The Canon City record with which is consolidated the Canon City cannon., 1918-06-06
BUSINESS MEN
VISIT PLANT OF
OHIO ZINC CO.

In response TO an invitation from
its officers delegation from the
membership of the Canon City Cham
ber of Commerce made a visit of in
spection to the plant of the Ohio Zinc
company Friday afternoon and were
shown thru the establishment. which
was in full operation at the time.
The visit was one of great interest
and was in some respects revelation.
showing as it did the magnitude of
the enterprise and its possibilities for
extension and development The first
unit of the plant Is now fully com
pieted and in running order and plans
are being made for the construction
of duplicate buildings for the enlarge
ment OF its output. The plant is ad-
mirably located as far as railroad IA
cilities for the shipment of ores and
the TRANSPORTATION of its products to
market is concerned. The grounds
are ample for all purposes and are
well situated. well drained. easily ac-
cessible and convenient Railroad
tracks rainify the grounds and enable
the company to dump the ore which
it uses directly from the cars into
the crushers. Equally convenient are
the railroad tracks for the loading of
the finished product on freight trains
for shipment to market.
The buildings are well constructed
and every sanitary and labor saving
device has been Incorporated into
them to expedite operations and to
make them wholesome place for
workmen- The machinery is OF the
latest pattern and uses electricity as a
motive power The equipment is the
best that money can buy and is the
most efficacious that can be obtained.
AT present fifty men are given reg
ular employment at the plant at good
wages The numer of workmen will
be largely Increased as the plant ex-
pands.
The product of the company is zinc
oxide. which is used largely as a paint
pigment and in the fabrication of au-
tomobiie tires. There is an unlimited
market for 1t. in fact IL is said that
the output of the mills In this country
falls 40 per cent short of meeting the
domestic demands. Zinc oxide. as pro-
duced at the plant of the Ohio Zinc
company here, resembles -four in its
general appearance. aitho, of course. it
is not adaptable for bread making
purposes.
1t is packed in paper bags. each
weighing fifty pounds. and the pack
ing process is identical with the meth
DDS. employed in Touring mills.
Zinc oxide is obtained by mixing the
crushed ore with anthracite coal slack
naces. where 1t is subjected to a tenn
perature of $500 degrees Fahrenheit.
The heat melts the ores and trans
fuses the metal into an intangible form
stance from the furnaces by artificial
draft into an immense pipe. thru
which 1t is driven by fans to cool.
after which IL is conveyed to the bag
house. where it is precipitated. The
method is an extremely ingenious one
and canno, fail to interest the observ-
ing visitor. The vapor. holding in So
luton the zinc oxide. reaches the bag
house after traversing an eighth OF a
mile thru the cooling pipe. at temper
ature of about IT'S degrees. IL enters
the pipe at something like 1900 de-
grees.
Thus far the company has not made
any shipments OF zinc oxide from its
Canon City plant. altho it expects to
do so very shortly A large quantity
OF it's product has been sacked and
is waiting consignment TO purchasers.
1t is worth something like ten cents
n pound after it gets into the sack.
The company has at preseH; about
$500 tons OF granulated. or slack. an
thracite coal on hand. which will last
for a-little more than three months at
the present rate of consumption. This
coal comes from the mines at Crested
Butte, Colo. Most of the ores are
from the Leadvilie district. aitho a
trial carload OF unusual richness was
unloaded at the plant few days ago
that came from Salida-
There are no noxious or disagree
able fumes Mt the Ohio Zinc compa-
ny's plant and no complaints of smoke
OF unhealthful odors have been made
by people living in the Vicinity of the