BEICK YARDS 225 



added being the secret of the manufacturer. After soaking for 

 a few hours the material is transferred to a pug mill for further 

 tempering. The clay is now ready for molding. This is done 

 by hand in wooden molds. 



The chief object is to bring the mass of tempered clay into a 

 convenient and approximately rectangular form before repressing 

 it. Very little pressure is exerted in this handmolding. The 

 bricks thus molded are spread out on a drying floor of brick, 

 heated by flues passing underneath it. These brick are next 

 repressed and further dried in tunnels before setting them in the 

 kiln. The kilns are circular, having a height of 15 feet, and a 

 diameter of 20 to 30 feet. Burning takes five to six days. The 

 kiln has two openings, and while the burned brick are being 

 taken out of one door the green brick are being carried in 

 through the other one and set up for burning. The gas retorts 

 are made by hand in sectional molds and burnt in the same kiln 

 with the brick. 



Although there are several fire brick factories in the state all 

 of them with one exception obtain their clay from New Jersey. 

 The New Jersey fire clays which are of Cretaceous age extend 

 in a belt across New Jersey and over onto Staten Island, and it 

 is at this latter locality that the refractory clays of New York 

 state occur. The fire brick factory of William Kreischer's Sons 

 is located on the southwestern shore of Staten Island at Kreisch- 

 erville. They manufacture fire brick, cupola brick and gas 

 retorts. Most of the clay used is obtained from Staten Island, 

 and the rest from New Jersey. Four openings have been made 

 in the vicinity of Kreischerville. The deepest one is opposite 

 Kilmeyer's Hotel. The clay in this pit is used for fire brick. It 

 is tough, of a whitish color and mottled with yellow. Its thick- 

 ness is not very great and there is 15 or 20 feet of stripping. 

 Southwest of this opening is another pit, but in this the clay is 

 of a more sandy nature and is overlain by about four feet of sand. 

 The clay is bluish in color and is chiefly used for mortar. A third 

 opening has been made near the shore and is known as the " Wier 

 Bank." The material obtained from it is a stoneware clay. In 

 this pit the clay as at present exposed is about 10 feet thick, and 

 is overlain by horizontally stratified fine sand. 

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