• -OcT. 20, 1893.]

THE TOWER BRIDGE. (Concluded from page 449.)

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

Fig.108.

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span was commenced. These were all built in place, and riveted by hydraulic power. The four columns on the piers were next commenced, and built as high as the cranes placed on the masonry of the piers would reach. These cranes were then raised and placed upon timber trestles 40 ft. high , so that the columns could be built up to the level of the first platform. The girders forming this platform were built at a low level, and afterwards raised to their places and riveted to the columns. The cranes were then placed on this platform, and the building of the columns continued to the level of the next platform. In this manner the steel­work over the piers was erected to the height at which the girders forming the high-level footways are placed.

The high-level footways being completed, the horizontal tiea which pass along the outside foot­way girders, and connect the upper ends of the no~th and south long chains together, were next bu1lt. These ties were erected upon a projecting stage at the top of the columns on the shore side of the north pier, and gradually drawn into place as each length of the ties was added. While this work was proceeding, the erection of the columns on the north and south abutments was started. These columns are similar , although somewhat smaller than those on the piers, and, being of moderate

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

height, were much more easily built. As a general rule, all columns were riveted by hand. .

The erection of the main chains was a difficult operation, and one requiring careful attent~on. Tiro her t restles spaced 18 ft. apart, and of vartous heights, were placed along the main stage, and these carried a platform, some 12 ft. wide, upon which the chains could be erected in place. The portions of the chains, within 40 ft. of the columns on the piers and abutments, were built by cranes placed on t he columns already constructed, but the central portion was erected by a large steam crane placed upon a gantry 40 ft. in height, and capable of being traversed along the main stage. A large portion of these chains was riveted by hydraulic machines, although in many cases handwork had to be done. The large holes for the pins connec~­ing these chains together were all bored to thetr correct diameter after all the parts were in posi­tion at the site. As these holes varied in diameter between 24 in. and 30 in., t his work could only be done by using specially made boring bars drivan

Fig.11a

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by small engines, the 1atter being capable of being taken from one place to another as required. While these chains were being built, the cross­girders of the side spans were brought into posi­tion, and t he longitudinal girders between them fixed in place ready to receive t he corrugated floor­plates. These cross-girders had been all built and riveted upon the approaches to the bridge, so that it was on1y necessary t o run them into place upon bogies. The suspension rods which hang these girders to the chains were afterwards attached to the projecting eye-plates of the chains. The method of construction of the four main girders, forming the opening leaves of the central span, is as follows : The '' tatl end " of each girder was built upon the main stage, near the pier, and when riveted was drawn forward and gradually lowered into position, so that the main pivot shaft could be got into place. This shaft, which passes through these four girders, is 21 in. in diameter and 44 ft. long, and entirely supports the leaf when the bridge is open for the river traffic. The quadrants which are attached to the t wo outside main girders, and to which the racks for turning the leaf are attached, were next built, and the portion of the leaf then built was exactly balanced about the pivot shaft, so that it could be easily raised and lowered for the purpose of ascertaining if the quadrants had been

•

471

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

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There now remains but little to do to complete the bridge. Meesrs. P erry and Co. have finished the masonry work at the north and south abutments, and at the piers it is completed up to the level of the roof. The paving of the approaches is also well advanced, and it is expected to have a. trial with the permanent hydraulic machinery for work­ing the opening portion of the bridge in a few weeks. Everything, therefore, points to the bridge being ready for opening early next year.

In the above account we have dealt only with what appear to be the salient features of the metal construction. It would be obviously impossible for us to illustrate and describe in detail so im­portant and complicated a. structure.

I t only r emains to speak of the architectural features of the work, and with these we will deal briefly. Fig. 104, page 484, is an elevation of the east and west fronts of the main towers and piers. Fig. 105 is a transverse section through the centre of the tower and t hrough the west machinery chamber. Fig. 106 is an elevation of the main towers facing the land span ; the arch being, of course, that which spans the r oad way, and through which the traffic passes. Fig. 107 is a sectional elevation from the same point ~f view. The material used for the masonry is rock-faced granite on the walls and fine axed granite on the other

•

472 E N G I N E E R I N G. [OcT. 20, r 89 3·

STUD LATHE AT THE WORLD'S COLUMBIAN EXPOSITIO~. CONSTRUCTED BY THE NILE TOOL \YORKS CO~IPANY, HAMILTON, OHIO, U.S.A.

(Fvr Description, see Page 479.)

•

parts. The turrets and windows are P ortland stone, "dryochoi," he claimed, should be t ranslated 1 "With a tonnage coefficient of 0. 6 there results and the roof is slate. The abutment tower on the "moulds. " The photograph r eproduced below is accordingly a displacement of 35 x 4. 316 x 0. 925 x Middlesex side is shown in elevation in Fig. 108, from a fragment found at Athens, and from this, 0. 6 = 83.838, in round numbers 84 tons. ( Ac­and also in ~ectional plan in Fig. 109. The eleva- B err Haack gives the following dimensions : 1 cording to a calculation made by me, this tonnage tion shows both the land and river sides, the left half of the drawing representing the river side and the right half the land side. Fig. 110 is a longi­tudinal section through the centre, looking north. A half plan of the room in the roof is shown in Fig. 111. Fig. 112 is a west elevation of the same abutment tower.

THE ENGINEERING CONGRESS AT CHICAGO.

(BY OUR NEW YORK CORRESPONDENT. )

{Continued from page 445.) THE question of safety at sea was considered at

much length, Dr. E lgar claiming that warships and passenger steamers could now be made to attain a very high degree of safety. He thought a know­ledge of the effect of stowage as to stability, and the various methods best adapted to replace an injury to compartments or to the ship's bottom, ought to be carefully inculcated and impressed upon the ship's officers. H e concluded this part with the following advice :

" A r eserve of structural strength is necessary in order to meet reductions of strength that may be cg.used by damage in collision or from other causes. Side plating and stringer plate, or other important element of structural strength, might be injured to such an extent as to cause a ship to strain danger­ously in a seaway-unless a margin of extra strength be prm·ided in her construction.

c: Good propulsive power and steering power are important to safety, in order to prevent a. ship fall­ing off helplessly into the t rough of the sea in bad weather and lying there at the mercy of the waves.''

'' The Trireme in Time of the Peloponnesian \Var," by H err R. Haack, of Berlin, succeeded the paper on "Modern Naval Architecture" by a most natural sequence. This was a most interesting ac­count of the construction of this ancient ship, and showed much research in archreology. A few extracts must suffice . The author pointed out that many searchers had been misled by taking the Greek word ''tropia " to mean the keel, where as it r eally referred to the submerged p~rt of the vessel. The word

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

Length over a.ll . . . . . . . . . ... , on water line . . . . .. . ..

E xtreme water line breadth .. . . .. Draught . . . . .. .. . .. . . .. Depth from lowest point of bottom

(outside) to gunwale of ehronitw ...

Metres. 36.5 35.0

4.316 .925

}.965

is !ufficient, in which, besides the weight of the ship, is included that of the tackle and fittings, and the crew according to the data given by Boeckh, also provisions and wate1· for five days.)"

The material from which it was built was pro· bably oak. The construction was as follows .

•

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

COMBINED FEED-WATER HEATER AND PURIFIER. CONSTRUCTED BY 1\JESSRS. J:>APE, HENNEBERG, AND CO., HAMBURG.

(For Description , see Page 478.)

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'' To recapitulate : ']he construction of the b·opis w.as beQ'un by laying the midship planks of the d1memfons required in the dryochoi; the ends were brought together and the butts fitted, and the planks then temporarily fastened to the dryochni and the tropideia. At each end of these

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

473 curv~s of the planks, called for by the shape of the tmpts, w~re achieved either when the planks were cold, _or, 1.f the planks were thicker than necessary, by tnmmmg. To produce greater curves or warped surface for the forebody and afterbody of the ship reco~rse was had to the procefs, still in use, of heating the pl~nks kept constantly moist, c. ver an open fire, wht?h made ~hem so flexible that by the a1d of mec~amcS\l apph~nces they could be gradu­ally for_ced Into the requtred form, in which they then stiffened on cooling.

" In this way the frop is was carried up plank by pl~nk t o the water line, and smoothed down inside ~nth edges. Then nomeis (' floor timbers') were mserted and fast~ned. These were either hewn out . of oak ~nees or were made of black thorn s~plmgs whtch had been soft ened orer the fire (hke the planking of the tropis) , and bent into shap~. In any case the floor timbers (as indeed all t~e rtbs, &c., of t_riremes) wer~ not so heavy as the nbs ?f modern shtps, such a th1ckness being rightly cons1dered unnecessar~ on account of the binding togeth~r of_ the plankmg by means of treenails. ProcopiUs, 1v. 22, says of the numeis : 'Diochoi all the thick timbers inserted in the t ropis, which' are called by th.e poets. cliocltoi, but in ordinary lan­guage w>mcts~ reach~ng .from one side CJ f the ship to the other. It ts hkely that the nomeis also ~ere fastened '!ith treena.ils, driven through them m to the plankmg of the trop is ; but I have not been able to find any statement concerning them. I.t would have ~een possible also to fasten the floor t1mbers by lashmg, as was done with the ribs in the old Viking ships, and for this purpose the rush­we~vers might have been employed, but on this pomt also no statements are to be found. " . There remai~ed, after this, smoothing off the out­

slde and caulklflg, together with painting. One ex­t~act f':lrt_her wtll suffice for this interesting descrip­tiOn ; 1t 1s as follows :

"All the monuments, especially the coins which show sterns of ships, exhibit a form entirely different from . the mo~ern. Th~ stern-post was entirely w.antmg, was, 1n fact , enttrely unnecessary, since the k1n~ of rudder then used did not demand it. Not until later was a stern-post introduced, when rudders were added ~ the. mediroval galleys, which were hooked by p1ntles mto the eyes (aoogings) on the stern-post, and turned like the ~odern rudder. The stern-post was, however, not at fi rst straight and nearly vertical, but curved like the sterns of t~e anci6~t ehips which had no stern-post, and wtth ~onstderable overhang, to facilitate turning the shtp. In fact, the ancient form of stern would be preferable to the modern, if the style of rudder now used and the position of the screw shaft did not, up to the present time, render the latter slyle absolutely necessary. For firmness of construction, so necessary for the sterns of screw ships in par­tic_ular, the ancient form would te much more appro­pnate. ':fhe unfortunate sharp corner, inevitable ~t the po1nt where keel and stern-post join, which tn the newest express steamers consists of two parallel and vertical planes of considerable surface owing to the sharpness of the lines, would be quit~ done away with. Its unfavourable effect upon the vibrations of swift screw steamers, as also upon their facility of turning, would likewise disappear, and the whole model become simpler and more appropriate to movement in a seaway. A difficulty arises in the fastening of the rudder if the stern­post be discarded, but this is not the place to dis­cuss bow such might be obviated; a firm union of the screw shafts to the more solid stern of ancient form would, however, be entirely practicable. Ex­periments looking to thi1!4 have, in fact, already been made in torpedo-boats. "

The next paper, ' \ R ossini's· Method of Gra­phical I ntegration " was by Seiior Don Casimiro de Bona y Garcia do Tejada, Inspector-General of Engineers in the Sp~nish Navy. This gentleman may have had some additional names to be used on state occasions, but as this article is a sum­mary, they cannot be given. In general, this was a method for determining graphically the areas of horizontal sections and volumes of displacement, the position of centres of buoyancy corresponding to different inclinations or angles of heel, and some other matters pertaining to a ship. The Senor Don, &c., had applied it to the Santa M aria, and presented several charts showing the results. He claimed that the method was equally applicable to sail power. The next paper was also by the above much­named gentleman, and entitled ' ' The Circular and Elliptical Valve Diagram of Bona. '' This paper was

•

474 in the main a discussion only to be understood by following the complete l ine of argumen.t, S? that the following extract must serve to descnbe 1t:

" The diagram of Bona cg.n be employed not only under the same conditions as that of Moll and ~1ontety, but it has, besides, a clearness and sim­plicity that render its use spec:any advantageous. S enor Bona has explained its uses and advantages in a carefully prepared and lengthy ar t icle published in the 'Bolctin del Circulo de Maquinistas de la Aramda,' of date November 15, 1873, since which time its use has become general for our men-of­war. The reader will undouLtedly be glad if we e xtract from this article so much as may be neces­sary to gi vo a clear understanding of it for the pre­sent work, with the changes made necessary by substituting t he d iagram used by the author for the frigat e Sagunto for t hat published in the article.

" The sinusoidal diagram has a number of dis­a l vantages ; as, fi r3t, it gives the recti fication of an arc instead of the arc itself, which, besides failing t o show clearly the adj ustment of the valves when studied by it, does not show on the diagram the angles corresponding to the arcs, which is precisely what we most wish to determine; second, two curves mus t be drawn to show the travel of the '"alve in the ahead and in the backing motion ; finally, as these two curves are very similar in form to that of the p iston travel, and as they all three intersect n ear the centre of the diagram, it is alm9st impossible to avoid mistaking one for the other.

"These disadvantages disappear "hen the circular and elliptical diagram is used, and to draw which t he data are taken in pr ecisely the same manner a for the sinusoidal, with the single excep­t ion that for the origin of the arcs passed through by the crankshaft it is more convenient to adopt t hat position of t he engine corresponding to one of the dead points (or extreme throw) of the val\e."

The next paper, entit led "The Mechanical Theory of Steamship Propulsion, " by Mr. Robert Mansel, of Glasgow, was also a mathematical treatise. The tests of various ships were given, and the author showed that the Lepanto, Vesuvius, and Chicago had the same relation of power and speed, althouo h th e results were reached by different formu~re. Other ships of war were also cited, and diagrams were given. This paper was discussed at some length, and was followed by one called, "On the Influence of Oil on Waves at Sea,u by Mr. W. J. ~1illa.r. secretary of the Institute of Engi­n eers ?.nd Shipbuilders in Scotland. This paper began by det)lili ng the valuable experiments made by Mr. J ohn Shields in the harbours of Peter head and Aberdeen, where pipes were laid below the surface and oil pumped through them. The repor t of experiments made Ly a committee of the Royal National Lifeboat Instit ution states :

" In some instances paraffin was uEed, and gave satisfactory results as compared wit.h other oils, but WE:' should prefer the others named.

'' I t was found that in modera.te breakers or surf, the force of which a lifeboat could disregard, but which would endanger the safety of small open boats, its effect was most marked and benefi<;ial.

" The break or crest of such waves was entirely 'killed ' when it reached the space under the in­fluence of the oil ; but on more than one occasion, with the oil having this effect, when a rather larger breaker than the surrounding ones rose, it had no power, and the boat, crew, gear, &c., were smoth­ered with a mixture of oil and water, instead of, as one inspector puts it, ' good clean salt water. ' ' '

This wa.s followed by records from ships' logs showing the advantages and effects of oil during storms, and a memorandum from the British Board of Trade was given a1 follows:

'' 1. On free waves, i.e. , waves in deep water, the effect is greatest.

" 2. In a surf, or waves breaking on a. har, where a mass of liquid is in actual motion in shallow wa ter, the effect of the oil is uncertain, as nothing can prevent the larger waves from breaking under s uch circum~tances ; bu t even here it is of

• some serv1ce. '' 3. The heavies t and thickest oils arc most

effectual. R efined kerosene is of little use; crude petroleum is serviceable when nothing else is ob­tainable ; but all animal and vegetable oil~, s uch as waste oil from the engines, have gr eat effect.

" 4. A small quantity of oil suffices, if applied in such a manner as to spread t o windward.

" 5. It is useful in a ship or boat, both when running or lying to, or in wearing.

" 6. N o experiences ar e related of its use when

,

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

hoisting a boat up in a sea way at sea, but it is hi O'hly probable t hat much time and injury to the bo~t would be saved by its application on such

• occaswne. '' 7. In cold water, the oil, being thickened by

the lower temperature, and not being abl~ to spread freely, will have its effect much r educed. This will vary with the description of oil used.

"8. The best method of application in a ship at sea appears to be hanging over the side, in such a manner as to be in the water, small canvas bags capable of holding from one to two gallons of oil, such bags being pricked with a sail needle t o facili­tate leakage of the oil.

''The position of these bags should vary with the circumstances. Running before the wind they should be hung on either bow- e.g., from the cat-head- and allowed to tow in the water.

" With the wind on the quarter, the effect seems to be less than in any other position, as the oil goes astern while the waves come up on the quarter.

"Lying to, the weather-bow and another position farther aft seem the best places from which to hang the bags, with a sufficient length of line to permit them to draw to windward whil e the ship drifts.

'' 9. Crossing a bar with a flood tide, oil poured overboard and allowed to float in ahead of the boat, which would follow with a hag towing astern, would appear to be the best plan. As before remarked, under these circumstances the effect cannot be so much trusted.

" n a bar with the ebb tid e it would seem to be useless to try oil for the purpose of entering.

'' 10. F or boarding a wreck, it is recommended to pour oil overboard to windward of her before going alongside. The effect in this case must greatly depend upon the set of the current, and the circumstanoes of the depth of water.

'' 11. F or a boat riding in bad weather from a sea-anchor, it is recommended to fasten the bag to an endless l ine rove through a block on the sea­anchor, by which means the oil is diffused well ahead of the boat, and the bag can be readily hauled on board for refilling if necessary. "

The author next considered the nature of the action of the oil. He considered that the action of the film of oil is one of separation. Thus it seems to him that when we consider the t endency of air t o become saturated with watery vapour due to evapo­ration, and of water to r etain air by absorption, we may readily conceive that the impact of air on a watery surface will tend to cause a commingling at the surface of air and water, which will thus offer sufficient resistance to the motion of the wind t o throw the water and rr.ixture into an undulatory movement ; and therefore, when this forward movement has exceeded the speed due to the periodic motion in the wave itself, the upper part, in fallin g for ward , due to th~ push of the air from behind , shows a foaming rush of broken water- that is, the air incorporated with the water and the water itself. If this be admitted, it is easy to see how a film of oil spread over the surface of the water may effectually prevent the formation of broken water, as the air and water will be k t:pt separate, and the t endency to mutual absorption at the surface will be checked, the wind will therefore pass along the oily surface with reduced power of wave-making.

Fish-oil and colza seem to find most favour ; linseed, olive, and some other oils have been used with advantage, but mineral oils are of very little

• serV1C€'. To some extent the kind of oil may be dependent

upon the manner in which it is used. Thus, if the oil is a thickish one, and placed in a bag, it may congeal when placed in the cold water, so as to prevent it oozing out of the h oles in the bag. \Vhero no special fittin gs are placed on board the ship, bags holding a ga1lon or two of oil are used ; these are pierced with a few holes and floated over the eide. The quanti ty of oi:l used will vary with the conditions of motion ; thus it is evident that, when lying t o, much less oil will be required than when running before the wind, as the Rpace tra­versed is less.

The quantity of oil used under any of these con­ditions is wonderfully small, considering the advan­tages obtained. Thus, in lying to, a pint in four hours, and about double that when running, has been found sufficient.

The author con.sidered the best place to apply the oil is near the bow, in bags hung over the aide. He also thought great care should be taken as to the kind of oil used and the manner of using it, the best

[OcT. 2 0, I 893.

conditions being when running before the wind and in lying to. He had known of cast?r oil .being used to calm the surface so as to obta1n a n e w of the propeller. He closed by showing that the uFe of oil for this purpose had been made twel v~ cen­turies ago, and cited a Greek extract ~~ prove .1t. As the ancient languages are not a famil1ar subJect to modetn engineers, he kindly translat~d it.

(T o be continued.)

THE BRITISH A8SOOIATION. (Continued from page 448.)

RErORT oN ELECTROL Ysrs. THE Committee on th e Present Stage of Our

Knowledge of Electrolysis and Elect ro-Chemistry has ctased to exist, as Professor L odge threatened last year. The work continues, however .. The third instalment of the report by Mr. Shaw 1s not ready. The Rev. T. C. Fitzpatrick has been doing some exceedingly useful work by compiling an exhaustive table on strength of solutions, specific gravity, t emperature coefficients, conductivity, mi­gration of ions, fluidity, &c., and thus placing data at our disposal for which as yet we had to hunt up all sorts of volumes, chiefly of German publications. Viscosity and conductivity are intimately connected, as now becomes manifest a t a glance. The more viscous a body, the slower also the movements of the atoms ; hydrogen travels fastest, and hence acids conduct better than salt.

PIEZO-ELECTRICITY.

L ord Kelvin, whose absence from the meeting deprived the discussions of much of their usual vigour, contributed two papers on what was for­merly styled pyro-electricity. We r ecognise now that we have to distinguish between pyro- elec­tricity and piezo-electricity. If a crystal of tourma­line is heated, the ends of the crystal show different electric polarity, a pyro-electric phenomenon. Similar phenomena were observed in quartz crystals. The independent investigations of R ontgen, Friedel, and Curie have, however, shown that the irregular electrifications of the corners of quartz crystals are not consequences of beatings and returns to lower temperatures, but wholly due to mechanical stresses developed by inequalities of temperature in different parts of the crystal.

L ord K elvin 's first paper, ''The Piezo-Electric Pro pert iesof Quartz," discusses his experiments with one of Messrs. J . and P. Curie's (of Paris) beautiful quartz plates. The hexagonal prism has three planes of symmetry corresponding to the diagonals, and three more, being the normals to the parallel faces. The plate is taken from a position with its faces parallel to any of the three normal planes, its length perpendicular to the faces of the prism, and its breadth parallel to the edges. The sides of this plate are, through nearly all their leng th, silvered and con­nected with two pairs of quadrants of a quadrant elec­trometer. The dimensions of the silvered part of the plate were 7 centimetres long, 1.8 centimetres broad , the plate being about . 5 millimetre thick. A weight of 1 kilogramme hung upon th e plate placed with its length vertical, causes one s ide to become posi­t ively electrified, and th e other negatively. This, L ord Kelvin maintains, can only be due to electric eolotropy of the molecule. If we assume the quartz molecule to consist of three Si 0 2 molecules, grouped in such a way that the i atoms and the 0 double atoms occupy alternate corners of a regular hexagon, then any st rain normal to the transverse axis will tend to pull the stars out, to elongate the crystal in the direction perpendicular to one of the three sets of rows. Fig. 1 (see next page) shows th e original, Fig. 2 the r esulting configuration to an exaggerat:!d extent. Cer tain atoms have been brought nearer to one another, others are separated, those in the transverse rows are left unchanged in position. lf the Si atoms are charged positively, the 0 atoms negatively, electric polarity will ensue. The same would r esult if the atoms were r eplaced by hol.lo~ globules of zinc an~ copper ~espectively. Thts 1dea- the full paper w11l appear 1n the Ph ilo­soph ir~l Ma[JW~i Hr is further and practically dc,·e­loped 1n the second paper, ''A. Piezo-Electric Pile. " The application of pre~ ure to a voltoic pile, dry or wet, has often been suggested as an illustration of th~ piezo-electric properties of crystals, but no satlSfactory results had as yet been obtained, as any effects observed depended upon complex actions. L ord Kelvin has cleared away everything but air. His pile consists of twenty-four double plates of 8 centimetres square of 7inc and copper

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OcT. 20, 1893.]

soldered toaether. Half a centimetre square is cut from each ~orner of each zinc plate to insert small pieces of indiarubber as props to. k~ep the plates at distances from t to 3 or 4 m1lhmetres a'">ove one another. Care must be taken that there are no minute shreds of fibre or dust bridging the air sp1ce; this is easier with greater distance apart. The terminal plates arc connE:cted with two

4

I 1 1 f

FIG. 1. FIG. 2.

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

PHOTOGRA PHY OF METEOROLOGI CAL PHENOMENA.

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

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

The fia.shea of one discharge vary in brilliancy ; the persistent luminosity may be the flame of burn­ing. nitrogen. F or the completion of an atlas of 1 yptca.l clouds, the committee asked for a grant of 35t. , last year's grant of 15l. not having been drawn.

The full report of the Committee on

E ARTH T REMORS,

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

The next report, read by Professor Milne, F. R . S.,

EARTU QUAKE .AND VoLCANI C PHENOMENA Ol' J APAN,

dealt with the same problems, and contained little about what people generally understand by earth­<} uo.kes and volcanoes. The report records hun­dreds of observations for each different group, made by means of the Gray- Milne seismo~raph, and by the h orizontal pendulum, for contmuous photographic record, which Professor Milne last year described as new, but which he soon afterward s learned had been used for some time by Dr. von R ebeur-Paschwitz, at Potsdam and elsewhere. Throuahout the report, parallels are drawn be­tween °the observations of Dr. von Paschwitz and Professor Milne. The form er 's pendula are heavy and adjusted for periods. of 12. and 18 saconds, Professor Milne's exceed1ngly hght. The report discusses daily tiltings, tem~erat~re a.~d baro­metric effects, possible relat10nsh1p w1th mag­netic movements, and geologic structure. lt

4i5 is very interesting that the direction of the earthquakes is generally at right angles to the mountain side, as if the sides moved like the sides of a roof hinged to i ts ridge. Earthquak es are so frequent in Japan that chemical balances by Oertling and by Bunge could be used as indicators ; at t imes, any accurate quantitative work, as well as astronomical observations, become impossible. The list of earthquakes for February, 18!)3, num­bers 101. These earthquakes have the nasty habit of snapping, by their horizontal reciprocating motion, walls and piers at the base. Now Professor Tatsumo has calculated the proper section for such structures, and built walls, and Mr. C. A. W. P ownall, M. I. C. E., has constructed brick arches for the bridges of the Usui Pass, some 110 H. high, which as yet have answered very well ; these piers taper in curves from the base upwards.

M AGNETI C OBSE RVATI ONS.

The Committee on t he Best Means of Comparing and R ecording Magnetic Observations have reported to the Admiralty on plans submitted by Mr. Gill for a magnetic observatory at the Cape of Good H ope.

MAGNETi c '"\YoRK AT THE F.ALMOUTH OBSERVATORY.

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

B EN NEVIS.

An abstract of the report of the Ben Nevis Com­mittee was given by Dr. P eddie. The pressure curves for clear and foggy weather are quite dis­tinct. Between 7 P. M .• and 4 A . M., fog pressure is higher than with clear sky, and attains its maxi­mum at midnight; between 5 A . M. and 6 P.l\1. fog pressure is lower, the minimum being about noon. During anti·cyclonic periods, the temperature difference between the observatory at the top and a.t the foot becomes less ; occasional1y a higher temperature is registered at Ben Nevis. When the anti-cyclone gives way, the temperatures assume their normal difference. These alterations can be brought about by a fall of temperature at the top, or a. r ise at F ort William, the temperature of the other observatory nmaining stat ionary. The in­t erpretation of these observations seems to promise important conclusions.

T EMPERATURE OF SEA AND AIR IN 'I'HE CLYDE SEA AREA.

Dr. H. R. Mill illustrated his paper by the help of the lantern, which has become indispensable for any lecture-room. The character of the Clyde sea area depends, of course, mainly upon the hollows of which it is composed, and their isolation from oceanic influences. Where t idal currents can effect a good mixing, as in the Nort.h Channel, between Scotland and Ireland, the wateris monothermic, i.e., the temperature is practically the same from top to bottom. The water there is about 2 deg. warmer than the air of the Mull of Cantyre. The Arran basin is cooler than the channel ; Loch Fyne cooler again during the greater part of the year, and of about the same temperature as the other basins during the extreme months.

SoLAR RADIATioN.

The ninth report of the Committee on the Best J\feans of Recording the Direct Intensity of Solar R adiat ion, was read by its author, Professor McLeod. The work does not advance very much. Mr. Casella. has constructed a thermometer with a len ticular bulb, colourless and not green glass. On May 22 the green and white bulbs were tested, and it was found that the white bulb ir.dicated an excess- above the t emperature of the case-of only two-thirds of that marked by the green thermometer. This is no disadvantage ; it rather facilitates the reduction of the results. As the simultaneous o'Jeervation of the three thermometers is not an

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E N <.; I N E E R I N G. (OcT. 20, 1893.

EARLY AMERICAN LOCOMOTIVES AT THE WORLD'S COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION.

FIG. 1. THE "J AMES,, 1832.

FIO. 3. T HE (I CAl\lPBELL, 11 1837.

F 5 TH .I:: ''1\iAZEPPA, " 1837. 10. .

(For Descriptio,n, see Page 478.)

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FIG. 2. THE '' E XPERIMENT, , 1832.

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FIG. 4. THE " L AFAYETTE,, 1837.

Fra. 6. THE ' ' Bt'~'JtALo , ' ' 1844.

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OcT. 20, 1 89 3·] E N G I N E E RI N G. 477

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CONTRACTING CHILL FOR CAR WHEELS; COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION . THE CANDA

CONSTRUCTED BY 't'HE ENSIGN MANUFACTURING COMPANY, HUNTINGTON, WEST VIRGINIA.

(For Description, see Page 478.)

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easy operation, an attempt has been made to replace them by two thermo-electric junctions. If such an instrument, in connection with a galvanometer, could be made photographically self-recording, we should have a real intensity meter. Ordinary galvanometers would not be suitable, as influenced by earth magnetism and other magnetic disturbances. Experiments with a D'Arsonval galvanometer have so far not given satisfactory results.

SuN SPoTs AND SoL.ut ENVELOPES. The gist of this paper, by the Rev. Fred. Howlett,

of Alton, Rants, is a final onslaught on Wilson's aseertion that sun spots appear foreshortened when ne&r the limbs. In 1769 \Vilson advanced his view, which led to the conclusion that sun spots were enormously deep funnels into which we look when the spot is central, and a side view of which is gained when the spot is near either limb. As Wilson appeared so certain and so careful an observer, the vVilson effect has been handed down, and is still illust rated in every text-book, although Wilson was attacked at the time by Lalande, and has been attacked often since. Mr. Howlett has carefully examined and mapped many spots,

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

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Howlett's opinion, as the solar photosphere cannot be more than 4 ! 5 of the diameter of the sun.

THE MooN's ATMOSPHERE AND THE KINETIC THEORY OF GASES.

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Mr. G. H. Bryan, M.A., of Cambridge, pre­sented a thoroughly scientific paper, dealing with, and perhaps disposing of, a hypothesis which has excited the widest popular interest. In Sciettce, New York, February 24, Sir Robert Ball suggested that the absence of any atmosphere investing the moon is a simple and necessary consequence of the kinetic theory of gases. The suggestion was warmly welcomed and criticised. On August 18, in the same journal, Professor Liveing applied this hypothesis to interplanetary and interstellar space, concurring with Sir Robert. Mr. Bryan resolved to submit the hypothesis to mathematical test. In introducing his paper, he remarked that Mr. S. Tolver Preston had advanced the same

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views in 1878 in Nat1tre, as he had learned too late. To this Sir Robert Ball replied afterwards that the hypothesis was an old idea of Dr. John­stone Stoney's; who originated it, he did not know. According to Sir Robert, the mean molecular speed of oxygen and nitrogen is less than the speed with which a. body would have to be projected in order to leave the moon without ever returning; but in the course of collisions between the molecules they frequently attain speeds sufficiently great to enable them to overcome the moon's attraction, and thus escape from the moon's atmosphere. On the other hand, the speed required to permanently leave the earth is one which " it would seem that the molecules of oxygen and nitrogen do not generally or ever reach," and therefore the earth retains a copious atmosphere. Now, argues Mr. Bryan, according to the u error" law of distribution of velocities, there must always be some mole­cules which move with sufficiently great velo­cities to overcome the attraction of any body, and some whose speed is too small to escape from the attraction of any body, howe\er small. No planet would, therefore, theoretically have an absolutely permanent atmosphere. If, however, the number of escaping molecules is exceedingly small rela­tively, the atmosphere of a planet would practically be permanent. The author has calculated what proportion of the molecules of oxygen and hydrogen at different temperatures would be able to fly off from the surfaces of the moon, Mars, earth ; the corresponding results are also given for the sun, not for its surface, but for the earth's distance from the sun's centre. The tables show that for oxygen one molecule in every three billion could esca.pe from the moon at 0 deg. Centigrade, one in every 2. 3 x 10329 from the earth, one in every 2 x 1049~0

from the sun's attraction at the distance of the earth. The figures hold for hydrogen, if we reduce the absolute temperatures to -/6 • If we assume the moon tern perature to be - 200 deg. Cent., one oxygen molecule in every 7 x 101H would be able to escape. Of oxygen molecules at 4368 deg. absolute, one in every 2. 7 x 10307 could fly off from the sun at earth distance, and one in every 3. 6 from the moon ; for hydrogen the same values apply to a temperature of 0 deg. Cent., equal to 273 deg. absolute. But there are other and more serious objections to this assumption. If the moon's atmo­sphere has flown off into space, why have the other planets, when much hotter than at present, not parted with theirs 'I The whole idea is in contra­diction to the nebular theory. The kinetic theory is, moreover, quite compatible with the absence of any perceptible atmosphere of the moon. '£o illustrate this further, Mr. Bryan assumes an equilibrium theory, a permanent distribution at a uniform temperature, not applicable, however, to the atmospheres of different planets such as Earth and Mars. The molecules of gas flying about in interplanetary space are too few to collide and to bring about an equalisation of energy. For bodies so near each other as the earth and moon, the greater attraction exercised by the earth on any molecules finding themselves in the neighbourhood, would prevent the moon from receiving more than her fair share-a very small one-of molecules. Professor Liveing may be right in granting to interplanetary and interstellar space an atmosphere far in excess of the cq uilibrium theory. In that case the earth atmosphere might gradually increase. An escape from the earth could only occur once in countless ages. The possibility of a perceptible interchange of molecules between different planetary atmo­spheres, the author llegates.

Sir R obert Ball could not well discuss a paper of this kind which he had not seen before. He con­tented himself with pointing to the peculiar fact that hydrogen was entirely absent from our atmo­sphere, whilst predominating in the atmospheres of all stars or suns. This, Mr. Bryan opposed, dis­proves nothing. His theory did not require hydrogen in our atmosphere, and if there was any force in the argument, why was our atmosphere so rich in nitrogen, atomic weight 14, and so poor in oxygen, atomic weight 16 1 The higher powers of these numbers which would enter into such calculations would make an enormous difference. Mr. Ran­yard thought the moon must have an atmosphere somewhat to delay the striking meteorites, which otherwise must prove destructive. Lord Rayleigh did not agree to all of Mr. Bryan 's reasoning, but there was, no doubt, a need of such a mathematical examination of the problem. In this the President fully concurred. Professor Fitzgerald wondered

E N G I N E E R I N G . •

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

(To be continued.)

COMBINED FEED-WATER HEATER AND PURIFIER.

IN the combined feed-water heater and purifier illustrated on page 473, and constructed by Messrs. Pape, Henneberg, and Co., of Hamburg, Germany, the leading feature is the combination of the heating pro­cess with a purifying operation by which the oil and the air remaining in the feed water coming from the surface condensers, are removed.

The construction of t he apparatus ca.n be seen from the engraving. The water coming from the condenser enters the heater at a and rises iu the annular space between the shell of the heater and a. central cylinder b. Inside of this cylinder b there is a group of serpen· tine pipes, which are heated by direct steam. When the rising feed water in the apparatus has reached the head of the heater, it touches at the same time the heating coil at its hottest part, and it must change its direction of movement, being forced to flow down inside the cylinder c, which cylinder the water leaves a.t the bottom of the heater by the pipe c. Now the water being suddenly heated and changing at the same time its direction, gives out all the air and the oil distributed in it. Air

and oil gather under the upper cover·plate of the heater and are continuously removed by the small piped, the discharge of which is regulated by the oil­testing valve e. After having thus given up air and oil in the head of t he apparatus, the feed water, when fiowing down in the cylinder b, is heated in a. very energetic manner by the heating coil, and leaves the apparatus ready for the boiler. The heating process takes place with very high efficiency ; a loss of heat is impossible, because all the heat, which goes through the metal of the cylinderb, is taken up by the feed water that rises in the space between the cylinder b and the shell of the apparatus. The combined heater and purifier has already been introduced in German and Austrian steamers to a. fairly large extent. It is stated that it is very reliable, and that the examination of ships' boilers which arc fed by means of the apparatus has shown that the disagreeable greasy scale which is found in boilers fed by uncleaned water directly from the hot­well, is entirely avoided, as well as corrosion arising from the presence of air in the boilers.

The inventors inform us that when developing their heater system they made a large number of experi­m~nts with regard to the transmission .of heat through tbm sheets of metal, the results of wh1ch experiments have shown that it is very important that in a.ny kind of heating apparatus both t he heating a.nd the heated medium should be moved with a certain speed and that wide spaces, in which one or both of 'these mediums would remain pretty quiet, are not favour­able to high efficiency. If W represents the number of British thermal units which pass through a square foot of thin copper per hour at a. difference of l deg. Fa.hr. from the warmer to the colder medium this coefficient was found : '

A . In apparatus heated by high-pressure steam (feed­water heaters, evaporators).

W = 400 thermal units, when steam and water have appropriate speed.

W = 200 to 240 thermal units, when steam or water, especially the water, remain quiet during the heating process.

B. In apparatus heated by low-pressure steam (con­densers, ~eed · wa.ter hea~ers, vacuum-evaporators). W = RGO thermal umts, when steam and water

have appropriate speed. \V = 120 to 200 thermal units, when steam or

water, especially the water, remain quieb during the beating process.

C. In apparatus heated by bot water (cooling \~essels sterilisers). ' W = 200 thermal units, when the water is moved

in the right way. W = 40 to 60 thermal units, when the water re­

mains quiet.

' [OcT. 20, 1893.

These figures are important. They teach that heating apparatus in which litt le or no regard is taken as to the right direction of the heating and the heated medium, must be considerably larger, and therefore both heavier and dearer, than appa­ratus of the same output which are well constructed. This is an important point of view in modern steamships, where every care must be t aken to reduce the weight of the steam plant, and the cost of the auxiliary plant.

The Pape-Henneberg evaporator consists of a. row of horizontal tubes situated above each other, traversed by the steam at very high speed one after the other. These tubes are made in the section shown in the annexed illustration, which has, compared with a round tnbe of equal beating surface, only four-tenths of the cross­section. Therefore steam passes through these tubes with a speed two-and-a-half times greater than its speed in a round tube of the same circumference. Also this form of the tube allows the arrangement of a. large heating surface in a small space. An examina­tion of this evaporator, made officially by Admiralty engineers, proved, the makers tell us, that the evapo­rator worked with a. loss of only 4 per cent., 100 lb. of boiler steam yielding 96 lb. of evaporated steam.

THE CANDA CONTRACTING CHILL FOR CAR \VBEELS.

AT the World's Columbian Exposition, the Ensign Manufacturing Company, of 11, Pine-street, New York, and of Huntingdon. ':V est Virginia, show the chill for casting car wheels which we illustrate on page 477. It is well known that cast wheels have attained great success in the States, and, therefore, it will be of interest to our readers to know the latest methods of producing these articles. This chill is made of iron. The chilling ring is cast solid, and then, after being accurately turned on a mill or lathe, is sawn into segments, its advantage being in the form or design of the outer rings. 'This chill, as ordinarily constructed , has three outer rings (Fig. 4), the web of one segment being attached to the upper and middle ring, and the web of the next segment to the Dliddle and lower ring, and so around the circle, as shown. The result is that when the metal of the chill itself is heated by the hot metal poured into it, the thin webs and the segmental chilling blocks are heated much more rapidly t han the out~r ring, so that, while the circumference of the outer nog enlarges but slowly, the chilling box blocks move inward owing to the expansion of the webs, and the result is that the chilling surface fol­lows up the cooling metal and keeps the chill in constant contact with the tread of the wheel that is being cast. It will be observed that by such an arrangement provision is made for the escape of heat and gases during the casting of a wheel, and that the temperature of the sustah1ing rings is kept down ; they, consequently, do not warp out of shape; more­o~er, the Ci.ttacbment of each segment to two rings holds the segment to accurate position. The result of actual use of a very large number of these chills during the past two years has demonstrated the cor­rectness of the principle on which they are made. They are durable, and while the iron is poured as hot as it can be drawn from the ladle, the loss of wheels cast in them is reduced to a minimum. The deptb of chill is uniform, chill cracks are unknown, and an absolute roundness of wheel is obtained. On~ vi~ws sho~v the operation of pouring the metal,

and ~tve 1llustrat10ns of some ca.rwheela. F ig. 5 shows a 30-m. street ea: wheel; Fig. ~ a 33-in. double-plate car. wheel, Ba.lbmore and Oh10 standard ; Fig. 7 a. 26-ln. hollow-spoke truck wheel; Fig. 8 a 24 in. double-plate car wheel; and Fig. 9 a 24-in. double­plate truck wheel.

OLD AMERICAN LOCOMOTIVES AT THE COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION.

I N an article on page 289 of our last volume written b.efore the opening of the \Vorld's Columbia.n' Exposi­t~on, we gave an account of t he very interesting collec­tiOn of ~ld loco~oti ves, pa:tly origiuala and partly re­productions, wh1ch was be1ng made for exhibition in the T~ansportat.ion Building. 'Ve now publish on page 4J6 engra.vmgs of several of theae which a.re interesting not only as early examples of' mechanism but al.so as marking stages iJ.?- the development of th~ Amencan type of locomot1ve. The earliest of the locomotives shown in our illustrations is ihe "James ' ' (Fig. 1 ), built in 1832. The name of the builder was \Villiam T. J ames, and this was the second t urned out ~y him . . The fi.rst comprised a rudimentary form of hnl~ n;ot10n, ~h1c~ was fu.rther developei in t his case untll1t con tamed m e::;sent1al particulars the construc­tion commonly attribu tecl. to Ste~henson , a.nd really due to Howe, who worked 1t out mdependently thirteen yea.rs later ~ha~ J~mes. The engine (Fig. 1) bad cylinders 10 m. m d1ameter by 10 in. stroke set upon a wooden . frame inclined at an angle ot' 30 deg. to the honzonta.l. Four fixed eccentric3 with shift­ing links, operated the slide valves, the ~everse shafta

I ~NUlN.t!;EH.lNG, OCTOBER 20, 1893.

~

LOCOMOTIVES

-~ -~

A T THE W 0 RLDD'S COL U MBIA N EX P 0 S I T I 0 N.

CONSTRUCTED AT 1'HE BROOKS UOJ~OMOTIVE WORKS, DUNKIRK, N.Y.

(For Ducriplirx,, set Poge 479.)

r··----- --

GREATNoftTIIER~ I

FIG. 1. 1'~N· WHEELED P ASSENGER LocOMOTI Vl: .I"Oit THE LAK~ SHom~ AN.u MwwGA..'I SouTU&l<N It.utw.u . -T wELV&-Wae.tLJ::D LocoM01'IV~ k'Olt TILE Glt &AT Noll.TH&RN RAILWAY.

24 . . - - . ' '

~

• ~ ' ~":...,;...---f:t:l •. ~ ~-~,­-- ... ~ E - --- --F rc. 2. S uBURBAN Locot.~OTI VE FOR THE CrucAGO A..'I.O NoilT}(E&'I PACI.FIC RAILROAV.

~·10. 5. 'l 'wo-l:YLINOEK ComouNo F RtaGa ·r L ocoMOTIVE I-'OR THE L AKE SHORE AND M ICHIGAN SouTllBRN RAILWAY.

~-IG. 3_ EIGHT· WHEELED PASSENGER LocoMOTI VE }'OR •rHE CINCINNATI , ELMIL'rOl', A.SD DAYTOl\ RAJLROAI.I Colll'Al\ Y. ------....,... l!' IG. 6. FouR-CYLINDER COMPouzw CoN::;OLlDATJ.ON LocoMOTIVE FOR TH& GREAT NoRTHERN RAILWAY.

1 .r.----------------------------'

-

r' '

Oct. 20, 1 893.] :

and bangers controlling the position of the links. A weight was fixed on the reverse lever to retain the links in position at either end of the travel, but there was no means of fixing them in an intermediate position. This locomotive was run on the Baltimore and Ohio Road for two or three years, and then returned to the Harlem Road, when it soon after exploded.

The first appearance of the bogie, or swi veiling truck was on the "Experin.ent," built in 1832 by John 'B. J ervis. This engine (Fig. 2) had a truck connected to it by a strong pin, and working on anti­friction rollers. It is stated that on a level straight road the engine had covered a ~ile in 50 seconds, r~n­ning with great ea-se and stead1ness. In the follow10g year Robert Stephenson built the Dav:y Crock et~, from J ervis's plans, for the Saratoga Ra1lroad, th1s also having a leading truck.

The next four years saw a great advance in loco· motive design in America. In 1836 Henry R. Camp­bell patented a design having coupled driving axles, one before and one behind the firebox, and a four­wheeled truck. The follo\ving year he built the en~ine shown in Fig. 3, which may be regarded as the first American-type locomotive. In the same year (1837) the "Lafayette" (Fig. 4) was built in America by Norris. In this there were exhibited several of the features introduced and advocated by Mr. Edward Bury afterwards of the firm of Bury, Curtis, and Kenn'edy, and locomotive superintendent of the Lon­don and Birmingham Railway. These include the bar frame and the circular firebox with the dome-shaped top. Eight engines of this type were built in America to work the Lickey incline on the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway. They had cylinders 10! in. in diameter by 18 in. stroke, with driving wheels 4 ft. in d iameter, their weight being 9! tons. The usual per­formance on the Lickey incline had been the haulage of 33 tons at 12 to 15 miles an hour. One of the American engines lent to the Grand Junction Railway drew 100 to 120 t ons on a.u incline of 1 in :33, at 14 to 22! miles a.n hour.

Fig. 5 shows a. locomotive, originally built as a. "gra.sshopper," and converted to a "crab " in 1837. The cylinders were changed from the vertical to hori­zontal, the walking beams and connecting-rods being removed. The cylinders were placed by Ross vVinans at the rear end of the frame, suggesting the motion of a crab, which was in contradiction of the name, c' Mazeppa. , This engine has a record of over fifty years' service. Some years later (1844) a modified form of "crab," known as a "mud digger," was brought out (Fig. 6) by Rosa 'Vinans. This was the first engine in the world having four coupled axles. It was, to a. great extent, a makeshift construction, and in subsequent engines the vertical boiler was replaced by one of the horizontal type.

LOCOMOTIVES AT THE COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION.

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

E N G I N E E R I N G. 479 •

PRINCIPAL DIMENSIONS OF SIX L OCOMOTIVES EXHIBITED AT THE COLU,MBIAN E XPOSITION BY TilE BROOKS LocOMOTIVE W oRKS, DuNKIRK, NEW YouK. (See T wo-P age Plate.)

- ------

Engine. Total weight, working order Weight on driving wheels . .

, front truck . . ., rear , ..

Total length wheel base .. , rigid , .. , d riving , . .

• , engme , ..

Cyli nders. Diameter of cylinders Stroke of piston ..

Size of steam port • •

•• ••

••

lb. , , " ft. I I

•

" ,

lD

" ,.

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

Wheels. Diameter of driving wheels • 10.

Fig. l .

113,600 88,500 25,000

-47 71 8 6

16 0 25 1!

17 24

16 by 11

16 ,, a J erome

68 36 , t ruck ,. . .

Material of truck wheels .. " . . Allen paper

Description of truck .. •• . . Rigid cen t re

Diameter of driving axle journal in. 7! ., truck , , , 5

Diameterofcoupling-rodjournals, 3i, 61, acd 3~ Len~tth of , , ., 3!, 4!, and 8! Diameter of connecting-rod jour·

nal .... 0 ••• in. -Length of conneotin~t-rod journal .,

, driving springs . • , -86

Boiler. Description . . . . . . . Wagon type Working pressure • • . . lb. 180 Inside diameter . . . . in. 52

tl , , i . No. 13 B. W.Go

Thickness of barrel plates .. Thickness of t ubes . . . . Number , . . . . • 0 202 Length , . . . . ft. 13 l Oh Diameter , . . . . in. 2 Length of firebox . . . . Width

, , , • • • • , t

,. of water spaces round fire boxes .. .. .. .. in.

Thicknrse of plates in fireboA sheet .. .. . . .. in.

Thickneas of tu beplates (firebox) " , , lsmokebox),

Grate surface . . . . . . sq. fr . Firebox heating surface . . , Tube , , . . , Arch tubes surface . . . . , Total heating surface 0 • • • ,

T ender. Weight (working order) Water capacity . 0

Fuel ., ..

. . lb. I

.. gals 0. tons

96 42

a to 4 ,, t :l

2ij 123

1,462 18

1,603

71,600 3,700

6

Fig. 2.

166,000 102,000

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

18 24

17 by 1l

17 " 3 U.S. Co.'s

63 ao

Paige, steel­tyred

Front, radial bar and swing ; rear, centre bearing

7! 6

4~, 61, and 4! 3!, 6, and 3~

4 and 6! 4 and 6

36

Wagon type 180

68 !

No. 18 B. # .0. 260

11 1 2

102 32

3i to 4

li i

22.6 144

1453 23

1620

-2600

4!

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

STUD LATHE. ON page 4 72 we illustrate a screw machine exhibited

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

•

-Fig. 3.

112,000 74,000 38,000

46 8 8 0 8 0

22 8

18 26

17 by 1&

17 ., 3

Sullivan

73 a a

Steel

Swing beam

8 5! 4~ a;

31 and 6! 4 and 6

36

Fig. 4.

166,000 136,000

20,000

Fig. 5.

J 02,000 7(},600 25,600 -

62 0 46 6t 9 8 8 0

15 6 13 8 25 a 23 1 ~

20 18 and 28! 26 24

18! by lt { H. P. 16 by ~i L. P. 20 , 2~

18! 8 { II.P. 16 , 8 " L.P. 20 ,, 5

J erome J erome

56 56 33 28

Krupp No. 1 -

Swivelling Swivelling

7i 6i 6 4i

41, 6, 7, and 4i -4i, 6, 6, and 41

4~ and 6 -a; and 6 -

36 36

Belpaire B\:lpaire Wa~ton type 180 180 180 58 68 62

! i ~~ No. 12 B. W.G. No. 11 B. W.G. No. 16 B. W.G.

226 250 186 11 7 ~ 13 10 12

2 2! 2 102 1H 96

32 32 34i

3! to 4

r1 t

22.6 133

1,372 19

1,624

71,000 4,200

8

3! to 4

{>~ ; t

25.3 192

2,035 -

2,227

82,000 4,000

8

3 to 4

l s i i

2a 112

1,168 18

1,298

71,500 3,700

6

Fig. 6.

147,000 130,000

17,000

50 0 16 6 16 6 23 0

13 and 22 26

H. P. piston vat ve 12 in. in diameter, ports 1! in. wide. LP. 20 by 2.

{ H.P. 4 in. wide. L. P. 20 by 6.

U.S. Co.'e.

65 33

Krupp No. 1

Swing beam

8 6i

4!, 61, 5, and 4 a;, f>, 4, and 4

--36

Belpaire 180

68 ,, l lf

No. 11 B. W.O. 208

11 7 21

114 32

3! to4

11511,

; i

25.3 177

1,419

1,596

75,000 4,000

g

LONDON AsSOCIATION OF FOREMEN ENGINEERS AND DRAUGHTSMEN.- The usual monthly meeting of this association was held on the evening of Saturday, the 7th inst., in the K room of the Cannon-street H otel, when the president, Mr. W. T. Coates, and the vice-president, Mr. W. H. Bale, occupied the chairs, and th~re was a large attendance of members. The committee's report on the fund in aid of the fa.mil:y of the late vice-prAsident, Mr. J a.mes Brown, was rece1 ved, together with 32l. 15s., the amount raised by subscription. After the general business was over, a. paper was read by Past-President Mr. J obn E. Reid, on ·'A Trip to the Chicago Exhibi­tion and Back." Mr. Reid gave an interesting account of his visit to America., and his experiences in travelling by land and water. A vote of thanks to Mr. Reid closed the proceedings of the evening.

MANCHESTER SHIP CANAL.-Mr. Ma.rehall Stevens, as manager of the Manchester Ship Canal Company, in a lecture delivered at Ancoats, said the only section of the canal not now filled with water was that between the Old Quay, Runcorn, and Latchford Locks. The water in this section bad been kept back because the London and North-Western and the Great Western Railway Com­panies had made claims which were the subject of arbi­tration; but now that the award had been made, the company would have this section completed in about a. fortnight, and the water flowing up the whole length of the canal. All the work would then practically be done except dredging away the remains of the dams and places where the old river bed was crossed by the canal. The canal was practically one long dock, which was twice as wide as the Suez Canal. 'fhe cost of the canal had been, roughly speaking, 15,000,000l. The canal would ba the nearest port to a. district containing a. population of 7,500,000; that was to say, that one-fifth of the_population of the country was nearer to the Manchester Ship Canal than to any other ocean steamer port. As to revenue the directors did not expect to make a. big lot of money in the first year, but they hoped to get sufficient to pay working expenses, and have something to the good. The second year he hoped they would be able to pay interest on the debe,n tu res. They were n0w trying to get ahead of the opemng of the canal, and had allocated a. certain portion of the regular trade to the docks ; and with regard to the near Continental and the coa~twise trade they had more lines. of steamers to start on J a.nuary 1 tha~ ran from any port m England, except London and Liverpool. Shipowners were ready and anxious to come up, and as soon as the canal was opened, there would be a service of vessels twice a week from Manchester to L ondon, and perhaps more frequently than that.

• -

PONTOON BRIDGE ACROSS THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.

(For Description, see opposite Page. )

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OcT. 20, 1 89 3·] E N G I N E E R I N G.

THE NORTON SCREW-CUTTING LATHE.

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

PONTOON BRIDGE ACROSS THE MISSISSIPPI.

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

•

passes freely through the space between the two piles but. when in a horizontal plane it cannot pass. Nea; to the bolt a mooring ch ain comes aboard and after passing round a windlass goes over the othe; side.

The method of operating the p ontoon is very simple. 'Vhen the span is to be opened, the windlass is rotated b_y the engine u.ntil the chain is taut on the up -stream &de; the bolt 1s then turned and the chain drawn in on the ~own-stream side, and paid out up stream. The entire pontoon then swings around its pivot (Fig. 9) until the waterway is clear. T o replace the pontoon it is hauled back by the windlass until the bolt can be again locked, when all is secure.

The pontoon itself is a. fiat-bottomed timber hull, deeper at the ends than at the middle (Fig. 1). By this construction the buoyancy is concentrated at the extremities, and the depression, which occurs when a. locomotive and train enters the bridge, is minimised. This result is further secured by connecting each trestle to toe pontoon by a. hinged bridge 30 ft. 8 in. long, the greater part of which overhangs the pontoon.

As the level of t he water varies at different parts of the year, provision is made for raising the road above the deck of the pontoon to various heights. The rails are carried on 5 in. by 8 in. sleepers, which are them­se! ves mounted on six 7 in. by J 2 in. longitudina.ls. Beneath these longitudinals come 14 in. by 18 in. cross­beams, each made of two timbers. The ends of these timbers pass between vertical guides (Fig. 4), and as the river falls they are jacked up and have blocks placed beneath them to keep them at such a. height that the road remains level. The guide p osts are carried down to the floor beams, and the space between them, underneath the deck, is occupied by a longitudinal bulkhead of 8 in. by 10 in. and 8 in. by 12 in. timbers.

The construction of the hull is clearly shown in the engravings. The deck, floor, and side beams are all 5 in. by 10 in., spaced 2 ft. apart. The deck planks are 2! in. by 6 in., and the bottom sheathing 4 in. by 10 in. There a re five longitudinal bulkheads, the centre one being built of 12-in. balks, 30ft. long at least.

MECHANICAL FLIGHT: THE SUSTENTION OF THE WEIGHT.

To THE EDITOR m· ENG INEEHING. SIR,-In the following remarks I shall endeavour to

point out the principles underlying the art of mechanical flight, and, by a. plam statement of the facts, hope to clear away the mystery which, to a great many minds, seems to surround the subject, and thereby induce engineers to give serious attention to the matter.

In order to sustain weight in the atmosphere, it is absolutely necessary to deliver air downwards, and in order to ascertain the weight of air acted upon, and the spbed with which it must be moved, the following formula, so well known to marine engineers, is perfectly applic-

abl~: W 8, where W is the weight of the mass of fluid

acted u~on in pounds per second, S is th9 downward velocity in feet per second, g is 32.2 ft. per second.

In order to make this perfectly clear, I will take the case of two flying machines, each weighing 515 lb.

In the first place, we will take the weight of air to be acted upon per second as 1382lb.

Now, in order to obtain sufficient reaction, or ~ift, to sustain the weight of the machine, the above weight of

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

per second. ~8i2.~ 12

= 515lb., which is the weight of

the machine. We will now ascertain the horse-power necessary to

obtain the reaction or sustaining force of 515 lb.

The formula is as follows: W :2

-;.. 550, where W is

the weight of air acted upon per s~cond, S is the down • w:ar~ velocity, and 2 g is 64.4. In this case the weight of a1r IS 1382 lb., and the downward speed is 12 ft. per

second. 122

x 138~ = 2·236 x 1382 = 56 horse-power. 64.4 X 550 550 .

We will now take the weight of air to be acted upon as 2764 lb. per second, which is just double the former weight. The downward speed will be half, or G ft. per

second. 27~~.; G = 515 lb. reaction, the same as in the

first example ; but now the energy that the air takes away with it in its downward motion is only half, thus 2764 X G~ . th h h ' h . 2 8 uf"

4 X

550 gtves e Orse-power, \V lC 18 • ,

It will be seen at a glance the great ad vantage gained by acting upon a great weight of air per second. As shown abo\'e, 1382 lb. of air acted upon requires 5.6 horse­po~er; 2764 _lb. of ~ir acted upon requires only 2.8, the weight sustamed bemg the same in ea.oh case.

'rhis estimate of power required is irrespective of that lost by £Diction, &c.

The necessity for giving a downward motion to so great a vol?me of air. per second having been shown, the questiOn now arises as to the most efficient method of performing this ':"ork. The only plan worth consideration ts the one by whtch aeroplanes, or surfaces acting at an angle a.r~ propelled in a. horizontal directio~.

Experimenters who have adopted this principle may be divided into two distinct classes : firstly, those who employ a few aeroplanes of great width and length; secondly, those who use superposed surfaces of enormous length and comparatively very little width in the line of motioD;. The pr_incipal expon~nt of the large wide a.ero· plane IS Mr. H1ram H. Malum, and the author of this paper is the exponent of the long and extremely narrow surfaces.

We will now consider the relative efficiencies of the two syste'lls, and will take first the large wide aeroplane. The particles of air on being struck by the under surface near the front edge are deflected downwards, due to the angle· thus, in order that the following portion of the aeroplan~ should do its fair proportion of work, it must be curved downwa.~ds, thereby presen.tin~ a greater angle, causing more resistance, and necess1tatmg a greater proportionate expenditure of power the wider the surface.

Another disad vanta.~e accruing from the use of one or more large aeroplanes lB that very little work is done by the outer ends, M the air, instead of being deflected downwards, escapes into the partial vacuum formed above. ~hen extrem~ly. narrow su!faces are employed, the

action on the air 18 totally dtfferent to the foregoing. In the first place, the particles of air struck are free to follow the natu~al _law that the angle of reflection is equal ~o th~ angle of mCidence, therefore the downward motion 1s twtce that due to the angle of the surface struck. It is this highly efficient action of the extremely narrow sutfa.cea that gives them such a great ad vantage over the wide aero. plane; also there is the additional advantage that there is no loss a.t the ends. ·

In using superposed surfaces, it is important that they should be placed at sufficient distance apart; recent ex­periments have proved that if they are 1~ in . wide they should not have less than 2~ in. of clear space between them.

This will not be an unfavourable time to speak about the latest shape of the sustainer surfaces I uae. The underside is formed to a slight parabolic curve, the less curved portion being in front, while the upper side is con­vex, the highestpart being not more than one-third from the front edge. The action is as follows: The air, on being struck by the forward part on the upper side, is moved upwards, but as the highest part of the surface goes through, it is brought to rest again, therefore no power is expended so far beyond that taken up by friction, and a slight movement forward given to the air by reason of the surface striking it. As the highest part goes through, the action is reversed, the air being moved downwards at an accelerating speed until left at its final velocity. There is no advantage in thifl shape, by which the air is first moved upwards, beyond this, that as the slats, or sus­tainers, have to be a. certain thickness for the sake of rigidity, this is the best and, perhaps, only way of dis­posing of the material at the front and back edge. Were the slats infinitely thin, the upper would follow the con­tour of the lower side.

Although much more might be said on this subject, as the result of several years' experiments, enough has been said to point out the principles involved, the great advan­tagA of narrow surfaces, and the power that must, under the best conditions, be lost. Had the principles been understood, and the theoretical horse-power known, by the many experimenters in this line of science, much that is useless would never have been attempted.

The foregoing formula may be relied on as being cor­recb. It is understood by all en~ineers, and is in daily use by them. It is its applicatton to this particular branch of science that has been either neglected or nob understood.

But the principles, once being known, will be ap­preciated, and the subject show out in its true light, success being dependent on mechanical details and financial assistance.

Wealdstone, Harrow. HORATIO PHILLIPS.

•

ESTIMATING THE MEAN PRESSURE IN PROPOSED GINES.

EFFECTIVE STEAM EN-

To THE Eurron ot-· ENGINEERING. SIB.- ! trust the ·following notes are of sufDcient

interest to be allowed a place in your paper. They should have app_eared. with the r~st of my remarks* in the report of the discuss10n on the late Mr. P. W. Willans' paper on steam engine trials, which was read recently at the Institution of Civil Engineers.

T_hrough a ~isunderstanding, however, the reduced coptes of the dtagrams were not prepared in time to appear in the minutes.

One of the objects of the trials referred to in the paper w JoB stated ~o be "To a.scertain with a given steam pres­sure and ratio of expans10n the percentage of the theoreti­cal mean pressure which is in this type of engine actually obtained in practice."

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

. If more steam is passed through an engine by increas· mg the pressure or the speed, the back pressure will usually rire, and the value of the diagram-factor is ab on~e affected. I have found, bowevQr, that if a quantity which I call the "virtual" back pressure h~ substituted for the actual back pressure, this virtual back pressure, which can be found from trials of similar engines, is not only independent of the revolutions and expansions, but the diagram · factor E is less affected by the expansions, and scarcely at all by the revolutions. To illustrate the mode of ascertaining the values of E, and of b (the virtual back pressure), I have prepared the following Table, in which the fi1·st and last lines are extracted from Mr. Willans' former paper* on the trials of a non-condensing compound engine, run­ning at about 400 revolutions per minute with four ex­pansions. For this rate of expansion

[OcT. 20, 1893.

the diagram-factor is a good deal affected by the rate of expansion, being

.69 for 4.82 expansions . 77 , 10 , .83 , 15.55 "

Fig. 3, however, shows that the effect of the revolu· tions upon the diagram-factor is so small as to be negli· gible. For

400 revolutions E = .69 300 " = .706 200 ,. = .72

..

or, say, . 7 as an average ~alue. I am disposed to attribute the slight reduction of E

with increasing speeds to the influence of wire-drawing.

1 (line 4) : 60.98 .6966 Pt , 36.38

This per_cen.ta.ge, if known, would e~able a designer (when the mdtcated horse-power, revolutions per minute steam pressure, number of expansions, and back pressur~ p were given) to predict the actual mean effective pressure and from 1t to determine the proper dimensions of ~ cylinder to develop the required power.

m . e.p. } (line 13) 15. 45

! + hyp.log. E=.5965, E

I 72.64 81.09 89.8 I 97.76 43.34 48.38 63.6 I 6~.3

20.22 24.94 28.462 33.00

109.3 1120.621128.8

65.25 72.0 76.9

I have not been able to determine the law by which the rate of variation of E with different expansion ratios is governed, but, fortunately, in most engmes of the same type the expansions at full power are the same, or nearly so.

38.26 1 4 2. 28 45.97

Since E is scarcely affected by the revolutions, but in· creases with the expansions, if an engine is designed with

6 the proper diagram-factor for full power, and the same factor is used in estimating the lower powers, it follows that any error will be on the safe side.

The que~tion naturally arises whether b and f are affected by the size of the engine, other things being similar.

U nfortun.ately the back pressure is a quantity which usually va.nes with the speed of the engine, the boiler pressure, and the expansion ratio ; and the percentage of

Fig.1

I I I I

' I I I I I I ' I

I I I I I I I I ' I ' ' I ' I I

' I I I I I I I I I I I ' I I I I I I I I '

I I I I I '

I I I I I I

I I r I I I I ' I I I I I I

I I I I I I ' I ' '

I I I

' I • ' • '

{4-<10 R£YS. p 1

~ 4- CXPANSJONS. I ...,.· ---:itc- 12 .6 lbs. I

-- -- -----------------------------·- -------- ---- --- .J

0

Ab$olute mw_n theoretical press_ure-. •

•

I Line 2 has been read off on a slide rule, but is sufficiently a<;curate for the purpose in view.

Pig.2.

'HJO KCVS.

I

I

~ : ~ I If) I ~ . ~

100 RCVS t• ·72 .300 REVS t• ·70'

~4-00 RCVS £• · 69 Pig.4 .

Fig.3.

•

4-81 £X PANS IONS

theoretical efficiency referred to is also very variable. For instance, Mr. Willans' tables showed 10 to vary from 75.03 to 102 per cent. with a compound engine running at 400 revolutions per minute.

In calculating this percentage. Mr. Willans used the pressure theoretical1y due to adiabatic expansion. As the result shows so wide a variation, it does not seem to present any a~ va~tage for th_is purp?se over the hyper· bolic law, wh1ch IS more read1ly apphed. . It is often assumed that the actual mean effective

pressure will be a fixed fraction of that obtained by deducting the expected back prassure from the mean absolute pressure, the latter being estimated by multi-

. h . . . 1 b 1 t b 1 + hyp. log. E, plymg t e 101t1a a sou e pressure P1 Y E -

and tables have been published+ purporting to give the value of this fraction (which Professor U nwin has very happily called the "diagram-factor'') for different classes of engines.

This rule would be expressed algebraically thus :

_ { 1 + byp. log. E _ b } x E m .• e. p . - P1 E

where m. e. p. = actual mean effective pressure reduced to low-pressure piston.

p 1 = absolute pressure in the steam chest. E = nominal rate of expansion.

volume of low-pressure cylinder =volume of bi~h-preseure cylinder x out­

off in htgh-pressure cylinder. b = back pressure } both of w~icb have to E = diagram factor be est1mated.

* See Minutes of Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers, vol. cxiv., page 82.

t See, for example, the Practical Er~gineer for June 17, 1892.

'

•

I

}. 1 o: 10 10 JO p l S l&s

! I I I I

1 l Actual mean 1

~--b--~--efTectl re--;;re.Ssiifi~--~

Turning to Fig. 1, the theoretical absolute mean pres­sures for each experiment- t aken from line 2 in the above Table-are plotted along the base line, measuring from 0; and over each of these pressures a perpendicular is erected, the height of which represents the actual mean effective p~essure (see the last line of above Table) as found by Mr. Willans in his trials. A straight line drawn through the spots at the tops of these perpendiculars intersects the vertical line drawn through zero a1l a distance below the base marked b. This distance, measured on the same scale of pressures a-s the rest of the diagram, is what I have called the virtual back pressure, and it ap~ears to be singularly constant for a ~iven class of engme. In this engine. non-condensing, It measures 12.6 lb. per square inch.

The ratio p A of the sides of the triangle P. A. T. PT

gives the value of the diagram-factor E, which is in thiS ca.se. 77.

It is in terestin~ to examine the effect o.f expansion ratio and revolutiOns on band E, and for th1s purpose I have prepared Figs. 2 ~nd 3. .

In Fig. 2 the revolutiOns are constant-400 per m10ute -but the ratio of expansion va.ries from 4.82 to 15.55. Each do1l represents a trial of a conden~ing compound engine and the lines drawn through them converge upon a point corresponding to a virtual back pressure o_f 3 _lb. per square inch, which is thus constant through this w1de range of varying conditions.

In Fig. 3 the expansions are 4.82 tbroushout, and the revolutions vary from 200 to 400 per mmute. I have omitted the epots, as they are so close together as to be confusing. . .

Here again the nrtual back pressure 1s 3 lb. per square 'inch througbou1l, notwithstan~ing th~t the ~peed varies in the ratio of 2 to 1. Referrmg agam to F1g. 2,

*Minutes Proc. Inst. C. E., vol. xciii., page 182.

So far as I have tested this point, the reply is in the negative.

Messrs. Willans kindly gave me particulars of the triala of two similar engines, one of 100 indicated horse-power, the other of 350 indicated horAe-power. Their design waa not quite the same as the engine described in Mr. Willans paper, the ratio of cylinders being different. Both had the same value for b, and allowing for a slight difference in expansion ratio, both had the same diagram-factor.

If preferred, the results could be plotted as in Fig. 4, which is the same as Fig. 1, with the data transposed; b is here read cff to the left of zero, instead of below it.

Yours faithfull~ C. H. W INGFIBLD.

Lingard H ouse, Chiswick Mall, September 26, 1893.

SOME SUGGESTIONS FOR A GOOD PATENT LAW.

To THE EDITOR OF ENGINEERING. SrR,- I have read wi th interest your account of Mr •

Lloyd Wise's proposals as to the essentials of a good patent law, and while much in sympathy with Mr. Wise's ob· ject, I cannot but think that the main alterations pro· posed by him, if applied to our English patent laws, would pla.~e the inventor in a much worse position than he at present occupies.

Mr. Lloyd Wise appears to propose three radical altera· tions on our existing patent laws :

1. The abolition of the provisional specificat ion and provisional protection.

2. The establishment of an official examination as to novelty of the subject-matter of the application.

3. The extension of the grounds of objection and the number of persons permitted to object to the grant of a patent .

\Vith rQgard to the abolition of the provisional specifica­tion, I differ entirely from Mr. Lloyd Wise. In my opinion, our present system of permitting the filing of a provisional specification with the application for a patent 1a admirable, and is one of the points in which our laws compare advantageously with those of other countries. From my personal knowledge of many inventors, and my own experience ae an inventor, I can assure you that there is no point in our E nglish patent law which is more valued than the nine months' provisional protection granted on the mere deposit of a descriptiOn, with­out drawings, with the signed and stamped application form. Thab inventors in reality approve is shown conclu­sively by the fact that the great mass of British ap­plications for patent pass through the provisional stage. The convenience of the system is so apparent that the great majority elect t o file a provisional instead of a complete specification.

When a new idea occurs to an inventor, be naturally desires immediate protection. and it is the usual course to at once draft and file a provisional specification; many inventors now do this for themselves, and so secure im­mediate protection at the very small expenditure of ll., the cost of the stamped application form. All the neces­sary documents can easily be prepared and filed, if desired, on the very day of the conception of the idea, and when the work is done through an experienced patent agent, not more than a day should elapse before the protecting date is obtained. After this date. the inventor can pro­ceed with an easy mind to develop his invention, and settle its details without fear of anticipation or publica· tion during the necessary period of experiment.

The preparation of a complete specification, on the other band, with its necessary drawings, and the settlement of the claims, is a much more serious matter. even when the inventor has completed his invention, and has succeeded in working his new machine, process, or apparatus. At least two or three weeks are absolutely necessarv to prepare drawings, draft a clear ipecification, draft claims, and con· aider them in view of claims in earlier patents, so that even on this ground the inventor runs serious risk of anticipation or unwitting publication. But a far more serious danger arises from the fact that abolition of provisional protec­tion would impose upon most inventors the obligation of perfecting the invention by producing an actual example before applying for a patent at all. This obligation would be a bard one for all inventors. and unjust, inas­much as it would press most hardly upon the poorer inventors, who depend upon the existence of provisional

Ocr. 20, 1 89 3·] protection to enable them t o interest capitalists or manu­facturers in their ideas. Bub nearly all inventors would trenuously object to be forced to complet e their in vent ions

before obtaining a protecting date-, because of the g rea.t d ifficulty, nay, almost impossibility, of securing entire secresy during the construct ion and trial o f the invention.

T he advantages of provisional protect ion are most solid and substantial, by no means vitiated by any of the objections brought forward by :.Mr. \Vise. The only danger introduced by the provisional specification appears to b~ that due eo possible non-conformit y between the provisional and the final specifications , but this danger is more imaginary than real, as the courts always incline to a fair expansion of t he p rovisional.. in the complete; and with the most moder~te care on the part of the paten t agent there should be no q uest ion whatever as to the entire conformity of the t wo parts of the specification. If this be the only objection Mr. Wise has to urge against the provisional spectfication, then it seems to me an entirely insig nificant one.

W ith regard to the officia~ ex~mination as to n.ovelty of subject -matter, Mr. Wtse very correctly dascerns serious objections to the me-thods at presen t adopted in Germany and America., and he proposes a. sys tem in­tended to overcome these objecttons. In my opinion, ~1r. \Viae's proposals on this matter also are fraught with danger to the inventor, and I would much regret t o see t hem carried into effect. H e proposes an official exami­nation and a repor t by the Patent Office to the applicant, laying before h im su.c~ speci fica~ions ~ a.re s.upposed by the examiner to antactpa te the mvent10n cla.tmed . The inventor is not to be required t o m od ify his claim in view of the anticipat ions unless he so desires, and the pa tent is to be granted what ever the opinion of the Patent Office may be as to novelty, but the inw.n tor i s to insert in his specification a reference to such anticipations, and a statement that he makes h is cl e.im notwithstanding

them. · d ' · h bl ' h ffi · 1 This cour3e, by 10 1catmg t o t e pu 10 t e o c1a belief of the invalidity of the claims, would be most de.maging. . .

By t his means Mr. 'Y•se expects to confine. the J?01~ts ab issue in a patent act10n to the narrowest poss1ble hm1ts, •nd prevent the patentee from shifting his ground in the course of the action.

Such a. hope is, in my opinion, q u ite illusory. So long as human nature remains what it is, patent

actions cannot but be som ewhat expensive proceedings, requi ring a considerable time for consideration by the courts. S uch actions are seldom brought before the cour ts except when considerable monetary issues are invol vad when, in fact, the patent in question is a finan­cial su~s, and, th is being so, it followa that the persons or fi rms invoh·ed fight hard, and employ the best counsel, scientific experts, and solicitors to be found. These, so employed are expected to fight every inch of the ground, o that ~nder the searching l ight of a patent action

ambiguities and inaccuracies appear both in specifica.ti?n and claims which would en t1rely escape an offi01al

• exam mer. N o alteration in our patent laws would, in my opinion,

prevent expensi ve and lengthy pat ent a.otions. At pre­sent a large portion of the time of our courts is wasted because of the want of special t echnica.l knowledge in our judges, and consequently both ~ides p~oduce sci~ntifio evidence intended to educate the JUdges 10 the part1cular industry under discuesion. :Mos t of our judges are apt and able pupils, who readily and carefully understa~d the technical matters brought before them, but a. certalD amount of time is inevitably lost in the educational process, which, it appears t o me, mi~ht ~e overcome ~y having specially trained j udges f?r sc1ent1fio and te~hmcal cas.es. Scientific experts of emmence, such as S1r Fred6r1Ck Bramwell and Mr. J ohn Imray, would make excellent judges of patent matters, before whom ca.ses wou!d reoei ve the most rapid ~espa.tch; b~ t, e~ort of a change m the education of our Judges, 1t 1s dtfficult to see how patent cases are to be cut shorb.

Mr. Lloyd Wise:s id~a., that clai~s made _in view of specificat ions s~bmttted by the offi01al exammer w? uld shorten proceedings by limiting the scope of the clatms, seems to me q uite untenable in view of ~he ~ell-known procedure in patent cases. Why, all spe01fica.tlons fought 1n the court at pre~enb have their claims carefully limited by comparison with previous specifications. No prudent person or firm brings an action on a. patenb without em­ploying competent pa tent agents t o make a thor~>Ugh search as to validity of the claims made in the ep~ctfica­t ion, and if need be l imiting the scope of the cla.uns ~Y amendment. This accounts for the fact that few speclfi· cations appear in court. b~fore amendment ~f claims.

I n cases within my knowled~e all the cl~1ma have been excised except that on~ on wh1ch th~ confhct was to t~ke pla.ce. It is a ma tter . of ex~reme dtfficulty. to deter~me the meaning of a plaan straightforward clatm made m a. specifica tion when minute <'riticism. is ~rought to bear upon it· and I ha ve before me a spec16ca.tton- drafted, by the way by Mr. Lloyd Wise- which was the subject of legal ex~mmation a short time ago ; a. claim in this speci­fica tion received no fewer than four dis t inct and separa te meanings by .the lea.dine: exper.t on on~ s ide, a. scientific man of the h1gha..~t poss1ble emtnenoe; mdeed, I may say one of the most distmg uished scientific me~ in the world. H is probi ty and honour ate beyond quest1on, and yet he managed to read into that claim four dis tinct and separate

• meamnga. . . With regard to the extenston of the grounds of obJeC·

t ion, Mr. Lloyd Wise's proposal practically amounts t o the addition of two new g-rounds of objection t o the grant of a patent : (1) The pr1or publication c f a fu!J descrip­tion of the invention; and (2) the prior pubhc user of the invention. N ow I think these alterat10ns also most objectionable, as they would generally provide a. patente6

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

with all the trouble of a patent action at the very threshold of hie existence as a patentee. lb is so open to question as to what is publ ication of the same invention, and as to what is, or is not, public user of an invention, that endless lit igation would result, and the patent law would speed ily become one means for the attempted crushing of trade rivals.

U nder the p resent law, p atent actions in the main only occur regardmg valuable and sueoessful inventions, so that if a. pa tentee has the trouble and expense of an action, be has generally sometbin~ substantial t o fight for.

U nder Mr. Lloyd Wise s proposed laws, a.ll patentees would praC'tically have t o fight a. patent action without having sufficiently tried t hei r inven t ions to fully under­stand the points of a departure made by them.

If the opinion of inventors be required, I do not doubt but that all, with hardly an exception, would protest against Mr. ' Viae's proposed alteration.

Y ours truly, D UGALD C LERK.

18, Southampton-buildings, C ha.ncNy-la.ne, L ondon, W .C.

BALL BEARINGS F OR THRUST BLOCKS. T o THE EDITOR 01-' ENG INEERING.

S ra, - I am considerably surprised, after reading the letters which you have published in answer to Mr. Ramage's inq uiry with reference t o the use of balls in thrus t bearings, to find that so little information should be forthcomin g- as to the proper construction of this most useful mechamcal device. There also seems to be a large amount of m isapplied ingenuity being spent upon it. }'or ins tance, the shape of race and wethod of setting out described by ~lr. Wing6eld, though displaying much thought and reasoning, is radica.11 y wrong. H e ie evidently quite in ignorance of the practice of the cycle-maker, who has arrived at the best form of bearing by the slow and tedious, though reliable, process of trial and failure. I have experimented myself in this line and arrived at the same result and after ca.reful experiments and com­parisons with the experiments of others, have a.rri ved at the follo wing conclusions:

That eaob ball must have two p oints of contact only. The balls and race must be of glass hardness, and of

absolute truth. The balls should be of the largest possible diameter

which the space a.t d isposal will admit of. Any one ba.ll should be capable of carrying the t otal

load upon the bearing . Two rows of ba.lls is always sufficient. A ball bearing requires no oil, and has no t endency t o

heat unless overloaded. U ntil the crushing strength of the balls is being neared,

the frictional resistance is {>roportiona.l to the load. The fric tional resistance 1s inversely proportional to the

diameter of the balls, but in what exact proportion I am unable to say ; probably i t varies with the square.

The resistance is independent of the number of balls and of the speed.

N o rubbing action will t ake .Place between the balls, and devices t o guard against 1t are unnecessary, and usually injurious.

The above will show that the ball bearing is most suitable ft.>r high speeds and light loads. I have some now at work on the spindles of wood-carving machines making as much as 30,000 revolutions per minute. They run perfectly cool, and never have any oil upon them. F or heavy loads the balls should not be less than two­thirds the diameter of the abaft, and are better if made equal to ib. The accompanying sketch shows the form

·-.-

19 :;I

which I should recommend Mr. Ra.ma.ge to adopt1 and which if well made will be found to answer satisfac­torily.' The ? nly point wbic~ is likely t o ~e object~on­able is the n01se-a. dull rumbhng sound-wh10h I beheve to be inseparable from thia form of beari~g.

Y ourR fa1thfully, A. H. T YLER.

5 Crown· court, Chea.pside, L ondon, E C., ' October 17, 1893.

T o THE E DITOR oF ENGINRRRINO. SIR - Having read ~1r. C. H. Wingfiold's letter in

ENGINEERING of September 29 . with great inte~est, I would point out that, a.lth~ugh h1s.theory may be r1ght, I think his plan, as shown 1n the d1agrams, could 3ca.rcely be carried out in practice. In the first place, the. balls, as arranged by him would only have four small pomts of conta.ct, and would not, in my opinion stan~ the c1 ush­ing strain. Again, they are balls, and balls, ~n whatever way triAd, have never answered, for the followmg rea.sot;ts:

A ball, to travel round in an a~nular groove, Wlth a. rota tin~ surface on the t op of 1t, mus t partake . of three m otiOns. First, the part of the ball on the outs1de of the groove wants to travel fastH than that on the

inside, the circumferences being different; this causes the ball to have two motions, consequently friction take£' place ; then the rotating surface on top of the ball causes a third motion, which has a t endency to pull the b~l over. Consequently there are three m ot.ions the ball w1shes to comply with, and, being unable to do eo, causes fric tion and wear, which throws the ball out of truth ; hence all the failu res of balls in thrust bearings. It was from these failures that ~1r. 'VilkPs began to experiment with rollers ; and, after repeated trials, d iscovered that under pressure both roller and roller paths would wear to a specific form, and then, conforming to a law of natur_,, would wear no m ore, but travel round with perfect freedom under any pressure.

It is th is s peci tio form that ~Ir. 'Valkes and myself have patented and applied to thrust blocks of screw shafts and all places where end thrust takes place.

I would also l•ke to refer to ~Iessrs. Purdon and \V alters' letter of October 4, in E NGJNERRINO of the 6th inst. H ere, again, we have the same difficulty with balls; and, although admirably designed a.nd theoretically true, the practical difficulties of it are almost insur­mountable.

First, in very large shafts the plates to take the two set of balls and cones would have to be so large that ther would be impracticable. Secondly, there would be 1mmense difficulty in getting all the ba.lls and cones in their places, especially at sea or in large ships. Thirdly, on a ball crush1cg or getting misplaced, it would probably jam all the rest, a.nd at all events would be an endless trouble to replace.

Mr. Wilkes and mrself claim for our invention : Its complete practtca.bility. Its perfect simplicity. The ease with which it could be shifted or got at at sea or

elsewhere, and that there are no complicated parts to get out of order.

I would like to call attention also to Mr. W. C. Carter's letter in E NG INKERING of Oct ober 13, in which he seems to thoroughly carry out my contention as to the practica­bility of my invention, and the difficulty there is in regard to balls, however theoretical1y true. Mr. H enry Binsse seems to be of the same opinion, by his letter of the same date, as to the impracticability of balls.

In conolusion, I would say that I have now a tug run­ning in Southampton Water fitted with our patent thrust, and which is giving the greatest satisfaction. It gives the tug an increase of 12 per cent. of her former revolu­tions, and has made the engines work with far greater freedom.

I am, yours faithfully, F R&DF.RICK E DWA RDS, RN.

Gloucest er L odge, P ortswood, Southampton, October 16, 1893.

NAILMAKING MACHINERY. T o THE E mTon OF Ef'c iNEEBINO.

S tR, - Can any of your readers oblige us wi th the names and addresses of makers of machines for making horae­nails, latest improvements ?

H. L. ~I. AN D Co. Birmingham, October 17, 1893.

·e================= THE AMERICA CUP.

T o TRE E DITOR oF Ef'GINEERING. SIR - In your issue of the 13th inst . Colonel J. T.

Buck~ill, in an interesting letter on this subject, raises a point of great importance t o the designers of racing yachts which are intended to compete under a measure­ment rule based on any combination of the length and sail area., as in the case both of the present Y .R.A. rule, and also of the American rule of measuremen b. The calcula· tions he puts forward, however, tend to ehow merely that the scale of time allo wance adopted by theN ew Y ork Yacht Club does not sufficiently penalise an increa.se in the

. . h" . b h f 1 L. W.L. + S .A "sathng lengt as gtven y t e ormu a 2

- ·

Colonel B ucknill's suggestion that the length and sail area. should be fixed and the same in both yachts would, if adopt ed eliminate from the contest the problem which should before any other, exereise the skill of the designer, namely the determination for any given tonnage or " sailing length " of the best ratio between the two factor£~ length and sail area. The essential point appears to be that the "sailing lbngth "of the com{>&ting yachts should be fixed and the same, thus obviahng the intro· duction of any scale of time allowance, which ~ust be to a. great ext ent empirical. In order t~ show the tmportance of determining the bes t possible rat10 between the length and sail area and of keeping in view the particul.ar measure­ment rule iX: question, it wi~l be found by ~a.kmg Colonel Bucknill's figures for the sa.1l area, and takmg the lengtha on L. ,V.L . of Vigilant and Valkyrie as 8.6.~ and 86.8 respectively, that the" sailing length " of Vt~ilant works out 96.3 ft., as against 93.5 ft. for the Valk~rt.e, or an ~x­cess of 3 per cent. only on the part of the V1g1lant, while

h Y RA t . ( L W.L. x S.A.) work out 162.1 t e . . . ra mgs \

6000 and 145.2 respectively, or an exceas of about lli per cent. on the part of the Vigilant. These figure~ ehow1 first, that the British rule of mea.surem~nt penahse~ sa1l area to a greater ex tent than the .Amer1can rule, as 1s also ap. parent from an inspection of the two ~ormulre ; a.nq, secondly, that the result of the ~ecent ser•e.s of . competi­tions might have been different 1f th~ effectt ve s1ze o~ ~he competing yachts ~ad been ascertatned by the Br1t1eh instead of the Amen ca.n rule.

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AGENTS FOR " ENGINEERING." A trSTRl£, \ ienna: Lehmann and Wentzel, Kamtnerstrasse. CAn Towx : Gordon and Oot.ch. EDC\BUROII: John Menzie and Co., 12, Hano,·er·slreet. Fa~'\CI, Pans: Boyveau and Chevillet, Librairie Etrnng~re, 22,

Rue de la. &nque; M. Em. Terquem, 3lbil Boulevard Hau mo.nn. Al o for Advertisements, Agence Ha,·as, 8, Place de la Bourse. ( ee below.)

Q&RlfA~V, Berlin : Me rs. A. A her and Co., 5, Unter den Linden. Leipzig : F. A. Brockhaus. Mulhouse: H. Stuckelberger .

OLASOOW : William Love, lJO>IA, Co.lcutt.D. : Tbacker, Spink, and Co.

Bombay: Thacker and Co., Limited. ITALY: U. lloepli, Milan, a.nd any post office. LIVERPOOl.: Mrs. To..\ tor, Landing Stage. MANCUE.sT"ER: J ohn Hey wood, 143, Deansgate. N&w Ol TH WALKS, ydney: Turner and H enderson, 16 and 18,

IIunler-str et. Cordon and Oot.ch, George· treet. QL UNSLA~D (Sot'TU), Brisbane : Gordon and Cote h.

(NoRTn), Town&ville : T . ·wmmett and Co. ROTr&RDUI : H . A. Kramer o.nd 'on. Sol Tll Au TIU.LH, Adel ide: W. C. Rigby. t;sJTID Su~. New York: W. IT. Wiley, 53, EMt lOth-street.

Chicago: li. V. llolmes, 44, Lake ide Building. YJCTORIA, MILBOtrR.'>I : Melville, Mullen and lOOe, 201/264, Collins­

street. Oordon o.nd Gotcb, Limited, Queen-street. -

NOTICE TO AMERICAN SUB CRIBERS. \Ye beg to announce that American Subscriptions to EsorN&BRINO

mal' now be addre ed either direct to the publisher, MR. C nARL&S GJLBIRT at the Offices of this J ournal, Nos. 35 o.nd 36, Bedford­street, 'trond, London, W.C., or lo our :~.ecredited Agents for the United States, llr. W. II. WtLEV, 53, E:lst l Ot.h ·street, New York, and Mr. H. V. Ilolmes, 44 , Lakeside Building, Chicago. The prices of ubscription (PfL~· o.b le in advance) for one .year a re.: For trun (foreil{n) paper edJtJon, ll. 16s. Od. ; for thick (ord mary) paper edition, 2l. Os. 6d. , or if r emitted to Agents, 9 dollars for thm and 10 dollar for thick.

-ADVERTI ~!ENTS.

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

NOTICE. The New Cunarders u CAMPANIA" and .. LU­

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

The Publisher begs to aunoUDce that a Reprint ta now ready of the Descriptive Matter and Wuatra­tioas contat.Ded lD the tuue of ENGINEERING of AprU 21st, comprtatng over lSO page•, with utue two -pace aud four stngle • page Plates, printed throughout on •peclal Plate paper, boUDd 1D. cloth. gUt lettered. Price 6L Poet free, 88. 6d. The or41-nary edltion of the luue of AprU ilat 1a out of print. -

NOTICES OF MEETINGS. Tlla INBTITO'IUOll OP MECHANICAL ENOINJI.BRB.-Meeting at 25

Great Oeor~re-street, Westminster , at 7.SO p.m., on Wednesda~' O<•tober 25, when the following paper will be read and discussed ~ " Oo the Ar tificial L.ighting of Workshops," b) Mr. 8enjamin A. Dobson , . of Bolton. On Thursda), October 26, tbe folJowiog pape~ w1tl be taken : "On ~he Working of Stea.m Pumps on the RuesuLn South-Western Ratlwaye," br Mr. Alexander Borodin Eogi neer-Dheotor . • '

PBY8JOAL Soc~utn.-October 27. 1 . "On Air.Core Trans-formers," by Mr. E. C. Rimiogton. 2. Two exper iments b~ W. B. Croft, B. A., "On the Rings and Brushes m Or.rstals," and " Electrico.l Radi~tion in Oopper Filiora."

I.N TITUTION OF ENOL'iB ERS AND S UJ PBl' ILDER IN S COTLAND.-Oo Tuesday , tbe 2-ith lnat., in the ball of the Ioatitution, 207 , Bath-street, Glasgow, the first general meeting ot tht' thir ty­seve~th sessi~n ot ~be I o~ti~ution will be hold . Mr. John Inglis, Pre&ldeot, wtll d ehver hts too.u~ural add re88. A paper will be read by Mr. J . Macewan Ro s descripti\'e of bis new fo rm of caulk ing tool.

ENGINEERING. FRIDAY, OCTOBER ~0, 1893.

-

The cha.fl!C for advertisements is three shillings for t he fi rst four lioes or under, o.nd eighlpence fo r each :~.dditional line. The line averages even wordll. Payment mu t :~.ccompany all orders for single ad\'crti emenl , other"" i 'e their insertion cannot be guo.runteed. TemlS for di played ad\•erlisements on the wrapper and on the in ide p3.ges ma..r be obt.ajned on application. Serial adHrti 'ements will ue inser ted '";th all practicable re'"~arity, but THE LOSS OF H.M.S. " VICTORIA." ab~olute regularit) e:~.nnot be cuaranteed.

Advertlaementa tDtended for t.Dsertlon lD the cur- ON September 22 last we called attention to the rent week'• luue must be delivered not later tb•u great delay on the part of the Admiralty in taking 6 p.m. on Thuraday. In consequence of the neceaatty the necessary steps for clearing up the mystery of ~~~~~~fo~e::.~a:fi;rlv~~~e'~~:~U:~!:f:~ why the Victoria- one of our most powerful battle­received not later tban 1 p.m. on Wedlle•day atter- ships - was sent to the bottom with such appalling noon 1D each week. suddenness by a single blow from the ram of the

The aole Agenta for Advertlaementa from the Con· Camperdown. The catastrophe occurred on June 22, tlDent of J:urope and the French Colonles are the AGENCJ: BA V AS, 8, Place de la Bourse, Parta. and the court-martial on the captain and other

------=---- ---==-==- survivors arrived at their decision on July 27. SUBSCRIPTIONS, HOME AND FOREIGN. The Secretary of the Admiralty said, in the H ouse

-

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TELEORAPmc ADDR& s-ENGINEERING, LONDON. T ELEPIIONB NUMBBR- 3668.

ENGINEERING is r eifistered for tra.nsmission &broad.

CONTENTS. PA88 PA08

Tbe Tower Bridge (lllm· The Loss of H.ld.S. cc VIe· trat --~) ... 7... toria '' . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 485 ~ .. .... .... ... .... . ..

The Engineering Coogresa The Dimensions of Speci-at Chicago (1Uu~rated) . H 2 mens ...... ..•. ... . . . .. 486

Tbe British Auociatlon (ll· Shipping and Shipbualding 4!6 ltutrattd) . . . . . . . • . . . . . . 4 74 The BruBBels Electr ic Rail·

Combined Feed • Water way .............. .... .. 487 Beattor and Purifier (ll · New Sou th Wales Railwa.ys 487 lUitratld) ..• ....... . ... 478 British Colonies at Chicago 488

The Canda Contracting Chill Notes ..• • ... .... •. ......• 489 fo r Car \\'heels (J llttl· Literature . . . . . . • • . • . . . . . . 490 tratul) ........ .. ....... 478 Books Re~eived ....... : . . 400

Old American Locomotivu I Steam TnaJs of the Spamsh at the Columbian Exposl· Cruiser "Infanta .Maria tioo (1 UUitrattd).. . . . . . . 4 78 Teres& " . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 90

Locomoth·ee at the Colum· Notes from the United bio.n Exposition (Illu.s- States ........ . .. . . .. . .. 490 t rated) ............••.... 4•n Notes from the North . .• ... 491

Rtud Lathe ( IUmtrated) . . 4 79 N otea from South Yorkshire 491 'l'be Norton Screw-Cutting Notes from Cleveland and

Lathe ......... . ... .. .. . 481 the Northern Counties •. 491 Pontoon Bridge aoroes the Notes from the South-West 491

Mf illippl (I UtUtrated) . . 481 Miscellanea. . . . . . • • . . . . • . • . 492 liecb.anioal Fllrht : The W&rd'a Metallic Packing

Su tentloo of Weight ... 481 (llltutrated) . . . . . . • • • • . . 493 Eltimat iog the Heao M ec· Cross ·Cuttin~ Power Saw

tive Pre•ore in Propoaed (llltutrated) .. . ......... 493 Steam Eogioee (llltU.) •. 482 Industrial Notes . . . . • • • • . . 493

Some su,reationJ for a Good Dredging Operations on the Pat.eotLaw .... .......... 482 lderaey Bar (lUmtrated) 49~

Ball Bearings for Thrust Launches and Trial Trips . • 496 Blocks(IUwtrattd) . ..... 483 .. Engineering" Patent Re·

Nail making Machinery •• •• 483 cord (IUmtraled) .. ••...• 497 Tb& America Cup ...... .... 483

With a Two·Page E ngratrinq oj L OCOMOTIVES ~T THE WORLD'S COLUJfBI~N BXPOS ITION.

of Commons, on August 28 : '' The House was not yet informed as to what actually happened in the collision between the Ca.mperdown and the Victoria. The evidence only reached this country on August 5, and it was August 8 before it could be taken in hand. It had first to be examined in manuscript, and the report of the Admiralty experts had not yet been received upon it. Until that report was prepared, it was impossible to decide what kind of inq uiry should be instituted. But there need be no fear that the Admiralty would not thoroughly inquire into the matter. Such a disast rous and lamentable event could not take place without the Admiralty feeling that they had a. great responsi­bility to discharge. Whether a. further inquiry would be necessary the Admiralty could not decide till they had considered that evidence. When they had considered it, they would give the earliest information to t he H ouse. The Admiralty fully understood the desire for such an inquiry."

The Admiralty have not yet published the minutes of t he court -martial, nor have they said any more about an inquiry into the nature of t he construction and fittings that allowed the ship to sink with such frightful rapidity- a question that is quite distinct from those dealt with by the court-martial. I t is, perhaps, not fully realised by the official mind that the Victoria, in going to the bottom as she did, not only weakened the Navy by the loss of one of its principal ships, and hundreds of ita finest seamen, but caused grave doubts, which it would be well to remove if possible, respecting t he fighting value of our costly armour-clads. The vessels upon which we now rely for bearing the brunt of the fighting in a. fut ure naval war, which are styled by the imposing title of battleships, may, it appears-at least some o~ th~m-be sunk almost in a. moment by a blow whtch 18 much less heavy than an enemy might be expected to give in action. Enormous sums are spent in providing armour to protecb them against gun-fire, .but the s.tructure upon which this costly armour 1s placed 1s appa­rently so frail that a mere touch suflices to send the whole mass to the bottom.

We have always understood that the division of a. warship into separate water t ight compartments was so minute and complete, t hat she would be safe against sinking, even if many of these were

damaged. The Victoria could, however, haudly have been sunk quicker if there had been no division at all into what are called watertight compartments. Sir 1!:. J. Reed, whose knowledge and capability of judging cannot be seriously questioned, named twelve other battleships in the House of Commons that he asserted would ha,Te the same fate under similar circumstances. 'Ve know of nothing which gives reasonable ground for supposing that Sir Edward ~e~d is wrong ; but, whether he be right or wrong, 1t 1s not only the duty, but the interest, of the ~dmiralty to have this grave question inquired mto by an independent and impartial committee of qualified judges. We would like to know why the numerous watertight compartments of the Victor~a. failed so completely to serve the purpose for wh1ch t hey were devised, i.e., to keep the ship from sinking when injured below water . 'Vas it because, as has been often stated, her stability is so small that the fi lling of one or two of t hese compartments is sufficient to overcome the floating power of the remainder 1 Or was it a question of water tight doors being left open, or not acting when attempts were made to close them 7 Captain Bourke's evidence before the court-martial shows that all was tight in the engine-room and boiler-rooms, and the water was all confined to the fore side of the boiler-room bulkhead. It appears, therefore, that the watertight doors were very soon closed, although they may have been open before the fatal blow was given to the vessel. Admiralty specifications for the construction of ships state that '' provision is to he made for closing the doors which are situated below the protective deck from the main deck, as well as from the hold or plat­form where the doors are." If the stability of the Victoria would have been sufficient to bear the filling of one or t wo compartments, it would be important therefore to know whether the provision for closing water tight doorA from the main deck was made in her, so as t o prevent water from pass­ing into other compartments, and, if so, whether it failed when the attempt was made to use it.

Lord Armstrong stated in his recent speech at Elswick that the loss of such a. ship '' calls for very grave reflection as to the policy of devoting so large a proportion of our naval expenditure to the con­struction of those mighty vessels called battleships. " We agree with Lord Armstrong upon this point, if it be the fact that our battleships are in reality so frail and unreliable as the sinking of the Victoria. would indicate. I t would be absurd to glory in their '' might " if it rested upon such an insecure basis as that. There is little, however, at present upon which to form a definite opinion upon the question , and no sign of the necessary information being furnished. \Ve desire to know whether it be not practicable to build a. battleship in water­tight compartments eo that no single blow would send her to the bottom; whether the Victoria. was not believed to be so constructed, and whether she was so constructed in fact ; whether other of our principal battleships are in the same case with the Victoria. ; whether the watertight doors were thoroughly efficient, and were capable of being readily closed from a. safe position above water ; and what is the best to be done in order to make existing ships satisfactory in t hese respects, if they be not aatisfactory now, and would be in danger of meeting the fate of the Victoria under like circumstances.

The Admiralty cannot fail to see that the sinking of the Victoria. in the way she did dealt a heavy blow at the prestige of the class of ships to which she belonged. This is the class that costs the largest sums of money, and upon which an enormous expendit ure is continually defended upon the ground that they are so very " mighty, " as Lord Arm­strong puts it. Their might has now been laid open to serious question. It is fCir the Admiralty to show that the ships are mighty not only in power of offence, but in power to resist attack. If this cannot be shown, they ought not to go on spending upon them so large a. proportion of the millions that are annually voted for the Navy. The way to give confidence to all who have been made anxious about the fighting value of our principal ships by the recent catastrophe, would be to institute at once a searching and impar­tial inquiry into the questions of construction t hat lie at the root of the matter, which are of t he highest importance to our naval power, and about which there ought to be no doubt or secresy in a. country whose existence depends upon the practical value of its fighting ships. 'Ve require

to prepare for the day when all such points will be set~led, either for or against us, by the stern arb1trament of war, and concealment or evasion will no longer be possible.

THE DIMENSIONS OF SPECIMENS. I~ a note describing the new testina machine

at U niversity College, Nottingham, r e0

ad at the recent meeting of t he British Association at Nottingham, P1·ofessor W. Robinson again brought forward the old question of the adoption of standard forms for test J?ieces. The matter was very fully t hrashed out 1n a paper read before the Institu­tion of Civil Engineers in 1884 by Mr. W. Hackney, A. M. I . C. E., and in the subsequent discussion and but little additional light has since been throw'n on the subject. To our mind, some people, particularly those connected with testing establishments, are in­clined to attach by far too much importance to the mattor. Generally speaking, what the constructor wishes to know about the material he is usina is its breaking s.trength and ductility ; all other points, though of 1nterest, are of only secondary import­ance. Within reasonable limits the breaking stress of a specimen is not affected by its form or dimen­sions, and hence, so far as this goes, standard sizes and shapes are of no interest to him. The percen­tage elongation, from which the ductility of the material is judged, is, however, greatly affected by the form of the specimen. In soft steel a very large fraction of the whole elongat ion i'3 local, and hence short test-pieces show a greater percentage of elongation than long ones of similar t ransverse dimensions. For the elongations to be comparable, t he length on which this elongation is measured should be proportional to t he square root of the area of the cross-section of the specimen, and if this condition is fulfilled, experiments show that the results of t ests made on different-sized speci­mens will be strictly comparable inte'r se. In practice, however, this condition is difficult to fulfil. Either the length on which the elongat ions are measured must be very great in the case of speci­mens of large cross-section, or small specimens must be ridiculously slender. If, on the other h1.nd, a definite length is adopted, such as, for in­stance, 8 in. , the specimens are of a convenient size, not too dear , and easily handled, but the ductility of the material can no longer be deduced directly from the elongations, as the slender specimens will make a worse showing than the thicker ones. This i~, however, a matter of minor importance, as the ordinary shop tests are an ample security against the acceptance of a brittle metal, provided they are properly ca.rried out. Where an elongation is specified, however , the amount should vary with the transverae dimensions of the specimen, other ­wise the engineer may make excessive require­ments on the one hand, or have to put up with an inferior material on the other. Where practicable, we believe this 8-in. length to be on the whole as good a standard size for specimens as any other, but where adopted the ductility of the material should be checked by Lloyd's or the Admiralty's t ests.

Most engineers would like, if it were not for the expense, to test full-sized bridge members, as they would then get a more satisfactory criterion of the actual strength of the material as used in the structure, than can be deduced from small specimen tests. The importance may, no doubt, be overrated, especially in the case of tension mem­bers, the strength of which can doubtless be ob­tained with sufficient accuracy, for all practical purposes, from specimen t ests. With compression bars the case is diffdrent, particularly if these bars are slender as compared with the length. N o doubt compression members ough t to have ample trans­verae dimensions, say length not greater than 50 times the radius of gyration. This, however, is not always convenient, and one is obliged to fall back on the ordinary column formulre, which are only rough approximations at best. I t would doubtless be well, in all such cases, to test a full­sized member to destruction, were it not for the expense. Even so, an ample factor of safety should be allowed for , as the results obtained in testing slender columns are very discordant, for reasons into which we need not enter. But few full-sizod specimens have been tested in this country; Mr. Kirkaldy's machine being, we believe,. the only one suitable for this purpose. In America, however, the practice is much more common, and there are several machines capable of exer ting a pull of 300

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

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

SHIPPING AND SHIPBUILDING. No industries reflect more accurately the aeneral

conditio~ of trade throughout the country, bor the expectatwns regarding the future prospects, than shippin~ and ship?uilding. As a nat ion we depend on fore1gn countnes for a large portion of our food supply, and perforce must induce those peoples abroad to accept our handiwork in exchange for supplies. \Vithout entering into the interesting problems as to how the requirements of foreian nations for our products decrease, and how this affects our ability to maintain imports on a sound economical basis, it will be clear that a decrease in imports and exports, as shown by the records of our shipping t rade, reflects the industrial condition of the country. The year 1891 saw our export trade at its highest point. I ts course for fifteen years has been fairly defined , 1882 recording the crest of a rise to 306.6 millions sterling, from which there was a receding to 269 millions in 1886, but sub­sequently a recovery to 328! millions in 1890 and since then th~ decrease ha~ been steady. Judging by the d uratwn of the varwus curves in the past, we should now be again beginning t he upward grade; but the Board of Trade returns do not seem to indicate that, nor does the want of confidence in fut ure probabilities experienced throughout the country encourage the belief in an early improve­ment. As to imports, they indicate just now a check to prosperity, for while ordinary foodstuffs do not show any falling off, there is a. significant decrease in what might be termed dispensable luxuries. The im­portation of less raw material is a consequence of reduced production, and this applies very distinctly to textile fabrics, where one finds a decided shrinkaae in the quantity of goods shipped when comparison is made between the past nine months of the current year and the corresponding period in two or three preceding years. Hard ware and cutlery again show a decrease of one-sixth ; bar, angle, and bolt iron of one-third ; railroad material nearly one-third; iron and steel wire of more than one-third ; cast and wrought iron of a fourth. Steel is in a more favourable position, indicating that the decrease in iron may be partly due to its supersession by steel. But there can be no question that the decreases tell of a large number of idle men. If a third less bar, &c., iron is sent, a third of the men formerly engaged in its production may be idle, for we have been referring to quantities, not to value. In con­sidering machinery, however, it is only possible to take the values, and here some allowance must be made for reduced prices. The decrease in all machinery is 1! millions on the 12 millions sterling sent in the first nine months of 1891.

These facts parlly explain why so many men are unemployed, and perhaps make it easier to appre­ciate the tendency to reduce prices to keep works in operation. But they also indicate a want of employment for our merchant ships, and here also reduced rates are a result. There may have been some improvement in the freight market since the spring ; but still the condition of affairs is most disappointing, particularly for outward ships-a cir­cumstance attributable to the decrease in exports. The improvement, indeed, has been almost exclu­sively in homeward rates, and ships at San Francisco and the ports on the Oregon coast have profited most largely. There is less tonnage in foreign ports, and fewer vessels are on their way, so that the circum­stance which disheartens the manufacturer brings a slight modicum of sati.sfaction to the shipowner having vessels in foreign parts. Comparing steam rates with those obtaining a.t the same period !ast year, it is found that outward rates show a decrease of about 10 per cent.; but it must be remembered that a year ago rates were very low, almost, if not

[OcT. 20, I 89 3·

quite, unremunerative. H omewards there is an improvement which varies considerably - from 2s. 6d. to 5s. in the case of India Calcutta. rates to the. United Kingdom for jute bei~g quoted 27s. 6d., agatnst 20s. a. year ago ; but this is far short of the rates three or four years ago. In other directions­the colonies and South America-there is not much improvement. Sail rates outwards show a slight im­provement to the Cape, San Francisco and the East but in other directions there is a ma;ked decrease: The homeward sail rates do not show much changE', except perhaps for wool from the Australian colonies-4.0s. being quoted instead of 3l s. 3d.­and for g~ain from New Zealand and thePa.cific ports of Amenca. The rates all over do not exhibit any buoyancy, aJ?-d certainly demand economy. The tende.ncy to Improvement may have something to do w1th the number of new vessels ordered during the pas~ few mont hs. But in the aggregate these do not 1ndicate any material difference in the con­dition of the shipbuilding t rade, and the inference is pretty safe that there is a lack of confidence in the fu ture prospects, otherwise owners would will­ingly avail t hemselves of the present low prices to add to their fleet. This is satisfactory for it ~as not infrequently happened that a p;obable 1mprovement has been checked by premature building.

According to Lloyd's returns, the number of vessels in course of construction in the United Kingdom is 326, and these measure 616,560 tons. When the t rade was busiest, the tonnage represented 929,611 t ons, so that for every three men employed then- in June, 1889-there are only two engaged now, and that does not take cognisance of the fact that the number of steamers then was greater in proportion to the totR.l than it is now. The tonnage now is about the same as at the end of the two pre­ceding quarters, and is greater by 46,000 tons than it was at the beginning of the year. When com­pared with October last year, however, there is a decrease of 62,000 tons, while in the two years ante­cedent to the latter date there was a very much larger amount of work in the yards in the kingdom. One has to go back three or four years to find totals which, while remaining so generally uniform as during the past nine months, have been so low.

Vessels under Construction in the United Kingdom. October, 1S93 . . 326 of 616,660 tons, 13. 6 per et. being sail. July, 1 ~93 . . 352 " 609,120 ,. 15 S " April, 189J . • 354 " 621,668 " 13.9 ,. January, 1896 .. 306 ,. 670,741 , 11.2 ,. Ootober , 18~2 .. 385 ,. 678,780 ,. H " July~ 1892 .. 447 " 778,462 , 19 " April, 1892 .. 493 " 843,078 , 23 2 " January, 1892 . . 494 " 792,913 .. 25 "

. The production of ne~ tonnage.has been very con­Siderably reduced durmg the nme months, which makes the want of improvement the more marked. The tonnage launched during the nine months totals about 597,000 ; while during the preceding years the average total for nine months was 900,000 tons warships being excluded in both cases. And thi~ su~ge.sts ~he r~mark that. the number of warships bmldmg 1n prtvate estabhshment.«:J is at the present time almost nil, whereas a year or two ago there was quite a fleet of Admiralty vessels. The number now includes nine or ten torpedo-boats, if we ex­clude the battleship Royal Oak, which Messrs. Laird, Rirkenhead, have about ready for delivery.

One satisfactory feature, perhaps the only one from the shipbuilder's point of view, is the increase in the number of vessels in the initial stages of

Vessels in Initial Stage1 of Construction.

No. Tons. Percentage Percentage to Total of Sail. Tonnag-e.

145 299,516 30.7 37.7 118 223,276 22.6 26.4 77 123,249 24.5 16.8 40 72,716 30. 6 10.9 76 154,869 19.2 27 75 126,974 23 20.4 64 120,768 16 19 8 87 189,197 10 30.6

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

construction. These number 87, and make up 189,197 tons, or nearly a third of the total work on hand, a larger proportion than for se\"eral years. It might be interesting to know at what rates these vessels had been booked, and to compare the rate with that going two or three years ago. Prices, indeed, are so low that there is reason for wonder how even the material can be provided. This total is 60,000 tons more than the average of six preceding quarters. Moreover, there is a larger proportion of steam tonnage, which p9:0mises

Ocr. 20, 1 89 3·]

more work to the marine engineer. The steam tonnage preparing makes up 90 per cent of the total.

Of the tonnage building, about three-fourths is for British owners, and only a fourth for foreign owners. This is under the average. Germany has ordered eight vessels, of 28,954 tons, only one being a ship, while Russia is credited with three steamers, of 10,700 tons; Austria with four steamers, of 7376 tons; Spain, two steamers, of 5045 tons; France, four steamers, of 4473 tons. It is somewhat remark­able that only two ships are under order for foreign owners- the remainder are steamers.

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

THE BRUSSELS ELECTRIC RAILWAY. THE authorities of Brussels are seriously con­

sidering a scheme for promoting rapid transit between the \'arious sections of the city, and it is more than probable that they will not imitate the patres conscripti of New York in their procrastina­t ion. There is ample time for mature study, but none for unnecessary delays, if the promoters want to profit by the golden opportunity that will be offered them by the Exhibition to be opened in the Belgian capital in May, 1895. Prolonged discus­Fion as to the mode of transit to be adopted seems, indeed, superfluous, as the topography of the city indicates that an underground rail way will alone afford the rapidity and comfort required to meet the pressure and claims of a numerous and active population.

The Belgians are eminently imbued with the progressive spirit of the age. Noticing the satisfac­tory way in which electrici ty is employed for rail­way purposes in London, Liverpool, and Chicago, they, too, seem determined to use that mysterious and protean agent as the motive power on their contemplate:! metropolitan railway. It is true that the population of the city and i-ts many suburbs is only 459,000; but, on the other hand, Madrid, with its 470,000, and even Baltimore, with only 434,000, have deemed it advisable to authori~e the construction of an underground electric rail way. These recent examples go far to encourage Belgian capitalists to realise the aspirations of th~ir fellow­citizens ; indeed, there is now every prospect that the work will be begun forthwith.

Brussels is very uneven throughout, the ascent from the lower to the upper town being particu­larly rugged and steep. These hilly quarters are unprovided with any of the modern means of fast and comfortable travelling. The less forbidding parts have lines of surface cars, which not unfre­quently require the aid of two or three additional horses to carry them over the rougher parts of the road. All these difficulties will, it is hoped, be obviated by the new scheme,

E N G I N E E R I N G. •

The proposed railway is t o form a double belt round the city, the length of each circuit being fou.r mil~s ver~ nearly. The "up" and "down " tr~ms Will run 1n separate tunnels, so as to mini­ml8e. th~ danger of collisions, and also facilitate ventllat10n. These tunnels will have a cast-iron lining 10ft. in diameter, and will be superposed or arranged side by side according to circumstances.

The stations will be sixteen in number, distri­buted along the circuit according t o the wants of the suburban districts. As the surface is very un­dulatory, the depths of the stations will be very various. At the Porte de N amur and Place Royale the tunnel will be 168 ft. below the street ; at th~ Place de la Bourse it will be 93 ft . ; whilst at the Place S t. J ossa it will be only 49 ft. This last is the minimum depth.

During the busiest hours of the day, eight trains, capable of seating sixty persons each, will follow one another round the urban circle. As the speed will be about 20 miles an hour, passengers will not ha. ve t o wait at any station more than 2 or 2i minutes for a train. They will go down to the platform or ascend to the surface either by ''lifts " or by convenient staircases. In accordance with the advice of Messrs . Alexander Penney and Co. , of London, it is probable that the American system of electric '' elevatora , will be adopted. These lifts, as well as the stations, wait ing-rooms, and trains, will be lit up by electric light. It is also proposed to use the same agent for all heating pur­poses. The central station will be near the Gare du Luxembourg, and will be supplied with the most approved fittings and appliances ; nothing will be left undone to make it a model station of its kind.

The Belgian syndicate have been well advised in their enterprise by Mr. Alphonse Mlillender, who, before preparing his outline of the scheme, visited the electric rail ways of England and America. They have also secured the services of Mr. J. H. Greathead, who was so intimately connected with the London and Liverpool electric railways. 'Ihe syndicate have appointed Messrs. Alexander Penney and Co. their agents in London.

NEW SOUTH WALES RAILWAYS. THE decided check to the progress oftheAustralian

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

be devoted to providing moneys for the construc­tion of such lines, a proceeding which is only fair to those paying on the lines which balance the loss of new railways. In such a way, with mutual assistance between land and railway, the develop­ment of the country would probably be more rapid, particularly if another recommendation of the Commissioners were adopted- the construction of light pioneer lines on the standard gauge in the pastoral districts where traffic was not expected to be heavy for a period.

As it is, the Commissioners have to provide a reasonable return on a capital outlay of 34.65 millions. In five years it has increased by seven millions, although debentures of t he value of 1.2 millions have been finally paid off. The making of the necessary profit is a matter of difficulty, with frequent demands for reductions in freights, and the construction of lines in agricultural districts not sufficiently occupied to provide remunerative traffic. These demands are supported by the un­answerable argument that t he rail ways, although involving loss in early years, will ultimately pay, by reason of the development of the country. That the return to the total capital should nearly equal that earned by the railways in the United Kingdom-3.48 per cent. against 3.85 per cent.-is specially creditable. In the colony the percentage of expenses to gross revenue is 59.39; in the United Kingdom last year it was 56 per cent. There has been a steady decrease in the colony, which is particularly marked for the past year, for in pre­ceding years it was over 61t per cent., and as recently as 1888 it was 66.69 per .cent. Since then there has been a considerable addition to traffic, although, as we have indicated, the depression of the past year is manifest. \Vhile about the same number of passengers were carried, the receipte have fallen off. There were 16.8 million passenger journeys, and each passenger travelled on an average 5j miles, paying per mile . 63d., rather less than in the previous year. The number of passengers then was greater. The gross receipts are now less by 74,000l. , the total being 1.11 millions. In five years there has not been much difference either in the length of average journey or in the fare, so that the addition to the number of long-distance journeys has been compensated by a multiplication of local trips. This accounts for the increase from 12t to 16! million passenger journeys, including season ticket holders.

The receipts from goods and mineral traffic t otal 1. 8 millions, which, although less than the top-level aggregate reached last year, is still above all pre­ceding periods, and this notwithstanding that the tonnage of goods dealt with is much less than in the three preceding years. This may be ac­counted for by the system of conveying stamped parcels by passenger train, introduced last year for the first time, but it is not clear whether the receipts from this source are included in the goods receipts. The aggregate ton mileage is rather less than in the preceding year, being 238! millions, but for several of the principal items of traffic there is a steady addition to the length of haul. The average rate earned per t on per mile was 1. 63d., the same as in the previous year. The rates for most of the staple products are less, and the Railway Commission has recently reduced the rates of freight for agricultural produce-a proceeding which must materially E>timulate the development of remote districts of the colony. These rate!, indeed, are now considerably lower than in the ad­joining colonies, and when 300 miles is passed the rates advance only by about 1s. per t on per 100 miles. In ten years the amount of grain moved has trebled, t o 184,275 tons; hay, straw, and chaff has doubled, to 70,362 tons ; wool has also nearly doubled, to 114,623 tons; and live stock has more than doubled, to 146,390 tons. Reductions in ratei not only tend to an increase in traffic, but to a lengthening of the average haul, which would indi­cate an increase in the area of production. N ot­withstanding reduced freight charges, the earnings for goods traffic have increased in recent years in greater ratio than the tonnage. In 1889, for in­stance-the first year of the Commission-the ton­nage moved was nearly 3! million tons, and is now 3f millions ; while the earnings have increas€d from 1t to 1. 8 millions sterling. The increase in mileage indicated by these figures is particularly satisfactory in the case of some agricultural pro­ducts, on which the advancement of the colony so largely depends; still, there is every probability that with the reduction in rates now in force

•

there will be a greater extension of the average haul. Given ready and cheap transit to the markets or seaboard, t he immense tracts of land in the interior will be more profitably worked, and the resources and natural wealth of the colony immensely developed. The average haul of each ton of wool has increased in ten years from 22'7 to 282 miles; of live stock from 194 to 220! miles; and of hay, straw, and chaff from 77 to 145! miles. The improvement is most pronounced where, as in the last instance, rates have been reduced, although in the case of grain and flour a reduction from 1.02d. to . 78d. per ton per mile has not resulted in any increase in the average haul. The rates for coal have been reduced from 1.19d. to . 73d. per ton per mile, while the average haul is but 17.37 miles per ton. Coal makes 58.63 per cent. of the total tonnage of traffic. The most extensively worked coalfields in the colony, how­ever, are in the vicinity of the ports, notably New· castle, and considerably more than three-fourths of mineral dealt with by t he rail way is exported. In all, 2.3 million tons were passed over the lines, of which about one-half was exported to other Australian colonies, and 655,837 tons to foreign countries, the United States, curiously enough, taking one-third of this latter total.

In considering the debit side of the returns, the means adopted to lessen the ratio of expenses to revenue invite consideration. In former years the necessity of improving the permanent way burdened the expenses, and even no~ maintenance is a ~ostly iten1. In five years 322 miles have been relaid, as compared with 162 in the preceding ten years. The traffic expenses, including wages, are l~ss., and it is only fair t o not~ t hat the great ~aJOrit~ of reductions have been In the case of salar1ed offiCials -stationmasters, &c. Indeed, minimum wages have usually been increased. But the important reductions are in t he locomotive and carriage and wagon charges. The expenses total 1, 738,516l., about 180,000l. less than in the preceding year, and 100 OOOl. less than 1891, when the volume of traffic v/as about the same. Although all items show a decrease, except maintenance of way, loco· motive power contributes most, .the decrease on the year being over 100,000l. This result has been brought about by economies in expenditure in the mechanical department, but largely also by a de­crease in the train mileage, due to the employment of more powerful engines. Several new American locomotives have been at work throughout the year hauling loads of live-stock and goods in sin.gle trai~s. " For such loads," the chief mechanical engineer, Mr. W .. Thow, sta~e~, "two et?gines had to be employed prevwus to their Introduct~on, and co~­seqaently their influence in the r eduction of tratn and unprofi table engine mileage has been very substantially felt. " But lest this be assume~ as another indication of the preference of Amencan engines, it may .be added t hat . during the year twenty-six English express e.ngines we~e placed in service. The passenger mileage has Increased from 92.6 to 95.9 millions, but the goods ton mileage has decreased from 240.8 to 238! millions. The one in some measure balances the other ; but the train mileage has deere~sed. from 8. 35 to 7. 5 millions. The passenger tr~1n ~1leage is not given separate~y from th~ goods tr~In mileage, so t hat it is not possible to arrive definitely at the relation between the train mileage and th~ goods ton mileage. But it may be of general Interest to state that the passenger mileage. is t his ~ear 12.7 times the total train mileage, against 11 t imes last year ; while the goods ton mileage ~ this year .31. 8 times the total train mileage, against 28. ~ times last year. This certainly .indicat.es heav1e~ and longer t rains. ~he ~esult Is . an mc~ease In the earnings per train-mile, J?-Otwit~standing .the de­crease in the aggregate receipts, Without anr l~Crease in the expenses, and consequently a grat1fymg net return.

Results pett- T'railn M·ile.

1893.

8. d. Gross earnings • • 7 9~ • • • • Expenses •• 4 7! •• • • • • s 2 Net profit • • •• • • ••

1892.

8. d. 7 6! 4 7 2 10!

1888.

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

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

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

more than in 1888, t he railways this year earned 630 OOOl. more and thus show 425,000l. more profit for 'the year; ' and this notwi~hstanding cheaper rates, and a more liberal expend1iure on permanent way and stock.

BRITISH COLONIES AT CHICAGO. VII.-NEW SoUTli W ALES- concluded.

WE will complete our somewhat extended review of the exhibits made by New South Wales at the Columbian Exposition, wi~h a br~ef notice ~f the two department~ which still remain for c~nstdera­t ion-those of Agriculture and of Horticulture. Before doing this, however, we will return to the F orestry Building, to which reference has already been made and which is certainly one of the most impressive 'exhibits in t he rich and varied section of New South Wales. The colony possesses a special claim to the gratitude of the Exposition authorities in connection with this building. New South Wales was the first among foreign exhibitors to commence installing (even before the workmen who had t aken possession of t he building for the modelling of the beautiful figures now adorning t~e buildings of the White City, had completed the1r work) . Consequently, New South Wales really led the way as to the mode of installing the exhibits. Nowhere throughout the building can there be found such magnificent planks of hardwoods sui~­able for house finishings or furniture; these beauti­ful planks, some of t hem exceeding 4 ft. in width, have been carefully planed and prepared for polish­ing great care being displayed in the· assortment of ~olours of the timbers when erected, in order to give a striking effect, as, for instance, a deep red plank of rosewood being placed next to a deep golden-coloured beech plank, and t hen, again, a plank of red bean alon~side a plank of moun­tain ash of a creamy white colour, and the edges where the two planks join being covered by a pilaster of bright honeysuckle from ? in. t o 10 in. wide, just sufficient to cover the Irregular rough edges of the two planks, and thereby forming a panel. This polished wall of variously coloured woods stands over 10ft. high, and completely wal1s in the space allotted to New South Wales. On the top of this wall of plank~ is a. cappin~ m~uld, a~d a facia made out of colonial pine, w h1eh Is a brtght yellowish colour, and fittingly sets off the various colours of the planks forming the wall. All around the walls or limit of the court is fixed the light blue flaa of New South Wales, now S () well known th;oughout the whole Exposition, as it floats over the colony's exhibits in twelve or thirteen build­ings. Inside this walled court are display~d im­mense flitches of cedar and planks of some ninety­two different and distinct hardwoods, all valuable as timbers for house fittings and furniture ; here also are shown the tanning barks so well and widely known for their tannic properties. Here also are wheelwrights' materials, such as spokes, felloes, and hubs, shafts and ox-yokes. There are also wood paving blocks as used in the streets of Sydney and other large cities an~ towns of A:us­tralia · also barks, gums, and resins. There 1s a very beautiful stand of arms in t he shape of a dozen gunstocks, made from various hard woods of the colony, which are most artistically prepared, and fixed in a frame made of rosewood and moun­tain ash, all highly polished. The .court is still more artistically decorated ~y havmg caref~lly mounted specimens of herbarmm representatwns on painted panels, and the barks are also mounted on boards and very artistically hung throughout the court, interspersed as they are wi.th large and highly finished photographs of some b1g t rees, some sawmill scenes, and a view of the Sydney P ost Office with the street paving being shown in course of c~nstruction. In the court there is also a vel'Y valuable seed collection, and a good supply of catalogues and useful literature pertaining to timbers and the strains t hey can bear. Amongst other items of timber wealth is a display of rail­road ties of ironbark and red gum ; t his timber is also shown polished alongside the rough-hewn sleepers. The forest oak shingles. as used to cover the buildings outside the City are also shown ; these shingles are known to be good af~er doing duty for over ~o~ty years .. The com~erCial lesson which this exh1b1t teaches 1s not easily for­gotten, and must event ually result in a t rade with New South 'Vales and make the hearts of many lumbermen rejoice' when the exports of this for~st wealth take t he place destined for t hem. One special

[OcT. 20, 1893.

feature in this New South Wales exhibit is a cedar log section which has quite an ancient history. This section.is very much reduced in size on account of having had a fence slab cut off it, nearly 1ft. thick, to take off the weather-worn appearance after a sojourn of over twenty years at the stump where it was felled; this great lump of cedar was too heavy and awkward to handle by the log cutters who got it and so was abandoned, floods burying it with m'ud and debris only for the wind to blow off the sand and mud, and expose it to all the piercing heat of an Australian summer, then again the rains and floods of winter; but the Committee on F orestry of the World's Fair Commission in Sydney having had this instance of large timber brought under their notice, made arrangements to have the sample brought to Sydney, and a slab taken off it to show how wonderfully it stands the ravages of time and change of temperature, and it will repay the lover of forestry to take some t.ime to closely examine this block of rad cedar ; it is located at the south end of t he building, near the west side. It is worthy of mention that the whole exhibit was pre­pared where it now stands from the rough sawn plank. . .

In Agricul ture- Department A-the exh1b1t of New South Wales is of a very high character, despite the fact that the majority of objects shown are different grades of wool. As a wheat-growing country the colony has established its reputation at Chicago. There are, however, only seventeen exhibitors, swelled by fifteen separate exhibits made by ~he Commissioners for New South Wales, representmg wheat crops from different parts of t he colony.

The yield per acre varies from 20 to 43 bushels ; the weight per bushel from 62 lb. to 68 lb. ; the seed planted per acre is about 50 lb.; and the price at nearest market ranges from 4s. to 5s. per bushel. Of other cereals there are a number of exhibitors. The Department of Agriculture makes a very fine dis­play of the species of New South Wales grasses. This collection explains the facility with which stock can be maintained in New South Wales, most of the fifty varieties shown, growing luxuriantly and affording forage for animals. In addition, the same depar t­ment exhibits twenty-seven varieties of forage plants other than grasses ; most of these are bush, thriving in situations where, on account of drought or for some other reason, grass does not grow. Some of the varieties of salt bush have remarkable medicinal properties.

Of flour, decorticated grain, &c., there are suffi ­cient exhibits to show that New South Wales does not lack for efficient milling establishments. The exhibits of the sugar-cane industry are not nume­rous, and probably suggest possibilities rather than an actual industry ; the varieties of cane shown come from Fiji and Mauritius stock. The Commis­sioners exhibit samples of sorghum, which appears to grow freely ; the specimen shown weighs 47! lb. per bushel. Judging from exhibits, bee-ke~pers in New South Wales follow a profitable and not difficult industry; with hives yielding as much as 170 lb. of honey, that realises from 4d. to 6d. a pound, there must be plenty of inducement to sup­port the various bee-keepers' associations in the colony. The I talian variety of bee appears to give the best results. It is somewhat interesting to note that the collecting grounds are carefully observed, and are recorded in the catalogue, and that the quantities vary greatly with the vegetation, as will be seen from the following list:

Yield per hive, 170 lb.; plants from which honey was produced, yellow and white box.

Yield per hive, 160 lb.; plants from which honey was produced, apple tree and "yellow jacket. "

Yield per hive, 150 lb.; plants from which honey was produced, ironbark and spotted gun.

Y ield per hive, 100 lb.; plants from which honey was produced, lucerne and iron bark.

Pas3ing over the handful of exhibitors in the groups devoted to miscellaneous farm products, preserved food, and t he dairy, we come to the tobacco exhibits. The conditions of climate are in many districts of t hE:\ colony eminently suitable for t his branch of agriculture, and so long ago as 1822 tobacco was successfully cultivated. In 1842 nearly 5000 acres were devoted to tobacco growth, and the leaf realised as high a price as 8d. per pound. The industry, however, fell into the hands of the Chinese, prices were diminished, and dairy farming was found more profitable. To-day only about 800 acres are used for tobacco, but there is a tendency to develop an industry which, under favourable conditions, could no doubt be made pro-

OcT. 20, r893.]

fltable. Of exhibitors of wool there are more than 400 divided into sub-classes as follows :

' E xhibitors. I Pure bred fine wools (Merino) . .. 119

rr: , middle wools .. . . .. 42 Ill. , long , .. . ... 12 IV. All crossbred wools .. . .. . ... 52

V. Fleece wool ... .. . . .. VI. Wool in bale .. . .. . .. .

. ..

. .. 25

192

To every exhibit are attached particulars of the animal from which it was taken, such as age, breed, and sex the nature of the locality, kind of food, &c. These exhibits cover a .vas~ range of country - indeed, almost every distnct 1s r epresented and classified as follows :

1. Wool dietrict of Bathhurst, including 3 sub-districts, and counting 2,979,550 sheep. . . . .

2. Wool district of Bogan, mcluding 1 sub·d1strtcb, and counting 1, 7~9,055 sheep. . .

3. Wool distnct. of Ca.stlereagh, mcludmg 2 sub­districts and countmg 4_.t076,196 sheep.

4. 'VC:Ol district of Lower Darling, including 1 sub-di!trict, and counting 631,176 sheep.. . .

5. \Vool district . of Upper Darhng, mcludmg 2 sub-districts, and countmg 4,808,672 sheep. . .

6. ' V ool district of Western Darling, mcludmg 3 sub-districts, and counting 4,745,382 ~beep. . . .

1. \Vool district of Goulburn, mclud10g 3 sub·d1stn cts, and counting 64~,428 sheep. . . . . .

8. Wool distr10t of Gwydtr, mcludmg 2 sub·dtstrlCts, and counting 2,~6,598 sheep. . . .

9. Wool distnct of Hunter Rtver, mcludmg 4 sub­districts and counting 4,055,365 sheep.

10. 'V ool district of Lachlan, including 3 sub-districts, and counting 5,45.2,571 sh.eep. . . .

11. Wool distnct of Ltverpool Plams, mcludtng 2 sub-di triots and counting 4,055,365 sheep.

12. w'ool district of Monaro, including 2 sub-districts, and counting 1,439,841 sheep.

13. 'Vool district of Mudgee, including 2 sub-districts, and counting 1,181,944 sheep.

14. Wool district of Ramoi, including 3 sub-districts, and counting 3,909,830 sheep.

15 .. \Vool dietrio~ of New England, including 3 sub­distncts. and countmg 2,581,G42 sheep.

16. Wool district of Upper Murrumbidgee, including 4 sub-districts, and counting 5,099,381 sheep.

17. ' Vool district of WesternRivernia, including 3sub­districte, and counting 3,269,946 sheep.

18. Wool district of Rivernia, including 3 sub·dietricts, and counting 5,231,146 sheep.

19. Wool district of Southern Rivernia, including 4 sub-districts, and counting 4,101,115 sheep.

In all, nineteen districts have contributed to the Exposition, and these r epresent a wealth of more than 60 millions of sheep.

The inhabitants of N ew South Wales evidently possess much confidence in the future possibilities of the colony in the production of wine. A glance at the great and varied display made at Chicago shows that at the present time the industry is of no small proportions. There are more than 600 exhibit! of wine and alcohol, r epresenting t he majority of the vineyards in the N ew South Wales wine districts. F or the most part each exhibit consists of some half-a-dozen bott les, and particulars of the vintage it represents. Collectively these make an imposing display, and represent an annual produce of half-a-million gallons. The reproduc­tion of the information about on e exhibit will suffice as a sample of all. Thus : "Name of wine, Porphyry ; vineyard, Porphyry, Williams River ; extent, 25 acres ; area planted with the grape from which this wine is mado, 19 acres ; quantity exhibited, six bottles each of vintages 1885 and 1889; quantity in stock, 27,000 gallons of these and other vintages ; vine, Reisling, planted 1863, 1870, 1871, and 1883 ; quantity pro­duced annually, about 6000 gallons; cost of culti­vation, about Bl. an acre; colour, white; price, 20a. per dozen ; character, light, dry ; strength , about 18 per cent. ; soil, alluvial, clay subsoil ; trained to espalier stakes. '' In the same D epart­ment of Horticulture the Commissioners for New South 'Vales make a fine display of dried fruit, and the same body have also contributed a number of ferns and other plants which are conspicuous for their beauty, in the H orticultural Building.

In treating of the New outh Wales section, we have to some extent travelled outside our ordinary ~cope, but without doing so we should have failed m rendering justice to the admirable efforts of t he colony. 'Ve t rust we have succeeded in giving some clear idea of all that it has done; perhaps the annexed comparison between the work done by this remote colony and by ourselves at the Columbian Exposition is more significant.

In ~oth cues the Fine Arts Section (remarkably g~ m the cue of Great Britain) is omitted as comtng outside commercial exhibit . The number

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

of exhibitors from N ew South V\7 ales are more than double those from Great Britain, while the objects exhibited number many thousands.

Number of E xhibitors. New South Grea.tJ ~aJes. l3ritain.

Department.

526 75 282 19

A. Agriculture . . . . .. 13. Horticulture ... ... D. Fisheries . .. . .. 19 6

231 38 9 59

19 79 43 192

E. 1\IIining . .. . .. F. Machinery ... . .. G. Transportation .. . H. Manufactures .. . J. Electrici ty . . . . .. L. Liberal Arts . . . ... 108

8 98 2 M. Ethnology .. . ... 33

N . F orestry ... . . 22 In conclusion, a word should be said as to the

admirable work done by the New Sou th Wales Commissioners, and especially as t o that of the Hon. A. R enwick, the executive commissioner, under whose direction, the part taken by t he colony at t he Columbian E xposition has produced a r esult that may well serv~ as a model to be followed by all countries that may hereafter participate in International Exhibitions.

N 0 T E S. I MPORTANT E LECTRIQ I NSTALLATION.

AN important electric installation at Roxholm is approaching its completion. The works erected in 1886 having proved inadequate, and there often being a want of water, it was decided to go in for a new electric power t ransmission installation, coupled with a light station, and for that purpose to u tilise t he lowest of the waterfalls, which had not been used for several years. The fall is not perpendicular, but has an extension of about 500ft. In order to use the full height of the fall, it became necessary to build a canal along the stream, pro­ceeding from the foot of the fall to the dam in front of the buildings, and the depth of which cor­responds with the depth of water at th e bottom of the fall. In th is manner a fall of 20 ft. was obtained, whilst it would otherwise n ot have been more than about half. In order to keep th e water of the river apart from that in the canal, a wall about 420ft. long had to be built. The water is conveyed to five turbines, each of 50 hor se-power. The turbines and transmissions are on the ground floor, whilst the dynamos, &c., a re placed on the first floor. Two dynamos, each of 225 amper es and 110 volts, feed the electric ligh t installation, and another dynamo of 60 amper es and 220 volts sup­plies t he r equisite current to the electric railway. There will, in addition to these, be installed two good-sized alternate-current dynamos, besides a smaller similar dynamo for transmission of power to the works.

E c o NOMY IN T RACK W ORK. The r eport on economy of track work, r ecently

issued by a committee appointed by the American R oadmasters' Association, is of interest , as setting forth modern American ideas on the subject. Ac­cording to the report, curves should be easy, tran­sitions being employed with all curves quicker than 2 deg. The road-bed should be wide enough to secure proper drainage in the cut.tings, and to insure stability in the embankments. The latter should be built in layers , and the slopes should be sufficient to prevent caving or sliding. The depth of the ballast should not be less than 6 in. The spaces between the sleepers should be equal to the width of the sleeper, provided that this is not less than 10 in. Since the cost of putting the sleepers in place is from 10 to 50 per cent. of the first cost of the same, long-lived sleepers are economical. When removed from the track, such sleepers should be carefully inspected before being burned or other­wise disposed of. The life of the sleepers would be increased by the use of better fastenings, as the use of spikes is prejudicial to the sleeper. The use of from four to five braces per rail on the outside of sharp curves reduces t he cost of maintenance 5 to 15 per cent. Where possible, joint sleepers should be 6 in. to 12 in. longer than the others, so as to make up for the weakn ess of the joint. About once a year t he whole t rack should be surfaced, lined, and gauged. In this general surfacing the track should be raised just enough for secure tamping; this will average i in. to f in. for ordinary ballast, and about 1 in. for sand.

THE R UliSIAN NAVY. Neither money n or energy is being spared in en­

larging the Russian fleet, and the RU!sian ship build-

ing industry has made vast strides of late years. Both t.he Imperial dockyards on th~ N eva, and the large private shipbuilding es~ab.hihments,. have been mater ially extended , and 1t 1s now qutte t~e exception t hat large Russian men-of-war are bu~t outside the country. The last l~rge war.shtp which has been built abroad is theAdm1ral Korndeff, built at St. N azaire. N owadays only torped.o­boats and smaller ships a re, as a rule, bUJlt abroad, and everything is d.one to. help on the Russian indust ry. The Balt1c fleet 1s the largest, and comprises five bat tleships o~ th~ first class, eiaht armoured cr uiser s, seven sh1ps tntended for th~ defence of t he coast, twelve monitors, three armoured gunboats, fourtee!l cruisers, fi~e torp~do cruisers, thirty-one seagomg and thuty other torpedo-boats. The bulk of these vessels, except the torpedo-boats, are certainly more or ~ess old but many of them are quite servlCe­abl~ and new excellent ships are steadily being added, so the Baltic fleet will ere lo~g become very powerful. .At present there are 1n course of construction three ironclads of 10,300 tons, two of 8000 tons, and two armoured cruisers of 11,000 and 12,000 tons. Several of these are

1 already far advan ced. In the Black Sea, Sebastopo has <rrown into a most important Government shipbuilding place. The Black Sea fleet comprises five first-class battleships, of which the oldest was launched only seven years ago, one cruiser, th!ee torpedo cruisers, six gunboats, fourteen seagomg and seven other torpedo-boats. This fleet can be further reinforced by the ships of the volunteer fleet, which were built by money raised by a n ational subscript ion, and which ar e being maintained by the Government. These cruisers have the monopoly of transport of Government material, &c., between Russia and Vladivostock ; their captains are naval officers. The Siberian fleet, stationed at Vladi­vos tock, comprises some smaller warships and tor­pedo-boats, and on the Caspian Sea there are also some smaller warships.

CoAL AND IRoN IN F RANCE. The production of coal in France in the first half

of this year was 12,807,297 t ons, as compared with 12,864,7 54 tons in the corresponding period of 1892, showing a decr ease of 57,457 t ons this year. Lignites were also raised in the first half of this year to the extent of 232,347 tons, as compared with 243,458 tons in the corresponding period of 1892, showing a decrease of 11,111 tons this year. The extraction of coal in the basin of the N ord and the Pas de Calais in the first half of this year amounted to 7,207, 767 tons. The L oire ranked second, with a production of 1, 737,646 tons; Bur­gundy and the Nivernais third, with a production of 971,868 tons; and the Gard fourt h, with a pro­duct ion of 970,780 tons. There was theu a rather abrupt drop, the output of the Tarne and the Aveyron in the first half of this year having been 710,781 tons, and that of the Bourbonnais, 577,'739 tons. The production of each of the other French basins in the first half of this year was less than 200,000 tons. The production of pig in France to June 30 this year was 1,005,360 tons, as compared with 1,017,062 t ons in the corresponding period of 1892, showing a reduction of 11,702 tons this year. The production of refining pig in France in the six months ending June 30 was 762,859 tons, as com­pared with 826,953 tons in the corresponding six months of 1892, showing a falling off <.•f 64,094 tons this year. On the other hand, the production of casting pig in the first half of this year was 242,501 tons, as compared with 190,10~ t ons in the corre­sponding period of 1892, showing an increase of 52,392 tons thiB year. The M eurthe-et-Moselle produced 596,612 tons of pig in the first half of this year, or more than half the whole production of France in the same p eriod. The N ord ranked second, with a. production of 114,880 tons. The production of iron in France in the first half of this year was 414,407 tons, as compared with 423,965 tons in the corresponding period of 1892. The production of iron rails in France in the first half of this year was 485 tons ; of miscellaneous r olled iron, 357,618 t ons ; and of plates, 56,304 tons. The corresponding production in the corresponding period of 1892 was : Iron r ails, 244 tons ; miscel­laneous rolled iron, 361,673 tons; and plates, 62,048 tons. The N ord ranked first, with a pro­duction of 161,635 t ons. The qua.utity of steel made in France in the first half of this year was 329,961 tons, as compared with 331,939 t ons in the corresponding period of 1892. Steel rails were

-

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

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

Sonnenschein and Co. 1892. THE remarkable aid afforded by the microscope in

the study of the rocks composing the earth's crust has been the means of creating a demand for s~udents' manuals treating the subject of petrology from this point of view. The present work of 216 pages deals solely with the igneous r ocks, and has already reached its second edition, so that the author has had an opportunity to revise the book ; this he informs us he has done, and at the same time he has somewhat enlarged its scope.

The method upon which the work was based in the first instan ce was that in V on Lasaulx's "Ein­leitung in die Petrographie," but this has been somewhat departed from, and the author follows on lines that will be recognised as being similar to those adopted by Professor J udd.

The coarser structure of igneous rocks is first dealt with, and this is followed by a. description of the finer general structure as seen in the micro­scope. The m ore important rock -forming minerals are then treated in a. detailed way, and their ohemice.l composition, mineralogical form, and opti­cal properties very carefully noted, and much pro­minence is given to the characteristics by which they can be identified in the sections as examined under the microscope, whilst excellent woodcuts are given where needed, so as to illustrate the various struc­tures and cleavages upon which the successful identification of minerals by this means depends. With reference to the rocks themselves, the author adopts the classification based upon their ultimate chemical composition, and the degree to which crystallisation has been developed in each. This, without doubt, is the most satisfactory one that has been attempted, the rocks being attanged as acid, intermediate, basic, and ultra-basic, according to the silica contents. The granites are treated at considerable length, as is befitting their import­ance, and throughout this part of the work clear illustrations are given of actual r ock sections, with the various minerals indicated by suitable lettering, whilst lists are given of the localities in the U nited Kingdom where examples of each class of rock may be found, and sketch maps appended of the more important districts. There only appears to be one omission throughout the book, and that is an absence of any indication as to the scale of the illustrations, which, however, in most cases appear to b e uniform. A couple of pages on the best p :>wers to employ upon this kind of work, and a few general hints to the solitary student, would be an improvement, though for class work such in­formation is better given by the demonstrator him­self. The book is written in a useful though brief technical st yle, and by its aid the student possessing a suitable microscope and slides ought to meet with no difficulty in making very considerable progress in this interesting branch of geology. Engineers, moreover, will find it an excellent book of reference, although t his has evidently not been the special object of the author, so that a few notes as to the respective durability of rock masses, as proved in various districts are needed to make the book more completein this respect. Theworkcontainsfrequent r eference to authorities, and is altogether useful to teacher and student alike, as well as to t hose whose time is valuable, but who need sometimes to refer to geological data.

---BOOKS RECEIVED.

E l war.ls's 900 E x-:r,min(Ltion Questions and Answers for E agineers and F iremen (Stationary and Marine). By EMORY EnWARDR. Philadelphia. : Henry Carey, Baird, and CJ. ; London: E. and F. N. Spon.

Annual Report of the Board of RegeR.ts of the Smithsonian I nstitution, showi1'1.{1 the Operatims. Expenditures, and Condition of the I nstitution for the Year ending J une 30, 1891. R ep,rt of the U. S. National Museum. Washington : Government Printing Office.

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

Utility of Quaternion s in Physics. By A. McAULAY, M. A. London and New York : Ma.cmillan and Co. [Price 5a.]

Inorganic Chemistry jo1· B eginners. By Sir HENRY ROSOOK, F.R.S., assisted by J OSEPH L UNT, B.Sc. (Vict.) London and New York: Macmillan and Co. (Price 2s. 6d.]

Marine Boiler M anagement and Construction. By C. E. STROMEYEit. London and New York : Longmans, Green, and Co. [Price 18s.]

Songs in Sprin{ftime i The Pa~si'Yl{J of L ilith, and Other Poems. By J OHN CA:MERON GRANT. Second Edition. London : E. W. Alien. [Price 2s.]

The Incorporated Gas Institute Transactions, 1893. Edited by F. G. BuRFIELD, Secretary. London: Offices of the Institute. [Price 10s. 6d.]

Personal R ecoltectio'ns of W erner vm Siemens. Translated by W. C. CoUPLAND. London: Asber and Co. [Price 15s. ]

Machtne Drawiag, for the Use of Students in Science and Technical Schools and Colleges. By THOMAS J ONES, M.I. Mech. E., and T. GILBERT JoNES. Manchester : John Heywood.

A P1·actical Gu,ide for Prospectors, Explorers, and Miners. By CuNINGHAME Wrt ·oN MooRE. J.Jondon : Kegan Paul, Trench, Triibner, and C0 , Limited. [Price 12s.]

Society of Engineers. Transactions jO'r 1892, and General I ndex, 1861 to 1892. Edited by G. A. PRYCE CuxsoN. Secretary. London: E. and F. N. Spon; New York:

pon and Chamberlain. The Principles of Fittin;,: for Apprentices and Students

in T echnical Schools. By A FOREMAN PATTERN­MAKER. Illustrated with 250 engravings. London: Whittaker and Co.

Electric L ighting and P ower Distribution. Part I I I. With 70 illustrations and complete ind~x. By W. PERREN MAYCOOK, M.I.E.E. London: Wbittaker and Co. [Price 2s. 6d.]

British L ocomotives: Theilr History, Construction, and Modern Development. By C. J. BowEN CooKE. London : Whittaker and Co.

M anuale del M acchinista N a vale. Per MA RIO Lra N AROLO. Milan : Ulrico Hoepli.

An Elementary T ext-book of Coal Mining. By R oBERT PEEL. London: Blackie and Son, Limited.

A M anual of Telephony. By WILLIAM HENRY PREECE. F.R.S., and AuTHOR J . STODBS. London: Whitta.ker and Co.

Recente Progressi nelle applicazioni deU' E lectricita. Di RINALDO FERRINI. Parte Seconda. Milan: Ulrico Hoepli.

The Engineer and Draughtsman's Data Book. Second Edition. London : E. and F. N. Spon; New York: Spon and Chamberlain. [Price 3s.]

Ou1· Ocean Railways j or, T he Rise, P1·og1·ess, and Develop­ment of Ocean Steam N avigation. By A. FRAS'ER· MAODONALD. With Maps and Illustrations. London: Chapman and Hall. [Price 6s.]

A Select B ibliography of Chemistry, 1492 to 1892. By H ENRY CARRINGTON BOLTON. Washington: The Smithsonian Institution.

An Elementary Treatise on Theoretical Mechanics. By ALEXANDER ZIWE'l'. Part I : Kinematics. London and New York: Macmillan and Co. [Price Ss. 6d.]

T he Angel ojtheRevolution. A Tau of the Uoming Te>·ror. By GEORGE GmFPITH. With illustrations by FRED T. J ANE. London : Tower Publishing Company.

Measurement of Light Q/nd Colour Sensatims. By J osEPH W. LovmOND, F.R.M.S. London: George Gill and Sons.

Mimttes of Proceedim.ga of the I nstitution of Civ-il Engineers i with other selected and abstracted P apers. Vol. cxiv. Edited by J AMEs FoRREST, Assoc. Inst. C. E. , :::>ecretary. London : Published by the Insti­tution.

8TEAM TRIALS OF THE SPANISH CRUISER "INFANTA MARIA TERESA."

THE new Spanish cruiser Infanta Maria Teresa., built and engined at the Astilleros del Nervion, and fully described in our issue of September 15 (page 339), went on her official forced-draught trials on Saturday last, when the somewhat onerous requirements of the contract were met. A full supply of steam was to be maintained at 145 lb. per square inch with an air pressure of 1. 5 in., and the speed of the vessel was to be 20 knots, the mean draught being 21 ft. 6 in. , and the displacement 6890 tons.

To determine the speed of the vessel under these conditions, the following measures were taken : A measured distance, 1.412 knot, was run over four times, twice in one and twice in the opposite direction, and the mean number of revolutions corresponding to a nautical mile ascertained. After that the sea run for nearly two hours was made, still under forced draught. At the termination of the sea trial the runs over the measured distance were repeated. The average of the number of revolutions ascertained during the runs ovu the measured distance served as the divisor to ascertain the speed in nautical miles attained by the ship during the two hours' run at sea. The penalty for each complete tenth of a mile per hour under the 20 knots was 26,666 pesetas. The speed, howe,·er, it was found after the trial, worked out at 20.25 knots for the 4i hours during which the vessel was out on Saturday. The weather was fine, but there was a heavy Atlantic swell, and the currents at the entrance to the harbour of Ferrol, where the measured distance is situated tended to reduce speed,

[OcT. 20, I 89 3·

owing to the difficulty of maintaining a straight course. The following are the results as cabled to us; and with them we give the results of the natural draught trial already described in a previous issue (page 361 ante).

Natural ]forced Draught. Draught.

Mean speed (knots) ... ... 18.5 20.25 Indicated horse-power, star-

board... .. . .. . .. . 4686 6857 Indicated horse-power, port 4872 6901

, , total 9558 13,758 Revolutions starboard .. . 105 118

, port .. . . .. 106 118 Vacuum starboard ... ... 27~ 27~

, port .. . ... ... 27~ 28 Steam pressure (lb.) ... ... 145 145 Air pressure (in.) .. . . .. h 1

The indicated horse-power works out to 162.81 per square foot of grate area, while each indicated horse-power corresponds to 1.883 square feet of heating surface. The engines are of the triple-expan­sion type, and were designed by Mr. J ames McKechnie, the engineering manager at the Astilleros del Nervion, and he was highly complimented by the Naval Commissioner from lVIadrid on the result. The leading dimensions may be given. The diameters of cylinders are 42 in., 62 in., and 92 in. respectively, and the stroke 46 in. ; the condensers, which are 10 ft. 8 in. long, have a surface of 14,600 square feet, the tubes being ~ in. in diameter. Steam is supplied by four double-ended boilers and two single-ended boilers, the number of furnaces being forty. They have Purves flues, the mean diameter being 3 ft. 3 in., and the length 6 ft. 6 iu. The grate area is 845 square feet, and the total heating surface 25,920 square feet. The forced draught fans are nine in number, and 5 ft. 6 in. in diameter. The crank­shaft is 16i in. in diameter, the intermediate shafti.ng 15! in., and the propeller shafting 15.1 in. The screw propellers are three-bladed, having a diameter of 16ft. 5 in., a pitch of 20ft. 6 in., and an expanded surface of 73 square feet.

NOTES FROM THE UNITED STATES. PHILADELPHIA, October 10.

THE depression in the industries now existing hae had no counterpart within twenty years. Production of iron and steel in the aggregate is about one-half the average of two or three years past. Stocks of crude iron are larger than for years, and prices even yet are declining. There are some signs of improTement in the western markets; but with financial and economic questions unsettled, it is impossible to say when there will be a general improvement. Plate and structural mill owners report a litt le more inquiry and a slight increase in orders; but outside of this, matters are at a standstill and prices are low. No. 1 foundry stan­dard brands are offered at 14.50 dols. without finding takers. Good brands of forge are offered at 12 dole. Southern makers have been making concession after conces.siot;t, a:nd have induced '!estern use;s to load up to thetr hmlt. vVhat they Wlll now do 18 a question. The bar mills are running in an irregular way, filling small orders as received, and then shutting down. Railroad companies are not purchasing equipments, and bridge-build~rs, who usually receive large orders at this season, are picking up only slight repairing work. The policy of retrenchment is being bitterly followed up, and there is a stringency in commercial and finan­cial circles that is paralysing enterprise.

BRISBANE.-Passenger communication has been restored between North and ~outh Brisbane by the erection of a temporary bridge. Tra~c bad been interrupted f0r six months through the wasbmg away of the Victoria bridge by floods.

RANSOME'S CASK-MAKING MACHINERY.-\Ve had re· rcently the opportunity of inspecting a complet~ cask­making plant constructed by Messrs. A. Ransome and Co Limited, of. the Stanley Works, Chelsea, London, S. w:: for a Cont10ental petroleum barrel factory. This par· ticular plant is designed for dealing with sawn staves, and practically the whole of the operations are performed by machinery. The staves are first jointed in an auto· matic machine, about a dozen being- trimmed at once. Then~ they pass ~o a. second machine, in which the hollowmg and backmg ts performed by revolving cutters at the rate of eight 3·ft. staves per minute. The staves are t~en transfe~red to a sett~ng-up appa~at~s, consisting of a stmple casb·Iron plate, wtth a recess 10 tts upper side which takes the bottom setting-up hoop to the lower ends of the s.taves, whil~t the ~~c~nd setting-up hoop is sup· ported 10 the requll'ed pos1t1on by three wrought-iron up­rights, one of which l S hinged at the bottom end to facili~ate th~ removal of th~ cask. When thus set up the cask lE! transferred t'! a firtJ?g cone, ~nd when ready is placed on an hydrauhc trussmg machme, which puts on it the five truss hoops. The barrel is now transferred to a machine in whi<?h the chiming, crozing and howelling is done by revol vmg cutters. The heads are next inserted by ban~, after. whic~ th~ hoops are fixed on by an bydrauhc mach10e, whtch 1s of novel construction and is capable of putting on much thinner hoops than th~ older machines.

NOTES FROM THE NORTH. GLASGOW, \Vednesday.

Gl<ugow P ig- Iron Market. - There was a better business done in the Glasgow pig-iron warrant market last Thurs­day, and prices opened strong, but did not maintain the e~rly advance. A large amount of Scotch iron changed hands at an average of 1d. per ton over the previous day's average, but the closing prices showed no ohan~e. A fairly good demand existed for Cleveland iron, wb10h aleo improved ld. ~r ton in the forenoon, but lost after­wards the early ga.m. Hematite iron w~ idle, and Cleve­land brands closed with buyers and sellers both lower in their quotations. The closing settlement prices were­Scotch iron, 42~. 3d. per ton; Cleveland, 348. 9d.; Cumberland and Middleebroush hematite iron, re­spectively, 4b. 6d. and 43s. 4~d . per ton. The busi­ness done in the forenoon market on Friday consisted of about 4000 tons of Scotch warrants, all done at the same price of 42s. 3~d. per t on cash. Cleve-1and warrants were ld. per ton cheaper, and bematite ir.>os were idle and unchanged in price. In the afternoon the market wa<:~ easier, Scotch warrants selling at 42i. 2d. cash, and Cleveland ab 3~s. 9d. seven days, the latter closing 1d. cheaper for cash. Cumberland hema.tite iron was nominally 1d. per ton cheaper. At the close in the afternoon the settlement prices were -Scotch iron, 42s. 1~d. per ton; Cleveland, 34:s. 7~d . ; Cumberland and Micfdlesbrougb bematite iron, respec­tively, 44s. 4!d. and 43s. 4~d. per ton. The market was very Bat on .Monday forenoon. Scotch iron was sold at 42-J. Hd. and 42d. 1d. per ton cash, being 1~d. of a. loss from Friday, and Cleveland gave way ~d. per ton. About 7000 tons of Scotch and 500 tons of C1eveland iron were sold. There was a fair amount of business doing in Scotch iron in the afternoon. At first the tone of the market was flat, 423. cash being done, but a better feeling afterwards prevailed, transactions taking place up to 42J. 1~d. ca.sb. About 12,000 tons changed bands, in­cludiof ex-official business at 42s. 4d. one month, with a 11 call' at the same, and 42d. 2id. one month, with 1s. forfeit in buyers' option. Ab the close the cash quota­tion for Scotch iron was 1d. better than in tht forenoon, and Cleveland was also quoted !d. per ton better. The closing settlement prices were-scotch, 42s. Hd. per ton; CleTeland, 34s. 7!d. ; Cumberland and Middlesbrough hematite iron, 44s. 4~d. and 43s. 4!d. per ton respecti \"ely. A firmer feehng ruled in the warrant market on Tuesday forenoon, but only some 3000 tons of Scotch iron were disposed~of . The cash price advanced 2d. per ton, at 42R. 4d. sellers. One operator sold about 10,000 tons of Scotch wa.r­rantCJ-5000 tons at ~s. 3~d. cash, 3000 tons at 42s. 6d. one month, and 2000 tons 42s. 5ld. one month. Other two or three thousand tons were also dealb in, the close being just steady at a decline of a ~d. from the forenoon price. One Jot of 500 tons of Cleveland was done at 3ts. 11d. one month, being a gain of 2d. per ton from the the morning. The settlement prices at the close were-Scotch iroP, 42s. 3d. per ton; Cleveland, 3ts. 9d. ; Cumberland and Middlesbrough hematite iron, respectively, 4~. 4!d. and 43:J. 4~d. per too. The market was animated th1s fore· noon, but weak in tone. Yeeterda.y's buyers were sellers, and the cash!.rice of Scotch iron fell to 42s. 1~d. per ton, a loss of 2~ . from last night. About 10,000 tons of Scotch warrants and 2000 tons of Cleveland were disposed of. The maket was flat in the afternoon, and fairly large lots of Scotch and Cleveland changed hands, and in both cases prices gav~ way. The following are the quotations for several special brands of No. 1 makers' iron : Ga.rt­sherrie, 49s. per ton ; Summerlee, 49s. 6d. ; Calder, 50s. ; Langloan and Coltness, 55s. 6d.-the foregoing all shipped at Glasgow; Glen~arnock (shipped at A rdrossan ), 49s. 6d. ; Shotts {shtpped at Leith), 518. 6d. ; Carron {shipped at Grangemouth), 53s. 6d. per ton. Last week 's shipments of p ig iron from all Scotch porta amounted to 3455 tons, against 5~32 tons in the correspond ­ing week of la.sb year. They included 100 tons for the United States, 370 tonCJ for Canada, 415 tons for Australia, 110 tons for Italy, 550 tons for Germany, 200 tons for ~?lla.nd, 200 tons . for China and Japan, smaller guanttttes for other countr1es, and 1022 tons coastwise. There are now 48 blast furnaces in active operation, as compared with 78 at this time last year. T~o of them are making basic ir~>n, 18 a~e wor.king on bema.ttte ironstone, and 28 are maktng ordmary non. The stock of pig iron in Messrs. Connal and Co. 's public warrant storeCJ stood at 3~0,655 tons yesterday afternoon, against 331,-300 tons yesterday week, thus showing for the past week an increase amounting to 355 tons.

Iron Ore Import3 at tht Clyde.-The imports of Spanish iron or~ at the ports of GlasgowJ.. Greenock, and Porb· Glasgow during the month of .::5eptember were light, owing to the number of furnaces that have been ~uti out of blast, in consequence of the labour trouble~ w1th the miners, and the increased price of coal. Only sixteen vessels arrived, having cargoes amounting collectively to 26,140 tons

1 being a decrease of 4420 tons a.s compa.~ed

with the tmports in September, 1892. For the mne months the imports show a falling off to the extent of 124,629 tons, and are only 126,633 tons more than. the landings for the same period in 1891, during the eight month~' strike of the Scottish blast-furna.cemen. The returns specially compiled are :

1893 1 92 1891 1890 1889

•• •

• • •

... • • •

...

•

Month. Vessels. Tons.

16 2G, 1~0 18 30,760

... •••

... 20 26,050 • • • ~0 40,190 ... 25 34,515

Three Quarters. V easels. Tons.

104: 311,901 272 436,530 141 185,268 282 411,775 249 349,865

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

E N G I N E E RI N G. ton, less 5 per cent., which shows a reduction to the extent of 2s. 6d. per ton. There is a brisk inquiry for sheets for home use .and export, the demand for thin sbe~ts ~or Canada bemg e~pecially good, ~:~.nd J?rices are ma.mtamed on the basis of 7l. 7s. 6d. for tron and n. ~7s. 6~:i. for s~eel sheets, less the usual discount. Busm~ss 1D steel 1s .de~eloping as regards shipbuilding ma.ter1al, more of wbtch IS now required.

West of Scotland Iron and Steel In~titute -The opening meeting of the second session of the \V ~st of Scotland Iron an~ Steel Institute was held last Jf riday evening. The president, :rvir. Ja.mes Riley, occupied the chair and ther~ w~ a large attendance of m em hers and assoc:ates. Revtewmg the work of the firs t session of the Institute Mr. Riley congratulated the members on the manner i~ which they bad acquitted themselves. Many excellent papers had been read, and much reliable information on ~ubject~ of interest to those engaged in the iron and ateel mdustnes had been made available for the future. At the close of the presidential address a. paper was read by Mr. J. B. Alla.n on "The Theory of Stresses in Mill Steel Shaftiog."

Copper Ore Imports at Clyde.- The landings of Spanish coppe~ pyrites at the port of Glasgow, chiefly for the TharslB Sulphur and Copper Company, during the month of September, amounted to 3865 tons, being an increase of 397 tons over those for the same month last year. Over the three quarters of this year the imports amounted to 45,487 tons, showing an increase of 8277 tons as con­trasted with the landings for the same period in the pre­vious year. The returns are :

Month. Three Qna.rters. V easels. Tons. V easels. Tons.

1893 . . . 2 ~865 26 45,487 1892 ... 2 3474 22 37,210 1891 .. . 3 3594 27 38,577 1890 . .. 2 3218 26 40,724 1889 . .. 3 4182 32 40,641

The Bricl/,;e Quc$tion in Gla$gow.-A special meeting of the Glasgow Police Commissioners was held on Monday for the purpose of considering certain proposals which have lately been brought forward regarding the propriety of rebuilding the bridge over the Clyde at the Broomie­law, or of strengtbeniag the existing structure, which is spoken of as "Telford's masterpiece." Again variety of opinion was expres~ed, and eventually all the proposals were remitted to the Statute Labour Com· mittee (which includes the Sub-Committee on Bridges) for their careful consideration and report. It is now abundantly evident that thE' plan which was before the town council and the citizens generally some months ago, and which it was estimated could not be carried into execution at less than some 240, OOOl. or 250, OOOl., has received its quietus. If the bridge is to be rebuilt, it is probable that its cost will be considerably under 200,000{.

Bu.-rntisland Docb.-The monthly meeting of the Burntialand Harbour Board was held yesterday. The Earl of Elgin presided, and there was a full attendance of the memuers. There were also present, representative of the \Vest of Fife coalma ters, Mr. Connel, of L och­gelly and Little Ra.ith; Mr. Mungall, of Cowdenbea.th and Lumphina.ns; Mr. Brownlee, of Lassodie; Mr. Nimmo, of Rosebank; and 1-Ir. Na.ismith, of D onibristle. Mr. Connel pointed to the fact that the dock accommo~atio~, both in respect of the area. and depth of wa~er, was ms~fli­cien t and urged u pon the Board the necesst ty of a.doptm g meas~res to provide increased facilities for the develop­ment of the Fife coal traffic. Mr. Mungall and others of the deputation emphasised the points referred to. A~ter the deputation retired, the B oard considered the .questiOn. In view of the different interests represented, 1t was finally agreed that a. conference bet~e~n the. town council and the directors of the North Bnttsb Railway Company be arranged, with a. view to con~ider what action should be taken to give effect to the v1ews expressed by the coal­masters.

Government Contract for Me33r3. T hom3on, Clydebank. - The contract for the re-engining of the third-cl~s battleship Sultan at Portsmouth has been placed With Measrs. J . and G. Thomson, Limited, Clydebank. The engines are t o be of the triple·expa.nsion type, and a.re to d e valop 6500 horse-power with natural and 8000 horse­power with forced draught.

====== NOTES FROM SOUTH YORKSHIRE.

Satn«l'IELD, W ednesday. Propo3ed New Railway from Sheffield to Bradford.-:-The

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

resent, to a great extenb, restricted to l~al supphes . ~he line from end to end runs throug~ the Sou~h York­shire coalfield, and new coalfields w1ll praot1ca.lly be opened out.

491

I ron Trade.-The business doing in the diatriot is very small, owing to fuel being at such prices that it is impossible to carry on operations exceptmg at very severe loss. The majority of the iron works have en­tirely suspended, but in a few instances a. day or two is worked where customers have to be obliged, and are willing to pay the high figures necessarily demanded. Very large orders for bar for India, South Africa., and Australia have been lost to the district, having for the most part been secured by Staffordshire and north country houses, and it is feared that some permanent damage has been inflicted on those branches of local industry. Nothing is doing in looal-made pi~ iron, foundrie~S that want sup­plies utilising Derbyshtre and other makes. All the furnaces hereabouts are damped down.

Steel and Engineering.- With very few exceptions, the large steel houst!s have practically done nothing for a month, as there is no coke-, or that obtainable is of too poor qualitr to be utilised. Prices asked also prevenb business bemg proceeded with. Inquiries to hand show that the demand for marine material is on the increase, but where deliveries are required at early dates, local firms are powerless to undertake the work. Engineering houses are suffering severely, and the workmen in theee combined branches are in ~reat distress. There are good orders in the market for boiler plates, tubes, and flues, but a. large portion of them are now being placed in Stafford­shire instead of here. Agents of Bessemer steel are simply selling from stock as the furnaces are blown out, and are doing little business. Orders for crucible cast steel are fa.lli o~ off from the United States, but improv­ing from Indta and some portions of South America. The steel trade will be one of the heaviest sufferers by the existing trade interruption.

NOTES FROM CLEVELAND AND THE NORTHERN COUNTIES.

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

fairly large attendance on 'Change here, but the market was cheerless in tone, and little business was transacted. Buyers were very shy, and would only .I.mrcha~e for early deLivery, believing that quotations are hkely to fall before long. Certainly prospects cannot Le described as other­wiee than gloomy and discouraging, and most people connected with the staple industry ar~ reluctantly com­p_elled to admit the outlook ~enerally is bad. Yesterday No. 3 g. m. b. Cleveland pig tron was sold at 34s. 9d. for prompt f.o.b. delivery, and there were a good few firms wil1ing to dispose of the ruling quality ab that price. The lower classes of iron were eaaier, but sellers were not inclined to accept less than 33s. 6d. for No. 4 foundry, and 32s. Gd. for grey forge. Middles­brough warrants opened 34s. nd. and closed 34s. 8~d. cash buyers. H ematite pig iron was pretty steady, and was said to be in fairly good reql1est. About 43s. 3d. was the price for early delivery of Nos. 1, 2, and 3 makers' oast coast brands. ~panisb ore was quiet, but un­altered in price. T o-day's market was very weak, with next to nothing doing. At the close, quotations were about 3d. easier for most qualities, but sellers of grey forge were not disposed to sell under 32s. 6d. No. 3 could be bought at 34s. 6d. MiddleRbrougb warrants opened at 34s. 6d. and closed 34s. 3~. cash buyers, but the closing quotation was nominal.

M a;n,ufacflu.red I-ron 011td Steel.-We regret hei ng unable to report favourably of these two important industries. Most establishments are still working pretty well, but they are getting through their contracts, and new orders are very difficulb to secure, notwithstanding the prevailing lo'Y quotations. Few fir~s would refu!e orders on the followms- terms: Common Jron bars, 4[. ~5s. ; b~st bars, 5l. 5s. ; 1ron ship·plates, 4l. 13s. 9d. ; tron sh~p­angles, 4l. 12s. 6d. ; steel ship·platea, 5t. ; and steel shlp­angles, 4t. 15s.--a.llless the usual 2~ per cent. discount for cash. Heavy sections of steel rai!CJ, 3/. 15s. net at works.

Sh-ipbuilding on the Teca.-Though the s~?ipbuild~ng retiurns for last month d id not show a very se~1o~s falhng off as compared with September last year, 1t 1s pretty evfdenb that on the lower reaches of the Teee, at any rate, work is very slack indeed. Twen~y.one vessels were launched on the T ees last month, and the gross tonnage amounted to 45,000, or over 18,000 .tons less than Septe~­ber, 1892. Only three vessels rema.tn on th~ stocks !"'t ~1r Raylton Dixon's yard. These vessels are m the ~mshmg stage, and six weeke will complet~ all the work .m hand. No. 2 shipyard belonging to S•r Raylton Dtxon a~d Co was closed at the back end of last year. The shtp· ya;ds at Stockton are pretty b~isk, t~ou~h it i~ .und.er­stcod that several vessels are bemg bmlt m ant1c1patton of the demand and almost the total com~le~ent of bands is employed. This accounts for the reductton. m the return of gross tonnage launched last month bemg compara· ti vely small, but this reduction i~ almost solely accounted for on the lower reaches of the nver.

The Fu.et Trade. -On N ewca.stle Exchange a. ~~d de· ma.nd for steam coal is reported, and best quaht1es are about 13s. f.o.b. Gas coal firm. Here blast· furnace coke is about 128. 6d. delivered.

NOTES FROM THE SOUTH-\VEST. &w.th Watcs Coal and Iron.-The ~bipmente of coal

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

•

492 --four ports in September amounted to: Foreign, 1,013,920 tons; coastwise, 223,660 tons. The shipments of iron and steel in Septemb~r were : Cardiff, 1048 tons; Newport, 1178 tone; Swansea, nil; Llanelly1 13~ tons ; total, 2239~ tons. The shi_pments of coke m September were: Cardiff, 4275 tons; Newport, 60 tons ; Swansea., 70 tons ; Lla.nelly, nil; t otal, 4345 tons. The shipments of patent fu el in September were: Cardiff, 22,685 tons; Newport, 1081 tons; Swansea., 32,312 tons; Llanelly, 11il; total, 56,078 tons. The aggregate shipments of coal from the four principal Welsh ports in the nine months ending September 30 this year were as follows: Cardiff, 8,293',1:&8 tons; Newport, 2,212,490 tons; Swansea., 1,138,492 tons; Llanelly,134,857 tons; total, 11,778,967 tons. The aggre­gate shipments of iron and steel from the four ports during the first nine months of this ye~r Wtlre: Cardiff, 23,945 tons; Newport, 13,838 tons; Swansea., 1227 tons; Llanelly, 25~ tons; total, 39,03~ tons. The aggregate shipments of coke were: Cardiff, 62,874 tone; Newport, 3779 tons; Swansea, 2033f tons; Llanelly, nil; total, 68,686! tons. The aggregate shipments of patent fuel were: Cardiff, 215,413 tons; Newport, 33,906 tons; Swansea, 248,943 tons; Lle.nelly, nil; total, 498,262 tons.

The T elephone at Deuonport.-The Lords of the Ad­miralty have decided on establishing a telephone exchange a.t the Royal Naval Barracks, Keyha.m, and the work will be completed in a. few weeks. The exchange will have communication with Admiralty House, Devonport ; Breakwater Fort, Bull Point; Cambridge, gunnery ship; commanjler-in-chief's offices at Mount W1se; Devonport and Kefbam dockyards; Defiance, torpedo school ship; Lion, training ship; the Longroom, Stonehouse; Naval Ordnance DepOt, Stonehouse; Royal Marine Barracks ; Royal William Victualling Yard, Royal Naval Hospital, and Royal Naval Engineering College, Keyham. The system will include a private wire embracing the whole of Devon and Cornwall, and going as far seaward as Rame Head. A separate room is to be provided for the Three Towns system.

New Ships at Portsnwuth.-The line-of-battle ship Revenge, built and engined by Messrs. Palmar and Co., arrived ab Portsmouth from Jarrow on Monday. On the passage round, the vessel attained an average speed of 13 knota, but no attempt was made to press the en­gines. The vess~l will now be prepared for her contract trials. The Royal Oak, another contract-built line-of­battle ship, has left Birkenhead for Portsmouth ; and the first-class cruiser St. George is to leave Hull on Saturday, also for P ortsmouth.

Ca.rdiff.-Steam coal has continued in good demand; the besb qualities have made 15s. to 15s. 6d., while secondary have brought 14s. 3d. to 14s. 9d. r.er ton. Good orders have been received for patenb fue. Household coal has been hardening in price ; No. 3 Rhondda large has made 13s. 6d. per ton. Coke has ruled £rm ; foundry qualities have made 20s. 6d. to 21s., and furnace, 18s. to 18s. 6d. per t on. The iron and steel trades have shown some improvement, the demand for some products having increased.

Plymouth Sound.-A steam dredger, to be employed in dredging Pl~mouth Sound, has commenced operattons off Devonport Dockyard. It will then dredge off Keyha.m, and complete the harbour work off Bull Point. The dredger was engaged for ten months by the London and South-Weetern Railway Company at Southampton, for deepening the channel for an Ame11ican line of steamers. The work ab Devonporb is likely to occupy three months, after which tha Sound will be dredged. The apparatus is fitted with two ladders, each having 32 buckets, and is capable of working to a depth of 40 fb. Allowing three minutes for a revolution of the ladder, 4000 tons of stuff can be hoisted in twelve hours.

MISCELLANEA. Ma. J. \VoLFE BARRY, M.I.C.E., has been elected

president of the Junior Engineering Society for the • ensumg year.

The laying_ of a submarine cable between New Cale­donia and Queensland has just been completed by a French company. The working expenses are guaranteed jointly by the French Government and those of New South Wales and Queensland.

A new pontoon dock, capable of raising and docking vessels of 5000 tons and 350 ft. long, was inaugurated ab Ellesmere, a port on the Manchester Ship Oanal, on ' Vednesday, The first vessel to use it was the three­roa-sted barque Beeswing, of P ortmadoc,

The Hamburg-American Steamer Company are going to add another large new steamer to their fleet. The steamer is t o ha. ve a tonnage of about 8000 tons, and will have twin screws. There is to be accommodation for 2500 third-clasa passengers! and the steamer is intended for the Hamburg-New York trade.

A renewal of activity in the matter of railway building is expected in Japan, where extensions and new lines, having an aggregate len~th of over 162 miles, are now under discussion, but at present two lines only have been approved by the authorities. In addition to the steam roads, two electric lines are also proposed, one of which will be 17 miles long, and the other about 12 miles.

\V ri ting in the J ournal des M int3, M . Daniel Ballot gives a. description of a copper mine in Sweden known as the Storer-Kopperberger, which has been worked practically continuously for over 800 years. It is mentioned in the old chronicles of 1228 as producing large rev~nues to its owners, and in the seventeenth century its oubpu~ varied from about 1300 to 3500 tons per annum. Since

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

then its output has fallen greatly, and in 1891 only 271 tons were produced.

The :{>rojected canal from Marseilles to. the River Rhone 1s receiving more and more attent10n a.t Mar­seilles where the growing transit trade of Genoa, and the r~pid development of such towns as Hamburg and Antwerp, are incitins- the comm.ercial world to show more enterprise. Owmg to the railway monopoly, other routes become every day more necessary, and the con­templated Rhone-Marseilles canal seems to possess so many advantages, that there is every reason to believe that the plan will be realised. The calculated cost is somewhat more than 3, 000, OOOl. According to the J>lan, it will go underground from Marseilles Harbour to .. Etan de Berre " the southern border of which it will follow to Martigu~s, from where the already existing canal to the small port, Port de Bouc, will be utilised. The new eanal will also, to a considerable extent, follow the present Bouc-Arles Canal, and finally enter the Rhone at Bras Mort. The length of the contemplated canal is about 35 miles.

The question of the removal of the buildings ab J ackson Park Chicago, at the olose of the E xhibition, is now under consideration. As yet no demand has arisen for any of the ironwork of the buildings, and it is possible that the whole may be sold for scrap. The salvage from the wood used will probably not be great, whilst the staff plaster, &c., will be of no use save for filling purposes. It is proposed to use this latter material for building a. hill or mound, or for making a number of small islands upon reefs in the lake a short distance from the shore.

Referring to the difference between English ~nd American practice in designing engines for warshtps, Commodore Melville, the chief of the Bureau of Steam E ngineering, U.S. Navy, recently stated the heating surface allowed for his practice was usually 2! square feet per indicated horse-power, and never less than 2 square feet, whilst in England as little as 1.3 square fee~ per indicated horse-power was sometimes allowed. With a view to working economically ab low powers, the lower pressure cy J inders on the Maine are forward, and can be disconnected, under which conditions the engines work as ordinary compounds.

In a. p_aper read before the American Institute of Mining Engineers on "The Microstructure of Steel," Mr. Albert Sauveur states that a polished and etched section of a steel rail, when examined under a microscope, does not by any means reveal in all its parts the same ~tructure. The want of uniformity exhibited is due to the different tamperatures at which different parts of the rail leave the finishing rolls and to the unequal rate of their subsequent cooling. The outside of the ra.il, being cold est, shows a smaller grain than the interior, and for a given chemical composition the crystallisation will be greater, the higher the finishing temperature and the slower the cooling.

The traffic receipts for the week ending October 8 on t hirty-three of the principal lines of the United Kingdom amounted to 1,412,94ll., which, having been earned on 18,388 miles, gave an average of 76l. 16s. per mile. For the corresponding week in 1892, the rec~ipts of the same lines amounted to 1,547,005l., with 18,199 milea open, giving an average of 85l. There was thus a decrease of 134,064l. in the receipts, an increase of 189 in the mileage, and a decrease of 8l. 4s. in the weekly receipts per mile. The aggregate receipts for fourteen weeks to date amounted on the same thirty-three lines to 21,466,98ll., in comparison with 23,128, 751l. for the cor­responding period last year; decrease, 1,661, 770l.

The followin~ comparative Table of the mercantile marine of Amenca and Great Britain is compiled from statistics presented at the recent Water Commerce Con­gress, Chicago, by Mr. Thoma-s J. Vivia.n:

U nited States. Great Britain. Vessels. Num- Ton- Num- Ton-

Engaged exclusively bar. nage. her. nag e.

in foreign trade . . . 686 Engaged in mixed

foreign and domes-tic trade .. . . .. 601

Engagerl exclusively in domestic trade 12,731

639,691 5, 968 6,595, 445

237,694 760

2,701,674 10,826

185,026

860,683

In a paper read before the semi-annual meeting of the New England Ootton Manufacturers, Association, Mr. W. S. Southworth states that the average life of the in­candescent lamps in use ab the Ma.ssachussetts Cotton Mills has been 1319 hours. The lamps are 510 in number, and the records extend over a period of four years. The lamps are of 20 candle-power, but it should be stated that they have up till within the last year been run at a volt or two below their designed voltage. Individual lamps have lasted very long; thus, one in the office safe has, he states, been burning more than 6200 hours, and is still in fair condition. The cost of the electric light at these mills is said to be equivalent to gas at about 3s. 6d. per 1000 cubic feet .

An extensive plant, capable of turning out 100 tons of Portland cement per week, has been erected by the Canadian Pacific Railway ab False Creek, Vancouver. The process used i8 the dry process, the raw materi~ls being limestone and clay, of which enormous quantities are within easy reach of the works. The materials are ground separately to pass a. 50 mesh, and are then mixed dry, after which samples are taken for analysis before passing the material into the "wet mixer," where 5 per cent. of water is added to the mass, and the moist material is then pressed into brick-shaped blocks by a moulding machine. These blocks are conveyed to a drying floor heated by waste heat from the kilns, &c. These latter are of the continuous type.

In a paper read before the American Congress of Engi­neers, Mr. N eukirch describes a method of grouting up quicksands, &c., by forcing in powdered cement, through a pipe lowered into the sand, by air pressure. The pipe used is about 1! in. in diameter, but is drawn to a point at its lower end, where there are three openings provided, each ~ in. in diameter. The upper end of the pipe is connected with an air pressure supply pipe by a rubber hose. An injector is provided, to wh10h the cement is fed, and meeting with the air blast, is driven with considerable pressure into the sand. The cement is retained by the wet sand, forming a kind of con­crete with it. The introduction of the tube in the first instance is facilitated by the use of the air jet, which clears the sand away from the point of the tube. \Vhen the pipe has reached a firm stratum, the cement is turned on, and the pipe slowly raised to the surface.

In a communication to the Boston Society of Cl vil Engineers, Mr. JamS! H. Harlow, M. Am. Soc. C.E., of Pittsburg, suggests tha.t too much water is usually mixed with the material in forming a puddle waJl. In several em bankmente for reservoirs built by him he bad adopted the practice of putting down the puddle dry, compacting it in thin layers by rolling with a grooved roller, but adding no water whilst this rolling was being done, as he thought that with a puddle wall constructed in this way the tendency, when the reservoirs was filled, would be for the puddle to swell and tighten up. In other words, in building an impervious earthen bank he would follow the same principle that leads a. carpenter to build a. wooden tank of dry lumber, rather than of green web stuff. On the other hand, Mr. Clemens HerscheJ, M. Am. Soc. C.E., advocates putting down the puddle moderately wet rather than dry, on the ground that more uniform work can be then obtained from unskilled labourers, although he did not doubt that earth could be rammed quite as coml?actly dry as it could be when wet. For makmg a watertight bank, Mr. Herscbel prefers gravel to clay, asserting that thPre was nothing that could be done by the latter which could not be done better with gravel.

Nxw BRITISH TonPEDO-BOAT Dx TROYERS.-Massrs. Thomycroft, of Chiswick, have received an order from the Admiralty for three torpedo-boat destroyers, which are to have a speed of 27 knots. They are larger than those now under construction. The Admiralty have also contracted with Messrs. Yarrow and Co. for the imme­diate construction of three more torpedo-boat destroyers similar to the two they have now in hand, and fully de­scribed in ENGINEEIRING, vol. lv., page 848. These new boats also are expected to have a very high rate of speed, and to have coal·carrying ca.pacity sufficient to secure a greatly extended radius of act10n.

NILE RESERVOIRS.-Tbe Egyptian Gazette announcee that the report of the Director-General of Reservoir Studies on the different schemes for a reservoir in Egypt will be completed in December. If the reservoir is form ed by a dam constructed across the river, it will not receive its supply during the flood, nor will it serve to control the river during dangerous floods, It is proposed to fill these reservoirs after the flood has ceased to come down, and before the stream has fallen below the reguired level. If Mr. Cope Whitehouse's ~cheme of utihsing the Wadi Raiyan is adopted, ad vantage may be taken of the large storage capacity offered by the basin, and it may be used as an outlet to receive the excess in years of dangerous inundation.

THE FIRST· CLASS GuNBOAT "HRBE.,- The official natural-draught trial of the new first-class gunboat Hebe, built and engined at Sheerness Dockyard under the Naval Defence Act, took place in the North Sea on Tues­day, the 17th inst., under the superintendence of officials representing the Admiralty and the Medway Dock­yard Reserve. The machinery of the Hebe wa..~ tested on a continuous run of eight hours' duration, and was subjected to the same conditions as machinery supplied and fitted by private firms. The results were very satis­factory, the trial passing off without the slightest bitch . The engines were designed to indicate 2500 horse-power under natural draught, but the mean results for the eight hours' run gave 2690.7 horse-power, with a. speed of 17.8 knots. These results were attained with an average steam pressure of 144 lb., and with the engines working at 221 revolutions per minute.

CATALOOCE.-We have received from ~Iessrs. Buck and Hickman, of 280 and 281, Whitechapel-roa.d, London, a copy of their new catalogue of American machinery, which contains illustrated and fully-priced descriptions of a. large variety of lathes, milli[)g machines, emery grinders, and smaller tools.-Mr. F. \V. Stanley, optician, of the Great Turnstile, Holbom, has just issued a new edition of his well-known catalogue of drawing and surveying instruments. This catalogue, which h&S long been one of the mosb complete published, has had several additions made to it, some of Mr. Stanley's most recent improvements being illustrated and described. - The catalogue issued by Messrs. J. Stone and Co., Deptford, London, is devoted to a description of Stone's bronzes as applied to the construction of screw propellers and work of a. similar nature. Particulars of tests of these bronzes by Professor A. K. Huntington, of King's College, are appended.

OcT. 20, 1 89 3·] ENGINEERING. 493

CROSS-CUTTING POWER SAW. CONSTRUCTED DY ~fESSRS. F . \V. REYNOLDS AND CO., ENGINEERS, LONDON.

--

. -'""- - --- -

WARD'S METALLIC PACKING.

Fc.g .1.

J Rod---·

ff f A

16SO

THE metallic gland packing which we illustrate on this page is due to Mr. S. A. \Va rd, engineer, Tudor­place, tibeffield, and has been applied by him to a number of steam engines and stea m hammers during the last two years. H is applicable to any ex isting stuffing-box, without necessitating any alterations to the la tter, and is claimed to work efficiently and without special attention for long periods of time. Referring to our engravings, Fig. 1 r epresents a longi­tudinal section through the stuffing-box, Fig. 2 a plan of the same, and Fig. 3 a cross section through the packing pieces.

These packing piece , which are marke(l E in t he engravings, sur round the rod A, a nd a re cone-shaped ~t their lower ends. 0\•er this coned port ion a hoop G 1s fitted, which is pressed up against the packing pieces by a pair of spiral springs ; one eud of each of these springs abuts against the Lottom of the stuffin g-box D, whilst their ot her ends H are let into holes in the h?OP G. The jointR between the fo ur main pa.cku.1g ple~es E are made good by the triangular pieces F , wb1cb are arranged as shown in Figs. 1 and 3. The ends of tbe packing pieces are all turned up square, and abut against the cover G, with which they make a st~m-tight ~oint. As the p1cking wears away , the t rmngular pLeces F are pressed in wards towards the rod, and maintain a con tant fi t , both with it a.nd with the main packing pieces E. The springs holding up the hoop G may be very light, ns a t most they have to maintain the tightness of the packing agains t the atmospheric pressure in a condensing eng ine, and con ­sequently there is but little friction, t he more especially as the packing pieces ar e made of an t i -fric tion metal.

Fig . 2.

Fcg .3

The small stuffing-box shown on the cover C Fig. 1 and in Fig. 2, is intended to ta ke a couple of 'turns of ! -in. common packing , with a. view t o cleaning the rod from dust, and in the case of s team hammers t o keep back the water a.t s tart ing when all is cold.

1

This box is, however, not essential, and may be omitted without affecting _the _tightn~ss of. the main pac~ing. Where the P.ackmg 1s reqmr~cl m halves, spec1al springs ar e subst1tuted for_the sp1ral ones shown. The wearing parts, or sect1ons, are made of the the best anti­friction metal, a nd no special care is necessary iu lubri­cating. A joint is made upon the end of the stuffing­box, and the packing cannot be ta mpered with or scr ewed up tight ; therefore the friction on the rod is always at a minimum.

2\Ir. \\r ard has fixed a la rge number of these packings, all of which are doing well. Some tha t have been in constant work for the last three years show very little signs of wear. On s team ha mmers in Sheffield they have g iven great satit~faction, and it must be admitted t hat this is a. severe test. One of their great ad van· tages is tha t a careless or ignorant man cannot screw up the g land violently in order t o stop a small leak of s team or water. This fertile cause of grooving and cut t ing of the rods is thus completely a voided.

CROSS-CUTTING POWER SAW. TnE cross-cutting sawil1g machine which we illustrate

on this page has been cons tructed by Messrs. F. \V. R eyuolds and Co., Southwark, London, S.E. As will be seen, it is belt driven, and can accordingly be worked by any portable engine, thus allowing trees t o be cut

-

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

I

INDUSTRIAL NOTES. TRAD~ and labour during September were eom­

pl;t~ly ?vershadowed by the great dispute in the coal­mmmg mdust ry. So says the ..Labow· Ga:.etle, and the same fact remains through the first half of October. The effect upon. industry has been p ret ty general in all branches, but 1t has been gradual also. Had it not ~een for the co~l strike, it is thought that a. slight Improvement might have been recorded this month. Of the total of 32 societies reporting, with an agg re­gate membership of 335,265, no fewer than 24,355, or. 7.3 per cent., were unemployed, as compared w1th 7.1 per cent. in the previous month. The actual percentage is not great compared with the returns for the whole of the las t twelve months. It has not, however, fallen so low as at the end of Aug ust, 1892, while it has reached the level of last ye.ar earlier in the autumn. The shipbuilding indus­tnes ~ave rather receded than advanced, for the signs of rev1val of two months ago have not been maintained. The several engineering branches also have declined the percent.age out of work being greater by 1. 3 pe; cent. than It waR at the end of August. There is also a slight increase in the number out of work in the building trades. The number of disputes recorded shows a decrease, but the total number of workers in­volved was t olerably large, quite apart from those connected with the dispute in the coal trade. An increase in wages is reported in the building trades at Southampton, Glasgow and other places in Scotland a.nd in Dublin; aleo in connection with some engineering branches at Bolton, for seamen at Bristol and London in the textile trades a t places in Lancashire, among the boot and shoe makers at Leicester aud Bristol corporation employes at Nottingham, and some othe; indus tries. On the other hand, there have been reduc­tions in wages in the sbipbuildiug trades at ~fiddles­brough, for smiths a t Belfast , st eelworkers, seamen a t various ports, labourers, and others. R ed uctions in the working hours have taken place in five branches of industry.

---The report of the Ironfounders for October shows

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

•

494 E N G I N E E R I N G. [OcT. 20, 1893. ~==========================================================~~======~~ conditions described as "a bad state of trade. , It is admitted that to a. large extent t he less healthy condi­t ions o.re the result of the coal d ispute ; fuel being scarce a.nd dear, many works have stopped until the price of fuel is down t o its norma.llevel. The I ron­founders ' ociely have \'Oted for a sixpenny levy for the miners, and suggest ions are made for a further le,·y to relieve the d tstress among their own members. The presaure of t he depression in this branch of trade has lasted so long that a. large number have outrun the limit of donation benefit, so t hat something must be done to keep them from actual pauperism, a. thing a lmost unknown in the history of t he union , as regards its own members.

The condit ions of trade in the districts covered by the Associated Blacksmiths' Society are not so bad as in some other d istricts, but many of the members have been suspended from work in consequence of disputes in other branches of trade, as, for examp le, on the Clyde by the joiners' disputes, followed by a lock.out. There are a. large number of orders for new shipping on the Clyde, estimated by .Mr. Inglis as 208,000 tons, as against 142,000 tons last year at the same date. But it is said that the orders are not so w idely distri­buted as some desire that they should have been. Some yards are over-full , others rather slack. ''7ith the exception of Belfast, the union is fairly free from labour disputes in all its branches.

---By the close of last week the coal d ispute had under­

gone a. material change. Medical men tell us that if a complaint is subject to changing moods, t here is less danger of its becoming chronic. In the coal d ispute t here was for a. long time a deadlock. Then the scene shifted. Offers to go in a.t the old rates were accepted by the men, and thousands resumed work. But still t he attitude of the two parties was nearly the same­no reduction by the men; 25 per cent. reduction by the coa.lowners. Then came offers of mediation. The mayors of heffield and other towns brought the two parties together, and adroit ly left them to themselves to cHscnss te rms. The coeJowners seem to have with­drawn from the old posi t ion of 25 per cent., and to ha.,·e offered to assent to 15 per cent. This was agreed to hy a couference of the coalowner s on tLe following day. The t erms were not t he same as t hose suggested at the mayoral conference, but t he whole at::pect of the d ispute was changed by the Derby offer. 1'he one clear point which seems to h;~.ve been gained is that w hereas the 25 per cent. was declared to be t he amount which would ma ke mining profi table, the 15 per cent. would not. vVhcre then is the true test in this case ? I t appears the conditions of profit and loss have undergone a change. Higher prices have lifted the whole industry into another sphere. It is very eviden t tha t the public sympathise more and more w ith the men in proportion as they realise the exact amount of the reduction proposed. The average would seem to be about 5d. per ton. But 5d. is a. trifle compared with the rise iu prices of nearly three times the total value of the coal at the pits. The d if­ference in the rates of wages, compared with the differ­ence to the consumer, is raising a. lot of ugly questions as to the ownership of the minerals, of royalt ies on the minerals, and the possible action of the Legislature in the future on these anrl some other points.

It is very d ifficult t o get at the exact number of men who ha,·e resumed work at the old rates, but the following figures are an approximate calculation up to the beginning of this week. I n t he Mi?land Federa­tion 2 1,650 have returned to work, wh1le 28,350 are still out; in Nottinghamshire 13,700 have returned to work while 4300 are s till out; in Cumberland 7000 hn.ve 'returned t o work, none out; in Derbyshire 6200 have r eturned to work, while 23,800 are still out; in Yorkshire 5000 have r eturned to work, while 80,000 a.re still out ; in Lancashire 4000 have r eturned to work while 65 500 are still out; in North " Tales 1700 have' r e turned to work, while 9300 are etill out. This gives 59,750 at work, and 211,250 out on strike. The above figures are exclusive of the Forest of Dean men, who re turned to work at a. r eduction, of the outh \V ales men under the sliding ~cale, of the ta.ffordshire men under contract, of the Durham and Northumber­land men and of the Scottish miners. Assuming the above fig~res to be t olerably exact, it would appear that out of a total of a ll the persons employed in and about the co~l mines of ' reat Britain, 211,250 a re idle, as compared with a total a.ll t old of 663,462, or, say, about one-third idle. Or, if we take England and Wales about 211,250 are id le out of 574,454, the aggregate nnmber employed of all kinds in and about t he mines. The large increase in the total employed is seen by t he fact that in 18( 6 t he total w~s 519,106, and in 1 !)2 the total was 663,462, or an m crease of 144-,356, or 27. per cent., in se\·en years. Thi~ty-five n ew mines ha\ e been sunk or reopened durmg the past month, and two have been .closed or ~ba~doned. Of the new collieries, eight are m \Vales, s1x m Sco.t· land six in Lancashire, three in Durham, three m D erbyshire, a.nd three in S.taff?rdshire, while there is a.n increase of one each 1n s1x other places. The

•

new pi ts will require workers, and if the dtma.nd for coal should increase, by a revival in the general trade of the coun t ry, there will be 1ittle ditHculty in the men maintaining the rate of wages which will u ltimately rule a.s a re3u lt of t he presen t prolonged dispute.

The conditions under which the miners are now working are Yery various. In most of the federation d istricts the men have gone back on the old t erms. I n the Forest of Dean t hey went to work at t he reduc­t ion of 25 per cent. But they have got back a.n ad ­vance of 15 per cent. , so that t hey are now only 10 per cent. below the highest a.\rerage rates. In Cumberland the application of the men for a further advance was refused; but at " ' hitehaven the dispute, a fter lasting six weeks, was ended by the men going in to work at t he old ra.tes, with the promise that, if it were found that they were underpaid, the balance would be made up to the full 40 per cent. above the standard of 1888.

In D urham the men made an applica t ion for a.n advance. The matter was considered a.t a conference of the men's representat ives and of the coalowners, and the meeting adjourned. Three days afterwards the latter offered a conditional special ad \'ance for a lim ited period of three months. This offer the r epre­sentath ·es of the men refused . The matter will be considered by t he men in their various districts before any fu rther action is taken.

I n Monmouthshire t he men are working under an ad vauce of Ht per cent., or at 1 2~ per cent . above the scale of 1879. This applies generally to South " 'ales and North Wales, and affects some 90, 000 men. But in Fliutshire it only applies to some collierie~ .

] n Clackmannan a.nd Fife about 500 are working at an advance of 1 2~ p er cent. In ~lid and East Lothian the men are working at an a.ch·ance of 10 per cent. I n some other districts advances have also been conceded.

The men who are at. work on the old ra.tes of wages in the federation districts are paying the levies toler ­ably well. Bnt in some district s the men desire the levies to go to the men in the immediate neighbour· hoods. 1'o this the federation disagrees, as, in the opinion of the agents, all should share a like. This is t he r eal princip le of federation. On the other ha.nd, some d istricts have suffered more than others, as the funds were sooner exhausted, aud human nature sug­gest.cd looking near home first. Rut, on the whole, t here appear s t o be general loyalty to the rules of t he federation, both as to the return to work and as to the payment of the levies as agreed t o at the Birmingham conference.

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

- --In the heffield and Rotherham district trade is bad,

owing to the coal dispute mainly. The armour plate trade is at a standstill, and has been for weeks. 'l'hreP firms of st eel smelters have been wholly idle, and several others partia lly so. It is estimated that fully 60 per cent. a re out of employment, while the r e· ma.indcr are most ly on short time. The wire trade is similarly circumstanced, about one-third having been out of work for weeks, with no prospect of going back t o work till the coal strike is over. 'fhe eng ineering and implement trades are also very slack, being in work a week and out a week, except in repair cases, in which some are engaged d uring stoppages in other iml ustries. In the cutlery trades about 10 per cent. are unem­ployed, and many others are on s hort t ime. The file trade generally is quiet , while engineers' tool makers and joiners' tool makers are ,·e;y short of ~ork. .The miscellaneous branches of unsktlled or pa.rt1ally sktlled labour are in a. worse condition than any of the above.

---In the Cleveland district generally a downward

movement \Vas observable all last week in the iron and steel market. T hedisputesat the steel worksa.tDarling­t on, affecting GOO men, and of the platers' helpers at Thorna.by, invoh·ing some 240 men, have been settled; a.nd some arrangements have been f!l&.de a~ to the ~se of the ratchet machines. T here 18 a. d18put e w1th

the p lumbers a.t two establishments in the Hartlepool distric t, and there is some friction between the stone­masons and the bricklayers a t some of the blast fur­naces as to the kind of work which each class or section may do.

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

---I n the Birmingham district the general state of trade

is dull. But brassworkers are busier, especially in gtts fittings and chandeliers. o also are electric light workers in the fittings department. In the engineering branches there is a. slackening off in nearly all cases, evE'n in the gas·engine branches. H eavy ir on work is in demand for bridges, boilers, girders, tanks, &c., with the prospect of a. good winter's work. H eavy chain and anchor makers are also busy. Tube workers a.nd galvanised iron workers a re fairly busy, but rail ­way work is very dull. The miscellaneous trades of the district a re dull generally ; in several the depression is deepening, but in a few things are looking up, On the whole, howe,•er, if the coal dispute were settled the general out look of trade is not bad, though rather quiet; in some, general activity would be the result.

I n t he Leeds district the engineering trades, the iron and steel trades, and some other industrifs, are partially unemployed, by reason of the coal dispute. Otherwise the engineering t rades show signs of im­proYement. Partial suspension, or short time, has been r esorted to in consequence of the ecarcity and dearness of fuel, other\\ ise the engineering t rades would ha,·e been a.t work. The puddlers have been out of work for weeks, a.nd ironfounders have only been working about a. cCJuple of days per week at some of the firms.

In the Belfast district trade is not quite so brisk as it was, but only about 5 per cent. are unemployed. In the shipping, engineering, and all cognate branches of trade there are signs of slackening off, but not seriously. The linen trades are d ull, about 9 per cent. being out of work. But in the building trades only 2.8 per cent. are unemployed . In eighteen of the miscellaneous trades of the district only 119 are out of wor k , out of a. total of 404 7 m em hers of the several societies. This is fairly good.

The unemployed question affects t he unskilled trades more than any other. All suffer to an extent in t imes of depression, but the unskilled suffer the most. This is a. lesson to be learned and to be applied.

kill is the great passport to employmen t , a.ncl the lees skilled are the first to go to the wall. A n .nues to employment ar e open to the skilled mechanic, or even to the skilled labourer, when all doors are closed to the unskilled. But the problem is too far-reaching to be here d iscussed. ociety can do something, but the individual workman can do more towards a cure.

DREDGING OPERATIONS ON THE MERSEY BAR.*

By ~fr. ANTliONr GEOHGE L r s TER, !vi. Inst. C.E. (Concluded from p age 452.)

Tars varia tion in material was found to be considerable, a.s, although the bar, so far a.s it has been probed, is found to consist mainly of free sand overlying the bed of the sea., the s~n.d varied in its degree of coarsene~s accord­ing to 1ts pos1t1on; that on the outer slopes be10g fine t and mixed with mud, and the coarsest a.nd cleanest sand being found on the inner slopes, whence it graduated outwards to the fi ne material of the sea. face.

(Specimens of the sand were shown to th~ Congre s, and the positions from which the various samples were taken were indicated on the chart by letters.)

The best percentage of sand raised a.t any time with

* Pa_per read before the I nternational Maritime Con­gress, London, July, 1893.

OcT. 20, 1 893.]

the origioa.l dredgers was found to be about 45 ; and at the rate of filling mentioned above-viz , 500 tons in 25 minutes-the p ercentage of sand must have averaged more than 25.

On several oc~sions, in s.Pite of the guards, large pieces of solid material, such as chokers, concretP, a nd even iron shackles, passed through the pump, without apparently doing it any harm. In one case a small iron buoy sinker, weighing 20 lb., was brought np by one of the pumps.

It was at firs t considered probable that the dredgers would be able to work whilst steaming slowly ahead, but it was found that the suction · pipe im bedded itself t o such an extent t hat the propellers fa iled to move the ves~els, and eventually the bes t course was found to be to work the ,·essels at anchor.

Two sites, illustrated on the chart (see page 451 an te), were sanctioned by the Conser vator of the M ersey for the dumpin~ of material raised. These are situated about three m1les from the point at which the operations had to be ca.rried on, and the time occupied in going and coming was generally three-quarters of an hour.

The dredgers are capable of dredging to a depth of about 36ft. in smooth water, and their combined " ork per month, as will be seen from the Appendix I ., ranged from a minimum of 10,360 tons in D ecember, 1891. to a maximum of 174,160 tons in A pril of this year, this latter being equivalent to about 4! loads per dredger for ea<;h tide during the month, which, consider ing that the avail­able time for dredging by theee vessels is from half ebb to half flood-namely, on an average about six hours-may be regarded as a very remarkable result, and such as could not have been achieved had the weather not been exceptionally good.

The total amount removed, as measured by hopper loads from the commencement of work to the end of June in the present year, was 2,438,710 tonl!, and this was made up in the following manner :

T ons. From Septembt-r, 1890, to end of Jun~. 1891* ... . . . ... • •• 319,550

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

From J a.nua.ry 1, 1892, t o Jun e 30, 451,390 1892t • • • . .. • • • • •• • • •

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

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

Total ... • • • • • • ... 2, 438, 710

The diagram (Fig. 6) shows t he proportion of hourR worked as compared with t ime los t f rom various ca.u~es during the twelve months endin~ June 30, 1893. The various tints indicate (1) the actual number of hours worked during the whole period over which operations have been carried on ; (2) that lost through bad weather ; (3) that occupi~d in rep~irs; ( 4) resting time and holidays; and (5) the ttme dunng wh10h the level of the water was unsuitable for these dredgers .

Everyendeavourwa.sma.deto do the maximum work; b:ut with vessels of this cla.ss, only 150 ft. long, the weather ts, of course, an important factor in their working; and it is found that a moderate swt>ll or wind (numeral 5 Beaufort 's acalt>, from any direction bet~een . W.S.W. a nd N.~. ) is sufficient to endanger the suct10n -p1pe, and so necess1tates the stoppage of work.

The most risk occurs during spring tides, when there is a. strong current, ca.using a. sh ear by which the dredge~s are apt to be brought across and. bea~ down u~on th.etr pipes. Great care has to be exer01sed m the mampul_at10n of the suction·pipe under such circumstances, and it ts a.ll­importan~ that an observant and ready man be employed for this duty.

The pipes have, indeed, been ~roken several times, ~nd such occurrences p erhaps const1tute the most ser1ous breakdowns, although t here have been others of minor importance, such as must inevitably happen in such work.

No work is done on Sundays: and " resting time " in­cludes Sundaya and certain hours after the dredgers leave their work on Saturdays and before they get to work on Mondays, these hours varying according to the t ime of the tide of the day.

As regards results achieved, the least depth on the navigating line across the bar before the dredging opera­tiong were commenced was, according to the chart pub­lished in 1890, 11 ft. at low water equinoctial spring tides ; whilst, according to the soundings t aken early in June of ~his year, 1893, the minimum depth along the line of dredging wa~ 18 ft. 3 in. under the same condition of tide.

The Append ix II. gives the number of hours per annum during which there would be 26 ft. of water and upwards on the bar if maintained at its presen t depth; also t he greatest number of consecutive tides during which this condition prevails throughout the tide, and finally the ~eatest number of consecutive hours during which there tsless than 26 ft. of water on the bar .

As regards cost, the work has been carried out a.t a. c_ost of 1. 38d. per ton, which includes all wages, coal, repatrs, and expenses on the dredsers, but no charges for interest and depreciation or supermtendence.

The condition of things referred to as obtaining in June of this year had been practically achieved at the com­mencement of 1892, and has continued ever since with minor fluctuations, the existing plant having apparently failed during more than fi fteen months of pers istent dredging to do more than maintain the depths achieved, and this in spite of the fact that its rate of dredging has

* " No. 5" dredger did not commence work until April, 1891.

t Four months out of this time ''No. 7 , was not a.t work from various causes.

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

be-en largely increased during the t ime named ; in fact, out of the total quantity of 2,438, 710 tons removed. 1, 781,710 tons have been removed since the beginning of 1892.

This s tatement, of course, only applies to increase in depth on the navigating line, to which the d redging work is practically confined.

Fig. 6. OIUOQ/N() OP£/IATIOHS 1"0/f YEAH £/Y/JINC JO!It JUNE 'SJ. ~-::1

Time tfurtnj w/uch the lrve/ q/' l't!QtJzr WQ.S U/IGIIdaiJ/e _sMwn t/11/S

H~st.~ny ~me ' e. Soturtltl)' o flcmoons 6 Suntla.f" . ,. h..,... lime lost owm!/ to repatr.s . . . . . • . , T1me lo.st. ll1rou!JI1 bet/ wtt~lllv. . . .. __ •. _ •. _. . • • • " • Acluol b m f!. workttl . . .• _ . • . . . • • • . . . . • • • . v

lAw

•

N '! I . ---

N~ 2 . --~-~";'1 H-I - -

I

• I

• '

•

• • • • •

A l'fK· S· •

....

------------. ~~----~r----• I ,

------------', _\;.___ ______ !-----. / ' •

W/110$ J'C'R 20 YEARS. NumW of' hours tluring 1vhicll th~ wind 6/ew li-Dm roch of" lh IG clu'Q

pctnt:', qre ut off · . The aw:rr~ge vd«il:lt!3 in milu hout; are .set all roatol(y ll-om the

ci r .:umli!rencc

Fig. 8.

:856 c;

The effect, however, has no doubt been realised in the extension laterally of the deepened channel. .

F rom the section along the crest of the bar m Fig. 7 it will be seen that a very great w:id~h has been effected-viz., 6000 ft. ; but unfortunately 1t 1s not pos­sible t o t ake extended observations sufficiently freq_uentl.Y to enable a periodical comparison to be made m th~s direction, and so it cannot be stated to what e.xte~t this improvement has prevailed, though the exa.mmat1~n of the periodical surveys indicates that the depths on e1ther

•

•

495 side in the immediate neighbourhood of the sailing hne have s teadily improved. . .

There are other evidences which support thu vtew of the case; these are supplied by the obser vations of ~urrent which have been taken from t ime to time, and wh tcb a~e given on the Table appended to this paper {Appendix 1 I I . ).

From the improvement vidible in these it would appear that the deepening of the bar has attracted a larger volu_me of water t o its outlet, and the improved current is a.sslst­ine- to maintain the ad vantage gained by dredging, and thts also seems pro,·ed by the fact that in the winters of 1891 and 1892, when there were considerable periods, extending in one instance to about six weeks, in which pract ically no d redging could be done, there was little or no diminution of depths obser vable a.t the end of that time.

In any case, however, the operations of th~ two smaller dredgers have for a long time past failed to increase the effective depth, and it has therefore become necessa ry to increase the power of the dredgine- plant.

Accordingly, a dredger of an Improved type h as been constructed, capable of carry ing 3000 tons of sand, and ofloa.ding herself in 45 minutes.

It is a.nticipa.t ed that, taking into con~ideration her increased power, size, a nd steadiness, and an alteration in the posi tion of t he dumping site, which has recently been sanctioned by the Conser vator, she will Le able to remove about seven t imes as much as the exis ting craft do at present; so that if these latter be retained at the work, as is the expressed intention, the rate of progre~s in future will be fully eight times what it has been in the past, and under such conditions it is t o be antici pated that before long a d epth of channel of at least 26 ft. will be availa ble a.t low water spring tides from L iverpool to the sea.

It will not be out of place, in relating the circumstances under which this work has been prosecuted, to offer some observations on the laws which govern the creation of bars, and the forms which they assume.

The general physical features of the river ha. ve already been described; the sources on which it depends for its maintenance are the fresh water from the uplands and the currents induced by the t :da.l wave.

These latter, though not the prime, ar~ the prepon· derating influence. The flow of an average tide past New Brighton amounts to 500,000,000 cubic yards, while t he volume of the fresh water delivered into the estuary, chiefly by the M ersey and W eaver, is estimated at between 2, 000,000 and 3, 000,000 in 12 hours.

It is evident, t herefore, tha.b the scouring operations in the estuary initiated by the land waters are very lar~ely reinforced and accentuated by the action of the t tdal currents, and this is more particulatly the case at the bar.

Were it nob for these forces (as has already been pointed out), the bight forming Liverpool Bay would becvme entirely sanded up by the action of the winds and waves on the sands, with which both neighbouring coasts are so plentifully covered.

The coursing of the wa ters, however, through this aro of sand has defined a broad and deep channel between Liverpool and the sea, which has, for nearly its entire length, sufficient depth to admit the largest vessel~ un~er all conditions of tide, and only at the bar or t ermmatwn of t his channel does serious shallowing take place.

Though in most navigable rivers the bar is the ruling and limiting factor in their navigation, and vast s sums of money have been spent in attempts- not ~way~ s:uccesafl;ll -to do away with many of these obstruct10ns, 1t 1s a cun ous fact that the causes which lead t o the formation of such barriers are so little unders tood, a nd in many cases so greatly misunderstood. ~he .most general explanati~ms given are th~t the obstructiOn 1s ~reated by the neutrahsa · tion of the r1 ver currents by the mert water of the sea, or by the force of opposing waves.

A s regards the first of th~se theor ies, I think it wil~ be ob vious to most people that 1t cannot hold ~oo~ for a ~1da.l river where the current flows alternately m e1ther duec­tion, inasmuch as each point in its l ength becomes in its turn a neutral point with the rerurrence of high and low water so that the duration of slack or dead water at the outlet' of the river, where the bar is t o be found, does not exceed that at any other portion of its length which is subject to tidal influence.

The suggestion that the wave force destroys t he current at the line of a bar, which has been put forward by profes­sional men, and on which theory in one instance a work of extraordinary o~iginality was designed and p~opose~i luckily without bemg adopted, seems to my mmd st1l more unsatisfactory. Were such a theory correct, there would cE\rtainly be, during t he long intervals of repose and freedom from storms which occur in most ri vera, a. much greater reduction of bar level than is obser vable.

But the best proof of the inaccuracy of ~he~e theories l ies in the fact that no abnormal loss of velo~1ty m the cur­rent is noticeable on the line of the bar; on the contrary, the veloci ty of the ebb ~ide_in t~e .case of t~e Merse;v bar is very considerable.outstd.e 1ts h m1ts, an~ 1s appre~:nable at the N. W. lightship, a dtstance of 11 mtles from 1ts crest. At the M ersey bar itself the velocity of ~he eb~ amo~nts t o nearly 3 statute miles per. hour on h1gh sprmg t~des, and 1~ miles on n eaps, a nd thlB, as has been determmed by obser vation, is only lost by slow degrees.

T he forto however, which the obstruction takes b eing of a purely' local and comparatively. abrupt character, does not lend itself to any explanatiOn based upon so gradual a. reduc:tion of v_elocity as is noticeable, and the explanation of 1ts format10n must be sought elsewhere.

rro thoroughly appr~ciate the c~usea whic~ bri~g about the formation of bars m the pecuhar shape m whtch they are formed it will be well t o consider the simplest form of channel' coursing through banks of sand free from alluv ial or cementitious substance, and with which the

contour lines of the outer slop es of the sand banks form a rig_l!t angle (Fig. 7).

Under such conditions the general fall or slope of the banks will be radially from apices near the centre of their areas on either side of the channel, and their slopes will be considerably increased in the immediate neighbourhood of the channel. The intersection of a channel of the sec­tion shown on the diagram with the outer slopes of the banks would, if it were affected by human agency, and a. uniform section maintained throughout, result in a " groyne" or curved line of intersection represented by AB C.

'Vhen, however, as in the case of rivers, the formation of the outlet of the channel is effected by hydraulic agency, it must, as a result of natural laws, take a dif­ferent form. Supposing the volume retained by the ohannel to be confl ta.nb throughout its length down to a. l ine of section drawn acr0ss the channel from A to C , it will be obvious that below that point the waters which it carries can escape latera lly across the line of intersection A B C before referred to; consequently, if a. number of secti,n~ be considered between A, C, and B , there will d early be less water available for the maintenance of each successive section between those points; and taking in t'l c:msideration the relations of the velocity and ma­terial in SllSp ension, there must be, as a consequence, a gradual reduct ion of sectional area, and consequently a rise of the bottom of the channel between A C and B . This rise of thb bottom in the centre must also of n eces­si ty be followed by a rise of the sides of the channel, in order that its cross profi le in this length may accord with or be similar t ) that obtaining in the rest of its coursE>, the nature of the material in which ib is formed being a.<!sumed to be similar throughout, and the velocities at different points in its transverse section varying s imilarly. The result of this action is seen in the formation of a ridge or mound along the curved line forming the inter· section of the outer slopes of the banks and the inner slopes of the channel, which constitutes a serious '>bstruc­tion to n avigation, and which is designated the river bar.

The extent of this shoaling will be such that the outlet will be capable of discha rging in a fan-like direction along the curved line of i t s crest in any given space of time the water which the channel at A C can discharge in an equal time.

On comparing Fig. 7, which may be regarded as repre­senting an ideal bar, with that showing the actual bar of the M ersey, ib will be at once obvious that, although the general features of both may be regarded as suffi­ciently similar to juetify the theory advanced, further explanation is required of the dissimilari ty which is ev1dent.

In the diagram an ideal condition of affairs has been assumed, which of course could never obtain in nature, the principal disturbing e lements being wind and waves. Storms play a very important part in the "formation1"

as well a.s "!~cation," of banks such as those found m L iverpool Bay, and the dis torted form of the horseshoe­ehaped ridge called the bar is undoubtedly largely d ue to this infiuence. L ooking at the comparative amount and direction of the wind forces affenting the ba.y, as shown by the wind diagram, Fig. 8, it will be seen that those blow­ing through an arc axtending from W. by S. to W.N. W . are most powerful. If to this consideration be added the fa.ct thab the greatest '' fetch >~ is to be found through the same 3.rc, it will be at once seen that the banks and bar are most liable to d isturbance from such causes acting through the arc named. A s materia l is brought down by the current through the Queen 's channel, the tendency of prevailing winds and waves would be t o deflect i t rather to the north side of the bar, where, as the current dimi­nished, it would be gradually deposited. The very con­siderable change in the d irection of the Crosby channel, which is noticeable from the Crosby S hip outwards, is no doubt in a. large measure due to the tendency of prevail­ing winds and waves to build up the leeward aide of the channel, and thus gradually to cause ib to align itself in the direction of the prevailing opposing fornes.

In conclusion , I think it will be agreed tha.b very con­siderable results have been obtained ab the Mersey Bar, and that with the improved dredger which is now being set to work there is every hope that a deep channel from the sea to Liverpool at all conditions of tide will very shortly be obtained.

APPKNDIX I. Quantity of Sand Dredged at Queen's Channel Bar, from

Commencement, SepternlJer, 1890, to J une 30, 1893. September, 1890 (part month), one dredger at

work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . October, 1890, one dredger at work . . . . November, , .. , . . . . December, .. 11 , • • ••

J a nu 'l.ry, 1891 , ., . . . . ltebruary, , , 11 , • • • •

March, , ,, ., . . · · April, 11 two drE'dgers at work . . . . ltlay, ,, , , . . . · June, 11 , , .. ..

July, .. , 11 • • • •

August, , ., ., . . . . September, , , , . . . . October, ,. ,. ,, . . . . No\·ember, , , , . . . . December, , . , , . . . . J e.nuary, 1892, one dredger at wot k . . . . Z.'ebruary, ., tw~ dredgers at work . . . . March, , , , . . . . April, .. one dredger at work . . . . ltla.y, 11 .. 11 • • • •

June, , ,, ,, . . . . July, , two dredgers at work . . . . August, , , , . . . . September, 11 , , • • • •

October, , , , · · · · November, ,. ,. , . . . . December, , , . . . .

Tons. 11,180 20,510 20,340 27,620 31,080 31,310 11,280 46,970 61,440 88,820 66,981) 42,570 63,810 64,9!0 68,790 10,360 21,460 96,960

149,930 62,740 68,1 20 5Z, l bO

115,880 119,220 52,800

115,200 133,92() 80,620

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

January, 1893, two dredgers at work • • • • 70,920 February, , one dredger at work • • • • 49,760 March, , two dredgers at work •• • • 105 370 April, 11 11 11 • • • • 174,160 May, 11 , 11 • • • • 168,950 June, 11 , 11 • • •• 143,520

Total .. .. .. .. .. 2,438, 710

APl>ENDIX II.- MER EY BAR. Present Depth of Ba1', 28 Ft. below Old Dock Sill, or 18 J?t.

below L ow Wate1· of Spring T ides. Number of H ours during which there is 26 Ft. of W ater

and upwarcls on the Bar.

Height of High Water abo\ e Old Dock Stll.

r t.. 0

10 11 12 1 ;j H 15 16 17 H 19 20 21

Time on each Tide.

hrs. mn. 12 ao 12 30 ll 45 10 45 10 . 0

!) 40 $:1 10 8 45 8 40 8 30 8 20 8 20 8 15

Number of Tides in One Year of the

Hti~ht Named, respe<; th el).

3 23 M GU ~8 77 99 80 75 83 47 22 5

705

Number of Hours in One Year during

which t here is 26Ft. or more on

the Bar.

hrs. run. 37 3')

287 30 390 30 741 J .)

8 0 0 74 J ~0 907 30 700 0 ~50 0 705 30 3!)1 40 183 20 41 15

t669 50 6669 h . r,o m. x 100 = 76 per cent. -

~760

Periods E xtending over Sct:£ral Tides when there 1Uill be 26Ft. and upwards of Water on the Bar.

February . . 6 conaecuti ve tides a.t, 12~ hours per tide .March.. .. 7 April . . . . 7

, " 11 ,, ,, ,, August . . 6 September . . 7 October . . 6

11 11 , 11 ,

11 , 11

Hours = 75 = 87! = 87! = 75 = 87~ = 75

NoTE.-The longest consecutive period durin~ which there will be less than 26 ft. on the bar is 4t hours (ln a 21-n. tide.

APPENDIX III.-MERSEY B.An. E bb Currents ove1· tke B ar taken during 1892-3.

I G) ,!Id ~ID • .c ... Gi ;.. (I)

Weather. 1-o 0 c:: e.o ~ '0 :::J ~ · - 0 Q,) ~ .o::S o ~..: E-iA-o - 0 .!!:::~

~ c::GJ-(/)0 -- -o ... Q) ~ 0 = 0

D<lte. o- Q) .c:: Wicd. 0 .. .!::! ;:.,. f$ c:: ~ ID o'> CIS ...,. ID >.' .. ~ c:: • ~ Q).o Gi ... c:: .... o 2 .0 > - Q) 0 · - ~ •

bO 0 .0 Q) ~ ·- 0 ~ Ql - ·;; c::S - CIS.,: 0 c::- - ·- 0 ... .0 .... cd 9 CIS · - Direc- Q)

tn-Q;) ·- >- -- Q) ...., Force. :.. ~ CIS m 8 l~,., :.. > ... ~ tion. ... 0~

Ol ~

ft. in. 1hours * March 30, 1892 2'1 u I 3 2.15 N. 1 1 N.

)I )I 21 11 3 2 30 1 1 I . )I , 11 21 11 3 2.39 "

1 1 s. May 26,

" 19 7 3! 2.27 2 2 N. ,

)I )I 19 7 3! 2 23 .. 2 2 I. )I I '

19 7 3! 2.31 "

2 2 I. I '

, 19 7 3! 2.35 .. 2 2 s. NO\' . 7, )) 19 11 3! 2.17 Calm 0 1 N.

11 11 19 11 3! 2.19 0 1 l. "

" " 19 11 3t 2. 13 , 0 1 1. 19 11 3t 2.14 0 1 •

" ,.

" • Feb. 3, 1893 18 4 3 2.43 s. w. 1 1 N. .. "

18 4 3 2.35 )I 1 1 I.

" " 18 4 3 2. 13 ,. 1 1 s.

March 20, "

20 8 3 2.57 N.E. 1 0 N.

" , 2t> 8 a 2.588

" 1 0 I.

, "

20 8 3 2.64b 11 1 0 I.

" " 20 8 3t 2.616 .. 1 0 s. April18,

" 20 11 3 2.79 Calm 0 1 N.

" 11 20 11 3 2.792 , 0 1 I.

" 11 20 11 3 2.9 3 " 0 1 I.

, )I 20 11 I 3 2.8851 " 0 1 •

* The letters N., I., and S., indicate the respective positions of the ftoats in the channel- North, Intermediate, and South.

NOTK.-All currents taken with poles immersed 15 tt.

LAUNCHES AND TRIAL TRIPS. THE scr~w stea.m~r Calchfaen went on her trial on the

me~ured mile at Skelmorlie on th~ 9th inst. , when she attamed a speed of 10~ knots. Th1s vessel was built by the Ailsa. Shipbuildin~ Company1 of Troon, for M essrs. Kneeeba.w, Lupton, and Co., of Liverpool, for their lime­stone t rade, and the foJlowing are her dimensions: Length, 160ft. ; breadth, 24~ fb. ; and moulded depth, 11ft. 9 in. ~be has been ~tted ~Y the ~uilderd with compound s·1~face-condensmg engmes, 20 10. and 40 in. cylinders by 27 10. stroke.

. ~IEssrs. Sco~t. and Co., G reenock, launched on the lOth m~t. an aux1ha.ry steam schooner yacht, called the Kttttwake, to the order of L ord Carnegie. Dimensions : L ength, ~20 ft. 9 in. ; breadth, 21 ft. 2 in. ; depth, 12 ft. ; gross regtstered tonnage, 179.69; Thames m easurement 240. tons. The builder will .upp)y triple-expansio~ en~mes ~f 160 h.orse-power, .the d1ameter of the cylinders bewg 9j- m., 15 m., and 2·H m . respE>cti\·Ply with a. piston stroke of 18 in. The Kittiwake will also have large sail power.

.T hes.s. Shenandoah made a very successful trial trip in the Ftrth of Cl~de on the 7th inst. She is the second of three steamers bu1lt by M essrs. Alexander Stephen and Sons,

[OcT. 20, 1893. Linthouse, to the order of the Chesapeake and Ohio Steamsh ip Company, Limited, of L ondon, for their new line between Newport News and this country. The vessel is dC'.signed for carrying about 5500 tons dead weight, and is specially fitted for cattle, of which she can take about 760. She is a. sist er ship to the Rappahannock, already fully described, and on trial on the measured m ile made the sam e average speed, about 14 knots.

There was lately launched from the patent slip of M essrs. G. N a pier and Son, Cross house, Southampton, a steel screw passenger vessel named the Pri nce, of the following dimensions : L eng th over a ll, 70 ft.; breadth extreme, 16 ft.; depth m oulded, 6 ft. 3 in.; draught, 5 ft. a ft and 3 ft. forward. The vessel will carry nearly 200 passengers. The engines are of the compound surface-con­densing type, with cylinders 10 in. and 20 in. in diameter by 12 in. strok e, and the boiler of the return-tube marine type-, with 123 lb. working p ressure. The vessel has been built to the order of the Gosport and Portsea Water­man's Steam L aunch Company, L imited, and on the lOth inst. she was takan on the measured mile, and although it was blowing rather hard, with a choppy sea, the mean speed attained was just over 9 knots, this being con-idered hig hly satisfactory, taking into account the small­

ness of the propeller due to the light draught of water.

?viessrs. Furness, W ithy, and Co., Limited, Hartlepool, launched, on the 12th ins t. a s teel screw steamer named G reenbrier, built for the Chesapeake and Ohio Steam· hip Company, Limited, L ondon, for the general ca.r~o

and catt!e trade. The vessel has two iron decks laid all fore and a ft, with a shade deck above. The cattle will be carried on two decks with portable hinged fi ttings, so that on ~he return voya.ge from Europe the cattle space ~n be a vailable for carrymg cargo. The masts are t elescopic, so that, if n ecessary, the vessel can enter the Manchester Canal, and go under bridges in tidal ri vera. The vessel will b~ fitted with triple-expansion engines by l\Iessrs. T. Rtchardson and Son s, a.nd it is antiC'ipated a sea speed of 12 knots will be easily obtained.

M essrs. "\IVm. S imon s and Co., R enfrew, on the 11th inst. launched complete the paddle ferry steamer Hutton, constructed to the order of the L ondon County Council for ser vice on the River Thames a t W oolwich. This vessel forms one of a. fleet of three which the County Coun­cil have J?rovided for the public, and by which passengers and vehtcles a re carried across the Thames without charge. The dimensions of the vessel a re as follows : L ength, 170ft.; breadth over a ll, 58 ft.; depth, 7 ft. 3 in. It has a capacity to carry 130 tons of live load (tha.t is, 70 tons for vehicles on the upper deck, a.nd 60 tons for passengers on the main deck). It is constructed of s teel, under special survey of Lloyd 's and the Board of Trade. It h a...c; a flush deck, and a large deckhouse amidships. T he main deck is sponsoned out flush with the paddle­Loxes, and the bulwarks run in a fair line With the paddle-boxes from stem t o stern. The upper deck is plated with corrugated plates fi lled in with asphalte and sand, upon which creosoted 1\I emel blocks a re laid. ix sets of sliding gangway doors, three on either side, are provided for the vehicle traffic, t he passengers' gangways being placed on the main deck. 'l'he boat is intended to e~bark and land its traffic ~>n fioating pontoons (having g1 rderwork approaches) statroned on each side of the river. Th.e v~ssel is fitted with tw~ pairs of engines, each workmg 10dependentlr, and provtded with separate surface condensers, also wtth independent combined ai r and circulating pumps. The engines are intended to propel the vessel ab a speed of 8~ knots per hour, and develop over 600 indicated horse-power. Steam is p ro­vided by two s teel boilers. An electr ic light installa­tion has been provided.

The Sunderland Shipbuilding Company Limited launched on the 12th inst. a steel screw ste~mer named Celte for Messrs. Chevilotte F reres, of Brest. The prin­cipal dimensions are: L ength, 210 ft. ; breadth 31 ft. · depth, 17 ft .. Gin. Sh~ has been built to the high~st cla.s~ ~ranch yentas, and I S for the owners' F rench coasting hne. Tnple-~omJ20UI;ld en~ines are supplied by the North­Eastern Ma.rme E1;1g10eer10g Company, Limited, of Sun­d~rland. The cyhnders are 18~ 10., 30 in., and 49 in. in d1ameter by 33 10. stroke, steam being supplied by an extra. l~rge boiler working at a pressure of 160 lb. per square 10ch.

Sir Raylton Dixon and Co., Middlesbrough, launched on the 8th inst. a steel screw steamer of the spar deck type, named Rothenfels, builb for the Hansa. Steamship Company, of Bremen. The principal dimensions are: L ength, 327 ft., by 41 ft. 9 in. beam, by 28 ft. 6 in. d epth moulded. Engines will be fitted by M essrs. Thomas Richardson and Sons, of Hartlepool. The cylinders are 24 in. , 38 in., and 64 in. in diameter by 42 in. stroke with two large steel boilers working at 1()0 lb. pressure. '

T he steamer Cayo l\Iono, built by ?v!essrs. C. S. Swan and Hunter, Wallsend, for ~Iessrs. Ernest Bigland and Co., London, went on ber trials off Tynemouth on the 14th inst. The length o~er all is 326. ft. ; beam, 41 ft. ; moulded depth, 26 ft. 10 10. H er eng10e3 were built by l\1essr~: Thomas. Rich~rdson and Sons, of Hartlepool, her cyhnders bemg 24 m., 38 in., and 64 in. in diameter, with a stroke of 42 in. A speed of over 12 knots was obtained in a series of runE'.

l\1anSF.ILr.F.s.-The number of vessels which entered and cleared at l\Iarseilles in August was 1321, representing an aggregate tonnage of 742,619 tons. The corresponding movement in August, 1892, was 1400 vessels, representing an aggregate tonnage of 797,97 4 tons.

OcT. 20, r 893.] E N G I N E E R I N G.

"ENGINEERING" ILLUSTRATED PATENT RECORD.

while pa~in~ along the rai l. A \'er t.ical case q is mounted over an OJ?enJDg 1n the <:) l!nder, immediately in front of tbe end of the p1ston c. The leadmg wheel or a train when proceeding in th_e direoti~o of the arrow, passf's over a~d presses down the ra1sed. poruon ~f the lever h , which co.us£s t he lever d to propel the p1ston ~ w1th force. ag~inst t he target/, car ry ing with i' one of t he. fog Signals t, wb1ch IS thus ex ploded , at the same time the oppos1te end. of the piston being withdrawn into the cylinder b', and the vert1.cal bar l lowf'red un~il the blank port ion at the top comes .oppos1t_e the en'! of t he cyhnder, and p revents the piston c r£>turmng unt~l the t ram has proceeded farthe r a long t he line, whe!' t he lead10g wheel passes over and p resses down the raised P? rLlOn of a lever, thereby raising the ver tical har l when the p1ston c shoots t hroug h'a. hole in t he top of th e bar, ~nd strikes the gong- 8 or a target, thereby g iving the second warning. (.tc­cepted September 6, 1893).

C OMPILED BY w. LLOYD WISE. SELECTED ABSTRACTS OF RECENT PUBLISHED SPEOIFlOATlONS

UNDER THE ACTS 1883-1888. The numbtr of lriews given in the Spe~jicatum Dratoings i s stated

in each c~Ue; where non~ are mentioned, the Specification is n~t illustrated.

Wl~re Inventions are communicated from abroad, the Names, d:c. , of the Communicators are given1.t1. italics.

Copies of Specification.8 -tnay bo obtained at the Patent O.Dice Sale Branch, 38, Cunitor-street, Chancery-lane, 1!.'. C., at the tm<jQrm price of8d.

The dalf of the advertiJie1nent f'j the acceJ>tance flj a complete 1,-vecijicatton is, in each rase, oiuen ojter the a..bstract, unlus the Patwl haH been sealed, tl.Jhen t/1-' date of 8eali11g i$ given.

.4m1 pusOt~ -tnay at amy t ime within two montltH front the date oj titl' adverti$ement flj the acceptance of a complete 81Jecijicatiotl, give ·notice at tile Patent Office (lj oppot.-ition to the !Jrant of a Pattnt Oll a1ll/ of the groundN mentioned in the .Act.

MACHINE TOOLS, SB AFTING, &c. 19,134. F. Lightbourn e and C. Gibson, B irming­

ham. Differential Pulley • Blocks and Bolsts. [2 Pigs.) October 25, 1892. -Tbls invention r elates to p u lley· blooks and hoist with epioyclic t ra in of wheels for multiplying power. By pulling oue sid e of the chain i m otion is imparted to the wheel h. Tbe internal gear j is eccentrically turned, and ittl

1913 ~

Fig.2.

' ' ' I '

0 I I •

' ' ' ' • ' \ , • , ' , __ ,

nrms J3 ma.de to slide wiLhin t he gaps Jt 2 of the looking- frame k, which is then reciprocated as the internal wheel j r eYolvea in its eccent ric path, and mot,ion is communicat ed to the toothed annulus band its p inion bl , this pinion drh•ing the la rge tooth spurwbeel d and through it the lifting wheel e, which is rotl\.ted alld the wei~tht lifted proportionally to the speeding down of this wheel. (Accepted September 6, 1893).

R AILWAY APPLIANCES. 15,459. R. Whitehead. Swlnton, Lancs. Automatic

Fog Signals for Railways. (7 Figs. ] Octobtr 8, 1892.­Tbis in\·ention relatf'a to signalling apparatus for use on rail ways during fnf!gy we11ther, and the object is to give the warning without the employment of fogmen . T he end of the piston is retained a short distance \\ ithin t he cyli nder , at the end nearest

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19,632. T . B . B eard, D erby, and W . G. B irkln · shaw, Quarndon, Derbys. Keys for the Permanent Way of Railways. [2 Pips. ] November 1, 1802.- Thie in· ve11Llon relates to the securi ng of k eyea upon t he permanent war of rail ways a fter Lh~) ha \'e been d ri ,·en into place. The kE'y C is ruade

C'

•

of wood, and pro,·id ed with boles at t he end s, into which wedges Dare d ri \'en atter it is in place. To insu re the ex pansion of the end of the key upon the inser t ion of t.he wedge, a saw-cut c• is run from the end into the wedge-way, so that when the wedge is inserted, the saw-cut opens, and the nece88ary enlargement at the end of the key is obtained. (Accepted September 6, 1893).

19,357. S. J . Summerson, DarUngton. Lever Boxes for Actuatin g R ailway Switch es. [4 F igs. ] October 28, 1892.-This in vention relates to a lever box consistin of a box b having the pin f tor the bellcrank c cast in one piece with it, and having an a ttachment to the lever consisting of a sliding boll

197.1 '

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

ST EAM ENGINE S AND BOILERS. 19,504. D . B . Morlson, Har tlepool, Durham . Water

Circulating Apparatus for Steam Boiler s. [2 Figs. 1 October 31, 1 92.-This in,•en tion relates to water-circulating apparatus for steam boilers. a a re t he shells of the boiler~. b their combustion c hambers, c the normal water level in ! ach boiler, and cl a safe level. To t he shell of ee.ch boiler is con· nected by a b ranch piece a pipe d , dl open at both its ends, the pa.rt d being of lo.rger diameter than d l, and terminating at itl>

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upper end in t.h e s team space above the normal water level, the portion d' ending at its lower open end io the lower part of the boiler. The pipes d, dl, and the branch p it'ces of two boilers. are joined by a pipe e connect f d to each of the bra nch pieces at. a point corresponding to t.be safe level. This connecLing pipe is furni~hed with non -return \'alvfS, and with a p ipe fJ in comm uni· cation with an appllratus such as a donkey pump for circulating when raising steam. (.de :qUd St]Jtember 6, 1893).

19,966. R. Arch er, Ossett, Yorks. Lubricating and Packing Stuffing-Boxes. [5 JltiJR. ] November 5, 1892.-The ohject or th ·s inventi on is to provide m eans for lubricating pis ton , &c .• rods. A coil of hemp A is placed around the piston-rod R, and on each side of the packing is a cover C, D. The cover C is prO\ ided with a cy lindrical case Cl extending

the ach:mcing t rain, and the opposite end projects from t he around the packing A, and having a . scr~w thr ead on i~ out£>r cy linder b' at the for ward end, when the appar atus is in use, by surface· and the cover D, with a cyhndncal r ase DJ, having an means of a weighted lever d which is supported by the rocking inter nal' screw-thread which fits on to the thread of t.he case C1. ~b1fte . A target! is mounted near the end of the cylinder, A s lot E is cut in these cases CI, D1 to enable t he lubricant to be and a gong o near the opposite end of th e piston. A lever h is fed on to the packing A. By scre"':ing the. c_overs C, D together placed one side of the r~il a, EO tb~t a wbeel r uns par tly on it the packing A is held in the r eqmred pos1tton upon the rod D,

497 a nd _the lubricant, when fed to the packing through the slot E, is r~t:u.ned and not a llowed to escape. The arrangement is plae<d w1thtn the g land 0, and oil is fed to it by m eans of the lubricator Il mounted on the g land G. The co\'ers C, D, with thei r casu C', 0 1, w~en screwed together over the packiog, form a box fe r the lubr• ca~t te~ the rein , consrquentl.r t he pack ing is kept saturated wH h 011, and t he pistou rod B lubricated . (.!.cceJ-ltd September 6, 1893).

19!336. D. J. Murray, Ipswich. Drum Governors. [4 Ji'tgs. ] Octobe r 27, 1811:!.- This invention rt llltes to d r um "'o~ernors, and has tor it s object to secure regulari ty of spetd in a ~u1d pre88u re m otor und er vary ing loads, by automatically oha ng· 10g the out-off of working fluid. The eccentric sheave A is attached to a disc B guided at its circumfer ence by th£> main castiog M of t~e gover':lor, and held in ~osit.ion by the cover-plate C. The fr ic· t1ooal reststance at t.he Circumference of t he disc B due to t.he loa~ on t he slide·,·aJ ve spindl£>, acts at a comparatively large rad1ue, .and keeps _the g<;)Vernor from "jumping " and" hunting." The wetghts r otat10g w1tb the shaft aot under the influence of the change of cen t rifugal force due to increase and decr ease in the speed of t he shaft. The weights in mo\'ing from t he position of full out to full in, change the position of the links. To reverse t he engine, . the links are coupled to t.he disc B in a different manner. They are put in positions F and 0 . In this Cl.SE' , when the governor weights move from fu ll out to full in the links cha nge in position from 1<, to Fl and from G to o<

To reve!~e the engine when t~e go,•er oor works an upansion ,·ah e, the ~s1t10n. ?f t he cen t re T IS changed, so t.ba.t it bears the same rel~t1v~ po&ltlon to !he ~rank when runnintr in the new direction as •t d1d _when r unn10g ID ~be ol~ . This 1s done by having two keyw~~:ys ID t he governor ~aiD cast10g , and one key bed in the shaft oppos1te th~ <?rank. _The hn ks ~re changed os for s ing le ~lide vah e. :rhe toggle JOlnt e.ct1on of the hnks E, El and 0, G' assists in keep­tog the governor steady. The cen t rifugal force a cting on the weights is r~si~ted by spiral springs_ n and HI. The stops J, Jl also K, Kl, hm1t the travel of the we1ghts. The weig hts Wand Wl e:r £> connected to links D and E by the pins N and N', and the lmks D and E ar a connect ed to t he eccent ric driving disc B by t~e pins P .and 'P' . The mo\•ement of the weig h ts Wand Wl gl\'es the d tsc B an angula r movement, a nd changes the position of the centre S of the eccen t r ic sheave A with relation to the centre of t he crankshaft. (Accepted September 6, 1893).

19.857. F . A. Russell, Cupa r , F ifes. P reventing t h e Accumulation of Water , &c., in P ip es. (6 Figs. 1 November 4, ~ -92.-The object of this inven tion is to prevent the accu~ulatu;m . of wa.~ er, s team, &c., in p ipes and cylinders. In . apply 10g this 10vent1on to p ipes or vessels working \\ ith a flm~ pressu re g reater than the atmosphere, the valve 7 is held ~ff 1ta seat 8 by a spri!lg 9, th e elasticity of \\ h ich may be ad· JUsted by the acre"': gu1de 10, a jam nut. ll locking it in position , 1n order that t he tl01d may p~s away, 1 his SI-ring not bei••g sufli·

Fig . 7. J4

11·

' /3

rienlly s trong to keep t.be vu lve op£n when e). posed to tt.e full working pressur-e of thA flu id . The spindle 13 IS pro\ idtd with a conical vah •e 16, \\ hich bears upon a seat in the body of the anpliance, and prevents flu id parsing \\hen the 'alve 7 is open. The apertu re 14 is placed in connection with the pipe or vessel, the fluid passing the valve in the direction of th e a rrows (Fig. 1) to the cooductiog p ipe 15. When t he fluid pressure excE>eds that of the atmosphere, the val \'e 7 will be open and 16 off ita sea.t. (Accepted Septembu 6, 1 g3).

19,858. T . Gllmour. Kilcattan, Bute, N.B . R eg u . lating t h e Action of F urnaces. [2 Fig~t. ] No,·en.. ber 4,

•

'

~ .. Fig 1 Ftg 2 .

q

• . '

1892. - This invention has for its obj ect to provide automatic apparatus for regulating the action of furnaces. A m e tal pipe is fixed vertically a cross the f\ue, and ha its lowtr and upper Eode

connected exter nally to a small clos~d cistern E , in which water is m:1.intai ned at a cor stan t level by a valve G. T he top of the fl ue p ipe i3 a lso connected to a. cylinder P, b~Lviosr o. piston Q working in it, and an adjm.ttlble escape valve controll ing I he action of the apparatus. When t he heat p rcdur.ed in the furn!lce is r ight, the steam generated in the flue pipe passes off by the e cape' alve at the rate at which it is generated, but if the heat becomes too g reat, an incr eaae of p reE u re is p roducEd in t he C'ylinder, and t he pi!lton moves so astodiminish the supply of ai r. Br o pening or clo~ing the escape \'alve N mor e o r less, the appa­ratus can be made to maintain any desir ed beat. (.il. ccepted Sep· tembu 6, 1893).

13,490. P. P. Rogue, Cincinnatl, Ohio, U.S.A. Injectors. [3 Figs. ] J u ly 11, 1893.--Tbis invention relates t.o inJectors fo r s team boilers. Steam is admitted in to the steam jet throu~b a steam supply pipe hy unlatch ing and moving back the h a nd le, thus opening the need le valve. The steam posses through the water -lifting tube and t hrough the combining tube and down throue.h the exhaust chamber , moving a valve off its seat and establishing communication with another exhaust chamber. The stel\m thus ndm'tted to t h is chamber plsses up round the com­bining tube out of the relief' a.lve into a third chamber, and down

Fig . 1. •

....,._or~ Fi,g.2.

13430

and around t he two barrels and out in to the atmosphere. When it has pa.ssed through th e jets and exhaust chamber sufficien tly long to ex haust the air from the p ipe eonnected with t h e water supply, the water flows up to the injector throui'h the lifting tube, and t he g reater part passe~ through the combining tube, out throua h opening8, down through another exhaust chamber , into the second one, closing t he check valve until the water gets suffi· cient velocil y to overcome t he boiler p r essure. I t then continues on t hrough the d elivery tuhe into the boiler. ( .Accepted A ugust 30, U!93).

19,809. T. Walker, St. Helens, Lancs. Metallic Packing for Platon·Rods, &c. [2 Figs. ] November 3, 1892.-This inven tion r elates to a metallic packing for p iston vah·e rods, &c. A hollow cone D bored out is provided to rece1ve the m etallic packing- rings E, which ar e turned outside to fit the

1980!

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

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

litl-1,.1

th em upon the ~0\'e rnor. T wo wPctgr s R are caused to slidn ltpon the o ther side of the plate C t ransversely to the motion of the eccen tric, and projections 1I upon the eccentric B ensr~~e in tbe<~e wedges. The wed~es a re each attached to the free end of an oscilla.tin~ weight I, tbe other end bE:ing flxed to a stud. T he weight is maintained in one position by a strong spring K and in that position gives full t ra vel to the eccentric. On o{e revolution of the engine the centrifugal force causes the wei~> hts to fly outward , mnving with them the t wo wc>dges, and t h u; dfectinJ,r the transverse motion of the eccentric sheave. ( ~ cceptnl SP ptetn lJer 6, 1893).

19,356. J. w. Sampson and T. L. Mttchelmore, Southampton, H am pshire. Steam S~~nal "'btstles for Ships. (-! Figs. ) Oot~ber 28,~ 1~92.-Thls.mveotlo!l relates to means for use in soundm,:r sb1ps steam Signal wh1stles at re~rulo.r intervals, and comprises a case A wi1 h an attach~d stPat:n engine consistiog of the cylinder B and fan C. A d1so Dl IS formrd \\ ith a p r ojection Jl upon itc; face adapted to engage with the ,·alve·rod n, thereby actuating the Yal ve (J. The fan C

E N G I N E E RI N G. [OcT. 20, r 893.

is mounted up on t he spind le d, upon which i formed a worm· screw geo.ring with a spind le. A slid e·box g is fitted at the top of t he c. se A, and a slidc·valvegl is mounted upon t he valve-

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

Fig.1.

A

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. V'~:.;{~"\

c

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

16 574. G. Tahtkian, London. Steam Generators. [12 Figs. ] September 16, 1692.-This invention r elates to sec· tional boilers in which t he water is evap orated in t ubes. In to the water inlet end I of eaoh tube T is inserted a metallic gnide G h aving t hree screw blades B to cause t he mixt u re of water a nd

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Ag I

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8 ' 7

c steam to t raverse t he t ube in h elical con\·olutions. By t he cen t ri· fugal power t he water par t icles are dri ven ag~oinst the beating surface of the t ube, a nd the steam flows centrally. The guides G ar e fixed to t he boiler tube by spring clips C prodded at t he extr emit.ies of the wings and g rnsping t he rim R. (Accepted Sep­tembt>r 6, 1893).

19,808. T. Walker, St. Helens, Lancs. Valves. [4Figs. ) November 3, 1892.-Tbis invention relates to valves, a nd its object is to p rovide a clear passage t hrough, and in which t he s team seating is n ot used as a guide for the valve. This seatin~ is placed abo ve o r below t he valve. T he valve C has two faces

19,R08

fo rmed by two indiarubber rings D, D1 fixed in t he metal to for m the fac~>. These r ings when p ressed on to the sea tin~ form a tight joint, throu~h which l iquid or air cannot pass. The inside su rface of the out.er casing fo rms the guide fo r the vah•e. (.4ccepted September G, 18!>3).

191461. E . Bolltngwortb, Dobcross. Yorks. Looms. 3 hgs.) October 29, lb92 - This io,·ention relates to the H olhng·

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

: T S

t!F(g 3.

Fig .1.

carried by a cross-shaft P, whilst t h eir fo r ward ends are borne upon a r oller Q. These bars a.re slotted at their rear ends (Fig. 3), a nd ar e free t o mo\•e back ward and for ward on the abaft. P, t h is movement being controlled by t he p egs c in the lags. Each hor izontal bar is made with a sneck into which is inserud the upper end of a beUcrank lever T working upon a fulcrum, the opposite arm of the bellcrank lever resting upon t he pe~s c. Thus when a. peg is present and passes under the lower a r m of the bellcrank lever, the latter is raised, thereby causing the horizontal bar 0 to be pushed fo r ward , and the forward end thereof placed into engagement with t he lifting rail R attached to an oscillating frame S, so that on t he latter being r aised it brings the bar in to contact with t he corresponding vibrato1 y lever E, and lifts it upwards so as to p lace t.he vibrator wheel into gear with the top cylinder gear; but if a peg is absent from the lags, the lower a rm of the bellcr ank lever d rops, the hor izontal bar being drawn in t he opposite direc tion and awa.y f rom the li fting rail R, so that it is not raised by the latter , and <'onse­queotly the vibrator wheel is allowed to d rop from the top cy­linder gear into mesh with the bwer, the jack leve r b•ing thus operated in the nverse direction. (~ cctplecl Septtmbcr 6, 189'•).

UNITED STATES PAT.ENTS AND PATENT PRACTICE MISCELLANEOUS. Deecriptions with illustrations of im•entions patented in the

19 735 F w s t L d V 1 'R'.'n United States of America from 1847 to t.hc present time, and • • · · cot , on on. a ves. [3 A .--:t8·l reports of trials or patent law cases in the United States, may be

November 2, 1892.-This invention r elates to m it r ed work10g consulted, g r atis, at the offices oi ENoli\IJo:Ril\O, 35 and 36, Bed ford­valves fo r use in connection with c ranes, &c., operated by hyd raulic, &o., fluid , and t he objec t is to arrangd tbe mechanism street, Strand . eo that it m:~y be used with machines having more than one p res-

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sure inlet. A casing a is p r ovided, which contains four ' 'ah•es d, d', t, e', operated by two C'o.ms I, ( I contained in separate chambers, and each secured to a spindle g projecting at one end thrvugh tbe casing , and provided with a stuffing-box. The spindles a.re adapted to be mo,·ed simultaneously by a common lever , and are so a rranged tha.t a J>Qir of valves a re opera.ted a t the same time,

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

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