The Iron Age 1892-05-05: Vol 49

‘THE IRON AGE A Novel Type of Open-Hearth Furnace. The open-hearth furnace shown in ac- companying engravings was the outcome of a situation at the works of the Linden Steel Company, Pittsburgh, which did not permit the erection of a standard Siemens ‘in a | ies Ree A) Ney Lies aes Fig. 1.—Vertical Section through Ports. Up dA AA SH SU THuurRspDAY, May 5, 1892, stood on each side of it. 4. The width of the new furnace (length of regenerators) was limited on one side by the casting pit, and on the other side by the stack, both of which it was desired to utilize for the new furnace. With this situation, being limited in depth, hight, width and length, the Lin- Fig. 2.—Front Elevation. would pass through them in a vertical direction, so as to secure the utmost efficiency from the checker work, and locate the reversing valves low enough to secure a good natural draft and obviate the use of blast, and these results have been obtained by the method adopted, which is, as far as known, original with Fig. 3.—Vertical Section through Melting Chamber. ie ' hates ahorcado oy SS SS NY ota ot oar ot eer roy sy oro ANN AES SEE a Fig. 4.—Vertical Section through Air Ports and Air Regenerator. A NOVEL furnace of the capacity desired. This sit- uation can be briefly stated as follows: 1. A furnace built exclusively for natural gas occupied the place in the steel plant where it was intended to locate the new furnace, and the ladle crane and charging floor for this furnace were so arranged that it was n that any furnace which replaced it should have its tapping spout and charging floor on the same levels as on the natural gas furnace. 2. The depth below the floor level to which the new furnace could go was limited by the water line. 3. The length of the new furnace was limited by Nos. 1 and 3 furnaces, which den Steel Company asked Alex. Laughlin & Co., engineers and contractors, Pitts- burgh, to submit plans and specifications for a furnace suitable to the location, which would have a es of 25 tons of steel per heat, and would perform its work in a satisfactory manner. The plans sub- mitted are those shown in the accompany- ing engravings, and the furnace built from them by the designers has now been in successful operation for several months. In designing this furnace, the aim was to so construct the regenerators that while they would be horizontal (as the nature of the location dictated) the air and gas TYPE OF OPEN-HEARTH FURNACE. the designers, and here, it is thought, lies the key to the good working of the furnace. While the furnace has not been running long enough to speak with any confidence as to its life, it is believed that the con- struction is such that the repairs will com- pare favorably with any type of open- hearth steel furnace, as the melting cham- ber is supported entirely independent of the regenerator arches, which should cer- tainly prolong the life of these arches, and the melting chamber itself is as strong as brick and iron can make it. It is not claimed that the success of this furnace will revolutionize the construction 858 of open-hearth furnaces, but it is claimed that it admirably overcomes the difficulties in location it was designed to overcome, and where similar conditions obtain it will certainly be a very useful type of furnace, Fig. 5.—Ground Plan. | A and one which will give a good account of itself. a ____ Commerce with Southern Countries. Neglected opportunities for trade in South America and Mexico form the sub- ject of a conversation with Heiliger We- gant of New York, who has just arrived in Chicago from a tour in those countries, and is quoted by one of the local papers as follows: ‘‘What I was most struck with was the way in which we Americans have neglected commerce in those countries. Never till I made a personal inspection had I an idea of the shortsightedness of American merchants. We might just as well be selling millions more annually to our Southern neighbors than we do. The bulk of trade is, of course, in the hands of the Germans, French and English. Among the ladies of Rio de Janeiro, Paris NOVEL THE IRON AGE. fashions are adopted and Parisian houses | needs of the have established magnificent stores. En. glish dress goods, too, are largely bought. The Germans have an immense trade on staples and the common necessities of life. TYPE OF OPEN-HEARTH Fig. 7.—Vertical Section through Regenerators, In the provinces German merchants cer- tainly control the bulk of trade. They know how to get at it. Most of the part- ners of to-day were the clerks of years ago. They have studied the peculiar cles. and sell by sample or photograph. Your German merchant, having studied his sub- ject, has his goods on hand to supply at May 5, 1899 eople and supplied the arti- Now, Americans will go down there Fig. 6.—Horizontal Section. FURNACE, He establishes a confidence and extends credit. Americans won’t do this, and thereby they lose trade. In the City of Mexico practically the same state of affairs exists, except that, for instance, our machinery finds favor down there. A Chicago firm recently furnished the first fast printing press ever used by the Mexi- can ‘Government. The engineer who de- signed the machine went down there to set it up, and spent six weeks in trying to in- struct a machinist how to run: the press. Those fellows don’t take kindly. to intri- cate machinery until thé knowledge of i is hammered into them.” Bs dcnustceenhiiellitine tatiana Foreigners, notwithstanding their large investments, are not getting entire control of the large American railways, The re- port of the Union Pacific Company shows that the foreign holdings of stock are but little larger than they were two years ago. short notice. ae eer eT et EE nae Te ES Sie rss Mn eel — oe, JES ales SIO PSE a May 5, 1892 The Duty on ‘Castings of Iron.” The Board of United States General Appraisers at New York, on the 23d ult., rendered the following decision in the matter of protests of Pau) Schlossmann against the decision of the Collector of Customs at Philadelphia, as to the rate and amount of duties chargeable on cer- tain manufactures of metal (hosiery ma- chines), imported per Ithamo, Castlegate, Castlehil] and Athalie, on October 6 and 27, November 24 and December 30, 1891. The opinion was signed by Gen- eral Appraisers W. F. Lunt, J. B. Wilkin- son, Jr., and Charles H. Ham, and was delivered by Mr. Wilkinson. It is as follows: The goods covered by the protests are cast-iron parts of knitting machines for hosiery. These parts were packed sepa- rately, and were separately invoiced and entered. They were assessed for duty at 45 per cent., and are claimed by the ap- pel'apt to be dutiable as ‘‘ castings of iron,” at 1%; cents a pound, under para- graph 161, N. T. The question for determination is the copnstructicn to be placed upon the term ‘‘ castings of iron.’ At the hearing of the case the importers contended that the pro- vision in paragraph 161 for *' castings of iron * covers all articles made of cast iron not otherwise provided for. It was ar- gued, on the other hand, that the term should be confined strictly to the products of the foundry. Were the importers correct in their claim that all articles made of cast iron are dutiable as castings of iron, various parts of many machines would be entitled to entry at a duty amounting to less than 1 per cent. ad volorem. In cotton and woolen mills, for instance, certain cast- iron parts weighing 1 pound or 2 are val- ued at several dollars. The castings, as they come from the foundry, cost less than 6 cents, but the increased value results from labor in the machine shop. There is nothing in the tariff to indicate that any castings provided for are highly finished articles. In paragraph 136 ‘‘ castings” are referred to as articles more advanced than pig iron but less finished than iron in bars. The only articles specially enumerated in paragraph 161 are cast-iron vessels, plates, stove plates, andirons, sadirons, tailors’ irons and hatters’ irons. Some of these articles are complete as they leave the molders’ hands, and on none of them is labor a significant element of cost. It may be fairly presumed, also, that the ob- ject of naming such articles as sadirons in the provision for castings was because Congress did not believe that articles that had undergone a process of grinding and polishing would otherwise be embraced within the provisiun. The metal schedule is one of the most carefully framed schedules in the tariff. The rates range with comparative uniform- ity between 30 and 50 per cent. ad valorem. No argument is required to show that it was not the intention of Congress to admit any manufacture of iron at a rate of duty lower than a fraction of 1 per cent. ad val- orem. In the present case the parts of the machine are not highly wrought, and the difference between the rate claimed and that assessed is not so great. But the principle involved is the same. To accept the importer’s definition, that castings of iron are simply articles made of cast iron, would be almost equivalent to giving the most costly part of some machines the benefit of the free list. In some paragraphs of the tariff it is true that the phraseology gives an effect not intended by Congress, but in this in- stance we think that the intent of Congress is not expressed in ambiguous language. There is abundant evidence to show, and it is to our personal knowledge, that ‘‘ iron THE IRON AGE. 859 castings ” is a commercial term descriptive of a well-known and easily-defined class of merchandise. Webster makes a distinction between a casting and cast iron. Casting is defined as ‘*‘ that which is cast isa mold, .. . as a casting in iron,” and cast iron as ‘*made of cast iron.” The trade definition of a casting is the same as that of Webster, but commercially a casting does not lose its designation as a casting, even when its gates and other excrescences have been chipped off, and when it has been cleaned, pickled or rumbled. In such a condition it is bought, sold and universally known in trade as a casting. But when a product of the foundry has been finished or fitted by a machinist into an implement, ma- chine or part of a machine, it is no longer known technically, popularly or commer- cially as a casting, but enters into another class of manufactures of iron. In the present case we find: 1. That the articles in question are made of cast iron. 2. That they have been wrought by various processes of skilled labor, such as planing, turning, drilling, reaming, grinding and polishing, into parts of a hosiery machine. 3. That they are not commercially known as castings of iron. Upon these findings the protests are overruled, and the decision of the Collector is hereby affirmed. All previous rulings of the board in conflict are hereby modified to accord with this decision. caiatnieinniiangiiaiiaaicnaiaaea The First Two-High Reversing Train. We find the following interesting com- munication from John E. Fry in. the Bul- letin of the American Iron and Steel Asso- ciation: Referring to the communication pub- lished in the last number of the Bulletin, written by Wm. Kent, the fact is over- looked that whatever honor attaches to the erection in this country of the first two- high reversing blooming train belongs to neither the Hemphill Homestead nor the composite-Shoenberger mills*referred to. In 1878 the Cambria Iron Company of Johnstown, Pa., replaced in service the Fritz-Holley three-high blooming mill at their works in Johnstown by a two-high re- versing mill, bought at second hand from the Freedom Iron and Steel Company, and having supplemented it with traction tables of fore and-aft movement by hy- draulic power, copied from similar ones in Barrow, England, they had the very first successful working two-high reversing blooming mill in this country. The mill was originally built by Tannett, Walker & Co. of Leeds, England, and was intended to roll both rails and boiler plate. The engine and roll train were generally copied in later mills for bloom and billet rolling, and they are the chief types in use to-day, only such details as reiated to additional strength requirements and the desire of builders to introduce minor character- istic features having been changed. The Barrow system of tables was not looked upon with sufficient favor to be copied, fixed tables with driven rollers, now in general use, being preferred. This Barrow train was 42 inches pitch, the three-high Fritz-Holley train being but 30 inches, the increase being made to take an ingot 18 inches square instead of the 12-inch one of the three-high mill. The Cambria Iron Company have since in- stalled a similar mill having a pitch of 48 inches, but have abandoned the Barrow system of tables. The temporary changing of rail mills to roll billets, as has been very successfully done at the Joliet, the Allegheny and other rail works in times of dullness in the rail market, indicated the advantages to follow very radical departure, in present construction, from the ordinary type of a sss3s3S393SSS82959929999999 0989990929959 mills, above referred to, for billet rolling ; the costly manual labor of the latter and automatic operation of the former respect- ively representing, at present low prices of their product, the difference between von- siderable loss and a small net gain in their operation. The evolution of the blooming mill has been slow, no very great improvement having been made in bloom and billet rolling until within the last four or five of the 20 odd years in which rolls have been preferred for that work to the steam ham- mer, which, in the early days of steel rail making, fought so hard to hold its grip on the trade. Sr Machinery Molders in Cleveland. A committee from Iron Molder’s Union No. 218, waited upon the machinery foundry employers in Cleveland last Wednesday, and presented the scale of wages for the ensuing year. The union demands that the minimum rate of wages shall be $2.75 a day, this rate to be paid on and after May 2, 1892. The union also demands that in cases where jobs that have been madein shops under the jurisdiction of the union are taken by one firm from another by competition, thus changing the job from one shop to another, in which members of the union are employed, no increase of day’s work will be allowed. They insist that the day’s work must be the same in all shops, unless better facili- ties for molding are provided by the firm taking the contract from its competitor whose foundry is under the jurisdiction of the union. They demand that the increase of the day’s work, if any is made, shall be decided by the committee of the union in the shop, acting with the foreman of the firm, and that all such increase of day’s work must be submitted to the union at its next regular meeting by the shop com- mittee for approval. This was the ultimatum decided upon by the union after an extended considera- tion of the subject. In presenting the demand the committee stated that they believed the time had come when an ad- vance of wages should be had by the machinery molders of the city to place them ona par with the molders in other cities, and that general rules should be established governing the amount of work required from union men when jobs were taken by their employers from each other. The employers, they affirmed, by competi- tion, reduced the price of castings, expect- ing to make up the reduced profits by an increase ot the day’s work, thus throwing out of work many molders who, if no in- crease were made, would find employment. The molders believe that the demand will be granted, at least as far as the scale of wages is concerned. Incase it is refused a strike will in all probability be ordered. The proprietors of the foundries take an entirely different view of the matter. They are understood to be practically unanimous in opposing the demand made by the men. Wages now range from $2 to $3 per day. ——$———— a The completion of the Pacific extension of the Great Northern Railroad, means another through line to the coast and will open a large expanse in territory for the distribution of merchandise. The twin-screw propeller Richard Peck, to ply between New York and New Haven, was launched at the Harlan & Hollingsworth Company’s yards last week, at Wilmington, Del. The new boat is 315 feet long, 48 feet beam and 18} feet depth of hold. All the Sound routes are being equipped with a superior class of boats, both for passengers and freight. 860 Universal Grinding Machine. | This machine is intended for general | use in the tool room. The bed can be! raised and lowered quickly by means of a | band wheel and screw having two threads | to the inch. By locking the hand wheel and using a worm and worm wheel on the screw, it can be adjusted to +5}, inch. | The table swivels and will travel in avy po- | sition, from parallel with the emery shaft - oe = — - > ea = = ett = F Fig. 1.—Universal Gri to 90°, or at right angies to it. The table has a very complete arrangement for grind- ing tapers, and can be placed so as to grind parallel as well. It will also do a certain amount of surface grinding, and will grind up mandrels, sharpen milling cutters and, in fact, all kinds of grinding that can be placed on the table, on centers or in a chuck, within the capacity of the machine. The machine is provided with two counter- shafts, one to drive the wheel shaft, the other to revolve the work that is held on the centers. The table will take in 18 inches long by 64 inches diameter between centers. The spindle has holes in each end to fit Morse No. 2 taper, and the wheels are placed on taper mandrels that fit the spindle. The accompanying draw- iags show some of the applications of this machine. Fig. 2 shows the table turned at right angles with the spindle, when the cutting edges of a taper reamer can be ground. In this position surface work can be done by using the cross slide of the knee. Fig. 3 shows the table in line with spindle. In this position the top of the cutting edges of a taper reamer is ground, with the tilting table in position required Fig. 4 shows the auxiliary plate with head and chuck. In this position the flat face of a butt mill is ground, as well as other work of similar character. machine grinding a fluted reamer. Fig. 6 represents grinding cutters on a butt mill, Fig. 5 shows |i THE IRON AGE. the same being held on a shank inserted into the taper hole of the head. In the last cut the machine is grinding out a hole in a piece of work held in the chuck. This machine has just been placed on the mar- ket by Pedrick & Ayer of 1001 and 1003 Hamilton street, Philadelphia. a We have received from the Bureau of Statistics the fourteenth number of the ‘*Statistical Abstract of the United ee Ta) ) a: on eas hilt Fig. 2. nding Machine. May 5, 1892 merchant marine, population, railroads, agricultural products, tables of prices, &c, This document is one of the most valuable of the series issued by the Government, and increases in interest yearly. aimnenineeeneiliitinee The First Foundry in Chicago. Howard Louis Conard, in the Magazine of Western History, says that the first iron foundry located in Chicago was established and operated by William H. Stow, who —Table at Right Angles to Spindle, Fig. 3.—Grinding Taper Reamer. UNIVERSAL GRINDING MACHINE, States,” which is brought down to the close of the fiscal year 1891. This volume is larger than those of previous years, num- bering 344 pages. The contents cover de- tails of public revenue and expenditures, national debt, State and county debts, commercial failures, customs and internal revenue, money circulation, national banks, savings banks, exchanges and clear- ing houses, production of gold and silver, mineral production, exports and imports in great detail, immigration, tonnage of the became identified with the town in 1834 and resided there continuously up to the date of his death, August 18, 1881. He was born in Log City, now known as Hamilton, New York State, in 1809. At a somewhat early age he went to Syracuse, N. Y., where he served his apprenticeship in an iron foundry and became a molder by trade. From Syracuse he went to Buffalo, where he worked some time at his trade, and there heard of Chicago as a promising Western town site. May 5, 1892 THE IRON AGE. 86T SS errr OOOO In 1834 he visited the town of which he | foundry was located on Polk street, near| William Avery coming on from New York had heard such flattering reports, secured | the river, and was operated by the firm of | to superintend their construction. Thresh- such assistance as he needed to enable him| William H. Stow & Co. The motive|ing machines, plows, steam drills and pumps, such as were in demand for use ip the construction of the Illinois and Mich- igan cana), and all kinds of castings were manufactured at this pioneer foundry, which, after being operated for several years on Polk street, was removed to the corner of Randolph and Canal streets. In this connection it is of interest to note the fact that the pioneer foundry of Chicago was also the pioneer foundry of the Pacific Coast. About the year 1845, perhaps 1846, the foundry passed into the |hands of Henry M. Stow, a brother of William H. Stow, whoin 1849 put all the machinery, fixtures, tools, &c., and all the pig and wrought iron and coal in stock at ‘ the time, on board a vessel purchased and loaded by R. K. Swift of Chicago with provisions and supplies of various kinds, — - —— pets 9 ne ag . ms — ‘ : e foundry was shipped as ballast, an Fig. 4.— Av. Riary Fists with Head and was nearly a year reaching its destination, Chuck, | the vessel on which it was shipped having | passed into the Atlantic Ocean by way of the lakes, the Welland canal, and the St. Lawrence River, and reached San Fran- cisco after sailing out to the Azores, through the Straits of Magellan, and over a long stretch of the Pacific Ocean. In 1850 Henry M. Stow landed it on the beach at San Francisco, the cost of mov- ing it a distance of 600 feet being pre- cisely ten times as much as the cost of shipping it from Chicago to that point. In May of that year it was removed to Sacramento, Cal., where it was again put in operation. The proprietors of the foundry there were H. M. Stow and H. A. Bigelow, who was elected first mayor of Sacramento. It was located at the junc- tion of the Sacramento and American rivers, and made the first castings manu- factured in California, the price which they brought at that time being $2.50 per pound. The prices of castings in Chicago at the same time probably ranged from 2 to 3 cents per pound, so that the earning ca- pacity of the old foundry cannot be said to have been diminished by its removal to | the Pacific Slope, although the wages paid to employees—an ounce of gold, or $16, per day to each man—had a tendency to keep down the profits. This historic foundry was operated up to 1864, when the price of castings in California dropped to 25 cents per pound, and manufacturing them at this tigure being considered un- profitable, the enterprise was abandoned. In the early years of his residence in Chicago Mr. Stow employed a large num- ber of men much of the time, and no small number of these were young men who came out from the East at his solici- tation to perform various kinds of skilled labor. Some of these young tradesmen |have since become noted manufacturers themselves, who have contributed largely to the building up of Chicago and other Western cities. — / —_—_______ Seen () U ri ar ——— HM I) Pad | a Fig. 6.—Grinding Cutters on a Butt Mill. The growth and progress of our great centers of industrial and commercial ac- tivity form a fascinating chapter in our national development. Fifty years ago but one city could boast of over a quarter of a million of population, and only 44 con- tained more than 8000 inhabitants. To-day we have 448 cities of over 8000 popula- tion, a tenfold increase, 11 of which num- ber exceed a quarter of a million, three of the number containing more than 1,000,000 population. Fig. 7.—Grinding a Hole in Work Held in Chuck. Among railroad men there is much dis- appointment at the small amount of corn moving to the seaboard. Throughout to engage in the contemplated enterprise, | power was what was known as the Avery| Kansas and Nebraska the movement of and made provision for the establishment | rotary engine, brought from Syracuse, and | corn is described as light as compared of what was looked upon in those days as| the first steam engines manufactured in| with previous years, whereas it was ex- an extensive manufacturing plant. This‘ Chicago were made at the Stow foundry, ' pected to be much larger. UNIVERSAL GRINDING MACHINE. 862 THE IRON AGE. May 5, 1392 WORLD’S FAIR NOTES. Damage Done by a Tornado. The most noteworthy event of tbe past week was the damage done to the Manu- factures and Liberal Arts Building by a tornado on Wednesday. This structure is not yet under roof. Portions of the south and west walls were thrown down. There were two separate catastrophies, About 1.30 p.m, the first storm hit the big build- ing at the southeast corner and tore out 100 feet of the latticed wood work that serves as a wall, injuring three men. Half an hour later another tornado tore through the park, and its path left the wreck of an entire section of the west wall, 700 feet long and 66 feet high. Nobody was in- jured in the fall of this wall. When the first section tumbled down all the em- ployees climbed down from the building. Nearly all of them were crowded about the wrecked section when the second tor- nado did the greatest damage. Scores of workmen would have been carried down with the falling timbers had the west sec- tion given way first. Warned of their peril by the collapse of the south wall, they hurried down before the second sec- tion fell. At the construction office the officials were not inclined to blame either Con- tractor Agnew or the architect for the ac- cident. They say the building will be one of the strongest structures on the grounds when completed. The monster iron trusses, which are to support the roof, did not flinch before the gale. They stood fast as rocks. The accident was simply one that could not have been avoided by any pre caution the contractor might have taken. The building was exposed in its weakest condition to a greater strain than it will probably be called upon to bear any time after it is finished. The injured building faces along the lake for 1700 feet. Its width is nearly 800 feet. At either corner is a tower taller by 30 or 40 feet than the 66-foot cornice line. Half way down the long east and west sides are other towers taller and deeper than those at the corners. There are two ae sections of the interior of the uilding. The grand central court, arched over by the great dome that is to be, is 367 feet wide and 1400 feet long. It is the greater of these two sections. The other is the outer rim of the floor. This rim is over 150 feet wide. Over it will be the roof of a minor arch. The gallery floor will jut out over it a distance of 50 feet from the wall. The dividing line between the outer rim and the grand court is to be clearly marked by the long line of uprising steel girders that support the central arch or roof. This arch is to be 240 feet above the floor at its highest point. George B. Post of New York is the architect of this great hall. The building, when completed, will be the largest structure ever used for exposition purposes. It covers about 31 acres on the ground, and has nearly 12 acres of floor space in the galleries. The departments of manufactures, liberal arts and ethnology will go in this building. It is to cost $1,500,000 and occupies the most com- manding site on the grounds. The damage done is estimated at $15,- 000. Contractor Agnew says the work will not be delayed by the accident, as a larger force of men will be put on the building. The State buildings are now being in- spected carefully. Hitherto nothing but the artistic features have been considered by Chief Burnham’s men, who took it for granted that the buildings were all right in other respects. An inspection of several of the structures, however, showed that the element of safety had apparently been sacrificed to artistic effect. The Tilinois Building was not the only one found unsafe. The Pennsylvania Building was in even worse condition. The tower in which old Liberty Bell will probably be swung was found so heavy that it would probably crush through the structure and envelop the entire building in a mass of ruins. Independence Hall, reproduced, would present a sorry plight at the fair. Examination also showed that the West Virginia Building was unsafe. Then Chief Burnham decided to institute a system of rigid inspection of all the State buildings before approving the plans. While the Exposition Company have nothing to do with the State buildings further than to approve the plans, it is none the less true that the company would be held for dam- ages to visitors if the houses fell down. State Clubhouses, Work on a dozen State clubhouses will begin in a few days. This feature of the exposition has been lagging for months. Illinois broke ground first and the club- house for this State will soon be under roof. Pennsylvania followed, putting a large gang of men to work last week to reproduce old Independence Hall. Indi- ana next broke the greensward at Jackson Park for one of the most striking build- ings Henry Ives Cobb has yet designed. Three State boards were in the city on one day last week to get plans for their head- quarters approved. Architect A. T. E. Wendell of Colorado and A. A. Blow, who has charge of the mineral display from the Centennial State, brought plans for a $30, - 000 building. Louis W. Howland .and ex-Congressman Walter Sessions, of the New York Board, came to tell Chief Burn- ham that the Empire State would put up the finest State building on the grounds. President David M. Read, John E. Earle, Charles M. Davis and Executive Commis- sioner George H. Woods of the Connecti- cut Board brought plans for a $15,000 house. A number of other States, for which plans have already been approved, will begin work soon. All of the State Boards have been warned that if they do not show designs for their buildings be- fore June the ground marked off for them on the map will be forfeited. Pres. A. 8. Buford and six members of the Virginia Board of Managers visited Chicago last week to stake off the ground for Virginia’s building and close up the details of the State’s display at the fair. The Old Dominion has about decided to re- produce Washington’s home at Mount Vernon, and bring from that historic edi- fice all the relics and souvenirs kept there by the Mount Vernon Association. The State Board hopes to secure these relics from the women having them in custody without much difficulty. If this old house is reproduced a number of rooms will be reserved for these relics. Yhe bids for constructing the Ohio Building were opened on the 25th as follows: Scully & Co., Cincinnati, $30,- 904; William Harley & Son, Chicago, $24,465; R. Ehrhart & Co., Chicago, $24,- 500; Young & Ewers, $27,560; J. A. Mc- Gonigle, Chicago, $31,443; A Dawson, Toledo, $25,330. The contract was let to Harley & Son, Chicago. The finishing of the different rooms of the Ohio Building will be undertaken by different cities in the State and much of the material will be furnished by enterprising firms of Ohio. The contract for the erection of the Texas State Building has been let to a con- tractor in Waco for $100,000. The build- ing will be in the Spanish Renaissance style and will measure 85 x 250 feet, with four towers. The exterior will be cov- ered with staff and the interior hand- somely finished in Texan woods. ST The Question of Federal Aid, The Washington Post, in an editorial article on the proposed appropriation, says: ‘*The Government is not in a posi- tion to withhold such further aid as may be needed to make it a success worthy of itself and creditable to the country. The aid that is asked is certainly within reason- able limits, and Congress cannot consis- tently decline to vote the needful appro. priation. The placing of the Government in the attitude of a lender would in a cer- tain sense compromise its authoritative responsibility in the matter and place it upon an equality of relations with the bor- rower. The Government is bound to stand by the fair. The point at issue is the way in which this support shall be given. It should be such as not to dis- credit the honor of the country or belittle the national character of the exposition.” Representative Little of New York, one of the members of the House Comittee on the Columbian Exposition, has declared himself as opposed to extending any aid whatever to the fair. He will make a minority report, whether the committee decides upon an appropriation or a lean. A few weeks ago it was believed Mr. Little was friendly to the proposition to aid the fair, but the tactics pursued by the local directory have disgusted him and he is going on the warpath. He will oppose a proposition to grant money to the fair in any shape. He will not only fight an appropriation or a loan in the committee, but he will oppose it on the floor of the House Congressman Durborow, chairman of the committee, is confident, however, that a big appropriatioa will be made for the fair before Congress adjourns. In a re- cent interview he said: ‘*I believe most of the members are favorable to aa appropri- ation. We have been waiting for the Dockery Committee to make its report. The report is expected to reach the House next week, perhaps as early as Tuesday. Then we will know what todo. Much depends upon the report made by that committee, for Congress has a great deal of confidence in the Dockery Committee. If the committee should declare that the exposition was liable to make a good deal of money we might have some trouble in getting an appropriation, but the senti- ment seems to be very favorable now for an appropriation.” Directors of the fair make no efforts to conceal their anxiety in regard to the fate of the appropriation bill, They need the money, and they need it very badly. Con- gress is expected to adjourn within two months, and by that time most of the money received from stock subscriptions and from the city of Chicago will have been paid out. The force of laborers at Jackson Park is being constantly increased, and large additions will be made during the next few weeks. As the available cash diminishes their anxiety on the subject in- creases. A number of large expenditures have recently been ordered, 1n addition to tbe work already under contract. Last week contracts for more than $500,000 worth of new work were made by the Grounds and Buildings Committee alone. Rich Gift to Chicago by Japan. Tne exhibit of Japan will be a most im- posing one, and at the conclusion of the fair the buildings to be erected by the Mikado and his subjects, together with all their contents, will become the property of the city of Chicago, a monument to the progress as well as the generosity of the island kingdom. One of the most interesting of the col- lection of buildings to be erected by di- rection of Japan promises to be a repro- duction of the temple at Uji, near Kiota, called the Biodoin temple, and sometimes Hoo-do or Pheenix Hall, as it is intended to represent that famous bird whose myth- ical attribute of rising from its ashes is so well typified by Chicago. ‘The center of the temple is two stories high and repre- May 5, 1892 THE IRON AGE. 863 sents the body, the colonnades right and left the wings, and a corridor behind forms the tail. On the top are two bronze phenixes 8 feet high, used as weather vanes. It is built of wood, with a tiled roof, and at each end of the large beams or logs on the peak and down the corners of the roof are wonderfully carved heads. This Biodoin temple is one of the oldest in Japan, dates from 957 A. D., and was originally the country house of a cele- brated noble poet, subsequently passing jato the hands of the imperial family and later on it became the property of Mido no Kevan Baku, whose son converted it into a monastery in 1052. The interior, when completed, if repro- duced as it originally was, will be dazzling, for even with the ravages of time and thieves the visitor can yet realize the rich- ness of the decorations when new. Other buildings will be erected for the exhibit as well as this temple, and landscape gar- dening in Japan is perfection—each tree and shrub a worder of the gardener’s art frora the shapes they take and the profuse blossoming. The World’s Fair is well talked of in Japan, and there is now ready for shipment about $350,000 worth of goods for the display. Wants to Patent Jubilee Coins, Captain Porter of the Secret Service has applied for a patent on the scheme to issue 15,000,000 or 20,000,000 special coins of 50 cents each, to be used as admission tickets to the fair. M. H. de Young in- troduced a resolution in the National Com- mission last September calling for these jubilee coins. As the coins will contain but 30 cents’ worth of silver the Govern- ment would net a pretty sum by the opera- tion. Director Leech of the Mint thinks the plan quite feasible. The coins would bear a special design—for instance, the head of Columbus on one side and an appropri- ate inscription commemorative of the ex- position on the other. The Chicago banks would gladly handle the coin, which would be legal tender for admission to the fair. Each coin would entitle the holder to an admission at the gates the same as any other half dollarin money. It is thought by those originating the scheme that the 20,000,000 coins would disappear from circulation before the fair ended, since they would be purchased and retained as souvenirs. Hayti’s Commissioners Want Space. The Government of Hayti has appropri- ated $25,000 for the fair and will ask for further credit at the next session of the Legislature. Nine commissioners have been appointed, and they are now arrang- ing for the exhibit. Fred. Douglass and Charles A, Preston are the special com- missioners representing Hayti, and will visit Chicago at once to secure space and undertake the necessary arrangements for the location of theexhibit. Hayti asks for 6000 square feet in the exposition buildings —1500 in the Agricultural Building, 2500 in Forestry, 1000 in Mines and Mining and 1000 in Liberal Arts. It is the intention of the Haytian commission to erect a hand- some pavilion upon the grounds as head- quarters for the commission. Westinghouse Will Get a Hearing. At an early meeting of the Grounds and Buildings Committee the Westinghouse Electric Company will make another offer to reduce the bid of the Edison Electric Company, who recently secured a contract for furnishing 94,400 incandescent lights at $5 95 per lamp. Mr. Westinghouse now offers to deposit $50,000 cash and furnish an approved bond for $500,000 that he will do the work at lower figures than the combine is pro- posing to charge. He does not say how much of a cut he will make on the bid. Among members of the committee a feel- ing exists that the Westinghouse Com- pany, who have succeeded to the bid of Charles C. Lockstaed, should be given an- other hearing. Lockstued offered to fur- nish the lamps at $4 each. Items, The scene which the exposition grounds now afford, with most of the buildings nearing completion and the construction being pushed forward by more than 6000 workmen, is accounted so interesting and wonderful that from 1000 to 5000 visitors a day willingly pay the admission fee of 25 cents to witness it. Before the aboli- tion of the free-pass system the visitors often numbered as high as 15,000 or 20,- 000. The work of construction was inter- fered with, so that it was thought best to charge an admission, and thus diminish the size of the crowd of sightseers and at the same time add to the financial re- sources of the exposition. Director-General Davis has received from A. de Claparede, Swiss minister to the United States, a cordial expression of the interest of the Swiss people in the Co- lumbian Exposition. Although the Gov- ernment has not been in a position to officially accept the offer, the Swiss consul has declared his readiness to assist such ex- hibitors as may wish to send goods to Chi- cago. Mr. de Claparede also asked that space be reserved for the Swiss watch dis- play and other exhibits. One hundred members of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, en route to their convention at San Francisco, will visit Chicago on the 5th to inspect the fair grounds. They will remain in the city from 1 until6 p.m. At the Twenty- second street station the engineers will be met by 100 members of the Chicago branch of the society and conducted to the grounds, The visitors will be shown through most of the buildings, and Chief Burnham will explain the arrangement of the park to them A representative of the Krupp gun man- ufactory at Essen, Germany, is about to start for Chicago to make arrangements for an exhibit at the fair. Much of the exhibit will go into the Department of Transportation. The placing of the display in this building is because most of the manufactures of the firm consist of naval ordnance and because the company’s sales to the United States have consisted of steel railroad tires and wheels. The lofty stone monolith which Wis- consin will exhibit at the fair will remain at Jackson Park permanently, the Park Commissioners having given their consent. The monolith is 107 feet high and cut from a solid block of stone. The contract for its erection has already been let. A party of Australian artisans will likely visit Chicago during the fair. Chief Walker Fearn has been informed that this party will be made up of young working- men, probably those in the last year of their apprenticeship. —S$$—$—— rrr ing usage has been established by the ex- perience of 15 months’ daily running at well-known New Jersey mines. gg The Tin-Plate Report. In connection with the figures for the production of tin plate elsewhere pub- lished, the following conclusions by Ira Ayer, special agent of the Treasury Depart- ment, are of interest: 1. It isa fact that tin and terne plates are being made in this country by American pro- ducers in commercial quantities, and that they are to-day being offered and purchased in quantities by American consumers. 2. These domestic plates have been exten- sively tested by American consumers, and the weight of their testimony goes to show that they are equal, if not superior, to foreign-made plates of similar makes. The features of excellence embrace toughness and pliability of the black plates or metal sheets, and also per- fection of coating. 3. The development of the new industry has stimulated the manufacture of black plates. Sixteen firms are manufacturing black plates for their own use or for sale, or both. A large number of these firms are already selling to those manufacturers of tin and terne plates who do not make their own black plates. One of these firms reports that they sold, during the quarter ending March 31, 1892, about 670,- 000 pounds of black plates, principally to 11 tin and terne plate manufacturing companies. 4. Large and enterprising firnis have already turned their attention to the manufacture of the special forms of machinery required in the production of tin and terne plates. .Such firms are to be found at Pittsburgh, Pa., and at Youngstown, Ohio. 5. The industry has developed with marvel- ous rapidity. It had small beginnings, and was obliged to pass through its experimental stage before capital could be attracted. 6. The chief ultimate object to be attained, the manufacture of a perfect tin plate, is rap- idly being achieved through the school of ex- perience offered in the manufacture of terne plates. During the first quarter of the fiscal year the production of terne plates, as com- pared with that of tin plates, was in the ratio of more than four to one. During the next quarter, with more than double the number of manufacturers in the field, the ratio was more than five to one. During the third quarter, ending March 31, 1892, with the number of manufacturers again practically doubled over that of the previous quarter, it was largely reduced, the ratio for that quarter being con- siderably less than two to one. During the same quarter the increased production of terne plates over that of the previous quarter was less than 60 per cent., while the increased production of tin plates over that of the pre- vious quarter was in excess of 400 per cent. 7. The present quarter will in all probability witness the production of as much tin and terne plate in this country as did the last tbree- quarters taken together. This means 10,000,- 000 pounds of tin and terne plates of American production. 8. There already appears a strong leaning toward the American product, which is evi- dently due to the quality of the American ar- ticle and means a yearly expenditure in the United States, instead of foreign countries, of over $20,000,000 in gold upon the foreign valu- ation of the product. 9. The development of the great canning in- dustries of the country and the embarrass- ments that those industries have labored under because of having to look to a foreign country for their supplies of tin plate have made it de- sirable that the United States should become its own manufacturer of tin plate. 10. The general tenor of the letters from manufacturers is that they have met with the most encouraging success. and are. satisfied with the protection afforded by the existing , law. Announcement is made by Harvey 8S. Chase, treasurer, that the Chase magnetic ore separator is running daily on all classes of magnetie ores at the offices of the Inter- national Ore Separating Company, Wash- ington Building, 1 Broadway, New York, Rooms 234 and 235, and samples of such ores, if sent in, will be treated in the presence of those interested. In contrast with most models, this machine is full working size, and runs at its rated speed, and will handle comparatively large quan- tities of ore, if desired: Its simplicity, durability and efficiency are most favorably commented on by iron and steel men, while its practical value under rough min- 11. The manufacturers deprecate further agitation of the subject, and ask that they may be allowed to go forward untrammeled in their plans for the development of the new industry. The Providence and Stonington Steam- ship Company’s new steel steamer New Hampshire made a record for speed on her recent trial trip at Wilmington, Del. Loaded with 600 tons dead weight, she made time over the measured mile, 2 min- utes 59 seconds, an average of over 20 miles per hour. The New Hampshire is a sister ship to the Maine, which has also proved a great success, 864 THE IRON AGE. May 5, 1892 McClure & Amsler’s Hot-Blast Stove. Illustrations are herewith given of im- provements on the Massicks & Crooke’s fire-brick stove recently patented by Mc- Clure & Amsler, Bissell Block, Pitts- burgh. These improvements have been introduced within the past year and are now in use by the Carrie Furnace Com- pany, having seven stoves, the Bellaire Nail Works’ furnace, four stoves, and Shoenberger, Speer & Co., three stoves. The illustrations represent the appliances as actually built for an 18-foot stove. ; The main object aimed at by the invent- ors of this stove was to provide a stove having at the top aconnection between the vertical flues and the stack flue, so con- structed as to obviate the liability to fract- ure of the walls by expansion and con- traction found in stoves of the usual type. This is effected by constituting the con- necting passage by means of a dome shell or arch made separate from the crown of the stove and affording an intervening space instead of forming flues in the crown itself. Fig. 1 shows in vertical central section the upper part or dome, as well as the lower part of the improved stove. Fig. 2 shows four horizontai quarter sections, combined in one engrav- ing, on the planes marked by the lines A A, BB, C C and D D, respectively. Fig. 3 combines a half plan and a half section of the top. The stoveasshown has an outer roofed shell and is divided into a series of concentric annular flues, but the inventors state that they do not limit them- selves to such an arrangement of flues, claiming the construction of the top of the stove independently or in combination. The base of the central flue of the stove serves as the combustion chamber, while the upper part of it terminates below the stove crown, there communicating with an annular flue, which extends from the crown to the stove’s base. This flue is divided into a number of parts by radial partition walls, which serve to increase the heating surface. Ports at the lower part connect this flue with an outer annular fiue, the ports being so arranged as to insure an even flow of gas to all parts. All the radial walls in the outer flue terminate above the level of the ports, so as to afford an open continuous flue chamber at the base of it. Gas and cold-air inlets, as well as the hot- blast outlet, are suitably designated on Fig. 1. A central stack flue is arranged over the dome for the exit of the products of combustion, and is provided with a valve, as also shown on Fig. 1. Air inlets at the bottom of the central flue admit air to support combustion of the gas. The manner of building the walls of the stove is novel. Toa great measure the bricks of each flue are braced by the breaking of its vertical joints by the bricks of the inner and outer flues and by the bricks of the radial walls, so that each flue wall takes up the force exerted on its neighboring walls, thus obligi