The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1899-04-05
RACING AGAINST TIME.
Marvellous Feats of Rapid Produc
tion by Enterprising Firms,


Many astounding feats have been
performed in races against time, but
probably never anything more won-
derful that that of pro lucing a printed
newspaper nom trees, which We're
growing two hours and a half only be-
fore the papers were in the hands of
their readers.
This feat was performed by firm Of
paper pulp manufacturers al Essential
in Austria. At 1885 in the morning the
three sturdy trees We're cut down and
carted to the paper mills. The bark
was stripped from them, they were
split and pulped and sent to the def
orators, where they were quickly con-
verted into paper pulp. At twenty-six
minutes to ten the trees had been con-
yerted into sheets of paper, which
We're quickly taken to the newspaper
| office. and 10 o'clock thousands Of
copies We're in circulation.
An American publishing firm not
long ago achieved a feat of rapid book
production which is not only unrivaled
but almost incredible. An order
reached them late on Saturday to pro-
duce 1000 copies of an illustrated book
of $50 pages by the following Wednes-
day evening. The task was begun
early on Monday morning, and before
| the day closed the entire book had
been reduced to type, and electrotype
plates prepared for the press. on the
following day printing began, and a
number of presses We're so busily at
work that by noon of the following
| day all the 1000 copies We're printed.
The bookbinders had been equally en-
| peditious in preparing the covers, and
the whole edition was bound and de-
| livered by Wednesday evening.
"A short time ago the Prussian war
! department made very interesting
| experiment in the rapid manufacturs
| of boots under war conditions. An
army of 1900 hootmakers were col d..
! lected in Berlin from the eighteen
army corps, and commenced a course
Of four weeks work under the super
vision of a number of commissioned
| officers.
| The men We're divided into two sec
| tions, one section working from a.
M, to p. m, and the other from . D.
m. TO a. NJ. with two intervals of half
an hour each in each period of twelve
| hours. The men worked, ate and slept
/ in the barracks of the LIST Field Ar
/ tillery Regiment of the Prussian
| Guards. In the four weeks the men
made no fewer than $4,000 pairs Of
! boots, each man thus completing forty
pairs within the month.
| The most remarkable feat in bridge
building stands to the credit OF Messrs.
Handyside who substituted new rail-
way bridge for an old one in the in
| credible time of four hours. The new
| bridge was one of steel. weighing over
200 tons, which replaced an old bridge
| spanning the Stroud Green road, near
! the Great Northern station at Fins.
| bury Park.
commencing operations in March
last, the contractors built by the north
ern side of the old bridge a new one
resting on six carriages which ran on
a tiny railroad under the ends of the
girders. A 8 o'clock one afternoon
enormous cranes removed the girders
Of the old bridge; its successor was
hauled along the lines into it's place by
means of steam crabs and within fou1
| hours the bridge was made firm. the
| roads connected and traffic was re-
sumed.
An engineering feat still more re-
! markable was performed not long ago
at the StratfOrd works of the Great
Eastern railway. The engineers had sci
themselves the task of building a lug
gage engine and tender in the quickest
time on record
All the component parts had beer
carefully arranged and placed at hand,
ana when work commenced early in
the morning the engine quickly begar
TO assume shape. BY dinner time II
was practically completed, with the ex.
ception of painting, and within ter
hours the engine and tender in all the
glory Of new paint, and perfect in every
detail, were taking trial spin on the
line,