Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-08-12

these 1t turns out billions every week in
cold weather. Up near the top OF the
structure are furnaces for melting the sub
stance; which is poured in showers Of glob-
ules down though the shaft. They fall
INTO Well of water at the bottom out Of
which they are then scooped, to be sorted
INTO proper sizes and polished for market
Each individual shot must pass a test and
to go out.
Among the many popular decisions cur
mat shot are made spherical by falling
from a height through the air. Various
s stGrie Is are told OF the manner in which
discovered. One Of them refers the invrnS.
tion to dream. in which a shot maker be-
Ri Ib oite n, lead falling in the shape of
tributes the invention to a tinsmith Who
py accident dropped some melted metal
r rs0m the roof Of church which he was
snecda4s Whatever basis in fact these
a aneeuo,es may or may not have 1t IN GER
IAN IAN that no proof whatever exists in the
sbat c rereGre ed to- The fact is that perfect
as well as q BY ny falling two feet Just
teeI II only they could cool RAPIDLY enoucI
ton Inc e, SHOT not when they are let fall from the
when they rea als shs perfectly spherical
started In any other shape thew would not
De made round by the tumble, bu. would
water. But I ~ e when when they got to the
arop long distance. in order that thew
may nave time to cool and harden before
It's purpose is not to chilli them. but To ~,
ISrd Yielding substance for them to strike
te IL IL We're otherwise they would be nat.
feet In depth. Twelve
The Shot Tower.
Inc tower may be likened to a tall ana
very slender light house. It is 17s feet high
Inc spiral iron stairway winds from the
oo'.oin 10 the top around a central
smart. To reach the summit Is a labor,ou.
Snmp. At height of 40 feet is a floor
WIN furnace for melting the metal Thirty
rect higher is another foor and a second
n ISsdae &C. IKE the first The lower furnace is
trey DO not have to drop SO far in order to
get cool. For big shot the upper furnsce
syt gf,lnp,oyed fall of sixty feet would be
workman who tends the furnace has halS
dozen utensils which look like big sauce
e eacb' s Win long handles: The bottom Of
noies Ihere Is no other apparatus. Few
,,nanuLactures are more simple than that OF
The metal for making shot has to be very
carefully prepared. Tin is commonly found
as an alloy Of lead. but II there is 30 little
material will not produce shot; IL viii oniv
yieid oblong slugs. Pure lead will NOT ma We
s sroe; IL must have with it proportion Of
effect upon lead as lard or butter has H on
pastry; It makes it brittle. TO begin with IN.
n rns meta "a Is put into q pot with thirty
mixture is heated to a cherry red. which
signifies about 1000 degrees Fahrenheit.
Inc alloy thus prepared Is made into pigs
melted together with 1000 pounds Of pure
lead. ana thus Is obtained the material re-
CURED for the shot.
me newspapers by writer's who asserted
mat game killed with shot that were load
ca with arsenic must be poisonous. OF
course, nothing could be more absurd The
erect or this mineral on the metal is to
cause the latter when melted to form itself
naturally into globules like quicksilver
When the man at the furnace wishes to
ascertain whether his molten stuff Is heat
ed to the right temperature he throws a
spts ut ETf upon af cool T.
sembling mercury. Ali being in readiness
he skins OF from the top OF the melting
pot quantity of the impure stun that
floats on the surface. He puts a LAYER Of
this in the bottom OF one of the saucepans
When partly cool 1t is Of a putty-like con-
sistency. 1t Is very porous.
How the Operator Works.
Now. the operator holds the saucepa n
over the central shaft, which Is boxed in
with planks all the way to the bottom Of
the tower. Looking down, one can see a
faint simmer Of the water in the we'll far
below. The workman with his ladle pours
some Of his pure lead alloy into the pan
II makes its way through the porous stun
on the bottom of the utensil and forms q
little drop at every opening in the perforat-
ed bottom: The drops fall down the well.
followed o 3 by others as fast as they can form.
spherical when they leave the saucepan.
The man keeps on adding melted lead with
the shower Of metal drops is continuous.
BY the time they have fallen 100 feet or
more through the air they have cooled and
hardened SO far that the impact of the wa
does not alter their shane
In the manipulation of the lead and
saucepan a skill is required which ma
sary to have a pan with a distinct size Of
perfora tons to produce each size Of shot
demanded ,o, Holes dss, Of given size can be
by making the layer Of scum on the bot
tom Of the pan thinner or thicker, or by
altering the temperature atIr Of the lead alloy.
the shot in a given batch OF exactly the
made with a pan that has holes measur-
ing four one hundredths Of an inch in d.
ameter. Three-quarters Of them will be of
the right size, but from Is to Is per cent
will be smaller or bigger than No. T.
Making Different Sizes.
Another fact to be considered is that
brands Of lead differ. All Of them will not
make shot of the same sizes for holes of
given sizes The operator is obliged to get
over the difficulty by suitably adjusting the
temperature Of his melted metal and the
thickness of the scum at the bottom of
his pan. The best time to make shot is
when the iron sides Of the tower are W hit
ened on the interior with frost In the
sort Of weather which now prevails the
leaden drops do not cool fast enough, 90
that they are fattened when they striks
the water below. Not long ago a visitor
came to see how shot were made at the
tower described. Showers of the little
globules were falling down the shaft.
Standing near the bottom he thrust his
hand out to feel the leaden rain. The fore
man grabbed his arm quickly enough to
Dropping from such q height the shot
| would have quickly riddled his hand.
From the bottom of the well endless
chains of little buckets dip up the new
| made shot and carry them to a floor
above, where they are poured upon an in
clined table of heated iron. AS they roll
across this table they are dried by the
| into great bins. There they remain until
they are ready to pass through certain
| further processes which are required to
prepare them for market. On coming out
of the bins they go into a revolving cylin-
| der covered with wire cloth. Friction In
this contrivance removes from them all
| corrosion and dirt. Then they are convey
ed by machinery to series Of wide boards
nged like steps, the difference in ele-
walton between each two being slight. The
first and highest board is slanted SUM-
GENTLY to set the shot rolling to the end
Of the steps. The other boards are hori-
Zontal.
Testing the Shot.
Now, between each two of the step-like
boards there is a space as wide as three or
fOl1r hot