CLAYS    OF    WESTERN    KENTUCKY    AND    TENNESSEE.         425 
The  bricks  are  taken  from  the  machine  and  placed  upon  a  30  by  46  inch  pallet,  which 
rests  upon  a  stationary  frame  made  over  a  small  steel  track.  Each  pallet  will  hold  120 
bricks  or  more.  When  full,  a  patent  brick  car  is  pushed  underneath  the  pallet,  and  by  a 
patent  lever  the  load  is  transferred  to  the  car.  The  car  is  then  pushed  on  the  steel  track  to 
the  drier  and  the  pallets  are  deposited  upon  a  long  rack,  where  they  remain  until  the  bricks 
are  dry.  After  they  are  dry  enough  to  set  in  the  kiln  the  bricks  are  conveyed  on  the  car  to 
the  kiln.     They  are  therefore  handled  but  twice  before  burning. 
In  the  summer  and  fall  months  the  bricks  are  dried  in  the  open  air  on  covered  racks, 
about  eight  days  being  required  for  drying.  A  hot-air  drier  is  used  in  cold  or  damp  weather. 
Bricks  will  dry  in  the  hot-air  drier  in  twenty-four  hours. 
A  steam  drier  was  first  used,  but  the  pipes  soon  began  to  leak  steam,  which  condensed  on 
the  bricks  and  retarded  drying.  The  hot-air  drier  has  proved  much  more  efficient.  Five 
kilns  are  in  operation — four  rectangular  kilns,  which  hold  185,000  each,  and  one  round  down- 
draft  with  the  same  capacity.  All  the  kilns  are  made  of  fire  brick  and  fire  bricks  can  be 
burned  in  them.  Wood  and  coke  are  used  in  the  kilns  until  they  become  red,  and  coal  is 
used  for  the  heavy  burning.  It  requires  about  20  cords  of  wood,  half  a  car  of  coke,  and 
20  tons  of  coal  for  burning  a  kiln  of  185,000  bricks. 
In  addition  to  the  common  kind,  the  company  makes  various  fancy-colored,  dry-pressed 
bricks.  The  variety  of  colors  is  obtained  by  combining  the  fine  white  clays  with  the  com- 
mon yellow  loam  in  various  proportions.  Chattanooga  manganese  is  used  for  making 
spotted  bricks. 
The  clay  used  for  making  fire  bricks  and  fancy-face  bricks  comes  from  a  pit  about  100 
yards  west  of  the  railroad.  It  is  a  gray,  highly  plastic  clay,  which  belongs  to  the  Wilcox 
formation  of  the  Tertiary.  A  thorough  investigation  of  the  clay  was  made  before  the  plant 
was  erected,  and  it  was  found  to  be  30  feet  thick  and  to  cover  an  area  of  several  acres. 
The  following  is  an  analysis  of  the  clay,  furnished  by  Mr.  X.  B.  Wickersham: 
Analysis  of  day  from  Gilmore,  Madison  County,  Term. 
Moisture 0. 98 
Silica 77. 83 
Alumina 16. 16 
Ferric  oxide 2. 8o 
Loess 2. 17 
100. 00 
Combined  water  substances  were  unsought. 
The  white  clay  is  overlain  by  about  from  5  to  10  feet  of  Columbia  loam,  which  is  used  for 
making  the  common  dry-pressed  and  stiff-mud  bricks.  Fire  bricks  are  shipped  to  various 
places  in  Tennessee,  Kentucky,  Mississippi,  Alabama,  Arkansas,  and  Louisiana.  Fire  clay 
is  ground  and  shipped  in  small  sacks  for  making  the  mortar  in  which  the  fire  biicks  are  set. 
It  requires  thirteen  men  to  operate  the  stiff-mud  machine,  and  nine  men  for  the  dry  press. 
Pinson,  Madison  County. — A  large  plant  has  been  erected  near  Pinson  for  the  manufac- 
ture of  fire  brick,  stoneware,  tiles,  and  common  mud  brick.  It  is  operated  by  Messrs. 
Robins  &  Henderson. 
The  fire  bricks  are  made  from  a  mixture  of  white  plastic  clay  and  sand  in  the  proportion 
of  three  parts  clay  to  one  of  sand.  Sawdust  is  used  instead  of  grog.  The  production  is 
about  30,000  bricks  per  day. 
The  stoneware  is  made  from  the  same  clay  as  the  fire  brick.  The  ware  is  turned  on 
wheels  run  by  steam  and  is  dried  on  an  artificial  heater.  The  Stewart  patent  down-draft 
kiln  is  used.  Wood  is  used  for  fuel,  about  15  cords  per  kiln  being  required.  The  produc- 
tion is  2,500  gallons  per  day.  Albany  and  Seneca  Falls  slips  are  used  for  glazing  ware. 
The  Seneca  Falls  slip  gives  a  bright-olive  glaze.  When  combined  with  the  Albany  slip  it 
gives  a  pale-greenish  tint. 
The  clay  used  at  the  Robins  &  Henderson  plant  comes  from  pits  located  about  2\  miles 
southwest  of  Pinson.  The  clay  occurs  in  small  lenticular  bodies  with  a  maximum  thick- 
ness of  20  feet.     A  large  number  of  these  bodies  are  found  in  a  small  area. 
