KANSAS CITY INDUSTRIES. 185 



SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY. 



KANSAS CITY INDUSTRIES. 



Hereafter we shall devote a small portion of The Review to an account of 

 the various industries of Kansas City, and begin this month with 



THE KANSAS ROLLING MILL COMPANY. 



The works consist of a rail mill, which was moved here from Decatur, Illi. 

 nois, trains of rolls for making merchant bar, universal iron, splices and spike rod; 

 a spike, bolt and nut factory; a forge and a machine shop. 



The shipments of this company in 1880 were as follows: Heavy rails, 19,690 

 tons; mine and steel rails, 269 tons; fish plates, 4,816 tons; spikes, 2,730 tons, 

 merchant iron, 549 tons; harrow teeth, 72 tons; universal iron, 57 tons; miscel. 

 laneous, 54 tons. Total, 28,237 tons. To manufacture this required about 3,000 

 car loads of iron ; 2,500 cars of coal, and perhaps 250 cars of fine sand, fire brick, 

 clay, oil, etc. The number of employees varies from 500 to 600. There are 8 

 furnaces for rail mill, 2 for the 18-inch train, i for the 9-inch train, and 6 for spike 

 rod. The universal rolls are driven by the rail mill engine, and have no separate 

 furnaces The iron from them is principally used for girders and lintels in the 

 new buildings in Kansas City. 



To drive the various machines and roll trains there are required nine engines 

 of various sizes, besides five steam pumps. The steam is supplied by eight boilers 

 28 feet long and 40 inches in diameter, placed so as to utilize the waste heat of 

 the furnaces, and six boilers of the same size in three batteries. Two more boilers 

 for a fourth battery are now being erected. 



The principal business of this company is with railroad companies, and they 

 are gradually increasing their facilities with the view of supplying all the iron work 

 required in building a railroad. 



THE KANSAS IRON FENCE COMPANY. 



Connected with the Kansas City Rolling Mill Company is the Kansas Iron 

 Fence Company, who manufacture all kinds of wrought iron work, garden fences, 

 cresting, girders, anchors, gratings, etc.; some iron bedsteads and several kinds 

 of agricultural implements. This company employs 60 men, and is growing 

 rapidly. 



The officers of the Rolling Mill Company are A. B. Stone, President; Ira 

 Harris, Vice-President and General Manager ; E. V. Wilkes, Secretary, and D. 

 S. Mathias, Superintendent. Of the Fence Companies the officers are : Ira Har. 

 ris. President ; E. V. Wilkes, Treasurer, and J. R. Brown, Secretary. 



For a year past the Kansas Rolling Mill Company has been engaged in ex. 

 perimenting with coal dust as fuel, instead of lump coal, with some remarkable 



