Show I I I CAREER EE READS LIKE ROMANCE Colonel A A Pope a Soldier Who Won His Way Wa From Ranks in Civil War MADE FATHER OF FIRST FACTORY LOCATED IN A GARRET I Hartford Conn August The name of Pope has been associated with the modern bicycle since its inception The Pope business dates back to the close of ot the civil war and was was started with the money oney saved from his pay by A A Pope a sol soldier soldier soldier dier who won his way through the ranks in the war of or the states and who was lieutenant colonel for mentor ious bus conduct In battle The business was started In n Boston at Dock square and afterward was continued in Pearl street and at 45 High street The Pope Manufacturing company was organized Organized In 1876 and was first Interested In the th handling of small email patented articles with the air pistol as the leader Just at the time when more business was needed the company stumbled as If It by b miracle on the bicycle Idea In the first wheel was built under the super supervision supervision supervision vision of Colonel Pope and his English friend John Harrington and cost MIS This bicycle was the father of ot all aU bikes and was lost and never recovered al although although a though the company repeatedly offered rewards for it to keep it as a relic relle Though only In cash was paid in inas Inas inas as working capital the start was a vig orous one and at 87 8 Summer street up three flights of ot stairs and In one small room the business received Its first Im Impetus Impetus Impetus petus The entire force comprised Colonel A A Pope the president his cousin Edward W Pope and two boys They did all aU the work filled all the positions and were salesmen bookkeepers and cor con corresponding corresponding responding clerks Started in a Garret The factory and offices were in a loft Ion or garret Pine homemade desks com corn comprised comprised the principal office furniture In February ISiS 1878 the concern feeling the need of ot association with an organized manufacturing plant placed its turing orders with the Weed Sewing Ma Machine Machine Machine chine company of or Hartford Conn and soon lIoon became Its largest customer The next move was to buy the stock of the Weed concern which It finally absorbed and assimilated Into the Pope company Owing to complications over patent rights the company was confronted by b Richardson McKee of Boston who de demanded demanded demanded royalties that would have been extremely burdensome Negotiations were taken up with that firm to give the Popes an exclusive license to manufacture In the United States but this had already been offered to Cunningham Heath Co a rival firm In Boston This concern failed to take up Its option and In the meantime the Popes were so pushed that thata a compromise was effected and a joint li Ii license license cense cease was issued to the two concerns It was then discovered that though Richardson McKee managed the en entire entire entire tire patent right they the owned only half halt haltof of it outright and the other half was owned by the Montpelier Manufacturing company In Vermont Another diplomat diplomatic ic campaign followed which led to Rich Richardson Richardson Richardson ardson McKee selling to the Popes one half halt of their Interest or of the patent right The Pope company has always maintained that In selling this fractional share Richardson McKee Intended to take the considerable amount paid them and purchase the half halt inter interest Interest Interest est held by the Montpelier company and thus control the situation This was the crisis of the life of the young oung Pope com corn company puny pan and Colonel Pope saw it I Pope Was Shrewd No sooner was the deal with Richard Richardson son McKee closed than Colonel Pope took the first train to Montpelier arriving arrivIng ing hours before the letter of Richardson McKee which contained their offer arter Had they sent a representative tive Ue instead of trusting to the mails the whole history of the Pope company would have been changed perhaps never writ written written written ten tenOn On Popes arrival a meeting of the di dl directors directors rectors of the Montpelier company was held In the parlor of the hotel The bat battle battle battie tle tie was not won without a struggle The Montpelier people were only lukewarm but Colonel Pope was waif eloquent as well as shrewd At the end of his talk they the sold him their interest Next day the Richardson McKee offer came but it was too late The Richardson McKee people realized their defeat Ie feat and sold their share to Pope thus giving him entire control The Pope company however was lib Jib liberal liberal eral oral and instead of ot bottling up the pat patent patent ent eat all reputable concerns even its old competitors Cunningham Heath HeathCo Co After Ater this the company was assailed by patentees who owned rights essential in their manufacturing but the company laid down the policy of buying or other otherwise otherwise otherwise wise absolutely controlling every patent bearing on its business The company had meanwhile Increased its capital stock to After the capture ot the tho th patents it raised this to One plant followed another as business increased until In 1892 the com corn company company pany moved to th the thu home it constructed at Columbus avenue When the financial and physical af at affairs affairs fairs of the were well in hand Colonel Pope turned his attention to good roads in the interest of his product and from that time on was a consistent ex exponent exponent exponent of ot the policy polley of good roads In 1592 1392 a department of the business was organized for the good roads Idea with officials official and clerks and a yearly appropriation appropriation horn flam the company of OOOO It is said that Pope out of his own pocket pock t financed the fights of wheel wheelmen wheelmen wheelmen men in the courts when suits were filed to open Fairmount park Philadelphia and Central park New York to their free use The reform was won when a fed red federal federal era eral appropriation for good roads was passed by congress The Pope company made a point of holding their good men and It Is said mId that many of the of the old Weed Veed Sewing Machine company are still stUl on the pay roll of ot the Pope company With the rise of the bicycle the Pope concern expanded to enormous proportions proportions proportions until II did business in all foreign countries In the nineties the company saw the horseless homeless carriage age coming and began to prepare for It by establish establishing ing lug a motor carriage department This was finally housed in a separate building with a separate organization The Pope company com pan as organized today is a corporation with a capital stock bf of OOOO It operates in its own name the central plant at Hartford Conn a factory at Westfield Mass and one at Hagerstown Md The Pope Motor Car company Is a subsidiary organization which operates a factory at Toledo Ohio and one at Indianapolis It also controls the Columbia Steel Stee company of Ohio The stock sto k of o these hese concerns is owned company Toledo are made the gasoline touring cars while at Hartford are made gasoline car cars of more moderate speed At Hagerstown is made the gasoline runabout and at Indianapolis the electrics At Hagers Hagerstown Hagerstown Hagerstown town and Westfield It turns out bicycles i iThe The main or Hartford plant comprises twentysix buildings exclusive of the of office ices fires wit 1 square feet of floor space The pl nt covers many acres and andIs ands Is s beautified with plants and walks En Engines Engines Engines gines of nearly 1000 horse power generate the energy The company makes its own steel and controls the processes whereby alt all the materials it uses are manufactured manufactured manufactured having in view the purposes for which they are intended Every appliance known to modern modem handicraft la is employed In n its most improved form including enormous dies for drop forging auto automatic automatic automatic matic gear cutting devices screw making machines etc ate The plant at Hagerstown Is only a few tew miles from the historic battlefields of An Antietam Antietam and Gettysburg where Colonel Al Albert Albert Albent bert bent A Pope served when earning the money which started the Pope company The Toledo plant lant of the Pope company Is s next to the tho Hartford plant the largest exclusive motor car factory in the world The plant at Indianapolis is devoted to electric machines It covers cOers square feet of or floor space The Columbia Steel company at Elyria was founded in 1832 Here Hera is carried thousands of tons of steel in a semi finished state for tor supplying all the fac factories factorIes factories tories of the th company |