Rensselaer Republican, Volume 13, Number 22, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 February 1881 — Shot. [ARTICLE]

Shot.

The Baltimore American gives this description of the manufacture of shot in one of the towers of that city. One of the “secrets” of the manufacture is the mixing of the lead with a certain proportion of a combination of mineral substances called “temper.” The “temper” is fused with the lead, aud gives the molten metal that consistency which makes it drop. If It were not for the “temper” ; he lead would be molded by the sieve, and would form little pencils instead of round shot. When“Bß” shot,for instance, are to be made, the lead is poured into a pan perforated with holes corresponding to that size. The little pellets come pouring down in a continuous shower and fall into a tank filled with water on the ground floor. In their descent of 200 fret they become perfect spheres, firm and dense, and they are tolerably cool when they strike the water, afr though the swift concussion makes the tank foam and bubble as if the water was boiling furiously. The shot must fall in water, for if they should strike any firm substances they would be flattened and knocked out of shape. To get the little pellets perfectly ary after they have been in the “well,” is the most difficult and troublesome process of the whole manufacture. An elevator with small buckets(very much like those used in flour mills)carries the shot up as fast as they reach the bottom or the “well,” and deposits them in a box sixty feet above the first floor. The water drips from the buckets as they go up, and not much is poured into the receiver above, although it is intended to-be a sort of dripping machine. From this receiver the shot runs down a spout into a drying pan, which greatly resembles a gigantic shoe, made of sheet iron. The pan rests at au angle which permits the wet shot to roll slowly down to the chamber below, and the pellets became perfectly dry as they pass over the warm sheet iron.