FEB. 2J, 1900.]

1\1ICHELSON'S ECHELO ._ PECTROSCOPE.

TilE simplest method of producing a spectrum is by the use of a prism. The spectra thus obtained are brighter than those given by other means, but the dispersion of the rays over the different parts of the spectrum is not uniform. The wave length of red light is 0. 0007601 millimetre, that of violet light 0.0003963 millimetre. The mean between the two is 0.0005782, which is the wave length of the middle yellow. Yellow, therefore, should occupy the middle position between red and violet ; but there we find greenish blue in the prism spectrum. The prism thus is not suited for use in determina­tions of absolute wave length; the~e we generally make with the help of diffraction spectra. Perhaps it may be well to give here an elementary explanation of these spectra, which will better enable the real subject of the present article to be better understood.

Whenever ligh t passes a sharp edge, a hair, or through a narrow aperture, it proceeds not only in a straight line, but spreads out sideways, as if the bar or space were the centre of a new

•

M

•

Ft,g . 1.

Ji, A

I I ~ I ' 1 I I I I I I I I I

I I I I

a, 11 t; ... _... --· --- ..;E--·- -

o,

-

system of spherical waves. In this way the geo­metrical shadow becomes marked with light and dark parts, bands in the case of a slit, parallel to that slit ; these are diffraction phenomena. The details of these phenomena have been fully mas­tered, but their complexity renders popular exposi­tions of them rather dangerous. Let us suppose, however, that monochromatic light falls through the two apertures A, Au Fig. 1, en to a. screen M 1\11

at the comparatively very large distance 0 C = b. Rays A1 C and A C will manifestly be in the same phase and make the central part C appear bright . The two rays meeting at P 1 will differ in lengths of path by A1 P 1 - A P 1 = P1 - p. If A A1 = 2 d, and P 1 C = x , then p-2. = b~ + (x - d)2; p1

2 = b'.! + (x + d)2 ; hence p1

2 - p2 = (Pt + p) (p1 - p) = 4 d x ; 4d x and p1 - p = tJ. = - - .

Pt + P As now p1 + p is ap-

proximately 2 b, we find difference in path A =

E N G I N E E RI N G. •

ing all the interval A.1 A in Fig. 1 to be open; then p1 and p will be marginal rays of that pencil. If t hese components interfere already, the two con­secutive pencils cannot strengthen one another. The result of these additional interferences is that the bands of minimum brightness become broader.

Further to elucidate the matter, let us t urn to Fig. 2. There are many parallel slits. Each of the deflected rays represents a pencil. Let the deviation 8 be such that the difference in path between two consecutive rays amounts just to one wave length A of the particular light. If s is the combined width of a bar and of a space, then 'A = s sin 8. All the rays will support one another, and if there are 1000 slits, and if the rays are brought to a focus at F by the lens (the object lens of the observing telescope), F should be 1000 times as bright as when we have only one slit, apart from other considerations. For light of any other wa,·e length there must be more or less interference. If, for example, the difference in path were s sin 8 = 0.001 A, then it would be 0.002 A between the first and third ray, 0.003 between the first and fourth, 0. 500 = 0.5 A for the first and 601st, and again for

F0·2.

• •

the second and 502nd, &c. All these rays- the first and 501st, second and 502nd- would destroy one another, differing by half a wave length ; there would only remain the extreme ray, differing by

~O = 1 A from the first ray. Thus F would 1000 receive light of one particular wave length only­that is to say, the diffraction spectra are very pure.

239

not be perfect, and the brightness will not decrease according to formula ; some particular spectrum will be selected for observation. Rowland con­structed a machine by means of which he has ruled as many as 43,000 lines to the inch on concave speculun1 metal. As a rule, more than 15,000 lines are not recommended for reflection gratings. The transmission gratings, which our diagrams illustrate, are really retardation gratings. F or the intact glass is not quite transparent, nor are the grooves quite opaque. Within certain limits we may say, the more lines, the brighter the spectra. We ought to have stated in our introduction that a narrow slit gives more distinct bands, further apart, than a wide slit. The principle of the mea­surement is simple. Measure the width of the grat­ing-someofRowla~d'sfa.mousconcavegratingshave a. diameter of 6 in.-and count the number of lines; the quotient is our s, the combined width of bar

•

and space. Now sin 8 = ?n A , w here11t is the order s

of the spectrum and 8 the angle through· which we ha Ye to turn the telescope to catch the respective ray.

Professor A. A. Michelson, of Chicago, to whom we already owe the interference method of deter­mining wave lengths, in March, 1898, announced the discovery of the echelon spectroscope designed for concentrating the light in any particular higher order of spectrum. It is possible to secure such a concentration by means of a particular kind of ruling; but the attempts have as yet been confined t o the first three orders, and the results have been somewhat fortuitous. Yet the hundredth and

Pifj.3. • I I I

t .. I I I I ~ .. 8 ·--:<~ •

I ~ + t I at

• • • ' ~

I I • I

I I

'I I I I L~ I

! I 6i ~ I

4 957.e. I

thousandth spectrum might be brightened up, and for all that the lines need not be drawn with greater accuracy than before. In what we have explained, the phase difference was obtained by alternations of opaque and transparent spaces. It may be brought about also by a progressive damping of the wave front by increasing thicknesses of an absorbing transparent material. Fig. 3 indicates how this has been achieved by building up steps of glass plates. The whole practical difficulty to be over­come is then to make a number of plane-parallel plates of equal thickness. The surprising thing­we quote from Professor Michelson's paper in the A st·rophysical J owrnal of June, 1898-is the small­ness of t he number of plates required to give results which are comparable with those of the best grat­ings. '' Let a b d be one step in the series of plates, and let a b = s, and b d = t. If m is the order of the spectrum observed, and p. the refractive index of the glass (about 1.5 for flints), then

2d .)', which means : The difference in path will be b

proportional to 7 , the lateral distance of the point from the normal. lf cp is the deviation of P 1 from

Let us go back to Fig. 1. R ed light would pro­duce red bands at points which we will call1·0 (in the direction of the normal 0 C) r 1 r 0 ••• ?'m ;

violet light similarly at points situated at smaller intervals-which we shall call v0 v1 V 2 • •• •

?'m· If the incident light be white, all the other rays would fall, for inst ance, between v1 and ?'1

At ?'o v0 we shall have white light, by superposition of all the colours. As the violet wave length is smaller than the red, and as we remember that the distances are proportional to the wave length, the point v1 will be nearer the white central spot than 1·1. If we imagine red lines at certain intervals, violet or lines at smaller intervals, we understand that the first spectrum (spectrum of the first ord.er) will be 1J

1 1·

1, separated by a small interval from the bright.

Therefore

m A = p. • b d - a c,

m A = p. • t- t cos 8 + 8 sin 8.

1n-t dp. d'A C, we also ha Ye sin ifJ = :>', or x = b sin <P, and by spot and from v2• The second spectrum will extend

b from v2 to r2, but v3 will fall within that space, substitution : !1 = 2 d sin cp. Not to be troubled by and, therefore, the third violet will overlap t he the 2, we will set 2 d = s ; then A = s sin Cl'. For a second red. This overlapping becomes worse as we point P 2 at distance 2 x from C, we arrive at l:l = pass to spectra of higher orders ; but the spectra 2 s sin cp2 ; for 3 x, A = 3 s sin 4>3, and so on. When become longer and longer, as any diagram would de­A represents an even number of half-wave lengths monstrate. We can deflect and isolate one spectrum 2 m A ill b byinterposing a prism(Fraunhofer's filtering pr~m),

2 (m any integer) the t wo rays P1 and P w e or by absorbing certain rays by coloured solut10ns,

in the same phase, and support one another; bright and other means. But the brightness of a spectrum, bands will occur at distances 2, 4, 6 . . from the that is the illumination received by it, decreases normal. When A represents any odd number of rapidly with the square of the order; and ~ince half-wave lengths, the two rays will extinguish one the dispersion increases with the order, the bnght­another ; dark bands will occur at distances 1, 3, 5 ness at any particular spot diminishes as the cube .. from the normal. of the order.

So much for general principles : in reality There are different kinds of di~raction gratings. the matter is more complicated. Vie must eo~- Fraun~ofer used fine parallel w1res ; Rut~erfurd sider that every aperture A will allow a pencil ruled lmes on glass, the grooves representutg the of light to pass whose component rays ~ay I opaqu.e parts, the bars. As t~e grooves can nev~r or may not interfere. This we see by imagn1- be qu1te regular nor symmetrical , the spectra w1ll

dB -dA

t sin 9 + 3 cos 8 and

d 8t _ A • - ' d m t sin 8 + 8 cos 8

If o 8 is the displacement corresponding to o 'A , and o 81 is that corresponding to o m, = 1, then as-suming Cauchy's formula,

b p. =et+ - , A2

and taking as a first approximation t

11t = (P.-1) - , A

we have ~ = [ (P.- 1) + 2 (P. -a)].!.. . 0 'A • ou1 'A A

For most specimens of flint glass the coefficient

of ~ in the last expression is approximately equal to. A

•

•

•

=

't h . o A un1 y, so t at 1f A = .001, say, as in the case of

the two yellow sodium lines, and t = 5 mm. = 10,000 'A, then

de= 10 del;

that is, the two sodium lines would be seen sepa­rated by ten times the distance between the succes­siv~ spe?tra. Th~ resolving power of this combi­nation 1s m n, Just as in the case of ordinary gratings wi~h n lines (for the spectrum of order m). So that ~1th but twenty elements, each 5 milli­metres thwk (when m == 5000), the resolving power would b~ 100,000, which is as high as that of the best grattngs at present available." ~ e must pause a little. The dispersion is the

r~t1o between the change in the angle of devia­tion fJ and the corresponding c~ange in wave length, d 6/~ A· In the case of a prtsm, any value of dis­per.swn may .be obtained by changing the angle of InCidence, without affecting the resolution much.

•

•

Nor is there any immediate connection between the dispersion and resolving powet of a grating. The resolving power has, of course, something to do with n1agnification. Apparently there is no limit to the resolving of an instrument. Practically there is, and that is due to diffraction, which makes a star image look like a disc of definite size, instead of a mathematical point, surrounded by dark and bright rings. The following definition has been adopted for the resolving power of a spectroscope in any part of the spectrum : The unit of resolv­ing power is that which allows the separation of two lines differing by one-thousandth part of their wave length. The two D lines of sodium differ by that amount ; their ~ X/ A = 0. 001. Therefore, to see the two lines separated requires unit resolv­ing power. In our case, t jA = thickness of the plate, 5 millimetres, divided by the wave length of yellow light, 0.0006, or say roundly, 0.0005 milli­metre; that quotient is 10,000 A. The terms in the square bracket, in the formula given above, would for most kinds of flint glass, and with a width of the step a equal about 1 millimetre, not be much larger than 1. Hence the final cle = 10 d 81•

The resolving power of a grating is given by the product m n, = order of spectrum observed multi­plied by number of lines used. F or the D lines we have o X/'A, approximately 0.001, so that to resolve

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

that double line would, in the first spectrum, require 3: grating of 1000 lines ; in t~e second spectrum 500 hnes, and so on. The relahon between dispersion and resolving power has very aptly been expressed by Lord ~yleigh. The resolving power, he says, does not d1rectly depend upon the closeness of the ruling. Take a grating, 1 in. broad, with 1000 lines; imagine 1000 more lines interpolated, bisect­ing the former. B~ interference all the first, third, and fifth spectra w1ll be destroyed, the even orders of spectra will be four times as brilliant (i.e., mean brilliancy twice as great with twice the number of lines, apart from other considerations) ; but the resolving power and dispersion will not gain. Now cut away half of the grating ; the dispersion will not be altered, the resolving power and brightness will be halved. In the echelon spectroscope the re­solving power is also ?n n . From m= (JJ. -1) t/A, we get m= 0.5 t/0.0005 = 5000, for a plate thickness of 5 millimetres. Twenty plates then give a resolving power of 100,000.

[FEB. 23, 1900.

fi~st communication: T~e echelon, therefore, is use~ w1th mo~ochromahc hght, filtered if necessary ~he filter1ng can be accomplished by passing th · hght firRt through an a~xiliary spectroscope. Thi: was shown. by Mr. H1lger, the method proposed by !uchs 1n 1881, and developed by Wadsworth, ha.v1ng bee!! em~l?yed for ~dapting an ordinary pnsm to direct VISIOn by fixing a plane mirror to t he ~ack of .the prism: The arrangement comprised a mlrr?r pnsm, a collimator for the echelon and an o~serv1ng te~escope, which will be almost in a line w1th the collimator, as the deviation will hardly be ~o~e than 30 mi_nute~ of arc. The remarkable seiJa­~ atwn of the hehum lmes, effected by this wonderful mstru~ent, charmed all who were fortunate enouO'h to ~ee It. ~hen we consider the thickness of gl~s whwh t.he hght has to ~raverse and the dispersion­the D ~Ines would be stxteen minutes of arc apart­the bnghtness of ~he sp.ectrum i~ quite surprising. But the losses of rntensity reflectiOn are not large and the incidence is almost normal. '

•

FIG. 5 .

FIG. 6.

The resolving power depending upon the product ·m n, it will be seen that any resolution might be ob­tained by using a considerable thickness of plates and a small number. In his first experiments, Professor Michelson, indeed, obRerved the Zee­mann effect with the help of an echelon spectro­scope of seven elements (plates). But there is more overlapping of the spectra with a small num­ber of plates. At the Ryerson Physical Labora­tory an echelon has been constructed of twenty plates, each 18 millimetres thick, diminishing in width from 22 millimetres by 2 millimetres down to 2 millimetres, so that the width of each step (width s of the elementary pencil) is 1 millimetre.

In Figs. 4 to 6 we illustrate the echelon spect.ro­scope which Mr. A. Hilger, of Stanhope-street, N. W., exhibited at the R oyal Society Conversazione in May last. It consists of fifteen plates, each 7. 5 millimetres in thickness, 45 millimetres high, the width of step being 1 millimetre, and the order of the spectrum about the 8000th. The glass plates are put in a small cell. The echelon is not meant for general spectroscopic work. With its great resolving power (Michelson has reached 300, UOO), and with the Yery high order of spectrum offered, it is fitted for a minute study of special rays and special pheno­mena, such as the Zeemann effect, on which Michel­son was able to record some splendid worK in his

The making of the plates for such a. spectroscope is, of course, a very delicate task. They must be perfectly plane and of exactly the same thickness. Mr. Hilger, who has most kindly permitt~d us .to take a peep into his workshop, starts wtth 9-m. glass plates, out of which about 25 echelon eleme!lts are cut. The polishing of t he plate is the most m~­portant step. During the preliminary. s~ges of thiS work two devices are put in requiSition, one. of which may be new to our readers. The first consiSts of beautiful plane slabs of crystal. When o~e of t hem is carefully slid over the surface to be exar.mne~, it should show one uniform interference tmt; If various colours appear, the surface tested is. not plane. The other device is a kind ~f most dehcate optical gauge, the comparator, destgned and con· structed by Mr. Hilger. It has the appearanc~ of a square box, an inch square, several 1n:ches htgl~, resting on an elastically fixed steel pomt, and tt measures the thickness of the plate. An ar~nge­ment of levers in the box magnifies the mmute

motions of the steel point, so that oo,~oo in. can be

read off on a horizontal scale, placed in the uppe~ part of the comparator. This tool does no~ trave over the plate on horizontal guides, as m1g~t b~ fancied, but is lowered on the plate. The polis.he plate is t-hen tested by Michelson 's method. Light

•

•

•

FEB. 2 3' I 900.]

reflected from a sil vored mirror is returned at right angles from the two surfaces of the glass under examination. A s soon as the two surfaces are nearly parallel, interference rings begin to nppecl.r which become more t\nd more circular as perfect parallelism is approached. vVhere the rings are distorted, the plate has to be corrected. In this way an irregularity corresponding to a retardation of one-eightieth of a wave length can easily be detected. Michelson uses the green light of mercury Yapour illuminated by an induction spark for this examination. The observer pricks the curves on a sh,cet of paper fixed on the lower sur­face of the glass plate, by means of a lever. It need not be pointed out that this is an exceedingly h\borious process, which makes very heavy claims on the skill and patience of the operator. After all, this ingenious examination would not detect any curvature in the plate as long as the two sur­faces remain in perfect parallelism. The plate is now cut into elements with the help of a revolving iron disc and emery, and then comes the finishing of the edges which form the steps of the echelon. I t is not advisable to apply t he diamond for mark­ing the division lines. Mr. Hilger has as yet no rivals in the manufacture of t hese echelons in Europe, nnd has completed another spectroscope for Lord Blythswood, in which the rays travel twice thTough the echelon. I t may be added that notwithstanding the high skill required to produce them, these echelon spectroscopes are of lnoderate cost in proportion to their power, and hence their use is likely to be largely extended for special work.

THE DESIGN OF ROTARY CONVERTERS.

By H. F. PAR HALL, M. INsT. C.E., and H. M. HoBART, S.B.

(Continued /1'(YT}t page 198.) THE STARTING OF ROTARY CONVERTERS.

THE starting and synchronising of rotary con­verters may be accomplished in any one of ~everal ways. The simplest, at first sight, is to throw the alternating-current terminals of the rotary con­verter directly on the alternating-current mains ; but this, although often practicable, has several dh;advanta.ges. By this method, the current rush at the moment of starting is generally in excess of the full-load current input to the rotary converter , and as it lags in phase by a large angle, it causes a serious drop of line voltage and affects the normal line conditions to the serious detriment of other apparatus on the line. This large current gradu­ally decreases as the rotary converter's speed in­creases. The action of the rotary converter~ in starting, is analogous to that of an induction motor. The rotating magnetic field set up by the currents entering the armature windings induces--but very ineffectively- secondary currents in the pole-faces, and the mutual action between these secondary currents and the rotating field imparts t orque to the armature, which revolves with constantly accelerating speed, up to synchronism. Then t he circuit of the rotary converter field spools is closed, and adjusted to bring the current into phase. But when the armature is first starting, the field spools are interlinked with an alternating magnetic flux, generated by the current in the armature windings, and, in normally proportioned field spools, with se-reral hundreds or thousands 0f turns per spool, a dangerously high secondary voltage is generated in these spools. H ence they must be insulated better than field spools ordinarily are, not only between layers, but between adjacent t urns ; and wire with double or triple cotton covering should be used. Tfowever, the most frequently occurring break­down due to this cause is from winding to frame, and hence extra insulation should be used between these parts.

The terminals of the different field spools should be connected up to a suitable switch, arranged so that the field winding may be conveniently broken up into several sections; otherwise if a thousand volt3 or so are induced in each spool, t he strain on the insulation between the ends of these spools in series, and frame is severe.

At starting, this switch must always be open, and must not be closed until the armature h3s run up to synchronous speed, which is observed by the line current falling to a much smaller value. This special switch is t hen closed, and afterwards the main field switch, whereupon a still further de­crease in the line cun·ent occurs, due to improved

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

phase relations, and the process of synchronising is completed.

By means of a compensator this heavy current on the line at star ting, may be dispensed with . The connections for a three-phase rotary with compen­sator are as shown in the diagram of Fig. 35.

At the instant of star t ing, the collector rings are connected to the three lowest contacts, hence re­ceive but a small fraction of the line voltage, and would receive several t imes the line current; i .e., if the taps into the compensator winding are, sA.y, one-fif th of the way from common connection to line, then the rotary con,rerter has one-fi fth the line voltage and five t imes the line current. As the converter runs up in speed, the terminals are moved along until, a.t synchronism, the collector is directly on the line.

Another difficulty encountered when the rotary converter is started from the alternating-curren t end, is the indeterminate polarity at the commu­tator, when the rotary is made to furnish its own excitation. U nless some independent source of continuous current is available at the rotary con­ver ter sub-station, the rotary is dependent for its excitation upon t he polarity t hat its commutator happens to have at the instant of attaining syn­chronism. If there are two rotary converters at the sub-station, and the first comes up with the wrong polarity, then it may be allowed to run so, t emporarily, till the second one is synchronised. The second one can be given either polarity de­sired, by using the first as an independent source of continuous current. Then from the second one the polarity of the first may be reversed into the cor­rect direction, and the second rotary converter shut down. Obviously, however, this indeterminateness of the init ial polarity constitutes a further incon-

FVJ.35. LINE {

OR;. THREE COMPENSAT t OR ONE THREE PHASE

COMPENSATOR J

~·

1"1

[

(. • l

......,

-.....

n

r"

,,..,

ioR.. tmSAJ RINGS

""' ...... ~

_)

A

--'- (:

~

"'-,. A" •• 1r~,,. ,. ........ ~NT/NUOUS ,., u,.. N T.

~ora.·)'"'u;t ····-"'

venience and objection to starting rotary converters by throwing t hem directly on to the alternating­current line.

The required line current is greatly reduced by star t ing generator and rotary converter up simul­taneously. The latter is then from the instant of starting always in synchronism with its genera tor and the conditions of running are arrived at with a miillmum strain to t he systen1. But the conditions of operation rarely render this vlan pract icable.

A method sometimes used, is to have a small in­duction motor direct coupled to the shaft of the rotary converter for the purpose of starting the latter with small line currents. This, however, is an extra expense, and results in an unsightly com­bination set.

Where there are several rotary converters in a sub·station, a n1uch better way is that described in a recent British patent specification, in which the station is provided with a small auxiliary set con­sisting of an induction motor direct coupled to a continuous-current dynamo, the latter being only of sufficient capacity to run the rotary converters one at a t ime up to synchronous speed as continuous­current motors. When this speed is arrived at, and synchronism attained, bet ween the alternating­current collector rings and the line, the switch be­tween them is closed, and the rotary converter runs on from the alternating-current supply.

In many cases, a continuous-current system de­rives its supply partly from con t inuous-current aenerators and partly from rotary converters. In ~uch cases, the rotary converter is simply started up as a motor from the continuous-current line, and then synchronised.

On the Continent it is very customary to operate s torage batteries in the sub-stn.tions, in parallel with the rotary converters, the batteries being charged by the rotaries during times of light load, and help­ing out the rotaries with heavy loads. They are known as '' buffer batteries," and are of consider-

able assistance in maintaining uniform voltage and mo1·e unifor m load on the generating ph1.nt. More­over, they render the sub-station independent of the rest of the system for starting up the rotary conYerters.

YNCU RONISING R OTARY CONVERTERS.

One has the choice of synchronising the rotary conver ter either by a switch between the collector rings and the low potential side of the step-down transformers, or of considering the step· down trans­formers and the r otary converter to constitute one system, transforming from low-voltage continuous current to high-voltage alternating current , and syn­chronising by a switch placed between the high­tension terminals of the transformers and the high­tension t ransmission line. This latter plan is, perhaps, generally t he best; as for the former plan, one r equires a switch for rather heavy currents at a potential of often from 300 to 400 volts ; and such a switch to be safely opened, is of much more ex­pensive construction than a high-tension switch for the smaller current . Moreover, for six-phase rotaries, the low-tension switch should preferably have six blades, as against t hree for the high­tension switch. It is much simpler in six-phase rotary converters to have an arrangement which obviates opening the connections between the low­tension terminals of the t ransformers and t he col­lect0r ring terminals, although in some cases some type of connectors should be provided which may be readily removed when the circuits are not alive, for purposes of testing.

The arrangement shown in Fig. 36 represents a plan for synchronising and switching, on the high­tension circuits, and adapted to six-phase rotaries.

F ig. 37 shows diagrammatically a plan for a three­phase system where the switching is done on the low-tension circuits. The quick-break switch used, which is necessarily of rather elaborate construc­t ion, is illustrated in Figs. 38, 39, and 40. This switch was designed by Mr. Samuelson .

V oLTAGE RATIO IN RoTARY CoNvERTER SYSTEMS. As already shown, there is a tolerably definite

ratio between the alternating-current voltage at the collector riugs and the con tinuous-current voltage at the commutator. This lack of flexibility is, to a certain degree, a source of inconvenience, hence methods whereby it may be avoided, possess inte­rest. A rotary conver ter with adjustable commu­tator voltage is desirable for the same purposes as an over-compounded generator, and also for charg­ing storage batteries.

If the generators, transmission line, transformers, and rotary converters possess sufficient inductance, the commutator voltage may be varied within certain limits by variations of the field excitation of converter or generator, or both, By weakening the generator excitation or strengthening the rotary excitation, the line current may be made to lead, and a leading current through an inductive circuit causes an increased volt-age at the distant end of the line. Hence, by suitable adjustment of the excitation, the voltage at the collector rings of the rotary, and consequently also its commutator volt ­age may be increased. ~trengthening the generator field or weakening the converter field, or both, cause the curren t to lag, and re ul t in a decreased commutator voltage . These effects may be inten­sified by placing inductance coils in series in the circuits.

Another method of controlling the commutator voltage is by equipping t he step-down t ransformers with switches, whereby t he number of turns in primary or secondary, and hence the ratio of t rans­formation may be adjusted. A much better method consists in employing an induction regulator be­tween the transformer secondary terminals and the rotary converter. This con. ists in a structure like an induction motor. Series windings are put on the one element, say the stator, and potential windings on the rot.or. The rotor may be progro;­sively advanced through a certain angle, and at each angular position will raise or lower the voltage at the collector rings by a certain amount, by virtue of the mutual action of the series and potential coils. The connections are shown diagrammatically in Fig. 41.

Sometimes a small auxiliary rotary converter, having a voltage equal to the amount by which it is desired to increase or decrease the commutator voltage of the main rotary, and with a current capacity equal to that of the main rotary, may be employed with its commutato1· in series with th:ltt

--of the main rotary. The auxiliary rotary should have field coils capable of exerting a great range of excitation. Its collector should be supplied from a. special transformer or transformers with the pri­ntary and secondary coils considerably separated, so as to permit of much magnetic leakage between

flg.36. H.T.BUS BARS.

HTSWITCHER

""it' ------+-----....

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

factors. This is obviously the case, s ince the main rotary may be adjusted to work at a power factor of unity, while it is only the relatively mall amount of energy con. umed by the small capacity auxiliary ro!Jary which is supplied at a low-power factor. The effect on the power factor of the

r(,g.3Z l 0

---+f1; ~ ----kl~ ;1, ~

I \\ ..-or--- 6-A r+~--<·h '><-!o-....,o·--

> ~ > > ~.~-o_.....;<+J

9 Q

I\ lo c: ~ c o o '-+---Q:::l,J <; ;> 9 (

DISCONNECT01>S

[FEn. 23, 1900.

small auxiliary rotary converter. The scheme is illustrated diagrammatically in Fig. 42.

A similar piece of apparatus has been used for the express purpose of charging storage batteries from a 500-volt line. With maximum excitation it supplied 200 volts moro, giving the 700 -volts

•

l H TBuS ru.tH'

(I- ( HT. JJ.P. SWITCHES

~ ( Q <; ) 0

,..1 ,.; l_

,..r-- .,-;> (~-~

v1 .. ,.. A A,.. A v.? ii~ En -~vvvvv

~UG TRM ~ 'f/' 11. AA AA. 11. f

l.. "v"vVl TRANSFORM

1\ "'VI/ vvv UNE VOLTMErER

ISFORMERS.

t &&AA&AA"A

~":,.•.:YVY

~y 7 r+)-~~h b 6 1.-41 ~--hr

~AA.AAAAA /o ('fYY'f'f'fYV

\ '/

~ 9 lP y p

' T

6 SYNCHRON t\ J LAMP &

)

)

fliNG

~ 0

<:

\ .. ., • .,"V\/1/'1/IIv vvvv.v~.,

l \ 7 0 cJl ~ - 0 ~; 0 (l V

L.T. D P. SWITCHES. ) I o) ) ) <; )

DISCONN£CTO ~.

CONVERTER A'*'* VOLTMET£.0 V VYY

VOLT!WET E.R • !l,. •A '*

(~ YH

--FUSE.- ....-" ,.....,_

SIGNAL LAMP

•

cl ...... -

I .

.l nl ,I n ~~

'r'-'

I - Fig.38. .

h-~mL-~~~~,~~~~~~--~~~ ~ ·-- ~ : . . :: . ~ I \ • ' o J

I •

t-.. il : I / l\ • ' ' ' '

--t=U:U~= , j·; IT'rf~l~--- l=='l~t=11

~---

r-..

..........

....

Q:; ...... ~ FUSE

Fig.39.

., ... ·'\.--- ..... ----'t ·. ..... ..... --- I t, ' ' • --·- ~ ___ ... .. . . ...

---- I I , ... -...... ' - t . • ' ,.. -·- _....... ' ·. --- ... -- ' I -----

' --· ' .- ' ·----- - · - - - - - ·-

I

• ! . .... I' r- .. PLUGS

< ~I ( 1'\.' ~ ( ~ ~ p

\ I ~ -FUSE

'1~ -VOLTMETER

- . -.....

- - --· ----------• •

--

-- .. --

------

L ·. BUS8.110 <

c

L.TtT P. SWITCHES. q 9

\ I •

• lt

I~ ~

~ ~ I !§§I ~

I 0 (.)

). Q::

~ 0 Q::

Ftj. 1/.0.

~·· • • .-.. ·:t-' ·------- ' .. ....... -- .., ..;. .. _ .. .. ... \ ' ~ --- --------; ,-.,.... "~: . ' , ... --- -- _ .. ,. , \ .. ____ __ __ _ ___ ... _ ... -..,. , ------ --.... -- . - ,. _, -~

- --,, .- "' ---------· . ..

....----· -----·-

0 0 • 0

......

0 ~ 0 ---- • I•

0 0 •

l2. . ~

0 0 •

. h b t d completion of them. This gives large inductat;t~e to the small main system caused by the power factor of the 1 requtred by t e. attery owar h d a shunt branch circuit leading to the aux1hary rotary, 3:nd small rotary may be completely neutrali ed, and the charge. Thts rotary c~nverte~ a il and by reaulation of its field excitation a very wtde the resultant power factor restored to unity by winding, and also a negattve s~nes ~~g pro· ranae ~f voltaae at its commutat0 r is secured. It the simple method of running the large main when finally a.dju.sted it had. the mt~:~~er from has 0 the areat ad vantage over inductance in the rotary with a slight over or under excitation, and per~y. of automatl.call! cha.rgm.~h~:urhood ~f 530 main circ~it that it gives a wide range of voltage hence with a power factor slight.ly lower t~an a mmtmum potenttal m the ne/othe charae up to variation for the combined set, consisting of main I unity to compensate for the laggmg or leadmg volts a~:e ~omm~ncer~rt ~barged. M~reover, and auxiliary rotary, without working at low-power current, as the ease may be, con~:>umed by the about 1 vo ts w 1en u Y

•

F EB. 2J, 1900.] E N G I N E E R I N G. 243

VARYING THE VOLTAGE RATIO IN ROTARY CONVERTER SYSTEMS. (For Description, 3ee Page 241.)

I-ig.42. H . T. LIN~

Pin 1/.J. HI GH T~6/0it ALTERNAnNr; SUS BARS ~~· · ----~--~~~~~~~--~---

)

CONTINUOUS CURR~NT

'------.MA N TRAN FORMERS

-

• L. T. THREE PHASE LINE TRANSFORMERS

AUXILIA11Y BOOSTER MA/11 ROTARY

ROTARY ( VJtiCJ

H .T .BUS BA.RB

Pr{J.4J. H.T.D P. SWITCHES

-

J~~-J ($17601 • TllANSFORII£RS •

L.T. T.P SWITCH

•

TO DIRECT CtJRRLNT IIU~ •us

S P. 3WITCilS •

I

AIIPE.R£ HOtJn ~ET£RS 11111111 ---------~1 11 1 1 1 1 1 - -

BATTCRY

(sllu :) • - ~

Fig.44.

CONTINU0fl8 CURR£NT Fifj.45. - ... ... • CONTINUO c

THRU hi THREE L INE.

• • •

•

ROTARY CON'IERTER

-

•

244 :

the current, amounting to some 40 amperes at the commencement gradually fell off to about 30 amperes when the battery was fully charged. That is, when the battery charge is low, and this rotary converter is thrown on in series with the 500-volt line, it automatically regulates its own excitation so that, while giving 30 volts and 40 am­peres at first, it finished up with 200 volts and 30 amperes. Its shunt coils are excited from its own commutator, hence at gradually increasing voltage.

Its series winding is connected to act in opposi­tion to th~ shunt winding. This negat ive series winding was at first put on to protect the rotary from the effect of sudden variations of voltage on this 500-volt circuit. Thu~ if the line voltage sud­denly rose to 520 volts, the addition of the rotary voltage sent a much heavier current into the battery ; a negative series winding tended to equalise the resultant voltage in spite of line varia­tions, and proved to contribute very markedly to the automatic regulation of current and voltage to the varying requirements during the process of charging the storage battery.

In Fig, 43 is given a diagram of its connections. An alternative scheme to t hat of a small auxiliary

rotary converter, and, perhaps, on the whole, the best arrangement of all, consists in the addition of a small continuous-current machine on an extension of the shaft of the main rotary converter. If its fields are excited in series with the load, and its commutator connected in series with that of the main rotary converter, the combined set may be adjusted to over-compound to any desired extent. Fig. 44 gives a diagram of this scheme.

A great disadvantage of both these last schemes is that the commutator of t he auxiliary machine carrying the main current must have substantially as great a radiating surface as the main commu­tator, and hence is expensive. The commutator losses are also doubled.

Still another interesting arrangement for giving an adjustable ratio of conversion of voltage is that illustrated in Fig. 45, wherein a small synchronous motor is directly connected on the shaft of t he rotary, which requires no collector ring~ ; t hose of the synchronous motor serving for t he set. The synchronous motor has a separate field system by varying the excitation of which the percentage of the voltage consumed in the synchronous motor is varied, and consequently also the total ratio of

• conversiOn. (To be contilnued. )

MESSRS. SCHNEIDER AND CO.'S WORKS AT CREUSOT.-No. LXXX.

GuNs ON DISAPPEARI NG CARRIAGEs-( Ooncl'l.l ded) . 15-0entimetre (5.905-Jn .) 26-0alibre Gun , on

Disappeatring Carriage (Figs. 72! and 725).-

Weight of gun ... . .. , , mounting , .. . , projectile .. .

Muzzle velocity with black powder .. . . .. . ..

Elevation ... ... .. . Tra.inin~, through . . . . ..

2750 kilogs. (6, 061 lb.) 6500 ,, (14,32G , )

35 , (77 lb. )

520 m. (1706 f t .) + 15 deg. - 5 deg.

360 deg.

The gun is a general type of Schneider-Canct ordnance for garrison armament. The breech­block opens in three actions, and is fitted with a plastic obt urator. The bedplate is provided with a roller-path, the balls of which are main tained at a fixed distance apart by a circular plate-ring, in which are cut a series of hollows. I t is fitted with a circular disc for fi xing it to t he foundations. The slide consists mainly of two vertical b1·ackets, joined at their lower part by a circular platform which revolves on a set of balls on t he bedplat.e. A clamp holds the rim of the lat ter and the front of the slide, preventing all shifting when the gun is fi red. The beam, in which the gun trunnions are placed, consists of two cheeks st~yed toget~er at the top · it is movable round a hon zontal ax1s formed by two hollow drums, which oscillate in vertical brackets fixed on the platform of the slide. The gun is, moveover, supported in front of its trun­nions by two jointed rods on a collar placed near the wedge coil. The rods oscillate a.t their lower part on a shaft supported by two sl~ding shoes, which fi t in circular grooves made 1n the front of the slide brackets. Two smaller rods join the shoes to these arms ; t hese are in a line with the cheeks, below the drums. The hydraulic recoil cylinder is movable ; it is. placed horizontally between the brackets, and 1s pro-

. ' . . , (, . , .

' .. • • 4 . ~ . \ ., . , ... Q

• ( . . .. • • • • • . . -· • •

E N G I N E E R I N G. [FEB. 23, 1900.

SCHNEIDER-CANET DISAPPEARING CARRIAGES.

- ------- 11---1 \- - ··-- - - · - +

I - - ~· -----J..-f}----------

0

Fig 124.

'

0

,

Ftf; 125.

~ '?!1

-·--·

""'\, '\.. ~-------.

\ 11- 1 11

I

l"\ -

j

U S6.C. J'Yl. I J J .// I / 1 I ll 1\\

15-CENTIMETRE GUN AND DISAPPEARING CARRIAGE.

---·-·-·-·-- -·---· -~-

- =--=· :. -~-_::::_::_ .::_::::. _:::::_ ==-- - - -·-

--·-· -·--

·­...... ' . -. - . ~ , .. .. "' ;I . ... ... · .... ·"" .. : .~ .. , . . • ( .. ., ~ --- ... "' , • ~o •· • _. 1• ,.., ,"';..!' t "''" I t • ' • •

-.~-.::::::::::::::~:]-:- \ I~· o • ~ , , • • ,.,. ... .. .. .. 1 ,- ,__ '

I ,. ·. ....., • • • ,, , • I • "' 0 ' f' e. • .,. ·+·--·-! - · ·- ·-·-·--~· ;... • 4 ....... , ••

1~ . --·-· .. ;• , .~, •* ,•

J . . . . ~ ...... .; .. , · .. -.. .--·-·-·- o, I I " ~ ~ (.~ ..

,

• ' • • ' 0 • • • ' _,

0 \ 4 • ., ......... -a 0 0 .. . , . .. ~ /

Fr.g 726.

I I I I I I

: I I I j

I

.f'J.S6.0

•

I

--~-­r,-+-.,' I • I I I ,, t • f I I I 11 ' I I I 1 0 I I . I I I ! : I I ! I o I 'I I I t I I , t 1 ' I I I t • I I I I f I

• ! I I' o • I ' • I I I I 1

I I . I . I ! I

. I . I . I •

I I I

• • ' . . . , • • # 0 • ' I 4 f ~ '

.' ,• V .. • •

' ~ ' . ' (. • • I ~ c;_o

" I• ~~-----:~-;-:-;:.......,..--:-:--=--:--::-' ~~ .. ••r' . ,.,.., ' ,~ .. ,. _ , , _, ;.. ·• .. • .... t, ' I~. , ,,, • .:•,... ., .. , o

~":'' ... ... ... .- fit ' • .. • • • • q~..... • .... ., _.) - .. • • • • ( • • .. ' • • <t;o, _... . "'---' • \ ~ · ~·. " I · f c., •' - • ' . . . . . . ' . .. ' . . .

" I , -· · 0

• (. Ill • e) , .. ...,• \ : . • ' I • I ' ••• • V ... , ' ( .• • • y

\fle o\ t I ._J 0 ,' 0 I ' • , .. 0 • t' • • ... • , • • • .. ,_. ,

~ • 4 • , ' .. . , • ... .. - • • • . . . . -... . ... . ... ... ..

g4 CENTFMETRE S c HNEIDEJt-C ANET GU1i ANP DI~A?l?E~Jti'NG CARRIAGE.

\

I • • • •

I

•• ' . .. ~ .

I • =

•

•

FEB. 23, 1900.] E N G I N E E R I N G. 245

• 27-CENTIMETRE SCHNEIDER-CA ET GUN AND DISAPPEARING CARRIAGE .

• ,. .. ....... . -

• • •

•

- . - -

-

•

-. ~ . .. •

•

•

•

•

•

•

• •

•

•

•

·• •

•

• •

•

vided in front and in the rear with two cross­b~rs that travel in gun-metal guides fi.Lted to the shde. The piston remains fixed ; it consists of a cylindrical rod hollowed out along its length, the central counter-rod being held on t.he bottom of the recoil cylinder. The recuperator is formed of t wo hollow drums, round which the beam turns. The bottom of each drum is in communi­cation with the recoil cylinder through a pipe fi tted with a loaded valve. In the valve seat are two narrow vents which croes at right augles; thefe

•

•

• • • •

FIG. 728 .

• •

•

•

•

. ~

• . , .

FlG. 729.

•

..

-·­• •

•

•

•

•

• •

•

openings can be closed wholly or in part by a conical- the pointed regulating rod is screwed down, closing pointed rod worked by a screw. This establishes the vents. Then, when the gun is fired, the recoil a. direct passage, the area of which can be made causes the beam to turn round the drums, and the to vary at will, though the valve be fallen back arms fitted to Lhe lower part of the beam cheeks are on it s seat. The other end of the drums can driven forward, drawing with them the recoil cy­be put in connection with an air compressor, linder in which the piston enters. Pressure is worked by hand or by power; a movable airtight thus exercised on the liquid which flows through diaphragm is put in both cylinders, between the the opening that remains free between the counter­liquid from the recoil cylinder, and the compre~sed rod and the central port hole in the piston ; it ai1· delivered by the compressor. raises the loaded valve, and enters the two

'Vhen the gun is run up and ready for firing, , drums, driving before it the airtight c i~phragms

•

a~ove ref.erred t o, which act on the compressed atr and Increase its pressure. This cont inues as long as the gun has run completely down. A~ elastic buffer is placed in the r ear of the shde, to deaden the shock, should the motion of the system exceed in any way the exten t cal­~ulated for a n ormal oscillation. When the gun IS run down, the loaded valve falls back on its seat, and cuts off communication between the r~cuperator drums and the hydraulic r ecoil cy­linder ; the gun then r emains run down, and can be r eloaded and reset. F or running it up again the pointed rod is unscrewed by means of a hand wheel· the liq u id under pressure can t hus flow back to th~ r ecoil cylinder ; this resumes its former position dra wing with it t he arms at the lower part of th~ b eam. The running up of the gun can th erefore h e ~ontrolled at will. For rapid firing , the firing devtce can be arranged to act automatically when

--. -·-f ......

•

E N G I N E E R I N G. Weight of gun ...

, , mounting ,. projectile

Muzzle velocity ... Elevation ... . .. Training, through ...

... 22,200 kilog3, {48 942lb.

. .. 124, 000 l) (273, 370 '' .. . 15') " ( 33 t . ' . . . 820 metres ( 2, 683 ft.) .. . - 6 deg. + 15 deg. ... 360 deg.

The gun is builb t hroughout of steel, and is of a standa~·d S?hneider-Canet coast-defence type. The mountmg IS formed of the following main parts : . (~) The carriage proper, which carries the gun 1n 1ts movements of recoil and return .

(b) The slide, on which the carria<Ye travels · this slide disappears after each round, a~d runs th~ gun up again in a firing position.

(c) The movable p latform, which transmitg to the system the 1ater6l t-ra ining displacements. The phtform re mains fixed durin<Y the disappear· ing motion of the gun.

0

[FEB. 23, 1900.

fa~e bears o!-1 a s~ries of friction balls ; it is fitted w1th . a vert tcal nog to which are attached the ~eotn~g ro~ler~ of t he sleeve. The platform 1s .gu1ded m 1ts rotary motion by a second senes of r ollers, the vertical axes of which are ~tted t::> the cylinder that forms part of the cast­Iron bedpl~te which carries the whole of the system ; th1~ bed plate contains a ring that bears on t he. foundatwn, and through which run the foun­datwn bolts. Its top part is made with a groove that forms a path for the friction balls. It is strengthened by. a serie~ of radiating ribs. Its lower part ends 1n a ver t ical cylinder which rests dire?t against the cemented wall of ' the pit and carnes the axles of the guiding rollers of the mov able platform. The pit i tself communicates with a large~.sized r~om that con tains part of the hy<lrauhc mechan1sm and the counterweiaht. The r oom is j oined to the battery comm~nications

I ·-.. .~ . -.. ....... V) . ...... .... ---. -. ,.,L

-·

... .. -., ... ,, . .. .. · ·' .. . , · · ·"'-. ~' .. .. .. " ' ... , , '

'\ • .. , .,······· '

• '• n.•,,•• • • • • • ' •••··• ~ • . . I" .. ~ ... ... ·~ -.: • • • • • •o• ., • , .. ' ... • •- 9 - • ' I • 'e\ ' ·:,··· ...... , . """" , :oq •· ··'." , ' ; » ,, . ,• I\ . • \ I : I 0.

• • • • .. , 0 • ' . , . . .. . . . ' - ..... , ..... ' .. • • ,' \ 0 0 \ o "# • 0 I t \ \ . . . . . \ . ' . . • • • .. , . . ~ . '

· "" ,. - ·· , .. ' • • ... • .. . . , :• -.1 , • • , ._

• I • \ ...... i"' -. . ' _, , ... . ..... '\.

..... ...... • • Y"".r '- .. • • • I \ ,. .... .. .. . . . ' ' .. . .... ····· ' ..... , " t I I '" o " . , •• " .... ... ' ¥ .. o f

0 '-"' , , • 0

.. • ' ~ 0 ··· ' •), ..... ', . .. ' . - , , '

I • - • ' ' t • I \ •

' , \ ' 0 • ( . .. :_.; ..... \

· .. ... ~ - ·· · ·· \ ... , ... . . '\ .. ,. " ' ' • . ..... .. ~ . -· ....... -... ~"' ' ' . ... .. . • • ... • .. • 0 • - -\ o o , o 1 A ,- f ;,...,.....L..------------....: ,, ,, .. . ,.z'.,.. .... ' ...... .

, • 0 • • ... • , •

'.. . ., . . . . . ~ . ..

·-~fll/.=~===:::;::ti=:t------J.--. 'i;'" , . ... , • • • 0 ,"~ '- I - I ·, ,..,.-, .... .... _ .. ,: . ..,.._ 0_._ _ __ 0_____ t' ....... o- o-·r· ... 0 ,.. • •• , . . ' I -

---·- ' • ' . . ' - < ' # I - \ , ..... , .. (' ... -- tin , . . , • ' onl\•. • • .·· 1

•,, o• 0.- · "' ·-~ .. ,_ .. o.,._ • • • 0 . .. • • 0 ,

••''' . ...... t -... . ,, .. , ' ... . ,, ....... ,.- · ~ o • I I .. . ~ ...... ,_ ...

,' .. . · - ... -· .. · ., , .0 ,. ·,·-~·\, o•:,\ t\ , •• , .. ,_ t!.·,·.· . .. . ' .

.. 0 •• ,_ ,,_ .·-"'·

, •,-.•••• I ' ,"''I ,., .... . \ .. , .. . .. . . t .. • ..... • • • • • ·t . , ... , .. ,, . . , ..... ... , oo,,,, • • ... . . . . ., .. . . -.. · ... .. . , \ '. .. .. . . . . · '(.. _ .. .. . ,, - . I o o , , ...

• • "o • f I o • " ,, .. .... , .. , .. ,. o. .. \ 0 .. ' . . . ' . . . . . . .. . .. ·--'. ~ .. ···•·· .. ·. .

Fig .?21,

'

- - ·- o 0 o t \ • I .. \ • t - I ---0 ·t-·-·-0! ,. :. . .. ..... - . : ... 4

I : ' I

I ' o I -----... _ ... _ 0 _0

--

-', o '" - ..._I '----.----1'------,...........,.----- ----.J r' ' ""' • -~ .. ,,,. •··• . .- , • . , . ' l);•'· < " . . .. • ' ' • ( . .. ' , • ' r... . " .. , .... , . , ... , ..... ~ • " .. > ~ •'• • r • .. •• o • .. , ' , . . . ' .. -· · ''-"'.,.,.. ·. ,, . ..... ' !,.. " ' ' , • • • .. : • ~_, •

•. ,, . . "' . ' .. . . '" ••• ...... ... • '1""'. ~· . ,, , , ·• ,

1 1 , • ft.._o,,. . , • , \ o ,

l • , )~ A , ' • t • ' ·v ' •. o,,.':\ :,0.• " \ o\ o .. ~·-"':' , .. 'H to ' . . . I . •..... ' . ,, . I o./ o t \ I' 0 ;. 1 0 ° 0

\ \ 0

,._ \ - ..:.~ . .. "' " .. I · · "' , , ' "'·'t0& • ' .. ' . .. . r- . ' . .. .... . • .... • ., .,. I .,. • • \ l o • I

I . . . . '• ' . . ' \ . . ' . . , < . . •.• , • • '

I .~ ' ,, \ , I " . • \

' ' • , • I •

I F~~ ·. IJ -. . . . , ' I • .. .. . . .

. I •

I I 0

0 • 1

1-.,...---::~ . \ . f , . . , , \ ...... , ·'··' • l ') ,J •• ,J <, • J •• ' ," • , "=,oo~- .. l ' .. ' ~ o •• , ,. - ,.. .. ................ .. .

... . ~ ,. , ~ .. \ ' • • l ,, ... , .... · "" ' . ·' . ........ . . , . , ..... ' . .. ... •o';· - • . . >. ' . . .. . '>, \· . ' . . " f" ~ \ . ,,,., .......

• • • .. , . . . . . - . . . . . , . '

I ! ... . . . \ .

t • I t o . ' .. . ., I • ' ' J, • • ...:.... \ .. , , • \. I 'tr. • "

~-- ) • . , ~ • <· ·" . • . .. ... . . . . ' ...

•

• •

' '

'

' .. ' ... .. ' .. . ... . . \ . ,/ '•' ,.. . . . ... ..... , ' - . .. . . .. . -

' , ' . . \ ··~ . ' . , ..... ~ . • •

., - .· - '•' -"" .. ' .. . \ ' . ' . . • . - .. ' • ' ,l • . ..• . . .. , -• ' ,• .... • ••• f .. , ..... . . . ' '. ' ··~" "' ... .. r ... • " . '• . . .. . . ~~

•

~ • • " !11 ~ " 0 ' ' t " I , 1 • '" t \ .. , ' f 0 0 0

' • " • ,. • , • •• ' ~•V. • I' .• ' , " • " I' \- o " • \ o , ) ft I • I • \ o " 4 \ , ' ..: ' '(""'

0 " ; t. •_, 0 '•, , ~ , , •'"" 1 J 1 0 '; , 0 • t , .. uq. ~ o f' • ,

• I I .. t ~ 0 o 1 of •t"9'\i' - I o •- ~ .,:., __ J ~ \ # 0

\ I , ' U t.l\' t _., 1

o t •"-'-

,9J~ .·>'1),"' 1 "/ . .. ' 0 ... • .', ·"' ........ •• ......... • ~ ...... '-, ',:; ·."", · ' • .. • . .. . ' ::' . : •" , r' ;. " .... • • "- I • .. • , ' \ ' '· \ • •• • • I • {11 • . , • • • - I I • t • • .. • 4 .. • •• '.~,,'! ,l . • • ' ' • 1 ,,. / . ' • t • ,• ... • ·7 • ' \• 'f , ,'•' I I , ... V' •' .•; ' • ' • , "' , i , • • • .. • • ' ' • 1 .I • • ' ' • ' " ~. • ,.. • I ~ " .._" .; o • 1 11 • o o • f I I 1 0 \ • "' •

0 '

0 I • t •• •

0 o o - • .,.. I \ - \ ... o I ' o # i f •• , ......__ . '·'·•t, . , ... ~· • .(- '"•uo•' .. , • •• , ' • \ • .;I • '"• "'""',,·~· • ' • I , • "' " J .... ' • • ~ '\ • \ ' ' • o\ • • , .,. • t I I ' ' ( ' _,

\ ' \ \ o " ,. I • ~ - I - o - J • t • o ' I \ \ " "' ...... h l1 ,. _, I t

0 0 ..... I " 1 • • I t ,f 0

...) ,- I \"" " I o \ - • 0

• • • .. I \ • \ • , lt...,. ... , • .. I . , • I • . ~ . . . • ' . . ' I •

.... t \~ 1, 0\ ' · .. ,, .. , • - .... C 1 " / I ... .,. 0

t - I , I 0

" \ t ...... •• o _, ... •• ., t ' ' I ' "

27 -CENTIMETRE S c HNEIDER-CAN ET GUN AND DISAPPEARING CARRIAGE.

the gun has run up in battery, the only stoppage in the action being that for loading and training.

F or lateral training it is sufficient to act direct by traction on the moYable slide, with the h elp of one or more levers placed on the circumference of t he platform ; a scale enables the position of t he gun t o be n oted and maintained. The required elevation is obtain ed by working the r ods jointed on t he gun ring ; to this effect t he slide-shoes, in which is fitted the shaft that j oins the two rods at their lower part, extend over tho guides in two br9.ckets. A shaft on which two pinions are keyed goes through the two brackets. The pinions gear in circular racks, cut in the outside surface of the fixed guides. The system is worked by a handwheel driving the shaft which carries the two pinions. A scale is cut on the outside ledge of the guides. The gun can be set to a given angle of elevation, either when it is run d own or when it is in firing position.

A horizontal shield, carried on columns attached to the slide, protects the various parts of the mount­ing. I t is made with a longitudinal opening to admit the passage of the gun.

24-0entimet1·e (9.448-I n.) Gnn on Disappearing Carriage with Counterweight ( Fig. 726, page 244). - This type, t hough working automatically, can be driven by a steam motor or by electric t ransmis­sion. It contains only n1echanical parts and a counterweight, compressed air not being resorted to.

(d) The bedplate, which carries the whole instal­lation and rests on the foundat ion.

The carriage proper consists of a cradle; it con­tains the two lateral recoil cylinders and an in ter ­mediate recuperator p laced in the centre line of the system and at the lower part. I t is vrovided with trunnion-plates, in which the gun r ests. The lower surface of each of t he cylinders forms a slide-shoe, and is provided with a 0 cramp that holds the edges of the slide guides. The recoil cylinders are on the Schneider-Canet system, with central counter-rods. The recuperator com­municates with the cylinders through two branched pipes and a valve-chest; it contains a piston, which , on recoil, is dri,·en by the liquid that flows from the recoil cylinder, and presses down two sets of springs parallel wit h the centre line of t he mounting. The slide is formed of two vertical cheeks, the top part of which constitutes h orizontal slides, in which are £ tted friction rollers of t he type previously described, to facili­tate the travel of t he cradle. The slide is con­tinued at its lower part by a cylindrical sleeve m~de of plates, inside which is the hydraulic cylinder used for raising the mounting and regu­lating the d isappearing action. 'rhe vertical motion of t he sleeve is guided by a se t of hori­zontal rollers mounted on the vertical pivot of the movable platform. The movable platform carries the horizontal shield and also the lateral train;ng mech'\nism. I t is circular, and its lower

•

thr ou a h an under<Yround passage. The fixed b b li plunger piston that works in the hydrau c cy-

linder is drilled for its whole length and parallel with 'its centre line ; the conduit thus esta· blished, communicates through a t~be fitted with regulating valves, with an hydra~hc accumu­lator designed for storing a power shghtly. above that required for counterba~ancing th.e we1ght of t he movable mounting durmg runmng .up and down. The cast- iron counterweight conststs of a large-diameter ring guided in its action by a. set of horizontal rollers on vertical guides; at a gtve~ moment, it can rest completely on a bed plate b'>lte on the lower part of the movable slee,~e aml. t~len the weight of the whole arrangement IS sutfietent to act aaains t t he resistin<Y power of the accumula­tor. The counterweight o can be raised ind.epen~ dently of the sleeve by th:ee p~unger P1stond contained in verliical hydra.uhc cyhnders, worte _ simultaneously by t he forcmg pump. Thes~ Y draulic cylinders are em bedded in the foundatiOn.

The required elevation is given the gun by ~ hand wheel placed in the rear ~f .the left-~an a ch eek of t he slide. The transmission contatns d set of square toothed-wheels, an endless ~c~ew a: t differenti<:tl gearing, working a square pm10~ t af en<Yaaes t he toothed sector fitted on the left . s~det~ t h: gun . Lateral training is obtained wtt .b~ help of a ~echanism si~ilar to that d~scn un further on w1th the 27 -centunetre (10. 630 m.) g t mountings. The plate-chain that surrounds par

FEB. 2 3, I 900. J •

of the circumference of the movable platform, is driven by a spurwheel keyed on a vertical shaft, which goes through a chest containing the driving­mechanism. The gun can be trained direct from the. platform .wi~h the help of a crank or through a ch"m tra.nsm1sston worked by a gunner standing on the shield.

'Vhen the gun is in battery, the cast-iron counter­weight rests on the lower collar. On firing, when the carriage r ecoils, it travels on the slide rollersr and the recoil cylinder acts in the same way as that for thE' types described above. When the recoil is spent, the valve that establishes communication between the recoil cylinder and the recuperator, closes and maintains the gun run in. .At the same time, the valve which establishes a. communication between the main vertical hy­draulic cylinder and tho accumulator, opens auto­matically, allows the flowing out of the liquid and the gun runs down. I t is then r eloaded and reset in position. 'rhis effected, and the communication with the accumulator remaining cut off, the ring that forms an additional counterweight is raised by means of the forcing pump and the three plunger pistons, to a height that varies according to the angle of elevation under which firing is to be effected. Communication between the hydraulic cylinder and the accumulator i-s then re-established and the gun runs up in battery under the action of the accumulator alone. The system is then :fixed, and the hydraulic cylinders being turned on the exhaust, the additional counterweight descends, and rests afresh on the caisson co1lar. A valve placed on the conduit in the thickne~s of the valve-chest, then re-establishes communication from the recoil cylinders to the recuperator, which, in relaxing, place the gun in a firing position.

A circular track, formed of I -bars, is placed below the shield, and allows the working of tackle, the chain of which carries the box for raising the pro­jectile to the breech.

This type of ordnance is simple in design ; it contains safety devices that insure a regular suc­cession in the various manceuvres, and it is most suitable for open coast-defence batteries that are so exposed they cannot be protected by artificial means. In the course of .firing, a single set of motors is required for manreuvring the additional counterweight, the accumulators being charged before firing commences. The motors are prefer­ably electric motors, and can be driven by under­ground cables. This type of mounting can be used in conjunction with the largest-calibre guns.

27-0entimet·re (10.630-Jn.) 28-0aliln·e Gun and Disappearing OaT?·iage (Figs. 728 and 729, page 246).-This type of gun and mounting has been supplied to the Japan War Department for de­fence of Tokio Bay, and to other Governments.

Weight of gun ... • , mountmg

, projectile Muzzle velocity ... Elevation . . . . .. Training, through ...

... 21,720 kilogs. (47,870 lb.

.. . 61,300 , , (135, 105 , , . .. 216 ,, (476 " .. . 580 m. (1903 ft.) ... -5 deg. to+ 15 deg. ... 360 deg.

The gun is on the Schneider-Canet system, 28 calibres in length, strengthened by a rear jacket and a set of coils. The breech-block seating is cut in the tube itself. The breech-block is the same as that for 27 centimetre coast-defence guns ; it can be fitted with two metallic cup obturators of different diameter, the second one acting as a spare one for the first in case of need. The mounting consists of the beam, the slide, platform, and the bed plate.

The beam is built up of plates, and consists of two cheeks joined by stay bars, and one of these is fitted at its top end with a. gun-metal butt to limit the vertical elevation of the gun ; the other is provided with a square which, when the gun has run completely down can connect with the plat­form and hold the gun down, during the necessary operations for laying and loading it. The beam is fitted :

(a) At its lower part, with an axis fvrmed of two trunnions that are carried direct by the brackets of the slide platform.

(b) At its top part with cast- steel trunnion plates.

(c) 'Vith a cross-piece, to which is joined the top of the recoil piston·rod. Both cheeks ar e, moreover, fitted at their top part with an elastic buffer which can rest, when the gun is completely run down, on buffers on the platform. The slide platform consists mainly of a plate cJ.isson and two

•

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

vertical brackets fi.tted with the trunnion-plates for the beam .trunnwns. It contains all the parts of the mountmg~ namely : ~he recoil cylinder, air recuperator, settmg !Dechantsm, pump for running down the gun. and It rests on a set of rollers on ~he bolster. I~ is fitted ~lso w~th uprights on which ~s held. t he .honzontal sh1~ld, ?ucula.r in shape, and In .whiCh IS cut a longttudtnal opening through wluch the gun passes in running up and down. The . recoil cylinder oscillates round the trunnions carried on _the flooring, in two fixed brackets · the floori1~g is joi?ed to the plate caisson, and i~ cut. out tn a su1table way to allow the recoil cylmdor free tra:e~ in its oscillating movements. The recuperator 1s In the r ear, and is fitted with a collar LoUed on the slide platform. Communication ~etween the r ecoil c.ylinde~ and the recuperator is tnsured through a ptpe which ends on one side at the lower part of the recuperator, and, on the ?th.e~, on a valve chest. The hydra.t1lic piston. rod ts. JOmed to the beam by a cross-piece with trun­nwns, the central counter-rod is fixed to the bottom of. the reco.il _cylind~r. The air recuperator con­buns an aut1ght d iaphragm that divides it into t~o parts--the top division containing compressed a1r a.nJ th.e lower one, the liquid brought from the recOil cyhn~er. ~hrough this diaphragm passes a rod provided wtth a. butt to limit its t ravel An air-p_ipe . allo,~s the top division to be put i~ communiCatiOn wtt~ the pressure pump, to run up the gun before finng, should the recuperator have been exhausted.

When the gun is fired, it draws Lack the beam w hi eh turns on its trunnions to the rear the hydraulic piston descends in the recoil cylinder and drives the liquid into the bottom of the recuperator; the movable diaphragm is displaced and compresses the air of the top compartment. When the beam falls back, the air pressure becomes sufficiently high to balance the system, and the valve between the recoil cylinder and the recuperator falls on its Eeat. During the time the gun runs down, the elevating rod that sup­ports .the breech. ~nd, keeps the gun practically in a hortzonta.l position, and when the motion ceases t.he gun is placed exactly in the required posi­tion f01: r~loading. The breech is then opened, the proJeCtile and charge are introduced and the fuse made ready ; the gun being given afterwards the required elevation and lateral training, with the help of the scales and marks provided for this purpose. For running up the gun again, the clamp that holds the beam to the slide is removed and communication is re-established bet ween the recoil cylinder and the recuperator by means of a special lever ; the compressed air expands and drives before it the diaphragm which forces the liquid to return in the recoil cylinder, where it acts on the piston. The gun runs up progressively with a speed in relation to the space left free for the flowing of the liquid ; it can be lowered when necessary, with the help of a hand-pump, which serves to force the liquid from the recoil cylinder to the lower compartment of the recupe­rator.

The gun is given the required elevation by work­ing the rod that supports the breech-end of the gun. The rod is jointed at its top part in a ring in the breech-end of the gun and on its lower end, on the elevating sector worked by a pinion keyed on the working shaft, the latter extending outside the shaft in a box fitted with the working mechanism. This mechanism consists of a set of pinions and endless screws driven by the shaft of the elevating handwheel. A pointer that travels along a scale shows the exact angle of the gun to the horizontal. Lateral training is given by a. chain which surrounds lihe circumference of the bolster and vasscs round a puUey keyed on a vertical shaft ; tension blocks berre to guide the chain. The cranked hori­zontal shaft drives the chain pulley and produces the lateral displacements of the slide by tension on the fixed ends of the chain. A scale on the platform Inarks the extent of the lateral dis­pla.cements. In n ormal service the gun is trained when it is run down and loaded. .As it may be necessary, however, to rectify the setting of the gun from time to time, when it is run up in battery, the shield is fitted with a. special platform for sight­ing the gun on the target.

The whole of the mochanism above described rests on rollers on the bed plate, which is bolted on the foundation. When a. position has been chosen, the top of the foundation is made with a layer of concrete on which is placed an iron

~oundation plate. These arrangements vary accord­mg to the nature of the subsoil.

From ~ho nu.mbe~ and diversity of types that we have noticed, It will be seen that the Schneider­Canet system con tains mountings which can fulfil a~ t h.e ?onditions required in service, from those for 7o milhmetres (2.962-in ), guns, weighing 100 kilo­~~a.mmes .(2 cwt.) to those for the largest calibres. lhts sechon is of special interest, owing to the num er?us unsuccessful attempts thtl.t have been made In se~eral countries in the adoption of ord­nance of _thts type. The designing of disa.ppearing gun carnages, and their practical working is a pr~blem difficult to solve, at all events for 'large· cahbre guns. The perfection to which the various types of Schneider-Canet ordnance of this nature have been brought means, therefore a larae amount of calculation, t rials, and tests of ail kinds carried through a number of years. '

THE W A VERLEY STATION, EDINBURGH.

( Contim.lcd f1·orn. page 9.) IN continuation of our illustrations of the WavE'r­

ley. Station at Edinburgh, of the North British Ratlway Company-that used in connection with the East Coast route from London- we reproduce on 01;1r two-page plate, and on pages 248 and 249, drawmgs of the roof, some of the details of which are specially interesting in view of ihe fact that the station b~ildings, as well as footbridges, break the general lme of the !oof, and ~hat the principals ha 'Ye . had to be designed to slllt the adjacence of butldmgs along the north side of the site of the sta­tion, as shown on ~he r oofing plan, Fig. 94, page 248.

It may be said generally that the roof is of parallel lattice-girder type, carried on columns at tnt£.rva.ls of from 60ft. to 80ft., while the girders are 37 !t .. 6 in. apart. The engineers unfortunately were hmtted for headroom, the Act of Parliament authorisi~g the erection. of the old station having a clause mserted, at the mstance of the proprietors of contiguous buildings, limiting the height to 42 ft. above rail level; and this again rendered short spans necessary owing to the desirability of making the depth of girder as small as possible, so as to get a large he.adrool? over t~e platfor~s .. The super­structure IS carl'led by trmngular prm01pals resting on the top of the main girders.

The columns carrying these girders are illustrated on page 248 by Figs. 95 to 9Q. They are founded on concrete bases with granite blocks, the avera5e depth being 4 ft. below the rail level. The columns are of cast iron, 12 in. in diameter at the top and 19 in. at the bottom, the shafts being fluted, and the capitals and octagonal base highly ornamented. They were cast on end by the Widnes Foundry Company. The average thickness of the metal is 2 in., but ~he base is 21 in. and they are secured to the granite bed blocks by 1 ~ lewis bolts. The arrangement for disposing of f!urface water from the roof through the columns is shown in Fig. 99.

The roof girders are 6 ft. deep, of the lattice type. A representative girder is shown on the two-page plate (Fig. 100). The l1ottom bomn is built up of flat plates as shown. The girders are otherwise of the usual construction, extencling o'\"er a maximum width of 370ft., in six spans supported on the station walls, nnd on intermediate columns. Expansion joints at varying distances apart are formed at alternate columns- the usual slotted holes. The girders are spaced 37 ft. 6 in. apart, and in the length of the station there are 32 lines of such girders, the area roofed in being 11! acres. The main roof girders were not made continuous as the general foundations were found to be soft, so that settlement was regarded as a not improbable con­tingency to be guarded against. Nor could con­tinuous girders be erected with equal facility. Generally the girders were either brought to the ground whole or in two pieces, jointed in the ground where necessary, lifted by a crane into position, nnd then tied by the couples when in place. Some of the girders at the north-western corner were built on a large travelling stage, as was the Post Office footbridge. This bridge is also above the roof and has glazed roof and sides with oak floor: but in our next article we hope to illus­trate and describe its connection with the roof generally.

The principals are, as a matter of course, 37ft. 6in. span, and are placed at 12 ft. interYals. One of

•

•

E N G I N E E R I N G. [FEB. 23, 1900.

THE WAVERLEY STATION AT EDINBURGH OF THE NORTH BRITISH RAILWAY. )!E 'I:>R '. BLYTH AND " rESTLAND, EDINBURGH, ENGINEERS; :1\lE' ' R~ '. P. AND , V. l\IACLELLAN, LTD. , CONTRACTOR .

WAVERLEV S TATI O N . - NORTH

Ul C)

0

WAVE RL £V M A RKET

Fig . • CJ4. ~ -er

ID

••• •

• • • • •

•

··--..... .... __ ..

-· . ·- --- -··

MA R K ET S TREET

SCALE 0 30 GO J2() 180 24<1 300 3GO Le M .. • $ 2 ... -.------ w;

Fig . .9S.

A ·--

PLAN ON TOP OF CA P I TA L •

To tAkP in, 41 3 dow:n- pipe /

the braced principals is shown by Fig. 101, while the ordinary type is represented by Fig. 102 on the two page plate. 'l'he principals are formed of two angles for the rafters and round bars for the ties with the u ual braces. The covering consi ts of angle purlins on the top of the sloping rafters. Into these are set wooden purlins which carry the glazing bars . These divide into three divisions, the two lower being about 6ft. long and t he upper 8ft., and while each overlaps t hat below there is a space between for ventilating. The whole of the roof is glazed. The main roof gutters are of cast iron, 2ft. 6 in. wide, connected to down pipes which in turn convey the water into the main roof Fig.97.

A . B .

I Pig.98.

S £ CTJok C . D .

STATION BUILDING

I I

I I

s : -

I I I I I I I I I I

•

·---· ·-{

f' I I

I

• I

I I

8

Pig.99 .

L E. VEL

PLAN OF GULLE Y TRA P

RA IL LEVEL

'163.00 • 11

columns, whence the surface water flows into the drainage system under rail level (Fig. 99). There are six lines of wind bracing in the width of the station. These are exceptional in being connected both to the top and bottom of t he main girders. They vary, but average about 6 ft. in depth, and consist of angle rafter with T and angle struts (Fig. 101). The louv res in the side screens at the ends of eaeh bay of the main roof are of glass. The largest sheets of glads used arc about 8 ft. 6 in. by

·x -:;.----+-- -.... I c 0

I , .., • • • ... SECTION OF

GULLEY TRAP 1 ft. 8 in., and all the glass was 156 in. thick.

I I I

: Concrcl(; 7 · C, 7 6 ... 4 0 <.o . vVhere the roof principals come against the walls

of a building or bndges-and it may here be noted again that the station buildings penetrate through the roof--the general design of roof has, of course, had to be modified. The usual plan adopted was t o form piend roofs, or to have long sloping giJ:clers. Such sloping girders <l.re used where the principals adjoin the New H otel and the General P ost Office on the north side of the station. They are about 40 ft. long, of the plate - girder type, 2 ft. 6 in. deep, and are supported t hroughout nearly half their length by a slope on the end of the main roof girder, which is here made a little flatter than usual and in some instances went downwards. The other end rests on corbels on t he wall. These sloping girders adj oining the H otel and the General Post Office- marked 17 to :21 on the E range on the plan, Fig. 94- are illustrated in detail by Fig. 117. The cross-girders in connection with these are also shown in deta.il by Figs. 103 to 116, while Fig. 118 shows the cross-girder next to the P ost Office footbridge. Figs. 119 to 135 illustrate the

k -·----.. FOUNDATION FOR COLUMN.

.showing IJraiit Pipes &o. £. . F .

- . ::=J.~~ :~_.4li'ZJF~: ­j£dia.. ewi.s bol.J-A;:L~==~:L.i: ~~ 11} lcTtfj 1 t-

1 • I I • I

I I I

•

I r_.,. I I • I

by two cast-iron columns. The girders are 10 ft . deep at t he centre, and 18 ft. 6 in. a.t the column. The roof, it may be added, was constructed by l\1essrs. P. and W. Maclellan, Limited, lasgow.

(To be continued.)

JIAND AND l\IACHI E LABOUH .. various types of couples, ordinary, end, hip, and (Continued from page 210. ) piend, used in the roof : these call for no cornment, CooPERAGE vVoRK. the drawings reproduced alone being self-explana- I N cooperage work of all sorts, the saving in time tory and of interest. and labour cost appears to vary from about twice

'l1he screens at the end of the station (Figs. 136 to to eightfold in machine, as compared with hand, 130) consist of a lattice girder with an elliptical methods. 'l"able ... ., .... TXI V. contains particulars of arched bottom and a parallel top, the usual hori- various branches of this industry. zonta.l wind bracing being constructed behind. 'l1he Ba n·el llead~.-The machine method includes general construction of the girder re. embles that for several operations not taken into account with the the roof, and the bracing is ornamental. The end hand method. These are : Bringing th~ log to the screen has two spans of 128ft. 1~ in., being saw, work connected with kiln drying, measuring, supporlecl in the centre of the width of the station

1 bundling, and overseeing. These operations occupied

-

-

3 hours 40 minutes or about two-thirds the totc'\l time bestowed on 'the completed unit. The fu··t operat ion considered in the hand me~hod was c~.t­t ing th e logs into bolts (1 hour 4 mmut~s)? wh1l;h was done by steam in 20 minutes. Spltttmg ~he bolts in to headings with chisel and ~all et oc~upled 3 hours 20 minutes, as compared w1th 20 ~mut~s by a swina saw. The same proportion ol>tamed m

Plan in« h~adinas while J. ointing edges took re· 0 0 , . ..... 20 . t s

spectively 1 hour 40 m1nutes ~nd mmu e.· Marking out, shaping, and bev.elhng took 7 h~urs 40 minutes by hand, and 20 m1n~tes. by machm~ Including all operations, the ratw lS more tha 3 to 1. hin

Ba1·rel Stares.-The introduction of mac ay for this manuftl.cture so l a~raely changed t-he processes

o . . 'bl The f<>llowed as to nu\ke companson unposs1 e. total re~ult shows that tho modern me~hod dohes

· · f t e the same work in about one-th1rd the tune 0 .

old method. Originally the logs were cut ~: stave lengths ; at preseut two sawing opera.tw

FEB. 23, 1900.] E N G I N E E RI N G. 249 .. - .,.._ --- .. -- - .. •

W A VERLEY STATION, EDINBURGH; DETAILS OF ROOF PRINCIPALS AND SCREENS. ME SRS. BLYTH AND WESTLAND, EDINBURGH, ENGINEl~RS; MESSRS. P. AND ,V. l\riACLELLAN, LTD., CONTRACTORS.

(For Description, see Page 247 .)

·--- · G-

FifJ.12 6.

I I I I

I I

- ~. '="

t--· VaryintJ ltvJm 8·111to 10~---­ELEVATION OF ORDINARY COUPL..,.,.

• • •

• PifJ.120 .

• • H-------------n .G ----------

• • • • • •

ELEVATION OF ONE BAY OF LONGITUDINAL BRACING

BOWEEN ROOF UPRIGHTS.

•

Fig.134-.

• • •

I I rH!' 8 . t dial:

6.LEVATION 0~ JACK RAFT£ RS.

•

:: ~,..l ...... . ' 1 ' .

- ~

DETAILS OF ROOF IIPRIGHT!J ,

~ •lh-·-- - ---·--·- 10·.() ·---------:J..; ----------- 10 .i---------.---1 Fifj.121.

T<ION OF HIP COUPLES.

A~--~~~~~--~~~---r.

1o' 171---------~---------· ---- n 6 ---------------~ • • ---···· 11 · (; --~-------+--1-- -t·--

ELErATION OF END COUPLES ( EAST) . •

f Ben.-t&.s ltaP1e{X.f~~

Fifi 1:1-2 i· 6".ri,Long?

. , Fig.126.

LEVATION. •

------@ @

OETAIL ELEVATION OF SHOE .

F ig.

• ELEVATION OF PIE.ND COUPLE§ .

DErAIL PLAN OF SHOE

Fig.132 . 0'"

s"~' C.·

Fig.183. • •

~--- 8 ·· ~ \(·

Fig .135.

A

8

DETAIL AT B .

ono. T -~U----- ---- -• • •

• 6 ,s ... ~ -~ HoUf/(Z;f . ~ORDINARY AT JOINTS. • to

~·@ @

Fig.136.

0 0

PLAN

DETAIL AT A .

.Fig 138.

.Ftf;. 188.

~~7JU·)I$.jru.a,.~~ DETAILS OF SHOES.

OF PURLIN CLE.A'TS.

.Fig.137.

------

•

•

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

TABLE XX./"IV.~~!ANUl<'AcroRE oF CAsKs ANn PoRTIONs Ot" CA Ks nY HAND, AND BY MACHINE, LABOUR. - ---- - - - -----

I Year. Different Opera.tions.

Different Workmen Emplo) ed. Time Worked. L1 bour Cost.

Name. Quantity. --lla.nd. Machine. I Hard. Machine. Hand. Mar.hine. Hand. Machine. Hand. Machine.

- - - ---- - -- - --- ----- ----.- --------- ----- --------1----sets 100

1000 ltOO 100 100 100

Barrel beads .. , hoops .. , staves ..

• • 1880 1895 1880 1895 1895 1875

1895 1895 1895 1895 1895 1895

7 1 5

15 1 1 1 1 1 1

17 1

't1 H3 413

30

I h. m. 17 40 13 20

· h. m. 5 20 4 0

dols. 6.300 4 000 7.275

d ols. 0.8H 0.41 c 1.251 3. H~ 8.849 9.760

Flour barrel:t .. Sugar , .. Syrup* , ..

••

• •

••

I •

• •

11 lL 12

1 18 13 13 15

24 15 fiO 30 50 30

188 20

8 3.9 22 19.8 22 19.3 37 30

12. 626 12.625 56.5l 0

-* The band-made l:arrels had £acb 14 wooden hoops; the machine-wade h~d six steel hoops.

are involved; the respective times for this part of the work in 1000 staves, were :~ hours 45 minutes and 33.4 minutes. Splitting and shaving were distinct operations by hand, taking 10 hours, the latter being replaced by steaming under the ma­chine method, and occupying 33.4 minutes. Joint­ing the staves took 7 hours 30 minutes by hand, and 1 h our 6. 7 minutes by machine.

Barrels.- The barrel-making mA.chinery in use in this count ry, as well as in th e United States, has to a large extent done away with the hand methods, the various operations in which were somewhat different and less numerous. Table XXXIV. shows that, so far as suga.r barrels are concerned, the time by hand labour was about 2i t imes a::i long as by machine; the dates of comparison are th e same, but t he labour rates are not, 2.50 dols. being paid for the former, and from 1 dol. and less to 2 dols. per day for the latter ; the labour costs per barrel are respectively 12.62 and 3.84: cents, which appear remarkS\bly low in each case. The manu­facture of syrup barrels is more expensive, as t he work has to be more exact, and the time occupied is more than three t imes as long by hand, and 50 per cent. longer by machin e, than for the sugar barrels. The labour costs are, therefore, consider­ably larger, being 66.5 cents for a hand-made, and 9. 75 cents for a machine-made, barrel. In Tables XXXV. and XXXVI. we give an analysis of the various operations :

T aBLE XXXV.- Nwmuer of Operations, Tim,e, aJnd G'ost for Producing 100 Sprup Bwrrels l.Jy Ha'fld {1875).

Operation. Motive Power.

. Rlte of :r1me r ay per Labour

" or ked Day. Cost. ----------

1. Bending hoops . . . . 2. Setliing up and bt>ating

stM'eS . . . . . . 3. Drawing stave ends to·

geliber and putting on second truss hoops ..

4. Tightening shells . . . . 6. Cutting bevels for chines 6. Levelling chines . . . . 7. Groo,·iog ends of barreh1 .. 8. Croz\ng , ,. . 9. Putliing in t eads and

ftag;ging joio ts . . : 10. Putting on hoops . . . . 11. Smoothing barrels .. 12. Making bungholes ..

Hand

11

" 11

,. ,. .. , " " ,.

b. m . 13 20

8 20

5 0 10 0

6 .-40 6 40

10 0 10 0

50 0 46 40 16 40

6 0

dols. 3

3

3 3 a 0 ... 3 3

3 3 3 3

dols. 4.000

2.600

1.600 3.000 2 000 2.000 3.000 3.000

15.000 14.000

5.000 1,500

--__ __.:_ __ ___:. _ _ __.:.. __ _ T ABLE XXXVI.-Operations, Time, and Cost for P ro­

ductng 100 Syrup Barrels by ltfachin~ (1895).

Operations. Motive Time Power. Worked

1. Kilo drying staves . . . . b . m.

3 45 7 30 2. Making joiots in staves . . Steam

3. Setting up staves in first\ { 1 15 truss hoops, aud two j IIo.nd 2 30 labourers

4. Steaming staves . . . . Steam 6. Drawing stave ends to·

gether and putting on second truss hoop ..

6. Heating shells . . . . 7. Driving on trus3 hoops . .

" ••

8. Levelling chines and grooving and crozing ends of barrels . . . .

9. Putting in heads and flagging joints . . . lhnd

10. Drawing chine hoop .. I St;eam 11. Smoothing barnls . . , 12. Forcing hoops on bar rels ,. 13. Making bungholes . . , 14. Furnishing power . . ,. 16. Firing boiler . . . . Band

1 16

1 15 1 15 1 15

1 15

7 30 1 15 1 15 1 15 1 16 1 16 2 30

Rate of Pay per

Day.

dols. 200 2 00

2.00 0.76

2.00

2.00 2 00 2.00

2.CO

2.50 2.00 200 2.00 1.5 ) 3.00 2.60

Labour Cost.

d ole. 0.750 1.600 0.250 0.187

0.260

0.250 0.250 0.250

0.250

1.875 0 260 0.250 0.250 0 1 7 0.375 0.626

A larcrer number of persons were employed by the machine, than by the hand, methods, and it will be n oticed from the rates of pay, that a less skilled class of labour is required, although apart from t he few labourers employed, the daily pay of 2 dols. for machine minders is high. There seems no doubt that the quality of the product has been im-

proved by the use of machinery, the work being more accurate, tighter, and better finished.

CORDAGE AND TWINE.

In the manufacture of cordage and twine remark­able changes have been made by the adoption of machinery. There is no reason to suppose that the same n1arked progress has not been made in this country as in the United States. The following data will enable t hose interested in this industry to ascertain whether this is the case. Seven dif­ferent types have been chosen to illustrate the manufacture, and the comparisons are made be­t ween quite r ecent and not very remote dates. We select four out of the number as being the most representative.

H emp Cord.- A comparison is made between 600 lb. weight of t-in. sash cord made in 1882, and a similar product made in 1895. Table XXXVII. summarises the data. The principal operations are as follow : The hemp fibre is first dressed for spinning ; this was done by a hackle in the older method, occupying 87 hours 30 minutes, and by a preparing machine in the later method, occupying 1 hour. The spinning machine has replaced the hand-spinning wheel, and does the same work in one three-hundredths of the time-in 30 minutes against 160 hours. The third operation, that of twist­ing t he thread and laying up the cord, required 212 hours 30 minutes of hand labour, and 30 minutes of

T ABLE XX.~. "VII. -Ptocluction of 500 Lb. of ;t-In. H cutp. 'ash Uord.

~lode of Production. Hand. Date . . . . .. . . . 18 ~ Number of different opera-

tions involved ... . .. 7 N um her of workmen em-

ployed ... ... ... 4 Number of hours worked 562 h. 30 m. Cost of labour . .. ... 95.52 dols. Average rate of wages per

~'la chine. 1895

8

8 3 h. 32 m. 0.605 dol.

hour ... ... ... 17 cents 17 cents machine work, a ratio of 425 to 1. The finishing operation required respectively, 22.6 minutes and 75 hours. Finally, the winding into hanks, which used to require 25 hours, is done by a wind­ing machine in 30 minutes.

Manulct Rope.- In this unit 750 lb. of 2-in. 16-thread Manilla rope made in 1868, ar e compared with a similar quantity made in 1895. In this manufacture it will be noticed t hat one more opera­tive was employed by the hand method, although the number of operatives were only six as compared with ten ; the work, however, being heavier, called for more labour. The processes are to a consider­able extent different, but some may be compared. Thus, in the hand method, preparing the fibre is but one operation ; i t occupied four men, paid at the rate of 2.60 dols. per day of 10 hours, 30 hours in all, r epresenting a labour cost of 7 .60 dols. This is represented by three operations in the ma­chine method taking 6 hours 20 minutes, and costing 1. 91 dols. Spinning gave employment to four spinners for 60 hours, and four spinners' labourers, also for 60 hours, the rates of pay being 2. 50 dols. and 1.10 dols. per day, and the labour cost 21 dols. In 1895 the sp;n­ning was done by one female at 1 25 dols . a day,

TABLE XXXVIII.-P1·oduction of 750 Lb. of 2-In. 16-Threcul illanilla R ope.

Mode of Production. Hand. Dd.te... ... ... .. . 1868 Number of different ope-

rations involved ... 6 Number of workmen em-

ployed . . . .. . ... 23

~1achine. 1895

10

22 37 h. 20 m. 6.56 dols.

Number of hours worked 404 b. 0 m. Cost of labour . . . . . . 73.67 dols. Average rate of wages per

hour ... . .. ... 18.2 cents 17.6 cents and in 8 hours, or 1 dol. for labour. Forming strands and laying up ropes was the work of two

[FEB. 2 3, I 9~.

r opemakers at 2.50 dols. , two more at 1.25 dols., and of four helpers at 1.10 dols. a day. This occupied 240 hours at a cost of 41.70 dols. By the machine methods four ropemakers and three helpers did the same work in 19 hours at a labour cost of :3. 370 dols.

Tw1'ne.- Lastly, we may compare the production of 600 lb. of heavy three-ply hemp twine. The general statement is gi \en in Table XXXIX. It will be noticed that this product requires only about one-hundred and twentieth the time by machine that was occupied by handwork, while the labour cost was nearly in the same proportion. The dif­ferences in this case are so striking, that as the pro­cesses are not numerous and are closely comparable, we have collected them in Table XL. T ABLE XXXIX.-Production of 500 Lb. of Heavy Three·

P ty Hemp T wine. Mode of Production. Hand.

Date .. .. . ... .. . 1882 Number of different opera-

tions invoh·ed ... ... Number of workmen em-

ployed . .. ... . ..

6

-! 382 b. 8 m. 63 272 dok

:Machine. 1895

8

8 3 h 12.fi m.

. 5! dol. Number of hours worked Cost of labour . . . . .. A vera.ge rate of wages per

hour ... ... ... 16.5 cents 17.1 cents

TABLE XL.-Hand and Afachi'fle Processe3 in Maling 500 Lb. of H eavy 3-Ply Hemp Tu ine.

Hand. Machine.

Operation. - -r;me Em-1 Labour Time Em· Labour

ployed. Cost. ployed. Co3t. -

hr. min. 71 25

dols. 16.071 14.74 3 14 743 11.142

br. min. dol • 1. Dressing fibre . .

2. Spinning thread 3. Twisting twine .

. 114 16 1H 16

&3 34 17 51

4. Finishing twine . . . 5. Winding twine into ball::~ 6. Overseeing estaulish·

ment . . . . . 10 H 7. Furnishing power . 8. Firing boiler _ .

• •

• •

3.7H

2.857 • •

••

1 0 0.1 :$:l 0 20 0.1 '); 0 20 o.o:u 0 2~.5 0 0 i •!i 0 22.5 0 01.' ,. • l.J

0 Si.!i 0.166 0 5 0.010 3 6 0 11()

It appears that the quality of the various product.c; coming under this heading and made by machinery, is in all respects as good as those made by hand, and that a somewhat better finish is obtained.

CORKS.

The manufacture of corks is of very large import­ance, and it is one of those few industries in which hand labour is able to compete succe3sfully against

T AULE X LI.- Procluction of 10 Oross 1 ~-f,t. Brewe1·s' Uorks.

l\Iode of Production. Hand. Date... . . . . . . . .. 1897 Numberof different opera-

tions involved .. . . .. 4

Machine. 1891

Number of workmen em-ployed ... ... ... 2 8

Number of hours worked.. . 8 b. 28 m. 3 h. 41 m . Cost of labour .. . . .. 0.419 dol. 0.551 dol.

machine methods, at least in the comparison in Table XLI., which refers to the production of 10 gross of 1i -in. brewers' cor~s made in Spain with a similar output in the Umted States in the same year- 1897. By the hq.nd method, three c01k cutters and one sorter could make the 10 gross in less than a day, and as t he wages for the sorter was only 10d., and for the cutters 2s. a clay, there could not be much margin for economy. Still, under these conditions, and paying wages to the American labourer, varying from 1 dol. to 1. 70 dol. a day, the difference in labour cost was onJy 13 cents

T ABLE XLII.-Production of 10 Gross 1¥-In. Wine Bottle Corks.

Mode of Production. Hand. Date... . . . .. . . . . 1852 Number of different opera-

tions involved . . . . .. Number of workmen em-

ployed ... ... . .. Number of hours worked Cost of labour . .. .. .

4

4 10 h. 42 m. 1. 962 dols.

:Machine. 1896

9

10 3 b. 27 m. 0.377 dol.

Average rate of wages per 10.9 cents. hour ... ... ... 18.3 cents

on the 10 g ross. Ta.ble XLIL gives a compari on between American hand-cut corks in 1852, and similar ones machine-cut in 1896 ; the quanti~y in each case being 10 g ross, and the class-11-m.-wine-bottle corks.

(To be continued. )

BELGIAN BRIQUETTES.-The exports of b iquettes fr?m 32 compared wlth Belgium last year "Vere 525,3 tons, ~n 1897. In these

666 265 tons in 1898 and G15,074 tons 1 or 281,761 tons, to~ls the export..~ to France figure~ f 311,210 tons, and 300,572 tons respectively.

•

TRAN •FER BRIDGE . THE crossing of maritime channels, such as the es­

tuaries of tidal rivers and t idal inlets communicating with the sea, n.nd of the harbours and docks estab­lished in connection therewith, which are fre­quented by shipping of large tonnage, presents one of the most difticult problems, from the point of view of intercommunication, with which the en­gineer has to deal. The conditions of this probletn may be briefly stated as follows : First, low eleva­tion of the shores ; .secon.d, gre~t width and depth of the channels ; thud, dtfficulttes of foundations · fourth, tidal and weather difficulties ; fifth, neces~ sity of maintx1.ining an adequate waterway, under all circumstances and at all times, unobstructed either horizontally or vertically ; sixth, necessity of providing adequate tneans of communica­tion between the two shores under equivalent conditions, which shall be at once efficient and expeditious.

The solutions so far given to this problem may be all classed under two head.s-those which afford intermittent communication and t hose which afford continuous communication between the two sides of the channels crossed ; or, in other words, those which interrupt the navigation of the channels in an intermittent fashion, and those which inter.­rupt it not at all, Under the first head come all varieties of ferries- floating, supported, and sus­pended-and all varieties of bridges with opening and closing spans, whether these are floating bridges or low-level bridges, supported on abut­ments and piers, with lifting, turning, or sliding spans ; while under the second head come high­level bridges, and submerged tubes and tunnels. Of the solutions comprised under the first head, floating ferries present in all probability the greater number of drawbacks, as notwithstanding their very wide limits of size, their capacity is necessarily the most limited of any ; while their service is the most subject to interruption from the action of tides, storms, darkness, fogs, and frost-all of which are alike capable of stopping the limited and intermittent communication afforded by a ferry-boat for a more or less pro­longed period, or at least of seriously interfering with its working. Where narrow channels are dealt with, these interruptions have been to a certain extent neutralised by providing a guide chain or rope moored at each end passing over a drum on board the boat ; but as this has to be lowered out of the way of passing vessels, it con­stitutes itself a serious hindrance to both navigation in general and the working of the ferry- boat in par­ticular, which in many cases has led to the dis­carding of this system of intercommunication al to­gether, where otherwise it gave every satisfaction. On the whole, floating ferries are only admissible where the traffic along the waterway and across it are both comparatively limited, and not likely to sensibly increase in the immediate future. An example of a supported ferry was established some years ago between St. Malo and St. Servan, in Brittany, which was styled rather incotrectly a '' rolling bridge." The idea was original in the particular situation where it was applied, and pre­sented many advantages over any other system . It was neither more nor less than an amphibious tramway, the rails of which were alternately sub­merged and exposed with the changes of the tide. This idea has been reproduced for pleasure purposes on the foreshore between Brighton and Rotting-dean.

The application of such a system of ferries is necessarily somewhat limited, on account of the cost and difficulty of maintaining at great depths the submerged track, and the installation is only possible where the bottom of the channels to be crossed presents a practically even surface. N at­withstanding this, an analogous system of sup­ported ferry, working over a track submerged at great depthe, has been seriously propounded as a solution of the eternal ''Channel " problem by our neighbours O'lttre Manche1 and equally seriously considered on this side.

Low-level bridges, whether they be floating or supported on piers with opening spans, present many of the disadvantages of ferri~s a~ to the in­terruptions offered both to nav1gat10n and to over-channel road traffic, and can, at best, be considered as very costly solutions of the problem, presenting not many advantages over the humbler and less ambitious ferry- boat, except where the traffic along the cha~nels is so

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

limite~ in extent that the workina of the opening spa11s IS reduced to a Ininimum. And these condi­hOI~s h~ve a t~ndency to react on the volume of navtgatwn passtng them, by gradually reclucina it til~ the opening spans become obsolete. Low-l~vei bndges also can only be a.dopted. whore ships which have to pass through the1r openmg spans are com­ple~ely under control, and are hardly applicable neat' ~he open. sea, w I~ ere t?ey would be e:xposed to the d1rect actwn of lugh winds and storms. Hiah­level bridges and tunnels, though possessing n~ne of these drawbacks, save that of excessive cost ~os~ess a!l additional objection which largely h~uts thetr value, especially for veh\cular traffic, v1z:, l<~ng approaches and often stiff gradients, whw~ Increase the length and difficulty of the crossmg and enormously add to the cost which is already unavoidably hig)l.

The solution which we are about to consider, the suspend.ed f~rry, ha.s all the advantages of a high­lev~l br.tdge tn that 1t does not interrupt the free navtgatwn of the channels to be crossed, but with­out the disadvantages involved in Iona and steep approaches and excessive cost, all the advantaaes of a supported ferry, without the drawbacks of: sub­merged trac~, and is wholly unaffected by wind, weather, or t1de, and transports the traffic without change of level over the shortest possible distance between the sides of the channel. This solution is by no m~ans novel ; it was. proposed (though the suggestion was never put Into execution) as long ago as 1873, by Mr. Charles Smith, of Ilartlepool, as a means of crossina the Tees at Middlesbrough. This scheme wa: favourably reported on by Sir Benjamin Baker. and an illustrated description will be found in ENGINEER­ING, vol. xvi., pages 60 and 62. A careful con­sideration of similar conditions led Mr. Arnodin of Paris, to put in practice the ''transfer" or '' ferry " bridge. The name, though by no means exact, has been generally accepted on the Continent, and simply signifies a hi0ah-level bridae . 1 h b , wit 1out approac es, supporting a travelling transfer platform on which passengers and vehicles are car­ried from one bank to the other of the channel to be crossed. The details have been worked out by Mr. Arnodin, in conjunction with Mr. de Palacio, Concessionaire of the Mechanical Ferry, near Bilbao. A transfer' bridge consists essentially of a straight and horizontal rail way, crossing the channel at a sufficient height to leave free passage for vessels with the highest masts, supported by any con­venient type of bridge, and leaving the whole navigable cross·section of the said channel entirely without obstacle of any kind. A primi, the sus­pension bridge is generally the most suitable type for transfer bridges, both because it can readily support the relatively limited weight of the transfer platform with its load, because intermediate sup­ports are unnecessary, er~ction is inexpensive, and can be carried out without interruption to nadgation ; and, finally, because though being amply strong, they present relat ively less surface to the action of the wind. Messrs. Arnodin and Palacio have, therefore, turned their attention wholly to stiffened suspension bridges of a special type with removable parts supported on skeleton or built towers, with mooring cables anchored to suit­able shore anchorages, to take up the transverse strains produced by the bridge on the towers. On the platform of the bridge aro laid two lines of rails, forming the railway on which the transfer carrier moves, by means of wheels or pulley sheaves varying in number in accordance with the weight and dimensions of the transfer platform suspended therefrom ; this latter is suspended by means of wire stirrups, at the level of the quays of the two sides of the channel, at which level it is maintained when crossing from one to the other, as will be described later. The transfer carrier consists of a frame suspended below the level of the lines of rails, and moves fron1 one end to the other of the bridge platform. The transfer platform, or sus­pended ferry, is decked, and of various dimensions and arrangements, the suspending wire ropes being so disposed as to secure sufficient stiffness and insure the movement of the platform without oscil­lations of objectionable or dangerous kind. The motion of the transfer carrier is imparted by any suitable mechanical means, and the suspended platform follows the same fa ithfully, the rapidity of transfer being so regulated that passing ships need take no notice of its p~ssage, while at the same time it is always under complete control. The carrier wheels or suspension sheaves are

arranged in pairs working on parallel rails placed close together, forming each track, by which arrangement the carrier cannot under any circum­stances leave the tracks. The whole composes an aerial rail way whose carriage· body is placed some 40 to 50 yards below its wheels, and the track on which these move, instead of immediately above them. The motion can be equally well imparted to t~e carrier by mechanical haulage, by compressed ~u, or by steam and electricity ; but the latter 1s by far the most convenient; the motor in this case is carried by the transfer platform, a~d. imparts the motion through a rack and pu:non attached to the stiffening girders of the br1dge or an endless rope working over a drum a~d guide pulleys; it is always under the imme­dtate control of the pilot who accompanies the suspended ferry, and who, by a simple turn of a handle, can control its working instantane­ou~ly. to suit the requirements of the passing slupp1ng.

The transfer platform can be designed so as to meet the most varied conditions of traffic. The bridge itself! c?nstru?ted so as to comprise only t~ose parts 1ndtspens1ble to strength, is provided w1th a framework of latticed girders well braced together. On each side of the platform thus for~ed are light footbridges, for the purpose of ma1ntenance and the lubrication of the rolling parts of the carrier. The girders are stiffened in proportion to the weight to be carried. Where the t raffic demanded it, no difficulty would be found in building such a bridge with two or n1ore sets of tracks and two or more transfer platforms ; but the necessity for this would rarely present itself, for the transfer is effected with great rapidity, and the frequency of the journey~ can be multiplied almost indefinitely with suspended ferries of this type, experience showing that arrivals and departures can be effected with remarkable swiftness and safety.

Messrs. Arnodin and Palacio's ferry has already been subjected to several years' trial on the first of these structures erected at the mouth of the N ervion, between Portugalete and Las Arenas, in the manufacturing and populous district near Bilbao. It is to be remarked that the value of these structures has been well established by the one in question, as it is erected at a spot where storms are particularly frequent and violent. Here the distance between quays is 160 metres (522 ft. 10 in.), and it was necessary to leave above the level of the highest spring tides a free space for masted ships of 45 metres (147ft. 8 in.) The loaded carrier weighs 40 tons, and the platform is 8 metres (26ft. 3 in.) in length by 6.25 metres (20 ft. 6 in.) in width, with a carriage road and two side-wakls with benches; it can accommodate 150 passengers. It is supported by 18 wire ropes, arranged in sets of three at each point of suspen­sion, and by 36 sheaves. Embarking and crossing each occupy 1 minute. Motion is imparted by a wire cable worked by a reversible friction drum placed at the first storey of one of the towers, so that the driver is able to watch the motion of both passing vessels and of the suspended ferry. The working absorbs rather less than 5 horse-power, but the power is produced by a 25 horse-power engine which furnishes power for lighting and other purposes. The girders are supported by eight steel wire cables, each having 2197 square milli­metres section, and supplemented by 32 suspen­sion cables of from 423 to 677 square millimetres section according to their angle of inclination, and arranged in eight distinct groups.

The main cables pass over the top of each tower on grooved saddles resting on an expansion frame; the expansion and contraction is taken up by six mooring cables, which pass from this frame te the anchor-blocks buried in the ground below. All the cables are fixed on the principle of easy substitution, and any one may be removed and replaced without stopping the working of the ferry.

The suspension towers are formed of eight columns, calculated to resist a theoretical thrust of 276 kilogrammes per square met-re of exposed sur­face, and are furnished with two platforms parallel to the river on each of their sides. They rest on masonry foundations covered by a massive string­course and capping of hard stone. This capping has a recess at the centre filled with fine sand on which the bedplates of the columns rest, an arrange­ment which permits the position of the towers in a vertical plane to be adjusted. The columns are formed of four angle-irons, riveted back to back over

E N G I N E E R I N G. [FEB. 2 3, I 900.

THREE-SPINDLE WOOD BORING MACHINE. c 0 N ~ T R u c T E D By l\1 E I' I. H, I· . ,J. A. FAy AND '0., ENGINEER 1 , C IN C INN AT I, 0 HI 0 , U.S. A .

•

-.c:~.

plates of 11 millimetres thickness, which produces a cruciform section.

As the suspended ferry of Portugalete h as been satisfactorily working for many years, the applica­tion of the system to other places, especially in France, has been frequently advocated ; and we are able to cite at present four other examples of Arnodin bridges, two of which are already working. The first of t hese is to be found at Bizerta. near 'runis, and the second at Rouen. Some general views of this last named we publish on page 256.

(To be continued.}

THREE-SPINDLE BORING MACHINE. WE illustrate on this pa.ge a very hea,·y three-spindle

boring ma.china, recently introjuced by Me3srs. J. A

---

-_.. -.. -.. -

Fay and Co., of Cincinnati, Ohio, U.1 . A. As will be seen, each spindle is mounted on a cross slide, which moves in V-grooves adjustable for wear. By means of the hand levers shown, any spindle can be moved across the timber being operated on, so that the holes bored need not necessarily be in a straight line. When the elide has been moved to the position desired, its lever is locked on its sector, as shown. The spindles are l irr in. in diameter, and are provided with driving pulleys 8 in. in diameter by 6 in. broad splined to them. Each is balanced by a counterweight, as shown. The spindles are driven direct by belting, the necessary guide pulleys being at the back of the machine. These guide pulleys ard fast on their spindles, the latter running in capped bearings adjust­able for wear. The driving belts are kept taut by weighted tightening pulleys mounted on hellcranks. The table provided is 9 ft. 6 in. long, and is fitted

•

'

-~-~- -

• -- ---

::...-:------

• ....

-~-­-

•

-

- --

with nine rolls, each 5 in. in diameter, the fluted onfes 'd' eans or b eing driven by power, thus prov1 tng m

shifting the timber longitudinall~. As sho~~nba~ clamp is provided for fixing the ttmber once 1

been fed forward to the position desired.

BRIDGXS l<'OR THE EAST RrvER.- Mr. Van Wyok, mayor of New York, has signed three resolutions.for the bi'J:~~~ tion of two bridges to span the Ea..qt Rtver, w The first recentlr passed by the Board of ~ldermen. . from resolut10n authorises the constr~otton of t- l)r~~~klyn. Pike Slip, Ma.nhatta.n, to \Va~htngton-stre00~) 000 dole. The second authonses the tssue .of 1, '·on autho· bonds to carry on the work. The thtrd rebo.utl traction rises the issue of 1,000,000 dols. bonds fo[ ~ e ~on~xteentb· of a. proposed bridge from the foot o as ... 1 d City street over Blackwell's Island to Long Isl~d es · Preliminary work is now in progress on both brt g ·

FEB. 2J, 1900.] :E N G I N E £ R 1 N G. 253

NARROW-GA UGE TANK LOCOMOTIVE. CONSTRUCTED BY MESSRS. HUDSWELL, CLARKE, AND CO., ENGIN~ERS, LEEDS .

- ·-·-·- -·- ·-- - - ·- · *===*==~ I ' . I

' I • • ' ;

! • .,_.-- ·- - ·- -·-·---

I • • . . ~ ·~ lo

- ·-·-·

...

..

-·-· • •

- 3 ·0

- ·

FLf] .1:

-·-·- · -

• • • • ------ - - 4 ~ --· --------·~

-•

I • •

1lz.hu 701.5

------

• Ins.

' ' • •

-·--•

1 - ---- .. ~-L.. .. -

•

D •

1 I I •

• ~i, I

.'e-t i • •

t"- 1·GJ --~ i i

- --- --------·- --·- - 4.'· (; . ---------- - .5 0• ~c------ 4·- a· -- -----~ -------- ---------~ - 0 . . ~

--2 2)---- • • 6 ·1 -------------~ -- ---------- !

- --------------------- - -------------------------- - - --- - ---------- 28 · 10 + - ------------------------ ------------------------- --------------------~------~---------------------------------------------------------+-- c12 ·OJ (),u IJu./'F'ers-. -- --~---------------- -----+------ --------------------+-----------------------+-----

I • .,

! ,, i i 1-

FiAJ. 2. I I I ..,-·-·- ·- ·- ·- ·- ·- ·- ·- ·- ·+---·- ·- ·- ·--··---- 1* ·- ·-t--·- I I

I

- ·--

I

' ' •

• I ' I I

I I I I I

I

. a. ·". '

I • I •

I

10

IO • lo

··-j

• I

' '

• • ~

' •

0 0

0 0

0 0

0 0 0

-·

'

• • • • '

Q;) • • • • ' • • I • • • I • ' ' • •

• • •

• I

~ : •

~~ . ~ ••• : o, '

11 . •

•

• • ~ • • ... 1<+- - --'c<r-- 6 .. 8·f .

11<----t'---- G ·2 --~ -. .&- •• - - · .,-,·--· ·- - - · - · ---"-' ·"'-.. - · ...... ·"-·- ·J ·- ·- -·-·-

•

•

• '

• • . ' •

•

I I I

I __ ....,

I

F IG. 4.

WE illustrate on this page a neatly d£signed lccomo- The internal firetox is of copper. It mt>Mures tive, recently constructed by Messrs. HudswelJ, 6 ft. 2 in. long by 3 ft. 9 in. wide, and the height Clarke, and Co., of the Railway Foundry, Le£ds, for ranges from 3 ft. lOf in. at the Jow£ st point up to the Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway, this line 5 ft. Of in. at the front of the box. The plates are being one of those light railways of 3-ft. gauge of which ! in. t hick with the exception of the tubeplate, so many miles have been built in Ireland during the which mea~ures i in. The stays between the inner past few years. The longitudinal Eection, plan, and and outer fir eboxes are of copper, and are i in. cross-section, Fi~e. 1 to 3, show clearly the prin- in diameter, fpaced at 4 in. centres. The crown is oipa.l constructive features of the engine, whilst its stayed direct to the top of the outer box. A couple general. appearance is well shown in Fig. 4. The of fusible plugs are inserted in th e crown of the internal engine is, it will be seen, of the bogie type, having firebox. The foundation rjng is a mild- steel forging, six coupled wheels each 3ft. 9 in. in diameter, the as is also the rr.outhpiece for the furnace door. The gauge, as already stated, being 3 ft. The cylinders tubes are 149 in number, and are of Polid -drawn brass are placed outside the frames and are 15 in. in diameter l f in. in d iam~ter. 'Ihey are No. 12 W.G. thick at by 22 in. stroke. The l:oiler has a barrel 10ft. long the firebox end and No. 14 W.G. at the smoke­and 3ft. 9 in. in diameter. The shell is of Siemens- box end. They are expanded into their places, fer­Martins steel, is i in. thick and the joints are double rules being added at the firebox end. The grate bars riveted, all plate edges being planed. The firebox are of ~rougbt-ircn 1! in. wide at H e tc-p and 3~ in. is connected to the boiler by a flanged throat-plate. deep. ihe air spaces are ! in. wide. The a.ah-

' •

•

• I I

• , I I

• . ~<+ I "" I

-,..J. ........

•

,

I •

' • • •

• •

• ' ' ' ' '

• • • I • • • I

• • • ' '

• I

pan and damper are provided with movable doors, which can be worked by levers from the footplate. The dE signed working pres~ure is 150 lb. per equare inch, and the fpecifiMtion provided that the boiler fhould be tested by hJdraulic pressure to 210 lb. fer square inch. i 'he boiler is tixed to the frames at the smokebox End, t he usual proviflion for expansion beiDg arrangEd for at the firebox end. 'The emoketox is constructed of h in. plates, whilst t he dror is i in. thiok. The eafety valves are of the Ramsbottom tJpe, and are fitted to a steel casting mounted on the firebc.x as shown. 'Ihe regulator is fi xed in the domE', and is of the slide­valve r attern.

The frames are of D·ild etEel 1 in. thick, strongly bra ced t ogether by st out oross-giJdertl. The butter beams at e i in. t hick, and carry a combined central buffer d1 awl-ook. 'I he tanks are a.nanged on either side of the boiler, aLd are capable of holding 850

•

gallons of water, whilst the bunker will hold 56 cubic feet of fuel.

The engine is supported, it will be seen, by no less than twelve wheels, the greatest concentrated load to which the ra ils are subjected being thus kept within a moderate limit. El).ch driving axle carries 8 tons, the leading bogie 11 tons, and the trailing axle 6 tons. The wheels are all steel cas tings, and are prodded with Bessemer steel tyres 2~ in. or 2~ in. thick by 5 in. wide, which are secured to their centres by bolts and nuts after having been shrunk on. The drivers are 3 ft. 9 in. in diameter, the leading bogie wheels 2 fti. 2 in. in diameter, and the trailing bogie wheels 2 ft. 7 in. in diameter. 'l'he driving axles are of Bessemer steel, the journals being 6 in. in diameter by 6 in. long , whilst the bogie journals are 5 in. in diameter by 9 in. long. The crankpins are case­hardened, being finally ground true before being put • m use.

The cylinders, which, as already stated, are 15 in. in dtametier by 22 in. stroke, are of old cold-blast cast iron. 'l'he pistoos are also of cast iron, the rods being of mild steel. The crossheads are steel castings, and are fitted with gun-metal bushes to take the pins, whilst the shoes are of cast iron fitted w ith whi te metal. The vah·e motion is of the straight link type, all working joints being casehardened. The connect­ing and coupling rods are solid forgings, and are fitted with gun -metal bearings. The engine is provid~d with a hand- screw brake, a steam brake, and with automatic vacuum brake gear. The brake-blocks are of cast iron, and are fitted to all six of the driving wheels. The following Table gives a summary of the principal particulars and dimensions of t he engine:

Diameter of cylinders... ... ... l fJ in. L ength of stroke . . . . . . .. . 22 , L eading bogie wheels ... ... .. . 2ft. 2 in. in dia. Diameter of wheels, coupled ... . . . 3 ft. 9 in. Trailing bogie wheeh ... . . . . .. 2 ft. 7 in. jn dia.. Wheelbase, rigid . . . .. . . . . 9 ft. Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 ft. 4~ in. Capacity of tank .. . . . . . . . 850 gals.

, coal bunker . . . ... 56 cub. ft. Gauge of railway . .. ... ... 3 ft. Weight, empty... .. . .. . . .. 33 tons

, loaded . . . .. . . . . 41 , H eaUng Surface:

Firebox .. . Tubes . . .

• • • ••• 79.85 sq. ft. • • • 699.40 ,

• •• . .. • • • ... • • •

Total ... . .. • • • ••• 779.25 , Grate area • • • • • • • • • • • • 12.5 ,

NOTES FROM THE UNITED STATES. PHILADELPHIA, F ebruary 14.

WITHlN the past few days inquiries for iron and steel have been increasing in a ll Eastern, Western, and Southern markets. These inquiries have not been attended by sales as yet, and to all appearances there will be no very heavy transl).ction'i, due partly on account of the high prices ruling, and the refusal of manufacturers to make the concessions which intending buyer~ think are right. Besides th11.t, nearly all the larger concerns are pre tty well covered for the pre­sent, n.nd are not obliged to place contracts for the future at this tiro e. There is another feeling iu this trade, namely, that the extraordinary capacity must before long ha\Te a weakening effect upon quotations. Manufacturers refuse to admit this possibility, and assert that even though producing capacity should be very largely increased , it will_ be o:ffdet by corr~­spoodiog increase in demand. Thts seems to be a fan· conclu'dion. During the past week or two announce­ments have been made of quite a number of new tmter ­prises, which indicate a large iocre1se in demand for p late, structural material, bar iron, billets, and neces· sarily crude iron. A ll t he larger steel plants are iocred.sing their capacity. The Carnegie p eople are spending several million dollars in improvements, and are pushing work as rapidly as possible. Several of the larger Pittsburg plants have big schemes on hand for enlargement. A dozen blast·furnaces are being hurried to completion. This improvement will not affe~t production or prices to an:5; extent ~his. yea:. In fact, the iron and steel market; JUSt at th1e t1me 1s very strong, despite rumours of weakness. Consump­tion is now going on at t he rate of 15,000,000 tons of pig iron p er year. Buyers are not so anxious to place orders, because many of lihem think that prices have reached the highest possible point. It is correct, there­fore to characterise t he iron market as quiet; however, this' must be understood in the right way. Quite a satisfactory amount of business is being done in small lots of pig iron, bn.ra, plates, and shapes; but _the aggregate of t h ~ busincsg is only trifling. There 1s a very active demand for Bessemer, and large contr~cts will be placed within a week or tw_o. The b1lle t manufacturers refuse to make concesSlons; a t least, they have refused up to this date, a nd have buyers who want upwards of 200,000 tons for df}livery .t~is year holding back. Inquiries for large quant1t1es of forge iron are in, but prices are about 1 dol. above the usual buyer. Founclrymen are buying from

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

band t1 mouth, waiting for a reaction in prices which is not likely to occur, excepting in inferior brands. R eports from Alabll.ma fu rnace3 show a. very strong market, a he W'/ de m1nd, an increa.sing consumption, a.ocl fl).vourcJ.ble inquiriei from abroa.d. Steel rails a re still quoted at :35 dols. at mill, and the managers meet this week to determine upon a policy for the future. The dcnand for bituminou3 coal is extraordinary, and some 30 new mines are now in con· temptation of development, which will be ready and shipping coal by l\Iay. Toe ll).rger coal -mining com­panies in A labama have placed large contracts for the season, and have pra.cticl.lly sold an the coal they can produce this year.

NOTES FROM THE NORTH. GLASGOW, Wednesday.

Glasgow Pig-Iron Market.-Tbe market was fi rm on Thursday forenoon, but still quiet, not more than 10,000 tons being dealt in, Scotch iron improved 3d. per ton, leaving off at 69s. per ton buyers. Cumberland hematite jron rose 3~d. to 77s. l~d. per ton cash, and finished at 77~. ld. per ton buyers. Cleveland was not dealt it in, and was unchanged in price at 69-:i. per ton cash buyers. At the for~noon market on Friday only some 10,000 tons of pig iron changed hands. The tone wa-s brisk, and the prices rose 3~d . per ton all round. The market was strong in the afternoon, on the reported official state­ment that General French and a. large force of troop~ had reached Kimberley. Ooly some 3000 tons were dealt in, and cotch iron closed 8d. per ton up on the day, Cleve· land, 5d., and hematite iron, 7!d. per ton. The settle­ment prices at the dose were : Scotch, 69-:i. 9::1. per ton ; Cleveland, 69-:i. lOid.; Cumberla.od and l\iiddles­brough hema.tite respectively77s. 9d. and 78~. per ton. The market wM very quiet on Monday forenoon and very easy. Only some 5000 tons were dealt in, and as they were offered with buyera holding. prices bad a. bad turn. There was a fall ranging from 3~d. to 6~d. (Scotch) per ton. Other 7000 tons were sold in the afternoon, and the tone was still quiet, Scotch iron closing 7!d . per ton down on the day, Cleveland 4~d., and hematite iron 6d. dowo. The settlement prices were: 69s. l~d., 69o. 4~d. , 77o. 3d., and 783. pu ton. Tuesday's forenoon market was dull, only some 3000 to 4000 tons changing hand~, and in the ab3eoce of buying ordera prices sagged, Scotch falling 5j. per ton. There was a slight recovery in the after noon, but dealing was again on a. small sca.le, not exceeding 4000 tons. Scotch closed 3d. per ton down on the day at 68s. lld. per ton cash buyers, Cumberland hema.tite iron 2d. per ton down, and Cleveland 5d . per ton on the day at G93. 6~d. cash, with buyers over. The settlement pnces were: 68s. lO~d., 693. 7~d., 7713. l ! d., and 78s. per ton. The market was firm this forenoon, but still abnormally quiet, the turnover not ex­ceeding 4000 tons. Scotch warrants improved 5s. per ton. Some 5000 or 6000 tons changed hn.nds in the after­noon, and Scotch iron was 4d. up on the da.y. The settle­ment prices were: 6!h. 3d., 69s. 7~d., 77s. 4~d. , and 78.s. per ton. The following are the q uota.tions for N" o. 1 makers' iron: Clyde, 8 ts. per ton; Gartsherrieand Ca.lder, 84s. 6d.; Sucnmerlee, 85s. 6d. ; Coltness, 89a. 6d. -the fore­going all a.s shipped at Glasgow ; Glengarnock (shipped at Ardrossan), 833. ; Shotts (shipped ab Leith), 86s. ; Carron {shipped at Grangemouth), 85:t. 6d. per ton. The following are the returns of shipments of Scotch pig iron for the week ending last Saturday: T o Canada, 250 tons; to Australia, 120 tons; to France, 120 tons; to G-ermany. 293 tons; to Holland, 617 tons; to other coun­tries smaller quanti ties. The iron market has been cha­racterised by extreme steadiness during the week, in the face of an almost absolute lack of busine&~. Doubtles the interruption, through:Stormy weather, of telegraphic c:>mmunica.tion accounts for part of the dullness; but cerhinly the severe drain on the public stores going on since the beginning of the year, and amounting in a1l to upwards of 60,000 tons, gives holders courage to stick to their purchases. On the other hand, uncertain Ameri­can ad vices restrain fresh buyers from venturin~ in at the present hi~h levels. Makers' quotations are qmte steady, but it is d1fficult to say how long thiA attitute can be ma.in­t a.ined unless a. bea.vier weight of fresh busint*s is promptly forthcoming. Better news from South Africa. should help to an upward movement in prices. T he number of furnaces in blast at the close of the week reached 85, one fewer (bema.tite) thl-n last week, but two more than for the same period of la.st year. The stock of pig iron in MPS rd. Coona.l and Co.'s public wt1.rrant stores stood at 2l5 '518 tons yesterday afternoon, as compared with 219' 313 tons yesterday week, thus showing a. reduction amounting for the week to 379o tons.

F inished Iron and Steel.-The demand for finished iron and steel still keeps in the ascendant, there being no sla.clt-ening in the ac~i vity. What has tended . to ~be maintenance of manufactured steel ha.s been the mqutry for new tonnage, and it was the. prospective pla.ciog of manufactured iron and steel that mduced the makers of malleable iron to ad vanc3 prices further, as they d id quite recently. It is said on good authority that order3 for a.t least 20,000 tons of new shipping have lately been placed on the Clyde. If tba.t be the cliBe, the steel makers have g-ot ordere of importance to execute. One Glasgow yard lS said not to have accepted a new order for fifteen months.

Glasgow Copper 111arket.-Copper on Glasgow E xchange was again quite idle last T~ursday forenoon, and the q__uota.tions were unaltered ; md.eed, there were none. No material change took place m the afternoon .. The ma.rkeb was quite idle, and there were .no qu_otatJons. Nothing was done in copper on Monday, and pncea were

[FEB. 23, 1900.

nominal. The market wa.'3 s~ill neglected and there were no qu<;>tations. The price was quotably 2~. 6d. per ton lower 10 the afternoon, but the market wa.~ still neglected.

Institution of E ngineers ancl Shipbuilders.-At last ni~ht's meeting _of the !J:tstit~tion of ~ngineers and Ship. butlders, electncal engmeermg was 1n full swing. H vo:as tr~ated in a.ll the three pa.per3 that were down for d1scuss1on, even 10 the one dea.hng with the pile-driving machine. Then, in the discussion on the paper br Mr. Cbamen, on " The Electric Wiring of Buildtngs." Mr. Henry A. Mavor bad some strong knock-down blows at the Board. of T~ade system of wiring. He quoted some cases m whtch he was admi tted to be right by assurance company inspectoro, even though not following the Government rules. Mr. "Archy" Denny was also strong against the Board of Tra.de. Mr. W. B. Sayer.s also spoke, and so did Mr. M 1Whirter in whose hands the discussion was adjourned. At half: past nine, discussion was opened on Professor Jamieson's Cape of Good H ope paper, and even it was not finibhed at the close.

The Instit1.tti on of Civil Engineers.-The Glasgow Asso· ciation of Students of the Institution of Civil Engi­neers met on Monday night, Mr. David Home Morton, 1'!. Inst. C.E., in the chair. Mr. James Brand, .J.P., contractor, read a paper on "The Methods Adopted and Improvements Effected in Carrying Oat Engineering \Vorks During the Past Forty Y eara." He described the various tools and methods in use for the lasb 40 years for excavating and removing earthwork and rock, and showed the improvements which bad been effected during that time. Be dealt with several of the many difficult undertakings with which he had been connected as contractor, amoogsb others, the continuation of the Caledonian Railway from the old South Side Station to the present Central Station; the City and Di~trict Railway from Col­lege to Finnieston, with the very difficult section under the Old Waverley H otel and into West Regent. street; the Central Ra.ilwa.y, under Argyll-street and Trongate, which is, perhaps, one of the mo3t difficulb pieces of rc1.il way work carried out during recent yea~; the Glasgow District Subway, and many of the earlier and later railways in the North. Mr. Brand also dealt with the carrying out of masonry and like works in con· nection with railway undertakings, and described the appliances used. Finally, Mr. Brand showed that al· though labour was about double the price it was 40 years ago, with the improvements in applia.n?es the cost of carrying out works such as he had descnbed was much the same as it was in those days of cheap labour and few and crude tools.

The Glasgow Colliery Representatives: Annual_IJinner. -The semi-jubilee dinner of the Glasgow Colhery Re· presentati ves :was held in the Windsor Hotel last week; Mr. Henry Attken, of the Cadzow Coal C'.10mpany, pre­sjded. Messrs. ,J a.mes P aterson, J ames Moffa.t~, and J ames G. Smith occupied the vie~-chair. The cbauma.n, in proposing the toast of "The Coal ?-'rade," remar_ked that it was 2~ years since the first meetmg of the colhery representati ves, and that during that time they ~a.d bad many changes. At that time the output of coal w Scot. land was 16,000,000 tons a. year, wb~le in the year 1898 it was 30,000,000 tons, and for 1899 1t wonld probably ba 31,000,000 tons.

Glasgow Corporation Contracts.- Messrs. M'Aulay, Clark and M 'La.ren Ann-street, Glasgow, have secured the c~ntract for the , snpply of electric motors and sbaft­ing for laundry machinery; and the _contract for an elec· tric motor and sha.fting for mechamcal stoker, ela~ator, and conveyor, has been given to Messrs. T. and T. Vte&rs, Earlstown, Lancashire.

NOTES FROM SOUTH YORKSHIRE. SHEFFlELD, Wednesday.

Smoke from Rehea,tinu and other Furnctces.-A ~eputa­tion of Sheffield steel manufactures recently wa1ted ~n the health committee of that city, and requested t at Clause 116 of the Corporation Bill, _1900, which pro~ to increa.s~ the amount of the da1ly penalty for nok compliance with a. magistrate's order t9 ~bate a sThe e nuisance from lOa. to 5l. should be ehmmated. Y c:mtended that to impose fines fo~ smoke made by hil. heating, annealing, and convert~ng f~rnaces,. w n~ exactly similar furnaces when used m a. shghtly d1ffere way, were exempt, wa.s' an anomaly . . To meet the ar~· ments of the deputation the comm1_ttee, at. a m:ii! this week resolved "That a. provLEO be msert t Clause 116 of the Sb~ffield Corporation Bil~ 1fl00, exemp · ing reheating annealing, hardening, and forge furnaces

' . f h 1 " from the opera.tlon o t e c ause. Yarn and Stubbing Dyers' ComJJination.-'l'h~ yarn and

slubbing dyers' combination, which has been _m P:f: of formation for some time past, ~a~ reglSter and Monday under the title of "The Br1t1Bh Cotton 'tal Wool Dyers' Association, Limited." The share capl is fixed at 2, 000, OOOl.

L eeds Corp01·ation amd Water GetS.-The Gas ~md mittee of the Leeds Corporation have recently ~ect ~r to erect plant for the manufacture of car burette wa_ . ad t · COD). unct10n gas, wh1cb system they propose to . op m eadow with the ordinary process of ga.s-makmg. At t~eM f new Lane works there is ample space for the . erect10n ° d y plant ca.pa.~le of I?a.king 2! million cubtc feet ·Phln :b~ The comm1ttee wlll produce the water ga.a wtt Office. limits suggested in the recent report of the Home

Huddersfield Tra?IWXI:!JS and Electric Tractiofuat ;~; Huddersfield CorporatiOn last week took the

towards the installation of the system of overhead electnc traction on their tramways, by laying the foundation stone of a new electricity generating station. The site of the station, which is at Longroyd Bridge, measures about an acre, and will afford space for any future ex­tensions. There are in the borough 26~ miles of single tram lines, and it is intended to add 4i miles to them, and lay single lines outside the borough to the length of 19 miles, making a total length of 50 miles of single lines, extending over 47 miles of roads. The engine-house in the new building will be adapted for engines and elec­trical plant of 3000 horse-power, and the boiler -house for at least nine L ancashire boilers of the largest type. 'I'he cost of the buildings for the whole scheme, and the plant for the first section, will bo about 60, ooot.

b·on ana Stccl.- The engineering e~tablishments in Sheffield are, taking them all round, fairly busy, although there is nob the great pressure of work that prevailed throughout the whole of last! year. Some of the firms have exceedingly good orders on hand for ma<)binery for distant markets. The iron and steel trades are extremely busy, all departments having sufficient work to keep them fully occupied for many months to come. Manu­facturer3 of crucible steel are full of orders for material to supply firms who have accepted Government contracts for stores. The rolling mills, til~, and forges are all working full time, but there is still considerable com­plaining of deln.y in their deli varies. Many of the l ighter 1ndustr1es of the city are profiting directly or indirectly by the war in South Africa., and in a lesser degree by the famine in India. Some very large orders for shovels, picks, and other excavating implements have been placed with Sheffield firms for use on the relief works that have been started in India.. Most houses in the file trade are doing a fairly good business, but there are not the arrears of orders on hand that was the case some time ago. As one of the results of the better news that has come from South Africa, confidence is being restored, and manufacturers of high-class cutlery and plated goods are giving out more work for stocking. Since Christmas they have done very little iu this direc­tion, and in some of the largest establishments men have only been working three and four houro a day. In medium class goods, both cutlery and plate, there is rather more doing.

South Yorkshire Coal1.'raile.-A steady tone continues to chara.ct~rise the whole of the coal trade of South York­shire. The output is an exceptionally large on~, but might be increased with better railway facilities. In house qualities the heavy fall of snow has quickened the demand, but at the same time has seriously hampered the transit both on the railway and land. Prices are very firm and where fuel is required for immediate delivery, hi~h rates are demanded. A brisk business is being done m stee.m coe.l and all kinds of engine fuel. A large portion of the yield is supplied under contract at from 10s. tolls. per ton, but much higher rates are now being obtained in the open market. The pits are working full time, and railway and gas companies are pressing urgently for all they can obtain to avoid reducing their small margin of stock. The inquiries for coke of all descriptions are much beyond what makers can supply, and prices have an upward tendency.

NOTES FROM CLEVELA..l.~ AND THE NORTHERN COUNTIES. .

MIDDLESBROUGH, Wednesday. The (Jlcve/(lffld, lrO'n, Trade.-Y esterday there was a

fairly large attendance on 'Change, and the market was most cheerful in tone, but the amount of business trans­acted was not extensive. This was very la.r~ely accounted for by the fact that tele~raphic communicat10n with many places was.stopped owmg to the recent storm. Sellers of pig iron liad not much to dispose of for early delivery, and they hesitated to commit themselves to any extent on forward account, as they look for further advances in prices before long. Both merchants and makers pub the price of No. 3 Cleveland pig at 70s. for early f. o.b. delivery, and few firms would listen to offers at anything below that figure, though several buyers endeavoured to purchase at rather less. No. 1 was quoted 72s. Gd.; No. 4 foundry, 69s. 6d. ; and grey for~e, 69o. There was practica.lly no mottled or white Iron attainable, the production of those qualities being on a very liwited scale. Middlesbrough war­rants opened at 69s. 1~d., and later in the day advanced to 69o. 6~d., which was the closing cash price of buyers. A fairly good demand was reported for east coast hema­tite pig iron, and q notations for Nos. 1, 2, and 3 varied from 80s. to 82s. 8d. for early delivery. There was nothing doing in Middlesbrough hematite warrants. Spanish ore was firm, the better freights having had an Improving influence upon it. Rubio was 21s. ex-ship Tees for early delivery, but inCJ,uiries on forward account elicited higher quotations. Freights Bilbao-Middlesbrough were up to 6s. for prompt tonnage, and for forward charterings up to 7s. 6d. was named . To-day the market was steady, but business was still interfered with by the delay m telegraphic messages. Quotations for all qualities of pig iron were the same as those ruling yesterday. Middles­brough warrants were stationary at 693. 6d. cash buyers.

Manufactured Iron and Steel.-Very satisfactory and encouraging accounts are given of all branches of the manufactured iron and s teel industries. Not only are producers very well employed, but inquiries for further orders are numerous, and quotations are moving in the right direction. At the same time, there are some firms who complain that advances are made only slowly, as compared with other districts. Common iron bars might still be bought at 9l. 5s., and best bars at 9l. 15s., but 5s. abo' e these rates is asked, and is reported to have been

•

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

realised. Steel ship-plates are now firm at 8l. 2s. 6d., which is also the pnce of iron and steel ship-angles. Iron ship-plates are 8l. 5s. H eavy sections of steel rails are fully 7l. 2s. 6d. net ab works, and the output is reported large.

Coal and Coke.- The demand for all descriptions offuel is great, and, in fact, it is by no means easily met, and prices are in consequence very strong. Buyers display considerable desire to place orders. Coalowners have been asked to tender for the supply of fuel to the Wool­wich Arsenal. Some of the Swedish companies are also in the market for their usual supplies on contract. The local consumption is enormous, and prices have again been advanced. Average qualities of blast· furnace coke are now fully 26s. 6d. delivered here, and there are plenty of buyers at that figure, which is 1s. above the general quotations of a week ago.

bfessrs. Bolckotv, Vuughan, and Co.-The directors of MessrE~. Bolckow, Vaughan, and Co., Limitt:>d, have de­cided to recommend to the ordinary shareholders the payment of a dividend at the ra.te of 8 per cent. per annum for the year ended December 31, 1899, less the interim di vidend paid in September last. They also re­commend the expenditure out of profi t for the year of 263,184l. on the purchase of works and extension of plant carrying forward 19, 069l.

NOTES FROJ\.1 THE SOUTH-WEST. Cctrdi ff.-The steam coa.l trade has exhibited a quiet

tone. 1'he best descriptions have shown little change, but for other qualities somewhat lower prices have been accepted. The house-coal trade has also shown a droop­in~ tendency; No. 3 Rhondda large has made 22s. 6d. to 23s. 6d. per ton. Foundry coke has brought 32s. to 33s. per ton, and furnace coke 28s. to 30s. per ton. As regards iron ore, the best rubio has been quoted at 20.3. to 20d. Gd. per ton.

R hondda and Swansea Ba,y Railway.- The report of the directors for the half. year endmg December 31 shows a profit of 19, 2l8l. 3s. 10d., as com pared with 17, 722l. 12s. 4d.. being an increase of 1495l. lls. Gd. The traffic for the half-year, compared with the corre­sponding period of 1898, shows an increase in the receipts from pa&enger and parcel traffic amounting to 2426l. 6s. 7d. ; from merchandise and mineral traffic, 104l. Os. 9d . ; and from coal tipping and sundries, 1450t. 19s. 4d. The expenditure on capital account for the past half-year amounted to 19,254l. A new colliery is being opened at H enrlrewen, near Blaen Rhondda, the t raffic from which will increase the revenue of the com­pany.

Wate1· Supply of Olevedon.- The directors of the Cleve­don Water Works Company, Limited, ob:erve : "The well which has been sunk on the spot selected by P rofe3sor Boyd Dawkins has not yeti produced a sufficient SU{>ply of water, and the directors, followin&" the same ad V1ser, are now boring to reach wa.ter-supplymg strata. To pro­vide for the new works they propose to increase the capital to 39, OOOl.

Ta.tf Vale Rail'ltxty.- At the half-yearly meeting of the Tnff Vale Railway Company, the chairman referred to the extraordinary increase in the price of coal, and said in 1897 the average cost per ton was 83. lOd , but the average cost at presAnt was 18s. 6d. per ton, and would even be g reater if the company had to purchase ia the market at the present moment. This increase of 10~. per ton was a. veryserioufl matter. There was also another point with regard to the increased cost of coal, and that was the reduction of tra.fbc or.casioned by the natural elackening of the demand and the reduction of the output. The high prices of coal and the great demand for iron and steel had caused a great increase in the cost of the latter com­modities also. For steel rails in 1897 the company pe.id 4l . 16s. per ton ; nQW it had to pay 7t. per ton, and this increase of 2l. 14s. per ton meant a serious sum, as it required 2000 tons per year. The increased cost, he thought, should be met by a slight increase in the rates for carrying coal, to which, with the higher profits of the collierr-owners, he did not think there ought to be any obiect10n.

Port Palbot Rctilway and Dock Company.-This com­pany provides for all fixed charges for the past half-year, and carried forward a balance of 4919l. 14s. 1d. The traders using the docks have expressed themselves thoroughly satisfied with the port and its modern appli­ances for the rapid loading and despatch of vessels. Patent fuel works now in course of construction at the docks will, in all probability, be ready for traffic by about June next, and may be expected to produce a consider­able increase in both dock and railway receipts. The capital expenditure during the half-year amounted to 73,920l. As the railw~tys and dock are now J?rootically complete, no further interest out of capital Wlll be paid upon the ordinarv shares.

Penarth Dook.-Upon the failure of the Taff Vale Railway Company to obtain powers for the proposed Windsor D ock, the comp9.ny devoted increased attention to P enarth Dock. A large portion of the banks of the Ely was piled, and the intervening space is now being filled up. Upon this ground there will not only be CJ.Uayage to the river, but extensive siding accommoda­tiOn is being prepared for the service of new tips which are in course of construction and the dock generally. Of the new tip~, four are now being erected. 'l'hese tips are movable. and being all on the one side of the basin of the dock, it will be possible to load a steamer at four holds at the same time. Among other works in course of development is a large boiler and engine-house to con­tain machinery for providing hydraulic power for work-

ing the tips round the dock, and also for electric lighting. These works will involve an outlay of nearly 500,000l.

Brecon and JJfcrthyr Tyd.fil Junction Rct~bu:ay.-The report of the directors for the half-year endmg De~m­ber 31 s ta.tes that the net revenue was 19,619l., agamsb 8787l. A length of 2 miles 15 chains of permanent way, has been rela.id. Three new locomotives has been ordered and provision towards their cost appears in the account.

Coal at Machcn.-After searching for five years, ~Iessrs. Lewis and 'YV. H. Davies, of Machen, found on Monday a seam of coal 3 ft. thick in their colliery, the V ed w, Maohen. This colliery has the working of the coal under the ~[achen Mountain. The colliery abuts on the Brecon and Merthyr and the Pontypridd, Caerphilly, and New­port Railways, and it is accordingly easily accessible.

STEEL CARS l!'OR E GYP'r.- The Pressed Steel Car Com­:Rany, of Pittsburg, has sent a number of skilled men to Egypt to put together the steel cars recently sold to the Brit18h Government,

---FRENOH COAL 1-IINING.-- The production of coal in the

Pas-de-Calais in the firs t half of last year was 7,069,534 tons. The output in the second bnlf of the ytar .was 7,432,069 tons. The output of the Nord in the firot half of last year was 2, 986,500 tons, and in the second half 3,045,568 tons. It follows that the total combined outpub of the two basins in the first half of 1899 was 10,056,034 tons, and in the second half of the year 10,477,637 tons ; making a final aggregate for the whole year of 20,533,671 tons.

C~TALOGUKS.-The National Boiler and General In­surance Company, Limited, of 22, St. Anne's-square, Manchester, have issued a new price list of their special design of fusible plugs.-The Gotreen Manufacturing Company, of Canton, Ohio, U.S. A., have sent us a pamphlet describing their " carbomsed coating " for the preservation of iron and steel surfaces : illustrations of many important structures in which this preservative has been used accompanying the letterpress.-A fine catalogue of heavy machine tools for the ship or boiler yard has just been issued by the Hilles and J ones Company, Gf Wilmington, D elaware, U.S.A. The volume, which is neatly and strons-ly bound, contains excellent illustrations of a large ' 'artety of shearing and punching machines, bending and straiRbtening rolls, and similar plant. Tools of special interest are the multiple­punching machines, with which a dozen boles or more are pierced at a single stroke. The firm also ma.ke quick­running punches, making as many as 75 strokes per minute. - The Columbian Fireproofing Company, of ~7, King William-street, L ondon, E.C., have recently pub­lished a pe.mphlet d&cribing their special system of con­structing concrete fireproofing.-A catalogue just issued by the Bickford Burners Company, of Ca.mburne, Corn­wall, contains full particulars of the ingenious oil-burning furnaces, for brass and iron melting, assay work, and the like, which were devised by Mr. Bickford one or two years back. The largest stock size is designed to melt 400 lb. of brass at one heat. Any kind of oil may be burnt, and the m~lting temperature is very r8pidl.Y attained. Thus wuh the 40-lb. furnace the metal lS melted in 40 minutes, whil~t with the 400 lb. furnace above mentioned but 75 minute:J are needed, starting fw:om the cold. The crucibles, it is claimed, last much longer than when heated as usual in coke furnaces.

J:v[ANCHRSTER SHIP CANAL.-The half-yearly report of the directors of the ~Ianchester Ship <Ja.na.l Company states that the expenditure on capital account in the past half-year was 49,068l. The total t:>xpenditure on capital account hss amounted to 15,248,437l, leaving a b~;~.la.nce of 205,958l. The ship cam1-l revenue amounted to 140,591l., and the expenditure to 99,806l., }Paving a credit balance of 40, 785l. The profits of the Bridge water de­partment amounted to 22, 563l. The balance carried to net revenue a.ccount was, therefore, 63.348l, to which was added 888l. for bankers' and general mterest, making a total profit on the half-year's working of 64,236l The directors were thus able to pay out of the profits of the half-year the interest due upon the first and second mortgage debentures, amounting to 44 742l., and the interest due on the mortgage of surplus lands, amounting to 1000l. , a balance remaining of l8,494l. This balance of 18,494l., together with 5 l83l. taken from the pre­viously accumulated Bridgewater revenue, ma.king a. total of 23,677t., the amount r~quired to complete the sinking fund for the year, ha.s been paid to the Manchester Cit.y Council on account of interest due on the debentnres which it holds. The weight of the toll-paying merchan­dise which passed through the ship canal in the ~econd half of last yea.r was 1,452,287 tons, as compared with 1,421, 705 tons in the corresponding period of 1898. Long delay on the part of the builders in completing the Man­chester liners fleet, and the appropriation of their three largest steamers afloat as Government transports, seriously affected the directors' estimate of ship canal receipts for the past half-year. The trade of the port wa.s also materially affected by the season's abnormally small export of cotton from America.. Fortunately, the de­creased supply of American cotton was compensated for by a. larger import of Egyptian cotton, but the falling-off in the American supply prevented any increase of cotton receipts up to D ecember. There was a decrease in the export of coal of 60,600 tons, as the shipments during the second half of the previous year were largely aug­mented by the South Wales coal strike. Compllred, however, with the latter half of 1897, when things were normal, there was an increase of 118,600 tons. There was an increase in other articles paying bet ter rates of toll than coal, especially timber.

• ""' ··-

•

•

•

•

,-!•- , ... ' , ... , s . a .. . ?J

•

•

TRANSFER BRIDGE OVER THE SEINE AT ROUEN .

I

•

•

•

•

• •

Frc. 1.

•

•

. . • • • •

•

•

F w . 3.

•

I

(Fo ;- Description, see Page 251.)

.....

Fro. 2.

I P,'' ~ J. f I l

\\ ' I . I f \ · 1: I 1

\• I ••1• . l ,\ .l' 1 1 11' I I I

•

I

•

j.

••

• ~o"") LI • • •

F w . 4 .

I •

I ' '- ' r I

I •

•

•

• •

•

•

--- - ---• • .- ·--·

tv U\

,. 0\

•

• I I 1

t'rj

.. .. z () ~

z 11 t'rj

t'rj

-- 10 11 ~

z () •

. ... ,

I 1

~ tzj bj • - -

. . IV

v..) --\.() 0 0 •

• ' •

(I ~

0 .. .. " ,. 0 ,., ,. • !: ~ .. .. z '0

0 • ,. - 0 " " , .... ,., " -,. 0 ,., ,. •

-.. -

·

' • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • . • ' • • • • ' • • • • --

>48~

f

I lo..l '

. ....

I

.. •• ~

.. ...

f ~- •• "'

.. .. ••

If.

/ • • ••

• • ~ {- : • • • • I .. ..

~

• ~ •

., !;:

z 0 ... .. %

0 .. ;;- ~

0 ,. ' .. 0 " " -e. -\

t: ~

....._ ... ~

f ~·-. ~~ ::

::f'-~

;.tt-~

;. ~

~ ~

\

"' - "' Cl "' . 0 - ;Jl Q ,., , UJ " ... 0 1\)

-

• • • ~ I

~ I

~ I

• ~ • . • • : • . . • • • • • • • • • ~ ...

~-11

111!

!

~

•• "' .. • ~ •

•

•

\' ,., ~~ <P

, ..

. .

o.~

. •

•

I I t

I I

I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I c.. .... .. ~ ~ ~ c.; I ' I I I I I ' I I I I I I I I I I I I

·~ "' ... ,., ~ .... - 0 z

... C..

eo

O>

"'

. ..

.

~~

. .. z ... ... 0 "'

• • • • • • • • ' ' ' • • • • . • • • • • • . \ • \ I I

' \ ' I I

.. ,.

I ·I . ~I • ii j i I -lJ

~ I • ~ I I • :j • ~I ;I I i I I~ • ll • !I.

~+ t I I I I I

I I

' .

/

I I I I

' I

I I

I">

I I

0._

I I I I

1 I

1 I ! I

"'

l ~

I <>

o'">

. .

s~

~:: I

&-. ! !

ti

•

I

lk

I '

• I

I"' •

I I ;

J.

l :

<;_ !j

:

: I i

! i ! i

a

: I·

: : ·I

1"11 .... ,., <

)>

~ - 0 2 0 .. Q

)

;Jl

)>

0 PI

0 '0

;Jl - :z 0 '0

)> ....

-

' '

I I

H· t!.

-H

'-·-

k I

I I

I I

I' I

o •

: : i!

:: j I

o,

' \ ' \ ' I ' ' ' .,. "'·

\ \

' ' ' ' \ ' I I I I \ ' \ \

. I •

---1

~ !" r-, ' I I . I • I ' ' • I • ' ' ' '

I I I I

I I ' ' ' I

I I

I o

I I

t I

I '

I ' J ' I I I I I I ' I o

I I

I I

I I

I I

I I

I I

I I

I I

1 I

I I

I o

. '

' '

• • • ' • • • ' ' •

' o I ' I • I o

: I

I ' ' ' ' ' I o

I : ' . ' ' . ' ' '

~- • • ' ' ' ' I I ' '

. I ' I I I I I I I I I • ' I

I ... ~

:::1.

'f·

~- • • ' I I I I I I I

' '

I I

I I

I '

' I

I I

I I

• • • •

I I

: -·-

f·-·

~

-:

• '

I C'

> •

I <::

> i I I I I

.... .

•

i>

•• ••

1'.

"·

---~

.

•

--

·-·

"' ' ~­

~

• I ' . T

I

o

~

'

I I I I I I

l:l I 1

\3

I ()

, •

I I

I '

I I I

I I ' I '

I I I I I I ' I I I

I

~: :

dl

"'"I

I

a '

I ~~

ft

~ ~

·~·!

';)

I o

I '

I :

I I

: I

I I

I I

I I

I I I I I

I <=

2• I

'j~ I

·

I 'f

' I

1-

I ~.\

<...

I ~

j -

I I

I '

I I

I I

I I

;:i

I I

I I ~

:'I

• I .. .

"cc'

r-'

1 I ' I

a; ,j

' I I

I I I I

' I I I I

~ ' ' I I I ~ I I I I I I ' I

I o

' . ...

: I

' I ' • • I I I ' ::s

. • • • ' I I • ' • • • ' •

i ~-

' <

:).

' I ' ~

1>-

~.s If ~

~ ~-

. • ~'*"

~t

· ~

-. '

..,. ..

I !

•

' '

I I

I o

o :

I I

1 I

I 0

I I

• I

I I

I '

I :

~ .

I •

I ~

. I

1 I

I 1

I I

I I

I I

o I

' I

I

• I I I 0>

• c.. •

' '

l • . ........

• -••• J.

J. -..., J. . -..... 1:"' ....-: • -. • - z -~ - -• -.-. 'l

...: • -• :....

'Z • -~ • -.... - - -. - -• _.

-• • ..... -. - C": -.. - • •• r 1:"'

:....

z - - - - -.. .. t:;

• .. c _. -• - - -. ~ ~ :;::

:; J.

........ - z 0 ~. 0 ~

~

0 0 ~

•

\ I I

- - t!:> 0 0 •

•

FEB. 2 3, I 900.]

AGENTS FOR "ENGINEERING." AUSTRIA, Vienna: Lehmann and Wentzel, Kartnerstrasae. OAPE TOWN : Qordon and Ootch. EotNBUROll : John l\lcnzies and Co., 12, IIanover-strect. FRANCE, Paris : Boy\'Cau and Ohe\·illet, Librairie Etrnng~re, 22,

Rue de la Bnnque; M. Em. Terquem, 31bla, Boulevard IIa.ussmann Also for Advertisements, Agence Havn.s, 8, Place de la Bourse: (See next column.)

GERMAN\', Berlin : Messrs. A. Asher and Co., 6, Uoter den Linden .li'rankfurt-am-.Main : Me&!rs. G. L. Daube and Co. (fo~

Advertisements). Leipzig : 11'. A. Brookhaus. Mulhouse : H. Stuokelberger.

GLASGOW : William Love. INDIA, Oaloutta: Thacker, Spink, and Co.

Bombay : Thacker and Oo. , Limited. ITALY : U. Iloepli, Milan, and any post office. Ln'ERPOOL : Mrs. Taylor, Lnndiog Stage. ~!ANOU&STER: John Heywood, 143, Deansgate. NoRWAY, Ohristiania: Oammenneyers Boghandel, Oarl Johans

Gade, 41 and 43. Nsw SoUTH WALKS, Sydney : Turner and Henderson, 16 and 18,

Hunter-street. Gordon and Gotch, George-street. Qus&NSLAND (Soum), Brisbane : Oordon and Ootch.

(Non.Tu), Towns\·ille : T. Willmett and Oo. RO'ITRRDAM : H. A. 1\ramer and Son. SOUTH AUSTRALIA, Adelaide: W. 0. Rigby. UNITED STATES, New York: W. H. Wiley, 43, East 19th-street.

Chicago : H. V. Holmes, 44, Lakeside Building. VICTORIA, Melbourne : Melville, Mullen, and Slade, 261/264 Collins·

street. Gordon and Gotch, Limited, Queen-street. ' -

ADVERTISEMENTS. The charge for adverbisement3 is thr('e shillinr for the flrst

tour lines or under, and eightpence for eaoh additiOnal line. The line averages seven words. Pa} ment most nccompany all orders for single advertisements, otherwise their insertion cannot be guaranteed. Terms for displayed advertisements on the wrapper and on the inside pages may be obtained on application. Serial advertisements will be inserted with all practicable regularity, but absolute regularity cannot be guaranteed.

Advertisements Intended for Insertion 1n the cur· rent week's issue must be delivered not later than 6 p.m. on Thursday. In consequence of the necessity for going to press early with a portion of the edition, alterations for standing Advertisements should be received not later than 1 p.m. on Wednesday after· noon in each week.

SUBSCRIPTIONS, HOME AND FOREIGN.

ENGINEERING can be supplied, direct from the Publisher, post free for twelve months, at the following rates, payable in adnnce :-

For the United Kingdom • • . . • . . . . . • • £1 9 2 , all places abroad :-

Tbinpapercopies .......... £1 16 0 Thick , . . . . . . . . . . . . £2 0 6

All accounts are payable to "ENGINEERING," Limited. Cheques should be crossed "Union Bank, Charing Cross Branch."

Post Office Orders payable at Bedford-street, Strand, W.O. When foreign Subscriptions are sent by Post Office Orders,

advice should be ~:~ent to the Publisher. Ofllce for Publication and Advertisements, Nos. 36

and 36, Bedford-street, Stran~ London, W.C.

We desire to call the attention of our readers to the fact that the above is our SOLE Address, and that no connection exists between this Journal and any other publications bearing somewhat similar titles.

TBLEORAPBIO ADDtt&ss- ENGINEERING, LONDON. TBLtPBON.B NuMB.sn.-8663 Gerrard. -

CONTENTS. PAOE 11AOK

!lichelson's Echelon Spec- An Electrolytic Centrifugal t roscope (Illustrated). • . . 239 Process for the Produo·

The Design of Rotary Con- lion of Copper Tubes . . . . £62 vertors (lllu.atrated) •... 241 The War in South Africa . . 262

Messrs. Schneider and Co. 'a I I m pact. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263 Works at Oreusot. -No. TheOircleSquariog Lay-Out LXXX. ( lll1tflmted) . . . . 244 (Illu1trated) . . . . . . . . . . . . 263

The WM·erley Station, Edin- High Melting Ratios ...... 263 burgh (lllu•trated) ...... 247 Royal .Meteorological So-

Hand and Maohine Labour 248 ciety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263 Transfer _Bridges (l_llus.) .. 251 A Peculiar Railway Accident Three·Spmdle Bormg .Ma· (Illustrated) . . . . .•...... 264

chine (lll1cstrated) . . . . . . 252 Miscellanea . . . . . . . . . . . . . • 264 Narrow-Gauge Tank Loco- Steam Dynamo for the Rus·

motive (llltcltrated) ...... 253 sian Navy (Illustrated) .. 265 Notes from the United States 254 Industrial Notes .. . ....... 265 Notes from the ~orth ...... 264 Removing Manhole Covers Notes from South Yorkshire 25~ under Steam Pressure .. 267 Notes from Olevel:md and The John Oockerill Corn-

the Northern CountiPs .. 255 I pany. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267 Notes from the South-West 266 Submarine Telegraph Enter-Public School Education . . 267 prise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268 The Locus of tbe Royal Agri· Coal and Coke in Russia . . 268

cultural Show . . . . . . . . . . 268 t'he Steam Engine at the Steel Profits in America .... 259 End of the Nineteenth B~itain and the United States Century (IUmtrated) . . . . 269

m the Pacitlo .... ... . .. .. 269 Tin Ore in Mexico (lllttS.) .. 270 Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . • . 260 Rules for Conducting Steam The Late Mr. James Danford Boiler Trials . . . . . . . . . . . . 271

Baldry (JVith Portrait) . . 261 Launches and Trial Trips . . 272 British Artillery . . . . . . . . . . 262 " Engineering" Patent Re· Aerial Torpedoes ...... .... 262 cord (Illwtrated) .•.....• 273 American Competition . . . . 262 With a Two-Page Engraving of THE WAVERLEY STATION ~T BDINBURGll OF THE NORTH BRITISH R~I.L­

WAY: DET~ILS OF ROOF.

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

NOTICE TO CONTINENTAL ADVERTISERS.

Advertisements from Germany should now be sent through Messrs. G. L. Daube and Co., Frank.furt-am· Main, who have been appointed our Sole Agents for that country for Trade displayed Advertisements. Advertisements from France, Belgium, and Bol· land should be sent through the Agence Bavas, 8, Place de la Bourse, Parts, our Sole Agents for those countries for simUar Advertisements. -

READING OASES. - Rending cases for containing twenty-six numbers of ENGINEERING may be had of the Publisher or of any newsagent. Price 6s. each.

NOTICES OF MEETINGS. INSTITUTION OF 01\'IL EN_OINBIIJR_S. - Tues?ay, February 27, at

8 p.m. Paper to be read w1th a v1ew to d1sr.ussion: "Corrosion of Marine Boilers," by Mr. John Dewrnnoe, M. lost. O.E. The next p_ape~s tor consideration will be: ' 'Economical Railway Construc­tion 10 New South Wales," by ~b. Henry Oeaoe, M.A., M. Inst. 0 . E. "The To?opilla_ Ra.ilw~y ,'' by Mr. Robert Stirling, ~[. Inst. C.E. Students meetmg, Fnday, February 23, at 8 p.m. Mr. John I. Thornycroft, Member of Council, in the chair. Paper to be read : "Bearing Springs," by 1\Ir. B. Humphrey Stud. Inst. 0. E and .Mr. H. E. O'Brien, B.Sc. (Victoria), tud:I~st. O.E. .,

SociETY o_P An.Ts.-Tuesday, February 27, at 4.30 p.m., Foreign and Colomal Section, "AgriouUural Education in Greater Britain," by Mr. R. Hedger Wallnce. Wednesday February 28 at 8 p.m. "Pneumatic Despatch," by Professor Charles A. Car'us­WJls_odn, :M.A. Sir Frederick Bramwell, Bart., D.C.L., F.R.S., will pres1 e.

ROYAL INSTITUTION OF GREAT BRITArN.-Friday March 2 at 9, o'clock. Major Ronald Rosa, D.P.II., M.lt.C:s. Subj~ct: ' Malaria and .Mosquitos." Afternoon lectures next wec.>k at. 3 o'clock. On Tuesday, February 27, Professor E. Ray Laokester, M. A., LL.D., F.R.S., on "The Structure and Classification of Fishes". (Lec_ture VII.). On l'hursday, March 1. Mr. Charles Waldstem, Lttt.D., Ph.D., L.H.D., on 11 Recent Excavations at the Argive Herreum (in Greece). (Lecture I.). On Saturday March 3, The Right lion. Lord Rayleigh, M.A., D.O.L., LL.D.: Sc.D., F.R.S. , .M.R.I., on" Polarised Light" (Lecture I.)

0LK\'ELAND INSTITUTION 01.<' ENOIN1~ERS.-February 26, in tbe Hall of the Oleveland Literary and Philosophical Society, Corpo­ratiop-ro~d, ~iddlesbrough,_ at 7.30 p.m .. when Mr. J. E. Stead, F.I.E., Wlll g1ve: "A Practical Demonstration of the Method of Preparing Metals and Alloys for Microscopic Examination." Samples of the metals will be cut, ground, polished, etched and exhibited under the microscope. ' Tu~ Su~vEroRS' ~~STJTUTION.-The next ordinary general

meetmg w11l be held m the Lecture Hall of the Institution 12 Great <?eorge-str~et, \~estminster, on Monday, February 26, '~be~ the adJOUrned DISCUSSIOn on the -paper read at the la~t meeting by M~. IT. T. Scoble (Professional Associate), entitled "The Bacten al Treatment of Sewage," will be resumed. The chair will be taken at 8 o'clock.

0JYIL AND M&CIIANJCAL ENOINEJ<:RS' SooJETY.-On Thursday March l, a.t 8 p. m., at the Hotel Victoria. A paper will be read on "The Ventilation of Large Buildings," by Mr. Mervyn O'Oorman, M. I.E. E.

TJIE CDARTER.ED INSTITU'l't: Ot' PATENT AOENTS.-Wednesda.y , February 28, at 7.30 o'clock 1. To resume the discussion of Mr. J. Imray's paper on "Subject-Matter of a Patent." 2. To read and discuss, if time permits, " Papers and Communications on Compulsory Working."

NORTH-EAST COAST !NSTlTUTION OF ENGINEERS AND Sllii,RUILDERS. - Saturday, l•'ebruary 24, at 6 p.m., in the Lecture Theatre, Technical Collep:e, Hart-road, West Hartlepool. The discussion on Mr. S. J. P. Thearle's paper on "The Distribution of .Materials in Upper Works of Large Steamers," will be resumed. Paper on ,. Some Considerations Affecting the Trainin~ of Young Engi­neers," by Mr. W. C. Borrowman, Wb. Soh., will be read a.od dis­cussed.

BRITII:HI ASSOCiATION OF DRAUGHTS.MK~ (MANCIIESTBR BRANCH).­Thuraday, March 1, at 8 pm., at the Deansgate Hotel, when a paper will Le read by Mr. W. q. Walker, Member, on "Electric Traction."

Tll E INSTITUTION OF J UNIOR. ENOINEERS.-Friday 1 .March 2, at 8 p. m. 1

at the Westminster Palace Hotel, paper on" Electrolytic Zinc as a Protective Metallic Coating for Iron and Steel," by Mr. William Paddon, Member, of Wrexham.

TilE INSTITUTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGlNBERS.- Saturday, March 3, at 2.30 p.m. Students' visit to be paid to the Waterloo and Oity Railway. Meet at the Generating Station.

ENGINEERING. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 1900.

PUBLIC CHOOL EDUCATION. THE successful engineer generally sends his son

to a. public school, and then frets a.nd fumes at the education which he receives. Term after term the boy returns home, ea.ch time more proficient in Latin and Greek, but knowing very little else, and the father grows stea.di1y more dissatisfied at the nccumulation of what he considers useless know­ledge. Fortunately for him, no knowledge is use­less to the person who acquires it. Nearly all the great men of the past have spent their youth upon studies which bore little relation to their future careers, and very much of their success has been due to the mental discipline involved in learning dead languages. The first requisite of a. school is that it shall be the gyn1nasium of the mind, in which every faculty shall be trained by exercise into fair proportion and healthy growth. We never ask what economic results the athlete has effected during his training, how much material he has transported, or how much timber he has sawn. The father does not question his boy when he comes back fron1 the gymnastic class whether he can

carry bricks up a ladder or draw a hand-cart. It is to the future we look for the fruiis of the athlete's exercises and self-denial, in strong health and the capacity for sustained exertion. We do not expect him to gain his living on the trapeze or the parallel bars ; but the improvement to his c?nstitu~ion which has been effected by his exer­cises will be of the greatest use to him in ?ghting the battle of life. It is equally absurd to Judge of a boy's progress by his acquired knowledge. If he _has learned to meot and attack a problem, or a h1therto unknown subject, with a skill and de­termination like that with which a trained fencer faces a new antagonist, his education is of the highest order, even if he have less useful know­ledge than the third standard boy of the Board School.

The purpose of education is to awake and fructify every germ and possibility of power that lies within a man's brain-the power to think the power to originate, the power to construct 'the power to or&anise, the power to suffer, and the power to wa1t. The system that will effect this result is the best possible, be it classical, scientific, or what not. It is quite conceivable that in such a system useful knowledge will have no part whatever, and that therefore, it will seem a failure to the commerciai parent who only desires instruction for his son. It is quite certain that the public school education and the University curriculum have been most suc­cessful in the past in developing mental growth, an~ have turned out many splendid men ; and it is qu1te easy to understand how reluctant school­masters are to relinguish a method which has pro~ed so en:tinently well adapted for the purpose m VIeW. It 1s easy, however, to confuse the means and the end. A celebrated Don publicly thanked God that nothing useful was taught at his university, and others who had not the vision to read between lines of his remark, have imaoined that useless knowledge must be inherently

0

better than that which is useful. This, of course, is not the case, although it must be admitted it is free from many dangers which surround the latter. As long as a schoolmaster, or a professor, is teachina matters which have no application to the needs of daily life, he can scarcely forget that his vocation is to train the intellect of his pupils, and that mere proficiency in their lessons is a secondary matter. If, how­ever, he is imparting to them solid information which will aid them in earning their future livings, it is very easy for him to think that when he has crammed their memories with facts he has educated their minds, which is a totally different affair.

It needs no argument, we imagine, to convince en­gineers that the intellectual faculties may be trained by useful knowledge as well as by useless, and that schoolmasters may, if they will take the trouble, readily discover methods of doing this which shall be free from the dangers of commercialism. Science may be studied in a way which is quite as far re­moved from mercenary considerations as is the study of Latin and Greek. Science is not the ar~ of measurement and nothing more, as many people seem to imagine. This idea is as far removed from the truth as is the anthropometric description of a beautiful woman from the living reality, which delights the eye and thrills the senses. Science is not now the mere classification of the past generation. It shows the world to be full of order and sym­metry ; it takes the student by the hand, bidding him admire the beauty and mystery of every object that surrounds him, and thus it stimulates his in­tellect and his feelings into activity. At the same time it is an exacting guide, and in the country to which it leads him, it is never afternoon. It marches on, taking no heed of fatigue and torn skin in him that follows, thinking him amply re­warded if he is shown the birth of a dewdrop or the life history of a microbe. Surely this is educa­tion ; it may bo the pursuit of knowledge also, but in the process the mind is stimulated and disciplined in the highest degree. How long shall we have to wait before our schoolmasters see the way to avail themselves of this means of education to a far greater extent than they have hitherto done.

How is it that schoolmasters oppose such a resolute resistance to all the attempts which are made to induce them to alter their methods 1 We will let Professor Oliver Lodge, himself an eminent educationalist, supply the answer. He said, "The masters represent the years that are past, while the pupils rightly belong to the age which is coming. The teacher is pushed forward against his will by public opinion to undertake new

•

subjects which evoke no enthusiasm within him, and naturally he can raise none in his class. " This acc?unts very completely for the contempt with wh1eh the modern side of a public school is regarded. One Dulwich boy said to the writer, '' All the fellows on the modern side are cads ; , another said, ' ( The masters on the modern side have no control of the boys; they can 't make themselves respected." Why should not a master on the modern side be r espected ? Is it that the headmast~r ~ails to treat him with the same respect and cord1ahty that he extends t o the classical n1asters ? We fear that it is. Oli ver Lodge has said that you cannot talk to the average educated Englishman on a scientific subject without soon coming up against a blank wall of ign orance. Naturally, when such a wall is interposed between a headmaster and his subordinate, it is detrimental to t he best interests of the school. On the classical side, all stand on a common ground, and the chief can take control of every class. He knows if his subordinates are doing their duty, and can appreciate their services when they are well r en­dered. But when he steps over t he border, on to the modern side, he is quite out of his element. Matters may be going well or ill, but he can form no trustworthy opinion on the subject. He has been put in charge of a team which he cannot drive, and naturally he has no symp1thy with them. The boys feel, if they do not see, t he strained con­dition of affairs, and extend a less steady obedience to the masters who have not the confidence of th eir chief, than they do to those who have.

The scientific and modern system of education is in course of evolution, and is as yet far from perfect. We have some splendid technical institutions, but it is not those we are discussing now. I n regard to public and other schools, experiments have still to be made, and many mistakes to be perpetrated, b efore efficiency is attained, but nothing will be done unless parents bring pressure to bear on the autho­rities. It must be remembered that a great change has come over the pupils that go to our best schools. Once they were nearly all intended for the learned professions, and the study of classics had then a direct value to them. The clergyman must be proficient in Greek and the surgeon in Latin; it is part of their stock-in-trade. But with the widen­ing industries of the world, new channels are opened to educated men beyond the old professions, and new educational needs are arising. The trader who intends his son to succeed him, is not content with antiquated methods of education, and neither is he willing to send his boy to a second-rate school. The engineer finds that old ideas and old methods do not avail him in his daily work, and he looks with suspicion on systems that remain the same from year to year. He has no antipathy to Greek and Latin; he sees that they are among the bases of the English language, and with out some know­ledge of them it is impossible either to speak or to write thoroughly well. But he objects to having them made into a fetish to which all other studies must give place. The public schools are now largely fi lled with the sons of men who are dissatisfied with present educational methods, and yet do not know how to amend t hem. Their practical experi­ence of life tells them that it must be possible to improve on t he old classical plan, and that the widening circle of human knowledge ought to be r eflected in the school-room. The institution of '' modern sides," confirms them in their belief. But when they come to have a practical knowledge of educational met hods, they find that science is the Cinderella of the schools, and has far less respect paid to her than have her haughty sisters of the classics. The modern side has been grafted on to the old trunk, but it gets very little of the sap.

No sudden and immediate remedy can be found for the defects of our school system. But much good can be effected by steady pressure on the part of parents. If they will refuse to accept all the schoolmasters' ideals, and persistent ly demand r n.fonn'S the CYOOd work most progress. U nfortu-

v ' b 1 h' nately the general pub~ic knows abs~lute y ~1ot. mg about education, and 1s led by foohsl~ preJuchc~s. An example of this is found in the un1versal behef that a hen.d master 1nust be a clergyman. In con­sequence of thi~, as s?on. as a ,Y,oung man settles down to scholastic hfe he · takes h.oly orders," in order that he may hall mark him­self as a fitting person to teach b?ys, a':'ld prepare himself for an eventual b1shopr1C. :fhose who will not follow this course must needs

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

adopt some other path in life, and h ence many capable educationalists are driven out of a profession that t hey would adorn and improve. Mrs. Grundy has decided that no one be fully t rus ted to run a sch ool who is not ''Reverend." This is one legacy we inherit from the times when there was n o learn­ing outside the Church, and the predominance of the classics is another. The task that lies before all that are truly interested in education is to instruct the parents. No great profession ever reforms itself, except in obedience to great external pres­sure. Just now our military men are rei earning their art at the hands of farmers, n ot because they like the process, but because they are obliged . The schoolmasters will only follow their example when they are subject to a similar pressure. Unfortu­nately parents have no cohesion, and hitherto it has been possible to disregard their wishes to a great extent. The growing stress of competit ion is, however, steadily altering this. F athera find it so difficult to get their sons placed in the world, that they are asking why it is that useless know­ledge is given such an important place in school curricula, and if it cannot be replaced by something more practical, and every year their voices will make themselves more and more heard.

THE LOCUS OF THE ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SHOW.

A SPECIAL committee of the Royal Agricultural Society, appointed six months ago to consider the Society's Show system, has reported, and recom­mends that instead of the present migratory arrangement, the show should always be held upon a permanent location near some large town, preferably in t he centre of England, which would be convenient for railway access from all parts of the country. The explanation for t his decision is the great financial risk always involved, and the serious loss frequently resulting, from shows held in different districts. Thus, at Maidstone last year, the loss was 6382l. , and at Birmingham, in 1898, it was 1568l. ; which together more than equalled the profit earned at tho four preceding shows at Manchester, Leicester, Da.rlington, and Cambridge. It is true that the inclemency of the weather at Maidstone, and the inefficient railway arrangements and the distance from the town of the Birmingham Show, militated against the success of these respective undertakings ; but during the 60 years the Society has been in existence, their annual Show has yielded a profit on 21 occasions only, and t he net loss over the whole period makes up the very considerable sum of 33,624l. For this expenditure great advantages h ave, it is true, been secured from a national point of view, for not only has the breed of stock been improved by the judges enforcing the excellence of desiderated qualities, as well as by the spirit of emulation created, but each successive Show brings an oppor­t unity-alnply embraced by our engineers- for educating agriculturalists upon the economic results of improved mechanical appliances, and of establish­ing to the foreign purchaser, Britain's status as a producer of live stock and of implements and agri­cultural machinery. The committee, in order to make their thesis complete, enter upon such justifi­cation of a Show as a desirable part of the work of the Royal Agricult ural ociety ; but it is scarcely necessary to follow them upon this matter. Such a national exhibition, apart altogether from the very successful and useful district or county shows, is a neceslSary adjunct to the gr eatest and oldest in­dustry, and it would be a thousand pities if its dis­continuance were even contemplated.

At the same time, it is well to carefully con­sider the state of affairs, and to determine whether the same commendable results cannot be achieved as effectively without the present financial risks or losses. When the Society was first instituted, now 60 years ago, England was divided by the pro­moters into a n urn ber of geographical districts, and it was decided to hold a show within these districts in rotation. This practice has continued since that date with slight modifications, and thus tbo Show is held every ten years or so in t he same district: but not necessarily in the same town. The shortest interval between two Shows at the same place is 22 years in the case of Birmingh~m, and 25 years in the case of Carlisle and Plymouth. \Vhen this system was first in~tituted, t he aim was to stimulate agriculture in each particular district, and thus extra prizes were offered for the stock special to that distinctive area. But now railway travel h~s

[FEB. 2 3, I 900.

broken down the geographical barriers and the Society, irrespective of the venue of the Show offers a truly representative and national prize-list' so that local needs from this point of view need not be considered. Moreover, the district or county societies now more than equal the Royal Shows of 30 and 40 years a~o. The only other point which may be urged agamst the change recommended is as to whether a permanent loc"s would not tenJ to localise the interest in the Show. I ts stand­ing, h~wever, . a~ . the national and only com­prehensl ve exh1b1t10n of all valuable prvaress in a~l things ag.ricultur~l, h~s .gained for it

0

a posi­twn-almost 1nternat10nalin 1mporta.nce-which we feel ce~tain will i~ure the. atten~ance and suppoxt of all Interes ted 1n t he h1ghest 1deals of the in­dustry, and to that most of the remainina support will be added. Whether the Show be at Plymouth, Carlisle, or Cardiff makes comparatively little dif­ference to the interested agricul turalist, and a per­manent locns w-ill probably strike the moan of inconvenience due t o distance over a series of yeats, especially if, as is intended, some place in the centre of England is chosen. Moreover, per­manence itself brings advantages in the way of conYeniences, which greatly minimise any risks that may be due to the usual temporary, some­times makeshift, accommodation now provided.

And this brings us to the one great financial advantage to be deri\red from permanence. The Show has grown to such import1nce that 100 acres are required for it. I t. is becoming more and more difficult to get such a large area of suitable land con­venient to a town having accommodation for those attending the Show ; indeed, the committee point out that the grounds used for several recent shows have been appropriated for other purposEs, and cannot again be available. Sir J acob vVilson, one of the members of the committee, sugge~ts that before giving up the present system, trial should be made of some r earrangement to reduce the size of the Show, by varying the composition of the prize-sheet according to the wants and circum­stances of each district visited, which would also result in a less expenditure. Such a change is to be deprecated, as it would rob the Show of its distinctly representative character ; and we are glad that the other nine members of the committee take this view. Under the present condition, as the report states, the site of 100 acres has first to be found, compensation has to be given for its use to the landlord and tenant, it has to be levelled where necessary and drained, water has to be laid on, roads made to entrances, an outer boarding erected, elaborate stables built for the horEes, shedding for the other live stock, shedding for the exhibits of implements, poultry and dairy produc~, a working dairy, administrative offices and pavi­lions, refreshment sheds, a grand stand, and .a quantity of other expensive work ; and, aftfr s1x days' use, the whole has to be torn down again and the site restored to its former condition. What this represents from the point of view of financial expenditure is easily expressed, for the report gives the cost of the erection of the how-yard for several years. After deducting the money derive~ from the sales of timber, and t he work of exhi­bitors, we find that this has varied in 20 years between 4199l. and 9376l ; if we exclude the 13 815l. for the Jubilee Show at Windsor, which

) . bad special fittings appropriate to the occaswn. During the past 10 years this expenditure on tem­p orary works has averaged 6695l., excludi?g t_he cost of the site or of levellinO' it, some of wluch 1s done by the local committe;. The locality, too, has to find. a subscript ion of 2000l . to the ociety's funds. That this means difficulties, if not hard­ships, is evidenced by the fact that in o~e town the corporation made a grant of 500l., wh1Ch was voted as " salary to the mayor. "

The expenditure on temporary works, of no service after the Exhibition is over, taken at 6000~. and capitalised, would give 200,000l. for expend~­ture on land and permanent buildings. Th1s would doubtless be more than ample for the pur­pose, and it does not seem likely that there wou~d be any reduction in income with a show located m Lhe Midlands or centre of England. There wou~d not, wo feel sure, be any very mater~al. de01'ease m the number of 1s. visitors. 'fhe maJority of .the~e consist of t rippers, and for them any occa.s10n lS

usually sufll.cient excuse for a holiday ; so that the objection of the recurrence of the S~1ow o~ the same site is not a serious one. Agam, the mflu­ence of weather would not be so great, for proper

•

•

FEB. 23, I900.]

roads and shelter could be provided. The com­mittee suggest as permanent buildings an en­trance, pavilions, implement shedding, stabling for horses, shedding for live stock and produce, grand stand, refreshment pavilions, &c. Improved methods could be provided for the trauspor~ of heavy machinery, and more satisfactory arrange­ments could be made for competitive and other trials of implements, dairy appliances, and the like, than have hitherto been possible; all adding to the importance of the Show, and to the inducements offered alike to competitors, exhibitors, expert agricultural exhibitora, and the general public. Again, rail way faci1ities could be more fully pro­vided with a permanent site, which preferably could be alongside the main line of railway. More­over, as the committee state, the site could be used for other purposes during the periods of the year that the Society does not require it, thus adding to the revenue. In any case, the com­mittee are satisfied that economy would result from the change ; and their report carries the conviction that it does not involve any hardship on any of the parties interested.

STEEL PROFITS IN A1VIERICA. TsERE is a pretty quarrel in progress between

Mr. Carnegie and Mr. H. C. Frick, the latter being the gentleman who became prominently associated with the Carnegie Company at the time when the 500,000,000-dolla.r steel trust was under discussion, about the middle of last year, and who has since been-or at least was, until lately- closely identified with the business of the company, and especially with the export side. We have no imme­diate concern with this quarrel- let us be understood as not pretending in any way to meddle with the personal affairs of the partners of the H01nestead Works. Besides, the matter has just gone into the American courts, and common fa.irnees would pre­vent us from placing absolute credence on a. one­sided statement, or from attempting in any way to prejudge an issue that has yet to be thrashed out. But the dispute has indirect interest for us, for its bearing upon the profits n1ade possible to iron and steel manufacturers in the United States at the present time, consequent upon the extreme degree of protection afforded by the tariff, and upon the written or implied understanding between the various manufacturers for the maintenance of high prices for finished products. Mr. Frick, we may remind the reader, brought into the Carnegie business the undertaking of the H. C. Frick Coke Company, on terms which were no doubt satisfactory, save in the one respect that Mr. Carnegie reserved to himself the right "to purchase at any time upon specified terms the holdings of any of his partners in the company." Later on, when Mr. Uarnegie announced his intention of retiring, Mr. Frick ob­tained an option for the purchase of his share in the business by the company, and immediately set about the preliminaries of that gigantic steel '' com­bine" which was to embrace all the plants of any con­sequence in the United States, including the four or five "combines, already in harmonious existence, and which was to astonish the world with its mag­nitude, and its ambitious aspirations. The project, as our readers know, proved to be abortive; the capitalists whose aid was sought appear to have refused to take the business at Mr. Carnegie's valuation; the forfeited option money, amounting to 1, 170, oom.' was pocketed by this last· named gentleman ; and before long we heard of dif­ferences between the partners, and especially between Mr. Carnegie and Mr. Frick. It was clear, some months ago, that the law would have to be invoked to settle these differences. The law has now been invoked. Mr. Frick, according to the telegraphic message received by one of the daily paper~, alleges fraud against the other gentle­man, "in attempting to acquire his 65 per cent. interest in the Ca.rnegie Company at a. maximum of 6,000,000 dols., instead of a. real value of 16,238,000 clols ; , and whichever of the l wo wins the case, tho lawyers will, no doubt, ha\'e a fine time over it. The imputation of malice, fraud, sharp practice- implied by the alleged retention of the other partners in Mr. Carnegie's power through written engage­ments obtained when their interests were still un­paid for- we may pass by as besides the issue, so far as we are concerned. The point for us is, that in 1898 the profit.s of the company were 21,000,000 dols., and in 1899 as much as 42,000,000 dols.

•

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

acco:ding to Mr. Frick, and 40,000,000 dols. ac­cordmg to the Carnegie people. The capital of the company is 25,000,000 dols., of which 13,833,333 dols. is held by Mr. Carnegie himself, 2, 750,000 dols. each by Mr. Frick and Mr. Henry Phipps ; and the balance, in sums ranging from 1, 000,000 dols. down to 27,777 dols., among 19 other individuals, most of whom we take to be officials of the company and nominees of Mr. Carnegie.

\V e do not know if these figures accurately repre­sent the full capitalisation of the company, because there were many rearrangements last year. But if they do, it will appear marvellous that the profit should have been so enormou~. The Carnegie Works are most admirably fitted to produce the best class of work on an economical basis. Their processes are of the most modern type, they possess their own iron and coal mines, and their clientele is a good one. All the conditions tell for prosperity. But the dividends declared by this company are causing the good American citizen to reflect. "Should these profits be thought exces­sive," writes one correspondent, " very interest­ing inferences may be drawn regarding the price properly chargeable for the armour work, regard­ing the prospects of foreign competition and the proper rate of tariff protection for this industry." That is just the point. I s i t necessary that an industry in which such huge profits as those of the Carnegie Company are possible shquld continue to be protected 1 The efficiency of the American iron and steel trade is well known. American goods, taken in the lump, have shown themselves equal in quality to European, and in particular instances they have shown t hemselves to be superior. On their own ground they enjoy an advantage that it would be impossible to over-estimate, and they can be prc)duced at prices which compare with the figures ruling for similar commodities in this country. There was, no doubt, a tin1e when pro­tection was a real help to a growing and struggling trade, but that titne has long been with the years beyond the flood ; and to continue protection on the present extravagant scale; whereby all healthy competition is stifled and trade bec01nes every day more concentrated in the hands of a few mono­polies, is really a robbery from the An1erican people to enrich a. handful of traders. This is the point that is being impressed by the logic of cir­cumstances upon the bce1.xpaying population of the United States, and that makes it certain that tariff modification in accordance with the expressed sentiments of the last Republican platform will be made one of the issues at the next elections. There is no prospect of reform in any real sense of the word, and there is a. fear that, after having served the purposes of the politicians, the whole matter will be allowed to slide in the true political fashion, especially as the McKinley administration is bound band-and-foot to the t rust car. But, soon or late, the American people will compel attention to the question. It is they more than the foreigners who are touched by t he iniquities of the "combines." England, for instance, would have a poor chance in the American market, even with the import duty reduced almost to the vanishing point. Meantime, it is small wonder that iron-and-steel making esta­blishments should be flourishing, and that capital is being attracted to these undertakings more freely than to any other which might be named in all the country. Mr. Frick is going into business on his own account in a large way ; and the other day we were told of the latest ''corn bine "-that of the steel sheet mills, with a capital of 52,000,000 dols.­twenty-four out of twenty-nine establishments being included.

BRI'rAIN AND THE UNITED STATE IN THE PACIFIC.

THE special problems connected with China, to which we have from time to time directed attention, are only part of a more general problem as to the future of the countries which border on the Pacific Ocean; and while studying special cases, we must take care not to overlook the movement which will include them all. 'Vithin the vast aroa, stretching from the shoras of the two Americas to the China Seas and the Indian Ocean, there are brought face to face the two great races of mankind- white ann yellow-each working out its own destiny. The problem is further complicated by the fact that the white race is divided into sections, each of which, as represented by Britain, America, Russia, France, and Germany, are all contending for supremacy in

trade, if not for a share of territory. J a. pan has taken her place among the nations of the world, and seems determined to make herself a powerful factor in the evolution which is going on ; in fact, her most ambitious sons will not be content until she becomes the Britain of the East, both as regards naval power and industrial supren1acy. The chief subject of contention and competition among those Powers is the share of the trade or the terri­tory of China which is to fall to each of them. China has not yet awakened to a sense of her power and her potentialities, but forces are at work which will corn pel her gradually to place herself in line w1th the other nations of the world or to be content to become tributary to them, not only in trade and industry, but also in Govern­ment. In a recent issue we directed attention to t he outlook for trade in China and mentioned the fact that the American Secretary of State had re­ceived very satisfactory assurances from the chief European Governments that they will allow equal facilities for trade to peoples of all nationalities in their respecti \"e spheres of influence. We believe that this has been brought about by the example of Britain and the United States as well as by the pressure which they have brought to bear on the respective Governments. No doubt recent events in China, and especially the edict of the Empress Dowager, with _respect to the action of foreigners have been the direct outcome of the encourage­lnent which the Chinese Government has received to withstand the selfish demands of t.he t epresenta­tives of Western nations and to make herself suffi­ciently powerful to be respected by them, w bile at same time affording equal opportunities for trade and commerce. It is, indeed, evident that the nature of the solution of the problems in the Pacific area will, to a large extent, depend on the joint action of Britain and the United States. If t hey came to an understanding on the main lines of policy, they would be able to influence for good the future of the vast population within that area, and indirectly the whole of the civilised world.

To those who have eyes to see and minds to understand, the evolution is proceeding on very distinct lines. As we have on a previous occasion pointed out, the annexation of Cuba by the United States was, in a sense, a sequel to the war be­tween Japan and China, while Hawaii afforded a half-way house between the East and the West. The future of the Philippines is still somewhat uncertain, but already the form of Government is being foreshadowed, and we may rest assured that tho United States will become a Pacific Power, whose influence will be felt in every important question which arises in the Far East. Britain and the United States show every disposition to come to an understanding on all points which formerly seemed to offer difficulty, and it looks as if the Anglo-Saxon race would dominate the future of the Far East. It is to be hoped that they will do it in such a manner as not to raise any unneces­sary feeling on the part of the other Powers. If they are given a fair field, and if Anglo-Saxons neither desire nor take any favour, all nationalities will settle down to peaceful development.

The latest agreement between Britain and the United States has an important bearing on affairs in the Pacific area. President McKinley has in­duced Lord Salisbury to agree that the Clayton­Bul wer Treaty shall become a dead letter as regards the proposed Nicaragua Canal. That treaty, which was signed on April 19, 1850, provided that neither the British nor the United States Government ''should ever obtain or maintain for itself any exclusive control over" a Ni~raguan Canal, or "occupy, or fortify, or colonise, or assume or exercise any dominion over Nicaragua, Costa Rica, the Mosquito Cpast, or any part of Central Ameri~. , In 1880 President Hayes declared tha.t the policy of tho United States was " a canal under Ameri­can control;" and evor since then the Washington Government has shown itself anxious to get rid of the treaty which bound it to attempt nothin~ of the kind and we think quite properly so. There is not the least reason why, if the United States care to build a. canal across the isthmus, Britain should object; on the contrary, as the canal would benefit our tracle, and as probably no canal would ever be built by private enterprise, we have reason to welcome the proposal, and give it every en­couragetnent, especiall.Y as it is un~erstood to be accompanied by a taCit und~rstandmg about o~t­standit1g Canadian controversies. No other ~at10n can possibly object, as it is agreed to neutralise the

260

canal, and make it open even in war. The con­struction of a direct waterway- which is certain soon t o follow-between the Far East and the F ar 'Vest will have an immense influence on the fu t ure trade of the Pacific area.

The Americans, however, mean to have stations of their own in the Pacific, which will give t hem a commanding naval position. Already, as we have mentioned, Hawaii affords a half-way house, and t~ere can be n o .doubt b ut before long the Philip­pine I slands w11l become not only an important naval stat ion, but also a distributing centre for the F ar East, which ma.y rival Rong Kong. We n eed not en ter into a discussion of the constitution which has been proposed for t he Philippines, as a good deal might be said both for and against it ; but of this we may be assured, that the United States Governmen t will k eep its hold on the islands in some form, and while they will be allowed a large amount of local self-government , they will t o all intents and purposes be under the dominion of the United States, and t heir fut ure commercial policy will be an integral part of the policy of t he U nited States. Their influence on the future of the trade in the Pacific area is certain to be very great, and it is not improba ble that Manila will become a port of call for all the most important steamship lines. Indeed, that port may be con­sidered th e most central por t of the entire Asiatic­P acific coast, more so even than Hong K ong and Shanghai, and nearer to the great range of southern and Australian ports. The possibilities of Manila as a distr ibuting port a.re great, and so also are those of the Philippine I slands with their vast and varied undeveloped resources, which offer a most inviting field for the expansion of British and American t rade. There has been a good deal of talk r ecently about an Anglo-Saxon alliance ; but it is probable that there will not be much inclina­tion on either side for a formal alliance or even for hard and fast agreements on definite points. Common responsibilities and interests will afford a sufficien t tie to bind the nations together, and it is to be hoped that their influence will always be used for the development of tho welfare of humanity.

NOTES. MoToR FIELD-GuN CARRIAGES.

THE French War Department is now carrying out a series of trials with motor carriages for field guns, and General de Gallifet has stated in the Chamber that there is every prospect of a satis­factory r esult . The point is of considerable im­portance, in view of the necessity established by war operations in South Africa, for a much heavier weapon than the 12-pounders and 15-pounders, with which our Army has been hitherto et-1 uipped. The 4. 7 -in. and the 6-in. guns are regarded with favour as n ecessary additions to the equipment of our field forces. As to the difficul ties of mobility, the 4.7-in. gun with a mobile field carriage, we are informed, could be made with a weight of about 2-!. tons, which is not an excessive load ; and mechanical power could easily be applied for the movement of these guns as well as for heavy transport wagons. L etters from the front speak with approval of the success of the t raction engines used by Gen eral Buller 's Army Ser vice Corps, notwithstanding that on the way from Frere and Chieveley to Spearman 's Camp and P otgeiter's Drift very heavy roads were experi enced, and the fact that t hey have been sent for Lord Roberts' service now, further proves their u tility. Strength must be a first consideration in the design of t he motor vehicles for all war traction. vVe have no sympathy with the idea that light motor cycles or cars should be sent for scout or de::;patch work ; any one acquainted with the r e quircments, as so fully set forth in Colonel Baden Powell's hook on "Scouting" will recognise t he impossibility of the use of such means. The way for such runners is through the by-paths, where obs tructions are numerous. The modern vehicle suitable for the pavement of P iccadilly would thus be placed hors cle combrct v~ry soon. Wh.at is wanted for gun movement IS a well - buil t tractive vehicle, with strong-tyred wheels, and of minimum weight. The necessities of the case prove t hat such a vehicle would be regarded with favour; but strength is as importan~ as the reductio~ of weight, and it is because of this t hat motor veh1.cles when tried recently have been found wantmg. An important adj unct to such a gun t raction

E N G I N E E R I N G. vehicle would, of course, be a cable drum which could be fitted and thrown in gear for assisting to warp guns up such ascents as those experienced in South Africa with t he help of a wire rope. Many of t he traction engines n ow made have similar drums, and they prove very useful in ordinary work.

EDUCATION IN JAPAN.

It is generally admitted that the recent advances in industry, commerce, and Western civilisation in Japan are due, in great part, to the attention that has been paid to education, and especially to those departments of it which are directly applied to practical purposes. The education in engineering and all the departments of science, the training of the soldiers and the sailors, and of t hose who are engaged in carrying on the affairs of the State or of commerce, i::; now probably, in some respects, more complete in Japan than it is in this country, and, moreover, it is largely supplemented by foreign study and travel. The most thoughtful men in Japan, however, are beginning to recognise that the system is not altogether satisfactory, and that a very essential element is wanting in their national education. Too much attention seem s to he paid to merely material ends, and too little to the moral training of the men, who very often are without any guiding principles and look ent irely to their own interests and overlook those of the community . The consequence is, that J apan has now to face many problems which did not exist under the old 1·egime, and which make some of its people regret that the hurry of money-making should have re­placed the easy-going enjoyment of former times, when a simple life was valued above great wealth . Discussions are taking place in many of the leading journals, and t he whole subject is receiving con­siderable attention. I t is urged, moreover, that th e Government institutions especially tend to encourage artificial, as distinguished from natural abilities, and that there is absolutely no elasticity in their curricula. A lad must qualify in all the subjects, or be plucked. On the other hand, private schools make allowances for a lad's idiosyn­cracies, and if he has special talent in one field, they do not destroy his scholastic career because he is incompetent to acquire some branch of lt-arning for which Nature has not fitted him. The con­sequence has been that the private schools have sent out a greater number of men who have distin­guished themselYes in the political world and in lite­rature than the Government schools, which fi t chiefly for work of a technical nature.

THE " CUT-OFF" IN M ULTIPLE-EXPANSION ENGINES.

In a paper recent!~ read before the North­East Coast I nstitution of Engineers and Ship­builders, Professor R. L. Weighton, M.A., de­scribed a series of experiments made in the endea­vour to determine the most economical p oints of cut-off in the intermediate and low-pressure cylinders of a compound, triple, or quadruple­expansion engine. His results, based, however, on experiments on a single engine, point to the conclusion that t he point of most economical cut-oft depends solely upon the ratio of the capacity of the cylinder in question to that of its predecessor. Calling this ratio R, Professor W eighton proposes he following formula :

Max. economy cut-off_ R + 6.6 - -stroke 6.6 R

This formula is, of course, purely empirical, and until some theoretical foundation for it is dis­covered, or until its reliability is confirmed by experiments on other engines, considerable caution should be displayed in accepting it. I n fact, Pro­fessor Weighton gives such scanty data in his paper, that it is quite out of t he question to examine his experimental r esults from a theoretical point of view. Curiously enough, the curve3 of steam con­sumption are themselves drawn with r eference to the brake horse-power , which complicates the thermodynamic problem, owing to the fact that the eft'ect of purely mechanical considerations are in eluded; and thus, before attempting to obtain any rational basis for Professor ' Veighton's formula it would be necessary to re-draw his curves, so as to show t he water consumption per indicated horse­power. Again, Professor Weighton has included in his paper very few indicator diagrams, so that it is not possible to study the changes in these, as the cut-off is varied, or to gather any idea of the condi-

[FEn. 23, rgoo.

tions accompanying the ~aximu~ degree of eco­nomy. I t Is, therefore, Impossible to do more than repeat so.me of the author's own conclusions. The formula gtven above, he points out leads to the logical i:t;Iference, that in linking up a~ engine by automatic governor or otherwise, the cut-off should be varied in the high-pressure cylinder ~nly, the .Points of cut-off in the other cy­hnders bemg unaltered. Of course in many cases other considerations will naturally have greater weight than mere economy of steam at low powers. Professor Weighton further observes that with early points of cut-off, engines run much less '' sweetly " than with later ones ; it may often be in­ad':isable to apply his formula, unless the cylinder ratws are small. When the latter condition is ful­filled, considerable changes in the points of cut-off for the larger cylinders may he made without ap­preciable loss of economy.

LIGHT RAILWAYS IN I RELAND.

I t is te~ years since Balfour's Act was passed, under wh10h a State loan or grant was authorised in connection with light railways constructed or worked by existing railway companies in Ireland, and it is therefore opportune that such a record should be made as has been prepared by Mr. J oseph Tatlow, the manager of the Midland Great Wes­tern Railway for the forthcoming Railway Congress. Prior to this enactment, the machinery for light railways, or rather street tramways, was cumber­some, speed was unnecessarily limited, and the guarantee was by the baronies, who were called upon to make up the deficits to a sum equal to 5 per cent. on the capital paid up. The Treasury, however, returned one-half of this sum, such half not to exceed 2 per cent. upon the paid-up capital of the individual company, or an aggregate of 40,000l. per annum. Under these conditions, 295! miles of railway were actually built before the baronies objected to the serious drain, the capital they had guaranteed being 1,240,375l., while only 144,804l. was found elsewhere. The result of last year 's working, for instance, is that the baronies had to find 30,514l., while at the same time the Treasury provided 21, 972l. Only one of the six lines managed to earn its own dividend-the three­mile electric line between Bessbrook and Newry. Balfour's Act, passed in 1889, made State aid c?n­t ingent upon an existing company constructmg and working the new line; in the former ~et they were prohibited from making lines. Agam, it was necessary that the new railways should be approved by the Board of Works, wiD:ch may also appoint a manager should there be l~xtty in working the line. Under this Act 15 lines, totalling 309! miles have been laid, and the. Gover~­ment contribution seems to have reached Its maxt­mum- being 1,133, 767l., while 285,200l: more has been found by baronies, Two of the lmes are only n ow heing constructed, and the result of .the working of the others is not at all e?cou~agmg. The cost seems too high . Thus, takmg bnes at random, we find the capital to be equal .. to 9000l. p er mile for 5 ft . 3 in. gauge ; 5700l., 6~00l. , and 4400l. per mile, all of which. are t.oo htgh. Mr. Tatlow, who is a master of thts subJect, holds that there should be a clean sweep of enactm~nts, which, although necessary and proper for ordmary railways, are unsuitable and unnecessary fo! , and consequently detrimental to, the con_structwn . of light railways. Thus those safety apphan~es whi?h were not insisted upon for British light ra~ways m the Act of 1896, are included in the Irish Act. Ireland has in all 604! miles of these so-called light rail ways or t ram ways, and the burden. upon her for these was 38 878Z. last year, exclusive of 16, 046l . for guarantee~ for ordinary lines,, and. ex cludina the lar<Ye Treasury payments. 'Ihe lines are h~wcver ~f O'reat advantage, although non-

' ' o d th 'mprove-paying ; they distinctly tend towar s e I . .

ment of the condition of the people. Th~ tishl~~ industry has been developed, produce and hv~ sto d have found new and better markets, and w.ild and romantic scenery has been ren~ered easily ahl comfortably accessible to the tour1 t, for whom hi hotels have been built. We hope, therefore, t a

· · · t' 1 cost some me~:ms may be found of lesserung lll1 Ia b and working expenses, so that the boon may e extended without undue financial burden.

of the RnovESIAN RAILWAYS. -The net revenutha ding

Rhodesian Railways (Limited) in the 12 .mon en ue Oct. 31, 1898, was !>O,~Vll. The correspundtng net raven in 1896-7 was 66, 768l., and in 1895-6 38, 044l.

FEB. 23, 1900.]

THE LATE MR. J AMES DANFORD BALDRY.

ON t he 101ih inst. J ames Da.nford B~ldry died full of yeu·s, and still fuller of k ind thoughts for his friends, and benevolent courtesy for all men. H e h9.d solved the proble m of h ow to g row old gracefully; indeed it wa.s no problem to him, for he could do n one other. His disposition-al ways sweet and benevolent-mellowed and developed under the k indly touch of time, unti l it attained a perfect gentleness and sympathy, which endeared him to all who had t he privilege of his friendship, and commanded t he re-spect and admiration of strangers. In spite of a constitut ional weakness, and some general feeble-ness, he enjoyed life himself, and rendered it brighter for others, unt il the time came for him to lay it quietly down. He had passed through the decade asserted by the Psalmist to be characte-rised by labour and sorrow without feeling anything of the burden of age, and without showing the least trace of fretfulness or weariness. I t was 3. beau-tiful ending for a useful career.

Mr. Baldry had not cul­tivated his genial nature in the seclu~ion of a ca-

•

• •

• •

•

•

•

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

footprints to ma.rk his course through t he cen tury. Lincolnshire R ailway. H e was then introduced to The ma.n who thinks more of doing his duty in Mr. (later Sir) J ohn F owler, by whom he was em­the world than of calling attent ion to his person- ployed on t he Oxford, Worcester , and Wolv:erhamp­ali ty, is apt to lea.ve very little guidance for the bio- ton Rll.ilway. This work was completed tn 1855, gra.pher, especially when he .outlives his contempo- and the subject of our memoir then entered Mr. raries. We know little or nothing of Mr. Baldry's F owler's office. boyhood or education, and of h is youth the only As we have already stated, Mr. Baldry spent fact that we have b een able to glean was that from 26 years as confidential assistant to Sir J ohn 1833 to 1836 he went to sea in his uncle's ships Fowler. During the earlier years, 1856 to 1865, the which traded to China. H e th en left the sea and office was kept exceedingly busy with the construe­took to engineering. W e are not aware of the tion of, first, the Metropolitan Railway, and later, reason of the change. except the general one that of the Metropolitan District Kailway. But the the man who is capable of being an engineer is not , actual work done on these enterpr ises did not re-

• •

•

•

• • • -• • •

•

•

• • •

•

• •

•

I .

•

• • •

•

•

•

'

•

present one-tenth part of th e ent ire office work, as year after year applica­tions were made to Par­liament for urban and sub­urban lines which n ever came to anything, but which involved all the labour of surveys, of de­positing plans, and of getting up evidence in their favour. Mr. Baldry had general charge of the office, and during this p eriod an enormous amount of detail and s upervision devolved on him. J.i'urther than this he took charge of the technical work in con­nection with the many foreign and colonial rail-

thedral close, or in the quiet of a laboratory. On the contrary, he had spent

• •

ways to which Mr. Fowler was consulting engineer, and was largely con­cerned in the prepara­tion of the evidence which Mr. Fowler gave as witness before com-

.,

nearly 40 years of his life •

in the bustle and worry •

of a g reat civil engineer's

• •

• • • I,

,•~ r ,. " • • • -

•

office, in which it was his business to hold t he mul­titudinous threads in his hands, and to keep all de­partments in harmonious and vigorous activity, so that his chief might be free to bend his energies in any required direction without troubling himself as to nine-tenths of the matters which were done in his name. When we explain, for the benefit of the younger of our readers, that Mr. Baldry was con­fidential assistant for 26 years to Mr. (later Sir)

• .r.

nlittees. There ar e many engineering friends in New South Wales who will regret his decease, as he was for so many years intimately connec­ted, under Sir J ohn F owler, with the deve­lopmen t of t he railways and public works of that colony. In nearly all the extensive business which passed through Mr. F owler's office, he took an impor tant par t , and although he did n ot

J ohn Fowler, and that he was for seven years partner with him and 1\{r. (now Sir) Benjamin Baker, i t will be readily understood that he had passed t hrough more worry and hard work than falls to the lot of most men, and that he might well have been ex-cused if in his old age he had been somewhat hard, and unsympathetic. From the nature of his position, and from the towering reputation of his chief, he was necessarily obscured from public r ecognition. He was kind and genial

•

.,

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

• •

• •

because the qualities were inherent to his nature and no amount of ad-

. ' verse ctrcumstances could destroy t hem. When he gav~ up business in 1888, as a result of a severe illness, he became free from the restraints of office life, and could allow his instincts a wider ~nge than was possible, so long as he was r espon ­sible for the discipline of a large establishment. I t was then that the full depth and breadth of his nature became revealed to his friends who never cease.d to admire its constant expansion'.

•

•

I t 1s a "far cry " to t he year 1816 in which Mr. Baldry. was bo~ in L ondon, and looking down t he long "_18~ of_ ttme which separates us from that date, 1t 1s dtfficult to find more t han occasional

•

• • • t

• \ . ,

• •

• • • •

• •

: . ' • • • • •

• ' . . ' • •

• ,

• • •

• • • • • •

• •

• • • •

• •

• • •

• •

•

' /

•

• •

•

• ••

. . •

. .

••

•

•

•

•

• •

•

•

•

• , . ·~ I

. •

•

•

•

• • •

•

•

•

•

• •

•

•

•

appear prominently be­fore the p ublic, yet th ere r ested on his shoulders a. vast load of r esponsibility, which he carried cheer­fully and well .

In 1881 Mr. Baldry entered into partnership with Mr. F owler, con jointly with Mr. (now

F rom a Photograph by Afessrs . . Ma'ltll and FO'X. Sir) Benjamin Bak er, but this made no great change in his duties. In

•

likely to be satisfied with the unintellectuallife of a sailor, who for days and weeks at a t ime is shut off from the possibility of meeting with a new idea, unless it be found in a thrice-read book . Mr. Baldry was ar ticled to Mr. Edward Lomax, Water Works Chambers, London, a civil engineer, and at the complet ion of his term, in 1847, he went in succession into t he offices of Messrs. Evans and Brydone and Mr. J oseph Cubitt. This would be at about the period of the railway mania, and t he immediately succeeding years. H e be­came assistant engineer on the Great Northern Railway, where h e was engaged from 1848 to 1852 in the construction and maintenance of the East

1888, however, a very severe illness completely changed the course of his life by preventing his living in England during winter. H e was at that t ime seventy­two years of age, and had well earned the right to a period of rest. The

sudden change from a life of the greatest ac­tivity to one of r ep ose involved a tremendous wrench, but Mr. Baldry rapidly adapted himself to his altered conditions, and in time came to declare that his later years were t he happiest of his life. He spent his winters at Hyeres, always a t the same hotel, and his summers with his friends and r elations at East Molesey, and wherever he was he shed the sunshine of his pleasant companionship over all with w horn he came in contact, making new friends and binding faster his old on es, until the very end.

Although Mr. Baldry left behind him a less brilliant r ecord than oth ers of the old·time engi-

•

•

neers who were his contemporaries, his )ife was no le~s active, and his work no le<3s useful than theirs. His individuality wa::; absorbed in the stronger personality of his chit f and his partners ; but t his n eYer acted as a temptation to him to do anythincr less than h is best. He was ab.,olutcly loyal - first to his employer, and, ]at( r, to his partners-and he had n o personal ambition, as distinguished from his desire for the success of the firm. After h e had abandoned professional work, h e still took a keen intere~ t in all developments of engineering, and during his annual visits to L ondon, kept himself posted in what was going on. He never allowed his zest for life to grow dull, and the thought and care he expended on others not only kept him young in spite of his years, but will also preserve his memory green for many years to come.

Mr. Baldry joined the Iostitu•ion of Civil En­gineers in 1865 as a member; and as audito", and in other hon orary capacities, h e did useful, but unostentatious, work for the Institution for many years; and Mr. Forrest, the present hon. secretary of the Institution, who was a much-valued friend vf his, has often expressed the warm acknowledg­ments of the Council for the sfr\o ices so r endered. On his desire to retire from theinstitution in 1890, the ouncil unanimously expressed their wish to retain his name on the roll of the Institution as an honorary m em bcr. H e was also a member of the Society of A r t.s, a Fellow of t he R oyal Geo­graphi<'al Society, and one of the first me3l hers of the Society of Engineers.

BRITISH ARTILLERY. T o THE EmToR OF ENGINEERING.

Sm,-From the cor1e3pondence in the Tirru.~ concern­ing the British versus the Boer artillery, it would appear that British specialists and civilians have become afraid that English artil1ery may not prove reliable, and in my opinion the p essimistic critics are quite right. I think it is utterly impossible for the E nglish guns to he ~ood, in the sense in which such an adjective should be understood at the present time. England has gone tJ sleep on the fol1owing conditions of tes ts for guns, namely, 34 to 41 tons per square inch, with 17 per cent. t:longation, and a very indifferent bending test carried out under a pres~. British manufacturerd have not advoca ted, naturally, more severe conditions. The m~nufacture of stPel forg­ing., to these tests is mere child's play ; any British s teel works could manufacture guns under similar conditions.

The desideratum for the inspection of guns would be to manufacture for, say, evE-ry five or ten ~unE~, an extra one which would be tested by firi ng until it gave signs of collapsing, or even until it collapsed altogether. But this cannot be done, for manifold reasonq. The nex t best test, though it be far from this utterly Utopian one, is to carry out on the m etal the mo3t sGvere tests possible. Are the British tests the most severe that should be carried out ? Not a bit of it. A very importan t factor in the quality of gun steel is the limit of elastici ty, and British works do not take i t into account at a ll. I t is quite as important, in gun construction, to know under what pressure steel will show a permanent set M it is to know under what pressure it will bre-ak or burst. Besides, the test pieces are made from thin rings cut off the ends of the forg ings, and tests on these thin rings are misleadin~, the difference being great between the texture of metal m the thin rings anrl that in the body of the forging. The thin ringe, as I ss.y, are cut from the ends of the forgings, therefore from a part which is affected to a greater degree by the hardening an~ annealing proc~es. In. Briti.s~ works aldo the breakmg tests are earned out W1tb anti­quated testing machines, which register everything, even the prt::ssure required to drag the hydraulic piston through the hydraulic cylinder glands, the total pressure being the so-called breaking strain of the steeL

Besides this, again, coils for field guns are forged on a mandril, the forgings being long en ough for five or six coils, the five or six coils being sawn out of the forging after carrying out the testing to the low conditions of from 34 to 44 tons and 17 per cent. extension. F or ob­taining the test-bars, a thin ring is cut from both ends of the forging. Is the metal of these thin rings a fit stan­dard to judge the quality ef the coils from, especially that of the midd le ones ? Not a. bit of it, either. The coils, when machined-do they undergo a. cold mandril tes t under the blow from a steam hammer ? They do not so far as I know, and this test has not been carried out' in E ngland since the last t en or fifteen years.

The result of such remissness in the tests is this: British artillerymen do not dare to fire with a heavy charge of high explosives, a.nd do n0t get the range. With the present method of British manufacture and the anti­quated tests of 34 to 44 tons and 17 per cent., they might get the range, if the walls of tubes, jackets, and coils we~e given a g reater thickness, ~ut then the g.uns won.ld lose m mobility. The me~al be1J?g c~mparat1vel.Y m tld, must wear out quickly w1th raptd fi rmg, both m . the b reech end under the action of the breech, and m the bore through erosion.

England ha.-, good steel, .ev~rybody k.nows tha.t, but English works do not at all g1 ve 1t the reqUire.d. wo~kmg up to bring it up to the highest standard of ut1hsat10n that can be demanded of st eel, for British manufacturers and artillerit\ts have been satis fied with 3 t to 44 tons and 17 per cent. \V ere I a member of any foreign Government, I

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

sh<?u_ld certainly never buy a single gun in England until Br1t1sh manufacturers had "mended their manners " as rrgards this dass of industry. On the other hand, Eng­land would be quite pre pared to buy guns in France un­conditionally, at any timE>, for she knows full well 'tha t French guns can be relied upon. S he knows, a lso, that France, as regards manufacture and tests, has fallen in quite the opposite ext1eme; she knows that French manu­facturers h ave to test grate bars, firing tools for boilers rounds for ladders, &c., under a t e3ting machine, and als~ that guns are manufactured and tested in France in the most rational m'l.nner. There is evidently too much, far t C?o much, red tape in France, but if .anything it is certamly of a much better sort than Brttish red tape. France could ~tford ~o dispense with a large amount of the red tape w1th whteh she surrounds s tE>el manufacture and gun construction, and be still in advanc6 of England, as far as these branches of industry are concerned. The production of guns in Frallce is necessarily rt::duced ia quantity through such thorough minuteness, but her guns are good and can be relied upvn. The output from English works would ba very much under the present figure, bad they to submit to all the conditions French works have to follow.

In st.veral kinds of artie:lts, it is better to have two in­d ifferent ones than one good one, provided you get the i udiff~rcmt on83 cheaper and quicker. Not so with gun~. A gun that Cl.n fire freely at a range of, say, 7000 yards, is more than a match, not only for two, but even for five or more indifferent ones, th~ range of which only averages 6000, let alone the risk of bursting or swelling out at even that lesser rang~ . British ships are armed with British guns; would not some British ships be indifferent also, ?Wing to their guns'? The question seems worth looking m to.

I remain, Sir, yours faithfully, Paris, February 17, 1900. A NGLOPBIT,.

AERIAL TORPEDOES. To THE E DITOR OF ENGINEERING.

Sm,-In yonr issue of the 16th inst, I note a com­munication sign(d "R. H. Angier, " signifying his per­plexity and desire to b e enlightened as to the identity of the Maxim (or Maxims) who apparently invent and patent guns, projectiles, and explosives, under on e nam~, and under a seeming variation of same name, write fre­quent communications touching same subjects.

I have known, and have kept touch, with Mr. Hiram Stevens M axim, the brilliant in11entor, since he was 30 ye~ns old, when he distinguished himself in the U nited ~ates by inventing the first automatic gas mach ines that

proved to be a practical success. l\1r. Hudson Maxim, the voluminous w·riter, is the younger brother of thA inventor, whose guest be t ecame while Mr. Hiram Stevens Maxim was pursuing his inves tigations at Or ay­ford, in 1888, anent ordnanc~, projectiles, and smok eless powder ; and be was then called " Brother I sa.ac, ,, w bich, I beliere, is his real name as christened, but later changed to Hudson.

Hoping that this w~ll clear the perplexity of your cor­respondent,

I remain, S ir, very sincen 1 v yours, February 21, 1900. D. H. A.

A~IERICAN COMPETITION. T o THE E DITOR OF ENGINEERING.

Sra,-In your issue of the 16lll inst, "The Practical Exporter " makes a graceful bow, and retires- meta­phorically, of course. I trust you will grant me a little space. I do not wish to be considered as indulging in animoaity, but I simply endeavoured- in forcible lan­guage, I must confess-to arouse him to a sense of the offensiveness and uselessness of so much opprobrium directed against a class who, whatever their faults, do not deserve it, and I maintain " The Practical Exporter " has not proved that they do. High-flown dictatorial writing, even when clothed in flowery language, proves nothing without facts. The letter I recommended for '' The Practical Exporter's" perusal does not bear out the notion that American employers and their workmen come from the same social s tatus, as that letter says, •' A few become rich, , which I take it implies that the bulk re­main "as they were ;" which reminds one of the York­shire waiter who, when asked by a guest how it was that, being a Yorkshireman, he had not become a master, gave the significant answer that .. ~Iaister's Yorkshire, too." That country makes the greatest progress where s uch progress is spread amongst the greatest number. Had the 11 Practical Exporter " not have closed the case, I would have asked him if he has any ~xperience of American workmen advancing to the p ositions of T own Councillors, &c.; there are some so placed here, and that in important towns, too, and some of them members of thA Amalgamated Society of Engineers into the bargain. The fact of newspaper editors making much of his letters does not in my estimation constitute them autboritiee that we are to unquestionably tow the knee to ; "A Practical Exl=orter " makes much of the Ame­ricoJ.n views of his letters; well, those views go with­out saying, as a. matter of coursE>. In a letter 1 read in your journal, we are shown an American ironma.ster as telling a shipbui lder that he will undertake to put into his yard all the iron he wants at a price, I think, as ]ow or lower than that obta ined in British yard~; and that if he (the shipbuilder) could not com"(:ete with the British bu ilde~, it was beca use be was not the man to handle the matter. F airly tall talk that, and not pa rti­cularly ((oily " to the shipbUilder ; but thereby hangs a talr:, in the Requel, that iron masters raised the price of iron to about 1~ times the price of the British com modity! Apologising to our American friends, I cannot

[FEB. 2 3, I 900.

resis~, the .te~pta.tion ~ call that "charactE-ristic bom: ba.s t. \V1shmg o.ur fr1~nd the "Practical E xporter , all t~e future pros.penty- thts coun try will be able to afford h1m, and a~urmg L1m that I, for one, have no fear but that we shall p~ll through and get therE>, I leave him and tha authont1es be has conjured up, and am, Sir,

Yours faithfully, A M EMBER vVoor.\\'ICH l sT BRANcH A.S.E.

AN ELECTROLYTIC CENTRIFUGAL PRO­CESS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF COPPER TUBES.

To THE E DITOR OF ENGINKF.RING. ~IR,-My a:tten.tion ha~ been cg,lJed to the le~ding

~~ttele appe~nng m Y~•~r 1ss~e of February 2, entitled Elc~trolyt1c Copper, m whtch reference is made to my

ce~tr1fugal copp~r process and also to Mr. Henry Wilde';5 cl at m as to pnon ty.

I guite ag~ee with . Mr. Henry Wilde that there is n_oth1ng new m revolVIng a cathode, as this ha. been prac­tised for a great number of yea~. Mr. ' Vilde's letter makes it quite clear that his proc~s has no featme in common with my centrifugal process. . What I claim to h9:ve discovered i~, tha.t if the cathode 1s revolved at a. suffiCiently high speed, so as to generate an appuc·abl~ amount of c£-n.trifugal foref', remarkably smooth depos1t-~ can be obta.tned at very high current densit ies, and the voltage is considt:lrably reduced. I have also obser ved that there is a critical speed at which excellent copper deposits can be obtained which cannot be obtained at a lower ~peed .

I am well acquainted with :Mr. Henry Wilde's patent in which be cl&lmS imparting a rapid whirling or rotating motion to a depositing solution either by means of paddles or revol ving the electrode~. I am not aware that Mr. H enry W1lde bad discovered that, by rotating the cathode at a certain speed, that smooth deposits of copper cou!d be obtainPAi at remarkably high current densit1es, even when a very larga percentage of free acid is present in the electrolyte. If Mr. W ilde bad appreciated the ad van· tages of centrifugal force, why does he state in his patent that a paddle revolved in the elfctrolyte is a good substi­tute for revolving the electrodes? The American patenb authorities, a-fter carefully s tudying Mr. Henry Wilde'R patent, have decided to grant me a patent for my centri· fugal process.

I remain, yours faithfully, SuERARD CowPER-Cou: .

Grosvenor Mamions, Victoria. Street, Westminsttr, February 20, 1900.

THE WAR IN SOUTH AFRICA. To THE EDITOR OF ENGINEERING.

SIR,-The past week has been eventful. On Monday L ord Lansdowne and 1\fr. \Vyndham made their state· ments to the P (ers and Commonc; explaining the measures which the Governmf nt propose for the prosecution of the war, and for the improvement of military efficiency at home-the word home defence being freely used by statt>s· men in both H ous£s, although home defence, so far~ the land forc~s are concerned, is at the the present tu~e a matter upon which the na tion should have no anx1ety whatever. I mean, that our Navy is E~O powerful that home defence is amply prov1ded for, and the Government and the country have reaJly but ?ne pressing military problem before them, viz., our fore1gn defence, the defence which is carried out by our land forces on foreign ser vice. This includes not only the great war we are waging in South Africa, but the. pro~r proportion of white troops in Iodia, ample garnsons .10

our fortresses abroad, and thA power. to p~t£ct our ~~­terests wherever threatened, whether m Cb1oa, AfghaDI· s tan, or elsewhere-Egypt for instance. .

Our weaknes'3es Jie abroad. H ome defence IS a mere bugbear, about which practical people do not wcrry them· selv&~.

The Government proposals are ackno~ledged to be mainly in the nature of tempord.ry exped1ents, and as such they are excellent. It would be ma~ne~s to at~mpt any importanb alteration in Army orgamsat1on dunng a trying war, and the howl of dissatisfaction in the neb· papers from the T imes downwards merely represent3 t e feelingd of a small and noisy mili tary party of .o. ~sb typt>, which hopes to rush its pet scheme of conscr~pt10n upon the country at the time of a semi-panic, know1_ng full well that at no other time would the country g1ve 1t any con· sideration whatever . The Times said in its l.eader on Friday '' L ord L ansdowne's general defence of hiS scheme only a~ounted to a challenge to his critics to say howdbe

· · ht " An a could do any better with the resources m s1g · . d very good defence, too. As a fact, most of our trame . soldiers fit for service have already been sent t? .the :~h and a large number of half. trained men io add~tJOn, The from the l\{other Country and the Colomes. Government proposaht, which need not be re~te~ ~ they are now well known by all, are moderate lD t 61h scope as regards infantry, for the simple reason that sube moderation is at present forced upon us. Mijn must t trained before they are sent abroad, whether they~ seo to the seat of war or to garri~on fortresses, or to remfo~ce

• b f our ID· our army iu Hindoostan. But the num er 0 th structors is l_imit( d

1 and ~ons~quentlY. tl~e num~er err~

can instruct m a gt ven t1me 1s also hmtted. Cons ·f tion or anything of the sort would give us more r_ec~tu! than we could deal with, and would actually pr~,e~

0 from rapidly instructing the smaller number ~hi{\~~;s ur~ently required. L ord L ansdowne's sche.me ts 0 _ choice. If not his critics would have se1zed the 0Pf'r tunity to offer 'alternative designs; bot they do not mg of the kind. d ~etd

The Government can call out the volunteers an ..

FEn. 2 J, r goo.] them to their stations whenever a national emergency may compel such notion. This is the rai$On d'i trc of the volunteers. At present they do not form a field force, nor cnn a field force be required at home until our Navy is defeated. Nevertheless, soldiers are required for routine work, such as " sentry go," &o., in L ondon, in other large cities, and as garrisons in the home fortresses. When the Army has its hands full elsewhere, and the 'Dilitia battalions have also gone to the front, the volun­teers would be embodied of necessity, but to do so would disorganise British trade to suoh a degree that it could only be done as a. last resource.

The result of this war has made it apparent to all that our land forces are quite inadequate for the needs of our Empire. It has also shown that a. good deal of drill in our barrack yards and of brigade drill in our parks may in future be omitted, whereas greater care must be taken in teaching men to shoot and to aot in the open field in a reasonable manner under fire -even of blank cartridges at autumn ma.nceuvres. Thus, at the last manoouvres on a wet day a certain distinguished re'timent delivered a series of volleys, in the standin~ position, at its foe only 300 yards offt and entrenched; and another day, when some oompa.mes of R oyal Engineers, and of the Guards and of the Oxfordshire Militia, were holding an entrenched position, they were attacked in front by a battalion in the open. Yet an umpire close at hand did not put a single company out of action ! A manceuvre of that kind is nob only a farce, but it do~s the m~n bar~, by producing ideas that bear bad fru1t on act1ve serviCe. One result of the war should be the annual training of considerable bodies of our regulars and auxiliary forces in autumn manceuvres over large areas, similar to those carried out by France and Germany even if a few dozen pheasants should be disturbed, and a few hedgerows damaged. Suoh manceuvres are absolutely necessary, in order to tea.oh men how to fight by modern methods in a. reason­able manner.

Mr. Wyndham said that the proposed augmentations will need the services of 253 additional officers in the Royal Artillery, and 622 officers of the Line, and that it is intended to offer commissions to our ':!Olonists, to aU our Universities, and to a few of our public schools, without the usual literary examination. some of the questions in which Dr. Farquharson, M.P., "could not go within 50 yards of answering.,, Such action seems espe­cially unwarranted at the present time, when a great war has brought to the front as saviours of the situation quite a number of general officers who have risen from the scien­tific branches of the service, and who wero rather passed over by the authorities at the commencement of hostilities. They were all carefully trained as Woolwich cadet~, and with two exceptions (Roberts and Warren) were com­petition cadets. Yet this is the precise moment chosen by the Secretary of State to offer commissions in a hurry, 253 of such commissions being for the Royal Field and Royal Horse Artillerr, than which no service exists re­quirin~ higher traimng or more scientific attainments! There lS no real hurry, except for purposes of patronage or the mistaken idea of putting British troops under Colonial officers, when any number of highly educated English­men, cotchmen, and Irishmen are available, and many of them hnve actually been specially and expensively trained for the very purpose of obtaining such commissions. The guns will take some time to manufacture, the batteries will take many months to form, and during this poriod the extra officers required could have been passed into the Royal :Military Academy by examination, and have received a. certain training, making them far more use­ful as officers during the whole of their subsequent career. The age for admission as cadets might be increased, and bewhi.Skered individuals allowed to enter as cadets as of yore. The lowering of the maximum age was a great error, without rhyme or reason, considering the early age of compulsory retirement now ruling in tile serVIce~.

To a ~rea.t though les.11er degree the above remarks apply to Sandhurst and the infantry commissions for the fifteen new regiments.

The cadets both at Woolwich and Sandhurst at the present moment will have a real and lifelong grievance against the present Government if their scheme be carried into effect without modification.

The cadets should be the first to profit by an augmen­tation. They have deliberately chosen the career of soldiering; a great wnr comes, it is their legitimate occa­sion, and they should not be robbed of i b.

As regards the war, it is rather disappointing that Kimberley was made the chief objective of the cavalry division ab a time when Cronje was slipping through our fingers with his 10,000 Boers.

The relief of Kimberley would have occurred automati­cally a day or two later.

Yours faithfully, February 18, 1900. FIELD 0E'~'IOER IN ,84.

IMPACT. To THE EDITOR OF ENGINEERING.

Sm,-Tbe very interesting experiments of Mr. Keep, published in your issue of the 9th inst., should help to clear the way for further information on the effect of shock on material.

The velocities, however, are so low that it seems to me an interesting article from some of your many correspon­dents on the other end of this subject, viz., impact of hammers at high velocities, e.g., projectiles, would be of great interest.

I have had occasion to require to break pieces of steel and iron from time to time, and among other things I have noticed that, for example, a piece of steel of rectangular section, 5 in. by 2i in., and 24 in. long, had to be broken with a 15.cwt. ball falling 5 fb. Well, when the supports were placed, say, ~0 in. apart, the piece bent, but did not

•

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

break ; and when the supports were brought gradually closer t here was a point about 7 in. apart, where fracture took place with tile greatest ease · but as the supports were brought still closer together, breaking became diffi­cult.. This was on steel with .:3 carbon. Can any of your co~respondents say why suppor ts 6 in. to 7 in. apart in th1s case should be the pom t where fracture takes place most easily ?

Yours, &c., H. Ens KINE MuiRBEA n.

Cart F orge, Glasgow, February 14, 1900.

THE CIRCLE SQUARING LAY-OUT. To THE EDITOR OF ENGINEERING.

Sm, - As many of your ingenious correspondents are perpetually hungering and thirsting for something ma.the­!Dati~a.l to dash their brains against, perhaps the follow­mg httle problem. for lack of a better, may serve their turn. ~anted, the circumference and the area of a circle? F1rst, draw your circle. Then draw a vertical centre line A CB. From A draw

a line A E ~t 45 deg. to ~he hol'izontal tangent D E as shown •. W 1th A F as radius and A as centre, describe an arc cuttmg the tangent at D. From A draw a line A G at 60 rleg. to the tangent as shown. With A Ga-s radius and A as centre describe an arc cutting the tangent at E .

Then D E is half the circumference. J oin D B and B E. Then the triangle D B E shall Le equal in area to the

circle. U we try a 3-in. cirole we shall find that D E measures

4 }! n\;r in. bare, say4.712. Twice this is 9.42-l in., the circumference. And this agrees with the Tables to the third pla.ce of decimals.

Again, the area of the triangle on the base 4. 7 42, and height 3 in. is 7.068 square inches, and this agrees with the Table3 to the third place of decimals.

H ow is this ? Well. the following hint must suffice : The snm of J2 + $is nearly equal to 1r.

Now, this is quite near enough for all practical purposes, and will do very nicely to begin the century wi th. It is the best guess I have seen yet, but it is nob my guess.

Yours truly, J AMES HORSl•'A LL.

1\!Ianchester, F ebruary 19, 1900. '

HIGH MELTING R!.TIOS. To THE EDITOR OF ENGINEERING.

SIR, - In these days of highly-priced coke, the thoughts of those owning or having charge or foundries turn with even more than usual solicitude to the ever-interesting question why it takes so much coke to melt the iron.

Having beard of all kinds of wonderful ratios, of much iron melted by little coke, it is galling not to be able to get it done by those controlling and working the cupola. To have to put up with a beggarly 7 of iron to 1 of coke, when 16 to 1 has been gob by others, is almost more than can be borne.

I suppose we must take it that iron has been mAlted with a ratio of 1 of coke to 16 of iron, that is, 7 lb. of coke melted 112 lb. of iron, but we have nob heard what was cast with the iron when it was melted. What was the class of work cast ? How many casbings were mis-run ?

The answers to these questions are quite as important as knowing the ratio of u on and coke. In fA.ct, the bald statement that 16 lb. of iron may be melted by 1 lb. of coke in a. cnpola., ~;>atent or otherwise, is worse than use­less to founders; It is positively injurious and mischievous in its effects.

The capitalist owning a foundry, but nob sufficiently practical to know how absurd such a claim is, naturally enough is misled by such statements, and his opinion of the capacity of his manager, foreman, and cupolamen is lowered by the, to him, sad fact, that they do not know much about melting, else they could get for him this 16 to 1 ratio.

Foundry managers and foremen again are very averse from giving any hint to fellow managers and foremen of whab their melting ratio i~. Frightened by this 16 to 1 bogey, and afraid to show their inability te geb anything so grand, they put on an air indicative of what wonder3 they could unfold if they cared to speak.

It is amusing and instructive to read of some of those wonderful meltings. Whether by accident or a sudden failure oE memory, they leave out of consideration the coke used in kindling up the cupola, and also that form­ing the bed, but they manage to give the weight of coke recovered when the melt is done.

Did we not know better we might conclude tha.b there

-existed a charitable organisation for the propagation of high ratios, giving away coke to be used as beds in cupolas.

There are many clever founders, and a few that are nob clever; but unless the conditions, such as type of cupola, blast, quality of coke, quantity of iron to be melted, dis­tance to be carried, and class of work to be cast, are k.nown, it is ~ifficult to say whether a certain consump­tion of coke 1s extravagant or economical.

This much is sure: to save coke and have badly melted dull iron, . and m is -run castings, is very bad economy. '

. There 1s only one worse extravagance, and that is high .coke consumption and badly melted iron. "\Vhen that 18 the case some one wants looking after.

To test the reality of one of these claims of wonderful melting, an invitation was sent to the makers of one of those "high ratio, cupolas to send a man, if they bad one, who could show how to get, not 16 to 1 but 10 to 1 as we were melting under 8 lb. of iron with 1lb. of c~ke. The reply ~ame, saying. that, considering the class of work we d1d, they considered our ratio very satisfac­tory, and such as they could nob hope to improve upon. T~us we se~ that there is. no 16 to 1 ratio in cupola

!Deltmg,. and 1f the ghost of 1t walks the land, it is time 1t was la1d.

If a~yone co~templa.tes ast?nishing us with a relation of . theu feats m meltmg, will they kindly give us the weight of all the coke used, amount of iron weighed into the cupola,. class of :w-ork cast, and the percentage of :w-aster castmgs and m1s-runs due to the condition of the uon?

Then we .shall ~a.ve ~omething to .imitate, I_>ossibly to envy, and h1S'h rat1os wlll become an mcentive mstead of an exasperatiOn.

.RoBEUT BuOHANAN. Birmingham, February 17, 1900. ·

ROYAL METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY. THE monthly . meeting of .this Society was held on ~ e~nesda;y evenmg, the 21st mst., at the Institution of Civil Engmeers. Great George-street, Westminster.

Mr. E: Mawley, F:R.H.S., read his report on the phenological observatiOns for last year, in which he showed that the weather for the year ending November 1899, was chiefly remarkable for itg higb temJ?eratures' sc~nty rainfall, and splendid record of sunshme. Th~ wmter and summer were singularly warm seasons, while the autumn was also warm, but during the three spring months rather low .temperatures p~evailed in the early part of the fl owermg seasun, wh1le plants came into blossom in advance of their mean dates but after March they were mostly late in coming into bl~om. Taking the country as a .whole the be3t farm crop of the year was wheat, .the y1eld of ba.rley proved also good, while oats were shghtly under average. The crops mostly affected by the dry weather were those of hay and turnips the latter being in most districts exceptionally poor. 'The only parb of the British I sle where the su mmer drought was not se~erely felt, was in Ireland, throughout a. great par~ of wh1ch there was abundant keep in the pastures dunng the whole summer. This year was a very bad one for f~ui t. ~he yield of . appl~s, pears, plums, and stra~berr1es varted greatly m d1fferenb locaHties, but was m most of them much under average.

Dr. R. H. Scotb, F .R.S., read a paper giving the re­sui~ of the percolation experiments which have been carried on at Rotba.msted by Sir J. B . La.wes and Sir J. H . Gilbert, from September, 1870, .to August, 1899. Three gauges were used, wi th 20 in., 40 in., and 60 in. depth of soil respectively; the area of each gauge being one thousandth of an acre. The amount of water col­lected at the depth of 40 in. is a.l ways in excess of that collected at 20 in .• and also of that collected a.t 60 in. In the winter months more than half the amount of rain penetrates into the soil and is available for springa while in summer this amount only reaches a quarter that of the ra.in.

PERS~NAL.-:We are. informed tha.b ~r. F. T . Eggers has resigned h1s ap~;>omtment of managmg director and se.cr~tary of the Bntish Schuoker b Electric Company, Limited, of Clun House, Surrey-street, W.C., and entirely severed his connection with the company. Mr. Arthur G. Seaman has accordingly been appointed manager, and Mr. H. J. C. Wells secretary to the company.

---THE LATE MR . . J. E. T HOMAS.-We regret to record

the death. on Frtday, the 16th inst., at his residence, ~'":ylfa, :Wrexham, North Wales, of ~Ir. J. E . Thomas, civtl engmeer and surveyor, at the age of fifty-nine. Mr. Thoma-s was connected with most of the Welsh rail way schemes, dating as far back as 1860. He was engaged on the HE?reford, Hay, and Ea.rdisley (now Midland) ; !Yiid Wale~ (now Ca;mbrian) ; Aberystwyth and Welsh Coast; Ruthm, Denb1gh, and Corwen; o~westry and Whib­c.hurch; and recently upon the Hawarden Loop (Cheshire hnes) ; and the W rexham and Ellesmere. In addition to these, he was also engaged upon several schemes in different parts of England, and upon many light-railway schemes since the passing of the Act relating to these. Amongst the profession in W ~tminster, be was acknow­ledged a particularly able man on Parliamentary work. He was also an author of no mean importance on geological subjects appertaining to his native land, and amongst them we should name '• The R ocks of Carnarvon­shire," "The Coal Measures of Denbighshire and Flint­shire," and "The Mineral Resources of Wales," the latter being written on the instigation of Sir Edwa.rd Watkin who took an active interest in pilotins- the \Velsh Rail: ways Union Act through its many VIcarious stages to success. Mr. Thomas leaves one son and three daughters.

A PECULIAR RAIL"\VAY ACCIDENT. TnE accompanying engraving illustrates a some­

w1n.t remarkable accident whi<·h occurred on a bran ch of theCleator and ' Vorkington RaHwa.y on Friday morn­ing last. Oa the prevbus night, as most people may remember, there was a violent s torm of "ind and rain which swept the whole of England and cotland; carrying away all telegraph wires and the like, and bringing destruction to many coasting Yessels. The Cum berlaud coas t experienced the full effect, and it seems that the rain washed away about 40 ft. of the branch line, the rails and sleepers holding together and forming an unsupported bridge. The first down train fortunately consisted only of an engine and van, the latter being in front of the loco­motive, which partly accounts for t he completeness of thA wreck of the van, for as soon as both vehicles passed on to the aerial bridge, it dropped quite 30ft., and the van was thrown on its end, while the loco­motive toppled over. It is really marvellous how the guard, driver, and fireman escaped wit hout any bones being broken, yet it was so. The engine, it may be aclded, is a six-coupled wheel saddle-tank locomotive, built by Messrs. R. Stephenson and Co., Newcastle­on-Tyne. It appears not to have been injured much; only one or two rods are bent.

MISCELLANEA. THE great facility with which ice can be obtained

n owadays must go far to diminish the sufferings of our wounded in outh A fri ca. Even in Kimberley we learn that there was a constant supply of ice to the hospitals throughout the siege, owing to the fact that it was J>Ossible to keep at work an ice-making machine on the De la Vergne system, which bad been suf>plied to the De B eers Company two years ago by M~srs. L. Sterne and Co., Limited.

\Vhilst successful manufacturers and others have spent, and continue to spend, large sums in endowing tech­nical and industrial schools in the States, it is amusing to note the course taken by certain of the trades unions there. Thus it is announced that the "Knights of Labour, " who earned an unenviable notoriety some years back by promoting a. great industrial conflict in which they were badly defeated, now propose to endow a school of oratory.

During the last three or four years, the Ocbotsk Kamtschatka country has been carefully surveyed by a special commission, so as to a-scertain the chances for developing the mining industry of the country. The work having been finished in that direction, the chief engineer proceeded to Kwantung (Port Arthur), where searches for gold were made, with most satisfactory results. All along the Kwantung coast there was found a profusion of gold-carrying sand, which, with even the most primitive working, yielded excellent results; and there is every likelihood of the country also containing deposits of gold-carryin~ quartz.

The sand blast has recently been applied to cleaning the iron lock gates at the Muscle Shoals Canal, 'fennessee, preparatory to repaintiog. The plant needed was mounted on a barg~, and consisted of a 12 in. by 14 in. stationary engine coupled direct to two 9 in. by 9 in. air compressors, which discharged into an old boiler serving as receiver. Three blast-pipes were connected to this receiver and provided wtth the necessary regulating valves. The nozzles, which were ~ in. in diameter, were made of tool steel. It was found that perfectly dry sand was needed for use; but taking this precaution the appa· ratus proved very efficient, some 44,500 square feet of metal being cleaned at a co!-lt of about 1!d. per foot.

Some rather interesting figures on the friction of tackle were obtained in experiments with a fourfold tackle block by Lieutenant J. A. Bell and lHr. R. Grimshaw. The tackle in question bad been lying idle for a long time, and the fir3t tes t was made in its dirty state. In the experiments no account was taken of Lhe weight of the rope, Lut the weight of the lower block was allowed for. The following figures were obtained :

Total weight lifted in pounds • • • • 641 841 1044 1241 Theoretical force needed . . •• • • 160 210 260 310 Actual force needed, block dirty . . 243 323 403 483

, " after cleaning . . 213 278 348 413 .. " after lubricating 195 255 346 378

At a meeting of the Ipswich Engineering Society, held on Monday, FeLruary 19, at the Museum, lligb-street, a paper on the " Theory of Earth Foundations" was read by Mr. J. E. Peirce. Comparing the different kinds of foundations met with, the author remarked that founda­tions on rock were coatly, though very safe, provided the rock was no t fissured with seams of clay. Foundations in chalk should be well drained. Gravel proved one of the best subsoils for building on, provided the conditions were such as preclude it spreading laterally. It was advisable to disturb it as little a.s possible by digging. Clay was one of the worst materials on which to place foundations, as its volume altered much, with atmospheric conditions, and to avoid trouble from this source it was often neces­sary to carry the work down to a depth of 10 ft. or more.

Fragments of cork, compressed into solid sheets, have been largely used as beat insulators in a number of Ameri­can warships. The material, which is being introduced into this country by Mr. J. F. Butterworth, of 28, Queen Victoria-street, E C., is, of course, very light, and its resistance to the flow of heat is so great, that it has been

•

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

RAILWAY ACCIDENT

-

found possible to reduce the thickness of the insulating layer round the refrigerating rooms of the ships in ques­tion to 6 in., 13 in. of powdered charcoal having previously been employed. In thinner layers the material is being also used to line certain of the state-rooms on these battle­ships, and is stated to check condensation, and changes of temperature theroin. The material is made by sub­jectin~ the fragments of cork to a heavy pressure, and applymg heat whilst the pressure is maintained. Ti'le granular mass1 originally 4 m. thick, is thus reduced to a sheet of 1 in. m thickness, and weighin~ 15 oz. per square foot. The beat api_>lied is stated to ltquefy the natural g um of the cork, wh1cb cements the different particles to­gether, without the addition of another adhesive.

Mr. H. S. Hacker t describes in the Rose Technic an in­teresting experiment in which air was used as a lubricant for a sborb steel shaft rotating in a cast-iron bearing. The journal in question was 6 in. in diameter and 6! in. long, and was rather under ?Ji'60 in. less in diameter than its bearing. The sha.fb being placed horizontally was started by hand, and at first would turn \Vith difficulty, the sound proving that metal was rubbing on metal. When, bow­ever, a sufficiently high speed was attained, the grating ceased and the shaft would run noiselessly. Set rotating this way at a speed of 500 revolutions per minute, it would run for four or five minutes before the air film, on which it floated, would break down, and the metals coming in contact again the friction would quickly bring the shaft to rest. 1.\-Iicrometer measures confirmed the belief that the shaft was, during its rotation, supported on a film of air. The addition of oil increased the frictional resistances under the conditions noted, air proving a better lubricant. The matter is not likely, perhaps, to have any practical bearing, but is certainly of interest from a theoretical point of view.

Some interes ting notes on riveting and flanging .Pres­sures are given in a paper by l\Ir. H. V. Loss, pubhshed in a recent issue of the J Ot1.1rnal of the Franklin Insti­tute. For riveting ! in. and i in. rivets pressures of 60 to 70 tons are required on tlie rivets, the work done being abont 7200 foot-pounds for ~ in. rivets and 9,500 foot-pounds for ~ in. rive~. 'fhese figures apply to bridge rivets, less power being needed m boiler work, where rivets are shorter and the boles generally better finished. Under these conditions the pressur'*! re, quired may be taken as follow: For ft in. rivets, 25 tons ; for ~ in. rivets, 33 tons ; for '! in. rivets, 50 tons; for 1 in. rivets, 6G tons; for 1 1 in. rivets, 75 tons ; and for 11 in. rivets, 100 tons. For cold riveting pressures of 300,000 lb. per square inch are needed. For cold flanging ~ in. steel plates a pressure of 600 lb. to 740 lb. is needed per running inch, whilst with -{+I in. plates, 710 lb. to 750 lb. pressure per running inch IS required. In hot flanging much lower pressures are needed, the figures observed being 185 lb. per running inch for f in. plates and 380 lb. for ~> in. plates. To remove waves and wrinkles on a flangwed surface much higher pre.~ures are needed, viz., about 1400 lb. per square inch of waved surface.

In a lecture recently delivered before a meetmg of the Fra.nklin Institute, Dr. Coleman Sellers gave some inte­resting reminiscences of the early days of machine-tool building in America. Dr. Sellers' experience extends back to the days when wood was quite frequently used for machine framings, lathe-beds, and the like. H e relates that even in 1876 the theory of boring me tals was imperfectly understood and seldom applied. Thus the Baldwin Locomotive 'Vorks applied to Dr. Sellers' firm for a boring mill to be capable of borin~ a H)-in. cylinder in nine hours. Dr. Sellers having stud1ed the theory of

l F EB. 2 3, I 900.

NEAR WORKINGTON.

such operations, concluded that the work ought to be done in three hours, and wa..~ prepared to gnaran· tee a time limit of 3! hours. The order was conse­quently given to his firm, on the understanding that the machine wa not only to bore the cylinders, but to counter­bore the ends for the piston clearances, to cut off the sinking head, and to face up the flanges. On actual trial, with a very hard and close-grained casting, the work was accomplished in 3 hours 20 minutes. The plan used, now so common, was first iutroduced by }.!r. Asa Wbitney for boring chilled car wheels, who found that such work was bes t done in two cuts ; the first, a deep cut, bring~ng the hole close to size, being made with a fine feed, whilst the finishing cut, a very light one, was executed with as broad a feed as possible. U nder these conditions the edge of the finishing tool wears but slowly, whilst if a fine feed is used it soon begins to bore under size.

Wells recently sunk by Messrs. I sler and Co. at Erith, Berkhampstead, Hatfield, and at P oplar, afford SOD;le interesting information as to the underlying strata m these districts. The Eritb well was 250 ft. deep, and the ground proved to be made up of the follo~g beds: Made ground, 5 ft. 6 in. ; chalk, 1~ ft. 6 m.; flints, 6 in. ; chalk, 4 ft. 6 in. ; chalk and fhnt, 96 .ft.; flint, 3 ft. ; chalk and flint, 26 fb.; flint, 3 ft. 6 1.n.; chalk and flint, 47 ft. 6 in. ; flint, 14 fb. ; chalk and fhnedt, 30 ft.; chalk, 18 fb. At Berkhampstead the strata prov to be as follows: Made ground, 2 ft. ; clay and grave~ 1 ft. ; clay and flint 1 ft. 6 in.; , dark ?rown clay~ 4 ft. ; flint and pebbles, 3 ft . 6 1n. ; shmgle, 8 H., yellow clay, 2ft.; chalk (rotten), 18ft.; chalk (firm), 74 fb.; chalk with layers of brown clay, 38 ft. ; chalk, 21 h. i total depth, 170 ft. At Ha.tfield th~ boro is 304 ft., and the tool passed through the follow10g beds : Rough gravel and loamy sand, 16 fb. ; yellow sands, 2 f~. ; rough gravel, 25 ft . ; gravel and clay, 5 ft. ; chalk Wlth occasional beds of flint, 256ft. Ab Poplar the well sunk is 350ft., the strata being as follows: ~Iade gr:ound, 8ft.; ballast, 17 ft. ; blue clay, 53 ft.; black pebbles, 2ft. i shells and sand, 2 ft. 6 in. ; dark sand, 3ft.; grey sand, 11 ft. ; sand and clay 1 ft. ; clay and shells, 10 ft. ; c: glomerated shells, 3 'ft. ; blue mottled olay, 2ft. ; mottled clay, 6 ft. ; greensand and pebbles, H ft.d ~ar~ sand and clay, 3 ft. ; dark sand, 43ft. ; chalk an ac flints, 91 ft. ; grey chalk, 12 ft. ; soft chalk, 68ft .

THE SouTH AI<·nrcAN ~liNING INT.I!:RE T.-A n_umber of engineers and others connected with .South Afru~an g?ld mines have been in Chicago recently, 10 consultatlOn With manufacturers of mining machinery. Prevente~ fro~ running their mines by the war, , the yi~itors are mves!d gatin~ the latest improvements m mmmg processes a macbmery.

---B' k THE ELECTRIC LIGHT AT GRIMSBY.-Mr. R .. H .. 10 ~

nell, C.E., held a. Local Government Board I~qut_ry ~f Grimsby on Monday with reference to an applicabotlOn , b . to rrow the Grimsby Town Council f<?r aut o~ty b 11,500l. for the supply of electnc power 1n the borohg ~ The deputy town clerk (Dr. Grang~) _stated _that t a~d was a deficiency of 551l. upon the or1gmal estba~, . 1 10, 949l. was required for additional works. T e ongt~:e amount authonsed to be borrowed was 43, 500~ a.J5d0001 total, with the amount now required, w.ould 0i~onai The borough engineer (~Ir. M. ~etree) satd t~e add wer expenditure included an engme of

13d50 t0:0f and

which, with boilers, dynamos, &c., wou ~s ·~eers 1677l. was required for consulting electr1cal engl charges.

-FEB. 1j, 1900.] E N G I N E E RI N G.

STEA~1 DYNAMO FOR THE RUSSIAN NAVY. of last year. The number of shifts worked at the three dates was 5.58, 5.63, and 5.60 respectively. Here again purely local causes may have influenced the figures.

CON 'TRUCTBD BY :ME' R . ERNI!~ T 'COTT & ~IOUNTAIN, LTD., NE\VCA 'TLE-ON-TYN.K In the tinplate industry there is further improve­ment. At the end of t he month 418 mills were at work, including those engaged in tbo manufacture of black­plates, employing 20,909 persons, as compared with 413 mills, employing 20,554 in the previous month, and 318 mills, employing 16,000 persons a year ago. The chief danger in this industry is the almost perpetual fri ction in labour questions.

I I

WE illustrate on this page a direct-connecttd dy­namo <.onstructed by Messrs. Ernest Scott and Moun­tain, Limited, of the Close Works, N ewcastle-on­Tsue, for the electric lighting of a Russian torpedo­boat destroyer. The engir.e ie:, ~t will be see~, of the compound double-acting enclosea type,. an~ 1s fitted with tho makers' system of forced lubr10at10n. The high and lo~-pressure. cy~ders are ar~anged .tandem fashion, their respective dtameters bemg 4 m. and 6~ in., and the stroke is 4 in. The designed speed is 550 revolutions per minute, and running at this rate and supplied with steam at 150 lb. initial pressure, the engine is capable of generating 17 effective horse­power. The speed is regulated by governors attached to the crankshaft, which operate an equilibrium throttle valve. The fittings supplied with the engine include a steam separator , with its water gauge and conneoting pipe, drain cocks, lubricator, and indicator gear. The dynamo is of t he two-pole continuous­current type, with the magnet coils placed above the armature, thus avoiding the risk of oil reaching the windings. The armature is drum wound, and the machine is designed to give lOO amperes at 100 volts when driYen ttt 550 revolutions per minute. The armature shaft is, it will be seen, coupled direct to the crankshaft of the engine. In order to Eave weight, the extension bedplate which carries the dynamo is of brass, and it will be EeHl that both engine and dynamo are provided with an oil-retaining rim all round them, which catches any oil which may escape from the bearings.

ENGLISH CoLONIAL COAL.-The production of coal .in the principal British colonjes would apj)ear to be steadily increasing. Taking British India, New South \Va!es, Victoria, Tasmania, New Zealand, Queensland, Natal, the Cape of Good H ope, Canada, and \Vestern Australia, we find an aggregate of 15,673,748 tons in 1898, as compared with 8,548, 785 tons in 1888. The greatest pro­duction in 1898 was effected in New South Wales, viz., 4, 706,251 tons, British India ranking second with 4,604,980 tons, and Canada third with 4,172,655 tons.

GOLD AND PLATINA IN RussrA.-The new Platina Company intends to refine platina, gold, &c., in th.e 'Verchotury district, at the rivers !ss, Tura, and Alta1, and in the Kungur district, at the Sserebrjannaja river. The company's capital is 1,200,000 roubles. The labora­torium for gold working at Iekaterin&nburg handled in 1898 611 pood of s-old, some 10 pood (36 L lb.) less than the previous year, owmg to some Orenburg property changing hands. The yield of platina w~, on the oth~r band, greater, amounting to 363 pood, about 19 pood m excess of the previous year's yield. A French company- Com­pagnie Industrielle du Platine- bas been formed for the purpo_se of carrying on pla.tina and gold wasbinf!, &c., in the Werchoturg district. The capital is 16,000,000 fr .

•

•

•

'

' •

•

INDUSTRIAL NOTES. TnE returns relating to t he state of the labout·

market show that employment continued gcod throughout the month in most of the principal in­dustries. The proportion of unemployed trade union members was lower than at any similar period since 1890. As this general statement is based on 2548 returns, 1756 from employers, 635 from trade union officials, and 157 from other sources, it may be said to represent the condition of most of the important industries of the kingdom. The chart line for the current year starts from 2.5 per cent., which is about the average for the whole of last year, which was singularly free from fluctuations from the end of January to the r.lose of the year.

In the 136 trade unions, whose returns are specially tabulated, there was an aggregate of 521,833 mem­bers, of w horn 14,252, or 2. 7 per cent., were reported to be unemployed at the end of the month, as com­pared with 2.5 per cent. in the previous month, and 3. 0 per cent. at the same period of last yea.r in 121 unions, with a total of 486,094 members. The last and the first month of t he year are always affected by the holidays, and nearly always by the weather, and by other circumstances.

The figures relat ing to employment in the various industries show that employment in coalmining was, on the whole, about the ~ame as a year ago. At pits employing 450,204 workpeople, the time worked on an average was 5.13 days per week, as compared with 5.16 days at the same period of last year. In the ironstone mining employment continued good, but the time worked was not quite equal to that of a year ago. At mines and open works employing 16,901 persons, the average t ime worked was 5. 35 days per week, as compared with 5.49 days a year ago. But Lbe weather affects those works more than it does coa.lmining.

--In the angineering and metal trades group employ­

ment has continued good, and in some branches has eveu slightly improved. The proportion of unemployed union members was 2.:3 per cent., as compared with 2.4 per cent. at the same period of last year. Emplos ment in the shipbuilding trades al~o remains good, with further improvement. The proportion of unemplosed union members was 2. 0 per cent. as compared with 3. 7 per cent. a year ago. It is many years since the percentage was so low in this group of trades.

Employment in the building trades is generally at its worst in mid-winter, but it has remained fairly steady, considering the state of t he weather for outdoor work. l'he proportion of unemployed in the unions reporting was 2. 7 per cent. , as corn pared with l. 7 per cent. a year ago. In the furnishing and wood working in­dustries there has been a falling off, t he proportion of unemployed being 5.9 per cent. as compared with 4.3 per cent. a year ago. In the glass trades there con­tinues to ba improvement, the proportion of unem­ployed was 9.3 per cent. , as compared with 13.6 per cent a year ago. In Yorkshire this trade suffered severely for a long time, but the recent xevival gives hopes of better times.

In the printing and bookbinding trades there has been the usual falling off at this season of the year, but on the whole employment is fairly good. The pro­portion of unemployed was 4.2 per cent., as compared with 4.4 per cent. a year ago.

Employment in the paper tra.des has continutd good, the proportion of unemployed being 2.4 per cent. , as comparld with 3.2 per cent. a year ago. Both of tbe~e groups compare faYourably with last year.

In the leather trades employment continues good. The proportion of unemplo) ed was l. 8 per cent., as compat ed with 4.5 per cent.. a year ago. In t he boot and shoe trades there has been some improvement but in some districts t rade is reported to be quiet.

In the tailoring branches the conditions vary. Trade is bad in the bespoke branches ; in the ready-made branches there has been improvement, employment on the whole being fairly good. In rome centres, how­ever, there are complaints of s1ackness.

The state of employment in the cotton trades) both in t he spinning and weaving branches, continues very good. From the information collected relating to fac­tories employing 80,600 females, it appears t hat 97 per cent. of those working in the spinning mills, and 92 per Cf-nt. in weaving factories were on full time, the ~ame as in the preYious mouth, and as compared with 93 per cent. and 85 per cent. respectively a year ago. This is all t he more encouraging, seeing t ha t there is some misgiving as regard s the supply of raw material iu Preston, and some other districts in La.nca­ehire.

In the woollen and worsted trades employment con­tinues very good generally, but a slight decline is said to be apparent in some dtstricts. Employment in the hosiery tradea remains good. On the whole, the tex­tile trades have shared in the g{'nentl prosperity in all departments.

Employment at the docks and w ha.rves in London continues fairly good as compared with a year ago, bu t is not quite so good as reported la.st month. l)uring the four weeks the average number of men employed w&s 15,762, as compared with 16,390 in the five pre­vious week s, and 15,593 a year ago. But these fluc­tuat ions are incidental to dock and riverside labour at all the ports in the kingdom.

In the agricultural districts t he casual hands were not able to put in full time owing to the wrather, but most of the regular farm labourers found some suit­able employment. There is ·not such a plethora of farm labourers at present as to enable farmers to dis­pense with their services, if some work can be found for them.

'

In the pig-iron industry employment continues better t han a year ago. At the works of 116 iron­masters 381 furnaces were in blast, employing about 25,911 persons, as compared with 379 furnaces in blast, employing 25,987 in the predous month, and 372 furnaces, employing 24,679 persons a year ago. The slight fluctuations indicated by the figures gh·en may be due to temporary causes other than the state of trade, such as frequently occur in any large in· dustry. Certainly the demand for pig iron has not abated recently.

In the iron and steel manufacturing industries there was a decrease in the number employed in the month, but employment continues to compare favourably wi th a year ago. At the 211 works covered by the returns, 82,518 persons were employecl as compared with 82,~66 in the month preYious, and 80, lOO at the s~ane pt nod

There were during the month 37 fresh labour dis­putes, involving 11,305 workpeople. Of that total 8993 were directly, and 2312 indirectly affected. The corresponding number for the previous month was 28, involving 6116 workpeople ; and in the same month of last year there were 26 disputes, involving 2194 work­people. Of the 37 n~w disputes ~u the first mo~th of this year, 11 were m the textile t rades, 9 m the mining industries, 4 in the building trades, 4 among the dock and riverside Jabounrs, and 9 in miscellaneous industries. The disputes old and new, which were

266

settled in the month numbered 41, involving 11 ,592 workpeople. Of the3e, 14 disputes, involving 3085 persons, were decided in favour of the workers; 10 disputes, affecting 1557 persons, were decided in favour of employers; and 14 disputes, affecting 6264 persons , r esulted in a compromise. In the case of the 3 remaining disputes, affecting 686 persons, certain matters were under consideration with a view to a settlement.

The changes in the rates of wages were far more numerous, a.s regards t he number of persons affected. Of the total number of workpeople (698,000) whose rateR of wages underwent a change, 697,650 received advances, a,·eraging 1s. 4;ld. per head weekly, and only 350 sustained decreases in wages a veraging 2s. 4:i. weekly per head. The net result was an increase of about ls. 4d. per head per week for the whole of the 698,000 affected. The principal increases were in the coalminiog industries, the iron and steel, and the textile trades. Changes only affecting about 5300 persons were preceded by disputes causing a stoppage of work. Changes affecting 159,300 persons took effect under sliding scales, and changes affecting 428,000 were arranged by wages and conciliation boards or by arbitration without cessg.tion of work. In t he case of other changes, affecting about 105,400 persons, the disputes were mutually arranged by direct negotiation between the employers and the workpeople affectecl, or by tbe representatives of the parties interested. The above figures show how little strikes had to clo with the changes enumerated, and t o what extent peaceful endeavours are becoming succes~ful in labour disputes.

The '' Amalgamated Eagineera' Journal " reports that the total number of members is 84,796, of whom 1646 were on donation benefit, 2814 on sick benefit, and 3544 on superannuation; total 7004 on those three benefits, besides those on travel. This is a large army to relieve and support by voluntary effort, and that, too, by men who pay their full share to the poor rate. The number on donation is not large in proportion to the whole, nor is it large in comparison with former years, especially at the beginning of the year, in mid-winter, where employment is usually at its worst. The votes recorded upon the proposed levy for the South African members are not large, but the propo3al was carried by 8205 against 772; a 6d. levy is therefore imposed on all members, except apprentices. The total amount set apart is 1800l., which will be used at the discretion of the council in aid of the families of the members sent to the front, as well as of those a t the seat of war who are in dis­tressed circumstances in consequence of it. A curious case is mentioned in respect of the Compensation Act, namely, that persons sent out to jobs, that is from engineers' shops, for example, to erect machinery on the spot, or to repair it, do not come within the four corners of the Act. Strange, but that appears to be the decision of the Courts, as in the case of t he Bull­finch disaster. The proposals as to Parliamentary representation have led to the nomination of eighteen candidates, but the council rule that no general officer can be put in nemination, that is to say, can stand, while he holds an official position. This de­cision eliminates nine from the list. The council think, moreover, tha.t only two should be selected. There is therefore to be another vote as to candi­dates. As regards the Parliamentary Conference only 27 resolutions were sent in, 18 for, and 9 against. The council have appointed three de­legates. M r. Ba.rnes has an interesting article in the journal, entitled "A Trip to Cocoa Town," in which he describes the works and social arrangements at Messrs. Cadbury's establishment. This seems to be a model working firm, in which the welfare of t be employes is carefully att ended to. Further con­ferences between the Employers' Federation and the Society are reported as regards wages, piecework, and other questions.

- --Tha report of the Boilermakers and Iron Shipbuilders

is for the first time signed by the new general secre­tary, Mr. D. C. Cummings, as successor to Mr. l:t. Knight. Io paying a well-deserved tribute to his pre­deceesor , he asks for sympathy and support in the early days of his stewardship. That the union will be conducted on the old lines goes without saying, for the members have always endorsed the action of Mr. Knight, even when he was most fiercely attacked by members of other unions, especially during the engi­neers' strike and lock-out in 1897-8. The continued prosperity of trade is attested by the fact that the offices are besieged by inquiries for men, In five firms alone, mentioned in the report, 90 full squads of riveters and holders up are applied for. In the cir­cumstances the Council notify that in consequence of the great demand for this class of workmen no clona­tion benefit is to be paid to riveters and holders up under 50 years of age, unless they arc under suspen­sion in accordance with the rules of the union. Angle­smiths, platers, and caulkers may still sign on for donation in accordanc9 with the rules, but the condi-

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

tions are to be strictly enforced. If any doubt exists as to the bona fide.;; of the claimant, the executive committee are empowered to send for t he hou~e dona­tion book, and all further particulars, in order to see that there is no malingering. It is said that fewer orders are being booked; but this is usual at this period of the year. Strong efforts are being made by the Labour leaders on the Clyde to induce or compel the men to keep better time, so a<J not to lose the advantage of weekly pay conceded by the employers last year. The returns for the month show that 3181 were on the funds, as compared with 3040 last month; but there was a decrease of unemployed , from 991 to 725 under the three heads enumerated. There was a.n increase on sick benefit from 1436 to 1834, and of members on superannuation from 613 to 622. The in­crelse on t he funds of 141 was due wholly to sickness and old age. Advances in wages are reported from Stoke-on-'frent and Kidsgrove of 5 per cent., and from Burton on-Trent of 2s. per week. In London the Ship Repairing Employers' Association ha ve conceded an advance of 6d. per day under the heading of black money, that is by reason of the dirty na ture of the work. The report is most encouraging as regards the state of trade generally, and the prospects are regarded as not discouraging.

The position of the engineering trades throughout L9.nca.shire continues good. In some branches there is increased pressure, in a few instances less, but in the latter cases t he decrease is prospective, not pre­sent. Activity is fully maintained in all branches. The number of unemployed members of trade unions is very much below the average, and the number is still decreasing. In the locomotive building establish­ments an increasing weight of new work is coming forward. One of the largest firms in L~ncashire has enough work on its books to keep it going for two years, while other firms have a sufficiency to keep them well engaged for at least a year. Moreover, there are inquiries in the market for 80 new locomo­tiYes for different railway companies, so that in this branch there is plenty of work on hand and in pro· spect. In the constructive branches there is, per­haps, less pressure, but manufacturers of material report that they have more orders than they can execute, and t here is no falling off in inquiries for supplies. The general state of employmentt is indi­cated by the fact that out of 22,613 members of trade unions reporting in the Manchester district only 614 were unemployed, about t he same as in the pre­vious month, the t wo worRt months in the year. In the society report~, engineers, boilermakers, and brassworkers describe employment as moderate, iron­founders and machine workers as good. In the Oldham district employment is good in the engineering firms, slack in machine and tool shops. Ironfounders, brassfounders, patternmakers, boilermakers, spindle and flymakers report trade as good, tinplate workers, gasmeter makers, plate and machine moulders a.s moderate. In the Bolton district employment is less active; in Bury, Chorley, and Ramsbottom trade is busy, and also at Wigan. At Black­burn and Burnley employment continues good. In the iron trades generally there is full activity with very little change, either a~ regards the demand for material, or in the matter of rates. The position on the whole is good, while the outlook generally is encouraging. In the Liverpool and Birkenhead dis­tricts, and at Barrow, there is similar activity in the engineering and shipbuilding trades.

The posi tion of the iron and steel trades in the Wolverhampton district continues good in most re­spectq. Consumers and merchants alike press fresh orders for acceptance in spite of t he successive ad­vances in the association rates. Manufacturers of finished iron have their order books filled to repletion, far beyond the capacity of production, and are, there­fore, compelled to refuee many of the orders offered, where early supplies are stipulated. They will only accept contracts for supplies over the quarter at the rates that may then pre,:rail. Raw material is now double the price it was a year ago, and furnace coal has gone up from 10s. to 15:. per ton during the last few months, and there appears to be every chance of furt her increase in price. Moreover, there ha<J been some decrea-se in production of iron owing to the weather, so that supplies are still more behind. Marked bars are firm at the full quoted rates and for extras, while unmar}ted bars are fetching 5s. per ton more than the list prices of two or three weeks ago, when the advance was determined upon. But hoop3 also have further advanced to buyers, and also common sheets. Galvanised corrugate :! sheets are still quoted at the December rates. The steel trade is active in all branches, an cl rod and rivet iron are in demand. Altogether the position .remains good. The en~ineer­ing branches are descrtbed . a<J only .moderate m the engineers' report, but ther£> 1s not a. smgle member on the books as unemployed in the two branches of 386 membere.

[FEB. 2 3, I 900.

The iron and steel trades in the Birmingham dis­trict have been inconvenienced by the weather both at .the pu~dling furnaces and the forges, some ~orks bemg obhged to come to a standstill. There was also a shortness of coal supply, the canals in eome places being frozen, in other instances coal was obtained only with difficulty, so that shifts had to be abandoned by reason of scarcity of fuel. There has been, and continues to be, a great demand for coal for manufacturing purposeea, the supply being ioade· quate for the requirements. l:'lenty of inquiries for iron and steel are reported, and prices are firm at the recent high level of rates. Marked bar makers are full of orders and refuse to book below list prices. But some of the uncompleted contracts were booked at much lower rates, and it is said that the firms are loyally executing all such orders, as far as possible, but deliveries arc in some cases in arrear. H appean that buyers are plentiful for unmarked bars, but sellers are few, as they are well sold for the present, and are able to ask even higher rates. A slight lull is re· ported in the sheet trade, especially in the gah~aniEe 1 dep!l.rtment. Steelmakers are so full of orders that they are practically unable to entertain new business for some time to come. Pig iron is still limHed in supply, prices being firm at all rates. In the general branches of trade there is pleuty of employment. In branches of trade unions with 21,313 members, only 393, or about 1. 8 per cent , are reported to be un· employed at this, the least busy, season of the year. I n the engineering brancheR, seven report trade as moderate, and three as good. But ouli of 1377 full members only 12 are on full donation benefit, aod 8 on reduced benefit, so that there is little to com­plain of. Patternmakers, ironfounders, smiths, and strikers report employment as good ; toolmakera as modera te. At Coventry and West Bromwich trade is goo:i. The cycl9 trade is quiet ; the motor trade ~s good. Employment in the brass and copper trades IS

fai r. In 15 other iron, steel, and metal trades em­ployment is good, in six industries fair, in one modll· rate. At W est Bromwich and Redditch employment generally is good ; in the Lye district, moder~te. Most of the lighter metal trades are well or fatrly employed . Altogether, t he position is good, and t.he outlook is favourable.

The Austrian coal strike is not yet settled .. The attempt to arrange a compromise, last wee.k, . fatl~d. At fourteen meetings held, attended by, 1t lS satd, 30,000 persons, a. resolution was carriP,d to break off the negotiations, as the offers .of t~e. employers were regarded as unsatisfactory, bemg Illusory, and not serious."

At a meeting of 2000 miners held ~t Carn:taux a .re· solution was adopted in fa\"Our of an tmmedta~e strtke if the grievances complained of are not remedied, and the demands of the men agreed to.

GEmiA~ MARINE.-The merohan1l fleet of Hamb?~ comprised on J anua.ry 1, 1900, altogether 878 ve,sels, ·~~~ of which were steamers with an aggregate net tonn.age o 636 379 registered tons · 206 were sailing vessels w1tll an agiregate net tonnage ~f 198,008 registered tons, the resb be1og fishing vessels, tug and salvage boats .• and ple7u~ boat~. Since 1898 the fleet has ha~ an morea.se o . vessels, with altogether 91,000 . regJstered tons net, tn addition to which 37 steamers, Wlth an ~ggregate tonn.age of 200,000 registe~ed tons, a~e in ~our3e of conHstru~lOn~ about half of which are belDg built for t~e . am urg American line, and 13 for other Transatlanttc hoes.

THE RAILWAY CoAL BILL.-The cost of the coal con· sumed in the locomotive departments of the twenty principal British railways in the second half .of lrot8~~ was as follows: Belfast and Northern Conntle8, 'Gre~b Great Central, 139, 057l.; Great Eastern, 140, 685t:; . Northern, 162, 863l.; Great Northern of Ireland.! l3·0·5:b Great Southern and W ea tern of Ireland, ~,825130 589z . Western, 289, 485l. ; Lancashire and Yorkshll'e, . L~ndo~ London, Brighton, and South Coast, 104,07~' West­and North-Western, 311,091l. ; Londos an~ Sdutf3 3081 . ern, 144,548l.; London, Tilbury, a_nd o~t e.n ' 12· 055l:~ Metropolitan, 22,666l.; Metropohta.V~7 DtJ.Stnc? !~land Midland, 279, 009l. ; Midland Grea.t •v es ern ° hire' 16, 4G4l. ; North-Eastern, 192, 183l. ; North Stafford3 and 16,26ll.; South-Eastern and London, ~bitha~' M8l. ; Dover combined, 133, 694l.; and Taff a iarr~ nd· making an aggregate of 2, 1~8, 412l. .Jhe f 1898 ~as: ing cost in the correapondmg pert - 0 Great Cen­Belfast and Northern Counties, ll,Oo~.; b Northern tral, 87,401l.; Grea1l Eastern, 116, 029l.; rea" . Great 123, 462l.; Great Northern of Ireland ' 29, ~6l. 't west· Southern and Western of Ireland, 27 ;.31l. ~-- ~ . Lon· ern, 258, 937l.; Lancashire an

0d Y orks93 2~3i . tond~n and

don Brighton and South oast, ' ., h VI tern No;th-Wester~, 244,805l. ; London and Sout . t Me~ 145 044l. ; London, Tilbury, and So~th~nd, 10, 21~ ·.'Mid­tropolitan, 21,580l.; Metropolitan DtBtr}c{, ~2~f1:; 756l.; land, 220, 970l.; Midland GreNat W h~~ ff dr:hire \2' 914l.; North-Eastern, 165,222l.; ort a or d D~,.e; oom· S?uth-Ea.stern and London, Chath~W·85u .. making an bmed, 126, 446l.; and Taff .Vale, ' h t 'the inoreas3<l aggregate of 1,832,829l. lb wtll be seent t a last half-year outlav for coal upon the twenty sys ems W.lS SS5,583l.

FEB. 23, 1900.]

REMOVING MANHOLE COVERS UNDER STEAM PRE SURE.

IT is almost inooncei vable t hat a boiler attendant, wi th even the most rudimentary knowledge of his duties would attempt to remove a manhole cover from ~ boiler before making sure t hat all t he steam was down. One would naturally expect t hat the txistence of pressure would at once suggest itself to the mind , and that Eelf· protection would lead to t he exercise of ordinary care. It too often ha~pens, .how­ever, especially at busy seas~ms and at holiday tim.es, thll.t owing to un~ue haste m the matter. of clea.nmg boilers for inspect10n, &c., the attendant Incurs great risk by being ignorant of, or ignoring, the fact t hat Eome pressure still remains in t he boiler sufficient in amount to blow the cover away on the bolts being loosened, and perhaps fatally scald any one standing near. Between twenty and thirty cases of this nature have come to our knowledge, in which p •rsons were either killed or seriously injured , and it is desirable that informat ion and a warning should be again ghren to those in charge of ste!lm boilers.

As an illustration of the danger, and with a view to lead attendants to adopt what we may call common­sense precautions, we may refer t o a ca~e \Yhich re­cently occu~red at the Prince o! Wales' Hotel, outh­port in whiCh two men were killed.

There were t wo boilers in use a t the hotel, one being of the single-tube Cornish type, me3.suring about 16 ft. in length by 6 ft. in diameter. .On a Saturday, t he engineer, a man upwards of s1xty years of age, had planned to blo\v off the boiler for cleaning. I t was usual to allow about twelve hours to elapse after the boiler had been worked, and then to blow off the water and steam. On the day in question the boiler was last used about six o'clock in the m.orning, and at four o'clock in the afternoon t he engineer, assisted by a youth, evidently thi.nking t hat steam had been suffi­ciently blown off for his purpo~e, r roceeded to unscrew the bolts of the manhole cover and break the joint. The work had only partially proceeded when a violent explosion occurred, the cover being blown off and t he two men enveloped in a dense volume of escaping steam. The engineer, t erribly scalded, managed to dash through one of t he windows of t he boiler-house, while the lad assi~ting him, and who was also much scalded, had enough presEnce of mind to rush through the door and mc~.ke his escape. Both of t he poor fellows were found to have sustained dreadful injurieq, from which t hey died the following day.

At the inquest the wife of the deceased engineer said he had been engaged at t he Prince of Wales' Hotel for eight years, and for nine years previously wa.a engineer at another large hotel in the district. A sergeant of police in his evidence said he asked the deceased how the accident happened, and he replied that, " thinking all t he steam had gone he commenced to unscrew the cover of the manhole, and it blew off, and he was dashed through the window." The engi­near to the outhport Fire Brigade said that soon after the accident he examined the Loiler and the man­hole. The cover was off and was lying a t the side of the boiler. The bolts had all been removed. The boiler was hot, and th~ steam that wa.s then escaping from the boiler was just what could be expected under the circumstances. It was a very unsafe proceeding to attempt to take the cover off when the engineer did. The communication with the other boiler was quite shut off at the time. I t was not customg.ry, witness added, to have Bo~rd of Trade rules on the subject placei prominent ly in boiler-houses. Mr. Stevenson, an engineer of Birkdale, called by t he Coroner, said he had examined t he boiler since the accident. He came to the conclusion that the j unc­tion valve was closed. The blow-off tap was only open very slightly, and he thought that the engineer must have misjudged t he time after the water had dis­appeared below the ~auge-glaE s, and that he was under the impression that It had all got away, as a certain length of time was usually allowed for the boiler to become empty. The boiler generally was in good working order, and Lhe accident was simply due to all error of judgment on the part of the engineer in attempting to remove the cover before st eam was fully down.

The Coroner pointed out that the deceased engineer lost his life in consequence of his own mistake, and that it bad also brought about the death of his assistant. The jury returned a verdict of "Death from misadventure " in respect to both cases.

The recital of these simple facts may perhaps bring clearly before the minds of engineers and firemen the danger to be a,·oided. }~ven in first-class establish­ments, where competent men have been employed, accidents have occurred, and a le~son , therefore, may be learnt by all. The following hints on the subject were published many years ago by the late .Mr. Lavington E . Fletcher, and their rt'production at tho present time m&y not be out of place :

" '\'Vhen a boiler is to be laid off for cleani ng, not only should the safety valves be propped up so as to be held open, but i t should be seen that all escape of

E N G I NE ER I N G. steam through t hem has absolutely ceased before the nuts of the manhole cover are removed. The adhe­sion afforded by the red-lead joint may be a trap, a.nd lead to danger. Though t here may be no pressure apparently remaining in t he boiler, the adhesion of the jointiog material holds the lid down for a t ime, but, on being slightly disturbed, it allows the Jid to be sud· denly blown off, wh~n a violent rush of steam eneues, sufficient (as we have seen in t he caee now reported ) to inflict fata l consequenc'3e. It would be well aleo to open the glass water gauge taps or the indicator tap, and to note if any steam issues therofrom."

Under the head of "Warnings" in an admirable sheet of Instructions to Boiler Attendants, which M r. C. E . Stromeyer, chief engineer of t he Manchester

team Users' A~sociation, issued a short time since, the subject is concisely dealt wi th as follows:

''Manholes : Before opening t he manholes ease t he eafety valve so as to be quite sure that there is no pressure in the boiler. "

These suggestions form a useful guide. To them we may add, never be in too great a hurry to remove manhole covers. Speed is very undesirable if it in­volves r isking t he life. The old Greek adage "Hasten

lo~·ly," should be remembered, and the avoidance of t he danger line should be the aim of a boiler attendant.

THE J OHN OOCKERILL COMPANY. PROGRE s has just been reported by this impor tant

Belgian undertaking for another twelve months-that is, for the year ending June 30, 1899. The rough profit realised by the company in 1898-9 was 236,949l. ; and after providing for interest, depreciat ion of ma­chinery, allocat ions to pensions, and other funds, &c., the balance available for dividend was 83,600l. Out of this balance the council of administration recom­mends a dividend for the year of 4l. per 20l. sh~,re. This dividend will absorb 80,000l. , leaving 3600l. to be carried to the credit of 1899-1900. The company's mechanical construction shops were well employed in 1898-9, and t he profi t realised was t he largest re­corded in any year since 1874. The company's order books are also still well filled. Numerous orders are in hand for gas engines for blast -furnaces, a circum­atance which is taken to show t hat such engines are greatly appreciated in t he industrial world. The council of administration is introducing various improvements into the company's mechanical construction works in the shape of new tools and machines. The company's boiler works realised last year a larger profit than that secured in 1897-8. The number of boilers turned out last year was 140, and orders are in hand for 112 more.

The company's forges have work in hand for eight or ten months in advance, and the bridge-build­ing works are also secured employment until t he spring. The company's shipbuilding works turned out several steamers and other vessels in t he course of last year, and satisfactory profits were obtained. Some powerful American dredgers were built by the company for the R ussian Government; from a finan­cial point of view, the contract left something to be desired, but it was calculated to increase the company's general reputation, the dredgers being much admired, and having worked extremely well. The working of the company's steamers last year was somewhat affected by tpe high rates current for coal; notwithsts.nding this, however, and not­withstanding also a considerable outlay for repairs, the general results obtained for 1898·9 were better than those worked out in the previous year. The steamship service between Ostend and Tilbury is still carried on at some loss ; but at the same time the deficit on working last year was much less than that of 1897-8, and t he Council of Administration hopes that t he receipts will soon exceed the working charges. ·

The company's collieries were affdcted by the strike of April and M~y, 1899, which reduced the production for the year to the extent of about 18,000 ton&, al­though it still left the output 13,000 tons in excess of that of 1897-8. It is estimated that the loss occa­sioned to the company by the strike was 2200l., while the workpeople concerned suffered to the extent of 3240l. The company's calcining works suffered from the same adverse influence, the production of last year being reduced to the extent of 11,000 tons, while the cost of production was considetably increased. The working of t he company's mineral deposits in the Luxembourg was attended with satisfactory r esults in 189'3-9. The exp.eotations respecting the introduc­t ion of the compressed air process for sinking galleries in the Ottange working were fully rea lised. The production of pig in the company's blast-furnaces last year was reduced to the extent of 30,000 tons, by t he stopping of two furnaces for repairs ; notwith­standing this, however, the profit realised was higher in 1898·9 than in 1897-8, a considerable improvement having been established in the prices realised for the pig made. An engine of 200 horse· power on the Dela­mare·Debouttevillt' system, worked by the unexhausted

gases of blast-furnaces, has now been i~ uninterrup~ed operation for more than a year. A sttl~ la rger en~me of t he same tyRe is about to be brought m to operatiOn. The company s ironworks a re n?w con~ned t? some puddling furnaces ; but, notwithstandmg this, the results obtained last year were good, in consequence of the decided improvement in .selling prices . . The profits were also increased by Improvements IDtro­duced into tools, machines, and boilers; on the other hand, some labour difficult ies were expe­rienced during the past twelve months. The com­pany made 116,300 tons of steel last year; in this total rails figured for 63,420 tons, of which 40,800 tons were sent abroad; the prices obtained were somewhat affected by American competit ion, but not­withstanding t his, t he profits realised in 1898·9 were larger than t hose obtained in 1897-8. The orders now in hand insure employment for the compg.oy'd steel works until May, 1900. The company 's foun­dries were worked last year to t heir u tmost produc­t ive capacity, and the financial r esults secured wero encouraging. The company's wheel works were regu­larly employed last year, but t he profits realised were 10 per cent. below those of 1897·8. This is explained by t he fact t hat t he works were principally employed upon wheels for trucks, which do not yield such re­munerative results as those attending locomotive wheels. The orders in hand are still ample. The con tracts pending in the various departments of t he company's operations at the commencement of October t his year represented a value of 740,000l., as com­pared with a corresponding value of 648,000l. a year previously. The number of workpeople employed by the company at the close of June, 1899, was 9897, as compared wit h 9721 at t he close of June, 1898. The wages paid by the company in 1898 9 amounted to 472, 732l., as compared with 447,448l. in 1897·8. The company also expended 36, 786l. in 1898·9 for pensions, as well as for benevolent, medical, and educational purposes. The balance to the credit of t he savings bank fo~med by the company for its employes and work people stood at the close of June, 1~99, at 219,083l., as compared with 232,763l. at the close of June, 1898.

"LAXTON's PRIOE-BOOK."-This valuable publication continues to increase in size, and the present issue­which, it appears, is the eighty~third edit10n, contains no less than 736 pages of closely printed matter, exclusive of the advertisement sheets. Every branch of the building trades is dealt with at length, the body of each section being prefaced by useful general notes and memoranda. The electric lighting section has received special ca.re and attention, and includes some of the insurance office and county council regulations. The legal department, which, in view of the constant adoption of new bye-laws, has become of extreme importance to the architect, is ade­quately dealb with, and the more obscure points in the building laws are illustrated by condensed report3 of magisterial and judicial proceedings.

OuR RAILS ABROAD.-The exports of rails from the United Kingdom in January amounted to 40,851 tons, as compared with 32,870 tons in January, 1899, and 63,124 tons in January, 1898. South Africa took 9213 tons of rails from the Mother Countr1 in January, as compared with 60.5 tons and 8213 tons; British India 8028 ton&, as compared with 20,409 tons and 25,152 tons; and Austra­lasia 5058 tons, as compared with 4187 tons and 4371 tons. The exports of rails to Egypt in January were 8227 ton~, as compared with 7799 tons and 10,881 in the correspond­ing months of 1899 and 1898. The Argentine Republic took 3659 tons of British rails in January, as comP.ared with 68 tons and 11,043 tons. The value of the ra.tls ex­ported from the U nited Kingdom in J anuary was 241,4931 , as compared with 166,615t. in January, 1899, and 290,918[. in January, 1898.

--T HE WESTERN UNION TELEGRAPHlO CODE AND INTER­

NATIONAL CABLE DrRECTOUY.-This universal edition of this famous com~any's code. book, issued by the Inter· national Cable Directory Company, 30, Broad-street, New York, recalls alike in its size and admirable arrange­ment our immense London Directory. We have, first, a business directory, with the cable addresses of thou­sands of firms in the United States and international houses in various other countries in the world, and then a classification of the same firms under their trades and professions. The Western U nion Telegraphic Code occupies over 800 pages, and includes 157,418 words, each representing a long phrase, a company, or a firm, and im­portance must be atta-ched to the admirable arrangement not only for composing, but for deciphering, a code ca.ble. There is an index of the principal word of a phrase, con­taining some 4000 words, so that it is ea-sy to find the phrase from the dominant word of the idea ; while quan­tities, business terms, options, numerals, &c., are all arranged in the same way. Moreover, words are lefb under each head for special " house" terms. Decipher­ing is still easier; the 157,418 words are arranged alpha­betically. An indication of the up-to-da.teness is su~­gested by the fact that there are 30 phrases on "liqu1d air " codified. The price is 2l.1 with reductions for lots of from 10 upwards. Subscnbera of 3l. and upwards can be included and codified. It is used by some 13,000 subscribers, including the United States and Canadian Government Departments.

-

268

SUBMARINE TELEGRAPH ENTERPRISE. Tn~ Eastern Telegraph Company had an excellent

half-year's business during the six months ending September 30, 1899. The revenue of the half-year amounted to 474,950l. ; and after deducting working expenses, and the outlay incurred for the repair and renewal of cables, and after providing for depreciation of spare cable and income tax, 306,890l. remained, in­creased to 310,426l. by the balance brought forward from the previous half-year. Out of this balance, the directors provided for the fixed charges of the company, and for two quarterly dividends at the rate of 5 per cent. per annum. They further carried 10,000l. to the reserve fund for the maintenance of ships, 5000l. to the reserve fund formed in connection with the re­moval of the company's head offices, 2000l. to the insurance of goods in transit fund, and 100,000l. to the general reserve fund , leaving 33,660l. to be carried to the credit of the next half-year. The various reeerve funds formed by the company amounted at the close of 'eptember, 1899, to 1,326,492l., of which 1,237,640l. had been invested. With the view of providing addi­tional security for submarine telegraph communication between the United Kingdom and South Africa, land­ing rights at Cape Town have been obtained from the Cape Government for a third cable. The first section of this cable, from Cape Town to St. Helens., was com­pleted in September, and a further section was laid to the I sland of Ascension in December. The continuing cable from Ascension to St. Vincent is now being manufactured, and will be laid in Februn.ry. It is also in contemplation to lay new cables between South Africa and Australia; and a proposal has been sub­mitted by the Eastern Extension, Australasia, and China Telegraph Company, in conjunction ~ith the Eastern Telegraph Company, to carry out this im­portant work. The tariff is proposed to be r educed at once between Great Britain and Australia to 4s. per word, further reductions to 2s. 6d. per word to follow upon a sliding scale, according to the growiJh of revenue. This p1'ima facie liberal offer is conditional upon the Eastern Extension, Australasia, and China Company being granted the same rights in dealing direct with the public in Australia as is enjoyed in other countries. The contributions from the staff and the Eastern Telegraph Company to the pension fund are proposed to be increased from 2! to 4 per cent. respectively, as it is deemed advisable that the retiring age should be 55 years, instead of 60 years as originally contemplated. The company adheres to its prudent policy of restricting its dividends to 7 per cent. per annum, and applying all its surplus profits to sundry reserve funds. This enables new works to be under­taken from time to time without any addition to the capital account. In the six months ending September 30, 1899, the general reserve fund was increa~ed from 913,543l. to 924, 928l. This result was attained after charging the fund with 100,000l. for the cost of new cables. This, of course, could not ha Ye been done had not an allocation of 100,000l. been made to the fund from revenue, while 11,941l. was received for interest on sundry investments. With regard to the charge of 33,097l. involved by the repair and renewal of cables for the past half-year, it may Le interesting to note that the company had four repairing ships at work, viz., the Chiltern, the E lectra, the Mirror, and the Amber. The expenses of these ships for the six months ending Septem her 30, 1899, amounted to 34, 688l. , to which should be added 464l. for insurance of cable, and 20,303l. for additional cable used, and sundry stores and expenses at stations, making an aggregate of 55,454l., reduced to 33,097t . by the amount charged to the Spanish Government for repairs to cables, and to other companies for call of ships for cable-repairing purposes, and also for the hire of ships. The expenses of the Chiltern were 8864l. ; those of the E lectra , 7430l. ; those of the Mirror, 7673l. ; and those of the Amber, 10, 721l. The Chiltern was engaged in repair­ing the Suakim and P eriro No. 1 cable four times ; the Suakim and Perim No. 2 cable, and the Suez and ~ uakim No. 2 cable, twice; t he Suez and Suakim No. 1 cable, four times ; and the Suez and Aden N o. 3 cable, the Perim and Aden No. 2 cable, and the P erim and Sheik Seyd cables. The Electra was engaged in repairing the Vigo and Caminha cable, and the Lisbon and Gibraltar No. 1 cable twice, and the Gibraltar and Malta No. 1 cable, the Vigo and Lisbon, and the Lisbon and Gibraltar No. 2 cables. The Electra was further engaged in repairing theEmden and Vigo cable for the German Ocean Telegraph Company. the Havre and W at.erville cable for the Commercial Cable Company, and the Tarifa an.d Tangier cable f?r the panish Government. The M1rror was engaged m repairing the Lisbon and Gibraltar No. 1 c~ble, and the Gibraltar and Malta No. 1 cable. The ~11rror was further engaged in repairing the Madeira and St. Vin­cent No. 2 cable for the Brazilian Submarine Telegraph Company; the H avre and Waterville and the Western W aterville cables for the Commercial Cable Company ; and the Sennen and Canso No. l cable for t he Weste-rn Union Telegraph Company. The Amber was engaged in connecting Swakopmund '"·ith the ~IosEamedes and

E N G I N E E R I N G. Cape Town cable, and repairing the same cable twice for the Eastern and South African Telegraph Com­pany. The Amber was further engaged in repairing the St. Thome and Loanda cable twice, the St. Thome and Kotonou, the Accra and Grand Bassam, and the St. Thome and Gaboon cables, the Bolama T­piece, and the St. Thome and Principe cable for the West African Telegraph Company. The Amber also repaired the Bonny and Cameroons cable for the African Direct Telegraph Company.

The Direct United States Cable Company pursues the even t enor of its way. The concern has not been a very prosperous one, but its position appears to be gradually improving. The share capital raised by the company amounts to 1,214,200l., and the whol e of this amount has been expended in cables, &c. The company has no preference shares or debentures, a debenture loan of 73,368t. having been repaid in December, 1884, out of the reserve fund. The reserve fund has also provided 23, 639l. towards the cost of removing cables and station from Torbay to Halifax, and diverting cable from Brown's Bank. A further sum of 183, 936l. has been provided from the reserve fund for the repai r and renewal of cables from July, 1877, to December 31, 1899. Finally, an expenditUie of ll ,222l. for land and buildings for s tations has been charged off against tbe reserve fund. I n the half-year ending December 31, 1899, the reserve fund was debited with 1990l. for the repair of cables. On the ether hand, 15,000l. was added to th e reser ve fund in the second half of last year by a spee:ial allo­cation from revenue. This allocation, and the amount reet-ived ou reserve fund investmentll, carried the fund from 382,366l. at the close of June, 1899, to 401,694l. at the close of December, 1899. The com­pany only paid in the last half-year 3 per ceot. upon its share capital, but if t he special allocation of 15,000l. had not been made to the reserve fund, the dividend could have been carried to nearly 6 per cent. The future of the company appears to depend very much upon the question to what amount the r. serve fund should be carried. The capital expended by t he company is 1,214,200l., and therfservefund at present stands a t 401,694l., or nearly one-third. Of course, the reserve fund is something also in t he nature of a cable renewal fund. It is obvious that the reserve fund should in the ordinary course grow more rapidly as the in\estments made for it are increased, as the revElnue from these investments will expand from year to year. This revenue is now between 12,000l. and 13,000l. per annum.

COAL AND COKE IN RUSSIA. AccoRDING to comparatiYely recent statistics, the

aggregate number of coke ovens of the owners of coal mines and metallurgical establishments in the Donez district amounted to 2758. The Iusowka factory of the New Russian Company heads the list with 400 ovens. Then comes the mining company of Alex­jejewsk with 370 ovens, then the South Russian Coal Company with 316. There is here a gap in the capacity, numbers 4 and 5 being Almasnaja Coal Company and the Russo-Belgian Wolynzewo Com­pany, with 180 ovens each; the Russian Donez Com­pany has 156, the Uspensk Company has 120, and the Alexandrow Works, the Brjanski Company, W. R. Muxinow, and the Iekaterninow Mining Company each have about 100 ovens, the rest having below 100 each. Taking the average daily capacity of one of these ovens at 120 pood, the total daily output of the coke ovens of the Donez district would amount to 331,000 pood, making the annual production 119,500,000 pood.

The coal production of the Donez ba.&in plays a most important part in the present development of t he Russian iron industry, inasmuch as it represents the only supply of metallurgical Russian coke. The layers are certainly somewhat shallow, but the deposits embrace an immense area. The propor­t ion of anthracite and semi-anthracite coal is, how­ever, large, so the quantity of coal suitable for coking becomes comparatively small. To a depth of 100 sash., the aggregate quantity of coking coal may be estimated at 60 mil1iards of pood ; whilst the cor­responding figure for the anthracite deposits amounts to 350 milliards of pood. These figures do not, how­ever, represent the total of the aggregates of deposits to the depth mentioned above; but only the quantity likely to be contained in t he coal mines which are being worked at present. In spite of this natural wealth, the Donez district cannot be said, by any means, to be worked to any adequate extent; and it is looked upon as an important problem for Russian engineers to solve, substituting anthracite for coke as far as poEsible. The coking itself is not done in a rational up-to-date manner, more especially, perhaps, as far as the utilieation of the auxiliary products go.

At the River Miass, north-east of the town of Tscheljabinsk, deposits of coal of h igh quality have been discovered. These coals are very well adapted for metallurgical purposes, being very clean, only

[FEB. 2 3, I 900.

h.aving 4 per cen.t. ashes. The deposits are only Situated a short distance from the important Tschel­jabinsk rail way station, and as they are the only deposits, so far, in the whole of South Ural their . ' Importance cannot very well bo overestimated. The deposits are located on som.e Cossac~ property, but have been rented by the parties who discovered them.

The Ssuds~henk\ coal deposits, whic~ belong to the Crown, are situated between the statwns Taiga. and Ssudschenki, on the Central • iberian Railway. These rich deposits were previously unknown, and were only discovered by the building of the rail way. There are at present som~ 200 men engaged in working them; they are supphed t o the railway at 142 kopek per pood, and the output is some 2.300 pood per day. Several new pits are about to be worked, and stea.n power is to be applied, whereby the daily production is expected to reach 25,000 pood. The mines will be directly connected with the railway. The quality of the coal is stated to be excellent.

The researches for coal in the Trans-Baikal district have, eo far, given no very satisfactory results. 1 everal deposits have certainly been discovered ; but either the extent of them, or their location, or the quality of the coal, has been such that the deposits could not be worked with advantage, alt hough for the railway alone it would be a tremendous boon to have local supplies of fuel. Some hopes are enterbained that the deposits close to Tscbindansk may prove more satis­factory and remunerative ; but they have not yet betn sufficiently examined .

It is admitted by Russian experts that the manter in which t he coal deposits in Russia often are worked, leaves much to be desired in more ways than one. Labour is often difficult to obtain in sufficient cumber, and the mechanical arrangements are mora often than not inadequate. Voices are being raised that the up-to-da te American system should be studied, and, where it may be possible, adopted.

I NDIANA NATURAL GAs.-The State Geologist of In­diana., who has recently made a. thorough investijl~tion of the condition of the natural gas belt of that State, re1tere.tes his belief that the supply of gas in Indiana can last but e. short time, and that the end of its usefulness for manu­facturing purposes is practically in. eight. T~e pres~ure he finds to be gradna.lly and stea.d1ly decreasmg. Smce the field was opened 13 years since, 5400 wells h~ve been sunk. Of these, 2800 have been exhausted, l~vwg.o~ly 2600 wells now producing, while the number lS declinmg month by month.

NoRWEGIAN MARINE.-The merchant fleet of B~rg~n, Norway, engaged in foreign trade ~as, at the begwmng of the present year, 151 veS;Sels, Wit~ an aggregate t<?n­nage of 338,750 tons dea.dwe1ght, agamst 149 vesse~ Wlth an a~gregate of 320 000 tons, twelve months prev10usl!· Dunng the year t2 new and new-built vessels (27,~ tons) were added to the fleet, 9300 tons old v~sels haVIng been parted with. No old cargo stea.m~rs have been bought during the year. In course of building for Bergen owners are 13 vesdels with an aggregate of 19,~ tons. All the Bergen vese'els in foreign tr~J;de are, w1th an insignificant exception, steamers; and 1t may be wort~y of note that Bergen's steamer fleet in 1890, engaged m foreign trade, had an aggregate of only 120,000 toes.

WILLING's P RE s GurDE.-Mess~. J ames "Yilling and Co., Limited, advertising contractors an~ pubhshers, 125, Strand, London, W.C. , publish at the pfi:ceof.1a. a. bandy sized directory, which gives an alphabetic&~ bat o! all the newspapers and periodicals issued m th~ U mt~ Kmgdo~h then a list for each county, and agam a ha~ for ea he town, while they are further arranged a.ccordw~ to t b interest, profession, or trnde they represent. It 18 ~lmW impossible to find an interest not represented; an~ 1td. surprise many to know that there are ~pers Jlx:it~ ·~~ Hebrew and Hindustani ; that there lS a. us~ paper · that only two papers are included under the he -mg "Literary Compositions of the Insa~e," and onlyrti~ under ' ' Prophetic ! " There are also lists of pape the colonies and foreign countries. There are r;:r papers on the Continent printed in English.

GoLD -The value of the goW imported into the ¥ni~~ KIDgdo~ in J anua.ry was 5,2G4,892l., a.s eo~ pare Wl

2,430,637l. in January, 1899, and 3,061,,1~2l . m Janofrl~ 1898 Gold was only imported from BntJ.Sh South f ' tb in ianuary to the extent of 16,S70l., as d-mpare ths of 1,843,358l. and 2,027, 729Z. in the corr~pon mg m~wever 1899 and 1898 respectively. This fallmg ffi wa~h United more than offset by the receipt of gold~ rom e

88 cam­

States in J anua.ry to the extent o~ 2,5t2,~1fd was also pared with 2357t. and 1567l_. respectively. th 0 xtent of 1mported from Germany .m January to e e res c· 1,227,264l. , as compared ~th 25,054l. and 25,903t.old-rro. tively. As regards the Imports of .gold from lded the.b ducing countries properly so called, 1t m~y ~e a ry wa.s the gold received from British India.. h 13f~63l and valued at 181,583l., as .compa.:ed wit 'ust~lasie. 139, 760l. respecti ve1y ; while the 1mpodts ~~~2~ 484z. and were valued at 553,423l., as compare ;d f the Unittd 332,631l. respectively. Gold was export ro05l as coro· Kingdom in ,January t? the extent of 1, 387d 03 488 609l. in pared with 1,891,026l. m January, 1899,tnt ' nth -were January 1898. The largest ex£?,rta as mo ed with made to' British India, viz., 718,300l., as compar 60,345l. and 350, OOOZ.

FEB. 2 3, I 900.]

THE TEAM ENGINE AT THE END OF TifE NINETEENTH CENTURY.*

By DR. RommT H. THURSTON, Cornell University. THE wastes of our best engines may be to-day taken

as usually not far from 20 per cent. thermal and 10 per cent. dynamic. At the beginning of the century they were, in Watt's best engines, about 60 per cent. thermal and 15 to 20 per cent. dynamic, as shown on the diagram, Fig. 1. The progress of the century is seen to have been mainly in the reduction of the internal thermal wasoos. The progress of to-day is mainly in improvement of the thermodynamic efficiency by increasing range of tempera­tures worked through, and by improving the cycle in the direction of approximation more clearly to Carnot's ideal. Its outcome ab the end of the century is seen to be indicated by the duty curve, as probably a duty of about

100

90

80 \

\ \

\ \.

\.

' !/'i-~6 ~

....... ~~ ...!: ~ .f t.. .;

.......

V ...... .... 20

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

10

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

at the right, the correspond~ng waste on the left-hand The best wo1k of American sream pumping engines sc~l~. On .the. assumed bas1s, the perfect engine with includes that of those in operation at Milwaukee, Wis., at e~Otent ~mty, t.c., back-pressure zero- were such an en- Chestnut Hill, Mass. ; at Detroit, Mich. ; at Buffalo, gme p~ssthle, wou~d give ~duty of about 1,200,000, 000. N.Y.; and at Indianapolis, Ind., all triple-expansion, ~ssummg a practtoal max1mum of thermodynamic effi- and the Pittsburg quadruple-expansion engme here added Olency of 30 per cent. , the maximum attainable duty of to the list. The performance of the other engines, tabu­the otherwise perfect engine would be 360 000 000 above lated by Mr. George H. Barrus, and re~orted to the doubl~ the highest yet reached. ' ' ' New England Water Works Association, December 1-!,

';J.'akmg t~e pound of .f~el as representing in ordinary 1898, may be read from the following statement. Tbe bOiler P!acttce 10,000 Brittsh thermal units delivered at duty attained by these machines ranges from 130,000,000 the_engme, the sta~dard here assumed and taken as the to ~50,000,0~0 of foo~-pounds per million British thermal basis of constructiOn of the diagram corresponds to umts supphed, while the expendi ture of dry steam the now common basis of duty measurement the work per indicared horse-power per hour ranges from 11.22 per~ormed per million B~itis~ thermal units su'pplied the to 12.52; the steam pressures at t he engine varying engme, that sta;ndard wh10h IS accepted as the basis of the from 121 lb. to 176 lb. All are large engines and duty computattons to be here prestsntly given develop ~rom 574 to 1185 indicated horse-power.' All Th~ "'Yorld's Records" to 1895, as collated. by U nwin have rat10s .of total expansi~n closely approaching 20,

are given m the Table, with additions to date, 1899, by n~ne exceedmg 24. All, With one exception, have a piston speed nob far from 200 ft. per minute· the ex­?eption ~ttaining the remarkable figure- for' a pump­mg engme-of 600 fb. In three cases the friction is the usual minimum of about 10 per cent. while in two oases. it is reduced to the remarkable ~alues 5.1 ~nd 4.6, 1f no. error has arisen. The cylinder a.nd Jacket an? rece1 ver condensation amounts to from 22.5 per. cent. m the first, to 26.6 per cent. in the fourth, of wh10b from aboub one-half to two-thirds is found in the jackets and receivers, the smaller value being the more usual.

/ /

/ ' /

/ /

/ ,

,4e / 97

./ V

~ ~ ~

l es,. -.Engine~

200

180

100

140

120

100 ~ ::s

so A

GO

40

20

T ctble showing M imimumt SteQ/In ConsWinpticn in 18!>9.

--

Simple Engine . Sulzer . . . . 28~ Corliss . . . . 137

87 372 18.4 20,250 88,000,000 62 • • 17.5 19,2/iO 92,630,000

Compound.

50 1760 1770 A.D.l7 1780 1790 1800 1810 1820 1880 1840 1850 1860 1870 1880 1&90 1900 Dujardin . . 548 Sulzer . . . . 247

90 85

670 13.46 14,800 120,400,000 493 13.35 14,700 121,100,000 Pi9. 1. -PROGRESS IN STEAM E NGINE EFFIOIENOY . .... ... • ·'~-·f • .

' t .J •' • -.. .... Y '~ ·, ~ ..... • : ~ " 0 .... , -. ' -

a 7 8 9 10 11 ~ 13 14 15 16 17 w 19 20

($2~1.F)

THOUSANDS B. T. U. P~R I. H. P. PER HOUR.

~. 2 . P .ERFORMANCE OF BEST TYPES OF ENGINE.

1. Simple: 2. Simple ; 8. Compound, 3 to 1; 4. Compound, 8 to 1 ; ts. Compound, 7 to 1 ; 6. Com­pound, 7 to 1 : 7. Triple ; 8. Triple; 9. Compound : 10. Compound, '1 to 1; 11. Triple i 12. Triple; 13. Compound i 14, 1:), 16. Quadruple i 17. Quadruple.

160,000,000 foot-pounds per pound of pure carbon burned in the furnace of the best contemporary form of steam boiler; ib eflioienoy being about 80 per cenb. This diagram was constructed some years ago, and is therefore in the nature of a prophecy.

It will be particularly interesting to ouserve, as time goes on, when and where the curve changes its curvature and assumes the ultimately inevitable concavity, indi­cating approach to the practical limit of gain by approxi­mation to the ideal.

The record of actual performance to date, as accu­rately as it has been practicable to secure it, is the follow­ing, and the accuracy of the d iagrams may be taken as 'vithin the usuallim1ts of errors of observation and com· putation. It is reproduced above from an earlier paper for convenience of reference, a.nd also as showing the fact tba~ the progress anticipated in its original construction, some years before its first publication, has been curiously and very accurately following the prophetic line of the last diagram. The points of observation on the curve are the highest, probably, accurate duties noticed, decade by decade, from the time of Newcomen and \Vatt up to and inclusive of 1890. The reported duties are reduced to a conventional standard-in millions of foot -pounds per 100 lb. of good coal-as nearly as practicable, and inscribed

* Abstract of paper read before the American Society of :r.Iechanioa.l Engineers, New York meeting.

the writer, marked with double asterisks, and with the addition of columns showing the corresponding "duties," and the quantities of heat as nearly as can be ascertained for these duties, in British thermal units {>er indicated horse-power per hour. 'rhis reduction 1s necessary where s team pressures and particularly temperatures of feed water are widely variable, and where, as in the oase of t he Sobmidt engine, the steam is superheated, and thus charged with considerable more beat per pound than in the case of saturated or nearly saturated steam. The true comparison lies between the quantities of beat from the furnaces, rather than quantit1es of steam from boilers; although, in ordinary practice, the differences obse1·vea in the t wo systems of measurement are usually unim­portant; the quantity of steam, per horse-power and per hour, for efficiency unity, being almost invariably about 2.3lb. for the condensing and 2.5 lb. for the non-condens-• • mg engme.

The best graphical method of exhibiting the "promise and potency " of improved methods of use of steam of in­creasin~ pressure is, perhaps, that of graphical represen­tation m a manner already illustrated by the writer in other papers. Making the co-ordinates of our curves of efficiency the steam pressures, and the costs of power in British thermal units per horse-power per hour, we may construct the annexed diagram of curves of efficiency (Fig. 2) of this cbara{)ter, and upon it may insqribe the records, to date~ of our most famous engines1

•

Wheelook . . 590 Molntosh and

Seymour 11 •• 1076 I..eavitt . . . . 643

Triple &~pan-• ston.

Suizer .. Reynolds Leavittu Snow** ..

Quadruple.

. . 615

. . b74

. . 576

. . 773

160

125 135

141 120 185 166

Hall and Treat M 16 { ~~} Nordherg** . 712 200

~12

800 871

516 203 240 215

12.84

12.76 12.16

11.85 11.68 1L22 11.26

r 10.80 220 9.65

'- 9. 75 2501 12.26

14,100 126,400,000

13,000 137,000,000 13,400 133,000,(.00

113,000 137 ,ooo,oro 13,056 140,817,000 12,242 141,855,000

. . 150,100,000

13,500

11,158

132,000,000

162,948,824

The differences in steam pressure and in method of employing heatera and other heat-saving accessories in such oases are such as to ma.ke comparison, as will be shown more clearly later, a somewhat uncertain matter ; but the reduction of all statements of duty to a basis of 1,000,006 thermal units as the unit of expenditure of beat ab the point of supply eliminates all suoh differences except that of steam pressures, and it is then en.sy, a.s also shown hereafter, to secure a true comparison where seek­ing to compare values of en~ine type. The general de­scription of the engine givmg the highest duty is as follows:

The Norberg engine is a four-cylinder, quadruple­expansion machine, built uy the Nordberg Manufacturing Compa.ny, the designs of Mr. B. V. Nordberg, and set up at a station of the Pennsylvania Water Company, near Pittsburg, Pa., to operate under 200 lb. sream pres­sure, and under a head of about 600 fb. between well and reservoir ; delivering its water through a rising main of about one mile in length and of 30-in. pipe, taking it from the Allegheny River through a pipe 600ft. long and 24 in. in diameter. The water pressure ab the pumps is thus about 275 lb., normally.

The ~lcacity of this engine is six million (6,000,000) U . S. g ons per twenty-four hours against a bead of 620 ft. The engine is designed to pump water from the Allegheny River, in which the variation of the water level is very great, nearly 40 ft. between the highest floodmark and extreme low water.

At the Wildwood pumping station there was a well, 38ft. in diameter, which was to be utilised for the new engine, and for two more engines of the same type. It was thus necessary to design an engine to go into mini­mum space.

Details were given at length and illustrated by draw­ings and half tones, and tlie results were oarefu11y set forth in tables and dia~rams, but the summation is all that can be given ab th1s time.

The duty reported was : F oot-Pounds.

Per 1,000,000 British thermal units 162,948,824 , 1000 lb. dry steam ... ... 150,254,138

The power developed was 712 indicated horse-power the capacity, 6,325,052 gallons per 24 hours against a bead of 602.7 ft. The weight of dry steam per indicated horse-power per hour was 12.26 lb., which ~omparati vely high figure is accounted for by the transfer of steam from the relieaters to the feed system, and by the small amount of heat absorbed per pound, where the f~d-watel' i~ heated, as here, to 311 deg Fabr,

•

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

'l;he hea~ f~pended amounted to 185.9~ British thermal' ~he faces of the joint planes are in actual contact. There ,,mts pEr _mdica.ted horse-power per mmutP, 11,158 p_er IS n o. appearance of ~ vein. here. T~e deposit ma.y be hour, wh1ch. figures and those for duty on the heat u01t., descrtbed as an occas10nal 1mpregnat10n of rock joints the ~rue basts, are about 10 per cent. better than the with tin ore. prevtous best record. _They establish a. new world's On one of the red joints the markings sketched in re~ord ~or the stea!D e-ngme. . Fig. 1 are d istinctly visible in one place, which appeara

A tr1al made w1thout heater shows well the mfluence to supply evidence of local crumpling in the country of sf:ea.m pressure without special gain by feed-water rock. hea.tmg. It gave a duty: A few hundred yards away a small pi t (cata) bad been

. . . Foot-Pounds. op~ned on a. sea.m of reniform tin ore, from 1 m. to 2 in. Per 1.000,000 Br1t1sh thermal umts 147,525,000 thick, and coursing in a general east to west direction. . , 1000 lb. dry steam ... ... 159,824,700 Clearly defined joints seen here run north-east to south-

and the weight of the dry steam l>er indicated hCJr3e· west and dip north-west. power per ho';lr was 11.4 lb., showmg clearly that the El Ccr,labrote.-T hese ~orkings (Fig. 2) were 5~ fb .. in system. of heatmg the feed water is to be credited with the depth by about 63 ft .. m length, the ~eneral duect10n exceptional economy of the machine and its unexampled ~mg E. and W. , va~YIJ?g locally from E. 2~ deg. N. to duty, raising the world's record from about 150,000,000 to E . 33 deg. _S., and ~1ppmg S. 65 deg. to 75 deg. They a?<>ut ~63,000,000. The gain is not thus accounted for by were very ur~gular m character. E-Implemcrease of steam pressure; which gain would have The deposit appears. to have the. nature rather of a ~en ~xpected to be about one-third as great as that observed stuck work than of a smgle true vem. Several parallel m th1s ~e, other thinga equal ; nor is it to be attributed to the adoption of the quadruple expansion, rather than a ~riple-expane,ion, cycle .. It comes principally from the Fig· 1

· Improved thermodynamic cycle.

P rofessor Thurston concluded as follows: Summarising, we may state that the limit of progress

attain£d to date is variously measured by these figures :

.Approximate Data, in B est P ractice. Duty on basis of 1,000,000 British

thermal units, foot-pounds ... 163,000,000 E conomy measured in llri tish ther -

mal units per hour per horse-power 11 , 1GO Economy measured m British ther-m~l units per horse-power per m mute . . . . . . . . . . . . 186

Economy, pounds, steam at 1000 British thermal units per hour . .. 11.16

E conomy in best fuel, 15,000 per lb. ; boiler a t 80 per cent. efficiency, pounds per hour . . . . . . . . . 1

Economy measured by a in H = a, log P1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 433

Efficiency meas ured against perfect engine of Carnot, per cent. . . . 84

Reviewing the history of the growth of this form of steam enginE>, it will be seen that its progress has illus· trat( d that of the machine in all its forms, and that the steam pumping engine gives the engineer a record of greater extent and of more representative character, as exemplifying the evolution of the machine, than does any other type.

TIN ORE I N MEXICO. T he Occurrence of T in Ore at Sain A lto, Zacatecas

with R eference to S 1'rnilar D eposits m Scm L uis Potosi and Durwngo, M exico.* By EowABD HALSE, Puerto Berrio, Columbia, S.A. T~ tin deposits of Durango, M exico, have been ably

described by Mr. W. R . Ingalls in a. paper published in our Traneactions in 1895. t While the occurrences of tin ore in other parts of the ~public are similar in many respects to those in Dura.ngo, there are noteworthy local differences \vhich, it is hoped, may lend interest to the preEent J?aper.

The deposits examined by me in Ma.y, 1895, are found in the Serrania de Chacuaco, Municipality of Sain Alto District of Sombrerete. The workings are situated in ~ range of mountains having a general north-west to south­west trend between Sombrerete and Fresnillo ; the most n ortherly claim (La D esparamada) being about six leagues south-east of the former town. E l Refugio lies about four leagues to the south-west, and El Calabrote eight leagues to the west of Fresnillo. T he claims are from about 8425 ft. to 8715 ft. above sea. level, and from 1500 ft. to 1800 ft. above ain Alto, the position of which town is marked in the map printed in Mr. I ngalPs paper.

In order to reach the claims, one uses the carriage road rom Sain Alto t o the small tin colony of Las Uuevas;

from the latter place to the mines there is only a rough mule track.

The mountain range consists of a rugged, weathered, ~anite rock, remarkable for large grains of quartz, and IS flanked by masses of rbyolite and rhyolite tuff of upper Tertiary age. The whole formation is broken up by narrow a.nd steep winding arroyos and deep barrancas, mainly the result of denudation, and it app~..ars to be a south-easterly extension of the tin-bearing belt of rocks n orth of Durango City. H ere and there l>atches of schist occur; but eruptive rocks largely predommate.

The granite IS divided up by a series of nearly vertical joint planes parallel to the main range (N.W. to S.E.), and is crossed at right angles by a. series of still more clearly defined joints, while the rock is bedded or jointed horizontally as well-the result being that at tbQ surface it is often weathered into curious prismatic columns, which give a peculiar topography to the district.

El Refugio.- Tbese workings, situated in the depression of a. bill having a general north t o south direction, were a little over 30 ft. in depth, and bad followed the main joints of the country (hard rbyolitf:\), s triking N. 20 deg. ,V, to S. 20 deg. E. and dipping W. 85 de~. These are crossed, a-lmost a.t r ight angles, by another series of joints. The main joints are stained red, and are filled hE>re and there with reniform cassiterite from a knife­blade up to 1 in. or 2 in. in thickness. In many places

* Paper read before the American Institute of Mining Engineers.

t T ransactions, ·xv., 146 ; see also xxvii. , 428.

MARKINCS 011 .JIIfiiT PLAIIE AT EL R£FVG10 YJ .Naizzrall Sv.z&

Fig .2.

0 I ' --- \ '.. ' \ '

' ' I ' . ' I ' I ~

A \ 0 11

8 ___ ,-_.., , __ .,,

PROFILE OF WORHIN.S AT EL CALABROU Scalk 7Jlf/- 30 F.-

• • ~ : ··.;--~ .... ,_, .·' ::t-~. : ·~- .. ·:.-:•,

I ... : . .., ·.-· ;.·.·.· .. ,. ~~

~ ,. •.J r.r ...

1 T ... • • :t I t ••• • .. 1

\_~ SHUT ;: ~ ~· .. <o .. -· .. <:, . ~ ,., .. ~ ... -. ,.~-

~ I I 0 ..... - ·':-~·,· .--~-.... T lt e-. ~ . . ~

:l !5 ~-;.. ·t . FRO H T : •:

( #t.J,.':} PLAN 0, TIN S • EL.TIIfi;IIJRNA(A

,.._ __

c

• I

I

veins are crossed by others, and generally contain some tin ore, in reniform pieces, a t and near the surface and in more or less siliceous crystalline layers lower d~wn. The country-rock is a reddish rhyolite. bard on the hanging-wall, soft and somewhat altered on the foot. wall, and here and there changing to a soft whitish rock . In one place (B, Fig. 2) two soft parallel veins, each about 1 ft. in thicknesB, are separated by 2 ft. of altered rock. A sample from here assayed 0.6 per cent. of coarse tm. At A a vein from 4 in. to 12 in. thick, con. si~ting of brownish crystalline layers. was eampled, and yielded 20 per cent. of coarse tin. The vein courses E . 2~ deg. N . and dips to the south, while the rock-joints (termed cuartones by the miners) trend N. 22! deg. E . and dip 66 deg. E.S.E. At C a simil~r vein from 8 in. to 1~ in. wide is seen going down in bard rhyolite. A sample yielded 11.6 per cent. of coarse tin. Nearly vertical joints cross the de~sit here, having a north-east to south-west trend. At D two veins are separated by rbyolite conglomerate. The ore in the~e workings is asso­ciated with almost pure white kaolin, sometimes flesh­coloured . an~ sometimes having a yel_lCJwisb tinge. The ca.ss1tente occurs as black specks m red jasper or in white opaque quart z, or in variously coloured siliceous and ferruginous layers (brown, yellow, white, black, red and chocolate-coloured). Cassiterit e in distinct crystals could not be detected. The tin ore occurs not only in veins and joints, but also as black patches in the country adjacent thereto, probably fiJl ing small cavities in the rock. In washing tierras (fine stuff) from the vein and adjacent walls, small rounded pieces about the size of peas are found, black outside, bnt formed of brown and yellow layers within. Fine yellow tin ore (m.etal acopolado) 1s also obtained in washing the ticrrM.

The tin ore, as already pointed out by Mr. C. W. Kempton, *would appear to have been deposited by pre· ference at the points of junction between the so-ca.llP.d veins (prob:1bly in reality fault-planes) and the rock­joints.

La Des;;arrarn.ada.-This claim was so named from the numerous scattered reniform fragments of tin-ore found on the hillsides below the workings. The general direc-

* Transactions, xxv., 997, Atlnnta. Meeting, Octeber, H395,

(FEB. 2 3, I 900. ~ion of the deposit is N. 38 deg. W. to S. 38 de E bn It has a somewhat serpentine coune. The dipg. is ·N· Et 75 deg. · ·

It wa.s opened to about 50 ft. in length and 40ft · depth . . T~e _country i~ rhyolite-tnff, softer near the v~i~n a~d ~Ith JOints_ Cr?SSmg the latter in a N.E. to s.w' duec~10n, and dtppmg S.E. 68 deg. to 73 deg. The vei~ contams !DUCh_ fel_dspar, quartz, and some black specks (p~bably cassitente). At one point the vein is 30 in t~lCk, and a samp~e yiel~ed o~ly 0.2 per cent. of coa~ tm ; at another pomt, a h ~tie h1gher up, it is 36 in. thick and gave only a trace of tm. ' T~e ore occurs in small bl~k reni form pieces (rinone1

or k1dneys) an~ as fine ~ed oxide, associated with f~ldspar quartz, and micaceous Iron. ,

E l Narcmjo.-This is an old opencast on a hill on the south·e~t stde of t~e s~me arroyo. The deposit strikes N. W. to S .E. and d1ps S. W . 75 deg., and is soft and of a ~ed colour ~ke the !ast. It shows in places on the bang­mg wall18 m. of highly coloured rock containing streaks

(

Fr1J.4.

StSI ,O)

't-' "1' ' ~-.. . ... ... . , .. ' /"'·') , ._ ~ ~ ... - ,. '!(~

~ ~· <>~··· ::v~ • , ... ' ~ ~;..: I l l I 'V

~-;q\~\l(~ ,~,,~~~ ,~ ... ·,-' ,, '''" ' ~'$'. \ fJf:-B~)).;

'f«'~ ..:1"' ~ ,.. .... . ~w'\ii.

' ' ~~~'v I J t(; •;_,..,.. ~ : 7tl.l "'(j;L\'t;;t ~ I _, ' .,.,'_;,

~ ~~ r.~) ,!:"''

~~~ ~~~f~ f'i\ I "'t''l .,f·,.;,

HU#rllli'IIINC

TIN SMEt.riN' FlllfNAC£ nr011r UCifAPWIN ~llrV'JF~

P0, 5. r ·~ool ~ ot:::::J00 0

o D PQ , 0 0Qo

t "bb<:QoCj ao.~ntJo~ ~ ~ s:5e:, ~

~(),We~« o ~~~0~ Q~~ o.9:2B"' ot:)Q {) o'bo

~l§( ooo ~t/1 CJ -~·~ rS10 "De?t Q~ (So ' ~Q OQ~~~ vo d C)~ ~c::J c>o?J~(2· ooa oCl

S IS9. £ ) T IN IN ' UR A SMUT G H C£ f.ACK ~U.IfATIOf'(·TI/YUft. $1/Jf 5C<llb 1111/= 3Fed>

\ I \ I I ,'

1+-4 ' . 1-M I I • I __ __.J

~----~~-...,...----H·r ·-' ' . ' . ... ! \ / ~ lt \1 1 1 ..

~ ... , , l i lt

• I t:' \ \ I I f :1 ,, ,., Q

I \ \ / / i I I I 1 \ \ ' , • • \ \ . .

\ ' I ' \ \ I I

' I • lt '•I lt 0 \ • • 0 ct • 11

/.. ' I ' ~ ( SI~P. ~) \_1 tJO(IBL£ LEJTHER 6 £LLOWS &TIJYERIS

Sc;aw I !rv3 Fut

[\

of soapstonE>, and kidney-shaped pieces of tin ore ~nd micaceous iron. This is said to be a. very old work;ing. The bottom being covered up, it could not be examlDed properly. .

Las Cuevas.- This pla.e:e is a small col~ny ~f tln· searchers (garnbuci'7los) and smelters. Alluv1al tm _ore is found on the slopes and along the bottom C?f the vanous arroyos, and is extracted by simply rem?v1ng the over· burden and washing the tin-bearing layer m batcas .. Thf tin is usually collected after heavy rains,. an_d consists 0 t reniform and botryoidalJ?iec~, varying ~n s1ze from tb:l.o of a. pea to beautiful speCimens of ~vood-~m (termed kt~.es by the gam l.rucinos) several ounces 10 _weigh_t. . . s

As the an·oyos are numeroufl run m var10us d1reot1on · and are, moreover, s teep, narr~w, and _wind_ing.h n~ 1~~ quantity occurs in any one spot. It IB sa1d t a .. a b) 500 cargas (or about 62~ tons, taking a carga at l?O tr!cts per annum are brought in from the surroondmg 18

and are smeltEd in L as Cuevas. By far the greater prot portion is receivE:d during and directly after the we sea on, or from July to D ecember. . fur·

The ore is smelted with cbR.rcoal m rough stone f naces, from 4 ft. to 6 ft. in height. F igs. 3 to 5. are r~b sketchas made of a furnace 4 ft. in height, 6 ft. 1d t:an~ of and from 1i ft. to 2 ft . in width. The ct:ntre an c the the furnace are formed of uncut &tones and T~y,f t shaft itself btiL~ well lined with the latterTb ;b ~!, and sides are built of stones and mortar. e a

•

FEB. 2J, 1900.] E N G I N E E R I N G. 271

the top is strengthened on either side by a. large s tone ' polvorillo. Up to date the gu·mbuci-rtos have only worked reaching fr?m front to back (Fi~. ~).. ~be shaft mea.su~es the yu/jolcs 9r coarse po_lvo_·rilla va.rieties . . In some mines 12 in. by 9m. at the mouth, dtm~mshmg to ahout ~ u~. (~g. , San M1guel}. the tm ts a.ssoetnted w1~h a large .qua!l-8q_uare just above the tuyeres, whtle at the tuyeres 1t 1s t1ty of wolfram; m others occurs ruby tm durang1te, m

RULES FOR CONDUCT.LNG STEAM: BOILER TRIALS.*

8 m. s~ uare. The hearth-opening measures 12 in . by crystals of a beautiful red colour. * By a. Committee of the American Society of Meoha.nioa.

Engineers. 6 in. 'I he tuyere opening is 4 in. in diameter, and is In general the veins are of small thickness, commonly placed about 10 in. aboYe the base of the furnace. 'fhe only a few centimetres, and are termed hilos (threads) blast is J?roduced by a double leather bellows* worked by by the miners. In each locality various veins are met hand (Ftg. 6),. T~vo tuyeres are used, 44 i~. long .. T~e with, ~hich .rarely .run parallel1 but freq~ently cross each ends projectmg mto the furnace are of u on, 8 m. m other m variOus dueot10ns. At the pomts of juncture, length. Above this they are of wood, covered with ox- the veins increase in thickness to 40 or 50 centimetres, hide for a length of 30 in. The tuyeres slope downwards, and sometimes up to 1 metre or more, the quantity of tin and can be moved so as to impinge on the tuyere open- contained in the veins increasing in proportion. The dip ings at the back of the furnace (see dotted lines, Fig. G). of the veins (98 of which have been dtscovered) is very

I. DF.TERMINJi; at the outset the specific object of the p roposed trial, whether it be to ascertain the capacity of the boiler, its efficiency a-s a steam ~enerator, its effi­ciency and its defects under usual workmg conditions, the economy of some particular kind of fuel, or the effect of changes of de3ign, proportion, or operation, a.nd prepare for the trial accordingly.

II. Examine the boiler, both outside a.nd inside; ascer­tain the dimensions of grates, heating surf~, and all important P.arts ; and m!l.ke a. full record, describing the same, and lllustrating special features by sketches. The area of beating surface is to be computed from the sur­faces of shells, tubes, furnaces, and fireboxes in contact with the fire or bot gases. The outside diameter of water tubes and the inside diameter of fire tubes are to be used in the computation. All surfaee3 below the mean water level which have water on one side and products of com­bustion on the other are to be considered as water· heating surface, and all surfaces above the mean water level whioh have steam on one side and products of combustion on the other are to be considered as superheating surface.

In 1895 alluvial tin ore was purchasable at 9 cents (silver) irregularl but rarely exceeds 60 deg. The general direo­J?ef pound on the hills, or at 12~ cents placed at Las tion, witn a. few exceptions, is N.E. to S. W. The tin Dueva.s. At Sain Alto white tin could be bought a t veins are irregular, presenting no constancy in thickness, 20 dols. (silver) per quintal, or 400 dols. per ~hort ~on. dip, or in quantity of ore. The percentage of tin varies

Scm [At,is Potost-For the sake of compa.nson w1th the from 1~ to 25, or even 30; but the abundance of the ore above I give an abs tract from a. report by Senor J esus P. is nearly always in inverse ratio to the percentage. Many'ano a Mexican engineer, wntten in 1890, and pub- In the recent publications of the Geolo~ical Institute of lisbed in i893 t Mexico there is a brief reference to the tm deposits. The

"Tin ore occurs in the mining zone of San ta. M aria del following is a. translation of the paragraph : Rio 22 kilometres south-west of the city of San Luis "Tin occurs in Mexico in small veins running through Pot~sf on ranges of hills which are from 186G to 2816 rhyolite. The veins appear to have been formed from metr~ above sea-level. The coun t ry is a trachytio por- lines of fracture produced by contraction, due to cooling, pbyry (rbyolite ?), sometimes exhibiting a columnar struc- and to have been filled by direct emanation. The asso­ture and sometimes bedded. In the n eighbourhood of ciated minerals are hematite, topaz, and, in some places, the tin-deposit dykes or small masses of vitropbyre are durangite-tbat is to sa.y, two minerals which contain invariablf met wi~h; . hence the latter r_ock bec~mes a fluorine, thus bearing ~vid~nc~ of t~e identity of the .agent useful gmde to t heu dlScovery. The ore 1s found m four employed by Nature m brmgmg tm to the surface m the different wa7s : same state of combination and a.tl different a.nd widely

I I I. Notice thd general condition of the boiler a.nd its equipment, a.nd record such faots in relation thereto as bear upon the objects in view.

If the object of the trial is to ascertain the maximum economy or capacity of the boiler as a. s team generator, the boiler and all its appurtenances should be put in first-class condition. Clean the beating surface inside and outside, remove clinkers from the grates and from the sides of the furnace. R emove all dust, soot, and ashes from the chambers, smoke connections, and flues. Close a.ir leaks in the masonry and poorly-fitted cleaning doors. See that the d amper will open wide and close tight. Test for air leaks by firing a. few shovels of smoky fuel and immediately closing the damper, observing the escape of smoke through tlie crevices, or by passing the flame of a candle over cracks in the brickwork.

"1. In vems with gangue, or in separate kidney-shaped separated geological periods, a.nd always, be it remem­pieces (r it1ones) as incrusta.tions, or in nuclei of chalcedony b_ered, .in the mo.st acid. roo~s of the t.wo se~es of er~p­or cacholong. t1ves; m the anc1ent sertes tm appears m gramte contam­

" 2. As sticking within the walls of the vE:in (en las ing white mica, while in Mexico, where the most modern pegaduras prod1tcidas en las relices pe·r la sublirnacion emanations of tin ~ave taken place, it appears in rhyolite estanifera del interior). of the Upper TertJary ."t

"3. In conglomerates filling holes and cavities in the rock. . .

"4. In gullies or on the slo~ of htl!s, ktdney-shaped, fragmentary or earthy, and f?rmmg a ki~d of pla.~er.

"The tin occurs alone, or 1s accompamed by mtcareous iron red hematite, topaz, &o. When the ore is nearly pur~ it is ca~ed ?netal ~e co1·rea ; wh~~ he~~tite pre­dominates or 1s present m equal quant1t1es, 1t 1s termed plomillo :t:

"The Veta Honde, in the Hacienda de San P edro (to the south of the zone) has been proved to a. depth of 40 metres, 60 metres to the ea..~t, and 40 metres to the west. The vein is 0.42 metre thick. In the Hacienda de Santiago the Rincon Grande vein is 0. 2 metre thick. It has been worked 45 metres deep and 12 metres hori­lOnta.lly, and produced in 1882 more than 44,000 kilo-grammes of ore. . . .

•' ln the L onea de Pederna.l tm occurs m a rock, wh10h also contains gypsum in layers 0.012 metre thick, on an average.

"A short distance to the east of t he Inglesia. del Desierto, north-east of San Luis Potosi, deposits of bis­muth and ste.atite are found with tin-stone.

''In the Hacienda. de Bledos, one Zavalo, a peon, ex­ploited tin, and in a few years made a. capital of 50,000 dols. (silver).

"The vem of the Ro<Juillo Mine, in San P edro, now being worked, has a th1ckness of 0.02 a.nd 0.29 metre, and has produced at its best time 250 &'1'1'obas, or 2750 kilogrammes of ore in one week.

"One Garcia exploited two mines, long distances apart, and in six months raised from 400 to 500 kilogrammes of metallic tin.

"The ferruginous ore on an average yields 25 per cent., and the best ore from 35 to 80 per cent. of tin."

Potrillos, Du.rango.-Mr. Ingalls has given a very com­plete account of the occurrance of tin ore at P otrillos, Durango, but, in citing the literature of the subject, appears to have overlooked a. report written in 1891, and published in 1893, by Senor Carlos Pa.tone, a. Mexican engineer. I! The following is an abstract of that report :

The country is a granitic or white porphyry of a rela­tively soft consistency, and is the rook called piedra acan­terada in the State of Durango. (Mr. Ingalls has shown that the O.)untry is rhyolite and rhyolite-tuff, principally the latter. ) The tin ore is found in the veins a-s rounded masses from one or more grammes to many kilogrammes in weight. The kidney-shaped masses (gutjoles of the pa11tbucinos), carried by the watera and deposited in the hollows and cavities of the a1·royos and lower parts of the valleys, are known as placer-tin, arroyo-tin, or kidney-tin (estaiio de riilon). Etsewheret the oa.ssiterit.e is intimately mixed with crystalline oxiaes of iron, and sometimes penetrates the whole mass of the porphyry adjacent to the vein, converting it into a very friable rock. The two last form the gum,bucinos call cstana de polvcn·illa§ or

* At Tepezala, in the State of Aguas Calientes, similar double bellowd are used for supplying blast to small copper-smelting furnaces, and are there termed guiyola, according to Senor Santiago Ramirez.

t Boletin de Agricultura, Mine1'ia e Industria, 1893, p:1ges 91 to 107.

:t: In the State of Mexico plomillos is the name given to particles of lead in slags.

11 Bolttin de Agricultura, Mineria e Industria,' 1893, pages 108 to 123.

§ In Z:~otatecas, as weJl as in Bolivia, South America, poh,orilla is the term given to finely disseminated argen­tite (plata negra); at Cerro de Pasco, Peru, it is used for any dark, powdery kind of ore rioh in silver; at Tamaya, Chile polt,orzlla, according to Fuchs a.nd D~ Launa.y, is a highly ferruginous pulverulent matter of a dark colour, containing small particles of phillipsite, forming the filling of the copper deposit near the rieh portions. At

BLAST-F URNACRS IN THE UNLTED STATES.-The number of furnaces in blast in the United States at the commence­ment of 1900 was 280, as compared with 237 at the commencemementl of July, 1899 ; 200 at the commence­went of January, 1899 ; 188 at the commencement of July, 1898; 188 a.t the commencement of January, 1898 ; and 145 at the commencement of July, 1897. The weekly productive capacity of the furnaces in blast at the dates named was a.s follows: January, 1900, 294,186 tons ; July, 1899, 263,363 tons ; January, 1899, 243,516 tons; July, 1898, 216,311 tons; January, 1898, 226,608 tons ; and July, 1897, 164,064 tons. Production experienced a slight check last month. During December one furnace in Western Pennsylvania was blown out, while eight furnaces were banked in other quarters. On the other hand, four furnaces were started in D ecember afte r having undergone repairs. Stocks of pig sold and unsold in the U nited States at the commence­ment of the new year were 127,346 tons, as compared with 113,693 tons a.t the commencement of December, 111,543 tons a t the commencement of November, 120,541 tons at the commencement of October, 137,821 tons at the commencement of September, and 150,268 tons a.t the commencement of August. It will be seen that after steadily declining for some months stocks have again shown a tendency to increase. This, of course, accounts for the check experienced by produc tion.

At<'RIOAN TRANS - CoNTINENTAL TELEGRAPH. - The African tra.ns- continental telegraph line has already proved of ~reat value, both to the Imperial Government a.nd the Br1tish South African Company, in assisting to maintain an effective control over the administration of the territory north of the Zambesi. The line was com­pleted to Karopga, on Lake N yassa, in October, 1898. On Angust 25 last, the Ka.ronga a.nd Abercorn section bad been completed to within 25 miles of Abercorn, on Lake Tanganyika., a.nd a. tem_pora.ry telegraph office bad been opened a.t the Saisi. The construction of the line has been delayed by scarcity of labour. A branch line, 123 miles long, is being constructed from Domira Bay, Lake N yassa., to Fort J ameson, in M'peseni's country. In July, 1898, the British South Africa. Company took over temporaTily the maintenance and working of the African Trans-Continental Company's lines under an agreement with that company; a.nd the whole of the line from Umtali to Lake Tanganyika is now worked and maintained under the supervision of the Postmaster­General of Southern Rhodesia. The African trans­continental t elegraph line now consists of the following sections: Main wire, Umtali to Tete, 216~ miles; Tete to Chikwa.wa, 92 miles; Chikwa.wa to Bla.ntyre, 26~ miles; Bla.ntyre to Fort J ohnston, 115 miles; Fort J ohnston to Kotakota., 145~ miles ; Kotakota to Nka.ta, 102~ miles; Nkata to Karonga, 130 miles; Kn.ronga to Aberoorn, 199 miles; total 1027 miles. A branch, 57 miles in length, has also been completed from Obikwawa to Chiromo.

Paras, Oaxaca, Mexico, the name is given to altered marcasite, containing some g-old. In Spain the term polvorilla is frequently apphed to rich ores of a soft nature ; the names porillos and povillones are similar. The first two words are simply diminutives of polvora (gunpowder) and polvo {dust) respectively; polvillon is an instance of the augmentation of a diminutive.

* Mr. Ingalls found no positive evidence of the associa­tion of wolfram with the tin ore of P otrillos. H e makes no mention, however, of the San Miguel mine referred to above.

·I· Boletin del Instituto Gcologico de Meroico, N 0s. 4, 5, and 6, 1897, pages 234-233.

IV. D etermine the character of the coal to be used. F or tests of the efficiency or capacity of the boiler for comparison with other boilers the coal should, if possible, be uf some kind which is commercially regarded a-s a stan­dard. For New England and that portion of the country east of the Allegheny Mountains, good anthracite egg coal, containing not over 10 per cent. of ash, and semi­bituminous, Clea.rfield, Pa., Oumberland, Md., and Po­cahontas, V a., coals are thus regarded. W est of the Allegheny M ountains, P ocabontas, V a.., a.nd New River, W . Va., semi-bituminous, and Youghiogheny or Pitts­burg bituminous coals are recognised a.s standards. Big Muddy lull;lp, an Illinois coal mined in Jackson County, Ill., is suggested as being of sufficiently high grade to anewer these requirements in districts where it is more conveniently obtainable than the other coals mentioned above.

}.,or tests made to determine the performances of a boiler with a. particular kind of coal, such as may be specified in a contract for the sale of a boiler, the coal used should not be higher in ash and in moisture than that specified, since increase in ash and moisture above a stated amount is apt to cause a. falling off of both capaci tr and economy in greater proportion than the proportton of such in­crease.

V . Establish the correctness of all apparatus used in the test for weighing and measuring. These are :

1. Scales for weighing coaL ashes, and water. 2. Tanks, or water meters for measuring water. W a.ter

meters as a rule should not be used as a check on other measurements. For accurate work, the water should be weighed or measured in a tank.

3. Thermometers and pyrometers for taking tempera­tures of air, s team, feed-water, waste gases, &c.

4. Pressure gauges, draught gauges, &c. The kind and location of the various pieces of testing

apparatus must be left to the judgment of the person conducting the test; a.lwa.ys keeping in mind the main object, i.e., to obtain authentic data.

VI. See that the boiler is thoroughly heated before the trial to its usual working temperature. If the boiler is new, and of a form provided with a brick setting, it should be in regular use at least a. week before the trial, so as to dry and heat the walls. If it has been laid off a.nd become cold, it should be worked before the trial until the walls are well heated.

VII. The boiler and connections should be proved to be free from leaks before beginning a test, a.nd all water connections, including blow and extra feed pipes, should be disconnected, stopped with blank flanges, or bled through special openmgs beyond the val ves, except the particular pipe through which water is to be fed to the boiler during the trial. During the test the blow-off and feed pipes should remain exposed to view. If an injector is used, it should receive steam directly through a felted pipe from the boiler being tested. If the water is metered after it p asses the injector, its temperature should be taken a.t the point where it leaves the injector. If the quantity is determined on the suction side of the in­jector, and if no change of temperature occurs other than that due to the injector, the temperature thus determined is properly that of the feed water. '\Vhen the tempera­ture changes between the injector and the boiler, as by the use of a heater or by radiation, the temperature a.t which the water enters and leaves the injector, and that at which it enters the boiler should a.ll be taken. In that case the weight to be used is that of the water leaving the injector, computed from the heat units if not directly

*Presented at the December (New York) the Society.

meeting of

•

•

measured, and the temPf:rature that vf t.he water entering the boiler. See tha t the steam main is so arrd.nged that water of condensation cannot run back into the boiler.

V III. Duration of the T est.-F or test s made to ascer­tain either the maximum economy or the maximum capa­city of a boiler, irrespective of the particular class of service for which it is regularly used, th& duration should be at least 10 hours of continuous running. If the rate of combustion exceeds 25 lb. of coal per square foot of grate surface per hour, it may be stopped when a total of 250 lb. of coal has been burned p er square foot of grate.

In cases where the servic~ requires continuous running for the whole 24 hours of the day, with shifts of firemen a n umber of times during that period, it is well to con­tinue the test for at least 24 hours.

When it is desired to ascertain the performance under the working conditions of practical r unning, whether the boiler be regularly in use 24 hours a day, or only a certain number of hours out of each 24; the fires being banked the balance of the time, the dura tion should not be less than 24 hours.

I X. Starti'T'I{J a;nd Stoppi'T'I{f a Test.-The conditions of the boiler and furnace in all respects should be, as nearly as posssible, the sa.me at the end as at the beginning of the test. The steam pressure should be the same; the water level the same ; the fire ul>on the grates should be the sam e in quantity and condit10n ; and the walls, flues, &c., should be of the same temperature. Two methods of obtaining the d esired equality of conditions of the fi re m ay be used, viz. , those which were called in the Code of 1885 "the standard me thod" and "the alternate method," the latter being employed where it is incon­venient to make use of the standard method.

X . Stctlndard M ethod of Starting and Stoppi'T'I{J a T est. -Steam being r!l.ised to the working pressure, remove rapidly all the fire from the grate, close the damper, clean the ashpit, and as quickly as possible start a new fire with weighed wood and coal, noting the time and the water level while the water is in a quiescent state, just before lighting the fire. At the end of the test remove the whole fire, which has been burned low, clean the grates and ashpit, and note the water level when the water is in a quiescent sta te, and record the time of hauling the fire. T he water level should be as nearly as possible the same as at the beginning of the test. If it is not the same, a correction should be made by computa­tion, and n ot by operating the pump after the test is completed. ·

XI. A lternate M ethod of S tartiln{; and Stopping a T est. -The boiler being thoroughly heated by a. preliminary r un, the fires are to be burned low and well cleaned. Note the amount of coal left on the grate as nearly as it can be estimated ; note the pressu (e of steam and the water level. Note the time and record it as the starting t ime. Fresh coal which has been weighed should n ow be fired. The ashpits should be thoroughly cleaned at once after s tarting. B efore the end of the te3t the fires should be burned low, just as before the sta rt, and the fires cleaned in such a manner as to leave a bed of coal on the grates of the same depth, and in the same condi­tion, a-s ab the start. When this s tage is reached, note the time and record it at the stopping t ime. The water level and steam P.ressures should previously be brought as nearly as p ossible to the same point as at the start. If the water Jevel is not the same as at the s tart, a correction should be made by computation, and not by operating the p ump after the tes t is completed.

XII. Unifo'rmity of Conditions. -In all trials made to ascertain maximum economy or capacity, the conditions should be maintained uniformly constant. Arrangements should be made to dispose of the steam so that the rate of evaporation may be kept the same from beginning to end. This may be accomplished in a single boiler by carrying the steam through a waste steam pipe, the discharge from which can be regulated as desired. In a battery of boilers, in which only one is tested, the draught may be regulated on the remaining boilers, leaving the test boiler to work under a constant rate of production.

U niformity of conditions should prevail as to the pres­sure of steam, the height of water, the rate of evapora­tion, the thickness of fire, the times of firing and quantity of coal fired at one time, and as to the intervals between the times of cleaning the fires.

The method of firing to be carried on in such tests should be dictated by the expert or person in responsible charge of the test, and the method adopted should be adhered to by the fi reman throughout the test.

XIII. Keeping the R eco·rds. -Take note of every event connected with the progress of the trial, hmve\ er un­important it may appear. R ecord the time of every occurren ce and the ttme of taking every weigh t and every obser vation.

The coal should be weighed and delivered to the fireman n equal proportions, each sufficient for not more than one

hour's run, and a fresh portion should not be d elivered until the previous one has ~11 been fired. The time. re­quired to consume each portwn should be noted, the t tme being recorded at the instant of firing the la3t of each port10n. It is desirable that at the same time the amount of wa ter fed into the boiler should be accurately noted and recorded, including the height of the water in t he boiler and t he average pressure of steam and tempera­ture ~f feed during the time. By thus recording the amount of water evaporated by successive portions of coal the test may be divided in to several periods if de­sired, and the degree of uniformity of com_bustion, evaporation, and economy analysed for each pen od. In addition to these records of the coal and the feed water, h alf-hourly observations should be made of the tempera­ture of the feed water, of the flue gases, of the extenial air in the boiler-room, of the temperature of the furnace when a furnace pyrometer is used, also of the pressure of steam, and of the ref.Uiings of th~ in~trum~nts fo!' det~~-

E N G I N E ER I N G.

mining the mf)i~turo in the steam. A log should be kep t on properJ y p repared blanks containing columns for re­cord of the various obser vations.

When the ' 'standard me thod '' of starting and s top­ping the test is used, the hourly rate of combustion and of evaporation and the horse-power should be computed from the records taken durin g bhe time when the fi res are in active condition. This t ime is somewhat less than the actual time which elapses between the beginning and end of the run. The loss of time due to kindling the fire at the beginning and burning it out at the end makes this course necessary.

X I V. Quality of Steam.-The percentage of moisture in the steam should be determined by the use of either a throttling or a separating steam calorimeter. T he sampling nozzle should be placed in the vertical steam pipe rising from the boiler. It should be made of ~-in. pipe, and should extend across the diameter of the steam pipe to within i in. of the opposite side, being closed at the end and perforated with not less than twenty i-in. boles equally dis tributed along and around its cylindrical surface, but none of these holes should be nearer than l in. to the innar side of the steam pipe. The calori­meter and the pipe leading to it should be well covered with felting. Whenever the indications of the throttling or separating calorimeter show that the percen tR-ge of moisture is irregular, or occasionally in excess of 3 p er cen t., the results should be checked by a steam separator placed i n the steam pipe as close to the boiler as con­venient, with a calorimeter in the s team pipe jus t beyond the outlet from the separator . The drip from the sepa­rator should be caught and weighed, and the p ercentage of moisture comp uted therefrom added to that shown by the calorimeter.

Superheating ghould be determined by means of a ther­mometer placed in a mercury well inserted in t he steam pipe. The deg-ree of superheating should be taken as the difference between the reading of the thermometer for superheated s team and the readings of the same thermometer for saturated steam at the same pr~sure as determined by a special experiment, and n ot by reference to steam tables.

XV. Sannpling the Coal and Deterrnining its M oisture. -As each barrow-load or fresh J?Ortion of coal is taken from the coal pile, a represen tat1 ve shovelful is selected from it and placed in a barrel or box in a cool place and ke.Pt until the end of the trial. T he samples a re then mixed and broken into pieces not exceeding 1 in. in dia­meter, and reduced by the process of repeated quartering and crushing until a final ~ample weighing about 5 lb. is obtained, and the sizes of the larger pieces are such that they will pass through a sieve with ! -in . meshes. F rom this sample two 1-quar t, air tight glass preserving jars, or other airtight vessels which will prevent the escape of moisture from the sample, are to be p romptly filled, and these samples are to be kept for subsequent determinations of moisture and of heating value and for chemical analyses. During the process of quartering, when the sample has been red uced to about 100 lb., a quarter to a half of it may be taken for an approximate determination of moisture. T his may be made by placing it in a shallow iron pan, not over 3 in. deep, care fully weighing it, and settin&" the pan in the hottest p lace that can be found on the brtekwork of the boiler setting or flues, keeping it there for at leas t twelve hours, and then weighing it. The de termination of moi~ture thus made is believed to be approximately accurate for anthract ite and semi­bituminous coals, and also for Pittsburgor Youghiogheny coal, but it cannot ue relied upon for coals containing inherent moisture.

XVI. T reaflment o; A shes ancl R efuse.-The ashes and refuse are to be weighed in a d ry s tate. If it is found de. sira.ble to show the principal characteristics of the ash, a eample should be subjected to a proximate analysis, and the actual amount of incombustible material determined. For elaborate t rials a complete analysis of the ash and refuse should be made.

XVII. Calorific T ests and Analysis o; Coa.l.- T he quality of the fuel should be determined eit her by heat test or by analysis, or by both.

The rational method of determining the total heat of combustion is to burn the eample of coal in an atmosphere of oxygen gas, the coal to be sam:J?led as directed in Article X V . of this code. The chemwal analysis of the coal should be made only by an expert chemist. The total heat of combustion computed from the r esults of the ultima te analysis may be obta ined by the use of Dulong's formula (with constants modified by recent determina-

tions, viz., 14,600 C + 62, 000 ( H - ~ ) + 4000 S, in

which C, H, 0, and S refer to the proportions of carbon, hydrogen, oxyg~n, and sulp~lUr respectively, as deter­mined hy the ulttmate analysts.

It is desirable t hat a proximate analysis should be made, thereby determining the relative proportions of volattle matter and fixed carbon . These proportions furnish an ind ication of the leading characteristics of the fuel, and serve to fix the class to which it belongs. As an additional indication of the characteristics of the fuel, the specific gravity should be determined.

XVIII. Analysis of Fuel Ga.~es. -The analysis of the flue gases is an especially valuable method of detGrmining the relative value of different methods of firing, or of different kinds of furnaces. In making these analyses, great care should be taken to procure average samples­since the composition is apt to vary at different poin ts of the flue. The composition is also apt to vary from minute to minute, and for this reason the drawings of gas should last a considerable ~riod of time. Where complete determinations are desued, the analyses should be en trusted to an exper t chemist. For approximate determinations, the Orsat or the Hempel apparatus may ~ ~ed br the en~neer.

•

[FEn. 2 3, I 900.

F~r th_" con~inuo_us indication of the amount of car. home amd present m the flue gases, an instrument may be empl?yed which .shows th& weight of the sample of gas passmg through 1t.

XI X. Smoke Obser·vations.- It is desirable to have a uni­form system of determining and recording the quantity of smoke produced where bituminous coal is used. The actual measure~?nt of a. sample of soot by meter is reco~mended . XX. MlB~ellaneous " only applies to spemal te3ts, and may be om1tted. ~XL Calculatio:ns of E fficiencp.-Two methods of de­

finmg and calculatmg the efficiency of a boiler are recom­mended. They are :

1. Efficiency of the boiler

= Heat absorbed per pound combustible Calorific value of llb. combustible '

2. Efficiency of the boiler and grate _ H eat absorbed per pound coal - - .

Calorific value of l lb. coal

The firs t of these is sometimes called the efficiency based on combUdtible, and the second the efficiency based on coal. The first is recommended as a standard of com. parison for all test s, and this is the one whjch is under. s tood to be referred to when the word "efficiency" alone is used without qualification. The second, however, should be included in a report of a test, together with the first, whenever the object of the test is to determine the efficiency of the boiler and furna-ce together with the grate (or mechanical stoker ), or to compare different fur. naces, grates, fuels, or methods of firing. The beat ab­sorbed per pound of combustible (or per pound coal) is to be calculated by multiplying the equivalent evaporation from and at 212 deg~ per pound combustible (or coal) by 965.7 (Appendix XX.)

XXII. The H eat Balance.-An approximate "beat balance," or statement of the distri bution of the beating value of the coal among the several items of beat utilised and heat lost, may be included in the report of a test when analyses of t he fuel and of the chimney gases have been made.

LAUNCHES AND TRIAL TRIPS. ON T uesday, the 13th inst. , the steel screw steamer

L ochwood, built by M essrs. Craig, Taylor, and Co., Thornaby-on-Tees, proceeded to sea for her trial trip. The dimensions of the vessel are 299 ft. by 43 ft. by 21 ft. 3 in. depth moulded. The engines have been con· structed by the North-Eastern Marin~ Engine~ring ~m· pany, L imited, Sunderland, the oyhndera bemg. 21 m., 35 in., and 57 in. in diameter by 39 in. stroko, Wlth two large steel boilers 160 lb. pressure. On a. ~un ?f 1~ hours a speed of a li ttle over 12 kn<?ts was. ma1~ta.med. The owners are Messrs. Constantme, Pwkermg, and Co., Middlesbrough.

On the 13th inst. the fine steel screw steamer Pen­mount, built by lVIessra. Wm. Gray and Co., Limited, to the order of Mr. Richard B. Cbellew, of Truro, was taken to sea for her trial trip. Her dimensions are: Length over all, 3 12 ft. ; breadth, 43 ft.; and depth, 22 ft. ~ in. Triple-expansion machinery has been sup­plied from the Central Marine Engine ' Vorlcs ~f t~e builders, having cylinders 22 in., 35 in., and 59 m. m diameter by 39 in. piston stroke, and two large steel boilers adapted to work at a pressure of 160 lb. per square inch. A satisfactory trial run was made.

T he s.s. Shirley, had, on the 13th in~t., a. very suc­cess£ nl t rial, doing 11 k nots. The Sh1rley IS a Jargd steel S('rew steamer, built b~ ~ Messrs. 'W_m. Gray an Co., Limited, for M essrs. B oulder, Mtddleton, and Co., L ondon. H er dimensions are: Length over . all, 341ft.; breadth, 47 ft .; depth, 27 fb. 4_in. Her engmes are of the triRle-expansion type, supphed f~om the

5 C.en·

tral Marine Engine Works, and hav~ cylinders 28

ID., 40 in., and 65 in. in diameter b,r. 42 m. s~roke. team is generated in two large steel bOilers workmg at a pres· sure of 160 lb. per square inch.

On Tuesday F ebruary 13 the steel screw cargo steamer Sambi~, which has b~en built by the Flensbuhg Shipbuilding Company, F lensburg, to the obder 0~ t.~ H amburg-American Line, went t<;> sea for er ft 0b trial trip. H er principal dimenswns . are: 41~ ·. !t 50 f t .. 2 in. by 30 ft. 3 in. moulded_, haVIng a ~ea :e1.~es capa.mty of about 7500 tons. Tnple-expe.nston : f the have been fitted by the engi~eering _depe.rtde~2 in in firm. The cylinders a re 26~ m., 4~ m., an . b two diameter by 48 in. s troke, steam bemg SUJ?P111 :~ ~essel large double-ended boilers. During the tna e made a speed of lli knots.

WATER SuPPLY OF CAPE TowN.-The water works c:: mittee of the Cape Town Council has ~ad uhd:e for sideration for some time a comprehenstve ~c the city the better distribution of the water supply of much Inasmuch as the expenditure involved 18 ve~he com· greater than the council could at present meet, beo· mittee is of opinjon that only such works asdain a. this lu tely necessary should be undertaken, an ta.tions connection it has specially CC?nsidered reprehjn h-level with regard to the need fo~ laymg the eastern rox~mately main the length of whtcb would be app 7000z By 13,000 ft., and w~ic~ is _estimated _to cost u 1· the means of this mam 1t will be posst_ble .to hf~~tern whole of the higher levels of t he. ct_ty 11;\ t tances. district, which is impossible un~er ext~tlng ctr~:~:bis im~ and the committee considers tt destrable. t t further porta.nt work $hould be undertaken wtt ou delay,

FEB. 23, rgoo.l

"ENGINEERING" ILLUSTRATED PATENT RECORD.

COMPILED BY w. LLOYD WISE. IBLBC'l',_RD'ftYI ilSTRACTS OF REGENT PUBLISHED 8PEOIFIOATIONB

UID>ER THE ACTS 1883- 1888. The number of views given in the Specijicati01~ I>ra1uings is stated

in each clUe ; tohere n011e are mentioned, the Specification i.fl not ill1utraud.

Where inventions m·e convmttnicatedf>·om abroad, the l\1ames, d:c., of t.he Communicators 01re given in italics.

Copies of Specijicat,io1l8 may be obtai?ud at the Patent Otlice Sale Branch, 16, Southampton Buildings, Chance1y-lane, JV. C., at the unifonn. price of 8d.

The date of the adve1·tt:Sem~nt of the acceptance OJ a complete Splcilication i8, in each case, given aJte>· the abstract, unless the Patent has been sealed, tvMn the date of seali·n.g i8 given.

An., ~r1on may at any tim~ within ttvo nt{)nt-hs from the date of the adve1·tilement of the aueptance o.f a complete Specincati{)?l, give notice at tM Paten t Office o.f oppositiO?l to the g·rant of a Pat-ent on any of the gt'Ottnds m~ntio1ltd in the A. et.

EL.ECTRICAL APPARATUS.

23,813. Siemens Brothers and Co., Limitad. Lon­don. (SWnens anct B alske, Berli?t.) Galvanic Batteries. {3 Figs.] Nov~mber .29 •. 1899.- Tbis invention relates t? a port· able battery wtth a hqUld electrolyte, so arranged that 1t can be placed ln any position without leakage of the electrolyte there­from. The chamber containing the electrolyte communicates with a gas·collectin~ chamber only through a porous depolarising mass surrounding the positive electrode, so that while the gases escape through the collecting chamber into the atmosphere, the escape of the electrolyte is prevented. According to one construc­tion of batter~, a r~otangular cardboard box contains ~ zinc vessel of corresponding stze and shape. the bottom of wh1ch may be of zino or asphalte. In the mtddle of this veesel is the carbon

J

electrode, around which the depolariser is secured by a gauze envelope, space for the electrolyte being left between this enve­lope and the zinc vessel. The upper surface of the electrolyte is hermetically sealed by a layer of as,Phalte, above which is a layer of rice husks, forming a gas.collectinJr chamber. Above this is a second layer of asphalte which secures the cardboard casing, the zinc vessel, and the carbon electrode in their relat ive positions. In this layer are inserted capillary tubes which extend down into the layer of rice husks, and allow the escape of gas. A vulcanite tube passing through the asphalte layers, and provided with a screw stopper, allows the spent electrolyte to be withdrawn, and fresh electrolyte to be supplied. A slightly modified form of battery is also illustrated and described. (Accepted January 17, 1900.)

5099. E. Goller Nurnberg, Gel'many. Accumu­lator Plates. [4 Pigs.] March 8, 1899.-The terminal plates of e.n accumulator or secondary battery are built up of small narrow lead frames which are formed with perforations into which the active mass is pressed; the frames being combined by placing their broad sides against each other and connecting their ends by means of lead strips, or by simply soldering them together. The

~·1 r-• • I o

Fig. f . o I • I "! \ # I' \. I I

.Pig.Z. ••• I • I

.Rg. J . I ./

Fig.4.

active substance may either be first preBBed into the frame, aud the frames then connected ~ether, leaving a small space between each pair of them ; ~r the act1\'e mass may be introduced after the frames have been jomed together, so that it forms a coherent core. The edges of the perforations are "bevelled roof-shape," either inwardly or outwardly, to more securely hold the active mat~rial. (.ti ccepted JantUJ/ry 24, 1900.)

GUNS AND EXPLOSIVES.

4338. Sir w. G. Armstrong, Whltworth, and Co •• l.tmtted, and A. G. Badcock, Elswick, Newcastle.

. 7.

(+J38.)

Breecbloadtng Guns. [2 Figs.] February 27, 1899.- For the purpose of reaucing the angle of the cone on the obturating

E N G I N E E R I N G. pad, and shortening the len~th of the ven t and the total len2 th of the breech plug, the inner portion of the end of the burel is ~ade to project rearwards, and a corresponding annular recess 1s formed m the front end of the breech-block. The screw threads on the breech-block and in the gun extend to the end of the breech-block, and therefore beyond the reo.r end of the barrel the length of the Rorewed portion engagin~ beintt thus g rea.te; than t he length from the rear end of the barrel to the rear face of .the gun ; the longitudinal distance from the obturator to the ax1s of the carrier hin~Ze is also lees than usual. The invention is applicable to coned breech screws, such as are described in specification No. 4470, of 1885, to parallel breech screws, and to those in which the inner part is cylindrical and the reo.r par t conical ; in this latter c:ase the threads are chequered. as in the form of screw described in the specification above referred to. (Accepted J anuaty17, 1900.)

1246. J. Ramsay, and C. Salmon, Erlth. Machines for Ftlllng Cartridge Belts. {8 F igs.] J nnuary 18, 1899. The object of this invention, which relates to machines such as are described in prior specifications Nos. 19,227 of 1891 and 4349 of 1896, is to enable such machines to be employed for filling feed· b~lts with cartridges of the kind in which the bullet is surrounded wt~h paper at the part near the mouth of the cartridge-case. For thts purpose the pocket-openff of the machine is surrounded wi th asheath which ad,·ances and enters the pocket therewith. When the pocket-opener retires this sheath remains in the opened pocket, and receives the bullet of the cartridges, the diameter of

•

-•

FLg. 1

=

E9. z . . lit----:::=-=-

-·~·

the sheath being such that it will admit the bullet, but not the cartridge; which, as it advances, meets the end of the sheatb. and thrusts it out of the pocket. As soon as the sheath is free, it is ret ra-cted around the pocket-opener by means ofa helical spring, one end of which bears against a flange on the sheath, and the other against a flange on the shoulder on the opener. The partial rotation of the pocket-opener referred to in No. 4349 of 1896, is effected by means of a radial arm thereon and a fixed cam slot in which this arm works durin~ the reciprocating movement of the pocket-opener. Other modtfications of the apparatus described 1n the prior specifications above referred to are also described. (Accepted J amta/11124, 1900.)

4900. Slr W. G. Armstrong, Whitworth. and Co., I.Jmttecl. and B. T. Brallkston. Elswick, Newcastle. Gun MouotiD.gs. [S Fips.] March 6, 1899.- Thegun carri~e is formed with a vertical pn·ot which fits into a socket in a fixed pedestal, having in its upper face an annular groove containing a ring of balls which surrounds the socket. The underside of the carriage, which res ts on the balls, is of an oblong or oval form,

Fig.l. Fig .Z

of which the longer dimension is greater, and the shorter dimen­sion less t han the diameter of the ring of halls , which are thus partly uncovered, so that they may be removed and replaced. Oover plates may be secured to the carriac-e to protect the balls which would otherwise be exposed. The bottom of the pivot iR formed as an hydraulic ram. whereby the carria2e may be lifted clear of the pedestal to allow the hall races to be inspected or renewed. (A. ccepted. J amt-any 24, 1900.)

GAS ENGINES, PRODUCERS, BOI·DERS, &c.

11,067. F. Brown and F. J. Sted.man, London. Apparatus for Producing Oxygen. [3 Figs. ] October 6, 1898.-ln this apparatus oxygen or other gas itJ produced by the application of heat to chemical compounds in the form of cakes or charges ; which cakes are arranged within a closed casing, and may be supplied thereto through a tube or hopper, and each of which is successively brought int.o position above a Bunsen burner outside the casing, and discharged into a chute or hopper when it

has given off its gas. The casing may be of rectangular form, the cakes being arranged in a vertical t ube on top of it, the bottom cake being pressed forward into position over the burner by the action of a cam, which is preferahly operated by the movement of a collapsible gas bag, the feeding of the cakes to the

•

retort being thus automatically controlled. In some cases, bow­ever, it is stated to be preferable to effect the feeding of the charges to the burner by means of clockwork ; the gas contained b~ing then considerably larger in pcoportio~ to the amount of gas gtven off by one char~e, and provtded wtth a safety valve to prevent undue weight of pressure. (Accepted J antta1'1/2i, 1900.)

4713. A. Duftos, Vitry en Artois, France. Pres· sure Indicator for Hydrocarbon Motors. [3 Figs.] March 3, 1899. - This indicator, which is designed to show t he pressure within the cylinder of a hydrocarbon motor on explosion of the gaseous mixture therein, comprises a gauge arranged on a pipe provided with a cook, and communicating with the motor cylinder. Inside this pipe is a partition ' in which is fit ted a valve provided with a spring which tends to keep i.t upon its seat, and the spindle of which slides in a guide. The partition is also per-

•

•

f 7f,J

forated by a ewall hole or bye·paBB, more or less obstructed by the extremity of a regulating screw. When the products of ex­plosion have passed the valve and arrived in the gauge, they eau only pass baoll: through the bye-pass, the orifice of which can bt regulated in accordance with the speed of the engine, so that the fluctuations of the pressure within the cylinder do not sensibly affect t he indications of the gauge. When this stability of indica­tion has Leen obtained, the regulating screw may be fixed by mean~ of a look nut. (A.ccepud J anttarv 24, 1900.)

2S,227. A. J. Boult, London. (J . .d. Watson, Washington. U.S.A.) Marine Torch. [4 Fig1.] November 7, 1899.·- Tbe torch comprises a cylindrical shell, having in its lower portion a wire-gauze chamber containing ca.lcic carbide, above which is a 2as chamber, the sides of which are perforated to admit water, for the purpose of generating acetylene. To exclude moisture,

Pig.2. r··r •

I

•

'

these puforations are covered by a strip, which may readily be r~moved when the torch is to be used. The upper end of the torch is furnished with a number of burners, and with an i~niting device containing ca.lcic phosphide, which spontaneously 1gnites when &eted uron by water. The lower end of the torch, which is in the form o an inverted cone, forms a drainage chamber, and

274 receptacle for the spent carbide. The torch is adapted to be tired from a gun in naval warfare, and is also applicable to life·saviog apparatus and other purposes. (A ccepted January 24, 1900.)

!3,619. B. Beese, Dresden, Germany. Incandes· cent Gas Lamp. [1 F ig.] November 27, 1899. -In ihislamp, which is of the regenerator type, the gas is admitted through a centrallipe, the lower end of which terminates in a nozzle to an inverte Bunsen burner, around the lower end of which the mantle is fit ted. The mantle is surrounded by a ~lass cylinder and sup­ported by a perforated annular socket which fits into the upper

'

•

-

•

Ul/6.

end of this cylinder ; a collar with fluted end grips the end of the cylinder and thus supports it and the mantle. The parte above referred to are enclosed in an outer oasiog, through which the products of combustion ascend, heating the gas and the air supply to the burner and flame which enters through a pair of croes · tubes. The lower part of the outer casing consists of a bell glass hennet.ically secured to the upper casing. (Acces.ted Jalm.ta1'V 24, 1900.)

HYDRAULIC MACHINERY.

3641. S. C. Davidson, Belfast and A. B. WUson. Bolywood Ireland. Governln.g Water Motors, [4 Pigs. ) February 18, 1899.-lt is well known that in impulse water motors, such as Pelton wheels, the highest efficiency is attained when t he speed of the jet beat's a constant defini te rela· tion to the peripheral speed of the wheel, such speeds being constant for all changes of resistance to the torque of t he wheel; it is therefore desirable t hat the volume of water issuing from the jet should bear direct relation to the resistance offered by the wheel. For this purpose the speed of efflux has been maintained by decreasing the effective area of the nozzle as the resistance diminishes, by inserting t herein a conical pin actuated by the governor, by mechanical means, as for instance by a lever or a screw. The resistance to t he motion of the \)in, however, varies with its position within the jet, and this mterferes with the

•

Fig .1. Frg .4.

-(>! J.t)

eftective operation of the governor. According to this invention, the pin is moved by means of a piston working in a cylinder and actuated by fluid taken from the supply of the jet. The position of this piston and of the pin attached thereto is deter­mined by a pair of valves, one of which, resembling in construe· tion and Mtion the slide valve of a steam engine, is actuated by the governor to admit fluid to one side of the piston and exhaust it from the other side. The ports over which this valve works are not, however, fixed, but are formed in a second valve con­nected to and moving with the piston. Fluid supplied by the former valve is thus, when the piston has moved a certain dis­tance automatically cut off by the latter ; the piston and the pin withi~ the jet being brought to rest in a posit ion determined by the position of the governor and of the valve thereby operated. (Accepttd J anuary 17, 1900.)

36U. S. C. Davidson Belfast, and A. B. WUson, Bo!T'!"ood. Ireland. Nozzles for Water Motors. [L Fl{J. ] February 18, 1899.-Nozzles for directing a stream ?f water on t o the vanes of water motors, are made of elastiC material and connected with a compr~seible vesse.l ; the extent to which this vessel is compr.e~sed bemg de~enmn~d by the governor, and in turn detenmmn~ the effective onfic::e o~ the nozzle. The nozzle, in the embodi~ent of t he i~vention illua· tr~ted and described is made of india·ru~ber aud i~ surroun!fed by a space or chamber en~losed. by !1- caai~g m~de I.n one piece with it so as to avoid a jom t at 1ts ttp ; this casmg lB prevented from e~panding by an outer casing of metal. The spac~ between t he nozzle and the casing is connected with a .compressible veB!Jel a.rranged within a cylinder and attach~d to a piston ti~ted there.m. A similar vessel, cylinder, and piston IS conn~cted with the pipe which supplies the nozzl~, ~nd the ~wo cyhuders are arranged opposite one another, theu plStons bemg conne?ted by a cO~JT?OD piston-rod. A governor consisting of an elastic hall contai,n~ng water, mounted en the shaft of the motor, controls the yoeitlon

E N G I N E E R I N G. of the pistons by means of a bell·crank lever, one arm of which engages the piston·rod, and is acted on by an adjustabl~ spring while its other a rm is in contact with the spindle of the governor: The tension of the epring is eo adjusted that while the motor is runuing at i' s normnl ~peed the pres~ure wiLhin the nozzle is

[~ - J -

---·- ---- ,.

. " ' _, ...... --

• I I

•

equal to that within its surrounding casing. As t he speed in· creases, however, t he axial di~¥Deter of the governor diminishes, and the pressure within the oasin~ is increased under t he action of t he spring, the effective area of the nozzle being thereby diminished. (Accepted J an'ttarv 17, 1900. )

MACHINE AND OTHER TOOLS, SBAFTING, &c.

15,283. B. B. Lake, London. (J. B. Y ork, New Y ork, U S.A .) Maehtue for Be-Rolling Old RaUs. [1 F ig.] July 25, 1899.- The rail is passed between a set of upper, lower , and side rolls driven at the same surface speed, so that ita several parte are rolled to substantially the aame length, and undue straining of any part is avoided. By this means the rail is slightly reduced in all its dimensions, except the width of the ftange, on which the durability of the rail is said to a considerable extent to depend. Apparatus is described, coml>rising rolls such a3 are above referred to, adjuetably mounted 10 bearings, and

having two sets of grooves, slightly differing in detail, through which the roll is successively passed. These rolls are geared together to insure that they shall t ravel at approximately the same peripheral speed, but t his gearin~r is not shown on the drawing-. It is stated that by means of th is invention the in· equalitieS of surface wear may be removed, together with the internal strains due to the use of rolls which t ravel at diffe­rent peripheral speeda, while the cross·aection of the rail is so slightly reduced that it approximates to the standard section, and, it is stated, may be re-used without inconvenience in con· junction with standard rails. (Accepted J an'tUJA'y 24, 1900.)

MINING, METALLURGY, AND METAL WORKING.

495. The New Steam Stamp Mill Syndicate, Limited, and C. s. Madan. Salford. Mortar Boxes for Stamp Mtlls. [1 F ig.] January 9, 1899.-The feed orifice and the channel of the mortar box is formed so as to present at least two inclined surfaces, whereby the falling ore is checked in its descent, and d irected in such manner as to be more or less evenly distributed over the die. The rear wall of the feed channel

just below the entry orifice is formed with a rea-rward incline, and a forward incline is formed at its base curving down into the box, while the front wall of th e channel is curved outwardly above the delivery opening. The lower part of the box adjacent to the die is so formed that the pulverised ore is freely washed out of the box. I t is stated that by the use of a a mortar box of this form, an economy of water Is effeoted, while the ore is more efficiently treated. (.Accepted Jmwary 24, 1900. )

498. The New Steam Stamp MID Syndicate, Limited, and C. S. Madan, Salford. Mortar Boxes -tor Stamp Mills. [3 Figs.] Janu~ry 9, 1899.-For the pur­pose of minimising the wear and tear or the stem of the stamp, by keeping it as free from grit as possible, the water service after circulating around the stem under pressure, enters the box through the clearan?e around the same. 9n t he cover of ~be mortar box is an ord10ar y packed gland which serves as a guide for the stem· below which is an annular chamber around the stem, conoect'ed by a passage with the w1ter·supply nozzle. One or more two·part wood blocks fortlled to embrace the stem, and

[FEB. 23, 1900. bolted to a bracket on the cover and to one another and bedd on felt or other soft material, may be substituted fo; the paok e~ gland. The water, after freely circulating around th.e st e em,

Fig.1. R{j .3

Eg.Z.

en tera the box through the clearance between the stem and the lower aide of the cover, thus to a great extent preventing an rasion by the grit which is ftyin~r about witbio the box. (Ae· cepte.:i Jan·uary 24, 1900.)

RAILWAYS AND TRAMWAYS.

1041. A. Spencer, London. Treads for RaUway Carriages. (4 Pigs.] January 16, 1899.-For the purpose of obtaining a more secure foothold, t here is tlxed upon and near to the edge of the upper surface of the footboard or step of the carriage opposite each doorwl\y a strip of rubber or rubber sub· stitute, which is secured in position, with its upper eurface slightly aboYe that of the footboard. The t read pr&terably con-

Ftf.J.B.

sists of a rectangular strip of vulcanised rubber, the edges. ot which are formed with grooves or flanges which engage wt.tb projections on metallic clamping strips. screwed or otbe~se secured to the footboard. Three alternative methods of secuno~e the t read are illustrated, in which the edges thereof are formed "'ith grooves, with flanges, and with a groove on the outer and a flange on the inner edge. (Accepted Jantui/1'Y 17, 1900.)

SBIPS AND NAUTICAL APPLIANCES.

4464. J. Mutr, Glasgow. Band SteerlD~ .Gea~ to! Ships. [3 F igs. ] March 1, 1899.-Tbe object of tbismventlo~ ts to enable the band steering gear to be shipped merely by turmo.g the band steering wheel. On the band steering shaft, wblc.h 18 furnished with the usual right and left-band screws, there IS a pair of corresponding nuts, each of which is C?oneoted by means ot a universal joint with an arm b'ving a bortzontal slot, tum~ upwards at t he end nearest to its attachment to the nut. A pau· of pins mounted between brackets on the crosshead enter then

• • ' ' ' •

.1.

•

· tb eof io coo· slots, and engage with the upturned port10n~ her d~heel has sequence of the weight of the :l-rms, wh~n t 8 a~ thus auoo· been sufficiently turned. The hand steenn~. g~ by lifting the matically shipped; it may, however, be uns ipp Io addition arms, and reversing the rotation of the ban~be~l. are provided to the band steering gear, a. tiller and qu rao ains from Ule tor steering in the usual manner . by means df :,b the deck oo steam steering en~ine, stops be1Dg secure . ear is limit the motion of the crossbead wbeo steatb s~:~!~os be used, so that the band steering gear canno Y shipped. (.Accepted J anuarv 24, 1900.)

UNITED STATES PATENTS AND PATENT PRA~O!· Descriptions with illustrations of inventions pater~~ and

United States of America from 1~7 to the. pres:~tes, ~Y be reports of trials of patent law cases m the Um~ and 36 Bedford· consulted, gratis, at the offices of ENGINEERING, J •

street, Strand.

Y k State C&nal Com· A MERICAN CANALS.-The New or has recom·

mission appointed by Gover~or Roosevelb the State mended two plans for a sh1p ca.~al acrossis to widen between the Lake3 and the Atla.ntto. One d ·mprove and deepen the existing canals, and e-gft~l an The other the locks at an estimated cost of %0 tb ~mmission, is plan. which is the most favoured Y els, enl&rge and to widen and deepen. the presen t ~na. of new canal improve the locks, dtg abouTt 81 mt~e~rry the water· between Syra.cuse and West roy, an t cost of abou~ way round R ocbester and Syracuse a a 12,000,000.

I