- - - -
INDUSTRIES - - -
- The
Shelby Electric Company
-
-
-
-
-
-
- The
early inception of the Shelby
Electric Company
dates back to the early summer
- when
Mr.
J. C. Whiteside, superintendent of
the company casually mentioned to
- J.C.
Fish, the
discovery which Mr.
Chaillet
had made in the incandescent lamps and
- the
claim made for the lamp by the discoverer. Mr. Fish became interested at once,
- recognizing
that if the lamp sustained the claims put forth in its behalf,
its
- manufacture
would prove one of the most remunerative investments in the country.
- Through
the indefatigable efforts of the above gentleman interest was
aroused with
- the
happy termination of a stock company with the plant completed
and busy
- in
the manufacture of their wares.
-
- This
institution was organized last August with a capital stock of
$100,000
- -
officered by the following well known gentlemen, whose success
in other lines
- needs
no comment – W.W.
Skiles,
President; George
W. Skiles,
Vice President;
- M.H.
Davis,
Treasurer; A.A.
Chaillet,
Technical Manager; J.C.
Whiteside,
- Superintendent;
and J.C.
Fish, Secretary.
There are about fifty local stock-holders,
- nearly
every dollars worth of stock being owned here, which is ample
testimony
- that
the people of this community are enterprising and imbued with
the spirit which
- has
brought our present magnificent civilization up to its present
standard.
-
- Even
with the best article that can be produced there are other necessary
elements
- which
must enter into the successful placing of goods in order to obtain
their wide
- and
general sale – integrity, push, enterprise and pluck. These
qualities alone will
- snatch
victory from defeat and success from failure; but when the combination
is
- such
that all these desirable adjuncts are happily brought together
– the superiority
- of
the manufactured product and great managerial capacity –
the onward growth
- and
prosperity
is simply irresistible. And such are the conditions surrounding
the
- Shelby
Electric Company.
-
- The
manufacture of the Shelby lamp was begun February 1st and since
the works
- were
started the capacity of the plant has been taxed to the utmost
to meet the
- demands.
The fame of the lamp had preceded its manufacture and intending
- purchasers
were anxious to test the efficiency of the lamp and the claims
put
- forth
in its behalf by the managers of the institution.
-
- The
factory building has been fitted throughout with the latest appliances
for
- producing
a high grade lamp. In fact the factory has many special machines
- designed
especially for them which very largely aid them in turning out
as perfect
- a
lamp as is possible to produce. The technical part of the work
is in the hands
- of
Prof. A. A. Chaillet, the inventor of the
lamp which bespeaks for the future
- of
the institution a reputation second to none in the character
of the wares and
- their
utility. They have one of the finest and most modern laboratories
for
- scientific
research in the country.
-
- The
claims for the new lamp are such that no one who is at all conversant
with
- electric
lighting will fail to grasp the full import of what the system
really means
- not
only to the individual user, but to those who have embarked their
money in this
- enterprise.
It is claimed and proven by practical experiment that the new
lamp will
- give
20 per cent greater efficiency with a life 30 per cent longer
than the lamps now
- in
vogue. This means that electric lighting companies throughout
the world will save
- one
half their present outlay for lamps – while to the consumer
it means a third longer
- life
without extra cost to either the consumer or the lighting plant.
Considered from
- a
practical standpoint the saving is a large one principally to
the lighting plant whose
- expenditures
are decreased while the revenue is not affected in the least.
Last
- January
tests were made of the Shelby lamp in conjunction with other
lamps.
- The
lamps selected to be tested with the home lamp were the best
made and the
- result
were truly astonishing.
-
- The
first test was to demonstrate the efficiency of the Shelby lamp
as compared
- with
others, to do this, lamps of various makes were operated at the
same time to
- show
the difference in brilliancy when burning at their normal voltage
and candle
- power.
The Shelby lamp was easily distinguished as the most efficient
by every one
- present.
Not satisfied with this test, several lamps of different makes
were tested in
- the
same manner, in order to select the most efficient lamp to compare
with.
-
- The
most brilliant lamp of other makes having been determined it
was selected for
- comparison
with the Shelby lamp. The result of the conclusion of this test
was
- watched
with great interest by all present and much to the satisfaction
of those
- interested.
The new Shelby lamp and its competitors were burned at a gradually
- increased
voltage constituting what is known as a forced life test. The
difference
- in
favor of the Shelby lamp was so apparent that no doubt was left
in the minds
- of
the most skeptical that the claims made by Prof. Chaillet for his new filament
- were
not only true, but could be considered modest in the extreme.
The
- remarkable
claims of Prof. Chaillet might be verified
regarding the life of his
- lamp
at its increased efficiency.
-
- …..from
The Republican Industrial Edition - 1897
- ELECTRIC
LAMP INDUSTRY HERE
-
- Shelby
Company Flourished for Years Until G.E. Moved It Away.
-
- An
industry that glowed brilliantly here for a number of years
- was
the Shelby Electric Company. The plant had other names before
- it
finally was closed by the General Electric Company and merged
with
- other
holdings in Cleveland. The plant was located in the building
now
- occupied
by the Shelby Cycle Company on High School Avenue.
-
- In
the Daily Globe published Aug. 29, 1902, one reads that after
- the
annual meeting of stockholders the following officers were
- elected:
W.W. Skiles, president; G.M. Skiles, vice president;
- H.M.
Davis,
treasurer; W.H.
Myers,
assistant treasurer
- and
J.C. Fish, secretary and general
manager.
-
- The
company had met with success the “past five years”
the
- article
continued and was then in position to turn out 10,000 finished
- lamps
per day. It was pointed out with pride in that year of 1902 that
- the
“local concern is not in the electrical trust and stands
as the most
- aggressive
competitor of that combination.”
-
- H.W.
Hildebrant, Henry Wentz, Edwin Mansfield, Jonas Feigner,
- and
J.C. Wormley were also among the
directors.
-
- In
that same year an article appeared in the Electrical Review that
- described
the locally-manufactured lamp, patented by Adolphe A. Chaillet,
- a
Frenchman living in Shelby, that threw off “twice as much
useful light
- as
other types.”
-
- But
by 1907, local ownership apparently had slipped because in that
- year,
Mr. Fish announced the National Electric Company with
- controlling
interest planned to expand the plant with the result an
- additional
125 employees, mostly girls, would be needed. The payroll
- was
$2,800 every two weeks and would be in excess of $4,000 if the
- expansion
went through. The “If” centered around whether Shelby
- had
sufficient housing for such an increase.
-
- J.B.
Crouse,
president of National Lamp Company, later in the year
- told
Shelby that the entire expansion program for the company’s
48
- plants
would be centered here if labor would be available. There
- immediately
started a great promotion for construction of more houses,
- a
need that cropped up periodically through the years.
-
- The
Daily Globe wrote “What we need is a real estate company
- with
the capacity of laying out an addition of 100 lots and of building
- on
them at once. Every businessman in the town should be interested
- in
this movement.”
-
- In
1908 one reads that a fine feature of industrial progress was
the
- establishment
of a restroom and the granting of a 15-minute recess
- every
forenoon and afternoon to employees.
-
- Nucleus
of Industry
-
- The
Shelby plant became the nucleus of a vast combination of all
the
- electric
lamp companies in the United States, which was called the
- National
Electric Lamp Association, N.E.L.A. division of the General
- Electric
Company of which immediately upon its formation Mr. Fish was
- made
first president, with headquarters in Shelby.
-
- In
the amalgamation of the companies, every outside unit was
- moved
to Cleveland where one colossal plant houses them all. Mr. Fish
- died
before that was accomplished, however, even as he was in the
midst
- of
pioneering in the tremendous new industry which is known as the
- N.E.L.A.
in Cleveland today.
-
- After
the death of Mr. Fish in 1909, directors met and elected
- G.M.
Skiles,
president; W.H.
Myers,
sales manager; T.J.
Green,
- vice
president; W.W.
VanHorn,
factory manager.
-
- On
March 19, 1912 one reads that the General Electric Company
- took
over the Shelby Electric Company. The factory in years previous
- had
operated under the name of Richland Mazda Lamp Company but
- the
sales department, managed by W.W.
VanHorn,
had operated as the
- Shelby
Electric Company, which after March of 1912 was to be called
- the
Shelby Lamp Works.
-
- After
General Electric moved the manufacturing end of the old
- electric
away in 1915, the sales division continued to exist for many
- years
on Mohican Street, with Mr. VanHorn, C.C. Skiles and
- Howard
Sotzen
among the managers.
Articles
contributed by Ruby Bonecutter
-
- Additional information about the Shelby
Electric Company and their products.
- (Courtesy
of the Shelby Museum)
-
-
- If you would be
interested in adding to, or commenting on the items on this page,
- please contact
us.
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© 2000, 2018
