La Junta tribune., 1902-12-24
u,,vsvA s,ses
ssessooaia9 Descriptive Asssses - oWs
lsest 1s1Usesy.

Sie OS Sue Ia JuuS1 fteSSeO otiCk
and Tile Company appeared in a
recent issue Of the Drainage Jour
nal. published At indianapolis,
Ind. and reads as follows:
On the outskirts Of the unas-
Stunning town OF La Iunta are To-
Gated the works of the La Iunta
Brick and Tile Company. which
were started twelve years ago by
Mr.. James McNeen, and owned
by him until recently, when the
company was incorporated, MIR.
McNeen, however, retaining nearly
all Of the stock. The works are
compactly built. The variety Of
kilns used gives one the idea that
almost anything in the form OF
kiln can be successfully used here.
There are three round down draft
kilns with open bottoms. connect
ed to a single stack; three as foot
solid-bottom kilns with short
stacks for each fiue; one square
kiln with side stacks and four old.
style clamp brick kilns, their
total capacity being more than
4, 900. 900 brick. The accommo-
dating superintendent insists that
they make their kilns after their
own designs and that they ali give
equally good results in burning.
A spur from the main line OF the
Santa Fe railway passes through
the yard and is SO graded that cars
may be loaded from the yard level.
The shale bank, from which the
raw material is obtained, is the
unique feature OF these works. for
of course the material IS a neces-
sary accessory to the plant. Al
about sixty rods from the factory
is a mound or bluff sixty feet high,
capped by a covering of shelly
rock three feet thick, which when
removed exposes a bed Of shale
having a shelly and shattered
texture. Ii the main the color is
black, but the deposit is inter
persed with a variety of shale ana
clay varying in hardness and
quality. The bed is SO shattered
that il can be loosened with a
heavy road plow, and after this is
done the hillside resembles a
plowed field. The material is then
easily gathered with a wheeled
scraper and hauled down the
slope and dumped upon traps,
which are platforms, under which
wagons are driven. BY means Of
lever the trap, which is double,
is dropped in the center and the
wagon is filled. Two teams with
wheeled scrapers and six wagons
constitute the regular force for
moving the material from bank to
mill. The ease with which the
shale is mined and transported is
without parallel in the writer's OBJ
servation. Plans are being per.
fected for the construction Of an
electric trolley line and tramway
for transporting the shale to the
factory, which will reduce the
work to a minimum. The dynamo
required to furnish the power will
also furnish lights for the plant.
While brick making has engag-
ed much the larger part a atten.
ton and effort at this factory,
drain tile have been manufactured
to supply a growing demand. Last
year twenty car loads were sold,
which in an irrigated country
means that the movement to drain
lands seeped by irrigation water
has begun. Mr.. McNeen predicts
an increasing demand for tile in
the valley, and he intends to be
able to supply it. A special build
ing has been put up for drying
tile, for the reason that the clay
checks easily and must be dried
slowly, The brick, however, are
dried in a Io-track Standard dryer
without serious checking.
The tile and mud brick are