The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1874-06-29

condition, aud attention cannot DC pala
to them too sooD.
BENwooD.
ITEMS in town seemed scarce Sstur'
day. The people were rejoicing over
the fine rain they had Friday morning.
business was reported as little dull
and the general health OF the town as
better than a week ago.
THROUGH the kindness Of the clerks
ct the Benweod Iron and Nail Mill we
were shown through the works. When
the iron is first taken from the mine IN
the form of ore it looks much like
Jumps of red limestone clay, OF al
sizes and forms, that have been harden
ed by some process All the iron
used here is manufactured at the Ben
wood Blast Furnace in Martins Ferry,
The ore there is melted and made into
huge bars OF the crude metal. These
are shipped to Benwood'
where they go fret into
the hands OF the strikers. who
break these bars Of iron into pieces
about foot in length and pile it up
ready for the boiling furnaces. These
boiling furnaces are about three feet IN
depth and width and about ten feet long.
The heat in them is so intense that tue
iron melis almost as coon as thrown in,
and the boilers or men who tend them
have the hottest work in the mills.
They wear 20 clothing but psntaloons
and if drenched from hose they could
not be welter than they are with prespl-
ration. There are twenty. one boiling
furnaces in the Benwood mills. Five
hundred pounds OF iron are thrown into
each furnace at once, and constI.
tute a heat. and five heats
make days work, running single
turn, or ten heats or 5000 pounds a
lays work double turn. In boiling
FIVE hundred pounds OF iron, from thlr'
ty to fifty pounds are wasted in the
The 'orm Of mill cinders. These are
sent back to the blast furnace and
wrought over yielding about twenty
one per cent OF iron. The five huns
dred pounds OF iron. after boiling about
two hours is taken from the furnace bv
opening a valve and allowing 1t to run
out in liquid form upon the ground,
where it is caught and formed into
three balls. which are seized with
pinchers aud carried to the muck rolls,
after passing first around 8 machine
used tor tiatlening it. In the muck
rolls it passes again and again between
two rollers until it is flsttened into
what is known as muck bar being a bar
o. iron something over an inch 10 thick
ness ard about six inches wide and five
feet long. These bars when piled up
look like old boards that have been
blackened by FIRE These bars are then
taken to the muck shears which cuts
them into pieces about a foot and a
bali in length. These pieces are then
piled up, about five layers OF pieces be-
ing allowed Tor one pile, one layer be-
ing LAID one way, the next across them,
and so on until the pile is complete.
1t is then ilted and placed in the heat
irs furnace where they become red hot
and welded together almost as soon as
in. There are three heating furnaces,
and each makes eight heats to each
turn, the iron remaining in but about an
hour. This square mass OF glowing
iron is then grssped as when 1t
is taken to the muck rolls and carried
to the sheet rolls, where it is rolled in o
sheet iron, the thickness varying ac-
cordiug 10 the size OF the nails TO be
made. These sheets are then taken 10
the shears where they are cut into nail
plates or stripe, the width OF which cor
responds to the length OF the nails TO be
made. the thickness corresponding, and
about loot and a half long. These
strips are then made into small piles
and, if intended to make nails larger
than SIX penny, are heated red hot and
delivered to the majors TO be cut in that
condition. There are ore hundred nail
machines in the mills, and the ayerar .
work for one week Is five thousand
kegs. The size of the nails made vary
from seven inch spikes to seven-elghth
inch lining or ID fine. An average
mailer has charge o. four machines
which are attended 10 by four feeders.
the nsrlers business being TO zee that
the machines run right and to see that
the knives and other machinery are
kept ground and in good repair. The
feeder site on high stool in front OF
the macl inc holding the hot nail plate
with pincers, and quickly turning one
eide and then the other, the knife cut
ting of the nail and the die flsttenng
the head, the finished nails dropping
faster than one can count into box
under the machine. When the boxes
are fall they are thrown into bin, each
s.ze by itself. where they are weighted
on. by the packer inIo kegs each hold
ing one hundred pounds. The shipper
brands the kega, piles them up and
they are ready 10 be taken to the wharf.
All nails smaller than six penny are
cut cold and when. cut have white
appearance almost like tin. To give
them the beauti ul blue finish they have
when cold, they are thrown into large
cylindrical tube which Is full OF holes
and revolves slowly over hot fire. 1t
10 inclined, one end being much higher
than the other, the mails being thrown
in at one end and slowly falling lower
down Until they pass out at the other
end.
Wrought or clnch nails are snnealed
or go through an extra heating process.
They are made from the scraps OF iron
LETT from making osEer MALE, which
are melted and rolled over INFO
wrought iron before being cut.
LOUISE LOCKWOOD.
RAsE BALL.-An exciting game OJ