Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1902-02-20
STARTED Up
WITHOUT A HITCH
20-Inch Mill of the Reading Iron Works
in Operation.

Pursuant to the announcement made
III our last issue the sixteen-inch
mill of the Reading Iron works just
completed, was started up Monday
morning. Five furnaces were fired up,
the mill in question employing some
eighty hands raising the whole number
of men at work at the plant to six hun
dred The starting up of the 2O-inch
skelp mill, which will be ready in
week or so, will add nearly hundred
men more to the list, swelling the pay
roll up to its maximum number of some
seven hundred.
A representative of this paper Mon
day was kindly shown over the new
mills by Superintendent David Thomas
Although the big plant is fast assum-
ing its old-time activity the works as
rebuilt in SO many points embody i'm
provements on the old that one finds Ill
it little to suggest the familiar land
mark laid in ashes, which it has re
placed.
! While it is true that the new mill is
built along the old lines, in point of
structure it is entirely different. lu-
stead of the lean-tos on each side Of the
central span which gave the works
| low and flat appearance, there are now
3 spans of 80, - and 80 feet, respective
| l. "a 70
square, which gives the mass of
buildings high and imposing appear
ance and admits plenty of light and
fresh air In addition, much floor space
has been gained by the displacement of
superfluous or obsolete machinery.
First on the list of improvements is a
nine-foot Sturdevant blower one of
the most modern extant, operated by its
own engine, installed in the lean-to
next to the D. l.. & W. track, adjoining
the roll shop, which displaces the two
old fans formerly in use and with one
system of blast pipes supplies the whole |
plant The roll shop, which like the
fans was previously operated by betting |
from the other part of the mill has now
an engine of its own.
Two immense water heaters, each |
with its own pump, are being installed, |
one attached to the engine of the No. |
puddle mill and the other to the engine |
of the 20-inch skelp mill. These heaters |
will receive the exhaust of the two |
ponderous engines which will warm the |
cold water to very nearly the boiling |
point before it is sent to the boilers. |
Thus will be effected a big saving in |
fuel
In the shipping department new 60
horse power engine has been installed |
TO operate the punches and shears, |
which brings the entire number of eng
ines at the plant up to the number of |
twenty, ranging in size from the big 1SO- !
horse power engines which operate the |
rolls down to the smaller ones of 15-
horse power A new punch for doing |
heavy work, a ponderous piece of mech
anism weighing ten tons, has Just ar
rived at the plant In addition, the
shipping department, which now lacks
nothing in the way of modern appli
ances, contains two sunken tracks max
ing it possible to load cars without lift
ing the iron much above the level.
Seven new boilers of the larger type |
known as the two-hue boilers, have
been installed. A great deal of the
brick work is new Three of the boil
ers had to be entirely rebricked; all
needed repairs The stacks all had to
be rebuilt or added to. The engines as
we'll as every other bit of machinery
had to be overhauled and repaired.
Among the new machinery set in mo-
ton Monday for the first was a new
swinging saw with engine attached in
the 16-inch mill which takes the place
of two old stationary saws.
Superintendent Thomas was gratified
over the experiment of starting up, as
not the least hitch, he said occurred in
any department.
The mill was burned do on the
23rd of May last, less than nine months
having elapsed since the fire.