The Newtown bee., 1909-08-27

ground by means of cam going very rapidly forward and backward and catching the ore, as 1t runs down from q spout, between itself and a solid iron frame. After the rock ore has been erusheu, that and the wash ore are wheeled, as wanted, in bar rows and thrown into the stack, the contents of which look like a seeth- Ing lake of fire, and from which the roaring blasts of air are continually rising into the oven. The latter is placed on top of the stack, Instead of to one side of 1t as is the rule in many iron works, and this arrange ment, Mr HopsOn thinks, is q great advantage. In fact, 1t is his opinion that there Is not a better oven In the valley. The oven is at least 20 feet high and the stck 34 feet, mak- ing fl total height of 54 feet. The whole structure occupies quite an area, the round top" (the receptacle in which the ore is melted, being enclosed in q huge frame of stone. The round top" Is perhaps three feet in diameter at the tor, and about nine feet in the bosh or widest part, the stack being built large in the middle, from wnIch it gradually tapers smaller toward the top and to the bottom or hearth. The latter consists of from 20 to ~ stones, laid very compactly and symmetrically like the concave of a bowl. A new hearth has to be put in about once a year at a cost of $500, and it takes about 8 week to build 1t. When the fire in the stack is started it is called blowing in," and when it is allowed to go out it is called Dlowing out" The stack can be blown out in about 24 hours. Only when new hearth is put in or there is 6 shut down for some purpose, is the fire allowed to go out. For many months, perhaps, it is fed with fuel and ore, day and night, Sundays included. Several men are kept constantly at work wheeleing barrows full of charcoal and of ore, to be cast into the in- satiable maelstrom of flames. The stack is fed by what are called Charges" A charge consists of perhaps 30 bushels of charcoal and from HOO to 1,4O0 pounds of ore, and as these charges rapidly follow one another, in order to keep the stack full, many thousands of bushels of charcoal are being burned and many tons of ore are melted in the same time. Tkis quantity of ore fur nishes from IA to 15 tons of iron daily or about 100 tons week. The charcoal used is obtained from the woods of the surrounding region. Continually mixed with the ore and charcoal in the stack is a quantity of limestone, which serves as a flux to separate the iron from the cinder. Of the limestone, three to four tons are used in "A hours.
 "The roaring flames which per meate the stack from hearth to top are only kept up bp the continual introduction of powerful blasts of not air at the seat of the fire. The stimulating effect is tremendous. In what is called the wheel house" are huge and powerful bellows, the chatter and mournful groaning of which, as they are forced through their labored movements, affects the unaccustomed ear rather curiously. The water power from the dam op- crates these bellows, which send big blasts of air through long pipe con- meeting with the furnace. From the main pipe the air flows into a bed pipe and thence into a tier of siphon pipes, rising into the oven. There arc three tiers of these siph2n pipes, 15 in tier, 45 in all. The pipes of each tier are curved like an ox-bow, and the three tiers are connected with each other by means of three bed pipes. The air, as it is carried over and over in these siphon pipes, so as to be thoroughly exposed to the heat of the furnace, becomes very hot and it is estimated that it's pressure, as it comes down from the siphon pipes upon the fire, cannot vary much from one pound to the sqbar. inch. The air is poured upon the fire through what are called 'tuyeres," these being short en- trance pipes leading from a main pipe encircling the bottom of the stack. There are five tuyeres
 They are made of iron, and in order to keep their ends, from which tho air rushes forth and which come in contact with the intensely hot fire,