CLAYS OF NEW YOKK 717 



The shale used belongs to the Salina formation and is obtained from 

 the hillside about 1000 feet from the yard. It is of various shades 

 of red, green, and some gray, and disintegrates very rapidly. The 

 whole mass is traversed by numerous seams, so that a small blast 

 brings down a large portion of the bank in small fragments. Tracks 

 are laid from the brick yard up to the working face, the base of 

 which is 35 feet higher than the yard. The loaded cars run down 

 to the dry pans by gravity and are hauled back when emptied by a 

 horse. Carts are used to haul the clay. Dry pans grind the shale — 

 about one quarter clay and three quarters shale are mixed in a wet 

 pan. A man shovels the mixture on an endless belt which carries 

 it to the molding machine. The yard is fitted with both a plunger 

 and auger stiff mud machine, the former being side^cut, the latter 

 end-cut. The green bricks are placed on cars and run into the 

 drying tunnels. These are of brick, heated by coal fires, the heat 

 passing through flues under the tunnel. Round kilns are used for 

 the burning, which takes about five days. The kilns have a capacity 

 of about 60,000. Soft coal is used for burning. 



The company manufactures paving brick, hollow brick and terra 

 cotta lumber for fireproofing. 



Baldiuinsville, Onondaga co. Seneca river brick co. The 

 works are four miles west of Baldwinsville on the south bank of 

 the Seneca river. Their clay bed is 6 acres in extent. It is blue 

 clay weathered to red in the upper portion and the blue is stratified. 

 Gravel underlies the clay. The red clay is chiefly used, as it burns 

 to a better colored brick than the blue. The dry press process is 

 used and the bricks are burnt in kilns of the Flood type. These 

 are of both up and down-draft. They are 18 by 54 feet and have 

 20 inch walls, which are lined with fire brick from the doors up. 

 There are four fireplaces on each of the long sides and between 

 these is a series of smaller ones connected with a set of flues open- 

 ing into the lower part of the kiln to give an up-draft. "Wood 

 fires are started in these smaller fireplaces for water-smoking. The 

 larger openings, connecting with individual pockets on the inner 



