Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1852-1859, 1857-08-05
iror lie wheeling Iatclllseaeer
PIE BELMONT NAIL WORKS
SOxroN, AcHEsON & 90.

SDaTpNt AAiits-1N j W.
Eliiors Lafsiligsnesr-TheTe arc periods IN
the life of US all, wtcii, from various causes, We
are ant to set too small value upon Time anu
m order to kill 1t, or may use the common
expression) tnrn orr attention very generally 70
m. afTzirs Of our rcishbors. This you know, Is
r,ecIrliarv Characteristic Of the american, whose
in1uisiti9e propensilicS. superior 10 that oil an
other nations are only surpassed By the uniTsF-
sal success of his p-ying operations TX Is 'ne
various Developments OF TINS latent e!eshent iti
.thc construction OF" America that has icd MN
into almost every nook and corner Of the eaFtii,
the eternal, ice-bound, regions Of the Ngrtil-
and the fiery sand-seas Of Arabia each bear
ffe ifnprrs; OF his foot. To-day We see
him standIig upon the top Of the hghsSl
peak Of the Rocky Mountains IN the W eSt; 70
morrow lie will be tumbling rocks down INTO the
Orators Of Mount Etna o.: yiseuvius, in the East
He sounds the depths of the Dead Sea anu
measures the length Of the Nile; counts TIE
tonbs Of Egypt and delving into their sacred re
lcss.cs strips what syas once the wisdom ana
ROYALTY Of the world Of its winding sheet ana,
TRANSPORTING. it to the Yankee land, converts
lit into paper, upon which TO display his exotic
motions.
No one has ever understood the curious ways
of Jonathan better than the English naval Of
ficer who said that if the North pole should ever
be discovered he expected To hear OF Jonathan
having been found sitting the top oft, wins
tng Yankee doodle and beating time with his
jackknilt.
This inquisitive disposition led me, on yes
tcrdaY morning, into the extensive establishment
Iol Norton, Acheson K Co, the
BELMONT xAIlwogEs,
Where after an introduction to the managing
partners, Capt. 6. ". Norton and 7. g. Nor
ton, ESq..- vas very kindly shown through
their extensive works, receiving at The same
time, full and minute description of their vast
establishment and its various operations ne
first impression here made upon the mind OF
the visitor, is that of wonder. Being nccuS,
toned 10 look upon nail, IS al lnsigaihcant
little thing, we seldom stop TO inquire where
and how it is made, 50 when wc, for the first
time, ..behold the glaring furnaces, and the iron
monsters in the way of machinery, that are re-
nuired in the manufacture of nails, we arc only
( prepared for an expression Of surprise.
These works are situated Immediately upon
theebank of the Ohio rive., which, together with
the H. & o. r. Il, running close by affords
every facility for receiving and shipping metal
and nails. They are driven By two steam en-
gineg. one Of which is a very powerful one. CYL
inder 24in.. by 8 #, the smaller one having
cylinder about 20 in, by #, these are supplied
by four boilers - in, diameter by 20 II long
There are in the rolling mill, fifteen boiling fur
naces, three heating and four annealing furna-
ccs. 1t is in the boiling furnace, that the pro-
cess of manufacture begins. Here we see the
pig metal lust as it came from the ore, cast into
box shaped furnace, about three feet high by
four feet wide and nine feet long, constructed |
principally OF heavy cast iron plates, with an
inside lining of fire bricks, set far enough IN |
FRONT the plates TO admit Of 4 heavy blast off
cold air being thrown around the inside lining, /
which has the effect Of keeping the outside of
the furnace cool. In these furnaces the metal Is
kept until it fuses and becomes soft enough to I
admit Of being stirred about and finally worked /
into halls or masses weighing about no lbs |
each, after which it IS conveyed to what IS cal
led SJucezer, where the glowing mass Is freed
from the greater portion of Its impurities, and
converted into a more convenient form for hand |
ling. Ii is now clnmpcd by the tonSs of the |
ever ready workman aHdFguck as thought Is |
made TO dart between the heavy grOOved iron
rollers, where it is caught on the other side, by
the tongs of another person and returned 10 be
passed through another and smaller groove. |
THUS the process of rolling is continued by
rows of worllmen, standing on either side OF
the rolls, passing the heated bar from one TO the
other until il has been reduced in size to about
bv inches aud "A feet long Other bars, oi
the same thickness, are made six Inches vide
and about 10 feet in length. These bars, alter
cooling off are taken to u large pair Of shears
where they are cut into lengths Of about twelve
inches. The pieces are now piled together to
to the number of ten or twelve, all carefully pia-
ced lcugthwise with each other, and placed in
the HedtiHg furnace, where they arc suffered to
remain, until perfect welding heat is Cbtained,
after which it IS again to pass through the roll
ling process as before, the only difference being
that it, isnogy to be worked into sheet oftwelYe
inches in width and about twenty-five feet in
length; the thickness Of which Is governed en-
tircly by the sized nail it is intended to make
Tie sheets as they are thus rolled out, present
n very pretty appearance having an exact uni
iforu thickness, are free from scale aud perfectly
smooth.
The next operation is clipping the sheets
crosswise, into little strips 'wclye inches long
4 aud just wide enough TO make The required
length of the nail. The strips are now conveyed
/ to one Of the four anneang furnaces, where they
are made rcd hot, and taken hence to the nail
+ machines.
In the machine room, or rail-cutting depart
mcnt, there are iiity-two nail machines, ranged
along the centre OF the building. Upon stool
in front OF each sits the operator, and in his
hand he holds rod of about inch in diane.
Ter, and some three feet 10 length, upon the end
Of which is attached a neat but strong spring
clamp, which lac forces open by means of q
wrench, to receive the strip for cutting. fhe
strips once inserted, is held firmly By the little
clamp during tie process of cutting. and must
be reversed from right 10 left, and left to right,
at each and every clip Of the machine, which
may be considered pretty fast work ma
chine that cuts three hundred 7dits PER minute.
This speed, however, is confined to the smallest
sized nails; in cutting the larger sizes, the speed
Is not 50 great
After cutting, the nails are conveyed to anoth-
cr furnace and taken through the last process
of annealing. They are here thrown into hop
per and fed into revolving cylinder, set at
\ gentle incline. and passing through furnace
which keeps it hot enough TO itupart dark red
heat 10 the nails on their passage through IT.
The nails arc now, after cooling, conveyed
away 10 the weighing room, where they arc
placed in the kegs, weighed and headed up,
ready for market.
Having thus passed through the various ope-
ratiOus of heating, melting, squeezing, rolling,
cutting, relocating, rolling, clipping, annealing
cutting again, annealing weighing and packing
it seems hard to realize the fact, that We now
stand by keg of nails, which, but few hours
ago. was nothing more than chunk of sandy