El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1917-11-17

ureS OF the world Inc Germans are
using it as the robbers did in The
Ara bian Nights tale Of Ali Bahia and
I the Forty Thieves. In the great war
or today. the Germans take the place
[ OF the Forty Thieves and ourselves
and our allies represent Ali Baba. who
conquers them by their own pass
word. I have written OF the ef-
ficiency Of our iron mines and how
{ by steam shovels we are getting out
ore for the steel required for the
war a single steam shovel will mine
from 5000 TO 1000 tons in one day. or
enough to load train Of two-horse
wagons so to 40 miles long
Efficiency in Everything
The password of ore transports ton
( is the same Five Up 20 date railroads
are taking the iron from the mines
down to the lakes Efficiency is
operation Each car holds upward Of
100000 pounds, and from so TO 100 Of
. them are carried down to the ports by
a single engine I have counted trains
Of 125 ears. These trains are loaded
in the mines and they do not stop
until their contents are dropped into
the great ore bins through which. by
gravity, they pass into the mighty
steamers that carry them 1000 miles
down the lakes. This is so notwith-
standing the ore must ne graded ana
sorted TO fit requirements for max
ing steel OF various kinds, and
weighed by the government in course
OF transit The Weighing is done while
the cars pass through the station Of
Proctor. which is the largest ore yard
Of the world. All they do is to slow
up as they 20 through 10 a speed Of
less than eight miles an hour At this
speed they pass over automatic scales
which record their weight
Handling Ore Efficiently.
Efficiency stamps the transfer Of
the ore from the cars TO the huge
steamers which carry IL 10 the steel
plants. The loading docks about Lake
Superior have cost millions You may
see them at Two Harbors. at Duluth.
and AZ the ports OF northern WisCon-
sin and Michigan I came into Two
Harbors on the James A Farrell. the
flagship Of the fleet Of the United
States steel corporation, and watched
them taking on ore
The huge steamer. a low. rskish
looking craft about so feet wide and
500 feet long. came to anchor under
steel pier as high as an eiEht-story
house. The pier reached like a great
arm far out into the water. There are
four Of these piers At Two Hsrbors
and one Of them is almost half a mile
long. Each pier upholds a double row
Of bins made OF concrete into which
the ore is dropped from the cars
which shoot in from the mines onto
the tracks overhead The bins extend
out from the pier, and from the bot
tom Of each a long steel chute OF
spout allows the ore 10 pour down
into the vessels The chutes are raised
and lowered by electricity. They eX-
tend from the bins right into the
hold and the pulling Of q lever viii
drop a river OF ore into the ship.
The Farrell has "a matches, and.
we're II advisa bic. all could be load
ing at once from that many bins
overhead. II takes only two or three
minutes to empty bin. and 100"
tens Of ore have been loaded in less
than an hour Three steamers were
taking cargo At the time OF my visit
and within two or three hours more
than $4,000 tons OF iron had started
on its way down Lake Superior
Similar loading Is going on at the
other ports Of the lake During my
stay at Ashland, Wis, where I went
to take passage on a steamer carrying
ore from the GoEebic mines down 10
the Illinois steel plant. / observed
how the ore was mixed and graded
during the loading To make the best
steel one must have Just the right
proportion Of certain ores. and the
mixing is done in the loading 20 that
when the ore reaches the steel plant
IL is ready 20 be dumped without
change into tire furnaces.
EfNEFNNmlUE II EELenNAAAEaAAL EELhENs
Everything is scientifically exact
The ores are analysed at the mines
samples being taken from the cars as
they leave, and the ores from differ
ent mines are dropped. into the ship
so that the iron contents and quality
Of the cargo are just those required
for steel Much Of this work is di-
steel company where the exact con-
tents and character OF every iron de-
post are known. and much by the
scientific engineers on the ground,
who have a small army Of chemists
analyzinE and assayinE the ore as IL
is dug from the earth In another let
ter I shall show you that this is but
the beginning OF the scientific meth
DDS OF steel making The metal is
aualyzed as IL flows from the furnaces
and IL is tested again and again as II
passes through the many processes
which turn. 10 into steel rails. machine
guns armor plate and the fine
tough material used in the planes
which carry our airmen through the
clouds at a speed which may exceed
two miles per minute
Indeed, everything connected with
the steel Tor the war is based upon
scientific investigation and cost eff &
cheney methods. The use Of machinery /
TO take the place OF human muscle I
was never carried nearer perfection. I
The ore fleet does its work better and 4
more chea7ly than any other line OF .
vessels now operating. II transports
more freight and al a lower cost. I
Think Of taking a ton OF iron 80 miles 4
on the energy OF one pound Of coal. /
or carrying a ton Of freight mile on I
one-half ounce. or as little as YOU
could pick up with your thumb and \
one finger That is what the Great 7
Lakes steamers are doing Until the
war began they were carrying wheat
a thousand miles for less than 2 cents
a bushel. and iron ore almost as far
FOR 50 cents a ton. The rates are now
-rebled- but they are still low.
OufErOvE WheeIbarrow Stage. Do
The handling Of the ore at the ports /
rom where IL goes to the steel plants
IS an example Of efficiency is even
more wonderful than the loading NJ
he mines. The first ore that came
Town the lakes. now more than two
TheelbarroWs pushed by men. and
Zach barrow took about 100 pounds at
time
The ore that has come down the
axes this year would fiji more than
J billion such wheel barrows. and all
he men Of our country could not
ave handled the traffic that way
The unloading Of today is done by =
electricity Man presses a button and
& ants in iron and steel automatically
lnload the steamers and transfer
heir contents TO the cars, or TO the ,
mighty concrete bins from which ]
'ther machinery carries them into the
furnaces OF the steel plant BY such
within three hours. It's
.arEo is 1arwa eunurh m ffU fam o-