On the shore of Lake Michigan, not far from the Catholic cemetery, on the North Side of Chicago, you will find the brewery of John A. Huck which is one of the largest and best equipped plants of its kind that we have ever seen.

Mr. Huck did not inherit this brewery from his forefathers, nor did he have the necessary money to erect the magnificent buildings when he came here from Europe.

No, when he left his home in the beautiful valley of the Rhine, he possessed no wealth whatsoever; but he did have resources which are of much more value than money in a country where industry has free course; he had an alert mind and an abundance of energy and determination.

The great buildings which so proudly shine forth in their splendor on Lake Michigan's shore and harbor and which hold an abundance of that tasty, wholesome, amber fluid in their cellars, are monuments of the successful application of diligence, energy, and perseverance. It was but a few years ago that John A. Huck came to this city. At that time Chicago was only an unimportant village, and Mr. Huck established a small business proportionate to the size of the city and the size of his pocketbook. His enterprise was successful; his business grew rapidly in size and importance, and today the John A. Huck Brewery is favorably known for its fine product throughout the entire northwestern part of the United States.

However, the business of this industrious citizen has not yet reached the peak of its expansion. On our visit we were informed that plans are being made to add a third story to the two-story brick brewery this summer and to transfer the enormous cooling vats to the new addition. Height and distance are of no significance in Huck's Brewery; for a forty horsepower steam engine is used to perform all the heavy work in the mash vat as well as in the 3malt building and in the cellar.

Mr. Huck has done something which formerly was regarded as impossible; he has constructed beer cellars in sandy soil--the first and only cellars of their kind in Chicago. Above these cellars, and extending over their entire length and width, are three adjoining icehouses, the walls of which are surrounded by a double wooden wall filled with tanner's bark; the barrels of beer lie between thick rows of ice. The temperature is always very low, even during the hottest days of summer.

The new malt house is a three-story brick structure in which there are two cross-arched malt cellars 150 feet long. At each end of this building are two enormous ovens in which 1500 bushels of malt can be roasted at one time.

From this brief description the reader can get some idea of the extent of Mr. Huck's business and of the great progress the brewing industry has made in the Northwest during the past few years.

However, it is not the size of the plant, nor its modern equipment, but the quality of the product which is the chief element of Mr. Huck's success. [Translator's note: The author is not consistent, for he has previously attributed Mr. Huck's success to his industry and determination.]

John Anton Huck was born May 15, 1819, at Ottenhofen, Grand Duchy of Baden, Germany. After graduating from an elementary school, he received extensive theoretical and practical instruction in brewing.

He emigrated from Germany in the year 1845, and spent one year in the employ of a brewery located in Kingston, Canada. Late in 1846 he came to Chicago where he met Johann Schneider, and the two men became partners in a brewing business. They rented the block bounded by Chicago Avenue, Rush Street, Superior Street, and Cass Street, and erected a small brewery on the site. Much of the vacant part of the plot was used as a picnic ground where many of the German clubs and societies of that day gathered for their annual outings. In 1850 Mr. Schneider contracted the "gold fever" and went to 5California, after selling his share of the business to Mr. Huck.

Mr. Huck was very successful in his business venture. In 1854 he built a brick brewery at State and Schiller Streets, and in 1854 he erected an addition. By 1871 he owned the largest and best equipped brewery in the West. It was considered to be a model plant by the leading brewers of the day.

On October 10, 1871, Mr. Huck's brewery was destroyed by fire, and he devoted the rest of his life to small deals in real estate, doing much towards rebuilding Chicago.

He was a member of the Chicago City Council for two years and held membership in the Masonic Order and other societies.

He married Josephine Eckerly in Germany on August 12, 1840. Their union was blessed with nine children. He died January 28, 1878.