Manufacturer Notes: Vankueran & Stone Bottle CompanyNew Glass Plant.A scribe in Roulette, Potter county's gas town, writes thus: "Roulette has landed a glass plant. Capitalists from Covington and Hazlehurst will combine and come here. Contracts all signed and location secured. A plant will that will employ 300 men. The townspeople already feel the enthusiasm that will make Roulette a lively burg. Two hundred houses will be built as fast as men and lumber can be secured. Work on the plant will commence at once, to be ready by October 1st. The Wellsboro Agitator (Wellsboro, Pennsylvania) June 10, 1903 _______________________________________________________________________________________ ROULETTE GLASS COMPANY-Roulette, Potter County, July 23, 1903. Capital, $50,000. For the purpose of manufacturing and selling glass and articles of commerce composed wholly or partially of Glass. List of charters of Corporations Enrolled in the Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth During the Two Years Beginning June 1, 1901, And Ending June 1, 1903. (Harrisburg, William Stanley Ray, 1903) _______________________________________________________________________________________ --The Roulette Glass company, capitalized at $50,000, has obtained a charter. The Wellsboro Agitator (Wellsboro, Pennsylvania) August 5, 1903 _______________________________________________________________________________________ --Messers John W. Hart and Samuel Hartzog, who have been working in the glass-factory at Roulette, have returned to this borough to work in the glass-factory here. The Wellsboro Agitator (Wellsboro, Pennsylvania) November 15, 1905 _______________________________________________________________________________________ --The Roulette glass factory has shut down and several of the workmen came here last week to work in the Columbia glass factory. The new blow-furnace is now in use and it is said that a new flattening oven will be built at once. The Wellsboro Agitator (Wellsboro, Pennsylvania) February 14, 1906 _______________________________________________________________________________________ COVINGTON GLASS WORKS. _________________ To Be Run Again-Plant to Be Enlarged-Covington Happy. _________________ From the Covington Sun. C. L. Herrmann, of the Roulette Glass Company, has been here the past week negotiating with Representatives of the stockholders of our glass factory, relative to reopening the plant......... The Wellsboro Agitator (Wellsboro, Pennsylvania) May 16, 1906 _______________________________________________________________________________________ Messrs John W. Hart and Samuel Hartzog who are working in the Roulette glass factory came home last week, work in the factory being temporarily suspended on account of the shortage of gas. They expect to return the last of the week. The Wellsboro Agitator (Wellsboro, Pennsylvania) December 11, 1907 _______________________________________________________________________________________ The inhabitants of Roulette are dependent for employment upon a small chemical works and stave factory and to a certain extent to farming and lumbering in the vicinity. The latter industry is becoming rapidly less important as a large part of the timber in the locality is exhausted. Although the village is in the gas fields, this industry furnishes employment to but few of the inhabitants. A glass works, at one time the mainstay of the community, was burned down during the current year and it has not resumed and, it is reported, will not resume operations. As a result the population of the town has been diminished from twelve hundred in nineteen hundred and seven to eight hundred. Dixon, Samuel G.: The Third Annual Report of the Commissioner of Health of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania 1908 (Harrisburg, C. E. Aughinbaugh, 1909) _______________________________________________________________________________________ ROULETTE BOTTLE MANUFACTURING COMPANY—Roulette village, Potter county, Pennsylvania, December 6, 1911. Capital $30,000. Manufacturing glass bottles and other articles manufactured out of glass. Alphabetic List of Charters of Corporations Enrolled in the Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth During the Two Years Beginning June 1, 1911, And Ending May 31, 1913. (Harrisburg, William Stanley Ray, 1913) _______________________________________________________________________________________ Roulette Glass Factory in Operation Roulette, Pa. Feb. 27, (Special)--Fifty men are working in the new bottle glass factory at this place upon which work was commenced last summer and which began manufacturing operations last week. Additional employees will be engaged as the expansion of the business warrants. the tank in use here is what is technically called a "48 blower" and at present is amply sufficient to meet the needs of the establishment. Experts class the plant as being usually fine in all respects. The officers of the company are: President E. J. Brown; vice-president, Milo Lyman; treasurer, George Elmer; secretary and general manager, W. A. Koch; factory manager, Phillip L. Drake. The general manager, W. A. Koch, has had many years of experience in the manufacture of glass and is well and favorably known to a large portion of the trade. Olean Evening Times (Olean, New York) February 27, 1912 _______________________________________________________________________________________ WANTED-Snapping-up boys by Roulette Bottle Mfg Co., Roulette, Pa. Wages $1.25, board $4, Inquire of W. A. Koch, New central Hotel 6 to 8 p. m. Olean Evening Times (Olean, New York) June 21, 1912 _______________________________________________________________________________________ Work in the Roulette bottle glass factory was begun yesterday. Olean Evening Times (Olean, New York) October 2, 1912 _______________________________________________________________________________________ 35 YEARS AGO January 1, 1913 The Roulette glass factory has been thrown into bankruptcy. Portville Review (Portville, New York) February 5, 1948 _______________________________________________________________________________________ V. & S. Bottle Company, ...................Roulette, ........Potter. Jackson, John Price; First Industrial Directory of Pennsylvania 1913 (Harrisburg, Wm. Stanley Ray, 1914) _______________________________________________________________________________________ V. & S. Bottle Company, ...................Roulette, ........Potter. Second Industrial Directory of Pennsylvania 1916 (Harrisburg, 1916) _______________________________________________________________________________________ Gas Field Sold. After negotiating for some little time the Potter Gas company has become the owner of the Mountain Gas Company and the VanKuren and Stone Bottle works, the deal having been closed last Wednesday, the consideration being in the neighborhood of $426,000. The gas wells are said to be among the finest producers In Potter county. Portville Review (Portville, New York) March 1, 1917 _______________________________________________________________________________________ LOCAL MEN NOT TO BUY ROULETTE BOTTLE WORKS Negotiations which have been in progress by a group of Corning and Blossburg. Pa., capitalists for the acquiring of the VanKuren & Stone Bottle Company's plant at Roulette, Pa., have fallen through for the present at least and Dr. G. S. Goff of corning who has been in charge of the negations announced that the Potter Gas Company, the present owner of the works has decided to operate them itself for the present. The works employ 150 hands. Following the sale of the Bottle Works to the Potter Gas Company at the time the latter purchased the holdings of the Mountain Gas Company in the Roulette field the bottle works were placed by the Potter Gas Company in the hands of Dr. Goff, president of the Crystal City Gas Company, with Instructions to negotiate a sale if possible. Dr. Goff took the matter up with the Corning Glass Works and found he could not interest that concern in the works because of their remoteness from Corning. He succeeded, however, in interesting H. H. Roberts, secretary of" J. Hoare & Company, cut glass manufacturers of Corning, a well known business man of Blossburg, Pa., and Mr. Roberts in turn Interested Blossburg and Corning capitalists in the scheme to acquire and operate the bottle works. Mr. Roberts, Dr. Goff and Attorney Thomas F. Rogers have made several trips to Roulette to inspect the bottle works but because of unforeseen obstacles it has been finally decided that the Corning capitalists will not take over the property at this time. The Evening Leader (Corning, New York) March 12, 1917 _______________________________________________________________________________________ After negotiating for some time, the Potter Gas company has become the owner of the Mountain Gas company and the Van Kuren & Stone Bottle Works at Roulette, Potter county, the deal having been closed last Wednesday, the consideration being in the neighborhood of $425,000. The gas wells are said to be among the finest producers in Potter county. The Potter company paid the sum of $100,000 on account and the remainder is to lie paid on March 1, 1917, when the property will be formally turned over to the new owners. The Van Kuren Stone bottle plant, sold for $30,000 and will be under the same management as the consolidated gas companies after March 1. The new owners assume all contracts which the Van Kuren & Stone company have on hand. The owners of the Mountain Gas company were John P. Stone and Fanny Perkins of Coudersport; W. G Van Kuren, Mrs. Gertrude Fitzsimmons, George Elmer, John C French, Jr., and Mark Harvey of Roulette. As a result of the sale, the T. N. Barnsdall interests now control the Potter Gas company, the Mountain Gas company and the Van Kuren Stone bottle manufactory. —Bradford, Pa., Star-Record. The Petroleum Gazette (Titusville, Pennsylvania) March, 1917 _______________________________________________________________________________________ Bottle Factory Changes Hands. Binghamton, N. Y., April 9. — Announcement was made today that Thomas F. Rogers, Dr. George T. Goff, of New York, and a syndicate of Pennsylvania capitalists has purchased from the estate of T. N. Barnsdall, of Pittsburg, Pa., the bottle works at Roulette, Pa., employing 300 hands, the sale being made necessary under the terms of the will. This was part of a $350,000 purchase made some weeks ago by the Potter Gas Co. a few days before the death of Mr. Barnsdall. ________________ The factory above referred to is being operated by a company styled V. & S. Bottle Co. It is equipped with one continuous tank, 8 rings. The output is flint prescriptions, beers, etc., and G. M. Dannenbauer is factory manager. National Glass Budget (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) April 14, 1917 _______________________________________________________________________________________ GAS FOR LOCAL CONSUMPTION IS NOW ASSURED ____________ Potter Company's Purchase of Mountain Gas Co's Holdings Approved ____________ LOCAL MEN FIGHT FOR CHEAP SUPPLY ____________ Corningites Interested in Roulette Bottle Works Litigate With Potter Company ____________ The report given to the press some time ago, to the effect that the Pennsylvania, Public, Service Commission had refused to Sanction the purchase of the Mountain Gas Company of Roulette, Pa., by the Potter Gas Company in order that the latter might retain the Mountain Gas Company's supply of gas for the use of consumers In Corning, Addison, Elmira and elsewhere in the vicinity has proven to be erroneous as the Commission in its formal ruling has now duly approved the Potter Gas Company's purchase. Local consumers will, therefore, continue to receive a supply of gas from the Roulette field and this fact will serve to make the local natural gas supply more dependable this year than would otherwise have been the case. Had the deal not been approved by the Public Service Commission the Mountain Gas Company would have made arrangements to sell its gas instead of to the Potter Company to the Bradford Oil and Gas company which was to pipe the gas to Bradford, Pa., entirely away from this territory. The Potter Gas Company has purchased a part of the Mountain Company's gas for several years and piped it to New York state. It had to purchase the field however, to retain it as a source of supply for its overtaxed lines. As the Potter Company has notified various Industries at Roulette, Pa., which have for years taken a large portion of the Mountain Gas Company's supply at very low rates that It cannot guarantee to undertake to supply them with gas this winter it is seen that the Company's gas supply is likely to be considerably greater during the cold months of the winter than was the case last year when the Roulette industries were securing gas as usual from the Mountain Gas Company's wells and only the surplus gas Was entering Potter Company' lines to come this way. Local Capitalists Affected One of the Industries which would be adversely affected at Roulette by the Potter Company's determination not to supply gas for manufacturing purposes at former rates to the Roulette industries is the Van Kuren & Stone Bottle Works in which Dr. George S. Goff and Attorney Thomas F. Rogers of Corning are Interested. This company is making a fight to retain its cheap gas supply and since the filing of the order of the Pennsylvania Public Service Commission sanctioning the transfer of the Mountain Gas Company to the Potter Gas Company it has begun an action before Judge A. S. Heck in Coudersport against the Potter Gas Company to compel the latter to honor a contract alleged to have been entered into between the Mountain Gas Company's predecessor, the Roulette Gas Co., and the Van Kuren & Stone Bottle Works In 1913 under the terms of which the Gas Company undertook to provide the Bottle Works with a cheap gas supply for a period of 10 years. The contract in which this agreement was made was unearthed by Attorney Thomas F. Rogers of Corning in the safe of the Van Kuren & Stone Bottle Works after Mr. Rogers and Dr. Goff had become interested in the Company. Its existence prior to that time appears to have been forgotten. If the Company is successful in having this contract honored by the court it will be able to secure cheap fuel from the Potter Gas Company for six more years no matter what attitude the Company may adopt towards other Roulette industries. When the Potter Company purchased the Mountain Gas Company's holdings It was compelled to purchase as a part of the same deal the V & S Bottle Works at Roulette for $30,000 the chief stockholders in the Mountain Gas Company and the Bottle Works being the same. They refused to sell the Gas Company's holdings unless the Potter Company took over the Bottle Works also. The Potter Company paid $30,000 for the Bottle Works. When the Potter Company which did not desire to operate itself the Bottle Works offered the latter for sale it did not secure an offer of $30,000 for the Works for the reason that the cheap fuel supply of the plant was threatened through the fact that the Potter Company refused to enter into a contract to provide fuel at the former rates to the Bottle Works. The Company was, therefore, finally authorized to accept the offer of Dr. Goff and his associates of $15,000 for the Bottle Works pocketing a $15,000 loss through its transaction. Buy Plant Back at a Profit Since that time it had become apparent that John T. Stone of Coudersport and W. G. Van Kuren of Roulette, former owners of the Van Kuren & Stone Bottle Works who sold the Works to the Potter Gas Company for $30,000 were partners of Dr. Goff and Attorney Rogers In purchasing back from the Potter Company for $15,000 the same plant. Messrs. Stone and VanKuren have now been made the chief officers of the Company. After the V & S Bottle Company had made strenuous efforts to secure a gas contract upon favorable terms from the Potter Gas Company as successor to the Mountain Gas Company without success the Bottle Company appealed to the public Service Commission of Pennsylvania asking that Commission to disapprove the sale of the Mountain Gas Company to the Potter Gas Company for the reason that the Potter Company contemplated charging excessive rates for gas in the Roulette field and furthermore, on he ground that the Mountain Gas Company was bound under a contract Mountain Gas Company's predecessor made with the Bottle Company by the the Roulette Gas Company to provide gas to the Bottle Company for a period of 10 years under a contract which provided for gas to be furnished at eight cents per 1000 the first five years and at 10 cents per 1000 the second five years. This old contract between the Roulette Gas Company as predecessor of the Mountain Gas Company which acquired the Roulette Company after the latter had passed through bankruptcy proceedings was found by Attorney Thomas P. Rogers of Corning In one of the safes of W. G. Van Kuren in Roulette while Mr. Rogers was hunting out the papers belonging to the V. & S. Bottle Co. The contract bears the date of October 20, 1913 so that it has yet six years to run. At the proceedings held before Judge Heck no one interested in the Potter Gas Company has admitted that he ever heard of such a contract until the filing of a protest with the Public Utilities Commission of Pennsylvania against the approval of the absorption of the Mountain Gas Company by the Potter Company, An unusual feature of the contract is that John F. Stone as president and W. G. Van Kuren as secretary of the Roulette Gas Company signed the contract for that Company while for the Bottle Company Mr. Stone also Signed as president of the Company Without the signature of any other officer or stockholder of the Company being attached. The contract, therefore, appears to be largely one where Mr. stone as president of the Gas Company signed a contract with himself as president of the Bottle Company. Both Messrs. Stone and Van Kuren were large share holders In the Roulette Gas Company when it passed into bankruptcy. They were also members of a group of capitalists who purchased the property of the bankrupt Company and so reorganized It that within a period of two or three years they were able to dispose of their holdings to the Potter Company for $300,000. The Bottle Company in which the Corningites are interested is seeking from Judge Heck of Potter County an injunction restraining the Mountain Gas Company and its successor, the Potter Gas Company, from raising the charge for gas to the Bottle Company until such time as the contract before referred to has expired. The plaintiff Company is represented in the proceeding by Attorney W. K. Swetland of Coudersport and Thomas F. Rogers of Corning and the Mountain and Potter Companies are represented by W. F Dubois of Coudersport and Former Judge M. S. Mehard. Judge Heck adjourned the proceedings and will hear the arguments of counsel in the case as soon as the testimony already taken has been transcribed by the court stenographer, A great mass of documentary evidence has been introduced into the case. The Evening Leader (Corning, New York) September 13, 1917 _______________________________________________________________________________________ ELK DEVELOPMENT COMPANY WITH HEADQUARTERS HERE WILL DRILL FOR NATURAL GAS IN PA. .................. John F. Stone of Coudersport, Pa., banker and man of affairs, who was formerly connected with the Potter Gas Company. Is to be president of the company and Lewis N. Lattin, former mayor of Corning, is to be its treasurer. The other officers have not been chosen. Among the others interested are: B. S. Tupper, Dr. G. S. Goff, Thomas F. Rogers, Virgil B. Tupper of Corning, W. G. Vankeuren of Roulette, Pa., and Monta C. Burt of Corning. Mr. Vankeuren was one of the original firm of Vankeuren & Stone which owned a bottle works at Roulette in which Dr. G. S. Goff and Thomas F. Rogers of Corning are now interested. Mr. Burt is interested and is an officer in the Gray Chemical Company which operates extensively in Potter County, and he is prominent as Democratic politician in that county. ........... THE EVENING LEADER (Corning, New York) October 27, 1920 _______________________________________________________________________________________ W. & S. Bottle Company, ...................Roulette, ........Potter. Name. | Address. | Product or business. | Males | Females| Males Under 16 | Femals under 16 | Office force. | Total number W. & S. Bottle Co., ....|..............| Glass bottles, ...| 92 | ... | ... | ... | 5 | 92 Connelly, Clifford B.; Third Industrial Directory of Pennsylvania 1919 (Harrisburg, J. L. L. Kuhn, 1920) _______________________________________________________________________________________ V. & S. Bottle Company, ...................Roulette, ........Potter. Name. | Address. | Product or business. | Males | Females| Males Under 16 | Females under 16 | Office force. | Total number V. & S. Bottle Co., The |..............| Glass bottles, ...| 117 | 9 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 130 Gottschall, M. Hoke; Fourth Industrial Directory of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania 1922 (Harrisburg, J. L. L. Kuhn, 1922) _______________________________________________________________________________________ G. A. Rohland of Buffalo is vice president of the new Roulette Glass Company of Corning, organized with a capital stock of $3,200,000. The company will manufacture a new style of vacuum bottle. Evening Tribune-Times (Hornell, New York) _______________________________________________________________________________________ --A new company to be known as the Roulette Glass Company has purchased the plant of the V & S. Bottle Company at Roulette and the work of putting the factory in readiness for operation will be started at the earliest moment. They will make a new type of vacuum bottle. The Wellsboro Agitator (Wellsboro, Pennsylvania) April 11, 1923 _______________________________________________________________________________________ BUFFALO CONCERN BUYS ROULETTE GLASS PLANT _____ COUDERSPORT, July 13,--The Roland Manufacturing Corporation, of Buffalo, has closed a deal for the purchase of the Roulette Glass company property in Roulette, which they had leased some time ago. Operations are to begin in September. A special vaccum bottle will be manufactured in which fruits can be canned just like the process of keeping drinks hot or cold in therme bottles. Olean Evening Herald (Olean, New York) July 23, 1923 _______________________________________________________________________________________ --The Roulette Glass Company, later known under the name of the Vacuum Bottle Company, located in Roulette, is now a thing of the past, according to the latest reports. the checks which the employees received in payment for their work, were returned to them marked "no funds." Miss Elizabeth Lyman, stenographer has attached available assets for wages past due. Many people all over the County bought shares in this concern. The Wellsboro Agitator (Wellsboro, Pennsylvania) May 1, 1924 _______________________________________________________________________________________ Go To North American Soda & Beers Home |