The record-union., 1896-04-26
and Brass.

OF them were well up in music. 1t is
to be supposed that Orpheus, that old
lyre-playing Thracian, could not have
stirred the susceptibilities of either of
the gentlemen mentioned, and it is like
wise sure that if the noted Greek mu-
stefan could be resurrected and set down
In the car machine shop in this city he
would not for one instant be "in 1t. F"
But there is music there that mythol-
ogy never heard of, and the time to it
Is beaten out by the steady rhythmic mo-
tons of ponderous machines-machines
designed to lessen the labor of mankind
whose lot has fallen in hard places
that is, among iron.
From the giant turning machine,
which trims down the huge iron bar, to
the gimlet-like drill which bOres
through solid masses of cold iron,
each has a tune of its own which it
sings necessarily and without varia-
ton, and none of them are ever troubled
with bad colds From the huge iron
press to the pump, which pumps moth
ing but wind, each moves along
smoothly and evenly, all singing the
song of all songs which most certainly
bring contentment and happiness to
And upstairs in that same car ma
chine shop is a different atmosphere. 1t
is loaded with chemicals and comes
heavily to the nostrils of the wonder
seeker. In the first room one enters he
finds himself among the brassiest men
In the city. They work in brass, swear
by brass and even live by brass. They
are brass workers.
i
partment, where a piece of brass is
shown to you, dipped into a tank, left
there for three seconds and comes out
before your eyes-copper Then Mr..
McCulloch or his assistant, Mr.. Haw-
kins, will dip the same piece into an
other vat and it comes out-nickel. The
transformation is complete in an in
stant's time, but before you have had
time to close your mouth and grasp the
idea, it is immersed into another vat,
and 10! your brass has returned to
you. This is the magician's room, COM
pared to which Aladdin and his wonder
full lamp would have been back num-
Der.
And here, too, are small, swishing,
soft wheels at work, making $500 revo-
buttons a minute, and keeping steadily
at it; and just over there is a machine
designed by Foreman McCulloch, which
is used to finish headlight refectors,
and which does the work of dozen
men.
And 1t is all very puzzling until it has
been explained to you. and you will
wonder if there is anything in the
world for which a mechanic cannot de-
sign a labOr-Saying machine
Broadly stated, the car machine shop
may be said to turn out almost every
piece of iron used in the construction
of a car, as well as TIE brass furnish
ings, which present so much beauty
combined with almost incalculabIe
strength.
If you should enter the shop and stand
still for a moment you would, perhaps,
like Quilp's boy, feel like reversing ma
lures law and standing on your head
In order to secure a comprehensive view
of the situation; but after that peculiar
feeling wore off, provided it did wear off,
and you became able to segregate
things, you would notice an apparatus,
which the foreman would tell you was
q wheelboring machine. If he stopped
there your mind would not be greatly
enriched by the information, but If you
were to watch while the huge drill
smoothed out the hole in which the axle
was to repose, you would be somewhat
enlightened.
Nor is the axle which is to be fitted
into the wheel anything like perfect
when it leaves the blacksmith shop, and
1T always has more length and thick
ness than is required. In the first place
the axle is cut off to the length desired,
which Of itself would be no small un-
dertaking except for the machinery pro-
vided for the purpose, and then 1t is
centered, that is TO say, the center OF
each end is located, and it is ready for
the turning lathe. The lathe revolves
rapidly, chipping off surplus bits OF
metal, and still it spins and still the
chips fly until the axle is comparatively
smooth and of the required dimensions
and it has been turned"
1t is next fitted into the wheel which
has undergone the boring process, and
lol before your eyes. from the shadowy
phoenix Of the Imagination, rises the
first tangible feature of the bird itself,
and you have that upon which the
foundation of your car may be laid.
But after wheel and axle have been
fitted they are carried to another curl
ously contrived machine. where the
wheel is set on under tremendous
pressure pressure so great that
though wheel may crack or an axle
be twisted into corkscrew shape in a
wreck, your wheel and axle still tena-
c.ously hang together on the very best
OF terms.
Then your cast iron wheel is conveyed
to a grindstone especially constructed
for the purpose, where the fianges and
traction parts are reduced to uniform
smoothneSS, or If il be a steel-tired
wheel to be used under passenger cars
and wheels under passenger cars are
all steel-tired-it is carefully turned
upon the tread-literally, that portion OF
the track upon which the wheel rests
until the desired shape is secured, and
then. and not until then, is your wheel
and axle ready for its load.
In this connection il will be proper To
state that the estimated number OF
wheels and axles turned monthly in the
shops is 200.
Then there are smoothly geared plan
ing machines, which knock the rough
spots off of all sorts and conditions OF
iron work that enters the shop, and
which will leave the impression on the
mind of the casual observer that iron
in hardness could not have begun to
compare with Pharoahs heart and
that he has. all his life, been deluded
by O. chimera which those same plan
ing mills have exploded without sc
much as offering an explanation.
In almost every piece of iron which