41
10 B
THE OMAHA' SUNDAY BEE: JUNE 16, 1918.
- is r . . VTV'fT A TT TT A TTTT TT TTT IT TTtn TT TTVI TliTT TTTTT TT f TT TT &? TTv r
; ; yikw of alpirn's yards on river front w here millions in junk is reclaimed f -; ?
OMAHA MAN STARTS WITH CAPITAL OF FIFTY?
CENTS Ata) HAS MILLION DOLLAR INDUSTRY
A. B. Alpirn, Young Russian Emigrant, Builds Up a Busi
ness Here Which Has Reached Immense Propor- -tions,
and Is Helping to Win the War by '
Providing Metal for Shipbuilders.
JOHN H. KEARNES;
Twenty years ago, young man
fresh from the ghettos of Russia, whb
could hardly speak the English lan
guage, worked for half a day in Oma
ha for a junk dealer.
He received SO cents as compensa
tion for his half day's work, and with
the money as" capital, nd a gunny
sack as warehouse, he started in busi
ness for himself, s
Today that man employs over 80
men, buys scrap iron by the hundred
thousands dollars worth, utilizes
blocks of city ground for warehouse,
factory and yardage space, and in
the course oi tne year aocs a p"
business in scrap iron alone of $2,
"000,000, and in manufacturing and
: metal reclamation another $1,000,000.
He furnishes the scrap steel and
skinned iron for a score of factories,
and in his yards at Fourth and Lea
venworth streets, and Seventh and
Douglas streets, on can see in re
ality the beatinar of the plowshares
and orunina hooks into the imple-
tnents,c)f war, for reapers, plows ana
cultivators ana tnresning macnmes
are broken up and are shipped to the
racmc coast snipouuaing pianis
where they are cast into armor plates
to sheathe vessels of war against the
torpedo ana snot o: enemy snips.
)' Scrap Iron Master.
A B. Alpirn is the young Russian
emigrant who has become the scrap
iron master of the Trans-mtsstssippi
valley. He is known to all of the
iron master of the continental and, to
the presidents and general managers
of big railroad corporations as a busi
ness man of high standing.
He ia the young man. who started
with a capital of 50 cents and a gunny
sack, who, while he wearily sought
customers in summer heat and winter
blasts, dreamed of the time he would
own a liorse and wagon, then a yard,
and larger things so colossal that they
were vague visions of the imagina
tion. And all have come true.
Twenty years ago the conservation
of junk, materials and related-products
was an eastern activity, devel
oped to its largest volume in the At
lantic ceast states, '
Men who engaged in the industry
here were pioneers and becauje of a
lack of capital and the wasteful meth
ods of the native population who
scorned turning their waste 'products
into cash, were limited in their opera
tions. Most of the junk salvaged
was in the cities of Omaha and Lin
coln. ' Farmers . and country town
dwellers permitted farm machinery
and shop and household equipment
of iron and steel, which had served
its usefulness to rust in back yards
and vacant lots and the wealth waste
due to this carelessness and prodi
gality was immense.
Then came the oerioatetic iunk
dealer with his horse and wagon who
managed to secure -loads of discarded
materials and on this a great Indus
try. was created. !
I:' 5 Center for the West
Omaha is the scrap iron center for
a territory embracing all of Ne
braska, western Iowa, and the two
Dakotas. , Ia nearly every country
town there is a junk dealer who
gathers material from the surround-
mgveountry and when he accumula
tes a carload ships it to. Omaha.
It is estimated that the four scrap
iron mongers of Omaha will handle
4,500 cars in a year, and of this ant-
ountJ.WJ cars are apportioned to A.
B. Alpirn.
I the immense yards on Fourth
and Leavenworth streets and scatter
ed through the . contiguous district
are countless tons of scrap iron in the
shape of locomotives and locomotive
tenders, worn out steel rails, auto
mobiles that have seen their May of
usefulness, mountains of steam
boilers, gasoline stoves, farm mach
snery, safes, and every item- made of
steel or iron.
So that it can be economically
handled by the manufacturers who
purchase the salvaged materials all of
the massive pieces of iron and steel
must e broken up. This is done by
a bombardment of huge steel cannon
balls dropped with immense force
from a lofty height Flat pieces' are
cut with giant scissors of which there
are nearly a score in the diflerent
yards.;. . :W ': ' , -.
AH of the metal is sorted . and
graded by men who are experts in
iheir knowledge of metal composition
and they put in separate piles the
v.r jlit. umj malleable iron and
steel. There are two marketable
grades, mixed and "skinned' iron.
.Operates in Montana.
Railroad companies suck as the
Burlington and Union Pacific seek
Mr. Alpirn as a buyer of their worn
out iron and steel. One of his busi
ness transactions was a recent pur
chase of a mountain of steel and iron
machines and implements, the ac
cumulations of' years of discard of the
Butte-Anaconda Mining company. He
paid $100,000 for the scrap iron.
Other men go over the piles of
metal and other articles of metal
which can be salvaged. All such
stuff as can be used finds a ready
market, the demand being many times
greater than the supply, owing to the
curtailment of factory output because
of war conditions.
Galvanized iron, which, previous to
the war was so cheap that it could
not' be marketed, can now be handled
here ana shipped to the east at a
good profit.
Steel from the yards of the Alpirn
concern, salvaged from the farm yards
and country towns of the agricultural
ocit, is snipped 10 me smpyaras ai
Seattle where it is converted into
ships of war and commerce. So im
portant is the local industry con
sidered by Uncle Sam that the car
loads of scrap iron shipped out ' of
Omaha are given the right-of-way
over other more aristocratic freight
and because of being used in war
emergencies travel on schedules for
merly the prerogative of "the trans
continental trains de luxe.
War Forces Business.
It has been due to the feverish in
dustry of the junk and scrap iron
dealers all over the country that the
shipbuilding . industry of the nation
has been kept in running shape, be
cause if they had to depend on the
raw iron product of the mines the
industry - would have fallen t down
long before. The salvage of iron all
over the. country is a great conserva
tion move.
Related to .the scrap iron activities
of Mr. Alpirn is the reclamation plant
of the Western Smelting & Refining
company, of which he is the president,
D. P. Feder.'vice president and H. D.
Farwell, secretary.
Mr. ;Aloirn was shipping tons of
engine machinery and automobile
bearings, tinfoil, Chinese tin, and lead
and solder foils to St. Louis and Chi
cago, there to be manufactured and
sent back to Omaha to be sold.
He realized at once an opportunity
to establish a manufacturing business
at this point which would save the
freights both ways and put Omaha in
a position to more than successfully
compete with both of those cities.
This was in 1914, at the outbreak of
the war. He organized his company
of himself, his son-in-law, Mr. Feder,
and a trusted employe, Mr. Farwell.
The smelting and refining plant was
put in, the equipment at the start
being housed in a building 30x40. The
business grew by leaps and bounds.
Todav the firm is manufacturer of
babbitt, solder, type metal, and a
jobber of spelter, antimony, block
tin and basic metals, with a trade
territory covering every state in the
union and a volume of business ap
proximating $1,000,000 a year.
Tin at Low Price. -
The conditions brought about by
the war showed the wisdom of Mr.
Alpirn's foresight in establishing this
business. At the time the smelter
and refining plant was established,
tin had sunk to the lowest price in its
history when in October, 1914, it was
quoted at to o-4 cents per pound.
compared with normal price of 40
cents per pound.
Since the Dutch embargo on tin,
the great supply of this country hav
ing come from the Dutch colonies of
Batavia and Java, the price has jump
ed to $1.10. The local plant of the
company is reclaiming tin and is per
forming a very valuable economic
service for this country.
Ten tons of tinfoil is worked up
every month in materials that mean
thej reclamation of tin. - This stuff is
shipped here from Maine to California
and from Minnesota to Mexico. The
manufactured product is marketed all
over the United States. The concern
is able to manufacture and market all
of its products at a smaller cost in
every item than the competing points
of Chicago and St. Louis.
Swamped With Business.
The demand is so great that the
company doe's not have to solicit
orders, but is fairly swamped. The
manufactured goods are shipped out
daily as produced and there is no re
serve stock on hand.
A. B. Alpirn, -whose genius has
made this immense industry the
reality of a boyish dream, is a most
aggressive business man in all that
relates to his project. Pie is a strong
character and possesses, wonderful
vitality. No man in Omaha will cover
more ground in a day. and no man
has greater grasp on the details of his
No Rest for Ministers of
Omaha These Hot Days;
It's War or Wheat Fields
. Omaha ministers have adopted the
slogans, "Back to ..the Farm," and
"All Aboard for France," judging by
their plans for the vacation weeks.
Some have not yet made any definite
arrangements as to the summer, but
of those who have few seen to have
made much provision for rest. They
appear to believe Uhat variety will
provide plenty of recreation. A large
number say that, with so many going
to various branches of the service
and the consequent shortage of min
isters, they will give up5their vaca
Hons and work all summer.
John Calvert of the Benson Metho
dist church has already gone to Eu-
- r t - - ru..
association secretary, his place being
Uken in his absence by Garrett Jen
sen.- J. H. Stitt of the jlcCabe Meth
odist church leaves for r ranee on
June 28. His pulpit will be supplied
until September, when a regular pas
tor will be appointed for fhe re
mainder of the time. Charles E. Cob
tey of the First Christian church is
leaving for France August 1, to be
gone six months. His church will be
kept open, but no regular minister
appointed. Russell E. Waitt of the
Oak street Methodist church is leav
ing for a Great Lakes training sta
tion to enter the service as a yeo
man. There are a number of Omaha
ministers who . have applications in
for,, Young Men's Christian associa
tion secretarial work. ,
There will be quite a farming con
tingent. H. P, Hunter of the Dietz
Memorial Methodist church says his
plans are not yet complete, but he
expects to work in the Kansas wheat?
fields. In the fall he will probaly en
ter an officers training camp. E.;H.
Jenks of First Presbyterian church i
two sons own a large farm. He goes
there every summer. v-
In August A. F. Ernst of the Lowe
Avenue Presbyterian church will
leave for his old home in Illinois,
where his relatives own three farms.
C. W. Swihart of Grace Evangelical
Lutheran church will give up his
usual long, restful vcaation. He is
holding hinwelf in readiness to re
spond to any call that may come to
him, either in France, the harvest
fields or elsewhere that men are
needed. Carl Worden of St. Mat
thias Episcopal church will go to
ing to his brother-in-law. R. H.I
Chenoweth of the Jennings Metho
dist church has a war garden to
wnicn ne wui devote nis time instead
of going away for his usual vacation.
Many of the Omaha ministers are
in demand for lecturing, teaching or
conducting services in other localities
in the summer. J. Frank Young of
Westminster Presbyterian church
will leave in July for Green Bay,
Wis., where he will attend a wed
ding. From there he goes to Buffa
lo, Minn., to conduct vesper services
for two weeks. W. H. Spence of
the Hanscom Park Methodist church
will spend July at Lake Okoboji,
where he will have supervision of
the Epworth League training school
there.
J. E. Flockhart of St. Andrew's
Episcopal church will go to South
Dakota, where his father has charge
of the Yankton Indian reservation.
Titus Lowe of the First Methodist
church, having only recently return
ed from France and having been
epeaking in Omaha and through the
state almost constantly ever since,
tecis that he needs a real vacation.
With his fahiily, he will take an over
land automobile trip to Pennsylvania,
A. B. ALPIRN.
business. From the time he started
out with 50 cents in his pocket to the
present, with millions for working
capital, he has stood for all that is
honorable in his dealing with his
fellows. It was this quality iiL him
that made him sought for by railroad
presidents, general , managers, and
iron masters in their business deal
ings. .
In private life Mr. Alpirn is a
modest and retiring man, and while
he must naturally be proud of his
achievements he is rather reticent
about them.
He is one of the pioneers of wealth
:onservation and reclamation in the
middle west and because of his
breadth of view, his mastery of detail
and his great energy and executive
capacity, he has put Omaha on the
man as a producing center of ma
terials now very much needed in the
war industries of the nation.
Sky Gazers at Florence
Field Have Gay Time With
Tom Johnson's. Cherries
WHAT'S DOING
Auto Travel to West
to Be Heavy This-Year.
AT AUTO CLUB
By S. E. SMYTHE.
Yellowstone park opens to the pub
lic tjie 25th of this' month and from
present indications the travel to the
mountain playgrounds will be heavier
this year, despite the war, than in any
previous year. There are approxi
mately 155 miles of good circuit roads
in the Park. How to get there by auto
Lincoln highway to Cheyenne, and
then north over the Yellowstone high
way; Q.-L.-D. to Greeley and then
nortlj to Cheyenne and over the Yel
lowstone, or north to Sioux City and
west over the George Washington Na
tional highway through the scenic
bad land of South Dakota. Park reg
ulations this year are greatly modified.
Every convenience is offered the tour
ist
The club has taken up the matter
of putting a stop to the practice of al
lowing minors to ddrive automobiles.
There are quite a few boys and girls
under 16 who are seen every day at
the wheel of large, heavy cars. In
cases of emergency, where quick
tflinking and strength is required there
is sure to be an accident of serious
consequences with a heavy car in the
hands of minors, lhe secretary ot tne
club recently was told of a .little
girl driving aiarge . car, the pedals
being so far out of her reach that she
had to hang on the edge of the seat to
reach them.
A special low rate of $8.50 is offered
the Omaha motoring public to join
the Omaha Automobile club and help
in the big, public-spirited work the or
ganization is doing. "With this rate
we should have at least 2,000 mem
bers," remarks President W. B. Cheek.
Tom Johnson lives orTThirty-third
street at the very pinnacle of the area
of country which overlooks Florence
field, from which seven to nine of the
army balloons daily make flights.
Johnson is the owner of an area of
land that adjoins the flying field and
consequently his possessions are fa
vorite haunts for the hundreds of per
sons who. journey out to Fort Omaha
to watch the army balloonists.
Johnson is a good sort and he really
enjoys the company and the visits,
The club is working 365 days a year
in the interest of the individual motor
ist. The club's work is your protection
in every phase of motoring.
During the recent flooding rains in
Iowa tourists learned what "detour"
means ,as nearly every route had' a
washed-out section which, r necessi
tated leaving the original route. Par
ties starting on the White Pole at
Davenport had to jog north to the
River-to-River, then back to the White
Pole, back a few miles to the Black
Diamond, and so on, clear to Des
Moines. Des Moines to Omaha was
O. K.
"I want to thank the' club for
cleaning out the kid gang of bottle-
DreaKers on our street, remarked a
non-member to the secretary last
week. Out North Seventeenth there
was a bunch of kids who took delight
in smashing pop and milk bottles on
the paving. The club took the matter
up and put an effectual stop to it.
Grading on the Blue Grass road in
Mills county, Iowa, is finished and the
road again is in good condition. One
of the best Iowa roads is the Pioneer
Trail between Council Bluffs and
Corning. This road is marked with
a red Indian head. About two miles
east of the School for the Deaf, Coun
cil Bluffs, the Piomffr jogs off to the
northeast, leaving the Blue Grass.
which runs south to Glenwood. This is
a splendid week-end trip.
Touring is on in full, cars from
eight different states being parked in
iront of the club room one day last
week.
but he is inclined to have some feel
ings of regret when he contemplates
the quantity of fruit that these visitors
have appropriated since the straw
berry and cherry season came on.
The greater portion of Johnson's
acre is in strawberries and cherries.
When the strawberry season was at
its height the crowds divided their
time between leaning against the
fence, watching the bailoons and pick
ing Johnson's berries. Now that
cherries are ripe, the crowds have
commenced dividing their time again.
They watch the balloons up in the
sky and then make a bee line for the
cherry trees. After filling up on cher
ries they return to their watch and
soon thereafter they ar back in the
cherry orchard, and so it goes the
whole day long.
The people whd are gazing at bal
loons and picking Johnson's cherries
are not boys and girls, but most of
them are eminently respectable and
travel out from town in automobiles.
wo Million Fewer Babies .
Are Born in Germany
London, June 15. The first three
years of war reduced by over two
million the number of babies who
would have been born in Germany
had peace prevailed, says a report of
the British Local Government Board.
Some 40 percent fewer German babies
were born in 1916 than in 1913. The
infant deyth rate, which rose to an
abnormal height for a time after the
outbreak of war, appears to have
gradually returned to the pre-war '
rate. The food difficulties have not
led to an excessive number of babies
dying, at least up till the end of 1916.
In the towns where the food shortage
was most acute, the death rate, tended
to fall. 7
Zigzagging Ships Are
Hard for Enemy to Hit
London, June 15. British subma.
rine commanders attest the value.
Lfrom their own experience in trailing
enemy warships, of the zigzagging f
tactics used by allied shipping in
dodging U-boats. All agree that an
irregular course, coupled with speed,
makes a fleeing vessel a difficult tar
get. -
NORA NEAL
PIANO
Faculty Member Sherwood School of Mutic.
Studio, 513 McCague Bld. Phone Douf.4504
A large touring party from Canada
is to come south to tour the United
States, Nebraska being one of the
states they will visit. The club re
cently sent them a bunch of maps.
Join the club and co-operate with
1,300 motorists for good roads, more
highway signs, better laws, better city
ordinances, needed traffic regulations,
justice in auto theft cases and every
other topic in which you, the indi
vidual, are""interested. If you have not
neen interested, it s, time you wee
showing this spirit.
Ford Owners Have Edge
On Rest of Us This Week
Every owner or driver of a Ford car
or truck, their families and friends,
if the Ford will hold them all, will
be admitted free to new Krug park
rriday of this week.
Tickets are being given awav at the
Ford plant. Sixteenth and Cuming
streets, and all Ford agencies and
branches in-4he city.
Arrangements have been made for
the parking of every car within the
park, where they can be guarded by
attendants, thus doing away with
danger of theft.
Several hundred Fords are expected
at the park Friday afternoon and
night.
will leave about thefmiddle of July making frequent stops, starting .Aug
for Alberta, Canada, ivhere he and his ust 1 and being gone about six weeks.
Collie Dog Star Disciple
of Isaak Walton; Catches '
Two-Pound Bass at Carter
It is easy enough to teach a dog to
suck eggs or catch chickens, out when
it comes to teaching one to fish and
actually land the fish, that's another
matter. This feat, however, has been
accomplished by B. G. Walker, who
lives on Kansas avenue, just south of
Miller park.
Walker is the owner of a collie,
which, according to Walker, "knows
more than I do." At any rate, whether
or not the collie possesses more gen
eral knowledge than Mr. Walker, is
immaterial. Nevertheless, the dog can
catch fish. ,
Last summer, when tke collie was a
pup, Walker frequently took the ani
mal over to the little lake in Miller
park.. At a place in the lake where
the water from the- artesian well
flows in,- hundreds of redfish gather.
On its visits the dog developed a great
interest in watching the fish. Finally
it went fishing. It would stand out in
the water and watch. Whenever a fish
would come within striking distance,
the dog would dive and about six
times out of 10 it would make a catch.
Early this spring the dog resumed
its fishing trips to the park lake and
was even more successful than last
fall. In fact, it seldom failed to land
several fish. This was pleasing to
Walker and so he concluded to give
the dog a chance to work in otheri
waters. Last week Walker and his
dog went to Carter lake to try their
luck and the dog was lucky so far as
gathering in fish was concerned. It
stalked the bank on the north side of
the lake and during one afternoon, by
diving, brought out a two-pound bass.
an enormous carp, a turtle and a three-
pound pike. Walker admits that is
some fish story, hut is willing to make
an affidavit to its truthfulness.
A NEW SHIPMENT OF BEAUTIFUL
SILIC
DRESSES
Values
to
$32.50
On Special Sale Monday
75
No
Charge
For
Alteration
Stunning Silk Dresses in the very newest models and
in all the popular colors. Just about 100 beautiful
Silk Dresses in this new shipment and they were se
cured at an extra special discount on account of our
taking the entire lot. There is not one that is worth
less than $25 and many of them are worth up to
$32.50. Monday, your choice $15.75
Ladies' Onyx Fiber Silk
Hose .
With double
soles, heels and
toes; 75c values
49c
Men's Onyx Fiber
Hose
With double
soles, heels and
toes; 50c, values,
our price
Silk'
29c
FISTULA CURED
Reetal Disease Curctf without a rer ui
Steal operation. No Chloroform or Ether nacd.
Cur guaranteed PAY WHEN CURED. Writ fat
illustrated book on Reetal Diseases, wttb Balnea
and- testimonials of mora than 1.009 prominent
people wno nave ono verznBnenuy enreo.
DR. E. R. TARRY -240 Bee Building. Omaha Neb