The Iron Age 1902-10-16: Vol 70

‘THE IRON AGE THURSDAY, The S. & S. Screw Cutting Die. ‘The new self opening and adjustable screw cutting lie designed and built by Seott & Sous Company, 173 ligh street, Bosten, is for use on turret lathes and screw OBER 16, 1902. e cul clear up to shoulder, if desired, by setting the eauge for the length required. When » gauge moves the die opens instantly and automatically. The cutters are held by screws in the ends of four rms. B. which are cut from solid piece of steel. The Die Closed. Fig. 2 Die Open. fHt S. & S. SCREW CUTTING DIE. lachines ou which the turret is moved by hand. It is ‘xtrem:ely simple in construction, positive in its action ind absolutely nonclogging. It can be quickly adjusted to increase or decrease the diameter of the thread cut, ind long or short threads, either right or left hand, can outer portion of the end of each arm is inclined toward the body of the tool, as shown in the section, Fig. 3. Surrounding these arms is an open cage, A, having a beveled part to fit the bevel on the arms. This cage is moved forward. to the left in Figs. 1 and 2, by means ren en a Ste amet ° : we rete — 2 THE of a handled yoke. This forward motion of the cage, by reason of the beveled surfaces, brings the cutters B to- ward each other and in working position, where they are held by the locking pin E engaging the yoke. The gauge governing the length of the thread cut is clearly shown in the two half-tones and the sectional drawing. When the end of the gauge strikes the end of the piece being threaded it is moved in toward the shank D and withdraws the pin BE, thereby releasing the yoke. The arms B now act as springs against the beveled surface of the cage, which is forced backward. This action springs the cutters entirely clear of the thread just cut, when the tool may be backed off with- out any danger of marring the thread on either the work or chasers. The cage can be adjusted so that the beveled surfaces will occupy any desired position in relation to each other and thereby vary the diameter of the thread eut. The chasers can be removed easily when they re- Tue Iron Ace IRON AGE. October 16, 1902 United States Realty Organization. The permanent organization of the United States Realty & Construction Company was effected October 7 at a mecting of the Board of Directors, held at 135 Broadway, New York. The following officers were elected: President, Brad ish Johnson; chairman of the board, H. S. Black; vice presidents: Albert Flake, Robert E. Dowling and S. P McConnell; secretary, R. G. Babbage. The Executive Committee will have the following members: James Stillman, chairman; Charles M Schwab,, Albert Flake, Robert E. Dowling, H. S. Black, Hugh J. Grant and Henry Morgenthau. Tne Board of Directors, as announced, includes only three names that were not mentioned in the provisional) list made public several weeks ago—namely, John W Gates, Cornelius Vanderbilt and P. A. Valentine of Chi Fig. 3 —Details of Die. THE S. quire sharpening and different sizes and styles of chasers can be used in the same head. These dies are made in several different sizes for cut- ting straight or taper threads. ee The Allegheny Ore & Iron Company, Clifton Forge, Va., have secured control of the Victoria Coal & Coke Company, whose mines and works are located at Caper- ton, W. Va., and whose offices were formerly at Cata- sauqua, Pa. Recently the Victoria Company’s plant was damaged by fire, the head house, the blacksmith shop and tipple being burned. They advise us that they will rebuild the head house of steel and build a new incline down to the river. About 150 additional coke ovens will also be erected. No new machinery, except perhaps some new sheaves for rope haulage, will be required, though other equipment will be wanted, as no material for these improvements has as yet been purchased. A. E. Hearper, fuel agent for the United States Steel Corporation, was in Pittsburgh last week. Mr. Hearper had just returned from a trip to the Texas oil fields, where he had been investigating fuel oil with a view of using oil as a fuel in the Atlantic Coast plants. There had been a report that the oil fields of Texas were giv- ing out and that it was only a matter of a short time before the field would be of small value. Mr. Hearper found the report to be entirely untrue, and says that there is more in the Beaumont field than ever be- fore. Mr. Hearper said that Beaumont «had been changed from a typical lumber town to an oil town. & S. SCREW CUTTING DIE. cago. In addition to these memebrs and those forming the Executive Committee, the board is made up as fol- lows: James Speyer, James H. Hyde, William H. Mc- Intyre, Charles H. Tweed, A. D. Juilliard, George C. Haven. Henry Budge, George ©. Clark, Charles F. Hoff- man, H. L. Higginson, B. Aymar Sands, Charles Francis Adams, 2d, S. P. McConnell, K. K. McLaren. This gives the board a membership of 25, which will ultimately be increased to 30. A treasurer and assistant treasurer for the new cor- poration were also appointed at the meeting, the former being Byron M. Fellows, who was treasurer of the George A. Fuller Company, and the latter Morris B. Mead, who has acted as secretary and treasurer of the New York Realty Corporation since their organization about a year and a half ago. The Alliance Realty Company will not be among the corporations to be merged into the new United States Realty & Construction Company, the underwriters of the United States Company having concluded to avail themselves of their privilege to abandon the absorption of the Alliance Company. This will in no way inter- fere with the carrying out of the merger of the other companies, the George A. Fuller Company, the New York Realty Corporation and the real estate interests of the Central Realty, Bond & Trust Company. The original plans will be followed, except that as indicated in the announcement issued Tuesday the $2,500,000 pre- ferred and the $2,500,000 common stock, which was to have been given in payment for the Alliance Company, will remain in the treasury of the United States Com- pany. This will reduce the amount of preferred stock to be issued to $27,500,000 and the eommon stock to $33,500,000. 1g y1- [c- C. cis rill or- 1er the the ion the tes of rail ion ter- her asts The ited pre- s to ny, om- to October 16, 1902 THE IRON AGE. 3 The Antwerp Iron and Steel Works. From an electrical point of view possibly the most interesting iron and steel plant in the world to-day is the one in course of erection on the banks of the Scheldt, on the Hoboken plains, near Antwerp, Belgium. When completed this works will comprise a blast furnace plant, a steel works with a complete roll train outfit, iron and steel foundry, workshops, boiler and power houses, blacksmith shop, &c. The work is being rushed and the entire plant will be finished and in operation in a short time. Part of it is in operation now. When the plant is in full swing it will require 4200 tons of iron ore, 1050 tons of limestone, 2100 tons of coke and 3000 tons of coal every 24 hours, the manipulation of which will be done almost entirely by mechanical means. The coke works with recovery of by-products is supplied with a washery and coal mixing plant. In ad- dition there will be a plant for transforming the refuse from the washers into briquettes. A cement factory, with a daily output of 100 tons, will convert the blast furnace slag into building or paving stones. A tube works with an output of from 40,000 to 60,000 tons of tubes annually, varying from 1% to 40 inches in diameter, is also included in the plant. The steel works proper will produce 1200 tons of basic open hearth steel per day, which will be melted in tilting furnaces espe- cially adapted for receiving the pig iron direct from the blast furnaces. The scrap will be melted down in four furnaces with a capacity of 20 tons. The rolling mills will consist of two divisions: In the one girders, rails, angles, rounds, bars, &c., will be produced; in the other, plates and sheets of the customary lengths, widths and thicknesses will be rolled. Electric drive is used throughout all the various shops, the energy being ob- tained from a well appointed power house centrally lo- cated. This power house is essentially Westinghouse in all its appointments, and it will eventually have a capacity of 30,000 horse-power. The present plant consists of steam driven generators. There are two main sets, con- sisting of triple expansion marine engines direct con- nected to Westinghouse alternators. The engines are of 1500 horse-power capacity each, with cylinders 22, 32 and 46 inches 1n diameter. They were originally in- stalled on an English torpedo boat, but have been recon- structed and provided with Sisson speed regulators. Each engine is provided with surface condensation, hav- ing a centrifugal pump for the water circulation. The condensation water returns to the boilers. The two main generators are three-phase machines of 900 kw. ca- pacity, each operating at 6000 alternations, 2200 volts and 187 revolutions per minute. They are of the ro- tating field type. A third main generating set is also in use, but this has only been put down temporarily pend- ing the completion of a part of the proposed gas driven installation. This set consists of a belt driven 400-kw. three-phase Westinghouse alternator of the rotating armature type, generating an electromotive force of 2200 volts at 6000 alternations. This machine will eventually be driven by an 800 horse-power compound tandem engine. The exciting plant consists of two 25- k.w. direct coupled sets, each being a 58 horse-power Westinghouse compound engine with a 220-volt West- inghouse direct current multipolar generator built on an extension of the engine shaft. The engines run at 350 revolutions per minute. The central station switchboard connections are ar- ranged for running the alternators in parallel, but two sets of high tension bus bars are provided, the object being to isolate the generator supplying the rolling mills from the other generators, which would be engaged in furnishing energy for general distribution. This switch- board at present contains six panels—one for controlling the two 25-kw. exciters, two for controlling the two 900-kw. alternators, one for the rolling mill circuit, one for the boiler works, foundry and repair shop circuit, and one for controlling the lighting circuit. All the switchboard apparatus is of the standard Westinghouse type. There are four transformer substations located in the works, each designed with reference to the circuits they are intended to operate. Station Ne. 1 is located at the entrance of the central station and furnishes current for the complete illumination of the steel works, and at the present time also furnishes current for all the motors in the central station. The steel works are illuminated by 200 Korting are lamps and 500 incandescent lamps. The most interesting feature connected with the elec- trical equipment of this plant is the installation of three large Westinghouse variable speed, type “ F”’ polyphase induction motors for operating the blooming and finish- ing mills. Necessarily the fly wheel capacity is large enough to overcome the inertia effects due to the sudden changes of load from minimum to maximum and vice rersd, The motors are controlled by railway type controllers, having a primary 2150-volt main and reversing switch, and three drums for varying the resistances of the sec- ondary circuit. The resistances are of iron and give 15 steps in each phase. The speed variation gained by this means allows of a reduction of from 22 per cent. to 25 per cent. below normal speed, the normal full load torque being maintained over this range. One of these motors is a 325 horse-power Westing- house polyphase induction motor operating at 2150 volts and 600 alternations at a rated speed of 300 revolutions per minute. This motor is belt connected to a 24-inch two-stand blooming mill, which runs at a speed of 70 revolutions per minute and has a fly wheel of about 30 tons weight. In one stand 880-pound blooms are re- duced from 10 inches square to 34 inches square; in the other stand 450-pound blooms are reduced from 74 inches square to 2% inches square section. Behind the blooming mill are two finishing mills. Each finishing mill is supplied from one stand of the blooming mill. These mills are direct driven by West- inghouse type “ F”’ polyphase induction motors, the mo- tors being coupled by rigid flange couplings to the short fly wheel shafts of the mills, each mill having a fly wheel of about 12 tons in weight. The larger finishing mill is a 14-inch five-stand mill and is driven by a 450 horse-power motor operating at 2150 volts and 6000 al- ternations; the other, a 10%-inch five-stand mill, is driven by a 325 horse-power motor operating at 2150 volts and 6000 alternations. It will be noted that the three large motors are operated at full line pressure, no transformers being used. Very high speeds have been chosen for all the cranes. At times the traveling speed is 330 feet per minute and the lifting speed 50 feet per minute. All lifting, turning and traveling drives are equipped with automatic, electromagnetic safety brakes. Thus far it has not been possible to determine the exact amount of power required to roll the different sec- tions of iron, as simply tightening the rolling train doubles or even trebles the power necessary to roll simi- lar sections. It has been ascertained, however, that the 325 horse-power motor belted to the blooming mill runs continuously at 35 to 45 amperes, and the 325 horse- power motor directly coupled to the finishing mill con- sumes on an average from 60 to 80 amperes. The 450 horse-power motor directly coupled to the finishing mills consumes on an average from 90 to 100 amperes. These motors have been running the roll trains for some time and the results are highly satisfactory to the installing and operating engineers, as well as to the proprietors. —— oa The New York State Bankers’ Association, who held their annual meeting in New York last week, referred to their Committee on Administration, with power to act, a resolution asking for a repeal of the national bankruptcy law. The resolution states that the present bankruptcy law was passed for the purpose of reliev- ing the financial embarrassments of persons engaged ir worthy business enterprises and to enable them to again engage in such business pursuits, and that, as sufficient time had elapsed for the accomplishment of that pur pose, to continue the law longer in force would induce extravagant living and reckless speculation and en- courage fraud and dishonesty. 5 i it H | 1 i ae oes PS a Bt THE IRON AGE. How the Union Limits Output. The National Metal Trades Association on Septem- ber 12 sent out a circular letter to employers generally, asking for information within their knowledge as to the restriction of the output of their establishment. As a specimen of innumerable letters received the Bulletin of the association publishes the following letter from the York Mfg. Company of York, Pa.: York, Pa., September 23, 1902. National Metal Trades Association, Cincinnati, Ohio: GENTLEMEN: Your circular letter No. 143 received, and note what you say about the facts you are endeavoring to collect concerning the methods pursued by union labor in regard to limiting the output of establishments where such labor is employed. We herein state to you the following facts concerning our experience in this respect with union labor: The business we are engaged in is the manufacture of ice making and refrigerating machinery, and the number of men employed in our works runs from 600 to 750. In 1897 this company determined to thoroughly equip and organize their works so that the machinery manufactured therein could be produced at a minimum cost. In carrying out this decision we came in contact with the union labor question, as follows: Machine Department. Upon receiving a report from our cost keeping de- partment as to the time required by the men in per- fcrming the different operations on the machinery man- ufactured by us, we found that there was a great differ- ence in the time consumed in doing the same work by the different men and tools, and we proceeded to rectify same by the introduction of new tools where the tools were at fault, and made an attempt to bring the men as near as possible to a uniform time on the same class of work. We soon found that our actions in this direction were being discussed in the meetings of the machinists’ union and that the members of the union were com- paring notes and were setting the number of hours re- quired to do the work, and the men that were doing the work in the least number of hours were instructed to increase the hours; it being claimed that if they did not they were working against themselves and their fellow workmen. All efforts on our part to equalize or control the output were objected to on the part of the union men, and our offers of a premium for better speed on the work were rejected. The nonunion men, however, were willing to give an honest day’s work and co-operate with us in our efforts to find out whether or not it was the men or the tools that were at fault. We then began putting in new and improved tools and the union men attempted to keep down the product of these tools to, or near about, what the old tools could do. The tools being new, and we not having any record of what they were capable of doing, they succeeded in keeping the number of hours way below what we have since found they could do. In the spring of 1898 we bought several tapping and drilling machines. These machines are made by Baker Bros. of Toledo, Ohio. We set them up in our works and put a man to operate each machine. These ma- chines are built with two spindles, each spindle being driven by a separate driving mechanism. As soon as we set these machines to work the union decided that we must put a man at each spindle, and their members refused to operate the machines unless we would do so. We thereupon put laborers upon the machines. The union men, however, made it so uncomfortable for these men that they could not hold their job, and we were finally obliged to put apprentices on the machines, one at each spindle. To do this we were obliged to put on more apprentices. Upon doing this the question of more apprentices was brought to our attention and we were informed that we were putting on more apprentices than the union allowed. This, however, we paid no attention to. About this time we put in an eight-spindle drill, made by Bausch & Harris of Springfield, Mass. This October 16, 196 drill has eight spindles arranged in circular form, whic! are driven by one series of mechanism, and therefor the objection which had been raised against the Bake: Bros. drills, which was that each spindle constitutes a drill, could not be brought up in connection with this tool. The union machinists, however, decided to boycott the tool, claiming that it was detrimental to the interes! of labor, and none of their members would operate it They also interfered with and harassed the nonunior men whom we put to operate the tools, so that it was almost impossible for us to keep the same manned. Another method of restricting the output, and on which caused us considerable trouble, was the interfer ence of the union men with any of the men who would attempt to prepare a piece of work for his tool while same was in operation on another. If a man was noticed doing this he would immediately be visited by one after another of the union shop committee, who would, as they passed him, object to his doing this, and as soon as they got him where they could talk to him they would argue that he was doing two men’s work and cheating another man out of a job; that as long as his tool was in operation he had a right to sit down until the job he was working on was finished before making any attempt whatever to prepare another piece of work, claiming that this was the same as operating two tools. In this way they would browbeat and interfere with the men who were willing to de all they could for the interest of the company. The Baker Bros. and the Bausch & Harris drills we found to be very essential in the manufacture of cer- tain parts of our machinery, and to get over the trouble which the union caused us in the operation of these machines we were obliged to buy a property and build a separate shop to put these tools in. In this shop we hired no machinists at all, but used only laborers and broke them in to operate the machines. The shop being at the opposite end of the works from the machine shops prevented any interference by the machinists. This state of affairs continued until the fall of 1900 and the spring of 1901, when we found that the men were doing less and less work. In hunting up the reason for this we discovered that the feeds on the different machines were being slowed down, and on watching the men we found that a man by the name of M. F. Flynn, who was a new man with us, was go ing around from machine to machine and instructing and assisting the men to change the feeds to a schedule that he set. When we were satisfied that he was doing this we immediately took him to task about it, where- upon he quit, and announced himself as national repre- sentative of the machinists’ union and took charge of the machinists in this city. A few days after leaving us he called in our office and made a demand on us on behalf of the union men, threatening that if such de- mand was not granted the union men would go on a strike. It being impossible for us to grant the demands of the union men, they did go on a strike on May 20, 1901. After they had left the shop we found that they had destroyed, hid and stolen a great number of the special jigs and appliances that we had to facilitate the work. We also found that a number of the tools had been tampered with, especially the larger ones, which were in such shape that had we not looked them over care- fully we would surely have destroyed them. We were fortunate enough, however, to discover one of the tools in bad shape, which made us suspicious, whereupon we went over all of theni before starting up, and in this way discovered those that had been tampered with be- fore any damage was done. We then remanned the tools with nonunion men and were very much aston ished to find what a vast increase of output we were able to get. It was then that we discovered a number of things that had mystified us before the strike took place. Foundry Department, In our foundry department we had a great deal of trouble with the union men, and they interfered with and did everything they could to retard the work. This Was particularly noticeable on bench work where > ne on le- £0 he on ad ‘jal rk. 2eh ere ire- ere ols we this be- the fon rere iber ook 1 of vith “his October 16, 1902 THE TRON certain number of flasks was decided upon by the union as being a day’s work. They would put up just that many and no more. The union molders struck one week after the ma- chinists, whereupon we decided to put new men in our foundry, and we found that we could get out a great deal more with the new, inexperienced men than we could with the men who had struck. This was par- ticularly the case in the malleable iron department, where our records show that although the new men were laborers and handy men about the works, very few, if any, of them having done any molding before, yet in a short time they were able to get out as much, if not more, work than the men who had struck, and at the present time they are producing on an average from 25 to 50 per cent. more work than the old men did. This is on identically the same work. The facts that we have brought to your attention in this letter are about all that we can bring to mind at this particular moment. Will say, however, that we have had quite a struggle with union labor and we were AGE. 5 If present prosperity continues the Pennsylvania plant will be rapidly enlarged, the plans contemplating build- ings capable of housing 700 workmen. The Indianapolis plant employs one-third that number. The company have the contracts on several of the largest buildings being constructed this year in the East and South. ——— The New Niagara Power Shears. The Niagara Macbine & Tool Werks of Buffalo, N. Y., have brought out a new line of power shears capable of cutting 14-inch iron or soft steel up to 126 inches. The housings have a gap or open throat 18 inches deep, so that sheets of any length can be cut apart up to 18 inches from the edge. The housings are connected by a heavy cross bar so disposed as not to interfere with the gap. The bed is heavily ribbed and its relative position to the cutter bar, iaterally, can be regulated. The machines are double back geared, all gears being machine cut, and tight and lcose pulleys are provided and a heavy fly wheel. The main shaft is forged of steel, with two THE NEW NIAGARA obliged to get out an injunction to protect ourselves from interference with our business, and we are in a position to verify any of the statements made herein. There is no doubt that there are many other instances of interference with the output of our shops which we do not call to mind at this time. However, the above will give you an idea of what we have gone through in connection with the efforts made by union labor to limit the output of our works. YorK Mra. COMPANY, Tuos. SHIPLEY, General Manager. ee The Brown-Ketcham LIron Works, Indianapolis, Ind.. have purchased 9 acres of ground at Greensburg, Pa., and will erect a large plant there for the manufacture of beam and column work, which they expect to have ready for operation by January. Three or four build ing are already planned and the excavation for then is being done. The main building, of steel, will be 56 x 300 feet and an assembling room 120 x 44 feet There will be separate buildings for offices and power plant. The company have on hand now a great deal of work in the East and desire to get nearer to the Eastern field, nearer the supply of raw material and save a heavy freight bill on both raw and finished product. POWER SHEARS cranks, and transmits power to the cutter bar by means of two solid connections. The hold down attachment in front of the cutter bar is intended to hold the sheet firmly upon the bed while being cut. It is moved up and down in a positive manner by a cam that is part of the clutch block, thereby doing away with the springs usually employed for raising the hold down. The hold down can be adjusted quickly for various thicknesses of stock. Means are provided for taking up wear on the guides, knives and other working parts. The motion is controlled by an automatie friction clutch which is tripped by a foot treadle. When the latter is released the cutter bar will stop at the highest point, and when the treadle is kept depressed the motion will be continuous. The table has T-slots running from right to ieft and from front to back. In line with the latter, brackets can be attached to carry the front gauge. The back gauge can be set close up to the lower knife for cutting narrow strips. On both ends of the bed there are side gauges, and there is also a bevel gauge. At the right hand side of the machine there is an extension gauge which is used in splitting sheets longer than the knives. After the first cut, the edge obtained at the pre- vious stroke is used to gauge by, not the original edge of the sheet. In this manner proper alignment of the successive cuts is obtained. » eee errme eh “o waa wag ORR SS — i eee ; 4 : THE IRON AGE. Lake Ore Matters. The Gogebic Range Beating Its Record. DvutuTH, MINN., October 12, 1902.—Up to October 10 the port of Ashland, shipping most of the Gogebic range product, had sent forward this year within 50,000 tons as much ore as that range sent down all last year- namely, 2,900,000 tons. There yet remains time for the port to bring its total to considerably above 3,000,000 tons and to make the total of the Gogebic range larger than in any previous year. It was in 1892, the year of chief activity before the panic, that the total for this range reached its high point, a point that it has not again been able to touch until now, but which will be passed by at least 350,000 tons this season. It is sur- prising to note that in 1893 the range sent out only 1,330,000 tons, compared with 2,971,000 the year before. An interesting fact of this year is that mines that have been idle or that have been working in a very small way since 1892 have found themselves again and are now once more important. The indications are, more- over, that these will be of permanent importance and that the production of the Gogebic will not again fail off so alarmingly as ten years ago. The development of deep mines on the range has shown that ore is to be expected under the series of pitching dykes that make across the narrow ore beariug formation to an unknown depth—to such depth, in fact, as the percolating waters have been able to penetrate. This being the case, what were regarded by almost all mining operators to be the bottoms of their mines have come to be regarded merely as dykes of more or less thickness crossing the forma- tion and liable to be followed at greater depth by an- other similar dyke, upon which, and in the base of the angle formed by the foot wall and the dyke, there may be another concentration of ore of more or less valu». Naturally such a conclusion changed the entire aspect of things upon the Gogebic range, and with every find in conformity to the new theory the possible future im- portance of the range has been increased materially. There have been several such finds of magnitude, and it is safe to predict that no mine on the Gogebic wili again be considered a worked out proposition and absan- doned until the underlying dyke material has been pretty thoroughly explored. Cascade Range. At the Winthrop mines of the Oliver Iron Mining Company a large tonnage will be mined this year, and the expectation is that this will be steadily increased for a long time to come. These mines, affording a low grade siliceous ore which is valuable as a mixture with ores that are coming into more and more extended use, are in demand. In the Winthrop locations, with their high stoping faces, their stripped surfaces of light cov- ering of earth and their desirable ores, the company have a very valuable property, one far more highly re- garded now than a few years ago. Two large open pits and two shafts are being operated. Some 400 men are busy there. In the open pits the ore is blasted down in immense blocks, one blast loosening enough for weeks. It is run to the shaft and hoisted to a crusher, whence it is dropped direct into cars, the labor cost being as small as at many of the most favorably situ- ated Mesaba mines. The large stock piles that re- mained at these shafts last fall have all been shipped. In the same neighborhood the Lake Angeline Com- pany are exploring for ore at the old Mitchell and will probably mine a large amount of siliceous ore from close by No. 3 pit of the Oliver Company, where they are able to get a stoping face of at least 125 feet. Other siliceous ores are probably to be mined another year by the Oliver Company, who not long ago bought large tracts of ore bearing lands on the Cascade range south of Ishpeming. Engineers have been on these lands lately doing work preliminary to the resumptiou of operations at some of the mines. Among those to be reopened is the Moore, where there is a large body of ore that can be mined cheaply. A crusher will prob- ably be installed. On the Cascade range there are enor- mous deposits of this ore, which will be required in time. Much of this ore is of a Bessemer grade, carry- October 16, 1902 ing exceptionally small percentages of phosphorus Properties in this range have been worked more or less for many years by lessees in a spasmodic sort of way. Adjoining the Platt mine, on lands of the Pittsburgh & Lake Superior Iron Company, the Union Steel Com pany have found ore in test pits which promises wel! Samples assay better than anything else found so far on the Cascade range, and this fact will probably lead to more extensive exploration there for other ores than the silicious deposits that have been considered the only ores in that part of the district. The property on whicb this find has been made will be explored carefully and rapidly, for the Union Steel Company are in need of considerable of this class of ore as well as of ores of other character. Miscellaneous Notes, Many Lake Superior diamond drill men who have been on the West African coast for the past year or two for the Gold Coast Trading & Machinery Company, who were looking for gold there, have returned to their homes. It is understood that the search was not as successful as was anticipated. Construction work has commenced on the ore receiv- ing docks at the new blast furnaces at Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., where the Algoma Steel Company have their works. The dock is to be of concrete and steel. The contract has been taken by H. E. Talbott & Co., who built the great dam for the same interests at the head of St. Mary’s Falls to act as a compensation for the flow through the company’s new power canal on the American side. The new ore dock will be nearly 2000 feet long and about 300 feet wide, and will be traversed the entire length by a Brown bridge carrying cantilever arms extending over the water for unloading. The dock adjoins the furnaces now nearing completion and will be connected with them by the newest and most efficient ore handling devices that the company can secure, so that the cost of handling ore to the top of the furnaces will be light. At present the furnace plant will consist of two stacks and seven stoves, and metal from these stacks will be taken hot to the Bessemer con- verters of the rail mill. This mill is gradually increas- ing its output and has added fish plates to its product. It will continue to add such Bessemer products as are in demand and can be produced. It is understood that an open hearth plant will be added to the works before very long. The development of the Breitung ore properties north of Sault Ste. Marie continues and shipments of con- siderable magnitude will be made another year, it is hoped. The ore deposits north of Georgian Bay, in which John W. Gates and Joseph Sellwood are inter- ested, are still under exploration and are said to be look- ing well, showing up a large amount of ore. Gates and Sellwood expect to thoroughly explore and develop these properties before disposing of them. The most roseate reports come to the lake from the South Arizona copper properties which lake and Pitts burgh men are developing. Calumet & Arizona, the first one to become a producer, will blow in its first smelters, 300 tons daily capacity, before November 15, to be followed by a duplicate capacity three months later. The mine has now well above 1,000,000 tons of 8 to 10 per cent. ore blocked out and is ready for ex- tensive mining. The heaviest machinery plant at any Arizona mine is being coupled up. Underground devel- opment is showing a richness that is seemingly un- paralleled in the history of American copper mining. In the Lake Superior & Pittsburgh and the Calumet & Pittsburgh, the remaining developments of this group, shafts are down 900, 800, 700 and 300 feet, and ore is confidently expected before the deepest shaft has gone much further. D. W. W. DULUTH, MINN., October 13, 1902.—The Penobscot’. mine, adjoining Hibbing, on the Mesaba range, passed to-day into the hands of the Union Steel Company, be- ing purchased from Eddy Bros., its former owners, by the Donora Mining Company. The latter are a mining branch of the Union Steel Company. The Penobscot contained better than 10,000,000 tons of ore of remark- ably uniform quality, having a depth of 225 feet. The October 16, 1902 THE [TRON AGE 7 ore shows an extreme variation of less than four points. It has been mining about 250,000 tons annually, or enough to cover a ten-year low price contract with the National Steel Company, on which there are yet due 1.450,000 tons. The sale includes a pumping plant, good for 8000 gallons a minute, and also includes two large modern steel ore ships. ee Prepositions of the Labor Question. BY EGBERT P. WATSON. A recent utterance from an authoritative source, the secretary of the National Civic Federation, leads me to think that many persons have formed erroneous ideas of the scope and character of labor organizations as shown by them in every day business experiences, and that they are, if not exactly blessings in disguise, asso- ciations which should be fostered and encouraged by all, to the end that the workman and the capitalist may lie dowu together in a business millennium. I can draw no other inference from the positive assertions made by the author of the article mentioned, because, while de- picting the objects and aims of labor organizations—the “revised creed” is the title of the closing paragraph— the author speaks as if the revision was already in force and that a new commercial heaven and a new earth have been formed wherein there is to be, hereafter, no disagreement. For one I would be glad to do business under the new dispensation, but in order to feel secure in transactions, prior to assuming responsibilities, I, and others, too, I fancy, would like to know the probabili- ties of the new departure in labor organizations being faithfully observed under all circumstances. Mark Twain was requested to place a bet upon a certain race horse, but he declined upon the ground that he was a stranger in the land and did not know any one to hold the stakes, whereupon the party of the first part pointed out his friend Jones and said he would act as stakehold- er. Mr. Twain scrutinized Mr. Jones for a moment and then said: “ Yes, but who will hold your friend Jones?” This is pertinent to trade union promises and resolu- tions; they are not new, and experience in the past leads those to whom they are tendered to regard them with apathy. At this writing one of the staples of life and trade, coal, is withheld from the people by the acts of trade unionists, who must have been in possession of the determination to turn over a new leaf some weeks ago, but possibly concluded that it did not refer to them, for this “ revised creed” says, verbatim: ‘1. Strikes are bad and should be a last resort. “2. Seales of wages should be determined by mu- tual concessions in conference with employers, rather than by a demand submitted by the union as an ultima- tum. “3. When thus determined this scale becomes a con- tract, which is not only as sacred as any business con- tract, but the violation of which by the union is the most disastrous blow that can be struck at the principle of unionism. “4, Sympathetic strikes are unwise because they vio- late contracts, bring injury to friendly employers and the friendly public, and arouse public opinion against the organization. “5. It is not essential to a contract that nonunion men should be excluded from employment along with union men, provided they receive the same pay. “6. The union should attract the nonunionist by per- suasion, not by force, into membership. “7. Violence in conducting a strike alienates the pub- lic, brings the courts and the militia to the support of employers and reacts disastrously upon the union. “8. Unionists should welcome new machinery. “9. Unions should abandon arbitrary restrictions on output and direct their attention to hours of labor and rates of pay.” This is a tolerably long list of what men who are ouarreling with their bread and butter should observe, but it must be said that if they did there would be ar end of all the troubles that exist at present, and, like- wise, an end to unions. Paragraphs 6 and 7, if put in force, would leave disorganized lubor high and dry on shore, and they are sharp enough to see it. Trades unions exist only by arbitrary acts and pro nunciamentos, and there is no trust in existence which exercises such absolute control over its members as la- bor associations do. In the town where I live a union man is fined $25 if he merely works in the company of a honmember. If a mun who does not belong to the asso- ciation is employed in any capacity where society men are, the work stops until he is removed. A member of a certain trade which was on strike for higher wages found a job out of town, and applied to his association for a traveling card. It was given him and he went away and remained for three months. When he returned and applied for admission to the union again he was re- fused until he had paid the initiation fee over again, upon the pretext that he had left the town and was not a citizen of it! These acts are perpetrated without any hearing of the facts in the case, and the sufferer has no recourse whatever. Now, in the face of them, is it worth while to descant upon the great value to the workman of his union? Is it of any service to business, or any security to their interests, to publish an essay upon what trades unionists have learned in the past, when a strike accompanied by violence, intimidation and actual man- slaughter exists at this hour? I should say not; and not until the law enforces the privilege of an American citi- zen to sell his labor at his own price will overt acts cease. It will take some time to assure workingmen that they are secure, for turbulence extending over a generation cannot be suppressed in a few weeks. When all men are free again that day will see the end of trades unions as they now are, for there will be no reason for their existence. coinennsmpiliicnnitnantats Shenango Valley Notes. The Glen Mfg. Company have been organized by New Castle and Ellwood City parties, and a plant is to be erected at Ellwood City for the manufacture of nov- elties in iron and steel. R. A. Todd, John C. Offutt and A. H. Kugerman are prominently interested. The tin mills of the Sharon Steel Company will be started up within a few days. The Shenango Valley steel mill at New Castle is closed for repairs. Ellwood City plants are nearly all running prosper ously. The large power dam, with an electric generat- ing plant connected, which has been in course of erec- tion near Ellwood City for the past year, is now nearly completed. The Stanley Company of Pittsfield, Mass.. are installing the machinery at the present time. The company will be able to furnish power much cheaper than it can be obtained from coal and an impetus to the manufacturing interests of the busy town is eonfi- dently looked for. It is believed, however, that the greater portion of the power which will be generated by the plan will be used to operate an electric railway from Beaver Falls to New Castle, a line which is much needed and for which charters were taken out nearly two years since. The Marquis Limestone & Clay Company of New Castle are making extensive improvements on the roll- ing stock of their narrow gauge railroad. Three new locomotives are being secured and the cars are being rebuilt. aaeaabiaie A The Colorado Steel Castings Company have been or- ganized with a capital stock of $500,000, the incorpo- rators being John I. Franklin, C. F. Springer and J. K. Vanatta. The company have already purchased 180 acres of land at Colorado City, Col., upon which the con- struction of buildings is expected to start within the next 60 days. The plant is to be equipped with electric traveling cranes and open hearth revolving furnaces, together with the latest facilities for handling heavy steel. One hundred men will constitute the working force of the plant at the start, most of whom will be skilled mechanics from Eastern institutions. The com- pany own several valuable patents, one of which is the Springer safety coupler. Fe one asi RO SRR we ee poe oe ne a ee rg ter rene met ttn ae ee ene vm — THE The Brice Kiln and Furnace.* In many lines of trade manufacturers have realized the necessity, in order to keep up with competition, of getting as much as possible out of their plants. How to do this has been a problem which has occupied per- haps the greater part of their attention. There are few products on the market to-day which have not been sub- jected to the common process of evolution within a score of years and which are not turned out more expeditiously and in greater quantity than was the case 20 years ago. Many of these products owe their present cheapness to a process of manufacture which might be termed the con- tinuous process—that is, a process which permits of the turning out of products without a stoppage of plant or machinery, in contrast to a plant or machinery operated intermittently, intervals being required for attention to or renewal of some important factor in the general service. While, as bas been said, many lines of manufacture have been improved, there are one or two lines which are THE BRICE notabie among the exceptions—namely, the brick and common or natural cement industries. While to an ex- tent strides have been made in processes for handling the product before and after the burning stage, the main obstacle in the way of making the manufacture of these materials a process embodying economy and dispatch as well as effectiveness has been the lack of facilities for continucus burning or calcining. As every one knows, the present style of kiln requires occasional cooling and refiring; accordingly the kilns in a plant can only be run a portion of a working period. The accompanying engravings illustrate a new kiln or furnace, the second of its type ever built, and now in successful operation at the plant of the Coplay Cement Company, Coplay, Pa. This furnace was built by the Brice Patent Kiln & Furvace Company of Philadelphia, Pa., and was designed to supersede entirely the form of intermittent kiln hitherto used, and to be under fire and in work continuously. It is comparatively simple in con- struction, its efficiency heing altogether due to the ar- vangemert of the flues and the provisions made for the entry and exit of charges without lowering the temper- uture existing at the fire zone. It has been uséd success- * Paper read at Philadelphia Foundrymen's Association [RON KILN AND AGE, October 16, 190 fully for burning fire brick, all kinds of building brick, vitrified brick and cement The fire brick was of the high quality used in steel works. The furnace has proved equally as effective in roasting ores. The furnace is serviceable for other purposes requil ing a high and continuous heat, and has possibilities as a furnace to take the place of that commonly used in the annealing of malleable iron castings. The furnace has a track running entirely through it and is 128 feet long, the width being about 24 feet. The fire zone takes up about two-thirds of the whole struc ture, and is heated by ten fire chambers on each side, each having two firing doors, as shown in Fig. 2. The fronts of these fire chambers are of cast iron with or- dinary draft underneath the firing doors. The stacks for the disposition of the waste products of com- bustion are only 29 feet 4 inches high, but are quite uinple, the combustion being so perfect that little or no smoke is emitted through them, even when the poorest kind of fuel is used. rock, doors The furnace is braced by sections of steel I-beams, Fig. 3, which are in turn braced by FURNACE, iron rods at the top and bottom of the structure. ‘The doors are of steel plate, ig. 4, with a fire brick lining, the fire brick being of special shape and supported by iron rods passing through it. The doors are counter- balanced and have a locking device on each side which renders them perfectly air tight. The charges are placed on cars, Which are drawn through the furnace by means of a wire cahle operated temporarily by a hand wheel or drum. As a car with burned material is withdrawn at the delivery end a car loaded with raw material enters simultaneously at the charging end, Fig. 6. Suitable provision has been made for the use of steam power later on for moving the cars, raising and lowering the furnace doors and raising and dumping the cars. The bottom of the furnace is formed by the cars, which are 10 feet long by 8 feet wide, and are so con- structed that each one telescopes with the car ahead, making a close and perfect connection, so that a prac- tically air tight furnace bottom results. The view, Fig. o, Was taken underneath the furnace at about the center of the fire zone. The under bracings of the furnace are seen, With the wheels of the cars on the tracks above them. The construction of the cars is simple. The bodies are made of steel plates with a platform of fire October 16, 1902 THE [RON AGE. v brick. On this platform the material forming the charge is laid in two parts, so that a lane of good size separates them. On each side of the car and under the platform is a projecting plate running lengthwise of the car, which plate runs in sand boxes, Fig. 4, along each wall of the furnace. AS a car is ruu into the furnace the plates and the sand boxes make a practically air tight seal. When the furnace is loaded to its full capacity there are 12 cars in it, seven in the center, or fire, zone, two in the rear, or drying, chamber, and three in the front, or cooling, chamber, from which exit is made. The cars weigh about 3500 pounds without the fire brick forming the platfor The heat in the furnace is very readily controlled. The normal temperature, under what might be termed average firing, is about 2250 to 2400 degrees F. This temperature may be reduced by less firing or a curtailed grate surface to any point wanted; or it may be in- creased hy strong firing at least 500 degrees