The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-11-15

from the pit. Then it was towed to
New York, where 1t found a ready
market, and later on was screened
by hand in front of some building UNI
der construction, just before it became
a component part OF the plaster being
mixed in a mortar bed
The sand is still towed to the me-
tropolis-16,000 tons, or 100000
pounds, of it daily-but that is the
only part of the old method that still
generally obtains. A few spades and
carts are no longer all that is neces-
sary to get out the sand; their place
has been taken by mechanical plant
that represents an investment of all
the way from a few thousand to many
thousands of dollars. This radical
change was caused by one sand bank
owners believing that he could get
the better portion of the sand trade
by sending his sand to market all ready
for use. And by this scheme he got 1t
and kept it until his rivals were able
to put machinery in operation that
also made it possible for them to sup
ply clean sand to customers.
A typical sand bank plant looks like
nothing so much as the exterior works
of an anthracite coal mine, only the
structures, instead of crowning an ele-
walton, are on the floor of the pit, the
SeIIll-ClICuldT wall VI WIllCH IIOJ ulllTG-
quently towers 100 feet above. The
washer is largely responsible for this
similarity in appearance. 1t is built
on the same general plan as a coal
breaker, has the latter's ample pro-
portions, and is pyramidal and towers
like 1t.
In addition to the washer each pit
has one or more screens fed by an
endless chain or cups filled by hand
81 cfzA -
of transporting the products-fne and
rough sand and gravel-to the barges
anchored by the pier Sometimes this
is done by carts; again toy locomo-
tives and cars puff from screen to
washer and steam shovels for freight
and then pull over the barges and
free themselves of their burden. But
one firm has gone a step further-it
hauls its sand by trolley and in this
way loads between ten and twelve
barges a day.
This is by far the largest sand bank
on Long Island, and one of the big
gest in America. The bank itself con-
sists of nearly 500 acres, bought at
prices varying from $1,000 to 81, 500
an acre, and the plant is so large that
the great pit, which begins almost at
the waters edge. extends back a
fourth of a mile, and is nearly a third
of a mile at its widest part, is not
capable of holding it all. three buildings
having their foundations in the bot
tom of Hampstead Harbor.
At this plant the sand is not only
screened and washed free of loan and
other foreign substances; IL is dried.
An endless belt carries a steady
stream of sand high over the shore
road into one of the buildings out over
the water and on to a red-hot metal
surface, which evaporates the moisture
in the very few seconds 1t takes the
sand to travel over it and fall down
a hopper into a canal boat Then
when the boat is filled, the matches
are battered down and i've hours later
the sand is delivered perfectly dry to
the wharf of the New York consignee.
An innovation at another sand bank
is a centrifugal machine that blows
up tons Of sand in a day into screens
and the washer, and that does away
with a great portion Of the hand la