Manufacturers of the New American Turbine Water Wheels, Flour and Paper Mill Machinery, &c. South Ludlow Street

      "Anyone paying a visit at the present time to the establishment of Messrs. Stout, Mills & Temple would find a vast emporium of mechanical industry, thoroughly furnished in every department, and complete in every detail with all the trade appliances that mechanical skill and ingenuity can devise for facilitating as far as possible, perfection and dispatch in the manufacture of the products for which the firm have earned the highest reputation throughout the United States, England, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and other foreign countries.

      The history of this eminent house dates back to the year 1857, about which time it was founded by Mr. Thomas Clegg upon a very modest scale, but a small factory constituting the nucleus from which has grown the present immense business. Mr. Clegg was succeeded by the firm of Westerman & Stout, and in 1853, the present firm was organized. The plant occupies an area of about five acres, upon which are erected a number of buildings which are constructed of brick. The general dimensions are, the machine shop, contained in a building 50x300 feet in dimensions, the foundry 160x50 feet with additions, the wood shop 50x150 feet in area, erecting shop 30x100 feet, the blacksmith shop, cleaning house, draughting department, a two story office building and commodious warehouses. The machinery in operation constitutes the most complete equipment of this character that capital can procure and human ingenuity devise, much of which has been specially constructed to fill the requirements of this establishment. Their methods of manufacture are the results of years of close application and a thorough and complete knowledge of the wants of the trade for which they cater. The firm are manufacturers and patentees of the New American Turbine Water Wheels, which have double the power of ordinary turbine wheels of the same diameter and are very much more durable. These wheels are manufactured entirely over dry sand cores which produce smooth, even surfaces, homogeneous and strong castings. In starting they will move the load so gradually that a belt can be put on any part of the mill with perfect safety, and in case of accident can be shut down instantaneously. Probably no piece of mechanism has ever met with such extended commendation as have these appliances.,

      The firm also manufacture high class flour mill machinery such as the Livingston Belted Roller Mill, which is claimed to be the best mill in the market. The Gilbert Combined, the Universal Reduction, and Four-roller Roller Mills, are also other pieces of machinery of the highest merit. The firm also supply burr mill stones of the very best quality, bolting cloth, hangers, pulleys, couplings, flour packers, and mill supplies generally. The fame which their mill machinery has achieved throughout the country furnishes a far stronger comment, as regards its merits, than any remarks we might presume to offer.

      Another specialty is the Cat Iron Tub Rag Engines. These engines combine strength, good workmanship, durability, neatness of design and great utility. They are in successful operation in a large number of paper mills, diffused all over the country. The firm also make Wood Pulp Grinding Machines, to manufacture which they possess exclusive patent rights. The firm publish a voluminous and comprehensive illustrated catalogues of their specialties which will be found of great value to intending purchasers. In addition to a large trade in this country, they ship extensively to foreign countries and during the past year they dispatched over ten car loads of machinery to Japan alone. The operations of these extensive works afford constant employment to a force of about 150 mechanics, thus contributing largely to the general wealth of the community in the disbursement of large sums annually in wages. The members of the firm are Messrs. A.L. Stout, W.M. Mills, and John C. Temple, all of whom take a special working interest in the affairs of the concern and embody within themselves the practical management of the business. The enterprise is one of the largest of the kind in the country, and its operations are annually increasing." (Quote from 1889.)

      "The Globe Iron Works, whose proprietors are A. L. Stout, Wm. M. Mills, and J. Temple, under the firm style of Stout, Mills & Temple, is a continuation of the second foundry in this State, dating back its origin as early as 1828. They now manufacture the American Turbine Water-wheel, flour-mill and paper-mill machinery, gearing and shafting of every description, French burr mill-stones, and general mill furnishings. The American Turbine Water-wheel has not only gained a national reputation, but is used extensively in foreign countries. The long experience of this company, and their practical knowledge of the manufacturing interests of the country, enable them to keep pace with all new and useful improvements. They are the acknowledged leaders as the inventors and manufacturers of turbine water-wheels, having made them a specialty for the past twenty-two years. The present turbine wheel, made by them, has been the result of over sixteen years of perseverance toward perfection, and in the present high state of usefulness and practicability stands without an equal, both in design, workmanship, and the percentage of the power of water utilized. A very serious defect has long been experienced in adapting turbine wheels to small variable streams of water, in consequence of a wheel of a given capacity not having any mechanical device by which a greater or less amount of water could be applied and used without a very large percentage of loss in the useful effect of water employed. Of the many attempts to remedy this defect in the application of turbine water-wheels, none has, before the invention of the American turbine, patented by themselves, practically succeeded in producing a turbine water-wheel that would produce as high a percentage with partial or with full gates. Many thousands of dollars have been expended in endeavoring to accomplish this much-desired result; and it has been said by many scientific and practical men of acknowledged ability that it never could be attained. The American turbine has demonstrated, beyond the possibility of successful contradiction, that this has been accomplished to the entire satisfaction of hundreds who have had many years' experience in the use of water as a motive power. The works of this company are on a mammoth scale, and are furnished with the most improved machinery and appliances for the manufacture of every thing in their line. Large illustrated catalogue sent free on application to Stout, Mills & Temple, Dayton, Ohio.(Quote from 1875.)

Information Sources

• The Industrial Advance of Dayton, Ohio and Environs, 1889
• Ohio, the Future Great State: Her Manufacturers, and a History of Her Commercial Cites, 1875, pg. 403