V
THE OMAHA BEE.
Construction of Oldest and
Newest Big - Buildings in.
. Omaha, Boast of One Firm
. . .
Collins Bros., Omaha Contractors, Point With Pride
- To Paxton Hotel Building and Huge New Skinner
Plant On South Side -Contemporaries Remark
On Speed and Thoroughness of Construction jof
Latest Achievement. " ,
t
The distinction of having built the
oldest and the newest large tfuild
Vings in Omaha is part of the record
of 40 years of successful service of
the contracting fim of Collins Broth
ers, who constructed the new pack
ing plant of the Skinner Packing
company, at Twenty-seventh and V
streets.
In 1882, S. J. Collins of Rock Is
land, 111., and his brother, Frank,
then members of the firm, began the
erection of the Paxton hotel, the old
est of Omaha's large" bulidings. And
ii 1918, the day following the sign
ing of the armistice, -to be exact,
Roy T. Cojlins. son of S. J., present
head of the firm; began the construc
tion work on the new packing plant.
, Mr. Collins, as well- as Omaha
reaj estate men and other contrac
tors, commented on the coincident
of these two structures representing
the efforts of Collins Brothers here.
Bbt what Mr. Collins alone men
tioned was the additional relation,
through the many obstacles that had
to be overcome on both buildings.
tfirst Big Contract , . ;
The erection of the Paxton hotel
was one of the first big jobs tackled
by his fathrr and uncle. Mr. Collins
explained, and was undertaken just
two years after the organization of
the partnership. Bad weather, im
passable roads, labor shortage and
lack of confidence of Omaha men
were just a -few of the conditions
that had to be contended with. Tlje
last mentioned was one of the most
serious in the way of the young con
tractors, Mr. Collins said. At that
time Fourteenth and Parnam streets
was considered too far west for any
business to succeed.
The hotel men and the builders
were hooted, almost, for working on
that site, which then was on un
paved streets, without sidewalks. It
was freely predicted, he said,' that
only failure would reward the faith
of those behind the hotel. The dirt
roads were mire most of the time,
Mr. Collins' father told him once,
which made hauling- material a
grievous task. Weather interfered
continually with the work on the
building, and frequently it was
slowed down by lack of men. The
building was completed in about
' two years, however, and stands
structurally as it did the day it was
, opened.
"If our fast building in Omaha
stands as long and as well, and is
as continually in service as our
first. Collins Bros., will never feel
anything but pride in their work in
1 Omaha," Mr. Collins said. ' s
Contractors Remark Speed.
Building men in Omaha are re
marking on the speed with which
the. big Skinner plant was com
pleted, and without the' use .of a
double shift at any time. Actual
construction work was finished a
little more than 12 months after
building operations began. What
Collins Bros, point to isthefact
that it was completed in record
time in the face;of material short
age, adverse weather conditions, two
actual strikes that suspended activi
ties entirely, and a continual labor
shortage.
- In planning' the construction of
the building, Mr. Collins explained,
consideration was taken of the ap
proaching winter and the effect that
would have on concrete work and
also on the material1 supply. As
railroads will not ship pumped sand
or gravel during the cold months;'
enough last until warn weather
had to be acquired before' the em
, bargo shut down.
; On thar atcount, he said, they
purchased all the sand, gravel and
crushed rock tney could. But the
tendency of such material to freeze
to the consistency of, granite, the
reason why railroads will not ship
it in the winter, also presented a
problem to the contractor, as they
, were forced to store it out of doors.
Install Heating System.
This was solved, he said, by the
installation of a heating system that
not only kept the material thawed,
. but actually heated it to a point that
made walking through, a piie uncom
fortable. A central boiler tolant
was installed and heating pipes
from there laid alone the- ground.
The sand and gravel was dumped
on these pipes, which supplied suffi-
ciect heat to bring the pile to a high
temperature, in spite" of winter cold
and frequent snowfalls.
The heating of the sand, also aid
ed in continuing concrete work all
winter. The hot sand was added to
the rock and cement in the mixer,
- and the mass additionally heated by
hot water. This kept the concrete
. at a high temperature Svhile it was
"Being conveyed to the forms and
after - pouring. , .
By using such expedients they
; ,were akle to continue work all win
ter. Further trouble from lack of
material' weic prevented by buying
lumber, brick, cement and alt items
used in the construction of the plant
rn huge quantities and storing the
siirnlne nti tif errrttinrl
Acute Labor Shortage.
The real trouble began( Mr. Col-
Jins related, after warra "weather re
turned, when labor became, scarce
and continued so. To add to that,
a strike developed on May 1, 1919,
and continued for three - weeks,
necessitating a suspension of con
struction. The matter was finally
tattled and work begun again.-but
rarty in June another strike tied op
all work on the building.
In the list case it was the un
skilled laborers that walked out,
leavjngmasons and others. without
the assistance needed to continue
their activities.' This strike lasted
two weeks, and marked the begin-
. ning of a period 'of acute labor
shortage. . With thecoming of har-
vest season men quit in all depart
ments to work in the fields, and
. foremen were forced to ,11 their
places with anyone they could get
Thip condition continued virtually
; unrelieved until the building' was
finished, in December. While actual
construction ended then, the work
of cleaning up the building, finishing
Ihe .adjacent works, laying pare-
ment, and such issues lasted for sev
eral weeks. Tbe installation of ma
chinery begun then, too, but has
now been completed, in a space of
time as remarkable as that needed
to finish the building itself.
Establishes Unapproached Record.
Packing house machinery is all
"tailor made and differs in every
plant, 'Mr. " Collins explained.
Usually it takes frora six months
to a year to install this machinery,
and at the present time may require
a period of much greater length.
The placing and testing of the ma
chinery of the Skinner plant in less
than three months establishes "a
record unapproached, he believes.
While the Paxton hotel and the
Skinner plant are the only examples
of Collins Brothers' enterprise in
Omaha, the entire country, and par
ticularly the middle western states
fire dotted with structures erected
by his firm, according to Mr. Col
lins. Ihp pohcy ot the tirm under
his father and since he has become
its head has always been to special
ize in a tew big jobs and do tnem
well, , he said. m
Among steady clients ot Collins
Brothers, he enumerated the 'Rock
Island'railroad, Moline Plow com
pany, Swift & Co., Morrell Packing
company, Ford Motor company, and
Hie John Deere Plow company. For
these companys Collings Brothers
have erected warehouses, freight
terminals, factories and packing
houses," as well as innumerable
smaller buildings necessary to large
construction jobs. Notable among
monuments to their credit is the as
sembling plant of the Ford Motor
company at Kansas City, jvhich is
the largest owned by that concern,
with the exception of their Long
Island plant.
Firm's Keyword, "Service."
Although the head office of the
company is in Kansas City, MttCoI
lins expressed yesterday N a desire
that he might be 'able to remain in
Omaha and keep his home here. "I
wish I could stay in Omaha and go
after some of the big jobs-4jere in
earnest," he -Said, "And I may be
able to, although right now I am
pretty well tied up with work al
ready under way in Kansas City.
By all means I am going to keep
the Omaha office open.
"Since I have been connected
with the firm, and particularly since
taking my fathers place, I have
tried to build up an organization
that will give service. To my mind
the firm should never become so
large as to get out of hand, and in
troduce the risk of our service to
any client falling below that others
"We would rather have a few big
contracts and have them completed
according to our standards than
any number, which might bring us
greater returns, but at the expense
of the Collins Bros.' reputation for
service.
Maintains Home in Omaha.
"In the 40 years the firm has been
in the business it has, never failed to
complete a contract, has never
erected a building it could not point(
to wun priae aucrwaru, auu, iu wic
best of my knowledge, has never
been in law suit over a settlement."
The Omaha " office of Collins
Brothers, was established several
months ago on the fourth floor of
the Finance building. Roy I.-Brooks
is local manager. He has been in
the construction business for. 15
years, and has been associated -with
They Constructed the New
Skinner Packing Plant
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Mr. Collins for the past five years.
During the past two years Mr.
Collins has made his home in Oma
ha. With Mrs. Collins, and his
family he resides at 5016 Chicago
street.
Tomatoes Should Be -Considered
First In !
Back-Yard Gardens
What crops to plant in the home
garden will depend upon the size of
the garden, the size of the family
and the stze of the family's appetite.
Where the garden space in extreme
ly limited only those crops that will
produce a considerable quantity of
food on a small area should be in
cluded. As a rule, home gardeners, es
pecially the 'beginners, devote too
much space to lettuce and radishes
and too little to beets, carrots,
beans, onions, ..and tomatoes, ac
cording to United Stares Depart
ment of Agriculture specialists.
Where the family is small it is easy
to overplaryt most of the garden
crops. The. surplus of certain vejpe
tablcs can be saved by canning and
drying, others like lettuce and
radishes are a loss unless some kind
neighbor will use them.
Children eat almost as fliany fresh
vegetables as grownups and should
be counteAl as "full hands" in esti
mating the amount of space to de
vote to any vegetable. The size of
theUfamily appetite is liable .to ex
pand considerably when the vege
tables are brought fresh from the
garden, and it is always safe to have
a plenty of the more staple vege
tables. Corn and Irish potatoes oc-
cupy too much space for planting
in the very small garden. Tomatoes
should find a place in every garden,
as should spinach, chard and other
kinds of greens.
Spading Puts Garden In
Better Shape Than Plowing
Plowmen and teams are scarce
around cities, and the smaller gar
den plots can often be spaded to
much ijreater advantage than they
can be plowed. Where there are a
group of community gardens lo
cated on a clear plot of ground they
can often be plowed together, and
thus considerable labor is saved.
But the sjnall garden plots, es
pecially those in back yards, 'must
be spaded. A considerable area can
be spaded iL the-work is done a lit
tle at a time, so that it does not be
come titesome. A god job of spad
ing will always put the land in betr
toy condition than plowing.
i. f: -
Plant Gardens On Vacant
Lots to Beat the H. C. of 1.
Vacant city lots would not be of
much value for growing corn or
wheat but these valuable pieces of
dirt are often just the place for
crowinc a eood veeetable earden.
Often the soil is rough and covered
with, stones and all sorts of waste
materials, but most people who live
in ,cities ana towns ao not get
enough outdoor exercise anyway,
and the labor necessary to clean off
the trash, and pile the stones to one
side will do them good. Some of
the best hoaic 1 gardens . have been
.grown on vacant lots that was not
much more than a stone pile to be
gin with. In one case enough old
foundation stones were removed to
build a wall along the two exposed
sides of the lot. The soil was then
leveled and a few small loads of
manure fpaded into it. The garden
was planted while neighboring
apartment house dwellers looked on
from their windows, doubt written
on every face, but the garden grew
and&urishcd, and many were the
smiles of appreciation of the good"
things that were handed them by the
owner of the garden.
Sucwssful tests have been made
in England with the use of benzol
for driving automobile with a view
to solving the problem of finding a
cheap British made fuel for power.
Few Tools Are Needed
For the'Home Garden
Thrift gardens, should . be thrift
gardens from' start to finishV and the
vegetables arown. in them .should
not cost as much as it would cost to
buy them on the market. Every,
item of expnse , should be kept
down. This is especially true in the
purchase of tools. Some gardeners
liv on trfta that tnfv must nave
"-r- " v . : j 1 1
a large assortment or noes anajj
rakes, wheel hoes, seed anus, spray-
iig outfits and special equipment
before they can begin to garden.
But the tools actually required in
the cultivation of a thrift garden
are few. and simple. A spade or
spading fork, a steel rake and a hoe,
together with a piece of string and
two small wooden stakes, are the
chief essentials, v There are a" num
ber of other tools, such as a trowel,
sprinkling can, wheel-hoe, seed drill'
and wheelbairow, that may often be
used to advantage, but they jfre not
absolutely necessary., '
Good Seeds Essential
to Thrift Home Gardens
Brin out the' left-over seeds and
those saved from last year's garden,
spread them on a table, examine
them closely, and see how many are
worth planting i the garden this
year.
As a rule, it does not pay to plant
old seeds, and unless those left over
from last year are in first-class con
dition, they had best be discarded,
United States Department of Agri
culture specialists advise. Even
though they look to be all right'
nothing but a germination test will
determine their value, ine test may
be made in two or three ways,, the
easiest being by means of a small
box of sand in the window or in a
warm place in the house. From 50
to 100 seeds of each sample" to be
tested should, be counted out and
carefully planted in the moist sand.
After the sprouts have appeared," an
other count can be made to deter
mine the "percentage that have
germinated. If less than 65 per cent
or 70 per cent have grown, the seed
by all means should be discarded.
Bee Want Ads Are Best Business
Boosters.
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MAHA'S most modern
HOSTELRY offers its
heartiest Congratulations to
The Skinner Company on the
event of the openingLof their
most modern Packing Plant
at South Omaha...- ; 1
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Well Known Coal Man
Is New Board Member
Of Big Packing Plant
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Nature Has Made the
Soil Just Right for
Gardeners This Year
Winter snows and hard freezing
weather, reported in many parts.of
the, United States this winter, -are
thexbest agencies for getting garden
soils in condition according to
United States Department of Agri
culture specialists. Soil is nothing
more nor less than finely divided
rock with decayed vegetable matter
mixed with, it. Every time the water
freezes in the crevice of a rocky it
makes the opening a little wider un
til finally the rock is split into frag
ments; morepwater gets into the
openings in ' these tragments and
freezes,, and so the work ot reduc
tion goes on forever. Every time
the ground freezes new soili is
formed, but this new soil is in need
of manure -or decaying vegetable
matter before it will hold .water in
minute 'quantities and be in condi
tion ,to produce crops.".
Every time the soil is stirred in
cultivating, the particles are ground
together, and they rub or break off
still finer particles. If the soil 's
too wet when it is worked, the par
ticles will become cemented togethei
and there will be clods or ' lumpy
soil. The little hairlike roots of ;
plants develop in the spaces between,
the particles of soil. Were is where
they get their water and along with
it food materials that are essential
to the growth of the plant.., '
Cost of Home Gardenina ,
Only'a Little Bit Higher
Food prices are high, but food '
grown iu home gardens costs com
paratively little more than before
prices began to ascend. Thi$t addi
tional reason fqr home gardening in
1920 is put forward by specialists of
the United States . Department of v
Agriculture. They quote a letter
trom a New York business man. He i
wrote :V j
"Food cost$ today are pracjically
double those of 1914, but the cost to
plant and care for a home garden
has not increased to any considera
ble '.extent. The clerk, salesman or
professional man who grows his ,
own vegetables and small fruits re
duces the family food bill. More
important still, he increases the to
tal food supply of the country. He
enters the producing class. To a
very appreciable extent the home ,
gardener can solve the high cost 0"
living." .
G..W. Megeath, a new director of,
The Skinner Company board, is pne
of Omaha's most successful business
men. He was bom in Omaha and
has lived here a large part of his
life..,, .'..' :
Among his other, business ' inter
ests is the Sheridan Coal company,
of which -he is president.
Omaha Confectioner Dies
Elmer Nelson, 29 years old, 668
South Twenty-sixth street, died ear
ly Tuesday morning after a brief ill
ness. He is, survived by his widow
and 3-year-old son, Elmer, jr.;
mother, sister and two brothers. Mr.
Nelson had conducted a confection
ery store at Twentjvfifth and Leav
tnworth streets for five years.
Omaha Baum Iron Store. Inc.
Thirteenth and Harney Streets ,
1 Omaha, Nebraska
JOBBERS 0L
IRON AND STEEL
CARRIAGE AND WAGON
WOODSTOCK AND
HEAVY HARDWARE
yAGOWMAKERS' AND
BLACKSMITHS' TOOLS
OF EVERY DESCRIPTION
COACH COLORS
AND VARNISHES
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The Home of
Skinner ' Quality Products
'T'HIS; large sanitary Pure Food Factory is devoted
entirely to the manufacture of Skinner's Macaroni
Products. Here are daily produced, packed into Indi
vidual hygienic cartohs and shipped all over the world
the immense quantities of v - ' 77 '
, SWNMERS Macaroni Cut Macafoni
Spaghetti Cut Spaghetti Egg Noodles
'
which have made the "name of SKINNER famous
wherever clean; wholesome and delicious food is most
appreciated.
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Ask for and Get
Macaroni Products
Only the purest Abber Durum Wheat is used in the making of
SKINNER'S guaranteed Macaroni Products. That isx why
they have their clear, beautiful color. No spots no specks.
That is why they cook just right in 10 to 12 minutes. )
Dishes which will delight the most particular palate can be made
with SKINNER'S Products. Skinner's Macaroni en Casserole,
Skinner's Spaghetti Italian style and
Skinner's Fried Egg Noodles are ,'
standard dishes in thousands of
American homes.
Tni Muk Rt. U. 8. Fit. OSc
and Foreign.
GUARANTEE
Buy a package of SKINNER'S; try
it, and,tunless you find its superiority
to be immediately noticeable, , take
the empty package back to your
grocer and he will refuncfyour money.
SKINNER'S must be
others if we dare to promise this.
The Skinner Company
- Omaha, U. S. A.