The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1909-04-21
THEY GAVE Us A KILNINC time.
Tour Of Inspection Of Denissa Brick Works
Shows one Of Denison's Nest Pros
porous Enterprises n Full Blast

Shows one Of Denisons Nest Pros
perous Enterprises IN Full Blast
One day last week Joe Ward OF the
firm of Green & Ward, Brickmakers.
came into town with his overalls and
his automobile and took bank clerk,
a physician and an editor out to see
the plant at work. Joe hasn't had
his automobile very long, not 80 long
az he has had his overalls. and the
B. C. and the M. D. bounced around
like couple of corks out fishing in .
gale on Okoboji, but the editor has
been through so much that he didn't
mind. As soon as we were started
we were there, or nearly so.
When we got to the Elant Ward
turned us over to Alderman Green.
Ward said he would rather run the
engine than show US around anyway.
The first requisite for any we'll re-
gulated brick is clay. The Denlson
Brick Works has ten acres of the fin
est brick-clay to be found and the
vein is about sixty feet deep. There
is enough clay to keep the works run
ming full time for fifty years. which
is going some. We were first intro
duced to the clay. Itgets darker and
richer the deeper you go. There
were three men loading the car, one
of them perched twenty feet up on the
side of the clay bank and all OF them
throwing mud like the Bulletin in
campaign times. When the car. it
holds about two yards, was loaded,
they lifted the brake and two of the
boys got on and rode. 1t looked like
great fun, but we understand it is
classed as work and the bosses pay
for it all right. The car ran down te
the dump and then it was dumped,
that is the clay was. An endless
band elevator took the clay up and de-
posted it in the iron NAV of the grea
grinder that went round and rount
and chewed up the clay and moulded
it and finally spit it out through I
sort of shute onto long platform
With one pull of a lever dozel
bricks were cut and the leaders place.
them on the drying racks. They wer
then hauled to the drying sheds wher
the exhaust steam from the engin
that runs the masticator is turne
loose through several miles of pipe
and dries the embryo bricks in abou
three days and half. From tn
DRYER the bricks are taken to the kiln
There is great trick in piling tn
bricks in the kiln as this helps in til
even distribution of the heat and
is necessary to lay them 50 tins
through the peep holes there may
an unobstructed view clear to the Gel
ter of the kiln. Then the fires al
lighted and Tophet breaks loose. Fl
twelve days and nights the heat
kept round about 200 degrees Fahrel
heit. A glance through one of til
peep holes shows just mass of fierc
ly glowing white. One look is enoue
to make man resolve to do bett'
all the rest of his days. Six days a
required for the brick to cool off to
point where they can be handled al
then they are ready for market. II
brick works employs nearly score
men and pays good wages from ear
spring to late In the fall The man
facturers have little difficulty in Sc
ling their product. in fact they c,
not do much more than keep up wi
the demand, and but for the fact tn
YOU have to pay mason forty dolla
an hour and buard to lay any brio
they would have to run night and da
Green and Ward are two fine. clea
straightforward, hard working your
business men. Both of them kno
the brick business from "A to lizard
and they are making great succe
of the Denison plant.