The Iron Age 1888-06-28: Vol 42

A MODEL TOOL WORKS IRON THURSDAY, JUNE 28, 1888. in the selection of the accompanying en- gravings. The location is a most favor- able one on the outskirts of the town of The New Shops of the Pond | Plainfield and directly on the line of the Machine Tool Company. Central Railroad of New Jersey, within 'an hour’s ride of New York, convenience | of access and for receiving stock and mak- Within the past year the Pond Machine} ing shipments of finished product being Tool Company, as was made widely known at the time, removed their business from Worcester, and, as the newly erected shops were re- cently put in full running order, and are entirely of the most modern and extensive | Mass., to Plainfield, N. J., | | thus secured, together with cheerful and | healthful surroundings. | The general plan of the whole establish- |ment, which we give on the next page (Fig. 2), shows the relative positions of the different buildings and railroad tracks, one track to the other. Above the track and the spaces on each side of it are two large traveling cranes rated at 10 tons capacity each, but capable of easily hand- ling 15 tons. They were built by the Morgan Engineering Company, of Alli- ance, Ohio, and travel the whole length of the shop, being operated by a 3-inch square cold rolled driving shaft, turned at the bear- ings in the usual way, and made in one piece without any joint whatever. It is 504 feet long, weighs 74 tons, and is without doubt by far the longest one-length shaft in the world. The next in size will be the shaft Fig. 1.—Cross Section of Middle Portion of Foundry, Showing Jib and Overhead Traveling Cranes. THE NEW WORKS OF type, we take special pleasure in present- THE POND MACHINE TOOL and will more clearly explain our reference ing in this issue a number of engravings | above to the convenience of handling the showing their main features and equip- ment. scarcely explain, manufacture machine tools, ranging from the smallest to the most massive for every purpose needed in loco- motive, stationary and marine engine-work and machine work generally, and in de- signing the new shops it was determined by them to obtain all the best modern facilities with the view of handling all de- tail and general work with the utmost rapidity and least possible labor. The success which has been achieved in this respect is highly gratifying and can prob- ably be best appreciated only by a personal inspection of the new works, though we have endeavored to convey a fair idea of it The company, we need perhaps various materials in the process of manu- facture. The works are on the left of the thus naturally first enters the machine-shop | building through the general offices at the left. In Fig. 4 we show cross-sections of both machine shop and foundry, explain- | ing the architectural features of the build- ings, both it will be noticed beiag in these | respects alike. Running the entire length of the machine shop is a track by means of which material may be delivered at any | desired point in the building. At the lower end another track passes off at right angles through a storeroom into the foun- | dry, a turn-table, as shown, admitting of ready transference of the car used from COMPANY, AT ain line from New York, and the visitor! PLAINFIELD, N. J. which the Morgan Company are now mak- ing to drive the massive cranes in course of construction at their works for the new gun shops of the United States Govern- ment Navy Yard, at Washington, D. C. This will be about 480 feet in length. In the foundry is another of the Morgan Com- | pany’s traveling cranes capable of lifting 30 tons, and entirely similar in arrange- ment and construction to the other two. The cross section of the foundry shown on this page will prove of interest in con- | nection with this. The attendant of each crane hag full control of its various opera- | tions, cross and longitudinal travels, and | hoisting and lowering, as well as the start- | ing and stopping of the main driving shaft. In the building of machine tools, each de- tail is quickly handled by these cranes and =. a ai Losi agli FEST pny ‘ z Lee 4 the Be Bh air a ee . ia -, ss Q ens , a 1034 THE IRON AGE. June 28, 1888, SSS placed in proper position. When an ordi- nary tool is completed with all details at- | tached, one of the cranes is brought over | it and the whole machine is quickly lifted | into a railroad car for transportation. | Thus what generally takes considerable manual labor and a long time, is accom- plished in a few minutes, the only labor required being to effect a sling attachment with the cranes. The latter are run at various speeds to suit the weight of work to be handled. It was intended, at first, to have two traveling cranes in the foun- | dry as well as in the machine shop-—a large one of 30 tons as at present, and a smaller one of 15 tons, the capacities of the two machine shop cranes to be the same. Ow- ing to a heavy pressure of work at the shops of the Morgan Engineering Com- pany, however, it was impossible to get out the second 30-ton crane; hence, the present arrangement, which therefore is only temporary. With the full number of cranes the capacity for handling work will, of course, be materially increased. In the machine shop, of which we pub- lish a separate plan, Fig. 3, the space be- tween the central track and the rows of posts which support the roof and travel- ing cranes is used as an erecting floor. The erecting pit is located as shown, and is 100 feet long, 10 feet wide, and 64 feet deep. It has a cement floor, and is walled up with brick. Ordinarily the pit is covered by sections of flooring which are easily removed should occasion require. On this side also a 70” x 70” x 35 foot planer has been placed, though many of the heavy machine toolsare located on the other side of the track and between it and the | other row of posts. A 60” x 60” x 24 foot planer has been put in almost opposite the erecting pit since our engraving was made, and a slight change in the placing of the immediately adjoining tools was therefore storeroom in the machine shop building, where the proper entries concerning it would be made, and then continue on into the machine shop proper, where by means of the turn-table and track, or the travel- ing cranes, it could be delivered to any DRAWING ROOM abe I —— eee WASH ROOM nf i If BB 7 £ ry ee fas BOILERS necessary. The spaces between the two rows of posts and the outer walls are given up almost wholly to the regular run of smaller machine tools, the engraving show- ing their location and giving their sizes. The following abbreviations have been used : L, Lathe. VD. Vertical drill. SL. Speed late. BM. Boring mill. BL. Bering lathe. B&SG. Brown & Sharpe MM. Milling machine. grinder. GC. Gear cutter. P. Planer. CG. Cutter grinder. For the handling of the lighter work in these wings small traveling cranes worked by hand are provided, the single and double rail systems both being used. The large traveling crane in the foundry has full command of the floor space between the two rows of roof supports exactly as in the machine shop arrangement, enabling the ready transportation of castings, flasks, ladles, &c., over the full length of the foundry and the handling of the heavier work which is there done, such as planer bed castings, turned out in sizes weighing as much as 18 tons. A number of jib cranes, fitted to the roof posts, are em- ployed for the work in the side spaces which is of a lighter order, and for hand- ling also whatever small work there may be in the central portion of the foundry. These cranes, one of which is seen in Fig. 1, were made by Messrs. Ribon & March, | of Jersey City, N. J., and are fitted to| turned portions of the posts in the manner | shown. We should remark here that in the foundry cast-iron roof posts are used, | Pr an —153 0 <r PATTERN STORAGE ee . FOUNDRY 24 0. 2 24 0 -§ 61 _———- = ._—_.— ee 2 2 7 24 0-9 while in the machine shop they are of | wood. Ball bearings are used in connec- tion with the cranes, so that they can be | managed with the greatest ease, yielding | to but a slight touch. In*case it should | desired point. The neatness of this ar- 3B WEF BH} -— <6 9 -- a tral track there are, besides the private and general offices, as already mentioned, the tool-room and carpenter shop, while the store-room, pattern department and draw- ing office are on the right. Adjoining the last, and on the outside, as shown in the J. . 7 —— ee = N AT PLAINFIELD, MACHINE SHOP OMPANY, ‘ / Fig. 2.—General Ground Plan of Works. THE NEW WORKS OF THE POND MACHINE TOOL C€ WASH ROOM ground plan, Fig. 2, is a fire-proof vault, be desired, every post in the foundry can| rangement will be readily appreciated. be provided with a crane of this kind. It| Before leaving the foundry the castings will be noted that with the system of | pass through a cleaning room situated in cranes and railroad tracks provided a cast-|that end of the foundry building, into ing in the foundry can be delivered to a| which the track extends. car on the track which extends into one| Returning to the machine shop our read- end of the building, thence rolled into the ers will notice that on the left of the cen- in which duplicates of all drawings are kept. Above this vault is a room fitted up with all facilities for blue printing. Pass- ing further down we come to the wash- room. This has a cement floor, and is pro- vided with a number of cast-iron wash sinks supplied with water from a large ¥ me c bf Ls ar - “ ~ « ae == eee gree So RATS A Leth EET gee ET ST ee Pe ee a SPREE te ee a SELES CF PRR REE eer om, : ; Z we: -~ Pewee var 2 7 PE CA eve 2 ee a ee et et eee uw”) e f 'N ‘(THIANIVTd LV ‘ANVdAWOO ‘IOOL ANTHOVN GNOd SHL go SMUOM MUN AHI fiupunog pup doys aulyovojx fo SUOIPAY SSOuU j= "s Bid . : A ‘ Bs | AYOQNNOS =} "dOHS JNIHOVW ~ } | ; @| bd } ; | } 3 : } ° } ' cy ie er - ome ] X x oe. = ~~ -% i 7 =). = E} | < “hea } “6 ) 2 Qe $1738 r~> } . = 0s) | ee ee | . J | AC IRON 4 THE ‘bupyng doys euryoopy fo unig DLaVaD—'g ‘Brg I h is 39 x ex Ws { ' 7 —— I it 7 t t I yor rn ,o $391440 TWHaNn3et 1 I t t Is th et ] B1LVAlud s 1 - ww) Lavus dOHS It is * woce 4 " mivin a | Ss . . I 1a = an IT\ sh . _ Bie * mez ye b 4 é J 1 Mol tie WW fiw 834 an — iT Xa rx . ao oo NYHD @2t * aa 4 e (el . - = Y 7 \ 1 INVY eee qe a seo! I Sos a 4 I rat . 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The washroom attached to the foundry is similar in plan, and is provided with clothes closets, one for each work- man, The sanitary arrangements through- out are admirable. ‘Power for the whole establishment is furnished through a 30-inch belt by a 200 horse-power automatic engine, built by Messrs. C. H. Brown & Co., of Fitchburg, Mass., steam being supplied by three ordi- nary tubular boilers of 100 horse-power each. In the engine-room, moreover, is a 100 horse-power double engine of the lat- est type, built by the Armington & Sims Engine Company, of Providence, R. I. This is used for electric lighting, the West- inghouse alternating system being em- ployed. There are altogether 650 incan- descent lights sufficient for thorough illu- mination. The total length of line shafting in the machine shop is 1250 feet. An ex- ceedingly interesting feature of the power plant is the manila rope transmission | which was put in the works by the Ply- mouth cela Company, of Plymouth, Mass. Fig. 4 will explain the main feat- ures of the system. From the shaft in the machine shop, driven directly from the en- gine, the ropes (four in number) pass to a central set of sheaves and thence three ropes pass to the opposite side of the shop delivering power to the machine tools placed there. On the same short shaft with the central sheaves are mounted two smaller belt pulleys, from which pass belts for driving the traveling cranes. Belts were there thought preferable, on account of the smaller diameters of pulleys which it was desired to use. From the machine shop four ropes pass into the foundry building, first downward, for obvious reasons, and then upward to a set of sheaves placed near the center. From there! the sand bins. same level with the charging floor and they can there be unloaded. the cupolas” is also thus delivered and stored in bins provided for the purpose. Coke, we may here add, is largely used. The elevated track continues to the coal- storage house annexed to the boiler-house, affording a convenient means for distribu- tion. The coal is dumped into the storage three ropes pass to one side, driving the shaft from which power is taken for Root blower supplying the blast for the melting cupolas. the central sheaves for the power shaft of the traveling crane. It will, of course, be understood that the ropes on the different sheaves are carried side by side. The ropes are 1 inches in diameter, and each one, at a speed of 1000 feet per minute, is rated to deliver 10 horse-power. The design of the sheaves—in fact, the details of the whole rope system, are based on experience | gained in England, where rope driving is used probably more extensively and with greater success than in any other country. | As a result the performance of the plant at the Pond Company’s works has proved highly satisfactory in every respect, the smoothness of running being immediately apparent to even the casual observer. The grooves in the sheaves are of peculiar form, preventing wedging of the ropes and permitting them to leave the pulleys freely. Vibration of the ropes is thus al- most entirely avoided. In view of the growing interest which is being mani- fested in rope driving in manufacturing establishments, this particular installation is worthy of note and may be examined with profit by engineers. Two Colliau cupolas—one of eight and one of 15 tons hourly capacity—are pro- vided, a Root blower, already referred to, supplying the blast. The location of these cupolas, which are placed close together, is clearly shown in Fig. 2. Back of them is a hydraulic elevator for raising stock to the charging floor above; tracks run on to the elevator platform, as shown, so that a car can be readily transferred to it. The charging floor is 14 feet above the molding floor, 48 feet square and consists of iron plates supported by iron girders and columns. Iron is delivered to this floor either by the elevator, or, if desirable, the supply cars are pushed by a locomo- tive up an inclined track which runs over level of 6 feet from the ground. rattlers, breaker, power riddles and a large | Belts are also led from | off at pleasure. This brings them on the The fuel for vaults through openings in the roof, all labor being dispensed with. The sand- bins are supplied in the same way and track scales at the foot of the trestle car- rying the elevated track admit of weighing all the stock before it is unloaded. The sand-bins have a capacity of 1000 tons and their dividing walls are carried up sufti- ciently high to form supports for the | track above. The core ovens marked C C in the plan, furnished by the Brown & Sharpe Mfg. Company, of Providence, R. I., are unique in arrangement. The bottoms are on a level with the foundry floor, and tracks enter the ovens so that large cores placed on a truck can be run in and baked with- out handling. The heating is accom- plished by traversing flues from a furnace. For small molding work a Tabor moldin machine is employed. Both foundry a machine shop are abundantly lighted and ventilated from the roof and the windows in the side walls. The machine shop is 504 feet long and 100 feet wide, and the foundry 240 feet long and 90 feet wide, both being one story high, measuring 45 feet. The pattern storage building ex- 'tends from the foundry, and has three floors, the two upper ones being provided with shelves for the smaller patterns, while the larger ones are kept below. The last building to which we now come is the blacksmith shop. The architectural features of this structure at once attract at- tention, the walls being solid only up to a Above this they are made up almost entirely of glass, mounted in pivoted frames. These van be swung to any desired angle and held there. The blast is carried to the building in pipes and can be turned on or Iron forges are used, and their flues are suitably connected with branches’ from the blast-pipe:so as to thoroughly draw off all smoke and gases. A 700-pound Morgan steam hammer is also provided. From the design adopted it will be understood that an exceptionably clean and well-lighted blacksmith shop has been secured. A detail of great importance in every | establishment is that of fire protection, /and in this respect ample provisions have been made at the works. Under the en- gine-room, in a cellar, are two sets of steam pumps, one of them being used for returning the condensed steam from the heating pipes to the boilers, and the other being for general water service and, at the same time, fire supply, the water being drawn from seven driven wells. This pump is regulated.to maintain a constant pressure of 50 pounds per square inch in all the pipes, stopping or starting auto- matically as the pressure tends to rise or fall. Failure of the pump to act would be noticed at once by the failure of the general water supply, calling for immedi- ate attention, and the pump is thus neces- sarily kept in a state of constant efficiency. In case of fire, therefore, everything, so far as the water supply is concerned, is ready for instant action, and by adding to the load on the pump regulator the pressure in the pipes can be increased at a moment's notice to 100 pounds. The pumps were built by H. R. Worthington and the Knowles Steam Pump Works, | There are 12 hydrants disposed at various | points in the building, and eight outside. Electric communication is maintained be- tween the engine-room and a large number | quicksilver. owes ooo > that notice of fire can be readily trans- mitted to the attending engineer. Over 200 fire-buckets are, moreover, distributed through the buildings, and are marked, ‘*For fire purposes only”, in addition 288 hand grenades are conveniently fastened in wire frames to every other roof-post, and a large number of Babcock extinguish- ers are provided, The buildings are of brick and have gravel roofs, and are heated by an over- head steam-pipe system. Three hundred men are now employed and more will be added as fast as obtained. The works are running day and night. It may not be without interest to note finally that the whole work of planning and erecting the shops and bringing them -to their pres- ent running condition was accomplished within the remarkably short period of less than eight months. A crop of rye was cut off the land now occupied, and ground broken for the foundry on the 16th of July, 1887. Moving from Worcester was commenced on January 9, 1888, and the shops were started on February 15. The tract of land belonging to the company is 200 feet wide and 3170 feet long fronting on the main line of the Central Railroad of New Jersey. Asa model of good design and eminent fitness for their purpose the works are entitled to high distinction. Mr. D. W. Pond is president and Mr. A. C. Stebbins vice-president and superin- tendent of the company, while Messrs. Manning, Maxwell & Moore are the selling agents, the New York office and salesroom being at 113 Liberty street. For the main facts which we have given and for the blue prints from which our engravings were made, we are in- debted to the owners, who kindly offered every facility for collecting data. a American Seamen. The alleged disadvantages in shipping American crews as compared with those of other nationalities has been given as a reason for the disappearance of American shipping from the high seas. The subject is decane by the shipping agent of the British consulate at Boston and by officers of the United States Shipping Commission, who agree in disproving this theory. Seamen at Boston, whether British or American, are paid the same, $20 a month. Just now the preference is for American vessels, because most of the English vessels in port are of the tramp variety and may discharge their crews in any part of the globe, and as food is the same in either class of vessels, the laws of the two Gov- ernments relating thereto being precisely the same, American vessels are preferred. In Liverpool, too, ships of both countries are on the same footing as to wages and taking out stores in bond. The most onerous feature of all in its bearing upon the American seaman is the imposition and abuse arising from the ‘‘ allotment ” sys- tem in vogue since the supposed abolish- ment of advance wages. It is the same rose under another name. It is affirmed that both the English and American laws, while prohibiting advances, have been tinkered so as to permit of what are called ‘* allotments” of wages. The law permits a seaman now to sign away an allotment of his pay to his wife, relative or original |creditor. This allotment cannot be more than $10 a month, and is drawn in install- }ments. As the installments or allotments | fall due, the boarding-house keeper pre- sents the note to the agent of the ship and is paid. So long as this system of robbery | prevails the American will enter upon ser- vice on the high seas only as a last resort. sevendnegeiniasnmnday New Zealand, not Australia, now takes the greater part of California exports of During this year the exports of points throughout the establishment, so! have been larger than since 1883. June 28, 1888. Improved Metal Roofing. We illustrate in the engraving on this | page an improved method of constructing metal roofing, practiced by Messrs. Hodges Bros. (the Hodges Steel and Iron Con- struction Company), of Detroit, Mich., and which is at once substantial and inexpen- sive. An item of considerable cost in such roofing has heretofore been encountered in the joints by which the roofing and pur- lins and the rafters are united. This is overcome in the present instance in a simple manner, which will be readily un- derstood from the illustration. It will be noticed that U-iron is used for purlins in- stead of pipe, and cross blocks or fillets, as shown at the upper right-hand corner, are employed at the intersections. These cross blocks are made up of two blocks of cast iron, one of them shaped upon its upper side for the reception of the roofing mate- rial. If the rooting is channeled or corru- gated, as shown, then the upper portion of this piece is shaped to fit the corrugation. The under side of the piece is provided with a convex bearing, running at right IMPROVED METHOD OF METAL angles to the upper surface. This fits into an upper concave surface on the lower block, and this, in turn, is again concaved on its under side for resting properly on the pipe rafters. A bolt or rivet passes down through the roof plate, the two blocks, the purlin and the rafter and binds the whole securely together. Of course, the trusses may be made in the usual va- riety of ways, and those will necessitate corresponding fittings at the points where the braces meet. Instead of employing bolts or nuts, the roofing and blocks, purlins and rafters may be fastened together by any con- venient means, as, for instance, by any suitable clamp. This peculiar joint is not limited solely for roofing purposes, but is equally applicable wherever two or more such elements are to be joined together substantially as the roof plate, the purlins and the rafters are here joined together. So, also, the blocks may be so grooved or shaped as to permit the pipes to cross the block at an angle other than a right angle. It is also adapted for the connection di- rectly of channeled metal, metallic sheet- ing or siding, or roofing to a purlin or brace alone. It will be observed that each corrugated sheet is overlapped on the same plan as shingles are laid. The interme- diate cross fillets are made of cast or mal- leable iron, and fill the channels at the intersections, Thus the entire structure is practically joined together as securely | | as though it were cast in one mold, and its }ability to withstand wind or storm press- ure is beyond a question. We need per- haps scarcely add that this method of con- struction can also be utilized in forming outside walls for warehouses, railway de- pots and other structures. — a — The Duty on Wire Rods.* ARGUMENT BY GEORGE T. OLIVER. In behalf of the American manufact- urers of wire rods, we ask, in the first place, that you relieve us from the uncer- tainties and inequalities inseparable from ad valorem duties by placing a specific duty on rods and couching the act in terms so plain and unmistakable that no op- portunity will be left for any importer to evade or Custom House official to miscon- strue it and admit them at a lower rate than the framers of the act intend, as has been done for the last four years. In the second place, we lright to ask that this duty be so fixed ROOFING, DESIGNED BY MESSRS. 1as to insure to the home manufacturers the | home market; and, if this is done, we are |in position to promise you that enough mills will immediately be constructed to | supply any possible demand, and that, in | the absence of an advance in the price of |raw material, there will be no advance |over the prices now ruling, but in all probability a considerable reduction. During the year 1887 there were im- |ported 149,000 tons of wire rods. There | were produced in the United States 188,- | 738 tons more, so that the consumption of | wire rods for the year amounted to the enermous aggregate of 337,000 tons. | For some years prior to the act of 1883, | by virtue of what seemed to us an unjust ruling of the Treasury Department, wire rods were admitted at a duty of 30 per cent. ad valorem. When this ruling went into force it at once rendered it impossible | for the American mills to run, except in a | few cases to make special grades of rods |of odd sizes. The result was that many of the mills were dismantled or turned to other uses, and the wire mills of the coun- try were compelled to go abroad for their supply of rods. In the meantime the in- vention of barbed fencing, and the conse- quent enormous increase in the demand for wire caused a corresponding increase in wire-drawing plants, so that the wire pro- ducing capacity of the country in 1883] came in at 30 per cent. Senate, June 13, 1888. think we have a! was at least five times what it was ten years before. This increase has gone on almost in the same proportion to the pres- ent time. If it had not been for the Treasury ruling before alluded to rod mills would undoubtedly have been constructed to keep pace with the increasing demand for wire; but it was impossible to make rods in competition with Germany as long as the duty was only 30 per cent., and as a consequence the act of 1883 found us en- tirely dependent on a foreign market for our raw material. The act of 1883 levies a duty of six- tenths of a cent per pound on iron and steel wire rods not smaller than No. 5 wire gauge. The manufacturers who were de- sirous of making their own raw material asked for one cent per pound, and the Tariff Commission recommended it, but Congress reduced it to six-tenths, This duty was undoubtedly intended to main- tain the then existing order of things, for neither the importers nor the manufactur- ers believed that we could successfully manufacture wire rods in the face of so low a duty; but some manufacturers, impatient LSS Ss SS WS B/f/ SS —— 2S HODGES BROS., DETROIT, MICH. of the delays and annoyances incident to depending on a base of supplies 3000 miles away, determined to make the effort, and in a little more than a year from the pas- sage of the act, four mills were in opera- tion, with a capacity of about 60,000 tons per annum. These have been followed, from time to time, by others, until to-day there are in operation, or in course of con- struction, enough rod mills to produce at least 275,000 tons per year. These mills have been built, not in the hope of extra- ordinary profits, but because of the desire of wire manufacturers to control the sup- ply of their own material, and to be re- lieved from the annoyances incident to importation, the exactions of importers and the caprices of a foreign market. Now mark the result—In the fall of 1882, when the duty was only 30 per cent. the price of Bessemer rods, based on actual purchases made by the company in which I am interested, was $54.30 per ton; at the date of the passage of the tariff act of 1883, the market price was about $52 per ton. In the spring of 1884, after two of the new American mills were in operation, and a third was about to start, German rods had fallen to $47.25. Please remem- | ber that. these last rods paid a duty of 45 per cent. ad valorem, while those sold at the higher prices a year or more before, As the domestic * Submitted to the Finarce Committee of the | Competition increased the foreign manu- facturers gradually reduced their prices —_ ie sh ~ are Le SAP & wns ek adem % et es ze. ES oo wie am ae } +m 5 3 t e 7 is > § ae he Pt | = kn: Bh #1 ee se 1038 THE IRON AGE. June 28, 188, until the summer of 1886, when they were | sold as low as $35 per ton. This had the effect of retarding the construction of new mills until within the last few months. So that the rods which in 1882, when the foreigners completely controlled the mar- ket, cost the consumer $54 per ton—the duty being only 30 per cent.—were pur- chased two years later at $35 per ton, and paid 45 per cent. duty. This was clearly the result of home competition. But this is not all—Up to 1884 or late in 1883 all the rods imported, with perhaps a few unimportant exceptions, were No. 5 or larger. Such a thing as a rod smaller than No. 5 was not known as an article of common use, The act of 1883 therefore provided for no duty on rods smaller than No. 5—neither did it provide for any duty on wire larger than No. 5. It undoubtedly was the intent of Congress, as was shown by the text of the act and the debate in the Senate during its consideration, to classify everything smaller than No. 5 as wire, and the larger sizes, both rolled and drawn, as rods; but the foreign manu- factures early in 1884 began to roll their rods a little smaller than No. 5 and suc- ceeded in persuading the Customs officers in New York to admit them at an ad- valorem duty of 45 per cent., thus reduc- ing the amount of duty paid from ,, cents per pound or $13.44 per ton to as low in some cases as $9.50 per ton. I will not now stop to argue as to the justice of the ruling which allowed this thing to be done; but will merely remark that Con- gress in levying a duty of $13.44 on an article certainly did not intend to admit a smaller and more expensive article of the same Class at $9.50 per ton. There can be no doubt that the reduc- tion in the price of wire rods from $54 in 1882-83 to $35 and $36 in 1886 was the direct result of the partial but steadily in- creasing competition of the home mills. The tariff on No. 5 rods was placed as low as ,§, cents per pound in deference to the wishes of some representatives from the West, who clamored for cheap fencing. Now, suppose that they had demanded that the duty on rods be absolutely re- moved and that their demands had been complied with. In that event no Amer- ican mill could have been built, for it would have been in the power of the Ger- mans to sell rods below the price we pay for the steel billets from which they are made; and, if no American mills had been built, German rods could not to-day be purchased for less than $50 per ton. This, of course, is merely an opinion, but that it is well grounded is fully borne out by the course of the German manufacturers during the last 18 months. We left them selling their product in New York at $35 and $36 per ton. These prices were so low that American mills could not com- pete; but, unfortunately for our German friends, there was little or no profit in it for themselves. Within the last year, therefore, seeing that they had the market well under control, they resorted to the monopolists’ favorite scheme and organized a syndicate for the purpose of controlling the price of all rods shipped to this coun- try. This syndicate comprises every man- ufacturer of wire rods in the German Empire and is most complete in its organ- ization. No individual manufacturer can sell any rods for export to the United States. All inquiries are referred to the executive officer of the ‘‘ pool,” who takes the orders and allots to each mill its pro- portion. They have fixed a price which compels the American purchaser to pay from $40.50 to $41.50 per ton, depending on ocean freights—just low enough to discourage the erection of new plants on this side of the water and bar out their Belgian and English competitors, but German manufacturer. little thought to discern that this syndi- cate, with even a slight reduction of duty, holds the power to absolutely control the price of rods to the American people, and to advance it at pleasure. We know from experience that when the duty was 30 per cent. ad valorem, which utterly precluded us from manufacturing, rods were held at prices ranging from $54 to $65 per ton. We also know that within two years they were able to deliver them at our seaboard at $35 per ton and pay 45 per cent. duty. The price of their raw material is no higher now than it was then. If anything, it 1s a little lower. Assuming, therefore, that they were then selling at cost, they are now reaping an average profit of at least $5 per ton. In other words, they are taking out of the country annually nearly $750,000 in profits alone. Now suppose that the duty on rods is reduced even slightly—say to 40 per cent. ad valorem— this will enable this syndicate, with its thorough organization, enormous capital, and almost unlimited capacity to put rods, into our market at a price so low that American competition is out of the ques- tion. They could well afford to sell their product at absolute cost or even at a slight loss for one, two or three years, if by so doing they could close up our rod mills and either bankrupt our manufact- urers or compel them to turn their ma- chinery to other uses, and once our mills are closed this German trust would be at liberty to fix our prices and we could do nothing but make wry faces and settle at whatever terms it might please them to dic- tate. I can conceive of no better example of shortsightedness—not to call it im- becility—than an American wire manu- facturer who prefers to depend for his supply on this German despotism rather than to trust to American enterprise, for- tified by generous legislation, to build mills sufficient for his wants. But it may be said an undue advance would cause the home mills to start once more, and that the fear of this would pre- vent extortion on part of foreign makers. While this argument is plausible, it is not sound. The construction of a modern rod mill involves a large outlay of capital, and its successful operation requires the con- stant employment of the highest class of skilled workmen. The owners of such plants cannot allow them to remain idle, and when once they see that they are dis- tanced by their foreign competitors they will remodel their plants to suit other and more profitable lines of manufacture. Aft- er this is done they cannot return to rod rolling, even in case of an advance. for experience will have taught them that the foreign syndicate can and will reduce the price as soon as they see the slightest sign of American competition. In any event, no one will be so foolhardy as to invest in new plants under such circumstances. The existence of this syndicate or ‘‘ trust” is a matter of common notoriety, and if any person doubts it we are prepared to furnish proofs, not only of its existence, but of its absolute control of all German rods ex- ported to the United States. This is no fancy sketch, but a sober, truthful statement of the condition of this great industry as it exists to-day. There has lately been developed among our peo- ple a hatred of combinations and *‘ trusts,” formed to control the price of articles of universal consumption. This feeling is both natural and reasonable. It has here- tofore, however, been directed exclusively against combinations among our own peo- ple. The advocates of reduced duties, or of no duties at all, have openly and _per- sistently charged that these trusts are the outgrowth of the protective policy; and it has been repeatedly asserted on the floor |of Congress that without protection such high enough to net a rich profit to the | combinations would be impossible; yet we It requires but | are here confronted by a trust in the high- est state of perfection—a ‘ pool” of for- eign manufacturers, formed for the sole purpose of compelling the great American public to pay a higher than the naturai price for an article they are enabled to supply to us only by reason of inadequate protection. We ask the American Con- gress to set the seal of its condemnation upon foreign as well as home trusts, and protect the people from such unrighteous combinations wherever they exist—and we promise you that within six months after the passage of a bill guaranteeing us rea- sonable protection we will be able to supply the demands of the country with rods at not exceeding the prices now prevailing, and we believe that with the ingenuity and skill that are being daily developed in this growing industry we will before long be able to furnish them cheaper than they have ever before been sold in this country. ; The consumer certainly has no right to complain that his wire is costing too much under existing conditions. Barbed wire, which five years ago (with rods coming in at 30 per cent. duty) was worth 8 cents per pound, is to-day selling as low as 2} cents per pound at the factory. Allowing half of one cent per pound for middle- men’s profits and freights (a very liberal estimate) the price to the consumer would be 3} cents. At this price it would cost just $90.72 or a little over 56 cents an acre to fence a farm of 160 acres with barbed wire 4 strands high. Wire nails are sold at $2.30 per keg at factory, which is less than the cost of rods in 1882. No better evidence is required of the fact that protection cheapens the protected article, than the constant reduction in the price of wire and wire rods since 1883, in the face of an advance of 50 per cent. in the rate of duty. This industry has a special claim on the favorable consideration of Congress by reason of the fact that it is the direct and legitimate offspring of the tariff act of 1883. Prior to that time, on account of the low duty of 30 per cent., wire-rod manufacture was to all intents and pur- poses a lost artin the United States. The present mills, with their 275,000 tons of product and over $1,000,000 of invest- ment, were for the most part built within four years as the direct result of the in- creased duties provided by that act. We are not in the position of old and well established industries. We have scarcely had time to learn even the alphabet of our business. Relying on the good faith of the Government we have spent our money and exhausted our skill to develop this important line of manufacture. The fact that the imports of last year amounted to 149,000 tons proves that we have no mo- nopoly, and that the present duty is ‘nade- quate, or at least not too high. It would theretore be an act of the grossest injus- tice for Congress to throttle the child which was called into being but yesterday by its last recorded utterance in the way of tariff legislation, and which if let alone for afew years more will be able to fight its own way, independent of Congressional assist- ance and in spite of foreign competition. With regard to the duty which we would like you to place on our product in the event of new legislation we would say ‘that the duty of ,, cent per pound fixed by the act of 1883 was greatly below what was placed on other articles in the iron and steel schedule, involving an equal amount of labor in their pro- duction. The rate recommended by the Tariff Commission, 1 cent per pound, was fair and right as compared with other articles of like nature. We are, at the same time, aware that a prejudice exists against anything that looks like an ad- vance, and while we think it would be fair and right to place the duty of 1 cent per pound on wire rods, and then June 28, 1888. reduce it in the same proportion that other articles are reduced, we are satis- fied to retain the position in which we were placed by the last aet of Congress. I am, therefore, instructed by the repre- sentatives of the manufacturers here pres- ent, to request you to continue the duty of 7s cent per pound on wire rods of all sizes, but to earnestly and vigorously pro- | test against anything less as not only de- | structive to our industry, but in the high- est degree injurious to the interests of con- sumers. en Improved Sash-Clamfing Machine. The engraving which we present on this page represents an improved sash-clamp- Machine Company, of Smithville, N. J., | and embodying all the late features of | such machines. The framing is of cast | iron, while some of the other parts are | steel. There are two draft bars instead of | one, as other similar machines have, which insures an even pressure on all four corners | THE IRON AGE. | The English Copper Trade. There can be no doubt, says the London Mining Journal, that at the present mo- ment the manufactured copper market in England is passing through a period of has ever previously experienced, or at least for many years. During the general stag- nation in the metallurgical industries of Great Britain, which characterized the year 1882, the copper trade suffered very | | severely, yet in comparison with the pres- |ent crisis the trade may be said to have tion of the market at that time was radi- cally different in constitution to what it is | now, but the cause of the depression was ing machine, built by the H. B. Smith | somewhat analogous—the falling off in consumption, owing to the prevailing opinion that prices would recede. At that time the value of Chili bar copper—which governed the manufactured copper market more closely than at present—was £20 per ton below current quotations, a margin which would considerably mollify the con- CHT AL IMPROVED SASH CLAMPING MACHINE, BUILT BY THE H. B. SMITH MACHINE CO., of the sash, making good square work, with no side or lateral strain. The four triangular corner bars are mounted on traversing plates, each pair of which are united by a right and left screw, and the whole mounted on strong bars surmoutit- ing the frame of the machine. The front bar has a lateral adjustment for bringing the four corner bars to a perfect square. When once squared they always remain so | for any size. The machine is quickly ad- justed for any size of sash from 48 x 60 inches down to 12 inches square. Odd| sizes of sash can be rapidly clamped, as | little time is used in changing. The swing-ratchet, for retaining the foot lever when work is clamped, is a most conven- ient and reliable device. The machine complete weighs about 860 pounds. TT A largely attended meeting of car-axle in mr i tending interests of producers and consum- ers. Without doubt, however, the stag- nation of to-day, mainly produced by the suddenly enhanced values, has been intensified by the uncertainty as to the course the market may take from day to day, and as most cen- sumers, dubious of the strength of the rise from the beginning, failed to cover themselves in the earliest stages, purchases have been delayed day by day until pres- ent prices in some instances are simply prohibitive to the carrying on of depend- ent industries. Among such may be in- stanced the manufacture of copper and yellow metal sheets, known to the trade as ‘* India sheets,” for export to India and the East Indian Islands, where they are | by increased imports over the average of extensively employod for roofing purposes rand for the manufacture of household utensils. The gradual expansion of this manufacturers was held in Chicago on/| trade which followed the depression in the Monday, the 18th inst. After a thorough discussion of the situation it was deemed advisable to make no change in prices. An artesian well recently opened at Barcaldine, in the interior of Queensland, Australia, is 691 feet 9 inches deep, and yields about 576,000 gallons of water per day. The temperature of the water when it first issued was 120° F., but subsequently receded to 102°. demand for ships’ sheathing came as a wel- ment when one of its principal markets was threatened with extinction owing to the substitution of irén for wooden ships. This trade with India is now in its turn seriously threatened directly by the pres- ent high values of copper and spelter (but more particularly the former), and indi- rectly by the substitution of tin plates, which, although not so durable or in any D great depression, greater, perhaps, than it | | been in a flourishing condition. The posi- | 1039 | way so suitable for this purpose, find a |ready market in competition with copper at its comparatively high value. An altogether new outlet for copper in recent years has been found in the manu- facture of sulphate of copper for use in the vineyards of France, where it is em- ployed on a very large scale in the preser- vation of the vines from insect depredation. The exports of this article, which had been gradually increasing during the last three | years, have, since the commencement of December, fallen nearly 30 percent. When it is remembered that this chemical is the only successful remedy among the many which have been tried, and that its use is, therefore, almost an absolute ne- cessity, the state of this trade affords a re- liable indication of the serious effect which the high price of. copper is producing. But the effect is not, unhappily, confined to these two branches of the trade; the stagnation is general throughout. From Birmingham, Manchester, Newcastle-on- Tyne, Liverpool, Llanelly, Swansea and other metallurgical centers reports all agree in stating that the manufactured SMITHVILLE, N. J. copper trade is passing through a very severe crisis. For some time many of the works have been kept going at half time, work being even then confined mostly to manufacture for stock, but orders have latterly become so scarce that some works have been compelled to cease operations for yet longer intervals. More especially in Birmingham, which may be considered the home of the retail trade, the paralysis has been most severely felt, and unless trade improves very materially, the distress threatens to increase. In the meantime the statistical position becomes daily more embarrassing, stocks having increased 29, - 400 tons since the beginning of the year. Of this, about 9000 tons is accounted for the same period during the three previous years, so that deliveries in five months have been about 20,000 tons short of the imports. This in itself is a serious con- | sideration, but it becomes more so when it come relief to the copper trade at a mo-| is seen that in the statement of deliveries are included the very heavy shipments of Chili bar copper to France on account of the syndicate. It is difficult to believe that the state of the manufactured copper trade can remain long in the very unsatis- factory position which these figures in- dicate. The supply of old copper out of second hands, which glutted the market during the first few months of the rise, has Ft tt Tint ate - . d ile dees, Ame ee Be ae tha” a 4 | “g oe. Me “tes ? " oe Aa W } User Peng: Rec ie ’ I os et bs ane the Yip 7 ane b.4 ee 3 4 ‘4 > . | . eee ae ‘ 2 q ” wy! i Hf ak at m= gU he’ th * ys Bia. . h yh oat | tat ae 4 ad a ‘tie, fice: \ ¥ 5 ole pba! See y ” hes wt ao a of . a w, s cal " on we Rok ae m4 i 5) i. mi oH ie : 4 4 if (ee Remy Po ig 1 +5 : t wy, i pth Thane F ae, * i a ba” a a Pay me rt a. a mi . 1040 THE IRON AGE. June 28, 1888. become exhausted, and this fact should tend to improve the statistical position, by increased deliveries to consumers out of Then the syndicate have power under most of their contracts to call for decreased returns from the mines up to 10 per cent. of the production. This, however, would be inadequate to meet the decreased consumption as shown The entire question of the copper market seems now to have resolved itself into one dependent on the possibility of improvement in the demand, and whether this be alone con- tingent on the lowering of the price the statistical position must soon compel the first hands. over the past five months. syndicate to decide. I Reduction in Coke Freights. In our issue of last week we made men- tion of the fact that another reduction had been made in freight rates on coke to take Below we give the new ra