The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1889-07-31
ABOUT TALL CHIMNEYS.
TWO REASONS FOR BUILDING THEM
TO SUCH GREAT HEIGHT.

!.
"Why are factory and other chimneys to
bear of smoke from great furnaces built
tallgn asked one Of group Of men standing
by and observing the work progressing on
the chimney Of the water works house on
Harrison street.
'That,s easy enough to answer" replied a
tell fellow from Blue Island avenue; Its to
lift the smoke up above the houses ard the
streets, SOS not to foul the air we take into
our lungs"
THAT may be, so far as it relates to the
chimney, but not altogether either, for the
hicher 1t is the stronger the draft. There's a
chimney at Glasgow, the tallest in the world,
445L feet high, belonging to chemical
works factory, where the elevation is reqalr-
ed In order to keep from poisoning people
with the gases constantly escaping. 1t IS also
Of first importance where much quicksilver
or arsenic enters into the fumes. If the
chimneys were low in the former case all the
people would be salivated, and in the Latter
case arsenic poisoned, which is worse"
"Then," said the reporter, who was stand
ing by, 'stall chimneys are built for the
double purpose Of carrying smoke or other
Objectionable matter off above the houses, as
well as to afford plenty of drafts for the
furnaces"
The knowing man assented, and in few
moments the man of the pencil said, medi-
tatively: 1T must take decidedly level
headed follow to do the work those fellows
are doing up there"
THEY GET USED TO 1T.
By way O! explanation it may be stated
that the chimney under consideration was
about 1870 feet above ground, and had twenty
more to be added to it. The men at its top
laying bricks looked like dwarfs.
"Your error Is common one" sad the
knowing man in reply TO the reporter: "One
reads ever and anon about the perils OF lofty
| climbs and how imperative it is that nasons
who build high walls shall know no such
thing as dizziness, but possess nerves OF steel
That Is delusion and a snare. A contractor
or b,ss would scarcely send man aloft who
Is subject to frequent attacks Of epilepsy, but
any ordinary fellow can begin work upon a
wall, and as it ascends day by day, grow ac-
customed to it, until height Of l,COo feet
would be no more to hiEe than an ordinary
stone fence would be to you. I've no doubt
the fellows on the Tower Of Babel walked
around its upper wall as fear.essly on the day
Of confusion Of tongues as they did when they
laid Its foundation stones Men get used to
| anything. I've no doub1 they would grow
accustomed to dying n very short time, II
| they could go through the experience every
day. In any event, take 100 brick or stone
masons and ninety-nine of them can face any
sort of altitude if it is necessary"
'But one does take tumble once in
| while"
Rarely" replied another Of the party.
"We have put up fifteen tall chinneys here
in Chicago and around It, and we've had no
accident Of any kind There are accidents
when scaffolds are built too weak"
"Chicago has no such tall chimneys as that
mentioned at Glasgow or the one at Kearney.
n. j., which Is Ss5 feet high; still it has one
which, for beauty Of design and the success OF
having placed upon its top a solid iron cast
ing weighing 700 pounds, gives to it very
| enviable distinction, although it is trife
under 100 feet in height" This was said by
the knowing one, whocontinued: 'You ought
to see it. It is at the Murphy Varnish COM
| pany's factory, corner of Twenty-second and
| Butterfeld streets, and is without exception
the most handsome chimney in America, II
| NJ II the world 1t is absolutely in plumb,
| . the diminishing of the diameter In two
feet from the foundation to the topis as fault
! less as the work done by the skilled masohs OF
Greece when they shaped the marvellous col
umns which adorned the Acropolis.
| MASTERPIECE OF SKILL
"Have they done away with scaffoldings
alh = .r in chimney buidingz' asked the
| re- who observed that the nasons ah1ye
xazslng ffom ~
| "As r.:le, yes, when there,;T sssEaenotsn,s
| it being less expensive and iess dangerous
You will observe that but two masons are at
work there and one laborer, who attends to.
the mortar and bricks lifted up by the horse
below. The Murphy Varnish company's
chimney had four masons and two assistants,
but that had diameter Of eighteen feet at
the base and sixteen feet just below the cor
nice at the top which Is nearly double the
| size Of this one"
(Which Is thetallest chimney hereaboutsa"
| somebody asked
THAT of the glucose factory, which is $50
feet high. The building tos which it IS at
tached, by the way, has more bricks in 1t
| than any other structure In Chicago"
~ suppose they would build them slowly
If there were 100 nen at work upon them,
| wouldn't thayT' asked the reporter.
Not bit Of it. On the contrary, the Arc
! Light company's chimney, 123 feet high, was
! bu 1t in fourteen days, and it has not suffered
in slightest in consequence"
Much more was said upon the subject In
general before the party separated; among
other statements was the cheering one that II
a workman did but make single misstep In
ascending or descending the succession OF
| primitive ladders which lead from top to bot
| tom it would be necessary to gather up his
remains at the bottom in a basket, and that
! the labor incident to tho ntincined them
| to keep at their posts throughout the day,
spending their hour Of incoming" at the scene
| Of their toll
One will understand readily how difficult Is
the task Of maintaining perpendicular and
at the same time reducing the diameter at
the rate Of one inch in eighty inches OF ascent.
! The interior Of some Of them have in addition
| to the main lue from one to three, and some
times even four, additional ones OF smaller
size, all Of which must be constructed with
circumspection and with an eye to rigid rule
| Of measurement. Thus it is that tall CHM
| ney is not mere pile of masonry heaped up
all in hurry, one brick upon another, but
masterpiece Of skill, demanding infinitely
more art than the rearing Of the equilateral
walls Of ordinary residences But for this
altitude how much grimier and dirtier and
darker and fouler the atmosphere Of this
great city, which is daily growing into great
er importance rs manufacturing center!
In many instances touching the rain laden
clouds, they soar aloft into the undisturbed
aerial circulation, to be so diifused as to rem
der inuocuous all manner Of gases and poison
ous e1halations-Chicago Herald
Another Long Felt Want.
A writer says that few cloves dropped
into mucilage will prevent it from turning
sour. Good gracious, we don't care to eat
mucilaga What the average store mucilage
needs is something to drop into it that will