The Iron Age 1913-05-08: Vol 91 Iss 19

RON AGE Established 1855 New York, May 8, 1913 Vol. 91: No. 19 Fire Protection at Lodge & Shipley Plant How the Works Are Divided into Districts Equipped with Fire-Fighting Apparatus for the Use of Brigades of Employees BY HENRY M. WOOD, CINCINNATI, OHI [mprovements in a manufacturer’s product as made from time to time by progressive builders are usually p promptly seen and appreciated. There are, however isement, br other points of value to customers which do not sh wire glass wit insures i! in the product itself; and among these are the taking of proof vaults the drawings \ all precautions to insure not only a continued output of prinkler syst of tl the present product so that orders can be promptly filled, stalled throughout the plant Automatic Sprinklers Under to make sure that the records and patterns of hand appliances and an efficient! r designs shall be readily and promptly availabl ent pplying repairs for existing machines These in ve a stabi protect itself and its customers against loss and 1 safety of old records which is of much imy fire, the Lodge & Shipley Machine Tool Com- both to the company and to the users of its lat Cincinnati, has recently completed elaborate in lower insurance rat nd greater safety t ‘nts in the way of safeguards against fire such are added a ifeguard I105 1106 Rear of the Fig. 2 s plant the single-story construction with clear aisles ind numerous exits of itself practically eliminates danger to life The relative locations of most of the principal build- as illustrated in the in Fig. 2. Most of the is done in the building at the gnated as Shop No. 1; this is a single-story monitor-type-roof brick building 90 x 810 ft. The drafting rooms are in the far end of under that portion of the building only is a basement locker room and 1 ‘ Shop Ne > 41S ings are rear view of the plant given machine work and assembling long left, des general offices and She p No. I, wash room for the shop force : two story brick building at the extreme right. The carpenter shop is in the center, and back of it are the receiving départment, steel shed and pattern storage building. The supply tank for the located at about the center of the A blue-print fire the locations of all buildings, hose houses, hydrants, hand extinguishers and sand pails. This is posted near the time recorders, where all workmen may see it. Each member of the fire brigade has studied this chart diligently and knows the location of each piece of apparatus. On the walls in. the where the headquarters of the fire protection system are located—are mx : sprinkler { system is works map carefully drawn to scale shows office re carefully worked plant both in perspective and These drawings are colored and show pipe other detailed information not given on the out drawings showing the in plan view. mains and blue print. Fig. 3—Alarm Box, Sand Pail and Hand Extinguisher THE IRON Lodge & Shipley AGE Machine Tool Company’s Plant Sprinkler System All parts of the factory are protected by sprinklers supplied from the 75,000-gal. storage tar in Fig. 2. One of the shut-off valves for the sprinkler system, also hydrant connected to city mains, appear the foreground of this same illuustration. The valves make it possible to cut out the sprinkler system ir case of necessity, such as the accidental discharge of the sprinklers or for making repairs or alterat \ drain pipe is provided for emptying the water fr sprinkler system after the supply tank has been shut Pipes are carried along under the roof of each build- ing and fitted with sprinkler heads at frequent intervals can be seen in Fig. 1. The sprinkler heads open upward, thus taking care of ceiling fires and also reducing the liability of accidental discharge. These Auxiliary Apparatus Located at easily accessible points throughout the plant are fifty-four hand extinguishers. One of these may be seen just below the alarm box in Fig. 3. Three Ajax chemical engines are provided; one in the No. I machine shop, one in the No. 2 shop and one in the cut-off shed. One of these is shown in the foreground of Fig. 2. As sand is very serviceable for fighting paint fire, several fire pails (see Fig. 3) filled with sand are hung in the paint shop. These pails are painted bright red, and hav rounded bottoms so that they are not likely to be used for other purposes. five hose houses distributed about the prem ntains 100 ft. of cotton rubber-lined under- upled to hydrant with playpipe attached a hose on shelf; two axes; two bars; four extra underwriter playpipes; two zle holder; one lantern ready for use; one ladde r yvdrant and one spare wrench. Fig. 4 illus these hose houses. In addition ere af pipes inside the factory building, as shown “ith hose connected and 100 ft. of extra 5 Organization of the Fire Brigade fire-fighting equipment will prove of small eful preparation is not made to insure that is shall be efficiently utilized. To that end the ind training of the factory fire brigade is a isite superintendent is chief of the requires an executive thoroughly famili ngs and details of the fire fighting apparatus lar duties require his presence at the plant the f the time, and whose authority will be un The other general officers are two assistant marshall. Each company has its own cap ae eat brigade, as ar ae a five fire companies, one for each hose house, upon the an alarm iately sounding of each iy tg tg g. 4—Hose House with Its Equipment ist take its station at its own hos ouse ber of the company specific work has been [he members of each company ar hosen rkmen whose machines are closely adjoining ir hose house. Members of the fire companies lor judgment and self-possession in cases agility and strength n there is a ladder corps and a salvage corps ter companies report immediately to the ’ the district from which an he salvage corps is to guard against damage icals and water used in fighting a fire. Tar- provided for covering stock and equipment be moved. The salvage corps is trained to ls in process, machinery, stock, books, records hop fire department fully trained and equipped alarm is turned in action has great advantages over the city ment in being thoroughly acquainted with the graphy and in being almost instantly on the Sounding the Alarm alarm boxes are located throughout the plant; boxes is illustrated in Fig. 3. To turn it is only necessary to take the small hammer the box and break the glass; the breaking of finger to fall into a mercury cup, ting an electric circuit and automatically ring There is also The auto-call ‘ ~11 2~€ Cail ermits a ‘ larm on the shop auto-call with the city fire department installed throughout the plant, with a number May 8 1913 THE IRON AGE 7 wy 7 br ZOnLS § cated tha e < i Will © neard i i rtions the works + | } 4 e hil alarm signa ws n e bel IK 1 ‘ iowed Dy the 1 ‘ istrict Irom ‘whicli tl ~ 1 ‘ alarm is turnes Ches el ws and ‘ strict i : i nu er ire re ‘ S ess i the glass a | aced 1 tne @.¢« all was turne j ine i u ntire plant I W Sta I i $ ned in pliant has istricts, ¢t = } 5 spond with the ‘ f hos uses. District N controlled by e |] se N District No. 2 by sé se N« 2 und > n Fire Dri! ‘ ‘ Bs ; \t irreg I i I i I xed tin tT day tes arms turt us box Phes¢ j drills train tl ling to the ala | nd afford them pra hing their re ‘ } { e stations Che I ¢ S is it would the case i t I S e men i indling th : I equipment | re emciency the re I ntait 1 by tre quent drills and by insisting t n take them a seriously as there wert ct l i : : As the shop is of single-stor nstruction an ' . os . i workmen afr never at a crow't I ‘ t BS re ample ror kly emptyit t { ling i “ yy Fl ae a oy ee oy ear big 5 i Inside t Building Me 3 ; : ' : oie re - ( innecessary L ihe rea + part of the ng ol n in th ! f : ' aa ecessarily ( ind al ; structior | c ember tl nization , '§ given tft ri I itline i } il du tec e ss below oa The ipta rt eat ny sha ike if nce a wet ect é pment of the hose é rder that | y become perfectly familiar with t : equipment and e everyt readine i in a . 7 1] } + ‘ ‘ L) ency ull rac iptain s gna i duty yr cs i -< » af tel canine Sesehauankk Vitwin +} — at tas cal man ¢ nis mpany, i I im 1 ‘ WOTK afd it - aes ; ' ; it be hi regular duty at all t I s plan wil vol zs ° 2 nfusion and Ss of time at a ill Phe captain onc ¥ a week should interview er of } pa und remind him as a member of the fire brigade t | +} lor? lart ela aiways on Lit r an I lé sh li¢ I ne ‘ man nearest to a bell station train himself t ten to the i 1 ll ~ bell A¢ When answering a call, it een the usual habit t oy run the hose out its entire length in some one direction we This should be corrected; every man should be at ! ‘ef t. run the hose a short way, and then find the locatior 3 f the fire efor pre eeding [he members f the com g ‘ . . = any ist be thoroughly fa ar with the handling of vf the hose taking rt nozzit upling n an additiona 7 104 length, and sing right wret at the ight time ee ; : ‘ Bs racn iptair will 1 eld responsible for his |} e sta ~ tion to make sure that in the event of a f rt of yg the equipment may be m nust report at onc: 5 any time the equipment is not +, or out of order 1108 Cleanliness is one of the first requisites in guarding against fire. Several laborers are continuously employed in sweeping up. All departments are kept clean; the sweeping and all waste material are removed every night. Sheet iron which any waste material placed, and these receptacles are kept covered. Waste paper from the office is daily baled and sold. A baling press installed for this work has proved a profitable investment, in addition to order inspection is cans are provided into may be keeping the waste paper all in proper A weekly made of all fire protective apparatus. This is done by the shop inspector, who makes a written report of existing conditions of the equipment just as found on his rounds. The primary purpose of these reports is to inform the executives of the condition of the fire equipment, but it is that the weekly reports be kept on file and open to any inspectors sent by the insurance companies. Some of the important items of information which the weekly report contains are a record of the lition of all valves and hydrants; ment in each of the hose houses; also required more con- equip- condition and location of fire pails; water pressure; general cleanliness of the plant. The inspector also sees that none of the yard laborers place castings or other obstructions where they might obstruct passages to the hose houses or prevent the doors being opened. The night watchman makes periodic rounds of the works and is on the lookout for fire, but is not expected to render any report on the condition of the apparatus. inventory of Burner for Use in Starting Kerosene Engines A special oil burner outfit for heating the combustion chambers of crude or kerosene oil engines for the pur- pose of starting them has been brought out by the Hauck Mig Company, 140 Livingston street, Brooklyn, N. Y. The supply »f oil is stored in the large tank, and compressed air at of from 10 to 100 Ib. is led into the horizontal 1 pressure pipe at the left. Part of the air en- ters the tank to force the oil out through the pipe at the right into the burner, while the remainder of the air passes directly through the _ hori- ontal pipe into the burner, where it mixes with the oil. The burner: used is of a special ato- mizing type. There is a small vent cock on the top of the tank which is Heating Opened to exhaust ee ee one the air, when the tank is being filled. When compressed used to force the A Special Oil the Combustion Oil or Kerosene Starting Them Burner Outfit for Chambers f air is not available a hand pump can be air required into the tank 10 and 12 gal Three sizes of tank, having capacities of 5, respectively, are made. The Alabama Iron Company.—The successor to the Alabama Consolidated Coal & Iron Company, the reor- ganization of which is now under way, will be known as the Alabama Iron Company. Berkeley Williams, Balti- more, has been made temporary president and H. W. Coffin, Birmingham, Ala., temporary vice-president fer of the property has been made by H. W in bankruptcy. The permanent organization of the new company will be effected soon. C. P. Ludwig. general manager of the Alabama Consolidated Coal & Iron Com- pany, has tendered his resignation, effective May 31. Formal trans- Coffin, trustee THE IRON -of the vertical pipe, the overflow being returned to th AGE May & Western Gas Engine with Improved |gnj; The Western Gas Engine Corporation, Los Anvele: has brought out an improved type of igniter f. 5 fee ok internal combustion engines. It is of the mak type and is operated by the movement of the A Portion of an Internal Combustion Engine Capable of Burnir All Kinds of Liquid Fuel Showing a New Type of Igniter g head. If it becomes necessary to remove the igniter t renew the electrodes, it is done by unscrewing two nuts In the accompanying engraving, a portion of the eng is shown broken away to indicate the operation of th various parts. As the eccentric rod moves back and fort! it operates the circulating water pump at the leit of t engine base, and the fuel pump to the left of the latter [his draws fuel from the supply tank and discharges | into a secondary reservoir in which the supply is kept at a constant level. The level is shown by the gauge at the left main tank. On the outward stroke, the cross-head engage: a hook on the oblique rod and lever mechanism show: and this serves to open the inlet valve, thus permitting the suction of the outgoing piston to draw in a charge of fuel air and water vapor, the amount of fuel passing into t! cylinder being regulated. The exhaust lever is operated | a cam on the eccentric and engages the stem of the ex haust valve. A rod on the upper side of this lever, whi is not clearly shown, releases the compression for starting only. When the speed of the engine is too fast, the g ernor on the flywheel hub acts by holding the exhaust valve open and preventing the hook on the oblique r from being engaged by the cross-head. In this wa inlet valve is kept closed and no fuel is used. The igniter trip is engaged by a rod attached to | cross-head which is not shown and the point of ign can be readily adjusted while the engine is running. Ther are two ignition points, and these are controlled by turn a handle on the cross-head. One of these gives a lat spark which is used in starting only, the handle being turned to the advanced spark position as soon as the engin has been brought up to speed. The piston is of the long trunk type. The wrist pin! inserted and fastened in place from the front end, ai rangement which, it is pointed out, does away with hol through the piston walls and at the same time renders easy to remove the wrist pin when it becomes necessaf turn it down. David Werner Amram has been appointed refer bankruptcy in the matter of Jacob K. Dimmick, Gano and Frederick D. Dimmick, individually and as partners, trading as J. K. Dimmick & Co., coal, iron an coke merchants, Land Title Building, Philadelphia The first meeting of creditors will be held May 14 } referee’s office, Real Estate Trust Building, Philadelphia The Ayer & Lord Tie Company, Railway Exchans Building, Chicago, has received an order for 5750 } of its blocks for flooring the new machine sho} Detroit United Railway Company, Detroit, Mic order came through the W. C. Wood Company, and contractor, Detroit. ’ we 'A Now Type of Non-Pulsating Pump Specially Shaped Cams Actuating the Cross-Heads a Feature of the Design has recently been placed by the water works the city of Cleveland, with the Luitwieler ine Company, Rochester, N. Y., for three 500- These o n- ording whereby | out that nter has ited and lsating re- . ¢ pump se- ums are lace of ransform motion of f power iprocating r the Se ae to give speed of heads and steady ngement of their followers in a triplex pump is shown s are placed 120 deg. apart on a straight shaft. and the shaft are balanced, and this, in connec- the even flow of water, it is emphasized, enables eed to be maintained. Roller followers on the late the cross-heads. The pump is double acting, by the cams is proved uniform the cycle, and the pressures on the opposite bearings are equal. This design, it is pointed in making the camshaft a floating one, and ble to use 33/16-in. steel for the shaft. In lex pump, it is reported, has operated under performed tanding upon a pair of saw horses without being apparent and an efficiency as high ent. has been developed with motor-driven i. iplex pump, the two cams are seated oppositely bg haft and transmit the power through sliding ; friction being relieved by rollers. These cams 7 d so that each lifts the load through slightly ; full half revolution, the overlap permitting the | off gradually from one cam, while the suc- rae gradually assumes it. The rise of the cam is We - a tad ng Showing the Arrangement of the Cams and Fol ywers in a Triplex Pump nstant between the intervals of overlap and vater load forward without acceleration at an water. 1 view of he pumps the city Fig. 1—A 500-Gal. Non-Pulsating Pump land, while f the Driving THE IRON AGE 1109 1 addition t es mn pump, the Ipany prepared furnish gas r steam engin iven unit iT th vertical and I types, and a gasoline-dri hre engine has also been « n which triplex dou icting pumps are us¢ l f these pumy whicl ive a t “SS mn. at 100 f.p ests this ira ci i 85 per cent s stated, has be se in Which Cams are Employed to Transform the Rotary Moti Member into a Reciprocating Move Contracts for the Australian Steel Plant Several months ag representatives of the Broken Hill Proprietary Company, Ltd., of Australia, were in this country securing data and figures on the erection of a blast furnace, open-hearth steel plant and structural steel and merchant bar mills, to be built in New South Wal Recently the company has placed contracts for the ere« tion of a blast furnace, structural and merchant mills That for the steel plant is still in abeyance The con tract for the blast furnace was placed with the William B. Pollock Compan Youngstown, Ohio, and the Mesta Machine Company, Pittsburgh, received an rder for tl ree high-speed blowing engines These will be exact ‘ duplicates of several recently furnished by the Mesta Ma chine Company to the Shenango Furnace Company at Sharpsville, Pa. They will have 44-in. steam cylinders R4-in. draw heads, 50-in. stroke and are built for a maxi mum pressure of 30 Ib. and a maximum speed of 80 r.p.m The engines will be equipped with the new air valves recently put on the market by the Mesta Machine Company, these i an important factor in the award Work on the construction of the engines has already started at West Homestead, Pa., and they are expected to be finished and shipped in the latter part of this year The contract for the engines was secured by the Mesta Machine Company in close competition with English, Ger man and other foreign engine builders. The work on the new plant is in charge of Philadelphia in February to become engineer of construc tion and general manager David Baker, who went from The Van Dorn Electrical Tool Company, Cleveland Ohio. has been incorporated with ; -apital stock of $200,000 to manufacture the line f portable electrically ‘ driven drills and reamers now made by the Van Dorn & Dutton C mpany The latter con pany ils manu fac tures gears, its electrically driven tools being a side line Poth branches of the company’s business have grown to such an extent that it decided to have separate corpora tions to carry on the two lines. They will be closely allied but will be under separate management Eisenerz, a town in the Erzberg district of Austria, has the distinction of having conducted iron mining oper- ations for the past 1200 years. To commemorate this a series of fétes will be held in the town from June 22 to 29 ‘ The Case of the Chilled Cast Iron Car Wheg Its Manufacturers Consider That the Percentage Breaks Is of Flange Small the Considering Service Conditions—A Record of Improvement BY GEORGI QO se is ’ rth facts v reference to an ish in the Iron Age under date of March 6, page 588, under the caption, “An Increase in Number of Car Whe Failures.” The article referred to is based upon ( é bulletins of the Interstate ( lerce ( \fter summarizing the derailments due to broken nges and urst wheels, it Says The necessity of bringing the quality the chilled wheel to a proper basis is empl ed today as it is never been, and the makers and users should get t ether and try to find means of improving the quality of wheels T make them « juai ft presen Se! ndi tions.” \pparently the writer does not know that the Associa- tion of Manufacturers of Chilled Car Wheels, rep senting 95 per cent. of th LY NDON* a f 1909 than has ever been made; and wher the vast increases in car capacit sultant increases in rail and axle during tl and the slight increase in the weight of th: be found that the chilled iron wheel has not or condition of service imposed for the past the record will show that the derailments flanges and burst wheels are actually decr the following table showing the changes is given to made in developing the 10-ton car to the 50-1 Weight increase in car capacity..... 4 = Weight increase in rail.............. 100 | Weight increase in axle............ 149 We'ght increase in chilled iron wheel. 38; Flange Impro ‘ \ One part of | iron wheel that | wheels manufactured in the \ y ¢ e - +” United States, and the Mas \ A ceived due cons ter Car Builders’ Standing / oe a the flange. In an * enawnn tite = Cane Wheat / "ey arner’s Weekly. 11 Committee on Car W eels hy, at Harper’s Weekly hay e been closely asso Sala ial “ae Series, December 28 since the year 1909 r 3 appears the following the express purpose of im- “It is a curious proving the quality f the heey . ‘ee alte in this matter of flang chilled iron wheel. Previous f / he ———— 25,--ZAPER _ 3h, TAPER cars of to-day are n to the year 1909, individual \ i909 | off than were the cars wheel makers had made im } PRIOR saan carried soldiers and supp! ‘ : | 410 sg0a \ a = ey provement in their patterns . \! ete <a aan to the battle fields of and product; but n ncert | Tova. Tapemt _— Civil War.” ed action ha een iken \ . j until the year 19090, when / This condition is not be cause the wheel makers have standard wheels for the three ~~ not been fully alive to the sit classes of cars of 40 and me uation, but on account of th 50 tons capacity were sub aerate fact that they have been r mitted by the manufacturers : Batsan |v 20 stricted in improvements and approved by the Master Made in Flange and Tread Sections of Car Wheels Catise of the sup 1] Car Builders. Before these Since 1904 of track clearance Thi three standards there ers, and many railroads had standard patterns of their own The standards recomme were adopted were aS many patterns as nded wert the year 1911, because the Master Car Builders gave the time to adjust t manufacturers a sufficient to the 1 new standards Wheel In analyzing the derailments caused by br and burst wheels for the purpose of de Failures and Harder Service Conditions ken flanges termining what chilled iron ] progress has been made in the quality of th wheel, we must consider the dates the wheels were and not charge all the failures during the year 1912 against the product of that year. This is the only proper basis upon which to proceed In determining the percentages of cast, derailments of due to broken flanges and broken wheels, the number of failures in any be consistently compared cars one period cannot with another unless the number of wheels in service is considered; and it is manifestly unfair to state that in th period 1902-4 there were 1070 derailments, while durin 1 the period IQIO-I2 there of 70 per cent., as were 1,500,000 freight cars in service, rej wheels; in 1910 there representing 17,008,248 wheels—an increas« in the number of wheels in service; and this resents wheels serving under heavy capacity cars The chilled iron car wheel manufacturers, in conjunc tion with the Master Car Builders, have greater progress in the chilled iron wheel the year were 1827, and figure an increas« here was done by the w riter In 1902 t resenting 12,000,000 were 2,133,000 freight cars in service, f 40 per cent Increase re] mad industry since *Secretary As ton of Manufacturers of ¢ 1214 McCormick Building, Chicago tilled Car Wheels, companying diagran w such improvements in the flange as have been n 1904: Reference to the illustration will show a slight incre of metal in the back of the flange in 1904, as the weight the wheel increased from 630 to 700 Ib. It will also s! that during 1909 a further increase was made, starting a a point slightly below the base line and extending arouné the flange and back of the tread, producing an increase i tread thickness and increasing the weight to 725 lb. T! slight changes, together with a reduction in the height fro’ 1% in. to I in. are the only improvements made in t flange, and it must be remembered that the capacity of cars has increased from Io tons to 50 tons. This was we could get, but not as much of an increase as we wish to make in order to increase the factor of safety. Wé still trying to improve the flange, but cannot go fu until such a time as the railroads will approve of a desig similar to that shown for a flange for 140,000 Ib. capaci When this is done flange failures will be ré a minimum The flange of the wheel exercises the important tion of guiding the trucks and in going around cur is the flange that takes up the lateral thrusts being forced against the rail, and the contact betw wheel and rail produces wear in both. A flangé fore, does not improve in strength with age, and the long it is used the more the wear, and the thinner and wea The imperative necessity of careful inspect follows, so that a wheel may not be allowed to w« flange beyond the condemning limit. cars it becomes. Flange Breaks Analyzed Many times in looking for the cause of a derailmet e. anc wheel will be found with a broken or chipped flang¢, IIIo readily assigned, whereas, as a matter of fact, have been chipped or broken after it left the iwh poor track, faulty truck construction, et ases where a broken flange was reporte lerailment and upon investigation we have he flange had been worn beyond the con- t. Many derailments are reported to the In- merce Commission caused fl Dy snMarp flanges 1 rail in going around curves, or passing cross- switches the record of broken flanges for the year piled from the Interstate Commerce Commis- we have the following: , Broken flanges Year st } » lang ' > 1909 ; 5 } 1910 Lé , 4 1911 2 p ‘ gs N 7 +f Total rep / t Percentage ret een, we have a record of 17 hee! it of reported broken, or 27 per cent. The service twenty-four years and the average life of wheels is over six years. As a flange is at first put into service, it will be interesting paratively few failures for wheels cast tal breakages of flanges in the three 1 to 20 wheels. The report shows that during t! ere were 16 breakages, only 2 in 1911 and 2 we only have a record of 27 per cent. of the nges during this period, and on this record vheels were cast in IQIO, it would be reasonably me that the remainder of the wheels (if tabu be made) would bear the same proportion of Therefore we can assume that if we had a record, there would have been broken in t! approximately 60 wheels. During the year 1910 in service over 2.000,000 freight cars and there nning over 16,000,000 chilled iron wheels, and 1 represent one wheel broken for every 266,000 service. If we take the total breakages, which rted as 627, and consider the number of wheels we will find that there is one breakage for every vheels in service and the broken flange wheels ve have tabulated from the Interstate Commerce n reports show an average of 614 years’ service P is 1s not an alarming condition when we take nsideration that a very large percentage of thos« were of the old design and plainly show abuse du ng brakes and excessive wear. The Record of Broken Wheels vill now analyze the report of broken wheels. Our as compiled from the Interstate Commerce Com- report, shows the detail of 109 broken wheels as cast, name of maker, etc. There were 229 break- vhich we could obtain no record. An analysis wheels reported is as follows Broken wheels Year cast Ry » wheels 1 1909 9 I 1910 14 l 1911. 10 I 1912 7 5 —— 3 09 Rg Broken and se t 9 engine drivers 19 4 No record } 6 saan 12 Total » Oar 13 Percentage reported 3 wm be observed that the broken wheels, like the Manges, are distributed over a period of years, with the year 1880, and the average servic f all roken is over six years. The cause assigned for , kage of 52 wheels out of the 109 reported THE IRON AGE IIT! nterstat i [ | ssio1 rant ticl 2 Broken whee are the result i tempcrature stresses ising trom brake friction and show conclusively that the metal has not been proportioned to the str n lesigning ‘any structur unit of material is used to resist a unit of stre nd when all service conditions are known itisas ter to proportion the metal to full her \ V sig I eet the t seve service t S d ta e< ditions, tl vould roke reels. Fift ent rol were y brakes g” and 90 | cent. of the br n whe ceurred i é u yous res f the East and West where ‘ ximu brake resistance is 1 red Breaks from Improper Us« t} heel: nl arge number of these wl Is | iniproper sage For example \ 625-Ib. wheel designed for a car having a light weight f 28.000 Ib.. as required in the M BR. standards uld c callec Ip t resist I rr | heat ‘ It ne tr 10,000 brake pressur vhe the tr ke er cent. ¢ the hent w t r tie i 62s-Ilb. wheel for ur ue t whit i = 0x braked at &o | e to resist an a rma stress 4 ‘ Ico per ce greater stress I é eight of wl Te cn 1 Ce ' ‘ t} vheel | ars weighing fir 5 t ( » i 0. ipacity < ! ht re tl 100, apacit s Soll, a heels d ed for 100,000 ipacit rs weig! I e ft t] e desigi 60,000 Ib. capacity car | this iditional metal ts d tributed in the plates of the wheel, which increases t! strength and furnishes greater resistance t ticking brak } The heat developed by excessive brake applicatior \ causes wheels to break. The Master Car Builders in their 1912 Proceedings re gnized the question of establishing the maximum brak power as well as gross load for each desigt f wheel, a: called part ular attention t the trouble experienced using 625-lb. wheels under 60,000 Ih. capacity cat having tare weight of 40,000 lb. to 70,000 lb ich as refrigerat ars, et and if their recommendation: I Foll roken wheels will be practically eliminated f we take the entire number of chilled tr vhee roken during the year 1912 d base these bre es Ul the number of wheels in service, we will fis ther¢ -omparatively. one broken wheel tor every 50,0 heels service The mmerce of the country ts dependent upon th hilled iron car wheel It has successfully resisted the attacks of over half a century It is the standard wheel r rail-borne traf and its universal use is an know] edgment of its efficiency. It possesses the ideal structural advantages of hard tread, soft pl ate ind soft hul nd each part of the wheel is so well fitted for the service dk manded that it is no wonder that it has survived such a long period of use. It carries the car structure and con tents all over the country, and because an oecasional whee! breaks it does n follow that the wheel is to blame, be cause anything can be broken by abuse, and no one will deny that the chilled iron wheel has a tremendous burden to bear The 000,000 tons one mile each year: [The existence of the Associatir { Manufacture: Chilled Car Wheels and its conference relations with the Master Car Builders were well known to the writer of the article referred to at the beginning by Mr. Lyndon. The necessity for some action that has not yet resulted from the jomt efforts of the car wheel manufacturers and the railroads is as pointedly indicated in Mr. Lyndon’s com 5 ments as in the original article—Iorror Tae tr ‘-hilled iron wheel now carries over $00,000 “t ; The Gadsden Pipe Company was organized in Birming- ham, Ala. last week, and will build a soil pipe plant at Gadsden, Ala, to replace the one that was destroyed by fire some months ag t is expected to have the new foundry ready for operation in the fall. Otto Agricola, Gadsden, has been elected president, William M. Byrd, Birmingham, vice-president, and H. Hammond, Birming- ham, secretary-treasurer et it iy ete ge” aah” The Iron Flasks Which Formed a Barrier and Saved the Machine Shops Rehabilitation from the Dayton Flood What Happened in the Plant of the Platt [ron Works—Motors Dried in a Vacuum and Other K, G, To the outside world the Dayton flood is a matter of history, but to those who went through this terrible ordeal it is still a very near and vital thing and constitutes a chapter in the lives of.all those who experienced it that will never be forgotten. The waters have subsided but they heft behind a city covered with mud and debris Many homes were wrecked and ruined and many factories and plants damaged and their production facilities tem- porarily paralyzed. It is this latter phase of the disaster—the overwhelmed plants and the manner of their rehabilitation—that com- *Platt Iron Works Company, Dayton, Ohio. The East Interesting Restoration Work MARTIN* mands a large share of the engineers’ attention at the present moment, and with this thought in mind I shall describe the way in which the Platt Iron Works was put back into service and was operating at overload capacity within three weeks of the day that the first man reached the works after the flood. The Platt Iron Works occupies 16 acres on the north bank of the Mad River, just at the end of the Keowee street bridge in North Dayton, in the very heart of what became the “flood district.” Due to the tremendous rain- fall which began on Easter Sunday, the rivers had reached a high but not particularly alarming stage by Monday evening. At 4:30 o’clock on Tuesday morning, March 25, Bay of the Foundry Showing High Water Marks and Scouring Action of the Sand III2 VW i vw neer of the plant was awakened by a neighbor t the water was trickling over the levees and ter every minute. Making what hasty provi- ild for the safety of his home he proceeded to the works, advised the night engineer and nen of conditions and blew the whistle, blew it le open, until its great bellowing was heard, in the dawn, five miles away. It was the first the sleeping city had of its approaching fate, rst realized its significance. re those who did, however, notably the watch- gineers of other plants, and soon whistles were ir warning in every direction. By this time vas coming in a steady stream and was flowing rks, not only over its own protecting concrete down from the north where the earthen dikes ning to crumble under the terrible onslaught raging Mad River, and the men at the plant r their lives. Another man who arrived at ntered the machine shops and worked in swirling to his waist and saved over 100,000 card THE IRON AGE L113 and three candles with which he improvised a crude stove and here he finished his store of provisions, which had consisted of an apple and an orange. He was rescued the next morning in a boat—and the following night reported for duty at the plant! Such is the spirit of the men and women of Dayton! How the First Cleaning Up Was Started On Friday afternoon, March 28, the first man, the manager of the steam and power pump department reached the plant on horseback, made preliminary surveys of the work to be done and started such men as came later in the day at cleaning up the boiler room and power plant and by Saturday morning steam was up. This same day, seeing that many of the men would have to work long hours in water and mud, the surrounding country was scoured for rubber boots and 60 pairs were obtained, too pairs more being gathered in next day Sunday 120 scrapers, like smow scrapers or pushers, were made to clean those sections of floor space that were encumbered with drift wood and wreckag« Owing to re he was forced to climb up into the struc- building and make his way to the roof. w from that point of vantage an appalling sight, f rushing water filled with trees, houses and ceivable form and kind of wreckage. Directly he plant a whole section of the dike had been ut and the water had swept before it lumber k and wooden houses and sheds, railroad cars, ng that came in its path. experience of this man, marooned on the roof ichine shops, is typical of that which thousands vent through. Around him was a surging flood, 5 ft. deep and at terrific speed, absolutely cut- ff from all assistance. As the waters had risen bed higher and higher and finally broke his gh the glass side of the saw-tooth roof. With | a piece of rope he made his way about and ‘rightful Wednesday night came with its below perature, its rain and snow, and with the weird nated by the light of two whole squares in the he city in flames, he sought shelter and warmth. ng the shop again at a point above one of the i stock rooms, he obtained some brass sheeting The Pattern Shop Three Weeks After Having Been Completely Submerged the proximity of the river the plant received its full share 8 in., of the entire 500,000 tons of silt and mud that were spread over the flooded area. By the time that the chief executive arrived on Monday, having traveled by practically every known means of conveyance, the whole work of re habilitation was well under way Flasks and Patterns Carried Two Miles Mud and refuse were piled on wheelbarrows and im provised hand cars in the machine shops, pattern shops foundries, etc., run outside and loaded on flat cars, taken to a sluice-way built at the river edge, the whole mass liquefied and searched for tools and other articles of value and then washed down into the river. Tracks that had been washed out were relaid and this work extended to all parts of the plant Fire hose lines’ were also laid throughout all the machine shops and the automatic and machine tools were thoroughly washed’ down over long periods until every particle of grit was removed Seside all this work many other activities were under way. Guards had been appointed to watch the outlying buildings while other men were sent down the river to recover or tag patterns, flasks and other property that had Ltt FS eS ——— lO ete ee ee Sei ete bce: De aaa se. |. : bil THE IRON AGE been. washed away, some of it having been carried two miles. [The First Sanitary District,, under the United States Sanitary Commission, had been established in the offices of the plant; and food, clothing and hospital sup- plies were being distributed. A field kitchen had been set up in a cleared space in the yard and here food and drink were prepared for and served to 1000 men for 10 days. Supplies had also been carried to the city water works, just across the river,-and before they were put in opera- tion water was furnished to the district from Platt deep well pumps located on the plant property. Electric Motors Dried Under a Vacuum By Tuesday 3000 shovels had been obtained and the shops and yards were all soon clear of mud. The machine tools were next carefully dissembled, each part wiped dry and oiled, put back in place and readjusted. The electric motors in the plant, numbering over 300, were next at- tended to. These included the various pump appliances and shafting motors, motors delivered for erecting with the confusion and disorder existing in the directly after the flood may be obtained | high water marks, shown in black on the pi; near ceiling at the right in the illustration of remembering that every object not securely that could float was swept about by thx Surrent, In the foundry building the same state of ; wooden flasks, rammers and sieves being in : covered with mud and wreckage from outside rythi had to be dug out, washed off and cleaned to its proper place. No complete molds we: but one large pit casting that was still quite hot from ¢ last pour was shattered as the water struck it and tracks had to be scraped and leveled up and the »: ords and files duplicated. The bench molders ered { most inconvenience, due to the confused state in wh; their equipment was left, but the scouring act churned-up sand and floating debris is best sh lighter appearance of the lower parts of the The South Bay of the Machine Shop Three Weeks After the Flood; High Water Mark Shown by Chalk Marks in Center Backgr pumps on order, and all the motors that formed the indi- vidual drive for the various machine tools. Several large feed-water heaters were obtained from that department, lined with steam coils, a vacuum pump attached, the motors placed inside, and at a temperature so low that the wind- ings and insulation were unaffected, every trace of water was boiled out and evaporated. The same scheme on a larger scale was employed in the case of the main gen- erator so that electric light and power were at hand in the works within a short time. In the pattern shop and pattern storage, work had been going steadily on. New benches and leveling tables had been built; new belts were obtained for the shafting; tools, gauges and clamps had been sorted out from the piles of stuff that had been left heaped about as the water drained off; new flooring was laid where it had been ripped or floated up; new windows were put in, new sup- plies of every sort were obtained and the whole place repainted. Patterns were carefully sorted out as they were found, those damaged were discarded and new ones built and those that were still in a good state of preserva- tion were trued up and put back in storage. Some idea of umns and the cupolas in the accompanying photogra the east bay, where the pit and heavy casting is don The traveling cranes were used to good advantag' the foundries as well as in the machine shops in clean up. Piles were made of the material that had beer from its proper place and the crane then carried to its original and proper position. the I Heavy Iron Flasks Served as a Protecting Barrier The view taken in the north yard looking toward boiler shop gives an idea of the violence of the flood an the vast amount of wreckage that had to be dealt wit The line of heavy iron flasks at the right undoubte® saved the machine shops, the shadow of which shows # the left, from a great deal of damage. They brok many of the floating houses and formed a breakwater ' . shielded the shops from the impact of these heavy floatim objects that would otherwise have rammed the plant sO many gigantic torpedoes. The wooden flasks stored in another yard wert tered all over the flooded area, some being found tv away, as stated. The plant stable was washed hit a bridge, went to pieces, and only ed. By a freak of the flood another sta wn onto the property, stranded right sid ind faced the right way It was boug r and is now 1n use. tial that the various industries of the city rking shape as rapidly as possible, so that ven employment and money put into cir this work done quicker or it manner than at the Platt Iron Works, and from a and econom« vell as with an eye here was is looked at broad to getting the plant back ning basis and completing the many orders photographs tell the story at a glan nditions existing on April 18, exactly thi first man entered the works the employees are, of course, still devoting eir time to getting homes it ny were working for a long time at general after the flood under orders of the military \t present fully two-thirds of the men are though it will be some time yet before the ment of 2500 men can be obtained. Such vhat one plant went through as a result of Dayton Flood, and the energy and courage dis itting it back “on the map” in such short tim¢ s for the organization. their shape Welding Broken Iron Light Poles An Interesting Application of the Oxy-acetylene Process at Dayton oxy-acetylene welding machines can be put haps hardly better illustrated than by the re- plished by the Dayton Welding Company, in rescuing lamp posts after the recent [he water in the downtown district varied from in depth on the main business streets, and current carried with it a lot of debris which in almost incalculable damage. In the shopping Dayton the cluster lighting system is employed tal cast-iron poles, about 15 ft. in height, carried six electrically illuminated globes. and during over 160 of these were broken off about ve the ground, the breaks coming just above uts and fuse plug. These breaks were not caused tive castings, but were due to heavy objects being igainst the poles. at first thought that new poles would have to be nd in addition to the initial cost of them, there been a heavy expense in taking up the con- resetting the new poles. Time was also a factor nsidered. When the Dayton Power & Light Com- first approached on welding the broken poles place, the proposition was turned down as not The engineering depart ittention to the that a ir weld would have to be n is considered heult departures in the art of ‘ + } daunted DY ++ he watt y water, feasible Tact one of the this statement ( ffered ng _ompany and Derrick and Broker Welding Outfit 13 THE IRON AGE ir 7 as a fepiace six’ p les, as a trial, and the successfal results ae btained the contract for the entire lot f \ special derrick, the frame hich: cons’ ste« gnt pipe vas iT I Was lil il n : ‘ en yenera I xX os ke tool tT ins *k t] iS Trals¢ I Zin i] S matched ) tne Id breal nd th sides pr for weldin poles s 3 to the tna £ - : . ; evere tes ' ) st as strone A is a new pol In fact it was laimed that at the breaking point they were stronger : han before, as a in. filletwas add yn the outside 7 With the on portable outfit and three men, six to seven poles wert a paired each day, at a cost of less than half that of " poles. Considering the cost of removing the broken ) i< umns, restting new ones and replacing the concrete pa = ment, the saving effected would be hard to estimate L ine “e illustrations show a pole that was welded, and all conne 4 tions made and the light. turned on in less than tw a hours’ time ‘3 The Increased Export of Swedish Iron Ores : * For some time negotiations have been carried on between ie the Swedish government and the Trafik-Aktiebolaget Grangesberg-Oxelosund with a view altering the con tract of 1907 between these parties as to enable th [ ompany to ship a larger quantity of ore than is now stip a ilted. An agreement has been reached, subject to the ap a proval of the Swedish parliament. It has been proved that a the iron ore deposits of the country are much more ex a tensive than was thought a few years ago, thus reducing the 3 possibility of danger to the Swedish iron industry from ' lack of ore supply. The adoption of the new agreement By will result in a total increase of 31,000,000 tons f . high-grade iron ore in the period of 1913-1932, 01 tb an average of nearly 1,600,000 tons : yeat pHecause the mining # # mpany has alread old the en x } tire production allowed by the ay previous agreement until 1920 and he greate rtion until 1928, the 3 | effect of the new adjustment will not be important for some years | The available increase is but 200 e d | 000 ¢t ! ear and amounts t a 900,000 tons in 1916 f iy oo tons in 1920 and remair ' ; it heures it ll n twel | irs Ae a } ie [The first specifications f = juipment for its new steel plant | have been sent out by the Otis Vi Steel Company, Cleveland, Ohio sg | These specifications are for four i r five jobbing mills for light . lates and heavy sheets. The a $$$ —___—_— mnany expects to send out other +P Pole Being Prepared for Welding 5 ations shortly is ® 1116 THE IRON AGE May 8& i Doing Business With the U.S. Navy Navy Business Is Desirable—Red Tape a Fiction—Inspection Not to Be Feared BY C. A. HARRINGTON.* ian The annual appropriation for the navy made by Con- gress in recent years has averaged approximately $130,- 000,000. A large proportion of this falls into the hands of establishments located within a radius of a few hundred miles from Washington, being expended for steel and iron and the products made therefrom, non-ferrous metal articles, lumber, rubber, etc. As there are many who do not thoroughly understand just what a large consumer and what an excellent customer the Navy Department is, and as there are many also who are not familiar with its mode of conducting business, it may perhaps be worth while to give a short description of the methods of pur chase and inspection of material for the navy Prejudice Against Navy Business At the beginning, it may be said that there seems to be a feeling on the part of many that navy business 1s undesirable, principally for two reasons 1. On account of the so-called red tape connected with bidding. 2. The trouble, complications, losses, etc., caused by navy inspec- tion. It is a strange fact that many concerns who have such feeling about government business have never had any real business dealings with the Navy Department, their fear being caused more by hearsay evidence. It is also a fact that such people, after having had one experience with the Navy Department and seeing what really simple and effective methods are used, usually endeavor to get more navy business. The only ones who actually fear navy methods are those who fear any kind of honest business, namely, unreliable manufacturers or merchants. It is hoped that this article will show just how simple and easy it is to deal with the Navy Department, whose methods are exactly like those used by any intelligent pur- chaser who assures himself as well as possible that he is getting just what he pays for The business of the Navy Department, like other de- partments of the National Government, is administered by a secretary under whom are various bureaus. The w