The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1903-07-29
TOWNS new INDUSTRY.
Factory Turning out Thousands Of lnsu.
lator Pins Every Day.
NOT ABLE TO KEEP AHEAD OF ORDERS
A Visit TO the Plant, and a Brief Account Of
What Was Seen There. Process
Told from Start TO Finish.

J' ~ cOilhoUOH, ScCIeUdI anu
treasurer of the McConnellsburg
Manufacturing Company, we last
Friday visited their factory,
which is located at the forks of
the pike, east of town. The in
dustry there established is new
one for this place, and we were
much interested as we were
shown through the establish.
ment.
The building itself is by no
means pretentious In appearance,
and yet constructed to meet the
requirements necessary to the
successful operation of their bus
mess, and it has floor space of
about 1000 feet.
Their attention, at present, is
given entirely to the manufac.
ture of insulator pins. An lnsu-
lator pin is the piece of wood you
see inserted IN the arms on tele-
graph and telephone poles, and
on which the glass is fastened.
The pin is made of locust.
Now, let US take little trip
through the factory.
We go first into the engine
room. Here we see a big 30
horsepower engine warmed up
to businessmen making much
fuss, but telling you in it's own
way that it is quite able to do it's
share of the work. Standing
near its capacious mouth, Ralph
Reed is feeding it generously
with what at first, from the care
with which it has been prepared,
you will think is some of the la
test breakfast foods, but upon
close examination you see that it
is fine locust shavings carried
there by a system of conveyers
from the lathes where the pins
are turned. The diet is light and
warranted not to impair the di-
gestive organs of the big ma
chine, but it furnishes Drawn
and muscle that enables it to do
its work easy.
We now pass to the rear of the
building and see the trucks
bringing the raw materlal-lo-
Gust timber just as it comes from
the woods--in lengths of six to
eight feet.
AS we enter the factory we see
series of rapidly revolving cir
cular saws. The first is called
the Cutoff saw. 1t is operated
by George Suders, who takes the
raw timber and saws it into
blocks of pm lengths or into null
tiples thereof. 1t is his business
to straighten the timber; for
when it passes his saw, the
blocks, whether long or short,
are straight, so there will not be
any waste in slabbing.
The next saw is called the Rip
saw and is operated by John
Doyle, with George Steach as off
bearer. Here the little log or
block as it came from the Cut-ofl
saw is thrown on the carriage, a
slab taken off, the log dropped
over on the fat side and ripped
into IL inch stuff. This stuff
passes to Bert Doyle, who ope
rates the next-the BoIting-saw
and he cuts the plank that came
from the last saw into little scant
ling or bolts 1b,inch square.
The fourth is the Cutoff saw
and it is here that John Conrat
saws those bolts into pin lengths
which vary from N to 8 inches
according to order.
The wood is now ready for tn
lathes, which run at speed o
1000 revolutions minute =
There are three of these ma
chimes, operated, respectively
ny Nick Roettger, Charlie Elite
miller and Ed Grissinger. Tn
blocks as they came from tn
cut-off saw are placed conveni
emily and each may turn and Gu
the thread on, from 1900 to 800
aday, the number depending uI
on the skill of the operator, who's
earnings depend on the numbe
he finishes. When pin is con
pleted it is thrown into q suga
barrel, and when the barrel