Seven Millions of Brick.
To that pretty little city of Chaska, up the valley of the Minnesota, went yesterday a party of practical men, who know a good brick when they see it. There were the veterans Thomas Grace and George Mitsch, the builder of G. W. Merrill, Phillip Reilly the lumberman, and the GLOBE correspondent. The object of the excursion was to visit the newly equipped brick yards of J. [James] S. Burris, and inspect a perfected system of producing perfect material.
It is well known that the clay along the banks of the Minnesota river about Chaska makes bricks of great strength, but generally the product by the old processes have been rough and uneven. The Bierlien system, which is just perfected and patented, and operated only by Mr. Burris, will, according to the results as exhibited yesterday to the before-mentioned committee of experienced examiners, vastly improve the brick in durability and finish, while materially reducing the cost. The yard wherein the bricks are manufactured, and the four great kilns are located, cover a spacious area while around it are many acres under whose surface lies the rich deposit of clay. Along the edge of the yard runs a platform raised fifteen feet, and by this roadway the clay is conveyed by carts to the patent Bierlien Clay Crusher and Temperer, for which the power is supplied by an engine and shafting under the platform. By simple and ingenious devices the clay is, on being dumped from the wagon, pulverized to a powder and dropped to the temperer below, where water is added, and a pliable but solid putty is produced and passed by a spout to the regular brick machine from which it issues moulded into bricks of perfect proportions. These are quickly transferred to patent trucks, which run on tracks laid between commodious drying racks which, with their roofs and canvas sides, are also patented as part of the Bierlien system of brickmaking. By this device the bricks are never touched by the hands, as in the old process, and they reach the kilns perfect, while the roofs and sides of the racks completely protect them from the action of storms while drying. The whole process is very simple and economical, and is the result of many years’ experience in the manufacture of bricks. The product is a handsome, even, solid brick, of a delicate cream color, and they are undoubtedly the most desirable brick in the market. Mr. Burris, who has headquartered at the contractors’ and builders’ board of trade, is prepared to fill all orders, as he is producing 68,000 bricks per day and has a capacity of 120,000.
Source:
The Saint Paul Daily Globe
Saturday Morning, May 21, 1887
Volume IX, Number 141, Page 2