Imperial Valley press., 1910-01-08
TILE AND BRICK WORKS
 IN RUNNING ORDER Important Addition to Fl Gen. tfO'S Industrial Enterprises
 Nearly Completed
simons Company Finds Material Suita- ble for Fine Product and Beens Operations With Force of Twenty Five Men - Busy Little Settlement Across the Track.


 tro is the new plant of the Simons Brick Company, located along the Southern Pacific Railroad tracks, just south of the town limits. This week the plant is running on it's first turn out of bricks and hollow tile for the kiln to be fired within the next seven days.
 The entire plant is in fine shape and is working well. The clay is prov ing even better than was expected, and is turning out a fine product.
 The plant makes fine showing from many parts of town and is a particularly prominent feature seen from the passenger trains which daily carry many strangers through the valley The buildings are of galyan- ized iron, one shed being 900x60 feet while another is 250x60 feet, and the engine house and shed covering the works is two stories high and covers a ground space of 40x80 feet.
 Adjoining this is a small tent city, which later will be replaced by sub stantia1 structures of brick and hol- low tile. A large oil tank and high water tank are features of the plant.
 The first kiln will contain 300,000 brick and a considerable number of hollow tile. Later kilns will be erect ed containing from 500,O00 to 100000 brick
 Twenty-Five men are employed at the works and this number will be gradually increased as the work pro- gresses. c. Klinkman, who comes from the Los Angeles plant of the Simons Company, is in charge; E. H. Eaton, also of Los Angeles, is engineer, and Earl Aitkin, from Idaho, is assistant engineer. The other men are Fl Gen. tro residents.
 The clay pit is located directly east of the works, and at depth of only seven feet the clay and sand is reached.
 The, clay makes smooth, brown brick which burns perfectly and which "an be used with the best possible results in building any kind of busi- ness or residence building. The com pany is selling bricks at $850 per thousand whether in 1000 or in 100. 900 lots. The blocks, each one of which couples the place of four bricks will De sold at about $30 per thousand.
 Manager Klinkman says that the bricks made from the clay deposits in Fl Centro are better than the San ta Monica bricks and the Santa Monica product has the name of being the best in Los Angeles county
 At present the capacity of the plant is 35,000 bricks per day; but this week more machinery has arrived, in cluding a self cutter and conveyor, which will increase the capacity to 50OOO bricks per day.
 The first runs of material will be used for the erection of a five-room bungalow for the use of members of the firm when stopping in El Centro, and a series of two-room cottages for use of the workmen who prefer to reside within close reach of the plant commodious cook house and dining room is also to be construct ed as soon as the material is avail able.
 Crude oil will be used for fuel for both the engine and the kilns, but the runs at present are being made with mesquite wood as fuel, During the week a side track has been construct ed from the Southern Pacific main track to the northerly end of the works, and shipments of oil will be received next week.