Omaha daily bee., 1896-06-28
SMELLING WORKS Bi NIGHT
Presents Vivid Picture of the Internal
Regions.
BRIGHT FLASHES FROM FURNACE DOORS
Hundreds of Men ToiIinE I'm Dimly
Lighted, Grimy buildings. Rcduc-
ing Apparently Worthless
Rock Into bright Metal.

smelters situated on the bank of the river.
Comparatively few of the thousands of peo-
pie who live in the sight of them have ever
visited the works or even think OF the
small army of men who toll there, or even
bestow more than casual thought upon
the great industry conducted within the
grimy buildings, unless 1t is to cough and
make some unpleasant remark when the
arsenic gases from the ores being treated
almost strangle you when the wind blows
them over the city. At present there are
about 900 men employed there, keeping the
fires going night and day
1t is not the cleanest place in the world
to visit, even with the light Of day to guide
one and keep one out of the dirt but should
a night trip be taken 1t would be advisable
to leave aft all easily soiled garments or
any which little Of the CRIME would seri-
ously damage. 1t is fascinating sight to
go through any large manufacturing plant
and watch the transition of the raw ma
terial into the finished product, but in this
case it is particularly so. There come TO
the smelter carloads of what to the casual
observer is only comparatively valueless
stone and there come out shining bars OF
silver gold copper and lead, and in addi-
ton to that a considerable portion of the
copper produced is converted into sulphate
of copper, or, as it is commonly called,
copperas.
acres of low. dirty buildings, only partially
lighted up with electric lights, its towering
chimneys from which come volumes OF
smoke and noXious gases, the occasional
glare of an open furnace door, and the hum
of the great blowers which lead into the
furnaces is a forbidding looking place.
ROASTED SIX HOURS.
The ore first comes to the blast furnace,
where in the process of smelling, the rough
est and most easily disposed of portions OF
the refuse matter it contains are eliminated.
The product which comes from here Is
ground up into powder and goes to the
roasters. These are long series of ovens
| designed to eliminate the sulphur. The
| powder is first put into the oven farthest
| removed from the fire and gradually worked
! down until it is subjected to heat enough to
| melt it, from where it is drawn off and cast
| into hal oval-shaped pieces as large as can be
conveniently handled. This process occupies
| six hours. There is one large building de
voted to these roasting ovens. Only dimly
| lighted the glare which comes from an oc-
| casionally opened furnace door throws sharp
| shadows of the dozens of brawny firemen
| who feed the never-satisfed appetite for
| coal.
| During the next process practically all of
| the worthless material is taken out. The
| crude copper is cast into small ingots which
| are to be again refined, the lead and all of
| the precious metals contained in the ore are
| cast into another ingot which to all ap-
pearances is lead, the bar giving no indica-
| ton to the ordinary observer of the mere
| valuable portion OF the contents while the
Stag runs out at still another place and is
| Carted off. If such thing as a comfortable
| place can be found around furnaces which
| contain fires hot enough to melt the most
| refractory of metals, this department is the
| place. 1t is by far the least dirty and the
heat of the furnace is tempered by currents
| of water which are constantly kept running
| around the furnace.
With all the rougher impurities removed
| the metal now goes to the refining depart
ment. The processes here are much more
interesting and require greater amount of
skill. The metal is first put into huge
kettles which hold two carloads, or 500
| bars, of the crude bullion. This is what
| is termed the cookers, and under the intense
heat the antimony and most all of the
| impurities are removed, leaving a product
which is practically pure lead, silver end
gold. From here without being allowed to
cool it goes to the large kettles in which
the lead is separated from the more valuable
| metals, but to do so another one must be
added-zinc. This unites with the more
precious met@is and forms a lighter COM
pound, which rises to the top and is skinned
off. Like the product of the dairy 'hese
skimmings are the cream of the valueess
| locking stone, and handled with the
greatest care that none of 1t goes to waste
The lead is drawn off from the bottom of
| l0e kellleS ana cast INTO DdTS known as the
pig lead of commerce, and with which all
| are familiar.
LIKE THE INTERNAL REGIONS.
The succeeding process, while an interest
ing one, is not overly pleasant to watch on
account of the disagreeable fumes which
| come from the furnaces. 1t is what is
| known as the cupel room and here the zinc
which was introduced in the previous process
| is eliminated The metal is put into Cupels
and subjected to such an intense heat that
| the zinc bpiDP yOlatiIp ic ad int
gas, and passing into a condenser, is re-
converted into zinc, while the valuable
| metal remains in the shape of small but
ton in the bottom of the cupel. This room
| at night furnishes strong reminder OF the
internal regions. Out of the mouth of the
cupels shoot flames alternately, orange,
green and red, and at times presenting
streaks of all three colors, while the power
| ful odors of the zinc gases are sitting to one
unaccustomed to them and it is doubtful If
one would ever become sufficiently familiar
with them to really relish the odor
In the shadow of the great stacks and
furnaces, the unearthly flames playing
around the openings, and the army of work
men going about their business, never
deigninG TO speak to you or to even notice
your presence, away off in the darkness
from where, you know not, come the hum
or the great blowers and the din of the
sledges of workmen breaking up the ingots
cast at one furnace that they may be melted
in another, combine TO lend weirdness to
tne scene WnlCn makes strange feelings
creep over one. In the semi-darkness
smoke e-begrlmed workmen. moving hither
and thther, stirring up the fires, and from
time to time putting in bars of metal give
an added reminder of the regions presided
over by satan But they are not imps of
the prince of inferno-just flesh and blood
men tOiing for their daily bread. You
wish you were out of there into the open
air where you can breathe in comfort once
more and away from the unearthly sights
and sounds, but for all that there is a
strange fascination about 1t which compels
you to hesitate and stop for one more look.
From here the product goes to another
building to undergo the final process, the
separation of the gold and silver. This
done II is cast into small ingots carefully
weighed on delicate scales, and the product
is ready for all of the various uses to which
the precious metals put.
Some idea of the care that is taken To
preserve everything of value can be formed
from the fact that the smoke and gases
from the various furnaces are passed through
| a low tunnel-like structure 900 feet In
length in which the fine particles which
have passed of in a gaseous form are set
tied, and once in three months these are
carefully collected and put through the pro-
cess of refining to extract what of value
| they contain.
Out into the open air again you take a
deep breath look back over the gloomy yard
and buildings II contains, with its lights
shining here and there and when 1t is all
over you just begin to realize the vastness