The sun., 1900-12-28
HE MAKING OF SHOT
EAPED BYA CoLANDER AT THE TOP
OF A TALL TOWER.

lets Are Hardened - The Fearful
J Force of the Fall.
D Standing on made ground over the very
spot where Robert Fulton sailed his first
steamboat is the celebrated shot tower
that has entered into the romance and
tragedy of the great city for generations.
From its top one may look down into
the courtyard of the Tombs prison, and
years ago, when murderers were hanged
there, newspaper men were wont to
watch from the tower and signal the
news of death to other watchers posted
on the roofs of newspaper offices on Park
row. Many men have been killed by
the shot made there, and millions of rab
bits and statelier game have become vic
Tins of the feshpots through its influ-
tsnees-
Every generation or so some crank
comes forward with scheme to make
small shot without tower. Every plan
has been tried, but not an ounce of small
shot is on the market except what was
made in the old fashioned way. The lar
gest shot that can be made in a tower is
nty-three-hundredths of an inch in
diameter Buckshot and all sizes larger
are nodded
The process is extremely simple. The
shot forms itself, and the height of the
tower has nothing to do with shaping the
pellets. Height is only necessary to give
them time to harden before they come in
contact with anything that might de-
stroy their shape. The old tower on
: Center street is ITO feet tall. AT it's bot
tom is a well 13 feet deep filled with wa
ter, into which the hard but hot shot fall.
An endless chain works at the bottom
with buckets, carrying the shot up to a
platform as fast as they reach the bot
tom of the well. On a working day II
tons OF shot will be rained down from
the giddy top into this well, and the wa,
ter will be kept kissing with the torrent.
But that is little detail of the manu-
facture. The real skill is required in
mixing the lead to be poured.
Melt pure lead and pour it through the
colander at the top of the tower, and it
will be taken from the water in short
strings, more like crooked nails than shot.
To make the lead form pellets it must be
shortened or "sharpened," just as
houl1wife shortens dough with lard to
.pIake pie crust. The shortening for lead
/ Uarsenic.
A The amount of arsenic used is so slight
that it is harmless. 1t is mixed with the
!, lead thus: On the bottom of great re-
! tort is placed a heap of 40 pounds of pure
al5enic. Over it is placed an iron crown,
(which fits alright. On top of this is put
la ton of cold lead. The lead is then heat
led. The moment it begins to show red an
attendant plunges an iron rod into it and
= upsets the iron crown, or bowl, that held
the arsenic down. The poison is thus re-
Yleased at the bottom of the hot lead. 1t
u begins to work its way up through the
mass, but by the time it reaches the sur
face there is barely fume Of it left, the
4 lead having absorbed it.
Ai Lead thus treated is as brittle as quick
silver, and a bit Of it dropped on the floor
v will fly in thousand directions and come
p to rest in myriad of tiny pellets. 1t is
too brittle for shot. 1t is ''shot stock"
One hundred pounds of this stock is melt
ed with 1000 pounds of pure lead, and
the resultant mixture is short enough for
shot and is run off into bars Of 200 pounds
weight each.
IN At the top of the tower on a sort of dais
Is melting pot. The prepared lead is
hoisted to this on an elevator. The coan-
der, which is like those used in any kitch-
p en-, only vastly more heavy, is foot in
AZ
~. wooden tube three feet in diameter that
ands in the center of the tower. Scum
pm boiling lead is powdered, and the
ttom of the colander is covered with ii
the depth OF half an inch. On the top
Sc this the lead is poured. 1t percolates
- through the powder and drops through
y the holes exactly as water through i'll
n Each drop that leaves the suspended
1ss.ander is a perfectly rounded shot. Its
- form is never changed for the better Aft
er the drops begin to let go they fall SO
VI fast from the many holes that to the eye
they seem like solid streams Of lead in
stead of succession of tiny globes. The
rain Of metal CLEANS like silver and is O
pretty thing to look at. But if one were
Z to thrust ones head into the shower ones
u head would be chewed off in twinkling
especially at the bottom, for the speed il
acquires in its fall is almost as great as
that it has when fired from a gun.
Nearly every stranger who visits the
81 tower for the first time wants to poke his
hand into the stream to see how hard it is
Is falling. Recently q wise young mar
with q silk hat insisted on holding ou
Fl his hand, and the engineer jerked hin
RI back Just in time to save the hand. The
n Young man then held out his hat to catcl
# hatful Of the shot. The hat was eater
81 up so quickly that only few bits of J
be .fshed from the we'll The en-
gineey than held q pine board into thu
rain, and. when the shot passed righ
through it the visitor shuddered at thu
thought of the hand he might have takei
home.
To ward against accidents the lead il
dropped down a wooden tube. The tub
Isl open here and there to let the air cir
culate freely. The hot shot in falling
will often swerve to one side and bea
against the sides. About one-third Of tn
shot dropped is ruined by this or by be
ing beaten out of shape in striking tn
water. The only recent improvement il
making shot is in driving blast of ice
N air up the tube through which the sho
falls. Thus shorter. fall will harde
sss hlSas-, "a taen chilled air is cost
lit|1H q gust as valuable as evel
~ the colander do not regr
NJ "a Of the shot absolutely, fo
kszrc sizes of shot will often b
"a from the same pouring. More
4 shortening will make the drops large
on smaller through the same hole. Ihu
lead nearly pure will hold on longer bt
fore falling and make larger drops. Lea
with much shortening will drop rapid
aad thus form tiny pellets. For the ver
smallest bird shot the lead is heated an
dropped from about two-thirds the wa
5np the tower.
Twelve tons Of lead is a days pou
From this eight tons of perfect shot wi
be secured. AS the pellets are lifted frol
The battom of the shot well they are ru