Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1871-1872, 1871-06-27
Rock island Glass Works.

One of the pl~easantess visits We ever
paid Was to the works of the Glass Com
psny. Our worthy Mayor, Hon. Elijah
Carter, a shrewd and genial man, is the
Secretary to the company and manages the
finance and business department. Mr.. John
Davis, lately from Jersey City, is fore
man of the works. The company started
work last September on a capital of $50,
900. The furnace is q ten pot one for
making window glass on the French plan ;
but, as the men have to elbow at the ring
holes Of the same furnace in which the
glass is made, fresh coal has to be put in to
keep up the heat, and this is apt to snap
and fy, making dust which settles down in
the pots to the injury of the glass. They
are, however, building q new furnace for
blowing. With the new furnace eight men
will do the blowing that ten now do, and
the dirt and dust will be avoided, besides
effecting a large saving in the making and
labor, and producing g inner quality of
glass. The new foreman has also effected
o saving of $500 per month in coal, by
placing lime in the front Of the furnace,
which keeps the coal from running out, and
ssvas the CRATE bars from burning off,
which used to be a heavy expense the lime
CRADLES them to use slack instead of best
coal, as formerly. The furnaces are made
on the spot, of Missouri clay, instead Of
having to be procured ready cut out from
sandstone or other material. Glass is made
of a mixture of three parts of sand, one of
lime, and one of soda ash, which latter has
to be in imported at a coat Of $50 a ton. The
company have about 800 tons Of fine sand
il stock. After melting, glass has to settle
for several hours before it IS ready to work,
at which time it must be about the consist
ence Of molasses. The men then take their
tubes and gather it up, and shape it in a
block or mould, after which they blow 1t
up to the proper dimensions of the dlameter
of the cylinder they wish to make, which
then, by heating and swinging backwards
and for wards is elongated to the necessary
length of the d" plate" A cylinder is about
II inches in diameter and so inches long,
buu hueu cut anu udbktuSu AUOut ~ " "
inches. The cylinders are cut or "split"
from one end to the other by the application
of a no! iron, after which they are put into
the "push hole" where they begin to nm
fold then they are laid on to the +" stone"
and, as they gradually heat, are fattened
out with a block the operation being fin
ished BY the cooling department, in to
which they go on cars, through graded tenn
peratures, to cool off. Nothing then re-
mains to be lone but to take the plates up
into the cutting room to be cut and packed,
and sent to market. An interesting psft
of the works is the room where the pots
are made. The pots are made without the
use of mould, of Missouri clay, and when
done with are broken up and used to make
fresh ones. The pot room contains, at pre-
sent, thirty pots in process of manufacture.
1t takes three months to make q pot when
in nse q good pot will last about two
months but a faulty pot will not last q
day. In Europe they make pretty much
all their window glass from sslphate of
soda, which makes glass which is more du-
rsbie and less liable TO change color than
: glass made from soda ash. John Davis
: who is q practical chemist, has discovered
that q waste from chemicsi works, called
, salt cake soda and sulphurIc acid, sulphste
: of soda in fact will do the same work as
the finest quality of soda ash, and make
better glass, besides being much cheaper.
; This is quite a new thing out here, and
effects a great saving. The glass works
company can sell twice as much glass as
they can make, which is not strange, seeing
that their glass is ten per cent better than
i any other sold in the west. They are now
refusing orders. The works are very con
veniently situated. and have a railroad
{ siding from the Rockford, Rock Island &
St. Louis Railroad running right into their
midst.