The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-05-28

On Tuesday the South mill of the
Lackawanna Iron and Steel company
will shut down for period of perhaps
two months, during which time ex-
tensive changes will be made in and
about the mill which will make it the
equal of any in the country and en-
able the company to compete more sue
cessfully than ever in the steel mar
ket. 1t was the intention to close the
mill down today, but n small urgent
order was received and to fill it the
mill will be kept running few days
longer than was contemplated.
one Of the greatest changes that will
be made in the mill will be the in
stalling of appliances for handling
large ingots, which will do away with
considerable handling and heating of
steel. The ingOt now used is fifteen
inches square, and it is proposed when
the Improvements are complete to have
an ingot eighteen inches square. 1t
will be a little shorter than the ingot
now in use. but will contain consider
ably more in bulk. With the new ingot
the least number of rails that will be
made from it will be four, and these
Will be of the 100-pOund class.
After the ingot has been rolled to a
certain length it will be cut, and one
section will be run into the finishing
rolls after the other. 1t is possible
with the proposed improvements to
have the output increased nearly one
third. The present capacity Of the mill
is about six hundred tons in twelve
hours.
MANY OTHER CHANGES.
In every department of the mill
changes will be made. In the receiv-
ing and assortment Of the raw ma
terials, a system of unloading will be
introduced that will do away with the
stock yard, In the converting depart
ment radical change will be made.
and the pit" will follow in the wake
of the stock yard. In the pit" the
steel is poured into the muulds, as they
are standing in a circle along the edge
OF the excavation in the vessel room,
which, in the parlanCe of the steel
workers, bears the name of pit"
After the moulds are filled, under the
present system, they have to be hoist
ed to cars upon which they are laid
horizontally. The car is then moved to
the furnace, where the ingot, the con-
tents of the mould, is hoisted by a hy-
draulic crane, and is guided to the fur
naces by the tongs welded by the fur
mace men.
The proposed change In this depart
ment contemplates having the ingot
cast on cars; that is the moulds will
be filled as they stand in a vertical
position on cars. Lowering them into
the pit and hosting will be eliminated
from the process Having been filled,
the moulds will be run along to the
furnace, and here electricity will be
introduced. An electric ingot extractor
will take the ingOt from the moulds,
and with steam "hoists" it will be con-
veyed to the furnaces, where it will
be charged or reheated by electricity
Steam hoists will replace hydraulic
hoists in this department After heat
ing in the furnace the ingOt will be
taken to the rolls, and will be auto
matically started through the machin-
cry that moulds them into rails.
ELECTRIC CRANES.
Electric cranes will be introduced in
the rolling department and bloom
ing trains will be a new feature also
In the rail mill many minor changes
will be made. This department more
recently than any other part of the
mill underwent the changes that placed
it far ahead of the other departments
in the way of modern appliances.
The South mill was built in 1881 and
although many changes have been
made in it since, it, is now hardly in
line with the most advanced IDEAS
with reference to steel making Much
of the new machinery that will be in
stalled in the mill has already ar
rived.
The shutting down of the mill for
such a period will cause no little dis
quiet on the South Side, where many
of the men employed there reside.
Many Of them, however, will be en-
ployed in the work of installing the
now machinery