The Iron Age 1907-01-24: Vol 79 Iss 4

THE IRON AGE A Review. of the Hardware, Iron, Machinery and Metal Trades. Published every Thursday Morning by David Williams Co., 14-16 Park Place, New York. Vol. 79: No. 4. New York, Thursday, eee 24, 1907. Sacks Gide hae ee Single Copies, 15 Cents. Reading Matter Contents page Alphabetical Index to Advertisers ‘‘ Classified List of Advertisers “ Advertising and Subscription Rates “ Mf'd by Forster Pulley Works, Cuba,N.Y. CM eer ce SATISF ACTION Ropes and Twines for dealers to sell goods which give satisfaction to the consumer. As you are building up foes : a “‘ reputation for reliability’? or maintaining an old one, you find it necessary to carry 65 Wall Street, New York U. M. C. CARTRIDGES ana SHOT SHELLS THE BRISTOL COMPANY Successful dealers are those who handle “‘trade-mark’’ goods which carry the makers Waterbury, Conn., U. - A.| guarantee. U.M.C. Goods have been satisfactory to dealers and consumers for 40 years. New York: ti4 Libert berty Bt. Chicago ; 758 Monadnock Bidg. Bristol's Recording Instruments Send for U. M. C. Window Display. For ey me AGENCY FACTORY SALES OFFICE Simple, Aceurate, Reliable. 818 Broadway, N.Y.City. Bridgeport,Conn. San Francisco, Cal. All Ran Low Pri and Guar- | —— antecd. " Send for Catalog EB. SAMSON SPOT CORD| WATER TUBE 0O6%4e Babcock @ Wilcox Co. te. ™ BOILERS See pets. 54 7 Also Linen and Ttafine Hemp Sash Co siustn code WORS, fxn Mes! Thousands of Testimonials iii : 7 ; —_ a B h Office, 11 B — received from practical men in the horseshoeing business Cleveland City Forge and Iron Co., - Cleveland, O. confirm our claim: — That the most exacting requirements of eee ee the most severe service are SUCCESSFULLY met by i. **The Capewell”’ nails—the STRONGEST horseshoe nail at in the world. It Will Pay You Well Alwaysto Insist Upon Having This Brand BESSEMER PIG MADE BY cmesmnang, ome || Lhe Capewell Horse Nail Company, PILLING & CRANE nore HARTFORD, CONN. All Our Brands of . s JENKINS BROS. VALVES Roof ing Tin wuts and full oleuieg, Our new EXTRA HEAVY valves for high steam and hydraulic pressures are the heaviest valves of . : ° this cl the market. All valves bearing our trade mark showing the weight of coating ome abbateatte guarentee Write for booklets. carried per box of 20 x 28— JENKINS BROS., - New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, London sre thecson Page xo, | SGGOK” Gold Rolled Steel ts, Dad Slay au THE AMERICAN Lh. & ve MPING COMP ( Water aad Rail Delivery) MAGNOLIA METAL. Best Anti-Friction Metal for all Machinery Bearings AMERICAN Pecrsimie of Sar. SHEET & TIN PLATE “SSS a onoLih METAL CO COMPANY Owners and Sole Manufacturers, 113-116 Sank Street, (ye Feencioce, Mens ond Deer: Frick Building Pittsburgh, Pa. This cannot fail to interest you. Chicago, Fischer Bidg. NEW YORK Metals at compeutive prices. THE IRON AGE A waits BRASS NAILS PLAIN STRAIGHT FACTS lst. The best produced, A st casement, but the poole ve it. 2d. Brass cast and rolled on the premises. Care is taken in the stock, which is clean, ductile and the right temper. 8d. Inspection rigid; contain rfect nails o No splinters nor perfeet heads. 4th. Packed in 2 oz, and 4 metal boxes. 20z2., es and Ib. packages in a carton. All goods full weight. Get our prices. RIVER COMPANY, EL Waterbury, Conn. EL Bridgeport Deoxidized Bronze & Metal Co. BRIDGEPORT, CONN. Phosphor and Deoxidized Bronze Composition, Yellow Brass and Alumi- num Castings, large and small On. Ib. Matthiessen & Hegeler Zinc Co., LA SALLE, ILLINOIS. SMELTERS OF SPELTER AND MANUFACTURERS OF SHEET ZINC AND SULPHURIC ACID. Selected Plates for Etchers’ and Lithographers’ use. Selected Sheets for Paper and Card Makers’ use. Stove and Washboard Blanks. ZINCS FOR LECLANCHE BATTERY. UU aah OANA 105-109 So.Jefferson St., Chicago. Best Bronze, Babbitt Metals, Brass and Aluminum SASTINGS NICKEL ANODES GERMAN SILVER | SiCBE= ANODES The Seymour Mfg. Co., - - Seymour, Conn. HENDRICKS BROTHERS PROPRIETORS OF THE Belleville Copper Rolling Mills, MANUFACTURERS OF Brazsiers’ Bolt and Sheathing COPPER COPPER Wik AND RIVETS, mporters and Dealers in Ingot Copper, Block Tin, Spelter, Lead, Antimony, etc. 49 CLIFF ST., NEW YORK. THE PLume & ATwooo Mrs. C0, MANUFACTURERS OF Sheet and Roll Brass WwiR PRINTERS’ BRASS, JEWELERS’ METAL, GERMAN SILVER AND GILDING METAL, Cop- tn RIVETS AND BURRS. Pins, Brass Butt Hinges, Jack Chaia, Kero- sene bu e . Lamp Trimmings, &c. 279 Broadway, NEW YORK. Room 508 Heyworth Building, East Madi- son St., CHICAGO, ILL. ROLLING MILL : | FACTORIES : THOMASTON, CONN, WATERBURY, CONN, SCOVILL MFG. CO. MANUFACTURERS OF BRASS, GERMAN SILVER, Sheets, Rolls, Wire Rods, Bolts and T: ua Brase Shells, Cups, Hinges, Buttons, Lamp Goods. Special Brass Goods to Order. FacTorres: WATERBURY, CONN. Drrots NEW YORK. CHICAGO. BOSTON. Henry Souther Engineering - Go, Consulting Chemists, Metallurgists and Analysts. Complete Physical Testing Laboratory. im Court and Patent Cases. Arthur T. Rutter 80 256 Broadway NEW YORK Small tubing in Brass, Copper, Steel, Aluminum, German Silver, &c. Sheet Brass, Copper and Ger- man Silver. Copper, Brass and German Silver Wire. Brazed and Seamless Brass and Copper Tube, Copper and Brass Rod. “PHONO-ELECTRIC™ WIRE. “It’s TOUGH.” TROLLEY, TELEPHONE TELEGRAPH LINES. BRIDGEPORT BRASS COMPANY, Broad way and Murray 8t., ew York, PHOSPHOR-BRONZE GERMAN SILYER THE RIVERSIDE METAL CO. RIVERSIDE, N. J). Mills Bridgeport Conn. THE IRON AGE New York, Thursday, January 24, 1907. The Ferracute Machine Company’s Plant. About three years ago the works of the Ferracute Machine Company, at Bridgeton, N. J., were totally de- stroyed by fire in a little more than an hour. The gradual evolution which has since taken place with the substitution of new permanent structures for the first temporary quarters has resulted in the present model plant, which was practically completed some little time ago, but still lacks the installing of a few pieces of equipment. The products identified with the name “ Ferracute” are so well known that it is scarcely necessary to enumer- ate them. In fact, it would require too much space to do so completely, but in general they include presses and vidually driven by one and sometimes two electric motors. These applications of motor drive are mostly to be found in the machine shop, an interior view of which is given in Fig. 1, and will be referred to later on, but as a logical beginning the plant as a whole should be con- sidered. The site is adjacent to the tracks of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company’s West Jersey & Seashore branch, and spurs from the latter are laid beside the buildings, one of them terminating in the machine shop. Over these the larger part of the raw material is received, and the finished product shipped. There is also nearby a small lake affording a convenient source of water for general Fig. 1.—A View Looking East in the Main Bay of the Machine Shop. dies for shearing, cutting, punching, bending, forming, embossing, coining, drawing, deepening, broaching, &c., bar and sheet metals, paper, leather, cloth and other materials. ‘The machines are all of original design and are built for all kinds of work: produced’>P'uhy of the * processes mentioned. In general the larger presses, of which a wide range of sizes and ¢apacities is mage, have assembled rather than single piece frames, the two sides and top cross members and beds being, separate. With a stock of comparatively few patterns, therefore, it is possible to quickly procure’the parts for a press of almost any size within the limits undertaken. All that may be said of any modern plant applies to the new works, but if one feature were to be separated from ‘the others as perhaps the most interesting to the average visitor it would undoubtedly be the driving of tools, «. No line shafts are used, and every tool is indi- purposes other than drinking. The drinking water ‘is obtained from a well on the grounds. The arrangement of_the buildings will be best under- steod from the plan given in’ Fig. 2. The office, locker Piforge* shop and machine shop “are in” separate buildings. The pattern shop, pattern storage, carpenter shop, engine, room and boiler room are, located. end to end in one‘ building 325 ft. wide by 190 ft. Jong, these having lengths of 52, 52, 32, 24 and 30 ft., respectively, in the ordé® named. The drafting room, located in; the office buijding, looks out upon the adjacent end of ‘this building, Wich contains the pattern sliop, the two being conveniently: near together for conférences with regard to the @losely allied work of each department. In the @rafting room will be found one of the first features of particular interest to the seeker after new things. This is the use of a special design of drawing ae ne RB ts 254 board, the invention of Oberlin Smith, president of the company. The boards are about 4 x 6 ft., and near the four corners are supported by pivoted struts, which en- gage, after the manner of pawls with ratchets, in ver- tical racks on the supporting standards. The legs are castings, one for each end, tied together by long bars. On one of these is mounted the cabinet for Instruments and draftsman’s equipment, which is so arranged that it may be slid to any position lengthwise of the desk. To raise or lower the table, clamping nuts at the ends are loosened and by manipulating one or both of the long horizontal rods at the front and back of the table the corresponding edge may be raised or lowered, and by this step by step adjustment the required hight and de- sired inclination of the table are obtained. The pattern shop contains the usual quota of wood- working machines, and each is individually driven by a motor, This allows any machine to be used without running any other, and eliminates all overhead belts, so that the room is unusually light, as will be seen from the interior view, Fig. 3. The lighting. is further improved by painting all the machines a comparatively ght color. The equipment in the pattern shop includes an Oliver wee ee + -- universal saw table, an Oliver joiner, an Atlantic band saw, a Fay & Hgan drill, a drying kiln; lockers, toilet and glue heaters. The pattern storage is next to the pattern shop, and beyond it is the carpenter shop, prin- cipally used for making crates and shooks in which finished material is shipped. The boiler room contains a 250-hp. Heine water tube boiler, with room for an additional one of the same size, boiler feed pumps and the necessary piping, with con- nections ready for the installation of condensers, for the steam turbines in the engine room. ‘The boiler room floor level is about 8 ft. below the outside ground level at the side of the boiler house, where the switch from the railroad passes. Beneath the railroad tracks are coal pockets into which the coal is dumped directly from the cars as received. Opening into the boiler room, directly opposite the fronts of the boilers, are chutes so that the coal is deposited on the firing floor without further han- dling. : In the engine room there are now installed two 100- hp. Curtis. steam: turbines direct connected to 75-kw. General Electric direct current dynamos, generating cur- rent at 225 volts, at which pressure it is used throughout for the power and lighting systems. Space is left for two more such units. It is a remarkable fact that the economy of the steam turbines, now operating noncon- densing, is enormously better than that of the 100-hp. a ee me ee oe moe THE IRON ¢ AGE January 24, 1907 reciprocating engine which drove the old plant. Each turbine consumes only about 44 per cent. of the steam formerly taken by the reciprocating engine of the same power, which, however, was only an ordinary “high speed” engine. Even better consumption is expected after the condensers are installed. When all four turbo-genera- tors are in position they will be connected in pairs to the two condensers to be later installed in the boiler room, and it will be arranged so that any one, two or three of the turbines may be operated condensing and the re- mainder noncondensing. At present the exhaust steam is being used in the heating system. The engine room con- tains also the switchboard controlling the distribution of current about the works. . Even in the forge shop overhead encumbrances which would obstruct light have been avoided, as shown in Fig. 4. This building is about 30 x 50 ft. in size and contains five Buffalo forges of the down draft type, with underground connections from a blower for 'the blast, and an induced draft fan for withdrawing the smoke; a tem- pering furnace, made by the American Gas Furnace Com- pany; two annealing furnaces of home construction, a Bell steam hammer, operating an 850-lb. hammer, and a PROPERTY LINE 4-2 SoS ee ee ‘g CONTEMPLATED - EXTENCION hand traveling crane of 5 tons capacity, not a common feature in the equipment of a forge shop of its size. This crane is found very useful in handling materials for repairs and some of the heavier work for the steam hammer. At one end of the forge shop there is an ex- tension to the building, containing racks for stock. The arrangement is such that the material may be received at the outside end and slid into the racks, those on one side holding square, round and other shapes of mild steel and those on the other iron. There is a trolley for handling the heavier pieces of stock, on which they may be brought out from the stockroom to be taken up by the crane in the forge shop. The company does not at- tempt to make heavy forgings, but only such lighter ones as enter into the construction of its product. Heavy forgings and all castings are purchased from ‘outside concerns. The machine shop is a building 100 ft. wide and. at present 200 ft. long, with a temporary wall at the west . end, where it will later be extended to 300 ft. total length. The side walls are of brick and the roof burned tile and wire-protected glass on a steel frame, The temporary end wall is of corrugated iron bolted to the. steel frame- . work so that it may be easily removed when the addition is built. This shop is of other than the commonly em- ployed construction in that the roof is continvous, en- tirely without monitors or modified form on account of ee January 24, 1907 the side bays. The hight of the eaves is 17 ft., and the hight at the apex of the roof 50 ft. The roof trusses are supported on columns as well as at the ends, these col- | umns being placed in rows 25 ft. from the side walls and | also affording support for the cranes. In genera] the middle bay thus formed is used for the larger tools and most of the erecting work. The side bays, one of which is shown in Fig. 5, accommodate smaller tools and the stock room, tool room and die room, all as indicated on the plan of the machine shop given in Fig. 6. Each side bay is served by a 5-ton Niles electric travel- THE IRON AGE 255 In connection with the key to the machines in this shop, given in Fig. 6, it should be explained that B desig- nates only vertical boring mills; L turret as well as engine lathes; D radial drills and horizontal boring machines, as well as ordinary uprights, and G all kinds of grinding machines and not simply tool grinders. In general the large boring mills and planers are in the middle bay, the largest being toward the east end. The smaller tools are in the side bays, the smaller ones toward the east end. Nineteen tools are used for boring work, including Fig. 4.—A View in the Forge Shop. ing crane, and the middle bay by one 20-ton Niles electric crane and a 6-ton hand crane. There wil! also shortly be installed a 10-ton electric crane from Pawling & Har- nischfeger, which will largely take the place of the hand crane, although this will still be left in position. It is now. used princpally at the east or receiving end of the machine shop for handling castings from trucks in which they are brought from the foundry, to the floor of the shop. Here the castings are cleaned and filed, and are progressively handled toward the other end of the shop during the machining processes. At the west or erecting end the spur from the Pennsylvania Railroad enters, and here finished machines are handled by the crane to cars ready for shipping. radial drills, upright drills, horizontal boring machines and vertical boring mills. The largest among these are a 62-in. Bullard boring mill, driven by a 7-hp. motor; a 40- in. Dawson mill, driven by a 5-hp: motor, and a 80-in. Niles mill with 5-hp. motor. The larger drill presses in- elude a 6-ft. Pond radial with a 10-bp. motor; Beaman & Smith upright with a +hp. motor; two 4ft. Baush radial drills with 5-hp. motors; a New England drill press, 5-hp. motor; two Binsse horizontal boring machines, one with a 5 and one with a 2-hp. motor, and a Fitchburg upright drill with a 3-hp. motor. Of various styles of grinders there are nine. The largest of these is a Landis machine with a 72-in. bed, driven by a 10-hp. motor, and another of same make has 256 14-in. wheels and is driven by a 3-hp. motor. In addi- tion theré are Bridgeport, Western and B. & S. grinders. One Dill slotter is driven by: a 5-hp. motor. Of lathes there are about 25, ranging in size from those requiring 1 to those requiring 10-hp: motors for their drive. A 60- in. Wood & Light lathe was made capable of that swing by increasing it from its original capacity of 42 in. swing. There is also a 32-in. Lodge & Shipley. lathe and a 30-in. Reed lathe. Two lathes of the company’s own manu- facture are used in the tool room. The other lathes range in size from 27 and 24 in. down. There is also.a Jones & Lamson and a Gray turret lathe. Among milling ma- chines are a Cincinnati, a Hendey, two Van Norman, and a Becker-Brainard, There is also a Niles-Bement-Pond milling machine driven by a 7-hp. moter and a Beaman & Smith horizontal milling machine with a 5-hp. motor. In all there are nine, the others ranging in driving power from 6-hp. down to 2. A Gould & Eberhardt gear cutter THE IRON AGE Jatiuary. 24, 1907 slightly if at all altered:from the form it toak with the original belt drive. The bracket is placed; for example, on the large milling machines near the top at one side of the column, and the tension of the belt is regulated by an adjustable leg supporting the outer end of the swinging bracket resting in a socket on the machine. Belt connections from the motors to the machines are preferred to chain or gear connections. Although there are many examples of both of the latter, most of the latest arrangements have been for belt drive. Short belts, where necessary, very high belt speeds and loose- running endless belts without rivets or lacings are prin- ciples which are advocated by Oberlin Smith, and rather at variance with commonly accepted ideas. The success of all the applications of this sort to be found in this shop seems to substantially refute the old contention that short belts are always bad in practice. Fig. 7 shows a typical application of motor drive, be- PT} oH F a 3 . f ft % rf 3 Fig. 5.—-Another View in the Machine Shop, Looking from the Northeast Corner. is also installed, capable of cutting gears up to 72 in. in diameter. Various slotters were furnished by Betts, Gar- vin and New Haven machine tool companies. Among the largest planers are a 48 x 48 in, x 12 ft. Pond, with a 10-hp. motor, and a 42 x 42 in. x 10 ft. Pond, with a 7-hp. motor. A Woodward & Powell planer of about the same size is driven by a 7-hp. motor. Other planers include Pease and Gray makes. In all there are six, the horsepower ranging from 5 to 10.-. There are seven shapers, these being driven by motors ranging from 5 to 2 hp., and representing the makes of Steptoe, Stock- bridge, Walker, Smith & Mills, and Gould & Eberhardt. As before stated, every tool in the plant is individu- ally driven, and some have two motors, a separate one being used, for example, in feeding or traveling the tool carriage or work table. Altogether there are 115 motors used on cranes and tools, representing an aggre- gate of 523 hp. Among the several interesting applications of motor drive in the machine shop are a number on which the motors are mounted on a vertically adjustable bracket, a belt being used for the drive, and the machine but very ing the latest method adopted for lathes. It is a Lodge & Shipley lathe, with the motor mounted on a swinging bracket and connected by a short belt. The bracket is hinged at the rear for tightening the belt, and the for- ward edge is sustained by a screw jack bolt. A variable speed 3 to 1 Northern motor is used, and the speed range is further extended by the change gears on the lathe. Fig. 8 serves the double purpose of illustrating a motor application and an example of the company’s product. This, known as a press PGS8, is rot remark- able for its size, being, if anything, rather smaller than the average press built here, but it represents a type that is made in large quantities. In this case also the motor is mounted on a swinging bracket, this being pivoted on the center line and behind the machine, with a screw jack used to support the outer edge and regulate: the belt ten- sion. The same system is used upon the larger presses built by the company, some of which give 500 tons ram pressure and weigh nearly 50 tons. The ventilating and heating of the machine shop are furnished in part by an overhead Sturtevant system sup- ‘plied by a steam driven fan mounted overhead near one January 24, 1907 end of the shop. The heating is augmented by steam coils placed along the columns at one side of the middle bay. It may eventually prove best to double the present system of indirect steam heating and remove the direct radiator coils. Fireproof construction in the machine shop is carried DIE ROOM wrt) o& el s}) Ut -—— | LINE OF COLUMN Fig. 7—-A Typical Motor Drive as Applied to a Lathe. even to the steel window frames and sashes. The shop is unusually well lighted by the windows at the side and especially by skylights in the roof. From the ridge of the roof its entire length, extending down 38 ft., cover- ing one-half of the middle bay, is a glass skylight, which has very nearly northern exposure. On the opposite side of the ridge the skylight is also extended downward about 8 ft. In the summer time it has been found that f z | z P | | | B So | e5 $z 20 TON ELECTRIC TRAVELING CRANE OVERHEAD z = RUNNING THE FULL LENGTH OF THE SHOP ° ° ANOTHER ELECTRIC CRANE OF 10 TON CAPACITY IS SOON - KEY TO BE INSTALLED e L - LATHE D - DRILL MM s - 8 e = K+ KEY SEATING MACHINE WILLING MACHINE — SHAPER | | | ron ba P = PLANER “VC Ip sem el i fo} ce s 2 THE IRON AGE 257 the large area of glass in the roof makes the shop some- what oppressively warm. To remedy this, fireproofed white shades were placed under the skylights, which may be drawn over to shade the part beneath. The natural light from the windows and skylights and the placing of the building almost east and west with reference 5 TON ELECTRIC CRANE OVERHEAD RUNNING FULL LENGTH OF SHOP TOOL ROOM ERECTING SHOP RAILROAD SWITCH 5 TON ELECTRIC CRANE OVERHEAD | RUNNING FULL LENGTH OF SHOP | | | SCALE IN FEET 5 1" 16 20 | STORE ROOM THE IPPON AGE Fig. 8.—An Example of the Company's Product—A Press PG3. to its length, have resulted very favorably. There is al- most no part of the shop that is not reached at some time during the day by direct sunlight. The plant has four telephones connected with the public telephone service, and in addition an independent works telephone systeni communicating with all of the departments, and having 16 stations. The top or attic floor of the office is fitted up for ~ = iaie i 258 photographic purposes, with a dark room and camera for copying, blue printing, frames, &¢., and provisions for washing and drying prints. In the basement of the office building is a storage room and shelves for samples of work for which dies have been made. Another small building contains the washroom and lockers and a little assembly room, where the workmen may hold meetings. In this room is also provided a table and copies of technical papers for the use of the employees. There are 200 lockers in the washroom. The wash basins provide a separate jet for each man in addition to the water common to all in the steel trough beneath, and the water is heated by steam, regulated by a thermometer at the rinsing valves. Oil is stored in a separate building entirely fireproof, and built of brick and concrete. It is supported on an angle iron frame, and is in a measure portable, so that if it should become desirable to move it to another loca- tion it can easily be done. All the keys used in the various parts of the plant are kept in a closet in the office, looked with a combination lock. The lock on this closet, as well as all the combina- tion locks on the lockers and various other places, are of the type designed by Oberlin Smith, and made by the Corbin Lock Company. This lock, known as the star point keyless lock, was described in The Iron Age August 25, 1904. The lock may be opened in the dark and is exceedingly ingenious and safe, inasmuch as it emits no sounds which would guide a person unfamiliar with the combination to discover what that combination is. The keys in the closet are given out by a check system. When- ever a key is taken out the name of the person taking the key is hung on the corresponding peg, so that it known at all times in whose hands the keys are held. +e A Great Shipbuilding Record in 1906. The returns for 1906 from the shipyards of Great Britain show a total which make the year notaple as one of large tonnages and large ships. In its annual review of British and foreign shipbuilding the Glasgow Herald says that increases of output are reported for the Clyde, the Forth, the Tay, the Dee, the Tyne, the Wear, the Tees and Hartlepoois, the Humber, the English Channel, Ireland, British Colonies, the United States, Germany, Holland, Japan, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Spain and Belgium. The only decreases shown are in the Mersey- Solway district, the Thames, France, Italy, Russia, Austria-Hungary and China, and in each case the decrease is small. The four largest warships the world has ever seen—the Dreadnought, the Agamemnon, the Lord Nelson and the Satsuma (the last named in Japan)—and the three largest merchant steamers—the Lusitania, the Mauretania and the Adriatic—were all launched within the 12 months. The two Cunarders and the Dreadnought are turbine vessels, while the Adriatic, the Agamemnon, the Lord Nelson and the Satsuma are to have reciprocat- ing engines. The total output at the shipyards of the world, as returned for the annual statistics, was 2792 ves- sels, of 3,353,807 tons and 3,158,664 ih.p. This is an in- crease over 1905 of 399 vessels, 409,877 tons, and 689,159 hp. The following table shows the work of the year in the United Kingdom, the Colonies and foreign countries, together with the figures for 1905: eS a Vessels. Tons. Vessels. Tons. CN Sa ocec dnc easy ae 541 658,830 412 587,932 NE 6s 5-4 tis a wes tess 882 1,193,881 793 1,078,309 REE 0% Gelsw'y els ba woCs 5 28 149,860 81 144,727 2,002,571 1,805,968 United Kingdom..... 1,421 1,236 ER « xhe'n's Gade cueiet 109 28,782 64 10,610 PN as ip ecOesa i 1,262 1,322,451 1,093 1,127,352 a ee 2,792 3,353,807 2,393 2,943,930 The six British districts and foreign countries which lead in shipbuilding are the same for 1906 as for 1905, and the rank is the same, except that Germany goes from fifth to fourth place in tonnage. fell to fifth in 1905. It was third in 1904 and The figures are as follows: THE IRON AGE January 24, 190; Vessels. Tons. I.h.p. The ClyGO.. cccccascvescccccccsses 872 598,841 606,600 CI ke cccesctveosevesene 207 464,671 260,761 Ses evecare evr avcescessuan 159 411,569 875,705 I i divecns CisK 0 60d Since a 361 360,980 326,998 CER 3 « vcduGahvdeivedais obs es 334,572 222,811 Tees and Hartlepools..........+.+++ 292,344 144,750 The output of the American Shipbuilding Company, with six active yards in 1906, compares as follows with that of the leading British yards: Vessels. Tons. American Shipbuilding Company................34 198,535 Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson........... 25 117,943 William Doxford & Son8.....cceccsscscsssvccvece 25 99,765 BE WRI. ons. 5.06 cob 0ccncg ce 00's o¥enectes 11 83,238 William Gray & C0... cccccccccsccccceccccece 24 74,983 Workman, Clark & CO....cccccccccccseccscese 13 65,478 The records for countries apart from Great Britain show 1262 vessels of 1,322,454 tons and 1,294,286 i.h.p., as compared with 1093 vessels of 1,127,352 tons and 962,608 i.h.p. in 1905. The following table shows the work done by the different countries: -—1906.—_——_._ -———1905.—_, Vessels. Tons. Vessels. Tons. United States............. 207 464,671 146 868,775 NE igs wgde knee eet 861 360,980 310 312,400 TS Ee rie ea 222 116,192 196 92,522 Pas o's eacass ce siaw Ba 137 96,132 146 47,458 NEED Sab s-aateine oe 400 hbo 84 85,348 78 101,073 sks oa ante ag eke ee oe 76 56,023 64 52,670 eles oni cs su radon ole 55 37,854 22 58,193 SS ais 5 hig ge ace abc wae 11 25,868 23 25,985 ea as ne ke a iuk 16 24,225 17 17,124 Austria-Hungary .......... 42 19,738 45 27,675 EN dc dwsces 0000 cueun 21 14,697 14 12,153 RE Dieses b ooSeauie can 3 9,139 2 2,861 | NRE eee 18 6,991 10 2,034 PE A ate kvie ws dase cease 9 4,596 20 6,429 ere 1,262 1,322,454 1,098 1,127,352 Indications are that Great Britain’s tonnage for 1907 will not equal that for 1906. On the Clyde the falling off in new business was very noticeable in the second half of 1906, but lately there has been some improvement, .and the work on hand is more than normal. It is pointed out that in order to obtain more work builders must reduce prices, and this they cannot do until the cost of produc- tion is reduced. The other way out of the difficulty—an improvement in freights—is not yet quite at hand. Many of the contracts which were executed during 1906 were placed by owners who had sold their previous vessels at high prices and then waited until rates touched bottom before placing further orders. The launching of the ves- sels thus ordered swelled the tonnage of the year, but the boats were not, as a matter of fact, all profitably employed immediately after being launched. This is now telling against the placing of additional orders. However, the trade of the whole world is expanding, the shipping of Europe especially is developing at an enormous rate, and there are vast accumulations of capital ready for invest- ment in shipping enterprises. a The statistics of the Scotch Ironmasters’ Association show that the output of Scotch pig iron in 1906 was 1,451,- 068 gross tons, an increase of 72,677 tons over 1905. Scotch foundries, iron rolling mills and steel works con- sumed 875,072 tons in 1906, as against 890,382 tons in 1905. The exports, coastwise and foreign, and shipments of about 6000 tons each year by rail to England made a total of 371,091 tons in 1906 and 310,555 tons in 1905. The stocks in Connal’s stores declined from 15,593 tons at the close of 1905 to 5286 tons at the close of 1906, but stocks in makers’ yards increased about 9000 tons, so that the net reduction was 1387 tons, the total stocks at the close of 1906 being 90,548 tons. The preliminary statement of imports and exports of merchandise in the calendar year, 1906, issued by the Bureau of Statistics of the Department of Commerce and Labor last week, gives the grand total of outgoing shipments as $1,798,107,955, and of incoming shipments as $1,321,064,694. Both figures break all former records. The balance of trade in favor of the United States for 1906 was $477,043,261. The imports in the year were +«$141,920,144 larger than i 1905 and the exports were $171,117,160 larger. January 24, 1907 New Publications. Der Aachener Huetten Aktien Verein—in Rothe Erde. 1846-1906. (The Aachen Company, at Rothe Erde.) By W. Rabins. Published by Gustav Fischer, Jena. Dr. Rabins of Leipzig in the course of studies on economic subjects had occasion to go over the records of one of Germany’s famous steel works, those of Rothe Erde. In the light of data thus collected he tells the history of that enterprise as affected by the varying commercial and technical influences to which it was sub- jected, how it dragged through years of misery, and how its management took quick advantage of favoring con- ditions, and finally enjoyed many years of extraordinary prosperity. Started in 1845, soon after the establishment of iron duties in 1844, a puddler mill was finished in 1847, with mills for rolling bars, sheets, rails and tires. The French Revolution of 1848, with its attendant disorganization of business caused a cessation of operations until 1853. Ad- verse conditions continued, and a reorganization was ef- fected in 1864, followed in 1866 and 1867 by remodeling and doubling the mill, which was engaged chiefly in the manufacture of railroad material. Then the makers of Bessemer steel began to develop as serious competitors, but the boom in Germany, which followed the Franco- German War, carried along the enterprise, in spite of scarcity of labor and high prices of raw material. The Bessemer process was introduced in 1872-1873, building the plant during the boom period. Besides a defective blowing engine made it impossible to reach more than half of its rated capacity. In 1874 the capital stock was increased, but the fresh money did not even cover the losses which had followed the crash of May. 1873. The company was loaded down with debt, and its plant was antiquated, with the exception of the Besse- mer works, and the management was placed with Adolf ' Kirdorf and J. Magery, the former as commercial and the latter as technical director. They struggled along during the years of the depression to 1878, developing new outlets in shapes, and spending all available funds in remodeling the plant. They put in double puddling fur- naces, introduced labor saving appliances, substituted three-high mills and increased the variety of sections rolled. In 1879-1880 the Bessemer plant was rebuilt, and a new 24-in. mill completed the technical reorganization of the works, nearly trebling the output. The production per man per annum was increased from 19 tons in 1874- 1875 to 31 tons in 1880-1881. In the meantime raw mate- rials in stock were converted into money, and creditors were paid. The company worked out of the hands of bankers, and in 1878-1879 paid its first dividend of 5 per cent. Then came Thomas and Gilchrist with their invention of the basic Bessemer process, which revolutionized the German steel industry and made it what it is. The Rothe Erde works started with it in 1880 and completed a new steel plant in 1883, which was followed by an en- tirely new works in 1905. So rapid was the development that the first million tons of basic Bessemer steel had been made in 1890, the second million tons in 1895 and the third in 1898. The new steel works have a capacity of 475,000 tons per annum. With all its success the company was in a precarious position from one point of view. It had no blast furnaces and no ore property, and at times had suffered severely from booms in pig iron and from combinations among the blast furnace operators. In 1892, therefore, the manage- ment acquired the furnaces and the ore property at Esch- Alzette, and thereafter steadily increased and consolidated its holdings of ore property in the Minette District. The second group of furnaces and its accompanying ore lands was acquired at Deutsch Oth in 1902, so that it controls 220.000,000 tons of ore. In the meantime developments in the German coal in- dustry had forced action in another direction. The coal syndicate was formed in 1893, and its operations threat- ened the future of the enterprise. Therefore what is practically a consolidation was arranged for in 1904 of the Aachen Verein, the Gelsenkirchen collieries and the Schalke collieries, blast furnaces and pipe shops. The THE IRON AGE 259 two latter concerns had an allotment of 8,698,000 tons of coal out of a total of 75,600,000 tons of the coal syndi- cate, the consumption of Rothe Erde being 660,000 tons of coke and 24,000 tons of coal annually. Schalke had two furnace plants at Gelsenkirchen and at Hochfeld- Duisburg. The effect. of this consolidation is far reach- ing, not alone for the companies directly involved, but for the whole German coal and iron industry and the development of its syndicates. Under the rules of the coal syndicate collieries which are owned by iron works need not account to the syndi- cate for the fuel supplied for consumption to the furnaces and mills, there being no restriction as to increase in such consumption. This is highly disadvantageous to those collieries which do not enjoy such alliances, and was a powerful motive for the great Gelsenkirchen col- liery to enter tne consolidation, although the right to supply the iron works in the consolidation does not take effect until the end of the present coal syndicate contract. Its participation in the coke syndicate amounted to 1,300,- 000 tons. Schalke, while producing both coal and iron, had ad- vantages through the fact that its principal furnace plant is supplied direct by wire rope tramway from one of the Gilsenkirchen shafts, and because one of its collieries can be operated more effectively in conjunction with an adjoiriag Gelseukirecbeu mine. Rothe Erde, of course, secures its own supplies of coal and coke, and is inde pendent of fluctuations in prices and of syndicate control. The financial results of the Aachen Verein have been very satisfactory. Beginning with dividends of 5 per cent. in 1879-80, the returns to the stockholders were doubled in the next year, and then, from 1881-82, to and including 1890-91, the dividend was 25 per cent. an- nually, with the exception of 1887-88, when 17% per cent, was distributed. In 1891-92 the return was 30 per cent., in the next three years 20 per cent., followed by 30 per cent. in 1895-96, 50 per cent. in 1896-97 and 1897-98, 40 per cent. in 1898-99 and 1899-1900, 25 per cent. in 1900-01, 20 per cent. in 1901-02, and 30 per cent. in 1902-03 and 1908-04. Since the introduction of the basic Bessemer process, the dividends have averaged 27.4 per cent. annually. The capital, which was 1,540,000 marks in 1882-83, was raised to 3,080,000 marks in 1890-91, to 4,500,000 marks in 1892-93, to 9,000,000 marks in 1898-99, and to 11,500,000 marks in 1903-04, the funded debt dising in the meantime from 201,500 marks to 3,000,800 marks. The veserve fund grew from 329,318 marks in 1882-83 to 5,101,812 marks in 1903-04. The consolidation has a total capital stock of 130,000,000 marks, in which Gel- senkirchen participates with 73.5 parts, Aachen, with 31 parts and Schalke with 25.5 parts. Dr. Rabins closes his book with a chapter on the par- ticipation of the Aachen Verein in pools and syndicates, to which it has always been friendly, the commercial director, A. Kirdorf, having been one of the leading spirits in the formation of the German steel syndicate. The Engineering Index, Vol. IV. Published by the Engineering Magazine, New York. Price, $7.50. The Association of Engineering Societies began the work of indexing current engineering literature under the direction of J. B. Johnson in 1883. In 1895 the Engineering Magazine took up the work, issuing volume II covering the years 1892 to 1895, in 1896. Volumes III and also volume IV covered successive 5-year periods. The fact that the volume just issued for 1901 to 1905, inclusive. makes a portly volume of over 1200 pages has probably led to the decision that hereafter the vol- umes will be published annually. With the enormous growth of the engineering litera- ture this has become a huge piece of work, the importance of which, when skillfully done, must continue to increase. So far as the particular enterprise before us is concerned, it is a question of accuracy and skill. We have placed ourselves in the position of one who was searching for information, and may state that the tests thus made give every indication that an enormous amount of conscien- tious and intelligent labor has been put into the volume before us. The whole system of catch words and of entries is admirably worked out. il / t / file ee > 7 260 Handling Equipment for Structural Plants. BY GEO. P. THOMAS.* Satisfactory crane and hoist arrangements form the most important as well as the most difficult problem in connection with a structural plant. No system, how- ever elaborate and complete, that it is practicable to in- stall will fully meet all the requirements. First cost, operating and maintenance cost and the arrangement of tools all directly affect the problem, and it can be solved in a practical and satisfactory way only by one thoroughly conversant with the requirements and familiar with all the operations performed upon the material to be handled. In a modern steel fabricating plant the ar- rangement of overhead cranes and hoists largely deter- mines location of tools on the floor. In such a plant, schemed to have succeeding operations follow one an- located in relation to each other and be conveniently te aL Te rh——t Fig. 1 other, it is difficult to devise a practically efficient sys- tem. A shop may be equipped throughout with the latest improved machinery and tools and yet not produce re- sults much better than an old and antiquated one if the facilities provided for handling material are faulty. Again, the shop may have the finest equipment and all kinds of facilities for quickly handling material and yet fail to give results, if too much refinement is attempted, entailing a heavy first cost and correspondingly large cost of operation and maintenance. In many plants the cranes are arranged to permit transporting material in bulk or detail to any part of the shop, yet in a properly arranged shop need for such is exceptional. Steel to be fabricated must first be marked and sheared, then punched, and then stored until wanted by the assemblers. Never do these operations require transporting material any long distance. At the enter- ing end especially the problem resolves itself into han- dling material in detail and promptly and efficiently serving tools. Handling material about is a secondary question, but it is of prime importance that the markers, punchers, assemblers, &c., be promptly served, as idle tools and workmen waiting for cranes surely affect the shop cost. At the entering end of the shop is where most systems fail. Here the material must be handled a number of * Standard Bridge Tool Company, Pittsburgh, Pa. THE IRON AGE January 24, 1907 times over piece by piece, the weight of these averaging from 200 to 1500 Ib. It is also desirable to have facili ties to handle material in bulk, probably in loads of about 10 tons. Installing cranes here capable of handling the maximum loads, but neglecting the multiplicity of light lifts that must be made, complicates rather than solves the problem. Investigation will show that fully 97 per cent. of the lifts range from 1500 to 2000 Ib. in this par ticular part of the shop; the remaining 3 per cent. repre- sents the handling in bulk. In a strictly modern plant cranes should be used principally for handling material locally and serving tools, and push cars or motor trucks for transporting material in and out or through the shop. The handling of material for marking, shearing and punching is identical, and the same type of crane can be used for all these operations. It is almost impossible to calculate the number of lifts that cranes have to make, but it may be approximated. For example: In a shop having a capacity of about 1000 tons per month, or 40 tons per day, of ordinary riveted work, such as columns. plate girders, &c., assuming that 6 x 6 in. angles, 40 ft. HD tee ae Op ‘TAX Il Ey arin se sce Ed Type of Beam Hoist Crane Used in Structural Plants, Built by the Standard Bridge Tool Company. long, are being handled, 125 pieces must be operated on and about 20,000 holes marked and punched. Assuming the material is brought in from the storage in 10-ton loads, there would be four loads in bulk. After the mate- rial is deposited on marking skids it can be handled by the markers, piece by piece, usually without cranes by means of pinch bars, the pieces being skidded into proper position for marking. For plates generally a crane must be used. Angles after being marked are sometimes sim- ply pushed off the skids to blocks on the floor, to be picked up later by the crane or at once and delivered to skids serving the shears for the usual trimming. Here the process is practically repeated. Angle shears are usually provided with roller skids of same hight as the lower blades, the rollers being in line with the blades, and storage space for the material provided from which pieces are skidded on rollers by hand if light, and by a pinch bar if too heavy. In the latter case a crane must be used for lifting the pieces from the rollers after opera- tion. With heavy angles very little lifting in detail is required except to serve the shears, if suitable skids are provided and properly located. The value of properly arranged skids for marking, storing, &c., cannot be over- estimated. Long or heavy pieces, especially plates, must be han- dled individually by cranes at least once for marking and also for trimming or shearing. In the average shop many pieces are handled by cranes that could easily be lifted January 24, 1907 by hand, and the practice is one very hard to break up. In the punch shop, where pieces weighing 650 lb. must be lifted to roller tables by crane and picked up again after being punched, a plentiful supply of light cranes is indispensable. Each of the above operations takes but a short time, and usually cranes are wanted simultaneously at differ- ent points. It should be the aim to avoid any delay on this score as much as possible. Operating on angles as mentioned above, one piece must be marked, sheared and punched nearly every four minutes, and about four or five lifts must be made for each piece. This is at the rate of over one lift per minute on the average. To mark and punch 20,000 holes about two men are re- quired, according to the work, and six punching ma- chines. Adding to this the operations on shears there are about 10 different operations that must be served by cranes. This gives an idea of the demands on cranes in this part of the shop. It is fair to say that in a poorly Wr A TE yw I te ' ML \ ih E f fi THE IRON AGE 261 the better one, as the gantry can be made to be operated in connection with the riveter. This places the entire control under one man, and the crew is not obliged to travel along over skids and other obstructions, w hile the furnace for heating rivets is always handy. Moye- over, a stationary riveter undoubtedly drives better rivets than a suspended one, and the material being suspended from a low point, has little tendency to swing and is under better control. These are points in favor of the gantry; the chief objection to their general adoption is the first cost and the comparatively large floor space occupied. The weak link in a shop equipped with transverse cranes is that it provides no means for carrying ma- terial forward except by cars on the floor (some shops are adopting motor cars for this purpose). Thus, to carry material forward, for even the shortest distance, it must be lifted by a crane and deposited on a car, The car is then pushed to its destination, and the material a =: = tL Le =i a ! Hy = HZ ai aor? Ine pita d it PR — | Fig. 2.—Automatic Riveting Gantry Used in Connection with a Stationary Riveter, Built by the Standard Bridge Tool Company. arranged shop the number of lifts required is probably more than double. Further on down the shop the prob- lem is not so complicated. In the storage space material can usually be handled in bulk, but if handled piece by piece it seldom causes delay anywhere else. In assembling, pieces must again be handled in detail, but after assembling the number of iifts decreases very materially. Here again the problem is not so much to provide for carrying pieces about, but for handling for riveting. Most modern plants built in the last few years have adopted the transverse system of cranes as more nearly meeting all requirements. With this arrangement the cranes run between, or are suspended from the roof trusses. As many cranes as required to serve the tools can be installed, and these can be operated either direct from a cage, froin the floor by ropes connecting to the controllers, or from u fixed convenient point. Fig. 1 is typical of a heavy crane for structural plant service. This system, besides permitting an ideal arrangement ef tools on the floor, adapts itself to every operation in the shop. At the entering end a large number of light cranes can be installed; at the finishing end heavy cranes can be used for handling and light ones for carrying the riveters. Many shops are adopting riveting gantries, in- stead of suspending riveters from an overhead trolley, or the material is carried by a gantry and the riveter made stationary, as in Fig. 2. This arrangement is probably must again be picked up by the crane and carried to the point wanted. Another system of cranes which has found favor in one or two instances employs large bridge cranes, run- ning longitudinally, as in some of the older shops, and supplemented by wall or bracket cranes suspended on columns on either side of the shop, for handling the ma- terial in detail or for suspending riveters. This system practically compels locating tools in a strip on either side of the shop reached by the wall cranes, and has a tendency to stretch out the operations. Floor space cannot be used to as good advantage as with the trans- verse system, and tools cannot possibly be arranged as conveniently. Wall cranes als