The Iron Age 1904-08-04: Vol 74 Iss 5

ye <p ’ fs CD, A eV ~ Gs q . of A Review of the Hardwa ron, Machinery co rades. Published every Thursday Morning by David Williams Co,, 232-238 Willian St... New York, Vol. 74: No. 5. New York, Thursday, August 4 1904. Single Copies. iG canes Reading Matter Contents....... Alphabetical Index to Advertisers ‘‘ 215 Classified List of Advertisers.... ‘‘ 207 ie ove = 5 Advertising and Subscription Rates ‘‘ 214 B—._» H * ees are the satisfactory kind. Never misfire or lead the barrel. Dealers should carry a full line of U. M. C, Metallics to meet the increasing demand. Half sold before they are offered to the retailer, Latest improvements to meet changing conditions. U. M. CG. has but one quality— U. M. C. QUALITY. THE BRISTOL COMPANY, Bristol's Recording || THE UNION METALLIC CARTRIDGE COMPANY Instruments. BRIDGEPORT , “Fer Preagagy Zomperatare || 313, Brgndvay, CONN. ake First ste Silver Medal, Paris eee. All Ranges, Low and aoe _—__ eam anteed.’ Send forCfreulars. fier Ohenes ceneeenemenns tel CORD SICAHALL BOILERS » © * “alse Linen and Ttalian Hemp : Sash Cord. SAMSON CORDAGE WORKS, Boston, Mass. TURNBUCKLES. PLAIN PATTERN REGULAR WEAD. G Branch Office, 11 ay, New York Gapewell Horse Nails z . E g Cleveland City Forge and Iron + Cleveland, O, . TURN BUCEILES- < NEW YORK, Branches: PORTLAND, ORE., MERRILL BROS., & PHILADELPHIA, BUFFALO, 465 to 471 Kent Ave., y CHICAGO, DETROIT, BALTIMORE, ‘Brooklyn, B.D..N.Y. u _-8T. LOUIS, CINCINNATI, NEW ORLEANS, ¢ s0sTOR, | SAN FRANCISCO, DENVER. a THE GAPEWELL HORSE NAIL GO.,, Hartford, Conn. BUBLLVd GOSivonuwos Mill Cinder. PILLING & GRANE, fssir"iustor Poe =e a dma beccil Et , Time and Steam cost Leaky steam joints waste " money. them fast. # JENKINS *9© PACKING 2 which is absolutely guaranteed, saves both. Insist on having gpacking stamped with Trade Mark as shown in the cut if you _»would have the genuine. 4 JENKINS BROS. New BYork, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, London. ““SWodon” Gold Rolled Steet cece DYaWng »« Stamping «An old acquaintance (Semper idem) Always the same.” ate inate CT Tee ee COMP =. 95. a ae: MAGNOLIA Wy ~ f{ETAL. See Page.27. pt ~—— Ae ae Manufacturers, ‘ eae n0-H6 Bank iret Ra sina esas hes, ee ee ae A 5 LTTORE TI Matra High Grade “QUEEN'S RUN” gee Aa VEO RD Samm ae) AW) as Lock HAVEN, PA. bi hatin | UINR NUMO Ps fits é Randolph-Clowes Co. Main Office and Mill, WATERBURY, CONN. MANUFACTURERS OF SHEET BRASS & COPPER. BRAZED BRASS & COPPER TUBES. SEAMLESS BRASS & COPPER TUBES T0 36 IN. DIAM. New York Office, 258 Broadway, Postal Telegraph Building, Room 715. Chicago Office, 602 Fishet Blag: Matthiessen & THE IRON AGE. B R 4 § § go COPPER; =, GERMAN { s*€=" SILVER LOW BRASS. SHEET BRONZE. | 29 murRAY 8T., NEW YORK. SEAMLESS BRASS AND COPPER 144 "jad beaten rg TUBING. BRAZED BRASS AND ¥. THE PLUME & ATWooD Mec, Co., MANUFACTURERS OF ae si Sheet and Roll Brass WiREG 0 PRINTERS’ BRASS, JEWELERS’ METAL, GERMAN ‘ SILVER AND GILDING METAL, COPPER RIVETS AND BURRS. Pins, Brass Butt Hinges, Jack Chain, Kero- we). ROLLING MILL : | FACTORIES : THOMASTON, CONN. WATERBURY, CONN. SCOVILL MFG. CO., MANUFACTURERS OF WATERBURY BRASS CO., WATERBURY, CONN. 99 John St., New York. Providence, R. I. Bridgeport Deoxidized Bronze & Metal BRIDGEPORT, cont. Automobile Castings a Specialty. High Tensile Strength. Bronze and Aluminum Alloys. Write Us . Hegeler Zinc Co., Special — — to Order. WATERBURY. CONN. Depots NEW YORK, CHICAGO, BOSTON. JOHN DAVOL & SONS, DEALERS IN COPPER, TIN, SPELTER, LEAD, ANTIMONY. 100 John Street, New York. LA SALLE, ILLINOIS. SMELTERS OF SPELTER SHEET ZINC AND SULPHURIC ACID. Special Sizes of Zinc cut to order. ee See ZINCS FOR LECLANCHE BATTERY. ot oo eT irra Brss° ae Iadusnin Gan a Importers ingot Copper; Block Tin, Spelter, —_ Antimony, etc. 49 CLIFF ST., NEW YO Artur T. Rutter & Go. 256 Broadway, NEW YORK. Small tubing in Brass, Copper, Steel, Alaminum, German Silver, &c. Sheet Brass, Copper and Ger- man Silver. Copper, Brass and German Silver Wire. ” Brased and Seamless Brass and Copper Tube. Copper and Brass Rod. “PHONO-ELECTRIC” Wir E. “it’s Toucu.” anne CASTINGS FOUNDERS—FINISHERS. TROLLEY, WwW. G. ROWELL Co., Bridgeport, Conn. TELEPHONE HENDRICKS BROTHERS i Belleville Copper Rolling Mills, LINES. Brasicrs’ Boit iain Sheathing eriaserort, BRIDGEPORT BRASS C CO., COPPER, COPPER: Winn AND RIivEzers. pe Chemistry. 4 —— = ssiation By P. S Au- thorized 140 y George K. 445 pages, 140 figures. Oloth........... .00 fercate by Banid Wittieme Co.. 232 William St., N.Y. ‘THE JTRON AGE THuRSDAY, AUGUST 4, 1904. Chicago’s Underground Freight Rail- road. Of the 2,000,000 people in the city of Chicago, scarcely 1 per cent. are aware of the fact that every time they cross a downtown street they are crossing over an under- ground railroad, through which cars laden with freight will shortly be flying about at the rate of something like 20 miles per hour. Although the authorities in charge of the Illinois Tunnel Company’s operations disclaim any intention on their part to work in secrecy, it is a fact that many miles of tunnel were completed before even the Chicago daily papers were aware of it. To-day there are 22 miles of tun- nel completed, the floor of which is 4614 feet below the possibly pneumatic tube systems. The wire cables of the II- linois ‘Telephone Company have already been installed, but the chief function of the tunnel will be for transferring freight and coal to and from docks and freight depots connecting with points in the district served. These un- Gerground conduits or tunnels will be connected with the surface by means of vertical shafts equipped with ele- vators of sufficient size to carry the cars in use in the tun- nel. At other points inclines will connect with the sur- face, and on these inclines the freight cars will be hauled by their own underground locomotives. In this way all the leading wholesale and retail merchandising estab- lishments, office buildings, manufacturing plants, and, in short, all enterprises calling for the transfer of any considerable quantity of coal or freight, will be put in im- mediate connection with the underground service. Fig. 1..—View of Intersection of Fifth Avenue and Monroe Street, Showing Telephone Cables at the Top and Track on the Floor. CHICAGO'S UNDERGROUND FREIGHT RAILROAD. street level, the tunnels underground corresponding to the streets above and baving name plates on the street intersections, the same as above ground. This great depth underground was required by the city in order to leave sufficient space above the tunnel for a street car subway at some future time. This engineering feat was per- formed practically under the direction of one man, George W. Jackson, general manager and chief engineer of the company, who has devoted his nights and days to it from its inception; while the other problems incident to the administrative and finance work were conducted almost single handed by Albert G. Wheeler, president of the company. These two men have carried on this great undertaking, assisted, of course, by a corps of experts in their various departments, but everything to the smallest detail had to pass their inspection and meet their ap- proval. The promoters of the tunnel are proud of the fact that during the whole process of construction there was not a man injured, and there was not a complaint from any citizen or property owner. The work was done,entirely undergroud; there was no excavating of streets and no interference with traffic in any way. The purpose of this tunnel! is two-fold. Primarily it was intended only for carrying telephone cables and also The map that accompanies this article, Fig. 2, indi- cates the extent to which the tunnel has been completed, and it also indicates something that is realized by few citizens of Chicago—namely, that just south of the down- town district is another district of about equal size which is almost entirely occupied by railroad through lines and switch tracks. The shaded portions of the map indicate railroad property representing the termini of some 25 railroad lines, aggregating 35 per cent. of the total rail- road mileage of the United States. The streets under which the tunnel runs are marked by a heavy black line. Dimensions of the Tunnel. Inasmuch as 90 per cent. of all the freight hauled is of a size and character permitting it to pass through a freight car door, the bore of the underground tunnel was made of such a size as would permit cars which run in it to carry any goods that will pass through a car door. The main or trunk line tunnels are 14 feet 6 inches from apex to floor and 12 feet 9 inches wide at the base, while the laterals and smaller tunnels are 714 feet high and 6 feet wide. The trunk tunnels have 18-inch cement walls and 21-inch cement floors, and the smaller tunnels have 10-inch walls and 13-inch floors. At the top and sides of these tunnels are strung cables containing tele- i? i od i | rt | a aes a Be 2 — SOR UY Ow lCUMLDSSe LDS eee — ST lUhOlCTCCOTWD CT - i de ee ee ee " 2 ee ‘eur HoViq AAveH B Aq PopBoIpUl e1V Pes 8}0013g eGT—AULdMOD jeuUNY, sjouTI{] 24} Jo saul] oq} ZuyMoyg ‘oSvoIqQD Jo duN—z ‘314 gOv NOM! SHS NM V 8.2: 3: ei 3aee he Sag August 4, 1904 MICHIGAN 8T. » - “WS dwna — SSS. 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The cables already installed are sufficient to accom- modate about 10,000 telephone subscribers. From the main tunnel 3-foot branches or drifts are run upward to the buildings to be served by the telephone system, thence through the buildings by means of pipes or conduits of suitable size. There is also room in the tunnels for pneu- matic tube service. It is estimated that it will be neces- sary to extend the present system until it embraces 60 miles of tunnel in order to connect the stockyards and other important outlying distributing centers. Originally a Telephone Proposition The original ordinance granted by the City Council permitted the promoters of what was then known as the Illinois Telephone Company to tunnel underneath the streets and alleys of the city of Chicago, using a bore of sufficient size to permit them to carry wire cables to supply 100,000 telephones, and on this basis plans were Fig. 3.—A Partially Completed Conduit, Showing the Cementing Process. CHICAGO’S UNDERGROUND FREIGHT RAILROAD. drawn and submitted to the city engineer, John Ericson. Evidently the promoters of the enterprise had in mind from the first the freight proposition, for they made the tunnel of a size considerably larger than would be neces- sary for carrying their telephone wires, and in July, 1903, they succeeded in passing through the City Council an ordinance permitting them to make certain necessary changes in their tunnel to adapt it to the carrying of freight. At this time a move was made on the part of the company to increase its capital stock, and in March, 1904, the Illinois Tunnel Company, a new corporation, with an authorized capitalization of $30,000,000 and an authorized bond issue of $30,000,000, took over the Illinois Telephone & Telegraph Company. The officers of the new comporation are: President, Albert G. Wheeler, Chi- cago; vice-president, C. D. Simpson, Scranton, Pa.; gen- eral manager, George W. Jackson, Chicago; secretary, Edward W. Gearhart, Scranton, Pa.; treasurer, James C. Law, Pittston, Pa. Active work on excavation was begun September 1, 1901. After satisfying himself as to the nature of the subsoil, Mr. Jackson, the engineer, decided to adopt the pneumatic system of excavation, not so much because that system was necessary for working in the blue clay which they encountered, but as a safeguard against labor THE IRON AGE. troubles, because, with the excavation under air pressure, there would be no danger of caving in or collapse should the men go on strike for a period of time. A system of air locks was placed just outside of the several shafts. These air locks had iron doors with frames imbedded in the concrete, the space included in the locks between these doors being sufficient to accommodate as many as ten working cars. When a car or train was admitted through the outer door, that door was closed after it and air under pressure was admitted into the lock from the incomplete tunnel, equalizing the pressure in the lock and the tunnel. The inner door opening into the tunnel! was then opened and cars run on the headings. In lock- ing out the process was reversed, the inner door being closed and the air being allowed to escape through a valve from the outer door into the atmosphere. before attempting to open the outer door. Fig. 3 shows one of the 6 x 7% foot conduits partially completed. It will be seen that the actual bore in the clay was dug considerably larger than the dimensions of the finished tunnel. The mining was done by men with hand tools, the materials being removed by mule teams, as will be described later. After the excavators finished each day’s work the ce- menting gang followed. Their first task was to place in the bottom of the tunnel the required layer of concrete, thoroughly tamp it, and lay on top of it a lagging of boards. This done, they placed at intervals of 3 feet steel ribs formed of 3-inch channels, the ribs being of the size and shape of the inside of the tunnel. When these ribs were in place lagging of 2-inch planks was placed behind them and concrete packed in behind the lagging in layers of 6 inches, filling up the entire space between the lagging and the walls of the excavation. In this way subsidence of the ground was avoided, because, no matter how irregular was the mining, every void was filled. This method of filling and tamping concrete be- tween the lagging and the sides of the excavation was followed clear to the top or key of the arch, and here, to insure absolute accuracy, the key blocks were formed on lagging boards only 3 feet long, the use of the short sec- tion insuring greater density and accuracy of work. Af- ter the ribs and lagging were removed the plates of concrete were given a coating of cement, forming a seal. In the large bore or trunk lines a somewhat different process was followed, No. 12 gauge steel lagging plates being used instead of the 2-inch planks, and 5-inch channel irons were used for forming the ribs instead of 3-inch. In this way, the work was done on the large bore in sec- tions only 3 feet long, the steel lagging plates being of just sufficient length to span the 3-foot sections of the ribs. Fig. 4 shows this work in process of development. In the foreground the cement has hardened and the lagging plates have been removed, each plate showing its imprint on the surface of the conduit. In the background lagging plates are still shown in position, being held there by cross pieces and braces. This work was carried on by three shifts of men, working eight hours each, the first two shifts doing min- ing work and the third shift doing the concreting. The miners averaged 21 feet in the two shifts in each of the 14 headings. Twenty miners could work at once in each heading. About 850 men were engaged in the three shifts. In this way the tunnel was mined and cemented at the rate of more than 300 feet per working day, or considerably over a mile a month. More than 300,000 cubic feet of material was excavated, and about half that quantity of stone, cement and gravel was put in place. There were as high as 88 connections to be made be- tween different headings, and so accurately was the sur- veying done that in no instance did the work vary as much as an inch. A pressure of about 8 pounds per square foot was maintained throughout the tunnel dur- ing the whole of the construction period. Getting Rid of Excavated Material. A great problem in the prosecution of this work was that of getting rid of the material excavated. It was, of course, imperative that this material be taken away as rapidly as it would be mined. This was accomplished in two ways: First, by a number of head houses at the street curbs, as illustrated in Fig. 5, to which the loaded cars were elevated through vertical shafts and dumped 3 ad a. a SA ee ee 4 THE 1RON AGE. into wagons. This work was done almost altogether at night, to avoid congestion of other traffic on the streets, and the wagons were hauled over the viaducts spanning the Illinois Central Railroad tracks to the portion of the lake front that is now being filled in for Grant Park. Here the wagons were dumped in a novel way, a stiff legged derrick being used for the purpose. The first hoist of the derrick lifted the board sides off the wagons, and the second lifted the wagon bed with its load into the air, and swung it round to the point where it was de- sired to dump the material, and by disconnecting the chains on one side of the load the clay was dumped. The second plan was to construct an incline at the terminus of shaft No. 8, at Harrison street and the Chicago River, and to draw the cars up this incline by means of an endless chain to the dock front, where they were pushed by hand on gang planks which extended over scows moored to the river bank. In order that these gang planks should not interfere with navigation of the river, August 4, 1904 nel. The valuation of horses and vehicles is placed at more than $50,000,000. The method in which the present trucking system will be relieved by the tunnels is illus- trated in the case, for instance, of Marshall Field & Co., who have both their wholesale and retail depart- ments in the down town district. They are now com- pelled to handle thousands of tons of freight by drays, most of which can be transferred through the tunnel system. Inasmuch as shafts, at the bottom of which will be underground switching tracks, will be sunk at all the freight receiving and shipping points and at both the wholesale and retail establishments of such large concerns, it will be a matter of a great saving in time and doubtless of money to have all transferring done Arom all sources through the tunnel. One of the most serious burdens to the street room of the down town district is the coal traffic. It is stated au- thoritatively that, of the 100 great office buildings in the district through which the tunnels ramify, not one has Fig. 4.—Method of Lagging and Concreting the Large or Trunk ‘Tunne!s. CHICAGO’S UNDERGROUND FREIGHT RAILROAD. they were hinged at the dock’s edge, so that they could be raised out of the way when not in use Very small construction cars on a very narrow gauge were adopted for construction purposes. It was a double track system, in which light rails were set 14 inches apart. The cars were 20 inches wide and 48 inches long. Experience proved the wisdom of this move, because ~ there was never any stoppage in the disposition of ma- terials owing to cars becoming derailed or becoming stuck in the passage, for the reason that cars could be set on the track by a man should they become derailed. About 900 cars of this character were made and used in the tun- nel, and several hundred mules were used in hauling the trains back and forth. By this method the excavaied ma- terial was kept moving without interruption. What the Tunnel Means to Chicago. It is estimated that the annual cost of teaming ma- terials in the down town district of Chicago, bounded by Kinzie street on the north, Twelfth street on the south, Canal street on the west and Lake Michigan on the east, is not less than $50,000,000, or a sum greater than the gross earnings of any railroad system entering Chicago. About 70,000 freight trucking rigs are constantly in op- eration in the city of Chicago, fully half of which now ply through the district which will be served by the tun- sufficient bin capacity for a full day’s consumption of coal. The building owners are, therefore, at the mercy of the teamsters’ unions, who have carried matters with a high hand in the past. Matters came to such a pass at one time that buildings which did not have union en- gineers, firemen, elevator conductors and even union scrub women could not receive a pound of coal, as the teamsters’ un‘ons were made the catspaw to pull the chestnuts out of the fire for almost every other union in the city, making the teamsters for the time all powerful. It is estimated that 8,000,000 tons of coal are teamed through the streets of Chicago annually, nearly half of which tonnage goes to the down town district, and that nearly 3000 coal teams are used. Large office buildings like the Rookery, the Masonic Temple, the Fisher Build- ing, the Monadnock, the Old Colony, Chamber of Com- merce, Stock Exchange and New York Life, using an average of from 70 to 100 tons of coal a day, are de- pendent upon wagons both for the delivery of their coal and for carrying away their ashes. It is said that the Auditorium Hotel buildings use an average of 205 tons of coal a day, and that they have bin capacity for only about half that amount. The Chicago Edison Company uses 425*tons of coal a day, and there are more than 1000 manufacturing establishments within the area of the August 4, 1904 THE IRON AGE. " tunnel proposition that use steam coal in larger or smaller quantities. All this coal can be delivered by the tunnel route, and the result‘ng ashes carried away by the same method. Motive Power, About 3 miles of trackage are already laid, an! in this installation power is received from a third rail midway between the tracks, the power ra‘l consisting of a perforated bar of steel about 4 inches wide and \% inch thick, spliced with fish plates and clamped between wood stringers, as shown in Fig. 6. This power “ rack rail” is covered with a slotted plank cover for the protection of pedestrians and animals working in the tunnel. It has the double purpose of conveying the electric current and serving as a rack in which the sprockets of the locomo- tives mesh. Two Morgan electric locomotives are now used experimentily and for construction purposes. This type of locomotive has a sprocket wheel at each track axle, the cogs of which reach down through the slot in tig. 5.—Loading Excavated Material in Wagons at the Head House of Shaft. CHICAGO'S UNDERGROUND FREIGHT RAILKOAD the protecting cover and engage the square openings in the charged rail. The conditions surrounding the mechanical construc- tion of the cars and locomotives for use in this (unnel ere different from those ordinarily found in mines, and the specifications, for that reason, were difficult, calling for special construction to meet spetial conditions. One of the points to be provided for is the fact that both cars and locomotives must be of such a character as to permit thein to swing around curves at the street intersections at a radius as low as 15 feet, and this is made the more d‘fficult because the walls are necessarily vertical and the clearance is not sufficient to permit the tilting of the tracks at the curves. The frictional resistance necessary to draw a train of cars around such curves on the dead level is very great, and for this reason it is held that the cogged center rail with sprocket locomotive is necessary to best results, as a locomotive to secure necessary trac- tion for such conditions would have to be extremely heavy, something that is not possible in the small bore of the shafts. The narrowness of the gauge made it neces- sary for the builders of the Morgan locomotive to make a special locomotive for this purpose, in which the wheels are inside, instead of outside, the frame work. Atthepresent time power is being purchased from the Chi- “ago Edison Company, although it is the intention of the Ill'‘nois Tunnel Company to erect a power station of its own, land for which has already been purchased at Tay- lor street and the Chicago River, installing machinery that will develop at least 10.000 kw. A direct current of 250 volts is used to operate the locomotives, the rails acting as a return. While no definite announcement has been made as to the form of motive power that will be in- stalled permanently, it seems to be pretty generally un- derstood: that for the present overhead trolleys will be used as a general thing, and the Morgan locomotive, with its rack rail and pin‘on wheel, will be used only on the inclines where freight is transferred from the low level of the tunnel to the street level. The tract of land at Taylor street and the Chicago River above referred to has a frontage of 404 feet on the river and runs westward 700 feet from the docks. It will contain the power plant above referred to, duplicated so that it will not be possible to throw the service out of commission because of a break down of engines. But the major portion of the land will be occupied by immense warehouses in which merchants can store their goods which they receive from railroads until such time as-_they require them. It will not only be a storage warehouse, but a central transfer station for freight. It is served by the Chicago Terminal Transfer Railway, with which road the tunnel company will have a working agreement as to the delivery of freight. The best modern appliances for handling and transferring of freight will be installed. The tract of land cost the company $2,000,000 or more, and the company proposes the expenditure of at least $5,000,000 in the erection of warehouses and power plant. At another point, also doubtless along the Chicago River, the tunnel company will purchase a site for coal transfer yards and warehouses, which will enable the company to deliver coal brought into Chicago by any shipper to any of the down town buildings or manufac- turing plants connected with its tunnel system. The company purchased some time ago 22,000 tons of 56-pound rails, which will lay 22 miles of 24-inch gauge underground railway, 20 miles of which are main line and 2 miles sidings. The rails are set on chairs and im- bedded in cement, no ties be'ng used. In laying the rails the cement is brought up not only over the chairs, but al- most to the level of the rail. The rail is secured to the chair by means of two hook bolts, somewhat wedge shaped, one on either side of the rail. The wedge shape of the hook tends to tighten the bolt in its socket when the nut is turned up. Steel Cars. One form of steel cars now being used in the tunnel experimentally was built by the Bettendorf Axle Com- pany, Davenport, Iowa. The large contract, however, for cars for the whole system has not been placed, and is being figured on by many interests. The Bettendorf car has a body made of pressed steel, conpletely inclosed, with hinged sides. This car has 30,000 pounds capacity, and is made so that it is quickly convertible into a flat-car by remov- ing the hinged s'des, and can be opened either at the top or sides. A number of these cars have been ordered from the Bettendorf Company for the purpose, primarily, of carrying the mails, as the tunnel company is about to close the contract for carrying United States mails fromrailroad termini to the central post office, and from the post office to nearby substat‘ons, and it is necessary that a car which can be locked and sealed be used for the transfer of valuable shipments of this character. The car is made so that it can be dumped either by means of a crane or by an air piston which moves in a cylinder to be set alongside the track. Master Car Builders’ couplings are used, instead of the ordinary mine car hitchings. Method of Handling Trains, It is a common saying among railroad men that there is practically no limit to the amount of freight that a single track railroad can handle, provided there are sufficient switching tracks. The loading and unloading and switching of freight consume time, rather than the through transit of it. The method of running trains that will be adopted by the tunnel company practically elim- inates all loading, unloading and switching delays, as its line is always a “ through” line, made without stops, all cars on a given track running in a given direction on the loop system. Several thousand cars will be in use, and these cars will be supplied empty to shippers of freight, who will load them either on their own under- ground s‘dings or on their shipping floors, connected with the tunnel by elevators in vertical shafts, and when full will transfer them to the main track, where they are — SRS OG nt et ee ee = er os oer 7 memeenareer ~ amas pennant get 6 THE IRON AGE. taken in charge by the locomotive and hauled immediate- ly to their destination. Even the longest haul will be so short that it will be less expensive for the company to do this than to endeavor to wait until trains of: any size are made up. In effect, the Illinois Tunnel Company has nine single track roads running north and south at distances of a city square apart, with ample provision for side tracks underground, and 10 similar tracks run- ning east and west. At each street intersection Y’s, or cut offs, with 15 to 20 per cent, radius, are provided, so that cars can be shipped from any point with the least possible loss of time. Switches are at each intersection, and these switches will be controlled by the motorman, who will push a lever that strikes another lever on the side of the tunnel, the fixed lever controlling. a pneu- matic device that will throw the switcn in front of the train. A corresponding lever at the other side of the sec- tion will close the switch after the train has passed over it. At each street intersection is-a telephone connecting with the train dispatcher’s office, and electrical devices August 4, 1904 and the freight yards at the south, the only direction in which this district can grow is upward or downward. The skyward growth is reaching its limit in the tall sky- scrapers, but the era is not far distant which will make available underground stories, and a number of new large office buildings now going up are being excavated clear to the 46-foot level of the bottom of the tunnel. This deep sub-basement will be used as a switching yard for the cars which come with coal and leave with ashes, and for storage tracks on which loaded cars will be held. By means of this system it will be possible for build- ing owners to feed coal direct from the tunnel company’s cars into their furnaces and to dump ashes in the same way, saving much of the present handling cost. Even in the excavation of buildings, the material excavated, instead of being hauled off in wagons, will be shot down a shaft to the tunnel and carried off to the lake front over the new incline previously referred to. By this method, instead of devoting valuable ground floor space to shipping rooms and blocking streets and sidewalkswhile loading and unloading, shippers of freight will be enabled to place Fig. 6.—View of Blectric Locomotives and the Central Rack Rail From Which They Receive Power.—Right Hand Locomotive Approaching a Main Line on Cut Off with Loaded Train. CHICAGO’S UNDERGROUND FREIGHT RAILROAD. will indicate to the dispatcher the location of every train or locomotive. By the use of electrical signals the dis- patcher can stop any train at any intersection and tele- prone the motorman any change in routing and running instructions, The Automatic Telephone System. The Illinois Tunnel Company’s telephone department is scarcely less important than the freight service depart- ment. Provision is made for a system embracing 100,000 telephones under the Strowger patents and licenses. This telephone service is wholly automatic, the subscriber connecting himself through automatic machines at “ cen- tral” with the desired number. This is done by revolving a numbered dial plate on the front of the telephone to the numbers desired. The telephones are supplied free in the business district, the subscriber paying 5 cents per call, with a maximum charge of $85 a year. This service is already installed for about 10,000 telephones, and is growing in popularity because of its freedom from an- noying delays, its cheapness and the fact that eavesdrop- ping at any point on the line is impossible. The City to Grow Downward. The down town district is becoming more congested every year. With the increase in the value of property, land owners are finding it necessary to tear down 8 and 10 story buildings and put up in their places 18 and 20 story buildings, and as the buildings increase in hight the congestion becomes more acute. Every square foot of land is already built up in this district, and, as its bounds are sharply set by the river and the lake on three sides ' their shipping and receiving departments in basements or sub-basements, from which tunnel carloads or train- loads of freight may be handled with the utmost expedi- tion. The promoters of the company promise that a reg- ular freight schedule will be in operation not later than November 15 of this year, and that a short line will be in operation commercially in a very few weeks. ——_ »>-e__—_ The cost of ventilation in buildings was recently dis- cussed in Great Britain. It appears that the Glasgow art galleries, supplied with 9,000,000 cubic feet of air per hour, require 66 horse-power, at an expense of $1450 per 1,000,000 cubic feet per year. The Manchester Tech- nical School, supplied with 12,000,000 cubic feet per hour, requires 80 horse-power, and the cost is $1308 per 1,000,- 000 cubic feet per year. The Birmingham General Hos- pital uses 13,000,000 cubic feet per hour, and requires but 19 horse-power, the cost being only $287 per 1,000,000 cubic feet per year. The Royal Victoria Hospital, at Bel- fast, uses 5,000,000 cubic feet per hour, at an expense of only $97 per 1,000,000 cubic feet per year, with 544 horse- power. In this connection it is interesting to note that a recent. $300,000 building in Chicago has a heating and ventilating plant which cost $75,000. The Shepherd Engineering Company, Franklin, Pa., builders of high speed automatic and four-valve engines, has opened an office in the Farmers’ Bank Building, Pitts- burgh, to better take care of its rapidly growing business in the Pittsburgh district. August 4, 1904 Mexican Railway and Industrial Notes. The Rainy Seasou. DurANGo, July 27, 1904.—There have been generous rains throughout the Northern States. The lands which, on account of the dryness of these States and the utter lack of any adequate means of irrigation, lie parched and fallow nearly half the year are now being plowed and planted. This appears to be a striking instance of waste of time and opportunity, when it is remembered that all the natural factors, with the single exception of moisture, which combine to produce abundant crops, and a succession of them, are present. In many of the States. north of the Rio Grande, bordering upon the Gulf of Mexico, and, indeed, in States further north, a crop of corn has already been harvested when the Mex- ican farmer of the Northern and Central States begins to think of plowing. He must perforce stand idly gazing over his brown and dry fields, waiting for the rains, in the absence of which all labor would be fruitless. There are indications, however, that the subject of irrigation is assuming a more important place in the minds of the hacendados as well as in the deliberations of the State legislatures. Several extensive projects for the arti- ficial flooding of large areas of agricultural lands are now in the course of execution. The Monterey Steel Plant Busy. All the departments of the new steel works at Mon- terey are in active operation. A local paper gives de- tuils which are in part as follows: At the present time about 1000 men, a full force, are at work, some of the departments being operated both day and night. In addition to the men at work at the stee] plant the company has about as many more em- ployed in its offices and various mines. The blast furnace is running steadily, the output at the present time being between 200 and 300 tons daily. A great deal of this product is used in the fluid state, in- stead of being molded into pigs. The principal products of the steel plant are rails, mining rails, bar iron and mild steel, also rivets, bolts, nuts and spikes. At the present time it is shipping rails to the National and Hidalgo and Northeastern railroads. Drill steel is a product to which the steel plant people are just now devoting a great deal of attention. It is stated, on the best of authority, that the drill steel, from the big steel mill here, has been thoroughly tested in the mines in different places of late and has been found not to be excelled by any that has been intro- duced in this country, and it is selling at just half the prices that are asked for the same grade of imported material. There is great activity in the structural department, where work continues unabated day and night. Suf- ficient orders are now on the books of the company to keep this department busily engaged for the next month and a half. Bridge work, including heavy and small beams, is turned out, as well as other structural ma- terial. In fact, the steel plant is in a most prosperous con- dition, things are moving along smoothly and the prod- ucts are being turned out in rapid succession. Industrial Notes, C. R. Ferguson, a representative of the Computing Scale Company, Dayton, Ohio, has recently been in the capital with the object of securing a modification of the existing laws relating to balances, in the hope of being able to introduce his company’s specialties into Mexico. There is much activity in the mining districts. Sev- eral large orders for machinery have been placed in the United States recently. One of these was for a com- plete volatilization equipment for the Amparo Mining Company, Etzatlin, Jalisco, the shipment being 40 car- loads, a portion of which has arrived. According to a Mexico City report, Ralph H. Beach has severed his connection with the General Electrical Company, to devote his attention to the Tula Iron Works, Tula, Jalisco, in which he is interested. As al- ready reported, the company intends to modernize and enlarge the plant and to build a railway from the iron ore mines to the works. THE IRON AGE. 7 Dunsmuir & Sons, a coal and coke exporting firm of Vancouver, B. C., have had representatives in the capital seeking to obtain from the Government a subsidy for a steamship line between British Columbia and Mexican Pacific ports, the expressed object of the firm being “ to create a market for coal and coke and carry back Mexi- can ores.” Land owners in the neighborhood of the Villa de Sac- ramento, in the State of Tlaxcala, are contemplating the carrying out of an extensive irrigation scheme, and if the project is decided upon they will, in all probability, re- quire material and apparatus. The State of Coahuila, Mexico’s only present available source of coal supply, is rapidly increasing its production. It is estimated that the yearly output of coal and coke from the different mines in the State is now 1,000,000 and 100,000 tons, respectively. Of this total, the Mexican Coal & Coke Company, Las Esperanzas, produces the largest quota. This company is very active in developing its property, the latest evidence of its progressive move- ments being the extension of the railway line from Las Esperanzas to Nogalitas, 24 miles distant. A large order for copper wire has been placed by the Mexican Light & Power Company with the Ansonia Brass & Copper Company, Ansonia, Cont., through the com- pany’s New York purchasing agent. The Mexican Light & Power Company has in hand the large power plant at Necaxa, Puebla. The order alluded to is one for nearly 2000 tons of wire, to be used for transmission purposes, the distance from the initial point to the point of distri- bution being 125 miles. The Government has notified the various custom houses that hereafter there will be no duty on zine con- centrates containing less than 250 grams of silver, or 10 grams of gold per ton. Among the plantations which will require sugar mili machinery is the Tampico Sugar Company, situated near the city of that name, who proposes to instail a plant. The National Tehuantepec Railway Company has ordered 20 freight cars from the American Car & Foundry Company. De la Lama & Zwicker is the style of a new firm re- cently formed in the City of Mexico to engage in the business of building contractors. The firm of Garrett & Hawke, structural steel con- tractors and agents in the capital, has been dissolved by mutual consent, Mr. Hawke continuing. Ss Fe — — <> > -— At the coming meeting of the Lake Superior Mining Institute, which will be held at Ironwood, Mich., and at Milwaukee, on August 16 to 18, the following papers will be presented: “Titanium and Titaniferous Iron Ores,” by Dr. Nelson P. Hulst, vice-president of the Oliver Iron Mining Company (United States Steel Corporation) ; “Supply System,” by Walter M. Jeffry, general auditor of the Oliver Iron Mining Company; “ The Bisbee Dis- trict of Arizona,” by George A. Newett of Ishpeming Jron Ore; “ Sinking Sand Shaft at Maas Mine,” Negaunee, Mich., by W. W. Graff of the Cleveland Cliffs Iron Com- pany, Ishpeming, Mich.; “ Iron and Steel Consumption,” by George H. Abeel, president of the Institute; “ A Study of Faulting at the Ashland Mine,” by Lucien Eaton of the Ashland Mining Company, Ironwood, Mich.; “ Sink- ing a Shaft in Quicksand at the Susquehanna Mine,” Hib- bing, Minn., by H. B. Sturtevant of the Buffalo & Sus- quehanna Iron Company, Duluth, Minn. Messrs. Graham, Pope, F. W. Sperr, J. Parke Channing, R. S. Rose and others have also promised to prepare papers for discus. sion. After the meeting at Ironwood on the 16th the party will leave by special trains over the Uhicago Mil- waukee & St. Paul and the Chicago & Northwestern roads for Milwaukee. The Board of Directors of the Empir« Steel & Iron Company, Catasauqua, Pa., at their meeting on July 25 decided to combine the offices of secretary and treasurer. The present treasurer, J. S. Stillman, was elected to fill the dual position. He was also elected secretary of the Crane Iron Works. NN al = = Cae eae pea i —S Picea ac Daa ne tis © A a ene wr $ THE IRON AGE. The American Bridge Company’s Am- bridge Works. The Largest Bridge Plant in the World. In March, 1900, the Berlin Iron Bridge Company, East Berlin, Conn., of which C. M. Jarvis was president, de- cided to build a plant in the Pittsburgh district for turn- ing out the heavier kinds of structural work, and in order tu be near the source of supply of raw material. After looking at various sites, the company concluded to locate at Economy, Pa., on the line of the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railway, about 17 miles from Pitts- August 4, 1904 Works in P‘ttsburgh, Pa., and the Canton and Youngs- town plants, in Ohio, have all been removed to Am- bridge. Other plants will also be taken there in the fu- ture. In addition to the 38 acres originally owned by the Berlin Iron Bridge Company, the American Bridge Com- pany acquired 105 more acres in the lower end of the tract, to be used for manufacturing purposes, and 25 acres above the railroad track, to be used for an office building, which has been completed, and for park purposes. It is also probable that in the near future a railway station will be built adjoining the ottice building. The first work turned out in the plant by the American Bridge Company was eye bars, the company having a very large contract for eye bars, without sufficient facili- The Receiving End of the Main Bridge Shop. The Loading Yard. THE AMERICAN BRIDGE COMPANY'S AMBRIDGE PLANT. burgh. A tract of land containing 38 acres was bought from the Economy Society and the erection of a bridge plant was begun. The first building erected was a tem- plet shop, in which it was intended to fabricate material for the other buildings. A large machine shop was also placed under erection, which was to be 220 by 700 feet in size. Foundations were in for this building and a large engine was installed, but in May, 1900, the Berlin Iron Bridge Company was absorbed by the American Bridge Company, and all work on the new plant was stopped. Nothing further was done until early in 1902, when the American Bridge Company took up actively the build- ing of immense bridge shops at this place, the name of which was changed to Ambridge, intending to concentrate the bridge works in Pittsburgh and several other places in one large plant. These plans have been closely fol- lowed, and the Pittsburgh Bridge Company Works, the Walker Works, it Homestead, Pa.. part of the Keystone ties for making them. Half of the eye bar shop was fit- ted up with structural machinery for turning out shapes for their own buildings. The erection of the eye bar shop was begun in April, 1902, and power and boiler houses were undertaken at the same time. The runways in the stock yards, loading yards and between the eye bar shop and the boiler house were begun in July, 1902. The foundations for the forge, bolt, nut and rivet shops were commenced in August, 1902. The main bridge shop was started in October, 1902, and in December of that year the company built 20 dwelling houses for the employees. The templet storage building was started in March, 1903, and also the handsome office building, which is now occu- pied. The machine and pattern shop was started in March, 1903, and the auxiliary bridge shop, for small work, tn May of that year. 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