The producers news. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1918-1937, 1920-06-25
NEW FORD PROJECT
BEGINS PRODUCTION

Henry Ford II, three-year-old son
of Edsel 3. Ford, President of the
Ford Motor Company, became an ac-
tive participant in the great Ford in
dustries recently when he scratched a
match and lighted the oil soaked ex-
celsior that set off the first of the two
big blast furnaces at the Ford River
Rouge plant near Detroit. Henry
Ford held Henry II in his arms and
helped him touch off the fire. Mrs.
Henry Ford, Mr.. and Mrs. Edsel B.
Ford and a number Of friends were
present at the ceremony which mark
ed the opening of another link of the
Ford industries.
The blast furnace and rolling mills
site occupies close to 200 acres Of
ground already 10000 men are at
work in the plant, but thousands more
will be needed when the construction
of the huge undertaking is complet-
ed. Four more furnaces are under
way; the skeleton Of new foundry.
which will be one of the worlds larg-
est, stretches along one side of the
plant; coke ovens and by-products
plants are producing.
This new field of activity bids fair
to grow to as great an institution as
the Ford Automobile and Tractor fac
tories; and will augment the produc-
ton of those plants in no small way.
The unique plan behind this new
Ford industry provides for eliminat-
ing considerable waste time and la
Dor in manufacturing steel. 1t is ex-
pected that the iron ore poured into
parts, without ever having been cool
In sv>%<~ &c n IL
the practice.
This first blast furnace will pro-
duce 500 tons of iron every "a hours
TO make it 100 tons of iron ore, 25C
tons of limestone and 500 tons OF
coke are used. Fifty million cubic
feet of gas will be developed daily as
a by-product, and this will be used tt
heat to 1,40O degrees the 10000 Gu
bic feet of air which will be forced
through the molten mass every hou1
under 2O-pound pressure. Ten mil
lion five hundred thousand gallons o.
water will be used daily to cool thu
base of the furnace.
Work on the second furnace is be
ing rushed and it was announced tina
it, too, will be making iron within 81
days. Foundation work is well unde
way to complete the group at tn
, Ford Rouge plant. These furnace
will all be Of the most modern de
sign and will be numbered amongs
the worlds largest. The consumption
of iron and steel for Ford cars is es
timated to be approximately 800
tons every "a hours.
The ceremony which marked tn
: firing up Of the huge smeltcr carrie
Henry Ford one step nearer to a real
ization of a dream he has had 70
: years-to see his own ships carryin
:; the materials from the source Of sup
i ply and to see these raw material
proceed through the various stages
y the finished product, his automobil
and tractor.
e Ore for the furnaces will com
I down the lakes from Minnesota an
the Upper Peninsula of Michigan an
n be dumped into giant concrete. bin
- built on the bank Of the River Roug
: From the bin it is run directly int
l. the top of the furnace on an elevate
+, called the skip hoist" Limeston
Il also is to come in by boat. Va:
, quantities of limestone and ore a
T ready have been stored up for tt
furnace.
n The charge which was touched 0
e had been in the furnace for a mont
e. gradually being heated to the poll
n ~ Il Ac1r