The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-12-11
MODERN Spite DRYING.
Done Nowadays Almost Altogether by stenm
Experts at the Work.

MODERN SPILE DRYING. .
Done Nowadays Almost Altogether by stenn
Experts Mt the Work.
Wherever n spile driver is seen at work there
is sure to be seen also n more or less numerous
knot of lookers-on. for the splle driver IL
always an object Of interest, and doubly sc
when 1t Is operated by an expert who Keeps
the groat weight going. -
The rope to which the weight is attached
runs up and through n pulley overhead and
then down to n drum. around which II Is wound
and unwound rs the weight Is raised and lot
fall. the action OF the drum being controlled by
means OF a lever; by the use of another lever
steam is turned on or off. The operator turns
on the steam and connects the drum and raises
the weight. along the ways on which IL slides.
TO the top Of the frame or to whatever height Ia
desired and then shuts of the steam and dis
connects the drum. Nolonger held, the weight
falls. dragging the rope after IL. the drum turn
Ing as it unwinds, Then the steam is turned
on. the drum connected and the weight again
raised to be again let fall.
The expert operator off Spite driving machine
handles it with such skill and certainty that
when the weight has fallen the rope to which It
is attached is scarcely permitted to loop down
upon the top OF 1t; the instant the blow has
been delivered he checks the drum, turns on
the steam. and starts the weight up again. And
he keeps this up continuously. giving never
more than Just about so much slack to the
rope, though the conditions under which the
blows are delivered change more or less with
every blow. depending upon the distance to
which the Spite has already been driven. and
the nature and resistance of the ground. The
operator takes all these things into account in
running the machine. and as a rule the expert
gets it Just right every time. with Just enough
slack and no more, and he raises the great
weigh and let's it fall almost as rapidly as a
man would WELD a sledgehammer. 1t is q ias-
Beforse the the 'ihSnrsdS,aE S'e 81 steam smile driv.
ers. which have been in use less than forty
yearswthe first steam spile driver used in this
people who will recall the slow and laborious
" lmsSl'2 Which ftRRe the hosting Fr rep er Was wound %r 9ddF wss
turned by means of Two .cranks, one, on each
side of the machine. with ,cogwheel attach
on each crank, the weight, was slowly raised.
held by the jaws Of a caniperlike contrivance
ataa 6 re- with the Long arms up. to the end Of
f rhfse liit s1srr F2 f|%e The u fb we IGN of T tbs commonly 9sms ny
the inner sides Of which. near. the top. there
were va1;ns one m on each side; braeketlike ,Proieetiop9s
lifted Gradually as the weight was lifted still
t nssnsr rn With lq fhs r SFmf o %e ope enGMaf the G sSoat
arms or Jaws below and releasing the weight
to dIEop up2n the head OF the Spite. Then the
I again. and once more hooked on, and again
the I. men en- began tngEing at the cranks; It was
those who had never seen any hut a steam
spilc driver. There, are still in usehere and
there a few Of the old,style spile drivers:
oldIfashioned hand spile drivers was about
100 pounds. The weight commonly used
3.5 S6o p onndSs and T e ISna !, work from 1000 e
The weight Used Depends. Of ?oSg eoI more
or less on the character Of, the work.
and ms,bd it may a, vary also according to the
might be used q heavier weight with less fall.
II 7 . the driver Itself, while il the ia machine
which it was hoisted. in the modern machine
the rope remains fast for stroke after stroke.
nna: i msyb 6fi for no spiltsh a stt bsv sP tMo d There are
second drum being for the hosting up Of spiles
out Of the water, SO that no time whatever is
due to the building out OF plers,to deeper wa
ships. Very long. spiles are needed in some
places to reach through the depth Of water
i i1snd s eea thf foofinf the g stIeks below oi and Sl6 d6pwGG
feet in length have been used for spiies,
and spiles eighty to ninety. feet in length
able BIZ Spies a2s OF aoI sixty Se feet Soa ase more c rsmnrT-
however. and around the city water front the
spiles used woul average about fifty feet.
drivers are commonly associated in the
mind with the waterfront, but in compara-
lively recent years they, have been seen. as one
might say. on land. and in, some Of the city's
busiest streets. driving spiles for the founda-
tions of some lofty modern building; In which
use, however, spiles have in turn been more or
less superseded by caissons.
There is now a splle driver that In a steam
hammer: the weight being attached to piston
In o steam cylinder. The stroke of
the piston is less than the ordinary hoist OF the
rope-lifted weight: the blows Of the steam
more frequent.
The fey old ;fashioned. hand worked Spite
drivers still to be found here and there may he
in places more or less remote from active
or they might be found near q big
city. in which case they would be small plants
with a weight Of 800 or, 900 or. maybe. a
owned waterfront property with perhaps a
self. and who found 1t cheaper to drive the few
splles that he needed to put down occasionally |
with such a plant of his own than to keep q |
steam driver or to hire 1t done. But splle driv-
Ing, in general. nowadays. Is done by steam,
and there is no more. striking H. Illustration OF the
Inference between the new and the old ways OF |
1oing things than that afforded by the modern
5pile driver.