S E PT. 8, I 8 9 3.] E N G I N E E R I N G.

he said, constructed very rapidly, and in cases where LITERATURE, time was important he did not think British engi­

neers could do better than foBow the American llfinutcs of Proceedin(Js of the I nstitution of Civil Engi- pracliice. Such piers could be const!'ucted of any

necrs, wlth Other Selected and A bstracted Papers. Vol. required size, the material r ec1uired was always cxiii. Edited by JAMES FoRHEST, Assoc. Inst. C E., available, and they were enormously strong. Secretary. London : Published by the Institution, 25, Further, they were easily put in place, as the timber Great George·street, \Vestminster, S.W. 1893. wou1d float ; and, finally, they were cheap, as even

THE publications of the Institution of Ci \Til En- in this country they would not cost more, he gineers are ever welcome to engineers. Under the thought, than about 30s. per cubic yard. Mr. J. able edit0rship of Mr. Ja.mes F orrest, they have Wolfe Ba.rry stated that the large size of the piers long formed a most important mine of examples of was largely due to the conditions which had to be that common sense applied to constructions which is mot in adopting a bascule system of opening said to consti tute th~ whole art of the engineer. the bridge. It was a mistake, however, t o con­Vol. cxiii., which lies before us, proves no exception aider that the piers, wide as they were, ob­to this rule. It opens with a paper by Mr. W alter structed the t raffic, as nearly the whole of this Pitt, C. E ., on H Plant for Harbour and Sea traffic passed down the central channel of the Works, " an abstract of which has already appeared r iver between the lines of moored vessels. Indeed, in our columns (ENGINEERING, vol. lv., page 329). the channel between the piers was, if anything, 'fhis paper is more especially devoted to the con· wider than that between the lines of ships. struction of block-laying ''Titans, , the author Amongst the selected papers is one on " The Beta­clR.iming that the revolving Titan, though the loo 'Vater Works, South Aus tralia, " by l\1r. C. most costly type, is by far the most satisfactory in J obson, A. M. I. C. E. The main feature of these water working. In the discussion following the paper works i~ a concrete dam 118 5 ft. high, and 567 ft. some interesting historical notes were supplied by long. The dam is 115.0 ft. wide at the bottom, Sir Benjamin B~ker, who has discovered that a and 14 ft. at the top. 'l'he m!l.ximum pressure grab was invented in France about 200 years ago when the dam is empty is 6.3 tons ptr square foot by a ~1. Gouffe, who proposed to use it for deepen- on the inner toe, and when full, 4.19 tons per square ing harbours. In all essentials M. Gouffe's grab foot on the outer toe. Some 56,700 cubic yards of was identical with the modern type. Another concrete were used in the structure, which was machine- viz., the navvy, usually attributed to deposited in twenty-four months. During building the Americans, was also, it appears, invented in a crack occurred in the dam, extending from top to France in 1704. This machine was operated by bottom. This crack was closed up by forcing in hand power, steam, of course, not being available cement grout under pressure, and no further trouble at that time. Another interesting contribution has been experienced. Other interesting papers in t o the discussion was made hy Mr. Deacon, this section are those on "Radial Valve Gears" by who advocates a departure from the contractor's Mr. J. Harrison, Wh. Se., A.M.I.C.E. ; on "Test­ordinary practice of mixing concrete by hand. ing Steam ~ngine Governors," by Mr. H. B. Ran­He stated that if a cubic yard of concrete some, A.M.I.C.E. ; on "The Strength of Port­was mixed by hand in one mass as usual, and land Cement Concrete, " by :rdr. A. F. Bruce, also if a similar cubic yard was mixed in twenty- A.M.I.C.E.; and on "The Introduction of Rubble seven equal parts, and then all these parts put Blocks into Concrete Structures," by Mr. John W. together to make one cubic yard, the latter Steven, Stud. I. C. E. This latter paper deals with would be much better mixed than the former. the structures described in E NGINEERING, vol. lv., He had found that 1 cubic foot was as much page 859. In the same section is an excellent paper as could be mixed properly by one man at a on "Wheel Teeth," by Mr. A. Sharp, B. Se., time, and much less labour was required per cubic Wh. Se., A.M.I.C.E. Mr. Sharp has made a special yard than if the concrete was mixed in larger q ua.n- study of the variations resulting in the velocity tities. In the correspondence in the paper an ratios by the common practice of using circular interesting account was given by S ir Charles Hart- approximations to the cycloidal aud involute curves. ley of the plant used at the Port of Leixoes, Por- He finds that these variations are often consider­tugal. able, and proposes the use of "circular" teeth, in

The second paper in the volume, by Mr. Thomas which the teeth are drawn with circular curves, the Sopwith, M.I. C.E., describes the breakdown of position and radius of these being chosen so that the R oyal Mail steamship U mbria., a full account of the variation in the velocity ratio is as small as which has already appeared in our columns (ENGI- possible. The figures he gives show that his pro­NEERING, vol.lv., pages 11, 80, 327), and no new facts posed system is full of promise, and it appears to a re brought out in Mr. Sop with's paper. In the dis- be worth a practical trial. cussion, however, Mr. J. List described a somewhat In the same section is to be found a long paper similar failure on board a Southampton steamer. by Mr. R obert Gordon, M.I C.E., on the river In this case the thrust shaft was of iron, and the training work in the Irrawaddi Delta. Observations failure was due to a concealed flaw. Several of the of the discharge of the river were commenced in speakers advocated the use of shafting with flexible 1872-73. On plotting the results and deducing couplings, with a view to getting rid of the bending equations from them, it was observed that the strains. In the correspondence on the paper Mr. discharge became zero, whilst the depth of water in Reynolds, of Messrs. Naylor, Vickers, Sons, and Co., the stream was 34 ft. Soundings were then taken Limited, gave some particulars of the tests made on further down the stream, with the discovery of a specimens trepanned out of the broken shaft. bar some 4 miles below the gauging section, the These showed a tensile strength of 25.74 tons per level of which corresponded t o the depth of water square inch, 26.4 per cent. elongation, and 47.1 in the section when the discharge ceased. This per cent. contraction of area. With regard to the obser vation is important, as similar bars exist in elongation, however, we may remark, as the length almost all rivers in places where they are suitable of the specimen is not stated, the figure given is for discharge measurements. A peculiarity of the meaningless. river is the way in which the deep water hugs its

The next paper, by Mr. G. E. W. Cruttwell, western bank. Towns which, in 1852, were flourish­M. I. C.E., is a very interesting one on "The Foun- ing places on the eastern bank of the navigable dations of the River Piers of the Tower Bridge," a channel, are now far inland . Mr. Gordon r emarks structure on which it is evident no expense has that other rivers flowing north and south, such as been spared, though whether the money has always the Vo1ga, show a similar tendency, which has been been laid out judiciously may be open to question. attributed by Professor Baer to the effect of the The piers are extremely large, measuring 100ft. in earth's rotation. The training works have included width by 204! ft. long between cutwaters. The many miles of embankment, which, on the whole, load permitted on the clay is 4 tons per square foob, have proved very satisfactory, the breaches, as a no allowance being made for the buoyancy of the rule, having been few and unimportant. A corn­masonry. The difficulties of founding the piers plete telegraphic service has been established were increased by the necessity of avoiding as much , between the up-river stations and those lower as possible all obstruction of the waterway, and 1 down, by means of which the approach of floods, particulars of the methods employed will be fouud together with their probable height, is made known in an abstract of l\1r. Cruttwell's paper in ENOI- beforehand. The total area reclaimed and protected NEERING, vol. lv., page 428. by the works is about 2000 square miles. Other

In the discussion that followed, Sir Benja.min papers in this section are : '' The Chenab Weir, " by Baker drew attention to the American plan of con- Mr. L. T. Maclean, C.LE., M.I.C.E.; "Note on structing foundations very largely of timber, which the Flow off a Catchment Area near Mer cara, constituted from 20 to 40 per cent. of the whole, South India," by Mr. G. J. Perram, M. I. C. E. ; the rest being concrete. These foundations were, '' F oundations in Black Col ton Soil in India, " by

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Mr. E. H. Young, A. !vi. I . C. E . ; "The Chimpas Aqueduct and Mineral Railway, North -"\Vestern Mexico, " by Mr. E . G. Iloltham, M.I.C.E.

As customary, the volume concludes with an obituary, and with an excellent and copious selec­tion of ab3tracts from foreign technical journals.

BOOKS RECEIVED. Pumping Machinery. By WILLIAM M. BARR. Phila-

delphia: J . B. Lippincott Company. . G·riffin's Electrical Engineers' Price Book. Edtted by H .

,J. DowsiNG. London : Charles Griffin and Co., Limitt!d.

Les Turbines. P<\r GERARD L.\. \ 'ERG NE. Paris : Gauthier· Vlllars et Fila.

THE ENGINEERING CONGRESS AT CHICAGO.

(BY ouR NEw YoRK CoRRESPONDENT.) (Continued from page 264.)

vVEDNESD.AY morning, Augus t 2, the Mechanical Engineers again were in session, Vice-President 0. W. Hunt being in the chair. The first paper was by that distinguished German, Professor G ustav Herr· mann, and was entitled ' ' The \V or king of Centri­fugal Machinery. " In spite of the fact that this eminent author is a specialist on the subject he wrote of, he did not escape criticism. In fact, among the Mechanical Engineers no man is safe ; even Sir Isaac Newton would be " called down " on the subject of gravity if he was at all misty on the point. One of our prominent members took excep­tion to Professor Herrmann's statements r egarding rotating bodies, and established his position by diagrams which showed counterbalanced weights used in connection with r eciprocating parts. He claimed that experiments made by Mr. J. C. Hoadley, deceased, a.nd member of this soci~ty, showed the centre of rotation is at a point on the opposite side of the axis of revolution, instead of being between the axis of revolution and the centrd of gravity.

'!'hen followed .R. Kahfal's paper, " The Removal of Dust in Workshops, " which was discuseed by A. Vanderstegen and J. T. Clarkeon.

The secretary read the next four papers : "The Taxameter or Fare Indicator ," by C. Pie per ; ''Apparatus for Metering Steam,, by Fran~ Seiler ; 4

' Improvements in the Art of Cable­Making, " by Emil G uilleaume ; and "Measuring of 'Vater and the Schinzel Water Meter, , by F. Lux.

"\V. F. Durfee read a paper on " The Inter­changeable System of Manufacture." This paper claimed that the interchangeability of parts was as old as humanity. He evidently did n ot mean to let any one get behind his r ecord. Be t hen cited various kinds of machinery, giving their date of issue, and proceeded to really trace the history of mechanical engineering with that accuracy of detail for which l\1:r. Durfee is so remarkable. The labour shown in this col­lection was enormous, involving, as it did, an extensive correspondence with foreign engineers.

That afternoon the Society were invited by Schaler and Schniglau, contractors, to visit by steamboat the Canal-street Bridge they bad recently completed. This bridge was of the folding or jack-knife type, because the circumstances of the case required special construction. Although the river is deep, ic is quite narrow, so that the ordinary swing bridge was not available. The design of the present bridge was suggested by Captain Wm. Harmon, of Chicago; the details were elaborated and the construction made by R. P. L amont. It may be described in general as follows: It is a movable r oadway, which divides in the centre over the middle of the river. Each half of the bridge is hinged at about one-third of its length from the shore. This permits the parts overhanging the river to drop down in front of the abutments, while the smaller hinged portions rise, forming a gate which intercepts the passage of teams or pedestrians, and in this way serves a useful purpose as a safety gate. The two halves of the bridge are supported when in posi tion by heavy jointed eye-bars, depending from steel towers, ex­tending 50 ft. above the roadway. The whole length of the bridge is 177 ft. The length of the movable portion is 100ft. The actual span over the Chicago River is 80 ft. The width of the r oad­way is . 21 ft ., and t~ere is a 7-ft. passage for pedestr1ans on each s1de. The whole structure is built of steel, and weighs 130 tons. It is operated by a 10 h urse· p ower cugiuc on oach sice of the

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STONEY'S TIPPIN G CRANE. CON~TRUCTED BY MESSR~. RANSOMES AND RAPIER, ENGINEERS, IPS\VICH.

(For Desm·vption, see Page 295.)

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river. A system of counterweights is employed to I opened or closed in 15 seconds. It is used as an facilitate the operation of raising :nd lowering. ordinary ro.ad bridge, and w~s . intended for the pas­Each counterweiaht weighs about 2o,OOO lb. The sage of ordmary teams, but 1t 1s loca.ted where there machinery, except the engines, is all be~eath the is a. great deal of heavy hauling, and ~as been found level of the bridge, presenting n? obstruct~on what- equal to the demands mad~ ul?on 1t. A_ 20-ton J;Wer. It is operated very rap1dly, h~vtng been steam roller was taken over 1t wtthout serwus de-

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flection. It is very much cheaper than the usual type of swing bridges, having cost but about 40 000 dols., including masonry. Other bridges of' the same type are now under contemplation in various places . The engineer and the contractors were complimented highly on the manner in which they

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SEPT. 8, 1893·] E N G I N E E R I N G. 4 =

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had met and solved the engineering problems en­countered in the construction of this decided novelty. The engineers were afterward favoured with a. trip on Lake Michigan, four miles out, arriving in the city early in the evening.

The first paper on Thursday morning was that of Professor V. Develsha.uvers Derry, of Liege, Bel­gium, honorary member of the Society, entitled, "Contribution to the Theory of the Steam Engine. " This was followed by a. paper from Charles T. Porter on the " Limitation of Engine Speed." The author took a. new departure, because he advo­cated the limitation of piston speed to 600 ft. per miu ute for engines of less than 3 ft. stroke. His position was maintained by Mr. Ma.nsfield, of the Buck eye Engine Company, who considered this paper as a sort of reaetion against high-speed engines. Mr. Aldrich thought the piston speed should be proportioned to the flow of steam. Mr. Alfred Vanderstegen, a. Belgian engineer, took an opposite view of the conclusions of Mr. Porter, citing the Willa.ns central valve engines in the Ex­position as an evidence of the feasibility of running

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an engine at very high speed without wearing or knocking.

The next paper was by Mr. F. H. Ball, entitled ''Compression as a. Factor in Steam Engine Governing. " The paper claimed that the most economical compression curve varies with the form of expansion curve.

"The Relation of Clearance and Compression in a Compound Engine," by A. K. Mansfield, was discussed jointly with Mr. Ball' s paper. There seemed to be an array of experts on opposite sides at this point which would have done credit to a jury trial, and the subject was left in a state of doubt as to reaults ; probably each engine-builder went away with a. hardened heart in favour of his own plans, and wondered how there could be two sides to such a simple question.

The much vexed subject of jacketing was re­newed here, caused by a paper entitled '' Perform­ance of a. Triple-Expansion Pumping Engine, with and without J a.ckets, " by Professor Den ton. This paper described tests on a crank and flywheel pump­ing engine in use on an oil pipe line at La.keton,

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Ind., which showed a duty of over 137,000,000 foot­pounds per 100 lb. ~f coal. Tests with and with­out jackets showed a gain of about 8 per cent. in economy by use of the jackets. The usual re­sult followed, for this is a favourite subject ; the opponents attacked the methods first and the con­clusions afterward. One debater claimed the basis of comparison of the difference between actual and theoretical area was not fair, while another thought the difference in work was due to a difference of steam pressure, as that had varied from 113 lb. to 151 lb., and not to the jackets a.t all. Re also said the effect of heated jacket water passing into the boiler reduced the consumption of coal and raised the steam pressure. Tests of various engines were then submitted, and the subject r emained for future discussions as before. It was a. source of general regret that the author of this paper, who is one of the best debaters in the Society, was not pre­sent. He would, no doubt, have shown that, like Goldsmith's schoolmaster,

"E'en though vanquished, he could argue still." "The Performance of Street Railway Power

Plants," by W. A. Pike, of Minneapolis, and T. W. Hugo, of West Duluth, was the next source of interest.

Mr. Barrus did not r egard the conclusions of the authors as of value, and propounded a few conun­drums, such as: How could they account for such good work without jackets as compared with a jacketed engine ? &c. He did not like their phraseology of '' tri-cylinder" instead of "triple­expansion," and, as a. final settler, claimed that other tests of triple-expansion engines had shown better results.

Mr. Rockund thought smaller compound engines would have done better, and showed certain defects in the operation of the engines tested. Mr. J esse M. Smith rallied to the def~nce of the authors claiming that both critics had evidently overlooked the fact that these engines were used in operating an electric railway, which is unlike any other work an ~ngin~ is required to d?, unless it is running a rclhng m1ll, the wotk va.rymg from the friction of the engine to its ultimate capacity. Under the cir­cumstanc_es tha~e eng_ines showed exc&llent economy

An act1ve d1scuss10n followed, and if the paper

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~ad ~o other effect, it certainly had stimulated 1nqu1ry.

"An Evaporative Surface Condenser," by Pro­fessor J ames H. Fitts, had a melancholy interest from the fact that its distinguished author had been killed in a railway accident on his way to at~e!ld this m~eting. Tributes were paid to his ab1hty, and h1s paper received due attention and discussion.

''A Coal Calorimeter," by George H. Barrus, was next considered and discussed. One speaker gave an account of Mallet's coal calorimeter in this connection, claiming for it great accuracy. H e also recommended that tests be made between the anthracite and bituminous coals of this country to determine their value as fuels. The writer had the pleasure (?) of superintending a coal mine some years ago, and found the value of his fuel depended largely on the state of the Ohio River. He re­gretted always that there was no means of con­trolling navigati0n, to prevent the Pittsburg coal from getting to Cincinnati by water.

The session closed by a paper on " Anhydrous Ammonia. Gas as a. Motive Power, ,, by Mr. T. vV. M. Draper.

Friday was the next and last day of this in­teresting meeting, which opened with Professor Sweel in the chair.

The first paper was ''A General Engineering Classification and Index," by 'N. L. Chase, of Worcester, Mass. This was in general a discussion of the application of the Dewey decimal system of classification to the use of engineers, for arranging pamphlets, clippings, &c., in a form convenient for reference. Thi~:> subject seemed so impor·tant to Mr. S. W. Bald win that he suggested the appointment of an international committee to devise an index.

Tho3. H. Brigg, of Bradford, England, presented a paper on '' Haulage by Horses." In this, by the use of a special apparatus, the author claimed that in going downhill, or on a level, the load lifted part of the horse's weight, while in going uphill the case was reversed. This view of the subject was in­dorsed to some extent by the hearers, and among them the president of the Illinois Humane 'ociety, who desired Mr. Brigg to repeat his lecture at another place. Professor Hele-Shaw, a distin­guished engineer of Liverpool, added his testimony, and showed the differint effects produced by attaching moving forces to different parts of a wagon. He submitted several diagrams on the subject at the same time.

"The Refrigerating Machine of To-Day," by C. Linde, of Munich, was a most t imely topic, for many of the members looked as though one was a necE-ssity, and several were indulging in theological discussions of a future state. The author's criti­cism of Profess ora J acobus and Den ton was most ably answered by the former, and Mr. Linde will probably reflect that these gentlemen are quite able to defend any position they assume.

The H Rod Rolling Mills and their Development in America,» by F. H. Da.niells, of 'Vorcester, was a carefully written and most interesting paper. It cannot be condensed, and should be printed in full with all its illustrations to give the reader a proper id~a of its value, for it described and illus­trated not only the various mills but their method of operation. Professor R. H. Thurat~n then _Pre­sented in that masterly way for w hlCh he 1s so famou~ an address on "Technical Education in the United' States," and surely no one is better pre­pared than he to present this subject. His address went so far back in the history of the topic as to cite a school for technical education in Alexandria some 2000 years aao, but he omitted to name the professor, although there is no do':lbt this fact could have been supplied by his a.udtence. Tech­nical P.ducation died out in the Middle Ages, but had been revived in the last 200 years. The sub­ject received ample discussion, and one speaker recommended more uniformity in the courses of the various schools. He thought the schools should confer the degree of Bachelor of ~ngineer­ing and leave the higher degrees to be confel'red lat~r by some standard authority. At this point of the debate Professor Goodman, of Leeds, an eminent Engli~h profes~or, paid the Unit.ed States the compliment of saymg that the pubhc money devoted to technical education was better spent here than in England, the idea seeming to be there to aive a la.rae number of youths an elementary kn~wledae otscience and technical matters, while here we gave a better scientific and technical educa­tion to the few, and that our graduates were there-

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

fore more highly regarded by employers. ''Notes on the Drainage Machinery of theN ether lands," by A. Hu.et, was the title of the last paper, which was not d1scussed. The engineers were invited to a rec~ption that. ~vening in the Mines Building, wlu.ch .wa~ a bnlhant aff~ir, and later they visited, by tnv1tat10n, t he Ferns 'Vheel and the Midway Plaisanca.

The \V a.ter Commerce Committee was organised by .the election of John C. Dore as permanent cha1rman, who addressed the meeting on the present condition of water commerce in the United States. He stated in the course of his remarks that the re­port of the Inter-State Commerce Commission for ~890 states that the railroads of the country carried 1n that year 76,207,047,298 tons freight one mile. If to this amount be added the tons freight carried on the great lakes and the Mississippi and its tribu­taries one mile, the sum total will exceed 110,000,000,000. Vast as this internal commerce is , it is estimated that at the present rate of in­crease it will double in sixteen and a half years. If this estimate of increase is even approximately correct, there must be a stupendous increase in railroads, waterways, harbours, and terminal facili­ties to meet coming requirements of transporta­tion.

The public benefits received directly from cheap transport by water, great as they are, are made much greater by the controlling influence which water carriage exerts upon freight charges by rail. In 1834, fifty-nine years ago, the territory of the great States of the west and north-west was a wilder­ness. And as settlements extended into it com­merce followed the settlements, and consisted of flour, provisions, and other supplies. But so rapid were the settlements and developments made, that the current of commerce was reversed before 1840, and con~isted mainly of wheat, corn, and provi­sions, and this commerce has continued and in­creased as settlements and culti\ation have ex­tended, so that the valley of the Mississippi has become the great source of supply of bread and meat for the eastern and southern States and for exports, and yet comparatively a small part of this productive section of country has ever been broken by the plough.

In view of coming requirements for greatly in­creased facilities of transport, numerous schemes for ship canals and ship railways have been pro­jected to connect the great lakes with tide water. Public attention has been called to the real or imaginary necessity of a ship canal connecting the great lakes with the Atlantic Ocean, via the St. Lawrence River, or with the Atlantic, via Lake Champlain and the Hudson River, of a capacity sufficient for the passage of vessels carrying 5000 tons. It is admitted that the construction of such a canal would be a stupendous and very expensive undertaking. The chief advantage of a canal of so great capacity would be the saving of time and expense in transfer of cargo from ships to boats at lake ports, and from boats to ships at New York or Montreal, and the con verse. 'l'hese reshipments would be required only for exports and imports, and as less than 4 per cent. of the commerce of the United States is foreign, the expediency of co:n­structing so great a canal so far north for the spec1al convenience of so small a part of the commerce of the United States may well be questioned. The interest of this Congre3s centres mainly in inter­oceanic canals, ship rail ways, enlarged ccast and inland harbours, enlarged and more direct routes of interior navigation, better facilities for handling frei aht at terminals, and other subjects mentioned in the printed programmes of this Congress.

A. G. Menocal followed with an address on the Nicaragua Canal, embracing the history of the pro­ject and a succinct statement of its prospects. Other topics discussed were ''The Importance of Protecting Canal Banks in View of Navigation at High Speed," by Professor J ulius S~hlichting, of Berlin, and "The Advantages Resultmg from Re­placing Chains of Canal Locks by Hydraulic Lifts," by Edwin Clark, of England.

(To be continued.)

THE DEVELOPJ\IENT OF SOUTH AFRICAN RAJL\VAYS.

(Continued from page 265.) BEFORE proceeding to consider the second period

of rail way development, it will be necessary to refer t o the battle of the gauges, which has been, consider-

ing the circumstances, as keenly fought out in South Africa as anywhere else, and is by no means a dead question, as it has been revived and dis­cussed as lately as the middle of 1890 with respect to the British Bechuanaland extension (Vryburg to Mafeking), and must exercise a very great influenco on the future of the Beira .Railway. It may be stated at once that all the early private lines in South Africa (with the sole exception of the Port Nolloth Railway) constructed previous to 1877 were of the standard or 4 ft. 8! in. gauge, and that all the extensions built by Government have been of the 3 ft. 6 in. gauge, which now must un­fortunately be considered as the standard gauge of South Africa, and the ordinary standard gauge has for all practical purposes ceased to exist. The wider gauge was abandoned when the extensions to the interior were undt'rtaken, on the mistaken ground of lesser initial cost and subsequent wOlk­ing expenses, and recent extensions have on the same grounds been recommended on a reduced (2 ft. or 2 ft. 6 in. ) gauge, but luckily the obvious extra expense and inconvenience of transhipment has so far prevented the disastrous results entailed in a break of gauge on the South African Government systems, though it has not prevented the inception of the Beira Railway on a 2 ft. gauge. The policy which resulted in the abandonment of the 4 ft. 8i in. gauge and the sub­stitution of the 3 ft. 6 in. gauge in South Africa, tested by the result of actual experience, has un­doubtedly beeu a mistake, for the difference in fin t cost is surprisingly less than at first supposed, while in the cost of working, circumstances occur which make any line of less than the standard (4 ft. 8! in. ) gauge considerably more costly than standard-gauge working.

In the Irish Royal Commission's report on the relative cost of railways of different gauge&, in which the detail estimates of eight lines were compared, of the 5 ft. 3 in. and 3 ft. gauges respectively, the difference in cost (exclusive of rolling stock) was found to amount to only 500l. a mile ; and this may be taken as a fairly reliable average estimate of the difference in cost between these gauges. On this basis the difference in original cost between a 4 ft. 8k in. gauge and a 3 H. 6 in. gauge would only be 267l., which small difference, in view of the subsequent additional cost of working involved in the smaller gauge, would, had the matter been rightly understood when the Government extensions were undertaken, have cer­tainly prevented the departure from the standard gauge, which now can only be deplored without chance of rectification. In confirmation of the above estimated slender difference of cost between the 4ft.. 8! in. and the 3ft. 6 in . gaugE>, it may be pointed out that, whether the line be of the first or second gauge, the cost of the following items would be the same, viz. : 1, survey ; 2, Jand ; 3, rails and fastcnings ; 4, stations ; 5, level cro~s­ings; 6, signals ; 7, turntables and ashpits; 8, accommodation for employes ; 9, drainage ; 10, fencing; 11, water-ways for bridges and culverts; 12, foundations for bridges, &c. ; 13, strength of bridges ; 14, repairing shops and appliances ; and in the following respects the difference in coet due to 1 ft. 2! in. extra width would be obviously inconsiderable, viz. : 1, sleepers ; 2, earthwork (embankments and cuttings); 3, bridges; 4, culverts; 5, ballast. While in the following respects the cost of a 3 ft. 6 in. gauge would exce( d that of the standard gauge : 1, additional rolling stock and engines ; 2, extra relative cost of both ; 3, extra cost of goods sheds and buildings ; 4, extra cost of station yards, sidings, and platforms ; 5, extra cost of rolling stock and locomotive sheds; 6, extra cost of additional watering places ; 7, earlier necessity for doubling of the line. All of which extra capital outlay would be due to the in­ferior carrying capacity of the smaller gauge and its special character. In working the narrower gauge is also obviously less economical than the standard gauge in the following respects : 1, additional roll­ing stock and locomotives required to carry the same traffic ; 2, train mileage required to carry the same traffic; 3, additional staff to work extra trains and repair extra engines and rolling stnck ; 4, additional fuel and, in a dry climate, additional water.

The arguments against a break of gauge in the way of a reduced gauge in extensions is even more powerful than the above, as in addition to the foregoing t.he following conditions militate most powerfully against any such proposal : 1. Extra

...

•

SEPT. 8, 1893·] rolling s tock and locomotives, estimated by Irish R oyal Commissioners at from 50 t o GO per cent. over what would be required with a uniform gauge. 2. Extra repairing shops ~nd appliances, and staff for new gauge not reqmred where uniform gA-uge adhered t o. 3. Cost of tran­shipment, estimatec~ as equivalent to an extra mileaue rate of 20 m1les. 4. L oss of traffic due t o cos t of transhipment affecting a zone of 20 miles at least of the new line. 5. Additional s taff for transfer of luggage and parcels. 6. Delay in th.e traffic due to transfer, &c. These adverse condi­tions have so clearly shown themselves in all coun­tries where narrow-gauge railways have been con­structed, and especially where break of gauge has resulted therefrom, that the construction of narrow­gauue lines, as compared with those of a standard gaugA, has made little or no progress. In th.e United States narrow-gauge ra1lways are practi­cally n o longer built, and all exiet ing narrow-gsmge lines are on the way to conversion to the standard gaugo, and in India, notwithstanding the for~er prejudice of the Government of that country aga1ns t broad-gauge lines, their policy in respect to gauges has been entirely reversed of late years. One of the latest examplos of the effort to remedy the ill effects of transhipment due to difference of gauge has been the final abolition of Brunei's 7 ft. Oi in. gauge on the Great Western Railway in England last year. On t he whole, there is litt le doubt that it was a serious, though excusable, mis take for the Colonial Governments t o have abandoned the 4 ft. 8! in. gauge of the early private lines for the present standard gauge of 3ft. 6 in., but it would b e a more serious and inexcusable mistake for them to undertake any extensions on a less gauge, and it i-3 to be hoped that after thA many exhaustive discussions in the Cape Parliament and the able and conclusive r eports of the Government con­sulting engineer and other rail way officials, n o such idea will be entertained for the future.

The second period of rail way development, the period of intra-colonial Government enterprise, has now to be considered. It seems to be a matter of quest ion whether in a country of vas t distances and sparse populat ion, like South Africa, private companies would ever have come forward to undertake the building of t he main trunk lines, or, at all events, whether they would have done so as promptly as the Governments have in the present instance. In all probability private companies would n ot have done so, and that it is a matter for which South Africa has reason to be thankful that the Governments of the Cape and Natal have had the courage to undertake the con­struction of these lines when they did. The pro­voking cause of this undertaking was undoubtedly the marvellous development of diamond mining in Griqualand West, and of gold mining in the Transvaal. U p t o the present time, South Africa unquestionably owes t.he greater portion of her railways to her mines , and to the fact of the extra­ordinary development of her great mining indus­tries. In the future, it is probable that other causes will help to contribute to the extension and completion of her railway system, but of this below.

The year 187 4 is that in which the Government of the Cape Colony formally embarked on the great undertaking of forming three grand systems of trunk lines in connection with the three chief com­mercial ports of the colony-viz. , Ca pe T own, Port Elizabeth, and East L ondon, and to serve the western, midland, and eastern districts, and a sum of 9, 208,884l. was voted for this purpose. All three systems were at first intended to converge towards one common centre at the diamond fields (Kimberley), but before completion were modi­tied so as t o also converge towards the gold fields (Pretoria) as well. These railways were projected primarily to serve the large and increasing trade existing between the western, midland, and eastern ports and the dia.mond fields, and have been modi­fied and extended so as to take in the gold field traffic as well. In the second place, they and the cross lines which were contemplated at the same time and progressively added, were intended to complete a network of communication calculated t o be of the first importance from a military point of view. The sum voted in 1873 for the construction of these systems was appropriated as follows :

By Act No. 13, 1873, for a. line from Wellington to W orceater _ . . ..

Length. miles oh. £

64 7 315,000

E N G I N E E RI N G. Length. miles oh. £

By AC't No. 13, 1~73, for a. line from W ellmgton to Aliceda.le Junction ... 71 72 345,000

By Act No. 10, 1874, for a. line from Worcester to Beaufort West .. . .. 22!) Gl 1,R90,000

By Act No. 10, 18?4, for. a line from Kraa.1fontem to Ma1 mesbury .. . .. . 39 0

...

228,000

8,080 By Act No. 10, 1874. for a

dock line in Cape 'l'own By Act No. 10, 1874, for a.

line from Alicedale Junction to Cradock ... 109 7G 842,000

By Act No. 10, 1874, pur· chase of Zwartkops and U itenhage ... . ..

By Act No. 10, 1874, for a line from U itenhage to Graaff Rei net .. . . ..

By Act No. 10, 1874, for a line from East London to Queenstown .. . .. .

By Act No. 5, 187G, for a line from Alicedale to Graha.mstown . . . . ..

By Act No. 8, 1876, Salt River to Wynberg (pur­chase) .. . ... . ..

13 0

164 28

154 33

34 71

6 0

63,760

876,240

l ,OG9,000

255,200 "'

75,000 -5 467 280 , ,

* This appropriation was in the place of an apprOJ?ria.­tion of 328,000l. for a line from Grahamstown to the L1ttle Fish River through H ell Poort. All the above apprO· priations were based on rough estimates made by Govern­ment engineers from flying surveys, and turned out to be by no means accurate. When th1.1 wa:s found to be ~he case, revised estimates were prepared m 1878, by wh1ch further sums as follows were voted :

Western system additional vote . . . . . . . . . . . ·

Midland system additional vote . . . . . .. . . . . ..

Nortb·Ji~astern system addi-tional vote . .. .. . .. .

Graha.mstown branch addi-tional vote .. . . .. .. .

Eastern system additional vote . . . . . . . . . . ..

Excess on E stimate. £ per cent.

309,222 = 15 93

151,200 = 16.00

493,000 = 41. 53

208, 924 = 81 86

497' 153 = 46. 50 --- --

Total ... ... 1,659,499

These further sums were likewise found to be insufficient, and on December 31, 1881, when the lines authorised in 1~74 were completed, the capital account stood as follows :

Western system, between Miles. £ Cape Town and Beaufort vVest ... ... ... 401~ 3,368,277

Midland system, between Port Elizabeth and Ora-dock ... ... ... .. . 392 3,642,851

Eastern system, between East London and Queens-town ... . .. . .. 166 1,869,813

Total . .. .. . 959} 8,880,941 Average cost per mile, fJ255l. 16s.

The first section opened after the Cape Govern­ment took over the construction of rail ways was that between P ort Elizabeth and' Addo (or Com­mando Kraal), on the North-Eastern (Midland) system, on July 26, 1875. The last section opened of the lines contemplated in 1874, also in the North-Eastern (Midland system), to Cradock, opened .June 1, 1881.

By Act No. 14, 1881, further extensions were sanctioned at the cost of 3,954,636Z., as follows:

Miles. . .. 230 .. . 120 ... 135 ••• 80 ... 9

1. Beauforb W est to H ope town ... 2. Cradock to Colesberg . . . . .. 3. Queenstown to Ali wal North .. . 4. Newport Junction to De Aar .. . 5. Wynberg to Kalk Bay ... . ..

Total ... . .. ... 574

These extensions were pushed forward, especially on the North-Eastern (Midland) systems, with a considerable Rmount of competing rivalry. The commercial public of the two provinces eagerly watched for the news of another mile having been added to their syatem, and this anxiety reacted on the Government s taffs employed on the rival systems, and made them spare n o efforts to com­ple te their lengths sooner than their neighbours. In fact, this amounted to a regular race for the diamond and gold field traffic. The consequence was that more length of line was completed and opened between 1881 and 1886 than any other previous period. As at that time contemplated, the three systems of railways belong ing to the Cape Colony

295 :

were to t erminate at Aliwal North, Culesburg, and Kimberley, communication being effected betwe~~ them by a cross line from De Aar to Naawport, !1 from Middleburg Road to S tormberg Junct10n. When t hese were all comple ted, exc~pt the last, that is, by the end of 1880, the task which t~e Ca

8P74

e Government had set before themselves 1n 1 was successfully accomplished in the compara­tively brief space of twelve y~ars, and they h~d .to turn their attention to extens10ns beyond the l.Imlts of the colony to round oft their work as ra~lw~y contractors a~d extend their rail way system to It s legitimate object ive.

At the end of 1886 t h e Cape railway account stood as follows : ---

Miles Avera"'e Cost Tobal Coal. System nod Pa rticulars. Op en . p er Mile.

Western S3·stem. £ B. d . £ 8• d · Cape Town t o Kimberley

inol usive Stelleobosch I d D k L . 6SS 8,287 3 1 6,'i01.561 17 9 an oc 10es .. ..

Kraa.ifont ein to Malmes · 173,722 17 1 bury .. .. .. 29 5,990 8 10

Salt Ri ver to Kalk Ba) (doubled to Wynbcrg

3 311,583 10 a

= 6 miles).. . . . 15 20,772 5

Total • • •

Midland ~ystem. Port Elizabeth to Orange

Ri ver JLnd Naawpor t J unction to De Aar .

Z wart Kops to Graa.r R ei net . . . . ..

Alicedale to Grabamstown

Total • • • •

E astern System .

- -732 8,4 52 o 1 6,186,ses u 1

400 I 0,406 12 0 a,762,6U 0 6

178 1,1e3 18 6 1,381.979 0 7 35 I 15,334 0 10 530,t91 9 3

-613 9,268 0 10 1 6,es t ,sn 10 "

Buffalo Harbour (East London) to Ali wal North 282 10,612 3 0 2,992,626 8 11

Blaney to J{ing Willi am's To wn .. .. . . 10 11,714 6 5 117,143 4 3

Tota l • • . . 292 10,649 17 ll 3, 109, i 69 13 2

G ra.nd tot al . · 1 1637 9,149 12 8 14,977,949 17 7

-- -Turning n ow to the Natal Government railways,

we find that the construction of the main trunk lines radiating from Durban was not commenced till 1879. 1'he r eason for building these lines was practically the same as that which caused the building of the Cape system, that is, the desire to corn pete for the traffic to the n1ines in the interior, and it may be remarked that Natal was, as far as the gold mine traftic of the Transvaal was concerned, placed geographically in a p osition of considerable advantage as compared with the Cape ; but, on the other hand, the nature of the country to be traYersed was more difficut. This, as well as the necessarily more modest financial status of a Cr own colony, has caused Natal in railway matters to lag somewhat behind her ambitious sister; but pe1· contra, notwithstanding physical difficulties and financial obstacles, geographical position l1as told in her favour, as may readily be seen by a glance at the diagrams recording the relative results of rail­way enterprise in the two colonies.

(To be conti11>utd.)

STONEY'S TIPPING CRANE. THE main object of the design of the tipping crane

illustrated on page 292 is to produce a steam crane which can not only raise heaYy buckets of material from one level to another, and perform the ordinary motions of travelling, lifting, and &winging simul­taneously, but can also quietly pour out or tip the load at any level, at any angle, or in any direction, whether the crane might be lifting, lowering, or stand­ing still .

The most important requirements and conditions of tipping sought to be fulfillE.d by the inventor, Mr . F. G. M. Stoney, are as follow s :

1. The turning over or tipping action should not in any way depend on triggers, catches, or conditions of balance, and it should be under the absolute command of the steam power in all the evolutions, at the will of the crane·driver.

2. The crane should be capable of tipping the bucket in any direction, and to any degree, under complet e control of the driver.

3. The engines should never cease to have control of the t ipping, and subsequent righting, of any bucket or wagon carrying the load to be tipped.

4. The ent ire arrangement should be capable CJf extension to a large variety of purposes.

These conditions are fulfilled in a very simple manner, mainly by arranging, in a special steam crane, two barrels, independently driven. These barrels can at will be driven in the same or opposite directions. To render the action independent of conditions of balance as to centres of gravity of variable loads, four steel

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ropes are used to carry the load. A steel crossbar carrying four sprockets is suspended from the crane in the bights of two short pitch chains, the ends of which are attached to the four ropes. The outer ends of the crossbar are provided with similar sprockets, each of which carries a. short loop of pitch chain. The buckets containing the materials to be tipped are provided with like sprockets on their ends, and the endless loops of chains are easily and quickly dropped under 1

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these sprockets, thus attaching the load to the crane. The two ropes fixed to corresponding ends of the

short pitch chains are wound as twin ropes, on the double thread groove on one barrel, while the pa.ir of ropes fixed to the opposite corresponding ends of the pitch chains are similarly wound on the other barrel. Thus all four ropes are directly wound by the crane, a nd so long as the barrels move together in the same direction the load is lifted as in an ordinary crane, but when the barrels are moved in opposite relative direc­tions the load does not lift or lower, but a rotating motion is given to the crossbar, and is communicated to the bucket by means of the two chain loops.

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This rotating motion is, of course, performed by the steam power, and is entirely under the control of the

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dl'iver as to extent and direction. The box may be rotated a complete revolution or more, or only through a few degrees. Also it may be rotated in one direction, and stopped and rotated in the opposite direction.

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This facility is of great practical use in ma.ny ways. For example, in tipping dredged materials conta.iuing water, the water is frequently poured out in one direction, and the solid materials afterwa.rds tipped

in the opposite direction. Similarly, in tipping into trucks, it ha.s often been found convenient to tip part of the load in the direction of one end of the truck, a.nd the remainder in the other direction ; this is easily performed by simply reversing the engines. Several of these cranes are at work on the Manchester Ship Canal, dealing with vast quantities of dredged materials of all kinds, varying from sand to rock.

It might appear at first sight that there would be some delay in attaching the chain loops to the sprockets on the boxes, but this opera.tion proves to be of the most simple character, requiring no skill, and occupying not more than one or two seconds of time. So great, indeed, is the facility of handling materials in this way, that as many as 312 boxes (each contain­ing 6 tons of dirt) have been lifted from barges to a. height of 25 ft., swung round, tipped, and the boxes placed back on the barges in a. working day of 9~ hours by one crane. This represents over 62,0()0 foot-tons of work, in addition to the duties of travelling, swing­ing, and tipping. By means of such cranes a. great saving of time and labour might be made in the coa.l­ing of ships, but the more important feature in this business would be in saving the coals from being so

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CAR AT THE COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION". (For Description, see Page 299.)

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much broken and knocked into dust as they are by the ordinary systems hitherto adopted.

\Vith these cranes, boxes of coal ca.n be lowered into the holds of ships and gently poured out with t he least possible damage t o the coal, and in such direc- j t ions as to save trimming to a very large extent. In like manner, trucks could be lowered into ships 1 having large hatchways, and the contents gently I emptied in any desired direction, so as to avoid or reduce trimming.

These cranes on the :Manchester Ship Canal have now handled some millions of tons, and are working day and night with double shifts of men handling these vast quantities of materials at a very low ra te of cost per ton. The cranes are made in two sizes : Size A, 10-ton crane to handle quickly, and at a long radius, 4-yard tubs; size B, 6-ton crane to handle 2-yard tubs.

NEVEN'S RAIL SCRAPER. AMONG the special devices that find employment on

American rail roads, we notice several types of scrapers for clearing rails of snow and ice, exhibited in t he ,

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Transportation Building of the World's Columbian Exposition. The engravings we publish on page 293 illustrate a good type of this device. It consists of a. heavy frame suspended below a. car. so that t he bottom edge is near the surface of the rails. This frame is attached to two vertical posts that pass through the floor of the car, and is connected to a. second frame within the car ; a rising and falling movement can he imparted to the frame by the hand lever which actuates a spurwheel and pinion, turning a crank to which the frame is connected. It will be seen that the scraper is hung to the fioor of the car by chains and rods paRs­ing through rubber springs. The scraper itself con­sists of an iron frame with wing plates on each side, curved so as to throw off the snow or ice removed from the rails. The lower edge of these wings clears the rails as the scraper is drawn over them by the moving cars. The frame is set so as to stand at an angle over the rails, and it can be lowered by the lever in the ca.r so as just to avoid contact, and so maintain a clean rail. }4;las­t icity is given to the frame by making it in two parts, one of which can slide over the other at F, the normal position being restored by means of the springs 1~ shown in the plan, ll'ig. 6. This scraper is the

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invention of Mr. George Neven and Mr. Alfred E. \Vhite, one of B runswick 'and the other of Portland in the State of Maine.

=======~·

BONAR BRIDGE. (Concluded from page 237.)

~o~~IXG now to consider the steel super structure, ~ s1m1lar type of construction, viz., a bowstring girder, 1s adopted for each span. \Ve are enabled to place before our readers, on our two-page plate this week full illustrations of the largest or 140-ft. span, and w~ !low purpose dealing in detail with this span, conclud­l~g our remarks on the superstructure with some suc­cmct a ccount of the two lesser spans, which differ only _in details from that which we now proceed to descnbe. Our previous views, illustrations of this bridge, will be found on the two-page engraving pub­lishe~ with our issue of August 25, and on page 227 of that lSSUe.

The upper booms are trough -shaped throughout, each consisting of 16 in. by a in. webplates, spaced 1 ft 3 ~n. apart (inside measurement), and strengthened by 3~ 10. by 3 ~ in. by i in. angles, stiffening both edges, and placed externally.

A 2 H. by i in. fia.nge-pla.t e connects the webs to­gether, b eing secured t o the upper angles. The radius ?f curvature is 158 ft. 3 in. , a.nd diaphragms consist­Ing of ! -in. plating with 3~ in. by 3~ in. by i in. angle attachments to the webs, are placed at the centre of each bay. The cover-plates for the webs and angles which butt-join t ogether are 2 ft. 8 in. by 9 in. by ! in. , and 2ft. 8 in . by 1 ft. 4 in. by~ in., with cover strips 2ft. 4 in. by 3i in. by! in. on each lower angle, those for the upper flange-plate connecting the webs being 2ft. 4 in. by 2ft. by H in. and 2ft. 4 in. by 13! in. by j in.

The lower booms are similarly built of a pair of web~, e1.ch strengthened by two angles, but the con­necting-plate is omitted. The webs have a uniform depth and thickness of 1 ft. 8 in. and g in. r espec­tively throughout, the angles in t he outer web-the upper 3! in . by 3~ in. by ~ in. , and the lower 4 in. by 4 in. by i in.-being placed at the upper and lower edges­' ' iz. , 1 ft. 8 in. from back to back, whilst in the inner web the upper angle is spaced only 1 ft . from t he bot tom of the plate, in order that it may be at the requisit e height to form the neceesary attachment for t he side fioorplates ; both angles are 4 in. by 4 in . by ! in. The distance apa.rt of the webs is similar to that in the upper booms- viz. 1 ft. 3 in ., inside measurements.

The joints in the webs and angles occur simultane­ously, and are covered in the outer web by coYer plates 2 ft. 8 in. by 1 ft . 8 in. by g in. and 2 ft. 8 in. by 1 ft. 0~ in. by~ in. respectively, and by a pair of cover strips, one on the exposed back of each augle, and 3 ft . by 3~ in. by ! in. and 3 f t. by 4 in. by ! in. in size. The inner web and angles a.re covered by three plates-2 ft. 8 in. by 1 ft. 8 in. by i in., 2 ft. 8 in. by 7! in. by! in. , and 2ft. 8 in. Ly 4 in. by! in .; a strip 3 ft . by 4 in. by ! in. , and an angle cover 3i in. by 3~ in. by ~ in. .

The junction of the upper and lower booms is formed by a g- in. plate attached to t he inner side of the web of each, and shaped to conform to their outline. Each junction plate is stiffened internally by a 6 in. by 3 in. by~ in. T -bar, whilst a4 in. by ! in. cover plate on the inner web, and a 12! in. by i in. cover plate c-:t the outer web, placed outside in each instance, make up the connection. The bearing plate is 5 ft. 6 in. by 2ft. by i in., and is secured to the lower a.ugles of the bottom boom by countersunk rivets~ in. in diameter.

The main bracing is of the form shown in Figs. 21 and 22 on our two-page engraving. The vertical posts are built up throughout of four 3~ in. by 3~ in. by! in. angles, with a single system of diagonal bracmg of 3 in. by 1 in. flat bars, placed at an angle of 90 deg. t o each other attachment being formed by a single t-in . rivet a t ea~h j unction passing through both diagonals and the angles on either side. .

The vertical posts are of the same w1dth as the inside dimension of the upper and lower booms, and are carried directly through them, attachment to the web on each side being formed by six ~-in. rive~s. The diaaona.l ties a.re composed throughout of 7 m. by ! in.

0 rolled edged bars similarly passing into each

boom web and attached direct by five ~-in. rivets. The tot~llen gth of each main girder is 151 ft , and

its maximum height 20ft. from back to back of angles of upper and lower booms respectively, the width from cent re to centre of ma in girders being 27 ft .

The overhead cross-bracing consist s of 3i in. by 3& in. by ! in . angles braced toget her by 3 in. by! in. flat bara, the depth at centre being 1 ft. 6 in. ~he upper angles are arched with a curve of ~0 !t. radn~s; the ends b~ing bent to a. reverse curve of s1m1lar radms and passing directly over the upper boom, for m con­nection with its upper plate and angles. The lower angles of the overhead cross-bracing ure forme~ into a curve of 3:l ft. rad ius, sharpening at the ends mto a. curve of 5 ft. radius, and then passing downwards, running parallel with . and b~ing. a~taohed to the vertical post in line w1th wh1ch 1t 1s placed . The

•

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

clear headway given between the granite cubes of the roadway and the underside of the overhead cross­bracing is 18 ft.

The lateral stiffeners, four of which occur in each main girder, spaced as shown in the illustrations, are of .the form. indicated_ in Fig. 22, and are built up of a pa1r of 3~ m . by 3i m. by ! in. angles, secured to the ends of the cross-g irders as shown, and raking in­wards to form connection with the upper portion of the vertical post in line with which they occur.

A pair of inner angles of similar scantlings run parallel with those just described, being bent at the lower end to a curve of 2 ft. 6 in. radius, to form a.t~achments to the cross-girder, and at the upper end bemg bent completely round until in contact with the vertical post, to which the outer angles are also secured. A !-in. plate, shaped to the outline of the angles on all sides, is placed a.t the lower ends of the raking struts.

Turning now to some consideration of the flooring, and dealing firstly with the cross-girders, which occur a t the vertical post3, four long cross-girders (38 ft. O\'er all) and nine ordinary cross-girders (30 ft. over a ll) make up the flooring of the 140ft. span. Both lengths of cross-girders are similar throughout, the difft! rence consisting merely in increased length in the case of those prolonged 5 ft. 6 in. on each side of t he centre line of each main girder to form a ttachments with the raking struts j ust described. The cross­girders are of the form shown in Fig. 22, with straight upper and curved lowf'r booms ; the maximum depth at centre is 2ft. 6 in., and the radius of curve of the lower boom is 100ft. F or 7 ft. on either side of the centre line the w~bs are J in. thick, and for the re­mainder of the cross-girders ! in. thick. Vertical T · bars 6 in . by 3 in. by i in ., spaced 7 ft. on each side of the centre line, stiffen the webs on both faces. The flanges in each boom are made up of a. pair of a~ in. by 3i in. by ! in. angles, with a plate 11 ft . by 8 in. by f in. in each boom at the centre. Attachment is formed direct t o the vertical post s of the main girders by a. pair of plates 8 in. by ~in. passing down and secured to the web and lower angles of each cross-g irder in the manner shown in Fig. 22.

The flooring is made of five t roughs of Z -bars, all of which, with t he exception of the out er bars of the outer troughs, which are 10 in. by 3! in. by 3! in. , and weigh 20.9 lb. perfoot run , are 7 in. by 3~ in. by 3~ in. , with a weightof22.f lb. per foot run. A!·in. plate 12in. in w id th forms the bottom of each trough, and, in the same manner as the Z -bars, runs the entire length of t he bridge.

The floorplates are curved, being a in . in thickness, and secured to the upper leg of the Z -bars by !-in. rivets having a 4-in. pitch. They are lap-jointed to each other, being thinned down at the corners as in boiler work.

The covering of the joints in the Z -bars and 12 in. by ~ in. bottom plate is effected by means of a cover strip 2 H. by 3! in. by ! in. lying over the ti- in. curved floorplate, where it makes junction with the upper leg of the Z -bar. Two vertical cover-plates, 2ft. by 6i in. by i in., one to each Z -bar, and two horizontal cover -plates 2 ft. by 5 in. by ~ in., and 2 ft . 4 in. by 1 ft. by i in., are placed respectively above and below the bottom t rough plate. The footpath is carried on i- in. buckled plates 5 ft . by 4 ft. 8 in. , the junction between them being formed by 6 in. by 3 in. by! in. T · bars placed above them and spanning from the outer Z -bar of the outer trough to the upper inner angle of the main bottom boom. The wind fence is 5 ft. in height , and is constructed in panels of similar length to the bays in which they occur. The panels are made up of 2~ in. by 2~ in. by f in. angles bent and welded t o form an oblong framing. 'rhe bars a.re 1 ~ in. by l in., S\nd are spaced 8 in. apart from centre to centre of their junctions; H-in. rivets secure the bars t o each other and to the angle-framing, which in its turn is fastened to the vertical posts of the main bracing of the main girders by !-in. bolts.

In order t o secure exactness in the lines of the parapet, the holes in th~m we~e. not drilled ~ntil the girders had been erected m ~os1t1o_n. Th e _wmd fence is surmounted by a t eak copmg 3 111. by 2 1n.

The remaining spans call for no special remark as regards their superstructure. Each follows the type adopted in t he large span, which we have fully described in detail and illustrated in all particulars. The main bowstring girde.rs of the 105-ft. span are each 113 ft. long, with a maximum height of 15 ft. 4 in. This span has six o~tside s~iffeners, thr~e long cross­girders (38 ft.), and e1gh t ordmary cross-guders (30ft. ). The 70· ft. span has main girders 77 ft. long and 12 ft. high at centre, with four outside st~ffeners, two. long cross-girders (36 ft. ), and seven ordmary cross-guders (30 ft . ).

Turning now to consider in brief outline t he bear­ings of all three spans, as will be noted . from our illustrations, at the western abutment the g1rders rest on the beam blocks ; on the nearest pier ( \'iz. , pier No. 1) the other end of the 70-ft. span is carried on &

rocker bearing, a.nd the 105-ft. span on a.n expansion bearing; a t pier No. 2 both 105 ft. span and 140ft.

•

•

(SEPT. 8, I 893. ·-

span are carried on rocker bearings, the other end of the 140-ft . span, resting on the east abutment, being supported on an expansion bearing.

The rocker bearings (see Fig. 26) consist of an upper saddle of cast steel 2 ft. 10 in. by 2 ft. by 2 in. in the upper flange, carrying a stout 2-in. collar (supported by six 2-in. ribs) bearing on the rocking-pin, which is a steel forging and has a finished diameter of 8 in. The lower saddle is similar in design to that above the rocking-pin , and is also of cast steel. The lower flange is 3ft. by 2ft . 10 in. by 2 in., and is secured to the masonry by eight 1!-in. lewis bolts arranged as shown in Fig. 27. 'l'he total height of the bearing is 1ft. 6 in., measured from the upper surface of the upper saddle to the underside of the lower one. A sheet of 6 lb. lead is placed between the lower saddle and the masonry supporting it. The rocker bearings (see Figs. 28 to 32) consist of an upper saddle of cast steel with t op flange 2ft.10in. by2 ft. by 2 in., with acollar2 in. thick bearing on the rocking pin, and supported by six 2-in. ribs, three on either side. The rocking pin is 8 in. in diameter, and is carried on the lower saddle, which is similar in all respects t o the upper one, except that the lower flange is given an increased width of 2ft. 3! in. to admit of projecting guides, in which the rockers move. The rockers are six in number, and of the form indicated in Fig. 32. They have a maximum height of 8 in., and a maximum width of 5! in., and are spaced 5! in. from centre to centre, being fi tted inside a. pair of wrought-iron frames of 2! in. by ~ in. bars, to which they are attached by ~ -in. set screws, insuring uniformity of motion amongst the whole.

The bedpla.te carry ing the rockers is of cast iron, with maximum dimension8 3 ft. 4 in. by 3 ft. 3 in. by 10! in. The type of design is that shown in Fig. 26, the 2-in. flanges being connected by 1! in. a.nd 2 in. ribs, t he latter with circular voids 4 in. in diameter. The bedplate rests on a sheet of t3 lb. lead, and is secured to the masonry by six 1i · in. lewis bolts arranged as shown.

Returning to the materials used in the construction of the bridge, the mortar used throughout was formed of one part of Portland cement to two parts of sand, the latter being subject t o the customary requirements of cle?.nness and sharpness. Grout was formed by the addit ion t o the above of a. sufficient quantity of water to g ive the r equis ite fluidity. All concrete, except that for t he caissons, was composed of one par t by measure of Portland cement to two parts of sand throwu in layers on three parts of gravel.

The concrete for the caissons was formed of one part of Portland cement, one and a half parts of sand, and two and a half parts of gravel. The Portland cement was required to pass through a sieve of 2500 n1eshes to the square inch, and with a residue not exce-eding 10 per cen t. throngh a sieve of 8600 meshes t o the square inch, and was specified at no season of the year to set in less than one hour when made up neat.

F or testing purposes the cemen t, when gauged with th ree times its weight of dry sand which had passed through a sieve of 400, and been ret ained upon one of 900 meshes to t he square inch, was required, after the addition of about 10 per cent. of the weight of the mixture of water, to stand a strain without fracture of 160 lb. per square inch after having been kept twenty­four hours in a damp atmosphere, and subsequently immersed in water for twenty-eight days. Briquettes of neat cement were r equired after seven days' im­mersion in water to bear without fracture a strain of 360 lb. per square inch.

It may here be noted, in connection with the masonry work, that t he employment of red grani te from the Corrennie quarries in t he quoins, imposts, and pilasters relieved the gray granite used in the other portions of the structure, and produced a. pleasing and handsome effect.

Turning now to consider in brief outline the remain­ing materials in the superstructure and caissons, mild steel made by the Siemens-Martin process was em­ployed t hroughout, having an ul t imate tensile strength of not less than 28 tons and not exceeding 32 tons per square inch of section, wit h an elongation of at least 20 per cent. in a length of 8 in. ; strips cut lengthwise or crosswise 1~ in. wide, and heated uni­formly to a low cherry red, and cooled in water at 8:2 deg . Fahr., being required to bend up in a press to a curve whose inner radius is equal to one and a half t imes the thickness of the matel'ial , without failure or fracture. The rivet s teel was required to comply wi th similar condit ions, but with an ultimate tensile strength reduced t o 26 t o 30 t ons per square inch. The cast iron was required to stand a load of 30 cwt. at centre, when cast in Lars 42 in. by 2 in. by 1 in., and placed on bearings 3 ft . apart. The deflec· t ion was not permitted to exceed r\ in.

The ultimate tensile strength per square inch of the cast steel was specified t o range between 26 and 32 t ons per square inch, wit h an elongation of 10 per cent. in a length of 8 in. Bars of l square inch sec­t ion were required to bend cold without fracture to a right angle, with a curve of 1ft in. as radius.

The rolled steel was supplied by the following

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firms : Messrs. A . and J. Stewa.r t and Clydesdale, Limited ; the Clyde bridge Steel Comp1.ny, Limited, Ca.mbusla.ng; the Dalzell teel \Yorks, Motherwell; the L a narkshire ' teel Company, Limited , Flemiogton; the Mossend Steel ' Vorks, Mossend ; P d.rkbead ~·orge, G lasgow; the teel Company of Scotland, Limited, K ewton and Blocha.irn W orks.

The cast s teel was furnished by the Springfield Foundry Company, L ondon ·road, G la.!lgow, and the c1st iron by Messrs. MacPherson , ' Yaddell, and Co., :Mount Blue Foundry, Camlachie. The highest class of girder wOTk was r equired throughout, a ll holes being drilled and every edge planed. The riveting, as far as possible, was performed by Arrol's patent hy­d raulic riveter, the rivets being heated in oil f nrnaces.

The material was, for the most part, built up pre­vious to drilling, thns insuring absolu te accuracy in t he p osition of the boles of the different parts when assembled together for riveting up. Edges of plates were machine dressed, except in the upper booms, w !1o5e rolled edged pla tes were b ent with a hydraulic press to the required c urva.l ure.

The finished camber of each mJ.in g irder was de­signed to be equivalent to 1 ~ u in. to each foot of span. Prior to despa tch the scale we.s removed from all steelwork, which was then coated with boiled linseed oil, and & coat of r ed lead p ain t, t wo addi­tional col.ts b eing added su bsell uen t b erection. Erection at site was p~rformed on timber st\giug placed acro3s t he Kyle.

BALLA. 1'-DI l'RlBUTING \VAGON. TuE a rrangemen t for distributing ballast on a. rail ­

\Vay track, which we illustrate on pages 296 and 297, is t o some extent known in this country, and, in the form experimented with here, was illustra ted and de­scribed by us in our issue of February 26, 1892 (see page 270). It was tested with much success by ~fr. \ Villiam Meh·ille, engineer of the Glasgow and outh­\Vestern Railway, an<l proved t o make considerable economy, combined with excellen~e of work. The wagon and plough exhibited in the Transportation Building of the Columbi1n Exposition, a nd illustrated by us, differ in some respects fr om the origina l form, and represent the latest t ype now being employed with excellent results in the U oiteu tates. Figi. l to 4 show the const ruction of the ballast wagon ; it is 34 ft. long ove r the end frames, b ut the body of the wagon is only 25 ft. 9 in. in length, a platform being provided at each end. As will be seen from t he section, Fig. 4, the sides of the wagon converge uniformly to the bottom, where they meet, the lower part being completed by two hinged flaps or doors extending the whole length of the wagon, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. These flaps are held up by a series of chains which can be slacked off by the lever device shown in Fig. 3 so as to allow of an opening of any desired width being main­tained. Through this opening the ballast is deposited on the track, the amount being of course r egulated by the width of opening. F igs. 1 to 4 show the mode of bracing the frame of the wagon, by means of four trusses, t wo on each s ide of the hopper. F igs. 5 to 8 illustrate the d istributing device; this consists of a d ouble-winged plough mounted beneath a platform car , which is ava il­a ble for other purposes when r equired. The car is of the ordinary American type, aud the shares, w hich a.re of the form shown in Jf igs. 5, 6, and 7, are con­nected in front by a rod moving freely on a pin in one of the transverse frames; in its rising and falling move­ment the plough is guided by block s working in the frames bolted to the main longitudinal timber on each aid e and shown in Fig. 5. The plough frame is con­nected to a. screwed standard mounted on the phtform of the car , a nd by t his it can be r a ised clear of a ll obstructions, or lowered so as to distribute a minimum thickness of ballast. The wagon a nd car we illus­trate are exhibited by the Rodger Ballast Car Corn ­ploy of Chicago; the agents in this country a re ~Iessrs . \Yilliam Bu.in and Co., 8, Victoria-street, \Yestminster, London.

BALD\VIN LOCOMOTIVES AT CHI CAGO. o~ p age 300 we publish engravings of t wo more of

the locomotives forming the exhibit of the Bald win L ocomotive " Torks a t the \Yorld's Columbian Ex­p osition. Both of these engines are compound ; the smaller one is of the '' Consolida tion " type, and has been constructed for the :Mexican Nat ional Rail road Company (3 ft. gauge); the fuel employed is bi t u ­minous coal. The following are the principal par­ticulars of this engine :

Weight and Gcnerrr.l Dimen3i~ n3.

Total weight of locomoth e in work· ing order (actual) . . . . .. . ..

T otal weightondri ving wheels(a.ctual ) , wheel b~e of locomotive ...

Di tance between <'entre of front ~nd back driving whoels ... ..

D tsta.nce from centre of main dri v-

78,600 lb. 37,060 ,, 21 ft. 5 ID.

12 ft.

ing wheels t o centre of cylinders 11 ft . 8 in. L ength of main connecting-rod from

centre to centre of journals .. . 8 ft. 2 in.

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

Transverse distance from centre to centre of cylinders . . . . . . . .. 6ft. 11! in.

Cylinders, Valves, d:c. : D iameter of cylinders {

H P. 10 in. dia.. L.P. 17 , • • •

Stroke of piston . . . . . . . . . 20 in. H orizontal thickness of p iston over

piston-head and follower plate . . . 41 in. Kind of piston packing ... . .. Ca.st-~ron rins-s

sprungmto T -rmg. Diameter of piston-rod . .. . .. 2~ in. Size of steam ports . . . 16t in. by 1:1 in. } circular

, exhaust ports . . . 16! , , 5j , G reatest travel of sl ide va.l ves . . . 5 in.

Outside lap of sl ide valves . . . . .. { f.·:.· t i,~ · Inside lap of slide va.l ves . . . . . . None

L ead of slide va.l ves in full s troke ... { f ·:.· ~ :~· Throw of upper end of reverse lever

frotr. full ~ear forward to full gear backward, measured on the chord of the arc of its t hrow . . . . .. 45 in.

Sectional area. of opening in each s team pipe connecting with cy-linder . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . 15. V sq. in.

lVheels, &c. : Diameter of driving wheels outside

of tyres . . . . . . . . . . .. Diameter of truck wheels . . . . ..

46 in . 26 ,

Size of dei ving-axle journals, dia-meter and length . . . . .. . .. 6! in. by 7 in.

Size of truck-axle journals . . . . . . 41 , 8 , Size of rua.in crankpin journals . . . 4! , 4! , Size of coupling-rod journals .. . F . and B. 3! in.

by 3 in. ~I. 4} in . by 4! in.

L ength of d r iving spring, centre to centre of bangers . . . . . . . ..

Boiler : D escription of boiler . . . . . . . .. Inside diameter of smallest boiler

32 in.

Straight

ring . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 in. Material of barrel of boiler .. . . . . Steel Thickness of plates in barrel of boiler ! in. K ind of horizontal seams ... Butt jointed, with

double cover ing s trips, double riveted

Kind of circumferential seams ... Single riveted ~Iaterial of tubes ... ... Steel, No. 12 W .G. N umbt\r of tubes ... ... ... 132 Diameter of tubes outside . . . . . . 2 in. Distance between centres of tubes . .. 2~ , L ength of tubes over t ubeplat es . . . 11 f tl. 9~ in.

, firebox inside . . . . . . 83 a in. Width , , . . . . . . 2 ~~ , D epth of firebox from underside of { F. 55! ,

crown-plate to bottom of mud-ring B. 44! :, \ Vater spaces, sides, back, and front

of firebox . . . . . . . . . Front, 3~ in. : sides and back, 2.\ in.

1\Ia.teria.l of outside shell of firebox . . Steel. Thickness of plates of outside shell

of fi rebox . . . . .. . . . . . . i in. 1\fateria.l of inside of firebox ... ... Steel. Thickness of plates in sides, back {Crown if in., back

end,. and crown of .t:irebox ... and sides fo in. M a tena.l of firebox tube sheet . .. Steel.

,. smokebox tube sheet ... T hinknessoffronta.nd back tubepJates ~ i~. C~own plate is stayed with ... Radial stays1!in. dia. Dtameter and height of dome .. . 28 in. by 22 in. W: or king steam pressure per square

m ch . . . .. . . . . .. . . . . 180 lb. Kind of grate ... ... ... . .. Rockio~ bars. Widt h of Lars . . . . . . . . . . . . 9~ m. G , fpening between bars ... g .,

rate sur ace ... ... ... ... 14.14 fq. ft. Heating surface in firebox . .. ... 84.59 ,

,, , of tubes ... . .. ~09. 18 Total heating surfaca . . . . . . .. . 8V3. 77 :: Kind of blast nozzle . . . . . . . . Single Diameter of blast nozzles (three sizes

provided) . . . . . . . . . . .. 3~ in., 3! in., and 4 in.

Smallest inside d iameter of smoke sta.<:k . . . . . . . .. 14 in.

Height from top of ra ils t~ .. top ~i smoke stack . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 fb.

Smoke box . . . . . . . . . . .. Extended wi tb . '

Tendfr:

nettmg and de-flecting plate

\ V eight of tender empty (actual) ... 31,200 lb. , ., with fuel and

water, full . . . . . . .. . . .. 66,280 ,, Eight 'lQ . .. ln.

N umber of wheels under tender ... D iameter of tender wheels . . . . .. Size of journals of tender a xles, d ia-

meter and length . . . . . . . . . 4! in. by 8 in. T otal wheel-base of tender ... ... 15 ft. Distance from centre to cen tre of

truck-wheels of t ender \ V a.ter capacity of tank (in. ·gallo~·~

of 231 cubic inches) ... . .. l •'ud capacity of t ender .. . . ..

En[1ine a11d Tender:

4 "

3000 gals. 4~ tons

T otal whc el-bas9 of engine and t en -der .. . .. .. . .. .. -47 ft. 10~ in.

Total lengt h of engine and tender over all . . . . . . . .. . . . 55 , 3 ,

299

The second engine, also compound, is of the standard gauge, and was built for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company; it is of the "American " t ype, and burns b ituminous coal ; t h e principal p a rti­culars are as follows :

Weight an i Gene1·al. Dimen3ion8. T otal weight of locomotive in work-

ing order (actual) . . . . . . . . . 122,780 1 b. T otal weight on driving wheels

(actual) ... . .. .. . ... 78.480 , T otal wheel L1~e of locomotive . . . 22 ft . 4 in. Distance between centre of front

and back driving wheels . . . . . . 7 , 6 , Distance from centre of main driving

wheels to centre of cylinders ... 11 , 5 , L ength of main dri vmg rod from

centre to centre of journals . . 7 , 2l , Transverse distance from centre of

one cylinder to centre of the other 7 , 2 ,

Cylinders, Val1:es, d:c. : Diameter of cylinders ••• { H.P. 13~ in.

L .P.23 , 24 in. Stroke of piston . . . . . . ..

Horizontal thickness of pis ton over pis ton bead and follower plate . . . 4! ,

K ind of piston packing . .. Cast-iron r ings sprung into sol id head

Diameter of piston-rod .. . . .. 3~ in. Size of steam ports . . . 2t in. by 1! in. } circular

, exhaust ports ... 24 , 1~ , G reatest travel of slide valves ... 5 in.

Outside lap of slide val ves ... { r.·f · i i,~· Inside l ap of s] ide valves . . . . . None Lead of piston val ve in full stroke { H 1!. i in. L . P. ~ , , Throw of upper end of reverse lever

from full gear forward to full gear backward, measured on the chord of the a.ro of its t hrow . . . . .. 56i in.

Sect ional area. of opening in each steam pipe connected with cylinder 19 63 sq. in.

Wheels, J:c. : Diameter of driving wheels outside

of tyres . . . . . . . . . . .. Diameter of truck wheels . . . .. .

78 in. 36 "

Size of driving·a.xle journals, dia -meter a nd length ... ... . .. 8 in. by 9~ in.

Size of truck-axle journals . . . . .. 5 , 10 , Size of main crankpin journals ... 5l , 5! , ' Size of coupling-rod journals { 6 in. by 4k in. fror:o

4~ , 4% , back L ength of driving springs, cen t re -

t o cen t re of hangers . . . . .. 48 in. Boiler:

Description of boiler . . . . . . . .. Inside d iameter of smallest boiler

• rtng . . . . . . . . . M aterial of barrel of boiler .. .

•• • • ••

.. .

Straight

603 in. Steel

Kind of horizontal seams .. . . .. Butt- joint£d, with double

• • covermg strtps , circumferential seams ... D ouble r ivet .-d

Material of tubes ... . .. . .. Iron, No.ll W.G. Number of tubes ... .. . ... 251 Diameter of tubes outside .. . . .. 2 in. Dist ance between centres of tubes... 2~ ,. L ength of tubes over tubep lates ... 11 ft. 10 in.

, firebox inside . . . . . . 107 la- in. W idth of firebox inside 33~ Depth of fi rebox from und~~side ~f { 69~ in. f;ont

crown-plate to bottom of mud·riog 54! , back Water spaces, sides, back, and front { :l in., 3 in.,

of firebox . . . . . . . . . . . . and 4 in. M ater1al of outside shell of firebox... Steel Thickness of plat es of outside sh ell

of firebox . . . .. . . . . . .. Material of inside of firebox ... _ Thickness of plates in sides, back, l

and crown of firebox ... r Material of firebox tu be sheet .. .

, smokebox tube sheet .. . Thickness of front and back tube-

plates . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. Crown p!ate is stayed with radial

-Ar in. Steel

/Tf in., ftr in., and ~ in.

Steel Stet:!

~in.

~ta.ys ... .. : ... .. . ... 1~ in. d iam. D1am~ter and he1ght of dome .. 31~ in. by 22 in. w .orkmg steam pressure per square

lDCb . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. Kind of grate . . . ... . . . . .. Wid th of bars . . . ... ... . .. Width of opening between bars . .. Grate surface • • • • • • • ••

Heating surface in fi rebox .. . • • •

. -. , , of tubes .. .

Total heating surface.. . ... :: · Kind of blast nozzle · Dia.me~er of blast noz~i~ ( tb·~~e siz~~}

provtded) ... .. . . .. .. Smallest inside diameter of smok~

stack . . . . . . . ..

180 lb. R !:'cking

~ in.

! " 24 75 ~q. ft. 149 ,

15 .. 4 " 1693 , D .mble

3! in , 3~ in., and 3~ in.

161 in. H eight from top of rails t~ .. top ~ f

smoke stack . . . . .. 14 ft l OM · Smokebox .. . ... .. Exte~ded. with n\~~i.ng

m ,_ and defl~ctil'lg plate .1. encw.r:

Weight of t~nderempty (actual) ... , , with fu el and water,

full ... .. . ..... . Number of wheels und t-r tender ··· Diameter of t ender wheels . .. ·:.:

34,000 lb.

72,030 ,, R

36 in.

30 0

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•

E N G I N E E RI N G. [SEPT. 8, I 893.

BALD\VI N LOCO~fOTIVE I AT THE COLU~IBI N •

(For Description, see Page 2!l9.)

___.... • h,. -_....,.... -Co)t POV1"lD "CoNSOLIDATI ON" L oco:\IOTI V.E JWR THE M ExtCAN NATioNAL R AILROAD.

Co;urot.·Nv '' AMERI<.:A..~.'i, L o c oMOTI\' E FOR THE BALTIMORE ANn Omo RAILROAD.

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BALDWIN LOCOMOTIVES AT THE COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION.

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Sir.e of journals of tender axles, dia.· met~r and length .. . . . . .. 0 4.1 in. by 8 in.

Total wheel base of tender . .. . .. 17 ft. Distance from centre to centre of

truck wheels of tender . . . . 0. 5 , Water capacity of tank (in gallons

of 231 cubic inches). .. . . . . .. 3500 gals. Fuel capacity of tender . .. . .. 4.5 tons

Engitne and Tender: Total wheel base of engine and tender 48 ft. Total length of engine and tender

over all .. . . . . . . . . .. 59ft. G! in.

The details on pages 300 and 301 illustrate the system of compounding adopted by t he Bal~win 9 om­pa.ny. A! will be seen from the perspecttve vtews, there are two cylinders on each side, t he high-pressure cylinder being placed above and the low-pressure below, although in some cases this arran.gement is reversed· the piston-rods of the two cyhnders are attached' to a broad crosshead, a detail of which is given in Fig. 15. The same figure also shows a section of the t wo cylinders. The multiple-ported piston valve is illustrated by Figs. 9 to l2; this valve consists of four pistons, each having two packing rings, and it works in a seat ing of which sections are given in Figs. 9 and 10 ; the position of the valve relative to the cylinders is clearly shown in Fig. 5, and the seating and various ports are seen in Figs. 2, 5, 7. The operation of the valve is a3 follows: Steam at boiler pressure is admitted to both ends of the piston valve, so that it is balanced. " Steam being upon each end of the piston valve, it passes into the high-pressure cylinder through the ports in the ends of t hat cylinder, and the second series of ports in t he bushing (see F ig. 9) as soon as the valve has moved

• ' -11

in either direction. \Vhen t he valve has moved far enough to cause either of the two large openings in t he body of the valve-one at each end- to come opposite to the second series of ports in t he bushing (reckoning from the right-hand side of the bushing, as shown), t hen steam passes from the high-pressure cylinder into t he valve and through it to the opposite end of the valve, out of which it t hen passes through t he other hole in the valve, which is at this time opposite the steam ports to the low-pres­sure cylinder, which are coincident with the third series of ports in the bushing. Now as the valve continues to move t his last port will close, the pack­ing rings will pass over it, and the annular cavity around the piston val ve caused by its reduced diameter in the centre will be opened to the third series of ports in the bushing, and therefore to the low-pressure cy­linder. Hence the steam therein will exhaust into the cavity around the valve, and therefore into the large exhaust port shown in Fig. 2, and through the fourth series of ports in t he bushing on the extreme left. " These illustrations refer to the earlier compound en­gines built by the Baldwin Company, and some slight modifications have been since introduced. The builders in introducing this type of engine to railway companies referred to the advantages they claim as follows :

'' The arrangement of guides and crossheads calls for increased out lay, viz. , t he cost of two more pistons and their fittings. These are small and comparatively inexpensive. The stuffing-boxes being fitted with metallic packings, are not serious matters of cost or maintenance. The casting comprising the cylinder, st eam-chest, and half saddle, is of about the same weight as that used on the ordinary locomotive, the exact weight on the truck of the engine illust rated

£0 .12.

-- 0

•

- •

Fig .18.

k'· ........ '.

. - 0

F0 .16 .

; • •' It l

I •

r 0

•

. . 14. 0

• •

/~ :- • ...... 0 -f .. : "fl1· ·- - ·- · · ·· ;~--;r&41

being but 25 lb. more than the ordinary locomotive, and in every other way is its counterpar t. This is, per­haps, an extreme case, and the increase in weight may vary several pounds, depending on various minor de­tails. In the connection of two pistons to a common crosshead the most satisfactory results have ensued. The guide-bars and guide bearer are very light, and no heating, cut t ing, or bending has been noticeable in some 20,000 miles of service. All other parts are similar to those of an ordinary locomotive of the same class not compounded. The facility with which the engine starts depends upon the admission of steam to the low- pressure cylinder, which is readily accomplished by coupling the two ends of the high­pressure cylinder and wire-drawing into the low-pres­sure cylinder. A pressure can thus be obtained snffi . cient to start the heaviest trains, utilising the entire adhesion of the engine without undue strain on the piston-rods. ' Vater caused by condensation in cy. linders, the enemy of compound engines in general, is felt to a very slight extent only, so much so that no cylinder cocks are required for the high-pressure cylinders, and one or two strokes clear the low-pres­sure cylinders entirely. Relief valves are provided on the low-pressure cylinders to prevent damage in case a careless engineer should get the boiler too full of water and work it over into the cylinders. The cylinders are neatly encased, and present a novel and pleasing appearance. Heavy freight trains, as well as fast ex. press trains, have been hauled with equal success. A piston speed of 1500 ft. per minute has been attained in express service. ,,

Since the passages quoted above were circulated the Baldwin Company have built a large number of com­pound locomotives, apparently with ~reat $UCCess,

• 3 0 2

NOTES FROM THE NORTH. GLASGOW, Wednesday.

Glasgow Pig-Iron Market.-There was a moderate amount of business done in the warrant market lasb Thursday, about 15,000 tons of Scotch and English iron changing hands at fully higher prices than those of the previous day. Scotch iron, while selling at an average of 1d. per to.n over the average of Wednesday, closed with sellers seek10g ~d. per ton adYance. Cleveland iron which was ~d. per ton easier in the forenoon. recovAred' and closod as on the previous day. No busines~ was done i~ English he~atite iron, and no change took place m the quotat10ns. 1'he settlement prices at the close_ were- Scotch iron, 423. 6d. per ton ; Cleveland, 3)s. 3d. ; Cumberland and Middlesbrough hematite iron, respectively, 45s. and 433. 1~d. per ton. A quieb day was experienced on Friday. In the course of the forenoon about 3000 tons of Scotch warrantschaoged hands at former prices, and several lots, making in all a.boub 6000 tons, were sold in the afternoon without material alteration in prices. The closiug rates were the same as on Thursday. Cleveland iron was somewhat easier in price in the forenoon, bnt improved in the after­noon. Nothing was done in hematite irons . The closing settlemenb prices were-Scotch iron, 423. 6d. per ton; Cleveland, 35J. 3d. ; Cumberland ann :Middlesbrough hematite iron, respec~i vely, 453. and 433. 1~d. per ton. The market was quiet on Monday forenoon, and flat in tone. Some 7000 tons of Scotch warrants were sold, and the price fell to 42s . 3d. per ton, showing a loss of 3d. from last Friday. Cleveland iron, of which 1000 tons were sold, 8'ave way 1~d. per ton. The market took a sudden turn m the afternoon. Those peraons who had been selling in the forenoon b 3came buyers, and purchased heavily of Scotch, one operator taking about 12,000 tons at 42s. 4d. to 423. 6d. per ton cash, with sellers at 423. 6!d., or 3d. up from the morning. Altogether, not less than 15,000 tons changed hands. Other irons were neglected, hub Cleveland was quoted 1d. per ton higher than in the forenoon. The settlement prices at the close were­Scotch iron, 42s. 6d. per ton; Cleveh.nd, 35s. 1~d.; hema­tite iron, Cumberland and l\tliddlesbrough respectively, 45!. and 43s. 1~d. p~r ton. A firmer tone ruled in the market on Tuesday forenoon. Scotch iron was sold at prices ranging up to 42s. 7d. per ton cash, wber~ sellers for the forenoon remained, and six months' business was don~ at 4.2s. 8~d. per ton. Of Cleveland, 4000 tons were sold, the cash price rising 2~d. per ton, at 35s. 3~d. The market was firm at the opening in the afternoon, Scotch being done at 42s. 7 ~d. per ton cash on Friday, but there was little disposition to do business, and the price relapsed to 42s. 7d. per ton sellers at the close, or the same as the forenoon. About 4000 tons changed hands. One lot of 500 tons of Cleveland changed hands at 35s. 3~d. per t0n, and the price at the last marked a drop of 1d. from the forenoon. The closing settlement prices ware-Scotch iron, 42s. 6d. per ton ; Cleveland, 353. 3d.; Cumber land and Middlesbrough hemat1te iron, respectivelr, 45s. and 43s. 1~d. per ton. The market was very qUJet this forenoon. About 8000 tons of Scotch iron comprised the whole business. Pric~s were steady at a decline of ~d. per ton for Scotch and Cleveland. In the afternoon the markeb was steady at 423. 6d. per ton cash for Scotch iron. The following are the quotations for a few of the special brands of makers' iron, No. 1: Clyde, 47s. per ton; Gartsherrie and Sum­merlee, 49s. ; Calder, 49s. 6d.; Langloan, 55s. 6d. ; Colt­ness, 56s.--all the foregoing shipped at Glasgow; Glen­garnook (shipped at Ardrossan), 48s. 6d. ; Shotts (shipped at Leith), 5ls. 6d. ; Carr()n (shipped ab Grangemouth), 63s. 6d. per ton. Last week's shipments of pig iron from all Scotch ports amounted to 5123 tons, a.s compared with 6683 tons in the correspondin~ week of last year. They included 100 tons for the United States, 445 tons for Canada, 175 tons for India, 120 tons for France, 525 tons for Italy, 435 tons for Germany, 585 tons for Holland, smaller quantities for other countries, and 2283 tons coast­wise. There are now only 39 blast furnaces in actual operation in Scotland, against 76 at this time last year. Two of them are making basic iron, 17 are working on hematite iron, and 20 a.re making ordinary pig iron. The stook of pig iron in Messrs. Connal and Co.'s public warranb stores stood at 3$5,080 tons, as compared with 336,780 tons yesterday week, thus showing for the past week a decrease amounting to 1700 tons.

Clyde Shipbuilding Trade-Launches duri'TI{J A ugust .. -The shipbuilding trade on the Clyde was ~omewbat qmet during the month of August. There were 26 new vessels launched in the course of the month, of a total of 24,500 tons, being an increase of 6467 tons as compared with the output of the corresponding month of last year. Over the eight months of .the year that ha.ve elapsed there have been 193 vessels launched, of an aggregate of 188,448 tons, being a decrease of 51,942 tons on the output in the same month of 1892. When compared with the launches over the same period of 1886, last month's output showed an increase of 76,663 tons. Amongst the vessels launched last month sixteen were steamers, whose aggregate was 9153 tons, and ten sailing vessels, of a total of 15,347 tons. None of the steamers were vessels of over 1600 tons, whereas four of the sailing vessels were rated, respectively, ab 1950 tons, 2200 tons, 2300 tons, and 2350 tons.

Foreign Exports from the Clyde.-F o.r the pres~nt year the shipments from the Clyde to foreign countnes have incfu'ded thA following: Steel goods of the value of 319,316l., against 362,415l. ~n the same period ~f last year; iron, 777,542l., agamst . 700,683l .. ; macbmery, 482,620l., against 361, 764l.,; sewm.g machmes, 195,3~41., against 496,271l. ; locomoh ve engine~:~, 207, 046l. , agamst 179,613[.

Caledonian Railway Dividend.-It is announced that

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

the dividend of the Caledonian Railway Company for the past half-year will be at the rate of 4 per cent. on the ordinary shares, as was the case a year ago.

NOTES FROM CLEVELAND AND THE NORTHERN COUNTIES.

MIDDLESBROUGH, Wednesday. The Cleveland Iron Trade.-Yesterday there was a very

thin attendance on 'Change, but inquiries were fairly numerous and the market was pr~tty cheerful in tone, the favourable stock returns for August, issued by the Cleve­land ironmasters, having influenced the market a little in the much·desired direction. Makers were very firm in their quotations, and most of them held out for 35s. 6d. for prompt f.o.b. delivery of No. 3 g. m. b. Cleveland pig iron, and it was said that that figure was paid, but mer­chants were willing enough to sell No. 3 at 35s. 4! d., and most of the parcels disposed of changed bands at the latter price. Middlesbrough warrants, after touching 35s. 3~d., closed 35s. 2d. cash buyers. No. 4 foundry was said to be obtainable at 3::Js. 9d., but sellers, as a rule, held out for 34&. Grey forge was in good demand, and shipments continue good. The general quotation for this quality was 33s., and although buyers endeavoured to do business at rather less, it was not easy to purchase below the foregoing quotation. Sellers of hematite pig iron were not at all inclined to reduce their prices, and they stated that, notwithstanding the fact that deliveries to the Sheffield district bad fal1en away, considerable trade was being done with other markets. For mixed numbers of makers' east coast brands 43s. 6d. was generally mentioned. Spanish was quietish. Rubio was about 12a. 3d. ex-ship Tees. T o-day our market was quiet, with little business doing. There were sellers of prompt No. 3 at 353. 4~1. l\tiiddlesbrougb warrants opened weak at 35J. 1~d., but closed firm at 35s. 3!d. cash buyers.

The Make and Disposal of Pig I ron.-The Cleveland Iron masters' Association returns for the month of August show the total make of Cleveland pig iron in the North of England to have been 117,216 tons, as compared with 119,582 tons in the previo11s month, or a decrease of 2366 tons. This is 14,000 tons more than was made in the c::>rresponding period of 1892, with three furnaces less in blast. The make of other kinds of pig iron, including hematite, spiegel, and basic pig iron, amounted to 116,215 tons, or an inorease of 4600 tons on the month, the total for July being lll,675 tons, or 5000 tons above the output in August, 1892. The total quantity of makers' stocks and stores of Cleveland pig iron amounts to lll,J 23 tons, a decrease of 15,44t as compared with the stocks in July, when they amounted to 126,567 tons, or 82,000 tons over the quantity stored in August, 1892. The quantity in public stores amounts to 90,609 tons, as compared with 79,443 in ~he previous month, being an increase of 11.266 tons, or 74,000 tons more than they held in August, 1892. These figures show a total increase of 2234 t ons in output V\ ith 89 furnaces-50 on Cleveland, and 39 on hematite iron-in blast, as corn pared with 87 in July last. The total make, 233,431 tons, is only 2000 tons below the pre­vious month, and 10,000 tons under the figures for the corresponding period of last year.

Manufactu1·ed Iron and Steel.-What change there is in the manufactured iron trade is for the better, but the improvement is so slight that it is hardly worth men­tioning. Inquiries, however, are reported more numer­ous, and prices, though not qtiotably altered, are firmer. The steel industry is quiet, and new orders are scarce, but quota~ions are maintained. Common iron bars are 4l. 17s. 6d. ; best bars, 5l. 7s. 6d. ; iron Ahip-plates, 4l . 153. ; iron ship-angles, 4[. 12s. 6d. ; steel ship-plates, 5l. 2s. 6d. ; and steel ship·a.ngles, 4l. 15s.-all lees the usual 2~ per cent. discount for cash. Heavy sections of steel rails are still pub at 3l. 15s. to 3l. 17s. 6d. net at works.

The Sliding Scale in the I ·ron and Steel T 1·ades.- In view of the approach of the end of the three months' notice for the termination of the existing sliding scale in iron· workers' wages at the end of September, Mr. Win penny, the employers' se~retary in connection with the Concilia· tion Board, has sent a further notice to the operative secretary, Mr. Edward Trow, which states : "With reference to the notice given on June 23 last for the termi­nation of the sliding scale for the regulation of iron­workers' wages, I am instructed by the employers to inti­mate that they are willing to renew the scale for a further period on the existing basis." It would seem, however, from a circular sent out by Mr. J. Cox, vice-president, and Mr. E. Trow, operative secretary of the Conciliation Board, that the exceptions f0r which notice to terminate the scale were given are still maintained, and that the complaint which Mr. Trow made at the meeting 'Of the Arbitration Board at Darliugton has not been met. The exceptions to the scale, which are comprised in the circular men­tioned, are from three works. If rom the S tockton Malleable Iron Company there has been received a claim for the revision of plate-rollers' rates for rolling steel and iron, those of wash-heaters, pil~rs, shearmen, forkers, &c. From Spennymoor there is a claim of the company for re­arrangement of wages for the cogging and plate mill~. From J arrow also comes a claim for the revision of the rates and practice in the puddling department and in the iron plate mill. These revisions will have to be dealt with br the standing committee, and subsequently by the operatives and the Arbitration Board.

The Fuel Trade.- Fuel keeps firm. Coal, especially steam kinds, is very stiff, and at Newcastle best North­umbrian has realised 13s. , though some firms are willing to sell at 12s. Small is 5s. to 5s. 6d. Gas coal varies a good deal. Coke is still dear.

(SEPT. 8, I 893.

NOTES FROM SOUTH YORKSHIRE. SHEFFIELD, Wednesday.

Iron ancl Stetl.-Business is in a very unsatisfactory condition, owing to the dearth of fuel and the extreme charges made for that which is procurable. Many of the blast furnaces have been put down, and the number of those idle will be increased Lefore the end of the week. Supplies of local·made pig are, however, up to require­ments, owing to the iron mills having been closed or pub on restricted time. There is no speculation whatever on the part of merchants, and consumers are ordering lightly. Very serious damage is being done to the manufactured iron trade owing to the interruption. Some good orders for best sheets have recentl y bPen placed at advanced prices. These are for export to India, ~outh Africa, and Australia princi pal1y. Orders for common sheets could not be undertaken a week ago, and these have passed either to northern houses or the Continent. Medium and best qualities of bar are going to Australia and South Africa. The home demand for best qualities of boiler plates is improving. Agents of Bessemer billets and slabs find bu::tiness slow at the prices now quoted, 5l. 17s. 6d. to 6l. per ton, as it is known rates must recede when the coal difficulty is settled. Extension of trad~ in connection with crucible cast· steel is hampered by the scarcity and price of coke, and though some can be obtained from Durham, its delivery is now prevented by the colliers. Many thousands of iron and steel workers are out of employment owing to this cause.

T he Coal Crisis.-Every department of trade in this district is now sufferin~ as a consequence of the stoppage of supplies of fuel. E1ther coal and coke cannot be got, or the rates charged cannot be afforded. At Sheffield common qualities of E-ngine slack have risen Ss. per ton in a month, and at Leeds charges are even more extreme. House coal fetches from 203. to 2~::~. per ton at the wharves, as against 12s. to 14s. 6d. a month ago. A very serious turn in affairs has, however, taken place within the past few days. It was understood at the commencement of the struggle that where stacks of coal existed at the pit banks they would be allowed to be disposed of. The colliers now appear determined to prevent this. At Sheffield they will not allow either coal or coke to be loaded at the principal wharves. They have within a day or two made ar.tacks on several of the neigh­bouring colli erie~, wrecked the buildings and offices, overturned and smashed laden rail way wagons on the ooal sidings, and there is every evidence that the spirit of lawlessness is spreading, notwithstanding the posting of strong bodies of police and mil itary at the most im­portant mining centres. Be~coming desperate, the men m the adjoining Derbyshire coalfield a-e threatening to withdraw the enginemen, and thus lea ve the pits to be drowned out. It is now certain that the colliers are in a revengeful mood, and further serious comequences may be looked for. They still remain stubborn in thei r deter­mination to accept neither arbitration nor the proposed reduction, and they seemed resolved to prevent the im­portation of north country coal and coke.

National A ssociation of Colliery Man 7gers.-The annual meeting in connection with this body has this year been held in Sheffield. ~fr. William H. Chambers, of Tan­kersley Colliery, Barnsley, is the newly elected president. In his opening address he said they were assembled in the district which held the p :>sition of being the largest mineral-producing one in the kingdom. Last year the production of minerals in York hi re was 23, 614,720 tons. He denied any antagonism on the part of the association to mining institutes, and insisted on the need of colliery managers being alive to their own interests in the light of proposals for legislation. H e advocated the greatest harmony with the mining institutes, and reviewing the work accomplished by the association, made special re­ference to their action on the Boiler E xplosions Act, and in elaborating and discussing the exact position of the col­l iery managers in reference to the Mines Bill of 1887. The association had during the year procured valuable in ­formation in the returns of the time worked and lost by the colliers in the various districts of the country, showing a loss of work which might have been available for them CJf from 10 to as high as 30 per cent. H e alluded to the prompt action taken by the emergency committee for the defence of Mr. H oufton, manager, of Bolsover, who was sent for trial on a charge of manslaughter. The bill was thrown out by the grand jury. As to the Eight Hours Bill (Mines), it would, in some shape, pass the H ouse of Commons, and the efforts of the association and its par­liamentary committee mus t be directed to effecting changes in its clauses. It was agreed to meet next year at Speech House, F orest of D ean, under the presidency of Mr. F. W. T. Brain.

Engineer:ng Branches.-Complaints are almost uni­versal of a falling off in work of a local description. Builders of traction engines and agriol,ltural machines are entering on the dull season, and those depending on support from the rail way companies are disappointed. as retrenchment of every description is being practised in this direction. No fresh order! from Government are an­nounced, and little encouragement is at present expected from it. In all parts of the dietriot the number of unem­ployed mechanics is increasing.

NOTES FROM THE SOUTH-WEST. B ar1·y.- Trade at B$\.rry has been paralysed by the

great coal strike in Sout.h Wales. On Friday, however, three tips were working, and coal had arrived from the Nixon, Glamorgan, and other collieries, so that work was afforded to a number of trimmers who had been idle for some time. On Saturday there were ninety-three vessels in dock.

Water Supply of Exmouth.-The E xmouth District

•

SEPT. 8, 1893·] •

Water c .)mpa.ny held its half-yearly meeting on Tuesday, !\Ir. G. C. Maynard in the chair. The directors' report, which recommended a dividend at the rate of 6 per cent. per annum, stated that since the las~ meet.ing of the pro­J?rietors a. con tract had been entered 10 to w1th 1-fr: \V. H . P erry for laying a, line of pi pes and constructmg new dams with a. view to an extension of the company's means of water supply. Another contract. with Mr. P~rry had also been en tered into for constructmg a reserv01r above Hll.yes Saw Mill; but the works, which had been com­menced, had been t emporarily suspended, at the instance of the agent of the RoUe estate. The report was adopted, and the dividend recommended was declared.

Cardi.ff.-Trade has, of course, been much disorgan ised by the great colliers' strike in South Wales, but any ddliculties which have arisen will no doubt be greatly m itigated by the turn which even ts have taken during the la,qt few days. So m~ of the coke·m~kers have resu~ed operations but coke w11l probably be scarce for a ttme. Iron ore bas been inactive, and prices have show.n a slightly downward tendency. The m ll.nufactured 1r0n and steel trades have exhibited little change.

Barry Port and Gwendraeth Valley Railway.-L ord A9bhurnha.m presided on Tuesday at the half-yearly meeting at the office, 3, Great \Vinchester-street, and moved the adoption of the report and accounts for the six months ending June 30, stating that the net revenue of the company bad increased by 13231. 3s. D uring l feb­ruary and March. the e:cport of coal .had fallen ~ff con­siderably, but th1s falhng off was p10ked up durmg the three following months, and there were good reasons for e\.pect ing a. larger coal traffic during the current year. T he neces~ary notices bad been gi ven for securing the land required for completing the company's l.ine, so as to form a junction with the Myny~d Mawr Rat~ way. ~he channel into the h arbour remamed good, betng straJgbt out to sea and deep. The report was adopted.

Barry and Bristol.- It is proposed to establish reg.ular steam communication between Barry Dock and Bnstol by means of a steamer which will tra.{je with general goods. loadin~ an Bristol every M onday and Thursday, and at Barry Dock evety T uesday and Friday.

Water at Ycovil. -As the ra.infall since February has n ot been sufficient to affect the springs, the sup{>lY <'f water for the use of Y eovil is becoming restrtcted. Notices have been issued to the householders requesting them to economise the use of water, and the street::~ are being watered from old d iaused wells, which . have long since been condemned. The source of supply ts from the chalk bills of D orset, 10 miles distant.

Th e "Cambrian. "-The Cambrian, cruiser, a.t Pem­broke, was to have commenced her official trials of ma­chinery this week, but for some reason a postponement has been announced. The Cambrian is a. vt:ssel similar in all respects to the Bona venture, at D evon port. ~fessra. Ha.wthorne, L eslie, and Co. , the machinery contractors for the Bonaventure, have also en~ined the Cambrian. It was intended that. on the complet1on of her steam trials, the Ca.mbrian should be transferred to Devonport to be completed for sea.. The Lords of the Admiralty have now directed that she is to remain at Pembroke until the middle of December. This order is probably due to the large amount of re pairing and other work which has to be completed at D evonport during the next few weeks.

Do-wlais. - The iron and s teel trades have been very dull. There are indications, however, that an improve­ment in the situation is a.t hand. Three blast furnaces, which were blown out a. fortnight since, are being re­paired, and will be re-started as soon a.s the work has been completed. The Dowlais coal trade is more active than it ba.s been for years.

MISCELLANEA. SoMR valuable graphite findings close t o Skatamark, in

North Sweden, have recently been eecurP.d by the Norr­botten Mining Company. The working expenses will be slight, it appears, and the mines are only a few miles from the Boden rail way station.

The works in connection with the Christia.nia. electric tram way are being rapidly ad vane~. The rails are mostly laid, and the building for the machinery is already under roof. The poles for the wires (they are of wrought iron) are in their places, and the tramway will, it i,1 expected, be opened for general traffic in November or December.

The Aamsdals Copper Works in Norway have been bought by a Norwegian syndicate. In order to handle the ore on spot several material additions have been made to the plant; the findings have recently been pro­mising, and there is every prospect that the ooncern, now that it has passed into the possession of Norwegian owners, will become a profitable one.

Messrs. Richard Hornsby and Sons, Limited, Grant­ham, have commenced upon a large scale to manu­facture water· tube boilers undu the patents of the Mills Patent Sectional Boiler Company, Limited, of Pendle­ton, Manchester. Messrs. H ornsby will, in futura, carry on the manufacture of these boilers under the title of the Hornsby water-tube boilers.

The Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs has learned from Her Majesty's Minister in Chili that the munici­pality of Santiago have expresaed a wish to receive t enders for the lighting of that city by electricity. Such particulars as are in the posseasion of H er Majesty's Government may be seen on personal appliC'ation at the Commercial Department of the Foreign Office, between the hours of eleven and six daily.

The Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs has received

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

information that the Egyptian 1\Iinis.ter for Public W orks will, up to Februa~y 1 next, cons1der t enders for the construction and workmg of steam or horse tramways (with branches) between 1-Iansurah and L ake M enzaleh. '£he draft concession, &c., may be seen on perso~al application at the Commercial Department of the Fore1gn Office, L ondon, :::>. W.

The Swedish shipbuilding establishments have every reason to congratulate themselves u.pon the hold they apparently have got upon the Russtan petroleum mer· chants a.~ far as tank steamers go. Dunng . the last f~w weeks Russian orders have been placed w1th Swedt.sh sh ipbuilding firms for some eight or ~ine steamers, prm­cipally tank steamers several of whtch measure about 1000 tons. The Bergsund I~ngineerin~ Company has secured the most contracts, but several of the other yards have also got a share.

In a paper read before the New England Road masters' Association, Mr. P. A. Dudley stated that. a. harder steel should be used for the heavier types of ra.tls than f<:>r the lighter onE>s. Thus on. the Bosto? .and Albany Ratlwa.y the rails bad the followmg composttton : Weight per yard, lb. 60, 65, & 75 75 to 80 _100 Carbon, per cent. . . . . 45 to . 55 .50 to . 60 . 6o to · 75 Manganese , ... .80 , 1.00 .80 ,, 1.00 .80 , 1

1.500

Silicon , ... .10, .15 .10, .15 .10 , • . Phosphorus , { not to} .06 .06 .06 Sulphur , exceed .07 .07 .07

The traffic receipts for the week ending. Augt!st 27 on 33 of the principal lines of the . U mted Kingdom amounted to 1,499,309l., which, b a.vmg been e~rned on 18,388 miles, gave an av~rage of 8H. 11s: per mtle. For the corresponding week ID 1892 t~e recetpts of . the same lines amounted to 1,666,824l. , w1th 18,199 miles open, giving a.n avera~e of 9ll .. 12s. Th~re was thus a d~crease of 167,515l. in the rece1pts, an ~~crease of 189 1n .the mileage, and a decrease of 10l .. la. m t~e weekly recetpts per mile. The aggregate rece1pts for etght weeks to date amounted on the same 33 lines to 12,815,42¥.l. , in ~m­pa.rison with 13,475,316l. for the corresponctmg penod last year; decrease, 659,894l.

For some years past hydraulic mining h~s been ~rac­tically stopped in California., injunotio~s bemg o~tamed against the silting up of the streams, wb10h was satd to be one result of this method of working. A recent Acb, however allows this method of working, provided that means a.~e taken to prevent the tailings passiog into the s treams and work is about to be resumed on a large scale. Speakin'g generally, the method of working is to .was.b down the auriferous gravel from the banks on whJOh ~t lies by means of a powerful jet of water. ~he gra~el1s passed through alui~es. where the beavr gold 1s dep_os1ted, whils t the other soltd matters pass on m to some r1 ver or other depository. The bead of water used is very great, often exceeding 1000 ft., and it is conveyed to the work­ings by wooden flumes frequent!y many n;nles long. . r:I;he construction of the nozzles and p1pes for th1s hydrauhckmg has long formed a.~ imp?rtan.t part of th~ ~ork of the engineering shops m Cahforma. These mmmg nozzles, we may add, led to the invention of th~ P elton w~eel. The original water-wheel used a.t these mmes was bmlt of wood, with flat floats like a paddle-wheel, and the jet from a. nozzle was ma{}e to impmge against these floats. In this way a cheap, if somewhat wasteful, water power was obtained, and one tbat worked well under very high heads. It was soon perceived that the water was ex­pended more efficiently if buckets were substituted for the flat floats, and the modern highly-efficient Pelton wheel has been the result.

The engineering laboratory of the Purdue University contains an ordinary American locomotive, fitted up for experimental purposes. To this end it is mounted with its drivers on four supporting wheels, which are carried by shafts turning on nxed bearings, and allow the engine to be run whilst remainin~ fixed in p osition. The necessary resistance is supphed by brakes on the shafts of the supporting wheeh; these brakes are regulated by a. dynamometer attached to the drawbar, the arrangement being such that any movement of the dynamometer lever from its central position is m et on the brakes by a change of the water pressure operating them, and the pull on the dynamometer can thus be kept practically constant at any desired value. The engine, we should add, has 17 in. by 24 in. cylinders, and 63-in. drivers. E xperi­ments made on this engine show a. water consumption of from 24.67lb. to 47.07 lb. per indicated horse-power, the coal used being 4.99 lb. and 7.42 lb. per indicated horse-power in these two extreme cases. The coal used had the following composition:

Moisture ... ... . .. ... Combustible volatile matter ... Fixed carbon .. . .. . .. Ash . . . . . . . . . . .. • • •

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

Per Cent. 13 05 32.34 48.74 5.81

The internal friction of the engine accounted for from 14 per cent. to over 30 per cent. of the total indicated horse-power.

Many engineers object to the ordinary tests of cemenb, in that the specimens are mix~d with special care, and the results obtained are then superior to those commer­cially pm~sible in practical work. What they want, they say, is to know the strength of the concrete in the work itself, and they profess indifference to the results obtained in the laboratory. We remember one case in which a resident engineer on an important works purposely mixed his samples carelessly, with a view, a.s he said, of ap­proximating to the conditions obtaining in the structure m which be was engaged. Naturally discrepancies occurred, and tb~ blame was laid on the makers supplying the cement, in place of on the improper mixing. Indeed,

•

tile attitude of mind displayed in the abo.ve instance seems to ignore the real object of the <?rdmary. testt::J. These tests are made not so much wtth a vtew 0

ascertaining the strength of the structure, but almost en­t irely for the purpose of insuring. that the mda_nufao\ur~r delivers a fair quality of ma:ter1al. .The or t?ary ea s ara sufficient to insure this bemg carrted out wttb pro

1per

care and it is most unfair to blame the maker for ow r esuits when the specimens have not been properly gauged. If the strength of the ac~ual work fa;lls below the figures obtained from the sp.e~tmens, t~at ~~ n~t th.e fault of the cement, but of the m1xmg. 1f mfor?lat10n lS

wanted as to the strength of th~ str~cture, t.hts can be obtained by moulding some large speCimens wJtb cement obLained direct from the workman's ~: hovel , or from the con­crete mixer, as was done in the case of the .Vyrnwy .daD?· T o test these. however, a. large and expenstye machme u required. It should, h?wever, b~ recogmsed t hat the two tests have entirely dtfferent obJects, and .no .attempt should be made to base the accepta~ce or reJectiOn of a parcel of cement on the results obta.m ed from carelessly mixed apecimens. -

Sir A . Noble, of the Elswick W<;>rks, in 8: letter to the T imes, gives some very interestmg parttcu~at:s as to cordite and other smokeless powders. The balhf3 ttc results obtained with maximum pressures of 1~ to. 17 a tmo­spheres in a 6-in. gun firin g a 100-lb. proJeCtile, were as follows:

-

I In a40· In a 50-

I Ca.h bre 1 Calibre Gun. Ouo.

ft.-secs. With cordite 0.4 in. diameter I

" .. 0.3 " ., 279i 2~69 2416

ft. ·secs. 2940 2619 26:-s'i ballistite 0.3-in. oubes ..

I

In a. 75· In a. HO­Calibre Calibre Gun. Gun.

ft.-secs. 8166 2811

I 2713

ft.-se( s. 3284 2905 2(,06

:: French B.N. for 6-in. l gun .. .. . . ·· I

With prism~tic amide . . . . 2249 2218

2360 I 2536 2342 I ~5n

2616 2574

E xperimentally a. muzzle velocity of 4980 ft. per s~cond has been obtained with cordite, though the ma.xtmum preesure was g_!eater than is advisable in ordinary prac­tice. ::;ir A. Noble also states that he has b een unable to detonate cordite, even with powerful fulminate of mercury detonators, and this when the tE-mperature of the explosi\:e was first purposely. raised to ~05 de g. Fahr. This fact 1s remarkable, as mtro-glycerme and gun­cotton, the two principal constituE>~ts of cordite, are both easily detonated. As regards eros10n of the bore of the gun cordite is slightly more erosive than brown prismatic pow'der, though this greater er_osion is confined to a E~a.ller length and is much more umform. The least eros\Ve o f any p~wder is the prismatic amide powder, which is only one-quarter a.s erosive a.s any of the above.

M ESSRS. CRAMP.-Messrs. Cramp, of Philadelphia, have received a cheque from the U nited States Government for 180,000l. Of this sum 140,0001. was for work completed in the construction of the cruiser New York, and 40,000l. for a bonus earned by the firm in consequence of that vessel eKceeding its contract speed.

- - -PRIVATE BILLS IN PABLI.AMENT.-The work of the

present session as regards Pri va.t e Bills is now practi­cally concluded, there being only three Bills which have passed t hrough Comruittee of both H ouses which have not yet received the Royal assent, one of these being the L ondon Improvements Bill, involving the question of "betterment," the Lords having rejected the principle as embodied m the Bill. The L ondon County Council, we understand, will take n o further action in rels.tion to the difference between the L ords and Commons on the question, but, while not actually withdrawing the Bill, will allow it to drop rather than take the Bill without the "betterment " clause. Of the 213 Bills (including 21 which stood suspended from last session), 154 have re­ceived the R oyal assent, three have been rejected by the Commons and two by the Lords, while the remainder have been withdrawn or otherwise not proceeded with. To these must be added a. la.r~e number of Provisional Order Confirmation Bills, whtch involve the fi xing of maximum rates on canals, extensions of gas and water works, the carrying out of sewage works, and other matters which have first to receive the approval of the respective Government Departments, and which have this year been more numerous and given rise to m ore contest than usual, especially in relation to the putting down of sewage works in the n E>igh­bourhood of residential property. There have been no Bills of any great magnitude. The principal Bills were. those ~y which the North-Eastern Company have acqu1red powers to take over the Hull D ocks at a cost of 2,000,0001., and the extension of the electric railway system beneath the m etropolis. The work of the Police and Sanitary Committee has been very onerous, the Bills brought before them for the better government and improvement of many of the provincial towns having included powers of the mosb diverse description, one Bill alone (that of the L eeds Corporation) originally con­taining over 500 clauses. Under the presidency of the new chairman, Mr. Walter L ong, the business of the Cot;nmittee . has been got through . with great d espatch. wh10h was m a great measure owmg to the d eclaration made at the beginning of the b usiness that the Committee would regard the reports of the H om e Office and the L ocal Government Board on the respective Bills as con­clusive unless there was very strong evidence adduced by the promoters to lead the Comm~ttee to the contrary con­clusiOn. No fewer than 158 Btlls were dealt with by the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee as un­opposed measurt-s.

-

Jl.·z ~ .

•

00 ~

THE ACCIDENT TO H. M. S. "H 0 WE."

(Fo1· Description, see Page 310.)

•

FLg . .J I • • t I I I I I

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11111111 1 1 1

Ports 8 /aclt silo~ plating broken " " Tinted ., " • Jndentated

. ·1·

. Section at 76 LiokMg lbr• _ l I & //er l I r Boiler

'Fig . .5.

F~g. 6 .

I • I I I I • I • • I

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Section at 90 Looking Aft "' .. I .. . .

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Fig.7 Engme Bearers

Ssctton at 84Looktng Aft

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£/uotton of' N~ 5 Long! (Port)

t!e.-atton o1' ,+-S lontJ' Starb~

;pg;;gl; l J

Fig. 8 . -oa

-----~--J ~ o a c >

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Section at 100 Lookmg Aft

F<r; lfJ

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J~a.Jl ....

I

- ..

I

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

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3 .. •

Section at 88 Looking Af'1,

En gin& Bear&rY

Section at 90 Looking Aft

Engtne. B&arer

~

-• •

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Mo9o21 ne "

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SEPT. 8, 1893·]

AGENTS FOR '' :IRGINEERIRG.'' AOSTB.IA, Vienna: Lehmann and Wentzel, KH.rntnerstraase. 0A.PB ToWN : Gordon and Gotoh. EDINBUR.GH: John Menzies and Oo., 12, Banover -etreel FB.A.NOB, Paris: Boyveau and Ohevillet, Librairie Etrang~re, 22,

Rue de la Ba.nque; M. Em. Terquem, 81bl..e Boulevard Haussmann. Also for Adver tisements, Agenue Havas, 8, Place de la Bourse. (See below.)

G&B.K..A.NY, Berlin: Messrs. A. Asher and Oo., 6, Unter den Llnden. Leipzig: F . A. Brockhaus. Mulhouse: H . Stuokelberger .

GLASGOW: Wiltiam Love. INDIA, Oe.lcutta : Thaoker , Spink, and Co.

Bombay: Thacker and Co., Limited. ITALY : U. Hoepli, Milan, and any post ottloe. LIVBB.POOL : Mrs. Taylor, Landing Stage. MANCBBSTBB.: J ohn Heywood, 143, Deansgate. Naw SoUTH W ALBB, Sydney : Turner and Henderson, 16 and 18,

Hunter -st reet. Gordon and Gotch, George-streeb. QUBB.NBLAND (SoUTH), Brisbane : Gordon and Gotoh.

(NORTH), Towns\ille : T. Willmett and Oo. Ron&llDAM : H. A. Kramer and Son. SOUTH AUSTRALIA, Adelaide : W. C. Rigby. UNITBD STATBB, New York: W. B . Wiley, 63, Eaab loth-street.

Chicago : B . V. Holmes, ~4, Lakeside Building. VIOTOBIA, M11LBOUB.N& : Melville, Mullen and Slade, 262/264, Oollins·

st reet. Gordon and Gotoh, Limited, Queen-etreeb.

NOTICE TO AMERIOAN SUBSCRIBERS. We beg to announce t hat American Subscriptions to ENGINliBRING

may now be addressed either direct to the publish er, MR. CRAB.LBB GILB&R.T, at th e Offices of t his Journal, Nos. 35 and 86, Bedford· st reet, Strand, Londont.-W.C., or to our accredited Agen ts for the United States, Mr. W . .t:L. WILBV, 63, East lOth-street, New York, and Mr. H . V. Bolmes, 44, Lakeside Building, Ohioago. The prices of Subscription (payable in advance) for one year a re: For thin (foreiR"n) paper edition, ll. 16s. Od . ; for thick (ordinary) paper edi tion, 2l. Os. 6d. , or it remitted to Agents, 9 dollars for thin and 10 dollars for t hick.

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CONTENTS. PAGB PAGB

Literature . .. ... .. .... . . •• 291 Economical Speed of Steam· Books Receh·ed ...... .. .. 291 s hips . ......... ...... .. .. SOS 'l'he Engineering Congress N otee .. ..... . . . .......... SOS

at Chicago .. -· ••.• .. •. .. 291 The Damage to H. M S. Tbe Development of South "How~" (Illustrated) . . . 309

African Rail ways .. .. ... . 294 1 Notes from tbe Umted Stoney's Tipping Crane (I l· States .. . .. . .. : . ... . ..... 810

lUBtrated) . . . . . . . • . . . . • • 295 1 Steam F lfe E~gme tor t he Neven'e Rail Scra per (lllu.s.) 297 London Bn gade (Illus· Bonar Bridge ( I llmtrated) 298 I trated). . . . . . . . . • . . . . . . . . 310 Ballast -Distributing Wagon Ba.Jl Bearings (llhl.st rated) SlO

(I llustrated) .. . ... .... .. 299 Contrac tors and the Ad mi-Baldwin Locomotives at ralty . . ..... · · . . .. - .. . ... 310

Chicago (JUwtrated) ... . 299 11 Patent Office Libruy . . . . . . SlO Notes trom the North ... .. . 302 I Steam Commu nication with Notes from Cleveland and t he Cont~ent ....... : . . SlO

the Northern Counties .• 302 The Techmcal Iostruct1on Notes from South York· Money .... . .• . .. ·: ... . .. 310

shire • • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302 Fast Ocean St.eamehtps . . . . 311 Notes from the Sout h-West 302 Diagrams ot Three Months' Miscellanea ..... ........ . .. 303 Fluct uations in P1 ices of The Pathology of the Steam Metal_s ....... . .... . ... •• S12 Eo~ine . ......... .. ...... 305 Industr1al Not~s .......... 313

Purification of Sewage by The La Guam\ Harbour

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

NOTICE. The New Cunarders ., CAMPANIA" and "LU -

CANIA ;" and the WORLD'S COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION OF 1893.

The Publtaher begs to announce that a Reprint la now ready of the Descriptive Matter and Wustra­tions contatned in the issue of ENGINEERING of AprU 21st, comprising over 130 pages, wtth nille two -page and four single· page Plates, printed throughout on special Plate paper, bound ln cloth. gUt lettered. Price 6s. Post free, 6s. 6d. The ordi· nary edition of the issue of AprU 21st la out of print.

-

ENGINEERING. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 1893.

THE PATHOLOGY OF THE STEAM ENGINE.

ing stress in Mr. Longridge's shafts, and apparently only a portion of the discrepancy can thus be accounted for.

Mr. Longridge again has to record several cases of damage to spurwheele. In a previous report he had pointed out that the most frequent cause of failure was the excessive length of the teeth. Owners, however, refuse to purchaee wheels with unusually short teeth, being frightened by their abnormal appearance. On one occasion, not referred to in his present report, Mr. Longridge got round this prejudice in a very ingenious way. The teeth were made of tho usual length, but their acting portions were confined to a small area on each side of the pitch line, the roots and points being mere dummies, and :lever coming into contact. These wheels, though subject to somewhat unfavourable conditions, have worked very satisfactory, running smoothly and holding the grease well. As ordinarily constructed, the large spurwheels and pinions corn· monly used in Lancashire mills canrtot be expected, Mr. Longridge states, t o last more than about six years, and where large powers are to be transmitted

THE annual report to the Engine Boiler and at high speeds he expresses a preference for £ome E mployers' Liability Insurance Company, Limited, other means of transmi~::~s ion. made by Mr. Michael Longridge, M.I. C.E., is The parts that are most frequently made too always interesting reading. Mr. Longridge is not weak appear to be the air-pump motions and the con ten t with merely recording facts, but in the valve gears. Several accidents to air pumps and more interesting cases adds a valuable commentary conder.sers have also occurred from causes other on them. P erhaps the most interesting feature of than the weakness of the parts, the owners and his report for 1892, j ust published, is the attention attendants being often lamentably negligent. In he calls to several cases of failure by fatigue, which one case the air pump was horizontal and double· have occurred during the year. Mr. Longridge, in acting, and consisted of a rectangular cast ing con· commenting on these, points out that the prevalen t taining the pump barrel , valves, and hot-well. The idea amongst the users of machinery, that because latter was closed save for an overflow pipe leading a rod or shaft has borne a cer tain load without break- away on the one side and an air-pipe 6 in. in dia­ing, it will continue to carry that load indefinitely, meter and 4 ft. high on the other. The india­is fallacious. This has long been known to loco- rubber valves, it appears, were in the habit of motive engineerA, who remove their driving axles totally disappearing, and though it had also been after a certain mileage, quite irrespective of visible found necessary to plug up the 6-in. air pipe to signs of failure. The low stresses at which failure prevent water being forced out at the top, no took place in the cases recorded by Mr. Longridge anxiety seems to have been felt as t o where the are, however, noteworthy, the figures being nearly valves had gone to ; they were simply replaced by always notably below what might have been new, and matters went on until the discharge pipe expected from W ohler 's experiments. The single was so stopped up by the masses of rubber inside exception appears to be that of an engine beam of it, that it could not pass water, and so the pump cast iron as we take it to be, though the nature of burst under the accumulation of pressure. the material is not directly stated. In this instance Three instances of failure arose from the over· the failure took place by the top and bottom lapping of the brass packing rings of the air pump flanges of the beam cracking across as the engine bucket, due to the reduction of t heir thickness by was doing its ordinary work. From 1872 to 1880 wear. Mr. Longridge insists on the necessity of the stress on the flanges of this beam was alter- frequent careful examinations of the internal parts nately + 2.5 tons, and was repeated about 41t of an engine if accidents of this nature are to million times. Since 1880 the stress was ±. 2.1 be avoided. H e also holds that the use of brass ring tons, repeated alternately in either direction packings is bad practice, plain buckets with two or 62! million times. It will thus be seen three grooves t urned on them being cheaper, quite that the range of st ress was 5 tons during as efficient, and not liable to a breakdown. In the first period, and 4.2 tons during the second. marine practice, we may note, these buckets are Wohler found that specimens of cast iron from often packed with dried elm, which swells slightly a locomotive cylinder test ed by him failed after when it becomes wet, and makes a very tight joint. from 35,000 to 78,000 repetitions of sc.ress Two serious cases of damage from failure of valve ranging from 0 to slightly over 5 tons, whilst speci- gearing occurred during the year. In the one case mens stressed from 0 t o 4. 78 were unbroken at the eccent-ric working the low-pressure slide valves 7,000,000 repetitions. From this it would appear of a 1460 indicated horse-power engine came loose, that t he metal used in the beam must have been of and stopped rotating, leaving the valves in mid­better quality than that experimented on by Wohler. stroke, in which position they complet ely closed the

Microbes . . . . . . . . . . • . . . . . 306 W orke, Venezuela (lllU8· The Weather of August, t rated) .• .. ... ..•.. .... .. 314

1893 . . . • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306 On the Middlesbrough Salt

All the other cases refer to shafts. Thus a shaft ports to that cylinder. As the engine went on rota­of llessemer steel broke after making 81,600,000 ting, under the influence of thehigh-pressurecylinder revolutions under a stress of 11,000 lb. Another and of the inertia of the flywheel, steam gradually shaft of wrought iron broke after 102,000,000 revolu- accumulated in the low-pressure valve chest., until tions under a stress of 7800 lb. to 9700 lb. per square the pressure became too great, when the chest ex­inch, whilst a third shaft., also of wrought iron, ploded. Mr. Longridge points out that a safety broke after 123,500,000 revolutions under a stress valve on this valve chest would have prevented of 8f>OO lb. Wohler 's experiments on repetition of the accident. In the second case the expansion stress would lead one to expect that t hese stresses valve gearing went wrong, a nut getting loose in should be carried indefinitely. I t should , how- the mechanism connecting the governor to the ex­ever be noted t hat in Wohler 's experiments the pansion valves, thus jamming the governor, bend· stre~ses were direct t hrusts or pulls, whilst the ing the arms, breaking the sleeve, and throwing shearing stresses due t o t orsion on the above shafts off the belt by which it was driven. The balls being must have been very important, and t he conditions in the mid position when the accident occurred, the are therefore, by no means identical in the t wo disengaging apparatus did not come into action cas~s. Some elasticians hold that a material and stop the engine, which began to run irregularly, always fails by. shear, ~ven when it n.ominally and belts being thrown off in the mill, it ran away. gives way by duect tensiOn ?r c?mpress10n, . and The fireman, with great pluck, rushed in and shut there is much to aupport this view. If this .be off steam, and thus prevented the bursting of the so the loads obtained by Wohlor as those wh1ch spur flywheel, in which case the consequences sh~uld be horne indefinitely by an iron bar S'lb- would certainly have been very serious, and might ject to alternate tension and compression, cor- very probably have led to loss of life. As it was, respond to shears of just half the value of the ~ormal the arms were drawn out of the boss, the cotters tensions and compressions. Thus, accordmg to securing them being bent, and the joints of the Wohler, a wrought-iron bar should carry indefi- rim opened. T he Chicago Electrical Con· lndustry(l llmtrated) ..... 316

g ress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 807 "En~ineering" Patent Re· Ioftueoce Machines a t the oord (IUtUtrated) ........ 317

Columbian Exposition .. S07 With a Two-Page Engrali!ng of BON~R BRJDGE ON THE

KFLE OF SUT!JERLAND

nitely repetitions of loads ranging from 7. 6 tons In c.oncl,usion, it may be .interesting to giv,e M~. t ension to 7. 6 tons compression. The correspond- Lo~gndge ~ Table of t he failures bro~ght unner h18 ing shears are t hen ±. 3.8 tor:s, i .e., about .± 8500 lb. nohce d~rmg l~st year, t ogetl:er with the totals This appears t o be greater than the range of shear · . reported m previous years :

-

E N G I N E E R I N G. !Numberof

1 stitute one-fiftieth part of the water in a. river or

Par~ which F "iled. ~umberof Failures stream, failing which putrefactive fermentation Fdilures in Pre- Total. '11 b · h io 1892. vious 12 WI e set up, w1t very offensive odours. In such

Years. cases it is necessary to add to the oxygen naturally

Spur gearing . . . . . . Valves &nd valve gear .. ..

- -3-1-0

- - dissolved in the water into which sewage is dis-~~ ~;~ 302 charged , and Mr. Adeney and Mr. Parry have col-

Air pnmp motions . . •• . . Air purnp buckets and ,·ah·es . . Colum os, en tab la tu res, bed·

ll 188 199 la.borated in the construction of sewage purifica-11 120 131 tion works at a large lunatic asylum at Dundrum,

9 107 116 in County Dublin, and these works have just been

4 99 10 set in operation. They may be comparative]y

plt.tes, and pedestals . • . . Bolts, screws, gibs, cotters, and

straps . . .. .. . small in respect of volume of sewage treated, but Parallel mo~ions, links, and

guides .. . . . • . . Ma.in shafts . . .. . • • .

4 8-' they are arranged to suit all the conditions which 8 72 8 would be met in ordinary circumstances. The 1 44 45 plant is for the treatment of about 6000 gallons per

Cylinders, valve chests, and covers • • • • . . .

Pistons .. . . .. .. Piston-rod orosshead~ . . . . ~ ~ ~~ day, and eight samples of the sewage gave results

1 31 82 which are compared in the following Table with 4 26 29 those given in Mr. Henry Robinson's work on ~ ~~ ~~ t:Jewage disposal :

Flywheels . . . . • . . . Go~rnor gear . . . . . . Air pumps and cond ensers . Cranks . . • • . . . .

3 17 20 Analyses of Raw Sewage. 0 17 17 ------

0 udgeons in beams . . . . Crankpins . . . . . . _. Connecting-rods . . . . . . Beams and side levers . . . . Total wrecks cause unknown . . Second m otioo shaft . . . . Main driving ropes and shafts ..

2 12 14 2 11 13 1 5 6 0 2 2 0 2 2

114 1563 1677

PURIFICATION OF SEWAGE BY MICROBES.

THE extension of the kno wledge of the first prin­ciples of bacteriology has created a dread even of the ment ion of the word microbes, since to them are attributed all the real and imaginary ills to which mankind is heir, and it may therefore be desirable to mention at the outset that the advocacy and ap­plication of the system of purification by microbes does not involve any propagation of the pathoganic or disease germs which there is so much reason to dread. There are other denizens in the great world of micro-organisms, and many species may benefit mankind. Research has establiqhed, if, indeed , nature has not demonstr<l.ted, th ·~t there abound everywhere in sea, in land, and in the air minute l iY'in ()" organisms, which, by theirown life's proce~ses, change the organic mattera of which sewage is mainly compo3ed into harmless inorganic matter­carbonic acid, ammonia, nitric acid, and water. These saprophytic org>l.nisms, however, require an uninterrupted and continuous supply of oxy()"en to carry out their beneficent work. In ~very 1000 vol umes of good river wat~r, according to the season of the year, there are dis­solved six to eight volumes of oxygen absorbed from the air. If the quantity of sewage discharged into the river doe.3 not develop a larger number of org-l.nisms than can subsist healthily to carry out their work of purification by transforming the organic substances, t he river may continue pure. But it n ot infrequently happens that as each vtllage on the b1.nks of a river adds to the organic matter in the water, there is insufficiency of oxygen, with the result that the prevalent form of microbes b e­c :>me3 that which causes off~nsive putrefaction, and thus a danO"er to health is created. The question has been considered by many scientists, for the necessity for sewage purification is growing more and more pronounced, and t he advantages of this s~ste~ have b een r~coO"nised. The researches of varwus tnves­tigators h~Vd already been described in our pages,-¥ n otably those of Mr. W. E. Adeney, curator in the Roy<~.l University of Ireland, and Mr. W. Kaye Parry, D~blin, wh? w~rked together, the former study in()" the q uestiOn. 1n the laboratory, and the b.tte r f~om the mechanical p oint of view. The r esu 1t has been a practical application whic~ insures purification at small initial cost, and r eqmres very little attention. .

The primary essenti~l is suffici~n.t oxygen 1n the water to m !J.intain healthy con~1t10ns for t_he micro-Or O"anismq, tha volume of whiCh grows w1th the ext~~t of the sewage ; and Mr. Adeney, as was d escribe i at length in our article on his re~earch, pl \ced in water ordinary sewage (from ~hlCh t~e solid m1.tters had been separR-ted by subsidence) 1n the proportion uf one volume of sewage to fifty or m ore volumes of wd.ter. H 9 found that the water (Vartry water) contained in i ts n l.tural state suffi­cient oxygen t o sustain the micro?es . for _ trans­forming the organic matt~r, t~e only l!ld.ICatl?n left of i t bein ()" a little carbonic ac1d and n1tr1C aCLd, two bodies which, as already indic.1ted, a~e harmless to health and beneficial to vegetable hf~. But the difficul ty is to insure that the sewage w11l only con-

* See ENG tNEERING, vol. li v ., page 453.

• • >. ~ s c . • ' >. ... 0 • b.o • ::l ::l·~ 8 ,... .... .c .

Ql .i 9 - ~ Q)~ ... - ::l Cl - er> ~8 ~ cC -e ~cC Q) QJ c ~ > - ~cd c =' ... 0 >. =' ...:l < - ..... ..cl -o t:Q ~ ~ < < ~

-Free ammonia •• • • 1.4S I 9.70 2.58 i. OO 12.00 U .48 Albuminoid ammonia . . 1.05 1.70 .66 5.25 4.09 L. 2~ Chlorine • • • • • • 5.12 24.16 6. 85 7. 79 12.08 15.55

The sewage flows into a deep tank sunk into the ground, passing over a water-wheel, and, as t he velocity varies with the volume of sewage, this wheel autom~tica11y m~asures the chemicals necessary for the sewage passed . The sewage is conducted through a timber trunk to the bottom of the tank, and the escape being at the top, the heav ier sus­pended particles remain at the bottom, while the ~elatinous matter serves as a filter for r etaining a large percentage of the finer particles. Thus 80 to 90 per cent. of the matters in s uspension are arrested, t he clarified liquid flowing to a mixing race. Mean­while the liquid ~ewage is subjected to chemical oxidation and precipitation by the addition of manganate of soda. Each revolution of t he water­wheel to which we have referred actuates a valve placed at the bottom of the hopper con­taining the manganate of soda, and a small quantity is r eleased by each r evolution. The organic matters in the sewage and the man­ganate pass together into a second tank and quickly react upon each other, t he greater portion of the former being decomposed into carbonic acid. The brown insoluble peroxide of manganese, a product of decomposition, subsides t o the bottom, e.nd carries with it further particles in suspension. The liq uid passes to a third tank, where chloride of aluminum is added, the quantity being again re­gulated by a valve operated by the water-wheel. Chloride of aluminum is regarded by bacterio]ogists as one of the best agents for concentrating and separating micro-organisms from ordinary water. Thus not only is the organic matter decomposed by precipitation and oxidat.ion, but there is left as little as possible for organisms to thrive upon, and the fi nal operation consists in insuring proper condi­tions for the healthy life of the micro-organisms for their work in decomposing such of the organic matter as may survive the chemical treatment. This is effected by adding to the liquid sewage small quantities of ni trate of soda, from which the microbes can extract the oxygen n ecessary for their life process. The quantity of nitrate of soda, a()"ain is regulated by the water-wheel. After treat­~ent,' it is found that the sewage can be dis0harged into any ordinary outfall without danger of putre­faction being set up in the water.

The r esidue in the three tanks - the crude sewage sludge in No. 1, the peroxide of manganese in No. 2, andtheoxideofa.luminumin No. 3-are each withdrawn daily into cylindera by an exhauster, the sewage be ing strained through sacks. T~e bulk is so small at these works that no spectal treatment has been found necessary ; but the same process which insures the purification of the clari­fied sewage is applicable. The organ isms which thrive in t he sewage have the power of decom­posing the peroxide of . m_anganese and absorbi~g oxy()"en from it, so that It 1s only n ecessary to muc that recovered from the second tank to insure the existence of the germs, and thus obviate putrefac­tion during the process of_ air- dryi~g: The pe~­oxide in the process is part1ally deoxidised , and IS converted into carbonate of manganese. The fur­ther developmen t of the system will be wa~hed with great interest, for , as we _have_ alre~dy p01n~ed out, the necessity for punficatwn 1s growmg

clamant in view of t he growing aggregation of population in great centres, involving the discharge of sewage into waters which have not t he means of obviating putr efaction. Meanwhile it is interesting to add that in view of the mechanical arrangement of reg ulating the supply of chemicals at t he three s tages, which was designed by Mr. J ames Carson, the man in charge has only to fill the hopper and the two chemical tanks every day, and to remove the sludge, which is very rapidly p erformed.

THE WEATHER OF AUGUST, 1893. A GLORIOUSLY fine summer has terminated with

a mont h of splendid weather remarkable for a spell of extraordinary heat. In all parts of the British ! :$lands except t he extreme north , where the tem­perature and rainfall were seasonable, August has been hot, not t o say sultry, and the rainfall in England has been again deficient, though in the west of Ireland abundant. The mean pressure and t emperature of the atmosphere, at extreme posi­tions to which the Isle of Man is central, were as follows :

Mean Difterence Mean Dit!erence Positions. Tempera-Pressure. from Normal. from Normal. tu r e .

• • d e g. deg . I 10. 10.

North 29.83 above 0.02 55 nil • • South • • 30.06 .. .08 65 above 3 West • • 29.91 11 .02 62 11 3 East • • 29.99 11 .09 63 11 4 Central • • 29.94 .. .04 63 11 4

The distribution of rain in frequency and quan­tity may be inferred from the foll0wing results :

Places. Rainy Days. Amount. Di1ference from Normal.

• • lD. m.

Sum burgh •• .. 26 R. 16 nil Scilly . . • • • • 13 1.55 less 0.74 Valentia ~ •• 22 5 77 mo re 1.07 Yarmouth ~ . - 16 2A 11 0.33

- - -The winds wer e variable in direction and force,

though more mor e souther]y than usual, as the resultant of the daily general directions is S. W. by W. The weather n otations indicate fine clear days to have ranged between ten in the east and five in the west; overcast, between fifteen in the west and three in the east district ; hence sunshine might be inferred more prevalent in the east than in the west. The greatest atmospheric pres­sure, 30. 45, occurred on the 29th ; the least, 28.9 in ., on the 21st. H eavy rainfalls were measured on the 6th, at Spurn Head, 1.05 in.; on the 11th, at Valentia, 1. 06 in. ; R oche's Point, 1. 05 in. ; on the 18th, at B el mullet , 1. 38 in. ; on the 22nd, at Stor­noway, 1.00 in. Thunderstorms occurred in north England on the 3rd, along the east of Great Britain on (ihe 4th, in east England on t he 5th, in most parts of G reat Britain on the lOth, in Scotland on the 15th, in England on the 19th. In n or t h Bcot­la.nd aurora was seen on the 19th and 23rd. The me<~.n temperature at 8 A .M. for the entire area of these islands, at sea-level, was 58 deg. on the 1st, 56.5 deg. on the 5th, increased progressively to 64. 5 de g. on the lOth, fell regularly t o 61.5 de g. on the 13th, attained 66.5 deg. on the 15th, then fell slowly to 57.5 deg. on the 26th, ending 58.5 deg . on the 31st, slightly warmer than at the beginning of the month. The lowest temperature r eported was 35 deg. on the 6th, at Lairg. The 7th to 22nd was bright, dry, hot, sultry, hazy at times in places, except in the extreme nor th , where the weather was unsettled and rain frequen t. 'fhe winds of this period were very light, chiefly from S.S.E . to S.S. '\V., till the 20th, when they began to blow and became strong. Temperature was extr eme]y h igh ; the heigh t of the maxima over England increased day by day, reaching its culminating point on the 18th, when th3 readings varied from 93 deg. in the southern and midland counties, to 92 deg. in east En()"land, 90 d t>g. in n or th-east England, 85 deg. in nort h -west England. Bright sunshin e was abun­dunt; during t he we&k ending the 19th the per­centaae of its possible duration ranged f rom 84 in the Channel I sles t o between 59 and 72 in most of the English districts, to 41 in north Ireland, and 28 in north Scotland. At Gr eenwich the maximum temperatures were all above 80 deg., exceeding 95 deg. on the 18th in the shade, 146 deg. in sun­shine, minimum 67 deg., the m ean for the day 18 deg. above the normal; 11.3 hours of sun shine. At this station on June 6, 1858, 94. 5 de g. was

E N G I N E E R I N G. SEPT. 8, 1893·]

recorded · on July 22, 1868, 96.6 deg. ; on July 15 1881' 97. 1 deg., the highest maxima ever ob­se;ved there. August has probably outstripped its record this year. The spell of heat was remarkable for its duration. Settled sunshine seemed natu­ralised in the atmosphe1·e. The sun rose hot and unclouded, and hot and unclouded it burned on till evening on several days.

nitions and va.lues of fundam~ntal units of resist­ance current and electromotive force ; to the adop­tion 'of definitions and values of magnetic units ; the adoption and definition of a ~nit of self-induc­tion · definitions and values of hght, energy, and othe; units · the standardisation of electric lighte ; the consid~ration of an international system of notation and conventional symbols, as well as of a more accurate use of terms and phrases in electri.cal literature · a commercial standard for copper resist­ance. Thi~ is obviously an extensive programme; and if adequately disCl~ssed,. there can ~e no doubt but the Chicago Congress will render sc~ence generally, and electricity in particular, a serv10e that has !lot yet been surpassed in theoretical value or practtcal utility. I t is encouraging to see among the delegates many of the most successful and renowned workers in the electrical field. England sent \V. H . Preece, F.R.S., Engineer-in-Chief of. the General Post Office; Major Cardew, R.E., D1rector of the Electrical Testing Bur eau of the Board of Trade; Professor Ayrton, F.R.S., Professor S. P. Thompson, D.Sc. , F.R.S. , and Mr. Alexander Siemens.

In the Breguet exhibit l!e ~et with a sec?nd Wimshurst, heavy and repulsi re m a~pearance, With­out the redeeming quality of a satisfactory degree of efficiency. It is not easy to say why such r e­nowned houses as Brequet and Gaiffe consent t_o have their names connected with such_p~or speCI­mens of so excellent a machine ; nor 1s It eas~ to say why they persist in making the plates of ebon1~e, as that Pubstance is known to gradually lose 1ts

"The sun wa.s careering in glory a.nd might, Mid the deep blue sky and the cloudless white."

And " all the air a solemn stillness held " under these blazing skies, so that it1 sultriness achieved the acme of ~ ' summer's ardent strength."

''Amid the scorching heat and dazzling light Bright clouds ' fire the air

With a reflected radiance. and make turn The gazer's eye away.' "

So dry was the air that the slightest breeze raised dust in oity streets and country roads.

"Dust on thy mantle, dusb Bright summer! on thy livery of green,

A tarnish as of rust Dims thy late-brilliant sheen. ''

" Thee bath the August sun L ooked on with hot and fierc3 and brassy face."

" Flamelike the long midday ! \Vith not so much of sweet air as bath stirred

The down upon the spray. '' " Against the hazy sky

The thin and fleecy clouds unmoving rest." " But of each tall old tree the lengthening line,

Slow creeping eastward, marks the day 'd deline." " Till in the molten west sinks the hot sun,

Welcome, mild eve !- the sultry day is done. " " Pleasantly comest thou,

D ew of the evening, to the crisped-up grass."

Such are the sal ient features of these days, taken from GaJlagher's "Ode to August, " which impresses as if made expressly for the occasion. This excep­tional heat was not confined to the British Islands, but extended over the greater part of Europe. It does not appeared t o have affected the metropolitan death rate to a marked extent, which varied little from 21 during the month. Deaths from diseases of the circulatory system have, however, been in­creasing from the minimum number, 90, in the week ending July 22.

During the five weeks ending September 2, the duration of bright sunshine, estimated in percent­age of its possible duration, was for the United J{ingdom 44, Channel I sles 70, south-west England 52, south England 51, central England 47, east England 46, south Ireland 42, north-east England and west Scotland 41, north-west England 40, east Scotland 36, north Ireland 35, north Scot­land 21.

The beautiful summer has fled, autumn is here, soon the sun passes the equinox, the days shorten, the leaves grow sere.

The Board of Agriculture have arranged, by way of experiment, to exhibit weather forecast mes­sages in the windows of the telegraph offices in the rural districts of Essex and Northumberland, dur­ing August and September. Agriculturists will thus be able, it is hoped, to ascertain the probable weather of the following day. Experienced gained by private enterptise tends to show that the country folk residing some miles from a post-office take the trouble to obtain these messages. Should the plan work well and be considered advantageous, it will become general.

THE CHICAGO ELECTRICAL CONGRESS.

MANY Congresses have been held in Chicago during the past few months; but it is not too much to say that none had~ the importance and none the eclat of that which opened in the Art Institute on August 21. Some of the greatest mathematicians and many of the finest electricians of our time assembled there to confer together about our electrical termi­nology, and to settle, if possible, the units of the fut ure. Much was done by the Paris Congress of E lectricians ; but knotty points were left unde­cided which, together with new wants, call for con­sideration and settlement. Much valuable discus­sion will doubtless take place in the general Con­gress ; but it is to the " upper house, " to the special delegates, thA.t we must look for finality. The general assembly is divided into three sections, viz., pure theory, theory and practice, and pure practice. The chamber of delegates, on the other hand, limit their attention t o the discussion of defi-

insulating qualities. . . . It is quite otherw1s~ :w1th t he fine collectiOn of

electrical apparatus exh1b1ted by Queen and _eo., of Philadelphia. There we found a worthy sp.ectmen­the only worthy one in the whol~ Columb1an E~po­sition--of the vVimshurst machine. It contatned four pairs of plates 24 in. in diameter and 28 sectors each, and could be driven either by. manual P?wer or by an electric motor. The te~minals consist~d of an interchangeable ball and d1sc,. placed, not In front but hioh above the plates, as 1n many of the l arge~ machi~es made by Mr. James Wimshuret ~or his laboratory at Clapham, London. An 8 1n. spark was easily obtained at moderate speed.

\V e were fortunate enough to find a fourth Wims­hurst of no remarkable tinish, however. I t was made' by the Waite and Bartlett Manufacturing Company New York, and was evidently intended for work,' not for show. In fact, it was used sole]y as an auxiliary to exci te a mammoth Holtz close by. In puttmg some of our provoking queries to the gentleman who explain~ anrl _demonstrates t~e working capacity of the b1g machtne, he was candid enough to say t?a~ his ma.mm~th w~s. often.r~frac­tory, persisting 1n 1ts state of .mac~1v~ty ~nt1l1~ re­ceived an initial charge from 1ts d1m1nuhve neJgh­bour, the Wimshurst.

The United 'tates delegated Professor Row­land of the Juhns Hopkins University; Dr. Mendenball, Director of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey ; Professor Carhart, of the University of Michigan ; Professor E lihu Thomson, of the General Electric Company ; and Professor E. L. Nichols, of Cornell University. Germany sent her veteran Helmholt z, a man univers­ally revered, a host in himself. lie is sup­ported by Drs. Feussner, Leman, Lindeck, Kurl­baum, Lummer, and Pringsheim, each being a specialist in his own department. F rance was represented by that eminent writer and worker, Professor Mascart, by H ospilallier, by Violle, and De la Toua.nne.

Switzerland sent Professor Palaz, of the Uni­versity of Lausanne, M. Thury, and Dr. \Veber , of Zii.rich . Italy deputed Professer FerrariP, of Turin ; and evPn China sent deputies in the persons of Messrs. Peng Kuang Yu, Teng Shen, and Shon Yen. Besides the above, who are official representatives, there were a great number of other well-known electricians, such as Dr. Elisha Gray, Nikola Tesla, Edison, &c.

The Chicago Electrical Congress offered a golden opportunity for definitely settling our units and nomenclature on a satisfactory international basis ; and it is only reasonable to expect that such a body of distinguished and energetic men, fully alive to the importance of their mission , did not separate without realising many, if not all, of the expecta­tions not only of their respective Governments, but of the whole electrical world.

INFLUENCE MACHINES AT THE COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION.

THERE was a time when electrostatic apparatus figured conspicuously at international exhibitions. A Carre, a H oltz, or a Wimshurst was not only ornamental, it was sure t o attract notice by the novel arrangement of rotating plates as well as by the miniature lightning flash of its discharge. Then, too, air condensers were abundant, as well as Leyden batteries, electrometers, and the like ; but at the \Vorld's Fair one looks almost in vain for such apparatus. The galleries of the Liberal Arts Building swarm with lanterns, lenses, theodoli tes, chronographs, t elescopes, and microscopes; but the older electricity-once a favourite- is hardly represent~d at all. In that treasure-house of man's ingenuity and skill- the Electricity Building- one meets with little else than the applications of the laws of electrodynamics, and instruments for mea­suring electric quantities. Curiosity led us to make a careful inspection of these t wo buildings, in order t o satisfy oursel veta as to whether t here was, or was not, a complete absence of electric induction apparatus. We shall briefly chronicle the result.

In the collection of physical instruments exhi­bited by Gaiffe et Fils, Paris, we discovered a Wimshurst of small pattern and ebonite plate. At first we thought it presented quite a novel feature, as one of the plates was semicircular. vVe had never yet seen any of t hat modified pattern ; but a closer examination dispelled the pleasure we were beginning to feel, as it showed the second half of the plate lying ingloriously by the side of the disabled machine. -

vVe were assured that this little auxiliary never refused to work, whatever t he hygrometric condi­tions of the gallery might be, provided, of course, the brushes were clean and touch ed the metallic sectors. IncontestabJy thii is an important admis­sion. The reliable auto-exciting property of the Wimshurst machine is well known in England , and we t rust that the result of the gentleman's experience in the Columbian Exposition will be given due pub~icity in the Un~ted S~ates, wher.e this machine 1s not as extenstvely In use a.s 1t deserves.

The Holtz apparatus referred to was of fine con­struction and imposing dimensions. In fact, it claims to be the largest in the world . The stationary plates are rectangular, being 4 ft. 8 in. by 1 ft. 10 in. ; the rotating plates are three in num­ber and 40 in. in diameter. The Leyden jars are 5! in. across and 14 in. high, the f<Jil-covered por­tion being limited to 4! in. This machine was driven by a small motor, and readily gave a noisy and brilliant discharge 20 in. long.

We were informed that t his H oltz was not built so much for laboratory as for medical purposes. This information afforded at once an explanation of the presence of an insulated platform, of num­bers of brass brushes, chain· holders, wooden points, crown-l ike filigree conductors, and many other electro-therapeutical appliances. All theee were devised to enable the practitioner to localise or modify the application of the discharge, accord-ing t o the requirements of the patient. Some cases, we were told, require a " positive breeze," others a " nE'gative breeze;" whilst other£~, again, need the stimulus of the "static spark. '' We heard of a young man who was r elieved from aggravated dyspeptic troubles by a tri-weekly treatment vf "negative insulation for five minutes, " "positive direct head breeze for four, " and ''positive direct breeze down the spine, " also for four minutes. \Ye were assured that the most oppresbive symptoms were relieved at once, and that the dyspepsia itself was speedily cured. I t is good to know that elec­trical breezes are so active and influent.

Wishing to know a little more about the per­formance of this machine. we gladly accepted the invitation to Eit on the insulated platform. A cha.in connected with one of the jars was handed us. The filigree coronal conductor was connected to the sEcond , and then held above us. When the machine was started we felt a not unplea­sant tingling sensation all over the head, whilst the upri3ht position of the hair afforded con­siderable g,museme nt to the lot,kers· on. 1\'Iauy of t hese must have beEn puzzled at B€eing us fre­quently but cautious]y exchanging the jar with which we were connected, for we were desirous of appreciating the difference alleged to be produced according as we were positively or negat ively elec-

trifled. Our feelings, corroborated by the increased hilarity of the bystanders, convinced us that the "b , . t h reeze was more 1n ense w en we were con-nected with the negative terminal of the machine, and the end-on hair effect was m ost pronounced when the second conductor was entirely removed from the vicinity of the head. On stepping off the little platform we felt as if some of our chronic scepticism about medical electricity had left usin one of the electrical breezes to which we had been so courteously subjected.

We must add that this machine develops consider­able quantity at high voltage. U nlike most of the other exhibited influence machines, its conductors are not nickel-plated, but made of brass finely lacquered. It is valued at 200l.

In various parts of the same Electricity Building we found a total of about a dozen influence machines, all of the Toepler-Holtz typ~; and what excited our surprise not a little was that, with one exception, they were all intended for therapeutical purposes. From this, as well as from other r elevant observa­tions made during the course of our peregrinations, we were led to conclude that faith in the curative power of static electricity is stronger and more widespread in the United States than it is in the Old World. The exception referred to is the ex­hibit of Messrs. M'Intosh and Co .• of Chicago. This firm shows a number of influence machines, specially constructed for educational purposes. \Ve tested the working qualities of two of them, and we must say t hat the results obtained, as evidenced by the length and brilliancy of the spark-discharge, were very satisfactory.

ECONOMICAL SPEED OF STEAMSHIPS. By ,V, J. MILLAR, C.E.

I N these da.ys of record-breaking passages, when the effort to obtain the credit of the fastest passage across the Atlantic appears to be all-important, the mere question of economical propulsion seems to have little place, for, notwithstanding the great saving in the expenditure of fuel, due to many recent improvements, still the high pressures re­quired to bring about t he speeds desiderated neces­sitate a large consumption of coal. Doubtless this effort to reduce the time of the passage will continue so long as high rates of passage money can be obtained for such express service, as it is upon the wealthy passenger class that the success of such passages depends. U nder such conditions we need not look for mere economical relat ions between the power expended and the work done, as in the orcli­nary course of traffic.

If, however, we confine our attention to the economical relations existing between, say, the value of the cargo carried and the expense incurred in carrying it, we see that there must be an inter­dependence between these elements, and which, under certain assumed conditions, may be made the subject of strict mathematical analysis.

The object, therefore, of the present communica­tion is simply to endeavour to show how a formula may be obtained which will indicate the most economical speed for a steamer in r elation to the cargo carried and the fuel consumed on the voyage.

For simplicity let the power be considered as varying with the cube of the speed. Then

Power = a. constant quantity . Speed3

• (1)

The work done will vary as the product of the power exerted and space traversed, and as the energy expended must be equal to t he work done, we may write

Energy expended = a constant quantity (2) Power x space Let P be the power exerted.

V , speed of dhip. E , , energy expended. S , space traversed, or voyage.

Then we have by (1) p - = a. constant. v:~

Call this constant m, t hen

~ = m, or P = m V 3 vs

And by (2) we have

E =a constant. P x S

Call this constant k, then

•

E = k, or E = k x P x S. P xS

• (3)

But since

we have

and

E N G I N E E RI N G.

P =m V 3 (see 3),

E =km V3 S

E k= -m V 'J S.

• • • (4)

Now, as the energy is obtained from the corn· bustion of the fuel, this equation is a measure of the quantity of fuel consumed, and if C repre­sent the total carrying capacity of the ship (cargo and fuel) we may write for the clear cargo capacity,

C - E, or (See 4) C - km V 3 S • . . (5)

N o w let the marketable value of the cargo be assumed to vary in relation to the time taken on the voyage, and let us suppose that this value varies inversely as the time taken on the voyage, then we may write as representing this marketable value,

C - km V3S t --,

t being t he time of voyage. But

s t= ' V

hence we have by substitution

C - k ·m, V3 S or _C V - k nt V_. • ~ s •

--V

N ow since by the question this must be mum, differentiate, and we have

or

hence

C d Y: - 4 k m V3 cl V = 0, s

~ d :f = 4 k m V3 cl V, s

V_ 31 C - \J4km - • • •

• (6)

• a max1-

• (7)

To give an example of the application of this rule :

Let V be the speed in knots. S , voyage in knots. t , time of voyage in hours.

C , total carrying ca.paoity (coal and cargo) in tons.

P , indicated horse-power. A steamer whose total carrying capacity (coals

and cargo) is 200 tons takes 30 hours on her voyage with a speed of 10 knots, and an indicated horse-power of 1000. The coal consumpt on voy­aCYe is 20 tons, and the distance travelled is 300 k~ots. What would be the most economical speed under the assumed conditions of value of cargo varying inversely with the time of voyage 1

First to find the values of the constants m and k. 1'o find constant m we have by (3)

but

hence

p =m. v ;j ,

P = 1000, and V = 10 ;

m= 1000 = 1. 1oa

T o find constant k we have by ( 4) E =k;

mV3S but

E = 20, V3 = 1000, and S = 300; hence

20 1 k = l XlOOO X ~00 15,000'

Now to find the speed which will satisfy the conditions, we have by (7)

-!1/ c V= \ I 4km S

or, substituting the relative values, 3 200 -

V = 1 = "\J 2500 = 1~. 57 knots. 4 X --- X 1 X 300

15,GOO

Let us now suppose that this same vessel is sent upon a longer voyage, and that the same conditions as to value of cargo on delivery still hold good .

Let t he distance travelled, or voyage, be, say, 750 knots ; then

3 200 :1 -1 - = ¥ 1000 = 10 knots.

4 X 15 OOO X 1 X 750 V=

, The foregoing show the application of

to the conditions of a single voyage. the rule

When,

[SEPT. 8, I 893.

however, several voyages are to be considered as taking place in a given time, then the most econo­mical speed for a single voyage will be modified by the number of voyages which can be made in the given time.

Let T be the given time; t hen T is the number

of voyages made in that time. Hence, instead of

2V- k m V" s as in (6), we have :

f(csv- km v~) as t he marketable value ; but since

s t = -v

(see 6), we may write for above value

..

or

or

T ( CV ) s ... -km v~ V S

T CVZ T km v~ 82 - - s

Differentiate, and we have, as in (7),

!_T C V cl v _ !l T km V 4 !!:_~ = O, S:! S

20 - = 5km V3 · ::; , hence

V="!J/_ 20_ .­'V 5km ti

The most economical speed, therefore, at which the ship should be driven to satisfy the conditions when the number of voyages made in a given time are considered, will be found by this rule. Thus, taking the last example, and supposing that the propor t ion of T to t is given effect to, we have

'3 V=· 2 ~200 = A 3 11600,

5 X 1 X 750 'V 13,000

or 11.7 knots nearly. The values of rn and k will vary for dilferent

steamers, but will remain constant at different speeds of the same steamer. The result as obtained by the rule does not depend upon the value per ton of cargo or the value per ton of fuel.

NOTES. THE GERl\IAN IRON MARKET.

THE decline in prices of German iron and manu­factured iron has now been going on for some three years. After the heavy fall of 1891 prices con­tinued to give way, and in the beginning of the present year they fell to such a point as has not been known for several decades. The following Table gives some interesting particulars. The prices are in marks per 1000 kilogrammes, or 1 metric ton, equal t o Is. per 2205 lb. :

1 I Decline. 1890. 1893.

Bar ll'on. marks marks marks Westpbalia • • • • • • -. : ·I 90 61 89 Silesia .. • • • • •• • • 80 64 2~ Luxemburg· Lothringen .. 68 37 31 • • • • VaYious brands from Nassau • • • • 90 45 45 Bt ssemer iron • • • • • • .. 96 58 ss Tbomas-Gilchrist iron •• • • • • 79 37 42

Piu I rou. W estphalia. • • • • •• • • • • 187 122 65 Sile~ia .. • • • • • • • • • • 180 120 60 Hartz, Hanover . . . . • • . . 183 109 74 Boiler plates at the R h ine 260 I 125 1M • • • •

, , in Silesia . . 21)5 I 125 80 • • • •

Rolled iron wire • • • • • • • 180 100 80 Ut a.wn .. • • • • • • -. I 190 115 75 Steel u.ils at the Rhine .. •• • • 165 115 50

11 in Silesia •• • • . . 160 111 49 Carriage axles • • •• • • • • 280 190 90

There is at present no prospect of any improve­ment, such as may generally be looked for aftH a long time of depression.

'.,V ORIKSHOP TESTING OF iRON AND STEEL. Several attempts have been made to discover a

satisfactory subatitute for the ordinary tensile tests of iron and steel. An objection to these latter tests is to be found in t he fact that the specimen is not usually cut from t he body of the plate, but from an edge, and that, after the plates have been cut to size, no further testing can be done. The regulations of the Admiralty and Lloyd's provide excellent workshop tests for the toughness of steel plates, but something more is required. The late

•

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SEPT. 8, 1893·] E N G I N E E R I N G. 309 . ZG ,

.

STEAM FIRE ENGINE FOR THE LONDON BRIGADE.

CONSTRUCTED BY MES, RS. 1\fERRY,VEA'rHER AND SON ', ENGINEERS, LONDON.

(For DescTiption, see Page 310.)

Mr. Goodall, for many years manager of the boiler yard of Messrs. Maudsley, Son, and Field, suggested the adoption of a drifting test. His method of pro­cedure was to cut, with a trepanning tool, a small disc of metal out of the plate to be tested, to drill the disc thus obtained, and then to drive drifts through it, up to fracture. The tenacity and ductility of the specimen were then deduced from the results thus obtained. Professor Goodman, following up this idea, took autographic diagrams of the force expended in pushing the drift through, which showed the work done on the specimen. Another type of workshop test has just been pro­posed by Mr. A. E. Hunt, of Pittsburg, in a paper read before the International Engineering Congress, Chicago. Mr. Hunt proposes to punch specimens out of the plates to be tested, and to com­pare the force exerted and the work done with those required in operating on a standard specimen in a similar manner. He claims that it is easy to equip the ordinary workshop punches with a record­ing device giving the above information for every hole punched. From many experiments Mr. Hunt concludes that the method is a. reliable means of selecting a good structural steel. The con­trolling characteristic of a metal tested in this way is its ductility, hard steel being at once detected.

THE EFFECT OF' GovERNMENT TELEPHONES IN SWEDEN .

In view of the proposals now entertained Ly t he Government for the nationalisation of the trunk tel~phone lines in this country, if not, indeed, the whole system, it is interesting to note that the Swedish Government in 1891 decided to undertake itself the task of extending telephonic communication between the principal towns of the kingdom. Although the districts were far divided and but sparsely populated, it was felt that if action were not taken the powerful Stockholm

Company would compete with the telegraphs to the disadvantage of the latter. The result has been a great extension of the telephone system in Sweden, the Government having the advantage in the provinces, while the company, formed in 1883, have the great preponderance of subscribers in Stockholm, 7000 as compared with 1600 on the State system. .But the activity of the State de­partment suggests that they will underbid the com­pany, and thus absorb all the subscribers. The whole scheme of the Government is very extensive, as indicated in a consular report just issued, and it is hoped that in four or five years the whole area of the peninsula will be covered and conversations rendered possible over 993 miles of intervening distance. The chief inspector has made a careful study of foreign practice, and has adopted under­ground cables, which have cost no more than over­head cables, about l id. a yard per subscriber, or only about double the price of single aerial lines. The principal economy is in being able to dispense with iron tubing. The cost of con­structing the long lines varies from rather less than 10l. per mile upwards. The statistics show that the State owned in 1891 over 14,000 miles of lines, rather more than half being single or grounded lines, and the remainder double or metallic current lines. There were 235 stations and 10,249 instru­ments in use. The figures in each case are double those of the preceding year, while the expenditure is nearly 78,000l., against50,78ll. The system has grown up in ten years, and the total expenditure has been 205, 76ll. The number of calls has increased in greater ratio than the number of subscribers, having reached 18~ millions. The system does not appear to have checked the growth of the tele­graph. 'Ihe Stockholm Company have 23,500 miles of line, rather less than in the two preceding years, while the number of stations is 392, and the number of apparatus 14,738. The number of calls

is not so great as on the State lines, notwithstand­ing the greater number of stations and subscribers. having been 13.38 millions, or at the rate of 43,390 per working day, and 6. 97 per day per subscriber.

T HE NEw C u NARD STEAMER "LucANIA. " The new Cunard steamer Lucania is this week on

her first voyage to New York, having left Queens­town on Sunday last. It was originally intended to run as usual the specified steam trials, but slight mishaps in the navigation of the ship down the River Clyde involved the docking of the vessel, and the Cunard Company being satisfied with the performances of the steamer in a preliminary trial round Ireland, decided, rather than delay the de­parture of the vessel, to dispense with the official trials. The vessel is similar in every respect to the Campania, exceptipg that experience in the running at sea of this vessel has suggested several direc­tions in which the hull could be strengthened with the view of minimising the effect of the develop­ment of such a great power as 30,000 indicated horse-power; and should the result desired be realised, theCampania will be similarly strengthened at a convenient date. Meantime it may be said that she has quite come up to expectations. She has reduced the outward and homeward record by an appreciable time, and her popularity with the public is indicated by the large number of passengers carried, not only by her, but now by the Lucania on her maiden trip. There are 350 saloon, 320 second, and 550 steerage passengers on board, which, with 418 of a crew, gives a population on this floating microcosm of 1638 souls. There are also 840 bags of mails on board. There is no intention to press the machinery during the run. Indeed it may be said that even in the Cam­pania the engines have not been completely opened out for a whole voyage, and there is every prospect, therefore, of more decided reductions in the record.

•

310

Mr. An<lr.ew Laing, the engineering manager to the Fa1rfield Company, to whom is due the succesR of the machinery on the vessel, is on board and while he will incidentally afford indication of the power of the engines, his characteristic caution will be exercised. The placing of this vessel on the route tends to still further improve the mail servi?e bet~een this country and the States, and no~ 1t not.tnfrequently happens that by improved tra.tn servtce between Queenstown and L ondon replies to communications, if promptly written' c.1n be received in America a fortnight after th~ first letter is despatched. Such an advance must tend to the development of trade, and reveals true shipping enterprise. But the moderate speed of the Britannic and Germanic, as compared with ~he o~her Yessels i~ the service, will prove an 1ncent1ve to the Whtte Star Line to add to their fine fleet and try conclusions against the new Cunarders which h ave the blue riband. Mean­while, the American Line vessels running to Southampton are n ot disp9sed to let the Liver­pool liners have their own way, and the regu­larity o f their running, with the convenience of the Hampshire port to the metropolis, tends to greatly increase the number of passengers travelling by that route. The mails brought by the New York to Southampton on vV ednesday m ornino- were de­livered in L1ndon some hours before th;se brought by the Teutonic via Queenstown.

THE DAMAGE TO H.M.S. "HOWE. " I x our issue of July 7 last we gave an account of

the state of the bottom of H. ~f. S . Ho we, founding our article on the results of an examination of the vessel, which had then recently been docked at Chat­ham. Through the courtesy of the Board of Admi­ralty and the Admiral Superintendent of Chath;Lm Dockyard, we were able to make a very thorough examination of the vessel , and as a key to our dP.scription we published a rough sketch· plan of the damage done to the vegsel when she was ashor~ on the Pereira R eef in Ferrol H;Lrbour. • 'ince we published our last account the work of reconstruc­tion has enabled us to form a more accurate esti­mate of the details of the damage, and we are now enabled to give drawings which, we belie,Te, may be put forward as accurate representations of the state of the vessel when she was floated and hauled off the reef. In Fig. 1 on page 304 will be found an inverted plan of the damaged pa.rt, which, it will be seen, ex­tends over the greater put of the ship's length. The longitudinals of the framing, or girders, are marked on the starboard side, and their position is indicated on the port side. The No. 5 longitudinals--port and starboard- -are those next the keel, and in Figs. 2, 3, and 4 we gi Ye ele\'ations of these, together with an ele­vation of the vertical keel. These two illustrat ions suffice to show the very serious extent of the damage, and how hopeless it is to expect any possible form of construction to be introduced which will enable an armoured ship to take an irregular bottom and to float off again, if once left by the tide. To naval con­structors the lesson was unnecessary, the fac ts were too obvious ; but there are many persons aspiring to lead public opinion who would do well to bear the fact in mind, and not blame naval architects because they do not build impossible ships. The cross-sections, Figs. 5 to 11, are even more striking than the plan. Three positions are shown by the numbering of the frames g iven on Fig. 2 in the elevation of the inner vertical keel; the Howe having, like all other ships of her class, a flat-plate keel stiffened by an inner vertical keel. The numbering of the sections is, of course, from forward to aft. In our former not ice* we gave a description of the manner in which the ship was got off the rocks, a11d the extent of the damage. It is unnecessary that we should repeat the details g iven; and, indeed, the present illustrations speak for themselves.

NOTES FROM THE UNITED STATES. PHILADELPHlA, August 29, 1893.

N OTIIING but the d isheartening and d epressing financial conditions stands in the way of a moderate revival of business in the iron and steel trades, and in genera.l industrial activity. Railroad building will be entered upon just as soon as existing causes for distrust are removed. The PennsylvaniaCompany a lone has some twenty short lines to construct. Some fifteen or twenty of the larger railway co~bin~tions hav~ construct~on of milectge in contemplat10n. ome of tb1s construct10n is intended to anticipate, pres umably, at least, elec­trical roads. The furnace production has been steadily declining. Prices for pig iron have weakened during the past few days through the offerings of needy concerns for immediate cash. Foundry irons are

--* See ENGINEEIUNG, vol. ld., page 19.

E N G I N E E R I N G. selling 25 cents per ton less than two weeks ago, for the same grade, in this way. Steel billets have declined as much, and makers find it difficult to sell enough to keep mills running at present capacity. An enormous amount o_f business is held back. Building operations are restncted ; only two-thirds of the rolling mills in the Pittsburgh district have resumed. Iron and steel works in the far west a re nearly all idle. Mer­chant. iron mills are running to about 60 per cent. of capac1ty. 'Vhen confidence is restored, it is impossible to see how an unusual demand can be postponed. Stooks of all kinds of iron and steel are low in con­sumers' hands. The retrenchment practised in all branches is extreme and ill-advised, and must result in a rea~tion, for which stocks are in no condition. Forge iron has been offered at tidewater points this week at 12.50 dols., which, two months ago, could not have been bought for less than 13.25 dols.

STEAM FIRE ENGINE FOR THE LONDON BRIGADE.

0.:\ page 309 we illustrate the new double cylinder steam fire engine recently built by Messrs. Merry­we!l'ther and Sons, London, for the Metropolitan Fire Bngade. This machine is of the firm's well-known "G~eenwich " type; but the mechanism is arranged vert1eafly and with several modifications to meet the requirements of Captain J. S. Simonds. The enaine consists of a pair of steam cylinders, with steel pistons and rods driving a pair of double-acting g un-metal pumps. The steel crankshaft carries a pair of balanced flywh_eels, and the crossheads are of a new pattern, workmg on turned steel guide bars, and allowiog the use of long connecting-rods, so that the strok~ is very steady when the engine is running at high speed . The pump valves are of indiarubber , with gun-metal seats anJ g rating3; the suction inlet and rack valve delivery outlets are fitted with connections of the L ondon Brigade round thread pattern, and large copper air vessels are provided.

The boil~r is Merryweat her's patent quick-steaming pa;ttern, w1th large water space, and is fitted with ~-m. red metal tubes. It is lagged with polished brass, has a telescopic chimney for increasing the draught, and the fittings include steam blast, two "pop" safety valves, two sets of asbestos-packed water gauges, whistle, two gun-metal blow-oft' cocks, mud plug, steam and water pressure ga.nges, two in­jectors, connection to main pump for use in case of water running short, gun-metal steam valve, gauge lamps, coal bunkers, water tank with ball valve, &c. The frame of the carriage is of ruild steel, and the fore carriage is of wrought iron. The whole is carried on horizontl).l steel springs, wrought-ir on ax les, and high wood wheels with bolted mail axle-boxes. A supplementary coal bunker is fitted under fore carriage, and a large hose-box is placed in fron t of the boiler, the machinery beiug bolted to the side frames behind the boiler to allow extra. space for the purpose. This arrangement shows how readily the "Greenwich" can be adapted to work either vertically or horizontally while retaining the many special features which have assured its success as a fire-extinguishing ma~hine.

The new engine has already done good service at se\·eral London fires, and is at present kept at the headquarters of the Brigade ready for despu.tch to any part of the metropolis which requires the services of a more powerful steamer than those at the distric t fire stations. On Aug ust 31 it was specially useful at the large fire in Upper East Smithfield, the 450 gallons of water per minute thrown enabling the flames to be put out with great celerity.

CONTRACTORS AND THE ADMIRALTY. To THE EDITOR OF ENGINEERING.

SrR. - R eferring to your article in last week's issue on the Navy E stimates, I can from personal experience heartily indorse the remarks you make with regard to the attitude recently adopted by the Admiralty towards the contraJtors. There is no doubt that the confidence of the latter has been seriously shaken owing to the use made by the Admiralty officials of the "despotic powers " which the form of contract at present used gives them.

I am, Sir, your obedient servant, AN ADMIRALTY CON'I'RACTOlt.

September 5, 1893.

PATENT OFFICE LIBRARY. To THE EDITOR OF ENGINEERING.

SIR,-I shall be glad if yon will allow me to draw attention in your columns to the delay in obtaining papers at the Patent Office Library.

This is September 4, but some of the monthly papers for July are not there yet, and all the answer I can get is, " It hasn't come in ; if it had come in it would be on the table." It is the same with most of the other papers. Almost

every week I see an article copied or translated in some London paper, before the original American or Conti­nental pa.per can be had at the library.

This shows great neglect on the part of those respon­sible for the supply of the papers. I saw a. letter in your

columns some year or more ago, saying that the Go\ern· ment contractors, to save a. few pence every week, kept the papers back so that a. lot might be sent together. After the publication of that letter (which has never been contradicted) there was a. marked improvement which I regret to see has not been maintained. '

Now as the contractors receive something like a million a year for supply of stationery, &c., it might be thought that they would be above such cheesepariog.

At any rate, the public have a. righb to what they pay for, and the library officials should see that they get it.

Yours faithfully, A SEARCHER.

September 4, 1893.

BALL BEARINGS. To THE EDITOR OF ENGINEERING.

Sm,-Ma.y I ask if, in the knowledge of any of your reader~. balls have been applied to reduce the friction at

"''

~ b c () ( 0

<: (

(' ()

( 0

the collars of the thrust-block of a marine engine, and if so, did they fail, and from what cause3? Inclosed ia a. hand sketch showing how I think they mjght be applied with advantage. I am, yourg truly,

A . G. RAMAGE. L sith, August 31,1893.

STEAM COMMUNI CATION WITH THE CONTINENT.

To THE EDITOR 0¥ ENGINEERING. Sm,-Certainly your report of the International

Maritime Congress at L ondon has been followed by the whole shipping world with great interest. Amongst others, the remarkable paper of Mr. A. E. Seaton (see pages 128 and 158 ante), and the discussion thereon in Section Ill., " S hipbuilding and Marine Engineering,"are of much importance. Mr. Seaton points out that the Great Eastern Railway Company has at its disposal harbours with a depth of 14ft., and that by dredging, the Maas has become 2ft. deeper.

In order not to deceive your readers, however, I must point out that in the M aa.s, as far as Rotterdam, there has always been a depth of 22ft. at low water, and the Docks of the Hollandsche Y zeren Spoorweg Maat~chappy at the Hook of Holland are fit for use at low water by steamers of 27 ft. draught. Ships of 25ft. 6 in. draught regularly reach R otterdam. Where so much progress has been made in securing depth of water and convenient dock accommodation, as is the case in tb c. Port of Rotter· dam, and where, as in this instance, tbe port is of so much importance to English trade, I think it desirable the facts should be e;orrectly put forward in ENGINERRJNG. It would be at least a satisfaction to your Dutch readers.

I remain, Sir, yours truly, A. J. VAN nEn P AAUW.

Hook of Holland, August 30, 1893.

THE TECHNICAL INSTRU CTION MONEY. To THE EDITOR OF ENGINEERING.

Sm,-Certain returns have been published this week informing us of what is being done with the technical instruction money handed over to the county councils. In some cases a fair amount of good work is being done, but in many cases the money is being fri ttered away to a -great extent. Mainly, one authority sayR, it is being used to increase the supply of amateur wood carvers, leather stampers, brass workers, and the like, or to give instruction in the arts of shorthand, type-writing, and book-keeping. Small isolated classes in a~ything are set up, and the peripatetic is set to gyrate round them.

Now such instruction can hardly be called t echnical instruction, since itJ will not have 3. tendency to help one to approach in the best way any problem which may come before him in daily life. So dissatisfied is the Duke of Devonshire with the way thinE>s are managed, that he proposes a R oyal Commission t o si t on the business. Will any but the Fellows of the Chemical Society who were selected by the county counciJs as secretaries because of their great agricultural knowledge, be satisfied with what is goins- on'? I hardly think so. A nd yet a remedy in the directiOn suggested by the Duke of D eYonshire is hardly possible. It would but give more ad vice and create more authorities to that which already bath too much.

Technical instruction, secondary education, continua­tion schools will all sooner or later have to be worked under the same authority and under the same head. The same school, which could be a. central one for each district, could be provided with all the appa· rat us and staff to give all the instr uction which can be given under the above three heads. By such a. method it would be worked in an infinitely cheaper and better way than it is at present. Down here in Hamp­shire we bad ordinary continuation classes, in which were taught the three R 's, examined and paid for under

SEPT. 8, 1893·] E N G I N E E R I N G. 3 I I

the Education Code. The county council had 8000l. for t E'chnical instruction, didn' t apparently know what technical instruction meant; but knew that so much money was to be spent, and doubled the grant given for the three R 's. Was not that a. multiplio:~.tion of autho· rities and of payments in \"&in ? For technical instruction we .have the Science and Art Department, the City and Gutlds of London, the Education Code (for continuation ~asses), the cou~ty councils, and the Charity Commis­stoners, all domg the same work, all exercising s~parate influence and control, and all paying separate money. Only one of them, the Science D~partment, prete.nds to h~ve anr syst~m of organisation. It is formtnl7 as raptdly as tt poss1bly can organised science schools all over the country. These organised science echools are supposed to give a three years' course of day and evening instruction in technical science and art, and the Department allows a capitation grant of ll. per head for day pupils, and 103. per head for evening pupils. tihould the boys attend the workshop, the gra'lt is 7s. per head more, so that the total capitation grant is 27s. per head or 17s. per head. But this is not all the payment ~ade by t~e Department. Rhould a pupil pass first class m any subJE'Ot, a payment of 2l . is made for that. Th~ conditions under which the Department allow

those p~yments are that the pupil is given at least fifteen hours' technical instruction per week. This, in ordinary schools, will allow of another fifteen hours being devoted to li terary subjects given in the secondary schools. So that we can see that all the work which is done with money under the control of county councils, the Charitv Commissioners, the City and Guilds, the Continuation Code, .and the ~cience Depart.ment can be, and in many cases 1s, orga.msed under the Science and Art Depart­ment. For the purposes of more equal distribution of fu.nds and better organisation of districts, the work of dis­tn~:mtion and of organisation could be better done by the Setence Department alone for all the above authorities than at present.

which thus influence, and often limit, spe~d at sea. are FAST OCEAN STEAMSHIPS.* not taken into account in still-water experunents, and I

By Mr. FBANCI ELGAR, LL.D., F.R.S.E., doubt if it would be possible to arrange to do so in a ~ahy Vice·President. that would be satisfactory in any experiments w1t

(Concluded from page 287 ) models. . . . . . . • I Du.p Draught of Water.- ThlB Js a most 1mportant

Effect of S tze of Shtp . upo!l Speed.-T~e ~ell-kn~wn I element of speed at sea, and it is now strictly limited by effect of SI~e Rpon speed m sttll. wa.t~,r,. whtcb 1s explamed ! the depth of water in the ports and docks used by the by Fr<?ude s La~ of Co!llpartson, 1s nob the only one I fast passenger steamers on both sides of the Atlantic. ~hat gtve~ ~eat s1ze of sh1p an ad~antage at se~. There Twenty-deven feet is the extreme limit of depth to which IS an addttto~al advanta.~e at sea, ~~a large sh~p, du~ to a. ship can load on either side. The Ca.mpania. cannot the wave~ bemg smaller 1~ p~oport10~ to th~ dtmens~ons load an inch deeper than the Umbria, although she is of the sh1p, and ~o .th~ pttcbmg: m~t10n bemg less m a. 100 ft. longer. If the under-water dimensions of the he~vy sea. as a shtp IS mcreased m stze. The spe~d of. a Campania. had been increased proportionately to those of sh.lp at sea a~proxtmates more nea~ly to that ob tamed m the U mbna, her draught of water would have been 32; ft. sttll.water, wtth the same propuls1ve po~er, the larger This class of steamers are increasing in length and s~e ·~ ma?e. No doubt length IS theprm01pal element 9f breadth, but the draught of water has to be kept th~ stze m th1s .respect, but depth, or dr.aught of water, 1s same. The r esult is that it is only a question of time, also . very ~mporta.!lt· ~ha~ever m1ght be the speed and not of a very long time, with our present materials obtat~ed w1th a ship on tnalm smooth water, the extent of construction and type of propulsive machinery, to find to .wh10h her a. verage sea speed would afte~wards app~o~ch an absolute limit of speed imposed by the reatriction of thts would ? epend ve~y gr~a~ly upo~ her size . . A strilm;tg draught of water. The weight of steel in the hulls of P.roof of th_Is 1s seen m the mcr~asmg ~egularJty-as diB- this class of steamers varies almost as the cube of the tm<:t from mcrease o.f SJ?ee~-:wtth whtch steamer~ ~ake linear dimensions in similar ships. This is a much greater ~heir voyages as their stze IS mcreased. The vana.ti<?ns ratio than is found in ships of smaller size, where tbick­~n length of yoyage from the ave.rage b~come lea~ w1tb nesses of material are often governed by considerations mcre~e of. ~Ize. ~he e~ect of stze upon ~peed 1s the that are not directly related to the strength necessary to same m sa~hng: sh1ps a.s ID ste~mers, and ts shown by resist longitudinal straining at sea ; but in theee large ships, the . reductiOn m the ~verage ttmes of ~oyages to ~.us- where the weight of much of the structural material is regu­tr~han and othe~ fa!-<;ftstant ports, to whtch large sathng lated mainly by the longitudinal strength required at sea, sh1~s trade, as size IS mcreased. it is not safe to allow much less than the variatiOn of weight

Effect of Form upon Speed.-ThA f~ll effect of .form n.amed . . This practically. agree~, ~u bject to certain qualitica­upon average speed at sea, over loJ?g \Oyages ~nd m all t10ns, wtth the conclusiOns arnved at by :Mr. Froude in weathers, c~nnot be measured bl stll.l-water trt~ls. rr:he his paper on " Useful Displacement as Limited by W eight form ~hat gtv~s the best results 1~ st1l~-wa.ter tnals, wtth of Structure and of Propulsive Power, " read before this any s1ze of s~up, doe~ not ne~ssanly gt v~ th~ best results Institution in 1874. Mr. Froude there showed that in at sea: It 1s sometimes satd as an objectiOn to model similar ships of equal strength the weight of bull would Axpenments, such as Mr. Froude taught us t o make, and length" x breadth

L et me illustrate how the organisation might be done for Hampshire. Surely the aim should be to have, if funds allo~e~, a central school, an organised science school 10 every dtstrtct, and such that in no case need the :pupils leave their homes. This is especially essential in v1ew of the Parish <?ounci.Js ~i 11, which will be got through in the autumn. ~ach dtstr10t then should have a central higher grade techmcal school for all boys j ust leaving the seventh standard.

to still-water trials-which belong to the same category vary as d h ; and that, consequently, the - that they d0 not tell us what the speed will be at sea, . ept or what is the best form for speed at sea. Th~ reply is wetght of hull would vary as the fouz:th power of the that Mr. Froude never said they would. The late Mr. length, . whet.her the l~ngth onl~ were mcreas~d, or a~l Froude always explained that his experiments merely three dtmenstons were mcre~ed m the same .r~t10. '.fhts related to speed in absolutely smooth water ; and 1\fr. was based upon the assumpt10n ~hat the stramm~ actiOns R. E. Froude reminded this Institution in 1883 (see are.those due to wave~ whose he1ghts are proporti.ona.l to vol. xxi v. of Transactions, page 161) that his father was thetr lengths. There ~s doubtle~:~s a. small reduc~10n due very ,Particular in pointing out this qualification. He to ~he.fact that ~be hetgh~s of sea waves do n~t mcz:ease said, m speaking of the comparative resistance of long and qutt.e 10 proportton ~o the1r l~ngt~s ; and there 1s, best des, short ships: "A diminution of the fulness of the ends, the Important practiCa~ quahficat10n that a. large portion and concentrating the displacement in the middle of the of ~h~ structu~al ~atertals. d_oes no~ play a. great part in ship, and remoying. it from t~e. ends, is certain!~ likely res1stmg l<?ngitudmalstrammg action. The res:ultof ~y to make the shtp pttch; and 1t 1s not only object 1onable own expertence of some of the l~rgest s.tea~ers IB that m on that ground, but the performance of such a ship in a cas~s where the strength to restst long1tudma.l straining seaway would, from that reason, be comparatively less acttOn at. sea appears to be ~bout the same, the weight of favourable than in still water, because the pitchin~ must steel va!Ie.s, o.r would vary If correct~ons for the want of certainly rSl>ther tend to increase the resistance. So that exact S1mila~Ity w~re m~de, about m proportion to the

Now the grant to Hampshire is 8000l. odd. South­a!llpton.alone has 1500l., which it literally fritters away, gtvmg, 1n one case, 460l. to a school where thirty boys are taug.ht magnet,ism of the needle and the orange kind; but, leavmg out 1::>outhampton, 8000l. is available for the cou.nty. ~o~, if \Ye dtvide Hampshire into sixteen edu­oatwnal d•stncts, such that no pupil need walk or cycle more than four miles to school, we have an endowment of 500l. t o each school. There are other endowments Charity Commission endowments, and there are the con~ tinuation school grants. By the 500l. from the county council fund, by contributions from the school boards for the central instruction of their pupil teachers and higher standard scholars, by Charity Commissioners' funds and contributions from the public, a cJear endowment of 800l. could be made for each of the sixteen organised science school centres.

But above all that, there is the grant from the Science Department of ll. 7s. per head and '2l. for every first­class . ele~entary, and ~l. for every first .class advanced exannnat10n passed, whtch would bring up the income of each centre wi~h 190 boys taking an average of 2l. per boy for examma~10n ~rant and ll. 7s. for capitation grant, to 335l.f wh1ch, With endowment, would give 1135l. Central schoo a could be worked on much less than th is · lOOOl. would make an excellent thing of each school: But th& Department goes further tba.n this: it offers a very substantial allow~nce up to lOOOl. in aid of building those schools. After the Parish Councils Bill is through schools at Lymington, at Ringwood, Bournemouth, Lynd: h~rst, R~msey, Andover, Kingsclere, Whitchurcb, "East­lelgh, T1tchfield, Peterdfield, Alton Alresford Basing­stoke, O~iham, and Bishops W altha~ could be 'begun to be organtsed. ~urely it would be a working arrangement, and exhibit

umty of purpose, and under the Department of Science a.~d Art t.here would be littl~ waste. The Secondary Schools Bill now before Pa.rhament proposes to give over all the control of the secondary schools to the county councils. But would it not be better to make all the se?on<;fary·education c~me under the existing national orga01sat10n of the orgamsed science schools ?

I am, Sir, yours truly,

Southampton, September 6, 1893. GEo. HALLIDAY.

TaB lviESSAGERIE~ MARITTMES.-The ~ssels of this French company attained la3t year an average speed of 14.5 knots upon its Brazilian line. This average showed ~n advance of 0.?1 knot as compared with the correspond­Ing average at.tau~ed for 189~. Upon the Australian and New Caledoma. hne the obligatory speed is 13 knots, but the empl~yment of three large steamers of the latest type resulted m the actual averae-e speed being increased to 14 21 knots. '!'he service bemg now conducted by four steamers of the same power, the council of administration expects tba~ a. s t_ill higher average speed will be attained upon the ~me m 1893. Upon the Indo·Chinese and Japanese hne the average speed realised last year w&s 13.10 knot~ showing a.n improvement of 0.10 knot over the prescrtbed contract speed. The service maintained upon the East Coast of Africa was conducted last year at an .average speed of 12.50 knots, as compared with a. pre­scribed contract speed of 11.50 knots.

it is probable the gain in the performance which we find cube of the hnear dimension~. . in tria.~s to be realised by ships with fine ends in still Wha:t !dr· Froude really shows 1s. that. those portions water 1s greater than they would evince in practically 0.f a. ship s e~ruc~ure wh~s~ strength IS rehed upon for re­work!ng at sea. " ~1stm~ long1tudmalstrammg action a.~ sea, r~quire to vary ~f tt ever be as~um.ed that the best form of ship for a 10 w~Ie-ht as the fourth power of the d1mens1ons under the

sttll·water speed trtal1s the best form for S.J?eed a t sea as condttiOns he states. M~ch of the structure of a ship, herein defined, or that the sea speeds will bear a fi~ed howe\·er, does not contnbu~e materially to longitudinal relation to the trial speeds, Mr. Froude must not be ~trength, a.nd do~s no~ reguue to be in<?rease~ in weight, blamed for the fallacy. Mr. Froude has given us a won- ID the sa.~e ratiO, Wit~ ID?rease of dtmens~ons. This, derfully re~dy .and exact meane of determining the resist- together.wi.th t~e reductiOn yn amo~nt of straiDing action anc:es of sbtps I~ smoo~h water, but the designer is neces- d~e to. dtmmut10n of the rat1o of hetgbt to length of waves sar1ly left to bts own Judgment and experience as to the Wit? s~ze, must ~e taken to account for the fact that the modify~ng effects of bad weather and heavy seas-which varta~10n ~f we1g~t o~ structural materials. found to be are all·I~portant upon such voyages as Atlantic steamers suffi01ent m practtce 1s n~arly ~s the cu.be mstea.d of as are designed for. I ha\'e crossed the Atlantic seven the fourth pow.er of the dimenstOns. Wtth regard to the t imes, but. it has never bee~ my lot to find there a state woodwork, ~ttiDgs, an~ ~quipment. that. go to complete of sea wh10b even approxtmately resembled the condi- the total we1gbt of a sh1p. s hull, their weight does not as tions of a still-water trial. With fine lines forward and a .whol~, vary at such. a. hig~ rat~ even as the cube of 'the aft, such as would be most favourable to trial speeds, the dlm~ns1on~. If a sh~p s d1m~ns1ons only are increased, speeds at sea might be considerably reduced; and it all. m the same ratto-keepmg the same number and would be easy ~o improve the speed upon trial of some of th10kness of decks-much of the woodwork, such as the the fast Atlantic steamers ~t the expense of their subse- wood decks and the. work. upon them, would only vary as 9uen~ sp~~ds at sea. T~e Improvement of existing forms t~e .squar~ of the dimensions.. The final res~lt is that in m sUitabthty for ~tlant10 seas must, in my judgment, be Simtlar sbtps of the la.rge.st stze the total weight of hull looked for mor~ m kno'Yledge an~ experience of what ~ay be. taken to vary as rather less th~n . tb~ cube of the such a sea reqUtres than m mere sttll·water ex.periments. dtmens10ns. No doub.t the rate of va.nat10n 1s kept down Some of the present steamers maintain an average speed by the fact that, as shtps are increased in size, the details of. not more than a knot less than they obtained on trial of the ~tructural. arrangements and the riveted work are wtth the same power, showing that their forms are almost all earned out w1th g.re.ater care and efficiency, and with as well adapted for speed in ordinary seas as in smooth the result of obtammg more perfect continuity of water; and it would ~e easy, as I have said, if speed strength! and conseq?ently greater strength out of the u.pon smo~th-water tr1als were the crucial test, to con- same ~eight of ~atenals. stdera.bly mcrea:se th~ lat~er at the ~xpense of the former. Wbtle the we1ght of the .whole. hull vari_es a.pproxi-

One of the ch1ef pon~ts m co.nnectlon with the form best ma.tely as the cube of the d~en~IO!JS, the. dtsplacement a~ap~ed for sea speed 1s that 1t should offer resistance to ohan only vary as the sq_uare, m srmilar shtps, so long as pttchtng. The fineness of ends that would give the best t ~ draught of water 1s fixed. Hence, a point would results in smooth water requires to ~e C<?rrected by the ultimately be reached beyond w.hich incz:ease of displa.ce­fuln~ss necessary to pr~vent undue pttchmg. It is only ment would be exceede~ ~y the mcrease m weight of hull the Jndsment and exp~r1e!lce of the naval architect that necessary f~r the r€qutstte stre~gt? of str~cture; and ~n d~cide where the hne JS to be drawn between the two beyond whiCh spe~ would be hmtted by ma.bility to dtrect10ns. If he e:r on the ~ide of ~neness, as tempted, ca.rr~ any more engme power.* . . perhaps, by the de~tre to o.btaiD the h1ghest possible still· .It Is not ~nly that the present _lu:~:nted draught of water wate~ results, be .wtlllose m speed when there is any sea; ~11.1 finally ~~ose a.n absolute hnut of speed, other con­an~ 1f on .the s1de of fulness, be will lose by excess of d1t1~ns. ~emammg . the sall?e, but it has already a. Yery reststance 1ll smooth water, and perhaps at all times preJudtClal effect m keepmg down speed at the point Mr. R. E . lfro~de .has pointed o~t In the passage already actually rea?hed. If the. draught were not restricted, the quote~ t~at ptt?~tng tends to mcrPase resistance; but f?rm of s~ct10n could be 1.mproved by giving to it more there. 1s m ~d<;fttlOn the. further consideration that it n se of bJlge and an .e~Ier curvature. The resistance prac~10ally hnnts speed m a heavy sea. The engines could b~ reduced by g1vmg the section such a form a.nd reqUire to be slowed as soon as a ship pitches so as to proporttons a~ would increase the draught of water At ta~e heavy water on board or to lift the propellers suf- · fic~ently out of t he 'Yater to cause racing; and it is the shtp th~t moves eastly over the seas without requiring the engmes to be slowe~ on account of pitching that makes the best passages m bad weather. Circumstances

* Paper read before the Institution of Naval Architects.

* See "Note sur 1~ Loi de la V aria.tion du Poids de la Qh~rp~nte d~s Navires aveo lea dimensions, et sur la hmtta.tton q_UI en resu}te dans la. randeur absolue " by M . Augustm Norma.nd, member o this Institution' and ~y own re1;0arks on .t~e same in the Bulletin de p Aa~oci • t10n Techmque Mantlme, No. 3, 1893. a.

312

the load draughts of the present ships, the indicated horse-power required for a given speed does not vary as the displacement with increase or diminution of draught of water. Ib often varies as about the two-thirds power of the displacement. In some cases it may be as low as ~he square ro?t. In other words, as t he displacement is mcreased by morease of draught, the power required to drive a ton of d isplacement at a given speed becomes re­duce_d. H~nce increase o~ draught does not mean a pro­portiOnate mcrease of engme power, even when such in· ?rease is obtained merely by extra immersion, without any 1mprovement of form such as would otherwise be possible.

The advantages of increased draught would be felt still more in a seaway than in smooth watPr, as the lower part of the hull would be less affected by the wave surface, and better and more constant immersion could be given to the propellers.

Steculmeu in a. Sea.wa.y.-Steadiness is important, not only as a very desirable element of comfm·t to passengers,

E N G I N E E R I N G. (SEPT. 8, I 893.

DIAGRAMS OF THREE MONTHS' FLUCTUATIONS IN PRICES OF METALS.

(Specially compiled from Official Reports of London M etal a;nd, Scotch Pig-Iron Warrant Markets.)

J UNE, 1893. JULY, 1893. A UGU T, 1893. t. I

91 <;)

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81 "' ~ "" but also aa contributing to speed. When a vessel is rolling heavily from side to side her resistance must be increased. This is shown by the fact that whereas bilge keels have an appreciable effect upon speed on a smooth water trial, they oause no reduction in S_{>eed n pon sea voyages-at any rate, that is my own experience. 'l'he advantages of bilge keels are well known in the Royal Navy, but they are not generally understood in the mercantile marine. They are often objected to on the ground of the increased frict10nal resistance they offer. This increase of resistance is, how­ever, fully compensated for at sea by t he reduction of re­sistance due t o diminished rolling. The following is a typical case. I was consulted several years ago about the design of one of the largest and fastest passenger steamers, and recommended that she should be fitted with bilge keels. This was opposed by all who had to do with her, and they were not fitted. One of the managing owners informed me afterwards that the ship rolled very badly, and asked my advice. I recommended 16 him again to try bilge keels, and they were fitted for about one-third of the length of the ship, their depth 24

being 2ft. 3 in. She has now been running four years 22 with the bilge keels, and the result is that she is reported

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not to roll more than one-half to the extent she did before, to and not to show any difference that can be detected in speed or coal consumption. The success has been so 14

marked in this instance that the other ships of the line L have since been similarly fitted. 11

It would add greatly to the comfort of passengers if rolling could be reduced in these large steamers; and bilge keels furnish a ready and certain way of doing it, when they are properly fitted and are of appropriate size. The objection in some of the lar~est ships is that the docks they have to use do not adm1t of it. None of the fast Atlantic steamers are so fitted. Rolling chambers, containing water free to move from side to side, have been tried in some ships; but, I understand, they have sometimes failed in their action under t be worst condi­tions of the heaviest rolling. 'l'he New York and Paris were fitted originally with rolling chambers ; but I am not aware that they were ever used.

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Strength of St·ructure and Ma.chinery.-Th is is a matter of the greatest importance in all steamers that require to make quick passages in bad weather, as must be self-evi­dent, and I need not ~ay much upon it. A good margin of weight pays in the long run, both in hull and ma­chinery, by reducing the amount necessary to be ex_pended annually upon up-keep and repairs, and preventmg t he taking a costly vessel off her station, and losinf her earn­ings, oocasionapy for the pur~se of repairs. . t also con­tributes mater1ally to the mamtenance of a htgh average speed by preventing temporary breakdown or stoppage of machinery at sea. It is a question, howev~r, whether the limit of length has not now been reached w1th the present structural arrangements ; and whether the promenade deck, shown in the Campania's section, Fig. 4, page 286, should not, as a. next step, be made the structural upper deck of the ship. This would be approaching more nearly to the proportions of the Great Eastern. It would neces­sitate some modification of the arrangements under the present promenade deck ; but this is a step which now appears to be called fo~, and it would certa~ly be neces­sary with any further mcrease of length to mcrease the depth of the main struc~ure ~f t~e ~hip in this mam~er. If this be not done the v1brat10n 1s likely to be excess1ve, especially w_hen t_he revolut.ions of. the ~ngines approa{)h to synchromsm Wlth the per1od of v1brat10n of the hull.

A Large Proportion of Boiler Power.-The necessity for this is also well known. The best results upon short trials are obtained with large engines and small boilers; but the best results at sea are obtained with smaller engines and large boilers. This is also an instance in which short trials fail as a. standard of what can be done upon a long voyage at sea. . .

Twin screws are now becommg usual m the largest ola.ss of passenger steamers. Thay were a necessity in the latAst Atlantic liners, if only because of the necessity of keeping down the ~ize of ~he machil;lery by ~jviding it into two sets. The 1mmumty thus gtven agamst total breakdown of the propelling machinery is now appre· ciated and no single-screw ship is likely to be built again for th~ Atlantic passenger trade. The number of pro­pellers ja more likely to be increased in the future than diminished. The two engine-rooms are usually divided by a. middle-line bulkhead; but it is necessary to have watertight doors in this bulkbe~ to admit of free com­munication between the two engme-rooms. In the event of a.ocident these doors would be closed. The objection often made to a middle-line bulkhead, that water upon one side would list the ship, is met by the arrangements for admitting water ballast upon one side of the double bottom, which would counteract any such list.

The imJ?roveme?ta that would have the gre~test effect in promotmg the mcrease of speed at sea are : mcrease of

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NoTE.-Each vertical line represents a market day, and each horizontal line represents I s. in the case of hematite, Scotch, and Cleveland iron, and ll. in all other cases. The price of quicksilver is per bottle, the contents of which vary in weight from 70 lb. to 80 lb. The metal prices are per ton. Heavy ateel rails are to Middlesbrough quotations.

---depth of water in harbours and docks, such as would admit of much greater draughts of water being obtained; and improvements in boilers, by which greater steam power could be developed out of the same space and weight. Mr. Milton is to read a paper upon ''Water-Tube Boilers,, a type of boiler to which many are looking with hope for the future. In the matter of boilers, however, it is neces­sary to move very cautiously, and, above all, to run no serious risks. Stronger qualities of steel may also be obtained ; but the tensile strength of steel used is not a measure of its efficiency for all the purposes of a ship's structure. The present steel is 40 or 50 per nent. stronger than the iron that was formerly used; but it cannot be reduced in thickness so as to save more than 12 to 15 per cent. in weight. In &ny improved material that may be introduced, the rate of elongation with tension, or, speak­ing more gener:\lly, the relation of strain to stress may be more important than t he mere tensile strength, as a ship's hull requires to be very rigid, and to be practically free from movements due to stretching or compression of materials.

The Atlantic trade is increasing at such a rapid rate that larger and swifter ships are certain to be soon called for. The depth of water has lately been somewhat in­creased at Liverpool; but much deeper harbours and docks will be required if further great increases of speed at sea are to be obtained without excessive difficulty and cost.

I have taken out of this paper some remarks UJ?<?n the very important questions of the internal subdivision of the bulls of the largest class of steamers, the precautions

necessary to make it Affective in an emergency, and the degree of safety that should thus be insured in the event of acoident by collision or other cauRe of damage. With the news of the d~adful catastrophe to B.M.S. Victoria. still ringing in our ears, and the circumstances connected with it not yet fully brought to light, I have considered it undesirable to attempt to deal with a section of the subject of the paper whtch cannot at present be thought of apart from its possible bearing upon this great national disaster. I would only add, in view of Sir Edward Bar­land's remarks, at the last spring meeting, upon the manner in which the report of the Bulkhead Committee has been received by those for whose benefit it was framed. that when the design of the Campania was first referred to me I had the question of internal subdivision looked into and carefully compared with the recommen­dation of the Bulkhead Committee; and it was finally arranged so M to carry out those recommendations in the most complete manner, and to rather exceed the require­ments laid down in the report.

AMERIOAN PIG IRON. -The production of pig iron in the United States in the fil'St half of this year was 5,110,468 tons, as compared with 5,342,045 tons in the correspond­ing period of 1892; 3, 772,280 tons in the corresponding period of 1891; 5,107,775 tons in the corresponding period of 1890 ; 4, 100,995 tons in the corresponding period of 18R9, and 3,382,503 tons in the corresponding period of 1888. It will be seen that the output has very very appreciably increased during the past five years.

.

SEPT. 8, I 893·] E N G I N E E R I N G.

THE LA GUAIRA HARBOUR WORKS, VENEZUELA.

, •

INDUSTRIAL NOTES. THE great coal dispute still holds its place as the

all-pervading question in the labour world, . and affects and influences all others at the present t1me. Looking at the matter superficially, the position of affairs does not appear to have changed much, though the aspects are diffe~ent in. ma1_1y places.. But, in reality the changes m the s1tnat10n are so 1mportant that at almost any moment the whole condition may undergo a vari~tion, the result of which will bet~ end the dispute, e1ther by a total collapse, or a modifica­tion of terms which may lead to a settlement. The one all-powerful factor which is operating to this end is the financial difficulty. This difficulty was pointed out in "Industrial Notes " at the very commencement of the strike. The federation, as such, had not large available funds. The sinews of war, such as were held at the time, were in possession of the local unions. Yorkshire was financially strong; next to Yorkshire came Lancashire. All the other districts were rela­tively weak, the gradation going down from a couple of weeks or so of full strike pay to almost nil. This fact was known to the officials and agents, if it had not come home fully to the men. In order to eke out the funds, and make them go as far as possible, the men consented to forego strike pay for the first fortnight, with the off chance of getting work in the harvest fields and at other occupations. But the slackness of work in other industries was felt to be a barrier to employment. Besides which, the stoppage of the coal supplies threw men out of employment in all directions, so that opportunities of. work were com­paratively fe\v. The miners on strike felt the full force of all these disadvantages-want of funds, de­pression in trade, lack of support from other trades in consequence of this depression, and, in addition, they were doomed to most seriol\S disappointment in other respects.

One of the weak links in the chain of circumstances in connection with the coal strike was the attitude of Durham and Northumberland. The position was well known to the leaders, officers, and agentR of the federation. At the best all that could be hoped for was that the mea might possibly join in the strike. The probabilities were that those t\VO counties would refuse to take part in it. The resolution passed at the West­minster Palace Hotel conference, to cut off a.U districts from the federation which refused to strike, was a mistaken policy. It was intended t o coerce the men

(For Description, see Page 314.)

-... •

,

•

in the doubtful districts into a line of conduct which was more or less opposed by the officials of those unions whose co-operation was essential to success. Durham by a small majority decided in favour of a strike, but the rules of the union provide for a two­thirds majority; this was not given a t the ballot. Nevertheless, the vote showed a very strong feeling on the part of the men. The Northumberland men not only refused to strike, but th~y refused to levy themselves in support of the men on strike. 1-Iany voted for a grant from the funds, from lOOOl. to 20,000l., but the vote was insufficient to authorise t he grant.

The other conspicuously weak link was South 'V ales and Monmouthshire, and here, also, the conditions were so evident that they could not be ignored. The men were working under a sliding scale, and that scale, rightly or wrongly, had been rearranged and confirmed very recently. The terms and condi­tions of work under that scale could not be set aside without a breach of contract, rendering those who broke their contracts liable to prosecution and penalty. Hundreds of summonses have been issued for breaches of contract, and many have been mulcted in fines and costs for such offences against the law. It is true that there was a strong minority who were opposed to the re-enactment of the sliding scale, but it was re-enacted by a very large majority. Under these circumstances, was it wise or politic to force on a strike where the conditions were so obviously different to those in the federation districts, properly so called ? The consequences of attempting to ignore the facts have been, and still are, very disastrous. But the men in many districts resolved to risk everything and strike. Indeed, speaking generally, nearly all the men struck, either voluntarily or under compulsion. Out of over 100,000 men, 75 per cent. at least ceased working. The conduct of the Sliding Sca.le Committee was de­nounced, and it was with difficulty that their repre­sentatives could get a hearing. Now, however, the strike is collapsing. Over 60,000 men have resumed work, and the others have taken a step which must eventuate in the return to work all round. 'ome 30,000 men have called upon the Sliding Scale Com­mittee to resign, and have decided to join the federa­tion, but they also resolved to resume work unless the whole of the outh Wales miners strike, which is now impossible. The strike is, therefore, virtually at an end.

In the Cumberland district there were difficulties of

another kind. The men were members of the federa­tion, but had to submit to reductions prior to the present strike. They had not been vigorously sup­ported by tho federation in their opposition to the reduction, and therefore, though in general harmony as t o the policy of opposition to the 25 per cent. reduc­tion, they were not able to see their way clear to cease work. The result has been that no general strike has taken place, and no advances have been conceded during the struggle. No doubt the attitude of the Cumberland men has been influenced by Durham and Northumberland, though the districts act separately. But there is such a thing as industrial sympathy.

In taffordshire matters have differed from those in all other districts. In many of the coalfields the men are working under agreements which cannot be set aside without legal difficulties intervening. In these, for the most part, the men have remained at work as usual. In other districts, not so placed, the men came out on strike, according to the resolution of the federation. But the men were not well supplied with funds. They bad no resources for a. long strike, and suffering soon began to be felt and endured. In view of all the diffi­culties, Mr. Enoch Edwards, the agent of the district, advised the men to resume work wherever the mineowners consent to give the old rates of wages. The importance of that advice is all the greater be­cause of the fact that Mr. Ed wn.rds is the treasurer of the federation.

---The precise attitude of the coalowners' federation

was made known by the proceedings and resolutions passed at the recent conference at the 'Vestminster Palace Hotel. The employers declared that the pro­posals for negotiation put forward by the miners' federation afforded no basis for a settlement of the dis­pute. That conference refused to entertain the pro­posal as regards the 1890 level of prices, and the suggested combination to enhance prices for the pur­pose of placing an artificial value on coal. But the conference reiterated the offer of arbitration. The position, therefore, is as it was, in so far as negotiations for a settlement are concerned. How the miners view any offer of arbitration is seen by the recent speech of Mr. Pickard, M. P., who declined to entertain the suggestion of the Barns1ey Chamber of Commerce that the President of the Board of Trade should act as mediator. He further said that '' they " the miners, "did not thank the Chamber for their officiousness. " This was not wise or politic. Mr.

Pickard is an advocate of "international arbitration ·" why no~ of " industrial arbitration "? The honourable ll_lember furthe~ declared that " they t ook the resolu­tiOn not as a fn endly overture, but as an insult to t he intelligence of the working classes." I t is very diffi­cult to understand Mr. P ickard's contention. The ~ade.s Union Congr~3S have been pas&ing resolu­tiOns m favour of arb1tra.tion for t wenty-five years · the Ar.t of 1872 was passed at their instance · the Bili of the present Government is s upposed to be ;upported by t he labour members.

But the execu tive of the federation have t aken a step which will set the seal upon arbitration for the present, and also determine other matters relatina to the di~pute. A ballot i~ to b 3 t ak en upon three poi~ts : (1) '\V1ll the men subm1t to a reduction of 25 per cent. or any part t hereof ? (2) Will t he m f n agree to the coa.lowners' offer of arbitration'? (3) ' V ill the men allow those who can get t he old rate of wages to resume w ork? The result of this ballot is to be declared a t ~ confere~ce to be held in Nottingham on t he 14th 1nst . Th1s step presupposes the continuance of the strike until that date.

The effects of the coal strike are felt in most districts . ' m some very severely. The tinplate industries in '\Vales are nearly all stopped and the works closed, over 5000 workers being idle. At the large iron and steel works there has been such a scarcity of fuel that thousands are idle. The shipping trades are almost a t a standstill at all the ''' elsb ports for want of fuel. At Widnes, in L an cashire, over 3000 chemical workers and copper workers are out of work, owing t o the scarci ty and dearness of fuel. The textile trades are also suffering to a large extent. In various other districts a nd trades the coal famine is causing a great dislocation of industry, and is throwing some thousands of men out of employment. But the most deplorable feature in the contest is the suffering which it entails, thousands being on the verge of starvation.

In the engineering t rades of Lancashire the outlook is not encouraging , nor the prospects very bright. The general t endency appears to be in th e direction of slackening off in activity. It seems that there is a considerable falling off in t he weight of new work coming forward for boilermakers, who hitherto have been fairly well employed. Loom makers appear also to be getting \rery quiet . tationary engine builders continue to be well engaged for the present , but machine tool makers are only indifferently em­ployed for t he most part, though some are much busier than others. The marine and shipbuilding industries a re in a depressed condition. In the iron trade but lit tle is doing, hardly anything, in fact, except from hand to mouth where required. In the finished iron trade things are no bett·er. Altogether, t he outlook for the autumn and the com iBg winter is the reverse of encouraging.

- --In the Sheffield and Rotherham district most of the

local industries are depressed ; very little work is doing. The coal crisis is affecting all branches of trade very badly indeed. There have been some disturbances about t he loading and carrying of coal, which add to the d ifficulty. There has also been an advance on the price of steel from 5s. to 10s. per ton, as compared with the prices preceding the coal dispute. It is said that some good orders from Russia have been refused because of the difficulties, and the high pr ice of fuel. The staple trades of the town ar e quiet, almost to stagnation.

In the Cle,?elanddistrict the coal crisis has not created the demand expected, though much iron is being shipped. The total shipped in August was large as compared with other years. There has also been a largely increased delivery of steel , chiefly on foreign account. The dispute as to the use of the ratchet machine continues, and at some of the mines the men are out. But the association have limited the strike to those only who are affected by the use of the machine.

The Wolverhampton district has rather improved by the coal strike than otherwise. The iroLmasters are obtaining a supply of fu el from the Stafford­shire colJieries not on strike, and they are able to profi t by the inability of other districts to supply the wants of their customers. The chief firms have a supply of uncompleted orders on hand, and experience a well­sustained current of new orders for bars, plates, hoops, and other classes of iron. At mo~t of t he mills and forges the men are working full time, and, at some, overtime. Sheet makers are busy, and steel manu­facturers report a brisk demand for most kinds of material. The makers are able t o obtain better prices in nearly all cases, with higher values for forward delivery.

. ome interest is for the time diverted to Belfast, where the Trades Union Congress is sitting. About 400 delegates were reported as being elE-cted to the congress. The Parliamentary Committee had to ballot for places for the resolutions to be submitted in

'

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

consequence of the great number sent in. In that ballot some of the questions which were thought to be of an excit ing character have been relegated t o a back place, but we shall have more to say of the con­gress next week.

The report of the Associated Black smiths states that there is a considerably better tone in the ship­building d istricts. The report furth er says that a number of orders have been booked in marine engineering. Generally in the Scott ish districts the locomotive, land engine, and machine trades are fairly well employed, the prospect s being brighter all round than they were a month ago. Out of forty-four dis­t ricts reported upon only six or seven are said to be bad as regards t rade. Only one place is said to be good , but the others are fai r, moderat e, improving, or dull. Only one place, Belfast, is said t o be declining.

o far the report is encouraging in the midst of much that is discouraging in the stat e of t rade.

THE LA GUAIRA HARBOUR \VORKS, VENEZUELA.*

By A. E. CAREt, M. Inst. C.E. LA GuAIRA, t he principal port of the Ref ublic of

Venezuela, is built upon a narrow strip of leve ground, backed by steep mountain slopes. Caracas, the capital and seat of government, stands at a. height of 28SO ft. above sea level, upon a. pia tea.u, distant about seven miles from the port, and connected by a railway therewith 22! miles in len~th. The trade passing through the port is most extenstve, both in volume and value. Prior to the constrnction of the harbour works now to be described, vessels anchored in the open roadstead, and the heavy swell rolling in on a lee shore, often made land ing dan· gerous or impossible for many days together . During a. severe gale in 1821, out of twenty vessels lying at anchor off the town nineteen went ashore, the vessel which escaped parting her cables.

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From January to August inclusive there is generally a s~eady nor~b-east trade wind-strong~st from the middle of February to the end of April. From September to December the winds are variable, with occasional north­west breezes and nortes, or heavy rollers, from the same quarter. The most severe rollers general1y follow the north-west winds, and heavy rollers and ground swells occasionally occur between April and November. The prevailing winds are the north-east t rades.

The Caribbean Sea forms a huge oval basin, partially sheltered from the full violence of the Atlantic by a chain of islands and rocks. The centre of the crater thus formed has a depth of about 280~ fathom.s, and its deeJ?8st P.Ortion lies due north of La Guatra, and IS about 120 miles dlStant, the fetch in this direc:tion to Porto Rico being about 400 miles. The sea bottom is thus exceedingly steep, so that

* Paper r~ad before the International Maritime Con­gress, L ondon Meeting, J uly, 1893.

• l SEPT. 8, I 893· the momentum of the waves has to be resisted over a relatively small area.. Add to these data the fact that the harbour is in comparative proximity to the West Indian hurricane track, and it will be evident that a. set of conditions exists rendering the construction of works in deep water extremely difficult.

It is stated that ~ales of the hurricane type recur at intervals of from e1ght to twenty years. One of these hurricane storms occurred in December, 1887, and pro­duced the most disastrous results on the sea works then in prC?greRs. One great difficul ty experienced during the buildmg of the harbour was the fact of an almost in­cessant cresting surf searching along the coast, consisting of unbroken green ro1lers, until these touched bottom and broke into surf. The average number of days per annum on which it was impossible to carry out sea work was about 100. The variation in tide level ranges from about 2 ft. to 3ft. The general s~t of the current is to the westward. This is compara.ti vely steady from October to June, with a veloci ty of about ~ to 1 knot per hour. F rom June to October the current often sets in t be oppo­site direction, occasionally running 2 knots or more.

In October, 1885, the late Mr. H. L ee Smith completed a survey of the roadstead, and a. concession was obtained by the contractors, Messrs. Puncha.rd, McTa.ggart, Lowther, and Co .• for the execution of the work, the amount of the contract being fixed at 600,000l. It was stipulated that the works should be commenced within six months of the ratification of the contract, and completed within thirty months from the date of com01encement.

The principal works provided under this contra<:t were:

1. A breakwater, to be carried in a due westerly direc· t ion a distance of 625 metres, its inner side forming a. quay 490 metres in length.

2. Quays running from the breakwater in a. southerly direction, and thence in a westerly direction, with an aggregate length of 9GO metres.

I t was decided to adopt the monolithic system of coo· struction; and the design of the worl<s t!len being carriE-d out at Newhaven, Sussex, was, to some extent, followed in preparing the contract plans. One important condi· tion was, however, wanting at La. Guaira-namely, a. sufficient rise of tid~ to permit of a similar use of floating depositors. By depositing sack-blocks at high water an artificial reef of concrete may, where sufficient tidal range exists, be constructed, which reef, being exposed at low water, allows of the building of a mass concrete super­structure to any desired section. At La Gua.ira this plan was not practicable.

Another initial difficulty experienced by the contractors was the fact that the town extended close down to the foreshore, thus greatly cramping the space requind for plant. According to the original design, the shore end of the breakwater would have started in the bight of the lighthouse {70 metres south of its final location), but this was subsequently altered by making the starting­point due west of the lighthouse-a change of plan which undoubtedly resulted in great expense and difficulty in the earlier stages of the undertaking. Work was com­menced, close to the lighthouse, at the root of the break­water, m the spring of 1886. Small portable t ipping· boxes were used t o dev.osit sack-block~:~ of about 12 tons weight, in order to bmld a concrete retaining wall, to be subsequently backed up by fi lling to yard level (6 ft. 6 in. above mean water level). The length of this work to the starting point of the breakwater proper was 135 metres. It proved exceptionally difficult to carry out this portion of the work, as, within 8 ft. or 10 ft. of water level, the sack-blocks were persistently carried away, even although two, or, in some cases, three thicknesses of jute canvas were employed. It frequently happened that imme· diately on deposition a. sack-block was swept into deep water, its contents scattered, a few minutes later the torn sacking li>eing thrown up behind the line of the wall. After many interruptions and much loss of concrete, stone was tipped along the edge of the wall as it pro· ~ressed, to form a foreshore slope or toe upon its sea. frontage. Some years previously an unsuccessful attempt bad been made to build a pier in pierre pe'rdue, and the debris from this work formed a con venient quarry for obtaining stone for the purpose. In this manner the wall was carried to the starting-point of the quay. The line of th~ quay frontage runs in a southerly direction, at an angle of 65 deg. with that of the breakwater. The lower portion of this work was built also in sack-blocks of about 12 tons weight, with a capping of mass concrete. Its construction was subject to precisely the eame inter· ruptions as that of the foreshore wall.

In February, 1887, Mr. Darnton Hutton, M.I.C.E., and I visited the works to rep~rt respectively to the la. Guaira Harbour Corporation and the contractors. The stones tipped in front of the foreshore wall bad formed a. slope of about 15 deg. , and ran out into deep water ; but it was obvious that this slope bad not yE't reached a poei­tion of qui~scence. The wall itself was subject to a severe scour, which bad honeycombed it badly. The Ad­miralty chart of the roads was based on a Spanish chart of 1794, and there was, at the date of our v1sit, no evi­denoe of any appreciable silting or change in the condi­t ion of the coast. The breakwater proper was at this date not commenced, and a proposal bad been made by thE:' Venezuelan Government to make its direction .more northerly. This proposal would have brought its line almost at right angles with the heaviest seas; and Mr. Hutton and I opposed t he suggestion, considering that it would diminish the efficiency of the breakwater as a. landing jetty. Such a change would have also increased the exposure of the harbour to swell in heavy weather; and the due west line was ultimately adhered to. Tbe section of the breakwater, according to contract, pro­vided a finished width of 8 metres of conmete and a. height of 2 metres above water-line, a. design obviously

•

SEPT. 8, 1893·] very light for the extreme conditions prevailing ab La. Guaira.

In December, 1887, I was appointed engineer-in-chief of the corporation, and simultaneously a storm of tre­mendous v10lence occurred, which caused serious injury to the work:=~ . The Enszlish admiral commanding on the 'Vest Indian station officially reported thab, in his judg­ment no storm had exceeded this in violence or duration for fi fty years. Of the breakwater proper the work above water-line wa.s almost entirely swept away, the pua.pet wall running to the lighthouse shared the same fate, and there was a most extensive wreckage of con­tractors1 plant, sheds, and sidings.

It became my dutv to recomm~nd to the directors to remodel the design of the breakwater, and these sugges­tions being approved, its section was accordingly au~­mented uy an increase in width, &1 described later in thts pa.per, and an increase in height to 12 ft. above water­level. In rear of the East Quay a. basin having a water area. of about 1~ acres and a. depth of 14 ft. was also con­structed, the object being not only to increase the ac­commodation for traffic, but also to form a. Rtilling basin, or wave trap, for any swell which found its way into the harbour. It was dec ided that three iron jetties should be provided alongside thA breakwater for th_e accomJ?lO~a­tion of ocean-going steamers, and to permtt of thetr dlB­charge direct into railway trucks. I also recommended the abandonment of the South Quay, as desiga~d, which appeared of small value for traffic purposes. To provide for the additional works the capital of the company was increa...,ed from 600,000l. to 1,000,000l., and a contract embodying the revised scheme was entered into, the original contract being rescinded, and no stipulation as to the date of completion made.

According to the final plans {Fig. 3), the area of water directly sheltered was 60 acres, the total length of the break­water 2060 ft., running into a depth of 46ft., and having three jetties alongside, respeoti vely 180 ft.. 220 ft., and G20 ft. in length, and with a combined area of 16,100 square feet. The length of thA East Quay was 1900 ft., that of the South Embankment (in substitution of the South Quay) 1250 ft. ; the quayage available for landing purposes sur­rounding the inner basin was 890 ft. long, and the area of land reclaimed, 16#i acres. Cranes (up to 12 tons capacity), warehouses, weigh: brirlges, and coffee-sheds, with water supply, lighting, a.nd a.Jl the adjuncts and accessories necessary for the traffic, were also provided. Two loco­m otivAS and a number of goods wagons were also included in the contract, as well as six mooring buoys fixed in the roadst£a.d for the discharge of vessels overside, and a landing sta.ge for timber 160ft. in length.

The cement for the work (amounting to about 150,000 barrels) was all carefully inspected and tested in England before shipment, the test being a tensile strength of 350 lb. per square inch, and a. fineness not exceeding 10 per cent. residue on the 2500 mesh . The concrete was specified to be 1 in 8; but, taking the total amount of cement used, the proportion of cement averaged about 1 part of cement in 6, owing to loss of concrete and the nece3sity of increasing the proportions in exposed parts of the work. Fenders of hard native wood were fixed at not more than 8 ft. apart along all quays.

The breakwater (Fig. 4) was built of sack-blocks of con­crete, capped in mass con<'rete, the lower tiers of sack-blocks within about 18ft. below water level having a weight of about 160 tons. The hopper-barges used in depositing these foundation blooks were so designed thab shorter sack-blocks could be laid. \Vith bags of the maximum size the draught of these barges was about 6 ft., the length of the bags being about 48 ft., which, when deposited in the work, stretched to about 54 fb. The next series of bags, which brought the structure up to a. level of 8 ft. to 10 ft. below water line, were of about 130 tons weight. These bags were 40 ft. long in the barge, stretching to about 46 ft. in the work, and the draught of the b.nges, when loaded with these, was about 5 ft.

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

ciable extent. The great loss of concrete which took place was in the initial stages of the work.

In December, 1889, a severe gale occurred, and the damage to the breakwater occasioned by this was alto­gether trifling. The princ ipal difficulty and expense in maintaining the breakwater has arisen at the shore end, where the stone slope already mentioned exists! and the portion of the breakwater in deep water, which 1s nearly vertical in section, has given no trouble in this respeC't. The illustration on page 313, showing the wave recoil opposite this vertical portion, is striking evidence of the efficiency of upright walling in the ~ea. The waves of recoil meet on-coming rollers, and to a large extent neutralise their force, the result being a cagcade of water many feet away from the wall.

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T o complete the concrete reef up to water level a novel plA.n was adopted, the credit of which is due to Mr. W. C. Punoha.rd, A.M.I.C.E. A huge tipping depositor, running on six lines of metals, and holding a sack-block of about 70 tons in weight was used to build this portion of the work, and the biocks were slid from the depositor on to the top of the artificial reef previously built. [Ulustrations and a detailed description of this depositor will be published at an early date in ENGINEERING.] A parapet in mass concrete, 8ft. in height, was subse-

From sea bottom to water level the breakwater thus con- quently built, and opposite the landing jetties store sheds sists entirely of sack-blocks, the top tier having been built were also provided, so that the cargo of ocean-going by a tipping depositor, and the lower tiers by floating s~eo.mer~ lyin~ alon~side these jetti.es can be discharged depo3itors. The tipping depositor sa.ck-blooks bad a £:tther duect mto railway trucks or mto the stores adjoin­length of 32 ft. (aboub 35ft . in the work) and a section ing. The extremity of the breakwater i3 suitably lighted, of about 35 square feet, and these blocks were carried to and along the quays and berths for shipping wooden about 3 ft. above water level. The rest of the structure fenders are provided. Vera timber was found most was built in mass concrete, and consisted of a capping, suitable for this purpose, guayacan and aragua.ne being 3l ft. wide, carried to 12ft. above water level. Between nearly as good. These native woods were employed the sack- blo~ks a rectangular recess was out with bars owing to the destruction of imported timber by the down to water level, and a. key of extra strong mass oon- teredo. The teredo is e~:~pecially active in these waters, crete was built in these spaces simultaneously with the the commoner hard woods even being attacked, and the life deposit of the rest of the mass concrete. The concrete of pine timber balks being a few months only. The balks cap was built in lengths of 40 ft., each length taking are practically destroyed in about eighteen months. 1.~ days to 2 days to complete. The breakwater was finished in ,July, 1891, and the entire

L a..Guaira is 11 N. of the linE', and the mean tempera- undertaking was in all respects completed a month or tu re 1s about 82 deg. Fahr., the variation being from about two later. 70 deg. to 91 deg. Fahr., the effect of this high tempera- The following figures will show the extent a.nd growth t~ue being to hasten the setting of concrete very mate- of the traffic at this port: r1ally. The concrete was made at a mixing station erected clole to the inner basin, from which it was de- Period. Kilos. 1 ; ve~ed in to small wagons, and these were run by a loco- March 8 to December 31, 1889 ... 88,918,457 mott'·~ to the end of the breakwater. The skips were Year 1890 ··· ... .. . ... 116,225,413 tbe~ ltfted ~y cranes and tipped into the tippmg de- , 1891 · · · · ·· . . . . . . 142,029,229 post tor menttoned above. The sack-blocks forming the " 1892 ··· · · · ·· · · ·· 161,816,748 a~ructure of the breakwa.tet: lay with great accuracy, and Mr. H. F. Ross, A.M.I.C.E., wa.s resident engineer on dtd not break or roll away mto deep water to any appre- . behalf of the corporation during the construction of the

sea. works, Captain Bickford having re~resented them bn the earlier period of the un_dertakmg_; Mr. wb. L-lf :Punchard, A. M. I. C. E , was res1den b eng1neer on ellli of the contractors during the initial stages of the ~ork, and Mr. J. L . Houston, A.M.I.C.E. , u~ to the penod of completion, the works being handled wtth great energy and skill.

ON THE MIDDLESBROUGH SALT INDUSTRY.*

By 1Ir. RICHARD GRIGG, of Middlesbrough. Communicated through Mr. E . WINDSOR RICHARDS,

Vice-President. ALTHOUGH the Middlesbrough salt industry has ?Ot

previously form~d the s~bject o_f a paper to the InstJtu­tion of ~Iecha.mcal Engmeers, Jt has been ably a.t;td _ex­haustively treated in papers read before other _soc~et1es, notably by Sir Lowthian Bell, before the Instttutton of Civil Engineers in 1887 (vol. lxxxx., page 131); by Mr. Hugh :a~u, before the Cleveland Institution of Engineers, in April, 1883 (page 106) i and by Mr. T. W. Stuart, before the Society of Cheuncal Industry, in 1888 (vol. vii., page 660). By the~e writers the matter has been dealb with in the masterly and comprehensive manner wHch arises from intimate practical knowledge; and, except in one particular, little has been left for others to say. In the one respect excepted, an important development has taken place since the date of the two first-named papers - namely, in regard to the method of boring, and to the treatment of the wells put down for raising the . brine, from which salt is obtained at Middlesbrough. To this branch of the subject Mr. Stuart alone has referred.

Occurrence of t:J·au Dtposits.-As a preliminary to the description of these methods, it may be interesting to consider brietiy the conditions under which salt deposits occur, the probable manner of their formation, and the various ways in which they are worked.

Rock salt is generally pink in colour, and more or less impure from admixture with marls; but it is found in almost every colour-pink, brown, green, blue, and grey, while it is sometimes so perfectly transparent that it is possible to read sruall print through a piece 6 in. thick. Its deposits are enormous in quantity, and are scattered nearly all over the world. As regards its position in the earth's crust, it is found both at the surface and below it. At Speerenberg. in Prussia, it lies 4000 ft. deep, while at Arbonne, in avoy, it is perched at the snow-line 7200 ft. above sea. level. At Cardonne, in Spain, a. mountain of salt rises to a height of nearly 500 ft., while its depth ab the base has never been proved. To the north of India lies a great surface salt formation, some 2000 miles square, which stretches away to the north-west in hill ranges of salt. In the British IslAs salt is found in Cheshire, in Worcestershire, at Middlesbrough, at Fleetwood, and at Ca.rrickfergus. It lies below the surface at depths varying from 120 ft. in Cheshire to 1600 ft. ab Middlesbrough, where the thickness of the bed varies from a mere film up to 119 ft. As showing the abundance of the mineral, it may be mentionEd that in the Carpathian M ountains a. bed is known to exceed 1200 ft. in thickness. A curious calculation has been made as to the quantity of rock salt known to exist, which is estimated to amount to nearly 500 cubic miles, roughly divided as follows : India. and the East, 30 cubic miles; Carpathian Mountains, 416; Great Britain, 3; other deposits, 41 cubic miles. After all, however, the great repository of salt is the sea, in which it is held in a solution averaging about 2.7 per cent. in strength; and it has been estimated that the quantity is equal to over 58,000 cubic miles.

Origin.-About the origin of rock salt there appears to be a. good deal of doubt, although the commonly accepted opinion is that it is a. sedimentary rock of a.~eous o~igin and f~rmed f~o~ th~ sea.. Accor_ding to Sir Rode­r1ck Murch1son, d1stmgutshed ~eologtsts have arrived indE'pendently at the conclusion that the great Indian salb deposits are due to eruptive agencies; while Dr. Mac­Cullock gives reasons for hi3 belief that no salt deposits could ever have been produced from the sea, hub thab they are SJ?OOial and 9~gin~l 4eposits. In support of the theory of 1gneous or1gm, 1tl 1s pomted out that salt is found in the eruptions of V eau vi us, and that in 1822 so much salt was discharged from this volcano that the peasants quarried it for use; and the analyses of the ea.lb dtsoharged in the various eruptions have been 62.9 per cent. in 1822, 94.3 in 1855, and 46.16 per cent. in 185G.

The balance of proba;b~ity, h~wever, appears to point strongly to aqueous ongm. It 1s clear that rain falling upon the earth would absorb its most soluble mineral wherever it oa~e in contact with ib, ?&rrying ib always to the sea. Th1s process, together w1th a gradual sink­ing of parts of the earth's ~urface, and a. consequent long­continued inflow from the sea over large and shallow area~ where rapid evaporation . was in progress. would read1ly a.coounb for such depos1ts as those at Middles­brough, where the bed, so far as proved, covers an area of aboub 20 square miles, and dips from the north-west to the south-east, the bottom indicating the shape of a huge saucer, and the top nearlr fta.fl. Its deposit appears to have begun upon a. format10n of hard white stone above which the salt marl, contai.ning an increasing ~ro:Portion of sa.lb, shades off upwards m to nearly pure salt m a thick· ness of about 20ft. The bed varies in thickness from a few ~eeb to a D?aximum of 119ft., abo_ve which the pro­port~on of salt m .the ma~l decreases unttl the salt is nearly lost m the 20 ft. 1mmed1ately beneath the overlying white stone. This upper layer of the bed is locally known by the name of the rotten marls, and constitutes a grave

* _Paper read before the Institution of Mechani(\..al Engmeers.

trouble to the salt industry of ~!iddlesbrouib, as will shortly appear.

It is prob&.ble that the earliest use of salt by primiti ~e ma.n oocurred when be first learned to use a. cookin~ pot, for with boiled meat or cereals salt would be reqmred; whereas raw meat is rich in salt, and fruin also contains it. Green food, however, contains very little; and a.s herbivorous a.nima.ls have consequently an instinctive longing for sa.lt, they probably attracted man's attention to the mineral through their eagerness in licking it wherever found. It ma.y, therefore, be pr~umed that the earliest salt workings occurred on a small scale, where surface rock salt wa.s found, and at the edges of brine apringa a.nd salt marshes. Perhaps the most re­mukable salt workings of which there is any knowledge are those in the \Vieliczka Mine in Hungary. It is the largest in the world

1 and has now been in work 642 years,

sine~ 1251. Its bign roads and galleries extend upwards of 50 miles, and are 900 ft. underground; it has houses, and villages with chapels, and a population of whom many are said never to have reached the surface. The earliest salt workings in England are believed to have been at Hayling Island, near P ortsmouth; and it is probable that the R omans worked salt at Droitwich and at Northwich, a.lthough these names themselves indicate Saxon origin.

D iscovery at Middlesbrcrugh.-Like so many discoveries, knowledge of the existence of the Middlesbrough salt bed came about by means of operations undertaken with quite another object. In 1859-62 Messrs. Bolckow, Vaughan, and Co., having bored to a depth of 1200 ft. on the south bank of the T ees io search of water, dis­covered a bed of rock salt 100 ft. thick. "bortly after­wards they endeavoured to sink a shaft, with a view to working the mineral as a rock salt mine. The influx of water, however, proved to be so serious, that after heavy expenditure the attempt was abn.ndoned. In 1874 Messrs. Bell Brothers sank a borehole at Clarence, on the north side of the river, and found the salt at 1127 ft. There the matter rested unti11881, when Sir Lowthia.n Bell's brother, Mr. Thomas Bell, proposed a method of winning the Aalt by using one and the same well for sending water down to the salt bed, and for pumping up the saturated solution, the fresh water going down the annular space between the larger external tube, which formed the lining of the well, and the smaller central tube through which the brine was pumped up. Although Mr. Bell was not aware of the fact at the time of proposing this mE-thod, it was then already in operation in France; and after a. visit to the French works Messrs. Bell sank a. well of suihble size, constructed evaporating a.pEara.tus, and in 1882 began making salt. To Messrs. Bell Brothers there­fore belongs the honour of having been the pioneers of this important industry.

In 1885 the Newcastle Chemical Company and the Haverton Hill Salt Company erected works, the former for the :purpose of supplymg their chemical works on the Tyne w1th salb, and the latter for general manufacture. The Haverton Hill Salt Company were the fi rst to make fine salt for domestic use, and to demonstrate that salt of a quality equal to any could be made at Middlesbrough. Messrs. Tenoant and Partners, Messrs. Bolckow, Vaughan, and Co., the Middlesbrough Owners, c;be Greatham Salt Company, and the Tees Salt Company, afterwards erected important works; and the .Production of salt steadily increased from 31~2 tons 10 1882 to 231,060 tons in 1892.

E .ttent of Deposit.-The bed of rook salt, so far u now proved, extends over an are~ of about five miles long from we9t to east by four miles wide from north to south, or about 20 square miles, as indicated in the accompanying plan, Fig. 1, which gives the position of exiRting bore-

PtAH 01 f ilE SAJ.T O/S71f/CT.

Fig . 7.

N•s Wllit~h~t . 0 Wood

''"A

•

N ORTH

SlA

I

holes. Each square mile is estimated to contain 100 000,000 tons of salt; and although, by any method which now appears likely to b~ adopted, a proportion, probably not exceeding 25 per cent. of the whole, can ever be brought to the surface, yet the figures are so large that the question of possible exhaustion of supply need not be taken into account. The most northerly borehole is near Greatbam, where the bed of salt was found at the depth of 889 ft. and is 57 ft. thick ; the most southerly is at North Ormesby, where it was found at 1340 ft., and is 79ft. thick; the most easterly at Lackenby, the bed being met with ab 168fi ft. and 119 h. thick ; and the most westerly at Sandfield, Haverton Hill, where the bed occurs at the depth of 797 ft. and is 80 ft. thick. The thickness of the bed varies considerably, but the average may be taken at 80 ft. to 90 ft. Including these four boreholes, the following are the depth and thickness of bed in six borings :

Depth Thickness to Rock of Main

Salt. Bed of alt. Greatham Salt Com- Ft. Ft.

pany, Greatham.. . 88!) 57. ~lost northerly N ewoaatle Chemical

Company .. . . .. 1091 112

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

Ft. Bell Bros. , Clarence 1127 Haverton Hill Corn·

pany, Sandfield ... 797 Middl es brough

Ft. G5

80. ~fosb westerly

Owners, North Ormesby .. . . .. 1340 79. Most outherly

Laokenby .. . .. . 1685 119. ~1ost easterly Failure to find salt has occurred in the fi ve following

instances, which are marked with a black circle in Fig. 1:

Depth Bored. Ft.

1. ea. ton Oarew . . . . .. 1410. ~lost northerly 2. Haverton Htll Corn·

~ pany, lweethills .. . 1000 3. Haverton Hill, near

Vicarage .. . .. . U nknown 4. Newcastle Chemical

Company ... ... 1190 tS. Whitehouse Wood,

Norton .. . . .. lOi!>. ~lost westerly

It would seem from i os. 1, 3, and 4, that the limit of the bed to the north and west A.nd south-west has been defined while to the south and south-east the increase in depth r~ises the question of larger cost in boring, tubing, and repairing. . . . .

Analy.!is.- It ts dtfficult to gtve an average analysts of the bed, owing to difference in p~oportion ?f marl ~ixed with the salt. Samples are obta10ed showmg as h1gh as 98 per cent. of sodium chloride, and as low as 45 per cent.

Brine.-The British production of salt amounts to about 2,000,000 tons per annum, of which 90 per cent. is white salt made from brioe. The balance of 10 per cent. is mined chiefly in Cheshire a.s rock sa.lt; it is of dark red colour, and is suitable only for purposes where a high degree of purity is not essential. All the salt made near Mtddlesbrough is made from brine by evaporation. Fully saturated brine contains 26~ per cent. of salt; a. fair work­ing strength may be roughly taken at 25 per cent.

The problem has been, and continues t o be, bow to get good brine at a. low cost. It is obvious that the presence of a navigable river-the Tees-and the near neighbour­hood of coal, are important factors in tb~ successful pro­duction of a cheap substance such as salt, inasmuch as more than half of the output is for export, and about half a ton of coal is consumed in the evaporation of brine for the production of each ton of salt. Two other important factors are found in an abundant and cheap supply of good brine, aod in sufficient imports to provide cheap tonna~e for export. These latter conditions favour Cheshire and Liverpool; and the struggle between the two saltmaking districts will lie in the balance of ad van­tage betwean cheap coal with ready shipment on the one side, and cheap brine with low freights on the other.

In Cheshire the brine is formed by surface water find­ing access to the rock salt, quickly becoming fully satu­rated, and then flowing for long distancf!s through ore­vices or "runs'' to the point where it is pumped up. Brine so formed is called "natural brine," and has the enor­mous advantage of being so abundant that it can be raised at the lowest possible cost by mea.ns of large and powerful pumps. As its saturation takes place far away from the pumping station, no disturbance of foundations occurs at the latter through abstraction of the mineral beneath ; a.lthough much-tried farmers, miles away, find their fields subsid10g, until small lakes, having steep and broken sides, are formed. 1-leanwhile at the pumping station the brine is abundant, strong, cheap, and pure; for in its long and gradual course underground, insoluble particles held in suspension become precipitated. The Cheshire salt industry therefore enjoys the advantage of an ideal position, so far a~ getting the brine is concerned; and when the salt produced has been conveyed some 30 miles by canal, it commaads the t onnage of Liverpool for its export. The disadvantage lies of course in the 30 miles of canal, which is navigated by means of steam barges carrying about 250 tons, each of which towa a string of smaller barges. These enter any dock in which the ship requiring the salt is lying ; and they are admirably fitted for rapidly putting their cargoes on board.

B ori'n{} of Well1.-At Middlesbrough, as already stated. brine is obtained entirely by boring deep wells. Up to 1886, with two exceptions, these were all bored by the Cumberland Diamond Boring Company (Mr. John Vivian), using the diamond boring process, which is familiar to engineers. A number of black diamonds are fixed with their cutting ~dges projecting from the end of a short tube, called a crown, which is screwed on the bottom of a core tube about 18 ft. long, and varying in diameter according to the size of the well to be bored. The whole is rotated by hollow rods, through which a pressure of water is maintained. By this mPans a solid core is obtained, and the process is therefore valuable for prospecting ; but the large sums charged for the wells bored in this way, together with the cost and slowness of repairing them, were threatening to destroy the salt industry at ~Iiddlesbrough altogether , when Messrs. Tennant and Partners obtained information which led to the introduction of the method of drilling practised in the American oil re(lions, where a large number of wells have been put down, and valuable experience obtained. The success of this method was immediate and complete ; wells 1000 ft. deep w~re sunk in three weeks, instead of as many months, with a corresponding reduction in cost. It completely superseded the diamond boring, and was found so much more efficient for repairing holes, as well as for the original drillin~. that notJ one of the 55 wells now in operation ab ~liddlesbrough is with­out its derrick and American apparatus.

Free-Falling Tools.-Drilling is effected by the use of free-falling tools, suspended by- a cable. The weight of

(SEPT. 8, I 893.

the tools being about 18 cwt. and. the height of f~ll about 3ft., blows are given of sufficient force to p1eroe the hardest rook. The face of the chisel being blunt, the driJlinss are pounded to powder, and mixed with the water m the hole. After drilling from 3 ft. to 5 ft. depth, the tools are rapidly withdrawn; and a sand pump attached to a separate rope is let down, in order to remove the detritus, after which the tools are again used.

Den·ick.- The "rig," as it is called in America, bear evidence of having been developed in a country where wood is plentiful; and its rough and ready characte~ often excites the surprise and disapproval of English engmeers. But "handeome is that handsome does;" and respect for the rig grows with knowledge of what can be effected by its use in skilful bands. It consists (Figs. 2 a:1d 3) r,f a

p

-,_,. _ ..

Fig.3. •

• ·-··-·····6-·····--·-· •

IUJ ~

derrick 74 ft. high, 20 ft. square at the base, and ~ ft. at the top, surmounted by a. crown pulley P, over which passes the drilling cable C or tubing rooe, and a snatch· blockS for the sand-pump lin~. A bull wheel and drum D, driven by an endless rope which is rapidly thrown on or off as required, takes the coil of d rilling cable C for lifting or lowering tools or tubes. A walking beam B, attached a.t one end to a crank N, gives the necessary motion to the drilling tools and afterwards to the pump­rods. The crank has a throw of 2ft., giving a stroke of 4 ft . to the end of the beam, to which the drilling cable is attached by means of the adjustable screw T ; each re\'O· lution of the crank thus produces one blow of the drilling tools. The reel R carrymg the sand-pump line is worked by a friction pulley F. The whole work is done by two men. The driller standing by his tools has within rE-ach the " telegraph line " E for controlling the engine; the rever ing line L attached to the link motion on the engine ; the sand-reel lever V cootrollin~ the sand-pump line; and the brake K on the bull wheel D, which controls the drilling cable and tools.

(To be continued. )

Al'RICAN COPPER.-Furtber particulars have been re­ceived from the officials of the South- \Vest A frica. Com­pany in Dama.raland with regard to a recent discovery of a large copper deposit north of Otavi. They describe it as the finest minern.l outcrop they have ever seen, the survey giving a length of 500 h. to 600ft., a. height of 40ft., and a breadth of from 20 ft. to 30 ft.

P UBLTO W oRKS IN NEw SouTu W ALES.-The New South Wales Minister for W orks is contemplatin~ further retrenchments. I t has been recommended to the ~Iinister tha.t bet\veen fifteen and twenty officers in the Harbours and Rivers and Roads Departments should be dispensed with. These would be in addition to dismissals upon which the Mini ter is already resol ved. Some of these officers are in receipt of salaries ranging from 7501. to 800l. a year. As previously announced. Mr. Lyne con­templated reducing the staff in the \Vorks Department by between sixty and seventy officers, and thirty of these officers were " struck off," most of them being in the rail way construction branch. One received 600l. per annum, and others were in receipt of 500l. per annum. ~1ost of the latter officers are temporary hands but those in the H arbours and lti vers Department are oid officer~ and will be entitled to compensdotion. The Samson th~ Charon, the Arohimedes, the Jupiter, the Pluto, and' the Castor dredgers have been laid up. In addition thr.ee tugs a~e idle . . Including. officers and crews, abo~t i30 men w11l be dtspensed wtth. Mr. Lyne states that his vote amounted to 937,000l., but he is reducing that sum to 800,000{.

SEPT. 8, 1893·] : =

"ENGINEERING" ILLUSTRATED PATENT RECORD.

CoMPILED BY W. LLOYD WISE. BELBCTBD ABSTRACTS OF REGENT PUBLISHED BPEOIFIOATIOlfB

UNDER THE AefB 1888-1888. The number of views given in the Specification Dralwflngs !s stated

in each case; where none are mentioned, the ::ipedjication ii not illmtrated.

Where Inventions are communtcated f rom abroad, the NOimt8 Jec., of the Commtun:icators are given in italic8.

Copie8 of Spef:ijications may be obtained at the Patent 08£ce Sale Branch, 88, Cur8itor-street, ChQ/11Ctry-la!nt, E.C., at the tuliform price of Bd.

The date of the advertisement of the acuptQ/11Ct of a complete spef:iji.cation is, in each case, givP-n after the abstract, wnle8s the Patent has been sealed, when the date of sealing is given .

.Any person may at any time within two m<m.thsjrom t~ da~ of the advertisem~t of the acceptance of a complete spef:ificatwn, give notice at the Patent Ojfice of ono8iticrn, to the gram of a Patent on any of the grounils mentioned m the .Act.

ELECTRICAL APPARATUS. 13,395. M. Mercier, Manchester. Electrical A_.,pa·

ratus for Signalling. [7 Figs.) July 22, 1892.- Tbls in­vention refers to an electrical apparatus for signallin~. The con· ta.ots A, B, C a re mounted on a non-conductio$' base made of a material suoh as fibre, and over these contacts 1s a rubber cup R tightly secured at its ci rcumference by the flange of the metal cover D screwed down upon it, and making an air and water

Fig1

,

.Pig .Z.

ti~ht joint. The plunger P presses on the outer side of the cup, there being a cup-shaped bead on the end of a plunger, and the middle contact having a stud with a rounded surface to fit under t he cup-shaped b ead. The lower ,POrtion of the plunger is iusu · lated by ft bre F. Tbe insulated wtres Wl , W3, W7 are connected to each of tbe desirPd number of contacts in prearranged order. (.A ccepted Jtdy 19, 1893).

16,877. Sir C. s. Forbes, Bart., London. Signalling Apparatus for Telephones. [2 F igs.) September 21. 1892. - Tbis invention consists io t he employment of an induction coil fo r producing the call signal, so that the alternating bell and generator oan be dispensed with. Tbe spool has a cylindrical bole 2, bored longitudinally through it, which is fitted witb a sliding core of annealed uon wires 3. A soft iron cap 4 is fas­tened upon one end of the wires, while t he other end is secured to t he metallic fork 6. A metal spring 6 ·urrounds the ~art ot the core 3 between the spool 1 and fork 5. The primary wu e 7 is wound next the core, and the secondary wire s consists of a number of turns of fine well-insulated silk-covered wire, and is wound on over but well insulated from the primary coil, the number of t urns varying according to the length and resistance of the line. The ends of the secondary wire 8 are connected to the terminals S and to line a nd enth t hrough the telephone T.

Fig . 2.

11671

T

Pivoted to the metallic bracket 8 fastened t o the spool 1 is a !Detallever 9, also pivoted to the sliding core 3, by a pin 10, pass· 10g through the fork 5, the lower end of this lever being fastened to an insulatin~ button 11, which protrudes through the wall of the case. The bead of screw 12 is silvered or platinised, so as to make good electrical contact with a platinised adjustable screw mounted in a. cock, screwed to case, which is in metallic con­necti?n with one side .of the battery B by terminal P . Tb1s screw is so. a.d1 usted as to cause the current oir~ulating round the primary wue to be interrupted before contact could be made between the o~p 4 aod hammer 17. The battery B is connected on the other 8lde to the pillar 15, which carries an adjustable platinised con­tao~ screw 16, w~ioh, when the instrument is inoperative, presse.s agam the plat10um plate upon spring hammer 17, electn· cally connected by wire w with one end of the primary wire 7, the other end of which is secured to the metallic bracket 8. (Accepted July 26, 1893).

16,805. lt. A. Scott, Acton, Middlesex." Portable Electric Search Light Apparatus. [5 .Figs.] Septem­ber 20~ ~892.-Tbie .invention has r eference to portable apparatus c_omprl81Dg a carrage wit..b accumulators and electric soorch hgh t. projector, the whole adapted to be easily trans~orted so that 1~ can be ~sed at places great dietancee apart. The ftoor and pt,·oted tatl·board la of the carriage 1 are provided with

E N G I N E E R I N G. pairs of parallel guideways 2 along which elec tric accu­mulators 3 slide, so t hat they can be plaoed in po3ition and removed without liability of spilling th e liquid conten ts ; 4 is an electric search light projector, mou nted upon a s1;1pport 5 pi voted to the dl'i ver's seat 7, rotatable pine 8 ser vmg to retain this support in such a position (Fig. 1) t hat the projector is held ready for use, but, upon being pa rtly turned round, r e· leasing it and permitting the projector , when not in use and during t ransport, to be turned down into t he position of dotted

4 Fig. 7 Fig.2 .

I

"'· ·-~ ...... .~

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........ ,. ~-:::~ •

~ ~ /""'"

7 Pt.p. 3. I~ 3 3 . . . . ~·· ... ~ :::-' ~ ... ~·· .. - . .. ·:;: :4 I . J 3 .. .

I· . . . . . . !- ..... .. •·:~ .

. . ..\··;::.. !<! . (,.

~ . -fCI. ............

.. _ .. ·- ~-~· .·:; . ~ .

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R ~ ~ -lines (Fig. 1). Each accumulator is provided at one side with a plug 8 and a. socket 9 torming its terminals, these being ar · ranged so that when the accumulators are being caused t o slide along t.be ways 2 in a forward direction, the plug 8 on one cell enters the socket 9 on t he next most forward accumulator, so that t he latter in each row are electrically connected together without any action on the part of the person manipulatin~ them, and when they a re being removed, become automatically dis­connected, the contacts in ea.ob case sliding pas t eaoh other and keeping themselves clean. (.Accepted Jttly 26, 1893).

16,338. T. F. Matthews and J. Johnstone, Liver• pool. Marine Signalling Apparatus. [7 Figs. ) Sep­tember 13, 1892.-Tbe object of this invention is to enable a visible and audible aignal to be sent from one part of a ship to anot her, and consists of an indicator coupled to an electric bell and containing electric lamps, an aperture covered with coloured

Fig . 7.

•• •

Fig.2.

glass being in front of each lamp, and a switch fo r putting any one and the bell in circuit with a dynamo machine. Means are provided for actuating the device so that a man on the look-out forward can, by the coloured lights, signal to t he officer in charge in what direction the danger lies, the bell ringing in each case. (.Accepted J uly26, 1893).

GAS, &c., ENGINES. 16,380. 0. Brunler, Entritzsch-Leipzig, Germany.

Rotating Petroleum Motors. [8 F igs.] September 13, l 92.- In this invention the cylinders and pistons rotate rou nd a stationary crank. The crank n is rigidly connected with the frame k. The gas mixture is conveyed to the cylinders through

• . ' •

•

@ . -... ___ _ ..

Pig.1. Fig. 3 .

Pig .Z

. .

passages gl. The gasification is effected when the valve is opened , the latter being lifted at the beginning of the suction period, and drawing in the air through a tube c and the air oatoh\ng basin f. The sucked air current meets a.t b wilih some petroleum whioh is pressed in through the tube a and epraye it through the nozzle in t o the ge.slfter. Through openinJt t he

: 1

val ve the petroleum converted into gas is drawn with the a~r into the passage g, and from there into a passage u' t whereupon 1b enters the cylinder. (Accepted July 26, 1893).

16,381. o. Brunler, Entrttzsch-Leipzic, Germany: Petroleum Motor. [2 Figs.] September 13, 18~2.-~b, object of this invention is to provide m eans for the gasJfica.tto,n of the petroleum and for the ignition of the mixture and the au of the moto rs working with four times motion. T~e cooled com· prcssion space a is continued by t he passage a l, m tb~ w~ll . of which a plate f curved to and heated from the outstde, 18 m · ser ted. At the'beginning of the suction perio? a pump conveys a m easured quantity of petroleum through a p1pe h and passage

g into the channel al, where it is dispersed and immediately evaporated at the red-bot plat e f . Tb~ a.ir sucked t~rough ~he valve e drives the gases to the compress10n space a, wtthout be10g able, on account of its great veloctty, to enter .the hollow p~ate .(. During the compression the mixture formed .10 the mia}'lt1me 1s driven back into t he passage al, the spaces bema- proportiOned so t hat at the end of t he compression the inflammable mixture reaches the r ed-hot plate ,f, effecting t he explosion. (.Accepted July 26, 1893).

MACHINE TOOLS, SBAFTING, &c. 14,662. A. King and A. C. Oakes, London. Drilling

&c., Variously Shaped Boles. [7 Figs. ) August 13, 1892. -Ibis invention relates to macbinety for drilling or borinJt d if· feren tly shaped bol~s and shaping or trueing }'lUt~. The sp!ndle A is provided at a w1tb a squared s~rface t o ~hde 1~ an ?pemng b fo rmed in a toothed wheel C by which the spmdle 1s drwen, and which is formed with a boss c and an annular recess c2 in which is inserted the lower end of the collar pieceD forming part of the headstock of t he machine, and the wheel 0 being secured to the collar piece D by a. ring d secured to the upper end of the boss c and engagincr in an annular recess d"' formed in the collar piece D. On this collar piece is a plate E provided with radial slots e in which slide dies F, these dies in combination with an anti­friction wheel G carried on the upper end of the spindle A governing the shape and size of t he boles to be drilled. The dies

0

Fig.1. 1---\

A

•

are ad justt:d at.d held in posit.ion in the slots e by a coYer plate H having concentric slots/, through whiC'h and through slots in the dies F pass screws g, which screw into the plate E and collar piece D, and admit of the co,·er plate H being turned axially rela­tively to the plate E. In the plate H are also provided inclined slots to receive the ends of studs carried by the dies F so that by moving the plate H through a partial rotation around its axis, the inclined slots h acting on t he studs i ca use the dies F to be mo,·ed nearer to or furthe r from the axis of the head, according to the direction in which the plate H is turned. Projecting from the underside of t he wheel C is a lug against which bear springs, the opposite ends of the sprin~s bearing against a bar L con­nected to the spindle A by a screw M aod adjusted in position by nuts k to regulate the pressure of Elprings wbioh tend to move the spindle A in the slot u, eo that the pulley G comes into con· t.act with the dies F. (..Accepted July 26, 1893).

15,930. A. C. Fisher, Coseley, Staffs. Combined Carpenter's and Ratchet Brace. [4 Figs. ] September 6, 1892.- In this in\'ention the band lever is ma.de in two parts, A, B, one B being a.cranged inei<ie the other A, and each capable of giving independent motion to the bit. The outer bow lever A has an upper support upon its central part. The upper end

~

" • ' . •• 0 0

• • • • • • " . •

~ •• • 0

' ' ... • •

~ -· Fig . 1 . -

of the drill·holder spindle F projects beyond t he boss, so as to receive a toothed wheel G which gears b to another driven by the

318 inner cranked lever . The lower end bl of t he inner le,·er carries the tl)othed wheel which drh·es the d r ill spindle pinion, and the ratchet disc into which the two drh·iog ratchets work. (~ccepted J uly 26, 18e3).

RAILWAY APPLIANCES. 15,701. W. R. Sykes, London. Railway Signalling

Apparatus. [6 Jt'i(ls.) September 1, 1892 - 1'his im•ention rt:lates to means by which, if a t rain entering a blook-sivnalling sec tion ia forgotten, the stop signal for the road fouls the line upon wh i<'h the train is standing. and cannot be operated. The t readle a is centred t o tbe rail ; d is the up stop signal blade, and e the down stop s ignal one, t hese blades being carried in

p,_· .1.

. . J .

brackets g, h, bolted to t he ra il, and having notches i , j to allow t hem to be lock ('d by tbe bottom patts k, l of the treadle a when it is depressed by t he wheels of the train passing over it. When the t rain proceeds to t he down from the up line th rough the cross·over road, the last wheel d epresses the treadle a and locks the dowo stop signal by means of t he blade i, t he signal being similarly operated if the t rain goes in the reverse direction. (4iccepted J ulv 19, 1893).

16,663. J. c. G. Mugnier, Paris, France. RaUway Signal Apparatus. [7 Figs.] September 17, 189~.-Thls invent10n relates to signal apraratus for r ailways, in which t he t rain itself controls the line on the b lock system, so that s.s t he t rain enters on one seotion of t he line it automatically sets t he signal controlling that section to danger or •' Line blocked," and simultaneously releases that controlling t h e section it has just passed, and allows it to indicate "Line clear." A is an inclioed lever inside of and r ising above t he le\'el of t he rail X sufficiently far to clear the flange of the wheels. This lever is mounted on one end of a rock-shaft C which passes beneath the railP, and is adapted to be depressed by a drum mounted on t he inside of one of the wheels. On the other end of the shaft C is fixed an arm D connected by a rod E to a weighted bell-crank lever F I, mounted on a rock-shaft H, pi voted on a level with t he upper surface of the rails. The lever F I constitutes a striker,

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- I --

.Fig.2.

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Fig. 3 . :-r--r-I

r

eO

and its long a rm I is set at an angle of rather more than 45 deg. to its short arm F . The rod E, which connects the arms D and 1•', is made in two parts, between which is interposed a spring K for lessening the effects of concussion. To t he shaft His ftxed another lever arm L longer thao and parallel to t he arm F. Tbis arm is connected by a chain M to a drum on the signal post, upon which a ch ain is wound in the re\'erse direction to that of anot her chain Q, by which a wei~ht P ia suspended. To this barrel is ftxed a curved arm R which controls a lever S, to which the ai~nal arm U is connected, t he curved arm being provided with a fr ict1on roller r. The drum is provided with 1\ ratchet· wheel W and with pawls which serve to bold it against the action of t he weight P. A weight 3 is mounted to slide freely in vertical guides in t he signal poat, and constitutes a trip for the pawl y, and a closer for an electrical circuit ext ending from one signal post to the one next in rear ot it ; spring catches 4 engage t he weight 3 wh en in its r aised position, and retaining it until thry

ENGINEERING (SEFT. 8, 1893.

are withdrawn from engagement with it. A bent lever pi\•oted a t 2 3erves t o project the weight 3 into its raised position, when s truck by t he striker 1. (.Accepted J uly 26, 1893).

is circulated and t hrough whi~b the compr£ssed air is deli\•er.ed. The two leather rings D, Jo~ h,.,.e each metallic spr ing r inJ:tB heh1Ld them, and a re pressed out\\ ards by air and water pressure intro· duced by Fmall boles conncc•ing "ith the air and water apa~es r eapecth·ety. The water is ci rcu lated throu~h the water Ca6JOg G by the plunger F. The plcking for the small. piston H consis.ts of leat her washers slightly larger than the <'yhnder, and kept m place by a nut smaller than t h e washers. (Accepted July 19, 1893).

STEAM ENGINES AND BOILERS. 16,453. D. Borsburgh and R. Wood, Bolton, Lancs.

Valves. [3 Figs.] September H, 1892.-Tbis invention relatts to val veCJ for steam, &c., and ita object is to dispense with atuffiojr·box, glacd, and packing. The uppt>r end of t he piu~ D h provided with a recess in which is loosely mounted a stem

.Rg. 1 Pig .Z.

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•

0 wbiob passes through the cap E and is pro"ided with a fadng I operating ·with the val ve seating K on the u nderside of the cap , the Yalve facing I being held against the seat by a spiral spring L disposed between t he upper end of t he plug D and the unders1de of tbe vaJ\'e I, by which a tigh t joint is made after the surfaces have been ground together . (&ccepted July 19, 1893).

15,205. J. Boyes, Banging Beaton, and T. Kelsell, Batley Carr, Yorks. Steam Boiler Furnaces. [tS Jt igs.J August 24, 1e92.-This in,·ention consists in a method of admitt ing atmospheric air to the fron t of the fu rnace and at the bridge end, this air being heat ed to such a temperature before being admitted, that the gases arising from ~e fuel are Ignited , thus preventing smoke aLd lessening the consumption of fuel. The furnace door E has attached to it a grate F, between which and the d oor a space is left. The upper p:u t of the space is in communication wil h a chamber G which comprises a plate H The cha mber G is a lso iu communication with another chamber J in which is a diaphr~m employed for the purpose of shutting off or allowing atmospher ic air to ente r the chamber G. When the diaphragm is open<d, cold air E-nters the chamber , and on im· ping ing a,._ainst the hotplate H becom es heated, and on enter ing

o L

Fig. '2.

-

1520.5 8

t h e space behind the furnace door the beat of t he air becomes highly intensified, and as it passes t hrough t he apertures in th e grate Fit intermingles with tbe !(&Sea arising from the fuel, these gases being thereby ignited aod the smoke consumed. In order to operate the diaphragm automatically, a bevel wheel is placed on the axis of t he diaphragm, the wheel gearing with another bevel wheel on the top of a. vert ical shaft, on the lower end of which is a bent finger Q so placed t hat on the furnace door being opened th e finger is struck so as to oscillate the ver t ical shaft P, wberehy th e two bevel wheE-ls are operated and the diaphragm caused to assume a ver.ical position in the chamber ; cold ai r thereupon rushes in, and becoming h eated, enters the fu rnace for the purpose of igniti ng t he gases arising from the fuel. Means a re provided for maintaining the diaphragm open for a short time after the furnace door h as been closed . (Accepted July 26, 1893).

MISCELLANEOUS. 16,357. w. B. Northcott, London. Compressing

Air, &c. [8 Fi{Js.J September 13, 1892.-This inven tion relates to

~eans fo r comprea.sing air , &c. A, B ~re t" ~single-acting barrels m the same axJal hoe, and C th e coohng coJl round which water

•

16,451. B. J. R. Pamphllon, Congleton, Cheshire. Crushing Mills. (2 Figs.J September 14, 1892.-This itl\'en· tion relatts to mills in wh ich one of the grinding faces is a hollow cylinder, against the iuner face of which a series or rotating g rindiog faces bear . Two i!eries of ro tating g rinders a r evolve

upon separate shafts lJ in opposite directions, and raob series con· siats of three g rinders let into the revolving carrier c, so that as the latter is rotated t he g rinders a re thrown out on t heir guides d by cent rifugal force , and bear against the internal face of the cylinder f. (.Accepted July 19, 1898).

16,972. R. Taylor, Newcastle·on-Tyne. Hydro­statio Lifting Jacks. [2 F igs.] September 23, 18~2.- Jn t his invention the r elief passage B is formed in tbe solid body

of t h e jack, communication between the cylinder and the cis 'ern thus being imposeible otherwise than through the agen('v of th "lowering screw," which must be released before the jack can L lowered. (Accepted J -ttly 19, 1893).

14,930. A. J. Boult, London. (B. ~ppenzeUer and C Lentz, .A lo~tt, Belgium, a.nd B . Filletd, Hatten , .Alsact .) Card ing Engines. [4 Ftg8. ) Au~ust 18, 1 92. - Thia invention relates to .r evol.'· ing cards with mtennittently d riven tops a nd predetermmed m ten·ala of rest bet\\een each stroke the inte r mittent motion being so timed that each indiYidual ~otion pro duced at one stroke equals the width of one card top. The

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speed of t his motion enables t he formation of knots to be aYoided, and pre\'enta the fibres from ag~lomerating. The machine is so const ru c ted that the p oints of the card top can be sharpened during the intervals of rest, the tops bein~ alternate) y suppor ted by means ?f adjustable rests, so that thfy are ptesented durmg t he sbarpemng operation always in the same position parallel to t he ax ts of the shar pening drum A without preven ting their forward movement. (.Accepted July 26, 1893).

UBITED BTATEB PATEN TB AND P ATBNT PR.AOl'IOB. ~escriptiona with ill';JBt rationa of inventions patented in the

U01ted States of An1enoa from 1847 to t h e present time and reports of t rials of patent law oases in t he United States rriay be consulted, gratis, at the offices of E.No~,.D.ING1 36 and 36, Bedford· stJ'eet, St rand.

THE NATIONAL ScHOLARSHIPS FOR 1-IEcH.a...·~ncs.-The following is a. list of the four successful candidates for the National Scholarships for Mechanics of the Science and Art Department:

Name. -------

Buchan, \Villi am ... Lea, Frederick C. . .. Eagles, J ames ... Cabena, Richard H.

Age. j -

21 21 24 25

Occupation. Place.

Engineer (; }a~gow. Engineer Crewe.

Science teacher Bury, L ancs. Engineer Glasgow.

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