The Bour Company was incorporated in 1892, following a partnership which had succeeded to a small business concern under the name of the Eagle Spice Company. The principal stockholders were: J.M. Bour, F.G. Kendrick, and Albro Blodgett. Mr. Blodgett bought the Bour interests in 1909 and with S.W. Beckley, who had been sales manager for a number of years, acquired practically all the other outside interests. The name was changed in 1921 to the Blodgett-Beckley Co., the officers being Albro Blodgett, president, S.W. Beckley, vice-president and manager, and Henry P. Blodgett, secretary and treasurer.

Cleveland. Pioneers in Cleveland were: Smith & Curtis; A. Stephens & Sons; John H. Ganse; and W.D. Drake & Co. In 1870, we find Edwards, Townsend & Co.; Knight, Eberman & Co.; Talbot, Winslow & Co.; Williams & Tait; and Lemmon & Son, added.

Beards & Cummings, coffee roasters of New York City, established a branch in Cleveland under the management of Alvan Stephens in 1855. Later, Stephens took over the business for himself and changed the name to Frisbie & Stephens. In 1861 Alvan's sons, Henry A. and Samuel R., were admitted and the firm became A. Stephens & Sons. Alvan Stephens died in 1873, and Samuel moved to Chicago to open a branch. He died in 1878. Henry A. continued the business until 1881, when Francis Widlar was admitted to partnership, and the name was changed to Stephens & Widlar. Henry A. Stephens died in 1897, and A.L. Somers, H.H. Hewitt, and D.D. Hudson, all old employees, were admitted, and the firm name was changed to F. Widlar & Co. Carl W. Brand, a nephew of Francis Widlar, joined the company in 1898. Upon the death of his uncle, the business was incorporated as the Widlar Co., and Mr. Brand became president in 1910.

Pittsburgh. Next to New York, Pittsburg was one of the first cities to forge to the front as a coffee-roasting center. These are the firms that were among the leaders in the period between 1860 and 1870: Arbuckles & Co.; W.T. Bown & Bro.; Dilworth Bros.; Rinehart & Stevens; T.C. Jenkins & Bro.; Carter Bros. & Co.; J.S. Dilworth & Co.; Jesse H. Lippincott; Shields & Boucher; and Haworth & Dewhurst.

Samuel Young, Samuel Mahood, and E. B. Mahood formed a partnership as Young, Mahood & Co. in 1879. E.B. Mahood withdrew in 1890. Samuel Mahood retired in 1906, and the company was incorporated as the Young-Mahood Company, with Samuel Young as president, and W. James Mahood as vice-president and general manager.

Portland, Oregon. Early roasters in the trade of this city were: J.F. Jones; H. C. Hudson & Co.; Marden & Folger; Verdier & Closset; and Closset & Devers.

Joseph and Emile Closset formed a partnership as Closset Bros, in 1880. A.H. Devers, who had been a salesman with Folger, Schilling & Co., San Francisco, and later with A. Schilling & Co., bought out Emile Closset in 1883, and the firm became Closset & Devers. Joseph Closset died in 1915.

Baltimore. Pioneer roasters in Baltimore were: Joseph Braas; Daniel Many; George Pearson; Sylvester Ruth; and John G. Siegman. These were quickly followed by Barclay & Hasson; Zoller & Little; Benjamin Berry; Jesse Lazear; and others.

Later, after 1876, came: E. Levering & Co.; the Enterprise Coffee Co.; C.D. Kenny; J.W. Laughlin & Co., now Le Morgan Coffee Co.; and the Saxon Coffee Company.

Detroit. In Detroit in 1860–70 were: Evans & Walker; Farrington, Campbell & Co.; A.R. & W.F. Linn; J.H. Riggs; and Palmer, Warner & Co. After 1876 were added Sinclair, Evans & Elliot; Huber & Stendel; and J.A. Parent & Co.

Other Cities. Names of pioneer roasters of other towns in 1860 and 1870 were: George Boardman, Albany, N.Y.; Chubuck & Saunders, Binghamton, N.Y.; George W. Hayward, and P.J. Ferris, Buffalo, N.Y.; Lorimore Bros., and George R. Forrester, Elmira, N.Y.; Hatch & Jenks, Jamestown, N.Y.; N.B. Beede, Newburgh, N.Y.; A.F. Booth, Poughkeepsie, N.Y.; Ethridge, Tuller & Co., Rome, N.Y.; M.N. Van Zandt & Co., L.B. Eddy & Co., and C.T. Moore, Rochester, N.Y.; Ostrander, Loomis & Co., and Jacob Crouse & Co., Syracuse, N.Y.; C.H. Garrison, Troy, N.Y.; Hinchman & Howard, and J. Griffiths & Co., Utica, N.Y.; B.F. Hoopes, Bloomington, Ill.; C.P. Farrell, and Charles Richards, Peoria, Ill.; Slemmons & Conkling, Springfield, Ill.; Henry Wales, Bridgeport, Conn.; A.B. Gillett, Wm. Boardman & Sons, Hartford Steam Coffee & Spice Mills, and Park, Fellowes & Co., Hartford, Conn.; Benj. Peck & Kellum, and Steele & Emery, New Haven, Conn.; W.S. Scull & Co., Camden, N.J.; Theo. F. Johnson & Co., and the Pioneer Mills, Newark, N.J.; Charles A. Dunham, New Brunswick, N.J.; James Ronan and Wm. Dolton & Co., Trenton, N.J.; Butler, Earhart & Co., Columbus, Ohio; C.A. Trentman & Bro., and J.D. Beach & Co., Dayton, Ohio; W. & S. Stevens, and F.C. Dietz, Zanesville, Ohio; J.E. Tone, Des Moines, Iowa; H.P. Hess, Cornell & Smith, and E. Warne, Easton, Pa.; E.S. Forster, Erie, Pa.; Haehnlen Bros., Harrisburg, Pa.; D.G. Yuengling, Pottsville, Pa.; A. G. Zilmore & Co., Scranton, Pa.; Granger & Co., Titusville, Pa.; Huestis & Hamilton, and B. Trentman & Son, Ft. Wayne, Ind.; S. Hamill & Co., Keokuk, Ia.; H.H. Lee, and Maguire & Gillespie, Indianapolis, Ind.; Joseph Strong, Terre Haute, Ind.; Curtis & Burnham, Leavenworth, Kan.; Yates & Dudley, Lexington, Ky.; A. Turner, Wheeling, W. Va.; Granger & Hodge, and Nathaniel Crocker, St. Paul, Minn.; W.W. Totten & Bro., Nashville, Tenn.; Henry Burns, Savannah, Ga.; A. McFarland, Springfield, Mass.; Alexander Wills & Co., Montreal, Canada; and Peter Hendershot, St. Catherine, Canada.

Between 1876 and 1900, many other names came into prominence, and among them mention should be made of: H. Hulman, Terre Haute, Ind.; A.B. Gates & Co., and Schnull & Krag, Indianapolis, Ind.; O.W. Pierce Co., and Geiger-Tinney Co., Lafayette, Ind.; Twitchell, Champlin & Co., Portland, Me.; Nave-McCord Mfg. Co., Mokaska Mfg. Co., and the Midland Spice Co., St. Joseph, Mo.; Beaham-Moffatt Mfg. Co., and C.A. Murdock & Co., Kansas City, Mo.; Clarke Bros. & Co., T. S. Grigor & Co., Consolidated Coffee Co., and McCord, Brady Co., Omaha, Neb.; Dayton Spice Mills Co., and Canby, Ach & Canby, Dayton, Ohio; Ohio Coffee & Spice Co., and Butler, Crawford & Co., Columbus, Ohio; Bacon, Stickney & Co., Albany, N.Y.; Charles R. Groff Co., St. Paul, Minn.; John G. Schuler, Covington, Ky.; J.W. Thomas & Son, Nashville, Tenn.; Geo. F. Hanley & Co., Los Angeles, Cal.; C.S. Morey Mercantile Co., Denver, Col.; and W.G. Lown Coffee Co., Washington, D.C.

William Boardman, founder of Wm. Boardman & Sons Co., Hartford, Conn., began roasting coffee at Wethersfield in 1841 with a hand-power roaster, using wood for fuel. He moved his plant to Hartford in 1850. In the same year, his son Thomas J., after serving a fifteen-year apprenticeship in a country store, entered his father's employ. Three years later, he and his brother, William F.J. Boardman, were admitted to the firm, the name being changed to Wm. Boardman & Sons. Howard F. Boardman, a son of Thomas J., began working in the business in 1880, and was admitted to partnership in 1888. The same year, the founder died and William F.J. retired. The business has since been conducted by Thomas J. and Howard F. Boardman.

The company was incorporated in 1898, and John Pepion was admitted. The president of the company, Thomas J. Boardman, is at the time of writing ninety years old. He still takes a very active interest in the business, and his "cup sense" is as acute as ever.

The O.W. Pierce Company, Lafayette, Ind. was founded in 1847 by Oliver Webster Pierce, Sr. Except for three years in the fifties, when the firm was known as Reynolds, Hatcher & Pierce, it has been known as the O.W. Pierce Company since it was established. The company was incorporated in 1905 with O.W. Pierce, Jr. as its head. The senior Mr. Pierce died in 1921. The firm first roasted coffee in 1891. Prior to that time it had been in the wholesale grocery business.

The William S. Scull Co., Camden, N.J., was established in 1858 by William S. Scull, whose father had been in the retail tea and coffee business. William Scull died in 1916. H. Newmark founded H. Newmark & Co. in Los Angeles in 1865. He retired in 1886, and Maurice H. Newmark was made a full partner. The present name is M.A. Newmark & Co.

In 1868, Major David B. Hamill entered, as junior partner, the firm of S. Hamill & Co., Keokuk, Iowa, of which his father, Smith Hamill, was the head. Smith Hamill died in 1890, and David B. became head of the firm. He died in 1916.

William Tackaberry was a junior partner in the firm of S. Hamill & Co., Keokuk, Iowa. He began a business of his own in the same city in 1868. Ten years later, he moved the company to Sioux City, and continued there as the Wm. Tackaberry Co.

Joel O. Cheek began traveling for the wholesale grocery house of Webb, Hughes & Co., Nashville, Tenn., in 1873. Later, he was admitted to partnership, the firm becoming Webb, Cheek & Co., and then Cheek, Norton & Neal. He formed the Nashville Coffee & Mfg. Co., in 1899. It was merged in 1901 into the Cheek-Neal Coffee Co.

Jekiel and Isaac E. Tone began the business of Tone Bros. at Des Moines, Iowa, in March, 1873, with one roaster and one spice mill. The business was incorporated in 1897. Jekiel Tone died in 1900, and Isaac E. Tone in 1916. The business is now (1922) carried on by W.E. and Jay E. Tone.

Edward Canby began business in Dayton, Ohio, in 1875, succeeding the firm of J.D. Beach & Co. He retired in 1886, and the business was left in charge of Frank L. Canby and P.J. Ach. The latter had entered the employ of Canby in 1877. He secured an interest in the business in 1882, and became a partner in 1890. When the company was incorporated as Canby, Ach & Canby in 1904, he was elected president. Mr. Ach has been very prominent in the affairs of the National Coffee Roasters Association since its organization.

Frank J. Geiger began in the tea, coffee, and spice business in Lafayette, Ind., under the name of Culver & Geiger. Mr. Culver, who had never been active, died in 1889, and in 1892 the Geiger-Tinney Company was formed with F.J. Geiger as president. The plant was moved to Indianapolis in 1901 with William L. Horn as vice-president, and Henry C. Tinney as secretary and treasurer. The name was changed to the Geiger-Fishback Co. in 1912, and Mr. Geiger retired. Frank S. Fishback acquired all the stock of the company in 1918, and the name was changed to the Fishback Co. with F.S. Fishback, president; John S. Fishback, treasurer; and F. C. Fishback, secretary.

S. Holstad joined the Thomson & Taylor Spice Co of Chicago in 1892. He left in 1901 and went to Minneapolis, where he became a member of the firm of Atwood & Hoisted. He withdrew in 1908 to form the firm of S. Holstad & Co., with Charles Ekelund and Alexander W. Kreiser as partners. After the withdrawal of Mr. Holstad from Atwood & Holstad, Mr. Atwood continued as Atwood & Co.

F.P. Atha began work as a coffee salesman with Holman & Co., Terre Haute, Ind. He went to San Francisco in 1899 and entered the employ of J.A. Folger & Co., and introduced Folger products east of the Rockies. He opened the Kansas City branch in 1907; and a year later, he was admitted to the firm and made vice-president and general manager.

The National Coffee Roasters Association

The first effort to organize the coffee roasters of the United States dates back to 1885, when several St. Louis coffee roasters came together in a kind of gentlemen's agreement not to cut the price of roasting green coffee, which had declined, owing to ruthless competition, from $1.00 to 10 cents a bag. The various parties to the agreement posted $500 checks each as forfeits, not to violate the price as fixed. After one year, a check was cashed; but the principal claimed his lapse was clerical and not in violation of the agreement. However, as a result of the argument that followed, the organization was disbanded.

As early as 1900, leaders of the trade's best thought began to urge the need of a national organization among coffee roasters.

As a result of informal meetings between men like Robert M. Forbes, Julius J. Schotten, Robert Meyer, and Messrs. Roth and Homeyer, around the luncheon table in St. Louis, to discuss trade abuses and bring about better trade co-operation, the subject of a St. Louis organization of coffee roasters began to be agitated about 1906. It was not until four years later, however, that the idea took definite form.

On September 14, 1910, the Traffic Association of St. Louis Coffee Importers was organized, starting out with a membership of ten firms, its chief object being to obtain an adjustment of freight rates to and from St. Louis as advantageous as those prevailing for Chicago and New York.

This association—of which Robert Meyer was the first president, and H.L. Homeyer, vice-president, J.S. Hartman, secretary, and G.H. Petring, treasurer—was the forerunner of the National Coffee Roasters Traffic and Pure Food Association organized in 1911 and now known as the National Coffee Roasters Association.

At the organization meeting of the national association twenty-six coffee-roasting establishments in the Mississippi Valley were represented at the conference held May 26–27 in the Planters Hotel, St. Louis. The objects of the new body were announced in the constitution, as:

The association started with these officers: Julius J. Schotten, St. Louis, President; M.H. Gasser, Toledo, vice-president; W.E. Tone, Des Moines, treasurer, and W.J.H. Bown, St. Louis, secretary.

Meanwhile, as a result of an agitation started by The Tea and Coffee Trade Journal, a meeting of New York and eastern coffee roasters was called at the Fulton Club, New York, October 27, 1911, to discuss plans for a national organization. M. H. Gasser attended this meeting, and told of the plan of the western roasters to organize such an organization at a meeting called for Chicago the following month. The promoters of the eastern organization subsequently abandoned their efforts in favor of the western group.

At the first convention of the National Coffee Roasters Traffic and Pure Food Association, held in Chicago, November 16–17, 1911, all the foregoing officers were retained, the office of second vice-president was created, and Frank R. Seelye was selected to fill it.

That the organization idea was popular among the roasters was evident from the fact that at the close of the convention it was announced that the membership was then seventy-one firms in cities as far east as Virginia and as far west as Kansas City. The convention demonstrated that the association was really a national organization, which quieted suspicions prevalent in some quarters of the trade in the east that it was chiefly a Mississippi Valley unit.

The first convention is remembered principally because of Hermann Sielcken's defense of the Brazil coffee valorization plan, which was then the big question of the coffee trade. The titles of some of the other addresses will serve to indicate how the scope of the association had enlarged since its organization a few months before: "An Attack on Valorization" by Thomas J. Webb, of Chicago; "Uniform Food Laws", by W.T. Jones, of New Orleans; "Penny-Change Systems," by R.W. McCreery, of Marshalltown, Ia; "Traffic and Freight Abuses," by W.E. Tone, of Des Moines; "Transportation Problems," by Carl H. Stoffregen, St. Louis; "Coffee Publicity," by F.H. Henrici, of Chicago; "Coffee Roasters' Costs and Accounting," by F.J. Ach, Chicago. The first convention proved a success, and attracted attention.

The second annual convention, held in New York, November 13–15, 1912, showed that the association had grown to a membership of 135 firms located in all parts of the country, and that its influence had extended throughout the whole trade. Valorization continued to be a much discussed subject. Hermann Sielcken and others again defending it in speeches; but the majority of the association seemed opposed to the scheme. Probably the most important feature of the convention was the report of the committee of nine men who had visited Brazil to investigate conditions there and to interest the Brazilian coffee growers in an advertising campaign. An address on this subject was made by the editor of The Tea and Coffee Trade Journal, in which he suggested a plan for propaganda and advocated scientific research to find out the truth about coffee.

The election of officers resulted in the selection of F.J. Ach, Dayton, as president; Frank R. Seelye, Chicago, first vice-president; Ross W. Weir, New York, second vice-president; and Robert Meyer, St. Louis, treasurer.

The 1912 convention changed the name of the association to the National Coffee Roasters Association, dropping the words "Traffic and Pure Food" from the original title.

The third convention, which was held November 12–14, 1913, in Cincinnati, demonstrated that the scope of usefulness of the association was still growing, as shown by the resolutions which approved better coffee-making publicity; favored a national coffee day; urged the appointment of inspectors at ports of entry to prevent the importation of green coffee under government standard No. 8; condemned the excessive watering of coffee and all coffee coatings; and provided for the appointment of an agent to visit Brazil to furnish members with "reliable" reports on crop flowering.

F.J. Ach was re-elected president; Ross W. Weir succeeded F.R. Seelye as first vice-president; W.T. Jones succeeded Mr. Weir as second vice-president, and Robert Meyer was retained as treasurer.

Secretary G.W. Toms, who had been appointed in April, 1913, reported that the association had made a net gain of thirteen members, bringing the total up to 144.

The membership of the association had been increased by twenty names when the fourth annual convention was opened in New Orleans, November 16–19, 1914, making the total 164.

Better coffee making, roasting economies, a national coffee week, and improved methods of handling green coffee in ports and warehouses, were the principal topics considered at the 1914 meeting. As a result of the discussions, the association went on record in its resolutions as being against the misbranding of both green and roasted coffee; favored the creation of a United States board of coffee experts; and the establishment of an association trade-mark bureau.

For the ensuing year Ross W. Weir, New York, was chosen president; J.O. Cheek, Nashville, first vice-president; T.F. Halligan, Davenport, second vice-president; and W.T. Morley, Worcester, treasurer.

The decision to get together on a comprehensive national publicity campaign in the interest of coffee was the outstanding feature of the fifth annual convention, which was held in St. Louis, November 8–11, 1915, in the same room in the Planters Hotel in which the association was organized in 1911. From a body of twenty-six roasters, the association had grown in five years to a membership of 201 firms and individuals.

Among the more important things done at this convention was the decision to undertake a practical publicity plan to advertise coffee; the adoption of a uniform cost-and-freight contract; the proposal to prepare educational matter on coffee for the schools; and the recommendation to employ a chemist to carry on research work. There were spirited discussions also on gas, coal, and coke as roasting fuels; on the best way to get retailer co-operation, and whether it was advisable to continue the national coffee week idea. President Weir, Vice-Presidents Cheek and Halligan, and Treasurer Morley were re-elected.

The sixth annual convention, held in Atlantic City, November 14–17, 1916, placed emphasis on research into grinding and brewing; on plans for doing something practical to help grocers regain their lost coffee trade; and on an investigation into the scientific costs of roasting. The admittance of green coffee and allied interests into the association was also discussed, and it was resolved to make the subject an order of business for special consideration at the next convention.

At this meeting Frank R. Seelye, Chicago, was elected president; Ben C. Casanas, New Orleans, first vice-president; J.M. McFadden, Dubuque, second vice-president; and M.H. Gasser, Toledo, treasurer. The membership was reported as being 204, showing a net increase of three during the year.

The seventh convention, held in Chicago, November 14–15, 1917, came when the first movement of American soldiers to European battlefields was begun, and patriotism was the keynote of the meeting. Because of the stress of the times, the program was cut to two days, instead of the three days of former meetings.

The outstanding features of the convention were: the decision not to admit green coffee men to the association; the decision to establish a permanent headquarters; the announcement that Brazil was then collecting funds for its part in the national advertising campaign; and the proposal by John E. King, Detroit, that the term "lead number" be used instead of "caffetannic acid", which he asserted was a misnomer. The executive committee was authorized to employ a secretary-manager. The shorter terms and credits idea was endorsed by the association.

These officers were elected for the next year; Ben C. Casanas, New Orleans, president; S.H. Holstad, Minneapolis, first vice-president; Edward Aborn, New York, second vice-president; M.H. Gasser, Toledo, treasurer.

The influenza epidemic, which swept the country the latter part of 1918, caused the postponement of many business and public gatherings, and the eighth annual roasters convention did not assemble until December 5–6, in Cleveland—at only ten days' notice. Unlike previous occasions, this was in reality a combined convention of all roasted and green coffee men in the trade, both association members and non-members. No regular program was followed, the meeting being somewhat in the character of a trade conference.

The salient features of the convention were the decisions: to double the annual dues, in order to provide for a paid secretary-manager and to establish permanent headquarters; to organize a spice grinders' section; and to ask the government to remove all restrictions on coffee trading. The Food Administration's coffee regulations came in for severe criticism.

The election of officers resulted in Carl W. Brand, Cleveland, becoming president; Robert M. Forbes, St. Louis, first vice-president; J.A. Folger, San Francisco, second vice-president; and Lewis Sherman, Milwaukee, treasurer.

The ninth convention of the National Coffee Roasters Association was of greater import to all branches of the coffee trade than any that had preceded it. The results of the meeting showed the association had gone far since the organization meeting in St. Louis in 1911. As in 1916, the convention was held in Atlantic City, November 12–14, 1919, and drew delegates from as far west as San Francisco and Seattle.

The most important subjects before the meeting were the reports of the Joint Coffee Trade Publicity Committee, read by Ross W. Weir, chairman, and Felix Coste, secretary-manager. The committee had been organized during the year to carry on the national coffee-advertising campaign, and announced at the convention its publicity plans for the next year, which included a national coffee week, a national showing of the committee's coffee film, and the issuance of several educational booklets. Other outstanding features included the description of how the association planned to conduct a research into the cost of doing a wholesale coffee-roasting business, the investigation to be made by Columbia University; addresses attacking the meat packers' invasion of the coffee roasting and distributing field; a paper, and discussions, on shorter terms and uniform discounts; the recommendation to employ a traveling field secretary who would hold periodical meetings with local branches; and the condemnation of guaranteeing prices against decline and giving advance notices of changes of prices.

The convention unanimously agreed to the re-election of President Brand, Vice-Presidents Forbes and Folger, and Treasurer Sherman.

The tenth annual meeting was held in St. Louis, November 10–12, 1920. Scientific cost finding, short terms and discounts, the national advertising campaign, the activities of the N.C.R.A. freight-forwarding bureau, and laboratory-research were the main topics of this years' gathering. The membership was reported to be 310. A feature of the meeting was the first industrial exhibit by twenty-five supply houses. Among the things accomplished were:

The recommendation that members co-operate in determining the invisible supply of coffee in the United States at stated periods; increasing annual dues from $50 to $60 for members having $50,000 or less capitalization, and from $100 to $120 for firms having more than $50,000 capital; restricting membership to purely wholesale coffee roasters and distributers; and offering co-operation to hotel-men and restaurant-keepers in standardizing and improving their coffee beverages.

The St. Louis meeting was notable in violating association precedent by unanimously electing Carl W. Brand president for the third consecutive term. Other officers were: J.A. Folger, San Francisco, first vice-president, R.O. Miller, Chicago, second vice-president; Charles A. Clark, Milwaukee, treasurer.

The eleventh annual meeting, held in New York, November 1–3, 1921, set the high-water mark of the organization's record of achievement. This convention took the first definite steps toward the amalgamation of the green and roasted coffee interests in one association. Brazil sent a delegation of coffee men to invite a similar delegation to pay a return visit to Brazil. It was announced also that São Paulo was about to double its tax contribution to the national advertising campaign. Among other things done, were: the appropriation of $1500 to work out a uniform cost-accounting system for roasters; the recommendation that coffee importers insist upon the use of American ships by Brazilian exporters; the formulation of a cost-and-freight arbitration contract for use with São Paulo exporters; the formation of a new membership class roasting up to 6000 bags a year; and the decision to make a national campaign to put the selling of coffee on a uniform thirty-days credit, two percent cash in ten days basis. Professor S.C. Prescott, reporting on the research work being done at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said a better brew of coffee could be obtained at a temperature of 185 degrees than at the boiling point; that glass, china, or enameled-ware pots were to be preferred, and that the filtration method is superior to that employed in the pumping percolator.

The Industrial Exposition included displays by twenty-eight manufacturers of machinery and supplies, and was voted a success. Many of the exhibits were of a distinctly educational character.

The following officers were elected for 1921–22: President, Joel O. Cheek, Nashville, Tenn.; first vice-president, Webster Jones, San Francisco; second vice-president, Joseph E. Maury, Memphis, Tenn.; treasurer, Frank Ennis, Kansas City.

Coffee Roaster Statistics

As might be expected, considering the leading place that New York holds as a port of entry for coffee, the roasting and grinding of coffee is more important in the eastern section of the country than in any other. But there are many establishments for preparing coffee scattered throughout the south and the middle west, and the business has grown to considerable proportions on the Pacific coast. New York state leads in number of establishments and is followed by Pennsylvania, California, Missouri, Ohio, and Illinois. The chief southern state is Texas, followed by Louisiana and Kentucky, although Maryland and Louisiana lead in value of product. Missouri has more plants than any other state in the middle west, and is followed by Illinois, though the capital invested and the value of the output are much greater in the latter than in the former.

The distribution of the business of preparing coffee is shown by the figures of the Census Bureau, which reports for 1914 a total of 696 establishments under the designation "Coffee and spice, roasting and grinding." It was found to be necessary to adopt this classification inasmuch as most establishments handle both coffee and spices. Of the 696, however, 658 had coffee as their principal product, and the figures may thus be taken as indicating fairly well the general distribution of the coffee-manufacturing industry. These figures, for the various states, are shown on page 515.

Preliminary figures for the 1919 census show that the value of the product almost doubled in the five years 1914–19, amounting to $304,740,000 in 1919, while the number of establishments increased from 696 to 794, of which 769 specialize in coffee.

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Chapter XXXI

SOME BIG MEN AND NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS

In the history of the coffee trade of the United States, several names stand out because of sensational accomplishments, and because of notable contributions made to the development of the industry. In green coffee, we have B.G. Arnold, the first, and Hermann Sielcken the last, of the "coffee kings"; in the roasting business, there was John Arbuckle, the original national-package-coffee man; and in the coffee-roasting machinery business, Jabez Burns, inventor, manufacturer, and writer.

The First "Coffee King"

Benjamin Green Arnold came to New York from Rhode Island in 1836 and took a job as accountant with an east-side grocer. He was thrifty, industrious, and kept his own counsel. He was a born financial leader. Fifteen years later he was made a junior partner in the firm. By 1868, the bookkeeper of 1836 was the head of the business, with a line of credit amounting to half a million dollars—a notable achievement in those days.

Mr. Arnold embarked upon his big speculation in coffee in 1869. For ten years he maintained his mastery of the market, and in that time amassed a fortune. It is related that one year's operations of this daring trader yielded his firm a profit of a million and a quarter of dollars.

B.G. Arnold was the first president of the New York Coffee Exchange. He was one of the founders of the Down Town Association in 1878. The president of the United States was his friend, and a guest at his luxurious home. But the high-price levels to which Arnold had forced the coffee market started a coffee-planting fever in the countries of production. Almost before he knew it, there was an overproduction that swamped the market and forced down prices with so amazing rapidity that panic seized upon the traders. Few that were caught in that memorable coffee maelstrom survived financially.

Arnold himself was a victim, but such was the man's character that his failure was regarded by many as a public misfortune. Some men differed with him as to the wisdom of promoting a coffee corner, and protested that it was against public policy; but Arnold's personal integrity was never questioned, and his mercantile ability and honorable business dealings won for him an affectionate regard that continued after his fortune had been swept away.

After the collapse of the coffee corner, Mr. Arnold resumed business with his son, F.B. Arnold. He died in New York, December 10, 1894, in his eighty-second year. The son died in Rome in 1906. The business which the father founded, however, continues today as Arnold, Dorr & Co., one of the most honored and respected names in Front Street.

Hermann Sielcken, the Last Coffee King

If B.G. Arnold was first coffee king, Hermann Sielcken was last, for it is unlikely that ever again, in the United States, will it be possible for one man to achieve so absolute a dictatorship of the green coffee business.

There never was a coffee romance like that of Hermann Sielcken's. Coming to America a poor boy in 1869, forty-five years later, he left it many times a millionaire. For a time, he ruled the coffee markets of the world with a kind of autocracy such as the trade had never seen before and probably will not see again. And when, just before the outbreak of the World War, he returned to Germany for the annual visit to his Baden-Baden estate, from which he was destined never again to sally forth to deeds of financial prowess, his subsequent involuntary retirement found him a huge commercial success, where B.G. Arnold was a colossal failure. It was the World War and a lingering illness that, at the end, stopped Hermann Sielcken. But, though he had to admit himself bested by the fortunes of war, he was still undefeated in the world of commerce. He died in his native Germany in 1917, the most commanding, and the most cordially disliked, figure ever produced by the coffee trade.

Hermann Sielcken was born in Hamburg in 1847, and so was seventy years old when he died at Baden-Baden, October 8, 1917. He was the son of a small baker in Hamburg; and before he was twenty-one, he went to Costa Rica to work for a German firm there. He did not like Costa Rica, and within a year he went to San Francisco, where, with a knowledge of English already acquired, he got a job as a shipping clerk. This was in 1869. A wool concern engaged him as buyer, and for about six years he covered the territory between the Rockies and the Pacific, buying wool. On one of these trips he was in a stage-coach wreck in Oregon and nearly lost his life. He received injuries affecting his back from which he never fully recovered, and which caused the stooped posture which marked his carriage through life thereafter. When he recovered, he came to New York seeking employment, and obtained a clerical position with L. Strauss & Sons, importers of crockery and glassware. In 1880, married Josephine Chabert, whose father kept a restaurant in Park Place.

Sielcken had learned Spanish in Costa Rica, and this knowledge aided him to a place with W.H. Crossman & Bro. (W.H. and George W. Crossman) merchandise commission merchants in Broad Street. He was sent to South America to solicit consignments for the Crossmans, and was surprisingly successful. For six or eight months every South American mail brought orders to the house. Then, as the story goes, his reports suddenly ceased. Weeks and months passed, and the firm heard nothing from him.

The Crossmans speculated concerning his fate. It was thought he might have caught a fever and died. It was almost impossible to trace him; at the same time it distressed them to lose so promising a representative. Giving up all hope of hearing from him again, they began to look around for some one to take his place. Then, one morning, he walked into the office and said, "How do you do?" just as if he had left them only the evening before. The members of the firm questioned him eagerly. He answered some of their questions; but most of them he did not. Then he laid a package on the table.