Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1903-04-29
NN POTTERY
PLANT READY
FOR OPERATION
New Industry For Marshall
town Largest of Its Kind
In the World
WHAT THE BUILDINGS ARE LIKE
Something About the Making Of Pot
tery-Frorn shapeless Clay to Fin
ished Procuct-Marshalltown Pottery
Company Owns the Largest Plant in
ere Worlel for the Manufacture of
Earthenware speciaitiesNtias capa-
city Of 1000 Cars q Year.

- H4L--..AAwE
Without furry. or demonstration of
any kind arid with scarcely any other
noticeable stir than that made by the
whistle that. will the begin
ming OF the laboring day. this city's in
dustrial prize for the year 1902, the
Narshalltown Pottery Company, will
begin operations Friday. 1t will be
probably thirty or sixty days before the
plant will be working up to the capaci-
tysof the machinery Installed, but this
will be accomplished gradually as
workmen are secured and made compe-
tent In the several departments. To
commence with the company will em-
ploy about thirty men and the number
will be Increased in thirty days to fifty
and In two months to eeyenty-five,
Marshalltown will not realize until
the factory is running under full ca
pacity what. mammoth institution the
new pottery plant Is. The officials of
the company are not inclined to brag,
nor do they say much about what they
are going to do. and What the city may
expect in tile way of enlargement with
In the next few years. The T.-R. will
state, however, for the benefit Of the
people Of M~hrsfalltown and the state at
large that the new industry here has a
capacity equal to that Cf all the pot
terry plants located west of the Missis-
sippi river combined, andsis the largest
in the world for the manufacture of
earthen ware s~pecialties. Any one who
has seen the Monmouth plant will be
Interested in knowing that the new fac-
tory here has q greater capacity by
one-third. A Liverpool, Ohio, concern
comes the nearest to equalling the local
plants output, and q pottery at Port
land. Ore, which is given by govern
ment statistics to be the largest in the
west, has only one-eighth h capacity
of the Marshalltown institution.
A trip to the Industrial addition,
where the factory is located, is well
worth any ones time, as from two to
three hours can be spent very profit
ably going thru the several buildings, |
watching the pottery as It passes from
one stage to another. Manager Mat
hews wishes the p,s,lic to understand
that visitors are welcome at n time
during the day. The kilns ana build
Jugs occupy a conspicuous spot close
TO the right of-ways Of both the Iowa
Central and Northwestern, and the
plant is the first OF Marshalltown's in
dustries seen to advantage from the
passenger trains of either road, enter
Ing from the east.
What the Buildings Are Like.
The entire plant is composed of the
Ave buildings, which are all connected
and built close together. It is construc-
ted entirely of brick, and in area COW
ers two and one-half acres. The main
building, in which the pottery is made
and dried, is 125x100 feet, three stories
fnsheight. Joining 1t, on the north, is
the miilinfs room, 100x50 feet, one story
In height, In which the raw clay is UNI
loaded and where 1t Is ground and
mixed for use. On the west end of
this is thu. boiler and engine room, in
which liz set the principal engine OF $50
horse power, boilers and smaller en-
'ginei and dynamo, by which the plant
Is furnished with electric light. The
low one-story building farthest to the
east, ts the ware shed principally used
for storage purposes, but in which Is
located. at the south end, the box
room. This building is 100x200 feet.
The low structure that connects this
and the main building, the roof of
which il broken by the round domes of
the kiins, is the Kiln Shed, and covers a
ground space of 170x200 feet. Con-
Meeting the buildings underneath the
of the kiln shed are wide cement
walks. a cement walk also extends the
length ofsthe ware shed, Its floor being
OF earth.
Work Of Preparation.
About nine months ago the ground
broken for the first stone OF the
foundation, and altho the buildings
were completed In November, several
months have been required to set the
and get everything in readi-
ness for active operations. While there
is not the, immense amount of machin-
cry necessary to the making of pottery
that will be found in other lines of
manufacture, still this item Is a con-
siderable one. The making of molds in
which the product is formed has re-
quired the time of several men for three
or four months. The company has on
QdIlQt TCduy u START WItlis ABOUT lZ,OUU /
OF Paris molds, running from
one-halfS pint to ten gallons in size.
Each one of the molds is in two pieces,
the inside Of 1t being a duplicate of
the outside Of the finished product. The
necessity for SO many Is that one mold
can only be used once each day, as the
liz left to dry for several hours
In the mold.
Clay Comes From Clifford.
The clay used comes from Clifford,
the company own a tract of
acres. under which there are
strata of this material varying in depth
from fifteen to thirty feet. A siding
built by the Iowa Central, runs to the
face Of the pit, where the clay is load
ed In cars mi brought directly along
side the milling ROOM, where it is un-
loaded inside. ready for being turned {
Into Jars. Another siding is used for
cars with the finished ware. I.
We'll Equipped With Power.
The power that drives the greater
OF the machinery is the 15o-horse j