24 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



Makers of Machinery History 



(See Portrait Supplement.) 



In the phenomenal success of Melville W. 

 Mix, the industrial world today recognizes 

 the result of a sterling character and busi- 

 ness ability of the highest order. 



With the motto, ' ' We can and we will, ' ' 

 Mr. Mix has built up at Mishawaka, Ind., 

 the largest plant of its kind in the world, 

 devoted to the manufacture of power trans- 

 mission machinery, elevating and conveying 

 equipment and water softeners. Through his 

 efforts largely the Dodge JManufacturing 

 Company has become a substantial success, 

 well and favorably known throughout the en- 

 gineering and manufacturing world. 



Melville W. Mix was born at Atlanta^-' 

 111. As a boy he worked there in a hard- 

 ware store while attending high school. In , 

 1886 he went to Mishawaka, taking a posi- 

 tion as clerk in the shipping department at 

 the Dodge factory, then struggling for rec- 

 ognition. His work consisted of address- 

 ing envelopes for the house organ, ' ' Power 

 and Transmission." 



Following his first employment with this 

 concern, Mr. Mix advanced steadily and, not 

 satisfied with merely doing his work, by dili- 

 gent application outside of business hours, 

 secured a thorough technical knowledge ,of 

 transmission in all its phases. In the manu- 

 facturing and selling end of the business he 

 became more and more proficient, and be- 

 fore long his abilities were recognized by the 

 then head of the enterprise, W. H. Dodge, 

 and he was given a responsible position in 

 the sales department. 



On opening a branch in Chicago in 1890 

 the company appointed Mr. Mix manager, 

 and in this position he made such a good 

 record that he was shortly after returned to 

 the home oifice as sales manager. Other 

 branches were opened, new products added 

 to the lino and the plant capacities in- 

 creased, under his able administration. 



In September, 1894, Wallace H. Dodge, 

 founder of the company, died. All business 

 at that time was in a very depressed state, 

 which made the choice of a new president 

 a most important matter. The directors, 

 however, at once recognized in the sales 

 manager a man with the ability to bring 

 the business safely through the trying times, 

 and Mr. Mix was duly elected president. At 

 the time of his death Mr. Dodge was work- 

 ing on a plan to produce pulleys with a stand- 

 ard bore and interchangeable bushings to fit 

 all shaftings. He hoped to have stocks in 

 all manufacturing centers, and an immense 

 factory to produce his goods. 



On his advent into his new position Mr. 

 Mix started with zeal and energy to put these 

 ideas into execution. 



As this story is written, the Dodge plant 

 at Mishawaka covers sixty acres of ground, 

 has a floor space of twenty-five acres, is oper- 



NUMBER XI 



MELVILLE W. MIX 



ating on a capital of $1,0U0,U0U, with a large 

 surplus, and gives employment to more than 

 twelve Imndred persons. Branches are con- 

 ilucted at Chicago, Minneapolis, Pittsburg, 

 Philadelphia, Boston, New York, Cincinnati, 

 Atlanta, Ga., and St. Louis. A mammoth 

 warehouse is maintained in Brooklyn for sup- 

 plying foreign and eastern demands, two hun- 

 (h-ed agents carry complete stocks and innu- 

 merable dealers insure a world-wide distribu- 

 tion of the Dodge line. 



Kager to do still greater things than this 

 to make the name Dodge and the quality and 

 service of Dodge goods so well known in 

 manufacturing America that Dodge alone 

 would come to ttje minds of every man con- 

 siclering power transmission machinery or 

 ■ supplies, Mr. Mix inaugurated immense ad- 

 vertising and publicity campaigns. The ex- 

 penditures in this direction in 1909 amounted 

 to over $.'30,000. and the results have been 

 highly gratifying. 



Outside of his connection with the Dodge 

 company, Mr. Mix is president of the Na- 

 tional Veneer Products Company, Misha- 

 waka, manufacturers of ' ' Indestructo ' ' 

 trunks; president of the Mishawaka Trust & 

 Savings Company, and president of the Mish- 

 awaka Public Improvement Corporation, own- 



ers and operators of the Hotel Mishawaka, a 

 $100,000 hostelry, all of which show his in- 

 domitable energy. He is a member of the 

 American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 

 the Indiana Society of Engineers, and treas- 

 urer of the Manufacturers ' Bureau of In- 

 diana. In 1907 he was president of the 

 American Supply & Machinery Manufac- 

 turers' Association. From 1902 until 1906 

 he served as mayor of Mishawaka, elevating 

 that locality to a beautiful, prosperous city. 

 As a magazine writer recently put it, "Mr.' 

 Mix is one of the really remarkable successes 

 in manufacturing. He seems to liave been 

 built for victories. Possessing the faculty of 

 holding the details of a big business in his 

 mind so closely and knowing so well how to 

 draw conclusions from conditions, present and 

 prospective, he is able to plan successfully 

 where others would fail. He has a wonder- 

 ful way of making and holding friends and 

 of stirring up enthusiasm, and a memory that 

 enables him not only to know on second meet- 

 ing the face of every man whom he has met, 

 but also his name. His abilities lay not only 

 in the direction of developing personal work , 

 liut in aiding others. There is reasoning 

 power and persuaviseness in his talk and 

 a personality that inspires confidence.'' 



Tales About LiVe Ones and 

 Dead Ones 



By the 



Betraying His Confidence 



They're telling a story on Billie Greble, 

 sales manager of the Three States Lumber 

 Company, of Memphis, which is not so bad. 



It seems that at the recent annual meet- 

 ing of the Hardwood Manufacturers' As- 

 sociation at Cincinnati the tall and hand- 

 some blond gentleman, who does the sales 

 stunts for the big Memphis Cottonwood and 

 gum company, encountered his old college 

 chum, "Jack" Estabrook, president of the 

 Estabrook-Skeele Lumber Company, of Chi- 

 cago, and apparently in the best spirit of 

 fellowship invited him to breakfast in the 

 swellest cafe in Cincinnati the following 

 morning. This looked like a good thing to 

 Estabrook and although he ordinarily only 

 fills dinner engagements, he arose betimes 

 the next morning and joined Greble at the 

 breakfast table. 



Now, let Estabrook tell the rest of the 

 story: "My suspicions were aroused when 

 the first thing this bald-headed Indian or- 

 dered was a glass of Huuyadi water. It 

 was just as I expected. I hadn't fairly got 

 started on my breakfast when Greble ex- 

 cused himself and ducked, leaving a three- 

 dollar breakfast bill for me to pay. It really 

 isn 't the three dollars that worry me, but 

 I did hate to lose confidence in an old 

 friend. " 



Editor 



An Apostle of Discord in Trouble 



A newspaper man is prone to get into 

 trouble, but it is rare indeed that calamities 

 have ever fallen so thick and fast on any 

 of them as on my friend Lew Fuller of 

 the Lumber World. For a man who has 

 adopted the motto of "A square deal for 

 every man," Lew is having hard luck. 



In the first place, the redoubtable editor 

 of the ' ' Wurruld ' ' was waylaid by highway- 

 men week before last and was relieved of 

 his watch, jewelry and the total surplus of 

 his newspaper, some six dollars. 



Then, with the chagrin of his misfortune 

 and humiliation staring him in the face and 

 naturally forgetful of his motto, he writes 

 a deprecatory article on the recent annual 

 meeting of the Hardwood Manufacturers' 

 Association, which is false in premise, un- 

 truthful in detail and illogical and unfair 

 in deduction. Any right-thinking man, no 

 matter with what association he is atfiliated, 

 will recognize that the publication of this 

 article will surely result in more harm to 

 the author than the loss of his six dollars. 



Now, on top of both these calamities, Lew 

 slipped on the ice a few days ago and broke 

 his right ankle and is now confined to his 

 bed. His ankle will heal, and he can prob- 

 ably recoup the six dollars, but it will be 

 a great deal more difficult for him to re- 



