The Iron Age 1888-11-01: Vol 42

‘THE IRON THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 1888. — The Dean Blowing Engine. | being runat a high speed. Ten sizes are We show on this page elevations and|4 to 12 inches in diameter and air cyl-| | made, with steam cylinders ranging feces AGE sections of a direct-acting blowing engine | inders from 54 to 16 inches, the aces built by the Dean Bros. Steam Pump | varying from 7 to 18 inches. The engines Works, of Indianapolis, Ind. It was|are also claimed to make superior air specially designed for agitating oils, acids| pumps for condensing engines, working and chemical prepartions and has been’ elficiently on either surface or jet con- Fig. 1.—General View. Fig. 2.—Vertica! Section and Elevation of Fig. 3.—Longitudinal Section. Air Cylinder. DIRECT-ACTING BLOWING ENGINE, BUILT BY THE DEAN BROS. STEAM extensively used in cotton-seed oil works, | densers. Figs. 2 and 3 clearly show the where it has given excellent satisfaction. | principal features of the design. The stroke is adjustable, permitting the | ——— running of the air piston close to the cyl-| Lately three cars came into the south inder head, and the space around the| yards, at Grand Rapids, os bearing valves 1s very small, thereby expelling the | the official placard of the Custom House greatest quantity of air possible from the | Department and consigned to the Gunn cylinder at each stroke. The lubrication | Hardware C ompany. These cars are the of the air cylinder is secured by delivering | first that have arrived under such circum- the oil directly into the cylinder over the | stanees, and contain plate tin direct from crank of piston. The engine is capable of ' the manufacturers, in Wales. Locomotive Draft Appliances. The possibility of making the exhaust steam from the locomotive perform the work of creating the necessary draft and yet pass out under pressure light enough to prevent obstruction to the piston during the return stroke is at present receiving a PUMP WORKS, INDIANAPOLIS, IND great deal of attention from railroad men. In a recent article on the subject the National Car and Locomotive Builder re- marks: The ordinary combination of low double nozzles, lift pipe in the smoke-box, large cylindrical smoke-stack and diamon1 spark arrester has had its day, and nearly all progressive men who are striving in- telligently to reduce the consumption of coal have found a more economical means — eet nana or. at hn SS SS en Age Ee ee ate eS j i ? { ' 4 ny ee = va S -. Bi CaS, Gltnttiei aE [4 ee Ge ee ee 7 . este 2 tam -— > ee 4p ten, ee ae ee om a - “S dae i oti “ue? S 2 jee... wie ae? we mor sede wlan — = ee le Kee AR oe Phil Bde. ee aS ds ae a tie at SE te macind thir we 4 a Ne be Gh ater ata t 6a thd 4 Nn 4 ifals das = a : ~s Reeee Sf ee te, a i ll eee A a i ee ee i Be Jute ug 9 siti >a a ce an se" sq : 7 is. | Ass 2 4 Syd wl Pa a. eee a PES tae til = eA Aw el Cee ee ee Pees | ee te pile i ie a -¢ a a ee ke ’ Je] at ‘RQ > dee as a ent B "3 z 654 of creating draft. To stimulate the fire by | two will be used whichever way the boat drawing the necessary air through the | grates, a certain smoke-box vacuum is required, Experience with ejectors and injectors has convinced engineers familiar with physical investigations that velocity of steam has less to do with creating a good vacuum than the proper adjustment of the mechanical appliances employed. Those who have experimented with differ- ent draft appliances and had the means of showing accurately the effect of different combinations have also been led to the same conclusion. The ejector principle is undoubtedly the true and proper line to work on for creating draft with low steam velocity, and the hope of some investiga- | tors who are now working up this subject is to tind a nozzle arrangement that will create the necessary vacuum in the smoke- box, yet tend to form a vacuum in the cyl- inders instead of back pressure. It would be difficult to conceive of a more irrational | arrangement for creating draft on the | ejector principle than two,nozzles set side | by side passing columns of steam into a/ chimney with which neither can be central. | That the arrangment ever became popular | is astonishing, and its general introduc- | tion was possible only through economy of | fuel receiving a little attention, and from the fact that methods of measuring the relative wastefulness of different ways of | maintaining draft received practically no | attention. It was a very loose way of de- | ciding on the merits of anything new | applied to the engine, to ask the engineer | how it worked. Many a good thing has | been unjustly condemned, and many a} worthless appliance temporarily prospered by such unbusiness-like methods. The mechanical departments of several rai'roads are trying exhaust-pipes designed after the pattern used by Mr. F. W. Webb, London and Northwestern Rail- way. There has been no difficulty in| making all the steam needed when this nozzle was in use, but most of those who have applied it have made their exhaust- pipe too small for boring out to the large | size admissible with this means of fanning the fire. Mr. J. N, Barr, of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul, is experiment- ing with nozzles on the ejector form. He has got sectional drawings of the leading ejectors and injectors, and is trying draft appliances adjusted as nearly as possible according to the proportions that have worked so successfully in raising water and in expelling air. Mr. W. W. Sprague, general foreman of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific repair shops at Chi- cago, designed a single annular nozzle which has given remarkably good re- sults. He passes the steam into a globu- lar chamber which surrounds a pipe like a lift-pipe, and which performs the same functions. The steam passes out from the chamber by an annular nozzle 14 inches diameter surrounding the central pipe. The total area of the nozzle was equal to that of a round nozzle over 6 inches diameter, and it gave a higher smoke-box vacuum than the 3-inch double nozzles used on the road. Mr. F. C. Smith, Peoria, Decatur and Evansville, has also been working on an annular noz- zle in combination with an improved form of exhaust-pipe, with which he hopes to effect a slight vacuum in the cylinder in- | stead of the back pressure that exerts such a prejudicial influence on the working of | many locomotives. —$<$<———— ara —___ The Bergen, a screw ferry-boat built for the Hoboken Land and Improvement Company, and to run between New York City and Hoboken, was launched on Thursday, at Newburg, from the ship- yard of Thomas Marvel & Co. She has a} cast -steel propeller-wheel at each end, in- | stead of the customary paddle-wheels. Each wheel is 8 feet in diameter, and the goes, | document. |Middlesboro’ and |on the Tees are large producers of steel THE IRON AGE. We would repeat here that the boat will have triple-expansion engines built at the Delamater Iron Works, of New York, and will, accordingly, carry a very high steam pressure, never before tried on ferry- boats. It is of interest to note, also, that boats with propellers at each end have previously been used on the Detroit River, one having been built last year at St. Ignace, Mich. a = Steel Rails in England and the United States. J. Schoenhof, who is Consul at Tunstall, ‘and who has obtained a good deal of notoriety through his efforts to show what is the cost of making iron, has added another contribution of the same kind. | The Department of State has issued a spe- cial report, No. 49, which contains this As usual, it is an attempt, more or less successful, to guess at costs on the basis of partial or incomplete data. We quote from it the following: In England the manufacture of steel rails has almost entirely been removed to the seashore. The transportation of the ores, as well as the transportation of the finished rails tor export 1s, therefore, re- duced to one carriage from the ocean steamers to the furnace and from the mill to the steamers, with but very little inter- vening additional expense. Large steel works situated in Sheffield, where I had expected to obtain information on the sub- ject, had removed their rail mills to Work- ington on the west coast of England. neighborhood towns rails. Here the advantages for shipping and receiving are very great. The ocean steamers are wharfed alongside the works and the unloading and reloading on trucks are all the intermediate labor and expense require’. The native ores for basic steel are not far distant. The Durham coal fields supply coke at a comparatively small transportation expense, according to the distance, from 2/ to3/. The foreign ores are brought to the wharf close to the fur- nace, and so ail advantages are made use of to save where alone savings are obtain- able in the elimination of distance by judicious locating. PIG IRON. As to mining in the Cleveland district, the ore is of a soft nature and easily mined; it is of 31 to 32 per cent. Some of the mining is surface mining and other by shafts. A miner can mine easily 5 tons a day, working eight hours, for which he gets 10d. a ton. In very rich seams they mine as much as 6 to 7 tons. The em- ployment is very regular, and 4/ a day is about the average for pretty nearly the whole year at the present time. The wages would be the same in bad times, too, only with the difference that the men would then have four or five days’ work a week only. The differences in the labor cost in pig-iron making are caused princi- pally by the quality of ore, the richer ores |naturally requiring less wheeling, &c., to the ton of pig iron. The coke costs in | Durham, put on cars, 8/, or $1.94 per ton; transportation to Middlesboro’ average two-sixths, or 60 cents per ton; total, $2.54. Cost of Cleveland Tron used for Basic Steel. 314 tons of ore at 4/ (96 cents)........ 13. $3.14 1 1-10 tons of coke at 10/6 ($2.55)... . 11/6.6 2.80 3-5 ton of limestone at 3/6 (84 cents). 2/0.4 49 Labor.. 5 li Maciek? Mek ieee ena bona da 97 Wearand tear, repairing, stores, &c. 2 Office expenses, &c Total ee ee 33/1 $8.00 Hematite Tron. The iron is Spanish ore, of 50 per cent., brought from Bilbao. Cost, 7/; freight, 6/6; total 13/6, or $3.28 per ton. November 1, 1888. Cost of Tron for Bessemer Raila. 2 tons of Bilbao ore at 13/6....... #1. 7%/ $6.56 1 ton of coke at 10/6 ............. 10/6 2.55 2-5 ton of limestone at 3/6. ...... 1/44% 33 TS Rr eee Felines 3/3 79 Wear and tear, &c..... isha ioatce 2/ 48 Office expenses, &¢.. ........ es /6 12 PN anc vpcxnnnthoowkeass ... £2. 4/74 $10.83 The four furnaces of the firm turned out in the week of November 12, 1887, which may serve as an average: Cleveland iron, 665 and 507 tons=1172 tons; and in two furnaces, hematite iron, 8364 tons. Total, 20084 tons, at a cost in labor of £351. 19/2, or 3/6.1 per ton, equal to 85 cents. Of course it is not possible to exactly state the precise cost of labor of each species cf iron made simultaneously in the different furnaces for which one genera! labor ac- count is kept The cost, as stated here, 1s pretty nearly the same as in other Middles- boro’ furnaces. From the proprietor I have obtained a specified statement, a copy of the pay-roll of every laborer employed, and wages paid, which foot up as stated above. Other iron masters gave me the same cost, on inquiry. The statement of another firm is for four furnaces of 1674 tons only. Two of these turned out 744 tons, one 522 tons and one 408 tons. Ore, 3} tons in Cleveland iron, 2 tons in hema- tite iron; coke, 1,4; tons in Cleveland iron, 1 ton in hematite iron; coal for calcining, jy ton; labor, 3/6, average; office ex- penses, rates, taxes, /9. AMERICAN BLAST-FURNACE WORK. The American furnaces are owned by the company manufacturing steel rails, They have eight furnaces, with an output per week of 3000 tons. The works are well managed and have all the modern im- provements. The company makes the greater part of its own iron and uses about 30 per cent. of Cornwall iron in its output of steel rails. They use for their iron Cuban and European ore of 58 per cent. The quantities used per year are 60,000 tons from Cuba and 200,000 tons from Europe. The cost of ore per ton of pig iron is $11, or, at 58 per cent., $6.38 per ton at the furnace, against 2.90 of the same percent- age of iron in the ore at Middlesboro’ Seventy-five cents duty added would still leave $2.73 to be accounted for as covering the freight surplus charge from Bilbao or North Africa to Philadelphia over freight cost to Middlesboro’, and the inland transportation from tide-water to the fur- nace, a distance of about 80 miles, THE FUEL, The fuel is three-fourths coke and one- fourth anthracite coal. The coke costs $4.75 per ton, delivered at the works; the coal, $2.85 per ton. The coke at Con- nellsville was then $2 per ton, but at the later date of my visit in the coking region it had receded to $1.75, put on board cars, and would, therefore, stand at $4.50 de- livered at the furnace. The difference would be in the transportation expense, which would seem rather a high rate. Coke, however, has been sold as low as 90 cents per ton at the ovens, and even at the present price is cheaper at the place of manufacture than at the ovens at Durham, where the English coke is obtained. LABOR COST IN PIG IRON IN AMERICA (EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA). The furnaces are worked by two shifts of 12 hours each. Each shift is composed of 16 men, or 32 men for the 24 hours on each furnace—in all 256 men for the eight furnaces, which 1s per man, at the 3000 tons weekly output, 11.72 tons. The boss men are paid from $1.65 to $1.75 per day, the furnace men $1.30 per day, and ordinary laborers, &c., $1.16 per day. The aver- age of all employed is $1.30 per day. The seven days at $1.30 make $9.10 per man. We have therefore to arrive at the cost of furnace work per ton by 256 x $9.10 = $2,329.60 3.000” which gives 77.65 cents as cov- November 1, 1888. ering all furnace labor expense of making | a ton of pig iron. The general labor cost was given me by the president as $1.25, which leaves, therefore, a margin of 47.35 cents for all incidental and yard labor of handling ore, coke, coal and iron, unload- ing and loading, not included in the direct furnace work, The general expense is given me as 12 cents per ton; sundries, supplies, electric light, &c., as 50 cents | per ton—in both instances about the same as in the English account Taking the different items, then, we have the follow- ing positions in Bessemer pig iron in East- ern Pennsylvania, made of Spanish and Cuban ores, against English iron of the same Class. Eastern Middles | Pennsylvania. boro’. | Ge e6i bbs Chk Sas nedeee reduce’ $11.00 $6.56 | DMD a ciccccscinaecce <a 40 oo | Dot den ack eiattes wcee eS . 4.50 2.56 ME ie ent adele ae eva 1.25 19 | General expense...... ...... 12 12 PN oi endbacsivecccancsss 50 48 | NEE Wieedteced: Suse. waiews $17.77 $10.83 It will be seen that the only marked dif- | ferences lie in the ore and fuel account, | due to causes explained above. COST OF MANUFACTURING BESSEMER STEEL | RAILS IN ENGLAND. | The steel mill from which I have taken | this account works in shifts of 12 hours, | They make 40 charges per day, have two | converters, and turn out 7 to 8 tons in each heat. The weekly output is 1500} tons, and the number of men employed is | 600. The weekly pay-roll is £950. The average cost of labor per ton is therefore | 12/8, or $3.07 per ton. The several items | in this sum stand as follows: a. d. Labor in converting................ 3 6 $0.85 Labor in rail-making from the in- eee hat ee Ue oe ce Bedale ie 4 8 0 1.94 | Additional labor... .............. 1. ee mA | OB ee i usta “2 6 $3.03 | The cost of pig iron is taken as 45/ per ton; spiegeleisen, 80/ per ton. |The ‘‘ additionals ’ THE AMERICAN COST OF MAKING BESSEMER THE IRON AGE. tion of labor-saving devices over any at | least that have come within the scope of | | my present observation in England. On| the whole, it is conceded willingly by | English makers that America surpasses | ; them in the output and improved methods of manufacture. The iron used in this | steel is Cleveland pig, but the cheaper | price per ton is balanced by the greater | amount of iron required for a ton of rails. | About 800 men are employed, who draw | in weekly wages (the week for which the | account stands) £1294. 1/6, or $6276, | equal to $7.84 per day, or per ton, 10/94, or $2.62. The account is as follows: | 8s. d. 1.3110 tons of pig iron at 38/4...... 48 84 $10.62 1410 tons of ferromanganese (spiegeleisen) and hematite..... 9 10% 2.40 | DE Seba ie scwnaascds <oennieadede 5 4 1.30 | Labor (converting, 4/4; rail-mak- 7) | Sees aeciacee Se 2.49 | FEO ik 0s See cncerctacee Oe 2.16 RG aks Reawiteiweken / 78 0 $18.97 | The additionals are given me as being in reality 9/9, or $2.37, in excess of the other account. Labor items like brick- laying, &c., contained in the labor ac- count of the hematite rail mill are here contained in the additionals, the differ- ence between 10/3 and 10/94, or 64d. = 13 cents. The greater part of this sum, 9/94, however, is offset by the credit de- duction for value of ends and defectives. ’ are higher in basic | than in Bessemer steel. In this sum, roy- alty, lime, limestone, tar, refractories, | castings and sundry stores and purchases for maintenance are contained. STEEL RAILS. The time when this inquiry was made in America was in 1887, a vear of high prices. Steel rails had sold during the j/iron used in the | count, there is, therefore, in this account year at prices ranging from $40 to $32— during the greater part of the year being very close to the former sum named. At the time of my visit, in December, they 655 are composed of the following factors as given from the mill account: Items of Cosl in 1 Ton of Steel Rails in Eastern Pennsylvania. 1 ton of pig iron........ ; .. $18.00 3 cwt. spiegeleisen........ , icce ae | See ; we -- 2.00 De roans dc cnnwk ness ar . 98.04 Sundries.......... ‘ x db Sate 50 Additional labor (unexplained)...... od 84 WO it scar banecen ibddedanvekseee At $27 a ton for spiegeleisen, the above $4 represents 3 cwt. against 14 cwt. in the English statement, which is balanced by 1 ecwt. more of Middlesboro’ ac- cwt. more used than in the En- glish mill. With $3 of spiegeleisen 1,', tons of iron and $2 worth of scraps are used, and with $4 of spiegeleisen 1 ton of iron is said to be sufficient. While the English only use in all 1.175 tons of weight, this account would give us 1.30 tons of weight per ton of rails, which, if correct, would need further explanation than I can give at the present writing. At any rate, the difference in the weight would be returned again, or approxi- mately so, in the value of scrap, ends, or misfits. On the whole, it will need no demon- stration to show what has been intimated in the opening pages of this report, that the differences in the labor cost, not alone of steel making, are not very great and come very nearly the English cost, but | e e « . e | alsoin the materials used in its production. The difference of cost lies mainly in the transportation expense of the component parts of pig-iron used in the manufacture of Bessemer steel. The relative positions in steel-rail making, as well as the fact of high wages, compatible with relatively cheap cost, may be realized from the com- parative statement of the output of the two mills, which gave the subject of this re- port: Tons of Bessemer steel rails turned out per week in a steel mill in eastern Pennsylvania, 4500; total number of men It takes 11-10tonsof hematiteiron e were about the last named price. During} employed, 1048; output of tons per man ; at 45/ ane ee 49 6 $12.38\the year wages were raised twice, each| employed, 4.3; average wages per day, oe Peep ON NE 6 0 1.44| time 10 per cent. Whether these advances | $2.174; labor cost per ton of all employed It takes 14 cwt. of coalat7/6perton 5 3 1.26/| are still in force, I cannot tell. It is very | in steel mill, $3.04; tons of Bessemer steel HADOF..0..--00ecerseeeene sorees coeee 12 8 3.0% | doubtful, however, in view of the fact that | rails turned out per week in a steel mill in MNGGEE ton cooees erect ve re ties _ 73 5 $18.15 | Steel rails are quoted new at $28.50 f.o.b., | England, 1500; total number of men em- The present price of steel rails is £3. 17/6. This leaves no margin for profit, and barely enough to cover the charges. asking whether the 4/1 between the sell- ing price and cost price could not be con- sidered in the light of a profit, I was answered: ‘* Should we make the sum of 4/1 profit we should be pleased. It is a| long time since railmakers could see a cer- tainty of 4/ per ton.” It must be under- stood that this is about the lowest price | steel rails have ever reached in England, and it is the general expression that it is hard work now to get a new dollar for an old one. That the price is not a paying one can be seen from the favorable con- sideration which is given by English man- ufacturers to the proposal of German rail manufacturers to revive the old steel-rail combination, which has in view the rais- ing of the price and the parceling out of the output and the trade between the En- | glish, German and Belgium manufacturers. The wages are, for fitters, turners, roll- turners and bricklayers, 5/6, or $1.34 per | day; for smiths, enginemen and joiners, | 5/, or $1.22 per day; for men at rolls and furnaces, average 7/, or $1.70 per day, and for outside men, 4/, or 97 cents. COST OF BASIC STEEL RAILS. The mill is one which, in the opinion of | ironmasters, is supplied with the best im- | rovements, and equal to the best Amer- ican mills in labor-saving arrangements, &c. I cannot say that in goimg over it 1 | came to a like conclusion. I find the to $29, which is barely $10 above the English price—a price likely to be advanced at a very early day as being unremunerative to the makers. The weekly output is 4500 tons. The mill has four converters, but only three working. The men at the converters work in three shifts of 8 hours each, the rail- making employees two shifts at 12 hours each. In all, 1048 men are em- ployed in the steel works. The pay-roll for the month was about $57,000. Thisis $54.38 per man per month, and at 25 working days, $2.174 per day and $13.05 per week—about two-thirds more than the average English wages in steel mills. If we divide the amount of money paid for labor over the output, however, we shall find no such difference to exist, as these higher earnings might leave people to sup- pose. The weekly wages of the month of fairly even Gistribution of work over each week and steady employment of the men stand as $13,680, and the output of 4500 tons gives us labor cost per ton thereof $3.04 of all moneys paid out on this head- ing. Salaries and expenses were stated at 50 cents per ton. On an output of 225,000 tons, $112,000 for years of equally full out- put. The general labor cost was stated to me as $3.85 per ton. I cannot well under- derstand what items these additional 84 cents would comprise, as the outlays for wages of $56,000 to $58,000, I was told, cover all labor employed at the steel works. I give this as received and leave ployed, 600; output of tons per man em- ployed, 2.5; average wages per day, 5/6= $1.33; labor cost per ton of all employed in steel mill, 11/6 to 12/8 = $2.80 to $3.08. [We have no means of checking the ac- curacy of Mr. Schoenhof’s figures so far as they relate to English works. But they are certainly very untrustworthy where they deal with American works. The es- tablishment referred to in Eastern Penn- sylvania is obviously the Bethlehem mill. Nominally this concern has eight furnaces. In reality, one is practically abandoned, and for a long time, since the beginning of the present year, only six have been at work. In round figures, the capacity of the seven active furnaces—taking their work over a long period—is 2850 gross tons, so that Mr Schoenhof’s reckoning is much out of the way. The figures in fuel are wrong, and the cost of ore is too low. The estimates of cost of producing rails at Bethlehem are certainly incorrect, because no sufficient allowance is made for waste. Yet we expect to have Mr. Schoenhof’s latest guessing paraded before an admiring public as unquestioned state- ments of fact.—Editor. | I The four oscillating engines of the steamship Great Eastern, used for driving the paddle-wheels, had 72-inch cylinders and a 14-foot stroke. The Pittsburgh steel-cast gun has been tested at the proving ground, but no offi- American rail mills which I have seen far | closer analysis to a future re-examination | cial report of the firing has been received at the Navy Department. ahead in improvement and the introduc- | of the details. The different items of cost sa J ed... 6 hia” te? ” e- 7 ee ee eee eee ee ee oo Ne, Aw < a «ben le ars cnt : ' : ; CE edad sabe ib 4 44 s it Bn} 1S : Re 3 |" itll « al ae a g o tg! ye mer io Ma) ~~ November 1, 1888, IRON AGE. THE Cy | t fa) aVaLSaWoH oa nil Sa Pras y= =: At= ‘y \ | = Bae ae ee + es a Pid i Ad see 8 ay LB SNS 4 ig mine 3 fi Ye. November 1, 1888. The Homestead Steel Works, We question whether during the past | few years any single iron working estab- | lishment in the United States has de- | veloped more rapidly than the Homestead | Steel Works of Carnegie, Phipps & Co., | near Pittsburgh, nor are there many which can compare with it for ponderous machin- | ery and the latest features in American | practice. In some departments it occupies | an exceptional position. Originally a rail mill, equipped with two small con- verters, it has expanded in a few years to | the largest works for the manufacture of | plates and structural material in the coun- try. How rapidly some of the improve- ments were called into being may be un- | derstood when we state that possession was taken of that part of the ground on which the open-hearth works, plate mill and slabbing mill now stand, on the 26th of April, 1886. On the 14th of October in the same year the first of the open-hearth furnaces was in operation. It is particu- larly with these later parts of the plant with which we propose to deal, presenting in succession drawings thereof. The nucleus of the works were the mill of the Pittsburgh Bessemer Steel Company, con- sisting of two 5-ton converters, which made their first blow on March 19, 1881, and a 30-inch blooming train, and a 23-inch rail and billet train on which the first rail was rolled on the 9th of August of the same year. In times of great activity in the rail trade, this part of the works has produced rails, but its main work is to furnish mild Bessemer steel for the struct- ural shapes rolled by the company. The greater part of the product of the open- hearth furnaces is used in the manufacture of plates. THE SLABBING MILL. We present a plan of the new slabbing and armor-plate mill. It is a building 300 x 120 feet, and a 35-foot lean-to for the boilers. The plant consists of eight vertical heating furnaces, H, 6 feet diam- | eter in the clear, and a circular roof, the ring casting of which is of steel. They are grouped in the manner shown in our engraving. The two hydraulic charging cranes I are of the Aiken type, with a capacity of 35 tons. The main cylinder is | 20 inches in diameter, with 13}-foot stroke, the hight of the crane from the floor line to the bottom of the chord being 34 feet, while the swing has a 20-foot radius. The crane is swung by means of rack and pinion, the hydraulic cylinder having a 6-foot stroke and an 8-inch diam- eter. A smail hydraulic cylinder at the end of the jib is used to grip the ingots by means of a very ingenious and simple tackle. The slabbing train itself consists of two sets of rolls, one of vertical steel rolls, D, 20 inches in diameter, driven by a special E, P. Allis reversing engine, 30 x 54 inches, C, and one pair of horizontal rolls, B, 32 inches in diameter, 60 inches long, driven by a pair of 40 x 54-inch E. P. Allis reversing engines, A, with power tables, GG. This train we shall describe and illustrate in detail in a future issue of The Iron Age. This train has already dealt with ingots 36 x 48 inches, weighing 38,000 pounds, and is capable of handling 25-ton ingots, 48 x 54 inches. The table rollers, all steel, are driven by the special engine F, a 10 x 12 Crane make. The slabs are delivered to the table J, 7 feet long, the rollers being driven hy a special engine, as shown. The slabs are sheared by a 3000-ton shear, K, details of which were published in a recent issue. At the time of our visit a gauge was be- ing attached to the shear-table, to allow of the slabs being sheared to exaet di- mensions without taking any measure- ments. The shear is served by two press- ure pumps, L, the largest of their kind, THE IRON AGE. 657 built by the Southwark Foundry, of Phila- delphia. They have a 65-inch steam cylinder, a 10-inch water cylinder and | 8-foot stroke, and are worked at a steam pressure of 175 pounds, and are capable of yielding a water pressure of 4000 pounds per square inch. The general hydraulic service of the mill is supplied by two Wilson-Snyder duplex pumps, N, with 8 x 18 inch plungers, and an accumulator. Steam is furnished by six batteries of boilers, O, 444 inches in diameter and 264 | feet long, the fronts having been built by Carnegie, Phipps & Co. The crane service includes the two 35- ton charging cranes I, already alluded to, built by the Keystone Bridge Company; | two 16-ton slab cranes, also built by the Keystone Bridge Company, and seven 5-ton slab cranes, built by the Southwark Foundry. At the time of our visit a line of 5-ton and 16-ton cranes was being placed along the outside of the building | for handling and storing slabs. Aside from the ponderous character of | the machinery in this slabbing mill, and its spacious dimensions, the principal point which is sure to strike the visiting iron- master is the small number of men in so | large a plant. THE OPEN-HEARTH PLANT. The open-hearth plant comprises four furnaces, No. 1 being a 15-ton basic; No, 4, a 20-ton basic, and Nos. 2 and 3, 40-ton acid furnaces. The latter have taken a maximum charge of 88,400 pounds, their average charge being 65,000 to 70,000 pounds. The furnaces are circular, using natural gas, the stack being placed back of the furnaces, with checker-work for preheating the air in the flues. On each side of these flues are narrow cooling flues. The furnaces are so placed that the charg- ing is done from the general floor level, the steel being cast into a ladle, mounted on a central ladle crane capable of taking 40 tons of fluid metal, so that castings up to 100 tons can be made by casting from two or more furnaces. On either side of the ladle-crane are two semicircular cast- ing pits, only a few feet below the general level, each pit taking four groups of molds, bottom casting being generally employed. The pits are flanked by 5-ton ingot cranes, four of which command the furnace itself, the ladle-pit and the casting-pits. There | |are 16 of these ingot cranes. At one end of the melting-shop a small steel foundry has been equipped with core-room, &c. |A large number of castings have been made, among them some very large ones, already alluded to in The Iron Age. Near it a plant has been put in for making basic material, including a Gates crusher, a mixer and a calcining cupola. THE PLATE TRAIN. The plate train is housed in the same building with the open-hearth steel fur- | naces; the total length ‘of the structure being 967 feet, with an 86-foot main span, | and two 45-foot lean-tos. The train is | served by six heating furnaces of special | design, placed in two groups of three with |their working doors in front of a circle. | Their — feature is that the ports are so designed that the entire hearth sur- face, 25 feet 1 inch by 6 feet 9 inches, 1s available for heating. Like in the open- hearth furnaces, the checker work is in horizontal flues, surrounded by air-cooling flues, the reversing valve being back of the chimney. The two semicircles of heating furnaces are commanded by two cranes, the ingenious arrangement of which quickly attracts attention. All the move- ments are controlled by one man perched on a seat facing four levers near the end of the jib. By means of a hydraulic cylinder he can grip the slab, with the aid of another controls the forward and back- ward movements of the car on which he is seated, and can thus deposit the slab ‘within the range of the crane; by means of a third lever he can raise and lower the jib, and with the aid of a fourth can work the rack and pinion which swings the crane. Their operation is exceedingly rapid and precise, and they have been the means of very materially increasing the capacity of the mill. We may mention that they have a reach of 44 feet to the back of the furnace. The plate train itself is three-high, with 32 inch top and bottom, and 24 middle roll; their width being 119 inches, On the roller’s side it has one station- ary table, 17 feet 10 inches long, followed by a feed table 30 feet long. A similar table | is on the catcher’s side. The train is driven j by a 42 x 54 inch Mackintosh-Hemphill engine, with a 274-foot fly-wheel, weigh- ing 35 tons. It is served by a hand-roll crane on each side. The table on the catcher’s side is followed by a table 22 feet long, and then the plate is carried on to a series of tables aggregating in length 350 feet to the shears. By rollers driven by a special 8x12 engine, the finished plates are thus carried along slowly to the ‘shears. The influence of this arrange- /ment upon the quality of the plates and | its convenience and economy of labor can hardly be overrated. instead of being piled upon one another as soon as rolled, | to cool irregularly, as accident may dic- jtate, with the buckling and_ jnternal | strains thus created, the plates cool gradu- ally and uniformly. Ample time is af- forded to mark them for shearing, for in- |specting them carefully, for marking the | position of the test pieces, &e. All this is accomplished with a minimum of labor. | Returning to the plate mill proper, we /may note that it is equipped with two 6 x 18 feed pumps and three Southwark pressure pumps with 9-inch plunger and | 18-inch stroke. Steam is furnished by | four batteries of boilers connected with two stacks. The plate traveling along the tables re- ferred to reaches the shears, of which there are five, three large shears built by the Morgan Engineering Company, one scrap- | ping shear and a trimming shear. In order |to permit of easy and rapid handling, |numerous casters are grouped about the shears, and from one to the other, and to a very simple and efficient scale arrange- ment. A platform resting upon a hydrau- lic cylinder is raised to carry the plates slightly above the level of the casters, |and thus the weight is registered. There ;are in the shear department 13 5-ton cranes, and eight new ones are being put in along the outside of the building to facilitate shipping and stocking plates. At the time of our visit there were lying ready for shipment four plates of excep- tional size, which may serve to illustrate the capacity of the plant to turn out heavy work. These plates were 2 inches thick and 108 x 120 inches, their weight being 7000 pounds. Reviewing the equipment, it will be noted that it possesses exceptional, and, we may say unrivaled, facilities for handling heavy plates and for putting work into the steel. The slabbing train through its construction secures a thorough working of the sides of the ingot. We may mention here that it is the plan of the management to use the train also for rolling octagonal shapes so that heavy shafting will become a specialty of the works. In rolling plates the slabs are cut into such lengths that the first reduc- tions in the plate mill are made by rol ing in a direction normal to that in whichlthe steel was worked in slabbing. Thus the material is worked in both directions and the distinction of tests in the direction of rolling and vertically to it lose much of their force, if, in fact, it does not entirely disappear. An _ neidental advantage of this method, costly though it may be in the way of investment in plant, is the reduction in the amount of scrap made. . 2m a oe ay a> > MEEK ee Pe - . —_. - - Bia i a Pe a lie hn 1 2 oda Kk nce = — . a ae oe = + thio A dk sa * a nee Ss oe 5 de. de 2 ~ Cuetoeey * : — an TS Snail aE; “Scinttiiaa Kamat 1s | i 3 i ; ' ‘on ‘as 4 : or _ S ¢ ¥ Behl § ot ” 4 ot — ’ re a 4° “ We : ' , tp 7a p ih 4 eae ed net 4 aS «3 a ‘s i Mm 4 5 1? 3 id a f el at ees ue ‘3 : a , a Eo 2 are te we ad whe Fo ¢ ad ee ee” a ar ts ~ a 4 = x ak Sere ay "¢| ee a f. > Jat | et . : iy : ho 2 we GA 4.1 wae urs z fe 4 ‘ - 7 i r : . ay 1% . % 4 | i — iin . ie Pts und SELF eet STS aw 27 oe A fd ae A i eR Ai th Another striking characteristic of the works is the economy in labor. cally the trains are automatic and the facilities for the shipment of goods, with the additions to the crane service now being completed, are exceptional, and place the company in a position to fill orders within a very brief time. — ——=EE The New Navy. In briefly reviewing the work on the new ships of the navy, the Army and Navy Journal says: The work on the Chicago still continues at the New York yard, and it is hardly probable that she will be put in commission much before the first of next year. The double-turreted monitor Amphitrite was lately taken out of the dock at Wilming- ton, Del. Her bottom has been painted and otherwise fixed up. The department has as yet reached no decision as to whether the ship will be rebuilt at a private yard or at some navy yard. The new cruiser Charleston, now building at San Fran- cisco, Cal., will be completed about January 1, the contract time, as the depart- ment is in receipt of reports from the con- tractors saying that the work is progress- ing very rapidly, and that the ship will be turned over to the Government at the time specified. Of course she will be assigned to the Pacific station, and will be the flagship. The Philadelphia Jnguirer says: ‘‘ The Philadelphia, it is expected, will beat the Baltimore in speed, as Messrs. Cramp will supply their own engines to the former, whereas the firm of Humphreys & Ten- nants; England, will provide the motive power for the latter. In the one case Messrs. Cramp guarantee a speed of 19 knots; in the other they only guarantee horse-power. It will be interesting to com- pare the work of the two sets of engines when both vessels are in commission. The model of the Philadelphia, although an English design, is considered by the Messrs. Cramp to be a very good one, and capable of but little improvement in view of the work the vessel will have to per- form. The dynamite cruiser Vesuvius was sent down the river, October 1, to try how the engines worked. The affair was kept very quiet, only a privileged few being notified of the event. So far as could be learned, the trial was a most successful one, the vessel showing extraordinary speed, making a run of 134 miles in 29 minutes, being an estimated speed of nearly 27 miles an hour. As the guar- anteed speed is only 20 knots an hour, this, if correct, is eminently satisfactory. Allowance has, however, to be made for the tide, which would deduct about two knots off the record, but even then the result exceeds the expectations of the builders.” We learn that everything worked well on this trial. There was no heating of journals and no leaks anywhere and very little vibration. Two hundred and forty revolutions were reached without effort, but no measurements of speed were taken, as the trial was only made to find defects in the engines, if any existed. One of the builders has written to an officer of the War Department that a speed of 20 knots was obtained with a pressure of only 135 pounds. All indications point to additional speed when the full working pressure of 180 pounds is put on, and it is then ex- pected fully 23 knots will be made. In the naval appropriation bill, approved September 7, 1888, provision was made for the construction of seven new vessels, and an appropriation of $5,550,000 was made, and an additional appropriation of $260,- 000 for a composite ship to be used as a practice vessel for the midshipmen at the Naval Academy. Secretary Whitney has Practi- | THE IRON AGE. November 1 1888, now under consideration a number of designs for these new ships. and as soon as 'the designs are adopted, work will be handling is reduced to a minimum. The | immediately started on the plans and speci- | fications, and the contracts awarded. ~ in ———— _ Tests of Rivet Steel. In the course of an interview, published in the New York World on September 21, Commander R. D. Evans is quoted as say- ing, in illustration of an alleged improve- ment in the quality of steel furnished as the result of the operations of the Navy Department during the past few years: When the first contracts were made by the present administration of the Navy ne ment it was considered exceedingly doubtful if rivets, or rivet stuff, showing an elongation of 30 per cent. in 8 inches and an ultimate strength of 50,000 pounds per inch could be obtained in this country. Such material was finally made by what is known as the Clapp-Griffith process 4 firms in Pittsburgh, and it created comment all over the professional world. Under the present contract for the Maine and the specifi- cations furnished by the Navy Department, the rivet material averages 33 per cent. elon- gation in 8 inches, and an average ultimate strength of 56,000 pounds per square inch. Such material as this at the time of the original contracts, or the first contracts made by the present administration of the Navy Depart- ment, would have been considered absolutely impossible. The choice of this particular example by Commander Evans was unfortunate, since there are on record figures proving that steel rivets of high quality were made for the navy prior to the time stated. We have before us areport by Prof. W. H. Burr, of the mechanical laboratory of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, at Troy, dated November 23, 1883, which contains the following series of tests: % y¥ 34 Pounds of stress per =4 6 ¥ : a 3% ie sag square inch at 3 Pa 28 = § Eee Be OG B= | Elastic | Ultimate |. ax _ => limit. a aE5 Risicvas 0.73 40.100 62.600 26 Bisass 0.74 37.200 62.300 28 Saaee 0.734 37.800 60.500 30 = 0.7: 38.500 61.100 28 eee 0.73 37.300 61.200 20 aaiaee's 0.73 37.300 62.100 25 Si cvces 0.7% 36.900 61.500 31 Dknsaes 0.725 43.100 70.700 26 ee 0.7: 42.200 60.200 29 | 0.78 39.600 63.500 30 ae 0.73 39.600 60.200 30 a kswse 0.726 39.100 61.300 27 iM... 0.73 37.300 58.800 30 esses 0.725 38.700 60.500 31 iv ccees 0.729 39.300 61.400 31 Desitn: As 0.724 37.840 61.450 29 eee 0.724 38.350 61.200 32 Sk cored 0.725 38.700 61.500 27 ae swe 0.725 37.300 , 61.240 30 eee 0.726 38.900 | 62.300 28 Ee 0.725 38.740 | 62.000 28 DB niin 0.73 39.000 | 60.200 30 Mieraea 0.73 37.500 | 60.200 27 _ a 0.73 39.200 61.200 28 Kava 0.73 37.300 | 61.100 26 Ee 0.725 38.740 62.200 25 Pade xsah 0.73 39.600 59.200 29 is cae 0.73 41.050 | 64.440 28 eer 0.73 38.200 | 60.200 28 Beasties 0.73 37.300 | 61.200 28 DB sss 0.73 38.400 | 60.200 30 The specifications called for an ultimate tensile strength of at least 60,000 pounds, and a final elongation in 8 inches of not less than 23 per cent. An excess over 60,000 pounds was allowed, provided the ductility remained at least 23 per cent. —Se Heating Rolls by Gas.—London Engi- neering illustrates and describes a device for heating rolling mill rolls by gas. The latter is burned in jets, which are uni- formly distributed the whole length of the rolls at each side. When these jets are lighted and the machine is put into slow rotation, every part of each roll is gradu- ally and uniformly heated without the production of any dangerous strains. This method of heating rolls we understand js in use by Messrs. Bolckow, Vaughan & Co., the Dowlais Iron Company and the Steel Company, of Scotland. In one mill the average life of the rolls previous to the ap plication of the gas was 79% days, and, after the application, 342 days. In an- other large plate mill, with rolls 36 inches by 9 feet, and weighing each 17 tons, two rolls only have been broken, and both cases were due to the neglect of the men in charge in not turning on the gas. Even these rolls ran 342 days each. The device is the invention of Mr. Franklin Hilton, of Middlesboro’-on-Tees. IO Cost of Iron Making at Troy. During the course of the Burden trial at Troy, John H. Allen, expert account- ant, testified as follows : The books of the Burden Iron Company showed that in April, 1886, the quantity of Hudson River ore used in the mixture at the Burden works was 25 per cent. After that it was increased, until in Jan- uary, 1887, it was 50 per cent., and it had remained at 50 per cent. ever since, down to September, 1888. The quantity of this ore received in 1885 by the Burden Iron Company was 56,080 tons, in 1886 it was 10,475 tons, and in 1887 it was 11,661 tons. The cost in 1885 was $3.11 ,', per ton, and in 1886 it was $3.13 ,%. These figures show the cost of the ore laid down at the works. The average of pure metallic iron in the ore, as shown by the company’s analysis book, was 45.54 per cent. in 1884, 43.26 per cent. in 1885 and 43.98 per cent. in 1886. The average cost of pig iron made by the Burden Iron Company in 1883 was $21.43. The out- put was 15,7984 tons. In 1884 the cost of pig iron made by the company was $18.33 per ton, and the output was 23,- 5834 tons ; in 1885 the cost was $17.38 a ton, and the output was 13,578 tons; in 1886 the cost was $18.964 a ton, and the output wes 15,197 tons; in 1887 the cost was $19,174 a ton, and the output was 9132 tons. January 1, 1885, there were 5496 tons of pig iron on hand, according to the inventory, and it was rated at $17.50 a ton. January 1, 1886, there were 8571 tons on hand, inventoried at $16 a ton. January 1, 1887, the inventory showed 7064 tons on hand, and the value was fixed at $16.50 a ton, and January 1, 1888, there were 6668 tons inventoried at $17 a ton. The cost of making iron at the Burden works this year was stated as fol- lows: January, $18.20; February, $19; March, $18.94; April, $17.53; May, $20.61; June, $24.01; July, $23.36; August, $19.12; September. $17.09. Other figures were given showing the cost of pig iron other than that of the Hudson River company, with the intent to establish the allegation that as good a grade of ore could be laid down at the Burden works at a less figure than was paid the Hudson River company. LL The channel span of the Chesapeake and Ohio bridge at Cincinnati was suc- cessfully connected on Saturday. Work is well along on the remaining shore span, and the company expect to be running their cars into Cincinnati by December. The railroad along the Ohio River, which connects with the bridge, is about com- pléted, and will be turned over to the Chesapeake and Ohio in a few days. The high railway speeds recently at- tained on several English roads show that where sufficient inducement offers modern railway appliances are capable of approach- ing very closely to the apparent limit of 1 mile a minute. November 1, 1888. THE IRON AGE. 659 Riverside Iron Works, Wheeling. During a somewhat hurried visit to the | Nail City, a representatiye of The Iron Age | had occasion to inspect a part of the plant of one of the most important and progress- ive enterprises of Wheeling, the Riverside Iron Works. During the past few years its management has led in the momentous changes which have relegated puddled iron to an inferior position, and have won for Wheeling the distinction, of occupying beyond the question even of its rivals the position of arbiter of the cut-nail trade, and of shaping largely the course of the trade in soft-steel billets and slabs. the Riverside Iron Works individually belongs the credit of leading in the sub- stitution of soft steel for iron so far as nails, tubes and pipe are concerned. THE RIVERSIDE FURNACE is a 16 x 75 foot stack, with a 9-foot cruci-| contain two five-ton converters, ble and a 6-foot bell, the stockhouse being | side by side before a 35-foot pit. |I. P. Morris engine, with 36-inch steam] th » in rail steel work, and in the special ‘cylinder, 7-foot-blowing cylinder and | 6-foot stroke, and by a smaller Mackintosh, |Hemphill & Co.’s engine, with 30-inch steam cylinder, 7-foot blowing cylinder and 4-foot stroke, the limit of pressure being 7 pounds, Steam is furnished by five batteries of 40-inch plain cylinder boilers, 52 feet long fed by a doctor. The smoke stack is 170 feet high by 9 feet di- ameter in the clear. The furnace has two cinder notches and an admirable arrange- ment for handling the cinder, being taken off laterally to a series of discharge troughs to the cinder cars, which are handled by a ‘locomotive. The wall above the 1ron notch _is cooled by four pipes entering the brick To) wall 18 inches. The casthouse is 170 x 55 feet. which all the castings for the plant are 'made, a machine shop and a carpenter shop. ; THE STEEL WORKS placed The 90 x 175 feet, the stock being lifted by an! three 8-foot cupolas are located on one “& 0 oy A e . A . 4 € 4 % 2 | 2 yY aA Z } &, %. % ™ | ~ “4, | e Otis hoist. The ore used is Pilot Knob, Colby, Iron King and Republic, an ingen- ious system of charging having been adopted. The charging area is divided into four quarter sections. In order to properly distribute the fine ore the differ- ent classes of ore are charged in accord- ance with a schedule, a copy of which is framed under glass in the stockhouse and on the top, and appended herewith. Taking into account the fact that the Iron King and the Colby are the soft ores, while the Republic