San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1894-04-26
IT is FED WITH HARD ROCK
AND REQUIRES TEN TONS OF FOOD
PER HOUR.
A Monster Feeder Now Upon the
City's Hands, but Which will
Work for Its Board Faithfully
and With Tireless Energy and
Strength.


was given a close inspection of the new
city rock erusher, by Mr.. L. II. Mickle-
john, the new superintendent OF public
works, who carried the scribe out to the
gravel pits in his buggy and introduced
Mr.. c. M. Avery, the Chicago expert, who
has been engaged few days in getting
the machine in thorough working order.
Mr.. Avery began explaining the work
ing of the machine by putting heavy
solid boulder of flint into the jaws under
the iron hopper and having the heavy fly
wheels turned few times by some
of the workmen. Then came quick
crush of the jaws and the boulder, now
crushed into small fragments, fell down
into the receiver. Mr.. Avery said: This
machine is made of heavy cast iron, all
excep the jaws, which are made Of the
hardest cast ste ell that can be made. They
are fiuted. as you see, and by drawing the
gauge pin out, or pushing IL in YOU can
get any size pieces of rock. from 213 inches
in diameter down to a powder. The crush
ing strength of these jaws, when the fly
wheels revnlve at their regular speed,
$50 revolutions per minute, is not
known. However, they will crush
everything, even to a solid piece of
cast iron, just as easy as an egg shell. The
Jaws give $50 blows per minute, and this
requires ten horse power. They are
interchangeable, for wear, and are cheap
ly repaired. The engine is capable of 10
horse power, however, and requires only
SEQ gallons of water per day, or even less,
as this includes water for the men and
teams employed in hauling the gravel.
About $50 pounds of coal per day will feed
IL.
THE gravel is first miRed, then hauled
to the hopper, either in carts or wheeled
scrapers. and is dumped In, dirt and all,
and crushed. Failing into the separator,
which is made to select the bits of rock
out, and the clean gravel and
rock is then carried up chain
elevator into the receiving bin, where it
is deposited into separate compartments
according to size. 1t is loaded, when re-
quired, by carts or tram cars passing I'M
der the bin, when each load will be drop
ped into the receiving vehicle ty opening
valve. This bin is made Of heavy Sx8
timber and will have a capacity of 100
cubic yards. This is a tremendous
weight, but the bin can stand it, as it is
all down pull, received by the fOunda-
tions.
THE machine has capacity for crush
ing 10 tons per hour or 100 tons per day.
We reckon one ton to make something
over one cubic yard Of rock, or about a
common load for a cart In Chicago with
big horses, we call yard and hal I a
load. One cubic yard will cover three
square yards surface to a thickness of
~ inches. A cubic yard will weigh about
2 400 pounds.
"The2three sizes of rock generally used
for street paving makes uniform, hard
road, that will not wear out. The largest
pieces make the foundation, the next
size makes the cushion and the finest is
put on as top dressing, and the whole
being cemented will give you a smooth
floor that will not work into holes. This
can not be done with large and small
pieces laid prOmiscuOusly as has teen done
mere. This can not pack and the
small stuff will Work off and
expose the large rocks and thus leave
holes or hume s that are difficult to repair,
| and ugly to look at. We can crush rock
al a cost of 10 cents per cubic yard, from
the time it is mined until it is put in the
| bin and the cost of handling is then much
cheaper. You can get in bulk much
more out of a solid cubic yard by crush
| ing and the material will go further.
I'VE do not claim" continued Mr.. Av-
cry, that this machine will save labor or
do away with many wOrkmen. That is
not the object, but we do claim that bet
ter service can be got with it and better
| streets can he built.
The machine is not a large or cumber-
| some affair, as it appeared TO the report
| er, and is made portable, in order to move
| 1t at any time, from place TO place. 1t can
| be moved over to the soft rock quarries
| and crush the rock to powder for use I'M
| der block paving, when necessary.
How the gravel will be moved away
after it has been crushed is a problem to
| be solved by the city council at an early
date. The mayor is considering the
| feasibility of running tram-caI
line from the street railway track
| at the East End terminus of Commerce
| street and using the railway track for the
| remainder of the distance to the city
Either this way, or by hauling it in carts
is the means to be considered. Water fol
the engine, men and teams, will be hauled
in barrels to the gravel pit. The machine
will be regularly al work next week.