Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1898-09-04
MAKING OVER STEEL RAILS,
New Process for KernilinS halfway A1ctnE,
r Supposed lmpossibiiity.

New Process for Keroilinx hallway A1ctnl,
Supposed lmpossibiiity.
The big plant of the McKenna Steel
working company in Arnourdale, is
nearly ready for use. The business of
the company will be to reroll steel
rails used in railway tracks and new
rails will be made out OF old ones.
The process of this work was discov-
cred short time ago by f. w. Nc
kenna. the senior member of the COM
pany, and it has been given a thorough
test in mill which this company has
had in operation i'll Joliet, H., about
one year.
An official of the plant said there had
never been any means known prior to
this discovery by which wornout rails
could be restored to use for their orig
lnal purpose. The general presump-
ton was that rails lost by use Il con
siderable portion Of their metal and
could not again be used The fact
however, is that the rails lose only
very small proportion OF their metal,
but become unserviceable from dis
placement Of the metal on the tread
of the rail. The usual loss would not
average more than one pound per
yard; that is to say, Il rail of seventy
hve pounds section. j. e.. seventy-five
pounds per yard. weighing originally
$50 pounds, when it was removed from
the track would only have lost from
one to two pounds Of metal per yard;
and the scrap rail would thus weigh
from 730 to TAO pounds
In,
the Mckenna process further re6uc-
ton of section is made in the manip-
ulation of the rail, equal to az. to 80
pounds per yard; thus it is that rail
Of 75-pound section, after having
served its original life. can he re-
newea, weighing seventy pounds to the
yard. The reproduction of the rail is
not limited to the first renewal, but
rails of proper section can be given
from two to five lives.
The First Me-r>rl,,ur, Pipe
In 1923 there lived in Pesth, the cap
ltal of Hungary. karol kowates, a
shoemaker whose ingenuity in cutting
and carving on wood, etc. brought
him into contact with Count AN
Grassy, ancestor of the prime minister
of Austria, with whom he had become
a favorlte. The count, on his return
from mission to Turkey brought
with him large piece OF whitish clay,
which had been presented to him as a
curiosity, on account OF its light spe-
cific gravity. 1t struck the shoemaker
that, being porous it must naturally
be we'll adapted for pipes, as it would
absorb the nicotine. The experiment
was tried. and karol cut Il pipe for the
count and one for himself But in the
pursuit of his trade he could not keep
his hands clean and many a piece of
shoemakers wax became attached to
The pipe. The clay, however, instead
of assuming dirty appearance as was
naturally to be expected. when karo
wiped it off, received wherever the
wax had touched. a clear brown polish.
instead Of the dull white it previously
had. Attributing his change in the
tint to its proper source. he waxed the
whole surface. and. polishing the pipe.
again smoked it. and noticed how adj
mrably and beautifully il colore,l; also.
how much more sweetly the pipe
smoked after being waxed. Karo had
struck the smoking philosophers
stone; and other noblemen, hearing of
the wonderful properties Of this Sill
gular species of clay, imported s.tin
considerable quantities for the manu-
facture Of pipes. The natural scarcity
of this much esteemed article, and the
great cost Of importation, in those days
of limited facilities for transportation,
rendered its use exclusively confined to
the richest European noblemcn until
1880. when it became more general
article of trade. The first meerschaum
pipe made by Karol kowates has been
preserved in the museum of Pesth.
Fooled the Hotel Man
This joke is going the rounds at the
expense of Lewiston landlord. A
certain dead beat arrived from Port
land and after putting in the day
among friends went to the hotel and
registered. He had just 81. and he had
somehow come. into possession of a
good hat, coat and vest, but his
trousers were simply too far gone to
be respectable
That night he got up at - o'clock
and walked over to the river and threw