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] that process which consists 01 causing tne vitreous substances to undergo a beat not only suffi-j ciently powerful to remove all vapor and to consume j all combustibles, but also to cause the fusion of the various particles to begin. These fUrnaces are kept at a temperature of from eighteen to twenty-seven hundred degrees of Fahrenheit, and are constructed of fire proof brick made of infusible clay and cement. It is necessary for the manufiieture that the workmen should be able to gain access to the pots at all times, and for this purpose there is made in the furnace in front of each pot what is called a working hole, where can be watched the fusion of the materials and from which the glass can be taken. The fire in these furnaces is never extinguished, and as soon as one pot of glass is used up it is filled with fresh materials. The furnaces themselves last but about two years. The fact that furnace fires are always burning, compels the workmen to adopt irregular hours, as they are liable to be called at all times to be ready to attend to the manufacturing of the glass. The mixtures, after being placed in the pots in the furnace, are allowed to remain there for from sixteen to twenty hours, after which the workmen and their assistants take charge | of the melted mass. After the glaas is ready for | use one of the pots is taken from the furnace by ; means of a forked lever on wheels and carriedt to a crane adjacent. While in this orane oneattendant skims off from the surface any impurities which may be there, and another scrapes off ths bottom of the pot all loose pieces of clay or dirt which may have stuck to it and are in danger of falling off, lor if any particle of dirt should by any chance became mixed with the molten glass the purity andclearness of the plate would at once be destroyed.Meanwhile the men at the iron table just next to the crane are making it ready to receive the melted glass. Two men stand at the foot ol the table ready to turn the heavy iron roller of some six tons weight, which being placed at the right height regulates the thickness of the glass ; two others stand at the head to adjust the iron 44 gaiders ” which are placed at the desired width and direct the flow of the melted mass; two others, one each side of the table, are ready, the one with a long heavy cloth swab with which ho brushes off the iron plate preparatory to the reception of the glass; the other with long handled thin iron instrument with which he pushes and smoothes down the melted matter. All these men being ready the pot Is swung around on the crane iust ever the plate, and a portion of its contents poured upon the table, the men at the head direct the flow of the glass,the two men at the side attend to their duties of smoothing and brushing, and those at the foot bring down the weighty Iron roller upon the melted mass, and it is formed into a red hot sheet of glass. Tne roller is then brought up on to a rest in order to allow the glass to pass under it on to another table. This table is on wheels. Four men at the head of the iron table take hold of a 44 pusher,” and this sheet is then slid under the roller on to the wheel-table. It is then carried to an annealing oven and placed within it. The fires of this oven are made of wood, and are allowed to die out gradually, so that the plate glass may not ccol too rapidly, for should it do so it would not be able to resist the action ol the temperature. This is what is
Newspaper Details
Boston Post
Boston, Massachusetts, US
Mon, Jan 22, 1872
Page 3
Full Page
Clipped by
Lenox L.
MA, USA 20 Oct 2023
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