Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1914-03-16
BLAST FURNACE STAG
To Be UTILIZED IN
BRICK MANUFACT0RY
New Process Invented by. Harris
burg EngineersW Take Out
Building Permits
COMPANY ASKS FOR PATENT
Waste Material Now Vexing Mill
Owners Will Be Turned
Into Money

Harrisburg's newest baby indus
try-the manufacture. of pressed brick
from blast furnace slag-will be doing
business by May 1.
The manufacturing company will be
known as the Paxton Pressed Brick
Company and the plant and offices Will
be established on O. portion OF ground
adjacent to the great Stag banks of the
Central Iron and Steel Company in
South Harrisburg.
Work on. the construction of the
plant has already been started and 1t
is the hope of the officers to have
bricks ready for shipment within the
next six weeks. The process by which
the bricks are to be made, COM
bination composed of granulated Stag,
cement and other essential ingre-
dients, is to be patented, application
having already been filed.
The new company is headed by some
of the city's engineers who have been
connected with the public improve
ment work.. Joel D. Justin, principal
engineer. and Henry McC. Gross, as
sistant engineer, of the Board of Pub
lie Works, are the president and sec
retary, respectively, and Robert
Mccormick is treasurer. The new con-
'cern is capitalized at $4,000.
10000 Bricks Day
For months the engineers have been
busy working out the plans for manu-
featuring the new product and while
the plant is not yet in operation
enough inquiries have been received to
warrant doing business at the full
capacity from the start. At least
10, 600 bricks will be turned out daily,
although it is expected that the ca
pacity will be increased to 10000 be-
fore the summer season ends.
Material for the new style Of brick
will be obtained from d 200, ,000-ton
bank of blast furnace Stag. The in
gradients to be used are of such as to
enhance the value of the product for
firebrick and building brick-resist-
ance to heat being a feature of its
qualities. Incidentally the new brick
can be made and sold very much
more cheaply than the clay brick, the
officials of the new company contend.
In discussing the new Stag brick to-day
President Justin said:
Artificial Stone
THE material is essentially an arti-
fetal stone manufactured from granu-
lated blast furnace Stag, which has
been segregated by passing the molten
Stag into water. To this is added
Portland cement and certain other
essential ingredients which increase
the strength of the product 100 per
cent AT present granulated Stag is
waste material. One of the blast fur
mace superintendent greatest prob
lens is how to get rid of the waste
hauled over railroads for many miles
to be dumped for fill. Often blast
furnaces have been obliged to close
down because no way could be found
for disposing of the granulated Stag
except at prohibitive expense"
The method to be used in making
the brick will be new for this section
81 1,n ,ff.Y- W. - -
mixed in machine similar to the
mixers in service on the river wall,
the Paxton creek and other improve.
ments where concrete Is the basis
product. The mass will then be
pressed into molds and dried by a.
forced steam pressure.
What Brick is Like
1t is said that the brick will be very
refractory and hence can be used as
an ordinary firebrick, but the prin-
cipal claim made for the new brick is
that it will be produced in a large
vaiety of attactive finishes, textures
and colors, making excellent face
bricks for building purposes. The
company also asserts that, by reason
of their new process, they will be able
to produce and sell these bricks at
much lower price than clay face brick
are now sold for in Harrisburg
AS to the quality and durability of
the brick, it is stated that they have
withstood the most severe tests, one
sample withstanding a pressure of
10000 pounds. The active running of
the plant will be in charge of Allan
M. Paget. superintendent.
The permit to construct the two
plant buildings was taken out to-day.
The press department will be 30x30
feet, while the dry room will be 50x3O.
Both will be of frame and will cost
approximately $500. The plant will
be erected in Magnolia street 800 feet
west of Cameron.