The Iron Age 1900-03-08: Vol 65 Iss 10

‘THE IRON AGB. TuHuRsDay, Marcu 8, 1900. Special Appliances at the Works of the Lodge & Shipley Machine Tool Company. A representative of The Iron Age recently had the privilege of examining some of the appliances and meth- ods employed at the works of the Lodge & Shipley Ma- chine Tool Company, Cincinnati. As is well known, the product of the concern is lathes, and lathes alone. Throughout the entire works there are devices intended especially to insure accuracy and to facilitate produc- tion. These are introduced at every stage in the build- ing of a lathe, the result being a tool of the highest boxes, each of which carries one of the screws. Only two or three threads are cut in the lower part of these boxes, this being sufficient to hold the screws. The two or three threads permit of rapidly performing the work of entering and removing the screws. The holder is provided with side set screws for holding each box and with end set screws for holding all of them. After the box has been filled with blanks a double milling cutter faces two opposite sides. The boxes are then turned one quarter, when the other two sides are faced. Boring Lathe Head Stocks, An extremely simple jig for boring the bearings for the spindle and back gear of a lathe head is shown in Split Chuck for Holding Step Cone. SPECIAL APPLIANCES AT THE WORKS OF THE LODGE & SHIPLEY MACHINE TOOL COMPANY. standard. Three of these appliances are shown in the accompanying engravings. Split Chuck for Holding Step Cones. All step cones are bored out and then balanced upon . straight edges. The chuck is a split sleeve which is bolted to the face plate of a lathe. At opposite sides near the outer end are formed lugs, horizontally through the center of which the metal is split. In each lug is a bolt by means of which the parts are drawn together to grip the pulley. The boring tool also shown in the same engraving is stepped to correspond with the pulley it is intended to bore. At the corner of each step is a cutting tool held in place by a set screw. All of the steps of the cone are thus bored at the same time, and the rim is faced by a tool held in the tool post. Jig for Milling Tool Post Screws. The second engraving illustrates a jig for holding tool post screws for squaring the upper ends. It con- sists of an oblong box adapted to receive small split Fig. 3. It consists of a casting formed with V’s to re- ceive the head stock. At each end are formed uprights having bushed openings which carry the boring bars. Since the axis of these are absolutely parallel with each other and with the V’s, the alignment of the bearings cut must be perfect. The device is placed on a boring mill, power being transmitted to the boring bars by a universal joint, as shown in the engraving. atin —_ Germany’s Large Contract for Swedish Iron. For the account of the Gellivare Iron Ore Company of the Luossavaara-Kirunavaara Company and of the United Mining Company, Consul Broms, the director of the first hamed company, has closed a contract with sey- eral blast furnace proprietors in Germany for a long num- ber of years. The negotiations were carried on through the Stockholm Discount Bank and the North German Bank in Hamburg, who assume the full responsibility of the contracts. According to programme the ores are 2 THE IRON to be shipped via Lulea, and also on the opening of the Ofoten Railroad via Ofoten (the road will be finished about the beginning of 1903). As the Fjord of Ofoten can be kept free of ice all the year round, all ores intended for the Rhenish-Westphalian district will be shipped via Holland ports, and later via Emden. With regard to the delivery of the ores the sellers have reserved the right to exclude from delivery all ores which can be consumed AGE. March 8, 1900 plant of the LaBelle Stee] Company, has been bought by some parties, who propose to erect a manufacturing plant upon it. The kind of products to be turned out by the new concern has not been stated. ; The auditor’s report in the equity suit of Spang, Chal- fant & Co., Pittsburgh, Pa., against the Spang Steel & Fig. 2.—Jig for Holding Lathe in Sweden, as well as any ores which the German blast furnaces cannot make use of; these ores can then be sold to other countries. The German blast furnaces have, however, secured for many years the bulk of the Swed- ish high phosphorus iron ore output, the consumption of which in Germany has increased so largely of late. Asa Tool Post Screws for Milling. Iron Company has been filed. There was a balance of $47,226.08 in the hands of the receiver, of which $659.37 was paid to preferred claimants. The balance or $46,- 566.71 was awarded to Spang, Chalfant & Co., the re- maining claimants. From present indications the new Chester Tube Company, at Chester, Pa., promises to become one of the * leading industries of the city; the entire plant is now run- ning double turn. Not satisfied with turning out a large Fig. 3.—Jig for Boring Lathe Head Stocks. SPECIAL APPLIANCES AT THE WORKS OF THE LODGE & SHIPLEY MACHINE TOOL COMPANY. result of the coatract the Luossavaara-Kirunavaara Com- pany recently decided to increase their capital from 3,000,000 to 6,000,000 kroner. <tiie = A site of land, bounded by Ridge avenue and Belmont street, Allegheny, Pa., and immediately opposite the supply of pipe, the company are now preparing to erect a mill for the manufacture of boiler flues. This will be run as a special department. Some years ago some boiler tubing was made at the old Chester Pipe & Tube Mill, but the output was very small and run as a side issue. It is expected that the same will be in operation in the course of a few months. March 8, 1900 Industrial Consolidations and the Export Trade. At a recent gathering in New York Charles R. Flint spoke on the subject of the “ open door” and the relation to the export trade of the industrial consolidations. He said in part: The intemperate criticism of aggregations of capital by would be political leaders, as unsound as the proposi- tion to pay the American wage earner in 50 cent dollars, is nothing short of an attack upon American prosperity at home and an attempted embargo upon our export trade. Freedom of trade, supposed to be guaranteed by the laws and constitutions of this country, is thereby assailed. The combinations and organizations inveighed against are not alone the combination of capital, but what is of more importance, they represent aggregations of intellect and industry, and when these great properties and these great intellects which have created and di- rected the isolated concerns are united, then the highest — efficiency is brought about in the manufacture and dis- tribution of the products, and if any one suffers appre- ciably, it is only the non-productive middle man who has stood between the manufacturer and the consumer; while the wage earner is benefited by his wages being sustained, and in many cases increased, as well as by his greater ability to purchase the cheapened products, thus increasing consumption, manufacturing and opportuni- ties for labor. Centralization of manufacture and of distribution brought about by these great combinations of property and intellect not only secures the advantages of the high- est development of special machinery, but, owing to the enormous production, the percentage of general charges is largely reduced. We have not the opportunity to enjoy the great technical education which Germany in a pa- ternal way furnishes its citizens. There the man of scientific research speaks from the professor’s chair in the morning, and in the afternoon directs the energies of a factory. But we have what is more than its equiv- alent in the benefits of the exchange of views between the directing heads and arms of these large corporations, resulting in ike American inventor, the American wage earner and the American manufacturer, forming together a vast constructive and expanding power in the indus- trial world. The best results—and the “ open door” will demand of us the best results—can be accomplished to- day only by weli managed large organizations, and those most benefited by them are the masses. The condition of the American wage earners to-day is vastly superior to what it has ever been before. Their homes have more comforts than had the palaces of the nobility in centuries past. That party leaders should attempt to gain political advancement by proposing a plan of legis- lation to supplant that higher law which gives a reward to superior ahility is, when viewed aright, an insult to the intelligence of the American people. There is abundant evidence that this high standard of manufacture and distribution of products is brought about by these large organizations, thus enabling us to enter the markets of the world successfully, and that without them we are powerless to enter the open door and compete with countries employing cheap labor. To increase their export trade is one of the first efforts made by those who direct these organizations. The progress of the world toward higher things means always the readjustment of old conditions disturbed. The struggle for human existence is the story often re- peated of the survival of the fittest. To alleviate the suf- ferings and misfortunes of the few discomfited and dis- appointed in the progress of the world is the duty of every true, successful man, but to attempt to stay that progress toward its highest evolution, which is to bene- fit the many, is to run counter to the highest law of prog- ress, and the highest law of progress is the highest law of man and God. Now, it cannot be claimed that the ideal has been reached in these organizations; that the law should not exercise a reasonable supervision over their operation; that some of these corporations are not overcapitalized. Perhaps, having in mind some such capitalization, the Wit of the Wall Street wag was justified in describing the syndicate as “a body of men entirely surrounded by water.” But the securities of the corporations with inflated capital promptly find their level, and Wall Street tells the story of many an enterprise with a pretentious capital and an empty treasury, which starts upon a career of reorganization before organization has been fully accomplished. To the extent that overcapitalization is an evil, it is potter to deal with it by law after experience shall have uemt how it can best be intelligently treated. It is ' rgely correcting itself, and when it has appeared that ©vercapitalized concerns are short of confidence and ¢redit, organizers of new concerns have adopted more THE IRON AGE. - 3 conservative financial methods. There are projects in Wall street seeking financial co-operation the organizers of wiich are now satisfied with one-half.the capital pro- posed a year ago. Time not only heals wounds but cor- rects abuses. Common experience teaches us that ofttimes an in- flated estimate of values results in the owner being un- able to secure even the intrinsic value. To secure real values the seller must get the buyer to approach a nego- tiation without suspicion, and overcapitalization engen- ders suspicion. The reckless organizer of these concerns by and by gets familiar with some old fashioned notions, without the necessity of having them impressed upon him by useless and often unenforceable statutes. It must be remembered, too, in advocating the adoption of drastic legal procedure for the control of these business corpo- rations, as is at the time proposed, that they are not great public carriers, enjoying exclusive privileges to the ex- tent of the territory they occupy, but are corporations engaged in business ventures, just as are business men, only the scale is larger. These corporations pay to the States their tributes in taxes and ask no franchise in re- turn except the privilege to be a corporation, and to be free from personal liability. Whatever else these corpo- rations secure by way of advantage comes not from the State, but from the experience, energy and skilled knowl- edge of the individuals united in their direction, and ar- tificial restraint is only justified when practice has dem- onstrated, not when uninformed men have guessed, that the existence and operations of these corporations are harmful to the public welfare. The evolution which results in these great industrial organizations is as natural as the progress of this com-. munity from a sparsely settled island into a great, thriv- ing center of popnlation and prosperity. The internal commerce between the States, free as it has always been, depends upon the freedom of its manufacturing and ac- companying interests to develop along the lines of the greatest good to the greatest number. Not all the natural advantages of this country, not all the inventive genius and restless activity of our people, can offset the advan- tages of other countries through low wages and technical instruction, if legislation interferes with normal and legitimate industrial evolution, if we deviate from the wholesome principle of that maxim, honored in law and by tradition, which insures to every man the right to do with his own what he may choose, so long as he shall not thereby injure his neighbor. Let us not assume toward great industrial enterprises an attitude different from that with which we view all progress. Do not let the mere manifestation of evil by ong corporation be made the basis for the condemnation of them all. If there is no interference with the normal develop- ment of this industrial progress the consolidation of man- ufacturing interests and the association of the best skilled intellects with the largest financial means—we will be in a position to enter the markets of the world in competition with the cheap labor countries and enlarge our international trade. The Louisville Bolt & Iron Company.— The build- ings for the new plant of the Louisville Bolt & Iron Com- pany, successors of the Anderson Iron & Bolt Company of Anderson, Ind., are completed. The new machinery for the increased capacity will be coming in now every day and be placed. The machinery of the Anderson plant will be shipped next week and the Louisville Bolt & Iron Company expect to have machinery for an out- put of 50,000,000 bolts per year, and expect to be in operation in the new buildings by March 10. The new buildings cover an area of nearly 3 acres and have been built with the view of making the Louisville plant a model one, and built on such liberal lines as to permit of increasing the capacity of the product to 75,000,000 bolts per annum. Immediately upon getting the bolt plant in operation the company will begin on plans for building an equipment for a scrap rolling mill to have a capacity of 12,000 tons per annum. The company have contracted for their product to keep them fully employed until late in the summer. S. S. Bush is president; L. S.” Taylor, vice-president and general manager, and C. A. Parker, secretary and treasurer. ie —<——_—— J. B. Coleman of Elmira, N. Y., is building a consid- erable number of the Emmet Horton machines for mak- ing grape baskets. The Robison Basket Company of Painesville, Ohio, have 24 of these machines, with a total capacity of 96,000 grape baskets per day. The ma- chines, in one continuous process, arrange a bottom and several sections of sides accurately in place, bind the bot- tom and double bind the top edges of the basket, secur- ing all with staples, driven home, accurately clinched, finally discharging upon the floor a completed basket, s0 true and accurately made as to throw the hand made article in the shade. | ; ' f 4 Canadian News. Commodity Rates Restored. In November the Railway Freight Association con- cluded to abolish the tariffs which were known as “ com- modity rates,” and at once the manifold list of articles, save sugar, which had been carried at these rates -be- came subject to the general tariff. An account of the origin and purpose of the commodity rates was given in these columns at the time of the change. When the in- creased rates were put in force there was a general out- cry among the manufacturers affected. As a result of the campaign of opposition that has been kept up, the Canadian Pacific & Grand Trunk Railway companies have returned to the practice of quoting special rates again on the commodities formerly favored. But the new commodity rates are not to be so low as were the old ones. A particular case may be. mentioned to show the difference. A year ago the commodity rate on iron at a given point was 12 cents per 100 pounds on less than carload lots, and 10 cents per 100 pounds on carloads; the new commodity rates are 16 and 13 cents respec- tively. But the new rates are 3 cents less than the gen- eral rates that have been in effect since Novmber 15, which were 19 cents on less than carloads, and 15 cents on carloads. There are some articles on which the new rates are as low as were the old ones, but on the list of iron and steel goods the differences are fairly represented by the example given. The commodities involved are bolts, nuts, washers, chains, horseshoes, corrugated iron, galvanized iron, iron pipe, iron pipe fittings, boiler tubes, nails, rivets, screws, tacks, iron and steel wire, wire rope, pig iron, railway bolts, spikes, splice bars, fish plates and angle bars. On lots less than carloads and on carloads the rates per 100 pounds are respectively as fol- lows from Toronto: To Montreal, 21 and 16 cents; to St. Thomas, 18 and 14 cents; to Woodstock, 16 and 13 cents; to London, 18 and 14 cents; to Hamilton, 11 and 9 cents; to Owen Sound, 20 and 15 cents; to North Bay, 20 and 19 cents; to Brantford, 15 and 12 cents; to Sarnia and Walk- erville, 21 and 17 cents. There is no doubt that the hardware section of the Toronto Board of Trade was chiefly instrumental in in- ducing the railways to modify their rates. The report of the chairman of that section, Peleg Howland, showed very clearly that the rates discriminated against Toronto and in favor of Buffalo and other centers of distribution. So strong was this showing, and so good a case did it make out for interference by the Railway Committee of the Government that the railway companies complained of the unfairness of being condemned unheard, and before an opportunity was given them to remedy the alleged grievances. They declared their willingness to remove any injustice, stating that the object of the commodity rates in the first pluce had been to protect Canadian in- dustries from United States competition. The Montreal Hardware Association did not proceed in the same man- ner as the hardware section of the Toronto Board of Trade, but appointed a special committee to inquire into the subject. The findings of that committee were laid before the railway companies. In the end the roads saw their way to making the reductions described, the same to take effect March 1. Hamilton and the Nickel Industry. John Patterson, the promoter and organizer of the chief enterprises which have done so much to: make Hamilton the chief industrial center of Ontario, if not of the Dominion, announces progress with the work of pre- paring for the manufacture of nickel in that city. Pre- mier Ross’ statement in the Legislature that the Govern- ment would bring in legislation providing for a stiff mineral tax on all nickel ore and matte produced in On- tario, with a rebate of all or most of such tax upon so much of the material as should be refined in Canada ap- pears to have given a fresh impulse to the undertakings in which Mr. Patterson and his associates are engaged. One result of the new policy is the decision to quadruple the capacity of the Hoepfner Refining Company’s works, whose construction on the lines of the original plan is close to completion. It is definitely decided that the works shall treat, not only the zine ore, for the refining of which they were started, but also nickel-copper matte. Mr. Patterson says that contracts have been made with the Nickel Steel Company of Canada and with the Nickel-Copper Company of Ontario for the refining of nickel matte at the works, the contractors to supply 60 tons of matte a day. In the Hoepfner works 3600 horse- power of electricity will be used, the electricity to be fur- nished by another concern who were promoted and or- ganized by Mr. Patterson—namely, the Cataract Power Company. As soon as the Hoepfner refining works are completed—they are expected to be ready for produc- tive operations in the spring—the nickel-steel plant, Mr. Patterson says, will be started. The buildings and machinery for that plant are to cost about $6,000,000. THE IRON AGE. - March 8, 1900 It looks as if Hamilton were proceeding from the two extremities of a great nickel-steel industry and building toward the center. First was constructed the iron smelting plant of the Hamilton Blast Furnace Company. An independent concern beside this were the Ontario Roll- ing Mills Company. In time these amalgamated under the name of the Hamilton Steel & Iron Company, who are enlarging their furnace capacity and adding a steel plant. Then were formed the Nickel-Steel Company of Canada, with $20,000,000 capital, in whom are influential Hamilton capitalists, and whose works were always un- derstood to be intended for Hamilton. Later, Hamilton men formed the corporation under Ontario laws known as the Nickel-Copper Company of Ontario, with a cap- ital of $10,000,000. It was generally taken for granted that this company and the other would use the ampler powers granted under both Dominion and Provincial charters to carry on one business. Finally, the Hoepfner Refining Company’s works are currently spoken of as if they were already included in the same system. There is probably a sufficient community of interest between the Hamilton Steel & Iron Company and the nickel com- panies to ultimately weld them into one corporation. It looks as if some such process were contemplated, if not already at work. ' Nova Scotia’s Iron Prospects, Mr. Goudge, who moved the address in reply to the speech from the throne at the opening of the \Nova Scotia Legislature, referred to the iron industry and prospects of the Province. In 1899 the production of Nova Scotia iron ore was only 16,169 tons, as against 31,000 tons in 1898. There was a small increase of 25 tons in the pro- duction of manganese ore. Of coke there were 55,484 tons produced, as against 42,000 tons in 1898. The Belle Isle iron mines, the speaker said, contained enough ore to supply Nova Scotia for all time to come, The effect of this supply on the coal industry of Nova Scotia was al- ready apparent. In 1878 the coal sales of the Province amounted to only 693,000 tons. In 1899 they amounted to 2,645,397 tons. With regard to the iron industry, he considered it probable that in three or four years Nova Scotia would be supplying pig iron to the British iron and steel industries. With the development of an export trade there is sure to grow up a shipbuilding trade, and Mr. Goudge cited the tendencies pointing to the latter outcome. The Collingwood Iron Project, On the 27th ult. the scheme of the American capital- ists who propose to establish smelting works, steel plants and rolling mills at Collingwood was laid before the Town Council and the Council of the Board of Trade in its final shape. The amount to be expended on smelting furnace and rolling mills is to be $1,300,000. The smelt- ing furnace is to have a capacity of 200 to 250 tons per day. It will be designed to use coke, supplemented, if necessary, by charcoal. It will be equipped with the latest labor saving devices for the unloading of ore, &c. If desired, the furnace will be furnished with a pig bed in which to make merchant pig iron, though it is the in- tention to make the greater part of the output of the furnace into steel. There will be an open hearth steel plant. containing Wellman rolling open hearth furnaces of the latest type. The finishing mill will be capable of producing bars and tank and ship plates. It will be de- signed also for the production of nickel-steel in bars. The new company organized at Collingwood for the building of ships at that place are pushing their works forward energetically. They are called the Collingwood Steel Shipbuilding Company. They have purchased the machinery of the shipbuilding plant at Everett, Wash., and a number of carloads of this machinery are on the way. C. A. C. J. — Among the mechanics’ liens filed against the Third Avenue Railroad Company of New York are the follow- ing: National Conduit & Cable Company, $144,389.01; John A. Roebling’s Sons & Co., $291,178.09, and West- inghouse, Church, Kerr & Co., $22,416.20. Against the Third Avenue Railroad and the Manhattanville road the mechanics’ liens are: Lorain Steel Company, $313,522.94; Westinghouse Electric & Mfg. Company, $507,861, and the Pennsylvania Iron Works Company, $48,732. and against the Union Railway Company, Lorain Steel Com- pany, $232,682.82, and the American Steel & Wire Com- pany, $22,881.81. The large machine shop of the Johnston Frog & Switch Works, at Sixth and Butler streets, Chester, was totally destroyed by fire some days since. The building was 180 x 65, and was erected in 1885. Since the finishing of the plant it has not been idle for any reason for more than a week at a time. The total loss is estimated at $50,000, fully covered by insur ance. When the appraisement is completed the works will be rebuilt at once. March 8, 1900 The Duty on Charcoal Bar Crop Ends. WASHINGTON, D. C., March 6, 1900.—The Secretary of the Treasury has made a very important decision with regard to the duliable classification of certain crop ends or clippings from iron bars designed for use in the manu- facture of crucible steel. These clippings were originally classified as scrap iron under paragraph 122 of the Ding- ley act, but the practice at New York and other Atlantic ports was afterward modified and they were assessed for duty at $12 per ton as iron bars, &c. The importers em- ploying this material have made elaborate representa- tions to the Department as to the origin of the clippings and the use to which they are put, with the result that the Secretary has finally decided to restore the old prac- tice under which importations were held to be dutiable as scrap iron at $4 per ton. The decision of the Depart- ment is incorporated in the following letter addressed to the Collector at New York: “The Department is in receipt of your letters dated the 13th and 16th ult., reporting upon the communica- tions of J. H. L. Todd and Henry Disston & Sons, con- cerning the proposed change in practice at your port in the classitication of crop ends or clippings from Sweden charcoal iron bars or rods. It appears from the report of the Appraiser at your port, under date of the 17th ult., that the crop ends or clippings in question are the rough slag ends cut off or clipped by a shearing machine from ingots of charcoal iron rolled down into a bar of specific width and thickness; that the charcoal iron bars from which such rough slag ends are clipped range from 8 to 15 feet in length, and that the iron bars and the crop ends or clippings are alike used in the manufacture of crucible steel. “The practice formerly prevailing at your port was to classify the merchandise as scrap iron or scrap steel and to assess duty thereon at $4 per ton under paragraph 122 of the act of July 24, 1897, but the practice was subse- quently changed and similar importations were classi- fied under paragraph 124 of said act, providing ‘ that all iron bars, blooms, billets or sizes or shapes of any kind in the manufacture of which charcoal is used as fuel shall be subject to a duty of $12 per ton,’ as the result of the corresponding change in the advisory returns of the Appraiser affecting that class of merchandise in accord- ance with a resolution adopted at the conference of the United States appraisers, held at New York, from Sep- tember 26 to October 7, 1899. “ Paragraph 122 of the act of July 24, 1897, imposes a duty of $4 per ton on ‘ wrought and cast scrap and scrap steel,’ and that paragraph further provides that ‘ nothing shall be deemed scrap iron or scrap steel except waste or refuse iron or steel fit only to be remanufactured.’ “You state that as the result of your inspection of the samples submitted to you by the Appraiser you are con- vinced that the articles represented by such samples are the product of the scrap heap or the rolling mill; that they are all rejected or refuse pieces from the bar or rod produced in the process of manufacturing the bar or rod, and that they are in no sense ‘iron bars, blooms, billets, or sizes or shapes of any kind,’ as no pieces are alike in dimensions or in general characteristics. “In reply to the assertion of the Appraiser that ‘ the percentage of pieces cut at both ends found in the ship- ments has convinced this office that perfect bars are be- ing cut up to evade the duty of $12 per ton provided in paragraph 124,’ you state that cutting up bars into such triangular shapes reduces the market value of a valuable article to such an extent that the difference in the selling price in the United States between a bar 8 to 10 feet in length and an irregular piece like the alleged scraps in question would not compensate for the difference in duty alleged to be saved thereby, as you are informed that the difference in the selling price of the bars and the clip- pings ranges from £8 to £5 sterling per ton, and that you have, therefore, classified the entries number 934 and 5708 as scrap iron under the provisions of paragraph 122. “In Schlesinger vs. Beard and Schlesinger vs. United States (120 U. S. Rep. 264) cited in Treasury decision 8054, dated February 14, 1887, the articles in suit were certain punchings or clippings of wrought iron boiler plates and wrought sheet iron left after completion of the process of manufacture of the boiler plates into boilers, and of the ends of bridge rods and beams of wrought iron cut off to bring the rods and beams to the required length and to remove imperfections. In that case it was decided that the articles were scrap iron, and that the only question was as to whether or not they had been actually used. In this connection it will be observed that the words ‘that has been in actual use’ which ap- pear in corresponding provisions for scrap iron or steel in prior acts, were omitted in the act of 1890, and subse- quent tariff acts. “The Department, in promulgating the foregoing de- cision, held that ‘steel crop ends,’ which consist of the ends of railroad iron cut off in the process of manufac- THE IRON AGE. 5 turing the rails, also come within the scope of said de- cision and are entitled to entry as ‘scrap steel,’ and in a subsequent case which came before the Depart- ment it was decided (T'. D. 8214, dated May 2, 1887) that ‘iron turnings, clippings and borings’ come within the scope of the aforesaid decision of the Supreme Court, and prior departmental rulings in conflict with that conclu- sion were revoked. “In view of the specified words ‘bars, blooms’ and ‘bil- lets,’ immediately preceding the general words ‘or sizes or shapes of any kind,’ the Department is of opinion that the general words contemplated sizes or shapes of iron which have been intentionally made or specifically man- ufactured into such sizes or shapes, and not irregular pieces of iron which incidentally result from the manu- facture of a particular article, and that was the legisla- tive intent in framing that paragraph. “ After a review of all the facts in the case it appears that the crop ends or clippings under consideration are waste or refuseiron or steel, fit only to be remanufactured, and have no mercantile value for any other purpose, and in view of the principle that where the duty prescribed is based on tbe use of an article which is set out in the statute such use is controlling in the classification of the merchandise, the Department is forced to the conclusion that paragraph 122 of the act of July 24, 1897, is more specific than paragraph 124 of said act, and your action in classifying the two importations referred to as scrap iron under the former paragraph is deemed and held to be correct.” W. &. 6 The Auto-Sparker for Gas Engines. The auto-sparker made by the Motsinger Device Mfg. Company is intended to provide electric current for the ignition of the mixture in gas and gasoline engines. It THE AUTO-SPARKER FOR GAS ENGINES. consists of a small dynamo operated by a friction wheel on the armature shaft pressing against the fly wheel of the engine. The small size of this wheel, as compared with the fly wheel, makes the dynamo run at a sparking speed with the ordinary turning over speed of the en- gine. A governor is provided for keeping the speed of the dynamo uniform, since the speed would be too great when the engine is running normal. The governor acts on a steel point by a tapered sleeve, which raises the friction wheel off of the fly wheel just enough to at all times keep the speed the dynamo is set for, regardless of the speed of the engine. This insures the same good spark in running that is obtained in starting. —— The following are the topics of the lectures on metal- lurgy, to be delivered during March in the Columbia University series at the American Museum of Natural History on Saturday evenings: March 10, Albert Sau- veur, “ The Constitution of Metallic Alloys in the Light of Modern Research.” March 17, Henry Souther, “ To- ledo Blades: Rationale of the Procedure in Manufactur- ing Them and Other Steel Objects Explained by the Microscope.” March 24, Prof. H. O. Hofman, “ Lead Smelting in the United States,” and March 31, Prof. J. W. Richards, “ Aluminum.” The Russian-American Export & Import Company is the title of an organization just formed to develop trade with Russia and the Oriental countries, especially in the line of machinery, tools, railway material and manu- factured iron and steel.‘ The company’s offices are at 120 and 122 Liberty street, New York, I. Rich being the manager. The Manufacture of Wire Fencing. (With Supplement.) Smooth wire has long been in use for fencing. The manufacture of woven wire fencing can therefore hardly be called a new industry. Yet like many other branches of trade its development into a business of importance is a matter of such recent occurrence that it seems new. Only within the past 10 or 15 years has attention been given to the manufacture of smooth wire in a torm suitable for field fencing. It then gradually becomes a staple article in the hardware trade, and merchants now carry it in stock in rolls of various styles and sizes, from which such lengths can easily be cut as are desired. A prominent part in the development of the business which has thus made woven wire fencing a feature of hardware merchants’ stocks has been taken by E. F. Shellaberger, now of De Kalb, Ill. Mr. Shellaberger, then living in Ohio, became interested in an early form of wire fence, using wood pickets. Being of an inven- tive-turn he saw the desirability of improvements, and patented what was afterward known as the Hartman steel picket fence; and in 1886 became connected with the Hartman Mfg. Company of Beaver Falls, Pa. In 1891 he removed to De Kalb, IIL, and on December 28 ennessesetenreesseeeteenececen wens BEPSSEEETSE Bennee tn -t-4-+- Por fel ae fee 40’ x 90/ MACHINE SHOP "> FIRE ¢ JHOSE HOUSE 0 X 285’ 72’ x 315’ / STREET 9 FENCE FACTORY WAREHOUSE : THE IRON AGE. March 8, 1900 operations on the ground floor. The extent of the buildings is shown by the following dimensions: Fence factories, 72 x 315 feet and 104 x 208 feet; gate shop, 40 x 160 feet; machine shop, 40 x 90 feet; warehouses, 90 x 285 feet and 185 x 240 feet. The plant is conveniently located for the receipt of raw materials and the ship- ment of finished products, having track connections ex- tending into their ground from the Chicago & North- western and the Chicago Great Western railroads. They draw no wire, but purchase it from wire manufacturers, using galvanized wire exclusively. Nor do they operate a power plant, running all machinery by electricity ob- tained from the De Kalb Electric Company, who furnish light to the city and power to factories. Motors are placed at convenient locations through the plant, en- abling portions of the machinery to be operated inde- pendently or every department in full according to the requirements of the trade or the season. This arrange- ment has proved much more economical than operating a steam power plant, which would necessarily be of large capacity to meet the requirements of the entire works in the hight of the manufacturing season. The manufacture of woven wire fencing, as con- ducted by this company, is deeply interesting. As above mentioned, they have two fencing factories, in both of which machines are installed to produce all varieties of fencing turned out by the company, which comprise field WAREHOUSE a 185'x 240'%" GATE FACTORY 40’x 160’ FIRE D HOSE HOUSE STREET Fig. 7.—Plan of Works. THE MANUFACTURE OF WIRE FENCING. formed a corporation under the name of the De Kalb Fence Company, to manufacture woven wire fencing ex- clusively. The preparations for manufacturing were made during the winter, and in April, 1892, the com- pany began to turn out fencing, using machines spe- cially designed by Mr. Shellaberger for this purpose. All the fence machines and improvements in machines used by the company since then have been his inven- tion, except a machine for making three-wire pickets, which was designed and built by his father, M. M. Shel- laberger, also interested in the company, and after whom their ingeniously constructed poultry fencing, known as M. M.S. fencing, was named. The business of the company steadily grew. A new building was erected or some addition was made to the plant every year. It is now claimed to be the largest plant of its kind in the world. Last year the company manufactured 1,600,000 rods of wire fencing, working up for this purpose 12,000,000 pounds of wire. E. F. Shellaberger is president and treasurer of the company and Judson Brenner is secretary. Mr. Brenner has been connected with the company from the beginning, and through his able business management has contributed largely to the commercial success of the enterprise. The extent of the plant and the character of the equip- ment are shown in accompanying engravings. The De Kalb Fence Company occupy a tract of ground comprising over 7 acres, largely covered by their buildings. These buildings consist of two fence facto- ries, a gate shop, a machine shop, two warehouses and an office building. All the factories ahd warehouses are one story high, the company preferring to conduct their and hog fencing, poultry fencing, lawn and cemetery fencing and park fencing. They have over 130 different machines in these two factories. . The variations in hight, fabric, mesh, pickets, &¢., constitute a remark- ably large assortment, much greater than would be sup- posed, no less than 222 different styles, sizes and varie- ties of fencing being constantly carried in stock to sup- ply the trade. The highest fence made is 8 feet, and the smallest regularly turned out is 13 inches. The ma- chines used are in each case specially adapted to turn- ing out one kind of fencing, but in manufacturing nar- row widths two rolls of fencing are often turned out at the same time on one machine. With this explanation it will be understood that in the company’s factories are to be seen quite a variety of machines, differing radically from one another according to the character of the work they turn out. The improvements made in Mr. Shellaberger’s more recent machines are quite marked. In his first machines, for instance, the pickets for hog and field fencing were crimped in a special machine for that purpose and then inserted by hand in their proper place in the weaving machine previously prepared with cables or longitudinal wires after the fashion of a cloth weaver’s warp. In the improved machines the whole process is done on one machine which automatically draws the wire from 4 side reel into the proper place for a picket, cuts it off, and crimps it and locks it into the cables. Probably the most interesting machines are those weaving poultry fencing. In this fencing fine wire is wrapped alter- nately on two strands of the heavier wire or cables running longitudinally. In crossing back and forth they SUPPLEMENT TO THE IRON AGE, MARCH 8, 1900. FIG. 1. MACHINES MAKING CABLED FIELD AND HOG FENCING. . 1 ' o- FIG.3. AUTOMATIC MACHINES MAKING CABLED FIELD AND HOG FENCING, TWO WIDTHS OF FENCE BEING WOVEN AT SAME TIME. THE MANUFACTURE OF WIRE FENCING. FIG, 6 AUTOMATIC MACHINE MAKING M. M. S. POULTRY FENCING—TWO WIDTHS AT ONCE. THE MANUFACTURE OF WIRE FENCING. March 8, 1900 form the mesh, which can be made large or small as de- sired. The guides through which the fine wires pass are shifted automatically from one cable to the other as soon as the necessary wraps are made. The shifting is done by an ingenious arrangement in connection with the cable twisters in the head of the machine, operated by a series of gears moved in unison with one another. The poultry fencing thus made is of unique pattern, having a cabled selvage and a cable every foot in the hight of the fence. The lines all being parallel in this fence, the tension is distributed equally throughout it Fig 8. A Load of 15/,, Miles of 2-Foot Hog Fence THE IRON AGE. a left for feeding the weaving, picket or cable twisting machines. In some of the weaving machines it is de- sirable to feed the wire from long spools instead of coils and an arrangement has been devised for fill- ing a large number of spools at one time. The com- pany have adopted 20 rods as the standard length for their rolls of field and poultry fencing. The old stand- ard for poultry was 150 feet, but it has been found in practice that the new standard is better for the trade, as not so much scrap accumulates on the hands of a retail merchant with the greater length. Lawn fence is put up in rolls of 300 feet. Gates and Posts. An important adjunct to the fence business is the manufacture of gates and posts. An entire building is _ devoted to this purpose, which is run by its own motor and is equipped with punches and other machinery. The company manufacture three distinct lines of gates— namely, steel frame garden and lawn gates, wood frame garden and lawn gates and pipe frame farm gates. Their pipe frame gate is of novel construction, which secures unusual rigidity. Instead of being bent at the corners, as is customary, the pipe is cut to the exact lengths required for the sides and ends. Two malleable eastings are then used for each corner, one on the inside and the other on the outside, which are of a shape to hold the ends of the pipes firmly when bolted ‘together. The castings are made with a lug on each end to enter holes drilled in the pipes, and thus provide additional rigidity. Diagonal braces extend across the gate, pass- ing through holes in the inside corner castings and se- cured by nuts on the ends. Fencing of any pattern de- sired is fastened to the framework, and thus a farm gate is secured which is at once ornamental, light and 1 2 3 Fig. 9.—View Showing Range of Sizes for Leading Varieties of Fencing.—No.1, Ornamental Strip; 4 5 6 ~ Yo 2, Lawn Fence, 24 to 50 Inches High; No.3, Cabled Field and Hog Fence, 17 to58 Inches ; No.4, M. M.S. Field Fence, 14 to¥6 Inches; No.5, M. M. S. Poultry Fence, 18 to 84 Inches ; No. 6, Cabled Poultry, Garden and Rabbit Fence, 24 to 63 Inches High ; No.7, Wire Board, 24 and 444 Inches Wide. THE MANUFACTURE OF WIRE FENCING. and on a straight line. Owing to this construction a full roll of 20 rods can be stretched at one time without in- jury. The posts are placed 16 to 20 feet apart. This enables a saving to be made of fully half the number of posts ordinarily required, while top and bottom rails are rendered unnecessary, thus making a saving in that respect. The body of the fencing can be stretched as firmly as the edges. The weaving ma@hines are all built to weave the fencing in a horizontal position, the completed fencing being rolled on a large drum or cylinder not very high trom the floor, so that the finished roll can easily be taken off the drum and removed. The machines are arranged with the finishing ends near the sides of the factories, thus leaving a space down the centers of these buildings for bringing in the ‘coils of wire to be woven. These coils can thus be placed on reels on the right or unusually strong and rigid. No less than 180 different kinds of gates are carried in stock, but special gates are easily made to fit any space. Various patterns of steel posts are made for either lawn or field fencing. Machine Shop. The company built a machine shop two years since and now make all their own machines.. This was found desirable, because improvements are constantly being devised and new forms of machines are being designed and tested, and the progress of such work can be more .easily supervised when done in their own shop. The equipment is of the most approved character, compris- ing automatic gear cutters, milling machines, drills, planers, &c. The scope of the work done is indicated by the fact that a 16-foot planer and a 5-foot radial drill are included in the equipment. An electric motor runs all the machines in this shop, which is claimed to be the best equipped shop to be found in that part of the country. The office building is larger than would appear essen- tial for an establishment of this kind, but a great deal more clerical work is being done than merely keeping the ordinary manufacturing and commercial accounts. The character of the business requires much attention to be given to advertising. A large force is employed in folding circulars and addressing envelopes to the trade, the entire country being covered very thorough- ly. An enormous amount of printed matter is thus dis- tributed. For the convenient distribution of their product the company carry large stocks in their own warehouses at Kansas City and San Francisco. The greater part of the country is reached by shipments direct from the works, their two large warehouses enabling them to carry sufficient stocks to promptly meet the require- ments of their customers. They have recently estab- lished an important foreign connection by appointing as their special representatives Rotherham, Wood & Co., Melbourne, Australia, who will handle their trade in Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand. Large as their business was in 1899, they are expecting a still better trade this year. Their shipments in November and December were nearly four times as heavy as in the corresponding months of 1898, showing that ad- vanced prices have not cut down the demand. in, ——_—— The Washburn Wire Company. Preliminary negotiations have been completed for the organization of a corporation, to be known as the Washburn Wire Company. The capital stock of $1,500,000 has already been un- derwritten by Kidder, Peabody & Co. of Boston and their associates. The work of constructing the plant will be commenced immediately. Charles G. Wash- burn will be president of the corporation and John D. Curtis general manager. The works will be located on tidewater, and a site has already been secured. The plant will comprise open hearth furnaces, a blooming mill, billet and rod mills and a wire mill. It is expected that the wire mill will be completed and running in eight months from April 1, and that the entire plant will be in operation before April 1, 1901. The mill will be run upon the higher grades of wire and specialties, and it is not proposed to engage in the manufacture of the coarser products. A complete staff of engineers are al- ready under contract, and the work will be pushed vigorously to completion. Kidder, Peabody & Co. of Boston will be the fiscal agents of the corporation, and will be represented upon the Board of Directors. A Boston newspaper reports that the preferred stock of the Washburn Wire Company is to be a peculiar se- curity, being entitled to 7 per cent. cumulative divi- dends and to share any dividends equally with the com- mon stock after the latter has received 8 per cent. It 8 THE’ IRON AGE. Fig. 10.— View in Warehouse. No. 2, also used for Assembling Orders and Shipping. THE MANUFACTURE OF WIRE FENCING. March 8 1900 may be called at 130, and in the event of liquidation shall receive 130 per cent. and divide all assets with the common after the latter has received 100 per cent. <i —_—— The Steel Sheet Combination.—A meeting ‘of the heads of sheet concerns, which expect to be taken over by the American Steel Sheet Company, was heid in the Vandergrift Building, Pittsburgh, on Wednesday and Thursday of last week. Some details were gonc over relative to the proposed combination, and the method of getting at the proper way of taking inventory of plants, stocks of material and supplies on Land was discussed. Nothing of special importance was done, but another meeting is to be held before March 2v, and it is hoped to have the organization completed *nd in f<ree by April 1. It is claimed that the details relating to the finances of the deal have been satisfactorily urranged. J. G. Bat- telle of the Piqua Rolling Mill Company, Piqua, Ohio, is very prominently mentioned for president of the new concern. _ —— Large Steel Cars.—The largest steel cars ever built were finished last week by the Pressed Steel Car Com- pany and shipped per the instructions of the Chicago, Lake Shore & Eastern, for which road the company are constructing 1000 of these coke cars. One hundred cars comprised the first shipment, and the company expect to send the 40 cars a day from the McKees Rock plant u