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'''Davidson & Miller''' was a plumbing and tinsmith firm located in Saranac Lake which was operated by partners [[A.%20H.%20Davidson|A. H. Davidson]] and [[Peter%20Miller|Peter Miller]]. 

 

''Chateaugay Record and Franklin County Democrat,'' November 19, 1920

An item taken from the Saranac Lake Enterprise gives particulars <span>of a real estate transfer in which <span>A. H. Davidson, a former resident <span>of Chateaugay, was one of the interested parties, the item reading as <span>follows: One of the biggest real estate deals to take place in Saranac <span>Lake in some time was the transferring of the former [[International%20Hotel|International ]]<span>[[International%20Hotel|Hotel]] property, located at [[119%20Broadway|119 ]]<span>[[119%20Broadway|Broadway]], from James Collins to <span>Davidson & Miller, plumbers and <span>tinsmiths. The transaction took <span>place last Monday and the price for <span>the property is said to have been <span>$10,000. The building will be entirely renovated while the plumbing <span>firm will install a new shop on the <span>main floor. The two upper floors <span>will be made into apartments. Work <span>is expected to be started in making <span>renovations within a short time and <span>the building will be ready for occupancy about December 1.
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''The Plumbers Trade Journal, Steam and Hot Water Fitters Review,'' September 1, 1922

'''Master Plumber Successfully Pushes Sales by Letter'''

That sales can be successfully made by letter and considerable desirable business booked in this manner has been demonstrated by the firm of <span class="gstxthlt">Davidson and <span class="gstxthlt">Miller, Saranac Lake. N. Y. <span class="gstxthlt">Peter Miller of that firm informed a representative of The Plumbers Trade Journal, Steam and Hot Water Fitters‘ Review, that he doesn't hesitate to open up a correspondence with prospective business customers even when these prospects may be several hundred miles away from his town. <span class="gstxthlt">Saranac Lake is located in the Adirondacks, in the heart of a great <span class="gstxthlt">lake and mountain region, which is used as a summer resort by many wealthy New Yorkers and others. Hundreds of these summer visitors occupy attractive camps built in the forests or on the shores of the lakes of which there are scores in the mountains.

These camps are really well built [[bungalow|bungalow]]s or artistic log cabins. They are roomy and well equipped, many with lighting plants, pressure water systems, sewage disposal systems, and heating plants. Of course all the camps are not fully equipped and it is the owners of such structures that Mr. <span class="gstxthlt">Miller regards as his best prospects. He is constantly adding to his list of the names, securing these from camp caretakers or others. During the winter season he consistently follows up these prospects with letters and catalogs or advertising pamphlets which set forth the many splendid improvements in the way of plumbing or heating which these owners can add to their summer homes. The result is that Mr. <span class="gstxthlt">Miller is kept busy from early in the spring on numerous installations in his line.

His work in the camps, in fact, constitutes a large part of his year's business, although his firm is always steadily engaged on a really good volume of town work. The following is a sample of one of the first letters which the firm of <span class="gstxthlt">Davidson & Miller used in broaching the subject to the prospects. The letters are all individually written, and although following in general the same form, are adjusted slightly so as to fit the particular case in hand. This is the letter:

Mr. L. L. Millard,<br>200 Fifth avenue,<br>New York, N. Y.

“Dear Mr. Millard:

“We understand that you are thinking of installing a pressure water system at your camp on [[Upper%20Saranac%20Lake|Upper ]]<span class="gstxthlt">[[Upper%20Saranac%20Lake|Saranac Lake]], N. Y.

“We sell the (name of the system) with everything complete, including tank, pump and piping. We have installed a number of these on Upper <span class="gstxthlt">Saranac Lake, all of which are giving splendid service. Last fall we installed one of our pumping outfits at the camp of Mr. Severance [possibly [[https://localwiki.org/hsl/John_L._Severance|John L. Severance]]], a short distance from your own, and it works to perfection.

“May we not quote you. Mr. Millard, on one of our systems? If so, kindly let us hear from you at once and we will visit your camp. Then with the help of your Mr. Dewey, we will pick out a location for the equipment. We shall then make out a general layout of the work on tracing cloth and send it to you, together with our specifications and estimate of the cost of the work, installed ready for use.

“Sincerely yours.”<br><span class="gstxthlt">Davidson & Miller. 

If a reply is received to this first letter. Mr. <span class="gstxthlt">Miller p<span class="gstxtsub">roceeds at once to give the job his fullest attention. He sends to the customer a drawing in ink on tracing cloth which outlines in a fairly clear way just how the work will be installed. He makes a specification in just about the same form that an architect would do it, so that this part of the propos<span class="gstxtsub">al is bound to impress most favorably the business prospect.

If the first letter is not replied to, however, Mr. Miller follows it up in three weeks with another letter, and also includes some illustrated advertising matter which describes more fully the kind of installation intended. And even when the second letter may not bring a reply, a third communication of similar kind is sent after another interval. The method has proved gratifyingly successful in results. These prospect letters to the customers, I have no doubt are back in their winter homes by the time Mr. <span class="gstxthlt">Miller addresses them.<span>  He catches their interest at a time when they are looking forward eagerly to a summer in their mountain retreat and undoubtedly with the hope of having all possible conveniences.
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''Domestic Engineering'', Chicago, March 25, 1922

'''OVERHEAD HOT WATER HEATING METHOD CONSIDERABLY REDUCES UNSIGHTLY PIPING'''

'''Notes on the Heating System in the Girls' Club Craft Shop at <span class="gstxthlt">Saranac Lake, N. Y. Also How a Steam Heating Problem Was Solved'''

By John K. Raymond

[[File:Girls Club Craft Shop.jpg|right|thumb||Girls Club Craft Shop]]Peter Miller, the plumber and steamfitter member of the firm of <span class="gstxthlt">Davidson & Miller, Saranac Lake, New York, did not think that his layout for the hot-water system in the [[Girls'%20Community%20Club|Girls’ Club Craft Shop]], part of the [[Community%20Buildings|Community Buildings]] of his city, was interesting enough to report, but I thought differently. Mr. <span class="gstxthlt">Miller had any number of much larger and more involved jobs under way, and these to his mind would provide far more of technical material. Yet I, like the moral uplifters and surging statesmen of the day, was a stickler for principle.

I saw in Mr. Miller's handling of this comparatively small installation the application in effective manner of the principle that a heating man need not burden a building, especially a small one, with excessive arrays of mains and branches, which, no matter how neatly the fitter may install his work, are very likely to be considered unsightly and conspicuous by the uninitiated.

Nor was that all. Mr. <span class="gstxthlt">Miller had really very little spare room to work in. There was no basement. The boiler had to be placed on the same level with the first floor radiators, after the manner of the bungalow systems of the day. And I noted immediately that he had taken every advantage of a limited space.

The Girls’ Club Craft Shop consists principally of two good-sized rectangular rooms, one on the first floor and the other above it on the second. The first floor main room is a store, the room above a workshop. To the right of these main rooms on each floor are smaller lavatory rooms. In the rear of the first floor store, and at the left end, is the boiler room on the same level.

The first floor store called for two radiators, one of 125 sq. ft. and the other of 75 sq. ft. The two small rooms to the right required one of 15 sq. ft. and one of 10 sq. ft., respectively. The main workroom above called for two radiators each of 75 sq. ft., and the small room to the right a small radiator of 10 sq. ft. The two floor plans with the position of the radiators are shown herewith.

The piping was installed so that the return main was completely hidden from view under the first floor. The only piping to the two large radiators that was revealed was the two drop risers coming straight down from the floor above with connections at the top and bottom of the same ends of the radiators. The main from the top of the boiler is 2-inch, and after rising to near the ceiling of the boiler room makes an offset through the partition into the large room and then goes straight up to the room above. Thus only a 2-inch elbow and a few inches of pipe are disclosed of the entire main line on the first floor.

[The rest of the article may be found [[https://books.google.com/books?id=wqo-AQAAMAAJ&lpg=PA526&ots=0zKGXWyIyq&dq=davidson%20%26%20miller%20saranac%20lake&pg=PA526#v=snippet&q=%22davidson%20and%20miller%22&f=false|here]].]