The Kinsey Fire Observation Room

[dave ziegler]

Last night I talked to Ludy I went to see him to give him a laminated copy of the Picture I took of His name on the Mantaince Barn Wall. While I was there I told him about me having the Title to the Old Mack Fire Engine that Continental Had. I remembered it being really Old and It did not have a cab it was open. I asked him who bought the Mack and he said it was from the Mid 1930's and That Jacob G Kinsy Bought it new and when Continental Bought Kinsey They did alot of Upgrades to it and It was the Only Fire Engine They ever Had! I remember it was very Long and had a giant Steering Wheel and Cal Roberts And Harry Martin would drive through the Plant every Week in it no Matter How cold there they were sitting on the big Bench seat out in the open. It was loud and you could hear it coming easy, It had a giant Six under the Hood from what I remember and was bright Red as it should be.
Ludy also said they would back it part way through the wall into the #10 Barn after they Quit Bottling there right bedside where the #10 Tanks were to keep it out of Bad weather.

Sometimes They would blow the siren for fun when we saw them as they were both very Nice Man and they knew the bussiness of watching and protecting from fires very Well. Somtimes Stan Stofoniwtiz would stand n the back too! It would have been them that went up the Fire tower every so offten to look in all directions and they were always checking the Hydrents and when we were burning out the racks one of them would always be there with an exstingueser ready for trouble.
Dave Z
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It Seems All The Nicest people drink Old Hickory
America's Most Magnificent Bourbon
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[fricky]

Dave,
Can you describe the process of "burning out the racks"?
Thanks,
Doug

[dave ziegler]

Hi Fricky When I started there all 14 of the 15 Expolsion proof Warehouses had The Haeviest Steel Barrel racks I have ever seen all built in the 1940's made to be indestructable and able to hold 333,000 Barrles per floor! The Company Hired Pearsol Pine enginering company out of Oaks Pa to cut the racks down. To cut them you had to remove all the Steel Rails in them first. To remove them they had such Heavy Welds that Pearsol Pine Had to bring in a Special Welding Rod Cutter to cut the Welds. Then They had regular Cutting torches to cut the rest of the racks in sections. They had it all engineried so that each section would come down the same in Bulk heads. Harry and some times Cal or Stan would always be there on watch as the Cement Floors even though no barrels right there were soaked with years of Leaking whiskey and the upper floor still had racks full till they got to them.

We did the second & Third floors last as the racks had to be lowered by A hand chain crane off of a steel beam on the roof from the second & Third floor roll doors and then loaded. It was the yard Gangs job when this was going on to Load them and take them on a wagon pulled by an old Ford 8'N tractor down to the steer pens where they were put inside out of the weather as the Pens had great roofs on them back then. The first floors we would take them right out the back Dock Roll door as you did not have a door way and could carry them right to the Wagon backed in to the Dock. The front dock was a little harder you had to walk around the Elevator but depending where we were on the floor we took them out through the front dock Roll door if we were at the front of the warehouse.


I worked there 5 1/2 yrs + and they started this in my second year and they were still doing it when I left and having been in all the 14 warehouses Since, they finished the Job before they quit the bussiness! I am sure they were not happy with the results as the Giant Barrels leaked plenty. They leaked through the Heads as they sat upright.

If you Look at some of my Pictures of the Warehouses on the one side always the right side in most cases facing the buildings front Dock they have a chain & Tackle Beam on the roofs to use a hoist to take things up or down. Every thing that was needed up there like the first floors had to be put up outside through the Big doors on each of the upper floors. On most of the warehouses the beam is still sticking out to put the chain and tackle on! This was because the Elevators in the Buildings Had cradles only to roll 48 & 50 Gal barrels on or smaller. There was no other way to get big things up stiars unless it was something small and light you could carry up the flights of Stairs.

Taking the racks out was hard work as we took them in Bulkhead sections and it took 4 People one on each corner to get them out to the Wagon then we had to unload them at the steer Pens and put them under cover Continental never through things away as offten they would find other uses for things!. We would stand them in rows under cover leaning back till the Pen was full. If you have any more questions please ask as thinking back on things I think of other stuff sometimes.
Dave Z
__________________________________________
It Seems All the Nicest People Drink Old Hickory
America's Most magnificent Bourbon
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[dave ziegler]

The year was Jan 21 1985 and Publicker had been doing Antifreeze and Household Cleaners since 1980 at Linfield at the 1966 Bottling house and at the Old Bigler Street Bottle House In Phila. It was Publickers Idea and committment to take on the Huge household Cleaner industry. They picked the Gleckler Spiegel Advertising Company to to Help They planed on spending 4 million a year which at that time was nothing for P&G to spend but alot for Publicker.

They were full tilt down in Phila producing Products but something went very wrong and by Early 1986 They closed and sold their Plant in phila dropped the lease they had at Kinsey which they had sold in 1980 and had leased the Bottling and some warehouses and all the tankage till early 1986. What went wrong alot of things One selling Kinsey was a mistake as leasing cost them way to much from the man who bought the Place and now has left in Ruin all these years.Two the timing was to late to get into the Cleaners Industry and when it was too late they could not go back to making drinking Alcohol and were not generating enough money from Industrial Alcohol by then.

I truely think that if Mr Neuman had not died they never would have gone that route or if they had it would have been while still making the Products to Drink we were famous for Distillling In Phila and Bottling in Linfield Pa.

A sad day and a sad end for the Worlds Largest Maker of Drinking & Industrial Alcohols.
Dave Z
________________________________________
It Seems All The Nicest People Drink Old Hickory
America's Most Magnificent Bourbon
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[dave ziegler]

Walking around the Plant yesterday taking the Pictures of the Plant I posted on my other thread I was amazed at all the wild Life I saw Birds of every Kind, Deer, a Red Fox ran away when I went to go in the #10 Rye Building. Kinsey is just like it was way back when I worked there as far as Wild Life and good fresh air from the river below. Back then everything was so well kept that it really breaks my Heart to see Buildings falling down and the Big Hole in the Fire Tower Building Q and Our Lunch room destroyed by Kids! And My Old Dsp-Pa. - #12 Gone forever!

I go as offten as I can and just like the 43 Pictures I posted late Last night on page 23 of the other thread I will keep crawling and looking for good shots so that everyone can get a feel for how the place was way back then.

It is easy to see Why Si Neuman Loved the place it just has a way about it and when the lawns were perfect and Flower beds and the Buildings all looking good there was No Better Place to work. 600 people worked there when I did and of the One's still living I have talked to everyone of them has said it was the most wonderful place they ever worked.

There is a magic about the Kinsey Distillery and I am trying to preserve it for History and will keep at it!
Dave Z
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Kinsey The Unhurried Whiskey
Join The Swing To Kinsey
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[dave ziegler]

Here are some shots back 3/4 the way toward the Steer Pens of the warehouses and tankage and the Fire Observation Tower Plus inside Warehouse T Building of Bottles sitting and rotting and the Barrel Elevator and its switches.
Pic 1. Thru 8 The Fire observation tower It is weird in that the top building on it so you could see across the Roof has a window that way and heat but must have had a grating for floor and if you at picture 8 of the far side of the tower you can see it is sealed well where that grating was to look out that window is a shaft that goes to the bottom of the tower and no way in or out of it! WQhen I took the Pictures up in it my Buddy Don went up the ladder on the side and looked in and took the opictures showing heat and the window and a big hole where the grating used to be!
Pic 9 & 10 Looking Toward the steer Pens out back from the Tower on the ground.
Last Pic #20 The Back water tower Note what was a sight Gauge on the side of the tank to make sure it is full enough water from the Pump House I took pictures of on the Memories thread would have traveled on poured cement Posts in large Pipes to this tower. This summer they cut all the pipes out. I will post a picture of where the pipes used to travel on the Memories thread later.
Pic 11. Scale and weigh house
Pic 12. Warehouse T
Pic 13. thru 17 inside warehouse T cases of empty bottles never used The Barrel Elevator and its explosion proof Switch
Pic 18 & 19. The Scale House again it is arcoss from Warehouse #38 the only Warehouse with a number instead of Letter it had a big Dump trough in it and whiskey could go striaght to the Scale weigh house. There was also a rail track to right behind the scale building to tranfer Whiskey from a tanker, all this at the very back of the plant. Whiskey traveled from almost every part of the plant to the Bottling house those days!
Pic 20. The Two big storage tanks going back toward the front of the plant.
Dave Z
_________________________________________
It Seems All The Nicest People Drink Old Hickory
America's Most Magnificent Bourbon
Kinsey The Unhurried Whiskey
Philadelphia The Heritage Whiskey
Inver House Scotch Soft As A Kiss
Hallers County Fair Kentucky Bourbon
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[dave ziegler]

Here are some more Plant Pictures walking toward the front of the Plant!
1.& 2. Warehouse H last of the Old Warehouses build by Jacob G Kinsey in 1936
3. Warehouse G & F right behind H Ludy Told Me that Warehouses G,F, D,E all had Freight elevators and I thought I remembered that but wanted to make sure I was right. The first two ever built A & B built in 1892 which I will post some pictures of in the Memories,


Thread Had what Ludy Called a special Hoist to bring the Barrels down from the top level to the Bottom it
was a Y shaped Chain one Hook went on the Eletric Motor on the roof inside and the other end had 2 special Hooks you caught on each side of the Head and then you pulled the Chain and lowered the Full barrel or took a full barrel up. I asked him how many crashed back then He said none He could ever remember back in the 30's 40's and 50's. They did not use those two warehouses any more in the 1970's as to dangerous to be lowering Barrels that way I guess!


4. & 5. Old Piles of barrel Staves sitting next to Warehouse H
6. & 7. Warehouse H note on the Last Picture close up that is the only Dock the Building has and that is the only Way in and Out of it by the big heavy Metal Door. It was in this Building That I found all the Fire Drill papers from the once a month Drills I have them from the 1950's I will post a couple some time The Fire House was built right next to these three Warehouses.
Dave Z
_________________________________________
It Seems All The Nicest People Drink Old Hickory
America's Most Magnificent Bourbon
_________________________________________

[dave ziegler]

Here are some more Shots taken last Sunday walking back from the Fire Inlet pump Building I found.

1. Stair case in Scale and weigh building across from Warehouse #38 at the far back of the plant
2. Different Type of Explosion Proof Switch in Scale Building
3. Back side of Scale Building
4. Another shot of Scale Building
5. Old Posts from When Jacob G Kinsey Had wooden Rails in these Posts there is a famous Post card for Angelo Myers / Kinsey with this fence line
6. Looking back down at the front ward section of the Plant from the Road to the Steer Pen area
7. One of two Tanks in Scale and Weigh House
8. Capacity Plates on both tanks in scale & Weigh House
9. Looking up at paltform above the Tanks in scale house
10.Back water tank note sight gauge hanging down the side
11. The old Light hood from Dickies Shop I brought it home it was the only Light in there!
12.Large Tanks looking from the back and the Fir tree I used to mulch when I worked in the Yard Gang.
I always love trying to get as many shots of things there in different -angles to give you all an Idea of How the place looked when it operated
it is such a big Place I aways seem to find things I do not remember or things I did not remember and want everyone to see!
Dave Z
___________________________________________
It Seems All The Nicest People Drink old Hickory
America's Most Magnificent Bourbon
___________________________________________

[dave ziegler]

In talking to People Engineers ect where I work now They have made it clear to me that Kinsey Distillery from all I told them was the Most Safe from fire Distillery in the world at the time the New Bottling House opened in Fall 1965! The fire expert here at work was amazed that they even had explosion proof Phone's for emergencys in parts of the Plant and New Bottling house. They Had every Possiblle angle covered back then, and that is why we never had any Fires of any type while Publicker owned the Plant. Hydrants were tested on a weekly basis and opened up.

They had Monthly Fire drills with the Local Fire dept and whenever there was any burning there were fire watchers. Add to that the Fire tower and the big pump house down in the woods and the Hydrants all through the woods and it was amazing the thought that went into it all! It is sad that Heaven Hills did not have these things and their Old Distillery would still be there or least more of it. If they would have put in Sprinklers in those old wooden Warehouses as Publicker did back in the early 1940's.

When I worked there we never even thought about a fire because we were so positive that it could be controled and handled if it ever happened.
Dave Z
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Kinsey The Unhurried Whiskey
Philadelphia The Heritage Whiskey
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[dave ziegler]

I got back to Kinsey today even though it was very cold out. I got about 110 pictures which I am going to post this week on this thread and the other two. I got some great shots of the Grain building and the old steel worm that took the grain to the still with my new camera, Also I found a large sign to heavy to carry but I turned it over and got a picture it says Kinsey Distilling Corp Distillery #10 Pa I will post it on the Memories thread tomorrow. I have some great shots of Old Abandon Cases of Bottles in Building J and some great shots to post of the Fire pile in building L where at one time there were thousands on bottles of Liqour Abandon but kids set it afire and it all burned up leaving a pile of burnt Bottles. This must have happened years before I got back as there is no smell of fire just the burnt stuff and marks on the wall and the building is fine it most have burned itself out all those years ago. I will post stuff starting tomorrow.

Also some great shots in the 1966 Bottling house and some greatt shots of Singer Bottling Machines!
Dave Z
_____________________________________________
It Seems All The Nicest People Drink Old Hickory
America's Most magnificent Bourbon
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