The diamond drill. (Crystal Falls, Iron County, Mich.) 1887-1996, 1891-11-14
BY A SECRET PROCESS.
HOW LEAD is TURNED INTO
MEANS OF DESTRUCTION.
The Oldest Shot Making Establishment
la America--The Traditions NJ to
the Invention OF the Meth
cd OF Manufacture.

The manufacture OF shot is an inter-
esting and instructive process. and IL
Is safe TO say that not one Of the thou
sands who use IT, from the sportsman
who ares the little leaden pellets 10
bring down his game, TO the thrifty
housewife who uses IL TO clean her bot
ties knows OF the ingenious methods
employed in turning the pig lead into
the shot OF commerce.
The oldest shot tower In America IS
In this city. says the Philadelphia
Times. in the vicinity OF Second and
Carpenter streets. il having been open
ed for business July 4. 1908. and here
shot Is manufactured at the rate OF
from twenty-five 10 thirty millions an
hour-from four hundred thousand TO
| five hundred thousand every minute
Entering the low building surround
ing the shot tower one encounters first
the weighers who are putting the
shot up into bags OF different sizes. II
will be interesting 10 examine one OF
these bags containing about twenty
pounds. The largest size drop shot
weighs twenty-five pellets to the
ounce. A bag holding twenty pounds
would therefore contain ,. 90 pellets.
while in bag OF tho smallest size
shot the number OF pellets would be
l, 061,12
Suddenly tho guide opens the door
leading TO the tower proper and there
is heard constant rushing noise as OF
/ fall Tat 10 Ia,
which there Is six feet OF water.
steady shower OF lead Is falling. which
is being dropped from the heights
above. II il impossible to look up to
see whence this shower originates. and.
after n climb OF 100 feet by means OF
a circular stairway. the secret OF shot
making is revealed.
Here n man is standing at boiler
containing the molten lead and which
is being continually fed by helpers
He is pouring the liquid metal into
! perforated pan or co,ander in 'front.' OF
him. and ii drops down in Il silyery
rain into the tank OF water beneath.
/, One thing Is essential. however. be-
fore the lead Is dropped. When the
pig lead is thoroughly heated scum
! forms on il caused by the anthony
/, and arsenic with which the pigs are
prepared. This is called dross and Is
carefully skinned of and preserved.
Some OF this dross ia placed in the
pan before tho lead is poured into It,
The lead makes its way through the
dross and escapes through the holes
IN the pan irto space, The process
looks simple enough from here but
the degrees Of heat, the amount Of
dross. the quantity OF lead have an 10
be carefu.ly considered. An incxpo.
lienced hand could do incalculable
damage here simple as the process
seems
There are several stories afioat as TO
the origin of this method OF shot maxi
ing They are both pretty stories,
and should be taken cum grano sails.
One account suys the discovery was an
accident rs was the discovery OF gray
ithtion and the steam engine. Some
time during the last century an Eng
lish mechanic named Watts who was
employed in cutting up lead for the
purpose OF moulding into shot. Is said
TO have imbibed too freely of the cup
that cheers and inebriates-got shot
in fact He dreamed OF the last thin
he would be likely to dream Of under
the circumstances namely. water
He saw il rain heavily and suddenly
the rain became lead and the ground
was covered with shot. Watts awoks
with the idea that there was soms-
thing in his dream. and is said 90
have proved the correctness OF his
idea by making an experiment in
neighbCrin tower. Tho great unrec-
oncilablc point in the Watts story IS
that no reference is anywhere made
to the essential pool OF wafer in which
the pellets are dropped to cool. Cor
tainly, II the hot lead fell upon the
hard earth the pellets would be HAT
tened out and ruined.
The other account gives the indis-
pensible water into which the hot
metal must fall II It does worry little
else. The story goes that in one az
the old-time wars. when n host was
preparing 20 storm castle, and while
the besiegers were scaling tho walls
the defenders poured hot lead uyor
|
dreds Of pieces by the fall, dropped
into the moat.
Visitors are very rarely allowed "a
thoroughly view the process OF manu-
facturc lie may look at the lead
dropping into the water without oppo
sition, but when with pardonaole
curiosity ho expresses a wish TO see
whence this shower originates the
guide shakes his head and says: ooh.
it's a powerful big climb up there.
and YOU wouldn't understand Il after
you get up. This means that you
don't 60 up even II you think your
mind could grasp this intricate prob
lem.
Ruins In Greenland.
Sir Charles Gieseckc, an eminent
British antiquarian. says that nnmor-