The Washington herald., 1908-07-12

ing $4,000 pounds, dwarfng the two men
attendant upon IT, It's upper Jaw is lift
ed at shearing angle and the compact
lCo-horscpower motor stands silent at
attention as the twenty-fve-ton travelling
cFane overhead approaches with the tra-
mendous slab Of steel bending and sway
Ing with its own weight.
Gently the slab Is deposited upon the
receiving table A touch upon a mechan-
ism brings the slab into place with its
chalk mark for cutting lined under the
she1I1nE blade above. Another touch and
bar of toothed metal descends upon the
plate, holding it firmly IN place A foot
upon pedal and the great cog gearings
m the machine begin TO revolve Then.
with only slight crunch. the shearing
jaw Of the machine drops. and smoothly
cut as a sheet OF paper In q sharp Scis-
sors the twelve-foot strip OF two-inch
steel falls away changing into the pit
which receives Il.
one second is the time Years ago this
problem Of shearing such plate would
have involved the man with the sledge
hammer and the other man with the
hammer-shaped cold chisel held to place
by long handle. Later a quicker proc
ess was the drill. But to-day this steel
guillotine. heavier than a locomotive and
with the harnesscd power Of a hundred
horses, Sits the two-inch steel plate in a
second.
Punching the Great Beams.
Punching the great steel beams which
the saw sewers like so much pine IS rs
easy as for the cook to cut the hole I'm a
doughnutJ The overhead crane brings
the beam to the punching machine. It's
fianges are dotted with the white spots
designated for holes by the man who has
laid the pine pattern upon the steel Ad-
justed under the steel punch, a foot upon
pedal brings tine cutting face Of the
tool down upon the steel from which an
instant later drops the slug Of metal. too
hot to hold in the hand from the friction
necessary to driving il out
Everywhere in this greatest iron and1
steel warehouse in the world the visl-
tor fronts the colossus. There are SIS 900
square feet Of warehouse flooring with
capacity for 10000 tons of stored mate
riai Forty-nine railroad cars Of stand
ard size may Doe run in under its roofs.
and everywhere some one OF the sixteen
high-speed travelling cranes may run up
and away a 900 feet a minute. carrying
an average load of ten tons. Some of
these cranes easily might lift a steel coal
car Of 100000 capacity and bear it away
Each OF these great cranes has a
stretch Of 100 feet directed by the oDer-
ator in his little hanging basket under
meath, travels the width Of it's warehouse.
In addition to these giant carriers are the
numbericSs small electric hOists which
may be switched anywhere. even to p
second floor and pick up bundles of met
al to the load capacity of the modern
dray. Six thousand pounds. picked up I'm
an instant, may be laid upon "A waiting
wagon fifty or a hundred feet away al
most before the visitor realizes what is
taking place. Far more time NAV be re-
oulred Of two or three men making fast
the lifting chains than is needed by the
operator Of the hoist to do the real work.
Big Machines Dwarf Men.
Everywhere the gigantic operations Of
machinery prompt the casual visitor To
look about him for men. But the ma
chine has dwarfed the man into Insignif-
canoe. Two or three men may be seen
near the flaring light Of the steel saw.
Two men are at the 26O,OOO-pound shear
ing machine. Two men are directing
steel beams under the polished point Of
the punching press
But where a handful Of men are col
lected and at work the visitor discovers
that they are at the comparative child'g
play Of hooking chains fast TO steel or to
machinery. merely that the electric crane
may do that work I'm seconds which might
require hours of their individual efforts.
If. indeed. the task were possible to them
Some idea Of the work of the electric
travelling crane may he seen IN viewing
the steel stock carried I'm this vast new
plant. They tell you at Ryersons that
at present the stock is low. But on the
ground floor. passing stacks Of sheet or
bar steel resting on the wooden flooring.
you will note how this flooring has set |
tied under the tremendous weight. II IS !
sagged deeply in places while the sheets |
OF steel are bent under their own com
bned pressure In the stack.
Yet We prepared against this floor set
ting explained n manager in the ma 1
chinery department. I'VE put two and q |
half feet Of concrete under this flooring. |
And the stock Just now is IEhtl"