The Iron Age 1889-03-21: Vol 43

‘THE TuHurspay, MARCH 21, 1889. IRON AGE Automatic Vertical Tapping | are suitable for 3, 1, 14 or 2 inch. On Machine. | the driving shaft is a beveled pinion which | drives a vertical shaft in the center of the The accompanying engravings show a/column. On the lower end of this shaft, vertical‘ tapping machine, designed for| just below the beveled gear, is a pinion tapping nuts from } inch up to 2 inches, | which meshes with a large spur-wheel or larger, if desired. The machine is made | shown plainly under the bed-plate of the by the National Machinery Company, of | machine in the sectional view. This large Tiffin, Ohio. They are made in the form! wheel is secured to a vertical shaft, which a sufficient end motion of the tap spindles to raise the taps out of the nuts, and also to allow them to tap clear through the nuts. At the upper end of each of the tap spindles is a 3-inch pitch double- threaded screw, surmounted by a disk, which is loose on the spindle. On top of the central column is asleeve, which is prevented from rotating with the column AUTOMATIC VERTICAL TAPPING MACAHINE, BUILT BY THE NATIONAL MACHINERY COMPANY, illustrated in order to do away with the | carries another pinion meshing into teeth vast in the lower edge of the pan, which | of the center column. This sleeve carries labor of raising and lowering the heavy | « tapping spindles, which are made of 2§-|is by this means caused to rotate at the inch steel and carry a gear-wheel, tap-|rate of one revolution to 33 of the tap/an incline. by a spring on a frame supporting the top a spiral rack and flat bench, followed by As each tap spindle comes holder and filled tap. When revolving, | spindle. Allowing 30 revolutions on the| around its screw engages in the spiral the machine raises each tap as it comes be- fore the operator, who need not be, of ne-| lutions left after the nut has been tapped, | during which, to change the tap, replace | shaft passes over it and down the incline, cessity, a skilled mechanic. The belt pul- ley is loose on the horizontal shaft, and is | the nut, &c. The vertical shaft also car- | ries a large pinion, with very wide face, | the nut which has been placed for it. The into which the six gears of the tap spin-| pan is filled with water to within 2 inches dles mesh. The length of face of the large | of the top, and has 4 inch of oil on its constructed so that it Gan be made fast to the shaft for light work, or it may be ar- ranged to drive the shaft by an external tap, there will be some three or four revo- | rack, which raises it; when it reaches its highest position the disk on the top of the the spindle drops down and the tap enters back gear for heavy work. The speeds! central pinion is large enough to allow of! surface. The nut is submerged in oil ——> 7 A sad Pe ae ma > a Yi 1 a \ / \ > } A a OFF _ ct 7 be 6 ere ZL ED , gy LOD) ” 426 THE IRON AGE. March 21, 1889 while being tapped. The spindles are pro- vided with patent tap holders, which per- mit of their being removed and emptied when filled with nuts without stopping the machine, which will tap 6000 to 8000 $-inch nuts in 10 hours. — The Redemann-Tilford Steel Process. For some time past a number of ac- counts have reached us of a new process for treating steel, brought out in Louis- ville by the Redemann-Tilford Steel Com- pany, of that city. We have not been able to secure an intelligible description of the method itself, which appears to con- sist of heating steel to a certain tempera- ture, according to the results to be ob- tained and the character of the metal. The heated steel*is then plunged into a ‘‘chemical composition,” in which it is al- lowed to cool. H. J. Tilford, the secre- tary of the company, has forwarded to us a number of documents to show what has been accomplished. It appears that an application was made to the Pittsburgh Steel Casting Company for some of the metal from which the cast gun was made. They had none of it left in convenient pieces, but forwarded pieces from a 9-ton wheel, which was approximately the same metal. After treatment they were re- turned, the Pittsburgh Steel Casting Com- pany reporting on the matter as follows: Our su) tendent, Mr. Hainesworth, who examined them, noticed small cracks on end where drilled and expected them to fly to nd with light blow of hand hammer. The oreman was instructed to test them under a 1000-pound steam hammer, with a o——- of steam estimated at 70 pounds on a 12-i ton, which, of course, exerts a greater force than the weight of ram itself. The were placed on ae apart, as shown on sketch incl 5 ee oe ee, See inches. The hardened 21¢ inches - eter, was struck 11 blows before breaking; this we considered a very gras ste of steel; not —_ fine and silky. We outside, but could drill in after break- end ing. The toughened piece of steel, 2%{ inches in diameter, was the strongest piece of steel our superintendent has ever seen. It stood the following test: 17 blows steam hammer; then piece reversed and struck 14 blows steam ham- mer; no break; then nicked all around struck 10 blows steam hammer;3 blows pounds weight falling 24 feet; 1 blow 1950 ds — falling 24 feet; broke; grain and silky. A p of each will be ex- pressed to you, marked *38. It certainly was a remarkable change in the steel. A report of tests made at the works of Carnegie, Phipps & Co. gave the following: Toughened. Hardened. Tensile strength....... 83,820 98,600 Elastic limit ........... 43,870 83,600 Elongation........ 9¢ (in2in.) 0.05 ¢ (in 4 in.) Reduction of area...... 14.04 ¢ none, In an affidavit made by G. W. «, Ferris, of Ferris & Co., inspectors, report the following as the results of tests made by him: Treated. Untreated Elastic limit................ 96,720 50,320 Maximum load............. 141,700 72,460 Elongation: No cs cc Gink ae 8.25 8.00 Re GN, ii cknea'e casts 5.50 11 00 A later test showed an elastic limit of 118,850 pounds and a maximum load of 167,250 pounds per square iich, with an elongation of 6 per cent. in 4 inches. So far as the chemical changes are con- cerned, the following analyses were re- — by W. L. Abbott, of Carnegie, hipps & Co., Limited : | ge ¢i 5 af & e182 EE =¢ £# 53 3 ees 0 L D as Treated and annealed. |0.46 0.061 '0.058 0.100.0.89 Treated bath........ ./0.4610.049.0.05 0.098 0.92 Tempered water... . . \0.20/0.042;0.074 0.148/0.90 Not treated.......... 0.25 0.042 0.062 0.150 0.90 Dr. Fricke, of Carnegie, Phipps & Co., Limited, reports the following: Treated B. Not treated. SN. 6 Ackcideeo © Deokenanee 0.45 0.28 Rs ck00s soso omen wa weey 0.040 0.044 POUR. ci.ss scenes ces 0.110 0.162 PE cx cerndsasneiand <0 0.052 0.072 The samples were received through | J. B. Booth & Co. — Manual Training. The subject of industrial training is treated thoughtfully in areport to the Penn- sylvania Legislature by a commission ap- pointed by that body, comprising the pres- idents of the Pennsylvania State College, YZ Td kk tale | SSSSb SSS yi LU | | 0 Ye J eyziaaaa WIS ore - ae : il ys S branch of the general school system, or of a special course in connection with one or more schools. The manual training schools introduce into their curriculum the same educational studies as are found in other schools, and aim thus to develop the in- tellectual faculties not less than the phys- ical. In the same way shop-work, when introduced as a part of the prescribed course of any public school, is not allowed to di- minish the amount cf attention given to other studies; and it is found that the school time which would thus at first sight appear to be lost to those studies is fully made up and often more than made up by the increased freshness, aptitude and mental alertness which the pupil acquires from his manual exercises. ULL LLL ddd SS a ‘= BSS y, Vag Ss i, HW ~ SSS} | Z eS ——— Lidddddaciddddé AY YY Lhd hdddddd, SS WS ia ES AUTOMATIC VERTICAL TAPPING MACHINE.—SECTIONAL ELEVATION. the president of Girard Cellege and others well qualified to investigate the subject. The commission prepared a bill for the general introduction and maintenance of a system of manual training in connection with the public schools, and ask for an ap- propriation of $500,000 to carry their scheme into execution. The new movement for popularizing manual training as a part of public school instruction, the report states, began about ten years ago with the establishment of the St. Louis Manual Training School. Since | that time, but particularly within the last five years, it has spread very aes. until it has come to be a factor of the greatest ; |importance in public education in many parts of the country. An account of the /most important institutions of this kind | in the United States appears in the appen- | dix to the commission’s report. Some of these institutions are of a special character, privately supported, and others form a The commission are persuaded that man- ual training processes in the public schools have become well enough estab- lished to enable any community to enter upon them intelligently and successfully ; that the training involves no t expense or difficulty, and that it should be intro- duced as rapidly as possible into every = beginning with kindergarten work. t will not diminish the vigor and efficiency of the public schools, but will increase both; it will not divert our children away from industrial pursuits, but direct them toward them; it will not result in the teaching of trades by the public schools, but will train the body of youth intelli- gently prepared to enter upon all trades; it will not interfere with the highest in- tellectual training of those who are de- signed for professional pursuits, but will give a body of common knowledge and common skill which will be of incalculable value to the students of all professions; it March 21, 1889 THE IRON AGE. 427 will not lower the standard of instruction, but will elevate it; and apart from its in- fluence on the schools, it will help to give dignity and efficiency to every form of useful labor. Wherever an attempt has been made to introduce manual training into the publie schools—whether in a special school, as in Philadelphia, or in the generalsystem, asin New York, New Haven and many other places—whether it has been supported by appropriations from the municipal treasury or by private con- tributions of public-spirited citizens, the result has been the same; teachers, pupils and parents vie with each other in their testimony to its healthful and beneficial influence. — — 48-Inch Hydrostatic Car-Wheel Press. In this press, which is made by the Putnam Machine Company, of Fitchburg, Mass., the ram has two speeds. The | tons. Adding Georgia we make a total of 65,000 tons. In January the output was | 66,575 gross tons, thus showing an increase from 2147 tons a day in January to 2328 | tons a day in February. TT Dickinson & Co.'s New Foundry. Turner, | Among the recent additions to the man- _ufacturing establishments of Chicago is | the foundry of Turner, Dickinson & Co. It is located on the Omaha branch of the , Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad, very close to Holstein Station, at which all passenger trains stop. The lot is 316 feet long by 132 feet wide, and is bounded by | Hoyne avenue, Churchill street and Zelma place. These streets and the railroad run- ning alongside the property prevent the erection of other buildings close enough to interfere with light and _ ventilation. Over half of the lot is retained for yard the walls of the building. The roof 1s also strengthened by trusses placed outside of the building instead of taking up valu- able space inside. The entire ground floor of the molding-room is entirely free from pillars, permitting the unobstructed use of the cranes. The central space be- tween the hanging floors is 52 feet by 60 feet, and its hight enables a large swing- ing crane to be put in, which reaches over its entire area and has a lifting capacity of 15 tons. An unusually large ventilator with large windows runs the full length of this central section. Light molding or snap work will be done on the hanging floors, which so greatly increase the avail- able space that 62 molders can easily work in this one room. The cupola stands outside of the molding room, in one of the rooms between it and the yard. Anelevator conveys stock to the cupola fromthe yard. Itis of the ordinary pattern and will melt 25 tonsaday. A 48-INCH HYDROSTATIC plunger of the quick-acting pump is 24] inches, and of the high-pressure pump § of aninch. Both plungers act in concert to a pressure of 15 tons, after which the smaller one does the work up to a pressure of 150 tons, if required. This gives a double quick action to the ram up to the point when the larger plunger ceases to | work. The cylinder is lined with copper, and the ram is 8} inches in diameter and has a run of 20 inches. The foot-block is suspended on rolls and is adjustable to position. and is furnished with roller lifting jack, pressure gauges, lock-up liquid tank, return weights and counter- shaft having tight and loose pulleys 18 inches in diameter by 5 inches face. a — In February 18 coke furnaces, which were in blast a part or the whole of the month in Alabama, produced 41,094 gross tons of pig iron. One furnace did not re- port its output, which is estimated at 3200 tons, making a total of 43,294 gross tons. It must be remembered that the month had only 28 days. In the same time the Ten- nessee coke furnaces produced 20,003 CAR-W HEEL The press weighs 7509 pounds | safety valve, | PRESS, BUILT BY THE purposes, into which a side track runs for | the convenient receipt of stock and ship- ment of goods. Sheds are built on both sides of the track for the storage of -sand, coke, wood, &c. The arrangement of the foundry buildings is peculiar and worthy of detailed mention. They are built of brick, with gravel roofs, and have as many windows in the sides as a due regard for the strength of the walls will permit. The en- | tire ground space covered is 100 feet by 132 feet, the buildings extending the full width of the lot. to the yard is one story high, and is di- vided into a number of rooms, including the shipping-room, cleaning-room, tumb- ling-room, cupola-room, case-room, engine- |room, pattern-room, machine shop, &c. PUTNAM A depth of 40 feet next | MACHINE COMPANY Baker blower is used. Another cupolais shortly to be erected at its side which will have a capacity ot 10 tons. A Buckeye automatic cut-off engine of 60 horse-power operates the blower, tumbling barrels and other machinery, consisting of drills, bolt cutters, taps, &c., used in finishing. The core-oven is 17 feet long, and is fitted with a railroad track, so that an iron car can be loaded with cores, pushed in, and after the cores are baked it is drawn out, saving the handling of the cores. A specialty of light fine castings is made by these works, and their products are consequently of a miscellaneous character, forms, steps, round-house hoods, &e. The remainder of the structure, 60 feet | deep by 132 feet long, is the molding- room, extending a hight of 50 feet in the | large size. running from hardware to piano frames, embracing door hangers, fire-escape plat- The manufacture of the latteris especially diffi- cult, as the castings are very thin yet of To be used in connection with clear in the center and 30 feet on the sides. | these hoods cylindrical pipes are cast run- This room is unusually light, and its hight |ning from 2 to 6 feet in enables a hanging floor, 40 feet by 60 feet, |to be constructed on each side, midway | between the roof and the ground. | floors are suspended from the roof and are | also partly supported by heavy trusses ex- | tending along their inside edges between | | | | | length, 20 inches in diameter and but } inch thick. Although composed of voung men, the These | firm are doing very creditable work, over- coming difficulties which have prevented older establishments from rendering entire success to their patrons. ~ | nee tt heh sm a OE es ne sonnei = N . at 7? A Le J dee Ae SI 2p LEGA ae 7 428 THE IRON AGE. March 21, 1889 Universal Milling Machine Attach- | at an angle bevel gears may be cut. Spur ments. In our issue of January 17, 1889, we de- | scribed and illustrated a universal milling | machine built by Pedrick & Ayer, Phila- delphia, In this issue we present several engravings intended to show the method of working several important attachments. In Fig. 1 the cutter arbor supporting bar is run out, and is provided with center support and bracing harness, which prevent any tremor of the bar. On the arbor is a 12-inch inserted tooth mill, suitable for milling and sizing out between flanges of castings, &c. The harness is also used when large cutters are placed a long dis- tance from the spindle, or when heavy bor- ing is done. The slots in the braces (these are upside down in the cut) allow the platen to be raised or lowered by simply loosening the two screws. The four fol- lowing cuts show the work that may be done with the vertical or angular attach- gears up to 5 feet in diameter can be cut | with this attachment. Fig. 2 shows the at- tachment arranged for drilling holes par- allel with the platen. In Fig. 3 a Y-block is being milled at an angle of 90°, the horizontal feed being used. By usin other tools the whole piece can be finishe with one chucking except the base. Fig. 4 shows how angle cutters can be milled and bevel gears cut. The index head can be turned around to anyangle. With work held in a chuck, hollow mills, counter bores and a great variety of tools can be cut in this position. The index has a circular base, with a graduated plate with a tongue fitted to slot in milling machine platen. When in use for ordinary straight milling a spring pin holds the head square ; for angular work the pin is pulled out of position from the bottom index-plate, which is divided into 360 divisions—a feature that will be appreciated. The head is centered to bottom plate by a king angle. The jaws, of hardened steel, are 8 inches, with a depth of 2 inches, open- ing 54 inches. Fig. 6 represents the ma- chine used as a horizontal boring mill. By extending cutter arbor supporting bar and using a fixture with bushings to receive the boring bar holes 12 inches deep can be bored out. By substituting a traveling head boring bar with an automatic feed on the outer end cylinders from 8 to 14 inches can be readily bored out. The knee platen and bearings are of sufficient strength to support heavy weights, and the machine has power enough to drive the bar with heavy cuts. Electric Welding. By invitation of H. A. Royce, general manager of the Thomson Welding Com- pany, of Lynn, Mass., members of the Boston press witnessed an interesting ex- hibition of electric welding at the station of the Malden Electric Company, Malden, Fig. 1. UNIVERSAL MILLING ment, which is secured to the head of the | bolt, and is held to platen in its v. rious | machine by four bolts. It is driven by a socket fixed in the spindle of the milling machine, which is key-seated to fit the keyed stud in the attachment. Through Fig. 2. MACHINE ATTACHMENTS, BUILT BY PEDRICK & AYER. itions by two steel bolts and clamps. e spindle is of steel, 3 inches in diam- eter, threaded to receive a chuck-plate; it | has a taper reamed hole through it from 2 | Mass., on Monday evening, March 4th. The following ex ents were success- fully made on three machines of graduated capacity, welding ¥,-inch copper rod, 4- inch brass rod, 4-inch iron rod, 1-inch the medium of a mae of miter-wheels this | to 1} inches at small end. The worm and | iron rod, 2-inch iron rod and 2-inch iron stud drives a spin £ vertical attachment. This spindle is geared with a shaft in line with it, which is utilized as a cutter or saw arbor for j ' cutting racks, sawing up stock, &c. This | shaft runs in bronze bearings, and can be removed from the attachment by means of the two clamp-screws in the clamp bear- | ings. This attachment can be used either vertically, horizontally, or at any angle around the center, the base being gradu- ated to register its position, Cutter arbors or boring bars can be used in either end of the main spindle. For rack-cutting there is no limit as to length, while for | boring or milling castings of irregular shape or troubiesome to hold in other tools it will be found very useful. In cutting large gears the cutter spindle is placed vertically and the index head at right angles to the platen. The gear blank is then fed in line with the main spindle of the milling machine, By setting the platen| the milling or planing of work at an} le at right angles to the | worm-wheel are accurately made and com-| pipe pensating for wear. For cutting em the worm gets its motion from a pair of | spiral gears instead of miter or bevel gears; they are inclosed to exclude the chips and | dirt; the index wheel is also completely | covered for the same purpose. Spirals, | either right or left, can be cut. Bevel | gears and bevel cutters can be cut on this | head with the vertical aud angular attach- | ment. The universal vise shown as an attachment in Fig. 5 is adapted to swing from a horizontal to a vertical plane or at any angle therein. A graduated plate, with a central stud, fills the hole in the base of the vise, enabling it to be set at any angle. It can be held in any position on the trunnion by clamping the body of the vise with the two nuts shown in the | cut. A graduated dial on the trunnion, marked by degrees, gives the angle to | which the vise can be thrown, facilitating } The operation consumed from 8 to 75 seconds, according to the size of the pieces welded. To show the of the weld, a rod was twisted until it broke, but not at the welding t. The weld- ing plant consists of a dynamo of special construction, wound for supplying alter- nating currents of 300 volts potential, and three welders or welding coils, which are so constructed as to transform the currents supplied by the dynamo into currents of very low electric motive force. The weld- ers consist of a core of iron composed of _ disks of sheet iron bolted firmly together, through the center of which passes a cop- per tube, constituting the secondary of the machine. Coils of fine copper wire are then inserted through the tube or second- ary and over the core of iron, the fine coils forming the primary of the machine. The currents from the dynamo are sent through the primary coil, and by induction heavy welding currents of low electric-motive SE a ; : ee ae FM owe (Gl ha & aire et — —— ae ah ee fa x x pa n ~ = . a ~ ) _ ra , a = ~ : “A = _ - 4 \ : _ ; , - ; a > SUPPLEMENT EC MME MMU 077 March 21, 1889 THE IRON AGE. 429 force are generated in the secondary. These The New Appraiser’s Stores. size of the present stores on Laight street, currents are made to pass directly through a few blocks below. The price paid is the pieces to be welded, and when the| It appears from Washington dispatches less than $500,000. When the improve- metal is heated pressure is applied and the| that the vexed question concerning the | ments contemplated by the Dock Depart- weld thereby completed. location of the appraiser's stores in this | ment on Thirteenth avenue are completed, These machines were illustrated some | city has been finally settled by a decision | between West Eleventh street and Twenty- months since in The Iron Age, but since|of the Treasury Department favoring the | third street, the new stores will front on that time they have been modified so as to | up-town location. This selection is in ac-| the river. The buildings that occupy the ri is md 6 i= fi sy» : a ea as Pe 2 a. aa a ee oe ve ~ em =F td poe 2» 2 >= } ? ’ Y aka i he ee ~ ee ee ee eee See a2: ES ee) | B ee — > an ee Fig. 5. Fig. 6. UNIVERSAL MILLING MACHINE ATTACHMENTS, BUILT BY PEDRICK & AYER. be scarcely recognizable. They now are | cordance with the recommendations of the adapted for riveting, forging, and shaping | New York Chamber of Commerce, and|Card Company, T. & R. Patterson, lumber metals. Three of the machines are to be | the contract for the purchase of the site| dealers; the De la Vergne Refrigerator sent to the Paris Exhibition, together | now made is the conclusion of negotiations | Machine Company, the Whiting Putty and with an interesting collection of samples | pending when Mr. Fairchild vacated his| Paint Works, W. H. Dougherty & Co.’s showing the work done. Mr. Royce pre-| office. Nothing remains but to perfect | iron works, a box factory, a rubber-paint sented to the gentlemen present a souvenir | the title and erect the necessary buildings. | works and John J. Budd. The frontage of the occasion in the shape of a single bar | The site purchased is the block bounded | on West street is 285 feet depth, on Beth- composed of copper, brass, German silver | by West, Bank, Bethune and Washington | une street 360, on Washington street 230 and iron welded together by the electric | streets, convenient to the wharves of the | and on Bank 370, and the area is about process, | principal steamship lines, and is twice the | 93,000 square feet, or over two acres. The site at present are tenanted by the Star . + et ke ve - \ \ _ i - PD eae — -430 THE IRON AGE. March 21, 1889 decision now reached must commend it- self to the judgment of all merchants who have observed the tendency of the foreign commerce of the port to concentrate on the North River side of the city, midway be- tween the upper and lower sections and at a point not far removed from the promi- nent business center. It now becomes of the first importance to erect a structure commensurate with the requirements, present and prospective, of the leading commercial emporium of the United States, one that shall be not only commodious but practically indestructible by fire or the lapse of time, and which shall command every facility for transacting business ex peditiously and at the minimum of ex- pense. Architectural effect is a minor con- sideration, but cannot be whoily ignored, a W. B. Belknap. Few men not in public life had so wide a circle of acquaintance, and few in any station have been more sincerely mourned than William B. Belknap, whose death is announced at Louisville, Ky., February 24, in the 78th year of hisage. Prominent as he has been in mercantile and manufact- uring enterprise in the West and South, he was socially almost as well known in the ast, whither his journeyings in search of health and necessary recreation frequently brought him in his later years. Mr. Belknap’s early life intimately asso- ciated with the first beginnings of the great iron manufacturing industiy of | Pittsburgh. He was of the family that gave to the world the well-known Dr. Jeremy Belknap, the historian of New Hampshire. His father, Morris B. Belknap, who as well as the son was born in Brim- field, Mass., was a man of versatile talent. While by preference devoted to science, he studied at one time law and at another time divinity at Harvard College. But more than all he was impelled by that spirit of restless activity which Washing- ton Irving so humorously describes as characteristic of the typical Yankee. Mar- ried in 1807, he moved in the same year to the frontier at Marietta, Ohio, where he knew intimately both Aaron Burr and Blennerhassett, visiting the latter at his island home, and leaving on record his be- lief that the famous ‘‘ Burr’s Expedition ” was not undertaken with any treasonable intent. From Marietta he went to Lexing- ton, Ky., and returned to Brimfield in 1810. From Brimfield he moved again to Worces- ter, Mass., where the strong bent of his mind toward science and mechanics led him to engage in manufacturing. Still another move was made in 1816, when he went to Pittsburgh, Pa., where at once, without previous experience in anything of the kind, with no models before him, and without skilled assistance, he set him- self to what became his life-work, the con- struction of furnaces and rolling mills. The first rolling mills of Pittsburgh were built under his supervision, and there still exists at least one of his structures, which with little if any alterationis running and doing good work to this very day. The so-called skilled workmen that were im- ported from England proved so incapable that Mr. Belknap was forced to take the tools from their hands and show them— and he showed them sucessfully—how to | do what he himself had never seen done. After 11 years of sound, honest work Pittsburgh was fairly started, with no small obligation to this man’s genius, on the road to manufacturing wealth, and it was time for another move. He heard of | the rich mineral deposits that lined the shore of the Cumberland and Tennessee rivers. He started for Nashville, where, armed with cordial letters from Andrew Jackson, whom he visited at the Hermit- age, he proceeded alone and on horse- land Mountains and other portions of the State. Asa result of his investigation re- ported to the bankers Yeatman, Woods & Co., of Nashville, the latter gentlemen determined to erect furnaces and a rolling mill in Stewart County, and here the sub- ject of our sketch, Wm. B. Belknap, was called upon at the early age of 16 to begin his long and successful business career. His father had left his wife and six children, of whom William was the oldest, at their country home on Pine Creek, near Pittsburgh, while he was prospecting in Tennessee. William was going to school to the Rev. Jos. Stockton, in Allegheny, but doubtless he had got the most valua- ble part of his education at play among the driving wheels and rolls of his father’s big mills, which he had watched him con- struct and put into operation. He wasal- ready in his early teens a sort of pater Jamilias, and the younger children looked up to him as they continued to do through life. The order came to him from his dis- tant father to select and purchase the ma- chinery for an iron furnace, and to come to him from Pittsburgh, bringing with him machinery, household furniture, fam- ily and all. Onecan well believe that that must have been an extraordinary youth such a formidable task. But the machin- ery was judiciously bought, and the lad, with his valuable freight, animate and in- animate, was soon voyaging down tae Ohio. He left behind him delightful memories of his school days and of his in- timate fellowship with other bright boys, like his lifelong cronies, Geo. K. Shoen- berger, of Cincinnati, and John H. Shoen- berger, of Pittsburgh, weighty names sub- sequently in the iron industry and in the development of those great cities. He kept a warm corner in his heart always for his boyhood friends, and those friend- ships became subsequently an important factor in his business career. Reaching the falls of the Ohio at Louis- ville, where there was then no canal, the boat had to be relieved of her cargo to enable her to pass the rapids. Young Bel- knap saw to the unloading of his heavy machinery, to its carting through Louis- ville to below the falls, and finally to its loading again at Shippingport. It was a tedious job, taking two or three days be- fore the boat was again on her way to the mouth of the Cumberland. The landing place on the Cumberland River—no town, but a ferry crossing only—was reached in the night-time, and our schoolboy deliv- ered the family furniture and the machin- ery all safe and sound to his father, await- ing their arrival on the river bank. But Dr. Joseph Stockton’s pupil was no schoolboy now. No university could have educated him so fast as that trip down the river. When he arrived at that river landing he was already a man, and ready to do a man’s part in the world. For two years he assisted his father, disbursed the money | and attended to much of the business in- cident to building and running several furnaces, which, including the Hillman and other leading charcoal furnaces, are still in operation and noted for the quality of their iron. He was feeling advanced /and mature, we can imagine, when he at- | tained his nineteenth birthday, and, know- ing that his father would keep on all his life buiiding furnaces and rolling mills for | sheer love of it, he obtained permission to mount a horse and seek his fortune wher- | ever it might be awaiting him. He found it for the time being at Hick- |man, Ky., then called Mill’s Point, on the Mississippi River, about 40 miles below | Cairo—a fertile but then unwholesome section, where he made money in merchan- dising, but lost his health. At first in busi- ness for himself, he subsequently associ- jated himself with two young men from Louisville, Ky., and, expanding their op- on whom a father could venture to impose | at Moscow, and still another later at Vicksburg, Miss., of both of which Mr. Belknap had charge. In a few years a snug little fortune, as was supposed, had been made for all the members of the firm, and Mr. Belknap sold out to his partners; but before a settlement could be made the fierce financial revulsion of 1838 swept over the country, and the three young men who had thought themselves passing rich were wholly bankrupt. His bankrupt debts Mr. Belknap subsequently dis- charged dollar for dollar, as fast as he could earn money to pay them. It is not an unmixed evil for a young business man to be roundly bankrupted early in his career. It is better to have lost and paid than never to have lost at all. Mr. Belknap’s money was gone, but a valuable lesson remained, which enabled him to weather subsequent financial storms with hardly the loss of a spar. And now he must wander, like his father before him. He goes to Texas, then to St. Louis and to Cincinnati; but finally, in 1840, he set- tles down in Louisville, Ky., as agent of his boyhood friends, G. K. & J. H. Shoen- berger, of Pittsburgh. In 1843 he married Miss Mary Richard- son, daughter of William Richardson, president of the Northern Bank of Ken- |tucky. In 1847, having prospered in busi- ness, he bought, in conjunctivn with Capt. T. C. Coleman, a partly built rolling mill, which they completed and entered upon the manufacture of iron of such superior excellence as speedily built up a reputation all over the South and laid the foundation for several Louisville fortunes. His sepa- rate merchant business of iron and heavy hardware was kept uv under the firm name of W. B. Belknap & Co., in which he was associated with his brother, Mr. Morris L. Belknap. The firm has since expanded into the corporation of W. B. Belknap & Co., managed by his sons and his son-in-law, and well known as one of the most im- portant hardware houses south of the Ohio River. His mature life has been identified with the development of Louisville. Caring nothing for publie honors, he was earnestly devoted to its welfare. No new scheme for promoting it wisely could be broached, as by charitable institutions, by libraries, by manufacturing enterprises, large or small, to which he was not ready to give both his money and his time He was active in the Sanitary Commission, the Refugee Commission and other beneficent agencies of the war period. He was never afraid of the laboring oar. His charities | were constant, but quiet always and avoid- ing publicity. He was especially fond of intellectual companionship, and few men of distinguished merit visited Louisville without receiving invitation to his hos- | pitable board. During the war, in which ihe earnestly espoused the Union side, he virtually kept open house for the brilliant |throng of federal officers of whom Louis- _ville was headquarters. The list of those /entertained by him would embrace the |most distinguished names that illumined the battle-fields of the Southwest, from |Grant, Sherman, and Thomas down |through a multitude of worthy subordi- ‘nates. All over the Union are men who will long remember the gracious figure of | their host—for Mr. Belknap was a man of strikingly handsome and dignified appear- ance, and the most courteous manners based upon innate refinement and goodness of heart. It is pleasant to think that in his old age he had all that can best console declining years, as ‘‘ honor, love, observ- ‘ance, troops of friends.” " = = C. P. Huntington, the railroad magnate, is credited with having bought 1,000,000 acres of land in Lower California, where he is building a railroad, and is said to _contemplate adevelopment of that section back to explore the spurs of the Cumber-! erations, a branch house was established ! of « ountry. March 21, 1889 THE IRON AGE. 431 The Buffalo Exhaust Fan. The peripheral portion of the shell or case of this fan is cast in one piece, to which the center plates are fitted, metal to metal, without the interposition of any foreign substance whatever. The Buffalo Forge Company, ot Buffalo, N. Y., the makers of this fan, claim as the result of this construction that the fan is practi- cally one*piece, and that, under any serv- ice, the bearings must always be in per- fect alignment with the rest of the ma- chine. The journals are long and heavy and are supported by the arm having planed surfaces fitted accurately to the body of the fan. By a perfected system of gauges and templates it is claimed the | jectiles fired at them at a distance of 30 feet from the muzzle, but the compound armor showed the best results. Mill. LT — A New Brass We have alluded in the past to the fact that a new brass mill is in course of con- struction at Bridgeport, Conn., by the Alu- minium Brass and Bronze Company. Those identified with it are men long connected with the metal industry of the Naugatuck Valley, the president being Frederick J. Kingsbury; the treasurer, William Powe, for many years with the Ansonia Brass | and Copper Company; the secretary, Jr., and the me- Frederick J. Kingsbury, carry a pressure of 125 pounds per square inch. In immediate proximity to it is to be the 1000 horse-power compound en- gine, the largest yet constructed by the builders, Watts, Campbell & Co., of New- ark, N. J. The main shaft of this engine drives the seven sheet trains, which are located in the main building, which is 267 x 84 feet. The wire rod train is placed in the lower right hand L, 76 x 70 feet, which also contains two heating furnaces. The main engine drives also “the slitting ma- chine and the wire-drawing benches, which are placed along one wal: of the main building. The muffle-room, 120 x 84 feet, is located in the upper left hand L, the | shipping-room, 51 x 60 feet, being along- | side of it. The independent structure THE BUFFALO different parts of the fan are so well pro- portioned and fitted each to the other that at the highest speed there is practically no vibration. Both bearings of the exhaust | fan are on one side, leaving the inlet en- tirely unobstructed. eR Charles A. Ashburner has just submitted tothe United State Geological Survey a preliminary statement showing that the total production of coal of all kinds in- creased from 129,975,557 short tons in 1887 to 145,363,744 tons in 1888. The value in 1887 was $182, 55 96,837, which in- creased to $208, 129.806 in 1888. In} the trials on board the Nettle, at Portsmouth, England, to determine relative efficiegcy of compound (or steel- faced iron) armor and solid steel, two samples of compound and eight of solid steel armor were tested. Two of the solid EXHAUST FAN, BUILT BY the THE | chanical superintendent, Charles 8. Morse, who has also extended experience in brass |}manufacture. Dr. Leonard Waldo is elec- trical engineer. The principal aim will be to produce a high grade of sheets, rods and wire, with the aid of silicon and aluminium alloys, under the Cowles pat- ents. The plant is located on an 8-acre tract on the Housatonic Railroad and the Pequannock River, and is expected to be in operation toward the end of May or early in June. The main buildings are now completed, being of brick, with a very handsome iron roof built by the Berlin Bridge Company, of East Berlin, Conn. The buildings have the following form: nee. The L on the lower left, which is 58 x 64 feet, contains six boilers built by William 10-inch plates withstood the Palliser pro- | Lowe, of the Bridgeport Boiler Works, to D BUFFALO FORGE COMPANY. shown in the sketch has the casting-room, the metal storeroom, and the cabbaging- room in an upper floor, the cabagging be- ing the compression of scrap by hydraulic presses preliminary to its introduction into the melting pots with new stock. Beginning at the casting house, which is 153 x 62, and contains 40 furnaces, one of the main features as a departure from the ordinary practice is that the slabs and bars cast will not be raised from the pit, but will be allowed to drop into the story below, thus avoiding a good deal of labor. They are carried directly to the rolling mill in cars, the track being on the same level. In its rolling mill practice the new works will differ very widely from the generally accepted methods. Aluminium and silicon bronze and brass are considerably harder than the corresponding common alloys. The company propose first to adopt a combination of the brass and copper practice—that is, it is the intention to break ee A ne ?) 7A AN im ¥ if LL, Ps fF, A 432 THE IRON AGe. March 21, 1889 down hot and finish cold. Then their ma- Automatic Steam Hammer. side. The makers of this hammer, the chinery is designed much stronger than is ——— ; Knoxville Car Wheel Company, of Knox- usual, and will be run at higher speed.| In the steam hammer here illustrated | ville, Tenn., in addition to the special dies It is being built by the Waterbury-Farrell | the frame, or housing, where the anvil|can also furnish dies for making railroad Foundry and Machine Company, of Water- | passes through is bored true to receive the | coupling pins. bury, Conn., of whose work the company | top of the anvil, which is turned off to fit. ; ngs . speaks in strong terms, and the Farrell | The advantage gained by having tle ram | The Atkinson Car Spring Works, of Foundry, of Ansonia. The rolls are being | and anvil in line will be readily seen; all' Chicago, are in no way disconcerted at the made by the A. Garrison Foundry Com- | that is required in making the dies for suits recently brought against them by pany, of Pittsburgh, Pa. The two heat- ing furnaces for the hot rolling are located in the L in which the rod train is placed. The capacity of the plant fully employed is rated at about 6,000,000 pounds of | sheets and rods and about 1,500,000 pounds | of wire. The company are building a dock | on the river, and are dredging a channel, which will enable them to handle the neces- sary coal readily. A well is being sunk into which river water for the condensers will be conducted. The plant was located at Bridgeport, after mature reflection over the possible advantages offered—for instance, by the cheap fuel of the West. It was not placed in the Naugatuck Valley chiefly because of the additional cost of coal. At Bridge- port the plant is close to the great metal manufacturing points in Connecticut, and there is little trouble in drawing from the population of skilled workmen the neces- sary supply of labor. A departure in the direction of methodical work will be the establishment of a chemical and me- chanical laboratory. The Aluminium Brass and Bronze Com- pany have adopted the use of Cowles alloys after thorough study of their char- acteristics, being convinced of their greater strength and their resistance to corrosion. A series of very interesting tests has been made with silicon bronze wire for electrical purposes. A wire 0.0632 inch in diameter, weighing 64 pounds to the mile, and a re- sistance of 23.8 ohms to the mile, showed a tensile strength of 262 pounds and an elongation of 2.4 per cent., and under- went from 110 to 126 twists. The princi- yal advantage of such silicon bronze wire is that there is less trouble in handling it and that the number of poles, one of the great items of cost, is greatly reduced. It is stated that while the number of poles for hard drawn copper wire ranges between 36 and 43 per mile, the poles carrying silicon wire may be placed 1000 feet apart. — — — The following analyses of ores from the mines of the_Bluffton (ATa.) Land, Ore and Furnace Company were made by J. H. Pratt, of Birmingham, Ala. : ' ial bP Se ae . 26a 52 et cfs ax => S85 €ES Gat =< =s \o S5=5 , ve oe .=RS PS ad oa mM « -_ x =a v 4) 79.97 84.16 83.20 78.71 Silica and sand.. 52, 6.75 2.86, 2.69 4.97 Phosphoric acid. . 19} 2.34| 2.31) 2.06| 2.77 Water combined... 10.74 11.02 11.15 10.95 10.80 Moisture at 100°C., 0.99 0.32 0.65 0.60 0.60 Ferric oxide. ~~ =“ | (lay Bank. Metallic iron......| 54.88 55.98) 58.91) 58.24 55.10 Phosphorus... . 0.52; 1.02} 1.01} 0.90) 1.21 The principal development thus far has been made at the Clay Bank. Mr. G. L. Walker, of Plymouth Foun- GUILD’S AUTOMATIC STEAM HAMMER, dry Company, Plymouth, Mass., has re- cently‘returned from a two-months’ trip to the Pacific Coast. Mr. Walker combined | .,.cial work is tomake them true to the] residents of the neighborhood for main- business and pleasure and enjoyed a satis- shank of the die, when they will come| taining anuisance. President F. M. Atkin- factory amount of both. exactly in line. The ordinary die can/ son states that these suits have been insti- also be turned around to any angle desired. | gated by parties having ulterior motives, A jury at Greensburg, Pa., gave a verdict | The valve is a simple piston having two| which will be demonstrated in due time. of $4798 against Carnegie Brothers, the | packing rings. The steam-chest is lined | The condition of the works has been in- amount of damage done to a fruit farm by | with a brass bushing formed with a series | vestigated by the Board of Health, in ac- smoke caused by burning coke on lands|of holes drilled to correspond with the| cordance with the complaints made, and adjacent. Judge Hunter ruled that inas-| annular recess in the steam-chest. This| the officers found that fish oil was not much as the coal used for the manufacture | construction obviates the necessity of pro-| being used for tempering, and that care of said coke was not mined on the premises, | jecting the post and gives a free passage | was taken by the company to avoid the but shipped there from other localities, | for the steam. The valve is balanced and | creation of disagreeable odors by having the company, he believed, was liable for | very easy to handle, while it may be easily | the tanks covered with exhaust fans draw- any damage done the plaintiff's property. | got at, as all its connections are on the out-| ing off the fumes. Gas furnaces are used el March 21, 1889 THE IRON AGE. for heating the steel, so that but little smoke is made by the works. The ham- mers complained of are very light, the heaviest being but 80 pounds, so that not much jarring could be done by them. The absurdity of the charges brought against these works is shown by the fact that they are located in a district almost wholly given up to manufacturing. They are surrounded by malt houses, distilleries, tanneries, rolling mills, &c., all making morg or less smoke, many yielding stenches of the most disagreeable character, and | some being exceedingly noisy. The suits entered have been appealed, steps have been taken to check further prosecutions, the company’s operations have not been interfered with, and the pecuniary con- sequences have been insignificant. This statement is due to the company in view | of the sensational reports which have been published concerning them. = Locked Wire Rope. E. G. Spilsbury, managing director of the Trenton [ron Company, Trenton, N. J., presented at the New York meeting that they may be readily designed to meet the requirements of every particular case and that the flexibility may be in- creased by the method adopted in laying up the rope. The total tensile strength of the locked rope represents a higher per- centage of the aggregate tensile strength of the individual wires. The weight per foot for the same size is of course greater than that of the ordinary wire rope, being about 50 per cent. more. It is pointed out, however, that the greater bearing power will allow of a smaller size of rope. The cost of the locked rope is about double that of the ordinary stranded rope, but it is claimed that increased life compensates for it. Some of the data aaihened during years of use in English collieries point to this conclusion. On the score of safety the fact is em- | phasized that when one wire breaks it is not loose, but being locked by its neigh- bors, merely tends to create an irregularity at the socket and gives timely warning of its condition. On long ropes the lessened weight through greater strength is an im- | portant consideration. In mines it lessens the dead-weight and allows of going to greater depth without heavier engines, or SPECIMENS OF ef the American Institute of Mining En- gineers a paper on the’locked wire rope in- vented by an English firm—George Elliott & Co.—and introduced into this country by the Trenton Iron Company. In ordi- nary wire rope, flexibility can only be se- cured by making the number of wires to the strand large and by choosing a small gauge of wire. The result is that the wear of the rope is limited practically to less than one-half of the diameter of the indi- vidual wire. The outside wires—those which come into contact with the wearing surfaces—are those which determine its life. A serious source of wear is that the rope running over a sheave is apt to cause the formation on its face of diagonal grooves. When the rope does not happen to raise up to match these grooves, it slips into them, causing additional abrasion. In ordinary ropes, too, a broken wire in the strand is apt to curl up. With cable trac- tion rope, there is danger that it clogs the grip of the cable rods. he Elliott locked rope differs in its const