The Iron Age 1912-12-19: Vol 90 Iss 25

Established 1855 New York, December 19, 1912 Ld bddddde Vdd Vol. 90: No. 25 Saving Space in a Steel Warehouse System of Steel Cleveland Jobbing Racks Used by a Interest for the Convenient Handling of Bars and Sheets An interesting example of what can be done in econo- mizing space in a steel storage warehouse and in effecting convenient arrangement for the inspection and handling of stock by means of steel storage racks is shown in the warehouse of the Betz-Pierce Company, 2234 East Ninth street, Cleveland, Ohio. The company handles high grade steel and it has to keep an extensive variety in various sizes in stock to supply its trade. The warehouse is. lo- cated in a two-story brick structure, 60 x 90 ft., which pro- was being employed by placing bars on end and laying sheets out on the floor. In order to effect the desired economy in space a sys- tem of horizontal steel racks was outlined by Mr. Betz, and his plans were worked out by the engineering depart- ment of the Van Dorn Iron Works Company, Cleveland. The latter company recently installed the new racks. Wooden racks for the horizontal storage of steel are used in some warehouses, but sfeel racks are much One of the Two Rows of Steel Racks for Storing Bar Stock on the First Floor of the Betz-Pierce Warehouse, Cleveland. On the Opposite Side of the Room Are Racks Largely Similar With Floor Space for a Driveway Between the Two Rows vides less than 11,000 sq. ft. of floor space, including the room occupied by offices. The business of the company has grown rapidly since it was established 15 months ago, and the company became badly cramped for room. Being favorably situated as to location it did not desire to secure another site that would provide larger quarters so that the necessity arose to provide new methods of storing stock that would save space as compared with the system that 1421 stronger, more compact and have other advantages over wood. The racks in the Betz-Pierce warehouse provide a storage capacity of about 3000 tons, over 2500 tons of which is for bars and 400 tons in sheets. Practically every inch of floor space is occupied. The first floor is used for the storage of bar stock and the upper floor for sheet storage and the offices. On each side of the lower floor and extending practically the depth EE GARTER nt ee eee ener e § % pease ay eee am ee ee ad a ‘ aes 1422 THE IRON of the room are rows of steel racks or pigeon holes 15 x 15 in. in the clear, five racks high and 16 ft. deep or of sufficient depth to store stock 20 ft. long. These racks are built of 24% x 2% x %-in. angle iron with the exception that every alternate upright is 134-in strip of iron. The horizontal angles that run lengthwise are supported every 4 ft. by cross and upright supports, and the entire net- work of angle iron is firmly bolted together, forming racks that are perfectly rigid and will stand the strain of as much steel as they will hold. Each section or bin in the racks has a capacity of 45 tons. On top of these racks on one side of the first floor are smaller racks three rows high with 10 x 10-in. clear storage spaces and 10 ft. deep. The small racks are made of 1% x 1% x 5/16-in. angle iron. These small racks are for the storage of crucible steel. In the larger racks on one side is stored Norway iron, screw stock and shafting, and on the other side cold drawn, hot rolled, nickel and vanadium steel and some sizes of tool steel. A large number of racks permits the placing of only one size in a compartment and the convenient arrangement of stock so that the size wanted can be found immediately. AGE December 19, 191 racks are used for the storage of special sheets used ; automobile work and in making metal furniture and high grade galvanized sheets. The warehouse is equipped with a 6-in. cold saw so that bars may be cut to any length. The company has arrange- ments outside of its warehouse for the testing of the vari- ous special steels it handles. The Betz-Pierce Company is under the management of A. B. Betz, president, and Clifford E. Pierce, treasurer T. L. Philott is secretary. Messrs. Betz and Pierce were both connected with the Bassett-Presley Company, Cleve- land, the former for 20 years and the latter for 15 years When the Bassett-Presley Company sold its jobbing ware- house to the Carnegie Steel Company they decided to establish a business of their own. Lantern Slides to Assist Sales The J. W. Paxson Company, Philadelphia, Pa., foundry engineer and manufacturer of foundry supplies, has added an important adjunct to its selling equipment, being now Steel Racks on the Second Floor of the For convenience in handling the largest sizes are stored on the lowest tier of racks, the sizes growing smaller on each tier above. Ample space is left on the center of the floor between rows of racks for loading wagons. The storage racks for sheets on the second floor are built of 9-in. beams in three 16-ft. Spans, the space also allowing a 40 in. extension from the span in the rear. The racks are 18 ft. deep so that they occupy a floor space of about 51 x 18 ft. They are three tiers high. These racks are of very heavy construction throughout, 50 tons of steel being used in building them. The beams are supported by 8-in. channel columns connected by a solid plate girder construction. No weight comes on the floor, the channel columns being supported by columns directly underneath the first floor. A 24-in. space is provided between the first and second rack and 10 in. between the second and third rack. The top rack is 5 ft. 10 in. above the floor. As the lower girder is several inches above the floor the storage space is also provided on the floor under the racks. The sheets rest on adjustable angles cut out so that they slide along the girders and can be spaced as needed. These Betz-Pierce Warehouse for Storing Sheets prepared to give customers a more comprehensive idea of its line and detailed particulars of each product by lantern slides. A portable Bausch & Lomb lantern is used, taking electric current from the ordinary electric light socket, and demonstrations are given either at the plant of the buyer or at the company’s offices in Philadelphia. By this means not only the different types of equipment but also actual installations in detail may be shown and fully ex- plained. Several hundred lantern slides have already been made and more are in preparation. These cover the foun- dry engineering, melting furnace and cupola, cleaning and sand blast departments, etc. The Allis-Chalmers reorganization committee has called the third assessment, amounting to $3 on the common and $6 on the preferred stocks, payable January 15. Payment of the third assessment leaves still to be paid $4 on the common and $8 on the preferred. The court has ordered that the foreclosure sale of the Allis-Chalmers properties take place February 3. December 19, 1912 An Important Southern Ore Field The Limonite or Brown Ore Deposits of Lawrence and Wayne Counties, Tennessee BY EDWARD L, LULL —— te 5 Lawrence and Wayne counties lie side by side in south central Tennessee and extend to the Alabama line. All nining operations have been conducted within 25 miles of (ron City. This town is in Lawrence County and on the Louisville & Nashville Railroad. Geologically, the district is situated in the western di- vision of the Appalachian province on the highland rim, south of the central basin of Tennessee. The region is a plateau dissected by five main streams, which flow into the Tennessee River. Broad dividing ridges separate the prominent drainage channels. The general altitude of the highlands is 900 ft. and the lowlands 550 ft. All rocks exposed are of sedimentary origin and em- brace deposition from the silurian to the tertiary. The iron formation consists of a primary and secondary deposit. During Mississippian time the St. Louis limestone was deposited, This formation was base-leveled by carbon- iferous, triassic and jurassic erosion. The cretaceous opened with a slight subsidence of the region; the sea advancing from the south, and encroaching areas of depres- sion created numerous lagoons. The primary ore deposits were leached from the residual clays of the St. Louis formation, concentrated as a carbonate and precipitated in the lagoons as limonite. During pliocene time the sea Limonite THE IRON AGE Deposits of paeainine and Wayne Canina 1423 important factor in the iron industry of the South, as it will connect these vast ore reserves with the furnaces and steel mills of the Birmingham district. The district was described very completely in the October, 1912, Bulletin, published by the Tennessee Geolog- ical Survey. A portion of the accompanying table has been compiled from the information there given. National Tube Company’s Safety Calendar The publicity department of.the National Tube Com- pany, Pittsburgh, has issued a Safety Calendar. About 30,000 have been printed for distribution to its employees. Different headings were used on the calendars. Those having a view of the Kewanee works at Kewanee, [Il, were sent to that plant; others with a picture of the Na- tional works at McKeesport, Pa., were sent to that plant; thus, all the works of the company were covered. The purpose is to keep the idea of “safety” in the foreground at all times. It is presumed that nearly all the employees will take the calendars to their homes, and, as it will be in plain sight for perhaps a year, the idea of “Safety First —Safety Always” will constantly impress them. The cal- endar starts with December, 1912, ending with that month in 1913, and there are 13 different mottoes at the bottom of as many calendar pads. These mottoes all have to do with the question of safety and are as follows: The careless handling of materials in a steel mill produces more accidents than any other single cause. Remember this when you are moving or handling materials. Tennessee Date of Area, Tonnage Tonnage Anal Present owners. Bank. operation. acres. produced. available. Consumers. FC. Phos. Mang. SIO, Hessemer No. 1... 1902-1907 No data 170,000 o data et ere me ta ve Sheffield Coal & Iron | Hessemer No. 2... 1902-1907 No data 130,000 No data SPOT aise vceects se Sela ‘és eee Ca Plas Fi cee che Cette kc hiddece 1909-1912 8 185,000 No data Own WSO ..--.ceeeees — ses + ++ Ironside .......+. 1890-1904 15 000 No data Ce. wands as 52.5 083° tiie - 9017 Var Leth... cecccs 1832-1837 20 2,000 335,000 Van Leer Furnace 53.2 0.81 0.69 5.71 an ee 1832-1837 80 6,000 3,000,000 Van Leer Furnace 53.2 081 0.69 5.7! So. Tenn. Dev. & Min-j} Mine No. 4....... 1832-1837 75 1,500 2,000,000 Wan Leer Furnace 53.2 0.81 0.69 §&.71 ing-GA 90 cocsevt dee ine No. 5....... 1832-1837 45 1,000 500,000 an Leer Furmace.... 53.2 0.81 0.69 5.71 eS a SP ee ae 7 0 GEO kncccs cede ie ede dears 55 0.20 0.70 5.10 Tenn, Valley Iron & he farg pune: 1833-1875 1,000 145,000 50,000,000 Wayne Furrace....... 51.2 0.80 10 100 Railroad Co. ....... Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 GOED is.ce< ceuban oc tisbebe 2,000 0 Ian ae checks chewed aba wk 60 Oa Cadibeds bean wees weeeae Pinkney Iron Co.. coe PAMMMOG) oo cet ned 1887-1912 Nodata $56,000 400,000 Clarksville Furnace.... 47 9.70 17.5 Lawrence Iron Co.. mo, |” eerery err 1894-1898 125 506,000 1,000,000 hs ee Iron & ailroad Co. ....... Ae ee * Rockdale Fron, Obs nike Wry. were oe 1906-1912 100,000 50,000 Rockdale Yeon, Co.. 49 Ra . Napier Iran. Co......... Napier ....ssbs.% 1870-1904 No dat 00,000 200,000 Napier BGM COscndce 50 0.50 Bon Air Coal & Iron Co ian s Creek. Fob ot 1891-1912 Nodata 1,019,776 No data ‘© Allen’s Creek perme: aad Napier Iron Works..... Sharp '....0ssoouee 1889-1912 10 400,000 No data Napier Iron Works.. ~ FORE iii inte 6's cadawins 000d Savas bhesndv bee eenee 300 0 3,000,000 Tetet- WOW ObUs oo occ once Se vccsdbccs bd ds ce eaenss cae 4,622,276. 160,545,000 Spathited Siderite, Limonite and Calcite Used as a Flux So. Tenn. Dev. & Min- 106 GR. wissen tdeaeeis Tron City......... ~ 1899-1900 100 10,000 2,000,000 N. Ala. Furnace Co.... 20 10.00 again advanced over the region and worked up the previous formation into a secondary deposit consisting of frag- mental St. Louis chert and limonite enclosed in a matrix of reddish-brown Lafayette clay. This formation occurs on the ridges at an elevation of about 750 ft. The mines of the district are locally termed banks. These are pockets with an average depth of 20 ft. and embracing as high as a thousand acres. Ten per cent. is the minimum amount of ore allowable. There is little stripping, and open-pit methods are used. Mining is accom- plished by light traction mounted steam shovels, and the ore is handled with small dinkeys and dump cars. The ore is concentrated by log-washers. A modern plant, costing $150,000, with a capacity of 800 tons per day, is operating at Pinkney. The cost of mining is 6oc. per ton, and concentrating toc. An increased demand for these ores and the consequent improvement of equipment will materially improve these figures. Mining has been carried on intermittently since 1832, the oldest being the Van Leer and the Wayne Furnace mines. The ore in the early days was dry screened and the pig iron made locally was transported to the Tennessee River by teams. Commercial ore deposits are distributed over an area of 300 square miles in Wayne County, but are at present inaccessible. The Louisville & Nashville Railroad Com- pany and the Tennessee Valley Iron & Railroad Company have completed definite arrangeménts for the joint con- struction of a railroad, starting at Iron City, Tenn. and extending in a northwesterly direction for 20 miles into Wayne County. The building of this road will be an Every danger sign posted in the mill means that the danger pointed out is real. Men must ascertain what is on these signs around places where they work and give heed to the warnings. The Red Ball on a sign means Danger. ; The company has spent large sums of money, as well as time and labor, for the prevention of accidents. All its employees are asked to assist in the work by using constant care tn prevent accidents to themselves or others. It is better to lose several minutes to avoid an accident, than to lose several months on account of an injury. “Get the Safety Habit.” If you see a man acting carelessly, tell him about it, and don’t be afraid of hurting his feelings by so doing. It is a criminal violation of the law to give or receive money or anything of value in return for a job. The company will rigidly enforce this law. A dirty mill means accidents. Do not leave waste material or refuse lyiag around. Places are provided for keeping it. Do your part toward keeping the mill clean. Reports show that new employees and men engaging in new work are more likely to be injured than old employees. Remember this, and find out the special dangers to be avoided when starting on new work. Your foreman will tell you. It is an important duty of every employee to lock out for unsafe conditions, unsafe or defective tools and machinery, carelessness of other employees and the violation of rules, and immediately report such matters to his foreman. The company is providing drinking water, lockerc and wash rooms, with ample facilities, and keeping them in order. You are invited to use them freely, but do mot abuse them or allow any one else to abuse them. The majority of the accidents in the mill are due to some one’s carelessness, and frequently to the carelessness of the man himself who is injured. Cultivate safety habits. The company does not want careless men in its employ. Playing, wrestling or fooling on the mill premises, as well as 1424 playing or fooling with machinery or tools, are strictly prohibited. Such conduct is exceedingly dangerous. Never go on crane runways unless you have work on them and have first been provided with the proper protection. Crane runways and railroad tracks are always dangerous places. Neglect of slight injuries often results in blood poisoning and serious trouble. The company has provided an emergency hospital, where employees injured in the mill can receive the best of atten- tion. Don’t neglect smal! injuries. Illinois Central’s Co-operative Education Plan The Illinois Central Railroad Company has introduced through its educational bureau the co-operative plan originally put into effect by Dean Schneider of the Uni- versity of Cincinnati. The Illinois Central co-operative plan contemplates the use by the local high school of the facilities of the railroad shops wherever the railroad has sufficient facilities to offer. It extends to any such com- munity the privilege of adopting its co-operative plan in the schools with the understanding that all the facilities which the Illinois Central has available there are at the service of the community. The railroad company will accept as a student on this plan any public school scholar 16 years of age or over (in accordance with State laws) who shall be recommended by the superintendent of schools or by other proper school officer. There are few formali- ties connected with the plan. Two boys con- stitute a unit in the shop and the school. They alternate each day. It is up to each boy to keep up with his partner and his class in school.. The boys are paid regular apprentice wages as follows: Twelve cents an hour for the first year; I3c. for the third six months ; 15¢. the fourth six months; 16c. the fifth six months; 17c. the sixth six months; 18c. the sev- enth six months, and 2oc. the eighth six months. Reasonable credit will be given for previous shop work or manual training work. The regular four years’ high school course, when taken on the co-operative plan, contemplates the student working in the shop in the summer months when school is not in session. The Illinois Central is ready to allow three years’ time on the apprentice shop period of every high school student who graduates under this co-operative plan. Further information regarding the plan can be ob- tained from W. L. Park, vice-president and general man- ager of the Illinois Central Railroad, or of D. C. Buel, chief of the educational bureau. Delaware River shipbuilders are extremely busy. The recent award of three torpedo boat destroyers to the Wm. Cramp & Sons Ship & Engine Building Company, Phila- delphia, and one to the New York Shipbuilding Company, Camden, N. J., adds to a previously large list of vessels to be constructed. The latter yard is now building a bat- tleship for Argentina, a Pacific coast passenger steamer, a. Chinese cruiser, several tank steamships, the battleship Oklahoma, a collier, a large river steamboat and a number of car floats. At the Cramp yard work is under way on five torpedo boat destroyers, a submarine, four Pacific coast passenger steamships and.a number of other ves- sels. Activity is assured for all of next year. THE IRON AGE December 19, 19. The Blair Patented Removable Slag Pockc«: In the usual operation of an open-hearth furnaee for manufacture of steel, the resultant filling of sla pockets with slag necessitates periodically st the operation of the furnace for cleaning out these pockets. This cleaning is not only destructive of the brick-work 0; the pockets and expensive in that way, but the necessary in terruption in production by the furnace augments the ex pense by the consequent loss of product. This expense is particularly -heavy in the operation of basic furnaces. T meet the problem a slag-pocket structure as a removab| portion or section of the furnace structure has been dx veloped by the Blair Engineering Company, New York and Chicago, whereby it may be readily and relatively speaking, quickly removed when filled, and as readily re- placed by an empty one. The accompanying drawings cover a longitudinal vertical section of one of the two similar ends of an open hearth furnace provided with this improvement and a sectional view of the furnace at one end. The drawings also show the furnace equipped with Blair Ports. The slag-pocket structure consists, in its preferred form, Sectional Elevation of 60-Ton Open Hearth Furnace With Blair Patent Ports, Showing Especially the Blair Removable Slag Pockets of a wheeled carriage for convenient moving on a track provided in the proper position at each end of the furnace. It has metal posts, suitably braced, rising at intervals from the carriage-bed to provide a frame-work for the brick walls forming the slag-pockets. The lower ends of the port down-takes are provided with suitable metal binding for supporting the slag-pocket arches at the lower ends of the down-takes, whereby these arches are separate from the slag-pocket walls and not dependent on them for support. The dimensions of the structure are such as to adapt it to fit under the down-takes of the flues, registering its pock- ets therewith to receive the slag produced in the operation of the furnace and filling out the structure of the latter as when the slag-pockets are formed integral therewith in the usual way. On placing a slag-pocket carriage in position a narrow opening is left between the top of the pocket-walls and the down-take walls and a similar opening between the wall of the flue leading to the regenerative chambers and the adjacent wall of the pocket-structure. These spaces are then temporarily closed by bricking them up, as repre- sented, to form tight joints connecting the slag-pockets with the port down-takes and with the regenerative cham- bers. When the slag-pockets are filled, the bricks are Jecember 19, I9I2 nocked in to destroy the bond between the carriage walls ind the permanent furnace-walls, and without disturbing ny other part of the furnace-structure, the slag-pot car- riage is withdrawn to be replaced by another, whereupon he spaces are again bricked up. The joint in the walls may be made by placing a layer of ganister on top of the slag-pocket walls and shoving this whole box up tight againgt the upper portions of the walls by means of four screws at the corners of the carriage, blocking it in position by means of wedges or supports at the bottom of the car- riage. In this case, where the amount of the lift is so small—say an inch or two—and where the operation occurs nly once in two or three months, the screws are simpler and better than a hydraulic ram for the purpose. This would make the operation similar to putting the bottom on a Bessemer converter. Instead of requiring in time, for effecting the removal of the slag and rebuilding the slag-pockets and down- takes, as heretofore, from a week to ten days, with the at- tendant loss of the product of the furnace and that due to the expenditure of a very considerable amount of labor and fuel to bring the furnaces back to melting temperature, the whole operation of removing the slag and restoring the Sectional Elevation of Open Hearth Furnace, Showing the Blair Removable Slag Pockets slag-pocket equipment in a furnace in accordance with this improvement may, it is stated, be accomplished in a few hours, thus enabling a large portion of the heat of ‘the furnace to be retained, so that the furnace may be gotten back to normal working conditions with very little delay and expenditure of labor and fuel. Lifting Magnets.—The development in lifting mag- nets has been summarized by the Cutler-Hammer Clutch Company, Milwaukee, Wis., which now claims the record that not a single ground or short circuit has been found in standard Cutler-Hammer lifting magnets in a period of over three years. The status of the development is indi- cated in the fact that a magnet has been sold for under- water service to the Vancouver Salvage & Dredging Com- pany, Vancouver, B. C., that a 24-in. magnet provided with special pole shoes has been put on the market to handle an 8000-Ib. skull cracker ball, having ten times the weight of the magnet, and that an 18-in. magnet has been made. The company reports that the demand for special types of rectangular magnets has shown a marked increase as magnetic lifting has been applied to various new. uses in industrial plants. THE IRON AGE 1425 A New Flask for Dry Sand Molding The accompanying view shows a flask equipment which was developed at the foundry of the Hardie-Tynes Mfg. It was described by A. E. Company, Birmingham, Ala. Flask Used by the Hardie-Tynes Mfg. Company, Birmingham, Ala. McClintock, commissioner of the National Founders’ Asso- ciation, before the recent meeting of that body and from him the following notes have been obtained: The flask is designed for use on the jarring machine and for dry sand molding. Its advantages are: The flask is entirely self-contained and is never unbolted, but re- mains together all the time. Instead of using solid cast iron plates for the top and bottom, a stiff grating has been bolted directly to the flask. This enables the flask to be filled with sand and jolted without the bother of hunting up a solid plate and fastening it each time. Another great advantage is that there are no bars in either the cope or the drag, the sand being held in place by what is known as a lifting plate or a joint plate. This joint plate par- takes of the nature of a stripping plate, except that there is about 1 in. of sand between the edge of the plate and the pattern. These lifting plates are very quickly and cheaply made to fit any job that may be put in the flask. It has been found that three or four sizes of the same pattern may be molded with the use of the same plate by simply making the plate for the largest pattern and by laying a few rods across the extra opening; when the small pattern is used the sand will be carried with safety. The adoption of this type of flask enabled this firm to dispense with fully 50 per cent. of its flask equipment. The Lea-Courtenay Company has been incorporated under the laws of New York with a capital stock of $50,- ooo. It takes the engineering and manufacturing business of Albert G. Lea of New York, who has turned over all unfinished contracts to the corporation. Its office is at 90 West street, New York. It will manufacture high-duty turbine pumping machinery for all classes of service and will also have a department for the manufacture of cold metal sawing machinery. Albert G. Lea is president; Courtenay R. Rothwell, vice-president and general man- ager; Edgar W. Heller, treasurer. The National Railway Appliances Association, Ells- worth Building, Chicago, is distributing a list of those who have taken space at its coming exhibition in the Coliseum and First Regiment Armory, Chicago. The list comprises 142 names, thus indicating that the display will be unusually large and comprehensive. Although the ex- hibition will not open for three months, the space avail- able has practically been taken. Installation of exhibits will begin March 12, and the exhibition will open March 15, closing on the night of March 21. The Ogden Iron & Steel Mfg. Company, Bayonne, N. J., has been reorganized, changing its title to the Bayonne Bolt & Nut Company. Owing to its increased demand for nuts and bolts the company will devote its entire plant to the manufacture of the products of that department, in- cluding bolts, nuts, tie rods, lag screws, etc. By the re- organization J. Edward Ogden disposes of his interest to Henry and J. R. Steers. The offices of the company will hereafter be at the works, Second street and Trask ave- nue, Bayonne. Fi p > i ae Pen oe eee Lees jeenty oF Vee Pea ee 1426 THE IRON AGE High Speed Sensitive Drilling Machine Power Feed Mechanism Contains Sev- eral Interesting Mechanical Features The ball bearing multi-spindle sensitive drilling ma- chine, shown in accompanying illustrations, is a new type brought out by the Washburn shops of the Worcester Poly- technic Institute, Worcester, Mass., which possesses several new features, notable among which is the power feed mechanism, details of which are seen in Fig. 2. Thefriction is of the well known cone type. The fe- male member 2, Fig. 2, is driven by a worm on the rod 1, the male member 3 being keyed to the driving shaft 18, which in turn is keyed to the pinion 14, this pinion being in mesh with the rack s'teeve 8, which carries the spindle. The dri!l is brought forward to the work in exactly the same manner as‘in the ordinary hand feed sensitive drilling machine. The instant the drill meets with the resistance of the work, a slightly further pull on the hand lever 9 forces the spring plunger 20 over a cam shoulder in the pinion 19 and permits the lever block 13 to advance on the thread, this lever block being threaded to the quill pinion 19. As the lever block advances on its thread, it pushes against the shoulder head on the shaft 18, forcing it longi- tudinally, thus engaging the members of the friction, and feeding the drill. The amount of advance of the lever block along its thread is fixed, the spring plunger 20 com- ing against a positive stop in the pinion I9. The release is accomplished in exactly the same way, for any resistance to the turning of the lever block un- screws it on its thread, carrying it back to the original po- sition. The plate 15, attached to the lever block 13, forces back the shaft 18 and thus positively disengages the friction. The instant the friction is released the drill is returned automatically to its original position by the coil spring 12, one end of which is fastened to the lever block and the other to the head bracket. The coil spring is in a case cast as a part of the head bracket. The depth of hole is regulated by the adjustable stop ring 11, which Fig. 1—The Washburn No. 2 High Speed Ball Bearing Sensitive Drilling Machine is fastened in any position by the thumb screw 22, and is positive when the drill reaches the end of the run, trip- ping automatically, whether the ring is set or not. ; For hand feed the knob 16 is pulled out causing the key 14 to lock the pinion and lever block. As the keyway in the pinion registers only when the lever block is in its highest position, this locking cannot take place when the December 19, 10. power feed is in operation. The bite of the friction js justable. The three feeds are approximately .0075, .o10, and per revolution, the changes being made by the star wh shown near the spindle pulley, which turns a pinion ¢! moves a sliding key. The machine is built with one, two, three, four or < Fig. 2—Details of the Power Feed. of the Washburn High Speed Drilling Machine spindies. The belt tensions are controlled by automatica'ly locked tighteners operated through rack and pinion, by means of which any desired tension may be obtained in- stantly, or the belt of any spindle loosened so that it hangs free from the back cone pulley. Thus a spindle may re- main idle without stopping the machine. The pull of the belt on the spindle pulley is taken on the drill post. A re- taining ring is cast concentric with the bearing of the spindle pulley, forming a basin which holds the oil, flood- ing the bearing continuously and preventing spatter. The table is raised by hand wheel and coarse pitch screw, the weight being carried on a ba!l thrust bearing. The table bearing on the column is 16 in. wide on the three spindle machine and 20 in. on the four spindle and 1%4 in. deep. The table is fixed in position by clamp handles within easy reach of the operator. The machine is furnished with either hand or power feed. The specifications follow: Taper in spindle, No. 2 Morse: Travel of spindle for power feed, 4 in.; travel of spindle in hand feed, 5 in.; diameter of spindle in sleeve, 1 in.; diameter of spindle pulley, 6 in.; width of driving belt, 11%4 in.; vertical ad- justment of head, 834 in.; vertical adjustment of table, 14 in.; distance, post to center of spindle, 654 in.; distance, column to center of spindle, 6 in.; swing in gap, 16 in.; range of spindle distances from table, 0-22 in.; backshaft at 610 r.p.m. gives spindle speeds 610, 1016, 1830 r.p.m.; weight, one spindle, 550 lb.; two spindles, 1100 lb.; three spindles, 1600 lb.; four spindles, 2000 Ib. The Unit Construction Company, Liggett Building, St. Louis, Mo., has acquired the interest and good will of Ernest L. Ransome and the Ransome Engineering Com- pany in patents covering the Ransome unit system of re- inforced concrete construction. This arrangement adds to the company’s method of Unit-Bilt construction the benefits to be derived from the experience of the Ran- séme organization. E. L. Ransome will co-operate with the engineering department as consulting engineer. In connection with the description of the Eagle Claw wrench, page 1333 of The Iron Age of December 5, it should have been stated that Ambler, Holman & Co., 565 West Washington street, Chicago, are exclusive distrib- uters of this wrench for Canada and the United States. rather than manufacturers. December 19, 1912 Piece-Work and the Race Problem Many advantages have been found to follow the adop- tion of the piece-work system in iron and metal-working establishments, among them being a lower cost of produc- tion, a greater output with the same equipment and better returns for the men themselves. In view of the fact that the labor expense attached to the production of goods is definitely known when this system is used, it is obvious that its benefits are by no means limited. An unusual and perhaps suggestive advantage of the plan, as developed by a manufacturing establishment in an Ohio Valley city, indicates that the good points of the piece-work system have by no means been exhausted by the list just outlined. In this particular factory it solved what is always a more or less difficult problem. This concern makes a combined wood and metal product used in the manufacture of vehicles. In the woodworking department white men are employed altogether, because the work requires a considerable degree of judgment, and they have been found best suited to it; but in’ the ironworking section of the shop negroes have been used with general satisfaction. In some parts of this department, too, white men are employed, operating machines alongside of negroes. The operations of the latter shop consist of cutting bar iron to length, putting it under a trip hammer and fiat- tening it to the required dimensions, welding the ends together and then applying the finished product to the wood. For work at the shears, hammer and welding fur- nace black helpers have been found satisfactory, and con- sequently are employed regularly at this class of work. Obviously, however, there is always room for friction to develop in a plant where the races are mixed, especially when this happens to be in a shop south of Mason and Dixon’s line, where racial antipathy between the white and black portions of the population is generally supposed to be strong. antipathy is less in evidence than some of the writers of books would have the public believe. In this particular plant, whatever trouble might have arisen through the conflict between the two races or because of any fancied degradatioh resulting from whites and blacks working at the same tasks was anticipated by the simple plan of paying the men by the piece. Everybody handling an ironworking tool is paid according to his pro- duction. This is the only part of the plant in which piece- work can be used to advantage, the woodworking section being required to handle such a large variety of material and under such varying conditions that it has not been thought worth while to attempt to evolve a schedule suffi- ciently elaborate and exact to be of value or economical. But in the ironworking processes the tasks are standard- ized to the extent that only two or three sizes of the product are turned out. The same kind of work is done continuously, and figuring earnings under the piece-work plan is exceedingly simple, a record being made at the end of each day by the foreman as to the output of each machine. In some cases where more than one man is employed in connection with a machine, as for instance at the hammer, where two helpers are used in addition to the operator of the tool, each has a share in the payments made for the product of the machine. In practice the plan has worked beautifully, not only as far as holding down operating expenses is concerned, but also as to eliminating possible friction between the white and negro employees. Every man has an oppor- tunity to demonstrate his superiority as a worker by turn- ing out more than the average and thus to increase his earnings above those of his fellows. ‘And since the white man need not feel that he has been reduced to the level of the negro by being put on the same footing with him as to wages, there is no reason for him to be offended because workmen with dark skins happen to be employed in the same department with him. “We have not had any trouble because we mix the two races in our shop,” said the superintendent recently, dis- cussing. this feature of the operation of the plant, “and, furthermore, I do not believe there is any chance for trouble to develop. In the first place, everybody is so busy trying to keep his production up that he doesn’t stop to worry over the possibility of his social status being con- fused because of the color of the man next to him. In THE IRON Incidentally, it may be mentioned that this’ AGE 1427 the second, the men we have are veterans in their special tasks and know each other personally, something which usually prevents ill-feeling from developing, as it might do if a number of negroes were suddenly put to work in a shop formerly employing white men only.” It is worthy of remark that negroes have been found especially valuable in the Southern iron trade in a number of pursuits. While they are not likely to make good machinists nor to be of value in the operation of tools requiring a great amount of technical skill or judgment, they are quick to learn comparatively simple processes, and can develop great speed in turning out their work. In stove foundries, for instance, where the piece-work system is also employed to advantage, they have been taught to handle castings with marked facility, and are reported to be first-class employees in every respect. Here again, however, the manufacturer turns to white labor in the nickeling and machining of his product, so as to get the proper finish and appearance of each piece. Large Orders for Mesta Gas Engines The Mesta Machine Company, Pittsburgh, has received two orders for gas engines which present features not usually encountered in this class of work. The first order calls for three single tandem, horizon- tal, double-acting, four-cycle engines, having cylinders 28 in, diameter by 36 in. stroke, to operate at a speed of 150 r.p.m., each arranged to drive direct-connected a 600-k.w., 60-cycle, 3-phase, 600-volt, alternating current generator. These engines are to be installed by the Canadian Car & Foundry Company in its new plant at Fort William, Ontario, and will form the largest producer gas engine plant in Canada. The main gas plant consists of four double bituminous coal generator sets furnished by R. D. Wood & Co., Philadelphia, Pa. This plant was originally intended for fuel gas purposes, but, as it is necessary to intermittently change from the water gas operation to producer gas, it was decided to utilize. the waste or pro- ducer gas for power purposes. This gas will contain approximately 100 effective B.t.u. per cu. ft. and will not contain more than Io per cent. hydrogen by volume, and is particularly suitable for use in gas engines. The fuel ‘gas, which will be used for furnace work, will have a heat value of 300 B.t.u. per cu. ft. and will contain 50 per cent. H and 50 per cent. CO. The operation of the producers will be such that it will be practically im-' possible to mix the two gases; that is to say, the regulation of the gas will be automatic, eliminating any liability of water gas being carried to the engines. In the use of double generator sets, the gas is drawn off the top of one generator and down through the incandescent mass of the other, the tar being consumed and cor-verted into gas, thereby increasing the efficiency of the plant. Soot will be the resulting deposit, and it will be disposed of through TheisSen washers. The other order comprises three engines of exactly the same size for the Alpha Portland Cement Company, Eas- ton, Pa. The erigines will be located at Cementon, N. Y., near Catskill, and will operate in parallel with four pro- ducer gas engines now in service. Gas is generated through R. D. Wood & Co.’s superimposed pressure type producers using bituminous coal as fuel. The Youngstown Sheet & Tube Company, Youngstown, Ohio, announces to the holders of its common stock that $1,500,000 of preferred stock is offered to them pro rata at $100 per share, or par value. The proceeds of this final sale of the remaining unissued portion of the $5,000,- ooo of preferred stock will be used for increasing the working capital, and also for the purpose of paying for large additions to the plant now under way, including a fourth blast furnace, an open-hearth steel plant, etc. Fifty per cent. is payable April 1 and the other 50 per cent. October 1, 1913. The Pennsylvania Steel Company, which recently blew in its No. 1 furnace at North Lebanon, Pa. will operate it on basic pig iron, using practically all Cuban ore, sup- plied from properties in which it is interested. Cementation of Steel by the Use of Gases Results of Experiments with Car- bon Monoxide, Methane with Am- monia Gas and Illuminating In Stahl and Eisen for October 24, 1912, is an inter- esting discussion by Franz Kurek, of the Royal Technical High School at Berlin of “Cementation of Iron by Means of Gases.” The author states that lately various attempts have been made to raise the carbon in steel by gases at various temperatures and cites among other cases the experiments of Olsen and Weiffenbach of the Polytech- nical School at Brooklyn, N. Y., in which various labora- tory trials were made to determine the influence of gases on iron. These attempts were more or less unsatisfactory, since a temperature no higher than 815 deg. C. was used and the whole was carried out under artificial pressure. It was demonstrated that carbon monoxide possessed the greatest carbonizing property under these conditions, and wa? not aided by the simultaneous use of ammonia gas (NH,), while the car- bonizing properties of illuminating gas, acetylene (C,H,) and methane (CH,) were not especially enhanced by the addition of ammonia gas, or nitrogen in the form of ammonia gas. The author states that there must have been unavoidable errors in these ex- periments, since the gases as used were not dried, whereas in his investigation all traces of moisture were removed. The author’s experiments were made with rods of soft steel, 10 mm. in diameter and 100 mm. long, and of the following,composition: C, 0.091; Mn, 0.32; Si, 0.026; S, 0.035; P, 0.040. They were completely machined to re- move all scale, etc. Carbon monoxide gas was produced from formic acid and sulphuric acid, the oxygen and carbon dioxide carefully removed and the gas dried by means of oxide of lime. The cementation experiments were carried out in a glazed porcelain tube heated in a horizontal electric platinum resistance oven, and the tem- peratures regulated and registered by means of Le Chatelier pyrometers. From each rod, layers or sections of 2/10-mm. thickness were turned off and analyzed for their carbon and ni- trogen content. Effect of Carbon Monoxide The results of the experiments with carbon monoxide gas, under the con- ditions mentioned above, are given as follows: Table 1—Cementation with CO opr in the ees No. Temp. Time 1 4 2 800 deg. C. 8 hr. 0.67 0.32 0.28 0.21 3 900 deg. C. 4 hr. 0.55 0.36 0.27 0.25 + 1000 deg. C. 4 hr. 0.41 0.31 0.21 0.18 5 1000 deg. C. 8 hr. 0.46 0.36 0.36 0.29 6 1100 deg. C. 8 hr. 0.28 0.28 0.20 0.22 7 700 deg. C. 4 hr. 0.15 ence és eee 8 600 deg. C. 4 hr. 0.15 abe ae vs From this table it is evident that at 800 deg. C. the outer layer of the test piece shows the greatest absorp- tion of carbon, which diminishes very quickly toward the inside. In the tests made at higher temperatures the percentage of carbon on the outside is not so high, but the entire piece is enriched with carbon. The acceleration of the diffusion of the carbide also increases with the temperature. This diffusibility is greater at higher tem- peratures than the reaction between iron and carbon monoxide. The conclusion therefore is that at lower temperatures the percentage of carbon is greater on the outside than at higher temperatures. This is borne out by the metallographic examinations. The treated steel, of course showed very little pearlite, as can be seen in Fig. 1—Heated 4 Hr. in 800 Deg. C. in co as Fig. 3—Heated 4 Hr. at 1000 Deg. C. in O Gas CO Gas Gas the unaffected part of Fig. 1, which shows a thin pearlitic ring on the edge of the test piece. In Fig. 2 this ring of pearlite is a little wider, while in Figs. 3 and 4 the pearlite penetrates to the middle of the test piece, show- ing at the same time an enlargement of the ferrite crystals, due to the high temperatures. From these experiments it is deduced that under normal atmospheric pressure carbon monoxide gas alone is not advantageous for cementation use, since the carbonization between 800 and goo deg. C. takes place too slowly and the rim does not reach the percentage of carbon of the eutectic, i. €., 0.90, which is usually necessary. Then also there ensues at this temperature so sharp a dividing line between the carbonized layers and the non-carbonized core that in Fig. 2—Heated 4 Hr. at 900 Deg. C. in CO Gas 2 Fig. 4—Heated 4 Hr. at 1100 Deg. C. in any case a flaking off must result. This can be lessened and more or less overcome by heating the pieces at 800 deg. C. and then a longer time at 1000 deg. C. It is claimed that when cementation is carried out by means of solid carbon compounds, it is carbon monoxide gas that really does the work, while others insist that carbon in actual contact with steel can produce carburi- zation. Since this condition cannot obtain, because layers of air must intervene in any case, it must be assumed that some gas is an important and essential factor. The author here elaborates on some experiments by which he attempts to show that at certain temperatures, in a vacuum, cemen- tation by means of carbon monoxide takes place, but at a very much less extent than in the air, showing that some other gas is an important factor. The author continues his experiments by using carbon monoxide mixed with 2.25 vol. per cent. of ammonia gas, and also 6.36 vol. per cent. under the same conditions as the experiments with carbon monoxide alone. With- out reproducing his tables and photomicrographs, his ‘conclusion may be given, viz., that the carburization was not favorably influenced over that obtained by carbon monoxide alone, yet the steel was essentially increased as 1428 Yecember 19, I912 ’ hardness. Carbon was absorbed at 800, 900 or 1000 deg. , and also a correspondingly greater percentage of nitro- en. Effect of Methane The same experiments were then carried out using me- i1ane alone, with the following results: Table 2—Influence of Methane -—Per cent of C in layers—, Temp. 1 2 3 4 Inc. in weight 800 deg. C. No effect pis aes 900 deg. C. 1.31 93 74 45 0.1344 gram. 1000 deg. C. 1.81 1.41 1.26 55 0.3420 gram. From this is seen that at 800 deg. C. no carbon is ab- 1rbed, while at 900 and 1000 deg. C. there is a decided arbonization and the outer layers show high carbon ontent, Contrary to the case of carbon monoxide gas, the disassociation of methane at these temperatures is greater than the rate of diffusion of the carbon, so that the outer layers are more highly carbonized. Here also the percentage of carbon toward the center diminishes quickly, as the almost carbonless core in Fig. 5 plainly demonstrates. The same experiment carried out with methane mixed with 2.25 per cent. and 6.36 per cent. am- monia gas by volume resulted as follows: Fig, 5—Heated 4 Hr. at 900 Deg. C. in Methane Fig. 7—Heated 4 Hr. at 900 Deg. C. in Illuminating Gas Table 3—Influence of Methane Plus 2.25 Vol. Per Cent NHsg -—Per cent of C—, Percent of N.inlayers Inc. in No. Temp. 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 weight 23 800deg.C. .30 .32 .17 .10 61 .24 .13 091 .0494 g. 24 900 deg. C. 1.01 .67 .47 .37 12 .094 .066 .057 .1013 g. Table 4—Influence of Methane Plus 6.36 Vol. Per Cent NHsg -—Per cent of C.— Per cent of N. in layers Inc. in No. Temp. 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 weight 25 800 deg. C. 35 .33 .15 .095 .69 .49 .10 .071 .0614¢. 26 900deg.C. 1.10 .79 .47 .38 .27 .18 .12 .083 .1109¢. 27 1000 deg. C. 1.58 1.35 1.06 .96 .23 .16 .11 .100 ..3188 g. A mild carbonization takes place at 800 deg. C., but the carbon extends only 8 mm. into the steel. At the higher temperatures the carbon content does not reach the percentage attained when methane alone is used, the pres- ence of a larger amount of hydrogen preventing so great a carbonizing influence. Effect of Illuminating Gas Turning to illuminating gas, experiments carried out by means of this gas alone showed the following results: Table 5—Influence of Illuminating Gas -—Per cent of C. in layers—., 1 2 3 4 No, Temp. ‘Inc. in weight 28 800 deg. C. 93 .35 .16 .13 .0516 gram. 29 900 deg. C. 1.45 1.10 79 48 -1695 gram. 30 1000 deg. C. 2.18 1.37 1.19 95 .3251 gram. THE IRON AGE . Fig. 6—Heated 4 Hr, at 800 Deg. C. in Illuminating Gas Fig. 8—Heated 4 Hr. at 1000 Deg. C. in Illuminating Gas 1429 The composition of the gas used was: CD sie ie ge dadng o.cdeS bE NE ges 6b bes Shear ees Cake 9.7 per cent ME de dinecds ge <etanens ode kak ius os be ee 51.7 per cent GEA a cWhoh obs deed UddweSONs REMUS Cee asada 30.7 per cent Ree ORONUINE acs i waka ddu Gabe Coben Shc cen be 2.8 per cent Paice b cacdecbes ustndalan dds Reuben vs Coot eeendeaudh s 0.3 per cent CAD cc visu cc even Ged