The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-08-08
BY AN ELECTRIC PROCESS.
The Burton Company Already
Orders Its Plants From
the East.
Time, Labor and Expense Greatly
Saved and With Much Better
Results.

The Burton Electric Company, recently
incorporated in this City with capital
stock of 81 900, 900 in 10000 shares of 500
each, is losing no time in getting down to
business 1t has already ordered metal
working plant at cost of $4,000 and also
a $4,000 plant for the smelling of ores.
George D. Burton leaves to-day for the
East, and as soon as he arrives at his Bos-
ton and Woburn (Mass.) factories he will
begin to fill these orders. The two plants
will be here in about five weeks, it is ex-
pected, and by that time suitable site
will have been selected for the works.
The process this company will use is an
application of electricity to the working of
metals. 1t is anticipated that it will radi-
cally change and cheaper the whole sys-
tenn of Woodworking, and may revolu-
tionize mining in time.
1t has been in operation in Boston for
the past three years, and was demonstrated
to thousands of visitors for six months at
the Worlds Fair in Chicago. DR.. George
E. Davis saw it in practical operation dur
ing his visit to the fair. Over 100, 900 horse
shoes were turned out by it there.
Alfred II. Cowles OF Cleveland, Ohio. the
inventor Vi tHe pIoceSS VI cAtiact!iS
aluminium from clay, process which has
made him $5,000,000 richer, speaks very
favorably of it, and Edward Il. Birdsall,
consulting and constructing electrical engi-
neer of New York, referring to it, said:
1t was not until Mr. George D. Burton of
Boston, Mass, discovered and developed his
liquid metal heating process that there was
any prospect that the heating and working of
metals by electricity would ever become of
general application.
The starting up of these works here will
give San Francisco unique advantage in
the manufacturing of tools and will add
one more good reason for the patronage of
home industries. Electricity is great
cheapener and time and labor saver, as is
well known, and no grounds will be left
for the croaker to complain that the thou
sand and one articles which can be pro-
duced by this method at home can only be
obtained by importation from the East.
To give some idea of what can be accom-
plished it has been abundantly proved
that bar of steel, three feet long and
three inches thick, can be heated in eight
minutes to melting point with no
greater power than IS horsepower. The
same bar could not be so heated by any
other known method in less than forty-five
minutes.
What is more, metal heated by cleo
tricity is heated from the inside outward,
the inside being hottest, thus saving the
tough "skin" or outside surface, which
works into the bar as it is drawn, giving
the entire bar an equal distribution of this
toughest part OF the metal. A saving of 8
per cent is effected in scale, seeing that
there are no sulphurous or other injurious
gases from coal TO come into contact with
the metal and cause the formation OF scale.
The metal being heated so much quicker
by electricity than ordinary methods and
the chances of exposure being infinitely less
the possibility of forming scale is reduced
to the lowest minimum.
One bar can be heated or as many more
as the capacity of the current will permit,
and by a special apparatus it can be
that degree Of heat for any number of