Dominion Glass Company, Wallaceburg, Canada

GLASS BOTTLE OUTPUT

INCREASES IN CANADA.

Dominion Factories Thoroughly Equipped

With Machines — Striking Expansion

Despite War Conditions — Owens Inventions

Used.

IMPORTS ARE BELOW

PREVIOUS PERIODS.

Bottle making has been revolutionized during the last ten years and Canada is keeping pace with the United States in enlarging the industry. The development of machine production has caused far-reaching changes. The possibilities opened by the new methods of manufacture have been very great, and those that are just beginning to be realized are likely to cause extensive expansion in an industry that has already grown materially since the beginning of the war. Designed by a glass blower, the Owens machine for making glass bottles since its invention ten years ago, and with the many improvements being added yearly, has made possible productions of ware far beyond expectations.

Under present conditions in the labor market today the advantage of such methods of production are quite obvious, since five men working one machine are able to turn out at least as much work as 25 skilled glass blowers. In Canada, the manufacture of glass bottles and carboys of all descriptions has grown considerably since the beginning of the war. Imports of glassware have fluctuated, and while still quite large Canadian users now depend to a greater extent on the product made with-in the Dominion, which the operation of these machines materially assists.

These latest figures given by the Department of Trade and Commerce of Canada show that total imports of carboys, bottles, decanters, flasks, jars, and phials amounted to $338,588 for the five months ending Aug. 31, 1918. This compares with $207,653 and $409,974 for the corresponding periods of 1916 and 1917, respectively. The August, 1918, total is $74,431, as against $84,968 for August 1917.

The Dominion Factory.

Approximately 85 per cent of the production of glass bottles in Canada is by machinery, and the indications are that for the future glass bottles will be hand blown only for small orders that are not sufficient to make it worth while to put on a machine. Bottles are made by the Dominion Glass Co. at its four plants, in sizes ranging from two drams to five gallons. Machines are now in use that consist of ten arms, which turn out from 250 to 300 gross of bottles a day. A machine operating on milk bottles is capable of turning out 300 gross of pints in 24 hours. Production on such a scale makes it possible for the entire needs of the Dominion to be satisfied by the output of a limited number of machines in a single plant.

Another extensive feature of the glass bottle trade is the manufacture of packers' ware. Jam and pickle bottles are required in large quantities for the packers in the fruit districts. Fruit jar manufacture is an extensive part of the industry, and requirements have grown year by year. Catsup and grape juice bottles have come to be manufactured in constantly increasing quantities. The prescription business is another important end of the glass industry. While the manufacture of milk bottles is practically centered in the Hamilton plant, the fruit jar and packers' ware output is divided between Hamilton, Wallaceburg, and Redcliff. Prescription goods and other lines for local needs are turned out at Montreal, another branch of the Dominion Glass Co. The Redcliff. Alberta, plant produces all kinds of goods for the western trade.

Process of Manufacture.

The principal ingredients used in the manufacture of glass are silica sand, soda ash, and lime. While most of the silica sand is imported from the United States, Canadian sand is now used as well. This product is secured from Oneida, Ontario, and while coarser and inferior in color to the imported sand, it has been found suitable for the cheaper lines of glasswares. For bright flint glass, however, it is necessary to use the American sand. Soda ash is also imported from the United States, but the establishment of a soda ash industry in Ontario is expected to make this country independent of outside sources of supply for this important material.

The glass is melted in a regenerative furnace, at a temperature of about 2,800 to 3,800 degrees. It then flows to a refining chamber which empties into a revolving pot. It is then vacuumed by each of the ten arms of the machine.

Finding its way to the glass blank it is blown into whatever shape is required by compressed air. The glass bottles are taken from the machine to the annealing ovens, the temperature of which is 1,400 degrees, and gradually cooled. The process requires eight hours, with the bottles being fed continually into one end of the oven on an endless carrier, and are taken out at the other end at the completion of the operation.

Larger Production in Future.

While ten-arm machines for making glass bottles are the largest in use in the Canadian factories, 15 and 20-arm machines are operating in the United States, having the greater production in proportion to the larger number of arms. On the new 20-arm machines being constructed for some types of bottles it will be possible to fit five blanks on a single arm. This will mean a daily capacity of 1,500 gross of bottles on a single machine in 24 hours. When it is considered that six such machines in constant operation will turn out 9,000 gross a day, an idea can be formed of the volume of production of the glass bottle plant of the future, and the relatively low price that may ensue. Tumblers are manufactured by another process, with the molten glass flowing into the mold, instead of being drawn by a vacuum, as is the case for bottle making.

Record of Canadian Imports.

Canada has been a large importer of glassware in the past, and for the fiscal year ending March 31, 1918, total import of glass and glassware amounted to $5,238,921, which is close to the high mark touched in 1913, when the figures were given as $5,370,431. For the last seven years the total imports into Canada from all sources and from the United States have been as follows:

Domestic Output Shows Gain.

The statistics for domestic manufacture of all kinds of glass are shown by the postal census of manufacturers of 1910 and 1915. By these figures it will be seen that while there were but nine plants in 1915 just as there were in 1910, business increased considerably, and of course there has been further gain since 1915. The figures for the Canadian glass industry are as follows:

These totals show that the value of glass products made in Canada practically doubled between 1910 and 1915. Glass bottles and kindred lines advanced in price between 25 and 30 per cent since the beginning of the war, due to the higher wages and enhanced prices of raw materials. The introduction of the latest improved machinery in the four Canadian plants making bottles, jars, carboys, etc., will result in a greater production. The securing of an adequate supply of labor will make possible the marketing of these products in larger quantities. Under these conditions, Canada will not need the large quantities of imported glass that are now going into the country.