The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1892-11-26
MESSENGERS OF DEATH
|PRocEss OF CONVERTING
ROUGH LEAD INTO SHOT.



A 44-caliber bullet Is one that
measures 44-10O OF an inch In diane
| or the bit OF lead being perfectly
sound. says the New York World. 1t
hkes so OF tho bullets to weigh q
pound avoirdupoia The smallest
bird shot is known as finc dust" and
| Il takes 172. 544 OF them 70 weigh .
pound The SHOEMAKER viii tell you
yravely that fine dust" measures B.
100 OF an inch in diameter is per-
.ectly round and has passed through
exactly the samo processes that have
brought the smooth little 44-caliber
messenger OF death to killing perfec-
lion.
When you were on vacation up at
The farm perhaps you saw farmers
boy on tho kitchen door-sill making
bullets in hand mould from lead
that he had melted in. crucibles about
as big as tablespoon on the kitchen
DIRE but that isn't the way 44-caliber
shot is generally made. That's only
the boys way.
There is another way by which one
man can turn out something like four
tons OF such bullets in working day.
and II you have influence you may
gain permission to watch tho shot
dropper sift sieve OF millions OF the
finest dust" bird shot in few hours
Tho tower is 10 feet wide at the
foot 1t is II feet wide at the top.
Two hundred feet from the ground
tho elevator stopped. the four pas
scngers alighted on a platform
surrounding u furnace. There was
no fire in the furnace. but tho
temperature vas something moro
than 100 degrees tho heat arising
from redhot furnace hundred feet
further down.
\ This was one OF three similar fur.
nacca each provided with a melting
pot In which four tons OF lead might be
reduced to the consistency OF hot
maple strip. when u would run
through an iron tube or spout into a
giart colander 10 be strained into a
receptacle OF eco feet below. reaching
tho latter rs rough. unpublished
shot but cold enough to retain its
shape.
The least observant person has
hardly failed 10 notice that liquid
falling invariably takes on g;obular
shape whether 1t be water molasses
or medicine. Whether it comes in
drops from the mouth OF bottle or
in torrents from a storm clcud-it
falls In little globules
So with molten lead. It comes
through the holes 10 the giant colan-
der and falling assumes the 2lobular
shape. 1t grows cold and hardcns as
it falls too and lands 200 feet below.
tough and hard shot
The smaller the globule OF molten
lead tho less the distance required to
cool it and harden it and the visitors
10 the latham u Bros, tower found
Charlie Petersen dropped No. s shot
which Is 9-100ths OF an inch in diamet-
ter and Az to the ounce from a
height OF about 100 feet
1t was a pretty. glistening shower
that came through the 200 tiny holes
In his colander. but the constant
shower would make heap OF several
thousand pounds on tho ground below
by nightfall.
The queer little elevator that
hoisted the visitor up to this floor
brought up for the days work truck
load OF pigs OF lead. each weighing
eighty pounds and another truck
load OF .temperer. which consists
OF lead pigs into which has been
mixed certain percentage Of arsenic
which has tendency to harden the
load when 1t 10 necessary.
Going floor below. one found that
q scoop elevator was bringing the
newly dropped shot up again to be
dried on moving disk Of polished
steel kept hot by steam-pipes under
meath.
About the edge OF the revolving
disk was little trough, Its edge tnDt
below the level Of the disk. 1t was
two inches wide and beyond it was q
wider and larger trough.
Superintendent Brooks explained
that perfectly round shot would roll
down the slight incline Of the disc
with speed enough to clear the FIRST
little narrow trough and drop into
the wider trough beyond. while i'm
perfect shot were always '.lazy" and
would drop into the narrow ditch
Chutes from the dryers carried the
perfect shot to the first polisher on
the floor below. The polisher Is q
steel cylinder in which the shot Is
tumbled about and at last tumbled
out upon an inclined table. down
which IL rolls 70 leap at the end.
over lazy ditch" or into IL
II It goes over It falls into another
chute that takes II to the screening
boarda to pass through another nat
ural selection" process and then into
tho seive room where II must pass
through ten selves 70 come out ~
last as perfect In Its roundness 40
though It were q thousand times as
large. as smooth AZ smooth can be as
shining a. q star and OF precisely the
same size rs each Of its fellows in tho
same lot
It most important that shot be alb
solutely round and we'll polished and
that there should be only one size in a
charge For larger shot fly faster
shor all ouoa and - Nha rhar0a t,o