The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1895-08-06
news OF OUR INDUSTRIES
Happenings Of Interest to tho Staple
Trades and Particularly to tho Trade
in Iron, Steel and Anthracite Coal.

The American Tinplate company. FL
wood. Ind, recently started up six ad-
dltional mills, making In all sixteen
that are active. The plant Is now four
times as large as when 1t started In
1892. and employs 1000 men.
There Is a material increase in the
demand for car equipment. This Is the
cause Of an advance In bar iron of 81
per ton In the west, and 1-10 Of cent
per pound In the east. Railroad shops
all over the country are resuming full
time.-Philadelphia Times.
The work of rebuilding the Susque-
hanna Rolling mill, ut Columbia, Pa.
which was recently destroyed by fire.
has been commenced. The new struc-
ture will be entirely Of iron. and will be
much larger than the burned mill. The
Janson Iron company has commenced
the work of enlarging Its rolling mill
plant at Columbia.
The Reading Iron company an
nounces that 1t has assumed charge OF
the rolling mills of the Montour Iron
and Steel company located at Danville.
and that they will be placed in full
operation by Aug. 12. About 400 men
will be employed at the start. Grooved
skelp, merchant bar. light rails, etc.,
are turned out. Theodore F. Patter-
son has been appointed superintendent
Of the Danville plant.
Within the last ten years labor-sav-
ing machinery has done away with a
great many laborers. Statistics from
the European Continent show that the
number of carpenters has been reduced
10 per cent; button-hole makers, SO
per cent; shirt makers. 80 per cent.
bakers and confectioners, 20 per cent.
cabinet makers. IS per cent: typeset-
cent; silk band weavers, 40 per cent,
and wood cutters, 42 per cent. within
that time.
Engineering News noted recently a
striking example Of the accuracy OF
American tools and workmanship in
the case Of the 12-inch guns going from
Watervliet arsenal to the proving
grounds at Sandy Hook. Each of these
guns is 40 feet long and weighs 1850
pounds, yet the difference in weight be-
tween the seven guns is said to be only
five pounds. These guns are nickel
steel tube army rifles Of 40 calibres In
length. instead of the usual S5 calibres.
instead Of a jacket series Of hoops are
shrunk on the inner tube for nearly
the whole length of the gun. and over
this Is shrunk single jacket, covering
about two-thirds Of the length, and
then another layer Of long hoops.
When the intricacy Of this assembling
process is considered in connection with
work done on lathes capable Of hand
ling guns 40 feet long, the close agree
ment in weight is almost phenomenal.
The shot-making trade has legend
which recites that back in the days
when guns were shot off by lighted
matches and were swiveled to supports
because they were too big and clumsy
to be lifted to the shoulder, and when
all shot was moulded as bullets are
today, some workmen were fastening
an iron grating to the wall Of a castle.
They had cut out the hole in the stone,
and, after placing the iron in the hole,
poured some lead in to hold the iron in
place. just as they do today. Some of
the lead escaped and ran over the edge
Of the wall into the moat below. Soon
afterward the attention Of the soldiers
was attracted to the lead in the clear
water, and, dipping 1t out, they found
that the metal in falling from the
height had become globules. After that
those soldiers made their bullets by
sprinkling melted lead over the castle
wall into the waters Of the moat.-
Hardware.