The Portland daily press., 1895-10-10

Tho Machine Room-Beautiful Flame Dis
play in the Brazing Room-Terrihc
COMMUNICATIVE Polishing, Plating,
Buffing and Asse milling Rooms.
The Atkinson plush mill at South Port
land is now the. Lowell bicycle factory In
fact, as we'll as name, and should be
known as such hereafter The Lowell
people have been at work there for some
time, getting in the necessary machinery
and making the necessary tools for the
manufacture of bicycles. They are also
making some of the minor parts Of BIZ
cycles.
A PRESS representative called at the
factory yesterday and was shown the
plant by Superintendent Frank Curtis,
who very kindly and cordially exhibited
and explained everything.
In the big machinesroomswhe the ILL
fated plush looms used to be are cow
about 90 machines, mostly lathes. These
are about one-half of what will be there
when the plant is fully equipped The
machines are all new. About 25 men are
now at work, most of them engaged in
making tools A toolEroom, or enclosure,
has been fenced of, land in it are many
and various queer looking borers. rim
mers, punchers etc. 1t is much cheaper
for them to make their own tools than
to buy them, since many OF them are
used exclusively for bicycle manufactur-
ing. When there are between 200 and 300
men at work, as will be the case by the
first of January, Mr.. Curtis affirmed,
boy will have charge of the tool room
and the workmen will check their tools
there just as one does hat and coat at
the hotel.
At one machine yesterday the operator
was making the axles of the rear vince l.
The thread is cut on both ends OF the
little steel with great rap1dity and boxes
full of axles showed how everything is
done on the most rapid scale. each IN
dividual part being turned out like spools
at spool factory.
One of the interesting machines was
little saw that is operated by belt
and that is saving off steel bars all day
DIS fhAAA AAAOOAASSA A'o>~Av -
clock ticks. 1t isn't much bigger than
jig-saw, but it can cut a steel bar four
inches square.
From the machine room one goes to the
engine room. The same plush mill engine
is there and the same dynamo. The
whole plant can be brilliantly lighted
with electricity, for, said Mr.. Curtis,
they will have to work nights in order
to turn out the 10. 600 bicycles which
they intend to make for next seasons
trade.
Beyond the engine room, outside, in a
detached and entirely new building is
the brazing room this is the most in
teresting place of all. just outside, un-
der ground, is tank and generator that
will hold 40 barrels Of gasoline. The
generator of course converts the gasoline
into gas This is conducted into the
brazing room by pipes Also strong
blast of air is n tap in the brazing room
conducted from d huge force from else
where.
There is a row of 10 brazing furnaces.
Each furnace consists Of two pieces that
come up from the'-ground and at height
Of three feet turn toward each other at
right angles.
It is like the muzzles Of two guns, an
inch in diameter. pointing towards each
other foot apart. But no such blasts
of terrific, roaring flames ever came from
any guns as did from those two pipes
when Mr.. Curtis turned the valves.
There are two valves On each side; one
controls the blast of air; the other the
quantity of gas.
The valves were turned little and a
lighted match applied. A great sheet of
flame burst from each pipe, and as they
met. spread out above and below in a
dazzling, roaring conf1agration. 1t was
the ordinary yellow color. The valves
were turned little more. The flame
grew smaller, but the roaring increased
and the color changed to puprle, while as
more pressure was applied, the burning
gas came out of those two pipes in solid
blue bars, like jets Of water, and as they
came together in the middle they fatten
cd each::other into an irregular..wheel that
blazed like forked lightning and roared
like the thunder and wind of the tenn
pest And as the pressure increased, this
great wheel, fairly PINK with the inten-