OcT. 6, r893.

E N G I N E E R I N G.

90 -INCH

GUN

LATHE;

WORLD'S

COLUMBIAN

CONSTRUCTED BY THE NILES TOOL \VORKS COMPANY,

E X P 0 S I T I 0 N.

OIIIO, U.S.A.

(For Description, see Page 417.)

-- --

- ~
~

=e;

THE BRITISH .ASSOCIATION.

(Continued from pcuJe 386.)

last sitting in Section G was held on Tuesday, the 19th ult., when four papers were down
for reading.
TH E

FLASHING L IGHTS.

Mr. 0 . T. Olsen first read a paper in which he

described a system of flashing lights for lighthouses
which he had devised. The author stated that
Lord Kelvin had suggested the Morse alphabet
should be used for communicating to vessels the
name of a light observed, but the system had been
found too complicated for the purpose. The author
proposed what he hoped would be a solution of the
problem. He would select all the principal lighthouses and light vessels in the world, and would
allot to elch a number, beginning with 1000. He
would make each light flash its allotted number,
and no other, by means of automatic apparatus.
The shortest and easiest system of flashing signals
that had been introduced was that of Admiral
Colomb. It consisted of ten figures represented by
short and long flashes, t hus :
1. 2 .. :1 . 4 .... 5 .....

G 7 . - - - 8---

. n" . . - - -

0---

..

The present flashing, occulting, intermittent, and

revolving lights were capable of performing the
service by a slight alteration in the clockwork.
The longest time taken by any one number would
be 55 seconds, and as the number would be flashed
once a minute, there would then be only 5 seconds'
bright light, whilst the shortest time would be 23
seconds, so that the bright light would be of 37
seconds' duration. In fog the author would propose t hat the numbers should be given by a siren.
The discussion was op~n ed by Mr. Kenward,
who said that he should prefer for a system largely
in use the intensifying of the power of a light by
reducing the time occupied in flashing it. He
spoke of the advantage of long and short flashes,
by which the international code could be introduced. The light should be clear and distinct, so
as to be seen at as great a distance as possible from
the source of danger.
Mr. V ernon Harcourt said that on the Casquettes
three lights had formerly been used, and had been
replaced with advantage by one flashing light. It
was desirable, if possible, to introduce an international code. The author had touched on signals
to be used in time of fog. The power required
for the transmission of light was less than that
necessary for the transmission of Round ; the
latter necessitating very powerful machinery. In
rock lighthouses this machinery was very dilllcult
to arrange for, and the siren might therefore be
replaced with advantage by gun-cotton explosions.

The sudden explosion would carry further than

the same volume of sound when continuous.
General Webber doubted whether practical seamen would approve of the system suggested by the
author. When on a coast the mariner generally
knew what light to look out for, and if he had to
spell out a code he might prefer that there were no
light at all. Colonel Cunningham said there was
already a good system of lights in use. At
Ramsgate, in clear weather, six lights could be seen
at once, and they were all clearly distinguishable
by means of the flashes used. The proposed code
would be very likely to be mistaken, and if one
element out of the twenty-three used were missed,
it would put the reading out.
The author in replying to the discussion said
that to embrace all the lights throughout the world
would want four figures. The time occupied seemed,
at first g1ance, formidable, but the flashes were not
difficult to remember, and wit.h the code he
suggested, the seaman would be able to say without
doubt what the light in sight r eally was . H e spoke
as a sailor, and not as a landsman.
Mr. Head, in proposing a vote of thanks to the
author, said that it might be possible to divide the
ligh ts of the world into sections ; for instance, no
one on the coast of D enmark would be likely to
mistake a light in sight for one that would be, say,
on the south coast of Africa, and in this way the
complexity of the signals might be greatly reduced.

-----

...

-- ----

----

=:,.....

-----

required. Each size of gravol is fed into a separator adapted to suit it. The separator has no
moving parts, and takes ad ,-antage, by means of a
stream of water running through it, of the slight
variation in specific gravity between the gems
(3. 5 to 4) and the worthless minerals (2. 5 to 3).
It is p ossible to separate such substances by
immersing them in a prepared solution of high
specific gravity, just as pebbles and chips may be
separated in water, but. there are practical difficulties about such a process, and the gem separator
described substituted a moving current of water for
the heavier solution. The ad va.ntages thus gaiued
were that the process was continuous, the separated
materials were deposited in their proper r eceptacles,
t hose for the gems being guarded by locks. The
operations of the machine are not confined to gems.
The separation of any mineral from its gangue,
provided always there is a slight difference in
specific gravity, may Le effected, and the machine
will work on broken material in a dry or merely
wetted state, or on slimes run in with a stream of
water.
A short discussion followed t he reading of this
paper, in the course of which the author was asked
by various speakers whether a sieve would not
answer the same purpose as the apparatus described;
what quantity of water would be used ; what
weight of stuff could be turned out in a day, and
whether the glass surfaces of the cylindrical chamber in which the separation took place would not
alter the action when they were worn. In replying to these questions the author said that ~ sieve
was on1y useful for separating particles with regard
to size, whereas his machine acted by specific
gravity. It had been objected that the apparatus
was tedious in work and complicated, but he would
point out that it r equired no attention, and it could
hardly be called complicated, as there were no
moving parts. The machine shown required 16
gallons of water per minute, and that was well paid
for, as the product was so valuable, and the water
could be used over and over again. The proprietors of the gem mines said that it did not
matter what quantity of water was used so long as
the work could be done at all. The glass cylinder
referred to required to be very accurately bored,
but it was not found, so far, to deteriorate by use,
the glass being harder than the quartz it separated.
It had been in work a year, and was still quite
good. A head of water of 8ft. was all that was
necessary.

AN AUTOMA'riC GE?II S EPARATOR.

Mr. William S. L ockhart next described an
automatic gem separator which he had devised.
The description was illustrated by diagrams, and
the apparatus itself was shown in the theatre at
work, water being laid on for the purpose. The
separator was devised for Lhe purpose of selecting
precious stones from the worthless gravel or debris
with which they are associated, without the intervention of the hand-picking now practised, thus
avoiding the danger of loss by theft, and also other
disadvantages. In South Africa, Burmah, Siam,
Cey Ion, and other parts of the world, the systems
of washing vary to some extent. All systems,
however, resolve themselves finally into the picking over of a concentrated deposit of clean-washed
gravel to discover the gems it may contain, and
it is at this point that the separator comes in to
perform what has hitherto been done by hand.
When it is realised that the proportion of gems to
worthless pieces of mineral is not a percentage
merely, but of one of many thousands, the utility
VENTILATING FANS.
of such a machine is obvious. The concentrated
Mr. W. G. \Valker n ext described, by the aid of
gravel when washed is most carefully classified into models, some experiments he had made as to the
sizes, beginning, for diamonds, at 11u in., and in- efficiency of Yentilating fans or air propellers. By
creasing by sixteenths up to ~ in., or still further if making the back of the blades convex he had found

E N G t N E E R I N G.

[Oct. 6, 1 8gj.

great advantage, and also that 20 per cent. of the

a ir fed to the fan came in at the tips. It was
therefore a mista.k~ t o place such fJ.n s in a wall.
The advan tage of upwards of 40 per cen t. was, the
author slid, attained by the use of his form of fan.
ProbJ.bly the above figures may be taken as approximate rather t han precise.

were, therefore, two opposite forces at work, the the flame-dissecting apparatus. This substance could
current of air and gas, as it were, tending to carry be bu~n t in ~ single ~one o~ p~le fla~e if a large
the flame upwards, whilst the effort of the flame quan t1ty of atr were mixed with 1t; whtlst with less
was t o expend itself downwards. A point might air. two .cones were produced. The supply of air
be r eached where these two forces could be be1ng still further r educed, a separation of carbon
balanced, supposing there wer e power of sufficiently was found in the centre of the flame, whi1st the
delicate adjustment. The volume of air and gas cones were separated. In bringing his lecture to a
passing through the tube during a given p eriod of c~ose, Professo.r Smit~ells d~ew the following concluA TE STING MACHINE.
time was not s ufficient to prevent the flame de- swns from hts cousideratwn of the experiments
Professor R 0binson n ext described the vVicksteed scending where the full area of the t ube was avail- that had been made. In ages past the earth had
testing machine used in the worksh ops of the engi- able for the passage of the gases. The constriction been the scene of flames of colossal proportions.
n eering section of University College, N ottin3ham. of the tube, however, caused a much mor e rapid Our sphere was a cooling and also an oxidised
W e shall publish Professor R obinson's paper in flow at t h at part, so that the upward flow of the body, which at on e time must have been too hotfor
ful l. The chief points t o be n oticed in this gases over came the downward t endency of the the waters to have existed in their liquid state. At
machine are that there is a n ew arrangement of tiame. Where, however, the stream was more still mora remote periods in the earth's history all
hydraulic gear for adjusting the poise, it being sluggish, the flame Inastered the flow of gases. the waters were probably an enormous gaseous
worked Ly means of steel wire r opes. In this way The same effect could be obtained by passing a envelope of uncombined oxygen and hydrogen
the poise can be moved by simply opening or r od vertically up the tu be till it touched the cone, These gases, after an intervening time, would com~
clo ,ing an hydraulic valve. Great sp eed of operating and on pulling down the rod t he cone would follow bine, so that huge cosmical flames would rend the
was thus obtain ed, t ogether with perfect silence in the point of it. A more convenient application atmosphere. Steam formed in this way would
the t esting-r oom.
was found in two tubes of different diameters, on e descend to the h otte~t strata of this pre-geological
The proceedi ngs in this section were brought to sliding within the other, by means of which the atmosphere, where it would be dissociated. Many
a. close by a vote of thanks to the President being inner cone was obtained on t he inner tube and th e other oxidised compounds would also have existed
proposed by Professor R obinson, a.nd seconded by outer cone remained on the outer t ube. The flame in the atmosphere as uncombined gaseous elements.
l\Ir. V ernon Htl.rcourt.
could thus be dissected or recon structed at will. I t was startling to think r..ow n early the earth at
It will be seen from our r zport that there were By means of experiments the lecturer showed that time must have resembled the sun of the presittings in Section G on four days of the meeting ; that the inner cone was much hotter than the sent age, and if oxygen cou!:i be found in abundance
there being no papers read on Saturday. This un- outer cone. A fine dust of a sort of copper was r ound t he sun, it might be that it not only looked
doubtedly wa.s an advantage. On the Wednesday introduced into the gas, and by means of separat- like the fiery earth of a bygone age, but that the
of the meeting only one section of the Association ing the con es in the manner already described, it t wo had much in common in their chemical history.
met ; that day being therefore almost dies non so was found t hat the green coloration was confined A chemical theory of the sun's heat was now no
far as sections were concerned. It is a question to the outer cone. The simplest flame-that of longer held, but it might be assumed that the sun
whether the meetings of the British Association hydrogen or carbon monoxide-consists of a single possessed a fair shar e of oxygen, an element which
could not be curtailed one day, and the long ex- h ollow cone of flame. vVhether the light of the had ruled the earth's chemistry throughout its geocursions b e taken on Wednesday instead of on flame was due to the mere hotness of the gases, or logical history and for ages precedent.
to something of the nature of automatic electrical
Thursday.
At th e conclusion of bhe lecture a vote of thanks
discharges, was, the lecturer said, a. moot p oint, to Professor Smithells was proposed by Professor
T HE E VENI NG L ECTURES.
Including the President's address, t here were but one on which more light would p robably be J . Emerson Reynolds, and seconded by Professor
four evening lecture3 during the meeting. Dr. thrown before long. Professor Smithells next Dixon. The experiments throughout the lecture
13urdon Sanderson's address, which we have took the case of a gas which was a step mor e com- were high ly successful, although carried out under
already referred t o, was deliver ed as usual on the plex than that of hydrogen, and showed t hat in t he exceptional difficulcies.
first Wednesday of the meeting. On Friday flame of cyanogen the r ed inner part of the flame
S PONTANEOUS COMB USTI ON.
evening Professor Smithells gave a most interesting was d ue mainly to the formation of carbon m onoxide,
The lecture to working men, by Professor Yivian
lecture on " Flame." Th e Saturday evening lecture and t he outer cone was produced by this carbon
was delivere i by Professor Vivian L ewes, and, monoxide combining with another atom of oxygen Lewes, was given in the Tabernacle, Nottingham,
though forming a part of the proceedings of the and forming carbon dioxid e, a fact which was on the Saturday evening of the meeting, September
Association, it was intended only for the working proved before the audience by the dissection of the 16. The lecturer commenced by saying that when
an inflammable substance ignited without the applim en of the district. These lectures for working flame in the manner we have already referred to.
Going still a step higher, the flame p roduced by tion of fire, it was usual to r efer to the phenomenon
men are an excellent idea. The tickets are sold at
2d. each, and the lectures are always largely the combustion of hydrocarbons, or mixtures of as spontaneous combustion, but such a term did not
attended ; th ey naturally do a great deal to make hydrocarbons, was n ext dealt with, and by means correctly express the action which led to the result.
the Association popular amongst the working of photographs thrown on the screen it was shown It was said that early in the last century a woman
classes. The subject selected by Professor Lewes that such flames were made up of three distinct was found b urnt to death, there being no apparent
was ''Spontaneous Corn bustion," a most appropriate parts, all of which were thin sheaths. Ther e was cause of the accident, which was therefore referred
matter in a coal-mining district. On Monday, first a bright blue part visible at the base of the flame; to spontaneous combustion, the theory being conSeptember 18, Professor Victor H orsley lectured secondly, a bright yellow body; and t hirdly, a faintly st ructed to account for what was otherwise not to
on '' The Discovery of the Physiology of the luminous mantle investing the whole flame. In the be explained. The term found acceptance, but at
N ervous System." The latter subject being beyond pictures thrown on the screen a very small blue flame the latter part of the eighteenth century Lavoisier
our province, we do n ot propose dealing with this and the blue and lilac mantles were seen as complete introduced a wider knowledge of the subject of
con es. The flame was n ext turned up somewhat combustion. It was now known that it was imlecture.
lar ger, and the blue cone was interrupted by the possible for the human body to ignite spontaF LAME.
Professor Smithell's lecture was delivered in the appearance of a yellow patch, the latter growing neously, but it was n ever theless true that large
Albert Hall, a handsome and commodious building. rapidly as the flame was enlarged, un til it over- bodies of coal, or smaller quantities of oily ra~s,
After referring to what might be described as the shadowed the other both by its brilliancy and would ~gnite without any apparent cause, wlulst
earlier classical aspect of the subject, the lecturer extent. The blue and lilae parts correspon ded with hayricks frequently followed the same course, and
proceeded to say that the recognition of flame as the two cones of flame produced by the Bunsen this had k ept alive the term "spontaneous combusbeing essentially burning gas was due to Van burner. Proceeding to the chemistry of the sub- tion. " The old theory of combustion was that every
R elmont, who lived abo ut the year 1600. H ooke ject, the lecturer showed by r educing the oxygen combustible body contained phlogiston, and when
ga.ve a very complete account later, and the exact in the :flame that it was the hydrogen and n ot combus tion took place this substance escaped,
chemical nat ure of the process was discovered by the carbon which was left unburnt-a fact which is giving rise to flame, whilst the products were s~t
L:1.voisier at th e en d of the last century. Humphrey perhaps contrary to popular ass um ption. Dissect- free. By means of Black's balance, however, 1t
D avy appears n ext in connection with the subject, ing the flame of a Bunsen burner, the products was found that when any substance was burnt
and he d iscover ed the r elationship between from t he inner cone contain free hydrogen and the pr oducts were heavier than the body preflame and explosion, on which subject some carbon monoxide, and these gases pass on to burn vious to being burnt, and Lavoisier pointed out
experiments were made by the lecturer. Pro- in the outer cone, which corresponds to th e lilac that the oxygen of the atmosphere was the chief
fessor Smithells showed that in the Bunsen burn er mantle of an ordinary fl ame. ' Vith regard to the suppor ter of combustion. This was an impor.tant
t h e feeble luminous flame produced was separable luminous yellow part, the lecturer repeated Davy's discovery, but now more was known on the subJect,
into two p1.rts. This he did by means of a Bunsen experiments with wire gauze, by which Davy had and it was found that corn bustion could take place
burner, consisting of a long glass t ube, and by been led to t he con clusion that the l uminosity was under cer tain conditions without the presence of
increasi ng the amount of air added to the gas before due to the separation of solid carbon. Reference oxygen ; thus, an timony would burn brilliantly in
combustion, the inner cone separated from the was made to Dr. Frankland's theories on the an atmosphere of chlorine gas, and in all cases.of
ou ter one and descended the glass t ube. The luminosity of flame, which ar e opposed to those of corn bustiou, a hod y with certain definite properties
r eason for this was that the air entering the tube Da.vy; still, the latter's views were h eld by the united with something else to form the products
was used for the first fl ame ; the excess of gas majority of persons in the present day, but it was of combustion, which were equal in weight to the
formed a second flame on r eaching the free air at fair to remark that Frankland had not yet said his sum of the weights of the two bodies uniting,
the t op of the tube. By .careful adjustment ~f the last word. Professor Smithells also commented at whilst t he characteristic properties differed from
proportions of g~s and air, the m ovable or Inner some length on the popular misreading of Davy's those of the original substance. This was the
cone of fLtme was made to take up its desired views, which did injustice to them. The sepa- result of chemical combination, and the proper conposition . I t was aho shown that the two parts of ration of the carbon, however, was the result of ception of combustion, therefore, was the evolution
the fh,me could be fixed apart from one another by the intense heat produced by the combustion in of heat during chemical combination. \Vhere the
slightly constricting the gla~s tube a~ one poin~, the blue and lilac parts of the flame, and the combination was slow, heat would be given off as
and the following explanatwn was gtven of th1s hydrocarbons being thus roasted, deposited carbon rapidly as generated, so that the temperature of
phenomenon . The comb~stible m ixture of .gas and just as t hey did when passed through hot tubes. th e mass became but little raised, and would not be
air is constantly ascendmg the tube, wlulst the Some very beautiful and suggestive experiments detected by the senses. The roasting of metals and
tendency of the combustion is to descend. Ther e were next made, by means of burning benzine in the decay of substances was an example in point,

E N G I N E E R I N G.

OcT. 6, I 893.]
and could be descr ibed as slow combustion. ~ ~eh
mbustion could al wa. ys be accelerated by ra1sm g
~~e temperature, and, indeed, the hi~her th.e temperature t he more rapid was the ch em tca~ act10n, .so
that at a certain temperature all c~mbu.stlble.bodtes
underwent ignition, a state of thmg~ tn w htch t~e
heat evolved was t o be seen. A st~ll m or e raptd
form of combustion we terr~ explos10n. It. wo?ld
be seen, therefore, that durmg the slow oxidaho:n
of combustible bodies, heat was generated, and 1t
was only necessary ~or. t~is heat to b s r aised to
a cerb in point for 1gn1t10n to take place. The
action thus brought about was referred t o ~s spontaneous combustion. When the combusttble substance had a. great affinity for oxyge:n and a low
point of ignition, spontaneous combust10n would be
brought about very r eadily . In the case of p~o~
phorus it was necessary to prevent the access of a1r m
order to avoid ignition. Further, the finer the st~te
of division of the substance the sooner would Its
spontaneous iO'nition take place, from the fact that
the area of su~face exposed to the action of the air
was so much greater, and the heat was therefore
generated more rapidly than it could escape. So.me
substauces aO'ain, had the power of absorbmg
many tim~s th~ir own ~olume of gases, and this
gave rise to an Increase In temperature, due to ~h e
compression of t he absorbed gas, and th~ chemteal
activity of the gas thus com~ressed was .mcreased.
Cc~.rbon was a &ubstance of tlus nat ure ; Its absorption was at first very rapid, but it gradually decre:\sed; the temperature also influenced the
action. Certain kinds of charcoal prepared in
closed ret orts would ignite spontaneously if expo3ed
to the air before cooling, and this was due to t he
great porosity of that material. \Vhen oxygen
wa<J condensed from the atmospher e upon a surface it was in a very active condition ch em ically,
so that a chemical combination would be brough t
about with considerable rapidity. If charcoal were
burnt at a high temperature, the carbon was in a
dense condition, and would resist to a considerable
extent the setting up of chemical action by the
oxygen absorbed and condensed in it ; but if t he
charcoa.l had been formed at a low t emperature the condensed oxygen would act r apidly upon
the hydrocarbons and hydrogen still remaining in
the mass. In this way t he temperature would be
raised to a dangerous point, and from this cause
many unexplained firea had been brought about,
owing to beams being charred through contact with
the flues and heating apparatus. Experimen ts had
shown that when wood had been charred at 500 d eg.,
it would ignite spontaneou~ly at 680 deg. if air
were admitted to it ; but if the wood had been
carbonised at a temperature of 260 d eg , it was
only necesc:ary to have it brough t to 340 deg.
for spontaneous ignition to take place. The
first theory formed as to the spontaneous combustion of coal was that it was due to the heat
given out by the oxidisation of sulph ur and iron
compounds, known as pyrites. Dr. Percy showed
that the pyrites had little to d o with the matter,
but that, on the other hand, spontaneous ignition
was due to the oxidisation of the coal. Pyrites
might assist by swelling as it becam e oxid ised, and
thus splitting up the coal, exposing hrger surfaces
to the action of the oxygen in the atmosphere. The
heat of coal was accompanied by a penetrating
odour, similar to that produced by the scorching of
wood. If coal were stored wet or in a broken
state, firing frequ ently t ook place, more especially
at sea, and many ships had been lost in this
way. Coal, as first produced, was in large
pieces, so that the exposed surface was small,
and air had free access throughout the mass,
to keep down the temperature. The handling
that the coal received tended to break it up into
smaller pieces, so that by the time it was stowed in
the ship it was a dense mass of small particles, and
was therefore in a condition to have its t emperature raised, owing to t he large surface exposed t o
the air and the free absorption of oxygen. The
quantity or mass of coal had a most important
bearing on the l iability to spontaneous combustion. \Vith cargoes up to 500 tons the cases of
spontaneous combustion were about i per cent. ; at
2.000 tons the percentage r ose to 9. The length of
t1me the cargo was in the vessel was also an importallt fa~tor. Coal sent to European por ts was
~arely. subJect t o spontaneous combustion, whilst
m shipments to Asia, Africa, and America the
prop?rtion r ose considerably. The time the coal
wa~ m the vessel was one reason for this, but the
mam cause was the increase of heat in h otter

:
2

climates . 1\1oisture had a marked effact u pon the

spontaneous combustion of coal. The absorp t ion
of oxygen was at first retarded by external wetting,
but after a t ime the presence of m ois ture accelerated
the action of the absorbed oxygen upon the coal,
and so caused a serious increase of heat. In a case
that had b een brought under the notice of the lectu rer, coal was loaded into one hatch of a ship in
dry weather, whilst in another hatch it was raining
while t he loading was going on. In a few days
the wet loaded coal was 10 deg. higher in temperature t han the dry portion, and finally the former
was subject to spontaneous ignition. The lecturer
next went on t o refer to the danger of oily waste
being left abo ut in the n eighbourhood of coal, and
stated that spon taneous combustion would be more
abundan t in such a case than in any other. Cases
were on record where serious fires had r esul ted
from sparrows using oily waste in building their
n ests.
(To be continued. )

THE

ENGINEERING CONGRESS
CHICAGO.
(BY

oUR

NEw

AT

YoRK CoRRESPONDENT.)

(Continued from page

~69.)

THE M etallurgical Section occupied their time in

considering pig iron.
Mr. E . C. P orter, of Chicago, presented a paper
on "American Blast Furnace Practice." In this
he stated that the present blast furn ace practice
dates practically from the completion of furnace A
of the Edgar Thomson Steel Company, in 1879,
which introduced rapid working and large outputs,
but at fi rst without much regard t o economy in
fu el. Experiments to r educe the fuel consump tion
were made at the South Chicago furnaces of the
N or th Chicago R olling Mill Company in 1885, wit h
important r esults, which have been already r ecorded. The general adoption of the Bessemer
steel p rocess made it n ecessary to obtain iron as
low in silicon and sulphur as possible, and obliged
furnace men to exercise greater care t han befor e,
and was an impor tan t factor in improving the
general practice. After con t rasting the South
Chicago furnaces and the Edgar Thomson he concluded : "In modern American furnace plants we
find each stack built and operated separately and
distinctly from its sister s. E ven the custom of
working furnaces in pairs from the same hoist is no
longer consid ered the best practice, because an
accident t o the hoist would affect two stacks instead
of one. Instead of the single gigantic engine we
find two or even three inde pendent engines provided for each stack ; and in plan ts of two or m or e
stacks the air r eceivers are so connected by a
system of valves that any one engine in the house
may be applied t o any on e of the stacks. Each
boiler, or a.t least each pai r of boilers, is provided
with a chimney, so that h ere almost complete independence exists, the only part of the apparat us
co~r.mon to all being the main gas flue. Even in
case of failure of this, it is possible to fire each
boiler wit h fuel independently. While the majori ty
of the hot-blast stoves now in use are so constructed
that a common chimney is necessary, yet t here are
a number of new types of stove that are provided
each with its own chimney, a feature, in my estimation, of great value, as it r enders each of the stoves
attached to a furnace entirely independent. A
furnace thus equipped could suffer the temporary
loss of an engine, a stove, and two or t hree boilers
without interruption in its operation.
"The external appliances being thus provided for ,
the maintenance and prolongation of t he Jife of the
interior of the furnace-the lining-has in r ecent
years received the earnest attention of furnace
managers. The use of water-cooled plates, inserted
in the lining and about the wall of the furnace,
illustrates the ingenuity and courage of the modern
fur nace engineer, for the juxta position of cold
water and molten iron, separated by a film of metal
a fraction of an jn ch in t hickness, is, at first
glance, r athe r startling. By their aid the life of
the lining has been materially prolonged, and, m or e
valuable still, the lines of the bosh es are steadily
preserved at something n ear their original contour,
thus greatly assisting in maintaining uniform performance of furnace operations. The performance
of the Edgar Thomson furnaces is a remarkable
ins tance of this. ' '
Mr. Porter closed by calling attention t o the
fact that smelting iron in America had been

brought to its present E~~a te of d~velopment by

a careful study of the daily ?peratlo~ of the furnace in the smallest detaiL This paper was
thoroughly d iscussed.
The n ext paper, " A New Direct Process for the
Production of Pig and Refined Iron, " by Alexander
Sattmann, Donawitz, Austr ia, was then r ead . The
process may be described in general as o~e where
gas is substitu ted for the usual sohd fuel,
and t he process is divided into four p~ ases.
1. H eating the ore and the i1ux. 2. Red ~ctw.n of
the or e and carburisation of the r esultmg u on
sponge ~ith r educing gas.. 3. M elting .the carb~
rised iron sponge by the d1r ect corn bustwn of s~hd
fuel. 4. Separation of the slag from the result mg
pig iron and refining with oxidising . gases imm ediately after melting, thereby prod ucmg a more or
less carburised metal.
\V. J. Keep followed wit h a paper enti.tled "Sulphur in Ca.st Iron , " the purport of which was to
prove that t he deleterious effects of bulphur were
greatly overestimated, for only a small p ercentage
can be ma.de t o remain in carbonised iron.
The last paper was by W. C. R oberts-Austen, on
"Advances in Pyrometry. "
"\Vhile the eng ineers were t hus employed, the
Aerial Congress was '' taking flyer s," that is, the.y
were trying t o see h ow near they could come to this
desirable and to be desired end.
Mr. Octave
Chanute presided with grace and d ignity. In his
opening ad dress he sk etched the various matters to
be considered, such as the internal work of
m oving air, anemometry, aviation, supporting surfaces in the air, air propellers, the scre w propeller,
motors, flying machines, materials of aeronautic
engineering, forms of flying machines, behaviour of
currents, and m eteor ological o bservations-puints
that were seriously and scientifically con sidered.
No one present thought the problems n early
sol ved , but all had hopes of a solution in the future,
and the praises of the investigator s were sounded,
the worthy president going one octave higher than
the others. H e th ought one of the most important
problems was that of equipoise, and three-fourths of
the failures wer e due t o a lack of equili brium.
The follo wing extract from his r emarks shows the
progress of this science :
' ' The conditions as to r esistance, lifting power,
propellers, and motor s are now pretty welJ known,
the speeds can be calculated with approximate
accuracy, and while improvement can d oubtless be
achieved in the energy of the motor, in the efficiency of the screw, and especially in the form of
the dirigible balloon t o diminish the resistance, it
m ay be affirmed with confidence that railway
express train speeds cannot be attained with
balloons of practicable dimensions. They may be
used for war purposes or for exploration, but while
we may say that the balloon problem is practically
solved, we m ay also say that the solution does not
promise to become a commercial success or to yield
a large money reward to the inventors.
" With artificial flying machines proper, should
a practical one be d eveloped, very much high er
speeds may be expected. The pigeon flies at
60 miles an hour, t h e swallow at 125, and the martin
is said t o fl ash thro ugh the air at something like
200 miles an hour. Professor L angl ey has lately
shown that, within certain limits, high sp E:eds
through the air will be more economical of power
than lo w speeds, and recent advances in light s team
engines seem to have reduced them to a l ess weight
per horse-power than is generally thought to obtain
with the motor arrangements of birds. It seemr,
tharefore, n ot unreasonable to entertain the hope
that man may eventually achieve a mechanical
success, if not a commercial one, in the attempt to
compass a m ode of transportation which will gr eatly
exceed the speed of the present m odes of transportation.
The mechanical difficulties in obtaining
safe support from so intangible a fluid as air are so
great that men would long ago have given up the
attempt if it had n ot been for the birds. But then
there are the birds, and some of them, at least th~
sailing birds, seem to b e able to soar indefinitely
upon the wind with no muscular effort whatever, so
that the argument that man cannot hope to float hi s
greater weight than theirs upon a.i r would seem not
t o be well founded. nut, as already stated, the
mechanical difficulties are very great, and it is n ot
surprising that they should have d eterred many
men competent to advance t h e solution of the problem from considering it at all, and that it should
mainly have been left in the hands of the n onimaginative and ill-informed inventors, who, with

E N G I N E E R I N G.

410

l OcT. 6,

893.

TIPPING-BOXES FOR DEPOSITING CONCRETE AT LA GUAIRA BREAKWATER.

CONSTRUCTED BY l\IESSRS. STOTHERT AND PITT,

LIMITED, ENGINEER , BATH.

(Fm Description, see Page 417.)

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imperfect knowledge of t he elements of the 1 covered similar phenomena., and had since main- 1been practically solved, but it was apparent that
problem, believe that success is to be achieved tained what he called the "undulatory theory of balloons in order t o obtain a. high degree of speed
through a single happy thought. "
air movements. "
must be enormously large and costly. He said a
Professor S . P. L angley presented a paper on the
A paper on "Anemometry," prepar ed by S. P. flying machine of some kind that would be
"Internal 'York of Moving Air. " This paper gave F erguson, of Blue Hill Meteorological Obser vatory, speedier and cheaper was desirable, and discussed
the results of scientific obser vatiOns of atmospheric was briefly sketched by the secretary of the Con- various materials t hat might enter into the cum
phenomena, as t he resul t of which the writer gress. I t app ropriately supplemented Professor position of such machines to give t hem strength,
announced some discoveries of wavy or oscillatory Langley's paper. R . H . Thurston, director of and at the same time the requisite degree of l?ghtmovements of the upper air that were deemed very Sibley College, Ithaca, New York, then briefly ness. Among the other papers presented were :
important by the assembled aeronauts. Carl E. addressed t he company on ''Materials of Aero- "The Elastic Fluid Turbine as a :1.\'I otor," by J . H .
M eyers, of New York, after hearing t he paper nautic Engineering. " So far as the balloon was D ow, Cleveland ; '' Behaviour of Air Currents, :' by
.1ead, announced that some years ago he had dis- concerned, he said the problem of materials had George E . Curtis, of the Smithsonian InstitutiOn;

41 I

E N G I N E E R I N G.

OcT. 6, 1 893.]

BREAKWATER.

TIPPING-BOXES FOR DEPOSITING CONCRETE AT LA GUAIRA

CONSTRUCTED BY ~IESSRS.

STOTHERT AND PITT, LIMITED, ENGINEERS, BATH.

(For Description, see Page 417.)

Fig.3.

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and "Meteorologieal Observation, , by General

Hazen, of the Weather Bureau at 'Vashington.
The American Institute of Architects held their
annual session, and elected the following officers :
President, Daniel H. Burnham ; first vice-president, George B. Post, of New York ; second vicepresident, Levi G. Scofield, Cleveland; secretary,
Alfred Stone, Providence, R.I. ; treasurer, S. A.
Treat, Chicago; board of directors, E. H. Kenda.ll,
New York; Cass Gilbert, St. Paul; Thomas
Hastings, New York; A. Page Brown, San Francisco ; C. F. SchweinfuTth, Cleveland ; Georga A.
Frederick, Baltimore ; Jeremiah O'Rourke, New
Jersey.
The Congress on Architecture was opened Ly an
address from Mr. Bonney, in which he paid
tribute to the subject as a "supreme and allembracing art, " because the other arts minister to
it. In view of the beautiful buildings erected
at the Fair, this position seemed well taken.
A brief address by President Kendall, of the
American lnstitute, followed. Director of Works
.Burnham, of the 'Vorld's Fair, then entertained the
audience with a paper on the organisation of the
Exposition. The paper was in the form of a concise narrative of the organisation of the working
forces of the }.,air, including an account of the
selection of the architects and the distribution of
departments and authority among the men in
charge of the gen eral work. He also gave credit to

--------

J1kJ~

the different persons who contributed to the general

plans of the Fair for the ideas presented by them .
Incidentally Mr. Burnham paid a warm tribute to
the memory of his old partner, Mr. Roo t, who died
before the plans were matured. He could not
believe that the plan of the Fair would have been
better if Mr. Root had lived, he said, but it would
have been modified and stamped with his own
great individuality. Mr. Burnham also took occasion t o give Miss Sophia G. Hayden full credit for

designing, unaided, theWomen's Building, showing

that all questions r aised upon that point were unfounded.
The first paper offered was by Frederick Law
Olmstead, the landscape artist of the Fair. It was
entitled ''The Gen eral Scheme and Plans of the
World's Columbian Exposition. " It was read by
Alfred Stone, secretary of the Congress.
In this paper Mr. Olmstead described how landRcape artists and architects had transformed the
bleak and barren Jackson Park, which was a.
decidedly unlovely spot, into the beautiful Exposition gr ounds, with their lagoon and wooded island.
In the original design the wooded island was to
have been a mass of foliage, as natural as possible
in appearance and entirely free from buildings. In
other words, it was to have been a foil to the artificial grandeur of the g reat buildings; but the
demand for more space became very pressing, and
the J apaneso temple was allowed to be placed on
the isl:\.nd, and even that pretty structure spoiled
the general effect.
Mr. Olmstead called attention to the fact that
the first sketch of the plan of the Exposition was
drawn by the late John Well born Root, and provided for a great architectural court, with a body
of water therein, this court to serve as an impressive and dignified entrance hall to the Exposition,
and Tisitors arriving either by boat or train were
to pass through it. E ach building was also to

412

have a watet" as welJ as a land front, and be

accessible to boats. This ground plan was subsequently modified, the proposed outer harbour was
abandoned, and the peristyle and colonnade at the
end of the east transept of the main court were introduced.
The failure to carry out this original desian, in
the writer's opinion, detracted much fro~ the
artistic val ~e of the Exposition, and added much to
its cost. Mr. Olmstead criticised another feature of
the F~ir, and that was the presence of too great a
number of small buildings in the spaces between
the great struct.ures. It would have been better,
he said, if these spaces had been reserved, as
originally intended, for landscape and floral effects.
Chief \V. H. Holcomb, of the Transportation
Department of the Fair, r ead a paper on the
use, for transportation, of the lagoons, of Lake
Michigan, of the intramural railway, of the elevated
railway, of the great trunk lines, of the terminal
facilities, of the chair system, &c. Charles F.
Foster followed with a paper describing the mechanical power plant of t he Fa)r, and R. H. Pierce,
chief electrical engineer, devoted a paper to the
electrical plant.
The military section was also well attended,
many men well known on both sides of the Atlantic
being present. Space prevents more than a glance
at them and their deliberations. Among them
may be noted General Nelson A. Miles, General
A. W. Greely, General Holabird, Colonels Wiliston, Mercur~ and Clows, Major Livermore, Captains Capron, Blunt, Birnie, Heath, Michler,
and a number of lieutenants of the United
S tates Army, Captain W. T. Unge of the
Swedish Army, and Captain Raphael Ma.llin of
the Mexican Army. Capta.in Blunt read a paper
on the modern infantry rifle, illustrated by models
of the Mannl icher and the old K rag-Jorgensen
guns. Captain R a.phael M allin, of Mexico, read
a p aper on a proposed infantry rifle which does
away with metallic car tridge cases and decreases
the shock of r ecoil. Captain L a Garde illustrated
the d ifference in eff~ct between 45-calibre and
30-calibre small arm proj ectiles on human bones by
showing the bon es of cadavers which had been
fired into for test purposes, and Captain W. T .
Unge, of the Swedish artillery, reai a paper on
range and position findin g.
The papers presented on coast defence consisted
of two from England and one from America. The
latter was by Colonel H. L. Abbot, and r elated
chiefly to harbour defence by mines and torpedoes.
There is very little doubt that in case of a foreign
war it would be found that we could offer a pretty
stubborn, and the writer believes a most effective
resistance. Colonel Abbot certainly has made a
great advance in this subject, and the r eporter's
favourite simile of ships leisurely bombarding New
York City from a safe distance will be an old wife's
fable. It is possible a ship might throw a shot or
two, but she would be found among the r elics of
the past in a most remarkably short time. Colonel
W. R. King followed with a paper showing progress in controllable torpedoes operated from shore
stations. Some sixteen different inventions in this
l ine were described, including such well-known
ones as the Sims-Edison, the Guy, the P atrick, and
the Halp'n Savage. Professor James Mercur, of
West Point, discussed "Military L and Mines,"
and a valuable paper on ''Range and Pos ition
Finding for Purposes of G unnery" was read by
W. 0. Smith, of the firm of Elliott Brothers, of
London.
The following day this Congress considered
"Intrenched Camps." This subject was discussed
by Captain F . N. Maude, of the Royal Engineers,
and Lieutenant A. M. D'Armit, of the United
States Engineers. '' The Transportation of Troops
and Supplies" was considered by General S. B.
Holabird, U.S.A., and Colonel Olbrecht, of Switzerland. The last paper, however, was of more
direct interest to engineers. It was on '' Military
Railways, Bridges, and Rolling Stock," by Captain C. G. Bate, Royal Engineers.
The var jous styles of modern gun construction
nat urally followed, for if on e man fortifies, another
man must destroy. J ames A. L ongridge, the
English inventor of wire-wound guns, gave a
history of wire-wound gun development, and
argued in favour of his system as compared with
others or as compared wiih the gun built up of
steel forgings. Captain Rogers Birnie, U.S. A.,
discussed the question in general, while Fleet
Engineer George Quick, of t he :Brit.ioh Navy, pre-

E N G I N E E R I N G.
sented a paper advocating, amcng other things, the
"outside screwed union " system of gun construe
tion, which admits of the gun's being repaired easily.
Then followed a paper by Lieutenant Sidney E.
Stuart, U. S. A., on "The Manufacture of Steel for
Modern Guns and oth er Ordnance Purposes. " The
author gave an excellen t summary of the progress
which has been made in the United States in the
manufacture of guns, armour plate, and projectiles,
and discussed the metallurgy of steel used in gun
construction.
A summary of t he operations of the topographical
and the signalling branches of the army was presented, the 1nost important being an interesting
description of the signal corps of the U nited States
Army by General A. \V. Greely, chief signal
officer. Three other papers by Lieutenant J ervey
and Ma.j or ,V. R. Livermore, United States Engineers, and Von Usedom, Chief of the Royal
Prussian Government Survey, described military
surveying and map-making. Colonel Alfred A.
Woodhull, of the Medical D epartment, U. S. A.,
discussed '' The Sanitary Relations of Military
Sites. " Dr. Paul Kohlstock described the measures taken for t he sanitary supervision of the
E1be basin during the cholera epidetnic in Hamburg in 1892, and gave numerous proofs of the
fact that the spr ead of cholera is due almost wholly
to the use of drinking water containing cholera
bacilli. The other papers set for the session were
"Some Remarks on Aerial Warfare," by Major J.
D. Fullerton, Royal Engineers, and ''Collection
and Transmission of Intelligen ce in the Field, '' by
Colonel F. C. B eresford, of the same service. The
"J\1odern Infantry Rifle," by Captain Stanhope
Blunt, one of the United States Board who adopted
t h eKrag-J orgensen gun for the United States Army,
was a most interesting paper, and carefully reviewed
this subject. He claimed we have t he best magazine rifle in the w<.rld, and this conviction was
shared by his hearers.
Then came the paper by Lieutenant E. St. J.
Greble on "Rapid Fire Guns, " followed by on e
from Captain Henry Metcalfe on ''Projectiles;"
and two papers on "Explosives" were presented,
one by Lieutenant Willoughby Walke, and the
other by Mr. W. R. Quinan, of Pinole, Cal. A
mathematical discussion of the motion of the projectile in its passage through the bore of the gun
was contributed by Captain James M. Ingalls, who
certainly is better qualified to speak on this subject
than almost any other officer in the United State~
Army.
(To be continued. )

THE IRON AND STEEL INSTITUTE.

I N our last issue we gave an account of the first
day's sitting, on Tuesday, the 26th ult., of the recent
Darlington meeting of the Iron and Steel Institute.
On the members assembling again on W ednesday,
the 27th ult., in the Hall of the J\1echanics' Instit ute, the President, Mr. E . Windsor Richards,
again occupied the chair.
CARBON I N IRON.

The first paper taken was a contribution by Professor A. Ledebur, of the R oyal Mining Academy,
Freiberg, on "Carbon in Iron. "
We intend publishing this paper in full shortly,
and therefore proceed at once to t he discussion.
The discussion on Mr. Ledebur's paper was commenced by Mr. Snelus, who said that the subj ect
was one of great importance, but the paper would
require much longer study than he had been able
to give to it in order to discuss it properly. The
author had said that silicon forms a necessary constituent of grey pig iron, but only a brief period
had elapsed since this important part played by
the silicon in gr ey pig iron had been recogniseda r ecognition due to observations made partly by
himself and partly by others. Professor Ledebur
had also stated t hat h e was able in 1879 to remark,
in the second edition of his treatise on pig iron,
that the presence of silicon in pig iron diminishes
its capacity for taking up carbon, and, on t he other
hand, it is necessary for t he forma.tion of grey pig
iron. Pig iron free from silicon remains white,
even after slow cooling, and grey pig iron changes
into white if its content of silicon be abstracted.
From this the deduction followed directly that if
molten white pig iron has the opportunity aff()rded
it of taking up silicon, it will change into grey pig
iron. The author stated that he thought this was
the fir&t expr ess statement (.\3 t o th~ tru~ rulPt of

silicon in grey pig iron, and as to the relations

which exist between silicon and carbon in that
metal.
Seven years later his observations were
completely confirmed by the experiments of Wood
and of Turner. Mr. Snelus, h owever, pointed out
that the action of silicon in relation to carbon had
been often discussed before 1879, and about ten years
previous to that time he had explained the action of
silicon in separating carbon in the form of graphite
from pig iron. It was to be regretted that the
author was not acquainted with these facts, and he
could only think that the Proceedings of the Institute were n ot so widespread as he had imagined,
and had not found theirwayto Freiberg. The author
held that there were four different modifications of
carbon which could be readily distinguished from each
other, the first being a graphitic form; the second
r esembling gra.phite, called by the author tempercarbon; the third, carbide carbon ; and the fourth,
hardening carbon. Mr. Snelus was of opinion that
the proofs were by no means satisfactory that these
four conditions existed, and it would be well not to
be too positive at present. The author had said it
was a matter of common knowledge that manganese
exerts an influence diametrically opposite to that
of silicon and aluminium, and Mr. Snelus pointed
out that if manganese were present the iron would
take up more carbon, whilst if silicon were preaent
the carbon would appear as graphite. If the iron
were cooled slowly, the carbon was thrown out more
rapidly; if quickly, it was more likely to remain in
solution. He was of opinion that more tests were
required before the conclusion could be arrived at
that the carbon found on fracture was anything
more than graphitic carbon.
Mr. H adfield said the determination of t he different forms of carbon seemed to be of high importance to the metallurgist, as, if the problem
could be solved, it would lead to a much better
understanding of some of the difficulties now experienced in the t reatment of steel. During his
recent trip to the United States, he found one of
the large car-wh eel makers was already devoting
considerable attention to this question, and that he
obtained beneficial results by carefully nuting the
variations in percentages of hardening carbon. It
might not be generally known to members that
Professor L edebur had for many years been devoting hi mself to the consideration of this important
question, and it was to be r egretted that his valuable contributions on this subject, which had appeared from time to time in " Stahl und Eisen,"
bad been overlooked by the technical press here.
Only recently this gentleman's work was awarded
by the B erlin Society for t he Promotion of Scientific Investigation, a prize of 3000 marks and a
silver medal. The Institute was, therefore, very
fortunate in getting this valuable contribution.
With r eference to Professor Ledebur's remarks
respecting the complications met with when investigating the effect of silicon, Mr. Hadfield had
put on the table two samples of steel, which contained .3 and .8 per cent. of carbcn respectively,
each with 2 per cent. of silicon. Both these
samples would harden. and the one with. hi~h
carbon intensely so. Professor Ledebur s::ud p1g
iron free from silicon remained white even after
cooling, and grey pig iron changed into w~ite if. its
contents of silicon were abstracted. Th1s, wh1lst
true as regards pig iron, was not so as regards a
malleable product, as in the samples just referr~~ to.
Both these samples contained quite as much s1hcon
as would turn white into grey pig iron, and yet
the steel samples hardened readily, and sufficiently
to scratch glass. The same samples, minus carbon,
would not have done so. The apparent anomaly
was puzzling, a.c; one would be inclined to thin~
that in any case silicon would have exerted a .mo~l
fying influence even in the steel, just as 1t d1d
upon the combined carbon in pig iron, yet the
reverse was t he case.
vVith r eference to the use of t he word '' tempering, " Mr. Hadfield inquired whether our ordinary
word '' annealing " would not be better he~e, and .be
less misunderstood 1 Certainly, anneahng whtte
iron, as in the malleable iron process, was som~
what equivalent to a tempering process, such as tn
tool steel, but still there was a distinct difference,
and it seemed to him the word "tempering " conveyed a wrong interpretation. In any case, it o~ly
denoted partial softening, whereas in the a?nealmg
of malleable iron the hardness was ent1rely removed all knew t he softness of malleable iron
casting~. Whilst dealing with this subject, it
miaht
be interesting- to mention some samples of
Q

OcT. 6, 1893.]

E N G I N E E R I N G.
a e

American malleable iron castings that. had. come

before the speaker and been analysed 1n his own
laboratory :
C.
Or. Si. S. P. M:o. Cu. A s.
S1mple No. 1
Trnce 3. 20 . 20 .05 .19 .21 .02 .02
No. 2
.,
3. 07 . 23 .0! . 20 . 21
'Fo~ged sample
..
2.10

To his astonishment the r esults showed no less

than 3. 2 per cent. gr~ph~te, or more than in a large
proportion of gr ey ptg uon produced. Profes~or
Ledebur spoke of this being a second modificatiOn
of carbon and resembling graphite, but as far as
Mr. Had6eld's own r esults went,_ he could n ot ~ee
any difference as compar~d w1th ~he graphit.e
separated during the analytical operatiOns ~n ?rdlnary pure Swedish or other pure grey ptg Iron .
It would be very interesting to know if any oth~rs
present had had similar experien?~ H e was qu~te
aw~re that considerable quant1t1es of graphite
were usually met with in English malleable castinas but he had never heard of anything like this
hi~h percentage ; usually it was not more than
half the figure above given. Notwithstanding
the presence of so much graphite, this sample
shown a fine-grain steel fract ure, and it was fairly
forgeable at a low heat. The forging operations
showed Lhat some graphite was removed or combined again with the steel, as the analysis only
gave 2.1 per cent. Unfortunately he had n ot yet
had a complete analysis of this particular sample,
but would be glad to add it t o the written discussion. Much still remains to be done in the new
direction of analytical work opened out by Professor Ledebur, and, without doubt, this particular
branch, along with accurate heat determination ,
would prove to be of the utmost importance to the
met~ll urgist.
Professor Roberts-Aust~n said that the Institute
would be grateful to the author for having put in a
coherent form facts that had been familiar to many
for some time. The au thor had spoken of the
eft'ect of hardening carbon, and had explained its
s.ction in the hardening of steel. He had said a
percentage of hardening carbon in the iron causes
the hardness and brittleness to be increased with a
rise in the percentage of hardening carbon, but
diminishes again when the percen tage passes a limit
not yet accurately determined. This, the author
said, explained the hardening of steel. The p er centage of the harden ing carbon remaining in the
steel is raised by sudden cooling, and the steel
becomes hard and brittle. If the hardened steel is
now heated to as low a temperature as 200 deg.,
there commences a partial decomposition of the
iron carbon alloy, with the formation of the iron
carbide with the carbide carbon. The high er
the temperature is r aised, the more marked does
this action become. Like the carbide formation
in cooling iron, this is accompanied by an evolution
of heat. The views held by M. Osmond and the
speaker did not admit that the facts stated by the
author explained the hardening effect. They might
go towards explaining it, but were n ot free to fully
do so. The speaker had before shown that at a
temperature of 850 deg. Cent. there was a change
due to the iron itself, and not due to carbon. The
second point of change was due to the r elation b etween the carbon and iron , but this point ranged
from 700 deg. Cent. to 500 deg. Cent. B etween
these two points the change was due to the combination of the iron and carbon, or to other
materials in the iron.
Mr. J. E. Stead, of Middlesbrough, said the paper
was a valuable summary of the knowledge of the
last few years on the subject. The author had r eferred to the observations of Wood and Turner,
and the speaker wished to say he was responsible for t~e ch~mical pa.rt of that paper, which
was con tamed In the Journal of the Institute
for 1885. I t was common knowledge that if
silicon were added to pig iron, carbon would be
thrown out in graphitic form. The author had
said that the second modification of carbon
which he named " t emper-carbon " resembled
graphite in some r espects. The nam'e was chosen
by the author for the reason that this form of
carb?n was mainly formed during the prolonged
heatmg of white pig iron, during the tempering
process. In steel that had been heated to redness
and contained upwards of 1 p er cent. of carbon, thi~
f~rm of carbon might also be observed. The speaker
dtffered from the author in giving to this carbon a
separate name, and h eld that what was called
temper-carbon was simply graphitic carbon. There
was one test which was wanting to conclusively

show this, and that test Mr. Hadfield had ma~e .

The characteristic gr aphitic ma rk on paper wh1eh
was shown, was sufficient to prove that tempercarbon and graphite were the same thing. He
thought that, on considering the work of Abel,
Ledebur, and others, it would be admitted that
c1.rbon did form definite carbides in iron and steel,
and therefore the h omogeneous solution theory was
untenable. The fact that the r esidue left on treating soft steel by Abel's r eagent, or with exceedingly dilute acid dissol ved in str ong hydrochloric or sulphuric acid with the evolution of a
carburetted hydrogen, was proof that it was n ot a
mixture of iron and carbon, but was a true carbid e.
Mr. Stead proceeded to refer to the use of . tl~e
microscope in the examination of steel, and sa1d It
would be a very valuable adjunct t o the metallurgical laboratory. That he had become convinced of, and had established the system in his
laboratory, but he found t hat he had not time
to polish t he specimens for etching by hand. I t
was an operation t hat took about three hours, and
it might be well enough for professors who had
plenty of time at their disposal, but it was n ot to
be done as a matter of r outine in a laboratory
where tests were made for industrial purposes.
Wishing, however, to obtain the advantages of
microscopic examination, he h ad de\'ised a small
hand machine, and he now found that he could
polish in a quarter of an h our a specimen which
would formerly have taken three hours to do. This
he th ought would be of value to the analyst, and
on a future occasion he would be glad to put the
details of the machine before the Instit ute. Mr.
H a.dfield had referred t o what appeared to be an
anomaly, viz., t hat although 1 per cent. of
silicon in pure iron caused the separation of
graph ite, the same silicon in 1 per cent. carbon
steel did not h ave a similar effect. \Vhen fluid
grey pig irvn is suddenly chilled at t he temperature
at which 1 per cent. carbon and 1 p er cent.
silicon steel naturally becomes solid, no graphite
is found, and all t he carbon is found in the combined state, whereas, if allowed t o solidify at lower
temper ature, graphite separates. It seems most
probable that the d eficiency of carbon in 1 p er
cent. carbon steel, compared with that in pig iron,
causes its solidification tO take place at a point
considerably higher than t hat at which graphite can
s uddenly separate. The sudden unnatural chilling
of the pig iron and the natural setting or solidification of the steel at about the s1.me temperature,
leave the carbon combinl3d in both cases from on e
and the same cause. He advan ced this as a probable explanation, and if it is correct the apparent
anomaly vanishes.
Mr. T. T urner, of Mason College, said that the
paper befor e the meeting was of considerable value,
and though much of the matter it contained would
be familiar to many of the members from the
abstracts of Professor LedP.bur's work which had
appeared in the J ournal, this was the first occasion
on which the facts had been collected together,
an d many of these observations were the result of
Professor L edebur's own investigations. The paper
treated a very difficult subject in a clear and lucid
manner. Mr. Snelus had rightly pointed out that
the fact that silicon, when present in cast iron,
rendered the metal grey, had been discussed in the
early days of the Institute ; but the observation
was even older than that, for Dr. Percy, writing in
1864, stated that it "had long been observed, in
the first instance by Sefstrom, t hat t he carbon in
grey iron, in which much silicon exists, say from
2 to 3 per cent., is wholly, or n early so, in the
graphit ic state. " * In his earlier years Professor
L edebur was manager of an iron foundry, and his
work on cast iron, from which a quotation had been
made, was probably the best work on the subject which had yet been published. Though Professor L edebur might fairly claim to be the
first t o clearly and plainly state the result of the
addition of silicon to white iron, it must also be
conceded that the German founders did n ot take
advantage of this knowledge until after the results
of the experiments of Mr. Wood, who was assisted
by Mr. Stead, and his (the speaker's) own experiments had been communicated to this Institute in
1885 and 1886. In regard t o the remarks of Mr.
Had field and Mr. Stead about temper carbon, there
appeared to be a slight misunderstanding, as Professor L edebur stated that temper carbon was a

* "Iron and Steel,, page 131.

variety of graphite, so that t he observations of Mr .

Hadfield tended to support, rather than to cont rovert, what was mentioned in t he paper. In concl usion, he (the speaker) would only add a word of
support to what had fallen from Professor RobertsAusten for now there certainly did appear to be
very st; ong evidence in support of the existence of
carbide carbon in steel.
Sir L owthian B ell a nticipated that Mr. Stead did
n ut mean to say that carbon could not be separated
from white iron otherwise than by silicon, and for
his own part he believed the separa~ion could. be
made without the admixture of any th1rd matenal.
In order to test this point, he had m any years ago
cast a block of white iron weighing 6 tons. On
splitting this open, it was found to hav~ been
changed from white iron to grey iron. This was
to be accounted for by the slow cooling of the mass
having th e effect o! a squeezing-.out action, which
result ed in graph1te carbon bemg d eposited between the crystals of the iron.
Mr. H. Bauerman said that graphite was n ot
necessarily largely crystallin?, being ofte~ granul~r,
yet havin()'
the characteristics of graph1te. \Vtth
0
regard to temper-carbon, it was a term used in
Germany, and some confusion might arise from
its translation into English. Carbide carbon
occurs constantly in cement steel. He was very
glad to hear what Mr. Stead had said about a
practical machine being devised for polishing
specimens, to prepare them for microscopic
work. At present the student was dependent
on the work of oth ers, and had to rely on
photographic representations of the surfaces. In
order to get the best r esult from work of this
kind, it was n ecessary that the investigator should
do it for himself, so that he could absolutely see the
operation, and gain t he advantage only to be got
from actual observation. When the polishing of
specimens took so long a period, this was n ot p ossible in many cases, but with I\1r. Stead's machine
the difficulty would be removed. \ Ve should then
have a larger body of observers directly engaged,
and knowledge would be advanced.
Mr. E.
Riley had carried out experiments in which he had
made a silicide of iron, containing 23 per cent. of
silicon, but with only traces of carbon. The pieces
of iron were, however, covered with graphite.
Silicon would drive carbon out, so that it would
appear on the surfaces of the metal in its graphitic
form. He had made experiments t o see how much
carbon he could put into iron, and had found the
limit to be 4f per cent., which was about equal to
that contained in the very best steel.
THE M aNUFACTURE OF WIRE .

Mr. J. P. B edson n ext r ead a paper on "Iron

and Steel Wire, and the Developments of its Manufacture. " This was an excellent contribution, and
was listened to with great interest by the members
present. We shall print it in full shortly, and
may, therefore, at once proceed to the discussion
which followed.
Mr. Bauerman was the first speaker, and r eferred
to the point upon which the author had spoken,
as to the r otting of wire in the galvanising process.
The wire is unwound from the swifts or r eels, and
passed through a shallow bath of dil ute hydrochloric acid, and thence through a bath of
It had been stated that wire
molten zinc.
treated in this manner often gave trouble,
as it would sometim es become rotten through
weak acid being present in the wet coils as they
lay on the swifts before winding off. 'l'hen, again,
the wire would miss taking up the molten metal if
the surface got dry and a thin film of oxide had
formed. These and other r easons tended to spread
the notion that all galvanised wire was exceed.
ingly brittle and rotten, owing to the process it
went through. In t he paper a description was
given of the invention of the author's father, by
which these difficulties were overcome, but Mr.
Bauerman p ointed out that it was of interest to
r emember that the rotting of wire was said to be
due to the presence of hydrogen rather than acid.
The speaker wished to state that Messrs. Bedson's
exhibit at the Chicago Exhibition was a very admirable one. There was n othing else in the Exhibition
like the collection of charcoal blooms shown by that
firm.
Mr. J ames Riley was struck by the absence of
reference in the paper to open-hearth steel. That
was the great source from which wire was made
and yet n ot a word was said about it. He did not
know whether there was any spec=al obj r ct in thi~

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ENGINEERING.

TICKET CANCELLING,

REGISTERING,

CONSTRUCTED BY THE KELLER PRINTING

AND DATING MACHINES.

COMPANY , NEW YORK, U.S.A.
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suppression. In following the author's descriptions, he noticed t he large number of processes
that the wire had to go through in the hands of the
wire-drawer, and he could not help t hinking that
possibly now and then failure of the material might
be due in some measure to these processes, and
not exclusively and invariably to faults in the steel,
as steel makers were always informed.
Professor Turner remarked, in regard to the
question of pickling, referred to by Mr. Baucrman, and to the presence of hydrogen, t hat steel
pens, which were made of a medium hard steel,
when pickled can be broken readily in the fingers,
they are so brittle, but having been heated and
allowed to cool, this excessive brittleness disappeared. P~ofessor Ledebur had ~ttributed .this
quality of br1ttleness to hydrogen, wh1eh was drtven
off by the heat. Professor Roberts-Austen said that
if steel were put into acid and then heated, there

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was n o doubt that hydrogen was got out, the quantity being four times the volume of the metal.
In replying t o the discussion, Mr. Bedson said
there was no doubt hydrogen was taken up by
iron, and cleaning the wire was r eally half the
battle in manufacture. Mr. Riley had called him
to account for mentioning basic as against acid
steel. Mr. Bedson stated that the use of Bessemer
steel grad ually grew to very large proportions up to
1884, when it r eceived a very rude check, from
which it had never recovered, by the introduction
of basic Bessemer steel. If ever there was a new
system which revolutionised a t rade, it was, the
author said, the introduction of basic metal for
the wire trade ; and further, if ever there was an old
adage which had had the lie given to it, it was that
one could not make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.
The author wished to make himself more clear on
this point, and added that in the days of puddled

~.

iron he could take any of the common ores, which

were made into pig for puddling for wire purposes,
and nothing but the poorest results were obtainable;
indeed, the wire rods would hardly stand drawing.
Even with the highest quality of cold-blast metd
the rs ults were poor in comparison to those now
obtained from basic metal at only half the cost.
In fact now in basic metal these very same
co ~mon, ores ga,re the finest drawing material
wh1eh was ever known, and which can only be
approached by the highest class of charcoal Bessemer metal, as made in Sweden. It was for
these reasons that h e had felt called upon to
mention the basic process; otherwise he had tried
to avoid reference to any special forms of manufac
ture ; this reference was, however, forced upon
him by the circumstances of the case. What Professor Turner had said about pens reminded him of
some galvanised bolts h e had once had to inspect.
These had broken off at the head when tested with
a very slight blow, and the manufacturers were in
some concern to know what to do. He himself
felt no hesitation about the matter, as he knew
how to remedy the defect, and advised the constructors to heat the bolts just below redness.
This was done, and they all passed. He was glad
to say, h owever, that since the introduction of soft
steel they could not very readily spoil t he material.
With high carbon steel it was different, and the
acid used with the stronger steels was so dilute
that it could be drunk. He had seen needles dipped
into weak acid, and taken up immediately, but the
effect was such that when dropped they would
snap.
STEEL PLATE MANU FACT U RE.

A paper by ~1r. William Muirhead, of Motherwell, entitled "Suggested Improvements in Connection with the Manufacture of Steel Plates,'' was
next read. This paper was r emarkable from the
fact that n o one appeared to understand it, although
all the speakers, except the President, thought that
they did. ~fr. Jeremiah Head, although an old
plate-roller, quite failed to grasp the meaning of the
author's descriptions, or even of the diagrams on
the wall. Mr. James Riley, who has also had
some experience in plate-r olling, was, according to

E N G I N E E R I N G.

PULLEY-MOULDING MACHINE AT THE WORLD'S COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION.

CONSTRUCTED BY :MESSRS.

HUGO LAISSLE AND CO., ENGINEERS, OBERKOCHEN,

\VURTE~IBURG.

(For Description, see Page 417.)

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the aut~or, in a similar state of ignorance; whilst

Mr. Wailes must, we fear, be included in the same
category. Another r emarkable circumstance about
this paper was that nearly every one appeared to
have tned these now "suggested improvements"
at some very early period of their career. Indeed,
one speake; wen_t so fa; back as fifty years, when
he had assisted tn puttmg the suggested improvements into practice, '' as a boy. " Of course theee
statements must be discounted by the fact that the
paper was be~ond the comprehension of the meetmg. Mr. MUlrhead, who is a practical steelmaker
a~d plate-r?ller, deserves, however, all commendatw~ for ~Is efforts to ~dva~ce the industry in
~hlCh he _Is en~aged, a~d In sp1te of some difficulty
In foll~w1ng hl8 reason.m g at ~mea, the paper is a
suggestive one, and might be read with advantage
by many of those who knew all these things even
in '' their earliest youth."
The P~esident, in inviting discussion on t his
paper, said _that he was afraid Mr. Muirhead only
saw one side o.f the qu~stion, and t hough the
adv~ntages of his suggestwns might be apparent
to him, t here were counterbalancing features which
would also be apparent to others.
Mr. J ames Riley said that the paper was worthy
of t~e a?tho~, who observed a great deal and
apphed his mind to what he observed. Mr. Riley
regrette~, however, that. the _author's powers of
observat10n had not carried h1m a little further.
The new features he described in his paper were in
use ~t Newto~ many years ago. The engine for
~orkrng the mlll was made in 1878, and the principle was used first for rails and afterwards for
angles and other s~ctions. Direct drivincr was
h ere ':~sed ; the~e being no gearing, and th~t had
been In .operatwn for fifteen or sixteen years.
Mr. Mmrhe~d had seen the Newton 'Vorks
four or fiv~ times., and could hardly have failed to
observe this. Wtth r egard to rolling plates direct
the method ~ad an. attractiveness, it could not
b.e doubted ; Indeed, It had been discussed sever~)
times before the Institute. Steelmakers had not
however_, taken to slabbing with their eyes closed~
Mr. Muuhead had referred to the advantages, but

Lli6
I

had failed to grasp the disadvantages. The author

had said that six or eight sizes of ingot moulds
would b e sufficient, bu t Mr. Riley maintained that
those who know the different sizes of plates required
would be aware this was n ot the case . Neither
did the s peak er agree that the proportion of scrap
would b e reduced; his own conviction was that
the reverse effect would b e obtained. The variation in quality h ad also to be consider ed. If t h ey
could get one skilled man at one furnace, it would
be possible to use the direct proces3, and it has
been followed in t he U nited 8tates with success,
but that su ~cess was due t o the difference in manufacturing steel ; a necessary difference, owing to
the differ en t conditions in force in America. Mr.
Riley would point out also that in the case of breakages it would be a m ore s erious matter.. Years ago
the speaker had r olled plates wit h the initial heat
of the st eel as taken from t h e furnace, no h eating
furn1ce b eing used, but the risk of accident was too
great to allow hint to follow up t he plan, and he
thought the author would be landed in a great
many complications if h e attempted it. In d oing
work on the ingot there was no ad vantage t o be
obtained after a certain necessary amo unt of work
had b een d one. Ther~ was n o doub t abo ut the
benefit of large ingots, and he would hesitate 1nany
times before he would go back to the cumbersome
m ethods of former days.
Mr. Davis, who r ose at the invitation of t he
President, said that Mr. Riley had gon e round the
whole subject, and left very l itHe for any one else
t o say. He expressed t he opinion, h owever, t hat
to adopt the author's suggestions would be going
backwards, and the scrap h e was sure would rise
frem 24 cwt. t o 30 cwt. p 2r ton.
Mr. Wailes said that the p1per seemed simply
a. suggestion to cog and roll at higher speeds)
the process being the same except heating the
shb after it leaves the sh ears. He would suggest
t o the author to study the American syst em
of thrae high mills r oll ing the ingot direct,
which was the very q uickest he was acquainted
with . The basic open -hear th ingot gave better
opp')rtunity of direct r olling, on account of t hE;
m ore tr ustwort hy nature of that metal.
Mr. S nelus said that h e and the late Mr. E. Williams h~d n1ade experim ents, and had spent many
weeks in a mill trying r olling after the manner
suggested by the author. They had con1e to the
conclusion that it was no.t a satisfactory way of
making plates. H e agreed with Mr. R tley, and
imacrined t h er e was n ot much improvemP.nt to be
made on procedure with a good cogging mill followed
by a good train of rolls . H e r eferred to the visit paid
the day before by members to the Weardale Company's works at Tudhoe. There, he said, the rolling
was too slow. With quicker rolling the finish was
b etter, the surface scale being n1ore easily thrown
off at a high speed. H e was laying down in Cumberland a mill to run at high speed, and he thought
this would be worthy of a visit from any one
inter ested in these matters. The mill was not
qui te finish ed yet, but would be shortly. The
author h ad referred to t he fact that in cogging t he
end of the ingot became concave, and t hat danger
was to b e apprehended from laminations on the
ends or edges of finished plates, caused by the
inward anole
or concavity which forms on both
0
ends of the slab. The n ecessity for the removal of
t hese laminations at t h e g uillotine causes a very
h eavy percentage of sc~ap. The opp?site con.dition
occurs in slab hammermg ; a convextty formmg on
both ends of the slab, and much l ess scrap was therefore made. The author had claimed t hat the lighter
inaots
he was advocatin,.
would n ot be so liable to
0
.:>
lamination and he had further stated that coggmg,
as at pres~nt carried on, with its consequent r eheatina was a cumbersome-almost an uglyoperati'~n, and from the arguments he had endeavoured t o add uce, an unnecessary one. He had
referred to ingots having oon'.ex ends, and M.r.
Snelus said it was perfectly possible to cast them 1n
this way, although the author had suggeste~ that
it caused complication. Mr. Snelus ha~ cast Ingots
with concave bottoms to the moulds, whtch gave, of
course a convex end, and thus avoided cutting off
80 mu ~h of the end as the members had seen done
on the previous day at Tudhoe.
Mr. Jeremiah Head was the n ext s~,ea~er, and
eaid that the author's '' improvem ents might be
described as an ad vance backwards. Many years
ago he had r olled plates direct from t he ingot, but
h e h ad found t he waste too great. Mr. Head proceeded to make some further remarks on t he paper,

E N G I N E E R I N G.
but as he had n ot been m ore fortunate than many
others present in g rasping the author's meaning, it
is n ot, perhaps, necessary that we should furt her
refer to them.
Mt. H ollis said that until the cogging mill was
introduced at Tudhoe they had forty sizes of
moulds, but by cogging these had been r educed to
three. This h ad led t o a saving of 6000l. a year.
Unti! the cogging mill was introduced, they had
rolled the whole plate from the ingot. With regard
to the speed at which the rolls were driven, it was
practically the same as t hat of t he engine.
Mr. Beard said that the method suggested by
the author was n ot novel, and that it had been
followed with iron plate r olling fifty years agorolling from the slab, of course, instead of from the
ingot.
At this point the meeting was adjourned, the
time for catching the trains for the excur.sion being
almost r eached.
On t he following day, on the
discussion being renewed, Mr. H ead read passages
from the paper in j ustification of the view he had
taken on the previous d ay; and Mr. J ames Riley
added a fe w wprds to his remarks of the day
before, pointing out the range of work that was
given with a cogging mill, as compared to that suggested by the author.
Mr. L amber t wished to view the subj ect from an
engineer's standpoint. Mr. James Riley had remarked that the g reat bugbear of the plate-roller
was breakdown of machinery. This would be so
increased by the proposed method of the author
t hat it would be fatal t o direct rolling. The
speak er would suggest, however, that high speed
might be att ained without putting t oo sudden a
stress on to the engine. He would suggest a steam
by-pass, which would allow t h e engines to creep
until the ingot was between the r olls, when the
peripheral speed could be increased 50 per cen t.
In r oll ing, the t oraional stress was not increased if
the rolls could get over the bite, and were started
going. With gear t h e torsional effect was increased, and i t would be desirable to drive direct
when possible.
In r eplying to t he discussion, 1\ir. Muirhead said
that there was n o comparison between the Newton
and L an arkshire methods. Mr. Riley had t hree engines, and t he cogging rolls were geared ; h e had on e
engine, driving direct. Mr. Riley here interposed
that in his remarks h e had distinctly stated that
r eference was made to fourteen years ago. The
speaker said he did not agree t hat more scrap would
be made with his method ; in fact, t here would be
no scrap at all. Mr. Wailes said it was impossible
t hat the ingot would s tand the work ; the speaker
was very glad to h ear that, because he had r olled
an ingot in the way he proposed, and it had stood
the work. The author, in the course of further
remarks, intimated that various speakers had failed
t o understand his paper, among them M essrs. Riley,
Head, Davis, Sn elus, and H ollis.
The President, in proposing a vote of thanks to
the author, said that he likewise had not understood the paper, but h e was sure that the meeting
had been very much entertained, if it had not been
instructed. He thought, perhaps, the failur e of
members to grasp the author's meaning was due to
some confusion in terms. That, perhaps, could be
set right. Ther e wa.s one point, however, on which
he was at one with t he author, which was t h e advisability of running rolls at greater speed, so as t o
work t he ingot when hot.

[OcT. 6, 1893.
ducing the ore into the ore-separating machine in
an annular stream, and then causing the receptacle
in which it fell to r evolve . In this way a proper
portion of material would be taken from all parts
We shall illust rate this machine
of t he mass.
shortly. It was shown by the author in operation , and i ts accuracy was t ested by the exact
propor tion of material for which the machine
was graded being extracted from the whole. A
valuable application of the principle from a commercial point of view was a small hand machine
which the author had devised for supplying a
number of bottles with an equal amount of material
of a uniform description. The labour that would
be saved in many industries by t h e use of this
machine is really surprising . For mixing drugs on
a wholesale scale we should imagine it would have
a wide application.
In the discussion which followed, Mr. Snelus said
he h ad had an opportunity of seeing this machine
in work, and testing it at leisure, and he would
bear testimony to t he g reat advantages to be
obtained by its use. The difticulty in applying it
on a practical scale with regard to ore would, however, arise from the fact that iron ore was generally contained in several bunkers, and it would
be difticuH to know, therefore, whether the contents of one was a fair average representative of the
others.
WRO UGHT I RON IN INDIA.
A paper by Professor Thomas Turner, on the
production of iron in small blast furnaces in India,
was taken as read, the time to catch the train for
Consett having arrived. This paper, we understand, will be open for discussion at t he spring
meeting of the Institution. The subject is one of
considerable inter est, and as members will have
every opportunity of r eading the paper, which we
propose publishing in full shortly, if discussion be
allowed it should be of a satisfactory nature.
0oAL VVASHING.

On the afternoon of Wednesday, the 27th ult. ,

t he principal excursion was to the Randolph Pit of
the North Bitch burn Coal Company. '!'he chief
point of attraction here was the plant being erected
for the washing and separation of coal on the Luhrig
system. A paper on th is suhject had been contributed by Mr. James I'Anson (to whom, it may be
added, so much of t h e success of the meeting was
due, on account of his exertions as local secretary).
This paper was taken as read, and ser ved as an
admi'rable guide to th ose who inspected the machinery. In our issue of February 13, 1891 (vol. li.,
page 184), we gave full d escription and illustrations
of coal-washing plant on t he Luhrig system, and we
n eed n ot, t h er efore, r epeat t he particulars. Mr.
I' Anson was present t o explain t he action of the
machinery. The installation is t he first that has
been put up in t he district, al though t he system
has been in oper ation some t ime at t he Motherwell and Bardy ke pits of Messrs. Merry and
Cunninghame with success. There are 200 plants
at work on this systetn on t he continent of Europe.
At the Randolph P it, which the members visited,
the installation was n ot quite complete, but was
sufficiently so to clearly show, by the aid of
Mr. I'Anson's explanations, the process of working. I t may be stated that this plant will perform the operations of washing and grading of
coal ; in fact, it substit utes an automatic process
for the whole operation at bank, except hand picking of the large coal. The cost of labo ur is
SAMPLING OF In.oN OR&.
naturally r educed, and at the Randolph Pit .1.\Ir.
A paper by Mr. T. Clarkson, on "The Sampling I'Anson states that it does not exceed i d. per ton
of Iron Ore, " was next read in abstract by the all r ound, including both t he washing and the dry
aut hor. The main object of this paper was to in- separation process. The plant has a capacity of
troduce to the meeting a machine which the author 1500 tons per day of 10 h ours on the basis of a
had devised for cutting out a fair sample of ore coal containing 23 per cent. of ash. Ash contained
from a mass. This is by no means an easy task. in washed coal of f () to 3'?; not to exceed 6 per
At t he r ecent meeting of the Institution of cent . The rubbish or dirt, which has been
Mechanical Engineers held in this district it was washed out, is g uaranteed not to contain more tlian
explained how it had been contrived to get a 2 per cent. of fine coal. The cost of labour is
fair sample of grain from the large silos in guaranteed not to exceed 10 d. per ton of coal
which it was stored, and for this purpose a handled, including labour in hand picking, sorting,
pipe was placed in the middle of the silo, washing, and loading into trucks. It will be seen
perforated at intervals, and the grain t hat fell from what we have stated that the guarantee is
down t his pipe was accepted as an average of the within the figures quoted as possible by the system,
whole. This, h owever , is not sufficient in sampl ing as might naturally be expected. One of the most
ore and l\1r. Clarkson showed by his diag rams t hat notable features in the use of the Luhrig appat he' central pipe, and als9 the curved pipe, had been r atus is the additional value given to the nuts,
tried bu t had failed to give a fair average. The which are delivered in a state that cannot be obAme;icans introduced a cutting-off apparatus, but tained by t he ordinary methods. After visiting the
this was geometrically sho~n to be also n.ot acct;trate.l Randolph Pit, the ~emb ers were taken by coach
Mr. Clarkson ultimately h1 t on the rlevice of 1ntro- and tra1n to the Darhngton Steel ' Vorks.

ENGINEERING,

OCTOBER

6, 1893.

.MR.

WOLFF. BAR.RY,

O F PIERS.

DETAILS

BRIDGE:

TOWER

TH E

ENGINEER.,

LONDON.

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OcT. 6, 1893.]
THE DARLINGTON STEEL AND I RoN WoRKS.
Here they had an opportunity .of seeing many of
the pr ocesses of steel productwn. The present
plant of these works consists_ of se.ven c~pola.s, two
Bessemer acid conver ters, s1x r oll_1ng mtlls, one of
34 in., one of 24 in., one of 16 1n., and ~hree of
12 in. The land occupied by the ~orks 1s ab?ut
68 acres, and there are seventr engmes, s upphed
wit h steam by t hirty-seven boilers. T~e a nnual
aggregate output capac~ty ?f ~he works 1s 100,000
tons of finished matena~ 1n t~on an~ st~el. The
weekly productive ca.pae1ty of Ingots 1s 1150 tons ;
of heavy rails, 1500 tons ; of. steel sleepers . or
girders, 1300 tons ; whilst colhery and plantatiOn
rails, fishplat-es, bars, &c., ~ay amount t o 750 tons.
l\1r Hugh Bell is t he chauman of t he company,
and Mr. Alfred B owen the engin eer. ~bo u~ 9?0
men are employed, and 50, OOOl. a year IS .Pa1d 1n
waaes Accord in a to " L ocal N otes," written by
:M.t J~mes I'Ans~n as a guide for memb ers at the
me~ting these were t h e first r olling mills eetablished i~ the district. The date ~a~ about 1~57,
and the founder was the late W1lham Barnmgham.
(To be continued.)

THE TOWER BRIDGE.

(Continued from page 382.)

\VE now pass to another part of th~ work,

namely, the columns of the towers. The lll~stra
tions on our two-page plate refer to th~ Middlesex piers which however, are substantially the
same as those of 'the S urrey side. Fig. 6 1 shows
the diaphragms at the. t op of the column~, and
Fig. 62 is a. cr oss-sectwn of t h e same. F1g. 63
is a cross-section of t he col UJ?ns at .the a.ttac_hment
of t he landinO'0 girders. F1g. 64 ts a sectwn of
the bottom of the column, and Fig. 65 an elevation of the T- bars in the centre of each plat~, and
F ig. 67 a sectional. plan t hrough the base ; F 1g. 66
a sectional elevatwn of the base of column. In
Fias. 68 to 73 are shown the iron and s teel
superstructure of the Middles~x pier, . the S1:1rrey
pier being of similar construction. F1g_. 68 1s a._n
elevation looking from the fixed span s1de, t hat 1s
to say, with one's back t o the shore. I t will, of
course be understood that the masonry comes
over ~nd hides all t he metal sk eleton. F ig. 69 is
a side elevation, and Fig. 70 a front elevation,
looking from the bascul~, or from a vessel in t h e
main channel. Ftg. 71 IS a plan of the top land ing, and Fig. 72 th e middle and first landings.
Fig. 73 shows the r oof girders. Vve may pass
over the metal work in t he roofing of the towers as
not possessing features requiring to b e put on
record, and the same may be said of the details of
the girders, flooring, and staircases in t h e t owers.
'l1he ties forming the vertical wind bracing were
put in such a manner that when the bridge was
fully loaded with its dead weight all over, each tie
had an initial strain corresponding t o 3i t on s p er
square inch of section.
(To be continued.)

90-IN. GUN LATHE.

\Y.& illustrate on page 407 a massive la. the designed and built by the Niles Tool \Vorks Company,
Hamilton, Ohio, for boring and turning steel ingots
used in the construction of heavy ordnance for the
United htes Government, and now exhibited at
Chicago.
The general dimensions of this machine are as follows: Actual swing over the ways, 91 in.; swing over
the carriage, 70 in. The bed is 60 ft. 6 in. long,
taking between centres 45ft., arranged with tripleshear tied together by a continuous web and wi th
heavy cross-girts. The weight of the bed alone, 60 ft.
6 in. long, is 110,000 lb.
Tbe main spindle is a steel forging, with front bearing 16 in. in diameter, 24 in. long. The service this
tool is required to do in boring ingots imposes very
unusual strains on the spindle, and in order to t ake up
the thrust, the spindle is provided with seven thrust
collars, enabling it to withstand an end pressure of
200,000 lb. The area of the collars are sufficient to
reduce the pressure to 500 lb. per square inch. The
lathe is powerfully geared t o stand this heavy duty.
The driving cone has five steps for a 6-in. belt, and is
so geared that there are twenty changes of speed to the
facepla.te . All the gearing of the headstock is steel,
castings or forgings, cut from the solid, of heavy pitch
~nd grea~ strength in all directions. The carriage
1s Qf mass1ve yroportions, clamped its t otal length on
t he outside o the bed, and hy t wo clamps on the

E N G I N E E R I N G.
if necessary, a start could be give!l. to the box, and
pulleys were placed in such a positw.n tha~ the box
could be pulled back again by a rope, 1f reqmred . .
I n the later box, shown by :Figs. 3 to 6, _some. shght
modifications were introduced, the door bemg stlffe~ed
by H -bE'ams instead of t russing, and the t ravellmg
motion being actuated by ratchets.. The ha11~ le gear
for working the catches was also sh ghtly_modifie?, as
will be seen by a comparison of the IllustratiOns.
This depositor measured 32 ft. long a.t t he back and
32 ft. 6 in. a t the door, 6 ft. 6 in. wide at t he botto~,
and 7 ft. 6 in. at the t op, the depth being 4 ft. 9 m.
The method of coustruction and the d imensions of the
various beams, angles, plates, and brackets forming
t he underframe and body of t he depositor are gi ven on
the illustrations, so that it is not necessary to refer at
length to t hese. The door has pivots 2~ in. in diameter,
with strong forged ends riveted to the t op angle on the
ends of the body. T hese pivot s work in easy bearings
bored out of solid forgings rivet ed to t he end angles of
the door, with caps at the bearings . . The outer ends of
the pivots have a hexagonal collar t1ghtly screwed on
and pinned through. The door is secured by four rectangular bolts 2~ in. by 1i in., and hav ing 2 in. projection above the floorpla.te. The bolts a.re worked
by wipers, and have gun-meta.l rubbin g-pieces. 'l'hese
bolts are raised and lowered not less than 21 in. by the
direct action of a lever at the back , working the four
wipers simultaneously by means of a through-going
shaft 2g in. in diameter, and segmental beYel gear.
The two out er ends of the shafts have tail pieces or
cams for t he immedia te lowering of the bolts should
the depositor go forward wit hout this first being done.
The bolts always remain down till raised by the back
lever. The body is held iu place by two strong
wrought-iron hook catches placed so as to secure t he
longitudinal close t o the r ockers at the ends of a 2-in.
shaft working in wrought-iron brackets, and actuat ed
by the tipping lever in t he cent re. The lever for working the door bolts is retained by a drop link, and has a
TIPPI NG BOXES FOR DEPOS ITING CON- stud fixed on the side of it, to form a locking arrangeCRETE SACKS AT L A GUAIRA BREAK- ment t o prevent the tipping lever being used first.
WATER.
Both types of dep ositors carry about 75 tons of conMR. A. E. CAREY, in a paper r ead before the Inter - crete.
national Maritime Congress and reproduced in a recent

issue (page 314 ante), referred to a useful fo rm of

LA.ISSLE'S P U LLEY-MOU LDING
depositor used by him in laying the immense concrete
MACHINERY.
sacks of which t he lower part of La Guaira BreakTHE special feature of the p ulley-moulding mawater is constructed. 'Ve give on pages 410 and 411
illustrations of the tipping box or depositor. They chinery of Messrs. Laissle and Co., Oberkochen,
were constructed by Messrs. Stothert and Pitt, Wurtemburg, illustrated on page 415, is that it
Limited, Bath. The engravings on page 410 show the moulds whole or split pulleys of any diameter or
form adopted in the earlier s tages of the work , while width, with one or more sets of straight or curved arms.
Figs. 3 to 6 illustrated a type used later. The prin- The machinery, patent ed in England in March, 1889,
ciple will be readily underst ood from t he illust rations. is exhibited at Cnicago. To attain the object in view,
The appliance consists of a n opeu rectangular box, t he frame of the machinery consists of an upper and
one siue of ' vhich s wings on trunnions so as to fo rm a a lower part bolted toge ther. In the upper p art are
door. The box is supported by curved rock ers resting a number of concentric rings, fitting pretty closely
on an underframe, carried by a series of small wheels within one another, each ring represent ing the half
running on rails placed on the pier. The cent res of mould of t he rim of a pulley of corresponding diameter.
gravity respectively of the full and empty box are so The~e rings are t he patterns. The respective pattern
adj ust ed that when the box is fi lled with a 72-ton is raised, by half of the width of the required pulley,
sack of concrete there is a tendency to upset t he box iuto the half mould box. A pattern of the half boss
relati vely to the underframe, a nd when the box is and arms having then been placed wit hin the ring in
empty the tendency is to rock back to its original the mould box, the moulding is effected in the usual
position. The rocking motion is prevented, during manner ; the box is then removed, the other ha.lf
t he process of filling and t raversing the loaded box, moulded, the t wo halves are fitted together, and the
by a series of hooks which engage with the lower casting can begin. The details will better be underflange of the back girder of the superstructure ; and in stood if we t ake a definite case.
Supposing we have to mould a pulley of 600 milli
order to prevent the door swinging open with the
pressure of the bag, t here is a system of hooks which metres diameter, 120 millimetres width, 60 millimetres
project up through the cur ved lip in the front of the bore, with five straight arms. These dimensions corbox. The under-carriage is provided with travelling respond to 23.6 in ., 4. 7 in., and 2.4in. The first thing to
gear worked by worm and wheel, by which the whole be done is to move the three ring carriers 16 (Fig. 1) into
the position of the ring 3, of 600 millimetres diameter.
machine can be moved for war d.
The box, as shown on the engravings, consists of a By t urning the handwheel 25, the plane disc 46, with
strongly braced lattice frame resting on r olled H - spiral grooves 44, will be rotated by means of the bevel
girders, the box itself being lined with timber, the gearing 21, the la.tter engaging with a set of t eeth
sides -with 2~- in. elm, and the bottom with 2-in. t eak . screwed to the disc 46. The extended ends of the ring
The rockers are made of cunred bulb t ees, and the carrier screws 17 (Fig. 2) enter into the grooves 44.
under -carriage is also built up of rolled sections, and These screws being rigidly connected with the carriers
runs on eighteen wheels 12 in. in diamet er. The lip 16, the latter move likewise , and slide in the slots of
over which the bag rolls is formed by a curved plate the t hree-armed piece 18 (li'ig. 1) t owards the circumstiffened by teak packing-pieces, fitted in between the ference or towards the centre of the disc. S imullip and the front girder. The door of the box is taneously the upper end of the carrier 16 is pushed in
stiffened by trussing both top and bottom, there being its dovetailed slot, from the one ring 3 to another. The
a very considerable bending moment at the time of spiral grooves 44 cause the carriers 16 to follow one
starting to deposit the bag. Guides are fitted t o keep another in a spiral line. They can, t herefore be
the rockers from getting out of posit ion, and t imber centred by adjust ing the screws 17. The handw'heel
buffers are fitted t o t he front of the under -carriage 25 is t urned until the scale bar 34 (Fig. 2), on which
to check the r ocking motion at the end of the the diameters of all the rings b elonging to one set are
travel. Considerable care had to be exercised in marked, is brought to the required position, that is
working out the details, as every precaution had to be until the division 600 millimet res becomes visible. Th~
taken to insure that the bag should not be torn. All scale bar , of pentagonal section, is fixed t o one of the
the sharp arrises of wood and metal that could pos- carriers 16. The ratchet wheel 22 and p awl 23 hold
sibly come in contact with the bag had to be rounded the hand wheel securely .
off, and the catch gea.r, worked by a handle at the
Jn order now to raise t he pattern ring to the height
back of the machine, had t o be so designed that the corresp onding to the width of the pulley the screw
front hooks which secure the door would be housed clamp 33 is loosened, and the wheel 41, sh~ft 30 and
well below the lip at the moment the rolling com- pinion 29 are rotated, so that the toothed r ac'k 28
menced. I n the box shown in the engraving the pre cylinder 26, carrier support 18 resting on it a nd th~
caution was taken of providing two small ratchet lift - carriers are raised u ntil the scale-bar 34 r:aches the
ing jacks fitted into the bottom of t he frame, so that , respective division 120 on the vertical scale 35. We

inside of the bed, equal in length to t he widch of

the bridge of t he carriage, and is provided with taper
gibs for adjustments. The carriage carries two substantial tool posts, one in front, with compound movement , and one in the rear.
It is t raversed for feed and quick movement by
three separate and indepPndeut movements, one movement being by means of the lead screw, which is 6~ in.
in d iameter, one continuous forging 60 ft. 6 in. long.
This screw is placed in the centre of t he bed in a
groove provided for t he purpose, a nd arranged with
coverings to protect it from dirt and chips. The
thrust in the lead screw is provided for in a manner
similar to the spiudle by means of thrust collars. The
bronze feed-nut engaging with the lead screw in t he
carriage is 36 in. long, very accurately fitted, and the
weight of this nut alone is 1200 lb. Provision is also
made for moving the carriage independent ly of the
lead-screw and rod gears by a shaf t driven from an
independent countershaft, giving a quick traverse
to the carriage of 10 ft. per minute. A safety
device is provided, making it impossible to throw
the quick- t raversing gears into engagement at the
same time with the feed -nut on the lead screw. The
tailstock is secured t o the bed by four bolts, engaging
with a T -slot in the bed, and it is traversed on the
bed by a ratchet lever operating a pinion gearing into a
rack on the bed. The la.the is provided with steady-rests
having ring bearings for sustaining heavy work. The
large one will t ake 60 in. in diameter, the load being
sustained by a ring bea rin g having over 1200 square
inches of projected area. The lathe has sufficient
strength and stiffness to carry a. load between centres
weighing about 60 tons, and to p erform the necessary
cutting operations. In the steady-rests shafts or ingots
weighing over 200 tons can be operated upon successfully. 'l'he gtoss weight of t he lathe complete is
130 tons.

 N G I N E E R I N G.

[OcT.

1893 .

6,

DETAILS OF EXPRESS LOCOMOTIVE: COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION.

CONSTRUCTED

THE

BY

NEW

YORK

CENTRAL

RAILROAD

HUD SO N RIVER

AND

C O ~IPAN

Y.

(For Description, see Page 432.)

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have a.lrea.dy explained that each mould consists of
an upper and a lower half, each of half the required
width. The ring 3 is therefore raised through half
the distance only which the scale indicates. The
carriers 16 had previously been adj usted to ~he diameter
600; the r ing will thus, a~so, have been r a1sed, and can
now be secured by clampmg the wheel 41 by means ?f
the screw 33 which passes through a. segmental slot 1n
32, fixed to the frame 1. This being done, t he central
boss 13 and arms 14, straight or curved, are placed on
the central pin 38. Boss and arms are separate, so
that the boss may be adapted to the bore. ~f the
pattern is intended for split pulleys, the boss lS provided with flanges.
The machine being thus prepared, a mo?ld box 10
of suitable dimensions, having three lugs, lS mounted
on the studs 5 (Figs. 1, 3, aud 5). In the case ?f
smaller pulleys, a special box frame ~r support 12 l S
employed, resting on the stu~s 5, whilst th e small~r
mould box is held by the spec1al studs 5a. The box l l:!
now charged with sand,. the sand. being rammed or
pressed in the sand baslDS are adJustably screwed to
the mould box, which is provided with elots. The moul~
box remains on the t op plate of tl~e. frame ~nt~l
the ring 3 is lowered back into pos1t10n. Th1s 1s
effected in the following way, with the help of the
dovetail heads of the carri ers. The screw cl_amp 3~
being loosened the ring can be lowered w1th the
carriers. To prevent any con~ussion, ~nd to protect
the dovetails and the notches 10 the nog, the lower
end of the cylinder 26 meets a ring-shaped caoutchouc

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ENGINEERING.

OcT. 6, 1893.]

DETAILS OF TENDER FOR EXPRESS LOCOMOTIVE: COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION.

CON TRUCTED BY THE N E\V YORK

ENTRAL AND HUDSON RIVER RAILROAD COMPANY.

(Fo1 Description, see Page 432. )

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E N G I N E E R I N G.

420
buffer 37 before coming to rest. Further, to obviate
any shifting of the rings with regard to one another
which would endanger the dovetail grooves, one of th~
supports for the rings 15 et, (Fig. 2) is prismatic at the
top, fitting into an angular notch ; any accidental
shift would thus be rectified when the ring descends.
The other two supports 15 ma.y be fiat. vVhen t he
moulding is finished, the box has to be raised off the
box. This is done by turning the ring 7 (Fig. 3) by
~ea:ns of. the ~andle 8; the.stucls 5 are pushed up by
tnchned rtm p1eces 9 on 7 (F1g. 10), the studs 5 havinO'
collars bearing against the underside of the l ugs of th~
mould box, finally lifting the box off the boss 13. The
special box frame 12, mentioned above, participates in
this motion.
For high bosses, the upper part receives the modified
form of Fig. 10; for ordinary bosses, the form, Fig. 1,
is emJ?loyed. Extra strong rims can be obtained by
applymg cheeks, hoops, or other suitable pieces of iron,
brass, &c. , to the pattern ring, or also by raising two
rings at the same time. The arms can be thickened
by placing packing pieces of sheet metal or cardboard
under the p attern s-et of arms. Pulleys with several
sets of arms, above one another, are made in more
than two parts ; the middle part can be moulded by
the same machinery and in the same way, but will
have to be provided w ith one set of arms on its upper
and one on its lower surface.
\Ve have to add a f ew remarks. The pattern rings
leave sufficient clearance; if they are kept tidy and are
well oiled with paraffin now and then, no rustin g nor
sticking is to be feared. Sandhooks are not required.
The sa.nd, not too fine, is well rammed, and need not
be especially dried ; the casting operation requires no
particular experience. These machines were first furnished for diameters from 8 in. to 40 in. Larger
m achines up to 60 in., and r ecently even to 80 in. in
dia meter have been asked for. These machines are
supplied with a limited number of rings, so that pulleys
of several diametera may be moulded simul taneously.
For greater variations of size, several machines are
preferred to one, which would become too complicated.
!for diaineters varying between 8 in. and 60 in., different firms in Germ any, France, &c., use four or five
machines.
\ Ve are infor med that one man, not a trained moulder,
can mould a pulley of 24 in. in diameter and 7 in. in
width in twelve minutes, and in a day can turn out
moulds for half a ton of pulleys. A first-class man has
finished the moulding of a pulley 60 in. in diameter and
8 in. in width in less t han an hour. Split pulleys cause
no greater trouble; they may be split a long or between
the arms. When everything is kept in good order, the
pulleys are said not to require any balancing. This
would, of co urse, mean a considerable saving. There
is practically no limit to the width obtainable; the
mould boxes are d ivided into several compartments to
facilit at e the fitting in of several sets of arms.

THE STEAM TRIALS OF THE PACIFIC

STEAMER "LIGURTA."
screw steamer Liguria has completed, with satisfactory results, her st eam trials, a fter having her compound engines converted to machinery of the tripleexpansion principle by Messrs. David Rollo a nd Son,
Liverpool. The vessel, which has, of course, been
fitted with new boilers to suit the higher pressure,
and has undergone a complete overhaul, belongs to
the Pacific S team Navigation Compa ny. She is a
s is ter ship to the Iberia, and the alterations now completed are similar in every .respect to those carr~ed o'!t
in that vessel, and fully Illustrated a nd descnbed m
our issues of July 21, August 4, and August 18 last
(see E NGINEERING , p age 206 ante). It is not, therefore,
necessary to enter into the details. The cylinders, it
m ay be stated, are 33 in., 58 in., a nd 88 in. in diameter, the stroke being 60 in. , a nd the heating surface
in the fou r boilers is 13,200 square feet. The official trials
were on September 21, the v~ssell~aving.MorpethD~ck,
Birkenhead, shortly before etght o clock 1n the mornmg.
The draught forward was 19 ft. 11 in. , and 20 ft. aft,
at which the displacement was equal to 6000 t ons.
After adjusting compasses, the vessel proceeded past
the Bar Lightship, when the engines were opened out
to full power. The steam pressure at the boiler was
183 lb., at the intermediate cylinder receiver 65 lb.,
and at the low-pressure cylinder receiver 14 lb. The
vacuum was maintained at 25 in. With the engines
running at 72 revolutions, the indicated horse-power
worked out to 4535 indicated horse-power, as will be
seen from the accompanyin g indicator diagram cards
taken during the trial. The average speed from the
Bar Lightship to the Skerries was 16 knots, and
16~ knots from thenc? back to the Crosby Light,, a
distance of over 100 mlles. The run was htghly sattsfa,ctory, the engines working smoothly.
TFIE

NOTES FROM THE UNITED STATES.

PHILADELPHIA, September 26.
ORDERS for plate a nd structural material for the
past week foot up between 4000 and 5000 tons, abotlt

INDIC.~.L\.TOR

DIAGRAl\18

[OcT. 6, 1893FROM

ENGINES

OF

S.S.

(( LIGURIA."

I
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INDICATOR DIAGRAMS.

I
I

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II
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II

TAKEN ON

TRIAL

TRIP

$PT '21!

183.3

BodsrSteam 183/bs. M.P.Rece.~verGSibs. L.P.Hec

Vucumn 25 Revolut1ons 72 ~peeri 162 Knots.
Oruf't 13 ' t( Forwt! 20 o'Ah
Total I. H. P. 4535.

Scale fJ. .

14/bs.

.--.ean Pres .
I. H.P. 1493

Scule h.

--------------------

I
I
t

-!I

on~-half

of whi?h is for one large building in this city.

Ra.llmakers est1mate that abo ut 5000 tons of rails have
been sold since last week, nearly all in small lots. Pigiron production is still kept under 90, 000 tons per
week, or 100,000 tons less than the maximum production of last spring. The only signs of improvement
this week are to be found in the placing of orders for
engines, cars, and machinery, which orders were
countermanded a few weeks ago. The production of
mills is slight ly greater than a mouth ago. Prices are
somewhat lower. Rolling mills are increasing output
in the west, where the.re is a better feeling. \Vages have
been red uced among 1ron and steel workers generally,
about 10 per cent. The Cleveland ore market is very
dull. S0uthern i ron producers report very dull mark ets at Cincinnati and St. Louis. Chicago markets
are q uite ac tive in nails, barbed wire, and sheet iron.
Stove and wagon ma kers are buying material for w inter
u se. The money markets are a l ittle more comfortable. General manufacturing activ ity is increasing
slightly. Coal production continues in ex cess of last
year.

NOTES FROM THE NORTH.

GLASGOW, vVednesday.
Glasgow Pig-I ron M arket.-Owing to the occurrence
of the autumn holiday throughout the Glasgow district,
no iron market was held last Thursday. When the
market opened on the following day, business was very
dull in th e forenoon, only some 6000 t ons, mostly Scotch,
being sold, while the price dropped l ~d. p er ton from
Wednesday 's close. One lot was sold at 42s. 4d. per ton
fourteen days. The market was also flat in the afternoon ;
Scotch being done at 42s. 2d. cash on Monday, and at
42s. l~d. this week, with a "plant." Towards the close
of the market the tone became very weak, 42s. 1~d. per
ton cash being done, with sellers over at that price, or 1d.
down from the forenoon. Only 2500 tons changed hands
altogether. One lot of Cleveland was sold at 34s. lO~d.
seven days, with sellers for cash over at that price, or Id.
under the forenoon 's finish. The settlement prices at the
close were: Scotch iron, 42s. 1 ~d. per ton; Cleveland,
34s. lO ~d. ; Cumberland hermatite iron, 44s. 3d. per
ton. On Monday forenoon the market was very dull.
Scotch iron, of which 7000 tons were sold, fetched
Friday's closing price, 42s. l~d. per ton cash; and
sellers were wanting 1d. more p er ton at the last. One
lot was sold at 42s. on e month, with 9d. forfeit in
seller's option, and 42s. l~d. one month, with 1s. forfeit in
seller's option. 11he market was irregularly in the after
noon, but finished steady. About 7000 tons of Scotch
iron were dealt in. In addition to the official business,
500 tons were done at 42s. O~d. per ton Frid ay, with a
" plant, " and 1500 t ons at 42s. 5d. one month, with l s.
forfeit in buyer's option. A transaction also t ook placs at
423. 2~d. fourteen days. The settlEimant prices at the cloee
were-Scotch iron, 42s. 3d. per ton; Cleveland, 35s. ; Cumberland and Middlesbrough hematite iron, respectively,
44s. 4~d. and 43s. ~d. per ton. The warrant market was
moreactiveon Tuesday forenoon,and the feeling was firmer.
Several lots of Scotch iron changed bands at 2d. per t on
advance, at 42s. 5d. Cleveland iron, while idle, rose 3d.,
and hematite warrants rose from 1~d. to 7~d. per ton.
At the afternoon market th e tone was easier, Scotch
dropping to 42d. 3~d. cash. In all, some 10,000 tons
c hanged hands. Tbe closing settlement prices wereScotch iron, 42s. 3d. per ton: Cleveland, 35s. ; Cumberland and :M iddlesbrough hematite iron, respectively,
44s. 4~d. and 43s. 4~d. per ton. The market was quiet
this forenoon, with scarcely any business done till near the
close, when a. mod~ra.te quantity of iron changed hands.
The tone wae a shade steadier, Scotch and Cumberland
iron being ~d. up in price. In the afternoon the market
was fi rmer, Scotch iron rising 1! d. per ton, and Cleveland ~d. per ton. The following are the current quotations for several special brands of makers' iron, No. 1 :
Gartsherrie, 49s. per ton; Summerlee, 49s. 6d. ; Calder,

50s. ; Langloan, 55s. 6d. ; Coltness, 56s. 6d.-the foregoing all shipped ab Glasgow ; Glengarnock (shipped at
.Arc1rossan), 49s. 6d. ; Shotts (shipped at Leith), 51s. (id.;
Carron (shipped at Grangemouth}, 53s. Gd. per ton. Last
week's shipments of pig iron from all Scotch ports
amounted to 4224 tons, as compared with 7626 t ons
in the corresponding week of last year. They included
675 tons for Canada, 140 tons for South America,
232 tons for India, 335 t ons for Australia, 695 tons
for Italy, 488 tons for Germany, 425 t ons for Holland, smaller quantities for other countries, and
650 tons coastwise. U p till the end of last week
there were still 39 blast furnaces in active operation,
against 78 at the same time last year. Two were making
basic iron, 13 were working on hematite ore, and the remaining 24 were making ordinary iron. The stock of
pig iron in M essrs. Connal and Co.'s public warrant
stores stood at 331,763 t ons yesterday afternoon, as
compared with 333,005 tons yesterday week, thus showing for the past week a decrease amounting to 1242 tons.
Calder Blast Furnaces.-After being out of blast for
about four weeks, four furnaces have again been blown in
at Calder Iron Works, and the ammonia-recovering plant
connected with the works has also been put into practical
operation, as sulphate of ammonia is now commanding a.
good price, several pounds per ton better than the lowest
level reached in th e course of this year.
Finished bon and Stetl.-Iron bars and sheets are at
present in brisk demand, both for the home trade and for
export. Common bars have lately been selling at from
5l. 5s. to 5l. 12s. 6d. per ton, and best bars up to 6l. 2s. 6d.
S hipbuilding st eel is in demand, and some heavy lots are
reported to be in course of negotiation, builders endeavouring to lower prices, while makers are firm owing to
dear fuel.
Clyde Shipbuilding T rade: L a,unches During September.
- This branc:h of loca! trade suffered consi~era;b~y during
the past, owmg to a d1spute between the shtp JOiners and
the carpenters a.s to their respective boundaries of work
in the construction and finishing of a ship, and which
resulted in the lock-out of some hundreds of workmen.
This circumstance had the effect of li miting the month 's
output of new work, which was between 18,000 and 19,000
tons, made up of ten steamers and eight sailing ships. In
th e corresponding month of last year the output was quite
21,000 tons greater, but a large portion of that extra t onnage was due to the fact that the Campania was included
in that month's launches. L ast month's largest steamer
waR the Shenandoah, 4000 t ons, built by Messrs. Alexander Stephen and Sons for the Chesapeake and Ohio
Steamship Company, Limited, L ondon. None of the
other st eamers included in the month's output were of
any very special note as regards kize or anything else.
The sailing vessels ranged up to 2250 t ons.
New Shipbuilding Contracts.- The contracts for new
vessels reported during the past week include a large
steamer, a vessel of 1250 ton s g-ross, for the Clyde and
Baltic trade of lVIessrs. J. and J. Denholm, Greenock, the
order having been placed with Messrs. Scott and Co., of
the same port; a steel screw steamer of 250 tons, which
Messrs. J ohn Shearer and Son, Glasgow, ha.ve contracted
to build for the Irish coasting trade; and a st eel screw
steamer which is to b: built by Messrs. H . M'Intyre and
Co. , who have lately acquired Kelliebank Shipyard,
Allo!t. It is also said that an order for two new steamers
for one of the Clyde rail way passenger fleets has just
been placed, but concernin g which no detail s are yet
available. It 1s said, however, that the steamers are to
ha Ye a speed that is not equalled by any others at present
afloat.
R oyal Scottish Society of .Arts.- A meeting of this
society was h eld in Edinburgh on lVIonday night, 1\tlr.
Alexander L eslie, C.E ., president, in the chair, when
reports by committees were submitted on papers read
before the society last session. The awards will by-andbye be announced.
Addi tional R efuse Destructo1s for Edinburgh.-Quite
recently a refuse destructor, the first of its kind, was

OcT. 6, I 893.]

E N G I N E E R I N G.

42I

shipmen ts t o tha t country si nce 1833. T he total shipments, both foreign and coastwise, of all classes were
118,693 t ons, as against 118,569 tons for the previous
month, and 116,585 t ons in t he corresponding period of
last year. D uring the past t An years t he total shipm ents
for the nine months have only been once beaten-vir.., in
1883.
T he F uel Trade.-On Newcastle Excha nge a brisk a nd
full
dem
and
is reported for steam and gas coal. The pits
NOTES FROM CLEVELAND AND THE
are working fully, and hi gh prices are asked for such lots
NORTHERN COUNTIES .
as are obtainable for early delivery. Best Northumbrian
MIDDLESBROUGH, W ednesday.
steam is quoted 14s. f.o.b., and even more is said t o have
T he Oteveland I ron T rade. -Y esterday Lhere was a been paid . S mall steam, 53. 6d. t o 6s. Coke steady.
pret ty large attendance o~ 'Chan ge, and early i~ the.d.a y H ere about 12s. 6d . is generally mention ed for blast f urthe market was strong-, ~1 th a go_od nnmuer of mqu tr~es nace qualities delivered at Cleveland works.
and a fair am ount of busmess domg, bu t later on affau s
eased again, and .buyers were rather,.. b.1.ckward. A t the
opening, tra.nsact10ns occurred at 3os. 1~d: ~or prompt
NOTES FROM SOUTH YORKSHIRE.
f 0 b delivery of No. 3 g. m.b. Cleveland p1g 1ron, and a
SHEFFIELD, W ednesday.
s~l~ ~r t wo was recorded at 35s. 3d. , few makers being
Charles CammelZ and Co. , L imited.-A tJ a m eeting of
prepared t o accept less than the latter fig ure. T owards
the close however. buyers were not disposed t o give more the directors of this company it haR been decided to pay
than 35s: for No. 3, and little l;msi~ess was done, as se~l~rs an instalment on account of dividend for the current year
were not inclined t o reduce thetr pr10e. The lower quahttes of 2Z. per share on the ordina ry shares and 10s. per share
were rathoc easier, No. 4 foundry being obtainable at on the A and B shares, being at the same ra te as was
~3s . 6d. and grey forge at 32s. Gd., bu t some firms would ps.id at th e corresp onding period of last year.
not sell at quite such low figures as these. Middlesbrough
Sheffield Exports to the United States.-The q.,uarterly
warrants opened a t 35s. 2d., but closed weakish at 35s. ret urn of exports t o t he U nited States from the :Sheffield
cash buyers. ~ f~irly sat isfactory acc:oun.t was g i v~n of consula r district shows a serious falling-off as compared
tho hematite p1g tron trade, and deh vrrtes were sa1d to with the corresponding period of last year . The t ot al
be good notwitbstand in~ the closing of t he Sheffield export of all classes of goods during th e quarter en ded
market.' The general pnce named for early deli very of September 30 was 74,551Z. 17s., against 122,445l. the pre
Nos. 1. 2, and 3 make! s' easb c~ast brands w~s 43s. 3d. vious three months. In cutlery there is a decline of
Spanish ore was qutet. Rubto was obtamable at nearly 60001. , the fi gures for the p ast quarter being
between 12s. and 12s. 3d., ex-ship Tees. T o-day the 25, 146l. , against 30,974l. during the corresponding quarter
market was very quiet, a nd quotations were practically of 1892. S teel shows a reduction of 29,000l., the exp orts
unchanged. For prompt No. 3 th e price was 35s. to for last quarter only amounting t o 40,613l.
~5s. 3d. Middlesbrough warran ts closed 35J. O~d. cash
The Dore and Chinley R aitway.-A p arty of engineers
buyers.
has been t aken a p reliminary run over the D ore and
Ma~e ami Disposal of Pig I ron.- Y esterday Mr. J ohn Chinley Railway, which it is hoped will be shortly
Dennington, secretary to the Cleveland Ironmasters' opened for goods traffic. The ne w line is 20 miles long,
Association issued th e monthly report from the a.ssocia- has cost nearly a million of m oney, and has been in
tion's office's at Iv!iddlesbrough, showing the make and course of construct ion for nearly five years. The T otley
dispost~.l of pig iron during September. They show tha", a nd the Cowburn tunnels are t wo of its most expensi ve
ab the end of last month, of the 143 f urnaces built 89 were features. The form er has become famous as an engineerblowing. This is a decrease in the number of furnacEs ing success, taki ng second place t o the Severn T un nel in
built of eight, and of the number blowin g of one, as com- point of length, but coming out first as an achievement
pared with the number a t the end of September last year. over n atural obstacles. It is 6200 yards long, and runs
There has been no change during the month . The under P adley Hill, which contained a combina tion of
number of furnaces on Cleveland pig at the end of t he natural reservoirs t hat were constantly being tapped . In
month was 49, ag~inst 50 at the end of Au~ust. a decrease the tunnel the wa ter has been t urned into deep cul verts,
of one. The number of furnaces on hematlt e at the end of and may be 3een at T otley Brook running with a regula r
September was 40, as against 39 at th e end ? f ~ug ~st, a n force of over 700 gallons a minute. This p ortion of the
increase of one. The make of Cleveland p1g Iron m the work, and as far as H ope, h as been underta ken by Mr.
port of Middlesbrough was 100,483 tons, as against Thom as Oli ver, con t ractor, from thence t o the t ermi nus
103, 402 tons in August. a. decrease of 2919 t ons. Outside by Mr. J. P . E dwards. The largest viaduct is at Chinley.
the port the make of Cleveland pig was 12, 835 t ons, as The residen t engineers for M essrs. P arry and Storey, of
against 13,814 t ons in August, a decrease of 979 tons. Notting ham and D erby- (the Midland Company 's engiThe make for t he whole district was 113, 318 t ons, as neers), are Mr. P ercy R ickard, M.I.C.E ., on the fi rst
agai nst 117,216 tons in August, a decrea~e of 3898 tons. part, and Mr. G . E . Storey on the last sect ion.
The make of other kind s of pig, includ ing hematiteJ
I ron and S teel.-The condition of trade, so far as the
spiegel, and basic pig- iron, was 116,990 tons, as against
116,215 tons in August, an increase of 775 t ons. The total heavy industries a re concerned, is lamentable. M an y of
make of all kinds was 230,308 tons, as compared witb 233,431 t he largest industrial establishments in the district h ave
tonll, a decrease of 3123 t ons. Makers' stocks of p ig iron in suspended operations pend ing a return t o regular supplies
the port of :Middlesbrough at the end of September were of fuel at rea.c:;onable prices, and the losses must be very
100,618 tons, against 103,086 tons at the end of the pre- severe. In th e mean t ime large ord ers for bar, sheet, and
ceding month, a decrease of 2468 tons. Makers' stocks marine mat erial are being placed elsewhere, a nd permaoutside the port were 5002 tons, against 5805 tons at the nent damage is being done t o the trade of t he di~tricb .
end of August, a decrease of 803 t ons. The t ot al for th e Nearly all the blast furnaces are damped down or blown
whole district was 105,620 t ons, agai nst 108,891 t ons at out. F ew orders for railway m at erial n eed now be exth e end of August, a decrease of 3271 tons. .1\'lakers' pected from the home companies, so th at the outlook in
stores amounted t o 1342 tons, agai nst 2232 t ons a t the end this direction is discouraging. Con verters of crucible cast
of August, a decrease of 890 tons. Pig iron in public stores steel have fair lines in band, but are very short of suitwas-North-Ea-st ern Company's stores, 2065 tons, against able qualities of coke. Eng ineering firms are sufferin g
2315 tonfl at August 31; Connal's st ores, 87, 966 t ons, severely.
against 88,294 tons at the end of A ugust; tot als, 196,993
T he Coal D i.fficulty. -There is a slight alteration in the
tons at end of September, 201,732 tons at end of August ; condition of things since last report, as coal is coming in
decrease, 4739 tons.
from Durham, b ut there are complaints all round as to
.!Jfanujactu1ed Iron and Steel.-D uring the week hardly its quality. A s a large number of m en have returned t o
any change has taken place in the manufactured iron and work a t the old prices in t he adj acent D erbyshire coalsteel trades. Although most of the establishmenta keep field, and 6000 in South Yorkshire, some relief is shortly
fairly busy, new orders are very scarce, and prospects are expected. Those working will have to pay a levy of 1s.
certainly not encouraging. There are firms who might a day towards the maintenance of the m en who are " out."
accept work at ra ther ltss t han the following market The colliers in this district are as d etermined as ever t o
rates: C~mmon .iron bars, 4t. 17s. 6d.; iron ship plates, accept no reduction whatever. House coal is falling in
4Z. 15s. ; 1ron sh1p angles, 4l. 12s. 6d. ; st eel ship plates value, and it is believed that in a day or two engine coal
5l. 2s. 6d. ; and steel ship angles, 4l. 15s.- all ]ess th~ will also decline in price. The p it proprietors who are
usual ~ per cent. discount for cash. For hea vy sections allowing their . ~en t o retur~ to work are reapin g a rich
of steel rails, 3t. 17s. 6d. net at works is still asked but harvest, and 1t 1s very certam tha t t he solidarity of the
pitowners' combination is jeopardised.
orders might be placed at a little below that figure. '
September I ron Sh?'pments f rom the T ees.-The returns
of the shipments of pig iron and manufactured iron and
NOTES FROM THE SOUTH-WEST.
steel from Middlesbrough for September show a t otal in
Car diff.-Steam coal has continued firm, and it is
crease of 2108 t ons as compared with S~ptember, 1R92,
and ~ tons above A ugust, 1893. The t otal clearances expected that prices will be maintained all through t his
coast~1se were 3~, 727 tons for l~st mol?- t h, and 35,592 month. The best descriptions have been making 14s. 6d.
tons m the precechng .month: :Wth a . smgle exception, to 15s. p er t on, while secondary qualit ies have brought
~hat of 1891, so far t hts year s ts the h1ghest quantity of 13s. 6d. to 14s. p er ton. H ousehold coal has been in
tron sent to Scotland in the corresponding nine m onths rather increased dema nd ; No. 3 Rhondda large has
of any year during th e last decade. The t otal of last mad e 13s. 6d. per t on. The iron a nd st eel trades have
month'~ coast wise shipm~nts amounted t o 44,251 tons, remained inacti ve ; heavy section steel rails have been
as agamst ~4, 597 t ons 1n the previous month, and making 3l. 12s. 6d. to 3l. 15s. , while light section ditto
52,729 to~s m September, 1891. The shipments out- have br_ought 4l. 10s. t o 4l. 17s. 6d . per ton. Coke has
ward durmg the month j ust ended reached th e total been fa1rly at eady; foundry qualities have made 20s. 6d.
of 74,442 tons, C<?mpared with 7~,972 t ons in August. t o 2l s: p er ton, and furnace d itto 18s. t o 19s. 6d. p er t on.
U~9~, and . 63,972 m Se.ptember of 1892. The quantity of The tmplate trade has sh own some depression.
fore~gn. shtpm~nts ~f ptg w~ 55 2:-36 tons. The ahipment:J
W~st G'louce~tershire Water Company.-The half-yearly
o~ ptg u on t o If:!dta, Russta, Germany, and China are m eetmg of thts company was held at Bristol on Saturhtgh, and two-thtrds of the whole of the finished steel day, Mr. E. Horton in the chair. Mr. E . D. Marten
went to Ru~sia a~d India. 67,716 tons of pig iron have the engineer, rep orted that although on some days during
gone to Ru~s1a durmg the p asb nine months, the highest the recent drought the consumption of water by cusbrought into practical. use i.n Edinburgh, a?~ it has gi ve?
such an amount of sat1sfact10n t o th~ mum01pal authont ies that sites in other parts of th e 01ty have been looked
for two additional est ablishments of the same sort-one
of them t o cost 7250t., and t he other 21, OOOZ. for ground
alone.

tomers had been nearly double the . normal, yet in

all t hat dry time pumping op erattons had never
lowered the level of the water in the well a t F rampton
Cotterell pumping st ation more than 29 ft. on~ of a. t otal
d epth of 340 ft. This was sa tisfactory, affordmg further
evidence that t he springs which yield t he supply of wat~r
a re practicall y inexhaustible. The direct ors _obser ved 1n
t betr report : " D uring t he six months endmg S~ptem
ber 2, 1893, 582 additional services had been I_a1d on,
maki ng th e number of h0u ses a nd other propert1es ~up
plied by t he company on t hat d ate 4510, and wh10b,
toget her with Aome meter and other miscellaneous sup plies, are estima ted to produce a water rental of
3515l. 18s. per a nnum. T o th is must be added 50l. p er
annum for rent of property belonging t o t he company,
t hus making the total estim ated income on that d ate
3565t. 18s. per a nnum. This is an in crease of 310l. 12s. 4d.
d uring the past six mon t hs, and is greater than tha t for
the correspond ing period of 1892 by about 20 p er cent.,
th us showing tha t t he demand for the company'~ w!l't er
is steadily on the increase. The erection of n ew bUtldmgs
up on l and along the r oute of t he company'z:~ mains has
been maintained with increasing acti vity." The report
was adopted, and a d ividend was declared for the past
half year at t he ra te of 1 p er cent. per annum.
Wages in Wales.- A m eeting of the S liding Scale J oint
Committee of the Monmouthshire and South W ales Collieries Associat ion was held at Card iff on Saturday, under
th e presidencyof Mr. W . Abraha m, MP. The aud itors'
report showed that the price of coal had ad vanced considerably, but owing to the str ike and heavy contracts
entered into by the coalowners in Decemb~r, 1892, the
average selling p rice would only enable them t o declare
an advance of l i per cen t. in colliers' wages. D urin g the
strike the ou tput had been very considerably diminished,
and nearly all the coal h ad been absorbed t o carry out
cont racts entered into in D ecember, and, therefore, ab
t he price which ruled th en. The n ex t aud it would show
a considerable ad van ce in colli~rs' wages.
The "A gamemm.on. "-The Agamemnon, line-of-ba ttle
ship, made a steam t rial of h er m achinery off Plymout h
on lt riday. The trial. which proved satisfactory, was
carried out under the d irection of Mr. R . Burridge, fteeb
engineer of t he ship, and Mr. A. W . R arvey, fleet engineer, represent ing the chief inspector of machinery. Gun
t ri als were also carried out t o test the efficiency of the
moun t ings. Eight rounds were fi red from each gun, and
the mountinga wi thstood the test satisfactorily.
T he "Centur ion. "-The n a tural draught trial of the
Centurion, l ine-of-battle ship, proved successful, the con tract for 9000 horse- power being exceeded by 703. The
vessel's mean draught on trial was 25~ ft. , and her a verage
speed during the eight hours' run was 17! knots per hour
by patent log. The coal consumption was 1. 9 lb. per
indicated horse-power per hour. The Centurion has a
displacement of 10,500 tons, while h er engines, supplied
by _th~ Greenock F oundry Comp~ny, have been d esigned
t o md10ate 13,000 horse-p ower w1th forced draught. H er
cost for hull and mach in ery will be a bout 608, 000l. H er
armam ent will consist of four 29-ton guns, ten 4.7-in.
quick -firing guns, and a formid able array of l ight wea pons
and machine guns, besides two submerged t orpedo tubes.
The forced draught tri1tl, which followed the natural
d raught trial, was less successful, as the engines did not
develop t heir contract force of 13,000 horse- power. A
further trial will be carried out in about a fortnight, a nd
it is expected tha t t h e con tract power will b e ultimately
at tained.
CATALOGUE.-W e h ave received from 1fessrs. Smith
and Grace, of 35, queen Vict oria-street, L ond on, E. C., a
copy of their new ca~alog.ue of pull.eys, shafting, plummer
block s, and other mtllwr1ghts' fi ttmgs. The catalogue is
well illustrated and very completely priced, and sh ould
therefore prove pa rt icularly useful to Continental and
other buyers.
WILLANS MEMORIAL Fu.Nn.-W e are ask ed t o m &ntion
that the subscript ion lists for this fu nd will be closed on
N ovember 1, so tha t any en gineers or others who intend t o
send in subscriptions, and have not done so sh ould do 'so
at once: Mr. :Alexander Siem en s, 12, Quee~ Anne's-gat t>,
W estmmst er, I S the treasurer of ~he commit.t ee. It may
be reme~ber~d that the ~ro~osal 1s to estabhah a fund in
connectiOn wtth the Inst1tut10ns of M echanical and Electr!cal Engineers, from th e interest of which a premium
m1~ht be awarded fo.r papers r elat ing t o the subjects
whtch the late Mr. W tllan s m ade so p eculiarly his o wn.
NaVAL EXHIBITION AT S ouTHAMPTON. - An important
~aval E xhibition, the larges t held in the southern counttes, was opened on the 3rd insb. Professor B iles deliv~red an address on the exh ibits, which are thoroughly
repr~sentati ve of every department of the m ercan tile
marine.. H e traced the hist ory of the shipbuild in g
enterpnse, and contrasted the early efforts with those of
lat er days. H e wanted to see such exh ibit ions open ed
throughout the leng th and breadth of the land t o secure
the su pp ort of the whole country in the adva~cement of
~he m ercantile marin e interests. P eople in districts far
~nl and c~uld. not. take tha b inter est they otherwise would
m the shtppmg mdustry. We were more inter ested in
what happened on the sea than on the land and the more
:ve could do to excite the inter est of the 'Reople in the
Importance of tbe m ercantile marine of E ngland the
more wo~ld .we be able t o maintain that supremacy ~hich
made th1~ tsland hom e one of the m ost glorious of
modern ~~~ es. M ost of the large shipping companies
sent exh1b1ts, and some fine m odels of the lat~?st-built
vessels from Glas~o~! the Tyne, and other shipbuilding
centres a re on exh1b1t10n.

E N G I N E E R I N G.

422

ACCIDENT ON THE OLD

[OcT. 6, r893.

COLONY RAILROAD

AT CHESTER, :MASS.,

U.S.A.

(For Desc'ription, ~e P age 424.)

.......

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E N G I N E E R I N G.

OcT. 6, 1 893.]
AGENTS FOR "ENGINEERING."
. , ,.
1 ehman n and Wentzel, l{!irntnerstrnsse.
d G ' "h
AUSTRIA, tenna. . ~
an
Ow
Tows

Cordon
C;\PE

M , and eo 1'> IIa.no,erstreet.
EDJ~'lH!ROII: .J?h"o .~~:~e nnd Ch~\iU~t, Librnit;e Elrang~re, 22,
FRA~CB,?t~nJ~n:u~; ~i. Em. Terquem, 3lbls Boulevard llau smann.
!rs~ ~or A<herlisemenls, Agence linms, 8, Place de la Bourse.
("ee l.leloBw.)l . . 'le l'S A A her and Co. 5 Unlel den Linden.
er m . "'
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Mulhou e : H . t.uckelberger.
cusoow : WiUiam Lo,e,
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LI\'ERrOOL: llrs. Ta.ylor, Landm? laoe. a
M \NCHESTBR: J ohn Ileywood, H 3, Dean .,nte.
N~w Ol'Tll W .\L& ', ydne~: Turner a~d !!'cnd~rson , 16 and 18,
Hunter-street. Gord~n and Gotch , 0 eOt o e, t1eel.
QL ~~SL.\N D ( ourn) B11 ' bane: Cordon and Gotch.

{~ORTu)', Town ''ille : T. \\'illmett and Co.

ROTTERD.\)! : H . A. Kramer nnd ~n ..
souru At'STRALIA Adelaide: W. C. Rtl:{by .
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Chica.go: II. Y. Ilolme , 44, Lakes1de Building._

VICTORIA, ~hLBOl'RNS: l\Ieh ille,_ M_ullen and 'lade, 261/264, Colhnsstreet. Gordon and Gotch, Lmuted, Qu een- treet.

GER~IAXY

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we beg to announce that Amen can ub~crtplt_on to 'ENOINBERrNO
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TELEORAPUIC ADDRKSS- ENGINEERING, LONDON.
TELEPIIO~E NUMBKR- 3663.
ENGINEERING is registered for transmission abroad.

CONTENTS.

PAOE
PAGE
The British Association. . . . 407 1 The Disposal of _Refuse . . . 428
The Engineering Congress
Morley Met~onal College
at Chicago . .. . ..... . .... 409
for Workmg Men and
The Iron and St('el l nstit.ute 412
\Yemen .. . .... . .. . .... 428
Tbe Tower Bridge (l llusM ari ~e Engine Ind~ca.tor .. 428
tratert) . . . . ....... . .... ~ 417 Ma.cht ce Constr cotton and
90- In. Gun Lathe(Illm.) .. 417
Drawing, 1893 . ... .. .. .. 428
Tipping Boxes for DepositSteam Fishing Smacks . . . . 4 28
Ball Bearings for Thrust
ing Concrete acks at. La.
Guaira Breakwater (llBlocks (l lltUtrated) .. .. . 429
lu.,trated) .... .. . . ...... 417 Beam Engines for Padd!e
laissle's Pullt>y Moulding
Steamers .. ........ .. .. 429
Ma~hine (Itlust,ated) ... 417 Miscellanea . . . . . . . . . . . 430
Toe Steam Trials of the
Diagrams of Three Mont hs'
Pa~ific Steamer "LiguFluctuations in Prices of
ria " (lllmtrated) ...... 420
Metals ............ .. .... 4 ~ 0
Notes from the United
Open - Spindle C a. p s t a. n
States .......... . ....... 420
Lathe (l llmtrated) ...... 431
Notes from the NorLh . . . . 420 Welch's Nut Lock (Ill-us. ) 431
Notes from Cleveland and
lndtutrial Notes .. .. ... ... 431
the Northern Counties .. 421 Ticket Ca.nrt>lling, Datin~,
Notes from South Yorkshire 421
and Regiatering Machine
(ntustrated) ...... ..... . 432
Notes from the South-West 421
The Classification of RailLocomotive at the Colurcway Passengers ........ 423
bian Exposit ion {l llusThe Chester Bridge Disaster
t rated) . . . . . . . . . . . . 432
(lllmtrated) ........ . 424 The Waste of Heat in Iron
Smelting (lUusttated) .. 433
The Weather of September,
1893 ....... .... ..... . ... 425 On the Manufa.oture of Basic
Brhish Colonies at Chicago 425
teel at Witkowi tz . . . . . . 435
American Universities at
Peterhea.d Harbour Improvf:ments . . . . . . . . . . . . 436
the Columbian Expo&ition 426
Notes ................ .. . . 427 Launcb~s and T ial Trips .. 436
Note on a New Testing
" E ngineering" Patent Re
.Machine at Unhersity
cord (Illmtrated) ... . ... 437
College, Nottingham .... 428

With a T wo-Page Engraving of THE TOWER BRIDGE:

DETA ILS OF P I ERS.

NOTICE.
The New Cunarders ., CAMPANIA" and ., LUCANIA ;" and the WORLD'S COLUMBIAN
EXPOSITION OF 1893.
The Publlsher begs to announce that a Reprint Is
now ready of the Descriptive Matter and Illustrations contained In the issue of ENGINEERING of
April 21st, comprising over 130 pages, with nille
two -page and four single. page Plates, printed
throughout on special Plate paper. bound In cloth,
gUt lettered. Price 6s. Post free. 6s. 6d. The ordi
nary edition of the issue of AprU 21st Is out of print.

NOTICES OF MEETINGS.

LONDON ASSOCIATION OF F ORElfEN ENOINEERB AND DRAUGBTShlEN.

-Saturda y October 7, general meetinJr, at 7 p.m. , in Cannon
str eet Hotei. Paper nt 8 by Mr. John E. Reid, "A Trip to Chicago
and Back."
NOR.TH OF E.~GLAND I NSTITUTE OF MI N I ~G AND M ECUANWAL
ENGtNEERB.- Sa.turda.y, October 14, in the Wood Memoriai Ha.n,
Newcastle-upon-Tyne a.t two o'clock. An address will be deli vered
by the Prt>slden t, M~. ~ L. Steavenson. The fol~o~ving papers
will be open tor discussiOn : " Queensland Coal-Mmmg, and the
Method adopted to 0' ercome an Underground !<'ire," by Mr.
Eel ward . Wright; "The Geology and Coal Deposits of Natal,"
by MT. R. A. s. Redma.yne; "Corliss-Enginoo Fan at Seghill
Colliery " by Mr. C. C. Leaoh. The followin g papers will be taken
as read~ li Mining Explosives: Their Defin i tion as Authorised
under the Explosives Act, 1876," by Mr. A. C. Ka.~ll; u Note on
the Antimon) Deposit of El Altar Sonoro, Mexico," oy Mr. Edwa.rd
Ha lee ; u The Choice of Coarse and Fine Cr ushing Machinery and
Processt>s of Ore Treatment.-Parb V., continued," by Mr. A. G.
Cha.rleton.

portions to the total are. stea~ily decreasing. ~n

analysis of the figures gtven _In n. rece!lt Pa~ha
mentary r eturn shows that 1n the United Kmgdom, for instance, there were out of every ,100
passenaers fourteen or fifteen years ago, 1 of
the fir~t 11 of the second, and 82 of the
third ciass. N ow the third class ha.ve advanced to close upon 90 per cent., w lule the
first class stands at 3! per cent., and the second
class at about 7.15 per cent. It is sai~, h o":ever,
that Scotland, having in large measure d1scontu:ued
booking second-class passenger~ on the home hnes,
is responsible for much of tlus decrease ; but an
examination of the figures for England alone
- where with the exception of the Midland and
Hull a~d Bar nsley, all the leading lines book
second-class passengers- does n.ot show any apJ?reciable difference from those apphcable to the United
Kingdom, as given. Indeed, _the di~eren?es are
purely fractional so that there IS no gainsaying the
fact that second-~lass passengers are being absorbed
not by the first class but by the third class, and
that half of the passengers who forme.rly trav e~led
first oao now
in
the
second,
but
mostly
1n
the
thud.
class carnage.
Pe'r Cent. of T otal Number of Passengers in Respective
Classes.

ENGINEERING.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 6, 1893.

1892.

1879.
First. Second.

England
6.5

Sootland
. . 11.05
Ireland ..
10
Unitedi<ingdom 6.9
1

11.3
7.45
23.3
11.1

I Third.
82.2
81.5
66.7
82

First. Second. Third.

3.27

5. 3

6.63
3.54

7.43
.92
18.57
7.16

89.3
93.8
74.8
89.3

THE CLASSIFICATION OF RAILWAY

Even in Ireland, where the first and second class
PASSENGERS.
passengers are mor e numerous, the decreasing tenA CAREFUL observer of the composition of rail- dency is very pronounced. In the case of Ireland,
way trains leaving any of our great stations ca,nnot by the way, the number of passengers is relatively
have helped noticing the growing tendency towards very small. Last year, for instance, each inhabitant
the preponderance of the third-class passenger, made but five railway journeys, whereas in Scotland
moce especially in the ordinary, as distinct from each head of the population made, on an average,
the "daily-breaders', trains, in the latter of which twenty rail way journeys, and in England and vVales
season ticket holders predominate. And in this the number of passengers is equal to twenty-six times
case there is no choice, for many lines do not issue t he population. In Ireland the rail way system is
third-class season tickets. But the full significance not developed to the same extent as in England-it
of this tendency is not appreciated by the rail way would be better for the country and its industries
companies, or, if it is, they seem lax in attempt if it were ; and there, at all events, the belief in
ing to arrive at a means of arresting it. It may be ec1uality, which so characterises the age, has not exurged that the spirit of the age trends t owards tended itself to rail ways. At the same time, howequality, or rather towards a belief in equality, and ever, it must be admitted that the significance of
that this phase of railway travelling is but an the figures given is in great measure minimised by
item in a great transformation or Equalisation . the travelling incidental to the great size of London.
Certainly that idea is advanced to explain the A passenger travelling from Charing Cross to the
change. It can only be, however, by theorists Temple, or to Westminster, a distance of less than
or dreamers. The characteristics which of old a mile, is accounted in the figures given as equal to
divided society into three great sections, still pre- the passenger travelling from L ondon t o J ohn-o'vail, although, perhaps, not to th e sa.me ex.tent, Gr oat's, although the latter goes five or six hundred
and if the composition of a rail way train seems times the distance, and pays proportionately. The
to prove the contrary, it is accidental. The metropolitan underground system is accountable
change is duo rather to the desire to get full for nearly one-seventh of t.he total passengers
value for every shilling spent. P erhaps this on all English and '\Velsh lines. and to this must
economy is a necessity consequent on the standard be added the urban, if n ot also suburban, traffic
of living. The working class or the masses, by of th e other dozen lines taking their millions
reason of their great numbers, have exerted a of passengers from L ondon. In London the dispower over the railway companies where corn tances are short, and the difference in fares therepetition is operative, and have thus secured many fore small, so that as a rule many t ravel first or
successive concessions towards comfort and ac- second to obviate the chance of associating with a
c :>mmodation as well as in cheap fares, and while sailor who has just landed at the docks, and who
these improvements were being made no correspond- r egards it as necessary to maintain the traditions of
ing change was Introduced in the conditions of Jack ashore ; while the working man, however
tra veiling for the second or first class, with the tolerable his company under ordinary circumr esult that n ow practically the third-class passenger stances, is not the n1ost acceptable fellow-passenger
has all t he advantages of the second, without paying when he has his working- perhaps oily-garments
the extra fare. '\Vhat wonder is it that the second- on. The practice of allowing workmen to return in
class passenger should consider the want of r eturn ordinary trains with workmen's tickets, which obfor the extra charge, and act accordingly 1 More- tains in the metropolis, accounts also for a preferover , the effect of first and second class passen- ence for the second class by many. These and other
gers going third now tends to an increase in th e considerations, which need not be enlarged upon
demand for additional comfort, for the experience explain the comparatively low percentage of third~
of past ea.se engenders something like discontent class passengers on trains which we may tern1
with altered conditions. F or the less fare of the metropolitan. In some cases the percentaae of
lower class the passenger not infrequently expects ~hird-class _p~ss.engers is as low as 75 per cent.7 and
the same accommodation. The shareholder, th ere- 1n no case 1s 1t over 85, and that only in cases where
for e, stands to lose, whereas there might be gain outside traffic accounts largely for the totals ; while,
if something were done to conserve the second as we shall show presently, th e ratio of second-class
class.
reeeipts to the total are much greater on the
That there is a steady diminution in the number, London lines, running up t o 20 per cent. The
not only of the second but of the first class pas- s~m~ conditions do not obtain in th e large prosenger, there can be little doubt. I t is true that as v1nc1al towns, for, as a rule, the working men live
regards the actual number there is apparently little close to their employ, and when they travel for
falling off in England, but it must not be forgotten pleasure, are generally neatly dressed. I t follows
that t her e h as been a great increase in the total th erefor e, that the number of passengers carried
number of passengers in recent years, and the pro- scarcely r epresents the true state of the case,

E N G I N E E R I N G.
since n1a.ny will travel second or third class on a
short journey and yet go third when on a journey
of say mor e than forty miles, the chance of unwelcome fellow-passengers being minimised. One
proof of this is t h e abolition of the second-class
carriages on the t hree L ondon and Scotch lines,
where the paucity of passenger s in this class was
very pron ounced formerly. The diff-erence in fare
between third and second clasg is so great t hat
few consider the extra advantage which consists
solely in a carpet on the fl oor, and perhaps a
slightly b etter cover and finer hair in the cushions,
but with n o extra accommodation. Practically all is
quite as good in the third class, and the chance of
unsociable or unpleasant companions nearly about
the same.
As the P arliamentary r eturns do not give t he
mileage of passengers, either in the aggr egate or
under the respective classes, the r eceipts must form
a b asis for determining t he relative proportions of
the traffic by t he classes. Last year the first-class
passengers paid 3.12 millions, the second class
2. 37 million s, and the t hird class 22.21 millions,
season tickets being excluded for the present.
Thirteen years ago first-class passengers paid
nearer four millions and second class 3!, the decrease apparently being slight. But when on e
t ak es into consideration the enormous development in traffic, the decrease is most pron ounced.
The first class, if t.hey had advanced in t he same
proportion as the total passenger r eceipts, would
have paid 5.34: millions instead of 3.12 millions,
while the second class should have paid 4. 75 millions,
instead of 2.37 millions, or exactly dou1)1e. Any
reduction in fares can only account for a very small
proportion of t his appar ent decrease, and does n ot
affect the gener al transposition. It is easy to under stand the enormous increase in t h e t hird class,
where the receipts last year wer e 22.21 million s,
instead of b eing 19 millions, if t hey had only increased at the same ratio as thE-' t otal. In other
words, traffic representing 3.2 millions, which at 1d.
per mile works out to 768 million miles, went by
third class instead of first and second class, and
the railway companies thus lost the s urplus fareabout 1t millions sterling- minus the first cost and
upkeep of the superior carriages. All other charges
are about the same, and the difference in the price
of carriages is n ow very small, for the third-class
passenger is continually demanding concessions,
and his comfort is attended to wit h as much
solicitude as that of t he first class. This is
particularly so on the long - distance lines,
where all t he conveniences of t he first class are
provided. The dining cars introduced on the
Scotch line at the time of the abolition of the second
class are proof. They may indeed help towards a
s till furth er reduction in first-class travelling, for
should they prove a success, as is very probable,
similar arrangements will, in all likelihood, be
adopted in many oth er trains. An advantage once
conceded and appreciated must be extended.
Of the total r eceived for ordinary passenger
tickets-excluding season-ticket r eceipts- 80.3 per
cent. comes from passengers travelling third class,
8 .5 per cent. from the second class, and 11.2 per
cent. from t he first class, wher eas t hirteen years
ago out of each 100l. the first class paid 18. 4, the
second 16.3, leaving only 65.3 to be contributed by
the t hird class. I t may be desirable to give the
r atios for tho three countries for the sake of comparison with the tabular statement above :
Per Cen t. of PMsenge1 R cce1pts oy Respective Clasecs.

1892.

1879.

First. Second. Third. Fi rst.. Second. Th ird.

Engla nd

Scotland

Ireland ..

U ni ted King-dom

17.8
22
21.2
18.4

16.1
8.85
26
16.3

60.1
69. 15
52.8
65.3

I to.9

13.65
13
j u.2

8.8
1.15
22.6
8.5

80.3
85.2
64. 4
80.3

The d ecr ease in the higher classes is again very

pronounced in England, and in Scotland there
has been a heavy drop in the second class d ue to
the discontinuance of second-class bookings as
already r eferred to, while in Ireland t h e change,
although apparent, is not quite so pronounced, for
h ere t he second class seem to absorb n early as many
first class as t h ey lose to the third. The figures
for Scotland seem to indicate that t h e first class
has profited a little from the disco~tinuance .of t he
second-class carriages, since the rat10 of first 1s n ow
higher than in any oth er part of the kingdom.

[OcT. 6, 1893.

Many who formerly travelled second n ow go first,

for the difference in far e is not quite so gr eat
as in England, particularly in the metropolis.
Again, those who travelled first t hink twice ere
transferring to a third class, whereas the change
to second would not involve so much consideration.
The Table shows, apparently, a less absorption by
the third class than was indicated merely by
numbers of passenger s, due to the unequal fare
per mile. The very slight differ ence between
the ratio of second-class passengers and that of
second-class receipts, as shown in the two Tables,
may be accepted as proof of the fact that this
class predominates on sh ort journeys. On an
average each first-class passenger paid last year
just over 2s., each second-class 9d., while the thirdclass passenger paid 7i d. N ow t he differ ence
between third and second class fares is mor e than
20 per cent. ; so that the average journey of the
third-class passenger was longer than t hat of t h e
second-class passenger.
In t his analysis of t he r esults we have not lost
sight of the fact that the discontinuance of secondclass bookings of the several lines indicated, may
have affected the gener al r esult, and it might, therefore, be d esirable to take the cases of some of the
leading railways which still carry second-class passengers, t o show h ow they compare with the general
result.

tion given to the first-class passenger is considered.

Six of t he latter get a compartment in all trains,
against ten in the second and third ; and as there
are but four compartments in each first-class carriage
against five in most other carriages, it follows that
the r ailway company ar e satisfied with twenty-four
first-class far es per carriage, although t hey exact fifty
fares from the second as well as from the t hird. class
traveller s. Th e first-class passenger does not in any
case pay double the fare of t he third class, far less
the second-class passenger, and unless more accom
modation is granted to the second-class passenger
- say in allowing a compartment to each eight
passengers, wit h a width equivalent to that
in the first class, or r educing the fare to a
basis 10 per cent. higher than the third class,
t he disappearance of the second-class passenger
will be accentuated. The figures we have given
clearly establish t he present condition of affairs.
The cause is self-evident. The future depends on
conciliatory action. Moreover , it is a question of
earning profit. If by conceding accommodation
commensurate with the difference in fare between
the r espective classes, or by a r eduction in fare,
the volume of secon d-class traffic could be maintained, a n1onetary ad vantage will be gained.
Ot herwise, most of those travelling second will
lapse, like so many others, into the third class.

P er centage of P assengers and OrdiJnary Receipts by

.Respective Classes on P rincipal Railways.

THE CHESTER BRIDGE DISASTER.

Per Cent. Passengers. Per Cent. Recei pts.

I

First. Second. Third. First. Second . Third.

I

Great Eastern
.. ,
,. Western
..
Nor thern

"
London
and Nor th Western

London and South Western

London & Brighton
London and Chat
ham ..

Metropolitan

,
and
District

Midland

North Eastern

,. London

South Eastern
.. ,
Caledonia n ..
..
N or tb Bri tisb
..
Glasf,tow and SouthWest~rn

1. 99
2. 40
2.55

6.85
8. 17
3.79

91.16
89.43
93.66

7.4
8
13.2

9.6
10
3.06

83
82
83.'/4

3.09

5.14

91.77

14.1

8.5

7'i.4

4.8
3.8

8.7
7

86.5
89.2

13.7
14.6

11.8
12.06

74.5
73.34

5. 5
3.86

9.35
11.6

85. 16
84.54

19.9
9.5

17.1
18.6

63
72

7.68
3. 16
2.06
2.44
3. 26
5.63
5.3

16.7

. 75.62
96.8 l
96.52
78 6
S8.44
91.71
94.65

14.6
11.1
7.93
5
15.9
14.9
12.5

21.4

64

4.3

1.42
18.96
8.3
2.66
.05

95.7

1~. 1

2.49
24
15.7
2.4

.4

88.9
89.68

68. 4
~2. 7

87.1
87.9

The figures are suggi stive; but it is difficult, if not

undesirable, to deduct any general conclusion,
other than t hose already put forward. The lines
connected with L ondon have a large ratio of secondclass r eceipts, while in most cases a great difference
between the proportion of firs t-class passengers and
r eceipts (columns 1 and 4) would s uggest that for
long distances the extra comfort is acceptable. The
influence of t h e West End traffic gives the Metropolitan and District a position differing from most
lines. In the case of the Midland it can scarcely
be said that the discontinuance of the second class
has affected the gen er al classification, except that
the thirds absorb the lot.
We have shown conclusively that the secondclass passenger in ordinary bookings is gradually
disappearing in England as well as in Scotland.
A very large proportion of season-ticket h olders,
it is t rue, travel by t his class ; but this is due
to the fact that in many directions third-class
season tickets ar e not granted. It is not, therefor e, surprising to n ote that throughout England
t her e is something approaching an equality of
receipts for season t ickets of t h e three classes ; but
in cases where t he third-class ticket is granted, as,
for instance, on the N ort h-E astern, L ondon and
North-Western, L ancashire and Yorkshire, Manchester and Sheffield, and especially on t he Scotch
lines, there is a great preponderance in the t hird
class. The discontinuance of second-class carriages
on all lines would, t herefore, not be greatly opposed
Ly the maj ority of season-ticket h olders, and there
can be n o gainsaying t he necessity of action in on e
direction or anoth er . We have time and again urged
the claims of t he second-class passenger to greater
consideration,* believing that with reasonable condition s there is abundant scope for all thr ee classes.
The second-class passenger , as we have incidentally
pointed out, gets little or no advantage over the third
class ; the space afforded 1s n ot any more. And
this is t he more remarkable when the accommoda-

* See ENGINEERING, vol. liv., page 699.

ON August 31 there occurred near the little village of Chester, Mass., on e of t hose railroad
bridge disasters which unfortunately have been of
such frequent occurrence in t he western and
southern States. In the eastern States, and on the
main lines of t he leading railroads, one has not
usually looked for such a t hing to be possible.
The Chicago special, which runs over the Lake
Shore and New York Central .Railroads as far as
Albany, and from t hat point on t he Boston and
Albany, stopped at Chester at 12.31 P.l\I. At
t his point it was nine minutes late. The t rain
started up, and was soon running at 30 miles an
hour, and at t his speed came to t he b1idge over the
branch of th e Westfield River. The bridge was
situated 1! miles east of Chester, and was known as
WilJcutt's Bridge. The approach on the east was a
tangent , while t hat on the west was a moderate
curve, which ended just west of t he bridge. The
bridge itself was on the angle, and was a skew
double-track through-riveted lattice bridge of two
spans, each of 104 ft. 6 in. in the clear, with two
t russes for the d ouble t rack. It crossed the river
at a height of about 28 ft. abo\e the water, resting
on h eavy stone abutments and a pier in the centre.
It was built in 1874 by t he Niagara Bridge Company, and was in a good state of preservation.
\Vh en the t rain entered on the bridge, going east,
it had j ust left a curve whose centre was to the
north, an d it probably still possessed a tendency to
throw t h e bridge to t h e south. The engine passing over the first span caused it to give way,
throwing the train to the sout h ; it passed on
over the second span, br oke away from thefirstcar,
and through t h e upheaval of t he rails was thrown into
t he embankment about 50 yards beyond the eastern
abutment of t he bridge. The first car, a baggage
and buffet car, while thrown to the south, was so
far along that it passed over the first span and
crashed into t he westerly end, and t hen was carried
down with the bridge in t he easterly span. It was
entirely demolished, the sides and top being wholly
separated, and thrown in different directions.
'rhe next car , a sleeper, t h e "Elmo, " crashed three
times into the bridge t russes, was swung round at
right angles to the rails, and dropped 30 ft. into
the river , parallel to and close against t he central
pier on t he western side. The floor of the car rested
at an angle of about 45 deg., the bottom corner
being in the bed of the river. The second sleeping
car, which came next, was forced out of its proper
position in the t rain, and t hrown quite a distance on
one side. The dining car, which came second, was
jamm ed into the rear of the first sleeper ' ' Elmo,"
and was lying on the wreck of t h e bridge. The dining
car hung in an inclined position, its rear end being
high in the air, supported in part by the girderP,
and by the first passenger coach, whose front end
lapped over t he chasm. The last car, the smoker ,
was not derailed or much damaged. The terrific
nature of t he collapse can be, to some extent,
realised from the illustrations on page 4:22, and also
from the fact that seventeen people were killed, and
over thirty injured, many very seriously. The top

E N G I N E E RI N G.

OcT. 6, 1 893.]
v'ew shows the wrecked bridge looking from the
n~rth and the lower one is a view from the west
a.butm~nt, looking down on to the wreck, after the
overhanaina car had been dragged back out of the
way. Tbhe bphotograph from which this was ta~en
clearly shows a large number of ~he empt~ n vet
holes and loose cover-plates, to whiCh t h e disaster
was clearly due.
The cause uf the accident _has been m?s ~ caref Uy inquired into by the Ratlroad Commissioners,
a~d unfortunately ther e is no possible chance of
questioning it, as it brings out one of ~he most
flagrant cases of carelessness of ~oder~ times. It
will hardly be credited that a lead~n~ ra~lroad co~
pany-in fact, one particularly pndmg Itself on _Its
careful management- could have allowed exte~si ve
alterations to have been made on one of the bridg~s
on their main line without so much as one of their
enaineers having been near the place.
.
From the evidence given before the CommiSsioners it appears that the Boston and AI ban_y
Compa~y had ~een increasing .the weight of the1r
engines and trams, and so deCided to st~eng~hen
their bridges. Plans were made by thetr bndge
enaineer submitted, and approved. A verbal contr:ct wa~ then made with a firm of bridge-builders
to carry out these alterations, and there the matter
rested, the company in no way taking meas~res to
see that the work was done proper~y. In ev1~ence
the bridge engineer stated that his d~t_y finished
with furnishing plans, and t hat supervunon. of the
work was out of his department. The chtef and
assistant tmgineers gave t he same evidence, and had
to acknowledae that no one had been ordered to
see that the bcontractors did t he work in a proper
manner and that no orders had been given for
running the trains at a slow rate of speed during
the alterations.
Professor Swain, who made the official report to
the Commissioners, says :
" My examination of the wr6ck showed very
clearly however, what had caused the disaster.
The st;ucture had been seriously weakened by the
workmen engaged in the repairs, and had been left
in a danaerous condition.
" I will now explain in what way t he structure
had been weakened, and state how it gave way.
It was one of the trusses that failed, and the part
that first gave way was t he upper chord of the south
truss of the westerly span. The section of the
top chords and end posts was made up of two
vertical webplates, two angles at the top of t hese
plates, and a variable number of cover-plates riveted
to the angles. The bottom of t he webplates was
not latticed, except in the end posts, and the design
was in this respect defective . . . As the rivets connecting the plates to the angles were driven out,
they could, of course, be r eplaced by bolts, so that
no weakening need have r esulted at this time ; b ut
before the new plates, which were to go over the
old ones, could be riveted down through thesesanie
holes, it would obviously be necessary to leave for
a time both the new and the old plates entirely
disconnected from the angles below them to a certain short distance, depending on circumstances.
" Within this distance t he two webplates with
t.heir angles were entirely deprived of any lateral
support or assistance from each other, and if the
distance were less, the chord in this condition could
support but a small fraction of t he compressive
load which it would be capable of sustaining if t he
top plates wer e firmly riveted down.
"An examination of the wreck indicated clearly
that when the ill-fated train crossed the bridge t he
upper chord of the south-west truss was in the
condition just referred to.
" The old plates had been disconnected from t he
angles throughout the second, t hird, and part of
the fourth top chord panels from the west endthat is, for a distance of some 25 ft., and no bolts
appear to have been put in to replace the ri vet~.
~f any were put in, t hey must have been very few
m number. I saw no evidence of any.
. "In ~act, i~ the wreck t his portion of the chord
ltes entirely wtthoutcover-plates, and consists simply
of the webs and angles. If the cover-pl ates had been
bolted securely to the angles, they would, without
question, have been found connected to the chord
in the wreck, or there would have been some
evidence that they had been so connected, while,
as a f~t, they were not in the vicinity, and I saw
no evidence of their having been torn away.
' 'These facts indicate beyond the possibility of a
doubt the cause of t he disaster.
'~ Moreover, in disconnecting t he cover -plates, it

was necessary also to disconnect the laterR.l bracing,

which had been done at the first four upper chord
joints. ' Vhile it is possible that some of these
laterals may have been temporarily fastened by a
drift pin, or perhaps a bolt, the wreck shows
clearly t hat, if fastened at all, it was very insecur ely. I saw no evidence that it had been
fastened at all."
This r eport shows clearly that the disaster was
caused through the bridge having been weakened
by cutting out rivets and taking off the coverplates, and allowing a heavy t rain to pass over at a
high rate of speed .

THE WEATHER OF SEPTEMBER, 1893.

SEPTEMBER commenced with glorious au t umn
weath er, but at the equinox t her e was "the cold
of snow in the time of harvest." Nevertheless, all
things considered, the weather of the 1nonth was
seasonable, though there was overmuch r ain in
north Scotland and south-west England, and a
marked deficiency in east E ngland and west Ireland. The mean pressure and temperature of the
atmosphere, at extreme positions of t he British
I slands to which the I sle of Man is central, wer e
as follows :
Mean
PreBSure.

Positions.

Mean
Difference
Difference Temperafrom Normal.
from Normal.
ture.

m.

deg .

0.16
.06
.01
.10
.08

52

North
South
West

ln.
29.61
29.92
29.85
29.78
29.79

East

Cent ral

below
..
..
..
H

60
58
66
56

deg.
nil
above 1
,
3
nil

The distribution of rain in frequency and quantity may be roughly inferred from the following results :
Rainy Days.

Places.

Amount .

Difference
from Normal.

ln.

Sumburgh
Scilly . .
Valentia
Yarmouth

25

18
18
15

5 24
4. 76
3 48
1.04

10.

more
"
less
..

1.92
1.~4

1.05
1.87

The daily general directions of the winds over

these islands give a resultant from W. by N., t he
normal being W. by S. The n otations of the
weather indicate fine bright days to have varied
between ten in east England and four in north Scotland, overcast days between seven teen in north
Scotland and f:ix in t he central district. The mean
temperature, at 8 A.M., for the entire area of these
islands, at sea level, was 61 deg. on the 3rd, but fell
to 52 deg. on th e lOth, then r ose to 60 deg. on t h e
14th, descended slowly and then rapidly to 46 deg. on
the 23rd, whence it rose to 55 deg. on t he 29th .
The highest temperature- Si deg.-was reported
at L ondon on the 6th ; t he lowest-28 deg. - at
Kilkenny, on t h e 23rd. After the 19th ''autumnal
showers came frequent and chill from the westward. " On the 23rd snow fell to the depth of
3 in. or 4 in. over a large part of north England.
This is so uncommonly early for snow that the
Times thinks it heralds the near approach of winter.
"The natural indications, such as abundance of
berries, point to a hard and severe winter, but our
climate is so uncertain that t oo much importan ce
must not be attached to these signs. At the same
time they are causing anxiety." Aurora was seen
on the 1st, 14th, and 19th in n orth Scotland.
Thunderstorms occurred in east Britain on t h e 8th,
in south England on t h e 20th and 21st, in east
England on t he 27th, in Ireland on the 28th. On
the lOth, 1. 07 in. of rain was measured at Scilly ;
on the 13th, 3. 59 in. at Glencarr on, 2. 91 in. at
Fort William ; on the 17th, 1.86 in. at Jersey; on
t he 21st, 1. 08 in. at Nairn ; on t he 22nd, 1. 05 in.
at Wick, 0. 95 in. at Aberdeen. The greatest R.tmospherical pressure, 30.35 in., occurred on the
12th ; the least, 28.7 in. , on the 29th. The
weather was very stormy and often gloomy in the
north of Scotland. During the four weeks ending
the 30th the duration of bright sunshine, estimated
in percentage of its possible amount, was for t he
United Kingdom, 39; Chan nel Isles, 48; south west England, 44; south, east, and central England, 43; n orth-east England, 40 ; south lreland,
39 ; west Scotland, 38 ; east Scotland and n orth
Ireland, 34 ; nor th-west England, 33; n orth Scotland, 28.

BRITISH COLONIES AT CHICAGO.

v. - NE'IY SoUTH ' VALEs-couliiiHed.
IN D epartment L - that of Liberal Arts-New
, 'outh Wales makes a large and very inter esting
display; for altho ugh there ar e only abo ut one
hundred principal entries in the_ catalog?e_, most of
these refer to extensive collective exhibits. The
aim has been to set forth thoroughly the actual
conditions of all classes of public education in the
colony and this has been done in a very thorough
man ne~. Group 99 of the Exposition classification
refers to primary, secondary, and superior education and Class 842 of t h is gr oup includes the
arra~gements, work, and results of pr~mary sch o_ols.
In this class the D epartment of Pubhc InstructiOn,
through the Commissioner s for New South Wales,
takes a prominent part. The public school~ are
illustrated by a series of large photographs, illustrating a variety of types, and these are followed
by specimens of work done by the pupils of both
sexes, and of ages varying from six to seventeen years. 'Vhen it is stated t hat t h e cases
displaying these objects contain specimens of
work from no less than 574 pupils, it will be understood how comprehensive is the scope of t his exhibit. The objects shown are principally needlework, drawing, and writing. F ollowing this is the
collective exhibit of the Technical Education
Branch , which has developed with a rapid growth
since 1865, when t h e first class for technical education in the colony was held at Sydn ey in the Mechanics' School of Arts. This small beginning
increased under t he care of t he committee of t hat
school, until in 1873 it was decided to found a
technical or working man's college. Five years
later P arliament was induced to make a grant of
2000l. to assist the classes, and in 1883 t he Government appointed a Committee to carry on the work
which up to that time had been done by t h e Mechanics' Sch ool of Arts. This Committee, known as
the Board of Technical Education, controlled the
classes for six years, and as t hey were able to
obtain an annual vote of 17,000l., the period of
th eir control was marked by very considerable
developments. In 1887 another change was
made, and the modest school of 1865 was incorporated into the general scheme of education
in the colony, and fell under the charge of t he
Department of Public Instruction . Apparently
t he result of this important change has been most
satisfactory ; the number of classes had increased
from 119 in 1887 to 306 in 1892 ; th e num h er of
students rose from 3384 to 10, 089 in the same time ;
the number of examinations from 1219 to 3332;
and the cost per pupil was reduced from 6l. 15s. in
1889 to 3l. 7s. in 1892, without, it is to be supposed,
diminishing in any way the efficiency of the training. The principal college is, of course, in Sydn ey,
but there ar e branch colleges, or classes, in no less
than twenty-se"'en other towns in New Sout h
Wales. The following comparative list for 1891,
1892, gives an idea of the importance of this division of the Public Instruction Department:
1891.
N umber of classes . .
295

s tudents enrolled ..
8,466

N umber of individual students ..

6,688
students examined . .
2,563
",
,
passed
1.704

A mount of fef's r eceived ..

3. 721l.

Visitore to Technological Museum 112,632

Visitors to branch museums in
country towns
25,842

1892.

Increase.

306
10,089
8,329
3,332
2,271
4,388l.
144,253

!.,623
1,6H
769
567
664l.
31,621

40,332

14,490

11

We have not space to enumerate the various

branches of technical education for which r eaular
classes ar e h eld ; it must suffice to state t hat there
are not less t han seventy subjects, ranging from
cricklaying to surgery' from mathematics to the
technics of the sheep farm, from cooking to
geology. As said above, the chief college is in
Sydney. I t is a. handsome block of buildings on
3! acr es of ground, and adjoining it is t he re~ently
compl eted T echnological Museum. At the r ear of
the college is the chemical laboratory, and behind
are t he engineering shops. In the sout h -west
corner of the building ar e the architectural and
cook ery sch ools. B oth as r egards space and applian ces the facilities are excellen t for the conduct of
all t~e . manual classes. As may be supposed, so
flouriShing a branch of the D epartment of Public
Instruct ion is well represented at Chicago. The
following list gives t he number of students exhibiting, and t h e classes to which their work belongs:

E N G I N E E R I N G.
Number of
Nature of Class.
Exhibitors.
...
. ..
. ..
. ..
9
Architecture .. .
Carpentry
.. .
.. .
.. .
. ..
. 0.
35
Cabinetmaking
. ..
. 0.
...
.. .
2
Plumbing
.. .
. 0.
. ..
0.
..
12
Masonry and stone carving 0..
.. .
...
3
,
drawing
.. .
...
. 0.
..
2
Mechanical drawing .
11
Patternmaking
.
5
Ironfounding
1
Boilermaking .. .
. ..
.. .
.. .
. ..
2
Fitting and turning
30
Manual training
.. .
. ..
.. .
...
67
"rood carving ...
...
.. .
.. .
...
3
Art
...
...
...
0..
...
..0 109
Modelling
23
Photolithography
. ..
. ..
. ..
...
8
Industrial arb ...
.. .
...
.. .
.. .
20
Caligraphy
...
.. .
...
.. .
...
2
Phonography ..
11
Miscellaneous .. .
.. .
..
4
The D epartment of Public Instruction has spared
a part of the contents of the T~chnological Museum
to increase the value of their display. The museum
was opened about 1879, and contained a fine collection of specimens when it was totally destroyed by
fire in 1882. As stated above, the museum now
adjoins the Technical College; it has been completed
at a cost of 20,000l., and contains 30,000 specimens.
One collection sent to Chicago is labelled '' A Century of New South Wales Economic Plants." Each
of the 100 specimens is mounted on a separate card
which contains the botanical name, the locality, and
the special purpose to which it is put. There is
also a case containing a similarly arranged collection of specimens of food plants used by the
aborigines ; a third of medicinal vegetables ; a
fourth of indigenous vegetable gums, largely obtained from varieties of the eucalyptus. There is
also a collection of no fewer than 115 different
specimens of tan bark, including all the commercial
varieties, some of them containing 33 per cent. of
tannic acid. The very complete collection of indigenous fibrous plants used in commerce will be found
of interest. Finally there is a curious collection of
Australian galls, with particulars of the special
insects forming them. Another order of exhibits
are the educational collections of Australasian wools,
collections containing no less than 580 specimens,
on each of which full information is placed.
The University of Sydney has done its part towards the display made by New South Wales in this
department. This university was founded by
the Legislature in 1850 ; the government is
vested in a senate of sixteen fellows, appointed by
election, and comprising among their members a
maximum of six professors. The chancellor ~nd
vice chancellor are elected by the senate. The
Government endowment amounts to an annual
revenue of 15,000l., and its own property is worth
300, OOOl., in addition to a beque::!t which will realise
250,000l. The following degrees are gra.nted by
this university: Bachelor and Master of Arts,
Bachelor and D octor of Laws, Bachelor and Doctor
of Medicine, Master of Surgery, Bachelor and
DJctor of Science, Bachelor and Master of Engineering. There are four affiliated colleges : St.
Paul's, 1854 (Church of England) ; St. John's,
1857 (Church of Rome); St. Andrew's, 1867 (Presbyterian) ; and a n on-sectarian college for women.
The teaching staff consists of fourteen professors
and forty lecturers. In 1892 the number of students attending lectures was 592, including 99
women. The objects sent by the university are a
number of photographs of its buildings, and a collection of about 600 of the insects of New South
Wales, properly displayed in cases.
In Group 150-Literature, Books, Libraries, and
Journalism- the exhibits are sufficiently numerous
to illustrate that the development of these industries in the colonies is highly satisfactory. Books
and newspapers, engraving processes of all kinds,
and topographical maps .are e~cell~nt for comple~e
ness and finish ; espeCially IS th1s the case w1th
the exhibition of photographs, of which several
hundred have been sent. In the various other
groups devoted to the Liberal. A:ts the colony
is well represented, though It IS unnecessary
for us to devote space to the enumeration of
the objects sent. We may, however, refer to
the exhibit of the Government Astronomer, Mr.
Henry C. Russell, a:fid which consists of a n umber
of fine astronomical photographs. The Sydney
Observatory was due to Sir vVilliam Denison:
governor of the colony in 1856, and two years later
the first official astronomer, Mr. W. Scott, entered
upon his office. He wag succeeded in 1862 by Mr.
0.

...

..

..

..

...

0..

..

..

..

..

..

..

o..

..

0..

..

..

..

..

..

0.

..

..

G. R. Smalley, and in 1870 by the present astronomer. lJp to that date the buildings and instruments were very imperfect, and efforts were made
to improve them. The telescopes now in use are
a meridian circle of 6~ in. objective, and an 11!-in.
equatorial. In 1889 a standard star camera was
added, and the observatory is still occupied in
completing that portion of the st.ar chart it undertook to make-the area between 52 deg. and 64 deg.
south. The meteorological service is very complete,
there being 1300 stations in the colony, and these
send in reports daily or twice a day. The staff
~onsists of the director and two assistant observers,
six meteorological assistants, one computer, one
photographer, one instrument- maker, and one
attendant.
In conclusion, we must not forget to mention
the collection of N ew South Wales birds by the
Commissioners of the colony, a collection of
mammals by the same body; the splendid herbarium
of New South Wales plants (468 specimens), and the
"Century of Fruits and Seeds of New South
Wales," both by Mr. J. H. Maiden, of the Sydney
Technological Museum. There are in the catalogue
of this Department of Liberal Arts rather more
than one hundred principal numbers ; but these
represent 600 or 700 exhibitors, and some thousands
of objects. When it is r emembered that but little
direct commercial benefit can result from this
display, we can appreciate all the better the lively
interest taken by the colony in the Columbian
Exposition, and the just pride displayed in what
they have accomplished during the last fifty years.
\Vhen we compare this display with that made by
this c0untry in the same department, one cannot
help feeling it would have been better for us not to
have exhibited at all, than to have appeared to so
much disadvantage beside this remote colony.
The same remark holds good for Department MEthnology, Archreology, Progress of Labour and
Invention.
In this department we make two
exhibits, one of "The sacred Marza stone of Mexico
and its symbolism, " and some enlarged photographs
of Indian monuments and buildings in Central
America. New South Wales makes t hirty-two
distinct exhibits, comprising over 1000 objects. It
does not come within our province to refer in detail
to this admirable collection. It includes specimens
of weapons, utensils, clothes, and tools made and
used, n ot only by the aborigines of New South
Wales, but by those of Australia in general and
many of the islands, especially from New Guinea,
the Solomon I slands, and the New Hebrides. The
principal exhibitors are the Board for the Protection of the Aborigines, t he Commissioners for New
South \Vales, and Mr. A. Liversidge, Professor
of Chemistry in t he University of Sydney.
(To be continued.)

AMERICAN UNI"VERSITIES AT THE

COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION.
V.-COLUMBIA. COLLEGE.

THis New York seat of learning is usually spoken

of as a college and not a uni versity. For a whole
century it provided for the youth of the metropolis
comprehensive undergraduate instruction, crowning
their work by conferring the usual academical distinctions. In addition to t his strictly collegiate
work, it has during the past few decades successively surrounded itself with professional schools
and halls for the higher instruction of its graduates.
It is now n o longer a college, except in name ; it is,
and it successfully dischuges all the functions of, a
university . We have in our mind several instances
of legally constituted universities which are little
else than good collegiate institutions ; in Columbia,
on the other hand, we have a real, fully-equi pped
university quite content with a college name.
The college was founded by royal charter in
1754, and called King's College in honour of
George III. Shortly after the severance of the
colonies from the mother country, t he corporate
title of the new institution was changed to Columbia
College in order to meet the altered conditions of
the social and political world.
During the revolutionary period, Columbia had
a stern struggle for existence as the t ide of war
flowed and ebbed over the Empire City. Even
after the cessation of hostilities, it attained only
very gradually to a condition of mediocre prosperity.
I ts adolescent stage was languid, often decidedly
anremic on account of the exiguity of its ways and
means, and at times seriously trotrbled with difficulties arising from tentative experiments under-

taken with a view to adapting the college to the

educational wants of the city and it environs. This
period of trial ~nd uncertainty has now finally passed
away, and Columbia College is to-day looked up to
as one of the ornaments of the city as well as one
of the brightest foci of learning in the State.
Down to 1858, Columbia was an institution
of the usual college type, providing courses of
undergraduate instruction in t he Liberal Arts
faculty only. In that year a L aw School was established; two years later (1860) the College of
Physicians and Surgeons was, by arrangement of
the Regents of the University of the State and the
sanction of the L egislature, adopted as the medical
department. Then followed in 1863 the inauguraof a faculty of Science, and in 1864 the opening of
the School of Mines . This school enjoys the distinction of being the first in the United States that
offered a scientific and technical training to intend

1ng m1n1ng engineers.

Two other faculties have since been added, viz.,
Political Science and Philosophy.
F or more than a century Columbia College occupied a commanding site in Park Pl~e. The encroachments of business ultimately compelled a
change ; and in 187 4, a new building for t he
School of Mines was erected at a cost of 30,000l.,
while the School of Arts was installed in its present imposing pile at an expense of 40,000l.
The teaching staff comprises 226 professors and
assistants, headed by the President, Dr. Seth Low,
a man who to scholarly training and accomplishments adds experience in public affairs and administrative qualities of no ordinary kind. Among
the most widely known of the present teachers, we
would mention Dr. William P. Trowbridge, the
eminent Professor of Civil Engineering, and
Dr. Thomas Egleston, author of "Metallurgy of
Silver, Gold, and Mercury in the United States,"
and likewise a frequent contributor to our columns.
Among the late professors were Alexander P.
Holley, who lectured on the metallurgy of iron and
steel from 1878 to 1882, the year of his premature
and lamented death ; Dr. William G. Peck, author
of text-books on mechanics and physics ; Dr.
Charles Anthon, famous for his college editions
of the classics ; and Dr. F. A. Barnard, a profoundly learned man, who for twenty-six years (18641890) presided over t he development of Columbia,
and more t han any one else contributed to make it
a college worthy of its location in the great
American metropolis.
The students for 1892-93 numbered 1748, and
were distributed as follows :
In the School of Arts
.. . ... 272
...
:Mines
,
.. . ... 277
87
Philosophy
... ...
... 534
1\Iedicine ...
,"
...
Law
... 625
,
... 197
Political Science
.. 0

"

..

Total (deducting 244 duplicates)

1748
That Columbia College has exercised a wide
influence on the development of civic and national
life, as well as on the training of professional men,
may be gathered from the number of its living
alumni. An analysis of its publications shows that
there are
1653 in the Arts SohCJol.
3541 ,
Law .School.
230 ,
School of Political Science.
665 , ,
,,
Mines.
141 ,
,
Philosophy.
3641 ,
,
Medicine.
Columbia College has not received from the
millionaires of New York the encouragement and
patronage one would expect in a country of princely
liberality. It owes its foundation not to the gifts
of a circle of benefactors, but to the proceeds of a
lottery authorised by the State L egislature. Its
history, too, is inkeepingwithits humble origin, being
little else than a record of struggles and financial embarrassments. No wonder, then, that the pecuniary
inducements which it holds out to the student are
fewer and less substantial than in Harvard or Yale.
Yet, despite her small emoluments, Columbia makes
a generous concP~sion in favour of the impecunious
engineer, one of the clauses in the regulations of
the School of Mines authorising the president to
excuse from the payment of t uition fees any candidate for admission of good moral character and industrious habits. We are not aware that our Royal
College of Science goes so far in the help it offers
to the n eedy aspirant t o mining engineering knowledge.
The college has in its gift fourteen scholarships

E N G I N E E R I N G.

OcT. 6, I 893.]

has involved the employment of _a capital of

a
cattle
steamer,
&c.,
of
an
aggregate
value
of
of an annual value of 20l. each, a~d twenty-four
3,560, 000l. , and, taking account o~ ships purchase,d
fellowships of l OOl. each. T~ere IS ye~ another 60,000l.
and the cost of alterations made 1n the compa~y s
fellowship which offers spectal attra~twns, for
S TREET R AILWAYS IN THE UNITED STATES.
oth er s teamer s t h e aggregate outlay of capital
besides beina of the value of 1401., It has t he
There were 5783 miles of street railway in the during the tweive years is carried t o 3?800,000l.
restige of l1aving been f?unded by Profess~r United States in 1890, as compar ed with. 20~0 Two-thirds of t his capital has been derived fron1
~yndn.ll. It is coll_lme~oratt ve
th~ professor s miles in 1880. Of the 5783 miles in operatwn In the r eserves ; the r emaining 1,400,000l. has _been
course of lectures gt ven In New 1: ork I~ ~885, and 1890, 4062 milee were worked by horse-power, raised by loans. A steamer of ~ ~ew type IS on
is awarded on t he condition that th~ r eCIJ?Ien.t shall 914 miles by electricity , 283 miles by the cable hand at La Ciotat ; t his steamer IS Intend~d t o_ be
devote himself faith!ully ~o t he tn vestigatwn of system, and 524 miles by s team. ~ince 1890 t he employed upon th~ . company's Indo-Ch1na ~1ne.
some subject in phystcal SClence.
.
propor tion of electrically-worked hnes ha:" been The council of administ ratiOn has r ecently decided
The various schools of Colum?m College ha~ increasing, but precise data upon t he subJect ar e upon the construction of another large steamer,
their own separate librarie.s until 1883,. when It not at present available. The capital expended which it is proposed to employ _upon t he comwas t houaht advisable to unite and consoh date t he upon the lines in operation in 1890 amounte~ t o pany's Brazilian and L a Plata hnes. Contracts
whole into one grand fireproof Libr~ry Ha_ll. T~is 389,250,000 dols. in r ound figures. The earntngs concluded in 1881 between the Governm_ent of
was erected at a cost of 80, OOOl., and IS provided with of all the lines in 1890 amounted to 91,721,844 Cochin China and the companf for oarrymg on
every arrangement to render r ead_ing ~asy,. comfort- dols., while the working expenses of the year wer e certain coast services terminated in D ecember,
able and u eful. B esides the chief hbrartan, there 62,011,185 dols. , leaving a profit of 29,710,659 dols. 1892 ; they have, h owever, been renewed for a
is a' staff of twenty assistants, who attend to t he Of thit; profit of 29,710,659 dols., 13,970,903 dols.
further
period
of
ten
years
from
J
anuary
1,
1893.
workina conditions of their several departments was devoted to meeting t he fixed interest charges
and th; r equirements of t he students. The number of t he year, while dividends absorbed 10,180,726 The company has aban~on ed without re~ret ~he
workina0 of an annexe hne between Cochm Ch1na
of books in 1855 in all th ~ sch~ols was 18,000 ; the dols. The number of passengers carried over the
consolidated library contained In 1892 an aggregate lines in 1890 was 2, 023,010,202. The number of and t h e Philippines.
of 163 000 bound volumes.
cars in use upon the lines in 1890 was 32,505. The
INDIAJ.~ v. ENCLl SH CoAL I N Loc oMOTI YE:.
The' observatory, though well equipp ed with number of employes was 70,764. Philadelphia had
Evidence of the extension of coal-mining in India
transit, refractor , ordinary, and diffraction sp~ctro 277! miles of street r ail way in 1890 ; Boston , is afforded by the increasing ;atio of Indian_ c_oal
scopes was furt her enriched by Dr. L ewis M. 237f miles; Chicago, 193 miles; N ew Y ork, 180! con sumed on the rail ways there. Of fully a mtlhon
Ruthe~ford, of New Yor~-one of t he J?ioneers of miles ; and Brooklyn, 173! miles. When length tons of coal used last year, 876,000 tons were
celestial photography-with an equaton_al refra~t of track and not length of road is consider ed, the Indian coal and only 204, 603 tons English. The
ing telescope of 13 in. apertur e, . and furntshed ~1th r elative position of the five cities is greatly ch(l.nged, increase o~ the former-the native coal- for the
correcting lens for photographiC wor~, a transit of Chicago ranking first wit.h 330,1- mil~s; N ~w York year was equal to 11. 92 per cent., and on the latter
3 in. aperture, a sider~al clock, a micrometer for second with 377! miles ; Boston th1rd with 365f there was a decrease of 5. 64 per cent . The East
measuring photographtc plates_, and sundry ot~e.r mtles ; Brooklyn fourt h with 357! miles; and Indian Rail way is alone in using coke, but several
appliances. The obser vator~ 1s open t o the civil Philadelphia fifth wit h 351 miles. The reason for lines still adopt wood, of which 300,682 t ons were
engineers, as the_y are ~eq~ued to_ follow a pre- t he difference is that in Chicago, N ew York, and consumed last year- a decreasi ng quantity. ~his
scribed course of mstructwn 1n practiCal astr onomy. Brooklyn t he lines are n early all double-tracke~, may also be said of the use of patent fuel. Pnces
The undergraduate courses in the School of while in Philadelphia, and to some extent also 1n of English coal vary with the port .. At Kurrachee
Mines extend over a period of four years, and Boston t he tracks usually occupy different streets, t he price is 22 rupees per t on, whtle the Bombay
embrace minina engineering, civil engineering, alt hough con verging to the same terminus. The and Baroda Company, which uses exclusively Engm etallurgy, geology and palreontol~gy, analytical New York street rail ways carried in 1890 n o fewer lish coal, pays for t he greater quantity of it about
and applied chemistry, and architecture.
On than 449 647, 853 passengers (this total including 13 rupees, although some qualities, not much used ,
entering the school, the stu_dent selects a~y one of the mov~ment over t he elevated lines). The cost up to 16 and 20 rupees . Welsh patent fuel,
the six courses above mentwned, and he IS held to num ber of passengers upon the Ch icago s~reet lin~s used on the Burmah line, costs 17 rupees per t on.
abide by his choice unless permitted by t he faculty in 1890 was 180, 326,470 ; upon t h e Philadelphia The native coal, on the other hand, seldom costs
to make a change.
lines, 165,117,627; upon the Brooklyn lines, more than 10 rupees, and the relative steam-raising
Summer classes are annually held in mechanical 147,500,399;
and upon the Boston lines, efficieo cy of the English as against native coal is
enaineering surveying, mining, and geodesy. At 129,038,563.
certainly not more than 1 .20 against 1. The report
th: end of their t hird year , the young miners spend
of the Director -Gen eral of Railways hasassumed that
THE M E 'S.AGERI ES MA.RITIMES.
about six weeks with their adjunct professor in
1.11 tons of E nglish coal are equal to 1 ton of Bengal
In
the
course
of
last
year
this
important
French
visiting mines and putting their knowledge to the
coal, and on this common standard some informacompany
brought
two
first-class
n
ew
steamers
into
test of actual work. In like manner, the civil
tion of the consumption per train-mile is given. In
engineers have to take the field with t heir Pro- use. These steamer s were named r espectively the the only case where English coal is exclusively
fes or of Geodesy and Practical Astronomy, and are Armand B ehic and t he Ville de la Ciotat ; t hey used, t he consumption per train-mile is equal to
not expected to return unt il they have completed represented together 13, 125 tons burden and 14,000 43.95 lb., t he cost (3. 87 d. ) being little above the
horse-power. N otwithstanding that these two
a sur vey of some r egion of t he coun try.
average, while in cases where Bengal coal is exsteamers
were
brought
into
service
in
the
course
of
The Columbia exhibit at Chicago includes some
clusively used it varies from 39 lb . to 51 lb., the
1892
the
amount
at
which
t
he
fleet
stood
in
the
specimens of the engineers' field-work as well as
cost being from 2d. to 3d. On metre-gauge railbook'
s
of
t
he
company
at
t
he
close
of
last
year
(viz.,
publications of professors and graduates, ann_ual
ways th e lowest consumpt ion is on a line using
5,486,
OOOl.)
did
not
differ
materially
from
the
reports, statistical charts, photographs of buildEnglish coal exclusively. Five thousand tons are
ings and laboratories, &c. I t is not, however, to correspondinp; total a year previously. While two
new
steamers
were
added
to the fleet last year, used, and the average consumption is 25.16 lb. per
this well-displayed exhibit t hat Columbia looks t o
train-mile, the cost being 3.38d. per train-mile,
three
wer
e
withdrawn
from
it,
viz.
,
the
Meinam,
add to her fame ; but, in the words of Dr. Low's
notwithstanding, t oo, that it is taken 100 miles
the
Ebre,
and
the
Rio
Grande.
The
aggregate
inaugural address, it is to her ~lumni _and her
inland. On the other metre lines B engal coal is
burden
of
these
steamers
was
6054
t
ons,
while
they
faculties. She expects her alumni to bUild upon
the foundations laid in the past ; and sh e looks to had an aggregate of 4600 h orse-power ; they had largely used, the consumption per train-mile working
out
in
most
cases
to
about
33
lb.
The
cost
been
sold
in
order
to
be
broken
up.
The
Armand
her faculties to impart sound instruction, to hold
fast the learning that wa! wrested from experience Behic and the Ville de la Ciotat stand in t he books varies from l id. up to 5!d. per train-mile, accordar.d from study, and to carry the ever-shifting for 462, 159l., while t he Meinam, t he Ebr e, and t h e ing to the situation of the line from the mines.
boundaries of knowledge forward into the vast un- Rio Grande (withdrawn from service) figured for Very much, of course, depends on the haulage, for,
197,338l. The amount standing in last year's balance- as is well known, a light train requires r elatively
known.
sheet for stores at Marseilles, Bordeaux, and La less coal, excepting for high speeds, which latter,
Ciotat and abroad, and sundry works in course of again, must be borne in mind in considering figures
N 0 T E S.
execution at La Ciotat, was 65,275l. less than in t he brought forward to show the approximate consumppreceding year ; hence t he comparatively small in- tion per 1000 gross-ton miles. English coal is very
ENGI NERING I N D ENMARK.
THE Elsinore Engineering and Shipbuilding Com- crease in t he definitive amount at which the fleet frequent ly adopted on the fast t rains, which, of
pany has, during t he last working year, had a turn- stood in the books D ecember 31, 1892. The course, run comparatively light, while on the
over of 80,000l., against 120,000l. t he previous year. statutory reserve fund, which amounted at t he heavy slow mineral and gvods trains native coal is
The number of hands employed averaged 504, close of 1891 to 249,082l., had increased at the usually adopted. It is n ot, t herefore, surprising to
against 684 the previous year. The average wages close of 1892 to 256,673l. ; the insurance fund also find that in one case 163! lb. of English coal
per man had been about 52l. 15s., against 50l. 10s. advan ced from 296,886l. at the close of 1891 to is consumed per 1000 gross-ton miles; while on the
the previous year. The gross profits were, how- 342,692l. at the close of 1892. The bringing into Bombay and Baroda line it only equals 126 lb. per
ever, not much smaller than during the previous service of the Ville de la Ciotat h as practically 1000 ton- miles. Taking the Indian Midland,
year, viz., 20,400l., against 21,000l., owing princi- completed t he plant required for the company's Madras, Eastern Bengal, East Indian, and other
pally to the last year having been a good one for Australian line, which is now accommodated with large lines, comparing favourably in respect of
repairs. \Vorking expenses were about 12,500l., four steamer s, each of 6500 tons burden and 7000 working conditions with the Bon1bay and Baroda,
which was over 3000l. less t han the previous year. horse-power. The council of administration has it is found that the consumption per 1000 ton-miles
The net profits were about 7800l., or about 9 per r ecognised the fact that, in carrying on the com- is much less favourable, about 150 lb. native coal
cent. of the share capital. The shareholders get pany's ocean service, it must k eep step with th e being needed. Ther e is great disparity in the
a dividend of 5 per cent. The number of repaired great English steam shipping companies, which results on t he metre-gauge lines largely using B engal
vessels was 164, again~t 1GO the previous year. The are always aiming at a high est speed only attain- coal, and the r esult of 163! lb. for English coal
dry dock had been used by 45 vessels, against 43 able by increased tonnage and additional engine in t he case already quoted , is about as low as o~
last year. Fi\e new vessels had been delivered, of power. During t he last twel ve years the com- any lines, while in some cases it runs up t o 287 lb.
an aggregate tonnage of 4125 tons gross, and with pany has brought into service twel ve new st eamers, But withal it is pretty evident t hat the efficiency
engines of 1260 indicated horse-power , and a representing altogether an aggr egate burden of of the n ative coal, taken in oonj unction with its
number of engines, boilers, &c. In hand were a 118, 468 tons, and an aggregate force of 94, 150 cost, will tend t o its extensive adoption in future
steamer, an ice- breaking steamer, a cargo steamer, horse-power. The construction of these steamers years.

o!

NOTE ON A NEW TESTING MACHINE AT

UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, NOTTINGHAM.*

By Professor W. ltoBINSON, Assoc. !\f. Inst . C.E.

~ FU'TY TC?N testing machine, designed by Mr. J. H.
W1~ksteed, 1s the mos~ rec~nt important addition t o the
eq~tpl!lent of the engmeermg laboratory in this college.
Th1s s1ze and t~pe o! tes.ti.ng machine was decided upon
on account of 1ts s1mphC1ty, accuracy, and con venience
for experiment and demonstration.
The machine tests the strength and behaviour of
ma.teri~ls of cc;mstruction, t~king specimens up to 5 ft.
long, 10 tens10n, compress10n, and bending or cross
breaking. It is worked by pressure water from a n
a ccumulator, the press ure bein6' about 500 lb. per square
inch; but t~e load on the s pe01men is not measured by
the hydrauhc press~re gauge. On~ end of the specimen
only ts oonne~ted w1th the hydra.ultc ram, the other being
c~>nn ected . w1th a dead weight balance, consisting of a
sn~gle honzonta.l lever or steelyard with a travelling
po,se o~ 1 t on. Whatever force,, then, is applied, say,
m pull~ng one end of the spec1men, by the hydraulic
p ower, IS measured by an equal and opposite force applied
t o the other end of the test-piece by the weighted balance.
The scale on the steelyard is subdivided by the vernier on
the poise weight, which enables one to read to hundredths
of a ton. The t;neasurement~ of the loa~ and yield pro
duced thereby 10 the t est-ptece are regtstered in a. continuo~s curve by a Wicksteed antogra.phic recorder.
The diagram thus produced showa the amount of yielding
of each test-piece for every increment of stress from start
to finish, and the soale of the diagram is ascertained
entirely from the readings on the steelyard of the
machine, the interval between 1 t on and maximum load
giving the vertical scale of the diagram.
In order to obtain accurate results it is immaterial
whether the steelyard is atl the top, the middle, or t he
bottom of its range, so long as it floats free from contact
with the stops, inasmuch as the knife edges l ie in the
plane p assing through the centre of mass.
This machine is remarkable from the fact that the
weight of the steelyard itself is utilised for measuring the
load. In oth er words, the 1-t on travelling poise does
not go to 50 f ulcrum distan ces on the long arm, but it
only goes to 33 such lengths upon the long arm, ~nd
travels the other 17 on the abort arm of t he steelyard,
and consequently the velocity ratio between the clip box
and the poise is so low as 33 to 1, even when the greatest
pull of the machine (50 t ons) is being exerted. R eally,
the weight which is balancing the pull of 50 tons on the
specimen is not 1 ton, but nearly 1! tons, bearing the
ratio of 50 to 33.
The p oise is ad j usted upon the steelyard by a new
arrangement of hydraulic gear. The plunger of a. long
hydraulic cylinder thrust s forward a p s.ir of pulleys
carried on a crosshead, and pulls a pa.1r of horizontal
wire ropes which are counterweis-hted at their other ends.
These ropes pass close to each stde of the poise weight,
and there are clips upon the ropes which come in
contact with the crossbar of a Watt's parallel motion,
titted at each sid e of the poise, and very delicately
adjusted so that the ropes are able to pull the poise hori.tontally, but are unable to influence ib vertically, as the
balanced parallel motions will give way t o the slightest
upward or downward force, and will transmit only horizontal forces to the studs by which they are attached to
the 1-ton poise.
The g-reat ad vantage of using hydraulic gear for moving
the po1se is that by merely opening or closing a small
valve by turning a lever, the adjustment for weighing
the load can be made at any r equired rate to suit the
varying resistance of the t est- piece. There is a similar
advantage in loading the test-piece by pressure water
brought from an accumulator and completely under control by the supply val ve8.
By opening the valve either partially or full bore the
rate of loading can be regulated between about 0.2 in.
per minute and 20 in. per minute, that is, a range of froru
1 to 100.
This machine is thus completely fitted with hydraulic
~ear, including the Wicksteed autographic recorder, and
1t can be very easily manipulated. The other novel
features of the machine will be best understood by insp ec
t ion of it in the laboratory. The extreme length of
specimen that can be dealt with is 5 ft. 6 in.
It is hoped that these arrangemen ts of the machine
will allow experiments to b~ made with extreme rapid.ity,
in order to nnd how far t tme-rate or speed of loadmg,
apart from impact, in~u~n~es the flow of material, eith~r
so as to increase or dtrumtsh the strength of the speClmen or to increase or d iminish its ductility in elonga.
tion 'and compression.
Another advantage of hydraulic gear to apply the load,
to adjust the poise wei~ht, an~ to give the diagram.auto
matically, is perfect stlence m t~e test-room unttl t~e
specimen breaks. Th~ operator. 1s thus able to explam
the behaviour of specimens d urmg the progress of the
t est.
. h d'ff
In order to obtain comparable resu1ts wtt
1. erenb
machines it is necessary that (1) some sta ndard ~1 zes of
t est-pieces should be agr~ed upon, a ?d (2) the dtfferent
machines should be cahbrated agamst one another.
Doubt less many pract.i cal difficulties ab ~nee arise in
always obtaining spemmens of the same size. At. any
rate the test-pieces should. be ma~e t.o the S&IJ?e .d rawtl!g9,
that is, similar in proporttona, w1t~11~ fixed hmtts of sizt::,
for test~ in ten sion. Thus the ~o01ettes of ~erman Engt
neers, Ironmasters, and Arc~ttects haye tsaued regulations as to the method of testii!g maten!l'ls; the test bars
are generally to be 8 in. long, wtth a sect10nal area of 0.45

E N G I N E E R I N G.
to 0. 75 square inch, and round bars 10 diameters in
length.
It has been suggest ed by Professor U nwin that a good
way of comparing machines would be to strain a care
fully selected test-piece well within its limit of elastic
recovery, and obtain da ta for the same piece from each
machine. A comparison of these data. would perhaps
enable the results from the various machines to be re
duced to a uniform and comparable standard.
After the reading of this paper votes of thanks were
passed to the author, and the section adjourned to the
engineering laboratory on the ground ftoor, where Professor R obinson explained the construction of the 50 ton
t est ing machine, and carried out several tests with it.
The general opinion of those present was in favour of
adopting some uniform 'Standard sizes of t est -pieces.

[OcT. 6, I 893.
One word more as to the scholarships awarded here
Eight men and one woman were enabled by these scholar:
ships. to visit Cam~ridg.e last Aug~t durjng the summer
meetmg of the U m versi ty Extension So01ety. Six stayed
the whole month, attending the lectures arranged by this
Society, three were only able to leave their work for a
fortnight, ~ut all tel.l the same t~le of an enjoyable and
profitable t1me, of kmdness rece1ved, and the widening
effect of a glimpse into a. kind of life different from their
own.
The committee hope that the public will enable them to
grant similar ad vantages to the best students of the
coming session.
Yours faithfully,
EMMA CoNs, Hon. Sec.
Waterloo-road, S.E., October, 189::l.

MARINE ENGINE INDICATOR.

To 'l'HE EmTon OI'' }~NGINEEHING .

THE DISPOSAL OF REFUSE.

To THE EorTon oF E~GINEERING.

Srn,-Only those who have themsel ves undertaken the

task of writing papers can appreciate the amount of
labour which has to be expended in the preparation of
such a valuable contributirm as that of Mr. Warner on
"The Disposal of Refuse, " printed in your last t wo num~ers. 9ramm~d as it is ~ith facts a nd figures, it is almost
Imposs1ble for 1t t o be entirely free from error; and with
your ki nd permis~ion, I will t ake the liberty of p ointing
out one or two mtstakes.
In giving the number of destructors of different types
adopted by local authorities, Mr. Warner puts down only
one to the credit of th e H orsfall type. As a matter of
fact there are ten cells of this type at work at Kidacre
s~reet, ~eeds, and six a.t Oldham; and, at the present
trme, etght more are hem~ erect ed at L eeds, and six at
Salford. My fi rm has also s upplied ironwork for the
erection of destruct ors at Calcutta, Sydney, and Melbourne; and it has fitted up no fewer than 52 Fryer
cells with Horsfall's patent system of forced draught.
At the present time, the Nottingham and Armley-road
L eeds, destructors are being fitted in a similar manner. '
I think, also, it is only fair to Mr. H ealey another
inventor, to add that h e is erecting a destructo; fo the
L eyton Local B oard.
Mr. vyarner . al~o states that t he power available at
Oldham IS 59.6 md10ated horse-power per cell, instead of
15 indicated horse-power, which is the correct figure.
Th~ amount burned at Oldham is gi ven as 5.5 tons per
cell, m stead of 7 ton~ per cell per 24 hours, which is
correct, as may be easily ascertamed by application to
the Oldha.m authorities.
Again, in dealing with tbe important question of the
utilisation of power, Mr. Warner puts down the whole
cost of the disposal of the refuse as the p rice of production of power, overlooking t he fact that that cost must
be incurred, whether the power is used or not, in order t o
~et rid of the refuse. This point was well brought out
m the discussion by Professor U nwin.
Believe me, dear Sir, yours obediently,
G. WATSON , Engineer and Secretary.
The Horsfall Refuse Furnace Com pany Limited
Victoria Chambers, L eeds, Oct . 2, '1893.
'

SIR,-! shall feel obliged if any of your r~aders can

give rue particulars of any appliance-other than Chadburn's-ytorking off the .crankRbaft of ~ marine engine for
a~toma:t10ally and contmuou~ly showmg, on the navigatlOn bridge of a. steamer (by air bubbles in tubes or otherwise), the direction in which the engines are working
" ahead , or " astern," and every revolution.
'
I have carefully examined your adver tising columns for
som e weeks, bnt have not found any machine mentioned
similar to t he above.
Thanking you in antioipa.tion,
Yours faithfully,
H ENRY PLATER

24, L eadenhall-street, London, E.C.,

September 29, 1893.

MACHINE CONSTRUCTION AND DRAWING,

1893.
To THE b;DITOR 0.1!' ENGINEERING.

.~IR,-As

a rule, I fear I am not very much in sympathy

w1th t he examples set by t he l::)cience and Art D epartment in their examinations. I think it, however, only
fa ir to say that the example so seemingly unfair to
"Spanners" would have been understood by 99 out of
~very 100 workmen. Buring my days as a. draughtsman
1t wa~ a common way of specifying a si:te of a union
couphng, although the more "1sual method of stamping
spanners with the size of the bolt was in that shop
adopted.
Although my experience h as at most been only one-th ird
of that of Mr. Phillips, I can inform him that it is by no
means uncommon to refer to spanners by their breadth of
jaw, and during my own pupilage in one of the largest
English railway shops it was the only method in vogue,
causing no more trouble than if they were stam ped with
th_e size of bolt; it ser ved, t oo, to impress indelibly in my
mm~ , without the n ecP.ssity of multiplying by 1. 5 and
addmg l in., the size of all spanners in ordinary use.
I am, dear S ir, yours faithfully,

J. H. B.

Cambridge, October 3, 1893.

STEAM F I SHING SMACKS.

MORLEY MEMORIAL COLLEGE FOR
WORKING MEN AND \VOMEN.

To THE EDITOR OF ENGINEERING.

SIR,-May I call your attention to sorue new classes
beginnin g here the first week in October, which we think
may be of interest to some who have not yet joined our
college?
. Now that .the rig~ts and duties of citi~enship are occupy
mg an ever-m.creasmg share .of attent10n, what study is
more appropna.te than the h1st ory of the way in which
those rights and duties have arisen ? A course of ten
lectures will be held on W ednesday evenings in connec
tion with the University Extension Society by Mr.
Graham Wallas, J:\1.A., on "The English Citizen Past
and Present., He intends to trace the history ~f the
vestries, the poor laws, municipalities, county councils
Parliamentary representation, public educati on, th~
H ealth Acts, &c. , all a s far as possible illustrated by
instances taken from the history of L ambeth and South
wark. How much weary repetition of the mistakes made
by our forefathers might be saved, if only people would
inquire what was the experience of the past! A conversational class will be held ab the end of each lecture in
whi ch students will have an opportunity of getting help
in their special difficulties.
For those whose interest lies in science rather than in
the world of men, a class in "Steam, has been arranged (by
special request of several of the present students) in connection with the Science and Art D epartment, and as those
who study steam in its practical and technical aspect will
certainly feel th e need of understanding the laws of heat
on which the existence of steam depends, a class in ' 'Heat'''
has also been planned under the same teacher.
A class in elementary Italian, one in Greek, and one
(und er Mr. R . D. Met calfe,.Mus. Bac.) in singing on the
Tonic Sol-fa syst em, complete the list of new classes. For
particulars of fee~, whi ch ran ge from 1s. 6d. for the first
term (with an entrance fee of l s., payable once for all, by
new members) I would reft\r your readers t o our prospectus, where will also bt\ found details of the old classes
in English, foreign languages, p olitical economy, book
keeping, arithmetic, shorthand, building and machine
construction, dressmaking, cooking, drawing, car ving,
&c., not forgetting the Orchestral Society, which meet s
every W ednesday in the Royal Victoria Hall, under th e
of lVIr. Dove, and has the ad vantage of prac* Paper read before the British Association in Sec- leadership
tising with the orchestra of the hall.
tion G, Nottingham, on Tuesday, September 19, 1893.

To TIIE EmTon Olt' ENGINEERING.

SIR,-I n otice in your issue of the 15th inst. you

state, and qui te correctly, that the safety valves on the
boilers of fishing smacks are habitually tampered with.
I have evidence of this every week at Grimsby, a place
where there are no fewer than from 600 t o 700 smacks
fitted with these small vertical boilers, with an average
pressure of 60 lb.
I quite agree with you that measures should be taken
to stop this bad practice.
If a ny qualified engineer were to take a walk around
the fish docks of G rimsby and inspect th e cond ition of
several old boilers that have been taken out, with the
uptakes and Galloway tubes in such a condition that they
could not keep a fire alight, he would be rewarded for
his trouble by experience.
The most of fishermen worki ng these boilers have no
conception of the danger they run, neither do they under
stand t he construction of the boiler internally. The most
astonishing part is that out of so many vessels there are
not m ore explosions.
This last week a skipper came into port with a com
plaint that his boiler was leaking through the Galloway
tube, meaning that the water was passing from the one
end of the tube t o the other, and he could not get more
than 20 lb. of steam. He himself had examined the
safety val ve and slide va.l ves of th e engine and found
them all right, so it could not be anything else than the
leak. Another time the J>Ointer of the steam gauge went
right round, the pin bemg out; no person knew what
pressure was on the boiler. Another time a piece of inser
tion cloth was put under the face of th e Rafety val ve, and
shored down from the deck to keep it tight.
I corroborate your suggestion. Fishermen, ignorant
of their danger, ought t o be protected by a compulsory
law
of lock-up safety valves, also more stringent super

VlSlOn.
I am also informed of another bad practice that
ought to be t aken up by some person in authority,
which goes on at the same port. There are over one
hundred steam trawlers of the very la.tesb design of
triJ?le-expansion engines, sizes about 11 in., 17 in., and
28 m. by 21 in. stroke, and boilers carrying 160 lb. pressure, everything a facsimi le of a passenger steamer engine.
With a few exceptions, these ships are all manned with
bandy firemen, who are ab libe-rty to take these vessels
away from seven to twentyeight days, and go 1300 mile3
to sea in the very worst of weathers, without passing any

OcT. 6, 1893.]
examin~tion a_s to fitness, ei ther to satisfy the Board of
Trade or any tnsurance company.
In justice to the own~rs, I must sa);' that each company
has a qul\lified supermtendent engmeer, who has the
~wer to engage what class of men he choos&~. Many of
fhe men, I am told, are good men for the wo~k, and some
ersons go so far as to say better than eng1~eers wo~ld
be; for this reason-these men .h ave to do the1r own fi r10g
and cleaning down, where engmeers do not _care to . do
this (and many cannot). But at the same ttme I thmk
the Board of Trade ou~ht t~ <?&.use these ~en t o pass an
examination as to thet r abthty !or tak10g charge of
steamers in this trade. I am also mformed that on more
than one steamer the furnace crowns have co~e down.
Another trawler was l?sb, no pe~son knowmg ho_w.
Grave fears were entertamed sometlnng went wrong With
the boiler.
..
.
I am, 81r, yours obed1ent~v.J
S UMMER V ISITOH.
Fish Dook-roa.d, Grimsby, September 29, 1893.

BEAM ENGINES FOR PADDLE

STEAMERS.

To THE EDITOR OF ENGINEERING.

Sm - 'Ve are very much interested in your article
"Bea'm Engines for Paddle Steamers" (issll:e of Sep
tember 1, 1893), giving an account of the engme o~ the
steamer Ronam, as we we~e _when y~u before pubhshed
(November 9, 1888) a descr1{>t10n of t~1s s~m~ st~amer.
There are a few inacoura01es, to wh10h, m JUStlCe t o .our
old friend the beam engine, we must call your attention,
and we believe you will be glad to corr~ct them.
.
1 The wooden frames of the American beam engmes
ne~er "wobbled " .to the extent that "allowan.ce had to
be made for this m clearance between the p1stona and
cylinder ends ; " and so far from " 5 _in. [clearan~e] being
not uncommon, " we must ~ay t~at m our exper1~nce of
over forty years (during wh10h ttme we have bUllt and
repaired hundreds of these engit;tes) we have not s~en one
engine with 5 in. clearance ; 1 m. at each end bemg the
usual desisn for the largest of them. If there ever was a
beam engme with 5-in. clea.ranc~ at each end or at both
ends, it was because of an egregious blunder, not from
nec~sity.
.
2. You refer in a complimentary manner to the trO?
frame and keelsons of the steamer H onam, parenthetically remarking, "which, by the way, is now being
adopted in Am~rica."
We have a number of boats on our list, as well as tho3e
built by others, built before the Hona.m, which ha ve iron
or steel engine frames and keelsons, and some of the se
boats have wood hulls.
3. The Puritan has not forced draught. The blowers
mentioned only ventilate the fire-room, which is so open
that no extra air pressure is possible.
No exact t est for determining the economy of the
Puritan engine has been made, but on the City of Fall
River, a boat (about the dimensions of the Honam) belonging to the sam~ line, and having the same s~yle of
engine as the Pur1tan, careful tests were made m 1883
(see Journal of the Franklin Institu te, July, 1884). These
teats showed an average consumption of 2.04lb. anthracite
coal per hour p~r horse-power, and we have reason to believe
that all of the engines. built since~ o! the same style, perform
just as well. 'fhe C1ty of Fall R1 ver, by the way, has a
wood hull, with wood engine frame and keelsons, and
both cylinders have a designed clearance of 1 in. only.
The engine frame does not ''wobble."
Of courde, there is no use in these days ad ,ancing the
advantages of the American beam engine. The tide is
setting in other directions, but they have bee>n, and still
are, extremely serviceable, and, considered all round, are
economi<:al for work performed.
Respectfully yours,
W. AND A. FLETCHER COMPANY.
S. TAYLOR, V. -P. and G.S.
H oboken, N.J., September 12, 1893.

E N G I N E E R I N G.

think it is no disparagement to the worker. that he c~n lines of contact, as between the balls, the grooved necks,

th
not make it like an iron structure. There 1s no quest10n and ball paths.
The advantages of this arrangement of bea.nng are e
of the advantages of the American beam ~ngine. M~ny
constructed a long time ago do not show s1gns of weanng following :
1. Large touching surfaces to take pressure.
out. They are, when carefully desis-ned, very economical,
2. Prevention of friction between surfaces of rollers.
but their weight is a serious objectton.-Eo. E.]
3. Prevention of radial displacement of rollers.
4. No scrubbing, only rolling movement, between all
BALL BEARINGS FOR THRUST BLOCKS. moving parts.
5. Adjustment of ball paths.
. .
To THE EDITOR OF E NGINEERING.
It should be mentioned that, as an add1t10na.l ~rec~u
SJR,-Seeing that so much interest has bee>n show!?- in
this m atter, we venture t o address a. further commumca- tion against radial displacement of the rollers, pro]ectmg
tion t o you, gi vin~ general details of the application of collars are formed on the casing, against which the ends
our anti-friction roller bearing to the thrust block of a of the rollers would bear if displaced radially. These
propeller shaft, which was referred to in our letter pub- collars are so arranged in form and dimens.ions that, sho?ld
the roller ends touch them, there will still be only rollmg
lished in your issue of the 15th ultimo.
Before describing our bearing, we may say that Mr. movement on the lines of engagement as the rollers reYolk, in his letter in your issue above referred to, hasi volve.
The sketches will, w~ think, sorve to illustrate the forein our opinion, stated the principal cause of failure in al
ball bearings-namely, that the balls crowd together, and going description :
]fig. 1. is a diagram showing the general arrangement
the surfaces in contact moving in opposite directions
cause considerable friction ; added to which, balls do not of the coned rollers and spacing balls.
Fig. 2 shows the thrust collar on the s?aft, and the
afford sufficient bea.ting surfaces for heavy loads.
In our bearing a series of coned rollers are ar- relative positions of the coned rollers, spacmg balls, ba.ll
ranged on either side of the thrust collar of the paths, and casing.
Fig. 3 is an enlarged view of one of the coned rollers
shaft, so as to take the thrus t pressure when going
ahead or astern, as the case may be; and tbe.se with balls, &c.
In conclusion, we may state that, after the very extensive experiments we have made, the results therefrom
obtained, and the obser ved action of balls under pressure,
we have no hesitation in expressing our opinion that!
balls, by themselves, will never be found to act satisfacPig.1.
torily under even moderately heavy pressures, and that
con sequently they are not well adapted for thrust blocks
of propeller shafts.
Yours faithfully,
P URDON AND W ALTERS.
2, Great George-street, W estminster, S. W.,
October 4, 1893.
AN ELECTRIC REG ULA'r OR.-Mr. Henri Campiche>, of
Geneva (at present of the Royal Hotel, L ondon), is introducing an exceedingly simple electric clock and time
d istributor. A pendulum, beating seconds, operates a.
pawl which rotates a ratchet wheel of thirty teeth,
making one revolution per minute. At one point in its
revolution this wheel completes an electric circuit, and
energises an electro-magnet. From the armature of this
magnet a long tail-piece stretched towards the pendulum,
which at the point carries a s pring. At the moment the
circuit is completed the armature gives an impulse to the
pendulum, the shock being softened by the interposition
of the spring between the pendulum and the armature.
The same current can be distributed to a number of
clocks, each provided with an electro-magnet and a. few
wheels t.o operate the hands.

---

'

.Pig.3.

\,~' 'J.."'...' ,/

-+--

1 I

Fig. 4.
T o 'l'.EIE EDITOR oF ENGINEERING.
Sm,-In your description of the engines of the steamer
Honam, contained in your issue of September 1, you say
the wooden gallows frame usual in American practice
made a clearance of 5 in. between piston and cylinder
ends, a not unusual allowance.
Allow me to say that in this you have been misinformed, as such an excessive clearance is altogether unheard of.
coned rollers are kept in their proper relative posiIn engines of the size of the Honam's we have adopted tion by two series of balls, one of which is placed near the
1 in. of clearance as amply sufficient, and this, too, with outer, and the other near the inner ends of the rollers.
wooden frames; while, m the case of smaller engines, As the number of balls in each series is equal to the
40-in. to 50-in. cylinders and strokes of 10ft. t o 12 ft., I number of coned rollers, it follows that there is a pair of
have made the clearance as little as i in. without fear of bl.lls (one at each end) between every pair of rollers.
results.
These balls perform two distinct functions- namely:
Yours truly,
(a) To space the rollers and l?revent the surfaces of any
H. T. RowLEY.
pair commg in contact; and (b) to prevent radial displaceNew Y ork Iron Works, New York City,
ment of the rollers, either by the action of pressure or
September 15, 1893.
gravity.
[The statement regarding the u wobbling " of the
The balls roll upon adjustable patbs.z ..which are formed
wood~n gallows frame was given on the authority of as described by your correspondent, lVl.r. Wing field, in
A~er1can experts who were in this country in connection your issue of the 29th ult., and which is the only true
Wtth the construction of steamers with beam engines form for the grooves in the case under consideration.
1
~any years ago; and the excessive clearance was, accord- l Care is taken to so proportion thA diameters of the drivmg. to th~m, not _unusual. Moreover, many eminenb ing neck3 on the coned rollers (in which the balls fit) to
engmeers m ~mer10a op~osed the adoption of the iron the paths on which the balls-driven by the rollers-run,
gallows frame m the l\1omng, built by Messrs. Inglis in that there is nothing but pure rolling motion between
1869, on acc~unt_ of it3 want of flexibility-a certain the roller necks balls and paths.
amount of th1s ? emg deemed desirable. It I S gratifying
The ball paths ar;, in this case, stationary with the
tba~ the. expenence of the firms who write to us on the bearing casing, and the relative direction of revolution
eub)ect mdtcates that now wooden frames are so satis- of the rollers and balls is as shown by Fig. 4 where a is
factory. ~verybody admits the ingenuity with which a. ball and b, bare roller necks.
'
the Amencans construct in wood, but as wood shrinks
The grooved necks of the rollers and ball paths are
and swells, to the destruction of rigidity at the joints, we formed with larger ra.dii than the b~lls, thus giving 'true

H.M.S. "SPE'EDY."- The first official trial of the

torpedo gunboat Speedy took place on Tuesday last, the
3rd inst. This vessel, as our readers are aware, has been
built and engined by M essrs. J. I. Thornycroft and Co.,
of Chiswiok, and is especially interesting from the fact
that s he has Thornycroft water-tube boilers. The trial on
Tuesday was with natural draught, and was for a period
of eight hours. We shall give full particulars of this trial
when we deal with the forced draught trials, which will
take place shortly. In the meantime it will s uffice to say
that the results were of a highly satisfactory nature, over
500 horse-power more than the guarantee being obtained.
The speed of the vessel was 18.5 knots. The total mean
ndicated horse-power was 3043 ; the steam averaged
190 lb. pressure. The revolutions w~re about 209 per
minute
for the starboard engines, and 203 for the p ort

engmes.
RAILWAY AociDENTS.-A return of accidents and
casualties report ed to the Board of Trade by the several
railway companies in the United Kingdom during the
six months ended June 30, 1893, has been issued as a
Parliamentary Blue-book. During the six months there
were reported 12 collision s between passenger trains or
part'> of passenger trains, by which 43 passengers and
one servant were injured; 16 collisions between passenger trains and goods or mineral train~, &c., by which
47 passengers and five servants were injured; six collisions between goods trains or parts of goods trains,
by which seven servants were injured ; one case of a.
train coming in contact with projections from other
trains travelling on parallel lines, by which one servant
was killed and three passengers were injured; 26 cases of
passenger trains or parts of passenger trains leaving the
rails, by which three servants were killed and 19 passengers and two servants were injured ; eight cases of goods
trains or parts of goods trains leaYing the rails, by which
one servant was killed and two were injured; three cases of
trains or engines travelling in the wrong direction through
p oints, by which one p assenger and one servant were injured; 14 cases of trains running into stations or sidings at
too high a speed, by which 78 passengers and three
servants were injured; 70 cases of trains running over
cattle or other obstructions on the line, by which five
passengers and other persons were injured ; 22 cases of
trains running through gates at leYel crossings, by which
one passenger was killed and one passenger and one servant were injured; five cases of failure of machinery,
springs, &c , of engi nes, by which two servants were injured; 294 failures of tyres, by which two passengers and
one servant were injured; nine failures of couplings, by
which five servants were injured ; and two other accid ents, by which three passengers and thr&e servants were
injured. The total number of personal accidents reported
by the se\'era.l railway companies during the six months
amounted to 524 persons killed and 4302 injured.

E N G I N E E RI N G.

430
MISCELLANEA.
IN a very short time the Admiralty will introduce into

[OcT. 6, 1893.

DIAGRAMS OF THREE MONTHS' FLUCTUATIONS IN PRICES OF METALS.

the service two new ~2-pounder quick-firing guns.

(Specially compiled from Officiol Reports of London M etal wnd Scotch Pig-Iron Warrant Markets.)
A lthough of the same cahbre-3.085 in.- tbe guns will be
of di~er~nt lengths. The longest will be about 10ft. 6 in.,
and 1s mtended solely for use on board ship and the
SEPTEMBER, 1893.
J ULY, 1893.
A UGUST, 1893.
~hart gun, wliich will have a length of about 7 'ft. 6 in.,
I
IS to be called a field gun.
z
A t a m~eting of the Manch ester City Council on W ed0
nesday, S tr John Harwood announced, amid loud cheers
that aft~r consultation ~ith the en gineers and dredging
master, 1t h ad been deCided that the Ship Canal would be 8 8
r eady for opening on January 1 next. On that day, therefore, vessels would be free to traverse the whole length of 86
the canal from the M ersey t o the Manchester D ocks.
.,.
8,..
l'o...
Two new war vessels are being got ready in Chatham
D.
'
Dockyard for launching, and both are expected to be
z
...... loo..
~;
,.
ready to be sent afloat before the end of the present year.
The larger of the two vessels is the F orte, a swift cruiser
8:
I'
~
.;.
rated as a second class, of 4360 t ons displacement and of
.....
J.
'1"
9000 horse-power. The construction of this ves~el has
"'
4
.
been watched with considerable interest as the whole of 8
the machinery and boilers is being :nanufactured in
t-t--r-+-t--r-++-+-+-+-+-+-+-+--t-11-+-+-+-+~
Chatham D ockyard, instead of th e order beingplaced % ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
with a private fi rm. The other vessel, the Dryad is
receiving h er engines and boilers on board from the m~nu
facturer, and is so far advanced that sh e will be ready for
launching within a month.
The I ron A ge states that the greater portion of the
steelrail outputin Americais nowusedforrenewals and
not for new lines, as was suggest ed by Mr. Carnegi e.
Thus for the years 1889 to 1892 the following was the

distribution of t h e output, t he tonnage used for tram L

Z8
lines being deducted :
Production Used fo r New Ranewa.l Require
26
of Rails.
Roads.
ments.
Year.
Gross Tons.
Gross Tons.
Gross Tons.
24
~

Ill

" "

HS

J8t~~~~~~~~~~~~~E~$~g~~~*~~tEe~~!~~~!~!~~~tat~

1880
1890
1891
1892

1,458,297
1,786,778
1,225,874
1,440,264

518,400
534,900
389,900
446,700

939,897
1,251,878
835,974
993,561

A certain. propor~ion of the rene"';'als is due to the replacement of tron rails, but the maJOr portion of the t racks
relaid was steel originally.
In a pamphlet issued, M. Arnould L ocard discusses
the peculiar fauna of the P aris water mains, which it
appears are infested by numerous molluscs, which appear
to thrive well in their peculiar en vironm en t. The largest
of t~es~ molluscs ar~ t~e D.r eissentia .A.rnouldi, which
attam sizes up t_o l~ 10. 10 h etght, and are ~omparati vely
more numerous 10 th e water roam s tha n 10 the River
Seine. They fasten t h emselves fi rmly to the sides of the
mains, and form a great obstruction to the passage of the
water. So firmly do they adhere, that very powerful
scrapers are required t o move them. As for remedy, M .
L ocard suggests that the mains should be laid drv for a
few da ys, when the molluscs would die, and might then
be r emoved, and the main thoroughly washed out before
being again used for conveying potable water. To prevent
their reintroduction, the water supply should invariably
be filtered before passing into the mains.
The F rench Government has issued an order to the
navy, for the preservation of boilers not in use, as follows :
On board all sh ips in the reser ve, as well as on those
which are laid up, the boilers will be completely filled
with fresh water ; and this is to apply to sh ell boilers as
well as to those of the tubulous or pipe type. In the
case of large boilers with large tubes there will be added
to the water a certain amount of milk of lime, following
the instructions furnished by Belleville and Co. for the
preser vation of the tubes of their boilers, or a solution of
soda may be used instead. In the case of tubulous
boilers with small tubes, milk of lime or soda will be
added, but the solution will not be so strong as in the
case of the larger tube, so as to avoid any danger of contracting t he effect ive area by deposit from the solution ;
but the strength of the solution will be just sufficient to
n eutralise any acidity of the water.
Messrs. H icks, H argreaves, and Co. supplied the
engin es t o the large new cotton mill which was recently
opened in Bombay. The mill in question has 9000 spindles
and 1000 looms, and i ts output is estimated at 40,000 lb. of
yarn and 16,600 lb. of cloth per day. The engines were
built to the specification of Mr. M. L ongridge, of the
Engi ne Boiler and Employers' Liab ility Iusurance Company. They are of t he horizontal triple-expansion comp ound Corliss type, with cylinders arranged in pairs
t andem fashion, and are capable of indicating 3200 h orsepower. T he cylinders are 30 in., 49 in., 53 in., and 53 in.
tn d iamet er, with a G-ft. stroke. T he boiler pressure is
180 lb. per square inch, and the normal speed of the
engin e is 55 revoluti<:ms per min~te. Th_e power is t ransm itted from the engme t o the mill shaftmg by ropes, the
main drum being 32 ft. in diameter, and grooved for
fifty-six l il-iu. rop~s.
I t is proposed to put a power t ransmission plant at Weynau, inSw1tzerland, by means of which a total of 2000 horsep ower, obtained ~Y turbines fr~m th~ Ri ver Aar,_ will be
transmitted to d dferent facton es, situat ed at d istances
r anging from ! to 12~ miles from the power station.
F or the shorter distances-viz., up to about 4 miles, it
is proposed to use com~ressed air as t he t~a~smi tt~r,
whilst for th e longer distances t he transmtss1on will
be effected electrically. The current to be employed
is of the al ternating type, t he: potential on t h e line
being 8000 volts which will be transformed down to
100 to 150 volts' where required. The cond uctors wi11
be ca.rri ed on posts, special preca~tions bein~ taken .with
the insulation. The air-compreasmg plant wtll cons1st of
fi ve compressors, capt\ble of providing 90,000 cubic feet of

22

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NoTE.-Each vertical line represents a market day, and each h orizontal line represents 1s. in the
case of hemat ite, Scotch, and ~levelan~ iron! and ll. in all other cases. The price of quicksilver is
per bottle, the contents of which vary In weight from 70 lb. to 80 lb. The metal prices &re per ton.
Heavy ateel rails are to Middlesbrough quotations.
air at 8 atm ospheres pressure per hour. The distributing
pipes will be 10 in. and 7 in. in diameter, and will be of
cast iron.
In t he A nnual of t he Engineering Society of t he U n iversity of Georgia, Mr. B. M. Hall describes the method
by which the Suwanee Canal Company is cut ting an
outlet for draining t he Okeefenok ee Swamp, in Charlton
County, Georgia. This swamp lies in an elevated plateau
116 ft. above high tide in t h e St. Mary R iver, from which
ri ver the swamp is separated by a ridge 32 ft . above the
swam p level. A narrow channel17 ft. deep was first cut
through this rid ge, and a pumping plan t was then placed
at the swamp end of this channel. T his plant consisted
of t wo cent rifugals d ri ven by steam, and capable of raising
30,000 ga.l lons (U.S.) per minu te, in a flume arranged so
as to discharge i'nto the channel already mention ed. The
rush of water rapidly deepens th e channel, its action
being aided by a '' porcupin e " barrow. This consists of
a log 10 ft. long filled with harrow teeth which is dragged
up a nd down t he channel by cables. The cost of excava
tion by t h is method is said to be only 2! cents per cubic
yard.
I n a paper read before the International Electrical
Cong ress, Chicago, Professor D. C. J ackson stated t hat
four d ifferen t varieties of underground electric conduits
were at ~resent in use in America. These were cast or
wrought Iron pi pe, cement -lined sheet-iron pipe, tile,
terra-cot ta, or clay pipes, and wooden tubes. Of these
glazed terra-cotta was most used, t he sections being 3 ft.
long, and the d ucts rectangular, and each capable of con-

taining at least three cables. It was watertight and

nearly \t ight, and the glaze has a high electrical resist
ance.
hen laid in concret e t he conduit should be laid
with its top 2ft. below the pavemen t; without concrete
at about 3ft. The t ile conduit was laid on a bed of cement
from 2 in. t o 6 in. thick. It was covered with concrete to a
similar depth, so that when the whole had hardened, it re
sembled a continuous set of stone ducts. J oints between
the sections were made either by burlap strings soaked in
asphalte, or more commonly by a tile sleeve cemented on.
~he simplest conduit used was wrought iron gas pipe laid
either bare in the ground, or imbedded in concrete. The
ducts were usually 2 in. or 3 in. in diamet er, the latter size
accommodating four cables. The joints are made with
screwed sleeves, and t he pipes are usually 20 ft. long.
E xperience shows t hat cables can be pulled easily round
curves in these p ipes of not less t han 3 ft. radius.
W hen laid in concrete, the pipes are spaced about
1! in. apart. W hen alternating currents are used, the
out and return cables ehould lie in t he same conduit
to avoid losses by eddy currents and hysteresis in the
pipe. Wood conduits were largely used in P hiladelphia.
T~e wa:lls were about 1:]: in . .t~ick, and th e top was covered
w1th 2-m. plank as an add1t10nal precaution. T he commonest form was built of 4 in. by 4 in. pieces of wood
with a 3-in. hole bored through them. Tbe wood was
preser ved _with coal-tar oil (carbolineum). The disadvantage of tb1s system was t he dest ruction of the covering of
the cables by the preservatives used for the wood. T he
only type of conduit used on a large ~cale was the cement lined iron pipe.

OcT. 6, 1893.]
::

E N G I N E E R I N G.
'!'

4;

OPEN-SPINDLE CAPSTAN LATHE.

CON~ TRUCTED BY MESSRS. JOHN LANG AND SONS, ENGINEERS, JOH NSTONE, N.B.

---

--...
-
-

...
.. .......
....
.
..
.
.. -

- .. -.

... .- ..~
.;,....
..:...

- ----

THE capstan lathe which we illustrate on this page

is one of a type now being constructed by ~lessrs. John
Lang and Sons, of J ohnstone, and is intended for
making from bar iron all kinds of screws and studs.
The saddle carrying the t urret is fitted with a selfacting feed, the rate of ~hich can ~e changed without
stopping the lathe, by s1mply movmg the hand lever
shown in front of t he headstock . By this means three
rates of feed can be obtained, viz., -?7! in., -hin., and y\ in.
par revolution of lathe spindle. The screwing head is
arranged to swing out of the way when not in use.
The clie holder is of an improved type, having no
front plate, and thus permitting screwing to be done
right up t o a shoulder. The dies are cut from bar of
special shape, and fit into slides in the screwing head
without machining. They are made in long lengths,
and the threads can be re cut many times before the
dies are worn ont. Grips for holding bars from ! in.
to 2 in. in diameter are provided with the machine.
The capstan rest hl.s provision for five tool!:. The
machine illustrated has a 2~- in . hole through its
spindle ; the height of centre is 8! in. ; the bed is 6 ft .
long by 12 in. wide, and the total weight complete is
28 cwt. The cone pulley is designed for a 3-in. belt,
and has four steps. As illustrated, the lubricant to
the dies and tools is supplied from an ordinary trough,
but a centrifugal pump is fitted when desired.
' VELCH'S NUT LOCK.
THE nut lock illustrated below has been recently
brought out by Mr. \Villiam J . "\\7elch, of 25, \Vellington-street, Strand. It does not a im at securing
the nut by means of increased friction, as is ordinarily done, but it opposes an absolute obstacle t o its
rotation, rendering it a matter of certainty that it

ca.nnot get off the bolt. This is done by forming a

~otterway through the end of the bolt, and driving
1nto the slot a. cotter with a thin tail, whioh may, or
may not, be bent across one of the fiats of the nut as
desU:ed. This slot is so proportioned that, when the
nut lS screwed home to the last t hread, its inner end

is below the face of the nut u.t least 1\ in. If the nut
should not go so far home it will, of course, cover
more of the cotterway. To allow for these variations,
several (say four) sizes of cotters, slightly tapering, are
supplied for each size of bolt. Should the nut require
t o be screwed farther home in course of time, from the
stretching of the bolt, or from the pieces which it
secures wearing closer together, the cotter can be
replaced by one slightly larger.
It will be seen that this n ut lock can be used with
bolts in any p osition- horizontal , vertical, or inclined
- that it jams the n ut through a considerable range,
and t hat it is easily removed, leaving both nu t and
bolt uninjured. There are many purposes for which
the absolute assurance of safety that it gives will
recommend it highly.
I N D USTRIAL NOTES.
T HE coal war continues. The hopes, even expectations, of a possible arrangement during the past week
were not realised. The coalowners met and discussed
the situation, l:>ut dispersed with the intimation that
when the men were ready and willing, and had
armed their representatives with full powers t o negot iate, the coalowners, commi ttee would be ready to
meet them. The hitch is an initial one; upon ita removal depends everything connected with the dispute.
The employercs expressed their willingness to arbitrate
from the first; they reiterate their readiness now;
but the basis of arbit ration must be the rates of wages
to be paid, which, after all, involves a reduction if the
arbit ration board, or the umpire, or anybody t o whom
the dispute is referred, so decide. So far the attit ude
of the coalowners has undergone no change ; it is
consistent with-is, indeed, practically the same-as
that t aken at the first conference at the \Vestminster
P alace Hotel. The miners' conference at Chesterfield
met after the decision of the coalowners, conference
was made known by the manifesto issued by Mr .
A. M. Chambers on the day previously. The delegates
at the miners, conference simply reasserted their previous decision not to meet the employers to discuss
any reduction in wages whatever. They, however, reiterated their willingness to meet, and reaffirmed their
former statement that the late rates of wages were t h e
normal condition of wages in the several districts, and
pledged themselves not to seek any advance in those
rates until the prices of 1890-91 were again realised.
In a certain sense, therefore, the position is that of a
deadlock, each par ty taking a stand at a point whir.h
necessita tes either a prolongation of t he contest, the
intervention of a third party, or a surrender on one
side or the other. Arbitration seems to be out of the
question, for that would mean a submission of all
matters to the arbitra tors. This the men decline.
Conciliation may be a means whereby a. basis could be

found, if both part ies would agree to accept interven

t ion, but not otherwise.
.
The deadlock is n ot however, so absolute as 1t was.
The Federation of Miners has decided that the men
may return to work on the old rates of wages wherever
the coalown~rs consent to pay such r ates, the only
condition being tha t the old hands shall r eturn to
wor k when an d as soon as room can be found for them
at their old stations. This step is important, b ecause
it will remove the block at the pits, and render it
possible to obtain a ~upp~y ~f cod and fuel_ for manufacturing purposes m dtstncts now d~st1tute; a~d,
moreover, it may be the means of solvmg the ddliculty, by preparing the way for more peaceful ~ego
tiation in districts where the non po.'lsurn.us att1tude
is still maintained. It is now generally admitted
that the calling out of men, where no notices of a reduction had been given, was a tactical blunder. Now
that the tac tics are changed, and men ar e a llowed to
work at the old rates where they can , pecuniary assistance will be given by t rades which hitherto have held
aloof, or have only assisted by voluntary contributions
instead of by levies. The men who return to work are
to pay a levy of 1s. p er day towards assisting those
who are still out. In this way the contest will perhaps be p rolonged in certain di~tricts, but the principle of self-interest will operate upon both parties.
The great coal war will be rem<>mbered for many
strange incidents- for changes of attitude and policy,
a nd for vacillation in some cases where firmness should
have been conspicuous; in other cases for an adherence
to the main object of the strike, namely, the prevent ion of any reduction whatever, and for the stouthearted pluck sh own by the men and their families
in the face of privation and want. The latter qualities
must be admitted, and even admired, for it shows
that brave enduran ce is still a characteristic of the
B ritish people. But the chief interest will centre in
the final result of the conflict, as a test of the possibilities of great federations to control industrial
warfare. In all similar conflicts the federation
principle has been defeated. This was the case iu
the miners, agitations from 1870 to 1879. This was also
the experience in the agricultural labourers' movement
from 1870 to 1879. It also broke down in the building
trades in 1859 to 1864. I t was by no means a s uccess
in the dockers' federations, with other classes of men, in
the years 1889 to 1892. But the Miners, F ederation is
constituted of miners only, not on the principle of amalgamation, as in the E ngineers, but by joint action in the
common interest, when circumstances seem to require it. The degree of success cannot be estimated a.t
present in this case.
The effect of the par tial resumption of work cannot
as yet be estima t ed, but the supply will be largely
increased all over the kingdom. Durham, N orthumberland, 'outh "\Vales, C umberland, parts of Staffordshire, and t he Forest of Dean have resumed work
where\er they had been stopped. The federation at
its recent conference condemned the Forest of Dean
men for accepting a reduction of 20 per cent. , and
r efused to receive a communication from them. But
the men thus condemned have a very good answer, in
t he fact that they were not s upported by t he federat ion as they had been led to expect. The condemnation was mainly based upon the acceptance of the sliding scale in the Forest of Dean, but , singularly enough,
the sliding scale was allowed to operate in Staffordshire,
the men being thanked for pecuniary h elp from their
earnings under the sliding scale. Yet in Sout h W ales
the most frantic efforts were made to upset the sliding
scale, even in spite of the fact that the cessation of
work involved t he prosecution of the men for breach es
of contract. This is the curious part of it-the policy
was no t quite the same all round . And even the
acceptance of work without reductions was not
equally condemned in all cases, for some of t he men resumed work at pits in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire
before the conference resolved to p ermit it. The oddest
thing about the whole matter is t hat the men employed
at the La dyshore Colliery were not allowed to return
to work on the lines laid down by Mr. F letcher the
proprietor, who proposed to give 30 per cent. ad~ance
on the old rates. But the resolution of the Lancashire
and Cheshire Federation gave permission a day or two
afterwards to all the men in the two counties to resume
work at the old rates. The resumption of work will
be partial in L ancashire, Yorkshire, Derbyshire
Nottinghamshire, Staffordshire where not under th~
sliding scale, L eicest ershire, Somersetshire and Ulouc~stershire. The full effects of this partial r esumpt wn of work can only be known after an interval
but pr~sumably the p its at which the 25 p er cent:
reductwn was demanded by official notices will still
be closed.

---

The general effects of the coal strike, in the shape of

a coal famine and high prices, reached an acute stage
t owards the close of last week, when coal in London
was advanced a furth er 5s. p er ton , which together
with 2s. advance on the previous Monday, ~eant 7s .
per too advance io one week. AR the weather has not

432

EN G I N E E RI N G.

bee~ at a.l~ severe up to the present time , the pressure

of h1gh prlCes h as n ot b een felt to the ex tent it otherwise would h ave b een; but fuel is n eeded for cookin g
o.?d oth.er purposes in the poorest hom e, so that the
h1gh pnr.es h a.ve been seriou s. The worst feature
is, however, that thousands h ave b een thrown out of
work, or h ave b een only p a rtia lly employed by r eason
of the scar city of fuel, so that t h e workpeop'Ie a r e less
able to bear the hig h p rices than they were in 1872-73
when work was plentiful, and wages we re hia h i~
n early every industry. But it is not in London ; lone
or even m a inly, tha.t the coal stoppage has bee~
disas trou~ to other work ers. It is equa.lly, and even
mor~, so 1n a ll the iron and steel prod ucing districts,
and m all places where engineering in a ll its branches,
and iron shipbuilding and all kindred t rades a re
carrie d on. It has also greatly affected the carrying
trades, especially by sea and rail way, thousands of
the work ers en gaged b eing thrown idle, either wholly
or partially, in connection with those industries. The
w orst may be over, by the partia l resumption of w ork,
but it will t ake some little time in m any instances
before the pits will be in a condition t o produce the
full quantity of their usua.l output. For the miners,
this may h a ppen : the p a rtia l stoppage of works m ay
h ave the effect of n ot again placing them upon f ull
time unt il the depression in trade h as p assed a way,
and this may not ha ppen for months.

---

The condition of the engineering trades in L a n ca shire cannot w ell b e described until the coal crisis is
over, for all bran ch es are affect ed by it, and it overshadows all other conditions.
Several of t h e la rge
eng ineermg establishments t hroug hout the district are
t olerably w ell off for work, but on the whole the state
of trade in those branches is fa r from satisfactory.
N ew work comes forw a rd very irregularly, and the
work in prosp ec t is n ot of any con siderable weight.
Some of t he large establishments have k ept fa irly well
employed during the coal dispnte, som e by reason of
good stocks, and ot h ers, where pressed, by p ay ing
higher prices. But genera lly work has been much
interfered with in nearly a ll t h e districts ; som e of th e
firms have been only workin g half time, and others
short time, for weeks p ast. In the iron trade business is
r es tricted t o the most pressing n ecessity, for present
requirements ; both sellers and purchasers appear to
b e h olding back until th e collieries and iron w orks
are again in full oper atio n. In the finished iron
b ranches there is little doing, and ther e is little change
to re port in the steel trade. Fortuna tely there are n o
serious disputes p ending in any of those branches of
indnstry .

men's Union, rerently published, be at all correct, the

fig ures will startle such well -conducted u nions a s the
Eng ineers, Ironfounders, Boilermakers and Shipbuilders, Carpenters and J oiners, and a host of othe rs.
T he chief items are : S alaries of officers, 9779l. ; rent
and rates, l328l. ; printing and stationery, 2215l. ;
legal charges, 2559l. ; cost of week ly publication of
organ, 1377l. ; other exp enses of management, 5003l.;
total, 22,26ll. ; losses by the Cardiff Home, 5504l. ,
or a g ross t otal of 27, 765l. Against this the benefits
rank thus : L ock -out pay to m embers, 2573l. ; strike
p ay, l92l. ; sick pay, 5 12l. ; m edical aid, ll3l. ;
fun eral benefits , 506l. ; shipwreck claims, 40ll. ; outof-work, 74l. ; and superannuation, 62t. ; total, 4438l.,
out of a n aggregat e expenditure of 32,203!. Truly the
m ouths of t he old unionists must water a t the blissful
state of the new unions , in so far as they may covet
salaries a nd expen ses.
The long hours worked by carmen have come b efore
the police cour t s recen tly, from wh ich it appears that
in some cases the driver and the h orses are out
eighteen and even more h ou rs p er day. If the Carmen 's Gnion still exist, it ought to do something in
this matter. And wh at of t he p oor horses? They
have no un ion, but there is a Society for the Preven tion of Cruel ty to Animals.

---

The boot and shoe strike at Bristol has en ded with

advantage t o the men. It was feared a t one time th a t
the strike would cause a serious d isruption all through
the boot and sh oe trades districts, but the executive
came down with force, and even t ua lly secured a settlement of t h e dispute. The whole conditions of labour in
this trade have been undergoing a n import an t cha nge
during the last few year s, and very soon the entire
trade will b e under factor y law. H ome work aud
sweating will be at an end. The system of half a
century ago is a. m a tter of hist ory ; even that of a.
q uarter of a century ago is fast passing a way, never to
return.

---

The fa rriers' strike in the London district has ended

in a collapse, the m en 's places be ing taken by men
from the provinces, but a t the advan ced rates, and
with a redu ction of the working hours. The men have
l ost, b u t the condit ions fo ught for have been practically won . The fact is, there is such a large mass of
surplus labour at present, tha t a strike in a ny trade is
exceedingly risky.

Amid all the strikes and failures of t he present, one

trade seems to be flourishing, that of the sh eeting
weavers, the men employed a t which h ave just obIn the Sheffield and Rotherham district the coal tained 25 per cent . advance in t h e H eywood district of
dispute has had a m ost depress:ng effect all round, Lancashire.
the local industries b ein g in a very disorganised condition. Thousand s of wor kmen a re ou t of employment,
Apart from strikes, there is the grave question of the
and there seems to be n o indication of any great unemployed, the number of whom is increasing enoractivity in a ny department. The steel and file indus- mousl y . In London the m atter is becoming serious,
tries are m ost depressed, chiefly owing to the fuel diffi- and it is to b e h oped that the foolish wild talk of the
culty. It is said that Sheffield has n ot known, since p ast two y ears will not be repeated. In L iverpool the
1880, so serious a derangem ent of l ocal trade, or such out-of-work can be counted by many thousands. It is
a cute distress. L 1.bour difficulties are, h owever, gene- generally so in m ost of th e la rge towns. It is a diffirally abdent in the district.
cult problem, loo k ed at from every standpoint. If
-work could be found a t occupations which came into
In the Birmingham district very little business h as competition with ordinary labour, there would be an
been d oing in the iron and st eel branches of trade ; outcry. If the rates are largely increased , there will
b oth me rchants and consumers appear to be h olding be grumbling by the ratepayers. The Excheq uer is
back in the ex pectation of b etter t erms. The hou se- about empty, so that t he S ta te cannot or will n ot do
h old brass and iron furnishing trades seem to be the much. L a.nd cultiYation is out of the question. But
m o3t busy, and a la rger demand is experienced for a ll some local works could p ossibly be hurried forward, so
kinds of d omestic u tens ils, such as la mps, stoves, fire- as t o give employment to some at least.
irons, a nd fenders, and tinpla.te workers a re busy in
bright stamped goods. Bedstead manufacturers anticiThe coal strikes on the Con t inen t have extended .
pate b eing busy with a good winter trade. Metal rollers In Belgium the total number out a t the close of last
and tube and wire drawers are a lso fairly well em - week was over 12,000 in the Charleroi district, and a
ployed. But even here the full ex t ent of the season's general cessation of work was d ecided upon this week.
tra de ca nnot be gauged till the coal crisis is over.
At Mons the t otal number on strike was much redu ced,
and all chances of a gen eral strike were regarded as at
In th e \V ol verhampton district fairly good business an end. In tih e Liege district only a bout 750 were on
has been done both in crude and finished iron, but t h e strike at the commencement of the week, a nd a ll was
coal supplies have in some ca ses been r estricted. The quiet.
demand f or p ig iron has increased by r eason of t he
In t h e Carmaux district, France, the voting was for
l essened production elsewhere. This also applies t o a. general strike, only 34 being adverse to that p olicy
b a rs, plates, s heets, h oops, &c. The prices of m ost out of 2850 who vot ed. A t L ens some disturbances
articles h a ve increased w ith the augmented d emand, took place, the m en on strike being disp ersed b y t he
and where not increased the quotations a re firm . On gendarmes.
Several wer e wounded, and fi ve were
the whole, the W olverhampton district has d one fairly arrested.
O th er strikes are r eport ed in Fra nce , bu t
w ell during t he coal dispu te, as its supplies have not n one of a. very serious charact er. In no case has the
b een stopped, a lthough somewhat r estricted in some cessation of work on the Continen t had the slightest
cases. In neither of the two districts are there a ny effect upon the coal d ispute in this country .
serious labour disputes.
The strike in the P as de Calais ciistrict, a fter cost ing
the miners about 2,000,000 fran cs, has practically
The Admiralty havo increased the weekly wages of ended with ou t mu ch ad vantage to t h e men. There is,
the labourers at a ll the Governm en t dockyards, as indeed, little cha nce of any desp erate labour stru ggle
promised so me time ago. This incr ease will reach in on the Con t inent until the men a re organised more on
th e aggregat e about 32,000l. a. year.
ome fur - the lines of English unions. The men strike without
ther con cessions are being made, and a ppear t o be due deliberation, a nd without means.
very satis fact ory to the dockyard workers, according
to report.
The appeal of t h e L ondon Trad es Council for financial a.gsistance to the miners on strike offers no opi nion
If the items of expenditure of the Sailors' ~nd Fire- on the n1erits of t h e dispute. The appeal is for the

--

[OcT. 6, 1893.
hungry, for the women a nd children who suffer and
cannot help t hemsel ves. It was a wise decision on
the p a r t of the cou ncil to avoid all controversy
because of the differences existing b etween th~
various sections of th e miners as to matters of policy.
As a rule, the appeals of the London Trades Council
h ave b een most successful, dating back to its fi rst
establishment in 1859, or the early part of 1860, when
it collected money for the builder s' strike. As a rule
a close inves tigation of the m erits of the case is insti~
tuted before credentials ar e given to collect fu nds on
behalf . of a s trike. In this c.a se no su?h investigation
was n eeded, all the facts bemg n otor1ous. The chief
u nions that have n ot contributed will either send their
mon ey direc t to th e miners or Ulrough the London
Trades Council, now t hat the lalter have appealed.

TICI{ET CANCELLING, DATING, AND

RE G I S TERING MACHINES.
AT the ~7 orld 's Colum bian Exposition t he Keller
P rinting Company, of 708, Broadway, New York, exhibit severa l machines for print ing and dealing with
t ickets intended for use on r a il and tram ways. Three
of these a re illustrated on page 414. Fig. l shows an
applia nce for cancelling or punching a large number
of tickets a t one operation. These tickets, a specimen
of which is shown on the base of t he machine, have a
number of days of the month- 1st to 16th- p rinted on
the upper margin. They are, h owever, only available
for use on one p a rticular day. To indica.te this date,
th e tickets given out to the conductors haYe a notch
M cut out of the space corresponding to the particular
day. T o effect the notching a large pack et of tickets
B is placed in a b ox, a n d strongly compressed by
mean s of the screw D turned by the crank handle E.
O ver the t ickets there is a sliding oarriage F, carrying
a. tool G, cl amped by a screw H. By turning the
handle I the carriage is moved, throug h the intermediary of the pinions J and fi xed racks K, over
the p ack et of tickets, a nd the tool is caused to
pla n e a g roove, which shows as a notch M in
each ind ivid ua l ticket. This notch, as shown, indicat es that the ticket is good only for the 5th day of
the current month. By p erforating , by a hand punch,
t he line of hours at the base of the t icket , the conductor can still further curtail t he time during which
the ticket is available.
Fig. 2 shows a ticket holder and register, by which
a. w eb or ta.pe of ticket s can be cut up and dated, each
tick et b eing counted as it is wi t hdrawn, to prevent
fraud . The tape is drawn throngh feed rollers 4, 4 by
turning the handle 3, a nd p assed between a printing
cylinder B and a bed cylinder 6. Upon the printing
cylinder is a knife, w hich cuts off the ticket s 7 as it
d eli vers th em through t he slot 8. A counting device
9 is gear ed to the printing cylinder, and k eeps a.
register of the operation. It is inclosed within the
case, which is normally closed by the locked door
shown at the back of this view. By the use of this
machine all t roublesome counting of the stock of
tickets is avoided, w hile d ishonest officialSs fi nd an
exact account k ept against them.
Another form of dating mach ine, designed for turning out tickets rapidly for street railways, ferries, &c. ,
is shown in Fig. 3. The individual ticket s in the roll
are divided from one anot her by a perforation and a
pair of notches, w hich are a lso used for maintainin g
t he r egist er during p rinting. The roll of tickets A is
placed on the stud U, and h eld sideways between t he
two laths B, B. The end of the tape is p assed around
the wheel L, a nd is t hen carried around the bed
cylind er E, again passed over a portion of the periphery of L , and then carried around the wheel M, the
recrossing of the tape producing frictional t ension, after
which it is carried to the winding r eel ~T. This la.tter
is op erated from the sh a ft carrying the type cylinder
by a b elt w hich slips when the coil on the winding
reel becomes of such size t hat it will take up more of
t he t ap e than is fed in the operation of the cylinder
E . This cylinder is fitted with lugs which engage
the notch os in th e tape of tickets to secur e the register,
as already expla ine.d. The type is placed in slots
running p arallel with t he sha ft, and held by screws.
An inking d isc K continuously inks th e type. The
co unter 0 records the number of tickets dated.

LOCOMOTIVE AT THE COLUMBIAN

E X P OSITION. *
(Concluded from page 390.)
Steam P ipes.-Steam pipes to be of cast iron. Ground
joints made with ball-jointed rings t o cylinder and
T -pipe.
Exhaust Pipes.-(Fi g. 65.) E xhaust pipes t o be of cast
iron, with double n ozzles 3~ in. in diameter, made with
ball joints and secured to pipes with t hree bolts (Fig. 5G).
Dry Pipe.- Dry pipe to be 7 in. in diameter outside, la.p-

* F igs. 1 t o 20 occur in our twoJ>age plate and on page

330 in our issue of September 15; Figs. 21 to 42 occur in
our two-page plate of September 22; Figs. 43 to 53 ocour
on pages 3R8 and 389 in the issue of September 29, and
the remaining fi~ures on pages 418 and 419 in this issue,

E N G I N E E R I N G.

OcT. 6, r893.]
=

welded wrought iron, fitted with brass sleeves, rive~ed , iron pedestals bolted on. Cast-iron centre plat9 supported
caulked, and ball-jointed. Back end secured to cast-Iron on cross bridge to receive centre-pin.
branch pipe in dome: front end secured to fron t flue
Ettg1'ne-Truck Box.-(~ig. 52, page ~89 a,nte. ) Enginebeet> and to T-pipe i n smokebox.
truck box to be of cast uon fitted wtth bras s shell and
8
Th~ottle Val ve.-(Fig. 31 of two-page plate, September projecting Babbitt m etal bearing. Spring side bearing
22.) Th rottle VJhe to be a. dou~le seat balance valve 1 to b 3 se~ured. to frame. }~rak~ to be fi~ted to ,~ruck. as
placed in dome. To be ground in ttght, a~d operated by a per s pem 6cat1~ns under Engme Truck Brakes. Engme
1
bell-crank lever connected by a rod passmg through the . truck to be fin~shed all OYer.
turret t o the throttlo lever.
Wh cels. - (Figs. 50 and 51, page 389 ante.) \Vheels to
T ur1et.- Turret to be of cast iron, drilled and tapped be ?a~t- iro!l spoke .centres, with steel tyr~s secur~d by
as shown. To be finished all over. .
.
retammg nngs. D1ameter of wheels, 40 m. outs1de of
I nj ectors.-Injflctors to be Momtor No. 10 on. nght- tyres.
.
.
.
h~nd side and No. 9 on left hand side, placed outside the
.Ax lcs.-Ax1es to be of hammered 1ron, JOUrnals 6i m.
oa.b, with'handlefor operating them inside.
by 10 in. Ax~es to be stamped with name of maker
Check Valve.- Oheck valve to b~ of th~ standud.pattern. and .d9:'te of for~r~1g.
.
.
.
To be cased with Russia iron w1tb fimshed cast Iron top
Fttttngs. -Engme t o be provtded w1th whistle, steam
and bottom.
gauge, a ir gauge, steam heat gauge, steam heat-reducing
Air Brake E quipment.-Ai.r brake equipmen t,for engine valve (Gould ), three.gauge co~ks, water glass with s hield,
t o be as per vVestinghouse A~r Brake O~mpan~ ~schedule cab lamp, blower, oil cans, stgna~ lamps, br~cket, and all
AI, with 9i in. air pump, 16 ~n. by 33 1_n. aux lhary res~r- neces~ary wrenches, fireto~ls, chisels, packmg.tools, &c.
voir, No. 15 driver brake cyhnder, and Improved equah~- Two Jack s~rews and a pmch bar ~o be p~oVIded. A ll
ing engineer's valve with feed v~lve attachment. Atr exposed . fittmgs t o ~ave wrought-~ron fi niSh. A ll exbrake e::Jnipment for tender t o be as per schedule B.
posed p1 pes to be fimshed. All fimsbed removable nuts
A ir Signal.-Engine to be supplied with complete case-hardened. All thre.ads -p-.S. standard.
air signal equipment as.p er schedule J.
.
.
!ender l(rame. -: (F1g. G.2.) Ten~er frame to. be
Dri-ver Brake.-Engme to be fitted w1th equa.h sed built of 6~ 10. by 4 m. by f m. a ngle 1ron substantially
pressure dri ver brake, operated by two cylinders placed riveted and braced. Pine fltlOring 2 in. thick to cover
under footplate. Brake shoes to be of the Ross Meeban the whole t op of frame, and 1-in. c.ak flooring to be laid
attern.
in coal spacE'. T op of oak flooring to be covered with
p E ngine Truck B rake.-Eagine truck to be fitted with sheet iron secured by countersunk head screws.
brake as per schedule vV. Y. and W. D. American Brake
T ank - (Fig. G1.) T ank to be made of ! in. iron,
Company. To be co~nected. ~y pipe and. hose connec- rive~ed with i il-in. ri ~ets 1~-in. pitch. Angle irons and
tions with 12 in. by 33 m. aux1hary reserv01r.
bracmg as per drawmg. Tank valve C)vers t o have
Mttallic Pa.cking.-P1ston -rod~ and yalve ~tern s to be Russia iron c~sing a~d cas t-tron fi nished top. T ank valves
fi tted with United States metallic packmg (Ftgs. 28 and to be fitted w1th stram ers.
29 of two-page plate, September 22).
Water Scoop.- (Fig. GG.) vVater scoop to be fitted
Wheel Covers.- Wheel covers m 1.de of i- in. sheet-iron t o tender, operated by a lever placed on the lef t hand
fa.~ed with 1~-in. anale i~on fini ~hed.
.
side of the coal spa.oe.
.
.
SprinJ R igging.-Engme to be hu.n~ on s pnngs sup
Gould Drawba.r.-~ender to be .fitted at back end w1th
ported in stirrups underneath the dr1 vmg boxes. Equa- G .mld drawbar. H eJght from rall t o cen tre of drawbar
lisers to be made of best hammered iron slotted at both 35 in. Buffer casting to be fastened to bumper beam on
end3 to receive hangers, and in cen t re to receive wrough t- back end of tender. H eight to top of buffer casting from
iron fulcrum. Gibs for fulcr tlm and hangers to be of steel. rail, 50 in. F ront end of tend er to be fitted with draw
Slack.-Stack to be straight, 15! in. in diameter insidE', castings and drawbar to footplat e of engine, also with
height from b >iler to top of stack 40 }-fi in. Ca!t-iron top safety chains and hooks.
and base and Russia iron jacket. Base to be fitted air
Trucks.-Trucks to be four-wheel, with wrought-iron
t ight to smoke box. Height of stack above uil 14 ft. side fram e. Bolster of channel iron, with plates riveted
10 in. with engine central in pedestal.
on top and bottom and cas t-iron end caps bolted on. Centre
He~dtight.-Headligh ~ to be of special rou~d pattern castings (Fig. 64) to be bolted to bolst er. 9ast-iron
with 18 in. rE:fl ~ctor. T o be secured to headhghtboard top and bottom bols ter plates to be bolted to stde frame
supported on cast-iron brackets. H eight over all, 34~ in. and to bolster. T op bolster plate to receive the safety
To have illuminated number of engine on both sides.
truss which carries the axle safety straps. T ender truck
Sm?kebox Front a n.d .Door.-Smokebox front and door box (Fig&. 63, 64 and G5) to be of cast iron, with brass
to ha of c:1.st iron finished on out~ide and fitted air-tight. j 0urnal bearings and malleable iron keys. Cover to be
Numbsr plate to be secured to doer, numbers t o be riveted of malleable iron. Axles of hammered iron. to be stamped
tu plate.
with name of maker and date of f<?rging. Wheels (Fig. 50,
BeU and Y oke.- Bell and yoke to be of N. Y.C. on page 389 ante ) to be of cast-1ron s poke centres, steel
standard pattern (Fig. 58, page 418). B~ll t o have the tyred, secured by retaining rings. T ender t o be equipped
following corr.posit10n ; four p:1.rts copper to one of tin.
with West in~ house air brake. Brakes to be applied to
Safety Values. -Two 3 in. Richardson combination both trucks. T end er to be equipped with air signal, steam
muffiers and safety valves to be placed in dome cover.
heat pi pe, and couplings.
Dome.-D.)me to be Jagged wi&h asbestos cement and
P ainting.-Engine and tender to be painted black and
r.overed with NQ. 12 sheet iron casing and cast-iron rings. varnished, eaoh coat of paint to be well rubbed before tbe
To ba painted and striped.
next one is put on. All stamping and lettering to be done
Sand Box. -Sa.nd box as per Fig. 57, with N o. 12 in aluminium leaf. Engine to be numbered on side of
sheet-irou body and cast iron top and base. S&nd val vGs d ome and panel of cab. T end er to be numbered on back
to be operated by a handle in cab on right-hand side. end, and lett ered "N. Y. C. & H .R.R. " on side of tank.
S1.nd pipes li in. in diameter to r un to front of each main
dri v&r.
THE WASTE OF HEAT IN IRON
H andRail.-H and -rail of wrought-iron p ipe, finished,
SMELTING.
supported on columns, screwed into bosses, which are
fastened to boiler.
On the Waste of H eat, Past, P resent, and Future, in
Runni ng Boards.-Running board s of i\ in. iron faced
Smelting Ores of Iron. it
with an~le iron secured to boiler w ith wroughtiron
By Sir LowrHI.AN BELL. Bart., F.R.S .
brace$. Finished all over.
O wiNG to an apprehended d earth of papers, at the
Cab.-(Fig. 59.) Cab s ubstantially built of black walnut secured with joint bolts and corner irons. Ceiling request of the Council an appeal was made t o m e for one
of alternate ash and black walnut strip3. To be furnished on desulphurising pig iron. As there was no time t o
with seats and tool boxes for engineer and fireman. prepare anything new on t his subj ~ct, it became necesSashes to be fitted with plate-glass. Wood work to be sary that I should endeavour to gather ma terials for the
present communication from an investigation which has
well rubbed. oiled, and varnished.
Cab Handles.-Oab handles and handl es on smokebox occupied my attention for somo time past.
Practically, my object will be to lay before this m eeting
to be finishf'd and to have a Russia iron casing around
the amount of h eat which is los t, even in our most perfect
middle of handle.
Cab Brackets. - Oab brackets to be of cast iron bolted blast furnaces, and then to offer some suggestions for
to back frame, fi nished all over. Handles to be covered avoiding at least a portion of this waste.
Although my contribution to our American volume did
with Russia iron casin gs.
Grates. -(Figs. 17 to 20 on pag-e 330 ante.) Grates to be no t m eet with universal approbation in the United
ca.st iron of the rocking s tyle, operated by lever on foo t- States, my esteem for the members of the iron trade of
plate. Grates to be supported on cast -iron side frames that great country remains unaltered, and I rejoiced on
secured to sidPs of firebox by studs. Back grate to be being honoured by an invitation to write, for the Chicago
stationary. Filling-piece 3 in. wide to be used at back E xhibition, some account of my present views on the
of firebox.
position of the blast furnace. Unfortunately my engageAshpan.-Asbpa.n to be made of ~-in . iron with angle- ments at the time did not permit a compliance with this
iron corner and stiffening pieces. To be made in two request. G reater leisure, however, has r evived th e wish
parts; lower part secured to upper by bolts and keyP. to despatch one more message to our colleagues in the
Upper part to be fastened with studs screwed into grate western hemisphere. To be candid, I must admit that
side frames and provided with s plit k eys. Ash pan to the selection of the subject of this paper was greatly
ha.ve front and back dampers closely fitted and operated influenced by the hope that its contents may afford the
by levers in the footplate. Ash pan to be dust-tight.
information asked for by my friend, Dr. Raymond, of
PiU>t. - (Fig. 53, page 389 ante.) Pilot to be of oak, sub- New York.
stantially made and braced. 1'o be securely bolted to
Since our first and illustrious President, the Duke of
bumoer beam, and provided with horned draw casting as Devonshire, delivered his address, almost exactly twentypar Fi.g. 60_. on p~ga 418, and .drawbar. To be set t o clear four years ago, we have h eard so much on the economy of
tha ratl4~ 10 . t'11ot to be pamted and striped.
fuel in smelting iron ore, that some may h esitate to
Footp!ate. - Footplate to be of oast iron securely bolted believe that any coke or coal is still being wasted by
to frames.
those engaged in the work. Among our members there
LQ(JginJ and Jacket -Boiler to be lagged with asbestos are doubtless some who came into the world at or about
?ement, and jacketed with Russia iron, secured by Russia the birth of our Institute, and I coveb the pleasure of
tron ~a.nds. L1.zging and jacket to extend over smokebox placing before them a brief survey of the extraordinary
and m cab to b lok And of boiler.
progress which has been made in the direction referred
t o,
.
Engine Tru,ck.-(F igs. 48 and 49, page 389 ante.) Engine
truck to have squ!l.re wrought iron frame with wrought* Paper read before the Iron and Steel Institute.

I
\

433

during the lifetime of some of the founders of this

body.
.
t 11
DJ.vid Mushet who wrote fifty or s1xty years ago, e s
us that to produ~e a t on of pig iron in Scotland, 11;! tons
of coal was consumed. This was reduced to 8 tons before
1830 and since that year, in Cleveland has been broughti
dow~ to iess than 2 t ons in furnaces using the poorer
mineral of that dist ri ct.
I am not going to de' ~in you with any inqu~ry as to
how such a n extraordmary waste of power arose, but
bring you at once to wha t was considered, so late as 1R30,
a reasonable expenditure of coal. To produce 3 tons of
coke- the quantity frequently required- 5 tons ab least
of coal was consumed, which, with 20 cwt. to 30 cwt. for
blowing-engine and calcining the ironstone, gave 5 t o 5~
tons of raw coal per ton of pig iron.
At that period very little, if anyth~ng, wa.s known of
the quantity of beat ge_!lerated by a given wetgbt of fuel
-nothing had been d1scovered as to tb.e mode of the
quantitative measurement of h eat, and, 10 consequence,
no one knew anythin g of the actu ai a~ount of this agent
involved in the process we are cons1dermg.
E xperience, re verenoed a s the Rule of Thumb, was the
sole guide of the iron~aster of that day, and 3 ton~ of
coke for each t on of 1ron was the result of the lessons
taught by this adviser.
More recently scientific researoh made known that a
given amount of heat, however produced, was capable of
raising a certain weight of water 1 deg., t wice the heat
2 deg. , and so on. Under the appellation of beat units or
calories, the quantity of heat can now be meas ured with
about the same exactitude that its intensity is estimated
by m eans of the thermometer and by the pyrometer. Add
t o this knowledge the fact that the same m eans of
measurement has enabled us to determine the quantity of
heat evolved in the various chemical and other changes
which take place in the blast furn ace. With such
arithmetic as this at our command, the appropriation of
the beat evol ved by the combus tion of the fuel can be
traced wi th a very close approach to t ruth , so that we are
enabled to distinguish between what is n ecessary and
what is waste. If, for example, a smelter sixty year~ ago
h ad been told that the gases leaving his furnace were
charged with an a mount of heat which represented nearly
27 cwt. of the 3 t ons of coke he was using to produce
1 t on of pig iron, surely he would have asked himself,
Can I not utilise some of this vast am'>unt of power now
being lost?
Viewed by the knowledge now at our disposal, it may
seem difficult t o understand why no inquiry was made in
the direction just intimated. Every one about a furn ace
must have been aware that the intense temperature of the
hearth rapidly disappeared during the ascent of the
highly heated gases towards the throat. It must also h ave
been clear to the most casual obser ver that this arose from
their beat being transferred to the cold materials introduced at the top, during their descent t owards the
tuyeres. Notwithstanding this, it never seemed t o have
occurred, even far into the present century, to any furnace owner to ascertain whether any great amonnt of the
heat dealt with remained unappropriated. T o give you
an idea. of the important function played by this intercepted heat, it was ascertain ed ab the Claren ce Works,
twenty-five years ago, that of the hi gh t em perature in
the hearth of a n 80-ft. furnace, 70 per cent. present at any
particular time owed its origin to its absorption by the
materials during their immersion in the heated gases.
Let us apply som e of the science taught us by chemists
and others in recent years to the operations of a furna ce
consuming 60 units of coke for each 20 units of pig iron,
obtained from an ore like that found in the adjacent hills
of Cleveland. In undertaking this duty a good deal
must be left to a mere estimate, because, so far as I know
no scienti fic examination was ever applied to a furnac~
working, in former times, under the conditions named.
A fter allowing for th e foreign matters in the coke
each unit of the fuel used in the furnace was calcula~ed'
under the conditions of its oxidation, to yield whe~
burnt with air at 100 d eg. Cent. (212 deg. Fahr:) 2545
calories, equal therefore t o 152,700 calories for the 60 cwt.
of coke consumed. On the other side of the account we
have this heat appropriated t o an ext ent of 84,028 calories
lea~ ing 68,676 calories co~sidered as having been carried
off 10 the ~ases. R eckonmg 2545 of these thermal units
t o represent one unit of coke, we have 33.017 cwt. for
actual work, and the remaining 26.983 cwt. expended
without any u seful results.
W e will n~w anticipate our hi~tory of the d evelop
m ent of the 1ro~ trade by about stxty years by quoting
the recent practiCe of a furnace at Low Moor, communicated to me by our President. It differs in principle in
no way from the furn ace, the results of which have
just been described. Inet ead, however, of having a
b~ight of 42 f ~., it was increa~ed in this r~spect to 70ft.,
w1th a capamty of 10,700 cub10 feet. This addition was
made expressly to avoid the great waste of heat in the
escaping gases, subsequently recognised by means of
the great enlargement of the Middlesbrough furnaces
about 27 years ago.
The weekly production, by a similar alteration at Low
Moor, was raised from 80 t ons to 350 tons p er w eek and
the coke was reduced t o 38 cwt. p er t on of metal. Some
of the items exhibit a smaller amount of h eat being required than happens in the smaller furnace but the ohief
source of saving i~ in the waste gases, thes~ b~ing, owing
to the s ma.Iler wetght of coke use~, reduced m quantity
as wel~ as m temperature. By est1mate the weight of the
gases m the smaller furnace was about 356 units for 20 of
iro~, while in thab of 70 fti. they are computed to be 224
umts, or about 37 per cent. less. In the calculation given
on the ne~t page the calories, contained in the gases
p er ton of tron, are reduced from 68,676 to 21,951, which
represent 26.983 cwt. and 7. 981 cwt. of coke respectively.

434

E N G I N E E R I N G.

[OcT. 6, r 893-

Particulars of H eat Developed and A ppropriated in a earlier application of the h ot blast, I am compelled t o ve~y careful m anipulation equally difficult to secure that
look for my illustrations when the subject fi rst began t o th1s low rate of consumption m ight be obtained' for a
Furnace about 45 ft. i n H eight, Blown with Cold A ir.
engage my 9-tt en tion about the year 1868. At this period longer period than that contemplat ed in the previous
H eat Evolvedwe had succeed ed, at the Claren ce Works, in r a ising paragraph. N either am I making a!ly allowance for any
the temperature of the air t o 485 d eg . Cent. (905 d eg. change m the form of the furn ace, hke that described by
54.00 of carbon.
Fahr.). At that time we had r educed the consump tion Mr. H awdon at Middlesbrough a few weeks a.go.
of cok e t o less than 30 cwt. for Cleveland No. 3 iron, the
~n ord er. to form an approach to a correct opinion on
yield of the calcined iron ore being about 42 per cent. thts questwn, we must make ourselves acquain ted to
2. 04
,
The estimated quantity of carbon burnt at the tuyeres t o some extenb with t h e nature of the changes which take
carbon oxide was 24.44 units per 20 of pig iron, and of place in the blast furn ace.
Leaving for combustion a.t the tuyeres..
61.96 ..
this 5.47 0f carbon passed off, by the reduction of the ore,
First, as r egards the origin of the heat produced. This
Calories.
Evolution of heat , 51.96 carbon burnt at tuyeres
as carbon dioxide. This r aised the heat produced by is due, a s we h ave seen, t o the con version of almost all
to carbon oxide x 2400 . .
..
..
. . 124,704
the fuel to 3087 calories per unit of cok e used, which, in the carbon of the cok e t o carbon oxide, next to a portion
Of this 5.00 units burnt in zone of reduction to
the particular case of which the data are given below, was of this carbon oxid e being r aised to car bon dioxide and
carbon dioxide x 5600.
..
..
. . 28,000
28. 92 cwt. per t on of p ig. The efficiency of the coke was lastly, t o t h e h eat in the blast. The T able gi ven belo~
furth er increased by the addition of 509 t hermal units, will serve as an indication of the d ifferent conditions
152,704
bringing the total to 3596 calories per unit of coke instead un der which on e unit of coke may contribute heat in
A ppropriation of H eatCoke = of the 2735 calories in the cold blas t furnace ab L ow smelting i ron ore.
The second T able given below will serve t o show how
M oor.
Calories. Tot~l
264_5
Units.
Calones. Calol'les
The weight of escaping gases, per 20 units of pig iron, the efficien cy of the coke is prom oted by the use of the
Evaporation of water
per Unit. was 170.59 units, and the t 8mperature being 452 d eg. hot blast.
in coke
..
. . 1. 50 wa.ter x 640 =
900
.377
Cs nt. (848 d eg. Fahr. ), the calories carried a way were
With regard to our ability t o greatly increase the tem Reduction of iron in
17.922, equal, t herefore, t o 4. 984 of cok e.
peratur~ of the blast, in order thereby t o raise the third
20 of pig iron
. . 18.60
X 1, 780 = 33,108
13.009
In t h e year 18G2 M essr s. Whitwell built a pair of fur- factor g t ven above, and thus reduce the first two, it must
. 60
Carbon impregnation
X 2,400 = 1,450
.o65
Expulsion of ca.rhon di
naces 60 ft. in h eight, and in the same year M essrs. be borne in mind t hat as we diminish the coke burnt
oxide from limestone .17
370 = 6,90
2. 471
X
Bolckow and Vaughan constructed on e 75 ft. high, with and consequently r educe the volume of air blown into tb~
Decom position of cara capacity of about 10,500 cubic feet. Mr. Vaugh an 's furnace for each ton of iron made, the quantity of heat,
bon dioxide by carobject was an increased m ake, but in addition to this a for which th e air h a.s to ser ve as a vehicle, is increased.
bon . .
..
.. .6
X 2,400 = 1,440
.666
consid erable econGroy of fuel was r ealised. I was per- If, then, the expectation of making a. ton of Cleveland
Decomposition of hymitted to inquire into the cause of this unexpect ed saving, iron with 16 cwt. of coke had been realised, it would
grometric moisture
.1e
X 34,000 = 6,440
2.138
and I found a la rger amount of carbon dioxide and a have r equired the blast to be h eated t o about 1150 deg.
Metalloids reduced ap
..
4,200
proximate .
..
..
1.650
r educed amount of heat in the escaping gases. This d is Cent. (2102 d eg. Fahr.), a t emper ature not likely to be
Fusion of pig iron . . 20 units
330 = 6,000
9.593
X
covery led us to er ect a pair of furnaces at the Clarence r each ed.
slag . .
. . 31 ,
660 = 17,060
,
X
6.700
Works 80ft. in h eight, with a capacity of 11,500 cubic
The T able below sh ows h ow rapidly the t emperature
Loss by radiation,
feet, or close on d ouble that of the six furnaces already in of the blast rises as the quantity of air is decreased.
7,500
2 947
convection , &c. . .

blast there. Subsequently others were built with a capaThe in crease in the heat units con veyed by the air is,
84, 038
33.016
city of 25,500 cubic feet, the h eight being the same as the of course, to make good the d efici en cy in the heat arising
Ca.rried oft in theescap
from the wi thdrawal of part of the coke. E ach step is
first two, viz., 80ft.
ing gases . .
..
63,676
26.984

Discussions arose in the m eetings of t h is Institute, and based on withdrawing 1 cwt. of coke per t on of pig iron .
in th ose of th e Mechanical, as well as the Civil E ngineer s,
60.000
152,714
in which it was urged that by still furth er addition s to
Cold Hot Hot Hot Bot
The estimated temperature for th e gases of the older fur- the capacity of our furn aces, aided by a still more intensely
Blast. Blast. Blast.. Blast. 1Blast.
nace is 774 deg. Cent. (1415 d eg. Fahr . ), and for the other h eated blast , we m ight hope to r educe the consumption of
408 d eg. Cent. (771 deg. Fahr. ). It should be remarked,
Height of furnace
ft. 42
48
80
90
76

P
articuln1s
of
H
eat
Developed
and
Appropriated
iln
a
Furhowever, that both are probably in excess of the real
nace 48 jt. i n H eight, B lown uith H ot A ir at 485 deg. Formation of carbon oxide . . 1734 2028 2018 2055 1915
quantity, due t o the assumption of carbon. as carbon
Cent. (905 deg. Fahr. ).
Carbon oxide to carbon di
dioxide, being p erhaps a little overst ated. Mr. Windsor
oxidl1 . .
..
..
077 1059 1636 1887 1612

Richards, ind eed, gives 420 d eg. to 600 d eg. Fahr. as the H eat Evolved from 20 Units of Pig JronHeat in blast . .
..
0 609 634 723 794
Cokeused 28.92, less 2.66ash, &c. =
..
..
26.36

t emperature of the escaping gases in the 70-ft. furnace at

Less 1. 92 of carbon in limestone as C02 carry ing
Low M oor.
2711 35961 41sS 4165 4321
eQ ual quantity
..
..
..
..
..
1. 92
A portion of this econ omy, it must be supposed, may
be due t o the carbon as carbon dioxide being in a larger
Temperature of blast, deg. C.
Carbon burnt at tuyeres
..
..
24.44
0 485 485 780 819
Carbon burnt at tuyeres 24.44 x 2400 = 58,656
proportion to the carbon oxide than in the former in-Of
this
burn
t
in
redu
cing
stan ce.
. 6.47 x 5600 = 30,632
zone
..
..
lJeat Units in
In the year 1828 it occurred to Waiter B. N eilson, a
Blast.
Temperature.
Dlast.
ga.s works manager in Glasgow, to suggest h eating the air
89, 288
previously to i ts admission into the blast furnace. He
Heat in 125.12 of blast 125. 12 X 485 x
cwt.
d eg. Cent.
deg. Fabr.
ha.s left no record of any grounds upon which he founded
..
..
. . 14,724
.237 ~pecific beat . .
12,156
95.43
637
1036
the expectation of r ealising a saving beyond that equiva90.08
13,956
654
1209
104,012
lent to the heat thus inject ed among the materials. Ibis,
84.35
15,753
786
1447
104
012
however, highly improbable that any marked amount of

Value of one uni t of coke

= 3596 calories.
17,586
79.39
935
1715
~.92
success would have attended any such att empt. Neilson
19,348
74.00
1103
2017
21,209
68.65
1304
2379
lived before the days when ch emistry bad become a science A ppropriation of H eat per 20 Uni ts of Pig I ronstudied by, or indeed much believed in, by m en occupied
Units. Calories. Calori es. Coke.
in industrial pursuits. But were it otherwise, we have Evaporation of water in coke
.74 x
640 =
473 = .131
In r espect to the second item, viz., the generation of
Dr. P ercy, a leader among scientific m et allurgists, quot- Reduction of iron peroxide .. 18.6 x l , 780 = 33,108 = 9. 207
..
.6 x 2,400 = 1,440 = .400 carbon dioxide, it m ay be obser ved if we ha.d a furnace
ing, as we shall hereafter see, the opinions of ch emists Carbon impregnation . .
filled with coke alon e, we should, by its combustion,
n early forty years after the date of the b ot-blast patent. Expulsion of carbon dioxide
370 = 6,920 = 1.646 h ave the whole of the carbon passing away at the throat
from limestone
..
. . 16.00 x
As a r esult of t heir labours and his own, he admitted that Decomposition
of carbon di
as carbon oxide, CO. The formation of car bon dioxide,
h e was a s unable to explain its mode of operation a s h e
oxide by carbon
..
. . 1.92 x 3,200 = 6,144 = 1.708 C0 , is exclusively due to the action of t he carbon oxide
2
was to give a reason why hot water dissol ved more of cer - Decomposition of hygrometric
t ain salts than cold water was able to do.
moisture from hydrogen ..
.12 X 34,000 = 4,080 = 1.134 on the ore, the amount of which diox ide I have estimated
as not exceeding 6.58 units per 20 units of pig iron. If
In the early d ays of sm elting iron ore with heated air, Uetalloids in pig iron reduced,
approximate . .
..
..
- 4,174 = 1.160 then the carbon has .t o be r educed, it must be by lessening
owing to the d efective nature of the apparatus employed,
of pig iron
..
.. 20.00 x
330 = 6,600 = 1.837 the amount escaping a s carbon oxide. B ut here we a.re
a very m od erate temperature was reach ed , which rarely Fusion
,
slag . .
..
.. 31.5 x
550 = 17,325 = 4.816 met by an insurmountable barribr. Carbon, in the form
by radiation, convection, approximate
.. 5,200 = 1.446 of oxide, is a powerful r educing agent, but in the form of
Particulars of Heat Evolved wnd Appropriated in a F ur- Loss
, in water fo r cooling tuyeres . .
..
. . 1,700 = .473 dioxide it is the very reverse, that is, at such temperanace 70 Ft. i n H eight, Blown wi th Cold A i r.
86,164 - 23.957 tures as a re m et with in a blast furnace, even in its upper
Evolution of H eatCarried off in gases
.. 17,848 = 4. 963 zon e, meta.llio iron is rapidly oxidised. W e have thus
Coke consumed per 20 cwt. of pig iron,

34.51 of carbon.
two antagonistic forces present, and as wa-s proved
38 cwt. less ash , &c., equal to
104,012 = 28.920 experimentally, wh en one-third of th e carbon in the gas~
Less carbon in 15.5 of limestone carrying ofl' 1.86 of that in coke . .
. . 1.86
coke below what, in my opinion, after some attention t o exist s a.s carbon dioxid e, further complete r eduction IS
-suspended. Indeed, as a. matter of fact, in practice .we
the conduct of blast furnaces, appeared probable.
Leaving to be burnt at the tuyeres 32. 65
The question was frequently put as to what mi~ht be rar ely or never arri ve at such a point of oxygen saturation
32.65 cwt . of carbon burnt to carbon oxidex2400 = 76,360
regarded as the minimum weight of coke at wh10h it as that just in dicated.
5.00 ,
ot this CO carbon dioxidex6600= 28,000
It is worthy of re!Ilark that the more intense the tem
would be possible to produce a ton of No. 8 iron from the
--104,360
ironston e of the Cleveland district. In naming 19~ cwt. perature the m ore active is this oxidising t endency of the
t o 20! cwt. as a probable figure, it must be remember ed high er oxide of carbon, and we nd, in certain cases, a.
Value of one unit of coke 104 360 = 2745 calories.
38
what disturbing influences ar e const an tly at work, all of g-reater p ortion of this gas gen erated by reduc~ion, passAppropriation of H eatwhich t end to m odify such calculations. There are dif- mg back again t o the condition of car bon oxtde by ~he
Calories = Coke at feren ces in the quality of the coke, a greater amount of dioxide dissolving t he carbon of the fuel, and thus rob?I?g
2745 cal. sensible h eat carried off in the gases, arising from irregular the furnace of it s power of k eeping \lp the requisite

Evaporation of water 1n
supply of h eat by carbon, which ought t o be burnt at the
and
even
from
the
known
fluctuations
in
the
charging,
.221
608
640
=
.95
X

coke ..

moisture of the air, or from microscopic leaks at the tuyeres, disappearing in the upper r egions of the fu~nace,
Reduction of oxide of iron . . 18.6 X 1,780 = 33,108 12.062
If, th en, a furnace, by r eason of its insufficient dim~n
.524
tuyer es, all of which circumstances t end t o r ender the
.6 X 2,400 = 1,440
Carbon impregnation
..
problem on e of great complexity. In such a. calculation sions, or from other causes, has the t emperature of tts
Expulsion of carbon dioxide
2.089
370 = 6, 735
15.5 X

from limestone
we had not t o deal with differences of s~v eral hundred - r educing zone unduly r aised, carbon dioxide d~s~ppea~,
2. 169
1.86 X 3,200 = 6,952
, c.
Decomposition of
weights to the t on of m etal, such as perplexed the minds and car bon ox ide t akes its place. In th e subJmned hst

water ln
of m en upon the introduction of the h ot blast. While, there appear s one h aving 6.52 of carbon in the rst-named
1. 734
.14 X :;4,0UO = 4,760
blast hydrogen ..
:
ther ef0re, I am n ot disposed to question the accuracy of state, C0 2, but as an average this may be doubted. .
Metalloids reduced, approx1Ebelmen , and my ver y est eem ed and venerable fnend,
4,200
1.530
those wh o give instances of the Middlesbrough furnaces

ma.te ..

2. 404
20. 00 X
830 = 6,600
producing No. 3 at an expenditure of 19 cwt. of coke, I Ritter von '.l..'unner, of L eoben, a m etallurgist of the

Fusion of pig iron

6.011
30.00 X
560 = 16,500
,
slag ..

put it to pract ical m en in the trade, after an experien ce highest r eput e, led the way in the examination of the
Loss by radiation, convecch anges which take place at d ifferen t levels in the blast
of
twenty
years
with
eno~mous .f urnaces, _
a
nd
air
p
ro3,600
1.275

tion, &c.

bably as highly heated as I S physically possible, whether furnace. S imilar inquiries were extensively pursued at
I was far out in naming 19! cwt. t o 20~ cwt. as the pro- the Clarence Works, with the advantage of ha~ing one. of
82,403 30.019
80ft . in h eight, with a capacity of 25,000 cubte feet, m
21,957
7.9S1
bable l imits of coke consumption.

Carried oft in escapin2' gases

Of course I am n ot suggesting t h e impossibility, under stead of the diminutive furnaces examined by these two
104,360 38.000
the ordinary run of conditions, of a furnace producing investigators.
To illustrate the nature of th~ changes referred to, we
exceeded 330 d eg. Fahr. Late~ furnace managers were even at 19 cwt. for a short time. It must be understood
satisfied with the blast when 1t melted lead, probably, my observations are r eserved for an average over several will examine t he results of one of t he many analyses made
months. Indeed, I am not prepared t o d eny, by a care- at Claren ce.
ther efore about 620 deg. Fahr. (33~ deg. Cent.). .
On a charge of the m ateri als being introduced through
Not po~sessing a ny scieutific data connected w1th the ful selection of minerals diffi cult to mainta in, and by
Coke used per ton of iron, 60 cwt. less
10 per cent. water and ash = . .
..
Deduct 2.04 carbon contained in the
limelltone, carrying oft an equal
weight of carbon in coke in upper
..
..
..
region of furnace. .

..

~
the closed top of t.he furnace, the only action to be
recorded is the cooling of the escaping ~ases, or, in other
words the pre-hea.ting of the ma.ter1als. A s I have
already mentioned, the extent t o which the gases a re
cooled depends somewhat on the t em perature of thecalcined ore, wbiob, taken directly from the kilns, varies
from merely warm to considerably above this. For such
a.n inquiry the electric pyromet er of L e Cha.tellier is indispensable. A furnace, 300 yards distant from the laboratory was placed in communication with the pyrometer,
and' its readings taken down every minute during a.
period of three hours. W e may, after a. m ere reference
t o the accompanying diagram, showing the fluctuation of
gas temperatures, proceed t o consider the chan ges which
follow.
or TEM.PEUTIJR

IN ESCAMNC USt~ FROM AH 80 r! riiRli.ACt JJ

n Cl.AIIUCCt WOUS 01 nit IIITliOOUCT IOII or TM etmtS t.ACM M15HIIIC ~ CWTS.

OI"UM SIII1f11"

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lSd
,...
Ml

tp

~CES

sp

IIJ

~ ~

.H

13

I~

11 AtiNf

IJ

ISf"

,144'

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11v

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72,.

11tl

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rztl
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nd
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fll

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~d

641
6~

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tlllll

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n4
171

nd

104

'fi

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flf

szi

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od

SfO

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444

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Utf

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411

400

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,

8f(

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u IM!.v!

ID

There are certain minor phenomena. which take place

in all blast furnaces, such as the sublimation of a. very

Examples of Ratio of Carbon as Ca1bon Dioxide to Carbon

as Carbon Oxide in D(Oerent Furnaccs.
Tempera Height of
ture of
Blast.

deg. Cent.
Cold
462
460
616

819
854

Furm~ce.

tt.

42
48

80

fO
90

76
80
80
103!

I Carbon
as

Dioxide.

6.25

Carbon
Ratio.
Cas CO.
as Oxide. ca-s eo.,.
-

6.47
5.27
6.81
6.61
4.76
6.62

32.16
22. 21
17.36
13.62
12.82
17.65
12.21

1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1

6.12
4.C6
3.28
i.34

2.28
371
1.87
2.61

2.R6

small proportion of the earthy constituents of the materials, the formation of traces of ammonia, and to a much
greater extent that of potassium and sodium cyanid es.
'l'bere is also, of course, to be found in the escaping gases
the nitrogen of the air which has served to burn the fuel.
The two elements, however, which alone concern us are the
oxygen and carbon in their combined form, which appear
in the gases a.t their exit from the throat.
Experimentally ib was determined in the laboratory
that although pure precipitated p eroxide of iron commenced to lose oxygen at 141 deg. Cent. (285 deg. Fahr.),
this compound, aA it exists in calcined Cleveland ore,
resisted deoxidation until the temperature was raised to
199 deg. Cent. (389 deg. Fahr.). At this, however, the
a<.:tion is very faint, the loss per hour being only at the
rate of .28 percent. of that found in the ore. At 415 deg.
Cent. (779 deg. Fabr.) it only reachf:'d 5.80 per cent. At
a bright red-heat, after an exposure of n early four hours,
we only succeeded in expelling 90 per cent. of the oxygen
contained in the peroxide as it occurs in Cleveland calciced ore. An apparent limit to the reduction of oxide
of iron by carbon oxide will occupy our attention hereafter.
By the reaction just described carbon dioxide is formed,
and in reference to the oxidising character of which it
was ascertained that tb.is gas is rapidly decomposed at a.
temperature of 417 deg. Cent. (782 deg. Fahr.) when
brought in contact with metallic spongy iron. In forty
minutes the iron bad absorbed 2.6 per cent. of oxygen, a.
corresponding wei~ht of the carbon dioxide gas being reduced to carbon oxtde.
The power of carbon dioxide to oxidise spongy iron, as
has been observed, is intensified as the temperature rises.
Thus, at a. low redhea.t 100 volumes of carbon dioxide
has its oxidising power over metallic iron in Cleveland
restrained by 66 volumes of carbon oxide, a.t a full red
213, and at a temperature approaching whiteness 909
volumes of this gas is necessary to obtain the same result.
In the blast furnace we have a much more complicated
et&te of things to eontend with, because, a-s may be seen
by the diagram already given, the t emperature of the

escaping gas is perpetually changing ; as a. fact., however,

the oxidising t endency of the dioxide present, under
ordinary conditions, is rendered inoperative by about 240
volumes of carbon oxide per 100 of carbon dioxide.
A word now as to the limit given of 6.58 units of
carbon as carbon dioxide per 20 of pig iron. We have
first the oxygen to remove from the actual iron in this
quantity of pig, which I have taken a.t 18.6 units. In
addition t o this, the precipitation of carbon from carbon
oxide is also accompanied by a. formation of carbon
dioxide. This reaction led to a large amount of time
being devoted t o its examination in the laboratory. This
curious phenomenon begins to be perceptible a.t 232 deg.
to 254 deg. Cent. (449 deg. to 489 de~. Fa.br.). At 420
deg. Cent. (788 deg. Fahr.) the prectpita.tion of carbon
goes on so rapidly that in seven hours every 100 parts of
iron present was impre~ated with 144 of pre01pitated
carbon. In one ca-se, usmg a. factitious oxide of iron, a.s
much as 770 of carbon was separated from the carbon
oxide used p er 100 of the metal.
It appears, then, that tb~ temperature of the upper part
of the reducing zone is very suttable for this change, for
although carbon dioxide in sufficient quantity arrests it,
that quantity is not found in the escaping gases of the
blast furnace. It is suppoRed that carbon enough is
precipitated at a level, where it is not affected by carbon
dioxide, to represent the portions found in the pis-, and
hence . G unit is added t o the carbon as carbon d1oxide
gen erated by reduction of the ore, and is included in the
6.58 units already e.poken of.
At the same time, the large quantity of carbon found
in blowing out a. furnace would indicate the extensive
nature of its formation. The carbon so precipitated
disappears from the gases, only, however, to reappear
there at a. later stage of the process.
(To be cO?ttinued. )

ON THE MANUFACTURE OF BASIC STEEL

AT WITKO\iV!TZ. ~

o'

4.10

~~

'i!

N G I N E E R I N G.

By PauL K rrPELWIE. ER.

I I<' the small amounts of steel which are manufactured
for special purposes in crucibles and refineries are left out
of consideration, ib is evident that much the greater
quantity of steel and ingot iron is produced(a) In the Bessemer process, with an acid slag, when
the pig iron available contains only a. small amount of
phosphorus.
(b) In the basic Bessemer process, with calcareous slag,
when the pig iron employed contains at least 2 per cent. of
phosphorus.
(c) In the open hearth process, with an acid slag, when
the scrap and pig iron available contains a small amount
of phosphorus ; and
(d) In the basic open-hearth furnace with ca.lca.reons
slag, when the pig iron employed is m elted with scrap
whiCh is too phosphoric for the Be.ssemer process and the
acid open-hearth process, and does not contain enough
phosphorus for the ba,sic B essemer process.
"\Vhen it is principally a. question of the conversion of
pig iron into steel, and the cost of the raw material is
about the same. the cost of the conversion va.rie~, increasing in the order in which the processes are m entioned
above.
The cost of con version is lowest in the ordin ary B essem er process; considerably higher in the basic process ;
higher still in the acid open-hearth process, and highest
of all in the basic open-hearth process.
The cost of conversion in the open-hearth furnace,
which is higher than that of the Bessemer process, is to
some extent compensated for by the fact that scrap iron
can in many places be obta.int>d vary cheaply.
The facb that during the last ten ye&.rs the conversion
in the open-hearth process has, in spite of its greater cost,
become rapidly and widely adopted, is to be explained by
th e circumstance that few countries are in the fortunate
position occupied by England of being able t o obtain by
water carriage large quantities of pure ore at cheap rates;
and also that open-hearth steel works ca.n be started with
smaller plant, and consequently less expenditure of
capital, and may be enlarged to meet the demand,
whereas the manufacture of steel in the Bessem er or basic
B eseemer process involves the employment from the
beginning of expensive plant, and requires a large output
to enable it to be carried on economically.
There is another circumstance which has conduced to
the rapid increase of the number of openhearthsteel works.
Although I believe it is possible to obtain products
with all these processes of equally good quality, still the
slow oxidation, particularly in the later stages of the
process, in the open-hearth furnace, enables an equable
quality of matecia.l to be obtained with greater certainty.
The slow oxidation in the open-hearth furnace, which
is an ad vantas-e in the latter process. is, however, a. great
disadvantage m the early stages.
The long period of time required for working a charge
involves a. greater consumptiOn of fuel, greater destruction of the lining of the furnace, and a. greater loss of
metal by oxidation and by its passing into the slag, and
finally a. smaller output per furnace, and a. con~equently
higher expenditure in wages.
A rapid oxidation, such a.s takes place in the Bessemer
converter, in the first stages in the process of conversion
into steel, and a slow oxidation during the later stages,
such a.s occurs in the openhea.rth process, would appear
t o be method best suited for the manufacture of a.n
equable product, provided it be found practicable to
carry oub this combination, which is, in fact, a combination of the Bessemer and open-hearth proces~es.
Such a. combined process has been employed in Wit-

* Paper read before the Iron and Steel Institute.

435
kowitz since 1890 and the results obtained outweigh any
of the disadvantages attaching to the .Pr~ss.
.
It must be pointed out that the ptg non obtama.:t>le
Witkowitz contains too much phosphorus for use m t~e
ordinary B essemer process. while it does nob conta.m
sufficient phosphorus for the basic process ; and further,
that a supply of cheap scrap i~ not a.va.ila.:t>le. f'he
problem, therefore, was to convert m to steel or mgot uon
of good quality a. pig iron containing too much phosphorus for the Bessemer \'rocess and too little for the
basic B essemer process, wtthout the use of scrap.
The circumstances under which the work is carried on
are so mew hat as follows :
Pig iron from a blast furnace (sometimes from two
bla-s t furna-ces) is run into a. ladle, and transferred to a.
B essemer converter. The pig iron varies from light grey
to white, and as ib contains only a. small quantity of
silicon--0. 8 t o 1.2 per cent.-it is liable to be ejected from
the converter to a considerable extent, and hence only
small charges of about 4 tons are blown. The oxidation
in the acid Bessemer converter is only continued till the
pig iron is desiliconised, which takes place in about five
or six minutes. The producb thus obta ined lies somewhere between white iron and very hard steel.
These short blows in the B essemer converter only attack
the lining very slightly. Over a. thousand charges are
often made in the same converter, and more than a.
hundred with the same bottom.
The slag contains all the silicon of the pig iron and a.
large proportion of the manganese, but no phosphorus,
and is employed as a. non-phosphoric manganese ore in
the manufacture of ferro-manga.nese.
The complet ely desiliconised product, which. however,
still conta ins some manganese and a. considerable amount
of carbon, is introduced into a. ladle, taken to the openhearth furnace, and run into it rapidly through a hole
low down in the side .
As two blast furnaces are often unable to supply sufficient pig iron for three open-hearth furnaces, about 40
per centl. of cold pig iron and 60 per cent. of melted pig
iron (yearly aserage) are added with each charge.
It is plain that running in the melted pig into the
O.Penh ea.rth furnace is more convenient and less expenSJ ve than cha.r~ing the furnace with solid material.
But
this running 1n of the pig iron also requires mucb less
time, and avoids the cooling down of the furnace, which
would otherwi3e take pla.ce. As the material which is
run in in the molten state is completely desiliconised, it
does not attack the basic lining of the furnace, and a
smaller proportion of lime suffices to keep the slag in the
furnace basic; the time r equired for working a. charge is
consequently considerably diminiflhed, the a.mounb of iron
taken up by the slag is also less, while the ex\)6nditure of
fuel and cost of wages are, owing to the rapidtty of working, much smaller.
The following figures will give a. more complete view of
the process :
First half, 1892, in three open
hearth furnaces, which were nob
running 22 per cent. of the time
(Sundays, holidays, repairs), were
melted 1649 charges, with an
average of 18.37 tons per charge ... 30,297 tons
Melted pig from blast
furnace
...
. .. 17,016 tons 56. 16 per cent.
Solid pig...
...
. .. 11,156 ,
36.82
"
Scrap
...
...
... 2,125 ,
7.02
"
Ingots produced
.. . 28,172 ,
Ingots for rails and girders, steel
tubes, angle iron, &c.
...
... 2~,632 tons
Ingots for boiler plate
.. .
. .. 4,540 ,
Total
.. .
.. .
. .. 28, 172 tons
That is to say, 7.1 tons per charge.
1. The consumption of fuel was:
a. Coal for producers, including heating Tons.
up and keeping the furnaces going
during repairs . ..
. ..
...
...
4507
That is, 0.160 ton per ton of ingots.
b. Steam coal for blowing engines, heating the converters, ladles, &c... .
. ..
4358
That is, 0.155 ton per t on of ingots.
0. 315
T otal coal p ar ton of ingots
2241
2. Lime
. ..
. ..
. ..
. ..
. ..
That is, 0. 0795 ton per ton of ingots,
3. Consumption of ore
. ..
...
. ..
1779
That is, 0.063 ton per ton of ingots.
4. '\Vages and salaries altogether, 4s. 6d.
per ton
These data show that the consumption of coal, lime,
and ore, and the conversion of pig iron into st eel in the
basic open-hearth process, are so low as to reduce
the cost of convers1on about 10s. per ton (although we
only use some 56 per cent. of melted pig non), in comparison with the cost of conversion in the open -hearth
furnace from the commencement, and only amount to
the same a-s in the basic Beesemer process when carried
out on a. large scale.
If it bad been possible to employ still larger quantities
of melted pig iron, the results would probably have been
still more favourable, and would not have exceeded the
cost in the Bes.qemer process with non-phosphoric pig iron.
This combination of processes enables the conversion
of pig iron into steel to be effected in the cheapest possible
way under those unfavourable circumstances, in which
the pig iron contains too much phosphorus for the acid
Bessemer process, and too little for the basic Bessemer
process. This m ethod of working also enables the l>ig
iron to be eml>loyed directly from the blasb furnace w1th
good r esul ts m works where i b is possible to do so, and
where it was previously done, but abandoned for certain
adequate reasons .

E N G I N E E R I N G.
PETERHEAD HARBOUR IMPRO.VEMENTS.
RPports by WILLIA~r SHIELD, M. Inst. C. E.
A SPECIAL meeting of the Poterhead Harbour Trustees
was held .on the 12th nlt. for the purpose of considering
the followmg reports by the Improvements Committee
and by ~Ir. \Vi1liam Shield, M. Inst. C.E., the resident
engineer at the Harbour of Refuge Works P cterhead.
The tru~tee~, after full discussion, approved ~f the recommendatl~ns ~the rEiport by the ImJ?rovements Committee,
and a Btll wtll therefora b3 dEipostted in the ensuing session of Parliamenb.
REPOR'l' BY IMPROVEMENTS COMMITI'EE.
" It may be proper to remind the trustees that on
May 2 last the oommittee reported what had taken place
up to that date, and along with that r eport submitted a
plan for the deepening and improvem ent of Port H enry
Harbour, which bad, by the instruction s of the com~ittee, b 3en nrepared b:y ~fr. Milne, the harbour supermtendent.
The committee thereby unanimously resolved t o recommend that M r. Milne's plan should be
adopted by the trustees. The trustees. however, res~l ved
b ef'?re adopting that .re~ort to submit the plans to an
en~p?eer of reput~d sk1ll m harbour construction for his
optmon and ad vJCe, and further remitted to the committee to give effect to this resolution. In carrying out
this remit the committ3e bad regard to what the trustees
indicated ab the m eeting in question, to the effect that if
Mr. Shield, the resident engineer of the harbour of
refuge works, would accept the appointment he should
be requested to do so. The C.)mmittee accordingly put
themselves in communication with Mr. Shield, and were
informed by him in reply that he would be glad to under
take the duty required of him. The committee met on
May 18 last, when it was resol ved that Mr. Shield should
be requested, while keeping in view primarily the scheme
suggested by the committee for utilising Port H enry, to
consider and advise the trust eee as to a scheme of
harbour improvement which would give accommodation for not less than 200 additional herring fishing
b oats at the least expense, having in view at the
same time what was best for the future development
of the port. The committee bad an interview with lVIr.
Shie~d on May 26 ~or the. purpose of submitting
to htm p ersonally the v1ews of 1ts member~, and, as will
b e seen from Mr. Shield's report dated August 3, 1893,
he ack nowledges having re ~eived at that interview and
from various other sources the fullest information for
enabling him to comply with the request of the committee.
After receiving from Mr. Shield the report above referred
t o and relative plan, the committ ee again m et on August 7,
when these were submitted, and after consideration
thereof ib was resolved to have a second interview with
Mr. Shield. in order that his plan might be further
considered in all its bearings, and thab be might have
an opportunity of hearing the views of the individual
members of the committee regarding his proposals. There
after, on August 10, the proposed interview with Mr.
Shield took place, when all the membere of committee
were present with the exception of Mr. Farqubarson, who
was unavoidably absent. After very full considf!ration
and consultation with Mr. Shield, the committee approved
generally of the report and plan, and resolved, in the
event of it being necessary to go to Parliament, to recommend to the trustees the adoption thereof. There being.
h owever, in the opinion of the committee, serious financial difficulties in the way of carrying out the scheme in
its entirety at present, Mr. Shield was requested to report
to the committee, after f ull considera~ion, at what cost
Port H enry can be deepened, leaving thAentrances as at
present, in such manner as may keep in view the ultimate
completion of the whole scheme, the total sum to be at
present expended not to exceed, say, 25,000l. ; and
thereafter that the law agent should ascertain what
steps of procedure would be necessary to carry out
the modified scheme.
In accordance with this resolution, with a copy of which Mr. Shield was fur
nisbed, he has now made a supplemental report, dated
August 14, and after considering it at a meeting hE=~ld on
the 22nd curt, the members, who were all present with
the exception of Mr. L eask, unanimously approved
thereof, and resolved to recommend its adoption. At that
meeting a letter from the law agent, dated August 17,
was submitted, giving his opinion as to the procedure
n ecessary for obtaini~ag powers to carry out the works,
and after considering its t erms, the committee were of
opinion that procedure by Act of Parliament was in
various respects preferable t o procedure by Provisional
Order, and resolved to recommend that statutory p owers
be obtained by the trustees : {1) to execute the works in
Mr. Shield's plan and principal report, or at least so much
of them as can meantime be executed in accordance with
supplemental rt!port; (2) to obtain J20Wers to alter or vary
the harbour rates and duties; and (3) to obtai n powers to
modify th e operation of the sinking fund in future, so that
the annual charge upon the revenue would not be quite
so onerous as under the existing Acts, also that the necessary sanction be applied for, and, if possible, obtained to
pledge the municipal rates in security of advances to
carry out the harbour improvements: The com~ittee
further instruct the law agent to furmsh them wttb a n
approximate estimate of the cost of a~ un~pposed Bill in
Parliament to carry out the above obJects.
MR. SHIELD'~ REPORT.
"~Iy instructions are, while keeping in view primarily
the scheme suge-ested by the committee for utilising Port
Henry, to cons1der and ad vi~e the truste~s as to a scheme
of harbour improvement, wbt~9 would ~we ac~ommoda
tion for not less than 200 addt t10nal berrmg fishmg boats,
at. the least ex penqA, h'\ving in view at the same tim~
what i3 best for the f11ture deYelopment of the port.

[Oc-r. 6, r 89 j.

Mr. Shield went on to say that be was indebted for infor- sec~ions of the work which it is p~oposd to car 1 y
mation to Mr. Milne, harbour SU)Jerintend ent, and Mr. out. Port Hen~~, when deepened., wtll urquec.tionably
Birnie, barbourmaster; and stated that he had had fre- affo:d m~cb add 1t1onal accommodatLOn, and be very useful
quent and profitabJe conversations with fishermen, pilots, dur~ng fine weather; .but durin~ rough weather inconand others. He ?ad made a thorou~h survey of the har- vemence from excess1ve range 1s sure to be felt and I
bours, and bad gtven the matter bts full consid eration. hope that at no very ~istant date the harbour ;evenue
In vi~w of the harbour of refuge works, which were ma~ be such ~s to admtb of the scheme being completed.
now m progress, and whi ch bad for their object the f. Wlll now, Wtthout further remarks, furnish the informasheltering of the South Bay, an extension of the South tiOn asked for. A ssuming the entrances to Port H enry
Ha.rbour naturally suggested itself for cons ideration. and ~be North Har~o~r to remain unaltered, and the exr:J;h1s harbour.coul.d be extended e~ther in an easterly direc- p.endtture to be hmtted to, say, 25,000{., the executiOn, l:;y takmg 1n and excavatmg a p orti on of K ei th- tiOn of th_e following sections ~f the work must be postInch, or by inclosing additional area in the South Bay. poned- vtz : (1) The pr~posed p1er extension and its spur.
He was not prepared to recomm~nd the firsb of these {2) The reD? oval of 265lmeal feet of the north-west pier and
schemes, o~ account of the relatively large cost which it th.e formation of a I?-ttW entrance connecting Port Rnny
would en tall for the amount of accommodation provided, w1tb th.e outer basm o.f the North Harbour. {3) The
~nd on acc<;m nt of the difficulty there would be m provid- deepen~ng of a chan?t>l tn the North Harbour. {4J Jetty
mg convem ent and easy means of access. By the second No. 1, masmucb as 1t would reflect waves in a manner
method, viz., inclosing additional area in the South dangerous to boats .enteri.ng the b.arbour. (5) The proBay, accommodation to almost any extent might posed ne'Y passa~e (mclu~1 ve of br1dge) connecting Port
readily be provided. He did not, however, consider Hen~y w1th the mn er basm of the North Harbour. After
t~at the time bad yet a rri ved when it would be expe- makmg allowance for the construction and remo\ al of
dtent to undertake works in that direction, inasmuch as the dam which it will be necessary to form across the
~t a later period, when the sheltering works had been present entra:nce to ?ort H enry Harbour, the omission
further adYanced, works of a less substantial character of the foregomg sectiOns of the work will reduce the cost
than would now be necessary, would suffice. Although to. about ~4, 400l. ~be paasage connecting Port Henry
there could be little doubt that future extensions would ~1th the ~n~er bas1~ of the North Harbour is, however,
be in the direction of the S outh Bay, the present inquiry 10 my opm10n, so tmportant a feature in the scbemtna:rrow~d itself to a consideration of the proposals con that .I strongly urge the necessity of including it in tb~
tamed m the report of the Improvements Committee. In first ms~alme?t o~ work to be done. Should the trustees
regard to the propose.d closing of the P ort Henry entrance, concur m tbts v1ew, the above estimate would be inthe fisher.m?n U?ammously condemned that proposal, crea~ed by about 3200l., making a total of, Eay, 27,600l."
under extstlng mrcumstances, and he conuurred in the
view they took. D ealing with the proposal to close the
North Harbour entrance, he said that when it was
LAUNCHES AND TRIAL TRIPS.
remembered that the depth of water at Port Henry
WITH a view of ascertaining the best form of water
entrance ab low water springs was lefls than 2ft., while
at the North Harbour entrance it was upwards of G ft., tube boiler, the Ad~iralty det ermined some time ago to
such a proposal ought not for one moment to be enter- su pply one of the ~me 56 ft. vedette boats, building by
tained. P.roposals had been made to prevent or lessen Mr. J. Samuel Wh1te, of East Cowes with a coil boiler
the range m Port Henry Harbour by constructing jetties cons.tructed according to the bnilder'~ new system. Tb~
to baffle the waves, but he was satisfied they would be official two hours' full-po wer trial was recently made in
harmful rather than otherwise. A proposal had been Stokes Bay with very satisfactory results An ample
made, assuming the entrance to Port Henry and North su.pply of stea!D was furnished at a pressu~e of 160 lb.,
Harbours were left open, to partition off a portion of the With only 1.8 10. of atr pressure; the mean revolutions
barbou.r by means of a pier running parallel to the north- were 530 per minute, the average speed with and against
west pter, so as to form a wave basm. By that scheme tide 1_4 57 knots, and the indicated horse-power 210. The
however, P ort Henry Harbour would be greatly reduced steadmess of the steam and the absence of priming were
in size and utility.
the subject of congratulation, while the savi ng in weight
. He recommended (1) that Port H enry Pier be extended ~be superior accessi.bility ~fforded for sweeping the heat~
m an ~ast-north-easterly direction for a distance of 210ft., mg surfac~_, the unmu.mty from leakage owing to the
th e w1dth of the new entrance to the North Harbour thus great elast1c1ty of the cotls of tubes, and the great eaving
formed to be 120ft., or ab0ut 15ft. wider than the present effe~ted in. the consumption of. fuel over ~be ordinary locoone; (2) 265lineal feet of the north-west pier to be removed mott ve bmler, rendered th e tnal of spec tal interest.
(3) a short spur .nea~ly in line with the present Port Henry
The new steam tug Humberto Rodriguez, built by
~ter, bub trendmg m a somewhat more southerly directiOn, to be run out from the extension of that pier so as Sir Raylton Dixon and Co., Middlesbrough, went on
to form the north side of a new entran ce to Port Henry speed trial on the 25th ult., when the guaranteed speed
50 ft. wide. Instead of carrying the passage squar~ of 12 knots was exceeded. She has been built for
through the north-west pier, he had inclined it somewhat Messrs .. Hawkes, Somerville, and Co., of L iverpool, re
to the northward, his object being to render the course presentng Cuban owners. The principal dimensions of
of vessels using it as direct as possibie t o and from the the vessel are : L ength, 135ft. 6 in .; Leam, 24 ft. 6 in.;
open sea. In order to equaliee the water level be pro- depth moulded, 14ft. 6 in. The engines have have been
posed another channel should be formed which 'must be fitted by Messrs. ' Vestgartb, English, and Co., of Middles
so placed as not to admit waves or requi;e booms. That b~ougb. The cylinders are 1 5~ in., 25 in., and 41 in. in
could only be done by forming a connection between Port diameter by 30 in. stroke, with a large steel boiler work
H enry and the inner North Harbour. H e recommended ing at 160 lb. pressure.
that the passage should be 50 ft. in width . In order that
this passage might not isolate the n ew No. 1 and boom
crane j etties, a movable bridge was necessary and that
CoAL IN I LLINOIS.-The working of coal appears to be
bad been provided for. (4) He alcso recom~ended a acquiring considerably increased importance in the State
smaller spur jetty to check any run along the south-west of Illinois. The output in 1891-2-tbat i~, in the twelve
quay, and the construction of a central jetty. (5) He months ending Jun e 30, 1892-was 17,862,276 tons, show
proposed that a new quay wall should be constructed on ing an advance of 2,201,587 tons as compared with the
the west and south-west sides of Port H enry Harbour in corresponding output for 1890-1. The number of work
order to afford the necessary amount of space for don- people employed in 1891-2 was 33,622, showing an increase
venient working. (6) T~e whole area of Porb H enry of 681 as compared with 1890-1. The quantity of coal
Harbour, and also a portton of the north outer basin to mined by machinery in 1891-2 was 3,871,939 tons, as corn
be deepened to 4 f t. below low water ordinary spr'in~ pared with 3,027,305 tons in 18901.
tides. In conclusion, Mr. Shield stated that the cost
inclusive of contingencies, but exclusive of land and com~
CHICAGO, MILWAUKEE, AND ST. P AuL RAILROAD.- The
pensa.tion, would amount to about 43,000l. H e estimated le~gtb of line worked upon this system in 1892-3 was 5724
tba~ the area of Port Henry . Harbour, according to mtles, as compared with 5721 miles in 18912, and 5721
destgn, would afford accomruodat10n for about 245 herring milea in 1890-1. The number of locomotives upon the
boats of average size.
system in 1892-3 was 797, as compared with 798 in 1891-2,
and 801 in 1890-1. The number of passengr CM'S upon
SUPPLEMENTAL REPORT BY MR. SIIIRLD.
the system in 1892-3 was 738, as compared with 684 in
"~fr: Patrick Irvine. has, at your request, sent me an ex- 1891-2, and 678 in 18901.
The number of cars upon
tractmmuteof tbemeetmgof the Improvements Committee the system in 1892 3 was 27,539, as compared with
held in his office on the lOth ins b. It runs as follows: 'The 26,138 in 1891-2, and 25,317 in 1890-1. The net revenue
report and relative plan prepared by Mr. Shield for the acquired in 1892-3 was 11,486,947 dols., as compared with
d~epening and impr~ving of Port Henry were again sub- 11,468,504 dols. in 1891-2, and 9,137,724 dols. in 1S90-1.
mttted t o the commtttee; and, after very full considera- The ratio of the working expen ses to the traffic receipts
tion and consultation with Mr. Shield, the committee stood in 1892-3 at 66.19 per cent., as compared with 64.48
~pproved gener~lly o_f the report and plan, and resol ved, per cent. in 1891-2, and 66.78 per cent. in 1890- 1.
m the event of 1ts bemg necessary to ~o to Parliament, to
recommend to the trustees the adoptiOn thereof. There
BLAS'l' FuRNACES IN TH E UNITED Sr ATES.-Thenumber
being, howeer, in the opinion of the committee, serious of blast furnaces in the United States in activity at the
financial difficulties in the way of carryingout the scheme commencement of September, 1893, was 132, their agg_re
in its entirety at present, Mr. Shield was requested to gate weekly productive capacity being 85,510 tons. The
report to the committee, after further consideration at corresponding number of furnaces in blast at the com
what cost I>ort H enry ~an be d eepened (leaving 'the mencement of March, 18!)3, was 255, their aggregate
entrances as at present), m such manner as may keep in weekly productive capacity being 176,978 tons. The
view the ul timatecompletion of the whole scheme-the total corresponding number of furnaces in blast at the com
sum to be presently expended nob t o exceed, say, 25,000[.; mencement of September, 1892, was 23G, their aggreg~te
and, therefore, that the law agent should ascertain what weekly productive capacity being 15l,G48 t ons. The
steps of procedure would be n ecessary t o carry out the corresponding m1mber of furnaces in blast at the corn
modified scheme.'
mencement of M arch, 1892. was 305, their aggregate
. "I regreb. that at present it ~hould only be deemed prac- weekly productive capacity being 193,902 tons. It will
tteable to g1 ve effect t o a portiOn of the recommend ations be seen that there was a very sharp curtailment in the
contained in my report of 3rd curt., inasmuch as by production in September this year. This was, no doubt,
lea ving the harbour entrances as they now are full ad- attributable to the severe financial crisis then preYailing
vantage cannot meanwhile be derived from those in the U nited Sbl\tes.

437

E N G I N E R I N G.

Oct. 6, 1893.]

ftt the dr llrod and the other the end of tb~ piston-rC'd. A
transverse r ectangularshaped cotter bole Fl 1s ma-de tmr?ugh
GAS, &c., ENGINES.
the middle. The pack in<~'" asber G is composed of se,reral pteces
14,650. T. C. Hogg and D. W. Forbes, London. ot leather C'ut in dieo eh:pe, with a hole thr~ugh, to fit the pack
Hydrocarbon Eng1nes. [13 F'1'gs.] Aug-ust 13, 1892.-I n ing-box a.nd pietonrod. The edges of the peces are recessed, so
this in ven tion the air supply is drawn into an annular ch:1."?ber
CoMPILED nr ,V. LLOYD WISE.
arranged in the rylinder cover outside the mixing chamber 1J m to
SELECTED ABSTRACTS OF RECENT PUBLISHED SPECIFICATIONS which the hydrocarbon is deli\er ed . Between the chambers and
UNDER THE ACTS HS~3- 18 88.
the cyJir,der is an automatic valve lJ'2 opening inwards, aod ron
The numbtr of views given in the Specifi.cation Draw ng_li is ~taled trolled in the opposite direction by a spring b:J. The hydrocarbon
in ea,ch cMe; wher.: none are meutLoned, the Specificatton ts
not tl:U8trated.
.
Where inventions ar~ commumc~ted fro.m ~broad, the Nam es,
d:c., (If the Communwators are gwen ~n ttaltc~.
Copies of SpecijicationiJ may be obtatn.ed at the Patent Office
Sale Branch, 38, Cwrsitorstreet, Chancerylane, E. C. , at the
un'jorm price of 8d.
The datr. (l.f the ~dverti.sement ."f the accevtance of a compute
svccificu.tton. is, tn each case, owen ojter the ajlstr.act,, unlus the
Patent half been sealed, .when .th~ date of sealtng tb' gtven.
~ 7111 perso?~ may at any tnne wttlnn two months fro m th.e.dat~ of
23219
tite advertistment of the acceP.lance of a c~plete specLjtcatton,
that when two discs are placed together a wi~e pring can be
fl'Ve notice at the Patent OJtce of oppos*ttton to the grant of a
embedded, this sprine" pressing tb.e leather. umformly upon the
Patent on any of the orounds mentioned in the .Act.
rod and keeping it ttght. The chp I cone1ets of two tru~tum
I'
cones made to fit the one in the other and secur ed to dnll by
ELECTRICAL APPARATUS.

dovetail bearing and tightened by a piece J drawn together by a

4910. E. L. Joseph, ~o~don.. Electric Swit~he~.
,I
bolt and nut 1{. (Accepted ..A.ugust 23, 1893).
[3 Jtigs.] .Maroh7, 1893.-TOJs mvent1on rebtes.to a ~w1tchm
___-...
/
,'I
whioh segmental con~ac t plates a.!e secu re~ on .an meulatmg base,
.. '
5409. W. Jones, London. Rock Dril~s. [2 Fig~.)
and the connecting p1ece for (llosmg the ou cu1t between the con
/
March 14, 1893.-Tbis i.Jlveo~ion r elates to p e rcus~~ ve rock dnll,
tact plates when required, consists of a crossb.ar mounted OJ? a.
worked by fluid pressure, such as compreestd a1r, and thP. ex
~"'"
central thumbpiece which can be turned on 1t~ centre to brmg
hauet is effected without the intervt:ntion of cams, tappets,
the connecting piece into or out of contac~ w1t~ the contact
&c. The val ve D is in the for m of a double p iston connected by
plates on the base. The base A of the sw1tcb 18 constructed
e. rod E, each of these pistons having air pa.ssag~e.. The ':ahe
of n m \terial such as earthenware,. an~ the .con tact plates
reciprocates in the box F, to which the Jl!Otor ~u1d 1s admttttd
B Bl are secured t > it, the conductmg wtres be10g led through
through either of the ports 0. On the cyhnder e1de of the vahe
2
b~les in the base A to the binding posts B , B of the contact
box Fare two p or ts Hand I, one at ee.ch end of the main cylinder
A, and communicating respectively with t~e ~wo eJ?dS of the
11{).1.
main cylinder A, other ports J, K commu01catmg wtth tbe atFig. Z.
mosphere. As the valve D r eciprocates in the box F, it admits
the fluid a.lterne.tely to the two ends of the main cylinder A
through t hl' porta Hand I r especti\ely, and puts the ports H a~d
D
I alternately through the intermediation of the passages R 10

"ENGINEERING'' ILLUSTRATED PATENT

RECORD.

PUJ.1.

~,.

,...

..

--- ...
.........

....

F(g.1

'

plates. The usual thumbpiece D turns on the centrepin E and

ha.s secured to it the connecting piece F, compos ~ d of a. piece of
sheet metal, the ends of which are bent and split. The bent ends
of the connecting-piece F pass in under the con tact plates B. Bl
(dotted lines, Fig. 1), and being flexible accommodate themselves
to the form of these plates and make electrical contact with them
at both ends. The thumbpiece D and connecti ngpiece F are
returned definitely to their normal position, as soon as they are
turned in the direction opposite to the arrow clear of the contact
plates B, BJ, by the spring 0 acting on the connecting-piece F.
H represents the cover of the switch, which may be secured to the
baseA by a bayoretjcint. (.Accepted .August 23, 1893).
11,579. w. P. Thompson, L iverpool. (C. L. Coffin,
Detroit, Wayn.e, Afichigan, U.S.A.. ) Electrically Beating
Metal. [4 Figs.) June 13, 1893.-Tbis invention relates to
means for electrically welding sheet metal, pipes, &c. Th e ed ges
of the metal are first fl anged along the proposed seam and a re
bolted between a clamp and mandril M connected to one ter
mina.l of a source of electrical enerjly, the edges being br ought in
contact with a conductor connected with the other terminal. A
8

1.

is injected into a ctntral chamber formed in the cylinder cover,

and between this ch amber and th e first is a. second annular one
th rough which the ex haust is led, the central chamber into
wbi b the hy drocarbon is injected being maintained at a high
temperature. The igniter consists of coils or corrugated plates to
which the beat of burning gases in the cylinder has access. The
governing is effected by simultaneo'Js 1y shutting off t he exhaust
and throwing the pumps out of gear. (Accepted .August 16, 1893).

the respective euds of the piston vahe in communication with

the exhaust ports J, K, eo that the ends o f the main cylindr r a r e
alternately exhausted. The reciprocating motion of the piston
valve D is obtained by the compressed air leaking alternatt>ly
through restricted paeeages ioto the chambers L, .M at the respective ends of the ,alve. These two chambers are in communication
wit.h tht> atmosphere by means of the two small ports N, 0 lead
ing to the main cylinder A, and then two openings P, Q in the
side of this cylinder leading ioto the atmosphere. The ports
MACHINE TOOLS, SHAFTJNG, &c.
N, 0 and the openings P, Q are a.lternately opened and closed
18,642. S. Ford, London. Friction Clutches. [6 by the main ptston. The motor fluid accumulates in one of
F i{Js.) October 18, 1892.-This invention relates to friction the recesses L, M, and exhausts freely from the other, the action
clutches in which the fri ction is produced by pressing a. conical being alter nate, eo that the piston valve is shot over and ther eby
p lug, connected with one part of the machine, into a. conical efi'Mts the necessary changes of moYement of the pi-ton. (A cr ecess formed in another part. A is a shaft to which motion is cepted August 23, 1893).
t.o be given by the clutch. The part B is adapted to rotate
loosely, and the part C to slide longitudinally on the shaft, but
RAILWAY APPLIANCES.
the latter is prevented from turning on it by a feather. The
13,344. A. Flues, Frieberg, Moravia, Austria.
Preventing Railway Accidents. [11 .Jtigs. ) July 8,
.1
1893.-'Dlis in,ention relates to means fo r preventing railway
accidents, in which a. lever B is arranged on the locomotive
engine, directly controlling a steam out.off valve L. A stop A
arranged in close proximity to the t rack, is connected with the
block signal, so that when the line is blocked this stop will be in
c
Cl

\.:1:

,.t/.

"11

Ftg .Z.

Ft9 .1.

Fi1J.:l

surfaces of the parts B and C, which come into frictional contact,

8
are made concave and convex r esp ectively T he outer portion
of the frictional surfaces makes a comparatively small angle with
the axis of the abaft A, eo that these parts of the two surfaces
grip one another firmly when the part C is pushed into the p a rt
/1!11
B, the other portions of the surfaces which stand at a greater
angle to the axis, preventing those which stand at a small angle
heating current le then passed through the conductor and the from being pressed together with sufficient force to cause them
material until the edges are r aised to a welding temperature, the to bind. (Accepted ..4 ugust 23, 1893).
operation being then completed by rolling or hammering.
18,701. J. H . GrUJiths, Ironbridge, Shropshire.
The mandril M is supported on the base A parallel with the arm
B, and tbe conductors are hinged to the base, and clamp the Converting Reciprocating into Circular Motion. [6
material against the mandril. The insulated conductor is carried Figs. ] October 19, 1892.-Tbis invention has r eference to means
on a traversing carriage E on which is also a pressure roller F. for converting reciprocating into ci rcular motion, in which a
srrewthreaded rod is rotated by a reciprocating nut, the object
(Accepted .August 23, 1893).
being to cause the rod to rotate always in the same direction as
13,489. B. Zeitschel, Berlln. Electric Bell. [2 Figs.] the nut. The rod is form ed with right and left-banded screwJuly 11, 1893.-In this invention the electric bell is constructed threads 2, 2a, 3, 3a, and upon it are mounted two nuts, ea<'h
with a ftat case a provided with banging slots b, and hwing the
downward hanging contact spring c. the yoke d, bell cla.ppet e,
the contact carrier /, and con tact g fitted in it. One bobbin i is
scre\~ed firml y into the bell support l, and at the other end its
core t l pnsses freel~ t hrough an opening in the case. The other
/570/.

Fig 2.

bobbin k is fi rmly screwed by its core k' into the case, and passed
nt the other end freely tb rou~rh the bell support l, a nut 1n holding
the parts together. The case is closed by a door pro,ided with aide
cheeks which, by means of screws o, are fixed eo as to be easily
detachab_le. Tbe ~ong has iu t he centre a wave depression, and
at each &tde a wave elevation tl (Fig. 1), in or der to increase the
sound. (Accepted ~ugu.9t 23, 1893

Pig 3.

the path of the lever B, and when the locom oti ''e or carriage
passes it will displace the latter, which will cause the steam to be
cut off. The lever K direcdy controlling t1he cutoff val ve is
under the action of a sprin~ D, which effects t he closing of the
valve, and a steam C) linder N, causing the return movement of
the parts to their normal po~itlon, whilst the arm C directly a.cted
upon by 1he lever B effects the disengagement of the lever K from
the normal position. (~ccepted ..A.u{IU8t 23, 1893).

adapted to engage with one of the threads, and with a h older

capable of being reciprocated, eo that when the bolder is moved
in one direction it engages with and mo,es one of the nuts in
one direction and rotates t he eh:l.ft, and when it is moved in the
opposite direction it engages and moves the second nut, which
by acting on the other screwthread rotates the spindle in the
STEAM ENGINES AND BOILERS.
same direction as before, the nut that is fo r the time out of
engagement with the holder being inoperative. (Accepted ..dugust
19,476. T. B. Sharp, Smethwick, Statrs., and J. A.
23, 1893).
and S. Fletc~er, Ashtonunder-Lyne, Lancs. Safety
Valves. [3 F t.gs.) October 29, 1892.- Thts in vention consists
MINING AND METALLURGY.
of a large unloaded ,ahe and a small subsidiary load ed valve the
23,219. E. J. Rule, Redruth, Cornwall. Rock large vahe being pressed to its seat when not blowing off steam
Drills. [6 Figs. ) December 16, 1892.-This invention relates by the boiler pressure. a is the valve box, pro"ided at the top
to rock drills described in Patent No. 15,198 of 1891, and refers with a flat chamber b io which the large principal valYe c workEt
to cuff or drillholder having cone end to attach the drill bit to this valve seating itself on the annular seats d a.nd d2 at the
the pistonrod ; to spring washer packing for thl' forward end of bottom of the chamber b. The top of this chamber is closed by
the piston-rod to pass through, which also acts as a buffer for a disc e having in it an axial paesa.ge openin~ into the chamber b.
the front piston; a s prin~ pressure upon the slide val ves; and to In the passage b2 the am all loaded su beicliary val ve fis seated.
a. clip to connect the dnll by. The valves ar e held down by a The stem of the large val ve c has an axial hole, and through
bearing pieoe A made with a tubular stem part B, to inclose a this stem steam of the boiler pressure passes into and fills the
spiral spring C, to press down the face of bearing piece on top oh amber b, and presses on the top and bottom of the valve.
of the val ve, recesses D being ptovided in the covl'r E to aocom In the seat of the valve c is a deep annular r ecess, thus leaving
modate the stem Band retain the spring. The drillholder F is a the two concentric proj ections d and d2 for the val ve c to seat
solid piece of metal, each end bored with a tapered hole, one to itself upon. I n the sides of the val ve box et a re a series of holes 9

E N G I N E E R I N G.
openin~

into the annular recess h. By these boles g and annular

r ecess h the chamber b is put into communication with the external air, and the steam blows off or escapes when the valve c is
raised from its seat. The lifting of the Yalve c in the chamber b
is limited by an annular projection i on the top of the valve
seating itself against the underside of the valve-box cover e.
Steam presses on a portion of the valve c, and passing by the axial
hole in the stem, fills the obamber b and presses upon the whole

[OcT.

12,580, J . B . Fitts and w. E. Ande rson, Blacks

burg h , Montgomery, Virg inia, U.S .A. Oonde nsers.
[5 Figs.] June 27, 1893.-'l'his invention relate~ to condensers
for condensing the exhaust steam from engines, &c., and consists
of a chamber containing tubes E for the passage of the vapour,
with trays I for containing a. cooling fluid in which the tubes
are submerged, the t ray being made of a porous substance, so

a.
1

a..-

HSr

-~

'

1%.

1a

a,.'

--

casing is provided with the vertical tr~n sverse partition 30, and
establish communication between the 10ner and outer chambers
15 and 14. (Accepted .AttJUSt 23, 1893).
13,698. w. Boaz, London. Tube Expande rs. (7
Figs. ] July 14, 1893.-:rhis in vention r~l at~ to t.~be expanders,
the body of which conststsof a metal dtsc, 10 '~hJCh are fo~med
three radial grooYes. In theee g roove_s a re adJuSted can~agf:B
B carrying rollers C free to revoh e on pt \'Ots I? These carriages
also carry bearing blocks b fo r abuttmg aga_mst the tubeplate.
a is a recess in which is a plate F form ed wath cu rv~d slots Fl
corresponding in number to the carriages. The carnages have

'' -

.I/

0 i ; !:=====14t

~--~:~~--------~~.. : .r

U..>B O

f.

MISCELLANEOUS.
9124. B. A . Webste r, Bave rhill, Esse x , Mas sachusetts, U.S.A. Buffing Wheels . (4 Figl1.] May H, 1893.Tbis invention relates to rotary tools fo r burnishing in a process
which invoh'es the application of a composition con ~aininf-! wax
and colouring matter to the surface, and in which the surface is
presented to a. rapidly moving polishing tool having a yielding
acting surface. The shaft a is provided wi t h a. longitudinal ai r
passage al connected with an air pump which is continuously
operated by the power that rotat cs the shaft, so that a constant
air pressure is maintain('d. To this shaft is affixed a burnishing
wheel cornprising a flexi ble pe ripher~ b, composed of a sheet of
canvas, and ri!{id holders bl affixed to the abaft and to the edges of

11.j.2.

.Ft.9
' .1.

10

ltg.1.

.. .

.. .
":A'
00

....

f]
_____
_,
-.
'D

a'"'--'..., ...--=~~.. p
: ,9

J.

that the cooling liquid will percolate through. Between the layers of
tubes are the receptacles for containing the coolin~ liquid, consisting of horizontal partitions. Openings a, at on each side of the coocfenser admit air to the surface of the water co,ering the tubes,
means being provided fo r causing a current of ai r to pass from
one set of openings through the other, to induce rapid eYaporation and cooling. (Accepted .AU!JttSt 23, 1893).

5267. G . J . Churchward, Swindon, Wilts. Steam

Traps. [6 Fi,gs.] March 11, 18!)3,- This invention relates to
steam t raps fo r automatically discharging the water o~ condensation from the couplings, pi pes, &c., of the steam heahng appa.
r atus in railway carriages, &c. In a case A a float B is arranged
resting on projections D and covering a hole E in the bottom of
the chamber A. This hole E ha~ a raised edge forming a. eeat.
I n the case A webs Fare placed to insure the float B returning
to its proper position on the seat after having been floated by the
water of condensation. In the top of the case A are studs H to

s93

'nJ:X:C[

of the upper side of the val ve, and th e a rea of this side bein,:.t
larger than its unrlerside, the valve is pressed to its seat by the
boiler pressurt'. The underside of the sm'l.ll subsidiary loaded
valvef at the top or the valve case is pressed upon by the st~am
io the chamber b, and this valve is so loaded as on ly to be lifted
from its seat when the boiler pressure exceeds that at which the
boiler is arranged to work. ( Accepted .August 23, 1893).

6,

Z.

IJ698

studs passing th rough the slots F' and through radial slots
in the body, and by these pins the carriages a re guided anrl
their simultaneous movement insured, they being brought
together when fi rst applying the expandt>r to a tube, the pin<t
also retaining the ca.mpla.te in its position in the recess. Tbe
campla.te is turned by bu_tton~ f to bring to~ether o~ separate
the carriages. The mandnl E IS ftattened at El along 1ts len~th ,
and is passed tbrough the centre of the body A and bears agamst
the rollers C. (A ccepted .A ugu11t 23, 1893).

18 038. c. Billington and J . Newto n , Stoke-on

Trent. Sluice Valve. [2 F igs. ] October 10, 1892.-This
invention relates to a sluice vah'e, the object bein~ to construct
valves having a hollow elongated nut so that the pressure required to open or close them is resisted by a metallic plate, and
a collar on the lower end of the hollow spindle. a is the metallic
body of the valve, with a screwed cover b hadng a stuffin~-box b2
formed in it a screwed gland c, an externally Rcrewed sptndle d,
the lower ~vedge-shaped portion of which fits int_o a r~cess
formed in the divided valve{, and the upper part of wh1eh proJects
into the internally screwed lower portion of the elongated nut g.

91l4

the sheet. Each of the holders is composed of a collar 7 externally screwed and provided with a flange 8 and a!? internally
threaded collar having a ftangE' 10, the collars 7 betng affixed to
t he shaft a by set screws. The flanges 8 and 10 constitute jaws
between which the edges of the sheet b are clamped. The holders
bland fle xible sheet b inclose an annular air chamber surrounding t he shaft and communicating wi~h the ai r passag~ in the
la.tter through orifices a2, so tha:t atr m~y ~e force~ mto the
chamber by t he air pump to const1tut~ a ytt>l~mg cushton f?r the
flexible periphery b. The flexible ~ertpbe~ 1s ma_de ~uffiCiently
loose to er1able the air pressure to distend 1t and gtve 1t a convex
control the amount of lift giv~~ to the fl<?at B, and at the s11111e outer surface. (Accepted A ttgust 23, 1893).
time to keep it in a central pos1t1on when hfted off the seat. ~he
12,676. L. Bulcock and w. J. Thre lfa ll, ~urnley,
hole E is closed steam-tight by the bottom of the float B restmg
on the seat, hut immediately upon the entrance of_ wat~r of con- Lancs. Shedding Motions of Looms. [2 J!t!JS.) June
densation the pressure of the float B upon the_ seat 1s reheved, and 28 1893.-Tbis invention r elates to means for operattng separate
the float is lifted up to the studs H, so allowmg the water to be an'd distinct healds to form selvedges. Motion is imparted to the
blown out through the bole E. Alter the water has been thus rocking shaft A by a crank B, fixed by a nut C on t he tappet abaft
discharged the float B again rests upon the seat, and prevents D on the outside of the tappet wheel E, aA'ld then connected by
the issue of steam. The bole E iR pl~ed_ toward~ the outer edge the rod F to the arm G. To the bealds li fo r operating the
of the bottom of the float D, thus gettmg 1t at a d1stance from the
cent re of flotation of the float. (.Accepted .Au!Ju.St 23, 1893).

Ft~ /.

10 849 J Wothe rspoon F o rest Bill, K e nt, and

J. havie, Glasgow. Beating an~. E vaporating
Wate r and Co nde nsing Steam. [4_ P't.flB. ] _Jun~ 2, 1893.
- I n t his invention the apparatus is made w1th a ~yhndncal s~ell
7 and with closing end plates 8, 9, the back end of the s~ell bemg
ft~n ed outwards and riveted to the end plate 8, and tt~ other
enl.ha\'ing a ring 10 riveted to it, forming a flange ~o wh1ch the
end door 9 is bolted. The steam beating wo~m 11 1s made of a
solid drawn brass tube, conically coiled, ~nd Js?olted to the. ead
plates which allows it to expand. Stea~ ts.adm1tted to the" orm
and regulated by a valve 15, and the d ram 1s controlled by a cock

Ftj.2 .

UNITED STATES PAT.ENTS AND PATENT PRACTICEDescriptions with illustrations or inventions patented in the
United States of America from 1847 to the present time, and
reports of trials of patent law cases in the United States, may be
consulted, gratis, at the offices oi ENGINEERING, 35 and 36, Bed fordstreet, Strand.

F,:g.a.
Fey.!.

Ft[;. z.

warp threa~s. are attached bands of leather w~ich ~re passed

under the loose boss J mounted on the stud h earned by the
bracket L and then crossed one on each side of t he loose boss and
secured r~spectively to pins M in slots N of the double-armed
lever 0 . The 8racket L is firmly secured to the loom fr~me by
bolts P, and is continued downwards to serve as a stay-p1ece for
the rocking shalt. (.Accepted .August 23, 1893).

13 487. J . B e arne a nd w. J. Strong. New Y ork,

U.s:A. Ce n t ral Valves for G as Purifie rs. (6 Figs.]
July 1!, 1893.- This invention relates _to a. centre seal for gas
purifiers, cons: sting of the sbell10, ha.vmg the revolvable top 11,
and provided with inner and outer chambers 15, 14, two of the

Fig.1

r~ . z.

16 and is led into t he hotwell of the mai.n e~gin.es. The v~pour

81
from the salt water is collected by a. sht p1pe 18 h3;v1ng a.
~ ~fatin valve and is led into the bottom of t he ma.m conde~ser ~be inl~t feed water is supplied to the appatatus by a

der the control of a valve 22 regulated by a ftoat le,er 2~.

W~~~~be yapOUr iS led iD tO the main COndenser the sea y.rater~S
eve. orated under a partial vacuum,_and t?e supply flows ~?to_t e
eva.~orator from the main circulatmg dtscbarge by gr~' 1tbt1?n,
bein re ulated by the float lever and valve 22, the v~ ve em~
go f'n when the water is at its normal level, and bemg close
~;Pt~epbuoyancy of the ball if t he water r ises. (~ccepted ..tlu!]tat
23, li93).

When the vahes are being opened by lifting the di ''ided vah e
from between its seatings, the lower internally screwed part of
the rotated slee,e 9 causes tbe thread of the spindle d to rise up
into the hollow portion of the elon~ated nut y , and. draw the
divided valve f from between its seatmgs ?~ meaus o! 1ts w~dge
shaped lower end e, which, when the v~lve ~s between ~ts seat1~~s,
tends to force the two parts of it agamst tts respectne sealmg,
so as to insure tightness of fit and prevent leakage, the_ pressu r~
exerted in opening tbe valves being resisted by a. metalhc plate t ,
a collar on tbe lower part of the sleeve !J, and the internal lower
part of the sorewed cover b. (A ccepted .a ugust 16, 1893).

1.1481

chambers 15 beil:;g divided by a. partition, the ceDtral _vertical

outlet tube 16 to which is connected the laterally extend1ng outlet pipe 26. Within the tube 16 i11 ~n inle~ tube 18, having its
upper part cut away. An inlet p1pe 17 ts connected to the
tube 18. Each of the revolvable valves above the top of the

R USSIAN R AILWAYS.- The aggregate revenue of all the

Russian l ines in th'=' first three months of this year
amounted to 64,974,319 r oubles, a.a compared with
64,220,206 roubles in the corresponding period of 1892.
T he average length of line worked in the first three
mon ths of this year was 27,833 versts, as compar ed with
27,361 versts in the corresponding p eriod of 1892.
FLORIDA SHIP CANAL COMPANY.-Tbe Florida Sh ip
Canal Company has been r eorganised .. l'he canal! it is
estimated, will cost 10,000,000t. There wtll be a cuttmg 17
miles in len gth, from St. Augustine's. to the St. John's,
which will be followed for several m tles. Another cutting will carry the can a l ~o Or~ng_e Lake, sit~at~d in a.
h eavily t imbere d yellow pme d1str 1Ctl, where 1tl 1s pro
posed to establish a d ockyar d and ship-repairin g works.
T he canal will run then ce through Ala.chua County ~o t~e
Gulf. Altogether the canal will be about 150 miles m
lengt h.
SouTH A~'RICAN TELEORAPHY.-Mr. Roach, with whom
is associated Mr. Ellerton Fry, has left Cape Town to fulfil
a contract which he has made with Mr. Cecil Rhodes for
the construction of the fir3t section of the great Africa~
overl and telegraph from Salisbury to Tete, on the Zambes1.
Further contracts for construction to N ya-ssa. have also
been signed by Mr. R oach. The wires are to be str~tched
upon iron pol es ; these poles are expected to be deh vered
vid Beira in the course of the next two mon ths. Meanwhile some work remains to be done in connection with
the com pletion of the su r vey for the great lin e.