The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1914-06-26
"A GREAT ENTERPRISE
THE ASBESTOS PLANT TN OPERATION
MAMMOTH CONCRETE BUILDING
LATEST IMPROVED MACHINERY,
LARGEST COMPLETE FACTO-
RIES N THE WORLD.


The people Or Westminster will be
glad to know that the new and thor
oughly modern plant OF the Balti-
more Roofing and Asbestos Manufac-
turing Company, located at Asbestos,
\ formerly Finksburg, il now in oper-
alton. we know that our readers viii
be interested ia the following de-
scription OF the plant which was in
spected recently by member Of the
Advocate staff
The main building, which houses
the machinery devoted To the manu-
facture OF asbestos products, Is a fire
proof, steel and concrete structure
is of a mile long; a part Of il, 70
feet long il two stories high, and the
remainder one story. Tn this main
building are the departments for the
manufacture Of asbestos millboard,
asbestos paper, asbestos roofing and
asbestos specialties OF ali sorts. Other
buildings are the power house, cement
plant and paint plant.
II Following the process of manufac-
turing our representative noted that
the raw asbestos, packed in bags
weighing 100 pounds each, Is brought
to the plant over the Company's rail
road siding To the very doors Of The
building in car loads, where 1T j. taken
into the building and placed i'll stor-
49, convenient To the machinery.
From the storage this raw material IL
weighed out in definite quantities and
IL run through beating engines In
which tile asbestos IL torn apart by
evolving rolls and where water l.
added to reduce Id to a pulp Of proper
consistency. From the beating engines
the pulp flows directly into large con
crete tanks beneath thu floor in which
ID " constantly stirred BY agitators,
and where ii IL held ready for the
machines which make it into mill
board and paper. On the floor above
these tanks are located stock pumps
which raise the pulp To regulating
boxes placed high above the floor
from which it flows out by gravity to
the various machines.
The machinery in the millboard a.
parJment operates in this way-the
pulp flows from the regulating boxes
through revolving screens and IL O.
posted in a thin layer upon moving
blanket which passes between heavy
iron rolls, the rolls In their revolu-
tons picking the material up a. Az
passes through, and forming sheet
in successive layers Or Nominations a.
they revolye. When tn desired thick
ness il reached the sheets are cut
from the rolls and loaded on car
riages upon which they are sent To
the dry room where the moisture in
the millhoard il dried out by heat
furnished by system Of steam coils.
When dry the sheets Of board are CUT
into suitable sizes On automatic cut
ting machines and are then ready for
shipment Al millboard ri to tx fabri-
Gated into various forms such as table
tops, mats, stove Innings, engine gas
kets, etc.
This work Of fabricating the mill
board il done on the second floor Of
the building where the board IL taken
On an elevator by electricity, and
where the work il done Oh series Of
presses, sewing machines, etc.
In another department ID the paper
machine, a huge affair 160 feet i'm
length consisting or "a consecutive
series OF screens, watts, rolls, revolv-
ing dryers, reels and Winders. a. On
the millboard machine, the asbestos
pulp il pumped from the tanks through
regulating boxes to the machine and
the thin sheet OF paper j. formed On
blankets between heavy iron rolls -
it Il formed the paper j. run over The
dryers which are steam heated and
from which it il wound, dried and
finished or a ct OF reels. From the
reels it il passed between shifting
knives which cut the sheets into com
In raI. -
wound into rolls of given weight
This great machine operates contln-
uously day and night and ~ IL shut
down only at the end Of the week ~
produces many tons of asbestos paper
daily.
\ The mill il also equipped with com
plete asphalt refineries for making
asbestos roofing
At each end Of the building are
large Warerooms for placing stock rs
fore shipping and whose doors open
into the doors Oh freight cars which
are placed along side Of the building
for loading
"a feature which proves The up-to-
dateness OF this plant il that all ma
chinery IL electrically driven. Each
machine is driven by its individual
mOIOTr anu Tile
IL generated in a separate power
plant. In the power plant are Install
ed boilers 1900 horsepower total g.
pacity, furnishing steam to two direct
connected generator units. The
power II distributed from a central
switch board to the various depart
ments in the plant. An Independent
pumping plant with water tank of
5000 gallons capacity adjoins the
power plant and furnishes ample
water supply for use in the mill and
for fire protection. The level Of the
stream at the plant, branch Of the
Patapsco River, has been raised sev-
eral feet by a concrete dam forming
storage for large quantity OF water.
the Advocate takes this opportunity
to congratulate the gentlemen who
have carried this work On ID success
fully. They are Mr. r. M- Nichols,
President; Mr.. iii. M. Nichols, Vice
President; Mr. o. R Emigh, Vice
President and General Manager; Mr.
wv. B. James, Secretary, and Charles
R. Foutz, Treasurer; Mr.. A- R- Lukens,
General Superintendent or the plant
The work or construction has been
carried On by the COmpany's forces
under the direction OF Mr. IT. 81