ANNUAL
REPORT OF FOREMOST DIARIES. INC.
HARRINGTON DIVISION
1957
Source: The Frank Snyder Collection
Transcribed by Connie Hembree Gaban
February 2010
Following
is a report of some of the activities of the Harrington Division not normally
reported during the year.
1.
MILK PRODUCER ACTIVITIES
a.
Advent of Bulk Tanks
After considerable delay in
securing the A.H. Arnold
Road Tank for bulk milk pick-up, the first farm tank milk was picked up July
31, 1957. The delay in getting the road tank and the objections of Lower Merion
Township in accepting the
3-A standards for farm tanks enabled competitive buyers to solicit a number of
our large milk producers. Some of the
producers who went to competitors had been selling milk to us for over 30
years. There were 15 of these producers, who in 1956 produced over 4,000,000
pounds of milk.
Since July 31, twenty-six farmers have purchased farm
tanks and as of December 31 the daily weight of this milk was about 18,000
pounds. Should this increase in 1958 as
it has during the latter part of 1957, another pick-up tank will be required
before spring.
The general opinion in this area is that bulk pick-up is
here to stay and within four or five years practically all the milk in
Northeastern Penna. will be handled in this manner.
The financing of the farm tanks has been pretty well
handled by the local banks on the basis of deductions from the milk check using
a certain amount per hundred pounds of milk generally about .20 per cwt. Some
banks require a uniform monthly payment.
b.
Premium Payments
The matter of premiums
above the blend price under Order No. 27 continued during 1957, even after
August 1st when the comprehensive order was put into effect.
Premiums paid in 1957 were as follows:
Premium
Pounds Milk Above Order #27 Amount
Jan. 4
262 289 .10 $4
262 29
Feb. 4 127 386 .10 4 127 38
Mar. 5 026 759 .10 5 026 76
April 5 209 183 .10 5 209 18
May 2 674 539 .10
3 801 939 .15 8 377 45
June 5 765 592 .15 8 648 39
July 4 554 372 .15 6 831 56
August
15 474 .20 30 95
3 798 488 .10 3
798 49
Sept. 111 556 .144 160 64
3 519 996 .10 3 519 99
Oct. 206 522 .144 297 39
3 649 394 .10 3 649 39
Nov. 282 342 .144 406 57
3 383 118 .05 1 691 56
Dec. 431 516 .144
621 38
3 708 377 .05 1 854 19
Total Premiums 1957 - $58
513 56
For
bulk milk a price of .20 above the blend price in the 201-210 mile zone was
used by practically all the milk dealers in this area. This
price f.o.b. the farm instead of f.o.b. the milk plant.
Page 2
c. Farmer
Organization Activities
The milk strike of February
26 March 3, 1957 was inaugurated by the Tri-State
Farmers Guild of Northern
New Jersey.
There
were only two incidents of this strike which affected our division.
The
first incident was that of halting one of our drivers, George Peterson, who was
on his way back from delivering a tank of milk from LeRaysville
to Hoboken. He
was stopped near the Delaware
Milk Plant on Monday evening February 25 and was not allowed to either move the
truck or get away himself until Thursday afternoon February 28.
The
other incident was that of Bert Heinrich who after being instructed how to go
from LeRaysville to Hoboken ignored his instruction and was
stopped on Route 22 near West Coplay, N.J. While he and another truck operator
were eating lunch, some strikers emptied kerosene into the tank of milk making
it unfit for use. The polluted milk was returned to Dushore
and dumped in a field. Heinrich was discharged.
Other
tanks of milk were sent to Hoboken
and arrived and returned unmolested.
Near
the end of the strike the local Farmers Union group held meetings and
threatened to prevent milk from, coming to the Dushore
plant and receiving plants, but nothing materialized.
Another
milk strike threat was issued in August by the Tri-State Guild and
sympathizers. Some milk was withheld in New
York but nothing of a serious nature developed in our
operating area.
The
local chapter of the Farmers Union developed some understanding with a small
milk dealer in Wyoming, Penna. under which a few of our producers sent their
milk to the Wyoming plant for a few weeks in April. The plant was condemned by
local health authorities and the producers returned to their original buyers.
d. Fairdale
Lease
There has always been a
difference of opinion as to the expiration date of the Fairdale lease. A few
meetings were held with the directors of the Fairdale Creamery Co. during the
spring of 1957, and it was mutually agreed that the termination date is August
1, 1958. Each party has the right to notify the other six months in advance of
the termination date should he desire to terminate the lease. Otherwise the
lease will continue for a periods of three years.
e. Milk
Production
The loss of fifteen rather
large milk producers in 1957 had a bearing on the milk production during the
year. This loss of production affected the plants at Rushville and LeRaysville particularly. A comparison of milk production
by plants and different years is show on pages 7 & 8. The following table
shows the number of producers at the five plants for the last three years.
Dushore Lerays. Rush.
Fair. Benton
Total
Dec. 31, 1955 229 110 59 66 415 879
Dec. 31, 1956 202 97 52 62 384 799
Dec. 31, 1957 199 88 38 55 360 740
One of the factors which has had an influence on farmers quitting is the advent of
farm tanks. The small producers, and even some of the larger ones, are not sold
on the bulk tank idea and hesitate on making the investment for the tank and
also the cost of making certain required changes in the milk houses and barns.
Page 3
2. PRODUCER
PRICES COMPARISONS
The widening of Order No.
27 as of August 1957 to cover areas not previously under the Order helped to
boost the blend price. Following is a table showing the prices paid producers
under Orders No. 27 and 61 for the past three years for 3.5% milk.
Month Dushore Order No. 27 Benton
Order No. 61
1955 1956 1957 1955 1956 1957
Jan. 4.185 4.085
4.685 4.555 4.668
5.031
Feb. 4.075 4.005
4.595 4.460 4.506 4.863
March 3.875 3.695
4.305 4.241 4.329 4.823
April 3.745 3.565
4.085
3.869 4.021 4.366
May 3.455 3.565
3.785
3.743 3.863 4.088
June 3.485 3.535
3.885
3.787 3.858 4.176
July 3.865 3.935
4.255
4.148 4.176 4.487
Aug. 4.165 4.275
4.836
4.378 4.210 4.630
Sept. 4.165 4.415
5.186
4.494 4.491 5.029
Oct. 4.335 4.565
5.226
4.940 4.950 5.386
Nov. 4.345 4.845
5.266
5.001 5.163 5.507
Dec. 4.225 4.695
5.036
4.955 5.078 5.298
3.
MILK WASTE TREATMENT STATUS
a.
Dushore
Operation
The summer and early fall
of 1957 were very dry periods. For several months little or no water was
evident in the Little Loyalsock Creek at the Dushore plant. Efficient waste treatment was necessary to
prevent unpleasant odors in the stream. The treatment plant operated the most
efficiently since it was installed. At no time was there any complaint of its
operation. A report was made by Prof. Rupert Kountz
to the U.S.D.A. of the study made on the pilot plant at Dushore.
Copies of this report are on file in the Dushore
office.
b.
The Benton
Treatment Plant was completed and put into operation in the
fall of 1957. It worked fairly well, but was
shut off for the winter in the middle of November. It will be operated again in
the spring.
c. The
LeRaysville plant worked satisfactorily during the
operating season. It was also shut down for the winter.
d.
Nothing was done in 1957 to the plants at
Rushville and Fairdale.
4.
RENEWED LABOR CONTRACT
A new 2 year labor contract
was negotiated with Local 229 and agreed upon. The general operating conditions
were kept on about the same basis as those of the previous contract. An
increase of .10 per hour was approved for the period June 26, 1957 to June 26, 1958,
with an additional .10 increase for the period June 26, 1958 to June 26, 1959.
5. RETIREMENTS
Notably among the retirements in 1957 was
the one of Edward J. Frawley who retired as of
December 1, 1957. Mr. Frawley became affiliated with
Harrington and Company on May 1, 1922. He served as branch manager and ice
cream sales manager during his employment. The growth of the ice cream sales in
this division was due in a large part to his sales efforts.
Several farewell parties were held in his
honor at the time of his retirement.
Page 4
6. CHANGES
IN ICE CREAM DISTRICTS REORGANIZATION
In
January 1957, District No. II of Division IV was organized
comprising the branches at Wilkes-Barre, Scranton, Dushore,
Sayre, Williamsport
and Portville. Some slight changes were made in the personnel. Branch
accounting for Sayre, Williamsport and Portville
was continued at the Dushore office until the end of
1957 when it was transferred to the Scranton
office.
7. FUEL
COSTS
Following is a table
showing an analysis of coal and oil costs for 1957. As can be seen from the table
the oil boiler is used only to maintain uniform steam except when either one or
two of the coal boilers are not in use or undergoing repairs. During the months
of March and December both coal boilers were being cleaned and repaired,
accounting for the increased amount of oil having been consumed.
Tons Coal Amount Gals. Oil Amount Total Amount
Jan. 658 1 430 50
3 500 340 80 1 771 30
Feb. 660 1 761 00 900
90 72 1
851 72
Mar. 678 1 197 00 12
200 1 235 73 2 432 73
Apr. 954 2 476 00 7 150 763 34 3
239 34
May 1146 3 187 50 10 250 1
094 29 4 281 79
June 1062 3 522 50 8 000 834
96 4 357 46
July 903 3 586 25 2 600 261
26 3 847 51
Aug. 766 2 670 00 3
400 365 05 3 035 05
Sept. 672 2 022 00 4
100 427 84 2 449 84
Oct. 738 1 845 00 3
100 323 52 2 168 52
Nov. 582 992 24 5
880 623 26 1 615 50
Dec. 702 1 680 00 15 766 1 682 44 3
362 44
9521 26 369 99 76 766 8 043
21 34 413 20
8.
ASIATIC FLU PRECAUTIONS
As a precautionary action practically all
Foremost employees in the Harrington Division were
given two flu shots in the fall of 1957. Apparently the shots were effective
because the number of lost time illness was at a minimum, throughout the flu
epidemic.
9. SAFETY
COMMITTEE REACTIVATED
In October with the assistance of Fred
Brown and Russ Reiss the local safety committee was reorganized and instructed
as to how to effectively operate. At this meeting
representatives were present from the milk receiving plants, ice cream
distributing plants, as well as from the Dushore
Plant.
10. ACCIDENT EXPERIENCE IN 1957
The truck operating accident record in
1957 was one of the most fortunate in years.
During 1957 the following table shows the
number of vehicle accidents at each branch.
Number
Location Miles Driven of Accidents
Dushore 559
970 1
Sayre 119 855 0
Portville 90 602 0
Williamsport
83 694 0
Total 854
121 1
The one accident recorded
above was questionable as to the responsibility.
The plant records for time lost accidents was unusually good for the
year.
11. Editor's Note: There is no entry for this item number.
Page 5
12. ICE CREAM DISTRIBUTING BRANCHES
a. Practically
no changes in personnel were made in 1957 with the exception of the retirement
of E.J. Frawley whose duties as sales manager were
assumed by Ray Peters in the formation of District II.
b.
Budgets were again set up for branches
for various operations. The ice cream advertising amount set up for each branch
was more than needed so that as of December 31, 1957 an unused advertising
amount of $13 687 92 was credited to P/L.
c.
With the exception of the Sayre Branch
where a much needed extended roof was needed for unloading and loading,
practically no changes in either equipment or buildings were made.
d.
Ice cream sales trends are shown on the
following table for 3 yers sales in the Harrington
Division.
Items 1955 1956 1957
Foremost 10s 670 153 575 187 539
224
Foremost 2s 107 723 100 835 91
696
Foremost Pts. 305 815 267
624 224 937
Foremost Brick 55 488 66 990 79 257
1
139 179 (35.6%)
1 010 636 (32.5%) 935 114 (29.8%)
D.M. 10s 254
338 235 989 212
855
D.M. 2s 66 373 65 020
59 584
D.M. Pts. 101
225 100 940 91 712
421
936 (13.1%) 401
858 (12.9%) 364 151 (11.6%)
Adelphia 2s 400 301 459
936 450 760
Adelphia Pts. 87 142 90 016 76 123
483 352 (15.4%) 549 952 (17.7) 526 883 (16.8%)
Ice Milk 29150 29
150 (9%)
Crestmont
2s 488 614 522 676 642
760
Crestmont
Pts. 137 581 133 747 148 521
Crestmont
Brick 27 845 14 030 15 793
654
040 (20.5%) 670
453 (21.5%) 823 934 (26.4%)
Novelties and Misc. 493 014 (15.4%) 481 082 (15.4%) 460 954 *
3
201 521 (100%) 3
113 981 (100%) 3 140 186 (100%)
e. Branch
Sales Comparisons in Quarts
1954 1955 1956 1957
Dushore 550 466 686 966 704 486
659 377
Sayre 768
983 1 014 436 1 013 724 1 157 488
Portville 681
255 597 524
537 212 509 869
Wmsport 778 052 902 595 858 559
813 452
2
778 756 3 201 521 3 113 981 3 140 186
13. MARKET ADMINISTRATOR PAYMENTS 1956-1957
1956 1957
January 47
281 03 39
866 18
February 46
305 16 29
541 70
March 30
712 79 37
965 11
April 24
243 19 29
472 40
May 26
539 74 27
209 72
June 26
296 76 24
201 38
July 28
077 48 27
479 54
August 33
365 13 39
582 19
September 30
712 74 45
317 23
October 35
875 35 50
002 48
November 37
073 69 47
416 46
December 37
163 53 49
878 10
403
651 59 447
932 49
* Illegible