Red River Valley Brick Corporation. Frost Got After the Trust. GRAND FORKS, May 23. – The severe frost of Monday night entered the precincts of all the brick yards, whose owners had just completed an incorporation under the title of the Red River Valley Brick association, and destroyed between 125,000 and 150,000 brick, which had just been made, and which the proprietors had been guarding against frost. The blocks of unburnt brick were damaged so as to unfit them for the purpose they were intended for. All the brick plants will resume as usual. There will be no cessation of business. (Saint Paul Daily Globe, Friday Morning, May 24, 1895, Volume XVIII, Number 144, Page 1)
Page 1123. The Red River Brick Corporation, Grand Forks. - This company was incorporated in 1895 with a capital stock of $50,000. It comprised four companies originally, each of which was inventoried and turned over to the corporation. Its stock was issued to Moran, Alsip, Hunter and Dinnie for the value of their respective plants. The corporation took a lease of twenty acres from each of the above stockholders and paid ten cents per thousand for the clay. At the time of the incorporation A. I. Hunter was elected president; M. J. Moran, vice president; Louis Campbell, secretary; James A. Dinnie, treasurer. Mr. William Taylor superintends the Alsip yard; A. S. Dinnie, the Dinnie yard, and Moran and Hunter each their own yards.
Page 1124. The supply of clay is unlimited, and the latest and most improved machinery is used for the manufacture of their brick. The annual output of brick amounts to about 20,000,000. In March, 1907, the company was reorganized and the capital stock increased to $150,000. At this time the Kennedy & Poupore yards were taken into the corporation. (History of The Red River Valley, Past and Present, Volume II, C. F. Cooper & Company, Chicago, 1909)
THE BRICK COMPANY. Beneath the rich surface soil of the prairies surrounding Grand Forks is a stratum of clay of the finest quality for brick making, and the yards of the Red River Valley Brick company turn out more brick than those of any other institution west of St. Paul. The combined capacity of the four yards at this point is 12,000,000 brick annually, and last year the company made and delivered over six million machine mold brick, which, on account of their superior quality, were purchased in many instances where a saving in railroad rates could have been effected by the use of other brick. All of the yards are equipped with steam plants of the latest design, and the work of the company is so systematized as to produce the greatest quantity of the manufactured product with the least possible expense. The proximity of a large supply of wood is one element which tends to reduce the cost of manufacturing brick at this point. During the running season over 100 men are employed in the yards, most of whom are permanent residents of the city. The company is one of the strongest, financially, in the state. The members are Dinnie Bros., W. P. Alsip, J. S. Bartholomew and the East Grand Forks Brick Co. J. S. Bartholomew is president and A. I. Hunter secretary. The offices of the company are in the Security block. With the better business conditions prevailing, and the great increase in building which is assured for the present season, it is expected that the capacity of the company for the manufacture of brick will be taxed to its utmost. (Grand Forks Daily Herald, Tuesday Morning, June 27, 1899, Volume 18, Number 205, Page 31)
The East Grand Forks (N. D.) Brick Co. started fires under 40 kilns of brick at its extensive yards, September 24th. The kilns have a capacity of 18,000 brick each. (Brick and Clay Record, Windsor & Kenfield Publishing Company, Chicago, Volume VX, Number 4, October 1901, Page 38)
In the Red River valley the yellow clay immediately under the soil affords material for a first class cream brick. It is the clay used extensively at Grand Forks. The Red River Valley Brick Company is an association of brick manufacturers of Grand Forks, North Dakota, and East Grand Forks, Minnesota. There is one factory on the Minnesota side and three in Grand Forks on the North Dakota side. The annual product of these three yards is about 9,000,000, with a value of about $59,000. Seventy-five men are employed by these three factories and from 4,000 to 5,000 cords of wood are consumed in the manufacturing process. The yellow clay of the glacial drift is used. The brick is of a cream color and is hard and strong. Its excellent quality is generally recognized and the sales extend quite widely over the northwest. Shipments are made as far east as the lakes and to the west far into Montana; to the north into Canada, and to the south into the central part of South Dakota. (Report of the Geological Survey of North Dakota, First Biennial Report, E. J. Babcock, State Geologist, Herald, State Printers and Binders, Grand Forks, ND, 1901, Page 39)
Dinnie Brothers have decided to rebuild the large brickyards at Grand Forks, N. D., in the spring. A. S. Dinnie was recently in Indianapolis for the purpose of purchasing a patent drier and other equipment to be installed in the yards. The drier is to have a capacity of 100,000 brick per day. (Brick and Clay Record, Volume XVI, Number 1, January 1902, Windsor & Kenfield Publishing Company, Chicago, IL, Page 65)
GRAND FORKS – The Bartholomew brickyard was sold to A. I. Hunter. (The Minneapolis Journal, Friday Evening, February 21, 1902, Page 16)
JOHN DINNIE IS PRESIDENT. Chosen by Red Valley Brickmakers’ Association at Grand Forks. Special to The Globe. GRAND FORKS, N. D., April 12. – The Red River Brick Association held its annual meeting and elected the following officers: President, John Dinnie; treasurer, W. P. Alsip; secretary, Lewis Campbell. There are four yards in the association with a combined capacity of 12,000,000 bricks. (The Saint Paul Globe, Sunday, April 13, 1902, Volume XXV, Number 103, Page 9)
The Red River Valley Brick Association, Grafton, N. D., has elected the following officers: John Dinnie, president; W. P. Alsip, treasurer, and Louis Campbell, secretary. There are four yards in the association, with an aggregate capacity of 12,000,000 brick. (Brick and Clay Record Volume XVI, Number 5, May 1902, Windsor & Kenfield Publishing Company, Chicago, IL, Page 44)
The Bartholomew brickyards at Grand Forks, N. D., have been sold by J. M. Bartholomew to A. I. Hunter. The sale includes one of the largest brick plants in the state and a quarter section of land. (Brick and Clay Record, Windsor & Kenfield Publishing Company, Chicago, IL, Volume XVI, Number 5, May 1902, Page 239)
Page 13. North Dakota Brick Works, Grand Forks, N. D. The opening of the far west by the recent invasion of the eastern speculator, capitalist, manufacturer and artisan has been one of the most significant phases of the steadily increasing growth of American industry. Thousands of acres of valueless land have been turned into profitable farm lands by the agriculturist. Thousands of tons of metal which have remained hidden in the bowels of Mother Earth have now been brought to the surface and converted into products which will be shipped to all parts of the world, and of more recent years the clayworker has migrated westward to manufacture products from which are built the growing cities of the west. Among these enterprising manufacturers may be mentioned W. P. Alsip, proprietor of the North Dakota Brick Works, Grand Forks, N. D. Apr. 1, 1902, he acquired 130 acres of clay land adjoining the city of Grand Forks and situated north of the Great Northern Railroad tracks. The material was eminently suitable for the manufacture of brick. Mr. Alsip placed an order for a big No. 6 “Monarch” brick machine. The machine was shipped on May 1st, but arrived in Grand Forks May 13th with several of the parts broken, owing to the carelessness of the railroad company, consequently operations were not commenced until about June 1st. From June 1st to the last day of September 3,000,000 bricks were made.
One million of these were delivered for a sewer contract, the sewer being constructed at Grand Forks at a cost of over $40,000. It is considered to be the finest piece of work in the state. The remaining shipments were made to local contractors and on cars for all parts of the northwest. At the end of November over 500,000 brick were in stock and about 100,000 are shipped weekly. It is gratifying to know that over 50 per cent of the bricks that have been made by Mr. Alsip have been sold for select or sewer brick for which he obtained $1 per M. [1,000] more than for kiln run brick. All of the bricks manufactured in Grand Forks, N. D., and East Grand Forks, Minn., are sold through the Red River Valley Brick Co., which was formed in 1894, after Mr. Alsip returned from the N. B. M. A. [National Brick Manufacturers’ Association] convention which that year met at Washington, D. C. This company has been a success since its organization. No material changes have been made in the by-laws and it is stronger today than at any previous period in its eight years’ existence. The sales of the company for the year reached nearly 15,000,000 brick. Shipments are made as far west as Cut Bank, Mont., north to Winnipeg and other points in Manitoba, south to Aberdeen, S. D., and east as far as Duluth, Minn. All the bricks manufactured in the Red River Valley are cream color and are made by the soft mud process. Most of them are manufactured on sand mold machines.
The fuel used for burning is wood cut from the timber along the Red River or shipped in from the timber belts of Minnesota. The price of wood delivered at the yard in the past season has averaged $4 per cord for elm, jack pine and bass wood. Wages paid to laborers are very good. Truckers, wheelers and bank men receive from $35 to $40 per month and board, full time. Most of the setting is done by the thousand, 40 cents being the price paid. The brick are burned in cast or daubed kilns of the old style and are set three in a bench and 40 high. It takes seven to eight days to burn them and requires about one-half cord of wood per thousand. In the illustration will be seen the Alsip system of drying, racks running north and south while the roofs run east and west. By this arrangement the roofs are open so as to be in direct line with the sun’s rays in the morning and remain so all day. These roofs cast a shadow of three feet for each 12-ft. section, or about one-fourth of the yard is shaded by the roofs. The roofs are not fastened, open or shut, but owing to the manner of their construction they will stay in any position in which they are placed.
The kilns are built under side sheds, 20 ft. wide, and the dry sheds run down to and connect with them. This places the whole plant under cover from machine to kiln. The gutters are lined with ruberoid roofing and have a fall each way of 48 ft. to the outlet, where an open ditch carries the water from the sheds. Figs. 2 and 3 show the wire rope delivery system, devised by
Page 14. Mr. Alsip to facilitate transmission of the brick from the machine to the driers (shown separately in picture gallery). The pallets are placed upon the dump table in the usual way. The wire rope pulley has an incline which gently lifts the pallets up and off the dump table and delivers it on to the wire rope. This rope extends along the upper end of the yard. Truckers then take the pallets off the rope and truck them down the aisle to the dry sheds. This makes a great saving in traveling to the truckers and saves from one to two men, depending upon the number of racks used. Fig. 3 shows a machine set in the center of the yard with two systems running in opposite directions, while Fig. 2 shows a machine set at one corner of a dry shed and the wire rope delivery running the total width of the dry shed. The whole arrangement is very simple and very effective and Mr. Alsip is well satisfied. By this method many dollars are saved yearly in handling the brick.
Another device that is used on the yard extensively is the Norcross brick lifter. This is also used in all yards in the city, the loaded brick being lifted from wagon to car with facility and dispatch. It can be used in many places to advantage, saving the brick, as they are let down gently and none of the brick are chipped or broken. When bricks are wheeled on to the car the lifter is used and ten bricks are lifted from the barrow at a time with ease. Brick can be taken from the rack and placed on the barrow when wheeling to the setter. When brick are to be piled at the buildings these lifters are very handy. The handler can be used by men without experience in the handling of brick, which is a decided advantage in these times of prosperity when experienced men are not to be had.
Mr. Alsip is very busy at the present time with his new yard and is also devoting his energy toward the management of two new stores which he is now erecting. The excavations have been completed and by Christmas were ready for occupancy. Mr. Alsip remarks in answer to our queries as to how he was doing, “You see Chicago is not the only place where they lay brick in the winter.” We hope to have the pleasure of meeting Mr. Alsip at the Minneapolis convention, and we feel sure that the hospitable city of Minneapolis will be a congenial environment for the clayworkers of the northwest. (Brick and Clay Record, Volume XVIII, Number 1, January 1903, Windsor & Kenfield Publishing Company, Chicago, IL)
One First-Class Brick Setter and Four wheelers, one first-class burner. East Grand Forks Brick Co., East Grand Forks, Minn. (The Minneapolis Journal, Friday Evening, April 17, 1903, Page 23)
News from Grand Forks, N. D. The Hunter brick yard of the Red River Valley Brick Co. was closed down early in August and the Dinnie yard and the Alsip and Moran yards at the close of the month. During the present season 50,000 more brick have been manufactured each day than last year, representing a total of 14,000,000 brick for the season as compared with 13,200,000 for the season last year, when the yards were not closed until October 1st. It is not anticipated that as many brick will be marketed this year as last. The products of the Grand Forks yards are being shipped to every section of the Northwest, and forty carloads have been shipped to Manitoba points, the purchasers paying a duty of $1.80 per M. on the bricks manufactured in this country. The heaviest purchaser of United States brick is the Canadian Elevator Co., which sells building material of every description for the lumber yards operated in connection with its system of elevators. (Brick and Clay Record, Volume XIX, Number 3, September 1903, Windsor & Kenfield Publishing Company, Chicago, IL, Page 110)
M. J. Moran, proprietor of the East Grand Forks (Minn.) brick yard, is burning a kiln containing 1,250,000 bricks which is believed to be the largest kiln ever burned in the state. (Brick and Clay Record, Volume XIX, Number 4, October 1903, Windsor & Kenfield Publishing Company, Chicago, IL, Page 151)
The Red River Valley Brick company, which has controlled the output of the four brickyards in this city, has been reorganized and is succeeded by the Red River Valley Brick corporation. The capital stock remains at $50,000, and the stockholders are John Dinnie, James Dinnie, W. P. Alsip, A. I. Hunter and M. J. Moran. By the reorganization, several who were prominent in the former organization but who have taken no part in its management for several years, are dropped. The new company will continue the business on the same lines as the old. Louis Campbell will continue as its secretary. (The Minneapolis Journal, Wednesday Evening, April 6, 1904, Page 17)
The Red River Valley Brick Corporation, Grand Forks, N. D. Capital $50,000. Incorporators – John Dinnie, James Dinnie, W. P. Alsip, A. I. Hunter and M. J. Moran. (Brick and Clay Record Volume XX, Number 5, May 1904, Page 276, Windsor & Kenfield Publishing Company, Chicago, IL)
List of Patents. William Alsip, Grand Forks, N. D., brick conveyor. (The Saint Paul Globe, Sunday, February 5, 1905, Page 29)
Page 298. Grand Forks took the lead in the production, two plants being started in the early eighties, one by Wm. Budge and another by W. P. Alsip. The industry developed rapidly there, and at present four plants are in operation in Grand Forks.
Page 299. The chief center for the common brick industry is Grand Forks, where the Red River Valley Brick company operates four plants, one of them, however, being located on the Minnesota side of the river. The Grand Forks Brick, Tile and Cement company opened up a new plant in 1906. The brick is cream colored and is manufactured by the soft-mud process, dried in pallet racks, and burned in scove kilns with wood fuel. The clay underlying the black surface loam is used. From eight inches to a foot of loam is scraped off and the underlying three feet of yellow clay and about a foot of blue and yellow “joint clay” is shoveled directly into two-wheeled dump carts, which take the clay to the pug mill. The pits are broad and shallow, and are worked sometimes in two benches for convenience in handling. The clay is fed directly into the pug mill, from which it goes to the brick machine. All of the plants at Grand Forks use the Wellington Quaker soft brick machine, with a capacity of 45,000 brick per day. The brick are dried in very large yards with covered pallet racks, each yard having a capacity of about 300,000 brick. The latter are dried from six to seven days, and then burned in scove kilns with wood for fuel. At the Alsip yard four down-draft kilns were built during the past season but were not successful. The clay dries and burns readily, giving a hard, cream brick, which is very porous but is very good for common structural purposes. About thirty men are employed at each plant, and they are in operation from the first of May to September first. (State Geological Survey of North Dakota, Fourth Biennial Report, A. G. Leonard, State Geologist, State Geological Survey, Bismarck, 1906)
May Manufacture Brick Soon, At Fort Francis. A. I. Hunter, President Red River Valley Brick Company, Return from Visit Into Canada. “It is possible that the Red River Valley Brick company of Grand Forks will take hold of a brickyard proposition at either International Falls or at Fort Francis, across the river from International Falls, into Canada,” says A. I. Hunter, president of the Red River company, who spent today in Bemidji, on his return trip to Grand Forks from International Falls, where he went several days ago to look over the situation. Speaking of the trip to the boundary towns, Mr. Hunter said that he had looked over the brick situation thoroughly, both at International Falls and Ft. Francis, that a party at Ft. Francis had started a brickyard and had a splendid outfit, and that it was likely that he (Mr. Hunter) would recommend to his company associates that they take over the Canadian property and operate the same, as there would be a big demand for brick, in both towns for some years to come. Mr. Hunter took home with him several samples of clays that abound at International Falls, and will have the same analyzed by competent authorities at the University of North Dakota. (The Bemidji Daily Pioneer, Thursday Evening, December 31, 1908, Volume 6, Number 218, Page 1)
INTERESTING NORTH DAKOTA PLANT. We show herewith a general view of one of the plants of the Red River Valley Brick Corporation, located at Grand Forks, N. D (shown in picture gallery section). This company now operates three yards, the Hunter yard having been combined with the new one opened in 1907, and the Dinnie yard, combined with the Alsip yard. In all, five machines are operated, and the daily capacity of the corporation is 250,000, and 185 men are employed. Last summer the company purchased 900 acres of timber lands containing about 18,000 cords of wood, and during the winter some 75 or 80 men are employed at the timber camps, this being a very interesting branch of the company’s business. A view herewith shows a part of the hauling crew in the yard at Bagley, Minn., where $15,000 was paid out last winter in wages. The last machinery installations of the company were a Quaker machine made by the Wellington company, and a Potts & Co. sander. The Red River Valley Brick Corporation is capitalized for $150,000. A. I. Hunter is president, J. A. Dinnie, treasurer, and Louis Campbell, secretary. The product is entirely machine molded brick. (Brick and Clay Record, Volume XXX, Number 5, May 1909, Kenfield-Leach Company, Chicago, IL, Page 256)