BRICKMAKING.

SIXTY YEARS A BRICKMAKER.
A Practical Treatise
ON

BRICKMAKING AND BURNING
AND

THE MANAGEMENT AND USE OP DIFFERENT KINDS OP CLAYS
AND KILNS FOR BURNING BRICK, WITH A SUPPLEMENT
FOR NEW BEGINNERS IN BRICKMAKING, AND
HINTS TO BRICKLAYERS AND BUILDERS.

BY J. W. CRARY, SR.

PRICE

$2.50.

T. A. RANDALL & CO.,
PUBLISHERS,

INDIANAPOLIS.

COPYRIGHTED BY

J. W. CRARY, SR.,
1890.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF THE AUTHOR OF THIS
BOOK.
Mr. Crary is a native of Hamilton County, Ohio ; he
was born in Springfield Township, a few miles north of
Cincinnati, in the then sparsely settled village of Mount
Pleasant, in the year 1814, on the 12th of November.
Mr. Crary's grandfathers were from Vermont, and were
soldiers in our war for Independence. They both came
West in 1806. Mr. Crary's grandfather Crary settled near
Cincinnati; his grandfather Ballard, settled in Jennings
County, Indiana. Both of these men were pioneers, and
lived each to the advanced age of ninety-six years. Mr.
Crary's own mother died in her eighty-seventh year.
Mr. Crary's father established a brickyard in Cincinnati
in 1829. Mr. Crary worked with his father until the late
a u t u m n of 1834, when he went South, and was, up to
the close of our war of the States, a constant jobber, contractor, manufacturer, and superintendent as brickmaker,
and part of the time as brick layer, just the same as his
lather had been from Mr. Crary's earliest boyhood. Mr.
Crary patented a b r i c k k i l n and a brick machine, in 1858.
Several features in these patents are now in general use.
H e also took out a patent for heating houses, by use of
clay materials entirely, in the construction of his heater.

viii

BIOGRAPHICAL.

Mr. Crary operated his heater in the North successfully, until his health required his return to Florida.
Mr. Crary also patented several important improvements. He is also the real inventor of the plan for cladding ships with iron, and has now in his possession, published evidence of the fact, that he suggested the cladding of the old IT. S. War ship "Merrimac," which distinguished herself in the late war, in dispersing the U.
S. fleet at "Hampton Roads," at the same time he was
preparing to clad a small vessel, which was to carry a
single gun, and make a breach in the walls of Fort Pickens. He had invented a peculiar shot, or arrow. It was
a sharp pointed bomb with a light, hollow tail, so as to
give it the projectile precision of an arrow. The main
body of the shot contained a given charge of powder in
a chamber. A priming tube, or nipple, connecting with
the powder, was capped with a common percussion cap;
a "striker" was set just behind in the hollow tail, the
shot was then put in the cannon on a "sabbat," which
covered the powder in the cannon. When this was discharged the shot went point foremost, and simultaneous
with its penetration of a wall, it exploded and, of course,
a breach in the wall was the result. Mr. Crary's versatility is remarkable; he is by no means a novice in political economy, and writes for public journals with acknowledged force and ability.
As Mr. Crary's writings show, some of his prominent
work was making the brick by contract for the U. S. Arsenal at Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1840 and 1841;
making and laying the brick for the State University of

BIOGRAPHICAL.

IX

Mississippi, in 1845, and 1846; superintending the
making of all the No. 1 brick for the U. S. Custom House,
in New Orleans, in 1852, '53 and '54; also, in superintending the making of the brick for U. S. Fort Jefferson, on
Dry Tortugas Island, on coast of Florida, 1857, '58 and
'59. He made all the brick for Iron Works at Red Mountain, in 1863 and '64, near Birmingham, Alabama. Mr.
Crary is the projector of the village of Bluff Springs,
Florida, and its main proprietor. As a citizen, a thinker
and writer, Mr. Crary occupies a high and honorable position in the community, and has held some important
offices, at the earnest request of his fellow citizens, without regard to party. He has always refused office, only
when he believed it to be an imperative duty to accept.

PREFACE.
There are thousands of compilers, but few real authors of books. A compiler m a y select and arrange matter for a book and make it readable, but of no practicable
value.
To prepare the matter based upon the practical experience, and in m a n y particulars, the new and original
thought of the author, is entirely a different thing.
Whatever there is in this humble contribution of the
author to t h e art of brick making, t h a t may interest and
profit the reader, it is the result of long study and patient
effort of brain and hand.
I n 1867, I determined to publish a short treatise on
brickmaking, a n d went to New York City to select material to aid me in the work, but, to m y astonishment,
the largest and best libraries and book stores contained
no book on brickmaking, and the little that I was able to
glean, w i t h the aid of expert clerks, from books of general information, was of such a perfunctory character,
that I abandoned the effort to compile anything from the
writing of others, and proceeded to publish a short treatise on the art of brickmaking, in pamphlet form, from
my own experience.
Since that-date the increase of cyclopedic literature
has furnished much on the subject of brickmaking, from

PREFACE.

xi

which it would, be comparatively easy to compile a
book, but when done, it would be of no practical value
to the craft.
The progress t h a t has been made in the manufacture
01* brick and all kinds of clay goods in the past twentyfive years, renders much of what has been written by
theorists, obsolete.
I t has been the unfailing purpose of the author in t h e
preparation of matter-for this work, to deal with t h e
practical questions that m a y arise in the art of brickmaking. There are two classes of persons t h a t m a k e
the chief improvements in the work and life of m a n kind. One is analytical, the other practical and philosophical. I belong to the latter class myself, if I
m a y be allowed to classify myself. Much that I h a v e
learned has been the result of studying closely
the action of matter and the laws relating thereto in m y
everyday experience, covering a period of fifty-eight years
in brickmaking, in eleven states.
I venture to express the hope that this work will be
helpful to those engaged in the art of brickmaking.
Believing that in the management of clays, the drying,
setting, and burning of brick, and in the construction of
kilns, there will be much to interest even the most practical in the art.
I n the supplement I have given directions to new
beginners in the art of brickmaking, and hints to bricklayers and builders, which I hope will benefit and encourage amateurs in all lines of business pertaining to
brick, so t h a t they m a y achieve a victory over the forces

xii

PREFACE.

of nature, the varying characteristics of clays, the seasons, and other hindrances, and succeed in making an
excellent brick and in doing the best kind of brick work
at a minimum cost.
J O H N W. CHAHY, S B .
Bluff Springs, Fla.

CONTENTS.

Biographical.
Preface

Page
.. vii
.. x

CHAPTER II.
Drying Brick. Testing Clay. Best Way to Prepare Clay for Plastic
Mud Brick. Theory of Pressing Dry Clay to Perfection

7.

CHAPTER III.
Difference in Burning Dry Pressed and Soft Tempered Clay Brick.
Theory of Uniting Particles of Clay in a Body to Make a Brick, or for
Other Purposes. Perfect Dry Pressed Brick Depends on Condition of
Clay. Proper Way to Set Brick in a Kiln for Burning
13
CHAPTER IV.
Importance of Thorough, Good Burning. True Theory of Burning
Clay to Perfection. How to Make an Even Settle All Over Kiln. The
Settle of a Kiln no Sure Sign of a Good Burn
20
CHAPTER V.
Certain Growths of Timber Indicate Certain Kinds of Clay. Burning Brick with Coal Dust, or Other Fuel Mixed with Clay. Burning
Plastic Clay Brick and Dry Pressed Brick. Burning Dry Pressed Brick
Direct from Machine
i.
,
27
CHAPTER VI.
A Notable Experience. Hard, Well Burned Brick Only, Used On
U S. Public Works. How to Toughen or Anneal Brick While Burning. 35
CHAPTER VII.
Theory of Drying Clay to Prevent Cracking. The Reason Why There
Are So Few Scientific Brick Burners. Superiority of Good Brick Buildings Over all Other Kinds. How to Build a Cheap and Most Excellent
Brick Dwelling House
41

CONTENTS.

xv

CHAPTER VIII.
A National Standard Size of Brick a Necessity. The Advantages of a
Standard Size of Brick. Size and Quality Should be Fixed by Conventional Authority. Brick Making and Burning Should be a Profession. How
and Where Can a Man Learn to be a First-class Brick Burner and
Maker?
47
CHAPTER IX.
Brick Making and Burning to Perfection Rests Upon No Vague
Theories. The Whole Process of Selecting Clay, Manufacturing, Setting
and Burning Involves Certain Principles Which Must be Strictly Followed According to Circumstances. Question of Settling Brick Kilns
or Shrinking the Brick by Heat. Theory of Settling a Kiln and Covering with Fine, Damp Clay
53
CHAPTER X.
Economy in Fuel in Burning Brick. A Kiln with Two Arches
Dividing it in Center as Herein Described, the Most Advantageous for
Saving Fuel and Making Hard Brick. Theory of the Excellence of this
Kiln. The Ideal Brick Machine for Cheap Brick. To Patrons, Clayworkers and Public Generally
60
CHAPTER XL
Brickmaking is a Sure, Profitable, Healthy Business if Intelligently
and Energetically Followed. Every Good Brickmaker Builds His Own
Everlasting Monument, and Should Press His Name on His Brick. A
Simple and Cheap Way to Perpetuate it Forever
69

SUPPLEMENT.
CHAPTER I.
General Remarks on Foregoing Chapters. Experience, with Intelligent Study and Close Observation, the Only True and Reliable Guide
for Mastering Successfully the Art of Brickmaking. Necessary Qualifications for an Amateur Brick Maker, and the Proper Way and Place to
Begin Work. Proper and Best Place to Fix a Yard. How Clay Should
be Dug
:
73
CHAPTER II.
Molding, Drying, Setting and Burning Brick
CHAPTER III.
Brickmaking as a Business. Choice of Brick Machines. Having
Decided on a Brick Machine, the Next Thing is an Expert Brickmaker.
Gain by Using Exhaust Heat of a Kiln Just Burned. The Way to Obtain

78

XVI

CONTENTS.

Experts in Setting and Burning Brick. Brick Laying and Economy in the
Use of Brick. Making Mortar for Laying Brick. Importance of Laying
Brick in the Best Manner. Good Brick Work and Good Brick Should
Go Together. Importance of Good Foundations. A Universal Size and
Quality of Brick Needed
86
Specifications for Building and Using the Brick Kiln as Shown on Plan 101

APPENDIX TO SUPPLEMENT.
"Whitewashing" in Burning ; the Cause and the Cure

108

"Theory and Practice of Brickmaking."

110

BRICKMAKING AND BURNING.
CHAPTER I.
Clays for Making Brick.

It is needless for me to say that brickmaking is one
of the oldest arts practiced by man, yet it has made less
progress in its methods of operation than any other art.
In this article I wTill notice the different kinds of clay
that is, or may be, used in the manufacture of brick of all
descriptions. (See Webster's definition of clay, wdiich is
right, except that he, like all brickmakers, says that
clay will shrink or "contract by heat," which is only true
as a rule.) All clays partake of a metal called aluminum.
"Fire clay," such as is generally used to make infusible brick for furnaces, is composed of alumina and silex,
with more or less magnesia, and a trace of protoxide of
iron, etc. In proportion as iron and alkaline salts are
present in clay, in that proportion it is vitreous, or fusible ; and in proportion to the absence of iron rust or sesqui
or protoxide of iron and alkaline salts, it is fusible. All
"fire clay" has more or less alumina, silex and magnesia.
The most of our primitive clays in the South, are infusible by ordinary heat of "the furnace." In some places I

2

BRICKMAKING AND BURNING.

have found that a kiln set 45 to 48 bricks high, would
swell up three inches when perfectly burned instead of
settling eight to ten inches, as in the case of fusible clays.
The clay on m y yard here, Bluff Springs, Florida, will
perceptibly swell under intense h e a t ; yet I can melt a
brick made of it if I put two ounces of soda or potash
with it before molding it.
The metallic oxides is what gives color to clay.
W h e r e iron rust, or sesqui or peroxides of iron predominate, we have that kind of «lay that burns a bright cherry
red. The alluvial clays of our rivers and creeks, and the
ante-alluvial or diluvial clays of much of our "tableland," areofthis character. The "silt" or clay deposited
on the banks of the Mississippi River is alluvial clay, and
makes a dull red, friable brick, easily burned, but fusible
under a low heat. Most of the brick of commerce are
made of the more primitive clays, or the ante-alluvial
clays, such as are found on the plateau lands of our rivers.
The red brick of Philadelphia, Baltimore, Cincinnati and
St. Louis, for instance, are of this kind of clay. The largest, deepest and most unbroken continuous bed of this
kind of clay in the United States, is to be found at Baton
Rouge, Louisiana. I t is over twenty miles long, and generally twenty-two feet deep. I have found this from personal observation, and have made some of the finest red
front brick of it that I ever saw. I n fact, this m a m m o t h
clay bed is nearly continuous on the east bank of the tablelands of the Mississippi river from Bayou Sara, Louisiana, to Memphis, Tennessee, about 400 miles long and an
average of twenty miles wide.

BRICKMAK1NG AND BURNING.

3

F I R E CLAY.

Our fire clay beds are of two distinct kinds of deposit,
one is in veins, or strata, conterminous with our coal
fields ; the other is the large homogeneous primitive clay
beds of New Jersey, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida
and Alabama. Nearly all of these clay beds are found
near, or contiguous to the sea-coast. The largest, most
extensive and best, are found in the southwest part of
Fiorida, and southeast part of Alabama. The Perdido
river is about the center, running north and south. The
best developed beds of "fire clay" are found in Escambia
County, Florida. In fact, the whole country is underlaid
with one vast interminable bed of potters and fire clay,
in strata from six to forty feet deep, often cropping out
on the surface. This clay is suitable for all kinds of pottery, for "fire brick," and for the very best kinds of
building brick, or blocks for street paving, and is cheap,
accessible, and in every way advantageously situated for
profitable manufacturing.
HOW TO TEST CLAY FOR MAKING BRICK.

I have known many who got the "brick fever," or
"brick in the hat," to start, and with plenty of money, to
get rich on a poor bed of clay. The first work I ever did
wTas to "turn up brick" on my father's brick yard. I
went to "off-bearing" as soon as I could carry three brick
in a mold ; then I was put at a "table" as soon as I was
strong' enough to mold, and I learned to mold in all ways,
and all sorts of brick. I then was put to "setting," and

4

BRICKMAKING AND BURNING.

in due time, to "burning." We burned the old fashioned
way, closing up one "head" or side, and firing from the
other about three days, then opening the closed head and
shutting up the open one, then sliding wood over with
the old slavish "home pole " until the first head was "settled," then reversing fires and going for the "middles"
and "last head." Now if you were an old scar-worn,
weather-beaten "mud lark," that knew how to roast a
stolen chicken, you would know just what l a m talking
about, and seeing that I have been sixty-five years in
brickyards, you will say "he must be a brick," and not a
"salmon" brick, at that.
When I started out for myself, I thought I knew all
about brickmaking, and I got along first-rate while working along on the Mississippi River, where the clay was of
the same kind I had been used to; I thought a brickmaker was a brickmaker, the world over. It happened
that I left the Mississippi river, and went to Little Rock,
Arkansas, in 1838. I had an engagement to make brick
there, and I selected a clay bed which, in all appearances,
was just the kind I had been used to. I soon had a kiln on
fire, and the fires worked first-rate. I was very much
pleased ; but when I came to "settle the heads" just as I
had always done, the irritation began. There never was"
a more sleepless, vigilant man at a kiln than myself. I
had the fire blooming out all over the top; the arches
were nearly to a white heat, and hotter than I ever had
a kiln before.
I saw no signs of a "settle." I began to get scared ;
the idea that I had come there as a "crack, tip top"

BRICKMAKING AND BURNING.

5

brickmaker and now could not "settle" a brick kiln,
when the fires and wood were all first-rate, was too crushing for good temper, so I got several cords of the best, dry,
fine-split, hickory wood, and burned it as fast as I could,
and kept up a rapid combustion. The "arches" were so
hot that I could not see the "overhangers ;" they were
as white as a snow bank. White blazes shot up all over
the kiln, and the walls cracked so that the whole kiln
looked at night like a mass of molten matter, not a par
tide of "settle" appeared, and I closed the kiln as the
greatest phenomenon of my life. I knew the kiln was
burned, but the quality of the brick was what concerned
me. On the fifth day after closing I opened the kiln,
and, to my most agreeable surprise, the perfect uniformity, ring, strength and color of the entire kiln, excepting
the outside course of brick, was the most perfect I had
ever seen. Then it was that I saw the wisdom of Dr.
Franklin's aphorism, that "sensible people never finish
their education." I saw that stereotyped practice in
brickmaking would only do in the clay bed, where the
practice was had, or one exactly similar, a thing only
found on a continuous stratum in the same locality or
kind of clay.
TESTING CLAYS FOR BRICKMAKING.

If a person desires to make brick, and has any concern
as to the quality, he should first have some proper, practical knowledge of the business. Then if he goes into a clay
bed which is unlike that he has worked, he should take
a fair specimen of the clay and have it tested in some

6

BR1CKMAKING AND BURNING.

brick kiln where brick are well burned. If no such kiln is
convenient, take some of the clay and wet it, letting it
soak over night, then divide the specimen, and temper
one-half well, without adding any more water to it than
was used to "soak" it, mold it in the form of a small brick;
then temper the remaining half in the same way, adding
Wi 13r to it once or twice or three times, so that it will become much more plastic than the first half, then mold it
likewise, and put both specimens in the sun to dry. If
the clay has much lime or alkaline matter, the sample
tempered and watered most, will crack in the sun and
melt under alow heat, while the first specimen, tempered
and watered only once, will not crack and will stand fire
better than the other. Most people think that the more
clay is tempered, the less it will crack in drying; but
the reverse is true.
Clay is one of the most powerful hydrates known;
it never parts with water until at nearly a fusible heat.
Clay absorbs water in being tempered, until disintegration is complete, hence it may be watered from three to
five times during the process of tempering, and its toughness and plasticity increased every time water is added.
If clay be "loamy" and weak it may be made stronger
by repeated wetting and tempering. The analysis of
clays shown in books cannot be relied upon, unless made
from a fair specimen to be used. I will, in my next,
give a simple way to make an appropriate test of clay
without burning it; but nothing but a proper, fair practical test will tell the truth about clays. Practice and
science are so closely and necessarily allied in clay working, that none but "botches" will dispute it.

BRICKMAKING AND BURNING.

7

CHAPTER II.
Drying Brick. Testing Clay. Best Way to Prepare Clay for
Plastic Mud Brick. Theory of Pressing Dry Clay to Ptrfection.
Near the conclusion of the first chapter in this book
I stated the most practical way for testing clays in their
nature of drying in the sun, for if clay will not stand sun
drying, it will not, as a rule, stand sufficient heat in burning to m a k e a good brick, though if clay cannot be had
that will stand sun drying, still a very good brick may
be made by tempering clay t h a t cracks in the sun, in a
4
^pug mill," and drying the brick on "pallets" under a
shed, and if there be no shed or pallets the brick m a y be
laid on a yard floor as usual in the sun, and as fast as laid
down in rows, dust or sand m a y be sifted on the brick so
as to cover the surface, thus forming a partial non-conductor of heat, so that a rapid contraction of the top surface of the brick is prevented, and the evaporation of
water in the brick equalized on all sides; but in all cases, *
brick dried on a pallet under a shed properly constructed,
is at least a third stronger and better than brick dried in
a hot sun, especially if there be much wind. The slower
and more equal on all sides a brick is dried, the less porous and stronger it is. If it is desired to test clay in burning

8

BRICKMAKING AND BURNING.

and no regular brick kiln is convenient, a'fter a small sample brick shall have been made, as I stated in first chapter,
such sample m a y be enveloped in a coat of clay, half an
inch thick, and after being dried m a y be put in a blacksmith's forge with a very low heat until well dried off,
then the heat m a y be increased until the clay coating begins to show signs of melting. Then let the fire die out
and when cold take out the sample, knock off the coating,
and though the specimen will not be as good as if burned
in a kiln, yet it will determine the practicability of making brick of such clay.
THE BEST WAY TO PREPARE CLAY FOR "MUD BRICK."

H a v i n g decided on a "clay bed" for brick, if it is for
mud brick, the clay should be dug and thrown up in the
late fall, or through the winter, so that the rain and the
frost will disintegrate and soften it as well as to dispose
of an excess of salts or flux t h a t may be in it. If clay
be dug and hauled to the pit directly from the " b a n k , "
it is a difficult task to get it tempered so t h a t the brick
will be uniform in size or chemical composition, and if
a kiln is not made of clay homogeneous in kind, quality
and mixture, it is impossible to produce a good uniform
size and color of brick.
The tempering of clay is a most important part in
the manufacture of clay goods of any k i n d ; nine-tenths
of the brick manufactured are of imperfectly tempered
clay. A perfect disintegration and amalgamation of
clay is absolutely necessary to get the best results in the
manufacture of anything made of it for building or do-

BMCKMAKING AND BURNING.

9

mestic purposes. The time is coming when the working
of clay will be of as much importance and concern as
the manipulation and mixture of iron and steel. Our
"Lumbermen" seem to have a mania for destroying all
of our timber forests. The ruthless and prodigal waste
in the manufacture of lumber, and the excessive "output" thrown upon a glutted and sluggish market, will,
ere long, exhaust the supply and clay and iron will be
chiefly employed in building. The Arcade principle in
architecture will be adopted, and clay will be molded in
columns, segments of arches, and tiles, so that with a
little iron the most massive structures as well as the laborer's cottage, will be built chiefly of indurated clay.
The streets of our cities will be paved with brick, or
clay blocks, the size of two brick, but the clay must be
strong and well tempered if molded, and thoroughly
mixed and pulverized, if pressed dry, and in all cases
perfectly burned. From these premises it is very obvious that the clay industry will, in all its departments,
rank not less than third in mechanical pursuits.
TO PREPARE CLAY FOR " D R Y PRESSED" BRICK.

In 1861, January 5th, I had a dry press brick machine of my own invention, described and illustrated in
the "Scientific American," and I published a circular
setting forth the whole theory of making and burning
dry pressed brick. My machine gave brickmaking by
dry pressure an impetus that has culminated in the fact
that with the right kind of clay, handling and burning,
the strongest kind of brick may be made by pressing

10

BRICKMAKING AND BURNING.

clay dry. If a substantial " p l a n t " is to be m a d e for the
manufacture of " d r y press brick" it is necessary to have
a bed of considerable depth, homogeneous in character
from top to bottom. Then the clay should be "caved,"
and then cut up well and hauled in under a large shed,
which should be divided into two parts; one-half of the
shed should be filled, say from four to eight feet deep,
and with enough clay to run the machine three to six
months. While that is being used up, the other half of
t h e shed should be filled, so that a full supply of clay
with its moisture equalized, can be constantly had. The
raw material being thus prepared, a machine should be
well put up t h a t will pulverize the clay as fine as corn
meal, and at the same time thoroughly comminute it before it goes into the press. The pressure should be applied slow. If it be a direct pressure press, there should
be a top and bottom plunger, and only one of t h e m act
a t the same instant, so t h a t the present air in the clay
m a y escape more perfectly. My machine exerted the
pressure by a roller, which in passing slowly over the
mold expelled the air before it. The clay should be
d r y enough to allow the brick at once to be set in the
kiln. My machine caried the brick on a belt immediately into the kilns to the "setters," and the raw clay
m a y b e brought from the clay shed to the machine in the
same manner, so t h a t the whole process may be automatic, and all labor saved excepting the clay getting and
the setting of the brick. If dry press machines do not
do all this, the labor-saving feature is lost.

BMCKMAKING AND BURNING.

II

THEORY OF DRY PRESSING CLAY TO PERFECTION.

As I have said previously, clay is a powerful " h y d r a t e . " I t absorbs water greedily and never parts w i t h
it unless subjected to a heat near fusibility. Clay in its
different forms, conditions and admixtures with other
substances, plays a more important part in the geological
interest of the earth's surface, and its adaptability to t h e
life and wants of man and animals than any other mineral.
A few of its actions are to absorb mineral poisons,
and all poisonous fluids t h a t come from the decomposition of vegetable and animal life. If it were not for t h e
absorbing power and neutralizing effect of clay in solution, in the vast body of water in the Mississippi, a n d
t h e clay deposits of the great "Delta," no animal life
could exist on its shores. Clay in some form is absolutely essential and indispensable to agriculture, and so I
might go on and enumerate ad infinitum. But to the
point. I t seems absurd to say we can m a k e brick of d r y
dust—clay; but when we see that dry clay is a term t h a t
can only be used relatively, and that in fact, there can be
no such thing as dry clay, we m a y hope to m a k e brick
by pressure, and I will give you the proof by a test you
can m a k e at any time, in two minutes, without costing
a cent and you will be most astonished at its simplicity.
Take a l u m p of clay as dry as you can get it, say two
ounces, put it on an anvil or other smooth, solid, iron
surface; then take a h a m m e r with a smooth face, strike
the clay a light blow,—you will crush it. Strike again,

12

BMCKMAKING AND BURNING.

you will reduce it to an impalpable powder. Increase the
force of your blow a third or fourth time, and you find a
thin, damp, lamelated piece of clay so dense, hard and
strong that it resembles metal. The attraction of cohesion is thus perfected, so that if ^ve or six pounds of the
clay were put in a "Die," and fifty to a hundred tons
pressure, put upon it, you will have a perfect brick, and
if burned properly, would be superior to any plastic clay
brick. In a common size brick made by a good "dry press"
machine, twelve ounces more clay is contained than in a
"mud" brick of same clay and size. After a dry press
brick is well made it is simply a question of burning as
regards its superiority over a mud brick. Burning mud
brick and burning dry pressed brick, are just as different
as working and tempering steel for a common hoe, and
the best blade for a sword, or spring for a watch.

BRICKMAKING AND BURNING.

13

CHAPTER I I I .
Difference in Burning Dry Pressed and Soft Tempered Clay
Brick. Theory of Uniting Particles of Clay in a Body to Make a
Brick, or for Other Purposes. Perfect Dry Pressed Brick Depends
on Condition of Clay, m Proper Way to Set Brick. in Kiln for
Burning.

I have said in chapter 2, that brick properly made
of dry pressed clay are superior to those made of soft
tempered clay. I stated how dry press brick should be
made, and my statement was not based upon theory,
but upon actual and successful experiment at different
times and places, and in different clays. At one place I
had charge of a dry press machine that made twenty
thousand brick per day, also of tempered clay, molding
by hand twenty thousand. I set and burned both kinds
of brick in the same kiln, about half of each. I found
that the dry pressed brick " dried off" slower than the
mud brick, and the fire was slower in getting out at the
top, but after ufires were up" the dry pressed brick
burned out faster than the mud brick, and were ready to
be "closed up" sooner, though "fired" the same way, but
slower the first thirty-six hours. Those brick were made
for the large United States Custom House in New Orleans, in 1850 and ?51. The officer in charge came to our

14

BRICKMAKING AND BURNING.

yard to inspect the first kiln, which was very thoroughly
burned, and though prejudiced against dry pressed brick,
after a fair and full test, pronounced the dry pressed brick
superior to the m u d brick.
This brick yard was on Biloxi Bay, in the State of
Mississippi. I n 1856 to 1860, I had charge of a company's
brick yard on Escambia Bay near Peninsula Florida.
The concern was making brick for the IT. S. Government,
under a contract for sixty-five millions, to be used chiefly
for the building of Fort Jefferson, " D r y Tortugas" in
the Gulf of Mexico. The company at first, made brick
altogether by hand—forty thousand per day was the
" o u t p u t . " I n 1858 we p u t up a dry press machine, which
turned out an average of thirty-three thousand brick per
day. Carrying the brick into kilns on belts and from
them "tossed" to the "setters," at the same time, we
made twenty-five thousand brick per day by hand. I
set both kinds of brick in the same kilns. I set them i\ve
brick in a " b e n c h " and from forty-eight to fifty brick
high, our contract was for first quality, whole hard brick,
and large high kilns turned out the best, we shipped
ninety to ninety-five per cent of our brick to the U. S.
Government. I found the same results in the burning,
and character of the brick, as I had experienced before.
The clay in both these cases would not melt or shrink in
burning, even with fine, light wood fires, which, with a
good draught, is as hot as any smelting furnace. The dry
pressed brick were tested at Fort Jefferson, and carried
fifty per cent, more pressure t h a n the best m u d brick of
the best samples that could be found. I have made and

BRICKMAKING AND BURNING.

15

burned dry pressed brick, in seven different places. I n
two, the clay -would neither fuse nor shrink in burning.
I n the other five places, one in New Jersey, one in N e w
York, one in Maryland and two in Louisiana, the clay
would fuse and "settle" in burning, from four to eight
inches, and took twenty per cent, less wood or coal than
the infusible clays.
THEORY OF UNITING PARTICLES OF CLAY I N A BODY.

A brick made of soft plastic clay, contains about
twenty to twenty-five per cent, of water in weight. If
the clay be strong or pure and thoroughly tempered, i t
will absorb about thirty per cent, of its weight in water
when tempered soft enough for easy hand molding. I t is
evident then, that the particles of clay which are infinitesimally small, are surrounded by water to a certain extent, so t h a t when a soft brick begins to get dry, a partial
process of crystallization of the clay begins on the surface, and as evaporation goes on, the crystallization, or
cohesive attraction increases, until the brick is hard
enough to handle, or nominally dry, though theoretically
damp.
If we take such a brick and break it, and examine it,
we find the particles of clay cohered in sharp edged crystals, but pointed at their angles, so as to allow the water
to escape, and leave one compact body but full of pores.
We call this a solid, dry brick.
Now if we take a brick of this kind, and put it in a
die, and app]y one or two tons pressure, it is crushed, if
the pressure be increased to ten tons, the particles of clay

16

BBJCKMAKING AND BURNING.

begin to assume their natural position of cohesion, and
as the pressure is increased, cohesion follows in the same
ratio, until it becomes perfect, and the brick that a moment before was crushed to a disjointed mass of broken
crystals, has now become one perfectly dense, solid body,
without a single pore, unless made by confined air. A
perfect dry pressed brick, well burned, will absorb but
very little more water than a stone, and is about sixteen
per cent, heavier than a mud brick of the same size.
THE MAKING OF A PERFECT DRY PRESSED BRICK DEPENDS ON THE CONDITION OF THE CLAY.

We hear of semi-dry pressed brick. The well informed brickmaker, would call that by its right name,
which is "stiff mud," and poorly tempered, because it is
impossible to make clay plastic, or compel it to cohere,
like well tempered soft clay, by any process of disinte
gretion or co mixing. "Semi-dry clay," as very damp
clay is called, cannot crystallize, it is not sufficiently wet,
comminuted and plastic. It cannot be perfectly cohered
by pressure, because the presence of a considerable
amount of water intervening between the particles of
clay, prevent perfect cohesion.
The natural dryness of clay is the right condiiton.
If clay be spread out in the hot sun, until it appears
perfectly dry, it still retains a certain amount of water,
and if perfectly pulverized, may be pressed into a solid
body, but the moisture is not properly equalized until
sun-dried clay has been at least a week, packed under a
shed; then it becomes pulverulent, and easily yields

BRICKMAKING AND BURNING.

17

to the action of machinery properly constructed, and a
comparatively solid body is made, much more tenacious,
hard and strong, and less liable to warp or fuse by heat,
than if molded of tempered plastic clay. I know of a
clay working manufactory in a large northern city, that
tried every possible way, at great expense, to m a k e floor
tile to compete with the celebrated " M e n t o n " English
tile, out of tempered moldable clay, but failed in every
experiment. A t length, finding they could not get the
secret from the English manufacturers, they were about
to abandon the effort to accomplish the enterprise. Just
then, they accidentally got one of m y circulars, which I
had published, to show the theory upon which m y dry
press brick machine worked, which I had put in operation at Baltimore. Then they pulverized their clay thoroughly, and by means of proper dies and pressure, succeeded in making a first rate floor tile ; every one was
true, straight, and of uniform size, and hard as steel. I
did not know how " M e n t o n " tile were made, until long
after I had conceived of, and practiced the same theory.
Dry pressed clay will stand fire much better than
tempered clay. I n the kilns where I have set and burned
both m u d and dry pressed brick, I found the " overhangers" on the "arches," of t h e dry pressed brick, perfectly sound and solid, while those of the mud, or semim u d brick, were cracked and easily broken. I have used
dry pressed "overhangers" over and over, ten times, for
u
overhangers" in the m u d brick part of the kilns.
The reason for this difference is, that a dry pressed
brick, being more dense than a mud brick, does not heat
2

18

BRICKMAKING AND BUHNING.

so fast, or cool off so fast. W h a t constitutes a good "fire
brick," is its ability to stand sudden temperatures of heat
and atmosperic changes, without fracture, as well as to
stand intense heat.
THE PROPER WAY

TO SET BRICK

IN A KILN

FOR

BURNING.

I will not in this chapter, express m y opinion as respects the best kind of kilns for brick burning. There are
so m a n y different kilns and ideas connected with this business, that it is not easy to make a choice. The main
thing involved in the question of kilns is economy in labor
and fuel; " q u a l i t y " is not a factor of any importance in
the construction of a brick kiln. A perfect brick can be
burned in an old-fashioned "cased u p " kiln. The great
art and secret is in the setting and burning. No kind of
a kiln will turn out a perfect brick without these capabilities and conditions. W e had j u s t as well t r y to make
a forge, that would temper steel without the hand and
eye of an expert.
Brick should be set in a kiln, so as to get the best
draught, and combustion of fuel, leave the least fire
marks on the brick, and get the best distribution and
equalization of heat.
To do all this now, I will take, for instance, an old
style kiln to build. I will build the side walls twentyfive feet apart inside, they shall be at least three feet
thick at the bottom, and tapered on outside to 18 inches
on top. If the clay stands fire well, I will build the furnaces so as to allow a "bench" for "overhangings," five

BRICKMAKING AND BURNING.

19

brick wide ; if the clay fuses easy, will make the benches
four brick wide. H a v i n g m y kiln ready for "setting,"
I will set m y brick zigzag, or "skintling," so that if two
brick are set on edge, one-half inch apart, one brick set
on two would cross them diagonally, so as to rest on the
outer corners of the lower "brick, the divergence of parallels, of upper and lower course, would be, as a rule, onehalf the thickness of the brick. I will set this bench five
brick high, and set them to average half an inch apart.
I will then start m y "overhangers" and set them t h e
same as the benches. The first binder over the closing of
the "overhangers" I will set close, so as to spread the
fire ; all other binders I will set loose. Now I will put
on t h e cross, "running course," loose, then I will start
over these "cross courses" and if I want solid, even colors
on the edges of the brick, I will set two courses one way,
brick over brick all the time, before I cross them, thus
preventing "fire m a r k s , " except when the courses are
reversed. I will thus proceed to top of kiln, then " p l a t "
with burned salmon brick, if on hand if not, will use dry
unburned brick. The " p l a t t i n g " should be laid flat, and
about one inch apart, so as to leave a good draft and escape for watersmoke.

20

BRICKMAKING AND BURNING.

CHAPTER IV.
Importance of Thorough Good Burning. True Theory of
Burning Clay to Perfection. How to Make an Even Settle All Over
Kiln. The Settte of a Kiln No Sure Sign of a Good Burn.
I n third chapter I gave the common old mode of setting and burning brick. As some persons who are inexperi-enced m a y profit by a partial repetition of the same,
I will state t h a t when a kiln is ready to "fire," the main
thing to consider is a u good burn," not a quick burn or a
fuel saving burn. I t is a foolish boast of the botch
burner to talk about his quick burn. This is so common
t h a t it is quite the rule to m a k e a bad burn just to bragabout the time and fuel saved. Look a moment at the
utter nonsense and certain loss of this costly practice of
ignorance and self-conceit.
You have been to all the expense of making and setting ready for burning, say 200,000 brick. Now as
a common old rule, it will take at least sixty cords of
the best kind of wood, or about thirty tons of coal, to
burn this kiln, or its equivalent in gas or any other fuel,
and this is supposing that the kiln is in first-rate order for
burning, t h a t the clay is easy to burn salmon, i. e., will
indurate under a low heat, that the weather is favorable
and that the help is ample.

BRICKMAKING AND BURNING.

21

Now suppose when the 60 cords of wood or the 30
tons of coal are used up on the fourth or fifth day of burning, the kiln be closed with 50,000 salmon brick and
10,000 pale red brick. Now the difference between this
and a good burn is at least 40,000 salmon and 8,000 pale
red. Loss by 40,000 salmon, $80 at least; on 8,000 pale
red, $20, equals $100 loss in selling price besides loss of
labor in handling, $10, equals $110.
Now suppose the "boss burner" to be competent and
that he tells his employer that he can make a firs trate
burn if he has five more cords of wood, or its equivalent
in the fuel he may be using, and 10 or 12 hours more time.
The cost would be say $15 for fuel and $5 for labor, equals
$20; but "no," is the answer and the kiln is closed up at
a loss of $90 together with the bad name "poor burn,"
"poor brick," or "salmon burn." So here is the actual
damage of $90 and an unknown incidental loss in reputation.
I have known hundreds of kilns to be treated in this
way. In fact, first-rate brick burning is the exception,
not the rule. I have burned a kiln of reset salmon brick
in thirty-six hours, and several kilns of dry, green brick,
in three days and nights, and although they were called
good burns I found that in the same clay I could make
a brick 50 per cent stronger by burning six or seven days
and with a trifle difference in cost.
TRUE THEORY OF BURNING CLAY TO PERFECTION.

Six pounds of strong clay when dry as the air will
make it, still contains from five to six ounces of water,

22

BRICKMAKING AND BURNING.

and brick set up in a kiln will average ten ounces of water to each brick. The pores of a mud brick are very
small and of a dry pressed brick still smaller. Now it is
perfectly plain and evident, that when a brick is heated
above the boiling point, an instantaneous expansion takes
place in the absorbed water and the crystallization or cohesive attraction of the particles of clay must be disjoined
to a certain extent, so as to allow the excess of steam to
escape. The whole body of the brick is thus suddenly
expanded and softened, and if not perceptibly "water settled," it is, in fact so, to a certain extent, and however
hard the brick may be burned it will be imperceptibly
fractured, and lose its ring and solidity.
I N THE DRYING OFF PROCESS,

Brick should never be heated above the boiling point until the top of a kiln is quite warm to the touch all over.
After this, the fires in the arches may be slightly increased, so that the overhangers will look Tt little bright
after dark, but in no case should the furnaces or arches
be made red hot, until the steam or water smoke begins
to disappear rapidly. There are two words for a brick
burner to get by heart, and never forget, viz., slow, and
regular. If the aphorism "more haste than good speed"
has one place better than another it is in the practice of
the average brick burner, trying to save time by pushing his fires or opening his kiln too soon after being
burned. No matter how little or big the kiln, if the
height be the same, it requires the same length of time
to burn it. I have burned 700,000 brick in a kiln 48 brick,

BIIICKMAKING AND BURNING.

23

on edge, high, in a little less than seven days. The kiln
did not settle a particle, was perfectly hard from bottom to
top; and I have been a full week burning 100,000 the
same way in the same kind of clay.
If the settle of a kiln be the criterion for a good burn,
the slow, steady heat well diffused throughout the kiln is
the only sure way. A settle should never be attempted
until the fires are all out to a glowing heat on top. The
man who settles his kiln until in this condition, is either
a willful botch, or a senseless ignoramus.
HOW TO MAKE AN EVEN SETTLE ALL OVER THE K I L N .

The old way of setting one head or side at a time is
an exploded idea with brainy brick burners. A clamp or
kiln, twenty-two feet wide should have a furnace at least
four feet deep, or out, from the brick in the kiln. If the
wall of clamp or kiln is not that thick, a flue or furnace
should be built out so that the main part of the gases generated by the furnaces will not be mixed with fuel
(wood or coal) thrown over into the arches. The old idea
of sliding or throwing large quantities of fuel over to the
center of a kiln is a positive waste of fuel, without any
really beneficial result. If there be a deficiency of oxygen to consume the wood or coal thrown over to the middle of arches, the fuel will carbonize and that will retard
or even destroy combustion. If coal be used the grates
should be thinly covered, and the ashpits should be
often cleaned out. When any part of the kiln begins to
settle, the plattings should be closed tight at that part, so
that no more draft will concentrate at that point but be

24

BRICKMAKING AND BURNING.

forced to other unsettled part of the kilns. This process
of closing the platting should go on until the settle is even
all over the kiln, and if the platting cannot be made tight,
raw, d a m p clay should be thrown on, so as to compel the
draft of heat to go to the unsettled places. By this means,
I have settled a head clear out nearly level with the
middle.
WHEN THE K I L N IS TO BE CLOSED AND HOW.

If the clay will fairly settle six inches, as soon as it
has gone down four, you m a y safely believe it will settle
two inches more, because the top of the Kiln being closed,
the intense heat below, will naturally ascend, and as it
can only radiate from the top, of course, the heat will be
very nearly equalized throughout the kiln, and the second course from the top will be good hard brick. W h e n
the kiln is to be closed, no fresh fuel should be added to
the furnaces, and the gases having been consumed, so
that no smoke is visible, should be spent until the arches
have an even glow of a settling heat, then quickly close
the doors and shut off the draft as soon as it is safe for
the grates, which will not exceed one hour. The usual
way of charging the arches with fuel on closing up a kiln
is sure to discolor m a n y of the brick, because the combustion, or rather, the consumption of the fuel, for the want
of oxygen, is incomplete, and the carbonic oxide discolors the mineral oxide which gives the natural color to
brick.
W e see and hear a good deal about burning brick
with natural gas. This is an important subject in locali-

BRICKMAKING AND BURNING.

25

ties where gas can be had, but in most places we must
generate the gas by the proper combination of some kind
of fuel and oxygen. Brick burning is not a question of
fuel or heat, but a question of the right and best application of heat, and cooling or withdrawing of heat. I t
takes a certain quantity of heat, or caloric, to produce
that chemical change in clay necessary to oxidate its natural constituent parts to that state of induration which
affords the most consistent hardness, strength, tenacity
and durability.
THE SETTLE OF A K I L N NO SURE SIGN OF A GOOD
BURN.

That kind of clay which is generally used to make
the best red brick, will shrink about an eighth of an inch
in the width of a brick; that will give five inches settle
in a kiln forty brick high. But we often find such a kiln
settled 8 to 10 inches or more and the arch brick a half
inch less in width than a brick in the middle of the kiln r
and the difference in settle from the bottom to top, is in
ratio to the number of courses. This may be called good
burning, but it is because there is no better. Why not
have the superlative and get the best? It is simply a
question of time, distribution and equalization of heat.
Any experienced brickmaker, of first-rate judgment and
sense, (and no other sort of a man ever was or ever will
be a first-rate brickmaker,) will soon find just how much
heat his arches will stand without signs of fusion. Then
if the brick are properly set so that a free, clear draft can
ascend, he has only to keep the heat steady, uniform and

26

BRICKMAKING AND BURNING.

regular, until the same color or glow of heat can be seen
down a course or two from the top as is seen in the arches,
a n d when this sign is plain and unmistakable, he m a y
close the kiln without regard to the depth of settle,
and uniform well burned brick is the certain result. A n y
other criterion for a good burn is deceptive. The settle of
a kiln m a y be mostly in the arches, while two-thirds of
t h e brick above, are only pale red, and salmon.
I n m y next chapter I will say something about our
infusible clays that don't shrink in burning, and require
intense heat, and will also tell common brick burners in
fusible clay, how they can m a k e their arches stand fire.
F u r t h e r on I will show how to utilize the heat of kiln,
after being closed to dry off other kilns which can be set
u p at little expense for continuous burning. I will say
right here, to finish m y remarks about setting arch bricks,
t h a t the common way of setting benches and overhangers, by setting one brick on two, right over the space between the two, is without reason or common sense, as it
only makes cavities or ovens, which confine the heat and
gases, not allowing escape up into the body of the kiln.
T h e benches, overhangers and binders should be set
skintling (reversed diagonally) with a space between at
least 5-8ths of an inch. There should be a free full escape for draft up from bottom to top of kiln. "Benches"
m a y be four brick wide for clay easy to melt and five
brick wide for clay that will stand a high heat.

BRICKMAKING AND BURNING.

27

CHAPTER V.
Certain Growths oj Timber Indicate Certain Kinds of Clay.
Burning Btick with Coal Dust, or Other Fuel Mixed with Clay.
Burning Plastic Clay Brick and Dry Pressed Brick. Burning
Dry Pressed Brick Direct from Machine.
I n m y former chapters I have given some general directions about selecting clays for brick, and for preparing
t h e m and making and burning t h e m into brick. Most
writers (not excusing myself) are egotistical' vain
and self conceited, and the wear and tear of pronouns of
the first person singular, is dreadful. Still " I , " " m e , "
"myself" at the right time and in the proper place,
makes a better show for true energetic and forcible manliness, than " h e , " " w e , " " t h e y , " " i t , " with a vain pride
for fastidious modesty. You always know where to rind
" I , " but " h e , " " w e , " " i t " and " t h e y , " are sometimes
awful dodgers.
I will now state a fact which I defy any experienced
clay hunter and worker to deny, and as I cannot very intelligently explain it myself, I will call on some professor,
who can give you all you want to know about brick,
(whether he ever saw a kiln made and burned or not) to
solve this question. I have never seen a clay bed East,

28

BRICKMAKING AND BURNING.

West, North or South, upon which a variety of timber
grows but what will make good brick. It will not crack
in drying or check in burning; and generally, will burn
red color. I have never seen a clay bed where there is,
or was, no other timber than oak orpine, but what would
crack in the sun when molded soft, and easily check in
burning. Will some facile, juvenile, versatile writer,
tell me why ?
When I speak of clay on the surface, where any timber grows of course, no reference is made to antediluvial
or primitive clay, or what is commonly called fire clay,
or potters clay, nor do I refer to alluvial clays, such as are
found on the low banks of the Mississippi, and other rivers, but such as are found on the plateaus or table lands
of our rivers and valleys. Most of these lands have a
variety of timber on them.
Oak and pine clay lands, have generally, a large proportion of calcareous matter. Traces of fossil shell fish,
may be seen in the pine or oak clay lands of the South, especially in Alabama, or Mississippi. These clays dry fast
when molded soft, and shrink more than other varieties,
and being poor in silica and rich in lime, the particles
have not time to arrange themselves into a solid crystal,
while the water is evaporating.
As a proof of this theory, if we add sand, say onefourth or less, as the case may be, we find no cracking;
if we dry the brick under sheds, we have good, strong,
whole brick; if we press the clay dry, when well pulverized, we find no cracks, but a good, strong brick, if properly burned. This kind of clay, should have as much

BRICKMAKING AND BURNING.

29

sharp, clean sand added to it as it will bear and make a
good brick, unless it be manufactured by a first-rate dry
press machine.
BURNING BRICK WITH COAL. DUST OR OTHER

FUEL

MIXED WITH CLAY.

A few years ago, (and I presume the practice is continued) nearly all the brick made on the Hudson River,
N. Y., and Raritan Bay, N. J., were made of tempered
soft clay, and from three pecks, to one and two bushels of
fine coal dust was tempered in with each thousand brick.
The brick to be set around on the outside, and "heads"
of kilns, had double the quantity of dust. When a kiln
was ready to fire, wood was used sparingly, and when
the arches became hot enough to ignite the coal
in the brick, very little wood was used, and the doors
were kept closed, with just enough air admitted to keep
up combustion. The heat would follow close after the
watei smoke and the top of the kiln would be harder
than the bottom.
A CHEAP BUT BAD WAY OF BURNING BRICK.

The brick burned with coal dust tempered in with
the mud or of clay containing lignite, (as is used extensively in Middlesex County, Raritan Bay, N. J.) are of an
inferior grade. First, the water-smoke is driven off too
rapidly, warping, checking or water-settling the brick.
Second, the inside of the brick becomes fused, while the
outside is partly chilled, and remains comparatively soft.
Third, the brick are discolored, and have a motley ap-

30

BRICKMAKING AND BURNING.

pearance and the grain or texture of the brick, being
uneven and entirely dissimilar, it is liable to chemical
and atmoshperic action.
The difference between the intrinsic value of a thoroughly and evenly burned brick, and one that is half
fused and half burned, cannot be compensated by any
kind of economy in fuel or burning.
W h e n all architects, and builders, get to know a
brick, the m a n who can burn a thousand brick with
three pecks of fcoal, and a wheelbarrow load of wood or
25 cents worth of gas, will be out of a job, and good brick
burning will take high rank as a profession.
I have not a doubt that the time will come after our
natural fuels have been much or nearly exhausted, when
heat for burning brick, and for m a n y purposes not now
thought of, will be developed from water power and electricity.
I have said in preceding chapters, that clay that will
crack in sun-drying should be tempered in a pug mill,
water being added to it only one time ; and t h a t clay
which is loamy, or charged with sand, so as to m a k e it
short or weak, should be tempered in a pit, and worked
until it is stiff, then watered; this process of tempering
and watering should be continued, until the clay particles become so disintegrated, that the whole body feels
plastic to the touch. Millions of good, fair building
brick, are made on the river bank at New Orleans, Louisiana, in this way, of the deposit of sandy m u d or batture. I t is taken out when the river is low, and kept in
store, for spring and summer use, and the next succeed-

BMCKMAKING AND BURNING;

M

ing high water replaces the mud taken out, so that the excavation is not seen. Thus the great "Father of Waters,"
carries on his work of alluvion, which has furnished
mud for brick, and millions of fertile acres for agriculture.
BURKING PLASTIC CLAY BRICK AND DRY

PRESSED

CLAY BRICK.

I have already given some directions for burning
and setting brick. In the preceding chapters I stated
that there was a material difference between the right
way of burning the two kinds of brick above mentioned.
A mud brick having much more water to evaporate than
a dry pressed brick, when dried off, will, of course, be
more porous than a dry pressed brick, and will absorb
heat more rapidly. If, therefore, the two kinds of brick
are set in one kiln separately, it will be found that the
mud brick will be dried off and the fires up, sooner than
the dry pressed brick. It is, therefore, evident that the
dry pressed brick should be fired slow, steady and carefully, for if fired to keep up with the mud brick, they
will expand or swell so as to partially lose the cohesive
attraction the particles of clay have assumed under x:>ressure. This is of the first importance, for if the cohesiveness of the particles of clay be once disturbed, nothing
can restore it.
BURNING DRY PRESSED BRICK DIRECT FROM MACHINE.

If your clay has been dug and hauled when dry, as it
naturally gets in the bed, and stored under a good shed, it

32

BRICKMAKING AND BURNING.

will be in good condition to press after three or four weeks
under shed. It will get but very little dryer under a
shed than it was in the bank, but it will be uniform in
dampness and mulled, ready for the pulverizer.
Clay in this condition, will be dry enough to go at
once into the kiln from the machine. Brick can be well
burned if dry enough to stand in a kiln without crushing, provided they are evenly well set and the firing very
sl©w and careful. If the clay be frozen when pulverized,
in a so-called dry state, it may be pressed and set directly
into the kiln, but if pressed damp without being frozen,
and then frozen, it will not be a brick when thawed, but
a crumbling body of clay, unless kept frozen and exposed
to the air a longtime. Dry pressed brick should be set
even and open. A good and safe rule is to set five on
edge, on the distance or length of two, or say threequarters of an inch apart. As I have said in previous
chapters, the benches and overhangers, should be set
skintling or diagonally across, one on two, in form of letter X. This should continue until the binders are on and
ready for first running, or lengthwise course across the
kiln. For common brick, I prefer to set skintling all the
way to the top. If set even this way the circulating
draft and flame is more regular and diffusive. It requires
more skill to set skintling, but a setter can set much
faster. When a kiln is set skintling, the course of draft

up through the kiln is serpentine, and the circulation of
heat is more lateral, and better distributed than when
the brick are set transversely, three over three. The
benches of a dry pressed kiln may be a brick wider than

BRICKMAKING AND BURNING.

33

for m u d brick, as the clay, dry pressed, will stand more
fire. F i v e courses wide will do well with good burning.
Forty brick high is a good m a x i m u m for setting a kiln.
The width may vary, but I prefer a narrow kiln not over
24 feet wide. The fires can be worked and controlled
well in this width of kiln.
I have spoken of fusible and infusible clays, and
have shown t h a t the infusible clays will not shrink or
settle by burning, and that the fusible clays will stand
fire better by being dry pressed. W h e n a dry pressed
kiln is ready to fire, if with wood, the greenest, or if all
dry, that which has the least resinous matter, should be
used first, for if much black smoke passes up through
the kiln when cold, it will coat the brick in spots. This
not only chokes the draft, but is a non-conductor of heat,
and what is called a chill or cold spot is likely to ensue.
This is not infrequent, with ignorant burners; some call
it "witch in the k i l n . " I have seen them dig to the arches
to get it out, but the best way to get the "witch' 7 out is
to pour water enough down from the top, to start hot
steam from the hot arch, then it will follow up by pressure of steam. But this " w i t c h , " must be prevented by a
very slow and clean fire. If coal be used, hard coal is
best for drying off; bituminous coal is best after the kiln
is hot. "When the fires are all out at top, the heat should
be increased until the overhangers show signs of fusion
or glazing; then this heat should be kept steady, until it
appears on top. I n clays that don't melt by heat or settle, the platting will first show a white sulphuret of any
alkaline matter in the clay. Then as the intense heat ap-

31

BRICKMAKING AND BURNING.

pears under the platting, a sulphuret of iron, or what
burners call "brown sulphur," will coat the edges of the
platting. This is a sure sign of hard brick from bottom to
top, as all the mineral substances of the clay have become
completely oxidized. This efflorescent appearance of oxidized substances in clays, is the true indication of the
quality of a burn, and not the settle, as common brick
burners believe. If clay melts at a low heat, as soon as the
arches get red hot, the danger of fusing may be very
much prevented by closing the kiln up tight, for five or
ten hours. I have closed a kiln at 9 p. m. and opened it
6 a. m. and found it in good order, and very hard to melt
afterwards.
Reason : The alkaline salts have been greatly dissipated and ceased to be a ready flux with the clay under a
high heat. Thus closing a kiln to let it "cook," is not
only good to prevent fusing, but it is the only true and
sure way to get out a cold spot or " w i t c h . " After closing
a kiln tight for eight or ten hours, when re opened, the
draft will be very strong and so equalized, t h a t all cold
spots will disappear.

BRICKMAKING AND BURNING.

35

CHAPTER VI.
A Notable Experience. Hard, Well Burned Brick, Only,
Used On U. & Public Works. Hoiv to Toughen or Anneal Brick
While Burning.
If the readers will look carefully over the preceding
chapters of this book they will get enough information
to enable them to form a very correct idea of clays, brickmaking, setting and burning. They give a very general
description and theory of the art, and if any intelligent
man of good practical judgment, with an inventive, inquiring mind, and an energetic, patient industry and
perseverance, will follow the suggestions and directions
given, he will be able to judge and decide, all the main
questions preparatory to the establishment of brickmaking.
After all the preliminaries have been decided upon,
the next important thing, is to get the services of t h e
very best and most skillful, practical brickmaker. R i g h t
here, I will indulge in a little episode of m y own life,
but the reader will justify m y egotism for the value of
the lesson. I n 1855, a wealthy company here in Florida,
undertook to make 65,000,000 of brick for the different
U. S. fortifications on the coast of Florida. Not one of

36

BMCKMAKING AND BURNING.

this company had any practical knowedge of brickmaking, but they had plenty of money, slaves and credit.
They were, however, as cautious and capable as most men
of the country, and secured advice and services of the
best native brickmaker they could get* H e told them of
suitable locations, they paid $10,000 for one, and employed this brickmaker to superintend the practical part
of the business. H e had made and burned brick before
on the same place, and they thought they had a "sure
thing, 7 ' but there was a "Lion in the P a t h . "
The United States contracted for "best whole hard
brick," and there was an officer on the U. S. Works that
k n e w a brick when he saw it. The company dashed ahead
and soon had a kiln,burned, and although a good kiln for
building purposes, not ten per cent, of it would bear government inspection. The company had to go into the
brick market, and pay a high price for brick to supply
their contract; but they had pluck and determined to
succeed making the brick. They worked two years,
spent $75,000 and did not m a k e 50,000 brick acceptable to
t h e government. Then they abandoned the place, bought
another at the cost of $10,000 in the same locality, employed the same brickmaker, and again failed to m a k e
to make and burn brick to suit the contract. The comp a n y employed other brick burners, the best they could
find, with very little better success. They became discouraged, and were about to pocket their loss and quit,
when accidentally they were told t h a t I, then living in
N e w Orleans, made a specialty of burning bricK for
United States work, and if they could get m y services

BBICKMAKING AND BURNING.

37

at any price, they would do well. Now, to m a k e a long
story short, I took charge of this company's establishment in 1857. 16,000,000 of brick, about 95 per cent, of
all we made, went to the government before the w a r
commenced. I got m y own price for m y services and
had m y own way. The company recovered their losses
and made money.
As I have said previously, the art of clay working is
the oldest, and has fewer real experts than any other,
save what we call "fine arts 77 and it is no disparagement
to these, to say, that a perfect clayworker is an artist of
no mean order.
On all three notable occasions, at different times and
places, I have made first-class brick in large quantities
for the U. S. government, when all efforts of others, who
had the same or greater facilities, utterly failed to compete. I cannot tell any m a n just how he can perfectly
burn a kiln of brick, no more than an expert painter can
tell another painter, just how to naturalize, or imitate the
object he desires to paint. I rarely manipulate the burn-,
ing of kilns alike. Weather, fuel, clay, conditions ; all
these things, are to be noted and considered. The m a n
who burns brick in a given time, with a given quantity
of fuel, never was, and never will be, a first-class burner.
H e must fire his kiln right, and fire until it is thoroughly
burned. H e must have varied and repeated practice,
and with all, and above all, a keen analytical and dis
criminating judgment.

38

BRICKMAKING AND BURNING.

HOW TO TOUGHEN OR ANNEAL BRICK W H I L E BURNING.

I n previous chapters, I have said that the art of burning brick, or anything of clay, is very much like that
of working and tempering metals. If, for instance, it is
desired to m a k e cast iron very hard and brittle, it is cast
in a cold iron mold, or chill, so that it will cool quick.
If it is to be made soft and tough, it is cast in sand, and
t h e air kept from it as much as possible, until it becomes
cool. So in like manner, clay m a y be made very brittle, or it m a y be made hard and tough, so that it will
stand great pressure, or m a y be cut to a sharp edge or
angle, without flaws or fracture. I have annealed brick
m a d e of strong clay, silicate of alumina, so that a brick
9 by 4 | by 2 J inches, carried on the flat, the enormous
weight or pressure of 250,000 pounds without crushing.
Out of twenty samples of brick from different parts
of the country, North and South, only five brick stood
130,000 pounds.
TO ANNEAL A KILN OF BRICK.

The water-smoke should be carried off slow and
steady, then the heat should be gradually increased, until the overhangers are as hot as they will stand without
drooping. This heat should be kept steady until
it can be seen all over the kiln, then the spots on
top of the kiln showing the same heat of the arches,
and the edges of the platting showing a dark, or
copper- colored sulphuret, should be closed tight with fine
clay, and as fast as these spots appear, cover t h e m over

BRICKMAKING AND BURNING.

39

tight until the whole kiln be covered, except the margins, say eight inches from heads, and outsides. The
kiln is now perfectly burned and should be closed tight
and kept so, until a brick can be taken out from the top
without burning the fingers. Then the arches may be
opened, and a good strong brick, with uniform hardnebs
and color throughout the kiln, is the certain result, excepting the outside course and one course on top the kiln.
The idea of trying to work the fires in the arches so as
to burn out slack, or cold places on top, is folly, and a
loss of time and fuel, as well as a damaging exposure of
the brick to the air, when the fires are unequal in the
arches. F r o m the time the arches are at the m a x i m u m
heat, until the kiln be closed, our arch should be kept at
the same uniform heat. There is no possible way to
work the fire out on the top, with uniform certainty only
by covering as before stated. As the kiln is covered, the
draft is forced to the uncovered parts, and the combustion of fuel, when the kiln is covered, is not retarded and
very little fuel will keep the arches as hot as they will
heat, and the danger to melt is at the same time diminished and the heat throughout the kiln is equalized. I got a
patent for this process in 1856, together with other features, and I have never failed at any time, or place, or in
any kind of clay, or with any k i n d of fuel, to m a k e a
perfect burn. Platting m a y be closed on burnt out
places, but it is not as good as fine clay to work the fire,
and clay don't hurt the color of brick, if shoveled off
clean with platting, which should be brick bats. I prefer to " p l a t " with one course of bats, then as the sulphur

40

BMCKMAKING AND BURNING.

shows up on edges of platting, and a place begins to "settle," (if the clay will settle,) I cover the spot with fine
damp clay, about three-quarters of an inch thick, so as
to stop the draft of heat from that place; this prevents an
excess of heat at that point, and saves it for a colder
place, and so the process of covering goes on, until the
whole kiln is covered.
The best way to "damper" or cover a kiln, is to have
a small scaffold near the top of the kiln; put up a ladder,
and two hands will carry clay up in buckets or sacks,
as fast as an expert will put it on the places to be covered.
He will not suffer from the heat or even burn his
shoes if he will just drop a little clay, where it is very
hot to step on. When he "dumps" his clay on a place to
be covered he should spread it with his foot, treading it
a little to make it tight.
When the kiln gets cold and ready to open, let a
careful hand take a good, straight-edged shovel, and run
it under the bats and clay, and throw it off; little or no
dirt will fall down into the kiln. It takes no extra labor
to "damper" kiln on top, audit makes a perfectly burned,
strong brick.

BRICKMAKING AND BURNING.

41

CHAPTER VII.
Theory of Drying Clay to Prevent Cracking. The Reason
Way There are So Few Scientific Brick Burners. Superiority of
Good Brick Buildings Overall Other Kinds. How to Build Cheap
and Most Excellent Dwelling House.
I n m y last chapter, No. 6 , 1 showed the difference
between burning soft tempered clay brick and brick
made of comparatively dry pulverized clay, under
heavy pressure. As there are m a n y who do not understand w h y all kinds of clay may be pressed into a brick
without cracking, when it is dry and well pulverized,
while perhaps the same clay will crack by hot sun drying, or in a dryer, I will repeat what I have before said,
that all clays of a marley or limy character, will crack in
drying, unless dried very slow. But such clay could be
dried on dryers if put on pallets, and the dryer closed
steam tight, and then kept full of steam until the brick
would be heated clear through ; then the steam turned
off and hot air, about 212 degrees Fahr., turned in on
the brick. I t is obvious t h a t the brick would not crack
by exposure to steam, as t h a t would slightly expand t h e
brick, and of course, there could be no shrinkage
of the clay, until the steam would be turned off. Then if

42

BRICKMAKING AND BURNING.

d r y heat was turned on the brick, no greater than the
heat inside the brick, it would only aid and hasten the
evaporation of the hot water inside the brick. The surface
would not contract but very little faster than the center
of it, because the steam inside would keep the pores
open, and the shrinkage would be thus equalized, and as
soon as the steam would be out of the brick, the whole
body of particles of clay would assume at once, their
(crystallized) form, and a compact mass unchecked and
without crack would be seen.
Now here is the proof of this thing, and I want the
old brick burner who generally knows all about the effects of what he does, while not one in fifty of them
knows, or ever studies the causes, to m a r k well m y statem e n t here. You know that when you set fire to your
kiln, you must necessarily go slow, first, because you
cannot m a k e a fire go fast, as you have no draft to make
your fire burn. Second, you know that if you fire too
fast you will get up such a hot steam that the brick
would get soft and " water-settle,' 7 but with slow firing
t h e brick become saturated with steam so, as the dry
heat follows after, the steam escapes without cracking or
water-settling the brick, and the dry heat naturally takes
t h e place of the steam heat without disturbing the cohesiveness or crystallization of the clay.
THE

REASON WHY

THERE ARE SO FEW SCIENTIFIC

BRICK BURNERS.

W h a t are termed the learned professions, are acquired, held and practiced, because all have certain fixed

BMCKMAKING AND BURNING.

43

formula and principles, laid down and recognized as paramount in the use and administration of any particular
science. No one would be tempted to practice a science
contrary to established principles. There may be novelty
in the practice, but the principles must remain intact. Not
so in brick burning and m a k i n g : I t is all "hotchpotch' 7
or "notch pot," as lawyers say, with brickmakers. The
public have never asked or deemed it necessary to
have a perfect brick made and burned on scientific principles. As a rule, when a job of brick work is to be done,
estimates are called for to be made on certain plans
and specifications, and the terms "good buildingbrick, " u good hard brick," "mercantile brick," or
"well burned brick" are employed, without any
special or particular qualifications. These terms in
common technical parlance, mean, that as good brick
as is made in the localities where the work is to be
done, or in the market, should be used. The very best in
the m a r k e t may be very bad or imperfect brick, but the
builder says, a brick is a brick, and the architect has no
formula for a good brick, and m a n y of them do not
know a perfect-made and burned brick from an imperfect one, made from the same clay. A brick may look
well on the surface, but when broken across the middle,
may show only a crust of half an inch that is well burned
which shows that the heat necessary to burn a brick perfectly, was not continued long enough to m a k e a uniform
hardness, and as most brick are made of clay that will
shrink under certain degrees of heat, of course, the surface of the brick, being harder than the inside, there is

44

BRICKMAKING AND BURNING.

an unequal contraction throughout the body of the brick,
and the outside is on a strain or sort of tension over the
inside, so that alight stroke or uneven pressure will break
the brick. I t is safe to say that more than half the
brick made and burned, are thus imperfect in the quality
of strength, and yet we have no fixed rules forjudging a
brick. W e see tabular statements of the strength of bricks
to resist pressure, etc., but little or no reliance can be
placed on them, as two brick of the same clay and external appearance, m a y vary in power of resistance to certain given forces, as two or three to one.
The highest possible proof that brick is the most superior building material in the world is the fact, that outside of an occasional job of public brick work, the entire
brick work of the whole world is imperfect in all respects
excepting perhaps, the purpose and plan of the work,
and yet brick are preferred to all other materials for
building. Brick can be so made and burned, and then
put together with cement, t h a t after a year or more, the
mass in any shape would be equal in strength to any kind
of stone, and far superior when exposed to frost or fire,
yet, as imperfect as our brick work is, it is the first and
foremost in real economy and durability. A demand for
a standard perfect brick will give us perfect burners.
So long as the general public are satisfied with all
sorts of brick there will be all sorts of brickmakers and
burners, but once fix a scientific standard for brick, and
that will produce the men of talent and capability to pro
duce brick. Supply and demand are the omnipotent
regulators of the whole business of the world. If the

BRICKMAKING AND BURNING.

45

option is with demand and he don't get the best t h a t is
made, it is his own fault. Brickmaking has been regarded as a sort of a mean, dirty business, followed only by
ignorant, vulgar mud larks, ready for a "tough and tumble" tussle at anything; but the art is coming up.
Capital and brains must go together to win, and the demand for intelligent briekmakers and burners, will induce young men of fitting capacity to engage in the art
with a purpose to master all its intricacies, and understand its various phases. A first-class expert, scientific
brick burner, or clay worker of any kind, will take rank
in the front of all the mechanical and skilled pursuits.
I doubt not that a sort of a university, or school for the
practical and theoretical training of the right kind of
young men in the clay working arts, would be a great
success, and would result in very great improvement to
the real economy, efficiency and durability of our best
building industry. W e want more clay work and less
wood work ; we want more single tenements, and broader
and longer streets to make . our cities more healthy and
moral. Our rapid transit and facilities for cheap and
easy transfer of goods and people, have effectually disposed of the need of narrow thoroughfares, little lots,
and high and massive buildings. Fire, health, morals,
comfort and all, demand a radical change and it will
come.
A brick building for any purpose is much the
cheapest in the long run. I have built houses of six
rooms with 25,000 brick. I put the outside course of
brick as usual, on " the flat," and set the inside on edge,

46

BRICKMAKING AND BURNING.

leaving an aperture of nearly two inches between the
brick on edge and outside course. E v e r y sixth course is
a "header," or bond course. This wall has two
great advantages. First, it is about t w e n t y per cent
cheaper than a solid wall of the same thickness and just
as strong. Second, yet more important, the hollow, or
aperture, is a perfect non-conductor of heat and cold, as
well as of dampness. No "furring" is necessary, both
"stripping and lathing" is saved and less mortar and a
better job of plastering is done, and no " b u r r o w " for mice,
or bugs is left, and the liability to fire is lessened. A
brick house built two stories high on this plan, is as
cheap as a frame house, if the same be done in first-class
style of workmanship and material. I have said nothing
of the difference in insurance and durability. W h e n all
advantages are considered, it is a wonder that brick are
not used almost exclusively as a building material.
The old prejudice against brick walls, which is mere
superstition, would be disposed of by m y plan. Everybody could have a cheap, warm, strong, dry, house to
live in, and not pay a cent of royalty, as I have built
this kind of houses thirty years ago, and don't propose
to patent them, beyond the copyright of this book.

BRICKMAKING AND BURNING.

47

CHAPTER VIII.
A National Standard Size oj Brick a Necessity. The Advantages of a Standard Size of Brick. Size and Quality Should
Be Fixed by Conventional AAuthority.Brick Making and Burning
Should Be a Profession. How and Where Can a Man Learn To
Be a First-Class Brick Burner and Maker.
A fixed national standard for the size of brick is of so
much importance, that the entire brickmaking interests
should concentrate in a movement to accomplish it.
There are scarcely two manufacturers in the same place
who make brick of equal size. There are m a n y serious
objections to this unnecessary difference. I t has been
said t h a t it arises from the difference in t h e shrinkage in
the clay. This is true where the same size of molds are
used in different clays, but w h y not m a k e the mold or die
to suit the clay ? Af er one kiln of brick has been made of
any particular clay, it is easy to see w h a t size the mold
should be, to make a certain given standard size of brick.
The best size of bricks for convenient handling, and easy
drying, without flaws or cracks, is about 8Jx4Jx2i inches.
This gives nearly 80 cubic inches to a brick which should
be the standard size.

48

BRICKMAKING AND BURNING.
T H E A D V A N T A G E S OF A S T A N D A R D SIZE.

1st. Builders could use any m a k e of brick in the
same wall. 2nd. The transportation and hauling under
similar circumstances would be the same. 3d. A fixed
rule could be established for making estimates for brickwork. 4th. The most important manufacturers would
not be trying to get the advantage of each other by
changing the size of their brick and the buyers and consumers of brick would not be imposed on by having to
take a small brick when they expected a large one.
There is no advantage in making a large brick. A brick
should be made that will dry quickly, heat quickly, burn
quickly, cool quickly, and just large enough for an ordinary hand to grasp two. If a man who is pitching brick
has to take one in each hand, he loses time, but if he can
grasp two with one hand he can work with ease and
handle two about as quickly as one. So with the "setter."
If he sets skintling or zigzag, he can nut down two bricks
in right place with one hand. I have often set brick as
fast as two pitchers could well and easily pitch.
Two and one-quarter inches is thick enough for a
brick. A thin brick will carry more weight or pressure
in proportion to thickness than a thick one for the reason that when a brick is crushed by pressure, it will fracture so as to leave a cone, the vertical slope of which will
be in proportion to thickness, so that a wall built of thin
brick and best cement mortar will carry more crushing
weight than one built of thick brick. I would suggest
that the National Convention of Brickmakers be held at

BRICKMAKING AND BURNING.

49

some central point and the whole subject of size and manufacture be discussed and decided upon.
A CONVENTIONAL

UNDERSTANDING

FOB SIZE

AND

QUALITY OF BRICK A NECESSITY.

To have the best and most reliable brick work and
building, it is of primary importance that some uniform,
authoritative rule shall be fixed for the size and strength
of a brick, and also for its capability to stand fire. It
would not be necessary to fix a standard that would require the best and strongest brick, for it would be impossible to supply the demand. There are, comparatively,
few clay beds that will do to make the strongest kind of
brick or clay goods of any kind, so the standard brick
would have to be such as could be made of fair, average
clay of the country, and if better, than the standard brick
should be needed and required for some special work,
the best clays would, have to be used. All brick laid on
the outside of the wall should have such fire qualities as
would stand the heat of a burning building. A well
built "party wall,'7 as well as outside wall, should stand
fire so that the brick will not scale or shell off. There are
many kinds of clay that will stand great heat, but will
shell off; such, for instance, as the clay bordering on
Lake Pontchartrain near New Orleans, Louisiana. All
this kind of clay should be well pulverized and pressed
dry enough to go right into the kiln; then it will stand
fire nearly equal to good fire brick and the brick are
much stronger than if made of soft tempered clay. If
brick walls have good foundations and are well built,

50

BRICKMAKING AND BURNING.

they will stand intact after the building is burned, and
can be used as at first.
Some architects have said that no wall will stand a
fire and be as good as at first building. Most architects
know more about drawing a picture of a house than they
do about the real, true art of building it. As I said in
my first chapter, I am at home on a building with trowel
in hand, and I always insist on having m y own way
about setting joists or any other timber going on the
walls. I do not think a man can claim to be a first rate
brick layer, unless he can set wood work or iron work on
his walls, so that when the building burns down, the
falling timber or iron will not pull down the wall. Joists
should be cut with a bevel at each end so t h a t there will
be a good bearing at t h e bottom and not more t h a n two
inches of the wall left renting on top. If iron anchors are
needed, they should be as thin and wide as the joists are
thick, and flat on the bottom of the joists, so t h a t when
the joists are burned so as to fall, they will hang to the
wall and not pry out the brick. Fires all on one side of
a wall, will expand and curve it a little, but as soon as
cool, if well built, it will re-adjust itself and be as good
as when first built. I have said this about the proper
use of brick, because there are m a n y good brick t h a t
have to stand silent and defenceless, and bear the sins of
botchers and the aspersions of novices, and the slander
of ignorant and captious critics, who never had sufficient
intelligence to get a respectable introduction to a brick.

BRICKMAKING AND BURNING.
BRICKMAKING AND BURNING

51

SHOULD BE A PROFES-

SION.

The public, generally,will never be able to get a firstrate brick until there is a good supply of well trained, intelligent, and thorough makers and burners. The fact
that a man be an old brick burner is no guarantee
that he can invariably produce a first-class kiln of brick.
There are many old burners who look upon brick burning as a matter of luck, and when they make a very excellent burn they speak of it as something out of the ordinary course of events, when in fact, they happened to
follow the well known causes which produced their natural effects. If a brickmaker and burner thoroughly understands the nature of his clay and fuel, and how to use
both to produce the desired results, he can be as sure of
a good burn as of anything else*. There is no occult art
or secret about burning brick, when all conditions are
filled, which an intelligent understanding and good,
practical judgment will suggest.
WHEN, HOW, AND WHERE, CAN A MAN LEARN TO BE
A FIRST-CLASS BRICKMAKER.

He can learn any other art at any place where it is
practiced, but he may learn to burn brick at Philadelphia, Baltimore, or any other single place, and if he
should go to some other place, where the clay is materially different, he would be a mere novice. Then what
shall he do to get the art of brick burning so as to be
master of it ? Until there be a school or university for
teaching the art in all sorts and kinds of clay, fuel and

52

BRICKMAKING AND BURNING.

kilns, the only possible way to master the art, is to visit
all the good brick factories in the whole country where
the clay is different or peculiar in its nature. He could
work at each place long enough to see a kiln set and
burned. It would probably take him five years, supposing he had the intelligence, perseverance, industry, physical energy and aptitude to thus pursue this art. As I
have said before, the phenomena always arising and
presented by varied and various experiences in clayworking is so manifest, that it will be a long time before
the world will be able to exhibit, or point to a perfectly
finished clay worker, but we can have first-rate brick for
any purpose if the brickmakers will concentrate their
efforts to accomplish the object.
One of the chief faults in the progress of the art of
brickmaking has been to consider the making of brick the
primary object, when, in fact, it is the secondary. What
is the use of having a brick machine that will make
100,000 brick for $100, if after the brick be made, they
are only half burned ? What is needed now to make real
valuable progress, is a plan to make a good supply of
first-rate brick burners. A man may invent a good brick
kiln or machine and then not be able to demonstrate it
by his own skill. The success of "Dry Press" Machines
has been greatly retarded by incompetent brick burners.

BRICKMAKING AND BURNING.

53

CHAPTER IX.
Brick Making and Burning To Perfection Rests Upon No
Vague Theories. The Whole Process of Selecting Clay, Manufacturing, Setting and Burning, Involve Certain Principles,
Which Must Be Strictly Followed According to Circumstances.
Question Of Settling Brick Kilns, Or Shrinking the Brick By
Heat. Theory Of Settling a Kiln.and Covering With Fine Damp
Clay.
I t is an old saying t h a t "doctors will differ," but intelligent doctors ail agree about some things they have
found to be true from long practice and well settled principles. H o w intelligent, practical brickmakers can disagree about the necessary kind of clay, for a certain specified kind of brick, how they can disagree on the best,
proper manipulation of clay for m a k i n g a certain Kind
of brick, how they can disagree about the principles involved in the best way to set and burn brick thoroughly,
I am at a loss to see. The m a n y vague and speculative
ideas I notice by writers on brickmaking and burning,
show the great need of some well styled principles and
formula for the common guidance of brickmakers.
There are various kinds of clay, when chemically considered, but only two forces can be used to make any of

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BMCKMAKING AND BURNING.

the varieties into a brick, viz: Cohesive attraction by
pressure, and crytallization in the drying process by
tempered, plastic clay. Now all intelligent brickmakers
must know these facts. Now it follows as a corollary,
that if the brick are to be made of plastic clay, then the
more it is disintegrated and tempered, the better and
more perfect the crystallization. It also follows as a demonstrated fact that if brick are to be made of "dry clay,"
then the more it is pulverized and comminuted or stirred
together, the more perfect the cohesive attraction under
the necessary pressure. It also follows, that the pressure must be perfect, so that all the particles are completely joined, otherwise the principles upon which the
good quality of the brick depends, is only partially carried
out.
DRYING, SETTING AND BURNING INVOLVE CERTAIN
PRINCIPLES.

All brickmakers will admit that brick must be dry
enough to stand the pressure of about fifty brick, or
about three hundred pounds to the brick on edge, before
they go into a kiln. They will also admit that brick
must be set in such a way and manner, as will allow the
heat from the arches, or furnaces, to freely pass up
through the body of the kiln, and that any interruption
of these features and conditions is a violation and departure from the true principles involved. All good
brickmakers further know that only a certain amount
and degree of heat can be safely applied to a "green"
kiln of brick, and that when a kiln is dried off and the

BRICKMAKING AND BURNING.
u

66

fires u p , " the fires must be increased to a degree hot
enough to indurate the clay, through and through, and
kept at that heat, until it appears all over the top of the
kiln, whether it settles or not. Now, I notice that some
writers talk about thepracticabilty of m a k i n g any kind
of clay and that some writers treat setting and
burning brick as though all kinds of clay should be managed exactly alike, and put in a little crotchets just by way
of saying odd things, such, for instance, as that "there
must be three bricks in a 'bench,' five high in the overhangers, and two of these courses tight, then the platting must be put on two courses flat, and first course of
green brick, an inch apart, and next, or top, of whole,
good burned brick, tight together, except at intervals of
five brick, while water-smoking; then if there be a cold
spot, the platting to be closed tight (where it was left
open) until the cold spots get hot, etc., etc." Now w h y
should there only be three brick " b e n c h e s ? "
Why
should any of the overhangers be set tight ? W h y should
whole green brick be put on top of the kiln, for first
course platting ? W h y should whole, good burned brick
be put on for top course platting? And w h y should they
be put on t i g h t ? And w h y should every fifth course be
left out ? A n d , in the name of common sense, I would
like to know, w h y these apertures are to be closed in
order to work out a "cold spot?" All these things are
old worn-out whims, and have neither reason, force nor
utility. I tried them all forty years ago, and was glad
to go to their funeral, so far as I was concerned.

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BMCKMAKING AND BURNING.
THE QUESTION OF "SETTLING BRICK K I L N S . "

The idea that clay will "settle" when the air is expelled, is vague aud without reason. When silicate of
alumina, or pure sand and clay is used to make brick,
it will stand a glowing white heat without fusing, and if
the sand is in excess, a brick will swell. Now, if an alkali or flux be mixed with this clay, it will shrink and fuse
just in proportion to the amount of alkali mixed with it.
As I have before stated, I have mixed fusible clay with
infusible, about half and half, and found the brick would
fuse and shrink in burning. I have put two ounces of
soda in a brick of infusible clay, and found the brick
shrunken after burned. If infusible clay be made plastic,
with strong lye water, it will shrink and fuse in a very
hot kiln. My clay is infusible, don't shrink or swell,
and burns to a cream color. I have put brick in
first course below top of my kiln, made of the common
red and yellow clay used to make red brick, and when I
opened the kiln, the red clay brick was found liquified
and run down the kiln. It takes a glowing white heat
three days and nights to burn my clay. It may be proper
here to repeat the should-be, well-known fact that most
all the diluvial and alluvial clays—such as are found on
the plateaus and banks of our rivers, are fusible, and will
make good red brick, with proper use and burning. It
is the ante-diluvial primitive clay, with sand, forming
pure silicate of alumina, that is infusible, and will not
settle.

BMCKMAKING AND BURNING.

57

THEORY OF SETTLING A KILN OF BRICK.

I n all fusible clays, there is a certain quantity of flux,
or alkali and iron; when the heat of the kiln is sufficient
to oxidize and fuse the flux in the clay, the particles of
clay are soldered together,and thus the pores or spaces left
in the brick, in the drying or crystallizing process, are contracted, and to a good extent closed, so t h a t the brick is
shrunken, and hence the kiln is "settled," as we say. Of
course, there will be no " s e t t l e " if there be no solder.
TO GET A GOOD, BRIGHT RED BRICK.

I n the first place, there must be a certain amount of
iron rust, or oxidized iron, in the clay to give a red
color, when heated to a certain degree. Second—care
must be taken, to see t h a t the heat is not sufficient t o
fuse the alkaline salts in the clay, as this will give t h e
brick a dark, and iron metallic color. Third—no coal
dust should be mixed with the clay, nor coal placed in
the body of the kiln, as this will produce irregular heat,
and oxidize the iron and salts, and leave a sulphuret of
an ashy color, on t h e surface of the brick. To m a k e
good red brick, the clay must have the right quantity
and kind of iron in it, then it must be thoroughly mixed
and well tempered, then the brick must be set regular.
There should be no large open spaces, nor should there
be any obstruction to a free, regular circulation of heat,
except the binding course just on the closing course of
the overhangers. This should be so tight t h a t the fire
will spread when it strikes it. The benches of the kiln,
m a y be four brick, or about thirty-four inches wide, and

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BRICKMAKING AND BURNING.

should be set skintling or zigzag, open and regular; the
overhangers should be set the same. I n the kiln, the
brick should be set three over three, and if a uniform or
face brick is desired, two courses should be set, running
same way, thus reversing every two courses, instead
of every other course; this prevents fire marks on the
edge of the brick, and gives a better draft up through the
kiln. One course of platting should be put on top, at
least one inch apart, and it m a y be of the whole brick,
or of burned bats. The water-smoking should be slow,
t h e outside arches, especially at the corners, should be
kept a little the hottest, This insures good corners and
outsides.
No "settle" should be made until the fires are all out
on top, and then the heat should be gradually increased,
until the overhangers are as hot as they will stand witho u t fusing. This heat should be kept up with careful attention, and as soon as a spot begins to settle, damp, fine
clay, should be put on that spot, so as to prevent further
draft of heat to t h a t point, and this process of covering
with clay should go on, as fast as spots begin to settle,
until the whole kiln be covered. As the covering thus
proceeds, less fuel and labor is needed, and by the time
t h e kiln is all covered, the use of fuel is reduced seventy
per cent. W h e n the kiln is ready to close, no fresh fuel
should be added,but the doors should be closed tight, while
t h e arches are hot. A kiln should not be opened until
i t is cold enough on top to allow a person to pull up
platting without burning the hands. Bats and clay
should then be carefully shoveled off, and the arches

BRICKMAKING AND BURNING.

59

opened. No one of good judgment and experience, can
fail to m a k e good uniform red brick from two or three
courses above the arches to top of kiln, if these suggestions are properly followed. The same rule will apply to
the setting and burning of clays that do not settle or
burn red, only, t h a t a far more intense heat is required,
and covering with clay as I have directed in other chapters, being an indispensable necessity, if good brick are
wanted. Setting and burning brick, so as to arrive at a
uniform good standard for a brick, is of such importance,
I will have more to say hereafter on the subject.
I will add here, that if there be any objection to covering a kiln with clay, as it begins to settle or "burn off"
in spots, for fear that clay dust will get down in the kiln
when being thrown off, the clay can be wet and tempered a little, so as to be a stiff mud, then put on the kiln,
treading it, so as to close the platting. This clay
should be quite sandy, so t h a t it will not shrink much.
This, when thrown off of kiln, will be burned in cakes
and pieces, leaving no dust to fall down in the kiln. But
I never find any trouble by dust, when I use damp, pulverized clay, about the same as the brick are made of.
This plan of covering a kiln with clay, as I have directed, instead of trying to work the fires by closing the platting, or by changing fires in furnaces, or arches, will be
found to be of great advantage and benefit to brick burners. I t saves at least ten per cent in fuel and labor; it
gives complete control of fires, and insures a strong,
thoroughly burned, bright colored brick.

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BBICKMAKING AND BURNING.

CHAPTER X.
Economy in Fuel in Burning Brick. A Kiln With Two
Arches Dividing it in Center as Herein Described, the Most Advantageous for Saving Fuel, and Making Hand Brick. Theory
cf the Excellence cf this Kiln. The Ideal Brick Machine for
Cheap Brick. To Patrons, Claywcrkers and Public Generally.
I n former chapters, I have pointed out the different
kinds of clay of which brick are made, and of some of
the localities where different clays m a y be found, of the
proper way to test clay, and of the different ways of
making clay into brick, and of burning t h e m . I will
now speak of fuels, kilns, labor saving, and the ideal brick
machine, and kiln for the manufacture of a cheap, b u t
good quality of brick, for all kinds of work, except for
fronts, or other work requiring a fine exterior.
Economy in fuel, is an important question in brickm a k i n g . One thing is certain, we must m a k e and burn
a good, strong brick, in order to succeed, cost what it
m a y . I t requires a certain amount of heat, according to
the kind of clay we use, to burn a brick to any certain
degree of hardness. One man m a y say, " I t costs m e
only sixty cents to burn 1,000 brick." Another, in the
same clay, m a y say, " I t costs me $1.00 per thousand."

BRICKMAKING AND BURNING.

61

Now the question is, which makes the best brick and
uses the best skill and economy ? As a rule, it is the
man that spends a dollar to burn 1,000 brick, and his
brick will sell for at least $1.00 more per 1,000, than those
of his neighbor, and thereby makes clear, forty cents per
M more on his kiln of brick; both of these men have
the same kind of kiln and use the same kind of fuel, and
appear to manage the same way; but one, to save fuel,
will stop burning before his kiln is quite burned, and
the other, will be sure that his kiln is thoroughly burned
before he closes it, without reference to fuel; one loses 40
cents per M on his kiln of brick, besides loss in reputation, while the other gains 40 cents per M, besides a
good "card" for his brick. But we will suppose now, that
these two men, use the same kind of kiln, the same size,
and burn exactly the same fuel, in kind and quantity,
and yet one of them, will burn his brick so that they
will command one dollar per M more than those of his
neighbor; what does this prove? Most certainly, it
shows a difference in skill, for both, apparently, manage
the same way. I presume this statement of a case, in
brick making, would forcibly apply to all kinds of business, but I know of nothing that shares it more plainly
than brickmaking.
We see then, that brickburning is more a question
of skill, than it is a question of fuel, or kilns. An unskillful man, may have the best possible way, fuel, or
kiln, and not be able to compete with those who have
few facilities and great skill. But we will now suppose that
all brickmakers are equally skilled, what kind of a kiln

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BMCKMAKING AND BURNING.

should they use to produce the best possible results ? I
would say, give me the one that will retain and diffuse
the heat most, and has the least side, and end, or perpen
dicular surfaces, in proportion to the cubic contents.
On this principle, we know that a round kiln, would
have less wall surface, than a square o n e ; but a kiln in
form of a circle, would not be so well suited to the wants
of the brickmaker, as it would to those of the potter. It
is more convenient to set in, and get out brick, with a
square kiln though the difference in area of surface of
walls, is about as 38 is to 48; and a circular kiln, say 12
feet diameter, would have 112 feet area inside, while the
wall of the circular k i m of 38 feet circumference would
only m a k e a square kiln 9J feet,—85,—f feet area, a difference of 26.75 feet, in favor of the capacity of the circular kiln. So that if we could brick in and out of a
round kiln, as well as out of a square one, it is clear t h a t
we should adopt round kilns. The most economical kiln
is that, which comes nearest to a cube. If we t r y this, we
shall find more hard, well burned brick, in proportion to
the fuel used, than in any other form of kiln.
A KILN WHICH I HAVE TRIED AND FOR WHICH THERE
WAS A PATENT,

To construct this kiln, you will start your walls so
as to have, say 30 feet square, clear inside ; this will set
about 200,000 brick, 45 courses high. You will lay off
your, arches, or furnaces, so as to give you five brick in
length, wide for the " h e a d s , " and two brick wide for
arches ; now let this be carried up, 3 feet thick at bot-

BRICKMAKING AND BURNING.

63

torn, falling off 4J inches with the offsets on outside, and
p l u m b on inside, leaving a bottom or space from above
the arches, of 1$ inches lengthwise from top of arches t o
within one foot of top of kiln ; this will prevent the loss
of heat to a considerable extent, by radiation.
Now, when you start your kiln, "setting," you will
start a "bench'' in center of kiln, at one side, at a right
angle with your arches in kiln, the bench will be five
brick wide, the center course will be haked tight, and an
arch started on each side of it, with benches two brick
wide, so t h a t your kiln will have two arches running
across it, in t h e center, and divided by the t i g h t course,
haked in the middle, which is carried to top of kiln, as
you set it up. After these two arches are started and
closed, say six feet back, you will start the arches running transversely from center arches; t h e y will h a v e
five brick in the bench, set as I have heretofore directed.
They will be s e t u p right over the two transverse arches,
from the " h e a d s " back, half way to the tight course, between the transverse arches. So you will proceed in this
w a y , u n t i l t h e k i l n i s all set u p ; then wall up the ends of the
kiln, after building the furnaces to the transverse
arches, and you have the novel kiln, showing two arches
running across through the center of it, and six arches,
on each side of kiln, running back to the two center
transverse arches. Now you will fire, and work the kiln,
as I have directed in m y former chapters.
THEORY OF THE ADVANTAGES OF THIS K I M .
As I have above stated, this shape for a square kiln,

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BBICKMAKING AND BURNING.

has the least outside possible. That is one good feature
of it. 2nd. You can start your kiln to "water-smoking, 7 '
nearly all over it, at the same time. 3rd. You can get
your fires out, at top, nearly equal, all over the
kiln at the same time, and you have good control
of your fires, by a center draft across your kiln.
If your ''middles," are too hot, you can slacken fire a little on, the two crosswise arches. If not hot enough,
you can increase the heat in the two, or in either one of
the transverse arches. 4th. The distribution of heat is so
equal, and the combustion of fuel so perfect, that you
can have five brick in a bench with certainty of a good
burn, and thereby, have little or no loss by arch brick.
5th. You can burn this kiln as quick as if it was half
the width, in the common, rectangular form. 6th. You
can have a heavy concentrated, steady body of heat, and
while you can save fuel and time, you not only get a
larger proportion of evenly burned good brick,but in
fact, a more uniform, and stronger brick.
I tried this kiln, and found it a fuel and labor-saver,
and where fuel is a large item of cost, I would recommend its use. The patent for this kiln has expired and
any one can freely use it.
I said I would speak of the ideal brick machine and
kiln, for making a cheap building brick. I do not think
it would be a fine brick, but for all exterior and interior
work, it would be good and reliable; and with a proper
proportion of front brick, would supply any ordinary demand.

BRICKMAKING AND BURNING.

65

THE IDEAL BRICK MACHINE FOE CHEAP BRICK.

I see it working on the rotary principle. The clay is
brought to it from a shed, where a large quantity of suitable clay is always on hand. The clay is brought to the
machine by an endless belt or carrier and dumped directly into the pulverizer, from which it goes into the machine.
The brick comes from the machine, and drops on an endless
grind belt carrier, straight out from the machine, to the
end of t h e kiln, where the setting is commenced. This
carrier belt is in sections, of about sixteen feet. The
brick passes out on this belt in a continuous stream, at
the rate of 4,000 per hour. The belt moves over a pulley
in the kiln, t h a t is fixed on a movable frame. There
are two hands ready to set the brick, two to pitch them
to the setters, and two boys to take them off the belt and
pitch t h e m to the two pitchers; in all, six hands to handle
and set forty thousand brick in ten hours. W h e n the kiln
is set up to the belt, a section of the belt is taken out,
the pulley is moved back, and the work proceeds
as before, until the
k i l n ' is done. Then there
are two kilns more one on each side of the first, but
nearer the brick machine than the first, by the
width of the kilns, so that they will not be too close
to the first kiln, to be in the way of burning,
etc. The end of these two kilns, are at right angles with
the belt, and when brick are to be carried into them, a
beveled gearing is set at the terminus of the belt, which
moves a belt at right angles with the main belt, that carries the brick into the side kilns, and delivers to setters,

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BRICKMAKING AND BURNING.

as in first kiln, and so the work goes on continuously.
By the time No. 1 kiln is burned, No. 2 has been set, and
by the t i m e t h a t burned, No. 3 has been set, and
so t h e whole operation of taking the clay from the shed
and delivering the brick to setters in kilns, is automatic
and continuous, provided, t h a t the burned brick, are
taken out of kilns as fast as burned, the kiln should hold
about nine day's work of machine, say 360,000 brick.
Now let us see how m a n y hands it will take to carry on
this whole operation. First, we will put 5 men at getting clay under shed, including 4 carts, call this $12;
now we w a n t 2 good men to put clay on carrier belt from
clay shed to brick machine,=$4 ; now two good setters at
$5, two pitchers at $4, two boys at$2 ; now an engineer at
$3, a fireman and helper generally, $2; now a good brick
burner $5, four hands to help h i m $8; six hands to take
brick out of kilns, $9; and supernumerary $1.50, and
foreman, $3, hauling fuel, say $5 ; this sums up current
expenses for labor and skill, $63.50. Now fuel, either
wood or coal, will cost, say $40.00 per d a y ; bookkeeper
and incidental expenses, $5; all told for operators, $108.50
pef day. Machinery and kilns, and necessary fixtures
will cost $11,000; clay and ground $5,000, =$16,000 ; call
the interest on investment $5 per d a y ; heat and repairs,
etc., $3, all told, including insurance, $10, making the
total cost of 40,000, $118.50; m a k i n g a fraction less than
$3 per M cost, for brick on cars, or in wagons, or carts,
the average current market price, would not fall below
$6 M, and this is m y ideal brick plant. I have seen all
this done, and those wanting particular information,
can write m e .

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67

TO THE PUBLIC GENERALLY.

"He who lives to accomplish no good for his fellow
men, lives not at all," is the motto, which every truly
good and wise man should believe in, and be actuated
by.
This principle must guide the American citizen
pre-eminently, if he is really worthy of that distinguished
name and position. Our great and matchless government, is founded on this principle. " I t is a government
of the people, for the people, and by the people," and its
resultant is, "The greatest good to the greatest number."
The true spirit in the principle of our government is
to enlighten, enlarge and ennoble human nature. If
we succeed in perpetuating our government, we must
unreservedly hold the "spirit" of it, as paramount to the
'"letter." The motto of kings, is, "Ourselves first; God
and country last." The true, loyal American reverses
this to "God and country first, ourselves last." The
Ideal of a true typical American, is the man who is rich
in noble principles and action. The nobility of true democratic Republicanism, is the true aristocracy, founded
on good deeds and unselfish virtues. Our true aristocracy,
is exactly the opposite to money, wealth, and oligarchy.
See our seventy millionaires, with half of the money
wealth of the county, supremely selfish, and ignobly individualized, "reaping where they have not sown, and
gathering where they have not strewn." Then look atour
half million ofpoor inventors. Their names, their genius,
and their achievements are the true source of our great
material wealth, and moral force of character. The

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BMCKMAKING AND BURNING.

man who invents a valuable thing for the material or
moral good of his country, is in fact and deed, when compared with the mere "money grubbers, "and millionaires,
as a "virtuous prince," to a "beggarly pauper." It is
from these considerations that I congratulate the improvers in the art of brickmaking.
A great, wise, healthy, good people, must have good
buildings, public and private. It is impossible to have
them without good brick, and good brick cannot be sufficiently produced without intelligent skill, and intelligent skill cannot be sufficiently grown and qualified without literature, and literature cannot be had and made
available without talent and fitness in publishers, such
as you fortunately have in the well known, efficient,
established, and distinguished "Clay-Worker," and other
similar, contemporaneous works. I do not desire to
make invidious distinctions, but candor and truth, as
well as merited favor and distinction, suggests to me the
prominent mention of the "Clay-Worker" in this connection as eminently proper.

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69

CHAPTER XI.
Brickmaking is a Sure, Profitable, Healthy Business, if Intelligently and Energetically Folloived. Every Good Brickmaker
Builds His Own Everlasting Monument, and Shoidd Press His
Name on His Brick. A Simple and Cheap Way to Perpetuate it
Forever.
Brickmaking as a business, is one of the most peculiar in its nature and profit, of any business with
which I am acquainted. I n the first place, it is singular
in the fact, t h a t when properly and intelligently followed,
it never fails to pay a sure and reasonable profit. I
have never known or heard of the failure of a good
brickmaker. I do not t h i n k t h a t the whole history of
bankruptcy in the United States, can show one case of
the failure of a good brickmaker, unless he failed at
something entirely disconnected with brickmaking. I n
great bankruptcy years, I have noted the long list of
bankrupts, in nearly all kinds of business, and
do not remember of seeing one case where a man
failed at the brickmaking business. Brickmakers have
"gone under," by "going o n " paper, but never by "going
o n " good brickmaking. Occasionally, men, or companies, have got a brick in the hat, who k n e w nothing
practically about it, and would start off to get rich in

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BMCKMAKING AND BURNING.

one summer, at brick making, but at the end of the season would find more "salmon" brick, trash and bats,
than would grace a good, ten year old brick yard, and
nothing in "bank" but clay. Of course they have to give
up, or get "posted up."
Brickmaking is peculiar again, in the fact that it
seems to be such an easy thing to learn—so plain, so undisguised,so simple, so dirty, so rough, so common, so seemingly,requiring muscle without brains, and so uninviting
to aspiring minds, that it presents only afield for ordinary
minds and plodders. Again, it is peculiar from the fact
that it presents only a field for ordinary minds and plodders. Again, it is peculiar from the fact that common,
ordinary men do not follow brick making. It takes a
peculiar sort of a man to make a good brickmaker.
You may take a hundred good, sensible average men ;
you will get twenty of them that will make good carpenters, or blacksmiths, or brick layers, or plasterers, or
painters, or shop keepers, or horse traders, or lawyers, or
doctors, or farmers, or almost anything, and especially
a quack professor, or a party politician, but you will not
find two that will make a first-class brickmaker and
burner.
I will not undertake to describe the necessary mental and physical "make-up" of the real, pure fullblooded brickmaker. The best I can say, is, that he is
a cross-breed between all extremes, except that he will
never pass a good clay bed, or see a good brick, without
opening his "blind eye" long enough to make a note of
it, or without mentally paying his respects. You can get

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71

ninety well-balanced men any time, (especially if brick
is in good demand) out of one hundred good brickmakers. You find no real brickmakers in charity hospitals,
in penitentiaries, in dirty politics, or with "Boodler
Ringsters." While I am free to say, that our craft does
not turn out great statesmen, divines and philosophers,
yet I am not'so sure, that this absence of distinguished
position, is not more to be attributed to the l 'sublime modesty, than to a want of talent or capacity.
Brick making is peculiar in the fact that it is not
a speculative business. You never see a millionaire
brickmaker; his bank is a "clay-bank," and his checks
are always honored, and his notes never go to protest,
for he very seldom gives a note; he uses John Randolph's, philosopher's stone: "Pay as you go."
A brickmaker is a peculiar man in another respect.
It is in the fact that he alone produces the only everlasting, indestructible, and reliable building material on this
globe of ours. "Old Time," with his pitiless hand, his
remorseless grip, his destroying breath, his ceaseless war,
and with endless trophies of victory over all the efforts
of man, to withstand his corroding touch and annihilating power, has never been able to destroy a good brick.
Every good brickmaker that makes a good brick erects
an everlasting monument of his good work. It matters
not whether that brick be laid in the laborer's cottage, or
in the colossal monument of the great hero, still, and
ever, it tells in nature's eloquent tongue of silence, of
the modest virtues and worth of the maker.

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BRICKMAKING AND BURNING.

Brickmaking is peculiarly a healthy business. Clay
is the greatest universal disinfectant. I t is really nature's
great laboratory and physician. I t absorbs all noxious
poisons. I t equalizes the moisture in the soil, and holds
its fertilizing properties. But for clay, the world would
be an arid, lifeless waste. Instead of brickmaking being
a sickly, dirty business, it is the most healthful of all.
There is thirty-five per cent less sickness in brickyards,
than in any other employment. A brick burner is exempt from all malarial diseases while burning kilns.

BRICKMAKING AND BURNING.

73

Supplement to the Foregoing Chapters, and*
Direction for their Practical Application.
CHAPTER I,
General Remarks on Foregoing Chapters. Experience, with
Intelligent Study and Close Observation, the Only True and Reliable Guide For Mastering Successfully the Art of Brickmaking.
Necessary Qualifications For an Amateur Brick Burner and the
Proper Way and Place to Begin Work. Proper and Best Place
to Fix a Yard. How Clay Shoidd Be Bug.
I n perusing the foregoing chapters the reader will have
obtained a general and correct idea of clays, brick making and burning ; but unless he has had a sufficient practical experience in brickmaking to enable h i m to readily
comprehend and apply the principles evolved, he will
not be able to make brick with any appreciable success.
As I have said, the art of brickmaking is more recondite, than routine. I t lies hidden in the condition and
circumstances which govern the peculiar character of the
raw material, and the mode and manipulation employed
in the manufacture, and burning. If, for instance, a

74

BRICKMAKING AND BURNING.

man has made brick of clay that shrinks in burning,
and then goes to a place to make brick where the clay
will not fuse or shrink, he will be "non-plussed;" he will
get along as he usually did, until it comes to burning,
then he will find that a new apprenticeship must be
served before he can succeed. There are so many kinds of
clay, fuel and modes of setting and burning that a practical knowledge of each one, together with all the conditions and circumstances surrounding, must be had, before
success is assured.
EXPERIENCE

IS THE ONI/Y TRUE, RELIABLE

GUIDE.

No amount of book learning will enable a man to
make brick; but with the right kind of book study, he
can get a good foundation to stand on when he goes to
practice. If two men start to learn and practice brick
making, one beginning with a careful reading and study
of this volume, and the other, with nothing but hearsay,
and common talk about brick making to guide him, the
one with the book will be an expert in the business,
with very little lost in experimental work; while the
other one, without the book, will have spent a little fortune, and mis-spent his time in vague and useless endeavor, to accomplish his purpose. Notwithstanding
brickmaking has assumed large and respectable proportions, and is making rapid progress towards well settled
theory and practice, and, to a great extent, has outlived
and run out old primitive methods, yet, in a country so
vast as ours, and so sparsely settled, there are yet, and
will long be places where brick must be made on a small

BRICKMAKING AND BURNING.

75

scale, to supply the demand of the pioneer settlements;
and I propose to point out the necessary work and skill
for small operations, and new beginners in brick making,
as well as for those who contemplate the establishment
of regular, permanent "plants."
NECESSARY

QUALIFICATIONS

FOR

AN

" AMATEUR"

BRICKMAKER, AND THE PROPER PEACE,
AND WAY TO BEGIN WORK.

In the first place, the good Lord has not (perhaps for
a good thing to brickmakers,) made every man capable
of becoming a good brickmaker. To be a successful
brickmaker, a man must have more than ordinary physical strength and energy ; he must have a sound, deliberating judgment; he must have industry, persistency, patience and endurance; he must be watchful, temperate,
and discriminating; and above all, he must want to, and
determine to master the art. I am aware that these prerequisites are necessary to success in any proper, honest
employment or enterprise; but without these, brickmaking is pre-eminently wanting.
THE PROPER AND BEST PLACE TO F I X A BRICK YARD.

After a man has determined to make brick, the next
in order, is to select a place. 1st, there must be a bed of
clay suitable; then water must be had conveniently; next,
of course, fuel must be had without unusual cost and
trouble. These matters being settled, the next thing is
to get an expert at the business, if you can find one to
suit you. That being done or not, you must pick out, if

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BMCKMAKING AND BURNING.

you can, a high, dry, level spot of ground for a yard or
floor to lay out and dry brick on. Stumps, roots, stone,
if any, and grass must be cleared off. Then lay off your
"floor" in a square form, allowing a superficial foot for
two brick; then plow the ground and harrow until level,
then take a log or roller, two feet in diameter and four
feet long, and hitch a horse to it and roll the ground ;
then make a "lute," of a piece of two-inch plank, 8 or 10
feet long, hitch a yoke of oxen or two horses to it, and
"lute" the surface of your yard, running the "lute" over
the yard transversely, several times, until it is well packed
and leveled. Now, lay off the yard in rectangular sections, about fifty feet wide, and dig a ditch ten inches
wide and four inches deep, dividing the sections.
If you mold brick by hand, you want suitable table,
sand box and molds. If by machinery, you must adapt
your yard to your machine; but if your clay is to be
tempered for hand molding, and it is of a loamy, weak
kind, you should have a pit to temper it in, so that you
can water it several times during the tempering process.
This repeated watering makes the clay more tenacious,
and plastic, and the brick are stronger than if tempered
by a "pug mill." If, on the other hand your clay is
"strong," use a "pug mill," adding sand, if the clay is
too "strong." In any case, the clay should be well
soaked with water over night, at least.
HOW CLAY SHOULD BE DUG.

First, be sure to remove all the soil off of the top of
the clay, then dig a trench- say 4 to 6 feet wide down to

BRICKMAKING AND BURNING.

77

bottom of the clay, throwing the clay out on surface
in a pile. Then proceed as before, until you have clay
enough for a kiln dug out, and if you expect to operate
steadily, you should dig all your clay in fall and winter
season, thus your clay is thoroughly mixed, disintegrated
by frost and rain, and easily tempered and molded,
making a uniform, strong brick. If you are going to use
a " D r y Press'' machine for molding brick, you should
m a k e a shed large enough, between your clay bed and
machine, to hold in store enough clay to run your machine all the time,while one half of the shed is being emptied the other half should be filled, so that your machine
will always have clay that has been well "sweated" or
"mulled,"

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BRICKMAKING AND BURNING.

CHAPTER II.
Molding, Drying, Setting, and Burning Brick.

You have now prepared for making brick; perhaps
you only intend to make one or two small kilns to supply the needs and demands of a new settlement, and it is
possible that you cannot get an expert to mold, set and
burn your brick. If this be your case, it is a bad one;
but "necessity knows no law,'7 and if you must have
some brick you must do your best' to make them. So
you must get the best carpenters you have, to make a
"set" of molds for you. It will be best to have two brick
in one mold, and three molds, making six brick; then
have a table and sand box. The table should be about
four feet square, the sand box about three feet by fifteen
inches, twelve inches deep. Your molds should have bottoms, about one sixteenth of an inch scant on each side ;
they should be screwed on fast, and should be put under
water a few hours before you use them. When you get
your mud ready for the table, have a plank 1J or 2 inches
thick, and eighteen feet long, set one end on yard, and
the other next to table, on a stool or trestle, so that a
man can run up it with a wheel-barrow load of mud.
When the mud is on your table, let your boys bring up

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79

the molds, and having your sand box supplied with d r y
fine sand, let a boy dip a mold full, and shake it in such
a manner, as to cover all the inside surface of the molds ;
then let a boy put a mold on the table, and if you cannot
roll what is termed a " w a l k , " just place the left hand at
nearly a right angle with the right, with ends of the fingers together, and cut down a "clod" of mud, about the
shape of an oyster, and with a quick but easy throw, fill a
mold; two "throws," fill the mold ; then have a straight
"striker," an oval piece of wood, about two inches wide,
with which you strike off the surplus m u d on top of
mold. The boy will now take the mold by the ends,
and "off-bear" to the place where he starts a row of
brick, and, setting the mold down on edge, will " d u m p "
it, raise the mold, and return to the sand box. Meanwhile, the other boy will have sanded a mold and placed
on t h e table, ready for you to fill as at first; and so you
proceed. One man to mold, and two boys to off-bear,
will get out 4,000 brick in ten hours; and if you h a v e
three brick in a mold, will get out 5,000. Your "floor"
should hold as m a n y brick, laid out in rows, as a molder
will m a k e in three days, so that ample time will be had
for drying brick, or room for " h a c k i n g " them, until t h e y
are dry enough to go in the kiln.
The best w a y is to have a shed made to put brick
under, immediately from the yard, as soon as they are
dry enough to handle on a wheel-barrow. They should
be " h a c k e d " under a shed, in hacks the entire length of
it, one hack at a time, so that the air will freely pass be-

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BRICKMAKING AND BUBNING.

tween the brick. W h e n the shed is full, then the brick
should be set in the kiln.
I have thus given general directions for m a k i n g
brick without a machine. I n one of the old ways you
can have molds made with 2, 3, 4 or 6 brick, and mold
the way I suggested—only, t h a t it takes a m a n to carry
four to six brick in a mold. But if you desire to m a k e
brick to sell in the market, you will find some of the
m a n y machines better than any kind of hand molding.
Setting and burning is next in order, and far the
most important, for however well the brick m a y be made
it is fruitless work, if they be not well burned* I am
now treating of a case where the maker of brick has had
no experience, but is a m a n of excellent discriminating
judgment, and is trying to supply an urgent want of
brick in the absence of any possible opportunity to get
t h e m . Now, you have made a small quantity of brick,
and have t h e m dry under a shed, and you desire to do
the best you can to get t h e m burned, so that they will
answer your purpose. I will suppose that you have
60,000 ready to set; now select the most convenient spot
nearest your brick, and raise the ground with clay or
loam, about 8 or 10 inches above the common level; let
it be about 30 feet square—filling in well, m a k e it smooth
and solid; then erect a shed over it about 22 feet high at
ridge pole; this m a y be done with plank 16 or 18 feet long,
with a ridge pole in the center, and an eve pole at each
side. Now, you will take a straight edge, twenty feet
long, lay it down parallel with shed, crosswise, about
four feet from one side, then start the "bench," for out-

BBJCKMAKING AND BURNING.

81

side, one and one half brick thick ; set the brick apart so
that three on edge will take the length of one. The
bench will show alternate courses of "header" and
"stretcher" on edge, five courses high. W h e n this is up
and straightened, you will place two brick flat at each
end, out from the bench, put your straight edge on the
outer ends of these brick, which gives you a space seventeen inches wide, for the width of your " a r c h ; "
now, you will start with a brick on edge, as at first, with
end against the straight edge; you will set the ends of
bench up, in block, with end wise of brick reversed;
(this is termed "heads") then set between " h e a d s " the
first course of "bench." These are set a little zig-zag, or
" s k i n t l i n g , " as it is termed. The brick are set diagonally, like a narrow x, diverging from a parallel line,
so that one brick set on edge, on top of another, will diverge from parallel lines of the two brick about two
inches, or thickness of a brick. The brick must be set
open or apart, about three-fourths of an inch. Set one
course at a time, and straighten it with a straight edge.
Set up two courses, five high, then start overhangers on
outside bench. Set up outside plumb and put overhangers on at same time, until you get on five courses,
the last of which will project to center of arch, then start
everhangers on inside bench, carrying up two courses
wide same as bench until the two courses of overhangers
m e e t ; then put a course on as a " b i n d e r , " tight, right
over the closing of the top overhangers; this is the only
tight course in the whole kiln. Then proceed to set two
more courses as at first, in " b e n c h , " making " b e n c h "

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BRICKMAKING AND BURNING.

four brick wide. This done, you will then put on "overhangers" and carry up all courses together as before, then
put on one more binder, set open, then start " r u n n i n g "
course across the kiln, setting open, "three over three."
There should be no tight courses in the kiln, except the
one over the meeting of the top "overhangers;" this
causes the fire to spread, as it rises out of the arch. Now,
having set the first arch up thirteen or fourteen brick from
the bottom, you will start on the outside, and set it up
three or four courses wide, three brick over three, taking care to s e t u p " h e a d s " straight, but "battering" or
leaning inward about one-fourth inch to every brick in
height, so that the kiln will be at least sixteen inches
narrower on top, than at bottom. Carry up outside arch,
24 brick, then set off a half brick, put on binder and set
six courses higher, m a k i n g kiln from bottom to top,
thirty-two brick h i g h ; now put on a course flat, as "platt i n g , " one inch apart, if of whole brick ; this completes
setting of first arch ; now proceed as before, until the
whole be set up, which you see will make four arches.
Now having s e t u p your kiln, you will proceed to incase
it. To do this, for present use (for it is all temporary),
you will m a k e "center" or segment of a circle of strips of
inch plank, 2 in. wide and 3 feet, 10 inches long. To form
the segment, take two pieces of one-quarter inch plank,
four and one-half inches wide, one piece eleven inches
long, and one ten inches ; cut one edge of each piece to
a circle to rise in center the width of the piece; then
nail on the strips, which will form a "center," to turn an
arch over ; set the large end next to the kiln, one inch

BRICKMAKING AND BURNING.

83

off, in the center of the kiln arch ; set it on loose brick,
so t h a t the top of center will be 20 inches above ground;
set the out end seventeen inches above g r o u n d ; this
makes the arch, or furnace of kiln, an inch smaller on
outside in width, and three inches in height. Now having "center" ready, m a k e up some very thin m u d of
loamy clay; lay down the side walls of arch, nine
inches thick, of unburned brick in m u d ; then, when
at height of lower part of "center," clip one edge off
" g r e e n " brick to suit the circle, and turn arch over center, one brick thick, then another, so as to m a k e t h e
arch as thick as the abutments. The brick must be laid
in soft mud, and joints well "flushed." Now proceed
and put a like arch or furnace, to kiln arches, on both
sides. Your furnaces all done, you will start a wall of
dry " g r e e n " brick and bats nine inches thick between
the furnaces. Carry it against the kiln about six feet
high; then put on a heading course on edge ; then start
a wall on that, one brick thick, and carry it up to the top
of the k i l n ; then wall in like manner between front of
furnaces, and " d a u b " or plaster the whole well with
soft, thin, loamy m u d . Now you are ready to fire the
kiln.
SETTING F I R E TO KILN AND BURNING.

You will probably need twenty-five or thirty cords
of wood. If you have, or can get, one-third of that
green, it will be better than dry wood to start with, and
"water-smoke your kiln. You will lay two sticks of
wood in each flue, or furnace, and start a slow fire, keep-

84

BRICKMAKING AND BU&NING.

ing only just wood enough in the furnace to make a fire.
You will keep up this slow firing two or three days, if
your brick are not very dry in kiln. As the " watersmoke" ceases at each side of kiln on top, and the platting gets hot, you will increase the fire, occasionally
pushing back coals and fire brands. In three or four
days, if the brick are not very wet, the "water-smoke"
will disappear, and a red heat will follow on top ; then
you will increase your fire, by keeping your furnaces
full of wood, and sliding over the brands. The "overhangers," in arches, are now at a bright, red heat, and
the fire is out all along the "heads" or sides of kiln, and
will soon appear on top clear to the middle of kiln.
Now you will keep your furnaces and arches at a steady,
strong, glowing heat, and if the clay is fusible, you must
watch closely and often, the effect of the heat on the
"over hangers." If you seethe lower corners begin to
"drop," slacken your fires a little, and when you have
just the heat that the clay will stand, keep that steady
and regular, until you see your kiln begins to settle. As
soon as a spot, or part begins to settle, if the fire be out
strong and bright, showing a sulphuret on the platting,,
get a bag or bucket, and fill it with damp fine clay, and
cover that spot, and as the platting becomes sulphureted,
and the settling appears, cover with clay about one inch
deep, spreading it with your foot, until the whole kiln
be covered. If the clay your kiln is made of will not
melt, but will stand all the fire you can give it, you will
keep up as strong a heat as the combustion of your wood
will afford, until you close up your arches, which you

BRICKMAKING AND BURNING.

85

will do by filling the mouth of the furnaces with dry
brick and.daubing with soft mud. With these directions, and what I have said in the foregoing chapters,
any man with good, practical judgment, and industry,
can make and burn a kiln of brick that will answer the
wants of a place, where brick cannot be had from regular practical brickmakers.

86

BRICKMAKING AND BURNING.

CHAPTER III.
Brickmaking as a Business. Choice of Brick Machines.
Having Decided on a Brick Machine, the Next Thing is an Expert Brickmaker. Gain by Using Exhaust Heat of Kiln Just
Burned. The Way to Obtain Experts in Setting and Burning
Brick. Brick Laying and Economy in the Use of Brick. Making Mortar for Laying Brick. Importance of Laying Brick in
the Best Manner. Good Brick Work and Good Brick Should Go
Together. Importance of Good Foundations. A Universal Size
and Quality oj Brick Needed.
As I have before said, until within the last few years
brickmaking has been conducted on no fixed principles.
A n y m a n with plenty of money and self-conceit and a
modicum of practice in a brickyard, might start out as a
b r i c k m a k e r ; he could partly imitate what he had seen
others do, and by adding his own vague notions, could
m a k e a sort of show of business. W h a t he did not know,
h e could supply by employing some ignoramus who had
learned the routine practice of some old, antiquated
brickmaker, and the result would find an establishment
t h a t would t u r n out two bad brick to one good o n e ; and
the proprietor being ignorant of the true theory and
practice of the business, his efforts to improve it were

BRICKMAKING AND BURNING.

87

apt to be suggested and guided by some one like himself; so it was the "blind leading the blind."
A great change has been effected by the influence of
the immense demand for brick, and the rapidly growing interest and knowledge of w h a t a brick should, and
must be, in order to supply the demand, and to compete with the few who have learned the science of brickmaking, as well as the practice. Brickmaking is, therefore, a question, of not who has been longest at it, but
of who has the most intelligent, practical knowledge of
it. If long service at brickmaking were the only test of
proficiency, perhaps I could claim to be one of the best, if
not the very best brickmaker in the United States; but if I
iiad not studied and carefully practiced the business, m y
long life, and varied practice in it, would count for little in
the sum of progress. When a m a n or party decides to
engage in the manufacture of brick, the first question to
decide is, as to clay and locality. This being settled satisfactorily, the next is, what kind of machinery is best
adapted to the clay? W h e r e there are large beds of
"homogeneous" clay, suitable for brick, and the clay is
pulverulent, or easily reduced to a powdered condition,
I would say, by all means, get the best " D r y Press" machine ; on the other hand, if the clay be of a "heterogeneous" character, I would say, get a machine that will
m a k e "plastic" or semi-plastic" clay brick. If a very
fine face or front brick is needed, well tempered plastic,
or semi- dry clay will give the best result, especially as
it regards color. I have made beautiful front brick by
dry dress machinery, but 1 could take the same clay,

88

BMCKMAKING AND BURNING.

in a plastic or semi-plastic condition, and make a more
natural, bright color. True, a dry pressed brick may be
so finished, by an expert, with the right kind of sand
brushed or rubbed in, on the face of it, with proper care,
when in a damp state, that it will compare well with a
plastic clay brick ; but it will fade quicker and more by
the action of weather and time than the brick made of
plastic clay, for the reason that the mineral oxide in
the clay, which gives it color, has been more thoroughly distributed by watering and tempering, but if
clay be well soaked, tempered and dried, then pulverized, and dry-pressed, the color will be as natural as if
molded in a plastic state. I have made dry pressed brick
of "green" bats of tempered clay, that showed a perfect,
natural color, through and through.
HAVING DECIDED ON THE QUESTION OF MACHINERY,

The next thing to consider is, the necessity of a good,
reliable expert, in setting and burning brick—and here
is a "poser." I think one of the hardest things to find,
is a thoroughly competent brickmaker—the supply is
not half equal to the demand. Indeed, a thoroughly
competent brick setter and burner, is a rarity seldom
to be met with, and will continue to be so, until improved methods of burning and facilities for learning are
so increased and formulated that young men can readily avail themselves of opportunities, ample for study
and practice, until the art has been acquired and sufficiently mastered to insure success.
That such facilities will be offered, I have no doubt.

BRICKMAKING AND BURNING.

89

Demand will bring supply; and the brickmaking industry has assumed such large proportions, that the establishment of a University Manufactory, at some central
point, where all kinds of clay, and the best established
modes for successful manufacture, will be regularly and
systematically practiced and taught. But I am here addressing men who cannot wait for these things; you are
ready to make brick now, and you must have them properly "set and burned" if you are to succeed. So if you
are not an expert yourself, get the very best one you can.
The first two or three kilns should be small and experimental, noting with precision, the setting, the fuel,
the action of fire on the clay—in short, all the varied
conditions, circumstances, and manipulations of the
work. After one kiln be burned, you can see the faults
and mistakes made; of course, you will not repeat
them in your next kiln, and will likely be able to see
how to improve onyour first effort. There are many
new kinds" of kilns for burning brick, and it would be
quite out of place here for me to be invidious enough to
single out any particular invention, and say that is the
best. Nearly, or quite all the patents I have noticed for
improved brick kilns, have some good features, and several appear to be successfully working; but, after all, as
I have stated in some of the foregoing chapters in this
book, burning brick is not so much a question of economy in fuel, as it is of efficiency in producing the best
brick. The kiln that turns out the largest percentage of
best brick, at any reasonable cost, is the best kiln. I
have discussed this question in the preceding chapters,

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BRICKMAK1NG AND BURNING.

a n d will only remark here, that the greatest economy
in burning brick is not to be attained by any particular
construction of kiln unless it embraces the principle of
continuous b u r n i n g ; or, in other words, a kiln that will
transfer its exhausting heat, after it be burned, to an ad
joining kiln, so as to " d r y it off," and partially heat it.
This, I am sure can be d o n e ; but unless the brick could
be sold and delivered as fast as burned, the advantage of
continuous kilns would be lost, for it would cost more to
remove and keep the brick in store, than the gain in
fuel would amount to; Still, I t h i n k the waste from a kiln,
just after it has been burned, can be utilized with profit,
even without any considerable cost over the common
way of burning.
GAIN BY USING THE EXHAUSTING HEAT OF K I L N .

All the advantage that could be gained by using the
heat evolving from a hot kiln of brick, after it has been
closed, would only amount to about twelve per cent.,
saving of fuel, for if we attempt to cause a draft that
would carry off the heat any faster than is taken up by
t h e natural atsorbtion of the atmosphere, we naturally
injure the strength, color and tenacity of the brick. I have
found by long and repeated experiment, that if a kiln of
brick be exposed to draft of cold air, until the top has
become cold enough to allow brick to be taken out> without being too hot to handle, t h a t the real value of the brick
is much impaired. I have treated of this subject in the
foregoing chapters, but will add here, that it would be impossible to produce a first-rate brick without covering the

BRICKMAKING AND BURNING.

91

kiln tight with clay or brick ; and, therefore, to allow t h e
exhausting heat from a kiln to pass off by any kind of
draft that would make the heat effectual in " d r y i n g off7*
another kiln, would be to seriously damage a hot kiln,
and do but little good to a cold one. So that the question
of fuel-saving is not to be considered if it involves the
good quality of the brick.
CONSTRUCTION OF KILNS TO PREVENT WASTE HEAT.

I n the common kiln, no means is employed to prevent the great loss of heat by radiation. A solid wall of
varied thickness is built with no non-conductor of heat,
and the consequence is, t h a t every time a kiln is burned,
the whole mass of material in the walls is heated, which
takes about ten to fifteen per cent, of as much heat as is
used in burning the brick. At least half of this loss could
be saved by using a non-conductor of some kind, in constructing the walls.
W e will suppose that we want to construct a kiln for
250,000 brick ; this would be about forty four by twentyfive feet in "clear" dimensions ; it would be ten arches,
four brick in a " b e n c h / ' a n d two in "arch; 7 ' outside
"benches 77 one and one-half brick; this would be about
fifty feet by thirty-three feet on outside at the bottom.
The walls would be about seventeen feet high. After
these walls are carried above arches, an open space of
one and one half or one and one-fourth inches should be
left in center of wall, lengthwise, to within one foot of
top, when it should be closed over solid, excepting openings, thickness of a brick, and six inches wide, and one

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BMCKMAKING AND BURNING.

foot apart from open space to kiln. The side walls should
be four feet thick at bottom, and should be plumb on the
inside ; but should set off four inches every four feet in
height on outside. At every fifth course, a "header" or
"bond' say fifth course, may cover the open space in
middle of wall, but should be laid a half inch apart,
so as to let air pass freely. This would prevent
the excessive radiation of heat from the outside of
kiln. A kiln constructed in this way, and the top of
kiln closed tight with clay when burned, as I have
before directed, is within a fraction of the very best
economy and efficiency yet known or attained,
by any kiln of more length than width. This kiln
will perfectly and economically burn any kind of
clay, while many of the recent patents are for kilns
adapted only to certain kinds of clay. The kiln above
described may be built of unburned brick, after carried
up above the furnaces, excepting the outside four
inches, which should be of burned brick. The unburned
brick may be laid dry, without mortar, and close together, as no open space is needed for non-conductor, if
laid without mortar, with "bond header" every third
course. If done in this manner, the inside should not
be "daubed" or plastered, until one or two kilns are
burned in it; then it may be daubed as usual. The burning of two kilns will burn all the unburned brick in the
walls, to a good "salmon," and if the kiln be "daubed"
every time before the brick are set in, it will do about as
good work as if all built in the regular way of burned
brick. I burned 5,000,000 brick, mostly for U. S. Gov-

BMCKMAKING AND BURNING.

93

ernment, at one place, in kilns of this kind. I found
these kilns to be as good as if built of burned brick; and
when I quit the place I sold the kilns, as "salmon brick."
Where fuel is scarce and costly, a kiln for continuous
burning may be constructed on very simple and economcal principles. I have made some satisfactory experiments in this line of improvement, but as yet I have
found fuel such a large item of expense, as to make a
continuous kiln desirable. As I have before stated, continuous burning in one, or a series of kilns, would necessitate the handling of brick one time extra, unless sales
and delivery from the kilns direct could be regular and
continuous.
THE WAY TO OBTAIN EXPERTS IN SETTING AND BURNING BRICK.

The only way to get a supply of anything is to offer
a fair or tempting demand. So long as the demand offers no inducement to brains with competent skill and
energy to Handle a brickmaking establishment, just so
long will we have "botches'? and "bull-heads," to set
and burn brick. And just so long as the people and general public are satisfied with a slip-shod kind of builders
and building, and will take and buy any kind of a brick
because it is cheap, just so long there will be a demand
for half-way brickmakers. We must fix, by some conventional means, a higher standard for quality of brick;
and then a demand for a higher quality of experts will
be the rule, and young men of suitable capacity will engage in the business of brick setting and burning as a

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BRTCKMAKING AND BURNING,

profession, as in law or medicine, or other professions.
BHICK LAYING, AND ECONOMY IN THE USE OP BRICK.

Brick laying, unlike brickmaking, is a "routine"
art. Teach a boy once to lay brick, and he will be able
to do it a n y w h e r e ; while a brickmaker will have to
learn to burn brick every time he is called to manipulate
a different kind of clay from w h a t he has been' accustomed to w o r k ; but bricklayers are incidentally a very
important element in the brick industry, and economy
of building.
W h i l e there are m a n y honorable and meritorious
exceptions, yet as a rule, bricklayers do not study or
know much connected with their business outside of the
mere use of their tools, and a careless, unintelligent use
of the materials in hand. W i t h the average bricklayer,
a brick is a "brick," lime is " l i m e , " and sand is " s a n d . "
Not one in twenty can tell what kind of clay a brick
is made of when they look at it, nor can they tell if one
is improperly made, or not. They will buy a barrel of
lime and m a k e it into mortar, but for the life of them,
they cannot tell you just what kind of mortar it is, or
how it will act under atmospheric changes. They will
get sand apparently good, but when tested properly, is
really very bad. Then will m a k e up a fresh hot bed of
m o r t a r ; then, witrrbrick dry and warm, t h a t will absorb one fourth or more, of their own weight of water,
they will start a wall. Of course, the brick at once absorbs all of the water of crystallization in the mortar
and nothing is left to cement the mortar and brick

BMCKMAKING AND BURNING.

95

together, and a wall of anhydrous brick, lime
and sand is hastily run up, which can never have a n y
adhesive strength, or solid body, any more than a pile of
dry brick and ashes. W h a t is the use of insisting on
having a good brick, if laid u p without proper care, and
good cement? I t is, therefore, a matter t h a t deeply concerns brickmakers, to have their products well and
rightly handled, so that they will have a fair chance to
stand upon their true merits. W e often see tables of
test, made to show the resistance of brick to crushing
weight. H o w could such test be fairly applied to t h e
front wall of a building put up in the ordinary way? All
the weight of the wall is on a small proportion of the brick.
The bricklayer will pick up a brick in one hand, and
with his trowel in the other, will, by a peculiar expert
movement of his trowel, take up a little mortar on t h e
bottom side of it, and, what he calls " b u t t e r " the edges
of the side of the brick, which is to lay on the w a l l ;
thus, the "bed side'' is not properly "bedded," as t h e
mortar on the front side does not cover more than an
inch wide, along the edge, and on the back side, only
perhaps two-thirds of the edge has any mortar on it,
and this is called first-class work. The reason of this
wrong departure from the old way of spreading the mortar on the wall, and then settle the brick to the line, in a
perfect bed all over the surface is, that it is much easier
to settle a brick to a line to a thin joint, when there is a
very little mortar under it. I t is the expedient of the
"botch" to show a fine joint, without the skill to do it in
a workman-like manner, and properly bed his brick. I t

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BBICKMAKING AND BURNING.

is one of the shifts of modern show, to show a fine front,
and is only a piece of the sham practiced generally in all
things.
GOOD M O R T A R A N D GOOD B R I C K S H O U L D GO T O G E T H E R .

If a good, substantial job of brick work is to be done,
a large vat, about four feet deep in the ground, should be
made of plank, which should come up to a foot above the
surface; it should be nearly water tight. It may hold
from twenty, to three hundred barrels of lime. A "slaking" box should be made to hold several barrels of lime.
One end of the box should rest on the vat, and water
should be convenient. The box should be partly filled
with water ; then the lime should be scattered all over
the box, and when it begins to slake rapidly, it should
be well stirred until done slaking; then it should be let
out in the vat; and this process should go on until the
vat be filled. Water should be kept at least two inches
deep all over the surface of the putty in the vat. After
three or four weeks this putty will do to use; but it improves by age, and two barrels of lime run into putty,
and properly kept six months ,will make more good mortar, than three barrels used just after "slaking." This is
the proper way to keep lime in store,instead of letting it air
slake. The putty is always ready for use, and can be
handled even better than quick lime in barrels. It will
not "set" or "crust" under water, because the carbonic
acid of the air does not come in contact with it. The difference between the common lime mortar, and hydraulic
cement mortar, being, that common lime is only carbon-

BRICKMAKING AND BURNING.

97

ate of lime, while hydraulic cement, is silicate of lime,
or silicic acid, lime and aluminia; the one absorbs carbonic acid from the air,, and becomes hard, or "set," and
the other absorbs silicic acid under water, as well as carbonic acid in the air. If a brick, containing a large portion of sand, be pulverized to an impalpable powder,
and then mixed with one-third of its weight of good
lime putty, it will "set," or harden under water. All
common mortar for brick houses, should have hydraulic
cement added as the mortar is carried on the "scaffold."
For this purpose temper up, say, nine buckets of mortar,
ready for the bricklayer; then add one bucket of hydraulic cement; stir all well together, and carry to
workmen. If now, the brick layer will have his brick
wet or damp, and spread his mortar so as to bed the entire surface on the joint, taking care to "throw on" good
flush joints, with bond of "header," snd "stretcher,"
properly laid, his wall will be as compact, strong
and entire, as a stone of the same dimensions.
As I have said in a foregoing chapter, a two-story
house can be well and safely built of wall nine inches
thick, with a brick on edge inside, say three courses on
edge, then a heading bond course. This leaves an air
space, which prevents dampness from outside. The inside of walls are thus kept dry, and are made stronger,
by being plastered without "furring." A house built this
way, with mortar and work as suggested, is better and
stronger than one with twice as many brick, put up in
the ordinary way.
7

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BMCKMAKING AND BURNING.
IMPORTANCE OF GOOD FOUNDATIONS.

I have seen a fellow start out u boss builder,' 7 take a
brick house to build on the side of a hill, start the lowest
point, about one foot below the surface, and dig a trench
back, sixty feet long, on a level, so t h a t the foundation of
the front of the building would be one foot below the surface of the ground, and the back front, six feet below
the surface. Two years after the building was up, I noticed that the front part of the walls had settled, and
cracks were seen from top to bottom, and iron anchors
had to be put in walls, to keep t h e m from falling. This
is only a specimen of defective foundations, which, in
fact, m a y be found existing, in some way, in a majority of buildings. I have no space now to go into the
matter, prerequisites, and ways of getting a good foundation, but with science and skill, a good-foundation can
be had a n y w h e r e ; but it has been urged as a drawback
on brick building, t h a t at some places, good foundations
could not be had. I have built large brick buildings on
sand, on mud, on sliding marsh beds, and on inclined
planes of rock, and in no case, have failed to secure a
good foundation. W h e n we fairly and duly consider the
m a n y advantages of building with brick, we can not fail
to recognize the great importance of making brick, in
quality and quantity, so that the general public will at
all times have a good supply, equal to the demand.
Stone, iron and wood must give prominent place to brick.
Stone is only suitable for underground work. Iron is
only fit for some subordinate place in brick work. I t

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99

will do to prevent unequal strains, and thrusts in brick
work, but, as a chief building material, it has utterly failed in every well tried experiment. As to wood,
at best, it is only to be considered for temporary use, and
if we take fire, decay and insurance into consideration,
wood is the most expensive of building material.
There has been an effort to make concrete and cemented material take the place of brick, but that is only
an experiment without reason, or good results. Brick
can be made and put into a wall cheaper than any other
material; the raw material is cheap, boundless and various for all purposes of clay work, and everywhere obtainable ; and the time is not far distant when brick will
be the universal building material. The hollow brick
idea has had some consideration, and I made some experiments in that way. I found the extra trouble in making and handling, the liability to break, and their want
of adaptability to all sorts of work and places were seriious objections to their general use and profit.
WE WANT A UNIVERSAL BRICK IN SIZE AND QUALITY,

and a nomenclature for the same. Eight and a half
inches long, 41-16 inches wide and 2} scant thick, would
be a proper size for a world-wide brick. This size is convenient to handle at all times and places, and brickmakers could adapt their machines to their clay to make
this size, with scarcely any variation. Then a brick,
like a dollar, would be a brick in every market. A universal standard size is almost an imperative necessity.
I will say to the reader, in conclusion, that I have

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BRICKMAKING AND BURNING.

written this book, as the results of my own personal
practice and experience, and not from any hearsay and
assumption, on the theory of others. Whatever I have
quoted is properly credited, and only refers to matters
of well-known science.
J. W. CRARY, Sn.

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101

SPECIFICATION FOR BUILDING AND USING
THE BRICK KILN, AS SHOWN ON PLAN.
FOUNDATION.

Foundation to be dug out to solid ground, and well
rammed so that there will be no settle of walls.
WALLS.

The bottom wall will be eight brick in length wide,
and will diminish to six brick, having four two-inch offsets on each side, then built up as shown on vertical section of plan. Wall will be hollow, having an open vertical space of 1} inch wide as shown on plan. At top of
this space there will be horizontal openings every eight
inches, so as to let the hot air in vertical opening, out
against top of kiln.
MATERIAL. FOE, BUILDING K I L N .

If enough burned brick are not on hand, and you
wish to economize get enough burned brick to build from
foundation to first offset. Then use burned brick on outside of wall, and well dried unburned brick on the inside.
The outside to be laid in lime and sand mortar, the inside to be laid dry without mortar, every third course a
header, or binder, laid about a quarter of an inch apart.

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BRICKMAKING AND BURNING.

The inside to be bound at every fifth or sixth course to outside header, but no hollow space to be left in middle, as
if built with all burned brick and laid in mortar, for the
reason that the unburned brick being partly open and
* HORIZONTAL SECTION OP K I L N * * ^ -

loose, will get burned after two kilns are burned, and
then the inside being daubed with sandy clay grout, as
it should be, the walls will be sufficiently open to prevent
heating through; that being the object of the hollow in
solid wall, so as to save heat.
NOTE—Doors of kiln at transverse arches can be arched over, 7 or 8 feet
from bottom of kiln if desirable.

BRICKMAKING AND BURNING.

103

FURNACES.

The furnaces will be arched over with two 4 inch
arches of fire brick, of size and dimensions in plan.

Vertical Section
of Kiln
cut through centre
of a furnace.

KILN BOTTOM

»

FURNACE

^

ASH PIT

3

FOUNDATION _ |

1.

GRATES AND DOORS.

The grates will be 2i feet long, and cast thin, say |

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BMCKMAKING AND BURNING.

inch, they will set on bottom of kiln pavement inside,
and on a bearer of iron from in the middle of the furnace, and outside on door of sill, making five feet long of
grate surface. Doors will be set with upper and lower
shutter, the upper shutter will have three holes in top
one inch in diameter, so as to admit cold air to aid
combustion of gases from fuel.
SETTING THE BRICK.

The cross, or transverse arches, should be started
first, and set up to binding courses, say twelve courses
high, and set out about six feet; the center bench has the
middle course set tight, or nearly so, as shown in the plan,
and should be carried this way to top of kiln. After six
or seven feet of the center arches are set out, then start
the arches on each side, as shown in plan. They will be set
out over the cross arches and carried up to top of kiln,
and the center course of the cross arches carried up at the
same time.
In setting the benches, " over hangers/' and the two
binding courses, it is best to set the brick skintling, or
zigzagy as in plan. The brick should be f of an inch
apart except the course just over the closing of "overhangers." This single course should be set tight, so as
to spread the fire into benches. If the setters are not
skilled in setting skintling, they can soon learn by setting a few brick on a plank 8J inches wide for experiment, and when setting arches of kiln, use a straight
edge board, straightening every course. If the whole
kiln is to be set skintling, one course should be set up at

B M C K M A K I N G AND BURNING.

105

a time, as high as a m a n can reach, then when he gets
up on bench to set up to top of kiln, he should also set
up one course at a time. This makes it easy to set, and
the setter can carry the work straight. The skintling
style is best from bottom to top, but if the old way is preferred, after setting the arches, let it be done. But
if the brick are over 2J inches thick by 8J
long, it is best to set five over the length of two,
instead of three over three. A kiln of brick cannot be
well burned unless set loose, and regular from bottom
to top, excepting the tight courses I have specified.
BURNING.

All necessary instructions for burning will be found
in this book, elsewhere, but I will add here t h a t if coal
is to be used only, grates m a y be set so that fire be
put further back, making a grate surface of ten feet long,
but if wood can be had, I would use it to throw back, instead of coal. Soft coal will burn on a hot bottom if often
and well stokered, and m a y be used instead of wood.
But all intelligent brick burners will recognize the fact
that the main heat must be generated in the furnace,
outside of kiln, and it is simply a question of combustion and draft. I n order to get this and the best heat,
the benches and overhangers must be set loose and skintling, and the whole body of kiln must be set open and
regular. This will insure a good draft in the furnaces,
without which, brick cannot be thoroughly burned. The
draft can always be regulated by covering with fine d a m p
clay, as I have elsewhere in this book directed. The

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B M C K M A K I N G AND BURNING.

moment that a spot or place in the kiln be well burned,
cover it with clay. This saves wasting heat and drives
it to the places wanted, and so proceed with covering as
fast as places are burned, until the kiln is burned and
covered. This gives complete control of fire, saves fuel
and labor, and insures uniform, strong, well burned
brick throughout kiln.
I n constructing this kiln it is not necessary to m a k e
it as large as the plan. If a smaller kiln be wanted, four
arches or furnaces on a side will do, and the kiln m a y be
set thirty brick high only, if a small kiln be desirable.
If a larger kiln be needed than is shown by the plan, it
m a y be extended so as to m a k e seven arches instead of
six, or if the clay will stand fire well, all the benches
may be five brick wide instead of four. This would add
one-seventh to the capacity of the six arch kiln on plan.
I will repeat, that covering kilns with clay, as I have
before directed is of primary importance. There is no
other feasible plan for controlling the fire and draft, saving fuel and labor, and equalizing the heat throughout
the kiln, so as to insure thoroughly burned, tough, strong
brick. Clay for covering, should be of a loamy kind,
pulverized so t h a t there will be no large lumps, and
should be damp enough to cohere if pressed in the hand.
I t m a y be taken up on kiln and handed to the person
covering, in a small sack or in a bucket; when it is
dumped on kiln it should be spread and pressed down a
little with the foot. The covering should proceed as fast
as places are settled or burned, until the top of kiln be
covered. The fires shouldbe kept up in furnaces until the

BRICKMAKING AND BURNING.

107

"settle" is even, all over the kiln, or nearly so, then close
as I have before directed.

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BRICKMAKING AND BURNING.

APPENDIX TO SUPPLEMENT.
" W H I T E W A S H I N G " IN BURNING, T H E CAUSE AND THE
CURE.

It is a well known fact to all old, well experienced
brick burners, that, when the fire is pushed too fast when
a kiln is "water-smoking,'' and the outside of the brick
becomes red hot before the inside is clear of water, that
the surface of the brick is coated with what is termed
"whitewash," and that if the kiln be "closed," before
it is thoroughly burned, this "whitewash" will remain
a long time on the brick. Now this "whitewash" is a
sulphuret, or efflorescence from the minerals in the clay,
which has not been sufficiently oxidized to expel them.
This is one of the difficulties in burning oil with steam
in a brick kiln. The combustion is rapid and the surface of the brick is enveloped in a hydrated flame, and
unless the heat is made intense and kept up until the
brick is thoroughly saturated, and the volatile minerals
oxidized and expelled, the brick will have a motley,
whitish appearance on the surface, and if broken across,
will show the various degrees of heat that the brick was
exposed to while burning.
It is, therefore, best to use oil without steam or water,
and force a spray of oil through a perforated nozzle, into

BBICKMAKING AND BURNING.

109

furnace, or else saturate "pea coal," or fine split wood
with it, and burn it on the close grates. This, I think,
would be the safest and most economical way to utilize
both oil and cheap coal, taking care to follow my directions for burning, in foregoing chapters.

NOTE.—I do not refer here, to the miscalled whitewash, which is seen
on red brick fronts, as for instance in Philadelphia and Baltimore, as the
frost comes out in early spring time. That is an effioresence of potash, or
pearl ash, in the "brick. A coat of Knseed oil will dissipate it and restore
the color of the brick.

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BRICKMAKING AND BURNING.

"THEORY AND PRACTICE OF BRICKMAKING."
BY J. W. CRARY, SR., BLUFF SPRINGS, FLA.*

Fellow Workers and Gentlemen of the Convention:
Your worthy corresponding secretary has done me
t h e honor of inviting me to be present at your convention, and requested that if I could not attend that I should
supply m y personal absence by a paper on the "Theory
a n d Practice of B r i c k m a k i n g . " I t is a very easy thing to
write papers, but the great difficulty is to have something
to say. If all of the thousand tons of printed matter published every month in the United States were boiled down to
first-rate common sense, there would be nine hundred
tons of " s k i m m i n g s " and one hundred tons of good, digestible, healthy matter left for the consumption of common sense people. I have no doubt that much I write
would have to be well "boiled and s k i m m e d " before it
would be palatable to healthy appetites. But as brickmakers are not, as a rule, very fastidious, dainty fellows,
I will not further trespass on your valuable time with
apologies.
Standing at the head of one of t h e oldest arts in the
world, gentlemen, you can feel assured that you are not
"Paper read before the Fourth Annual Convention of the National
Brick Manufacturers' Association.

BRICKMAKING AND BURNING.

Ill

dealing with some untried, doubtful scheme or device,
when you propose to iurnish the world with the only
building material that will best serve intelligent men,
and stand the test of weather, fire and time.
It would be superfluous to recapitulate the historical
manufacture, kind and use of brick. Suffice to say, that
until within the memory of men now living, brick were
made by hand, of soft, tempered clay, dried in the sun,
and burned in the old-fashioned ucasecl and 'daubed"
kilns. In such a style I first learned to make brick. Altogether, it was a hard, slavish process; about the same
as it was under the Pharaohs in Egypt, who kept the enslaved Jews exclusively at brickmaking, and these peculiar people got such a long, strong dose of brickmaking that it has not done operating yet, and you might as
well offer a Jew pork to eat, as to offer him "stock" in a
brickyard. A Jew never looks at a brickyard without
cursing Pharaoh, and thanking God for the Passover.
I can well recollect about the first attempt to improve
on the venerable, gray old art of brickmaking, and,
strange to say, it was not a gradual innovation. It was
not from soft mud to stiff mud, or from stiff mud to semidry pressed, but it was from soft tempered mud to dry
clay. This was a long, blind stride. It was, as the
learned say, going at it "aposteriori" instead of "apriori."
It was assuming the fact without the reason, a conclusion without the premises; but brickmakers were not
always syllogistic in their style of putting an argument.
The "dry-clayists" said that clay could be pressed dry,
so as to make it sufficiently compact for a brick. They

112

BRICKMAKING AND BURNING.

did not say precisely what condition the clay should be
in, nor just what the maximum of pressure should be.
They contented themselves with a mass of clay in the
shape of brick, without any reference to the law of cohesive attraction, so that it was for a long time before
anything ]ike a good brick was made by the dry- press
machines. There are two forces only which can be used
in making a given quantity of clay into brick. One is
by natural crystallization. The other is by pressure ; or,
in other words, more technical, artificial cohesive attraction. The more clay is dissolved and stirred or tempered
the better the crystallization. The more it is pulverized,
comminuted and stirred together for dry pressure, and
the more it is pressed, until all the particles are completely united, the more perfect is the cohesive attraction. There is a maximum or necessary pressure
for every kind of clay, under certain conditions. If clay
has an excess of sand in it, it requires more pressure. If
it be well pulverized and damp, it takes less pressure
than if dry and partially pulverized , but, in any case,
the pressure must reach that point where the particles
are all perfectly united, and are no longer compressible.
We hear talk of the great power of machines to press
clay into brick—some say 40 tons to a brick, some 100,
etc. This is all speculative. It may, in some cases, take
only 25 tons, and might reach 100 in other cases.
SANDY CDAY I N A DRY STATE, IS NON-ELASTIC.

If, after all the particles are perfectly cohered under,
say, a pressure of 40 tons, an addition of 1,000 tons would

BRICKMAKING AND BURNING.

113

not reduce the size of the brick, so that the great surplus
power of a brick machine avails nothing after the maxim u m pressure required has been given. This is w h y I
have thought the roller principle of pressure was preferable to the direct, the cam or toggle-joint.
If a toggle-joint machine has nothing to relieve the
strain after the brick has received the m a x i m u m "pressure," it will work well, provided some plan be devised
by which the brick can be cut off to a uniform thickness.
I t is a very difficult task to charge the molds or dies
every time they act with just the same quantity of clay,
and if there be a variation of two or three ounces the
machine is over-strained or the clay is not perfectly cohered. This cannot be said of a machine where the clay
is pressed into a mold by a roller, which, of course, must
be of the right size to gather a full supply of clay into the
molds as it impinges upon the clay, and if an excess of clay
is in contact with the roller and the surface of the molds,
the roller will move it forward into the next mold. If
those who use toggle-joint, or other plunger, or what I
call direct-pressure machines, have an automatic device
for getting precisely the right quantity of clay in every
die, there can be no serious objection to them.
THE PROGRESS OF LABOR SAVING DEVICES IN BRICKMAKING.

I t is not that machinery can do a much greater percentage of work than the old hand methods which makes
it desirable, but it is that manual labor is much relieved
of its excessive toil, and the condition of the em8

114

BRICKMAKING AND BURNING.

ployes ameliorated in all cases where the relations of the
employer and employe are conducted on the principles
of justice and equity.
Sixty years ago, I have seen in the city of Cincinnati 9,000 brick made as a regular day's work, by one
molcler. One m a n to put m u d on his table, one m a n to
carry off molds and d u m p the brick on the yard, one
man to dig and haul clay in the pits, one man to wheel
dry brick off the yard and put them under the shed ready
to set, and one boy to drive the oxen that tempered the
clay, in round pits, that held about 3,000 brick, making
in all five men and one boy to the task of 9,000 brick.
The molds had six brick, three lengthwise side by side.
The molder would handle his mold from sand box to
table, and cutting down his walk with both hands in the
shape of an oyster, would throw it into the molds at the
rate of one every second, and then strike off the clay
from the top of the molds in about three seconds, making six brick every ten seconds. I well remember a celebrated race by two stalwart, expert molders in 1832.
They were to mold from sunrise to sunset. Bets ran
high, and all the brickmakers in Cincinnati stopped
work that day to witness the contest. W h e n the time for
molding was up, at sunset, one of the molders had molded
25,000 brick, the other 24,700. This may seem incredible,
but I was an eye witness to this prodigious feat of skilled
labor. The names of the contestants were Martin and
Conell. Martin won the bet.
There is no machine that can turn out an average work to exceed 1,500 brick to each hand em-

BRICKMAKING AND BURNING.

115

ployed, so that the gain by machinery is to be found
in the improved conditions of the labor experts,
in the uniform superior quality of the brick, in t h e
appliances for saving time,, by working through all
seasons of the year, and most of all, in the tendency to
produce a general community of mutual interest among
brickmakers, and, by intelligent co-operation, develop
every advantage and improvement of which the art is
susceptible.
THE PROBLEM OF CHEAP BURNING AND GOOD BURNING AND OF STANDARD BRICK IN SIZE
AND QUALITY.

Hitherto, the progress in the mere manufacture of
raw, unburned brick has outrun improvements in the
quality, and in the methods of burning. The majority
of inventors of brick machinery have not been experts
in brick burning. They conceive of some way to press
clay into a mold and get out a brick, but they do not
first stop to consider the nature and quality of the clay,
or the necessary treatment of it in the final and most
important stage of manufacture—the burning. The usefulness and character of brick machines, especially of
the dry press kind (the brick of which requires thoroughly hard burning and slow cooling) have been less
appreciated for the w a n t of proper skill in setting and
burning the brick made by them, than from any other
cause. First, to have good brick the clay must be good
and the maker and burner know the properties of it in
relation to fire and induration. K n o w i n g these things,
he must set and burn accordingly.

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BRICKMAKING AND BURNING.
SETTING BRICK IN A KILN FOR BURNING,

There is generally a fault in setting the benches and
overhangers of kilns. I t is common to set one brick
over and on the space between two, thereby closing up
the space intended for the draft from combustion of the
fuel. This not only retards combustion, but it prevents
a sufficient heat from ascending through the body of the
kiln. The benches, over hangers and binders should be
set so that the flame and smoke will readily escape from
the arches or furnaces up into the kiln. The habit of putting on platting tight or close, so as to keep the heat in
the kiln, is not only without reason, but it is a positive
damage to the brick and to the proprietor. I t is about as
sensible as to put a clamper over a chimney of a house to
keep the heat in.
There is an infallible rule for a good draft from the
combustion of the fuel, viz.: The space for the entrance
of cold air into the furnace must not be more than one-third
that of the flues of the smoke stack. For instance, if
the doors of the arch or furnace to a kiln of brick have
an area of two feet or 144 inches each, the space between
the brick in the arch should give a clear outlet for smoke
and gas of at least six square feet or 862 inches clear of
obstruction. The top of the kiln should never be less
open than the kiln throughout, only when the kiln begins
to settle, and a kiln should never be brought to a settling heat in the arches until the fires are all out at top
with a heat nearly the same as in the arches, then the
heat may be increased in the arches, and as soon as any

BRICKMAKING AND BURNING.

117

part of the kiln begins to settle that part should be closed
tight either with platting or d a m p loam or fine clay. I
prefer to use bats for platting and clay to make the platting tight. As the settling appears, the covering should
progress until the entire top surface of the kiln be covered
with a thin coat of clay. This treatment is explained at
length in the sixth chapter of this book. Some so-called
brickmakers say that clay should not be put on a kiln, and
that the platting can be closed sufficiently tight. If platting is to be closed tight it must be put on with good
whole brick, and then when they are drawn together,
a hot, difficult job is on hand, and as spaces are left they
must be filled with brick, which is not easy or quick
done, and when clone is not as good as when done with
clay.
The clay covering is burned, and when thrown off
with the bats it does not go down into the kiln, and if
the bats and clay be thrown into a pile together they can
be used to make what fire brickmakers call "grog."
UTILIZING

THE

EHXAUSTING

HEAT

TO DRY OFF

GREEN KILN.

There is no serious trouble in utilizing the heat, coming from a kiln just burned, to partially dry off a " g r e e n "
kiln. Much thought and attention has lately been given
to this subject, and as fuel becomes more scarce, the idea
for using waste heat will progress until the continuous
kiln will be a complete thing, and be a valuable and necessary factor in producing a good, uniform brick.

118

BRICKMAKING AND BURNING.

A UNIFORM SIZE AND WELL BURNED BRICK WITH A
NOMENCLATURE FOR KIND AND CLASSES A
NATIONAL WANT.

One of the great drawbacks and injuries to good,
skillful brickmakers is the fact: First, that few people
k n o w the difference between a first rate and second or
third rate brick. A brick m a y be only half burned and
look well on the outside. Second, there is no uniform
size lor brick. This makes it difficult for two different
manufacturers of brick to supply the same job or building with brick, and also tends to disturb and unsettle
prices for brick. Some foolish brickmakers will increase
t h e size of their brick, thinking to get a higher price for
their brick, while they deceive themselves with the idea
t h a t it costs no more to m a k e a brick 2 | inches thick than
if it were 2J inches thick. Third, a committee should
be appointed representing all sections of the Union which
should define and classify brick under significant proper
n a m e s ; also fix a uniform size for brick and one t h a t
would insure the best brick and make it easy to make,
set, burn and handle. And I will say here in advance,
t h a t the best size for a brick for all concerned is 8} inches
long, 4J inches wide and 2J- inches thick. This size
(burned, of course) gives a little over 78 cubic inches,
All brickmakers would have to make their molds or dies
to suit their clay. A thin brick will carry more weight
than a thick one, they are dried quicker and burned
easier and better. A man can take two brick in one hand
if they are not over 2\ inches thick, and if any change
should be made in the size here proposed the thickness

BR1CKMAKING AND BURNING.

119

should be reduced to 2J inches, which, in m y judgment,
is the true and best standard thickness for the best and
most profitable brick.
AS TO A N O M E N C L A T U R E F O R
u

BRICK.

The common names " r e d b r i c k , " pale red brick,"
" d a r k salmon," "light salmon" are all at fault. Not
half of the clay of which brick are made will burn
a red color. W h a t a Philadelphia brickmaker would
call a red brick, a brickmaker here in m a n y parts of the
south would call a salmon brick, as most of our red
brick, though as hard as a Philadelphia red brick, are
really salmon brick. I would suggest the simple designation, in reference
to hard brick, Hard Arch ( H . A.); for next above the
arches I would say No. 1 hard (called in Philadelphia,
pavers); for next above, No. 2 hard; next above, No.
3 hard ; and next, No. 4 salmon; all abbreviated would
be (H. A.) (No. 1 H.) (No. 2 H.) (No. 3 H.) and (S.) or
salmon. Then for front brick I would say, best quality
front, abbreviated, (B. Q. F.) then (2nd Q. F.) and (3rd
Q. F.) all hard, of course, for no other kind of brick should
belaid on the outside of a wall. The habit of using* what
are called "pale or light stretchers," is a very pernicious
one, and no good builder will tolerate it. The truth is,
the standard of brick burning is too low. I t offers a premium to botch brickmakers, and the good, competent
brickmaker must ever face an unworthy competitor or
retreat ingloriously.
Our general practice of letting out building by con-

120

B M C K M A K I N G AND BURNING.

tract, all to one man, is not only fatal to good building,
but is a downright injustice and leads to dishonesty.
Let us look at it a moment. A wants building done ;
he puts it in the market for the lowest bidder; B is his
architect and manager ; he has written out a specification
t h a t would rival all the classics in learning, and "Blackstone" in technicalities. The verdant, well-meaning bidders will read over his profound stereotype literature and
wonder at the possibility of evading or dodging its punctilious requirements, so he takes the trouble of
making out an honest estimate and puts in his bid. The
day when the bids are opened up comes Mr. C, more
"nonchalant" than polite, but he is the right-hand m a n
for B, and only gives a wink and a nod to see the "cat
j u m p . " H e is awarded the j o b ; though he has no practical experience with mechanics' tools, architectural proportions or requisites, he readily supplies these deficiencies with a glib tongue and a self-conceit and importance t h a t only measures its chances for success by its opportunities. C now goes for the material m a n ; he finds
the half-and-half brickmaker; he is full of stock from
No. 2 to No. 4, but deficient in No. 1, still they will do
to haul to the building C has taken, to m a k e a blind
with. One good brick will hide two bad ones, where the
supervising architect is "near sighted" or busy looking
at the " o i l y " part of the fact. I n short, C gets cheap
brick and cheap everything else for his job. Now, if the
proprietor A had sent an expert, well qualified to buy all
his building material, then employed a first-rate mechanic, in each line required, to build and complete his

BRICKMAKING AND BURNING.

121

house, under the general supervision of a good and wellknown practical building architect, all concerned and
the general public would have the benefit of a legitimate,
competent, progressive, skilled industry, in every line of
building business.
BRICK WILL PREDOMINATE AS THE

FUTURE BUILD-

ING MATERIAL.

The whole business of brickmaking should be revised, and intelligently understood, as well as the proper and best way to use brick as a building material.
All things considered in the economy of building, brick
and terra cotta are incomparably the best, and the time
is not distant when nothing but fire-proof brick buildings will be in demand, or even tolerated.
Gentlemen of the convention, it is no flattery to tell
you that your position is really one of the most remarkable and merited distinction. I t has no parallel in the
history of the world. I have read of no useful art except brickmaking t h a t has been nursed in the cradle of
conservatism, 4,100 years, without some intelligent conventional effort to develop its importance and possibilities.
Allow me to congratulate you on being the pioneers
in giving progressive shape and intelligent direction to
brickmaking. Since the building of Babel you are the
first body of men who have, in good earnest, said, "Let
us make brick and burn them thoroughly." You have
not only taken up the refrain of Noah's descendants, to
burn them thoroughly, but you have caught the voice of

122

BRICKMAKING AND BURNING.

American genius, which plainly says; "Let us not only
make brick and burn them thoroughly, but let
us also make them thoroughly," not to build towns
that will "confuse our language" or show our
want of honest skill or wisdom, but to build houses and
homes that will diffuse our comforts, increase our enjoyments, honor our intelligence and wisdom, and show to
the world that our brick is like our country and government, the best on earth. [Applause.]