The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-10-27
FANCY SMOKESTACKs.
How They Are FrilIed and Fixed for
Handsome Steamboats,.
New Orleans Times-Democrat.

New Orleans Times-Democrat.
They make smokestacks for steamboa ts
in two days. They pound them out and
rivet them together round on round. and
never an interruption to the boats sched-
ule. Steamboat smokestacks are not made
TO order, as are those of manufacturing
plants. There is more ornamentation, more
style TO the stack OF steamboat than to
the stack of any factory ever built
There are rows and rows of frills and
furbelows, metal things, gimcracks and
gewgaws on steamboat smokestacks.
Steamboat men do not desire the old plain
stack which spOuts smoke out from the
factories upon the face of the earth. They
want something fancy. They want some
thing which will give an extra curl 10 the
smoke as it goes to the sky. They want
something the other boat has not.
The life of the Smokestack OF the average
steamboat is about six years. Sometimes,
OF course, the boat runs into the bank and
the stacks are injured, but if there are no
accidents the stack will laxt about that
time. They are builded of sheet iron. They
are made as other stacks except the trim
mings. For instance, there is roll at the
top, like the beau catcher which the
spinster wears. This is costly because IL
takes as much time to make it as 1t takes
to make one section of the pipe This Is
hollow, and Is put near the top of the
stack. 1t is carefully made. and the meE
are particular to see that these ornaments
for the tops of both stacks are properly
fitted. They measure off the stack and
fix the frills as il this matter which
affected the capacity OF the boilers in pro-
ducing steam. They are always under the
eye of the officers when IL comes TO the
frills.
do you know" said one OF the boiler
makers working on the stack Of the Sun
rise, 1.-The officers of the steamboats, insist
on having all the fancy touches on their
smokestacks? They will no more consent
to accept a common stack than a sailor
will 20 TO sea on Friday. They insist on
all the fancy touches we can put on. They
want their SmOkeStaCkS Ornamented. and
why they do none OF us can tell. They
make extra work for us, but they are will
ing 10 pay for il. and that is all the inter-
est we have in the matter. But we could
build a stack for a factory in less than
half the time 1t takes US to crafty the
wishes Of these steamboat people. We
have to put in extra rows of rivets TO shine
on the top and we have TO build all of the
stack by hand. and build it i'm hurry.
They want the work done in a minute.
We manage 10 get it through in two or
three days. Usually ii takes us less than
three days. but when we have real fancy
job il is as long as that before we get
through.
I'VE make about one hundred smoke
stacks during the year. 1t seems as il
one was always wearing out. The steam
boats have put many a dollar in New Or
leans boilermakers' pockets. If ii had not
been for them we would have been many
thousands out of pocket These fancy
touches cost. They are expensive attach
ments and we charge for them. The put
ting on Of these things makes the building
of the stack by hand necessity and so
we get a cut going and coming