The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1888-02-03
THE ROTARY METHOD.
Success Or The Rotary Snow Pillow
In Raising a Blockade.
IYIBOnq Republican.

WisOnq Republican.
The party of Northwestern officials
who left Winona on Friday morning to
witness the operation of the new rotary
snow pillow arrived at Winona from Wa
tertown, Dakota, on Monday morning.
In word, the test was a great success.
Mr.. Hallenbeck, assistant general super
intendent of the road, says they were
all greatly pleased with its operations.
The machine is mounted in front of an
ordinary locomotive boiler, which is
placed upon a car of it own, and oper-
ates the rotary with its numerous knives
1t was pushed by three locomotives, as
it must be kept close up against the
snow to do its work. In ordinary drifts
from two to three and half feet thick,
it moved easily at the rate of fifteen
miles an hour while the fan threw snow
distance of go feet from the track. In
passing a grove of natural trees near
Nicollet, the snow was hurled clear above
the tree tops. Farmers and citizens
gathered along the track and looked
with interest and Amusement upon the
new wonder. Following the rotary and
engines was the special with the North
western officials, and following them, a
special with Mr.. Clark and Mr.. Case OF
the Milwaukee, st. Paul road. Mr.. w.
A. A. Scott of the Omaha line was also
there with party of gentlemen from
st. Paul to see the new machine. The
hardest test which the pillow had was a
drift ten feet deep on an up grade, but it
walked through it at the rate of six
miles an hour with little effort. at
fianges the track at the same time per-
fectly," observed Mr.. Hallenbeck, "and
another good point is that it throws the
snow clear away from the track. The
old plows simply push the snow out up
on the sides, and with every storm the
fill was deeper. 1t will prove a great
saving to the railroads in the Northwest"
Mr. Harry Sanborn and Superintendent
COsgrave were also laud IN praise of the
rotary. when we went by the station
az odlu SObSTdut, the
agent had his windows all boarded up to
protect the glass. for the ordinary snow
plows would huTl the snow with such
force as to break every pane of glass in
sight, but the rotary simply hurled it
away over the top of the depot. You
may judge of the value of this rotary
when i tell you that competent railroad
men estimated that it would have taken
one hundred men week 10 open the
road that the rotary did in twenty. four
hours. And this work would really
have been done in six hours if we had
not been delayed in getting water, the
tank at Altamont having frozen up.
When We came back ] saw the big plow
at Tracy that we have been accustomed
TO look upon as great thing, and said
to myself the old plow's days are num-
bered."
Mr. Leslie, the inventor of the rotary
pillow, travelled week from Idaho, ex-
pressly to see the machine work. He
had never seen il in operation. 1t was
in charge of his brother. By a night
ride on an engine he overlook the ro-
tary about fifteen miles east of Water
town. Although pleased with its opera
tions, he began to suggest improvements
that could be made. The rotary was
taken over to the Hastings and Dakota
division of the Milwaukee & st. Paul
road to raise the blockade there.