The west shore., August 01, 1889, Page 413, Image 5

THE WEST 8H0RE.
413
where they remain bat a ihort time, generally bat a
few hours, ai the oompany finda it difficult to fill iti
ordere, and, except in the event of delay in the ar.
rival of ateamera, has bat little need at present for
extensive storage room. From here the barrels are
rolled in rapid suooession to the edge of the dock,
where they are allowed to slide down a gang plank to
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the freight deck of the steamer, on which they are
piled np in tiers as compactly aa possible. A thou
sand barrels of lime oocnpy considerable space, and
the shipment of that quantity daily supplies a con
siderable portion of the freight carried by the steam
ers running on that route, scarcely a day passing
without one or more of them being seen at the dock
receiving a cargo.
! The process of causing the lime to settle down in
the kiln after drawing is the most Interesting sight
to be witnessed at the works, and this is seen to the
best advantage at night, when the outer darkness con
traits vividly with the brilliauoe of the interior of the
kiln when the furnace door is open. When a draw,
ing is made the heavy iron plate which serves as a
ifoor for the furnace, and which slides np and down
1 cfore the opening by means of a counter weight sub-
ended from a pulley, is lifted and one can gate dl
r ctly into the heart of the kiln, glowing with an in
t nae white. lie can see the void loft at the bottom
1 y the lime drawn off, and the lower edge of the su
I theated rock above, held suspended in its place by
t a expansion of its bulk caused by the intense beat
1 he first duty of the fireman is to cause the lime to
f J and fill np the bottom of the kiln, and this he ac
c uplishes by poking it with a long iron rod Borne
i jea the rock falls easily, but at other times ha is
c upelled to work at it for several minntee through
f iopenioge in both sides of the kiln, the persplra
t a rolling down his face in streams, the end of the
i a rod becoming heated to an intense fiery red and
t' i handle often becoming too hot to be longer held
i Ihe hand. A new rod ia then taken and the patient
f aan works away at his task with as much deter-
mination aa that displayed by the imps depicted in
the Oalvanistio pioturea of a century ago, who were
kept busy maintaining a hot fire for those poor mor
tals who had died without adopting Calvin's peculiar
ideas of theology. When the rock is hard to start
the fireman is pleased, as it ia a sign that the kiln ia
in excellont condition, but he has no desire for it to
stick too long. Finally it cornea down with a rush,
and how it sparkle I The intense white tarns gradu
ally to the palest green aa it comes in contact with
the air drawn in through the furnace opening. The
fireman then takes sticks of oordwood from a pile
near by and thrusts them into the furnaoe, and so
intense is the boat that the instant the wood strikes
the bottom it bursts into a aheet of flame. One of
the new kilns will oonsume about one and one-half
cords of wood per day with ita two furnaces, and
burn fifty per cent moie lime than the old stone ones
with four furnaoes and twice the quantity of wood.
Btill there are old lime burners who will have noth
ing to do with "them new-fangled concerns," and
tick to the old style, and will probably oontinue to
do so until they have been ran completely out of the
business.
A most important part of the work is the barrel
factory and stave mill, ilitherto barrel staves and
heads have been made at the mill in royallup valley,
but this season the machinery ia being moved to a
new mill aituated on the point jail north of the reel
doDoee of the workmen, as shown in the sketoh of the
ft, ft- iiia
lIVIi .!. All Ml)I't M'Hilt.
works given on another page, llarrel are made of
Cottonwood and cedar, chiefly the former, and the ma
terial paaaes through quite a Dumber of manipula
tions before it reaches ita final form. Cottonwood