The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1899-07-28

New VI n eyhulVdto nus hh"'V Oh
offer for the property, and if secured,
will put in works employing a
thousand men.
The fine farming lands of Branch
county are interspersed with about
one hundred lakes, large and email.
Bordering these lakes are found the
beds of mari, IN some cases twenty to
thirty feet deep and as there are
hundreds of thousands u acres the
supply lie practically inexhaustible.
Clay of the required quality II aleo
found in the vicinity in abundance,
go that all the conditions are favora-
BILE for cheaply manufacturing the
best quality of cement. The enor-
nous output of these factories com
bined with that of others in this
country ought to materially reduce
the price of cement to consumers in
the course of few years. Hereto
fore the price has been kept up by
the scarcity of the article, the de-
mand having exceeded the supply.
A glimpse into the process of The
manufacture of cemeut may be Of
interest to readers. The factory at
Coldwater may be taken as typical
and up.to-date. The factory build
ings are large and constructed of
steel, brick and stone, built in the
most substantial manner. A steam
dredge is employed to scoop up the
mari, at the rate of ] 1000 barrels
day, which is dumped into trans
fer boat and taken to the factory,
| located on the shore of the lake and
also on the line of the l.. ;. d NJ. s.
railroad. The dredge was used to
| open a canal through the marsh from
lake to factory. At the factory the
mari, in semi-liquid state, 10
pumped into receiving vat, from
which it goes to Il hopper to be
measured and receive it's proportion
OF clay. which i. first dried and then
! pulverzed by meane of heavy rollers.
After the proper amount of clay has
been added, the mass is run through
a mill, which thoroughly mixes the
two materials. From there it is dis
charged into another vat, which has
a spiral conveyor to keep the mass
agitated and prevent settling. The
compound of mari, clay and water
il next pumped into atube mill
about a feet i'm diameter and Is
feet long. Th's big tube is about
half filled with flint pebbles from
Iceland, which grind the contents
into what is termed "slurry," it be-
ing about fifty per cent water, but
not drinkable.
The slurry is discharged into watts
and pumped luto agitator tanks that
are like huge ice cream freezers, but
the contents of which are far less
tempting. The revolving agitators
in these tanks keep the mass in con-
tnual motion. AT present there are
four Of these tanks, with a com bined
capacity OF 100 600 gallons.
From the agitators the slurry is
: pumped into the rotaries. These are
} huge steel tubes, feet in diameter
, and COO feet long, weighing 40 tons
T each They are Inca with magne.
= siac bricks, costing 20 cents each
made to resist the intense heat that
+ the slurry is exposed to on ITS way
! through the r0taries. There ara foul
3 of these big tubes, which are set al
with a slight incline to facilitate the
e passage OF the slurry. These i'm
, men-e rotary tubes are indeed fiery
: furnaces, being heated by crud,
D petroleum to temperature of 3 OO
. degrees, which IL a heat su iiicient &
g melt almost anything In about a,
n hour the slurry Is discharged at
{ white heat, burned to brittle clnk
: 9rs. These clinkers are not HANDLED
r by the employees even with glove
=: on. The clinkers are conveyed {
70 an elevator, from which they ar
g distributed in piles to cool. Tn
e cooled clinkers are run through pul
NtIlLllE uldtullts NlldA lthubo Allci
r. to the fine powder that we know a
e cement. There are five Of thes
t powerful pulverizing machines, tina
l. are supported on a concrete Pounds
e tioH, 40 feet long, lG feet wide and
r feet deep.
r, a conveyor carries the finishe
product to the warehouse, wher
lie automatic machinery puts it in sack
ID ready for shipment to any part of th
81 country.
j. The boiler.room that supplies ID
t. power necessary to drive all of thi
u array OF machinery, is 40xs0 fee
y with a concrete floor The coal biz
~ have a capacity Of 800 tons and til
II huge furnaces are fed by automat
OF,