Newport's Battery Makers Go Big
Local investors incorporate the Newport Battery Co., raise $7,000, and plan to turn out 1,000 dry cells a day for the Inland Empire.
The Newport Battery Co., started in this city last spring by R. S. Anderson and J. F. Pfeiffer, has been incorporated with a number of local people as stockholders, and with capital provided for further installation of machinery and purchase of material will shortly be in shape to do business on a larger scale.
Since starting the manufacture of dry cells, Messrs. Pfeiffer and Anderson have been doing the work of pioneering the industry. The cells have been thoroughly tested for various purposes by wholesalers of electrical supplies in Spokane and other northwestern cities, and the company is assured of business that should make the industry profitable and start it on a successful career.
The new company is incorporated with a paid-up capital of $7,000, all subscribed by local people. Mr. A. C. McLane has been working on the incorporation for several weeks past and the deal was consummated at a meeting held Tuesday evening. The new company is incorporated under the name of the Newport Battery Co., and the following trustees were elected to serve until the first annual meeting of the stockholders in January, 1910: R. S. Anderson, Fred L. Wolf, Dr. J. T. Phillips, C. A. Fiedler and A. M. Appel. The trustees elected the following officers: president, Dr. Phillips; vice-president, R. S. Anderson; secretary, Fred Stevens; treasurer, F. C. Krause; general manager, J. F. Pfeiffer.
The trustees will at once proceed to enlarge the capacity of the plant to 1,000 cells per day. Business in prospect at this time warrants the belief that this capacity will soon need increasing. The number of dry cells used annually in the Inland Empire is estimated at over one million, and if a reasonable proportion of this business can be secured a good payroll industry is assured Newport.
There is but one other battery plant located west of the Mississippi River, that at San Francisco. The local plant is thus assured a large territory in which to exploit its product. The advantage of location is evident, when it is considered that the best period of a battery's strength is shortly after its manufacture and from two to three weeks' time can be gained over eastern products.
“The number of dry cells used annually in the Inland Empire is estimated at over one million, and if a reasonable proportion of this business can be secured a good payroll industry is assured Newport.”
The Newport Battery Co. was an early bet that a small town could manufacture for a regional market and keep the payroll local. That same calculation—whether rural communities can capture a piece of the energy and technology economy—still drives economic-development debates today.
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