Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1873-04-04

regards alignment or grades. and that the
grading can be made al very moderate ex-
pense. Mr.. Hale will make his report of
the survey at an early day.
The New Moulding MIL OF shepard, Da,l, & Co.
We have made several brief notices Of the
erection of the extensive mill which Shep-
ard, Davis & Co. added to their great lum-
Der establishment last year, but have re-
served fuller description of it till the
machinery was fairly running. 1t is new
in nearly full operation. and We took a tour
through it, one day last week, under the
courteous pilotare Of Mr. Cromhie, Of the
concern.
The mill extends from Lake to Water
streets, on the south side Of College street,
occupying the entire north end of the block
between Lake and Water. with frontage
of sixty-four feet on Lake street. 1t j. four
stories high on Lake street. and two on
Water street. The basement is Of the fine
purple limestone, from Wizards ledge,
such rs that of which the Cathedral and new
Methodist church arc built. and which j. 50
universally admired a, a building stone.
/ The rest Of the structure Is of brick, with
| pilastered, 7alls and brick cornice. It, posi-
ton. in full view of the railroad depot and
with all the travel to and from the depot pass
ing directly 10y it, makes it perhaps the most
conspicuous building devoted TO manuiac-
turing it ur city. and the general verdict
Is that no rore substantial structure of It's
kind exists n Vermont.
The two jwe.. floors Of the building are
devoted to ne M nufacture Of wood mould
ings-a bralich of industry which j. rapidly
extending, and has already become an i'm
portant adjunct Of the Lumber business
The ,old dogs when eyery carpenter had TO
have stock of moul ding planes, and worked
out all his bead, al mouldings by hand,
have passed away. Moulding- of every
style are nc W cut by machinery, and are
supplied at rates which bring them to the
carpenters and builders Gar cheaper than to
make them
To cut erfect mouldings by machinery
requires II mber perfectly dry-a condition
which can be secured only by kill '-drying
Beginning at the beginning, We look first at
TIE DRYING KILNs.
These n e four in number, occupy Nc
60 ID port On of the lower story. Each Is
50 feet loI g by p wide, and the four " Ill
hold MT one time from III, 900 to 10000
feet of lum Der in process Of drying. The
he It Is supp lied by the exhaust steam from
T. .e engine. passing through rows of iron
pines across the bottoms of the kilns, and
ranges from I2Oo to liO7. rising to l6O-
nights and Su 1days, when the steam IN the
boilers is not n, 'eded for the engine and IS
let directly into the heating pipes Though
it is considered i upossible that the heat can
ever rise to poi It at which wood will ig-
mite. the precautio rs against fire are extra
ordinary. The onl Taecess to the kilns Is ny
doors through the solid masonry OF the
outer walls. The;in it'e wNlls.are oil orick
and the roofs Of bri k arches, resting on
iron beams. Pipes lea d from the boilers 10
the kilns, 50 that by tle turning 0. a COCK
any kiln can be filed With steam, if W any
chance its contents sho uld get on fire, / @A
ing further combustion impossible.
The remainder of this floor is occupied by
THE SAVING ROOF.
This Is fifty feet square. Here the lumber
is reduced to the desired dimensions for the
various styles of moul dings, by circular
saws. One of these as n. T. Foster formerly of
Chickering'S famous piano factory in Bos-
ton, now superintep dent of the moulding
mill, informs US, as the tremendous speed
Of j, 500 turns a mute.
THF SECOND FLOOR.
This floor is mainly in one great room $50
by so feet, an is occupied by the moulding
machines. These are at present seren in
number, all Of the superior make of the 5.
J \. Woods Machine Company of Boston.
They areisomething on the general princi-
| pie of planer, but have three sets of re-
yolvlng knives in each machine, each of
which in turn cuts its portion of the mould
| ing. Tie knives revolve at the rate of
$500 turns minute, and the moulding
leaves them perfectly smooth as if sand
papered, and ready for painting. To secure
this most desirable result the lumber rust
be perfectly dry, the knives sharp and run
at lightning speed and the strip of lumber
fed through at comparatively slow rate.
The Mcclellan blower sucks the dust and
shavings as fast as made from each set of
cutters, and carries them all out of the
building and through u long trough to
separate building two or three hundred
feet off. which Is used solely for depos-
tory for shayings. The mouldings are of
all varieties of pattern from the broad
mouldlngs for arch itraves ,&c., a foot wide, to
tiny round beadu gs not over half an inch in
diameter and TO make the latter as many
cutters are requ ired as for the former The
finished nouldi ngs are piled as made into
racks, whence they are taken, neatly put up
in bundles, stenciled with the makers
name, mark ed with the number of feet, and
arc then sh ipped to customers all over New
England. There is room on this floor for
the addition of four or five more machines,
which will be added, as needed Thepower
by which all the machinery is driven is con-
veyed by shaft passing through covered
way under Lake street, from the engine of
the big planning mill of Shepard, Davis & |