Mohave County miner and our mineral wealth., 1920-06-19
NEW FORD PROJECT
 BEGINS PRODUCTION

Henry Ford II, three-year-old son of Edsel B. 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. Hen ry Ford held Henry II in his arms and helped him touch off the fire. Mrs. Henry Ford, MT. and Mrs. Edsel B. Ford and number of friends were present at the ceremony which marked the opening of another link of the Ford industries.
 The blast furnace and rolling mills site occupies close to 200 acres of ground;. already 12,OOO men are at work in the plant, but thousands more will be needed when the construction of the huge undertaking is completed. Four more furnaces are under way; the skeleton of new foundry, which will be one of the worlds largest, stretches along one side of the plant; coke ovens and by-products plants all ready 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- tion of those plants in no small way.
 The unique plan behind this new Ford industry provides for eliminat- ing considerable waste time and labor in manufacturing steel. It is expect ed that the iron ore poured into the furnaces will emerge as Ford parts, without ever having been cooled or made into pig iron as is usually the practice. The first blast furnace will produce 500 tons of iron every "A hours. To make it 9,OO0 tons of iron ore, 250 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 to heat to 1,4OO degrees the 10000 cubic feet of air which will be forced through the molten mass every hour under a 20-pound pressure. Ten million five hundred thousand gallons of water will be used daily to cool the base of the furnace.
 Work on the second furnace is be- ing rushed and it was announced that it too, will be making iron within 30 days. Foundation work is we'll under way for three additional furnaces, making total of five, contemplated to complete the group at the Ford Rouge plant. These furnaces will all be of the most modern design and will be numbered amongst the worlds largest. The consumption of iron and steel for Ford cars is estimated to be approximately 5000 tons every 24 hours.
 The ceremony which marked the fir ing of the huge shelter carried Hen ry Ford one step nearer to a realiza- tion of dream he has had for years to see his own ships carrying the ma terials from the source of supply and see these raw materials proceed through the various stages to the fin ished product, his automobile and tractor.
 Ore for the furnaces will come down the lakes from Minnesota and the Up- per Peninsula of Michigan and be dumped into giant concrete bins built on the bank of the River Rouge. From the bin it is run directly into the top of the furnace on an elevator called the skip hoist". Limestone also is to come in by boat. Vast quantities of limestone and ore already have been stored up for the furnace.
 The charge which was touched off had been in the furnace for a month, gradually being heated to the point where the "blowing" could take place,