TOWN OF CORNING. 



259 



the four tracks of the New York Central and Hudson 

 River Railroad. 



The Syracuse, Geneva and Corning Railroad has proved 

 already a great benefit to Corning. Freights to and from 

 New York have been reduced nearly one-half, reducing the 

 price of a great many articles correspondingly. The Fall 

 Brook Coal Company, who are operating the road, had to 

 increase their motive-power and rolling-stock, and also the 

 number of clerks, conductors, engineers, shop-hands, etc., 

 mostly residents of Corning, adding considerable to the re- 

 sources and wealth of this village. 



We may be allowed to predict here, with a fair prospect 

 for the fulfillment of our prediction, that ten years hence 

 the population of Corning will be at least doubled ; that 

 under the stimulus of the newly-formed railway connection, 

 supported by home capital and enterprise, and assisted by 

 cheap coal of excellent quality, manufactories of all kind 

 will spring up in and around Corning, and will make it 

 commercially one of the most important points of Southern 

 New York. 



FALL BROOK COAL COMPANY. 



The Fall Brook Coal Company was organized in 1859. 

 Its present officers are Geo. J. Magee, President; Daniel 

 Beach, Secretary ; John Lang, Treasurer. 



The machine- and car-shops of the Fall Brook Coal 

 Company are located at Corning. These shops were in 

 part built by the Bufiklo, Corning and New York Railroad 

 Company in 1853. Gen. Magee afterwards added to them, 

 making them the shops of the Corning and Blossburg Rail- 

 road while that road was under his management, and sub- 

 sequently leased them to the Tioga Railroad Company, 

 which occupied them ten years. The Fall Brook Coal 

 Company took possession of them in October, 1862. The 

 shops occupy a lot of eight acres owned by the company at 

 the lower end of the village, including also sixteen dwelling- 

 houses occupied by the workmen and their families. The 

 company has made extensive improvements and additions, 

 among other things the erection of a new carpenter- 

 shop, a wooden truss building, 75 by 175 feet, heated 

 throughout by steam, a paint-shop, and a store-house for 

 passenger cars. These shops employ 100 hands, and all 

 the cars, rolling-stock, and equipments for the entire line 

 of roads owned by the company are here manufactured and 

 kept in repairs. They constitute one of the most impor- 

 tant business interests of Corning. Mr. 0. C. Patchell is 

 superintendent of the shops, and J. C. Dow foreman of the 

 wood department. 



BLOSSBURG COAL COMPANY. 



The Blossburg Coal Company, having its headquarters 

 and officers at Corning, is the successor of the " Bloss Coal- 

 Mining and Railroad Company," whose interest it pur- 

 chased in 1871. The company owns and controls the 

 Tioga and the Elmira State Line Railroads, making con- 

 nections with the Erie, Lehigh Valley, and Northern Cen- 

 tral, and Utica, Ithaca and Elmira Railroads at Elmira. 

 The coal is mostly transported to Elmira by the Tioga Rail- 

 road Company, whence it is shipped by the diff'erent routes 

 East and West. They also bring considerable coal to Corn- 

 ing for smithing, glass-works, aqd other purposes. 



The officers of the company are : President, F. N. Drake, 

 Corning ; Secretary and Treasurer, H. H. Cook, Bath ; 

 General Superintendent, D. S. Drake, Corning. 



The Morris Run Coal-Mining Company, of Syracuse, 

 has a branch office in Corning, — A. Beers, agent. This 

 company transports a large amount of coal over the Syra- 

 cuse, Geneva and Corning Railroad. 



CORNING MANUFACTURES. 



B. W. Payne & Sons. — This firm conducts the largest 

 foundry and machine-shop in this section of the country. 

 The business was established in 1840 by Mills & Osborn. 

 In 1845, Mr. B. W. Payne, of Corning, P. Judson Mal- 

 lory, and John M. French, now of Rochester, purchased 

 the works. In 1847, Mr. Mallory died, and Mr. French 

 retired from the firm. Laurin Mallory and Alex. Olcott 

 then became associated with Mr. Payne under the firm- 

 name of B. W. Payne & Co. Robert and Theodore Olcott 

 subsequently became partners, and the firm was known as 

 Payne & Olcott till 1862, when Mr. Payne purchased the 

 interest of the Olcotts, and took in as a partner Mr. Hiram 

 Pritchard. They continued together till 1868, when Mr. 

 Payne purchased Mr. Pritchard's interest and took in his 

 two sons, Benjamin N. and David W. Payne. Benjamin 

 N. had served his time at the trade, and David been in 

 the United States Engineer Corps and is now superin- 

 tendent of the works. Since the time above mentioned 

 the firm has been known as B. W. Payne & Sons. The 

 works occupy about an acre and a half of land near the 

 Erie Railway tract, and employ a force of from sixty to 

 ninety men. About 1000 tons of iron are melted up an- 

 nually. In 1873 eighty-five portable and stationary engines 

 were built, many of them for the Southern States, and 

 some going as far as Texas and Colorado. The business 

 of the establishment amounts to about $200,000 a year. 



Preston & Heer3IANS. — This is another large foundry 

 and machine-shop, younger in years than the one previously 

 mentioned, yet it has grown into popular favor, and its 

 business is extending far out into the surrounding counties. 

 These shops were established in 1867 by George W. Pres- 

 ton, a practical machinist, and George Heermans, a business 

 man of marked ability. Their works are located on a plat 

 of land containing thirteen village lots, bounded on three 

 sides, by Erie Avenue on the south. Market Street on the 

 north, and Cedar on the west. The shops are capacious 

 and substantial. They manufacture engines, mill ma- 



chinery, and do all kinds of repairing. 



taking 



special 



pains that everything shall be done in a workmanlike 

 manner. These shops employ about thirty men, and do 

 a business of $60,000 per annum. 



Hayt's Flouring-Mill. — The proprietor of this mill, 

 Mr. Stephen T. Hayt, has lived in Corning forty-five years 

 — in fact, has grown up with it, and been identified with 

 every enterprise looking to its prosperity and advancement. 

 He built this flouring-mill in 1868. It is 65 by 55 feet 

 in dimensions, four stories high, has four run of stones, 

 and is propelled by two fifty horse-power engines, which 

 are not permitted to lie idle much of the time. This mill 

 has an average capacity, or is capable of grinding per 

 annum, nearly 200,000 bushels of grain. In 1873, 80,000 



