Connecticut western news., 1907-10-17
BERKSHIRE WHITE
 CEMENT PLANT
IN OPERATION AT CLAYTON, MASS.

IN OPERATION AT CLAYTON, MASS. Indications Point to a Successful
 Future Output Will be About 40
 Barrels of Cement DaiIy-20 Men
 Will be Employed
 TheBerkshire White Cement Company, who now own the old terra cotta works near Clayton, Mass, have com menced the manufacture of white ce- ment and feel confident that the venture will be decided success. Considerable remodeling of the interior of the plant was necessary in order that it might conform to the cement making require menus and in this work the company has expended about $15, 1000. Some of the machinery used in the manufacture of brick and terra cotta is available in the making of the new product but the larger and more expensive part of 1t will be of no use and will probably be disposed of
 White cement is a comparatively new product but one which has sprung rap idly into favor as a finishing material with parties who are erecting stone or concrete buildings. It is also largely used in interior finishing, taking the place of tile in many places such, for in- stance, as in bath rooms. The com pany expect large order for this ce- ment to be used in New York City sub- way.
 The principal constituents of the ce- ment are lime stone and white clay, the former being procured from quarry near Sheffield, which the company re- gently purchased, and the clay from the inexhaustible supply in the hills a quarter mile from the plant.
 The clay is loaded into miniture cars and transferred on the narrow gauge railroad to large oven, near the plant, where it is thoroughly dried. In the plant is also long rotary tube in which the clay is dried inasm mnch as the capac- ity of the oven is not sufficient to dry the clay rapidly enough to keep the plant in operation.
 After it is dried, an elevator takes it to a screen on the second floor from which it decends through a wooden tube and is ground in machine resembling a grist mill and operating on the same principle.
 The lime stone is crushed in an ordi- nary stone erusher and then passed through pulxerizer. The clay and stone are then lifted to bins on the second floor from which they are dropped into @ large revolving drum partially filled with flint pebbles and called the pebble mill. When the mass leaves this mill it is so thoroughly mixed and pulver- ized that 96 per cent of it will pass through 100-mesh screen.
 When thih stage is reached, it is ready for the burning which is done in TO- tary kiln. steel tube 40 feet long and set on an incline. As it revolves, the ground clay and stone gradually work their way from one end to the other, being continually subjected to an in tense heat produced by fuel oil. When the mass is emptied from the kiln, it again passes through the grinding pro- cess in what is called Griffin mill from which it energes Q finished cement.
 The power for the operation of the plant is furnished by 150-horse-power steam engine. with q 30-horse-po en- zine as reserve power and to operate the kiln.
 The plant, when in complete opera taon will provide employment for about 90 men and the daily product will be about 40 barrels of cement This cement of course, will cost more than ordinary cement, probably three or four times as much
 Daring the experimental stage, 300 barrels of the cement were sold and gave unbounded satisfaction to the purchas- CTS. It was shortly after making this small output that the company received the assurance that there would be a market for all they could produce.
 The future of the plant will be watched with interest. Everyone in this territory is anxious for its success, not only because the owners have risked large sums of money in the enterprise but because of it's industrial value to the com munity.
 Sheffield Water Supply
 The Sheffield selectmen are consider ing the adv1sibility of calling a special town meeting to consider new contract with the Sheffield Water Company for supplying the town with water. Re peated complaints have been filed with the board regarding the condition of the