1898 - Coalmininghistorypa.org

No. 11. BUREAU OF MINES. xxvthe firm was progressive itsearly advaiitages were uot allowed tolie dormant, but were developed to tlie fullest fruition.Hem-y Clay Frick, the head of this company, was its founder, hencethe history of the company and the biography of its founder are inseparablyinterwoven in the same story. As early as 1871, when amere youth, Mr. Frick with that foresight which has characterizedhis whole business career, became convinced that Counellsville coalmade the best coke in the world, and that the future of the businesswas in its puling infancy. For many years he gave his entire attentionand time to the development of the region and the extension ofliii' holdings. He builded broad and deep, and he builded well.Mr. Frick entered the field without experience and against theadvice of older heads, who sneeringiy predicted his early downfall.Uis means were small, but his capital of brains and energy was amplefor the great undertaking he then entered upon. The firm of H. C.Frick & Company started in business with 50 ovens and 150 acres ofcoal. Soon after the firm added 50 ovens and built a new plant of100 ovens, which was christened Henry Clay. Notwithstanding thecrushing business depression lasting from 1873 to 1879, the pushingyoung firm steadily increased its holdings and enlarged its businessuntil at the period mentioned the company had in operation 1,546ovens. In 1882 the company was the leading one in Connellsvilleregion. It was then greatly strengthened by the admission intothe firm of the Carnegie Bros. & Co., the leading steel manufacturersof the country.In the following April, the firm was merged into a corporationunder the name and style of the H. C. Frick Coke Company with acapital stock of |2,000,000. Mr. Frick was made the president ofthe company. One year later, in 1883, the capital was increasedto 13,000,000 and in 1889 to |5,000,000. The company has steadilygrown, constantly buying new plants and increasing itsacreage ofcoal until it has reached the position it now occupies. Its successand much of the de\elopment of the Connellsville region is due to theclear business vision and wonderful executive ability of the manwhose name it bears.As the H. C. Frick Coke Company succeeded as a new venture inthe Connellsville" coke region, so new methods and new features havelargely contributed to the success of the firm, and have been consiantly introduced and developed inevery dei)artment of the business,thereby adding to the value of the product, reducing the costof manufacture and extending its use. One of the most importantfeatures is the establishment of plants for the crushing of coke, orthe breaking of it into sizes to correspond with anthracite coal, whichIntter article crushed coke is rapidly su])erseding. The H. C. FrickCoke Company is the principal producer and shipper of crushed