Connecticut western news., 1880-07-28

with g narrow board, while still soft, to smooth the sharp corners; then they are turned up on the edges and "spatted" again. When sufficiently dry to be safely handled they are piled up in single rows call ed "hacks, with boards placed over the top to protect them from rain. They are left in hacks" until hard enough to sustain the nec- essary weight and usage, when they are taken into the shed building and piled up on the edges into kilns from 45 to 50 tiers high with arches formed in the lower tiers where the fires are built. The brick are laid slightly apart, to allow the heat to circulate through the entire pile as uniformly as possible The kilns are built in different sizes, according to the number of brick to be burned, the arch es being about two feet apart. The kiln just burned at this yard contained about 125, ,0OO brick and had six arches. When the kiln is built the outside is plastered over with loam and clay to confne the heat, and the wood fires are started and kept up until the burning is finished, requiring from five days to week, when they are given three or four days to cool, and the brick are ready for use. The brick in the outside tiers are naturally softer than those in the centre, where the heat is the most intense, and in view of this, the coal dust is mixed with the clay in quantities, ac. cording to the position the brick are to occupy in the kiln. The coal dust having tenden- cy to harden the brick, is mixed in greater quantity with those on the outside tiers in proportions of five bushels to the 1000, and with those in the centre, of three pecks to the 1000.
 The product of the work this year will be much greater than that of any previous year, and it IS thought that over 400, 900 will be made. The number made last year was 130, 900, and in 1877, and 1878, 25O,0OO were made each year. There are now about 75,- 900 green brick ''hacked" up and stored away, ready for burning, and they are con. stantly being made. At present about twelve men are employed, who are under the super vision of the driving foreman, Michael whalen of Poughkeepsie, who, as a skilled brick maker has few superiors.
 As the brick made here are of 8 superior quality there is no difficulty in disposing oi them as rapidly as they can be manufactured. The Barnum Richardson Go. purchased all that remained on hand at the time they be- gan their repairs on the upper furnace. After the late destructive fire in Lee, .225, 1000 brick were shipped to one party there, and SO,OOC to another, for building purposes.
 MT. Woodward has had considerable ex perience in the brick business, having owned and managed brick yard in Sharon iron 1878 until he came to this place, when ht brought the machinery of his Sharon works here, it being better location for shipping
 and the material being capable of making { better quality of brick.
 Many years ago brick were manufactured
 near the present works, where the clay i. now dug. None of the old inhabitants re member it, but the fact has been handed down as tradition, and in digging for ella, the brick dust and refuse were struck nea the surface, which authenticated the tradition
 Edward Hurlburt of Ct Harrington il | r H-