The Early Years

Advertisement appearing in the Oxford Democrat on 12-10,1847; 1-4, 1848; 1-11 and 1-18. 1848.

SLEIGHS!

The subscriber would respectfully inform his friends, and the public generally, that he has recently established himself in Norway Village, where he intends to carrie on the manufacture of carriages and sleighs and all the various brandes. He would say to those who have patronized him, that they have.

GIVEN.

him new encouragement to manufacture all kinds of sleighs and seek.

AWAY.

as will doubtless suit all who may favor him with their custom. He has now, and intends to keep constantly on hand for the present winter, a good assortment of sleighs. which he will want made as well, and sold as cheap, as any of similar quality can be purchased elsewhere. All kinds of sleighs, made to order, and painting done at short notice, particular attention paid to repairing.

BY C.P. KIMBALL

HISTORY OF NORWAY MASS. 1852

In 1847, Charles P. Kimball came into Norway Village, and commenced the sleigh and carriage-making business. At first he had from two to four hands employed in his shop, and had his iron-work done in other shops; but his work proving quite satisfactory to purchasers, he gradually increased his help from six to fifteen, or more, hands. In the spring of 1850, he purchased a water-privilege near Mr. Cole's works, and erected a large shop, 100 feet by 82, and three stories high; the lower story is built of split stone, and used for the blacksmith shop, where he has all his sleighs and carriages ironed under his own direction; the machinery of the establishment probably cost more than, $2000. He now employs about forty hands in all departments of his business, that is, on the wood-work, ironing, painting, and trimming. He uses a .large amount of lumber, iron, coal, leather, paints, oil, and varnish, and sells more than one hundred wheel carriages, and two or three times that number of sleighs; besides doing a great deal of small jobbing and repairing. His carriages and sleighs go into almost every part of the State, and many into New Hampshire and Massachuttes. He has recently established a depository for his carriages in Portland, and has a salesman to sell the same as oppertunity shall offer. Last year he purchased the old stand where William Cox formerly traded and lived, and has almost built the store anew, and fitted it up in a handsome style for the purpose of trade; and a large quantity of articles are wanted by the men in his employ, and by other people, who can as well trade with him no with any other person, provided he sells articles as good and as cheap as others The old Cox house, it will be relocated, was the first two-story building erected in the Village, and was occupied by Mr. Cox from 1808 to 1843. While trading here, he sold a great amount of goods, and accumulated a decent property, besides bringing up a large family of children; he now sleeps in the silent tomb.

CHARLES P KIMBALL

Charles Porter Kimball lived at home, dividing his time between the farm, his fathers carriage shop and the district school until he was eighteen years, old. Then he bought his time of his father giving his notes for, one hundred fifty dollars per year for three years, and went to work in his brother's carriage shop at Bridgton, Here he added to his earnings by working evenings, wooding cast iron ploughs, so that he was able to attend school about four months each year, and still pay his father's notes. In 1847, he commenced business in Norway Village, having but little money of his own. The late Dr. Theodore Ingalls, who had taken an interest in him, loaned him one thousand dollars to start business with. He remained in Norway, doing a large business, until 1854, when he removed to Portland, where he remained until 1875, when he removed to New York and joined the great carriage house of Brewster & Co. He did an extensive business Portland and achieved a wide reputation. He was Alderman in 1860, again in 1861, and President of the Board. He was a decided War, Democrat, and worked earnestly for the Union cause and for the good of the families of departed soldiers. He was a member of the Democratic State Convention held in Augusta, in June, 1861, and when the resolution declaring that the war was a failure and ought to stop was passed, he, with thirty or forty others, denounced its action as treasonable, left the hall and organized another convention, which nominated Gen. Charles D. Jameson for Governor, who received a much larger vote than Ex-Gov. Dana, the regular candidate. He was several times candidate for Representative, Senator, Sheriff, &c., but, his party being a minority, he was not elected to any of these offices. He was Surveyor, of the port of Portland in 1866, was long an active member of the Mane Charitable Association, and its President for several years; was also President of the Board of Manufactures until he left Portland. At the Democratic Convention in Bangor, in 1869, over which he presided, he received every vote as candidate for Governor, but positively refused to stand, and forced the convention to nominate another candidate; but in 1871, he received a unanimous nomination for,Governor, and was a candidate that year, and also in the famous, Greeley campaign of 1872. After the close of the campaign in 1871, Governor Perham showed his appreciation of his political opponent and life-long friend, by appointing him one of the United States Centennial Commissioners from Maine. Mr. Kimball removed to New York in 1875, and resigned as Commissioner from Maine; but the United States Centennial Commission requested Governor Tilden to appoint him to fill a vacancy in the New York Commission, which he did, so that he presented his resignation from Maine and his commission from New York to the same meeting. He was then and continued to be a member of the Executive Committee, and no one familiar with the Centennial can over-estimate his services. His first wife, Mary Porter, was a native of Turner, and a niece of Gov. William King and of Gen. Philo Clark, and an estimable woman; she died in April, 1870. He was married the second time in 1875, to a daughter of the late Henry F. Getchell, formerly of Anson, but then a wealthy resident of Chicago, and was so pleased with the business prospects of that city that he determined to make it his future home. He at once contracted for an immense carriage factory, and moved to Chicago in the fall of 1876. He is now at the head of one of the largest carriage establishments in the world. He was mainly instrumental in organizing the society of the Sons of Maine, and was chairman of the committee that gave the Grand Maine Banquet in June, 1881. His attachment to his native State, County and town is still unabated.

HANNIBAL I. KIMBALL.

Hannibal Ingalls Kimball (see" Kimball" in Family Sketches) was born on the Gore, but when quite young went to live in the family of Hannibal Ingalls, Esq., of Mercer, whose wife was a sister of his mother. He returned to the Gore when seventeen or eighteen years of age, and worked for some years in the carriage shop of his father, opposite the Bailey place. He became an expert workman at the carriage business, for which he had a natural aptitude, and at the same time attended the public schools. He also worked in the establishment of his oldest brother at Bridgton Center. When his brother Charles P. went into the carriage business at Norway Village, Hannibal became his foreman, and proved a very efficient One. Afterwards, in connection with some of his brothers, he went into business in New Haven, Conn. He was at the head of the establishment that turned out more than three thousand carriages a year. Every sort of vehicle on wheels, whether to be used for business or pleasure, was manufactured here, and the establishment had a wide reputation. At the close of the war he traveled quite extensively through the South in pursuit of health, which had become somewhat impaired by long-continued business cares, and he also had in view a place of settlement. After looking the ground carefully over, he selected Atlanta, Georgia, as one of the most promising localities in the whole South, and the result has more than justified his choice. He went to Atlanta, in 1866, and when the people of Georgia voted to establish the seat of government in that city, he bought the unfinished opera house, and reconstructed it into a spacious, substantial and convenient capitol, under contract with the State. In 1870 he laid out and graded Oglethorpe Park, and fitted it up with buildings, walks and drives. In this park the State fairs have since have held, and here the Exposition is located. The same year he built the H. I. Kimball House, a splendid hotel, six stories high and 210 feet long, and furnished it to accommodate 500 guests, at a cost of $675,000. About that time he constructed 150 miles of a railroad leading into Atlanta. Some three years after, he planned and organized a company, and erected a cotton factory with a capacity of 24,000 spindles, which is now in successful operation. The city at once became an important railway. center. New lines of railroad were built and old lines diverted from their original location, and Mr. Kimball became connected with several of them, either as President or Director. When a great International Cotton Exposition was determined upon, and Atlanta selected as the place, Mr. Kimball was at once selected by common consent as the person to be placed at the head of the enterprise. It was brought to a most successful Issue, for which Mr. Kimball is largely credited. A leading Southern paper, during the Exposition, thus spoke of Mr. Kimball's business capacity and his connection with it:

"As a representative of legitimate and enlightened enterprise, and an exponent of modern progress, Mr. H. I. Kimball, of Georgia, is entitled to marked preeminence. Be was born in Oxford County, Maine, in 1832. In early life he learned the carriage maker's trade, and at the age of nineteen, took charge of one of the most extensive carriage manufactories in the United States. Immediately on his majority, the firm in whose employ he was, evidenced their appreciation of his executive and financial ability by admitting him to full partnership. Mr. Kimball became interested with Mr. Geo. Pullman in the sleeping car business early in the history of that industry, and immediately after the close of the war he came South to establish their lines. By over-work and exposure his health became much broken, and the severe climate of Chicago, where he at times resided, compelled him to seek a home in the South. After traveling all over the South, he determined that Atlanta presented more advantages for business and for a pleasant home than any other point, and he therefore located in Atlanta. Since then Mr. Kimball has been identified with every movement of progress and edification of Atlanta. whatever she has that is worthy of her has been secured through the untiring efforts in her behalf of Mr. Kimball. He was the first to take up the matter of the Exposition, and has pushed it to its present prosperous stage. The splendid success of the exhibition, and the benefits that shall accrue to the city, State and South from it, are, in the main, due to the energy, foresight and superior management of Mr. H. I. Kimball, the efficient Director-General."

At a meeting of the American Agricultural Association in New York, during the winter of 1881-2, Mr. Kimball was present and read a very able paper upon the resources and condition of the Southern States, which was published entire in the proceedings of the Association. He is yet in the vigor and prime of manhood, and has a future of brilliant promise. In politics he is a republican.

HISTORY OF WOODSTOCK.
P. 230-231

PORTER and PETER KIMBALL, JR., twins and sons of Peter,* of Bradford Mass., and Bridgton, Me., came into this section quite early. Porter began on a lot in Bethel, which he subsequently sold to Abijah Lapham and moved to Rumford. Peter, born in Bradford, May 19, 1793, began on a lot adjoining his brother's, on the south, which was lot number one of the Gore. It is said that he began on this lot in 1815. He married March 16,1816, Betsey Elmerson, daughter of James † and Eunice (Berry) Emerson, born April 3, 1796.

Peter Kimball was by trade a carpenter and a very industrious and useful man. He was also a wheelwright, at first manufacturing cart wheels, and subsequently building a shop, where he carried on the manufacture of carriages and sleighs for many years. His boys, several of whom became famous carriage manufacturers, got their rudimentary instructions in the art in this little shop, which stood under the west side of the Whale's Back, nearly opposite the Bailey place. Mr. Kimball moved from here to Norway, where died May 14, 1871. His wife died in Rochester, N. H., June 6, 1879. Their children, all except the third, born on the Gore (she in Bridgton) were as follows: .

I. James Myrick, b. March 10, 1817, m. August 20, 1839, Arvilla, daughter of Cotton
     Elliot, of Rumford. He has carried on the carriage business in Bridgton and Portland.
II.Eliza Ann, b. December 9, 1818, m. April 5, 1842, Richard Gage, son of Richard and Martha Wheelock.      She is the mother of H.W. Gage, of Strout & Gage, attorneys at law in Portland, and resides with her      son.
III.Mary, b. November 20, 1820, m. December 31, 1837. Col. John G. Burns, of Oxford, subsequently of      the Gore.
IV.Julia Emerson, b. June 6, 1823, m. September, 1844, Martin L. Burr. now of Rochester, N. H.
V.Charles Porter, b. August 6, 1825.
VI.George Franklin, b. July 25, 1827, m. August 5,1851. Lucretia J. Morton, of South Paris; he resides in      Boston.
VII.John Calvin. b. May 14, 1330, m. April 18, 1854, Ellen T. Cushman, daughter of Joseph, of New      Gloucester; resides in Atlanta, Ga.
VIII. Hannibal Ingalls, b. May 16, 1832, m. August 30 1853, Rosalia D. Brown, daughter of Titus O., of      Norway. He carried on an extensive carriage-business connection with others of the Family, in New      Haven, Conn. Since then he has been largely engaged in business in the South, his residence being      Atlanta. He was Director General of the Great International Cotton, Exposition, held in that city, in 1881,      and it was mainly through his efforts that it , was so great a success.
IX.Eunice Berry, b. June 9, 1835, m. June 6, 1856, Geo. H. Story, of New Haven, Conn. Resides in New      Haven.
X. Edwin Nelson, b. February 28, 1840, m. September 25, 1867, Emily Cook, daughter of George, of      New Haven. he resides in Boston.

JOHNATHAN KIMBALL, brother of Peter, came to the Gore and lived and died there. He married Satina Besse, daughter of Caleb, of Bethel. His children were Stephen D., married a Young and lives in Paris, Eben D., and one or more daughters. Eben D. died in the army.

FRANCIS. another brother, came to the Gore and learned the trade of his brother Peter, He returned to Bridgton and subsequently committed suicide.

SETH KIMBALL, of another family. came from Milan, N. H.. and settled on the Harvey Fuller farm,in the Perkins district;. His son Benjamin lived with him, and one of his daughters, Catherine, was the second wife of Columbus Perham. He had other children married and residing in Milan.

*Peter Kimball, son of Francis, of Bradford, Mass" his mother, Mary Head, was born ill Bradford, ill 1768. He married Lucy BaIker, daughter of Asa, of Haverhill, whose wife was Mehitable Porter, and in 1700, moved to Bridgton, Me., where his wife's father h~d already preceded him, here he spent the remainder of him days.

†James Emerson was the son of William Emerson, and of his wife Eliza Myrick; his wife, Eunice Berry, was the daughter of Stephen Berry, whose wife was Ann Bixby.

AMONG MAINE CARRIAGE BUILDERS

Editor of The Hub: Dear Sir-Permit me, through the columns of The Hub, to mention some of the carriage makers on the line of the old stage route from Norway, Me., to Bethel Hill, which is now superseded by the Grand Trunk Railway. Norway is a handsome village of, I should say, a population of two thousand inhabitants, lit by electric lights and provided with other improvements. Here is the place where Mr. C. P. Kimball once carried on the carriage business; after he removed to Portland his factory was remodeled and fitted up as a woolen mill; it was afterwards occupied as a hardware shop and for other small manufacturing purposes, it was burned down in 1883. Mr. H. C. Libby is doing the most extensive carriage business in Norway at this time. There are several small repair shops in the vicinity. West Paris is another village of about eight or ten thousand inhabitants. Here will be found Mr. H. C. Curtis who does quite a business in the manufacture of farm wagons and lighter carriages to order. He has carried on the business for long time. He also carries on the shoe business, and by his industry and shrewd management has built up a big trade in his line. At Bryant's Pond, another small village, is the starting point for the stage for Milton and Hanover, running near Mr. Kimball's old homestead. The next town is Bethel Hill, one of the smartest country villages on the Grand Trunk Railway, it being a central point for quite an extent of country. Here are two large hotels, a number of doctors and, as usual, a sufficient number of lawyers to look after the wants of the unfortunates. Here is also the home of the high sheriff of the State. Mr. J. C. Billings conducts a busy shop in this little town; he is an intelligent and smart. business man who deals quite largely in carriages in addition to those made by him. From here a stag runs to Lake Umbagog, twenty miles or so away. At Newry Corner on this road there is a factory where they manufacture the old wood spinning wheel. The last stopping place is at the Lakes. I am told that it was here that the famous buckboard originated, having been constructed from old wornout carriages and used to haul grain and other stuff in the spring of the year when the roads were almost impassable because of the mud. Those crude vehicles were made of boards of spruce bolted to the back and front axles. This was a cheap as well as a efficient way to haul provision over the poor roads, afterward it was improved and turned into a pleasure vehicle. D.E.B

Source: Lapham, William Berry.
Centennial History of Norway, Oxford County Maine 1786-1886
Brown Thurston & Co. Publishers 1886

p. 110-111

1850

The railroad was opened to South Paris this year, and traffic over the line between there and Portland began quite early in the year. The valuation of the town was two hundred thousand five hundred and ninety-four dollars; polls four hundred; scholars seven hundred and seventy-nine; population of the town as shown by the census of this year, one thousand nine hundred and sixty two Ebenezer R. Holmes of Oxford was the representative. The highway tax was one thousand five hundred and thirty-nine dollars and fifty-four cents; money tax three thousand four hundred and fifty-one dollars and eighty-nine cents . Mark H. Dunnell's name is on the tax list of this year. He succeeded Mr. Eveleth in the Liberal Institute. Peter Kimball also moved here from Woodstock. He was the father of Charles P. Kimball, who bad already established a large carriage manufactory here. In December the grist-mill at the head of the village was burned The establishment was owned by a company composed of Levi Whitman, Ezra F. Beal, Eben Hobbs, and Nathaniel Bennett, all of Norway, and John B. Brown of Portland. The mill was large and first-class in every particular; it bad four runs of stones, two bolts, and other machinery. The list of deaths this year embraced the following: January 12th, wife of E. J. Pottle, thirty-five, consumption; 15th, wife of A. Thayer, forty, fever; Mrs. Clark, fever; William C. Brooks, seventy-four, dysentery; child of William Hall, same; child of Daniel Hobbs, same; Daniel Davis, twenty.four, consumption. February 15th, Jeremiah Hobbs, sixty.four, same; Joel Stevens, ninety-five, old age; wife of G. W. Seaverns, twenty-five, consumption; Josiah Hill, thirty, same. May, Michael Welsh, nine, scrofula; Harriet N. Noyes, thirty, consumption; Harriet B. Morse; child of Reuben Noble. July 20th, Jonathan Woodman, seventy-eight, sudden; child of A. Smith, thirteen. July 30th, wife of Jonathan Pottle, eighty-two. August 3d, wife of James Crockett, fifty-nine, diarrhea; 10th, William Churchill, fifty-four, consumption; 12th, David Woodman Bartlett, nineteen, brain fever; child of J. Hannaford Jr., dysentery; Mrs. Brown, seventy, consumption. August 18th, child of Ephraim H. Brown, two, dysentery; 24th, daughter of John Bird, nineteen, brain fever; child of Edmund Merrill, two. September 3d, daughter of Sewall Crockett, twenty-one, fever; 11th, child of Charles Parsons, eight, same; 22d, Eli Grover, thirty four, same; 25th, child of Henry Small, fourteen months. October 5th, wife of L. Hathaway, thirty.four, consumption; 6th, child of William Cox, four months; 10th, wife of Simeon Walton.. seventy-two, fever; 13th, child of M. P. Smith, eighteen months; 23d, William Beal, eighty-one, old age; 28th, Eunice Bancroft, twenty-eight, consumption. November 3d, wife of Sewall Crockett, fifty, fever; 14th, wife of S. S. Hall, thirty, consumption; child of J. Greenleaf, eight weeks. November 24th, wife of D. Pottle, forty-four, consumption; child of William C. Pierce, seven, dysentery. December 7th, child of A. T. Murphy, one, scalded; 30th, Ansel Ross, thirty, consumption.

p. 362-364

CHARLES P. KIMBALL

Charles Porter Kimball lived at home, dividing his time between the farm, his father's carriage shop and the district school, until he was eighteen years old. Then he bought his time of his father, giving his notes for one hundred fifty dollars per year for three years, and went to work in his brother's carriage shop at Bridgton. Here he added to his earnings by working evenings, wooding cast-iron plows, so that he was able to attend school about four months in each year, and still pay his lather's notes. In 1847, he commenced business in Norway Village, having but little money of his own. The late Dr. Theodore Ingalls, who had taken an interest in him, loaned him one thousand dollars to start business with. He remained in Norway, doing a large business, until 1854, when he removed to Portland, where he remained until 1875, when he removed to New York and joined the great carriage house of Brewster & Company. He did an extensive business in Portland, and achieved a wide reputation, He was alderman in 1860, again in 1861, and President of the Board. He was a decided war Democrat, and worked earnestly for the Union cause, and for the good of the families of departed soldiers. He was a member of the Democratic State Convention held in in Augusta in June, 1861, and when the resolution declaring that the war was a failure and ought to stop was passed, he, with thirty or forty others, denounced its action as treasonable, left the hall, and organized another convention, which nominated General Charles D. Jameson for Governor, who received a much larger vote than Ex-Governor Dana, the regular candidate. He was several times candidate for Representative, Senator, Sheriff, etc., but, his party being in a minority, he was not elected to any of these offices. He was Surveyor of the port of Portland in 1866, was long an active member of the Maine Charitable Association, and its President for several years ; was also President of the Board of Manufactures until he left Portland. At the Democratic Convention in Bangor in 1869, over which he presided, he received every vote as candidate for Governor, but positively refused to stand, and forced the convention to nominate another candidate; but in 1871, he received a unanimous nomination for Governor, and was a candidate that year, and also in the famous Greeley campaign of 1872. After the close of the campaign in 1871, Governor Perham showed his appreciation of his political opponent and life-long friend, by appointing him one of the United States Centennial Commissioners from Maine. Mr. Kimball removed to New York in 1875, and resigned as Commissioner from Maine but the United States Centennial Commission requested Governor Tilden to appoint him to fill a vacancy in the New York Commission, which he did, so that he presented his , " resignation from Maine and his commission from New York to the same meeting. He was then and continued to be a member of the, Executive Committee, and no one familiar with the centennial can over-estimate his services. In 1885, he was appointed by President Cleveland, United States Consul at Stuttgart, Germany, a position he now holds. His first wife, Mary Porter, was a native of Turner, and a niece of Governor William King, and of General Philo Clark, and an estimable woman; she died in April, 1870. He was married the second time in 1875, to a daughter of the late Henry F. Getchell, formerly of Anson, but then a wealthy resident of Chicago, and was so pleased with the business prospects of that city that be determined to make it his future home. He at once contracted for an immense carriage factory, and moved to Chicago in the fall of 1876. He is now at the bead of one of the largest carriage establishments in the world. He was mainly instrumental in organizing the society of the Sons of Maine, and was chairman of the committee that gave the grand Maine banquet in June, 1881. His attachment to his native State, county, and town is still unabated.

NORWAY FIRE COMPANY.
Among the improvements that followed the charter of the Village Corporation, and one of the chief objects had in view in effecting such an organization, was the formation of a Fire Company and the purchase of an engine for extinguishing fires. Among the early members of the organization were the following: Chas. P. Kimball, foreman; Geo. L. , Beal, d foreman; Geo. Jackson, 3d foreman; C. L. Francis, clerk; E. W. Howe, asst. clerk. The standing committee were C. P. Kimball, Geo. W. Seaverns, Robert Noyes, F. H. Whitman, and Thos. Barnard. Suction hosemen were F. H. Whitman, Geo. F. Kimball, S. S~ Hall and E. H. Dunn. Leading hoseman were Geo. W. Sholes, Geo. Bernard, E. P. Fitz, and Isaac Bartlett. ,The company: H. I. Kimball, Thos. G. Beal, J. N. Hall, E. H. Bemis, M. H. Dunnell, Grosvenor Crockett, J. A. Small, J. H. Kemp, R. Hamant, W. A. Parsons, J. S. Greenleaf, S. E. Bates, F. A. Danforth, J. O. Kendall, Ceylon Watson, Z. Starbird, Levi D. Stearns, E. M. Hobbs, T. H. Kelley, J. C. Kimball, J. Howe Jr., 'Geo. E. Gibson, S. N. Cloudman, F. P. Bolster, G. W. Morse, E. L. Knight, Jona. Blake, M. L. Burr, O. A. Hall, Benj. Tucker 3d, Josiah Danforth, and W. H. Seaverns. The most substantial citizens of the Village have belonged to the organization and assisted in its work. While a resident of the town, Sylvanus Cobb Jr. was elected and served as foreman.

By Louise Littlefield

During the sixties and seventies C. P. Kimball's carriage factory, located on Preble Street, and one of the larger establishments of its kind then doing business here turned out many of the stylish equipages to be seen upon the streets of the Portland of the period. At the height of its prosperity, the Kimball factory employed 20 to 30 men on the carpenter, cabinet work and painting of sleighs and carriages and four or five girls who sewed on the upholstery, a really important concern by the standards of the time. Not far from the factory was the warehouse where finished vehicles were stored for sale, which was known as a "carriage repository." When winter came, Kimball sleighs, veritable creations of the carriage maker's craft, shining black bodies, set off by hairline stripes or red or yellow around the upper edge and perhaps yellow painted on shafts and whiffle tree and the supporting ironwork of the steel-shod runners, were to be seen behind the fast horses, whose owners tried conclusions on the Western promenade and Park Avenue, then included in Portland Street.

Sheik of the Seventies

The sheik of the seventies had as his insignia a ribbon tied to the handle of the whip, with which he accelerated the speed of his sleek trotter or pacer down the main street the turnout would proceed with an occasional grating screech as the sleigh irons struck bare pavement till it reached a road which lead toward the suburbs and the country, where presently the good steed pricked up his ears at a crack of the whip as the loosened reins shaken along his back and hit a gait which caused his driver to clutch at the bearskin robe and tuck the corners under with one hastily freed hand. Along the glassy track the sleigh slipped, "slick as greased lighting" in the descriptive country phrase, til it struck a hillock and tile roadbed, which sent the driver's body back with an abrupt jerk that threatened damage to his spine and caused his head to snap forward in the involuntary bow from which these disconcerting inequalities doubtless derived their name of "thank-you ", ma'ams." When a sleigh struck an icy spot it could skid almost as spectacularly as the automobile of the future, but usually with no disastrous consequences if the horse was sharp-shod (that is provided with small, sharpened pegs or calks on the bottom of his iron shoes) and not unduly skittish. If smooth, poor Dobbin was likely to do some skidding himself and come down in a heap" if of a hair-trigger temperament almost anything might be expected. Frequently onlookers were treated to some impromptu circus effects as Dobbin reared up and then bolted down the road with the bit in his teeth, quite indifferent as to whether the sleigh followed on its runner or its side. But there was less variety in the sleighs turned out by the Kimball factory then in the wheeled carriages used from the days of bare ground in spring till sleighing came again the following winter. There was the top buggy with its collapsible top, which could be folded back by jointing braces at the side in fine weather and brought forward at will to protect the driver from rain or sun. This was of course the chosen vehicle for the Romeo of the eighties, who was calling on his Juliet, but it was equally popular with people who traveled much on business about the country roads. Inside the dash was boot, a contraption held folded unobtrusively against it most of the time by ingenious fasteners, but capable of letting down to form a sort of rubber apron across the lap of the buggy's occupants when a downpour threatened to drench them. With the boot down and the top up the driver of the eighties felt himself very snug indeed, although the security afforded was by no means that of a sedan or limousine.

The Surrey Type
Another type of carriage was the surrey with its fringed canopy held aloft by slender iron supports at the corner. Much more common was the one-seated wagon with its diminutive iron step to accommodate the descending passenger, located in rather perilous proximity to the horses heels. Lacking a helping hand from below there was nothing to lean on except the muddy or dusty edge of the front wheel-or Dobbin's hindquarters and not all horses cared to serve as a substitute balustrade. The really correct way of making the descent was to step out and down with a graceful nonchalance which required almost the balance of a tight rope walker; and the timid or awkward generally waited for the top buggy with its step between the wheels or took the more commodious" democrat." The latter were two seated affairs, their leather upholstered cushions long enough to accommodate three at a pinch and considered extremely suitable for family use. The back seat was removable arid nervous matrons always insisted on a preliminary inspection of the fastenings of the second seat before starting off, since if these accidentally loosened en route when Dobbin shied, the occupants of the back were pretty sure to get out suddenly on their heads, seat and all. The Kimball carriage factory stayed in Portland for many years, growing from a single building to the group seen in the picture. Finally Mr. Kimball removed his business to Chicago, where the firm he founded is today building automobile bodies under the guidance of his son.

COACH-MAKERS INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL
Feb. 1867

PRESENTATION,

C. P. Kimball, Esq., carriage and sleigh manufacturer, Portland, Me., was the surprised recipient of a New Year's present from his employees yesterday, consisting of a beautiful and valuable silver tea-set of seven pieces, from the establishment of Gerrish and Pearson. The presentation was made by Mr. G. B. Chapman, one of the oldest workmen in the carriage factory. Mr. Kimball was "taken all aback" by so handsome and unexpected a compliment, and though it is holy writ that "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh," he found it exceedingly difficult to give utterance to his thanks, albeit there areusually few more ready speakers than himself. It was a very pleasant affair and credible alike to the good qualities of employer and employed.-- Daily Eastern Argus.

ADDRESS OF HON. C. P. KIMBALL AT THE CONVENTION.

     "In the year 1546, Guilliam Bowen, a Dutchman, became the queen's coachman, and was the first that brought the use of coaches into England. After a while, divers great ladies purchased themselves coaches and rode in them up and down the country, to the great admiration of all beholders. Little by little they grew usual among the nobility, and within twenty years there became a great trade at coach-making." The body was low and heavy, and there was great clumsiness about the whole construction; that we find common to all coaches until a comparatively modern period.

     The small narrow carriage, "like a sedan," mentioned by D'Avenant, of a better class, and constructed for state occasions, may be seen at Penhurst, in Kent, where it is shown as the carriage given by Mary Queen of Scots to Lord Darnley. Nothing can exceed the finish and beauty of the decorations. The hinges have projecting ornaments, terminating in busts of the Roman emperors, and the carving and other ornaments have a finish that could not be excelled; although an improvement in shape and size is here and there visible, there is an overruling clumsiness about the whole thing which contrasts very forcibly with the modern coach.
About the commencement of the seventeenth century there was a marked improvement in carriages, but they were still of that heavy, clumsy class used by the ancients. The roads were almost impassable in 1703. When Prince George of Denmark set out to meet the King of Spain at Windsor, his secretary sent a courier in advance to have the people on the high road (who knew the holds and sloughs) out in force to meet his grace with long poles and other implements to help him on his way. I am therefore inclined to think that our light, airy coaches of the present day would hardly have answered the purposes of that time. The family carriage of the seventeenth century was indeed a great affair; they were built to suit the whims of the nobility and men of wealth, and remained in a family for an age, and were new covered from time to time. Browne Willis, the eccentric antiquary, h ad one thud described: "The chariot of Mr. Willis was so singular that form it he was called himself Old Chariot. It was his wedding chariot, and had his arms on brass plates about it not unlike a coffin, and painted plain black." His acquaintance, Dr. Darrall, humorously satirized it in one stanza of "An excellent ballad to the tune of Chevy Chase," intended as a good-natured joke on Willis, and which reads thus:

"His car himself he did provide
To stand in double stead:
That it should carry him alive
And bury him when dead."

     A lighter conveyance was now introduced, capable of being drawn by one horse, and carrying generally one person, or, at most, two with a squeeze. The body of this carriage had a reclining slope, like that in use in Anne's reign: but it must have been a miserable conveyance, without springs, and pulled only by a single horse, upon which the driver sat in order to save the weight of the box seat. Such was the carriage in use by the middle classes on ordinary occasions.
     Mr. W. B. Adams, in his excellent History of Pleasure Carriages, has noted the clumsiness and inconvenience of early continental ones in these words: "In 1631, Mary, Infanta of Spain, rode in Carinthia a glass-carriage, in which no more that two persons could sit. The wedding carriage of the first wife of the Emperor Leopold, who was also a Spanish princess, cost, together with harness, nearly $20,000.
"In the imperial coaches generally there was no great magnificence to be seen; they were covered with red cloth and black nails. The harness was black, and in the work there was no gold. The panels were of glass, an don this account they were called the imperial coaches. On festivals the harness was ornamented with silk fringe. The imperial coaches were distinguished by having leather traces, but the ladies of the imperial suite were obliged to be content with carriages the traces of which were made of ropes.
About the middle of the seventeenth century, the first attempt at a common usage of covered wheel-carriages among the Parisian citizens occurred, in the introduction of a vehicle called brouettes or roulettes. The body of this was like a sedan chair placed upon two wheels, and was dragged by men. The proprietors of sedans interfered to have them prohibited. For a while there were forbidden, but were permitted in 1669, and in 1671 they were in general usage among the people. Dupin, the inventor of these brouettes, found means to contrive them so that their motion was tolerably easy, and his ingenuity concealed his art so well that he was the only one who made them. The brouettes were introduced in England, and used occasionally without springs, but were ultimately improved, and in 1760 they were in use in London as well as Paris. They were propelled by two men, the man in front supporting the pole or shafts, and the man behind steadying the pole or shafts, and helping to propel it. But the English people did not like at this day to borrow the French notions, and the English coach-makers introduced them into the London parishes to remove the sick and town paupers, making them unpopular, and they soon dispersed from the streets of London; but in Paris they continued in use and underwent rapid changes. In 1754, the one-horse gig was introduced in France, and was quite largely used in various forms and under different names. It was called the tilbury, stanhope, whiskey, dennet, buggy. chaise, etc. and was more commonly used than any other carriage ever introduced, as it was used by the tradespeople as well as by the higher classes. Previous to this date there had been only carts and coaches, no intermediate carriage, the truckmen using carts. the nobility using coaches, the middling classes riding horseback or walking.
     The coach of 1750 was a great improvement on those of the previous century, and may be considered as the last and most approved of the old-fashioned coaches. Modern necessities soon afterward introduced lighter vehicles under various names, an improvement which made slower marches on the continent than in this country. The original phaeton was remarkable monstrosity, showing more clearly than anything ever manufactured in the form of a carriage, before or since, that people will ride in any kind of a carriage that the caprice or taste of the carriage-bulilder may suggest. The phaeton first Came into use in England about 1760, and was for a time quite popular with the young aristocracy. The body was made something in the form of a one-horse chaise, hung on very high C-springs in fact., the bottom of the body being higher than a man's head and the most unsteady thing possible; it must have been worth a man's life to ride ill it. It had a large box on the axle in front and back; on the back box, room for two footmen; the rider reached his seat by a ladder, and held the reins, while a man rode one of the lead horses. Young people, then as now, were fond of show and display, and thought nothing of risking their necks in this crazy machine. It was at one time the fast-driving carriage of the Prince of Wales. As people grew more sensible, the height was gradually reduced, and it took various forms, until today the word phaeton covers, in this country at least, a multitude of carriages.
About the commencement of the nineteenth century carriage-making assumed a more important position, and became one of the great mechanical industries of the times, not only in Europe but in this country, although we made slow progress here until within the last fifty years. If time would permit, I would be glad to give you much interesting statistical information concerning the early building of carriages in the United Sates, and pay a just tribute to the celebrated and historic names or Clapp, Brewster, Goold, Goddard, Downing, Abbot, and others, who may justly be called the fathers of American carriages- men whom we are all deeply indebted.
     Numerous forms of carriages have been introduced, both in this country and in Europe, during the past half-century; far too many to enumerate here. in 1823 the one-horse cab came into the use in London and has a great run there, and was soon introduced in this country, but never became popular. The two-horse hackney-coach soon nearly supplanted it, being much preferred by the riding pubic. The omnibus originated in paris in 1827, and in 1830 came to use in London, New York, and other large cities, both in this country became a great branch of carriage-making.
     The growth of the business in the United States during the past sixty years has been steady and healthy. Americans are most emphatically a riding people, and display a great taste and judgment in their turnouts; and in no country has the art of carriage-making been more thoroughly studied and improved upon. In the year 1810, there were 92 carriage establishments in the United States, employing 2274 persons, producing 13,331 carriages of various kinds, amounting in values to $1,708,741. In 1850, it had increased ot 1822 establishments, employing 14,000 persons and producing carriages to the amount of $12,000,000. From 1850 to 1860, the increase was rapid, showing in 1860 that the number of carriage manufacturers had increased from less than 1900 in 1850 to 7234 in 1860, employing over 37,000 and persons, and producing carriages to the amount of $36,000,000. From 1860 to 1870, we still increased rapidly, although we had nearly lost our valuable export trade. In 1870, there were 11, 944 establishments, employing 65,294 persons, paying out $21,834,355 for labor, and producing about 800,000 carriages, amounting ot $67,406,548. It is now estimated that we have built during the past season about 1, 000,000 carriages, employing some 75,000 persons and that the total amount of the production can not be much short of $100,000,000. This makes one carriage to about every 40 persons in the Untied States, to say nothing of sleighs of various kinds, of which I have no positive data; but it is safe to can be reckoned by tens of thousands. This, you will bear in mind, does not include the extensive manufactures of axles, springs, wheels, bows, joints, bolts, clips, leather, cloth, and the thousands of articles made in parts, that are now purchased in a partly finished state by many manufactures, that must of course imploy many thousands of men. This shows conclusively that carriage-building is entitled to be rated as one of the great manufacturing industries of the country.
     This wonderful increase of production is being seriously felt by most makers. There can be no doubt that there is danger of overproducing. New labor-saving machines of all kinds have been introduced, and every aid science and ingenuity can invent brought into requisition. The labor of days is crowded into hours: from early morn until late at night we are busy in producing. We ar also great consumers, but with the increase of capital and facilities there is a possibility of overdoing the business, producing more than we can possibly consume. There are now many shops tat produce in seven or eight months all they can sell in the year, leaving men during four or five months out of employment and out of money. This state of things can not continue long without serious disaster to the trade.
     The question now comes up with great force. How shall we prevent it? or, in other words, what is the best course for the American carriage manufacture, under the circumstances? That question is a proper one to come before this convention for your careful consideration? Twenty-five years ago we had a Large export trade, that constantly increased until 1860. We had the entire Mexican trade, a very large Australian trade, and competed successfully -even against odds- for the West-India and South-American trade: while or trade with the Canada's and Nova Scotia worked off large numbers of carriages. Nearly all of this we have lost. I do not suppose, in the 1,000,000 of the carriages built last year, 500 were exported. This is indeed a serious loss to our trade; one that we should look over carefully and see if we can not find some remedy for-some way to again open these foreign markets to American ingenuity and skill. We often hear it said, we can not compete with the pauper labor of Europe. it is a sufficient answer to this to say that we once did compete with it successfully, and now in several States we have to compete wit the labor of convicts. From ten to twenty-five years ago we had a most flourishing export trade, while or facilities then for producing were in no way compared with what they are now. The causes of or loss of this trade are several. The first perhaps on this list is the decline in American shipping. When our shipping trade was prosperous, our sea captains all became interested in the return cargoes, and became desirous for American goods to load their ships back, and it was quite common for these ships to take back to these foreign parts full cargoes of American manufactured goods purchased by the enterprising captains for their friends and acquaintances. We have lost much of our direct trade with these countries, and other more favored nations gathered the trade we once possessed. The present high tariff is, in my opinion, a serious burden to the carriage business, adding not less than 25 percent to their cost. This is a subject in which we may not all agree; but one of the first acts of this convention should be to thoroughly investigate the bearing of the tariff on our business, and recommend some course to the trade in which we can all act in harmony as a body representing on of the great American industries. Should we be able to show Congress the necessity for a change of tariff on some of the material use by us, or an increase of duty on manufactured carriages, I have no doubt they carefully investigate our case and act for what they believe to be for the greatest good of the greatest number. It is conclusive to my mind that something should be done to lessen the cost of living, and the cost of materials used in our carriages, or we can never regain or lost export trade.
     Our trade is very important, and favorable action by Congress would be given upon any reasonable request we should make of them. When the move was first made by other manufacturing interests to rid themselves of the 5 per cent internal revenue tax, our trade was left out; carriages, they said, were a luxury and must pay; but a few of our carriage manufacturers took the matter in hand, presented the facts to the proper committee in Congress, and our request was granted.
     For reasons that must be plain to you all, I would most earnestly recommend the organization of a Carriage-builders National Association here to-day, whose officers should consist of a president, secretary, treasurer, and one vice-president from each State, and an executive committee. Let there be a small initiation fee, and let the Vice-President in each State endeavor to have all manufacturers join this organization. Then we should have a national convention every year, to take into consideration all subjects pertaining to the welfare of the trade. I am confident such an organization would be of great value to our fraternity.
While the spirit of honest rivalry and an earnest effort to excel our neighbors in the trade is commendable, jealousy and unkind feeling toward each other are extremely unfortunate, and especially so when exhibited by the larger concerns toward the smaller. The duty of large concerns is to help in every reasonable Way the small ones; remembering always that by so doing they strengthen themselves and greatly benefit their less fortunate brethren. I am happy to say that most of them act upon this theory, and show great courtesy to the smaller manufacturers. We should as far as possible, come together, as many other manufacturing interests do, harmonize one with another, form more perfect acquaintance with each other, and stand together and battle in union and harmony for the general interests four trade. Entertaining these views, I have from the start favored this convention, and believe it is the precursor of great good to the American carriage manufacture. To the gentleman who have labored so earnestly for its success, we owe a debt of gratitude that I trust will be expressed in some proper form before we adjourn.
     I have not thought it proper to make a single suggestion about the art of carriage-making, feeling you all understand it, so to say the least, quite as well as I do, and I sincerely hope we shall all in due time arrive at that point so aptly described by Holmes in the "Deacon's One-horse Shay," when he says,

"Now in building of chaises, I tell you what,
There is always somewhere a weakest spot;
In hub, tire, felloe, in spring or thill,
In panel, or cross-bar, or floor or sill,
In screw, bolt, thoroughbrace-lurking still,
Find it somewhere you must and will;
Above or below, within or without,
And that's the reason, beyond a doubt,
A chaise breaks down, but doesn't wear out.
But the Deacon swore (as Deacons do,
With an 'I do vum,' or an 'I tell you')
He would build one shay to beat the taown,
'N' the Keountry 'n all the Keountry roun':
It should be so built that it couldn't break down:
'Fur,' said the deacon, 'it's mighty plain
That the weakest place mus'stan' the strain;
'N' the way t' fix, uz i maintain,
Is only jest
T' make that place uz strong us the rest."

     his single extract from the great poet covers one of the most prominent suggestions possible to make, and fully and quaintly explains the defects in nine tenths of the imperfect carriages made; therefore let us all study proportion.
     Again thanking you for your kindness and generous attention, I will not longer detain you, but will proceed at once to the business of the convention.

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Charles P. Kimball Middle Years

A Pleasant Visit.
One of the pleasantest reminiscences of our recent visit to Chicago, is the impression made by a visit to the carriage factory and repository of C. P. Kimball & Co. The invitation was cordially extended by their draftsman and superintendent,. D. G. McDiarmid, who welcomed us with the warm hospitality for which his firm is famous.
Although this establishment, as a factory, is one of the most conservative in the West, we were not only freely shown through all the working departments, but were honored by being introduced into that inner shrine, the private drafting-room, and were shown all the drawings of vehicles that had been recently built by this firm, and all the working-drafts of jobs in course of construction, and of styles that are yet to be submitted to possible customers. This was a rare courtesy that can be appreciated only by those who know how carefully such things are kept from the eyes of rival carriage draftsmen, and inquisitive department editors of trade journals, who are ever on the qui vive for the latest styles of famous builders.
Our tour through the departments was interesting. In the woodworking shops hardly a sound was to be heard, and yet the finest of woodworking artisans were pursuing their vocation. The blacksmith shop on the first floor in the rear of the building is shaped like an L, which gives it light on three sides, and it seemed an active, industrious and well conducted department. The trimming and paint departments each emphasized the impression made by the other departments.
The second floor contained, besides the usual array of fine vehicles, a portion of the harness department, the other portion of which is on the first floor. In these harness rooms, in charge of Mr. Berlingahen, the most exquisite taste might be gratified with the proper harness for every variety of vehicle. It may have been a coincidence, but four of the finest styles of vehicles were found on the floors of the repository the day of our visit. A tally-ho coach, belonging to one of the wealthiest young men of Chicago, could safely be called a proper coach, as every care had been taken to fit it out with all the most approved details and contrivances of a gentlemen's coach.
The second job was a double suspension brougham or grand D'Orsay, a perfect vehicle; gear and wheels, carmine; body,black, with light blue trimming, quite startling in effect, but artistic. A mail phaeton attracted our attention, it being hung upon eight half elliptic springs, alternately positioned concave and convex. This job was of the latest pattern, and had upon it all the latest conveniences for comfort and style. The back of the seat had the latest pattern of spindles, with the usual shaped medallion on each corner.
Another job that particularly interested us, having seen the draft of it in Mr. McDiarmid's private room, was a break, made after the style of a mail coach, and properly called a mail break. It would not be giving too much credit to call the vehicle we saw, the Kimball break. This vehicle was fashioned to meet the most exquisite taste, and would attract much attention wherever driven, The perch or reach was straight, the axle beds were heavier than used on most mail coaches, every detail had been minutely cared for, and the general appearance had a grandeur that has therefore rarely been shown: by American made vehicles.
There was a large variety of styles of the better class of vehicles on the floor, such as broughams, coupes, Berlin coaches, spiders, Gail phaetons &c., but the four we have described most forcibly commanded our attention. A grand D'Orsay in the white, with latest improvements in handles was specially attractive. This class of work so frequently seen in the repository, and laid out on the draft boards, showed that this firm are not only alert to the frequent changes in styles of vehicles, but also that they are generally in advance of the requirements of fashion.

CARRIAGE MONTHLY Dec. 1890 p. 306-307

EDITOR OF THE HUB-DEAR SIR: You have of late frequently mentioned the recent rapid growth and progress of various Eastern carriage houses, and the extensions in size and facilities necessitated in them by the present prosperity of business; and with this I send you illustrations of two representative Western houses, showing that we are also growing.
THE KIMBALL CARRIAGE FACTORY, IN CHICAGO. Agreeably to your request, I have just been through the extensive and magnificent carriage establishment of Messrs. C. P. Kimball & Co., and can only express surprise at its beauty, convenience and magnitude.
The building is situated on the corner of Wabash-ave. and Harrison-st., running back to an alley in the rear, thirty feet wide,so that it faces really upon three streets, with a frontage of 80 feet on Wabash-ave. and 180 feet on Harrison-street. It is five stories high above the basement, making six floors; which, your readers will see by a little calculation, gives Messrs. Kimball & Co. two acres of floor space.
The front show-room is a marvel of beauty, 80 by 100 feet, 15 feet high, and finished in polished and carved oak. It holds 50 carriages, large and small, with plenty of room to show each; and it has a grand stair-case, 6 feet wide, of handsomely polished oak, equal to the finest hotel stairs. The harness-room on the first floor is made in two stories, 9 feet each, 7 feet wide and 25 feet long. The office is 14 by 40 feet, situated on the corner of Wabash-ave. and Harrison st., and elegantly finished in oak, with a broad open fireplace, private office, coat closets, wash-room, and other conveniences, all in first class order. Taking it altogether, it is the finest show-room we have ever seen anywhere. The basement is light and airy, and makes a fine room for any purpose which carriage-makers would wish to put it to.
Messrs. Kimball & Co. use the front of the basement for storing second-hand work, and for boxing and unpacking carriages. The rear basement contains a 60 horse-power boiler, with a fine Bay-State engine, circular and band saws, emery wheels, drill presses, blower for forges, etc., and it is as neat as it is convenient. Situated in the rear of the first floor is the smith-shop, 30 by 80 feet, a portion of it being 60 by 80 feet, containing 6 forges, all blown by steam, and it has every convenience for doing work well and quickly. It is eighteen feet high in the clear. Between the smith-shop and the front show-room is the receiving room, 30 by 50 feet, used for receiving and delivering carriages. In the rear of this, and communicating with it, is the great hydraulic elevator, 10 by 16 feet, ready at all times of the day arid night to take three thousand pounds at a time up nearly 100 feet, and running rapidly and much more smoothly than most of the hotel elevators.
The second floor is also used for a show-room. This room will hold about 60 carriages. On this floor is an elegantly finished harness-room, 20 by 30 feet, where an immense stock of harness is kept at all times. In the rear of the second floor is the trimming-shop, same size as the smith shop, lighted on all sides between the front show-room on this floor and the trimming-shop is the "fitting-up room," directly over the receiving room, where all carriages are fitted for delivery.
On the third floor there is a third show-room, 80 by 180 feet, nicely finished, containing shaft-racks ingeniously fitted up, and capable of holding 300 pairs of shafts, so arranged that only three or four pairs of shafts have to be moved in order to find any pair of shafts on the rack. The shafts are all sorted, and so arranged that the men who generally fit up the carriages can put their hands on any pair at a moment's notice. The rear of this room on the third floor is used for a woodshop. There are 6 benches now, and room for several more. This story is 14 feet high in the clear, making it very light and airy.
The fourth floor is used for storing new and second-hand carriages; and a room in the rear, same size as the smith, trimming and wood-shops, is used for storing lumber. The whole fifth floor, 80 by 180 feet, is used for painting and varnishing.
All the work-shops in the rear are divided from the front shop by a 16-inch brick wall, running from the basement out through the roof. There are six openings in this wall, 8 feet wide, with four heavy iron doors to each opening. The rear room on the fifth floor is used for a paint stock, rubbing, and washing room. Near the paint-mixing bench Is a furnace built in the brick wall to burn every night the rags, etc., used in cleaning paint. The front of the large room is divided into four rooms, 20 by 50 feet each, all connected with each other and with the large middle room by roiling doors, 8 feet wide. Each of these rooms is lighted from the sides and also from the roof. The two outside rooms are used exclusively for the last coat of varnish, and the middle rooms for the last coat of rubbing varnish, and for keeping work one or two days after it is finished. This whole upper story is finished in shellac and varnish, and is kept thoroughly clean and nice, and being so very high is free from dust. This story is from 17 to 19 feet high in the clear, making it probably the most thoroughly ventilated paint shop in the country. In fact, every room in the building is as light as day, and, the ceilings are all so high that it makes the ventilation and air perfect for the health of the workmen.
All the front windows on Wabash-ave. and Harrison-st. on the first floor, are of French plate glass, each pane being 9 by 15 feet. The building materials are gray marble and Philadelphia brick, most elaborately and artistically finished, and it is certainly one of the neatest buildings in this great city of business palaces.
During the month of October the Fuller Electric Light Co., of New-York, sent their agent to Chicago to exhibit their new light, claiming it to be the best ever invented. In searching for a building that would show the light to the best advantage, the agent hit upon Messrs. C. P. Kimball & Co.'s show-room, and contracted with them to furnish the motive power and run their engine until eight o'clock each night at a stipulated price, which paid Messrs. C. P. Kimball & Co. pretty well. They ran the light under this contract up to about the first of December, and it was universally pronounced to be the best lighted and the handsomest room in Chicago, attracting great attention from thousands of people. A few days since the Electric Light Co. concluded they had exhibited it long enough, as their orders were coming in rapidly, and proposed to Messrs. Kimball & Co. to sell them the light. They had an eight-light machine, used one light outside and seven in the showroom, but it was found that four lights would light the show-room so you could see every part of a carriage even better than by the strongest daylight. So Messrs. Kimball & Co. have bought the light, retained four lamps in their show-room, put one in the smith-room, one in the trimming-room, one in the wood-room and one in the finishing-room, and the proprietors as well as the workmen are m