October 19, 1889





Record  and   Guide.





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AN IMMENSE  PIER.

This pier is about 4,000 feet long, aud it bas been built out that distance
so as to reach water deep enough to load vessels going to Southern and West
Indian ports. Besides, it keeps the sbore ice away from the vessels in cold
weather, so tbat they can load in the depth of winter. Along this pier the
engine starts every twelve minutes with 7,300 manufactured bricks.
Wishing to see the thing out, from start to flnish, I jumped on one of these
cai's mth Mr. Lorillard, and was whirled at a good speed along tbe pier
right out into the water for about three-quarters of a mile. Hei'e the
engine stopped to attach some coal cars which were unloading coal for
use iu the factory. These cars were drawn back on a switch, wbich at tbe
same time hauled the bricks alongside of a large barge. The wheelbarrows
Were afc once taken off the cars by a crowd of laboi'ers, who theu wheeled
them on to the vessels, wbere they were stacked by men on board for ship¬
ment to theh destination. That was the last 1 saw of them. It takes
from twenty to twenty-four days from the time the clay is taken out of
the ground to tbe time wben the bricks are delivei'ed' at the buUdings
where they are to be used. While I stood tbere I noticed a lot of wheel-
hai'rows from wbich the bricks had been taken, returning empty with the
coal cars, the eugine doing adouble work, thus in thismanner economizing
time in hauling.

ECONOMIZING  LABOR.

Indeed, everything is done on the same principle. Duriug tbe few hours
i spent at Lorillard I saw the brick tn every stage of its manufacture aud
handhug, and I noticed that not only was everything planned by the use
of machineiy, so as to save labor, but that no time seemed to be lost any¬
where, from beginning to eud. Each difi'erent process bad a different set
of workmen, whose specialty it was to look after their particular functions,
and everything passed from one stage to another like clockwork. Mr,
Lorillard is said to be the authoi'of the system, wbich took bim two years
to perfect, He is by profession a ci\'il eugineer, aud though very wealthy
found pleasure lu evolving the plans wliich brought this remai'kable
factory Into existence, as well as iuto perfect consecutive running order.
It is, indeed, remai'kable to see the clay and sand dug out of-fche ground
&nd then passed on from stage to stage fciU fche bricks are shipped. And aU
fchis before one's vel'y eyeSj

Some points.

The fact that the brick are turned out by machinery enables fcbeiu to be
manufactured all the yeai' round. Not ouly tbat, they cau also be manu¬
factured night and day; so that there need be no cessation from work, should
an amplitude of orders demand it. Electric lights and steam beat nm
through the entii'e buildings, and this enables^nigbt work to be done, and
makes the place comfortable in winter. As other yai'ds ai'e closed foi' about
half the year and do not work at night, it gives the Lorillard factory au
advantage as of four to one on an ordiuary factory of the same producing
capacity, as it can pioduCe every (Jay in the year if desired.

The largest brick factory in tbis State has turned out about 40,000,OOU
bricks iu a year. The Lorillard factory turned out 511,000,000 without any
effort, while it is possible for them to supply brick iu almost unlimtfced
quantities.   They expect this year to turn out.about 100,000,000,

There are uo less thau eight and a-half miles o. steel tracks in and about
tbe factory. On these tracks everything is conveyed. The men do no
carrying at aU, unless wben absolutely necessai'y, everything being doue
to reduce labor, and therefore the maiu cost of production, to a minimum.
TheNew Jersey Central RaUroad also runs a switch into the factory, so
that freight care cau be brought right up to the kilns, and the.manuract-
ured brick shipped directly from the spot to auy part of the country.

There are numerous engines aud bjders. The largest is au engine of
y50-horse-power. There ai'e engines for hoisting, grinding, blowing aud
motive powei', thii'teen in aU. There are also dyuamos for supplying elec¬
tric hght to the whole works. An important erraugement is tbe duplica¬
tion ot evei'y piece of machinery, so that should au accident occur to ren¬
der any one of fchem inoperafcive, fche meu cau within a few moments start
the reserve macbine. There is also a fire-pump, wbich is kept in motion
night and day, iu case of conflagration.

Some two hundred men are employed altogether, exclusive of those who
handle the brick after shipment. With sixty-two more men Mr. LoriUard
says he cau double his prodnciug capacity. The men eat, drink and sleep
in large bouses adjoining the factory set apart for them. I went iuto
the dining-room and found that it contained room for about tbi'ee hundred
men. Tbey have also theu- sitting-room. The workmen aud laboi'ei-s
include colored men and Italians. Each nationaUty and race lives in dif¬
ferent quarters, although they work together aud no difference isjmade
.in their wages,   Tbis has avoided any strike on tbe LoriUard works.

The system of checking the number of bricks produced and shipped is
perfect. The foreman at the kiln checks tbe count firsfc ; the engineer ou
the dummy keeps tally of the number of wheelbarrows with 100 bi-icks
each placed on the train, aud the foremen of the meu at the scow keeps
tally of the bricks tbat are wheeled on board, and every evening these
^ures are checked.

THE CHARACTER OF THE BRICK.

The clay of which fche brick is made is of rai'e quality.    When takeu out

of the ground it is smooth to tbe touch, aud cut out as easily as though it

were cheese,    Tbe following analysis, made by Columbia College, shows its

quality :

Ferric Oxide (irony...............................................    r,2H

iiumuia....................................................... 30,08

Silica............................................................. oa.aa

m.6s

The balance of 0.34 per ceut, showed a trace of magnesia aud sulphur.
To fiad a clay almost absolutely free from sulphur is remarkable. Tbe
.';amples were taken from a depth of (1, li) and .30 feet below the surface ol
tbe earth. It comes out of the kiln without leaving a trace of sulphur. Tbe
ordiuary Jersey bricks, even of a good grade, leave the black sulphur
marks all over fchem, and cannot be used tn a front where a <i\ea,n snd
neat red appearance is wished for,





Tbe brick is manufactured in a shghtly larger size than the ordiuary
brick. Ifcreiiuires only 870of themto do the work of a thousand of the
usual sized bricks. This is a saving of 130,000 bricks ou a milhon, no
inconsiderable item. Besides, it saves labor and mortar. The average
costof building with this brick is said by Mr, Lorillard tobe S2 less per
thousand at present prices than the ordinary brick.

The test of strength has shown his brick fco be 35 per cent, stronger, fchan
the average brick, says Mr, LoriUard,

Mr, LorUlard also said that miny of his ordinary bricks were used for
front brick. Tbe builder, if he chooses to bave bis men stack them
separately at tha buildings, wiU geuerally flnd 26 per cent, of the brick flt
for fronts. They could not afford to separate them at a factory, even
though they could obtain a higher flgure for the better bricks. They could
not afford it because the selection would involve au iuterruptiou in the
entire routine of the factory, and more would he lost than gained in
consequence.

.Heman Clark, the aqueduct coutractor, tested the bricks by boiUngsome
of thera for three weeks, then freezing them, then thawing them out, then
soaking them and once more freezing them. This severe aud somewhat
unusual test made no impression on tbe brick,

Ex-Comptroller E, V. Loew, uuder date of March 38, 1889, writes fco Mr,
Lorillard that when he wa*: ComptroUer, in 1887, he had occasion to test the
quality of the brick furnished the city for use in the construction of the
new Croton Aqiieiuct. The brick tested were North Ri.ver,Haverstraws.
LoriUards and two others. The tests were made by such eminent engin¬
eers as Gen. Jobn Newton, Col. Church, E. D. McLeau aud tbe late Gen,
GUmore, and theii' unanimous conclusion was to the effect tbat in every
pai-ticular the Lorillard brick was superior to all the others,

PRACTICALLY  A GOLD MINE,

I made a little calculation returning in the train. The company owns
li'lO acres of fchis clay ground, exclusive of thirfcy undei' Utigatlon, In the
340 aci-6M it is estimated that there is an average of seven yards of clay, the
depth ranging from 6 to 47 feet. There are 49,000 cubic feet to an acre,
which is about 5,111 cubic yards. Tbis would give a supply of
^5,777 cubic yards of clay per acre, and as about 500 bricks
can be produced out of every cubic yard, each acre would
yield 17,888,600 bricks. As there are 340 acres, fchis would give a
supply of 4,21(3.210,000. Afc the rate of 100,000,000 bricks produced per
annum it would take nearly forty-three years to exhaust these flelds, or at
the rate of 150,000,000 per annum it would take over twenty-eight years,
Tbe value of all this brick at only .-Si; ]jer thousand would be $35,759,440.

L. B.





Our Impartial Obsei-ver.—Oity Hall Park Agaiu.

lara glad that your correspondent, "Subscriber," has afforded mean
opportunity to refer again to the proposed Muuitipal bmlding in the City
HaU Park. It is nofc fcoo much to say thafc fche subject has received no
impartial public consideration, except what bas been afforded by its discus¬
sion through the columns of The Record and Guide,

When tbe pm-poses for wbicb the uew building is designed ai'e consid¬
ered, it ia peculiarly fit^ting that tbis sbould have been the case since itis
easily demonstrable that the real estate interests of New York City are
those most immediately concerned in having the building erected without
unnecessary delay.

Tbe law which authorizes fche construction of this buUding in the City
Hall Park is chapter 81 of the Laws of 1889. It created a Board of Com¬
missioners, consisting of tbe Sinking Fund Oomraissioners, tbe Surrogate,
the County Clerk and the Register, whose rfwty it was, aud who were
authorized and empowered to select a site north of the City HaU Plaza and
east of the City HaU, and to erect a fli'e-proof building thereon " sufficient
to provide suitable accommodation for tbe office aud use of the Register of
the Cifcy of New York, and for tbe oflce and use of the Clerk of the City
and County of New York, and for the offlces aud com't aud for the use
of the Sm'rogate of the City and County of New York, being the various
offices iu wbich the records affecting public interests are required by law
to be kept in said city and county.

Now, the " public interests" to which the Legisiatm-e referred are pecu¬
Uarly tbe interests of reai estate owners, since upon the records in the three
offlces of the Register, the County Clei'k, and the Surrogate, the titles of
every land-owner may sufastautiaUy be said to depend.

Of the immediate necessity for better accommodations for the preserva¬
tion and care of the records in charge of these tbree offices I presume litfcle
need be said. The condition of tbe Register's ofQce has for many years
been a shame and disgrace to the wealthy City of New York, and when we
consider that real estate pays about three-fom1;hs of the tases collected
for the support of the city government, it would seem thafc self-mterest
alone would long since bave dictated to tbe city officials the prudence of
avoiding the possibility of the tremendous disaster, wh:ch would result
from tbe desti'uction of tbe maps and records which are of inestimable
value, and could never be replaced. If my memory serves me, the building
itself bas been presenfced as a nuisance by more than one Grand Jury, The
accommodations iu the County Coui't House now afforded to the County
Clerk >nd the Surrogate for tbe preservation of records almost as impor¬
tant as those in tbe custody of the Register, are a Uttle more cleanly,
but are equally insufflcient,

Tbe records in these thi'ee offices are in constant use by the legal pro¬
fession in the investigation of titles, and it only needs a visit to them to
satisfy any investigator that the new biulding proposed for their accom¬
modation is a peremptory necessity.

The law, beyond any qnestion, made the choice of tbe site and fche erec¬
tion of tbe building a duly. The language of the statute was clearly man¬
datory aud compulsory. Tbe commissioners, instead of preceding to caiTy
out tbe clear obhgation which the Legislative will had thus imposed upon
them, calEed a series of town meetings to consider whether or notthecitizens
of New York aud tbe newspapers were in favor of obedience to the law.
The frantic appeals of the disinterested newspapers adjacent to the site to





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