330 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[June 1, 1911. 



The New Firestone Plant 



THE Fircstono Tire and Rubber Co., of .•\kron, Ohio, in 1909 

 purchased 28 acres of land lying west of South Main street 

 south of the Erie, C. A. & C. and B. & O. tracks and 

 north of the Belt Line tracks. On this site they have constructed 

 a main building ^65 ft. x 360 ft., five stories high, composed of 

 four parts and a power plant, and three au.xiliary buildings, one 

 used for a water softening plant, one for a cement house, and 

 the other for a pumping station, and a large boiler and engine 

 rooms, and an independent water supply system, and connnodious 

 rooms for office quarters which they expect to occupy May 1. 



The main building is of steel construction with reinforced 

 concrete. The first and second floors cover the entire ground 

 floor space, of 265 ft. x 360 ft. The remaining stories run up 

 60 ft. X 265 ft., with a light court of 40 ft. between each, con- 

 nected by passageways 40 ft. wide. The stair wells and elevator 



water stations througli a I2-ft. square passageway to the base- 

 ment of the main building. This entire plant has been designed 

 and constructed with a view of increasing its capacity at least 

 four times when requited. The company has installed an entire 

 waterworks system of its own. Water pipes 30 ins. in diameter 

 have been laid from a point about 250 yds. from the south end 

 of Summit Lake, a distance of 4.000 ft., to the company's new 

 building. The crib extends into the lake about 75 ft. from the 

 shore, and at the lake end there is one active and one spare 

 centrifugal motor driven pump with a capacity of 11J4 million 

 gallons e\-ery 24 hours. These De Laval pumps are driven by 

 Allis-Chalmers motors. This water plant is complete in itself 

 and furnishes water exclusively to the F'irestone company for 

 washing, condensing and general manufacturing purposes. 



iMrestnne rims are manufactured in a building constructed foi 



m 





THE NEW llRLsluXE 1'1..\M. 



shafts are all of the latest fireproof construction. There are 

 sufficient inside stairways to avoid outside fire escapes. Almost 

 three-fourths of the outside surface is glass, giving all the light 

 possible in any construction. An automatic sprinkler system 

 is installed throughout the building. The top floors of two 

 buildings v.ill be occupied by the main general offices. One-half 

 of one of the floors of the second building will be used for 

 restaurant and rest purposes. The remainder of the building 

 will be used exclusively for the manufacture of solid and pneu- 

 matic tires. 



The machinery is modern and up to dale, including a number 

 of machines specially designed by and for the Firestone com- 

 pany. The machinery is specially guarded with automatic stop- 

 ping and safety devices. The three auxiliary buildings are 

 20 ft. X 30 ft., 30 ft. X 50 ft., and 32 ft. x 55 ft. The power plant 

 is equipped with five 600 h. )i. Sterling water tube boilers 

 designed for 200 lb. working pressure. They are ei|ui])ped with 

 Taylor automatic stoke,-s. The coal handling machinery consists 

 of a (jantry crane of 50 tons per hour capacity, which elevates 

 the coal from storage or cars to bunkers, the coal being handled 

 by gravity from the bunkers to the stokers, and the ashes from 

 the stokers by gravity to small cars in the basement. The prime 

 movers in the engine room are composed of 1-800 and 1-1,600 

 k. w. Allis-Chalmers turbo generators. Boilers and engines 

 are parallel with each other with a view of further extension. 

 The wires, and water and steam pipes run from the power and 



that purpose located near the old plant. This factory is not able 

 to meet the present demands and many are being manufactured 

 in Detroit. The entire Syi acres of floor space of the old plant 

 will be given over to the manufacture of rims as soon as the new 

 plant is in operation. 



The N.\tion.\l One Cent Letter Post-\ge Association, organ- 

 ized for the purpose of securing the reduction of the present two- 

 cent rate on letters in the United States to one cent, is sending 

 out a circular letter describing its proposed plan of action and 

 inviting the co-operation of the press and business men in its 

 work. The association, of which Charles William Burrows is 

 president, and George T. Mcintosh is secretary-treasurer, has its 

 headquarters at 506 Chamber of Commerce. Cleveland, Ohio, 

 numbers among its members many of the leading business men in 

 the country, and proposes to prosecute an active campaign at 

 Washington as soon as a bill providing for the lowering of the 

 rate on first rate postage can be introduced in Congress. 



"Amax" is to re the TR.^DE MARK, and perhaps the name of a 

 brand of mineral rubber produced by the American Wax Co. 

 (Boston, Massachusetts.) They claim for their product a purity 

 test of 99-84/100. They also inform us that manufacturers of 

 rubber footwear, insulated wire and mold work get most satis- 

 factorv results from its use. 



