Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-11-08

DY steam, Will dry them IN one night. From
the drying floor the next day they are
changed to the kilns, where they remain
from to II days for burning and cooling.
inese kllns are commodious enough to hold
from 15O, 900 to 800, 900 brick at a time.
Here is a novel way to demonstrate the
growth of Pittsburg: Twenty years ago the
factories which made brick BY hand turned
out from $500 to 5000 per day. these
were sun baked. The brick maker was
placed under the same restrictions that na-
ture imposes upon the photographer-viz,
If there was good sunlight his brick would
bake comparatively soon; if the weather
was cloudy, four, five or six days might he
have to wait for his bricks to dry.
Too Slow for Pittsburg.
eff the brickmakers of 20 years ago were
called upon to-day to supply Pittsburg with
brick they could not fill the demand" said
tine foreman of one of the modern brick
yards to me. "By their wooden molds and
primitive apparatus they could not use any
thing else than genuine clay, nor could the
time wasted in waiting for the sun to bake
the brick be tolerated in this busy city.
Up the Hudson river. however, and in
other parts of the country the hand pro-
cessive is still used.'
Possibly the brickmaker of 20 years ago
tion of turning shale rook into bricks, and
certainly he did not have heavy enough
machinery to do it with. For two reasons
shale has become popular brick material
here: First, because there arose q pressing
need for more room to build homes upon,
and the consequent removal of such hillocks
as have described; second, because build
ing increased with such rapidity as to make
1t serious question how to get enough
clay within easy distance from building op-
eratlons to make all the bricks. required
with reasonable price. Being now able to
use this hard substance the modern brick
makers need not go without radius of four
miles of the Court House for many years
yet because of scarcity.
Different Kinds of Brick.
There is some variety in brick. Bath
brick is made at Bridgwater, England, of a
fine silicious sand found in the river Parret
and used for polishing metallic utensils.
Bristol brick is the name given this brick,
In the United States. Concave bricks are
those used in making arches or curves.
Dutch bricks are those of dirty, brim-
stone color used in floors of stable yards
The feather-edged brick is of q prismatic
vaults, arches, etc. The Flanders brick is
3 soft brick used for cleaning knives and
cutlery and but little known in the United
States. The Flemish brick is a species of
hard, yellow brick useful in paving. Float
ing bricks are made of a light, silicious
Earth called fossil meal, remarkable for
ioating on water and for their infusibility
md as non-conductors of heat. They were
made by the ancients, and the process
was redisco 7ered in Italy in 1881. Pow
Ter magazines have been made of
hem e1perimentally with success.
Gagged bricks are made in the |
shape of q wedge, to conform to the radius
If the soft of an arch. Hollow brick are
made with perforations for heating or for
or to prevent moisture from
wall. The stone brick is a |
emarkably hard article made at Meath, in |
Wales, which possesses great powers of re-
listing heat. Besides all these there are the |
beautiful enameled brick, the handsome
pressed brick and the pretty salmon brick,
veil known in American architecture.
And, now, after all this explanation, this |
list would be incomplete unless there be |
dded to it the words: Crock bricks, made |
It Pittsburg, ETC." It conveys sufficient |
dea of strength aud skill of workmanship |
o merit the adoption of Fletcher's lines as |
sort of trade mark, viz:
'rick me into that wall there for chimney
piece,
md say that I was one O. the Caesars, done
by the seal cutter.
7. f. SToFruT