THE MITCHELL CLAY MANUFACTURING COMPANY

From: The Clayworking Plants of St. Louis
In: BRICK. SPECIAL ISSUES ON ST. LOUIS, MAY AND JUNE 1904

May, 1904, p. 231-232.

THE MITCHELL CLAY MANUFACTURING COMPANY

The Mitchell Clay Manufacturing Co's. plant is located at 5625 Manchester Ave. The plant was established in 1869, and the company was incorporated in 1886. S. Mitchell, the founder of the enterprise was a citizen of Maysville, Ky. and was engaged in the brickmaking business there, literally building up the town. In 1869 he came to St. Louis and started the first rooting tile plant west of the Mississippi River. Mr. Mitchell had the far-seeing eye which satisfied him that the clay rooting tile was destined to supplant the wood shingle, and the tin and slate roofs, but he was ahead of his day and generation, and the enterprise met with little favor from the builders. In any case it was an experimental plant, and by the time that a good roofing tile was made the stock capital became exhausted and the enterprise was abandoned: his energies being turned into the channel of firebrick manufacturing. But good roofing the were made in that factory and some of the buildings of the Winkle Terra Cotta Co. are to-day still covered by the Mitchell roofing tile, all in an excellent state of preservation. Some drain tile was also made on the plant at that time. The products of the plant are now firebrick of all kinds, and refractory tile.

The company owns here two acres of ground, and about one and one-half miles west of the plant it also owns six acres of reserve clay land. The plant is housed in a three-story brick building. The clay is brought in from the Surrounding district, and is secured by contract. Extensive stock sheds store about 3,000 tons of clay continuously and there is a large dump containing many tons of clay for weathering purposes. The raw material is conveyed to the dry pan by harrows. It is a 9-ft. Bucyrus pan. From the pan it is elevated to two revolving screens of home construction, 12 ft. long and 6 ft. in diameter. Outside the screen is a shaft, bearing iron heating arms, which keep the screens clear of adhering clay. These screens are of different mesh. From the screens the clay is conveyed by chutes to the mixer, and thence the storage bins or the machine as desired. It is conveyed to the second floor for the special shape brick and to the first floor for firebrick. Drying floors are to be found on both stories. The firebrick are made on hand presses and also by the stiff-mud process according to the grade required, brick being laid out on the floors to dry, requiring about three days drying before they are ready for the kiln. They are conveyed to the kilns by truck. There are four 30-ft. round down-draft kilns, the flues being formed by large solid blocks which reduce the repair bill or maintenance cost to a minimum. Big fire blocks are also used for the fire boxes and large fire slabs for the hubs of the kilns. The company also makes a specialty of supplying to the trade kiln binding keys, which clamp the iron bands effectively. Watersmoking and burning occupy about six days. Each kiln is fired about twice a month. The clay used is a plastic tough clay and will bear plenty of pushing without injurious effect. The company also finds quite a market for its milled clay. The milled clay is stored in large bins on the second floor, which are so arranged that wagons can drive right underneath them and receive their load without any trouble or loss of time. A large business of milled clay is done with foundries and steel works.

The company has its own stables containing about either horses, but it also hires a number of outside teams for special delivery business. The company makes a specialty of shaped firebrick interlocking tile and slabs for house furnaces. A large business is done in the fire brick which is of excellent quality and seems to be a most economically-run plant.

The president of the company is S. Mitchell; vice-president, L.F. Mitchell; and the secretary and treasurer is L. A. Fehrensen. The two Mitchells are sons of the founders of the works and are both practical clayworkers of standard type, and take great pleasure in showing visitors around the plant.