The Iron Age 1924-03-13: Vol 113 Iss 11

ile STABLISHED 1855 Expanding from Kitchen Ware to Ingots VOL. 113, No. 11 Latest Additions to Granite City Works of National Enameling & Stamping Co. Include Plate Mill, Regenerative Type Slab-Heating Furnace and Large Sheet Plant BY G. L. the usual trend of expansion has been from basic materials and heavy forms of finished steel to the ighter and more specialized products, in some instances extending as far as certain types of equipment and goods for the ultimate consumer. This kind of develop- ment may be characterized as downward in contrast with the less common upward expansion whereby a maker of manufactured goods provides facilities to supply the raw materials used in production. Upward expansion, however, is not without out- standing examples. A large agricultural implement manufacturer is well established as an operator of blast furnaces, steel works and rolling mills.. Relatively re- cently a prominent automobile maker has inaugurated a comprehensive program for the production of pig iron and steel. But perhaps the most spectacular develop- [' the growth of iron and steel plants in this country PPL op IO A LACHER ment of this type has been that of the National Enamel- ing & Stamping Co., Granite City, Ill. Its growth has been literally from kitchen ware to ingots and, if the company’s allied interests are included, the range of expansion may be further extended to take in pig iron and coke. Today an important producer of steel, and through its affiliations with the St. Louis Coke & Iron Co., Granite City, identified also with the production of pig iron and coke, the National Enameling company is still primarily a manufacturer of enameled and tin ware and stampings for household use. Its growth as a steel producer, of course, has been given impetus by the de- sirability of insuring a dependable and economical source of supply for its steadily expanding stamping and enameling works located in five cities in widely separated sections of the country. Latterly, however, New 100-In. Three-High Motor-Driven Finishing Stand of the Plate Mill, Which Has a Rolling Speed of 500 Ft. Per Min. and an-Estimatéd Capacity of 12,000 Tons Per Month. It is arranged to roll No. 8 gage and heavier in widths up to 84:in. and lengths up to 40 ft.. Gear reduction and pinion housings are embraced in a single stand 773 *% 774 the demands of other steel consumers, particularly in the territory tributary to St. Louis, have made them- selves felt to such an extent that development dictated by intra-company needs promises to give place to = expansion which will give the company an increasingly important position as a producer of ingots, semi- finished and finished steel for sale on the open market. New Plant and Equipment The latest additions tothe capacity of the company’s main steel works at Granite City comprise a 100-in. plate mill, a regenerative-type slab heating furnace, and a sheet plant embracing six hot mills and a (2-in. jobbing mill. The plate mill, a three-high motor-driven . installation, replaced a steam-driven 84-in. mill. The mill comprises a roughing and a finishing stand in tan- dem. The rougher, which is a two-high steam-driven 100-in. reversing stand, was retained from the old mill, while the new finishing stand was installed by the United Engineering & Foundry Co., Pittsburgh, and represents its latest type of construction. This stand is driven by a 3000-hp. Westinghouse induction motor operated by 2300-volt, 60-cycle, three-phase alternating current. The motor speed is 240 r.p.m. and through reducing gears the mill speed is 50 r.p.m. A novel feature lies in the fact that the gear reduc- tion and pinion housings are embraced in a single stand. Kennedy reduction gears and Thomas flexible couplings j ; sfes Annealing siete eveler- Open Portable é orte urrvace el Annealing tn t tna} : ' hear | wear ro /7 ra %e- ' k 1 30 Sheet Mi/ Lames y i | 2-0 Oe OO 08-0 => if ‘ ii (= Jobbing M nw ' : r ' t ~ ‘re r Motor’ : 4 1 t ce * 4 5 z 2 a » 2 re) fortroll 1 ‘ ' tL 2 Sheet + "A OFS pace Wd at ad a Furnace Ms a v U Combination Sheet 2 aliens Clit eh 5 Speetand Pair -— _ vhee a1 bination Shee via furnace - 5 aan S Od. P rl Fee Fee anda Pa rfrurnaces t r t t t v pes 4 : k t t 1 t t r t r ’ THE IRON AGE March 13, 192 scale pit for the removal of scale to railroad cars. T} scale is shipped not only to blast furnaces for rem; ing, but also to lead smelters in the vicinity, where j used as a flux. It is utilized also by malleable found, in annealing. Special Slab-Mill Furnace When the slab mill starts operation, slabs wil! heated in a new continuous regenerative-type furn erected back of the roughing stand of the plate m The furnace, which was furnished by the George Hagan Co., Pittsburgh, has a hearth length of 41 ¢ and inside width of 10 ft. 6 in., and is provided wi water-cooled skids for carrying the slabs. These sk extend the entire length of the hearth except for the final 8 ft., which is used as a soaking hearth. The slabs are charged into the furnace by means of heavy motor-driven pushers and are discharged through drop doors at the end, where they slide onto the roller tabl: which conveys them to the mill. A feature of the design is the absence of any co! umns or other furnace supports or binding beyond th« discharge doors, thereby permitting an absolutely clear working space around the roller tables. The entire weight of the furnace beyond the lower combustion chamber is carried on massive columns. This construc tion permits easy access to the water manifolds of the skids and to the burners of the second combustion cham- 0 25 50 75 10 t i ! 1 A 1 i i ‘ ' Z A i 1 A 4 a ‘ I > x t Depressed rack ' GALVANIZING PLANT Be ' as Pe ' TS ale - « ¥ | fi - Shes | t rl Ur t z am : Riviere k " t- 7d 0 a oO JK 1 I . aT > Bolers iced ee - t t t * ; : ” 4 ' t t ' t t t t : t t a Plan of Sheet Mill, Showing Arrangement of Units in the Cour Bavs of the Building are used. The rolling speed of the mill is 500 ft. per min. The estimated capacity is 12,000 tons per month. Arranged to roll No. 8 gage and heavier in widths up to 84 in. and lengths up to 40 ft., its wide flexibility is indicated by the fact that it has actually rolled 3/16-in. plate 72 in. wide by 65 ft. long. The rolls in the finish- ing stand are cast iron, the top and bottom rolls being 100 x 34 in. and the middle roll 100 x 22 in. At present the mill motor is driven by 2300-volt al- ternating current produced in the company’s own power plant, but equipment has been provided to handle 30,000-volt, 60-cycle, three-phase alternating current generated by the Illinois Power & Light Co. For this purpose three 667-kva. transformers have been placed outside the mill control house. Two patented combined motor-operated and pneu- matically-balanced tilting tables for the finishing stand were furnished by the United Engineering & Foundry Co. All the tables are operated by 250-d.c. Westing- house motors, direct current being supplied by two 1000-kw. Westinghouse motor-generator sets. The main control panels for the mill were furnished by the West- inghouse Electric & Mfg. Co., while the control panels for all auxiliary motors were supplied by the Electric Controller & Mfg. Co. The plate mill started rolling on June 21, 1923, and up to the time of writing has been rolling direct from ingots pending the conversion of a 36-in. steam-driven reversing universal plate mill into a combination slab and plate mill. Various sizes of ingots have been rolled | in the plate mill, the largest used having been 15 in. att thick and 48 in. wide by 60 in. long. The plate mill is commanded by an overhead travel- ing crane, from which a grab bucket is lowered into the ee ee ein Ce Fey ee a en ane ae ng: : A A Oe Ne ee 2 aint pnnel ‘ ber. This second combustion chamber, located under the skids just beyond the soaking hearth, allows more rapid heating of the stock without the difficulty of hav- ing the lower surface too cold, as would be the case with the conventional design, which “heats only from the top. The fuels used are oil or by-product gas and the design is so worked out as to allow the furnace to be converted for the use of producer gas with very little alteration. The furnace operates under forced blast with very high pre-heat. The combustion spaces are made compara- tively large on account of the high tonnage it is desired to heat. The new sheet plant, situated about a quarter mile distant from the company’s steel works, is connected with it by a standard gage railroad. All sheet bars are delivered to the mill cut, thereby eliminating the trans- portation of scrap and likewise keeping the scrap at the sheet bar mill near the open-hearth furnaces. The rolling equipment of the new plant embraces six hot mills with a range in widths up to 48 in. and in gages from No. 30 to No. 10, and one 72-in. jobbing mill, which rolls sheets up to 60-in. wide. The United Engi- neering & Foundry Co. was retained as engineer ! charge of building the mill. Construction started or Oct. 12, 1922, and the first sheets were rolled Sept. 24, 1923. The estimated capacity of the sheet mill is 3000 tons a month and that of the jobbing mill a like tonnage. The mills, together with the auxiliary equipmen*. were furnished by the United company. The housing= are steel castings of the heaviest type. On the south side of the drive are located one 30-in. diameter by 38-in. sheet mill and three 30-in. diameter by =. mills. The roughing stands on this side of the mill are March 13, 1924 THE IRON AGE 775 Slab-Heating Furnace Is of the Continuous Regenerative Type. A feature of the design is the absence of columns or other furnace supports beyond the discharge doors, thereby leaving a clear working space around the roller table Longitudinal Cross-Section of Slab- Heating Furnace, Which Has Rated Capacity of 20 Tons of Slabs Per Hour. Either oil or by-product gas may be used for fuel and air is fur- nished by a motor-fan, which draws it from a chamber over the furnace roof and delivers it to the regenerators alternately as they are reversed by the valves. The binding is very heavy and all doors are patterned after open- hearth designs, so that no metal work is exposed directly to the heat of the flames, all doors closing brick to brick — —_—s« ———, — ~~ Bererrrrrerrrerzrrrre razz zee Jobbing Mill, Consisting of Two Two-High Stands of 30 x 72-in. Rolls. The roughing rolls, in the foreground, are spring-balanced and are equipped with motor-driven screw-down. The roughing stand is also provided with a lifting table, while the finishing stand is equipped with a tilting table _— THE all spring balanced. Two stands of 26-in. diameter by 54-in. cold rolls are placed at the end of the train as a drag. On the north side of the drive and adjacent to it are located two 30-in. diameter by 38-in. sheet mills, one roughing stand of the spring balance type and the other of the jump type, and the jobbing mill, consisting of two-high stands made up of 30-in. diameter by 72-in. long rolls. The roughing rolls of the jobbing mill are spring balanced and equipped with motor-driven screw down. A lifting table is provided on the catcher’s side of the roughing stand, while a tilting table is arranged on the catcher’s side of the finishing stand. As the sheets leave the finishing stand, they are carried by conveyor to a continuous annealing furnace. A 28-in. x 38-in. drag is located at the end of this train of mills. The mills are driven by a 2000-hp. Westinghouse Stands of Two 30-In in left background which throw a current of air on the rollers. IRON Sheet Mills Located on the North Side of the Drive. The stands are of the water-cooled type and air pipes laid under the floor lead to ventilators One of these ventilators is to be noted projecting above the floor at AGE March 138, 1: heating furnace and one large single sheet furnac. the jobbing mills. These furnaces are arranged for coal firing \ Jones underfeed stokers. Each stoker has a coal h per directly above it, which is filled with coal frop Williams single line bucket on a 10-ton overhead tra, ing crane. Coal is delivered on a track outside of | building and dropped through hopper-bottom cars a coal pit of 250 tons capacity, which projects un the wall of the plant so that coal may be picked up grab buckets on the overhead crane and distributed the various furnaces. Motor-driven cams regulate the valves controll the steam cylinders which stoke the coal in the f naces. The pair furnaces and the continuous slab-heat- ing furnace which serve the jobbing mill are of th Costello continuous type, being arranged with elec One of the five steam-driven doublers is left center motor running at 240 r.p.m. The United Engineering drive consists of cut herring-bone gears, which give a speed reduction of 8 to 1. A complete Bowser ailing system serves motor and drive. Standings at the mills and furnaces are of the water-cooled type, furnished by the National Roll & Foundry Co. In addition, air pipes are laid under the floor, leading to ventilators which throw a current of air upon the rollers. Draft is supplied by motor-driven fans. Five standard 54-in. steam-driven doublers are conveniently located to serve the six hot mills. On the catcher’s side of the mill the building has been made exceptionally wide to provide ample space for taking care of the sheets as they are finished. Squaring shears are so located that the shear men work in the mill building, while the scrap handlers are in the warehouse. At the end of the mill building roll racks have been supplied for storing rolls. Behind the racks are two 34-in. heavy duty type roll lathes with inclosed head- stocks, and both the lathes and the racks.are com- manded by a 40-ton overhead electric traveling crane, which permits the handling of rolls with a minimum of effort. Furnished by the Tate-Jones Co., Pittsburgh, the heating furnaces embrace five combined sheet and pair furnaces, one single pair furnace and one double sheet furnace for the sheet mills, and one continuous slab trically-operated pushers which shove the sheet bars into the furnace doors. Labor-Saving Handling Arrangements Unusually complete facilities for labor saving have been provided for handling the products of the sheet mills. Sheets which are to be blue-annealed are in- serted in a portable blue annealing furnace which 1s transferred by overhead crane to any position desired. The furnace is fired by by-product coke oven gas and connections are made on any one of the columns of the mill building on the catcher’s side. All sheets which are to be box annealed are sheared and carried by crane to the cold rolls. The cold rolls automatically deposi! the sheets on annealing furnace bottoms. After an an nealing box cover has been placed over the sheets, the box is hoisted by overhead crane and placed on an al- nealing furnace charging machine. The box is lifted by means of a grappling device consisting of four lone grappling hooks suspended from an oblong frame. The charging machine differs from the conventions type which is rolled on balls, being equipped with sma: diameter flanged wheels which operate on tracks lead- ing into the annealing furnaces. A rack on the und , side of the frame of the charger engages a pinion fron a motor-driven shaft located in a pit just under ™° floor elevation and at right. angles to the chargins March 13, 1924 THE IRON AGE 777 Charging Machine Differs from the Conventional Type Which Is Rolled on Balls, Being Equipped with Small Diameter Flanged Wheels Which Operate on Tracks Leading Into the Annealing Furnaces. Charging is by rack and pinion. Annealing boxes are hoisted upon and removed from the piers in the furnaces by a motor-driven lifting frame tracks. The annealing box rests on a lifting frame actuated by motor, which hoists the box upon the brick piers in the furnace, likewise removing the box after annealing. The charging machine is transferred by overhead crane to any one of the tracks serving the various annealing furnaces. The lifting motor on the charger is connected by flexible electrical cable to plugs conveniently located in the floor. There are four double-box annealing furnaces, coal fired, with Jones underfeed stokers and, like all of the other furnaces, furnished by the Tate-Jones Co. After annealing, the sheets are either taken to the warehouse or to the pickling department. Motor-driven pickling equipment of the oscillator type was designed and built by the United Engineering & Foundry Co. This organization also supplied three galvanizing machines complete with roller levellers, cooling wheels, conveyors, ete. By-product coke oven gas is used for fuel and burning equipment was fur- nished by the Surface Combustion Co., New York. The galvanized sheets are deposited on bundling benches in the warehouse and directly under a 10-ton warehouse crane, The product of the jobbing mill is passed through a continuous Costello blue annealing furnace and then through a United Engineering roller leveler onto a conveyor built by the C. O. Bartlett & Snow Co., Cleve- land. The conveyor delivers the sheets to a set of cas- ters directly in front of a 156-in. squaring shear. After shearing, the sheets are ready for shipment or for storage. Building Arrangement The plant building consists of three main parallel bays designated as warehouse, mill building and bar building, and a narrow bay styled the furnace building, connecting the bar building and the mill building. The side walls and roof are sheathed with corrugated gal- vanized sheets. Illumination is afforded by a row of continuous sliding sash encircling the bays just below the eaves of the roof. Ventilators have been placed in the monitors of the bar and mill buildings, while con- tinuous sash has been provided in the monitor of the warehouse. The plant has a total length of 788 ft. and width of 209 ft. The bar building is 43 ft. wide, the Sheet and Pair Furnaces Equipped with Underfeed Stokers. Each stoker has a coal hopper directly above it, which is filled by overhead crane. The valves controlling the steam cylinders operating the stokers are regulated by motor-driven cams, to be noted in the right foreground. Electrically-operated pushers shove the sheet bars into the pair furnace doors yy han : } : | ; s ; : : ; 7 > OE tee ae 776 THE IRON AGE all spring balanced. Two stands of 26-in. diameter by 54-in. cold rolls are placed at the end of the train as a drag. On the north side of the drive and adjacent to it are located two 30-in. diameter by 38-in. sheet mills, one roughing stand of the spring balance type and the other of the jump type, and the jobbing mill, consisting of two-high stands made up of 30-in. diameter by 72-in. long rolls. The roughing rolls of the jobbing mill are spring balanced and equipped with motor-driven screw down. A lifting table is provided on the catcher’s side of the roughing stand, while a tilting table is arranged on the catcher’s side of the finishing stand. As the sheets leave the finishing stand, they are carried by conveyor to a continuous annealing furnace. A 28-in. x 38-in. drag is located at the end of this train of mills. The mills are driven by a 2000-hp. Westinghouse March 13, 19 heating furnace and one large single sheet furnace the jobbing mills. These furnaces are arranged for coal firing \ Jones underfeed stokers. Each stoker has a coal h per directly above it, which is filled with coal fron Williams single line bucket on a 10-ton overhead tra, ing crane. Coal is delivered on a track outside of ¢ building and dropped through hopper-bottom cars a coal pit of 250 tons capacity, which projects u the wall of the plant so that coal may be picked up grab buckets on the overhead crane and distributed the various furnaces. Motor-driven cams regulate the valves controlli the steam cylinders which stoke the coal in the f naces. The pair furnaces and the continuous slab-hea ing furnace which ‘serve the jobbing mill are of t Costello continuous type, being arranged with el Stands of Two 30-In. Sheet Mills Located on the North Side of the Drive. One of the five steam-driven doublers is in left background. The stands are of the water-cooled type and air pipes laid under the floor lead to ventilators which throw a current of air on the rollers. One of these ventilators is to be noted projecting above the floor at left center motor running at 240 r.p.m. The United Engineering drive consists of cut herring-bone gears, which give a speed reduction of 8 to 1. A complete Bowser ailing system serves motor and drive. Standings at the mills and furnaces are of the water-cooled type, furnished by the National Roll & Foundry Co. In addition, air pipes are laid under the floor, leading to ventilators which throw a current of air upon the rollers. Draft is supplied by motor-driven fans. Five standard 54-in. steam-driven doublers are conveniently located to serve the six hot mills. On the catcher’s side of the mill the building has been made exceptionally wide to provide ample space for taking care of the sheets as they are finished. Squaring shears are so located that the shear men work in the mill building, while the scrap handlers are in the warehouse. At the end of the mill building roll racks have been supplied for storing rolls. Behind the racks are two 34-in. heavy duty type roll lathes with inclosed head- stocks, and both the lathes and the racks.are com- manded by a 40-ton overhead electric traveling crane, which permits the handling of rolls with a minimum of effort. Furnished by the Tate-Jones Co., Pittsburgh, the heating furnaces embrace five combined sheet and pair furnaces, one single pair furnace and one double sheet furnace for the sheet mills, and one continuous slab trically-operated pushers which shove the sheet bars into the furnace doors. Labor-Saving Handling Arrangements Unusually complete facilities for labor saving have been provided for handling the products of the sheet mills. Sheets which are to be blue-annealed are in- serted in a portable blue annealing furnace which 1s transferred by overhead crane to any position desired. The furnace is fired by by-product coke oven gas and connections are made on any one of the columns of the mill building on the catcher’s side. All sheets which are to be box annealed are sheared and carried by crane to the cold rolls. The cold rolls automatically depost' the sheets on annealing furnace bottoms. After an an nealing box cover has been placed over the sheets, the box is hoisted by overhead crane and placed on an 4n- nealing furnace charging machine. The box is lifted by means of a grappling device consisting of four !o! grappling hooks suspended from an oblong frame. The charging machine differs from the convention type which is rolled on balls, being equipped with sme diameter flanged wheels which operate on tracks lea: ing into the annealing furnaces. A rack on the uncer side of the frame of the charger engages a pinion from a motor-driven shaft located in a pit just under te floor elevation and at right, angles to the chargine March 13, 1924 THE IRON AGE 777 Charging Machine Differs from the Conventional Type Which Is Rolled on Balls, Being Equipped with Small Diameter Flanged Wheels Which Operate on Tracks Leading Into the Annealing Furnaces. Charging is by rack and pinion. Annealing boxes are hoisted upon and removed from the piers in the furnaces by a motor-driven lifting frame tracks. The annealing box rests on a lifting frame actuated by motor, which hoists the box upon the brick piers in the furnace, likewise removing the box after annealing. The charging machine is transferred by overhead crane to any one of the tracks serving the various annealing furnaces. The lifting motor on the charger is connected by flexible electrical cable to plugs conveniently located in the floor. There are four double-box annealing furnaces, coal fired, with Jones underfeed stokers and, like all of the other furnaces, furnished by the Tate-Jones Co. After annealing, the sheets are either taken to the warehouse or to the pickling department. Motor-driven pickling equipment of the oscillator type was designed and built by the United Engineering & Foundry Co. This organization also supplied three galvanizing machines complete with roller levellers, cooling wheels, conveyors, ete. By-product coke oven gas is used for fuel and burning equipment was fur- nished by the Surface Combustion Co., New York. The galvanized sheets are deposited on bundling benches in the warehouse and directly under a 10-ton warehouse crane, The product of the jobbing mill is passed through a continuous Costello blue annealing furnace and then through a Uniteg Engineering roller leveler onto a conveyor built by the C. O. Bartlett & Snow Co., Cleve- land. The conveyor delivers the sheets to a set of cas- ters directly in front of a 156-in. squaring shear. After shearing, the sheets are ready for shipment or for storage. Building Arrangement The plant building consists of three main parallel bays designated as warehouse, mill building and bar building, and a narrow bay styled the furnace building, connecting the bar building and the mill building. The side walls and roof are sheathed with corrugated gal- vanized sheets. Illumination is afforded by a row of continuous sliding sash encircling the bays just below the eaves of the roof. Ventilators have been placed in the monitors of the bar and mill buildings, while con- tinuous sash has been provided in the monitor of the warehouse. The plant has a total length of 788 ft. and width of 209 ft. The bar building is 43 ft. wide, the Sheet and Pair Furnaces Equipped with Underfeed Stokers. Each stoker has a coal hopper directly above it, which is filled by overhead crane. The valves controlling the steam cylinders operating the stokers are regulated by motor-driven cams, to be noted in the right foreground. Electrically-operated pushers shove the sheet bars into the pair furnace doors * as Oe ey Bac ~] ~ we furnace department 9 ft. 4 in. wide, the mill building 78 ft. 4 in. wide, and the warehouse 78 ft. 4 in. wide. The arrangement of the warehouse is worthy of par- ticular note. The finished product is logically routed so that it reaches the warehouse in the last operation just prior to shipment. The product of the jobbing mill is sheared and made ready for shipment under the warehouse crane. All black sheets are sheared in the warehouse side of the mill building, where they can be readily transferred with a minimum of effort to the warehouse crane. All galvanized sheets are deposited under the warehouse crane ready for bundling and shipping. A depressed shipping track with a capacity of from 9 to 10 cars is located in the south end of the warehouse, so that all loading is indoors and weather conditions may be disregarded. The plant building was designed, fabricated and erected by the Mississippi Val- ley Structural Steel Co., St. Louis. Six electric traveling cranes were furnished by the Awards to General Electric Employees for Industrial Service Constructive work of factory employees in indus- ry has been recognized in a conspicuous way by the General Electric Co. At the various plants of the com- pany a few days ago workmen gathered about a plat- form, and the works manager called a few of their number forward and presented them with a sum of money and a certificate acknowledging their contribu- tion to the progress of the electrical industry. These awards were made by the Charles A. Coffin Foundation, named honor of the founder of the company, which was established for the broad purpose of stimulating progress and public service in all branches of the elec- trical industry—public — utilities, railroads, among graduate students doing research work, and finally among employees. electric There were 150 nominations for awards made by department and office heads. These were reduced to 79 or final analysis, and awards were finally made to 48 16 to engineers, 6 to commercial men and 1 woman, 10 to foremen, 10 to shop workers and 5 to adminis- trative employees. There was keen competition among the factory managers to obtain representation for their men on the list. It is believed that this method of rec- ognizing ability is a step forward in promoting amicable relations between employees and management. a Q penton Sulphur in Coke Remowed by Steaming Experimental work on a laboratory scale on the de- sulphurization of coke by steam,'¢gonducted by. the De- partment of the Interior and the Carnégie Institute of Technology at the Pittsburgh experiment station of the Bureau of Mines, is claimed to have demonstrated that the steaming process effects a greater: sulphur re- moval than other processes. The economic importance of the results of the experiments is that they point the way to future utilization, of enormous reserves of high-sulphur coals not new suitable‘for coke making. In a report giving’ the results of these experiments, made by Alfred R. Powell, associate chemist, Bureau of Mines, and John H. Thompson, research fellow, Car- negie Institute of Technology, it is pointed out that sul- phur in metallurgical coke gives rise to many problems and difficulties in furnace operations. Over 1% per cent of sulphur is likely to produce an inferior grade of iron. Sulphur will, in addition to causing trouble in the fur- nace, make it difficult, if not impossible, to work the iron. Any process for removing this deleterious sub- stance from the coke is therefore of value to both the manufacturer and consumer of coke, if the cost is not prohibitive. The investigators at the Bureau of Mines labora- tories found that between 10 and 15 per cent of the total sulphur in the coke is removed by simple steaming THE IRON AGE March 13, 1: Alliance Machine Co., Alliance, Ohio. The mil] +. is commanded by a 40-ton crane and a 20-ton crane, ; bar storage by two 10-ton cranes and the warehouse two 10-ton cranes. The cranes, as well as varia speed motors in the mill, are operated by 220-volt di; current furnished from a 500-kw. motor-generator s. The mill drive uses .2300-volt alternating curr, stepped down from 30,000-volt, 60-cycle, three-ph alternating current, which is purchased. For the auxiliary motors, 440-volt alternating cv rent is used, and for the lighting system, 110-volt alt: nating current. The Westinghouse Electric & Mfg. ( furnished the drive and crane motors, while the remai: ing motors were supplied by the General Electric ( Steam to operate the doublers and for use in the pic ling department is supplied by two 205-hp. Heine boiler equipped with Illinois chain grate stokers. Hoppers over each stoker are filled from a coal bucket on the bar storage crane. at 750 deg. C. With alternate vacuum and pressure treatment the desulphurization is increased to 20 to 25 per cent. Furthermore, it is believed that the steaming is much more beneficial than the actual sulphur reduc tion indicates, since the sulphur removal is almost en- tirely taken from the surface of the coke, and this surface sulphur may be the part that is easily ab sorbed by the iron in the blast furnace. The rapid growth of the by-product coking industry serves to simplify the matter of a cheap steam supply. Large quantities of heat are now allowed to g> to waste, but this heat could be well utilized in the gen- eration of steam. Thus it is expected that the process of steam coke could be made comparatively inexpensive. The investigators point out that when it becomes necessary to resort to the use of higher sulphur coals for the manufacture of coke, the improvement of the coke through steaming may be of sufficient value to warrant the expense of the process. The results of this investigation are given in Bul letin 7 of the Coal Mining Investigations Series, which may be obtained from the Carnegie Institute of Tech- nology, Pittsburgh, at a price of 30c. Idleness in Construction Industries WASHINGTON, March 11.—Seasonal idleness in the construction industries is due mainly to custom and not.climate, says a report adopted on Wednesday of last week by the Committee on Seasonal Operation in the Construction Industries when it met with Secretary of. Commerce Hoover. The report is to be published and is being prepared for that purpose. It is of a voluminous character and is elaborately illustrated. The report points out that cities.of the South and Pacific coast show much the same, seasonal idleness as do those on the Canadian border’ and that most of these seasonal up and downs are undoubtedly prevent- able. According to the committee, modern methods of winter construction are being found’ to compare favor- ably with summer work, as to both cost and progress. This has had a marked effect on producers of building materials, transportation companies and on employees in the building trades. The report declares that the construction industries deserve the support of the pub- lic in their efforts, as the burden of idleness falls most heavily on the public and the workers. __, ; Responsibility rests largely with the public, the committee urges, if conditions are to be improved. Community surveys are advocated to be made by or ganized local groups: ‘Through surveys, it is stated, facts may be obtained of average and extreme weather conditions affecting construction; of employment sta tistics in each of the principal trades; of construction by classes of work, and contracts drawn in terms 0° time and money lost through concentration of efforts in a few months of the year. March 13, 1924 Completes Line of Air Motor Hoists A line of air motor hoists in five sizes, ranging rom 500 to 10,000 lb. capacity, has been placed on he market by the Ingersoll-Rand Co., New York. The four larger sizes are similar in general features to the 500 lb. air motor hoist described in THE IRON AGE if Nov. 8, 1923, except for variation in the gearing of the two heaviest sizes and other details. Among the features are compactness of design, resulting in low head room required, automatic brake to hold the load under all conditions, and a graduated throttle intended to permit close regulation of lift- ing and lowering speeds. It should be noted that these hoists are distinct from the direct acting cyl- inder type of hoists and lifts, being equipped with an air mo- tor which is geared through a mechanical train to a hoisting drum. Details of the throttle grad uation, automatic brake and other features were given in the pre- vious description. At 80 lb. air pressure the rate of lift is 50 and 10 ft. per min. for the smallest and largest hoist, re- Compactness, Automatic Brake and spectively. The Speed Control Throttle Are Features maximum lift is 15 ft. for all sizes. rhe net weight of the hoist equipped with top hook ranges from 150 Ib. for the smallest and 760 lb. for the argest hoist. The machines operate on air pres- sures from 60 to 100 lb. Either roller bearing mono- rail trolley or top hook mounting may be provided, the trolley arrangement requiring the minimum of head room. Diesel Engine Non-stop Record A continuous run of 202 days, under actual work- ing conditions, is reported by the Worthington Pump & Machinery Corporation, New York, for a Worthington- Snow Diesel engine. The engine is a standard 562 hp., four-cycle, air in- jection type operating at 225 r.p.m., and is used by the city of Horton, Kan., for city lighting and power pur- poses. It drives an alternating current generator in parallel with another unit, which is emphasized as evi- dence of close governing as well as continuity of per- formance through the entire period. The engine has three cylinders, each 22% in. x 22% in. and of the so- called square type. The pistons are oil cooled. Lubri- cation is forcibly fed to all parts of the engine. Plunger Suspension for Hanna Riveters A new accessory for Hanna type pneumatic riveters of the Hanna Engineering Works, Chicago, is a plunger suspension arrangement intended to improve the operat- ing characteristics of the machine. In this arrangement the upper die is stationary and the lower die is movable when suspended with dies vertical and cylinder up. This permits rivets to be struck from the top and driven from the bottom. In- creased production for a given number of men in the operating crew is claimed, and rivets may be struck far in advance of the riveter. Other advantages are THE IRON AGE 779 that each rivet demands less of the “sticker-in’s” time, and continuous operation of the riveter. The suspension is made from the plunger by means of a chain which passes over a sheave on the upper toggle pin and under a sheave placed at the top of the machine so that the chain leading therefrom to the sus- pension hook is directly above the center of gravity of the riveter when the die screw axis is exactly vertical. Operation of the mechanism to advance the plunger out of the frame barrel toward the lower die results in the entire frame being lifted, since the plunger cannot go down, with the result that the lower die rises, advancing upon the protrusion of rivet shank below the work and driving the rivet head from below. This suspension rigging is additional to and inde- pendent of the bale suspension and when furnished the riveter may be suspended by either method. Universal Welding Machine The Electric Are Cutting & Welding Co., Newark, N. J., has placed on the market a new model welder called the “Universal Welding Machine,’ the term universal being applied because of the adaptability of the machine to any industrial power supply. Machines applicable to one or two voltages such as 220-440 or 110-220 have been built by the company heretofore. The new machine is intended to broaden the scope so that practically any power supply can be made with one unit of the apparatus. The unit is no larger than the previous equipment. The 110-220-440 volt combination is obtained by multiple, series multiple and series combinations of the coils of the primary winding. To make the machine operate on 25 and 40 cycles, taps and adaptor windings are used to obtain the proper electrical characteristics. The difficulties overcome in this development may be judged when it is considered that the blower and auto- matic switch must operate also on these various volt- ages. The apparatus is also made operative on 110 and 220 volts, direct current, by means of a resistor-reactor combination inserted in the secondary winding. To Reduce Varieties of Tanks Manufacturers of tanks and manufacturers of equipment in which tanks are used are meeting this week at Washington in a series of conferences under the auspices of the division of simplified practice of the Department of Commerce looking to the elimination of seldom-used sizes and varieties of tanks. Those present include manufacturing representatives from a number of States, as well as delegates from the Na- tional Board of Fire Underwriters, American Institute of Architects, American Society of Sanitary Engineer- ing and other technical groups and from fire depart- ments of a number of leading cities. The conferences deal with hot water storage tanks, cold water storage tanks, pneumatic tanks, gasoline underground storage tanks, distillate and fuel oil stor- age tanks, and air receivers. The meeting is a sequel to conferences held during January. At that time manufacturers of hot water storage tanks agreed on tentative recommendations reducing their products to five sizes and two working pressures. Manufacturers of pneumatic tanks, at that time also, were in favor of a reduction of their products to nine sizes and one working pressure. These develop- ments resulted in a request to the division of simplified practice for assistance in bringing about simplification of cold water storage tanks, gasoline storage tanks, fuel oil and distillate tanks, storage tanks for oil heat- ing systems, and air receivers. Twenty of 35 largest industrial plants of Worcester, Mass., went through January without an accident which resulted in lost time to any worker. Of the total num- ber of employees represented in the 35 firms reporting, there was an average of 0.27 per cent of lost time acci- dents in that month, representing a loss of 7.15 single days for each 100 employees. 7 i ig Lh eee Paani ines ~ Acie mam ittte. % ns FRY? res OHNE tee, San ae ge eg On Se A Century of Incoming Alien Peoples Immigration from 1819 to 1923 Analyzed by Races and by Nationalities—Last Decade of Nineteenth Century Marked Change 1819, to June 30, 1923, numbered 35,292,506, ac- cording to a statement of the Secretary of Labor,” or an average of 340,169 per year over the whole period. The first year which reached a figure exceed- ing this average was 1851. This was during a heavy migration from Great Britain and Germany—the heaviest we have ever had from Great Britain and, except for a similar movement in the early “eighties,” the heaviest we have ever had from Germany. Not until 1880, however, did the incoming flow of immi- grants reach what might be called a permanently high plane, with each year, barring an occasional exception, beyond the average for the whole period. In 1882 the figure first passed 750,000. It did not again reach this magnitude until 1903, but in the next.eleven years there were six in each of which more than 1,000,000 immigrants arrived, the maximum being 1907 with 1,285,349. Both 1913 and 1914 (years ended June 30) showed figures closely approaching this. Until 1895 the immigration from Northern and Western Europe was consistently more than half the total. Beginning with 1896 there has not been a year in which the incoming number from Northern and Western Europe reached anything like half the total. In that year, for the first time, the number from Eastern and Southern Europe was more than half the [isig, to an into the United States from Oct. 1, *Because of changes in national boundary lines during the century, as well as in the methods of collecting the original data, it is pointed out that the figures are indicative rather than exact Thus, for several years, no record was made of immigrants from Canada. Poland was reported variously, as Poland, or as split among Russia, Austria and Germany Early figures of “alien passengers arriving” gave place to “im- migrants arriving,” then to “aliens admitted” and finally to “immigrant aliens admitted.” BRITISH | | | “3 / ' \ | | ; tr 4 | 1 Vy, ; itt nN We / I !\GERMAN \ ie Kr 50} Saini al | 7 J GERMAN Av t f ey a aggregate and that condition has obtained every yea since then, with the exception of the war years ani those immediately following and the years in whic! the Dillingham quota law has ‘been effective. AUNEUAOLUNUNEYDEREEOUTUEEEASLANPEMREENE DONE E RL NNG® Tablel Immigration Into the United States, by Great Groups (In Thousands) Northern Southern and and British Fiscal Western Eastern North Latin Years Total Europe Europe America America 1820 to 1851 2,845 2,554 16 65 52 1852 to 1865 3,014 2,781 30 86 18 1866 to 1875 3,239 2,680 118 302 19 1876 to 1883 3,148 2,190 322 495 1E 1884 to 1890 3,186 2,294 745 99 28 1891 to 1899 3,239 1,539 1,617 3 31 1900 to 1904 3,255 780 2,344 6 38 ‘ 1905 to 1907 3,413 707 2,506 27 64 1908 to 1911 3,456 731 2,350 204 122 1912 to 1914 $3,255 510 2,382 216 107 1915 to 1923 3,241 673 1,309 706 423 Totals 35,292 17,439 13,739 2,209 917 One diagram shows in graphic form the great change which has taken place in the complexion of our immigration during the century under review. Each vertical column represents about 3,000,000 immigrants, the separation, year by year, having been so made as to give the closest possible grouping around the 3,000,- 000 mark. Made up in this way, the duration of the several periods varies considerably, there being two cases of 36 months each, while in the earlier years— the column at the left—the time covered was 387 months, or a little more than 32 years. In each case AUSTRIAN.» ee rt agen ' 1 ly / | — _ 1A | W\ 4 \, 1 \t I \| ! \ | t i ! | : : ITALIAN | BRITISH “AG ERMAN of: | ni | Al j 7 ¥ ws | AUSTRIA Yin iq | 0 | tm RISSIAN 1840 1850 1860 BT 1880 1890 1900 1310 1920 2 F sca Year Successive Huge Waves of Immigration, Separated by Periods of Low Intensity, Have Marked Our Absorption of Aliens. British and Germans dominated until 1900; South Europeans since then 780 24 . — J D 204 U2 E “Qs =: OR — 18 a 4 ee n 16 B Ss S @s S “ee A 4t ee > "=": O “Si 12 aS } 0 Sa , “2c ~« a ERE % . SSSR <= 8 ELS me) - . 9: iS : aS RS March 13, 1924 THE IRON AGE 781 34 32 eine DUTT 3U SOT 8 f f obit poy ne: 1820-1851 1852-1865 1866-1875 Ori “spy, 1876-1883 1884-1890 (891-1899 -O 1900-1904 1915-1923 Fiscal Years 387 168 14 96 84 108 Tota | 60 36 48 36 108 Months Groups of About 3,000,000 Immigrants, Each Group Covering Three or More Fiscal Years, Have Been Subdivided Above Into Their Major Components—Northern and Western Europe, Eastern and Southern Europe, British North America, Latin America and All Other. Under the two first headings a further partial subdivision has separated out in each case the three chief nationalities the totals were for the fiscal years reported by the Government. From this diagram it appears that the incoming movement from Northern and Western Europe main- tained its full force through 1890, with a decreasing proportion of British, and an increasing proportion of Scandinavian, incomers during that period. The nine years from 1891 to 1899 inclusive provided a transition stage, in which the influx from Eastern and Southern Europe became first equal and then superior to that from Northern and Western Europe. Since the beginning of the present century the great bulk of our immigration has been from the South and East of Europe, with the Nordic races reaching their minimum in the three years immediately preceding the great war (15.67 per cent of our total immigrants, compared with 73.2 per cent for Eastern and Southern Europe). Our other diagram traces, across the past 84 years, the great influx of five separate nationalities—British, German, Italian, Austrian and Russian—Poland being included with Russia, except insofar as the reports incorporated portions of the Polish race with Germany and Austria, respectively. This diagram shows that the immigration has come in in a series of great waves. Between these waves have been periods of small move- ment of peoples, due in large measure'to local causes, such as the American Civil War, the virtual stoppage of migration during the World War, and the bad in- dustrial position of the United States in the “seven- ties” and again in the middle “nineties.” Among the great waves of migration of peoples shown in the diagram there were four, particularly, from the British Isles, each of which was from 10 to 12 years’ duration. These were as follows: 1847 to 1857 1,849,000 1863 to 1875 1,616,000 1880 to 1892 ' oe 1,824,000 1904 to 1913 a ; 978,000 Total . 6,267,000 In the 47 years comprised in these four British waves more than 74 per cent came in, of all our immi- grants from the British Isles in 100 years. Similarly, from Germany we received 69 per cent of the total century’s immigration in three big waves, as follows: 1850 to 1857 sande 889,000 1865 to 1874 1,099,000 1880 to 1893 1,849,000 Total . i . 8,837,000 Italian immigration came in great bulk in two huge waves. From 1899 to 1914 there were 3,113,000, while in 1920 and 1921, 317,000 more came in, or a total of 3,430,000 in these 18 years, this being 76 per cent of the entire Italian incoming movement in the century covered. One great wave of Austrians and Russians, lasting from 1900 to 1914, accounted for 75 per cent of the Austrian immigrants and 70 per cent of the Russians, there being 3,131,000 Austrians and 2,556,000 Russians admitted during those 15 years. Seandinavian immigration has been steadier than any of the others mentioned. There are no such well Hundreds of Thousands of Immigrants —_ =F age o SORT sey Sih Die \ ) \ (a Re tit Uy 1 hit Laie : ' oF ih ; 4 14 ; ’ | : 4 t ih ppd cmmmtar—aee 782 THE IRON AGE March 13. 19 defined major movements as those above, although there were four waves of more than average intensity "T Table II.—Immigration Into the United States, by Principal Nationalities (In Thousands) Fiscal British Scandi- Austria- Years Isles Germany navia Italy Hungary Russia 1820 to 1851 1,686 667 20 2 o° 1 L852 to 1865 1,509 1,112 39 12 l 3 L866 to 1875 1,264 1,063 229 35 39 27 188 811 866 382 108 125 73 1890 972 797 398 228 269 221 1899 612 487 10 52 478 11 to 1904 296 155 257 839 783 65 107 116 169 780 879 660 911 366 121 153 710 © 757 623 t 14 945 G8 RO 706 712 709 1923 317 87 144 530 156 260 I Ss 8 431 6% 9 99 $505 4,199 ( vhich supplied, in 11 years, 36 per cent of our total Scandinavian incomers. These were as follows: Sue Ge Ee. 6s. 0 de hie sk eeateeaaws 325,000 ISS7T and 1888 150,000 IS91 and 1892 . see6te 126,000 1903 to 1905 . 198,000 BE 8.66654 799,000 A somewhat similar condition applies to Canadian Scandinavia. There were, however, 49 per cent of the Canadians admitted in three distinct waves, with a total duration of 13 years, as follows: jo. Be. ee) : « ee . =e 294,000 jae CO TOES vxsies ais 149,000 a a eee 238.000 Total .. oo ees . ee 1,081,000 In Table I will be found figures showing, by major groups, the sources of immigrants over the period covered in this review. This table furnishes the basis for the first diagram mentioned and shows the sources of more than 35,000,000 additions to our population. Table II gives the immigration in the same year groups as Table I, for six nations or groups of nations— British Isles, Germany, Scandinavia, Austria-Hun- gary, Italy and the Russian-Polish group. Slight Decrease in February Construction February building contracts in the 36 Eastern States (including about seven-eighths of the total construction in this country) amounted to $299,929,