Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1902-10-30
Satisfactory Progress is Being
Made in Construction of
the New Pottery Plant
WILL BE MAMMOTH STRUCTURE
One Of tho Building. Will Be Under
Cover Within Few Days-Main
Building by Dec. 1-Expected Plant
Will BE in Operation by First Of Feb
ruary-company Has Superior Clay.

dustrial prize, a trip to the new build
ings under the course Of erection will
be most beneficial, and will tend to
throw much light upon new manu-
featuring industry in which this city is
deeply interested and which gives
promise of being one of the leading
factories Of Marshalltown in a few
years.
Gangs of forty or fifty mechanics and
laborers are at work on the several
buildings. and everything that can is
being done to hurry them to as rapid
a completion as possible. The ware
shed, a one story brick structure. will
be enclosed in few days, and while
there is considerable work yet to be
done on the interior, a few weeks will
see it practically completed. This
building covers an acre and one-quar-
ter of ground. and has q storage capa-
city Of 100000 gallons Of finished pot
terry. The south portion will be utilized
by the company for a box factory,
where 1t will make Its own boxes and
crates used for the packing Of the nm
ished product, ready for shipment. This
work will be done by machinery, In
stead Of the old fashioned way of nail
Ing the shocks together by hand. One
Of the interessag features of this build
ing is that the walls are almost entire
iy made Of hollow brick, the clay In
which was the subsOtl from the COM
pany's clay bed in Hardin county.
The work on all the buildings mas
been delayed more or less by the lack
of material. The factory building
proper, the structure In which the pot
terry is moulded. dried and glazed, Is
up about half story high. This struc-
ture is 123x90 feet, and when complet-
ed will be three stories high. On the
north end is an addition 5Ox125, one
story high. This annex will be used for
q boiler and engine room, and will con-
tain the machinery used In mixing the
clay before it is ready for the moulder
An Office building, Immediately south OF
the main building, has just been COM
menced, and will be 50x30 feet. Aside
from this, store houses for both clay
and coal, will be erected. These latter
buildings have not as yet been COM
Two Of the four kilns are under the
course OF erection and the other two
will be begun In a few days. These
kilns are used for burning the pottery,
an dare all connected with big smoke
stack that is to be 60 feet in height.
This Is done for the purpose OF giving
the kilns the proper draft necessary to
heat them to q temperature of 1000 de-.
grees in burning the product. The
work OF erecting this part OF the plant
is a very slow process, as the walls are
three feet In thickness, and are built
solid. the inner courses being OF hre
brick Each one Of these kilns will have
capacity Of 10000 gallons, and each
will be burned once week. It re-
quires three days to burn and the ball
ance Of the six days in loading and UNI
loading the kilns. While two of the
kilns are being fired the other two will
be cooling of, so that by an ingenious
method Of tunnels and fans the heat
from the cooling kilns Is utilized for
warming the different buildings and
for drying the pottery after 1t has been
nodded in the factory. This utilizing
OF what would otherwise be waste heat
will be source OF great saving to the
company.
One Of the things that will be most
gratifying to the citizens Of Marshall-
town is the push that Is being injected
into the new plant. Not only is Manager
Mathews anxious to get the buildings
completed. but he is only sorry that
they did not erect q plant with twice
the capacity OF the one being built, in
view Of the fact that the new company
has received offers already to take Its
entire output. It is the intention to
erect four more kilns in the spring, as
the factory Is built with capacity to
supply finished product sufficient to
keep that many burning constantly.
Where the Clay Comes From.
There are probably but few people
aware Of the exact spot from which
be used in the manufacture of its ware.
It comes from the town of Clifford,
where the company has purchased out
right seventeen acres lying inside the
town limits. A considerable portion of
the bed has been uncovered and under
the entire tract there is a strata of
clay varying in thickness of from ten
to thirty feet. 1t Is estimated from
borings made with a testing auger that
there is sufncient clay on the property
to supply the plant with its original
for 1,500 years. This Is hard
to conceive but is vouched for by men
who are in a position to know. From
tests made with the clay
taken from several different places IL.
the seventeen acres 1t has been found
to be of frst-c class quality. The COM
pany will own its own cars used for
hauling the clay from the pit to the
plant, and has already contracted for
ten cars similar to the Rodger ballast
cars used for railroad work. Sidings
will be built up to the face Of the de-
deposit at Clifford, and an overhead
switch will be erected at the plant, so
that by manipulating lever the cars
will be dumped and the clay ready for
mixing In the plant.
Manager Mathews said that he ex-
pected to have the plant in operation
by February ], regardless of the wealth
er, as the buildings are SO constructed
relative to heating that weather con-
ditions make no difference. Mr..
Mathews also speaks most highly of
the encouragement he has received
from citizens of Marshalltown and is
glad that the plant was located here,