Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1851-04-30
v oroe.ter i. is shlrt-sIeeves.
RRADLEY,S CAR SHOE.


business with salt water and waterfalls,-with the
white sails of commerce and the ponderous roll of
giant water-wheeIs it is always matter of surprise
that an inland town like Worcester should show such
indications of thrift and prosperlty;-hat its popula
ton should have increased in such a continued ratio
of progression that its business should be continual
ly on the increase, and the quiet stiffness Of its rura
environs should be constantly encroached upon by
the march of improvement, and the din of business.
But this surprise Yanshes in a degree when one be-
comes a little more acquainted with the interior life |
ofour city; when he visits the workshops and man
ufactores where the toll of our craftsmen is applied
TO the rude material of nature in hundred different
ways, for the production of those articles Of conve-
nience and comfort which find a ready market every
where, and which pour into the Golfers of energy in
dustry and enterprise, their adequate rewards.
We spent part of the day yesterday, in some of
those establishments where the sweat of the brow is
dropped for drachmas,'' and with pencil in hand
we determined in the language of Captain Cutie
to his friend and confdant ''Mr Solomon Gills,' to
make note of it.
Bradley's car factory, near the Western railroad
depot in Worcester, is one of the most extensive
Establishments of the kind in the United States. The
business was carried on until recently by Osgood
Bradley and Edward B. Rice, under the firm of Rice
& Bradley. Their reputation for good work has
become thoroughly established in all parts of the
Union; and there is scarcely railroad in the United
States, but has some time or other tested its quail
ity. The manufacture of railroad cars admits of a
10
business is carried on in half dozen different
buildings spread over an area Of about two and a
half acres, in the vicinity Of the Western railroad
depot.
The establishment gives employment at the pre-
sent time to about hundred men in all the various
departments, most of whom have families, and whose
wages average higher than that Of workmen engaged
In most of the mechanical trades elsewhere. The
motive power of the establishment is supplied by two
engines of twenty horse power each, and it is as
tonshing to witness how this mighty agency of steam
cheapens and accelerates the labor to be performed
in the creation of Rail Road Car. For instance,
in one of the there is machine for boring the
holes in which the bolts are to be driven which runs
augnr, at the rate of 5000 revolutions min
of ar inch, or an inch and half in diameter, into
bolts of suitable length, with as much facility as
lady would cut off the silk at the end of hem upon
garment Ia the same building with the engine,
Is large room for planning, which is done by two Of
Daniels planning machines, built by Ball & Rice. Of
this city, which do the work with great precision and
neatness and the morticing and tenoning, is also
mari bv bssJ ono
ment Of the business is under the superintendent Of
Mr.. Nathan Ellis.
We next come to the machine. shop, where the
axles turned, and the iron work is finished Here
four large engine lathes in operation, which seem
to make no more account Of pairing iron axle, than
if it was piece of old cheese There Is here also
screw press, Of enormous power made for the pur-
pose Of setting the wheel firmly upon the axle. All
the heavy iron work is finished here, under the su.
Perintendeuce Of Mr. Abner Hubbard
In the blacksmith shop, of which Mr. Ephram
Carpenter is foreman, there are twelve forges. The
fuel used is combination of charcoal and Lehigh,
and powerful draft for the several chmnies is Gre
ated by means Of a revolving fan, which is kept in
motion by the engine. In connection with this de-
partment, is machine for screw cutting, which
works with great rapdity, and does the work which
ten or a dozen men could not do by the old process
In an adjoining building is cabinet shop, wher,
the nice wood work is done, such as the blinds
doors, window sashes, seats &c., are constructed
and here the power of steam is again invoked ct
drive things" Mahogany boards fly into strips o
the required thickness, as if by magic, and saw
into the requisite shapes in the twinkling of be-
post, under the superintendence of Mr.. A. Brown.
The Putting up shop is a building two hun
dred feet in length, and forty in breadth. Here WI
see the skeleton forms of car bodies, which thu
werkmen-Sfe bringing forward to a state of com
pletsness, as will render them fit to turn over to th
hands Of the cabinet makers and upholsterers Tn,
capacity OF this room is such, that five or six Of thu
largest class cars can be put up at time. This de
partment of labor is under the direction of Messrs
VIM. Lamson and Charles Childs.
And now we come to the " Running work." b,
which we mean that part of the car which is beneath
the body and upon which it rests, when placed upo
the track, such as wheels, trucks, springs, &c.
Thsis one Of the most important and responsible
branches Ofthe manufacture, requiring sound judg
ment, the most thorough knowledge ofthe strength
and quality Of materials and an ever abiding conyic