The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1894-10-30
SCENES Ma sHoT-TowER-
Prom the New YOrA -4vertGSer.
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Dd-4ClS- 4-C EOCS N1~t Si-N
discovery was made long time ago by
the garrison of an ancient castle who
found 1t necessary TO place grating a.
ian embrasure in the wall. While pour
ing the lead into the holes which held
the grating fast to the stone work some
OF the metal escaped and fell into the
water OF the moat beneath The next
day, while some OF the guards were
Walking along the Eloat, they noticed
the bright and shining objects at the
/ bottom. Fishing them out OF the water
ihey We're surprised TO find that the
drops of lead had been turned to bull
lets Where the castle was or the
name of the discoverer of this method
O. shot-making remains in obscurity.
There are two large establishments
IN New York where shot Is manufac-
tured, not few ct q time, but where
tons and tons OF pig lead are turned
into the little balls Of lead which work
such havoc among the game OF plain
and woodland and upon the battlefield.
These queer factories are known as
shot towers, and resemble great, tail
chimneys, rising one hundred and fifty
to two hundred feet in air. The only
difference one can see from the outside
Is the small windows with which the
wall is dotted up to the top, which is
surmounted by a conical-shaped cap not
al all like the coping stone of factory
chimney. All day long from the sum-
nit OF this cap there issues a tiny
stream of smoke, which makes il re-
semble the crater of some dormant vol
cano. On entering the structure one
sees on every side huge piles of pig
lead. In one corner is small but
powerful elevator OF the simplest con-
struction, for it is just two platforms.
one SIX feet above the other. and about
four by two feet in measurement.
Standing on one of the platforms, and
taking hold of the cable to keep from
knocking against the grimy' brick
walls, the elevator starts. Ii is like
entering a coal mine. only one asceuds
instead Of descending. Presently there
is an opening in the wall, and one sees
what appears to be shower descend
ing through the hole in the center of
the tower. So il is-a shower OF shot
falling from height of one hundred
and fifty feet into the water below.
All the way up al each landing one can
look at the steady dOwnpour. When
the landing at which the men are at
work is reached il presents novel
sight.
To enc side there is the furnace with
the great melting pot from which the
melted lead is carried down by pipe
to an iron coIander which is fitted in
framework just over the center of the
drop hole. The holes in this colander
vary from $50 to 1850 of an inch in
diameter. A peculiar fact is that the
shot dropped from colander will not
pass through the hole in it. as the shot
swell when cooling. If lead alone were
used to make the shot the pieces fall
ing in the water would not be round,
but would take an elongated shape,
something like a grain of oats. Arsenic
is therefore mixed with the lead, and
the chemical properties are such that
the metal tai es true globule form.
At the melting platform there are but
two men at work. One attends to the
dropping colander and sees to il that
the colander is always kept filed with
the liquid metal. He does this by turn
ing valve on the pipe which carries
the metal from the melting pot He
also is constantly employed in skim
ming the dross from the surface of the
mass in the colander. Beside him is a
wheel around which runs an endless
wire to which a small cup is attached
This cup runs down into the water into
which the shot is continually dropping.
When the operator wishes a sample he
sends the cup down and it brings up
some of the shot. This is so he can tell
how the metal is running. The other
man looks after the furnace and keeps /
putting the pigs of lead and arsenical /
metal into the melting pot.
The larger sizes of shot are dropped !
from the greatest height, because il |
takes the larger mass of metal longer /
to cool before entering the water than /
it does a small amount. The well of I
water at the bottom of the drop hole is /
bubbling and seething like the water 4
under the great falls of Niagara. This I
well would soon become filed were it !
not that an endless chain 10 which are
attached small cups are dipping the /
shot out all the time, depositing it on 1
4 belt of webbing upon which il dries .
OF and passes to the machine which /
the imperfectly formed from /
the perfect shot This apparatus is a
series OF inclined boards over which /
the shot roll The perfect shot will
roll straight down the center OF the
board, while the imperfect run of to
one side. At the bottom OF the board
there is a little hurdle. Perfect shot
will jump this. but the imperfect fall
into receptacles to one side. The little
balls OF lead then pass 20 the sorting
machine, which IS 4 series Of meta!
barrel sleeves, each barrel having the
size hole for the different sizes Of shot.
From here they pass TO the polishing
machine. . tumb bling barrel in which
is & quantity of plumbago. This rounds
the shot off and turns them out smooth
and glossy. In the packing room there
is an automatic machine which weighs |
cut twenty-five pounds OF shot and de-
posts It n canvas bags, which the
operator passes under an upright sew
iDr machine. and they are then ready
fer shipment
Buclsshot cannot be made by drop
ping, but have TO be nodded by haDd.
They are made about one hundred az
time, after which they pass through
the same process as the smaller sizes
The dropping shot n the tower iool.s
more like a stream from shower bath
than anything else. bu; !; would prove
a very bad one for a boy or man Il
stand under. The imperfect shot aod