The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-07-09
u1r HOMESTEAD PLANT.
1u,atts Made at This Particular Steel
Works-Sketch OF Mr.. Frick.
. ILs PHILADELPHIA Press

from the PHILADELPHIA Press
r,,,,rsUrAp, July 6.-The Homestead
-, liant differs considerably in its produc-
nd method of work from the other
W. iron and steel works. There are
" last furnaces here, although the firm
" us the Lucy furnaces in Pittsburg This
liant produces plates o. various character,
Pliar armor, etc., beams and various
gnnas Of structural material. The build
sunP0 are all constructed of soft fire.
isoL rooted and trussed with steel The
Using apparatus OF the plant consists of
p,,o,ar0us hydraulic cranes, some OF which
III raise and deposit anywhere within the
w. If the circle which 1t describes weight
o. 990 tons-eQual to eight carloads. The
toss,,ra in the water chambers OF these
P..ones is 800 pounds to the square inch One
.aon handles the largest with the same ease
IIa+ an engineman draws the throttle of his
Zine. The amount Of water required to
onsrete these and other appliances Ia the
' U5II feed the boiler, ETC.. is 100000 gal
Ions per day.
ut The process of making armor plate-and
this plaut is now, with additions recently
completed, the largest in the worlds per-
rams the most interesting process. Furnaces
Ln6vn as open hearth are used to melt aud
arsnare the metal in this work. When the
ti,eaI IL ready, the open hearth furnaces
ore tanned, and streams of molten steel run
into the mold, and the ingot is made. The
geght varies from twenty TO one hundred
Tons. II is then stripped. taken from the
mold while still hot and transferred on a
sreciaI car to the press shop. This car has
a caDacity Of 140 tons, five times that of
tbe average freight ear. AT the press shop
tyolarge cranes that could lift an ordinary
borse take this mountain OF metal and
mt it in q furnace where it is heated. When
the ingot is In proper condition it is lifted
from the furnace, placed on the big car,
and is carried to the armor rolling mill. It
wa mill so ponderous that mere figures are
powerless to convey full appreciation Of
It's size A cubic foot Of steel weighs over
Zoo pounds In an ingot weighing 80 tons
there are 100 cubic feet, and 200 cubic feet
in a 5O-ton ingot These great rolls f1atten
and widen the iHRot until it has reached the
desired size. 1t is then taken again to the
nress shop, where any rough or ragged ends
are cut off by a hydraulic press of 2 800
tons capacity. 1t will shear plate of steel
six inches or a foot thick as quickly as
hungry tramp will cut tenderloin steak.
The plate is then placed in the furnace to
be tempered When that process is COM
peted it is removed and placed in a bath,
containing 100, 600 gallons Of oil, where it is
allowed to cool. After cooling it is again
put 10 the furnace and brought to a red
heat called annealing, thence it Is placed in
an annealng pit and covered with ashes
and sawdust aud allowed to remain twelve
or thirteen days. At the end of that time
the plate, over which SO much time and
hard work has already been spent, ia car
red to the great armor plate machine shop,
a vast building larger than machinery hall
at the Pittsburg exposition building Here
is collection of the most gigantic planners,
drills, presses, saws, lathes and tools that
was ever made. Some Of the planning ma
chimes weigh 200 tons.
PERFECT SYSTEM IN THE WORKS.
Throughout the entire plant the most
perfect system prevails. The yards are
gridironed with railroad tracks to facilitate
the transportation OF raw or finished ma
terial, or material in process OF completion.
Nineteen locomotives of all sizes are required
to handle the traffic. The plant has at the
most convenient point shops for repairing
and turning rolls, in which there are ten
lathes; machine shops in which are en-
ployed thirty machinists and their helpers.
The blacksmith shop, with FORCES, steam
hammers, etc., beep twenty-five men busy.
Repairs to gas and steam and water pipes,
and required connections, demands the
constant employment of dozen men. There
are carpenters, timers, pattern makers and
mechanics Of every branch employed.
When it is realized that this plant pro
duees so many kinds and shapes of material
it is easily understood that the utmost care
is require on the part of management, and
that much skilled labor is required. The
sixteen open-hearth furnaces require thirty
two skilled meters, one for each furnace
for each shift. 1t must not be forgotten
that this mill never stops, excepta few hours
on Sunday. The eight rolling mills require
sixteen skilled rollers, and 30 on. The en-
tire plant is lighted with electricity. The
system comprise 3, $50 arc and Z, 200 incandes
cent lights. Au important use to be made
OF electricity is to replace numerous small
engines with electric appliances Contriv-
ances called buggies, that transfer tngots
blets, or slabs to and from heating fur
naces are operated by engines. Electricity
will give the engines used'in this and severa
other capacities a long rest.
The office building Of the company is a
large Gothic brick and stone structure
standing on an eminence overlooking the
entire plant Here are the business quarters
Of Supt. Potter and his assistants
draughtsmen and engineers, the large &C.
counting and other offices.
Further removed from the mill are eight
handsome residences built for the operative
managers, and handsome club house fol-
the accommodation OF guests ana officers
The firm has also erected forty other house:
for their better class workmen. The works
are the life Of the town which has grown tc
its present size from a small village few
years ago.
SKETCH OF MR.. FRICK
Among the interesting figures In the
present conflict is H. G. Prick, the manager.
His name is on every lip here and his story
is rather romantic. He Is chairman of the
Carnegie Steel Company, the new corpora
ton, which is a consolidation Of all the Car
negie industries, and whose corporate ex-
istence commenced July l, is young-4z
years of age-is feet 6 inches in hight, has
clear, dark blue eyes; wears a full sandy
beard. He is stocky in build, weighs about
l65 pounds and has constitution like the
Rrmor plate made in his Homestead mills.
Twenty years ago this man had lesi
money than any one of hundred people
who work in his mills. He was born up IL
Westmoreland county, near place nov
called Broadford, in the heart of the famous
Connellsville coke region He knows what
1t Is to work for living. Many a sack Of
grain he has carried from wagon into hi
grandfather's grist mill. He began to make
coke in few ovens about 1871. He wa
shrewd aud far-seeing. He prospered anC
In a few years was the coke king Of the Con
nellsville coke region. In 1882, realizing
how much coke meant to the manufacturer
OF iron, Andrew Carnegie bought an inter
est in Mr.. Tricks business and about fivt
Years ago Mr.. Prick became chairman o
Carnegie Bros e. Co and is TO-DAY IL