The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1894-11-05
VITRIFIED Brick.
It's Manufacture in Trenton
How Hard Pavements Are
Produced.
Special to the Jerseu City Nears.

TRENTON, Nov. 5, 1S94.-A few months
ago the ~Oliphant-Pope Company was in
eorporated with a capital stock of $10O,O 900
a good portion of which has been paid
in, for the manufacture of vitrified
brick for paving urposes The incor-
porators were Councilman Richard c.
Oliphant, Charles A. Pope and Alexander
C. Oliphant.
Since then, Councilman Oliphant and
Mr.. Pope have been giving their atten-
ton to the selection of a site, construc-
ton of the necessary buildings and other
preparations for what is, to this city, a
new and important industry, since vitri-
fed brick has come into such general
use for street paving purposes. This
week the machinery has been put in
operation, and bricks are being pressed
at the rate of 60 a minute. The drier
and kilns have not been used yet,so that
the trial of the whole plant has not been
completed, but so far as appears now
the company will soon be turning out an
excellent quality of brick.
THE WORKS.
The works are situated near Mulberry
street, in the rear of the Clark Brothers
Company.works, and nave the advantage
of sidings from both railroads and close
proximity to the canal. The company
counts or its excellent shipping facllltles
and it's modern machinery IN a great
older concerns, which are all at a dis
lance, the nearest being In Northern
Pennsylvania. and West Virginia.
The power needed is supplied by a 1lne
ments for handling the different kinds or
clay from the cars to the mixing troughs
are not completed yet, as the
desired to get to making bricks as soon
and screen, which is to be used In grind
ing up shale and refuse to use with the
clay, are not in order either, as the use
of these ingredients is not necessary.
The quality of the bricks depends in a
great measure on the use of the right
clays and the proper proportion OF each.
POWERFUL MACHINERY
The machinery used is very powerful.
though apparently simple. The process
throu ghout is very much like that en-
ployed in the manufacture OF ordinary
brick, the machinery used peing OF me
sticky, Shiny looking clay that can
scarcely be handled, to the finished brick
is a wonderful one. The first building
chine, the first to work UP and thor
oughly mix the clay and the second to
complete the operation and press. 1t into
shape. A pressure of ninety tons is used.
llG Ctdy SOIllCS OlN I'll btC Ao9S iAeNN
one long brick, which is cut off the
proper lengths by an ingenious range
ment, at the rate Of one a second;
Boys stand in waiting and load the
bricks on a neat car holding 800 bricks
and it is run on tracks to the drier,
which holds 55 cars. or 5000 bricks. 1T
takes 112 cars to run the works and the
arrangement of tracks for running them
is very complete. A press for REFRESHING
the bricks is provided, to be used when
desired.
The drier is a patent one and is to dry
its contents every uwenty-four hours.
The boilers furnish steam through 5000
feet of steam pipe and a natural draft
through them from underneath and up
out of two tall stacks, dries the bricks.
KILN FOR BURNING BRICKS.
There are four kilns for burning the
bricks, of the down-draft pattern. They
are unusually large, rs feet in diameter,
and the domes of them were made at
great expense of a special kind of brick.
Much care is required in the firing. Be
sides the paving brick, it is probable that
manufactured. 1t. will take from forty
to fifty hands to run the works at their
full capacity.
The difference in the manufacture of
ing bricks easily broken and quickly
wearing under ordinary foot travel, pro-
duced bricks so hard that they do not
wear perceptibly under the heaviest
wagon traffic, is probably not generally
known.
The chief difference is in the quality
of the clay. To make vitrified brick it
is necessary for the clay to contain con-
heat the iron melts n causes the vitri-
flying. The firing of the kiln at so great
a heat as to produce the vitrifying pro-
cess, is the second great difference. The
third Is to put a great pressure on the
clay, making. it much denser than the
ordinary brick.