58 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



five 42-inch French buhrstones, where it is ground to a fine powder. 

 This is then screened on 60-mesh brass shaking screens incHned at 

 a 45° angle, and all material above 60-mesh is returned and re- 

 ground. Screw conveyors carry the groiuid material to Butter- 

 worth & Lowe kettles, three in number. These have a capacity of 

 10 tons each and have nonsectional bottoms. They are fired by 

 bituminous coal and use about a ton of coal a week, the calcining 

 being carried to the point of second settling. The use of a blast 

 of natural gas and compressed air in tiring the kettles is being con- 

 templated. The dust arising during calcining is caught in steam- 

 filled chambers and returned to the kettles. From the kettles the 

 plaster is conveyed to a large storage bin holding 900 tons. Some 

 of this 60-mesli stucco is sold to outside companies for mixing, 

 while some is reground on three 36-inch Munson buhrstone mills 

 so that it is practically of lOO-mesh and is thus sold for fine finish- 

 ing plaster. The plant is equipped with two five-compartment 

 Broughton mixers and makes various wall plasters with hair and 

 wood fiber. They manufacture their own supply of wood fiber, 

 obtaining their wood, mostly poplar, willow and basswood, from 

 the neighboring farmers. The wood is shredded on a Hoover im- 

 proved wood fiber machine, made at Periysburg, O. The hair 

 used is washed goat's hair and is purchased in bales. The sand is 

 obtained from the company's OAvn pit situated close by the mill. 

 The wood fiber made is mixed in the following proportion : i ton 

 stucco, 30 pounds wood fiber and 10 pounds retarder. The wall 

 plaster containing hair is mixed in the proportion of i ton of stucco 

 to 3 pounds of hair, when it is then ready for the sand. Raw 

 ground gypsum from the buhrstones is also sold as land plaster to 

 nurseries, experimental stations and to fertilizer firms. Power for 

 the entire mill is furnished by three Bessemer gas engines no. 3146, 

 speed 180 revolutions per minute, 125 horsepower, developing 

 altogether 400 horsepower. A Rand compressor engine no. 10 

 a'lso is operated by gas and furnishes compressed air for the mine 

 and for a small machine used in dressang the buhrstones, each of 

 which requires redressing about every three wxeks. Tlie natural 

 gas used is furnished by the Akron Gas Co. through a direct pipe 

 line from Alden. It comes in under a pressure of 125 pounds but is 

 throttled down to 8 ounces for use. The gas costs 25 cents a thou- 

 sand feet and about 40,000 feet a day are used, bringing the total 

 cost up to $10 a day for fuel. The capacity of the mill is 300 tons 

 of plaster a dav. 



