Wichita eagle., 1888-03-02

Packinc-"Pressing," ''Sealips'' and
Boilins-A Short and Busy Season.
For illustration, cite the factory here in
Bridgton, one of the largest, and under the
| charge of one of the oldest practical corn can
| ming men in New England, a. IL. Burnham.
This town and vicinity are great corn pack
ing center, and not only the Winslow, but
| the factories of various other great houses
abound, all of which are conducted on the
same general principles, and all of whose
pradacts have wade and enormous sales At
the Bridgton factory in the fall OF 1SG9-in
which year an unusually large acreage was
planted-there were employed 500 hands, of
whom 100 WE'RE huskers and SO cutters, and
| 6D0,0G0 cans, the product Of S}4 acres, were
|, put up Since then hard labor has given
i place to machinery, except in huskin2, which
is still done by a busy brigade of men and
boys, from, 1.-THE ectogenarian, sitting III q
rustic chair, to the S-year-od lad squat
ting ON low STOOL This picturesque autumn
spectacle, TOO, viii soon be thing of the
past as even now an ingenious husking ma
chine is nearly perfected and, in fact, is IN
practical use by some of the smaller firms.
Up to the year 1874 the corn was cut from
the cob by hand, /. e., with q small bent knife,
with a gauge, with which the manipulation
rapidly pared off the corn by downward
strokes, with the other hand steadying and
turning the ear against the inside OF long
tray Now machine does the work as well,
one man doing as much as twelve men could
by hand. The ear is simply placed in position
by the left hand, while by an immediate
lever-stroke with the right it is forced through
an ingenious arrangement of knives and
I xot, ,y, ,y,cSo tNS
cut off the kernels clean, and, what was the
most difficult obstacle to overcome, removes
all the juice without taking any Of the hull;
a feat not always accomplished by hand
under the old system. Two makes of ma
chimes are in use by the different factories.
The fact that only five or six weeks out Of
the year are available for experimenting ex-
plains why it has taken SO long time to
perfect the cutting and other corn packing
machinery.
PRESSING" SEALING AND BOILING.
Then the pressing" In other words, to
/ measure and fill the can with certain amount
of corn and press it in through the small cir
GUAR hole in the upper end, preparatory to
sealing Two improved kinds OF machines
have lately come into use, each OF which
does, ,ts three fold work with a marvellous
nicely and quickness. With the machine IN
use at the Bridgton factory an ordinary hand
can press (which means measuring, filling
and pressing, sixty cans minute, OF 1900
in ten hours-more than three times as much
as can be done with the old hand press by the
quickest and stoutest man, with she AID Of =
boy.
Next Sealing" Which means To place
tin cap over the aperture and solder 1t on
with a hot revolving iron. In this depare-
rnent, too, there have been improvements,
though not so radical Us in some other
branches. TIE can itself was first made 10y
cutting out with hand shears the round piece
which forms the bottom Then they got a
machine called circular shears, and the piece
Of tin was put into it and turned round and
cut out in that way. Afterward a die was
used, which cuts the tin right through and
cuts the piece out round. The next improve
ment, was that, instead of punching the
bottom out round and putting it into an
other die and turning up the edge, a
machine was used which cut the bottom out
whole and turned up the edge At the same
time. In this line the evolutions have ad-
vanced from one mans making $50 cans q
day-which was considered good days
sork-to the turning out Of 10 cans, or four
" y
The cans are 4 So inches long, 8 l-2 inches in
diameter, and weigh, when filed, twenty
three ounces.
The next process, that Of boiling, likewise
discloses the march O. improvement. Until
within year or two the cans were subjected
30 immersion in tanks Of boiling water over
four hours: nov they are boiled IN wood
baths from twenty 20 thirty minutes, and
finished by steamIpg in iron retorts about one
hour; a great saving, not only Of time, but
In the number Of Elea-
Last, lac4uering, labelling. boxing and ship
ping. This doae. and thea until tie p~rt
corn season the factory Is sfieDs and de-
serted save by two or three hands already
st work making cans for another year. and
the foreman, late general Of eorn packing
brigade, DOW siddsaly bcret OF STAT and
nsn- But this ever-actire general IL a.
work once more laying his plans for another
SEASONS campaign--Br1dgton Ma Coz. sev
York Tribune