Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1902-01-20
WITH FIRE and FORGE
The Making OF Iron Castings and
Structural Steel in Mar.
shalltown.
Molten Iron That Runs Like
Steel..Powerful Machines
That Manipulate Steel.
A Marshalltown Industry Whose
Product Supplies the Great
Northwest.

Saturday afternoon bent, gray man
! stepped forward to the cupola Of the
| Shorthill foundry. He carried a long
| iron rod in his hand and thrust it thru
the clay that stopped the vent of a
roaring furnace hotter than the one in
which the scriptural trio of Hebrews
1 withdrew the rod a gush of molten
metal followed 1t, white hot and liquid
and fell in shimmering cascade of
fire into the big bull ladle below Over
the ladle spray of star shaped sparks
| shot in all directions like roman candles
on Fourth of July night. When the
lade was filled, when perhaps a barrel
of the liquid fire had poured into It, the
gray old man took UP a staff of wood,
affixed a ball of soft clay about the size
OF pa. of butter to its end and stopped
the vent The process of pouring off,
then began.
To one who has never visited foun-
dry this operation is one of great inter-
labors All day the molders have
worked into the sand the forms of
pieces to be cast. With wooden pat
terms they have pressed away the Sand
and left the matrices of wheels and
cylinders and the thousand articles
which are to be duplicated in iron. II
his work has been we'll done. if the iron
is at proper temperature, If the pour
ing is skillfui.y accomplished, then he
may expect a perfect piece when 1t has
cooled sufficiently to shake out" from
the flask" Lacking these his work
has been without result.
Early in the afternoon the cupola
men have prepared the charge" In
the bottom of the tall furnace they put
cordwood for kindling. On this they
place layer of coke and upon the coke
a layer of pig iron. Layer upon layer
it is arranged until the cupola has been
filled and is ready for lighting. Power
full fans drive forced draft thru the
blaze and raise the fire to incandes-
cence Under 1t the chunky iron pIgs
melt into liquid, the foreman announces
that Iron spouts" and the pour off"
begins.
From the big bull ladle' smaller ones
are filed. The molders carry the blaz-
ing pots of metal, shifting and some
times stopping like water, here and
there to the different TASKS AS flask
after flask is filled blue flames burst
from them, The atmosphere grows
close and smoky and when all
are filled and the shaking out
begins, the blaze of the molten
FOL hn hal
white hot castings scattered about the |
about thru the smoke among the glow |
ing Jumps of metal might furnish a 4
the color for word picture of
the hades of the Old Revision.
Many castings made here are of suffi-
cient size to preclude hand pouring. |
When this is the case a big crane
swings its arm over to the cupola. Per-
haps thousand pounds of the melted
iron pours from the cupola into the
ladle. The crane lifts 1t with
ridiculous ease, swings it into its prop
or position and the big flask is filled as
easily and handily az the housewife
pours dipper of water into the tea
kettle. Many of the castings made here
Are of extraordinary size and the crane
IS largely in requisition.
But the foundry is only minor por-
ion of this plant. The Shorthill Co., is
heavy manufacturer of structur-
L iron. This department is one
# the most interesting to the
usual visitor. Here the big
and highway bridges are
made piece by piece. Everything is
leavy in this department. Piles of
ron and steel plates of various widths 4
md thickness, racks of huge iron and ]
teel beams and bars are stacked here IN
md there like boards and timbers in Il
lumber yard 1t takes heavy machines i
o handle this material. The Shorthill
company has them.
Here q big bar of iron is to be cut in ,
wo. 1t is pushed beneath powerful !,
1achine. A knife comes down and /,
quints along pencil mark. The bar !
pparently has not been adjusted to it's
king. for the knife is drawn back and
he bar showed the fraction of an inch
lrther. The knife descends again
here is quiet crunch and the heavy
ar drops apart, divided as easily as
ne grocer cuts section from cheese
ver there half-inch steel boiler plate {
to be trimmed along the edge. The S
perator starts the machine, long, y
luirming ribbon of steel writhes hot l
'om along the edge of the plate and the
peration Is concluded with less fuss v
ian the wall decorators little machine
lakes over roll of wall paper. Across r
lie room a machine driven by COM i
ressed air is riveting plates together.
boy with a pair of pincers brings a
,d-hot bolt from forge near by and d
aces it in position. The machine s
,mes carefully down, adjusts itself. Y
oses irresistably upon the three-quar-
r-inch bolt and crunches it. 1t draws
way with slbilant wheeze as If the 9
fort had been almost too much for its ;,
rength, leaving perfectly formed q
nd thoroughly riveted head where the n
d-hot bolt had been. Another monster
bother punches rivet holes and a ro- q
ry saw cuts off heavy bars, plates and y
lumns of steel and iron as the farm
IS Circular" slices willow pole.
The machine shop is agog with whirl-
g pulleys and shafting and flying belts a.
ong lathes bear their burdens of big s,
eel columns and shafts. Planera are v
the surfaces of steel plates IL
lietly and with an automatic precision
most human. Workmen pound with
miners and twist with wrenches. No
dy seems in hurry Everything Oh
es quietly. but powerfully, steadily on. $,
lie big machines give an impression of w
wer, but not of speed The material
4 two, Il ,N...1