The Iron Age 1904-02-04: Vol 73 Iss 5

Sie 33¢ A Review of the Hardware, Iron, Machinery and Iiceal Trades. Published every Thursday Morning by David Williams Co., 232-238 William S8St., New York, Vol. 73: No. 5. New York, Thursday, February 4, 1904. $5 00 a Year, including Postage. Single Copies, 15 Cents. Reading Matter Contents ....... page Alphabetical Index to Advertisers ‘‘ Classified List of Advertisers.... ‘‘ Advertising and Subscription Rates ‘‘ NEW PRODUCTS. mre ia var Pers The .32 Automatic Colt Pistol Cartridge is loaded with a special high power smokeless powder. giving bigh velocity ana operating freely through the mechanism ot the Automatic Coit Pistol (pocket model). Those with the soft point bullet wiil be found desirable for sporting purposes, and those with metal case for military and target use, RIM FIRE CARTRIDGES. The U. M. C, .22 automatic rifle (Winchester model 1908) cartridge is now ready for the market. New .%2 short ungreased, .22 Jong ungreased, and .22 Winchester inside lubrigated are inexpensive rim fire cartridges loaded with the best grade of smokeless powder. Boys are calling for these cartmdges as they can be carried loose in the pocket without the old inconvenience of the greased cartridge. They will not lead the gun, U. M. C. Ammunition shoots well in any gun. THE. UNION METALLIC CARTRIDGE CO. BRIDGEPORT, CONN, Agency: 313-16 Broadway, New York City. Oepot: 86-88 First St., San Francisco, Gal. THE BRISTOL COMPANY, Waterbury, Conn. Bristol’s Recording Instruments. Press Temperature Silver Medal, Paris Exposition. All Ranges, Low Prices, and Guar- anteed. Send for Circulars. S ase vor mo BAHALL BOILERS =” SAMSON CORDAGE WORKS, Boston, Mass. TURNBUCKLES. ;: CAPEWELL HORSE NAILS For @ Branch 14 Broadway, New York. Cleveland City andironCo., - Cleveland. 0. NEW YORK, Branches: PORTLAND, ORE., — , , PHILADELPHIA, BUFFALO, TURN BUCH IUDs. CHICAGO, DETROIT, BALTIMORE, ST. LOUIS, CINCINNATI, NEW ORLEANS, BOSTON, SAN FEANCISCO, DENVER, 2a oo SOFT Sree THE CAPEWELL HORSE NAIL COMPANY HARTFORD, CONN. ace tg FATTERN. te Excelsior Santee Back Pressure Valve is simple in construction and well made. Being fitted with the _ Jenkins Disc, it is noiseless and never sticks. Gives long service, and can be relied upon atall times. Can be quickly thrown in and out of use without taking valve apart. It offers “no resistance to. the steam when wide open. JENKINS BROS., New York Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, London. Landaa. “Swett” Gol Red See Drawing» Stamping Lo ho AMERICAN TUBE & erry? compe 3? (Water and Rail Delivery; Barperrort, Comyn PAGE ‘ MAGNOLIA. METAL. Best Anti-Friction Metal for all Machinery Bearings. PLATE PATTERN. USBiivd Gsivenuwyoo SEE ADVERTISEMENTS PAGE 30 American Sheet & Tin Plate Company ‘' Frick Building Pittsburgh, Pa. * imitations. | ER eee ge Pee Re SAA OO Tee 2 ls i: Fr Lee 2 THE IRON AGE. ANSONIA Brass BRASS SHEET | THE PLUME && ATWOOD Mo. (0, MANUFACTURERS OF ® Corren Co: cacer | SHeet and Roll Bras BRASS AND COPPER COPPER an Seamless Tubes, Sheets, Rods and Wire. ee V V Z FR 3 PRINTERS’ BRASS, JEWELERS’ METAL, GERMAN a cia GERM AN SHEET eaten a GILDING METAL, COPPER RIVETS Tobin: Bronze Sve) *.| = (TRaDE-Mark REGISTERED.) WIRE Condenser Piates,Pump Lininge. Round, Square and Hexagon Bars, for Pump |LOW BRASS. SHEET BRONZE.) 20 murray sT., NEW YORK. Piston Rods and Buit Forgings Scomlece Tubes sor Bare |SEAMLESS BRASS AND COPPER 144 "aaaten Tn an and Cundensers. TUBING. BRAZED BRASS AND : ? : Trimmings, &c. - 98 John Street e - New York. ROLLING MILL : FACTORIES : BRONZE TUBING. pect te3? THOMASTON, CONN. WATERBURY, CONN. Randolph-Clowes Co. Main Office and Mill, WATERBURY, CONN. MANUFACTURERS OF SHEET BRASS & COPPER. BRAZED BRASS & COPPER TUBES. SEAMLESS BRASS & COPPER TUBES TO 36 IN. DIAM. New York Office, 253 Broadway, Postal Telegraph Building, Room 715. Chicago Office, 602 Fisher Bldg. WATERBURY BRASS €0.,|f>oO KL MES. CO. WATERBURY, CONN. BRASS, ; GERMAN SILVER 130 Centre St., New York, Providence, R. |. seals tet, wie Reds, Bolts and Tubes, Brass Shelis, Cups, Hinges, Buttons, Lamp Goods. SPECIAL BRASS GOODS TO ORDER Faotories, ee CONN. BRIDGEPORT DEOXIDIZED BRONZE AND METAL COMPANY. BRIDGEPORT, CONN. Largest ee ee Foundry in LARGE CASTINGS A SPECIALTY. Brouze, non a sg ee ne ee Xo order to ge fr ust saath: JOHN DAVOL & SONS, Brooklyn Brass & Copper Co., DEALERS IN e e COPPER, TIN, SPELTE Matthiessen & Hegeler Zinc Co., LEAD, ANTIMONY. LA SALLE, ILLINOIS. 100 John Street, - ‘New York. SMELTERS OF SPELTER siden ‘TArthur T. Rutter SHEET ZINC AND SULPHURIC ACID. euosneson 70 "gdeend ieben toe taoeattane Remamadtae wen WILLIAM S. FEARING Selected Sheets for Paper and Card Makers’ use. 4 ZINCS FOR LECLANCHE BATTERY. Small tubing in Brass, Copper, - * oe Steel, Alaminum, German Silver, &c. Sheet Brass, Copper and Ger- STO ge SCO Copper and Brass Rod. eo} Best Bronze Re te rene ree and van mini erie THE BRIDGEPORT BRASS CU,, BRIDGEPORT, CONN. rage,, Bronze and CAST IN Gg 5s reset anton 17 N. 7th St., Philadelphia. FOUN DERS— FINISHERS. . sooslimieidais ww. &. ROWELL & CO., Bridgeport, Conn. B SHEET HENDRICKS BROTHERS — | TUBING Belleville Copper Rolling Mills, [Copper | WIRE. MANUFACTURERS OF Brasiers’ Bolt and Sheathing Lamp Geeds of all Kinds. BRASS AND COPPER GOODS COPPER, In Great Varteties COPPER Wa TR AND RVers. Hot Water Supply. A practical tress Importers and Dealers 10% wa er a ratus for > ingot Copper, Block Tin, Spelter, “Lead, Antimony, etc. Fin dle ane catirely rewritten,” 90° p . 49 CLIFF ST., NEW YORK. eucmebamatiinianinns aietniibta. 5. Ss er, er or- nd nd be. oP | td lo ye Two Copies Recelved FEB 5 1904 Ceopynght Entry CLASS We. Ne. pry A ‘THE IRON AGE THuRSDAY, FEBRUARY 4, I904. Special Machine Tools at the Corliss Shops. Designs of Two) Decades Ago by Mr. Corliss Himself for Economical Production of His Engines. In the old Corliss shops at Providence, R. I., now occupied as one of the plants of the American & British Mfg. Company, are a number of remarkable machine tools designed by George H. Corliss, inventor of the famous steam engine that bears his name. Mr. Corliss’ funda- mental patents on a detached valve mechanism were about to expire when, in the early eighties, he shut down his works, excepting for repair work, and set about building a system of tools, by means of which he expected to be able to build engines much cheaper than could the com- petitors who had been ready to,enter the field as soon equipment from his own ideas. He is given all the credit for the work; he had his designers and his draftsmen, but they worked out Corliss’ ideas. He established a drafting room in his private residence and kept an expert draftsman employed there. It is said of him that he would think out adaptations of mechanical principles while lying in his bed, and would rise in the dead of night to put his ideas upon paper, that there might be no chance for his memory to play tricks over night. He worked with deliberation, as may be realized from the fact that he suspended a great business for two years Fig 1.—General View of Shop, Showing Six Vertical Boring Mills in Foreground. SPECIAL MACHINE TOOLS AT THE CORLISS SHOPS as the Corliss patents ran out. The tools were designed and built, but Mr. Corliss did not live to see them in com- plete commercial operation; consequently, they did not have a chance to show their full worth in carrying out plans which he had formulated, but could not leave be- hind him. Yet even to-day, in spite of the enormous strides which have marked the last 20 years of develop- ment of machine tools, including special ones for use in building steam engines, most of the tools that Mr. Corliss designed are still useful adjuncts to an engine plant, and in many instances compare so favorably with modern tools as to indicate that when built they must have rep- resented great advance over the common practice of that time. These machines are the more remarkable in that they are original, from beginning to end. The designer did not have similar machines to improve upon and adapt to his uses. He had to begin at bedrock and build up his to deyote his entire energies and those of his employees to accomplishing the one result aimed at—to procure a series of machines that would produce a steam engine at a minimum of cost and with a maximum of excellence. He had been mulling over the problem for a long time before he actually set about its.solution. For years he had been able to make his own terms with users of steam engines, and he knew the day had come when he must become one of many competitors. As already stated, Mr. Corliss did not live to prove how well he wrought in his great plan. For years these tools were jealously guarded from the eyes of outsiders. It is told by old workmen in the shops that when visitors came to the works, barricades were erected to prevent the curious from approaching too near the special tools. The photographic instrument and sketch book were absolutely barred. In all the 20 years of the existence of these tools this is the first time that a wh ee ae a RS oe THE IRON AGE. February 4, 1904 Fig. 2.—Cylinder Machine No. 1, Shown at Special Work. Fig. 3.—Mechine No. 2. for Facing, Counterboring and Tapping the Cylinder Ends. SPECIAL MACHINE TOOLS AT THE CORLISS SHOPS. February 4, 1904 any description, even the most trivial, or any illustra- tion, has been permitted in the public prints. The Iron Age is now authorized to give to the world the story of the Corliss special tools. By means of eight machines are accomplished all op- erations, with one single exception, in working the engine cylinder and engine frame from the rough casting to the finished part. The tools may be considered in two groups. One group, consisting of six machines, Figs. 1 to 9 in- elusive, works the cylinder. For convenience of reference they may be designated by the numbers 1 to 6, in the order in which they operate upon the work. Their mechanical functions are as follows: N. 1. Drills holes for the indicator, for the drips and for the foot studs. Fig. 2. No. 2. Faces and counterbores the head and crank ends of the cylinder, and drills and taps the holes for the studs. Figs. 3 and 4. No. 3. Faces, counterbores, drills and taps the steam and exhaust pipe connection flanges on the jacket open- ings. Fig. 5, No. 4. Faces off the ports, and drills and taps them to take the studs for the valve hole bonnets. Fig. 6. No. 5. Five horizontal boring mills of different sizes, for boring cylinders of various diameters. Fig. 7. No. 6. Vertical boring mill, with six boring bars, for boring the ports. Figs. 1, 8 and 9. With these machines, every process in working a cylinder is accomplished, with the exception of the single preliminary operation of planing the strips where the feet are to be bolted, these surfaces being necessary in the jig system, by means of which the cylinder is car- ried through the series of tools and set always in correct alignment. The second group of tools, Figs. 10-13, performs every operation of working the engine frame, and consists of two tools, the frame milling machine and its “ tender,” the latter so called in the shop because it is so very much subordinate to the milling machine. There are two of each of these machines. The milling machine, Figs. 10-12, mills out the guides and planes their edges, and also faces up, drills and taps both ends of the frame, one to fit the cylinder, the other to take the crank pedestal. The tender, Fig. 13, completes the process, by milling off, drilling and tapping the governor pad, and drilling the holes for the feet and the holes at the top of the frame. The popularity of the girder engine frame has declined with the coming of the box bed, or “high duty” form, and as the frame milling machine and its tender were designed for working girder frames, these tools are not of as great importance to-day as formerly. General Features. The most striking feature of the Corliss shops, in that part occupied by these special tools, is the almost total absence of belting between the overhead shafting and the machines. With the exception of the frame milling machine, every one of these tools is driven by vertical shafts, of steel, 3 inches in diameter. Several of the machines require six shafts, three for each head. Where power is to be transmitted to a machine located away from under the main shafting, or where shafting would be in the way, the drive is from a vertical shaft set in a recess in the brick shop wall, operating a shaft beneath the floor. It is noticeable that these shafts run very smoothly and quietly, after all their years of ex- istence. They have no appreciable vibration, and in the Corliss shops are regarded with much favor as compared to belting. The initial cost was very large, being in this respect quite in harmony with the whole scheme of ma- chine construction undertaken by Mr. Corliss, for no expense was spared to achieve the desired results. Another striking feature is the utter absence of the common bar shipper. None but a rope shipper can be found in the shops among the older tools. It may be readily seen that with three distinct sources of power transmission to each head of a tool, scarcely any other than rope shippers would be practicable. Still another yeneral feature pointed out by the men in the shop is that everything in these machines is left handed with respect to what is almost universal prac- THE IRON AGE. 3 tice elsewhere. This, to a machinist unfamiliar with the shop, is at first very confusing. All these tools have very heavy beds, carriages and other major parts. Their spindles are amply substantial, even for present requirements of modern tools. The gearing, however, is light as compared to that put into similar tools to-day, yet it was considered remarkably heavy and in advance of the times when Mr. Corliss de- signed it. Under high speed steels worked to their ca- pacity such gearing would probably break down, but neither Mr. Corliss nor any one else, 20 years ago, could have even dreamed of such cutting tools and speeds as are to-day imposing extreme and entirely new conditions upon machines of maximum efficiency. Yet, notwith- standing the great advances of modern machine shop Fig. 4.—Driving Mechanism Detail, Machine No. 2. SPECIAL TOOLS AT THE CORLISS SHOPS. practice, it is maintained by men in the Corliss shops, who have had experience in other plants where modern special machines for engine building are employed, that with a continuous stream of work going through the se- ries of tools, so as to afford favorable conditions, results show no such discrepancy as might reasonably be ex- pected in comparison to modern tools for the same pur- poses. Mr. Corliss planned exceedingly well in effecting a proper balance of production among these tools, for when continuous work is being done by all the tools each machine runs practically continuously. There is little waiting of one machine for another. The system of handling the work is very complete. A series of jib cranes, each with a lifting capacity of 15 tons, and designed to carry a pneumatic hoist, lifts the work from one machine and swings it into place for at- tention by the next. The system of jigs is complete, so that no time is lost in setting up work. Every face plate is indexed, where drilling is to be done in a circle, holes being spaced in the circumferential surface to take plugs which hold the face plate in position for drilling, acting against lever clamps, shown in position on the No. 3 cylinder machine, Fig. 5. The indexing is for all sizes of cylinders, and in the frame milling machine, for all sizes of engine frames. THE Operations Upon the Cylinder Casting. The first operation performed by the series of cylin- der machines, after the strips for the legs have been planed, is the drilling of the stud holes for the feet, of the drip holes for the head, and of the indicator holes. IRON AGE. February 4, 1904 points. When in position for drilling, the cylinder is held by a rod having a hook fastened into one of the cored holes in the jacket, the other end hooked to the bed and the whole made rigid by means of a turnbuckle. The feed of the table, which is employed only to bring the of oe Fig, 5.—No. 3 Machine.—Finishing the Steam and Erhaust Pipe Connection Flanges. Fig. 6.—‘Machine No. 4.—Facing, Drilling and Tapping the Port Hole Faces. SPECIAL This machine is shown in Fig. 2, where it is seen doing other work than that for which it was designed, and fitted with a special table set upon that used when a cylinder is to be worked. The cylinder casting is placed lengthwise of the bed on a set of four wheels, two at each side, their axes parallel with the center line of the cylinder. The, operator is able to roll the casting into the desired positions to bring the drill to the required MACHINE TOOLS AT THE CORLISS SHOPS. work into position, is by means of a screw, driven by bevel gears from an intermediate vertical shaft, deriving its power from a horizontal shaft beneath the floor, this shaft in turn taking its power from a vertical shaft let into the wall of the shop. Power is transmitted to the drill spindle through a vertical shaft and a pair of bevel gears. The head, which is counterweighted, is raised and lowered by means of rack and pinion, con- February 4, 1904 trolled by the upper hand wheel seen in the engraving. The feed is by hand, from the lower hand wheel at the front of the post. The cylinder next goes to No. 2 machine, shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the latter view giving details of the head gearing. This machine counterbores and faces both the head and crank ends of the cylinder, and drills and taps for the cylinder head studs and for the studs at the crank end. The operations performed by this machine differ from the usual practice in that the counterboring is accomplished entirely independently of the boring. This is made possible by the use of a jig, a duplicate of that used in the subsequent boring of the cylinder in the horizontal mill. This is a pedestal jig, bolted to the strips on the cylinder, just as the feet are later bolted to it in the completed machine. There is one of these jigs to each size of cylinder, the hight of the cutting tools always being determined in this system of jigs by THE IRON AGE. 5 the wall, as seen in the engraving. The power is trans- mitted through a series of gears to a stud working on a splined shaft, traveling with and meshing into the large gear on the main spindle, which is integral with the face plate. The splined shaft and pinion are best seen in front of the head stock at the left hand of Fig. 5, showing No. 3 machine. In the detailed view of the head, Fig. 4, and also in Fig. 5, it will be noticed that there are two large gears, one on the main spindle, the other on the drill spindle, carried within the main spindle. The vertical shaft at the rear of the machine, to the left in Fig. 4, drives the drilling mechanism in the face plate, through a series of bevel gears. The studs for the intermediate gears between the shaft and the pinion, on the splined ' shaft at the rear of the machine, are plainly shown in Fig. 3, at the left. attachment. The middle shaft drives the feed of the sliding head. Each head is provided with a tapping Fig. 7.—Head of One of Five Horizontal Boring: Mille for Ogythier Boring.—Btage No. 5, — SPECIAL the jig itself, and not by the raising or lowering of the cut toolsof the machine. When the cylinder reaches the horizontal boring mill; after undergoing two inter- mediate processes, a jig of the same hight is bolted to it, and by means of center lines on the bed of the mill exact alignment is obtained. The mechanical features of Nos. 2, 3 and 4 machines are practically identical, so that to describe one is to describe the three. Taking No. 2 machine, shown in Figs. 3 and 4, as the basis of description, it may be noted that the two ends of the tool are identical, me- chanically, and operate independently of one another. Each end has a fixed and a sliding head, as is necessary, because the work is stationary upon the jigs, which are bolted to the table. The sliding head carries the spindle and its bearing and the face plate. The front of the machine faces the shop wall, an arrangement which should be borne in mind in considering the mechanical details. The tool has three drives to each head. The main drive is at the front of the machine; that is, toward : a ps MACHINE TOOLS AT THE CORLISS SHOPS. The feed screw passes through both fixed and sliding heads, afd is recessed at the head to take a plug with feathered key, which engages either of the two gears or occupies a neutral position between them. When the plug is pulled out the key engages a gear, placing in opera- tion a ratchet feed, arranged to move up as many as five notches at a time, this giving a maximum feed of \% inch. When the plug is pushed in to its extreme position it engages a gear for the quick return. When in its inter- mediate position the power feed is released and the mechanism may be worked by the hand wheel. The cross feed is accomplished in the face plate by means of a star wheel, seen at the periphery of the face plate in Fig. 3. The drilling and tapping attachment on the face plate is operated by hand. Each face plate is indexed, as are also those of others of the special tools. The cylinder, counterbored and with ends faced, drilled and tapped, is next taken to No. 3 machine, shown in Fig. 5, where the steam and exhaust connection flanges on the jacket are faced, counterbored, drflled and tapped. The work is stpported upon trunnions, centered by the 6 yh | 4 i counterbored ends of the cylinder. The stepped cone face plate, seen between the spokes of the large gear at the right of Fig. 5, takes the open end of the cylinder, while the crank end is carried by a bushing, fitting the counterbored hole. The Corliss cylinder is cast with only one open end, therein differing from the Wheelock and other patterns. There is a step on the cone for each size of cylinder, and a bushing for each. The cylin- der is held fixed in position while the work is going on, the trunnions being locked. The work is turned upon the trunnions, as required, by means of a crank through a train of gears to that on the periphery of the face THE IRON AGE. February 4, 1904 trunnions are mounted upon deep beds and have a travel toward and from the work by means of screws operated by cranks. This machine differs from Nos. 2 and 3 machines in that it has no ratchet feed device, no longi- tudinal feed being required for its purposes. The cylinder is next bored out on one of the horizonta! mills, details of the construction of which are shown in Fig. 7. A glimpse of one of these machines is afforded in Fig. 1, at the extreme left hand of the picture, where the mechanism at the top of the column may be ‘in- distinctly seen. The feature of this tool is its unusua! feed. A screw is let into the boring bar, as shown in | HIGHEST POSITION > OF CARRIAGE plate, thus bringing opposite flanges successively into working position, facing the cutter head at the left of Fig. 5. The final process, before replacing the cylinder on a pedestal jig for the horizontal boring mill, is the facing of ports and the drilling and tapping for the studs for the valve hole bonnets. This is accomplished in No. 4 machine, seen in Fig. 6. The cylinder is held upon the trunnion centers by bushings, which fit opposite pipe connection flanges in the jacket, placing the casting in such a position that the axial center line of the cylinder may rotate in a vertical plane at right angles to the line of trunnion centers. During the working operations the cylinder is held against the upright support, seen at the rear of the line of centers of the machine proper. The Fig. 8.—One of the Vertical Boring Mills, Machine No. 6. SPECIAL MACHINE TOOLS AT THE CORLISS SHOPS. IN POSITION | K TO GECIN CUS CUTTER HEAD 47 io VALVE POX 44°'cvL. Fig. 9.—Outline Detail of One Vertical Port Boring Mili. Fig. 7, extending full length of the bar to a collar on its outward end. The screw passes through the bearing and thrust collar and terminates in a fixed gear, which rests against the collar, at the right of Fig. 7. This gear meshes into a fixed pinion on a stud projecting from the center of the thrust collar. On the same stud is a bevel gear, which acts as a stationary rack, held by a bevel pinion that is locked by a set screw through the bearing supporting the short pulley shaft upon which the bevel pinion is mounted. When the set screw is released and a belt is thrown onto the pulley a quick return is se- cured for the cutter head through the bevel gears. A finer feed may be secured through a pair of intermediate gears, between that on the feed screw and that on the center stud. Studs to take the intermediate gears may e y February 4, 1904 be seen in Fig. 7. The boring bar is driven from a worm on the vertical shaft, passing up through the post to the overhead drive. The final process is the boring of the ports in the large vertical boring mill; a remarkable machine, a gen- eral view of which is shown in Fig. 1. The bed is a massive and extensive affair, in the general form of a a. es THE IRON AGE. ‘ the post, the lever oscillating the vertical rod, which, in turn, actuates a lever seen at the top of the head, open- ing or closing the split nut. The quick return is by hand, by means of a rack and pinion inside the post, operated by the hand wheel at the right of the column in Fig. 8. The head is counterbalanced. This machine having finished its work of boring out 100.86 REV. 3.546 REV. FEED 15 INCHES PER HOUR 1 REV. PER Min, 4 THREADS PCR INCH RL, SPECIAL MACHINE TOOLS half circle, with six semicircular lobes or protrusions, like scallops, on its outer circumference. At each lobe is a boring post sustaining a boring bar and its mechan- ism, as shown in Fig. 8 and 9. Each of the six mills is independent of the others, only the bed being in common. The drive of each is from a vertical shaft, carrying a worm that meshes into a worm gear on the spindle. The feed is from a worm on the countershaft, which drives a worm gear on the feed screw. A split nut, working on the screw at the top of the head, is thrown in and out by the operator by means of a lever near the base of Plan and Elevation of Frame Milling Machine with Casting in Place. AT THE CORLISS SHOPS. the valve ports, the cylinder is completed, ready for transfer to the erecting floor. Machining the Girder Frame. A general view of the frame milling machine is given in Fig. 10; line drawings are reproduced in Fig. 11, show- ing a casting set to undergo the several operations. Fig. 12 shows in detail the head mechanism, viewed from the distant end as seen in Fig. 10. This machine mills the guides, planes their edges, faces up, drills and taps both ends, the three operations going on simultaneously part of the time. atts 8 TUE LKON AGE. Each end of the frame is fitted with a jig, securely Clamped into position before the casting is placed in the machine. These jigs practically automatically give the necessary alignment to the casting. The cylinder end of the machine—that is, the head which works the cylinder end of the frame—is fixed. The other head is adjustable, both longitudinally and transversely, as is necessary in working various sizes of frames. The guide side of the casting always occupies the same position, no matter what the size of the frame. The milling head of the machine is shown in detail in Fig. 13. Horizontally across the column, at the hight of the main machine centers, is a line, from which the cutter is raised and lowered to the guides, an exactly equal distance to each. A cutter is provided for each size of frame. As soon as the milling cutter has been set in operation the attendant sets the two heads at work fac- ing off the ends of the casting, so that the three opera- Twe IRON AGE Fiy. 12.—Meain Driving End of Frame Milling Machine, Viewed from the Left of Fig. 11. February 4, 1904 the lower right hand of Fig. 12. The feed screw is operated from a back shaft, turned by a small, stepped cone pulley, driven by belt from a larger stepped cone on the main drive shaft at the cylinder end head, Fig. 12. From the back shaft the feed screw is driven through worm gearing, a cross shaft and a pair of bevel gears. When the planer head is used and greater speed of traverse is required, the main feed belt is transferred to a larger driving pulley on the countershaft overhead. The rotary feed is thrown out and the milling at- tachment—which now becomes a planer attachment— is geared directly to the main line. At the end of each planer stroke the operator must reverse the feed by means of the shipper rope, there being no automatic reverse. This feed is also employed for quick return of the milling head. The edges of the guides being planed, the attachment is again arranged as a miller for taking finishing cuts through the guides. The drilling Fig. 18.-—Milling Nead for Guides on Frame Machine. SPECIAL MACHINE TOOLS AT THE CORLISS. SHOPS. tions are in progress at the same time. This is only during the roughing process, however, for in finishing each operation is performed separafely, so as to avoid any possible effects of vibration. After the roughing out Has been accomplished by the milling head a planer attach- ment is substituted for the milling head, and the edges of the guides are planed off. The last process is the drilling and tapping of the ends, for which work the cylinder end face plate of the machine is indexed. A plate jig is provided for the drilling of the holes on the crank pedestal end. The holes are tapped by means of the usual tapping attachment. The frame milling machine is a simple one, mechanic- ally. Unlike the others of these special tools, it is belt driven, having three principal drives, one for the main spindle of each head, the third for the milling attach- ment, whose belt is at the cylinder end of the machine, as shown at the right of Fig. 12. Two other drives are provided for the drilling attachments, one at each head, as seen at the left of Fig. 12. The feed and'drive of the milling attachment are very similar to those of the common engine lathe. The drive is by means of a splined shaft from the pulley at and tapping are done by hand, two operaters usually doing the work} one at each head. Power is transmitted to the drill through a Spindle working within the main spindle, and thence through the face plate, as in the machines for working the cylinder. The final processes of working the frame are accom- plished in the tender, which is set beside the milling machine, as shown at the right in Fig. 10. The bed is lifted from the milling machine, with jigs still in place, and laid upon the tender plate, which is set into the floor. The frame is set to center line. The regulator pad, to take the governor mechanism, is to be milled off, drilled and tapped, and the holes for the feet and those at the top of the frame are to be drilled. The milling attachment is similar in its mechanical construction to a rotary planer. The drive is from a vertical shaft, set in the shop wall behind the milling machine, through shafting beneath the floor. The same succession of shaft- ing and bevel gears imparts power to the vertical drill, which is a part of the same machine. A jig is provided for drilling and tapping the pad. The drilling attach- ment, with its two spindles, drills the holes for the feet and also those at the ton of the frame. The Corliss girder ill, February 4, 1904 frame is made with the top and bottom identical in form, so that each casting is useful in either a right hand or a left hand engine. The operations performed by the tender complete the work on the frame, which is then ready to take its place when the engine is assembled. Conditions Which Surround the Iron Producer in the United States and Great Britain Compared.—II. BY GEORGE H. HULL. Warrants in the United States. So much for the practical effect of the British war- rant system. How is it in the United States? Would it not pay us to accumulate large stocks of iron when it can be made at low prices, to sell when it will bring high prices? When, during periods of dullness and low prices in the past, with three to six weeks’ stock on hand, we were organizing associations to restrict production, was it not a mistake? Would it not have been wiser in 1895 to 1898, when Bessemer iron was selling at $9 to $10 in Pennsylvania and foundry iron at $6 to $7 in Alabama, to have turned out all the iron it was possible to produce, piled it up and sold it at $18 to $25 in 1899 to 1902? It will not do for us to say, “ How could we have anticipated such an advance?” We had only to look at prices and stocks in the light of 10 and 50 years, as our British friends always do, to have calculated upon it with almost perfect certainty. Five times within 60 years the British iron dealers have piled up stocks of iron equal to seven months’ production or more, at low prices, and sold it at high prices. Five times the American iron dealers have had the same opportunity and failed to improve it. Five times the British iron producers have reaped the benefit of these high prices on current product, and five times the American producers have thrown it away by protecting the consumers. There is an impression among many that to manu- facture pig iron, pile it up, pay storage and interest on it and carry it during the long, dull period of many years for an advance is a ruinous business, and se it might be for any one with inadequate means, who might be forced to sell before the ultimate advance came; but if this were done by any one or any element having ample cap- ital and a fixed purpose to carry the iron until the ad- vance occurred, it would be a very different matter. To illustrate, we will suppose that a furnace com- pany in Alabama, making 100 tons of iron a day at a cost of, say, $6 per ton, had kept in blast from 1890 to 1899, inclusive, piling up their product, and carrying Same at an expense of 50 cents per ton per annum for in- terest and storage, and during the last six months of 1899 had sold the entire accumulation at $12 per ton, the result would have been as follows: Cost of making 328,500 tons, at $6 per ton.......... $1,971,000 Cost of storage and interest, at 50 cents per ton per Ns as ne delet d a ald-6 Ba CUM AONE Kiln Ode 0'n0 be 739,125 Oe Gs Silda Fak dn ic See HEWES sib hc e wae $2,710,125 Total yield, 328,500 tons, sold at $12 per ton......., 3,942,000 CU I sn ca etiGns ce phdiand 0 oes eens 1,231,875 Has any furnace company ever existed in the United States making 100 tons of iron per day, and selling it at the current market prices as made, who could show any- thing like such a profit over a period of nine years? And yet we have figured the selling price at $12 per ton only, whereas the market price rose to $20 per ton. If sold at, say, $18, the net profits would have been $3,202,875. Now, if we transfer this illustration to Bessemer iron in Pennsylvania and Ohio, which cost, say, $9 per ton to produce, 66 cents per ton per annum to carry, and was sold at $18 (the market price went to $25), we would have the following result: “ost of making 328,500 tons, at $9 per ton.......... $2,956,500 Cost of storage and interest, at 66 cents per ton per FO eR TS i eS Grebe di cee Veet i cates eceede ce 975,645 i SL Piccehe he's 660 dae b be Rhee \neumee 4 $3,932,145 “otal yield of 328,500 tons, at $18 per ton.......... 5,913,000 Se POV TOPE TT Ter ee ee 1,980,835 THE IRON AGE. 9 David Sinton of Cincinnati, who was counted the wealthiest man in Ohio in his time, made his great for- tune by carrying pig iron from eight to ten years. These illustrations are given as a partial explanation of why iron making in Great Britain has been so much more profitable than iron making in America, for, as a matter of fact, the illustrations give in substance what the iron makers and dealers have jointly done in Great Britain five times in the last 60 years. Let us apply this illustration to the entire furnace in- terest of the United States for the 1890-1899 period. We were producing and consuming in 1890, in round num- bers, 9,000,000 tons per annum; in 1897 we were produc- ing and consuming about the same amount, but during the interim many of the furnaces went out of blast, and the production and consumption fell at times to a 6,000,000, 7,000,000 and 8,000,000 rate. Now, if all the furnaces which were running in 1890 had been kept in blast until 1899, turning out about 9,000,000 tons per annum, and the consumption had remained what it was, we would have ac- cumulated in 1891 a surplus of about 1,000,000 tons; in the year 1893, about 2,000,000 tons; in 1894, about 2,500,- 000 tons; in 1896, about 500,000 tons, aggregating a total during the nine years of about 6,000,000 tons. For illus- tration, we will suppose this iron cost $9 per ton to pro- duce, that the interest and storage amounted to 66 cents per ton per annum, and that it was carried until the middle of 1899. The result would have been as follows: Cost of making 6,000,000 tons, at $9 per ton........ $54,000,000 Cost of storage and interest, at 66 cents per ton per year a 22,440,000 Penh Cs «balk oaald sade ea asie wis Ciads éwe $76,440,000 Total yield of 6.000,000 tons sold at $18 per ton... .108,000,000 Net proflt remaiming. .. .. 20. cccccsccccccccccccess 31,560,000 Did we do anything to encourage these results? No; on the contrary, we held meetings to restrict production, and through all other legitimate means strove to prevent this increase of wealth and to prevent this additional revenue to the iron makers and dealers of the United States. With a warrant system, supplemented by ex- change sales, patronized by all the producers as in Great Britain, every efficient and well located furnace in the United States might have been kept in blast during the 1390-1899 period, and, by storing and carrying its product, have paid its owners vastly more than has ever been realized by any furnace in this country in producing a like amount of iron. The delusions which result from looking at the iron business in the light of a month or a year are many. Each time that pig iron has experienced several years of low prices in the United States there has come a general belief that the price of iron would never again reach abnormally high figures. If one attempted to combat this belief, all his arguments were swept aside by the declara- tion that “conditions are different now from what they ever were before,” but the high prices have come again, notwithstanding, and always from the same cause. Each time that the price of pig iron has reached a very high point in this country there has come a general conviction that the price would never again drop to as low a point as it did before, the reasons assigned for this belief being that “the actual cost of production had increased so greatly that this enhanced cost would sus- tain future prices on a higher level,” but prices have dropped as low, nevertheless; not only to as low a level as before, but even lower. “ Enhanced cost” is simply the sympathetic advance in labor, ore, limestore, fuel, freights, royalty, &c. The same conditions which carry iron down carry these down also. All go abnormally low as a result of their having gone abnormally high: “ Extremes beget euch other.” During the long years of depression which follow a boom the market price of iron is continuously made by the poor furnace companies, not by the rich ones. If the producers were all rich and could and would hold their product until the consumers needed it, or if we had some outside element to do the same thing, it might be different; but without a warrant system, supple mented by exchange sales, there are always some poor furnace companies, and they force sales when they need money, whether the consumers are ready to buy or not; 10 to do this they must reduce prices until it becomes an inducement for some one to buy in advance of his needs. These forced sales make the market all through the dull years. The rich furnace companies must meet these low prices or hold what they make. What they actually do is to meet them with the expectation that when the needy ones have “ forced themselves to the wall” the rich fur- naces will then be able to control prices; but this theory of the “ survival of the fittest’ develops more weak ones each year. Some, which were strong at the start, gradual- ly become weak, and so there are always enough weak ones to keep prices down during the entire dull period. Sometimes conditions become so desperate that various means are devised for restricting production, but nothing avails. The distress continues, and fur- nace after furnace drops out of the race until there comes another general revival of business. What is the result? The capacity to produce iron is reduced to a minimum just when the country needs iron most, just on the eve of another increase of 100 per cent. in the demand for it. Then follows the period of abnormally high prices, which it is equally beyond the power of the rich furnace companies to control. Those who have been long in the iron business know the evil effect of booms, and when these great advances are threatened they make a heroic effort to prevent prices from going too high by selling all they expect to make for six months or a year ahead; but this has no effect except to cause a short delay in the inevitable advance, for after the producers have sold all they expect to make for a year, and the consumers find out they have only bought about half as much as they will need, there fol- lows a scramble to get what cannot be had, and prices go up to abnormal figures just as certainly as if no effort had been made to prevent it. These high prices cause many of the old furnaces which had “ forced themselves to the wall” to be revived and new ones to be built. Thus the expected means of getting control of the market, after the weak furnaces have ruined themselves, brings about the conditions which create more competitors for the rich producers to struggle with during the next périod of depression. The “survival of the fittest” policy is a boomerang. It is expected to reduce competition, but it is the most prolific cause of increasing it. A hundred promoters might go to work in dull times with the object of raising money to build new or revive old furnaces and they would have small success; but let the price of iron go up from 100 to 300 per cent. and furnaces spring up on all sides as if by magic. Eight times since 1825 have these delusions obtained control; eight times they have proven to be utterly groundless. The British iron masters and dealers are totally un- able to understand why the American iron masters and dealers have not adopted the warrant system. A Glasgow gentleman, who was interested in iron in both countries, said that if he had known the disadvantages, risks and losses the iron maker suffered from in America, owing to the absence of a warant system, he would not have invested a single £5 note in the business. Another gen- tleman, in discussing the advantages of the warrant sys- tem, said, in effect, that it could all be summed up in a few words. In the United States, at the end of a very long season of depression, your iron districts are dotted all over with abandoned furnace stacks—“ monuments of lost fortunes,” some of them “ monuments of several lost fortunes,” and it is doubtful if all the money made by the successful furnaces of the United States in 50 years, would amount to one-half as much as all the money lost by the unsuccessful ones, whereas the money made by the successful furnaces in Great Britain, for the same period, would amount to several times as much as all the money lost by the unsuccessful ones. The past we cannot change, but it is our best in- structor. If the iron producers will but study and under- stand the lessons that it imparts and adjust the business of marketing iron to the natural laws of iron production, they will create a great automatic force to do their bidding. Is it not true that whenever any commodity has been introduced to exchange dealings, those dealings have done THE IRON AGE. February 4, 1904 away with the very low prices and very high prices which that commodity had previously attained? Do not the low prices of iron in the United States sto) many furnaces, and the high prices stop many con structive projects, both of which, at normal prices, migh have proceeded without interruption? Is it not true that in this country, without a warran| system, supplemented by exchange sales, the most in significant stock will carry prices down to abnormaliy low figures, and keep them down, from five to seven years out of every ten? The business of iron manufacturing in the United States has made more rapid advances than in any coun try in the world. The business of marketing iron is no farther advanced than it was in Great Britain 60 years ago. How can we expect any improvement in the future unless we improve conditions affecting the future? If we are to improve conditions, what safer plan can be pursued than to adopt a system which in Great Britain during all these 60 years has been so successful that those who make use of it unitedly approve of it and seek no other? If we have no warrant system, supplemented by ex- change sales, in this country, iron will again go down to $6 in Alabama and $9 in Pennsylvania. If we have such a system there is no reason why it should go down to these absurdly low prices. There is no reason why ex- change sales will not do for iron what it has done for every other commodity which has been introduced to ex- change dealings. When iron went down to $6 in Alabama and $9 in Pennsylvania it did not yield enough to pay royalty to the land owner, interest to the furnace owner, and yielded only a bare subsistence to the laborer. This was because there waS but one buyer for iron. If we had two buyers, the dealer and consumer, one buying all he needed and the other needing all he could buy, prices would never have sunk to such ridiculous figures. No one can study this subject and escape these conclusions. Probably $8 to $9 in Alabama and $12 to $15 in Penn- sylvania is as low as these irons would have gone at that period, if there had been two buyers instead of one. The extraordinary fluctuations and deplorable condi- tions narrated in the foregoing pages have occurred eight times within 75 years, and they will keep on oc- curring just as long as the conditions which brought them about continue to exist. There is no unecrtainty about this. They have occurred now so often and so regularly that many writers have been led to attempt to explain them on the supposition that they have resulted from some planetary influence on the human mind, analogous to the effect that the moon has upon the ocean’s tide. They have occurred so often that there was absolutely no excuse for the country not having prepared itself for the enormous demand which came between the close of 1898 and the opening of 1908. ‘The late Hon. Abram S. Hewitt, in a paper read before the American Institute of Mining Engineers in September, 1890, predicted that this country would require 14,800,000 gross tons of iron in 1900. This was not a figment of his imagination but the result of a mathematical calculation based on the actual increase of consumption during pre- ceding years. For 40 years Mr. Hewitt’s predictions relating to consumption have been more than verified ; just as this one was. . The following is from Mr. Hewitt’s address referred to above: “So far as we are concerned, then, the question is substantially whether this country can nearly double its production within the next ten years without so seriously increasing the present cost of iron as to restrict the con- sumption and arrest the rate of progress at which the world is now moving forward.” Mr. Edward Atkinson has recently predicted that the demand for iron in the United States will be at the rate of 40,000,000 tons per annum between 1900 and 1913. This prediction, like those made by Mr. Hewitt, is based upon a mathematical calculation of the progressive in- crease of the past. The demand will not increase grad- ually, but will increase suddenly, as it always has. Does ing ire sit cle thi ply an Wi the ha SOI re er, his ion re- yns ad ; red February 4, 1904 not every thinking man know that if we were to ac- cumulate a reserve stock of 10,000,000 tons in the United States before that date it would all be con- sumed during the first year of prosperity, and does he not know if such a stock is not accumulated we shall have 1 repetition of the same woeful experiences which the iron business has gone through eight times within the last 75 years? We cannot have the very high prices without the very low prices. The farther the pendulum swings to the right the farther it will swing to the left. Let us not deceive ourselves with the hope that the great combi- nations will be able to prevent prices from going down. In 1900, when prices of the seven important shapes of iron and steel reached an average of 70 per cent, above the low prices of 1897, the greatest combination in the world made a vigorous effort to prevent prices going higher, but, notwithstanding it held to these figures man- fully itself, the outside market went up to 124 per cent. and 140 per cent. above the prices of 1897. The great combinations will be just as powerless to prevent prices going down. The nature of the iron business is such that it will always go abnormally high and abnormally low, until we adopt some practical business method of relieving the consumers’ market of the temporary surplus production which hammers prices down and, by