New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1856-02-06
-gg MANUFACTURERS or TROY.
.,u,xv IpoN woaKs ATT TROY.


.,,blshmcpt some three four years since, made u
nur through England, Scotland and Wales, for the
.Oecal purpose Of examining sill the great iron mills.
thoroughly trained iron master, and prepared to
,cu,eca,e every Improvement in machinery, furnaces,
a. he had blended the results Of his observation of
,be British Iron Mills into plan, in his estimation the
xas ,deol of iron mandatory He had thought
T. being so allowed the opportunity to carry hs
plsn into effect, but very sngularly it happened
ihst the very day he landed in New-York the rolling
Mil in Troy was burned down. With incredible dis
match he proceeded to build new mill, in which
.bOud be executed the plan already alluded to. The
budne itself is brick and is 365 feet by las, which
nth projection on one side nearly or quite
one acre and quarter Of ground. One great object
vas TO secure all the motive power needed by using
The waste heat of the pudding and heating furnaces
This Is secured by placing boilers in such position
that the waste heat passes under them and the steam
thus generated is conducted by pipes to the different
sprnes in the building. In this way ample steam is
ctaned without cost of fuel for five engines the az
oegate power of which is 2jO horse There are 20
pudding and heating furna@s so arranged as to fur
ssh room for the workmen without Tasting room, Ia
common fault in rolling mils and yet allow free and
easy access to the different stands Of rolls which oc
81 they come from the pudding furnace are first flung
INTO HInslOro's Rotary Sqnee=er, an instrument
which has met with favor in England as we'll as this
country. Thence they passed through huge rolls
which crush them into rough bars. These are cut
into regular lengths, which are faggoted and again
heated to welding heat and rolled out into the larger
zes Of iron, the single pieces rolled separately
into the smaller sizes of merchant iron. Taking all
and IA oc rJar
ported by beautiful but immensely strong truss. work
we have of the most beautiful, if not the most
beautiful Rolling Mill in America.
South Of this is brick mill nearly completed
in the form of oross-the length of one section of
the cross being l73 feet, and that Of the transverse
9sction 1853 feet; the width Of each section is 50
et In this building are eighteen pudding furnaces,
large train of rolls the rotary squeezer, machine
,hop with lathes &c. Here, in the large MILL the
waste heat Of the furnaces produces steam to drive
engine of $50 horse power. The roof supported by
iron truss-woik, and is covered with slate In these
two mills the raw material is converted into the vari-
Gus sizes and kinds of wrought iron for axles, nails,
spikes rOilrOed chairs and the general assortment of
bsron; and the capacity of these mills to convert
pig metal will be inferred from the aggregate products
Of the establishment.
At the north end of the large mill the furnaces
hammers lathes, &c for making car.axes, of the
pOst interesting departments Of the business As We
remarked in reference to the manufacture of car
wheels every one who travels on our railroads has
practical interest in the strength and toughness of the
axes. We had a practical illustration of this the
other day, on the New-Jersey road. Our train was
rushing along at the rate of 35 40 miles an hour
when an axle under the mail car gave way. One
wheel flew out as if shot from mortar and the other
dropped down fiat, with the end Of the axle pressed
through the bottom of the car. Fortunately the
wheel drorpOd 90 'he rail and slid 0t0Rg. Had it
snught among the lies, at the speed we were going
we must have been wrecked. One feels in such a
,tustion the force of remark made once in our hear
w: "fhe manufacturer Of car-azles needs to hare
2 a quick conscience an hes business"
In the mill we are describing scientific knowledge,
he beet raw material, best scrap-ron, and the most
skillful workmanship are employed to make axes
The scrap-ron is already converted into wrought IRON
This scrap is faggotod and rolled into fat bars. These
bars are cut and again faggoed in bundles of sufficient
weight 10 make axle of each bundle Having been
heated to welding heat, it is drawn down under the
rolls and hammered to the requisite size. Every pro-
Gees through which it passes adds rmneSs and tough
ness TO the iron and it is curious fact that before
pgiron becomes convertai into axles it has passed
through at least five processes, so that the iron when
hus converted is regarded perfect as any made in
be mill, if not in fact the BEST These facts are of
erest to all who ride in cars The axles made here
re reputed-so we are informed by an experienced
tr-manufacturer-to be equal to the best made in
lis country aud to be equal to any of British manu-
cture.
The two mills thus briefly described are driven en-
rely by steam produced from waste heat without cost
Or pound of fuel.
few rods above these mills to the original
establishment, driven by waterpower. and now divided
+ AtO four departments. The first is a Rolling NtH
@5 feet by no. with three trains Of rolls for spring
see narods sheet iron, nail plates, and the smaller
szes Of merchant iron. Connected with this is steel
furnace and smith-sbop Six heating furnaces supply
ihe trains Of rolls
immediately above this is Are Factory for max
Ing wagon and carriage axles, crowbars steel sleigh
shoes &C. 1t is brick building, so feet by 40, three
stories high.
Above this is the Nail Factory, $50 feet by 49, in
Which are IS nail machines, producing annually some
5000 kegs of nails and employing rs men.
The SPike Factory is the last in the list, and is
10 feet by 40, has ton machines for making $50
railroad spikes three rivet machines, and produces
probably 1000 tuns of spikes and rivets year.
AL the buildings are OF brick and covered by either
IN Of slate roofs most of which are supported by iron
suss-work very beautiful to look at, and very eco
nSnica in the saving of room.
In comparing tho present mammoth establishment
'th its beginnings under John Brinkerhoff in 1902
re see vast enlargement and also wonderful improve
neots in the various branches of the business Thus
n 1909 Brinkerhoff, a prominent iron merchant IN
Albany, imported Russia and Swedos iron, which he
had rolled into plates for nails. These plates were
eut into nas Inv machines bit tie heads Of the mails