Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1873-02-25
Some Significant Facts for the Con-
sideratiOn of Nashville Readers.

Our sister city of Chattanooga bids fair
70 become the future great city OF the
State. Its progress for the past six years
has been wonderful. 1t now possesses two
of the largest rolling mills and one OF the
largest foundries aud machine shops in the
United States.
THE RoANE IRON CoMPANY's ROLLING
casa MILL
has the capacity to turn out one hundred
tons daily of furnished iron rails OF the
finest Quality made entirely from Tennes-
see iron and smelted with Tennessee coal.
The new iron on the Nashville and Chatta-
poopa Railroad, the fine quality OF whose
ROADWAY has been noticed by all passengers,
is mostly from this mill. The attention of
the capitalists who compose the Roane
Iron Company, most of whom reside in In
diana. Ohio and New York, was first at
tracted to the great mineral resources OF
Tennessee by the distinguished Federal
General, John T. Wilder, who demonstra-
ted at the companS's furnace, at Rock-
wook. in Roane county, the feasibility OF
making iron from raw ore and raw Tonnes
see stone coal. The lockwood furnace
was the first in the South TO use raw btu
minous coal without coking; ana we under
stand that the coal of the bed worked at
lockwood is the only coal that can be so
used in the State. In fact there are very
few beds of coal in the world that can be SO
used. This is OF itself an immense advan-
tage.
When this company had dem onstrAted
that iron could be successfully made, the
next thing was to add to their profits b.
selling it in "a manufactured state instead OF
In Digs. They, therefore, purchased the
rolling mill at Chattanooga, first built by
the limited States Government during the
war. and used to re-roll the rails on TIE
railroads leading from Chattanooga, which
were so frequently taken up and bent
around trees, etc., by raiding parties of
both armies. This mill was purchased
from the government in 1865 by the South
western Iron Company, of which Hewitt q
Co. were the principal stockholders, and
Gen, Gustayus w. Smith was manager at
CHATTANOOGA. The Southwestern Iron
Company operated it for two or three years
in re-nolling rails, but were compelled to
cease work for want of stock. They did
not have any pudding furnaces, nor was
there any blast furnace near by upon which
to depend for pig iron, if they had facilities
for pudding.
Alter the purchase Of the mill by the
Roane Iron Company their first step was
to build a pudding mill nearly as large as
the original building, in which they placed
two engines. two sets of rolls, squeezsrs
an ore crusher and ten of banks patent
rotary pudding furnaces, by which almost
all manual labor is dispensed with, and
puddling is made one of the easiest instead
of the most laborious and difficult process
in the manufacture of iron. Abe number
of these furnaces has since been incr eAsed
to twelve. 80,
The new engines psed in the puddle mill
were built in Chattanooga by Thomas Web
ster, of whose extensive establishment we
shall speak hereafter, and the rolls, water
founts for the furnaces and other cast iDgs
were made at bis foundry, until recently
the Roane Iron Company erected foundry
on their own premises for this kind OF work.
This company are 50 satisfied with theu
success that they are now contemplating a
large increase of their puddlinG capacity, so
that they can make their rails throughout
of new iron and not be depend
ent upon the uncertain supply OF
scrap from the railroads. They have also
completed new furnace stack at Rock
wood which will have capacity Of forty
tons of pig iron per day, and as soon as
this is in blast they Will blow out their pres
eut furnace and increase its capacity 10
about the same amount, giving them total
prodnciion of $50 tons per week.
The Roane Iron company owned about
100 aces in Chattanooga near the mill
uropefty. After reserving a sufficient tract
for manufacturing purposes, they divided
the balance into building lots and otlered
them for sale on four years time to purchas-
ers who would build upon them within
year, and requiring 10 payment until tne
end of the first year. The result OF ibis
liberal policy, so different from that pur-
sued by many Of our Nashville real estate
owners, lie, that most of the workmen en-
plsved at the mill live in handsome Gotta,
res belonging to them, and that some OF
the finest residences in the city are built up
on land which formerly belonged to the
company.
THE VULCAN WORKS.
Second in importance OF the manuiac-
fnrine establishments Of Chattanooga
is the Vulcan Works, S. B. Lowe
manager. Mr.. Lowe is ore of the most
indo nitable men in the county. de
commenced the Vulcan Works at Chat
taDooga at the commencement of the war,
and had it nearly completed when the Fed