Delaware tribune. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1867-1877, 1867-04-11
THE DELAWARE TRIBUNE WILMINGTON, DEL.
THE CARRIAGE BUSINESS.
MeLnAn & KssDaLl.'s FAerom.

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McLtAn & KsSDALi.s FAcron.
Wilmington has for long time been celebrated 4
for It's carr ages, and their manufacture Is one oil
the most important Of our industries. The larg- |
ct establishment engaged in this business Is that
Of Mclcar & Kendall, at the $. T. corner OF Ninth
and King streets. II is not only the largest here |
but Is we believe the largest in the United States
Thr main building runs along Ninth street
whole square from King to French streets, dis
lance of 2ls feet and has a front of 60 feet on
each street. In addition to this there Is wing
80 by % feet which gives the building front oil
80 feet ON King street, II Is two stories high on
| King street and three stories on French street,
the latter street being almost the height Of story
lower than the former, but this story runs in the
form OF basement the entire length of the build
ing, so Il Is in reality three story building.
| They have also large yard In which they store
all their lumber under cover, to season 1t.
| We cannot better give an idea of the extent of
the building and the magnitude Of the business
carried on in it, than by describing the process of
manufacture In detail.
| In the first story or basement. are the black
smith shop, saw mill, and engine room. In the lat
ter there is an eight horse power engine which
drives the machinery The fire for the boiler ofthis
engine is kept up almost entirely by the chips and
slavings made IN The wood work departments.
| All this waste aud these slayings are carried by
tight brick flur running from the first to the third
siories To position directly in front the boiler
where they are handy for use.
| In the Blacksmith shop there are twelve forges
blown by steam two steam drills by which all the
| drilling OF iron work is done, one of Hotchkiss'
atmospheric hammers for heavy forging and
| sledging and emery wheels and belts for doing
all the filing. There is also machine for bend
ing tires and patent gas tre-macbine by which
tire is heated by gas in from one to two minutes.
In the saw mill In which they saw all the luni-
bcr they use, are two gig saws and one large cir
cular saw. Thiriy-four hands are now employed
In this story.
When the lumber is sawed out il is sent up TO
the workshop in the third story, which is n large
ROOM 90 by 100 feet, lighted by both sky lights
and windows. In this room there are two slnp-
ing machines, Il circular saw, a rotary plancr for
dressing up the rims, cornering machine for
dressing the corners of the rims, and a tenoning
machine for dressing the square lemons ON the
end OF the spoke which Is driven into the hub,
attached to this machine is u circular saw Tor
|, saving oil the spokes and boring machine for
boring the rims to receive the other end of the
spokes There is also another tenoning machine
for preparing the end Of the spoke which il
driven into the rim, g hoatcr for dressing
, out spokes, and sand and emery belts TO avoid
, the necessity of filing. By these various ma.
chimes the work is all shaped and finished before
, ii is put into the body-makers hands to be phi
| re- Ian If nnl,i In
work is done IN less than two hours as would re-
quirc the same number of hands, to do by mer,
manual labor, in day. There are thirty-thre'
!, work benches in this room and about thirty-si,
hands now employed. The whole of the WOO,
is finished before it leaves this department.
. The carriage bodies are carried from here int,
the printing and filling room where they receiv
six coats of paint, the two last being black
There were $50 carriage bodies in this room be
a ing painted when we visited the factory, I'll
/ bodies are now carried into another room whcr
# they receive three more coats of black paint an
three coats of varnish, after which they are cal
- ried into the finishing room and cushioned an
# curtaned, this room Is large one running acros
n the front Of the building 80 feet in length an
:, from 90 to % In width. About $50 hides
i, leather for curtins IL pieces of cloth for eusl
= ions and 100 pounds Of hair for stufling are use
in 1t in month.
H. The bodies are now taken into another paintir
:, room where they are rubbed down, the decor
tons painted on them and heavy coat of En-
sh varnish put on. After drying they n
lowered down through trap door to room b
low where they are put on the running geai
- :, which having also gone through another series
:, rooms for painting &c. are also now fl
= ishcd. lac vehicle is now run into their splend
:. show room, 10 eet in WIDTH and $50 in lengt
=, and is ready for sale. In one corner of Il
~ show room is an Office about 20 feet square,
~ the rest of II is generally filled with earriag'
~ 1t will hold from 1870 to 40 carriages at once.
W. Messrs McIear & Kendall build about for
:, different styles of carriages, ranging from n
" top buggy weighing 175 lbs to heavy six p'
W senger, panne quarter rockaway. They are n,
T. employing about one hundred hands and turni
W. out from is to 20 carriages week, but the bu
,n' ness Is not ms brisk II might be. The capac
- Of their shop is thirty week, They have be
o. averaging about one thousand carriages we
but as the prospects are good for better trn
this year than there has been for some time tn
ry, hope to turn out considerably more than til
the They sell to all parts Of the United States.
DIV noticed one very handsome carriage just finish
-. for gentleman in California.