The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1905-06-03
GREAT MODERN BRICKYARD
Machinery Dominates Business and
Reduces Cost of Production.
The Primitive Method of Hand Max
inc Has Not Been Driven Out
WhcIIy-Why the BrickIayer A.
ways Comes Out Even.

world is bricllmaking. Nan had hard
" emerged from the savage state
when ne began to mold mud or clay
into right angied parallelgrams-al
though he did not know that that is
what they were,-hake hem in the
sun or in a fire, ana use tn m for
building materials.
Nor has the primitive ne tiiod of
making bricks by hand been wholly
driven out BY machinery. There are
in the United States even now some
four thousand small manufacturers
who use a single hcrse hi.ched to a
sweep" as the motive power of the
pug-mill in which the clay is ground
and little wood n boxes open at bath
ends as molds IN which few men
form bricks by hand. But in this, as
in most other present-day occupa-
tiOns, machinery SO greatly reduces
the cost of production that it domi-
mates the business.
In a great modern brick-yard the
first process to which the clay is sub
jected depends upon its nature,
whether ii be hard or soft, moist or
dry; but the purpose in every case is
to reduce it to smooth, even mass,
free from Jumps and foreign bodies.
In typical yard the clay as it is
dug frcmt he ground is first passed
between heavy steel rollers, like
those in flour-mill. They grind it
rollers the clay is caught in buckets
attached to an endless belt, and is
then passed through a succession OF
combs, in order to remove such for
sign bodies as sticks or roots, which |
nay have been flattened by the FOL /
rs, but allowed to pass
Again, by endless belts, the clay
asses to another set of steel rollers.
shich reduce it to still finer powder,
nd third set of buckets carry it to
ne screens. These are immense
ylinders of meshed wire cloth.
When the clay dust has passed
trough then to the tray below, it is
sady, in one case, for the presses, in
mother for the pug-mill.
The first case is that in which the
y pressing process IS used. Most
the bricks made in this way are
aced bricks" for the front of fine
lildings or for interior work. The
achine which molds the bricks is a
'ry heavy hydraulic press, the bed
which contains ten steel dies, each t
e size and shape of a brick. {
From the feeder enough clay is de- {
lsited in each mold TO form one
lex. The plunger then descends S
tn pressure Of ten tons to the o
uare inch, and as it rises, opens the n
olds and pushes out the newly form a
bricks. Each machine disgorges c
bricks every fifteen seconds. {
The second case-when the clay "
es to the pug-mill-is that in which Ii
"stiff-plastic' process is to be 81
:. The finely pulverized clay. when "
reaches the pug-mill, is mixed with Ii
ter, and whirling knives cut and le
sh and knead the resulting dough ii
III it is Of a suitable consistency 70 Of
rk.
The mOistened clay is forced by an M
ger or Archimedean screw into or
ong box, the cross-section Of which Of
bout the length and width OF sin. of
brick. Through the end of this te
, the dimensions Of which are ex- tn
y eight inches by four inches, I'M
Wis slowly column of clay. As it
moves across the cuttin-taDle, OF
\ piano wires attached to revo'v- ac
Wheei cut it into slices OF the tht
kness of single brick; these are on
led by an endless belt to the fur pc
which awaits them, and which be.
Is the last stage Of their career. ito
ring begins only when the bricks
been sufficiently dried out--a ori
ess which takes more or less rea
. according to the material used Lo,
the process employed. co,
le kilns are usually built, il not on
'ws, at least in pairs, and are now tio,
ly all of the "down-draft" pat die
The bricks are built up in long fc;
as children pile building blocks. he
the kiln is packed the ensttio,
'es are tightly sealed and hot air
d in from kiln in which the
has ceased, but which has not \
ooled. The building of the kilns kno
irs thus serves the doubN econo- 10
purpose of utilizing heat which MS
otherwise be wasted, and of amt
citing the brick to- less severe Day
at the beginning. ger
firing process fills the interior SCOT
e furnace with a solid mass Of !
which draws downward from abrt
let at the top, fills all the inter- neat
between the bricks, and passes
trough the flues at the bottom. a II
intense heat-about twenty-eight Il
ed degrees Fahrenheit-is kept the
I'm six to ten days. The fires Cod
len drawn and the kiln allowed "r
u. It
OF the most interesting things tnat.
q brick is it's dimensions. n
in the ordinary, plain red was
lg brick used In this country, A,
ways the same-two inches by ture,