The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1896-03-30

men ana passed. 1I1lO liz OAceOA-
smith shop. At first it seems very
dark from the smoke, and the smoking
FORCES seem like SO many campnreS III
a dark forest.
The village smithy without the
spreading chestnut tree is repeated
many times Compressed air is TAX
ing the place of bellows, and in more
places plies a gigantic hammer upon
a forge which might have been the
pride of Vulcan himself.
Mr. French, who is in charge, takes
us around and explains everything.
The blast furnaces are more inter-
esting than 1 would imagine they might
be in July.
we watch the men take up a piece
of iron which is welded by the heat.
1t is a glowing mass of red and they
pick it up with an immense pair Of
tonges and Mr.. French asks if they
resemble curling tongs.
There we stand amid a shower of
sparks as it is being beaten Into the
desired shape.
We pass into the boiler shops and
I'm privileged to shake hands with Mr.
A. M. Baird the inventor of the many
compressed air appliances used by the
Santa Fe. Here holes are being drill
ed in solid iron by what Mr.. Baird
says is a rotary tapping and drill
ing machine. In another place these
same holes are being riveted with
iron bolts by the same power, the mu
chine exerting force of one hundred
tons. There is something most fasc'n-
aIlnS ABOUT CnlS compressed air, ana
I could watch the process with in
terest for hours. The air escaping re-
minds me of a concentrated cyclone
At one side a stay bolt cutter is clip
ping off inch and a quarter iron
bolts with an ease and celebrity that
reminds one of Mr.. Ripley's ak.
Mr.. Swan shows through the brass
foundry, and I look into the crucibIes
where the temperature is 1000 degrees
Fahrenheit.
The making of the sand molds re-
minds me of the mud nc stage of my
existence dut the precision with which
interest.
Mr.. Lawless then showed US the
WaterwOrks, the engine and the spick
and span engine room, the pump
which pumps a million gallons of wa
ter a day and then helped me climb UP
so 1 would look down In well as big
as a small house, the company reser-
Voir.
Next came the beautiful little fire
station with it's comfortable reading
room and it's sleeping room with four
beds looking like a remarkably clean
and cozy hospital ward all ready for
occupancy.
Mr.. O'Brien touched off the alarm
which is used to wake the men at
night in case of fire and did not won
der that it walked them. Next came,
pride the largest air compressor
owned by any railroad in the world.
being 500 horse power and pumping
$50 feet of free air per minute.
1t seems a wonder that the supply
of air around the shops doesn't give
out sometime.
In the planning mill Mr.. Isaacson
shows us the different Interesting an
planes and while I wait ar. watson
saws out for me in less time than It
takes me tell it two tainty toy chairs
which are the delight of the young
person of the household.
MIR. Davies shows I1S f6a
cabinet shops and the upholstering de-
partment. In the roundhouse is en-
CINE S57, on which rode from Newton
to Topeka, and as go up close to
touch it's side I'm told that Mr.. Ham
1ton, the engineer, is a candidate for
the legislature, and / know at once
who will get the vote of the shop men
and who would get mine if 1 had one.
Then came the car shops and paint
shop and Mr.. Manson shows us through
Mr.. Devlin's and Mr.. Mudge's private
cars. All the Santa Fe special priv
ate cars Were built here except that of
Mr.. Ripley and the one used by the
directors.
After sesing the painters and glass
decorators at work we go over to the
block office to see the men drop their
blocks as it is called.
1t is suggested that might blow the
whistle again, but I'm very tired and
I sit down contentedly to watch the
work stop.
AS soon as the whistle begins to blow
they make a rush for the block house
and before it has stopped more than
two hundred have passed along and
dropped their blocks into a scoop which
resembles a dust pan, and which the
clerk empties on his desk as fast as it
is filled
1t has been pleasant and profitable
AFTERNOON and I shall long remember
with much pleasure the courtesy and
kindness extended by the Santa Fe
shop men to
BECKY SHARP.
Renew your mortgage through Savings
and Loan association. Sixth and Kanaaa