PLANT OF SMELTER B. 673 



Furnaces The smcltiug plaut consists of three large square furnaces, made ot 

 brick. With the exception of the water-jackets they are exactly similar in sha pe, dimen 

 sions, and capacity. They are represented in elevation and in section on Plate XXVI. 

 There are besides six circular furnaces, manufactured by Messrs. Fraser & Chalmers, 

 of Chicago. These furnaces are represented in elevation and section on Plate XXVII. 



A full description of both the square and the round furnaces at this smelter 

 has already been given at the commencement of this section, to which the reader is 

 referred for further details concerning their construction. The capacity of the square 

 furnaces is 35 to 40 tons of ore per 24 hours, and that of the circular ones 20 to 22 

 of ore in the same time. The heat radiated in front of these nine furnaces, closely 

 packed in a narrow space, is so great that the men are obliged to constantly water 

 the ground in front of them. The crucibles of both square and round furnaces are made 

 of steep, the mixture preferred at these works being two parts of fire-clay and one part 

 of coke-dust. The length of runs is various and averages three months. 



Condensing chambers The condensation of lead fumes at tliis smelter is of the 

 poorest description. Four furnaces are totally without any condensing apparatus; 

 three furnaces are connected with an oblong sheet-iron box, 50 feet long, C feet high, 

 and G feet wide, placed on the feeding-floor; and one furnace communicates with a 

 small chamber, 9-foot cube, placed on the same floor. Each chamber is provided 

 with a stack made of sheet-iron. With such inadequate arrangements the works are 

 perpetually enveloped in a thick atmosphere of smoke and lead fumes, and " leading" 

 is of frequent occurrence. 



Baniett filter During the collection of notes for this report, a most interesting 

 and valuable experiment was being made at these works with a view to the total con- 

 densation of lead fumes. This experiment was carried on at great expense with the 

 elaborate apparatus known as the Bartlett smoke-catcher or filter. It was no successful 

 and the results derived from it are so interesting that the whole deserves a full descrip- 

 tion. The arrangement adopted is shown in Fig. 1, Plate XXVIII. The stack E of 

 one of the squaie furnaces A was connected by means of the sheet-iron flue F' with a 

 Sturtevant fan, B, drawing the fumes from the furnace and blowing them through the 

 sheet-iron pipe P, about one hundred and fitly feet long, where they parted with their 

 dust, as in an ordinary flue. The pipe P is connected by means of two sheet-iron 

 branch pipes, P', with two thin sheet-iron boxes, aa'. Each branch pipe P' is provided 

 with a damper or valve, exactly similar to those used in common stove pipes for the 

 regulation of draft, so that the fumes can be distributed evenly in the boxes or 

 shut off from one and allowed :o enter only the other. Each box is formed of two 

 parts, the dust-chamber aa' and thfe fireplace N. The dust-chamber is provided with 

 sliding doors 0, placed at each extremity, and the fireplace with doors f7, placed in 

 front, and sheet iron pipes L at the back which communicate with a stack, L'. The 

 chambers a a' are provided at the top with 28 apertures, to each of which is fastened 

 a cloth bag, b, 30 feet high, suspended to the beams of the light wooden structure in 

 which the apparatus is inclosed. This building M is provided with very large open- 

 ings for ventilation. When the apparatus is at work the fumes, blown in through 

 pipes PP', distribute themselves in the dust-chambers a a' and ascend the cloth bags, 

 through which they filter. The gases come out perfectly colorless and arc entirely 

 deprived of any lead dust or even soot. The wind, entering freely through the aper- 

 MON XII 43 



