The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1916-07-01
|KE0KUK'S NEW industries
ARE VISITED .DY DIRECTORS

| plates causes the zinc IL the solu-
| ton which is pouring into the watts
to collect on these plates. The solu-
ton is fed into the watts through hose
attached to the tanks in the side of
the room.
A huge travelling crane electrically
operated picks up these coated alum
mum plates and takes them over to
a corner of the room whore men take
off the wooden binding edges and
knock off the zinc which las collect
ed. The zinc is then taken over to
the furnaces where it is melted and
run into molds. The cleaned plates
are put back into the vats and the
process is REPEATED. The solution is
renewed after it has run into a big
tank at the end of the electrolitic
room, and is carried back to the big
tanks.
A new process, that OF hardening
lead is to be carried on here, too
This new industry is described in an
other column.
Standard Four Plant
From the refinery the directors
made their way to the Standard Four
Tire company's plant at Thirty-sec-
ond and jackson avenue. Here they
found evidences of considerable in
dustry and the tire making room re-
sembled a bee hive, as one of the
directors expressed it. The Standard
Four plant is proving one of the
busiest of the new Keoku1 industries.
Men are being added every week, and
new equipment is arriving now and
will be installed. There are over
seventy-five people employed at this
plant and as soon as the equipment
which has arrived can be installed
more will be employed. Between
eighty and ninety tires are being
made in day, and at full capacity
the plant can turn out 200 tires.
Going down stairs to the first floor
the directors saw how the rubber is
brought into the plant in hams and
smoke sheets. The compound room
where the rubber and cloth are put
through the heavy rollers attracted
the attention of the visitors.
The frictionized fabric from this
machine goes to the cutting room
where it is cut for the tire makers.
The fabric is cut on the bias, and
there are mathematical calculations
needed here, as well. The tire max
ers build the fabric over the cores,
building the bead into the tires. The
bead is only semi-cured when built
into the tire. After the tire has been
built up on the core, the mold is
placed around this tire and core and
there securely with bolts.
After the mould has been placed over
the tire it is then taken to the vul-
canizers which are equipped with
automatic controlling instruments,
and here the process is completed ex-
cept for the bufing and wrapping.
Special machines take care Of both
of these processes.
Big Force at Work.
The Standard Four Tire company
has large force of men at work and
the beauty of this is that that the
majority of the men are from Keo-
kuk. Only few of the workmen
have been brought in from outside
points, and this is only because it
was necessary to have expert tire
makers on the job to teach the newer
men. Employm ent is being afforded
a large number of local men, and the
work Is done in the finest Of sur
roundings. The plant is clean, light
and airy, and the conditions for the
workmen are of the best.
G. ]. Kirch, business manager of the