon the significance of the great plant and its benefits to the city. 174 - PAST AND PRESENT OF MUSKINGUM COUNTY. H. & F. BLANDY. In the spring of 1840 Henry and F. J. L. Blandy, with $5,000.00 borrowed capital, erected a foundry on the site of their subsequent extensive works, in Underwood street, and began the manufacture of a line of plows and stoves, which became very popular ; about 185o the plant was enlarged and the manufacture of tools and machinery was added, and when the Central Ohio Railroad was constructed several locomotives for its use were built at the Blandy works ; the business did not prove satisfactory and they became pioneers of the world in producing portable steam engines, and saw mills, and made the first successful portable lumber cutting apparatus ; their trade grew to be world wide, and the Blandy engines and saw mills were operated in every civilized country, and the business developed to such proportions that the entire block in Underwood street from Elm to Tarrier, was covered with a three- story brick building. The Civil war checked the trade, but with the return of peace business took on its former proportions, and an auxiliary plant was purchased at Newark ; about 10 p. m., Saturday, August 25, 1866, a fire broke out in the paint shop, on the second floor, at the north end of the building, and the entire plant was destroyed, entailing a loss of $200,000.00 with an insurance of only $15,000.00, the blow staggered but did not overthrow the proprietors, and when the salesmen came home when the calamity was learned, the courageous owners sent them out immediately with the statement that orders were more than ever needed ; the Newark plant was taxed to its capacity, and the reconstruction of the Underwood street works was rushed to completion. A more prosperous career followed until the panic of 1873, when the Blandys shared in the general depression, and in 1879 the first check in the success of the business occurred in the death of Henry, the senior of the firm ; the business was continued by F. J. L. Blandy, who became financially embarrassed, and at his death, in 1884, the works were operated by his widow. THE BLANDY MACHINE COMPANY was incorporated in 1889, to conduct the business, and in the summer of that year took possession, but was unable to restore the prestige of the works as maintained by Henry Blandy, and THE UNION MACHINE COMPANY was incorporated, in the summer of 1898, bought out the Blandy Machine Company, and began operating the works as a general machine shop with no specialty in the line of manufacture. THE BROWN MANUFACTURING COMPANY was incorporated June 23, 1873, by Peter Black, Thomas E. Sturgeon, W. A. Graham, W. S. HarIan and M. Churchill, and July 28, the first directors were chosen, viz : Peter Black, president and treasurer ; W. P. Brown, general superintendent; M. Churchill, F. J. L. Blandy, Thomas Griffith, James Herdman and W. A. Graham. Mr. W. P. Brown and Oliver C. Ong, who was chosen secretary, were the promoters, and active operating officers of the company which was formed to manufacture wagons and agricultural implements, and both remained until death severed their connection with the business. Mr. Ong died September 13, 1885, and Mr. Brown, January 27, 1888. The original plant was quite extensive, and was totally destroyed by fire July 23, 1882, the office building and some lumber alone being saved; the loss was in excess of $100,000.00, but the works were immediately rebuilt and additions have been made until the present plant encloses an aggregate floor space of seven acres, all the buildings being protected with automatic fire extinguishing apparatus. The average working force is three hundred men, and the establishment has long been one of the leading industries of the city. GRIFFITH AND WEDGE COMPANY. When the financial panic of 1857 engulfed Ebert and Lowdan, Thomas Griffith and G. W. Ebert continued the business of a general machine shop in the former works, and in 1858 Francis Wedge purchased the Ebert interest, and in 1858 the firm of Griffith and Wedge engaged in the manufacture of portable engines. November 29, 1870, Mr. Wedge obtained patents on a vertical portable engine, the first of its kind, the former type having been horizontals, and with so radical an improvement in the engine the business assumed large proportions, and other forms of machinery were produced. Mr. Griffith died in 1884, and in 1885 the Griffith and Wedge Company was incorporated and the following officers chosen: Francis Wedge, president ; Charles D. Wedge, vice president ; Edward Cigax, secretary and treasurer John Wedge and J. A. Crotzer ; March, 1893. Mr. Wedge died, and the present offices are; John Hoge, president ; C. D. Wedge, vice president and manager ; Edward Gigax, secretary and treasurer. The company now makes a specialty, of the Ohio Corliss engine, one of the highest types of engines, and clay working machinery. The plant embraces iron and brass foundries, machine, boiler, blacksmith and pattern shops and an extensive drawing room ; only the most skilled mechanics are employed, and every a product is wrought from drawings. PAST AND PRESENT OF MUSKINGUM COUNTY - 175 HARRIS BRICK COMPANY. In 1863 William B., Charles O., and George C. Harris, as the Harris Brothers, began the manufacture of brick, east of the city, near Greenwood cemetery, about the first product being employed in the erection of the residence of W. B. Harris ; and during the first ten years of the business the kilns were built up of brick and daubed with clay. Permanent kilns were then introduced, and the firm made the first pressed brick west of the Ohio river. The business became very extensive, and with the introduction of the so-called vitrified street paver they engaged in their manufacture. In 1897 the business passed to a corporation, known as The Harris Brick Company, with the following first officers: John B. Baxter, president; John T. Granger, vice president ; Charles H. Magie, secretary; Edmund N. Hatcher, manager. The present plant is modern in every respect, and has a capacity of 90,000 brick per day. THE J. B. OWENS POTTERY COMPANY. During the fall of 1891 J. B. Owens came to Zanesville, from Roseville, and erected a brick building 100 feet square, with two kilns, upon a large tract of land along the Terminal Railway, west of Brighton. The J. B. Owens Pottery Company was incorporated with $100,000.00 capital, to conduct the business of manufacturing flower pots and painted clay ware, and the first goods were produced in the spring of 1892. Additions, of three and four stories, were made to structure almost annually, as demanded by the increasing business, until 175,000 square feet of floor space, and ten kilns were employed. In 1896 the former grades of clay goods were abandoned, and glazed, ornamental ware produced on such extensive lines that eight hundred kinds and sizes of pottery, embracing sixteen distinct line of art pottery, and various articles of utility and ornamentation, are produced. In 1898 the capital was increased to $300,000.00, and in the spring of 1902 the entire plant was destroyed by fire; reconstruction was immediately begun and the new plant, two and three stories in height, with twelve kilns, has been so conveniently designed that the minimum cost of operation has been attained. The present officers are, J. B. Owens, president, treasurer and general manager ; F. G. Dodd, vice president ; A. W. Burg, secretary; George S. Brush and J. N. Owens, Roseville, directors. MARK MANUFACTURING COMPANY During 1900 Zanesville was agitated in consequence of a proposition to erect an immense plant for the manufacture of tubes, to be independent of the recently organized "trust ;" it was represented that capitalists in Pittsburg, Philadelphia, New York and other eastern cities were prepared to invest $600,000.00 if Zanesville would subscribe to bonds of the concern to the amount of $150,000.00 ; the business men of the city promptly took the amount and the premises formerly occupied by the shops of the Z. & O. R. R., and A. O. Jones Brick works, both of which had been destroyed by fire, were secured ; this tract was immediately south of and adjoining Putnam, and covered an area of about forty-six acres. Immense quantities of earth were brought in by rail and the surface elevated above the recorded high water mark ; the foundations for the buildings and machinery were laid in the most substantial manner and the superstructures were of structural steel ; operations were begun in 1901, but the representations made respecting the eastern capital were not fulfilled, and for lack of capital the plant was placed in receiver’s hands, May 21, 1903 ; at a commissioner's sale, March 19, 1904, it was purchased by the Mark Manufacturing Company, a partnership consisting of Cyrus Mark and his two sons, Clayton and Anson, the latter of whom is now the resident manager of the plant. The purchasers were experienced men in the business, having extensive plants at Evanston, Illinois, where well goods and specialties are produced ; the Zanesville plant is devoted to the manufacture of boiler tubes, well casing and other forms of pipe, ranging from one-eight inch to sixteen inches in diameter. The capacity of the plant is 35o tons per clay and can employ 1,000 men, the present force being 700. THE OHIO POTTERY COMPANY. September 17, 1900, Alvah P. Clark and Jacob Burgy, of Zanesville, and Charles W. Reynolds, Charles R. Applegate and Shepard M. Humston, of Beverly, Ohio, were incorporated as The Ohio Pottery Company for the manufacture of stoneware specialties. and September 28th directors were elected as follows : C. W. Reynolds, president F. H. Herdman, vice president; A. P. Clark, secretary, treasurer and general manager ; J. Burgy, superintendent ; C. R. Applegate. The plant is located in Owenls addition, west of Brighton, and consists of five brick buildings, one and two stories in height, and a kiln shed containing five kilns. MOSAIC TILE COMPANY. The incorporation of the company was effected September 4, 1894, and the first meeting of the stockholders was held September 8, 1894, in the city council chamber when the following directors were chosen : David Lee, president ; W. M. 176 - PAST AND PRESENT OF MUSKINGUM COUNTY. Bateman, vice president ; W. M. Shinnick, secretary and treasurer ; J. Hope Sutor, H. C. Mueller, Karl Langenbeck, Edmund Moeser, E. Ebert Peabody and W. E. Miller, directors. A tract of five acres was secured on the Cooper Mill road, opposite the Fair Grounds, in Brighton, upon which the plant was constructed in the most modern and substantial manner ; additions were made during 1896, 1900 and 1904, which have increased the capacity of the works more than three fold the original design. Floor and wall tile, of the highest class, are produced and the combined output of the American Encaustic and Mosaic Tile works is more than half the tile production of the United States, and the peer and in some respects the superior of imported ware. MUSKINGUM COFFIN COMPANY. August 23. 1881, T. J. Newman, Joseph Shaw, L. D. Sandel, Wilbur F. McCoy, Thomas W. Gattrell, S. E. Stranathan and James T. Irvine executed articles of association and were incorporated as The Muskingum Coffin Company, to engage in the manufacture of general undertaking supplies. Books of subscription were opened and September 29, 1881, directors were elected and October 15th they organized as follows : T. J. Newman, president ; George W. Shaw, vice president ; Joseph T. Gorsuch, treasurer ; James T. Irvine, W. F. McCoy, L. D. Sandel and S. E. Stranathan, directors, and Joseph Shaw, secretary and manager. The Kaemmerer mill, a three-story brick and frame structure on the south side of Main street at the east end of the "Y" bridge, was purchased and equipped for the business, which had grown to such proportions that in May, 1888, the three- story brick building, 6o by 120 feet, on the south side of Main street, east of First, was erected, and occupied in December as office and wareroom, and the enterprise is now one of the leading businesses of the city. PINKERTON TOBACCO COMPANY. In 1884 a partnership was formed, under the title of the Pinkerton Tobacco Company, and began the manufacture of "scrap" chewing tobacco, while the Pinkerton Brothers were engaged in the wholesale grocery business, in Fourth street. The enterprise was successful from the beginning and in 1900 was incorporated and the business moved to the former flour mill, at southwest corner of Locust and Potter alleys, which was soon outgrown and the two three-story store rooms fronting on Third street were added, and in 1904 a five-story brick building was erected on the south, adjoining the original plant, and is being equipped with the latest and most improved machinery, appliances and convenience and when ready for occupancy will give the company a factory with a ground area of 100 by 132 feet, and with buildings three and five stories high. The high grade goods produced and the strict and honorable business observed principles have been potent factors in effecting the success which has attended the company’s operations; it is financially strong and prosperous and ranks among the city's most important manufacturing establishments. THE ROSEVILLE POTTERY COMPANY operates four potteries, the principal of which is located at the north end of Linden avenue, at Zanesville, "where town and country meet,” as the company states in its handsome pamphlet descriptive of its art products. The company was incorporated in 1892 and began business at Roseville by purchasing the plant started about 1885, by J. B. Owens ; the works have three kilns and are still employed in the manufacture of flower pots, cuspidors and painted ware. In 1898 the Midland Pottery, with three kilns at Roseville was added to the pottery of the Roseville Company, and continues to produce stoneware specialties. The combined annual output of the two Roseville plants is valued at $100,000.00 and about 100 people are employed. The Linden avenue plant, at Zanesville, was originally a three-story brick structure, with three kilns, erected by The Clark Stoneware Company about 1892, for the manufacture of stoneware specialties ; the period of inception was inauspicious and it could not maintain itself during the protracted depression in business and in 1898 the Roseville Company acquired the property; in 1899 a three-story brick building, 50 by 156 feet, was built and in the succeeding year a fourth story was added and a three-story brick addition made to the original building ; the kiln shed was enlarged to accommodate the ten kilns required for the business, and in 1903 a two-story brick office and sample room was erected. The Linden avenue works were devoted entirely to the production of painted ware but in 1900-1 Rosane ware was developed ; the designs are hand work and the motive is "to preserve with natural effect original works in oils and water colors," upon imperishable, clay, instead of canvass, the form of the vessel being itself graceful and an object of beauty. The working force consists of about 200 people and the annual output is valued at $350,000.00. In 1901 the old pottery, at Muskingum and Harrison street, in Putnam. which had been operated by the Mosaic Tile Company, as an auxiliary, was purchased by the Roseville Company and devoted to the manufacture of a line PAST AND PRESENT OF MUSKINGUM COUNTY - 177 of German cooking ware ; the works have four kilns, employ 50 people and have an annual output valued at $50,000.00. The present officers of the company are George B. Emerson, president ; J. F. Weaver, vice president; G. F. Young secretary, treasurer and general manager. S. A. WELLER. About 1873, S. A. Weller, a young potter, planted a commercial acorn at Fultonham, Ohio, in the form of a small pottery, with the crude machinery and appliances of the period, and manufactured plan, unpainted flower pots and similar ware, which he went upon the road and sold; about 1882 he leased a frame building in South Second street, which he used as a wareroom, and in 1888 transferred his factory to a small frame plant on the river bank, at the foot of Pierce street, in Putnam. In 1890 he purchased the old show grounds in Putnam, abutting on the railroad between Pierce street and Cemetery Drive, and erected a brick factory fronting on Pierce street, and abandoned the pottery on the river bank and the wareroom in Second street. The manufacture was then begun of painted flower pots, jardinieres, cuspidors, hanging baskets, umbrella stands, etc. In 1893 an addition along the alley front was built, in which, previous line, the first fancy glazed goods were produced in Zanesville ; in 1894 another addition was necessary and the building was extended to Cemetery Drive and occupied in December. The "Rookwood” ware had been the only art pottery manufactured in the West, and upon the completion of the new building Mr. Weller associated with him Mr. W. A. Long, of Steubenville, in the production of “Lonhulda” ware, but the association terminated a year later, and Mr. Weller began the production of an art ware styled "Louwelsa," a word coined from the three first letters of the name of his daughter, Louise, the first three letters of his surname and his initials. May 10, 1895, the new buildings and their contents were entirely destroyed by fire, the original Pierce street building and its contents alone being preserved, but on the following day a laborer of clearing away the debris was begun and the re-erected plant was ready for occupancy in October. In 1900 the business had outgrown the Putnam plant and there being insufficient ground for the required enlargement, the original plant of the American Encaustic Tiling Company, in the Marietta road, was purchased, remodeled and put into commission in 1901 for the production of cooking and toilet utensils, common flower pots and the cheap ornamental pottery. In 1901 an addition to the Putnam plant was built on Cemetery Drive, the art ware stock room and sales room being removed to the second story and elegantly equipped offices opened on the first. In January, 1901, Jacques Sicard, of Golfe Juan, France, and his assistant, Henri Gellie, came to America to introduce Metallic Lustre Pottery, and learning of the Weller factory, came to Zanesville and were engaged by Mr. Weller to produce Sicardo ware, respecting which China, Glass and Pottery Review says : "is destined to take its place among the highest grade art pottery of the world.—The vases are first treated all over with a secret metallic preparation, and then decorated in floral and other art effects, with chemically prepared metallic pigments,—which make the most perfect color schemes and which are absolutely permanent." In 1904 a model, modern pottery was erected at St. Louis, in the Louisiana Purchase Exposition grounds, in which the most effectual machinery was installed, kilns , erected and an actual pottery operated by skilled workmen sent from the Zanesville plant ; the various processes were demonstrated, from the grinding and washing of the clay to the decoration and burning, the plant being under Mr. Weller's personal supervision. A similar exhibit was made at the Lewis and Clark exposition at Portland, Oregon. T. B. TOWNSEND BRICK & CONTRACTING COMPANY. In 1868 T. B. Townsend began the manufacture of brick at the north end of Seventh street, and on the site of the present extensive plant, in the east end of the city ; primitive methods were employed and in 1882 R. C. Burton became a partner and the business was conducted as T. B. Townsend & Company. In 1885 the top or alluvial clay, from which the brick had been made, was exhausted and the underlying shale was experimentally tested, with surprising satisfactory results, and the modern, vitrified, building and paving brick were originated. The first permanent kilns were erected in 1885 and in 1890 the business was incorporated as the T. B. Townsend Brick and Contracting Company. Although engaged in the manufacture of brick, Mr. Townsend and his partners were engaged also in the general contracting line until 1900, and the court house, jail, Clarendon Hotel, John McIntire Children's Home and nearly all the important buildings in the city were built by them, and their operations extended to other cities and localities ; they laid large quantities of the brick pacing in the city of Zanesville and constructed eleven bridges across the Muskingum river, between Marietta and Dresden. The original plant has fourteen kilns and a capacity of 100,000 brick per day, the output now being confined to vitrified pavers and sewer brick, 178 - PAST AND PRESENT OF MUSKINGUM COUNTY. and common building brick, and their goods have been shipped to the city of Mexico, and in the United States to points as distant as Boston, Saginaw, Michigan, and Illinois cities. A new plant is about completed, 1905, with ten kilns and a daily output of 50,000 brick, which is located on the Belt Line, one mile east of the original plant, and between them lies Ho acres of shale lands, the raw material being excavated to the level of the vein of No. 6 coal and the refuse is deposited in the vast ravines so prevalent in the neighborhood, and eventually will transform the topography of the section. ZANESVILLE GAS LIGHT COMPANY. March 24, 1849, the General Assembly passed an act incorporating The Zanesville Gas Light Company, with James L. Cox, James V. Cushing, George A. Jones, Adam Peters, William Galigher, John A. Adams, George James and Joseph Galigher as the incorporators and an authorized capital of fifty thousand dollars. A meeting was at once called at George James' office, on Fourth street on ground now occupied by the court house, at which Mr. James presided and William Galigher acted as secretary ; the charter was accepted and books of subscription to the stock were ordered opened ; on April 14th more than four hundred shares had been subscribed and a meeting for organization was called for May 2d, at Mr. James' office, when 618 shares were reported taken ; John T. Fracker presided and S. S. Mann served as secretary, by-laws were adopted and William Galigher, James L. Cox, S. S. Mann, A. C. Ross and George James were elected directors. Operations were immediately commenced and while the pipes were being laid Alexander B. Campbell fell into an open ditch and died from the effects of his injuries ; no responsibility for the accident attached to the company, but "as an act of humanity," as the minutes state, the funeral expenses were assumed and a pension of $10.00 per month was voted his widow for one year. The works were erected in North Sixth street, and during November, 1849, gas was furnished the citizens ; about 1856 the service was extended to Putnam, and about 1870 to Natchez and West Zanesville, one of the conditions by which the residents of the latter village were persuaded to vote for annexation being that there should be street lighting by gas. Iron pipe cost $78.00 per ton and was difficult to obtain, and about 5,000 feet of wooden pipe, made at Bay City, Michigan, was purchased and laid ; one portion commenced at Linden and McIntire avenues, along McIntire and Maple avenues to Adair ; another, on West Main street, from the "Y" bridge to Ridge avenue to third from Greenwood along Hamline avenue to a the residence of Henry Blandy. All of was pipe in service about fifteen years and during the excavation, in 1905, of the trench for a brick sewer along Maple avenue the wooden pipe was exhumed and found to be in a perfect state of preservation. The sections were of soft pine, about seven feet in length, with an interior caliper of three inches ; the pipe was coated with tar and the joints were uniformly turned, and fitted with exactness. CLARENDON HOTEL. It may appear incongruous to mention a hotel in connection with the existing, leading industries of the city but the Clarendon certainly is entitled to the distinction, as it has done much to give Zanesville an enviable reputation. Erected upon a site which has been employed for hotel purposes for nearly a century, the building was erected 1877-78, by Peter Black and W. A. Grahm; designed as a model house of entertainment, as the Schultz' Opera House was a model as a house of amusement, it was at the time of its completion the most perfect hotel building in the state, as to solidity and security of construction, variety and completeness of comforts and conveniences and beauty of interior and exterior decoration. The "host" was selected with the same care that marked the design and construction of the building, and under the successive managers to A. P. and J. W. Rusk who now conduct it, the house has been known as "Ohio’s famous hotel,” and for many years, until other cities emulated the example of Zanesville, travelers came from distant points to spend Sunday at this incomparable hostelry. NATURAL GAS was first furnished the city of Zanesville in November, 1898, by the Great Southern Gas and Oil Company ; the gas was obtain from the Sugar Grove field and conveyed to Zanesville in eight-inch pipes, and a reducing station was erected south of the city. In June, 1902, the Ohio Fuel Supply Company came into possession of the property and in the spring of 1903, connected the city with the Licking-Knox fields by an eight-inch line. As both the Sugar Grove and Licking-Knox fields are connect with Columbus, a circuit is made and an interruption in the supply from either field would not affect the supply at Zanesville, as it could be procured by even so indirect a route as the entire circuit.