7/17/2019 Engineering Vol 56 1893-08-18

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AuG. 18, 1893.)

AMERICAN

UNIVERSITIES

AT

COLUl\IBIAN EXPOSITION.

IV . - THE 1\l

cGILL,

lVloNTREA.L

THE

I N 1881 the

Ame rican ~ o c i e t y

of Civil

Engineers

m a d ~ a departure from

It

s u sual methods, and in

place

of holding its

c

onvent

ion

in the

U

nited

States, it was

decided to visit Canada

, and

see what

we could ]earn from our neighbour3,

quite

anum

ber of the prominent Canadian engineers

beina

members of

the

society.

b

We received th at hospitable entertainment

always to be found among th e Canadians, and

r e t u r ~ e d h

ome not

o

nly

delighted

but

very

much

surpr1sed at t

he

ener

gy of

ou r n

ef\

r

est

neiahbour

and only Englis

h-speakin

g province,

except

u r ~

se

lves,

on this

con t

in

ent.

At

that time

Mc

Gill College was a corn

parati

vely

sma.ll

institution,

and the

present

D ean, to whose

energies much

of its

success is

due,

h

ad been there

but a

few

years,

ha

ving

come

from En al

and

to

teach mechanics. o

Visitin

g

Montreal after

a

lapse of

t we

lve years,

on the occasion

of

the meeting

of

th e An 1erican

In s titu of ~ f i n :ng

Engineers last

winter, and find-

E N G I N E E R I N

G.

195

The gener

al

view of the bu il

dings

and grounds is j th e

year

1865. The first gradu1.te was Olher

very

imposing,

and the building

which

attracts

Gooding, who

in

1858 received

the diploma

of (ivil

the

m

ost

attention, not o

nly from its

appearance,

engineer, and

the

tota

l

numb

er of graduates up

to

but from

th

e fact

that

it is the

gift

of one patriotic 1865,

when

the

department la

psed, was fifteen.

citizen of

l\1

o

ntreal,

is

the

l\1cDonald

Engineering

In 1871,

the department

was re-establis

hed

in

Building, shown

in Fig. 1. This ie pr

obab

ly

the connection

with the faculty of

Arts, the

special

most

comp

l

ete

building of

its

kind in

th

e world, course of study required extending over

three

years,

and

is m

ost thoroughly equipped

for

the purp

ose

and

leading

to the

degree of

Bachelor of pplid

of

engineering instruction. Mr. McDonald

be- Sc ience.

came greatly interested in the success of McGill

The

professors and le0turers appointed were

l.Jniversity, whose

ne

eds

were

most eloque

ntly

pre- G.

F. Armstrong, C.E

., now

Pr

ofessor of

En

gi

neer

sented

to him by

Professor Bovey,

and

believing

he

ing in the

University

of Edinburgh,

Dr. Harringt

on,

should

show his faith

by

his

works, donated

this

Dr. Girdwood, and the

late

Dr. T. Sterry Hunt.

bu ilding and its equipment at a

cost

of nearly Two y

ears

later, in 1873, C. H .

McLeod,

:B.A. Se.,

1,000

,000

dols. H e stipulated

in general

that the was

added

to

the staff

. In 1876

Profess

ur

Arm

building should be carefully built, and the apparatus strong

re

sig

ned,

and was succeeded temp01ariJy by

put in

it

should be the best

obtainable.

In addition

C. A.

H ~ r r i s .

In

the December

of

the

same

year,

t o

the

ab ove,

this sa

me

gentleman has made the

H enry

T.

Bovey,

~ J . A .

Fellow Queen's College,

following donations : H e gave one-half t

he

sum Cambridge, was elected to fill the chair of Civil

required for the erection and equipment of the Engineering and

Applied

Mechan ics, and assum ed

Wo

rkm

an

Building; he

erected

and equipped the

duties of

hi

s ofrice

in September,

1877.

the

Ph y

sics Building ;

he

endowed the chair

In

1878 the department was separated from the

of

Electri

ca l

Engineering and the

chair

of Ex -

facu

lty

of

Arts, and

was

constituted

a faculty of

pe r

imental Ph ysics ;

he gave

a l

arge endowment

Appl i

ed ~ c i e n c e with

Professor Bovey as

Dean.

to meet the

running

expenses of the two build- 1'he teaching staff, consisting of Professor Bovey,

Dr.

H a

rrington, Dr.

Girdwood,

and Professor

\

McLe

od, was now further st

rengthened

by the

add

i

ti on of G. H. Chandler,

l\1.A.,

as

Le

cturer (now

Pr

ofessor)

in Mathematics

.

The

co

ur

se was also

l

engthened by adding to

it

a

pre

l

iminary optiona

l

year, the complete course thud extending over four

years,

and

l

eading

firs t

t the

degree of

Bachelor

of

Applied

Science,

and subsequently to

the

degree

of Master of Engineering,

or

Master of Applied

Science.

At this time twenty-eight students were

attending the various courses,

and the

number

steadily increased to seventy-five in 1890. In

that

year

a

new career

was ope

ned up

for

the

faculty

by

the

se ries

of

munificent

endowments of W. C

McDonald and the late

fh

omas Workman, eupple

mented

by the

liberal

gifts

of other

citizens, and

the

numb

er of

students

suddenly rose

to

125 in

1891,

and to

175

in

1892.

Meanwhile, th e efficiency of the

university

teaching staff

was considerably incre

ased by

the

appointment of J. Cox, M. A. (McDonald Professor

of

Experimental Physi

cs) ; C. A. Carus-Wilson,

M.A.

(McDonald

Profess0r of El e

ct

rical Engineer

in

g) ;

J.

T. Nicolson,

B.

Se.

(Workman

Pr

ofessor

of

Mechanical Engineering);

vV.

A. Car lyle, Ma.

E.

(

Lecturer

in Mining and Metallurgy) ;

R.

S. Lea,

Ma.

E.

(Lecturer

in Mathematics and

Drawing) ;

and N. N.

Evans,

l\1.A. Se. (Lectur

er

in Chemistry).

FIG 1.

THE M cDoNALD ENGINEERING B

n

ING; 1\ I

c

GrLL UN I VERSITY,

MoNTREAL.

The work of the faculty was thus p1aced

on

a

much

broader basis. \Vith well-furnis

hed

wo

rk

shops and

laboratories, equipped with

the best and

most modern apparatus for ~ c i e n t i f i c investigations

in

all

kinds of

engineering, as pro

jecte

d, it was fe

lt

that it would be possible

to train

men who

should

acquire, by the carrying out of careful experiments,

that confidence

in their own

powers

which

is a

necess

ity of

success. The engineer of

the past had

ina that

the

small

college

had de,

eloped

into

a

fio

0

urishing

univer

si ty ,

with various well-equipped

d

eoartments,

each headed by a

competent and

distinguished i n ~ t r u c t o r that the one small build

ing had grown to

a

number

of hands

ome struc

tures and the

st

u

1ents

in

attendance had

increased

to o ~ e r 1100,

we

felt sure that all English-speak

ing people mu

st

take

a

pride in k n o w i n ~ about

this institution,

w

hieh seems to

be d

es tmed

to

ac

hi

eve greater successes in future.

England

1nay

well be proud

of

such a u . n i v i t y .in

one

o.f

h

er

provinces

Cambrid

ge U niversity In

particular

should b;

equally

proud of the

of

her

tinguis

hed g raduate a l ~ e a d y n ~ w n e ~ wh11,e

Americans

are

not

envwus of their

neighbours

prosperity

, but vish her God speed, a n ~ t rust that

McGill

University

may hold her

phce

In the fore

m

ost rank

s

of Am

erican

institu

t i

ons

of

l e a r n i n ~ .

The

various

buildings are located in a

most

beauti

ful park on

the

side of M ount Royal, just ~ a r

enough rem

ove

d fr om .the

city

to be a w ~ y from Its

noise

and

yet

conv

enient to all the

bustness parts.

~ r e are five b 1ildings connected

with

the

University:

1.

Main

Building, occupied by

the Arts

u l t y

2.

~ I e d i c a l Building.

3. Mc Donald Engineering Building.

4. McDonald Physics Building.

5.

Redpath Museum.

6. Redpath

Library.

In addition to the above, there are also several

other

buildings

for the various

theological

denomi-

nations,

&c.

ings

;

he endowed the

f

acult

y

of Law

1

50,0

00 d ols .

with been largely

trained

by the

tr ial

and error sys

tem,

as it may

be

called, and a

very

costly

system

it had proved. In fact,

he had been

ob1iged

to

make fr ials for himself

under

all

the disadva

ntag

es

of iso

lation and the lack

of scientific guidance.

The kn

o

wl

edge

of

differe

nt

fo

rms

of

energy

had

greatly

increased;

new materials of construction

w

ere being

introduced,

and the demand for new

effects was

making the

old

tules i n s u f f i c i ~ : n t or

useless . Th eory and practice had become so

interdepend

ent

that an absolute

connection

between

them

was neces

sary for their advancement.

In

th ese new laboratories it would be possible

to

s

upply

a

remedy for this state of

affairs. In

the

work shops, also, the student would

learn what

good work was, how it should be done, and how

lo

ng

it

should take to

do it . He would,

therefore,

be fitted

to di

rect

and

s

upervise with intellig

ence

the

work

of the mechanic . B ere, too, the

stude

nt

would become familiarised

with machinery

of

the

most

modern

and

b

est

types .

In addition

to

all the above, he has at sundry

times and in divers manners given large sums to

specific objects

in the university. The

other

most

notable

recent

bequests

are

: 100,000 dols from

Sir

Do

nald

Smith to found

two

chairs in the

Medical

faculty ; GO,OOO dols from Mr. J. H .

R.

Mo

lson to

he used for building purpos

es

.

Mr. Pe ter Redpath s special donations are

as

follows :

He

er

ected

a

nd

furni

shed

the

Redpath

Muse

um

of

Na tural Histo

ry

; he is now

erecting, and

also proposes

to

endow with a

la r

ge sum of money,

a university

library

;

he founded the origina

l

chair

of

Natura

l Philosophy, a.nd

has

given

other la r

ge

sums to the university.

Having thus described the

exterior

of these

fine

buildings and their

surroundin

gs,

the

reader is

in vited

to

step in and examine the interiors, but

perhaps a

brief

s

ketch

of

the history of the

fac

ulty

of Applied

Scie

nce might

not be inappropriate at

this

point.

In

an inaugural address delivered iu 1885, Sir

William

Da.wson pointed o

ut the

importance

to the

uni

versity of a

department of

Practical Science.

In the following ye

ar

1

1

C. Keefer, C.E., was

appointed

Profe

ssor

of

Hydraulic

Engineering,

but

was called away

from

Montreal

without having

en tered upon the duties of his office. At the same

time, Robert Crawford, B.A.,

was

made P r

ofessor

of Road and Rail

way Engineering, which

position he

held

until

the year 1857, when he was succeeded by

Mark

J.

Hamilton

,

C.

E., who

held the post until

On October 25, 1890, the corner-stone of the

Engineering Buildings was laid by His Excellency

Lord Stanley

of

Pr

es

ton ,

Governor-Genera

l

of

Canada. From that

time

the work was rapidly

pu shed forward. The faculty took possession of

each

pa

rt as completed,

and the Engineering

and Physics

Buildings were

formally opened

by Lord Stanley on

February

24, 1893. On

that

occasion a

la rge number of distinguished

g

uests

were present from

all parts

of

the continent;

many

interesting

addresses were made at the

tim

e,

and afterwards an in

sp

er-ti

on was

made of

7/17/2019 Engineering Vol 56 1893-08-18

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196

the

~ u i ~ d i n g s Time

will not permit a

detailed

descnptwn of these great sources of instruction,

but

a few

hav

e been sele

cted

as

illust

ratio

ns

and

the reader may

ge

neralise fr om them. '

. As

practical ideas

h

ave

prevailed

very

largely

1n

the

arran

gement of

these buildin

gs, we n

at

u

rally turn our steps first to the so

urce

of power ,

and

proceed

at once t o

the

thermo

dynamic lab

ora

t o

ry.

h e ~ m o d

J ttam

.icLaborato y .- This

aboratory,

wh1?h 1s 1n

conn

ec tion

with

the

subject of heat

engines,

has

a

very notable equipment. The great

feature

of inte rest is the fo

ur-cylinder

steam

engine

arranged

double-ta

nd em fashion, and intended for

use

in a

large number

of

totally

different ways.

This

magnifice

nt

machine, designed by Messrs.

Schonheyder and

Druitt H a

lpin, of

Lo

nd

on,

under

the

genera

l

dire

ct ion

of

Professor Carus-

Wil

son of

McGill College, was manufactured by Messrs. Y t e a

and Th

orn, B l

ack

burn, and

is

extremely creditab

le

in

th

e

results it

has g

iven to

all conce

rn ed

.

Th e

engine

may be desc

ribed

as a double

tandem invert

ed

direct-acting

qu

adruple

-

expansion

engin e, t o

work at

200-lb.

pressure on

the

ga

uge,

The cylinders of each engine are 6i in., 9 in.,

13

in., and

18 in. in

diameter respec t

ively, a

nd the

st r

oke of all 15 in.

The

two engines

may be

unco

upled

fr om each other, and

run

at different

rates

of

speed,

on th

e

plan pr

oposed

by Mr.

John

I. Th o

rn

ycroft, and

already

carried out

on

the

triple-expansion

eng

in

es

at

Owens Co

ll

ege, Man

ch

ester ;

and in this

way

the

advantages of

variat

ion

of relativ

e

cylinder

-volume are

to

some

extent

obtained.

The measurement

of

the

power

de

livered

to the

brakes

is

mad

e by

means

of

hydraulic

brakes of the

type designed by the late 1\fr. R. E. Froude, and

improved by Pr

ofessor Osborne Reynolds.

One

of

these brakes

is, in view of the

di

sco

nnecti

on spoken

of above, fitted to each

crankshaft;

while an

alternative

m

ethod ia

supplied by an excellent rope

brake, kept cool by a stream of

wat

er on the inner

side

of t

he

wheel

rim

,

on the plan

fir

st su

ggested

by

Mr.

Ha.lpin.

Th e

steam

pipes about the cy

linders,

which are of

copper,

a

re

so

arranged that th

e engine

may run

either q ua

drupl

e, t riple, double, or single expansion,

and as the

pipes

are led

bot

h

to

condenser and

atmo

s

phere,

all

these types

may be t ried eit

her

condensing

or

non-co

nd

ensing.

Th

e

method

of

exhausting

in to the condenser on all occasions,

whet

her w

orkin

g with a vacuum

or not,

will, ho

w-

ever, be

adopted,

so

that

a doub

le

measur

ement

of

th

e

water

used by the engine

may

be made.

The c

ylinders

are all

jacketed on the

sides, top,

and

bottom,

and Willans' coils are a lso fitted

to

the

compressive cylinders.

Variation

of the clearance

volume is made on

the

low-pressure cy

linder

by

por ts h

aving

movable pistonl

therein.

1'he system

of measurement adopted is as follows :

Having

been weighed

before entering

the boiler,

the s

tea

m u

sed

by the eng

ine

is tested just

bef

ore

entering the

low-pressure

cylinder

for

it

s

dryness

by b

ot

h a

Pe

abody

and

a

Barrus

calorimeter.

Indicator card s

may be

taken not

on

ly from the

cylinders,

but fr

om

th

e s

team

ches ts

an

d in ter

m

ediate

receivers, and abo

ut

two dozen of the b

est

indicat

or

s have been supplied f

or this

pu

rp

ose.

Th

e

steam

is

di

s

charge

d from

the

low-pressure

cylinder

in

to

a surface condenser,

from

which, when

condensed, it is pumped by an air

pump,

worked

ei ther

independently

or fr om the

main

s

tea

m

pipe

into

th

e

measuring tanks, where it

is carefully

weighed and its temperat

ure taken.

t then re

t

urns to

the feed suction tank for use in

the

boiler

a

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AuG.

18 1893.]

would then be strengthened

by

issuing orders more

intelligently framed. Reference had been made

to

boiler power

in

ships.

In

cargo steamers it was a

good thing

to

have full boiler power and a minimum

number of men, but in

hi

gh-speed steamers it was

b

ette

r

to

cut the boiler down

and

have a bigger

boiler-room staff.

That

fact accounted for the

larger proportion of boiler power there was in

the

vessels

built on the east

coast; whilst

on

the

Clyde the opposite prevailed. He agreed that logs

at

sea we

re

not.

kept

as

they

should

be

;

the

chief

rea

son was

that the sh

ipowner did

not put

in

to

the

hands of his engineering staff

bette

r

methods.

For

inst

ance,

he

wo uld take the

meth

od

of registering

the

engine power. I t was usual

to

take cards at in tervals

and

refer them to the highest

piston speed made

by the

engines. Captain

Hod

g

kinson, of

the

British India Company, as repre

senting

the

shipowner, said that if

the

shipbuilders

would give more info

rmati

on

to

the shipowners

th

e

re

would be a

better

chance of t

he

ship being

constructed in accordance with t

he

wo rk

she

had to

perform. Mr. T. C.

Read,

of Leeds,

on the other

hand, said that if the owner would give all particu

lars he required,

he

would

get the right

ship for his

work- that is

to

say, if

the

builder were a naval

archi

tect and not

a

'box-mak

er. Some cargo

ships he had seen could

ne

ver have been designed

by

naval architects. Mr.

Denny went

too far

in

saying the law was such that all ships now had

to

be classed. Being classed

meant that the

vessel

was fit to carry dry and perishable cargo,

and

some

ships to which

they

gave

the

load line did n

ot

m

eet

these conditions, although

they

might

be

perfectly

seaworthy.

Mr. Roylance said

he

was glad

to hear

a good

word for

the

registration societ ies. They were

generally looked

on

as a nuisance; but when

in

tr

oub

le

ow

ne

rs

were g

lad

to fall back on

th

em, and

get

help from their

very

experienced officers.

Mr. Saunders did not agree with Mr . Biles

that

the

shipbuilder should

be

an engineer.

He thought

it was better that he should trust special points to

specialists. I t was a

great thing

for

this

co

untry

that

there

were so many professional naval archi

t ec

ts

who were

not

builders, and it would

be

a good

thing

for his country- Germany-if the

re

were

more there.

Mr. Denny, in replying

to

the discussion, said

there

seemed to be some misapprehension in regard

to the

views

put forth in

his paper.

He

did

not

wish

to

end,

but to

amend,

the

Board of Trade.

That Government

department had

been in the

habit

of appointing small committees on various

technical subjects. These were not satisfactory ;

they

should be

permanent and

executive.

He

did

not agree with Mr.

Read

that all vessels were not

practically to be classed

at

Lloyd's - a

remark

which

called fo

rth

a reply from the latter gentleman, and

a

sh

o

rt

discussion between

the

two

spe

akers

followed, in which we ra ther

gathered

that

Mr.

Read had the

advantage.

Dr.

White,

in

summingup

the

discussion, sa

id

that

if the paper

broug

ht

t ogether

th

e owner,

the nava

l

archit

ect,

the constructing

engineer, the captain,

and the

chief engineer co

nnected

with

any

ves

se

l, it

would have achieved a

notable

result. He did not

think kn

owledge

in

all directions could be combined

in

any one man. I t was, he continued, for the

builder

to

put

the results

of

hi

s investigations

in

the

hands of

the

ships' officers. These

re

sults need

not,

and

should not,

be exhaust

ive, but should

be

such that

they

would convey the broad deductions

resulting from scientific investigation.

The

proceedings

in

Section I ll . were then

brought

to

a conclusion

by

a few complimentary

remarks

from Dr. vVhite,

and by

a vote of

thanks

proposed

by

M. Daymard as representing }'ranee,

and

seconded

Mr. ~ a u n d e r s who re

presented Germany;

the

1nternat10nal character of the Congress thus beina

maintained. b

CoN

CRETE N

SEA

WORKS.

Section I concluded their meetings on Friday

afternoon, the 21st

ult.,

when

Sir

Andrew Clarke

presided. Two papers were read by Mr. A. E.

Carey, one on

La

Guaira Harbour 'Vorks, Vene

zuela,

and

the other

on

Harbours and

Ferry

System of Denmark.

We

hope

to

print both

m o i : s

in

f u l ~

and

may

th

erefore proceed

to the

d1scuss1on,

wh1eh

was large

ly taken up with

a con

sideration of the use of concrete in sea

works

breakwaters, &c.

A representative from France s

aid

that there

they

ado

pted

the system of depositing bags of

E N G I N E E R I N

G.

concrete, but

they had never

used such large bags

as

in La

Guaira

Harbour,

where bags of 160 tons

were used

in

courses

in the

breakwater ; and

he

would

like

to

have some inform ation as

to

how long

these bags of

cement

would

la

st . Mr. Conrad said

they

had

employed bags of concrete in Holland for

pr otecting

and

making more solid some break

wa ters.

Mr

. Mack

inn

on as

ked

for

inf

ormation as to t

he bed

n which the bags of co

ncrete

were placed. There

had been,

he

said,

an

en tire absence in all the papers

read by

the

foreign re

pr

ese

nta

tives of

inf

o

rmation

as to the qualities of cement employed.

There

were

great

varieties,

and

he felt that Portland cement

was often employed when it was

entirely

out of

place; for ins

ta

nce, between high and low water,

whe

re

the cement was often entirely washed out.

Thi

s

had been his experience in

co

nn ection with works

he

had carried out for

theGovernment

of Uruguay,

in

forming a breakwater across a

harb

our. There was

nothing but

sand

below for a considerable d

ept

h,

and

it was moved by

currents

of

wat

er.

In

con

st

ruc ting

the

works he em

pl

oyed

qu

ick-setting

cement,

and

the whole

len

gth of the breakwater thus

became practically a monolith of great len

gth,

so

that t

he

local

currents

could pass

underneath

it

without injurin

g t

he structu

re.

Th

e works, he

said, were fully described in the Proceedings of

the In

stit

ut i

on of Civil Engineers.

The

French gentleman who first spoke

sa

id that

they

o

nly

used quick-setting cement

in France

for

facing the works, believing th:i.t it

did

not last so

well as th e slow-setting ceme

nt.

Mr.

Vernon

Harcourt said it was generally s

up

posed

that

quick-setting cement did not get

to

the

sa

me

point

of perfecti

on in hardn

ess as th e slower

se

ttin

g cements.

Prior

to his going to Alderney

in

1870,

they had

been using Medina ceme

nt,

and

it

was supposed that

the injury

done

to

the brea

k

water was

partly du

e t o this cement.

The

repairs

were executed

in Portland cement, except

that

Medina

cement

was used for pointing. There were

many other cases where the quick-setting cement

had not proved sa tisfac

tory.

H e should li

ke

to

know whether the dep osit or used

had

n

ot

injured

the bags,

and whether

Mr

.

Carey

had any further

experience as

to whether

the oozing of the concrete

out of the

ba

gs t e

nded

to form a large solid

ma

ss.

He was quite

sa

t isfied that the la rger the

bag

of

concrete the more satisfactory the wo

rk,

but it was

largely a

questi

on of cost of

plant in

depositing t

he

heavy bags. One did not always

have

such oxten

sive works

to carry

out. H e

thought

that all the

papers read

on

the sub

ject

proved

what

Mr. Conrad

had pointed out, that it was better

to

lay the

concrete blocks

in

courses

rather

than laying

them

pell-mell.

Mr. Wolff Ba

rry

said too

little

was

told

in

paper

s

as to the specific gravity of the concrete bags, which

depended

on the mat

e

rial

used, whe

ther the

gravel

was g

ranite

or lig

ht

stone. He had seen at the

mouth

of

the Tyne

cement concrete blocks made

with t

he

refuse of cinder slag, and

he

believed the

engineer was satisfied

to

pay

the extra

c

ost to

increase t

he

specific gravity.

Mr

.

W.

R .

Kinniple

described briefly his ce

ment

grout

system of construction, now well known, and

already fully illustr

ate

d

in

E NG

INEERING

.

Mr. W. Dicey Kay explained, by a section drawn

on the

blackboard,

the

method

of

constructina

a

commercial

harbour

at Lerwick,

in

the Shetl:nd

Islands. .

The

site

was

not

much exposed,

and

the

foundatiOn of the front and back wall consisted of

two layers of bags of concrete,

the

contractor 's

price being 25s. per cubic yard. Above were con

c r ~ t e blocks

to

.Iowwater ~ a r k the upper

part

bemg

concrete 1n mass, wh1eh cost

2ls.

per cubic

yard.

The

space between

the

two walls was filled

in with rubble.

Mr. F. N Th?rowgood asked if the temperature

affected the

settmg

of t

he

concrete

very

materially.

At Madras break water, where he was for

nearly

thirteen

years, the high

temperature

added to the

difficulties. He found that they could not set a

block. unless it was two m o ~ t h s ol.d,

and during

that t1me

they had to

prevent

1t

gettmg dry before

it

set

chemically.

Mr.

Carey,

in

replying, said th

at

the life of a

sack was

very great; the

sacking became

permeat

ed

by the

concrete, and the effect was that t

he

sack

blocks became

united and

formed pr a

ct

ically

one

mass.

As

to th e nature of the foundation th e

shore portion was

to

some

extent on

sand:

and

underneath there

were boulders and large

rock

masses.

The

sand

was

the

cau

se

of difficulties

197

in con

structing

the first part of the break

water.

Mr.

Sawyer suggested

that

it

might

have

been

expedient

to

have used set

bl

ocks

in

pr eference

to the small

canvas sacks used.

He was not personally responsible for the

shore portion

of

the wo rk. Reference had

been

made

to

the

quality

of

cement

used. Of course

it

was easy to

make

quick-set.

ting c e m e I t

was merely a question of the r

elat

1ve proportiOns of

the

clay a

nd

lime, but excepting f

or

special purposes

the use of quick-setting cement was not commend

able because

with the

slow-setting

cement the

re

was 'less likelihood of the work

disintegrat

i

ng

in the

lapse of t ime. He was pleased that the e m e ~ t

question

had been

ra ised , because

to

the eng1n

ee

r

was of the gr

eatest

importance. The harbour engl

neer

had to depend

upon Po r

tla

nd

cement

a

lmost

as

much as a soldier carrying out a campaign had to

depend

on

gunpowder. Mr.

Ve

rn on Harcourt

had

raised the

quest

ion of the size of the bags. The

limit of size was

the quantity and

weight

that

could

be deposited without undue setting prior i

ts

deposition,

and the

160-ton bags were conven1ently

worked, being deposited with wo

nd

erful ac?uracy

and

with very li t

tle

loss of concrete. H e d1d not

admit

that the cost of plant was necessarily

hi

gh

for

lar

ge

bl

ocks, because with

the

set block system

they

required cranes t o lift heavy weights.

Proceed

ing, Mr. Carey referred

to

a

point

raised

by Mr.

Bar

court as

to

the wave recoil, and as

to

its effect

on

a

vertical wall, a

nd

on

one protected

by blocks in

front.

The

point was suggested

by

a photo

ex

hibi

ted,

and

which we hope

to

reproduce along

with the

paper.

This

photograph

showed that the waves of

rec

oil

meet on-coming rollers a

nd to

a large

extent

neu tralise their force, t

he

res

ult

being a cascade of

water

many feet away from

the

wall.

Mr. Carey

doubted

whether

the oscillat

ing

waves were con

verted in t

o waves of tr ans

lati

on

without

causing

a severe blow upon the works itse

lf

. Mr.

Stev

enson,

from experimen ts made at Dunbar, found

that

the

oscillating wave

prod

uced

very

little mo

re

than the

hydrostati

c pressure, and made o

ut

t hat the effect

of t

he

conversion of the one in

to

the other was to

increase the destructive force on

the

structure by

about

s

ix tim

es.

In

reply

to

Mr .

Barry

as

to

the

specific gravity, he stated that the material used

was rock. I t was extremely

hea

vy concrete, 127 lb.

to 130 lb. to

th

e cubic foot. H e had

not,

he said ,

become a convert to

Mr. Kinipple's

system,

although

th

e resul

ts

produced were

extremely

good.

Mr. Thurow

good

had

raised the question of tem

perature, and he might say that no special precau

tions we

re

needed

to

prevent the chemical

ac t

ion

se

tting in too rapidly in the case of the mass

concrete.

A paper

on

Rock Dredging Works

in

some

Italian Harbours

(Legho

rn,

Genoa,

Palermo

, by

Gius Cimino

and

C. Verdinois, was held as

read.

Thi

s

we

shall

prin

t in full.

Mr

.

Andrew Brown,

of

Me

ssrs . Simons and Co., Renfrew, who h

ad

con

stru

c

ted the plant,

gave some d

et a

ils of the

dredgers.

Sir

Robert

Rawlinson, who h

ad ente

r

ed

the

m

ee t

ing

during

th e discussion, was congratulated

on

hi

s r ecove

ry

from a r

ecent

accident,

and other

complim

ents

having

been

paid

to

the chairman,

t

he

se

cretari

es, &c.,

the pr

ocee

din

gs te

rminate

d.

Frida

y's

proceedings in Section IV . open

ed,

under th

e presidency of

Sir

R obe

rt

Ball,

F.R

S.,

with th e reading of

Mr.

D. A. Stevenson's

paper

on

RECENT IMPROVEMENT IN LIGHTHOUSES.

This paper,

of

the

form of an

hi

storical 1esnme

which we shall p

re

sent to our readers, was couched

in unmistakably pro omo rhetoric, which Mr.

K en ward

and

Mr.

Wigham

could not but regr

et.

Mr.

Stevenson

was

not

presen t

to defend himself

against

the imputation

of

havin

g, in a paper which

is

undoubtedly

a

va

luable

contribution to

our

lit

e

rature on the

deve

lopment

of li

ght

houses and

their outfit,

done

but scanty

justice to

Fresnel and

to

Sir

J ~ m e . s

Doug

la

ss, who devised gas-b

urners,

the gas 1ssu1ng from surface holes as in the o

rd

in ary

Argand, and

who improved

and enlarged the

lan

tern s of the

Trinity House

lig

ht

ships.

If the

hyp

e

r-radiant

suggested by Messrs.

Stevenso

n

in

1869 is the

most

n

otab

le im provement of recent

times,

asked Mr.

'Vi

g

ham,

what

s

hall

we

sa

y of

Mr.

Barbier's st

ill larger le

ns

of 2

me

t res focal

length

?

At

the t ime of the

South

F orela

nd

ex

periments our

perf

ect

lenses

were

practically

unknown; yet oil and gas prove

d,

under certain

circumstances,

superior to

electricity,

and

with

these

new lenses

the

illuminating

power of oil

and

7/17/2019 Engineering Vol 56 1893-08-18

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7/17/2019 Engineering Vol 56 1893-08-18

6/33

200

gas increased by 100 per cent. The time, he

thou

ght, had come for fresh practical comparative

te

sts

; he was willing t o do his share, and had made

an offer to t

hat

effect. That th e elect ric beam had

no rival

in

ordinary clear weather he did not doubt ;

ab out the

beha

vio

ur

of the illuminants

in

fog a

nd

haze, however, authori ties differed widely.

Sir

R obe

rt

Ball,

in

concluding

the deb

at e, did

n

ot

see any necessity for renewed experiments at

all.

He

could testify

to

the excellence of

Mr

.

Wigham's lights. But scientists had,

in

the South

Fore

la

nd and in

th e

Frenc

h expe

rim

ents, all the

da t

a n eeded,

and must be

pe

rmitted to dr

aw

thei

r

conclusions, wh ich would satisfy them.

.Mr. Kenward

had

previously expressed a dif

fe

ren

t opinion. We did requi re further results.

If the Sy

dn

ey electric light, with 15 and 25 milli

metre carbons, perfected by Dr.

Hopkinson,

was

visible at 10 n1iles

in

foggy weathe r, a second o

rder

lig

ht

at Spezzia was

useful

at 24: miles. Small com

pr e

ssed lights

pr

oduced very remarkable effects.

The Eddystone Lighthouse'' at Earl's Court, with

a lamp 18 in. high, 250 millime

tr

e radius, 65 milli

metre carbons, gave a beam of almost three million

candles, fifteen times as powe

rful

as

that

of the

real Eddystone.

Professor Gry

ll

s Adams quoted figures from

the

South Foreland

repor

ts

which ought to rend

er

experts

cautious as rega

rd

s slight gains in

penetrat

ing power. Mr Harold Dixon and himself found

the electric light

st

ronger one

night

at eleven

miles'

distanc

es

than

t he o

il and

gas lig

ht

, l

ost

sight

of it

last and picked it up

again

first,

the

re being

perhaps a mile and a half

in

favour of the arc.

But, if

a light of 100 candles is visible at 1000 ft. ,

then 1000 candles would, by the laws of abso

rp

ti on , under ordinary atmospheric

co

nditions, be

visible at 1300 ft. only. Again, the 108 Wigham

gas jets

di

stributed

over

a circle of 18 in. in dia

me

ter could be seen at a distance of 80 ft . ; but a

single one of

these

jets was visible at 70 ft.

Mr. Thomas

Burt

inquired

whether

t

he

o

rder

of

th r

ee lights in a line would not affect t he results ;

the

cent

ral

one would a

pp

ear st ronger, he

tho

ught .

Professor Adams hardly believed that .

The next paper,

by

Mr. Domenico Lo Gatto,

COMPARI

SON OF GAS AND

ELE

CTRIC L IGHT

IN

L IGHTHOUSES WITH OP TI CAL A PP

ARATuS

OF

LARGE DI M

ENS l ONS,

which we also

intend

to

publi

sh

in

full, winds

up in favour of gas illumination as affording

the most easy working conditions.

Practi

cally

the

paper confines itse lf to t he Wigham

lights

of

1891 on To

ry

Island. This circum

sta

nce called

forth the pr esident ial query, whether the au thor

h

ad

visited Tory I sland,

and

on th is question being

negated, the advice from t he chair was to pay a visit

and to

present

another

paper. The

di

scussion

turned mainly on the adaptability of the electric

arc to

flashing lights, whose wonderful efficacy is

un iversally

gr a

nted now. Mr. Lo Gatto himself

remark

ed that his

paper

was

written

before t he

publication of the new

French

e x p e

on t he

je lX eclairs and

that he

had modified hiS VIeWS. .

Mr. Wigham dwelt

up

on the great ease w1th

which gaslight could complete

ly

be

exti

nguished

a

nd

relighted

by

a sma

ll

standing

jet,

to burst out

at once to full brilliancy. S

ir

George

Stokes

had

pointed out to

him t

hat

when

the

gas was

re

.a

ll

y

extinguished,

and not only turned down, ht t.le

ex

plosion ensued, whose energy caused this bril

liancy. The naphthalene gas was perfectly safe.

He was pleased

to

find a fri

en

d

in

Mr. Lo

Gat

o,

and once more urged the necessity of official tests

at

Howth

Bailey with a Ba.rbier lens .

Professor .Adams drew attention to the remark

able

powers which Bourdelles b t a i n .by

means of his f ux eclcvws-23 and even 40 milhon

candles. In real fog-he wished

to

classify fogs-

we shou

ld

probably have to rely upon the siren.

Mr. W. T. Douglass thoug

ht the

electric light

the

only one possible for very J O w e r f u ~ effects, taking

in accoun t also t he services whiCh lenses can

r

ender

.

The

power of the .T?ry I sl

an

d light had

b

een est

im

ated

at seven milhons,

and

by

Mr.

Lo

Gatto

at over one million ;

in

reality it was most

lik ely considerably under one million.

In

the

third paper,

THE T

URKIS

H AND E GYPTI AN

LIGHTING

AND

LIGHT D uEs

IN

THE RED SEA,

Comma

nder

George Hodgkinson,

R.N.,

regretted

th

at the improvement

in

the light ing of the

Red Sea

h

aq

n

ot

k

ept

pace

with the

enormous

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

increase of the Suez Canal traffic. The revenu es

from t he light dues being r etained

in

the general

funds of the Egyptian Government,

it

was difficult

to arrive at an estimate.

In

1891, however, the

receipts and expenditure of the Light house Depart

ment

amo

un

ted

to

E123,000 and

E26,

000, leaving

a surplus of no less than E97 000. These figures

included th e Med iterran

ean

por

ts

;

but

as

the

light

du es at Alexandria, and also the tonn age, were

much lower than those on

the

Red Sea,

that

sur

plus might be attributed to the R ed Sea light

dues. In 1892 the

pr

ofits fe

ll

to

E82,000

.

The

gross

tonn

age of

the

Suez Canal increased

from 1.4 million tons in 1872 to 12 millions

in

1892. Since 1875 the dues c

har

ged

in

t he Red

Sea were 2 piast res a ton on vessels of 800 t ons

and

under, and 1 piastre for vessels of over 800

tons.

As

t he number of lig

hts,

at present costing

6 0l. did n

ot

increase, th e

du

es would leave

20,000l. net annually. The late Kh edive pr omised

t o ha

nd

these profits over to

the

Lighthouse Depart

me

nt,

if the new

ta

riff agreed to by Great Britain

in 1889 should be accepted by t he other P owers.

The tariff has n

ot

been accepted. With the light

ing of th e

Egypt

ian portion of the .Red Sea Com

mander

Ho

dgkinson has no fault to find. Not so

with the

Tu r

kish portion. Lighthouses are

ur

ge

ntly

required at the south end, at J ebel Tier, Zebayr,

Abu Ail,

and

a lightship

on

Moc

ha

F lats, all

un der

Turkish jurisdiction. That shipwrecks are terribly

common

th

ere, was confirmed by Mr. Douglass.

Perim

Is l

a

nd

(B

ritish

), with

its

very

danger

ous

cur re

nt

s,

has

on

ly

five lights of

the

sixth order.

Mr. K enward almost launched the discussion

in t

o

dangerous waters by inquiring whether political

complications had anything to do with the absence

of progress. Commander R odgkinson warded this

off

by

repeating

that

the territories nam ed were

all claimed by Turkey. Turkey, however, does

not make any indirect profit from

the

canal traffic,

whilst Egypt does so. Yet something must be

done, and the author proposes a small permanent

international commission to purchase both Turkish

and

Egyptian rights, a

nd

to acquire from Egypt

all li

gh t

houses and maintain the same, with power

to levy dues a

nd

to

en

force payments. Abso

lu t

e

unanimity of all the P owers wou

ld

be required.

The Suez Canal Company,

he

thought, would give its

cordial support to some such scheme. 'l'he author

was present,

and

added a few remarks to h is able,

businesslike

pap

er.

Before

the

Congress adj ourned finally,

Mr.

Kenward announced that Mr. G. Be lleville had

submitted a very interesting paper, Balisage et

Eclairage de l 'Estuaire de la Seine, too lat.e, un

fortunately , to be formally accepted.

THE NE XT

ME E

TING OF THE

CONGRE

SS.

The date

of the n

ext

meeting of the

Co

ngress s

not fixed. vVe refer those interested

in

this

matt

er

to the letter from Mr . L. F . Vernon Ha rcou

rt,

Brit ish member of th e

Pari

s P ermanent Com

mission, which

appear

ed on page 186 of our last

lSSUe

BRITISH COLONIES AT CHICAGO.

I

THE C AP E OF Goon HoPE.

As might have been expected, America impresses

the eye at every

point

by th e very

pr

ofusion and

variety of h

er

exhibits, t hese testifying in the most

eloquent

mann

er possible to the boundless natural

resources of the g reat republic, to t he indomitable

courage, the inv

en t

ive enterprise,

and the

vigorous

mental ac tivity of her people. France excels in

everything in

which

the

artistic element pre

po

nd

era tes. Germany is unrivalled

in

her effects,

an

d especially in

the

d

epa

rtments of manuf

actur

es,

machinery, mining, and elec tric

it

.y gives marvellous

proofs of her industrial vigour. Amongst the

various countries, t he British Empire

un

ques tion

ably holds her own, but as unquestionably she

s

enabled t o do so only by the aid of her co lo

ni

es,

mor

e especially by the Cape of Good H ope, New

South

Wa

les, and

the

Canadi

an

Dominion, each of

which makes a magnificent sh

ow

of raw materials.

Canada proves herself rich in cereals, fru its,

mineral s, fishery and dairy

pr

oducts. New South

Wales gives evidence of

the

vast natural

re

sources

of

the

Austra

lians

by her

fine

ex

hibi

ts

of wool,

wheat, a

nd

mai

ze;

of gold, silver, t in, copper, and

antimony ores; of coal, building sto ne, and timbers

of fine grain and great durability. Cape Colony

makes a perfectly marvellous revelation of

her

actual and

potent i

al wealth in

woo

l and mohair,

[AuG

18

1893.

wheat and other cereals, diamonds and ostrich

plumes,

in

the marketing of which she enjoys

practically an undisturbed monopoly. Victoria

and New Zealand he

lp

t he co lonial display with

small but choice exhibits of wool ; India and

Ceylon wi th grains, seeds, fibres, timbers, teas,

and spices ; J amaica and Trinidad with sugar and

coffee,

and

British Guiana with sugar and timber ;

each and all of t hese co lonies

in

dicate, ra ther than

illustrate,

their

resources,

and

con1bine

in

making

t he exhibition of raw products of the British E mpire

absolute

ly

incomparable.

The

Cape of Good H o

pe

Co

u

rt

pr

es

ents

a

mo

st

attrac

t ive

di

splay in

the

vast

A

gricultural Build

ing , as is testified

by

the crowds of visitors

that are

constantly

wedged within the all too

limited boundaries. With the restricted space

at his disposal, Mr.

Lud

wig Wiener, the Cape

Commissioner, has succeeded

in

setting forth

th e

vari

ed resources of Ca

pe

Colony in a most

stri

king and charming manner. Wh ile here practical

utilitariani

sm

is t he ruling motive of the display,

a

nd

while there is no straining af ter mere decora

ra tive achievement, as is the case in many of the

United States courts

in

the same building, the

effects attained are highly art is tic, both in the

aggregate and

in

respe

ct to

details. The extremely

vari ed nature of the mate rials at hand has largely

conduced

to

this satisfacto

ry

result . The co

ur

t is

inclosed by a light framework of t imber, provided

with large

pa

nels of plate glass, t

hr

ough which a

glimp

se

of

the

trea

s

ur

es within is obtained.

In

the

cen tre space stands a

trophy

that at once attracts

attention, two spl

en

did specimens of th e ostrich

tribe, male and female) with chicks, eggs,

and

the

nat

ur

al bush upon which the birds feed. The

large birds are finely plumaged,

and

were especi

ally selected at a show at Grahamstown by Mr.

Douglass, whose book on Ostrich Farming at t

he

Cape has ma de his name well known in England,

America, Australia, and, indeed, all the world

over. As an appropriate background is arranged a

copy of an oil painting by R olando, a group of

ostriches upon one of

the

Cape farms,

and

thereby

giving a further idea of the appearance, th e

habits,

and

the surro

un

dings of th e birds. Close

by is a great pyramid of ostrich eggs, some of

them in

th

e

natural state,

and others tastefully

painted with characteristic bi ts of Cape scenery,

flowers, or ethnological types. Along the glass

walls of

the

cou

rt

st

rings of

painted

eggs are

similarly used for decorative purposes. But, finest

display of all, are eight t rophies of ostrich plumea,

constituting no doubt th e most magnifice

nt

exhibit

of fea

ther

s ever made at any

pr

ev ious internat ional

show. The plumes are simply cleaned, being un

touched by dye, and t he white, black, drab, and

fancy feathers are all displayed, the beautiful snow

white a

nd

clean black plumes predomina ting.

At

the foot of each of the lofty stands lie bundles of the

feathers as made up for

the

market, a num

ber

of

these being supplied for exhibition purposes by Mr.

Hilt

on

Barb

er, the well-known and en terprising

ostrich farmer of Cradock.

Th e whole back part of

the

cour t is occupied by

fleeces of wool, shown under glass and attractively

tied with blue ribbon. Th e two characteristic

kinds of Cape wool,

the

Karoo and the Grass Veldt,

are both on exhibition, there being no fewer than

500

fl

eeces in all. Among the ex

hibit

o

rs

are Mr.

R . W. Southey,

Mr

. Rubidge, Mr. P . V. Van der

Byl, Mr. J . C. T. Musto, Dr. Sma

rtt,

Mr.

C.

H .

Hutton, Mr. George Blaine, and Mr. John Fros t

Miniature bales of snow-white washed wool are

shown by M essrs. Turnbull and Gay, Co res

Road;

Messrs . Frater and

lVlossop

of the Paarl Wool

Washery, and the Springfield Wool Washery,

Uite

nhage. Some of the

ba

les are opened, a

nd

woo l-men from various parts of the world handle

th e fibre with evident in terest and appreciation.

In addition to th e wool

ar

e some 220 fleeces of

mohair, the silvery texture of which is much ad

mired. The principal mohair exhibitors are Mr.

P. G. Gericke, Mr. J. McDonald, Mr. R. Feather

stone, and

Mr

.

R.

Cawson. The object lesson as

regards the Cape pastoral industry is completed by

st

uffed specimens of t ha Angora goats, both kids

and beautiful full-grown animals, the fat-tail sheep

and the

Boer goat, together with a fine di

sp

lay of

skins of these animals,

and

also of the Cape merino.

The skins are the

exh

ibit of Messrs. Van der Byl

and Co ., of Cape Town.

It

should also be mentioned

that all

the

animnls in the

court

were stuffed by

Mr

. Fred

Sa

ut er, New York, who by his work has

afforded ample proof of his skill as a t a x i d e r m i s t ~

7/17/2019 Engineering Vol 56 1893-08-18

7/33

AuG. 18, 1893.]

enerally it may be sa

id

of

th

e wool and mohair

exhibits

that

they are ex t

rem

e

ly

efl'ective, and prove

at

an exceedingly opportune moment, when the

nited

States wool dut ies are on th e ove of being

abolished, that th e Cape can

pr

oduce la rge supplies

of the two fib res a.dmi rably

adapted

to the r

eq

uire

ment s of American manufacturers.

Th

e excell

entl

y arranged display of Cape wines is

an object lesson which may n

ot

improbably open up

a wine expo

rt

indu

stry

in the U

ni ted States,

and well

illustrates tbe viticultural reso

ur

ces of outh Africa.

The selection made is judicious

and

illustrative, in

clud ing

Ste

lle

nb

osch, Old Brown She

rry

, Wellington

Cape Hock,

Co

nstantia

weet

Frontigna.c, Paarl

Sweet Pontac, F.

C.

She rry,

Co

n

sta

nt ia Red Musca

del, Hermitage, La.chrym< e Christi, and four

brands

of fine O

ld

Dop Brandy, name

ly

: Worcester, Robe

rt

son,

1\l

l o

nta

gue,

and

udtshoorn ; also an other

kind

of brandy made

by

the

Hon.

T. T. Heatlie.

The

exhi bits were supplied

by

Messrs. Sedgwick

and Co., Messrs. V an Ryn and Co

.,

Messr

s.

E. K .

Green and Co .

and the

Government experim ental

farm.

Th

ey are

arrang

ed

in

a fine trophy of

miniature

barr

el

s,

flank

ed and

crowned by bottles

va

ryin

g from B robdignagian

pr

oport ions to tiny Lili

putian dimensions, with co

nt

ents less than a win

e

glassful.

Th e agricultural resources of th e colo

ny are

indi

cated by choice and goodly-sized samples of

wheat, oats, barley, mea ies, beans, peas, and lentils.

Some of the wheat shown cannot be beaten

in

the

whole Exhibition, the sample of bearded wheat

supp

li

ed

by Messrs.

Ryan

and Rood, of Ma

lm

es

bury, running 68 lb. to the bushel.

Th

e gr

ain

growing capabili ties of

Ba

sutoland and Bec

huan

a

l

an

d have

not been

forgotten

in arran

ging

the

dis

play. Th e So uth African Milling Company are to

the front with some barrels of choice flour, the

quali ty of which is visible to the eye t

hr

ough glass

lids.

Other

exhibits of a characteristic Cape type

are Kaffi.r corn, Tecka bulbs, aloes,

bu

c

hu

leaves,

and bush tea. Tobacco is shown in the n

atura

l

leaf

and in the

manufactu

red

state, the exhibitors

of the latter articles being

the

Congo Tobacco Com

pany.

Ther

e are also tu be seen several varieties

of

bark

used for

ta

nning

purp

oses. Timbers are

well represented, slabs in the rough on one side

an

d

polished on

th

e other affording effective represen

tation. Amoug the varieties thus shown are olive

wood, camelthorn, stink wood, assegai wood,

kamassi, red milkwood, korsewood, salie, bla

ck

bark,

umzimbiti, uprigh t yellowsw ood, Ka.ffir plum

wood, Clanwilliam cedar, white and red elms, Cape

beech, black iron wood, ter blas -saffron wood,

karoo,

and underbu

sh. A few logs, both

in

the

rough

and

with polished tops or faces, supplement

the

timber

slabs . Among forest produ

ct

s should

also

be

mentioned the samples of Cape gum,

co

l

lected from the ca

c

ia

Harrida

and presented fo r

exhib

it ion by Messrs. B. G. Lennon and

Co

.,

Cape

Town. Ever last ing flowers and the silver leaves

are

largely and effectively used for ornamental pur

poses t hroughout the court, and as both of these are

already expor ted

in

considerable quantities

fr

om the

Cape, this illustration of their adaptation to beau

tiful deco

ra

tions is va

lu

able. Nat

urd

Cape grasses

are also used for

the

same purposes, and a fur

the

r

glimpse in t he

co

lony 's flora is afforded

by

a collec

tion of pressed grasses

and plants

in an a

lbum and

a set of very beautiful paintings

by

Mr. Mor

sta

dt

placed conveniently on a revolving s

ta

nd , and

repr

oducing every va

riety

of

th

e Cape flora.

Still

another collection of floral studies, in water

co lours, is bound

in

a

lbum

form, these being the

work of Miss En.ton and a gen

bl

eman from Ri vers

dale, a p ~ Colony.

Not t he l

east

popular fea t

ure

of the

court

is the

fine display of el

epha

nt s' liusks. Besidesan assort

ment

of billiard ball ivo

ry,

A re four magnificent

tusks, two ft.

in

l

engt

h, one 7 ft.

in

l

engt

h, and

the fourth

7l

ft. in length, weighing respectively

109

lb.,

137 lb . ,

and

158 lb. Skins of the lion,

springbok, leopard, silver jackal, go

ld

jackal,

and

other varieties of wild beasts, and heads

and horns

of many kinds of deer, adorn the walls and the

stands, one of which

latt

er bears the name of

Messrs. Lawrence and Co., Kimberley. The

karosses, or

skin

rugs, are greatly admired, one in

plr ticular

attracting attention,

insomuch as it is

composed of 320 tails of the

musk

cat. Th ese are

so neatly sewn

toget

her that the skill of the native

furri

ers who

did

the work is praised

by

every one

who exa

min

es it. A fine collection of Cape birdEJ,

of all sizes

and

of wonderful brilliancy of plumage,

is shown in a la rge case. Among them

are

specimens

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

of penguins, and close by are b

ot t

les of guano from

the I cha.bod I sla

nd

s, indicating yet ano ther source

of wealth

at

the Cape. South African fishes are

shown

by

life-coloured pictures collected

in

album

form. Ethnology is not forgotten in the display .

There is

quite

a large collection of assegais,

both

stabbing

and

th rowing, oxhide shie

ld

s,

trumpets,

daggers, knives, clubs. belts, head-dresses, snuff

boxes, dishes,

and

other impleme

nts

a

nd

utensils of

many kinds, as used

by

the nat ives of , o

uth

Africa. A

lar

gt-

number

of curios a

re

presented

by Sir Marshall Clarke, K.C.M.G., British Com

missio

ner in

Basutoland, a

nd ot

he

rs

are loaned

by the 1\1i. ses Shippard, sisters of 'ir ~ y d n e y

Shippard, the Q u e e re

pr

esentative in Bechuana

land. Photographs of Zulu, Kaflir, and ot

her

types,

are

exhibited. The Malays are represented

by

a

picture of 1\1a1ays at

the

Cape in full dress, and

by

Malay shoes,

hat

s, head-dre sses and

handke

rchiefs.

Among

other

ob

jects

that attract attent ion, and

are

of et

hn

og

raphi

cal va

lu

e as

exhi

bits,

are

a col

lection of bus hmen stone implements,

and

a num

ber

of curious

rude

engravings of ice-scratched

stone made

by bu

shmen, and representing such un

mistakable objects as elephants, giraffes,

rhin

oceros,

ostriches, a

nd

t rees. Scatte red about upon the

walls are num erous photographs of characteristic

Cape scenery, and scenes of everyday life. There

are

also

portraits

of leading

men in

the Cape

Co lony, Natal, th e Orange Free

State

Republic,

and other South African territories. The se include

Sir Henry and Lady Loch,

Sir

Marahall Clarke,

Sir ydney

Shippa

rd. Bishop

J

ones,

Mr.

Cecil

Rhodes, the Prime Minister, and Mr. T. E.

Fuller

.

Cetewayo a

nd

his wives are also figures of

in te

rest.

Yet another feature of the co

urt

is an immense

map of South Africa, showing the country as far

nor th as the Za.mbesi, and

indi

cating at a. glance

the

districts of wool, mohair, cattle, wheat, gold,

copper, and diamond

pr

oduction. Statistics are

also displayed showing the va

lu

e of the chief Cape

products : wool, mohair,

hid

es

and

sk ins, ostrich

fea the

rs

,

copp

er, and diamonds,

in

the

out-turn

of

several of which

South

Africa ho

ld

s a virtual

monopo

ly

.

The fig

ures also give

the b ~ r

of

sheep, horses, pigs, a

nd

ostriches

in the

colony ;

th

e

total

mileage of railways ; and

the

shipping

tonnage, inwards and outward: .

I t

may further

be mentioned that handb ooks are free

ly

dist ributed

among visitors, dealing with such sub jects as " The

Diamond Industry of South Africa, " ' 'The Viti

culture of

the

Cape Co l

ony,"

"Ostrich

Farmin

g

in

the

Cape Colony,"

and

Wool

and

Moha

ir Pr

o

du

ctio

ns

of the Cape Co lony. " In

additi

on to

the

information t

hus

prov

id

ed, every single

object in

the

cour

t is labelled,

and most

of

the

se labels carry

terse exp

lanat

o

ry

notes.

Fr

om what has been written

it

will

be

seen that

the Cape

Co

urt in the Agricul tural Building of the

World's Fair admirably fulfils its object of giving to

visitors from all corners of the globo a vivid idea of

the immense resources of South Africa, and of

supplying definite information

in

deta il to those

who are

interested

in any particular line of pro

du

ctive enterprise.

Th

e f

or

mal opening 0f the Cape of Good H ope

Court, in

the

Mining Building of the Wo

rld

's

Columbian

Exposit

io

n,

took

pla

ce on June 5, when

the first sieve-full of Kimberley diamoncl ifero

us

blue

11

ever

wa

shed upon

Amer

ican soil was

examin

ed

upon the so

rtin

g

tab

le in the presence of

a n

Eces

sarily small

but

keenly

inte

rested g

ath

erin

g.

Around the inclosure a dense cr

ow

d ten deep

pr

essed aga

in

st

th

e plate-glass panels, and eagerly

watched every ope

rati

on conducted within. When

the pebbly contents of the sieve were

thrown

with

a rattle upon the table, Mr . Ludwig Wiener, the

Cape Commissioner, accompanied

by

his secretary,

Mr. S. Ber

lin

er, son of

the

assistant commissioner,

stepped forward, and add ressing Mr. Frederick

J.

V. Skiff, the highly popular chief of the Mines,

Mining,

and Metallur

gical

Department,

formally

pr

esented th e court,

in

the name of

th

e Cape

Government, to the Administ ration of t

he

Wo

rld's

Fair. Mr. Wiener proceeded to announce

that

he

had y

et

another and equally pleasant duty to per

form . Through him the di rectors of the De Beers

Consolidated Mines

Co

mpany invited Mr. Skiff to

sort out th e contents of the first sieve, and to accept

as a meme

nto

of the occasion the first South

African sto ne washed from its

matrix in

th e

United States

of America. Mr. Skiff

thereupon

n.dvanced to the table, and in regular

lGmberley

style commenced going over the pebbles. Almost

immediately a goodly-sized stone, weighing from

2 1

4 to 5 carats, was discovered, and five o

thers

of l esser size were picked

fr

om th e heap. When

the search was end ed, Mr. Wiener

hand

ed the

gift

of the

De

Beers Company to its recipient .

Mr.

Skiff

returned thanks

on behalf

bot

h of the Ad

ministration and of him self personally. He

co

n

sidered that

the

De

Beers

Company, who vir

tually cont rolled

the

diamond market,

and

had

therefo

re littl

e or nothing

to

gai n

by

advertis

ing

th

emselves, h

ad

performed a most public

spirited act in coming to Chicago with such a

splendid and complete exhibit. They had at great

cost t ransported

fr

om

Kimberley

to

Illin

ois a life

like r

ep

resentation of the

va

rious processes con

nected

with

the diamond-finding

indu

st ry, a

nd

had

thereby provided a . cene of entrancing in terest for

the visit o

rs

t o the Co lumbian

fr

om

every corner of

the

world. H e sincere

ly

hoped

that

there

would be some return, even if not an

adequate one, for t

hi

s

act

of generosity

and

public

F

pirit. His

o

ne

regret was that it

had

been pos

sible to give on

ly

such a circumscribed space to

the

Cape exhibits in the Mining Building. Looking

around him, he felt that four times the area would

have been necessary to do justice to the unique

and varied display.

He

would have the stone pre

sen ted to him cut and polished, and would always

value it as a souveni r of a most

in

teresting occasion.

After

this ceremony Mr .

and

Mrs.

Wiener

wel

comed visitors in a small but pret t ily decorated

reception-room of the court,

and

prosperity

to

t he

Cape of Good H ope was

drunk in

the wines of the

colony.

Th

ose

pr

esent

then

di

st

ributed

them

se ves over the inclosure, and in pected t

he many

objects of

interest

on exhibition. To

experts

the

most valuable of t hese is a fine collection of speci

mens indicating the varied mineral resources of

South Africa, fr om the Cape to the Zambesi. The

co llection

numb

ers 245 specimens, and was made

by

the Cape Commissioners' instructio

ns

by Pro

fessor Ha.hn, of the South African College.

Around

the

show cases

are

stacked piles of rich

copper ore, yielding 33 per cent . of

pure

metal,

fr

om Oo

kl

op Mines, Namaqualand, and

py

ramids

of blue gro

und in the

hard

state

from

the Kimber

l

ey

diamo

nd fi

elds. Among

the othe

r objects of

in terest are diamondiferous gravel

fr

om the Vaal

River, Cyphergat coal, white and

blue

asbestos,

and croc idoli te. The last-named substance is

shown b

ot

h

in

the natural state, and al

so

polished

and fashioned

into

a g

reat

variety of beauti

ful

and

useful art icles-in laid

tabl

e-tops, lrnife

handles, umbrella knobs,

pictur

e frames, desk

weights, cigar holders, paper knives, studs, sleeve

links, necklaces,

and ot

her forms of jewellery. A

set

of cameos carved in Germany, and presenting

t

he

profiles of four famous American

Pr e

sidents,

\Vashin gton, Lincoln, Gra

nt, and

Garfield, espe

cially elicits

ad

miring comments from visitors who

for the first time see the artistic possibilities of this

beautiful substance. Th e walls of the room are

decorated

wi

th a large collection of mining photo

graphs.

There

are also facsimile r

ep

resentations

of two famous Cape diamo

nd

s, the De

Beers

dia

mond, the largest ever found

in

South Africa

weig

hin

g 420 carats, and the

Litkie

diamond;

205 carats, th e second finest, but

the

finest for

size ever

got

from the

river

diggings.

Th

e

adj

o

in

ing section of

the court

is

the

reception-room

above-me

nt i

oned, where works of reference bear

ing on

South

Africa

and

files of the leading Cape

papers

are

kept.

Here

han gs a po

rtrait

of M.r.

Craven, secretary of the De Beers Company, and

on t he partition just outside is a large picture of

the directors, with Mr. Cecil

Rhodes

seated in the

cent re.

The

remaining space is devoted to diamond wash

ing,

cuttin

g,

and

polishing. Large

plate

-glass

panels permit every o

perati

on

to

be watched fron1

the outside;

and

all through the day, but especially

when the washing machin e

ry

is in

operat

ion

densely packed crowcs

surr

o

und

the inclosure.

staircase pe

rmits

of the washin g processes being

watched

fr

om above,

and

each afternoon,

durin

g the

t

wo

hours devoted

to

the wo

rk,

a

constant stream

of

observers p a s ~ e s up and down the

steps

,

a spec1al staff of Columbtan Guards being necessary

to keep

th

e crowd circulating.

Th r

ee sta