The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-04-18
WHEELS READY TO TURN.
GEORGIA CAR WORKS TO START Up
NEXT WEEK.

and Most Thoroughly Equipped
Establishment of the Kind I'm tn
South-Mhen at Its Full Capacity
Employment win BE Given 500 to
. 400 Men-Has Already Expended
500, 900 For Labor.
In about a week longer the equipment
Of the Georgia Car and Manufacturing
Compauy's plant viii be complete. This
Is undoubtedly the most important addi-
ton to Savannah's manufacturing indus
tries that has been made in MANY years
and is a departure on enirely new lines
1t is the largest and most complete man
ufacturing establishment Of the kind in
the southern states, and. with the excep-
ion OF a smaller plant at Gadsl1en, Ala,
the only car manufacturing establish
ment south Of Baltimore
When the whistle blows for work
week from tomorrow the plant viii be
equipped to take the raw lumber and in
a few weeks time turn out finished Ial-
ace car If the work on hand warrants 1t,
employment can be given at once to over
800 men. In time it is expected that this
number and more win be employed.
Very few people in Savannah have ally
idea Of the extent or the completeness
Of the plant 1t is located about three
miles southwest Of the city, measuring
from the court house, near the intersec-
ton Of the Florida Central and Penlnsular
and the Charleston and Savannah rail-
roads with easy access to all the railroads
entering the city.
A Morning News reporter visited the
works yesterday Afternoon in company with
Hon. ]. J. McDonough, president of the
company. The plant is reached by the
Ogeeehee road and a short cut to the
right, about two miles from the city limits.
1t is about the center of an SS-acre tract
of land owned by the company, and occu-
pies several acres of the tract. The rest
is now growing a luxuriant crop of oats
At the works. Mr.. J. b. Blain, manager,
and Mr.. G. w. Keith shop foreman, who
has been experimenting the placing of
the machinery, were found
The buildings consist of two immense
sheds, running parallel to each other at
a distance Of 200 feet apart, each, LOO feet
in length. by los feet wide. and the brick
boiler house at the western end of the
southern shed The boiler house is 43 by
90 feet, and p feet clear to the ceiling, with
ventilators on the sides and skylights
through the roof. The chimney has an
area OF by feet inside, is IS feet in hight.
and Is splendid piece of work The
boilers are very neatly constructed being
set back with Dutch oven in front of the
furnaces.
The most unique thing about the whole
outht TO the ordinary observer is the man
ner IN which the furnaces are to be fed
NO coal will be used, the only fuel being
the shavngs from the car works These
shavings will not be gathered up and,
hauled 70 the furnaces to be shoveled in
by fireman. That sort of
thing is out of date now. A Jenkins
automatic feeding system. operating nv
means of an immense fan, together with
conduits and other apparatus will gather
IN the shavings as they fly from the ma
chimes in the car planning mill convey
them by means of an immense flue or
overhead conduit a distance of about 800
feet, and land them in the shaving cham
Der from whence they viii be fed auto
matically TO the furnaces The shavings
VIII be fed into the furnaces with a Jet of
steam in such manner as to ignite the
whole mass as it enters the furnace, just
as II II We're so much gas. There will be
no nremen and no opening and shutting
OF doors. The feeding apparatus will do
1t all and the shavings will furnish the
only fuel required. This is a comparative
ly recent invention, but is in use already
in several large furniture factories at the
north. The shaving vault which adjoins
the engine room, is 40 by 40
and As feet in hight. The
shavings are fed into the vault in
such manner as to separate the shay
ings and dust from the air shutting the
air out The constant compression Of the
air in the vault by the powerful 56-inch
fan would result in a dangerous pressure
on the walls of the building aud hence fl
is necessary to shut the air out The
boilers, of which there are two batteries.
have capacity OF about S00-horse power
on top of the shavngs vault is a $1,000
gallons water tank, which will be supplied
from an artesian well, and which will
furnish water to the entire works and also
for the cottages which it is proposed to
build later for the employees of the works
The equipment of machinery is some
thing tremendous to the inexperienced OBJ
server. The first shop after leaving the
boiler house is the truck erecting shop, 100
feet long by 106 wide. II is equipped with
five turn tables for placing the car trucks
In position, Next is the blacksmith shop
lS feet long. II is filled with heavy ma
chinery. There are two steam hammers.
one Y by 20 the other by Is; two power
hduliltfS, one zV4-pOund bradley hammer,
and 80 pound air cushion hammer; two
bolt heading machines for maxi
ing bolts, one making any
size up to 3 inches, and the other
any size up to IL inches; two combination
heavy punching shears. one large bull
DOING forging machine for forming forg-
ings and other machinery The shop is also
equipped with the Buffalo furnace system
Of down draft and smoke discharge under
ground.
Next comes the machine shop. $50 feet
IN length. 1t is equipped with five bolt
thread cutters, and one bolt cutter three
Of the thread cutters being of the double
type. They are the product of the Acme
Machinery Company on the left side Of the
blacksmith shop are three wheel boring
mills, for boring car wheels and also
large driving wheel boring mill. all work
ed by power cranes 1t win be seen by this
that II Is the intention of the company to
do all the work possible at the shops.
Wheels and axles Will be bought in the
rough, end the wheels bored and axles
fitted at the works. This means a saving
IN several directions as well as the ability
70 turn out work which can be guaranteed
as reliable by the company, which could not
be the case If the wheels and axles we're
bought ready fitted. II also means work
for more men at the shops There are
also three double car axle lathes. The
boring mills and lathaa ara ths ,,roa,,...