Omaha daily bee., 1899-06-06
FINE BEET SUGAR FACTORY
Foundation is Now in for the New Structure
at Ames.
BEST OF ITS KIND IN UNITED STATES
Work is TO he Pushed mt Once on the
building, which is to Contain
All the Modern Inn
provements.

provements.
FREMONT, Neb., June 5.-(speciai)-
The work of putting in the foundation of
the Standard Beet Sugar factory at Ames
was completed Monday and as the steel
plates and beams for the building itself
are already on the track at the grounds
the building win soon begin to loom up,
the largest sugar factory in Nebraska.
The new factory, which will have double
| the capacity of either the Grand Island or
! Norfolk factories, is situated two miles north
and half a mile west OF Ames, west OF the
! place known as the Mills farm. The OBJ
! ject in locating it there instead of in town
was to have 1t as centrally located for the
farmers as possible, thus saving the time
| and expense OF the company and farmers
| in hauling beets over a road sometimes
| not in the best condition. Ground was
| broken for the building as soon as the
! weather would permit, which was the first
| week in April The Union Pacific railroad
| built a sidetrack from the east end OF the
| Ames yards, a mile and half north. then
| northwesterly along the side of the cutoff
ditch mile and half to the factory, and
| put in several switch tracks at the site.
The Elkhorn extended it's line from the
Union Pacific crossing mile east Of Ames,
| cfc switch. All the material and machin-
cry can thus be laid down directly at the
| site, thus saving considerable expense in
| hauling
The main building is 30Ox100 feet, The
| foundation consists of piles driven into the
ground twenty-five feet, then cut off eight
| feet below the surface, making platform
| about ten feet square. Between 1,S0O and
| 1000 piles were used for the foundation of
| piles being about ten feet apart On them
| was placed pillar of steel, welded to-
gether with concrete eight feet in height.
The buildings, except few of the smaller
| ones, will be entirely fireproof, wood
| being used in their construction, the floors
| being of concrete and the framework of
steel and the walls of brick.
| The plan OF construction is the same as
| that of the "skyscrapers," the framework
of steel plates and girders being first put
UP, then the walls, no weight whatever
| resting on the latter The framework OF
| this massive building will require 2,500,000
pounds of steel and it will take over 2,0OO,-
| 900 brick to make the enclosing walls. The
| Standard company let the contract for the
construction of the buildings and the fur
nishing and the placing of the machinery
| to the OxEard Construction company of New
| York. When this work is done all connec-
| tion of the OXnards with the company
ceases and the factory will be run ndepend-
emily of any trust or combination.
Fine Machinery.
Superintendent King, who is in charge
of the construction, last year had charge
| of the erection of a still larger factory in
| California. He is thoroughly informed on
beet sugar machinery, having made a COM
plete study of all the details connected
| with the manufacture of the sugar con-
tents of beets into sugar
| This factory" he said yesterday to a
Bee reporter twill be one of the best in
the country. The Grand Island factory?
| Well, that Is a chestnut. Our machinery
| and building will be vastly superior to it.
| 1t is a small concern its machinery is out
| of date and not of the kind we use. We
get the machinery from Bohemia to Chi
| cago, from all around. Ninety per cent OF
| it Is made in this country. There are
| some things we can't get here now and have
| to go to Bohemia for them. We don't go
out of the United States for what we can
get in it. There is another point of in
terest about our factory We shall put
in the machinery before we put up the
walls Of the building. The installing Of
the machinery goes on at the same time
the framework of the building is being put
up. We did the same thing with the Cali
fornia factory last season. l have a photo
graph of the California factory with the
framework all up, floors in and machinery
In place and not an inch of the walls laid.
All the walls amount to anyway is to enclose
the building; there is no weight on them"
Glow will this plant compare with the
Norfolk factory"
"Oh, that is about like the Grand Island
concern. This will have a larger capacity
|
the cost of running 1t will be less than the
running expenses of either of the others.
am not at liberty to give the actual esti
mated cost of this plant complete 1t
would surprise you when compared with
that of either of the others. Our machin-
cry Is all ordered. Some of 1t, you see, is
here and every pound of 1t is ready to be
| shipped on notice by telegraph. We have
the switches filled, as you see now and
no room for anything more till We use it."
In addition to the main factory there will
be beet house 100x4O0 feet boiler house
1OOx12O and lime house S0x15O Trains will
be switched directly into the beet house
and every facility will be provided for
handling beets as rapidly as possible. Large
engines will not be required for running
the plant Two 6OO-horse power and two
200 horse power engines will be used.
'"The boiler capacity Is something enor-
nous" said Mr.. King. at will be $500
horse power. It takes steam and water to
run a plant of this size We are going to
have something out of the ordinary in the
way OF a stack 1t Is a self-supporting
stack, without guys. twelve feet in diam
eter and 1873 feet high. The building will
be completed and ready for work October 1.
The slowest job is putting in the founda-
tion. The weather has hindered us some
We have now 200 men on the pay roll
When we commence on the steel work
Tuesday, as We expect to, We will rush
things with from 400 to 800 men, The work
will then show. In month from now
there will be something to see"
Rapid work Done.
Ten weeks ago the site of the plant was
cornfeld out on the open prairie. AL
resdy there are enough people close by to
make goodszed village. South OF the
site is long frame dining hall, west of it
couple of bunk houses" substantial
frame buildings, containing rows of single
white enameled bedsteads and looking
some like the interior of the army barracks.
Still further west are several goodsized
houses which will be occupied by the fore