New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1903-07-29
HAS AUTOMATIC sTOKER
New Boiler at Eagle Mill Supplied
With Modern Device.
Stoker Now Being Installed b,
Engineer Louis ]. Boyd.
Latter Has Just Completed SINH
lar Work For Japanese.


lighted under the new marine boiler at
the Eagle mill, one of the largest in
use in the state The boiler has been
in position for some time and during
the past fortnight force of men has
been engaged putting on the finishing
touches, in the shape of a Jones
stoker. The latter is a comparatively
recent invention in the line of boiler
room fixtures and the one now being
installed here is the first to be tried in
Southwestern Minnesota, although
many manufacturing plants are
equipped with them. -.
1t is a contrivance which does away
with hand firing, the coal being show
elled into a hopper and then thrown
upon the fire by the stoker itself.
Boilers upon which the attachment is
used are to be distinguished by the
peculiar construction Of the fire box,
there being practically no CRATES and
the draught being obtained by means
Of powerful fan. The air piping for
this fan was furnished by Ochs & Baer
of this city, and it has been arranged
in such a manner that connections may
be made with another boiler, when a
satisfactory test has been made of the
one now being put in.
Arguments which the manufacturers
present in favor of the stoker is that
it feeds the fire more uniformly than
can be done by hand and that it is
more economical. Tests have shown
that it burns the coal very clean,
leaving but small percentage of ash,
and that it consumes much of the gas
which goes to make up smoke. 1t is
manufactured by the Under-Feed
Stoker company, with headquarters in
the Marquette Building, Chicago, and
their machines are in successful oper-
alton in all parts of the world.
Louis J. Boyd, the erecting engineer
who has installed the ,stoker here, is a
gentleman thoroughly conversant with
engineering matters: Only this month
he returned from Japan, where he went
last spring to do similar work for his
company. While in the land of the
Mikado Mr.. Boyd installed two
stokers in an electric light plant at
Toxic, the capital, and another in a
lighting station at Osaka, the princi-
pal manufacturing city of that country.
At both places he was given ex-
cellent opportunities to observe the
Japanese in their everyday life and,
as he was most observant, he is able
to depict conditions in that country
interestingly According to Mr.. Boyd
the Japs, by some persons termed the
Americans of the east, are greatly
overrated and rather inclined to
placed a higher estimate upon their
own ability than circumstances war;
rant. The country is not the world
power the magazines would have us
believe and there remains much to be
done before it may rank with this and
other nations.
He found the Japanese a stOlid,
methodical people and attributes what
progress they have made to their won
derful initiative powers. Any piece of
machinery which they may see in
operation they are able to faithfully
reproduce and this is equally true of
all manufactured articles. Coupled
with the facts that labor is very cheap
and the patent laws lax. they are able
to produce articles amazingly cheap
and it is thus possible for them to
make things decidedly interesting for
European and American competitors.
From his close contact with the
Japanese workingmen he learned! that
they are woefully slow. They lack the
alertness of the American and although
their completed work is of quality
fully as good as in this country, they