The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1876-12-02
CASTING 4 BRONzE sr1rUE.
The VERY Delicate piece Of Work TINT wns
successfully Done ut Fischcr's.

The employees of George Fischer, at 200
Forsyth street. have for four months been pre-
pairing to cast the magnificent statue that the
old Palmetto Guard of South Carolina are soon
to erect In Charleston, In commemoratiOn Of
the valOr and patriotism OF their regiment and
OF its fallen members. The statue IA Of a sol
dier IN Continental uniform, carrying All old and
bullet-torn nag tied to the ramrod Of a cannon.
George Fischer determined To cast the 1sure
In one piece that ia. with tho head attached ia
the body. For various reasons, this Is seldom
done. FISCHER cast the Guttenters statue Oh
the Stddts Zeitung building In that waN-the
hrsi time the exl erment was ever made In this
country. When months OF labor and thou
sands Of dollars hang In the balanc such risks
are seldom taken. But Fischer was confident
ana appreciated the saving that must follow
success In the venture. So the plaster cast OF
the Continental was lowered intact into a ted Of
dampeued sand and an impression of Its front
was taken; then n mantle or upper hel was laid
over the uncovered part or back Of the n1urr.
and the full At was taken. The plaste ist
MS then Withdrawn, and its place was taken
up with other sand. which formed the core cr
counterpAt OF the original cast. This. In turn,
was shaved on by "A slow aud delicate process g.
Just enough being cut away to leave room for
the moi ,n bronze, Of which the statue wa- To-
he formed. The mould and the corr. boltrd and
held together IN "A great iron box. strdpp'd
with 81 ol. were thon u ked in kiln.
had been diied out. tue box va,
lowered INTO q dcep hrirk-walled uit near the
melting oven. tSterdny nothing rem sincd but
to cast the statue. Two thousand pounds ot
bronze-D per cent of copper ana 10 per cent.
- ilock tin-wcre thrown into the great brick
furnace. IN whose capacious 'nierl9r Il imes aud
heated air We're rushing with sucking, roaiin d;
noise that hlled the grea barn like foundry.
Through tiny window in the side of the oven
tne foreman peercd occasi sionally at le melting
ingots and the roaring flames and ~ three
hour. after the heat was first applied to the
4 T
but pond OF liquid bronze. The great arm Of
the derrick. to wnich depended an iron bucket,
was swung to the eide Of the oven. Two
brawny, red-shirted, bare-armed men. armed
with long iron bar, nunctured tho wad OF
clay that stopped up the vent In the bowl OF the
furnace and. with a loud explosion. a stream
OF molten bronze shot far out into the room.
a shower Of fery drops OF liquid metal scat
tered over the door. many Of them nrst aliehting
upon the bare arms or faces OF the woikmen,
who shook them on and stood their ground as
though drops Of red hot bronze were as harm
flowed into the iron bucket binding light H.
Illuminated the room wns snnow s Of ric6 red or
yellow or purple Into the narrow feedpipe
leading TO the mould the workmen poured the
fiery liquid while from another pipe Nolume
OF hot air escaped-in a quantity suncleht 70
have blown the great iron box and building IN
winch It lay into a thousand fragments II no
means for It's escape had been prepared.
Finally from this hot-air lipe the meta now
ed, and the workmen knew that the statute was
complete. In two hours after the mould had
been filed the great IRON box was lltteu rom
the pit and lowered to the tioor. WITH sledRes
and levers the steel clasps that bound the Two
parts OF the box together were broken, ana the
bronze 0gure was discovered half buried III
bed OF black. dry sand. Cropping hooks were
fastened TO It, the cranks of the great crane were
turned and the statue, ciOtted with sand and
covered with odd ends and scraggy pieces OF su
pertuous metal, was lifted high in air. When
these defects were removed the statue was seer
to be perfect The delicate parts, the eyes. nose
lips and ears, were without defect or blemish
A few days hling and smoothing will finish II.