The Iron Age 1902-02-20: Vol 69 Iss 8

ae . A “owt ann tsuy Fe / «§0 j I MHMORIT Ugg | A Review of the Hardware, Iron, Machinery ana mctal Trades. ublished every Thursday Morning by David Williams Co., 232-238 William St., New York. 1. 69: No. 8 New York, Thursday, February. 20, 1902. Re eer eee rae ? .oading Matter Contents.........page 52 E yhabetical index to Advertisers “* 157 cM Cassified List of Advertisers... .. “ 159 a4 oa ve and ween Rates‘ 89 U.M.C. AMMUNITION is sold by all dealers because it is a staple— Shooters have learned to rely upon it. Order it by Name Catalogues. THE UNION METALLIC CARTRIDGE CO. 313 Broadway, New York, N. Y. THE. BRISTOL COMPANY, Waterbury, Conn. Bristol’s Recording Instruments. For Prert,.osa Silver Medal, Paris Exposition. Briegeport, Conn. 425 Market St., San Francisco, Cal. All Ranges, Low Low Prices and ca anteed. Send forC CAPEWELL HORSE NAILS. SAMSON CORDAGE WORKS, Boston, Mass. a ai ; : ae and insist that your dealer gives you nothing ot else. U. M. C. cartridges and shot shells are 2 “time tried;”.35 years of progress. Art TURNBUCKLES. NEW YORK, : & PHILADELPHIA, ) CHICAGO, este, ST. LOUI Cureland hy Farge nas hen bene nclind, 0, BOSTON, aa Ragin anne . DETROI . TURN BUCHEKILES: BRANCHES: cinciNNATl MERRILL BROS., EE inant 465 to 471. Kent Ave., Brooklyn, E.D., N.Y. SAN FRANCISCO) PORTLAND, ORE., BUFFALO, hs. ee sak ti eR es Loerie al hgh BES, ee BALTIMORE, NEW ORLEANS. THE CAPEWELL HORSE NAIL, COMPANY, HARTFORD, CONN. Jenkins Bros.’ Valves are manufactured of the best steam metal, are Why onperinent with cheap valves? If - ent the SBT sak your dealer for valves manufactured by member all genuine are stamped with Trade Mark Uke cot IRON ORES. —=—_ 7Ft* "oo The reason for using eee er eS lh wrhUhLTl(<i‘( mC Apollo galvanized iron is: JENKINS BROTHERS, New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Boston. ; ; is b 4 ; . ’ k ee 3 Fis the best iron: works |" THE AMERICAN TUBE & STAMPING CO, easiest: HOT AND COLD ROLLED Successor to SEE t eee ee STRIP STEEL, The WILMOT & HOBBS MFG. CO. pace FW, ‘ and costs least for labor. MAGNOLIA ETAL. ‘ Best Anti-Friction Metal for all Machinery Bearings. ~~ Pe fie i Fon A MiBy ss AVIVA sy Fac-Simile of Bar. Beware of Imitations. American Sheet Steel Company, New York wo oe Pee me. 2 THE TRON : -Assou "Brass »” COPPER Co: MANUFACTURERS OF BRASS AND COPPER Seamless Tubes, Sheets, Rods and Wire. ESTABLISHED 1845. Manufacturers of Copper. Ingot Copper. SOLE MANUFACTURERS Tobin Bronze (TRADE-MarK REGISTERED.) Condenser, Piates, Pump Linings, Round, Square and Hexagon Bars, for Pump Piston Rods and Bolt Forgings. BRAZED and SEAMLESS TUBING, Brass Brazing Wire, Spelter Solder. Rivets and Burrs, Metallic Eye- 99 John Street, - New York. Randolph-Clowes Co., Main Office and Mill, ' WATERBURY, CONN. MANUFACTURERS OF SHBET BRASS & COPPER, BRAZED BRASS & COPPER TUBES. SEAMLESS BRASS & COPPER TUBES TO 36 IN. DIAM. oe a be Se Breateny, Postal Tel- es Goice me Fisher Bldg. Office, % Cor. Oliver and 60 Centre St. to 122-130 Centre St. Deoxidized Babbitt. NEVER HAS BEEN BEATEN, Bridgeport Deoxidized Bronze & Metal Co. hase Sts. BRIDGEPORT, CONN. Matthiessen & Hegeler Zinc Co.,’ LA SALLE, ILLINOIS, SMELTERS OF SPELTER AND MANUFACTURERS OF SHEET ZINC AND SULPHURIC ACID. Special Sizes of Zinc cut to order. Rolled Battery Plates. Selected Plates for Etchers’ and Lithographers’ use. Selected Sheets for Paper and Card Makers’ use. Stove and Washboard Blanks. ZINCS FOR LECLANCHE BATTERY. Te OE AD 68°74 West Monroe St., Chicago. ESC UOT GCSE TTT Meth Rebate eb meee — No Detenncomneee SD, wiss.00/blass and Aluminum aaa 5 Wheel, $3.25 Phosphor Bronze Bearing Castings. BATTLE CREEK, mica. |W. 6. ROWELL & CO., Bridgeport, Conn. HENDRICKS BROTHERS PROPRIETORS OF THE Belleville Copper Rolling Mills, MANUFACTURERS OF Brazsiers’ Bolt and Sheathing : COPPER, GOPrr BIEt Winn AND RIV=zETs. Importers and Dealers in “{ngot Copper, Block Tin, Spelter, Lead, Antimony, etc. 49 CLIFF ST., NEW YORK. R. A. HART, WUTERBURY BRESS 60 Main Office and Mills at Waterbury, Conn. Brass, German Silver, IN SHEET, ROLL, ROD, WIRE, lets, Shells, Ferrules and Small Brasswares of every Description. New York Store has been removed from |256 Broadway, | &e. ‘man Silver. TwE PLUME & ATWOOD Mes. C0. * MANUFACTURERS OF Sheet and Roll Bras: —AND— WIRE PRINTERS’ BRASS, JEWELERS’ METAL, GERMAN SILVER AND GILDING METAL, COPPER RIVE;s AND BURRS. Pins, Brass Butt Hinges, Jack Chaiu, Kero sene Burners, Lamps, Lamp Trimmings, &c. 29 MURRAY ST., NEW YORK, 144 HIGH ST., BOSTON. 199 LAKE ST., CHICAGO, ROLLING MILL : ee CONN. FACTORIES : WATERBURY, CONN. SCOVILL MFG. CO., Manufacturers of BRASS, CERMAN SILVER Sheets, Rolis, Wire Rods, Bolts and Tubes, Brass Shelis, Cups, Hinges Buttons, Lamp Coods. SPECIAL BRASS GOODS TO ORDER Factories, WATERBURY, CONN. DEPOTS: NEW YORK, CHICAGO, BOSTON. JOHN DAVOL & SONS, AGENTS FOR Brooklyn Brass & Copper Co. DEALERS IN COPPER, TIN, SPELTER, LEAD, ANTIMONY. 100 John Street, - New York. Arthur 1. Rutter SUCCESSOR TO WILLIAM S. FEARING NEW YORK. Small tubing in Brass, Copper, Steel, Aluminum, German Silver, Sheet Brass, Copper and Ger- Copper, Brass and German Silver Wire. Brazed and Seamless Brass and Copper Tube. Copper and Brass Rod. “PHONO= ELECTRIC” WIRE. “1's tovon. TROLLEY, TELEPHONE and TELEGRAPH LINES. asevort, BRIDGEPORT BRASS Ci, ~~ THURSDAY, FEBRI The Heald Motor and Friction Driven Grinders. The first machine here illustrated, built by L. S. Heald & Son of Barre, Mass., is intended for grinding It is simply clamped on the tail spindle athe centers. ‘THB IRON AGE ry 20, 1902 frame in two parts so that it can be adjusted to grind any required angle, from 55 to 80 degrees. The second half-tone shows a power driven machine for use on lathes where it is desirable to obtain power from the lathe itself. A friction roll is mounted on a standard held to the bed of the lathe so as to bear MOTOR DRIVEN GRINDER. FRICTION DRIVEN of the lathe when the grinding wheel is in the proper position for producing the correct angle. The motor is arried by the frame of the attachment and power is ransmitted by a round belt running over grooved pul- eys. The rotary and sliding bearings are separate, hereby greatly reducing the wear and adding to the lurability of the machine. While the machine shown in he engraving grinds only the standard angle of 60 or ‘> degrees, as may be preferred, it is also built with the GRINDER, against the large step of the cone. Power is transmitted through a universal joint and pair oftbevel gears to the grinding spindle. Passing through the friction roll is the splined rod of the universal joint, which thus per- mits the attachment to be used at any desired point on the lathe bed. The grinder may be clamped to the tail spindle or secured to the carriage in place of the regular tool post. It is evident that it may be used at any de- sired angle and may be attached to any lathe. THE Washing of Bituminous Coals by the Luhrig Process.* BY J. V. SCHAEFER OF THE LINK-BELT MACHINERY COMPANY, CHICAGO. The washing of coal, like the washing of ore, is for the purpose of separating from each other pieces of mat- ter having different specific gravities. In the washing of ore, the ore is the heaviest and sinks to the bottom and the refuse rises and is washed away, while in the washing of coal the contrary is true—therefuse matter is heaviest and sinks to the bottom, while the coal is floated away. The foreign matters or impurities which it is essential to wash out of the coal are slate, sulphur, bone coal and fire clay. The specific gravity of coal is about 1.27 to 1.30. Matter which is materially heavier than this can be separated from the coal by a process of washing. Slate is as heavy as 1.50 or 2.00 even, so it is very readily removed from coal. Sulphur occurs in sev- eral different forms, mainly as iron pyrites. As iron pyrites it may occur as solid, dense masses. These are very heavy and easily removed. It may occur also in thin flakes that may be disseminated throughout the en- tire mass in small particles. When it exists in that form it is somewhat difficult to remove, for the reason that there may not be enough weight to make the lump sink. in that case it cannot be removed. These thin flakes of sulphur I have also known to float away on the surface of the water, although they may have been heavy enough to sink. They may take a cup shape like a piece of tin with the edges bent, and are sometimes difficult to remove. Another form of sulphur in coal is in the form of sulphate of lime and magnesia. This usually occurs in thin white flakes, that may be disseminated— in thin sheets like paper—through the coal. While sul- phur in this form is in itself heavy enough to sink, it usually occurs—as you will see it in the Northern IIli- nois coals—throughout a mass in such parts that it is not sufficient to materially affect the weight of the to- tal mass. Another form is organic sulphur—the worst of all. It cannot be detected by any physical inspection, and it cannot be removed by any physical process. Bone coal is an impure form of coal.: It varies all the way from a slaty coal to a coaly slate. It is very diffi- cult to determine just where to draw the line between what is refuse and what is coal in the case of bone coals. There are coals in which this is a very serious matter— coals in which the bone is disseminated throughout the entire mass, or in thin seams so closely interstratified that if you attempt to remove the bone you have very little coal left. Bone coal frequently gives very great trouble in washing. The difficulty with fire clay is its solubility. (To speak correctly, it does not really dissolve, but it emulsi- fies.) It is apt to dissolve, forming a sticky mud. This fills up the holes in the screens, settles to the bottom of the tanks and makes trouble generally. So any great quantity of fire clay is apt to make trouble with the ma- chinery. All of these impurities show themselves in the ashes when the coal is burned. The ordinary coal screenings, as they come to Chicago from the various coal fields tributary to this market, contain as much as 10 to 25 per cent. of ash. These coals can usually be reduced by a process of washing to 5, 10 or 12 per cent. of ash. These same coals contain all the way from part of 1 per cent. to 3 and 4 and possibly 5 per cent. of sulphur. This sulphur can also be partially removed from the coal. In a fuel coal, if the sulphur does not exceed 1% per cent. it does not greatly affect the value. If it runs as high as 3 or 4 per cent. it is a very serious matter. The sulphur existing as iron pyrites introduces iron into the ash, which melts with it into a clinker that becomes very hard. In coking coal the matter of sulphur is of vital im- portance, for the reason that coke used for melting iron may not exceed 1 per cent. of sulphur, and coke that goes above that is not used in the cupola or blast fur- * Abstract of paper read before the Western Society of En- ~gineers and printed in the Journal of the society. IRON AGE. February 20, 190 nace. If a coking coal contains sulphur it is of vital in portance that it be washed out if it can be done. What to Do with Impure Coal, So far I have mentioned these impurities only in the separate state. What is to be done with a piece of co: having refuse matter in it—coal containing a piece slate or sulphur? What becomes of this piece? If the is enough of the foreign matter attached to the piece coal to make it heavy enough to sink, it will be rejected if not, it will go with the coal. Hither one of these case is bad. In the first case a quantity of coal will be lost i: the refuse. In the second case we shall be leaving in th: coal the very matter which we are trying to get out. On¢ way is to crush the coal and thus free the foreign mat ter, but there are difficulties in doing that. You al! know that in the case of a fuel coal the selling value de preciates very materially with the size, so it would not do to crush all the coal. In the case of coking coal it is of no advantage to crush it. In the first place, it is much more difficult to wash a fine coal than a coarse coal; the process is much more difficult and much slow- er. In the second place, a great deal of the impurities, when crushed, will be reduced to fine slime and cannot be removed. Take a piece of coal the size of a goose egg. There is a certain quantity of foreign matter in that piece. If that entire piece can be rejected, then all the impurity contained in that coal will be kept once and forever out of the coal. If you crush it, you are go- ing to free a certain quantity of that impurity which you will never get out. The only thing to be done, as is done in the Luhrig process, is to reject every piece that has a suspicion of having foreign matter in it, and then to crush and retreat that primarily rejected product and recover all parts that are of value and use them as an inferior grade of coal. So much for the impurities of the coal. The appliances that are used for washing coal may be grouped into four general classes: The trough washer, the Campbell bumping table, the Robinson or inverted cone washer, the jig washer. Trough Washer. The trough washer consists of an. open end trough set on an incline, with cross rifles in the bottom. The coal is sluiced into the upper end and-the water flows out of the lower end. A conveyor with flights running up stream carries the clean coal out at the upper end while the refuse gathers on the riffles. At regular inter- vals the stream of coal is interrupted, the refuse is cleared off of the cross riffies at the bottom, and then the process is begun over again. This is very crude and hardly deserves to be called a washing process. Campbell Bumping Table. The second form is the Campbell bumping table. This, as I have’ seen it made, is a. shallow wooden trough 30 inches by 6 or 8 feet long, open at the ends The depth is 8 inches and may be 6 or 5 inches at the ends. It is hung in a slightly inclined position, one end slightly higher than the other, and by means of a cam motion it is thrown, at regular intervals of time, against a. bumping post at the upper end. The bottom of the ta ble is formed by a piece of galvanized iron. A couple of inches up from the bottom is a:false bottom, with riffles, pointing up hill. The coal is sluiced on by means of wa ter, and as the bumping table is thrown violently against the bumping post the refuse is thrown up hill, off the upper end, while the coal floats off the lower end with the water. Robinson Washer. The third form of washer is the inverted cone or Rob inson washer. This consists of a conical steel tank, set vertically. There is a vertical shaft acting through the center. ‘Lhe shaft carries a pair of cross arms at the top, which carry vertical stirring arms. Water is forced in at the bottom and flows out through an opening in the upper edge of the cone. Coal is fed in near the cen- ter at the top. The refuse matter gradually settles to the bottom, and is removed at regular intervals by open ing valves or slides, while the clean coal flows out at the top with the water. Both of these forms of washing device fall very THE February 20, 1902 r short of accomplishing perfect results. The Camp- ll] table is too delicate. The entire body of coal under 3 eration at one time does not exceed about 3 inches in ; ickness. The slightest variation in the relative quan- ties of coal and water affects the operation. The Rob- son washer is quite effective on the coarser sizes, but ils on the finer sizes. Both have been used to some ex- nt for washing coals for fuel, but where requirements ive been severe and regard has been had for keeping e coal out of the refuse and making the coal as clean ; it is possible to do, each has failed, as in Pennsyl- j nia and Nova Scotia. The only device which seems : ) lend itself perfectly to the separation of coal, as it F is been fully demonstrated to lend itself to the separa- yn of ores, is a jig. Jigs. A jig is made in a variety of ways and jigs have been esigned by a number of people. ‘The jigs usually take he name of the inventor, and there are jigs in this Fig. 1.—Nut Coal Jig. WASHING OF BITUMINOUS country in quite a variety. Some are good, some bad aud some indifferent. It would not be worth your while to attempt to describe all of these. I will simply de- scribe the Luhrig. ‘The operation of these jigs differs in detail. The foundation principle at tbe bottom of all is the same. ‘lhe Luhrig jig consists of a rectangular box, Fig. 1. If the capacity demands a number of jigs, this box is simply made long enough to be divided by parti- tions into as many jigs as are required. Each jig is di- vided by a partition from the top about half way down, dividing the jig box into two compartments—rear and front. In the rear compartment a plunger plays up and down, and water is forced in from beneath the plunger. The front compartment is closed near the bottom by means of a screen plate. Coal is fed in immediately in ront of the partition. The water is caused to take a pulsating motion by means of the plunger, and the wa- ter forces its way up and down and gradually works forward to the point of issue and effects a separation be- tween the coal and the refuse, so that by the time they ave worked forward to the front end of the jig box the ‘efuse is safely in the bottom and the coal at the top. ‘ear the center at the front is an opening immediately [RON COALS BY AGE. 3 above the screen plate and throtigh that opening the refuse works its way. The opening is guarded by means of a slide having a hole in it, so that the location of this opening, as well as its size, may be regulated by the op- erator. The coal issues in two openings on either side of the slate valve. As the refuse works its way out it drops into a compartment in front of the jig, is pulled to the end of this compartment with a screw con- veyor, and an elevator lifts the refuse out of the water and disposes of it. You will notice that the refuse lies at the bottom and prevents the screen plate from allow- ing any of the fine coal that may happen to be small enough to work its way back. Let us consider the operation of the jig. When we first put the coal into the jig there is no refuse on the bottom. Some of the coal will go directly through the holes at the bottom and be wasted, but after the opera- tion has continued for half an hour or so there will be a layer of refuse at the bottom which will prevent the coal from being wasted. Now if the coal put into that jig is fine—say below % inch—then the refuse contained in that coal is not sufficiently large to make an effective layer of refuse on the plate. It would form too dense a mass. The interstices would not be large enough to al- low water and refuse to work through. In order to over- Fig. 2 Jig for Fine Coal THE LUHRIG PROCESS come that point Mr. Luhrig uses a jig much the same shape, the design being a little different, but the princi- ple exactly the same, but he places on top of this screen plate a layer of feldspar crushed to uniform size. This forms a permanent artificial layer of refuse, and as the coal rises with the water the refuse works its way down through the interstices of the feldspar and gets down to the bottom of the jig. That is the feldspar jig as it is used in Luhrig plants, as shown in Fig. 2. Right at this point I want to warn you against the error, which is quite common, of assuming that a suc- cessful jig, or bumping table, or inverted cone assures the success of the washing plant. Nothing, I assure you, could be further from the truth. The machine which ac- tually does the washing is a very small part of the en- tire plant. Many other parts of thé plant are essential! to the success of the plant. Let me illustrate: Essentials for Coal Washing. I will assume that I have plenty of steam pressure and wish to use that steam pressuré¢ to drive a mill. I go to a machine shop and say to the proprietor that I have plenty of pressure and need gome kind of a ma- chine that will change that static pressure into motion, 4 THE IRON AGE. and ask what he will charge for a machine to convert my steam pressure into motion. He tells me $300. Then I go to another machine shop and state the same case. The proprietor says he would like to know a little more about the kind of motion I propose to use, &c. He then states that, without knowing any more about it, he thinks I should have a complete steam engine, which he ean make for something like $1200. I buy the $300 ma- chine, and when [ unload it from the car I find I have received a well designed and well executed steam cyl- inder. But I do not see how I can use that. I call in the manufacturer and tell him I do not see how I can drive my machinery with that thing. He tells me that is just what I asked for, and that this is a machine for converting my pressure into motion. I tell him that I seem to need something else. He replies, ‘ Of course, I February 20, 1: 50 tons per hour, Fig. 3, the other for handling 100 t per hour. The lantern slides from the design for h dling 50 tons were made by tracing off the designs a plant that was actually built a little over a year a Some modifications of this design have been used in number of plants, so that these designs are not im: inary; they are of plants that are in satisfactory ope tion. The plant of 100 tons per hour was put in ope: tion a month ago; it was designed and built for ¢ Buckeye Coal & Railway Company of Nelsonville, Oh This plant has been running since it was put in, day a night constantly. I will try, briefly, to follow the coal and refus: through the plant from the point where the coal is re ceived to the point where the coal is delivered into the cars and the refuse is discarded, and in that way I b« Fig. 3.—Fifty-Ton Plant. WASHING OF BITUMINOUS COALS BY THE LUHRIG PROCESS. supposed you knew that. In addition you will have to have a shaft, fly wheel, &c., and when you have those pieces al] put together and a belt run from your wheel to the line shaft you can then run your mill.” I ask what will be the cost. He replies, that will depend on how much money I wish to put into my plant; that I can possibly pick up a second-hand fly wheel somewhere; that the pillow blocks can be gotten from the Link-Belt Machinery Company at moderate cost, and other parts obtained in various places. He also says that his respon- sibility ends in furnishing the machine for converting pressure into motion, and that it is a good machine. Lubrig Process, Now, what is the Luhrig process? The Luhrig proc- ess is simply this: It is the result of the life long labors of Karl Luhrig among the dirty coals of Germany, added to which is the experience of engineers working with Mr. Luhrig, in treating the dirty coals of Scot- land, England, and, in fact, the world around. I have with me to-night lantern slides showing two designs of Luhrig washers. One design is for handling lieve you will get more quickly and more thoroughly an idea of the latest and best designs of Luhrig plants as they exist in this country to-day. This is an end view, Fig. 3, of a 50-ton per hour plant for washing coal for fuel purposes as it is used in LIli- nois by Donk Bros. Coal & Coke Company of Collins ville, Ill., and by the New Ohio Washed Coal Company, Carterville, Ill. The coal is received on the track shown, and is dumped into the pit under the track, if they have dump cars; if they do not have dump cars then an unloading machine is put over this track. In either case the coa! comes into this pit. From there it is delivered into an élevator which lifts the coal once and for all into the top of the building. At the top of the building is a triple jacketed screen which divides the coal primarily into two classes: 1, The nut coals Nos, 1, 2 and 3; 2, the fine coal passing through the %-inch holes. The nut coals from the three ends of the triple jacketed screen are dropped into their respective jigs. When washed, the clean nut coal is sluiced out of the front of the jig ebruary 20, 1902 THE th the stream of water which floats it there, and falls mn the bumping screen, which is simply a wooden me carrying a screen plate on the bottom. The coal sluiced onto the bumping screen at the upper end th the stream of water. That gradually shakes the | off the lower end and gives the water plenty of time scape. The coal at this point falls directly into the pping bins over the track. The refuse (from the nut ) in the meantime has been taken out of the water the elevator. The fine coal, in the meantime, passing ough the outer jacket, is met by all the water which s been gathered by the sluice box under the bumping een, The water sluices the coal into the grading box, ich is a V-shaped tank. The water flows in at one | in a horizontal direction. As the water flows across i mingles with the body of water in the tank the ve- ity diminishes, so that in this grading box the coal mply settles gradually: the largest first and the finest Each fine coal jig gets a different size of coal. ter on. LINE SHAFT-150 REV. ZZ NUT COALLJIGS i PUMEF SUCTION TANK RAW COAL ELEVATOR RAW COAL RECEIVING HOPPER IRON AGE, ~t forations of the sludge elevator buckets escapes into the tank. The stream of water flows very slowly in this tank, so the velocity of the water is very low. As the fine coal settles to the bottom the conveyor, which is a triple line of chain carrying scrapers moving very slow- ly, scrapes the sludge to the end, drops it into the eleva- tor, and the elevator takes it out.. The suction of the pump is at the other end. All the coal which will settle at all will be deposited and taken out, and the water taken on through the plant and used over and over. The only water that is lost is that which goes away with the wet coal. The only additional water that is needed is supplied as a spray over the bumping screens. A stream of clear, fresh water is directed on the coal just before it falls into the bins, and all the dirty; water is rinsed off. One Hundred-Ton Piant. Figs. 5 and 6 are views of the plant having a capacity of 100 tons per hour which has been recently started 90 10” Fig. 4.—Fifty-Ton Plant. WASHING OF BITUMINOUS COALS BY THE LUHRIG PROCESS. The eccentrics are adjustable for their stroke to suit the size of coal to be treated. The fine coals, although they are separated into sizes hydraulically in washing, are all mixed again and are sluiced into the fine coal ele- vator. The water, which has been drained from the coal by the elevator which lifts the fine coal into its bin, is all gathered together in the sludge tank. The refuse matter, which has been discharged from the bottom of the nut coal jigs and from the bottom of the fine coal jigs, with the water which is used to sluice it out of these jigs, goes into the refuse recovery. This is a V- shaped tank with a screw conveyor in the bottom and an elevator in one end. The entire plant is driven from the engine in the engine house at one side of the building Dy means of rope transmission. The water in the sludge overy tank is usually 8 feet deep. Che sludge tank occupies nearly the entire length of ’ building, 75 feet long. The tank is made water ht, with a conveyor from end to end, and at one end a is built onto it. In that pit an elevator is placed. * water which has been used throughout the entire nt is all sluiced together directly into this sludge ele- or. Such portion of the coal as goes through the per- by the Buckeye Coal & Railway Company. The descrip- tion of this plant is almost identical with that of the plant I have just given. It has some special features. The capacity of the plant was such that we had to dou- ble the screening capacity, and we have a pair of triple jacketed screens. Every pound of coal has to be un- loaded at the plant. An elevator lifts it to the top and it goes on down through the process. The power house in this case was made separate from the rest of the plant. The fuel for this plant is taken from the fine coal bins at one end by means of a conveyor. Fuel in most of these plants is taken from the very fine coal. The No. 5 is what they intend to burn. It is the coal that goes through the 44-inch holes that they use for fuel. You will see that this is almost a duplicate of the other plant. In this case a little different arrangement is made of the fine coal. The fine coal is sluiced to a drain- ing screen before going to the fine coal elevator, and so another size of coal is made. The fine is what escapes through the openings in that screen, and the other size is what passes from the end of that screen. Before going any further I wish to inquire if any one desires to ask any question. vicanae. ipsa senagtien they have been once separated, or are they marketed in different sizes after separating? THE IRON AGE. February 20, 19 Discussion. —Before washing.—, —After washir W. R. Roberts: Do you mix the different sizes after Sul- Fixed Sul- Fi Ash. phur. carbon. Ash. phur. car Belt Mountain, Montana 18.74 3.34 43.72 5.56 2.40 4s Wellington Colliery Com- Mr. Schaefer: They are marketed in different sizes. pany, Vancouver Island 35.00 ... 38.00 8.90 ... 5¢ People are used to getting mixed sizes and sometimes Alexandria Coal Com- . Bas ° : any, Cr re hac 2000 220 isos Ba OR k y are not desirable nor economical. pany, Crabtree, Pa 1 aes See them, bet they De Soto, Illinois....... 18.00 ... 44.00 4.20 57 To get the most value out of a fuel it is better to have it uniform size. 1f you look into a furnace where coal is Northwestern Improve- ment Company, Roslyn, burning, when a uniform size is used, you will see that NE Sige Sx 6k wane 16.30 0.57 45.90 9.70 0.40 47 ies in a uniform bed, and you get a better draft and [Uuhrig Coal Company, on are z dice A tae aaah Ghias Ga | ceria. 15.80 1.90 .... 8.00 0.87 5 more complete com bustion. A fine coal alone is Rocky Fork Coal Com- than a fine coal mixed with coarse coal. pany, Red Lodge, Mont. 25.30 ... 87.80 850 ... 47 Most of the Lubrig washed coal that is sold is in five NUT COAL JIG —— GRADING BOX CAR UNLOADERS AE —FINE COAL JIGS Pig. 5.—One Hundred-Ton Plant. WASHING OF BITUMINOUS COALS BY THE LUHRIG PROCESS Buckeye Coal & Railway sizes: Company, Nelsonville, CEO se cncescvcresges 13.77 1.05 49.04 430 0.89 54.5: Size No. 1 goes through a 24-inch hole and over a 1%-inch hole. New Ohio Washed Coal wih ee a eS ™ a 1 Pal © Company, Carterville, * 82 ‘ ae Taek 2 . aes BM, sevcescosevoscone 9.48 0.78 55.00 4.85 0.69 63.0 “ 4 “ ad % “ a) ay 3/16 a) “ lO. sph 7 */e-inch hole. These, I think, will answer Mr. Roberts’ question. The latter is the fine coal. Mr. Roberts: My question is, taking any particular grade or kind of coal, what is the relative efficiency of that for fuel purposes after the washing and before? Mr. Schaefer: I will answer that question by the fol- lowing list of Luhrig plants, showing analyses of coals treated in these plants both before and after washing: Mr. Roberts: That suggests another question—viz., whether this coal washing applies to all kinds of coals, or bituminous coal only, or some particular grade of bituminous? Mr. Schaefer: Nothing I have said to-night applies to anthracite coal; only to bituminous. Mr. Finley: I would like to ask Mr. Schaefer if the THE bruary 20, 1902 st of coal is enhanced where the ash is reduced (say) ie-half by washing. Mr. Schaefer: It enhances the cost of the coal in two iys: 1, In the actual cost of running the plant. Thatis quantity which varies with the constancy with which e plant is operated. In in Pennsylvania, here they ran a plant day and night, for a long period ‘time, not interrupted by strikes, six days in the week from Monday morning to Saturday night, 1600 tons ery day, their cost of washing, including repairs, fuel, and labor, was 8 cents a ton; 2, in the refuse matter y one case P jected. You are losing that quantity. You have to yuunt that into the cost of washing. That usually mounts to approximately the reduction in ash. These two elements make up the cost of washing. Professor Kerr: I would like to ask what effect the vashing has on the coal. Mr. Schaefer: The evaporative power of the pure coal s very little affected by going through the washing process. The coal not actually moisture, nd if it is thoroughly drained it is not affected. does absorb In shipping coal by the carload it is customary in some places, where the distance shipped is not great, so T ' | * - } ity Foe f 1 | } & = = =? F Per + | 8 Bi bet =e ee =p | | r “Berea [ rrr ri nt Pe 7 — = oh | . ++ A t+ TT FEE pad foe 4 iT = Hb ERE bt, #2 Lig ry: = —— w/ Lae. TNA ' | ey Refi hth Daal ds 7 TMC OINLLLLL ages = = f |) H+ | = 6) ‘ai tr yi at bate t } al i t } I" 44 hae A * =R = ce NV cout ) Fig. 6. WASHING OF BITUMINOUS the coal comes pretty fresh from the washing, to allow a certain number of pounds per car for water. Professor Kerr: About how much water would there be per car? Mr. Schaefer: There would probably be in a car wet coal—a 30-ton car—a ton of water. That is free wa- ter on the outside. The coal would not absorb the wa- ter, and within a day or two this water will all have drained off. of —_—- Abolishing the Mill Committee.—According to Theo- dore Shaffer, president of the Amalgamated Asociation, a recommendation will made at the annual conven tion of the organization, in Wheeling, W. Va., in May, for the total abolition of the ‘“ Mill Committee.” The Mill Committee 1s the mill representation of unionism and settles all disputes between the men and the of- ficials, unless they are so serious that a general strike is ordered. It has been claimed that where members of this Mill Committee are biased or inclined to be unjust they can cause no end of trouble to the manufacturers and keep the miil in a state of disorder all the time. The plan is to substitute for this committee a salaried district official, who is to go to all mills and settle all dis- putes as the representative of the men. This change will be one of the most radical that the Amalgamated Association has ever attempted. be [IRC CO: IN AGE. The Tunner Memorial. An international including many of the leading metallurgists of Great Britain and Europe, hav- member Prof. H. M New York, been of erecting at Leoben, in the Aus- a suitable memorial of the late Tunner, intelligent, “<1 labors throughout a long life not only estab- committee, American ing as its representative Howe of Columbia University, has formed for the purpose of Styria von trian province Peter Ritter and devote whose foreseeing lished at the place now indissolubly associated with his nume a famous center of technical instruction and train- ing, but also contributed in no small degree through his oWn investigations, criticisms, reports and recommen- dations to the rapid progress of the scientific metallurgy of iron and steel which has wrought a wondrous and beneficent industrial revolution in the modern world. In the triumphant result of such a revolution it is well to remember the pioneers to whom its inauguration and encouragcment were du Tunner’s its in this respect were long ago recog nized Bern relatively the obscure son of a simple pro T ix ad ee ; 7 nem } =i } Pe ¥ \ } ' bey tr + 4+ , pte + A Hy BR b4 eb — ++ EEE Be oe Hh rh tit t +t 4 (A pastes} 4p ae oh Cer Sn t f tt 4 Are A} } } } ‘ PARR Sb t i } | —— rE ——1—T + ~ — ~y Lt — i | ec | fh | One Hundred-Ton Plant. ALS BY THE LUHRIG PROCESS vinciai forge master, and making his way by his own died loaded with decorations and honors, be- sovereigns, but (still more signifi- cantly) through the unsought appreciation of professional and scientific Iron and Steel Institute, which bestowed upon him the Bessemer gold medal, and the American Institute of Mining Engineers, him, many years ago, one of its few hon- orary members. The “ Biographical Notice of Peter Ritter von Tunner,” contributed by Dr. Raymond, secre- tary of that institute, and published in Vol. XXVII of its transactions, amply justifies the desire of his former pupiis and colleagues to perpetuate his well earned fame. We understand that subscriptions for this purpose may be sent to Dr. R. W. Raymond, Box New York City, who has consented to act for Professor Howe as treasurer of the American contributions to the interna- tional committee contributions, we think, ought to be, and we hope they will be, both numerous and liberal. labors, he stowed not only by associations, such as the which made "on? et ht Dy Such Under date of February 11 the Board of General Appraisers have decided that furnace sand is entitled to entry free of duty. The case was brought up through a protest of Dana & of New York against a de- cision of the Collector of Customs at Boston, Mass. oO Co. 8 THE The Eight-Hour Bill. iron Interests Testify Before the House Com- mittee on Labor. WASHINGTON, D. C., February 18, 1902.—The formal hearings given by the House Committee on Labor on the pending eight-hour bill were opened on the 13th inst. with an argument against the measure presented by Archibald Johnston, general superintendent of the Bethlehem Steel Company, who devoted several hours to an exhaustive and technical statement of the reasons why the proposed measure would prove wholly imprac- ticable as applied to the methods of manufacturers of iron and steel on a large scale. There were present at the meeting a number of representatives of well-known manufacturers, including ex-Secretary H. A. Herbert of the Midvale Steel Company, the Union Iron works, Bath Iron Works, &c.; Jas. H. Hayden and Ormsby McCam- mon of the Bethlehem Steel Company, the Carnegie Steel Company, &c., and General Williams and Carroll S. Smith of the Cramp Shipbuilding Company. The labor organizations were represented by a delegation headed by Samuel Gompers, president of the American Federation of Labor. Mr. Johnston’s statement was a straightforward, eminently practical résumé of the reasons why large iron and steel plants cannot be conducted on an eight-hour basis except at a heavy loss, both in efficiency and economy. He did not content himself with generalities, but presented specific illustrations in such numbers as to leave no doubt as to the correctness of his position. Throughout his argument he was cross examined at in- tervals by Mr. Gompers and other members of the labor delegation present, but his knowledge of details gained as a practical mechanic enabled him to sustain his points very effectively, to the evident chagrin of his questioners. The Testimony of Archibald Johnston, Mr. Johnston began with the statement that he had been in the service of the Bethlehem Steel Company for 17 years, and during that time had been engaged in many branches of the iron and steel business. “ We are,” said he, “large manufacturers of high grades of iron and steel, and of intricate forgings and castings in both iron and steel for the Government and for out- side parties, about one-third of our work being for the Government. We make the largest castings in iron and steel made not only in this country, but in the world. We also make special steel in large and small quanti- ties, and it is a fact that even in the manufacture of these small quantities of special steels this measure would prove impracticable, for oftentimes the heats could not be so arranged as to be completed inside of eight hours. It is customary and practically necessary that the man who has charge of melting should com- plete the operation, as on one man only can the responsi- bility for the success or failure of the product be placed. Such responsibility cannot possibly be divided. The time required to melt a certain quantity of high grade steel is variable and cannot be definitely controlled. This being the case, a strict application of an eight- hour day would, of necessity, cause heats to be started by one person and turned over to another. If this were practicable in the manufacture of high grades of steel it would have been done long before now. It is, how- ever, absolutely essential, and therefore customary, for a melter to complete his own melts. Heats of special steels are made of special compositions, requiring exact proportions of the rarer metals to produce, as the case may be, toughness, or toughness combined with hard- ness, to be used possibly to withstand a constant jar or a high heat developed by the friction of cutting, &c. Heats for special uses require greater care and a longer time to manufacture than those of ordinary steel, and after certain stages in their manufacture have been reached the work must be completed by some one man highly skilled in the art. “It might be said, perhaps, that more men could be educated to do this class of work. The answer is that a [IRON AGE. February 20, 190 constantly increasing number of men are being edu cated, but this does not correct the difficulty, for heat are bound to lap over the eight-hour limit, no matte what judgment is exercised in handling them, and thx man best able to complete a heat is naturally the on who from its inception has noted carefully all the vari ous steps and changes as compared with other heats and who is therefore familiar with the task in hand and best able to cope with the inherent difficulties that aris: during its successive stages. No man can transmit in conversation the refinements of detail arising in the manufacture of heats of high grade steel to another any more than one man can clearly and completely con- vey to another all the workings of his brain by a letter. Certain grades of steel can be melted much more rapidly than others; some in four hours, while others of higher qualities require 10 or 12 hours or even more. Heats composed of large proportions of foreign metals or alloys require more time than others not so composed. Again, certain grades of steel are required to be held after melting, but before pouring, for a short time, while others require to be held a longer period, depend- ing upon the uses to which they are to be put, in order to attain certain desired composition by a thorough mixture of the ingredients or for the escape of gases. Tor these reasons more than eight hours are frequently required to be consumed continuously in the manufac- ture of many grades of steel, even though the resultant weight produced may be only 120 pounds of crucible steel on the one hand or 50 tons of open hearth steel on the other. I have seen heats of crucible steel up to 60 tons poured into one ingot the manipulation of which required the constant services of 1500 to 1800 men for a period of 10 to 12 hours. “But there are other important reasons of special significance to the workman himself why the man who starts a heat should complete it. On this basis only can a man working on a poundage or tonnage basis receive full compensation of credit for the quality of his work. This consideration cannot be measured in dollars, for a man’s promotion and the success of his entire career must depend upon the results of operations which he initiates and carries through to a successful conclusion. The strict enforcement, therefore, of the eight-hour sys- tem would unquestionably result in the production of much inferior product, and therefore of loss of trade to employers and of earnings to the men employed. “In this day of specialties most of the work obtained by the great concerns in this country at good prices is secured because of their ability to fill orders for special work which cannot be filled by the ordinary run of pro- ducers. Any firm can produce material within large ranges of composition as to carbon, sulphur, &c., but only a few of the most experienced firms can produce material of high standard meeting the requirements and specifications upon which the reputation of the great engineers of this country is so largely founded. The fact that we are able to produce steels within narrow limits of composition which will show greater strength and more enduring qualities than the ordinary grades of steel gives to the firm an enviable reputation, and en- ables them to secure larger prices for the material de- sired, which has a very beneficial effect upon the wage earner. American ingenuity is at a higher premium than that of any other country. Where else in the world is labor so well paid as in the great concerns in this State? Where else in the world do the laboring classes own their own homes, procured as a result of their individual efforts and industry? Where else to- day can be seen so much prosperity and so little misery? Making Large Castings. “IT have undertaken to show why more than eight hours are required in the production of small quantities of high grade steel, and it will perhaps be more readily understood why a longer period of continuous labor is more important when the mass involved runs up to hundreds of thousands of pounds and involves thou- sands of dollars. These facts are so self evident to the practical men who have had experience along these lines that they hardly know where to start to explain February 20, 1902 THE he manifold difficulties. To a man charged with all he details of making a steel or iron casting weighing, say, 250,000 or 350,000 pounds, and valued at from $20,- 100 to $50,000, it would seem preposterous to say he should work no more than eight hours. This is equiva- ent, gentiemen, to saying you shall not make the cast- ng, and why? Simply because you are making high rrade work for the Government. The enforcement of law of this kind simply amounts to saying that the vork cannot be done by you—it must be done by some irm allowed to work more than eight hours. “In the production of such large masses of iron and steel the guiding hand of some man having a great deal .f practical information as well as executive ability must necessarily be felt, and more often 12 to 18 hours re consumed in the production of castings entering into some of our largest labor saving machinery. Are we to do without these marvels of American engineering skill simply because they require more than 8 or 10 or even 18 hours for their production? Does American judg- ment say yes to such a proposition? I do not believe It. “Owing to an accident to our pumping machinery I have personally, gentlemen, stood at a forging press from 7 a.m. until 4.30 p.m. forging on the last heat of a field ring for the Niagara Power Company, and our experience has taught us that whoever starts a heat should finish it. Ordinarily these heats are of shorter duration, but, nevertheless, many instances arise where it is necessary for a man or a set of men to work for more than eight hours consecutively. In this connection I might mention the Ferris shaft, weighing 90,000 pounds, 43%4 feet in length and 32 inches outside diam- eter, with an inside diameter of 15 inches, forged from an ingot weighing 130,000 pounds; and a 16-inch jacket, weighing 84,532 pounds, 25% feet in length and 45 inches outside diameter, forged from an ingot of 250.- 000 pounds. Other large jobs might be mentioned in which ingots were used weighing as much as 350,000 pounds, all of which illustrates the impossibility of meeting the conditions laid down in this bill. “Now there is another phase of this subject, and in this connection I cannot too forcibly call your atten- tion to the fact that should this bill pass many of the best producing concerns in the iron and steel industry will be very badly handicapped. In fact, it will be prac- tically impossible for them to operate. As is well known, most of the great mechanical achievements of the present time are accomplished in this country in a far shorter time than anywhere else in the world. Can this be dene with an eight-hour limit on the hours of wark? The achievement of any great engineering enter- prise necessitates, of course, procuring the required ma- terials in the least possible time, and as a result con- tracts and subcontracts are made from one person to another in all parts of the world; in short, the person who can deliver the goods in the shortest possible time often receives the contract regardless of the price. As an instance of the impossibility of limiting the hours of labor as is proposed I might call attention to the fact that the very iron that is necessary to produce the guns and armor for the Government, as well as other grades of high class material manufactured for special pur- poses, is often made from ores and raw material se- cured, as it were, from the ends of the earth. Ores es- pecially low in phosphorus and sulphur are procured in iany instances in Africa, Spain, Cuba, the island of Elba and other foreign parts. The necessity of procur- ng materials from such great distances is due to the equirement regarding special compositions. If such materials in the desired compositions could be procured 1 our own land they could be obtained in much less ‘ime and at much less cost, and would certainly be sed. Now explain to me if you can how we can guar- ntee that the ore purchased -in Africa or Cuba or Spain Italy has been handled by men who worked eight ours per day and no more? It is preposterous on its ice, “Again, after the receipt of the ore it must be trans- rred to the blast furnaces, but here, it will be noted, iat the same men who load this material for the pro- iction of special grades of iron also load the material [RON AGE. ? for other furnaces manufacturing other grades. Would not the bill apply to all these men? It is also to be borne in mind that even with the utmost care when we endeavor to manufacture a certain grade of pig iron the desired end is not always achieved, for the result is often beyond the contro] of those engaged in the work. or example, should we endeavor to produce a high grade of pig iron especially low in phosphorus and sul- phur for Government work, circumstances might arise which would give us