Great Falls weekly tribune., 1895-08-16
At B. 3 NJ. LITER AND DAM
important Additions and Improve
ments to the Smelter Plant Are
Under Way.
Addition to the Power House 4OXlOO
A New Boarding House Being
Constructed.

The Boston e. Montana smclter plant
presents busy and encouraging scene
these days. A tribune reporter was
present at O'Clock Friday when the
shifts changed and watched the dinner
nail brigade which does 50 much to sup
port Great Falls, and certainly it gave
no hint of hard times. The plant is run
ming at its full capacity, the production
of copper being larger than ever before,
and the payroll this month will be con
siderably larger than usual. This is
caused in part by Il considerable addi-
tional force of carpenters and other me
chanius who are engaged in making va
rious Improvements IN the plant with q
view to increasing its efficiency. The
most important OF these is a large
addition to the power house.
This addition is long brick structure
lO0xIO feet on the end next the bridge
1t will be used to hold the blowers for
the blast furnaces. / was at first de-
signed to build fan house near the
smolter, but it was found preferable to
locate it at the power house and trans
nit the blast, the loss being less than
the loss of power ia transmission. The
building is now we'll under way, che walls
being up and tho roof on. For some
time past it has been settled that the |
efficiency of the four blast furnaces at |
4 bpa il k,o
by stronger blast, and the new addition |
and machinery will insure this. Supt |
Klepetko in his last annual report 70 the .
directors of the company LAID stress on |
the economy of the blast furnaces and |
there has been good deal of talk |
since OF increasing this department by |
extending the building containing them
down hill and adding two more blast |
furnaces IIans contemplating this i'm
prOyement and addition have been made .
and it is likely that they will soon be OK
ecuted, Coke being an important item
III the cost of running the blast furnaces
an extension of the department would
very likely induce the company 10 build
ovens at Belt and manufacture their own
supply, which would again prove an ad-
vantage TO this section. as at present the
smeIter supply OF coke Is shipped from
the east.
Another noticeable improvement is
! the construction Of a large wO story ad-
| dlton to the boarding house. Ii will be
about 50 feet long and will contain 3G
bedrooms, besides barber shop, baths.
etc. This will add very much to the
convenience Of tho workmen. who make
thelr home at the company boarding
house.
The B. & NJ. school house is now well
under way and presents a very prumi-
nent figure on the north side of the river
1t will contain two larle school rooms on
the ground iioOr, and is so constructed
that when occasion requires additional
rooms can be finished of up stairs. 1t
will cost when completed about $1,000,
and occupies commanding site between
the company boarding house and resi-
dences and Little Chicago, at the end of
the Fifteenth street bridge
The Royal Milling company are busy
turning out superior hard wheat hour
these days. The wheat crop raised this
year in this section promises, according
to present market quotations. TO be a
better paying crop than oats or most
other grains. Even on the basis of ship
ping 1t to Minneapolis, wheat. at present
prices. would net the rancher 80 cents IA
|bushel, while the mill is of course paying s
considerably more than that sum for it,
|thelr policy being TO encourage
|the growing of wheat in tha
being able TO purchase their whole sur
|ply from this vicinity. The mill
pays out annually between c39O,OO0 and
100000 for wheat, and when this lirgc
|sum is entirely djsburscd in this section
|uf the state if will ID, an item we'll " net h |