Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1885-01-29
BIG HOLES In THE GROUND
THE KAOLJN MGN~~ 1AL. MILLS or
HUOh .NsEV.
the Mapnitnde II sho Iadus,ry AND
the Marrow L'rnifs 10 which
The kaOlin DtpnsI1s are Com
nned.

tue Marrow L'nifs 10 which
'he haoltn DtpnslIs are Com
| nned.
'When you have erumet ated the
baniip pits srouni Uockesein and lust
0vef the line in Chester county, the two
par les engaged in the business at
BgandyWiue Summit and another At
Fsulklsud, 0hio," said Superintendent
Edwin G1lting to GAzETrR represents
tive on Monday, 'you have about covered
the kaolin induHtry 10 the whole United
stRtesn
How would the makers of orockery and
obsap cnndies get along without
HOckessiu
a stranger happening unexpectedly
upon this little town, which ia sbout
10 milea from here by rail and about
eight miles by pike, might be pardoDed
for thinking that he had struck q
section Of the earth that ia undergoing
exteDsive repsiEs. Prominent features Of
tue scsneTy are vast excavations, great
embRnkmsnts OF manufactured and
uumsuutsotursd kaolin, flint sand and
debris, steam pumps, big frame sheds full
Of machinery, drying frames, narrow
guese railroad tracks, boxes, barrels,
hOisiiuF drums, and miscellaneous odds
and suds Of all kinds.
God weather Ia not the time to see the
works in running order, but 1t ia good
time to inspect them, as the prevailing
mud is then dissrmed OF its terrors by
the frost /. was thus on Monday and
the nswsgstherer WAS able to pick his
way comfortably to the bottom of the
Golding oompaDy's big pit and from
thence to look down into the huge we'll
Ike shatts whose muoky floors lie 100
feet or more below the surface.
The Goidipg oompSuy's works and pits
are spread over from IL to Is acres Of
ground, and give employment in summer
70 hundred men. The greatest number
on the pay roll last year was l16. At
the same time there were some 80 men
employed in the neighboring pits and
mills OF John W. Burgess. Not far off
are the Diamond State works, but they
have been idle for q year or so. Some ~
miles to the northwArd, In New Garden
township, Chester county, are the Spencer
Graham works; the clay in which belongs
ssto the same neat OF veins" The Dia.
mond State works are the oldest Of the
Hookessin trio and the Burgess, formerly
Lacy, works came next; the latter dating
back some Is years. The head Of the
Golding company, Noses Golding, formerly
of Trenton, N. j., came to Hockessin six
years ago, but had been "washing'
ksolin in Trenton for six years pre-
viously.
At these works three grades Of kaolin,
varying in color from that Of A TO extra
G sugar, are turned out. The product Of
the Burgess pits is not thus separated
and assorted, but marketed as q whole.
Questioned about the output OF his pits,
Goldlng said: ''The
highest we have taken out in year may
be roundly put at 5000 toms then,
again, we have worked down TO 4,000
tons. Last year we took ont about s, 500
toms. 1t would be tair to put II at an
average Of $l2 per ton In value. We ship
IL to Trenton. N. j., Kast
Ohio, Wheeling, Cincinnati,
Indianapolis, Jersey City, Syracuse, N.
Y, and Wellsviile and Steubenville,
Ohio. Trenton and East Liverpool take
about two-thirds Of the lot the others
are mere side shows. The white sand
you see piled around here comes ont of
the clay in the process of preparation for
We wash the sand an extra
time or two to free Il from mica and other
foreign substances and sell about $500
toms per year OF 1t. The sand, after
being ground as fine % -four, also enters
into the manufacture of crockery ware.''
Until June last the clay mined at the
Golding works was hauled mp from the ore
pits by defrioks and wound up by horse
power into carts on the bank, and carted
thence to the mill. Since June railway
tracks end dump cars drawn by steam
power have superseded horses and carts.
This has facilitated operations In several
ways and made 1t practicable for the
to 60 deeper than before In the
huge circular shafts which cluster on the
door Of the original excavation. These
shafts are eurbsd with timbers, 80 ont
that 81 OF them laid end TO end, breaking
Joints as In brioklaying, form complete
circle. The greatest depth yet reached lie
l04 feet below the original surface, and
the kaolin bed still holds out.
When the clay reaches the mill, II
undergoes good washing. This is
by Turning 1t into horizontal
wooden boxes, IL feet long and feet
square through the whole length Of
which runs shaft armed with sknives''
set two inches spart, which revolves at
The tate OF $40 times per minute. A
stream OF clear water is kept constantly
pouring irto each box. The effect Of this
process upon the crude clay, which Ross
into tbe boxes commingled with sand,
nies, gravel and other foreign substances,
Is 10 convert 1t In 8 few minutes into
what Is technically called ''slip," about
the consistency Of cream with q great
1est Of aapd in Il.
The cresm-liks 'tslip'' is then drawn
Itf into settling troughs, 400 feet long
And set at a vsTy slight moline. It It's
passage through these throughs the
slip" deposits its Fsmsining sand and
the supernstsnt semi-liquid mass that
passes from the outlets OF the troughs
into the tanks beyond is mixture OF
cure ksoIin and wster. The creamy
nsss Is allowed 10 stand In the tanks
from "a to SO hours, by which time the
clay seperates from the water and settles
to the bottom. The water is then drawn
of and the washed clay ia ready for
pressing.
The p,ssses are ranged together In
piles u 40 each. Zach press is composed
If tive leaves formed Of a framework
about 6 fast long and feet wide, covered
Rith corrugated metal, making the
presses look something like gigantic
washbuaTds. Inside each press Is a re.
movable lining OF duck. There are 160
piles or 4ctsmbera," as they are called,
each numbering 30 presses. The
washed kGolin is pumped into
hese AID subjected 10 hydraulic
PRESSURE which sques zss 1t nearly dry,
esving II about the consistency Of putty.
The bag lipinss of the presses are then
saken out and their contents dumped
sither into chambers heated by steam
pipes or upon large frames in the open
lir to dry; the latter method being pre-
'erred when the weather Is favorable.
After drying for week or two II is ready
'or market
An Opposition Line.