The Iron Age 1907-02-07: Vol 79 Iss 6

THE IRON AGE A Review of the Hardware, Iron, Machinery and Metal Trades. Published every Thursday Morning by Vol. 79: Noa. 6. Reading Matter Contents page Alphabetical Index to Advertisers ‘‘ Classified List of Advertisers " Advertising and Subscription Rates “ Compression Shafi Couplings Manufactured by FORSTER PULLEY el eee The American Mfg. Co. Ropes and Twines hey Wall Street, New York THE BRISTOL COMPANY Waterbary, Conn., U. oq A. New York: 114 Li Chicago; 758 Monadnoe Blae. Bristol’s Recording Instruments Fer "haw Simple, Aceurate, Reliable. 1 anres, w Prices, and Guar- Send for Catalog R. SAM SON SPOT CORD Also Linen and Italian Hemp Sash Cord SEE PAGE 158 SAMSON CORDAGE WORKS, Boston, Mass. TORNBUCKLES ii Branch Office, 11 Broadway, New York. Cleveland City Forge and iron Co., - Cleveland, O. BASIC PIG. Girard Building, Phila. Pilling & Crane Machesney Bldg., Pitts’g Empire Bldg., New York There may be some sub- stitute for HIGH QUALITY —but so far it has not been discovered. See AMERICAN SHEET & TIN PLATE COMPANY’S Ad. on Page 17 New York, Thursday, February 7, 1907. David Williams Co. 14-16 Park Place, New York. $58 OO a Year, including Postage. Single Copies, 15 Cents. PRACTICAL PROOF FOR BUSINESS MEN [PURING the season of 1906 Mr. W. H. Heer shot at 14,055 targets and scored 96,3 per cent., an average of less than 4 misses out of each hundred, winning the Year’s Champion- ship of 1906. Mr. Heer shot U. M. C. factory loaded shells, the same as every dealer carries. This wonderful demonstration of quality is practical proof for business men who each year handle quantities of this well-known make. U. M. C. Quality Stands Supreme. The Union Metallic Cartridge Company, Bridgeport, Conn. Agency, 313 Broadway, New York City. Sales Office, San Francisco, Cal. Mr. W. H. HEER WATER TUBE 64e Babcock @ Wilcox Co. 85 Liberty Street BOILER? See page 65 New York Thousands of Testimonials received from practical men in the horseshoeing business confirm our claim: — That-the most exacting requirements of the most severe service are SUCCESSFULLY met by ‘*The Capewell’’ nails—the STRONGEST horseshoe nail in the world, It Will Pay YouWell Alwaysto Insist Upon Having This Brand MADE BY The Capewell Horse Nail Company, HARTFORD, CONN. Excelsior Straightway Back Pressure Valve As shown in cut, this valve has a full, straight, unobstructed passage through it of an area equal to that of the pipe. No complicated con- trivances are required for its successful operation; on the contrary, it is extremely simple, well made, never sticks, and can be relied uporm at all times, either as a back pressure valve, or a relief or free ex- haust for. condensers. JENKINS BROS., New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, Londor “Sea a le tel rig taming celled for THE AMERICAN TUBE & nara COMPA ( Water aad Rafi Delivery) Barperrost, Comm MAGNOLIA M ETAL. Best Anti-Friction Metal for all Machinery Bearing. Fac-Simile of Bar. Be MAGNOLIA METAL CO. Owners and Sole Manufacturers, 113-116 Bank Street, Chicago, Fischer Bidg. NEW YORK. %, *. San Francisco, Montreal We manufacture all Metals at com and Pittsburg. es +. — itive pric THE MAKER’S BRANDS are among the most prized of the average manufac- turer’s possessions, that ordinary values or esti- mates can NEVER fully measure. He MADE them—they him, and he takes a pride — NATURALLY, in keep- ing them worthy of their name and reputation. ‘ The number of discrim- inating buyers of Roofing and Bright Tin, is constant- ly increasing, who realize the FOLLANSBEE STANDARD OF MANU- FACTURE always fixes a certain get-at-able value, when stamped with any of our well known pro- prietary brands. Regular users of them DON'T UNDERSTAND what quality trouble means! FOLLANSBEE-BROTHERS-CO. PITTSBURGH Matthiessen & Hegeler Zinc Co., LA SALLE, ILLINOIS. SMELTERS OF SPELTER SHEET ZINC AND SULPHURIC Special Sizes of Zinc cut to order. Rolled Selected Plates for Etchers’ and Lithographers’ use. Selected Sheets for Paper and Card Makers’ use. Stove and Washboard Blanks. ZINCS. FOR LECLANCHE BATTERY. The Plame & Atwood Mfg. Co. THE IRON AGE MANUFACTURERS OF BRASS. ve ‘ Sheet naRollBrass COPPER | WIRE WIRE Printers’ Brass, Jewelers’ Metal, SHEET ee ee a ge GERMAN |**= SILVER | wre LOW BRASS; SHEET BRONZE.| room cco toresres elsding, Rose audi SEAMLESS BRASS AND COPPER son St., CHICAGO, ILL, TUBING, BRAZED BRASS - BRONZE TUBING WATERBURY BRASS CO., WATERBURY, CONN. 99 John St., New York. Providence, R. I. Bridgeport Deoxidized Bronze & Metal Co. BRIDGEPORT, CONN. Phosphor and Deoxidized Bronze Composition, Yellow Brass and Alumi- num Castings, large and small Pins, Brass Butt Hinges, Jack Chain, Kerosene Burners, Lamps, Lamp Trimmings, &c. Rolling Mill: Factories : THOMASTON, CONN. WATERBURY, CONN. SCOVILL MFG. CO. MANUFACTURERS OF BRASS, GERMAN SILVER, Sheets, Rolls, Wire Rods, Bolts and Tubes, Brase Shells, Cups, Hinges, Buttons, Lamp theoase Special Brass Goods to Order. FacPorres: WATERBURY, CONN. Dzrots NEW YORK. CHICAGO. BOSTON. Henry Souther Engineering Co, HARTFORD, GONN, Consulting Chemists, Metallurgists and Analysts. Complete Physical Testing Laboratory. Expert Testimony im Court and Patent Cases. Court and Patent Cases. Arthur 1. Rutter & G0. or 256 Broadway ACID. NEW YORK Plates. 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. weiss Nol sah ih Copper and Brass Rod. THE BRIDGEPORT BRASS CO., BRIDGEPORT, CONN. Postal Telegraph aoe Er d and Murr St., w Work eae 85- 87 1 she N. 7th se Philadelphia. MANUFACTURERS OF SHEET JJ, me We THI = 8 oh a F HD} he adh itd oo aN 105 -109 So.Je Seish: whe Best Bronze, Babbitt Metals. Brass and Alum fi NICKEL ANODES GERMAN SILVER | oncse cnonss. ase corren Brass The Seymour Mfg. Co., - - Seymour, Conn.| ano TUBING H-eNDRICKS BROTHERS Copper ‘ WIRE PROPRIETORS OF THE Metal Goods made to order from Belleville Copper Rolling Mills, —|_Sheet, Roa, Wire and Tubing. MANUFACTURERS OF PHOSPHOR-BRONZE ube nmsewe? Bolt and Sheathing GERMAGN SILVER COPPER, SCoorrPrinR viReE AND *RIVETS, Saiet Co Importers and Dealers in THE RIVERSIDE pper, Block Tin, Spelter, Lead, A etc. 49 CLIFF ST., NEW YORH. METAL CO. RIVERSIDE. WN. J. THE IRON AGE New York, Thursday, February 7, 1907. The American Cast Iron Pipe Company’s Foundry. The plant of the American Cast Iron Pipe Company, located on the northern outskirts of Birmingham, Ala., is one of the latest additions to the number of well de- signed pipe foundries that have been a feature of the new erection in the South. Proximity to blast furnaces was a prime consideration in the selection of a site, as was the more reasonable basis of land values at a little distance from the city. The development of the plans construction were in charge of Chas. W. Hill, engineer and contractor, Birmingham, Ala. The steel frame of the main building together with the steel roofing was com- pleted within 14 weeks of the signing of the contract. The site is underlaid with clay and the foundation work presented a minimum of difficulty. The main foundry building, which is 97 ft. 6 in. x 349 ft. 6 in. outside, has steel trusses and purlins and is covered by No. 20 gal- Fig. 1—View of Nos. 1 and 2 Casting Pits, American Cast Iron Pipe Company’s Foundry, Birmingham, Ala. was in the hands of E. EB. Linthicum, general manager of the company, whose experience in pipe manufacture had suggested features of construction and arrangement calculated to yield everyday returns in economy of han- dling raw materials and finished product. Pipe founding is conspicuously a business in which large tonnages are essential to success and in which therefore any short- coming in mixture or in the molding, melting or casting of a single day’s product is costly in contributions to the scrap heap. The prevalent notion that the manufacture of cast iron pipe is so largely a mass and routine opera- tion that success Is easy has had some rude shocks in actual practice. The American Cast Iron Pipe Company secured a site of 52 acres, to which the haul for the bulk of the pig iron it uses is but two miles or less, there being direct connection with the Louisville & Nashville, the Southern Railway, Alabama Great Southern and the Birmingham Belt Line. The designing of the plant was started Octo- ber 1, 1905, ground was broken on October 23, 1905, and the first cast was made on May 14, 1906. Designing and vanized corrugated roofing rolled from muck bar iron. Extending the entire length of the roof is a monitor with 6-ft. openings on the sides which are filled with galvan- ized louvers. The monitor itself is ventilated still fur- ther by pipe ventilators. Considerable light is also ad- mitted through the louvers. In the main the foundry is lighted by large windows in the sides and ends of the buildings, these being made up of a series of sash. The latter turn on a vertical axis, and in the hot weather the entire window area can be thrown open. The provi- sion for ventilation thus seems to be ample, a considera- tion of no small importance in the South during the hot months. The steel roof trusses, which are 20 ft. 9 in. between centers, span the entire width of the building and reat upon columns 28 ft. high. These columns have two members. The first, a vertical member made up of four angles and plate construction, carries the vertical strain coming on the columns from the trusses. The second member is a steel brace made of two angles which are laced to the vertical member of the columns by smaller 400 angles. The base of the brace member is 5 ft. from the base of the vertical member. A 13-in. curtain wall of brick is built between the angles of the vertical member of the columns, and thus the steel brace is entirely on the outside of the building. The vertical and brace mem- bers of the columns have bottom bearing plates which are fastened to the foundation with anchor bolts. The foundations under the columns and below the floor level extend into the building about 6 ft. Thus, whether the strain coming on the brace member of the columns; due to the stress imposed by jib cranes, is tension or com- pression, the weight of the brick curtain wall acts with a lever arm of about 4 to 6 ft. as a resisting moment. The jib cranes at the pipe pits, as shown in Fig. 1, have their bottom bearings securely anchored to the founda- tions of the pipe pit, and their top bearings are anchored 4 — THE (RON AGE Fig. 2.—Elevation of Bast or Cupola End of Main Building. to the roof trusses in the plane of the bottom chord of the trusses. The horizontal stresses.of each jib crane are distributed to the tops of five columns on each side of the building. ,' Figs. 2 and 3 are an end and side. elevation of the main foundry building. The two cupolas now in use have been built at the end and outside of the. foundry, as shown in Fig. 2. In the yard adjoining, the pig iron and scrap are stored, while on a platform at the side THE IRON AGE February 7, 1907 ing with the core ovens. There are eight ovens, two to each casting pit, all extending their entire length beyond the wall of the building, the firing pit being on the out- side at the end of the ovens. ‘The core oven roofs are of concrete supported on steel beams. This construction was adopted as it gave a roof low enough to allow space for windows in the foundry wall above the ovens, afford- ing additional light and ventilation, The winding of hay rope on steel pipe is accomplished rapidly, power being furnished from a line shaft and a system of cone pulleys. Each core machine is served by a mud mill. The finished cores are handled by an overhead trolley system operated by friction drive from the main line shaft, being placed on racks which are mounted on wheels, so that the rack with its load of cores may be readily pushed into the oven. The core ovens have each a capacity of 600 in. of pipe reckoned in diameters. The two Whiting cupolas are 78 in. in diameter, hav- ing a capacity of 18 to 20 tons an hour. Blast is pro- vided by a Root positive pressure blower, driven from the main line shaft. The blower room, 14 x 22 ft., is an extension of the main building. A hydraulic elevator is used to elevate the various materials to the cupola charging floor, Iron is conveyed from the cupolas to the foundry floor in ladle cars by mules over a tram track running the full length of the foundry. Molding and casting operations are carried on at present in three cir. cular pits, though floor room is provided for four and the fourth will soon be built. ‘These pits have heavy concrete retaining walls and bottoms and the mold dry- ing ovens underneath are of unusual size, giving each pit an output of 1200 in. of pipe. ‘Two 10-ton electric jib cranes furnished by the Cleveland Crane & Car Company, Cleveland, serve each pit.in the placing of flasks and cores, the pouring of iron and the shaking out of pipe. The cranes are of unusually heavy construction and a special design was adopted, giving 20 to 25 per cent. greater speed than is possible with the ordinary shop crane, The method of molding and casting is the same as that employed at the majority of pipe shops. Sand ts ee i ; i * Pig. 3.—Blevation of North or Core Oven Side of Main Building. of the iron storage yard a large stock of coke can be carried. An extension of this platform affords a run- way for two-wheel steel barrows used in charging coke into the cupolas. Recently the storage yard has been roofed over, giving protection to workmen against in- clement weather as well as against the sun in the hot season. Later two 5-ton cranes will be provided for the stock yard and magnets :will be used: for picking up pig iron and gelivering it to the cupola charging plat- form. The crane runway will have the same direction as the length of the foundry and will command railroad tracks, so that iron can be taken direct from cars. Sand bins, each having capacity. of five carloads, are located on a side track running the entire length of tthe plant on the north side of the main foundry building. The com- pany has its own track system—a total length of 1% miles—so arranged that materials are carried to the point of use with the least handling. Of two tracks into the plant one is on the north side and the other on the south side. All material coming in is handled on the north side track and is then worked through the shop, coming out on the south or cleaning-shed side of the building and going through the various finishing proc- esses on its way to the shipping tracks. The core department is on the north side of the build- ing, adjoining the sand bins, a section about 25 ft. in width on that side being devoted to core floors alternat- wheeled in barrows from bins to pits. All ramming is done by hand. Molds and cores are dried over night. Pouring begins early in the morning and continues through the day. After the pipes are cast and shaken out the molds and cores are put up for the following day. Opposite each pit in the south wall of the foundry is a wide doorway, commanded by the jib cranes. Through these openings the pipe as they are shaken out are deposited on inclined skidways which run the length of the chipping and cleaning sheds, the latter being at Tight angles to the majn building. The center shed, as shown at the left in Fig. 4, to which pipe from the paral- lel cleaning sheds on either side are rolled on trackways, is 300 ft. long and 35 ft. wide. The three sheds give room for holding an entire day’s product. About mid- way of the length of the middle or No. 2 shed are located heating ovens and the dip tank. The pipe are pushed from the chipping and cleaning skidways into ovens, fired by coke, and in which a temperature of 300 degrees F. is maintained. Bmerging from the chamber each pipe is picked up by a hydraulic crane and dipped in a tar vat. The tar is kept at a temperature of 300 degrees, and the immersion lasts for five minutes. Thence the pipes are rolled to the testing press, where they are subjected to a water pressure of 300 Ib. per square inch. Passing afterward over the scales and to inspection floors they are rolled to the storage yard alongside loading tracks, the February 7, 1907 slope of the ground being such that only hand labor is required for loading into cars. All the product of the company is made in conformity with the standard speci- fications for cast iron pipe and fittings adopted by the New England Water Works Association. The machine shop is 70 ft, x 106 ft, and is a wood frame structure with corrugated iron roof. It has a 30-ft. span crane in its center bay, and the heavy ma- chines are so placed in it that work can be handled by THE IRON AGE 401 way through the machine shop and foundry. This run- way will be extended toward the main foundry so that cranes can pass over the area of the casting cleaning floor. The pattern shop, 91 ft. x 40 ft., adjoins the machine shop. It is equipped with an Oliver wood trimmer and with the following Fox Machine Company tools: Two lathes, a planer, band and cut-off saw. For the present a portion of the pattern shop building is devoted Saw Fig. 4.—Exterior View, Showing Outside Location of Cupolas, Also Stock Yard Shed Under Construction.—Dipping Shed at Left, in the Line of Cleaning Shed No. 2. Fig. 5.—-Floor for Special Castings.—Core Ovens on the Left. crane onto the machines. The tools consist of three lathes, radial drill, straight drills, planer, shaper, &c., al! driven from line shafting. At present the molding floor for special castings, of which a view is given in Fig. 5, occupies a portion of the main foundry building, but plans are being prepared for a separate building for special castings, of similar de- sign to the machine shop. This foundry will be placed in line with the machine shop, and will be built on the end of the latter farthest from the main foundry build- ing. Between the special foundry and machine shop will be a space for cleaning castings. The foundry will be served by electric cranes traversing a continuous run- to hay rope twisting, three machines being installed. A storage building is provided, alongside the incoming rail- road track, in which miscellaneous supplies are kept. Space is given in the same building to pattern storage. The power house is 100 ft. 8 in. x 40 ft. 8 in. Three 100-hp. tubular boilers were furnished by the Atla: En- gine Works, Indianapolis, Ind. ‘The engine is of the Corliss type, 200 hp., and was built by the Hardie-Tynes Mfg. Company, Birmingham, Ala. It drives the various machines through line shafting. Electrical power is dis- tributed from a 125-kw. Westinghouse generator direct connected to a Buckeye high-speed engine. also 402 The water supply is secured from the North Birming- ham City water works, but the company also has a large spring close to the foundry. A pipe connects the spring with a large pump in the power house, so that in case of a break in the city connection or other interruption, the plant can be supplied by pumping from the spring. Ulti- mately all water will be pumped from this source. Waste water from the hydraulic cupola-lift and from the test- ing press goes into a catch basin and is repumped. A tank of 10,000 gallons capacity serves the testing plant. A laboratory will probably be built later, but mean- time facilities are provided for such physical tests as are made. Test bars are 1 x 2 in. and 26 in. long and are broken in a Riehle Bros. special machine. They are placed on supports 24 in. apart and loaded in the center. For pipe 12 in. or less in diameter the pieces are ex- pected to sustain a load of 1900 lb. and to show a de- flection of not less than .30 in. before breaking. For pipe larger than 12 in. the required load is 2000 lb. and the deflection not less than .32 in. At present the product consists of pipe 4 to 16 in. in diameter. A fourth pit will be provided in which will be made pipe up to 36 in. in diameter. The output is now about 100 tons a day and from 350 to 400 men are employed. The officers of the American Cast Iron Pipe Company are the following: J. J. Egan, president; BE. L. Douglass and W. W. Orr, vice-presidents; C. Blair, secretary; J. W. Blair, treasurer; E. E. Linthicum, general manager; P. A. Ivy, sales agent. ——~-e—___—_ The Lackawanna Steel Company’s Report. President E. A. 8. Clarke has submitted to the stock- holders of the Lackawanna Steel Company the following statement of the operations of the company for the year ending December 31, 1906: “During the year your plant at Buffalo, as originally planned, has been completed, together with certain addi- tions to open hearth steel making capacity found neces- sary to a proper working balance. The period of organ- ization and training incident to all new works has pre- vented a full output and normal earnings, but notwith- standing the fact that considerable construction work has been carried on during the year most of the errors and weaknesses of plant and organization have been cor- rected, and it is only since October 1 last that it may fairly be said that your works have been in full opera- tion. “Your company received during 1906 from mines which it owns, or in which it is interested, 1,893,662 gross tons of ore, and produced 927,176 gross tons of pig iron and spiegeleisen. It also produced 848,300 tons of Bes- semer and 352,791 tons of open hearth ingots, a total of 1,201,091 tons of steel ingots. Shipments of product in the fourth quarter of 1906 and in the entire year were as follows: Fourth quarter. Year 1906. Gross tons. Gross tons. 0 eer erry 154,384 556,755 Light raile..... 20sec cece eereceancace 14,538 47,868 Angle bars, fittings, &c..7..........«0- 11,081 43,639 CEL . GRE s 60560 0 cnn enckciaves -. 41,164 121,407 ED - Sn.ncsendan kuce \abadeibctachenee 21,556 95,244 Merchant steel products..............6. 16,108 52,401 Slabs, billets and blooms.............+. 6,122 17,078 Pig iron and miscellaneous............. 1,525 34,655 0) eee rr Sar 266,478 969,047 “In anticipation of earlier operations contracts for the sale of a considerable tonnage of steel were made during the period of low prices obtaining in 1904. Owing to delay in completing your plant a substantial part of the above material has had to be shipped during the past year, which has prevented your realizing to a full extent the benefits of the active demand and favorable prices for steel prevailing during 1906. I am pleased to state, however, that there seems to be every indication of a continuance of prosperous times for the steel busi- ness during 1907. Orders on our books at the close of 1906 amounted to 707,494 tons, an Increase of 55 per cent, over the corresponding date In 1905. “The following statement of earnings (which is sub- THE IRON February 7, 1907 AGE ject to the annual audit now in progress) shows that during the last quarter of 1906 your property has been earning at the rate of 14.98 per cent. per year on your stock. The year 1907 should show an increase over this: Fourth quarter Year 1906. 1906. Gross sales and earnings........ $29,002,169.46 $8,674,967.61 Manufacturing vost and operating GCRPGRTOD cco + ccccdapceccsessse 23,862,622.50 6,866,327.86 8 ST ee eee $5,139,546.96 $1,808,639.75% Income from real estate, interest on bills and loans receivable, and investments in other com- EE Saran ob e'sig acaw sued Vs Oe 870,110.20 289,988.40 oe ee $6,009,657.16 $2,098,628.15 Deduct: General expenses........ $583,456.18 $152,009.01 Interest on bonds of subsidiary companies and on bills and Seite -‘ phe. oh. o's F's so dip os 231,842.89 76,333.28 Rentals and royalties......... 154,929.42 40,495.26 Reserves for depreciation and extinguishment, extraordinary replacements, contingencies, &c. *430,463.82 $206,441.46 Interest on bonds and notes of Lackawanna Steel Company. 1,250,000.00 312,500.00 Total deductions............ $2,650,692.31 $787,779.01 Surplus net income.......... "$3,358,964.85 "$1,310,849.14 Appropriated for additions and im- provements to property and con- struction and for. discharge of capital liability............... 515,506.76 175,110.02 Balance of surplus.......... $2,843,458.09 - $1,135,739.12 * In addition to expenditures for ordinary~repairs and main- ne Sapcenipetns $1 000,720.02. © expenditures for ordinary repairs and main- tenance, approximating $521,552.99. “There has been expended during the past two years in new construction and additions to property, charge- able to capital, $8,210,865.51, of which $2,754,487.99 was expended during 1906. “Your directors have during the past year authorized the construction of an additional blast furnace at Buffalo of a daily capacity of 500 tons, and the building of the same has progressed so far that it is expected to have it in operation by March 1 next. Another similar furnace should be built during 1907 to give the best results for your property. “Your directors have also negotiated the purchase of the Bllsworth Coal Company, which owns some 15,000 acres of coking coal lands in Washington County, Pa., estimated to contain over 110,000,000 tons of coal, to- gether with four working shafts and a splendid equip- ment of machinery, miners’ houses, &c., the property having a present annual capacity of upward of 2,000,000 tons of coal a year. Through this purchase they feel that your company has been provided with an ample supply of coking and gas coal, which, by rendéring it in- dependent of the fluctuations of the coal and coke mar- ket, should considerably increase its earnings. “ Although all the surplus of 1906 has been used for working capital or new construction, additions and im- provements, your directors are satisfied that further new construction and additions are necessary and desirable for the proper development of your plants, as well as for reduction in operating costs, and that more ample work- ing capital should be provided, and they are considering ways and means of providing proper funds for these purposes. Under these circumstances it has not been deemed wise to declare any dividend on your stock.” —_~+9e—__ The Crocker-Wheeler Company held its annual meet- ing of officers and branch managers at the main office and works, Ampere, N. J., January 23 to 26, at which time it was announced that the company had done more business during 1906 than in any other year since it was formed 18 years ago. The special products mostly re- sponsible for this were alternating current generators of large capacity, direct current motors for machine tools and general machinery, the type W rolling mill motors, and transformers and induction motors. The personnel of the company remains substantially the same as at the previous annual meeting. February 7, 1907 The Coulter Horizontal Nut Tapper. A number of features favorable to very rapid pro- duction and simple operation are to be found in the Coul- ter horizontal geared nut tapping machine, built by the Automatic Machine Company, Bridgeport, Conn. Fig. 1 gives a general view of the working side of the machine. THE IRON AGE Fig. 2.—End Elevation of the Coulter Nut Tapper, Showing a Section through One of the Spindles. and Fig. 2 an end elevation, partly a section through cne of the tapping units. As will be seen in Fig. 2, the tap is held by the friction A in a collet, B. secured in the spindle C, which is driven by worm and gear. The handle D draws back the slide B to permit inserting a nut in the nut holder F. The slide with the nut holder is made to follow the nut during the operation of tapping by the weight G, which is attached to the slide by a chain passing over a roller in the head of the machine. An adjustable stop, not shown, is provided to prevent unnecessary travel of the slide BD, after the nut has passed over the threaded portion of the tap. There THE IRON AGE 403 is also an adjustable stop, H, back of the nut holder to prevent the tap from working out of the collet between the tapping of one nut and the inserting of another. When the shank of the tap can hold no more tapped nuts the slide E is pulled back by the handle D, the tap is drawn from the collet, and the nuts are allowed to slide off the shank through an opening in the bed into THe ipow Ace tote boxes, K. The tap is replaced in the collet without stopping the machine. The use of taps of different lengths is provided for by making handle D and slide E adjustable in their relation to one other through the bolt I. The tote boxes, having perforated bottoms, allow the oil to be drained from the finished nuts to the table L and thence into the settling pan M, which overflows into the tank N. From the latter oil is drawn by the cir- culating pump O, and delivered through flexible tubes, P, and elongated funnels, R, to the cutting parts of the taps, insuring the lubrication of each tap at every posi- tion of its slide. Provision is made for removing the chips from the bed of the machine. It is stated that in commercial use the machine is pro- ducing from 9000 to 10,000 %-in. malleable iron nuts in 10 hr. with four spindles, and the same number of %-in. nuts with six spindles. The machine is without lifting weights or treadles, and may be operated by a boy. The parts are simple and readily removed for cleaning, oiling, &e., and quickly adjustable for changes in work. The nut holders are in one piece, and can be adjusted to suit taps of any length from 8 to 16 in. —_ —o--e—___—_- The Ocmulgee, the fourth steel freight steamer for the Atlantic & Birmingham Construction Company, was launched January 29 at the works of the Fore River Shipbuilding Company, Quincy, Mass. These vessels are for service between New York and Brunswick. They have a length over all of 312 ft. 10 in., beam molded 40 ft.. depth 27 ft. 9 in., and draft loaded 18 ft. They are fitted with triple expansion engines and two single end Scotch boilers. It is said that a scheme is in progress for supplying the ancient Spanish town of Seville with electric power from El Carchado, 80 miles away. Three 1500-hp. tur- bines at 400 rev. per min. are to drive generators operat- ing at 5000 volts. Transmission is to be at 50,000 volts, after which the current will be stepped down to 3500. The plant will be on the three-phase system at 40 cycles. Alabama Iron Manufacture. Possible Economies in the Blast Furnace. BY JOHN J. PORTER, STAUNTON, VA. Some years ago it was said in connection with its iron resources that Alabama was pre-eminently that State “where nature had done so much and man s0 little.” To some extent this characterization has of late years been modified, but in spite of the State’s enormous industrial growth and high rank as a producer of iron, there is still something lacking. Alabama may be likened to the spend- thrift with no thought for the future, and there is notice- ably absent a general application of scientific methods in manufacturing by which the resources of nature are hus- banded and utilized with an eye to the greatest ultimate profit. The cause of the general carelessness in this respect is found in that very lavishness of nature, whose bounty so freely distributed removes our incentive to economy and ingenuity. “When we can manufacture for $10 the iron which we sell at $15, why strain every nerve. to lower, this cost another dollar? Reduttion of césts medns improvements, experimenting, expert advice, . and these in turd - -mean capital outlay. We ate earning: good dividends: Why should we.risk, a changé?” So tun the arguments, in - thought if not in ‘words, Age tig ceteit or ekelet pyar agement. How ‘diiterent, io the colle. where #hé'marghi. of prot is very small and a few cente per ton makes all the dif- ference between bankruptcy and success. Here we have every incentive to care, and the result again proves’ the truth of the old saying, “ Necessity is the mother of invention.” The Cost of Manufacturing [ron in Alabama has been frequently discussed in the tech- nical papers, and is therefore a familiar subject to most readers. However, in order to refresh.the memory, I give in the accompanying table a few condensed cost eheets, taken at random from my notes, and representing work done during the past five years. I will have occa- sion to refer to them from time to time during the fol- lowing discussion. Some Costs of Pig Iron at Alabama Furnaces. A. B. c. D. B. -——— —Tons* used per ton* of iron. OPO -i. cewscovrewes 2.27 2.31 2.14 2.45 2.48 Gad sdiveds dvds 1.72 1.47 1.58 1.57 1.56 Limestone ........ 0.83 0.62 0.52 0.36 0.54 ———Cosat per ton of iron. —_—____—_, OUD ks covecereccsss $2.09 $2.06 $2.14 $2.68 $2.61 GIP asiavvcvceess 5.15 4.46 4.52 4.88 6.24 Limestone .......- 52 37 28 -15 40 Laer scccceccecee 1.21 1.31 1.05 -79 ao ‘Supplies, repairs, &c. 1.25 1.27 1.24 1.00 87 Total cost. ...$10.22 $9.27 $9.23 $9.50 $11.02 c—————Per cent. of total cost.——_—__——, WOO “codvessssicncs 20.5 22.2 23.1 28.2 23.7 SUD cccivictocses 50.4 48.1 49.0 51.4 56.6 Limestone .......-. 5.1 4.0 3.0 1.6 3.6 EGGP sicccccncecs 11.7 12.0 11.4 8.3 8.2 Supplies, &c.......; 12.3 13.7 13.5 10.5 7.9 * Tons of 2240 Ib. Let us now take up the economies, possible and pros- pective, in some of the items of the cost sheets. With regard to the ores, there seems to be but little of interest in this connection, for although there are im- portant economies to be obtained through concentration of the ores their effects will be apparent through the decrease in flux and fuel. Available ore lands are even now a scarce article in Alabama, being steadily absorbed into the reserves of the larger companies. Mining costs will no doubt show a steady increase over a series of decades, and the time cannot be long delayed before the Jeaner ores will be exploited and by concentration made available for commercial use. The Limestone, In the case of flux, as with other raw materials, the cost per ton of iron is dependent both on price and amount used. The price, equivalent in general to the cost of quarrying plus cost of transportation, is probably sus- THE IRON caves by AGE February 7, 1907 ceptible of only slight diminution, and may in fact show an increase as the more distant quarries are called into service. The amount used, however, is dependent on the gangue in the ore and the ash in the coke, and hence can be considerably lessened by concentration of the ore and more efficient washing of the coal previous to coking. In addition, there are other minor economies. Purity of the stone does not always receive the attention that it deserves, and it is probable that but few furnace man- agers have made detailed calculations of the total in- creased cost due to an additional percentage of impurity in the stone. Without going into detail, I may say that the expense due to the decreased efficiency of the stone itself is hardly a half of the whole. The cost of the fuel necessary to melt the extra slag made is (with high priced coke) the largest factor; while the increase in labor and fixed charges caused by the decreased output is by no means negligible. Under average Alabama con- ditions, if a stone with 2 per cent. gangue (silica plus alumina) is worth 75 cents per ton, it can be shown that a stone with 4 per cent. of these impurities is worth only 62 cents per ton. While it is not possible in every case to improve greatly the quality of the stone, still in many cases much can be done by closer co-operation between laboratery and quarry. The question of alumina in slag is one which has long and one which could probably be and scientific study. High alumina 49 claimedhy most furnacemen to cause a sticky slag, with consequent irregular working and higher fuel con- sumption... ‘This does not coincide with experience in other districts. For example, at the Clarence Works ‘in Bupiend a slag having the following composition is made :* aD ; . Per cent. Per cent. Lime (CaQ)........ . 88.25 Pe SEs 6 actnas 0.776 esia (MgO)...... 8.91 Soda (NasO)......+.6. 0.488 flica (S10,).......... 28.30 Sulphur (B)....ccccces 1.63 Alumina (Als0,)....... 24.75 ae Iron oxide (FeO)...... 0.295 100.754 Manganese oxide (MnO) 0.36 FL)? eee 0.815 Totals rccccsccese CSSD It will be noted that the alumina is exceedingly high, but nevertheless the furnace work is exceedingly regular, and coke consumption is as low as 2300 Ib. per ton of iron on an ore yield of only 39 to 40 per cent. The quality of the coke is of course much superior to that used in Alabama, but even so, the average fuel consump- tion here is close to 3300 Ib. per ton of iron on an ore yield of about 40 per cent., and the discrepancy is too great to be entirely accounted for in this way. I have dwelt upon this example because it seems to me to show particularly well what can be done by a painstaking application of scientific methods and research to manu- facturing operations. It will be recalled that the Olar- ence Works was the scene of the labors of Sir Isaac Lowthian Bell and of his scarcely less noted son and successor. With respect to economy of flux, there can be no doubt that it is advantageous to have alumina replacing silica, as much less lime is then required to form a slag of a given basicity. I have recently had occasion to plot a number of actual, and satisfactory, slags on the triaxial diagram, and the results, as yet unpublished, show that for an all Mme slag and foundry iron the weight of lime should be equal to approximately 0.25 times the alumina plus 1.4 times the silica. Thus it seems that nearly six times as much lime is required for a given weight of silica as for alumina. The Fuel, As the fuel cost is about 50 per cent. of the total, it Is apparent that here we have the greatest opportunities for saving. Let us first take up the question of price, or cost of manufacture, Leaving out of consideration the cost of mining the coal, which I am not prepared to discuss, the most obvious improvement would seem to be the introduction of by-product ovens; and in this connection we must chalk up a mark to the credit of Alabama, since she *I am indebted to Charles Catlett of Staunton, v “ this analysis and for the particulars concerning it. ” tor February 7, 1907 already possesses one of the few by-product plants man- ufacturing furnace coke. That there is a large economy in the use of by-product ovens is sufficichtly attested by the fact that several companies stand ready to undertake the coking of coal without charge other than the value of the by-products which they obtain. Figures given by J. D. Pennock in the Journal of the American Chemical Society for 1899 would seem to show that, at that time at least, the value of the by-products obtained (including tar, ammonia, cyanides, benzol and gas) was slightly greater than the value of the coke; besides which it is beyond question that the yield of coke is increased by some 15 per cent. The humble beehive oven, however, is also subject to great improvement in the way of economy, and as illus- trating this point, I am tempted to cite one quite striking case which came to my notice. During the depression of 1903-04 a prominent company operating in the South secured the services, in a consulting capacity, of a well known mining engineer. This gentleman, after a careful examination and study of the conditions, was able to suggest and carry out slight changes in the operation and management of the coke ovens which reduced the cost of the coke by an average of 35 cents per ton. This saving was accompanied by an increase in output and quality, and was accomplished practically without capital expen- diture. The ovens had formerly been managed with an efficiency up to the average of the district and the economies were all small ones, apparent only to the trained technical mind, and were carried out by the aid of a carefully devised system of efficiency records. I be- Heve that the management of this company has since given up these records and the subordinates have been allowed to drift back into the old wasteful, shiftless habits. Eternal vigilance is the price of efficiency, to paraphrase an old saying. The Operation of the Blast Furnace, In any discusssion of the economy of fuel in the blast furnace the subject of dry blast must inevitably take a prominent part. Personally I have no doubt that this invention will be an important feature in the economy of the future. I believe, moreover, that its principle is of more importance than the process itself, and now that attention has been called to the necessity of intensity of combustion, other methods of increasing this will also be gradually developed, The waste of fuel due to unnecessary gangue in the ore and fiux has already been spoken of. Based on average Alabama practice, and on the figures of heat distribution in the blast furnace given by Bell, I have calculated that each pound of slag will require approx- imately 0.31 lb. of coke to melt it. From this the im- portance of keeping the slag volume down to reasonable figures can be readily seen. A particularly noticeable and unfortunate condition of Alabama furnace practice is the very large amount of coke that is wasted through solution in the upper part of the furnace. This condition is attributable in great part to the softness of the local coke when coked by the methods in vogue, and it is still an open question as to whether it will be possible in any way to overcome this. Surely it must be a bold man who will at the present time venture to deny this possibility, for the field is comparatively unexplored and holds forth great induce- ments to the scientific-technical investigator. Although this softness of the coke is, in general, a problem for the coke maker rather than the furnace manager, yet there is in one respect a possibility of miti- gating the waste at many plants. There are probably few furnacemen who have not seen large lumps of only partially decomposed limestone removed from. the tuyeres, and there must also be but few who are not aware of the power of carbon dioxide to dissolve carbon at high temperatures. There seem, however, to be a good many furnacemen who are unable to put two and two together, for at a large number of plants the limestone is still charged in great lumps. Even a novice can see that these large pieces will give off their carbon dioxide much more slowly than the crushed stone, and that this THE IRON AGE carbon dioxide, being liberated far down in the furnace at a comparatively high temperature, will have its solvent action on the coke enormously increased, with corre spondingly greater waste of fuel. There are many other details which offer possibill- ties for saving fuel, but the preceding will be sufficient illustration for the purposes of this paper. 405 Management Might Be Improved. Management in the South is also possibly susceptible of great improvement. It is far from my intention to assert that the furnace managers of Alabama are, as a class, any less competent than those elsewhere, but, whether owing to the greater difficulties encountered or to other causes, it is certainly true that irregularity of operation is a common fault of this district. The im- portance of this regularity is usually more strongly ap- preciated by the furnace superintendent than by those higher in authority, and I believe that one of the chief reasons why the steel works blast furnaces of the North have been able to make such wonderful records is be- cause this principle has been so thoroughly grasped by those in authority. The items of labor cost and fixed charges will offer opportunities for economy varying greatly at different plants. On the average, however, these chances will be especially great in Alabama, owing to the large number of old and more or less inefficient plants. While I have only cited a few of the more noticeable economies, still I think enough has been said to show that wonderful possibilities exist for the South in co- operation with the trained technical man. In view of the steady drain upon the more cheaply won materials of iron making, the introduction of many of these econ- omies cannot be long delayed; and, should a return swing of the pendulum of business bring dull times and lower prices, it may perhaps not be an unmixed evil if it serve to hasten this elimination of waste. — An Enormous Ventilating Plant. The Carnegie Library Extension, at Pittsburgh, Pa., has been provided with a mechanical ventilating equip- ment which is one of the largest ever placed in a single building. It has an aggregate capacity of over 600,000 cu. ft. of fresh air per minute drawn in, and a similar capacity of vitiated air exhausted. To avoid excessively large units and properly sectionalize the equipment the fresh air apparatus has been arranged in 15 sections, hav- ing 19 fans, and the exhaust equipment in 21 stations with 30 fans. The ventilation is independent of the heating, the fresh air supply systems being designed to deliver air tem- pered only to the normal temperatures of the rooms sup- plied, and the heating is accomplished by direct radia- tion. The only exception is the music hall, where suff- cient radiation was provided to permit indirect heating if desired. The tempering coils in all of the fresh air sup- ply systems are of sufficient capacity to satisfactorily heat the building in moderate weather, if the direct radia- tion system became deranged. The supply fans, manufactured by the B. F. Sturte vant Company, Boston, Mass., are all of the steel plate, centrifugal type, the greater part having three-quarter housings with steel bottom pans. They are in all cases driven by slow speed multipolar motors. Heating coils have been fitted to all but one of the supply systems for tempering the fresh air in cold weather. They have a total heating surface of 87,042 lin. ft. of 1-in. pipe. The coils are in general made up of six and seven two-row sections, each of the Sturtevant miter type pattern. They are of 1-in. pipe screwed on 2%in. centers into separate corrugated cast iron headers on steam and return ends. The coils are incased in jackets of steel plate, with con- nections to the filters and fan intakes. The tempering coils of the fresh air systems are, like the direct radia- tion of the heating system, under automatic thermostatic control. THE IRON February 7, 1907 AGE The Coke Supply of the United States. Although the coal fields of the United States, includ- ing the lignite areas of North Dakota and Texas, occupy an area of approximately 400,000 square miles, and are scattered through 33 out of 50 States and Territories, the districts capable of producing high grade coking coals are of comparatively restricted extent and are confined in most part to the States included in the Appalachian system. There are some fairly good coking coals in the Rocky Mountain States and in Washington, but the areas are relatively small, somewhat widely separated, and, so far as known, have all been “patented” and are now in private ownership. The production of coke in the Rocky Mountain region represents about 5 per cent. of the total output of the United States. The coal fields of the Mid- dle West, including Indiana, Lllinois, Michigan, western Kentucky, Iowa, Kansas and Missouri, and those of the Southwest, embracing Arkansas, Indian Territory and Texas, which together occupy 185,000 square miles, or nearly 50 per cent. of the total coal area of the United States, contain very few coals of coking quality, and the little coke made there can hardly be classed as blast furnace or foundry fuel, though it can be and is used for zinc smelting and other purposes where high grade coke is not required. We cannot, of course, tell what the future will de- velop in coking methods or in inventions which may solve the problem of coking what are now considered noncoking coals. The experimental work carried on at the Geo- logical Survey coal testing plant at St. Louis has given some encouraging results along this line, but the investi- gations, which had to be conducted with a small battery of beehive ovens, have not been carried far enough to warrant definite conclusions. Further investigations with more satisfactory equipment will be inaugurated when the coal testing plant has been permanently located. Enough has been done already to show that certain coals heretofore considered noncoking may,*under favorable conditions, with the addition of a hydrocarbon such as coal tar, be made to yield coke; but that is about all that can be said. Leaving then to the more or less remote future the matter of utilizing commercially for coking purposes the now noncoking coals and confining the con- sideration to the coals which will make coke under known methods, we find that the principal sources of supply are practically limited to the States of Pennsylvania, Vir- ginia, West Virginia, eastern Kentucky, Tennessee and Alabama. Map of the Coal Fields, The accompanying map illustrates how the coal fields of the United States are distributed, the lined areas in- dicating the country underlain by beds of brown lignite, while the true coals—anthracite, semianthracite, bitumi!- nous, semibituminous, sub-bituminous, &c.—are shown by the solid black. The portion of the Appalachian system in which are found the coals best adapted to the manufacture of coke (under present conditions) is indicated by the boundaries made by the white line at the north and extends to the southwestern extremity of the field in Alabama. A small amount of coke is made from coal mined outside of this area and there are considerable portions of it which do not contain coking coals, but it is not possible to show these accurately on a map of this size. The principal coking coal areas outside of the Ap- palachian region are shown by white crosses. Three small areas in Colorado, Utah and Montana are shown by black crosses beside them. The most important of these is the Trin