Document gD1N3b4ZBk04GyxkOGgDG1eZL

j*r;' I7-V Annual i- r Report to Stockholders , m* Ac me Wh it e Le a d a n d Co l o r Wo r k s DETROIT, MICHIGAN 1913 \ <; : 1 : 1- 000005426 i .* Secretary's Report to Stockholders / ACME WHITE LEAD AND COLOR WORKS errkorr.ificHioui.il.*.*. t tit Annual Meeting January 9, 1914 I V- With a brief sketch of the progress of die Company . i from it*s organization in 1884 to date. / :i i 1; J 1 i1 1) 1 \ I \ i 1 * t\Ili i l .i * i 0007-SWP-000005427 -T . ti 1 MERICA said a Congressman in mv m Washington not long ago, "has now l become the Taint .Pail' of- the i world, and the material from that t pail is coloring a large portion of | the earth. The time is coming when the paint industry of the United States will rank with the steel industry in importance." Even these words, Bpoken by a man favoring government education of the people in the uses of paint and care of their homes, fall short of describing the actual "paint situation" as it exists in the United States today. The demand for paint has, in reality, only begun--only the surface of the business has been skimmed over, and yet it has developed into one of our most powerful industries. This is not a statement made at random. There are proofs of it--proofs everywhere one may look; not only statistical proofs, but "proofs of the eye"--proofs that every man must understand and recognize. As one rises from his bed in the morning, the first thing that meets his gaze is color--the color of paint and the j lustre of varnish; he sees it at his breakfast table; ' it is still with him when he leaves for his work, l color--color everywhere. Not a step during the l day can he take without paints and varnishes in tt I \ 5 i < \ i ti \ i \ 0007-SW- i all their hues and in all their combinations, greet ing his vision. They are a part of life--an arti ficial but necessary part; indispensable, ever present. And they are becoming more and more so. Science in paint making, is not only develop ing better and better products for the use of the skilled painters and decorators who must be employed by every person who cares properly for his home, but it is, at the same time, manu facturing more and more products in such simple and useful forms, that they may be employed by the home-owners themselves. Thus, there are paints, enamels, varnishes, etc., which he, or the housewife, is constantly finding useful, in fact, indispensable, in the care of their household woodwork, floors, tables, chairs, and other fur niture. To the millions of home owners in this country these have become money-saving neces sities; they play their parts, in a way, as surely as food and clothes; these "house beautifiers," as one clever housewife aptly puts it, "have become almost as necessary as soap and water." Statistics in themselves are usually uninter esting; but there is a romance to the figures which tell the story of paint. These figures show, more than anything else, the great future in store for the paint and varnish industry. It is estimated that there are over 30,000,000 nt a- \1 j structures of wood and brick in the United States; thefe are unnumbered millions of other objects, from billboards to our hundreds of thou- , sands of railway cars, upon which paints and varnishes must be used. And these "objects of demand" are increasing so rapidly that for many years to come the paint factories will be kept busy supplying home demand alone, saying nothing of the constantly increasing foreign demand, which is growing because of the recog nized superiority of American paints and var nishes over those made in other lands. In Amer ica, as in no other place in the world, the making of paint has been reduced to a science, and, for i that reason, as the Congressman quoted above, said, "America has become and will remain the Paint Pail of the world." And it is with pride that we are able to say that the Acme White Lead and Color Works, for | the popularity and superiority of its products, f the scientific care of its management, and the | tremendous increase of its business, leads the , van as progressive paint and varnish manufac, turers. Few stories of human achievement | have been filled with greater interest than the X. building up of this world's greatest paint insti1 tution. Just twenty-nine years ago, when the business was started on a $10,000 capital by iI * i 1 ii i i! `t 'i 12 j\ I -3 : 14 \ j s1 i \ ii ' i \ \iI \ i i 1 i 1 * \ 0007-SWP-0000054 ;i William L. Davies, its president, and Thomas Neal, its secretary*and-general-manager ,'tlre`firBt order was for one barrel of paint. At the present timo there is always on the books of the Com pany, orders for hundreds of barrels going out in a steady stream, in carloads and less than car loads, in fulfillment of contracts to consumers in 1 various classes of trades, who ure the goods in i "bulk" form. Besides this is the immense busi ness in products put up in smaller packages, j used in shops and sold from dealers' shelves ! everywhere, which in the aggregate is many j times that of the "bulk" business. These ex j tremes--the extremes of only a little more than two decades--show more graphically than any i thing else that almost inconceivable increase of f growth, and which is constantly being main t tained. And during those twenty-nine busy ii years, the plant has grown from the diminutive building used in 1884 to the immense works at i Detroit, occupying more than fourteen acres, with supplemental factories at Boston, Lincoln, Dallas' and Los Angeles, as well as direct distributing branches at many of the larger cities, in addition to jobbers in all parts of the country who have a steady demand for "Acme Quality" products. And all this from the little f "one-barrel" factory of twenty-nine years ago. I I ) i I 0007-SWP-000005431 1 timmm " The business of the Company now keeps over : 150 traveling salesmen almost constantly on the road, and a better proof of the soundness of the | institution and the demand for its products could ' not be given then the steady progress it has made. Is it any wonder that its officers and em ployes are enthusiastic? Many of them have been with the Company since its inception and have made its business their life's work. No matter in what department their duties lay, en' thusiasm, co-operation, faith and determination ! to win have been the factors contributing to 'I success. What is it that makes a business stable, rel liable and a boon to the nation? The answer has i been given as honesty--honesty and judg ment, and the determination to do the best ' and make die best that is possible* Those are j the elements which have played vital parts in ' the making of the Acme White Lead and Color j - Works--the greatest institution of its kind in the world. Wherever the "Acme Quality" trade I mark is seen its merit is known. Those prin! ciplcs, "honesty, judgment, and the determina tion to do the best and make the best" have given that trade-mark a franchise value that is A- very great. It has been advertised to the ends of the earth. There is not a hamlet or town in the United States where it is not familiar. It .-y 4, 72 a* i-4 i'ijH < ,, 0007-SWP-000005432 has been lived up to by the men who made it, and-it is being "lived up to" now, in ways that would astonish those unacquainted with this institution. In its scientific laboratories the best chemists that money can secure are constantly at work, each day, striving to improve present products, searching for new things, and testing and proving the materials that come into and go out from the factory, that those priceless words, "Acme Quality" may still ring true wherever they are heard. In the business management, in i the traveling service, in every department of the ! vast institution, this same striving--striving for ! the honest and the best--are the working laws. I As yet, as has been said, the paint business of | the country has been but skimmed over the sur face. Ten years from now, although the popu| lation of the country will have increased prob ably not more than ten per cent in that time, there will, at the present rate of increase, be four | times the quantity of paint used in the United States as now. People are awakening, almost en masse, to the uses and utility of paints and var nishes; they are comingtoberecognizedasamong the greatest benefits of humanity, and this, together with the fact that according to the most careful estimates the country is suffering a loss | ; of $35,000,000 a year by the non-use of paint and that a new knowledge of paint is being disf / seminated more and more, means that during i I \ 0 007-SWP-000 0054 3 3 r the next decade the paint industry has before it an era of absolute and unprecedented prosperity. How the Acme White Lead and Color Works plans to lead the world in the manufacture of paints and varnishes during these years may best be seen by those who make a trip through the great Detroit plant. Before going into the details of manufacture, one will first .see that in this vast institution there are splendid human ! and mechanical mcchanispas at work for the i making of every conceivable product that enters i into the paint business. There is .not a field in i which the "Acme Quality" banners are not already floating triumphantly, there is not a field, from the making of white lead to that of ! kalsomine, in which they are not recognized from coast to coast as the signs of that "honesty, judgment and determination to do the best and make the best," which has been said to form the foundation of all solid business. A bird's-eye view of the institution would show one of the world's greatest factories for the making of mixed paints and enamels; avarnish factory that has no rival; a lead plant, where white lead is made and load oxides , produced by the most scientific methods known to paint science; and this same view would show the most up-to-date IIl kalsomine plant in the world. These are the "working ends"--the actual i makers of the Acme Quality products. Each is I II i > 4 1 l complete in itself, each is an industry that alone is a profitable corporation business, yet all have been brought together in one family, under one trade-mark banner, and this union is one of the 7 strongest assurances of the solidity and profit making powers of the industry. This plant, for instance, not only supplies consumers with the best white lead that science can make, but it also supplies its own white lead for its huge output of prepared paints. Each "working end" --each individual factory of this splendid mec hanism, not only pays dividends on its own account, but assists some other factory, or member of the mechanism. In other words, each branch supplies to some other branch, materials at the actual cost of manufacture. This enables the "Acme Quality" products, from varnish to . dry colors, to possess the very highest class of materials at the least possible, cost--a combina tion that is the safest guarantee in the world to the stockholders of the Company. This mechanism .as. a whole, and each indivi dual branch of it, iain a way under the direct control of the scientific department of the insti tution. The skilled chemists in this department arenotonlyconstantlyseeking for new and better things. All classes of material that go into the "working ends" are carefully analyzed by them. In the making of no product will a second-grade material pass. And when a finished "Acme I. :i .1 I 4J *u!j :'t i i, [ V { j *1 ii i i v i 1 0007-SWP-000005435 1 Quality" product is ready to leave a certain fac tory it must go under their inspection before bong turned out upon the market. The mate rials were good. Was the finished product prop erly made? Is there a flaw in it? Was it prop erly combined, or did a moment's carelessness deteriorate a batch of varnish? In fact, is it perfect? If it is not it never leaves the works. For this reason the trade-mark "Acme Quality" has won for itself a value that many fortunes could not buy. And this same scientific care is shown in every detail oftheworks. In the paint-making depart ments, where scores of mills are constantly at work, the men in command watch with ceaseless vigilance; in the varnish rooms, among the great tanks and beside the huge kettles, the workers have constantly in mind the mark they must live up to. Perfection--Perfection--Perfection-- that is the slogan from the president's office to the men who fill the cans; it is the watchword of the dry color department, where all the colors of the rainbow greet the eyes; it is the keynote to success for the trained makers of kalsomine, for / the scientifically trained men in the white lead works, for all workers--from those in Boston who are unloading chalk stone from ships and making it into usable shape for the whiting of kalsomine and putty, to the army of loyal, >- ' * e & ,| Ii j I '\ jU d 5* 'I 0007 -SWP "000 005436 ! ___L < t 4 1 3 ambitious workers traveling in every state in the Union." It is the word--the spirit--that has made Acme Quality products as near per fection as human hands can make them, and that has built up the greatest business of its kind in the world today. And one might go on like this through pages, telling of the why and the wherefore of the suc cess of "Acme Quality." The men who started the business back in 1884 are still closely identified with it. Mr. W. L. Davies, the original president of the Company still fills this office; Mr. Thomas Neal, originally secretary and general manager, is now chairman 1 of the finance committee; Mr. A. E. F. White, originally treasurer, is now vice-president; Mr. H. K. White has retired from active service, but retains his financial interest in the Acme; the other officers are men who have been connected with the Company from its earliest days and arc \A\ thoroughly fitted by training and experience for the positions they occupy. Mr. M. W. Neal is treasurer; Mr. A. M. Woodward, secretary; Mr. R. H. Stephens, assistant treasurer. The story of the success of the Company is perhaps best indicated by figures, and when we reflect that the statement for the year of 1913, shown herein, is built from an original capital stock of $10,000, we cannot but feel some, par donable pride at the progress made. REPORT OF Ac me Wh it e Le a d a n d Co l o r Wo r k s YEAR ENDING NOVEMBER 10,1011 BOARD OF DIRECTORS flUHW TMUU MIAZ. . w. nu l l i. wurra JL U. WOOOWMLO OFFICERS waLuntt TMtUiUUI. 1 De t r o it , Mic h ., Jan. 6, 1914. Ti tit SmcUtUtn: Your director* take pleasure in now presenting: die re port of die Acme White Lead and Color Works lor the pear ending November 30th, 1913. The general curtailment of business throughout the United S***-*, due in part to the important legislation affect ing die tariff and currency, has naturally reflected upon the operations of the company. Bearingthis condition in mind, your directots feel gradfied that the gross sales for die year just closed show an increase of approximately eight per cent iii , 0007-SWP-000005438 N11439.01 am the preceding year, and they are confident that under normal condition*, tbe sales of the year 1913*14 should show a very substantial inciesse over those of any previous year. Tbe following is a statement of the operations for tbe year just dosed: Met Stefa ee apsntfious, after ftfadot cf al {gpcMncf iidMdEmiiidMptti sllswca far Seyredeiintij alto ail tellinc, sdnuaisuaiian sad other rspeeter, ............. ft20,SK.SS Dcfacti bicMtw fwdcdttdloiiiif rr.rn.to Hat faeoaw svailahla far dividends.......... <322,2IS.SS The net income of 1323,258.65 has been spplied hryour directors as follows: Is peyaMat sf deideadsi Oa fwfuiedStack % fat oaeyear............ I ft.SM.rs Oa Ceaueea Stock 1#% for saa yew.......... 200.000.S0 Tiaaaftned to Credit of "Rssetrc Accasatfar Gcaeni Forpoass*'...................................... 40,000.00 Traadrired to Credit at Surplus Aceeuat.......... lt,72t.V0 Met iacoen far yaar-a. above..................321,2SS.(5 The policy of your directors has always been to value the inventories on a thoroughly sound and conservative basis. This year tbe tame policy has been continued, and in additK-\the officers of tbe company have had a special investiga tion made to ascertain that all obsolete materials or products have been excluded from the inventories. Only materials andproducts required for current business have been included in tbe inventories at November 30tb, 1913, and in the judgment of your directors they have been conservatively valued. jMi.* * #*** ~v^'T s w The financial poaition of die company as as November 30th, 1913, is as follows: ASSETS tnm*i2ATmttstLVBaMas, Maehlaw* ' Factories, Snaeh Watehaoaaa aad Start*, Eaaipwsat, Ttadt Marta,Tied* Names, Prncitsri, ate, at ealead by DiicctorsatNe*ead>er HO, ISIS, |ta sabeaqaem addraoat lam property sold. . S1.00S,S47.1S Cntaatn Woanao Aatan Cmk an Hand aad Saaks.............S S21.491.S2 111 n--n aal Malta Rscairtbl*, laas fa.,^,,T,,^(orr had defats........-..-.-..-..-..-.-..-..-..- l,SS429)fs,9US(..Sl)t Total Carat aad Warkiac Assets .. rkatsis rtsftnrrl tirfir-rr Tf----~* Toul........... .......................... . MIM!***? 1S1.914.4S . 9S.SSS.4SS.S4 UABIUTIES Camst. Croce Au t b o o b o ao lasoso . ......... fttftned % CtaMdatw...........Sl,07S,90C.O0 Caantaa Stack................................... 2,000,000.00 Total Capital Stock Outstsailiac.. St.07S.900.00 Boaa. sjjStaarMoaTesat *2,J2'!2'2 , LMBaadsktT--i-a--a--a- wnr............. ' 100,000--.00 1;7S0,S00.S Coaster sac Accacss Utaum Accoaata Payable............. Nates Payable................... 9929.924.00 laas < __ Sl.771.41 ak %^,-FnaM.. S2S,2S9^SS ^ ^ ,, Aceraad IkbiBtSaa.......... Tats! Carramt sad Axentad Tabilities Katsni oao Soarun . Kestrst far Gcasal Putpaats............ fag, a, .... .. 47.SS1.S7 iis.s4s.47 40,000.00 204.2S7.7S Tatal Resents aad Sutphts............. Total..................................... 945,100.76 ll.StsjtlSTt 3 1H : si I ;f i> ;) :* I > I '* .4 i i i fu ,.- ' W<..1 L i w j o i i i4 > tI.*4 .l i * i i i i I tiTIIa l ' l H 0007-SWP-000005442