Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1889-07-28
THE BURTON CAR WORKS.
Brief Resume OF the Plant - What has
Been and Is Being Done-Ihe
Outlook Ahead.

Cars of two kinds are made here. Cattle
cars arranged so the stock can be fed ano
watered in the cars, and palace horse cars,
which have aside from this great conven-
| fence, many other excellent devices to in
sure the safe, speedy and comfortable car
riage of horses. While at present only
| two kinds of cars are made the company
has determined to make also full equip
ment of freight cars soon. The very best
material is used, air brakes are put on all
cars, and Oh some Of the horse cars the best
paper wheels are placed. The company
works on the plan Of the famous Pullman
| system-owning all the cars but charging
for the use of them.
The Burton Stock Car company was or
ganiZed several years ago. but their cars
were made at several different railroad
shops on contracts. When they decided
| to manufacture for themselves, Kansas
City was the location chosen for their es-
tablishment. But Wichita, hearing OF
| this. with the enterprise that has made
her the metropolis of the state, succeeded
in getting the works" here.
Four miles north of Douglas avenue the
four hundred dwellings of this addition
| to the city can be seen. East and north Of
the CENTER visible for miles around, are
the buildings of the Burton car works.
Looking upon the establishment as a
whole we see five large brick buildings.
two of them 60x250 feet each and three
SOx250 feet each and seven wooden ones.
There is the mill, the setting up shop, the
blacksmithing department, the machine
shop, the foundry, the paint shop and dry
house. the core room, the brass foundry,
the store room, the tin shop, the Office and
the barns.
In pleasant room in the Office can be
found the general superintendent, Mr.. j.
T. Chamberlain. A book keeper, a stem.
ographer. a draughtsman and a time
keeper are at work in the three other
rooms. Obtaining a pass from the office,
we are permitted to take closer view OF
the works.
A great deal of interest can be learned
outside in the yard. Captain Wider re-
ceives all freight coming to the works and
keeps account Of all cars going out. From
his books we learn that of iron, in addition
to draw heads, springs, etc. that came IN
the company's own cars; and in addition
to the castings, which are put in the yard
by teams from the city; there have come
since May Is, 1889, for the car shops five
car loads of aXles, thirty car loads OF
wheels and fifty-fve car loads of other
iron. Lumber of all sorts and sizes we see
in the yard; white pine from Michigan,
oak from Arkansas, hard pine from
Texas and walnut from an
other state. Look at those timbers,
5x9 inches and some of them over fifty feet
long. They are for siils for the palace
horse cars. The captain tells us that April
20, 1883, the first car load of lumber came;
that in all 250 car loads have been received
and that there is about l12 car loads in the
yard now. The coal bill is no small item
here. Besides the shavings and blocks
| used in making steam it has taken seventy
car loads of coal since March, 1888. AS we
close our talk with Mr.. Wider he remarks
that few know how many cars come and
go from the yard. TO satisfy our curiosity
he tells US from the record that besides the
$50 cars now on the three and one-half
miles of track here, since year ago 100
new cars have been made and sent out 1863
cars have been repaired and sent away and
457 freight cars have been emptied and re-
turned. Twenty-Five cars is a good aver
age tor a freight train. Ac-
cording to these figures there have
come to the shops in little over a
year about twenty such trains of cars to be
repaired and eighteen trains loaded with
iron, coal, lumber and sundries. There
have gone out from the works four trains
of new cars. fifteen trains of repaired cars
and eighteen trains of empties.
In the yard Captain Wider has to help
him his assistant, Mr.. Jodon, and Messrs.
II. E. Burke, c. Ii. Warren, j. Thompson,
Il. Davis, w Flynn, c. j. Means, Jamer-
son, Thomas Moore, W. n. Brewer, L. L.
Drake, J. f. Meyer and l.. j. Davis.
Let us now enter this northwest brick
building which contains the machine shop
| in one end and the blacksmith shop in the
other. Mr.. John Kraft has had charge OF
the smith part ever since work was begun.
Fifteen FORCES are now used, and one could
easily spend half day going from fire
to fire watching the men pound the red
iron into coupling pins and links, truss
rods, transom bars, platform ratings
springs, axle guards, brake hangers, foot
ratings, Miller draw bars, buffers. There
are some powerful machines to be seen
here too. Double shears that cut iron one
and one-fourth inches thick by eight
inches wide. The same machine has q
powerful punch that can make 500 holes
in an hour The Bradley belt hammer is
more interesting; it can give blow of less
than pound or smash down on piece OF
iron with blow of $40 pounds. a great
variety of dies are used. And furnace is
at hand to heat large iron. A bolt header
is seen IN another place that makes many
sizes of bolt heads in a short time
But the chief machine of this place
is the 'bulldozer." 1t is used fol
bending iron to all sorts OF
shapes. 4 big furnace is near to soften
the iron, about fifty dies are used to shape
it. The "buldozer' is said to have al
least twenty-ton power. In the black
smith shop the following men work under
Mr.. John Krapf: Messrs. H. C. and J. NJ
Barnett, N. Slater, l. p. Beverlin, ]. D.
Spellman, T. F. Evans, J. W. Pike, w. F
Mailman. J. T. Elliott, R. c. McMullen
| A. f. Hoge, J. ID. Laudermilk, JOSEPH
Scripiack, NJ. c. Jackson, |. Fordyce
Adam Soule, j. w. O'Brien, w. Schultz
| Nat Brannan, VIM. Smith, Louis Ste
! phens. p. NJ Digger, Chas. Fennel, Geo
| Smith, Chas. Brewer and '. .. Bateman
FAREWELL To JOHN A. CONWAY.
! Mr.. John A Conway, who for two year:
! has superintended the gas plant ant
| Thompson-Houston electric light plant
| leaves this morning for Nicksburg, Miss.
where he takes position as cashier in {
bank. He was given farewell at the
! Carey last evening by few OF his friends
| There were present c. A. Walker. II. w
| Holt. Edward Vail, Robert Darney, John S