Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1891-06-04
Our Tin Plate Productl
FULLY AS GOOD as THAT OF EURO
PEAN MANUFACTURE.
Philadelphia Press.

Gently 10 cast aspeTsions on tho tin plate
industries of the country and Philadel-
phla in particular, which have been
started everywhere as a result of the
additional duty fixed by the Mckinley
bill on imported roofing tin. The sallies
have been directly mainly against the
y. & G.. Taylor Company of this city,
which began TO manufacture tin plate in
a mill at Front and Laurel Streets some
weeks ago.
1t is claimed upon an alleged inves'i-
CATION that the n & G. Taylor Co. did
not have any tin plate works, nor could
the firm furnish any American tin plate.
A further assertion was made that the
company was making boasts of turning
out as good tin plates as could be pur-
chased across the water, in order to
bring trade for their imported material.
and also correspondence which they
could not otherwise procure.
The Press, yesterday, took occasion
to investigate these reports. A visit
was made to the works, at Front and
Laurel Streets. A gang of workers
were seen busilY engaged in the manu-
facture of tin plate and the thoughts of
probable illusion were speedily dis
PEELED The factory is long, low brick
building. Along the east side of the
big open room were piles of black sheet
iron. Adjacent to them were other piles
of shining tin plates in boxes and ready
for packing. At the southern end of
the building was huge brick furnace
with six fires. Above the furnace was
large iron protector, placed there TO
carry off the fumes of the palm oil.
Near by was the machinery used for
stamping the sheets. Along the west
wall was the ''pic6ling" paraphernalia.
Two hours of investigation produced
conviction beyond all doubt that tin
plate, as fine as any of European make,
was certainly being manufactured. The
brand of tin that the company is max
ing is the Taylor "Old Style brand, and
the impression stamped on every sheet
shows the brand. thickness, trade mark
and name (R & g Taylor Co, Phila.)
A fellow seized black iron plate
from a pile nesting against an iron
support These plates are made from
Siemens-Martin soft steel. The prepa-
ration of these black, glistening sheets
for tin plate manufacture is interesting.
They are picked and annealed; then
they are cold rolled, re .annealed and
perfectly square This makes the
sheets soft and pliable. Next they are
packed in boxes so that the edges may
not be injured
The burly fellow with one of these
finely prepared iron sheets dexterously
handed it to the man at the picking
vat. The vat is large wooden trough
filled with water Diluted with a strong
solution of sulphuric acid. The sheet is
dipped into the vat several times and
then goes to the man at the water vat.
There it is deposited several moments.
The sheet next goes to the scorer who
skilfully scrubs it with sand and passes
it TO an auburn bearded man who de-
posite it into another vat of water and
recleans it.
Now the sheet iron is ready to don its
coat OF tin. 1t is tossed over TO the
worker at the furnace vat, filled with
pure palm oil. He immersed it several
times. The palm oil renders the iron
adhesive to the thinning material 1t
is rather expensive mode of manufac-
ture but skilled makers know that the
best tin plate can be made in this way.
The oily sheet is next tossed to the met
al vat. The metal is almost all tin and
down into the Sizing fluid the sheet is
deposited. 1t becomes silyer-coated
after several immersions ard then hand
ed to a muscular individual who gives
it number of additional baths in a vat
of metal. The sheet is thoroughly
washed with brush of hemp saturated
with palm oil.
Next it is passed to an employee, who
is waiting to deposit it into vat of
metal, which consists of mixture of
tin and lead. Now the sheet is beaut-
iful tin roofing plate. But the finishing
touches have to be made Ii is dipped
into palm oil pot. The cleaners
take 1t. 1t is rubbed in saw dust first
then IN bran, and finally polished on
table by sheepskin. All traces of oil
thus are removed carefully from the
surface. The tin plate now goes under
an examination. The "sorter" exam
ines every inch of the surface to find
whether there are any imperfections.