 The business of the Central Glass Company was started Wheeling, West Virginia on the co-operative plan
in the spring of 1863, with a capital of $5,000. After the expiration of three
years the company bought the grounds and buildings of the East Wheeling
distillery and pork packing house, for the purpose of converting them into a
glass manufacturing establishment, which, in point of magnitude and
completeness, was destined to stand on a par with anything of the kind in the
United States.
In 1867 they obtained a charter to conduct the business on a joint stock plan
under the firm name of the Central Glass Company, with a capital of $80,000,
which also represented the original capital of $5,000. The new company, however,
reserved the right of buying in and cancelling all the shares which might be
offered for sale by its individual members, and the result has been that the
original 434 shares have thus been reduced to less than one-half of the original
number.
The capital of the company for several years past has been $260,000, the
average sales per annum about $400,000, and they employ about 500 hands. Until
the introduction of natural gas they have been operating their own coal fields,
comprising fifty acres in the vicinity of the works. Their manufactures are
among the most popular in the United States, and are extensively shipped to the
Canadas, West Indies, South America and the German markets.
The production of these works is
confined to table ware, bar and lamp goods, the variety, quality, and beauty of
which find ready sale. Up to the year 1872, they operated only two furnaces, but
during that year was added a third, with the necessary outbuildings.
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