More About Star Glass Works
by Jack Roberts

Reprinted from "INSULATORS - Crown Jewels of the Wire", June 1972, page 16

I wrote you about six weeks ago about the Star Glass Co. When I wrote you I also wrote New Albany. You sent me your copies of C. J.'s and information that is contradictory to the information of the past. I think we glass collectors are faced with living without the true facts of the "star" insulator.

What they sent me is pretty conclusive, that they didn't make insulators. So we're right back where we started from. I understand some collectors believe the "stars" were made by all companies. I suppose I'll have to agree, until there is factual evidence to the contrary.

(Following is copy of the letter Mr. Roberts received from New Albany Floyd County Public Library.)

March 7, 1972

Mr. Jack Roberts
732 North Olive
Rialto, California 92376

Dear Mr. Roberts

Your letter was forwarded to us by the New Albany Chamber of Commerce.

In the New Albany City Directories I found the following glass manufacturers listed.

Glass manufacturing was important to New Albany's economy from 1879 - 1893. The glass works employed from 1,500 to 2,000 men. With the discovery of natural gas in northern Indiana, the glass works was moved in 1892, and the panic of the 1890's brought bankruptcy to the industry. This information came from several books which contain information on New Albany's industries. There is no glass works in New Albany at the present time.

Advertisements for the DePauw Co. mention polished and rough plate glass, single and double strength window glass, and mason fruit jars.

I am also enclosing several pages from The History of the Ohio Falls Cities and Their Counties. You may be interested in the information included about the Star Glass Works. I found no mention of electrical insulators in any of our sources.

Sincerely,
Mrs. Carla Baldwin

HISTORY OF THE OHIO FALLS COUNTIES.

STAR GLASS WORKS

John H. Ford probably has the honor of originating the manufacture of glass in New Albany. Prior to his appearance in New Albany Mr. Ford was a resident of Greenville, in Greenville township, where he was prominently connected with various enterprises for the building up of that village. His residence there being in close proximity to the great sand bed that lies in Washington county near the Floyd county line, probably led to inquiries by him concerning the manufacture of glass from this sand, and culminating finally in the establishment of the glass works of John B. Ford & Co. in 1865, He was a good talker and succeeded in persuading some capitalists in New Albany that this sand bed should be utilized, and that New Albany was a most excellent point for the manufacture of glass. They secured a block of ground on the river bank between Upper Ninth and Tenth streets, upon which they erected a frame building and began the manufacture of window glass The works were soon disposed of for some reason to Messrs. Samuel Montgomery and Henry Hennegan in whose hands they burnt down in 1866. This firm soon rebuilt the works and resold them to Mr. Ford, taking the steamer Dexter in the trade. The manufacture of glass at this time was not a success, however, owing probably to lack of both experience and capital, and the works were soon abandoned.

In February, 1867, Mr. Ford having secured help in the way of capital again established the works on a very much larger scale than before. These works were known as the New Albany Glass works. John B. Ford & Co. purchased ground on the river bank between Eleventh and Thirteenth streets, where the firm erected some very extensive buildings. The following extract from a directory of New Albany, published in 1868, gives a fair idea of the extent of these works:

New Albany Glass works John B. Ford& Son, proprietors, were established in February 1867, And occupy six building three of which are brick, The one used in the manufacture of window glass is sixty- five by eighty-five feet, another for cutting the same, is fifty by one hundred and fifty-four feet; then there are two buildings each twenty by one hundred feet, one used for a warehouse and the other for silvering and finishing plate-glass mirrors; then another warehouse forty by one hundred feet. and a bottle-house, sixty-five by eighty feet. which is entirely new. The firm employs one hundred and twenty hands,  four teams, and consumes in their year's work (ten months) one hundred and sixty-five thousand bushels of coal: 500 hundred tons or soda ash; one thousand five hundred tons of sand, nine thousand bushels of lime and six hundred barrels of salt. This does not include the stock in use in the manufacture of hollow ware. Value of manufactured goods $300,000 per annum.

It will be seen from the above that the New Albany Glass works were established on a somewhat extensive scale. In 1873 Mr. Cottom thus writes of these works:

The New Albany Glass works have suspended, and part of the buildings converted to the use of other manufacturing companies. They were upon an extensive scale, and the last year operated employed a capital of $100,000, gave employment to one hundred and sixty-five workmen, paid in early wages $75,000, and turned out an annual product of the value of $250,000.  

In 1872 the buildings and grounds of the New Albany Glass works passed into the hands of W. C. De Pauw, and became a part of the Star Glass Works, which had been established by Mr. DePauw. The Star works thus became the only glass manufacturing establishment in the city, and so remains today. With the addition of the grounds and buildings of Messrs. Ford & Co. it became one of the most extensive establishments of this character in America. In 1873 Mr. Cottom thus writes of these works:

They cover an area of fifteen acres with their buildings and necessary grounds. and manufacture the best quality of plate-glass, in all respects equal to the very best French and English plate, and also window glass fruit jars and bottles. The manufacture of plate-glass in America is yet an experiment so far as it relates to profitable returns upon the very large investment or capital it requires to operate such work. There can, however, be little doubt, that the experiment now making in New Albany in the manufacture of first quality of plate-glass will prove successful. inasmuch as the capital employed, the extent of the buildings, and the amount and superiority of machinery used, will compare favorably with the like conditions in the extensive plate-glass works of Europe.

The buildings of use Star Glass Works are as follows: Main building 580 by 115 feet in dimensions, containing eight smoothers and eight polishers, twenty-one furnaces, and ovens, cutting and picking-rooms and offices; one building (in the course of erection) 300 by 124 feet in size, for a casting-house one building 40 by 50 for ovens for roasting and calcining gypsum, and for crushing and pulverizing emery and limestone, and a warehouse 260 by 40 feet The Plate-glass works have a capacity for the production of 1,000 feet per day of the finest quality of polished plate, 90 by 180 inches in size. The window glass houses, two in number are 60 by 80 feet in size. There are two bottle and fruit jar houses, each 60 by 80 feet, one flattening-house, 80 by 130 feet; cutting-house, 20 by 80 feet; pot-house, 40 by 100 feet; mixing-house, 40 by 40 feet; sand-house 50 by 50 feet;  house for grinding fruit jam, 20 by 30 feet; warehouse, 30 by 110 feet;  steam box factory, 70 by 130 feet; store-house, 16 by 16 feet; office 20 by 40 feet. 

Four large steam engines. receiving power from eight large boilers, are required to run the machinery for this vast establishment. These extensive works have a capital $550,000; employ 250 operatives; annually pay $125,000 in wages, and the value of their products the past year was $720,000 and will probably considerably exceed $1,000,000 for the year 1873. These works are the only ones of importance in America at present engaged in the manufacture of polished plate-glass. W. C. DePauw, the wealthiest and most enterprising capitalist in Indiana, is 
president of the company.

Regarding the manufacture of glass at these works the following is taken from the Ledger-Standard of 1877:

The Star Plate-glass works of New Albany, Indiana, is the most extensive and elaborate on the American continent, embracing three divisions of glass-making, viz: Polished plate, window glass, and fruit jars.

The works are established on what was originally supposed to be an abundantly large property upon the bank of the river, but which has since been added to, until the present area--which is as completely covered with buildings as is safe --includes about fifteen acres and even this has not proved sufficient, but to use a common expression is still growing.

The plate-glass department, which includes the melting furnaces and annealing ovens, the beds on which the glass is formed into plates, the ovens for re-calcining the plaster of Paris, the owns for calcining and preparing the polishing material, the rooms for grinding and preparing the emery, the grinding, smoothing and polishing emery, the cutting rooms and the plate-glass warerooms, are all contained in the building.

Glass is the result of the combination by fusion of silex, pure sand with an alkali, and some ingredients for purifying, coloring, or tempering. These materials are subjected to an intense heat in fire-clay vessels called pots, which are placed in huge furnaces, where they can be closely watched. When the fusion is complete the glass-blower inserts the lower end of a straight hollow iron rod into the molten mass, to which a portion of the waxy material adheres. Now withdrawing the rod, he blows a huge bubble of glass. By constantly twirling the rod and other manipulations only understood by the blowers, such as inverting it in the air, swinging in a circle, etc., the brittle bubble assumes the shape of a long evenly formed cylinder, or huge bottle, the neck being fast to the rod.

Now, by beating the other end, while the thumb closes the mouth-piece, the bottom of the bottle is softened, the air in the cylinder is expanded, and the glass opens at the other end. A few more twirls and the cylinder is ready to be separated from the rod. This is accomplished by rubbing the junction of the glass and rod with a small bar of cold iron, the sudden, uneven contraction breaking the glass at that point. Another separation is made at the shoulder or neck, by encircling the cylinder with melted glass. A perfect cylinder or tube of glass is thus left, from ten to fourteen inches in diameter, and from sixty to seventy-two inches in length. This is now split from end to end on the top, and carried to the flattening oven, when it is placed upon a revolving table. 

The heat softens the glass, which soon assumes the form of a flattened sheet, and is carefully smoothed down by means of a long-handled block of wood. It is then placed in a cooling oven or "Leer," where it gradually cools, and it is then cut with diamonds into the required sizes for window panes.

The fruit jars are handled similar to window glass, except that it is blown into iron moulds. When the bubble is of the proper size, the blower places it within the open mould, closes the latter by stepping upon a lever, and blows with sufficient force to perfectly fill all the indentations of the mould, at the same time withdrawing the pipe sufficiently to weaken its hold upon the jar. Removing the foot the mould opens, and the jar is raised by the pipe. A V shaped receptacle lies near by, with an iron edge at its farthest extremity, into which, with a dexterous movement, the jar is dropped, the thin glass being broken by the iron edge. The assistant now steps forward with a rod, attached to which is a metallic case, and this is slipped over the jar. The jar is now ready for the annealing oven, and from thence is taken to the filers, who rasp off the tough edges from the top, when they are wheeled to the grinding room and run through the grinders, than washed, and are ready for packing, preparatory to shipment.

Plate-glass is properly poured, or cast glass. A smooth iron table with adaptable guides for size and thickness receives the melted glass, as it is poured in mass from the pot. A huge, heavy roller then travels the length of the table, and the mass is uniformly spread like dough under a rolling pin. It is now pushed upon a traveling table, wheeled to and slid into the annealing oven, to remain until properly cooled. It is now "rough plate." It then goes through the process of grinding smoothing, polishing, cutting, etc. This completes it as polished plate. Many similar establishments started In this country have failed in attempting, the manufacture of polished plate-glass. Man of large means and possessed of abundant brains, have experimented for a number of years and lost fabulous sums of money, and after all were obliged to abandon the enterprise. The science is new in this country; but it has been left to W. C. DePauw to demonstrate the fact that polished plate-glass can be made equally successful here as in Europe. Mr. DePauw has invested fully a million dollars In his enterprise and it is generally understood that he has at least succeeded after years of incessant toil and investment, to make as good plate-glass as may be found in the world.

His employees are the most experienced men that can be found, his machinery and appliances the very best, and with the same facilities (and in some instances better) than European manufacturers have to make their polished plate, Mr. DePauw duplicates their glass and sells it to the American Market at a cheaper rate than the imported glass is offered. The reward that the gentleman so richly deserves is certainly not far off if it has not already arrived.

Important improvements are constantly going on about the glass works. A new dock his been built to admit the large coal and sand barges that are being constantly unloaded to supply the furnaces. Over two hundred and fifty men are employed about the different departments, each person moving under the direction of experienced directors, a hive of industry that is seldom seen, even in cities of large metropolitan proportions.

The following from the Courier-Journal of August 24, 1881, gives a picture of the present Star Glass Works:

DePauw's American Plate-glass works of 1881 is not what it was a year ago. It has been increased from year to year until now the buildings cover twenty-five acres of ground.