Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1871-09-24
OUR IEDUsTRIAL ENTERPRISES.
The Memphis and Charleston Railroad,
its Shops, the Men who Direct them,
and the work they Produce.
Over s6OO,OOO Expended I'm Memphis
every Year for Labor aud Material
The Drowning Glory, the New
Engine, en-. Burke"
The Car Building CaPaeity-The 'AIa-
abamR' and 'sTennessee'-z5 Cars
fer the Little Rock Railroad
Under Contract.

The APPEAL has always been the Il.
of the mechanic and labOring man. Inc
. old motto that by "hammer in hand AlI
arts do stand" 10 truer today than ever.
Cincinnati, st. Louis and Chicago are ex-
, ampies, Their growth was nothing in
comparison with what they now boast un-
til manufacturers and mechanics found
encouragement, and set to work to
develop enterprises that are smorg
the industrial wonders of the age,
Major Wicks, the president, and his
board of directors of the Charleston rail-
road seem 70 realize ths necessity for a
start in this direction in Memphis, and
recently have Increased their facilities for
manufacturing cars and boilers and
engines, so that now they are able
| to fill orders not only for their
own gigantic corporation, but for
al the rosds round about here.
Among the recent achievements is q new
| engine, every bolt, rivet and casting of
which was msde in theic shops, of Ten
nessee iron and by Tennessee workmen,
| presided over by five of the best meehsn-
les, the whole being supervised by one
| who is acknowledged "a msster.S But
| this unagnifi cent rieceof mechanism is not
| the only work Mr.. Burke and his Gssoci-
stes can point to with pride. Paiscs sleep
ing coaches and ladies' cErs Of almost re-
| gal magnihcence tel the story of the
taste that here presides in the con
! struction of the modern caravan. Then
there are box cars, platform cars,
stationary engines, all Of superior
| fniEh, betokening q mechanical culture
| equal to anything of the kind any other
clty can produce. A visit TO the shops of
the Charleston railroad yesterday revealed
| all these things to US, and we lefs won
dering il energy and capital could not be
| made as fruitful of wonders snd success
/ in Memphis as other branches Of mechsn-
4 gzal ava1H -ss.N
! used cost Sl69, ,813 81, forty per cent. of
| which was purchased here, and the labor
| put upon II brought it up TO S341, ,96l ~.
/ In the year 1871, ending with June, the
material cost Sl49 9l4 80, forty per cent.
| purchased in Memphis, and the labor
| Sl53. 1856 90, making the total value 1884,
| SSl 20. To this may be added the wages
of employees In the offices, On the road and
in the depots in and near the city, and about
$500, ,0O0 expended on the Western divi-
sion, making 6 total of over $500, ,090 ex-
pended by the Memphis snd Charleston
railroad in Memphis ar Islly.
THE an. BU KE."
Among the admirsbia specimens of
work turned out from he shops of the
company is the new passenger engine |
IN. Barks''-so named IN compliment to |
the able master mechanic-which was ta- !
ken out On a trial trip yesterday after
noon. In every respect Is she complete, |
and the workmanship in each of the null |
tifsrious Departments of mechanics en-
ployed in tbs construction su
perior to thst seen in engines |
from the hitherto considered only legiti-
mate shops OF the East and North. Mr. |
Burke kindly invited reporter from the i
APPEAL to accompany him in the short /
run made yesterday afternoon as trial
trip; at about three O'Clock the msgnifi-
cent engine was brought out ofthe round
hon a@Tr nc
switches opened and the throttle pulled,
preparatory to a test of her capacity.
She moved OF as smooth and easy as IL it |
was an old thing with her, and |
wss soon skimuing over the rails at |
s rate thst would have made old |
Greeley, had he been On board, wish
that Hank Monk had him again as pas
senger. To show what she can do, it is
only necessary to say that the last two
miles were made in 2@ minutes. The re-
turn from Buntyn staEion--the extent Of |
the trip-wss engineered by Colonel Al
exsnder, who put in practice 3 little of the
knowledge gained by years of former ex-
periencs.
The dimensions of tbs an, Burke, sle:
cylinder, 16 by q inches; driving wheels
s feet 2 inches diameter; weight 62OOO
pounds. The boilsr-wOrk OF the ssM |
Burke" is from the hands OF Mr.. Pearsall,
foreman OF the bOiler-shOp, thorough |
master Of his trade, and embodies many
new and valuable principles not heretofore |
in use in the construction of steam genera
tors for railroad ssrvics. Would our space |
q NIT, we should be glad 20 explain the
introduced, but il sufices |
to say thst their Importance has been free |
ly acknowledged by mechsnieisns of the
first capacity, ThS "cah" is tsstefully
built of black walnut, and, as does the
tender, shows IN Its painting and decOra-
ton, the tasteful hand Of Mr. John T.
Reynolds. Taken sll in all, the outfit
engine and teuder-Would be hard to
match among the motive power of the .
best roads in the United States. Though
bpilt expressly for passenger service, the
Burke" will be sent cut tomorrow
in charge Of Mr.. Busketh, with |
8 freight tram. This is done TO allow the {
journals, etc, to become smooth by SER
vice, as the high rate of speed Of a passen-
gen engine would occasion shot boxes, I" /
which, on the Charleston road, there is
no time to cool.
A PORTABLE ENGINE AND BOILER,
built to supply motive power to ma /
chtnery, to be exhibited st the coming
fair, is specimen of what Tennessee me- I
chanics can do with Tennessee iron. The Z
engine is ready to be put together, and ]
when il position in Power Hall, at the '
fair, cannot fail to attract the attention it
so well d6g 9rves. Il should be a mRtter c
Of pride to every TsnnesseesE who visits /
5he fair, inasmuch as the work upon it was
performed entirely by native born Ten :
nessee mechanics, and every pound of I
iron used is from Tennessee mines. The g
engine has a nine-inch cylinder and 3
stroke, and is nominalIy OF
twenty-five horse power. The boiler is S
thirteen feet long, has thirty-eight hGes | g
seven fest long and two snd half inches g
and the fire-box is four feet
sight inches high, forty eight inches deep, | ]
and three feet two inches wide. 1t has 2
ample capacity to carry out the design OF '
Mr.. Burke OF furnishing steam TO any 9
exhibited ct the fair
which may require it, and which
= not provided with boiler. Mr.. Pear
ial also superintended the work on this | /
boiler, and it reflects credit both upon c
him and the mechanical force under his L
control. The iron, it should have been
tsted before, is from the renowned Cum Il
oerland Iron Works of the Hillmsn r
Brothers, on Cumberland river, and was c
vi tested before being worked up. 2
Leaving the domains of Vulcan, We
passed next into the car shop, under the
IN dent superintendent Of s.
NIB. DREW, MASTER CAR BUILDER g.
or the company. The Alabama" a
passenger car, first claimed Z
attention, and certainly no prettisr and =,
=
ffered to travellers by rail. It was re-
marked by one of the party who has done .
considerable gslliV2nting about the coun-
ry the past summer, that had such cars :
zen furnished him he would not have y
'een home yet." The Tennessee" a :.
match to the alabama" in everything
xcept name, is on the stock and will be | =.
ompleted as soon as possible. The ornate VI
harseter of the engraved plate glass FORM n
az the doors is quite striking, the letter. | y
az and ornamentatiOn being unique and :
esutiful to e high degree; and we are :,
lad to be able to give the credit to
iemphisn for tbs production of these -
2steful designs, as they were the artistic VI
andiwork of Mr.. John Hughes, of Second 4
breet. In the painting and decoration of n
be Alabama" Mr.. Ledbins, the MASTER ~
asnter of the shops, has brought into re-
uisition that perfect knowleGge of his art
isplsyed in Identifying the palace coach li
5 "Huntsville" and mate, turned out Of T.
be compapy's shop some eighteen months CT
ince.
In addition to the large amount of work vi
! hand for their own rosd-and the re- tr
uirements of the company are much pS
lcressed by the late purchase OF one be
undred miles of road (three lines)
! Middle Tennessee-there is be-
" flled, under direction of Mr..
rev, q contract with the Mem
his and Little Rock railroad COM
any for seventy-6ve cars, the building
which is being rapidly pushed forward, -
} as to enable that road to furnish faeili- ~
es for moving the immense freighss that m
ill 90 over il during the season. 1t may Cl
0 remarked bere that the contract would fo
ave long since been filed but for the Ge- 50
" of the trans Mississippi company in ~ ~
eciding upon the gauge of its road; this on
as been finally settled at four fees eight ca
icbes, and the rolling stock will be ready 50
NJ aarvica in a short time. ~