OcT.

20,

471

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

1893.]

TH E TOWER BRIDGE.
(Conc luded from page 449.)

the construction and building of the

steel superstructure by Sir Wi.ll~am Arr?l. ~nd Co.
we have had several oppo~tun1t1es of vts1twg ~he
brid e 1\nd having the vart?us m~thods. of erect10n
expl~ined by Mr. J. E. Tutt, th~1r engtneer. The
contract for this work was ~et tn July, 18~9, and
consisted in the construchon and. erectiOn of
between 13,000 and 14,000 tons of n on and steel
work. The contractor first consdtruhcted. a substanhtial stage between the s~ore an t e pter on eac
side of t he river, suffictently s~rong to .carry t he
whole of the steelwork composmg t he stde spans,
well ns the plant necessary to erect t he .s ame.
88
The central span could not be stag~d over 111 the
same manner, as by the Act of Parliament a cl~ar
width of at least 160 ft. had always to be mamtained between the piers for the river tra~c: As
soon as the staging was complete~ , the buildm~ of
the girders forming t he fixed port10n of the openmg
D u RI NG

height, were much more easily built. As a general

.
rule, all columns were riveted by hand.
The erection of the main chains was a difficult
operation, and on e r equiring careful attent~on.
Tiro her t r estles spaced 18 ft. apart, and of vartous
heights, were placed along the main stage, and
these carried a platform, some 12 ft. wide, upon
which the chains could be er ected in place. The
portions of the chains, within 40 ft. of t h e columns
on the piers and abutm ents, were built by cr anes
placed on t he columns already constructed, but the
central portion was er ected by a large steam crane
placed upon a gantry 40 ft. in height, and capable
of being traversed along the main stage. A large
portion of these chains was riveted by hydraulic
machines, although in many cases handwork had
to be don e. The large h oles for the pins connec~
ing t hese chains together wer e all bor ed to thetr
correct diameter after all t he parts were in pos ition at the site. As these h oles varied in diameter
between 24 in. and 30 in., t his work could only b e
done by using specially made boring bars drivan

fixed in their exact positions. The racks were thr n

fix ed to the circumferences of these quadrants, th.e
leaf being frequently lowered to ma~e sur e ~b1s
por t ion of the work was being done wtth suffictent
accuracy. Nearly all t h e .racks are now fix~d, and
the building of the r ema1nder of th e le.af will very
shortly be proceeded with. The er ection of that
portion of each leaf which would project beyond
40ft. of the pier was deferr ed, ~o that when th_e
leaf was lowered as above descr1bed, for experimental purposes, it would not project beyond the
pier more than t he distance allowed by the Act of
Parliament. It will be seen that Messrs. Arrol
and Co. have displayed their .usual originality and
resource in carrying out t he d1f?c~lt a!ld somewhat
novel task set t hem. Mr. Tutt, 1t wtll be re~em
hered, took a prominent p osition in the erec~wn ?
the F orth Bridge-in itself a libe~al educatwn 1n
t his class of civil engineering practtce -and the way
in which as contractors' engineer, h e has now
carried o~t th e present work, fully sustains the
r eputation of the firm.
.

Fig .11Z.

Fig.11a

Fig.108.

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. 109.

---- --- --.... --J------- -- ---------- ... ... - ----------- ---- -- --

,, '

tM M l t .,. t t

-- - - -- - - ---

-.

ys

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,.
4

J ~

e w: c

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'"!'ut

: i t

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

span was commenced. These were all built in

place, and riveted by hydraulic power. The four
columns on the piers were next commenced, and
built as high as the cranes placed on the masonry
of the piers would r each. These cr anes were then
raised and placed upon timber trestles 40 ft. high ,
so that the columns could be built up to the level
of the first platform. The girders forming this
platform were built at a low level, and afterwards
raised to their places and riveted to the columns.
The cranes were then placed on this platform, and
the building of the columns continued to the level
of the next platform. In this manner the steelwork over the piers was erected to the height at
which the girders forming the high-level footways
are placed.
The high-level footways being completed, the
horizontal tiea which pass along the outside footway girders, and connect the upper ends of the
no~th and south long chains together, were n ext
bu1lt. These ties were erected upon a projecting
stage at the top of the columns on the shore side of
the north pier, and gradually drawn into place as
each length of the ties was added. While this
work was proceeding, the erection of the columns on
the north and south abutments was started. These
columns are similar , although somewhat smaller
than those on the piers, and, being of moderate

by small engines, the 1atter being capable of being

taken from one place to another as required.
While these chains were being built, the crossgirders of the side spans were br ought into position, and t he longitudinal girder s between them
fixed in place r eady to receive t he corrugated floorplates. These cross-girders had been all built and
riveted upon the approaches to the bridge, so that
it was on1y necessary t o run them into place upon
bogies. The suspension rods which hang these
girders to the chains were afterwards attached
to t he pr oj ecting eye-plates of the chains. The
method of construction of the four main girders,
forming the opening leaves of the central span, is as
follows : The '' tatl end " of each girder was built
upon the main stage, near the pier, and when riveted
was drawn forward and gradually lower ed into
position, so that the main pivot shaft could be got
into place. This shaft, which passes through these
four girder s, is 21 in. in diameter and 44 ft. long,
and entirely supports th e leaf when the bridge is
open for t h e river traffic. The quadrants which
are attached to t h e t wo outside main girders, and
to which the racks for turning the leaf ar e attached,
were next built, and the portion of the leaf then
built was exactly balanced about the pivot shaft, so
that it could be easily raised and lower ed for the
purpose of ascertaining if t he quadrants had been

There n ow remains but little to do to complete

the bridge. Meesrs. P erry and Co. have finished the
masonry work at the n orth and sout h abutments,
and at the piers it is completed up to the level of
the roof. The paving of the approaches is also
well advanced, and it is expected to h ave a. trial
with the permanent hydraulic machinery for working the opening portion of the bridge in a few
weeks. Everything, therefor e, points to the bridge
being r eady for opening early n ext year.
In the above account we have d ealt only wit h
what appear to be the salient features of the metal
construction. It would be obviously impossible
for us to illustrate and describe in detail so important and complicated a. structure.
I t only r emains to speak of the ar chitectural
features of the work, and with these we will d eal
briefly. Fig. 104, page 484, is an elevation of the
east and west fronts of the main towers and piers.
Fig. 105 is a transverse section through the centre
of the tower and t hrough the west machinery
chamber. Fig. 106 is an elevation of the main
towers facing the land span ; the arch being, of
course, that which spans the r oad way, and through
which the traffic passes. Fig. 107 is a sectional
elevation from the same point ~f view. The
material used for the masonry is rock-faced granite
on t he walls and fine axed granite on the other

[OcT.

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

472

STUD LATHE AT THE WORLD'S COLUMBIAN

CONSTRUCTED BY THE NILE

TOOL \YORKS CO~IPANY,

HAMILTON,

20,

r 89 3

EXPOSITIO~.
OHIO,

U.S.A.

(Fvr Description, see Page 479.)

parts. The turrets and windows are P ortland stone,

and t he roof is slate. The abutment tower on the
Middlesex side is shown in elevation in Fig. 108,
and also in ~ectional plan in Fig. 109. The elevation shows both the land and river sides, the left
half of the drawing representing the river side and
the right half t he land side. Fig. 110 is a longitudinal section through the centre, looking north.
A half plan of the room in the r oof is shown in
Fig. 111. Fig. 112 is a west elevation of the same
abutment tower.

THE

ENGINEERING CONGRESS
CHICAGO.
(BY

"dryochoi," he claimed, should be t ranslated 1 "With a t onnage coefficient of 0. 6 there results

"moulds. " The photograph r eproduced below is accordingly a displacement of 35 x 4. 316 x 0. 925 x
from a fragment found at Athens, and from t his, 0. 6 = 83.838, in round numbers 84 t ons.
( AcB err Haack gives the following dimensions :
1 cording to a calculation made by me, this tonnage

AT

OUR NEW YORK CORRESPONDENT. )

{Continued from page 445.)

THE question of safety at sea was considered at

much length, Dr. E lgar claiming that warships and
passenger steamers could now be made to attain a
very high degree of safety. He thought a knowl edge of the effect of stowage as to stability, and
the various methods best adapted to replace an
injury to compartments or to the ship's bottom,
ought t o be carefully inculcated and impressed
upon the ship's officers. H e concluded this part
with the following advice :
" A r eserve of structural strength is necessary in
order to meet reductions of strength that may be
cg.used by damage in collision or from other causes.
Side plating and stringer plate, or other important
element of structural strength, might be injured to
such an extent as to cause a ship to strain dangerously in a seaway-unless a margin of extra strength
be prmided in her construction.
c: Good propulsive power and steering power are
importan t to safety, in order to prevent a. ship falling off helplessly into t he t rough of the sea in bad
weather and lying there at t he mercy of the
waves.''
'' The Trireme in Time of the Peloponnesian
\Var," by H err R. Haack, of Berlin, succeeded t he
paper on "Modern Naval Architecture" by a most
natural sequence. This was a most interesting accoun t of the construction of this ancient ship, and
showed much research in archreology. A few extracts
must suffice . The author pointed out that many
searchers had been misled by taking t he Greek word
''tropia " to mean the keel, whereas it r eally referred
to the submerged p~rt of the vessel. The word

FRAGMENT REPRESENTI NG GREEK TRIRE~E, FOUND AT ATITENS.

Metres.
Length over a.ll
. ..
...
.. .
... 36.5
,
on water line
.. .
. ..
. .. 35.0
...
. .. 4.316
E xtreme water line breadth
.925
Draught
...
. ..
.. .
.. .
. ..
Depth from lowest point of bottom
(outside) to gunwale of ehronitw
... }.965

is !ufficient, in which, besides the weight of the

ship, is included that of the tackle and fittings, and
the crew according to the data given by Boeckh,
also provisions and wate1 for five days.)"
The material from which it was built was pro
bably oak. The construction was as follows .

E N G l N E E R l N C.

473

COMBINED FEED-WATER HEATER AND PURIFIER.

CONSTRUCTED BY 1\JESSRS. J:>APE,

HENNEBERG,

AND CO., HAMBURG.

(For Description , see Page 478.)

Pig. Z.

Fig . 1.

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St et /on C 0 .

'' To recapitulate : ']he construction of the bopis

w.as beQ'un by laying the midship planks of the
d1memfons required in the dr yochoi; the ends
were brought together and the butts fitted, and
the planks then temporarily fastened to the
dryoch ni and the tropideia. At each end of these

centra courses of planks others were laid, probably joined to t he first, the butts likewise
securely fastened. Then, at intervals of not more
than 1 pechus (ell) == 422 mm., holes were bored
edgewise through at least two planks, into which
well-fitting treenaila were hammered.
Slight

curv~s

of the planks, called for by the shape of the

tmpts, w~re achieved either when the planks were
cold, _or, 1.f the planks were thicker than necessary,
by tnmmmg. To produce greater curves or warped
surface for the forebody and afterbody of the ship
reco~rse was had t o the procefs, still in use, of
heating the pl~nks kept constantly moist, c. ver an
open fire, wht?h made ~hem so flexible that by the
a1d of mec~amcS\l apph~nces they could be gradually for_ced Into the requtred form, in which they
then stiffened on cooling.
" In this way the frop is was carried up plank by
pl~nk t o the water line, and smoothed down inside
~nth edges. Then nomeis (' floor timbers') were
mserted and fast~ned. These were either hewn
out . of oak ~nee s or were made of black thorn
s~plmgs whtch had been soft ened or er the fire
(hke the planking of the tropis), and bent into
shap~. In any case the floor timbers (as indeed all
t~e rtbs, &c., of t_riremes) wer~ not so heavy as the
nbs ?f modern shtps, such a th1ckness being rightly
cons1dered unnecessar~ on account of the binding
togeth~r of_the plankmg by means of treenails.
ProcopiUs, 1v. 22, says of the numeis : 'Diochoi all
the thick timbers inserted in the tropis, which' are
called by th.e poets. cliocltoi, but in ordinary language w>mcts~ reach~ng .from one side CJf the ship
to the other.
It ts hkely that the nomeis also
~ere fastened '!ith treena.ils, driven through them
m t o the plankmg of the trop is ; but I have not
been able to find any statement concerning them.
I.t would have ~een possible also to fasten the floor
t1mbers by lashmg, as was done with the ribs in the
old Viking ships, and for this purpose the rushwe~vers might have been employed, but on this
pomt also no statements are to be found. "
. There remai~ed, after this, smoothing off the outslde and caulklflg, together with painting. One ext~act f':lrt_
her wtll suffice for this interesting descriptiOn ; 1t 1s as follows :
"All the monuments, especially the coins which
show sterns of ships, exhibit a form entirely different
from . the mo~ern. Th~ stern-post was entirely
w.antmg, was, 1n fact , enttrely unnecessary, since the
k1n~ of rudder then used did not demand it. Not
until later was a stern-post introduced, when rudders
were added ~ the. mediroval galleys, which were
hooked by p1ntles mto the eyes (aoogings) on the
stern-post, and turned like the ~odern rudder.
The stern-post was, however, not at first straight
and nearly vertical, but curved like the sterns of
t~e anci6~t ehips which had no stern-post, and
wtth ~onstderable overhang, to facilitate turning
the shtp. In fact, the ancient form of stern would
be preferable to the modern, if t he style of rudder
now used and the position of the screw shaft did
not, up to the present time, render the latter slyle
absolutely necessary. For firmness of construction,
so necessary for the sterns of screw ships in partic_u lar, the ancient form would te much more appropnate. ':fhe unfortunate sharp corner, inevitable
~t the po1nt where keel and stern-post join, which
tn the newest express steamers consists of two
parallel and vertical planes of considerable surface
owing to the sharpness of the lines, would be quit~
done away with. Its unfavourable effect upon the
vibrations of swift screw steamers, as also upon
their facility of turning, would likewise disappear,
and the whole model become simpler and more
appropriate t o movement in a seaway. A difficulty
arises in the fastening of the rudder if the sternpost be discarded, but this is not the place to discuss bow such might be obviated; a firm union of
the screw shafts to the more solid stern of ancient
form would, however, be entirely practicable. Experiments looking t o thi1!4 have, in fact, already
been made in torpedo-boats. "
The next paper, ' \ R ossini's Method of Graphical I ntegration " was by Seiior Don Casimiro
de Bona y Garcia do Tejada, Inspector-General of
Engineers in the Sp~nish Navy. This gentleman
may have had some additional names to be used on
state occasions, but as this article is a summary, they cannot be given. In general, this was
a m ethod for determining graphically the areas of
horizontal sections and volumes of displacement,
the position of centres of buoyancy corresponding
to different inclinations or angles of heel, and some
other matters pertaining to a ship. The Senor
Don, &c., had applied it to the Santa M aria, and
presented several charts showing the results. He
claimed that the method was equally applicable t o sail
power. The next paper was also by the above muchnamed gentleman, and entitled ' ' The Circular and
Elliptical Valve Diagram of Bona. '' This paper was

474
in the main a discussion only to be understood by
following the complete l ine of argumen.t, S? that
the following extract must serve to descnbe 1t:
" The diagram of B ona cg.n be employed n ot only
under the same conditions as that of Moll and
~1ontety, but it has, besides, a clearness a nd simplicity that render its use spec:any advantageous.
S enor B ona has explained its uses and advantages
in a carefully prepared and lengthy ar t icle published
in the 'Bol ctin del Circulo d e Maquinistas d e la
Aramda,' of date November 15, 1873, since which
time its use has become general for our m en-ofwar. The reader will undouLtedly be glad if we
e xtract from t h is article so much as may be necessary to gi vo a clear understanding of it for the present work, with the changes made necessary by
substituting t h e d iagram used by the author for the
frigat e Sagunto for t hat published in t he article.
" The sinusoidal diagram has a num ber of disa l vantages ; as, fi r3t, it gives the rectification of an
arc instead of the arc itself, which, besides failing
t o sh ow clearly the adj ustment of the valves when
studied by it, d oes n ot sh ow on the diagram the
angles corresponding to the arcs, which is precisely
what we most wish to d etermine; second, two
curves mus t be dra wn t o sh ow the travel of the
'"alve in the ahead and in the backing motion ;
finally, as these two curves are very similar in form
to that of the p iston travel, and as they all t hree
intersect n ear the centre of the diagram, it is alm9st
impossible t o avoid mistaking one for t he other.
"These disadvan t ages disappear "hen the
circular and elliptical diagra m is used, and to draw
which t he data are taken in p r ecisely the same
manner a for the sinusoidal, with the single except ion that for th e origin of the arcs passed through
by the crankshaft it is m ore convenien t to adopt
t hat position of t he engine corresponding to one of
the d ead points (or extreme throw) of the val\e."
The next paper, entit led "The M echanical
Theory of Steamship Propulsion, " by Mr. Robert
Mansel, of Glasgow, was also a mathematical
treatise. The tests of various sh ips were given, and
the author showed that the Lepanto, Vesuvius, and
Chicago had the same relation of power a nd speed,
althouo h th e results were reached by different
formu~re. Other ships of war were also cited, a nd
diagrams were given. This paper was discussed
at some length, and was followed by one called, "On
the Influen ce of Oil on Waves at Sea,u by Mr.
W . J. ~1illa.r. secretary of the In stitute of Engin eers ?.nd Shipbuilders in Scotland. This paper
began by det)lili ng the valuable experiments made
by Mr. J ohn Shields in the harbours of Peterhead
and Aberdeen, where pipes were laid below the
surface and oil pumped through them. The repor t
of experiments made Ly a committee of the Royal
National Lifeboat Instit ution states :
" In some instances paraffin was uEed , and gave
satisfactory results as compared wit.h other oils, but
WE:' should prefer the others named.
'' I t was found that in modera.te breakers or surf,
the force of which a lifeboat could disregard, but
which would endanger the safety of small open
boats, its effect was most marked and benefi<;ial.
" The break or crest of such waves was entirely
'killed ' when it reached the space under the influence of the oil ; but on m ore than one occasion,
with the oil having this effect, when a rather larger
breaker than the surrounding ones rose, it h ad no
power, and the boat, crew, gear, &c., were smothered with a mixture of oil and water, inst ead of, as
one inspector puts it, ' good clean salt water. ' ''
This wa.s followed by records from ships' logs
showing the advantages and effects of oil during
storms, and a memorandum from the British B oard
of Trade was given a 1 follows:
'' 1. On free waves, i.e., waves in deep water,
the effect is greatest.
" 2. In a surf, or waves breaking on a. har,
where a mass of liq uid is in actual m otion in
shallow wa ter, the effect of the oil is uncertain, as
nothing can prevent the larger waves from breaking
under s uch circum~tances ; bu t even here it is of

some serv1ce.
'' 3. The h eavies t and thickest oils arc most
effectual. R efined kerosene is of little use; crude
petroleum is serviceable when n othing else is obtainable ; but all animal a nd vegetable oil~, s uch
as waste oil from the en gines, have gr eat effect.
" 4. A small quantity of oil suffices, if applied in
such a m ann er as to spr ead t o windward.
" 5. It is useful in a ship or boat, both when
running or lying to, or in wearing.
" 6. N o experiences ar e related of its use when

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

[OcT.

2 0, I

893.

hoisting a boat up in a sea way at sea, but it is conditions being when running before the wind and
hiO'hly probable t hat much time and injury t o the in lying t o. He had known of cast?r oil .being
bo~t would be saved by its application on such used to calm the surface so as to obta1n a n e w of

the propeller. He closed by sh owing that the uFe

occaswne.
'' 7. In cold water, the oil, being thickened by of oil for this purpose had been made twel v~ centhe lower temperature, and not being abl~ to spread turies ago, and cited a Greek extract ~~ prove .1t. As
freely, will have its effect much r educed. This the ancient languages are not a famil1ar subJect t o
modetn engineers, he kindly translat~d it.
will vary with the d escription of oil used.
"8. The best method of application in a ship at
(T o be contin ued.)
sea appears to be hanging over the side, in such a
manner as to be in the water, small canvas bags
THE BRITISH A8SOOIATION.
capable of holding from one to two gallons of oil,
such bags being pricked with a sail needle t o facili(Continued from page 448.)
tate leakage of the oil.
RErORT oN ELECTROL Ysrs.
''The position of these bags should vary with the
THE Committee on th e Presen t Stage of Our
circumstances. Running before the wind they Knowledge of Electrolysis and Elect ro-Chemistry
should be hung on either bow- e.g., from the has ctased to exist, as Professor L odge threatened
cat-head- and allowed to t ow in the water.
last year. The work continues, h owever .. The
" With the wind on the quarter, the effect seems third instalment of the report by Mr. S haw 1s not
to be less than in any other position, as the oil goes ready. The Rev. T. C. Fitzpatrick has been doing
astern while the waves come up on the q uarter.
some exceedingly useful work by compiling an
"Lying t o, the weather-bow and another position exhaustive table on strength of solutions, specific
fa rther aft seem the best places from which to hang gravity, t emperature coefficients, conductivity, mithe bags, with a sufficient length of line to permit gration of ions, fluidity, &c., and thus placing data at
them t o draw to windward whil e the ship drifts.
our disposal for which as yet we had to hunt up all
'' 9. Crossing a bar with a flood tide, oil poured sorts of volumes, chiefly of German publications.
overboard and allowed to float in ahead of the boat, Viscosity and conductivity are intimately connected,
which would follow with a hag towing astern, would as now becomes manifest a t a glance. The mor e
appear to be the best plan. As before remarked, viscous a body, the slower also the movements of
under these circumstances the effect cannot be so the atoms ; hydrogen travels fastest, and hence
much trusted.
acids conduct better than salt.
" n a bar with the ebb tid e it would seem to be
PIEZO-ELECTRICITY.
useless to try oil for the purpose of entering.
'' 10. F or boarding a wreck, it is recommended
L ord Kelvin, whose absence from the meeting
to pour oil overboard to windward of her before deprived the discussions of much of their usual
going alongside. The effect in t his case must vigour, con tribu ted two papers on what was forgreatly d epend upon the set of the current, and the merly styled pyro-electricity. We r ecognise n ow
circumstanoes of the depth of water.
that we have to distinguish between pyro- elec'' 11. F or a boat riding in bad weather from a tricity and piezo-electricity. If a crystal of tourmasea-anchor, it is recommended to fasten the bag to line is heated, the ends of the crystal show differ ent
an endless l ine r ove through a block on the sea- electric polarity, a pyro-electric phenomenon.
anchor, by which means the oil is diffused well Similar phenomena were observed in quartz crystals.
ahead of the boat, and the bag can be readily The independ ent investigations of R ontgen, Fried el,
hauled on board for refilling if necessary. "
and Curie have, h owever, sh o wn that the irregular
The author next considered the nature of the electrifications of the corners of quartz crystals are
action of the oil. He considered that the action of not consequences of beatings and returns to lower
the film of oil is one of separation. Thus it seems to temperatures, but wholly due to mechanical stresses
him that when we consider the t endency of air t o developed by inequalities of temperature in different
become saturated with watery vapo ur due t o evapo- parts of the crystal.
ration, and of water to r etain air by absorption, we
L ord K el vi n's first paper, ''The Pi ezo-Electric
may readily conceive that the impact of air on a Propert ies of Q uartz," discusses his experiments with
watery surface will tend to cause a commingling at one of M essrs. J . and P. Curie's (of Paris) beautiful
the surface of air and water, which will thus offer quartz plates. The hexagonal prism has three
sufficient resistance to the motion of the wind t o planes of symmetry corresponding to the diagonals,
t hrow the water and rr.ixture into an undulatory and three more, being the normals to the parallel
movement ; and therefore, when this forward faces. The plate is taken from a position wit h its
move ment has exceeded the speed due t o the fac es parallel t o any of the three n ormal planes, its
periodic motion in the wave itself, the upper length perpen dicular to the faces of the pris m, and its
part, in fallin g for ward , due t o th~ push of the breadth parallel t o the edges. The sides of this plate
air from behind , shows a foaming rush of broken are, through nearly all their leng th, silvered and conwater- that is, the air incorporated with the nected with two pairs of quadrants of a quadrant elecwater and the water itself. If this be admitted, trometer. The dimensions of the silvered part of th e
it is easy t o see how a film of oil spread over the plate were 7 centimetres long, 1. 8 centim etres broad ,
surface of the water may effectually prevent the the plate being about . 5 millimetre thick. A weight
formation of broken water, as the air and water of 1 kilogramme hung upon th e plate placed with
will be k t:pt separate, and the t enden cy to mu t ual its length vertical, causes one s ide to becom e posiabsorption at the surface will be checked, the wind t ively electrified, and th e other n egatively. This,
will therefore pass along the oily surface with L ord Kelvin maintains, can only be due t o electric
reduced power of wave- making.
eolotropy of the molecule. If we assume the q uartz
Fish-oil and colza seem to find most favour ; molecule t o consist of three Si 0 2 molecules,
linseed, olive, and some other oils have been used grouped in such a way that the i atoms and the
with advantage, b ut mineral oils are of very little 0 d ouble atoms occupy alternate corners of a regula r
serV1C'.
hexagon, then any st rai n n ormal to the transverse
To some extent the kind of oil may be d ependent axis will tend to pull the stars out, to elongate the
upon the manner in which it is used. Thus, if the crystal in the direction perpendicular to one of the
oil is a thickish one, and placed in a bag, it may three sets of rows. Fig. 1 (see next page) shows
congeal when placed in the cold water, so as to t h e original, Fig. 2 the r esulting configuration to
prevent it oozing out of the h oles in the bag. an exaggerat:!d extent. Cer tain atoms h ave been
\Vhero no special fittin gs are placed on board the brought nearer to one another, others are separated,
ship, bags h olding a ga1lon or two of oil are used ; those in the transverse ro ws are left unchanged in
these are pierced wit h a few holes and floated over position. lf the Si atoms are charged positively, the
the eide. The quanti ty of oi:l used will vary with 0 atoms negatively, electric polarity will ensue. The
the conditions of motion ; thus it is evident that, same would r esult if the atoms were r eplaced by
when lying t o, much less oil will be required than h ol.l o~ globules of zin c an~ copper ~espectively.
when running before the wind, as the Rpace tra- Thts 1dea- the full paper w11l appear 1n the Ph iloversed is less.
soph ir~l Ma[JW~i Hr is furth er and practically dc,eThe quantity of oil used unde r a ny of these con- loped 1n the second paper, ''A. Piezo-Electric Pile. "
ditions is wonderfully small, considering the advan- The application of pre~ ure to a voltoic pile, dry or
tages obtained. Thus, in lying t o, a pint in four wet, has often been suggested as a n illustration of
h ours, a nd about double that when running, has th~ piezo-electric properties of crystals, but n o
been found sufficient.
satlSfactory results had as yet been obtained, as
The author con.sidered t he best place to apply the any effects observed depended upon complex
oil is near the bow, in bags hung over the aide. He actions. L ord Kelvin has cleared away everything
also thought great care should be taken as to the kind but air. His pile consists of twenty-four d ouble
of oil used and the manner of using it, the best plates of 8 centimetres square of 7inc and copper

OcT.

2 0,

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

1893.]

soldered toaether. Half a centimetre square is cut

from each ~orner of each zinc plate to insert small
pieces of indiarubber as props to. k~ep the plates
at distances from
to 3 or 4 m1lhmetres a'">ove
one another. Care must be taken that there
are no minute shreds of fibre or dust bridging the
air sp1ce; this is easier with greater distance apart.
The terminal plates arc connE:cted with two

FIG.

1.

FIG.

2.

quadrants of a. Thomson quadrant electrometer , by

means of fine wires; it is convenient t o let the
lowest plate lie uninsulated on an ordinary table,
and to connect it with the outer case of the electrometer. When the electrometer has settled to zer o,
the connection between t he two fin~ wires is broken,
and a weight of a few decigrammes or kilogrammes
let fall from a height of a few millimetres above
the upper plate and rest on this plate ; a startlingly
great defl ection is observed. The insula.tions of
the indiarubber supports and of the quadrants
ought t o be so good a.s to allow the needle to come
to rest, and the steady deflection to be observed,
before there is considerable loss.
PHOTOGRA PHY OF METEOROLOGI CAL PHENOMENA .

The third report of t he Committee on the

Application of Photography to the Elucidation of
l\feteor ological Phenomena, drawn up by Mr. A .
"\V. Clayden, the secretary, was r ead in his absence
by the chairman, Mr. G. J. Symons, F.R S.
Owing to the new duties of t.he secretary, who had
been appointed principal of t he Technical and
University Extension College at Exeter, the work
had progressed slowly. A good deal of work has
been done, h0wever, and wider interest is being
taken in the matter. The double film plates do not
appear to offer special advantages for cloud photography, s:> that the black mirror and the slow plate
are recommended. Mr. Greenwood Pim has sent
excellent photographs of clouds on the High Alps.
The collection of cloud photographs is so extensive
that only pictures of high-level clouds are solicited.
As to the classification of clouds, no general under standing has been arrived at, so that the r epor t recommends to divide clouds simply into three groups
- cumulus, stratus, cirr us-and to group the varieties simply by numbers.
The lightning phot ographs confirm the author's views about the narrow
ribbon structure, which seems t o represent the
true form of the flash. This q uestion is discussed
at some length.
Mr. Clay den distinguishes
bet ween the flash, lasting a mere fraction of a
second, though longer than generally assumed, and
not resolvable into components, and t he discharge, consisting of series of flash es, following
about the same or r elated pat hs with considerable rapidity, and lasting, altogether , t wo and
three, up to seven seconds. This Mr. Cla.yden
determined, with the aid of Mrs. Cla.yden , by
observing the second hand of his watch. The
hands moved steadily, not in a series of jerks, as
would have been the case if the continuity of
illumination had been an iilusion due to persistence
of vision. Swaying tree t ops and other objects can
also be watched. An argument commonly advanced
to prove that all r eduplicated flashes are due t o
movement of the camera is that the track to be followed by successive flashes is marked out by the
first, which creates a path of minimum resistance in
the form of a. partial vacuum . But such a tube of
rarefied air would be moved by the wind. Velocities
of 3, 18, and 34 miles an hour would in one second
cause a displaeement of 4ft., 26ft. , and 50ft. , and in
three seconds of 13 ft., 79 ft., and 150 ft. Mr.
Clayden thinks that t he bends and breaks in flashes,
specially near the ground, are caused by these air
currents, and t hat the major thickness of the
ribbon in one particular direction n eed not be
ascribed to marginal deformation and focal errors.

The fia.shea of one discharge vary in brilliancy ;

the persistent luminosity may be the flame of burning. nitr ogen. F or the completion of an atlas of
1yptca.l clouds, the committee asked for a grant of
35t. , last year's grant of 15l. not having been drawn.
The full report of the Committ ee on
E ARTH T REMORS,

an abstract. of which was communicated by Mr.

Symons, w11l be a Yaluable contribution t o this
literature. Brief accounts are given of Wolf's
nadirane, Bertelli's tromometer, Milne's tremor r ecorder, and detailed descriptions of the new bifilar
pendulum of Mr. H orace Darwin, and of the horizontal pendulum of Dr. E . von R ebeurPaschwitz
which is doing excellen t service at P otsdam:
\Vilhelmshafen, and at oiher places. 1\fr. H. Dar win's instrument was shown by the inventor. It
is a simplified form of the one used by himself and
Professor G. H. Darwin twelve years ago at Cambridge. The mirror forms the bob of a pendulum,
and is s uspended by two hooks on fi ne silver wire.
the ends of which are attached t o supports which
are abo ut 12 in. apart in a vertical and "2d"lr in. in
a horizontal direction. Any t ilt of th e ground will
cause t he upper support t o move through a great er
distance than the lower, and will produce a. defl ection of the mirror unless the movement be along a
line parallel to its plane. The mirror and its frame
are 1nclosed in a brass tu be, little wider t han the
mirror, filled with paraffin oil. This arrangement
makes the mirror dead -beat and insensible to vibrations of a short period, such as produced by passing carts or trains and by neighbouring earthquakes,
whilst t he instrument would indicate the dying-out
pulsations of an earthquake, slow secular changes of
level, and tilts arising from atmospheric pressure.
Such an instrument has, since April, been put up
by the secretary, Mr. Davison, who was not present,
in the cellar of his house at Birmingham. The
obser vations are made wit h a telescope and a gas
j et 10 ft. away.
A movement of less than ~t"lr
second can be detected, that is, the vertical angle
of an isosceles triangle of 1 in. base and 1000
miles length of side. The heat effects are very
troublesome ; the gas j et expands the brass tubes,
causing an apparent tilt in one direction, and generates convection curren ts in the paraffin, giving
rise to a far greater deflect ion in the other sense.
F or photographic reproduction an induction spa k
will have to be used, therefore. Dr. Copeland will
fit up such an instrument in the n ew observatory
being built in Edinburgh. Mr. H or a.ce Darwin
described a. newer and smaller instrument, about
1ft. high, devised by Mr. Davison, in which
extraordinary precautions a.re taken to avoid all
h eat effects and other disturbances. To bring the
points of supports into as nearly a vertical position as desirable, levers of 10 ft. ending in left
and right handed screws are t urned ; the fr3.me of
th e mirror is adjus ted by means of a screw under
the control of a pneumatic bell arrangement of
1\fr. H ora.ce Darwin's. Professor Oliver Lodge
r ecommended wAter vapour for the chamber,
and the rotating screen of Mr. B oys for
equalising radiation from right and left, giving
a. uniform t hough not constant temperature .
Diurnal tremors , he thought, might be charged t o
the t ides ; he suspected that something of the
kind happened at Birkenhead and Liverpool.
Mr. Ranyard objected that there sh ould be two
tremors instead of one daily in t hat case; Professor
E ver ett believed in expansion of the earth's crust.
The next r eport, read by Professor Milne, F. R . S.,

4i5
is very inter esting that the direction of the
earthq uakes is generally at right angles to the
mountain side, as if the sides moved like the
sides of a roof hinged t o i ts ridge. Earthquak es
are so frequ ent in Japan t hat chemical balances by
Oertling and by Bunge could be used as indicators ;
at t imes, any accurate q uantitative work, as well as
astronomical observations, become impossible.
The list of earthq uakes for February, 18!)3, numbers 101. These earthquakes have the nasty habit of
snapping, by their horizontal reciprocating motion,
walls and piers at the base. N ow Professor Tats umo
has calculated the proper section for such structures,
and built walls, and Mr. C. A. W. P ownall, M. I. C. E.,
has constructed brick arches for the bridges of the
Usui Pass, some 110 H . high, which as yet have
ans wer ed very well ; these piers t aper in curves
from the base upwards.
M AGNETI C OBSE RVATI ONS.

The Committee on t he Best Means of Comparing

and R ecording Magnetic Observations have reported
to the Admiralty on plans submitted by Mr. Gill
for a magnetic observatory at the Cape of Good
H ope.
MAGNETi c '"\YoRK AT THE F.A LMOUTH OBSERVATORY.

The observat ions at Falmouth Observatory- .

latitude 50 deg. 9 min., longitude 5 deg. 4 min.
35 sec. \V., height 167 ft. above mean sea level
- were made by Mr. Edward Kitto, the superintendent ; t hose given refer t o fiv e q uiet days,
selected by the Astronomer Royal, of each month
of 1892. They concern hourly means of declination (19 deg. W. and 7 to 22 min.) and solar
diurnal range, hourly means of horizontal force,
0.18000 and .00406 to .00462 in C.G.S. units, and
diurnal range; magnetic intensity, mean horizontal force 0.18439, vertical 0.43686 ; magnetic
inclination, 67 deg. 4. 6 min. to 67 deg. 9. 4 ruin.
The committee consists of Messrs. W . Grylls
Adams, H oward , F ox, and A . '\V. Rti.cker.
B EN NEVIS.

An abstract of the r eport of the B en Nevis Committee was given by Dr. P eddie. The pressure
curves for clear and foggy weather are quite distinct. Between 7 P. M. and 4 A . M., fog pressure is
higher than with clear sky, and attains its maximum at midnight; between 5 A . M. and 6 P.l\1. fog
pressure is lower, the minimum being about noon.
During anticyclonic periods, the temperature
difference between the observatory at the t op and
a.t the foot becomes less ; occasional1y a higher
temperature is registered at Ben Nevis. When the
anti-cyclone gives way, the temperatures assume
their normal difference. These alterations can be
brought about by a fall of temperature at the top,
or a. r ise at F ort William, the temperature of the
other observatory nmaining stat ionary. The int erpretation of these observations seems to promise
important conclusions.
T EMPERATURE OF SEA AND AIR IN 'I'HE CLYDE
SEA AREA.

Dr. H. R. Mill illustrated his paper by the help

of the lantern, which has become indispensable for
any lecture-room. The charact er of the Clyde sea
area depends, of course, mainly upon the hollows
of which it is composed, and their isolation from
oceanic influences. Where t idal currents can effect
a good mixing, as in the Nort.h Channel, between
Scotland and Ireland, the wateris monothermic, i.e.,
the temperature is practically the same from top
t o bottom. The water there is about 2 deg. warmer
EARTU QUAKE .AND VoLCANI C PHENOMENA Ol'
than th e air of the Mull of Cantyre. The Arran
J APAN,
basin is cooler than the channel ; Loch Fyne cooler
dealt with the same problems, and contained little again during the greater part of the year, and
about what people generally understand by earth- of abo ut the same temperature as the other basins
<} uo.k es and volcanoes.
The report r ecords hun- during the extreme months.
dreds of observations for each different group,
SoLAR RADIATioN.
made by means of the Gray- Milne seismo~raph,
The ninth report of the Committee on the
and by the h orizontal pendulum, for contmuous
photographic r ecord, which Professor Milne last Best J\feans of Recording the Direct Intensity of
year described as new, but which he soon afterward s Solar R adiat ion, was read by its author, Professor
learned had been used for some time by Dr. von McLeod. The work does n ot advance very much.
R ebeur-Paschwitz, at Potsdam and elsewhere. Mr. Casella. has constructed a thermometer with a
Throuahout the r eport, parallels are drawn be- len ticular bulb, colourless and not green glass.
tween the observations of Dr. von Paschwitz and On May 22 the green and white bulbs were tested,
Professor Milne. The form er 's pendula are heavy and it was found that the white bulb ir.dicated an
and adjusted for periods. of 12. and 18 saconds, excess- above the t emperature of the case-of only
Professor Milne's exceed1ngly hght. The report two-thirds of that marked by the green thermometer.
discusses daily tiltings, tem~erat~re a.~d baro- This is no disadvantage ; it rather facilitates the
metric effects, possible relat10nsh1p w1th mag- reduction of the results. As the simultaneous
netic movements, and geologic structure. lt o'Jeervation of the three thermometers is not an

E N <.; I N E E R I N G.

(OcT.

20,

1893.

EARLY AMERICAN LOCOMOTIVES AT THE WORLD'S COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION.

(For Descriptio,n, see Page 478.)

'

FIG.

1.

THE

FIG.

"J AMES,, 1832.

2.

THE '' E XPERIMENT, ,

1832.

--

--

t
~6

FIO. 3.

T HE

(I

CAl\lP BELL,

11

FIG.

1837.

4.

THE " L AFAYETTE,,

1837.

["
'

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--

:
\

F 10. 5. TH .I::

''1\iAZEPPA, "

1837.

Fra. 6.

THE ' ' Bt'~'JtALo , ' '

1844.

OcT.

477

E N G I N E E RI N G.

20, 1 89 3]

EXPOSITION
.
COLUMBIAN
CAR
WHEELS;
FOR
CHILL
CONTRACTING
THE CANDA
CONSTRUCTED BY 't'HE ENSIGN MANUFACTURING COMPANY, HUNTINGTON,

WEST VIRGINIA.

(For Description, see Page 478.)

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easy operation, an attempt has been made to replace

them by two thermo-electric junctions. If such an
instrument, in connection with a galvanometer,
could be made photographically self-recording, we
should have a real intensity meter. Ordinary
galvanometers would not be suitable, as influenced
by earth magnetism and other magnetic disturbances.
Experiments with a D'Arsonval galvanometer have
so far not given satisfactory results.
SuN SPoTs AND SoL.ut ENVELOPES.
The gist of this paper, by the Rev. Fred. Howlett,
of Alton, Rants, is a final onslaught on Wilson's
aseertion that sun spots appear foreshortened when
ne&r the limbs. In 1769 \Vilson advanced his
view, which led to the conclusion that sun spots
were enormously deep funnels into which we look
when the spot is central, and a side view of which
is gained when the spot is near either limb. As
Wilson appeared so certain and so careful an
observer, the vVilson effect has been handed down,
and is still illust rated in every text-book, although
Wilson was attacked at the time by Lalande, and
has been attacked often since. Mr. Howlett
has carefully examined and mapped many spots,

taking several thousand observations.

With a
magnifying power of 200 diameters, h e obtains a
sun image of 6 ft. 7 in. width, on which seconds of
arc can be measured with ordinary dividers. In
1886 he brought the question before the Royal
Astronomical Society. The late Father Perry
granted that the foreshortening was very slight in
some cases, and not perceptible at all in others.
Mr. Whipple also concurred that the umbraformerly called the nucleus, the dark centre, the
penumbra being the shaded part surrounding the
umbra- remained central. Mr. Howlett's point is
that there are different kinds of spots which, if
not very carefully followed, might impart the idea
of foreshortening, inasmuch as the urn bra never
was central t o begin with. The history of each
spot has to be studied. He showed, among many
others, diagrams of a spot 35, 8, and 3 seconds from
the limb- this j ourney took about twenty-seven
hours-- in which not a trace of foreshortening was
to be discovered. Some of the maps of Mr. Turner,
of Greenwich Observatory, entirely support his
view. Such foreshortenings as have been accepted
would presuppose disturbance funnels of 10,000
and 15,000 miles depth, a.n impossibility in Mr.

______ _ _t

Howlett's opinion, as the solar photosphere cannot

be more than 4 ! 5 of the diameter of the sun.
THE MooN's ATMOSPHERE AND THE KINETIC
THEORY OF GASES.
Mr. G. H. Bryan, M.A., of Cambridge, presented a thor oughly scientific paper, dealing with,
and p erhaps disposing of, a hypothesis which has
excited the widest popular interest. In Sciettce,
New York, February 24, Sir Robert Ball suggested
that the absence of any atmosphere investing the
moon is a simple and necessary consequence of the
kinetic theory of gases. The suggestion was
warmly welcomed and criticised. On August 18,
in t he same journal, Professor Liveing applied
this hypothesis to interplanetary and interstellar
space, concurring with Sir Robert. Mr. Bryan
resolved to submit the hypothesis to mathematical
test. In introducing his paper, he remarked that
Mr. S. Tolver Preston had advanced the same

views in 1878 in Nat1tre, as he had learned too

late. To this Sir Robert Ball replied afterwards
that the hypothesis was an old idea of Dr. Johnstone Stoney's; who originated it, he did not know.
According to Sir Robert, the mean molecular speed
of oxygen and nitrogen is less than the speed with
which a. body would have to be projected in order
to leave the moon without ever returning; but in
the course of collisions between the molecules they
frequently attain speeds sufficiently great to enable
them to overcome the moon's attraction, and thus
escape from the moon's atmosphere. On the other
hand, the speed required to permanently leave the
earth is one which " it would seem that the
molecules of oxygen and nitrogen do not generally
or ever reach," and therefore the earth retains
a copious atmosphere. Now, argues Mr. Bryan,
according to the u error" law of distribution
of velocities, there must always be some molecules which move with sufficiently great velocities to overcome the attraction of any body, and
some whose speed is too small to escape from the
attraction of any body, howe\er small. No planet
would, therefore, theoretically have an absolutely
permanent atmosphere. If, however, the number
of escaping molecules is exceedingly small relatively, the atmosphere of a planet would practically
be permanent. The author has calculated what
proportion of the molecules of oxygen and hydrogen
at different temperatures would be able to fly off
from the surfaces of the moon, Mars, earth ; the
corresponding results are also given for the sun, not
for its surface, but for the earth's distance from the
sun's centre. The tables show that for oxygen one
molecule in every three billion could esca.pe from
the moon at 0 deg. Centigrade, one in every
2. 3 x 10329 from the earth, one in every 2 x 10 49 ~ 0
from the sun's attraction at the distance of the earth.
The figures hold for hydrogen, if we reduce the
absolute temperatures to -/6 If we assume the
moon tern perature to be - 200 deg. Cent., one
oxygen molecule in every 7 x 101H would be able to
escape. Of oxygen molecules at 4368 deg. absolute,
one in every 2. 7 x 10307 could fly off from the sun
at earth distance, and one in every 3. 6 from the
moon ; for hydrogen the same values apply to a
temperature of 0 deg. Cent., equal to 273 deg.
absolute. But there are other and more serious
objections to this assumption. If the moon's atmosphere has flown off into space, why have the other
planets, when much hotter than at present, not
parted with theirs 'I The whole idea is in contradiction to the nebular theory. The kinetic theory
is, moreover, quite compatible with the absence of
any perceptible atmosphere of the moon. 'o
illustrate this further, Mr. Bryan assumes an
equilibrium theory, a permanent distribution at a
uniform temperature, not applicable, however, to
the atmospheres of different planets such as Earth
and Mars. The molecules of gas flying about in
interplanetary space are too few to collide and to
bring about an equalisation of energy. For b odies
so near each other as the earth and moon, the
greater attraction exercised by the earth on any
molecules finding themselves in the neighbourhood,
would prevent the moon from receiving more than her
fair share-a very small one-of molecules. Professor
Liveing may be right in granting to interplanetary
and interstellar space an atmosphere far in excess
of the cq uilibrium theory. In that case the earth
atmosphere might gradually increase. An escape
from the earth could only occur once in countless
ages. The possibility of a perceptible interchange
of molecules between different planetary atmospheres, the author llegates.
Sir R obert Ball could not well discuss a paper of
this kind which he had not seen before. He contented himself with pointing to the peculiar fact
that hydrogen was entirely absent from our atmosphere, whilst predominating in the atmospheres
of all stars or suns. This, Mr. Bryan opposed, disproves nothing. His theory did not require hydrogen
in our atmosphere, and if there was any force in
the argument, why was our atmosphere so rich in
nitrogen, atomic weight 14, and so poor in oxygen,
atomic weight 16 1 The higher p owers of these
numbers which would enter into such calculations
would make an enormous difference. Mr. Ranyard thought the moon must have an atmosphere
somewhat to delay the striking meteorites, which
otherwise must prove destructive. Lord Rayleigh
did not agree to all of Mr. Bryan 's reasoning, but
there was, no doubt, a need of such a mathematical
examination of the problem. In this the President
fully concurred.
Professor Fitzgerald wondered

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

h ow any one could question the presence of hydrogen in our atmosphere ; had members never
smelled gas 1 Of course, the coarse methods of
chemists might be unable to detect hydrogen.
There was no distinguished chemist present t o take
up the challenge. If we are not mistaken, however, the absolute absence of hydrogen from our
atmosphere is not orthodox.
(To be continued.)

COMBINED

FEED-WATER HEATER AND

PURIFIER.
IN the combined feed-water heater and purifier
illustrated on page 473, and constructed by Messrs.
Pape, H enneberg, and Co., of Hamburg, Germany, the
leading feature is the combination of the heating process with a purifying operation by which the oil and
the air remaining in the feed water coming from the
surface condensers, are removed.
The construction of t he apparatus ca.n be seen from
the engraving. The water coming from the condenser
enters the heater at a and rises iu the annular space
between the shell of the heater and a. central cylinder
b. Inside of this cylinder b there is a group of serpen
tine pipes, which are heated by direct steam. When
the rising feed water in the apparatus has reached
the head of the heater, it touches at the same
time the heating coil at its hottest part, and
it must change its direction of movement, being
forced to flow down inside the cylinder c, which
cylinder the water leaves a.t the bottom of the
heater by the pipe c. Now the water being suddenly
heated and changing at the same time its direction,
gives out all the air and the oil distributed in it. Air

and oil gather under the upper coverplate of the

heater and are continuously removed by the small
piped, the discharge of which is regulated by the oiltesting valve e. After having thus given up air and
oil in the head of t he apparatus, the feed water, when
fiowing down in the cylinder b, is heated in a. very
energetic manner by the heating coil, and leaves the
apparatus ready for the boiler. The heating process
takes place with very high efficiency ; a loss of heat is
impossible, because all the heat, which goes through
the metal of the cylinderb, is taken up by the feed water
that rises in the space between the cylinder b and the
shell of the apparatus. The combined heater and purifier
has already been introduced in German and Austrian
steamers to a. fairly large extent. It is stated that it is
very reliable, and that the examination of ships' boilers
which arc fed by means of the apparatus has shown
that the disagreeable greasy scale which is found in
boilers fed by uncleaned water directly from the hotwell, is entirely avoided, as well as corrosion arising
from the presence of air in the boilers.
The inventors inform us that when developing their
heater system they made a large number of experim~nts with regard t o the transmission .of heat through
tbm sheets of metal, the results of wh1ch experiments
have shown that it is very important that in a.ny kind
of heating apparatus both t he heating a.nd the heated
medium should be moved with a certain speed and
that wide spaces, in which one or both of 'these
mediums would remain pretty quiet, are not favourable to high efficiency. If W represents the number
of British thermal units which pass through a square
foot of thin copper per hour at a. difference of
l deg. Fa.hr. from the warmer to the colder medium
this coefficient was found :
'
A . In apparatus heated by high-pressure steam (feedwater heaters, evaporators).
W = 400 thermal units, when steam and water
have appropriate speed.
W = 200 to 240 thermal units, when steam or
water, especially the water, remain quiet
during the heating process.
B. In apparatus heated by low-pressure steam (condensers, ~eed wa.ter hea~ers, vacuum-evaporators).
W = RGO thermal umts, when steam and water
have appropriate speed.
\V = 120 to 200 thermal units, when steam or
water, especially the water, remain quieb
during the beating process.
C. In apparatus heated by bot water (cooling \~essels
sterilisers).
'
W = 200 thermal units, when the water is moved
in the right way.
W = 40 to 60 thermal units, when the water remains quiet.

'

[OcT.

20,

1893.

These figures are important.

They teach that
heating apparatus in which litt le or no regard is
taken as to the right direction of the heating and
the heated medium, must be considerably larger,
and therefore both heavier and dearer, than apparatus of the same output which are well constructed.
This is an important point of view in modern
steamships, where every care must be t aken to
reduce the weight of the steam plan t, and the cost of
the auxiliary plant.
The Pape-Henneberg evaporator consists of a. row of
horizontal tubes situated above each other, traversed by
the steam at very high speed one after the other. These
tubes are made in the section shown in the annexed
illustration, which has, compared with a round tnbe of
equal beating surface, only four-tenths of the crosssection. Therefore steam passes through these tubes
with a speed two-and-a-half times greater than its
speed in a round tube of the same circumference.
Also this form of the tube allows the arrangement of
a. large heating surface in a small space. An examination of this evaporator, made officially by Admiralty
engineers, proved, the makers tell us, that the evaporator worked with a. loss of only 4 per cent., 100 lb. of
boiler steam yielding 96 lb. of evaporated steam.
THE CANDA CONTRACTING CHILL FOR
CAR \VBEELS.
AT the World's Columbian Exposition, the Ensign
Manufacturing Company, of 11, Pine-street, New
York, and of Huntingdon. ':V est Virginia, show the
chill for casting car wheels which we illustrate on
page 477. It is well known that cast wheels have
attained great success in the States, and, therefore, it
will be of interest to our readers t o know the latest
methods of producing these articles. This chill is
made of iron. The chilling ring is cast solid, and
then, after being accurately turned on a mill or lathe,
is sawn into segments, its advantage being in the form
or design of the outer rings. 'This chill, as ordinarily
constructed , has three outer rings (Fig. 4), the web
of one segment being attached to the upper and middle
ring, and the web of the nex t segment t o the Dliddle and
lower ring, and so around the circle, as shown. The
result is that when the metal of the chill itself is heated
by the hot metal poured into it, the thin webs and the
segmental chilling blocks are heated much more rapidly
t han the out~r ring, so that, while the circumference
of the outer nog enlarges but slowly, the chilling box
blocks move inward owing to the expansion of the
webs, and the result is that the chilling surface follows up the cooling metal and keeps the chill in
constant cont act with the tread of the wheel that is
being cast. It will be observed that by such an
arrangement provision is made for the escape of heat
and gases during the casting of a wheel, and that the
temperature of the sustah1ing rings is kept down ;
they, consequently, do not warp out of shape; moreo~er, the Ci.ttacbment of each segment to two rings
holds the segment to accurate position. The result of
actual use of a very large number of these chills
during the past two years has demonstrated the correctness of the principle on which they are made.
They are durable, and while the iron is poured as hot
as it can be drawn from the ladle, the loss of wheels
cast in them is reduced to a minimum. The deptb of
chill is uniform, chill cracks are unknown, and a n
absolute roundness of wheel is obtained.
On~ vi~ws sho~v the operation of pouring the metal,
and ~tve 1llustrat10ns of some ca.rwheela. F ig. 5 shows
a 30-m. street ea: wheel; Fig. ~ a 33-in. double-plate
car. wheel, Ba.lbmore and Oh10 standard ; Fig. 7 a.
26-ln. hollow-spoke truck wheel; Fig. 8 a 24 in.
double-plate car wheel; and Fig. 9 a 24-in. doubleplate truck wheel.
OLD AMERICAN LOCOMOTIVES AT THE
COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION.
I N an article on page 289 of our last volume written
b.efore the opening of the \Vorld's Columbia.n' Exposit~on, we gave an account of t he very interesting collectiOn of ~ld loco~oti ves, pa:tly origiuala and partly reproductions, wh1ch was be1ng made for exhibition in
the T~ansportat.ion Building. 'Ve now publish on
page 4J6 engra.vmgs of several of theae which a.re
interesting not only as early examples of' mechanism
but al.so as marking stages iJ.?- the development of th~
Amencan type of locomot1ve. The earliest of the
locomotives shown in our illustrations is ihe "James ''
(Fig. 1), built in 1832. The name of the builder was
\Villiam T. J ames, and this was the second t urned out
~y him . . The fi.rst comprised a rudimentary form of
hnl~ n;ot10n, ~h1c~ was fu.rther developei in t his case
untll1t con tamed m e::;sent1al particulars the construction commonly attribu tecl. to Ste~henson , a.nd really due
to Howe, who worked 1t out mdependently thirteen
yea.rs later ~ha~ J~mes. The engine (Fig. 1) bad
cylinders 10 m. m d1ameter by 10 in. stroke set upon
a wooden . frame inclined at an angle ot' 30 deg.
to the honzonta.l. Four fixed eccentric3 with shifting links, operated the slide valves, the ~everse shafta

~NUlN.t!;EH.lNG, OCTOBER

20, 1893.

LOCOMOTIVES

A T

EX P 0 S I T I 0 N.

THE W 0 RLDD'S COL U MBIA N

CONSTRUCTED AT 1'HE BROOKS

UOJ~OMOTIVE

WORKS, DUNKIRK,

N.Y.

(For Ducriplirx,, set Poge 479.)

r-----

--

GREATNoftTIIER~ I

-~

FIG.

1.

-~

1'~N WHEELED P ASSENGER Loc OMOTI Vl: .I"Oit THE LAK~ SHom~ AN.u MwwGA..'I SouTU&l<N It.utw.u .
T wELV&-Wae.tLJ:: D

LocoM01'I V~

k'Olt TILE Glt &AT Noll.TH&RN RAILWAY.

24.

. .

--

'

'

--

~
~":...,;...--f:t:l .~... ~
~ -~ ,
E'

F rc.

~-IG. _
1

2.

S uBURBAN Locot.~OTI VE FOR THE CrucAGO

-A..'I.O

~10. 5.

--

'l 'wo-l:YLINO EK ComouNo F R taGa r L ocoMOTI VE I-'OR THE L AKE SHORE AND M ICHIGAN SouTllBRN RA ILWAY.

NoilT}(E&'I PACI.FIC RAILROAV.

EIGHT WHEELED PASSENGER Loc oMOTI VE }'OR rHE CINCINNATI , ELMIL'rOl', A.SD DAYTOl\ RAJLROAI.I Colll'Al\ Y.

------....,...

l!' IG.

6.

FouR-CYLINDER COMPouzw CoN::;OLlDATJ.ON LocoMOTIVE FOR TH& GREAT NoRTHERN RAILWAY.

.r.----------------------------

3
'

Oct.

20, 1 893.]

479

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

and bangers cont rolling the position of the links. A

weight was fixed on the reverse lever to retain the
links in position at either end of the travel, but there
was no means of fixing them in an intermediate position.
This locomotive was run on the Baltimore and Ohio
Road for two or three years, and then returned to the
Harlem Road, when it soon after exploded.
The first appearance of the bogie, or swi veiling
truck was on the "Experin.ent," built in 1832 by
John 'B. J ervis. This engine (Fig. 2) had a truck
connected to it by a strong pin, and working on antifriction rollers. It is stated that on a level straight
road the engine had covered a ~ile in 50 seconds, r~n
ning with great ea-se and stead1ness. In the follow10g
year Robert Stephenson built the Dav:y Crock et~, from
J ervis's plans, for the Saratoga Ra1lroad, th1s also
having a leading truck.
The next four years saw a great advance in loco
motive design in America. In 1836 Henry R. Cam pbell patented a design having coupled driving axles,
one before a nd one behind the firebox, and a fourwheeled truck. The follo\ving year he built the en~ine
shown in Fig. 3, which may be regarded as the first
American-type locomotive. In the same year (1837)
the "Lafayette" (Fig. 4) was built in America by
Norris. In this ther e were exhibited several of the
features introduced and advocated by Mr. Edward
Bury afterwards of the firm of Bury, Curtis, and
Kenn'edy, and locomotive superintendent of the London and Birmingham Railway. These include the bar
frame and the circular firebox with the dome-shaped
top. Eight engines of this type were built in America
to work the Lickey incline on the Birmingham and
Gloucester Railway. They had cylinders 10! in. in
diameter by 18 in. stroke, with driving wheels 4 ft. in
d iameter, their weight being 9! tons. The usual performance on the Lickey incline had been the h aulage
of 33 tons at 12 to 15 miles an hour. One of the
American engines lent t o the Gra nd Junction Railway
drew 100 to 120 t ons on a.u incline of 1 in :33, at 14 to
22! miles a.n hour.
Fig. 5 shows a. locomotive, originally bu ilt as a.
"gra.sshopper," and converted to a "crab " in 1837.
The cylinders were changed from the vertical to horizontal, the walking beams and connecting-rods being
removed. The cylinders were placed by Ross vVinans
at the rear end of the frame, suggesting the motion of
a crab, which was in contradiction of the name,
c' Mazeppa. ,
This engine has a record of over fifty
years' service. Some years later (1844) a modified
form of "crab," known as a "mud digger," was
brought out (Fig. 6) by Rosa 'Vinans. This was the
first engine in the world having four coupled axles.
It was, to a. great extent, a makeshift construction, and
in subsequent engines the vertical boiler was replaced
by one of the horizontal type.

LOCOMOTIVES AT THE COLUMBIAN

EXPOSITION.
TnE six locomotives illustrated on the two-page
plate accompanying this issue, are included in the
splendid exhibit by the Brooks Locomotive Works,
Dunkirk, New York, at the World's Columbian Exposition. Each locomotive represents a type, the
characteristics of which are determined by the
requirements of the traffic for which they were
constructed. But, as may naturally be assu med,
many features are common to all types constru ct ed
by this well-known fi rm. Vv e therefore purpose
publishing detailed drawings of the largest compound and the large simple engine in the collection,
the former being illustrated by Fig. 6, a nd the latter
by Fig. 4, on the two-page plate. The leading parti
culars of the six engines may be given, and as it is
convenient for comparison, these a re tabulated. Fig. 1
is a. ten-wheel passenger locomotive for the Lake
Shore and Michigan ~outhern Railroad. Fig. 2, as
may be surmised from the fact that it is a rear
tank engine, is used for suburban traffic by the
Chicago and Northern Pacific Railroad. It differs
materially from the ordinary tank locomotive on
British railways, although one or two companies
adopt the system ; and it will generally be admitted
that the general appearance is more pleasing. Fig. 3
is an eight-wheel locomotive for the Cincinnati, Hamilt on, and Dayton Railroad. Fig. 4, a. twelve-wheel
locomotive for the Great Northern Railway, will be
illustrated in detail as a. typical simple engine. Fig. 5
is a two-cylinder compound ten-wheel locomotive for
freight traffic on the Lake Shore and :M ichigan, and is
the lightest engine on the list, although having large
tractive p ower. Fig. 6 is also a compound, but with
four outside cylinders working t andem. It is a consolidation locomotive for the Great Northern Railway,
and of it also detailed drawings will be published. There
are ~evera.l features common to all the engines, which
are not indicated in the Table. The boilers are of steel
th.roughout, a.nd in one or two cases they are covered
w1th asbestos paper, the lagg ing in all cases being of
wood, covered with pla.nished iron. The smokeboxes
are extended, and fitted with adjustable diaphragms,
Fig. 2 having a Bell smoke a rrester. The grates are

r'

PRINCIPAL DIMENSIONS OF SIX L OCOMOTIVES EXHIBITED AT THE COLU,MBIAN E XPOSITION

LocOMOTIVE W oRKS, DuNKIRK, NEW YouK. (See T wo-P age Plate.)

------

Fig. l .

Engine.

8 6

",

16 0
25 1!
17

18

113,600
88,500
25,000

,
,

"
ft.

Cyli nders.

lD

, exhaust port . .
..
,
Metallic piston and valve packing .

Wheels.

Diameter of driving wheels

,
t ruck
,.
..
Material of truck wheels ..

10.

". .

16 by

11

16 ,,

17 by

Fig. 3.

Fig. 4.

Fig. 5.

112,000
74,000
38,000

166,000
136,000
20,000

J02,000
7(},600
25,600

46 8

62 0
9 8
15 6
25 a

8 0
8 0
22 8
18
26

24

24

"
,.

71

47

Diameter of cylinders
Stroke of piston
..
Size of steam port

I I

166,000
102,000
16,000
48,000
36 9
15 0
1!l 0
36 9

lb.

Total weight, working order

Weight on driving wheels . .
,
front truck
..
.,
r ear
,
..
Total length wheel base ..
,
rigid
,
..
,
d riving ,
..

engme ,
..
,

Fig. 2.

1l

17 by

1&

17 " 3

17 ., 3

J erome

U.S. Co.'s

Sullivan

68
36

63

73

aa

ao

Fig. 6.
147,000
130,000
17,000

46 6t

50

20

18 and 28!

26

24

13 and 22
26

H . P. piston vat ve

18! by lt { H. P. 16 by ~i
L. P. 20 ,

2~

18! " 8

{ II.P. 16 , 8
L.P. 20 ,, 5
J erome
J erome
56
33

4i
-

36

r1

6i

4!, 61, 5, and 4

a;, f>, 4, and 4

-36
Belpaire
180
68
,,

l lf

No. 11 B. W.O.
208
11 7

21

114

32

3! to4
11511,

;
i

25.3

177

1,419
1,596

T ender.
Weight (working order)
Water capacity
.
Fuel
.,
..

65
33

6i

in. wide.
LP. 20 by 2.
H.P. 4 in. wide.
{ L. P. 20 by 6.
U.S. Co.'e.

Swing beam

, t

li

1!

Swivelling

,,

ports

Krupp No. 1

Belpaire
B\:lpaire
Wa~ton type
Wagon type
. Wagon type
Description . .
..
..
180
180
180
180
lb.
180
Working pressure
..
58
68
62
68
52
in.
Inside diameter
..
..
!
i
~~
Thickness of barrel plates ..
,
, tli
!
. No. 13 B. W.Go No. 18 B. # .0. No. 12 B. W.G. No. 11 B. W.G. No. 16 B. W. G.
Thickness of t ubes . .
..
226
250
186
260
202
Number
,
..
..
11 7 ~
13 10
12
11 1
ft.
13 l Oh
Length
,
..
..
2
2!
2
2
2
in.
Diameter
,
..
..
102
1H
96
102
96
,
Length of firebox
..
..
32
32
34i
32
42
Width
,.
of water spaces round fire
3! to 4
3 to 4
3! to 4
3i to 4
a to 4
boxes ..
..
..
..
in.
Thicknrse of plates in fire boA
{>~
ls
sheet ..
..
..
..
in.
;
i
Thickneas of tu beplates (firebox) "
t
i
t
t
,
,
lsmokebox),
i
:l
25.3
2a
22.6
2ij
22.6
Grate surface . .
..
. . sq. fr .
192
112
133
144
123
Firebox h eating surface
.. ,
2,035
1,168
1,372
1453
1,462
Tube
,
,
.. ,
18
19
23
18
Arch tubes surface . .
.. ,
2,227
1,298
1,624
1620
1,603
Total heating surface
, ,

12 in. in diameter,

56
28
-

Boiler.

16 6
16 6
23 0

Allen paper

BROOKS

8 0
13 8
23 1 ~

Krupp No. 1
Steel
Paige, steeltyred
Swi velling
Swing beam
Front,
radial
bar
.
.
Rigid
cen
t
re
Description of truck ..

and swing ; rear,

centre bearing
7i
8
7!
Diameter of driving axle journal in.
7!
6
6
5!
.,
truck
,
,
,
5
41, 6, 7, and 4i
4~
Diameterofcoupling-rodjournals, 3i, 61, acd 3~ 4~, 61, and 4!
4i, 6, 6, and 41
a;
3!, 6, and 3~
Len~tth of
,
,
., 3!, 4!, and 8!
Diameter of connecting-rod jour
4~ and 6
31 and 6!
4 and 6!
nal . . . .
in.
a; and 6
4 and 6
4 and 6
Length of conneotin~t- rod journal .,
36
36
36
86
,
driving springs .
,
0

BY TilE

..
lb.
.. gals
0. tons

71,600
3,700
6

2600

4!

of cast-iron rocking bars. The throttle is a cast-iron

balanced valve, the dry pipe being of 7-in. wrought
iron, while the steam gauge has a 6f-in. back. As to
the moving parts of the engine, the piston-rods are of
cold rolled steel, the crossheads of cast steel, and the
crosshead pins of steel, the guides being of wrought
iron, case-hardened. The connecting-rods are also of
wrought iron, while in some cases the coupling-rods
are of wrought iron and in others of steel. As a rule,
the frames are of wrought iron forged solid. The
axles are also of wrought iron. In many cases one
of the driYing wheels is fiangeless, and this fact
ex plains th e discrepancy which appea rs in the Table
between the lengths of the rigid base and of the dri ving base. This is a feature of locomotive practice
seldom or never seen in this country. The tender
frame is usually of 10-in. channels; but in the case of
Fig. 3 it is of oak.

STUD LATHE.
ON p age 4 72 we illustrate a screw machine exhibited
a t the Columbian Exposition by the Niles Tool vVorks
Company, of Hamilton, Ohio. Its capacity is for
screws from g in. to 1! in. in diameter; the dies will
work up t o 2 in., and with the lead ers, threads can be
cut up to the full size of bar the m achine will take.
The spindle is 4i in. in diameter, with a front bearing
6! in. long, and has a hole 2 t 6 in. in d iameter through
it. The cone ranges from 14 in. to 7 in. in diameter_
and has four steps for a 3!-in. belt. Both the cone and
face gear are loose on the spindle, and are driven, the
one by a friction, and the other by a positive clutch,
connected to a sliding hub working on a feather on the
spindle; the friction clutch obviates the shock incident
to s tarting the spindle at a high velocity, the motion
being gradual, while the p ositive clutch on the face
gear insures steadiness of motion under heavy strain.
The turret is made to revolve and lock automatically.
The point at which the revolution of the turret takes
place is adjustable, and is indicated by a gauge at the
front of the turret slide. The carriage has a power
feed operated from the back feed shaft, independent of
the motion obtained by the leaders. An oil pump is
fixed to the side of the machine, and is provided with
a safety valve whereby all excess of oil is returned to
the tank, a nd the pump is allowed to continue work ing when the drip cocks at the tools are closed.

71,000
4,200
8

82,000
4,000
8

71,500
3,700
6

75,000
4,000
g

LONDON A sSOCIATION OF FOREMEN ENGINEERS AND

DRAUGHTSMEN.- The usual monthly meeting of this
association was held on the evening of Saturday, the 7th
inst., in the K room of the Cannon-street H otel, when
the president, Mr. W. T. Coates, and the vice-president,
Mr. W. H. Bale, occupied the chairs, and th~re was a
large attendance of members. The committee's report on
the fund in aid of the fa.mil:y of the late vice-prAsident,
Mr. J a.mes Brown, was rece1 ved, together with 32l. 15s.,
the amount raised by subscription. After the general
business was over, a. paper was read by Past-President
Mr. J obn E. Reid, on 'A Trip to the Chicago Exhibition and Back." Mr. Reid gave an interesting account
of his visit to America., and his experiences in travelling
by land and water. A vote of thanks to Mr. Reid
closed the proceedings of the evening.
MANCHESTER SHIP CANAL.-Mr. Ma.rehall Stevens, as
manager of the Manchester Ship Canal Company, in a
lecture delivered at Ancoats, said the only section of the
canal not now filled with water was that between the Old
Quay, Runcorn, and Latchford Locks. The water in
this section bad been kept back because the London and
North-Western and the Great Western Railway Companies had made claims which were the subject of arbitration; but now that the award had been made, the
company would have this section completed in about a.
fortnight, and the water flowing up the whole length of
the canal. All the work would then practically be done
except dredging away the remains of the dams and
places where the old river bed was crossed by the canal.
The canal was practically one long dock, which was
twice as wide as the Suez Canal. 'fhe cost of the canal
had been, roughly speaking, 15,000,000l. The canal would
ba the nearest port to a. district containing a. population of
7,500,000; that was to say, that one-fifth of the_population
of the country was nearer to the Manchester Ship Canal
than to any other ocean steamer port. As to revenue
the directors did not expect to make a. big lot of money
in the first year, but they hoped to get sufficient to pay
working expenses, and have something to the good. The
second year he hoped they would be able to pay interest
on the debe,n tu res. They were n0w trying to get ahead
of the opemng of the canal, and had allocated a. certain
portion of the regular trade to the d ocks ; and with regard
to the near Continental and the coa~twise trade they had
more lines. of st eamers to start on J a.nuary 1 tha~ ran from
any port m England, except London and Liverpool.
Shipowners were ready and anxious to come up, and as
soon as the canal was opened, there would be a service of
vessels twice a week from Manchester to L ondon, and
perhaps more frequently than that.

PONTOON BRIDGE ACROSS THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.

00

(For Description, see opposite Page. )

....

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72

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Show111g mode of fi.aming

at entl3 of th Pontoon

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OcT.

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

20, 1 89 3]

air muat be delivered downwards at a. speed of 12 fb.

12
8
per second. ~ i .~
= 515lb., which is the weight of

THE NORTON SCREW-CUTTING LATHE.

the machine.
We will now ascertain the horse-power necessary to
obtain the reaction or sustaining force of 515 lb.
The formula is as follows: W :

2
-;..

550, where W is

the weight of air acted upon per s~cond, S is the down

w:ar~ velocity, and 2 g is 64.4. In this case the weight of
a1r IS 1382 lb., and the downward s peed is 12 ft. per
122 138
second.
x
~ = 2 236 x 1382 = 56 horse-power.
64.4 X 550
550
.
We will now take the weight of air to be acted upon as
2764 lb. per second, which is just double the former
weight. The downward speed will be half, or G ft. per

..

27

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,
.
. . - - =---- --'1

THE lathe which we illustrate on this page has been

specially designed for screw-cutting by the Hendey
Machine Company, Torrington, Connecticut, and is
being introduced into this country by Messrs. Charles
Churchill and Co., of Cross-street, Fins bury, E. C.
The principal novelty in t he machine is the avoidance
of the usual large number of loose change wheels, the
number of threads cut being regulated by the device
shown on the left of our engraving. The leading
screw is not driven direct by gearing from the headstock, as usual, but has keyed to it a. number of
different-sized spurw heels, forming a cone, which
are covered and protected from dirt or damage by the
cast-iron box shown below the fixed headstock of the
lathe. Below these gearwheels is a. driving shaft,
running in bearings in the bottom of the box, and
driven by gearing from the lathe spindle. This shaft
ha.9 a long key running from end to end of it, and has
sliding on it a driving gear which can be moved along
the shaft by means of the handle shown, and thus made
to drive any one of the spurwheels already mentioned
as keyed to the driving screw. This driYing gear is prevented from moving sideways when at work by placing
the handle operating it in one of the notches shown.
Above these notches is an index plate showing the
number of threads to be cut. It will be seen that the
pitch of the screw to be cut can thus be changed Yery
quickly, the spurwheels on the leading screw being
arranged to permit of all the usual pitches of from 6
to 20 threads per in ch being cut without altering
the train of gearing between the lathe spindle and the
lower driving shaft. By changing these, however,
other pitches can be cut, two changes only being
required to cut all pitches of from li to 80 threads
per inch. To further facilitate the operation of
screw-cutting, the shaft carrying the driving gear
for the leading screw is driven by bevel reversing
gear, the change being effected by the small handle
shown at the right-hand side of the carriage:
By
its means the direction of the travel of the carriage
can be instantaneously reversed without stopping the
lathe or altering the motion of the lathe spindle in any
way. The lathe illustrated has 9-in. centres, and is
made with beds of from 6 ft : to 16 ft. in length.
It ha.s a hollow s.pindle running in phosphor-bronze
bearings. It car ries four belt cones, 3 in. wide and
from 4! in. to 11 in. in diameter. Power feeds, in
addition to the screw-cutting gear, are provided for all
motions of the slide rest.

PONTOON BRIDGE ACROSS THE

MISSISSIPPI.
TH east and west branches of the Chicago, Minneapolis, and t. Paul Railway are joined across the ~1issis
sippi Rirer by L awler's pontoon bridge, illustrated on
the opposite page. The approaches at each end are
on trestles, the d istance between them being covered
by a. pontoon, which can be removed to allow of the
passage of vessels. The pontoon is hinged at one end
(Fjg. 8) to the last pile of a row, all of which are
braced together to resist the strain.
At the other
end it is, when in position, connected to a pair of piles
(Figs. 2 and 'i) by a detachable bolt of simple construction. This consists of a short shaft, supported in
two bearings, and carrying a crosshead at its outer
end. When turned into a. vertical plane, this crosshead

passes freely through the space between the two piles

but. when in a horizontal plane it cannot pass. Nea;
to the bolt a mooring ch ain comes aboard and after
passing round a windlass goes over the othe; side.
The method of operating the p ontoon is very simple.
'Vhen the span is to be opened, the windlass is rotated
b_y the engine u.ntil the chain is taut on the u p -stream
&de; the bolt 1s then turned and the chain drawn in
on the ~own-stream side, and paid out up stream.
The entire pontoon then swings around its pivot
(Fig. 9) until the waterway is clear. T o replace the
pontoon it is hauled back by the windlass until the
bolt can be again locked, when all is secure.
The pontoon itself is a. fiat-bottomed timber hull,
deeper at the ends than at the middle (Fig. 1). By this
construction the buoyancy is concentrated at the
extremities, and the depression, which occurs when a.
locomotive and train enters the bridge, is minimised.
This result is further secured by connecting each trestle
to toe pontoon by a. hinged bridge 30 ft. 8 in. long, the
greater part of which overhangs the pontoon.
As the level of t he water varies at different parts of
the year, provision is made for raising the road above
the deck of the pontoon to various heights. The rails
are carried on 5 in. by 8 in. sleepers, which are themse! ves mounted on six 7 in. by J 2 in. longitudina.ls.
Beneath these longitudinals come 14 in. by 18 in. crossbeams, each made of two timbers.
The ends of
these timbers pass between vertical guides (Fig. 4),
and as the river falls they are jacked up and have
blocks placed beneath them to keep them at such a.
height that the road remains level. The guide p osts
are carried down to the floor beams, and the space
between them, underneath the deck, is occupied by a
longitudinal bulkhead of 8 in. by 10 in. and 8 in. by
12 in. timbers.
The construction of the hull is clearly shown in the
engravings. The deck, floor, and side beams are all
5 in. by 10 in., spaced 2 ft. a part. The deck planks
are 2! in. by 6 in., and the bottom sheathing 4 in. by
10 in.
There a re five longitudinal bulkheads, the
centre one being built of 12-in. balks, 30ft. long at
least.

MECHANICAL FLIGHT: THE SUSTENTION

OF THE WEIGHT.
To THE EDITOR m ENG INEEHING.
SIR,-In the following remarks I shall endeavour t o
point out the principles underlying the art of mechanical
flight, and, by a. plam statement of the facts, hope to clear
away the mystery which, to a great many minds, seems
to surround the subject, and thereby induce engineers to
give serious attention to the matter.
In order to sustain weight in the atmosphere, it is
absolutely necessary to deliver air downwards, and in
order to ascertain the weight of air acted upon, and the
spbed with which it must be moved, the following formula,
so well known to marine engineers, is perfectly applic-

abl~:

W 8 , where W is the weight of the mass of fluid

acted u~on in pounds per second, S is th9 downward

velocity in feet per second, g is 32.2 ft. per second.
In order to make this perfectly clear, I will take the
case of two flying machines, each weighing 515 lb.
In the first place, we will take the weight of air to be
acted upon per second as 1382lb.
Now, in order to obtain sufficient reaction, or ~ift, to
sustain the weight of the machine, the above weight of

second.
~~.; G = 515 lb. reaction, the same as in the
first example ; but now the energy that the air takes away
with it in its downward motion is only half, thus
2764 X G~ .
' h 18
. 28 ,
uf"4 X
gtves the h Orse-power, \V h lC
550
It will be seen at a glance the great ad vantage gained
by acting upon a great weight of air per second. As
shown abo\'e, 1382 lb. of air acted upon requires 5.6 horsepo~er; 2764 _lb. of ~ir acted upon requires only 2.8, the
weight sustamed bemg the same in ea.oh case.
'rhis estimate of power required is irrespective of that
lost by Diction, &c.
The necessity for giving a downward motion to so great
a vol?me of air. per second having been shown, the
questiOn now arises as to the most efficient method of
performing this ':"ork. The only plan worth consideration
ts the one by whtch aeroplanes, or surfaces acting at an
angle a.r~ propelled in a. horizontal directio~.
Experimenters who have adopted this principle may
be divided into two distinct classes : firstly, those who
employ a few aeroplanes of great width and length;
secondly, those who use superposed surfaces of enormous
length and comparatively very little width in the line of
motioD;. The pr_incipal expon~nt of the large wide a.ero
plane IS Mr. H1ram H. Malum, and the author of this
paper is the exponent of the long and extremely narrow
su rfaces.
We will now consider the relative efficiencies of the two
syste'lls, and will take first the large wide aeroplane. The
particles of air on being struck by the under surface near
the front edge are deflected downwards, due to the angle
thus, in order that the following portion of the aeroplan~
should do its fair proportion of work, it must be curved
downwa.~ds, thereby presen.tin~ a greater angle, causing
more resistance, and necess1tatmg a greater proportionate
expenditure of power the wider the surface.
Another disad vanta.~e accruing from the use of one or
more large aeroplanes lB that very little work is done by
the outer ends, M the air, instead of being deflected
downwards, escapes into the partial vacuum formed above.
~hen extrem~ly. narrow su!faces are employed, the
action on the air 18 totally dtfferent to the foregoing.
In the first place, the particles of air struck are free to
follow the natu~al _law that the angle of reflection is equal
~o th~ angle of mCidence, therefore the downward motion
1s twtce that due to the angle of the surface struck. It is
this highly efficient action of the extremely narrow sutfa.cea
that gives them such a great ad vantage over the wide aero.
plane; also there is the additional advantage that there is
no loss a.t the ends.

In using superposed surfaces, it is important that they

should be placed at sufficient distance apart; recent experiments have proved that if they are 1~ in . wide they
should not have less than 2~ in. of clear space between
them.
This will not be an unfavourable time to speak about
the latest shape of the sustainer surfaces I uae. The
underside is formed to a slight parabolic curve, the less
curved portion being in front, while the upper side is convex, the highestpart being not more than one-third from
the front edge. The action is as follows: The air, on being
struck by the forward part on the upper side, is moved
upwards, but as the highest part of the surface goes
through, it is brought to rest again, therefore no power
is expended so far beyond that taken up by friction, and
a slight movement forward given to the air by reason of
the surface striking it. As the highest part goes through,
the action is reversed, the air being moved downwards at
an accelerating speed until left at its final velocity. There
is no advantage in thifl shape, by which the air is first
moved upwards, beyond this, that as the slats, or sustainers, have to be a. certain thickness for the sake of
rigidity, this is the best and, perhaps, only way of disposing of the material at the front and back edge. Were
the slats infinitely thin, the upper would follow the contour of the lower side.
Although much more might be said on this subject, as
the result of several years' experiments, enough has been
said to point out the principles involved, the great advantagA of narrow surfaces, and the power that must, under
the best conditions, be lost. Had the principles been
understood, and the theoretical horse-power known, by
the many experimenters in this line of science, much
that is useless would never have been attempted.
The foregoing formula may be relied on as being correcb. It is understood by all en~ineers, and is in daily
use by them. It is its applicatton to this particular
branch of science that has been either neglected or nob
understood.
But the principles, once being known, will be appreciated, and the subject show out in its true light,
s uccess being d ependent on mechanical details and
financial assistance.
Wealdstone, Harrow.
HORATIO PHILLIPS.

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

[OcT.

20,

1893.

ESTIMATING THE MEAN EFFECTIVE . If more steam is passed through an engine by increas the diagram-factor is a good deal affected by the rate of
mg the pressure or the speed, the back pressure will expansion, being
PRESSURE IN PROPOSED STEAM EN- usually
rire, and the value of the diagram-factor is
.69 for 4.82 expansions
GINES.
ab on~e affected. I have found, bowevQr, that if a
To

THE

Eurron ot-

ENGINEERING.

SIB.- ! trust the following notes are of sufDcient

interest to be allowed a place in your paper. They should
have app_eared. with the r~st of my remarks* in the report
of the discuss10n on the late Mr. P. W. Willans' paper
on steam engine trials, which was read recently at the
Institution of Civil Engineers.
T_hrough a ~isunderstanding, however, the reduced
coptes of the dtagrams were not prepared in time to
appear in the minutes.
One of the objects of the trials referred t o in the paper
w JoB stated ~o be "To a.scertain with a given steam pressure and ratio of expans10n the percentage of the theoretical mean pressure which is in this type of engine actually
obtained in practice."
This per_cen.ta.ge, if known, would e~able a designer
(when the mdtcated horse-power, revolutions per minute
steam pressure, number of expansions, and back pressur~
were given) to predict the actual mean effective pressure
and from 1t to determine the proper dimensi ons of ~
cylinder to develop the required power.
U nfortun.ately the back pressure is a quantity which
usually va.nes with the speed of the engine, the boiler
pressure, and the expansion ratio ; and the percentage of

quantity which I call the "virtual" back pressure h~

substituted for the actual back pressure, this virtual back
pressure, which can be found from trials of similar
engines, is not only independent of the revolutions
and expansions, but the diagram factor E is less
affected by the expansions, and scarcely at all by the
revolutions. To illustrate the mode of ascertaining the
values of E, and of b (the virtual back pressure), I have
prepared the following Table, in which the fi1st and last
lines are extracted from Mr. Willans' former paper*
on the trials of a non-condensing compound engine, running at about 400 revolutions per minute with four expansions. For this rate of expansion
! + hyp.log. E=.5965,
E
I

p 1 (line 4) : 60.98
.6966 Pt , 36.38
m . e.p. } 15. 45
(line 13)

72.64 81.09 89.8 I 97.76 109.3 1120.62 128.8 6

43.34 48.38 63.6 I 6~.3
65.25 72.0 76.9
20.22 24.94 28.462 33.00 38. 26 1 4 2. 28 45.97

Line 2 has been read off on a slide rule, but is sufficiently

a<;curate for the purpose in view.

Pig.2.

Fig.1
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{ 4- CXPANSJONS.

...,.---:itc-

SOME SUGGESTIONS FOR A GOOD

PATENT LAW.

4-<10 RYS.

. 77 , 10
,
.83 , 15.55
"
Fig. 3, however, shows that the effect of the revolu
tions upon the diagram-factor is so small as to be negli
gible. For
400 revolutions E = .69
..
300
"
= .706
200
,.
= .72
or, say, . 7 as an average ~alue.
I am disposed to attribute the slight reduction of E
with increasing speeds to the influence of wire-drawing.
I have not been able to determine the law by which the
rate of variation of E with different expansion ratios is
governed, but, fort unately, in most engmes of the same
type the expansions at full power are the same, or nearly so.
Since E is scarcely affected by the revolutions, but in
creases with the expansions, if an engine is designed with
the proper diagram-factor for full power, and the same
factor is used in estimating the lower powers, it follows
that any error will be on the safe side.
The que~tion naturally arises whether b and f are
affected by the size of the engine, other things being
similar.
So far as I have tested this point, the reply is in the
negative.
Messrs. Willans kindly gave me particulars of the triala
of two similar engines, one of 100 indicated horse-power,
the other of 350 indicated horAe-power. Their design waa
not quite the same as the engine described in Mr. Willans
paper, the ratio of cylinders being different. Both had
the same value for b, and allowing for a slight difference
in expansion ratio, both had the same diagram-factor.
If preferred, the results could be plotted as in Fig. 4,
which is the same as Fig. 1, with the data transposed;
b is here read cff to the left of zero, instead of below it.
Yours faithfull~
C. H. W INGFIBLD.
Lingard H ouse, Chiswick Mall,
September 26, 1893.

'HJO KCVS.

I
I

12 .6 lbs.

-- -- ------------------------------ -------- ---- --- .J

Ab$olute mw_n theoretical press_ure-.

~:

~ I
If) I

~.

100 RCVS t 72
.300 REVS t 70'
~ 4-00 RCVS 69

Pig.4.
'

Fig.3.

}. 1

!I

o:
I
l

10

10

JO

p lS

l&s

I
I

Actual mean

~-- b--~--efTectlre--;;re.Ssiifi~- -~

4-81 X PANS IONS

I

theoretical efficien cy referred to is also very variable.

For instance, Mr. Willans' tables showed 10 to vary
from 75.03 to 102 per cent. with a compound engine
running at 400 revolutions per minute.
In calculating this percentage. Mr. Willans used the
pressure theoretical1y due to adiabatic expansion. As
the result shows so wide a variation, it does not seem to
present any a~ va~tage for th_is purp?se over the hyper
bolic law, wh1ch IS more read1ly apphed.
.
It is often assumed that the actual mean effective
pressure will be a fixed fraction of that obtained by
deducting the expected back prassure from t he mean
absolute pressure, the latter being estimated by multi.
h
.
.
.
1
b
1
t
b
1 + hyp. log. E,
plymg t e 101t1a a sou e pressure P1 Y
E
and tables have b een published+ purporting to give the
value of this fraction (which Professor U nwin has very
happily called the "diagram-factor'') for different classes
of engines.
This rule would be expressed algebraically thus :
_ { 1 + byp. log. E _ b } x E
m. e. p . - P1
E
where m. e. p . = actual mean effective pressure reduced
to low-pressure piston.
p 1 = absolute pressure in the steam chest.
E = nominal rate of expansion.
volume of low-pressure cylinder
=volume of bi~h-preseure cylinder x outoff in htgh-pressure cylinder.
b = back pressure } both of w~icb have to
E = diagram factor
be est1mated.

* See Minutes of Proceedings of the Institution of

Civil Engineers, vol. cxiv., page 82.
t See, for example, the Practical Er~gineer for June 17,
1892.

Turning to Fig. 1, the theoretical absolute mean pressures for each experiment- t aken from line 2 in the above
Table-are plotted along the base line, measuring from 0;
and over each of these pressures a perpendicular is erected,
the height of which represents the actual mean effective
p~essure (see the last line of above Table) as found by Mr.
Willans in his trials. A straight line drawn through the
spots at the tops of these perpendiculars intersects the
vertical line drawn through zero a1l a distance below
the base marked b. This distance, measured on the same
scale of pressures a-s the rest of the diagram, is what I
have called the virtual back pressure, and it ap~ears to
be singularly constant for a ~iven class of engme. In
this engine. non-condensing, It measures 12.6 lb. per
square inch.
The ratio p A of the sides of the triangle P. A. T.
PT
gives the value of the diagram-factor E, which is in thiS
ca.se. 77.
It is in terestin~ to examine the effect o.f expansion
ratio and revolutiOns on band E, and for th1s purpose I
have prepared Figs. 2 ~nd 3.
.
In Fig. 2 the revolutiOns are constant-400 per m10ute
-but the ratio of expansion va.ries from 4.82 to 15.55.
Each do1l represents a trial of a conden~ing compound
engine and the lines drawn through them converge upon
a point corresponding to a virtual back pressure o_f 3 _lb.
per square inch, which is thus constant through this w1de
range of varying conditions.
In Fig. 3 the expansions are 4.82 tbroushout, and the
revolutions vary from 200 to 400 per mmute. I have
omitted the epots, as they are so close together as to be
confusing.
.
.
Here again the nrtual back pressure 1s 3 lb. per
square 'inch througbou1l, notwithstan~ing th~t the ~peed
varies in the ratio of 2 to 1. Referrmg agam to F1g. 2,
*Minutes Proc. Inst. C. E., vol. xciii., page 182.

To THE EDITOR OF ENGINEERING.

SrR,- I have read wi th interest your account of Mr
Lloyd Wise's proposals as to the essentials of a good patent
law, and while much in sympathy with Mr. Wise's ob
ject, I cannot but think that the main alterations pro
posed by him, if applied to our English patent laws,
would pla.~e the inventor in a much worse position than
he at present occupies.
Mr. Lloyd Wise appears to propose three radi cal altera
tions on our existing patent laws :
1. The abolition of the provisional specificat ion and
provisional protection.
2. The establishment of an official examination as to
novelty of the subject-matter of the application.
3. The extension of the grounds of objection and the
number of persons permitted to object to the grant of a
patent .
\Vith rQgard to the abolition of the provisional specification, I differ entirely from Mr. Lloyd Wise. In my
opinion, our present system of permitting the filing of a
provisional specification with the application for a patent
1a admirable, and is one of the points in which our laws
compare advantageously with those of other countries.
From my personal knowledge of many inventors, and my
own experience ae an inventor, I can assure you that
there is no point in our E nglish patent law which is more
valued than the nine months' provisional protection
granted on the mere deposit of a descriptiOn, without drawings, with the signed and stamped application
form. Thab inventors in reality approve is shown conclusively by the fact that the great mass of British applications for patent pass through the provisional stage.
The convenience of the system is so apparent that the
great majority elect t o file a provisional instead of a
complete specification.
When a new idea occurs to an inventor, be naturally
desires immediate protection. and it is the usual course to
at once draft and file a provisional specification; many
inventors now do this for themselves, and so secure immediate protection at the very small expenditure of ll.,
the cost of the stamped application form. All the necessary documents can easily be prepared and filed, if desired,
on the very day of the conception of the idea, and when
the work is done through an experienced patent agent,
not more than a day should elapse before the protecting
date is obtained. After this date. the inventor can proceed with an easy mind to develop his invention, and
settle its details without fear of anticipation or publica
tion during the necessary period of experiment.
The preparation of a complete specification, on the other
band, with its necessary drawings, and the settlement of
the claims, is a much more serious matter. even when the
inventor has completed his invention, and has succeeded in
working his new machine, process, or apparatus. At least
two or three weeks are absolutely necessarv to prepare
drawings, draft a clear ipecification, draft claims, and con
aider them in view of claims in earlier patents, so that even
on this ground the inventor runs serious risk of anticipation
or unwitting publication. But a far more serious danger
arises from the fact that abolition of provisional protection would impose upon most inventors the obligation of
perfecting the invention by produci ng an actual example
before applying for a patent at all. This obligation
would be a bard one for all inventors. and unjust, inasmuch as it would press most hardly upon the poorer
in ventors, who depend upon the existence of provisional

Ocr.

20, 1 89 3]

protection to enable them t o inter est capitalists or manufacturers in their ideas. Bub nearly all inventors would
trenuously object to be forced to complet e their in ventions
before obtainin g a protecting date-, because of the g rea.t
d ifficulty, nay, almost impossibility, of securing entire
secresy during the construct ion and trial o f the invention.
T he advantages of prov isional protec t ion are most
solid and substantial, by n o means vitiated by any of the
objections brought forward by :.M r. \Vise. The only
d an ger introduced by the provisional specification appears
to b~ that due eo possible n on -con formit y between the
provision al and the final specifications , but this danger is
more i maginary than real, as the courts alwa ys incline to
a fair expansion of t he p rovisional.. in the com plete; and
with th e most moder~te care on the part of the p a ten t
agent the re should be n o q uest ion whatever as to the
entire conformity of the t wo parts of the s pecification .
If this be the only objection Mr. Wise has to urge against
the provisional spectfication, the n it seems to me an
entirely insig nificant one.
W ith regard to the officia~ ex~mination as to n.ovelty
of subject -matter, Mr. Wtse very correctly dascerns
serious objections to the me-thods at presen t adopted in
Germany and America., and he proposes a. sys tem intended to overcome these objecttons. In my opinion,
~1r. \Viae's prop osals on this matter also are fraught w ith
danger to the inventor, and I would much regre t t o see
t hem carried into effect. H e proposes a n official examin ation and a repor t by the Patent Office to the applicant,
laying before h im su.c~ speci fica~ions ~ a.re s.upposed by
the exam iner to antactpa te the mvent10n cla.tmed . The
in ventor is not to be r equired t o m od ify his claim in view
of the antici pa t ions unless h e so d esires, a nd the p a tent
is to be granted wha t ever th e opinion of the Patent
Office may be as to n ovelty, but the inw.n tor i s to insert
in his specification a reference to such anticipations, and
a statement that h e ma k es h is cle.im n otwithstanding
them.
d 1catmg
'

' t h e o ffi c1a

1
Th is cour3e, by 10
t o t h e pu bl 10
b elief of the invalidity of the claims, would be most
de.maging.
.
.
By t his means Mr. 'Yse ex pects to confine. the J?01~ts
ab issue in a patent ac t 10n to the narrowest poss1ble hm1ts,
nd prevent the patentee from shifting his ground in the
course of the action .
Such a. hop e is, in my opinion, q u ite illusory.
So long as huma n nature r emains what it is, patent
actions cannot but be som e what ex p ensive proceedings,
requi ri ng a consid erable time for considera tion by the
courts. S uch ac tions are seldom brought before the
cour ts except when considerable mon e tary issues are
invol vad when, in fact, the patent in question is a financial su~s, and, th is b eing so, it followa that the p erson s
or fi rms invoh ed fight hard, and employ the best counsel,
scientific experts, and solicitors to be found. These, so
employed are expected to fight every inch of the ground,
o that ~nder the searching light of a patent action
ambigu ities and inaccuracies appear both in specifica.ti? n
and claims which would e n t 1rely escape an offi01al

exam mer.
N o altera tion in our patent laws would, in my opinion,
prevent expensi ve and lengthy p a t ent a.otions. At present a large portion of the time of our courts is wasted
because of the want of special t echnica.l knowledge in our
judges, and consequently both ~ides p~oduce sci~ntifio
evidence intended to educate the JUdges 10 the part1cular
industry under discuesion . :Mos t of our judges are apt
and a ble pupils, who readily and carefully understa~d
the technical matters brought b efore them, but a. certalD
amount of time is inevitably lost in the educational process,
which, it appears t o me, mi~ht ~e overcome ~y having
specially trained j udges f? r sc1ent1fio and te~hmcal cas.es.
Scientific experts of emmence, such as S1r Fred6r1Ck
Bramwell and Mr. J ohn Imray, would make e xcelle nt
judges of patent matters, b efore whom ca.ses wou!d
reoei ve the most rapid ~espa.tch; b~ t, e~ort of a change m
the education of our Judges, 1t 1s dtfficult to see how
patent cases are to be c ut shorb.
Mr. Lloyd Wise:s id ~a., that clai~s made _in vie w of
specificat ions s~bmttted by the offi01al exammer w? uld
shorten proceedings by limiting the scope of the clatms,
seems to me q uite untenable in view of ~he ~ell-known
procedure in patent cases. Why, all sp e01fica.tlons fought
1n the court at pre~enb have their claims carefully limited
by comparison with previous sp ecification s. No prudent
person or firm brings an action on a. patenb without employing competent pa tent agents t o make a thor~>Ugh
search as to validity of the claims made in the ep~ctfi ca
t ion, and if need be lim iting the scope of the cla.uns ~Y
amendment. This accounts for the fact that fe w sp eclfi
cations appear in court. b~fore ame ndme nt ~f claims.
I n cases within my knowled~e all the cl~1 ma have been
excised except that on~ on wh1ch th~ confh c t was to t~ke
pla.ce. It is a ma tter . of ex~reme dtfficulty. to deter~me
the meaning of a plaan straightforward clatm made m a.
specifica tion when minute <'riticism. is ~rought to bear
upon it and I ha ve before me a spec16ca.tton- drafted, by
the way by Mr. Lloyd Wise- which was th e subj ect of
legal ex~mmation a sh ort time ago ; a. claim in this specifica tion recei ved n o fewer than four dis t in c t and separa te
meanings by .the lea.dine: exper.t on on~ s ide, a. scientifi c
man of the h1gha..~t poss1ble emtnenoe; mdeed, I may say
one of the most distmg uished scientific me~ in the world .
H is probi ty and honour ate b ey ond quest1on, and y et he
managed to read into that claim four dis tinc t and separate

meamnga.
.
.
With regard to the extenston of the grounds of obJeC
tion, Mr. Lloyd Wise's proposal prac tically amounts t o
the addition of two ne w g-round s of ob jection t o the grant
of a patent : (1) The pr1or publication c f a fu!J description of the invention; and (2) the prior pubhc user of
the invention. N ow I think these alterat10n s also most
objectionable, as they would gen erally provide a. patente6

E N G I N E E R I N G.
with all the trouble of a p atent ac tion at the very threshold
of hie e xistence as a patentee. lb is so open to qu estion
as to what is publ ication of the same invention, and as
to what is, or is not, p ublic user of an invention,
that e ndless lit igation would r esult, and the patent law
would speed ily become on e means for the attempted
crushing of trade rivals.
U nde r th e p resent law, p atent ac tion s in the main only
occur regardmg valuable and sueoessful inventions, so
that if a. pa tentee has the trouble and ex pense of an action,
be has generally sometbin~ substantial t o fight for.
U nder Mr. Lloyd Wise s proposed la ws, a.ll patentees
would praC'tically have t o fight a. patent action withou t
having s ufficiently tried t hei r inven t ions to fully understand the points of a d epa rture made by them.
If the opinion of inv entors be required, I do n ot doubt
but that all, with hardly an exception, would protest
against Mr. ' V iae's prop osed alteration.
Y ours truly,
D UGALD C LERK.
18, S outhampton-buildings, C ha.ncNy-la.ne,
L ondon, W .C.

BALL BEARINGS F OR THRUST BLOCKS.

T o THE EDITOR 01-' ENG INEERING.
S ra, - I am considerab ly surprised, after r eading the
letters which you have p ublished in answer to Mr.
Ramage's i nq uiry with r efe rence t o the u se of balls in
thrus t bearings, to find that so little information should
b e forthcomin g- as to the proper construc tion of this most
useful mechamcal de vice. There also seems to be a large
amount of m isappli ed ingenuity bei ng spent upon it. }'or
ins tance, the shape of r ace and wethod of setting out
d escribed by ~lr. Wing 6eld, though displaying much
thought and reasoning, is radica.11 y wrong. H e ie evidently
quite in ignora nce of the prac tice of the cycle- maker, who
has arrived at the best form of bearing by the slow and
tedious, though r eliable, process of trial and failure. I
have experimented myself in this line and arrived at the
same r esult and after ca.reful experiments and comparisons with the experiments of others, have a.rri ved at
the follo wing conclusions:
That eaob ball must have two p oints of contact only.
The balls and race must be of glass hardness, and of
absolute truth.
The balls sh ould be of the largest possible diameter
which the sp ace a.t d isposal w ill admit of.
Any one ba.ll should be capa ble of carrying the t otal
load upon the bearing .
Two r ows of ba.lls is always su fficient.
A ball bearing requires no oil, and has no t endency t o
h eat unless overloaded.
U ntil the crushing stre ngth of the balls is b eing neared,
the frictional resistance is {>roportiona.l to the load.
The fri c tional r esistance 1s inversely proportional to the
diameter of the balls, b ut in what exact proportion I am
unable to say ; pr oba bly i t varies with the square.
The resistance is indep endent of the number of balls
and of the s peed.
N o rubbing action will t a k e .Place b etween the balls,
and d ev ices t o guard against 1t are unnecessary, and
usually injurious.
The a bove will show that the ball b earing is most
suitable ft.>r high sp eed s and light loads. I have some
now at work on the spindles of wood-carving machines
making as much as 30,000 revoluti on s p er minute. They
run p erfectly cool, and never have any oil upon them.
F or heavy loads the b alls should not be less than twothirds the diameter of the a baft, and are better if made
equal to ib. The accompanying sk e tch shows the form

- . -

19 :;I

which I sh ould recomme nd Mr. Ra.ma.ge to adopt1 and

which if well made will be found to answer satisfactorily.' The ? nly point wbic~ is likely t o ~e object~on
able is the n01se-a. dull rumbhn g sound-wh10h I beheve
to b e inseparable from thia form of beari~g.
Y ourR fa1thfully,
A. H. T YLER.
5 Crown court, Chea.pside, L ond on, E C.,
'
October 17, 1893.
T o THE E DITOR oF ENGINRRRINO.
SIR - Having read ~1r. C. H. Wingfiold's letter in
ENGIN EERING of September 29 . with great inte~est, I
would point out that, a.lth~ugh h1s .theory may be r1ght, I
think his plan, as sh own 1n the d1agrams, could 3ca.rcely
be carried out in practice. In the first place, the. balls,
as arranged by him would only have four small pomts of
conta.ct, and would not, in my opinion stan~ the c1ush ing strain. Again, they are balls, and balls, ~n whatever
way triAd, have never answe red, for the followmg rea.sot;ts:
A ball, to travel r ound in an a~nular groove, Wlth
a. rota tin~ surface on the t op of 1t, mus t partake . of
three m otiOns. First, the part of the ball on the outs1de
of the groove wants to travel fastH than that on the

inside, the circumferences being different; this causes the

ball to have two motion s, conseque ntly fri ction take'
place ; then the rota ting surface on top of the ball caus es a
third motion, which has a t endency to pull the b~l over.
Consequently there are three m ot.ions the ball w1shes to
comply with, and, being unable to do eo, causes fric tion
and wear, wh ich throws the ball out of truth ; hence all
the fail u res of balls in thrust bearings. It was from
these failures that ~1r. 'VilkPs began to experiment with
rollers ; and, after r epeated trials, d iscovered that under
pressure both r oller and roller paths would wear to a
specific form, and then, conforming to a law of natur_,,
would wear no m ore, but travel round with perfect
freedom u nder any pressure.
It is th is s peci tio form that ~Ir. 'Valkes and myself
have patented and applied to thrust blocks of scre w shafts
and all places where end thrust takes place.
I would also lk e to refer to ~Iessrs. Purdon and
\Valters' letter of October 4, in E NGJNERRINO of the 6th
inst. H ere, again, we have the same difficulty with
balls; and, although admirably d esigned a.nd theoretically
true, the practical difficulties of it are almost insurmountable.
First, in very large shafts the plates to take the two
set of balls and cones would have to be so large that
ther would be impracticable. Secondly, there would
be 1mmense difficulty in getting all the ba.lls and cones
in their places, especially at sea or in large ships.
Thirdly, on a ball crush1cg or getting misplaced, it
would probably jam all the rest, a.nd at all e vents would
be an endless trouble to replace.
Mr. Wilkes and mrself claim for our invention :
Its complete practtca.bility.
Its p erfect simplicity.
The ease with which it could be shifted or got at at sea or
elsewhere, and that there are n o complicated parts to
get out of order.
I would like to call attention also to Mr. W . C. Carter's
letter in E NG INKERING of Oct ober 13, in which he seems
to thoroughly carry out my contention as to the practicability of my invention, and the difficulty there is in
regard to balls, howe ver theoretical1y true. Mr. H enry
Binsse seems to be of the same opinion, by hi s letter of the
same date, as to the impracticability of balls.
In conolusion, I would say that I have n ow a tug running in South ampton Water fitted with our patent thrust,
and which is giving the greatest satisfac tion. It gives
the tug an inc rease of 12 per cent. of h er former revolutions, a nd has made the engines work with far greater
freedom.
I am, yours faithfully,
F R&DF.RICK E DWA RDS, RN.
Gloucest er L odge, P ortswood, Southa mpton,
October 16, 1893.

NAILMAKING MACHINERY.
T o THE E mTon OF Ef'c iNEEBINO.
S tR, - Can any of your readers oblige us wi th the names
and addresses of makers of mac hines for making horaenails, latest improvements ?
H. L. ~I. AN D Co.
Birmingham, October 17, 1893.

e=================
THE AMERICA CUP.
T o TRE E DITOR oF Ef'GINEERING.
SIR - In your issue of the 13th inst . Colonel J. T.
Buck~ill, in an interesting letter on this subject, raises
a point of great importance t o the designers of racing
yachts which are intended to compe te under a measurement rule based on any combination of the length and
sail area., as in the case both of the present Y .R.A. rule,
and also of the American rule of measuremen b. The calcula
tions he puts forward, however, tend to ehow merely that
the scale of time allo wance adopted by theNew Y ork Yacht
Club d oes not sufficiently penalise an increa.se in the
. . length" as gtven
.
by t he f ormu1a L. W.L. + S .A-
"sathng
2
Colonel B ucknill's suggestion that the length and sail
area. should b e fix ed and the same in both yachts would,
if adopt ed eliminate from the contest the problem which
should before any other, exereise the skill of the designer,
namely the de termination for any given tonnage or
" sailing length " of the best ratio between the two
factor~ length and sail area. The essential point appears
to be th a t the "sailing lbngth "of the com{>&ting yachts
sh ould be fi xed and the same, thus obviahng the intro
duc tion of any scale of time allowance, which ~ust be to
a. great ext ent e mpirical. In order t~ show the tmportance
of d etermining the bes t possible rat10 between the length
and sail area and of keeping in view the particul.ar measurement rule iX: question, it wi~l be found by ~a.kmg Colonel
Bucknill's figures for the sa.1l area, and takmg the le ngtha
on L. ,V.L . of Vigilant and Valkyrie as 8.6.~ and 86.8
resp ectively, that the" sailing length " of Vt~ilant works
out 96.3 ft., as against 93.5 ft. for the Valk~rt.e, or an ~x
cess of 3 p er cent. only on the part of the V1g1lant, while
.
( L W.L. x S.A.) work out 162.1
t h e Y . RA
. . ra t mgs
\
6000
and 145.2 respectively, or an exceas of about lli per cent.
on the part of the Vigilant. These figure~ ehow1 first,
that the British rule of mea.surem~nt penahse~ sa1l area
to a greater ex tent than the .Amer1can rule, as 1s also ap.
parent from an insp ection of the two ~ormul re ; a.nq,
secondly, that the result of the ~ecent sere.s of . competitions might have b een different 1f th~ effectt ve s1ze o~ ~he
competing yachts ~ad been ascertatned by the Br1t1eh
instead of the Amen ca.n rule.
Yourt~, &c .
DA VID ARCHER.

,V.

THE TOWER BRIDGE.

MR.

J.

WOLFE

BARRY,

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ENGINEER.

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FRIDAY, OCTOBER

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1893.
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CONTENTS.
PA88

Tbe Tower Bridge (lllm

--~)
trat ~
The Engineering Coogresa
at Chicago (1Uu~rated) .
Tbe British Auociatlon (ll
ltutratt d) . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Combined
Feed Water
Beattor and Purifier (ll
lUitratld) .. ....... . ...
The Canda Contracting Chill
fo r Car \\'heels (J llttl

.. .... .... ... ..... ..... 7...

H2
474

478

tratul) ........ .. ....... 478

Old American Locomotivu

at the Columbian Exposl
tioo (1UUitrattd).. . . . . . . 478
Locomothee at the Colum
bio.n Exposition (Illu.s-

t rated) ................ 4n
Rtud Lathe ( IUmtrated) . . 4 79

'l'be Norton Screw-Cutting

Lathe ......... . ... .. .. .
Pontoon Bridge aoroes the
Mf illippl (I UtUtrated) . .
liecb.anioal Fllrht : The
Su tentloo of Weight ...
Eltimat iog the Heao M ec
tive Preore in Propoaed
Steam Eogioee (llltU.) .
Some su,reationJ for a Good
Pat.eotLaw .... ..........
Ball Bearings for Thrust
Blocks(IUwtrattd) . .....
Nail making Machinery
Tb& America Cup ...... ....

481
481
481
482
482

483
483
483

PA08

The Loss of H.ld.S.

cc

VIe

toria '' . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 485

The Dimensions of Specimens ...... ... ... . . . ..

Shipping and Shipbualding
The BruBBels Electr ic Rail
way .............. .... ..
New Sou th Wales Railwa.ys
British Colonies at Chicago
Notes .. ... .... . ......
Literature . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Books Re~ei v ed ....... : . .
Steam TnaJs of the Spamsh
Cruiser "Infanta .Maria
T eres& " . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Notes from the United
States ........ . .. . . .. . ..
Notes from the North . . ...
Notea from South Yorkshire
Notes from Cleveland and
the Northern Counties .
Notes from the South-West
Miscellanea. . . . . . . . . . . .
W&rd'a Metallic Packing
(llltutrated) . . . . . . . .
Cross Cuttin~ Power Saw
(llltut rated) .. . .........
Industrial Notes . . . . . .
Dredging Ope rations on the
lderaey Bar (lUmtrated)
Launches and Trial Trips .
.. Engineering" Patent Re
cord (IUmtraled) .. ...

486
4!6
487
487
488
489
490
400
490

490
491
491
491
491
492
493
493
493
49~

496
497

With a TwoPage E ngratrinq oj L OCOMOTIVES ~T THE

WORLD'S COLUJfBI~N BXPOS ITION.

why t he Victoria- one of our most powerful battleships - was sent to the bottom wit h such appalling
suddenness by a single blow from the ram of the
Camperdown. The catastrophe occurred on June 22,
and t he court-martial on the captain and other
survivors arrived at their decision on July 27.
The Secretary of t he Admiralty said, in the H ouse
of Commons, on August 28 : '' The House was not
yet informed as to what actually happened in the
collision between the Ca.mperdown and the Victoria.
The evidence only r eached this country on August 5,
and it was August 8 before it could be taken in
hand. It had first to be examined in manuscript,
and the report of the Admiralty experts had not
yet been r eceived upon it. Until t hat report was
prepared, it was impossible to decide what kind of
inq uiry should be instituted. But there need be
no fear that the Admiralty would not thoroughly
inquire into the matter. Such a disast rous and
lamentable event could not take place without the
Admiralty feeling that they had a. gr eat responsibility to discharge. Whether a. further inquiry
would be necessary the Admiralty could n ot decide
till they had considered that evidence. When t hey
had considered it, they would give the earliest
information to t he H ouse. The Admiralty fully
understood the desire for such an inquiry."
The Admiralty have not yet published the
minutes of t he court -martial, nor have they said
any more about an inquiry into t he nature of
t he construction and fittings that allowed the ship
to sink with such frightful rapidity- a question
t hat is quite distinct from those dealt with by the
court-martial. I t is, perhaps, not fully r ealised by
the official mind that the Victoria, in going to the
bottom as she did, not only weakened the Navy by
t he loss of one of its principal ships, and hundreds
of ita finest seamen, but caused grave doubts, which
it would be well to r emove if possible, respecting
t he fighting value of our costly armour-clads. The
vessels upon which we n ow rely for bearing the
brunt of t he fighting in a. fut ure naval war, which
are styled by the imposing title of battleships, may,
it appears-at least some o~ th~m-be sunk almost
in a. moment by a blow whtch 18 much less heavy
than an enemy might be expected to give in action.
Enormous sums are spent in providing armour to
protecb them against gun-fire, .b ut the s.tructure
upon which this costly armour 1s placed 1s appar ently so frail that a mere touch suflices to send the
whole mass to the bottom.
We have always understood that the division of
a. war ship into separate water tight compartments
was so minute and complete, t hat she would be
safe against sinking, even if many of these were

damaged. The Victoria could, however, haudly have

been sunk quicker if there had been no division at
all into what are called watertight compartments.
Sir 1!:. J. R eed, whose knowledge and capability of
j udging cannot be seriously questioned, named twelve
other battleships in t he House of Commons that he
asserted would ha,Te the same fate under similar
circumstances. 'Ve know of nothing which gives
reasonable ground for supposing that Sir Edward
~e~d is wrong ; but, whether he be right or wrong,
1t 1s not only the duty, but the interest, of the
~dmiralty to have this grave question inquired
mto by an independent and impartial committee
of qualified judges. We would like to know why
the numerous watertight compartments of the
Victor~a. failed so completely to serve t he purpose
for wh1ch t hey were devised, i.e., to keep the ship
from sinking when injured below water. 'Vas
it because, as has been often stated, her stability
is so small that the filling of one or two of
t hese compartments is sufficient to overcome t he
floating power of the remainder 1 Or was it a
question of water tight door s being left open, or not
acting when attempts were made to close t hem 7
Captain Bourke's evidence before the court-martial
shows t hat all was tight in the engine-room and
boiler-rooms, and the water was all confined to the
fore side of the boiler-room bulkhead. It appears,
therefore, that the watertight doors were very soon
closed, alt hough they may have been open before
the fatal blow was given to the vessel. Admiralty
specifications for t he construction of ships state that
'' provision is to he made for closing the doors
which are situated below t he protective deck from
t he main deck, as well as from t he hold or platform where the doors are." If the stability of t he
Victoria would have been sufficient to bear the
filling of one or t wo compartments, it would be
important therefore to know whether the provision
for closing water tight doorA from the main deck
was made in her, so as t o prevent water from passing into other compartments, and, if so, whether it
failed when the attempt was made to use it.
Lord Armstrong stated in his r ecent speech at
E lswick that the loss of such a. ship '' calls for very
grave reflection as to the policy of devoting so large
a proportion of our naval expenditure to the construction of those mighty vessels called battleships. "
We agree with Lord Armstrong upon this point, if
it be the fact t hat our battleships are in r eality so
frail and unreliable as the sinking of the Victoria.
would indicate. I t would be absurd to glory in
their '' might " if it rested upon such an insecure
basis as that. There is little, however, at present
upon which to form a definite opinion upon the
question , and no sign of the necessary information
being furnished. \Ve desire to know whether it
be not practicable to build a. battleship in watertight compartments eo that n o single blow would
send her to the bottom; whether the Victoria. was
not believed to be so constructed, and whether she
was so constructed in fact ; whether other of our
principal battleships are in the same case with the
Victoria. ; whether the watertight doors were
thoroughly efficient, and were capable of being
readily closed from a. safe position above water ;
and what is the best to be done in order to make
existing ships satisfactory in t hese respects, if they
be not aatisfactory now, and would be in danger
of meeting the fate of the Victoria under like
circumstances.
The Admiralty cannot fail to see that the sinking
of t he Victoria. in the way she did dealt a heavy blow
at t he prestige of the class of ships to which she
belonged. This is t he class that costs t he largest
sums of money, and upon which an enormous
expendit ure is continually defended upon the ground
that they are so very " mighty, " as Lord Armstrong puts it. Their might has now been laid
open to serious question . It is fCir the Admiralty
to show that the ships are mighty not only in
power of offence, but in power to resist attack. If
this cannot be shown, t hey ought not to go on
spending upon them so large a. proportion of the
millions that are annually voted for the Navy.
The way to give confidence to all who have been
made anxious about t he fighting value of our
principal ships by the recent catastroph e, would
be to institute at once a searching and impartial inquiry into the questions of construction
t hat lie at the root of the matter, which are of
t he highest importance to our naval power, and
about which there ought to be no doubt or secresy
in a. count ry whose existence depends upon the
practical value of its fighting ships. 'Ve require

E N G I N E E R I N G.
to prepare for the day when all such points will be
set~led, either for or against us, by the stern
arb1trament of war, and concealment or evasion
will n o longer be possible.

THE DIMENSIONS OF SPECIMENS.

I~

a note describing the new testina

machine
0
at U niversity College, Nottingham, r e ad at the
recent m eeting of t h e British Association at
Nottingham, P1ofessor W. Robinson again brought
forward the old question of the adoption of standard
forms for test J?ieces. The matter was very fully
t hrashed out 1n a paper read before the Institution of Civil Engineers in 1884 by Mr. W. Hackney,
A. M. I . C. E., and in the subsequent discussion and
but little additional light has since been throw'n on
the subject. To our mind, some p eople, particularly
those connected with testing establishments, are inclined to attach by far too much importance to the
mattor. Generally speaking, what the constructor
wish es to know about the material he is usina is its
breaking s.trength and ductility ; all other p oints,
though of 1nterest, are of only secondary importance. Within reasonable limits the breaking stress
of a specimen is not affected by its form or dim ensions, and hence, so far as this goes, standard sizes
and shapes are of n o interest to him. The percentage elongation, from which the ductility of the
material is judged, is, however, greatly affected
by the form of the specimen. In soft steel a very
large fraction of the whole elongation i'3 local, and
hence short test-pieces show a greater percentage
of elongation than long ones of similar t ransverse
dimensions. For the elongations to be comparable,
t he length on which this elongation is measured
should be proportional to t he square root of the
area of the cross-section of the specimen, and if
this condition is fulfilled, experiments show t hat
the r esults of t ests made on different-sized specimens will be strictly comparable inte'r se. In
practice, h owever, this condition is difficult to fulfil.
Either the length on which the elongat ions are
measured must be very great in the case of specimens of large cross-section, or small specimens
must be ridiculously slender. If, on the other
h1.nd, a definite length is adopted, such as, for instance, 8 in. , the specimens are of a convenient size,
n ot too dear , and easily handled, but the ductility
of the material can n o longer be deduced directly
from the elongations, as the slender specimens will
make a worse showing than the thicker ones. This
i~, however, a matter of minor importance, as the
ordinary shop tests are an ample security against
the acceptance of a brittle metal, provided they are
properly ca.rried out. Where an elongation is
specified, h owever , the amount should vary with
the transverae dimension s of the specimen, other wise the engineer may make excessive r equirements on the one hand, or have to put up with an
inferior material on the other. Where practicable,
we b elieve this 8-in. length to be on the whole as
good a standard size for specimens as any other,
but where adopted the ductility of the material
should be checked by Lloyd's or the Admiralty's
t ests.
Most engineers wo uld like, if it were not for the
expense, to test full-sized bridge members, as they
would then get a more satisfactory criterion of
the actual strength of the material as used in
the structure, than can b e deduced from small
specimen tests. The importance may, no doubt,
be overrated, especially in the case of tension memb ers, the strength of which can doubtless be obtained with sufficient accuracy, for all practical
purposes, from specimen t ests. With compression
bars the case is diffdrent, particularly if these bars
are slender as compared with the l ength. N o doubt
compression member s ough t to have ample transverae dimensions, say length not greater than 50
times the radius of gyration. This, however, is
n ot always convenient, and on e is obliged to fall
back on the ordinary column formulre, which are
only rough approximations at best. I t would
doubtless be well, in all such cases, to test a fullsized m ember to destruction, were it not for the
expense. Even so, an ample factor of safety should
b e allowed for , as the results obtained in testing
slender columns are very discordant, for r easons
into which we need not enter. But few full-sizod
specimens h ave been tested in this country; Mr.
Kirkaldy's machine b eing, we believe,. the only one
suitable for this purpose. In America, however,
the practice is much mor e common, and there are
several machines capable of exer ting a pull of 300

tons ~nd up~ards, and sufficiently long to take in

full-s1zed bridge membera . The largest machine in
that country belongs t o ths Phrenix Iron Company,
and h as a capacity of, we believe, 1200 tons. We
learn from Enginee'ring N ews that an eye-bar, 10 in.
by 2~. in., 50 ft. long, was r ecently tested on the
mach1ne, and the results are of interest, as this, we
fancy, . i5 the biggest tension test yet made. The
bar fa1led under a l oad of 725 tons, the stress beina
27.5 tons per square inch ; the elongation wa~
9 ft. 6 in. in a length of 47 ft., or 20.47 per cent.,
whilst the reduction of area was 50.4 per cent.
This r esul t appears to be r emarkably good, as the
area of cr?ss-section of an 8-in. specimen comparable to this wou~d only be about } in. by lr in., or,
say, rt'lr square 1nch.

SHIPPING AND SHIPBUILDING.

No industries reflect more accurately the aeneral
conditio~ of trade throughout the country, bor the
expectatwns regarding the future prospects, t han
shippin~ and ship?uilding. As a nation we depend
on fore1gn countnes for a large portion of our food
supply, and perforce must induce those peoples
abroad to accept our handiwork in exchange for
supplies. \Vithout entering into the interesting
problems as to how the requirements of foreian
nations for our products decrease, and how this
affects our ability to maintain imports on a sound
economical basis, it will be clear that a decrease in
imports and exports, as shown by t he r ecords of our
shipping t rade, reflects the industrial condition of
the country. The year 1891 saw our export trade
at its highest point. I ts course for fifteen years
has been fairly defined , 1882 recording the cr est
of a rise to 306.6 millions sterling, from which there
was a receding to 269 millions in 1886, but subsequently a recovery to 328! millions in 1890 and
since then th~ decrease ha~ been steady. Judging
by the d uratw n of the varwus curves in the past,
we should now be again beginning t he upward
grade; but the Board of Trade r eturns do not seem
to indicate that, nor does t he want of confidence in
fut ure probabilities experienced t hroughout t he
country encourage the belief in an early improvement. As to imports, they indicate just now a check
to prosperity, for while ordinary foodstuffs do not
show any falling off, t here is a. significant decrease in
what might be termed dispensable luxuries. The importation of less raw material is a consequence of
reduced production, and this applies very distinctly
to textile fabrics, where one finds a decided shrinkaae
in the quantity of goods shipped when comparisonis
made between the past nine months of t he current
year and the corresponding period in two or three
preceding years. Hard ware and cutlery again show
a decrease of one-sixth ; bar, angle, and bolt iron of
one-third ; railroad material n early one-third;
iron and steel wire of more than one-third ; cast
and wrought iron of a fourth. Steel is in a more
favourable position, indicating that t he decrease in
iron may be partly due to its supersession by steel.
But there can be no question that t he decreases
tell of a large number of idle men . If a third less
bar, &c., iron is sent, a t hird of the men formerly
engaged in its production may be idle, for we have
been r eferring to quantities, not to value. In considering machinery, however, it is only possible to
take the values, and here some allowance must be
made for r educed prices. The decrease in all
machinery is 1! millions on the 12 millions sterling
sent in t he first nine months of 1891.
These facts parlly explain why so many men are
unemployed, and perhaps make it easier to appreciate the tendency to r educe prices to keep works
in operation. But they also indicate a want of
employment for our merchant ships, and here also
reduced rates ar e a r esult. There may have been
some improvement in the freight market since the
spring ; but still the condition of affairs is most
disappointing, particularly for outward ships-a circumstance attributable to the decrease in exports.
The improvement, indeed, has been almost exclusively in homeward rates, and ships at San Francisco
and the ports on the Oregon coast have profited most
largely. Ther e is less tonnage in foreign ports,
and fewer vessels are on their way, so that the circumstance which disheartens the manufactur er brings
a slight modicum of sati.sfaction to t he shipowner
having vessels in foreign parts. Comparing steam
rates with those obtaining a.t the same period !ast
year, it is found that outward rates show a decrease
of about 10 per cent.; but it must be remembered
that a year ago rates were very low, almost, if not

[OcT.

89 3

20, I

quite, unremunerative. H omewards there is an

improvement which varies considerably - from
2s. 6d. to 5s. in the case of India Calcutta. rates to
the. United Kingdom for jute bei~g quoted 27s. 6d.,
agatnst 20s. a. year ago ; but this is far short of the
rates three or four years ago. In other directionsthe colonies and South America-there is not much
improvement. Sail rates outwards show a slight improvement to the Cape, San Francisco and the East
but in other directions there is a ma;ked decrease:
The homeward sail rates do not show much changE',
except perhaps for wool from the Australian
colonies-4.0s. being quoted instead of 3l s. 3d.and for g~ain from New Zealand and thePa.cific ports
of Amenca. The rates all over do not exhibit any
buoyancy, aJ?-d certainly demand economy. The
tende.n cy to Improvement may have something to
do w1th the number of new vessels ordered during
the pas~ fe w mont hs. But in the aggregate these
do not 1ndicate any material difference in the condition of the shipbuilding t rade, and t he inference
is pretty safe that t here is a lack of confidence in
the fu ture prospects, otherwise owners would willingly avail t hemselves of the present low prices
to add to their fleet. This is satisfactory for it
~as n ot infrequently happened that a p;obable
1mprovement has been checked by premature
building.
According to Lloyd's returns, the number of
vessels in course of construction in the United
Kingdom is 326, and these measure 616,560 tons.
When the t rade was busiest, the tonnage r epresented
929,611 t ons, so that for every three men employed
then- in June, 1889-there are only two engaged
now, and that does not take cognisance of the fact
that t he number of steamers then was greater in
proportion to the totR.l than it is now. The tonnage
now is about the same as at the end of the two preceding quarters, and is greater by 46,000 tons than
it was at the beginning of the year. When compared with October last year, however, there is a
decrease of 62,000 tons, while in the two years antecedent to the latter date ther e was a very much
larger amount of work in the yards in the kingdom.
One has to go back three or four years to find
totals which, while remaining so generally uniform
as during the past nine months, have been so low.
Vessels under Construction in the United Kingdom.
October, 1S93

..
July, 1 ~93
..
April, 189J
.
January, 1896 ..
Ootober , 18~2 ..
July~ 1892
..
April, 1892
..
January, 1892 . .

326 of 616,660
352 " 609,120
354 " 621,668
306 ,. 670,741
385 ,. 678,780
447 " 778,462
493 " 843,078
494 " 792,913

tons,
,.
"
,
,.
,
,
..

13. 6 per et. being sail.

15 S
"
13.9
,.
11.2
,.
H

"

19
23 2
25

"
"
"

. The production of ne~ tonnage.has been very conSiderably reduced durmg the nme months, which
makes the want of improvement t he more marked.
The tonnage launched during the nine months totals
about 597,000 ; while during the preceding years
the average total for nine months was 900,000 tons
warships being excluded in both cases. And thi~
su~ge.sts ~he r~mark that. the number of warships
bmldmg 1n prtvate estabh shment.:J is at the present
time almost nil, whereas a year or two ago there
was quite a fleet of Admiralty vessels. The number
now includes nine or ten torpedo-boats, if we exclude the battleship Royal Oak, which Messrs.
Laird, Rirkenhead, have about r eady for delivery.
One satisfactory feature, perhaps the only one
from t he shipbuilder's point of view, is the increase
in the number of vessels in the initial stages of
Vessels in I nitial Stage1 of Construction.
No.

January. 1892
April, 1892
July, 1892..
October, 1892
J anuary, 1893
April, 1 ~93
July, 1893. .
October, 1893

.
.
.
..
.
..
..
..

145
118
77

40

76
75
64
87

Tons.
299,516
223,276
123,249
72,716
154,869
126,974
120,768
189,197

Percentage Percentage
to T otal
of Sail.
Tonnag-e.
30.7
22.6
24.5
30. 6
19.2
23
16
10

37.7
26.4
16.8
10.9
27
20.4
19 8
30.6

construction. These number 87, and make up

189, 197 tons, or nearly a third of the total work on
hand, a larger proportion t han for se\"eral years.
It might be interesting to know at what rates these
vessels had been booked, and to compare the rate
with that going two or three years ago. Prices,
indeed, are so low that there is reason for wonder
how even the material can be provided. This
total is 60,000 tons more than the average of
six preceding quarters. Moreover, there is a
larger proportion of steam tonnage, which p9:0mises

Ocr.

20, 1 89 3]

more work to the marine engineer. The steam

tonnage preparing makes up 90 per cent of the
total.
Of the tonnage building, about three-fourths is
for British owners, and only a fourth for foreign
owners. This is under the average. Germany has
ordered eight vessels, of 28,954 tons, only one being
a ship, while Russia is credited with three steamers,
of 10,700 tons; Austria with four steamers, of 7376
tons; Spain, two steamers, of 5045 tons; France,
four steamers, of 4473 tons. It is somewhat remarkable that only two ships are under order for foreign
owners- the r emainder are steamers.
As to the distribution of the work throughout t he
kingdom, it is in~eresting to ~o~e that Belfast keeps
up its very satisfactory actlvtty, the tonnage on
ha.nd-82,455 tons- being as la rge as it has been for
several years. The Clyde, with all its yards, has
barely three times this t otal- 182,567 tons, which
is from 20,000 to 30,000 tons less than in the preceding quarters, although higher considerably than
the totals last year. The average quality of the
work, however, is not so high as one is accustomed
to find in the Clyde district, and thus the principal
buildera are less favourably situated than their
colleagues who confine themselves to the construction of cargo-carrying vessels. Hartlepool and
Whitby, with 37,259 tons, have improved on the
total of the preceding quarter, but the state of
affairs is not nearly so brisk as in dates antecedent
to the spring of the current year. On the Mersey
there is almost nothing doing, there being only
seven vessels, of 3310 tons, in addition to two 1000ton torpedo gun boats for a foreign Government.
Middlesbrough and Stockton do not show any improving tendency, and their aggregate, 45,252 tons, is
still below the average of last year. On the Tyne, on
the other hand, we have t o go back to the summer
of last year to find a more active condition of the
industry than at present prevails, the work now on
hand including 53 vessels, of 131,773 tons. This
includes a ship of 2350 tons-the only one on the
stocks in the ports of the north-east coast stretchin~ from the Tyne to Whitby. The tonnage in the
Wear establishments- 85, 653 t ons -- shows an
improvement on the preceding quarters of the year,
but there is a falling-off equal to 33 per cent. on the
average condition of the industry last year. It may,
therefore, be said that, except at Belfast, the depression is still felt in all districts.

THE BRUSSELS ELECTRIC RAILWAY.

THE authorities of Brussels are seriously considering a scheme for promoting rapid transit
between t he \'arious sections of the city, and it is
more than probable that they will not imitate the
patres conscripti of New York in their procrastination. There is ample time for mature study, but
none for unnecessary delays, if the promoters want
to profit by t he golden opportunity that will b e
offered them by the Exhibition to be opened in the
Belgian capital in May, 1895. Prolonged discusFion as to the mode of transit to be adopted seems,
indeed, superfluous, as the topography of the city
indicates that an underground rail way will alone
afford the rapidity and comfort required to meet
the pressure and claims of a numer ous and active
population.
The Belgians are eminently imbued with the
progressive spirit of the age. Noticing the satisfactory way in which electricity is employed for railway purposes in L ondon, Liverpool, and Chicago,
they, too, seem determined to use that mysterious
and protean agent as the motive power on their
contemplate:! metropolitan railway. It is true that
the population of the city and i-ts many suburbs is
only 459,000; but, on the other hand, Madrid,
with its 470,000, and even Baltimore, with only
434,000, have deemed it advisable to authori~e t he
construction of an underground electric rail way.
These recent examples go far to encourage Belgian
capitalists to realise the aspirations of th ~ir fellowcitizens ; indeed, there is now every prospect that
the work will be begun forthwith.
Brussels is very uneven throughout, the ascent
from the lower to the upper town being particularly rugged and steep. These hilly quarters are
unprovided with any of the modern means of fast
and comfortable travelling. The less forbidding
parts have lines of surface cars, which not unfrequently require the aid of two or three additional
horses to carry them over the rougher parts of the
road. All these difficulties will, it is hoped, be
obviated by the new scheme,

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

The proposed railway is t o form a double belt

r ound the city, the length of each circuit being
fou.r mil~s ver~ nearly. The "up" and "down "
tr~ms Will run 1n separate tunnels, so as to miniml8e. th~ danger of collisions, and also facilitate
ventllat10n. These tunnels will have a cast-iron
lining 10ft. in diameter, and will be superposed or
arranged side by side according to circumstances.
The stations will be sixteen in number, distributed along the circuit according t o the wants of
the suburban districts. As the surface is very undulatory, the depths of the stations will be very
various. At the Porte de N amur and Place R oyale
the tunnel will be 168 ft. b elow the street ; at th~
Place de la Bourse it will be 93 ft . ; whilst at the
Place S t. J ossa it will be only 49 ft. This last is
the minimum depth.
During the busiest hours of the day, eight trains,
capable of seating sixty persons each, will follow
one another round the urban circle. As the speed
will be about 20 miles an hour, passengers will not
ha. ve t o wait at any station more than 2 or 2i
minutes for a train. They will go down to the
platform or ascend to the surface either by ''lifts "
or by convenient staircases. In accordance with
the advice of Messrs . Alexander Penney and Co. ,
of L ondon, it is probable that the American system
of electric '' elevatora , will be adopted. These
lifts, as well as the stations, wait ing-rooms, and
trains, will be lit up by electric light. It is also
proposed to use the same agent for all heating purposes. The central station will be near the Gare
du Luxembourg, and will be supplied with the most
approved fittings and appliances ; nothing will be
left undone to make it a model station of its kind.
The Belgian syndicate have been well advised in
their enterprise by Mr. Alphonse Mlillender, who,
before preparing his outline of the scheme, visited
the electric rail ways of England and America.
They have also secured the services of Mr. J. H.
Greathead, who was so intimately connected with
the London and Liverpool electric railways. 'Ihe
syndicate have appointed Messrs. Alexander Penney
and Co. their agents in L ondon.

NEW SOUTH WALES RAILWAYS.

THE decided check to the progress oftheAustralian
colonies, owing to the financial crisis, and its resultant depression in trade, is reflected in the report
of the Railway Commissioners of New South Wales
for the year ended in June last; but while there has
been a large decrease, particularly in the goods traffic,
and consequently in the receipts, the expenses
show a greater decrease in proportion to revenue, so
that the net earnings do not indicate the same large
falling off. In adversity, therefore, the success of
the new 'reginLe is as assured as in the recent prosperity, for, notwithstanding this trade depression,
the r eturn to capital is only fraction ally less than
in previous years, and considerably greater even
than in the most favourable years prior to the Commission being appointed. The improved financial result is due in large measure to economy in management, whereby the ratio of expenses to gross receipts
has decreased from 66. 69 per cent. in the last year of
the old management t o 59.39 per cent. this year.
But for this economy, the same progress could not
have been made in the extension of the railway
system into districts where t he land remains uncultivated. In the past two or three years about
440 miles have been added to the system in the
colooy, for while the t otal is now returned officially
as 2351 miles, it will be increased to 2453 miles
before t he close of the year by the completion of
other branch lines. Many of these lines are
worked at a loss, which, h owever, is only apparent,
for they must ultimately tend to the development of
the country. A list is given in the report showing
that in the case of some dozen lines, extending to
975 miles, the result on the year's working has been
a loss of 318,269l., a burden met by more prosperous lines. This occurs on most extensive
systems, but here the popular element of government is involved, and as each department always
wishes to prove its efficiency to the public, the
Railway Commissioners seek redress. 'hey plead,
and very properly too, for the rewards of betterment,
and certainly the difficulties are not great, for it is
easy to appreciate the enhanced value which a farm
gains by a railway .b eing constructed in. the district for the convenient and cheap trans1t of the
produce t o market. The Commissioners urge that
part of the proceeds of t~e Crow~ land~, enhanced
in value by the constructwn of ratl way hnes, should

be devoted to providing moneys for the construction of such lines, a proceeding which is only fair
to those paying on the lines which balance the loss
of new railways. In such a way, with mutual
assistance between land and railway, the development of the country would probably be more
rapid, particularly if another recommendation of
the Commissioners were adopted- the construction
of light pioneer lines on the standard gauge in the
pastoral districts where traffic was not expected to
be heavy for a period.
As it is, the Commissioners have to provide a
reasonable return on a capital outlay of 34.65
millions. In five years it has increased by seven
millions, although debentures of t he value of 1.2
millions have been finally paid off. The making of
the necessary profit is a matter of difficulty, with
frequent demands for reductions in freights, and
the construction of lines in agricultural districts
not sufficiently occupied to provide remunerative
traffic. These demands are supported by the unanswerable argument that t he rail ways, although
involving loss in early years, will ultimately pay,
by reason of the development of the country.
That the return to the total capital should nearly
equal that earned by the railways in the United
Kingdom-3.48 per cent. against 3.85 per cent.-is
specially creditable. In the colony the percentage
of expenses to gross revenue is 59.39; in the United
Kingdom last year it was 56 per cent. There has
been a steady decrease in the colony, which is
particularly marked for the past year, for in preceding years it was over 61t per cent., and as
recently as 1888 it was 66.69 per .cent. Since then
there has been a considerable addition to traffic,
although, as we have indicated, the depression of
the past year is manifest. \Vhile about the same
number of passengers were carried, the receipte
have fallen off. There were 16.8 million passenger
journeys, and each passenger travelled on an average
5j miles, paying per mile . 63d., rather less than
in the previous year. The number of passengers
then was greater. The gross receipts are now less
by 74,000l. , the total being 1.11 millions. In five
years there has not been much difference either in
the length of average journey or in the fare, so
that the addition to the number of long-distance
journeys has been compensated by a multiplication
of local trips. This accounts for the increase from
12t to 16! million passenger journeys, including
season ticket holders.
The receipts from goods and mineral traffic t otal
1. 8 millions, which, although less than the top-level
aggregate reached last year, is still above all preceding periods, and this notwithstanding that the
tonnage of goods dealt with is much less than
in the three preceding years. This may be accounted for by the system of conveying stamped
parcels by passenger train, introduced last year for
the first time, but it is n ot clear whether the
receipts from this source are included in the goods
receipts. The aggregate ton mileage is rather less
than in the preceding year, being 238! millions, but
for several of the principal items of traffic there is a
steady addition to the length of haul. The average
rate earned per t on per mile was 1. 63d., the
same as in the previous year. The rates for most
of the staple products are less, and the Railway
Commission has recently reduced the rates of
freight for agricultural produce- a proceeding
which must materially E>timulate the development
of remote districts of the colony. These rate!,
indeed, are n ow considerably lower than in the adjoining colonies, and when 300 miles is passed the
rates advance only by about 1s. per t on per 100
miles. In ten years the amount of grain moved
has trebled, t o 184,275 tons; hay, straw, and chaff
has doubled, to 70,362 tons ; wool has also nearly
doubled, to 114,623 tons; and live stock has more
than doubled, to 146,390 tons. Reductions in ratei
not only tend to an increase in traffic, but to a
lengthening of the average haul, which would indicate an increase in the area of production. N otwithstanding reduced freight charges, the earnings
for goods traffic have increased in recent years in
greater ratio than the tonnage. In 1889, for instance- the first year of the Commission-the tonnage moved was nearly 3! million tons, and is now
3f millions ; while the earnings have increasd
from 1t to 1. 8 millions sterling. The increase in
mileage indicated by these figures is particularly
satisfactory in the case of some agricultural products, on which the advancement of the colony so
largely depends; still, there is every probability
that with the reduction in rates now in force

E N G I N E E R I N G.
there will be a greater extension of the average
haul.
Given ready and cheap transit to the
markets or seaboard, t he immense tracts of land
in the interior will be more profitably worked,
and the resources and natural wealth of the
colony immensely developed. The average haul
of each ton of wool has increased in ten years from
22'7 to 282 miles; of live stock from 194 to 220!
miles; and of hay, straw, and chaff from 77 t o 145!
miles. The improvement is most pronounced
where, as in the last instance, rates have been
reduced, although in the case of grain and flour a
reduction from 1.02d. to . 78d. per ton per mile has
not resulted in any increase in the average haul.
The rates for coal have been reduced from 1.19d.
to . 73d. per ton per mile, while the average haul is
but 17.37 miles per ton. Coal makes 58.63 per
cent. of the total tonnage of traffic. The most
extensively worked coalfields in the colony, however, are in the vicinity of the ports, notably New
castle, and considerably more than three-fourths
of mineral dealt with by t he rail way is exported.
In all, 2.3 million tons were passed over the
lines, of which about one-half was exported to
other Australian colonies, and 655,837 tons to
foreign countries, the United States, curiously
enough, taking one-third of this latter total.
In considering the debit side of the returns, the
means adopted to lessen the ratio of expenses to
revenue invite consideration. In former years the
necessity of improving the permanent way burdened
the expenses, and even no ~ maintenance is a ~ostly
iten1. In five years 322 miles have been relaid, as
compared with 162 in the preceding ten years.
The traffic expenses, including wages, are l~ss., and
it is only fair t o not~ t hat the great ~aJ Orit~ of
reductions have been In the case of salar1ed offiCials
-stationmasters, &c. Indeed, minimum wages
have usually been increased. But the important
reductions are in t he locomotive and carriage and
wagon charges. The expenses total 1, 738,516l.,
about 180,000l. less than in the preceding year,
and 100 OOOl. less than 1891, when the volume of
traffic v/as about the same. Although all items
show a decrease, except maintenance of way, loco
motive power contributes most, .the decrease on
the year being over 100,000l. This result has been
brought about by economies in expenditure in the
mechanical department, but largely also by a decrease in the train mileage, due to the employment
of more powerful engines. Several new American
locomotives have been at work throughout the
year hauling loads of live-stock and goods in sin.gle
trai~s. " For such loads, " the chief mechanical
engineer, Mr. W .. Thow, sta~e~, "two et?gines had to
be employed prevwus to their Introduct~on, and co~
seqaently their influence in the r eduction of tratn
and unprofi table engine mileage has been very
substantially felt. " But lest this be assume~ as
another indication of the preference of Amencan
engines, it may .be added t hat . during the year
twenty-six English express e.ngines we~e placed
in service. The passenger mileage has Increased
from 92.6 to 95.9 millions, but the goods
ton mileage has decreased from 240.8 to 238!
millions. The one in some measure balances the
other ; but the train mileage has deere~sed. from
8. 35 to 7. 5 millions. The passenger tr~1n ~1leage
is not given separate~y from th~ goods tr~In mileage,
so t hat it is not possible to arrive definitely at the
relation between the train mileage and th~ goods
ton mileage. But it may be of general Interest
to state that the passenger mileage. is t his ~ear 12.7
times the total train mileage, against 11 t imes last
year ; while the goods ton mileage ~ this year .31. 8
times the total train mileage, against 28. ~ times
last year. This certainly .indicat.es heav1e~ and
longer t rains. ~he ~esult Is . an mc~ease In the
earnings per train-mile, J?-Otwit~standing .the decrease in the aggregate receipts, Without anr l~Crease
in the expenses, and consequently a grat1fymg net
return.
Results pett- T'railn Mile.
1893.
8.

Gross earnings
Expenses
Net profit

d.

1892.
8.

7 9~

7!
2

d.

6!

7
2 10!

1888.

e. d .
6 10!
4 7
2 3!

The general result is t hat the decrease in t he

revenue has not affected the net pro.fit in the same
ratio the decrease in the latter bemg but 5000l.,
w hil~ in the former it was 180, OOOl. In other
words, for an expenditure of only 200, OOOl.

more than in 1888, t he railways this year earned

630 OOOl. more and thus sh ow 425,000l. more profit
for 'the year; ' and this notwi~hstanding cheaper
rates, and a more liberal expend1i ure on permanent
way and stock.

BRITISH COLONIES AT CHICAGO.

VII.-NEW SoUTli W ALES- concluded.
WE will complete our somewhat extended review
of the exhibits made by New South Wales at the
Columbian Exposition, wi~h a br~ef notice ~f the
two department~ which still remain for c~nstdera
t ion- those of Agriculture and of Horticulture.
B efore doing this, however, we will return to the
F orestry Building, to which reference has already
been made and which is certainly one of the most
impressive 'exhibits in t he rich and varied section
of New South Wales. The colony possesses a
special claim to the gratitude of the Exposition
authorities in connection with this building. New
South Wales was the first among foreign exhibitors to
commence installing (even before the workmen
who had t aken possession of t he building for the
modelling of the beautiful figures now adorning t~e
buildings of the White City, had completed the1r
work) . Consequently, N ew South Wales really led
the way as to the mode of installing the exhibits.
Nowhere throughout the building can there be
found such magnificent planks of hardwoods sui~
able for house finishings or furniture; these beautiful planks, some of t hem exceeding 4 ft. in width,
have been carefully planed and prepared for polishing great care being displayed in the assortment
of ~olours of the timbers when erect ed, in ord er to
give a striking effect, as, for instance, a deep red
plank of rosewood being placed next t o a deep
golden-coloured beech plank, and t hen, again, a
plank of red bean alon~side a plank of mountain ash of a creamy white colour, and the edges
where the two planks join being covered by a
pilaster of brigh t honeysuckle from ? in. t o
10 in. wide, just sufficient to cover the Irregular
rough edges of the two planks, and thereby forming
a panel. This polished wall of variously coloured
woods stands over 10ft. high, and completely wal1s
in the space allotted to New South Wales. On the
top of this wall of plank~ is a. cappin~ m~uld , a~d a
facia made out of colonial pine, wh1eh Is a brtght
yellowish colour, and fittingly sets off the various
colours of the planks forming the wall. All around
the walls or limit of the court is fixed the light blue
flaa of New South Wales, n ow S () well known
th;oughout the whole Exposition, as it floats over
the colony's exhibits in twelve or thirteen buildings. Inside this walled court are display~d immense flitches of cedar and planks of some ninetytwo different and distinct hardwoods, all valuable
as timbers for house fittings and furniture ;
here also are shown the tanning barks so well and
widely known for their tannic properties. Here
also are wheel wrights' materials, such as spok es,
felloes, and hubs, shafts and ox-yokes. There are
also wood paving blocks as used in the streets of
Sydney and other large cities an~ towns of A:ustralia also barks, gums, and resins. There 1s a
very beautiful stand of arms in t he shape of a
dozen gunstocks, made from various hard woods
of the colony, which are most artistically prepared,
and fixed in a frame made of rosewood and mountain ash, all highly polished. The .court is still
more artistically decorated ~y havmg caref~lly
mounted specimens of herbarmm representatwns
on painted panels, and the barks are also mounted
on boards and very artistically hung throughout
the court, interspersed as they are wi.th large
and highly finished photographs of some b1g t rees,
some sawmill scenes, and a view of the Sydney
P ost Office with the street paving being shown in
course of c~nstruction. In the court there is also
a vel'Y valuable seed collection, and a good supply
of catalogues and useful literature pertaining to
timbers and the strains t hey can bear. Amongst
other items of timber wealth is a display of railroad ties of ironbark and red gum ; t his timber is
also shown polished alongside the rough-hewn
sleepers. The forest oak shingles. as used to
cover the buildings outside the City are also
shown ; these shingles are known to be good af~er
doing duty for over ~o~ty years .. The com~erCial
lesson which this exh1b1t teaches 1s not easily forgotten, and must event ually result in a t rade with
New South 'Vales and make the hearts of many
lumbermen rejoice' when the exports of this for~st
wealth take t he place destined for t hem. One special

[OcT.

20,

1893.

feature in this New South Wales exhibit is a cedar log

section which has quite an ancient history. This
section.is very much reduced in size on account of
having had a fence slab cut off it, nearly 1ft. thick,
to take off the weather-worn appearance after a
sojourn of over twenty years at the stump where it
was felled; this great lump of cedar was too heavy
and awkward to handle by the log cutters who got
it and so was abandoned, floods burying it with
m'ud and debris only for the wind to blow off the
sand and mud, and expose it to all the piercing
heat of an Australian summer, then again the rains
and floods of winter; but the Committee on F orestry
of the World's Fair Commission in Sydney having
had this instance of large timber brought under
their notice, made arrangements to have the sample
brought to Sydney, and a slab taken off it to show
how wonderfully it stands the ravages of time and
change of temperature, and it will repay the lover
of forestry to take some t.ime to closely examine
this block of rad cedar ; it is located at the south
end of t he building, near the west side. It is
worthy of mention that the whole exhibit was prepared where it now stands from the rough sawn
plank.
. .
In Agricul ture- Department A-the exh1b1t of
New SouthWales is of a very high character, despite
the fact that the majority of objects shown are
different grades of wool. As a wheat-growing country
the colony has established its reputation at Chicago.
There are, h owever, only seventeen exhibitors,
swelled by fifteen separate exhibits made by ~he
Commissioners for New South Wales, representmg
wheat crops from different parts of t he colony.
The yield per acre varies from 20 to 43 bushels ;
the weight per bushel from 62 lb. to 68 lb. ; the
seed planted per acre is about 50 lb.; and the price
at nearest market ranges from 4s. to 5s. per bushel.
Of other cereals there are a number of exhibitors.
The Department of Agriculture makes a very fine display of the species of New South Wales grasses. This
collection explains the facility with which stock can
be maintained in New South Wales, most of the fifty
varieties shown, growing luxuriantly and affording
forage for animals. In addition, the same depar tment exhibits twenty-seven varieties of forage
plants other than grasses ; most of these are bush,
thriving in situations where, on account of drought
or for some other reason, grass does not grow.
Some of the varieties of salt bush have remarkable
medicinal properties.
Of flour, decorticated grain, &c., there are suffi cient exhibits to show that New South Wales does
n ot lack for efficient milling establishments. The
exhibits of the sugar-cane industry are not numerous, and probably suggest possibilities rather than
an actual industry ; the varieties of cane shown
come from Fiji and Mauritius stock. The Commissioners exhibit samples of sorghum, which appears
to grow freely ; the specimen shown weighs 47! lb.
per bushel. Judging from exhibits, bee-ke~pers
in New South Wales follow a profitable and not
difficult industry; with hives yielding as much as
170 lb. of honey, that realises from 4d. to 6d. a
pound, there must be plenty of inducement to support the various bee-keepers' associations in the
colony. The I talian variety of bee appears to give
the best results. It is somewhat interesting to note
that the collecting grounds are carefully observed,
and are recorded in the catalogue, and that the
quantities vary greatly with the vegetation, as will
be seen from the following list:
Yield per hive, 170 lb.; plants from which honey
was produced, yellow and white box.
Yield per hive, 160 lb.; plants from which honey
was produced, apple tree and "yellow jacket. "
Yield per hi ve, 150 lb.; plants from which honey
was produced, ironbark and spotted gun.
Y ield per hive, 100 lb.; plants from which honey
was produced, lucerne and iron bark.

Pas3ing over the handful of exhibitors in the

groups devoted to miscellaneous farm products,
preserved food, and t he dairy, we come to the
tobacco exhibits. The conditions of climate are in
many districts of t hE:\ colony eminently suitable
for t his bran ch of agriculture, and so long ago as
1822 tobacco was successfully cultivated. I n 1842
nearly 5000 acres were devoted to tobacco growth,
and the leaf realised as high a price as 8d. per
pound. The industry, however, fell into the hands
of the Chinese, prices were diminished, and dairy
farming was found more profitable. To-day only
about 800 acres are used for tobacco, but there is a
tendency to develop an industry which, under
favourable conditions, could no doubt be made pro-

OcT.

20,

r893.]

fltable. Of exhibitors of wool there are more than

400 divided into sub-classes as follows :
'
E xhibitors.
. ..
119
I P ure bred fine wools (Merino)
. ..
42
rr: ,
middle wools
.. .
...
12
Ill.
,
long
,
.. .
...
52
IV. All crossbred wools .. .
.. .
25
...
V. Fleece wool
...
.. .
. ..
192
...
VI. Wool in bale .. .
.. .
.. .
To every exhibit are attached particulars of the
animal from which it was taken, such as age, breed,
and sex the nature of the locality, kind of food,
&c. These exhibits cover a .vas~ range of country
- indeed, almost every distnct 1s r epresented and
classified as follows :
1. Wool dietrict of Bathhurst, including 3 sub-districts,
and counting 2,979,550 sheep. .
.
. .
2. Wool district of Bogan, mcluding 1 subd1strtcb,
and counting 1,7~9,055 sheep.
.
.
3. Wool distnct. of Ca.stlereagh, mcludmg 2 subdistricts and countmg 4_.t076,196 sheep.
4. 'VC:Ol district of Lower Darling, including 1 subdi!trict, and counting 631,176 sheep..
.
.
5. \Vool district . of U pper Darhng, mcludmg 2 sub.
districts, and countmg 4,808,672 sheep. .
6. ' Vool district of Western Darling, mcludmg 3 subdistricts, and counting 4,745,382 ~beep. .
. .
1. \Vool district of Goulburn, mclud10g 3 subd1stn cts,
and counting 64~,428 sheep. . .
.
. .
8. Wool distr10t of Gwydtr, mcludmg 2 subdtstrlCts,
and counting 2,~6,598 sheep.
.
.
.
9. Wool distnct of Hunter Rtver, mcludmg 4 subdistricts and counting 4,055,365 sheep.
10. 'Vool district of Lachlan, including 3 sub-districts,
and counting 5,45.2,571 sh.eep.
.
.
.
11. Wool distnct of Ltverpool Plams, mcludtng 2 subdi triots and counting 4,055,365 sheep.
12. w'ool district of Monaro, including 2 sub-districts,
and counting 1,439,841 sheep.
13. 'Vool district of Mudgee, including 2 sub-districts,
and counting 1,181,944 sheep.
14. Wool district of Ramoi, including 3 sub-districts,
and counting 3,909,830 sheep.
15.. \Vool dietrio~ of New E ngland, including 3 subdistncts. and countmg 2,581,G42 sheep.
16. Wool district of Upper Murrumbidgee, including
4 sub-districts, and counting 5,099,381 sheep.
17. ' Vool district of WesternRivernia, including 3subdistricte, and counting 3,269,946 sheep.
18. Wool district of Rivernia, including 3 subdietricts,
and counting 5,231,146 sheep.
19. Wool district of Southern Rivernia, including 4
sub-districts, and counting 4,101,115 sheep.
In all, nineteen districts have contributed to the
Exposition , and these r epresent a wealth of more
than 60 millions of sheep.
The inhabitants of N ew S outh Wales evidently
possess much confidence in the future possibilities
of the colony in the production of wine. A glance
at the great and varied display made at Chicago
shows that at the present time the industry is of
no small proportions. There are more than 600
exhibit! of wine and alcoh ol, r epresenting t he
majority of the vineyards in the N ew South Wales
wine districts. F or the most part each exhibit
consists of some half-a-dozen bott les, and particulars
of the vintage it represen ts. Collectively these
make an imposing display, and represent an annual
produce of half-a-million gallons. The reproduction of the information about on e exhibit will
suffice as a sample of all. Thus : "Name of
wine, Porphyry ; vineyard, Por phyry , Williams
River ; extent, 25 acres ; area planted with the
grape from which this wine is mado, 19 acres ;
quantity exhibited, six bottles each of vintages
1885 and 1889; quantity in stock, 27,000 gallons
of these and other vintages ; vine, Reisling,
planted 1863, 1870, 1871, a nd 1883 ; quantity produced annually, about 6000 gallons; cost of cultivation, about Bl. an acre; colour, white; price,
20a. per dozen ; character, light, dry ; strength ,
about 18 per cent. ; soil, alluvial, clay subsoil ;
trained to espalier stakes.'' In t he same D epartment of H orticulture the Commissioners for New
South 'Vales make a fine display of dried fruit,
and the same body have also contributed a number
of ferns and other plants which are conspicuous for
their beauty, in the H orticultural Building .
In treating of the New outh Wales section, we
have to some extent travelled outside our ordinary
~cope, but without doing so we sh ould h ave failed
m rendering justice t o the admirable efforts of t he
colony. 'Ve t rust we have succeeded in giving
some clear idea of all that it has done; perhaps
the annexed comparison between the work done
by this remote colony and by ourselves at the
Columbian Exposition is more significant.
In ~oth cues t he Fine Arts Section (remarkably
g~ m the cue of Great Britain) is omitted as
comtng outside commercial exhibit . The number

E N G I N E E R I N G.
of exhibitors from N ew South V\7ales are m ore than
double those from Great Britain, while the objects
exhibited number many th ousands.
N umber of E xhibitors.
Grea.tJ
New South
Department.
~aJes.
l3ritain.
526
75
A. Agriculture . . .
. ..
282
19
13. H orticulture ...
...
. ..
. ..
19
6
D. Fisheries
231
38
E. 1\IIining
. ..
. ..
9
59
F. Machinery ...
. ..
19
79
G. Transportation
.. .
43
192
H. Manufactures
.. .
8
J. Electricity . ..
. ..
98
L. Liberal Arts . . .
...
108
2
M. Ethnology .. .
...
33
N . F orestry
...
..
22
In conclusion, a word should b e said as to the
admirable work done by the New S ou t h Wales
Commissioners, and especially as t o that of the Hon.
A. R enwick, the executive commissioner, under
whose direction, the part taken by t he colony at
t h e Columbian E xposition has produced a r esult
that may well serv~ as a m odel t o be followed by
all countries that may hereafter participate in
International Exhibitions.

N 0 T E S.
I MPORTANT E LECTRI Q I NSTALLATION.

AN important electric installation at R oxholm is

approaching its completion. The works erected in
1886 having proved inadequate, and there often
being a want of water, it was decided to go in for
a new electric power t ransmission installation,
coupled with a light station, and for t hat purpose
to u tilise t h e lowest of the waterfalls, which had
n ot been used for several years. The fall is n ot
perpen dicular, but has an extension of about 500ft.
In order to use the full height of the fall, it became
necessary t o build a canal along the stream, proceeding from th e foot of the fall to t he dam in
front of the buildings, and the depth of which corresponds with the depth of water at t h e bottom of
the fall. In t h is manner a fall of 20 ft. was
obtained, whilst it would otherwise n ot have been
more than about half. In order to keep th e water
of the river apar t from that in the canal, a wall
about 420ft. long h ad to be built. The water is
conveyed t o five turbines, each of 50 h or se-power.
The turbines a nd transmissions are on the ground
floor, whilst the dynamos, &c., a re placed on the
first floor. Two dynamos, each of 225 amper es and
110 volts, feed the electric ligh t installation, and
an other dynamo of 60 amper es and 220 volts supplies t he r equisite current to the electric railway.
There will, in addition to these, be installed two
good-sized alternate-current dynamos, b esides a
smaller similar dynamo for transmission of power
to the works.
E c o NOMY IN T RACK W ORK.

The r eport on economy of track work, r ecently

issued by a committee appointed by the American
R oadmasters' Association, is of interest , as setting
forth modern American ideas on the subject. According to the report, curves should be easy, transitions being employed with all curves quicker than
2 deg. The road-bed should be wide enough to
secure proper drainage in the cut.tings, and to
insure stability in the embankments. The latter
should be built in layers , and the slopes should be
sufficient t o prevent caving or sliding. The d epth
of the ballast should n ot be less than 6 in. The spaces
between the sleepers should be equal to the width of
the sleeper, provided that this is not less than
10 in. S ince the cost of putting the sleepers in
place is from 10 to 50 per cent. of the first cost of
the sa me, long-lived sleepers are economical. When
removed from the track, such sleep ers should be
carefully inspected b efore being burned or otherwise disposed of. The life of the sleepers would be
increased by the u se of better fastenings, as the use
of spikes is prejudicial to the sleeper. The use of
from four to five braces per rail on t he outside of
sh arp curves reduces t he cost of maintenance 5 to
15 p er cent. Where possible, joint sleep ers should
be 6 in. to 12 in. longer than the others, so as to
make up for the weakn ess of the joint. About
on ce a year t h e whole t rack should be surfaced,
lined, and gauged. In this gene ral surfacing the
track should be ra ised just en ough for secure tamping;
this will average i in. t o f in. for ordinary ballast,
and about 1 in. for sand.
THE R UliSI AN NAVY.

Neither money n or energy is being spared in enlarging the Russian fleet, and the RU!sian ship build-

ing industry has made vast strides of late years.

B oth t.h e Imperial dockyards on th~ N eva, and the
large private shipbuilding es~ab.hihments,. have
been mater ially extended , and 1t 1s now qutte t~e
exception t hat large Russian men-of-war are bu~t
ou tside the country.
The last l~rge war.shtp
which has been built abroad is theAdm1ral Korndeff,
built at St. N azaire.
N owadays only torped.oboats and smaller ships a re, as a rule, bUJlt
abroad, and every t h ing is d.one to. help on the
Russian indust ry. The Balt1c fleet 1s the largest,
and comprises five bat tleships o~ th~ first class,
eiaht armoured cr uiser s, seven sh1ps tnte nded for
th~ defence of t h e coast, twelve m onitors, three
armoured gunboats, fourtee!l cruisers, fi~e torp~do
cruisers, thirty-one seagomg and thuty other
torpedo-boats. The bulk of these vessels, except
the torpedo-b oats, are certainly m ore or ~ess
old
but many of them are quite servlCeabl~ and new excellent ships are steadily
being added, so t he Baltic fleet will ere lo~g
become very p owerful. .At present there are 1n
course of construction three ironclads of 10,300
tons, two of 8000 ton s, and two armoured cruisers
of 11,000 and 12,000 tons. Several of these are
already far advan ced. In the Black Sea, Sebastopo1
has <rrown into a most important Government
shipbuilding place. The Black Sea fleet comprises
five first-class battleships, of which the oldest was
launched only seven years ago, one cruiser, th!ee
torpedo cruisers, six gunboats, fourteen seagomg
and seven other torpedo-boats. This fleet can be
further reinforced by the ships of the volunteer fleet,
which were built by money raised by a n ational
subscript ion, and which ar e b eing maintained by
the Government. These cruisers have the monopoly
of transport of Government material, &c., between
Russia and Vladivostock ; their captains are naval
officers. The Siberian fleet, stationed at Vladivos tock, comprises some smaller warships and torpedo-boats, and on the Caspian Sea there are also
some smaller warships.
CoAL AND IRoN IN F RANCE.
The production of coal in France in the first half
of this year was 12,807, 297 t ons, as compared with
12,864,7 54 t ons in the corresponding period of
1892, showing a d ecr ease of 57,457 t ons this year.
Lignites were also raised in the first half of this
year to the extent of 232,347 tons, as compared
with 243,458 tons in the corresponding period of
1892, showing a decrease of 11,111 t ons this year.
The extraction of coal in the basin of the N ord and
the Pas de Calais in the first half of this year
amounted to 7,207, 767 tons. The L oire ranked
second, with a production of 1, 737,646 tons; Burgundy and the Nivernais third, with a production
of 971,868 t ons; and the Gard fourt h, with a product ion of 970,780 tons. There was theu a rather
abrupt drop, the output of t he Tarne and the
Aveyron in the first half of this y ear having been
710,781 tons, and t hat of the Bourbonnais, 577,'739
tons. The production of each of the other French
basins in the first half of this year was less than
200,000 ton s. The p roduction of pig in France to
June 30 this year was 1,005,360 t on s, as compared
with 1,017,062 t ons in the corresponding period of
1892, showing a reduction of 11,702 t ons this year.
The production of refining pig in France in the six
m onths ending June 30 was 762,859 t ons, as compared with 826,953 tons in the corresponding six
months of 1892, showing a falling off <.f 64,094 tons
this year. On the other h and, the production of
casting pig in the first half of this year was 242,501
tons, as compared with 190,10~ t ons in the corresponding period of 1892, showing an increase of
52,392 t ons thiB year.
The M eurthe-et-Moselle
produced 596,612 t ons of pig in the first half of
this year, or more than half the whole production
of France in the same p eriod. The N ord ranked
second, with a. production of 114,880 tons. The
production of iron in France in the first half of this
year was 414,407 tons, as compared with 423,965
tons in the corresponding p eriod of 1892. The
production of iron rails in France in the first half
of t his year was 485 tons ; of miscellan eous r olled
iron, 357 ,618 t ons ; and of plates, 56,304 tons.
The corresponding production in the corresponding
period of 1892 was : Iron r ails, 244 t ons ; miscellaneous rolled iron, 361,673 tons; and plates,
62,048 tons. The N ord ranked first, with a production of 161,635 t ons.
The qua.utity of steel
made in France in the first half of this year was
329,961 tons, as compared with 331,939 t ons in the
corresponding p eriod of 1892. Steel rails were

[OcT.

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

490
made in France in the firsl half of this year to the
extent of 117,804 tons ; miscellaneous rolled iron
to the extent of 153,892 tons ; and plates t o the
extent of 58,205 tons. The corresponding production in the corresponding period of 1892 was : Steel
rails, 119,319 tons ; miscellaneous rolled iron,
153,313 tons ; and plates, 59,307 tons. The Nord
ranked first with a steel production of 54:,962 tons
in the first half of this year ; the Meurthe-etMoselle came second, with a production of 34,749
tons ; and the P as de Calais third, with a production
of 30,398 t ons.

LITERATURE.
'l'ext-B ook of Petrol?gy. By F. H. HATCH. London : Swan

Sonnenschein and Co. 1892.

THE remarkable aid afforded by the microscope in
the study of the rocks composing the earth's crust
has been the means of creating a d emand for
s~udents' manuals treating the subject of petrology
from this point of view. The present work of 216
pages deals solely with the igneous r ock s, and has
already reached its second edition, so that the
author has had an opportunity to revise the book ;
this he informs us h e has done, and at the same
time he has somewhat enlarged its scope.
The method upon which the work was based in
the first instan ce was that in V on Lasaulx's "Einleitung in die Petrographie," but this has been
somewhat departed from, and the author follows
on lines that will be recognised as being similar to
those adopted by Professor J udd.
The coarser structure of igneous rocks is first
dealt with, and this is followed by a. description of
the finer general structure as seen in the microscope. The m ore important rock -forming minerals
are then treated in a. d etailed way, and their
ohemice.l composition, mineralogical form, and optical properties very carefully noted, and much prominence is given to the characteristics by which they
can be identified in the sections as examined under
the microscope, whilst excellent woodcuts are given
where needed, so as to illustrate the various structures and cleavages upon which the successful
identification of minerals by this means depends.
With reference to the rocks themselves, the author
adopts the classification based upon their ultimate
chemical composition, and the degree to which
crystallisation has been developed in each. This,
without d oubt, is the most satisfactory one that has
been attempted, the rocks being attanged as acid,
intermediate, basic, and ultra-basic, according to
the silica contents. The granites are treated at
considerable length, as is befitting their importance, and throughout this part of the work clear
illustrations are given of actual r ock sections, with
the various minerals indicated by suitable lettering,
whilst lists are given of the localities in the U nited
Kingdom where examples of each class of rock may
be found, and sketch maps appended of the more
important districts. There only appears to be one
omission t hroughout the book, and that is an
absence of any indication as to the scale of the
illustrations, which, however, in most cases appear
to b e uniform. A couple of pages on the best
p :>wers to employ upon this kind of work, and a
few general hints to the solitary student, would be
an improvement, though for class work such information is better given by the d emonstrator himself. The book is written in a useful though brief
technical st yle, a nd by its aid the student possessing
a suitable microscope and slides ought to meet with
no difficulty in making very considerable progress
in this interesting branch of geology. Engineers,
moreover, will find it an excellent book of reference,
although t his has evidently not been the special
object of the author, so that a few notes as to the
respective durability of rock masses, as proved in
various districts are needed to make the book more
completein this respect. Theworkcontainsfrequent
r eference to authorities, and is altogether useful to
teacher and student alike, as well as to t h ose whose
time is valuable, but who need sometimes to refer
to geological data.

---

BOOKS RECEIVED.
E l war.ls's 900 E x-:r,min(Ltion Questions and Answers for
E agin eers and F iremen (Stationary and Marine). By

EMORY EnWARDR. Philadelphia. : Henry Carey, Baird,

and CJ. ; London: E. and F. N. Spon.
Annual Report of the Board of RegeR.ts of the Smithsonian
I nstitution, showi1'1.{1 the Operatims. Expenditures, and
Condition of the I nstitution for the Year ending J une 30,
1891. R ep,rt of the U. S. National Museum. Washington :

Government Printing Office.

20, I

89 3

Utility of Quaternion s in Physics. By A. McAULAY, owing to the difficulty of maintaining a straight course.
M. A. London and New York : Ma.cmillan and Co. The following are the results as cabled to us; and with

[Price 5a.]
By Sir HENRY
ROSOOK, F.R.S., assisted by J OSEPH L UNT, B.Sc. (Vict.)
London and New York: Macmillan and Co. (Price
2s. 6d.]
Marine Boiler M anagement and Construction. By C. E.
STROMEYEit. L ondon and New York : L ongmans,
Green, and Co. [Price 18s.]

Inorganic Chemistry jo1 B eginners.

Songs in Sprin{ftime i T he Pa~si'Yl{J of L ilith, and Other

P oems. By J OHN CA:MERON GRANT. Second Edition.

L ondon : E. W. Alien. [Price 2s.]

The Incorporated Gas In stitute Tran sactions, 1893. Edited

by F. G. BuRFIELD, Secretary. L ondon:

the Institute. [Price 10s. 6d.]

Offices of

P ersonal R ecoltectio'ns of W erner vm Siemens. Translated

by W. C. CoUPLAND. L ondon: Asber and Co. [Price

15s. ]
Machtne Dra wiag, for the Use of Students in Science and
T echnical Schools and Colleges. By THOMAS J ONES,

M.I. Mech. E., and T. GILBERT JoNES.

John Heywood.

Manchester :

A P1actical Gu,ide for Prospectors, Explorers, and Miners.

By CuNINGHAME Wrt oN MooRE. J.Jondon : Kegan

Paul, Trench, Triibner, and C0 , Limited. [Price 12s.]
Society of Engineers. Transactions jO'r 1892, and General
I ndex, 1861 to 1892. Edited by G. A. PRYCE CuxsoN.
Secretary. London: E. and F. N. Spon; New York:
pon and Chamberlain.
The Principles of Fittin;,: for A pprentices and Students
in T echnical Schools. By A FOREMAN PATTERN-

MAKER. Illustrated with 250 engravings.

Whittaker and Co.

L ondon:

Electric L ighting and P ower Distribution. Part I I I. With

70 illustrations and complete ind~x. By W. PERREN

MAYCOOK, M.I.E.E. London: Wbittaker and Co.
[Price 2s. 6d.]

British L ocomotives: T heilr History, Construction, and

M odern Development.
By C. J. BowEN CooKE.

London : Whittaker and Co.

M anuale del M acchinista N a vale. Per MA RIO Lra N AROLO.

Milan : Ulrico Hoepli.

them we give the results of the natural draught trial

already described in a previous issue (page 361 ante).
Natural
]forced
Draught. Draught.
Mean speed (knots) ...
...
18.5
20.25
Indicated horse-power, starboard...
.. .
.. .
.. .
4686
6857
Indicated horse-power, port
4872
6901
,
,
total
9558
13,758
.. .
105
118
Revolutions starboard
,
port
.. .
. ..
106
118
Vacuum starboard ...
...
27~
27~
,
port .. .
...
...
27~
28
Steam pressure (lb.) ...
...
145
145
Air pressure (in.) .. .
. ..
h
1
The indicated horse-power works out to 162.81
per square foot of grate area, while each indicated
horse-power corresponds to 1.883 square feet of
heating surface. The engines are of the triple-expansion type, and were designed by Mr. J ames McKechnie,
the engineering ma nager at the Astilleros del Nervion,
and he was highly complimented by the Naval
Commissioner from lVIadrid on the result. The
leading dimensions may be given. The diameters of
cylinders are 42 in., 62 in., and 92 in. respectively,
and the stroke 46 in. ; the condensers, which are
10 ft. 8 in. long, have a surface of 14,600 square
feet, the tubes being ~ in. in diameter. Steam
is supplied by four double-ended boilers and two
single-ended boilers, the number of furnaces being
forty. They have Purves flues, the mean diameter
being 3 ft. 3 in., and the length 6 ft. 6 iu. The grate
area is 845 square feet, and the total heating surface
25,920 square feet. The forced draught fans are nine
in number, and 5 ft. 6 in. in diameter. The crankshaft is 16i in. in diameter, the intermediate shafti.ng
15! in., and the propeller shafting 15.1 in. The screw
propellers are three-bladed, having a diameter of
16ft. 5 in., a pitch of 20ft. 6 in., and an expanded
surface of 73 square feet.

By R oBERT
PEEL. London: Blackie and Son, Limited.
A M anual of Telephony. By WILLIAM HENRY PREECE.
F.R.S., and AuTHOR J . STODBS. London: Whitta.ker
and Co.
NOTES FROM THE UNITED STATES.
R ecente Progressi nelle applicazioni deU' E lectricita. Di
PHILADELPHIA, October 10.
RINALDO FERRINI. Parte Seconda. Milan: U lrico
THE depression in the industries now existing hae
Hoepli.
The Engineer and Draughtsman's Data B ook. Second had no counterpart within twenty years. Production
Edition. London : E. and F. N. Spon; New York: of iron and steel in the aggregate is about one-half the
average of two or three years past. Stocks of crude
Spon and Chamberlain. [Price 3s.]
Ou1 Ocean Railways j or, T he Rise, P1og1ess, and Develop- iron are larger than for years, and prices even yet are
ment of Ocean Steam N avigation. By A. FRAS'ER declining. There are some signs of improTement in
MAODONALD. With Maps and Illustrations. London: the western markets; but with financial and economic
Chapman and Hall. [Price 6s.]
questions unsettled, it is impossible to say when there
A Select B ibliography of Chemistry, 1492 to 1892. By will be a general improvement. Plate and structural
H ENRY CARRINGTON BOLTON. Washington: The mill owners report a litt le more inquiry and a slight
Smithsonian Institution.
An Elementary Treatise on Theoretical Mechanics. By increase in orders; but outside of this, matters are at
ALEXANDER ZIWE'l'. Part I : Kinematics. London a standstill and prices are low. No. 1 foundry stanand New York: Macmillan and Co. [Price Ss. 6d.] dard brands are offered at 14.50 dols. without finding
T he Angel ojtheRevolution. A Tau of the Uoming Te>ror. takers. Good brands of forge are offered at 12 dole.
By GEORGE GmFPITH. With illustrations by FRED T. Southern makers have been making concession after
J ANE. London : Tower Publishing Company.
conces.siot;t, a:nd have ind uced '!estern use;s to load up
M easurement of Light Q/nd Colour S ensatims. By J osEPH to thetr hmlt. vVhat they Wlll now do 18 a question.
W. L ovmOND, F.R.M.S. London: George Gill and The bar mills are r unning in an irregular way, filling
Sons.
small orders as received, and then shutting down.
Mimttes of Proceedim.ga of the I nstitution of Civ-il Railroad companies are not purchasing equipments,
Engineers i with other selected and abstracted P apers.
Vol. cxiv. Edited by J AMEs FoRREST, Assoc. Inst. and bridge-build~rs, who usually receive large orders at
C. E. , :::>ecretary. London : Published by the Insti- this season, are picking up only slight repairing work.
The policy of retrenchment is being bitterly followed
tution.
up, and there is a stringency in commercial and financial circles that is paralysing enterprise.
8TEAM TRIALS OF THE SPANISH CRUISER
"INFANTA MARIA TERESA. "
BRISBANE.-Passenger communication has been restored
THE new Spanish cruiser Infanta Maria Teresa.,
built and engined at the Astilleros del Nervion, and between North and ~outh Brisbane by the erection of a
fully described in our issue of September 15 (page 339), temporary bridge. Tra~c bad been interrupted f0r six
months
through
the wasbmg away of the Victoria bridge
went on her official forced-draught trials on Saturday by floods.
last, when the somewhat onerous requirements of the
contract were met. A full supply of steam was to
RANSOME'S CASK-MAKING MACHINERY.-\Ve had re
be maintained at 145 lb. per square inch with an air rcently
the opportunity of inspecting a complet~ caskpressure of 1. 5 in., and the speed of the vessel was to making plant constructed by Messrs. A. Ransome and Co
be 20 knots, the mean draught being 21 ft. 6 in. , and Limited, of. the Stanley Works, Chelsea, London, S.
the displacement 6890 tons.
for a Cont10ental petroleum barrel factory. This par
To determine the speed of the vessel under these ticular plant is designed for dealing with sawn staves,
conditions, the following measures were taken : A and practically the whole of the operations are performed
measured distance, 1.412 knot, was run over four times, by machinery. The staves are first jointed in an auto
twice in one and twice in the opposite direction, and matic machine, about a dozen being- trimmed at once.
the mean number of revolutions corresponding to a Then~ they pass ~o a. second machine, in which the
and backmg ts performed by revolving cutters
nautical mile ascertained. After that the sea run for hollowmg
at the rate of eight 3ft. staves per minute. The staves
nearly two hours was made, still under forced draught. are t~en transfe~red to a sett~ng-up appa~at~s, consisting
At the termination of the sea trial the runs over the of a stmple casbIron plate, wtth a recess 10 tts upper side
measured distance were repeated. The average of the which takes the bottom setting-up hoop to the lower ends
number of revolutions ascertained during the runs of the s.taves, whil~t the ~~c~nd setting-up hoop is sup
ovu the measured distance served as the divisor ported 10 the requll'ed pos1t1on by three wrought-iron upto ascertain the speed in nautical miles attained rights, one of which l S hinged at the bottom end to
by the ship during the two hours' run at sea. The facili~ate th~ removal of th~ cask. When thus set up the
penalty for each complete tenth of a mile per hour cask lE! transferred t'! a firtJ?g cone, ~nd when ready is
under the 20 knots was 26,666 peset as. The speed, placed on an hydrauhc trussmg machme, which puts on it
five truss hoops. The barrel is now transferred to a
howe,er, it was found after the trial, worked out the
machine in whi<?h the chiming, crozing and howelling is
at 20.25 knots for the 4i hours during which the done by revol vmg cutters. The heads are next inserted
vessel was out on Saturday. The weather was fine, by ban~, after. whic~ th~ hoops are fixed on by an
but there was a heavy Atlantic swell, and the currents bydrauhc mach10e, whtch 1s of novel construction and is
at the entrance to the harbour of Ferrol, where the capable of putting on much thinner hoops than th~ older
measured distance is situated tended to reduce speed, machines.
An Elementary T ext-book of Coal Mining.

w::

E N G I N E E RI N G.
NOTES FROM THE NORTH.
GLASGOW, \Vednesday.
Gl<ugow P ig- Iron Market. - There was a better business
done in the Glasgow pig-iron warrant market last Thursday, and prices opened strong, but did not maintain the
e~rly advance. A large amount of Scotch iron changed
hands at an average of 1d. per ton over the previous
day's average, but the closing prices showed no ohan~e.
A fairly good demand existed for Cleveland iron, wb10h
aleo improved ld. ~r ton in the forenoon, but lost afterwards the early ga.m. Hematite iron w~ idle, and Cleveland brands closed with buyers and sellers both lower in
their quotations. The closing settlement prices wereScotch iron, 42~. 3d. p er ton; Cleveland, 348. 9d.;
Cumberland and Middleebroush hematite iron, respectively, 4b. 6d. and 43s. 4~d . per ton. The business done in the forenoon market on Friday consisted
of about 4000 tons of Scotch warrants, all done at
the same price of 42s. 3~d. per t on cash. Cleve1and warrants were ld. per t on cheaper, and bematite
ir.>os were idle and unchanged in price. In the afternoon
the market wa<:~ easier, Scotch warrants selling at
42i. 2d. cash, and Cleveland ab 3~s. 9d. seven days,
the latter closing 1d. cheaper for cash. Cumberland
hema.tite iron was nominally 1d. per ton cheaper.
At the close in the afternoon the settlement prices were
-Scotch iron, 42s. 1~d. per ton; Cleveland, 34:s. 7~d . ;
Cumberland and Micfdlesbrougb bematite iron, respectively, 44s. 4!d. and 43s. 4~d. per ton. The market was
very Bat on .M onday forenoon. Scotch iron was sold at
42-J. Hd. and 42d. 1d. per t on cash, being 1~d. of a. loss
from Friday, and Cleveland gave way ~d. per ton. About
7000 tons of Scotch and 500 tons of C1eveland iron were
sold. There was a fair amount of business doing in
Scotch iron in the afternoon. At first the tone of the
market was flat, 423. cash being done, but a b etter feeling
afterwards prevailed, transactions taking place up to
42J. 1~d. ca.sb. About 12,000 tons changed bands, includiof ex-official business at 42s. 4d. one month, with a
11
call' at the same, and 42d. 2id. one month, with 1s.
forfeit in buyers' option. Ab the close the cash quotation for Scotch iron was 1d. better than in tht fore noon,
and Cleveland was also quoted !d. per ton better. The
closing settlement prices were-scotch, 42s. Hd. per ton;
CleTeland, 34s. 7!d. ; Cumberland and Middlesbrough
hematite iron, 44s. 4~d. and 43s. 4!d. p er ton respecti \"ely.
A firmer feehng ruled in the warrant market on Tuesday
forenoon, but only some 3000 tons of Scotch iron were
disposed~of. The cash price advanced 2d. per ton, at 42R. 4d.
sellers. One operator sold about 10,000 tons of Scotch wa.rrantCJ-5000 tons at ~s. 3~d. cash, 3000 tons at 42s. 6d. one
month, and 2000 tons 42s. 5ld. one month. Other two or
three thousand tons were also dealb in, the close being
just steady at a decline of a ~d. from the forenoon price.
One Jot of 500 tons of Cleveland was done at 3ts. 11d. one
month, being a gain of 2d. per ton from the the morning.
The settlement prices at the close were-Scotch iroP,
42s. 3d. per ton; Cleveland, 3ts. 9d. ; Cumberland and
Middlesbrough hematite iron, respectively, 4~. 4!d. and
43:J. 4~d. per too. The market was animated th1s fore
noon, but weak in tone. Yeeterda.y's buyers were sellers,
and the cash!.rice of Scotch iron fell to 42s. 1~d. per ton,
a loss of 2~ . from last night. About 10,000 tons of
Scotch warrants and 2000 tons of Cleveland were disposed
of. The maket was flat in the afternoon, and fairly large
lots of Scotch and Cleveland changed hands, and in both
cases prices gav~ way. The following are the quotations
for several special brands of No. 1 makers' iron : Ga.rtsherrie, 49s. per ton ; Summerlee, 49s. 6d. ; Calder, 50s. ;
Langloan and Coltness, 55s. 6d.-the foregoing all shipped
at Glasgow; Glen~arnock (shipped at A rdrossan ),
49s. 6d. ; Shotts {shtpped at Leith), 518. 6d. ; Carron
{shipped at Grangemouth), 53s. 6d. per t on. Last week 's
shipments of p ig iron from all Scotch porta amounted
to 3455 tons, against 5~32 tons in the correspond ing week of la.sb year.
They included 100 tons
for the United States, 370 tonCJ for Canada, 415
tons for Australia, 110 tons for Italy, 550 tons
for Germany, 200 tons for ~?lla.nd, 200 tons . for
China and Japan, smaller guanttttes for other countr1es,
and 1022 tons coastwise. There are now 48 blast furnaces
in active operation, as compared with 78 at this time last
year. T~o of them are making basic ir~>n, 18 a~e wor.king
on bema.ttte ironstone, and 28 are maktng ordmary non.
The stock of pig iron in Messrs. Connal and Co. 's public
warrant storeCJ stood at 3~0,655 tons yesterday afternoon,
against 331,-300 t ons yesterday week, thus showing for the
past week an increase amounting to 355 tons.
Iron Ore Import3 at tht Clyde.- The imports of Spanish
iron or~ at the ports of GlasgowJ.. Greenock, and Porb
Glasgow during the month of .::5eptember were light,
owing to the number of furnaces that have been ~uti
out of blast, in consequence of the labour trouble~ w1th
the miners, and the increased price of coal. Only sixteen
vessels arrived, having cargoes amounting collectively to
26,140 tons1 being a decrease of 4420 tons a.s compa.~ed
with the tmports in September, 1892. For the mne
months the imports show a falling off to the extent of
124,629 tons, and are only 126,633 tons more than. the
landings for the same period in 1891, during the eight
month~' strike of the Scottish blast-furn a.cemen. The
returns specially compiled are :
Three Quarters.
Month.
V easels. Tons.
Vessels.
Tons.

1893
... 16 2G, 1~0 104: 311,901

18
30,760 272 436,530
1 92

1891
... ... 20 26,050 141 185,268
~0
40,190 282 411,775
1890

1889
... ... 25 34,515 249 349,865
Finished I ron fJJtftd Stecl.-Finisbed iron is somewhat
eas1er in price, there being a smaller inquiry with a
elacker feeling. Rivet-rode have been sold at 5l. per

ton, less 5 per cent., which shows a reduction to the

extent of 2s. 6d. per ton. There is a brisk inquiry for
sheets for home use .and export, the demand for thin
sbe~ts ~or Canada bemg e~pecially good, ~:~.nd J?rices are
ma.mtamed on the basis of 7l. 7s. 6d. for tron and
n. ~7s. 6~:i. for s~eel sheets, less the usual discount.
Busm~ss 1D steel 1s .de~eloping as regards shipbuilding
ma.ter1al, more of wbtch IS now required.
West of Scotland Iron and Steel In~titute -The opening
meeting of the second session of the \V ~st of Scotland
Iron an~ Steel Institute was held last Jf riday evening.
The president, :rvir. Ja.mes Riley, occupied the chair and
ther~ w~ a large attendance of m em hers and assoc:ates.
Revtewmg the work of the first session of the Institute
Mr. Riley congratulated the members on the manner i~
which they bad acquitted themselves. Many excellent
papers had been read, and much reliable information on
~ubject~ of interest to those engaged in the iron and ateel
mdustnes had been made available for the future. At the
close of the presidential address a. paper was read by Mr.
J. B. Alla.n on "The Theory of Stresses in Mill Steel
Shaftiog."
Copper Ore Imports at Clyde.- The landings of Spanish
coppe~ pyrites at the port of Glasgow, chiefly for the
TharslB Sulphur and Copper Company, during the month
of September, a mounted to 3865 tons, being an increase
of 397 tons over those for the same month last year.
Over the three quarters of this year the imports amounted
to 45,487 tons, showing an increase of 8277 tons as contrasted with the landings for the same period in the previous year. The returns are :
Month.
Three Qna.rters.
V easels. Tons. V easels.
Tons.
1893
...
2
~865
26
45,487
1892
...
2
3474
22
37,210
1891
.. .
3
3594
27
38,577
1890
. ..
2
3218
26
40,724
1889
. ..
3
4182
32
40,641
The Bricl/,;e Quc$tion in Gla$gow.-A special meeting of
the Glasgow Police Commissioners was h eld on Monday
for the purpose of consideri ng certain proposals which
have lately been brought forward regarding the propriety
of rebuilding the bridge over the Clyde at the Broomielaw, or of strengtbeniag the existing structure, which
is spoken of as "Telford's masterpiece."
Again
variety of opinion was expres ~ed, and eventually all
the proposals were remitted to the Statute Labour Com
mittee (which includes the Sub-Committee on Bridges)
for their careful con sideration and report. It is now
abundantly evident that thE' plan which was before the
town council and the citizens generally some months
ago, and which it was estimated could not be carried into
execu tion at less than some 240, OOOl. or 250, OOOl., has
received its quietus. If the bridge is to be rebuilt, it
is probable that its cost will be considerably under
200,000{.
Bu.-rntisland Docb.-The monthly meeting of the
Burntialand Harbour Board was h eld yesterday. The
Earl of Elgin presided, and there was a full attendance
of the memuers. There were also present, representati ve
of the \Vest of Fife coalma ters, Mr. Connel, of L ochgelly and Little Ra.ith; Mr. Mungall, of Cowdenbea.th and
Lumphina.n s; Mr. Brownlee, of Lassodie; Mr. Nimmo,
of Rosebank; and 1-Ir. Na.ismith, of D onibristle. Mr.
Connel pointed to the fact that the dock accommo~atio~,
both in respect of the area. and depth of wa~er, was ms~fli
cien t and urged u pon the Board the necesst ty of a.doptm g
meas~res to provide increased facilities for the development of the Fife coal traffic. Mr. Mungall and others of the
deputation emphasised the points referred to. A~ter the
deputation retired, the B oard considered the .questiOn. In
view of the different interests represented, 1t was finally
agreed that a. conference bet~e~n the. town council and
the directors of the North Bnttsb Railway Company be
arranged, with a. view to con~ider what action should be
taken to give effect to the v1ews expressed by the coalmasters.
Government Contract for Me33r3. T hom3on, Clydebank.
- The contract for the re-engining of the third-cl~s
battleship Sultan at Portsmouth has been placed With
Measrs. J . and G. Thomson, Limited, Clydebank. The
engines are t o be of the tripleexpa.nsion type, and a.re to
d e valop 6500 horse-power with natural and 8000 horsepower with forced draught.

======

NOTES FROM SOUTH YORKSHIRE.

Satnl'IELD, W ednesday.
Propo3ed New Railway from Sheffield to Bradford. -:-Th e
Mayor of Bradford states that.a. scheme for a proJected
railway to connect that town ~Ith Ma~boro';lgh, ~other
ham, and Shefl\eld, commencmg by a Junctton with ~he
Midland Rail way at Sc~ool-street, ~ra?for~, and passmg
thr.>ugb a number. of tmp~rtant dtstncts, IS !lnder consideration. A spe?tal ~eetmg o~ re~resentati ves of the
districts affected ts bemg held ~ Bradford. to-day to
consider the scheme, the deta.tls of w~10b are at
present kept private. It is proposed th~t It sball .be a.
nrst-class ciouble line of railway, havmg gra.du~nts
not excAeding 1 in 200, and cur ves of larg~ ra.dtus.
The distance from Bradford to .s~effiel~ wtll be 34
miles, as against 51! milelf by the ex istmg Mtdland ~onte,
and the distance from Bradford to L ondon wlll be
reduced by about 17 miles. The t owns affected would be
placed on a main line through route between. L ondon
and Scotland. The Barnsley and South Yor~shne steam
and household coal will find a new outlet m .the Spen
Valley, Ba.tley, Dewsbury, and Bradford, wh10b ar~ at
resent, to a great extenb, restricted to l~al supphes.
~he line from end to end runs throug~ the Sou~h Yorkshire coalfield, and new coalfields w1ll praot1ca.lly be
opened out.

491
I ron Trade.-The business doing in the diatriot is
very small, owing to fuel being at such prices that
it is impossible to carry on operations exceptmg at very
severe loss. The majority of the iron works have entirely suspended, but in a few instances a. day or two is
worked where customers have to be obliged, and are
willing t o pay the high figures necessarily demanded.
Very large orders for bar for India, South Africa., and
Australia have been lost to the district, having for the
most part been secured by Staffordshire and north country
houses, and it is feared that some permanent damage has
been inflicted on those branches of local industry. Nothing
is doing in looal-made pi~ iron, foundrie~S that want supplies utilising Derbyshtre and other makes. All the
furnaces hereabouts are damped down.
Steel and Eng ineering.- With very few exceptions, the
large steel houst!s have practically done nothing for a
month, as there is no coke-, or that obtainable is of t oo
poor qualitr to be utilised. Prices asked also prevenb
business bemg proceeded with. Inquiries to hand show
that the demand for marine material is on the increase,
but where deliveries are required at early dates, local
firms are powerless to undertake the work. Engineering
houses are suffering severely, and the workmen in theee
combined branches are in ~reat distress. There are good
orders in the market for boiler plates, tubes, and flues, but
a. large portion of them are now being placed in Staffordshire instead of here. Agents of Bessemer steel are
simply selling from stock as the furnaces are blown out,
and are doing little business. Orders for crucible cast
steel are fa.lli o~ off from the United States, but improving from Indta and some portions of South America.
The steel trade will be one of the heaviest sufferers by
the existing trade interruption.

NOTES FROM CLEVELAND AND THE

NORTHERN COUNTIES.
MIDDLESBROUGH, Wednesday.
The Cleveland Iron Trade.-Yesterday there was a
fairly large attendance on 'Change here, but the market
was cheerless in tone, and little business was transacted.
Buyers were very shy, and would only .I.mrcha~e for early
deLivery, believing that quotations are hkely to fall before
long. Certainly prospects cannot Le described as otherwiee than gloomy and discouraging, and most people
connected with the staple industry ar~ reluctantly comp_elled t o admit the outlook ~enerally is bad. Yesterday
No. 3 g. m. b. Cleveland pig tron was sold at 34s. 9d. for
prompt f.o.b. delivery, and there were a good few
firms wil1ing to dispose of the ruling quality ab
that price. The lower classes of iron were eaaier,
but sellers were not inclined to accept less than 33s. 6d.
for No. 4 foundry, and 32s. Gd. for grey forge. Middlesbrough warrants opened 34s. nd. and closed 34s. 8~d.
cash buyers. H ematite pig iron was pretty steady, and
was said to be in fairly good reql1est. About 43s. 3d. was
the price for early delivery of Nos. 1, 2, and 3 makers'
oast coast brands. ~panisb ore was quiet, but unaltered in price. T o-day's market was very weak, with
next to nothing doing. At the close, quotations were
about 3d. easier for most qualities, but sellers of grey
forge were not disposed to sell under 32s. 6d. No. 3
could be bought at 34s. 6d. MiddleRbrougb warrants
opened at 34s. 6d. and closed 34s. 3~. cash buyers, but
the closing quotation was nominal.
M a;n,ufacflu.red I-ron 011td Steel.- We regret hei ng unable
to report favourably of these two important industries.
Most establishments are still working pretty well, but
they are getting through their contracts, and new
orders are very difficulb to secure, notwithstanding the
prevailing lo'Y quotations. Few fir~s would refu!e orders
on the followms- t erms: Common Jron bars, 4[. ~5s. ; b~st
bars, 5l. 5s. ; 1ron shipplates, 4l. 13s. 9d. ; tron sh~p
angles, 4l. 12s. 6d. ; steel shipplatea, 5t. ; and steel shlpangles, 4t. 15s. --a.llless the usual 2~ per cent. discount for
cash. Heavy sections of steel rai!CJ, 3/. 15s. net at works.
Sh-i pbuilding on the Teca.-Though the s~?ipbuild~ng
retiurns for last month d id not show a very se~1o~s falhng
off as compared with September last year, 1t 1s pretty
evfdenb that on the lower reaches of the Teee, at any rate,
work is very slack indeed. Twen~y.one vessels were
launched on the T ees last month, and the gross tonnage
amounted to 45,000, or over 18,000 .tons less than Septe~
ber, 1892. Only three vessels rema.tn on th~ stocks !"'t ~1r
Raylton Dixon's yard. These vessels are m the ~mshmg
stage, and six weeke will complet~ all the work .m hand.
No. 2 shipyard belonging to Sr Raylton Dtxon a~d
Co was closed at the back end of last year. The shtp
ya;ds at Stockton are pretty b~isk, t~ ou~h it i~ .und.erstcod that several vessels are bemg bmlt m ant1c1patton
of the demand and almost the total com~le~ent of bands
is employed. This accounts for the reductton. m the return
of gross tonnage launched last month bemg compara
ti vely small, but this reduction i~ almost solely accounted
for on the lower reaches of the nver.
The Fu.et Trade. -On N ewca.stle Exchange a. ~~d de
ma.nd for steam coal is reported, and best quaht1es are
about 13s. f.o.b. Gas coal firm.
Here blast furnace
coke is about 128. 6d. delivered.

NOTES FROM THE SOUTH-\VEST.

&w.th Watcs Coal and Iron.-The ~bipmente of coal

from the four principal Welsh ports m Septembe~ w.ere
as follows: Cardiff-foreign, 772,155 tons; coa.stw~se,
96,724 tons. Newport-fore}gn, 144,384 tons; coast~se,
78 990 t ons. Swansea.-fore1~n, 84,390 tons; coastw!se
43:105 tons. Llanelly-foretgn, 12, 99~ tons ; coastwise,
4841 tons. It follows that the total shtpments from the

--

492

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

The :{>rojected canal from Marseilles to. the River

then
its
output
has
fallen
greatly,
and
in
1891
only
271
four ports in September amounted to: Foreign, 1,013,920
Rhone 1s receiving more and more attent10n a.t Martons
were
produced.
tons; coastwise, 223,660 tons. The shipments of iron and
seilles where the growing transit trade of Genoa, and
steel in Septemb~r were : Cardiff, 1048 tons; Newport,
The question of the removal of the buildings ab J ackson the r~pid development of such towns as Hamburg and
1178 tone; Swansea, nil; Llanelly1 13~ tons ; total, Park Chicago, at the olose of the E xhibition, is now under Antwerp, are incitins- the comm.ercial world to show
2239~ tons.
The shi_pments of coke m September were: consideration. As yet no demand has arisen for any of more enterprise. Owmg to the railway monopoly, other
Cardiff, 4275 tons; Newport, 60 tons ; Swansea., 70 tons ; the ironwork of the buildings, and it is possible that the routes become every day more necessary, and the conLla.nelly, nil; t otal, 4345 tons. The shipments of patent whole may be sold for scrap. The salvage from the wood templated Rhone-Marseilles canal seems to possess so
fu el in September were: Cardiff, 22,685 tons; Newport, used will probably not be great, whilst the staff plaster, &c., many advantages, that there is every reason to believe
1081 tons; Swansea., 32,312 tons; Llanelly, 11il; total, will be of no use save for filling purposes. It is proposed to that the plan will be realised. The calculated cost is
56,078 tons. The aggregate shipments of coal from the use this latter material for building a. hill or mound, or somewhat more than 3, 000, OOOl. According to the J>lan,
four principal Welsh ports in the nine months ending for making a number of small islands upon reefs in the it will go underground from Marseilles Harbour to .. Etan
September 30 this year were as follows: Cardiff, 8,293',1:&8 lake a short distance from the shore.
de Berre " the southern border of which it will follow to
tons; Newport, 2,212,490 tons; Swansea., 1,138,492 tons;
Referring to the difference between English ~nd Martigu~s, from where the already existing canal to the
Llanelly,134,857 tons; total, 11,778,967 tons. The aggregate shipments of iron and steel from the four ports American practice in designing engines for warshtps, small port, Port de Bouc, will be utilised. The new
during the first nine months of this ye~r Wtlre: Cardiff, Commodore Melville, the chief of the Bureau of Steam eanal will also, to a considerable extent, follow the
23,945 tons; Newport, 13,838 tons; Swansea., 1227 tons; E ngineering, U.S. Navy, recently stated the heating present Bouc-Arles Canal, and finally enter the Rhone at
Llanelly, 25~ tons; total, 39,03~ tons. The aggregate surface allowed for his practice was usually 2! square feet Bras Mort. The length of the contemplated canal is
shipments of coke were: Cardiff, 62,874 tone; Newport, per indicated horse-power, and never less than 2 square about 35 miles.
3779 tons; Swansea, 2033f tons; Llanelly, nil; total, feet, whilst in England as little as 1.3 square fee~ per
In a communication to the Boston Society of Cl vil
indicated
horse-power
was
sometimes
allowed.
With
a
68,686! tons. The aggregate shipments of patent fuel
Engineers, Mr. JamS! H. Harlow, M. Am. Soc. C.E.,
view
to
working
economically
ab
low
powers,
the
lower
were: Cardiff, 215,413 tons; Newport, 33,906 tons;
of Pittsburg, suggests tha.t too much water is usually
pressure
cy
J
inders
on
the
Maine
are
forward,
and
can
Swansea, 248,943 tons; Lle.nelly, nil; total, 498,262 tons.
be disconnected, under which conditions the engines mixed with the material in forming a puddle waJl. In
several em bankmente for reservoirs built by him he bad
The T elephone at Deuonport.-The Lords of the Ad- work as ordinary compounds.
adopted the practice of putting down the puddle dry,
miralty have decided on establishing a telephone exchange
In a. p_aper read before the American Institute of compacting it in thin layers by rolling with a grooved
a.t the Royal Naval Barracks, Keyha.m, and the work
will be completed in a. few weeks. The exchange will Mining Engineers on "The Microstructure of Steel," roller, but adding no water whilst this rolling was being
have communication with Admiralty House, Devonport ; Mr. Albert Sauveur states that a polished and etched done, as he thought that with a puddle wall constructed
Breakwater Fort, Bull Point; Cambridge, gunnery ship; section of a steel rail, when examined under a microscope, in this way the tendency, when the reservoirs was filled,
commanjler-in-chief's offices at Mount W1se; Devonport does not by any means reveal in all its parts the same would be for the puddle to swell and tighten up. In
and Kefbam dockyards; Defiance, torpedo school ship; ~tructure. The want of uniformity exhibited is due to other words, in building an impervious earthen bank he
Lion, training ship; the Longroom, Stonehouse; Naval the different tamperatures at which different parts of the would follow the same principle that leads a. carpenter to
Ordnance DepOt, Stonehouse; Royal Marine Barracks ; rail leave the finishing rolls and to the unequal rate of build a. wooden tank of dry lumber, rather than of green
Royal William Victualling Yard, Royal Naval Hospital, their subsequent cooling. The outside of the ra.il, being web stuff. On the other hand, Mr. Clemens HerscheJ,
and Royal Naval Engineering College, Keyham. The cold est, shows a smaller grain than the interior, and for a M. Am. Soc. C. E., advocates putting down the puddle
system will include a private wire embracing the whole given chemical composition the crystallisation will be moderately wet rather than dry, on the ground that more
of Devon and Cornwall, and going as far seaward as Rame greater, the higher the finishing temperature and the uniform work can be then obtained from unskilled
Head. A separate room is to be provided for the Three slower the cooling.
labourers, although he did not doubt that earth could be
Towns system.
The traffic receipts for the week ending October 8 on rammed quite as coml?actly dry as it could be when wet.
New Ships at Portsnwuth.-The line-of-battle ship t hirty-three of the principal lines of the United Kingdom For makmg a watertight bank, Mr. Herscbel prefers
Revenge, built and engined by Messrs. Palmar and Co., amounted to 1,412,94ll., which, having been earned on gravel to clay, asserting that thPre was nothing that could
arrived ab Portsmouth from Jarrow on Monday. On the 18,388 miles, gave an average of 76l. 16s. per mile. For be done by the latter which could not be d one better
passage round, the vessel attained an average speed of the corresponding week in 1892, the rec~ipts of the same with gravel.
13 knota, but no attempt was made to press the en- lines amounted to 1,547,005l., with 18,199 milea open,
gines. The vess~l will now be prepared for her contract giving an average of 85l. There was thus a d ecrease
trials. The Royal Oak, another contract-built line-of- of 134,064l. in the receipts, an increase of 189 in the
Nxw BRITISH TonPEDO-BOAT Dx TROYERS.-Massrs.
mileage,
and
a
decrease
of
8l.
4s.
in
the
weekly
receipts
battle ship, has left Birkenhead for Portsmouth ; and the
Thomycroft, of Chiswick, have received an order from
per
mile.
The
aggregate
receipts
for
fourteen
weeks
first-class cruiser St. George is to leave Hull on Saturday,
the Admiralty for three torpedo-boat destroyers, which
to
date
amounted
on
the
same
thirty-three
lines
to
also for P ortsmouth.
to have a speed of 27 knots. They are larger than
21,466,98ll., in comparison with 23,128, 751l. for the cor- are
those now under construction. The Admiralty have also
Ca.rdiff.-Steam coal has continued in good d emand; responding period last year; decrease, 1,661, 770l.
contracted with Messrs. Yarrow and Co. for the immethe besb qualities have made 15s. to 15s. 6d., while
The followin~ comparative Table of the mercantile diate construction of three more torpedo-boat destroyers
secondary have brought 14s. 3d. to 14s. 9d. r.er ton. Good
orders have been received for patenb fue. Household marine of Amenca and Great Britain is compiled from similar to the two they have now in hand, and fully decoal has been hardening in price ; No. 3 Rhondda large statistics presented at the r ecent Water Commerce Con- scribed in ENGINEEIRING, vol. lv., page 848. These new
boats also are expected to have a very high rate of speed,
has made 13s. 6d. per ton. Coke has ruled rm ; foundry gress, Chicago, by Mr. Thoma-s J. Vivia.n:
qualities have made 20s. 6d. to 21s., and furnace, 18s. to
U nited States. Great Britain. and to have coalcarrying ca.pacity sufficient to secure a
greatly extended radius of act10n.
18s. 6d. per t on. The iron and steel trades have shown
NumTonNum- TonVessels.
some improvement, the demand for some products having
bar.
nage.
her.
nage.
increased.
Engaged exclusively
639,691 5, 968 6,595, 445
in foreign trade . .. 686
Plymouth Sound.-A steam dredger, to be employed in
NILE RESERVOIRS.-Tbe Egyptian Gazette announcee
dredging Pl~mouth Sound, has commenced operattons off Engaged in mixed
that the report of the Director-General of Reservoir
foreign and domesDevonport Dockyard. It will then dredge off Keyha.m,
Studies on the different schemes for a reservoir in Egypt
. .. 601
237,694
760
tic trade .. .
185,026 will be completed in December. If the reservoir is form ed
and complete the harbour work off Bull Point. The
dredger was engaged for ten months by the London and Engagerl exclusively
by a dam constructed a cross the river, it will not receive
in
domestic
trade
12,731
860,683
2,701,674 10,826
South-Weetern Railway Company at Southampton, for
its supply during the flood, nor will it serve to control the
deepening the channel for an Ame11ican line of steamers.
In a paper read before the semi-annual meeting of the river during dangerous floods, It is proposed to fill these
The work ab Devonporb is likely to occupy three months, New England Ootton Manufacturers, Association, Mr. r eservoirs after the flood has ceased to come down, and
after which tha Sound will be dredged. The apparatus W. S. Southworth states that the average life of the in- before the stream has fallen below the reguired level. If
is fitted with two ladders, each having 32 buckets, and candescent lamps in use ab the Ma.ssachussetts Cotton Mr. Cope Whitehouse's ~cheme of utihsing the Wadi
is capable of working to a depth of 40 fb. Allowing Mills has been 1319 hours. The lamps are 510 in number, Raiyan is adopted, ad vantage may be taken of the large
three minutes for a revolution of the ladder, 4000 tons and the records extend over a period of four years. The storage capacity offered by the basin, and it may be used
of stuff can be hoisted in twelve hours.
lamps are of 20 candle-power, but it should be stated that as an outlet to receive the excess in years of dangerous
they have up till within the last year been run at a volt or inundation.
two below their designed voltage. Individual lamps
have lasted very long; thus, one in the office safe has,
THE FIRSTCLASS GuNBOAT "HRBE., - The official
MISCELLANEA.
he states, been burning more than 6200 hours, and is still natural-draught trial of the new first-class gunboat Hebe,
Ma. J. \VoLFE BARRY, M.I.C.E., has been elected in fair condition. The cost of the electric light at these built and engined at Sheerness Dockyard under the
president of the Junior Engineering Society for the mills is said to be equivalent to gas at about 3s. 6d. per Naval Defence Act, took place in the North Sea on Tues
1000 cubic feet .
ensumg
year.
day, the 17th inst., under the superintendence of officials
The laying_ of a submarine cable between New CaleAn extensive plant, capable of turning out 100 tons of representing the Admiralty and the Medway Dockdonia and Queensland has just been completed by a Portland cement per week, has been erected by the yard Reserve. The machinery of the Hebe wa..~ tested
French company. The working expenses are guaranteed Canadian Pacific Railway ab False Creek, Vancouver. on a continuous run of eight hours' duration, and was
jointly by the French Government and those of New The process used i8 the dry process, the raw materi~ls subjected to the same conditions as machinery supplied
South Wales and Queensland.
being limestone and clay, of which enormous quantities and fitted by private firms. The results were very satisfactory, the trial passing off without the slightest bitch .
are
within
easy
reach
of
the
works.
The
materials
are
A new pontoon dock, capable of raising and docking
The engines were designed to indicate 2500 horse-power
ground
separately
to
pass
a.
50
mesh,
and
are
then
mixed
vessels of 5000 tons and 350 ft. long, was inaugurated ab
under natural draught, but the mean results for th e eight
Ellesmere, a port on the Manchester Ship Oanal, on dry, after which samples are taken for analysis before hours' run gave 2690.7 horse-power, with a. speed of 17.8
' Vednesday, The first vessel to use it was the three- passing the material into the "wet mixer," where 5 per knots. These results were attai ned with an average steam
cent. of water is added to th e mass, and the moist material
roa-sted barque Beeswing, of P ortmadoc,
is then pressed into brick-shaped blocks by a moulding pressure of 144 lb., and with the engines working at 221
The Hamburg-American Steamer Company are going machine. These blocks are con veyed to a drying floor revolutions per minute.
to add another large new steamer to their fleet. The heated by waste heat from the kilns, &c. These latter
steamer is t o ha. ve a tonnage of about 8000 tons, and will are of the continuous type.
CATALOOCE.-We have received from ~Iessrs. Buck and
have twin screws. There is to be accommodation for
In a paper r ead before the American Congress of Engi- Hickman, of 280 and 281, Whitechapel-roa.d, London, a
2500 third-clasa passengers! and the steamer is intended
neers, Mr. N eukirch describes a method of grouting up copy of their new catalogue of American machinery,
for the Hamburg-New York trade.
&c., by forcing in powdered cement, through which contains illustrated and fully-priced descriptions
A renewal of activity in the matter of railway building aquicksands,
pipe lowered into the sand, by air pressure. The of a. large variety of lathes, milli[)g machines, emery
is expected in Japan, where extensions and new lines, pipe used is about 1! in. in diameter, but is drawn grinders, and smaller tools.-Mr. F. \V. Stanley, optician,
having an aggregate len~th of over 162 miles, are now to a point at its lower end, where there are three of the Great Turnstile, Holbom, has just issued a new
under discussion, but at present two lines only have been openings provided, each ~ in. in diameter. The upper edition of his well-known catalogue of drawing and
approved by the authorities. In addition to the steam end of the pipe is connected with an air pressure supply surveying instruments. This catalogue, which h&S long
roads, two electric lines are also proposed, one of which pipe by a rubber hose. An injector is provided, to wh10h been one of the mosb complete published, has had several
will be 17 miles long, and the other about 12 miles.
the cement is fed, and meeting with the air blast, is additions made to it, some of Mr. Stanley's most recent
\V ri ting in the J ournal des M int3, M . Daniel Ballot gives driven with considerable pressure into the sand. The improvements being illustrated and described. - The
a. descri ption of a copper mine in Sweden known as the cement is retained by the wet sand, forming a kind of con- catalogue issued by Messrs. J. Stone and Co., Deptford,
Storer-Kopperberger, which has been worked practically crete with it. The introduction of the tube in the first London, is devoted to a description of Stone's bronzes as
continuously for over 800 years. It is mentioned in the instance is facilitated by the use of the air jet, which applied to the construction of screw propellers and work
old chronicles of 1228 as producing large rev~nues to its clears the sand away from the point of the tube. \Vhen of a. similar nature. Particulars of tests of these bronzes
owners, and in the seventeenth century its oubpu~ the pipe has reached a firm stratum, the cement is turned by Professor A. K. Huntington, of King's College, are
varied from about 1300 to 3500 tons per annum. Since on, and the pipe slowly raised to the surface.
appended.

OcT.

20,

89 3]

ENGINEERING.

493

CROSS-CUTTING POWER SAW.

CONSTRUCTED DY

~fESSRS. F . \V.

REYNOLDS AND CO., ENGINEERS, LONDON.

WARD'S

'""-- -.

METALLIC PACKING.

Fc.g .1.

Fig . 2.

to le~ gth in t he forest in which they are felled. Th e

sa~v lS fi xed. a t one end . of &: cross- head workiug in
guides. Th1s cross-head IS driven by a connecting-r od
~hich couples it to a. disc crank as shown. The saw
1a long, and when driven at the ra te of 150 double
s ~rokes p er second, will cut through a log 4 ft. in
d1ameter in from 7 t o 8 minutes. It cuts on the return
st roke only , a.nd ~he ~e~d is given by the worm and
sec~or ~h~wn ~ehmd ~t 1n ou~ engraving . The timber
wh1lst 1t Is bemg cut 1s stead1ed by a dog, coupling it
to the framework of t he machine.
I

INDUSTRIAL NOTES.

TRAD~ and labour during September were eompl;t~ly ?vershadowed by the great dispute in the coal-

J Rod ---

ff

Fcg .3

16SO

metallic gland packing wh ich we illustrate on

this page is due t o Mr. S. A . \Va rd, engineer, Tudorplace, tibeffield, and has been applied by him to a
number of steam engines a nd stea m ha mmers during
the last two years. H is applicable to any ex isting
stuffing-box, without necessitating any alterations to
the la tter, and is claimed to work efficiently a nd
wit hout special attention for long periods of time.
Referring to our engravings, Fig. 1 r epresents a longitudinal section t hrough the stuffing-box, Fig. 2 a plan
of the same, and Fig. 3 a cross section through the
packing pieces.
These packing piece , which are ma rke(l E in t he
engravings, sur round the rod A , a nd a re cone-sha p ed
~t their lower ends. 0\er t his coned port ion a hoop G
1s fitted, which is pressed up against the packin g pieces
by a pair of spi ral springs ; one eud of each of these
springs abuts against the Lottom of the stuffin g- box D,
whilst their ot her end s H are l et into holes in the
h?OP G. The jointR between the fo ur main p a.cku.1g
ple~es E are made good by the triangula r pieces F ,
wb1cb are arranged as shown in Figs. 1 and 3. The
ends of tbe packing pieces are all turn ed up square, and
abut against the cover G, with which th ey m a ke a
st~m-tight ~oint. As the p1cking wears away , th e
t rmngular pLeces F are pressed in wards t owa rds the
rod, and maintain a con ta nt fi t, both with it a.nd
with the main packing pieces E. The springs holding
up the hoop G may be very light, ns a t most they h ave
to maintain the tightness of the packin g agains t the
atmospheric pressure in a condensing eng ine, a nd con sequently there is but little friction, t he m ore especia lly
as the packing pieces ar e made of an t i -fric tion meta l.
THE

The small stuffing- box shown on the cover C Fig. 1

and in Fig. 2, is intended to t a ke a couple of 't urns of
! -in. common p acking , with a. v iew t o cleaning the r od
from dust, a nd in the case of s t eam hammers 1 t o k eep
back the wa t er a.t s tart ing when all is cold. This box
is, however, not essential, and may be omitted without
affecting _the _tightn~ss of. th e main pac~ing. Where
the P.ackmg 1s reqmr~cl m hal ves, sp ec1al springs ar e
subst1tute d for_the sp1ral ones shown. The wearing
pa rts, or sect1ons, are made of the the b est antifriction metal, a nd no special care is necessary iu lubricating. A joint is made upon the end of the stuffingbox , and the p acking cannot be t a mpered with or
scr e wed up tight ; therefore the friction on the rod
is always at a m inimu m.
2\Ir. \\rard has fixed a la rge n u mber of these p ackings,
all of which are doing well. Some tha t have been in
consta nt work for the last three y ears show very little
signs of wear. On s team ha mm ers in S heffield th ey
h a ve g iven great satit~faction, and it must be admitted
t hat this is a. severe test. One of their great ad van
tages is tha t a careless or ig norant ma n cannot screw
up the g land violently in order t o stop a small leak of
s team or wate r. This fe rtile cause of grooving an d
cut t ing of the rods is th us completely a voided.

CROSS-CUTTING POWER SAW.

TnE cross-cutting sawil1g machine which we illustra te
on this page has been cons truct ed by M essrs. F. \V.
R eyuolds and Co., Sou t hwark, London, S.E. As will
be seen, it is belt driven, and can accordingly be worked
by any porta ble engine, thus allowing trees t o be cut

mmmg mdust ry. So says the ..Labow Ga:.etle, and the

same fact remains through the first half of October.
The effect upon. industry has been p ret t y general in all
branches, but 1t has been gradual also. Had it not
~een for the co~l strike, it is thought tha t a. slight
Improvement might have been recorded this month.
Of t he t otal of 32 societies reporting, with a n agg rega te membership of 335,265, no fewer than 24,355,
or. 7.3 per cent., were unemployed, as compa red
w1th 7.1 per cent. in the previous month. The
actual percentage is not great compared with the
returns for the whole of the las t twelve months.
It has not, however, fallen so low as at the end of
Aug ust, 1892, while it has reached the level of last
ye.ar earlier in the autumn. The shipbuilding industnes ~ave rather receded than advanced, for the signs
of rev1val of two months ago have not been mainta ined.
The several engineering branches also have declined
the percent.age out of work being greater by 1. 3 pe;
cent. than It waR at the end of August. There is also
a slight increase in the number out of work in the
building trades. The number of disputes recorded
shows a decrease, but the total number of workers involved was t olerably large, quite apart from those
connected with the dispute in the coal trade. An
increase in wages is reported in the building trades at
Southampton, Glasgow and other places in Scotland
a.nd in Dublin; aleo in connection with some engineering
branches at B olton, for seamen at Bristol and London
in the textile trades a t places in Lancashire, among
the boot and shoe makers at Leicester aud Bristol
corporation employes at Nottingham, and some othe;
ind us tries. On the other hand, th ere have been reduc tions in wages in the sbipbuildiug trades at ~fiddles
brough, for smiths a t B elfast, st eelwo rk ers, seamen a t
various ports, la bourers, and oth ers. R ed uctions in
the working hours have taken place in five branches
of industry.

---

The report of th e Ironfounders for October shows

a n . inc:ease of 378 in . the num ber of unemployed,
wbtch IS also t he total mcrease on the funds in all the
benefits, as the decrease of 30 in t he number of
sick was e xactly mad e up by the increase on the other
benefits. 'rhe total out of work on d ona tion was 1765
sick, 364 ; on ! uperannuation, 643 ; on dispu te, 1i
only ; on the ot her trade funds, 202 ; totn.l, 298 . The
tota l cost was 975l. , or about I s. 3~d . p er member per
week. An analysis of the returns as t o the state of
trade shows that 3541 members in 32 bran ches are
working under conditions moderately good ; but
11,500 members, in 90 branches, are working under

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

494

[OcT.

20,

1893.

~==========================================================~~======~~

conditions described as "a bad state of trade. , It is

admitted that to a. large ex t ent t he less healthy condit ions o.re the result of the coal d ispute ; f uel being
scarce a.nd dear, many works have stopped until th e
price of fuel is down t o its n orma.llevel. The I ron founders' ociely have \'Oted for a sixpenny levy for
the miners, and suggest ions are made for a fu rther
l e,y to relie ve the d tstress among their own members.
The presaure of t he de pression in th is branch of trade
h as lasted so long that a. lar ge n umber have outrun
the limit of donation benefit, so t hat something must
be done to k eep them fro m actua l pauperism , a. thing
a lmost unknown in the history of t he union , as regards
its own members.
The co ndit ions of trade in the districts covered by
the Associated B lacksmiths' Society are not so bad as
in so me other d istricts, but many of the members have
been suspended f rom work in consequence of disputes
in other bra nch es of trade, as, for examp le, on the
Clyde by the joiners' disputes, fo llowed by a lock.out.
The re are a. large number of orders for new shi pping
on the Clyde, estimated by .M r. Inglis as 208,000 tons,
as against 142,000 tons last year at the same date.
But it is said that the orders are not so w idely distributed as some d esire that they should have been. Some
yards are over-full, others rather slack. ' '7ith the
exception of B elfast, the union is fairly free from
l abo ur disputes in a ll its branches.

---

By the close of last week t he coal d ispute had undergone a. material change. Med ical men tell us that if
a complaint is subject to changing moods, t here is less
danger of its becoming chronic. In the coal d ispute
t here was for a. long ti me a deadlock. Then the scene
shifted. Offers to go in a.t the old rates were accepted
by the men, and thousands resumed work. But still
t he attitude of the two parties was nearly the sameno reduction by the men; 25 pe r cent. reduction by the
coa.lowners. Then came offers of mediation. The
mayors of heffield and other towns brought the two
parties together, and adroit ly left them to themselves
to cHscnss t e rms. The coeJowners seem to have withdrawn from the old posi t ion of 25 p er cent., and to
ha.,e offered to assent to 15 per cent. This was agreed
to hy a couference of t he coalowner s on tLe following
day. The t erms were not t he same as t hose suggested
at the mayoral conference, but t he whole at::pect of
the d ispute was changed by the Derby offer. 1'he one
clear point which seems to h;~.ve been gained is that
w hereas the 25 per cent. was declared to be t he amount
which would ma ke mining profi table, the 15 per cent.
woul d not. vVh cre then is the true test in this case ?
I t appea rs the conditions of profit and loss have
undergone a change. Higher prices have lifted the
whole industry into another sphere. It is very
eviden t tha t the public sympathise more and more
w ith the m en in proportion as they r ealise the
exact a mount of the reduction proposed. The average
would seem to be about 5d. p er ton. But 5d. is a.
trifle compared with the rise iu prices of n early three
times the total value of the coal at the pits. The d ifference in th e rates of wages, compared with th e difference t o the consumer, is raising a. lot of ugly qu estions as
to the ownership of the minerals, of royalt ies on the
minerals, and the possible action of the Legislatu re in
the future on these anrl some other p oints.
It is very d ifficult t o get at the exact number of
m en wh o ha,e resumed work at the old rates, but th e
following figures are an approx imate calculation up to
the b eginning of this week. I n t he Mi?land Federati on 2 1,650 have returned to work, wh1le 28,350 are
still out; in Nottinghamshire 13,700 have returned to
work while 4300 are s till out; in Cumberland 7000
hn.ve 'returned t o work, none out; in Derbyshire 6200
h ave r eturned to work, while 23,800 are still out; in
Yorkshire 5000 have r eturned to work, while 80,000
a.re still out ; in Lancashire 4000 have r eturned to
work while 65 500 are still out; in North " Ta les 1700
have' r e turned to work, while 9300 are etill out. This
gives 59,750 at work, a nd 211,250 out on strike. The
above figures are exclusive of the Forest of D ean men,
who re turned to work at a. r eduction, of the outh
\ V ales men under the sliding ~cale, of the ta.ffordshire
m en under contract, of the Durha m and Northumberla nd men and of the Scottish miners. Assuming the
above fig~res to be t olerably exact, it would appear
that out of a total of a ll the p erson s employed in and
about the co~l m ines of ' reat Britain, 211,250 a re idle,
as compared with a total a.ll t ol d of 663,462, or, say,
a bout one-third idle. Or, if we tak e Engla nd and
Wales about 211,250 are id le out of 574,454, th e
aggregate nnmber employed of all kinds in and about
t h e mines. The l arge increase in the total employed
is seen by t he fact that in 18( 6 t he t otal w~s 519, 106,
and in 1 !)2 the total was 663,462, or a n m crease of
144-,356, or 27. p er cent., in se\en years. Thi~ty-five
n ew mines ha\ e been su nk or reopened durmg the
p ast month, and two h ave been .c losed or ~ba~doned.
Of the new collieries, eight are m \Vales, s1x m Sco.t
land six in Lancashire, three in Durham, three m
D erbyshire, a.nd three in S.taff?rdshire, while there
is a.n increase of one each 1n s1x other places. The

n ew pi ts will require workers, and if the dtma.nd for

coal should increase, by a revival in th e gener a l trade
of the coun t ry, there will be 1ittle ditHcu lty in the men
maintaining the rate of wages which will u ltimately
ru le a.s a re3u lt of t he presen t prolonged dispute.

the p lumbers a.t two establishm ents in the Hartlepool

distric t, and there is some friction between the st onemasons and the bricklay ers a t so me of the blast furnaces as to the kind of work which each class or
section may do.

The conditions under which the miners are now

working are Yery various. In most of the federation
d istricts the men have gone back on the old t erms. I n
the Forest of Dean t hey went to work at t he reduct ion of 25 per cent. But they have got back a.n ad vance of 15 per cent. , so that t hey are now only 10 per
cent. below the highest a.\rerage rates. In C umberla nd
the application of the m en fo r a further advance was
refused; but at " ' hitehaven the dispute, a fter lasting
six weeks , was ended by the men going in to work
at t he old ra.tes, with the promise tha t, if it were
found that they were underpaid, the balance would be
mad e up to the full 40 p er cent. above the standard of
1888.
In D urham the men made an applica t ion for a.n
advance. The matter was considered a.t a conference
of the men's representat ives and of th e coalowners,
and the meeting adjourned. Three days afterward s
the latter offered a conditional special ad \'ance for a
lim it ed p eriod of three months. This offer the r epresentat h es of the men refused . The matter will b e
considered by t he men in their va rious districts before
a ny fu rther action is taken.
I n Monmouthsh ire t he m en are workin g under an
ad vauce of Ht per cent., or at 1 2~ p er cen t . above t he
scale of 1879. This applies genera lly to South " 'ales
and North Wales, and affects some 90, 000 men. But in
Fliutshire it only applies to some collierie~ .
] n Clackmannan a.nd Fife about 500 a re working
at a n advance of 12~ p er cent. In ~lid a nd East
Lothia n the men are working at an a.chance of 10 per
cent. I n some other districts advances have also been
conceded.
The men who a re at. work on the old ra.tes of wages
in the federation districts are paying the levies t oler ably well. Bnt in some district s the men desire the
levies to go t o the men in the immediate neighbour
hoods. 1'o this the federation disagrees, as, in the
opinion of the agents, all should share a like. This is
t he r eal princip le of federation. On th e other ha.nd,
some d istricts have suffered more than others, as the
funds were soon er exhausted, aud human nature suggest.cd lookin g near home first. Rut, on the whole,
t here appea r s t o be general loyalty to the rules of t he
federation, both as to the return to work and as to the
payment of the levies as agreed t o at the Birmingha m
conference.

In the W ol verha.m pton district trade continues

fairly good. Numerous inquiries are afloat for various
classes of irvn, and some ex piring contracts have been
renewed for bars, hoop s, a nd plates at current rates.
The p udd lers and mill-rollers have been better employed through the opening of the pit s in the district,
a lthough some have had to run shor t time owing to
the scarcity a.nd high price of fuel. Boilermaker~,
bridge a.nd girder makers, tank and gas meter makers,
a.nd some others, are fu11y employed; some good
orders have also been secured for 1 ai l way work, colonial
and foreign. The steel trade is active. Engiueerd,
machinists, galvanisers, japanners, and wire-work ers
are fairly well employed. In the ironfounding aJJd
t ubemaking branches also trad e is t etter. On the
other hand, many other trades are not so well off for
work. The edge tool and agricultural implement m a ker~,
t.he iron safe and lock trades, and th e cycle trade, are
not so good, many being out of work. Iron and tin plate workers a re also less acti ,e. The brass and
copper trades are dull; so also a re the nut a.nd bolt
a nd the na il and chain trades. The tube trade has
improved. Some other trad es in t he d istrict are slack.
All the building t rades are good , very few men being
ou t of work.

The engineering industries in the several Lancash ire

distric ts ha ve been affected more or less by the coal
stoppage, and the consequent high price of fuel. In some
cases the work s have been closed, or partially closed,
nor will any revival of activity take place until the coal
dispute is over. Apart, however, from the fuel question,
the establishm ents generally a.re not over well supplied
with orders, and others a re not being se verely pressed
for the completion of work on hand. Nevertheless,
the engineers generally report trad e to be moderately
good, with only a slight increase in the actual number
of the unemployed. The steam-eng ine ma kers, on the
other hand, re por t the condition of trade as bad, with
a.n increased number out of work. There is an absence
of trade disputes in all branches, and the men in work
endeavour to hold fast wherever they can. In the iron
and steel trades generally, business is quiet ; buyers
do not care to purchase while things are so unsettled.
The business put through is of such a character t hat it
cannot be t a ken as ~ test of prices, there bein g an
almost total absence of quotations.

- --

In the heffield and Roth erham district trade is bad,

owing to the coal dispute mainly. The a rmour plate
trade is at a standstill, and has been for weeks. 'l'hreP
firms of st eel smelters have been wholly idle, and
several others partia lly so. It is estimated that fully
60 per cent. a re out of em ployment, while the r e
ma.indcr are most ly on short time. The wire trade is
similarly circumstanced, about one-third having been
out of work for week s, with no prospect of going back t o
work till th e coal strike is over. 'fhe eng ineering a nd
implement trades are also very slack, being in work a
week a nd out a week, except in repair cases, in which
some a re engaged d uring stoppages in other iml ustries.
In th e cutlery trades about 10 p er cent. are unemployed, and many others are on s hort t ime. The file
trade generally is quiet , while engineers' tool makers
a nd joiners' tool ma kers are ,e;y short of ~ork. .The
miscellaneo us branches of unsktlled or pa.rt1a lly sktlled
labou r are in a. worse condition than a ny of the above.

---

---

I n the B irm ingham district th e gen eral stat e of trade

is dull. But brassworkers are busier, esp ecially in gtts
fittings a nd chandeliers.
o also are electric light
workers in the fittings department. In the engineering
branches there is a. slackening off in nearly all cases,
evE'n i n the gasengine branches. H eavy ir on work is
in demand for bridges, boilers, girders, tanks, &c.,
with the prospect of a. good winter's work. H eavy
chain and anchor makers are also busy. Tube workers
a.nd galvanised iron workers a re fairl y busy, but rail way work is very du ll. The miscellaneous trades of
the district a re du ll generally ; in several the depression
is deepening, but in a few things are looking up, On
t he whole, howe,er, if the coal dispu te were settled
the general out look of trade is not bad, though rather
quiet; in some, general a ctivity would be the result.
I n t he Leeds district the engineerin g trades, the
iron and steel trades, and some other industrifs, are
partially unemployed, by reason of the coal dispute.
Otherwise the engineering t rades show signs of improYement. Partial suspension, or short time, has
been r esorted to in consequence of the ecarcity and
dea rness of fuel, other\\ ise the enginee ring t rades
would ha,e been a.t work. The puddlers have been
out of work for weeks, a.nd ironfound ers have only
been working about a. cCJuple of days p er week at some
of the firms.

In the B elfast district trade is not quite so brisk as

it was, but only about 5 per cent. are unemployed.
In the shipping, engin eering, and a ll cognate branches
of trade there are signs of slackening off, but not
seriously. The linen trades a re d ull, about 9 p er
cent. being out of work. But in the building trades
only 2.8 per cent. are unemployed . In eighteen of the
miscellaneous tra des of the district only 119 are out
of wor k , out of a. total of 404 7 mem hers of the se vera l
societies. This is fairly good.
The unemployed question affects t he un skilled
trades more than any other. All suffer to a n extent
in t imes of depression, but the unskilled suffer the
most. This is a. lesson to be learned and to be applied.
kill is the great passport t o employmen t, a.ncl the
lees skilled are the first to go to t he wall. A n .nues t o
employment ar e open to the skilled mechanic, or
even to the skilled labourer, when all doors are closed
to the unskilled. But the problem is too far-reach ing to
be here d iscussed.
ociety can do somet hing, but the
individual workman can do more toward s a cure.

DREDGI NG OPERATIONS ON THE

MERSEY BAR.*
By ~fr.

ANTliONr GEOHGE L r s TER,

!vi. Inst. C.E.

(Concluded from p age 452.)

Tars varia tion in material was found to be considerable,

a.s, although the bar, so far a.s it has been probed, is
found to consist mainly of free sand overlying the bed of
the sea., the s~n.d varied in its degree of coarsene~s according to 1ts pos1t1on; that on the outer slopes be10g fine t
and mixed with mud, a nd the coarsest a.nd cleanest sa nd
being found on the inner slopes, whence it graduated
outwards to the fi ne material of the sea. face.
(Specimens of the sand were shown t o th~ Congre s,
and the positions from which the various samples were
taken were indicated on the chart by letters.)
The best percentage of sand raised a.t any time with

In t he Cleveland district generally a downward

movement \Vas observable all last week in the iron and
steel mark et. T hedisputesat the steel works a.tDarlingt on, affecting GOO men, and of the platers' helpers at
Thorna.by, invoh ing some 240 men, ha ve been settled;
* Pa_per read before the I nternational Maritime Cona.nd some a rrangements have b een f!l&.de a~ to the ~se
of the ratchet machines. T here 18 a. d18put e w1th gress, L ondon, July, 1893.

OcT.

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

20, 1 893.]

the origioa.l dredgers was found to be about 45 ; and at

the rate of filling mentioned above-viz , 500 t ons in
25 minutes-the p er centage of sand must have averaged
more than 25.
On several oc~sions, in s.Pite of the guards, large pieces
of solid material, such as cho kers, concretP, a nd even iron
shackles, passed through th e pump, without appar ently
doing it any harm. In one case a small iron buoy sinker,
weighing 20 lb., was brought np by one of the pumps.
It was at firs t considered probable that the dredgers
would be able to work whilst steaming slowly ahead, but
it was foun d that the suction pipe im bedded itself t o such
an extent t hat the propellers fa iled to move the ves~ els,
and eventually the bes t course was found to be to work
the ,essels at anchor.
Two sites, illustrated on the chart (see page 451 an te),
were sanctioned by the Conser vator of the M ersey for the
dumpin~ of material raised. These are situat ed about
three m1les from the point at which the operations had
to be ca.rried on, and the time occu pied in going and
coming was generally three-quarters o f an hour.
The dredgers are capable of dredging to a d ep th of
about 36ft. in smooth water, and their combined " ork
per month, as will be seen from the Appendix I ., r anged
from a minimum of 10,360 tons in D ecember, 189 1. to a
maximum of 174,160 tons in A pril of this year, this latter
being equivalen t to about 4! loads per dredger for ea<;h
tide during the month, which, consider ing that th e available time for dredging by theee vessels is from half ebb t o
half flood-namely, on an average about six hours-may
be regarded as a very r emarkable result, and such as
could not have been achieved had the weath er not been
exceptionally good.
The total amount r emoved, as m easu r ed by hopper
loads from the commencement of work to the end of June
in the present year, was 2,438,710 t onl!, and this was made
up in the following manner :
T ons.
From Septembt-r, 1890, to end of
. ..
...
319,550
Jun~. 1891*
...

From Jnly 1, 1891, to end of Decem ...
307,450
...
ber, 1891

From J a.nua.ry 1, 1892, t o Jun e 30,

451,390
. ..

1892t

From July l, 1892, t o D ecember 31,
.. . 617,640
...
1892

712,680
S!x months ending June 30, 1893

... 2, 438, 710

T otal ...

The diagram (Fig. 6) shows t he p roportion of hourR

worked as compared with t ime los t f rom various ca.u~es
during the twelve mon ths endin~ June 30, 1893. Th e
various tints ind icate (1) the actual num ber of hours
worked during the whole period over which operations
have been carried on ; (2) that lost thr ough bad weather ;
(3) that occupi~d in rep~irs; (4) resting time and holidays;
and (5) the ttme dunng wh10h the level of the water
was unsuitable for these dredgers .
Every endeavourwa.s ma.deto do the m aximum work; b:ut
with vessels of this cla.ss, only 150 ft. long, the weather ts,
of course, an important factor in th eir working; and it is
found that a moderate s wt>ll or wind (numeral 5 Beaufort 's
acalt>, from any direction bet~een . W.S.W. a nd N.~. ) is
sufficient to endanger the suct10n -p1pe, and so necess1tates
the stoppage of work.
The most risk occurs during spring tides, when ther e
is a. strong current, ca.using a. sh ear by which the dredge~s
are apt to be brought across and. bea~ d own u~on th.etr
pipes. Great care has to be exer01sed m the mampul_at10n
of the suctionpipe under s uch circumstances, and it ts a.llimportan~ that an observant and ready man be employed
for this duty.
The pipes have, indeed, been ~roken several times, ~nd
such occurrences p erhaps const1tute the most ser1ous
breakdowns, although t here have been others of minor
importance, such as must inevitably happen in such
work.
No work is done on Sundays: and " resting time " includes Sundaya and certain hours after the dredgers leave
their work on Saturdays and before they get to work on
Mondays, these hours varying according t o the t ime of
the tide of the day.
As regards results ach ieved , the least depth on the
navigating line across the bar before the dredging operationg were commenced was, according t o the chart published in 1890, 11 ft. at low water equinoctial spring tides ;
whilst, according to the soundings t aken early in June
of ~his year, 1893, the minimum depth alon g th e line of
dredging wa~ 18 ft. 3 in. under the same condition of
tide.
The Append ix II. gives the number of hours per annum
during which there would be 26 ft. o f water and upwards
on the bar if maintained at its presen t d epth; also t he
greatest number of consecutive tides during which this
condition prevails throughout the tide, and fi nally the
~eatest number of consecutive hours during which there
tsless than 26 ft. of water on the bar .
As regards cost, the work has been carried out a.t a. c_ost
of 1. 38d. per ton, wh ich includes all wages, coal, r epatrs,
and expenses on the dredsers, but no charges for interest
and depreciation or supermtendence.
The condition of th ings referred to as obt aining in June
of this year had been practically achieved at the commencement of 1892, and has continued ever since with
minor fluctuations, the existing plant having apparently
failed during more than fi fteen months of pers istent
dredging to do more than maintain the depths achi eved,
and this in spite of the fact that its rate of dredging has
* " No. 5" dredger did not commence work until April,
1891.
t Four months out of this time ''No. 7 , was not a.t work
from various causes.

495

sid e in the imm ediate neighbourhood of the sailing hne

have s teadily improved.
. .
There are other evid ences which support thu vtew of
the case; these are su pplied by the obser vations of ~urrent
which have been taken from t ime to time, and wh tcb a~e
given on the T able appended to this paper {Appendix
1I I . ).
From the improvement vidible in these it would appear
that the deepening of the bar has attracted a larger volu_me
Fig. 6. OIUOQ/N() OP/IATIOHS 1"0/f YEAH /Y/JINC JO!It JUNE 'SJ.
of water t o its outlet, and the improved current is a.sslstTime tfurtnj w/uch the lrve/ q/' l't!QtJzr WQ.S U/IGIIdaiJ/e _sMwn t/11/S
ine- to maintain the ad van tage gained by dredging, and
H~st.~ny ~me ' e. Soturtltl)' o flcmoons 6 Suntla.f"
. ,.
h..,...
thts also seems pro,ed by the fact that in the winters of
lime lost owm!/ to repatr.s
... .
. .
,
T1me lo.st. ll1rou!JI1 bet/ wtt~lllv. . . .. __ . _. _. .
"
1891 and 1892, when ther e were consid erable periods,
Acluol b m f!. workttl
. . . _ . . . . . . . . .
v
extending in one instance to abou t six weeks, in which
p ract ically no d redg ing could be d one, there was little or
no diminution of d epths obser vable a.t the end of that
tim e.
In any case, however, th e oper ations of th~ two s maller
dred gers have for a long time past failed to increase the
effective depth, and it has th er efore become necessa ry to
increase the power of the dredgine- plant.
Accordin gly, a dredger of an Improved type h as been
constructed, capable of carry ing 3000 tons of sand, and
ofl oa.ding herself in 45 minutes.
It is a.nticipa.t ed that, taking into con~ideration her
increased power, size, a nd steadiness, and an alteration
in the posi tion of t he dumping site, which has recen tly
been sanctioned by the Conser vator, she will Le able t o
remove about seven t imes as much as the exis ting craft do
at presen t; so that if these latter be r etain ed at the
work, as is th e ex pressed intention, the rate of progre~s
in future will be f ully eight times what it has been in the
past, and under such conditions it is t o be antici pated
that before long a d epth of channel of at least 26 ft. will
be availa ble a.t low water spring tides from L iverpool to
the sea.
It will not be out of place, in relating the cir cumstances
under which this work has been prosecuted, to offer some
obser vations on the laws which govern the creation of
bars, and the forms which they assume.
The gener al physical features of the ri ver ha. ve already
been described; the sources on which it d epends for its
main tenance are the fresh water from the uplands and
the currents induced by the t :da.l wave.
Th ese latter, though not the p rime, ar~ the prepon
d erating influence. The flow of an average tide past New
Brighton amounts t o 500,000,000 cubic yard s, while t he
lAw
volume of the fresh water d eli ver ed into the estuary,
chiefly by th e M ersey and W eaver, is estimated at
between 2, 000,000 and 3, 000,000 in 12 hours.

It is evident, t her efor e, tha.b the scouring operations in

the estuary initiated by the land waters are very lar~ely

r einforced and accentuated by th e action of the t tdal

currents, and this is more particulatly the case at the bar.

A l'fK S
Were it nob for these forces (as has already been pointed

out), the bight forming Liverpool Bay would becvme

'! I .
entirely sanded up by the acti on of the winds and waves
-Non the sands, with which both neighbouring coasts are so
plentifully cover ed.
The cours ing of the wa ters, however, through this aro
of sand has d efined a broad and d eep channel between

....
Li verpool and the sea, which has, for nearly its entire
'
length, sufficien t d epth to admit the largest vessel~ un~er
N~ 2 .
--~-~";'1 H-I all conditions of tide, and only at the bar or t ermmatwn
of t his channel does serious shallowing take place.

Though in most navigable ri vers the bar is the ruling and

I
limiting fact or in their navigation, and vast s sums of money
------------.
~~----~r---have been spent in att empts- not ~way~ s:uccesafl;ll -to do
I
,
------------',
_\;._________!----away with many of these obstruct10ns, 1t 1s a cun ous fact
.' /
that the causes which lead t o the formation of such
barriers are so little unders tood, a nd in many cases so
greatly misunderstood. ~he .most general explanati~ms
given ar e th~t the obstr uctiOn 1s ~reated by the neutrahsa
tion of the r1 ver curren ts by the m ert water of the sea, or
W/110$ J'C'R 20 YEARS.
by the force of op posing waves.
NumW of' hours tluring 1vhicll th~ wind 6/ew li-Dm roch of"lh IG clu'Q
A s r egards the first of th~se theor ies, I think it wil~ be
pctnt:', qre ut off

.
ob vious t o m ost people that 1t cannot hold ~oo~ for a ~1da.l
The aw:rr~ge vdil:lt!3 in milu
hout; are .set all roatol(y ll-om the
river where the current flows alternately m e1ther duecci r .:umli!rencc
tion, inasm uch as each point in its l ength becomes in its
turn a neutral point with the r erurrence of high and low
Fig. 8.
water so that the duration of slack or d ead water at the
outlet' of the ri ver, wh er e the bar is t o be found, d oes not
exceed that at any other portion of its length which is
subject to tidal influence.
The suggestion that the wave force d estroys t he current
at the line of a bar, which has been put forward by professional men, and on which theory in one instance a work
of extraordinary o~iginality was d esigned and p~opose~i
luck ily without bemg adopted, seem s to my mmd st1l
m or e unsatisfactory. Were such a theory correct, there
would cE\rtainly be, during t he long inter vals of r epose
and freed om from storms which occur in most ri vera, a.
much greater r eduction of bar le vel than is obser vable.
But the best p roof of the inaccuracy of ~he~e theories
lies in the fact that no abnormal loss of velo~1ty m the curr ent is noticeable on the line of the bar; on the contrary,
the veloci ty of the ebb ~ide_i n t~e .case of t~e Merse;v bar is
very consid erable.outstd.e 1ts h m1ts, an~ 1s appre~:nable at
the N. W. lightship, a dtstance of 11 mtles from 1ts crest.
At the M ersey bar itself the velocity of ~he eb~ amo~nts
t o nearly 3 statute miles per. hour on h1gh sprmg t~des,
:856 c;
and 1~ miles on n eaps, a nd thlB, as has been d etermmed
by obser vation, is only lost by slo w d egrees.
T he forto however, which the obstruction takes b eing
The effect, however, has no doubt been realised in the
of a pur ely' local and comparati vely. abrupt character,
ext ension laterally of the d eepened channel.
. does not lend itself to any explanatiOn based upon so
F rom the section along the crest of the bar m
Fig. 7 it will be seen that a very g reat w:id~h has been gradual a. r educ:tion of v_elocity as is noticeable, and the
effected-viz., 6000 ft. ; but unfortunately 1t 1s not pos- explanation of 1ts for mat10n must be sought elsewher e.
rro thoroughly appr~ciate the c~usea whic~ bri~g about
sible t o t ake extended obser vations sufficiently freq_uentl.Y
the formation of bars m the pecuhar shape m whtch they
t o enable a periodical comparison to be made m th~s are
formed it will be well t o consider the simplest form
direction, and so it cannot be stat ed to what e.xte~t this of channel' coursing throu gh banks of sand free from
improvement has prevailed, though the exa.mmat1~n of
the periodical surveys indicates that the depths on e1ther alluv ial or cementitious subs tance, and with which the

be-en largely increased during the t ime named ; in fact,

out of the total quantity of 2,438, 710 t ons r emoved.
1, 781,710 t ons have been r emoved since the beginn ing of
1892.
This s tatement, of course, only applies to increase in
depth on the navigating line, to which the d redging work
is practically confined.
~-::1

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

[OcT.

Tons.
contour lines of the outer slop es of the sand banks form a
70,920
January, 1893, two dredgers at work

rig_l!t angle (Fig. 7).

49,760
February,
,
one
dredger
at
work

Under such conditions the general fall or slope of the

105 370
March,
, two d redgers at work

banks will be radially from apices near the centre of their
174,160
April,

11
11
11
168,950
areas on either side of the channel, and t heir slopes will
May,
,

11
11
143,520
June,
,
be considerably increased in the immediate neighbourhood

11
11
of the channel. The intersection of a channel of the secTotal ..
..
..
..
.. 2,438, 710
tion s hown on the diagram with the outer slopes of the
banks would, if it were affected by human agency, and a.
APl>ENDIX II.- MER EY BAR.
uniform section maintained throughout, result in a Present D epth of Ba1', 28 Ft. below Old Dock Sill, or 18 J?t.
" groyne" or curved line of intersection represented by
below L ow Wate1 of Spring T ides.
AB C.
Number of H ours during which there is 26 Ft. of W ater
'Vhen, however, as in the case of ri vers, the formation
and upwarcls on the Bar.
of the outlet of the channel is effect ed by hydraulic
agency, it must, as a result of natural laws, take a difNumber of
ferent form. Supposi ng the volume retained by the
Num
ber
of
Hou rs in One
Height of
Tides in One
ohannel to be conflta.nb throughout its length down to a. High Water Time on each
Year during
Year
of
the
l ine of section drawn acr0ss the channel from A t o C , it
which t here is
abo\ e Old
Tide.
Hti~ht Named, 26Ft. or more on
w ill be obvious that below that point the waters which it
Dock Stll.
respe<; th el).
the Bar.
carries can escape latera lly across the line of intersection
A B C before referred to; consequently, if a. number of
secti,n~ be considered between A, C, and B , there will
r
t..
hrs. run.
h
rs.
mn.
d early be less water available for the maintenance of
37 3')
0
12 ao
3
each successive section between those points; and taking
287 30
10
12 30
23
in t'l c:msideration the relations of the velocity and ma11
390 30
l l 45
M
12
741 J .)
terial in SllSp ension, there mus t be, as a consequence, a
10 45
GU
1;j
8 0 0
10 . 0
~8
gradual reduct ion of sectional area, and consequently a
!) 40
74 J ~0
H
77
rise of the bottom of the channel between A C and B .
15
$:1 10
99
907 30
This rise of thb bottom in the centre must also of n eces16
700 0
8 45
80
si ty be followed by a rise of the sides of the channel, in
17
~ 50
0
8 40
75
order that its cross profile in this leng th may accord with
H
8 30
83
705 30
3!)1 40
19
47
or be similar t ) that obtaining in the rest of its coursE>,
8 20
20
22
183 20
8 20
the nature of the material in which ib is formed being
21
41 15
8 15
5
a.<!sumed t o be similar throughout, and the velocities at
different points in its trans verse section varying s imilarly.
t 669 50
705
The result of this a ction is seen in the formation of a
6669 h . r,o m. x 100 = 76 per cent.
ridge or mound along the curved line forming the inter
~760
section of the outer slopes of the banks and the inner
P eriods E xtending over Sct:ral Tides when there 1Uill be
slopes of the cha nnel, which constitut es a serious '> bstruc26Ft. and upwards of Water on the B ar.
tio n to n avigation, and which is designated the river bar.
Hours
The ex t ent of this shoaling will be such that the outlet
February . . 6 conaecuti ve tides a.t, 12~ hours per tide = 75
will be capable of discha rging in a fan-like direction along .March..
.. 7
= 87!
,
"
11
the curved line of it s crest in any given space of time th e April . .
.. 7
,,
,,
,,
= 87!
water which the channel at A C can discharge in an equal August
.. 6
,
= 75
11
11
time.
September . . 7
,
= 87~
11
.. 6
On comparing Fig. 7, which may be regarded as repre- October
= 75
11
,
11
senting an ideal bar, with that showing the actual bar
NoTE.-The longest consecutive period durin~ which there will
of the M ersey, ib will be at once obvious that, although be less than 26 ft. on the bar is 4t hours (ln a 21-n. tide.
the general features of both may be regarded as suffiAPPENDIX III.-MERSEY B.An.
ciently similar t o juetify the theory advanced, further
E bb Currents ove1 tke B ar taken during 1892-3.
explanation is required of the dissimilari ty which is
ev1dent.
Gi ;..
.c
...
I
G) ,!Id ~ID
In the diagram an ideal condition of affairs has been
1-o- 00 c:: e.o ~ '0 :::J ~
Weather.
assumed, which of course could never obtain in nature,
~ .o::S o ~..:
E-iA-o
0
.!!:::~
the principal disturbing e lements being wind and waves.
~
c::GJ-(/)0
0
-o
...
Q) ~ 0
Storms play a very important part in the "formati on1 "
oQ) .c::
D<lte.
Wicd.
0
..
.!::!
;:.,. f$
c::
~
as well a.s "!~cation, " of banks such as those found m
ID
o'>
CIS ...,. ID >.' ..
c::
~ Q).o Gi
... c:: .... ~
L iverpool Bay, and the dis torted form of the horseshoeo 2c::S

.0 >
Q)
0 0~
;;
bO 0
.0 Q) ~
~ Ql
ehaped ridge called the bar is undoubtedly largely d ue to
CIS.,: 0 c::-tn0
... .0 .... cd 9 >- CIS -Direc- Force. Q)
:..
... 0~
thi s infiuence. L ooking at the comparative amount and
~ CIS m 8 l ~,., :..
~
tion.
Ol ~
direction of the wind forces affenting the ba.y, as shown
ft. in. 1hours
by the wind diagram, Fig. 8, it will be seen that those blow*
2.15
3
N.
1
1 N.
ing through an arc axtending from W . by S. t o W. N. W . March 30, 1892
2'1 u
21 11
3
2 30
1
1 I.
are most powerful. If to this consideration be added the
,
21 11
2.39
3
1
1 s.
fa.ct thab the greatest '' fetch >~ is t o be found through the May 26, 11
19 7
"
2.27
3!
,
2
2 N.
same 3.rc, it will be at once seen that the banks and bar
"
19 7 3!
2 23
2
2 I.
are most liable to d isturbance from such causes acting
19 7 3!
2.31
2
2 I.
I '
19 7 3!
"
,
2.35
through the arc named. A s materia l is brought down by
2
2 s.
I '
19 11
2.17 Calm
3!
0
1 N.
the current through the Queen 's channel, the t endency of NO\'. 7,
19 11
2.19
3!
0
1 l.
11
prevailing winds a nd waves would be t o deflect it rather
19 11
",
2. 13
3t
0
1 1.
t o the nor th side of the bar, where, as the current dimi"
",.
19 11
2.14
3t
0
1

nished, it would be gradually deposited. The very con- Feb." 3, 1893

18 4
3
2.43 s."w.
1
1 N.
siderable change in the d irection of the C rosby channel,
18 4
3
2.35
1
1 I.
"
18 4
2. 13
which is no ticeable from the Crosby S hip outwards, is no
3
,.
1 s.
1
" 20, "
20 8 3
2.57 N.E.
1
0 N.
doubt in a. large measure due to the tendency of prevail- March
,"
2t> 8 a
2.588
1
0 I.
ing winds and waves t o build up the leeward aide of the
"
"
,
20 8
2.64b
3
1
0 I.
11
channel, a nd thus gradually to cause ib to align itself in
"
20 8
2.616
1
0 s.
3t
"
the direction of the prevailing opposing for nes.
April18, "
20 11
3
2.79 Calm
0
1 N.
"
In conclusion , I think it will be agreed tha.b very con20 11
2.792
3
,
1 I.
0
11
"
20 11
2.9 3
3
siderable results have been obtained ab the Mersey Bar,
0
1 I.
11
"
,
3
0
1
2.8851 "
20 11

and that with the improved dredger which is now being

"
set t o wor k there is every hope that a deep channel from
the sea to Liverpool at all conditions of tide will very
* The letters N., I., and S., indicate the respective positions of
the ftoats in the channel- North, Intermediate, and South.
shortly be obtained.
N OTK.-All currents taken with poles immersed 15 tt.
APPKNDIX I.
Quantity of Sand Dredged at Queen's Channel Bar, from
Commencement, SepternlJer, 1890, to J une 30, 1893.
LAUNCHES AND TRIAL TRIPS.
Tons.
September, 1890 (part month), one dredger at
THE scr~w stea.m~r Calchfaen went on her trial on the
11,180
work . .
..
..
..
..
..
..
me~ured mile at Skelmorlie on th~ 9th inst. , when she
20,510
October, 1890, one dredger at work
..
..
attamed a speed of 10~ knots. Th1s vessel was built by
20,340
November, ,
..
,
..
..
the Ailsa. Shipbuildin~ Company1 of Troon, for M essrs.
27,620
December, ..
11
,

Kneeeba.w, Lupton, and Co., of Li ver pool, for th eir lime31,080

J anu 'l.ry, 189 1
,
.,
..
..
31,310
st one t rade, a nd the foJlowing are her dim ensions: Length,
ltebruary, , ,
11
,


11,280
March,
,
,,
.,
..

160ft. ; breadth, 24~ fb. ; and moulded depth, 11ft. 9 in.

46,970
April,
..
..
11 two drE'dgers at work
~be has been ~ tted ~Y the ~uilderd with compound
61,440
ltlay,
,,
,
,
..
.
s1~face-condensmg engmes, 20 10. and 40 in. cylinders by
88,820
June,
,
,
.
.
.
.
11
27 10. stroke.
66,981)
Jul y,
..
,
11


42,570
August,
,
.,
.,
..
..
September, ,
,
,
..
..
63,810
. ~IEssrs. Sco~t. and Co., G reenock, launched on the lOth
64,9!0
October,
,.
,.
,,
..
..
m~t. an aux1ha.ry st eam schooner yacht, called the
68,790
No\ember, ,
,
,
..
..
Kttttwake, to the order of L ord Carnegie. Dimensions :
10,360
December, , .
,
,
..
..
L ength , ~20 ft. 9 in. ; breadth, 21 ft. 2 in. ; depth, 12 ft. ;
21,460
J e.nuary, 1892, one dredger at wot k . .
..
gross regtst ered tonnage, 179.69; Thames m easurement
96,960
Z.' ebruary, ., tw~ dredgers at work . .
..
240. tons.
The builder will .upp)y triple-ex pansio~
March,
,
,
,
..
. . 149,930
62,740
April,
.. one dredger at work
..
..
en~mes ~f 160 h.orse-power, .t he d1ameter of the cylinders
68,1 20
ltla.y,
11
..
11


bewg 9j- m ., 15 m., and 2H m . respE>cti\Ply with a. piston
5Z, l bO
June,
,
,,
,,
..
..
stroke of 18 in. The Kittiwake will also have large sail
July,
, two dredgers at work . .
. . 115,880
power.
119,220
August,
,
,
,
..
..
52,800
September, 11
,
,


.T hes.s. Shenandoah made a very successful trial trip in the
October, ,
,
,

115,200
November, ,.
,.
,
..
. . 133,92()
Ftrth of Cl~d e on th e 7th inst. She is the second of three
80,620
December, ,
,
..
..
steamers bu1lt by M essrs. Alexander Stephen and Sons,
(I)

Q,)

Q;)

>. .

Q) ....,

)I

)I

)I

)I

)I

..
.

)I

))

11

..

)I

..

)I

20,

1893.

Linthouse, to the order of the Chesapeake and Ohio

Steamsh ip Company, Limit ed, of L ondon, for their new
line between Newport News a nd this country. The
vessel is dC'.signed for carrying about 5500 tons dead weight,
and is s pecially fitted for cattle, of which she can take
about 760. She is a. sist er ship t o the Rappahannock,
already full y described, and on trial on the measured
m ile made the sam e average speed, about 14 knots.
There was lately launched from the patent slip of
M essrs. G. N a pier and Son, Cross house, Sou tham pton, a
st eel screw passenger vessel named the Pri nce, of the
follo wing dimensions : L eng th over a ll, 70 ft.; breadth
extreme, 16 ft.; depth m oulded, 6 ft. 3 in.; draught, 5 ft.
a ft and 3 ft. forward. The vessel w ill carry nearly 200
passengers. The engines are of the compound surface-condensing type, with cylinders 10 in. and 20 in. in diameter
by 12 in. strok e, and the boiler of the return-tube marine
type-, with 123 lb. working p ressure. The vessel has been
built to the order of the Gosport a nd Portsea Waterman's Steam L aunch Company, L imited, and on the lOth
ins t. she was takan on the measured mile, and although
it was blowing rather hard, w ith a choppy sea, th e mean
speed attained was just over 9 knot s, this being conidered hig hly satisfactory, taking into account the smallness of the propeller due to the lig ht draught of water.
?viessrs. Furness, W ithy, a nd Co., Limited, Hartlepool,
launched, on the 12th ins t. a s teel scre w s teamer named
G reenbrier, built for the C hesapeake and Ohio Steam
hip Company, Limited, L ondon, for the general ca.r~o
and catt!e trade. The vessel has two iron decks laid all
fore and a ft, with a shade deck above. The cattle will be
carried on two decks with portable hinged fi ttings, so that
on ~he return voya.ge from Europe the cattle space ~n be
a vailable for carrymg cargo. The masts are t elescopic, so
that, if n ecessary, the vessel can enter the Manchest er
Canal, a nd go under bridges in tidal ri vera. The vessel will
b~ fitted with triple-ex pansion engines by l\Iessrs. T.
Rtchardson and Son s, a.nd it is antiC'ipated a sea speed of
12 knots will be easily ob tained.
M essrs. "\IVm. S imon s and Co., R enfrew, on the 11th
inst. launched complete the paddle ferry st eamer Hutton,
construct ed to the order of th e L ondon County Council
for ser vice on the River Thames a t W oolwich. This
vessel for ms one of a. fleet of three which the County Council have J?rovided for the public, and by which passengers
and vehtcles a re carried across the Thames without
charge. The dimensions of the vessel a re as follows :
L ength, 170ft.; breadth over a ll, 58 ft.; depth, 7 ft. 3 in.
It has a capacity t o carry 130 tons of li ve load (tha.t is,
70 tons for vehicles on the upper deck, a.nd 60 tons for
passengers on the main deck). It is constructed of s t eel,
under special survey of Lloyd 's and the Board of Trade.
It ha...c; a flush deck, a nd a large deckhouse amids hips.
T he main deck is sponsoned out flush with the paddleLoxes, and the bulwarks run in a fair line With th e
paddle-boxes from stem t o stern. The upper deck is
plated with corrugated plat es filled in with asphalte and
sand, upon which creosoted 1\I emel blocks a re laid.
ix
sets of slid ing gangway doors, three on either side, are
provid ed for the vehicle traffic, t he passengers' gangways
being placed on the main deck. 'l'he boat is intended to
e~bark a nd land its traffic ~>n fioating pontoons (havi ng
g1 rderwork approaches) statroned on each side of the
river. Th.e v~ssel is fitted with t w~ pairs of engines,
each workmg 10depend entlr, a nd provtded with separate
surface condensers, also wtth independent combined ai r
a nd circulating pumps. The engi nes are intended to
propel the vessel ab a speed of 8~ knots per hour, a nd
develop over 600 indicated horse-power. Steam is p rovided by two s teel boilers. An electric light installation has been provided.
The Sunderland Shipbuilding Company Limited
launched on the 12th inst. a steel screw ste~mer named
Celte for Messrs. Chevilotte F reres, of Brest. The principal dimensions are: L ength, 210 ft. ; breadth 31 ft.
depth, 17 ft .. Gin. Sh~ has been built to the high~st cla.s~
~ranch yentas, and I S for the owners' F rench coasting
hn e. Tnple-~omJ20UI;ld en~ines are supplied by the NorthEastern Ma.rme E1;1g10eer10g Company, Limited, of Sund~rland. The cyhnders are 18~ 10., 30 in., and 49 in. in
d1ameter by 33 10. stroke, steam being supplied by an
extra. l~rge boiler working at a pressure of 160 lb. per
square 10ch.
Sir Raylton Dixon and Co., Middlesbrough, launched
on the 8th inst. a steel screw steamer of the spar deck
t y pe, named Rothenfels, builb for the Hansa. Steamship
Company, of Bremen. The principal dimension s are:
L ength, 327 ft., by 41 ft. 9 in. beam, by 28 ft. 6 in. d epth
mould ed. Engines will be fitted by M essrs. Thomas
Richardson a nd Sons, of Hartlepool. The cylinders are
24 in. , 38 in., and 64 in. in diameter by 42 in. stroke with
two large steel boilers working at 1()0 lb. pressure. '
T he steamer Cayo l\Iono, built by ?v!essrs. C. S. Swan
and Hunter, Wallsend, for ~Iessrs. Ernest Bigland and
Co., London, went on ber trials off Tynemouth on the
14th inst. The length o~er all is 326. ft. ; beam, 41 ft. ;
moulded depth, 26 ft. 10 10. H er eng10e3 were built by
l\1essr~: Thomas. Rich~rdson and Sons, of Hartlepool,
her cyhnders bemg 24 m., 38 in., a nd 64 in. in diameter,
with a stroke of 42 in. A speed of over 12 knots was
obtained in a series of runE'.
l\1anSF.ILr.F.s.-The number of vessels which entered and
cleared at l\Iarseilles in August was 1321, representing a n
aggregate tonnage of 742,619 t ons. The corresponding
movement in August, 1892, was 1400 vessels, representing
an aggregat e tonnage of 797,974 tons.

OcT.

20,

r 893.]

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

"ENGINEERING" ILLUSTRATED PATENT

RECORD.
C OMPILED BY

w. LLOYD WISE.

SELECTED ABSTRACTS OF RECENT PUBLISHED SPEOIFlOATlONS

UNDER THE ACTS 1883-1888.
The numbtr of lriews given in the Spe~jicatum Dratoings i s stated
i n each c~Ue; where non~ are mentioned, the Specification is
n~ t illustrated.
Wl~re I nventions are communicated from abroad, the Names,
d:c. , of the Communicators are given1.t1. italics.
Copies of Specification.8 -tnay bo obtained at the Patent O.Dice
Sale Branch, 38, Cunitor-street, Chancery-lane, 1!.'. C., at the
tm<jQrm price of8d .
The dalf of the advertiJie1nent f'j the acceJ>tance flj a complete
1,-vecijicatton is, in each rase, oiuen ojter the a..bstract, unlus the
Patwl haH been sealed, tl.Jhen t/1-' date of 8eali11g i$ given.
.4m 1 pusOt~ -tnay at amy t ime within t wo montltH front the date oj
titl' adverti$ement flj the acceptance of a complete 81Jecijicatiotl,
give notice at tile Patent Office (lj oppot.-ition to the !Jrant of a
Pattnt Oll a1ll/ of the groundN mentioned in the .Act.

MACHINE TOOLS, S B AFTING, &c.

19,134. F. Lightbourn e and C. Gibson, B irmingham. Differential Pulley Blocks and Bolsts.
[2 Pigs.) October 25, 1892. -Tbls invention r elates to p u lley

497

while pa~in~ along the rai l. A \'er t.ical case q is mounted over
an OJ?enJDg 1n the <:) l!nde r, immediately in front of tbe end of
the p1ston c. The leadmg wheel or a train w hen proceeding in
th_e direoti~o of the arrow, passf's over a~d presses down the
ra1sed. poruon ~f the lever h , wh ich co.us s t he lever d to propel
the p1ston ~ w1th force. ag~in st t h e target/, car ry ing with i' one
of t he. fog Signals t, w b1ch IS thus ex ploded , at the same time the
oppos1te end. of the piston bei ng withdrawn into the cylinder b',
and the vert1.cal bar l lowf'red un~il the blank port ion at the top
comes .oppos1t_e the en'! of t he cyhnder, and p revents the piston c
r>turmng unt~l t h e t ram has proceeded farthe r a long t he line,
wh e!' t h e lead 10g wheel passes over and p resses down the raised
P? rLlOn of a lever, thereby raising t h e ver tical har l when the
p1ston c s hoots t hroug h'a. h ole in t h e top of t h e bar, ~nd strikes
the gong- 8 or a target, thereby g iving the second warning. (.tccepted September 6, 1893).

a nd _the l ubricant, when fed to the packing through the slot E, is

r~t:u.ned and not a llowed to escap e. The arrangement is plae< d
w1thtn the g land 0, and oil is fed to it by m eans of the lubricator
Il mounted on the g land G. The co\'ers C, D, with thei r casu
C', 0 1, w~e n screwed together over the packiog, form a box fe r
the lu b r ca~t te~ the rein , consrquentl.r t he pack ing is kept
saturated wH h 011, and t h e pistou rod B l ubricated . (.!.cceJ-lt d
September 6, 1893).

19!336. D . J. Murray, Ipswich. D rum Governors.

[4 Ji'tgs. ]

Octobe r 27, 1811:!.- This invention rt llltes to d r um

"'o~ernors, and has tor it s object to secure regulari ty of s petd in a
~u1d pre88u re m otor und er var y ing loads, by automatically oha ng
10g the out-off of wor king fluid. The eccentric s heave A is attached
t o a disc B guided at its circ umfer ence by th> main castiog M of
t~e gover':lor, and held in ~osit.ion by the cover-plate C. The fr ic
t1ooal reststance at t.he Circumference of t he disc B due to t.he
19,632. T . B . B eard, D erby, and W . G. B irkln loa~ on t he slide,aJ ve spindl>, acts at a comparatively large
shaw, Quarndon, D erbys. Keys for the Permanent rad1ue, .and keeps _th e g<;)Vernor from "jumping " and" hunting."
Way o f Railways. [2 Pips. ] November 1, 1802.- Thie in The wetghts r otat10g w1tb the sh aft aot under the influence of the
ve11Llon relates to the securi ng of k eyea upon t he per manent war of change of cen t rifugal force due to increase and decr ease in the
rail ways a fter Lh ~) ha \'e been d ri ,en into place. The kE'y C is ruade speed of t h e shaft. The weights in mo\'ing from t he pos ition of
full out to full in, change the position of the links. To reverse
t h e engin e, .the links are coupled to t.he disc B in a different
manner.
They are put in pos itions F and 0 .
In this
Cl.SE', when the governor weights move from fu ll out to full in
C'
the link s cha nge in p osition from 1<, to Fl and from G to

o<

blooks and hoist with e pioyclic t ra in of wheels for multiplying

power. By pulling oue sid e of the chain i m otion is imparted to
the wheel h. Tbe internal gear j is eccentrically turn ed, and ittl

of wood, and pro,id ed with boles at t h e end s, into which wedges

Dare d ri \'en atter it is i n place. T o insu re the ex pans ion of the
end of the key upon the inser t ion of t.he wedge, a saw-cut c is
run from the end into the wedge-way, so that w hen the wedge is
inserted, the saw-cut op ens, and the n ece88ar y enlargement at
the end of the key is obtained. (Accepted September 6, 1893).

19,357. S. J . Summerson, D arUngton. L ever Boxes

for Actuatin g R ailway Switch es. [4 F igs. ] October

28, 1892.-This in vention relates to a lever box consistin of a box
b having t he pin f tor the bellcrank c cast in one piece with it,
and having an a ttachment to the lever consisting of a sliding boll

197.1 '

1913 ~

whic h can be dropped i oto t he side of a sector s to adapt the

lever l fo r working points self-acting for eith er band, o r by with
d rawing t h e bolt to enable t he lever to be used ae a t hrow-over
one, the lever being prevented from worl<ing at all by the appli
cation of another bolt act ing upon the sector. (A ccepted September <;, 1893).

Fig.2.

To reve!~e the engine when t~e go,er oor works an upansion ,ah e,
the ~s1 t10n. ?f t he cen t re T IS changed, so t.ba.t it bears the same
rel~t1v~ po&ltlon to !he ~rank wh en runnintr in the new direction
as t d1d _w hen r unn10g ID ~be ol~ . This 1s done by having two
keyw~~:ys ID t he governor ~aiD cast10g , and one key bed in the shaft
oppos1te th ~ <?rank. _The hn ks ~re changed os for s ing le ~lide vah e.
:rhe toggle JOlnt e.ct1on of the hnks E, El and 0, G' assists i n keeptog t he governor steady. The cen t rifugal force a cting on the
weights is r~si~ted by spiral springs_n and HI. The stops J, Jl
also K, Kl, hm1t the travel of the we1ghts. The weig hts Wand Wl
e:r > connected to links D and E by the pins N and N', and the
lmks D and E ar a connect ed to t he eccent ric driving disc B by
t~e pins P .and 'P' . The mo\ement of the weig h ts Wand Wl
gl\'es the d tsc B an angula r movement, a nd changes the position
of the centre S of t he eccen t ric sheave A with relation to t h e
centre of t he cranksh aft. (Accepted September 6, 1893).

19.857. F . A . Russell, Cupa r , F ifes. P reventing

t h e Accumulation of Water , &c., in P ip e s. (6 Figs. 1

November 4, ~ -92.- The object of this inven tion is to prevent

ST EAM ENGINE S AND BOILERS.
the accu~ulatu;m . of wa.~ e r, s team, &c., in p ipes and cylinders.
19,504. D . B . Morlson, Har tlepool, Durham . W ater In . apply 10g this 10 vent1on to p ipes or vessels wor king \\ ith a
Circul ating Apparatus f or Steam Boiler s. [2 Figs. 1 flm~ pressu re g reater than the atmosphere, the valve 7 is h eld

Oct ober 31, 1 92. -This in,en tion relates to water-circulating ~ff 1ta seat 8 by a spri!lg 9, th e elasticity of \\ h ich may be ad
apparatus for steam boilers. a a re t he shells of the boiler~. b JUsted by the acre"': gu1de 10, a jam nut. ll locki ng it in p osition ,
t heir combustion c hambers, c t h e normal water level in ! ach 1n order th at t h e tl01d may p~s away, 1his SI-ring not beig sufli
boiler, and cl a safe level. T o t he sh ell of ee.ch boiler is con
Fig .7.
nected by a b ranch piece a pipe d , dl open at both its ends, the
J4
pa.rt d being of lo.rger diameter than d l, and ter minating at itl>

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- ........ -------- ---r

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nrms J3 ma.de to slide wiLhin t h e gaps Jt 2 of the l ooking- frame k,
11
I y'
,\ I
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which is then reciprocated as the internal w heel j r eYolvea in its
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eccent ric pat h, and mot,ion is communicat ed to the toothed
,I
.... __ ,
' /3
~--'
annulus band its p inion bl , t his pinion drhi ng the l a rge tooth
spurwbeel d and through it the lifting wheel e, which is rotl\.ted
alld the wei~tht lifted proportionally to the speeding down of t his upper end in t.h e s t eam space above the normal water level, the
por tion d' ending at its lower open end io the lower part of the
wheel. (Accepted September 6, 1893).
boiler. T he pipes d, dl, and the branch p it'ces of two boilers.
are j oined by a pipe e connect f d to each of the bra n ch pieces at.
R AILWAY APPLIANCES.
a point corresponding to t.be safe level. This connecLing pipe is rienlly s trong to k eep t.be vu lve opn when e). p ose d t o tt.e full
15,459. R. Whitehead. Swlnton, L ancs. Automatic furni~hed with non -return \'alvfS, and with a p ipe fJ in comm uni working pressur-e of thA flu id . The spin dle 13 IS pro\ idtd with
Fog Signals for Railways. (7 Figs. ] Octobtr 8, 1892.- cation with an appllratus such as a donkey pump for circulating a conical vah e 16, \\ hich bears upon a seat in the body of the
Tbis in\ention relatf'a to signalling apparatus for use on rail ways
anpliance, and prevents flu id parsing \\hen t he 'al ve 7 is open.
during fnf!gy we11ther, and the object is to give the warning when raising steam. (.de :qUd St]Jtember 6, 1893).
T he apertu re 14 is placed in connection with the pipe or vessel,
wit hout the employment of fogmen . T he end of the piston is
19,966. R. Arch er, Ossett, Yorks. L ubricating t he fluid passing the valve in t h e direction of th e a r rows (Fig. 1)
retained a short distance \\ ithin t he cyli nder , at the end nearest and Packing Stuffing-Boxes. [5 JltiJR. ] November 5, t o the cooductiog p ipe 15. When t he fluid pressure excE>eds
1892.-Th e ohject or th s inventi on is to provide m eans for that of the atmosphere, the val \'e 7 will be open and 16 off ita
lubricating pis ton , &c . rods. A coil of hemp A is placed around sea.t. (Accepted Septembu 6, 1 g3).
t h e piston-rod R, and on each side of t he p acking is a cover C,
'
19,858. T . Gllmour. Kilcattan, Bute, N.B . R eg u .
D. The cover C is prO\ ided with a cy lindrical case Cl extending
l ating t h e Action of F urnaces. [2 Fig~t. ] No,en.. b er 4,
\1

_, .....

, .

'

Fw
c-

"\ L
,
~

- .-. ~

O r-->

1
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b_ n/ ,

,...

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,~

.- --- __-__,.. er' ...

. .. ,h

. A i

:t

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r-~

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q

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,
the ach:mcing t rain, and t he oppos ite end projects from t h e
cy linder b' at the for ward end, when the appar atus is in use, by
means of a weighted lever d which is supported by the rocking
~b1fte. A target! is mounted near the end of the cylinder,
and a gong near the opposite end of t h e piston. A lever h is
placed one side of the r~il a, EO tb~t a wbeel r uns par tly on it

around the packing A, and having a . scr~w thr ead on i~ out>r

surface and the cover D, with a cyhndncal r ase DJ, h aving an
1
inter nal' screw-thread which fits on to t h e thread of t.he case C .
A s lot E is cut in these cases CI, D 1 to enable t he lubricant to be 1892. - This invention has for its ob j ect to provide automatic
fed on to the packing A. By s cre"':ing the. c_overs C, D together apparatus for regulating the action of furnaces. A m e tal pipe is
the packing A is held in the r eqmred pos1tton upon the rod D, fixed vertically a cross the f\ue, and h a its lowtr and upper Eode

'

E N G I N E E RI N G.

[OcT.

connected exter nally to a small clos~d cistern E , i n which water is mounted u p on t h e spi nd le d, upon which i formed a worm
is m:1.intai ned at a cor stan t level by a valve G. T he top of the screw geo.ring with a spind l e. A slid e box g is fitted at t h e
fl ue p ipe i3 a lso connected to a. cylinder P, b ~Lviosr o. piston Q top of t h e c. se A, and a slidc valvegl is moun ted upon t h e valveworking in it, and an adjm.ttlble escape valve controll ing I h e action
Fig.1.
of the apparatus. When t h e h eat p rcdur.ed in the furn!lce is
r ight, the steam generated in the flue pipe passes off by the
e cape' alve at the rate at which it is generated, but if the heat
becomes too g reat, an incr eaae of p reE u re is p roducEd in t he
C'ylinder, and t h e pi!lton moves so astodiminis h the supply of ai r.
Br o p en ing or cl o~ing the escap e \'alve N mor e o r less, the apparatus can be made to maintain any desir ed beat. (.il. ccepted Sep
tembu 6, 1893).

13,490. P. P. Rogue, Cincinnatl, Ohio, U.S.A.

Injectors. [3 Figs. ] J u ly 11, 1893.--T b is invention relates t.o
inJectors fo r s team boilers. Steam is admitted in to the steam jet
t h rou~ b a steam supply pipe hy unlatch ing an d moving back the
h a nd le, thus op en ing the need le valve. T he steam posses through
the water -lifting tube and t hrough the combining tube an d down
throue.h the exhaust chambe r , moving a valve off its seat and
establishing communication with another exhaust chamber. T he
stel\m thus ndm' tted to t h is chamber plsses up round the combining tube out of the relief' a.l ve into a third chamber, and down

.
.
,,
'

'.

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Fig . 1.

V'~:.;{~"\

20,

r 893.

one for the inlet of the fln:ct p ressur e and the othu fo r the e).
h aust of t h e fluid introduced at th e p revious operation of the
valve. The two in let valves a re in chambers communicatiug I y a.
plssage wi1ha. single in let to the casing, and the two outlet vaJVtS
a re in chambe1s communicating ly a passage with a common
outlet. (Accepted SepteMber 6, 1893).

191461. E . Bolltngwortb, Dobcross. Yorks. Looms.

3 hgs.) October 29, lb92 - This io,ention relates to the H olhng

worlh and Knowl s j..~ocquard and box motion m echaniemP, the
object being to employ p egs for actuating the vibr atory le,'ers t-mployed fo r \'\ or king the ja<'quard and box motions, and to reduce the
liability of the levus to be strained owing to the weight they s us
ta.in when ('levated. The vibrator wh eels D nre p laced into gear
with eith er the upper or lower ch illed cylinder ,~rears B, C, accord
ing 1o t h e ch aracte r of the cloth being woven , and ac::ording as they
"re selected which is accompli~bed by p ~gs. The p eg(Cing wheel
El is secured to the diagonal s haft I , which receives rotary motion
hy m eans of bevel wheels J f rom the top cylinder genr C. The
wheel is p rovided with a. peg K adapted to ,~rear with a star\\hetl
L fi'<ed on the end of the jacquard cylind e r M, \\ hicb ~rries
la,R"S N p rovided with pegs c, this sta.rwheel L receiving inler
mitteot motion from the p eggi ng wheel 11 for every re\olution of
the crankshaft, a similar i n termittent rotary motion being im
par ted to the jacquard cylin der M. A series of horizontal b:nsO
are employed, the number corresponding to tbat of the vib r atin~
le,ers E, one fo r each h eald. T he rear ends of these bars are

c
: T

._, "JS'

t!F(g 3.

rod n, t'le upper par t of wl.ic h is Fcrewui, and the val ve can ~e
adjusted aud fixed in any positon upon the vaherod in relation
to t h e port i by means of a screw nut. (.Accepted September 6,
1893).

16 574. G. Tahtkian, London. Steam Generators.

....,._or~

Fi,g.2.

[12 Figs. ] September 16, 1692.-T his invention r elates to sec

tional boilers in wh ich t h e water is evap orated in t ubes. In to
the water inlet end I of eaoh tube T is inserted a metallic gnide
G h aving t hree screw blad es B to cause t h e mixt u re of water a nd

Fig .1.

---- -----Ag
\

13430

and around t h e two barrels an d out in to the atmosph ere. When it

h as p a.ssed t hrough t h e jets and exhaust ch amber sufficien tly long
to ex h au st t h e air from the p ipe eonnected with t h e water supply,
the water flows u p to the i n jector t hroui'h t h e lifting tube, and
t he g reater p art passe~ through the combining tube, out throua h
opening8, down t hrough an other exhaust ch amber , into the
second one, closing t h e check val ve until t h e water gets suffi
cient velocil y to overcome t h e boiler p r essure. I t then continues
on t hrough the d elivery tuhe into the boiler. ( .A ccepted A ugust
30, U!93).

t6 S7~

19,809. T. Walker, St. Helens, Lancs. Metallic

Packing for PlatonRods, &c. [2 Figs. ] November 3,

'

1892.-This i n ven tion r elates to a metallic packing for p iston steam to t raverse t h e t ube i n h elical con\olutions. By t h e cen t ri
vahe rods, &c. A h ollow cone D bored out is provid ed to rece1ve fugal p ower t h e water par ticles are dri ven ag~o in st the b eating
the m etallic packing- rings E, which ar e turned outside to fit t h e surface of the t ube, a n d the steam flows centrally. The guid es
G ar e fixed to t h e boiler tube by spring clip s C prodd ed at t h e
extr emit.i es of the wings and g rnsping t h e rim R. ( Accepted Septembt>r 6, 1893).

19,808.

T. Walker, St. Helens, Lancs. Valves.

[4Figs. ) November 3, 1892.-T bis invention relates to valves, a nd
its object is to p rovide a clear passage t hrough, and in which t h e
s team seating is n ot used as a guide for the val ve. T his seati n ~
is pl aced abo ve o r below t he val ve. T he valve C has two faces

1980!

cone o.nd bored to fit the piston-r od, a piece bcirg cut out of each
ring to allow t hem to close on the rod . At th e bottom of the
stuffing-box is a spring, on top of which is a s mall bush to enable
it to keep the r ings together, and also maintain t h e' acuum f rom
d rawing them too tight on the rod . The r ings a re r egulated by
a g lan d ad justed by nuts. (.A ccepted September 6, 1893).

17,481. J. Richardson and J. Buck, Lincoln. Governing the Speed of Engines. [4 Figs. ) September 30,
1892.-Th is invention h as fo r its object to p r ovide means fo r
governing t h e s peed ~fan engine d i~ect f ro~ t~e cranksha ft, to
which the appar atus 1s fixed , and w1th whiCh 1t revolves. T he
wedges a re so disposed in connection with the d riviog plate that
t h e whole can be contained within the length of a few Inches,
and thus made admi88ible. Slots A ar e made in the eccentric
itself in a line with its t ransverse motion, and are mounted upon
a plate C keyed to t h e crankshaft Cl. The eccentric slides alon~
these slols A. and is drhen by the plate th roug h them, so that
the eccentric is d r i\en positively, and there is no strain due to

carried by a cross-sh aft P, wh ilst t h eir fo r ward ends are borne

upon a r oller Q. These bars a.re slotted at their rear ends (Fig. 3),
a nd ar e free t o mo\e back ward and for ward on the abaft. P,
t h is movement being controlled by t h e p egs c in the lags. Each
hor izontal bar is made with a sneck into which is inserud the
upper end of a beUcrank lever T working upon a fulcrum, the
opposite arm of the bellcrank lever resting upon t he pe~s c.
Thus when a. peg is present and passes under the lower a r m of
the bellcrank lever, the latter is raised, thereby causing the
h orizontal bar 0 to be pushed fo r ward , and the forward end
thereof placed into engagement with t he lifting rail R attached
to an oscillating frame S, so that on t he latter being r aised it
brings the bar i n to contact with t h e corresponding vibrato1y
lever E, and lifts it upwards so as to p lace t.he vibrator wheel
into gear with the top cylinder gear; but if a peg is absent from
the lags, the lower a rm of the bellcr ank lever d rops, the hor izontal
bar being drawn in t h e opposite direc tion and awa.y f rom the
li fting rail R, so that it is not raised by the latter , and <'onse19 , R08
queotly the vibrator wheel is allowed to d rop from the top cyfo rm ed by two indiarubber rings D, D 1 fixed in t h e metal to for m linder gear into mes h with the bwer, the jack leve r bing thus
the fac~>. T hese r ings when p ressed on to the sea tin~ form a tight operated in the nverse direction. (~ cctplecl Septtmbcr 6, 189').
joint, th rou~h wh ich l iquid or air cannot pass. The i nside su rface
of t h e out.er casing fo rms the guide fo r the vahe. (.4ccepted
September G, 18!>3).

UNITED STATES PAT.ENTS AND PATENT PRACTICE

MISCELLANEOUS.
19 735 F w s
t L
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V 1

cot , on on.
a ves.

[3

'R'.'n8
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Deecriptions with illustrations of imentions patented in the

United States of America from 1847 to t.hc present time, and
reports of trials or patent law cases in the United States, may be
consulted, g r atis, at the offices oi ENoli\IJo:Ril\O, 35 and 36, Bed ford-

November 2, 1892. -T his invention r elates to m it r ed work10g

valves fo r use in connection with c ranes, &c., operated by
hyd raulic, &o., fluid , an d t h e objec t is to arrangd tbe mechanism street, Strand .
eo that it m:~y be used with machines having more than one p res-

tunnel of the Cataract Construction

Company at Niaga.ra Falls bas recently been brought
into use, to a. limited ~xtent, thrcugh the Nisgara. Fa11s
Power Company, whose turbines generate about 5CCO
horse- power, discharging their water into a small tunnEl
which enters into the main tail race tunnel. Work on
the wheel pits for the, mai n power works is steadily progressing, about 300 men being employed.
NIAGARA FALLS.-A

Pig.l.
litl-1,.1

t h em upon the ~0\'e rno r. T wo wPctgr s R are caused to

slidn ltpon the o t her side of the plate C t ransversely to the
motion of the eccen t ric, and projections 1I upon the eccentric B
ensr~~e in tbe<~e wedges. T he wed~es a re each attach ed to the free
end of an oscilla.tin~ weight I, tbe other end bE:ing flxed to a stud.
T he weight is maintained in one position by a strong spring
K and in that position gives full t ra vel to the eccentric. On
o{e revolution of the engine the centrifugal force causes the
wei~> hts to fly outward , mnving with them the t wo wc>dges, and
t h u; dfectinJ,r the transverse m otion of the eccentric sheave.
( ~ cceptnl SP ptetn lJer 6, 1893).

197:)5

19,356. J. w. Sampson and T. L. Mttchelmore,

Southampton, H a m pshire. Steam S~~nal "'btstles
for Ships. (-! Figs. ) Oot~ber 28,~ 1~92.-Thls.mveotlo!l relates sure inlet. A casing a is p r ovided, which contains four ' 'ahes
to means for use in soundm,:r s b1ps steam Signal wh1stles at d, d', t, e', operated by two C'o.ms I, ( I contained in separate

chambers, and each secured to a spindle g projecting at one end

engine consistiog of the cylinder B and fan C. A d1so Dl IS thrvugh tbe casing , and provided with a stuffing-box. The spindles
formrd \\ ith a p r ojection Jl upon itc; face adapted to engage a.re adapted to be mo,ed simultaneously by a common lever , and
with the ,alve rod n, thereby actuating the Yal ve (J. The fan C are so a rranged tha.t a J>Qir of valves a re opera.ted a t the same time,
re~rulo. r intervals, and comp rises a case A wi1 h an attach~d stPat:n

CENTRAL RAILROAD. -Although the number of

locomoti,es and freight cara upon this system has been
doubled during the last ten years, while the capacity of
the motive power to haul and of the cars to carry tonnage
has been increaE~ed in a. still greater ratio, there remained
in service at the commencement of the financial year
1892-3 a lars-e n umber of light old engines and cars of
small capac1ty unsuitable to modern requirements. With
a view to saving the expense incident to the continued
use of these inadequate appliances, the directors have
ordered the demolition or sale of 58 old engines and 2500
small freight cars, and the purchase of a. similar number of
new engines and larger care.
I LLINOIS