The evening times., 1900-07-17
A GERMAN STONEwARE PLANT.
The American Consul at Mannheim
Describes the FactO-y.


and chemical Industries at Friedrichsfeld
small village about six miles from Mann
helm on the railroad leading TO HeideI-
berg. He says:
The plant. which has been in exist
eEce for many years. was almost wholly
rebuilt in 1894 and 1895 and is now enc Of
the largest and best equipped plants 81 its
kind in Europe. It's products amounting
to an average OF ten carloads OF finished
ware per day. is shipped TO many parts Of
Europe and to the United States The
plant covers several acres aside from the
ground used for storage. Some OF the
buildings are three and four stories high:
all are built o. brick or stone and are OF
costly eonstru ctioa- Upwards Of fve hun
dred men are employed in the works The
company employs no women and but few
boys. II has its owH fire department.
system OF insurance among its employees,
and an arrangement by which medical at
tendance is furnished employees in case OF
! sickness.
The product consists OF various forms
of stoneware used for sewerage purposes.
The clay used is brought from tie noun
tains near Heidelberg and other points
close BY. II is said 20 be Of excellent
quality and is found in great abundance
| The kilns and ovens are of the types Lsed
in the United States. as also most OF the.
machinery. so far as / could learn The
machines used in grinding the clay are
unlike those formerly. and perhaps now,
used in the sewer pipe works in parts OF
the United States. The clay Is here pass
/ ed through three separate grinding ma
chimes of similar construction. consisting
| essentially Of a series OF heavy paFaiiei.
/ horizontal rolls having rOushened surfaces,
! so constructed as 20 feed the clay between
I them and ar the same time crush ana
/ grind IT, Elevators and carrying devices
] are used throughout the plant. An cleo
/ trio plant furnishes light where artificial
illumination is required. Blowing ma
| chimes carry of the dust
The sewer pipe made by the concern
differs but little from that generally seen
/ in the United States The sections are. as
a rule longer than the American product
/ They are made with a thread-Eke groove
extending five or six times around the
pipe and beginning probably three-Iourths
Of an inch from the smaller end Of the
pipe This groove is from One-elgnth 10
one fourth Of an inch deep. depending on
the size OF the pine There Is CORE
spending groove on the inside OF the coll
lar al the other end OF the pipe The
managers tell me that the sewer pipe IS
generally made IN this form in Germany;
and that an asphalt filler IS used il place
Of cement They say that in the laying
OF pipe there is sure 20 be more or less
settling al the joints. that cement # used.
cracks and does not readhere. and leakage
is likely 70 occur while asphalt. being
more elastic yields 10 the settling without
cracking II is-tO be remembered that IN
( Germany this pipe is much used IN con-
nection with domestic and other san. .taFy
[ plumbing where iron and lead pipe is used
IN the United States ClOs--hIting joints.
/ therefore. become matter Of special i'm
POrJance here
| To prevent the pipe from settling and
getting out Of place by lateral movement.
/ a sroneware sill having a broad base and
1 cOncave surface. with a radius correspond
4 inZ 10 that OF the pipe. is used am ad-
v.sed that these siIls are specified in the
( contracts for much Of the street sewerage
f in this empire.
a large amount Of sewer pipe Of e
{ lipticaI and egg form is used in Germany
. This Is also manufactured By the Fried
riehsf,Id company. u is. Of course. lad
/ with the side having he samller arc Of
( curvature down in other words. IS 4 The
/ ellipse or the egg were standing on its
small end.
/ Aside from the sewer pipe OF The kinds
+ described. 1he company maCuLacuIes
: special line OF ware . great variety ard
much more interesting. The trade in the
United States VIII perhaps recall the com
pauy's exhibit az Chicago ID lSgS- This
line includes tubs, yats piping aCcCmu a.
tors retOrts. pumps filters. faucets. dis
tuliu- outfits and other Apparatus us-d
/ n the manufacture and handling Of acids
and other chemicals. md in the cOlS-Iuc-
+ tion OF large EalvaClc batteries As IS
. r.r r.Hre
Gals in Germany Is a large industry ard
gives rise 10 a demand for apparatus OF
. peculiar construction No attempt WI b
made TO describe this ware iC de-aI.
Much OF IL Is for use in patented or IN
. secret processes. in which technical kCOEI-
edge would be required for accurate Ce-
scr.pJiou. Some consists OF large rCcsrta-
Z cl-s, in form much like the copper k-t-
( ties frequently used by farmers In the
United States for boiling cider Tn 50
I vessels vary in capacity from fev quarts
up 10 1900 literS. or nearly 400 gallons.
some are plain. without openings or a.
tachmCuts of any kind, some have Ope--
inEs with stOneware stCpcOcks- O-hsIs
have hltering devices c9n-ected VITA them
The walls of these vessels are quite tk5n.
/ as cosnpared with the larger utensils the
sides and bottoms presenting q smooth.
[ glossy surface with a rich brown color and
/ emitting a clear metallic ring chaIacte-is-
/ tic OF perfect ware
Some of the special forms are quite
intricate. and il would seem q matter of
much difficulty 10 make and burn them
without a large percentage OF loss. Just
how great this percentage is. I did not
learn Acid pumps are made and ECU pped
with small electric motors. in which cylin-
ders. pistOns. and valves. all OF st0newaTC.
are handsomely burned. I was shown an
apparatus for diStiliing some chemical pro
duct The apparatus is. in fact. an ordina-
~ still. in which the worm is one COntinU-
Gus stoneware pipe. perhaps two and one
half inches in diameter and COiled in the
usual way on q diameter o. some two and
cne-half feet The pipe in this apparatus
is nineteen metres. or more than sixty feet
in length The apparatus stands perhaps
five feet high The casing b. which the
coils OF pipe. one above the other. are kept
in place Is Of scOneware. the whole appa-
ratus being in fact made and burned as
one piece and apparently without check or
flaw in the making or burning
Near the last-described apparatus was
a still larger one. known as a reaction tow
sr. used for the absorption OF gases by IL
auids. as for example in the manufacture
OF nitric acid.
In some Of he apparatus shown az the
factory. vertical pipes are arranged some
what like the tubes in a vertical boiler OF
in steam radiators for heating purposes
OF course. many OF these forms are made
largely by hand and require much skill
and patience and the greatest care in
handling before they are burned. One
large receptacle. nearly or quite eight feet
high probably four feet in diameter at
the largest part. will hold $500 Iitcrs. or
more than ]. 4J0 gallons. This huge piece