The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1920-02-03
NEW INDUSTRY.
Continued from LIST Page)

Jnem at UTSJ, DuC LueTe Is certain TO De
demand for covered heels. The finished
/ heels are covered in variety of ways,
/ but 90 per cent of them are covered with
black celluloid, which is all hand work,
no machinery being used in that eonnec
ton.
Mr.. Wyman is the general superintend-
ent, and he will employ Brattleboro men
as far as possible, although it is not his
desire to take them from other industries
The superintendent of the new branch
| is to be E. S. Robinson of New York. Mr..
Robinson was to have been here Feb /,
but on account of illness he has been
delayed few days. He has been super
intendent of wood heel company in New
York and is man of wide experience in
that industry.
New machinery has just begun to- ar
rive, and it is hoped to have all the ma
refinery here and installed so that the |
manufacture of wood heels can be begun
in another month. Transformers already
have been set by the Twin State Gas & |
Electric Co. The steam plant in the last
block department is sufficient to heat the
new shop and the new kilns.
The new equipment is sufficient to man
ufacture 1000 dozen pairs of wood heels
daily and full production will be accom-
plished as soon as it is possible to secure
and educate the men in this particular
: kind of work The demand is almost linn
itless and there are but few factories in
this country engaged in making wood
y heels. The local concern has not looked
, for business along this line up to the
= present time, vet orders have been coming
t in since it became known in the trade
1 that the manufacture of wood heels here
was in contemplation. Rock maple is to
: be used in their manufacture, and it is
! expected that half million feet will
e be consumed in the new industry the
: first year.
: In connection with the new industry
n statement of how last blocks are manu-
: featured and of what the Brattleboro
Y Lumber corporation has accomplished
since taking over the property of the old
= Vermont Last Block Co. last May will
lie be of interest at this time
e The main factory, the south end of
Is which is shown in the accompanying pic
lie ture, is AS feet wide and ~ feet long,
n with a southern extension 80 feet by SO
q feet The logs are shipped into the mill
n yard on the 1900 feet of railroad siding
h on the company's property from both the
IN Central Vermont and Boston & Maine
i railroads.
ar From skids near the south end the logs
H. are rolled, just before using, into large
at tank of water heated by steam, which re-
moves the surplus dirt and grit, saving
f. much time which otherwise would be
i'll spent filing saws. By an endless cable
at the logs are hauled into the mill and
d. rolled one at a time on to a carriage
Id which carries them under large saw
A. which is lowered to cut off cross sections
ed of the logs in the desired lengths. These
1t circular blocks are then cut up'into small
a er pieces, and each piece is put into q
C. turning lathe and turned into the gen
eral shape of a last block, which is al
CHI that is done to it in the local factory il
ed the way of machine work.
is From the mill the rough blocks arr
n carried to a warehouse 12S feet by Al
,e- feet and stored to await their turn in thu
M dry kilns The warehouse is west of tn,
Die mill, connected to it with bridge. A
tt the left of the smoke stack in the pic
in ture the warehouse may be seen.
in Running south from the warehouse, 81
ter far to the west that it is not shown il
i, the picture, is building 40 feet wide b,
lot l60 feet long. This contains 10 dry kiln
lat where the heat is such that in the earl,
of stages of drying the green blocks tn
ng steam rising from them condenses ant
sh. runs down in such quantity it form
of a small stream of water.
ng When a kiln is emptied more block
s." are brought from the warehouse in truck
,d- which run on rails. Each truck con
Lhe tains 500 rough blocks and each xii
lch has capacity for 10 trucks, or 1900
ing blocks, which is just carload. The dr.
sly blocks are then shipped to the variou
ex- purchasers and are finished in variou
nd sizes and shapes of shoe lasts over whic
shoes are made As in the case of WOO
heels the demand for shoe lasts is TIRE
cd mendous The local factory is runnin
at full capacity and is turning out cal
load week, 25 or more men being EN-
. ployed, yet the concern is behind on ii
- orders.
This is the only factory known wher
the green blocks are dried in heated kiln
and knowledge of how to dry them b
this process and not have them check
of vital Importance. 1t means the sdi
ference between successful business ar
wasteful one. The circulation of al
the proper amount of heat and the prop,
humidity are three essential factors. Rel
istering thermometers and other appara
us are used in this connection.
OJUeT USE All pIOceS
but it takes them from eight to 10 montl
to convert green logs into dry blocl
ready for shipment, whereas at the loo
factory the turnover is accomplished
eight weeks. 1t was difficult at first Fl
the trade to believe that the necessal
results could be obtained in so short
period.
South of the dry kilns is the 40 fe
by 80 feet wood heel plant previous
mentioned East of the dry kilns, abo
where the logs are seen in the left si
of the picture, four new dry kilns will
erected, making building 40 feet by
feet. The small building in the right
the picture is the office, which stands ne
the highway. Most of the buildings a
equipped with an automatic sprinkl
system.
The corporation expects to use at lea
million and half feet of maple t
coming year. 1t has used about half
II ,,,n;on font c;poa Nav IF is 1