Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1914-04-11
GREAT PLANT AT FLINT.
Magnitude Of Buick Work Proves Sur.
= prise to Visitor From Oregon.

A resident of Portland recently look
ed over the plant of the Buick auto
mobile factory at Flint. Michigan, and
this is the way he describes it in let
ter to a Portland paper:
While in Flint, Mich, recently, DE-
A. w. Baird Of this city took occasion
to visit the Buick automobile factory
and writes the Journal in part as fol
lows:
"lt doesn't sound reasonable to sup.
pose that one could go really sight.
seeing in a Michigan town Of only
$4,000, far removed from the nationally
known historical centers Of the east
and west, but he can.
"What you see in Flint is bigness,
great, stupendous, ineonceivable big
ness, for in the Buick, Flint has one
of the largest autoombile manufacture.
ing concerns in the world. The floor
space Is 50 acres and the entire grounds
cover something like 100 acres. The
output is 1865 motor ears day, arr.
for 1914 the total output is estimated
at $4,000 cars.
I" A visitor to the mammouth plant
emit digest its bigness in a day.
He is shown through labyrinth of
belts, machinery and men, huge forge.
hammers, with men bare to the waist,
gear cutters, stock rooms and ware
houses. He sees the motor car in vari.
Gus stages of dshabile, every part
built from the raw into the finished,
marketable product, in the company
own shops.
Every Inch Utilized.
"The first building we went in
houses what they call the general mn.
chine department. II Is a big room,
or 1t seems so at first; but by the
time you have been walking aNunl
the plant few hours you realize that
il is one of the smallest in the group.
Every inch of floor space is utilized
and utilized in way, too, that shows
ingenuity reduced to science in thas
everything is so compact without any
clattering. Every operator has all the
room required, but rot an inch more,
"Of course, factory exploration is
more interesting for q person of =
mechanical turn of mind than II is fo-
the casual sightseer, but nobody could
take the walk | did and not come away
with something of realization of the
stupendous immensity of the institu'
tion, and the system necessary to run
il. | am told that it is a matter of
manufacturing record that the operat.
ing expenses are 81 1000 day, inclu.
sive of course of labor and material
Gin the shipping department are 200
men, and a staady line of ears is kept
rolling from the warehouse into the
freight empties in waiting. Every man
is an expert, and they say that II
takes only minute ond half to get
a machine into the ear, cleated AMI
ready for shipment.
Ponderous Hammers Used.
"There is something exciting and
thrilling about the drop forge building.
big, ponderous hammers pound any
thing from turn buckle to n crank
shaft. One hammer has striking
blow of $4,000 pounds. The "'little"
hammers strike from 5000 down to 600
ponds, and turn out axles and thof
usual number of small malleablo parts
when so into automobile manufacture
Even the brass and amminum work is
done in the shops
"Ani then there the motor build
ing. Imagine, if YOU can n building of
27S,460 square feet, six and half
acres. Imagine, too, hundreds OF mot
ors, all IN line, chugging for hours
in rigid test before going to the
Glasses for road work,
al was surprised at the number of
women employed. They are in the top