Wind Was Too Frisky. Many Buildings Unroofed and Sidewalks Torn Up at Chaska. Special to the Globe. Chaska, Minn., July 18. – A terrific wind storm, accompanied by rain and hail, passed through Chaska this morning between 6 and 7 o’clock, uprooting trees and tearing off roofs of buildings. The heavy plank sidewalk at the public school building was broken into splinters, the steel roof and the corner of the court house partly carried away. A large steel tower windmill at the Catholic church was badly twisted. Numerous fences, chimneys and sheds were demolished. The kiln sheds on the brick yards of Strobach, Faber & Co. and Greiner & Corning were also demolished by the wind. (The Saint Paul Daily Globe, Friday Morning, July 19, 1895, Volume XVIII, Number 200, Page 1)
New Pressed Brick Plant. Messrs. Greiner and Corning, of Chaska, Minn., have concluded to establish a press brick plant at that place and will at once fit up a plant for the purpose. The clay has been subjected to a thorough test and pronounced unexcellent for the purpose of making pressed brick. They are positive that they can produce a very superior article and one that will sell much cheaper than St. Louis brick. The establishment of this industry will be of great benefit to Chaska. Besides giving employment to a large number of men, it will bring to the place live, energetic people, who will make the town progressive. (Clay Record, Clay Record Publishing Company, Chicago, May 14, 1896, Volume VIII, Number 9, Page 21)
The Terra Cotta works of Corning & Greiner at Chaska, Minn., will soon be completed. (Clay Record, Clay Record Publishing Company, Chicago, September 15, 1897, Volume XI, Number 5, Page 23)
Chaska. Brick Manufacturing – Greiner & Corning. First Inspection 1899. Adults – Male - 60. Total No. Employed - 60. No. Hours Labor Each Day - 10. Average No. Weeks Employed in Year – 25. Second Inspection 1900. Adults – Male - 74. Total No. Employed - 74. No. Hours Labor Each Day - 10. Average No. Weeks Employed in Year – 26. (Seventh Biennial Report of the Bureau of Labor of the State of Minnesota, 1899-1900, Pioneer Press Company, St. Paul, Minnesota, 1900, Page 111)
Greiner & Corning, manufacturers of brick, tile and terra cotta at Chaska, Minn., have purchased the kiln sheds and other property of the Schlafle yard proprietors. (Brick, Windsor & Kenfield Publishing Company, Chicago, IL, May 1900, Volume XII, Number 5, Page 244)
Another Important Step Forward. Messrs. Greiner and Corning who own and operate one of the best equipped brick manufacturing plants in this state, have taken another step forward and have commenced work on a patent kiln that will solve the fuel problem, which has of late years caused our brick men so much anxiety. The kiln will have a capacity of 400,000 and will be built in a very substantial manner and at a cost of about $2,500. The furnace will be built of fire brick and a large amount of steel and iron will be used in its construction. It is estimated that the saving in the cost of fuel will pay for the outlay in two seasons. The grating and much of the iron work used in its construction will be cast at the foundry of the Ess Brothers of this city and the brick work has been let to John Grates and Wm. Hentges, two of our first class workmen. Work on the kiln is being delayed somewhat by the rain which set in Tuesday, but it will be pushed along as soon as good weather sets in. (Weekly Valley Herald, Thursday, April 18, 1901, Volume XXXIX, Number 30, Page 1)
Brick Yard Review. Many Improvements Made About the Yards and a Busy Season Looked For. For the past several years it has been our custom to review the brick yards of our pretty little city and this year we make no exception and endeavor to give you a short write-up of the different yards, improvements made, capacity, and men employed, and below publish the same; Greiner & Corning. This firm controls the big yards in third ward. Albert Teske is the foreman and heads a list of about 90 employees, operating four machines and turning out 45,000 sand mold and 50,000 tile or hollow brick per day. The yard is run on the pallet system and is reached by the M. & St. L., and the Milwaukee Rys. Their average monthly payment is about $2800 and the financial department and St. Paul office is in charge of J. W. Corning, while the Chaska end of management is under the care and supervision of Mr. Fred Greiner. This firm also made several improvements this year, among them being a patent kiln. (Weekly Valley Herald, Thursday, May 21, 1903, Volume XLI, Number 35, Page 1)
Page 252. Chaska. Brick and Tile – 1903. Greiner & Corning. Total Number Wage Earners - 80. Adult Males - 75. Males Under 16 Years (Employed during vacation only) – 5. Number of Hours Each Day - 10. Number of Hours Each Week - 60. Average Number Weeks Operated During 1902 - 25. Number Employed between 6 p.m. and 7 a.m. – 3. Number Persons Regularly Employed Sunday – 3. Established in Year – Illegible.
Page 253. 1904. Total Number Wage Earners - 80. Adult Males (Office Force) – 2. Adult Males (Excluding Office Force) - 78. Number of Hours Each Day - 10. Number of Hours Each Week - 60. Average Number Weeks Operated Last Year - 18. Number Employed between 6 p.m. and 7 a.m. - 3. Number Persons Regularly Employed on Sunday - 3. Changes in Name of Firm or New Inspections – None. (Ninth Biennial Report of the Bureau of Labor of the State of Minnesota, 1903-1904, Volume 2, Great Western Printing Company, 1904)
Strobach Yard Sold. Greiner & Corning Purchase The Same For A Consideration of $9,500. Deal Closed Last Week. Yard Is In Good Condition And Is Worth More Than The Purchase Price. An important transfer took place in this city last week, when the Strobach-Faber brickyard was sold to Messrs. Fred Greiner and J. W. L. Corning for the sum of $9,500. The Strobach-Faber yard is one of the most valuable brick manufacturing properties in this city, and Greiner & Corning have secured a great bargain at the figures paid. The deal has been on for the past two weeks, but owing to the inability to get the signatures of several of the stock holders the deal was not closed until late last week. The Strobach-Faber brick yard comprises about 19 1-2 acres of land, with complete brick manufacturing apparatus, and has a capacity of about 60,000 brick per day, and employs between fifty and sixty men during the summer months. The brick-yard is one of the oldest established in our city and has always been up to the standard in quality of manufacture. Greiner & Corning have secured a good piece of property and no doubt will utilize it to its fullest extent. (Weekly Valley Herald, Thursday, January 12, 1905, Volume XLIII, Number 12, Page 1)
The Chaska (Minn.) Brick & Tile Co., St. Paul, Minn., has been organized with $50,000 capital stock, by J. L. Corning and Mary E. Corning of St. Paul, and Fred Griener of Chaska. (Clay Record, Clay Record Publishing Company, Chicago, May 15, 1909, Volume XXXIV, Number 9, Page 34)
J. W. L. Corning, of the Chaska Brick & Tile Co., St. Paul, received the contract for the common brick to be used in the new twelve-story Lowry building which is under construction in St. Paul. (Brick and Clay Record, Kenfield-Leach Company, Chicago, June 1, 1911, Volume XXXVIII, Number 11, Page 547)
J. W. L. Corning, president of the Chaska Brick & Tile company, of Chaska, Minn., said: "Looking back over the year, it is with pleasure that I am able to state that our business has shown a gratifying increase, in all localities, with the exception of Canada. The situation there is different from any part of the Northwest. A boom has been in progress there and the after effects has been to lessen the demand for building material. Money is not free there and collections are very slow. We have not gone after any new business in Canada during the past year, and we are glad of it. We stopped our plant on October 15, and the last fires are just out. We will carry over but a small amount of brick for next spring. We are finding the Boss system the best adapted for our needs, with round top, down draft. We could have sold more brick this year and turned away orders, on account of not being able to ship as promptly as asked. Tile and brick construction in both St. Paul and Minneapolis, not only in the city, but in outlying suburban districts, (has increased as) one of the Minneapolis architects who has gone heavily into this kind of construction. Two new electric lines are in progress of construction, with downtown passenger and freight facilities. This is a new departure for Minneapolis and will have the effect to boom suburban home building. I predict something phenomenal in way of an increase in this kind of construction, beginning almost at once. The range in cost of houses built of hollow tile in Minneapolis has been from the cheapest to the most elaborate, showing the wide range in popularity so far. (Brick and Clay Record, Kenfield-Leach Company, Chicago, January 6, 1914, Volume XLIV, Number 1, Page 55)