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SEPT. 20,

1901.]

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

INTERNATIONAL

ENGINEERING

CONGRESS AT GLASGOW.

that the leakageof waterwould be a sourceof trouble.

In the Severn Tunnel and in the London tunnels

very little t rouble had been met with from water

comina throuah the bed, but

that

could be

accou;ted for to a certain extent by the strata

being more or less

h o r i ~ o ~ t a l

;

b u ~

one c o u ~ d not

be certain as to the conditlOn of thmgs, for In one

tunnel upon which he was engaged absolutely no

water was met with where a great deal was

expected, and

in

another instance i t was exactly

the opposite. As

the

traffic from

Stranraer

to

Belfast would have

to

be

dealt

with

by

specially

built

locomotives,

or

special electric engines,

the

question of heavy gl'adients was not of vital import

ance. He thought it would

be

advisable

to

go

to

the

areater depth of 150

ft.

below the surface. In

Concluded frorn page

H . 

IN preceding issues we have reported the dis

which took place on

the

first two days

the

Engineering Congress

in

Glasgow. There

remain

the

discussions on

the

last day, Thurs

September

.5th, to complete our account of

the

st successful gathering of the

kind

ever held

in

country. I t reflec

te

d

credit

alike

on

those who

it, and

those who managed it ;

and

as

paper

s,

and

discussions,

stands

re

-eminent among such meetings.

SECTION I. RA ILWA YS two

0

tunne

ls with which he

had

been connected

At the meeting of th is Sect ion on Thursday, part of the work was through

Keuper

marl,

and

a

September 5, 1\ir. John

Strain

took the chair. areat deal of trouble had boen experienced from

. ~ a t e r coming through the joints where

i t

had been

TaE

IRISH

T

uNNEL

. hardened

by

rock being forced up through it. He

A

paper on The Proposed Tunnel between asked whether

it

would not be wiser to drive the

Scotland and Ireland was read by Mr. James proposed tunnel

in

the fonn of

t ~ o

t?bes o.r cylin

Barton, M.C. Inst. C.E . This paper

wa

s pub- dera, something after the

f a s h w ~

In .which the

lished

in

abstract on page 335 of our issue of electric railways were now being dr1ven In London.

September 6. .

He

had not gone

in

to t he figures of the strength of

Mr. Mansergh (the

Pr e

sident of the Congress) iron and steel lining,

but

he thoug

ht

wou

ld

be

said he had recently been driving 10 or 12 miles

in

wise to adopt .some such means to get over the

silurian rock, and a good deal of water had been

hydr

ostatic pressure. ·

met with.

He

agreed with Mr. Barton that pro- Sir Douglas

Fox

pointed out

that

a great deal of

bably

under the

sea the interstices would

be

filled the research carried out in connection with

this

pro

with

matter

which would

prevent

the

water

getting

posal was

due

entirely

t6

Mr.

Barton. Th

e finan

down. He

thought

it was most likely h a t less cial

point

was

the

crucial one, and that need not

water would have to be d e ~ l t with in a

tunnel

such be now discussed. This was a national work, and

as that described

by

the author, than in a tunnel

he

believed

the

influence produc.ed

by

the union

nearer the surface. He did not

think

that the between the two countries would be very great.

drainage he

ad

ing proposed need be so deep. Not only were the points proposed

by

Mr. Barton

Mr.

F.

W. McOullough (Water Works Engineer, the natural places to cross bet ween the two

Belfast) said

that

as early as 1890 he had brought countries, but from a commercial point of view the

before the Press in England, Ireland, and Scot- Belfast and Glasgow rou te was the most important

land a scheme for a proposed tunnel from the north that could be selected. Although at present it was

point of the Island of Magee to

Port

Patrick, but, suggested that a double tuimel should be adopted,

examining the details of the various routes, he had he thought there was a great deal to be said, and

come to the conclusion that the scheme known as worthy of consideration, as to whether

it

would not

the

Whitehead and

Port

Patrick was

the

best. be desirable to adopt somet.hing like

the

system

Shortly afterwards Mr. Barton, through

the

papera carried

out

in

the

Simplon Tunnel ; that was to

in

Belfast, said he was considering the ques tion say, two single tunnels with a heading be

of an Irish Channel tunnel scheme between tween them. Mr. Bell's progress of 2 yards per

Ireland and England, and would bring

the

day,

or

10 yards per week, was no doubt very

details before

the public;

but the editor of _one good with a .small plant; but

the

whole ques

of

the

papers

stated

that

t he word

England tion

of

speed

depended u

pon there

being thoroughly

was a

printer's

error. He

thought

it was good arrangements made as

to

phnt,

an

d so on.

only fair that any .scheme for crossing the

Irish

'rhe Simplon heading, which was being worked in

Channel should be reasonably compared with any

harder

material than

any

silurian, wa s steadily pro

ther

chemes previously in existence. I t was only greasing at the rate of 22 ft.

per

day ;

and

he h

ad

fter a lapse of ten months that Mr. Barton was reason to believe that ere long that amount per

'ble to bring the details of his scheme before a day · w·ould · be increased. With regard to the

meeting called under the presidency of the Lord question of K ~ u p e r marl, he had had the pleasure

Mayor of Belfast . Mr. Barton's route was formerly of going down the shaft with Mr.

Ba

rt

on and

iven as miles, but he (the speaker) noticed in examiniog the strata, and he thought

it

presented

paper

that it

had now

shrunk

to 25t miles.

If

great facilities for rapid speed. He would have

he latter scheme were adopted,

it

would have the preferred a little softer material to hav.e to work

bringingthetunnelinto slightlydeeper water through, but with the use of a .shield

that

diffi

t h ~ n was originally proposed. He held

that the

culty had been overcome. Basing his calculations

and

Port

Patrick scheme had imp

ortant

upon what he had seen, he estimated that

the

tunnel

dvantages over any other route. The greatest could be completed

in

about eight or nine years.

of water on the Whitehead and

Port Patrick

.

He

agreed with Mr. Bell

in the

great advantage

was 650 ft.

as

compared with 450 H. on of having two single tunnels. A 16-H. sh ield was

Barton's route. He maintained t

ha

t 1 in 58 was much more portable and easier

to

deal

with

than

an

extreme gradient.

There

were several lines a shield for a double

tunnel

of 27

ft

.

or

28 ft.

in

Scotland which worked w.ell with gradients of 1 diameter. He considered

the

pers01ial reference

He did not think that the question of

by

Mr. McCullough

to be

rather out of place. He

lectric traction affected the matter very much. agreed it would have been much pleasanter

to

have

geological difficulties to

be

contended with were been able to construct the tunnel fron1 Donaghadee

in Mr. Barton's scheme than

they

were u to

Port

Patrick

in

a straight line, or even from

one which he (the speaker) had formerly advo- Blackhead to

Stranrae

r without a curve; but he

strongly of opinion from his experience of the

Mr. Leonard Bell (Mourne Water Works) said Mersey and other tunnels

that it

would be a very

should like to have some . information as to the risky operation to attempt to cross the chasm

of progress that might be expected

in

the which had been ploughed out

in

the bed of the

had lately been

in

charge of

~ o m e

seven Channel. It was far better to adopt the caution Mr.

eight miles of tunnels on

the

other s1de of t he Barton had learned from long and mature experi-

and he had very grave doubts as to eoce, and to go down

the northern

head of the rift.

.

the

work could be proceeded with

at

the The suggestion of a tunnel from

Ireland

to

Eng

land

w h ~ h the author

said

he

hoped would be

or S ? o t l ~ n d

might take some people's

breat

h away,

but It

did not frighten engineers.

I t

was only a

Su

Douglas

Fox

asked what

rate

Mr. Bell had question of length.

The

work would be different

to

proceed from that in connection

with

the Mersey

Tunnel

Mr.

Bell replied

that

two

yards

per

day

was

the

where some of

the strata

were eandstone full of

for good work. The silurian was a

very

water. Mr. Bateman, the engineer, said it would

~ n d it wa.s mo.st. difficult

to

get

be

impossible

to

tu1mel

under

the Mersey because

work out of 1t. In his opinwn the shorter

there

were very la rge faults in the sandstone,

an

d

the proposed

tunnel

was a

great

advantage, that water would come in

in

such la r

ge quantities

o ~ e r e d

an

opportunity of getting through the that it could not be dealt with. Sir John Fowler

In reasonable time. He was afraid, however, , in his

e v i d e n c ~ ,

made the bold

statement

that

..

:

his opinion no water would be f o ~ n d in those faults,

and experience had proved his prophecy. He

thought the difficulliies were more senous to c o ~ -

template

in

the case of the Mersey T u n ~ e l

than

In

the proposed schen1e.

Sir

Doug.las Fox:

t h ~ n

quoted a l e t t ~ r which h ~ d appeared m the In

connection with

the

S1mplon Tunnel, and

b a s n ~ g

his figures up on those giv

en in that

instance,

sa.I.d

that two single

tunne

ls in such a scheme as

this

would cost 120l. per yard,

and he

felt satisfied

that

the

speed

of driving

the

heading would be greater

than

that foreshadowed in the paper, and that

from

both

an encrineering

and nation

al

point

of view

the

work would be one of very

great

i m p o r t a n ~ e .

Professor Carus-Wilson did

not

t

hink

It would

be wise

to

increase the grades of the existing

design.

A

grade of 1 in 75 was a much

r_nore

serious matter than would appear at first stght.

High speed was no

doubt

a great feature, but he

need scarcely

point

out

that

the suggested speed of

60 miles an hour with a 100-ton train up a grade of

1 in 75 would necessitate a locomotive of much higher

horse-power than was anticipated, and i t would not

be economical to attempt

it

.

Mr

.

Barton

.

hen

replied. He said that

Mr

.

Mansergh s observation as to

the e r ~ t

of

gradients was only a

matter

of de

ta

tl.

At

the

public meeting alluded to by Mr. McCullough, the

matter had been placed

in

the hands of a

c o m m i t t ~ e

consisting of a nun1ber of

members

of

Parliament

and other

s,

and they had

decided

to

adopt

the

pro

posed scheme. But

he had no doubt

t h a ~ any

suggestions made

either

by Mr. McCullough,

or

any-

one else, would receive most careful and patient

consideration. As

to

Mr. McCullough's suggestion

that there was a

sha

llow

point

between

Whitehead

and

a point in Wigtonshire, it

had been

discovered

that the chart was imperfect, that the full

n u m b e ~

of soundings had not been made, and there was no

such

point

in

the dyke which could be crossed at

650 ft., or anything like it. The best electrical

drills

that

had hitherto been used, and those that

had accomplished the most rapid work, were those

in

use

in

the Simpion Tunnel.

The Chairman,

in

moving a vote of

thanks

to

the

author, said

that

whatever views there might be of

the

project, whether pessimistic

or

optimistic, the

enormous advantages of such a scheme,

whether

viewed from a social, political, or commercial

aspect, could

not be

over-esti

mate

d. If the tunnel

was constructed,

Ireland

would

be

connected

with

Scotland for all practical purposes n

the

same way

as England was. I t would

be

the readiest

means

of cementing the three countries together, and

bring to a successful issue a matter which

had

troubled political parties for many years ;

in

fact,

it would be what he might call an engineers' solu

tion of the Home Rule question.

CHEAPER RAILWAy FARES:

A paper on

Cheape

r Railway Fares  was

then

read by Mr . Horace Bell, M.I.C.E .

This

paper is

published n

extenso

on page 430 .

Sir Guilford Molesworth said he bad always had

the opinion

that

a railway should not be looked

upon as a money-n1aking machine,

but

as an instru-

ment

for developing

the

resources of the country,

and

he

had

always urged

that

policy

on the

Govern

ments with which

he

had

been

connected. Great

difficulty had

been

experienced

in

persuading

the

rail

ways

to adopt the

policy of low rates. The fares on

the State Railway of India had been reduced

to

one

fifth of a

penny

per mile with

entire

success, ·and

other companies

had adopted

the same policy, and

an enormous increase

in

the traffic had resulted.

The State R aUway

(Rajputana)

was constructed for

political

and

s t r a t e g ~ c a l

purposes, and was not ex

pected to pay its working expenses ;

but

it had

proved be a very remunerative line, and i t was due

to the policy of low rates. . In England we were

pla?ed

in

a l?eculiar position owing to the policy

whiCh was misnamed free trade, which enabled

the

foreigner to put produce into the London

markets

at

lower rates

than

i t could be brouaht

from

the

Midland Counties. Sir Guilford

then

quoted certain memoranda which

he addr

ess

ed

to

the _Government of

India

twenty

years

ago

on

this

subJect.

.

Sir

W i l l i a l ~

Preece

sa

id this

was a

paper on

ra1l way pohtiCs. I t was

all very

well for Sir

Guilf

ord

~ I o l e s w o r t h

to

support the

governmental

management of railways. Their

management

in

India was rather a

sentimenta

l one. In this

count

ry

the railway companies were great com

mercial concerns, and must be managed and con-

•

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

[SEPT. 20, I 90

I

trolled

on financial policies. The question raised

and the

superstructure built

further

back under water, which had been partially destroyed, whereas

by the paper was simply one of cheap versus the its shelter.

Steel

caissons of 833 cubic yards

in

the case of Zeebrugge

there

was no protecting

present dear fares, and he rather disagreed with were used, 16 ft. 6 in. below low water. Upo n breakwater outside. He asked the authors what

l\1:r.

Horace

Bell in his estimate of t,he character of this foundation

the

superstructure wa s built, protection was proposed against the sea at Zee

railway managers over here. The Americans had formed of two facewalls made of concrete blocks J brugge, especial1y in connection with the outer

made their

railways to pay,

and

some of then1 wore of

39

cubic yards each,

and

a hearting of

rCLpidly-

portion of the breakwater, which he was afraid

now t ~ k i n g up,

perhap

s, the very worst example setting concrete. This brings the work up to might be subject to attack.

of a hne badly conducted on financial principles, 23 ft . above low tide,

and

it is protected on the Mr. Vernon

Harcourt

~ i d he had had

an op;>or

namely, the

Metropolitan

District. Mr. Yerkes sea side

by

a strong

parCLpet.

Up to December tunity on two occasions of seeing the works at Zee

had the control of that line, and was O OinO to show last 150 caissons had been placed in five yeara. bruggo, and

it

appeared to him there was a i f f ~ r e n e

this country how the line could be worked, with re Ya

rd With this

wa ) also read a

paper

on '' Zeebrugge between the works at Zeebrugge

and

Bilbao on

to fares, on American principles. Not only would it Harbour Works,"

by

J. Nyssens Hart and L. van account of the diffdrent exposure of the two sites,

be

converted

into an

electrically worked line,

but

the Gansberghe. which

wa

s, of course, the governing factor with

whole of

the

system would be worked

at

one

The

po

rt

of Zeebrugge is furmed

by

a curved re

g-l.

rd to sea works. A breakwater might be made

u ~ i f o r m fare of 2  d. Nearly every man in the breakwater, and protects the opening to the Bruges perfectly satisfactory on one site, which would be

ratlway world would say that

it

was absolute non- Ship Canal.

The

breakwater consi

sts

of

three

por - destroyed on another.

The

Bilbao breakwater was

sense t:> think that such a railway as that could tions. At the beach

there

is a solid

embankment;

a rubble mound and superstructure, but the

m ~ e to pay wi.th such a fare ; at

any

ra te, it the second portion is

an

openwork viaduct 1312 ft   ~ e e b r u g g e breakwater was practically

an

upright

was gomg to be tned, and the

result

remained to long, while the third p)rtion is a solid

br

eakwater wall, which was nndoubtedly the best form of

be

seen.

There

would

ba

at least a

grand

object-

and

quay 5264

fv.

long.

Thi

s la

st

pa

rt in

two breakwater.

With

regard to the erosion of the

les3on to railway managers

throughout

the country, portions. The fir-it consists of a quay with a sea- rubble mound, very early

in

hi3 professional

and the outcome would be the decision as to what wall on the outside, protecting the filling bet ween career he had occasion to notice that at the

the proper

mode should be of working railways, the seawall and the harbou r wall, forming the quay. Alderney breakwater, which was at a depth of

whether

on high or on low fares. It was not a The second part is a st raight length of solid seawall 130 ft. at low water,

there

was a certain amount of

a mere

quest

ion of 1s. ve

·

sw; 2 d. The

secret

of 1115 ft.long, constituting the

outer

breakwater.

Th

e sco

ur

of the rubble mound every winter. One of

American railways was,

whether they

were worked base of the seawall pro

tect

ing the quay consists of the speakers had said he believed no breakwater

by electricity or not, the carrying out of three monolithic concrete blocks, weighing 3000 tons, with a rubble mound wa s likely to stand, but it

principles-rapid transit, cheap fares, and fre- 182 ft. long

by

24 fc. in. wide, all

their

tops was to

be

hoped that

that

prediction would

not

be

quent services, the result being that they were being 1 metre below sea-level. In the outer fulfilled, because last year he saw at

I avre

a break

worked more like tramways. GlasO OW pos- breakwater the f o u n d

i o n

blocks are 29.5 ft. wide. water upon a rubble mound protected with con

sessed a splen did tramway system. It had grown

The

tnain body of the wall consists of 55-ton crete blocks,

in

which the superatru'cture was

with

gigantic steps,

and the three

principles bl

oc

ks laid upon the foundat ion blocks

up

to founded on low.water level. At Boulogne, he

to

which

he had

referred

had been

the

cause of 22.9 ft.

ab

ove low-water spriog tides.

The

toe of thought,

the

superatructure was

rather

abo

ve

low

such growth. And so it would be with all our the face of the breakwater is protected from und er- water level

than

otherwise. He should not feel

large railways. If

the suburban

traffic which did mining

by

a mound of large blocks of rubble very happy

in

building a superstructure at, or very

not now pay was worked

by

electricity, a complete stones, weighing from 6 to 39 cwt. The near, low-water level if

it

were exposed to any

revolution would be

the

result.

With

American foundation blocks are

built

of concrete

in

iron storm. He quite agreed

th

at it was desirable, if

ideas and London

and

American management the caissons, which remain part of the blocks.

The

possible, to do away with the parapet, because the

great object-lesson would

be

given,

and

the very blocks

are

built hollow

and

towed into place . They amo

unt

of water coming over a breakwater 5 ft. or

low ebb

in

which

Briti

sh rail way properties now are

then

s

unk and

fill

ed

with concrete. The lower 6 ft. above high tide would not do much harm,

were, would probably turn round, and shareholders part of th e caissonq has a cutting edge, and the sea though

it

might damage a high parCLpet. With

who had

not

touched dividends for some time would bottom is levelled with concrete from hopper regard to the entrance to the

port

of Bilbao, vessels

be able to feel fat dividends in their pockets from 1barges. Up to the present four caissons have been came

in

at an angle, and therefore had not the wave3

the

exercise of

the

principles determined

in

deposited.

right

against

their

beam.

The ~ e e r u g g e

harbo

ur

America.. Mr.

Fraser,

Genoa, said

that

during his resi- would not have been a desirable form if it

had

not

The

Chairman said the

pap

er was full of good dence

in

Genoa he happened to

be

witness of two been to a certain

extent

sheltered from the east,

sense, and deserving of the serious consideration of storms which affected the breakwater,

and

he

but

the land curved round,

and

the breakwater

was

railway managers and shareholders. It brought up exhibited photographs showing the effects of the fairly protected.

questions that were

in

every one's n10uth. All sea

in

raising blocks weighing 55 tons.

The bl

ocks Mr.

W.

H.

Hunter had

also had the advantage

thought

that our railways might be less conserva- were laid on rubble, the top of which was about of inspecting b

ot

h the works at Bilbao and Zee

tive

in their

administration,

and take

a lesson

in

10 n1etres below high-water. Evidently a number brugge, and he pointed

out that

at the l

atte

r place

many

things from our American neighbours.

He

of

the

55-ton blocks had been used as battering the steel caissons were of

the

most slender con

proposed a vote of

thank

s, which

wag

carried by rams and completely knocked away the parapet. struction, the very minimUin of n1aterial beiog

acclamation, to the

author

and to the Honorary He

thought

it was a

proo

f, if proof was required, e1nployed. The steel work was stiffened by inter

Secretary of that Section, Mr

.

Henry Cooper. that the use of enormous caissons was indispensable costal bracing, and reinforced by concrete.

That

Mr. Hogg (Glasgow) proposed a vote of

thanks

to overcome the force of the sea. appeared to him to

be

a point of considerable

to the Chainnan for presiding,

and

the proceedings Mr. J. R. Baterden

thought

the original depth importance

in

the construction of the blocks, for it

of

the

Section terminated. of the rubble mound

be

low water was 15

fb.

at had reduced the

co

st of

the

caissons to a minimum.

Bilbao,

bu

t M. de Churruca had shown

that

it was The same thing obtained at Bilbao. He thought

SECTION II. WA.TERW A.YS AND MARITIME WORKS. not safe to build the new breakwater

at

less than it was hardly fair in discussing questions of con-

16 ft., even under the s

helter

of the old damaged crete blocks

and

matters of

that

kind to for

get

the

pier. He thought no single superstructure built work of the late l\1:r. Cunningham, of Dundee, who

upon a rubble mound

in recent

years had escaped designed a novel system of construction

and

flota

more or less damage, and he doubted very much tion of concrete blocks without

any

metal-work or

whether

any

breakwater now being constructed caisson. He should like to have heard from the

would long escape danage.

The

only large sea authors of the papers whether

they

had had any

pier which he knew at present being built in the difficulty in depos iGing the blocks. With regard to

dist

rict

on a rubble mound was the one at

Peter-

the dangers of erosion, on the external side there

head, the rubble mound being there 32 ft. below wa s certainly, in his judgment, a peril.

He

con

the water.

With

a rubble mound, or blocks,

if

the sidered there might be a difficulty

in

founding the

down scouring of the waves scoured away

the

toe blocks

on an

even bed.

The

third sitting

of the Section was held on

Thursday

morning, September 5, Sir John Wolfe

Barry, K .C. B., LL. D., F.

R.

S., presiding.

TH

E

CLYDE

E

sTU RY

 

The

first paper

read

was

the fol1

owing s

hort

com

munication on ' '

Improvement

Works

in

the Clyde

Estuary,

"

by

lVIessrs. D. and C. Stevenson. This

paper was

print

ed n extenso on page 382 of our

last

issue.

Replying

to

the

questions of

the

Chairman,

Mr. D. Stevenson said the rCLdius of curvature

adopted in the

channel was 1200 ft.,

and

the

bottom width was

about

400ft. The cham1el was

maintaining itself.

BILBAO AND

ZEEBR

UGGE HARBOURS.

The second

paper

was one on "

Works

for

Improving the Bilbao

River

and Harbour," by M.

Evaristo

de

Churruca.

The port of the N ervion River, which forms the

port

of Bilbao,

is

85 miles long.

Th

e o u t ~ r

harb

o

ur

is enclosed by t wo breakwater-s ; the west

1s

4757 ft.

lonCY, running out from the coast

at

right angles to

the

0

north-west. The

eastern

breakwater runs

in

a

westerly direction for 3610 ft. Between them is

an

entrance

1970 ft. wide, facing north-ea

st

.

The

first brea

kwater

is the more

import

ant,

and

rests

on

mud and

sand.

I t

is built on a mound of con

crete

blocks, of 39 to 65 cubic

yards

each,

and

these

rest on a mound of sorted rubble. The building of

the superstructure

was commenc.ed

in

1891,

and

damaged

in

1893 and 1894, when

1t

had a.

length

of

417 ft.

The

design was

then al t

ered.

The

~ o s e

blocks already laid were le

ft

as

an outer

protectwn,

of the rubble mound at a certain depth, it would Mr.

Vern

on Harcourt said

that

to a certain

also scour it away with large blocks;

this

he extent Mr. Hunter 's views were correct, because

should imagine would be rather worse, and the he saw the blocks

at

low water last year, and the

damage more serious. He did not see the necessity, top of

the

blocks was not an even surface. He

except

in

places where protection was required for rather thought the bed of the sea was not quite so

the pier, of taking the roadway at such a great mobile as Mr.

Hunter

supposed.

It

was more

an

height above high-water. It was not only ?ostly

indurat

ed

silt

mixed with sand,

and

he was

in

construction,

but detra

cted very sen ously ass

ur

ed

that

the

kind

of

indur

atecl clay which was

from the stability of the pier, seeing that the the foundation of the caissons was perfectly hard,

wav

es had a very much greater power against and that the protection of the large rubble on the

the higher structure

than

against t ~ e lower. If a outside of the breakwater would be amply sufficient

pier

was made a few feet above htgh water, and to prevent scour on their face.

the waves were allowed to flow over it,

the

effect on Mr.

Hunter

said that his experience was

that

the material of the harbour would

be

comparatively indurated clay was a delusion.

little a short distance in. With regard to the The Chairman, in closing the discussion and con

entrance to

the

harbour,

it

seemed to him a very veyina the

thanks

of the Congres3 to the author-s,

awkward harbour to enter, as a vessel had to turn said appeared to him that at Bilbao, if it were

broadside on to the wav es.

not

for the protection of the

outer

mound resulting

M. Mendes Guerreiro, speaking

in

French,

said from the failure of

the

original work, the new work

he had to do with a. ha

rb

o

ur at

Oporto, wh

ere

he would

run

very serious risks of the rubble mound

had very much the same work to ca

rry

out as at being eroded

and

the superstructure more or less

Zee

bru

gge and Bjlbao. ¥ pref

er

red the s ~ s t e m destroyed. He thought t he soundings at Bilbao

at Bilbao to the system at Zeebrugge, because

1n

the were particula rly steep, which indica ted that the

first case there "as the protection of the old break- sea stroke must he exceedingly hulvy upon t h ~

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SEPT

.

20,

I

90

L

J

-

works.

He

had recently

had

before him a ques

tion

of th

e

failur

e of a

most important

breakwater

ab

Ty nenwuth, near Newcastle. Th e or iginal design

of t

he

breakwater, which was

som

e 60

or

60 years

old,

was

based upon a canon of engineering which w

as

accepted at

that

t

im e

-

that

the

actio

n of the waves

on

rubble mounds

w ~ s

n ot

ap

pa

rent,

or of

any

im

portance, when the dep th was fr om 12 ft.

to

15 f t.

bel ow low wa ter. I t was one of the canons la id down

with very li tt le real basis of

so

lid fac t, b ut it was

acce

pted in

t h

o.se

days ,

and

t

he or

i

ginal

br

eakwater

a.tTynemouth

was star ted at a de pth below low water

of bet ween 12 ft . and 15 it. As time wen t on it

was

re c

og

nise

d

th

at

th

ose de

pt h

s

were in

suffici

ent

and

the rubble mound, which

had

been al roady

made, was low

ered

by dredging o

perati

ons, first to

17 ft . , th en to 20 ft., then

to

22 fb ., then

to 24

ft . ,

25 ft . , and at last to 27 ft. at t

he extremity

of the

br

eakwater. Even at the depth of 27 ft., the

e rosive action of the sea. had been

so

se

ri

ous th

at

the

pier

head

was in imminent dang

er of f

allina

d 1

.

O l

an arge

port10ns of the breakwater we

re

in a

state of utt er ruin . The we ight r esting up on

the

rubble m ound

was

practically a monolith of enor

mous size.

He

found

that

a va st ma

ss

of ma

sonry,

which was

so bea

utifully

const ructed that i t

all held

together

in

on

e solid

bl

ock of

upwa

rds

of

6000 tons, had been moved or tumbled over by the

sea

in

consequence of th e erosion of the

rubble

mound,

and

it Wtts possibl e at

that

time for the

d ive rs

to

walk

undern

ea th the s

uperstruct ur

e and

observe the

damage. The

q ue

sb

ion , therefore, was

at what depth below low-water the work s should

be founded. I t was nece

ss

ary to rely upon the

equation

of the expos

ure

to the prevailing wind

and the steepness of t he soundings. At Tynemouth

the exposu

re

was very

lo n

g and

the

soundings par

ti cularly

steep,

so t ha t the sea

came in

with e

nor

m ous power . To his mind, the only

way

to get

a

se

cure

foundation

was

to

put the foundations at

such

a dep th as was sui table

to

the situation in

which they had to be placed. I t was wise to bear

in

mind that in talking of weigh t, what was

meant was weight in ai r, and not weight

in

wa

te r.

' Vhen

once

a co

nc rete

block was tilted or began

to

move, the

whole

condition of things wa.s changed,

and the sea acquired a power over the block which

seemed out of a ll propo

rt i

on. The matter of para

pets

was

very seriously considered in the re

con

s

truction

of th e Tynem

ou t

h bre:l

kwater, and he

should li ke very much

to ha

ve

got

rid of the

para

p

et

altogether but

in that

case it was not a ques

tion

merely of protecting

th

e

promenade, bu

t of

allowing

persons to be on th e pier in

ve r

y

expose

d

weather, and

theref

ore

it

was decided

to rec

o

nstruct

the

parapet,

although in a very much stronger

form.

LIGHTING .AND

B u

oYING oF CoasTs.

F our

papers

on Recent Improvements in

the

Lighting and Buoying of Coas ts " were read

together. The firat was by 1\fr. D. Stevenson,

who

d

ea

lt with Scotland.

Mr.

David A. S tevenson gave a

history of

the

erection of h t h o u s e ~ ,

beacons,

and

fog signals.on

th e Scottish and I sle of

Man

Coasts, deahng

specially with the i m p o v e m ~ n t of the last f

ew

years. 'Ve hope

to prmt

thts paper later . Mr.

Alan

Bre

bner's paper we

sha

ll

also print

in

full.

I t dealt with

the

hi

sto

ry

of t he lightning flash

system, and sugges ted an . i ~ p r v e n : e n t on it, con

si

st in

g of a complete subdtvtded

ec

hpse r of two or

more parts,

each

m

in dependently

of the

oth

ers a

lona

with

an optica

l

apparat

us of two

or

mo

re

side l3. Th is :ystem requires a screen of

two

parts of a

bi-valve apparatus, one of th ree

sides

a t ri lateral

apparatus, an d

so

on ; hav:mg.

a

sc reen

specially

a l t ~ o to and r e v o l v t n ~

w1th

It

. Ei.ch

partial screen is made to

tota

lly. echpse, when shut,

the beam of the correspo

nding

lens . A

ll.

th e

g

roup

-fl

as

h characteristics can th us be obta1ned

with any of the arrangements, and t he flashes

can

be

given

more m p a c t ~ y th an one . per

.fi

ve

seconds

of

tota l period reqUired by the lightning-

~ h t system.

The third paper,

by

Baron de Rochemont, deal t

with

the French

coasts.

This we

print o l

page 419.

' '

The

Present Condition

of Lightm

g

on

the

Chinese Coa

s t

was the subject of a

paper

by

Mr.

J.

R.

Harding, whi

ch

we

print in ab

s t

r

act on

pag

e

424 of the present issue . .

M. Ribi

ere, speaking ~

n c h , con

sidered that

the

flashes

of

quick-flashi ng were e

9.u

a

lly

as

good as the ligh ts of l o r ~ duratwn, wh10.h were

said to

be

preferred by sa tlors. When the In terval

E N G I N E E R I N

G.

b

etween

the :flashes was r

ed

u

ced

to five

seconds

or

le

ss,

the sa

ilor saw th e

light

suffici

en t

ly well and

co

ntinu

ously to take his bearings.

Wh

en it was

n eces3ary to wait half a minute or a minu

te

, it was

n

ot

so convenient for taking b

earing

s

as

with

s

hort

er

:fla

shes .

With regard to Mr Brebn

er's

arrangement, th e diffic

ulty se

emed to be that

ther

e

was too great an angle between

the

flashes.

He

M . Ribiere) found i t nec essary to have something

like four panels for the elecbric light, and

four

for

the incan

de

scent

and

oil lig

hts

.

Mr.

Brebner

a

pp

eared

to

hav e a more rapid rate of rota tion, and

if it was on ly ap plicable to the smaller lights,

the economy of

his

sy

ste

m w

as

co

nsiderably

re

duced.

Mr.

Brebner's

reply to

the cri t ici

sms

of M.

Ribiere

on

his subdivided eclipser s

ystem

was as

follows : First ly, the speed of rotation required

is

well within the l

im

its of what h

as

been accom

plished with ease in apparat us

now

in use,

and

Me ssrs . Chance Brothers a.

nd

Co. can show

to

any

o

ne

a th ird-order subdivided eclipser apparatus

working

with perfect smoothness and regularity.

Secondly, it was only by introducing t he idea of

small

and inextensible luminaries that

exception

co

uld be taken to hi

s sys tem.

Neither incande

sce

nt

mantles, however, nor oil and gas

f l ~ m e s

are in

ex

t en sible, hence this criticism is without force . As

compared with the

twin-light system

in favour in

France, which is a mo

re

conve

nien

t, but also a

more c

ost

ly subs titute for the old British

' '

biform, ,

the subdivided eclipse r sys tem will be found to be

a con

sp

icuo us

ly

economical

one

.

Mr. J. R. Ha.rding :V

as

very

much

interested in

the po

ss ible use

of

acet

ylene

. He had

tried,

at

Sh a

nghai, some experiments

on

a

small

sca

le with

a

fourth-order lig

ht,

and as far as

th

ey

went

they

were successful.

He

obtained from

a

dealer in

Sh

ang

hai a small plant,

with

a burner though t to be

80 candle-power . He t

ried

that

burner on

several

nights , and on

alternate

nights tried a

mineral

oil

burner which he knew to be 72 candle-power, and

he

found

th at the

80

candle-power acetylene burner

gave at leaat a 100 per cent. better flash th an

th

e

72 candle-power mineral oil

burner

.

M.

Ribiere

said

that experiments h

ad

been

made with acetylene gas, but the difficulty was

that the flame went down the tube

and

caused

ex

plosions.

That

was

obviated by

hav

in

g a

burner

with several

li

t tle

tu b

es,

and in

that way

the propagation of the flame was stopped

by

the

small ness of the tubes. The gas was used by an

incand

esce

nt

ma n

t le, a

nd produced

a

power

which

might be stated

as

4 to 2 t

compared

with mineral oil.

H e thoug

ht there

was

a

gr

eat

future in

sto

re

for

acetylene gas

-burner

s in lighthouses.

Mr. D. Stevenson said

there

was one acetylene

in sta

lla tio

n in this country,

namely,

at

Grange

mouth,

and

the li

g

ht

had

been

perfectly successful.

Mr. Harding,

replying to

some

rem

arks by Mr .

Ge

dd

es, agreed

that

group flashing got over to a

certain extent the objection to the very rapid

flashes.

Perso

n

ally

he was rather

in

favour of

rapid

:flashes, a

nd

he was o

nly quoting the

op inion

of

mariners.

The Chairman said t hat one could not help r ecog

nising the enormous stri des made of late years in

ligh ting the coasts,

espec

ially since 1874.

Both

the submerged

cab

le

and

wireless

telegrap

hy were

sy

stems

which needed invest igati

on

, because foggy

weather and snowstorms

were

what mariners

dr eade

d

more

than

a

nything

else. " ' ith r e

gard

to the pe

riods

of waves and t he designil g of

lightshi

ps

to be suitab]e

to

the waves at pa.rt10ular

places, it was of g reat inter

est

to know that

observation

showed

the period of the greatest

wave at a particular place was more or less a

st anding q uanti ty,

thus enablin

g

the

n

ava

l

a ~ c ~ i t e c t

to so

design hi

s vessel as

to

produce the mmimum

of rolling and agitation .

Votes

of

thanks

were passed to the Cha irman,

and

to

Mr

.

Vern

on Harcourt ; and the work of th e

Sec

t ion

then

finished.

SECTION

III. MECHANICAL ENGINEERING.

TH

E

METRIC SYSTEl\ .

This Section was again well

attended on Thurs

day, the 6th ins t., t

he

concluding of the

gr

ass,

and

t

he

pr

o

ceedings

w e ~ e

a g ~ 1 n c h ~ r a

by

well-sustained and suggest

iv

e ~ n s . M.r .

Willinm

H.

Maw, as Chairman of the SectiOn, again

presided and in opening the dis

cu

ss ion

on

Mr.

G r e e n w ~ o d s pa per

on

the metric system, re-

marked th at it d

ea

lt*

with what

he

mig

ht call

an

unpopu l

ar

necessity, namely, the necessity

of ou

r

manufacturers realising that if they ar e to maintain

certain foreign markets, they must adopt the metric

system. Mr. Gr

ee

n wood had

deal

t with the

t e r

in

a very practical way, and

had

shown that,

if

sufficient

time

is

taken

for

the chan

ge,

it

can be

mad e without undue loss to the firms adopting it.

Mr.

W . H . Alien, of Be

dford,

opened the dis

cussion.

He

sa

id

that al

though they

had not at

his works

adopted

th e

metric sys tem

outrig

ht,

they h

ad

mad e a change fr

om

the

ordinary En

glish

sy

ste

m, and had adopted t

he

decimal division

of

the

inch.

I t

seemed

to him

th a

t

nothin

g sh

ort

of legislation wou ld force the necessary

change

upon

the

coun t ry ; and

th

e s luggish way in which

the

legislat ive machinery had

rec

ently been moving

did n ot give

much

hope for parliamentary enact

ment.

l i

e referred to the pre

judice

against such

radical changes, and, in speaking of the difficulties

to be met

with,

recalled the fact that in 1897

he nginee1· had

publi

shed a se

ri

es of replies ob

tained from almost

every

co

unty

in England, to

show the eno

rmous

variety in the system of

mea

sures

and

names

adopted

in them,

all

of which

would make

it very

di

ffi

cult

to

effect any uniform

s tandard. In

their

own case th ey had dt vided

the

inch into thousandth parts, and, as an indicat ion of

how readily the

workers

became

acquainted with

the

system, he

pointed to the fact that after three

m

onths'

use, a lab ourer earning 18s. a wee

k,

when

asked

by

him if the size of the wire he was working

with

was .364, gave

the

re

ply:

No,

it

is decimal

365. He

had no sympathy with the stock

argu

ment

that 10 co

uld

only be divided by

2

and 5,

whereas 12 was divi

sible by

2, 3, 4, and 6.

What

was want

ed

was somethin g which would be inter

national in its unifqrmity .

Mr. Hans Renold said it was

too

la te in the day

to speak on behalf

of

the

metric system. No

one

who had given

the

slig

htest

attention

to the

sub

ject failed to r ecognise that

the

change

must

eve

ntually

be mad

e to the

metric

system.

He

had

be

en educated in Swi

tzerland, and

was trained

in

the metric

system, and

when he cd.me to

England

he 4ad great trouble with

the

wretched arrangement

of six teenths and

the

like. In 1882 he had adopted

the

metric

system in his chain

manufactory,

but

as

his

works were small

he had to

yield

to the pre

judice

in

favour of

the English

method. But

lately

they had been working to the thousandth of an

inch, dimensions being expressed in decimal figures,

and

no difficulty

had

r

es

ulted.

He

pleaded for

a

greater at

te

ntion in the Board Schools to this

dec imal fraction rat

her than to

vulgar fractions.

He was doing a large export trade with Germany

and France, and he found a great economical ad

vantage in adopting the metric system.

He

did

not

think

that they could

expect

much help fr om

Government, and

would

be

glad if 60 or 100 of

th

ose pr esent would make a resolve

to

apply the

system and carry out that resolve.

Colonel Huber re

ferred

to the work done on the

Continent

in

conne

ct

ion

with the standardisat

i

on

of the

sc

rew thread,

and

the evolving

of

the I. S.

system which was in use in France,

Germany,

and

Sw

itzerland, and was now be

ing

adopted by Austria

and

Ru ssia ; at the same time he pleaded for

some

measu

re

of universal

app

lic

at

i

on

. He thought t

he

t

ime

had

pa

ss

ed

when any country could stand

alone and claim

the right

to govern every other

co

un

tr y

.

The metric

system

and

t

he

metric

screw

as adopted on the Contine

nt

might not

be

the best.

bu t

it

had the advantage of simplicity, and

he hop ed

it

would yet be adopted also in this country.

He

quot

ed the views of several manufacturers on

th

e

Continent in

favour

of the me tric screw.

Professor Barr

expressed his pl

easure at the

thorough treatment

of t he subject by Mr. Green·

wood , and

stated

that it was

hi

s belief that

there

was no compromise b

et

ween the

present

system in

this country and the adoption of the almo

st

un i

versal

metric system

. Re

mentioned

incidentally

that it was largely

to

th e instrumen tality of Watt

that the metric system had been adopted

on

the

Continent, and it was the more surprising

that

in

this country we had cont

inu

ed in the old way.

The absence of

its adopti

on was a

hindranc

e

to

that stan

dardi

s

ation

which would enable the

parts

of machines

to

be

got

in

the

country where th ey

were

worked.

He

h

oped

the Institution

of

Mec

hanical

Enginee

rs would take

a strong

po

si-

 

Mr. Gr

ee

nwood's paper will be found on page 430 of

th

e pr

eeent issue.

•

•

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390

ti?n in the matter ; but was inclined to

di

sagree

Wlt.h Mr. Greenwood as to

the

period of time

whtch s

hould

elapse before the

metric

system

was

made

compulsory: twenty years

was

far

too

lon

g.

The division

of

the inch was

a mo

st

commendable prelin1inary stage towards

the

com

plete

transition.

The

Chairman

here asked Pro-

~ e s s o r

Barr

whether the metric system

was a

dopted

1n

the new laborat

o

ry work

;

to

which Professor

Barr

replied

that

it wa 3

not in use : but the

students.

were

made thor

o

ughly familiar with it.

The

Chatrman

expressed the

view

that

it would

be

a

great advantage,

especially

in

the

realisation

of

their

aim,

if our future

engineers were

trained in

the a c t u ~ l working the

metric system in

all

labora:tor1es;

and to

th1s

Professor

Barr

replied

that

the d1flic

ulty

was really in

getting

the

appliances

con

structed

according

to

the

metric system.

Profe

ssor Schroeter strong

ly

commanded

the use

of the

metric system,

and

expressed

his commisera

tion with Profe

s sor

Barr and the students

who

while they had

lel.rn

ed

the met ric system,

were

st ili

conde.mned

to

work

with

the

complicated

Briti

sh

scale 1n

the

laboratory. Before

re

suming

his seat

he

asked

leave

to

express

his

own

grat

itud

e

and

the

thanks

of his colleagues, the

other

forei o n delegates

for

the

splendid

rec

e

ption they had

accorded:

and for the hospitality

extended

to them. He

stated they would carry

away

with them

t he

best

remembrances of the Congress in the many

suo-

gest

ions

which had been made during the i o ~ s

they had heard.

Mr. F. H. Livens said that they had

had

the

vlewa of

manufacturers engaged

in

the production

of

~ e w

specialities new designs where the appli

cation

of

the

metnc

system

was a

comparatively

simple

matter,

but

he

would

like to point

out that

it

was

very

difficult

to apply the new

s

ystem

where general

work of lo

ng standing

wa9 carried

out, because

of

the large number

of

patterns, tem-

plates, and jigs in

use,

and

where, for machines

made

years

ago,

duplicate parts were still required.

I t was

a serious

matter

to

contemplate the replacing

of

th ese

for

old machin

es upon

the

metrics

yst

em,

and

for

this

rea

son a conside

rabl

e

time

must be

a

llowe

d

before the

me

t ric system was

completely

adopted,

because

only

in

new

productions and new

designs

could

it be

applied. The old

patterns,

etc., how

ever, lapsed with time. Most

of

the

firms who

had

adopted

the metric system had stfl.rted with

new de

signs,

and the

case of

Mes

srs. Willans

Robin

son wa s

one

in

point,

while

Mr.

Greenwood's

own

firm was adopting

it with

a

e ~ i a l t y He,

personally, was

much in favour

of

the

change,

but

he re

cognised

the

difficulties,

and thought

that

time must be

given

to

effect

the alteration.

Mr.

Bryan Donkin suggested

that those

Briti

sh

firms

which had introdu ced the metric system

might

send

their

pames

to the Secretary, so that some

idea might be

f

ormed

as

to the present extent

of

its application in this

country

.

The Chairman, in

closing

the

di

sc

ussion, said that

the

time did

not permit

of the points

ra ised by

Mr.

Greenwood's paper being dealt

with so fully as

they

deserved,

but he hoped

that

further written

con

tributions

to

the di

scuss

ion

would

be

sent

to Mr.

W

orthington

.

As

r ega

rded

Profe

ssor

Schroeter's

kind expression

of t

he appreciation

of

their

recep

tion

by

the

foreign delegates,

he

could only

sa

y

that

any

pleasure which

they

had derived

fr

om

attending th

e Congress w

as certainly

more

than

equalled by the pleasure

of

the other

metnbers

at

Aeeing

them there.

He

hoped

that

they

would

be

able to

attend similar meeting

s

on

many futur

e

occas10ns.

Mr.

Greenwood,

in replying to the di

scussion,

pointed to

the

international imp

o

rtance

of

the

sub

ject, and to the necessity

of the

chang

e be

ing

made if we

are

not

to be

cut out from

the trade

of

the world.

The Government did nothing

-

never

did

anything

-

until

forced

to

do it,

and

thus

manu-

facturers must

r ecog

nise

the commercial

and

econo

mical

value

of

the metric

s

ystem

and mak

e

the

change

for

themselves. The term

of

twenty

years

for compulsory adoption suggested

in t

he paper

had

been taken

exception to, but it was only a

suggestion and an indica

tion

that

the propo

s

R l

of

the Chambers of Commerce in favour of two years

was altogether i n a ~ e q u a t e With

referen?e to

the

question

of a

me

tr

ic

screw

thread,

he was 1n favour

of adopting

metric

mea

s

ures

first,

and after

that t

he

question

of

the standard screw

could be

tackled

.

1'hey wo

uld probably

h a v ~

to

follow

their C o ~ -

tinental fr i

ends

as

he beheved

that

th

e metnc

screw adopted ~ a s

a

good m p r o m ~

be

tween the

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

Whitworth

and Sellers standards.

He

approved

t ~ e division of

the inch into thousandth

s as a pre

hmlnary

measure

of

educational

value,

and

con

tended

in favour of a free expression of

opinion

at

such

Congresses,

and their util

i

sat

ion for enforcing

the

advantages

of the

system

.

TESl'IN

O

MA

CHINE AT

THE

J.AUES vVATT

ENGINE

ERING

LA BORATORY.

Mr. J.

Hartley Wicksteed

read

the nex t

paper

on The

100-Ton

Universal'resting

Machine,

with

Vari

able

Accmnulat

o

r,

at the

J ames

Watt

Labora

tories, Glasgow

University

. 

Thi

s paper we pub

lish in full on page 407 of

this

issue.

Dr .

Barr,

who was asked by

the Chairman to

open

the

discussion,

said

that a good man y

year

s ago

he

committed

him se

lf

to

the opinion that the vertical

machine was b

ette

r

than the

horizo

ntal

machine,

and

he still

held that view, but the introduct ion of

this new

t

ype

of

hori

zo

ntal ma

c

hine by Mr.

Wick

steed

afforded so

many

conve

ni

ences, especially

in

rapidity of

adjustment

for different

kind

s of speci

mens, that

he

had

co

me

to

the

conclusion that i ts

handiness was

even mor

e

important than the

slig

ht

advantage that the

.vertical

arrangement

gave

as

re

ga

rd

s co

nvenience

for accurate

te

st ing. More

over,

they

had in the lab

or

ator

y a 10-

ton

vertical

machine, thus affurding a combinat ion which con

ferred

all

advantages

that a 100-ton vertical

machine

could give.

The

author of

the paper

h

ad

given him

too

much credit for

t

he

slight suggestions

he

h

ad

made,

and

while regarding

the

machine as

the

most

perfect yet built, he felt

that

it was really the embodi

me

nt

of

the labour

of

many

distinguished engineers

who had made a succession of

improvements

from

time to

time,

and he

was

proud

to

have

in this

machine the outcome of the cumulative expe

ri

ence

of n

ot only Mr

. Wicksteed,

but

of

Mr. Arthur

Greenwood, Mr. Kirkaldy, who had worked so long

at testing

machines, of

Professor Kennedy,

of

Pro-

fE

ssor

Unwin,

who

had

done

much in perfecting

testing machines,

and

of

Profe

eso r

Elliott.

Mr.

Wicksteed

stated

in

the paper

that at

his (Dr.

Ban·

's

)

sug

gest

ion

the

poise-weights

rode

upon

three

wheels

instea

d of four,

and

he could

only

wish that

mor

e

engineers would adopt this arrangement ; the idea of

geometrical guides

in this

connection also

he

was

proud

to

attribute

to

the early suggestion of Lord

Kelvin and

of his l

ate maste

r

and pr

edecessor,

the

late Professor Thomson, when he (Dr. Barr) was a

student at

Glasgow

University

.

Mr.

Arthur

Greenwood, who

spoke

next,

con

gratulated

the author

of the paper

on hi

s

return to

the

true

faith.

Ve r

tical machines

had long been

in fayour f

or the

reasons

stated

by Professor

Barr,

and he

recalled t

he

f

act that the

first machine

made

by

his

firm, exhibited

in

t

he

1862 Exhibition,

ma

de

for

the late Mr

.

Kirkaldy,

was of

this type, but

they

had come

to the

conclusion that t he vertical

machine imposed

limitation

s

upon

t

he

size of

the

pieces to be tested ;

and

at w

or

ks where

there

were

a

great variety

of

test

pieces

the ad

vantage of the

h

or

izontal machine, whe

re

there was no such limit,

was recognised

quit

e

twenty

.fi ve years ago by Mr.

l{irkaldy, and

m

an

y h

ad

since

been

cons

tructed.

He

congratulated Mr.

Wicksteed

on the

introduc

t ion of

the spr

ing

for

de

termining the true

bearing

of t

he

weigh-beams, but

he

doubted whether

it

would

prove

q

uite

satisfactory

in

t

es ting the

accu

racy of the machine,

ang felt

that

it

might be con

venient

to

provide

an

elbow lev

er

so

that

dead

weights could bo u sed for testing the accuracy.

Professor

Unwin was

asked by the

chairman

also

to

say a few word s,

and remarked

th

at

the

first 1nachines

he

had

made

wero

constructed

by

Mr.

Wicke,teed,

and

that

at that time

he

was

in

favour of the vertical machine ; but now

the

h

or i

·

zontal machine

was exceedingly admirable,

and

at

the

same time was

very handy

, affording the greatest

possibility of

making

a wide

a r i e ~ y

of

tests

.

In d

eed,

he did

not

think

that

n

better

arrangement

than

that

de

sc

rib

ed

could be arrived at but, at

t

he

same time,

he

felt with

th i

s, as with many other

thino-s- for

instanc

e,

with

bicycles-

it

was n

ot

pos

sible0 to

have

an absolute best. The hydr

aulic

system had adv

a

ntages

over th e l

ever

mach ine

in

some respects .

There

was

one

special

advantage

of the h orizontal machine which

did

not seem

to

have been

specially noticed,

and

that was

the

absence of

limit

to

the

len

gt

h of spec

imens

which

might

be d e a ~ t

with,.

although at t ~ e same

timo a

vertical machine

talnng

10-ft. specimens

prebably

covered

most requirem

ents

. As

to the ealibration

of

the

machine,

he

fe

lt that

a special

bellcrank

lever

wa 3 de

si rable for

applying dead

load ;

but, in

[S

EP T. 20,

1901.

~ h e

absence of

that, the

system

of springs adopted

In this

horizontal machine was possibly the best.

He recalled a

sp r

ing

machine made

for

\V

oo

lwich

Arsenal, however, which

had

not

proved quite

satis

factory,

and

ho

wa

s inclined

to

ask Mr. \Vicksteod

why he adopted

springs

at all.

If

a rough measure

of elongat ion were wanted,

and an

approximation

sufficed,

it

seemed to him t ha t a

simple

straight

bar

with the

u

se

of a

micrometer

gauge would give a

better method than

any

coil of spring, which could

not

be accurate enough,

or

would not give

an

elonga

tion so

proportionate to the

load.

Having

obtained

confidence

in

t

he

micrometer gauge,

he

did

not

see

why

it

would

not

measure

the

accuracy

up to the

full

100 tons.

n the

application of

testing

machines

to

laboratory work in

colleges we were

far behind the

Continent or the

United

States, where there was a

g

reater variety

of work done, a

nd

wh

ere

more time

was devoted to such

te

sts than was possible in

workshops.

Even in the

application of such ma

chines

to

commercial purposes

in

workshops, much

mor

e ought

to be done tha

n at

present

;

and Pr

o

fessor

Unw

in

p o

inted to

t

he

importance

of

thoroug

hly

experienced

men being

engaged in such

wo

rk

s.

Inde

ed, he

thought

that

from

the

national

po

int

of view we

were

not working

up to our duty

in pro

secuting

the dev

elopme

nt

of mechanical

science in this direction,

and

he thought that

the

t ime

had

come when, in

stea

d of

test

pieces,

actual

products should

be

tested so as to ensure

that all

the material

came

up to the

st

andard.

He

pointed

also

to

the

fact that but few

English

memb

ers of t

he

In

te

rnati

onal Association for test

ing material propos ed to

atten

d

the meeting at

Zurich,

and this

was

an

indication of

our

lack of

interest in

t his

important development

in work

shop practice.

The

C

hairman said

that

he thought that

such

machines

and other

appliances

provided

in engi

neerin

g laboratori es

ought to be

utili

se

d more for

research work and in speaking at the inauguration

of

the James

Watt

Laboratory

he had

brought

forward

this

point

and

suggested

that

suitable

selected

st

ud

e

nt

s sho

uld be

enco

uraged

to m

ake

use of

the

laboratory

for

such purp

oses.

With

regard

to the

use of a

standard bar

in place of

springs

for meas

uring the

accuracy of a testing

machine,

he

believed that one of

the

rea so

ns

for

using

the sp

ring

arrangement

was

to

enable

the

test

to be made wi th all

the

beams free, while the

lever

was oscillating slight ly

in

s

tead

of having t

he

exceedin gly slig

ht

movem

ent

which would occur

when a

bar

was used for testing. A combination

was

therefore

desirable : if

the bar

were used as a

means of

mea

s

uring and the

s

train

was put on

the

bar

th rough a

sp rin

g action,

the

machine would

be

free during the

time the extension of

the bar

was

being

measured.

Mr. Wicksteed, in replying, said that

it

bad been

to him

a

grat

ifying discussi o

n,

rig

ht up to the la

st

words of

the Chairman

, who had m

ade

an in

genious sugge

stion

for

the improvement

of the

method of calib:rating

the

machine. He

quite

agreed

with Profe

ssor

Unwin

i

the purpose

was

to

prove

the

accuracy,

but

t

hat

was

not quite the

object

of

the

spring. He was indebted

to Profes

sor

Barr

for

re

cog

ni

sing t he different

workers to

wards

the

perfection of

the te

st

ing

machine,

and he

would

like

to

add anot

h

er

name,

that

of Mr.

Th

omas

Trail, formerly

the

head of the consultative branch

of

the

Board

of

Trade

.

:JYir.

Wicksteed

added that

many years

ago he

met

Mr

.

Tr

ail

at the

proving s

tation

for

Lloyd

's, Glas

gow, when

under

the superintendence of Mr. Seed

house. J\1r.

Trail

had

taught him

how

to prove the

accuracy of

a testing

machine

by

meas

urement.

Thu

s,

after Mr

. Trail

had

t ried the

se

nsitiveness of

the

machine

in the

most

exact

way by

pulling

the

short

end

of

the stee

l

yard by

a spring balance

attached to

a t

hr

ead so as

to

indicate even a q

uart

er

of an ounce, he had the

ma

chine ta

ken to

pieces

and the pa rts

laid

out

on

n.

surface, so

that th

e

accuracy of all

the

knife edges might be de

ter

min

ed

.

But

while

minute errors

could bo di

 

covered in this way, gross er rors in the pos

it i

on of

the

centres mi

gh t

pass unnot

iced, and.

it wa

s

to

check such

mea

s

urements that

he

In t roduced

the

s

pring arran

ge

ment

he

had

described,

an

arrclno-ement which would

at

once expose

any

such

error

b

in the

fulcrum d istance. H e

st

ron

gl y com

mended Profe

ssor

Unwin's idea

of actually

tes ting

manufactured

ar t icles rather t

han

test pieces,

and

mentioned the

fact

that

some tool-holders which

h

ad been made

in connection

with

machines for

dealing with arn1otu-plates h avi

ng

proved

u n ~ ~ t ; s

7/17/2019 Engineering Vol 72 1901-09-20

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/engineering-vol-72-1901-09-20 5/47

S   PT  20

, 1go

1.J

fa

cto

ry

when constru

cted

of

cast steel

we

re

t

este

d in the machine, and t hose came

through a test of 17 tons

pull wer

e passed in

to

u

se

, although the

rema

i

nd

er w

ere replaced by

forged

stee

l

hold

ers.

R

EGENERATIVE

A

c cu l\lUIATOR

s Fon. Exna.us

T

T E A . ~ A TD THE

E

scAPE

OF

S·

r&Al\I THi tOOG H

OR I

FIC

ES.

The

next

two I?apers t

aken

bo th

by

Mons. A.

R9.teau,

of Pans,

t

he

first bemg

enti

tl

ed A Note

on

a AccUtnulator,

and

its Application

for Usmg Exhaust Steam,,, while the other descr

ibed

E

xperiments

on

the

E sc

ape

of

Steam th

rough

r i f i c e s .

'. 

'Ve

shall reproduce b

ot

h pa

pers in

full

1n

ea

rly

IE

su

es

.

Professor Stodola., of Zurich, made a few obser

vations,

referring to

the ori

gina

l id

ea

suggested

by

M

ea

u

,.

w

het

·e

by

.

he

s

team

of

an engin

e

workmg

1n

tern nttent

ly

m1ght

be

passed to

an

accu

mulator to effect economy, and he r

eaa

rded i t as

of

importance,

especially in view of

th:

gre

at

com

pet

iti

on of the gas

engine

.

He

re

mark

ed th

at

th ey

all lo

oked forward

with great

in te

re st to the

re

s

ults

of th e practical working of th is in gen ious arranCYe-

t

b •

men .

n-1r

.

Bryan Donkin said that

the sho

rt de

sc

rip

tion of t he appliance scarce

ly did

i u

st

ice

to

the

splendid work

done

by M. Rateau

;

an

d

he state

d

that fuller details could be fo

und in

a

paper

which

h

ad

been

road at

last year 's French Congress by

th

e

author.

I t

seemed to him

t

ha

t t

he

accumul

ato

r

mig

ht

be

called a

he

at

or

caloric flywheel,

and the

In

s

titution

wou

ld be

gr

atefu

l

to

M.

R.ate

au if

he

would

contribute to

t

he

In

st ituti

on a subsequent

paper giving the results of the ap plic

at

ion of the

F y stem

to

a 250 indicated

hor

se-power

insta

lla

tion

at

the Bruay

mine

s, in the north of

France.

M.

Ra teau, in

replyin

g

to the

brief

di

sc

ussio

n,

pr

omi

se

d to give

fuller

d

et a

ils.

M.

RaLeau 's second paper was

taken

as read, the

Chairman

ob

se

rving that t ho subj

ect dealt wi

t h

in

the pa per was one

to

which the auth

or

h

ad

paid

great atte

n t io

n, and in

which

he

h

ad carried

out

much experiment

al work. His conclusio

ns th

ere

fore

were

worthy of mo

st

careful exam

in

at ion.

P owER REQUIRED TO D RI VE A M

ARINE

-ENGINE

WO RKS .

The

Secretary

next read in brief

abstract a. paper

on t

hi

s subject

by

Messrs. James Crig

hton

and

,V.

G.

Riddell,

of

Gla

Fgo w,

which

will

be

fo

und

printed in full

on

page 422.

Mr.

Saxon

opened

the discussion, and asked for

fuller information

as to

the fri ction of t

he

engines,

as well

as

of th e

line

shaft, and

at

the same

time

a

dv

ocated t

he adoption of fuel

economisers, which

he considered would give a further economy, when

the

engines

described in the paper were worked in

conn ec:ion with surface condensers. At

presen

t ,

the feed-water

hea

ters,

as

indicated

in

the

paper,

rai

s

ed

the

temp

e

rature of

the f

eed

to

alm ost boil

ing po

in t

,

wherea

s

his

experience showed

that,

by

utilising the

waste furnac

e gases in connection

with

an

econo

mi

s

er,

a

temperat ure of

270 deg . was

at

tained

.

In

reply

to

the Chair man , he

promised

to

send to

t he

Secre

taries

t he r

esult of

some experi

men ts he him

self

had

mad

e in conn

ec t

ion

with

the

fri ction of lin e

shafting.

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

al together from the changes afforded by coned

pulley

s.

Mr.

Crighton,

in

replying to the discussion, said

that

he

was not able

to

answer

a

req

u

est

made

by

J.\;lr.

Sa

xon as

to the

capital outlay in volved in the

new

pl

a

nt,

because t

he

accounts had not been made

up. Diagrams of engine fri ction h

ad

been

taken,

and

th ese

he

would hav e prepa

red

for the pro

ceedings.

He

would

al

so

add

to

the

pr

oceedings

some details

as to

boiler efficiency.

P NEUJ\

IATI

C

RIVETIN

G.

The next

paper

was on "Pneumatic

Rivetin

g

and ot

her useful

app

lic

at

ions of

Pneumatic

Tools, ,

by

Mr . J. C. Taite, London.

This

paper, which

was read by the Secretary, is

suppl

em

entary to

a

comprehensive

treatment

of the whole s

ubject

of

pneumatic tools read

at th

e Institution of Mechani

cal

Engineer

s some months ago

by Mr.

E . C.

Am

os,

and

dealt spe

cially with

the

tools exhibite d

at

work

at

the Glasgow

Exhibiti

on, and also

with

the

economy

re

sulting

fr

om

their

application

to

s

hip

building, locom

ot

ives, bridgebuilding,

and other

w

or

k. As we

sha

ll reproduc

e the

pap

er

in an

early issue, we may pass

on to the

br ief

di

scussion

which followed.

Mr.

T.

H

urry

Riches open

ed

t

he

discussion,

bu t re mark

ed

t h

at

he

had

giYen all

data

as to

the

wo

rking

of pneum

atic

tools at

hi

s establishment

when

Mr.

Amos's

paper

was read . H e

wa

s

st

ill

sa tisfied

with

t he working of t

he

tools, and was

ex

te

ndin

g their use.

In

t he

pap

er

Mr.

Taite in

dicated *

·in.

rive

ts

were being

driv

en f

or

4s. 6d. per 100 aga inst 10s. 6d. by hand,

but

his

exper

ience wa s

that

th

ey had

never paid more than

7s . 6d. for

hand

work. The pn eumatic hammer,

while excellent

fo

r lig

ht

enough work, was

not qu

ite

so sa tisfac

to

ry for heavier rivets ; unless t he

rivet

wa s t

hor

oughly well

heat

ed, and th e point properly

cooled, th e

re

was a possibility

that the

riv

et

would

not fill t he hole.

Mr

. Bell,

of

the

Great

Ea st e

rn Rai

lwa

y,

said

that in the frame of a six-wheel railway carriage,

where

th

ere were 700 rivets, the hydraulic

rivet

er

co

uld not get

into

corners,

and

thus 80 we

re left to

be closed

by

hand; whereas

with the pn

eumatic

riveter

every

one

co

uld

be

put

in

;

and in

this way

while skilled rive

te

rs were

re

quired in conjunction

with the hydraulic sy

ste

m, the same labour sufficed

with pneumatic

tools

for putting

in all

the

rivets,

a

point

which was

great

ly

appreciat

ed

at

their

works.

Mr .

C. B.

Alb ree

said

he

had

h

ad

some

ex

peri

enc e

with

heavy hammers, and found that the

power was more a que

st

ion of the veloc

ity than

the weight of the

hammer

; th e st ren gth of

the

blow

increased

with

the

velocity,

and

t]le velocity

was

determined by

the

pre

ss

ure

or

by

the length

of the st r

oke

; t

he

pressures were

limit

ed, becau

se

if th

ey were

too high,

the kick or reb

o

und

was so

gre

at

that the workman co

uld

not ho

ld

the tool, so

tha

t the o

nly

al te

rnativ

e was to u

se

a long

st

rok

e

with moderate

pressure.

Mr. Taite, in r eplying

to

the d iscussion,

sa

id

that

the main

obj

e

ct

of the

pap

er was

to draw

attention

to

t he tools

at

t

he

Glasgow

Exhibition

.

As

to

th e cost of clos

ing

t

he

  i n .

rive

ts by

hand,

the ra te quoted

in

hi

s

paper

was s

uppli

ed

to

his

firm. Th ey had actually done the

work with

pneu

ma

t ic tools,

and at

t

he Exhibition they

were closing

1

  -

in

.

rivets;

and

he would

be

glad

to

me

et any

of

the

memb

ers of th

e Congress

at

hi

s pavilion

to

see the work

and

i

ts

res

ult

.

As to the takin

g

up

0f

the

rebound, he

might

sa

y that the ha.mn1er was

h

eld in

a bar

with

a

spheric

al fitting so

that

the

worker

had on

ly

to

ho

ld

the t rigger ; while in s

hip

holds he did

not even require to do t hat , so t

ha

t

there was no difficuH.y

in

resp

ect

of vibration .

C.ANADUN AG RI CULTURAL MA

C

HIN

E

RY.

J\ir.

W.

H.

Alien, of

B

ed

fo

rd, said

that he had

also made

obs

ervation

s

of the

f

rict

ion

caused by

shafting, n

ot

on

ly

at

his own works, but

at other

s

w h ~ r e

facilities h

ad

been

kindly

grant ed,

and

generally the resul t was that th e main s

haftin

g

w

as

fo

und

to

ab

so

rb

25 per ce

nt.

of

the

original

power, the co

un te

rshafting,

with

its belts,

and

bearings,

to

ok another 26 per cent. , whereas

the

machines abso

rb

ed

in

friction

fr

om 26

to

30

per

cent

.,

so that the u

se

ful work done was o

nly

from 20

to

26 per

cent.

With the

o

bject

of re

ducing this

wa

ste

of power, he dispen

se

d

with

the top

gea

r a

nd

coun tershaft

ing

entirely, and

adopte

d a

syste

m of

clutchefl, which had

proved very Ea

tisfactory,

and

several

manufactur

ers

had

since adopted t

he

system.

Mr. Bryan

D o

nkin

as

ked the authors

if

th

ey

could indi

ca t

e the bo

iler

efficiency.

Mr. Walker, of

'Vi

gan, t hought th

at much

of

the

eco

nomy

had

be

en realised ,

as

su$ gesteu

in the

paper, by

the

change

in the

boiler. \V

hile

favour

ably disposed

towards

electric driving, he

had

fou

nd

gr

ea

t diffic

ulty in d ~ p t i n g

it

to

hi s o

wn

works,

and had

even had

many

el ectrical engineers

at

t

he

works anxious

to

soh

·e

his

difficul ty,

th i

s

being

princip

ally associated w:ith the number of

pulleys

required

for th e vanable

speeds

, apart

Mr. George

Harwo

od Frost, B .

A.Sc

. , of

Onta

rio,

n

ext

read in abstract a most suggestive p

ape

r

descri

pt

ive of the

sp

le

ndid

coll

ec t

ion of agric

ultural

mac

hinery

in the Canadian

Section

of the Exhibi

tion,

and this pap

er we s

hall

re

produ

ce

with

the

illus

tration

s in an

early

issue. The Chai rman ,

in

mov ing the cu

stomary

vote of thanks, took occasion

to

r efer to the g

reat

inge

nuity

displayed in t

he

design of

the

machin

es

de

scribed,

and

also

to the

great

per

severa

nce wit h which

Canadian

manu

fact

urers had

pe

rfected these

mac

hin

es . H e

adv

i

se

d

the

memb

ers to

examine

the Canadian exhibits,

and

sa

id

th

at

in

doi

ng

so th ey would find

Mr.

Frost'

s a mo

st

u

se

ful guide. Mr. R.

Co

ur t

nay

said

th

at

he had had experience of several of

391

t

he

Canadian mac

hin

es, and

he

was thus able t o

con firm wh

at

t

he

Cha irman had

sa

id

as to thei

r

great

excellence.

Th

e number being impo

rt

ed

in t

o

this co

un

t ry was increasing ve

ry

r

apidl

y.

Th

e

reape

rs

especially we

re

most

car

efully designed,

and

they were beautiful

machines;

th e ploughs in

exce

ll

ence compared favo

ur

ably with those of

Br itish and American manuf

ac t

ure,

and

he

had no

doubt that, notwi

t

hstanding

c

ompet

it i

o

n, th

e

Canadians would ho

ld

the pos

ition

t h

ey

had

assumed,

and

improve upon i

t.

THE G OV.ERNIN O OF wATER-

WHEEL

S.

Mr.

E . C. de Seg

und

o

contributed

the next and

concluding

pap

er

on "The

Cassel

Self-R

egul

at

ing

Water-

Wheel, " this

paper

dealing with a device

which we illu

st

r

ated and

described

in

a

recent

number

of E

NCJNEER

INO

uide

page 768

ante .

Dr.

Barr,

who was as

ked by the

C

hairman to

begin

the di

scussion,

said

t

ha

t t he method of

re

gu

la ti

on

applied to

the

wheel which was exh

ibited

wa s certainly

in t

er

es t

ing a

nd

useful

wher

e

the

saving of

wat

er was not aimed

at,

the problem

being

to

gove

rn

s

imply

the speed of t

he

wheel.

Incide

ntally

he remark

ed

that

the

Pe lton wheel

was miscalled, because a Scotchman, Mr . Moore,

who was well

known in

Ca

li f

o

rn i

a

in

connection

w

ith

the laying of wrought-iron mains,

had

used

such a wheel long before Pelt

on

brought

it

out in commercial form.

He

believed that such

wheels would

be

extensively used because of their

m p l i as

con1pared with t

he turbin

e,

and

because

they

were

as

economical as

the

best

t

urbine

.

An

important question, however, in many cases

wa

s

the

econo

my

of the

water

used ;

and

in connec

tion with a sy

ste

m of gove

rning

which combined

t hi s

ad

vantage,

Pr

ofes ;

or

Ba

rr stated

that

he had

been working

on

th is problem,

and

had

take

n out

a p

ate

n t for a variable nozzle. Mr. Basil ' Vilson,

of Belfast, h

ad

also

patented

a similar device a

week

after

his,

bu

t

quite indep

end

en t

ly,

an

d,

with

his cons

ent,

was now work ing

on

the

same lines.

Professor Barr

sa

id t hat

he

had a case sur ro

unding

th

e nozzle

proper,

the

nozzle

b ~ i n g

made of

india

rubb

er, and

th

e arran

gement

being such

that by ad

mitt ing more or less water

under

pressure arou

nd

the indiarubb

er nozzle,

the

l

atte

r became

restrict

ed

al though

still

maintainin g its circular form.

He

did

no t propose

to

apply t

he

arrangement

to

large

heads,

bu

t for

ordinary

purposes it would govern

the

fl

ow, effect economy, and

maintain

t he m

ost

efficient fo

rm

of

jet.

He

hoped to

continue his

research work

in

conn ection with the application of

t his system.

Pr

ofessor Goo

dman

was

the

next speaker,

and at

the

outset remarked

that o

nly

those who

had

worked

at this pr

oblem of

the

governing of

water

wheels

had any

idea of the

real

difficulties involved.

·

Nhen

t

he

N iaga

ra

power

insta

ll

at

ion w

as arranged

t

he

m

ost experienc

ed hydraulic engineers were em

ployed,

with

the resul t that the best

apparatus

possible

wa

s

got

; y

et

two years ago

when he

was

at

Niagara

he wa

s much disappointed to see all

t

he

gove

rn

ors hunting. There were many turbines

working,

and

when so

me

were up, othe

rs were

down, so that

th

e general

result

was tolerable ; but

each tut

bine

w

as

doing badly.

He

h

ad

been

conducting a long series of experiments on

the sub

ject and had

prepar

ed a paper for the In stitution

of Mecha

ni

cal

Engine

er , and t

heref

o

re thought

i t

was n

ot

des

irabl

e at

that time to

en

te

r

into

details ;

but

the

se experiments

had l

ed him to the

conclu

sion th at the solution of the

probl

em suggested by

P rofessor Barr wo

uld

n

<.t

prove satisfactory. Any

con

st

riction of

the

nozzle

an

d consequent checking

of the flow of water

in

the s

upply pipe

gave rise to

a mome

ntary

increa

se

of

pre

s

sure

in

that pipe

; and

if

the su

pply pipe

was long, so that

there

was a

large mass of

wat

er

in

motion, th is

incr

ease of pres

s

ure

became very gr

eat and

would

in te

rf

ere

seriously

with the action of the m

et

hod of con trol suggested

by

Professor

Barr.

Mr. Bryan

Donkin ask

ed

if

Mr.

Segundo could

give them

any

information as

to

the efficiency of

the wh

eels.

Mr.

Segundo, in replying to the discussion, s

g,id

that Dr. Barr's id

ea

for a rubber nozzle was ex

tremely

valuable, and he was

hop

eful

about

carrying

out some

tests

in connection

with

it,

with Pr

o

fe

ssor

Ba

rr

's permissio

n. He quite

agreed with wh

at had

be

en

said

ab

o

ut th

e n

ame

of Pelton being er ro

neously

applied

to such fo

rm

s of water-wheel, and

in

connec t

ion

with this

me

nt i

o

ned that

th e American

P atents Office

had di

scovered the idea

recorded

in

1850. As

to

the

inefficient regulation

of the

t

urbine

s

7/17/2019 Engineering Vol 72 1901-09-20

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392

at. Nia

gara, mentioned by Professor Goodman,

he

sa1d that

Mes

srs. Escher,

W

yss

,

and

Co. had claimed

to have

successfully over

come this

unsati

sfacto

ry

sp

ee

d

regulat

ion by the u

se

of reli

ef

valves some

wha

t

similar to,

but n

ot

, in

hi

s view,

so

s

imple

those he had de

s

crib

ed

in

th e

paper.

Professor

Goodman's r e

mark

s

were

very

instructive,

but as

the

time

for adjournment had a

rrived

he would

only say in

r e

ference to them

that h e

would look

forward with great pleasure to

the

detail

s

which he

prop

osed t o e

mb

o

dy in hi

s pa

per to the In st ituti

on.

As the efficiency of the

wat

er-wheel,

he

b elieved

that

it

had been pu

t

at

92

per

cent.

as

the re

s

ul t

s of

tests at

t

he

Corn

ell

U ni

varsity.

H e hi mse

lf

h

ad

m a ~ e no

expe.riments,

but he thought

· that

in

ord1nary practtee 70 or

75

p er cent. miaht b e

attained.

He quite

ag

r

ee

d with

Mr.

D o

nkfn

that

t ~ e form of

no

zzle was a

subject

wor t

hy

of

atten

twn, as

the

best had

not

yet been arriv

ed

at.

· P rofes sor Goodman

here

ma de the re mark that a

group

of tests of a P elton wheel

at

the

Yorkshire

College had g

iven

an

80

per cent. efficiency.

This completed the pr

ogra

mme

of pa

pers, and

the

Chairman

then

mo

ved

th

at the

t

hanks

of

th

e

S

ec tion should

b e accorded to the Glasaow Univer

sity Students'

Union

for the

use of

their

very

suitable hall,

in

whi

ch the meetings

had been held.

He added that in concluding

their

meetin

g

he

felt

sure th a

t

all

present

wo

uld desir

e

to

most heartily

co

ngratulate

those on wh om the wo

rk

of

organising

the

Congress had

fallen,

on

the

great

s uccess

which

had

attended

their

efforts.

SECTION

IV NAVAL ARCHITECTURE

AND MARINE

ENGINEERING.

On

the

third

day

of the

meeting, Thuraday, Sep

tember

5,

the

sitting

of

this

Section

was

renewed in

the Hu manity

Lecture

Thea.tre of ~ h e U niversi

ty,

Dr.

John

Inglis occupying

the

chair.

S TEAMBOAT E

QU

IPMENT

OF

w ARS

HI P

S.

The

fir

st

p a

per taken wa s by

Mr.

E.

C.

Carnt,

the

subject

being The Mo

dern Steamboat Equip

ment of

Warships.

" Th is pap er we print n xt nso

on

p

age

431.

The discussion on th i

s

pa p

er was

opened

by

Colonel Solainoi, who

referred

t o the ma ter ial of

which

the boats descri

bed by

the aut hor were built.

H e

sa i

d that

th e

se li t

tle

vessels fulfilled a most

useful function

in

training young

officers in

the

h a

ndling

of

vess

el

s.

Th a

t had

some

effect

on the

material of which they were constructed. They were

apt to run in to landing

stag

es,

or

ge.t

damaged

in

other

ways, and it was

no

doubt

true that, if made

of

wood,

they

were mo

re

easily

re p

a

ired by the

ship

's ca

rp

enter

than

if

t

hey

were con

struct

ed of

me tal.

There

was this,

however,

to be considered :

that n

acti

o

n, if

th

ese

boats

were

to

rem

ain on the

skids,

their wooden hull

s

wh

en

struck by

s

hot or

shell would be likely

to afford

ma

teri

al

for dangerous

splinters.

So much

this

feared

that

it

was

accept ed

by

naval officera th at it w

ou

ld be well to

get rid of their boats before

going into action

.

That

involved con

s

iderabl

e c

om

plica

tion,

for

even

in war time

men-of-war co

uld

not

di

s

pense

wit h

b oats altoge ther. He thought t hat

now

th

ero were

so many

me

cha

nic

s

on

board a warship that ordinary

da m

age t o a

steel

b

oat

sho

uld

be

able

to be

repaired

with

out

great

d ifficulty.

Professor Bi l

es sa

id

that n o

doubt the

stea

mb

oat

equipment

of war

ves

sels was a

subject

that had

no

t r ece

ived

ve

ry

much

attention by

t he

In st

it

ution

of Naval Architects, and Mr. Carnt

's most inter

es t

ing

p

ape

r w

as therefore doubly

welcome.

Th

ese

li t tle vessels

we

re ,

ind eed

, of considera

bl

e

imp

ort

ance,

and t

heir

per forma

nc

e was

watched

with

intere

st

by

n

ava

l architectg,

as

in

dicating the

pos

s

ibilities in

d evel

opme

nt of

speed in

la

rg

er

vessels

havin

g

high rati

o of

power

to

di

sp

laceme

nt

.

One

of the

most

s triking facts to him was th e

circumstance

that with a wooden

boat

of

60 ft.

lenath as great

a

spee

d

had be

en ob

tain

ed as

w

a ; eached with

a

metal

b

oat

.

I t

was well kn own

that in the smaller sizes wooden hulls were ligh ter

than th ose of

me

tal,

and

in vie w of the fact stated,

it wo

uld be interest ing

to know

wh

ere the

line

of

demarc

at

ion occurred.

In

the

case of

sailin

g

yachts of high sp eed, they found , for

in

stance,

that modern

' '

Cup D efend ers " were all of metal.

Colonel Soliani had pointed out

t

he defects

of wood

in

r

eaa

rd

to splintering in action

.

Th

ere

were,

m

an

y

things

in

a

ma n

-of-war that

~ l d

be undes

irab

le durina an engageme

nt,

yet wh1ch

had

to be tol

er

at e

d for the

sake

of th eir

advan-

•

•

E N G I N E E R I N G

tages durin

g peace.

I t

was

always

a

que

s

tion

what qualit ies should be sacrificed- whether it

wa

s

worth

r

et ainin

g a

great

ad rant age

for

the

peace

p e

ri

od,

al t

hough it

mi

ght en

ta

il

some

ri

sk

in

wa

r. Splinters

from

the hull

s

of

wooden b oa

ts were,

however,

perhaps

not quite

so

da ngero

us as

might be

th ought ,

and

the damage

to a

steel hull mi

ght not be so easi

ly

r

epaired after

an

action. The

' ' turn

about principl

e was always

o.ne

of

con s

iderabl

e

in t

e

rest

,

but

it was a

qu

es

twn whether th ese boats owed their improved

ma n

oo

uvring

facilitie s

nwst to

the cu tt ing

away

of

d

ea

d wood,

or

to th e

two rudd

ers.

In

th e mo

dern

sailing yacht

the

principl

e of

cutting away the ends

was car

ried

to an ex treme,

and these

boats turned

with a

rapidity

that was simply amazing. In

ma

k ing a co

mparis

on between sa

iling and ste

a m

b oats,

they could

n

ot bu

t

be struck by the

enormously quicker

a

ct ion of the sailing

vessel.

Mr . Carnt p o

in t

ed out

he r

e

that

the

turning

t ri als

to which he

had

ma de reference were carried

out

with a vessel

steaming at

16

kno

ts .

Professor

Bil

es

add

ed th

at no

doubt the

speed ma d

e a great

di

fference, b

ut th

e question remained whe

th

er the

quicker turning

was

du

e mos t

ly

to t

he

two

rudder

s,

or

to

cutting

away t

he

de

ad

wood.

Mr.

Co

rner,

Chief

Enginee

r

to H.M.

D oc

kyard

,

Portsmouth,

who rose

at

the invita tion

of

the

Chairman, sa

id

that the

pape

r was par ticularly

in terest in

g to him, for he

had been largely mixed

up

with

b

oat trials

at

the ear

ly

part

of

the

forty

y

ea

rs

durin

g which

he

had

been co

nnecte

d

with the

R o

yal Navy.

He

had

b

ee

n en

gaged on one

of

the

earliest

trials ca

rried

out with

one

of these

little

st

ea

m vessels.

They

were a novelty th

en

,

and he

well r e

membered

the

great in t

erest excited.

On

their

r

et

urn

to the

dock

yard

a

ga

llan

t

ad

miral of

that day, who probably did no t possess all t

he

math

e

ma t

ical lore that was

now

to

be

acquired at

Greenwich,

asked him

wh

at spee

d

had been rea

ched.

The reply

was, po

in

t o

ne

eight five

four.

Why,

that,

sa

id the

a

dmir

al,

i

se

xactlythenumber

-.> f feet

that

are in a mile." Now we have r eached

six

tee

n kn

ots

. Mr. John Samuel Whi

te's

connec

tion with th ese bo

ats had

been a

very

mar

ked one.

He

had been

associated with Mess

rs

. Bellis

and

Co

., now

Bellis

and Morc

om, who

had mad

e

the

machinery; and the c

ou

ntry owed a

great

deal to

all three for th e

ad van

ceme nt

made

in

this

branch

of n

av

al arc

hitecture and

marine

eng

ineerin

g

•

sctence.

In

re

plying to the

discussio

n, Mr.

Ca.rnt

said

th at

th e relative merits of wood and steel for the hull

construction

of small

boat

s

had

been well conside.red

by the Admiralty, and

the preference

had

been

given to

wood. I t

had

beon

stated

that

the

Admiralty

we

re

creat

ing

a r

ese rve

of 25

per cent.

of boats in excess of the normal

peace

r

eq uir

ements

for ships in the Navy. f a b

oat were bl

own to

pi

eces

in

an ac

t io

n, no doubt the

ship would also be so

crippl

ed

that

s

he

would

have to go to

th e doc

kyard

to

refit,

and

a

new

boat

could then

be

dropped

in to

pla

ce. The question of splinters from wooden

hull

s

had

been full

y

taken into

co

nsid

eration.

His

own

opinion

was

tha

t

there would

n

ot

be

mu

ch

proba

bility

of

hea

vy

splint

e

rs. Th

e

se

boat

 s

had

three

sk ins,

and

the diagonal construction led him to

think that

they

would

not splinter

badly,

bu

t would

get

_perfor

ated in th

e

same

manner

as a

steel

b

oat

;

t

he

diffe

ren

t

layers

of wood in

the

s

kin were

securely

f

aste

n ed

together with some textile fabri

c

and ma

rine

g

lu

e be t ween them.

At

the present

time

Me

ssrs.

Whit

e were

building at East

Cowes

four steel boats

f

or th

e Ru

ss

ian

Government. They

could build

th ere

stee

l

hull

s

as li

ght as

any in

t he

world,

but they

fo

und

t hat

they

could

n

ot get the

same speed with a metal-built b

oat

as th ey could

with a

woode

n

hull

of

similar dim

ensions.

He,

like Pr

ofessor

Biles, had seen

a good d

ea

l of t

he

mo

dern

racing

yacht,

a

nd

had b

ee

n led

to

cons

ider

how far

th

e doub le rudder a

nd

the

rem

oval of

the

dead wo

od

respect

iv

e

ly

influenced the tu rn ing of

th e

small steamboats

described

in

th e pa

per.

At

fir

st he wa

s

inclin

ed

to think

th

at the absence

of

dead

wood was

the

rulin

g

fa

cto

r, but

he h

ad found

that the additional . rudder forward of th e main

rudder

w

as

a great h elp to pr ecision

in steering.

In

go

in

g

astern

t

hi

s w

as

the

case to a n

wst

ma

rked

degree, t

he ' ' turn-abo

ut , b

oats

wh en r

everse

d

ma noouvring with the gr

eatest

precision. H e had

recent

ly built

a

steamboat

in

which the

dead wood

w

as

out

awa

y,

but there

was no forw

ard

rudder, a

nd

although the

b

oat

st eered very

we

ll an

d

would

t

urn

in a very small circle going

forward,

th

ere

was an

abse

nce

of control in

going

astern. An

inv

olu n tK I.

ry

[S EPT

. 20,

I

901.

ex

periment wa

s recently made

th r

ough the carry

ing a way of the

after ru

dde

r,

an

accident

that was

not discovered

until the

b

oat

had

returned

to h

er

•

moor1n

gs

.

Dr.

In glis,

in

summing up the

di

scussion, said

that the excellence of the work done by Mr . John

Samuel White at

E

ast

Cowes

in

the con

st

ru ction of

hull

s,

and by Me

ss

rs. Belli

s

and

Morc

on1 n early

d lys

n

ma

king machinery,

was well

known. Thir

ty

years ago he

had

become possessed of one of these

li

ttle

boats,

and

h ad fo

und

then that

eve

n a Clyde

en

gineer

could

learn

so

me

thin

g

fr

om

marine

engines

made

at Birmin

gham.

GRA PHrc

A

NALYSEs

oF SoREw-P.aoP

ELLER

REAOTIONS.

The next paper taken

was a co

ntribution by Mr.

J . Millen

A

dam

,

entitled

' '

Graphic An

a

ly

ses of

Screw-Propeller

R e ~ c t i o n s . This pap

er we print

in

abs

tract

on page 429.

Mr.

E .

Hall

Brown

Wd.S

t he first sp

ea

ker. He

said it

wo

uld need

a wee

k,

rath

er than tw

e

nty

minut

es, to a

dequat

e

ly study

th e

paper

the author

had

pr

ese

nted, but

there were some

poi

nts

that

u g g e themselves

t o him

durin

g

the

r

eading

.

I t was

generally accepted

that

the greater

part of

the

velocity of th e

prop

eller

race

was

acquir

ed

pre

vious

ly

to the water

striking

t

he

blade.

Th a

t ,

however, was

apparently

n ot the view of Mr.

Adam. The question

also

arose

in

connection with

what the author had

sa

id whether the

ordinary

screw-propeller throws

wat

er

off at

t

he

tips. Mr

.

A;:lam appeared to think so, but th e speaker's

opinion

was that such an

ac t

ion

did

not

take

place.

f they could judg

e

by

the

smok

e

test

,

the

prope

ller

wo

uld draw from

t he

surroundin

g fluid at

the t i p : : ~

and

di

sc

har

ge

at

t

he

centre. No doubt

as

the

pro

peller

race

loses in velocity,

and

pressure

in

creases,

some water

must

come to the surface,

and

this

might give colour to

the

t heory.

What

e

ver might

be t he

pra

ctical r es

ult,

however, t

here

could

be no

do

ubt that the

pap

er r e

pr

ese

nt

ed a

high

intellec

tual effort, a

nd

as a men al exercise it was m

ost

va

luable

to follow.

Mr. Thrupp

said

he proposed

to

study the paper at

leis ure. He th ought it a

pity

that

n the theory

of

propeller

s it w

as

n

ot

pos

s

ible to get rid

of th e

express

ion negative slip. "

The

ex

pre

ssion was a

contradiction

in itself, and

wa

s like

speaking

of over 100 per ce

nt.

efficiency.

Mr.

John

Scott said he had

e

ndea

vo

ured

to give

practic

al effect

by

ex

periment<:1

on a large scale

to

the

a

uthor's theor

ies.

Although somet

hin g was

done,

he

reg retted

that

the

experiments had been

interrupted through

a cause quite

unconn

ected with

the propeller.

H e

had be

en highl y

impr

essed

by

t h ~

figures

and arguments Mr. Adam had

put before

him.

A

propeller on hi

s d esign

had

been

nade

and

put on a yacht, and from t he r es

ult

s obtained

he had co

me

to t

he

conclusion that the form of

screwposse

ssed

element3 of

design

which

promised

o

it a cons

iderable

fu t ure.

I t

was

very

difficult

to

come

to an ex

act co

nclu

sion

by

o

bservin

g

with

t

he

eye the

form of wake ; he could o

nly

say it differed materi

ally from that of

an ordinary sc

rew.

Th

ey had

had

two cone prop

e

ller

s ma

de

: with

the

fir

st one there

was

much

difficulty

in

goi

ng

as

tern

;

indeed, all the

power of t

he

e

ngin

e a

pp

eared

to

be

absorbed by

the propeller

in creating

a vor tex.

In

the sec o

nd

prop

elle r this diffic

ulty

was overco

me.

Mr. Mumf

o

rd said

he h ad

made prop

e

ll

er

experi

ments

for

twenty years,

but was

afraid

he could

n

ot form the same hi gh op inion of the promi

se

of

s uccess

for

the au thor' s propeller as

the

last speaker

h

ad expressed.

He

had made

ma

ny ex

p

er iments

with

screws hav

in

g various

pitche

s, but he

had

never

fo

und

o

ne to

give

an

efficiency higher

than

that

of the

sc

rew of unifo

rm

pitch.

The

accelera

tion of the

wake did

not occur in the passage of

t

he

water

fr

om

the

leadin g to

the

fo

ll

owing edge of

the

b lad e, but at some di

stance in fr

ont of

the

sc

rew.

In

r

egard

to t

he express

ion

negat

ive

slip,

to which Mr. 'rh:upp had

taken

exception, he would

point out that t he

ph

en omenon arose

fr

om th e fact

that the drivin

g s

urf

ace w

as

n

ot nece

3

sarily

the

r

ea

l

pitc

h of t he screw,

the

e

ffec t

ive p i

tch

being

affected by b oth

surf

aces. Th is was

illu

st ra t

ed b y

the fact t h'l t with fine pitches negat

ive

slip was

m

ore appa

rent,

as with

coarser

pitches

the

di

st

urb

ing

influence was a smaller r

a.ti

o.

In regard to

the

throwing

out of w

at e

r

at the tips

of t

he

bl

ades,

there

was n

ot

so much loss as

mi

ght

be

thought, as

there

was r eaction

on

t

he propeller

bl

a

de

t

hr

ough

motion being impart

ed to the wa

te

r.

In an

y case,

it

had been fo

und

that

trying to

confine the water so as to de

li,

·er it directly

•

7/17/2019 Engineering Vol 72 1901-09-20

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/engineering-vol-72-1901-09-20 7/47

SEPT. 20, 1901.]

astern resulted in no practical advantage.

In

conclusion,

he

would . ay that in propeller

de

sign

it was impossible to

dep

end on t heory alone for

de t

erm

inin6 res

ult

s, and success could only

be

proved by practical exper

im

en t. So

far

as his ex

perience w

ent, he

did not see there was much

hope of higher efficiency be

ing

reached

with

th

e

screw propeller .

Mr. Adam, in replying to the

di

scussion, sa

id

t

ha

t the trouble to which Mr.

Scott

had referred

in connection with rev ersing arose

through

in

sufficient

attention

being pa

id

to the form of the

back of the blades.

He

cou

ld

n

ot

agree with

Mr.

Mumford that, energy having been impa

rted

to the

water, a propulsive effect would

be

produced what

ever the direction might be in which the particles

were set

in

motion.

Any

action not

para

llel

with

the

shaft

was, to a

certain extent,

a loss of power.

A NEw FoRM oF PRO

PELLER

.

The

l

ast paper read at

t he meeting

in

this Sec

t ion was a cont

ribution by

Mr .

Schutte,

of Bremer

haven, and was entitled A New Form of

Pro-

peller: ' Models of propeller were

h i b i ~ e d

in the room.

I t

const

sted

of a boss from whlCh

projected t

hr

ee

arms

slop

in

g aft. To the extrem

i-

t ies of each of

the

se arms, pear-shaped blades were

fitted, the

attachment

being

at

a

point at

t he back

of each blade where

the

ce

ntre or

hydraulic

pre

s

sure occurred. I t was claimed

that

t he wa

te

r had

therefore free access to each

par

t of the blade,

and

a vacuum would

not be

formed.

Th

e propeller

t

her

efore worked evenly

and

was

fr

ee

fr

om vibra

tion.

Th

e

di

scussion on t

his

pap

er

wa

s of a very br ief

na

tu

re.

Mr. Napier pointed out tha

t

the

screw

desirned by t he author had expanding pitch to an

eno:mous extent. He reminded the meeting that

the form of hull had an immense influeRce on the

action of the propeller, as was shown by t he differ

e

nc

e aimed at in the slip of twin and sin gle screws

re spective1y.

Mr.

Davidson sa

id

that a

prop

el.ler

similar to that sho wn by t

he

author had been tried

some years ago. Mr . Rotta. said that experi.ments

had been ma

de

with the screw ref

erre

d to In the

paper, and wi t h one. as nea

rly like

as possible,

hav ing blades fitted 1n the ordtnary way.

They

had

also

tried

blades with

constant pi

tch, but the

efficiency was not the same.

The meeti

ng

of t

hi

s section was brought to

a

close

by

yotes of tha

nk

s being proposed to

Lord

Glasgow,

Dr. Io

glis,

and

Mr.

J o

hn Scott

f

or

presiding during

the meeting.

This

was proposed

by Mr.

Napier,

and

seconded

by Mr.

Adams.

SECTION Vll

.-

MUNICIPAL

This

Sect

ion met again 'on

Thursday in

t

he

Engi

neeri

ng

L

ec ture

Th

ea t

re, when the Chairm

an

was

again Mr. E . George Mawbey, Leice

ster.

RE

CENT

TRAMWA.Y

PRA

CTI

CE

.

Mr. Ja.mes More,

Ju n

. , M.

In st

. C.E

.,

F.R.S.E

.,

Edinbur

gh, read a

paper

on

Rec

ent Tramway

Practice.

Thi

s

paper dealt

with electric tramways

and th

eir developme

nt during

the last

fi

ve years.

Th

e paper is too long to give

in exten

 >o

 

a

nd

too

d

eta

il

ed

for

an abstract

;

and

we must therefore

pass

dir

ect to t

he

discussio

n. There

is the more

reason for doing

this

because every novelty

in

elect ric

tram

ways has been fully describ

ed in

EN GI

NEER

ING

and

TRA d:riON

ND

TRA NS Inss

r

oN,

and

o

ur

readers

are

ke

pt

well informed as

to this

branch of t

heir

professional work.

Mr.

Th

omas

Hews

on, Leeds,

in

moving a vote

of thanks to Mr. More, asked whether that gen

tleman had

any

info

rm

ation as to propositions to

make the central groove in the tramway rail as it

was laid some years ago in

Liverp

ool, and whether

there was any disposition throughout to co

un

try to

recur to that f

orm

. To his mind it had m

any

advantages. He fur ther would like to

know

whether

in

the tramway wor

ld

he fo

und

any likeli

hood at

pres

ent of t

he introducti

on of welding the

tramw

ay

rails.

Mr. J o

hn

Pr ice, City Surveyor, Birmingham,

in

seconding, not iced that Mr. More laid great st ress

up

on jointing in the permanent way. Th ose who

h

ad

any knowl edge

at

all of th e wo

rkin

g of electric

tramways knew th

at

the

quest

ion of the pe

rm

anent

way was a very serious one.

In

f

act

, some

lin

es

which had been r

ecently

laid,

he

understood, were

already giving considera

bl

e trouble. At Birming

ham t hey

turned

one section of

the

tramways

fr

om

the accumulator service to an overh

ea

d system.

He

advised the company, who were o

peratin

g it,

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

that by doing so,

and

putting 01: a four-wheeled

truck inste

ad

of the old double bogtes on the old cars,

that the

perma

nent way would go rapidly to pieces.

It had done so. H e advised th

em

th

at

it wou

ld

not last more th

an

six 1nonths, or twelve months

at

m

ost

.

In

th

ree

months

they got orders to relay

t he whole thin g,

at

considerable e x p e n s ~ He

would

like

to

ask

how the cast-welded JOint was

found to work in practice, and

~ o u l

?e

k ~ l y

to be t he difficulti es to

be

met w1th In deahng w1th

the

permanent

way 1

The

rail sections now

had

a

te

n

de

ncy to be very considerably increased, and he

n

ot

iced

in

the diagrams

in the

pape

r th

at

Mr

. M

ore

h

ad taken

very much the same lin es t hat he

h i ~ -

self took when designing a new rail fo r the B

ir

mingham

trams

. The jo

int

used a.tBirming

ham

was

somethin g

lik

e No. 8 in the diagram ;

that

was to

say, the

fis

hpl

ates

were somethin g those of

No . 8.

The

cross-section of t he

new

ratls was very

much like No. 2. They found

tha

t

by getting

the

joint

s doubly bolted,

bottom and th

e sides,

they

1

76 LBS. PER YARD

84LtJS. Y R D.

7053)

2 .

8 LBS PER YARD

7

:>0 LBS. PER YJlRO

got

a very much stiffer joint ; and

after

usin g th at joint for several years, he had

not

ye

t been able to see

a

better one.

Of

co

ur

se,

no

one could be expected to

di

scuss in

deta il a

paper

inv olving so n1any h

ea

ds ; but he

shou

ld

like to say one word more

about

the ro1ling

stock.

The

bogie car, where

you

h

ad to

deal

with a large

numb

er of passengers- say, a

ny

thin g

app

roaching fifty- was the best, the o

nly

point

against it being the greate r consumption of power.

Mr. A. H. Campbell,

Eastham, in

seconding the

vote of

thank

s, drew

attention

to the

paragraph

which stat

ed

: The

Edinburgh

Co rporation

cable lines, just being completed, have not

so

far

paid

their

way, for seve

ral

avoid

able

reasons.  That adjective

av

oidable was very

suggestive,

and

i t would be

in

structive

and

in te

re

st

ing i 1\fr. More wou

ld

vouchsafe a

little mor

e specifically w

hat

it meant.

Th

ose of

them

who

had

had occasion

to study

the

E

dinbur

gh cable problent

kn

ew

that there

was

a

great

dea l of scientific

and

legal cont roversy

going on ju

st

now as

to

the working of th ese

cable tramways. Th en,

turning

to t

he

Table

where

Mr. More

gave

the

resul

ts

of

certain

evaporati

on under

different conditions

by

diff

ere

nt

types

of boile

r, it

appeared to

Mr.

Oa.mpbe

ll that

a

gre

at

deal of t he evaporationwas

ex

ceed

in

g

ly

low,

except at Aberdeen

, which

appeared

enormous

ly

high.

Passing

to a section of t he paper tha t pecu

liarly concerned them as tramway engineers, having

the highway interests more particularly at heart, he

desired a litt le fuller ·information on the diffe

ren

t

methods of layin g t

he

rails ; that was to say,

bed

ding them. Under the heading

Foundation,

Mr.

More r ecounted three methods of be

dding

the rails. The first and second methods they

had tried, and they had

di

scarded

both.

The

third method they had not tried, and he did not

think ,

unl

ess after obtaining more information, he

would

be

induced to give it a trial. He was still just

as sceptical, and

as

f

earful

of t he resul

ts

of this third

method as

he

was

by

experience of

methods

e

ith

er

one or two. In

his

place

they had

adop ted

a

m

et

hod different from

an

y of these three.

They

embedded the t r

am

way rail

in t

o the concrete. The

rail

was 6i in.

deep

. They commenced

with

6-in .

setts. That therefor

e m

ea

nt that the flange of

the rails had to be

tied

on the

top

surface of

the

concrete, and the

result

w

as that

so correct

ly

3

9

de

scrib ed in the paper.

Th

ey t herefore adopted a

differentiation in the

thickne

ss of the setts. They

went back to t he 6-in. sett,

an

d they blocked

the rail to the proper lev el, a

nd

t hen poured .In

the concrete tho r

ouahly

rammed it, and got 1 m.

to in. of the rail

embedded

in the concrete.

U niformity of g

ird

er rail would tend

ye

ry m ~ c h

towards the economis

ing

of the constructwn of rails,

and th

at

wou

ld

tend very much to develop and

exte

nd the use of t

he tramw

ays,

particularly

in t he

sma

ller

dist

ricts.

Mr.

Fowler Leeds, was

at

a loss to understand

why

an engineer si1ould des ign a rail

lik

e No . 2,

~

o. a,

No. 7, or

No

. 8, because it would

be

obs.erved m

all

those sections th e weight of the traffic not come

on the centre of the ra il,

but

on one

side

of

t ~ e

cen tre of the rail. The consequence was that 1n

course of

time

there n1ust

be

a biass

ed pressure,

and the pressure or weight fall

ing

more on o

ne

s

ide

of

the

bed than the

othe

r, naturally in co ur

se

of

time the

bed

would get out of

or

de

r.

H e was r

at

her

3 .

s.

S L8S PER YARD .

8

J7 LSS. P£R YARO 

surprised at t he last speaker advocat

ing

the

bedding

of t he rails on such a plan, believing that it wo

uld

be liable to put the bedding out of

order.

The plan

he

adop

te

d was to get the sett as n

ea

r the depth

of the rail as possible, and

all

he

did

was to

lay

the rails on a

be

d of concrete,

put

a sn1all s

prink-

ling of sa

nd

on

the to

p of t he b

ot t

om se

ct

ion of t

he

rail, and

lay

the se tt flush with t

he rail

perfectly

level ; and the wo

rk

was the same to-day as it w

as

ten

year

s ago. There was

no

settlement

whatever.

The

rails were as sou nd and as sec

ur

e

as ever

they

were.

In

Glasgow

they

had the opposite

experi

e

nc

e. There he noticed, opposite

the

Asylum,

right away

into

t

he

country, t

hey were

ac tually

lay

ing

with tar macadam. Surely, after thirty

yea

rs'

experience, th

ey

should not commence

to

lay

tr

amways

with

tar macadam.

Mr

. Brodie, City

Engineer,

Liverpool,

said

he

agreed with the fir

st

speaker as a mat ter of

ex

peri

ence with regard to the

question

of

the

de

pth

of se tts.

They had tried

both ways

in

Li

verpool,

and

his

present

op

ini

on was

that

they

we

re bett e

r

to

have a shallow

se

t t alongside of the

rail

and

a good so

und

co

ncret

e between

the in

s

ide

of the

said sett

a

nd

the

rail

flange. Wh

et

her

they

li

ked

it

or

n

ot

,

in

connection

with

electric

tramways

they

wo

u1

d have vibr

at

ion

wherever the

t raffic was heavy

and

continuous. As a matter

of

prac

tical expe

ri

ence, t h

ey

f

ound in Liverp

ool

that

a small d

ep t

h of concrete on the top of

the

flange

wa s a

di

stinct a

dvantage

in vibration. I t also

prevented the possibility of water getting under-

nea th the rails . If water got there in a close

service, they would have trouble with their pa.ve

ments .

Th

e Chairman asked Mr. Brodie his experienoe

in the matter of

beddin

g the rails.

Mr . Brodie replied 'that they had the different

methods of bedding. So long as the

concrete

was

of first-?lass m a t e r ~ a l

p r o p e ~ l y

mix ed and properly

pr

opor twned , he d1d not th1nk there was

much

in

the methods of bedding.

Of

course,

where

t

hey

had

an old co

ncr

ete,

as

t·

hey

had in

Liv

erpool, it was

we

ll

th

at

th

ey s

hould get

sufficie

nt

depth

of

new

concrete below the' rails and take good

care that

the

new

concr

ete

had the c

hance

of taking a good

grip

of the old concrete wetti

ng

the latter

pro-

perly

and also by

cement

.1ng to some extent,

laying

a

layer

of

cement on

the surface of the old concrete.

A

question had been

a

sked with

rega

rd

to the centre

•

7/17/2019 Engineering Vol 72 1901-09-20

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/engineering-vol-72-1901-09-20 8/47

I

394

rail, and although he did n

ot

wish

to

to be r eplying, he might say that he had

great

exper

ience in the c ~ n t r e - o o v e d rail in

ve rp ool  and he firmly e v e d on the whole,

l ~ u l from the municipal engineer's

of view,

that

t he c

ent

re - gr

ooved

rail

was

bet

te r rail

than

the sid e- tread rail.

He

n

ot

think

i t

was good as a ma

tt e

r of policy

o have t h e

centre-groove rail

in one

place

and a

rail. in h e r place ; and ther efo

re,

thoug

h l

1e b e ~ I e v e d

10

the

centre-grooved

rail,

h e

ha.d a

dvi

sed

his corpo

ration to

put

in

the

s ide-tr

ea

d

r

a1

l,

for

he

co

uld

foresee

t

he

t

im

e

wh

en

Liv

er

po

ol

would be connected with th e districts ro

und abo

ut.

to

j oints, they

ha

d t

ri

ed ra il-welding

the JOint w1th a g ird

er

undernea th the

surface and

a

numb

er of oth

er

joints

as

wel l. Pe rso

naliy

he

P.

referr

ed a weld joint. Th ey h ad some expe

n ence of bogie trucks as well as with fo

ur-wh

eel

cars, and while t he maximum traction

was

an

in

~ e n i o ar

range

ment, he t hought i t wanted cer

ta

in

v e m e . a ~ e n on th e wh ole, the b ogie,

w1th

eq

ual di st ributiOn of weight, had some ad va

n

tages.

Mr.

Thom

as Harpur, Cardiff, said the

pa

ck

ing

on t he rail under ne

at

h had a very great deal to do

wi t h

the

ul tim

ate life of the

permane

nt way.

Th ey were

doing

at Card iff

practically what the

author

suggested.

He

had n ot me

nt i

oned any

method of

paving

except with granite setts, bu t he

r efe

rred to

t

he

grout ing with bitumen which

he

said had be en in vogue in L ancashi re for twenty

years, but was n ot known in t.he sout h. Mr.

Harpur

contradicted t hat statement, because

that

m

et

hod of bit.uminous g

rou

ti ng granite pave

ment

had

b

ee

n m operation in Cardiff, which was

pretty well

south, for upwards of twenty years.

The

t r a ~ w a y s

in Cardiff had been

so

grouted for

that

perio

d,

and he

could nut

under

st and

how i t

had taken

so

long for

municipal

engineers a

nd

tramw

ay engineer s

to

find out the supe

ri

o

ri ty

of

bi

tu minous grouting over that of ceme

nt,

and par

ticularly in r eference

to

wood-pavin g.

Mr.

J . L o

bley,

Hanley, said h e had used t he

bitumin

ous concrete for t

hirt

y years,

and

he fully

agreed with what Mr. Harpur had said about i t .

With regard to packing, he al so endorsed Mr.

Harpur's method of well·r

a

mming in fine gravel

· and

cem

ent un der th e b o

ttom

flange b efore having

t he final

concrete

laid on to r ece

ive

the pavement.

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

guard strip nor t he g uard wire would a fford proper

protection. Possibly everything wou ld go

right

in

99 cases out of 100, bu t the lOOth would come, and

it did com e in Liverp ool

on

a very st ormy night,

when the streets we re covered with snow, and with

fatal r esu l ts .

Mr. Price said

that

in Birmingham t hey had the

whole of

th

e telephone wi res

bunched.

Private

wires, of

which

t here were only three or four,

were

all in

sulated, and the postal

r a p h people

ag

r

ee

d to

put

them under

grou

nd.

A

vote

of tha

nk

s

was

hea rtily accorded to Mr.

M o

re, who

replied

on the

discus

sion .

DwELLINGS FOR THE \VoRKING CLA SSES.

Mr. A. H. Oampbell, East H am , read a pa per,

by himself and Mr. W. H . Savage, on Prov ieion

of Dwellings for the Work i

ng

Classes."

On t he

motion

of Mr. L obley, seconded by Mr.

Cooper,

Wimbledon,

he was accord ed a hoar ty vote

of thanks.

There was a paper on the

agenda by Mr. F.

W. Mager,

on the sub ject of " Coal-

Mini

ng Subsi.

dences

in Relation to

Sewe

rs, "

but

as the author

did

n

ot appea

r, it

was

ta ken as r

ead

.

Th i

s co

ncluded

the

pr

oceedings of the

Sect

ion.

-

SECTION VIII.- GAS

Th i

s

Section

m

et again

on Thursday, the 5th inst

.,

in

the Natural

Hi

s

to r

y Lecture

Theatre.

Th

e

first

paper

r ead was

by Mr.

Charle

s Oar

penter, a

nd

was entitled The Ap p

li

ca tion of the

Un

it

System of Gas to I ts Purifica

t ion ." The following is an abstract of

its

conten ts :

The plants of the large1: t gas wo rks are built

up of unit

wh1

ch hardly vary, except in number, from

thoso employed in the smnJlest undert n king.

From

th

e point of view only of coal, each

retort or unit is independent ; and alone or coupled '

vi

ll

give its maximu m duty. So mnch for t he manufitctu re of

gas. f ts J?Urification, either in the wet or

dr

y way, is

con idered, 1t will be found that the usual conditions are

qu

ite

different.

In

tl.

5-

million cubic feet

wo

rks, two

tower scrubbers aro used for the purifi cation from

ammo nin ; a liquor scrubber to wo rk up the strength,

and a water scrubber for tho la t traces. Accepted

dimensions wo uld

bo

20 ft. in diameter by

70

ft. hig

h.

The wetted surf

n.ce

wo uld be 527,788 square feet.

The following T

ltb

le compares the above figures per

ruil1i

on cubic feet made per diem in the case of the 5

million cubic feo t wo rk for each million between the

winter max inlllm of

G

millions and the summer minimum

of

2

millions.

TABL E I. -Compa1·ison of T owe1· Sc1·ubbers arul Gas

llfa

cl

e.

[S

E

PT

. 20,

I90I.

The con.struction is s

im

ple to readily lend itsel

t<? des1gn of a

mn.c

hm e wherem, under varying con.

d ~ t 1 0 n

of gas

prod

u

ct

ion, a more con

sta

nt r

ft

tio of scrub

b.

mg surface and gas treated can be obtained. The addi

tiOnal ~ e s are small ground space requ ired

absence of ru

ot

1ve power, and facility of cleaning. '

The .Propor

ti

oning of plant area to make of gas sug

gcsted

m

the case of scrubbers can likew ise be applied to

purifiers.

Th

e minimum area recommended may be taken

at 400 ft. super per milli on per diem.

In

tho case of tho

typ ical works thts figure wo uld work out as follows:

Millions

per

Diem.

-

6

4

8

T AB LE IV.

Total

A

rea. Sq

ua

re

F

ee

t per

Million.

--

400

600

667

1900

- __ :___

_

-

Cal

culated

Siz

es of

Purifiers at

400

Ft.

pEr

Million

.

20

fb.

by 100

ft..

20 )) 80 H

20 )) 60

))

20 )) 40

))

The author wou ld   an

o n d e : : ~ . v o u

being mado

to

fix

the host cond1t1on for speed of contact and

ar l.

in

the

pur

ifying plant of gas works, and then to

pr

o

vid

e

means whereby this mn y be obtained in reguhtr working

within the

ex

treme limits of production.

Mr. Hu n t was not qui

te

clea r

as

to

the

a

dvan

tage

to be gained by following t he practice of units advo

cated by Mr. Carpenter. Th e day before

th

ey had

had a process before them for

carb

onising in bulk,

which, to some

extent

, took away t he arg

um

e

nts

in

favour of the unit system. There might be some

littl

e ad vantage in the scrubber, fr

om

th e fact that a

port ion of it was available for repair without pu

tt

ing

t

he wh

o

le

appa

ratus out

of

or d

er.

They had

a

lw

a

ys

t

hough

t

that

large

ar

eas were conducive to economy

of ma

nu factu

re.

In

the case of purifi

ers, the

economy

of la r

ge

ar eas was

very

marke

d, although

there

was no doub t

bu

t that with large purifiers

the

gas did not get so evenly dist

ribut

ed as with

purifiers of moderate size

;

and

there, perhaps,

Mr

. Carpenter's proposal might be adopted wit h

advantage.

Mr. D em pster said t hat as nearly every gas work s

had differ ent sect ions of retort s,

hydraulic

mains,

&c. , it

seemed

to him that if a standard of sections

co

uld

be

adopted,

it would be a

great advantage.

He

did not

see

any reason for more t

han

t

hr ee

sect

ions

of each

size.

Mr. Hyslop, P aisley, did not see t hat t here was

any necessity

for

reducing

th

e area of scrubbers

in summer time. In his opinion, more

trouble

and

loss was caused by oYe r condensation

than

in ot her

depar

t

ment

s o f

gas manufa

ctur

e.

Mr.

William

E.

Kenway, Birmingham,

s

poke

strong

ly

in approval

of

t he V icto r joint.

which

had

b

een

adopted by

the Birmingham and

W olve r

hampton Corpora t ions, and was being

taken up

by

other

s . This joint

did

no t inte rfere with

the

packing. I t was in no way a solepla te ; it was

s im

ply

a

twin

joint, and it only came outside th e

bottom of th e ra il as much as the h ead of a bolt.

If th

ere

was a better joint·, he should like

very

much to see it tried anywhere else.

Millio

ns per

Diem.

Mr. Wilson, Dawsholm, rather thought that

small unit

s would take up too much ro

om

for

successful

application

to o

ld

works ; in the matter

To

tal

Are

s.

Gas Are :t

. Wetted

SurfacP.

of

erecting new

wo

rk

s, the id ea might be carried

Squa

re

Feet per S

qua

reFeet per Feet per out

much

more eco

nomi

cally, and t

hu

s

be

m

ade

to

.Million. Million. Million.

1 -   - - - -

 

- prove

valua

bl

e.

~ ~ f :

1

Mr.bFdoulis was of cpinion that any rules or data

4

3

2

105 79 175,929

t 1ey a were, mo

re

or so modified by local

157 118 263,894

ci rcum

st a

nces that th

ey

we

re

of

little

use in in -

Mr. Broom did not think it was a good way to

make the 6·in. setts t igh t on the f l ~ n g e of the

rail.

In

St. H elen s

th ey

us ed

only 4-in.

c

ub

es .

Th

ey

put 6 in.

of

concrete under

t

hem,

and t he

rails were packed as well as possible. Th e r

es

ult

so far had been ve ry

satis

factory . In fact ,

he

believed that repairs would l>e required to t he

rails r eally be for e t hey

were

required t o th e s ett s .

The Chairman invited remarks on overhe1d trac

ti o

n.

An alternative to towe r

sc

rubbers is the well-know n

standard " washer. The wheels of a 5-million machine

wo uld be 8 ft . ou tlet diameter by 4 ft. inlet diameter, and

12 in. 'vide. 'fhe gas area wo uld

th

erefore be 13.52

sq

uare

feet ; and the wetted surface per wheel 205,709 ft., or

24,

67

2 square feet por machine of twelve wheels.

The following Table is on the same lines as the

pr

eced

ing one for t he tower scrubber :-

TABLE II -Compa1·ison of Stand

a1 Clt

Waslu 1  ancl Gas

ade.

M

llio

ns per

lJie

m.

T

ota

l

Ar

ea.

Square Feft

per Mll

ion

.

Mean Gas Area.

Square Feet

per

Milli

on.

Wetted Surrac('.

Square Feet

per Million.

Mr. Brodie, re sponding, said they had had some

se rious

accidents in

Liverpool, and as a

result

the

Corporation bad enter ed in to

negotiation

s with the

pe

op

le interested in the overh ead wires,

assisting

5

4

3

2

8. 6

10.7

14 .3

21 5

•

2.7

3.4

4.6

6

.8

4,9

34

6,1 f8

8 ,224

12,33\i

any as r

eg a

rds cos t i n ca

ses

where people wer e

th ere by Parliamentary

au t

hor i

ty

, and

by treaty

or

ot

he

rwi

se where

peo

ple

we

re tr es

passin

g or h

ad

n o

righ t . The

consequence wa

s t hat, so

fa

r as the -

National Telephone Company was concerned, all A glance

at

the second

co

lu mns of Tables I. and II.

overhead wires in Li verp ool were to-day cabled

and

shows the very striking difference of practice in the two

d

f

l

h

h

types of sel..

l t

appeared worth while to try the

suspen

ed rom stee wires, so t at t er e was

not ex

periment of combining to as great an extent as possible

v

er

y much possibility of an accident from

the te

le- the ad vantages of both. A p ai r of towers were therefore

phone

wires. They had not been able to

make

constructed for a works hn v ing a 2-million winter and

the

t elegraph people

move

q uite

so

quickly, but 1-million sum mer load. Each tower wM marle ft.

they had offer

ed

p rac tically to bear the total square by

26

ft. high, and packed wi th iron

11

bundlcs"

d

d

buil t up similarly to those used in the Standard " rua-

cost of putting the te legraph w ires un ergrou n ' chines,

bnt

rectang

ul

ar in shapo.

and t hey thought they bad gone as far as

need be in

that

di r

ec tion.

Most

of the

co

mp a

ra- TA

BL

E

III Con1 pet1

  ison of T

owc

 r

W

a ~ h e ancl

Gas

t ively

few private wires

had be

en removed,

and Made. _

there only r emained one

or

two unprotected tele- 1

Total Area.

Gas

Area Wetted

Surfa

ce.

phone

wire

s

in

Liverpool.

Early

in

connection .Millions per Squ

a

re

Feet per S

qua

re

Fe

et

per

S

qua

re

Fe

et

per

wi

th th e

tramways

in

Liv

erpool t h

ey

made exhaus- Diem. Million. Million. Million.

t ive expe

ri

men

ts both

wi th t he guard wire

and

wi

th

2

- -

s

1

- - - 2. fl

 

- 6.075 -

the guard st rip,

and

also wi

th

ot

her

arrangements, 1 6 2 f .1 12.150

and

h e

advised

t he

Corporation

that

neither

the

dividual cases. His ow n impression was that they

could not hav e too much area in their purifiers, but

he was decidedly of opinion, also, tha t there was

a limit to the economical working size of pt,\'ifiers.

Mr. Carp enter , in t he course of hi s reply, added

that the

cost

of each of the towe

rs

was below

150l. , and th

at th

e

complete

plant,

exc

lusive of

foundation

s and pipes, would come out

at

about

300l. The weight

of each of t he

towers

was 5  tons,

a

nd

t

he

weight of

the bundle

s " was

4

tons

.

•

IN

Ll

NED RETORTS.

Mr. W.

R 

H erring t M. In s t C.

E.

(Edinburah),

read a paper en t

itl

ed , ' ' The Constru ction of

0

In

clined Retort Carb oni sing Plants, of which t he

folluwing is an abstrac t :

The primary object of the inclined retort is the re

duction to a

mi

nimum of the labour h

it

herto in

volYed

in the charging and draw

in

g of

con

l-gns retorts. There

are also second My advttnb\ges- sueh as the gren.ter pr

o

ducing capacity over a given area of land, economy in

construction, c. Considerable di

ve

rsity is shown in the

outward foa

m

of

th

e different plants in

th

is

cou ntry, as contrasted with the various in ta

llat

1ons u

po

n

the Continent of Europe. A distinct ;ve feature of the

Continental in tn llat ions is the length of the retort. The

British p

mct

ice may be said to be

20-

ft. retorts, where

spaco permits of their adopti o

n;

whereas on the Co

nt

inent

from 3 to ft.

nt

etres (

10

ft. to

11

ft.

6

in.)

is

the pre

dominant longth of the rot

or t

. )  rom a labour point of

view, the operation of charging 11 20-ft. retort with 7 cwt.

of coal is no grettter, and occupie but a few seconds m

or<'

,

than the charging of a retort fr

om

12 ft 6 in.

to

13 ft.

long. t wi ll be highly interesting if Con tinental engi

neers wi ll disclose t heir reasons for adhoring to tl.e

shorter retorts.

'f ho inclined-rotor t in

sta

ll

at

ions

at

the present t

un

e

may, broadl y speakin

g,

be defin ed as

c : o m ~

of two

dist inct types. The best-know n type is that having

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SEPT. 20,

rgo1.]

E

N G I N

E

E R I N G.

395

•

T H E

WHITEHEAD TORPEDO WORKS

AT

F l UME .

(For De

sc

1-iption, see Page 398.)

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ntinuous coal-storage ho

pp

ers (sub-di vided or not),

rected above the bench

es

with or without measuring

hambers beneath.

The

oth

er d is

tin

c

ti

ve type has one or more coal

-s

torage

o

pp

ers centralised; the charging shoot forming also

e measuring chamber, receiving its charge from ben

eat

h

e hopper, and t raversing wit h it to the reto

rt

s to be

harged.

The charging ap_pliances, or the

mea

ns used for

co

n

cting

th

e coal m

to

the mouth of the retort, have

m

os

t impo

rt

ant influence upon the successful work

the system. Th e- many v

ari

eties of coal that

e to be dealt with- from fine

du

st, wet and dry,

mixed

co

al

and

on to ro

und nut

  has brought

t

o existence all sorts of devices whereby the charge

n be regulated so as to flow

in t

o the retor ts

at n.

orm and even speed, and ens

ur

e a p erfectly level and

orm charge throughout the length of the reto

rt.

The

uthor has always

pr

eferred to reta

in vit

hin his re1tch,

gu

rati

vely tho power of th

e

charge of

al direct in to the reto

rt

and over tho bot tom mouth

ece-stop, a nd adopt m

ea

ns to gove

rn

the i

mp

etus of the

l by stmple devices to suit all the various condit ions of

e

phy

sical characteristics of the coal to ins

ur

e a unifo

rm

harge.

'f

o accomplish this, the author found it necessary,

the first in

sta

nce, to have some co

nt r

ol of the aperture

e area of the point of discharge of the coal f rom the

easuring chamber. By inserting a sliding valve in the

.

•

•

•

•

•

ro

tO

O

JUbw

......

. -

 

- -

·---..-;..;;--

-

-

 

·

 

-  

-

 

base of the measuring chamber, the area can be governed

at will. Separate

~ e s

are employed fo r each hori

zontal row of retorts. Each row of retorts being on a

different level, necessitates a lon

ge

r body to each a

nd

consequently a longer d rop for

th

e coal, wi th i

ts

accele

rated impetus. This impetus must be governed ; and

many devices have been

in

troduced to accom

pl i

sh i t,

most of w

hi

ch are successful so long as a minor

deg

ree of

intelligence is excercised

in

the

ir

employment. The most

successful device is

th

e compo

und

flap hinged wi thin the

bo

dy of the shoot, and adjusted by levers from the out

side

set

at such an angle us to check the impetus b

,Y

thinning the stream of descending coal and

dir

ecting 1t

in to

a

unifo

rm

layer upon the base of

th

e shoe of the

charger. The author has

th

oug

ht

that

it

will be advan

tageouR to have the means of altering t he angle of the

shoe-piece of the shoot, and he has introduced

a

m

ea

ns of

adjustin s- the angle of the shoe.

Th

e ch

Rc

hnrging of the coke from the r

eto

r

ts cn

nn

ot

cl

l\

,im to

be

au

tomat

ic.

Th

o a uthor is of opin ion t h

nt

tho o s . ~ - s c c t of the reto

rt

should he of n form n:;

to permit of the expansion oj the coal

in

the retort rising

wit

hout jamming 1tself in to the aroh or crown of the

retort, a

nd that

this formation must be continu

ed

to t he

outer lip of the cast-iron mouthpiece.

Fu r

ther, in the

Granton erections he is having an hy

dr

aulic or com

pressed air piston, working

in

and

out

of the retort

from the

upp

er side, arranged wi th an acceler-ating-

motion, so th

at

the

fp

iston-head will, U

?O

n en

te

ring the

retort, sta r t very slowly, and m

m·ease

in S>eed,

descending from 8 ft. to 10 ft. m to t he retort ; thus gtving

the charge the necessary impulse

to

traverse down the

slope of

the re

tor t.

1 he manip ulation of the slides of the measuring

chamb.ers or the valve

at

the base of the .storage

necessttates a very great amount of

ph

ysteal force. The

auth

or

has therefore

in

tro

du

ced a small double-acting

hydraulic cylinder and piston bolted to

th

e

und

erside of

the coal-storage hopper and at tached t o the sliding valves

g-

overning the discharge opening from the hopper. And

m the case of measuring chamhers, t he usual smgle lever

is

intr

o

du

ced to actuate the b

ot

tom slide. A s

imp

le mul

tiple hy

dr

aulic valve is

fixe

d upon the stage of

th

e retort-

bench, a nd made to work groups of cylinders, in the case

of the t wo reto

rt

-settings at N ew-street, Edinburgh. One

multi

pl

e valve is made to work six cy

lind

ers

actu

at i

ng

six

measur ing chambers. I t

is

the- au thor s in tention

however,

to

group them into sets of

12. A

single

o k ~

of the lever p ermits of the oper

at

ion of one chamber di s

charging, and the reversaJ of the lever aR ain closing the

valve of the chamber a

nd

the hopper.

I

he whole opera

ti

on re

quir

es no more exertion than can

be

exercised by n.

child.

The accumulation of

ta

r and other condensable matters

in

the

lip

of the lower mouthpieces often renders the

drawing-stage mout

hpi

eces a most unsightly spectacle, as

•

•

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ell as invo.lving considerable labour the of

mol;lth)?lC

Ce ,

e v e r s

and mechamcnl parts. The

.1s mtroducmg a traversing screen, r

es

ting upon

g.ht

rails l ~ r a to the front buckstays, each

sc

reon

emg

u f f i

e 1 e n t long to span the length of th ree retorts,

d1rect .the and .tar, and anything falling from

e ~ n : o u t h p e c e s duectly 1nto the shoot

co

nducting the

to the cok

e-co

nveyor t rough.

Th

e great m p ~ o v e m e n t

that

have been made recently

the constructiOn of conveyors for the transport.. ttion

h?t coke r e n d ~ r it now possible to introduce these

f?r t ~ e removal of the coke from the retort

ouse as

1t

IS di

sc

harged from the retort-mouthpieces ·

e trough being placed preferably beneath the floor and

made therein for the quenching of the coke

the Withdrawal of the fo

ul

gases and steam through

and discharging them above the retort-bench

evel.

T.he author

pr

efers the cast-iron trough and roller

chnm

t J = >

of C<?nveyort the trough suspended beneath

he

flo

or bemg ent

ir

ely covered in on the.drawing

t a g e level, with portable covers

fo

r opening immediately

front of the retorts to be drawn· perforated J?ip

es

ein.g within the trough, and tap   a

tion m front of each reto

rt

- ettins-. Coke on bemg

from a gi_ven setting, meets with the

a t e r

when

t comes oppos1te the nex t but one setting. By this

eans . the steam and products emitted during the

uenchmg t h ~ coke are draw n th rough the conveyor

trough, formmg Its own duct, and up vert ical shafts

at

the ends of the. benc

h.

The traversing

sc

reen or shield

hould be u .ed m front of the retort to

pr

otect the men

rom the direct heat-rays of the di

sc

harging coke. I t

lso acts as a shoot to direc t the stream of coke to the

leading to t?.e coke

v e y ~ r

bene

at

h.

rhe l l : l p r o v ~ m e n t In the constructiOn of coke-conveyors

renders

It

po to abandon the stage-fl

oo

r retort-house

\}together ; havmg the producer on the inner side or

pr

efera.b

ly

n t a i n i n g

gas-producers, situated a

co

nvemeut po

mt

for feeding with coke,

and

the conducting

of

the.

fu

el gas to the retort-setting through brick-lined

co

nduits.

The paper conclud

es

with a descrip tion of the new

Edinburgh gas works.

Dr. Leybold, Hamburg, called at tention to

the

difference in the English

aA

contrasted with t le

er

man

prd.ctice.

In England they used

20-ft.

length retorts ; in Germany about ha

lf

that

leng

th,

from 3i

to 4

me

tres.

One

of

the rea

so

ns

was that

n long

er re torts they did not get

an

equality of

temperature throughout

the length.

German

c

oa

l

was s

uper

seding, with them, English coal

for

gas

manufactur

e.

With German

coal th ey gasified in

four hours with En glish they could

not

do it

unde.v six hours.

In

H a

mbur

g they made 17-

candle

gas the reason being

that

they had not

y

et

finished t

heir

installat ion for the

incandescent

ligh t ing

of

the street

s.

They

experienced

some

difficulty in us

ing

cannel coal

with

inclined

retorts .

Mr.

Wilson

said

that for financial

rea

sons he

had recently, n

ot

withstanding a predilecti0n in its

favour ,

had

to decide

against

the erection of an

in

clined

retort

bench. 1

1

he capital cost, he thought,

was not compensated for

by

the saving in wages

were it possible to

a

dop

t the

inclined

retort

to any

kind of coal,

these objec

t ions would , to a cons

id

er

able extent, di

sa

ppear.

Mr. H e

lp

s,

Nuneaton

, would

hav

e liked to have

had particul

a

rs

of coal

used

by

Mr. Herring,

to

obtain the

resul

ts he gave.

Mr. Howbridge expres

sed the

opinion

that

Mr.

Herring n

his

l

ates

t inst a

llation

had gone back

wards

in several respects.

Mr.

Herring

had

in

hi

s paper t hat discharge of the coke could not

claim to

be

automatic

. The

speaker

was

afraid

that

such

was

not the general exp

e

ri

ence.

From

his own

experience, he should

say

th e discharge

was automatic. Mr. H erring's failure to

get

it

au

to

mati

c

had

arisen, he

thought, from

the charg

ing

applianc

es used.

Mr. Herring,

replying

to the

gen

e

ral

discussion,

maintained that

the

system of inclined

retort

s had

financial

advan

tages . Re

found

that the carbonis

ing wages

at

Bren tford of 4 66d. in 1892 had been

reduced

to 2.17d. in 1900; in Huddersfield the

wage had been

reduced

from 4.12d. to 2.5d. Sup

posing

he were to save 1s. per ton on

his

carbon

ising wages, it meant a to

tal annual

saving of

lO,OOOl.

They wanted to

reduce

their wages bill

to the lowest possible

limit, and

by

mechanical

means.

Th

ere

were enough

of them present who

knew

that

inclined

r

eto rts were no

t

automatic

in

dis

charge. They

exper

ienced

no

difficulty in using

cannel

coal

or

s

hale wh

en

properly

mixed. Th ey

u

sed Scot

ch co

al

only.

Mr. Foulis

,

in announcing the

close of

the pro

ceedings, said they must

agree

that

th

ey h

ad

h

ad

an

excee

dingly succe

ss

ful

meeting

; in fact, the

mnst successful m

ee t

ing

he could r

emember

.

Votes

of thanks

to

the Univ

ersity

authorities,

the foreign delegates, contributors of

papers,

t.he

•

EN G I N E ER I N G.

Chairman and

th

e Secretary, having

been pa

ssed,

the members separated

.

SECTION IX.-ELE

 

)TRICAL

B ~ f o r e

taking

up

Thursday's

programme, t

he

President, Mr. Langdon, made a communication

from the Di rector of the

National

Ph ysical Labora

tory

at

Bushey

House,

Bushey Park. Dr. Glaze

brook hopes to

open

th e engineering laboratory, a

h a ~ l 80 .ft. by 50 ft., by the end of th is year. It is

~ u i l t

with a trayeller ; the d r a w i n - o f f i c ~ is

adjoin

Ing, and

th

e holl

er

s

hed

s are close by. A 60-kilo

watt

Parsons

turbine has

been put clown as the main

engine to avoid vibrations so far as possible. The

first work to

be attacked

will

be

that of the Alloys

Research

Committee ; photomicrographic examina

tion of

stee

l rails, the

elast

ic

prop

e

rties

of alloys, and

t l ~ e testing of pressure gauges and steam indicators

will also form part of the

early

w

ork

.

Micr

om

ete

r

meas

uring ma

chines

have

been ordered.

The

testing

of high temperature

thermometers

and of thermo

co

uple

s will follow.

DISTRIB UTION SYSTEl\IS.

Mr.

Michael B . Field, of Glasgow,

read

a paper

The

Relative

Advantages of Three,

Two,

and

Smgle-Phase

Systems for Feeding Low-Tension

Net

works

. In

the first pa rt , which concerns

chi

efly

tramway

work,

he sp

oke as a strong ad

vocate of the

triphase syste

m.

In the

second,

which deals

with

combined

distribution

of li

ght and

P?wer, or essentially of lig

ht, he did

not co

mmit

h1m se

lf

to any pronounced view.

In

the

di

scussion,

Mr.

K olben, of

Prague,

paid

a tribu te to the author for

his

very exc

ellent

paper,

and especially for the very full

informat

ion

on

cables.

The figures given, he

thought,

were true, and they

demonstrated t

he

a

dvanta

ges of the triphase

system, which Mr. I{olben himself had always ad

vocated,

and

which was sure to come out as the final

survival, also for combined light and power dis

tribution

. F or large and crowded cities,

he

ag

reed

that tripha

se tram way motors would n

ot be suit

ed,

but for long-distance lines the

triphase

system

would

answer. We

lost

still

t

oo much

power in

regulation, but li ttle headway had

been

made in

t he

United

S

tates

, as

he had alr

eady

mentioned

,

before the

adoption

of the series-parallel system,

and up

t ill that time

the

power statio

ns had

been

comparatively

too large.

As regard

s frequency,

he

thought

fifty pe

ri

ods right for combined light

and power. They had adopted that frequency in

Prague

for

the

distributi

on · of 3000 horse-power,

all light and power being taken from one central

sta

t ion and one set of

bu

s-bars with sub-stations

and a low-tension

network.

Mr. Field had not

shown the

direct di

st r

ibution

from the thr.ee

end

s

of a secondary network.

Bo

th

Mr.

Kapp and

Mr.

Zipernowsky

regre

tt ed

that th ey

had not studied the pap

er

previously

.

Profes

sor Carhart

ex pre

ss

ed

t he opinion that

they

were, in t

he United States,

mo

re

a

nd mor

e

coming to the general use of t

he

triphase

system

;

t

wo

phases

were

but

little applied

. As

re

ga

rds

frequency, we might go below 50 for combined

light

and

power. At Buffalo incandescence lamps

burned

very steadily on 25-period circuits for arc

lights a hig

her frequ

ency would be desirable. The

continuous-c

urrent

arc,

he

wo

uld

like to

add, w

as

giv

in

g way to al

ternating

arcs run

on

the

triphase

system, and open arcs had almost

di

sappeared in

the United

States

. He would point out t

ha

t syn

chronous triphase motors were very convenient for

driving

contin

uous-current generators du ring the

transition period, when plants were changed.

Mr.

Esson

thought that it was high

time

that

our

ideas on thi s question should become crystalli

se

d.

We should re

member

that

the

triphase di

st ribution

with

a neutral wire was just what the th ree-wire

s

ystem

was for continuous

currents

as regards the

expenditure for copper

.

Engine

e

rs did not appear

to realise this. We were in the United Ki ngdom

handicapp

ed

by

t

he

single-phase

stations

of the

early days.

Tw

o phases

had been adopted

as being

easier

and

mo

re

convenien t

for

the mains alre

ady

in

exi stence but he

felt

pretty

sure

that

the last

single-phase

station

put

down

in

Great Britain

some

years

ago would

not

have

any

successors.

I t would

all

be tri-phase or continuous

current.

Professor

Silvanus P.

Thomp

son also thanked

t

he author

for his very valuable tabulation, but he

disagreed with

Mr.

Esson .in that we should not

crystallise our ideas. I t had

been

very difliculL to

ma

ke

any headway he re against continuous

currents,

fS

EPT

. 20 , I 901.

but he would not like to be misunderstood as to

what

he had previ

ous

ly

said,

apparently, in

criticism of

continuous currents; and he

did

not wish

by

a

ny

means to suggest that t

he

tr·i-

phase system

would

always

be

corr ect

when

we

had

to change over from

high-

freque

ncy single

phases

.

The

Metropolitan

Company, for inst ance, had put n a two-phase

plan

t ,

and

run first o

nly

o

ne

of

the ph

ases.

'l

,

ran

s

formers were not

suitable

for such changes. As to

regulation on

combined

l

oa

ds, lamps

might

be put

on the two legs,

le t

ting the angle of the

V take

care of itself.

Mr. de

li

erranti,

who was unfortu

nately

not

pr

e

sent, remained

convinced

up

to

t

he

presen t day that t

he

mono

pha

se system would yet

ru le supreme. He

did

not share this view ; but

there was a possibility of its

turning

out correct.

The complica tions of the

triphase

systen1, which

were so

oft

en ta lk

ed about, did

not exist

in

reality.

Mr. W. B. Rhod

es

bri

efly reviewed the theo

retical advantages of moto r generator s, synchronous,

and ass

ynchr

onous

mot

ors.

As

to synchronous

motors,

th

eory was still a little doubtful.

Mr. Blat

hy, of

Budap

es t,

thought

that this

latter question depe

nd

ed

very

much

on

cil·cum

stances. The motor-generators would

be

b

est if

hig

her

tensions

than standard ten

sio

ns had

to

be

applied. When tramways had to

be

driven from

central station

s,

he

believed

in the direct

triphase

system; the regulation was easy, and no loss of

energy

necessa

ry

;

the

eco

nomy

was, at

lea

st,

as

g

oo

d

as

with co

ntinuou

s

curr

e

nt

s.

The Va ltelina

Railway,

110

kilometr

es

in

length, s

hor

t

ly

to

be

opened for

electric service, replacing the former st eam service,

would have passenger

trains running

at 40 miles,

and goods trains

at

20 miles an hour, with stations

about

four miles

apar

t . I t seemed to be overlooked

also

tha

t the torque of the electric motor locomotive

was constant, while t hat of a s

team

engine

might

fluctua te in the ratio of 2 to 3. There was no tender

to be pulled, moreover,

and

the el

ectr

ic locomotive

would

dr

aw

at

le

ast

as much as a steam engine

of equal weight. With rega

rd

to frequency,

he

considered

that

42 per iods

wa

s coming more and

more

in t

o favour as t he low

est limit

for arc lamps.

li,or incandescence l

amps

22

periods

would suffice,

and if we put three filaments n

the

lamp, there

was not.hin g to

pr

event us from going down

to 10 cycles. The energy flow

in

t

he

triphase

system was constant, and that

constituted

its chief

s

up

e

ri

o

ri

ty over

the

mono

phase

and

bipha

se

systems.

Vienna had been

sin gle phase ; three

years ago they had passed over to biphase distri

bu t ion, and,

with

concentric mains, t wo

di

stinct

two-phase systems mig

ht

quite well be advisable ;

but the Con

tinent

was fairly unanimous as to the

triphase system.

Mr.

Gerald Stoney, of Newcastle-on-Tyne, quoted

a significant case. Messrs. Brown, Hoveri , and

Co.

are

now

puttin

g down

triphase

generators

in one of

the Frankf

ort municipal central stations.

Mr. Stoney

pointed

out

this

change, of which Mr.

Field had

not been

in formed

.

Th

e

author had

not touched upon the advantages of synchronous

motor g

ener

ators

as

condensers

by

over-exciting

the

genera tor.

Mr.

Geipel also emphasised that

the

complicat ions

of triphase switchboards were imaginary, since

they had

three

small switches in

stead

of two large

ones.

We

could use la

mps of

lower vo

ltage on

th ree-phase systems, the generators c

ost

much less

than those for single-phase installations, and t

he

regulation with ]a

mp

loads offe

red

no difficulties, as

he knew from experience.

In

his reply,

Mr. Field repeated

that his remarks

concerned cpiefiy low

-t

ension networks, which Mr.

Kolben

appeared to have overlooked. With regard

to t he biphase system, he entirely concurred

that

it offered

no

advantages, e

xcept in

special cases,

such

as Professor Thompson had spoken of, and

that it

suited

the Board of

Trad

e regulations.

If

members

would visit the

Pinkston central station

in Glasgow, t

hey

would convince

th

emselves t

ha

t

there

w

ere no

complications in

tripha

se systems.

How

well r

otar

y

converter

s would wo

rk,

even

if

the

engines would not

keep

in

pa

rallel,

he had

oft

en seen in Glasgow.

He

quoted a case where

two generators went out of step

and

we

re

synch

ronised again,

and

o

nly

one

sub

-stat

ion

circuit went out.

They did

not in Glasgow

recrulate the tension in the genera ting station, b

ut

kept i t at

constant

voltage in the sub ·

stat

ions.

Acc

umulator

charging from rotary converters was

not very convenient, he

admitt

ed.

By

the

suggestion of Mr.

R. K.

Gray,

who had

7/17/2019 Engineering Vol 72 1901-09-20

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/engineering-vol-72-1901-09-20 11/47

S PT

.

20, 1901.]

t lken

the

chair, the two next pa

pers by Mr.

Ma.v or

and Mr. Hobart were

discuss

ed

together.

l\1oDERN

CoMM

UTATING DYNAl\10 M ACHINERY, WITH

SP E

OIAL R E

FERE

NCE TO ·

rHB CoMM

UTATING

LIMIT

S.

Under the

pressure of

Mr.

H. M .

Hobart,

at

pre

s

ent of Berlin, hurri

ed

th

r

oug

h

his iQ J

po

rtan

t

paper, which

we

sha

ll

p ublish Jat er, at a vflry rapid

rate

;

then Mr.

H e

nry A  

Mavor, of Glasgow, fol

low

ed

with

hi

s

paper

on

the

DESIGN

OF

C

ON

TINUO

US- CURRENT

DYNAMOS.

Th i

s

we

h

ope

..to

publi

sh l

at e

r

;

it

is

not

o

ne that

ca l well

be

abstracted.

The

two papers,

he

said,

mtght

appear

to have been

wri

tten in

combination,

as

they

agr

eed

almost

entirely, except

as

to hi

s

fo

rmul

a

(4

)

in whi

ch

he

differed from Mr.

Ho b

at

t ;

but he

had

not seen

Mr.

Hobart's

paper

till the

eve

ning

previous,

and,

in f

ac t

,

ha

d not h

ad time to

assimil

ate

it .

I t wa

s,

no

do

ub

t , a

very

valuable

paper ; but

his im

pression was that ma

ny quest

ions

had not

been

d

ea

lt

with

sufficien t

ly in detail

to

enable manufacturers

to base

designs

upon it.

Mr. Hobart's tables

we

re certainly

good,

and

he

ventured to

suggest that i

hie own

-M

r.

a v o r

- ene

rgy

fa

cto

r

were

intr

od

uced in to

them, the

paper

wo

uld

become s

ti

ll more useful.

He

was

co

nvin

ced that notwitsta.nding a

ll

that had been

said, t h

ere was st

ill a field

for ingenuit

y in com

mu

tato

r

CQ

nstruc

tio n. He would, f

or

instance

,

like to get

rid

of mica in

su

l

at

ion.

Mr.

Kapp

agreed

that the

cont

inu

ous

current

was

by no means old -fas

hi

oned,

and

that

we

had reason

to

occ

upy

ourselves

with

pa

rticul

a

rs

of design.

Mr.

Mavor

wanted

deep

slo

ts

;

but

so

metim

es

fl

at

slo

ts might

be rig

ht.

For instance, for 1000-volt

ma

c

hine

s-

there

was

no demand at

p

res

e

nt

f

or

hi

gher voltage

s-

- deep slots lost

to

o much

in

insuh

tion. We required

ma

ny

sections

for the

commu

tators

; a

nd

he

would

like

to draw

a

tt e

ntion

to

a

rece

nt type

of commutator bal's, which

were narrow

and bent.

Mr.

Kapp

gave

an approximat

e fo

rmula

for the output of a dynamo s

impl

y invo

lvin

g

dimensions and speed

;

th

e power

in

kil owa

tts

wasP.:

-

P C

D.

L U.

. = . 100 . 100

wher

e D a

nd

L m

eant the diamete

r

and the

len

gt

h

of the

armat

ur

e

in

cen timet r

es

, U t

he numb

er of

revolutions

per

minut

e, a

nd

C was a co-efficie

nt

a

very

e

lasti

c co-efficie

nt, he

had

to

admit,

as i t

varied

from

0.6

for

small machines

of indiff

erent

d

es

i

gn

t o 2.6 for well-desi

gne

d

large

machin es.

Thi

s C also depended on

the

diam

et er,

th e

relation

be

ing 0.6 ~

·

Professor

Carhart contented

himse

lf

with con

g

ra

t ul

atin

g

the author

s on t

heir

papers.

Professor S . P .

Th

ompson was

glad to hav

e this

opportunity of saying something

on co

ntinuou

s·

current

dynam

os. H e

did

n

ot wi

sh

to

cri

t ici

se

;

the paper

s were

very

u

sef

ul; but

he would ask Mr.

Mavor

what

his energy factor re

a

lly meant. In

(1)

it was explained as er

gs

per second

per cubic

centi

met re

per

second,

and

a

little

lower down unit

velocity

and

uni

t

field

we

re

introduced. If the

la

tt e

r was a slip-( Mr.

Mavor at

once assented)-we

had in the

K s

imply the amperes passing through

the

sq

ua

re

centimetre of the active belt, reckonin g

copp

er

a

nd

ir

on

toge

ther, and

it

wo

uld

then not

be

very

s

urpr

ising

that manufacturers had

come

to

substantially th

e

same

values for

the

ene rgy facto

r.

As

Mr. Kapp had

given a fo

rmul

a, he

mi

gh t

remind

the

Section of

a rou gh formula proposed by

Mr.

Steinmet

z :

the

output P is in kilowatts

=

/

 

· 

where

d and l

represe

nted

r espective

ly

the diameter

and the

le

ngth

of

the

core b

od

y,

an

d S was a con

stant

varying

between

2

and

4

for sq

uar

e

inch

un i

ts

.

The

speed did not

ente

r in to

this

fo

rmula,

as

i t

re

ferred to

a

certainapp

r

oved

b

est

spe

ed.

Mr.

Hobar t 's

Tables

and

paper, particularly the researches

on

the

subdivision of a g

iven number of turns in

many

sl

ots, were of much

value,

but

he would

li ke

to hav

e a litt

le more inform

ation co

ncernin

g

the

mac

hine

s

of Table II., wh

e

re

n

oth

ing

was said

on fluxes

and

flux

den

sity

in

the

ga

ps.

Th

e

re

acta

nce voltage was a q uantity

we

owed

to

1\fessrs .

Pa rs

hall

and.

Hobart. This

voltage,

an

d

its

1atio 'to

the average el

ectromotive

force,

might be

u

se

ful

terms as regards

co

mmutation, but

he was doubtful

whet

her

t

he ratio

was

the pr

oper quan t ity

to

be

considered,

because

in rever

sa

ls we d

epe

nde

d,

not

on

average field, but

on

actual

field.

If we had

a

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

perfect bru

sh, t

he cur

rent sho

uld

sudd e

nly

go down

to

zero ; but th

ere

was

th

e

time in t

erval, the com

mu ta ti

on

per i

od

,

depending

up

on

the fringe

of

field,

the

pole

tips,

&c .; and what happened in this

interval nobody

r

ea

lly had

attempted

fully

to inv

es

ti

gate

.

Mr.

Parshall assumed t hat the c

urrent

dropped in

a

kind

of

alternatin

g-c

ur rent

sine c

ur

ve.

The carbon brus

h she ared off the

cu r

re

nt

as

in

a

valve, a

nd the

resistance

in th

e va

ryin

g

area

of con

tact played

an im

portant

part.

Much had been

written

on commutator construction, but nob

ody

had seemed

to

have

to

uched

on

the

eng

ine.

Yet

we

could n

ot expect

en

gine build ers

to

con

st

ruc

t

engines which would

vary

the

ir

s

peed inrersely

as

to

di

amete

rs of the

dy n

amos.

Mr.

Chame

n,

of Glasgow,

mentioned

that at

P

ort

Dund

as seve ral

se t

s vf 1200 horse-power

engines were

runnin

g at 250 revolut ions,

an

d a large

Willans

en

gi

ne of 2400

hor

se-p

ow

er

at

180 revolu

tions. He believed

in hi

gh speed engines,

and

his

expe

ri

ence had convin

ce

d

him

that mechanical

t roubles

al

o

ne prev

en ted

the

general

adopt

ion of

high-speed engines.

Thi

s,

the

reader will find, is

ve

ry much Mr.

H o

bart's

view.

Th

e absolutely

true

runnin

g of co

mmutators

of

high

pe

riph

e

ral

speeds

and complete freedom of co

mmutato

rs

and

bru

sh

supports

from v

ibra

t ion,

he

states,

are purely

questions of sufficiently so

lid and

consequently

pensive n1echanical con

st ruc

t

ion

th rougho

ut.

Mr. W. B. Sa

yers refe

rred

to

the

difficulties of

sta

ndard isat ion, which

Mr. Hoba

t t himself hld

c

haracterised as

inv olving a

stupendou

s

programme

of rating.

A s

regards

the

cause of

th

e trouble

in

commutation,

he thought

we

might ro

ug

hly sa

y that

the

commuta

to

r

did not

give

the

c

ur r

e

nt any

g uid

ance

wh

en

it

falls o

ff,

a

nd he furth

er developed

the

diagram

which

Profe

ssor

Thomp

son h

ad drawn.

Co

lonel Crompton considered Mr. Mavor 's sug

gestion

of

prac

tical value, while much t

ha

t had been

written

on dynamo design

wa

s useless .

We had

now learned

to ke

ep

commutators perfectly smooth

a

nd

ro

und and stea

dy.

In that

r

espect the

adop

tion of the wheel press process f

or

the

construction

of co

mmutat

o

rs

const it ute d a

great impr

ove

men

t .

He endo

rsed

what

Mr.

C

hamen

had

said -

that

we

could o

btain

econo

my

only

with

high

peripheral

speeds

in

eng

ines and dynan1

os.

Th at

was

the

one

point, mo

re

over,

on

which

we did

score

in Engl

and.

In

replying,

Mr. Hobart

ack nowledged

that

Mr.

Mav or 's fo

rmula

(4) seemed

to be

very convenient.

The

1000

volts

of which

Mr.

l{

ap

p had spoken

need

not be th

e

limit,

so

far

as con

stru

ctors w

ere

concerned.

The high

er the voltage, the eas

ier the

design.

Mr.

Lasc

he

h

ad

do

ne

some good

work

on

ten

sion

members in

large

alternating

rnac

hines

;

that mig

ht be

possible also for

commutat

ing

mac

hine

s.

With regard to Professor

Thompson's

inquiry

concerning

Table II . , Table VII. con

tain

ed

fur

ther inform

at

ion.

The ra

tio of r

eactance

voltage

to the av

e

rag

e voltage he

did

n

ot himself

regard

as

of

much importance. Th e

problems

deal

in

g

with the fr

inge

commutating

zone w

ere

ve

ry

complicated to

follow, but we had not been very

successful

in

our

attempts

to

impr

ove m

atte

rs by

s

haping

t

he

pole corners.

Mr. Mavor

thou ght that

the ra

tio r

eacta

nce volt

tage to

average elect romotive force was u

se

ful,

because

it included

the average

fi

eld. He hoped

that his fo

rmula

(4) would

be found

convenien t

With respect

to

t

he

independence

and

co

nnect

ion

b

etween engine and dynam

o, that qu

es t

i

on

had

received

far

too li

t tle

consid

erat

ion.

Dy n

amo

makers

had

had

to adapt

then1selves

to the

practice

of

the engine builder, and he thought the time

had

now

come

when the

engine

construotor

s

hould

st u

dy

the

spec

ial

de

si

res

of

the dynamo maker.

Votes

of

thanks

to the

U

niv

ers

ity authorities and

Professor Gray, a

nd to Mr.

the Chairman,

bro

ught the very

successful proceed

ing

s

to

a con

clusio

n.

THE EXCURSIONS

AND VISITS TO

WORKS.

I t

is

not

vossible even

to enumerate all the

excursions a

nd

visits

to

wo

rks made durin

g

the

Co

n gress . On each

afternoon

works su

ffic

i

en t

ly

varied in their nature to suit

t

he

wide in te

rests

of

the

Uo

ngress

wer

e op

ene

d

to

me

mb

ers, while

trips

were organised

to

so

me of

t

he

romantic

spots in

the weRt

of Scot

l

and, wh

ose sce

ni

c

charms

were

fortunately di

sp

lay ed

in bright

s

unny

w

ea t

her.

Friday

was ent

ir

e

ly

given over to en

joym

e

nt

,

there

be

ing

fo

ur

exc

ur

sions.

Edinburgh,

with i

ts

hi

sto

ri

cal association s, and

the

Forth

Bridge,

with

its

imm

en

se

a

nd

impr

essi

ve pr

opor tions, claimed

397

the atte

n tion of a large

num

ber; but

the

Cly

de

es t

uary, as ever,

proved the

most

sed

uctive.

One

exc

ur

sion was by the Caledo

ni

an Company 's

s t e ~ m e

Du

chess of

Hamilton,

fr

om the

famous

Broom

1elaw

q uay

in

Glasgow, down t he

river

w h i ~ h

Gla

fg

ow

ente

rpri

se and capital has

dredged, ~ n h l the tow.n

is acknowled

ged

, with,

perhaps,

a

ht

t

le

of poetlC

licence, as a \ ' sea-girt ci

ty

.

1

J.lhe great

pan

orama

of s

hipbuildin

g

and

engin

eer

ing w

orks

al

ong

the

river proved most

impr

essive, especia

lly

to

t ~ e

foreign gues ts.

Th

e scene was

changed

when, 1n

slipping

past

Greenock, t he

upper eRt

u

ary

, bo

rdered

by

fir-clad hills, came

with

in view.

1'h

e

steamer

th r

eaded

i

ts

way through

the Ky

ea of B ute, a

nd

in t

o some of the long na

rr

ow lochs winding among

the Arg

ylls

hire

hills,

and

finally the members, .

land

ing at th

e

head

of L och

Long

, proceed ed

to dnve to

Tarbet,

and

ta

kin

g a

steame

r

down Loch

Lomon

d,

re

turn

ed by

rail to

Gl4sgow.

Th

e

other

trip

w

as by

the

P arsons'

stea

m

turbine

·

driven

steamer

King

Ed ward,

the machinery

of

which was the

princip

al so

ur

ce of

at t

racti

on

.

The

vessel was

to

have gone

into

t he lower estuary, but

a fr esh breeze sug

gested

as

prudent

a mo

re pro·

tected route, an

d t

hu

s

the

ves

se

l

went up

Loch

Fyne, an

d

afterwards up the sa

me lochs in t

he

Kyl

es of

Bute

as had b

ee

n t

rav

er

se

d

earlier by the

Duch

ess of Hamilton .

The

t

hird

steamer c

har

tered

was

the ever-popular

Co

lum

ba, which was reserved

f

or

the Iron

a

nd Stee

l

In st itut

e,

and went up

to

In verary. All

the

trips added

greatly to the

pl

ea

s

ur

e d

er

ived

fr

om

t he w

eek's

congress.

In co

nc

lusion,

we

ofl'er o

ur

hearty con

grat

ulations

to the promoters on

the

sp

l

endid

success of the

Co

ngress .

We

would

spec

ia

lly mention the

five mem

hers

of t he original committee, a

nd the

m

ost act

ive age

nt

s t

hr

ougho

ut

-

Dr

.

Robert

Ca

ird,

Professor

Archib

ald Barr, D. Se.,

and

Messrs. A.

S.

Biggart, J. F.

Mclntosh, and

H. A. Mavor,

as well as

Mr.

J.

D. Cormack, now

Professor

of

Mechanical

Engineeri

ng

in the

U

niver

s

ity Co

llege,

Lo

nd

o

n,

who

did great servi

ce

as general secre·

tary, and

bo

re th

e cons tant st rain

of

t he heav y

duti

es inv olved

in

or

gani

sing

and carrying

to

success a congress uniq ue

in

its co

mpr

e

hen

sive

character. To th e London co

mmittee

much

of th

e scientific

result

s of

the Co

ngr

ess

were

due,

Sir

Douglas Fo x,

1\-Ir. James Mansergh,

and Dr.

J. H.

T. Tudsbe ry

having given

most

valuable help.

The

ho

norary

secretJlries of all

the

sections also deserve

credit for working

so

willingly a

nd

energetically-

Mr

. R.

El l

i

ott

Cooper

was

Secretary

for Section I.

;

Professor L. F .

V

ern

on

Harcourt

f

or

Sec t on II.

; Mr. Edga

r

W

orthington, B.

Se., for

Sect

i

on I l l

. , Mr.

R.

W. Dana for

Sect

ion IV . ;

Mr. Bennett

H .

Rr

o

ugh

for

Sect

ion V

.; Mr.

J ames Barrow.man for

s ~ c t i o n

VI.; Mr.

Th

omas Cole for Se

ction

VII. ;

Mr.

J.

W.

He

lp

s for

Sect i

on

VIII.; and Mr.

W .

G.

Ma

cmillan for Section IX.

Where

so ma

ny

contributed

enthusiast ically

and

loyally

it

is

im·

possible to name a

Jl

who are wo

rthy of

men tio

n ;

bu t

we

cannot refrain from referring

to

the s

plendid

work

done

by

Mr .

James Ro

wan

in

connection

with

r

ecept

io

ns and

e

nt

e

rtainm

e

nts;

by Mr .

Matthew

P a

ul

in

the almost

herculean

task

of £nding

accommodat

ion

for

the members of

t

he

Congress

within

a city already overcrowded by exhibition

visi

tors and

holiday

tourists; and by Dr. Darr

in

arranging

t

he

rooms

and

other accommodation for

th e

meetings at

the

University,

which pr oved

admirably

sui

table and

co

nvenien

t for

the

Congress.

R

usS IAN PO

RTS.

- The

H.

u

ss

ian Governme

nt

has d

ec

id  d

upon the

re- co

n

st

ruo

bi

on of the ports of

St

.

Pe

tersburg

and Cronstadt. Cronstadb will beco

me

st

rictly a war

porb,

and will be closed to mHc

hanb

vessels.

St

. Peters·

burg is to remain a

co

mmercial

porb

. The commercial

po

rt a b

Sevastopol is to be transferred to Tbeodosia.

- - -

BELGAN CoALEXPORTS.

-The

exporbs

of

coal from Bel•

gium in the first half

of

this year were

2,108,000

tone, as

compared with 2,468,590 tons in the corresponding period

of 1

900

. The

ex

ports in

June

figured in these totals for

328,974 tons, as oompared

wi

bh 345h467 tons in June, 1900.

The exports to France

fi

gured in t e general total for the

pasb

bwo

half-years for 1,675, 422 tons and 1,830,469 tons.

FIREPROOF Woon

.-The

secretary of the United States

Navy has approved a repo

rb

of

th

e Board of

Na.val

Con

stru

ct

ion recommending a di

sco

ntinuance

of

the use

of

fireproof

wood

for decks a.nd for all joiner wo

rk

below

the protecti

ve

decks on vesseld having such decks, and on

all vessels below the berth deok. Wood treated by

th

e

fireproofing process will be ueed, however. in torpedo

boats and torpedo·boab destroyers, and will be painted.

In other ships metal will be used in the place

of wood

wherever p

os

sibl

 

.

•

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:

E

GI N E ER iN

C 

[S  T 

20

196 .

TH E

WHIT

EH

EA

D TORPEDO WORKS

AT Fl UME.

posed at .90 deg., and working on

the

same crank.

To equahse the speed, which otherwise would have

din;inished th e fall of pressure

in

air an autom

at

ic regulato r was pro

vided whiCh controlled the cut-off of the engine.

•

8 millimetres long, with air vessel for

70

at mos

p h e ~ e and

dri ven

by

a

th r

ee-cylinder Brotherhood

engine.

T:S:ESE

were established by Mr. Rober t

Wh itehead In the year 1872, at F iume a to wn of

36,000

in h

abi

ta

n ts , situate d at t he ex

tremity of th e Gulf of Quarnero, about 46 miles

south

-east

of Tr ieste. Mr. Rober t Whi tehead was

bo

rn

at

Bolton-le-Moors, L ancas

hir

e, on J a

nu

ary 3

1823, and att ended the Grammar School

until fourteen years of age . After one year 's pr i

vate study he began

hi

s

pr

actical t raining in t he

shops of M essrs.

R.

Orrno

nd

a

nd

Son,

Man

ches

ter

his u'?cle, Mr. W. S wifb, was manage/

Du rmg the six years that he remained in these

wo

rk

s,

in

his

spa

re t ime he

studi

ed assiduously at

t he Mechanics' In stitute in Mancheste r.

This to rpedo had a speed of 6 to 7 knots at 700

ycl rds . Fur ther tr ials were m

ll

de

fr

om the Austrian

gu nboat Gemse in 1867

and

1868. Up t o t hat time

the depth. of the torpedo had been con trolled by a

hydrostat

iC

plate only. The t rials made in 1868

showed th

at

something else was necessary, tha t is

to say, although the hyd t·ostatic plate gave

th

e tor

pedo a good ave rage de

pth, the

variat ions from

these d

ep t

hs might be as much as from 0 (to rpedo

on the surfar.e) to 6 or 8 metres. H ere Mr. 'Vh ite

head brought out the invention

kn

own for so

many

re

ars as the secret of th e

torp

edo, the

one necessa

ry

to t

urn

it

into

a weapon of

precision as far as its depth-keeping properties

In .1876 Norway, Sweden, and Denmark acquired

the n ght to the use of the invention and in 1876

Turk

ey and

Ru

ssia. F or

the

las t-rdentioned

Go

vernm ent torpedoes were con

st

ructed not only for

use from ships, but also for coast defe'nce, they had

a length of 6.7 m

etre

s, and made 17 to 18 knots at

1000 metres. P ortugal adopted the weapon in

1877, followed shortly aftenvards by Argentina

Belgium, Chili, and Greece; in 1885 by H olland

1891 by

th

e U n

it

ed

St

ates , a

nd in

1895 by J apan

which up to t hen had been supplied by

th

e r m a ~

torpedo works of Sch warzkopff and Co . China

hither to supplied by the same firm, was the latest

addition to the li

st

,

ha

ving o

rd

ered dur

in

g the

present year.

n leaving Manchester , Mr. Whitehead went as

draughtsman to the wo

rk

s of

Me

ssrs. Philip Ta

yl

or

in

Mar

se

illes, then kn own as

th e F orges eb Chantiers de

la Med ite

rr

anee,   of wh ich his

uncle had been appoin ted

ma nager. H ere he

rem

ained

three years, and in 1847 went

to Milan, where he occupied

himself

in

the con

st

ru ct-ion of

silk -spinning mac

hin

ery. H e

patent ed several impor tant

improvemen ts in this branch,

but was deb

ar

red by political

events

fr

om rea

pin

g the bene

fit of his invent ions, as the

revolu tionary government an

nulled th e patent s gran ted

un

der

the

Aust rian ·  ime 

F or the next two years Mr.

Wh itehead was in the service

of the

"Aus

trian Lloyd  

in

Trieste, as constructo

r,

after

which

he

took the post of

manager to the

Sta

bilimento

Tecnico Trie

st

ino (1\iessrs.

Str udthoff

 .

n 1858 he accepted the in

vita.tion of a number of Fiume

ca

pi

talists

to

assi

st

in

th

e foun

da tion of a marine engineering

works

un

der the name of the

Stabilimento Tecni co Fiu-

mano.  

Th

e ne w en te

rp

rise

rapidly attained gr

eat

re

pute

owing to the excellence of th e

marine engines of Mr. White

h

ba

d 's constru

ct

ion, most of

t hem being supplied to the

Austrian Navy, which wa s, in

fact, the chief suppor ter of the

wo

rk

s.

Th

e falling off in the

requirem

ents

from this quar

ter in 1871 was the forer unner

of the closing of t he

wo

rks in

1872, when Mr . Whitehead

took them over in his own

name, and founded the now

well-known torpedo works.

In

t

hi

s under taking he was joined

by his so

n-

in - law, Count

George H oyos, and l

ate

r by

his eldest son, Mr. J o

hn

White

head.

Th e history of the evolu tion

of the Whitehead torpedo may ·

be briefly given as follows :

In the year 1860, Capta

in

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

J

Lupp

is, of

the

Aust rian

Na

vy, conceived the idea

of a boat for coast defence, dirigible from a dis

tance, and ca

rr

ying an explosive charge to be fired

by a con tact device.

In

1864: Cap

ta

in L uppis

associated himself with Mr. ' Vhitehead, so as to

br ing

pr

actical mechanical ability to work on his

in ven tion . Mr. Whitehead quickly dec

id

ed that

t he idea of a boat steered

fr

om the shore was

impracticable, and that the only possibility of

success was offered by

an

underwater projectile

independent f rom t he moment

it

was launched.

The first torpedo, as

we

now understand the wo rd,

was fi

ni

shed in October, 1866, and is illu

st

rated in

Fi

g. 1, page 395. I t had a

di

ameter of 366 mill

i

metres

, a

nd

a len

gt

h of 3.36

met re

s.

Th

e

tota

l

weight was 136 kil ogrammes, and the explosive

charge 8 kil ogrammes, the air

pr

essure in the

rese

rv

oir being 26 atmospheres. The engines we

re

of the com

pound

oscillating type,

th

ere

high-pressure and one low-pressure cyhnder dis-

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

I

•

•

•

-

MR. R o BERT

W HI

TEH EAD.

we

re co ncerned. Th is invention consisted in the

addition of a pendulum, cont rolling a second pair

of horizon tal rudders, so that the hydrostatic plate

now governed

th

e abso lu

te

d

ept

h, and the pendu

lum prevented the depth line vary ing a

pp r

eciably

from th e horizontal.

In

July, 1870,

Mr

. Whitehead made a series of

ex

periment s in presence of the represen ta tives of

the

Bri

tish Admiralty at Sheerness, with such

sa t

is

factory results that the Bri t ish Government acquired

th e use of the in

ve

ntion in 1871, as Au

st

ria had

already done in 1868. This example was followed

in 1872 by France, and in 1873 by

Italy

and Ger

many, w

it

h the pr

ov

iso, however, from the latter

power th

at

the speed of the torpedo mu

st

be brought

up to

at

least 16 knots for a

run

of 650 me tres. In

the course of a year

th i

s task was easily accom

plished, and the torpedo made for the German Go

vernment running 17 knots for a distance of 760

metres ; this was a 35-centimetre to rpedo, 6 metres

•

•

A \Vhitehead torpedo of the latest type is shown

in

Fig. 2,

page 395, and the

following shor t descrip tion will

give some idea of

th

e progress

mllde since the historical

tr

ials

in 1866. Beginning at the fo r

ward end, we have the pistol  

or pe rcussion firing mechanism

A, consi

st

ing of the strike r 1

(see Fig. 3), armed wi th

•' whisker

s"

2 for insuring

engagement with

th

e skin of

•

•

the enemy's vessel, should the

torpedo strike a glancing blo

w.

Th

e head B is formed of

phos-

phor - bronze sheet 1.5 milli

me

tr

es th ick, and contains the

charge of damp gun·cotton 3,

with a dry gun-cotton primer

4, and a percussion cap 5,

which last is fired when the

st

riker 1 is driven back by the

torpedo reaching its target.

The head described

(" wa

r

head '') is replaced fo r exer

cising purposes by a head of

steel plate some 3

mi

llimetres

thick, the explosive charge is

re

presen ted either by water

ballast or by a teak dummy

and

th

e

"pis

tol   by a

poi nt of iron, having a trans

verse . hole for receiving the

tow hne when the torpedo is

picked up after a run.

N ext we have the air vessel

C,

co

nsi

st

ing of a

fla

sk of steel

capable of supporting

th

e hy

draulic test pressure of 2UO

atm

os

phe

re

s, to enable a work

ing pressure of 150 atmos

pheres to be carr ied. The

air vessel is charged by intro

ducing a n

ozz

le in the sock

et

6,

Fig 

4, the air charge being re

by the check valve 7, or,

In case th e torpedo is

not

re

quired

to

be used immediately

after charging,

by th

e hand

screw-down valve 8. Commu

nication is establ ished bet ween

the .air vessel the to

rp

edo

engme by the

p1

pe 9 leading

to the admission valve D and

to the pressure r egulator E,

w

hi

ch is in d irect connection

wi

th the sl ide-valve chests of

the engine F . The admission valve D is furn ished

wi th a lever 10 which engages with and is th rown

back by a projecting bolt in the impul

se

tu be wh en

the torpedo is launched. The t urn ing back of th is

lever admi ts air to the engine, the air at high

pressure being reduced to working pressure in its

passage

th r

ough th e pressure regulator or reducing

valve.

When the to rpedo is fired f rom an above-wate r

tube, this operation is actually a lit tle more co m

plicated than would be supposed from the ab

ov

e

descrip tion, as in this case the throwing back of

the air lever 10 may be likened to the cocking of

the hammer of a gun, and the actual admission of

a

ir

to the engine is effec

te

d by t he action of the

water on the li

tt

le plate 11 ("water

trip

per ")

when th e torpedo takes its first plunge, so that

the ' 'water tripper may stand for t he tr igger of the

gun.

Th

e object of this supplementary mechanism

is to avoid the loss of air and general shak ing up

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SEPT.

20

,

I 90

1 ]

•

I

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

E N G I N E E R I N G

THE

WHITEHEAD

TORPEDO

W011KS

•

• • .

.

•

•

••

•

•

•

• • •

•

•

. \

•

• • •

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

• • •

•

. ..

....

•

.

.

•

•

•

r

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

F I

G. 6. VIEW OF W oRKS F Ro u TBE SEA .

•

• cl:.:

  .

' .

~ ' - -

. .._,,

•

•

•

•

'

•

•

l

•

399

-

AT

FlUME.

•

•

•

•

...

•

•

•

'

.

•

. .

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

• 4 • 1

•

•

•

FIG. 13.

G ROUP

oF H oRI

ZONTAL

LaTH

ES•

'

;1

•

•

• i

•

•

.

•

•

f

.

•

•

•

••

•

(

•

•

•

•

•

.

.

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

'

•

•

•

•

'

.

•

•

•

•

.

•

•

•

•

Fi o

. 12. VERTICAL H r ~ o

MILL

Foa ToRPEDO .

F IG. 14.

GR I

N Dit\G OUT AN

I MPULSE

T UBE .

v hich would oc cur were the engine allowed to race

under full pre8sure

during

the flight of the tor

pedo th rough the air .

.

Th

e engine F is of the t

hree

-cylind er

type

;

the

admiss

ion, cut-off

and

exhaust are controlled by a

valve to each cylinder,

actuated by

a cam en

the

engine

shaft, with which they

are

kept in close

contGl

ct

by

th

e pressu1e

of the

live

a

ir , l he

exhau

st

•

air is

led

away

to

the aftermost

extremity

of th e

torpedo

t

hrough the

hollow

engine

sh

aft 12.

As we have concerned ourselves up to now

with

th9

p r o p l l i n mechani

sm of the

torpedo,

we will

•

•

•

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•

4

00

•

follow the eng

in

e sha.ft through the buoyancy

chamber

G

t o t

he

tail.

Th

e shaft is continued

rig

ht

thr ough t

hi

s part, and carries t he left-handed

pr

opeller ; a sleeye tu be

turning

fre ely on the

shaft carries the right-han

ded

propeller 14

an

d

this sleeve tube is dr i ven at

the

same speed the

shaft, but

in the opposite direction, by the nest of

mitre gearin g 15. .

This arrangement

is adopted

to

preven t the rotatiOn of the

torped

o on i

ts

o

wn

axis, which would inevitably occu1' i

the

torpedo

were driven by a single prope

ll

er.

We

may

now consider the remaining mechanism

of

the

torpedo,.

which consi

sts

of two

apparatu

s,

ea?h of equal Impor

ta

nce to the propelling ma

chi n

ery,

the first controlling

the

dept h line or ver

t ical t rajectory of the torpedo, and the second the

direct

ion or horizontal

trajecto

ry.

_Th e .d

ep t

h mechanism (

  diving

gear   ) is con

t

atned In the

chamber J

abaf

t

the

air vessel and

consists of a spring-loaded hydrostatic 16

working.in

conjunct

ion w_ith a

pendulum

17, th rough

th e medlUm of the steermg engine (se rvomotor) 18

on the h

or

izontal ru

dders

19 of t

he torp

edo. As

before

exp

lained, the function of the hydrostatic

~ i s t o n is to keep

the

torpedo

at the

absolute d

ep t

h

lm

e ca

ll

ed for by

the

compression of its sp rin g

;

the

pendulum

prevents the torpedo

taking

an ex

cessi

ve

angle up or down, and

flat

ten

s, as o

ne

may

say, t he

strongly

undulating depth line which

would be

produced

by

the

action of the hydro

static

plate alone.

Th

e g yrosco

pe steering

mechanism

K

is

di

sposed

in the buoyancy chamber

G

immedia te

ly

abaft the

engine bulkhe

ad.

This apparatus was

in

vented in

1897 by

Mr.

L. Ob ry, engineer, of

Trieste

,

impr

oved

and in troduced by Messrs.

Whitehe

ad, and now

for ms an essential part of the torpedo. I t con

sists,

as its nam

e de

note

s, of a gyroscope 20

ac t

ing through

a miniature

stee

ring engine 21 on the

vert ical rudders 22 in the tail.

' rhe

gyroscope

wheel is set

in

rapid r

otat

ion

by

the ac tion of a

spiral s

prin

g wound

up

by

hand

before launching

the to rp edo, and released by the throwing

ba

ck of

t he air-admission lever ; hence the moment the

torpedo

commences to move

in

t

he impulse

t

ub

e,

the g yroscope wheel is r

ap

idly revolving, and, as is

well

kn

own, will

continue

to rev olve in its original

plane of rotation.

Should t

he

torpedo, therefore, be deflec

ted by

its

head strik

in

g the

wat

er first (as is usually the case,

for

inst a

nce, when firin g

from

the

beam of

a

tor

pedo·boat

in

m

ot

ion), or,

inde

ed, from any

ot

her

cau

se

, the gyroscope corrects this defle

ct

ion by

giving helm port or sta

rb

oard, as required.

The success at tained by this latest addition

to

the torpedo has been p

henom

ena

l, so

t hat it m

ay

fairly be

said

that

t

he

gyroscopic

stee

ring

apparatus

has

done

for the di rec tion of the to rpedo what the

combination of hydrostatic plate and pendulum did

for the depth

line.

We give below the principal data of the torp edo

we have been examining:

Diameter ... ... .. . . .. 45 cen timet res

L

engt

h,

including

pistol .. . 5 metres

Weighb, read y for launching ... 557 ldlogs. (1228 lb.)

Weight

of explosive cna.r

ge

(damp gun-cotton) .. . .. . 60 k i l o ~ s (132.2 lb .)

Capacity of air vessel ... .. . 341 htres (12.04

cub ic feet)

W orking pressure in air vessel. .. 100 atmos. (1470 lb.

per square

in

ch)

Working

pressure

in

e

ngin

e ... 35 a.tmos.

514.

5

lb

.

per equa.re inch)

Diam

ete r of cy

tinder

s of en

gi

ne

(th ree) ... .. . . . . .

Stroke

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

4 in.

3 ,

Pitch

of screw-

pr

ope llers (four·

blade

d) . . . . .. . .

40 ,

After this short review of the developme

nt

of

the to

rpedo

to

its present form, we will proceed

to

a

de

scription of the works of l\1essrs. Whitehead

and Co. at Fiume, of which we give a plan in

Fi g. 5 on page 395, and a pe rspe ct ive view

in Fig

. 6

on page 399.

These

works have been

almost

en t

ir

e

ly rebuilt

during the last few

year

s, and will now compare

favourably wi th anyt

hing

to be seen

in

the United

Kingdom.

The foundry is exceptionally lofty and well

lighted, and is served by two powerful

trave

lling

c

ran

es,

at

present

o r k e d

by

h

and

p o w ~ r ,

bu

t

to

which electricity IS shortly to be a.pphed. For

iron casting a No. 4

Stewart's rapid

c u p o is u

se

d,

stationed outs ide the foundry ; t

he

casting ladles

are fi ll

ed

fr

om

its tapping t rough, which

extends

through the wall. The gr

eate

r

_pa

r t of the of

the foundry consists, however, 1n b1·onze cast.mgs,

•

E N G I N E E R I N G

and for these there is a range of 12 crucible

furn

aces, the hot gases from which pass throuah

r e c ~ n g u l a r

cast

-i ron flues

in

the core and mould

dr;ymg ch

amber

before en tering

the

uptake;

in

this way the core stove is

kept

at

high

tempe

r

at

ure

by heat that would other wise be los t.

In t he same building wi th the foundry is the

power-house, containing the ma

in

driving engine

~ t e a

m dynamos for ligh ting

and

power t r a n s ~

miSS ion, air e ~ s o and hydraulic pump

and

accumulator for forgmg pre ss. The main engine is of

the vertical

marine

patte

rn

by Messrs. Shanks

of

Ar?roat

h,

t r ~ p l e - e x p a n s i o n

s

ur f

ace-co

nden

sing,

~ i t h

cylinders 8 i In., 13i in.,

and

22 in . by 18 in. stroke.

is supplied with steam

at

150 lb. pe r sq uar e

[SEPT. 20,

I

901.

versely in to

c a r p e n t e ~ s

shop a

nd smit

hy (for

coppersmtths, tinsmiths,

an

d

bla.ck-

smtths).

The centre of No. 4 bay is occupi

ed by

the control

and

tool-rooms-

dep

artments railed off by counter

a ~ d grating. In tho first-named department all

pie.ces

pr

oduced in works are carefully gauged,

we1ghed, and

ot

herwise tested before assembling.

Opposite t

he

fo

undry

is a two-storey buildina

the

ground floor of which is the store and

t h b ~

first fi?or the drawing and other offices ; the pro

longatiOn of _the ground floor of this building to

the

harbour IS

used

as

a b

oat

shed, a

nd

contains

two slips for hauling

up

the steam launches and

other craft employed

in

torpedo t rials.

Suuth of this building, and

exte

nding some

The

stea

m dynamos each consist of a marine- 50 ~ r e s (164

ft.) i?

to the sea,

is

the runn ing

pattern compound

~ n g i

surface-condensing, statwn- a

platf

o

rm

rai sed on piles about 8 ft. above

cranks .at 180 deg., cylinders 12.6 in . and 18.9 in. by the water. On this platform are installed the

10.25 In. coupled di rect

to

a six-pole

p e d o - ~ u n c h i n g

frames and impulse tubes, and

ge

nerator

w1t h

drum

arma tu re; electromotive force

an

o ~ s e r v m g room for the officials engaged in t he

volts, cur rent 800 amperes. Th e engines were runnmg tests. Th e whole is roofed (see Fig. 11),

built by Messrs. Ringhoffer, of Sch michow, near and served by an overh ead electn c crane. The

Pr ague, and the

dyn

amos

by

Messrs. Siemens, of running

ran

ge

extends

due

west

from the sta tion,

Budap

est. and raft s are moo

red

at

the

distances called

The

air compressors, four in number, were . for by the particular type of torpedo under

test

,

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

-

 

•

•

•

•

:

•

;

• •

.

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

••

•

•

• •

•

•

•

•

.

  ·

• • •

• •

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

-

F1a. 11. TnE FLIGHT oF A ToitPEDo.

•

•

built in the works ; they are of the vert ical type,

effecting t he compression in two stages, and each

capable of furnishing 550 lit res (19.4 cubic feet) of

air

at

100 atmospheres (1470 lb. per Equare inch)

pressur

e per hour.

Adjoining the power-house is the boiler-room,

where steam is produced by

three

boilers of novel

co

nstruction, one of which was illustrated by us in

ENGINEERING, vol. lxii., page 554.

Externally

the boil

er

appears to

be

of the usual

Lancashire

type, diff

er

ing o

nly

in

n

ot

being

brick

ed

in ; in te rnally t he ordinary corrugated flue is con

nected with a flue of square section placed on edge

and filled with water tubes extending from side to

side of

the

square in cross layers ;

that

is to say,

the fi rst laye r co

nne

cts the lower right-

hand

plate

to

t he u

pper

left.hand plate, the seco

nd

the lower

le

ft

-ha

nd

plate to the

upper

right-hand plate, and

so on. Th e tubes are not staggered, so that

th

ere

is a through passage between the tubes from end

to

end of

the

flue for cleaning

purpo

ses. Two of

the

boilers are of 200 h orse-power each, the oth

er

,

with single flue, is of 100 horse-power.

From the boiler-house we pass into the main

shop, a

buildin

g of six bays, each 7  m

et

.

res

(24 ft. 7  in. ) wide a

nd

175 met res (574 ft .) long.

'£aking t hese bays as shown on the plan

(Fig. 5 on page 395), No. 1 is devoted

to

heavy

turnin

g;

No . 2 to light t urn ing, milling,

and

s

haping;

No

. 3

and

No

. 4 to fitting

and

assembling

torpedoes; No. 5 to fitting and assembli ng launch

ing tubes, air compressora, and

ot

her accessories,

and

No. 6 to the machining of these objects. On

the south side of t

he

main shop are two bays 7 

metres wide, 125 metres long, and divided t rans-

e.g.   400 met res, 600 metres, and 800 metres

for the usual patte

rn

s

;

1000 metres and 2000

metres for torpedoes for coast-def

en

ce

purp

oses.

A narrow-gauge tramway, with t

urn

tables

at

all

crossings, runs through the who

le

of the works and

to

t he running

stat

io

n.

Part icular attention has

been. given everywhere to arrangements,

as will be by the o w ~ list of the lif ting

and travellmg gear employed 1n t he various bays

of t

he

wo

rks

. (see views on our t wo-page

plat

e).

No.

1

bay

1s

se

rv

ed

by three

walking

jib

cranes

capable of hand lin g weights up to 1 ton. '

N<?s. 3 and 4 bays (

Fi

g. 10) have a

top

rail ex

tendmg

the whole. e n g ~ h of bay, joined

by

numerous cross-rails

wit

h switches, and

ha

vina

several jockeys supporting chain blocks running

them.

Nos .

5

a

nd

6 bays (Fig. 9) are provided each

wi

th

an overhead traveller for 4 tons and one for 1 ton

t he smithy with two overhead travellers, each

1 to n.

Each yard is served by a gantry crane of 4 tons

capacity, and the covered en trance to the sto re is

spann

ed by a 2-ton overhead t rave

ll

er.

In

addition to to rpedoes, Messrs.

Wh i

tehead

manufacture tubes, air compressors, a

nd

all

ot

her accesson es for the torpedo service, and

have also a de

partm

ent devoted

to

the con

st ruc tion of

air

and gas corn

pre

ssors for scientific

an

d

oth

er purposes, two-stage compressors for a

terminal pressure of 200 atmospheres (2940 lb. per

sq

uare inch) being the usual ty

pe

of these l

atter.

Some of

the are

illust r

ated

on page 399.

The tool shown In Fig. 7 on the two-paae plate is

also worthy of notice.

t

is a boring lathe for air-

•

7/17/2019 Engineering Vol 72 1901-09-20

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/engineering-vol-72-1901-09-20 15/47

SEPT

. 20, 190 1. ]

l shells , where the air vessel rotates in

t ~ a d near each end, is driven by a hollow

n ver, and operated on by a massive bor ing s nout

t each end ; the snout is pivoted

in

tho middle

nd

its

outward end is guided by a p l a t ~

giving the d esired

pr

ofile of the b ore.

Th

e works are

li

g

hted

b.v electr icity,

ome 900 glow lamps and 40

arc la

mps being

employed. Th e

nu m

ber of wo

rkm

en exceeds 800.

TH E

BRITI

SH ASSOC

IATION

.

. IN o

ur a ~ t

issue we br iefly re fe

rr

ed to the open

Ing procoedmgs at the recen t meetin

  Y

of the B rit ish

Associat ion at Glasgow. As already stated, P ro

fessor A. W. R ttcker is President t his yea r and

he

de

l ivered '

E P RESIDENTIAL A DD RESS

in

St

.

Andr

ew

 s

H all.

Th

e

addr

ess took a wide

range, dealin g chiefly with the doubts th

at

have of

late been cast on th e soundn ess of

the

atomic

theory. I t would be difficult within th e space at

our comma

nd to

compress the views expressed

in

the somewhat speculative a

ddr

ess without the risk

of doing inj u

st

ice to the author ; and , indeed, to

make t he at t

empt

would carry us outside

th

e s

tr i

ct

boundaries of our own proper pr ov ince. Pe rhaps

the safest course will be to quote th e concluding

paragra

ph

of the add ress, in which Professor Riicker

a

ppea

red

to

s

um up

his conc

lu

sions, and refer

those of our readers who wish to

] J

Ursue t he sub

ject further to the

pr

oceedings of th e Association.

' ' If no other conception of matter

is

pvssible, 

said Pr eside

nt,

than t hat it consists of dis

tin

ct

physical uni

t s -

and no other conception has

been fo

rmul

a

ted

which does

not blurr

wh

at

are

otherwise clear and definite ou tlines if it is certa.in,

as it is, that vibrations travel th rough space which

cannot be

pr

opagated by matter, th e t

wo

founda

t io

ns

of

phys

ical theo

ry

are well and t ruly laid. It

may

be

granted

th

at we have not yet framed a. con

si

st

ent image either of the nat

ur

e of the atoms or of

the ether in which they exi

st

;

bu

t I have t ried to

show that in spite of th e tentative

na

ture of some

of our t heories, in spi te of many outstanding di

ffi

cul t ies, the

at

omic r y u n i f i e ~ ~ so many facts , simpli

fi

es so much that is complica

te

d, that we have a. right

to ins i

st

- at all events

un

t il an equally intelligible

hy

pot

hesis is pro

du

ced- th

at the

main

st

ru

ct

ur

e of

our t heory is tr ue : tha t

ato

ms are not 1

ne

rely helps

to p uzzle mathematicians, but

phy

sical realit ies. 

The usual vote of thanks to the President for

his address was moved by

th

e L ord

Pr

ovost of

Glasgow

and

seconded by Lo

rd

K elvin.

The

latter

uescribed the at tack on the atomic theory as a

cru de rec

rud

escence of

ne

o-ber

ke

leianism, nee

sc

ience, neo-nihilism, n eo-vita.lism, and nee-pan

theism, which has grown up within t

he

last ten

years of the

nin

eteenth cen tury. From the t ime

when Thomas

Th

omson in

th

e

Un i

versity of

Glasgow taught the atomic theory in his lectures,

t

hr

ee years a fter he had learn ed it from Dalton, it

had

be

en felt to b e a reality,

and

it would

be me r

e

word -spli

tt

ing to say we a

re

agn

os t

ic in respect of

that theo

ry

.

On the

Thur

sd

ay

mo

rnin

g of

the

meeting t

her

e

was the usual animated gathering of 1nem hers and

associates, b

ot

h male a

nd

female,

in

t he R

ecept

ion

H all before

the

w

or

k of the

Sect

ions commenced.

Th is year t

he

Association. has been esl?ecially ~ t u -

na te

th

e University a.ffordtng an a

lm

os tl de

al

meetmg

l a c ~

where all the Sections can be accommodated

under

pra

ctically one roof.

:rh

e Bute H ~ l l of

th

e

Un iversity fo

rm

ed an admrrable receptwn-room.

In

rega rd to numbers t he ga ther ing was, as

nate

d somewhat disappointing, the atte

nd

ance bemg

two thousand ; so that Glasgow does not com

pare favourably in its devoti?n to the Br it ish Asso

ci

at

ion

wi

th other centres of Industry, n

ota

bly

Ma

n

chester

and

N ewca.s

tl

e.

In d

eed, th e commercial

me

tr

opolis of Scotland has not lived up to its own

reco

rd

for the

attendanc

e of the present y

ea

r has

f

<:

llen 'short of that of

th

e last Glasgow meeting

in 1876 by not far from a

a n d ;

and it is even

be

low the total of for ty-six y

ea

rs ago, w

city had a. far differe

nt

impor

ta

nce

to

w h i c ~ t

has

no

w

attain

ed.

Th

is h

as

been a sad

disa

ppOint

ment to p

at ri

otic i n h a ~ i of .  the second o

ily

in the k inadom ·  bu t , 1f one may Judge by what one

hears, it i: to be easily f?r. The

culty of

gett

ing accmnmod

at wn

dunng an Exhibi

ti

on period, and the charges of h

ote

l keep ers,

ha

ve

done much

to

keep down t he attendance, many

m

em

bers of the Bri tish Associa.t ion- not a class

•

E G I N E E R 1 N G.

devoted to brass bands, switchbacks, and side

s h o w

 

acting on l rule·, which · has

som

et

hing

to

be said in its favour, of never

visit ing a city which is carrying on a. big exhi

bit ion .

A wi se change was made th is year in the pro

gramme, the whole-day excursions of Thursday

having been abandoned, whil

st

more ambitious

t ri ps were arranged fo r the Sa turday of the

m

eet

ing. Of la

te

yea rs the Thursday exc

ur

sions

have been less and less a

tte

nded. Most of the

sections have got th rough their business on the

Tuesday of the m

eet

ing, and even if si

tt

ings were

held on the We

dn

esday, they have been sparsely

attended. There has, therefore, generally been a

ies

n

on 

h 

second Wednesday- for those who

decided to go to the Thursd

ay

excursions, and con

sequently the majori ty returned home. The Asso

ciation has s u

ffe

red through attempting too much .

Fo ur

days for sitt ings of sections

ar

e qu

ite en

ough :

the Thursday and

Frida

y of t he first week and

Monday and Tuesday of

th

e second ; leaving S

at

ur

day free for t he pleasure t rips, which a

re

a great

at tradion - and quite legit ima

te

ly so - to

th

e

majori ty of members. I t is to be hoped this new

departure will be the ru le. There is another r eason

w

hy th

e excursions are n

ot

so popular as they

might be. Memhers find

th

at somet imes by

going to the railway

stat

ion and taking ordinary

tickets they can do th e t rip at a smaller c

os

t th an

th

at

pa

id

for the Associ

at

ion ti

cket

s.

Wher

e a

ny

surplus goes to is not generally known ; presumably

not in to t he coffers o f the rail way companies.

Th

ere is one other respect

in

which the sections

attempt too much and do a great deal too

li t

tle. The

way in which papers are crowded in to the pro

gramme

pr

events them from being

pr

operly pre

s

ente

d and adequ

ate

ly discussed.

The

great value

of

a

pap er is t

hat

it should provoke discussion.

In

this way crude opinions and en oneous views

are ex

posed, whilst so

un

d principles receive

confirmation by eminent au thori ties. Adequate

discussion, however, needs preparat ion, and when

no one knows what papers are to be read unt il

t

he

morning

th

ey are presented, it is hopeless

t o expect adequate discussions on scientific ques

tions. In order that the Br itish Association may

ful

fi

l its declared function of

th

e advancement

of science - in accordance with it s t itle- it is

ne

cessary that the programme of

pa

pers s hould be

prepared some time before the meeting, and that

means should be taken to inform members as to

the views to be expressed. That means fewer

papers ; but if this were the rule, we should nw onger

see aut

hor

s reading t heir productions to

an

audience

not numerous enough t0 fill

th

e

fr

ont bench, and

presidents of sections only anxious to g

et

the whole

th ing

over,

and th

e

bu

siness closed.

Th

e

Bri

tish Associat ion has, in the pas t, do

ne

much great work, and it is st ill a valuable in

st

itu

tion, t he decay of which would be a l

os

s to the scien

tific wo

rld

a

nd

a s ign of na

ti

onal decadence. I t is

the

t hought of how much more it might do- how

much more could be secured from th e gathering

together of so ma

ny

e

minent

in science-

that

lends

regret to cer

ta

in ma

nif

est shor tcomings. They are

defects which a litt le vigour on the pa

rt

of

th

e

executive would remove.

T

HE EN GI NEERING S ECTION.

Th

e proceedings in Sec

ti

on G commenced, as

usual, on the Thursday of

the

meeting, 1 1 ,

by

the

reading of the President ial Address. As

alr

eady

state

d in

our

l

ast

issue, Colonel

R. E.

Crompton presided over

th

e

En

gine

er

ing Section.

In

accordance with custom, we prin t his address

in full on page 417.

Th

e usual vote of thanks

was briefly propos

ed by

Sir Alexa

nd

er

Binni

e and

seconded by Sir Frederick Bramwell.

M ECH

ANI

CAL

ExHIBIT

S AT THE

GLASGow

E XJIIDI'£ION.

The fir

st

paper on th e li

st

was by Mr . D. H .

M

01·ton,

of Glasgow the s ubj

ect

being Me :

chanical E xhibits at the Glasgow Exh1

b1

t10n.

This was a long and comprehensive paper, whi ch

would form a useful guide

to

those visiting th e

E x

hibi

tion the a

uth

or

in

troducing cer

tain

su

g

aestive critical remarks from time to t ime. vVe

have, in th ese columns, deal t so largely with t he

con

te

nts of the Exhibition that we need hardly go

over the same ground again. .

Th e paper was not of a natu re to lead to dts·

cussion. Af

te

r a few remarks

fr

om Professor

Unwin, in which he spo

ke

of

the

ability shown by

4 01

the

au thor in dealing with

th

e. subject, a vo

te

of

thanks was proposed by the President.

M

AR

I NE

LI

G

IT

TS

.•

Two papers by Mr. J. R. Wigham were next

read by the author . The first described

a. L

ong

Continuous-

Bu

rning P etroleum Lamp

fo

r Buoys

and Beacons.  Th is invent ion was described and

illustrated in o

ur

issue of October 12, 1900. It

will be remembered th

at

t he chief fea

tu r

e of

novelty is a long wick, which passes over a roller,

the two e

nd

s hanging down.

Th

e

fl

ame springs

from

the

part that passes over

th

e roll

er

, a

nd

not

fr

om the ends, as in ordinary lamps . One

par t

of

the

wick is conveyed up through an oil-tight

brass t ube, recei

vi

ng

it

s supply of oil from the

reservoir through holes in its sides, and the other

part is brought down through a tube

sta

nding

above the level of the oil in the lamp. A circular

fl

o

at

is placed

in

a copper cylinder

fi

xed to the

bottom of the lamp and filled

wi

th oil,

and

to thi s

float one end of the wick is attached. The oil in

th

e cylind

er

is allowed to leak away

th r

ough a

spec ial valve, a

nd

as the level is lowered, the float

falls very gradually, t lius causing the wick to

travel over the roller, and so presenting a ne w

surface to

th

e

fl

ame. Some fig

ur

es as to cost given

by

the auth

or we

re

of inter

es t

. The consumption of

oil (pe

tr

oleum) is about half-a-gallon in 24 hours.

At 6d. per gallon

th i

s would amo

un

t to 3d. per day.

Thi

s

is

inclusive of the oil

in

the

fl

o

at

cham

be

r

that

is

allowed to drip away ; but this, in escaping

into th e sea, performs a very useful function in

subduing

th

e wave motion in the neig

hb

ourhood of

the

buoy. Naturally this oil could be saved, and

in t

hat

case the consumption would be about

one-sixth of a gallon per diem. The light is

intended

to

be visible for about

fiv

e or six miles,

and will continue to

burn

without at tendance for

periods up to 90 days if required. This arrangement

for oil-lighting may be com

pa

red with

th

e

co

m

pressed-gas system which i t is in

te

nded

to

replace.

Wh en th e gas, in the l

atte

r, is exhausted, it is

necessary to recharge the empty reser voi r of the

buoy. A boat or steam te

nd

er

br

ings a high

pressure cylinder containing

the

fresh charge of

gas alon

gs

ide fr om the works, which are erected

for making the special

kind

of gas,

and

the charge

is transferred. To refill

an

oil reservoir and change

the wick would be a less expensive and a. simpler

operat ion.

Mr. Wigham's second paper described A N ew

Scintill

at

ing Lighthouse Light .  After referring to

the almost universal adopt ion of the diopt ric syste m,

the author

proceeded to say

that in

the case uf

fi

xed

lig

hts

the dioptric apparatus

co

llects by means of a.

central refract ing belt and upp er and lower prisms

the vertical rays which fall upon them from the illu

minant

, and t ransmits t hem with

th

e unrefrac

te

d

horizontal r ays to every par t of th e horizon as a

steady continuous light . At tolerably close distances

t

he

illumin

at

ion

fr

om this

ar r

angement

ap

pe

ars

as a pillar of light, of

th

e height of the appa

ra

tus

an

d

the

breadth of the illuminant. n t he case of

revolving lights, the opt ical device collects both

the vertical and

th

e horizon

ta

l rays of the illumi

nant by means of annular lenses and upper and

lower

pr

isms, and sends th em in parallel beams

to the hori

zo

n. Each of these beams is much

mo

re

powerful in its effecb than the fixed light,

but

in

order that the whole horizon may be

reached

it

is necessa

ry

that the lent icular appa

r

at

us which transmits

th

em should revolve. As

a consequence there are in tervals of darkness

longer or shorter in durat ion, according to the

speed of

th

e revolu tion. Shipnaaste

rs

obj

ect

to

th

ese in

te

rvals, because it is

difficul

t to take a

bearin g and ident ify the light when it shows

itse

lf

only

fo

r a shor t time, especia

lly

as t

he

periods of darkness a

re

much longer than those

of light. There is also the difficulty that the

light never appears in th e exact p

os

it ion from

which it seems to have disappeared, owing to the

insensible wanderin g of the eye during t he interval

of darkness, a

nd

therefore in thick w

eat

her the

recurrence may be ent ire

ly

invisible. The

Fr

ench

lighthouse have established what

ca

ll

ed f  lt

e l ti? 

.hghthouses, based

up

on the _

prl

_n

ciple

th

at

to

ob

tain

the full _va

lue

of a

ny

.ar ti

fi

Cial

lig

ht

it is only necessary that It should remam before

the eye for a. period of one-tenth or one-twelfth

of a second.

The

revolving lenticular

ap

paratus is

so constructed as to bring t

he

focal li ght to t he eye

for a period of one-tent h of a second, with a recur

rence of the light after an in

te

rv

 

l of darkness of

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402

•

•

.E N,G IN E ER I NIG

•

[SEPT. 20 1901:

ME

CH A

N I

C AL .

FILTERS

AT THE

GLASGOW

EX H I B IT I 0 N

•

•

•

CONSTRUCTED BY MES8RS. MATHER AND PLATT, LIMITED, ENGINEERS, SALFORD

Fig 1

•

• •

•

•

•

· o·

---

•

I

.C)

•

•

•

For Description, see Page 404.)

I

I

I

I

•

I

I

t

,

O

•

I

I

I

I

I

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•

. Fig&

•

• •

•

•

Prcssaro

Ga»..9e

.

m V J ~

.

I.PJ.cs

j

0

0

I

•

•

•

I

I

I

I

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I

I

•

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1

•

•

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I

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I

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------>4

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.Fig.4.

8

· 0 SING I £

PR SSUR

F I I T ~ R

•

. ; , . ~ · _ ~ . •

-. . 0

•

-- ----------.t

•

Fig. J,

•

5 seconds. In the author s scintillating light,

the lenses are so placed

with

regard

to

each other,

and are revolved at such a proportioned

rate

of speed, that the beams from each of

the

revolv

ing

lenses follow each

other

so rapidly

that

the

impression of the

:flash

of one

beam

remains

on

the retina of

the

observer's eye till

that

of

the

succeeding beam takes its place,

the

practical effect

produced being a continuously visible scintillating

light.

The

lenses do not revolve by means of rollers

on

a race-plate,

as

in

the

case of ordinary rev:olving

ligh thouse lights, but are mounted upon a framing

concentrated on a pivot, and so evenly balanced as

to redu

ce

the

friction of

the parts

to a minimum.

The discussion

on

Mr. Wigham's two papers was

opened by the Chairman, Colonel Crompton, who

said that the long-burning

light appeared to

have

points of simplicity as compared

to

some others.

He

had some experience in trying

to

burn petro

leum and would ask the author whether he had

found

difficulty through

thA

gritty particles so

plentifully found in all cheap petroleum.

Professor Barrett, of the Royal College of Science

for

Ireland,

said

he had

seen the scintillating

light

described. The lamp which

the author

was show

ing

in the University been placed on the top

of a high tower in Dubhn, and he o b s ~ r v e ~

t

from

his house.

The results

of hts 1Qvest1gatwns

were contained in a report, some details contained

in which he gave.

Fr

om this it would appear t ~ a t

t h ~ source of light v o n s i s t ~ d

o a

sorqe 3 Jn,

•

I

I •

in diameter, of

16

large incandescent gas lights,

with one or more similar burners in the centre of

the ring.

At

a rate of one complete revolution

in

four seconds

the in t

erval between

the

flashes is so

short

that

the

light is

nev

er

extinguished,

and

resembles a brilliant scintillating star. ·This striking

characteristic Professor Ba.rrett

attributes

mainly

to the large diameter of the ring of burners

whereby a certain divergence of rays uniform

in all azimuths is produced by each of the

annular lenses. The rapid ro ta tion of the lenses

blends these divergent rays into a continuous beam

with superposed scintillations, caused by

the

more

powerful parallel rays from the lenses. The light

as

mounted

in

Dublin

was viewed by Professor

Barrett

from his house at Kingstown, a distance

of 5t miles. At first his eye was at once arrested,

though unaware of . he exact position, the flashing

light asserting i t ~ e l f far above

the

numerous other

lights of

the

city. Professor Barrett suggested

that by the use of the Morse alphabet the name of

the light could be spelt out, and information thus

conveyed to

the

mariner as to his position.

Mr.

Wigham,

in

replying

to the

discussion, said

that sediment in the oil was one of his greatest

troubles, but

he had

overcome this by the u

se

of a

filter consisting of thick cotton layers between fine

gauze.

RECORDING HIGH-PRESSURE

ExPLO

S

IONs.

Mr.

J. E.

Petavel, of Owens College, Manchester,

next

r i l > e d

".'\. e c o r d i n ~ \fanometer for High-

•

•

,

•

-

 

-

•

•

6

Rewaslu

•

6 W ~ h o u t

InLet

Pressure Explosions., I t would be difficult to

give an adequate descript ion of this interesting

r u m e n ~

w i ~ h

illust:ations.

For

the

present,

therefore, t

will

be suffiCient

to

say

that

the spring

of

an

ordinary indicat

or

is replaced

by

a metal

cylinder. The travel of the piston is therefore

limited to the amount allowed by t

he

elastic com

pression of the metal. In

the

case of the records

referred

to

in the paper, this was about one-thou

sandth of

an

inch. A mirro r is supported on a

lever,

to

which the motion of the piston is imparted,

and in this way a ray of light is reflected on to a

rapidly-revolving cylinder; thus recording on a

magnified scale the motion of the piston.

At the

conclusion of Mr.

Petavel s

description,

the

Section adjourned until

the

next day.

RoAD

RESI

STANCE.

I

he first business on Friday, Septemher 13,

in

the Engineering Section, was

the

reading of

the

report of

the

Committee on Resistance of Road

Vehicles

to

Traction by Professor Hele-Shaw, Secre

tary to

the

Oommittee. This was large

ly

of

the

nature

of a preliminary report, containing a

forecast of what would be the progress of

the work of the Committee. The subject is

one of great importance,

and

has been too

long neglected by engineers. It is

to

be hoped

that the Committee will be able to carry out the

excellent programme sketched out, and that without

delay.

The

p r a c t i c ~ of ro

tl}

d engineering has not

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S EPT.

20 , rgot.]

E N G I N E E R I N

G

THE SCHLEIFMUHLE   EXPRESS PUMP.

•

CONSTRUCTED BY

lVIE

SSRS. EHRHARlYJl AND

SEHMER, ENGINEERS,

SOHLEIFMUHLF1, SAARBRUCKEN.

or es

  vi

ption  see Pa ge

4 5

only

not

advanced during

the

la

st three

-quarters of

a ce

ntury

,

but

has actually gone back, and y

et

there are

few things

that

more closely and more

frequently affect the comfort and convenience of all

classes of people.

One difficulty that the Committee encountered

at

the

outset was want of funds.

The

sum allo·

ca.ted to the purpose

by

the Association, although,

perhaps, as much as was to have been expected,

was altogether too small to enable the work to be

carried on. Ib was concluded

that

a sum of

lOOOl

was required. I t is stated

in the

report the

Committee felt t hat, in view of the great develop·

ment of mechanical traction upon roads, the scope

of the report should not merely be limited to ex

periments on tractive resistance,

but

would deal

with the effects of vehicles upon road surfaces of

various kinds, and would involve experiments not

only with different kind of tyres, but with varying

loads

and

speedR

and

with different types of

vehicles.,,

It was considered, therefore,

that

the Committee

might look with confidence to substantial pecuniary

support from makers and users of traction engines

•

•

-

•

• •

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

and

manufacturers of motor vehicles ;

and

al

so

from County Councils a

nd

local boards. A circular

was drawn up with this end in view, but pending

the consent of the General Committee of the

Association, an application for funds had not been

pressed. Meanwhile, an offer had been received

to lend a motor car to

the

Comm

itte

e for

an

indefinite period, and it was determined, in

accepting this offer, to proceed at once with a

series of preliminary experiments which would

pave the way for future and more complete

investigations. During the

past

few months work

has been steadily proceeding upon the motor car.

I t is hoped that very shortly new engines for the

car will be ready, and a first series of the experi

ments may be commenced. These it is proposed to

make with single wheels, having various types of

tyres ; the track for this purpose, n the first place,

will be artificial, consisting of differe

nt

kinds of

materials laid in troughs

or

trenches, about 18 in.

or

2ft.

in

width, so

that the

dynamometer itself

can be thoroughly tested when the car is running

upon a level surface.

In this way the autographic records obtained for

•

materials such as sand,

we

t and dry, loose stones,

artificial projections of cross-pieces of wood of

different sizes, and differently pitched, can be

thoroughly ascertained.

A summary of all work hitherto done in the in

vestigation of road re sistances will be prepared by

Dr. Hele-Shaw, and will in itself form a valuable

record.

RoLLING STO CK.

A paper entitled

Railway

Rolling

Stock-Pre

sent

and

Fu

ture,

1

was next read by Mr. Norman

D. Macdonald, of Edinburgh.

Th

e author divided

the subject

of

locomotives under the headings

of cylinders, boilers and steam, trouble- saving

devices, wheels and tenders. Judging by the

exhibits at the Paris Exhibition, and from a study

of the technical journals

of

the world, he concluded

there could be no doubt that the compound loco

motive would be the locomotive of the future. At

Paris, one out of our meagre exhibit of four locomo

t ives was a compound,

but

in the exhibits of

the

rest of t he world compounding held the field easily.

Only one railway in Great Britain, with an odd

exception or two, uses compounds. Whether the

best system of compounding will

turn

out to be the

De

Glehn-of

two outside and two inside cylinders,

so much used in

France

for very fast and heavy

trains-

or the American Vauclain, with four

cylinders all outside, which is used on the great

engines especially buil t for the Atlantic City

flyers, which run at 66.6 miles

an

hour

i n l u ~

sive, or the Von Borries, Gorlsdorf, or some other

two-cylinder system, the author would not pretend

to guess. I t might be we shall come finally to a

four-cylinder tandem compound, now so much used

n Russia,

and

first tried on the

North British and

Great Western Railways. Favourable reference

was made to the Mallet four-cylinder duplex system

used for heavy work.

The

chief point,

the

paper

continued, to be considered

n

a locomotive ·is the

boiler. Mr. J.

F.

Mcintosh, of the Caledonian,

has given his great mineral engines 2500 Equare

feet of hea ting surface. There is room on our

•

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

is 45 miles wide, and its divide 330 ft.

above

the sea.

This

fact, the author considered,

has led to

the false

conclusion as to the easiness of the

Nicaragua

con

struction.

The

real

difficulties

are not,

however,

on the western side, for the San Juan

River,

120

miles long, which flows from

Lake

Nicaragua

to

the

Atlantic, is not a natural water-way, as is

often

suppo

s

ed

;

but,

as a matter of fact, there would

be

immense

difficulties to

contend with

in

constructing

a canal

in

the San Juan V alley.

I t

is impossible

to use the lower

half

of the San Juan for canal

navigation,

on

account of the

immense amount

of

sand brought into

it

by torrential and

powerful

tributaries

coming from the volcanoes of Costa

Rica. By damming, and thus

creating

artificial lakes,

it

was proposed

to get over these

difficulties,

and

then only 28 miles of canal navigation would

have

to be

constructed.

This plan

the

Isthmian

Canal

Commission and the

Nicaraguan

Commission

did

not consider advisable.

In

the

Panama

scheme

there

are

38 miles of canal navigation,

to

which

must

be added

7 miles of

deep-water

navigation

through

an artificial

lake formed

by a

dam

across the Chagres

River, at

a distance of 15 miles

from the

Atlantic.

The

Culebra cutting

of the Panama route would

be

27 4 ft. to the

bottom

of

the

canal, according

to

the

original state of the

ground

. The work

already

done

leaves

110ft.

of excavation

to

be

made

.

This

was

the

greatest

difficulty in the construction.

On

the

other hand, on

the

Nicaraguan

route the cutting

up to

the

lake

is insignificant, but a

deep cutting

of 297 ft. above

the

bottom, and others

of

218ft

.

and

170

ft.

would be

needed

in the valley of the

San

Juan,

in order to get through

the

high

ridges

projecting

into the valley.

Thus,

in

regard to

depth

of

cutting,

the

Nicaragua

route

is

le

ss

favourable. The

ratio

is as 1 to 3 in favour of

Panama, both in length

of canal navigation

and

depth of

cutting.

On the question

of

dam

s,

Mr. Baunu-Varilla

quoted

the conclusion of the

Isthmian

Canal Com

mission,

that the dam in Panama might be

of

earth

or masonry; which indicated

that neither

its diffi

culty

nor its

cost would

be

extraordinary.

The

Nicaraguan dam would neces

sitate

compres

sed air

for

putting in

the foundations

to

a

depth

of 100 ft.

below water-level of the river, and

have

a total

height

of 160 ft. from the

crest to

the foundation.

The

Commission

estimated that eight

years would

be

necessary for

its

construction.

What has

been

said of

the

difficultyof regulating

the

Chagres River

has, the

author

stated,

been

immensely exaggerated.

The

Commission proposed to

build

a

dam

in

order

to

form a

lake

whose

normal

level would

be

85 ft.

above the sea. The

outlet

would

be

2000 ft . wide ;

and

the

surfa

ce of the lake, combined

with the

dimensions of the outlet,

are

such

that

the heaviest

floods

known

would not raise

the

surface more than

6 ft.

Nine

locks would be necessary in Nicaragua

and

only five

in Panama. The

level

to

which

ship

s

would

have

to

be lifted on

the Nicaragua

route

would

be

110 ft. as a maximum, as against 90 ft.

for

Panama.

The foundation s of all locks in

Panama

would

be

in rock.

Five

locks in Nicaragua

would be in rock, and the remaining four on foun

dations

believed

to be

safe.

In

Nicaragua the

winds

are

exceptionally

violent

and continuous ; in

Panama

the canal would

be

sheltered. Nicaragua

having a

much greater

rainfall, two

to

two and a-half

times

that

of

Panama, the current

would

be more

intense

and

permanent. The

author also stated

that

in the

maintenance

of

depth

of water, in the

curves necessary, and in the provision of harbours,

the advantage was

with

the Panama rout

e.

In

re

gard

to stability, the

important

question of seismic

disturbance

has

to be

considered.

No

volcano

exists

within

a distance of 180 miles from the

Panama

site. Since

the

early

qu

a

ternary

period,

before

man appeared on earth,

its form has not

be

en

al tered. Nicaragua,

on

the

other hand, has

alwaysbeen the theatre of seismic convulsions.

Its

lake

was formerly a

gulf in the

Pacific Ocean,

and

its name

is associated

with

the

most terrible out

break

recorded

in

hi

s

tory

previously

to Krakatoa.

The

eruption

of the volcano Ooseguina in 1835

lasted

44

hours

;

the

noise was

heard

for a distance

of 1000 miles, and ashes were carried 1400 miles by

the winds.

The

mass

ejected into

the

air

was

calculated

to have

covered a surface

equivalent to

eight times

the surface of

France,

it s volume

being

equal

to 60 cubes, having sides of 1100

ya_rds Thus

,

during

44

hour

s

the

volcano

may

be satd to

have

ejected

every six minutes

a volume of stone and

ashes equal

to

the total

volume of the

prism

of the

proposed Nicaragua Canal.

In the centre

of

Lake

Nicaragua is a volcano in

constant

activity, and

there

are

several

others.

There was

no

discussion on

this

contribution, a

matter much to be regretted, as

the

subject

is one

that might with

advantage have been

further con

sidered

from the opposite point of view ;

and the

President having added a few words, the

next

paper

was

taken.

A LEAF ARRES

TER FOR

WATER SUPPLY

The last paper taken

at this

sitting was by the

Earl

of Roase, and was

entitled

A Leaf

Arr

ester,

or Apparatus

for Removing Leaves, &c., from a

Water

Supply.

"

The author

having recently

erected

a turbine of 15 horse-power,

with

8-ft. fall,

for

working

an

electric

light

installation

at Birr

Oastle, found considerable

trouble through

leaves,

&c., choking the screen in the

water

supply.

Last

autumn the output was generally reduced

to

one

half in the course of

half or three-quarters

of

an

hour's

working una

ttended, notwithstanding

that

the

area

of

the screen

was

nearly

100

square

feet.

Accordingly,

an apparatus

was devised for remedy

ing

the evil.

I t

was so successful

that the turbine

would go for a whole

day without attention, and

without diminution

of

output. I t

consisted of

a cylinder of wire gauze of 4

ft. diameter and

4 ft.

in height, set

in an

opening in a vertical

diaphragm

extending

across the

supply

drain, and

revolving twice in a

minute

or so

round

a vertical

axis.

The

current flows

through

the gauze cylinder

in

a

hori

z

ontal

direction.

The

leaves

attach

them

se ves under

pressure

of the stream, and

are

carried round

till

they reach

the diaphragm, which

on that side is double,

with

an

intervening

space

of some 10

in.,

which is connected

with

the tail

race.

At this point,

the current

through

the gauze

being reversed relatively

to

the cylinder, the leaves

are

detached, and

are carrried by

a

portion

of the

water

towards the tail-race.

Four

or five

per

cent.

of the

supply

is ample for conveying the ·

leaves;

probably

much less would suffice.

There

was no discussion on

this paper,

and the

Section

adjourned until the

Monday

following.

To e contilnued.)

MECH_lliiOAL FILTERS

AT THE

GLASGOW

EXHIBITION.

AM O

NGST

the

exhibits of

~ s s r s

a t h ~ r

and Platt·,

Limited, of Salford,

at

Glasgow, are

a

couple of the

so.called mechanical filters. In filters of this class the

cleaning is effected by reversing

the

direction of

the

flow through the apparatus, the

wa

sh-water being

run

to

waste. A few minutes only are needed for

the operation. Such filters, in addition

to

the ease

with

which theyare cleansed, have generally the advan

tage of compactness, since, if desired, it is possible

to work them

at

very much higher rates of flow than

is usual with ordinary open sand filters. The two

filters shown by Messrs. Matherand

Platt

differ in

that

one is provided

with

a

"roughing

" bed, in addition to

the main layer of filtering material, whilst the other is

a single-contact filter, and is designed

to

be worked

under pressure, whilst

the

compound filter aforemen

tioned works

entir

ely

with

a graYity head.

This compound gravity filter, illustrated by Figs.

1

and 2, page 402, has been designed with a view

to

remov

ing the maximum amount of suspended matter from

water with a minimum expenditure of

labour and cost

of upkeep.

T ~ e

apparatus consists of a vertical cylin

drical

tank

div ided into two distinct compartments

by an inverted open-ended cone. Above the com

partment

formed by

the

inner wall of the cylindrical

tank and the outer wall of th e invert ed cone, termed

the "separating

chamber," is SJlperimposed a finely

perforated .floor bearing a .coarse or ' 'primary" filtering

bed of 9 in. to 12 in. deep, through which the water

passes in an upward direction, subsequently flowing

through

the

central aperture into the lower part

of

the tank, which

is

conical in section and forms a

chamber, containing a fine or

"finishing

" filtering

bed 3 ft. deep, arranged over a

syst

em of gathering

nozzles and pipes. Centrifugal motion is imparted

to

the

unfiltered water as

it

enters

the "separating

chamber , by a deflecting inlet, causing

the

heavier

suspended particles of floating matter

to

fall

to

the

bottom

of

the chamber, whilst

the

underneath side

of

the

perforated floor carrying

the ''

primary " filter,

being continually washed by

the

circular current, the

perforations are

kept

free from all

matter

calculated

to

block them. Thus a free upward

flow

is maintained

through the

"primary"

filter, and

the water

is

re-

lieved of all

matter

likely to block the surface of the

lower or "finishing " filtering bed in

the

base

of the

cylindrical tank. .

The cleansing of

the

lower filter bed is effected by

a reversal

of

the flow of the water,

the dirt

being

carried off through

a

central draining basin situated

7/17/2019 Engineering Vol 72 1901-09-20

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•

SEPT

1901.]

mmediately

aboYe the bed. The "

separating

" is

relieved of

its

accumulat

ed dirt

by means

the drain

valve

at the b1se of the chamber. The

upper or primary filter is cleansed by

agitating

the

bed

whh

a

revolving rake as the

water flows

pwards through it,

the dirt falling

into the drain

asin

above

the

low

er bed in the inner chamber. The

time occupied

in

cleansing the filter is from 10 to 15

minutes,

and the amount of

water expended over the

thus in cons

iderable.

The

filtering medium

of the purest quartz

crysta

ls suitably graded.

he

permanent " sharpness ''

and

adamantine nature

re

commend

the

m

as the

finest

known

ering material, and

the

beds do

not

dimini

sh

or

with

years

of

wear. The rate

of

flow of

he

water

entering the filter is auto

mati

ca-lly regu

ated

by a quick-acting equilibrium valve of special

One of

the princ

ipal

fe

at ures of the filter is

the

coni

cal shape of the chamber containing the

lower

r

finishing

" filter.

The

falling

in

of the walls of

the

chamber towards

the

base insures the paseage of

ll water through

the filtering bed,

and prevents

the

creeping "

of

the sl ightest percentage of unfiltered

water

dov\l·n the walls of the chamber, which

inv

ariably

occu rs were a filter bed is contained

within

walls of

a

vertical

tank. In the

case of

a

tank

with

vertical

walls, the

bed

is inclined to reso

lve itself,

to a certain

extent, into the form of a column,

and

unfiltered

liquid ' 'creeps, down between

the

walls of the tank

and the pe

ripheral surface

of the

bed.

In this filter,

the area

of

the

surface of

the bed

being

great er than

the

area

of the base (or outlet) of the

fame,

there

exists an ' '

annular

angle " of

the

bed

through

which

there is little or

no

current

of

wa ter passing.

The single-contact pressure filter illu

st

rated by

Figs. 3 and 4 differs

in

detail, the bed of

pure

quartz

crysta

ls being contained in a chamber, the walls of

'vhioh are

of

a conical section, as in the case

of the

compound

gravity filter.

Unfiltered

water

is distri

buted

over the surface of the filtering bed from

the

entral

basin,

and

passing down

through the

bed,

iss

ues in

a

purified

state

from

the

filtrate valve at the

base. The

cleansing of

the filter is effected by a

reversal of the flow of the water, the dirt being

carried

off through the central

draining basin

situated

immediately

above

the

bed

. The time occupied in

cleansing

this

filter

is about five

minutes.

The

conical shape of the chamber containing the bed has

been

fully explained

in co

nne

ct

ion

with the

compound

gravity filter.

EXPRESS PUMP.

WE illustrate on page 403 a

high

-

speed

pump exhi

at the Gl

asgow

Exhibiti9n by Messrs. Ehrhardt

Sehmer,

of S

ch

leifmiible S

aarbrlicken.

A

demand

of late

years

for a pump

which

can

be

coupled

to

an

electric motor.

The gearing

necessar

y be

the motor

and

pump, when the latter is of the

type, is noisy

and

troublesome,

and

the

being run

at

a

low speed,

must for a

given

be of considerable

size. The

Schleifmuhle

on the other band, is designed to

run

at a

of 282 strokes per minute,

and

therefore

motor

c

oupled

to

it

s

driving shaft

need not

of

spec

ially

large

dimensions. The

general

of

the pump is clearly shown in

on page 403. t will be seen that

there

sets of

pumps

arranged on

opposite

sides

the

electric motor.

The latter has

bee

n con-

•

E N G I N E E R I N G

Rurrounding

atmosphere. I

he effi c

iency

of

the

motor

is 93 per

cent. between

half and

full load

and

91

per

cent.

between

half and one-third of the

full

load.

Its

total

weight is 15 tons. As shown

the

sectional

view of the pumps, each

crank has two

p l u n g ~ r s

con

nec

ted with it, that furthest from the crank bemg con

nected to the crosshead by a couple of side rods.

As one plunger makes its suction s

troke

the

other

makes the discharge strok

e, th us balan

cing

the work

done

on

each

half reYolution. The

plungers work through stuffing boxes, a supply

of

lubricant being

admitted near

th e centre, as shown.

The

suction

and de

livery valves

are

of

the an nular

type,

the

seats being of

bronze

and

the

valves them

selves

of

vulcanite. As

shown,

the delivery valve is

placed direct ly over the suction

valve,

and

the path of

the

w

ater through the pump

is

very

direct. Provision

is m

ade

for maintaining

the

air in

the air

vessels,

which,

as shown, are mounted directly over the

delivery

valves

.

CITY AND

GUILDS

OF LONDON INSTITUTE

LISTS OF BOOKS.

To THE EDITOR oF ENGINEERING.

Sm,-No

one will

doubt

the

great

work done by this

In stitute, particularly in its technological and manual

training ola,sses. The teaching, however, is not meant to

be

final; indeed,

the

object of

the

system of

training and

instruction is

rather

to create a des

ire

for information on

technical matters than to satisfy it. Every i n t ~ l l i g e n b

student is well aware that when he has gone through

the

course of

training and

tuition provided ab

this

and

kindred institutions, his education is just commencing.

He has

been told

what to

do,

and

why he should do it,

and be

has now

to

ascertain

by

personal experience how

to do it.

I have

the

programme of

the

Institute for

the

coming

session,

and

it is full of valuable

information;

but

there

is

a feature of it

that

is

nob

at all satisfactory. After the

syllabus of each

subject

a u ~ h b

in the

Institute a

list

of

Works of Reference, is g1ven.

They are

described

as

works of reference in the

pr

ogramme,

but

I find amongst

them text-bookfl, reference books, trade and technical

journals, and art handbooks. The

list

s

appear to

have

been compiled by someone not fully

acquaint

ed

with

the

literature of the industries dealo with, smce some of the

works named

are

certainly

not

now

standard

reference

books, and some are even oub of prinb. But the errors of

omission are

the

most serious.

A student who wants to acquire reference

and

text

books to assist him in mastering the practical details of

his trade, should have the best and most up-to-date.

In

some industries the latest published are the best, yet I

find

many

really useful practical reference books not even

mentioned, and in some of the lists there is no mention

made

of

the

very instructive

trade

journals published. A

student who is

inquiring as to

wo

rks

dealing with the

industry

he

ha-s

chosen

to

follow

must not

rely upon

the

lists given

by the

compilers of this programme. He will

miss much useful

literature if

he does.

Yours truly,

WM. THOM

SON

.

32,

Bouverie-streeb London, E .C.,

September

17, 1901.

HEATING LARGE WORKSHOPS.

To THE EDITOR OF ENGINEERING.

SIR, -

Can any

of

your

r

eade

rs give me

particulars

of

the most efficient, economical, and up-to-date

system

of heating large workshops covering one or two acres ?

September

12, 1901.

Yours

truly,

E NQUIRER.

by the British Scbuckert Electric

Company,

THE GLASGOW

CORPORATION

of Clun House, Surrey-street, London, TRAMWAYS.

C. t is of t he mu] ti polar

type,

being wound To THE

EDITOR

OF ENGOOERING.

amperes at

500 volts. There a

re 12

poles,

STR,-Inasmuch as

I note,

with

regret, that

my

letter

are cast in one with the two ha lve s of the ring which appeared in your issue of August 30 l

ast

has not

of

the

magnet iron is secured by

elicited

any

answer,

eithe

r from

the

Corporation

Authori

educing the

iron on the

out,s1de face of the magnet ties of

G l a ~ g o w , or

from

the

represE\ntatives of

the

makers

at each

former.

The

shunt coils are kept on the of the several engines employed in the Glasgow

Tramways

in

the

usual

way

by

means

of

pole

tips screwed Power Sbation, I have made such further investigation

the la

tt er.

The armature

is

drum

wound

and

myself as was possible under the circumstances, and

·

ened

with

two keys

di r

ec

t

on th

·e ·erankshaft

of

the ~ o u l d

ask to be

corrected

if the

fGHowing

statements are

mexact.

between

the

main bearings of

t

he

latter . The

t

would seem that the first Allis engine was put on

utator

consists

of 552

hard-drawn

copper

strips, regul8ir work at the

end

of May. and the second Allis

brushes

arc

of carbon ; the brush gear con- e n ~ i n e during the first week of June, since which

time

ists of four cast-iron brackets, between which the both engines have been available to

run

-

the

full

car

carrying the 12 sets of

brushes

can

be

shifted by service.

a shaft

with

two handwheels, and

coupled

The first Musgrave engine was started towards the end

a worm gear to

the

iron ring. I t will be noted of June,

but up

the present time has not been able to

this brush

gear, unlike

that

of

many other

undertake

regular service.

The

impression seems to

be

a

kers,

leaves the whole of the commutator

free

and that the makers believe it

may

be able

to undertake

a load

towards

the

end of October.

to inspection, The armature winding c

onsists of

The

two

Stewart engines seem

to have run on

a

car

layer of rectangular bars fixed on to the cas t- o ~ d t o w B ~ r d the end of April, a.nd to

have

been run inter·

armature

core,

and

connected at

both front

m1ttently

ab

light loads till about the beginning of June,

by

means of

bent

st rips

that

are passed out-

when

they

were handed

back

to

the

makers, for what

and form a

grid,

through which the air passes

~ o u l d

seem

to amount to

a practical re-construction of

t

a g

reat

spee

d during the operation

of

the

Important a r t s .

chi

oe,

the

consequent

cooling

being very

ma

rked.

Since th1s

time

.bhey have nob been

running

on

any

ends of the winding

are fixed to their

re-

regular lead,

the power

for

driving the

auxiliaries being

pective

eommutator bars in an absolutely secure derived from a

sub

-

station

a.otuated from the

main ourrent

by means of three screws.

The

whole

of the produced by the Allis engines.

h'

· d . J

As it

would seem

that

the Musgra.ve engine

has

never

me

1S so eslgnecl that f t ~ r rum;ting continually

~ a ~ e n

the car l<?ad for.more than a day or

two

ab

the

most,

full load, the

temperature

rtse w1ll

never

exceed

1

t

1

s naturally

1

mposstble to make any comparisons.

than from 60

d e ~ . to

65 deg. Fahr.

above the

,

t

would £eem undoubted that the Allia engines

are

fre-

q uen ly worked for considerable periodsat

rom

25 per cenb.

to 50 pe

rcent

. overload. t eems unq e s ~ 1 0 bly the case

that

the

Allis engines

can exp

e

cb no

rehef, nor

can

t

hey

be £nally adjusted or

overhauled b_  the con tra.c.tors

until such period

as

a Musgrave engme can be got mto

•

serviCe. 'd

While

I oannob sa.y that

there

seems be any ev.1

ence

of the Allis engines nob being able

to

w1thstt.t.nd th

1

s con

dition of affairs indefinitely, ib would seem certam

that

they

are being exposed

to

an i m p r o p t e s t and S ~ < ? u

certainly have all credit

for. working under ~ o n d 1 b 1 0 n s

very different from those whtcb they were destgned a.nd

erected

to

meet.

Yours trnly,

Glaegow,

September

16, 1901.

THE t R R BOILER.

CITIZEN.

To

THE EDITOR

OF ENGINEERING.

SIR,-In ENGINEERING of

August 30,

1901, page.

296,

I

£nd a reply of Mr. D tirr

to

a letter of Mr. R. A. Z1ese, of

Sb.

Petersburg; in this reply

Mr

. D ii

rr

saya that I have

paid him

a

royalty

for the boilers of H.M .S.

Bayern.

Permit me

to

say that I only have paid a royalty for a

small detail of the superheater, which by no means would

have been necessary.

Elbing, September 24, 1901.

Yours truly,

F. ScHIOHAU.

QUADRUPLE-EXPANSION ENGINES.

To THE EDITOR OF ENGINEERING.

SIR,-Mr. Salvabore Odando, in your issue of Sep

te

mber

13, alludes to a quadruple-expansion engine con

structed

by the well-known firm Fratelli Orlando in 1891,

and which bears considerable resemblance to

the

engine

exhibited

by us at the

Glasgow

Exhibition. Mr. Orlando

alludes

to the

undoubted

fact that the

engines

are

very

similar except with regard to

the

valve gear. This parb,

we

may

say,

is the

only part

we

claim as

novel: quadruple

engines,

with

four

cranks

set opposite, and each pair ab

right angles to the other, nob being

in

any way novel.

The special

advantage

we claim for

our system

of valve

gear is

the

reducing in the fore-Bind-aft space occupied

by

the engine owing to the valves being placed laterally,

and the

small

number

of glands;

added to

which, only

one of these, i .e. the high-pressure piston-rod, is exposed

to the full boiler

pre

ssure.

We

consider this a

most

im

portant point when dealing with

the

very high-pressures

and speeds for w hicb these engines are

primarily

de

signed.

With

regard to Mr. Orlando's fear that the piston

valve

might

" cause inconvenience owing

to

the difference

of the strain

in

the

two

slide valves connecbed by the

same rod," we would say that

the

piston valves as em

ployed by

us are

so balanced that no

side

thrust

can

come

on the

vn.lve

spindle; the spindle, moreover, is made

very

substantially, and is guided both top and bottom. So far

this

arrangement

has proved perfectly

sati

sfactory. We

have

an

engine, the same as

that

illustrated,

but

of larger

dimensions, having cylinders 5 in., 7  in.,

in

.,

and

16 in.

in diameter

by 7 in. stroke,

running at 900

revolu

tions ab 350 lb. st

eam

pressure. This engine hag now

been running

two

seasons and has given absolutely no

trouble,

nor

has

it

required repairs

or adjustme

nts of

any

kind.

Yours faithfully,

for

StMPS

ON,

STRICKLAND, AND Co., LTD.,

Wm. Cross,

Managing

Directo

r.

Dartmoutb, S. Devon,

September

16,

1901.

LON DON PoLYTECHNICs  Work for the autumn session

ab

the L ondon Polytechnics will soon be under way,

and

we have rece

iv

ed the programmes of a

numb

er of these.

Whatever view may

be

taken

as

to the ultimate value of

these insbitutionll, there can be no question as to their popu•

larity.

To

a

limited

extent

this

is no

doubt

due

to

the

fact tlhab

most

of them

have

a social

as

well

as

an

educa

tional side, and form capital clubs in which students can

meet

for recreation. The cla-sses are, however, well

attended,

and, so

far as

examinations by outside bodies

form a

test

of efficiency;

appear to be

successful.

St u

dents

from

the Battersea

Polytechnic, we observe ob

tained

during

the

year

scholarships, exhibitions, and prizes

to the amount of 1222l. The

secretary

is Mr.

J

oseph

Bar

wood.

At

tb9 N ortha.mpbon Institute, St.

John Street

road, London, E. C., special attention is

directed

to the

subject of, horolagy and the other light mechanical

crafts whiCh b a v ~ ~ e r k e n w e l l distrJct as their

centre. Ab the Goldsmiblis' Institute, New Cross

S.E., a series of special evening classes on E n g i ~

nearing a.nd Building Industries " has been a-rranged

for. The

bead

of

the

Institute, Professor

Lineham

M.

Inst .

C. E

., will be responsible for a oourse

of

e c t u r ~

on the

Elementary

Theory of Structures." and on The

Detailing

of Construction of

Ironwork.

"

This

course

it is

stated,

~ i l l . be adapted .to the

requirements

of

candidates

for admtsston

as

asso01a.te members of the Institution of

Civil Engit;leers  Obher ol.asses will be held

in

experi

mental

engmeermg, for wh10h a new mechanical labora

tory has just

been

provided. Further

particulars can

be

o b t a ~ n e d

on application to th e Secretary, the Goldsmiths'

Instttute, New

Cross, S. E.

All

th ree of the above in

~ t i ~ u t i o n s

are

fairly well

equipped

with laboratories, and

It 1s to be

hoped

that the

couraes

are

nob so clo

se

ly

de

voted

to

examination

r e q u i r e m ~ n t s as

to prevent

these

laboratories

being

used for

us

eful research

work

as well

~ o r p u r p ~ s e s of mere

demonstration.

We ha

ve

a sus·

~ 1 o 1 that m m o s ~

c a s ~ s the

te <?hing staffs have their

t1me so fully ocoup1ed w1bh attendmg to

the requirements

of elemet;ltary students that they

have

little opportunity

for oontnbuting

to the

advanoe of knowledge.

7/17/2019 Engineering Vol 72 1901-09-20

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/engineering-vol-72-1901-09-20 20/47

•

406

•

ENGIN

E -E

RI

NG .

[ SE P

T.

20,

~ O T .

-

.

-

-

--   •..- •

•

•

.

TESTING MACHINE AT THE JAMES WATT

ENGINEERING LABORATORIES

•

•

•

CONSTRUCTED BY :MESSRS. JOSHUA BUCKTON AND

CO

. , LIMITED,

EN

GINEERS, LEEDS

•

•

•

•

•

Fif1 .

2.

Jor:key Weight .

•

•

G

•

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.

A cctw::tlator .

•

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•

•

•

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Fig 1 

•

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-

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•

•

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FitJ 3  

Torsion Apparatus.

•

TESTING MACHINE AT GLASGOW

UNIVERSITY

.

Th e

100 Ton

U11:iversal T elJting .bfachine, with

va1

·iable

A cctl/T) I;ulator,

at

the

J ames

Watt L

aborato?·ies, Glasgo

w

University.*

By MR.

J .

HARTLEY WIOKSTEED of Leeds.

Vi

ce-

Pr

es

i

dent of the In stitution, and Vice-Chairman

of the Congress (Section

Ill .

THE whole arrangement of the testing machine is show:n

in

Fig.

1.

Th

e

straining

frame

i.s

worked

by

an hydrauhc

}'am supplied with water from an accumulator. When

the a l v e between the hydraulic cylinder and the accu

mulator i.s open full bore, a test can be made

at

the ra te

of 100 in.

st

raining per minute, but the valve can_be regu

la ted so as to reduce the speed to a tenth of an mob per

uinute. The speed is under easy control

t h ~ o u g h

a Wide

range, and it

can

be alte

red at

pleas

ure

durmg the pro-

*

Paper

read before the

In t

ernat ional Engineering

Congress, Glasgow, 1901. Section III.: vlechanical.

I

Fie-4. Compression Test .

(CQst-troo column broke tt 65 .5 ton;.

---

---

--- -

•

•

•

•

•

---

-

 

--

--

-

--

- .

I

•

-

--

---

---

---

--.

·--

...

__

_

--

-- .

---

 

--

-

.

 

. . . .

-

Fig.6 . Dejlectwn Test.

(Beam, tested up to 1

00

tons upon supports 10 feet a-part, d e A ~ c t e d 1 bcb,

and took a perm:ulent set of ; inch.

'

•

. .

l

gress of a test. Thus the speed may be slow until the

eln

c;

tic

limit

is reached,

and

mcreased

during th

e plas

ti

c

stage. ' 'his facility for

varying

th

e speed,

h e r

with

the absence of all vibration, makes an hydraulic stmining

gear worked from an accum

ulat

or preferable to

any ot

her

sy

ste

m.

t

is

du

e to Dr.

Kenned

y to state that he

ad vo

cated

th i

s system in 188

5

a

nd

sta ted in a

pap

er read be

fore the In

stit u

tion of Civil

Engin

eers,* that, " probably,

the

maximum in steadiness, a.s well as of convenience m

working, will be found in some such system."

In

fluid co

nn

ection with

th

e straining cylinder

th

ere is

an aut

og

raphi

c reco

rd

er, which draws a curve produced in

one direction by the pr essure

in

the straining cylinder,

and

in

any other direction by the strain

of

the specimen.

Friction

in

the ram of the recorder is overcome by causing

it to revolve, and the indications of the latter are cali

brated from the steelyard of the testing machin e, so that

the friction

in

the main straining ram is accounted for.

* P?oceedli 11{JB of Institu tion of Civil Enginee rs, vol.

lxxxviii., page 21.

•

• •

f

the hydraulic vah-e

w e r ~

opened full bore

it

would not

be possible to adjust the poise-weight so as to keep the

steelyard in equilibrium; but when once the hydrographic

recorder has been calibrated, the poise-we

ight

may be

taken to the extreme end of the steelyard, and a full test

can be made without roc

king

the steelyard, and the resul t

obtained from the autograph.

In Ifig. 1, annexed, t

he

testing m

a c

hin e is shown in a

somewh

at

diagrammatic form, so

as

to cl

ea

rly illu

st

rate

the principle of its cons

tru

ction.

Th

e mac

hin

e consists

essentially of a

st

raining system embraced

by

a weighing

system. The straining system consists of t'he hydraulic

cylinder, ram, and notched frame which slides out, carrying

the

st

ra

inin

g crosshead A .

Th

e weighing sy

at

em consists

of two long P? rallel rods,

wit

h

th

e th ree crossh

ea

ds or

weighbridges

B,

C

and

D. Th is parallel f rame

fl

oats on

knife-edges. vVhatever force co

me

s upon the weigh

bridges C

and

D is com municated

t h r o u ~ h

the crosshead

D to the elbow lever E, the fulcrum of which r ests on an

anvil

at

the back of

the hydr

aulic cylinder. The elbow

e \ ~ r

communi

cate

s

the

force to

t h e ~ ba.ck

of the

7/17/2019 Engineering Vol 72 1901-09-20

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/engineering-vol-72-1901-09-20 21/47

SEPT.

20, 1901.]

lyard lever above it. The poise-,veights on the steel

meas

ur

e

th

e forces. In ten sion

te

sts

the

specimen

gs. 8 and 9 subjoined), is placed between A and C. For

(Fig. 4, page 406) it is placed between A n nd

a n d ~ ~ f

1t

1s

b

et

ween C and i t is tested in deflec

on (] tg. o). Tho crosshend A, being movable

in

t ho

otched frame can be a

dju

sted so as to

take

lo

na

or s

hort

pec

in'l

ens,, e

ith

er in tensio

 l

or compression.

Up o

n

the

et'e 1s a large nut wh1eh Ctl<n be screwed up ti"'ht to

end of the hydraulic cylinder, so as to hold

th

e

st

rain

frame out for an unlimited time, independent of any

ea

k-o

ff

of

th

e

wat

er.

Th,i

s device, which enables one to

eep

th

e load

up

on a speetmen all th rough the night

or

rou

.g

h a va<?n.tion, was first introduced for

who

. P ~ l t

down the first

100

-ton ma

ha

vmg th1s provunon

at

th

e

Univ

ers

it

y College'

The torsiou apparatus is placed at the back of the main

of the lever, as shown in Fig. 3, page 406.

t

is

~ l y o

ut

of

th

e way, and

has

no co

nne

c

ti

on with

the

e x ? ~ th rough the.

to r

sion specimen itself when

lS

m pos1t10n. tors

10n gear w i l ~

exe1

t n

twis

ting

ent of 224,000 mch-pounds, and wlll

tw

iSt in two a

of iron 2 in. in diameter.

de

fl

ection apparatus is shown on Fig. 5. t has

wwel supports to prevent indentation, and

the

presser

oot also nas swivelled half-round

pi

eces which s

pr

ead

u r e over 6 in. of surface, while still allowing

the

1men to bend freely ; so t

ha

t if the distance between

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

' 'geometrical guide." There are two scales on the steel

yard, one for use with

the

large solid poise,

and the

other

for use with the variable poise. The poise-weights carry

vernier scales" which,

at

the sugg

es t

ion of Dr.

Barr are

attached by g o s the poi.

c;e-

weights, a

nd

rest

by their

own overhangmg we1ght m V-groovos on the scale bar.

Thi

s insures that

the

Yernier scale is always lying close

ur

to .the ~ n ; r k of the mn in scale, wit11out the possibility

o

b ~ m g mJ

urcd from

wn

.

nt

of clearance

Ly

t he vibrn

 -

tions of the steelyard following upon the fracture of a

test -piece.

Th

e accumulator h

n.s

a variable load, c

on

sisting of ten

4-ton slabs, of which it can deposit any number up to

t ~ e a

nd

carry up

th

e remainder.

The

slabs

which 1t 1s desu ed to load on are, at the suggestion of

Dr

. Barr,

hung

from

the

top weight

by thre

e rods.

Thi

s

arra

ngement h

n.s

been adopted, not only on accou

nt

of

its

advantages in connect ion with the testing machin

e,

but

to enable

the

accumulator to be used in connection with

other pieces of a

pparat

us, and to increase its value

as an

a p p ~ r a t u s upon which efficiency tests a great variety

of

t a 1 ~

c e s may

be

In F1g.

1,

page

406,

the

accumuh\tor ts shown standing on the floor level but in

th

e laboratory its fou

ndati

on is sunk 7 ft. · '

Fig. 6, subjoined, shows

a

shearing apparatus capable of

dealing with specimens in single shear up to 2 in. g u a r e .

Th

e faces of

th

e knives are

kept

close by a roller wtthout

~ n d u e frictio

n.

When a l ~ m n

be

ing tested, it is

tmportant

to

prevent the

wetghbrtdge B (Fig.

1)

from

•

piece is restrained from wandering away from the centre

line of stress, and with no other fri

ct

ion

than that

of

sm

oo

th rollers on smooth paths which have no direct

pre

ssure upon

t h ~ m J

but only

that

pressure which is

due

to unsymmetrical y1elding of

the

piece.

A horizontal testing machine cannot be verified in the

sa

me simple

and

direct manner as a vertical machine,

merely by hanging dead weights to

the

back centre.

I t

hus to bo proved

by car

eful meas

ur

eme

nt

of

the

fulcrum

di

stances ;

but in

order to ascertain that the fulcrums are

all bearing fai rly on supports with clearance from

any false bearing,

the

machine can be moved

by

means

of_powerful springs.

Fig.

8

shows a helical s

pring 8

in.

in

diameter, made

of 1  in. in diameter round steel with

21

coils, giving an

elastic s

tr

etch of 15 in. with

7i

tons. A

pair

of these

springs may be used yoked together, side by side, for test

ing bOth the nccuracy and sensibility of

the

machine up

to 15 tons. Each

sp

ring is bung vertically

with standard

weights suspended to it, and the extension of

the

spring

is carefully measured by th ree pairs of points round the

c

ir

cle,

th

e springs being then put into

th

e horizo

ntal

mnchino, and st retched until the measurement of

th

e ex

tension round

th

e average of

the

three places is

what it

was when supporting the imperial weights; and if the

reading on the steelyard records the same weight, and

retains

its

sensibility,

the

machine

is

proved

not

to

be

riding upon false bearings.

In

trying

th

ese large helical

springs to

the

utmost ca

pa

city,

they

were loaded

until

i . . Blocks f or Single- Shearing Test.

Fig.

7, Roller Stay.

-

0

\

I

l ________j

•

•

•

•

--

.

•

•

l

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

.

\

,.-,--

---

-

 

..

___

___

_

t £

e t a a=rer

l

FOOT

-

,..._-f--------

----l--.....

I •

•

T ension Tests (Scale

1

J znd)

•

•

,

•

Fie.

8. Helical Sjrring of 1- inch rouud steel.

Fig.

8.

Doubl

c·

riveted

Lap oin t . with r i v e t s ~ anch diameter

•

With 8 steel r

ivets in

si ngle s

hear

, took a

permanent se

t

at

46

to n

s .

and

fractured

at

90

to n

s

With 8 Iron

rivets

in single s

he

ar, took a pe

rmanent

set at 42 tons .

and fractur

ed

at

7 to ns .

•

•

• • •

•

•

0

•

•

•

0

•

•

•

•

•

am,e Sp ring held by end coils.

•

centres of the semicircles is taken,

the

test is theo

t

ically the same as

if the

beam were s

upp

o

rted

on knife

es at that distance

apart

, while injury to

the

section

too intense local

pr

essure is prevented.

The steGlyard of this

ma

chine has

an

arrangeme11 t of

ch is a combination of the variable

key-weight s

tarting fr

om

the

centre of

th

e stee

lyard

,

s introduced by Dr. Kenne

dy

on a 50-ton machine, the

of this type, which

he

put

down

in

h

is

labor

ato ry in

estminster,

and

of the solid poise ranging over both

ms of a double-armed steelyn.

rd

which the author has

sed f

or

ma

ny

_years.

This

comb

inati

on has been arranged

meet Dr.

Barr

's desire for a larger scale

unit

when

sUting light loads, and has the effect of giving the

scale

unit up

to 100 tons, which was obtained on

. Kennedy 's machine up to 50 tons, without

ma t

erially

ngthening

the

steely

ard

.

When the

machine is being

d for load up to 32 tons,

th

e large

poi

se-weight remains

nary

at

th

e sh

ort

e

nd

of

th

e lever,

and

acts merely

balance-weight to

the

long end. The variable poise

s from the centre of

the

lever, and travels over

the

ng

arm with a scale reading 4 in. to

the

ton

up

to

tons. This poise-weight, shown at G on Fig. 1,

406,

has two removable discs, H ,

Fig. 2,

which reduce

by half, giving a scale read ing of 8 in. to

th

e ton

up

to

tons. When the specimen r equires more than 32 tons

load,

thi

s second poise, G, is

lift

ed cl

ea

r away from

the

The balance of th e steel

ya

rd is not affected,

the latt

er

i n ~ lift

ed off

th

e line of

the

fulcrum.

e main poise-weight lS then liberated from its fixing to

steelyard,

and

engaged

with the traversing

screw,

and

the

whole range of

the stee

lyard, giving a

le readiJ g of 2 in. t o

the

ton up to 100 tons. At

the

sug

tion of

Dr.

Barr,

the

se poise-we

ight

s

xid

e

up

on three

eels, of which the two on one side have

fl

a

ng

es working

a groove

in

the rail of the steelyard, to keep the poise

wavering sideways,

and

a plain single wheel on

the

er side to support

th

e poise vertically, thus forming a

•

• •

•

•

•

• • •

•

•

.

;.;:::;,..

-

wavering in any direction, and for th is purpose there

is

a

roller stay, shown

in

Fig.

7J....

on

the

arrangement which.

was first put in practice by ur. Kennedy. It is formed

by two brackets bolted to the sides of the ~ a n t r y , and

stayed toge

th

er at the top, so as to form a

r ~ d

frame

work. The crosshead

ha

s planed lugs upon It, and be

tween those lugs

and the

st

ay

there

are

both vertical and

hori

zo

ntal rollers R. The rollers are held between roller

path

s on the lugs and

the

roller

path

s on

th

e stay.

Th

e roller

paths

on

the

s

tay

are formed at the end of

cylindrical

p1ece

s which fit in bored holes in the stay,

and

can

be

ve

ry

gradually adjusted forwa

rd by

screw

bolts made with taper sides, and acting upon thew like

taper cotters. By means of this adjustment the roller

paths are set so

that the

rollers are just held, free from

shak

e,

between

the

i o n crosshead and stay, and

thi

s is n o u ~ h to r

est

r

A.in the

crosshead from wandering

during

the

light loading at the beginning of a compression

or traverse test. But when the pressure becomes severe,

the

rollers

are

set

up

in the following manner : t is seen

at the beginning of the test that all

the

rollers are bear

ing

fairly a

nd

uniformly

tight

between

the

rollers

path

s ;

wnen the test has proceeded to a few tons

pre

ss

ur

e,

the

rollers are again felt round by the fingers, and it vill

probably

be

found that

th

e crosshead has begun to bear

hard against the rollers at two sides, and nas left

the

ro

ll

e

rs at the

oppos

ite

s

id

es with shake that can be easily

felt. This indicates that the tendency of the crosshead

is to depart from the line which previously brought it in

co

ntact

with those rollers ;

and in

order to restore it,

th

e

rollers

that

have lost to•1ch

are not

th

emselves set

up

,

but

th

e oppos

it

e rollers to

the

slack

on

es, namely,

the

rollers

against which

the

pressure is bearing, are set up until

the

crosshead

is

brought

into

touch again with

the

slack

rollers, and thus restored to

the

position from which it

was tending to depart. This takes up the

sp

ring of the

stay,

and it

will probably not require

any

more attention

throughout

the

test.

In

this way the end of

the

test

they fractured at

the

hooked ends, exactly as shown on

Fig.

8.

Thi

s was at

7

tons of

load;

but when screwed

p l u ~ were inserted, as shown

in

the lower view,

the

sprrngs would carry tons without failure, giving an

elastic stretch of in.

A photograph of

the

machine t aken into position is ex

hibited.

In conclusion,

th

e author is sensible of the honour of

the

selection of his firm

's

machine for a laborato

ry

bearing

the

great

name of

Ja m

es

Watt,

at a Univers ity which

wa

s

the first to establish a school of engineering in Great

Britain,

and

for

a

professor of such distinguished ability

and so thoroughly skilled in

the

practice of testing

as

Dr . Barr.

NEW ORLEANS AND MANOHESTRR.-A

steamship line

from New Orleans

to

Manchester is being planned. It

is understood that the Illinois Cent ral Railroad Company

is doing all it can to further the scheme.

THE WATER SoPPLY

oF

BARROW

-IN-FURNEss.-After

hard fights in

the

H ouse of Lords and

in the

House of

Commons against considerable opposition, the Barrow

Corporation

are to

be congratulated on obtaining

their

Bill for taking a supply of water from

the

watershed of

the River

Duddon.

The

Bill has now received

the Royal

assent.

Th

e scheme is one for taking a supply of

3,000,000 gallons

fr

om a point on

the Duddon about

miles from Barrow. In order to provide additional

storage accommodation for giving compensation

to the

river

in

times of drought. tlie level of

Seathwaite

Tarn

is to be raised

by

a maso

nry

dam so as

to

enable

the

cor

poration to have a

re

serve of

450

million gallons.

The

water is of very fine quality, and is highly suitable for

domestic consumption and trade purposes. The borough

engineer, Mr.

W.

H . Fox, Assoc.

M. Inst.

C.E.,

is the

engineer for

the

scheme.

•

7/17/2019 Engineering Vol 72 1901-09-20

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NOTES FROM

THE

UNI'fED STATES.

PHII.ADELPHIA, September 11.

t r ~ g e d y

a t

N. Y., has not r esulted in

any

senous disturbance 1n

the

steel markets or in finan

cial circles. The

situation

is well in hand. Produc·

tion

is

not equal to calls, but

no se

rious trouble has

been enco

un

tered . Merchants stocks

are virtually

depleted in b L;s , hoops, tinplate, pipe,

and

sheets, as

well as

sk elp

uon. Th

e

condition

in wh ich the

steel

indu

stry

finds itself has started

th

e

di sc

ussion of a

policy which,

if

adopted, would

lead

to

an

accumula

tion of standard requirements

to

provide for needs in

ca

.

se

?f

st r

ike:

~ h i ~

p o

licy can,

of course,

be adopted

w1thm c e ~ t a 1 n hm1

ts

. Pig iron, billets, me rch a

nt

bars of

gtven length,

sheets,

steel rails of

given

weight per yard, and other products can be

manu

f

ac tured

in advance

and

piled up in

warehouses

and sheds; but much

business comes

on

specia

l

o r d ~ r s .

Reports are satisfactory from all

quarters. An

enormous

volume of

material is bsing hurried to

buyers. The

inquiri

es

arriving

show that

t he peri

od

of

maximum requiremen ts has not been

reached.

Th e

ur gency

for

pipes was

n

eve

r greater. Skelp

mill

s are

unable to look

a t

a good deal of business offered. Steel

billets are

quiet

at

26

dols. for basic. Users

of

boiler

tu b es

a ~ e

deeply ?oncerned over the p ossibilities

of

completmg la

rge JObs on hand

.

The

comb

ine

s

heet

mills are furnishing only a little over one·half

of

their

capacit y.

Users of bar iron

east

and west are

trying

to buy more

than

they need for

present

wants.

Carbuilders, since

September 1,

have been

called

upon to bid on large rolling stock requirements, and

th ere

is

co

rr

es

ponding urgency for

axles, wheels,

and

all appliances entering

into car

co

nstruction.

Every

week seems

to

bring out greater

needs among

rail

roads for locomotives, and more locomotive building

capacity

will

be added with

expedition,

Open-hearth

steel

bars

have advanced 3.00 dols. Things will get

decidedly

worse unless

the

combination suc

c

eeds

in

starting, at least, its idle plants. I t is gradually

accumulating

non-union labour. Besse

mer pig

is

dols. at furnace.

Steel

rails 28 dols. at mills

for

standard

s e c t

o n ~ . Tramway work

of

very large

proportions is

in

sight.

NOTES FROM THE NORTH.

GLASGOW, Wednesday.

Glasgow P ig  I

ron

Market. At the forenoon marke t on

Thurs

day

some

8000

tons of

pig

iron were

dealt

in. P rices

were steady, and Cleveland advanced id. per ton.

In

the afternoon a good business was done

in

Scotch

and

Cleveland iron, the turnover amounting to about 10,000

ton

s.

Prices

were

st

ro

ng

, and

Sc

otch finished

at ~ d .

up

on the

day,

and

Cleveland

1 ~ d .

per

ton.

The settlement

prices were : Scotch, 5 3 : ~ 6d. per

ton

: Cleveland,

453. 3d.

;

Cumberland

hematite

iron,

60s.

6d.

per

ton.

In the forenoon on Friday the market was very

quiet

, only

a.boub 4000

tons being

dealt

in. Scotch

warrants, after being dealt in at last price, 53s. 10d.

per

ton

cash, left off ab 53s .

9 ~ d .

buyers. In

the

afternoon only 2500 tons changed hands,

but

Scotch re

covered 1d. per t on. The

market

was very idle on Monday

forenoon, only 2000 tons being dealt in, none of which

was Scotoh, which

fell1d.

per ton ; Cleveland gave way

per ton.

At the afte

rnoon session some 3500 tons

we

re

dealt in,

and

prices were firmer, Scotch improving

on the

forenoon quotations

and

Cleveland 1d.

per ton. Cleveland was done

ab

453. 1d. per ton for

th e

end

of

the

year, 1000 tons being sold. The settle

ment prices were : 53s. 9d per ton, 45s. 1 ~ d . and

60s. per

ton

. At the forenoon session of the

pig

-iron

market

on

Tue

s

day

some 10,000 tons we

re dealt

in.

The iron sold was

all

Cleveland, which made an ad

vance of 6d. per

ton

.

About

5000 tons, all Cleveland,

were done in the afternoon, the close being

45a

. 7 ~ d . per

ton cash

with

buyer3, showing a

gaia

on

the day

of

5d.

per

ton. Scotch

warrants

were

quoted

at

54s. 1d.

per

ton

cash buyers, being a

gaia

on the day of

2d. per ton.

The

settlement prices were 543., 45s 9d.,

and 603. per ton . The iron " ring " will nob

meet

to-morrow, Thuraday, out of respect

to the

memory

of th e _ e c a a Amecica.n President. Som.e 5000 tons

w

ere

dealb

in

this forenoon in

the pig

-

iron

market. The

tone was steady, and Cleveland rose per ton . Scotch

was

marked

down 1d. per ton. In

the

afternoon

other

6QOO tons were dealt in, and Scotch · closed firm and

Cleveland was steady. One firm bought 7000 tons

of the latt

er.

The

settlement prices were :

54s

.,

45a.

9d., and G

Os

. per ton. The following are the

quotation

s for

Ne;>

. 1 -makers'

iron:

Clyde, 66s. 6d.

per

ton; Ga rtsherrte

and

Calder, 67a

.;

Lan gloa.n, 69.:i. 6d.,

Su

mme

rl

ee,

703.

6d. :

Coltnes1:.1,

72s.  t he forego

ing

all

e)lipped at Glasgow; Glengarnock (shipped at Ardro3san);

66s. ; Shotts (shipped ab Leith), 70s. ; Carron (shipped

at Grangemouth), 67s. 6d. per ton. The u p w a . r ~ ten

dency

whi

ch the market showed

last

week rece1ved

a.

severe blow when the grave news came of the American

President

 s

death. I t certainly

bad

a depressing effect.

Transactions

co

ntinu

e

to

be almost exclusively

in

Cleveland and bema.tite iron. Home consumers, in.

fluenced

probab y

by the firmer to

ne

of the

warrant

market have been buying more freely, but there

are

not he

slightest of t h ~ usual

autumn

demand

e.etting

in

from the Co.ntment; f J'ct, G e r ~ a n

m a k e ~ s

are reported

to

be o

ff

eriDg hemat1te

Ir

on here

ID

competl

tion

with the

local makers.

The

Board of Trade ~ t u r n s

show that a serious falling off

is

taking place ID the

E N G I N E E I\. I K G.

foreign

~ h i ~ m e n t s There are

81 furnaces

in

blast,

against

82 at this t1me last

year

. The stock of pig iron in Messrs.

Connal a

nd

Co.'s public

warrant

stores stood

at

58,370

tons yesterday afternoon, as compared with 58

370

tons

yesterday week,

thus

showing for

the

past ~ e e k no

change.

Fin

ished

Iron and

Steel.-Hematite pig iron is easier

than it was. West Coast warrants, whtch recently closed

ab

. 61s.

per

ton, receded to

603.

4d .,

makers

iron

b e 1 ~ g 60.: . 6d. per ton to 61s., according to brand and

dehvery. East Coast hematite iron is somewhat easier

at 593. per ton,

but

Scotch is still firm at 633. 6d. to

64

s.

psr ton delivered

to

the local steel works. In the

stee

l

tlrade generally

there

is a stiffer feeling showing itself.

Angles

a ~ e

now being

quoted

at

5l.

15.3.

per

ton, less 5

per

cent. dehvered on the Clyde.

Marine

boiler-plates

are

fir ll

ab

a ~ a ~ v a n c e of 53. per ton recently pub on the

p n ~ e wh10h 1s .now 7l. 153. per ton. Otherwise the quo

~ a t t o ~ ~ are w1thoub c b a n g ~ although there are more

mquu1es. Orders are plenttful, so that the mills

are

well

employed. The rolling mills in the finished iron trade

are also well employed, and

pri

ces remain fairly firm.

Sulphate of .Ammonia.-The shipments of sulphate of

J'mmonia have risen for the

year

to 99,609 tons,

or

an

m c ~ e a . of

3932

tons over those

at the

corresponding

per1od of last

year

. Prices have slightly improved this

week, lO l. 123. 6d. per ton being paid freely.

Th

e

re

is

a

better inquiry,

and

sellers are firm.

Shipbuilditng on the Otyde

.

Porb Glasgow shipbuildera

are at present

well stocked

with

work,

and

it is grati

fying

to

know

that additi

onal cont

ra

cts have lately

come

to

the district. There

are

several large

carr

iers

under

construction in local yards, but one of the

orders j usb placed

is

for a steg,mer of the th ree-deck

type, designed

to

have a carrying power of 8500 tons. The

keel of this steamer, which,

by the

way, will be

the

largest yet

built

in Port Glasgow, will be l

aid in

one of

the yards ia

the

centre

of

the

t

ow

n, that of Messrs.

Robert

Dunca.n and  

M ~ s r s

Wm. Simons and Co.,

Renfrew,

are ho

build a

third

dredger of

1200

tons

to the

order of the Natal Government for service

ab

the port of

Durban.

I t is thirty years since

the

same firm first

built a.

dredger for the N

a.ta.l

Government, and they have built

for them quite a number of vessels in that time.

Openi

ng

of LeadhiUs Railway .-The Leadhills Light

Railway, which has been in course of con

st

ruction f

or the

past two years, was thrown open this week for inspection

by the Board of Trade. The inspector, accompanied

by

a number of officials of

the

Caledonian Railway Com

pany, who

are

the

pr

omoters of the enterprise, inspected

the

bridges

and permanent

way.

The

rail way

will

be

opened for traffic, ib is expected, in the beginning of next

month. So far,

the

line has only been carried

to

Lead

hills, and is only about six miles in length,

but

it will be

continued two miles

further to

Wanlockbead, where the

Dukes of Buccleuch have for a long time worked the lead

a.nd ailver oree.

NOTES FROM SOUTH YORKSHIRE

SHEFFIELD, Wednesday.

Sheffield Man ufactwrers

and

the Corporation. On

Monday a meet ing of

the

Sheffield Manufacturers' As·

soeiation

WM

held

to

consider what steps should be

taken

in

view of

the

action of

the

Corporation

in

fining local firms for damage caused to the roads

by the removal of heavy castings. The Association

decided to take

up

the case of Messrs.

Mo

orwood,

Sons, and Co., on whom the Corporation

re

ce

ntly

made

a demand for a heavy sum

in

consequence of damage done

to

certa

in st

reet

s,

and

it was

further re

so lved

to

ask the

Highwa

y Committee of the Corporation

to

receive a de

putation

of m a n u f a c ~ u r e r s to disc

us

s the matter generally

with a view of arriving ab an understn.nding by which

the

system of fining can be abolished.

Bradfo

 

rd

El

ec

t

ricity

Works Extension.

The

founda

tion stones of a new generating station, now in

co

urse of

erection for

the

Electricity

Department

of

the

Bradford

Corporation, were formally laid on Friday by Mr. T. H.

Sba.w

and Mr.

J . Akam, the chairman

and

vice·chairman

of the

Elect

ricity Committee.

The

new works

are

so

designed that

they

may be duplicat

ed by

building a

sece

nd

engine-house.

The

po

rtion at present bE:ling built

will accommoda.te three engines ha.vmg a total of 6000

horse·power.

The

electric generators have a capacity

of 1000 kiloswatts. The engine·room will be ca.pable of

co

ntaining

five units of

plant

with

a.

total capacity of

10,

000

horse-power, and it is proposed to instal six

boilers. Mr.

Shaw

pointed out that the work of his

committee

had increased more than

that

of any

ot

her.

In 1899 the capital expended was 18,456l., while in 1900

it

was 280,649l.,

and the

number of consumers

had ri

sen

from 43 to 1277.

The

York

shire Dales Railway.  It s officially announced

that the new line of railway,

in

course of construction

from

Skipton to Gras

sington, is

to

be

the

subject of an

application

to

the Light Ra.ilway Commissioners for per

mission

to ext

e

nd

to Kettlewell.

Th

e exact route is n

ot

yet definitely settled,

but

the co3t of the project is said

to

be 25,000/.

South

Yorkshire

Co

al Trade.

  The

re

is a feeling of

buoyancy

in

the coal

trade

of the

di

strict, and

an

improved

business is being done

in

a.Jl

classes of fuel.

After

the

restricted output

last

week, the pits have worked steadily,

:md the coal raised is selling more readily than has been

the case for so

me

time. Prospects for the

futur

e

are

br

ighter, and it is expected

that

the men will have

almost full work for some months. The improved demand

for house qualities is fully maintained,

and

present

pri

ces

have formed the basis of

a

good deal of forward busi-

(SErT.

20,

1901.

ness. London

and

the eastern counties

are

taking large

tonnages, and the eaU for prompt delivery is proof of the

depletion of merchants' stocks.

Best

Silks one make from

13s.

to

4 ~ . per. ton, and Barnsley house from

lls. to

12s.

per

ton.

The

IDland demand for steam coal has also im.

pr

oved,

but

the export business is still disappointing.

V alaes

are

firm, Ba.rnsley bards being quoted

ab

9s. to

10

e. per ton

.

T ~ e r e is now a f u l l e ~ supply of engine fuel,

and

Derbysh1ra IS

a.

keen competltcr for orders of this

class of fuel. Nuts make from 7s. 6d . to 83. 6d. per

ton·

screened slaok 5s per ton,

and

pit slack from 2s. 6d. pe;

ton.

The

coke

trade

shows a

little

improvement.

Iron

and Steel.- Most of the heavy branches of trade

are

cha ra

ct

erised

by a.

more hopeful tone.

The

armour.

plate

departments are

being kept fully employed,

although

there

is nob the pressure

th

e

re

was some time

ago. Indeed it

is

stated

that

the time is nob distant

when

further

specifications will be acceptable. The

armour-plate manufacturers of Sheffield are now in a

position

to

meet

any

requirements of the Government.

There is a well.sustained demand for marine forgings of

all kinds, and an improving call for railway material.

T h ~

leading railway compll.nies, however,

are

placing

thetr contracts very ca.ut10usly. The demand for all

classes of iron keeps

up

well

and pri

ces have a hardening

tendency. Buyers find that they cannot do better than

accept makers' quotations, and are placing

their

contracts

more freely. Hematites are in good supply,

but

ordinary

forge irons

are

more difficult

to

obtain.

•

•

NOTES FROM CLEVELAND AND THE

NORTHERN COUNTIES.

MIDDLE SBROUGH, Wednesday.

The Oleveland Iron Trade.

Yesterday there

was

n

fairly numerous attendance on 'Change, and the market,

on the whole, was almost cheerful, though he matite iron

cheapened. Inquiries were fairly numerous,

but

the

amount of business actually transacted was

not

large. One

very gratifying f

eatur

e, however, was

the

improvement

noticeable in No. 3 Cleveland pig, the demand for which

was better

than it

has been of la te,

and the

price of which

was ad ,·anced by 3d. per ton, notwithstanding

that

the

production

is

understood

to

be still

in

excess of the

requirements. Sales were recorded ab 453. 6d. for

prompt

f.o.b. delivery of No. 3 g.m.b. Cleveland pig

uon, and

sellers, as a rule, would

not

entertain offers

at anything below

that

figure. Both makers and

mer

c

hants

realised the foregoing quotation. No. 1

Cleveland pig was steady at 47s. 3d.; No 4 foundry,

44s. ; grey forge,

433.

; mottled, 42s. 9d . ;

and

white,

42s. 6d.

East

Coa.sb bematite pig, havi ng been for

some time firm ia price

and short

in supply, underwent

a.

change for

the

worse, owing to increased o

utput

of

bematite on the West Coast

and

in Scotland, as well as to

some

extent

in

this district

. Sellers were ready enough

to accept 5 9 ~ . 6d. for early delivery of Nos. 1, 2, and 3.

Business was recorded ab that figure, but many buyers

endeavoured to

pur

chase

at

rather

less. Spanish ore was

rather

f i r ~ e r in price, rubio being quoted 153. 6d.

to

16s. ex-sh1p Tees. To-day there was no alteration in

quotations.

M O/f1 ufactured I

ron

and Steel. Tbe

finished iron

and

s t ~ e

trades

are

steady.. Mosb firms

are

well supplied

w1th work. Common u on bars

are 6l

53. ; steel

ship

plates, 6l. 5s. ; iron ship plates, 6l.

17

s. 6d. ;

and

iron

and

steel

b ~ p

angles, 5l. 17s. 6d.-allless

per cent

. Hea.vy

steel rails are 6l.

10

s., and cast·iron railway chairs 3l. 10s.

-both

net cash at works.

. Palmer s Shipbu.ilditng and Ir_on Comp0/(1,y.-Tbe thirty.

s1xth annual repo

rt

of the d1rectors of Pa.lmer's

Ship

building and

Iron

Company, Limited, to be presented

at

the ordinary general meeting,

to

be held ab the

County

Hote

l, Newcastle-on-Tyne, on Monday,

Sep

tember

23,

states

that for the year ended June

30 1901

the gross profit,

after

providing for

the

cost of

~ e p a i r ~

a

nd

upkeep p l a ~ b

and after

making proper allow

ance for contmgenc1es, amounts to 107,074l. 2d. 6d .,

to

which must e added the amount brought forward from

~ a s ~

year, 3qt9l. 11s. 3d., making a totalof 110,123l. 133. 9d.

Tbts

the

du

ectors propose

to

appropriate as follows ·

Debenture

and

loan interest, 977 l l. l ls. 2d.; divide

nd at

the

rate of 8

per

cent.

per

annu m on both preference

and

ordinary abates (of. whi

ch

per

c ~ n t .

ha.s

been paid),

48,263l. 8j. ;

to

wr1te off the extenstons for

the

year as

sbow.n by the balance-sheet, 64, 739l.

1 4 ~ .

11d. (less 20,OOOl.

proVIded m la

st

year'saccount), 44,739l. 14s. lld. ; balance

to carry forward, 7348t. 19.3. Sd . ; total, 1 O,

12

3£.

133.

9d.

Messrs. Wa lker, Maynard,

and

Oo, 1/zilnited.

  Tbe

.annual report of ~ I e s s r s . Walker, Ma.ynard, and Co.,

~ 1 m 1 t e d of.

the

Redcar r o n Works, Middlesbrough, has

JUSt been Issued, sbowmg the profib on the business

from July 1, 1900, to una 30, 1901,

to

have been

25,529l. 14s. 8d., which

the

directors recommend should

be applied a.s foll?ws :

In terest

paid on purchase money.

5035t. 153. .10d. ; mcome-tax, 2464l.

lld.

; directors'

remunerat10n,

2500

l.;

pr

ofit made prior

to

the in·

corporation of

the

company carried

to re

serve account

10

,845l. 12:i. 2d. ; dividend on preference shares at

the rate of. 6

per cent

. per annum, 4632l. 16s. 6d . ;

balance a ~ r 1 e d f o r ~ a r d 50l. l l s. 3d. Having regard to

the very

t ~ c u l b

t1me

e l y

passed through in the iron

trade,

the

d1rectors constd

er the

re

su

lt

s

sa t

isfactory.

The

works have been fully maintained out of revenue. a

nd

the

furnaces have

e . e n k ~ p t in

full operation.

Mr.

H.

W.

F.

~ o l c k o w the rettrmg duector, offers himself for re-elec

tlOn. The profit

and

loss account shows an expenditure of

323,?88l.

11

s. 10d. on material, stores,

&c

. The

rece1pts have been 3t6,539l.

~ 3 3 .

9d. for pig iron

and

iron

st<?ne;

120

8l.

Ss. lld.,

o y a l t 1 ~ s rents, haulage. shunting,

sb1pp1ng, &r.; 957l. 3d., m ~ e r e s b fro ll

investments;

•

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•

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412

German build, it would seem that the swaddling

clothes'

might be well thrown off (lest they prove

enervating), ,

and

that

German shipbuild

ing

might

now be nourished on

the strong

meat of open

competition.

If we

turn,

however, to

the

German shipping re

turns,

we do n

ot

find that the fostering care of the

German Government has resulted in as great an

increase in shipping as might, perhaps, be expected;

and, indeed, as is, we believe, generally supposed

to have

taken

place by the British people. The fact

is, the building of a few imposing and magnificent

vessels, such as the Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse a

nd

the Deutschland, have strongly impressed the public

imagination. But if we

take in the

who

le

figures,

we find that during

the last ten

years of which we

have statistics

the

increase in German-owned

vessels has been not much more than 300,000 tons ;

for the total

net

registered tonnage in 1889 was

1, 320,721 tons, whilst in 1898 it was 1, 639,552 tons.

Th

ese figures are, of course, not large compared

to our more imp osing totals . The Baltic ports

have shown a considerable decrease, a fact which

makes the progress of the two great North Sea

ports, Hamburg and Bremen, more marked, espe

cially in regard to steamships.

Figures bearing upon the t

ota

l maritime trade of

Germany are not

published, but those relating

to

the two chief ports

are

available,

and

these show

very

notable progress. In 1889

there

were im

p

orte

d

into Hamburg

93,032,868 cwt. of merchan

dise of a total value of 62,279,038l.

Th

e corre

sponding figures in 1898 were 177, 904,5()6 cwt .,

and

100, 743,506l.

The export

s from

the

same

port in 1889 were 47,914,628 cwt., valued at

60,320, 746Z.; in 1898 they amounted to 79,251,066

cwt., the value being 74,668,068l. The figures for

Bremen are naturally smaller.

In

1889 the im

ports

were 27,663,644 cwt., having a value of

21,876, 728l.;

ten

years later,

in

1898,

the import

s

had

grown to 47,510,450 cwt.,

their

value being

34,072,

99ll.

The exports of

Bremen

for 1889

were 15,500,534 cwt., of a Vd.lue of 14,338,001l.;

and

in 1898

they

had grown to 24,997,318 cwt.,

valued at 19,292,617l.

In the Government return to which reference

has been made, Mr. Ward gives some important

and instructive figures, indicating the increase that

has followed upon State assistance, more especially

on

those routes practically affected, such as China,

Japan, and

Australia.

We

have

not

space to

qu

ote these here,

but

we would refer those more

directly

interested in

the

subject

to the

original

report

for details, and will content ourselves with

quoting Mr. Ward's final words. The figures

and

observations,

he

sa.ys, which I have sub

mitted will sufficiently

p r o v ~

that the direct and

indireot bounties granted by the State to the several

German steamer lines above referred to have been

of very valuable use towards

d ~ v e l o p i n ~ e r m a n

trade with the Levant, East Afnca, Austraha,

and

the Far Ea

st

.

Whether State

bount ies, either in

the

form of

direct

money payment,

or

of

other

concessions,

are

going to help

or hinder

German commerce

at large, and the shipping industry in particular,

is a

matter

that time will give us

matter

upon

which to form an estimate ; but whatever

the result may be, the mat ter is beyond our

control. The ultimate and practical issue of

the whole question is, however, chiefly withi n our

own grasp.

If ~ h e

inland German

ma

nufacturer

gets from the. State-?wned

r a i l w : a y ~

a largely

prefer

e

ntial

freight tariff

to th

e shipping

port

for

goods he sells for abroad; whilst on

our

own rail

ways obstacles are. put

in the

way.

B:itish

products being carried to

the

c o ~ s t ;

It 1 s

.ev1dent

the German will hold a commandmg pos1t10n that

must

turn the fortune of

trade

war, other things

being approximately equal. Again, if r i ~ i ship

owners combine

and

agree to carry fore1gn-made

goods-G e rman or Belgian-to distant lands

at

a

less cost than they will transport British goods from

British ports to the same places, it is also

e n t

that

we

put

into the hands of our competitors

another powerful weapon by which our home indus

tries

can

be

attacked.

Under

conditions such as

th

ese

it

is but a question of

time

before the

export

trade

of

British

made goods dwindles to smallpropor

tions, unless

our

manufacturers e a ~

by

i ~ g e n u i l i y

and

skill, provide large compensatiOns .In

other

di rections · a thing ever growtng more difficult to

accomplish in these times universal k n o w ~ e d g o

and

rapid transit.

W ~ a t

:vill ?ecome of railway

companies

and

steamship lines 1f the export trade

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

of t ~ e country is seriously crippled is a n1atter that

possibly the n1anagers of those enterprise3 have

. been

at

pains consider ; thinking that

~ r i t t

trade has sufficient flywheel to last

their

time,

and

a

present ga

in is preferable to prospective

profit.

Th

ose who guide

the

dest inies of

the

nation,

however, may be expected to survey a wider

horizon; it their duliyto consider what steps should

be

taken

to preserve to our children

the

heritage

left by our fathers.

The

solution of the question

is doubtless beset with difficulties, but there are

few problems more worthy of attention. Some

thing

has already

been

done

by

the

Select Conl

mittee on Steamship Subsidies, which it is to be

hoped will be re-appointed, so that its labours may

not be

a

lt

ogether lost. It is not, however, from

foreign subsidies tha.t we need fear most the great

en

emy is within our

gat

es.

BRITISH COLUMBIAN COAL.

CoAL and copper are the two minerals which

promise to contribute as much as any to

the

material wealth of British Columbia in the near

future. There is cause for sat isfaction

at

the pro

gress made in gold, silver, and lead production; and

on the basis of Geological Survey investigations,

there

is

no

room

to

assume that

the

country has

come anywhere n

ear the

limits of its capacity in

respect of

any

of

the three

.

The

futura of

coal, at least, is bound up with the advance of

mining as a whole. But the possibilities of

production of these two seem to be greater

than

those of

the

others;

and

everything points to

the likelihood of Canada, chiefly by the aid of

British Columbia's contribution, attaining a lead

ing place as a copper producer, with the judicious

investment of more capital in its ventures and the

er

ection of more smelters. Scattered here and

there

about every annual

report

of the Mini

ste

r of

Mines

are

references to numerous finds, some at

least of which must be capable of profitable de

velopments. One of

the

latest places to claim

attention is Copper Mountain Camp, in th e

Siruilkameen district. It is notorious that very

litt le copper will stain a whole mountain side,

but the ore in this locality has been found

to be ' 'of great extent. The deposits on

Vancouver Island remain virtually untouched,

and

they, like

the

ores of Copper Moun

tain and other

points, are far richer

in

metal

than

those which have

been

worked with such

success in

the

Lake Superior

dist

rict of

the

United

States. The coalfields

at

present producing are

those of Vancouver Island and of the Crow's Nest

Pass. The last have been rendered accessible

only within the last year by the opening of the

Crow's Nest Pass Railway, and in the period ux:der

review 206,803 tons were produced, of which

103,231 tons were used for

coke-

making, leav

ing a net 103,572 tons. In Vancouver the yield

was 1,383,376 tons, of which 47,353 tonA

were used for coke- making, leaving a

net

1,336,023 tons, and of this 914,183 tons were sent

abroad.

The

Crow's

Nest

collieries are good for a

much greater output than those of Vancouver; but,

as we have said, they have only just begun serious

shipments, and the company working the seams

has been suffering from the many inconveniences

incident to all new enterprises of this sort, and the

property cannot

as

yet be

said

to

be

tho

roughly

equipped : a

matter

which is, however, gradually

being remedied.

The

estimates of some engineers

place

the

quantity of coal within this area at

25 billions of tons, which would admit of an

output of 25 million tons a year, or 70,000

tons a day for 1000 years. It is thought, too,

that the use of the diamond drill in the valleys

will reveal many as yet undiscovered seams. The

coal in the seams exposed up to the present is very

uniform and of excellent quality.

It is

said to be

the best coking coal in America, the coke possess

ina

high calorific power and great crushing strength.

Although only two important districts have been

developed, coal is found

in

many other parts of

the

province. Mr. Ronald C. Campbell-Johnston has

enumerated the more accessible. To the west, near

Fairview, in

the

Okanagan Valley, he says, there

are outlying indications

at

Swan (or Vaseau) Lake,

at

Okanagan Falls,

up the north

fo

rk

of

the Kettle

River,

and

in to the Fire Valley and Okanagan

districts around Whauchope.

In

these discoveries

we have the rims of the coal basins cropping out,

and boring is now proceeding to locate the deeper

[S EPT. 20, I 901.

parts of the basins. Similar indications appear

again to the west, commencing near the southern

boundary,

at

Princeton, in the Similkameen Valley,

further north on the Tulameen River, near Otter

Flat,

at

Gulliford's Ranch, Coutree, Nicola, Stump

Lakes, North Thompson River,

Hat

Creek, near

the

Marble Canon, and to

the

unexplored north.

In the

Hazelton district, around Babine and

Stewart Lakes, explorations are going on, and

surveys for rail ways are being completed to open

up a second Kootenay

in

all

its

wealth of coal,

c?pper, l ~ a d silver, and gold. Dr. Dawson pre.

d10ted this twenty years ago. The coal basins

here are

said to equal

the

Crow's

Nest

basin

in

quantity and quality. Pending the exploitation of

these fields, the Crow's Nest coal will do. The

British and American Admiralties are said to have

practically proven by

hard

tests

its

steam-producing

powers, and have agreed to substitute

it

for Welsh

coal, on completion of a railway along

the

Columbia

River to Golden, to transmit

it

to

the

coast.

Briti

sh Columbia continues to make striking

progress as a mining country. The annual

r eport for last year puts

the

value of all minerals

obliained

at

16,344,751 dols., .as compared with

12,393,131 dols. for 1899 and 10,906,861 dols.

for 1898. On the one twelvemonth there is a

s

light

decrease in placer gold; but this is compen

sated for

by

a very substantial increase

in

lode

gold,

the

total yield being 231,089 oz., as com

pared with 205,560 oz . Silver, too, shows

an

appreciable improvement-3,958,175 oz., comparing

with 2 939,413

oz

.,

the

increase being equal to 39

per cent., attributable principally to

the

activity

in South-

East

Kootenay, which turned out

960,411 oz., against 33,516 oz. in the previous

year. Over

90

per

cent. of the silver production

comes from silver-lead ores, and a rise in the

quantity of lead obtained was th erefore a foregone

conclusion.

The

figures under this head,

in

fact,

constitu te one of the features of

th

e year,

the out

put

being 63,358,621 lb., as compared with

21,862,436 lb. in 1899. The repo

r t

says

the

in

crease has been brought about chiefly by

the

energetic il.evelopment of two

or

three mines in

Fort

Steele

D i v i

although all the lead-pro

ducing districts, except Ainsworth, have shown a

material increase in production. The Slocan Min

ing Division

has

heret

ofore always held first place

in the list

of lead producers, having an

output

in

1897 of almost 31,000,000

lb.; and

although in

1899

it

fell as low as 16,660,910 lb.,

it

has again

increased in 1900

to

19,565,743 lb., a gain over t he

previous year of 17 per cent. However,

the

increase

in Fort Staele Division of from 881.167 lb. in 1899

to 38,495,079 lb. in 1890 has earned for it the right

to be considered the lead-producing centre of the

province. n copper, also, British Columbia is

making striking progress ;

and

though it does not

yet count as a factor of

great

significance

in

rela

tion to

the

world's supply,

there

is

no

denying

its

great potentialities. The

output

was 9,977,080 lb •

in comparison with 7, 722,591 lb.

in

1899 and

7,271,678 lb. in 1898. The Rossland ores appear

to be pinching out-at any rate,

the

metallic con

tents are much less than they were. The quantity

shipped in the twelve months increased by

26

per

cent., but the average yield was no more than 10 lb.

per ton, against 33 lb. in 18

99

; and as a result the

copper production was less

than

half that of

the

preceding period.

The

Nelson district also reports

diminished shipments,

but

this

is referred

to

a

temporary suspension of shipments by

the

largest

producer, pending

the

installation of new

machinery, and development of

the

mine. The

situation was saved by t he appearance in

the

field

for the first time of the Boundary Creek district,

which accounted for 5,672,177 lb., and by the

act ivity among the Coast mines, whose yield was

2,193,962 lb.,

an

increase of more than 100 per

cent . So far, iron counts for nothing in relation to

BritishColumbia's mineral.

I t

s only mined as a flux

for lead smelting,

and

we are told

that

the co

pper

and

other ores carrying an excess of iron, which

have now been discovered, are rapidly replacing

this barren flux, with

the

result that the tonnage

of iron ore mined is decreasing,

the

quantity

reported for 1900 being no more than 580 tons.

But there is plenty of ore of good class which will

no doubt be utilised in time in the establishment

of

an

iron manufacturing industry,

in

conjunction

with the

co

al of the Crow's Nest Pass and

other parts of the province.

That

time may

not be

so remote as is

thought

probable.

The

report

refers to

the

excitement created orer

7/17/2019 Engineering Vol 72 1901-09-20

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SEPT. 20 1901.]

he discovery of deposits of magnetic ore, chiefly

in the neighbourhood of the Alberni Canal. The

rovincial mineralogist finds

that

they consist of

extensive surface showings of very good magnetic

re. The development work was confined mainly

o surface st ripping; and while the surface indica

tions were excellent, the depth or permanence of

the deposits had not been proved by any shaft or

sufficient tunnel. Says the writer of the r

eport

:

Before iron ore will at tain

any

value

on

th is

coast, it must be proved to exist in sufficient

quan ti ty and under such conditions for cheap

mining as to

ju

stify the establish

ment

of an

iron

blast - furnace

and

rolling mill. Such a

lant requires about ten y

ear

s' supply of ore

absolutely in sight, and such an

amount

of

ore will never be shown to

exist

by surface

tripping.

I t is reported,

unofficially, that an

American syndicate has b

on

d

ed

the properties

referred to, a

nd

has

this

past fall sunk shafts and

riven

t

unn

els,

1

which continue to give

sa t

isfactory

showings.  This is a

very lar

ge

undertakin

g, and,

as must be expected, work will proceed slowly

and

cautiously, so that it will be a couple of years yet

before sufficient knowledge is obtained of the de

posits to

justif

y the establishment of iron works.

Still, the enterprise is distinctly one of promise.

THE TRADE

OF

KOREA IN

1900.

l{oREA

which a

short

time ago was known as the

Hermit Kingdom,

is

rapidly assuming a position

f commercial importance. From

the rep

o

rt

which

as

ju

st been published

by

the

For

eign Office we

earn that, in spite of t he troubles

in

China during

he

year 1900, the value of th e

total trade

of

Korea

ot only did

not

decrease, but actually exceeded

of any previous year. This

re

su

lt

is explained,

to a

la r

ge

extent, by the

fact

that

although

the

xpo

r t

of

Korean

produce to China, which is in

Chinese hands, decreased,

and

importations of

oreign goods

by Uhinese mer chants likewise dimi

ished, these disadvantages were more than

counterbalanced by the stimulus given to the ex

ort

of Korean cereals by the in terruption of the

xpor t trade of N ewchwang, and by the demand

supplies for the foreign troops employed in

ilitary operations in China.

So far as imports alone are concerned, the figures

or 1900 were exceeded by those for the year 1898,

hile the Customs revenue for the year fell short

that for the year 1897.

The

large increase in

trade of 1900, which occurred chiefly

under

the

eading of exports, may therefore be regarded as the

sult

rather

of exceptional circumstances than of

normal devel

opment

of trade. In the year

895 the total foreign trade of the country was

4,237,161 yen, or 1, 542,359l. sterling, while in

it was 29,016,230 yen, or 2,901,623l. sterling.

latter sum was made up of 20,453,401 yen,

e

nting

the

total

foreign imports

and

exports

foreign co untries, exclusive of gold

export

; the

ort of gold was 3,633,050 yen, and the coasting

4 929,719 yen. (The value of the yen

during

year being

taken

at 2s. 2d.)

I t

will thus be seen

trade

of

Korea

has mo

re than

doubled

self in

the

course of six years,

and the incr

ease of

he trade of 1900 over that of the previous year

694,156l.

The

huge increase under

the

head

of foreign exports is distributed over

the

five

items of the K orean

export

trade, namely,

ce, beans, hides, ginseng,

and

gold,

into the

details

which, however,

we need

not enter.

During the year the increase

in the import trade

as very small, as compared

with

that in exports,

what

in0rease has

taken

place has

not

been in

avour of

British

goods.

I t is

very significant that

the heading of cotton goods shows an increase

14,297l. over

the

figures for

the

previous year,

was a falling-off

as

regards

British

imp

orta

in the case of shirtings of

no

less than 59, 069l.,

in

the case of

yarn

of 3056l.; a small decrease is

lso observable in the item of

British

sheetings.

apanese

co

tton goods, on the other hand, show the

owi

ng

increase : Shirtings, 1731l.

sheet

ings,

other

piece goods, 25,676l.; yarn, 11,329l.

Japanese

have

imitated

the

strong

native

the pattern and

texture of which are

so closely

that

the

import

ed goods

are

hardly

st inguishable from those of native manufacture.

p

anese shirtings have

not

only held

the

place

but

they are threatening

to drive

goods

out

of

the

market. Woollen goods,

chiefly of

British

origin, also show a

decrease.

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

The trade in metals, machinery, and especially

in the appliances of mining, although not yet la rge,

is rapidly increasing, and the possibilities of the

future are considerable, and it will be well if

British merchants and engineers koep themselves

informed

re

garding these, f

or

they are certain to

have many competitors for the trade. While the

importation

of

American kerosene oil has remained

practically stationary during the year 1900, that of

J apanese kerosene has increased to the extent of

3970l., the principal port of importation f

or

t he

latter oil being Fusan .

Reports

from that

port

as

to the quali ty of the Japanese oil now imported

speak of it as having improv

ed

very much of recent

years, although still inferior to the American

article. Sumatra oil, which was formerly imported

to a considerable extent, has now disappeared from

the returns,

and

the same may be said of Russian

oil. The question of importing the lat

te

r oil in

bulk, as is done in many

ports

in the Far East, is,

however, engaging the

attention

of a

British

firm

at Chemulpo

and

if satisfactory arrangements f

or

its

importation

and

storage in

tank

s can be made,

it will probably prove a serious rival to

both

American

and Japanese

oil. It may be interest i

ng

to

note

in this connection that in Korea, as in

Japan, the importation of

ke r

osene oil from

the

Uni

te

d

States

has given rise to a tinplate industry,

which was

not

previously in

existence;

the tins in

which the oil s imported furnishing the material

for

the

tinsmiths.

There

was a noticeable

in

crease

in

the shipping

during

the

year,

and

this increase is the more

satisfactory n view of the serious

interfere

nce

caused

by

the

troub

les

in

China to

the

regular

movements of the Japanese steamships, which so

largely monopolise

the

carrying

trad

e of Korea.

As compared with the previous year, the figures

show an increase in sailing ships of 263 vessels,

representing

an

increase

in

tonnage of 4125 tons,

and in steamships of 431 vessels, representin g an

increase in tonnage of 23,908

t o n ~

Here, as usual,

Japan still easily holds her own, though a slight

increase is noticeable in Korean shipping.

The Korean Government is slowly organising a

postal and telegraph se rvice. The former is still

in a very rudimentary condition . The total mileage

of telegraph lines now open is 1696 miles, of which

121 miles represent the extension which took place

in 1900.

The

working of the lines gives general

satisfaction.

The total

receipts of the

Korean

telegraph administration

for.

the

year under review

were 72,443

yen

(about 7244l.), showing an increase

of 21,000 yen (about 2100l.) over those of the

•

previOus yea

r.

The

section of the Soul- Chemulpo Rail way,

between Nodol, the station on the Chemulpo side

of the

Han River and

Soul, was opened for traffic

on

July

8, 1900, and the whole line has since

been

in working order. The traffic is not

yet

very great,

and the

surplus income will

not

go far to

pay

the

5 per cent.

intere

st

on the

700,000

yen

of

}: r

ivate

capital invested, which, under agreement with

the

Ja

panese Government,

the

shareholders

are

to

receive before

any

attempt is made to repay the

loan of 1,800,000

yen

(180,000l.) advanced by

the

Japanese

Government. Although work has not

yet

been begun on

the

Soul-Fusan Railway,

the

concession for which was granted to a

Japanese

syndicate

in

1898, ·

there are

indications

that

in

the

near future

operations will be commenced. Various

other

schemes have

been

proposed, and it is evident

that the J apauese

are

de

te

rmined to

take the

lead

n

the

development of

the

resources of Korea,

which they look upon

as

su

pp

lementary to those

of Japan,

and

also because they

know

that t heir

influence

in Korea

will enable

them

to make

them

eelv s felt

in the

affairs of China.

The development of

the

Gwendoline Mine, ac

quired

under

the Pritchard-Morgan Concession

from

the Korean

Government, made steady progress

in

1900.

The

reef, which

i3

being worked, contains

up to 20

per

cent. pyrites, holding free

and

com

bined gold ;

and when the

works have been a

littl

e more developed,

the

prospects of satisfactory

returns are

good.

The

Unsan district, over the

whole of which

the

company possesses mining

rights, has been shown to contain silver, copper,

a

nd

gold dep

os

its,

and

there

are

also

numer

ous

places where auriferous gravel is being work

ed

.

Anthracite

coal has been found at

Ten

san, 10

miles north of the Gwendoline Mine,

and

prospect

ing shows that

the

coal seams

extend

over a large

area. At Tangokae (otherwise known as Kim-song),

wh e

re

a German syndicate has obtained a gold-

mining concession, prospecting work is still being

carried on, but as yet little practical work has been

done. On the whole, however, the report shows

that Korea is following the example of Japan,

although somewhat slowJy,

and

before long we may

expect results which will have an important bear

ing

on

trade in the Far East.

SELENIUM

.

IT is somewhat significant that in the

Preliminary

Report lately issued by the Royal Commission

on

Arsenic in

Beer

no mention is made of

any

possible

part

which selenium may have

played

in the

tragedy enacted in the closing months of last

year

in the

north

of England. The position

taken

up

by

Dr. Tunnicliffe n this matter, although the

analyses which he produced do not

appear

to have

been disputed, has not, as far as we have

been

able

to ascertain, gained the supp

ort

of scientific opinion

generally. At

any

rate, the prevailing

impr

ession

seems to be that though it is possible that the

selenium detected in some of t he vitriol used in the

manufacture of the brewing sugar may have aided

in producing

the

subsequent disastrous effects,

still

the arsenic was

the

main factor in all the cases of

illness, and undoubtedly

the

sole factor in a

great

many. Of course, it may

turn out

that the final

report

of the Commissioners will contain references

to points which it is considered advisable to

keep

quiet about until some necessary

re

search has

been

conducted and

we

certainly do

not

wish, on the

pre.sent occasion, to

take

up any decided position

one way

or

the

other

on this selenium question.

Some public prominence, however, having

been

attained

by selenium in

this

connection,

it

seems

of

interest

to say a word or two as to

its

ocJurrence

and

pr

opert

ies, as, to

jud

ge

by

the remarks we

have heard,

the

very name was an unknown quant

ity

to brewers

and

the public generally

un

til

it

achieved

it

s recent prominence in

the

daily press. A ve

ry

brief summary is all that need be given here

of

facts which may be gleaned from any text-book

on

chemistry ; our space will be more usefully occu

pied by references to such matters as are scattered

far and wide in scientific literature, and which are

not readily accessible. Selenium exists in two allo

tropic modifications- the one a black crystalline

powder, and the other a brick-red powder. The

black powder,

or

meta llic selenium, is obtainable as

a granular crystalline mass of 4.5 specific gravity.

The

or

iginal source from which it wa s obtained was

the lead selemide found

at

Olaucthal, in t he Hartz

Mountains, but a more plentiful and modern source

is the

Span

ish

pyr

ites used in the manufacture of

oil of vitriol,

and

it is among the acid manufacturera

that the propertie3

and

appearance of the element

are best known; that is, as a matter of in terest

and

not n the way of

bu

siness, f

or

the very small

amount of selenium which finds employment in the

arts does

not

act as an inducement to the vitriol

maker to

take

up

its

preparation commercially.

The

fact

is

that selenium remains to-day, as of

yore, very much a substance of scientific in terest,

and

cannot be classed among those elements which

minister in

any

real capacity to man's needs.

True, its peculiar electrical effects have been

taken

advantage of

by

Mr. Shelford Bidewell n

the

con

struction of the photophone, an

instrument

by

which

light

is converted

into

electricity.

But

neither

this nor the one

ot

h

er

scientific application

which

we

are aware of, viz., its employment in

connection with certain astronomical

instruments,

can be taken as offering sufficient inducement for

the

acid manufacturer to

take

up

its

preparation

on

a commercial scale.

An

objection,

by

the way

has

been taken by

some scientists to the name

commonly used, because, although it is common to

talk

of metallic selenium, it is

re

ally a non-metallic

element.

For

this reason the objectors say

the ter-

minati

on

urn, , which is characteristic of the nam es

of 1netals,

is inappr

opriate,

and

should give way

to selenio

n.

  It is generally agreed that scientific

nomenclature, having been

left

so much to

the

taste

of individual discoverers,

is in

a son1ewhat

ch

aot

ic condition,

and

could be overhauled

and

broug

ht

up to

date with

advantage.

However it

is not a

matter on

which we

are

disposed to ~ a x

eloquent

at

the

pre

se

nt

time,

and

we shall be con

tent with merely drawing

attention to the

fact that

differences of opinion exist. Of course, in speaking

of the application of

this or

that chemical

sub

sta

nce

for

trade purp

oses,

it

is n ot possible to speak too

e;x.actly; a certain

amount

of reservation s always de

Slrable on account of

the

secrecy which is observed

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i n s ~

many

cases as

to what

chemicals really enter

into

particular

manufactures. We

are

moved

to

say

this

because of the proposal which was

made

a

year or

two

ago to use selenium as an

agent

in the produc

tion

of red glass. vVhether the proposal ever

reached

the

subsequent

stage of regular use we

are

unable to

say,

but

a st rong claim was made

out

in

its favour; the

use of selenium,

both

alone

and

in

admixture with

cadmium sulphide, obviating,

it

was

sa

id, the necessity of

reheating and dipping in

a colouring mixture

in the ordinary

process of

making

red glass. I t was in

the

year 1885

that

Dr. Divers, professor of c

hemistry

at Tokio, pointed

out

that

when

seleniferous acid is used

in the

alkali

manufacture, the rare

element

passes over into the

hydrochloric acid in the form of se

lenium

seleno

chloride, which in

contact with

water decomposes

into elemental selenium, selenious a c ~ d and hydro

chloric acid.

This

detection of selenium in

Japanese

vitriol

is

intere

st ing, because, presuming that the

acid was made from local brimstone,

it

shows that

whatever

safety from arsenic may

be

experienced

in the use of brimstone instead of

pyritic

acid, such

procedure would prove delusive where freedom from

selenium was aimed

at.

Although we

are

of

opinion that, as far as the

beer

epiden1ic was con

cerned,

the case

against selenium

was not made

out,

yet the

fact that t he acid made from some brands

of brimstone, at any rate, contain selenium is one

that should

not

be lost sight of. I t may be men

tioned in this connection that it is customary in

pharmaceutical circles

in

America to test sulphur

for

selenium.

The

official

tes

of

the Pharma

copooia

is

to boil half a

grain

of s

ulphur

with

half

a

grain

of potassium cyanide in water,

to

filter,

and add

excess of hydroc

hlor

ic acid to the filtrate.

In the presence of se

lenium

a

reddish

coloration is

obtained, the delicacy of the test extending, accord

ing to

some authorities,

to

the detection of of

a grain. With

regard to the

toxic properties of

selenium, although

n the

recent rise of

the element

into prominence

n1any chemi

sts

pooh-poohed

the

idea that it

would give

rise to any

mischief in

this

way,

the

fact of the poisonous nature of the alkaline

salts has been clearly established. With regard to

this point attention may be directed to the work of

Chabrie and Lapicque

Oompt. nd.,

page 110),

the researches of those

authors

proving that sodium

selenite s

without

doubt an irritant poison. A

subsidiary point to which

they

draw attention

is

the

harmle

ssness of sulphites as compared with selenites

when injected into

the system,

on

account of the

imn1ediate

transformation

of

the

former

in

to sul

phates. The fact is not

without its

importance,

seeing how generally sulphurous acid

and its

com

pounds

have come

to be

used

in the

brewing

industry.

As we

have

said,

the present-day

appli

cations of

selenium are neither extensive nor of the

first importance, and

the

outlook for its increased

use is

not

bright. No doubt if an increased demand

arose,

the

present price of about 6s.

per

ounce

would experience a r eduction, as there is evidently

no lack of

raw

m

ateria

l. As

in

the case of arsenic,

the attention which has

been drawn to

the

subject

of

this

article

has led to

analytical inves tigations of

interes

t

and

importance, the

result

of which has

been to

put the detection of these bodies in various

food products on a sec

ur

e basis.

CROYDON ELECTRIC TRAMWAYS

AND ELECTRIC

LIGHTING.

THE

Borou<Yh

of Croy

don

will very s

hortly open

to

traffic a

se;tion

of electric

tram

ways

through the

main thoroughfare, connecting Norbury and Purley.

This first line is 5} miles in total length, about five

of which are with double track.

I t

forms only

part

of

the

scheme, further extensions being contem

plated for the near future.

The narrowness of the streets in the

central

part

of

the town, where the traffic will be greatest,

forms o

ne

of the chief difficulties in the way of a

successful

tramway system

in Croydon, and

has

rendered

it

necessary to

lay

down a single

track

at

the

most

congested

parts.

This

constitutes

a serious

obstac

le to

a

rapid

service; no other course, how

ever, could

have been adopted und

er the circum

stances · but

it

is

hoped

that the

number

of t

urn

outs

p r ~ v i d e d will

enable

a satisfactory schedule

to

be

worked.

The

Croydon

Tramways

Company was .formed

in

1870 and f

or

a

period

of

about

twenty-etght

years

they worked

a

system of horse

traction, which

did

not give

very

good

genera

l

results. I t

was felt

that

some time might e1apse also before the new system,

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

with electric traction, showed a profit, and the

T ~ a m w a y s m m ~ t t

under

the chairmanship of

Str Fredenck Edndge, recommended the Council

to

lease the working to the

British

Electric Traction

Company for a period, with the option of taking over

the working at intervals, the first being at the ex

piration of five years. n

nder

this agreement-which

is somewhat similar

to the

one adopted for electric

lighting some years ago- the Corporation provides

the

capital

and

supervises

the

work of laying

the

line, which will

be

ope

rated by the le

ssees, who pay

the interest and

sinking

fund

charges,

and

purchase

the

necessary

current

from

the

Corporation.

The

generating

plant

for

traction

is located

in

an

extension of the electric lighting

station

of the

Corporation, n Factory-lane, Croydon, and consists

of two 600 horse-power Belliss-British Thomson

Houston

traction sets, and one 1200 horse-power

Bellies-Electric Construction Company set.

The

engines are triple-expansion, working at 180 lb.

steam

pressure; the steam consumption of the

smaller sets, with

steam

at 50 deg. Fahr., super

heat, being 21 lb.

per

kilowatt at full load,

and

that of

the

larger sets 20 - lb.

The

original

station at

Factory-lane, Croydon,

contained

three

Belliss-British Thomson-Houston

sets

of 120 kilowatts each, alternating

current

.

I t

has been

subsequently enlarged by

the

addition,

at

various intervals, of two

sets

of 250 kilowatts

each, and two sets of 500 kilowatts, all alternating

current,

and similar to the three first sets of 120

kilowatts each. These seven sets are now

runnin

g

for lighting purposes. Two

steam

mains

are

pr

o

vided-one in the engine-room and one in the

boiler-house, and

any

one of the engines can work

independently of the others,

running

on the con

denser or to atmosphere, as may

be

chosen.

When the plant was first

started,

the necessary

steam

was supplied

by three

Davey-Paxma.n econo

mical boilers, of 6000 lb. evaporation each;

and

as

the station

was increased t

here

were added two

similar boilers of equal capacity;

one

Babcock and

Wilcox boiler of 9000 lb. evaporation,

then three

Babcock and Wilcox boilers of equal capacity to the

first one. Two

Danks

economical boilers of 9000 lb.

evaporation are now being

put

down.

The complete plant will therefore contain ten

sets of engines and generators (seven alternating

and three direct-current), and eleven steam boilers,

the

total

indicated horse-power being nearly 6000.

Two Green's economisers work in conjunction

with t

he

boilers.

The

boiler-house adjoins the

engine-room ;

the

coal stores

are

independent

entirely of the b

oi

ler-house, but are in direct

communication with

it, the

boilers being sup

pli ed with coal

through

tr ucks which run on

a small line. All t he coal is weighed before

consumption in the boilers, and all the feed

water

is

measured. The boilers are fed by

three

vVeir feed pumps. (For a description of

these, see ENGINEERING, vol. lxxi., page 781.)

One of the feed pumps can be worked at high

pressure and

the

two others at low pressure, or all

t

he three

as high-pressure pumps.

They

are con

nect

ed to the two steam mains ; the air pump dis

charges

in an

overhead

tank,

from which

the

water

flows

through

a

Kennedy

water

me t

er

into

t

he

suction,

or

the feed pumps can

be

supplied direct

from

the

overhead

tank

or from t he circulation

water

of

the

suction

1 n ~ i n

which supplies

the

sur

face conde

nsers

. feed

pipes

are duplicate,

one being

connected

direct

with the

boiler,

and

the other with the Green's economisers.

The four Babcock and Wilcox boilers work at a

pressure of 180 lb. per square inch, wbile the

Davey-Paxtnan boilers work at a 160 lb. pressure,

and t he feed pumps are so designed that t

hey

can

suit ei ther of these pressures, both direct and

thr ough the economisers.

Th

e condensing

plant is

by Messrs. W. H. Allen,

So

n, and

Co.,

Limit

ed, of Bedford,

and

consists of

three

sets of Edwards three-throw air pumps, two

centrifugal pumps,

and

four surface condensers.

One

centr

ifugal

and

two air pumps are el

ectr

ically

driven from

the traction

bus-bars,

and

one

air

pump and

one centrifugal

pump

are

steam

driven.

Th

e engine-room is provided with two overhead

travellers,

one of 9 tons, and one of 25 tons, for

erection and repairs. I t c o n t ~ i n s also a t ~ t tank

for testing

the

steam consumptwn at any bme.

The tramwa

y

and

lig

htin

g switchboard is placed

on

a raised platform in the engine-room, and.con

tains four generator panels arranged for e1ther

traction

or

lighting, two

Board

of

Trad

e panels,

four feeder panels,

and

two booster panels, all

(S EPT. 20, 1901.

•

fitted with the necessary

equipment

and meters,

namely : Weston ammeters and voltmeters, British

Thomson.Houston wattmeters, cut-outs and light·

ning arresters, and

Elliot

recording ammeters

and

voltmeters. Ample space is provided in

the

rear

of

the

switchboard, givi

ng

access

to

all the

various connections.

A special power-board is connected to the gene

rator

bus-bars. Two negative boosters of 18

and

25 kilowatts capacity respectively deal each with

two

return

feeders .

Ther

e

are

four feeders from

the

ge

nerating

station, a

return

feeder being laid

in

every case side by

side

with

the

positive feeder.

By

this

means

the

maximum drop

in the

rails will

be

under

three volts, and it is hoped

that

there

will be no trouble whatever through electrolysis.

This is im portant, as a large

number

of lead-sheathed

lighting cables are laid parallel with the route.

The generating

station

is directly connected by

private wires to all

the

substations as well as

to the

switch pillars. Pi lot wires are run

to the

various

districts in the town,

and

all arc lamps, both with

rectified

and

with alternating currents, are switched

off

a

nd

on from the generating station by the

selector system.

The

station is completed by a maintenance

and

repair shop, driven electrically.

Owing

to the

la0k of water at Croydon,

three

Barnard's cooling towers and ponds have been

put

down ; also two Carrod's patent water-softeners.

Every

de

ta

il has been designed with a view to

secure the maximum economy in working, con.

s i s t ~ n t

with

the

highest possible efficiency, and

the

plant

throughout

is

arranged in a most &ystematio

manner. I t reflects great credit on

the

Borough of

Croydon electrical engineer.

ENGINEERING VALUATIONS.

(Oontinutd fror page 178.)

STEAM ENGINES, BoiLERs,

AND

F

URNACEs

.

TBE principles which rule the depreciation and

valuation of other fixed plant and machinery also

lar

gely govern steam engines, boilers, and furnaces.

Errors affecting boilers and furnaces are easily

detected. Their comparatively rapid

rate

of decay

in many insbances, the

prominent

result of any

failure,

and the

necessity thus forced

on

the owners

for speedy renovation, compe

ls

them, willingly or

unwillin gly, to recognise

the

deterioration which has

taken

place.

Inde

ed,

it

may

be

assumed as a general

rule that where

the

waste

s

rapid,

and

renewals

necessary

at

freque

nt

intervals,

no great

mistake

can

be

made

in the amount

a

ll

owed for deprecia

tion, unless it be the result of crass ignorance, or

intentional endeavour to mislead.

But

the

mi

stake

frequently does occur (most probably through ignor·

ance of the conditions of the trade), when the

n1achinery, plant, eng ines, and boilers are grouped

together in one sum of capital expenditure,

and

an

annual percentage, fixed by the auditors or accoun

tants, written off a decreasing balance. If

the rate

assumed is sufficient to cover the wear

and tear

of

boilers, it will undoub

te

dly be more

than

sufficient

for lathes

and

planing machines

;

if

it

is founded

on

the

wear of

the

general machinery, which is

probably

the

basis

the

ordinary accountant would

adopt,

it will be quite inadequate for quickly-wearing

boilers. This is sufficient reason for subdividing

the capital assets in to groups ; it may even be

deemed reason enough for calculating the waste of

each machine se

parately

and under

due considera

tion of the factors which from time

to

time affect

its

wear and tear.

Mr. Ewing Matheson, in

hi

s valuable treatise

on

"Depreciation

of F actories," gives

an

example

which we

venture

to transcribe, as

it

will

se

rve

to

illustrate very clearly the differences

in

the two

methods: I f

a well-made

non

-condensing sta

tionary engine with Lancas

hire

boiler

co

st , includ

ing foundations, 500l.,

it

would

be pruden

t

to

write

off

per cent

.

the

first year,

and per

cent.

annually from

the

diminis

hing

value, t.his

being

sufficient if the minor repairs and renewals, such as

new brasses and fire-bars, be paid for out of revenue.

At the end of ten years the book-value will stand

at 229l.

If,

then, the cylinder be rebored, possibly

a new piston

sup

plied,

and

the boiler renewed by

t he insertion of a new furnace, at a total cost of

SOl.,

this sum

might

be added

to the

capital value,

the depreciat ion rate of

7

per cent. continuing for

a further five years

until

the value is reduced to

209l. A new boiler would probably then

be

re·

quired, costing 200l.,

and

the

rate

of

7 per

cent.

go on

the

renovated value of 409l. I t will

be

•

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SEPT.

20,

I

901.

J

obse

rv

ed t

ha

t

Mr.

Matheson makes no deduction

fo

scrap

v a l u ~ and for u r p o ~ e s of comparison we

will al

so

av01d

such

dedact10ns. A.ssum

ing

th e

first

b o

il

er

to

cost

the same amount as

t he second

one, the engine wo

uld be valued at

300l. with a

probable li f

e of thirty y

ears,

giv

in

g a de

p;e

c

iati

on

of 10l.

p e ~

an

num

; and the b o

iler

at

200l.,

with

a

probable

hfe of fifteen

ye

ars , g

ivin

g a

depreciation

of 1

3l

.

6s

.

8d

. per

annu

m. * Th e

seve

ral r

esul t

s

may be seen

in the following

Tabl

e :

Pe riod

la

Use.

P uroh \'le

• •

Mr. Ma t

heeor.&'

s Oalcula t ions

E o ~ l n e and Boiler.

Value, l ees

depr

eciati

on

at 7 per cent .

pe

r annum.

£,

500

•

E NG I N E E R I N

G.

engin

es li ke locom ot ives

which

h

ave many

of the

ir

parts replac

ed,

and

cons

id

er

ab

le

permane

nt

r

epa ir

s

done to them, befo

re

th ey

are

finally worn out . It

may

be assum

ed, as

a gen

era

l principle, that if the

annual writing-off should n ot

be

gr

eate

r in the

earli

er than

in the

l

at e

r

years, it should certainly

not

be

less to any consider

ab

le extent. The nearer

app

roach which is made

to

an

equa

l

annua

l

amount,

including

the

expe

nditure

on

replacemen

ts

,

the

more

correct will

be the

valuati

on

of

the machinery,

Based on Estimated

Pe

riods of U er.

Engine ex·

peoted to last

30 ye ars.

£

300

Boiler x pec

ted

to last

16 ye ars.

£,

s. d.

0

10 years

• •

Add repairs

229

Deprecia tion, 10

year

s

a t 10l. per annum ..

1

00

Depre ciation , 10 yeara

at l Sl. 6s. e  . per ann.

200

133

0

6

8

80

--

66

13 4

20

0

0

15 ye ars

209

200

Add permanent re

p1ir

s 61

2

60

66

1ll5

1

95

Add

pe

rmanent r

epa

irs

idd new boiler ..

86

13 4

•

Dep reciation ,

6

yeara at

De

pre ciat

ion, 6 yea rs

at

17l. 6s. 8d. pe r ann

.. 86

13 4

409

H6

1

3l

.

pe

r annum

..

Add new boiler, t>X ·

pec

te

d

to cost

, as be·

80 years

•

•

Depreciat ion, 15 yea rs

at

13l.

per annum . .

. fore . . . . . .

2

00

0 0

200 0 0

200 0 0

Now on

e

or two

points

are

de

serving

of

att

ent ion

in connection

with

this

Table.

Th e red

uced

va

lu

es

of

the engine

and boiler

at t he

end of ten

ye

a

rs

will

be

: By t he fi

rst,

or

percentage

method, 229l. ;

by

t

he second,

266l. 1 3s.

4d.

At t he

end

of fifteen

year

s,

209L.

by th

e first, a

nd

195l.

by

t he

second

.

And

at

th e end of thirty y

ea

rs,

12

6L by the fir

st

m

et

hod,

whereas by the second

ihe b

ook value has

e

ntirely

disapp

eared

. I t is

evi

dent that the

fi

r

st

form gives a

n1ore

r

ap id

r

ed

uct ion

of value in

t

he

earlier year

s than the second one effects ; but this

advantage disappea

rs

as

t ime

pro

gresses,

and

is

eventually re versed. But is

it r

ea

lly an ad

vantage,

·

or

is it r

eally correct to imag

ine t hat the eng

in

es

and

bo

il

ers or

other

mac

hin

e

ry of

a

factory

d

eter

io

rate in value

durin

g the

first

few y

ea

rs of w

orking

at a

higher

rate than

they

do

in

la ter

years

I t

must be

remembere

d that

here

we are not dealin g

wit h any

question of the pr

ovisi

on

of funds for

repairs or repla

ceme

nts,

a

lthou

gh

such fund

s a

re,

by the

mere pro

cess of wri ti

ng

down prese

nt

values,

p

rovide

d

for replacement

of

machines worn out;

ye

t our

immedi

ate

object

is to as

certain

the selling

valtte

of

a machine as part of

a

going

c

oncern

, a

nd

fixed

in

pos

it i

on

ready for workin

g,

at any

g

iven

d

ate.

The probabilities are rather

in

fav o

ur

of

increase

of

deprec

ia

t

ion

wi

th

la pse of

time, because, in

addi

tion

to the

ordinary

wear and

tear,

there is the

nearer

approach

of

an

improvement bein

g

thrown

on the market

through

the consummation of the

resear

c

hes

of

engineers in various factories all

over

the world.

From this

p

oint

of view

it

would

seem

that

equal annual instalments

wri

tt e

n

off will

yield the nearest

approach

to an equitable

valuation.

The additions

for

repair

s also

require

a

little

more consideration. Were t he

engine

and boiler

at the

end

of the first

ten years of

th e

value

of

266l. 13s.

4d. in

a

going

co

nc

e

rn, as shown by the

sec

on

d m

ethod

If n ot, then too long a

life

must

ha

ve been acco

rded

them,

and

the annual writing

off

has therefore

not

been

sufficient in

am

ount.

We have estimated

the

boiler to last for

fifteen

years wit hout replacement ; but at the end of

years it

required

r

ep airs

in the

nature

of parti

al

repl

ac

em

e

nt to t h ~ extent of

20l .

Th i

s we

a d ~ e d

to

its va

lue,

bu t d1d

not

find any

mcrease

of

life

;

the

e

xpenditure me r

e

ly enabled

th e bo

il

er

to

be

used for the term originally anticipated, na mely,

fi

fteen

ye

a

rs. In order

t

heref

o

re to

avo

id an

y

balance

existing

at the

expiration

of that period it

was necess

ar

y to

increase

the

annual

decreme

n t

by 4l. Exactly the

same

co

nditi

on

arose in the

case of t he eng

in

e, where

the

a

dditiona

l de

crem

en t

at

the end

of

ten

y

ears

was

3l. pe

r a

nnum.

I t

will

readily be

see

n that

an

ir regularity

lik

e

this

II ay

assume se

ri

ous

proporti

o

ns when

i t

extends over

a

lar

ge

number of

machin

es, or

when

i t includes

We

are here taking Mr. Matheson's estimate of

fifteen years as the assumed life of the Lancashire bo iler,

but

we need scarcely say that many such boilers, origi

n-

ally well made and properly l

oo

ked after, have a far

lo lger life than this .

•

Depreoiation, 15 ye ars

at 13l. 6s. 8d. per ann .

tak

en

as part of

a going conce

rn, at

an

y given

pe

riod.

The

es timat ion of

the pr

o

per

a

ll

owance for the

depreciat ion of steam

boiler

s is a

matter

which

really

r

equ

ires care

ful

consideration

in

each indi

vid ual cas e,

as

it depends so

l

arge

ly

on

special

conditions su

ch as

wh

et

her t

he

boil

ers are

worked

easily or to the

ir

full capacity, the ch

aracter

of the

water used, th e

nature

of the

sup er vi

sion exercised ,

a

nd so on

.

We

h

av

e

known

we

ll-d

esi

gne

d

an

d

well-made boilers

ruined in

three or four

year

s by

improper

use, while in other cases we k now of

boilers which h

ave

been

in

use

for twe

n

ty

ye

a

rs with

compa

ra

t ively few

rep

airs, and which are

st

ill in

exce

ll

en t

cond

it io

n. In

th e case of moderate-sized

or

small

bo

ilers f

ormin

g par t of

the

pla n t of wor

ks

not employing

sk

illed s

upervi

sion, it

is probable

th a

t we over·

es t

imat

ed

the

life of

the boiler in the

calculationswe

have

madelin

the

above

Table

; it m

ost

probably

wo

uld not

la

st

fifteen

years

without

some

more

exte

nsive r

epair

s than those usually

charged

to trade

account

under th a

t

head

.

f it be

ass

umed

that it could last fourteen years without

undert

ak

ing

th ese r

ep

la

cement

r

epairs,

though nece

ssarily

at

considera

bl

e

ri

s

k, then the

a

nn ual deduc

t io

ns

will be much n

ea

rer

eq

ualised ; th us ;

O r i ~ i n a l cost .. . . . . . . .

10 years' depreciation

at

14t. 5s. 9d.

per annum... ... .

..

...

Value

at

end of ten years ..

Add repaira ... .. . .. .

...

• • •

Dapreciation, 5 years at 15t.

83.

6d.

per annum ... ... .. . . .

£

s.

d.

200 0 0

142 17 6

57 2 6

20 0 0

77 2 6

77

2 6

The initial difficulty consists in fixing the period

for which the engine

or machine

will last wit

hou

t

extensive or repla

ce

me n

t re

pairs being

effected.

Such

period must be

equal

to

the t

im

e it would la

st

if

run to

actua

l

destruct

ion

under suc

h conditions,

and it

must be

re-est

im

ated, on the

san

1e basis,

eR.ch

time such

r

ep a

irs

are

d

one to it.

A locomotive

affords o

ne of the

most

striking exposit ions of th is

di

ffic ulty .

During

its worki

ng

life t he wheel ty res

ma

y be renewed

thre

e or

four

tin1es, i

ts

bo

iler

she

ll

twice,

and

i ts

tubes and

firebox

three tim

es or m

ore

,

whilst

t

he repain

t

ing

a

nd minor

re

pair

s, cons

id

era

ble

i tems on such a motor, may

be

done even more fre

quently. Again,

where such engines

are

recklessly

or

careless

ly

worked, attended

by

ineffici

ent dr i

vers

an

d firemen, and

imperf

ectly clean

ed

out at nigh

t,

and at

t

he

week

end

s ;

wh

ere

s

light

r e

pairs

a

re

scamped,

or ne

glected

until some

br

ea

kdown

compels

atten

t io

n, an

d l

arger

r epa

ir

s

ar

e

ei t

h

er

deferred until too late for much

prac t

ical good, or

l

eft altogether un d

on e ;

th

e

workin

g

li f

e

mu

st

of necessity

be much shorter th

an

on

a

car

e

fully

managed

and fully eq uip ped English

rail

way

.

Th

e

former

conditions are

th ose which,

un

for t

unat e

ly,

ru l

e in

many constructive contracts,

on

co

lliery

and

iron work

s

lin

es,

and in other li k

e

und

erbakings; and the engin

ee

r in charge of t hem

must

there

fore

be

prepared for wide

ly

different

calculat ions,

and

make

vastly

different allowances,

to

those

which wou

ld guid

e him on a well-conducted

public

lin e.

On

t he oth

er hand, so

me

public bod

ies,

such

as

the officials of th e R oyal Doc

kyards and

Arse

nal s,

or

municipal corporations, having

no

pr

ofit

or

loss

account to pr

ese

nt,

will

fr

om t ime

te

t

im

e effect s

uch

extensive repai

rs and

renewals to

the

ir machinery as to

p ractically ma

in tai

n it at, or

n

ear to,

i

ts

full

purch

ase value.

Th

e diverse

pr

o

blems

t

hu

s

presente

d to the eng

ineer are

ex

t remely

perp

l

ex

ing,

and

make it

im

possible to fix

any

a

rbi

t r

ary ra t

e applica

ble to all

cases,

or eve

n

to

all po

r tions of

the

pl

ant

belonging

to the

one

firm

or

corporat

ion. Th e record of

the

whole of t

he

plant in

a sch

edu

le, each i

te

m of

whi

ch

is

co

n

sidered separa

te

ly,

and

wi th du e

regard

to its o wn

par

tic ul

ar

circumstances, will, howeve

r,

r educe

these difficulties to a minimum.

In certain

t rades, wh

ere

legi

slat

ive en

ac tment,

or t

he

uth

or

i

ty

of

trade

unions,

limit

the hou

rs

of labour, there

is

a tendency t,o employ

double

shif

ts

,

so

t

ha

t so

me

part of

the machinery

may

be

kept at work during the night as well as by day.

Su

ch

extra

user

must be

allowed for

in estimating

the life of the machinery, and the wa

ste

of that life

which

ha

s

be

en accomplishe

d

but

in the

case of

stati

ona

ry

engines a

nd

boile

rs

wo

rk

ed

unde

r

suc

h

co

ndi

t i

ons

, even more mu

st

be allowed

for

than t

he

additional

ti me en1ployed.

Where two drivers

a

re

engaged, even

und

er the most favourable circu m

st a

nces,

there

will always

be

suffi

cient

fr i

ction

and

jealousy

to

causa some

ne

gl

ect

of the en gines,

w

hi lst the

boile

r, un

less su

pervised by

some control

li

ng

a

uth

o

ri ty,

will

un doubtedl

y suffer

more

or less

t

hr

ough

want

of

prop

er cl

eaning and

e

xamination.

Th

e

insp

ection

by insurance

co

mp

ani

es

, n ow

so

gen

era

lly

ad

opted, will

not

prevent an

undu

e

amount

of decay ; it will only

preve

nt t he bo

iler

be

ing

wo

rked when

it

ha

s pr

emat

ur

ely a

rr i

ved

at

a

d

ange

rous condition.

To e cont

  u

ed.)

•

NOTES.

TH

wASTE

OF SHIPPING .

A

RE TURN of ves

se

ls of a

ll

co

un tries

lost

or brok

en

up during t he

first

half of the

present

year has now

been

issued by

Lloyd's

R egist ry.

As

usual, t he

Bri

tish

Empire

shows the largest loss of s

team

to

nn

age , viz , 42,295

gr

oss to

ns

; but

as

t

he

total

stea

m

tonnage

owned

in the

empire

is

12

,149,090

tons

gross , t he percen

tag

e is only 0.35; whilst out

of

8, 192,938 gro

sR steam tonnage

owned

by

the

remaini

ng

civilised countries of t

he

world, 46,321

gross tons, or 0.55

pe

r cent., were lost.

In

taking

th e U

nited

Kingd

om alo

ne

a

still better

showing

is

made, since, out of a

total

of 11,513,759 tons , but

29,448

to

ns, or 0.26

per

cent.,

had

to

be removed

from the registe

r. Out

of 70 steamshi

ps

o ~ t in t he

'half-year, co llisi

ons

we

re resp

onsible fo r 10, whilst

ano ther 10 have

been

repo rted as missing, and 35

as

wrecked.

Apparen

tly, the lo

ss is

g1eatest

amon

gst

t he

smaller

st

ea

mers, since,

whilst

t he

average size of

stea

mers of

the

world, taken as a

whole, is

ab

out

14

50 tons,

the

avera

ge

of

those

rem

oved

fr

om the Regi

ste

r is 1260.

This

is, of

course ,

to be

expected,

as for

several reasons

new

s

hip

s

average

a gr

eater

displacement than

their

predecesso

rs

;

an

d ,

in

facing t he

peri l

s of the seas,

have

the

advantage

of

youth

combined

"with

a

ll

the la

test impr

ove

men

ts " in mat erials and ma

chin

e

ry. The

loss of sailing s

hip

s was

much greate

r

during the half-year than that of steamers, amoun t

in

g

to

136 vesse

ls

out of a to

tal

of 10,815 ;

bu

t t he

gross

tonn

age was less, b

eing but

77

,7

76

tons

gross.

Speaking ro

ughly, t

he

percenta

ge

of loss in sailing

s

hip

s

is

some

2

t imes what

it

is

in

t

he

ca

se

of

steamers.

EL

ECTRI C T RilfWAY S AT

CoPEN

HAGEN.

Few European

cities

have

a more p

erfect

sy

stem

o

tram

ways t

han

Cope

nh agen,

wher

e elec t ric w

ork

ing

is

now

ab

out to

be

universally adopted .

One

of the

companies intro

duc

ed

over

head elect ric working a

year

or two ago,

and

the

syst

em works

admirably;

the other and much la rge

r

company depended

u

po

n

horse tr

ac t

ion,

with

the exception of

one

line,

where

elec t

ric accumulator car

s

are

in

use

;

but

t

he

la

tt

er h

ave caused mu

ch

di

ssatisfaction on acco

unt

of

the

unp l

easant

sm

ell

in the

car

s.

The company

h

as been

de

sirou

s of

introducin

g

over

h

ea

d wires

on

all

their

li n

es, but

the authorities

h

ave

placed

various obstacles in their

way.

They want

an

und

e

rground

syste m in the

inn

er town, on the one

7/17/2019 Engineering Vol 72 1901-09-20

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accumulator

cars

are

in use ;

but

in

outer town overhead

wir

es

may be

used.

Th

e

naturally, wanted to

have

the

ove

rhead

·

on

all the

lines;

and

the

corporation

has

abated its

demand, inasmuch as

the companyhas

allowed to substitute

overhead

wires

for

the

accumulator system,

with

the

limitation

that this

line,

in the inner town, had a closed

overhead

sys

t em, which,

of

co

urse, necessitates double

the

number of wires. With

regard

to the

underground

system in the other parts

of

the inner town,

no

altered decision

has

as

yet

been arrived at. The

company

fi

g

hts for the overhead system, which

is

cheaper

both

to build

and to

work

; but the

cor

poration has

been

afraid of

the

deteriorating

effect

upon

the

corporation's numerous underground iron

pipes by

the return

or

va

gabond currents.

Recent

experiences

from some 90

German towns tend,

however

,

to

show

that

the

earlier

and s

omewhat

alarming reports from American towns have been

exaggerated.

THE BoARD

OF

TRADE AND MUNICIP ALisM.

The Board of Trade has been very tender

towards

the feelings of

municipal

corporations. t gives

them

the

first offer in

th

e

matter

of electric

lighting

and

tramways,

and it

al lo

ws them

years

in which

to make up their

minds.

f they

announce

their

intention

of

taking action,

it

accepts

the

resolution

for

the

deed,

and sit-s quietly during

long periods

of procrastination.

But there is a limit

to

its com

plaisance,

as the City

Council of Newca

stle has

lately discovered, for

it

has

overruled

their objec

tion

to

allow the

Newcastle-upon-Tyne Electric

Supply Company,

Limited, to

extend their

three

phase power system,

which

has

~ t s

head-quarters

at

Neptune Bank,*

into

the area which

it

lights. The

basis of the

objection

is

to be

found in a report of

Mr.

W.

M. Mordey,

who

advised

the

corporation

that

the

introduction of

another

system into

their area,

which

had

already two

systems, would so compli

cate

the

situation

that it would

be extremely

diffi

cult

for

the

corporation

to effect a

purchase o(

the

supply a

rrangements when

the

remaining twen

t y

years,

under the provisional

order,

expired.

The

council

therefore determined

that, as

far as

they

co

uld

influence the

matter,

the citizens

~ h o u l d be

debarred from

the

advantages

of electric

power

supply

for the next twenty years, in

order

that

they

might make

a

cheaper bargain at

t.he

end

of the

period

.

This

is municipalisation

with

a vengeance,

for

it

must be remembered th

a

t,

according

to the

Act,

the

corporation

will

only have to buy the

plant

at its

actual

value,

without any regard to its earning

capa

city, and will

probably make

a

very

good purchase.

They

will succeed

to

a

large

business,

created at

great cost,

absolutely

f ~ r

n o t ~ n g a ~ d . Y e ~

b ~ c ~ u s e

the

new

supply station IS

outside.

therr J U r i ~ d t c t w n

they prefer

to deprive

the

city

of

the

advantages

of

cheap

power

for years

. We are glad that the ~ o a r . d

of

Trade has

interfered,

and we

hope

their actiOn IS

an augury that in

the

future they will ~ _ ? r e

often

discriminate between

the

needs of

the

Citizens

and

the

ambitions of

the councillors.

THE STRENGTH OF

MASONRY.

A

most elaborate series

of

experim

ents

on

masonry arch

es was

carried ? u ~

some few . years

back

by .the

Austrian

Asso?Iatwn of

Engineers

and

Architects. These

expenments showed pretty

conclusively th at the s

ame

laws of

ela

s

ticity

were

applicable

to

the calcula

tion

of

mas

onry arches

as

to

me t

al ones, and thus

removed

the design

of

such

structures

from

the

region

of

almost pure

empiricism

in

which it

h.ad

been left by p ~ e v i

investigators.

The working stress

es

p e ~ m i S S i b l e

however still remained

an

open

questiOn ;

and

the S o c i ~ t y

accordingly.

have s u p p l ~ m e n t e d their

previous work

by a

series

of

experiments on the

trength

of different

classes

of masonry.

Blocks

ere prepared

of

stonework

and. concrete, bo

th

ordinary and armoured, and of bnckwork. These

blocks

measured

1

ft.

8 in.

by

1

ft.

8

in. by

ft. 4 in.

high,

and were

h e d

in a

l a ~ g e

ydraulic press,

the

l o ~ d at

wh1eh

the

first sxgn

f failure

appeared

being

noted

as

well as the

ltimate load. A few

experim

ents

wer

e ma

de

wi th

eccentri

c

loading

;

but

i t

w

as

fo

und th a

t

th

e

re

sistance

·

wa

s

practically as

g r e ~ t

as

the load was

carefully

centred. Tl;ts, of

has long

been known

t_o be

tr ue

In t ~ e

of

plastic

metals,

like mild st

eel ; but It

not

thought that

masonry

had any

such

* See TBACTION AND TBAl\ S  llSS

ION,

August, page 201.

E N G I N E E R I N G

similar

power

of accommodating

itself

to cir

cumstances

; though

it

is true that

the

stability

of

the

famous Bear Valley Dam in California

has

been attributed to an

action of

this

char

acter.

Portland cen1ent morbar was

used throughout,

better

results being obtained with

a mixture of 1 part

cement to

2

sand,

than

wi

t h

one

of 1 part

cement

to

3i sand

. The

armoured concrete

was reinforced

with

in.

steel

rods, parallel to the

height

of the

block,

arranged

along each face

at interval

s of

2-

in. to

3 

in. These

were

bound together with

a horizontal lacing

of

-in. wire. t was noted

that

in

all cases

the lines of

cleavage

at

failure

did

not

follow the jo

ints

of the masonry, but passed

across them

as if

the

structure

was homogeneous.

The committee

conducting the

tests

conclude

that,

with really

firs t-class

workman

s

hip

a

nd

careful

in

spection, masonry

may

be safely loaded

far in

excess

of what

is

now

usual. We give below averages of

some

of

the

re

s

ults obtained

:

Tons per

8quare Foot.

Granite ashlar in mortar,

1

pa.rt cement,

2

sand . . . ... . 520

Concrete,

1

part cement, 5 broken

st

one

114

" 1 " 8 " " .. . 59

" 1 "

10

" , .

46

Armoured r e t e

1 part

cemen

• 3.5

broken stone

..

. . . .

250

Clinker brickwork in mortar,

1

part

cement,

2

sand . . . .. .

230

Common building brick in mortar,

1

part

cement,

2

sand . . . . .

105

THE TAYLOR-WHITE PRO CESS OF TREATING

TooL STEEL .

A

recent

issue of the Jo·wrnal of the

r

nklin

I

nstit l ;

te co

ntains

a

paper by Mr.

Charles

Day

de

scribing the Taylor-

White

process 0f

treatin

g tool

steel. Tools

thus treated

will

stand

a yellow heat

without

losing

their temper,

and

it

is possible

with them to take cut

s

at

such a

speed

that

the

chips turn blue.

The

steels used

are of the

self

hardening type,

which have

been

in use for

many

years.

The makers of these

s teels have, how·

ever, always cautioned users

hot to heat the

metal

above a

cherry red

in forging it,

or

the

steel,

they stated,

would

be r u i n ~ d . This

s tate

ment

was

tested

very

thoroughly

by Messrs.

Taylor

and White at the

works of

the Bethlehem

Steel

Company,

and

it

was found

that,

though

founded on

fact,

it

did not

contain

the whole

truth

as to the matter. In short,

it appears

that

certain

of the self-hardening steels,

though

injured if

heated

to

and cooled from a temperature

between

1550 deg. and 1700 deg. Fahr., became highly

efficient if heated

to

a

still higher

point, the maxi

mum

efficiency being

obtained when

the tempera

ture was

such

that

the

metal

would

crumble

if

struck.

The

Taylor-White

process therefore con

sists

in

heating

the

steel to about

2000 deg. Fahr.,

and

subsequently

cooling

it

in a

particular

way

dependent somew

hat

on the class of steel used.

In

general, however, the

steel heated

above

2000 deg. Fahr. is

rapidly

cooled

down

below

1550 deg. in a

lead

·

bath,

and the cooling is then

finished

at

a slow

rate

in a bed of lime. t is then

reheated

to a

temperature

of

between

700 deg.

and 1240 deg. Fahr., and

maintained

at

this

heat

for

about

ten minutes, which

is said to still

furth

er increase

the

efficiency of

the

tool.

When

finally cooled from

this temperature, about

\

n.

of

the surface

should be removed by

grinding,

thou

gh

this

is

no t

. necessary

if

the surface has

been

pro

tected during

the

heat

treatment

by an appro

priate

flux.

The

effects of the

treatment

ex

tend well

back from

the

point

of the tool,

and it can be ground

again

and

a.gain,

until

so

weakened

that

reforging is

needed.

In

ca

rrying

out the

heat treatment,

it is necessary

to

regulate

temperatures

within narrow

limits ;

but if

this

is

done, the

results

obtained

are

remarkably

uniform.

The

steels

most suited to the pr

ocess

contain

1 per

cent. of

chromium and about 4 per cent.

of

tungsten;

though

i f very hard

metal

s

are to

be

cut,

the

chromium

may

be ra is

ed

to 3 per cent., and the

tu ngsten to 6 per cent. or more. In the course of

the expe

riments,

which have resul ted. in this inte

res

ting

process, some 200

tons

of forg

mgs

were

out

up.

Th

e

to

ols

the manner

stated are

not s

uited for taking

fin1shmg cuts; but If

used

f?r

heavy

roughing

cuts,

they

give

remarkable r e ~ u l t s

as cutting

speeds of 60 ft. to 70 ft . per minute

become practicable.

Many

machine tools, however,

are

not

geared

up

sufficiently

to

permit

of

thiB,

as

the

bel

t slips, and

in other

c

ases

an engine power

which has

been quite adequate to

the operation qf

[SEP

T. 20, I

90 t.

a number of

lathes at the

o

ld

rates of

output, has

had

to be increas

ed to

cope with the much

greater

production

rendered

possible by the Taylor-White

tools.

STEEL-MAKING AND NA vAL Co

NS

TRUCTION IN

JAPAN

From

the

newspapers received from Japan

we

learn

that

Mr. Wada,

the

director

of the

Imperial Ste

el Works,

at

Wakamatsu, recently

e n t e ~ a i n e d

to

dinner,

in t

he

Im pe

rial

H otel,

Tokyo,

the

members

of

th e Japane

se

Gov

ernment

and the represent

atives of

the

foreign

Power

s

in

Japan, and other

s who had assisted,

either

directly

or

ndirec.tly,

in

founding .the wo

rks,

for

the

purpose

of mformmg them re

ga

rdmg the pro

gress which

had

been IQade,

and the

immediate prospects of

the

undertaking.

The

works were commenced

in

April,

1896,

and

in

February

of

this year

they

made a

partial

s

tart with the

manufacture of pig

iron,

while

in May

they

made a beginnin g with

the

manufacture

of Siemens'

steel to

the amount

of

about

40

tons

per day. At

the

end of June, two of

the

five rolling

mill plants having

been

completed, a beginning was

made in the production of medium and small rails

and plates. The rest of the plant is expected

to

be

completed by the end

of this month,

and the manu

factur

e of large rails and other heavy materials will

be started at once. .At first some accid ents oc

curred

in the working, arising from the want

of

experience

of

those in charge, but now

everything

is go

ing

on

smoothly,

and

pig

iron

was being

turned out to

the extent

of

100 tons per day, the

ore

used being

tJ:1at

obtained

at

Kamaishi, Mimasaku and

Taya

(China.). In fact, the works have

been

so placed that

the mineral res0urces of China

are as

availa

ble as

those of Japan, a.nd already the

Japanese

obtain

considerable supplies of

iron ore

from China.

Their

an1bition evidently is

to supply not

only their

own

want

s,

but

also

tho

se of the Chinese. So far,

the

experiments

at

Wakamatsu

have proved

the

efficiency of the

works;

and

the director

is confident

that

90,000

or 100

, 000

tons

of steel can be produ.ced

in

a

year when

all the

arrangements have been

completed

and

operations

are

carried out to the

full

extent.

Moreover,

he

believed that

in

a com

paratively

short time

a good prof it would be realised

which would give an

ample

return on the capital

invested.

The

failure

of

contractors to finish

their

work

within

the

stipulated

time

had

cons

tituted

a serious drawback

in

making

the preliminary

arrangements of

the works, but

with

patience

most

of

the

difficulties

had been

overcome.

In

connection

with steel

making in

Japan

it is in

teresting to note that it

is

stated, on what

seems

to

be good

auth

o

rity,

that

the

Ja panese

Government

is

about to launch

a scheme

of

naval developme

nt

which will exceed

that

of 1896, which

brought

a

considerable

number

of orders for warships

to this

country. t is understood, however, that it is

the

ambition

of

the

Gove

rnment that

a

ll the

~ : h i p s

embraced

in the

new

scheme shall be

built

in the

Government

or

private yards

in Japan, and

some

of

the works

are

being extended in view

of

the

orders which

are

expected. The steel works also

are

to

be developed so that they may undertake

the

production of armour-plates, but

it

must take a

considerable

time

before they can

hope

to succeed

with the heaviest class of

armour-plates

. The

reason

for the new

naval programme is

not only

the wish to encourage the ma

nufacture

of s

teel

in

Japan, but also to show

Russia

that Japan is

determined to keep

herself in a position to hold her

own

should

a crisis take place in affairs

in

the

Far

East.

\

.

CniLIAN RAILWA

Ys.-The Chilian

Gov

ernme

nt

has en

tered into a contract with Mr.

J.

Harding for surveys

and plans for a line to the north of Chili. The proposed

line, if carried out, will be about

650

miles in length.

RHODE

S

IAN RAILWAYS.-Proj

ec ted extensions towards

the Zambesi, Gwelo, Salisbury, and the Gwanda goldfields

have been impeded by the war, and the consequent inter

ruption of communications; large quantities of material

have been detained in Cape Colony.

In

spite of all

diffi

culties, however, the work has never stood still. The

widening

of

the line between Rhodesia and Beira had

only commenced

ab

the outbreak

of ho

stilities. The

con

version

w a ~

accomplished during the war under circum

stances of exceptiOnal difficulty and pressure, the line

being at that time the sole channel of supply for the civil

population of Rhodesia; while the Rhodesian Field Force,

under Sir Frederiok Carrington, was entirely

upon

ib

for the conveyance

of

men, hor

Ee

s,

eq_Uipment,

and stores. The earthworks for a line between Salisbury

and Buluwayo have been steadily pushed forward

from

both points.

•

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•

•

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

of

four in

paralle

l. The co

ilin

g is

arranged

in two

layers

overcome tlie objectionable 'condensa

tion

'

whi

ch occurs

ormed by two superposed

Wi

ndings with a phase i f f e r · when

cmlil

gas is used, even at -low

pr

essures, the Pintseh

ence of

one-fourth

period

each

containing

all the s

pirals

gas, which is already

in

use for lighting buoys, has

be

en

in

series. The two circuits thus closed, terminate in three adopted. This ·gas can bear a

pr

essure of 10 or 12 kilo

in

s

ul

a

ted bronze

rings, against which three brus

hes

· rub,

r a m m

(140 lb.

to

16

8lb.)

without condensation, so that

capable of receiving a current of 75 amperes without 1t can be stor ed in small portable reserv0

ir

s.

h ~ a t i n g or e m i t ~

s

park

s. The

i n t e r m e d i t ~ t e

ring con- .The burner

(F

ig. 2) employed consists

of

a vertical tube,

st1tutes a pole 1n common. An electromotive force of w1th a Bunsen burner and Alier

ma

nt le at the t op;

an

at least 85 volts is

obtained

on the

se

circuits

when

normally

ejector

f

or

the compressed gas is placed at the

bottom

of

excited in open circuit, the vol

tage

being automatically the tube. For proper comoustion the volume of a

ir

sup

reduced

to

about 45 volts

when

there is a 50-amJ?ere cur-

pliea to

the mantle

mu

st be eight tim es

that

of

the g a s ~

rent at the regulators.

Th

e heating, when working with The pressure of the gas is 0.16 kilogramme per square

a normal l

oa

d, does n

ot

exceed 40 d

eg

.

Cent. (J.04

deg. ce

ntimet

re (2.24 lb. per s

quare inch);

the rate of consump

Fahr.) above the temperature of the surrounding air . ·

f

tion of gas is

1GO

litres (5.65 cubic feet) per hour, anti 4.5

one

of

the

la

mp

s is put out

of

use,

mutu

al r eaction

litr

es

(2

74.6cubic inches)

per hour per

carcel. A reg

ulato

r

' :>etween

the

two circuits

does n

ot

cause

the

c

ur rent

s

uppli

es

the

gas

at

consta

nt

_ P r e

so

that

a

l u m ~

m

the

other l

amp to vary more than

10 {>er cent. The so

ur

ce of a

lmost

con

st ant

m

te

ns1ty

can be

obtamed,

efficiency when working

with

a full load lS not less than with occasional instead of constant supervision. Thi s

80 p

er

cent. Th e exciter

is

a s

mall Gramme

m

achin

e

syste

m has been

adopted

for several first-o

rd

er lig

hth

ouses

with

a toothed

armature

, fixed

to

the same shaft,· a

nd

(Chassiron, I le de Sein, Ile de Groix), for the Ar-men

self-exc

iting when

s

hunt

wound. I t is easily se

lf

-

lighthou

se out

at

sea, and for

the Ailly ligh t

house.

excited ; and by

mean

s of a rh eostat

the

electromotive The e c e . . . ~ i t y o£ building work s for s

upplying

the oil g-as

force of

the

a.lte

rn

a

tor

can be eas

il

y co

nt r

o

ll

ed. · · h

as limit

ed

the app

lication of ·

mca

ndescent gas l

ightmg

The old

pattern

of electric arc regulator, wh

ich

had

to

a few important lights.

The Ligh

thouse D epartment

o

nl

y one rod

for

co

nveying the curren

t , caused t he carbons therefore

ha

s e

nd

eavoured,

with

success.

to

obta.

in the

to

burn unsymmetric..tlly and to produce

uneven

shadows. same advantages, for a slight ou tlay,

by

substituting

To

remedy

this, a

much lighter and mor

e

e ~ a c

regula

tor petroleum vapour

for

in

candesce

nt li

ghting. The

burners

with

· two

sym

metrical rods h

as been

·designed. By em- employed

are

all

made

on the

sa

me

princip

l

e, but

their

ploying aluminium, ·the weight, which e x c e e d e d arrangements differ slightly according to the type of

40

kil

ogramm

es (88 lb.), · has

been

reduced

by

more t han li

ghting apparat

us f

or

which they are

in

tended. Thi s

50 pe r ·ce

nt.

• . · princip le cGmsists in injecting the liquid petroleum in to a

Tb

'e new r

eg

ul

ato

r · (Fig. 1) c0nsists.of a

box with two vaponse

r, he

ate

d by

the mant

le ;

th

e vapour

th

en pnsses

gla..zed sides, ·whi-ch contains the mechanism. Three . in to the Bun sen burner of the

mant

le, after mixing with

•

•

Jl0 .8

•

•

SEPT. 20,

1901.

Cape Bear, of the

Mont

St . Clair, and of t he Ile VietgEl,

now in

c6urse·of

construction.

I ncandescent gas lighting, when no special gas wo

rk

s are

raquired, .is not much more expensive than .lighting ,\rith

a th ree-wlCk burner ; and even when spemal works are

necessary it is more economical than a five-wick burner.

'r he a

nnu

al

expenditure

f

or

gas lig

hting

does not exceed

1800 francs (72l.)

with

gas works, or 800 francs (32l.) with

out

work

s ; for

petrol

eum vapo

ur

li

ghting

it amounts

to

650 francs (26l.

).

These figures show at a glance the ad.

vantage

, from an economical point of view, of the system

of incandescent lighting.

P ER l\fANENT L IGHTS.

Th

e Lig

ht h

ouse Depar

tment

h

as

tak en s

tep

s

to prot

ect

navigation

by

illumina

ting the

beacon towers

and

shoals

out

at

sea, where the ere

ct

ion of ordinary

l i ~ h t h o u s e s

is

precluded on accoun t of the expense. Tbis has been

carried .out

by

e a n ~ of small single-wick li

ghts

with ordi

nary mmeral oil, wh1.ch cu.n burn for several months ·with

out hav

ing to be atte

n

ded to

.

Th

e wicks used for

this

pur

pose are s

pe

cially pre

pa r

ed,

the

su

rf

ace of the wick bein·g

evenly coated

with

a thill l

a.ye

r of carbo

ni

sed tar

the

operation being termed

c?

·o11tage or k i n ~ .

Th

e iumi

nous

inten

si

ty

of

th

ese lights, which

is

equ1valent

at the

outset to two carcels, diminishes gradually till, at the

end of two months, it is only equal to one carcel. E xcel

lent

res

ul t

s are

obtain

ed, but, like all

un

a

tt

ended lig

ht

s

they afford less security to mtvigation than the ordinary

ones.

The total

consumption of oil,

in

cluding

th

e waste

from the overflow, is from 35 to 40 grammes (1. 234 oz. to

1.411 oz.) .Per hour.

This

system of

l?e

r

manent light

s was

first applied to a num ber of fixed lights. t wns subse-

•

..

•

. Fig.

2.

Fig .4 .

•

•

I

•I

•

•

I

•

I

.

,.

•

I

FocaL

I

-

•

·r

I

· - -

.

•

f -

•

••

. • F..;...-• •

'

FocaL

- ~

•

.

V

.,

•

•

•

I

•

•

•

•

•

I

•

.

..

•

-

I

.

•

FocaL

-r-·-

·

-- :--------,

Irr.candes c urtJ

Iru:a:ndescenb JU77l.O .

iTr

Petroleiaru Vapour.

FJT

IS 8

•

•

i n o - uprights

are

fixed to the box   the cent

ra

l is

a t e ~

and

the two

outer ones

are

co

nn

ected

together

by

a 0 1 · ~ s s i e c e

Th

ese uprights

are

slit vertically,. n:nd

h

ave

brus

hes

which convey

the cur

rent

to the

s

lidm

g

rods.

Th

ese bronze rods s

lid

e up

an

d down these up

rights

;

the two

o1;1ter · rods

are

co

nnecte

d each ex

tremity

by

a cross-piece ;

the upp

er cross-p1ece has a

carbo

n-h

ol

der

whi

ch is d

esigned

so

as

.

to

en

ab

le

the

carbon

to

be fixed in position;

the

central carn.es an

or

dinary

carbon-holder.- Clockwork

mechamsm with

a

regulatmg electromagnet

mo

ves

the

rods

simultan

eously,

and controls the movements of the carbons so that they

are disp

laced

at

the same rate

as

they

are burnt

.

The

light can be shifted up and down; and the lower carbon

can be brought in to

contact

with

the upp

er one at

the

moment of lighting. .

I t

is by

improvements

su

ch as

h

ave

b ~ ~ n desc

nbed

t ~ a t

i t is possible to obtain that grea.ter

pr

e01s10n of

~ h e

o p t 1 0 ~

apparat

us which plays su

ch an

Important part m el

ect

n c

illumination.

•

I NCANDESCENT

LI

GHTING WITH COMPRESSED GA S OR

. P ETROLEUM VAPOUR .

Th

e

light

given by Aiier mantles, heated

by

gas to in

ca

nd

escence, h

as

su

ch

great

intrin

sic. bri

gh t

ness, t

hat

t ~ e

Ligh thouse Department has been md uced

to

t ry th1s

sys

tem

of

i l l u

m 1 n a ~ i o n . .

Incandescence W1th low-pressure gas only giVes a com-

paratively

feeble

intrin

sic

r i g h t n < ; J o ~ p r ~ e d g n . s

must

be

used

in

order

o

obtain

a

gre

at e

r

mtnn

slC

b n ~ h t n e s s t ~ a n

that afforded

by he large

st petrole

um

burn

ers

m u

se

. W1th

compressed gas, the ~ t i t y of p p l i e ~ to tlie m a n ~ l e ,

and the rate

of combust10n,

vary

m pro >ort10n

to the P,l

es

s

ure;

whi

lst

the di

mensions of

the

mcandescent ligJlt

re

main una

ltered.

Th

e

temp

e

rature

of

the

~ a n t l e a

nd

1ts

in trinsic brightness

are

t

her

efore gra

du

ally m creased. · T( )

•

'

•

. _ I

• •

•

t'-

the

air requi red for combustiorr.

In

P

st a

rting, .the

vaporiser is ' h

eate

d

by

a

spirit

flame

to the

required

temperature. . .

f the type of optical a p p ~ a t u s permits,. the

is

made in the

form of

an mv

erted U (F1g.

3),

w1th 1ts

extremities placed as near as possible to the mantle.

When the optical apparatus does not permit of

the

above

arrangem

e

nt

for

the

vaporiser, or where a

fi

xed

burner

is

e

mpl

oyed, the optical

apparat

us being alone movable, .the

tu be con veying the petroleum is placed against. the

vaporiser (lfig.

4).

'l'he two.

tubes th

us

cast

a

~ n g l e

shadow which can be thrown mto the

dark

arc of ,.hgbt

nmg

lights

with

group flashes,

or in to

the la

ndw

ard

in

the case of the old

type

of

appa

ra

tu

s.

Th

e adoptwn .of

l

arge

r

man

tles and of vaporisers

with

fl

attened

tubes, now

on trial,

will

te

nd

in future to limit

th

e use of

burn

ers of

the type

represented on Fi g.

4.

These

' :>m"Der

s re

quire

the d d i _ t i o ~ of a p e t r e ~ m r v o 1 of. a mmunum

ca9acity of 4

litr

es

(244

c

ub1

c mche

s)

, wh10h 1s

co

nne

c.te

d

w1th another reservoir of at le

ast

d9uble the

c a p a c 1 t y ~

fill

ed with air at

a· pressure·.of G kilogrammes (84 lb: J

(Fi g·. 5) . A regulator

maint

ams the pressure of the

at

r

up

on

the

p

et

roleum

to at

l

east

2 kilogrammes (28 lb.j .

The

consumption of petrole

um

is

as

low

as

4 grammes

(0

.1

47 oz.)ler hour

per carcel of

light in the

mant

le. c o n s ~ p t of 5 graii?m.es (0.175 oz.), how

ever

is

assumed m pract10e, and this 1s much lower than

that

of a ny lamp

hi

therto e

mplo

yed.. The

tota

l r

ate

of

consumption per hour is there fore 175 a m m ~ s (6.172 oz.).

Petroleum vapour is e

mp

loyed

as

an

illumm

ant for the

lighthou

ses of

Four

(Finistere), o

fRo

ches

Douvr

es, a

nd

of

the

Grand

Cbarpe

nt

ier,

a l ~

of which

are

s

ituat

ed

out

at sea ; for the l e ~ g lights of Gr aves, E?t. Georges,

Tr ezien) and St. Mathieu, and for t he fl

as

h-ligh

ts

of the

I sland of Ba tz, of K ermorvan, of Poulains, of Camarat.

Thi

s illuminant will also

be adopted

f

or

the

hghthou

ses of

Fig .6 .

. '

"

.

.,

lt

11

lt

j I

I,

'

l1

,

1

•I

1

•

•

.. 

- -+-

- --

'

Fo

caL Plane. ·

- r r · ·-

 

• •

•

•

urner

Vapour.

'

T

.App arcctus f or · i c e n l /

I

Liglro TOTn/ .Petrolewrv V apoznt:

•

•

I

f

r

•

\

l

•

•

-·

•

'

•

guentl;t adopted for illuminating the

pi

er-heads of Port

'l'udy (Ile de Groix), of Palais (Belle Ile), of T urballe, of

Cette, etc., which

are

inacceSsible

during

rou

gh weather

;

a

nd

for illuminating the beacon-towers of 1\IIorees

(situated

near the approaches of St . Nazaire), of the Trois

Pi erres (entrance of L orient

),

of the Vinotiere (near

Br

est),

and

of

the

Vieux-Moines ; also for the lighthouses

of

Haut-Banc

-du-Nord (

l l

e

de

R e), a

nd

of

l

ll

e

Harbour

(Bay of

St. Br i

euc),

whi

ch

are

s

it u

ated out at sea.

Thi

s

system has been applied to such an extent that it wn.s

necessary

to

give these lights

all the

character

is t

ics of

atte

nd

ed lights. '£his has been effected by adopting the

system of flotation

in

a me

rcur

y bath, e

mp

loyed

with

hg

htnin

g lights,

whi

ch enable

th

e apparatus to be eas

ily

revolved.

"\Vi

th

light opt ical appara

tu

s, the power required for

the

rotation

at ordinary speed does n

ot

exceed 1250

grammes-centimetres (0.09 foot-pound). Consequen tly,

a battery which has only to be rechM ged at long in

tervals suffices

to

rotate the apparatus. This ba

tt

e

ry

operates a Gramme ring which revolves between th e poles

of two permanent magnets ; the Gramme rino-,

in

i

ts tu r

n,

rotates a central Yertical shaft connected wihl; the optical

appara

tu

s. The avernge

ve

loc

ity

of r

ot a

tion is o

nl

y one

revolution

in

ten seconds; and owing to tbe very Row

speed it is e s s a

to

employ a lM:ge

numb

er of very

fine wire cmls of

gr

eat electn ettl resiStance. Th e appa

ratus

ha

s, con

se

que ltly, very little st.ability work.mg ;

and to increase th1s the armature 1s

pr

ovided w1th a

series of copper rings, in which Fouca

ul

t c

urr

e

nt

s are set

up

i n ~

a

st

re

ngth

·appro:ximately proportion

ate to

the

s p ~ e

whiCh

~

a sor t o.f electa·o-

ma

gnetic.

brak

e. .In

this way the resiStance mcrenses a.utomat10a Uy mth

the spee

d ;

. a

nd

.any

n ~ a l

slowing down is

avoided as Immedi

ate

ly there .

IS

a tendency to reduce

s

pe

ed,

the

resi

st a

nce is diruinished to corres

pond·

•

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422

-

•

at

the

question

fr

om this

point

of view,

in

which

the

essential factor of resistance is

the

whole mass of the

tower, we find it advisable

to

build the latter in the form

of a monolith.

Thus,

instead

of building

the

most recent

Fr

ench light

houses

at

sea with ashlar masonry, the method adopted

~ to.employ small

set in

P

or t

land .cement,

w1th a fac

mg

of sma

ll

p10k dressed stones. Stmilarly,

beacon-towers which were formerly built with ashlar

masonry, a

nd

subseque

nt l

y with small stone and ordinary

maso

nry

are now const

ru

cted of

co

ncrete

or

of neat

ceme

nt

deposited within framing. This simplified method

of construction is economical

and

rapid ; and, ruoreovert

it increases the resistance of the work to the ,principal

stre ses

to

which it is subjected.

Wh

en it is advlSa.ble or

necessary to accelera te

the

work of construction,

th

e ex

e n s e

can even

be

r

ed

uced

by

employing n

ea

t cement.

The framing within which the concrete is deposited, when

the work is done above

wat

er, consists of e

ight

cast-iron

corner-pieces, with boards inse

rt

ed between them.

Th

ese

corner-pieces are securely bolted together,

and

form , with

th

e in termediate planking, a framework sufficientl y

s t r o l l ~ for secure cons

tru

ction, on co

nditi

on that

the

framtng is raised from

time to time a i the

work

prooeeds, a

nd

that the portion above the deposited

co

no

rete

is le

ft as

low

as

possible.

All the co

rner

pieces are  

in

shape ; they are 0.44 metre

(1.44

ft.) high,

and

weigh from

60 to 70

kilogrammes

(132lb. to 154 lb. ). The fr

ami

ng for beacon-towers can

thu

s

be

made

to any

r

eq

uired size

with the sa

me plant,

by merely

va

rying the length and spacing of the e

ight

co

rn

er-

pi

eces, a

nd

employing in te

rm

e

diat

e planking of

s

ui tab

le length.

The

cement is deposited

under

water by means of a

sa

il

cloth skip, opening at the bottom. The sk

ip

has orifices

which allow the

wat

er

to

enter

th r

o

ugh the

lower p art, ·as

the

cement is deposited. Th is arrangement enables the

wetted cement

to

pass

out

of

the

s

kip wh

en it is opened,

with

o

ut

being soaked

or

washed away by

the

sea

wat

er. Se

lected blocks of granite,

fr

agments of cast iron,

and

pieces

of pig iron are solidly imbedded in

the

cent re of the work,

to

u n t e r b ~ the comparative lightness of the n

eat

ceme

nt ;

this increases the total weight of the tower,

with

out affecting i

ts

homogeneity outside

the

central

port ion. Mortar mad e with sand should be used in pre

ference to neat cement for those portions of

the

work

which are left out of water sufficiently long by the fall of

the tide. Rubble stone a

nd

shingle can be added for the

pa

rt

of masonry above high tide.

Th

e mass of beacon-towers is increased by making them

large

r,

and by in

creas

ing their

specific weight.

Durin

g

recent years

the in

crease

in

volume has been obtained by

making

the towers higher, in

pr

eference

to in

creasing

thE:'ir

diam

ete

r. These beacons are fairly often raised

about 10 m

et

res

(33 ft

.) above high

wat

er,

th

ereby

in

creasing

co

ns

id

erabl.Y. their resistance to the action of the

waves a

nd th

e

ir

vis

ibility; and

they can,

if

desirable, be

provided with a permane

nt

light. The li

tt

le towers of

La

Grand Vinoti

ere

and

Les Vieux-Moines (Finistere)

hM·e been built in this manner.

POWER REQUIRED

TO

DRIVE

A MARINE

ENGINE WORKS.*

By

Messrs.

J

AMES CRIGHTON

and W.

G. RIDDELL,

of Glasgow.

IT is not

the

intention of

th

e authors to attempt to

describe a model n g i n works or driving plant,

but

rather to and show the result of a few improve-

ment

s which have been adopted by

the

firm with which

th

ey are connected.

About

th r

ee years ago it was decided to rearrange the

works

in

a

thor

ough

wann

er,

and to

fit

up

a new pmyer

inst allation. The works had gradually grown durmg

F

· Arrtmgtm t:nb of

Boil 4r rDI lL S

tokeltol tt

•

w9 e e L a JP ea ea L s

up

wards of thirty years, and most of the buildings ~ e r e

in excell

ent co

ndit1on and

in

no need of re

co

nstructiOn.

Th

e problem

to

be solved,

t h ~ n

was how to

la

y down

an

economical driving

plant wh10h

would co

nf

orm

to

t he

existing conditions, and w h i c ~ would not e a d to an un

necessary sacri

fi

ce. At that trme

the

mot1ve power of

* Paper

read at the

n a l

Engin.eering Con

gress1 Glasgow

1

1901. Sectton Ill. ; M e c h a m c ~ l .

E N G I N E E R I N

G. I

the work.<)

consi

c:;

ted of one marine type boiler r k i n ~ at

80

lb. pressure, and u ~ p l y i n g steam to three vert1cal

compo

und

engines for

dnying

the machinery,

and

one ver

tical compound engine for lighting purposes. The points in

fa

vo

ur of so many uni

ts

were

the

savi

ng in

steam when

running one or two machines at night, which might

driv

en

by

one of

the

small engines; a

nd

also

the

fact

that

in the

eve

nt

of a breakdown of one engine, the

ot

her

parts of

th

e works were n

ot

affected.

t was, however, decided to put in one engine capable

of driving and lighting the entire work

s,

a

nd

to meet the

difficulty of la

te

work by driving those machines which

experience showed were the most likely to be needed at

night by motors which could be connected 'vith current

f1

·o

m the Glasgow Corporation.

Th

e engine was made1o

a simple design,

in

order

to

make

the

fear of a

br

eakdo

wn

very remote. A cylindrical marine boiler, design

ed

to

work under either forced or natural draught, was selected

as the most s

uit

able typ

e,

and has

pr

oved itself both

economical and reliable. The position of the power

st ati

on was fixed

to

a certain extent by c

ir

cumstances.

The works are situated in a busy part of the City of

Glasgow, where ground is t l y and economy of

fl

oor

space essent ia

l.

There is no direct communication with

any railway, so that all m

ate

rial has to be carted to and

from the works. Close proximity to the street was t here

fore

an

importaqt factor

in

set tling

the

position of the

boiler.

Th

e position chosen was between the engine and

boiler department

s,

and as

the

difference

in the fl

oor level

of these

departm

ents is about 6ft. ,

th

e was placed

on the lower level, and coal

tipp

ed over into a bunker

in front of it {Fig. 1). ashes were returned

by an

hydraulic hoist to a receiver raised above on the higher

level, under which a cart might be filled automatically.

The engine (Fig. 5) was placed as near the boiler

.

•

' t

I • •

 .

•

I

•

•

(SEPT. 20, 190f.

for phenomenal resul

ts

did n

ot pr

event

the

weight of the

coal burned at the tests from being apparently less than

th

e weight passed over the weighbridge.

Th

e difference

was sometimes as great As 5

per

cent

.,

after deducting coal

used for keeping

up

fires at n

ig

ht a

nd

for lig

htin

g fires at

the b e ~ i n n i n of the week. Measuring was therefore

di

scontinued,

and the

weight of coal passed over the

weighbridge

ta

ken as the amount burned. The water

m

eter

was read at stopping

t i m ~

each

Saturday

, a

nd

continuous weekly ret urns sho,ving the cost per 100

gallons of wat

er

evapo

rat

ed were made

up

from the figures

thus obtained.

Th

e tabulated tests of

the

boiler were made when the

alterations to the driving plant were in

co

mplete, and the

amount of steam required was greater

than

is used

in

ordinary circumstances. I t is

pr

obabl

e,

however, t hat,

owing to additions to

the

works and new machine tools,

the qua

ntity

of water evaporated at t hese tests will ulti

mat

e

ly

be requ

ir

ed. Now

that

all the power in the works

is denved from one engine, less steam is being used, and

the r

ate

of combustion per square foot is less and t he

efficiency slightly &"reater. Notwith

sta

nding this, the

tests taken at

the

htgh

er

rate of combustion have been

used in this paper as the basis for calculat ing tbe cost of

power a.c:;, in course of time, the cond

it i

ons

,I?r

evailing at

these tests will be the normal working conditions of the

boiler.

Tr i

als of the boiler were car

ri

ed o

ut

for four consecutive

weeks, with a different kind of coal ~ a c h week. The

co:t

l

was

te

sted daily during the fo

ur

weeks with a

Th

omson's

oxygen calorimeter. During the first week the cheapest

qu

ality of coal which would give

the

required amount of

steam was used. This cos t

Ss.

10d. per ton,

tt.

nd goes by

the

local name of

wa s

hed singles."

t

had a low calorific

value of about 10,

00

0 British thermal units per pound.

Fig.4

--- 

----- ,

I

1 c:;:rl?. L/ • =

•

•

as poSsible, with crankshaft

par

allel to two ?f the main

lines of shop shaftmg. Two dynamos were laid

~ v n

for

lighting and driving purposes, and

e s e

a ~ d the

hn

es.

of

sliafting were

co

nnected

to

the mam engme shaft With

belts, and all so arranged

8:8

to be e a s ~ discol?-nected.

Motors were laid down to dn

ve

all

out

ly

mg

shaftmg.

Th

e existing conditions having been t reated in a

r a l way,

the

i n g pl l'nt will now

be.

described

m detail.

Th

e boiler (Figs. 1 and 4) IS of the

cylindrical marine tyP

e,

13

ft_.

6 in. mean

~ i a m e t e r

by

12 ft. 6 in. long, and IS f i t t d ~ t h

Morn

son suspen

sion furnaces 3 ft. 1 m. Iru:Ide dtameter by 8 ft . long.

Th

e working

pre?sur

e is

200

lb. per square

in

ch.

Th

e

firebars are 5 ft. long, and

the

grate area is

46

.2 square

feet.

Th

ere

are

t

hr

ee separate

co

mbustion chambers

and

316

tubes in. e x t e diameter by 8 ft . lo?g.

Th

e

tota

l h

eat

ing surface 1s

2040

square feet, .bemg

44.2 times the grate area. The length . of the ~ I m n

above

the

firebars is 65 ft. A

60

-m.

fu.n

1s

pro-

vided to blow air into the furnaces through fronts

of the H owden type, boiler

tub

es are

with retarders. The

bo1l

er 1s covered all ov.er. w1tp.

non-conducting materia

l, and

the o ~ s from .radiatiOn 1s

so small that 3 cwt. to 5 cwt. of coal1s suffiment to keep

up

t he s t e a

pr

ess

ur

e d ~ n i n g

the

n i ~ h t when

~ h e

e

ngit;l

e

is n

ot

working. A Cratg's c o m b u t 1 0 n tes

ter

18 kept m

th

e boiler-room,

by

means of

wh10h the

perce.ntage of

carbonic acid gas in the uptake J?ay be read a:t Sight, a_nd

the air

supply reduced to the

pomt

where e

ffi

Ciency begms

to decrease.

Th

e feed-water is heated by exhaust steam,

a

nd

e

nter

s

the

boiler through a Kenne

dy

w

ater

meter

a

temper

at

ure of

205

deg. Fahr.

Th

e arrangement

l

shown

in Fig. 4.

. .

Numerous evaporative tests were earn ed o

ut

wtth

differen t kinds of coal.

Th

e coal and ashes were measured,

and the capacity of the measure wns e q ~ e n t tested,

and the wat

er meter was read at reg

ul

ar

mt

ervals. .

It

was, however, found that even the

f l . b ~ e

:)f a des\1;'e

•

•

The rate of combustion was fully 40 lb. per squu,re foot of

grate

per

h

ou

r, and when burning thiS quanti ty great

volumes of black smoke were given off.

Washed

doubl

es

or " n

uts

was

the

next quality

tried. I t costs l s. per ton more than '' singles," and had

a slig

ht l

y higher calorific value ; but i

ts

evn.porative

power was not worth the extra 1s.

Th

e third test was made with steam coal triping " at

Os. 6d. per ton.

Th

e great defect of this coal was the

large proportion of fine dust

co

nt

ained in

it

.

An

air

pr

essu

re

of

ft

in. had to

be

maintained in the

as

hpi

ts

in

ord

er

to burn it quickly enough, and this carried tlie dust

away before it was burned.

t

lodged

in

crevices of the

smokebox, where it took fire and did damage.

Th

e f

ourth

and last coal tried was steam coal at

11

s.

6d

.

This coal had a calorific value of 14,320 British thermal

units, and ave all-rou

nd sa

tisfactory r

es

ults.

Th

e

co

st

of e v a ~ o r a t 1 n was sli§htly higher with this coal th :1n

\vith ' washed singles ' - 7 4

9d

. pet· 100 gallons against

7.36d. per 100 gallons, but this was more than saved

in

wag

es.

One fireman was able to

atte

nd

to

t he boiler all

day when firing steam coal,

but

had to be relieved when

firmg singl

es,

t he r

ate

of rombustion being so much higher

with the l

atte

r.

In

Table I. (page 4

24),

a deduction of 2 tons 'Yas made

iu each case from the weekly coal consumption when

finding

the

rate of

co

nsumption per square foot of grate.

Th

is is the amount used for keeping up ste.1m at night

and l

ig

hting the fires at the beginning of the week.

Th

e total weekly consumption wtl.S the weight taken in

finding

the ot

h

er

figur

es

.

It

may be added that, after

allowing for the error in rueasurmg the coal, an equiva

l

ent

evaporation of 11.5 lb. from a

nd

at

212

d e ~ .

Fahr.

was frequent ly maintained for several hours

at

a time, but

the

losses due to sto ppages for meal hours and cleaning

fires reduced this to the fi§"ures given in the Table.

Th

e

grate area of

the

bo iler is 46.2 square feet, and the heating

surface 2,040 q u a r feed temperature

WVrS

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•

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of the ens-lne,

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and thi

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e aimed

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ng done. The feed-water meets

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ar

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:

SEPT.

20,

190 . ]

E N G I N E E R I N

G.

INDUSrRIAL

NOTES.

TI E

repo

r t

of

the

g

ener

al s tate of

the

labour

market

as

g1

Yen

by the L9.bour

Department

of

the

Board of

Trad

e, was based on 2420 returns, namely 1710 from

employera, 586 from trade uni ons, and 124' from

oth

er

sources. st

at

es ~ h a t employme

nt

in

the past month

shows

an u ~ c r e 8 . € 10

th e

per

centa

ge

of unemployed

co

mpared

w1th

July,

but

th i

s is largely

due

tp

the

uguai

~ e a s o n a l decline

in

the

printin

g and other trades. The

Iron

and

coal tr ades were fully as well employed as in

the

preywus m o o t ~ . Compared with

a

year ago, most

of

the Important mdustrie

s

show

a

de

cline. .

During

August

th ere w

n.

s

a.

fa

ll of

wages affec

ting

a consider

a ~ l e

number

of coal mioera.

In

the

142

trade

unions

wtt,h

an

aggregate membership of 543,971, making r e ~

turns,

21,025 (or 3.9 per cent. ) were repor ted a

 3

un

.

employed .at the end of. August, compared with 3.4

p e ~

c

ent. July, and

w1th 3.0

per

cent.

in

t he

13

8

untOns, With

a. m b e r

h i p of 534,331, from whioh

returns

wer

e receiVed for Augus

t,

1900.

.

Emp

loyme

nt

in

the trad

es sho

ws

a

;light

.fall

off when compared

wtth

last month. Compared

w1th last

year

there is also a decline.

ing,

and the

o m m i t ~ ~ e

had dealt with

a special

case

~ r e d

to it. A ~ J disputes were

adjusted

with

out

fr1ct10n;

a.

fact wb1ch speaks volumes in favour of

the

system adopted by

the

North of

Eng

l

and

.Board.

There was no change in

the

ra t

es of wages a.t

the

last

asce

rtainm

e

nt, the

wages

continuing the

same

to the

end of

the present

mo

nth.

At a recent

m ~ e t i n g

of

the

Standing Committee

the

dispute a.t

the

Cons

ett

W orka was considered ; and

after

both aides bad been

  r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s of employers and workmen

It was agreed

that

the

wages of the men in dispu te be

reduced

5 per

cent. immediately,

and a. further 2 per

ce

nt

. ~ r o m

the

first

pay-?ay in

October.

Rep

orts

are

also gtvan of.

the

meet Dgs of

the

~ i d l a n d Wages

Board, when 1t was de01ded

not

to cla.tm a reduction

~ o ~ s i d e r a . t i o n of the action of the operatives in n'ot

cl tl lmmg an adv ance on a previous occasion. Wages

remain

the

same

until

Oc

to

ber 5, 1901.

Employment in

the

spinning branch of

the

cotton

tr ade. shows a slight c ~ i n e but is still fair; in the

weavmg branch 1t remams slack. Information re

s ~ e c t factories employing a

bout

71,000 women

and

gu ls s hows that 80 P.er e n ~ . of

tbo

s

.e in

spinning mills,

and

per

ce

nt.

of those m weavmg factories were

workmg in factories giving full employment t h ~ o u g b

out the month, to be compared with 81 and 65 per

ce

nt. r e s p e t ~ v e l y in July, and with

70

and 67 per

cent

. respectively

a.

year ago.

Empl

o

yment in the

wool.len trade is moderate. In the worsted

trade it

contmues slack. In

the

hosiery

tr

ade it shows a

further decline,

and

is slack.

In

coal-mining employment in the four weeks ended

Aug ust 24 showed a marked decline in

the

average

of d

ays pe r

. week,

as

compared

with

a y

ea

r ago, but. an mcrease m

the number

employed.

As

compared wt tb

July, there

is

a.

s

light

inc

rea

se in

the.

av

erage number of day s worked.

At

collieries a.t

wluch 427,068 workpeople were employed, the pits

worked on an average 4.91 days per week during the

fo

ur 'v

eeka

ended Au

gust 24, as compared

with

5.4.3

days a.

ye

ar

ago.

In

i r o n - m i n i n

employment is pr

ac

tically unchanged

as compared WJtb July.

As

compa

red with

a year

ago

ther

e is

a.

slight increase in the average number of

days

work

ed,

but

a

decr

ease

in the number

of work

people employed.

The

average

number

of

days

wo

rk

ed

by

121

iron

mines a

nd

open works,

at

which

14,5 5

workpeo

ple were employed

in the

four weeks

August 24, was 5.62

per

week, as compared with

55 m th e four weeks ended July 27 and 5.55 days a.

year ago.

. Agricultural labourers have been, generally speak

lOg, well employed during August, chiefly

at

harvest

wo

rk. The

demand for extra labour for harvest has

however, been unusually small, and some casua.i

b o u ~ e r s have been in irregular employment.

Durmg the five weeks ~ d e d August 31, the number

o

labourers employed da1ly at all

the

doc

ks and

prin

Cipal

' harve

s

avera

ged 16,490, as compared

with

16,652 In July and 14,993

in the

corresponding period

a year ago.

•

.

T h i ~ t y - t w o fr

esh

di

s

putes

bega.n

in

August, 1901,

u : ~ v o l v m 10,129 workpeople, of whom 6544 were

d t r e c t ~ y

and

3585 indirectly a

ff

ected.

The

corre

spon.

dmg

number of disputes

in Ju

ly was 28, in

~ o l v m ~ 8148 workpeople,

and

in August, 1900 , 32,

tnvolvmg 9334 workpeople. Of

the

disputes

in

Aug.ust,

1 9 0 ~

_hree oc

cur

r

ed. in ~ b e

building trades,

ten m

the

mtm.og

and

qua.r

rym

g

mdustri

es,

eight

in

~ h e

me

ta.],

, engtneeriug,

and

shipbuilding trades, six

m toe

textile t rades, and five

in

other industries. Of

the

40 new a n ~ old ; r ; > u ~ e s involying 11,134 work

people of whlCh the detimte result 1s reported- nine,

mvolvmg 4237 persons, were decided

in

favour of

the

w o ~ ~ p eighteen , involving 3765 persons, in

favour of

the

employers ;

and

efeven, involving 2732

persons, were compromised .

The report

of

the

Associated

Bla<:

ksmiths for

the

c ~ r r e n t

month t h a ~ " '

trade

prospects still con

tmue good, and from ad v1ces received from our branch

correspondents ,the <;>utlook 'is encouraging. " I t

f u ~ t h e r .

states that

"

new

s  Iipbuilding orders

are

be

mg

g1ven ou t ,

and

that

there

is a larger

amount

of

t o n ~ a . g e

un? er construction than

the

re has been

at any

p e ~ w d

d ~ r m ~ the

present

run

of prosperity in

the

s h p b w ~ d m g mdu stx:y." "The German and American

i ~ b u i l d i n g is equally good," it adds. Ae regard s the

Umt

ed

S t ~ t e s the

r;eport says that shipbuilding

yarde

~ r e

sprmgm

g

up all

along

the

se(l.boa.

rd, i p p ~ d at

m ~ e n s e

cost ~ I t h

the

b ~ s t

and Qewe

st machine

ry

jor

rapid product10n.

The

·

e p ~ r ~

J;efers to

thi

s as a big

p u r ~

the

race of cqxnpet1t10n. Recurring to q q ~ e

mdustnes,

the

report

t a t e

t.ha.t

the

locomotive

stationary engine,

and

general machine indust ries

a r ~

busy,,

as

also

are the

railway-wagon, bridge· building,

a ~ d Iron-roofing tra.dea. ': ''orkmen generally, espe

O l a . l ~ y members of

the

Sm1ths' Union, are urged .to

a v a i ~ v e s of t ~ e present prosperity jn

trade

to

put m .full t tme whereve:w: possible, Q.nd .thus proyide

f.or

the ramy day

which is sure to come.

Re

ference is

m a ~ e

to

the

severance of

the

soci

ety

from

the

Trades

Umon Congress,

after

an official connection of

twenty

six years. The cause was a dis

pute with

another union

the

Smiths refusing to recognise the award of t h ~

Parliamentary Comm

it

tee . The votes of the members

endorsed

this view:

·on

ly

five members voted

in

favour

of acce

pting the

decision of

the

Pa rli

amentary

Com

mittee.

In the pig

-

iron indu

s

try

emplo

yment

has continued

to improve,

a . l t b o ~

btill

mu

ch worse than

a. year

ago. R e

turns reb.tmg

to the works of 115 ironmasters

show that 317 furnaces, employing

about

22 100

workpeople, were in blast at these works at

the

'end

of August, as compared with 309 at the end of

July

and

371 a

year

ago.

•

In

iron

and

steel manufacture employment show3

an

improvement

as

compared with a month

and

with

a · year ago. At 202 works covered by the returns,

employing 79,323 workpeople

in the

week

ended

Augu

st 24, the total volume of employment

(taking

into account

both

the

numbe

r employed

and

the

number

of shifts worked) shows an

in

crease of 0.5

per

ce

nt.

as compared with July, and of 2.5

per

cent.

compa.re.d with th e correspo1;1ding period a. year ago.

In the tmplate trad

e

the

Improvement shown

in

July

has

been fully

maintained during

August, and

although

many

mills

are still

not working, employ

me

nt

is

as

good as

a.

year ago. At the

end

of August

349 mills were at

work

(including those engaged in

the

manufacture of blackplat es), compared with 347

mills

at the end

of July

and

349

a. year

ago.

The

num ber

of

workpeople engaged

at the

mills

in

opera

tion

at the

end

of August

is

es

timated

to be

about

17,400. . .

)

Employmen t in the eng ineering and metal trades ii

E

ca.

rcely so good.

The percentage

of unemployed union

members a.t

the end of August

was 3.5,

c ~ z q p a . r

with

3.3 in July. The percentage for

August,

1900,

was 2.8 .

n

the shipping trades employment has fallen off.

The percentage of unemployed union members at the

end of

August

was 3.7, compared with 3.0

in July, and

2.1 in

Augu

st, 1900.

Em pl

oyment

in tbe building

trades

has continued

to improve. The percen tage of unemployed union

members among carpenters

and

plumbers at the end

of

August was

2.7, compared

with

3

per

ce

nt. in July.

Th

e perce

ntage for August,

1900,

was

1.8.

In the furnishing

trades

employment has still

further

decliqed.

The

percentage of unemployed union mem

hers a.t the end of August was 3. 5, compared with

3.1

per

cent.

in

July

and

3

per cent. in August

of

last

year.

Employment

in th e

printing

and bookbinding

tr

ades

is quiet, as

is

usual at

this

season.

Th

e percentage of

unemployed union members a.t the end of

August

was

6. 5, compared with 4 per cent. in Ju ly and 5 6 per

ce

nt. in August,

1900.

Employment

in

the

p1p er

trades

shows

but

little change. The

percentage

of

unemployed union members

at

the

end of August

was

2.7, compared with 2.8 per cent. in July

and

3

per

cent. in August, 1900. .

In

the l

eather trades

emp loy

ment has continued to fall off. The percentage of un

employed union members

at th e

·

end

of Augti

st

was

~ . 9

compa

red with

2.3

per

c

ent.

in July

and

2.1 per

r.fmt.

in August

of last

year

•

The

c·banges in rates of wages reported during

August affected 103,419 workpeople, and the net

effect of

all the

changes was a decrease averaging

2s. 2d. weekly p,

er

bead. Of

the

total number, 2065

received advances averaging 1s. 6  d. per week,

and

101

,364 sustained decreaees averaging 2 ~ . Zid .

per

The

net result of

the

changes reported in

the

prevtOus month (July) was a decrease averaging

1s. lid. per

head

in the

weekly wages of 272,768 work·

people,

and durin

g

the

corresponding

month

of last

year

(August, 1900)

the

net

res

ult wa

s an

advan

ce

averaging 2i. 9d. per head in

the

weekly wages of

333,680 workpeople.

There was no advance of great importance in

August.

The

principal decreases reported were those

n.flecting 93,820colliery workers in Scotland, Northum

berland, and Forest of Dean, 4000 shale miners in

Scotland, 1,170 steel workers in Cleveland,

and

1,288

coal tr immers on

the

Tyne. ·

Changes affecting 83,820 workpeople were arranged

by

arbitration

or conciliat ion,

and

changes affecting

1740 workpeople took effect

under

sliding scales.

Changes affec

ting

679 workpeople only were preceded

by disputes causing stop

pa

ge of work, and

the

remaining changes, affecting 17,180 workpeopJe, were

arranged by direct negotiations between emp loyers

and

workpeople

or

their representatives.

The steel strike in Ame

ri

ca has collapsed, and

the

Trust h11s won. Some sections of

the

men, how

eve

r, sti

ll hold

ou t

.

The

attitude

of

th

e

strikers

at

vicKeesport is very thte111tening. They refuse to

ac

ce

pt the

settlement arranged

by Mr

. Shaffer,

and

declare that they will

neither

go to work

nor

allow

others to resume. The s

it

uation is reharded as the

most critical since the strike bega.n. Mr. ShatTer has

not notified

the

Pittsburgh lodges of tho settlement.

A large force of police was

in

readiness

at

Mc

Keesport

in expec

tation

of

an attempt by

one

party

of

the

strikers

to

prevent

a resumption of work.

There

was

a.

large mob ; but

the

police measures were effectual ,

and the

men were disperaed without violence. Five

thousand men returned to work at the National Tube

Company's mills

without

being molested.

The

l1·onworkers  l ~ J 1 n for

the

current

month

contains

a.

report of the half-yearly meeting of

the

North of England Conciliation and

Arbitration

Board

for

the

manufac

tured

iron and steel trade. Both

the

president and

vice-

president

concurred in

stating

' ' that never

before in

the

i

ndustrial histor

y of

the

c

ountry bad

the

principles of conciliation

and

arbitra

t ion-of

reason

and

argument-been so widely advo-·

cated

and

adopted as at the

present

time." The

meeting was congra.ttilated · upon the fact that other

trades had

copied

their

example

in the

formation

of

conciliation boards.

The Standing

C

ommittee bad

m

 

t four times

thi

s year up to

the

date of the meet-

•

Th

e report of

the

O p e r ~ t i v e Cotton Spinners for

the

current month shows a further slight decline in mem

bership. On this

point the

secretary severely blames

tho

se who, while

taking

advanbge of what

the

union

does for them, keep aloof from

th

e association

and

refuse or neglect to c

ontr

ibute to

the

funds.

I t

is

h i n t ~ d t h ~ t

the

i e ~ y may have .to take steps to force

outs1dera m to the umon, by refusmg to work with non

union men,

the

action of

the

coalminers being ci

ted

as

an

example

to

be followed.

It

is to be hoped that

the

policy foreshadowed will not be entered upon, as it

will evoke a feeling of

irritation

; and, perhaps, end

in

dissolving the Joint Commit tee, which has done, and

is doing, such good work. The united membership is

now 13,648, six fewer

th

an a .

month

ago, and 644

fewer than

a. year

ago. Twelve cases of dispute

bad

to be

dealt with

in the

month; in two

of these the

o p e r a t i v ~ s came out on strike,

the

members being paid

l l

. per wee

k, and

2d. 6d. per child under 13 years of

age , un til the dispute ends. There were

23

accident

cases

in the

month,

the permanent

grant being given

in two

or three

of these cases.

There

we

re

also

ten

cases

under the

Compensation

Act, the

claims as to

which were duly sent to the employers.

In

nearly all

instances the se are mutually ar ranged, according to

the

scale fixed

by the

Act.

In

spite of

th

e increasing

outlay the fun<;ls

have increased

by 6ll

l. 17s. 3d.

in

the

month.

The

sum of 389l. 13s. 4d. has been' add ed

to

the

superannuation fund, which now amounts to

2375l. 5s. 4d.

The report of the National Un ion of Boot and Shoe

Operatives

states that there are no

signs of

better

trade in this industry. I t further states

that most

industries, except

tho

se connec

ted with

shipbuilding,

"show a downward tendency." Fortunately, disputes

have been few, and not serious. The only one of mag

nitude

is a.t

Ayr,

,

in

Scotland.

The report points out

that

the

employers

and

workers

are

at hopeless vari

an

ce as to

the

basis of

the

dispute.

The

amounts

vary from 80 to 100

per

cent. , according as

the

state

ments are made

by

the employers or the workmen.

I t adds : "Surely it should not be too big a task for

those .

on the spot to

be able, i they so desired,

to

prove which is r ight ."

The

employers state the

ir

willingness

to

pay the

same

pr i

ces,

and work

on

the

same conditions, as those of employers in

a.

neighbour

ing town; but when the question of quan tities arise

they widely differ. A dispute in London has brought

about

a curious complication.

The employer

is a ~ d

to be

the secretary

of

the Emp

loy

er

s' Association, and

also secretary of the Conciliation Board ;

and he

•

•

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•

:

re f.uses i t is all?ge.d, to call the latter

together.

The

union 1ntends, 1t ts said,

to

make

a

claim upon

the

Guarantee

Fund in this matter.

The union had once

to

pay ; now th e officers

think

that the

employers

should.

The matter,

however, will have to come

before the Arbitration Board before

any further

steps

can be taken.

The London T  rades and Labour Gazette,

which

is

the. o r g ~ J l the ~ o n d o n Trades Council, protests

~ g a m s t

bemg

led mto the fatal mistake of

entering

1nto

a

long

and

costly

conflict

of

legal

quibbles

fritter

ing away the

unions' money,"

and the time

those

who conduct

the

business of

the

unions.

The protest

is

opportune.

The

Trades Congress resolved

to fight

a

test

case.

through

the

Courts, which might be

a

very

costly affatr, and all the employers' federations of

the

country would combine

to

defend themselves for

the

real question

at

issue would be the

right

of.

pfcketing.

The Loadon T ~ a d e s .Council insist

upon

legislation as

the only way tn whtch matters can be

set

right.

f

the trades onll desire to exercise

the

right of " obtain

i ~ g

or i v ~ n g tnfor Dation," there ought to

be no

great

dtfficulty tn amendmg the law. But

men

set

as

pi ckets

seldom stop

at

that exact

point. This

is the

real

difficulty in all labour

disputes.

Dr. John

E.

George, of

the

North-Western Univer

sity, in the United States,

has

written an

article in

P ublic Policy

on the

economic

conditions

of

the

machinists' movement for a

uniform

nine hours' day

throughout

the

States,

with the

stipulation that

the

old rate of wages shall be paid, or. as he

puts

it, ten

hours' pay for nine hours

'

work.

The

professor

thinks

that

the

economic

conditians

are

such

that a uniform

working day and

rate

of wages is not, a t least at pre

sent, possible tllloughout the

States.

But he favours

the

growing tendency towards

collective bargaining

between

employers and

workmen,

by and

through

the

ass?ciations

respectively

representing them. He also

believes that

more

peaceful

methods

will

prevail

in

the future

in

the settlement

of Jabour disputes.

·

THE CORREC

T TREATMENT

OF

STEEL.*

By Mr. C.

H.

RIDSDALE, F.I.C. (Middlesbrough).

. SECTION I.-PRELIMINARY REMARKS.

THE ultimate requirement of steel t is that, when manu

a c t u r ~ , it shall in every resp_ect satisfy the

purpose

for

which

i t

is

intended;

and

.ProVIded it does this thoroughly,

it

matters

nothing

what

Its composition is,

or

how it has

b'een t r ~ . a t e d .

f i t does not,

the

questions arise, Why does it not?

Who

shall

take

steps

to

r

emedy

it ? And, What shall

those

steps

be

?

Although we

are still

f

ar

from

understanding the

causes

in detail in every

case which

may produce

a

certai

n

cpnditioO::: in steel, much has been learnt during the last

few years on these questions· but (as one correct prin

ciple actually practised is worth

ten

reposing in tl;le brains

of scientific

men)

how many of

those

who handle steel

are making full use in practice of

what

is known as to

the effects of various t r

eatment?§

f not, is it not because

our science has not been sufficiently mad e to face practice,

and should not these subje

cts

be discussed more with

this

in view ?

The

writer

h

as

considered these questions in order

to

see

how our present

knowledge, so

far as

he knew, was

or

could

be applied

to

practice

in

different

manufactures,

and what further investigation was needed next ; and he

offers

the

following

remarks (though with

considerable

diffidence)

in the h o p ~

thStt,

though they

reveal

new

facts, they may be of mterest and of some good,

1f

only

in

showing

UJ? some

of our deficiencies and limitat ions.

The subject 1S one in which for

years

he has always

taken the greatest interest, and striven to

study

im

partially; he therefore trusts that, although associated

with

steel manufacture, he will not be re {arded as speak

ing from a maker's

point

of view ; he IS only Wishful

that the available

knowledge may

be t urned to

practical

account.

Steelmakers have, Eerhaps, to consider these questions

more, only because, 1f

any

trouble does occur with

the

steel before it is finished, 1t is

almost

always referred

to

them.

*

Paper

read

before

the

International

Engineering

Congress, Glasgow, 1901. Section V. : Iron and

Stee

l.

t The writer in

th

e main

ha

s in mind so

ft

steel (such

as he has dealt with in his previous pa pers , " Brittleness

in Soft Steel

,"

May, 1898, and "Practical Microscopic

Analy

sis,"

August, 1899

),

though the remarks apply

largely to all steel

up

to 0.40 per c ~ n t or 0.45 per ce

nt.

carbon, and these harder a r i e t i ~ s

are

spec

ially

mentioned

in places. He does not refer to s t e ~ of

any

one ma ke or

process. · . . .

:t I t is always desirable, in order

to

gt ve convmcmg

evidence

as

to cause, to

be

able

to reproduce the

effect

at will from

c o n d i t i o ~

of actual pra:ctice. This {for w a ~ t

of

opportunity

for

mmute

obseryatw.n

of

the

datly

condi

ti

ons

of practice over

a l

ong

penod) may

not

always

be

possible

to

do,

although the e n ~ r a ~ dt rec

twn may

be

s

ug

gested.

Generally,

however, this

IS

not

regarded

as suffi-

ciently convincing. . . .

§By

"treatme

nt " is meant everything which

It

un?er

oes (as contra.distinct to compositwn), whether physical,

thermal, mechanical, &c.

•

E N G I N E E R I

N

G.

i •

But

where can stee

l u sers, wishing

to avail

themselv

es

of

the existing

knowledge

on the

effect

that treatment

has on steel, find the

principles

succinctly s tated and

c ~ e a

connected

with their application in practice ? The

literature on the s

ubject

is confined to papers, which

apP.ea sca.tter.ed over . the proceedings of

the

different

I e t ~ e s , the mformatwn of

ten

being expressed only in

~ 0 1 e n t 1 f i terms,

and

not clearly pushed to a practical

~ e s u e

H ence the subj ect is not forced on the notice of

men too busy to

study

.and coll

ect

all

the

se, and they

do no.t connect them w1th

or

ap ply them to their own

practice.

The

obje

cts

of thi s

paper

are, therefore :

. 1. To hel.I? those wlio

handle

steel

by

desc

ribing

in

Simple

practical terms

such fixed

principles

as are

known

up

to

date,

and in what

direction th

ey may be applied in

praot10e.

2.

To ~ t a ~ discussion on and information concerning :

(a) ~ r & 4 e pr ocesses, and

(b)

The limitatwns of the control which maker and

user resP.ectively possess over the properties developed

by matenal.

3. To formula te certain views in order to obtain

an

expression

.o

f opinion

up

on t ~ e m , in. the hope that such

as

are publicly endorsed by this Inst1tute may be hence

f o ~ w a r d

reg

arded as a

stand

ard for

makers and

users

ahke

to refer to. At

{>r

esent, each

one

sets up

his

own

st a

nd

ard, viz., exige

nCi

es of

trade

The view r

eferred

to

are

:

(a)

As to

the

degree of

res

pon

s

ibility

of maker and

user respectively for n

orma

l results

obtained;

togl\ther

with a class ifi

ed list

of

the

indications that

sha

ll

be

accepted as

Q.etermining their source.

b) As to certain tests wh ich material ought and ought

n

ot

to be reasonably expected to stand after given treat

ment.

DIAG

RA?tl

I.

-

E.tf

ec

t

of

T

1·ea

t

men

t

v.

Oom,position on

T  wist Tests

in

W

i1·e

•

" Quality "

of

Steel

and

Composition.

''Medium ~ r d .

Basis of Treatment.

Equal.

Twisting Corresponds

with

Composition.

Unequal.

Twistin8: Corre

sponds wtth

Treat·

.

ment.

A.

Twisted io

State

Re·

oeived. Bar·

d e o f n t ~ · Effect

ot Rolling not

Remo\·ed.

B. Rolling Hardneas

Twisted after was

in:

"Soft,"

Hardening

not

Removed (llS

io

"A")

E1fect of "Med' H ,

Rolling Re- mm

ar._.,

moved * Removed (as in

. B

).

' ra f'

F

\

1\

1\

C

b

Man-

ar

on. gaoese.

0.25 p.c.

O.SOp.o.

"Soft."

C

b

Man-

ar on. ganese.

0.10 p.o. 0.40p.o.

•

c

t

\J

\

1\

1\

c

•

Th

e difference

in

twisting between two members of a

pair

is a

measure of the effect of the di1ference in composition.

*

Requh

:

ed

much leas

to

twist than" A," and gave many

more twists before breaktng. ·

The

writer,

though e a v o u r i n ~ to show by specific

in

sta

nces how,

to

the

best

of

his

belief,

the prin

ciples

may

be applied or how certain effects have been brought about

in practice, does

not

in tend to imply dogmatically that

any

given procedure will a

lwa

ys produce

the same

m l t s ;

each particular case must be considered in conjunction

with all

the

conditions,

and these cann

ot a

lw

ays

be

main

tained

constant; so that,

though

nominally

the same

1

what

occurs one

time may

not another. Even

if the

sugges

tions made are in some

cases impracticable

or

incorrect,

provided they

ser ve as a starting-point,

and

give rise

to

discussion, some good should result.

In describing temperatures, the writer feUtrs he will have

to risk being

c o n s i d ~ r e d

old-fashioned, and bringing down

censure on himself from those who advocate oxact tem

perature as measured by a pyrometer, for not discardimr

such ' ' obsolete terms " as '

1

dull red, , '' chen·y red,

" yellow heat

, ,

&c.* Practical men whose eyes are

trained by experience know

what

appearance these give

in varying light, such as sunshine,

or

at ni

ght and

can

gauge

them

quite

as

nearly

as

the temp

era

tu res themselves

can be regulated.

An furnaceman

ha

s to

judge th

e

right

deg

ree

of

heating

m a

ll sorts

of lig

ht

s,

day and

night,

at

all

tim

es

of t he year.

We may

know what temperatures we want and what

is

right when

we see it

1

a

nd yet not know the

real tempera

ture in degrees centigrade: as we have no

mean

s of pyro-

* When used, they are all

referred

to as seen in a dull

light.

•

' 8

eeuu

n

(SEPT. 20, 1901.

•

metrically measuring

the temperature

of a bloom in

the

process

of

rolling.*

We cannot

fix

exactly what the finishing temperature

should be, either in d e ~ e e s centigrade or colour tempera

ture, for steel of any g1ven carbon; as besides the mass of

the

section

and

cooling f a c i l i t i ~ ,

the

purpose for which

w ~ n t e d , and hence

the

degree of rolhng hardness most

suitable

1

has to be known.

The stmplest and the only proper way is to

let the

men

~ h o have to judge

the

temperature in daily practice try

p1eces at t\yo or three varymg temperatures which

they

can r e c ~ g n l S for the Jlselves), follow them tbrough,

and

make

stmple mechamcal tests, and

then

adopt tlie tem

perature

that gives

the best

resul ts.

A good

man

will quickly be

able to

k

eep to

the

prop

er

temperatures.

4

man

cannot

is

not

_fit for tlie job,

as

he could n

ot

e1ther w1th a

pyrometeror

1f told in

terms

of colour .

SEO'l'ION II .-THE EFFECT

THAT COMPOSIT

ION ANT>

INITIAL TREATMENT HAVE AS 00MPARED

WITH

SUBSE·

QUENT TREATMENT ON THE ULTIMATE PROPERTIES OF

THE STEEL.

A. Considered Generally,

a;nd

With Re ference to

1 vhat

is Possible.

9omposition, and all

the

treatment

th

at

an

ar ticle re·

?elves, each h

ave

an effect on it at so

me

period but the

m ~ u e l c e s most powerful in

determining

1ts f i n ~ l charac.

te nst10s

are

frequently

the

latter processes and these may

compl

ete

ly outweigh all others. '

I t h

as

been usual in

the

past,

and

still is in

many

quarters,

to

consider that tb.e qua.

liti

es

stee

l possesses

are dependent mainlh on its composition so much so that

th

t

" 1  " b '

erm qua Ity as ecome almost synonymous with

" composition;" but recently it

has

become more and

more appax:ent that this is not;so, and that, except \vi hin

~ r r o w limits. of .treat.mentt composition plays

an

insig

ruficant

part

m ms

unng

g ~ v e n

qualities.t

Sel

ect

ion of

the most suitable com.I?osition may slightlv widen the

range of treatment that 1t will bear

and y e t ~

give

the

re

quired

results,

but

it is not i b l e

to

produce a

stee

l

whi ch is impervious to treatment.

The

maker controls

the initial

treatment

and the

composition

but

generally

tl?-e influence of those is only transmitte'd a very short

d ~ t a n c e through

the

subsequent working-up processes,

bemg:

com.P

l

ete

ly UP.Set on

reheating

a

nd

re- rollin { ;:t

m

 

practice a

maker

can

do

very little which

w1ll matenally a ffect the steel aft

er working

up.

Thu

s

unless treatment only ha.d a quite

minor

effect, say 5

cent. of the total, or unless the effect of the working-up

pro

cesses was always definite and fixed, and did not vary

more

than

5 per .ce

nt.,

the

maker could not reasonably

be r e s J ? O . n s t b l ~ for ~ h e subsequent behaviour of

m a t e n a l ~ provided

It

was

nght

when sent out by him.

After

1t been further. worked, the only

way

to set

an approximately true basiS for comparison of the eff

ect

of comJ>os

iti

on in pieces in which it differs is first by

reheatmg

to

redness and l

etting

cool slowly to r e ~ o v e

all which

may have

been induced by treatment.

As an

mstance,

many

years ago, when endeavouring

to

find

whether hard

s

po t

s

in

wire

were

du

e

to

local

variat

ion

in

composition (which never was found

to an

~ x ~ e

e x c e e d ~ n g the < > s s i b l ~

e

rror

of analysis),

the

w ~ t e r

took p1eces of :;-

m.

Wlre rod of

"soft"

quality,

w1th carbon 0.10 per cent., manganese 0.40 per cent.

hooked them' o others of "medium hard , quality, c a r b o ~

0.25 per

cent.,

manganese 0.80 per cent.t§

and

whilst

the

enq of one was held in a vice, twisted

tne

other. Thus,

wh10hever was

the

mechanically softer was bound to twist

more

than the

other (see Diagram 1).

.When the b ~ i s of treatment in each case was equal,

viz. (A) tested m

the state

as received (with

the

harden-'

ing

~ f f e c t

of r o l l i n ~ unremoved); (B)

and

also after re

movmg

the

h

ardenmg

effect by

heating

as Just desc

ribed

th

" ed

h

rd , .

h

e n;t

mm

a wire s .owed, a.s would

be

expected,

less

tw1

st than

the

" so

ft

,

wue

(about half).

But

a piece

of

the

'

1

so

ft

"

~ r e

'vith

l l e I ~ r d e n i n g e f f ~ c t

of rolling

e m o v e d (a:S

m A) would.

twi

st

the

chermcally

harder

Wire from the hardemng effect of rolling had been

e ~ o v ~ d (as .

m

B) through_ a number of turns, without

hems- Itself m the least twi.Sted. That is to say, rolling

had Imparted greater hardness to

the

'

1

soft "

wire

than

an extra Q15 _per cent. of carbon

and

0.40 per cent. of

manganese, Wl.thout

the

hard

e

ning

effect

of

rolling could

impart

to

the

"harder" wire, though it containe'd alto

?:ether double the percentage of hardening bodies that

the

'soft '' wire did.

(To

be

continued.)

•

.

IRRTGA'l

'ION

~ ~ T H E

NILE

VALLEY:

ERRATUM.-Owing

to

Imperfect audition, we

regr

et

to state th

at two

errors are

to

found

in our .report

of

the di

scussion

on

Mr. Will

cock s paper, published on pa ge 311 of our issue of Sep

tember 6 las t. Thus, the gentleman e f e r r e d to by MT.'

Vernon

Ha r

court, was

Mr.

Ru ssell Aiken and not "Mr

Hakin

,

.as.

printed; and

the

source of

the

Blue Ni le

Abyssmta IS Lake Tsana,

and

not '

1

Sennaar." Similarly

the other l ake should be Lake Dembea, and not " D e b e a .

* Jou.trnal of the W

es

t •

of

Scotland n s t i t t ~ t e January

1000, No. 4 containi ng discussion

on

A. Campion's

on

Hoot

Treatment and

Microstructure of Steel."

See wnter's

remark

s.

t See

the writer

's

pap

er

on

B rittleness in Soft Steel "

Jowrna.l

of

the

Iron

a;nd

Steel I

nsti

tu te,

189

8,

No

.

1.

Th

e

same

p1eces of steel gave various opposite

qualiti

es by

treatment only. ·

. l: Coarsely

crystallin

e billet on reheating and rolling

y1elded f i n ~ - g r a m e d fibrous

o d ~ ,

and fine-grained piece

of same billet gave coa.rse-gramed rods according to

treatment.

§ '.l'he other constituen ts did not differ.

•

•

#

•

7/17/2019 Engineering Vol 72 1901-09-20

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/engineering-vol-72-1901-09-20 42/47

SEPT. 20, 1901.]

COOLING CYLINDERS OF

INTERNAL

COMBUSTION ENGINES .

Th

e Oooliln g

6f

the Oyli

 fldc   ·s of

H igh-Speed I nter flal

O>mbu

stion Engines, amd its

Eff£

ot upon the Power

Dewlopcd.

By Pr ofe ssor

H E L E

~ n A w , LL .D. , F. R .S.

;£N response to an invitation to brin g some subject which

m1ghb

be

of

in t

erest

before the pre

se

nt

E ng

ineering

Con

gres.o, ib occurr

ed to

me that there was one

whi

o

h,

though

ab the presen t exciting attention chiefly amongst

a.utomobilis ts,

ha

s (in

the

r

apid

development in

the

p o ~ e r f u l l e s s of small

- s p e e ~

oil and spirit eng-ine3 )

a d1reot

m t

erest for e

ngmeers

m gt n 3ral. This subj eob

is

the

ove

rheati

ng of

the

cy

linders,

and

its

prevention.

In

c . : > m p ~ r a . t i

slow.running, stationary oil

or gas engmes 1b ts easy enough to have a k e t

with 0ne or t wo fai rly la

rge

tanks of cooling wa ter ; bu t

upon

a. motor oar, where w

ei

ght is

a. prime

cons ider

at

ion

the

ma tter of. ?Ooling

is

o.ne

causes

great troublf':

and the

pr

ovts1on for wh1oh h83 mv olv

ed

arrangements

of

great

ingenuity.

In

quits

small

mo t

or

v e h i

such

as

motor bicycles

and. tnoyo

le

s, and even the small voiburatt e  tbat is, with

engmes

up to

3 horse-power ,

the

m

ove ment of the

vehicle

th

rough the air, or

the

p r

oY

ision of a. revolv

ing

fan, is

take n advantage of for the purpose of the cylin

ders

by

ai r, t he

cylinders being pro

vid

ed

w1th

a.

em 'lll

number

of webs for this purpose. In

a Fren

ch eng ine

D

D

E

F

•

F

-

OF

.

COY ER

 

1 Q

I

whi ch I tested a Fhort time ago, four cy nominally

of

about 3 horse-power each, revo

lved

ab a h

igh

sp

ee

d

in

a

horizontal p lane round a. fixed crankshaft; and after some

hours' run in a heated workshop, it was

pos

sible to bear

the hand up

on

the

outs

ide

of

the

coo

hng

ribs

of the

cy

lind

ers, although

up

on st a

nding

the

heat

was

rapi

dly

conducted Cer tai n constructional defects in

the

engine

pr

ev

eu e1

the

full power

be

ing

obtained;

a

nd

ib cann

ot

be

kn

owo uutil these

are

reme

di

ed whet

her

the

air cooling is rea

lly

effective in

this

. type of engine.

With

small

engines

air-cooling is

fairly

effective in

quit

e cold wea the

r,

hub in h

ot

and

dry

weather (which

is, of cou rse, chiefly the time when mo

tor

vehicles

ar

e in

requisitio

n)

even sma ll engines of little more than 1 horse

power r

ap idly

Leco

me

heated,

with

a corr

es

ponding fa

ll

ing

off in propelling power,

ultimat

e y

sto

pping alto ·

gather. No dou bt, by careful manage ment in the way of

co

ntinual

r

E>gu

l

a.t

ion

in the

adm

iss

ion of gas

in t

o

the

car

bu r

ette

r,

and

great w a . t f u l n

e ~ s

in taking

advantage

of

every descent of a hill to cool the cylinder, and, further,

by bei

ng

co

nt

e

nt with a

mode

ra te spee

d

of the

e

ngines

,

an

ai r

-c:>

oled c

ylinder

of 2 

to

3 horee-power

ca

n be

kept

cool even up on a fairly hob day. I havP, ho wever, recentJy

had some

ex perience

wi th tw

o

y c l e ~ ,

one

havin

g

a.

2f

horse

-

pow

er engine,

air-c

ooled , an d

another with a.

water·cooled

head

of the same power,

the

l

atte

r being the

most recenb

typ

e of D e

Dion

motor, in which a small tank

Jf w

at e

r is ca.

rr ifd

be

hind the

and a small rddi

at or

th rough whi ch wa ter circula t

es

by gravita.tioP,

is emp loyed . I ha ve no

he

sitation in sa.}ing that t

he

power d

eve

l

oped

in the

l

atte

r

case has been very mu

ch

g r

eate

r

than

in

th

e former i while

there

is

no

co

mpariso

n

whatever in the dist ance whi ch

O l

n be covered on a hot

day by the two

m&tohines. to

eay

n

othing

of

the satis

fact

ion of

be

ing able

to

1

ide

mile

after

mile ab a high

speed,

with

out the sligh te st anxiety about climbing any

Pd pa

r read

be

f

ore the

International

Engineering

G lasgow, 1901. Section I l l : ]lfeohanioa1.

•

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

hills

whi ch

may be

met

eve

n

in

such a ride

as

from

I

ai r ·cooled motors.

.H

is clea r,. on

.littl

e conside

rati

o

n.

Ca.rJisle to the

East

of

Fife.

· that the

ra t

e at wh10h water IS bo1 ltn g .off, and

the

I

have

had a similar

exper

ience with regard to my two- actual fact tha.b water is in a . o ~ w1th the cyhn de r

cy

lin

de r

Ne

w Orleans voiturette. This i t u r

in

m usb

be

lar

ge

ly a

measu

re

of

mte

rnal

hea t

of the

spite of

many

defeobs

as

are bo

be

found .m most cy

lind

er. On t ~ e o

th

er band, a.mo?gsb those who ~ r e

motor oars, is a f

ast

httle oa.r

1

and the a.u-co

 >

led a ccustomed dn ve motor oars, t h e r ~ 18 generally a feehng

cy

linder£ , which have

a fan

vmg

between

th

e m,

ca

n

that the

engm

es

w

ork best _at a.

cerba.m

r a t u r e ,

some

in quite cold wea.t

her,

or even w1th an abnormal amount of where between

that

a.tJ wh10h t he wa ter boils off and

the

care in hob

weather

, be made to

run

ver y well. In hob cold state ab w hioh

th

e engine actually st ar ts. I have

w

eathe

r, how

eve

r, I

ha

ve

experience

d so

mu

ch

annoy-

n

ob been

able

to

find

that there

exist

any actual

data.

up

on

a.nce

with the heating

of the cylinders

up

on a l

ong

ru

n,

this

subject

; and it seemed

to

be a. sufficiently important

th a t I firs t of all

adopted the

plan of allowing

wa t

er to

matt

er to be worth making some experi ments

up

o

n.

I

dr

op

upon the air -cooled cy linder h

ea

d fr om a. rese

rvoir

therefore, with the assistance of Mr. G ill.

B.Sc.,

engin

ee

r

when I

found

the

oy lind

er was

gettiog

h

ot;

but

af terwa

rds

ing st

udenb of t he U

ni

verciby Oo

llege

of

Li v

e

rp

ool,

ex

pari

decided to replace the air-cooled heads w1th wa te r-cooled mented upon

the

6 horse-power engine represent

ed

in

heads. Si n

ce

doing this, I have never had any trouble Fig. 2. Thi s n ~ i n e , whi ch has magnet ic elec tric igni

whateve

r

with

t he heating

of th

e cy l

ind

ers, or experi

ence

d tion,

was fitted

w1th two

thermometers: A

measuring

the

any

diminution in power from

this

ca.u Ee. Oo one of the wa ter at ent ra n

ce

,

and

B that ab exib. C is a bank

which

hottest days of

th

e year, voiturette went about a was used wh en the wat er was allowed to remain ab

hundred

mil

es

,

and

r

et

urned a f

ew days la t

e

r, with

o

ut boiling point;

bub

otherwise the two pi p

es

\V

ere n

ot

my experiencing

any troub

le, ab

any ra t

e fr om this connected with

the two

ma in

P,

a

nd

the

wa t

er

at

exib

oause. A n umber of communi cations have reac hed me

kept

at the temperature r

equi

red by allowing a sufficie

ntly

fr

om p

eop le

who have e vid e

ntly

expe-rienced trouble

rapid

flow of wa

ter through the cyl in d

er

jacket.

D

is

with

ca.

rs, as

king fo

r d e

tail

s of

th

e wa tfr-oooling the flywheel upon

whi

ch

a.

dynamoineter

brake

act s, so

a r r a n ~ e m and it m'i.y therefore be

in t

erest

ing

that

th

e power can

be

acc

urately

tested. A series of five

to bn efly describe the details whi ch are illus trated in tria ls were ma de, four wibh the wa ter ab different tern

a diag

rammat

ic way in Fig.

1.

Th e hollow water-cooled peraturas,

and the

fifth

with

gJyce

rin

e oi rcula.ting in

the

head, together

with

valve cha.ml:ers BB . which are in

cylinder

jacket and

tank

instead of wa ter, to

obta

in a.

o

ne

solid piece, repla

ce

the ordinary ribbed bead and higher boiling point and a higher temperature of the

valve chamber.

The hob wa ter ris

es

dire

ct

ly fr

om

the cooling

liquid.

0 0

go

Fi[J.2.

•

I

B

Oo

@

A

0

1DM B...__

 

_ _,

D

•

c

centre

of the top

of

the cyl

inde

r head by the JJipe C, di s

charging at the

top

of the co

pp

er cylinder DD; while

th e

circulation

is

mainta

i

ned by th

e desce

nding water

pa

ss

ing

ou b ab the bottom of

the

CO(>per r

ese

t voir by

th

e

pip

es E E through a copper coil, wht oh is shown in plan

a t F.

Th

e c

ir

c

ul

ation t

hr

ough one

cylinder

is

entirely

sep a

ra t

e fr

om that in

the other, and <

mplete in

itself ;

both having, of cou rse, a common rese rvoi r in th e copper

cylinder

D D, the leve l of water i n whioh is shown by

m

Ail

DS of

a. water

gau

ge H.

I t

is interes t

ing

to notice

when the

engine

starts

h ow

a. warm la

ye

r

ca

n be felt by putting the band on the top

of the copJ;>er cylinder, whi le

all the

re

st

of th e system

re m

ai

ns qu1te cold ; and how,

as

the engine continues

to

wol'

k,

the zo

ne

of beab travels downwards, showing how

the

hob

water rises immediate

l

y,

and remains on

the

top,

and

indicating

the

pe

rf

ect nature of the circulation .

lb was on a. large car where I first sa.\v a similar system

of

circulation employed by Mr.

E stcou

rb, with most

sat i3factory

r e s u l t ~ .

In

view of all

the

troub e I have seen, and experi enced

myself, with cars in whi ch pumps are used , as they gene

rally

are,

it

see

ms a

pity

that oiroul

ation by m ~ a . n s of

gravity

cannot

always

be

employed.

Both with the tnoyole m

f:nt i

oned and with the above

voiturette,

the water

on a hob

day,

du r

i

ng

a long

run,

is

for considerable periods at a.

time

on

the

boiL wi thout

the

power in any way appearing

to

appreoia.bJy di minish ;

wh

ereas,

on the othe

r

hand

1

I

have

been on

large

r

oars

owing

to the

defect1ve working of the

pump,

the

wa ter was nob oircuJating prope rly, and a considerable

amount of steam was

being

formed.

In

the latter cases

the .POwer fe

ll

off

in a.

very serious

manner, although

the

engme never aotualJy

stopped, as

I

hav

e

seen

it do with

6

4 ·

775

Ftj3

I

4--q-1

I

•

4·01

I

I

·JH

9

I

3 ·91

• I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

3

I

I

0

I

I

I

I

I

Q.

I

I

I

2

•

I

I

I

•

I

•

CO

I

•

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

1

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

i

I

I I

I

•

I

l ~ o q 11 181

TEHPERATURE

21/t

~ : J S

Tb e general res

ult

of these

trial

s is given

in

the

foll

ow

ing

Table

and plotte.d in Fig. 3, in whi ch

the

ordinates

rep resent brake horse-power (which, it will be seen,

un d

er

the best

c

ircum

stances never

exceede

d

abo

ut

4f},

whereas

th

e

abscis

ue r

ep

resent the tEmJ?erature of the water ab

ex it. I ha ve kept the two sen es of boiling off experi

ment

s separate from

the

o

th

er

th r

ee,

hub

the pl

ot

ted

re sults

indi

cate

th

e same general resulb:

Summa

ry

of Tests•

Tr

ial TempP

ra

t

ur

e Tem

perature

Brak e

Horse- Revolution'3.

N

um

be r.

of Ent ry.

of Exit.

Power.

e ~ t F. deg. F.

1

66.2

77.0 4. 775

1086.3

2

6

  .4

131.0

4.47 108  0

3

6  4

212.0

3.9 7 903.0

4

212.0 212.0

4.1

·7

925.6

5*

263.4

263.4 3.937

906.0

-

 

.. With glycerine.

N o ~ . 4

and

5 were boiling-off experiments.

The

general

nature

of these

experiments is immedia

te

ly

obvious, and

indicates a.

falling-off

in br

ake

hor

se-po

wer as

t he temperature rises, the bra ke horse-power betwe en the

two ex tremes of temperature havin

g

fall

en

from 4.

775

to

3.93  a

diminution

of abo

ut

17

per

centa.

Ea ch series of experime

nts

r

ep

resent s, r

ough

ly speak

ing, a l:out ten observations, and conducted as care

fully as i b l e ; bub,

at

the

same

time,

the

difficulties

of m

aintainin

g

uniformly the

t emp erature and

spee

d of

the engine were sufficiently great to make i t undes

ir

ab le

to attempt

to

produ

ce

any mathematical statement from

bhe

se

resu lt

s ; and fur the

r and more e

la

borate experi

ments will be req ui red of r a . t u r ~ taken in conjunc

ti

on

with the actual quantity

of w

ate

r u

sed, before any

definite conclusion

can be

arrived at on this

subject

. I t

is in ter

es t

ing to no te that Mr.

Duga

ld Clerk, i n reply

to

a let ter

from me

as

king

for

information, appears to

ha

ve obtained with

a slow-running

gas

engine blightly

greater ~ f f i o i e n c y ab the hi gh er te

mp

eratures ; b ut, of

course, the foregoing experiments

on

ly deal

with

aotua.l

power

and

not

with

efficien

cy

.

I

have

nob a ttempted

to di

scuss the

actual

cause

or

causes

of the falling·off in p ower as the t emperature of

th

e cy

lind

er r

ises

.

Whether this

is

du

e to

lubricatio

n

difficu lt ies,

or

thinnin g of

the

cy

lind

er lubrica nt to a

po

int

whi ch allows

the

piston

rings to

leak, or whether

due to

heabing

of incom ing

c

harge and

con

seq

uenb w

ea

ken

i

ng

of t he

mixtu

re, wou ld

afford matt

er for

an

in ter

esting

di

scussio

n.

The advances in the const ruct ion of these high-speed

in te

rnal

co

mb us ti

on engines,

and the

rapidly increasing

power whioh is being evolved from

th e

m, warrants

their

careful study. Thus, in the recent Paris-Berlin

ra

ce

there

were

seve

ral

e

ngin

es

up

on

light

mo t

or

vehicles

capable of de

veloping

more

than

5 horse-

power

wit

h,

in one oaEe at least. a. weight of not

more than

10 lb.

per horse power. When it is

remembered

that this is

nob

mer

e

ly

the eq ui

va

le

nt

of

the

s

team

e

ngine

but of

th

e

engine and

b01ler, ib will no doubt be admitted that

any of the points such

as

th e cooling of the cy inde rea,

whic

h is an

essent i

al f

ea tur

e

of the pr

oble

m,

is

worthy

of the attention

of

t his Congress.

7/17/2019 Engineering Vol 72 1901-09-20

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/engineering-vol-72-1901-09-20 43/47

•

THE DORTMUND AND EMS CANAL.*

By HERR

REGIERUNG

S AND BAURA't'H HERMANN.

Concluded

from

pa_qe 379.)

Lo

oks.-

Among these, two

de

3erve

particular noti

ce ;

namely, those a.t Munster and Gleesen, each

with

a fall

of 6.20 metres (20i ft .). Both locks have side ponds, in

order

to economise

the

water required for locking,

and

to

keep

this

quantity

down a.pprox1ma.tely in proportion to

that

required for working

all

the other locks, regardless of

their

higher

falls. Each of these two looks has two pairs

of side ponds built ab different levels. In the case of the-

M Unster look the area of a

pair

of side ponds is one and

a

half

times the

area

of tho look

chamber,

and the saving

of

water

for loo

king amounts to per cent

.

Each pair

of side p o

nds

of the Gleesen look

have

the same area as

the look chamber itself, and the saving in water amounts

to

50 per cent. To save time, however,

the

flow of water

from the side p onds is shut off when a difference of 15

centimetres (6 in .)

is

reached between the water levels in

the looks and the side ponds;

and

the saving in

water is

consequently reduced to about 52 and 47

{>er cent.

respec

tively

during ordinary working. The paus of side ponds

are

arranged symmetrically on

either side

of the centre

line

of

the

look.

The filling and

emptying

of the looks is effected

by

oulverbs, one on either side, formed in the side walls of

the look, and each having a sectional area. of 3.32 square

metres (35  square feet).

Each

culvert

is

connected with

the look chamber

by seven pipe

s,

having

·

an aggregate

se

c

tional

area of 3.71 square metres (40 square feet). They

are oval in section, and open out into the bottom of the

look chamber, a.nd are fixed ab regular intervals

along

the

look. Communication between

the side

pond

and

oul

vert

is

effected

by

cylindrioa, valves of 1.80

metres

(6ft.)

dia

meter.

The connection between the culvert a.nd the

high-level or low·level reach oa.n be shut off by sluice

gates working on

r?llers; the

side

p o ~ d s

can

be

filled _

or

emptied in five mmutes. To

do

t h t t : ~ ,

the

gates, slmoe

gates,

a.nd

cylindrical

valves are

o ~ k e d

by. l e ~ t r i o power.

Electricity is

generated

by

a turbme, wh10h m the case

of the Munster lock

is

driven by

the

water for looking,

flowing from the upper to

the

lower reach. The dy_namos

are

a,gsisted by an accumulator. The gates

are

mrcular

carves in

plan;

h e y

are made

of

steel plates, strengtb.ened

by horizontal g1rders and upright framework. The JUnc-

tion

between the gate and the hollow quoins and pointing

sill

is

made a t e r - t ~ g h t with strips of t i ~ b e r . .

The power requtred to

work

the slmce-gates

shuttmg

off

the

water from the upper

reach is

5.2

horse-power;

to

open the low-level sluice-gates, 3.4 horae-power ;

and to

shut

them

7.2 horse·power; to open or shut the look

gates, 6.7

horse-power;

and to work the cylindrical a l v ~ ,

4.3

horse

-power.

The

same arrangement of culverts With

openings in the

bottom of the lock chamber has also

been

adopted for the 67-metre (220-ft.) locks,

and

the 165-metre

f t ) looks for barge-trains, ~ h i o h

W 3re

built with

vertical side walls to sa.ve water

m

lookmg. The long

locks for

b a . r ~ e - t r a . i n s

along the Ems where the w a ~ e r

used for lookmg not to be r e s t r 1 0 t ~ d ,

has

mass1ve

hea.ds

in

masonry w1th

culverts

formed m

the

walls,

but

their cha.mb9ra h ~ v e sloped sides, p i t c h ~ d with blocks of

basalt. To insure the safety of barges m lock c h a m ~ e r s

with slo.J?ing s ides ,

they

are kept off the slopes by vertical

piles, dr1ven a . l o n ~

the

toe of

the

slopes

and

firmly .bra.?ed

~ o g e t h e r . Experience

has

already

p r o v ~ d that

th1s ptle

work will

require

constant

~ a r e ,

and will be yery co3tly

to wa.intain. The construct10n of the gates

IS

~ h e same

in a.ll the locks. The arrangement of

the s l m c e - ~ a t e s

working on

rollera

is

also

the

sa.me

everywhere

; ?ut

wherever the fall is small, both look-gates and slmce-

gates are worked

by

hand: .

Th e averaS 'e time requued for passmg a barge through

a

short

lock

is

16 minutes; and, .on

the

average, 30

minutea are required for

passmg

a tram of barges

t h r o ~ t g h

one of the long locks, including

in both

cases

the ttme

taken for getting into and out of t ~ e look. .

Weirs and Slwices

In

the cana.hsed Ems the_ water 1s

held up

in

four deep-water rea.?hes by need.le w e t ~ P . The

needles

are pine

spar_s.

9 cet;lbtmetres (3 m.) th10k,

and

each of them is prov

tded

w1th t?e

n e o . ~ s a r y

hooks, by

means of which

it

can be placed m positt?n or removed

independently of the other needles. Th1s a r ~ a n g e m e n b

ma. be recomme

nded,

because

the

gradual

n se of

the

waler allows of ample time to remove the needles one by

onAt Herbrum

there is

a

set

of

six

sluices of metres

(28 fb.) span each. T h e ~ e . were c e s ~ a owmg to the

ne cessity of making pro_vlston f o ~ s h u t t u ~ g out.

the

water

in

the low

er reach, wh10h oocas10na.lly riBes. h1gher

than

the

wat

er-level in the

upper

e a . ~ h . The slmces

work on

r

 >

ws of roller

3

,

in

a

manner

s1mdar .to

that

a.do.I?ed on the

Manchester Ship Canal (Stoney s ~ m c e s .

But

m stead of

baing hung on wire ropes,

the

slmoe

ga_tes on

the g.erman

Cd.na.l

are worked by a

raok

and

pmton,

by wh10h

the

downward

movement can

be

better o . n ~ r o l l e d .

.

Stop Gates. For the purpose of d1v.1dmg the canal mto

is

olated reaches, stop gates of an e n t i ~ e l y novel construc

tion have been adopted. I t was constdered necessary to

introduce s

uch

g a ~ e s , because every embankment of any

t h 'ghb lea.dmg through a. valley, fo

rms

a constant

graa

eft d"n'

ger.

and it was originally

thought advisable

source

o .. ' · b k t b 1 ·

t o isolate such lengths on high em an men s y acmg

self-acting

stop-gates a.t every change from cuttmg to

bank

so that at the moment of d_anger

the

gates should

' "·

lly

confine

the emptymg

of

the

ca

nal

to

the

a.utomautca. A h

the

reach i n t e r c e p t t between two gate3.

a,

owever, .

test care was subsequently bestowed upon ma.kmg

f h : ~ e very

length

s perfectly secure, regardless of any

* p per r

ea

d before the

In t

ernational Engineering

C

a Glasgow 1901

Section

I I

: Waterways and

n ~ r e s ' ·

M.1r1 time W ork3.

•

•

•

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

expenditure

that

might thereby be incu

rred, and a.s

·the

method of

construction

proved entirely successful, there

was

no

longer any

ne

cessity for stop-gates for the isolation

of these lengths.

Yet,

to provide additional security,

stop-gates

were

pub

in everywhere in conformity

with

the

original scheme; but

it

was

no

longer considered neoes

S<.t.ry

to make them self-acting. The

purpose

for which

the stop-gates

on

the Dortmund and Ems Canal were

adopted was to

be

able to isolate a canal reach

in the

shortest possible time, with a. small expenditure of motive

power. When nob in use,

they

were nob

to

interfere

in

any way with the navigation. On future

canal

exten

sions, especially

on

reaches of great uninterrupted

length,

stop

-gates will most probably be placed systematically ab

regular

intervals, say about 10 kilometres 6k miles) apart.

Besides

their

value

in

preventing

serious accidents,

and

their ordinary use in dividing the

canal

into short

rea

ches,

when.in oase of repairs they make

it

possible to

run

off the

water from such a

short

reaoh, stop-gates will also be

found useful

on

very lo

ng and almost straight

stretches

of canal, because in sucli a case

they

can be used for

breaking the swell

pr

oduced by strong winds blowing

along

the oa.nal. Under special conditions, during strong

gales, there is a poss

ibility

of

the

level of the surfaca of

the

water being ra ised as much as a. centimetre

in

a kilo

metre ( t in. in a mile). The c:

msequen

ces of thi s

might

be serious, and its occurrence should be avoided if pos

sible. Another reason for dividing long stretches of

canal

into short lengths

is

for the better control of

the

water level

in

individua.l reaches ab

the time

of heavy

downpours

and fl

oods, when

any

dangerous

ri

se in

the

water

level caused

by natural

drainage can be

prevented by draining off the surplus water from

the ca

nal. At th e site selected for a stop-gate, the

canal was enclosed

between

two parallel vertical w a l l ~ ,

leaving a passage 18 metres (59 ft.) wide

between

them.

This passage

is

closed by a

curved

steel gate,

consisting of a single skin stiffened a ~ d strengthened b_y

a. suitable

fra.mewo

tk. When not m

use, the

gate 1s

swung

out

of

the

water (round a horizo ntal axis),

and

stretches like a hood

or

shield across

t h ~

a ~ e formed

by

the two

parallel

walls, and ab a suffi01enb height above

the water to give the necessary headway for b a . r ~ e s p tss

ing underneath. t is moved by two arms restmg on a

pair

of trunnions revolving

in

bearings

bedded in the

side

walls.

The arms

are prolonged downwards, and

oscillate in

slits

in the side walls

and

carry counterweights,

which automatically change their positions while the gate

is

being

swung round, and thus control it s movement.

When the

gate is being opened or

shut, the

whole mass

in

motion is always

in perfect

eq Jilibrium every pos

i-

tion the

gate

may assume.

Vanous

experiments were

made with

these

gates, which

gradually

led to a

m_or

e

and more simple construction of the a p p a r a t u : ~ , u ~ t 1 l a

form was finally

arrived

ab of both gate and ma.ohmery

for moving

the same

that perform

in

a satisfactory manner

the work for which they were designed.

The stop-gates and the machinery for working them

were made by the Gute Hoffnungshlibte of ~ k r a d e .

Eaoh stop-gate is closed by

an

a t t e n d a n ~ , who

hves

on

the

spot, and is

bound

to

shut the ~ a t ~

Immedtately

rece

iving

a

warning signa

l,

by

~ h e

rmgmg

of

an ~ l ~ c ~ r 1 c

bell, from the inspecting officer m. chat:ge of t h ~ adJOtmng

canal section. Culverbs are prov1ded m the stde walls of

each stop-gate, by means of which ib is possible to adjust

the level of

the

water in

the

two reaches separated b y

the

gate.

Culve

rts and

Syphons.

The watercourses crossing the

canal

where it

was nob possible to divert them or lead

their water

into the

canal, were carried under

the

canal,

either

with their

~ b t o m levels

unaltered

wherever there

was enough

headway

to do s

o, or

otherwise in syphons.

U p to 0 90 metre (3 ft. ) diameter the

p ~ p e s

u n ~ r the

a ~ a . l

are of ca

st

iron. and beyond. hat SJZ9 of r1veted

mtld

steel pla.te3.

The

a.rgesb

dtameter.

was 1.3 metre s

(4

ft.

5 in.). Acoordmg to

the quantity

of. water t? be

discharged, th ere were ~ e v ~ r a l pipes latd stde

by

s1de;

in one case as many as Six ptpes.

The larger-sized brooks are carried through ~ a l l e d cul

v e r t : ~ . The largest of these culverts

ha

s a seob10n_al area.

of 59

square metres

(635 square feet), and carnes th e

River

Em3cher under the canal. These walled culverts

were carried out

with

the utmo3b c a r ~ , both as

r e g a r ~ s

materials

and

workmanship.

Th

e

shghtest

neglect m

this respeob ma.y lea1 to serious interruptions of traffic.

When

any slow-setting mortar is used for

the

masonry,

no water is

allowed

to

a ~ s

t h r o u ~ h

the culverb 0 :1

any

account, not even temporarily durmg the

c o n s t r u ~ b 1 ? n

of

the works if as in the case of syphons, the water IS hkely

to exerb upward pressure against the arched roof, unless

there is a. sufficient

weight

of ea.rth and wat

er

above the

arch to counteract the upward pressure.

Water Supply for the

O a n a l . - I ~

calculating the_ quan

tity of water required for feedmg the canal, _1t was

assumed that

the

loss of water _t

hr

ough eva.pora.t10n and

percolation would amount to 8

htres

per second ~ o r

every

kilometre

of

canal

(2.83 gallons

per

se.cond

per

mtle) . A;t

the

outset,

af ter the canal had been open for traffic, th s

lvss was found to be 10.4litre3 (3.68 gallons) or 1.56 cub10

metres (343 gallons) for 150 kilometres 9 3 ~ miles) of

canal

in round

figures. 'fo this

quantity had

to be added

the

amount lost through looking

at

t ~ e ~ n d lock. T h ~ total

amount thus required for replemshmg the

canal

IS ~ u p

plied by a. pumping station on the b a n ~ s of the R_1ver

Lippe,

where

the feed wd.ter has to be rai s 3 d to a. hetght

of 15.75

me t

res (51§ fb .).

the

present t1me there are

three

centrifugal

pump3

d ~ 1 y e n

by

steaf: l power,

ea

oh

pump being

capable of ra1smg ~ . 8 8 . cubic

metres

(194

gallons) per second. Each pump 1s dnven by a ~ 0 0 horse

power engine. Although two pumps are suffi01ent to do

the

ordinary work, it is proposed

_to

set

up

a fourth pump

of the

same

size as

the

others, m o r ~ e r

to

ha.ve am_ple

pumping

pow

er

in reserve for

all

poss1ble oontmgen01es,

•

[SEPT. 20, I 9 r.

in case there should be

an

extraordinary call upon the

pumping power, as, for example, in case of having to refill

long lengths of canal which, for some or other, had

to be emptied. Besides

the

water

supplied by

the pumps,

the canal is also fed Ly natural wa tercouraes, which it ha.s

been possible

to

utilise for that ·purpose. Although

the

area naturally drained by these

waterc

ourses only amounts

to

about

60 square

kilometres

(23.17

square

miles),

whi

ch

is

comparative

ly

small, the water derived from this supple

mentary source forms a valuable

addition

to the quantity

which has

to

be

pumped.

t may be assumed that, on

the average, for four months in the year the quantity

supplied by

these

watercourses is sufficient t o keep the

canal replenished without pumping. During exce

pt i

o

n-

ally

wet seasons especially

they

a . r ~ able to

in

crease con

siderably

the

volume of

water

whi

ch can be

stored

in

the

canal

to make up for any deficiency in the supply during

the dry season.

Thi

s oan be done by raising the water

level 50 centimetres in.)

in

the two long reaches of

67

and 37 kilometres (41} and

23

miles)

resp

ectively. The

summit reach, the water level of which

is

70 metres

(230

fb

.) above zero,

i3

fed from the main reach

by

two

pumps, each of which can raise 250 litres (55.3 gallons) per

second. On

an

average, during

the

summer

m o n b h t : ~

the

water

lo

st

from the canal

through

evaporation

and

per

colation amounts

to

a depth of 27 millimetres (1.063 in. )

daily. As the greatest total loss by evaporation amount3

to 22.3

centimetres

(8g in.) during the month of August,

that is, 7.2 millimetres lr in. ) per day, this lea.ves abo

ub

20

millimetres (t in.) per day for

the

amou nt lost

by

pe

r-

colation per da.y;

whi

ch quantiby,

it

is

expe

cted, will

diminish as the canal gets more and more watertight in

the natural course.

tf-let

s I n order to drain off any surplus wate r tbab

may

find

its

way into

the

oa.nal during extraordinary

hea.vy rains, off-lets have been provided in suitable places,

the positions of which have been fixed wi

bh

due regard to

the situations of the stop-gates. The off-let of the

largest

size

on th

e

midland

reach can

di

scharge 13 cubic

metre3

(2861

gallons) per second from

the

canal into the

River

Ems. All the off-lets together oan drain off

27 cubic

metres

(5492 gallons)

per

second from the canal.

The large off-let on the

midland

reach, in c o n j u n c ~ i o n

with the two stop-gates provided there, proved very

useful on the occasion of a breach of

the bank in

1899.

With

their hel.J? it was found possible to lower quickly

the water level m the rea.ch lying between the two stop

gates in question, having a length of 11kilometres (7 miles),

sufficiently to prevent a

ny

serious dam

age

, as the flow

from the breach could be s t o p ~ e d in a comparatively

short time.

t

was found posstble to

do

this

with

out

drawing off

any

water from the reaches lying beyond ·

the stop-gates.

Canal

P orts

.-There

are ma.ny ports along the ca.na.l

for the interchange of traffic. There are large ports at

the

commencement of the canal at

Dortmund,

and at

its

termination

ab

Emden. Dortmund has spent

5

million

marks

(27

5,

OOOl.) on establishing a port suita.ble for every

kind of traffic. The port is e ~ p e c i a l l y well

equipped

with

the necessa

ry

appliances for loading coal on a large scale.

Before

the

end of this year Emden will be connected with

the

sea

by a.

well-lighted

channel10 metres

(33 H.) deep

at

high

water.

To enable large sea-going vessels to load

and unload tha.t cannot pass th rough

th

e lock on account

of their deep draught, extensive quays and wharves have

been constructed outside

the

lock, with electric

coa.l

tips,

goods sheds, and railway branch lines

and

sidings. In

the inner harbour, with a. depth of water of 6.5 me£res

(21  ft.), there a r ~ e x t e n ~ i v e quaJ:S and wharves

whi

ch·

will accommodate mdustna.l esta.bhshments of every de

scription.

Bonded

warehouses also are to be construobed

shortly in

the

outer

harb

our. Besides these

tlwo

large

ports a. dock has been constructed

at

Miins

ter

800 metres

{2625 ft .) long by 60 metres (197f t.)

a . v e ~ a g e

width. There

is also a. large port at the

Herne

termmus of

the

canal.

The

boats at Dortmund and MUnster have been builb

with a.

Government subsidy, but are worked

by

the muni

cipa.lities of the two towns. There

are

also ports

at Leer

and Pa.penburg for the accommodation of the sea-going

trade. The other ports, especially

the

greater pa.rt of

the

smaller ports along

the

canal,

are

fiscal establishments.

Th

ese ports, or

rather

wha.rves, are formed by widening

out the canal on one side

ab

the·

point

s in question

by

a.bont 10 metres (33ft.) for one or more

boat

-lengths. To

provide

berbhage for from four to

eight

vessels, tria.ngula.r

shaped basins have been hollowed out,

in

which ships

ca.n

be swung round.

Private

owners also are permitted

to establish such wharves

or

docks, with Government

sanction and no charge is made for loading or unloading

cargoes any of these pr iv

ate

landing-places. At

a :U

public quays and wharves a charge of t ~ o , f o ~ r , or s1x

pfennig (.24d., .48d., and . 72d.) per

ton

lev ed

on

all

cargoes, according

to

the

thre

e classes of tar1ff.

No

vessel

is allowed to load or unload anywhere else along the canal,

except ab a. wharf or

in

port.

Co

sT.

Th e law authorising the con

st

ruction of the oan<.t.l

sanctioned an expenditure of 64.68 mil lion marks

(3,23 ,000l) for the canal. By .a. supplementary g ~ d . n t

thi s sum wa.s sub3equently ra.tsed to 79.43 mtlhons

(3 971

500l.)

The

firsu

grant

was sanctioned

in

1886,

the

w ~ r k 'was

begun in 1893.

and

on August 11, 1899, the

ca.nal was opened by the Emperor.

The various items of expenditure was in round figures

as und e

r :

Purchase

of land

. . . . . .

Eu tbwo rks and slopes . . . .

Maint . nanoe during co n

struc-

t on

. . . . . . . .

Looks, bridges, & . . . . .

Subsidiary

works,

porliB,

&c. . .

Reservoirs, pumps,

&o

. .• . .

Marks.

£

8.2

million

= 410,000

23.4 • "

=

1,170,000

1.S

22 .8

5.8

1.1

•

= 66,000

= 1,140,000

= 265,000

=

65,000

•

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432.

give

a vessel

armed with

th is weapon, how to

th

ese qualities in these

fast

little pinnaces, with a

to utilising them in

connection

with torpedo work.

The ' 'double-rudder turnabout

boat

  was evolved

and

t

e

nt

ed by

Mr.

White; and in 188l ·2 a single-

sc

rew 48-ft.

o

at fitted

with

th i

s sys tem was purchased by the Go vern

and

formed part of

the

boat equipment of H .M.S.

in

her first

commission.

The

d ie

ct

of th e turnabout principle is remarkable,

is readily appreciated by tho3e who witness

the

ss

of a boat so fitted ab all rates of

speed

ejther

or te rn.

To reduce the comparison of boats fitted with ordinary

and those fitted

with

dou b le-

balanced

rudders,

form

tho

turnabout principle,

to

figures, we will

the following records:

Type

of

Boat. Ordinary.

Turnabo

ut.

Length of

boat...

48 ft. 56ft.

Engines

... .. . Single-screw, Single.screw

full

power

To St arbd. Porb.

Angle o£ rudder 40 deg. 40 deg. 45

deg.

Full circle time

..

1 m. 2l s. 1 m. 19 s.

28

s. 37 s.

Number of revo-

lu tions per circle 508 456

Diameterof circle 170 yard:J 153

yards

182 177

126ft .

Thus the shorter ordinary boat wis

hing

to turn a. circle

full power requires four times

the

room to turn in, and

ccupies more

than twice

as

long a.

time in turning

than

the turnabout boat.

The next

departure

(in 188

3)

was to increase the length

the 48-fb. b :>

ats

to 56 fb., and

the beam

to 9 fb. 6

in.

these dimensions bring us to the

present day,

as the 56-ft.

vedette boat

is

the largest boat carried by first-class ships

ow

), the

double-rudder

system

was

retained, a single

rcrew

was fitted.

In

December,

1883, one of these 56-ft. boats was offi·

tried

on

the

me

as

ured mile

in

Stokes Bav; th

e

indicated

horse-power devel

ope

d

wa

s 142,

and

the

speed

15.562 knots, with 385 revolu

tions

p er minute, the boiler

pressure was 125 lb.

per

square inch,

and the air

pressure

in

stokehold

2.

75 in . of water. rhe coal carried was 6 w ~ .

This class of

boat

was known in 1883 as Torpedo

Boats wood.  They were fitted

with

side dropping gear

for

Whitehead

t o r p e d o e ~ , and

with their relatively high

speed and extreme

handin

ess were not to be despi

se

d

when taking

part

in a night attack.

Torpedo warfare was

now attracting

r e a t interest, and

the steel second-class torpedo-boats built

by Me

ssrs.

Y arrow and Thornycroft were

designed

to form part of

the

steamb

oat equipment of

the

firsb.class ironclads, of

special

torpedo

dep

Ot ships, and cruisers of the Lea

nder

type. These little craft, weighing aboub 12 to 14 tonll,

were hois

ted

in to

the

ships, to which th ey were attached

by

means of s p e c i a . l l y - a r r a . ~ g e d denicks and a ~ · hoisting

engines, and were stowed m crutches on each stde of the

funnel casing.

Steel

torpedo-boabs, however, rapidly

in

creased

in

. s ize

and speed,

and

were deemed c&pa.ble of accom a n y m ~ a.

fleet ab sea. · and as the second -class bo3.bs were nob Butt

able for the'general

work

of

the

sh ips to which they were

attached. they

were gradually discarded as p a r ~ of the

boat equipment, and wooden boats are c a r n e ~ mstead;

these aro better sea. boats, are all-round workmg boats,

and can do the

special

se

rvice

for which

the second-class

boats were intended .

The derricks and boat-hoisting engines origin ally pro

vided for the steel second-cla

ss

torpedo-boats have been

retained and developed, and are now

fitted

to

all cla <

ses

of ships carrying heavy b

oa

ts. , . . .

The experimental

'·torpedo-b

oat wood havmg JUSti

fied her construc bon, the title was allowed to

drop

out

as reaards boats carried by ship3 ; and as ships increa

se

d

in the 56-ft. dimensions was

retained, and the

boats

included under the head of Vedette B o a ~ s . .

From 1883

onward,

the progress

mnd

e m manne engi

neering

and

shipbuilding has been reflected on

the

de

signs

of the small crafo under review. Obanges have

gradually been made in . t be 56-ft . boa:t de

sig

n, the hulls

have been modified, a

nf i

e

-pr

oof c o n n m ~ tower ha:s ~ e e n

fitted forward,

the

side ai r-casings.

<?r

hfeboa:t

pr m

mple

hag been abolished, and the boats

d1v1d

ed up m.to

water

tight

compartments by bulkh

eads.

The

e ~ g m ~ s

and

boilers

are cased over,

and the

boat deck

ed

m r1ght ~ f t

to

the cockpit. The i ~ d i c ted h<?r

se

-power has been m

creased, water-tube boilers sub3t1tuted for ~ h e locomo

tive

ty pe,

and

a.s a result the 56-ft. s e ~ V I c e vede_tte

boat of

to

-day will travel

at

16

kf?-ots, whtle

developmg

250 indicated horae-power, carrymg a. load of twelve

persons

and with

25 cwb. of coal m t h ~ b u n k r ~ : .

The w ~ i g h t

of

ma

c

hinery with steam up

bemg 7. tons

15

cwt.

The turnabout principle has r e t a m

and this very fast handy

type

of boat m1ght easily

be called

the hansom cab

  of

the

fl

eet , as

com

pared with the next size, the ~ s e f u h ~ r d w o r k m g , four

whee

le r

  40-fb. pinnace.

This

boat

lB

a dead o o d . b o ~ t

as distinct

from

a turnabout ,  .has

a.

spemfied mdt

cated

hors

e-po

wer

of 75, and

obtams

a speed of aboub

:t knots. . d f ft

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

barge for

the

Admiral Cv

mmander-in

-Chief, unless the

flagship has

no

boat-hoisting

derrick,

as

in

second-ola.ss

cruisers, when a 32-ft. barge only

is carried.

The barges

are more

ornamental

than the

pinnaces, and

have

no

armament fitbings. The other

standard

'3team

boa.ts are the 32-ft. cutters and 32-fb. barges, 27-ft. cutters

and

23-ft. cutters. Th ese, from

the

32·fb. boats down

wards,

greatly

resemble the 32·ft . lifeb

oat

pinnace

built

in 1867 : except

that

the lif

eboat

princ

iple

IS nob always

followed, although

the

steamboats of

the

new

' 'Vict

oria

and

Albert

 

are

on

the old

lines,

and

lifeboats

through

oub.

The surveying boats are also

li f

e

boats.

The

machinery

of

the

vu.rious sizes of

boats

has been

brought up to date, the engines compounded, a pipe sur

face

condenser

fitted outside the boats and a fan worked

by

a steel spring belt from

the

main

engines

disc

harges

air

into

the asbpits. The boilers

are

of much the same

type as the 1867 b o a t ~ , but, working in

conjunction

with

condensed water, are more efficient

and

last longer

than

in the old

high-pressure

days.

The noi

se

of the funnel

exhaust,

togebher with its

occasional shower of sooty waber from

the

top of

the

funnal, a

re

things of the pas

t.

The

establi

shment of boats of the various classes of

ships in the British

Navy

is as follows:

-

Pinna.ces.

Buges

.

O

uttera.

I I -

56 F t.

40 Ft

.

tO

F t. 32 F t. 32 F t.

27

F t. Z3 F t.

---- ·--1  ----

 

:

  ---- - - - -

1

 

Fi rat-class battle-

ships .. ..

First-class battle

ships,

if

flngship

First-classcruisers

,

if flagship

..

Second-class

crui

·

sers .. . .

Second-class crui-

sers, if flagship

Third-class crui ser

Torpedo

-gunboat

Sloops . . . .

Surveying ships

..

2

2

1

1

• •

..

• •

}

••

I

1

1

1

1

••

•

•

• •

• •

• •

1

1

• •

••

1

••

1 1

• •

••

• •

1

•

• • •

••

• •

1

• •

•

•

• •

1

I

With the construction in this country of warships for

foreign navies,

the

question of equipment of steamboats

is brought forward,

and

we find the Japanese

Navy

adopting

two

16 -knot

56- fb.

vedette boats and an

open boat, as the stea

mb

oat equ ipment for b ~ e ba ttleship

Mika

sa, building at Barrow

by

Messrs. Vtcker3,

So

ns,

and

Maxim.

The Russian

Governmen

t require

tw

o 56 -ft. ved

et

te

boats and two

40

-fb. pinnaoes for a vessel

building

for

them in France. These four boats

are

of sbeel, and very

fully

equipped

.

The

r i a n Government use a 47-fb. wooden turn

about

bo

at

with a

speed

of 11

knot

s,

and are

now a

dopt·

ing a specially fast wooden vedette

boat

56 ft . in length.

In

connection

with

the

vessels

recently built by Mes

srs.

Armstrong,

Mitchell,

and Co. for

the

Japanese

Navy,

four 56-ft. vedette boo..ts were

required.

Messrs. Armstrong,

being

always

in

the front

where

speed is

wanted, asked

us to cons

id

er

the

possibility of

gtv ing

th ese four boats a s

peed

of 1 7 ~

knots under

certain

specified c o n ~ i t i o n s .

These reqmred ca reful look ing into, and

the

final design

bec

ame

a

56

-

ft

. boat,

with

a

ram

bow which increased

the

water-line length about 9 in.

The hull was very carefully lightened consistent with

durabili

ty where possible,

and

the total

weight

of

ma

chi

ne r

y kept down to 8 tons. The engine

wa-s

c0mpound,

with ;

1

8 cylindera; a water-tube boiler of our own

ty pe, with a working pressure of 190 lb., was fit ted....

Oa our own private tr ial the boat gave us an exhibttton

of

speed

that we

sca

rcely hoped for, viz.,

1 9 ~

knots . The

engines devel

ope

d 320 indicated horse-power

ab

565 revo·

lutions without vibration.

A series of progressive trials

were carried out with

this

first boat, the results of which

are plotted

on

the_

curve

a t tached on the official trials of the four boats, wtbh the

]o

a.d

conditions

as

specified,

the

means

result:J were

as

follo

w:

I

I

Indicated

Revolu·

ll

orse·

Speed.

Date.

t ioos.

Power.

-

-

Nos 1

..

548

297

18.322

May 2, 1900.

•

•

May 2. 1900.

2 ..

510

297

18.1

• •

18.25

June 6, 1900

3 ..

538

302

••

June 6, 1900.

4 ..

643

292

18.32

• •

Th ese four bo

1.t

s are,

we

b9lieve, the fastest vedette

bo

ats

in

the

world. .

We are building a similar boat for the Au sbr1an Govern

ment;

this

will s

hortly

be compltted, and

we

anticipate

equally satisfactory results.

[SEPT. 20, I 901.

nection with

the

ship

and

boat -

building

shops)

in

the

direct ion of

their Quick

revolution electric light ma

chinery;   a la ter development of which

is

closing in the

engine

and a . p p l y i n ~ forced lubrication to the bearings,

with

a view

to

runnmg

for long

periods

a.t

a high number

of revolutions without excessive wear and

tear.

This

class of machinery is doing its work satisfactorily for

electric

light

ste.tioas

and

on shipboard;

and

now a.

30-knot torpedo -boat

destroyer,

built by the Palmar Ship

bu ilding Com{>any, of Jarrow-on -

Tyne,

fitted with a

forced lubricatiOn sys tem, and

with

engines closed in, is

about to be officially tried in the Solent.

We have looked into this olass of mac

hinery

for the fast

ve

dette

boats, and

have

a design ready for use ;

but

as we

are already running up

to

560 revolutions wibh

a.n

open

engine,

it

will

probably

be some t ime before this number

will

need

to

be

increased ;

and

as

the

matter

of wear

and

te

ar is

hardly

one

which

se

riously affects boats

with

small .

coal supply and rnnning shorb t r i p ~ ,

it

becomes a q ues

tion

whether it is necesPa.ry to close

in

a. small engine and

rnA.k

e

ib

less access

ible

for examination.

rhe Admiralty bo3.ts are

all

builb of ~ k , and un.

doubtedly this

is

a. most serviceable wood for

all

con

ditions

of service and exposure to tropical weather;

but

in a11 the

early

boats mahogany was invariably u

se

d,

and we now prefer

it

for high-speed boats, as it m a k ~

size for size, a lighter hull, and may be considend, for

all

practical

purp

oses,

equally

durable.

s an

instance

of this, a. g entleman who had come into

possession of one of our old boats, built of m 1hogany

30 years ago, recently asked us to fit new machinery to

her as the hull was perfectly sound.

I a.m afraid this

pap

er must seem, to many of the gentle

men pre

se

nt who

are

occupied

with large undertakings,

rather of the order of Jight literature; bub when we con

sider that ib is

in

these

fast small craft that future

Admirals

who may command enormous fleets first

gain

their experience (as

Mid

sh ipmen of a. boat   ) of inde

pe

ndent

command,

and learn

to

handle

a vessel

under

st

eam,

often in

very close quarters, the

subject

is not.

an

unimportant one

and this

37

years'

work, developmg

from a

7-knot

27-fb. steam lifeboat cutter to a. 19 knot

66 -ft. vedette boat, has given an up -to -date steamboat

equipment, and

the opportunity

to

:provide for young

Naval officers the best possible school m which to lay the

foundation of those q u a l i t i ~ of nerve and rapidity_of

thought and

a-ction so essential

to

the successful carrymg

out of Naval operations.*

LAUNCHES AND TRIAL TRIPS.

ON Saturday,

the

_ 1st ul t., Messrs. R. qra.ggs and Sons

launched from their dockyard, Mtddlesbrough, a

st e

el cargo steamer named the Darendrechb,

and

measur

ing 341 ft. 3 in. in length over ~ 1 1 47 fb. beam, and

28 ft.

in

. depth moulded.

The

machinery will ba

fitted by

Ri

chat:dsons, .W estg_arth, and . ~ . ,

Limited, the ~ m d e r s bemg 24 m. 38 m., ai?-d 64 m. m

diameter by 42 m. stroke, steam bemg supphed by two

extra large boilers

working at

a

pre

ssure of 160 lb.

to

the

equare inch.

Mes

sra. Ramage and

Ferguson, Limited,

shipbuilders,

Leith

have just completed the twin-

sc

rew t u ~

Helen

Peele: for the service of the Royal National Lifeboab

Institution ab Padstow, Cornwall.

The

has been

builb to the plans

and

under the superintendence of Mr.

G. L. Watson, naval architect:, G l ~ g o w and

is

of _the

follow ing dimensions : L ength, 95ft.; breadth, 19 fb. 6 m.

and depth

moulded, 11

fb.

6 in. The machinery consists

of

two

sets of compound surface-condens

ing

engineEI,

with cylinders 11 in. and 22 in.

in

diameter by 15 in.

stroke steam

being s

upplied by

a boiler working

at

100 lb.'

pr

essure. On the trial trip in the

Firth

of F o r ~ h

the guarant

eed

speed

was exceeded by one knot. Oa.ptam

Nepea.n chief

insp

ector of

lifeb

oats, represe

nted the

Royal National Lifeboat In

st

itution

at

the trials.

•

ARGENT

INE RAILWAY

S.-An electric tramway

is

aboub

to be const ructed from Quilnes to Buenos Ayres by

Messrs.

Bemberg

and Oo. The line will be

ab

out

miles in length.

THE Suxz CAN AL.

-The tran

sit revenue collected by the

Suez Canal

Company

in

the

first e ight months of this

year was 2.671,394 l. , as compared wi th , 3 6 1 , 5 1 ~ l . in

correspo

nding

period of 1900. Th e num

ber

of shtp3 wh10h

passed through the c11

nal to

.August

31

,

this _yea

r,

'Ya

s

2438, as compared with 2266 m the correspondmg penod

of 1900.

B U

EN

OS AyRESGnEAT Sou•rHRRNR AILWAY.- The Buenos

Ay res Great Sout he

rn

R a . . i ~ way Ooml?a.ny,

~ i m i t e

is

pu

s

hing

forward work as

a p t d ~ y

as

o s s i b l ~

9n 1ts P r m ~ l

extension ,

but there is

now httle

pr

obab1hty of the hne

being opened to Pringles by the close of the year. T ~ e

line is expected, however, to be to Fortm

Pavin Station and perhaps beyond, m ttme for the

.

wheat traffic of the commg season.

•