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- 84 VICTORIA ILLUSTRATED.
years they have, among other works, put machinery into the steamer Con-stance, now plying on the Fraser, supplied rails for the National
Electric Tramway and Lighting Co., built new engines and boilers for steamer Mascotte ; made the complete cannery outfit for the Lorne
Inlet Packing Co., and the Price Cannery Co., of Gardner's Inlet; also the engines for str. Telephone, the locomotive Boiler for New
Vancouver Coal Mining and Land Company, the new crank shaft for the steamer Boscowitz, etc. They employ twenty-five or thirty men, paying
them from $1,500 to $1,800 per month and turn about $40,000 worth of raw material into the manufactured product annually.
LOEWEN AND ERB.
This firm, the owners of the Victoria Brewery, is composed of Joseph Loewen and L. E. Erb. The brewery was started in the year 1858, but
was purchased by them twelve years later, since which time they have made extensive improvements for the brewing of lager and bock beer,
which are now turned out to an extent of four thousand barrels or one hundred and twenty thousand gallons a year, and constantly increasing.
Loewen & Erb have earned a good patronage, from the fact that their beer is made solely of malt and hops and contains no deleterious
substances such as are almost invariably used in Eastern breweries. Their trade extends all over the Province of British Columbia, and
they furnish, practically, most all the beer consumed at Victoria, Nanaimo, Comox, Wellington and the towns on the line of the Esquimalt
and Nanaimo railroad. Both gentlemen have magnificent residences, one of which will be seen in our pages. The celebrated and beautiful
Victoria Gardens are also one of their many properties.
THE SEHL-HASTIE-ERSKINE FURNITURE COMPANY, LIMITED.
This corporation went into existence July 1st, 1891, from the combination of two of the largest furniture establishments in Victoria,
namely, that of Jacob Sehl and Hastie & Erskine. Jacob Sehl, who for so many years was established under his own name, is a native of
Germany, and was in the gold mines of California for a period previous to his advent at Victoria in 1858. In the year 1861 he went into
the furniture business, and when, in 1879, the tariff on furniture was raised from seventeen and a half to thirty-five per cent. he
commenced manufacturing on the site of his present store premises. The business increased so fast, however, that in 1884 he put up a large
manufactory which, at the present time, employs some fifty-five men. The factory proper is 64 x 84 feet, and is three stories high, being
built of brick. There are other smaller buildings, including a modern dry-kiln, while a warehouse, adjoining, will soon be erected. R.
Erskine, of the company, is from County Antrim, in the North of Ireland, and came to Victoria, nine years ago. James Hastie is from Seaforth,
Ontario, whence he came about twelve years ago. In 1884 he went into the furniture business for himself and others. Mr. Erskine joined him
three years ago. The present company does a business at present of about $200,000 a year and fast increasing; so fast, in fact, thatthere
are now orders six months ahead in the factory, which will, in consequence, have to be enlarged in the near future. While yet engaged, to
a considerable extent, in the importation of certain lines of furniture, bric-a-brac, carpets, etc., they turn out at the factory all kinds
of furniture, hard-wood mantels, desks, office and bar fixtures, and in fact almost everything identified with the furniture line. The
store on Government street has a frontage of 45 feet with plate glass windows, while the depth is 135 feet, with a rear on Langley street
86 ? feet wide. The display of goods would do credit to many of the large Eastern cities, and the selection of goods is a fair criterion
of the taste and experience of the proprietors.
W. J. PENDRAY.
Mr. Pendray is the proprietor of the British Columbia Soap Works, which he established in 1867. With small capital and limited facilities,
supplemented with a thorough knowledge of his trade, Mr. Pendray has increased his business until now he owns one of the finest and best
appointed establishments in the Northwest. Without any aid from subsidies he has fought his way up against competition, and now supplies
the province with the major portion of soaps consumed. His plant includes two boilers, capacity 20,000 pounds soap stock each, one of 4,000
pounds, and one of 1,000, two soap presses, one soap powder mill, a bluing grinder, a nine horse-power and seven horse-power engine. Mr.
Pendray's weekly turn-out of soap, last year, was 40,000 pounds, both toilet and laundry, besides large quantities of bluing, stove polish
and blacking, washing soda, etc., etc. He sells all along the coast and as far East as Calgary.
WEILER BROS., SUCCESSORS TO JOHN WEILER.
In 1862 John Weiler started up in the upholstery and, later, furniture business on Government street. In 1879, finding his premises too
small he built a block on Fort street, corner Broad, and moved into it, occupying Nos. 51, 53 and 55. In 1884 he erected a large factory
on Humboldt street, which he installed with the latest and most improved machinery, and from that time his business began to assume very
large proportions. January 31st, 1891, Mr. Weiler turned his business over to his four sons, George, Charles, Otto and Joseph Weiler, and
the business had so increased that it was deemed expedient to erect a four-story brick, 40 x 80 feet, manufactory adjacent to the one
already operated. This was equipped with greater power and the most modern improved machinery. The upholstery department is on one of the
floors of the warehouse adjoining the store, and there are some sixty-five men employed in this and the factory, which latter occupies
about 20,000 feet of floor space, while the warehouse and store premises occupy 30,000 more. The pay-rolls average one thousand dollars a
week, and the business for 1891 is estimated at a quarter of a million of dollars. The manufactory turns out all descriptions of wood work,
including fine interior finishing, mantels, office and saloon fixtures, etc., etc. Weiler Bros. do also all of their own upholstering.
They carry, too, an immense line of furniture of all descriptions, fancy
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