The Iron Age 1910-01-06: Vol 85 Iss 1

THE IRON AGE New York, Thursday, January 6, 1910. The Blake & Johnson Model Factory The new works of the Blake & Johnson Company, Waterbury, Conn., in the manufacturing suburb of Waterville, embody many of the best features of mod- ern factory construction in adaptations, which in a number of instances are original. The company oper ates two departments, one for the manufacture of ma- ¢hinery, which shops remain in the city of Waterbury ; the other, for the manufacture of hardware specialties, which is housed in the new building. The factory, an exterior view of which is given in Fig. I, is 200 x 260 ft. on the main floor, and 12 ft. longer in the basement, extending beneath the loading platform, which is the width of the structure. The building may be considered as having two full stories, the lower being so well lighted as to hardly merit the name of basement. The nature of the machinery re- quires a very substantial foundation, the equipment including as it does headers, thread rolling machines and other heavy automatic machinery. The founda- s vemeen naan a eee | iz eee ee ' i L j 3 — I St =e — apunitie % soy ae i By * rf FI as L S. ad tion to details on the part of the manager. In too many cases the manufacturer leaves everything to his engineers, who, though they may be able men in their profession, are naturally not in touch with the indi- vidual conditions which they are to meet. Robert P Lewis, the company’s manager, has devoted a great deal of time and study to the problems confronting him, and, being himself an experienced civil engineer, his efforts were the more intelligently directed. A flat roof extends entirely around the building for a width of 20 ft. The central portion, as shown in Fig. 3, is covered by eight saw teeth 220 ft. long, each covering the width of a bay. In the New England climate, where there are heavy snowfalls and sudden thaws, this type of roof presents very serious prob- lems. The weight of snow may prove a threatening element if accumulations are not removed. The mat- ter of drainage must be carefully considered. In this case the glass extends from the apex of the saw-tooth to 18 in. above the valley level, giving a practically continuous glass surface 7 x 220 ft. The ventilation Fig. 1.—Exterior View of the New Factory of the Blake & Johnson Company at Waterville (Waterbury), Conn. tions, basement walls and floors are of concrete, The upper story walls are of brick with pilasters 20 in. wide only, giving two broad, high windows to each bay. Throughout the plant the effort has been made to se- cure a maximum and uniform distribution of light. The proportions require a roof of saw-tooth design, and in the basement the use of prismatic glass which deflects the light rays from the windows to the inner area, giving an unexpected degree of illumination. From the elevations given in Fig. 2, it may be seen that the basement floor is divided by the columns into bays 10 x 20 ft., and the manufacturing floor into bays 20 ft. square, a size which permits of advantageous grouping of machinery, as may be judged from the in- terior view, Fig. 4. The basement columns are of heavy concrete construction, while those which sup- port the roof are of Southern pine timbers. It will be noticed that the structural steel of the saw-tooth design is somewhat unusual. It is simple and light, and at the same time ample for its purpose. The original plans called for a much more expensive layout, but a careful study of conditions resulted in a great simpli- fication of construction. It affords a striking instance of a large economy coming out of the personal dili- gence of the owner. In fact, the factory is throughout a fine example of the outcome of the personal atten- OE! Baba 5 ti TR SAEE aE A ASSIS SSS wee was taken care of by adopting the Anti-Pluvius putty- less skylight and Lowell window operator of the G. Drouvé Company, Bridgeport, Conn. There is a sky- light in each third sash, or two to a bay. They are located at the top of the glass, and swing outward and upward. The Lovell system is simple of operation, every ventilator of an entire tooth being opened or closed from one central point. A novelty in the de- sign is the use of a counterweight to offset the weight of the sashes so that they open and close without slam or jar. The entire roof must be water tight, including the sashes. The chief danger lies within the valleys below the glass. Each section pitches, in alternate direction, to four leader pipes, which carry the water to the drainage system. A plastic slate was chosen to cover the roof, including the valleys, giving an unbroken surface from glass to glass between the teeth. Thus far the material has proved eminently satisfactory. Experience has shown that it is never necessary to remove by hand the snow accumulating in the valleys of this roof. The system of piping in the factory is an important element in this connection. Hot water, heated by exhaust steam from the engines, passes through coils of pipe located beneath the valleys at the cci'ing and melts the snow as fast as it falls, the eae a doy SEBEL BIS: a = THE IRON January 6, 1910 iarging through the leaders which pass ide of the building. Even should it be ex- cold during a snowfall, with the precautions against leakage, it is not anticipated that the fortunate experiences in some shops with this type f roof construction will be repeated here. The floor construction is an important feature. The base is concrete. That of the main floor is a 5-in. slab. On it is laid an inch of hot tar and sand, into which is bedded 2-in. hemlock plank. Upon this is a diagonal intermediate flooring and the final surface 1s a square edged maple flooring. Altogether it is Io in thick. The concrete gives the necessary strength and the wood provides for holding down machinery and a better wearing surface than concrete. Between the Johnson Factory, subfloor and finished concrete floor of the basement is a damp-proof course of felt and hot asphalt. An innovation in general plating room practice, though one that had already been tried out, was the adoption of a dry floor for the department. It has been claimed by those having experience that a wooden flooring is impracticable. In this new plant the con trary has proved true. Sufficient drainage area about the washing vats serves to take off any overflow or slopping of fluids. The workmen not only strive to keep the floor dry because of the department rules, but have found that it serves their own interests to do so, the new conditions adding greatly to their personal comfort and health. The sinks and closets for the help have been placed out in the main factory, in groups to best serve the various parts of the great room. No urinals are in- stalled. The closets are equipped with spring seats, which are automatically lifted when not in use. Ex- cept in the women’s toilets the closets are not screened, which removes the likelihood of loafing, so common in toilet rooms which are out of sight of superintendent and foremen. Greater cleanliness prevails, also, and much attention is paid to the sanitary conditions. The strictly modern power plant, coupled with the electric drive of machinery, has resulted in a marked economy of operation. Motors are installed on the group system, each line of shafting having its indi- vidual drive. Hot water was adopted for the heating system. Beside being a most satisfactory method of heating, the company has considered seriously the in- stallation of a producer gas equipment for its next power unit and the very hot exhaust gases of a gas engine will serve as well as steam in heating the water of the system. The location of the works has its desirable fea- tures. It is on a railroad, a siding from which passes by the loading platform. There is ample space and the outlook from the windows is attractive and restful to LONGITUDINAL SE of the New Blake & N ECTK CROSS FC . RETE WATERPROOFING Ful mares! cals mane oe ces ones antes - saree DR ORE EL ksap amon noetneiiTre Bae sane B82 FA FoR COL CON ORTING ROOF LOAD J pon Lb 7 WA yUNNELE ES ‘ 8 SUPF 4 CONCKETE WATERTABLE. PIERS AND 5 ELEVATION - < a | CONTINUED TABOR SASH STPIPS WINDOWS CONTINUED OPENING BLUESTONE SILLS | | PLASTIC ERS AND CURTAIN WALLS FIN, BASEMENT FLOOR SOUTH CEMENT WINDOWS .—Side and Longitudinal and Cross Sectional Elevations = CONCRETE REINFORCED | CONCRETE FOOTINGS |} BRICK P pan » = Fig. CONCRETE FOOTING REINFORCED 7 | bh» J PIVOTED 7 SASH | TABOR VENTILATING = Omg Mute AT TO SASH HINGED Fig. 3.—Detail of the Saw Tooth Roof. January 6, 1910 THE the eye of the worker. The company decided not to use opaque glass in its factory windows, contrary to common practice nowadays to shut off view of the out- side, so that the employees may not have their atten- tion distracted. Doubtless this is necessary in neigh- borhoods where there is a great deal of passing of peo- ple or vehicles, but in the country it may be safely abandoned. In fact, anything which adds to the em- ployees’ comfort and pleasure in a manufacturing establishment may be considered distinctly advanta- geous, providing, of course, that it does not interfere with the work. The better air and light, in fact the general wholesomeness of the new shop and its envi- ronments, have already brought about an increased ef- ficiency under conditions which otherwise may be con- sidered as essentially the same. However, the location of the plant has its material disadvantages. A broad brook passes through the premises and provides ample water supply for the rig. 4 Interior power house and for other industria! purposes without being annoying under ordinary weather conditions, but in times of flood it is a torrent which must be con trolled. Rip-rap dikes have been built so that it can- not overflow its banks and reach the factory. The nat- ural contour of the ground, together with the dikes, makes a depressed area about the building. A drain- age system has been installed and this, working in con- junction with the water supply system, takes care of any undue accumulations of water which may come with a very severe rain storm or during a sudden thaw. The supply pipe which carries the water from the stream to a well in the boiler house has its mouth in a screen chamber at the water’s edge. A drainage pipe discharges the surface water into the stream be- low a shallow dam. This pipe crosses the supply pipe at a narrow angle and at a slightly greater elevation. The drainage pipe takes care of all surface water in the area immediately surrounding the factory together with the water from the roof. There is a gate at the mouth of each of these pipes. Connecting the pipes is a by-pass which acts as an overflow from the drain- age pipe into the supply pipe. At times of flood the brook water rises above the gates, which are closed. IRON AGE 3 The water accumulates in the drainage pipe until it has reached the level of the overflow, through which it passes to the supply pipe and thence into the power house well. All that is not required for power house and other purposes is discharged by the powerful un- derwriter firepump over the dike into the below. strean) Ci The Iroquois Iron Company to Build Two Blast Furnaces. Following a meeting of the directors of the Iroquois Iron Company, Chicago, last week, the announcement was made that the company had increased its capital stock to $3,000,000, and that a bond issue of the same amount had been underwritten. Work will begin at once on the construction of two new blast furnaces on which the company expects to spend $2,000,000. 3 se) | Be Ba View of the Factory. Their capacity will be 700 tons a day, which with the two furnaces now in Operation will give the company atl output of 1200 tons daily. The Iroquois Iron Company has about 50 acres of land around the mouth of the Calumet River and is in- terested in important iron ore properties in Minnesota and Michigan. It is a Rogers, Brown & Co. furnace company, and its officers are the following: President, M. C. Armour; first vice-president, William A, Rogers; second vice-president, E. L. Billingslea; treasurer, George A. Tripp; assistant treasurer, Charles A. Still- man; general manager, S. A. Kennedy. D. B. Meach- am, Cincinnati, resident partner of Rogers, Brown & Co., and D. B. Gamble, Cincinnati, are the remaining directors. —— D+ oe _—__ The Page Woven Wire Fence Company, Monessen, Pa., will make some important improvements to its plant, among which will be a large warehouse, 200 x 200 ft., to be used for the storing of wire fencing. The company will also increase its facilities for handling pig iron and scrap, and will install a 5-ton traveling crane with 300-ft. runway, electric magnet, &c. 4 THE IRON NEW IRON AND STEEL WORKS CONSTRUCTION. \ SUMMARY OF WORK NOW UNDER WAY OR TO BE UNDERTAKEN IN 1910. AGE January 6, 1910 Nineteen Blast Furnaces Building or Planned, with Annual Capacity of 2,650,000 Tons—Open Hearth Steel Produce The statement summing up new construction in the iron and steel industries as of January I, 1910, is far more impressive than the similar statement given in these columns one year ago. Both were designed to take account of blast furnace and steel works plant on which work was in progress at the beginning of the year or was projected. At the beginning of 1909 the United States Steel Corporation subsidiaries were al- most the only steel companies having important new work on hand. And with them this work, apart from that at Gary, was for the most part unfinished por- tions of the programme of new work announced by the Steel Corporation in December, 1906. “Delayed by the panic of 1907 and other causes, some of these ad- ditions were carried over into I909 and in a few cases are just now being finished. This year the conditions are reversed. The pro- gramme of the United States Steel Corporation is lighter than it was a year ago, while the independent steel companies have much more new work on hand than at the opening of 1909. A year ago the Steel Corporation had 10 blast furnaces under construction, including six at Gary; to-day it has three furnaces under construction or projected, including two at Gary, which are nearly completed. The data given below, while not complete to the last detail, represent the important blast furnace and steel works construction now in the hands of contract- ing engineers and builders or definitely announced to be undertaken in 1910. They show that 19 coke blast furnaces are now building or planned, these being as follows, with their rated annual capacity: Capacity. Gross tons. ee en I on wines chins os asses deena 300,000 American Steel & Wire Company, 1 160,000 Republic Iron & Steel Company, 1 160,000 Bethlehem Steel Company, 3 450,000 Jones & Laughlin Steel Company, 2................ 350,000 Youngstown Sheet & Tube Company, 1 175,000 er CN TE 5 oon o's wie se oe reeenee 240,000 Corrigan, McKinney & Co., 1 120,000 Wickwire Steel Company, 1 120,000 Detroit Iron & Steel Company, |! 95,000 Rogers-Brown Iron Company, 2................ 240,000 Iroquois Iron Company, 2............. 240,000 Total 2,650,000 Of the above capacity, 1,835,000 tons is for steel works and 815,000 tons for merchant furnace compa- nies. It is probable that 1,610,000 tons of the above total capacity will be producing pig iron before the end of 1910, while 1,040,000 tons will not be completed be- fore IgII. In the summation below the new open hearth plants now under construction or definitely planned for erec- tion in 1910 (the completion of a small part of it prob- ably going over to the early part of 1911) represent an annual output of 2,850,000 tons of steel. Consider- ably more than half this new capacity will be available, it is estimated, before the middle of 1910. UNITED STATES STEEL CORPORATION. Indiana Stee] Company, Six blast furnaces at Gary, Ind., are now in opera- tion, four of these having been blown in in 1909. The remaining two of the eight belonging to the first two Plant Partly Completed or Projected That Can 2,850,000 Tons a Year. groups will be completed in a few months. The third group of 14 60-ton open hearth furnaces will be com- pleted by the spring of 1910. In the past year the blooming, billet and rail mills have been completed and put in operation. Of five bar mills one has been completed and the others can be finished in a few months. The 14-in. mill is expected to be ready in January. The universal plate mill will be completed probably by the middle of 1910, and the axle mill, which has a capacity of about 60 per cent. of that of the Howard Axle Works, will be in operation in a few months. Work is also in progress on 560 by-product coke ovens, which will have a capacity of 2,000,000 tons of coke a year. Illinois Stee] Company. A notable improvement under way at the South Works of the Illinois Steel Company is a new light structural mill of 24-in. and 18-in. stands. Its capacity is rated at 15,000 tons.a month. The mill will be elec- trically driven, power being supplied by two low pres- sure steam turbines, using exhaust steam from the reciprocating engines which drive the present structu- ral mill. Carnegie Steel Company. The most important work this company has on foot is for the erection at Girard, Ohio, of mills for the rolling of steel bars, hoops and small shapes, with a daily capacity of about 1000 tons. These mills will be electrically driven, the power being supplied from blast furnace gas engines at the Ohio works. A full year will probably be required for the completion of the work now planned at Girard, and ultimately it is likely that other finishing mills will be built there. At the Homestead Works of the Carnegie Steel Company changes under way in the 35 and 40-in. structural mills are practically completed. Final work is being done also at the Carrie furnaces on the enlargement of the electric plant which will supply power for the exten- sion to cement plant No. 5 at Universal, Pa. National Tube Company. A continuous skelp mill which will be electrically driven is under construction at the Lorain, Ohio, works; also two butt weld mills for small pipe. In the past year the last two of the six new 50-ton open hearth furnaces were completed, together with two heating furnaces for the No. 4 skelp mill, four gas producers and an extension to the heating furnace building. American Steel & Wire Company. A new blast furnace, which will be the fourth at the Central plant, Cleveland, Ohio, was authorized in December. It will have a capacity of 500 tons a day and will have gas blowing engines. As already announced, plans have been made for a new $3,000,000 wire plant in the Birmingham Dis- trict, to be located about a mile southwest of the Ensley Steel Works, and between the latter and the new by- product coke plant to be built at Wylam. The wire rod and wire and nail mills will be electrically driven, power being furnished from an electric power station, in which will be gas engines supplied with coke over gas. The output will be 400 tons of wire products a day. January 6, 1910 Tennessee Coal, Iron & Railroad Company, Two important new projects will occupy this com- pany in the coming year. The first is the construction of a great storage reservoir to hold 2,500,000,000 gal- lons of water, this supply being secured by damming Village Creek. A 25,000,000 gallon pumping station is also to be built. At Wylam the company has work under way on 280 by-product coke ovens. A new coal mine will be opened and further work will be done in the development of iron mines on Red Mountain. At the Ensley works two additional 75-ton open hearth furnaces are being built, which will give a total of eight, four on each side of the converting plant. foae™ American Sheet & Tin Plate Company. As announced in December plans have been made for large sheet mills at Gary, Ind., on which the out- lay will be $4,500,000. Light plate, jobbing and sheet mills will be erected at once, and later expansion will make this one of the largest plants of its kind in the country. American Bridge Company. Work will begin soon at Gary, Ind., on two bridge shops with a capacity of 10,000 tons a month. The plant will become in time one of the most important fabricating shops of the company. OTHER STEEL COMPANIES. Jones & Laughlin Steel Company. This company has under way at Aliquippa, Pa., the building of three blast furnaces of 500 tons daily capac- ity each, six Talbot open hearth furnaces, coke ovens, plate and structural mills and tin plate and wire mills. The decision to add tin plate and wire to its products was arrived at by the Jones & Laughlin Steel Company in the early part of 1909. The tin plate plant will con- tain 30 hot mills, while the wire plant will embrace rod mills, wire nail and wire mills, but full details of the latter project have not as yet been worked out. When operations at Aliquippa were resumed early last year, after being suspended in 1908, they were pushed very actively. One of the blast furnaces was blown in De- cember 1, the second will be ready late in January or in February, and the third about April. This will be one of the largest and most complete plants in the country for the manufacture of pig iron, steel and the finished lines noted above. Reports have appeared a number of times that the Jones & Laughlin Steel Com- pany had acquired ground at Gary, Ind., and would build another plant at that place. These reports, how- ever, are untrue, as the company has stated that it in- tends to concentrate its entire manufacturing interests in the Pittsburgh District. Republic Iron & Steel Company, An important move was made by this company last year in starting to build a plant to enter upon the man- ufacture of wrought pipe and of open hearth steel. It had previously manufactured skelp for the market and the building of pipe and tube mills was a natural step. Ground was broken at Haselton, Ohio, in the summer of 1909, and the new plant will be ready for opera- tion in March. The open hearth steel plant on which work is in progress will consist of seven 60-ton furnaces (ultimately 12), blooming mill and continu- ous billet and sheet bar mills. A blast furnace of 450 tons daily capacity is also under construction along- side the three Haselton furnaces of the company. The new steel plant will probably not be ready for opera- tion until late in the present year or in the early part of IgII. Inland Steel Company. The Inland Steel Company, Indiana Harbor, Ind., following extensive improvements which were made last year, has two 60-ton open hearth furnaces under THE IRON AGE 5 construction which are scheduled to be in operation in April. These will give a total of eight open hearth furnaces. This company also has under constructio: eight sheet mills which, with the 10 mills now in op eration, will make one of the largest sheet plants in t country. Three galvanizing pots have been in use ic galvanizing sheets and five are to be added. Nearing completion is what is believed to be the largest sheet warehouse in the country, where a full stock of sheets will be carried for the accommodation of the jobbing trade and large consumers. Inter-Ocean Steel Company, The Inter-Ocean Steel Company, organized in Feb- ruary, 1909, is building a plant at Chicago Heights, Ill., for the manufacture of locomotive and car wheel tires and similar products. Three 4o-ton open hearth furnaces are under construction and the company ex- pects to make its first steel in March, 1910. The roll- ing machinery is of original design and will roll weld- less tires or rings of any section desired. Shells for mining machinery will also be rolled, and it is stated that the plant will be equipped to roll the largest rings in the world. W. L. Jacoby is president, F. R. Coates, vice-president; W. V. D. Wright, treasurer; C. C. Warren, secretary, and Julian Kennedy, Pittsburgh, chief engineer. The mill has been designed by Mr. Kennedy. Youngstown Sheet & Tube Company, Extensive improvements were made by‘ this com- pany in 1909, including three pipe mills and 12 sheet mills—eight hot mills and four cold mills. The sheet mills will be operated in the early part of this year Work is well under way on a third blast furnace, 2z x 88 ft., with four hot blast stoves and additions to the boiler and engine plant. Another bridge is being provided also for the handling of ore. Ohio Tron & Steel Company, The Ohio Iron & Steel Company, operating Mary furnace at Lowellville, Ohio, has had in contempla- tion for some time the building of an open hearth steel plant to consist of six 50-ton open hearth fur- naces, with blooming mill and finishing mills. A meet- ing of the stockholders is to be held on January 20, when it is expected a favorite vote will be had on the proposed plant, and it is the intention to increase the capital stock of the company from $500,000 to $5,000,- 000 to provide money for its erection. It is not im- probable that work on the new plant will be started early this year. Pittsburgh Steel Company. The Pittsburgh Steel Company, which a year ago completed an open hearth plant at Monessen, Pa., con- taining eight 60-ton furnaces, has plans under way for the building of four more furnaces of the same size, and these will probably be added during 1910. This company is a consumer of pig iron to the extent of nearly 1000 tons a day, and also of heavy steel scrap. It is not improbable that at some time two or three blast furnaces will be built at the steel plant to supply its own metal. Bethlehem Steel Company, An important programme of blast furnace and steel works construction was undertaken by the Bethlehem Steel Company last year, the estimated outlay being around $6,000,000. Work was undertaken on three modern blast furnaces, which will adjoin the present furnaces at South Bethlehem. The first of these, on which work was started some years ago and stopped, will be ready in February, and the other two, with 10 hot blast stoves, in the latter part of the year. Two additional sets of ore and coke bins will also be built adjoining those of the existing blast furnace plant. In- stead of building a second group of 10 open hearth furnaces at the Saucon plant, as at first proposed, the company decided to adopt the duplex system. The ine, A. il ca SEERA ET. TAR le 6 THE expect: that by the building of two 20-ton Besse- mer ters, for which contracts were let to the Pe ia Engineering Works, New Castle, Pa., t] city of the combined steel plants can be made joubit that at present. A new Grey mill will be , and the company has under way a 28-in. universal iil and a 22-in. bar mill. Announcement has been made also of the closing of negotiations with a German syndicate to build 450 by-product coke ovens in con- nection with the Bethlehem Steel Company’s works, the output to be 3000 tons of coke a day. The invest- ment in ovens, by-product recovery equipment and buildings will be about $4,000,000. The undertaking is jointly that of the Stettiner Chamottefabrik and the Berlin Anhaltische Machinenbau-Aktiengesellschaft, and the capital will be supplied by the Deutsche Bank of Berlin. Sharon Steel Hoop Company. The improvements and additions to the plant of the Sharon Steel Hoop Company at Sharon, Pa., started early in 1909, are still under construction, but are ex- pected to be finished early in 1910. These consist of one additional 35-ton basic open hearth furnace and two additional blooming mill heating furnaces. American Rolling Mill Company. The extensive programme of steel works and sheet mill additions recently made up by the American Roll- ing Mill Company, Middletown, Ohio, as reported in The Iron Age of December 9, 1909, contemplates the building this year of four 65-ton open hearth steel fur- naces and the following rolling mills: A 40-in blooming mill; 24-in billet and sheet bar mill, with bullhead stand; two plate mills, 72-in. and 96-in., respectively ; two 24-in. sheet and jobbing mills and eight finishing mills, with sheet, pair and annealing furnaces and other auxiliary equipment. Cambria Steel Company. At the works of this company at Johnstown, Pa., the most important new work in 1910 will be the build- ing of wire rod, wire and wire nail mills, with a ca- pacity of 300 tons a day. Contracts for the buildings, for a continuous rod mill and for the other mills and equipment have already been let. Crucible Steel Company of America, Among improvements and additions at plants of the Crucible Steel Company of America, Pittsburgh, Pa., are the following: At the Park Works, Pittsburgh, crane runways and electric cranes are being installed over the yard used for storing crude material. A new 20-in. mill is being erected at the La Belle Works, Allegheny, Pa., which will considerably increase the production of implement steels. This improvement in- cludes a new steel bujlding, reheating furnaces, shears and all necessary equipment, including steam plant with mechanical stokers. The company is erecting at the Spring Works, McKees Rocks, Pa., a complete new steam plant equipped with mechanical stokers. The erection at the Atha Works, Harrison, N. J., of a 2500- hp. modern steam plant, equipped with mechanical stokers, has been authorized and a portion of the mate- rial is now on the ground ready for erection. Forged Steel Wheel Company. The above company, which is a subsidiary of the Standard Steel Car Company, is building at Butler, Pa., an open hearth steel plant consisting of six 50-ton furnaces. Basic Steel Company. The Deforest Sheet & Tin Plate Company, Niles, Ohio, recently completed a new plant consisting of six mills for the manufacture of sheets and tin plate. The Basic Steel Company of Niles, which was incorporated by the same interests, will soon begin the erection of a basic open hearth steel plant with a daily capacity of 500 tons of billets and sheet bars. This company will IRON AGE January 6, 1910 supply sheet bars to the Deforest Company, and will sell bars in the open market. Pennsylvania Stee] Company. The Pennsylvania Steel “Company has placed or- ders for a gas engine as an addition to its blast fur- nace blowing equipment and a low pressure turbo gen- erator set of 1500 kw. capacity. The extensions at the Steelton, Pa., plant last year were chiefly the enlarge- ment of the steel foundry. Lackawanna Steel Compauy, The Lackawanna Steel Company, Buffalo, N. Y., is building an additional 60-ton open hearth furnace at its West Seneca plant. It will have an output of about 50,000 tons a year. This will make 12 furnaces, with a total output of 550,000 tons a year. Some al- terations are being made also in the company’s bar mills. Halcomb Steel Company, Among improvements made in the past year or now in progress at the plant of the Halcomb Steel Com- pany, Syracuse, N. Y., are the following: New brick buildings, 50 x 240 ft. and 50 x 50 ft., with equipment to increase by 50 per cent. the capacity of the wire de- partment for drawing, cold rolling, annealing and straightening tool and alloy products. Other new brick buildings include one 40 x 8o ft. for a storehouse, one 30 x 60 ft. for roll turning and storage, and a 40 x 40 ft. addition to the building for brick and crucible storage. Wickwire Steel Company. The Wickwire Steel Company, Buffalo, N. Y., is building a second blast furnace, which will be 21 x 81 ft., and expects to have it ready to blow in in July, IQIO. The connected interest, Wickwire Brothers, Cort- land, N. Y., manufacturers of wire products, are en- larging their open hearth plant by the construction of a 30-ton open hearth furnace. The present steel plant, consisting of two 30-ton furnaces, was built in 1903 under the direction of the Wellman-Seaver-Morgan Company, which also has the contract for the additional furnace. Eastern Stee] Company. The Eastern Steel Company, Pottsville, Pa., is building two additional open hearth furnaces of 80 tons capacity each. The company is also equipping its plant to roll 24-in. beams. The expense of the improvements now under way will be about $300,000. The ingot capacity will be increased to about 24,000 tons a month on the completion of the new work in the spring of 1910. Lukens Iron & Steel Company. Improvements under way. at the plate mills of this company at Coatesville, Pa., include the building of a four-hole soaking pit furnace in the universal mill, the addition of a 10-ton Gantry crane to the yard equip- ment, and an increase in electric power through the installation of a Rateau-Smoot 750-kw. turbo genera- tor set. Other changes are in contemplation, but details have not as yet been worked out. Upson Nut Company. On property adjoining its blast furnace, Cleveland, Ohio, the Upson Nut Company is building a steel plant consisting of four open hearth furnaces, 34-in. bloom- ing mill and a bar mill. The blooming mill will be driven by a 46 x 60 in. reversing engine. Worth Brothers? Company.” The blast furnace the Worth Brothers Company is completing at Coatesville, Pa., adjoining its plate mills, will be ready for blast in the next three months. It is 85 x 18% ft., and is equipped with McClure cen- tral combustion stoves. It is of the most modern con- struction, and in connection is a large ore yard com- manded by an Alliance Machine Company ore bridge. January 6, 1910 Hot metal will be taken to the open hearth furnaces. A feature of the furnace equipment is a crane runway crossing the cast house transversely, commanding the space in front of the furnace and extending into the yard on either side, permitting the ready handling of brick, clay, runners, &c. A second blast furnace, a duplicate of No. I, is to be built at once, and founda- tion work is already completed. Maryland Steel Company. At Sparrows Point, Md., the Maryland Steel Con- pany is completing an open hearth plant for the man- ufacture of steel either by the straight open hearth or the duplex process. It consists of five 50-ton tilt- ing furnaces, together with cranes, producer plant, &c. The company is also installing two 71%4-ton Brown Hoist rapid unloaders, to operate on 600 ft. of new concrete bulkhead, which is to form the face of the unloading wharf parallel to the line of the blast fur- naces, and which will eventually be continued back of the entire furnace plant. Considerable dredging has been necessary, also in providing facilities for the un- loading of ore. To care for the additional power re- quired to operate the open hearth department, unload- ing plant and other improvements, two 750 kw. low pressure turbines are being provided, direct connected to direct current generators. These turbines take the exhaust steam from the Bessemer blowing engines, exhausting it in turn into a Westinghouse Leblanc condenser. Southern Tron & Steel Company. Important new construction is being carried on by the Southern Iron & Steel Company, Birmingham, Ala., most of its energies at present being directed to- ward the completion of the work at Alabama City, Ala. This plant formerly consisted of one 300-ton blast fur- nace, four open hearth furnaces and a blooming mill, with two open hearth furnaces partly erected. The two additional furnaces have been completed and the four original ones have been completely overhauled and in a large measure rebuilt. The company has added greatly to the crane facilities of the plant, hav- ing under contract a new 100-ton crane with the Alli- ance Machine Company, Alliance, Ohio, as well as a number of cranes of smaller capacity. The principal new construction, however, is the erection of a new rod and wire mill at the same site. This has pro- gressed as far as the erection of the steel frame for both the wire and the rod mill, with a portion of the former under roof and, at the rate of progress made since December 1, it should be possible to have the entire new work under roof and begin the installation of machinery by February 1. This mill will have a capacity of 500 tons of rods per day. It is to be equipped with three continuous billet heating furnaces. The rod mill power plant, consisting of about 10,000 hp. capacity Stirling water tube boilers, is practically complete, as well as six new Duff gas producers and the three reheating furnaces. Repairs on the blast furnace at Alabama City are completed and the fur- nace can be blown in as soon as the balance of the plant is ready for the metal. It is hoped that opera- tions may begin throughout the plant by March 1. The principal other work that is incomplete is at the brown ore mines in Bartow county, Ga., where the com- pany has been installing additional washer capacity and opening up new territory. These improvements are likely to be completed in the next go days. The blast furnaces at Chattanooga and Trussville are pro- ducing and the coal and ore mines of the company are all in operation. MERCHANT BLAST FURNACES. The Iroquois Iron Company, Chicago, affiliated with Rogers Brown & Co., will begin work at once at its Calumet plant on two new blast furnaces of 350 tons daily capacity each. These will bring the output of this company up to 1200 tons of pig iron a day. The THE IRON AGE 7 cost of the new furnaces and appurtenance ll be about $2,000,000. The Rogers-Brown Iron Company, Buffalo, N. recently formed by Rogers, Brown & Co. interests, announced last week that it would build two new fur- naces of 350 tons daily capacity each, adjoining the furnace plant of the Buffalo & Susquehanna Iron Com~ pany at South Buffalo, which the new company ac- quires. The new stacks will not be completed until IQII. : The Detroit Iron & Steel Company is bringing to completion at its Zug Island plant a second blast fur- nace, 80 ft. high, 12% ft. hearth and 18% ft. bosh, equipped with four McKee hot blast stoves and with Allis-Chalmers blowing engines. It will be ready for blast in March or April. Arthur G. McKee, Rocke- feller Building, Cleveland, is the engineer. The Princess Furnace Company, Glen Wilton, Va., is building a furnace 14x70 ft., and 8 ft. (hearth) to replace the old stack. An additional hot blast stove 18x75 ft. is being built and 500 hp. of Babcock & Wilcox boilers are being added. The rebuilding of Earlston furnace of Joseph E. Thropp at Earlston, Pa., will give it a capacity of 100,000 tons of pig iron a year. It will be 82 ft. high, 19 ft. 3 in. diameter at the bosh and 12 ft. 9 in. at the hearth. A complete tunnel system for stock is being installed and the skip hoist will be served by an electric larry. The stack is to be equipped with a Ladd & Baker skip hoist, and the Baker-Neumann rotary dis- tributer. The Andrews & Hitchcock Iron Company, Youngs- town, Ohio, blew out its old No. 1 furnace last year and completely dismantled it. On about the same foun- dation a new furnace has been built, 19 x 80 ft., with 12 ft. hearth and of the latest Julian Kennedy type, with his improved skip hoist. The company has also built four new hot blast stoves of the McClure type, and is equipping its new furnace with a Mullen gas washer, centrifugal pumps, dust catchers, &c. It has equipped the casting house with an electric crane for handling pig iron and carrying it to a Brown pig breaker. The new furnace has been raised about 14 ft. above the ground level of the old one and the com- pany is now finishing all the necessary piping, &c. It hopes to have the furnace in blast in January. Work is well advanced on a new stack for the Day~ ton Coal & Iron Company, Ltd., Dayton, Tenn., re- placing the No. 1 furnace. It will be 80 ft. high, 18: ft. 3 in. diameter at the bosh and 11 ft. 6 in. at the: hearth. 4 The La Follette Iron Company, La Follette, Tenn, is remodeling its blast furnace, installing externally cooled jackets for hearth and bosh, and reconstructing the top, providing a Baker-Neumann rotary distributer. Corrigan, McKinney & Co. are completing a new 350-ton blast furnace at Cleveland, Ohio, which will be put in blast about February 1. Reconstruction work is still in progress at the Secaucus, N. J., furnace of the Hudson Iron Company. The installation of a new blowing engine has just been completed. The work on the stack is progressing, and the furnace may be blown in in four or five months Meantime the company is making shipments of ore to other furnace companies from its Forest of Dean mine at Fort Montgomery, N. Y. (about 275 tons a day) and its limonite mine at Beatyestown, N. J. The Empire Steel & Iron Company, Catasauqua, Pa., is introducing an innovation for the United States, in having built by the General Electric Company at Lynn, Mass., for installation at its Oxford, N. J., fur- nace, a steam turbine driven six-stage centrifugal air compressor. It will have a normal capacity of 22,500 cu. ft. of air per minute at 15 lb. pressure, and is so arranged that the pressure can be automatically in- creased to a maximum of 25 Ib. as conditions require. The installation of this machine will permit of increas-- This form in atput of iron to 225 tons a day. er has been used successfully in England and and and other parts of Europe for several years, ni the Oxford furnace management expects to obtain as good results or better with this system, at a much lower cost than with the ordinary form of blowing en- gine. The new shaft which has been under way for over a year at the company’s iron mines at Oxford, has already reached the ore. At its Mount Hope, N. J., mine, two shafts are going down to intersect a body of ore already proved by diamond drill. The mines at Oxford and Mount Hope far exceeded all previous records in 1909. Shipments over the first 11 months amounted to about 200,000 tons of 60 per cent. magnetic ore well suited for the manufacture of basic pig iron. The mechanical and electrical separating plant introduced about 18 months ago has fully met expectations. The Mount Hope mines are supplied with air from two large compressors built by the In- gersoll-Rand Company, and installed with the separat- ing plant. Among changes made at.the Catasauqua, Pa., furnaces of the company in 1908 and I9g09 were the building of a complete new furnace shell with three Roberts stoves and the installation of two Southwark blowing engines and several batteries of Rust boilers. The output of the new furnace which replaced one built in the early ‘60s is about 225 tons of foundry iron a day as against 60 tons. Other improvemerits in- cluded the rearranging of the yard system, the build- ing of standard gauge track, the addition of new Bald- win and Vulcan locomotives and a set of Weimer and Treadwell self-cleaning cinder cars. The company’s furnaces are now turning out about 21,000 tons of pig iron a month, This will be increased after the middle of January, when another stack will be ready to blow in. The Thomas Iron Company, Easton, Pa., expects to erect a pig casting machine in connection with its blast furnaces at Hokendauqua, Pa. The work of equipping the No. 3 furnace at Hokendauqua with a Mullen gas washer is now under way. The company has nine available stacks, four at Hokendauqua, two at Hellertown and one at Island Park being in blast. The two furnaces at Alburtis will probably be blown in in the next 30 days. The Wellston Steet & Iron Company, Wellston, Ohio, is installing four Rust boilers at its blast fur- nace plant, in addition to two put in in the past year. The installation of two blowing engines is under con- sideration. In the past year the company removed its No. 2 stack entirely and erected a larger one, new from top to bottom, including foundation. Three new fire brick stoves were built for this furnace. The Alabama Consolidated Coal & Iron Company, Birmingham, Ala., has important extensions under con- sideration, but has not definitely decided concerning them. The rebuilding of the company’s Searles tip- ple and coal-washing plant. burned July 25, 1909, is the most important recent improvement. Work is now nearing completion, and the company has what it con- siders the largest and most up-to-date tipple and washer in the South. It can take care of and wash 3000 tons of coal in 10 hours. The machinery is driven by a Lane & Bodley Corliss engine of 400 hp. A pump- ing station has been completed at the company’s Lewis- burg mine. — = ROLLING MILLS AND STEEL FOUNDRIES. John W. Hubbard, president of Hubbard & Co. Pittsburgh, manufacturers of shovels and railroad track tools, has purchased the plant of the Davison Foundry Company at Chicago. Mr. Hubbard has also bought additional property, and has organized a company known as the Hubbard Steel Foundry Company, with a capital stock of $300,000. It is the intention to erect additional buildings, and also two open hearth furnaces THE IRON AGE January 6, 1910 for the manufacture of steel rolls and steel castings. John N. Allen, formerly with the Illinois Steel Com- pany and later with the Lackawanna Steel Company, at Buffalo, N. Y., will be general manager. The Falk Company, Milwaukee, Wis., is installing a Stoughton side blow converter in its steel foundry, and will have it in operation early this year. Five of these converters are now in use in different parts of the country. They differ from the Tropenas converter, chiefly in the fact that the bottom is removable. The Malleable Iron Fittings Company, Branford, Conn., is greatly increasing the capacity of its steel foundry. Furnaces for the new addition have been designed by Bradley Stoughton, 165 Broadway, New York. The Southern Steel Casting Company, Chattanooga, Tenn., is building a plant for the production of electric steel castings. Either a Heroult or a Girod furnace will be installed, power being furnished from a hydro- electric plant located on the Tennessee River. The Columbia Steel Company, Portland, Ore., is building a new foundry at Black Diamond, Contra Costa county, Cal., in which both open hearth and Bes- semer steel castings will be manufactured. The main building will be 130 x 260 ft. A 20-ton open hearth furnace is under construction at the Sharon Foundry Company’s steel casting plant at Wheatland, Pa. The Glasgow Iron Company, Pottstown, Pa., manu- acturer of iron and steel plates, has under considera- tion the erection of open hearth furnaces. The Garry Iron & Steel Company, Cleveland, de- cided recently to remove its plant from Cleveland to Youngstown, Ohio, and placed contracts with the United Engineering & Foundry Company for the building of six hot sheet mills, necessary cold mills and other equipment. Iron and steel sheets will be made. Adjoining its sheet mill the company will equip a new plant for the manufacture of conductor pipe, eave trough, metal roofing and siding, metal lath, &c. The manufacturing department will be completed early in the summer and the sheet mills in ‘the fall. The Standard Steel Company, Cleveland, Ohio, is erecting a plant in Bedford, Ohio, for finishing and polishing black sheets. It is expected that it will be ready for operation early in the spring. The Interstate Iron & Steel Company at East Chi- cago, Ind., has a new steel building under construction and will add a 32-in. mill to its equipment for rolling bar iron and soft steel bars. ——-—_»-+@__ D. D. Mann, vice-president of the Canadian North- ern Railway Company, is reported in a Toronto news- paper as saying that applications to the city of Toronto for an iron furnace site in Ashbridge’s Marsh will be renewed. .He states that representatives of a large furnace syndicate and a member of an important United States steel company have been in Toronto looking into the conditions for the establishment of furnaces there. It appears to be Mr. Mann’s under- standing that if a site can be got in Toronto a Ger- man concern will obtain control of the ore sources on the Canadian Northern. The prperty of the Moose Mountain Iron Mining Company is on that railroad. Christmas three years ago the American Blower Company of Michigan, Detroit, Mich., inaugurated the custom of presenting to each employee a sum of money proportioned on the basis of a dollar for each year of continuous service. This Christmas the American Blower Company of New York, successor to the Michi- gan corporation, continued the custom, and in addition gave an illustrated booklet containing a short historical sketch of the firm from its inception in 1881 to the present time. January 6, 1910 November Exports and Imports of Iron and Steel. The most striking feature of the November report of the Bureau of Statistics of the Department of Com- merce and Labor is the increase shown in imports. At last the effects are beginning to be seen of the pur- chases of foreign iron and steel made in the early fall. The value of the total imports of iron and steel and manufactures thereof, not including ore, was $3,512,016 in November, against $2,636,195 in October. The imports of commodities for which quantities are given aggregated 63,917 gross tons, against 34,230 tons in October, 32,166 tons in September, 22,121 tons in August, 29,136 tons in July, 19,402 tons in June, 18,352 tons in May, 17,772 tons in April, 20,714 tons in March, 19,418 tons in February and 19,782 tons in January. The details of the imports of this class of products for November and for the 11 months ending with No- vember are as follows: Imports of Iron and Steel. —November.—, -—Eleven months.—, 1909. 1908. 1909. 1908. Gross Gross Gross Gross tons tons. tons. tons. Pie ON shes ee eees 34,707 8,489 146,381 81,872 DO 6 kis Si woes ele 0% 15,902 281 41,424 4,029 ee NN s,s 6 we eee ee 2,554 2,764 16,523 18,564 reais < Ad heed eS 3 350 785 1,671 Billets, bars and steel in a a 1,030 1,247 14,400 9,008 Sheets and plates....... 898 259 3,955 2,235 Tin and terne plates.... 8,046 4,647 57,398 56,015 Waee TORR x6u4 seh ous 439 1,054 9,953 10,557 Structural iron and steel 298 654 5,625 2,953 EE 66.0:s:9%s ah oe ms 63,917 19,745 296,444 186,904 It is comforting to observe that the export