The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1889-09-01
ENGINES FOR EVERY LAND
One ofthe Great Industries That Largely
Increases the Wealth Of the City.
The Atlas Works, with It's Resources of Men and
Neutrality-suspicious. Day Demonstration
Federation Of Trades and Labor Unions.

The other day a Journal reporter stopped
in front of the Atlas engine-works. A for
lists wagon arrived at nearly the same time.
and the reporter wondered what should
bring the vehicle to such q hard, practical
and grimy concern as q foundry and ma
chine shop. He looked about him. to see
the works covered with graceful clinging
vines, a stretch of neatly trimmed lawn be-
tween the dusty roadway and the office,
and the tall chimney, no longer rolling out
black and sulphurous smoke, mantled with
ivy nearly to the top.
With all this attention to the beautiful.
there is. none the less. attention to the
practical, and the pursuit of the dollar is
quite rs active and as earnest as in any es-
tablishment in the land. During the past
eleven years these works have turned out
yer seven thousand engines and as many
boilers. They have gone almost every
where on the face of the earth, from Eng
land to Japan, from Manitoba to the Ar
eentine Republic. and of all powers from
the ten-hOrse power to the four-hundred-
nd-ffty-horse-power engine. The estab-
lishment has much interest in the South
American. trade. and c. B. Fetch
or, one of the company, was for
some time there engaged in put
ting up engines in Brazil. Uruguay
and the Argentine Republic. 1--WE have
engines running all through Central Amer
lea and Mexico" said Mr.. Fletcher, though.
of course, our trade is greatest in the
United States. We have some In Colombia.
We ho~a ooll - Go~ 0o1xadnr pondnroa
Nicaragua, Costa Rica. and also in Cuba
and other Of the West India islands. !
found we could get. in South and Central
America. 10 per cent. better prices than In
this country, and then be 10 per cent. under
competition. The great difficulty in hand
ling the South American trade is in the
matter of transportation. There is no
trouble to sell; the trouble is with the de-
livery and in ocean f~reights. All our goods
to that country are shipped first to Liver
pool, and from there across the Atlantic
again down to South America. There is a
line from New York to- Brazil. but 1t only
sends a steamer out about once in thirty
days, and, as it carries the mails and gets a
subsidy from Brazil. it cares little for
freight. Goods are shipped from New York
to Europe, thence to South America. and q
return cargo goes from south America TO
The Atlas engine-wOrks have thirty
acres of ground, with buildings covering
over ten acres. Coke is used in the GU
polas, but for all other purposes natural gas
the kind outside of Pittsburg that are run
by natural gas: Walking over the grounds
and about the buildings, the extreme neat
ness and cleanliness of the place attract at
tention and remarks. There are no scraggy
heaps of scrap-iron, for non is used, every
thing being made out of the ~firss4uality of
pig-iron. The pattern-house is well worth
a visit. There are no wooden patterns
in this building, all the standard patterns
being of metal. Outside of making their
class of work but their own standard lines
of engines and boilers. All the small cast
ings are made by q pneumatic molding ma
chine which makes them perfectly even.
There is a complete system OF overhead
tracks, and all the carrying is done by
pick up and carry from 1000 to IL, 900 pounds
to any part of the shop where the metal
may be req uired.
The engine-room in which is the power
works is kept as clean as a parlor, thanks
to the absence of coal and the presence of
the clean and volatile fuel, natural gas.
The main machine shop is 50x350 feet,
while the next in size is 50x250 feet. There
are half a dozen men whose business 1t is
to keep the tools in order and up to the
standard, no wear being allowed beyond
the 25-100 part of an inch. When that stand
ard is encrOached upon they are promptly
cut down to smaller sizes or destroyed alto
gether. Calculation shows that these works
can turn out complete q forty-horse engine
in an hour and a half, and a ten-horse pow
er in an hour. Here are always carried IN
stock from 100 to 200 engines land a liberal
supply of boilers), all sizes being represent
ed, from a ten-horse to q 450-horse power,
and q customer who Is in q hurry can make
his purchase in five minutes and have it
upon the cars in less than half an hour, as
the company here nave their own system
of trackage, three and O half OF four miles,
with their own locomotive and direct COM
munication with the Belt, handling all their
own freight. whether incoming or outgoing.
In the boiler-shop o riveter is used that
holds the seams together with g.
600 pounds pressure before the
rlvet is driven. When the rivet
is driven there is a pressure of 10000
pounds givenit exclusiveo of the momentum
of the blow struck by the riveter. Last
month 10000 horsepower of engines were
sold. together with boilers.
The Atlas Engine Company is interested
in the approaching visit of the represent
atives of the Central and South American
republics, and will be ready to show them
through their establishment upon their ar
rival here in November.