Radio Script #592

Little Talks on Common Things

December 8, 1963

In the series on the old railroads that began this season’s broadcast of Little Talks, I included the story of George Flood’s connection with those early roads for fifteen years immediately following the Civil War. As I told you at the time, the Flood diaries, extending for 35 years from 1860 to January, 1896 provide a wealth of information about business conditions, political affairs, and social events in Waterville during a third of a century.

It was in April, 1876 that George Flood abandoned all further idea of railroad employment and became for the rest of his life a Waterville merchant. The diary tells us: “April 8, 1876. I agreed today to go into Ed Coffin’s store in Waterville and help him fix up his books, take account of stock and perhaps later buy an interest in the business.”

Coffin operated a hardware store. Flood found that, on paper, the business appeared prosperous, but in reality was in bad shape. Though Coffin had $14,000 due him on his books, he owed almost as much to his creditors, and no one knew how many of his own debtors’ obligations Coffin would have to write off. Anyhow Coffin then offered to sell Flood the stock at cost and rent Flood the store for $300 a year.

But Flood did not like his discovery that there was almost no cash business. Everything went on the books. Finally, when inventory had been taken, its cost value was placed at $11,000.

All this time Flood was working for Coffin at a weekly wage. On May 4 the diary recorded: “Have been trying to collect on Coffin’s accounts. Poor success. Ranstad came from Portland this morning, but came to the store for only a short time.”

The explanation of that entry is that Ranstad was the man who had financed the business. In fact Coffin’s name did not appear at all in what was called “T.E. Ranstad & Co.” Coffin was the “Company”, with only minority ownership. On May 10 Flood wrote: “T.E. Ranstad signed the dissolution of contract today, and the firm of T.E. Ranstad & Co. has ceased. May 15 – Coffin has asked me to take charge of his books and the finances of the store while he is absent or until he sells out, keep a cost account, see to the collections, pay the bills, and see that all goods going out are either paid for or charged.”

Soon Flood was reporting: “Collections are hard. Money is tight and everybody is economizing.” Then in June a Dover merchant bought all of Coffin’s remaining stock. On June 14 Flood had better luck collecting the old accounts: “Got over $300. The Lockwood Co. paid off today and the Maine Central yesterday; so the village people have more money than those outside.” He was still at it in August when he wrote: “The bad bills remain, while some of the good ones are slow.”

George Flood did not take over Coffin’s business. After the stock was shipped off to Dover there was nothing left for that business anyhow except attempts to collect bills owed it in an attempt to pay its debts. Flood did not even finish that job, for in September, 1876 something happened that changed the remaining course of his life. We have now reached the point in the diary where we can note the beginning of the firm that is today Waterville’s prominent G.S. Flood Co. “Sept. 15, 1876 – Have been in Waterville all day. E. C. Low desires me to purchase his coal yard, and I have partially agreed to take it. I think it is a good business if I am able to attend to it. Sept. 19 – Bought out the coal yard of E.C.Low with all the sheds, shovels, screens, horse and team for $1,410.”

That is something worth remembering — that one of Waterville’s longest established firms was started on an expenditure of less than $1,500.

Now let us see how George Flood proceeded to conduct his fuel business in Waterville 87 years ago. In less than a week he had ordered from Randall & McAllister in Portland 600 tons of egg and 400 of stove coal. It was to be shipped up the Kennebec by boat to Gardiner, whence it came to Waterville by rail. Meanwhile Flood was busy soliciting orders so that he could put in a winter supply for customers. By September 20 he had sold over 250 tons. He added a line of cement, ordering a carload for $112, and getting 200 casks of lime from the Cobb Co. in Rockland at the same time.

Getting started in the fuel business did not prevent George Flood’s attendance at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. But you may be sure that while there he combined business with pleasure: “Sept. 25 – Have been at the coal offices on 4th Street and have posted myself on prices and quantity as handled in the Philadelphia market.”

Two days later Flood was back in Portland, looking over the coal yards and was quoted satisfactory freight rates by Payson Tucker of the Maine Central. He wrote: “They are getting on well with my coal. Two vessels are on the way. Oct. 7 – Fifteen cars of coal came up from Gardiner for me. Have had six men at work unloading. Oct. 9 – My coal is arriving at the rate of 10 to 20 cars per day and I am unloading it at the same rate. I am delivering to customers about 15 tons a day. Oct. 16 – Orders for coal come in faster than I can fill them. I now have orders ahead for more than 100 tons.”

All his life George Flood had more or less trouble both with workmen and with business associates. On Oct. 24, 1876 he wrote: “Winters, my teamster, broke a hind wheel on my coal wagon today by sheer carelessness.”

By the first of December Flood’s business was too much for one team. He then added a second and wrote: “Several orders for wood and coal kept both teams busy all day. Went to Clinton and sold a car of Cumberland coal to G.A. Spearin for $8 a ton.” He was disturbed because “My men do not seem to be able to deliver more than five or six tons each per day.” Before Christmas Flood had caught up on his orders. Now note what a Christmas present he handed to his employees: “Dec. 20 – My business is now light and I have told my men I can only work them part time and pay their board. I think I can keep on James Lowe at $30 a month.”

Two years went by, with business steadily increasing for George Flood. In January, 1879 he made this interesting entry in the diary: “Lockwood Co. paid off in gold and I have got $50 of it paid to me today.” In spite of increased use of coal, the wood business was still substantial: “Jan. 17, 1879 – Put 300 cords of nice, dry wood, all cleft and sawed, in my shed for $3.75 per cord. Feb. 6 – John Stinchfield is out of work, and I set him to hauling wood at 50 cents a day. Business is very good, but my help is not interested and are a drag on me. March 14 – My wood is all in and my men at work sawing it into stove wood.”

Of course Flood was buying newly cut, green wood as well as fully dried piles. In April he had a crew of several men sawing and splitting that green wood. He thought it a bit hard that he had to pay them a dollar a day, rather than the 80 cents he used to pay when he was getting out wood for the railroad.

George Flood was always on the watch for large customers: “May 2, 1880 – Have had an order from Mr. Hathaway and one from the college. Have now offered to put coal into all the college buildings at $6.90 per ton, but have not yet heard from the College.” On May 19 he went out to West Waterville and took an order from Hubbard and Blake for 500 tons.

As business slackened up in May and June, Flood was able to cut his lamented work rate of a dollar a day, for he wrote on May 24: “I am now paying my men $20 per month and they board themselves.”

During the spring and summer of 1880 George Flood was gradually bringing his brothers Charles and Alpheus into the business. On September 10 he wrote: “Brother Charles is learning the business fast and will take much care from me. Alpheus is yet too young to have responsible charge, but he is trying hard. Sept. 18 – Business is picking up, but Brother Charles and my colored man Isaac can attend to it all as yet. Oct. 15 – Business good and Brother Charles helps me very much.”

That George Flood was a shrewd business man is revealed by this entry on Oct. 9, 1880: “Am keeping my bins full of coal for a rise in price.”

Flood was constantly troubled by real or threatened competition: “Sept. 10 – Some people have no loyalty to local business. They have ordered coal in Bangor or Portland. Sept. 29 – C.K. Mathews has had three cars of coal come in here and has distributed it among his friends. G.A. Phillips. W.B. Arnold and Mrs. John Williams. Oct. 20 – Sam Philenick had a car of coal come in and distributed it among his friends.”

Coal was indeed cheap in 1880. George Flood sold egg coal for $6.50 a ton stove for $6.75. For lime he got 95 cents a hundred. and for cement $1.80.

In November. besides the full time help of his brother Charles and the parttime services of Alpheus. who was attending Coburn. Flood had two other employees – a Frenchman .named Charles Lesseur, and the Negro Isaac Rowe. By Thanksgiving the price of egg coal had gone up from $6.50 to $7.00 and stove from $6.75 to $7.25.

Since George Flood had put in a big supply in anticipation of just such a rise, he was sitting pretty. But he still didn’t like the competition: “Oct. 27 – McFoster and Son has had a car of coal from Bangor ordered by G.A. Phillips, who is working against me, I think.” When the year closed, however, George Flood could write: “During the past year I have done well. largely because I stocked heavily and prices rose. But the care of my business is not a pleasure to me as it ought to be.”

George Flood kept an eye open for other investments. On Feb. 12, 1881 the diary recorded: “Charles and I are thinking of buying the Marston block.” On the next day he wrote: “Have decided to buy the Marston block and house for $5,500.”

The Marston block was a wooden building which, together with a dwelling house, stood on the west side of Main Street now occupied by the Flood block, at the present time closed because of the fire there a year ago and soon to be torn down in the urban renewal project.

The present building. though carrying the name of Flood. was not built by the family until about 1900, some five years after George Flood’s death. When the Flood diary first mentioned the old building, the name was the Lyford block: “Charles wants me to buy the Lyford block.” That was because the Marston block was, in 1881, owned by Moses Lyford, Professor of Physics at Colby. Lyford had come to Waterville as a college student in 1839 and had graduated from Colby in the Class of 1843.

In 1856 President Pattison had asked him to return to teach mathematics and natural philosophy, as physics and its related sciences were then called. It is not quite clear how a college professor, whose salary never exceeded $1,500 a year, and for many years was below $1,000, could own a Waterville business block, but Lyford did own one, as well as several pieces of residence property. Probably Lyford inherited money.

As had become quite customary in George Flood’s affairs, he turned to Edwin Noyes for help in financing the deal with Lyford. On February 15, 1881 Flood wrote: “Mr. Noyes went to Boston to get money for me to pay for the block I have bought from Professor Lyford. I borrow $4,000 from Mr. Noyes, secured by a claim on the block. The remaining $1,500 I shall pay Lyford in cash.”

Year: 1963