Pioneer history of Ingham County, compiled and arranged by Mrs. Franc L. Adams, secretary of the Ingham County pioneer and historical society.

LANSING TOWNS1II' AND CITY, WITI HISTORY

439

Brothers Foundry' where the offices of the Auto Body Works are
today, Mr. Cady went with them into the new place. He was a
pattern maker, and my ideal of a workman. His painstaking
accuracy and interest in his work always attracted my boyish
fancy.
"Mr. Hildreth, who owned the foundry at one time, was a son
of my father's head moulder. Than Glassbrook, another owner,
was a boy from the street that my father took an interest in and
got him into the machine shop, where he made such rapid progress
that he afterward became owner of the shop where he had worked.
"I can remember in the seventies a long-legged youth who left
his father's library and worked in the old foundry. He was Prof.
Tracy's son. The grime of the shop, the whir of the machinery
had more attraction for him than the smell of sheepskin bindings
and the printed page. A grimy pair of overalls seemed to fit
better and was worn with more ease than a starched shirt and
broadcloth.
"Since I have been at my present office I have watched, as I did
when a boy, the flames and fumes pour out of the cupola, have
stepped inside and watched the hot metal being poured into the
flasks by the strong-armed workmen, and can see myself a small
boy again. The dream fades when I see the workmen fishing out
from the cool moulds parts of auto and gas engines instead of
plow beams and plowshares. I then realize that I am in the
bustling, energetic present, with its many cares and duties.
" Today, Jan. 6, 1920,workmen are tearing out the old frame work
and replacing the same with brick and iron. The large oak timbers my father helped hew and frame are many of them sound, due,
perhaps, to the fumes of the iron permeating their fiber and acting
as a preservative. It has kept them from decay for 70 years. I
hope the renovated building will melt and mould iron until it
reaches the century mark."
This story may serve to remind some reader of other industries
of Lansing's early days, whose history would add to the interest of
the Ingham County History the County Historical Society hopes
soon to have published.