The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1880-07-04
TIE STEVENS SHELTER.
An Innovation In Smelling Likely
to Prove the Great Blessing
of this Country.

j. b. IorOnto, AID Froi. duntleyI
of the Clarence King geologi-
cal party. ran down 10 Sandy
10 witness tue operation Of the new
Stevens 5melter, just started up.
Mr.. Levi Stevens is the inventor OF
the new ideas embodied in this
smelter, and he has associated with
him In the business Mr.. B. a. Smith
and Mr.. Swan, who are also here.
Mention has been made heretofore of
this new process, aOd It has been re-
ferred to by miners and mill men
generally in the most fkeDtical terms,
and considerable opposition has been
encountered. Mr.. stevens. however,
has directed the building OF the mill
personally, and about q week ago 1t
was completed to his satisfaction. On
Tuesday last be fired 1t up and
ran it for ten hours, turning out
of the one furnace sixty kettles OF
alag, but for some reason DIS
water was turned of by unknown
parties, WHICH was discovered, how
ever, in time TO prevent any e4-
plosion or serious injury, which were
the most probable consequences OF
such q criminal act On Saturday
morning the furnace was fired up
again, and Has in active operation
when the party arrived. The smelter
is not very large, there being but
one moderately large room. In Shich
the ore is prepared for the furnace.
The furnace is built outside OF the
building, and is on an incline Of
sbout 45o, and perhaps twelve feet IN
length, which leads up to a high
chimney. The furnace is against
the southeast corner of the building,
ami the ore ia carried from that point
into the furnace by means OF cups,
into which it is thrown and which
carry it up and al certain point tip
it into the oven. The furnace Is
built in a number OF terraces and
when the ore first goes in it is
farthest away from the FIRE. Il 10
showed down from higher terrace 10
lower enc, and gradually approach
ing the intense heat which is in the
oven, is first roasted, then turned into
matte, and finally runs of in Stag
and bullion. The coal il put in at
the top OF The lower end of the fur.
mace and gradually sinks doTn into
the oven.
From the engine run two pipes
which enter at either eide Of the
oven, and which carry into it two
constant streams of superhested
steam. In addition to this there are
| two four.inch air pipes, into which
wind is forced by means OF fans, and
these also discharge their air into an
air chamber which causes a steady
draft, and is then used to unite with
the superheated steam, carrying the
hydrogen, and the gas generated by
the coal, forming hydrogen flame,
the most intense heat known, and
which will burn platinum down ike
wax. The flame is forced up the
furnace through the chimney, and
all the fumes and poisons are carried
of with it, and it is SO constructed
that there is no possible escape any
other way; and consequently there is
absolute safety from that dread OF
| smelling men-leadlDg.
MIR. Stevens, by his process, avoids
the necessity OF any ore for fiuxing-
the only hux he uses is slack coal
about 200 pounds of which, on an
average. he mixes with one ton OF
ore, but this, of course, will be regG-
lated by the quality or The ore. HOW
ever, in this item alone, there will
be an immense saving, ana if the
plan proves successful, as there is no
reason to doubt, the necessity for
coke and fuxing ores will nave van
ished.
In principle, Mr.. Stevens smelter
is the same as others. but it is vastly
different from an economical point OF
view. The ore is reduced on the
same plan mainly. the Stag run of
and bullion taken from the well just
the came; but while it costs So to SIS
and 500 to smelt by the old manner,
it will take ali the way from one-third
to one-ffth less by Mr.. Stevens plan.
The only expense Is that for fuel AID
for labor. There is certainty that
enc ton OF coal will reduce three tons
of ore, I'D will probably reduce four
or five tons. At 81 ton, and with
the ordinary expenses, one can esti-
mate the cost OF reduction. Bus 1t is
claimed that slack coal will answer
just as we'll as the lump, as it gives
the same amount of gas, and this can
be delivered from SO to So so per
ton. Saying So so ton, and that one
ton OF coal will reduce four OF ore,
with the expenses of wear and labor
at a fair proportion, would maze the
cost of smelling marvellously low for
this age. .t
But this is no experiment. These
same parties have bad q smelter
running at Omaha on Colorado
AID Utah ores since last
January, and know that their process
is a success. Il is true, the one in
Omaha was smaller, but in every
particular this is precisely the same,
and it only remained TO be seeD if a
larger furnace would do what the
smaller one did, a thing no one
would attempt to deny. In their
Omaha smelter they have reduced
ore at a cost OF $3.50 per toni
Mr.. Stevens says be does not want
advertising, and simply invited the
prominent gentlemen above men
toned in order that they could see
what he was doing and in cnnsa-
quence OF the many unfavorable re-
marks that had been made. 1--WE
ask no one 10 invest; we have paid
the money on this smelter as it was
due; il il is failure no one loses any
thing; if a success the profit 10 ours.
WHAT ore We buy we pay the money
Tor, and do not care what people say,
but We are going to smelt the ores OF
this district" He also stated that
the Union Pacific WaI interested in it,
as their success meant the smelling
of low and high grade ores, the open
ing of low vslueless mines, the EN-
ployment of more labor. and the ad-
vantage of increased bullion produce,
increased consumption of articles and
increased transportation.
The furnace now running has q
capacity of forty tons a day, while
With the engine power, sppurten.
ances and water right now used 10
running the enc. are capable of rum
ming four others, which would give
this mill capacity OF 200 tons day.
These would require but eight or ten
men to run. and the great saving