The Iron Age 1904-06-09: Vol 73 Iss 23

3 AGE se 1 Trades. Published every Thursday Morning by David Williams Co., 232-238 William St., New York, —_— Vol. 733° No. 2°3: New York, Thursday, June 9. 1904. oan. ‘nana Peatage. Single Copies, 15 Cen Reading Matter Contents....... Alphabetical Index to Advertisers ‘‘ 161 Classified List. of Advertisers.... ‘‘ Advertising and Subscription Rates ‘‘ High Grade Hammerless Guns are coming more ‘and more into favor with dealers and sportsmen. They retail at from $25.00 to $165.00 and are fitted with Blued,. Damascus, Remington Steel and Ordnance Steel barrels, depending on their grade. The Remington system of choke boring is the talk now among trap shooters. The famous Southern Squad used Remington Hammerless Gunson their tour through the whole south last winter, They broke world’s records and all agree that the new Remington C. E. O. is the ideal trap shooter's gun. REMINGTON ARMS COMPANY, ILION, N.Y, Agency, 313 Broadway, N. Y. 86 First St., San Francisco, THE BRISTOL COMPANY, Waterbury, Conn. Bristol’s Recording . Instruments. For Presvere 2 Tg Beperaeaee Silver Medal, rome a EE All Ranges, Low Prices, and Guar- 4 SAMSON SPOT CORD GAHALL BOILERS = %= ~ glee Linen and Italian Hemp SIMSON CORDAGE WORKS. ¢ PLAIN PATTERN REGULAR WEAD. ‘ » Boston, Mass. neil 0 | » TURNBUCKLES, 9 z 2 : Gapewell Horse Nails : so SenBe Often. 1 Broadway, Now - Cieveland. 0. e + > "en ae dene Gite ait anes te. aon NEW YORK, ranches: PORTLAND, ORE., TURNBUCEHE IES. < PHILADELPHIA, BUFFALO, " MERRILL BROS., wy CHICAGO, DETROIT, BALTIMORE, ~ int 465 to 4" Kent Ave . + S87. LOUIS, CENOUNNATI, NEW ORLEANS, Uy Brooklyn, E.D.,. N.Y. < BOSTON, SAN FRANCISCO, DENVER. > SOFT COAL. OFT C O AL 2 THE CAPEWELL HORSE NAIL GO,, tiartford, Con af 2 Fi yemee Building, Phila, PILLING & CRANE, isipirtnte Now'rork PLAIN PATTERN REGULAR HEAD. EXCELSIOR STRAIGHTWAY BACK PRESSURE VALVE is simple in construction and well made. Being fitted with the Jenkins Disc, it is noiseless and never sticks. Can be relied upon at all times when using exhaust steam for heating ; or when used as a relief or free exhaust on a sonsmnelne. ant Working parts can be quickly thrown in and out of use without taking valve apart. am BROS., New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, London: ‘Two Creat Leaders in Avigian || am swe “Swedon” Gold Rolled Steel sunt, Drawing stamping THE AMERICAN TUBE & OS Pins COMP S t M t ] (Water and Rail Delivery) Brrperprort, Cony. chan 2 eee MAGNOLIA METAL. Best Anti-Friction Metal for all Machinery Pac-Simile of Bar. : Beware of imitations. FSD noid METAL 60., Owners and Sole Manufacturers, H3-115 Bank Street, Sen Francisco, New ew a em Montreal, Boston, Chicago, Fisher Bidg. NEW YORK. grades of Babbitt Met at competitive prices. See Page 24 cn) Si GMA ee os ee ee RE F PECEIS GRE UREA Ritisian cnid chor Mlbditim cupiemibees Mibbbbed acceso: sccmsahe eet ae Dee eo ee = cae OER, Sar, t ayes Meceaetedinmsavseinat | : THE IRON AGE. MANUFACTURERS OF Te THE Plume & Atwood Mes, Co, AAA (BRASS; | reece seer Sheet and Roll Brass COPPER WIRE ini PRINTERS’ BRASS, JEWELERS’ METAL, GERMAy GERM AN SHEET ae GILDING METAL, COPPER Rivets SILVER ROD Pins, Brass Butt Hinges, Jack Chain, Kero. WIRE sene Saat Lamp “QUEEN'S RUN” DaAP ND nm “Lock HAVEN” m=); |LOW BRASS. SHEET BRONZE. | 299 murray sT., NEW YORK. Oe Mabemuaetid | |SEAMLESS BRASS AND COPPER| 4 HIGH ST., Bostow. ALAA RAED) |TUBING. BRAZED BRASS AND| | “ASE ST CHICAca sq |BRONZE TUBING. : : : : +: + +] T™OMAsTOW, comm, | warERBURY, com, Randolph-Clowes Co. ¢iwarerpury BRASS co,,|)SCOVILL MFG. CO., MANUFACTURERS OF Main Office and Mill, WATERBURY, CONN. WATERBURY, CONN. BRASS, GERMAN SILVER MANUFACTURERS OF 130 Centre St., New York. Providence, R. I. guaeké, Metis, wiee SHEET BRASS & COPPER. 3| ~~ ee Rods, Bolts and’ Tubes, BRAZED Brass & coppers |DIGgepOIl Deoxidized Bronze & E iinekiae ecm TUBES. Met in Special Brass Goods to Order. SEAMLESS BRASS BRIDGEPORT, GONN. WATERBURY éomn & COPPER TUBES 3| Automobile Castings a Specialty. Drom TO 36 IN. DIAM. ‘ ps NEW YORK, CHICAGO, BOSTON. New York Office, 258 Broadway, Postal High Tensile Strength. ane ee Bronze and Aluminum Alloys. - Ee e JOHN DAVOL & SONS, Write Us. DEALERS IN COPPER, TIN, SPELTER, LEAD, ANTIMONY. 100 John Street, - New York. _ Matthiessen & Hegeler Zinc Co., LA SALLE, ILLINOIS. SM aie OP OPEETEN Arthur T. Rutter & 60 SHEET ZINC AND nes cht ACID. 256 Broadway, NEW YORK. ZIN » Small tubing in Brass, Copper, CS FOR LECLANCHE BATTERY Al ax ’ aoe &c. Sheet Brass, Copper and Ger- man Silver. Co » Brass ani TS ee TNO 2 68:74 West Mon 3 NN CIPLAEUL LOE CAEN TSS and ier IL ie Raa ba “PHONO-ELEGTRIC' Burkes CASTINGS) WIRE rs FOUNDERS— FINISHERS. TROLLEY, and HENDRICKS BROTHERS TELEGRAPH Belleville Copper Rolling Mills, LINES. Bramiers’ Bolt and Sheathing Brideenert BRIDGEPORT BRASS C0., COPPER, Cenn. 19 Murray St., » New York. COPPER WIRE AND RIVETS, | Mermoaynamics ana Chemistry. | nonmathematical treatise for chemist Fan Importers and Dealers in students of chemistry. By P. Deben. as Ingot Copper, Block Tin, Spelter, Lead, Antimony, etc. a. ogame ey Gorse K. Burcon, 49 CLIFF ST., NEW YORK. For sale by David Williams Co., 232 William St., N.Y. -RMAN VETS here G0, NN, ork. ef, yer ‘er- und ind be. 1 BE TRON AGE THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 1904. The Hudson River Tunnel.—Il. | A Comparison of the Original Methods with Those Now Employed. BY 8S. D. V. BURR. (Conclusion. ) The New York & Jersey Railroad Company, with W. G. McAdoo as president and Charles M. Jacobs as chief engineer, acquired the franchise and property of the original Hudson Tunnel Railroad Company in the early part of 1902. Since then the work has been carried forward without undue trouble, the north tunnel has The change in diameter was brought about by the al- teration of the use to which the tunnel is to be put. While at first intended for regular steam traffic, it will now be employed only for trolley and light service. The same plan would have been adopted with the north tun- nel but for the fact that the heading when the present management assumed control was at the lowest point, with but a few feet of silt overhead. With these sur- roundings it was not thought expedient to reduce the di- ameter of the shield. The Shield consists of a steel cylinder somewhat larger than the out- side diameter of the tunnel, and provided with a central and a forward vertical partition. Between the parti- tions are small chambers in which the men stand while Fig. 8.—North Tunnel, Showing Commencement of New Work, April, 1903. been opened from shore to shore and operations have been begun on the approaches. The most important change made by the English engi- neers, after the introduction of the shield, was the sub- stitution of heavy cast iron plates for the masonry. The light boiler plates used in the early work were never con- sidered as being an integral and permanent part of the cylinder ; they only served to keep the silt out until the masonry had been laid, after which their existence was of no moment. The plates in the south tunnel, which has been re- duced in inside diameter to 15 feet 3 inches, are 644 feet long, 2 feet wide, 17-16 inches thick, 8 inches deep through the webs, and the flanges are 1% inches thick. All the bolt holes are 1% inches. The sides of each plate are accurately faced, the long ones being in a plane at right angles with the axis of the tunnel and the short ones on a radius, so that they fit together with the great- est nicety. An inspection of Fig. 8, which shows the first work done under the present management, will convey a comprehensive idea of the regularity and precision of the work. With these plates it is impossible to distort the circular section of the tunnel, and with the shield it is easy to follow the exact grade and alignment. digging the silt through openings in the front and throw- ing it through openings in the rear. The advance end of the cylinder is in the form of a cutting shoe, which enters the silt as the shield is forced forward by hy- draulic rams resting against the completed part of the tunnel. The shield covers the entire heading and over- laps a part of the permanent work. It resembles a cap in thateit covers and protects the whole heading, and is the direct opposite of the first plan with the silt all ex- posed. The shell of the shield is of %-inch steel, 19 feet 5% inches outside diameter and 10% feet long. Between the two partitions are 9 working chambers, formed by 2 vertical and 2 horizontal walls, which are spaced 6 1-3 feet. In each chamber the upper edge of the forward opening is lower than the lower edge of the inner opening, so that so long as an air pressure is maintained equal to the hydrostatic head it is impossible for the water to enter the heading. The plates, being much too heavy to be handled by manual labor, are placed in position and held until bolted to those already in place by an erector, shown in the center of Fig. 9, which is operated by. hydraulic power. The arm is mounted on a shaft so as to swing in a circle > SSRIS ae A ow. ite st a ee 2 THE IRON AGE. perpendicular to the axis of the tunnel. In operation the outer end of the arm grasps a plate, swings it to the re- quired location and then forces it out to its seat, where it is held until the bolts have been inserted. The device is extremely simple, and works easily and rapidly. : This system of tunneling, in direct contrast with that first employed, provides absolute safety for the men. Moreover, a blowout, of more or less frequent occurrence during the early. progress of the work, cannot happen, and the flooding of the heading could only take place through the complete disablement of the air compressing plant. With these advantages there is the additional one of greater rapidity in construction, with the accom- paniment of less labor, and therefore reduced cost. After leaving the river bed the two tunnels will con- verge into a double arch concrete-steel tunnel, 17% feet center to center, and each having a roof with a radius of 7% feet. This tunnel opens into a 3-track single tunnel, also built of concrete steel, which extends to the ter- June 9, 1904 attached by themselves included the condensers required for the turbines. The question between the Board of Trade and Denny & Brothers had reference to the condensers and to their sufficiency for what was required of them. The Messrs. Denny took up the position that the Board of 'Trade were not entitled nor justified in demanding a certain test before the condensers were passed with a view to the certificate which was necessary for a passen- ger vessel. . The certificate is issued by the Board of Trade, but as a precedent there was required to be made a declaration by the shipwrights’ surveyor and the engi- neers’ surveyor who had the vessel under survey. The Board of Trade had given certain instructions to their surveyor with which he was required to comply, but the Messrs. Denny refused the necessary facilities, and the certificate accordingly was refused. The question which the Court had to try was whether headquarters had the right to give its surveyors such directions, and whether those were competent and reasonable. The question arose Fig. 9.—Erector of Plates.—North Tunnel, Looking West Toward Erector, Iron Joining Old Brick Work, April 19, 1904. minus at Christopher and Greenwich streets. The shore work will all be done in open cut. The photograph Fig. 8, for which and for Fig. 9 we are indebted to the courtesy of the chief engineer, Charles M. Jacobs, was taken at the meeting point of the shield and the masonry built 20 years ago from the New York caisson. It will be seen that the shield meets the brick- work almost exactly in line, after having come nearly a nile from the New Jersey shaft, and having been 25 years making the distance. ———-- ~~» - e —__—___—_—_ Turbines and the British Board of Trade Survey. LonDon, May 28, 1904.—A decision relating to the con- struction of turbine steamers was yesterday issued by the Court of Survey in Glasgow on an appeal by William Denny & Brothers, the shipbuilders, of Dumbarton. The facts briefly set out are as follows: The “ Princess Maud,” built by Denny & Brothers, is a turbine ship. The turbine engines are provided by Messrs. Parsons and built by them at their own works. What they built and supplied to Denny & Brothers stopped at the condensers; that is to say, the propelling power was provided by Messrs. Par- sons from their own works, and no questions arose with regard to it. The turbines were delivered to Denny & Brothers, and had to be fitted to the vessel, and the minor parts of the machinery provided by Denny & Brothers and because they were dealing not with ordinary engines, but with turbine machinery, experience of which had not been yet sufficient to enable the Board of Trade to lay down the same simple series of regulations as with regard to the engines to which shipbuilders had been accustomed for many years. The Court sustained the appeal, and pointed out that this test is a new departure in survey practice, and that, as the Board of Trade was the party proposing to depart from use and wont, it lay upon them to show that there were new circumstances justifying a new departure. Con- siderable importance attached to this point, as it was ad- mitted that if the Board of Trade’s action was approved, this requirement would become a precedent for turbine steamer surveys in future, and would place turbine steam- ers at a disadvantage compared with ordinary steamers. The Court, however, find that the test is unreasonable. They point out that, while the Board of Trade have a great duty to the traveling public, they also have a re- sponsibility to the shipbuilding and allied industries, and must not in their zeal for the public safety unnecessarily impose restrictions on an industry, and especially an indus- try in its development stage. 8s. G. H. ———— »+.—-e—____ The International Acetylene Association will hold its next regular annual convention September 14, 15 and 16 in the Lecture Hall of the Palace of Education, World’s Fair Grounds, St. Louis, Mo. June 9, 1904 The William Cramp & Sons Ship & Engine Building Company. In last week’s issue we gave a brief extract from the annual report of the William Cramp & Sons Ship & En- gine Building Company, Philadelphia, showing the finan- cial operation of the company for the year ending April 30, 1904. From the official copy of the report, since re- ceived, we take the following extracts from the address to the stockholders by President Henry S. Grove: “The income account for the year shows net earnings from all the company’s operations and interests of $188,- 174.31, but it must be borne in mind that under the terms of several of the mortgages against your property and the conditions under which the $5,000,000 of collateral notes were issued, we are required to pay considerable money each year toward the liquidation of our indebtedness, and as we have no means of refunding these repayments, we must look to our earnings for the means of meeting them each year. It is, therefore, satisfactory to find that your net earnings for the year have been sufficient to enable us to meet these payments without encroaching on your working capital. “ The efficiency of your plant and its condition are well evidenced by the fact that during the past fiscal year it has been necessary for us to invest in new tools and ma- chinery for all the companies only $9940.41. “Its resources under our improved practice and less costly methods indicate it is equal if not superior to any other shipyard in the country. If we may take as our guide the report of the United States Navy Depart- ment for the month of May, showing the progress made at all shipyards in the United States where Government work is being done, your company are building ships faster than any other yard, both as regards any single ship or the average progress on all ships in their care. lieve that with the saving of time it is fair to hope that there will be a saving of money and an increase in your profits, “The past year indicates that there has been little or no profit in shipbuilding proper. Were it not for our subsidiary companies doing business other than that of building ships, we would not be able to make the showing on the previous pages. “Your I. P. Morris Company are in the first rank among those undertaking high service turbine work throughout the country, and the indications are that, with the forced economies necessitated by the present unpromising business conditions, a considerable volume of this class of work will be presented during the present year; this, together with their reputation for high grade general machine work, has contributed much in the past year to the profits of your company and promises, not- withstanding the decreasing demand, to make a satis- factory showing for the present year. “The Kensington Shipyard has also contributed greatly to your profits in the past, and we see no reason why its prospects are not as good for the future; for even if new ships are not built, existing ones will need repairs. Your brass foundry has had the most prosper- ous year in its history, and its specialties are meeting with constantly increasing favor. “ Nowhere throughout the great field of commercial activity have the enterprise and energy of the people created such an overproduction of facilities as in ship- building. A single shipyard (Cramps) can build prompt- ly, without retarding their other contracts, all the war vessels authorized by the last Congress. “The amount of business offering is only a small fraction of the capacity of the various yards, and com- petition is so keen that the margin of profit is prac- tically eliminated. This applies quite as fitly to mer- cantile work as to Government work. While the agita- tion in Congress and the favorable interest of a large aumber of our citizens give promise of legislation that may induce an increase in the volume of business, there is nothing in sight in the immediate present that promises iny better returns than the work we now have on hand. Our position for the coming fiscal year, however, is se- THE IRON AGE. We be-. E 3 cure in having in all departments contracts aggre- gating about $13,000,000, which is an increase over the same period of last year of $1,500,000.” ee Pacific Coast Trade. SAN FRANCISCO, CAL., May 28, 1904.—While it is as yet too soon to state exactly what may be the true con- dition of the cereal crops of the State, it is tolerably cer- tain that they will not come up to earlier expectation, particularly as regards wheat, of which we had at one time prospects for 900,000 tons. The hot winds of the past week have done more or less damage in the Sacra- mento and San Joaquin valleys. The estimates as to the outcome are varying, some claiming that the yield. of wheat this year will not exceed 500,000 tons. This, if true, would make the condition of our wheat farmers in some pertions of the State unfortunate indeed. As it is, a great many will suffer from this cause, especially in the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys, and they will not make the improvements that they had contemplated. This, of course, would give a setba*k to the hardware and agricultural implement business in the midland sec- tions of the State. Barley has suffered somewhat, but not to as great an extent as wheat, while fruit, on the whole, will give large yields. This is more particularly true of grapes, and we will have a big vintage and a large raisin pack. The citrus fruit growers are suffer- ing from the untoward circumstances that attend the marketing of their product, and trade in citrus sections will not be as good as it should be when we consider the size of the crop. There are thus many drawbacks this year that were not so evident six weeks ago. In the leading cities of the State the hardware, iron and steel business will probably be better than for a long time. Building activity is unprecedented in San Fran- cisco, Los Angeles and other large cities. In one week here in San Francisco the total value of building con- tracts exceeded $500,000, much larger than that of any previous year at this time. For some time the value has been steadily increasing week by week. From Los Angeles come similar advices. All this will do much to offset drawbacks elsewhere complained of. In fact, the trade of this year among the hardware firms of San Francisco, if we can judge by the volume of the semi- monthly collections of some, will come up to $15,000,000 or $16,000,000. This not only includes California trade, but also the export business and that with Hawaii and Alaska, the Philippines, &c. The trade with Alaska is especially good, and it looks as if it would keep on im- proving. These figures take in not only hardware, but iron and steel, iron pipe and oil well supplies. They do not include machinery and a few other articles such as bicycles, sewing machines, &c., which, though dealt in to some extent by our big hardware houses, in the main form specialties and would add some millions more to these figures. In the matter of oil well supplies there is likely to be a large increase this year. It is certain that the pro- duction of oil will greatly exceed that of 1903. -.There are a couple of pipe lines about to be built which will take large quantities of pipe and other supplies, as both together will have a length of 230 miles. The lumber mills of the State have started in to produce and ship at a rate hitherto unprecedented, and will be buying heavily of saws, machinery, &c. The number of mills is being increased. On one new purchase at least $200,000 will be spent on machinery, to say nothing of other sup- plies before the year is out. Heavy shipments continue to the Orient on aceount of the Japanese Government. The steamer “China” took out 508 tons of steel rails, valued at $17,000; ma- chinery, $17,590; bicycles, $5110; car bodies, $1470, mak- ing with other articles a total of $42,000. To China the shipments were, on the whole, very light, as indeed they have been almost since the opening of the war. Exports of machinery to Australia have been large, and there have been good shipments of iron pipe and machinery to the Hawaiian Islands. J. 0. L. <2 ies Sereetene pee Smeties oy. -ctip silcckinigetapte geome Plant of the Standard Forgings Company. What is claimed to be the most complete plant in America devoted to the manufacture of heavy forgings has recently been completed by the Standard Forgings Company at Indiana Harbor, Ind. The company have acquired a 12-acre tract of land, consisting of a strip 240 feet wide and 2500 feet long, adjoining the Indiana Har- bor Railway, which is a belt line giving access to all the roads entering Chicago. The buildings are of steel con- struction, consisting of a main building, with L’s or an- nexes. The main building is 80 x 500 feet, 32 feet high to the eaves and about 50 feet to the comb. The engine room is 60 x 100 feet; axle room, 50 x 165 feet; scrap room, 50 x 100 feet. The company are making a full line of heavy forgings, having machinery and facilities for turning out the THE IRON AGE. June 9, 1904 to.a table just opposite the first furnace and are conveyed into the furnace by a long shovel or peel that swings on a overhead crane, Sixteen of these piles may be charged into the furnace at a time, where they are reduced to an incandescent mass in about 30 minutes’ time. A swing ing jib crane conveys the heated piles to the 6000-pound double-frame Bement steam Miles hammer. This ham mer is on the vertical steam driven principle and was built by the Niles-Bement-Pond Company. Its cylinder is 20 inches diameter ; its length of stroke, 54 inches; die face, 14 x 25 inches. The hammer weighs 90,000 pounds By this hammer the pile is reduced to a slab and the slab is conveyed on trucks to the next series of furnaces, known as axle furnaces. Three such slabs are assembled, one on top of the other, and heated in the axle furnaces, and when heated are transferred to the helve type axle hammer shown in Fig. 2. This hammer was constructed Fig. 1.—Scrap Cutting and Sorting Department. largest crank shafts. At present the bulk of their product goes to concerns making Corliss engines, pumping, con- veying and mining machinery and machine tools. They are also doing a large business in iron car axles. Their iron car: and locomotive axles are made from No. 1 rail- road wrought scrap, selected with the greatest care by experts. They also make steel car and locomotive axles and other steel forgings from open hearth billets. In the main building a Pawling & Harnischfeger three- motion electric crane with 15 tons capacity and 50 feet span travels on a track the entire length of the building. serving al] the hammers and furnaces. This crane has a speed of from 250 to 350 feet per minute, a trolley speed of from 100 to 150 feet per minute, and a hoisting speed of from 16 to 40 feet per minute. Handling the Scrap. Carloads of railroad wrought scrap are received along the southern side of the building and are unloaded direct from the cars into bins, where they are carefully sorted. The scrap is then cut up to lengths for piling on two Thomas Carlin & Sons Company’s shears, one having a capacity for cutting up to 2%-inch square and the other up to 4inch square. A view of this department is shown in Fig. 1. From the shears the scrap is conveyed to piling tables, where a corps of men and boys make it up into piles of about 300 pounds each. These piles are trucked by the Standard Forgings Company themselves after plans suggested by Carl Jernberg, their superintendent. It is heavy in construction and rapid in operation, and is believed by the company to give exceptional homogeneity and strength to the axles forged under it. Two other hammers of the same size and type are being installed. It requires two heats to form an axle complete, and, as will be seen by the illustration, there are three grooves in the dies, one of which is for the general reduction of the billet, a second for tapering the axle, and the third for swaging. Fig. 3 illustrates the heavy forging department, with its 8000-pound Bement-Pond vertical double frame steam hammer. This hammer weighs 112,000 pounds and has a standard die face 17 x 28 inches. Its cylinder is 24 inches in diameter, and stroke 60 inches. The illustration shows a shaft 14 inches x 14 feet being forged under this ham- mer. Serving the hammer are two Whiting Foundry & Equipment Company’s steel cranes for hoisting, one 10 tons and the other 15 tons capacity. A feature of these cranes is the fact that they are supported independently of the frame work of the building by means of the special rigging which is indicated in the engraving. A 3300-pound Bement-Miles single frame long stroke rapid action steam driven hammer is used on smaller forgings. The hammer has standard die face, 10 x 16 June 9, 1904 THE IRON AGE. inches ; 42-inch stroke and 15-inch diameter cylinder, and weighs 53,000 pounds. A small 800-pound quick action single frame Bement-Miles hammer, weighing 14,000 pounds, is also in use for the smallest work. turned on their journals and wheel'seats are put on racks and thence transferred to two A No, 2 or No. 3 Niles double head axle lathes, according to the character of work that is to be done. These lathes are served by Fig. 3.—View of the Heavy Forging Department, Showing Double Frame Steam Hammer and Special Jib Crane. Fintshing the Axles, light trolley hoists, which permit of the speedy handling The axles, after being allowed to cool on racks ad- joining the hammer, are carried by the overhead crane to the axle room, where they are placed on racks. In this room are four machines for cutting to lengths and one centering machine, all furnished by the George Whiting Company, Chicago. Axles that require to be of the axle. Axles that are to be shipped smooth forged and not machined are loaded direct onto cars on the switch track at the end of the building. All the machines in this room are driven by Milwaukee motors, two motors serving four cutting off machines and the centering ma- chine. te - S rare > a ere oe erat enw a sa ace: ant cate 65 THE IRON AGE. In the heavy machine shop at the western end of the building are contained, among other tools, a 48-inch triple geared Pond forge lathe, that has a capacity for finishing up to 32 feet long and 48 inches in diameter ; two 36-inch Pond triple geared engine lathes, with 12- foot beds; a 24-inch Niles engine lathe, and a 48-inch Pond planer that planes 49 inches wide, 49 inches high and any desired length, as well as a 26-inch Acme back geared crank shaper. The power house contains a 100-kw 250-volt Milwau- kee generator, direct connected to a McEwen engine. This engine supplies power for all the machinery, as well as for the are and incandescent electric lighting of the plant. Individual motor drive prevails throughout the plant for operating machine tools, and consists of four 7144 horse-power 220-volt Milwaukee motors, direct con- Fig. 4.—The M. C. B. Device for Testing Axles. nected to lathes; four 15 horse-power Milwaukee motors, operating planer, cut off and miscellaneous tools, and one 5 horse-power Milwaukee motor operating axle test- ing machine. The cranes are also operated electrically. The latest and most improved electrical devices for the protection of machinery and men prevail throughout the plant. The entire electrical equipment was installed by Kohler Brothers, Chicago. In the power houses are also three heavy slow speed Marsh pumps for supplying feed water to the boilers and cold water to the hammers. In the same annex the company’s machine shop is located. It contains a No. 4 Miles vertical drilling ma- chine, a 14inch slotting machine, besides small drills, lathes, and other tools required for making dies and per- forming routine repair work. Waste Heat Boilers. To each of the ten heating furnaces in‘use in the plant is connected. an Atlas tubular boiler. ‘he boiler equip- ment consists of five 72-inch x 18-foot, with 70, 4inch tubes, rated at 150 horse-power; four 72-inch x 16-foot, June 9, 1904 with ‘70 4-inch tubes, rated at 125 horse-power, and one 60-inch x 14-foot, with 62 31-inch tubes, rated at 75 horse- power, making altogether 1325 horse-power. These boil- ers are erected with the usual brick settings, but without grates, the hot flames coming to them from the heating furnaces through brick conduits or tunnels. All ten boil- ers are connected to a steam main, which in turn is con- nected to the steam hammers direct: and to the engine in the power house. The furnaces themselves are equipped with No. 38 Dixie fans, built by the American Blower Company, which furnish the necessary blast. Testing Device. In the yard adjoining the axle room has been erected an M. C. B. testing device, illustrated in Fig. 4. This device consists of a rigging 50 feet high, in which is raised a 1640-pound weight a hight of 43 feet at the max- imum, and this weight is dropped on the axle to be tested, which is suspended between points on the anvil having 8-foot centers. The radius of the trip in the direction of the axle is 5 inches. The anvil at the base of this device weighs 17,500 pounds and rests on 12 heavy double coiled helical springs. In testing it is the practice of railroad inspectors to require five blows of this hammer on axles for cars of 80,000 pounds capacity and seven blows on axles for cars: of 100,000 pounds capacity. This testing apparatus was built after M. C. B. specifications by the Whiting Foundry & Equipment Company of Harvel, III. The capacity of the Standard Forgings Company’s plant is approximately 100 tons of finished forgings per day. By the use of extraordinary heavy hammers, speeded high, forgings of a maximum strength are se- cured in the minimum uumber of heats. In supplying materials for forgings of a given size it is the practice of the company to leave an unusually large margin for crop ends, thus securing solidity at the ends of the forging. The Management. The Standard Forgings Company consist largely of men who have had lifelong experience in this class of work. The president and treasurer, Frederick M. Steele, was formerly president of the Chicago Forge & Bolt Com- pany, Chicago, and the vice-president and general man- ager, George E. Van Hagen, was for 15 years with the sate company. Carl Jernberg was for 20 years with the Chi- cago Forge & Bolt Company, Chicago; George O. Roberts, secretary, was formerly with the American Car & Foun- dry Company ; E. W. Richey, the sales agent, has also had long experience in the forgings line. One hundred and fifty men are now employed in the plant. The plant was constructed and equipped under the supervision of Super- intendent Jernberg. The foundations for the main build- ing were laid late last fall, and while it had been the in- tention of the company to start operations in January or February of this year, the work of building and equip- ment was delayed by the extremely cold weather. A. R. Clark & Co. of Chicago were general contractors. — oom — Drawback on Steel Measuring Tapes.—The Treas- ury Department has prepared regulations for the allow- ance of drawback of duty paid on imported strip or ribbon steel used in the manufacture of measuring tapes, upon the application of the L. S. Starrett Company, Athol, Mass. It is announced that on the exportation of steel measuring tapes, 25, 50, 75 and 100 feet in length, in- closed in metal or leather cases, manufactured with the use of none but imported strip or ribbon steel not less than % inch in width and 8-1000 inch in thickness, a drawback will be allowed equal in amount to the duties paid on the imported strip or ribbon steel so used, less the legal deduction of 1 per cent. In liquidation, the quan- tity by weight of the imported strip or ribbon steel which may be taken as the basis for the allowance of drawback may equal the quantity declared in the drawback entry as actually consumed in the manufacture of the exported steel measuring tapes, less 1 per cent. of such weight, to be. deducted as representing the value of the waste ex- perienced in such manufacture, but in no case shall such quantity, to be taken as the basis for liquidation, exceed 4.455 ounces for each 25-foot tape ; 8.663 ounces. for each 50-foot tape ; 12.633 ounces for each 75-foot tape, 9 or 16.583 ounces for each. 100-foot tape. June 9, 1904 The Keller Electrical Steel Process. The Keller process is described in a recent issue of the Hisen-Zcitung, and it is claimed for it that it works successfully, with good practical results, in some French works. Its characteristic feature consists in that it is carried on in intimate connection with a blast furnace which is distinguished from the ordinary blast furnace by the use of electricity to produce the heat required in the reduction of the ore. The iron produced in this fur- nace is tapped and run directly into an electrical re fining furnace, where it is refined in a manner similar to that used in the Heroult process, from which, however, it differs in some essential points. The process is prac- ticed with good satisfactory results at Kerrousse, near Hennebout, France, by the Compagnie Electrothermique Keller, Leleux & Co., as well as in some other places in France. It was only after a series of rather unsuccessful trials, in which the inventor endeavored to reduce the ore and to refine the iron thus obtained in one and the same electrical furnace, that Keller finally decided to divide his process into two distinct operations, which consist, as already stated, in reducing the ore electrically in a kind of a blast furnace and then refining the resulting iron in another electrical furnace. The first or reducing furnace, standing on a somewhat higher level, might roughly be compared with a round open hearth furnace, forming the crucible of a cupola, built on top of its roof, the inside of the cupola being much smaller than the inside of the open hearth furnace and narrowing down toward its top. Tbus the inside of the lining widens out from the top of the cupola downward gradually until it reaches the top of the crucible, where it widens out very suddenly. This arrangement facilitates the descent of the ore and prevents any possible hanging. The whole furnace is in- closed in an iron shell, and is lined with the best quality of hard firebrick. An air space is left between the iron shell and the lining in order to prevent any undue loss of heat. The ore is charged at the top through a charging apparatus so built as to prevent any air from entering the furnace during the charging operation. Powerful carbon electrodes, whose lower ends pene- trate the roof of the crucible part, into which they reach, are placed all around the furnace. The electrical arcs, developing between these big electrodes, reduce the ore and melt the iron. In one plant Keller, instead of plac- ing the electrodes all around the furnace, arranged them in two groups, with two pairs of electrodes in each group. In this arrangement the upper pair of electrodes acts on the ore contained in the cupola, while the lower pair again penetrates the roof of the crucible to act on the ore and iron contained therein. The bottom of the fur- nace is slightly inclined toward the tap hole on one side. On the opposite side, on a somewhat higher level, is placed a slag hole. The furnace is charged like a blast furnace, with a mixture of ore, coke and flux. The carbonic oxide devol- oping in the lower part rises through the burden, dries it, and near the top is sucked into a special chamber, where it is burnt, and the products of combustion are further utilized for drying purposes. ‘The process is continuous. The iron and slag are regularly tapped at intervals of several hours, and the furnace is kept filled by the addi- tion at the top of fresh supplies of ore, fuel and flux. The iron is tapped and run directly into the previously heated refining furnace. Here the electrical current is carefully regulated and the refining is carried through by means of ore. Sometimes pig scrap, mixed with lime, is added and a suitable slag is made. Four powerful parallel electrodes, passing vertically through the rgof of the refining furnace, plunge into the slag, but de/not reach far enough down to touch the liquid metal. |The refining takes place rapidly. Fifteen to 20 tons of iron are refined in one operation. After the metal is refined the current is kept on for a time suffi- ciently long to make the metal quite hot and liquid. After that it can be got rid of in the usual way, either casting it into ingots or using it in the manufacture of steel castings. Keller makes the refining process also THE IRON AGE. ~ ‘ continuous in that after he has tapped off the metal he keeps the furnace hot with a reduced electrical current until he can receive the next cast from the reducing fur- nace. By mechanical means he has further made it pos- sible to change the electrodes without stopping the opera- tion. At Kerrousse water power is used to generate the electrical current. It is claimed that with the use of steam the cost of the electricity would become too high, owing to the fact that a large amount of electricity has to be used and wasted to overcome the great resistance offéred by the slag to the passage of the electrical cur- rent. At the Kerrousse plant there are available 550 horse- power. There have been built two turbines of 135 horse- _ power each, operating two generators of 200 kw. capacity. In another plant built by Keller at Livet there are available 25 c. m. of water per second, with an aggregate fall of 60 m.* In the last named plant turbines are used to generate a current of 30,000 amperes in single phase alternate current machines. _They can produce, including the power ‘required in all preparatory work, about 8 gross tons of steel in 24 hours. In regard to the cost of his process, Keller figures that it requires 2800 kw. hours to make one metric ton of steel of 2204 pounds. Taking the kilowatt year of 8400 hours at 50 francs ($9.70), the electrical energy per ton of steel, including the refunding rate of the plant, amounts to 16.50 franes ($3.21). With an iron ore with 55 per cent. metallic iron, cost- ing 10 francs ($1.95) per metric ton, a ton of coke costing 40 frances ($7.76) and a ton of lint 15 frances ($2.91), electrodes costing 400 francs ($77.67) and the labor to run the furnace 4 francs (77 cents), he figures that a metric ton of steel at Kerrousse will cost between 90 and 100 francs (or $17.50 to $19.50). At present the inventor is building a plant for his process in Chile, the occasion of which afforded him an opportunity to report on the state of the electrometal- lurgy of Troy before the Iron and Steel Institute. Based on his calculation in this report, he states that in some countries, where the economical running of blast fur- naces would be out of the question, an electrometallurgi- cal treatment is the only one that can be applied to the manufacture of steel. Among these countries Chile and Brazil take leading rank; in fact, this applies to all countries where good ores and water power are abundant. In Chile the in- ventor uses ores from New Zealand of a very pure and rich quality, but containing 9.3 per cent. of titanic acid. It is of great interest to know that with a special ar- rangement of his process the inventor was enabled to use the above ores to great advantage in the manufacture of steel and to eliminate in the slag the total amount of titanic acid. In the treatment of this ore he uses only a small amount of coal of excellent quality in his reducing fur- nace. The product that he obtains in this manner con- tains only enough carbon to make it lose its character of pig iron, so that it may rather be considered a very hard steel. The iron obtained from this pure, titaniferous ore is equal in quality to the well known Swedish brands. RH - E. J. Woodison and L. A. Crandall have severed their connection with the S. Obermayer Company, to embark, together with W. F. Bartlet, in the foundry supply and fire brick business in Detroit, Mich., under the name of the Detroit Foundry Supply Company. Mr. Woodison has been with the S. Obermayer Company for the past six years in charge of their Detroit office and fire brick de partment, covering territory in Ohio, Indiana and Michi- gan, and likewise editing the Obermayer Bulletin, pre- vious to which time he was with F. B. Stevens for a num- ber of years. Mr. Crandall has been with the same com- pany for the past three years, covering Ohio and Ohio River points, previous to which he was with Byram & Co. for a number of years in the foundry equipment business. * This corresponds theoretically to 20,000, or with a yield of 20 per cent. in well built turbines, to 16,000 horse-power. The Visit of the British Engineers. St. Louis, June 6, 1904.—(By Telegraph.)—Our dis- tinguisled visitors, the members of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers of Great Britain, who have been in this country principally to attend the joint convention of their institutiun with the American Society of Me- chanical Engineers at Chicago and the World’s Fair at St. Louis, have also had the opportunity of seeing many matters of interest to them in other cities under peculiar- ly favorable circumstances. Their coming having been previously announced, our large commercial ‘organizations and professional societies were prepared to show them exceptional attention. The first to arrive reached New York in the fore part of May, and in parties of various sizes they continued to arrive up to the time of the convention, May 31 to June 8. After exploring New York and its immediate vicinity, some visited Buffalo, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Wash- ington and other cities of the Hast as they preferred, un- til their final assembling at Chicago. Including members and ladies, a number somewhat over 90 had registered at the close of the convention. An account of their ex- periences while in Chicago will be found in the report of the convention printed elsewhere in this issue. On the Saturday following a large number of the party visited the works of the Allis-Chalmers Company at Milwaukee, and were greatly impressed, as they tes- tify, with the magnitude of both the present plant and its proposed extension... On Sunday nearly all of the Eng- lish and many of the American engineers were carried by special train to St. Louis. On Monday afternoon, from 4 to 6 o’clock, a reception was tendered them by the com- missioner-general for Great Britain and Mrs. Watson at the British royal pavilion to meet the president and members of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. The regular programme allows the party to remain at the Fair until Thursday night. On Thursday afternoon the Engi- neers’ Club of St. Louis have invited the members of the Institution and the American Society, with their ladies, to a trip on the Mississippi River on one of the river steamers. From St. Louis the Englishmen will go to Cincinnati, where they will be received by the local members of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, H. M. Lane, local chairman. Friday morning, June 10, will be spent in visiting various works at the individual’s selection, and the afternoon in a trolley excursion through the suburbs to the Country Club, where dinner will be taken. The following morning will be devoted to excursions to other works and more points of interest, and a steamer trip will be taken in the afternoon on the Ohio River. Beyond Cincinnati there will be no attempt to hold the party together, but it is the intention of many to stop at Cleveland on their way to Canada. The engineers of Montreal, including H. H. Vaughan, superintendent of motive power of the Canadian Pacific Railway, and L. R. Johnson, assistant superintendent, have extended an in- vitation to a party of the members to visit the large loco- motive works of the Canadian Pacific Railway now under construction, and other points of interest. The departure for home will, in most cases, be taken from Boston, and the members of the American Society in that city have arranged a programme for Monday and Tuesday, June 20 and 21. This will include, outside of social features, on Monday, visits to the Merriman Mills at Lowell, Mass., the Amoskeag Mills at Manchester, N. H., and the water power plant at Concord, N. H., or the B. F. Sturtevant Company, Hyde Park, Mass., and the Brown & Sharpe Mfg. Company, Providence, R. I., and on Tuesday, visits to the Massachusetts Institute of Tech- nology and the Fore River Ship & Engine Company, Quincy, Mass. It is certain that the Englishmen have shown them- selves very appreciative of all that has been done for them, and it is only fair to say that we owe them every bit of it for attentions which in the past they have shown our engineers on their own soil. Were it not so we should be amply repaid by having had the privilege df meeting and becoming acquainted with so delightful and es- teemed a body of gentlemen and engineers. THE IRON AGE.’ June 9, 1904 The Stewart Cement Block Machine. The interest attaching to the use of cement blocks for building purposes may be attributed in a large measure to the increasing cost of lumber and brick and the ad- vancing wages of carpenters, bricklayers and laborers, The success of this type of building now depends upon the ability to manufacture the blocks economically, for this promises the possibility of erecting structures at a cost more nearly commensurate with the income to be derived than pertains under present conditions. A new machine for making the blocks that has the advantage of doing in one operation what requires two or several in former types has been invented by John H. Stewart of Waterloo, lowa, and is being built by the Stewart Cement Block Machine Company of the same city. This machine is designed to form the hollow cored concrete block which is finding much favor with builders of permanent struc- tures. It forms the block, withdraws the core, drops the end and side plates and elevates the block to a platform with a single manipulation of the operating lever. Fig. 1 is a view of the machine as it appears after finishing a block. The blocks standing in various posi- tions on either side of the machine show their general form, and their appearance in use may be seen in the Fig. 1—The Stewart Cement, Block Machine in Use. partially erected wall in the background. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the machine, with the side plates removed and parts broken away to better show its construction. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the under side of the machiue, as seen from the position indicated by the dotted line X X in Fig. 1, and Fig. 4 is an end elevation with the end plates removed. The machine consists essentially of two parts— the cast main frame z with its gearing and the superimposed mold box. The movable bottom plate _t has a rectangular opening, through which the re- ciprocating core mn passes. During the formation of the block the side and end plates are closed— that is, are in their vertical position—and the bottom plate rests on projections of these pJates, making a prac- tically sand tight mold box. After the concrete materials are packed around the sides of the core and the block is completed this bottom plate is moved vertically upward, taking the finished block with it to an unobstructed posi- tion on a level with the car or loading platform, permit- ing the removal of the block easily and with the least liability of injuring it. The mechanism is so timed that the tapering core begins to be withdrawn downward and the end and side plates begin to move away from the block before the upward motion of the bottom plate and finished block