Engineering Vol 69 1900-06-29

7/17/2019 Engineering Vol 69 1900-06-29

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•

JuNE 29, 1900

]

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

FRENCH AGRICULTURE AT THE

PARI

S

EXHIBITION.

THE

seventh

group

of

the

classifi

cat

i

on

of

the

P aris

Exhibiti

on

in

cludes exhibits relating to all

branches of agriculture, illu

st

ra ted by statistics,

processes, appliances, res

ult

s, &c.; a

nd

from several

countries have been s

ent

important a

nd

in

teresting

collections. Except as regards agricultural imple

ment

s,

this

group does not possess any great value

from

the

exhibitors'

point

of vie

w,

that is to say,

obtaining direct

bu

siness. t is rather

in

the in

fo

rmati

on

that

is

to

be ga

th

ered , as to

the

profi

tab

le

results r

en

dere d possib le

by

scientific culture, a

nd

the ac t

ual agricultural

importa

nce of diffe

rent

coun

t ries,

that the intere

st a

nd

value of the group is to

be founrl. France naturally takes the leading place

in

this, as

in other

groups of her Exhibition, and

much can be learned from what she so tellingly

displays

in a.

difficult

indu

st ry

that

is so carefully

fostered by the S

tate

. One of the first

impr

essions

on t he mind of the visitor to the agricultural cour ts

of

Fr

ance

refers

to

the

position occupied by that

country in th

e art of scient ific culture. A mass of

valuable informa tion and statistics has been col

lected bearing on this point, and we propose to

make

use of these

in

a

brief

review of the progress

of

French agriculture, according to official data and

the

position she occupies to-day.

2:34,000 thrashin g machines, and nearly

6,000,000 carts and other appliances for t ransport.

The

propor tion of implements to land in

Franc

e

may be deduced, though, of co

ur

se,

th i

s

pr

opor

tion varies in different distric

ts

, and must be re

garded as a.

gen

eral average.

There

is one plough

for each 17.6 acres of cultivated land ; one drill

for each 830 acres put down

to

cereals

or

roots;

one hoe for 22.5 acres

in

roots ; one mower to every

530 acres of guss fi eld, not including p

as t

ure ; one

rea

per

for every 1400 acres of

cereals; and

one

thrashing

implement of a

ll kind

s for every 150

acres of cer

eH

ls, exclusive of maize .

Champs

de

Mars, adjoining the Avenue de Suffren.

Unfortun

ately until quite

a la te

date no

printing

machinery could be put in operation.

In the

French and

German Oourts the machines

shown

at

the beginning of June only emerged from their

packing cases and were

no

t in

running order

; Ger

many, which was the most

advanced

at that date,

wa

s o

nly

ma

kin

g ve

ry

leisure

ly

efforts

to be

ready.

British participation m

ay be

dismissed in a very

few words, as regards print

ing

machines; i t is

re

pre

sented

by

a

Bremner

press, sent

incidentally

by

the proprietorR

of

the

Gn tplllic and by the

"Printing

Arts

Co

mpany,"

who show a

very

in

ge

nious Ru ssian multico

lour

machine- the

Orl

off

wbich

has

be

en de

sc

ribed

in

our

colun1ns, and

which

ha

s no claim to

be

r

egard

ed

as an English

exhibit.

But

although the very important exhibits of

France and

Germany were in a backward state

so

lo

ng aft

er the op

ening

of t he

Exhibiti

o

n,

a

profit

able visit

could

be

paid,

even

t he

n, to

the

court

of

the

latter country, which contains some

very im

portant printing

machinery, which well

illustrat

es

The

agr icult

ur

al population is recorded at 18

millions, of whom

about

7 millions are farm

lab

o

ur

ers. In France (as in m

ost

ot

her

countries),

t his class of labour is steadily diminishing, especially

in

the

communes around Paris, where high culti

''a tion is general, but where the unce

rtain

fut ure

offered by the

city prove

s

an irre

sistible

tempta

tion. In these communes only one resident

labo

urer per

50 acres cultivated is the

rul

e,

and

mechanical

ap

pliances a

nd fl

oating labour become

more

and mor

e necessary.

A gr

eat

part of the cost of ' agricultural produc

tion is absorbed by the supply of power necessary

f

or

cultivating the ground a

nd

preparin g it for

seed

ti

me. Careful trials have shown that with soil

in good condition, the energy expended on cul tiva

t ion varies

fr

om 20.millions to 159 millions of foot

pounds

per acre, according to t he nat

ur

e of th e

crop in rot

at

ion ; for example, whe

at

and

beet

root:

this

energy

ha

s to be developed

during

a limited

time, which m

at e

rially affects

the

cost. A close

approximation of the expense of producing

thi

s

energy by different means is as follows, tho unit

taken being 100,000 kilogram metres, or abo ut

725,000 foot. pounds.

the position

held by Germany

in

the printin

g

indu

st

ry. Fig. 1 illustra tes a fiat colour-printing

machine, exhibi

ted

by t he Maschinen Fabick of

Augs

bur

g,

th

e capacity of which varies from 3000 to

6000 sheets

an hour,

each 44

in. by

35.4 in . ,

delivered unfolded on tables.

The entire

area of

France

is 132,500,000 acres,

m

ost

of which-indeed no less

than

125 million

acres-falls

wi thin the officially defined domain of

cul tivab

le land

s ; t

hi

s includes about 87 million

:\Cres actually

under

cultivation, the remainder

being vccupied

by

w

oo

ds

and

for

ests

(28, 750,000

acres), sa

ndy

areas, commons, mar$hes, and boggy

lands (10 million acres), the remainder being abso

lu te

ly sterile,

an

d the mountainous and rocky

districts.

The

est im

ate

d value o f

this

land, exc

lu

sive of buildings, is 91,600,000,000 of francs, or

3,660,000,000l., and the annual revenue it yields is

abo

ut 2 milliards of francs, or 80,000,000l.

sterling

;

this

repre

sents an

average

return

of

about

2

per

cent. .Agricultural buildings th roug

hout

France

represent

a. further

value of 10 milliards of francs,

or 400 million sterling,

and

agricultural machinery

is estim

ate

d at 3 i milliards (140 millions).

There

are

in

France

about

64 million acres

under

the

plough, for the cul tivat ion of which the re are

r

eq

uired various implements, such

as

scarifiers,

cultivators, rollers,

barr

ows, pulverisers,

manure

di

strib utor s, &c. Of

the

above acreage,

37

millions

are under cultivation for cereals ; for these are

used drills and

other

seed

di

stributo

rs, reap

ers,

wi

th or without

binder

s, and so forth .

There are

21 million acres specially devo

ted

to growing forage,

not including pasture la

nd

s, which requ

ir

e mowing

machines, horse - rakes,

gathering

mac

hine

s, hay

pres

ses, &c.

There

a

re

over 6 million acres

devoted to growing roots ;

in

this work

ar

e em

ployed drills

and other

plan ting machines, horse

hoes, r

oot

diggers, &c.

The

vine cult

ur

e occupies

abo

ut

4i ·million

acres; the

implemen

ts

used

here

are

chiefly ploughs, vine hoes, pulverisers, sulphur

ing machines, and the special plant at vintage

time. About 10 million acres of those

st

r

etc

hes of

uncultivated ground known as the Landes

ar

e,

nevertheless, made useful to some extent, and

agricultural machinery, such as root

ex t

ractors,

winches, t renching machines, &c.,

are

r

eq

uired.

As

regards

th

e crops

that are

utilised

or treated

on

the farm, we find the following results

are

recorded;

in the

preparat

ion of such crops various

kind

s of

aQ"ricultural machinery a

re in

u

se

;

the

quan ti ties

0 •

are close

ly

approximate :

259,000,000 tons of cereals, requiring thrashing

and

auxiliary machines.

94,000,000 tons of

gra

in

treat

ed

by

thrashing

machines, screens, mills, &c.

165,000,000 tons of straw, for which stacking

machines, chaff-cutters, &c., are

us

ed.

155,000,000

tons

of hay,

treated with

hay -presses,

cutting

h i n e ~ &c.

Pence

From

13 to 18.5

if pr

oduced

by

h

an

d l abour.

, 5 2 , 7.1 , , horse·

pow

er ( : am ).

, 2.9 , 4.0 , , , one).

, 2.1 , 2. 4 , , ox

teams.

, 1.

2 ,

1.

9 , , oil engines.

, 1.3 , 2.0 , , steam engines.

, . 5 , 1.1 , ,

hydraulic m

oto

r.

A few words m

ay be

added on

the

division of

cultivated land in France, where small holdings

are the rule, and cultivation is na t

ur

ally more

costly than on large areas. Of very small farms,

2,230,000 have

an area

of less

than, or

equal to

2

acr

es, with a

total

average

of

3,290,000 acres ;

2,610,000 workings have areas of from 2t to 25 acres

and a total of 28,100,000 acres ; 710,000 farms of

from 25 to 100 acres have an area of 35,770,000

;

and 138,000 farms of more than 100 acres have an

extent of 56,200,000 acres. Animal st

at ist

ics show

the

following figures : Of ag

ricultural

horses,

donkeys,

and mu

l

es there are

3, 38

0,000;

of

cattle

,

13,700,000 ; sheep and goats, 28,900,000 ; of pigs,

7,400,000; and pou ltry, &c., 86,600,000.

During

the

15 years, 1882-98,

the

material

and

pr

ocesses of ag

ricultur

al

industry in France

hav e

been greatly improved, and

the

use of agricultural

machinery increased to a very large extent.

In

presence of this advance,

the French Governm

ent

has

been ac t

ive

in the development of

organised

agricultural

education;

and

in

1889 the Minister of

Agriculture establish

ed

at Paris a testing station for

agricultural machinery, which is

represented

at the

Exhibi

tio

n, and

a

bout

which

mu

ch that is

interest

ing

may

be

said.

To e continued.)

SOME PRINTING MACHINES AT THE

PARIS E

XH

IBITION.

150,000,000

tons

of roo ts, not including the

crops so

ld

direct to factories, sugar

an

d

dist illeries. Th e implement s chiefly

used

for deal

in

g with

thi

s crop are washe rs, r

oot cutters

and

pulpers, boilers,

and

crushers. t may

be

assumed

that

more

than half

a million tons of o

il

-cake

are

used,

in ,

-olving

the

u

se

of

br

eakers.

The

invent

ory

of ag

ri

c

ultur

al imple

ment

s

in

rance shows as a minimum 3, 670,000 ploughs,

h

ar

rows, scarifiers

and

cultivators, 52,000

s and other sowing machines, 251,000

hor

se

oes, 38,000 mowers , 51,000 horse-rakes, 23,000

PRINTIKG machinery

and printing pr

o

ce

sses a

re

exhibited at Paris

under

Class I

I.,

t he fh·st of

th

e

third

gro

up

which relates to Literat ure, Science,

and

th e Liberal Arts,

and to the

mea

ns

employed

for

their

practical applications.

The group

includes

eight classes, that may be summarised as follows :

Printing and printing

machinery, photography,

b

ooks

a

nd

newspapers, scientific

instruments

s

ur

gical

in

st

rument

s,

mu

sical

instrumen

ts

t h ~

mechanics of t he theatre. Of these, printing ma

chinery is of the chief in terest to

our

readers,

though,

as

we shall find l

ate

r on,

the

collections of

scien t ific in

st

ruments

will claim much

attention

fr

om. us. The exhibits

rel

at ing to typography are,

as

m1ght have been expected, of

the

high

est import

ance,

though

t he

spa

ce t

ha

t could

be spared

for

them was far too limited. t is located on t he

ground floor

in

th e

Lib

eral Arts Building on the

The bed is

pro

vided with four steel paths,

sufficiently

strong

to

prev

ent

any

be

nding und

er

the

greatest

pressure;

it travels

upon a lar

ge

numb

er of

steel

rollers, finished

with

the

hi

ghe

st

at tainable accuracy ; th ese rollers run on four very

stro

ng rails, supported at in tervals, particuhrly

below

the impres

sion cylinder, so as

to

avoid

vibration a

nd

consequent imperfection in the work.

The

movement of the bed is effected by m

ea

ns of

a single

pair

of ca

rryin

g rollers, and

the number

of

teet

h

in

gear has been

limited

to the lo

west

possible

fi

g

ur

e. The guide frames of the

steel

rollers are in positive gearing. The

other

chief

part

s of the

pre

ss have been correspondingly

st

rengthene

d,

so

far

as

extra

s

trength

was call

ed

for. Fu rther cross stiffening has

been added

in

co

nn

ection with a hollow shaft which

extends fr

om

bearing to

bearing ri

ght through

the cylinder

and

the

steel

main shaft

is of

unu

sual st

rength.

' The

i d ~ frames ca r

ryin

g the impression cylinder,

with

their

l

ate

ral stays,

pr

ovide a very secure bearing.

Of all

the

types that

are

shown, the mo

st

st

riking and attractive

is

certainly

the

enormous

rotary

cylindrical

multi

-co

lour

press,

exhibited

by the Maschinen F a

brik

of Augsburg, in Bavaria

and

a general .view _of which is . given in

Fig.

2:

page 848. . IS designed p e c i a l ~ y for printing

cheap

pe

riOdiCals of

lar

ge Clrculahon, such as is

a t ~ i n e d

by

many

paper

s at the

pr

ese

nt

time, and

w

hJCh

has

been rend

er

ed

possible only

by

such

m a c h i ~ e ~ ~ as ~ h i s ; by t he c h ~ a p n e s s of paper,

and

t h ~

faCihtles gtven

by

modern Illustrative processes.

Thi

s large Augsburg machine will print in

one

two, th ree, or

four

colours,

and

is

adapted

f

or

large range of r k , such wall posters, brought

at the

pre

sent t1me to so high a

standard

of artistic

excellence, to coloured newspapers, or to the

better

class

printing, either in bla

ck

or

colours,

for

cata

logues.

.

In

the of t h i ~ press t h ~

Aug

s

burg

En

gine Works paid speCial at tentiOn

to

facilitate

the work of

the machine

hands.

The

g

earina

being below

and by

t

he

s

ide of

the

delive

ry

~ b ~ e

the wh

?le ~ a c h i n e

and especially the

mkmg

mechanism, IS

very

accessible.

In

ma

?hines ?.f

older types, the inking

device received

I

ts

motiOn from a wheel placed in front of it.

That

arrangement

necess

itated

the use of a very

lo

ng rack

; but in 'this new

machine the length

of

the rack and

of

the gearing

has

considerably been

reduced.

. The

press

is proyided

with

six

pair

s of

impre

s

S

ion and pla te

cylmde

rs

and

six

s

ets

of

inkin

a

rollers in addition to a set-off device. The i m ~

pression and plate cylinders have a circumference

of 2240 millimetres (88 in . ), and

can

therefore

de

al

with

two

s

heet

s, each 44

in.

in l

enatb and of

a

i m ~ r .

width

of 900 millimetre s

3°5.4

' in.)

at the

same time. All the

six inking

devices

half

of

w ~ i c h are.

pr

ovided

with

six, and t he other half

four

mk roJl

er.s, are fitt

ed

with very

compl

ete

vibrators

.

and

di

st

ribu

tors

,

and contain

each

nine

or eleven 1ron l l ~ r s and ten or t welve composition

r o ~ l e ~ s .

~ h e

SIX

mk roller

sets

are designed

for

~ r J n t i n g In

black, and

this ope

rati

on

may

be

the

first or. last the c y c l ~ of operations.

The mkmg deviCe compnses

four

la r

ge

ink rollers•

•

7/17/2019 Engineering Vol 69 1900-06-29


an

d t

he

v

ib r

ators

and

distr ibutors perfo

rm

their

wo

rk ex

cellen tly.

Th

e drum whi

ch

guides

the

pr

inted sheet to the flyers is

pl

aced at a high level ;

the

hold of the grippers is t

hu

s continu ed over a

long

peri

od

and

an absolute reg

ister

insured. The

exceptio

nally st

r

ong

const ru

ct

ion of t

hi

s mac

hin

e

admits of applying higher speeds than t hose recom

mend ed for the normal presses of the Augsbu

rg

works. V e

ry

compl

ete

ink

distr

ibu tion is one of t he

fea t

ur

es of this mac

hi n

e ; the impression is made

on one side of the sheet by means of t

hr

ee ink

in

g

ro

ller

s, ea

ch

having fo

ur

dist ribut ing rollers, a

nd

an

in

k

in

g

tab

le w

it

h six di

st

ri

bu to

rs.

On

t

he

other side there is one inking roller with four

distri

butors

and

an

inking

tab

le with six distr i-

butors

.

Th

e

nu m

ber of

distr

i

butors

may

be

varied,

however, according to the densi ty of impression

that is required ; by this means a considerable

range in tone is

obta

ined.

Th

e machine is, of

co

ur

se , o

nly

a

dapted

for web pr i

nting;

the p r

in t

ed

ar

ea measures 35.4 in. by 43. 8 in., wit h pa per

35.4 in . wide, but a smaller size, 29.9 in. by


half its size ; af

te

rw

ar

ds it is b roug

ht

to the

fl

yers which deliv

er

the

fi

nish

ed

sh

eets on

t he t wo

tables.

The set-o

ff

paper which takes up any excess of

colo

ur

on the

inn

er side of the sh

ee t

, a

nd

prevents

sullying the pe

rf

ect ing cylinders, is wound from a

reel placed above the lower inking

set

on the righ t,

and

passes unde

rn

ea

th

the pr inted paper rou

nd

t he four

pe

rf

ect

ing cyl

inde

rs on to a receivi

ng

wooden reel, fixed between the delive

ry

table

and the inking set j u

st

mentioned. Any of

the inking sets and cyl ind

ers

not

req

ui

re

d may b e

t

hr

o

wn

out by t

ur

ning a central wheel.

Wh

en it

is desired to print a

nd

to perfect in one colo

ur

only,

the paper is taken

fr

om the first perfect ing cylinder

undern ea t

h the others to t he ripping cylinder, and

passes be tween the latter and another small cylin

der to the cut-off rollers and flyers . Th e set-off

paper also makes a much shor

te

r circuit in this

case, as it need only travel round one impression

cylinder. A ve

ry

acc

ur

ate regi

ste

r is main ta ined.

The

dimensions of t he m

a(·

hine are : Length,

[ } UN

29,

1900.

special features which may be noted. The main

rests .in bearings made

in

two pieces instead

of In bea rmgs recessed in the frame ; the guide

are

ar

ranged so as to secure perfecb register ;

1n all respects the press is we ll made, and

we

ll

excelle?ce

an

d convenience

in wo

rking.

This machine, which, as we have said is we ll

adapted for the highest class of colour can

also be used for relief pr

int

ing, a class of ~ o r k

forming a special trade or a branch of the book

binders art, but can easily and profitably be

execu

te

d by the pr mter. In Fig. 3 is sho

wn

a

m

o.

dification

o.f

the

sa

me ty

pe

, in

tend

ed t o pro

duce

rehef work w1th heated moulds. The machine is

adapted for electrical driving, and a special feature

is the gr

eat strengt

h introduced, so th

at

the pr

es-

sure of 80 tons can be used in regular working.

Ei ther the matrix or the die, or both, can be heated

by

st

eam

or

gas, according to convenience · the

. .

conne

ctiO

ns conve

ym

g the h

eat

to the die are very

simple and easily managed. When employed for

ordinary surface pr inting, a double inking table is

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I

1. F LAT

COLO

UR- P RI NTING

lV

I ACHINE , BY THE AUGSBURG M

.ASC

H IN EN FABRIK.

43.8

in. , can also be prin ted , with a narrower web 10.25 metres 33 ft . 8 in.); width,

5.5

metres

29.9 in. ). As already said, t he machine, which 18 ft .), inclusive of gearing and ?pace required

is driven el

ectri

ca

ll

y

at

the Exhibit ion, can only

be

for drawing out the set-off paper carr iage.

Th

e

used economically in

newspaper

work for large heig

ht

is 5.25 m

et

res 17 ft . 2 in.) . and the

editions; its output of well finished

wo

rk is 10,000 weight about 60 tons. These dimensions require

copies an hour. Some idea of the impor t

an

ce special galleries and stairways fo r the conve

ni

ence

of the Augsburg

Ma

schinenfabrik, which was of the machin e ha

nd

s, and t wo pl

at

forms have

established in 1840, will be gathered from been prov ided, which are situated at levels of

the f

act

that t he works cover an area of about 6 ft .

and

12 ft . above the

floo

ring. Th e

about 40 acres,

an

d give employment to 30,000 ma

in

gear pi nion is placed by

the

side of

th

e

workm en. upper set-off paper reel. The impression, plate,

Th

e operation of the machine is as fo llows :

an

d ripp ing cylinders are grouped in a circle

From the reel the

paper

is first

take

n to the damp- around t he main gear wheel.

in

g device and

past

a sma

ll

roll

er

on an elastic

On

a much smaller scale th

an

the foregoing is t he

bearing . I t then passes over two large carrying exhibi t of Messrs. Rockstroh and Schneider ,

drums a

nd

a ser ies of guide rollers to the

fi

r

st

pair manufact urers of prin ti

ng

machine ry at Dresden .

of impression cylin

de

rs

an

d af

te

rwa

rd

s on

the

right I t forms an

inte

rest

in

g con trast to t

he

high-speed

to the second pair. Both t hese cylinders

ar

e rotary Augsburg press, with its capability for

situate

d in the lower part of t he machine. The enormous

output

, for the exhibit consists ent irely

paper

now proceeds upward

to

the l

eft

to t he first of fl

at

presses,

wo

rk

in

g

at

a limited speed,

bu

t

pair of pe

rf

ecting cyl

inde

rs, and then, on an producing very high-class work. Th ey are espe

approximately circul

ar

pa th, to the other perfecting cially adapted for printing facsim ile water-colo

ur

cyl

inde

rs, the l

ast

pair of which will be seen in the work

in

from four to six

co

lo

ur

s, and for the pro

middle of t he mach

ine at

t he top,

Fi g

. 2.

Per-

duction of copies of oil

painti

ngs in which the

fected, on the one side in two colours and on the finish of the execution, dependent, of course, on the

other

in four, the paper now t ravels downw

ar

d

to

perfect ion of the blocks, would have been thought

the right, between

the

large cutting cylinder a

nd

impossible a few years ago. Two of these presses

are

another cylinder, placed above the former and of . illustrated in F igs. 4 and 5 ; they possess several

provided, and the machine is worked

e i t h e ~

b_

band or foot, although if the highest output . 1s

des ired it can be

dr i

ven by power.

.A.

specuu

featu

re

may be n

ote

d as belonging

to

this press.

I t has a reversible inking dev ice , used when t

wo

different coloured inks

ar

e employed

at

tha a ~ e

t ime-that is when each half of the forme

IS

inked by a different colour.

In

producing shaded

e

ffe

cts this device ca

nn

ot be employed, because

it wodld mix the different coloured inks, but an

attachment is provided consisting of a special inker

on which are a ser ies of inking surfa

ce

s, .wh?se

positions can be shifted by of

screws, so that a great variety 10 col?ur

eff

ec.ts ~

be obtained. A special feature

ID

the mkmg

mech

an

ism of

th i

s machine is th

at

the

pr

essure

regulating screws for

th

e feed a

ct

on blad? at_he

back,

an

d not below it a very dlStnbu

tion is obtained in this manner. F ig. 6

the

way

in

which these

pr

esses can driven

by power. The prin t ing machine by

Messrs. Rockstroh and h n e i d furrusbed

with a

br

ake

co

nn

ected with the t hro

wm

g-out

ge

ar ;

this brake acts, not only against the periphery of the

flywheel, bu t on each side of the. run al.so, thus .se

curing considerable energy in

actiO

n while

the wear on the bearin <Ys . The same exhtbt

tOls

show also a fiat press for

0

printing

in

colours at the

7/17/2019 Engineering Vol 69 1900-06-29


•

•

-

] UN

29,

1900 ]

N G I N R I N

G

PRINTING MACHINERY AT TH PARIS

EXHIBITION.

CONSTRUCTED BY ~ I E S S R S . RO CKSTROH AND SCHNEIDER DRESDEN.

I

•

I

•

FIG. 3.

G. 4.

r

ate

of

1500

copies

an

hour. The general charac

teristics of all

the

principal printing machinery

show n at

Pari

s,

apart

from special devices, are e

x-

cellence of workmanship, high speeds,

and great

strength of parts, th is last having become

a ne

ces

si t

y, on account of the very high pressures

that

are

required to transfer on paper all the qualities

possessed by

the

half-to

ne bl

ocks n

ow

used almost

exclusively, both for black and colour work.

THE

COST

OF ELECTRIC POWER

PRODUCTION.

By Parr yp

DA W

SON.

Conclu e

from

page 740.

TADLE

XIV.

is

interest

ing, as representing some

ef

the

average American res

ult

s obtained in trac-

•

-

•

1111

11

I

j

•

•

tion work, and Table

XV.

as sh

ow

ing the rat

io

of

the

various expendi tures.

Table

XVI.

g

iv

es some results obtained in

St. Louis ; Table

XVII.

those obtained in Ba

lt i

more; and

Table XVIII. those of

th

e Chicago

We st Side Elevated.

Table XIX. gives some interesting resul

ts

obtained

in the

Brooklyn

stat

ions, a

nd

Table XX.

th

ose obtained

in

Boston.

This

la tter is of par

ticular interest, as sh

ow

ing the advantages to be

by centralisation.

Table XXI. gives the average results obtained

from some fairly large .American traction plan

ts

,

all of which are

not

very recent,

and

und oubtedly

if put down with our presen t

kn

owledge could

be

worked more economically.

Yet

these figures very

closely approximate those prepared by Mr. Pa rshall.

We may, therefore, conclude that there is every

•

•

Fro. 6.

FIG.

5.

reason to anticipate that power can

be

produced

in very large well-designed stat ions, all

r g ~ s

included, such as interest on capital

and

sinking

fund, for little over one-half farthing

per Board

of

Tr

a

de

unit at

the

switchboard.

Tables XIV. and X

V.

page 843, are of great

in t

erest, especially when compared with Tables I.

and

IX. The costs given

in

Table XIV. are

th

e

re

sults obtained in actual practice since 1894.

Table

XV.

shows that

the

largest items are the

cost of fuel and labour ; they aggregate from 60

to

9

per

cent. of

the

total cost of working. Interest

and

sinking fund amount, as a rule,

to

from 10 to 15

per cent. The cost of

the plant

proper is, on an

average, from half to th ree-quarters the total cost

?f

t

he

c o m p l ~ t e a l l a t i o ~

in

cluding l

an

d, build

ma1ns ; and a h t

tle

more expenditure,

wh1ch will result 1n permanently reducing

the

c o s ~

7/17/2019 Engineering Vol 69 1900-06-29


I

•

THE

COST OF

ELECTRIC

POWER

P R 0 D U C T I 0 N.

T A B L E X X . - C o s T oF

PowER

IN B os ToN oN WEsT END SYSTEM IN PENCE PER

UNIT

IN

1897.

AME

OF

STATI

ON

• •

•

•

Albany-st r eet

Centr

al)

apacity of s

ta

ti on in kilowatts \ 12,700 kilowatts

y

pe

of st

ea

m-e

ngin

e plant .. Direc t-conne

ct

ed

c

ompound and

t riple-co

nd

ensers

I

s of coal

pe

r

uni

t gene-

rated . . . . . . . .

I

2.86 lb.

fac

to

r

• •

• • • •

st

in pen

ce per

uni

t of fu el

, labo

ur

, ,

wat

er ,

oil w

as

t e,

and

r epa

irs

. .

Tota l cost

in

pence per

unit

34. 8 per ce

nt.

0.1946

d.

0.0780d.

0.0770d.

0.3496

d.

East Cam

bridg

e

2400 kil o

watts

Be

lt

ed

trip

le

c

ond

ensers

3. 24 lb.

62.2

per

cent.

0.

2100d.

0.1216

d.

0.

09

10d.

0.4225d.

East

Bos

ton.

Dorc

he

ster.

600

ki

lowat

ts 2000

kilowatt

s

•

Dir

ect-connected Du·eot-connec

ted

c o m p o u ~ d con- m p o u ~ d con-

d ens

mg

d ensmg

3.18 lb.

22.3 per

0. 2070d.

0.

2800d.

0.11

25d.

0.5995

d.

2.48 lb.

•

33.6

per cent.

0.1625d.

0.1115d.

0.0690d.

0.3430d.

Char

lestown.

1600 k

ilowatts

Direct-connec

ted

com,

pound

con

d ens

ing

•

2.61 lb.

46.4 per

ce

n

t.

0. 1700d.

0.0935d.

0.0660d.

0.3295d.

Allston.

•

1440 kilowat

ts

Belted sing

le

non-con

den sing

4.13 lb.

47 per c

ent

.

0.2995d.

0.1605

d.

0.

0910d.

0.5610d.

Avera.ge

co

st of coal delive

red is

15s. 2d.

pe

r

ton

.

T A B L E

X X II . - C os T rN PENCE OF Po wE R

PER BoARD OF TR

ADE UNI'.l ,

SouTH

S IDE

ELEVATED RAILROAD,

CHICAGO,

1878-99 .

MON

TH

, 1898

••

e

ptemb

er, 1898 . .

ctober, 1

S98

..

ovemb

er, 1898 . .

ecembe

r, 1898 ..

anuary , 1899

e

bruary,

1899

arch, 1899

pril

, 1899 . .

May, 1899 ••

0 0

.

•

• •

• •

A

·

erages for ten

month s . .

Lab

o

ur.

d.

0.0945

0. 0880

0.0738

0.0620

0.0500

0.0510

0.0565

0.0505

0.0625

0.0660

0.0655

Coal.

d .

0.1795

0.1790

0.1442

0.12

25

0.1195

0.1280

0.1280

0.1215

0.1280

0.1280

0.1378

Oil

and

Waste.

d.

0.0140

0.

0150

0.0209

0.0130

0.0120

0.0110

0.0110

0.

0120

0.0145

0.0130

0.0136

Water .

d.

0.0164

0.0115

0.0142

0.0065

0.0055

0.0045

0.0060

0.0

05

5

0.0075

0.0080

0.0086

T

otal pe

r

Unit, not

Manage- including

ment and Intere

st

and

Various.

Sinking

Fu

nd.

d.

0.0063

0.0135

0.0034

0.0150

0.0090

0.0065

0.006 5

0.0065

0.0175

0.

01

80

0.0102

d.

0.3107

0.3070

0.2565

0.2190

0.1960

0.2010

0.

2080

0.1960

0.2300

0.2330

0.2357

Total Un

i ts

Ge

nerated.

819,414

852,930

1,083,690

1,325,826

1,632,852

1,607,364

1,487,034

1,614,816

1,279,008

1,139,547

1,284,248

•

Pound

s

of

Units Pound

s of

Wat

er

Con

s

umed Co

al per

Evap

o-

per

Ca

r- Kilowatt-

rat

ed p er

Mile.

Hour.

Po

und

of

2.023

2.018 5.01

2.213 4.59

0

2.694 4.49

3.082 4.46

3.329

3.554

2.954

2.362

2.081

2.631

4.64

4.41

4.46

4.67

4.38

4. 57

Co

al.

4.8

5.32

5.43

5.36

6.00

5.38

Capacity of

pla

nt at e

nd

of M

ay

w

as four dir

ect-connec

ted

850-kilowatt railway gen

erator

s

and

cross-compound condensing

Allis

-C

orliss e

ngin

es. So

ft

coal

sc

re

enings costing

6s.

3d

. a

ton

.

Average

load fac

tor for the

10

month

s, 56.5 per c

ent.

T A B L E X X

I II

.-COST OF

POWER IN PENCE

PER

BOARD OE

TRADE

UNIT, D ENVER STREET

RAILWAYS, 1894 TO 1898.

S

TEAM

.

Uni ts genera ted . .

•

•

Wag

es

in

pen

ce

per

unit

..

Fu

el

in

pen

ce

per

unit

..

St

ea

m p lant maintenance

• •

• •

• •

Elect

r

ica

l plant ma

intenan

ce . .

Water,

oil,

was

t e,

and sundri

es

.

Total

.•

• •

1894.

. . . 5,636,000

. . . 0.165

• •

• •

..

• 0

0.495

0.0

25

0.005

0. 020

0.710

1895.

7,130,000

0.145

0.430

0.045

0.005

0.010

0.635

1896.

7,

473

,000

0.145

0.335

0.035

0.010

0.015

0.540

1897.

7,148,000

0.1

35

0.310

0.035

0.015

0.015

0.510

1898.

7,452,000

0.135

0.320

0.030

0.020

0.015

0.520

Ave

rage

for

Five

Yea

rs.

0.145

0.380

0.035

0.010

0.015

0.

585

Average Max

imum and

per

ce

nt . of

Minimum

Per-

Item

s of cen

tage

of·

Power for I tems du r

ing

Fiv

e

Year

s.

Five Year

s.

per

ce

nt

.

25 .05

64.45

6.25

1.54

2.71

per cent .

22. 79

to

2

6.

87

60.52 , 69.20

3.98 , 7.21

0.63 ,

2.

53

2.15 , 3.37

Ther

e

ar

e five old-fashioned s

ta

tions wi

th

un economical bel

te

d

hi

gh-s

pe

ed engines

and

non-condensing fuel cost s on an

av

erage

Us.

per ton. Avera

ge

fue l consumption for

fi

ve years is 6.38 lb.

per

unit generated.

T A B L E

X X

IV

.- C o s T

oF PowER PRODUCED

FOR

EL

ECTRIC

TRACTION

DURING 1899 IN

LEEDS

AND GLASGow.

NAME OF FIRM.

Le

eds

• •

• •

••

Glasgow

••

• •

Pounds

of

Coal per

Boa

rd

of

Tr

ade Unit

.

•

•

•

• •

Boa

rd

of

Trade Units

Generated.

809,101

54

5,830

I

Coal.

0.3

25

0.610

COST

TB

PENOE

PER

BOARD

OF T

RAD

E UN IT GENJmATED.

Oil and

Gr

ease.

0.027

0.070

Wag

es

and

Sa

lar ies.

0.414

0.220

Maintenan

ce.

••

0.080

Sundries.

0.149

0.040

T

ota

l.

0.915

1.020

T A B L E X X V II I . -C O S T OF

POWER

PRODUCED AT ALTONA, 1

895

TO 1897, NOT INCLUDING INTEREST OR

SINKING F UND.

1895

..

1896 . .

1897

..

YEAR.

• •

• •

..

.

• •

..

• •

Ave

rage

f

or the abo

ve

three years . . . .

T

O;lA

L POUNDS OF COAL

PBR .BOARD OF TRADE

UNIT. T

ota

l

Board

CosT

OF

P

OWER

IN P

EN

CE PER

BOARD OF

TRADE UN I

T.

- - - -......,.- lof

Trade Unit

s

- - - - . - - -

Genera.ted. · · · •

Produced

Supplied

to

at

Station

.

Cu

s

tomers

.

3.9

3.3

3.6

3.6

6.2

5.3

4.8

5.4

976,000

994,000

2,030,000

1,333,00:>

Coal.

0.270

0.348

0.418

0.346

Oil

and I

~ e s and

IMainten-

1

Sundries

.

1 Total.

Grease. Salaries. ance.

0.017

0.018

0.018

0.018

0.611

0.564

0.379

0.518

• •

• •

0.123

0.041

..

• •

0.368

0.123

0.

898

0.930

1.306

1.046

Six combined Lancash ire

and marine

boilers, 175

lb

.

steam pre

s

su

re ; f

ou

r 300

indicat

ed horse-power and one 600

indi

cated

ho

r

se

-power ve

rtical

triple-e>..lJansion

cond

ens

ing,

.110 r

evo

l

ution

s,

dire

ct

conne

c

ted to four

275-

kilowatt

set

ts, contin

u

ou

s

current , shunt 230

to

300 volts, and one 430-kilowatt shunt dynamo ;

two batterie

s of accumulators of 140

ce

lls each, and

tota

l

capacity

of 1920

ampere-hours

for ligh

ting and one

b

atte

ry

of

263 cells

and

962

ampe

re-hou rs

capa

city

for tract

i

on.

T A B L E

X X I X . - C

osT

OF Po wER PRODUCED IN

Dt i

sSELDORF,

189

5 TO 1

898

.

NOT INCLUDING INTEREST OR

SINKING

FUND.

T

OTAL

POUNDS OF COAL

PER

BOARD

OF TR

AD

E

UNIT.

Tot

al

Board

of

Trad

e

Units

Generated

at

Station.

CosT IN

PEN

CE

PER BOARD

OF

TRADE UNIT GENERATED

.

1895 •

1896

..

1897 .

1898 .

YEAR.

• •

• •

• •

• •

• •

• •

• •

•

•

• •

•

•

• • ••

A

vera.ge for four ye

ar

s

Produced

at l

Supplied to

Station. Customers.

4.93

4.53

4.53

4.37

4.59

7.15

6.35

6.49

6.33

6.58

566,000

652,000

814,000

1,047,000

769,700

Coal.

0.290

0.261

0.277

0.259

-

0.272

Oil

and I

Wages.

and IMainten- I und

r

ie

s.

Grea

se. Sa.lanes.

an

ce. · ·

0

.0

38

0.055

0.040

0.064

0.049

0.701

0.627

0.530

0.4.61

0.579

0.252

0.214

0.187

0.152

0.201

0.142

0.138

0.174

0.

132

0.146

T

otal.

1.423

1.295

1.208

1.068

1.247

Four

tu

bu

lar

bo

il

ers, two tandem compound-

c

onden

s

ing horizontal,

300

ind

i

cated

horse-power, 90 r

evolut

i

ons; one tandem com

pound-condensing horizontal, 400 indicated horse-power, 90 revolu t ions, 120 lb. s

team pressur

e ; two direct-connected 350-kilo

wa.tt 400-volt

continuou

s

cu

rr

en

t;

and two

150-

kilowatt

300-volt

continuo

us c

urr

ent,

a

nd sub

-s

tations with sto

r

age oatterie

s.

T A B L E XXX. - C o sT

OF PowER

PRODUCTION AT BRESLAU, 1895 TO 1

898

, NOT

IN

CLUDING INTEREST oa

SI NKING FUND

.

,

Po

und

s of

COST IN PENCE PER .BOARD OF TR

ADE

UNIT

GENERATED.

Boa

rd

of

Coa

l

perBo

a

rd

YEA.R.

Trad

e

Unit

s

T

ot

a

l.

of.

Trad

e

Unit

Sold.

Sold.

Oil

and

W

ag

es

and

Mainte-

Coal. Sundrie

s.

Grease.

Salaries .

nan

ce.

•

1895

• • • • ••

• •

9.02

503,000

0.504

0.048

0.948

1.269

•

2.

796

1896

• • • • • • • •

9.52

554,000

0.737

0.070

0.974

0.293

• •

2.074

1897

• •

• •

• •

• •

9.94

721,000 0.646

0.099

0.909

0.378

0.351

2.382

1898

• •

•

• • • •

•

9.16

882,030 0.653 0.108 0.782

0.334

0.283

2.160

Average

for

four years .

9.41 665,000 0.636

0.081 0.904:

0.675 0.158

2.353

··

· · · · · -

Th is power

statio

n contains seven Heine boilers.

Thr

ee

steam

engines 250

indi

cated ho rse-power compound-condensing,

150 revolutioDB each,

direct

connected

to

two

SO

-kilowatt conti

nu

ous-curr

ent

130 volts. Two 750

indi

c

ated

horse-power

compound-condensing , 100 revolu tions each, direct connected

to

th e

48

5-k.ilowatt 220 volt s con t inuous

cur

rent . Thr ee .bat

ter ies of

accumulator

s, 140 cells each,

and

of

tota

l

capacity

of 1000 ampere-hou rs.

of

producing the power;

will add

but little to

is

the

case

in traction and power

transmission. ~ h u s in

Table

X V I .

notwithstanding

a con sump

th e i

tem

of

interest and

s

inking fund; an

d is,

Tables XVI. and XVII. are instructiv

e,

and tion

of

6.59 lb. of

coal

per kilow

a

tt

-

hour generated,

as a

rule,

well worth c

ons

idering, especially pr o

ve

co

nclu

sively

that

even un der unfavourable

the

tot.al

cost

of power, interest and sinking

fund

when a

plant ru n

s practically continuously, as circumstances power can be pr oduced very cheaply. excepted, is not much over one-third of a penny.

Had mo re economical compound- condensing

engines been admissible, this cost

would have

been

less than

a farthing.

Tables

X I X .

and XX. demonstrate conclusively

0

•

•

I

00

1\l

t11

z

G)

.......

z

t 1

ti1

• •

z

G1

• •

I

\ .

c::

z

t:7:j

to.

\0

...

8

0

•

7/17/2019 Engineering Vol 69 1900-06-29


•

•

JuNE

29,

1900.)

E N G I N E E R I N

G. 843

TABL

E XIV A

verage

Cos

t

of Po

wer

in

cent

Am

.erican

Power Plants in Pence p r Board

of

'l'rade Unit

Generated.

T A B L E X X X I .

C o

s·r Oli PowER PnonuoEn AT

BANNOVRR

1895 TO 1897, NOT IN CLUDING

INTEREST

AND SINKING Fusn.

•

d. d.

Fn el . . . . . . .. .. .. 0.00

to

0.50

Labo

ur • . .. . . . . . . . . 0.03 ,. 0.28

Oil a

nd

wnste . . . . . . . . . . 0.008

,.

0.02

Main

te

nan ce . . . . . . . . . . 0.01 , 0 05

Wa

te

r

and

sundries . . . . . . . . 0.008 , 0.10

Totnl cos t of uni t nll in clud ed, except in te-

r

est

on c

ap

ital nnd

s

inkin

g

fund

. . . . 0.128 , O.

il

TABr E XV A

verage

Per

centage to Total Cost

of

Power Prod·

uotion

American R c ~ u l t s .

Per Oeut .

Fu

el .. .. . . . . .. .. .. 50

to iO

W

ages . . . . .. .. .. ..

13 , 26

Oil and waste . . . . . . . . . . 1.5 , 6

Main

tena

nce .. .. . . . . .. : , t}

Wa

te

r

and

sundries . . . . . . . . 2

11

6

TA BLE

XVI. Oost

of Produ

cing

Powe1·

in Pence per

Borurd of Trade Unit Durinq 1898, Cass A venue Power

Station, St. Louis, Mo.

I tems.

• lb.

Pounds of coal per Board of Trade unit 6.59

Totnl

kilowatt-hours generated . . . . 10,643,000

d.

Co

st

in pence per uni

t fu el . . .

: 0.2

365

, , wages . . . . 0.0765

,

main

t

enan

ce of buildings 0.0065

11

11 s team plant 0.0090

, , elect ric pl ant 0.0005

Oil

and

waste . . . . . . . . 0.0080

Tool

s,

bo iler com

pound

, a.nd various . . 0.0035

W

at e

t

· . .

.. .. .. .. .. 0.01'i0

Total

• •

••

• •

In surance • . .. . . .. ..

Tnxes . . . . . . . . . . . .

In

te r

es

t a

nd sinkin

g

fund

(6 per

ce

n

t.)

total . . . . . . . . . .

To ta

l

cost

p er

unit, all

c

harges

included

. . . . . .

0.3535

0.0060

0.0095

0.0560

0.4260

Approximate

pet· Ce

nt.

of

T

otal

Cost

p.

c.

54

31

17.00

1.60

2.16

0.09

1.90

0.79

4.03

1.45

2.29

13.39

Total

ra

ted capacity of plant 3250 kilowatts,

di r

eot·connec ted

single cy

lind

er AJlis-Corli ss

non-c

ondensintr en£rin

e s coal

costs Ss.

a ton d elivered,

water

costs 7d. per 1000

ga

llons.

TABLE

XVII . Oost

of

Power in

Pen

ce pe1· Unit, Baltli

more Oity Rail1·oad 001npany,

1898.

Appr

oximate

Per

Cent

.

to

To

ta

l Co

st

Pounds of coal per unit generated ..

, water ,

,.

..

Oost in

pence

per

un it generated,

f

ue

l . . . . . . . . . .

Co

st

in pe n

ce per

unit generat

e

d,

\vater . . . . . . . . . .

Cost in

pen co

per

un i t

generate

d,

labo

ur

. . . . . . . . . .

Cost in

pe n

ce per

uni

t generated,

maintenance . . . . . . . .

Oil w

aste and

sundries. . . . . .

Total ..

• •

•

lb.

3.23

28.52

d.

0.164

0.009

0.032

0.028

0.014

0.247

p.

c.

65.25

3.75

13.25

12.00

5.75

P l n n ~ consists of four

belted

500·kilowo.tt ,

and

two

di rect

ou pled 850-kilowat.t ,

and

horizo

ntal tandem

c

ompound

con·

n

sers. .Mc

ln

tosh

and

Se

ymour

's engines o.nd water-tube

oilers. Coal cos ts 10s.

7d.

a

to

n d elive red.

J XVIII. - Oost

of

Power, West Side Elevated

Ra

il

'way , (Jh:icago,

in

Pcn

oe

pe1· Board

of T1·ade Unit

.

FU

el . . . . . . . .

Labour .. .. •.

Oil, was

te, c. . . •

Wa t

er

. .

..

..

M

ai

n

te

n

an

ce

and

repairs

..

T

ot a

l ..

••

To

ta

l

units

generated ..

I .oad factor . . . •

Pounds of coal per uni t

1897. 1898.

d. d.

0.1685 0.1S10

0.

1010 0.0835

0.0165 0.0100

0.0065 0.0080

0.

0185 0.0275

0.3110

13,570,000

38.4 p. c.

0

.3

100

16,976,000

47.6 p.c.

gen

erated

. . .. .. 3.84 lb . 3.62 lb .

Co al cos

ts

1

0s

. 3d. per ton.

Station contains two

1500-kil

owatt

rec t

·con n ec

te

d continuous-cur1ent railway

generators and

two

di r

ec t-conn ec

ted

units

and

vertical c ross-co

mpound

ns ing Corliss engi nes ,

and

wa

te r-tub

e boiler

s.

ABL'E X IX Cost

of

Power

in

Brooklyn Oity

Railroad

CO??tpany s Stations

in

Penoe pe1· Unit Generated during

1897 .

of

stat i

on ..

ot a

l

capacity in

kil

owat

ts ..

Type of steo.m

plant

oad

f

acto

r . . . .

s of coa.l per

unit generated

..

o

st

in pen ce

per

t ~ e n e

a t e d

fu

el

m p en ce

per

un i

t gene r ated,

labour . . . .

ost

in pence , wa te r,

oil was te, a nd re·

pair

s

.. ..

T

ot a

l

..

••

Ken t Av

enue

Rid gewood

9600

Direct · connec

ted

cross-comp o

und

horizont o l Allis ·

Co r l i ss

co m

·

pound

· co

nden

s

mg,

75 revs .

1800

Bel ted

compound

no n-con

de nsing

36 per cent . 45 per

cent.

3.00

lb

.

0.120d.

0.085d .

0.065d.

0.260d.

5.

7

lb.

0.225d.

0.14 6d.

O.OOOd.

0

.460<1.

Co

al

cos ts d e

liv

er ed, 6s. 6d.

a

ton.

Southern

6000

Bel ted

compound

condensing

30 per

ce n

t.

8.5 lb.

0.140d.

0.130d.

0.07fid.

0.345d.

a direct-connected condensing plant will, under

conditions, save

the

extra expenditure

over and over again, by the

•

TOTALPOUNDS 01' CO

AL

PBR.

CosT

IN PBNOB PBR BOARD OF

Tn

ADB UNIT GENERATED.

BOARD 01'

TRADE

UNIT. Tot al Boa rd of

YEAR.

Tr

ad e Un its

Generated

at

Produc

ed

at

Supp

lied

to

Station.

Coal.

Oil

and

n ~ e s

and

Ma

in

·

Sund l'ies. Total.

St at.ion.

Cu

st omer.

Sa aries.

te

nance.

rense.

1895 ..

• • • • • •

4.18

5.07

691,000

0.441 0

.0

43

0.792 0.132

••

1.408

1896 . .

4.20

5.00 1

,011

,000 0.396 0.060

0.060 0.156

• •

1.2'12

•

•

•

• •

•

189'7

.•

• •

••

• •

4.09 4.08

1,243,000 0.385 0.042

0.577 0.186

0.270

1.466

Ave

rage for three

y

ea

rs

4.16 4.92

981,700

0.407

0.048

0 6 1

I

0.168 0.092 1.381

St

e

in

mUller b oilers, 175 lb.

pr

essure per s

qu

a

re in

ch. Two 400 indi

ca t

ed h

orse-powe

t•

triple-expansion \ e rt ica

l condenser11, 120 r

ev o

.

lu

tions, at 150 lb.

pr ess

ure,

420

x

690

x

1050

milllmetres. Two 500

to

600 indicated horse-power t riple-expo.nsion ' 'ertical con-

50V

densers

120 revolutions at 150

lb pressu r

e

460

x

750

x

1150

millimetres. Two

direot·conneoOOd

276·kiJowatt, c

ontinuous

·

'

,

. ' 550

c

urrent, SOO-vo

lt

dynamos, and two

400-kilowlltt co

ntinuous-current direo t

·conncotcd 300 volts. Two batteri

es or

136 cells

and

22.36

ampe

re-

hour

s ca.paoity.

T A B L E

X X X II. C

osT OF

PRO

DUCT

ION

IN S o ~ r E BRITISH L IGHTING PLAN'l.s .

AVERAGE

FOR Two YEARS.

•

Mau-

I

sli

n

gton.

Oldham.

Hull.

Edin·

Newport.

Burton.

ches ter.

Sta.fford.

Kin

gsto

n.

bu rgh.

Board of Trade

units

so

ld

••

• •

4,104,000 62,000

213,000 708,000 389,000

605,000

3,534,000 287,000 93,500

C

ost

of

fu

el

in pe n

ce

per u n i ~

sold

0.433 0.283

1.713

1177

0 620 0.607 0.385 0.612

0.469

"

oil

and

wnste

"

0.164 0.044

0.186 0.294 0.040

0.091

0.085 0.230

0.168

Wages at power

station

"

0.188

1.280 0.658

0.716 0.351

0.431 0.159

0.973 2 364

Re

pair

s

and maintenance

11

0.226 0.154

0.218

0.228

0.209

0.606 0.125

0.083 0.212

T

otal

co

st of

powe r

product

i

on

• •

1.010

l.i61

2.765

2.415

1.120

1.6

36 0.722

1.248

3.013

Total cost, nll expenses included,

per unit so

ld

• • • •

•

2.975 7.970

5.72

6.535

3.565

4. 270

2.660 6.42

8.6i0

Capital

sp

en t per

kilowatt

•

l t l ·

stalled

in

pounds ..

• •

• •

104

99

88 131 52 71 87 100

151

To

ta

l

ca.pa

c

it

y

of stat

ion

in

kilo·

watts

. .

•

•

•

• • •

(6

00

200

465 1500 1832

2060

3148 950

500

•

T A B L E

X X X I I I . P ow E R AND

CosT oF

Pn o

ouoT

ION

IN

SOME

BRITISH PowER STATIONS.

1896.

1897. 1898.

NAMR OF

T

owN

.

Board of

Co

st

in

Cost

in

Board of

Cost

in

Oost in Cost

of

Pence p er

Pe nce

per Total

Unit

s

Cost

or

rr

ade

Units

Pence p er

T1·ade Units Pence per

Unit

Sold.

Unit

Unit

Sold.

Sold.

Unit

Unit

Sold.

Sold.

Jenera

te

d

Unii

Sold.

Gener

ated.

Ge

nerated.

-

Aberdeen

•

•

•

•

210,200

2.64

287,100 1.96

2.17 412,400 1.65 1.78

Bl a

c

kpool

••

• •

356,100 2.39

3.

32

429,';00 2.55 3.41

Brighton

• •

••

1,388,800

1.71 2.04

1,992,500

1.44 1. 76

2,648,700

1.87

1.68

Bristol

•

•

•

650,800

2.08

2.75

657,600 2.05 3.42

1,362,800 1.79 2.39

Dublin

• •

••

473,

5C

O 2.78 4.21 518,300 2.64 3. 'i2

Hove . .

••

200,600

3.41 4.07

208,200

2.83

3.28

350,400 2.54

3.00

Notting Hill ..

• •

230,800

2.

77 3.01

366,000

3.03

3.23

465,900 2.80

2.95

Po r

ts

mouth

..

• •

839,400

1.97 2.12

981,300

1.86

2.31

Pr eston

• •

•

•

820,500

2. 'i6

3.01

371,300

2.19

2.41

448,000 1.44

1.68

Reading

• •

••

82,200

3.5L 4. 73

123,700 4.65

5.22

160,3CO

••

3.96

Richmond

• •

• •

97

,100

4.61 5.02

188,900 3.52

3.86

166,100

2.63 2.93

St.

Ja m

es

's

and

Pall

Mall

•• • •

2,401,400

2.05

2

.29

3,028,300

1.99

2.23

3,448,900

1.77

1.97

Sheffield

• • • •

483,400

1.63 2.21

746,100

1.13

1.

58

Sh r

ews

bury

..

• •

23,800

4.89 6.09

44 ,700 2.93

390

Southampton

•

• 131,800

3.t7

3.68

191,900 2.19

2.60

South

port

• • • • 245,500 1.7 2

2.35

376,600 1.62

2.29

689,400

1.05

1

.45

Stafford

•

•

• •

43,600 2.38

3.37

65,500

2.31 3.19

68,000

2.08

2.79

Sunderland

••

•

•

146,400

1.95 3.27

270,200

1.71

2.28

Tunbridgo Wells

•

•

174,100 2.52

2.82

288,600

3.14

3.48

We

s

tminster

• •

3,603,100

1.95

2.27

4,355,800 2.75

3.18

6,055,200

2.78

3.21

Wo rcester

• • •

•

333,600

1.78

2.27

429,300

1.76

2.29

4i4,400

1

.38

1.78

Yarmouth

• • •

•

155,300

2.31

3.24

100,0CO

2.34 3.35 232,800

TA BLE XXI .

Puel

Constvm,pti(}n on SO?ne Ame1-ican

Roada.

TABLE

XXV. Oo

st in Pence

of Produc

ing Board of

T1 ·ade Unit, N

iimberg

Oi ty Eleot1·icity

Worb

-----------------------------------------

•

Name of Company.

Br ooklyn Oity Railroad Com·

pany . . . . .. .. 140

Uni on i o n Company, Phila·

d elphia .. . . . . . . 140

Kan sas

Oit y

Railroad Compnny 14 0

Met ro poli

ta

n e v a t e Chicago 160

South

S

id

e El eva

te

d,

Chicntro . 140

Cnss

Ave

nn

e

Station,

St. Louis 90

Baltimol'e

i ~ y Railr

oad . . 126

W

est

Side Elevnted, Chicago . . 140

Bost o

n Elevated,

Centraf Stn·

tion .. .. ..

..

120

3.00

3.50

2.62

~ . 8 5

4.67

6.69

3.23

3.73

2.86

0.100

0. 186

0.121

0.170

0.120

0.237

0.104

0.175

0.195

0. 2697

0.2956

0.248

0.285

0.230

0.304

0.247

0.310

0.349

-

saving

it

effects

in

the cost of production of energy.

The

influence of size on

the

economy of a pla

nt

is

also clearly shown, and

the

consequent advantage of

centralising as much as possible, as has been done

I

te

ms.

Fuel . . . . . . . . . . . .

Oil, grense, c. . . • . . . .

\V

ages . . . . . . . . . . . .

Sa

laries . . . . • . . . . . .

Maintenan

ce

of powet·st-ation

and

feeders,

lamps, ca bles , c . . . . . . . . .

In

surance,

rates

nnd taxes,

and

\ arious ..

In terest

on cap i tAl

and

sinking fund •.

1896. 1897.

Cost in

Cost

in

Pe n

ce. P ence

1.1

88

1.224

0.168 0.060

0.400 0.384

0.336 0.240

0.096

0.216

1.020

0.108

0.264

0.864

Tota

l . . . . . . . . 3. 424 3.144

TABLE XXVI. Cost. in

Pence

of

Power p,·odJuction per

Board

of

Trade Un1t, Cologne Ctty Electricity Works.

It

e

ms

. 1898.

Fu

el ..

..

..

Wa

ges and sa

laries

M

ai ntenan

ce ..

Co

nd

ensing wa

te

r ..

Station

li

ghting

..

• •

••

••

•

•

• •

d. d.

0.415 0.499

0.200 0.266

0.160 0 . 1 ~ 3

0.0

62 0.065

• •

•

•

•

•

• •

• •

0.014

0.0 38

T

ota

l . . . . . . 0.861 1.061

T

ot a

l

kilowntt-hours generated 1,1

87,000 857,000

in the case of Glasgow. Thi s is at once evident

on consideration, as at least one man

and an

elec

trician in

the

engine -room, and one man

in the

7/17/2019 Engineering Vol 69 1900-06-29


N G I N R I NG [JuN E29, 1900.

600 HORSE-POWER

BLOWIN

G

ENGINE

WORKED

BY

BLAST-FURNACE GASES.

CONSTRUCTED BY THE SO C

IETE

J OHN

COCKERILL, ENGINEERS

, SERAING.

(For Description, see Page 84().)

T ABLE XXV I I . - Cost cmd Data

of

Power, F1ankjort

E

lec

tr icity Works.

TAB LE XX X IV.-CosT AND

FINANCIAL RE

SU LTS

soME

GER

MAN

P

owER

AND L

IGHTI

NG PLA?\ rS.

1895.

18

96.

1 97.

I

1 98.

B

oard

of

Trad

e u nits s

upplied

nt switchboard .

.

• •

• •

2,696 ,000

3,194,000

N

um

ber of in

ca

ndescent l

am

ps

• • • •

65,

133 75, 51

,.

arc lamps

• •

• •

••

••

658

93

Mot

or

s in h

ors

e-power

•

•

• •

. 1,600 4, 532

Cost

in

pe nce per uni t, ru el .. 0.758 0.634 0.755 0.652

, , wa te r 0.042 0.

064

0.054 0.054

Oil, grease, a

nd

w

as

te.. . . 0.184 0.034

0.036 0.046

Wages nnd sa la ries . . . .

1.

26

1

0.896 0.628 0.606

Tnxes, interest, and sinking

fuad

• •

•

•

• •

1.326

1.304 1.336

1. 413

-

Total ..

• • • •

•

•

3.571 2.932 2.809

2. 21

Tota l efficiency of system

•• • • • •

76.1 p.c. 71. 5 p.c.

Pl

ant

composed of fou r tandem compound·coodensing steam

en

gi

nes, 5 revolutions, d irec

t.

·conn

ecte

d , 115 lb.

stenm,

522·kilo·

wntt, 3000·volt nlter nating·current n e r a . t o r s and two tan dem

compound ·couclen ing, &5 revolu tions,

11

5 lb. stenm pressure,

1032-kilowatt similar nlteroators.

T AB

LE

X XV. - T otal Cost of Power per Board of T ra

clc

Unit Generated

in

i ~ · a t e Plants in America P. R .

ll i

oss .

d.

Large hotels . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.83

Small ,. . . . . . . . . . . • . 1.225

l'"lnts (apa rt

me

n ts) . . . . . . . . . . 2.35

Large shops (stores) • • • . . . . . . 1.425

Sm a

ll

.,

. . . . . . . . . . . . 2.05

La r

ge o

ffi

ce buildings . . • • . . . . 2.1 5

Small ,. ,. . . . . . . . . • 2.

53

NAME OF TOWN .

Alto na

• •

.

Ucrlin ..

• •

• •

Dr< men

• • • •

Dreslau

• •

.

Cnsscl ..

• • ••

Dnrmstnd t

•

•

..

DU

sseldo

rf

( )

• •

Elbcr fc ld

.

F r

ank

fort • on · the

Mnine

• •

• •

Hamb urg

• •

.

IJnnnover .

IC

o

lnc·a

m·Rhine

••

i g s

• • ••

L< ipzig

•

•

s

ctti

n

•

•

• •

Dt·csden (ligh t)

•

•

(t rams)

•

•

t uLtgnrdt

•• •

•

cuhnl

de

nslebcn

• •

- c '

<11

COST

lN

PENCE

PBR

BOARD

0

1-

TR AD E

' ,..

>. · c:

_g ·- <11 '0

(11•- c: -

p . C

UX

ITS SU

P

PLIED

.

fl

· -

-c:

0 p::j

cS

• 0 ....

l lSQI

E-1'0 <11

....

p c

0

'0

:' Q

43

E-1

0

- E-1

C: 'O

c: ... c

<ll ..c:

d< l l

- . > •

•

0 '0

cS Q.l • C: GI<II

- 00

"" '0

-

<: p.P.

d ~ j )

0<11

O

GS

<11

- • 43

.s ' ·-

UJ

< 1 1 ~ 1 0 0

·-

p.

0

,:.:

0

...

:' C:

'O C: •

E-1

•

o

o

-

Q.l

. > c: . - i

'O P.

c:c:

c

-

d

0

E - 1 &

--

.... <I . . . .

s..p.

._

43 ·-

~ ~ ~

: 0

cll

='

0 - •

0

c:

ooUl -o.O

.... <

0

/ 2

o

-g

(.)

d

8

<

<

l:Q p.

cll

to

c

•

P. d

X s.. > 9

fl

'0 ....

CD

s.. :' O

to c:

43

<11

d

: : l

...

•

<11

::3

<11 ... .

-o

...

Q.

0

CD

. >

< :J

e:Q o

.

::

0 0

s

.. >o c

-

C: cS O.

•

<

c:

0

s

-

cll ·- .u

-

G>C: t..C:

, 1:

• .,

CD

p.. 0

:::::

c

. u C

='0 : '

:n

<

•

·-

·c

• ·- <11

c:GS._c

P o p . . ~

•t:o

o

;:>

0

&

-

d

cS

o c : c

O

p::j(/2

....

::;a

~ o . .

....

/ 2 4 3

·-H o ,...

<:

E-1

p

0 0

>

/2

-

- -

8. d .

1,130

1,572,000

4.

77

16 0

0. 41

0. 018

0.379

0.1

23

o.3e8 1.306

4. 4

3.

14

18,000

14

,230,0

00

•

•

•

•

•

• •

•

• •

• •

• •

• •

1 37

4.4

2,400

603,000

6.82

15 3 0.56

0.03 ,

0.8.U 0.446

0.092 1.99

6.4

6

'1.00

1,200

882,000

9.g•

•

•

0.645

0.099

0.909 0.37 0.351

•) 3

·)

wo

..

,..

o-

. I

5.97

450

168,000

• •

••

• •

0.216

1.322 0.299

0.650

2.39

9.40 4. 0

730

25

7,000

10.36

14 9 0. 49

O

OS2

1.16 0.271

0.690 2.

96

• •

3. iO

1,

600 568,000

6.49

11

..

-

0.397

0.027

0. 761 0.390 0. 15 l. 'i3

5.9' 3.66

900

403,000

9.04 12

8

0.623

0.14

1.080 0.615 0.202

.. --

-

·· /

G79 .19

5,000

2,696,000

6.64 16

9 0.611 0.036 0.630

• •

• •

1.27

3.69

6

.4

5

5,000 10,500,000

3.66 18

0

0.361

0.056

0.313 0.073 0.022

0. 15

4.9 l

3.6S

3,000 1,087,000

4.6

15

0

0.3 5 0.042 0.577 0. 186 0.270 1.4 7

7.10

0.00

2,000

1,187,000

.H

..

0

.44

0.266 0. 193 0.139 1.05

C) ')

·

w

6.27

800

332,000

11 .36

• •

0.936

0.173 1.052

1.

01

2

•

•

3. 17

9.69

6.33

2,

000

815,000

19.06

•

•

• •

• • ••

• •

•

•

• •

4.40

2.

06

1,700 790 ,000

7.7

19

3

0.798

0.051 0.474 0.192 0.332 1. 5

••

4. 56

3,500 2,950,000

8 8·1

••

0.60

0.13

0.59 0.23

• •

1. -l

2,000 4,696,000

6.06

• •

0.2 0.06 0.1 0.06

• •

0.0

1,600 2,931,000

3.48

• •

0.48 0.02

0.37 0.08

• •

1.1

70 955 ,000

• •

• •

1.11

I

0.18

0.72 0.60

• •

s. oo

• •

•

•

• • • •

' Th ts mcludes stnktng fund nnd mtc rcsL on llght mg mams, transformers, lnmp , &c

I

c

.....

...

0

0

d

r:.

'0

d

0

<11

1:

< 1 1

d o

... ...

<11<11

. < ~

62

24

44

4

32

62

46

s

39

35

29

boiler-room are always r

equi r

ed, no matter how

sm

a

ll

t he station ma.y be. vVhen the machi

nery

in creases,

and

more men to

look after

the N

oiling of the engines,

the

maintaining of steam

pr

essur

e,

water

level

in

the boilers, firing,

t

aking away ash

es,

brin

ging

in

coal,

keeping

t he

power

-ho

use

clean, c

.,

become necess

ary, then

i t

is that labo ur -saving

and automatic machinery

b ecome

indispensabl

e. By the use

of

such appli

an

ces

th

e s

am

e staff which h

andles a.

sma

ll

plant c

an

design

ed

a

nd

v

er

y m

ode

rn

stati

on ;

the re

ul

ts here

show n are c

ertain l

y

rema

r

kab

le, a

nd prove what

can

be

obtaine

d

by

carefu l d

es

ign a

nd ca r

eful

runnin

g of

a

plant. Tab

le XX

III.

is ins

tr u

c

ti

ve, showin a

that

good resul ts can be obtained even with a.n° old

fashioned

and

badly-designed plan t , when it is prac

mana

ge a. plant 100 times gr eater .

Table XXII. gives th e resul ts obtain ed on the

Th

e gr

eat

po

in

t is to

get as

long wo

rk

ing hom

·s

as

poss

ible

; t he

n,

a

nd

o

nly th

en, a

nd

with

a

pro

perly

design

ed

station, can power be generated

most economically. A station which ru ns for

ligh ting purposes only will not

ge

nera te power

chea

ply, and

vice persd. To design a.n econo

•

7/17/2019 Engineering Vol 69 1900-06-29


•

JUNE 29, I 900.)

•

TRIPHASE

ALTERNATOR AT

THE

PARIS

EXHI

BITI

0 N.

CONSTRUCTED

BY

THE

COMPAGNIE

GENERALE

EL E

CTRIQUE DE

NANCY

.

(For Desc ripflion,

see

Page 846.)

- - · I - - - - - - - -- -

•

•

•

6. 0

•

•

- . .

ENT/lE L INE OF ENGINE.

T

l-

•

I

6.400

)

•

IQ

Q)

-·

•

•

-

•

•

• •

•

, , ..

,..., ,.,. ,,

---

-U

---·--

-

_, '

, .

- '

_

-

,.,

, . ,

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

---

•

-

'

or

0 _______

___ ________ __

___

+

--

t-· 7 2 0 - )1 -

.,.

if--

--

---1 490 ._

__

I -

__ .

____________

_____

________

i

__

_L________

________J- .

- ..

___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

. ..___________

______ _

__

_ _ ·

•

---------------

•

----------------

· -- - -- - 6f

66

•

I

•

I

•

. -

·I-

. 41--

•

·

•

I

- - · -- -

.

-

•

- 1-1 -

---

I

- - - - - - --·------·..\?'-

11,600 --

ptg.Z.

work

re

q

uire

s a

great deal

of special knowled

ge

a

nd

experience, which

can nev

er

be gained in the

light-

in

g field. ·

I t

is

interesting to compare the above results

with

those so

far

obtained in

European

lighting

and

co

mbined stat

ions.

Tables XXIV. to XXXI . give the res

ults

obtained

at

Leeds

, at

the

very small experimental

plant of Glasgow, Dtisseldorf,

Altona, Frankfort,

Cologne,

Niirnberg, Breslau,

a

nd : S : ~ ; m o v e r .

...:

I

I

I

..L .C.-1

•

•

....

1·

-

k-

-- --

·

·:l_

OOO

I

I t

will

be seen

that

wher

eas "the

quality and

; n

earest in

size to

the American one

s,

yet there the

cost

of coal can b e practically

assumed as equal total cost

of

the Board

of

Tr

a

de unit

is

only

just

in

t

he

case of

the American and European plants under ld. The new

t raction

station at Dublin

is

given, .

and a ~ t h o u g h ~ a g e s

and. salaries

are generating current

at

id. per unit, all charges

high

er

In America

t

han

Is

the

case

~ u r o p e the includ

ed.

cost

of coal

per ~ o a r d

of

Trade

u ~ n t IS

three

to The tables

r

egardin

g

cost

of

production

·may be

four t i m ~ s greater the p e a n hght

and

concluded with Table XXXV

., page

844, which

plants

gtven,_ t h a ~ m Amenca, .and the labour Ite D was compil ed by Mr. Percival R. Moss,

after

a most

is five to SIX times

greater

In

Europe

than m

exhaustive

investiga

ti

on. I t

at

once shows the

Am

erica. . . . . eco

nomy

of practically

continuous running,

such

as

Th e

se s

uperior

r e s u l t ~ a

re

achieved

by

pracbcally

is

required

in large

hotels, whe

re electricity

is not

running

the

plant

continuously,

and by

the

use

of

only

required for

lighting purposes

but wo

rks

lifts

lab

our-saving devices in handling fuel,

water,

&c. fan s,

and

countless other

small motors

. '

Tabl

es XXXII. to XXXIV. give

some

more

result

s obtained in English

and

German

power

stations. In comparing the American and Euro

pe

an s

ta t

ions

mentioned,

it

mus

t

not

be

forgotten

that t

he

fo

rmer are all lar

ge

r, and

t

hat the larger

a

station

the more

economically

it can be run

.

The

size, however,

alone

does

not account for the

remark

a

bl

e difference

of

cost

of

coal

and

labour.

The

Berlin

lig

htin

g and power stations come

BLAST

-

FURNACE

GAS

ENGINE AT

THE

PARIS EXHIBITION.

SoME .months ago (see ENGINEERING, page

87 ant

e ,

we published particulars of a blowing engine, in

which waste gases from the t - f u r n a c e formed the

source of energy, in

sta

lled at Messrs. John Cockerill's

works,

Seraing;

and more re

ce

nt ly, on the occasion

•

•

•

..1

J

..

•

- ·-

--- -- --

.

..

of the last meeting of the

Iron

and Steel Insti

tute, a discussion was raised by a paper read on the

same subject by Mr.

A.

Greiner (see ENG INEERING,

page 624, ante . A part of the exhibit

at

Paris of

Messrs. Cockorill is a blowing engine of this type,

and

we publish an illustration of it on page 844. Of

course it cann

ot

be driven by blast-furnace waste gas

at

the Paris Exhibition; but

its

efficiency was

very

thoroughly tested before it left

the

works

at

Seraing,

an

d the res

ult

of t hese te

sts

, contained in a report

recently issued, may be considered as a supplement

and

com

pletion of

the

exhibit. The engine, which is

the

joint invention of M. Delamare-Deboutteville and

the

Co ckerill Company, is the first of

the

special type

that has been constructed, and

the

blowing mechanism

also contains special details.

The

trials were

carried

out in

the

pre

sence of a large international committee

of engineers, and were of a very com

pl

ete chara

cte

r.

Some particulars of

the

gas engine are as follow :

Diameter of cylinder ...

1.300

m.

(51.18

in.)

Length of stroke . . . . 1.400, (55.15 , )

Diameter of piston-rod ...

.244 ,, (

9.6 ,, )

, shaft . . .. . .460 , (18.11 , )

Height of engine . . 4.

000

m. (13 ft .

1.

48 1n.)

7/17/2019 Engineering Vol 69 1900-06-29


Length of engine ... .. .11.000 m. (36ft. 1

Width

, .. . .. 6.000 , (19 , 8

in.)

, )

Weight of flywheel . .. . 33 tons

Total weight of engine ... 127 ,

Double-Acting

Blowing Engine

Diameter of cylinder ...

Length of stroke . . .

Diameter of piston-rod .. .

Height... ... ... ..

Length ... ... .. .

Width... ... ... .. .

Weight ... ... .. .

1.700

m. (66.93

in.)

1.400 , (55.15 ,, )

.244 , ( 9.6 " )

4.000 m. (13ft. 1.5 in.)

5.500 m. (18 ft.)

3.500 m.

(11

ft. 6 in.)

31

tons

The

gas used was delivered from five blast-furnaces,

making

Bessemer pig chiefly,

into

a chamber, where

it

was cooled

and

thoroughly washed

with water

jets;

but

by

another

arrangement the

gas could be

admitted

direct to the engine after passing through a meter,

careful observations being, of course, made

during the

trial

of the

amount

of gas consumed.

The apparatus

used for this purpose was the same that had been

devised in 1898 for

testing

the first large engine of

the

kind

built by

Messrs. Cockerill. This earli

er

engine, which was of 180 horse-power, gave very

satisfactory

results

; the consumption of

wa

ste gas per

horse-pow

er per

hour was 3.329 cubic metres (117.600

cubic feet). The engine recently tested showed a

saving of about

7

per cent. over the earlier efficiency.

The best result

that was recorded

during

the \rial was

the development of 900 indicated horse-power, giving

effective work of 725 horse-power

in

compressed air,

with a

consumption of 2.853 cubic metres (100.800

cubic feet) per hour. This Delamere-Deboutteville

and Cockerill engine is certainly one of the important

novelties of the Exhibition,

and

suggests a considerable

economy

in

blast-furnaces for

the

early

future.

The

concluding words of the report we have referred to,

which was prepared

by

M.

H. Hubert,

Director of

Mines in Belgium, may

be

quoted as a

just

summary

of this interesting work. I f we remember that the

first

and very

elementary

trials

the direction of

using blast-furnace gases

direct

only date back for

about five years, since the first experimental eight

horse motor was completed

at

Seraing in 1895, when

it

was considered necessary

to

furnish

it

with exten

sive appliances for cleansing and scrubbing the gas,

we cannot

fail greatly to admire, and thoroughly to

appre

ciate,

the ability and

perseverance

with

which

M. Dela.mare-Deboutteville and the engineers of the

the Cockerill Company have

met

and overcome all the

difficulties that

attended

a complete solution of the

problem."

·rHE PARIS EXHIBITION ELECTRIC

'

POWER

STATION.*

THE TRIPHA

SE ALTERNATOR OF THE

NANCY

GENERAL

ELECTRIC C01\ IPANY.

CoNTINUING our notices of the various installations

that compose

the great

electric power

station

of

the

Pd.ris Exhibition, we

this

week giYe illustrations

(o

n

pa

ge

84-5)

of the

triphase

alternator exhiLited by the

Compagnie Generale Electrique de Nancy, which is

direct

coupled

to

one of

the

several engines supplied by

Mtsa rd. Weyber and Richemond, and which we

sha

ll

describe on a fu tu re occasion. The generator belongs to

t·he class of altern>1.tors

with

fixed

armature

and revolv

ing inducto

r;

it is de3igned for

an

output of 450 kilo

watts at 50 periods and 93 5 revolutions per minute.

According

to whether

the load is inductive or non

induct ive, it absorbs from 530 to 660 effective horse

power. The arma t

ure

is built up of very soft iron

plates

millimet re th ick, insulated

with paper;

it

is

held together by four rigid

and

well-ventilated

cast-iron frames bolted together.

For

convenience

of

transport and

erection,

the armature

has been

mad e in halves, the lower part of the frame carry

ing the feet by which it is bolted to the bedplate,

while four rings

are attached to the

upper· half, as

shown in the illustration, for convenience of erection.

On each side of the circular frame of the armature are ·

placed six radi

ating

tie rods secur

ed to

a central collar

and the periphery, and

r o : i ~ e ~

with adjusting screws;

by this

arrangement

the

ngtdity

the a

rmature

.can

be greatly increased, at the s a ~ e t 1me that the e i g h ~

is diminished, and the proporli1ons between the

ma.ss

of the cast-iron frame, and t he wrought·iron plates of

the armature, reduced. The winding, which is of t

he

ording,ry

triphase

type,

.i

s so a r r a n g e ~ as

to

avoid

n

c r o ~ s ;ng in the connectwns the coils,

as

wel.l m

the coils themselves ; cable

IS

used for the wmdmg,

instea.d of copper

strip ;

the coils

are

insu

lated

by tubes

of micanite.

The

clear opening of the

armature

is

4.50 metrt>s (14ft. 9.17 in.)

in

diameter, .and the out.side

diameter

is 5 050 metres (16

ft

. 6.82 m.);

the

wtdth

of

the

cast-iron body is 580 millimetres (22.84 in.);

i t carries 96 coils, of

whi

ch 32, connec

ted

in

series,

constitute tbo

winding for one

pha

se

;

the

total

weight

of this fixed p

art

of the generator is 14 tons. The in

ductor revolving within the armature consists of a

cast-steel ring with e ight arms, and having 64 poles

screwed

into the periphery

of t he ring.

Like

the


armature it is made in halves for convenience of

transport and erection, and is mounted on the shaft

by

bolts

and

rings shrunk on bot.

The

coils are

machine-wound on insulating shells, the section of

wire being such as to insure a full margin of safety

under

all

C ondi

tions

;

the cross-section of

the

coils is

oval, which gives the best utilisation of space,

sp

ecie.

facility

in

manufacture, and a minimum length of wire.

The

poles

are

wound so as

to

avoid crossings

and

long connections, and the finish of the work is excel

lent. Two carefully insulated cables, passing down

one of

the

arms, are in connection

with two

rings,

whence is brought,

by

means of rubbing contacts,

the

continuous exciting

current

required.

The

weight

of this part of the generator wound complete is 9.6

tons. On the overhanging end of

the

main shaft is

mounted the armature of the six-pole exciter which

gives a continuous current of 120 volts for exciting the

alternator. This machine is wound in series, in order

that only one

rheostat may

be required. The output

of

this

dynamo, at 93.5 revolutions, is 120 volts and

75 amperes. t is almost unnecess

ary to say

that the

Compagnie Generale Electrique

de

N ancy, is one of

the leading electrical companies in France.

THE JAPANESE BATTLESHIP

ASAHI.

Concluded

from

page 681.)

THE

AUXILIARY

MA CHINERY.

THE

auxiliary machines are very numerous,

and

to

give a complete description of each individual machine

or system would suffice for an article in itself. They

include Brown's

steam

tiller and

telemotor gear,

air

compressors, engines and dynamos for electric power

and lighting, searchlights, workshop engines and ma

chines,

ventilating

fans, refrigerating machinery,

capstan engines

and

cable gear, combined heating

and

ventilating

apparatus

for crews' quarters on the

patent thermo-tank principle, coaling winches and

Temperley's transporters, boat-hoisting winches.

Steering is effected in the Asahi from different posi

tions of the ship, and by

alternative

met hods. The

chief and easiest method is

by

the hydraulic telemotor,

which is used in

co

njunction with the steering engine

in

the steering compartment aft. The arrangement

which is ft1irly well known, is

the

patent of Messrs.

Brown, of .Rosehall Works, Edinburgh.

The air-compressing machinery is contained

in

two

rooms on the lower deck.

The

machinery is used

fo

r charging the air chambers in the locomotive

torpedoes, the air, of course,

actuating

the propelling

mechanism of the weapon. The sensible course has

been adopted of keeping one end of the ship inde

pendent

of

the

other, so

that

one could be fought

after

the other

has been put

out

of action. This

part

of

the

equipment has been suppli

ed by

MeRsrs. Brother

hood and Co., London, who have fitted out many

warships

with

machinery. The hydraulic machinery,

to which reference should be made, is also in two

engine rooms on the lower deck. Tb e power is used

for operati

ng

the

barbe

tte

turntables, hoisting am

munition, elevating

and

loading guns. The rooms

are

all well ventilated, a point which is not always

sufficiently attended to.

The

ship is lighted throughout internally

by

elec

tricity. The engines and dynamos for this purpose

are of the most approved design, and the electric

lighting arrangements are complete in every respect.

The coal bunkers are, of course, supplied

with

the fixed

lights, customary in the most modern of battleships.

Two

yard

-

arm

reflectors, each with eight 50 candle

power 80-volt incandescent lamps, are also fitted. Six

searchlight projecto rs

are

placed at different positions

on the ship, one on each mast anrl one at each end of

the

forward

and afte

r bridges. These searchlight pro

jectors are very powerful and are fitted with automatic

carbon feed lamps, those in

the

tops being also supplied

with

distant controllers

with

watertight Bifranner

switch. Electric lighting is arranged also for distant

signalling purposes. All such items as compasses,

te

le

graphs,

an

d inst ruments on the

upper

deck

an

d bridges,

conning towers and torpedo direction towers, the bow

a

nd

masthead, are all fitted wit h incandescent lights.

The dynamos, which are placed iu. a room on the middle

deck, are th ree in number of 600 amperes 80 volts, and

are supplied by

th

e well-

kn

own firm,

M e s < ~ r s .

Siemens

and Co.

,

Limit

ed ; the engines are supplied by Messrs.

Bellis and Co., Birmingham. All wire leads are of

the best high co

ndu

ctivi ty copper and form a complete

wire circuit, no earth being

fo

rmed by

the

ship.

There is also a complete system of elec

tric

bells

throughout

the ship with

tell-ta

les fitted

in

the

various importan t positions. All

the

work in connec

tion with the fitting out of the ship

with

the electrical

power has been carried

out

by the

electrical depart

ment of

the

Clydebank works.

A workshop- for

the

use of

the

engineers has been

arranged on the middle deck amidships, and is

fitted

with

a

ll

the most useful of machines ; in fa

ct

,

it is really a floating repair-shop. Nothing has been

om itted which would

pr

event any repairs from being

JUNE 29 1900.

For ventilation

there

are six fans dri

vem

by steam,

arranged three forward and three aft, below the pro·

tec tive deck and

within the

citadel. These supply

fresh

air

to all

the

compartments beneath the wa

te

r

line and th us all ha tches can be closed when

in

action.

All the downca.sts

to

these fans are fitted with armoured

gratings where

they

pass through

the

armoured

d e c k ~ .

The compartments above the water line are ventilated

naturally th

rough cowls. Special ventila tion

is

pro

vided for the coal bunkers, all of which exhaust

into

the main funnels. There has also been adopted

in

the crew's

quarters

of this vessel a patent known

as Stewart

's

patent ventilating thermo-tank," which

combines heating

with

ventilation

and

can be regu

lated

as required.

The

principle is intended to com

bine

an

efficient ventilating system with an improved

arrangement of heating.

An

efficient form of heater

is combined with a steam or electrically driven fan,

and

placed on deck or outside

the

compartment to be

heated or ventilated. This heater is connected to the

ventilating trunking through the compartments and

rooms,

and any

required volume of air

at

any desired

temperature can be delivered to

the

compartment.

By a suitable arrangement of valves on the connection

to and

from thermo-tanks,

air

may be exhausted from

the compartment

to the

atmosphere ; or may be cir

cula ted in the comparliments throughout the beater, and

thereby raise the temperature.

It

may also be de

livered

direct into the

ventilating trunks without

paesing through the heater. The temperature can

also be reduced when

the

vessel is in hot climates by

means of

di rect

expanded gas from a refrigerating

plant.

The capstan

and

cabla holders

are

actuated by a

vertical inverted engine, having two cylinders each

16 in. in diameter and 14 in. stroke. The whole of the

capstan cable-holders

are

driven from the engine by

means of

mitre

gearing. There are two cable-holders

suitable for the size of the cable carried. They are of

cast steel with solid stops. They

are

arranged to run

loose on

their

shafts

with

gun-metal bushes. Each

holder is provided

with

one wrought-steel reliever

fitted into a cast-i ron rubbin g block. A cast-steel

drwnhead is fitted firmly

to

the centre cable holder

spindle between the forecastle deck and the upper

deck, to enable the capst an on the upper deck to

be

worked

by

hand. The vessel is fitted complete with

all cable gear,

and

during

the

tests everything worked

satisfactorily. There is also a vertical inverted capstan

engine fitted

aft,

having two cylinders each 10 in. in

diameter

and

12 in. stroke, and is similar in construc·

tion to the forward one. A warping capstan is also

fitted on

the upper

deck

aft

and is arrcl.nged to work

by

hand as well as steam. The lower portion is in the

form of a cast-steel cable-holder suitable for 1f· in.

cable. The bo<;ly of the capstan is portable and the

head is arranged to

take

full

set

of capstan

bs.ra.

The anchors and cables are of the best make, and

were thoroughly

tested

before deliv

er

y. There are

four bower anchors, t>ach of 120 cwt., ex-stoc

k;

one

stream anchor, of 40 cwt., ex-stock ; three kedge

anchors, each of 25 cwt ., ex-stock. These anchors

are all of the

latest

p9.ttern. They are stowed on bill

boards specially constructed and adapted for the speedy

transit

of the anchor overboard when they are released.

There are four cables of

2r

0

1r

-in. stud chain, and one

cable of 1f- in. stream chain. These are stowed in

lockers constructed forward on the lower deck, and

are so placed that

the

y are convenient for the cable

being easily led to the holders. .

The Asahi is amply supplied with boats, there be10g

no fewer than 16 of all kinds. These boats are all

stowed in such a manner so

that

they can be manipulated

in

the easiest fashion when required.

THE

PROPELLING

MA

CHINERY

.

The Asahi is propelled by two sets of three-cylinder

triple-expansion engines which are illustrated by en·

gr

avings on our two -page pl

ate

.

~ c h

of the two sets

is designed to •develop 8000 indicated horse -

giving a .combined

i n d i c a t e ~

power of 16,000.

S t e a ~

IS

supplied by

water

-tube b01lers of the latest Bellevtlle

economiser type, working a.t a pressure of 300 .lb. per

square inch which will be reduced at the engmes to

250 lb.

Ea

ch set of engines is pla

qe

d in a separate

engine-room, divided by longitudinal watertight b u l ~

head, which

extend

s

the

whole length of

th

e macht

nery space. Each engine-room is in all respects similar

to

but

e

ntir

ely independent of the other. .

The main engines are of the vertical mverted

type, supported on cast-iron columns at the back,

and inclined wrought-steel columns at the front.

The soleplates, or main bearing frames, whic

h

are

made of

the

oast-steel skeleton type to msure

lightness, are strongly bolted together so as to

form one homogeneous stiff foundation for

the

e

n

gines. All the cylinders are fitted with separate

liners,

and

are steam-jacketed. The diameter of

the high-pressure cylinders is 32 in. ;

that

of the

i n t e r m e d i a t e - p r ~ s s u r e cylinder

.s,

52 in. ; ~ n d

th

at of

the low-pressure cylinders, 85 1n. ; all havmg a ~ t r o k e

of 4ft. The high and intermediate pressure ~ r s

are fitted

with

piston valves of the ioaide

ty

pe,

haVIng

7/17/2019 Engineering Vol 69 1900-06-29


JUNE 29, I 900.]

approved adjustable packing rings; whiJst the low

pressure

cylinders

are fitted with

trebJe-ported fiat

slide

valves,

having a special type of relief frame fitted

at the

baok

to

re

lieve them of st

eam pressure. The

weight of all the

valves is

su

itably

balanced

in

order

to

reduce the strain

on t he

valve gear

as

far

as

pos

sible;

the latter

is

of

the double-eccentric link-mot ion

type

. The

cylinders, which are

entirely

ind

epe

ndent

tastings, are

co

nn ected together by attachments

whi

c

h,

while

allowing for the expansion of the

dif

e r ~ n t parts, insure, at the sam e time, longitudinal

st

iffness ;

and to

further increase their stab

ility in the

event of ramming, &c.,

st

rong struts are fi ited

betw

een

the

high-pressur

e e

ngine

and the

forw

ar

d

structure

of

the

Yessel, as

well

as transversely

between

the r

es

pec

th

·e cy

lind

ers in each engine-room.

The air pumps are

not

worked

by

levers in

the usual -

manner

from the main engines, but are

entirely separate. Close under

the

main condensers

are placed a pair of direct-driving, single-acting air

actuated

by

steam cylinders

working

on the

compound principle, the pumps

running

at a.

speed

of

30

s

trokes

per minute . The

suction pipes of

the

se

air

pumps are cross-connected, so

th

at at lower speeds

the

one set

of

pumps suffic

es

for both e

ngine-room

s,

which

may prove

of

great adYantage in the event of accidents.

The main

condensers,

whi

ch are buil t

of riveted

br afs plates, a re placed in the wings

of the

ship and

have

a collective cooling

surface of

16,000 square feet.

Ad j

acent to them, at

the aft engine-room

bulkhead,

are

placed

two

auxiliary c

ondensers,

one

iu

each

engine-room,

having a combined cooling surface

of

2220 square fee t. Water is circulated through the

condenser by two 18-iu. centrifugal circ

ulat ing

pumps

E>ach driven

by independ

e

n t

engines, having,

in addi

tion

to auctions

from the sea,

the usual bilge connections.

The boilers are placed

in

three

separate

compart

ments, there

being in all five stokeholds r unning

a.thw a rt ship s. The forward and middle groups con

sist of

ten boilers, pl ac

ed

five

ia

a row, back to

ba

ck

;

and the aftermost group consis ts

of

a single row of

fiye boilerP. There

are thus

25 boilers

with

econo

misers, viz., 15

boilers having eight elements and

seven

pairs

of tubes;

10

boilers having

f

even

E•1ements and

seven pairs of

tubes; 15

economi

se

rs having

eight

el

ements and ten

pairs

of tubes; and ten

economisers

having seven

elements

and ten pairs

of tubes.

The

main

feed

system consists of three main and

three auxiliary pumps of .Messrs.

G.

and

J.

W e

ir s

'

well-kn0wn double-acting type.

The ma in steam supply

is

co

nveyed by

two lines

of

steel steam pipes, one line being

arranged

on each side

of

the s

hip,

and lead

ing

into a la rge steam separator

on the aft boiler-room bulkhead.

Each

line of main

steam

piping

is

en t

ir

ely

indepenrlent

of the

other, as

are

also

the connecting pipes from the

boilers

to each

of th

ese lines.

Any boiler may, therefore, be cut

off

from the steam without interfering with

the

per form

ance of the others in the compartment,

as

may a h ~ o

any compartment

from

which these

main

steam pipes

lead, without affecting the working of the

other com

partment. Any group

of boilers

may

supply

steam to

any of the engines

;

and the same

remark

applies to

the

feed

system.

TH

E

STEAl\'[

TRIALS.

Th e Aeahi le

ft

her moorings

in

Portsmouth Harbour

on

Tuesday, March 20,

and proceeded

to Spithead,

where, after adjusting compa.sees, sh

commenced

her

pr e

liminary

trials by running a

series of

progressive

miles

in

Stokes

Bay,

with the following

results

:

rogressive Speed Rwn.s.

These

data.

having

been obtained ,

the shi

p anchored

at Spithead

for

the night, and on

Wednesday

morning

l

eft for the

westward

at

6.30

to

c

arry

out

her

high

speed coal-consumption trial,

the

results showing

that

a t 12,947 indicated horse-power

the

c

onsumption

was only 1.6 lb. per ho rse-power per hour . The fol

lowing

Table

gives the mean results:

H

ig

h Speed Ooal Con s lllmptifm

rial .

Steam

in boilers .. .. . 270

lb

.

Starboard. Port.

25i in. 2f>i in.

100.4 100.45

110.2 lb. 107.6 lb.

39.5 , 37.7 ,

17.0 , 16.1 ,

2223 2170

2042 1944

Vacuum

... ... .. .

Revolutions per minute .. .

M

High

..

ea.n pres-

Intermediate

sor

es

Low... .. .

Ind ica ted

High .. .

horae- Intermediate

2340 2228

•


inst

ead of wh ich she steamed

on

to

Plymouth, and was

safe

at anchor in

the

Sound

by 7 p. m. On Thursday

she

remained at anchor, adjusting the draught to

meet

the

requirement

s

of the

sptlcification, and on

Friday she

commenced her full-power t rial between Start

Point

and

Barry

Head, a

distance of

12.26

knots. Four

runs were made between these points,

the

mean results

obtained from the

series being

as

follow :

Full Po11Jer ria

l.

Steam in boilers ...

...

280 lb.

Starboard. Port.

Vacuum .. . . . ...

2 5 ~

in. in.

RevtJlutions per

minuto

.. . 108.4 108 3

M

High

.. . 115

2llb

. 115 32

lb

.

ean

pre

s- Intermediate 49.09 , 46 .69 ,

sures Low... ... 20.93 , 19.3 ,

Ind i ca t ed

High ... 2508 2516

horae- Intermediate 2737 2608

power

L ow . 3105 2886

Indtcated hor

se

-power .. . 8350 8010

Collective

I

H.-

P.

.. .

..

16.360

S

peed

of vesstl . . .. . 18.3 knots

This

is certainly most

satisfactory, the

ship ha

ving

a

mean draught of 27 ft. i in., corresponding to 15,340

tons displa-c

eme

nt.

After

the

full-speed t rial

circles

were made to

port

and

starboard

with each steam-steering

en gi

ne, and

with the ship still at

full speed.

Then at a s

peed

of 5

knots, the

hand-

steering gea

r wa s

suc

cessfully tried,

after which stopping, starting, and reversing trials

were

ca

r ried

out.

1.

1

he

s

hip

then

ran

the remaining

90

knots

to Spithead at a speed

of

17

knots,

anchoring

there

shortly

before midnight.

RECENT LOCOMOTIVE PRACTICE

IN

FRANCE.

l<·

By

M.

Eo o

u.um AUVAGE, lVI t'mber, Assistant

Engine

er

in -

Chie

f,

Rolling

tock and Running D epartment,

Railway of

Fr

a.nce.

(

Trwnslated frorn the French.)

REOE N'l

' locomotiv

es

on

the Fren

ch railwaya

ar

c chiefly

remarkab

le for their high power,

rapid

incre')se in the

used : there are to day in France more than 8 ~ 0 locomo·

ti

ves

of this kind

in service

or

under constructiOn. The

four cylinders drive either two . three, or

four

ax l

es

.

Wir h two driving axles

the

macJ1u?-es have large

and are intended specially for workmg

express trams, but

they may also be employed a d v a n ~ a g u s l _ y for the

~ a v i e s passenger trains,

and even

m certam caces for

trams. Tbe locomotives with three axles h a ~ e also

l

arge

wheels.

Th ey

draw easily

long

goods trams or

heavy p assenger trains ; they have been employed

to work

e x p r e ~ s trn.i

n£1,

but exceptionaUy r

ather

t ~ a n r ~ g u l ~ r l : y

This ty pe

of engioe

n ~ e r s

_very

gr

eg.

t ~ V I c e , u ~ c e It IS

euitab le for almost a

ll

trams ; 1t allows considerable

mc r

ease

in speed for goods

tr

ains, whi

ch

becomes more and more

e c P ~ a

on

the

r e

twork of

t h ~ p i ~ n c i p a l

Fren

ch

.Jin

e_s

.

F or heavy and slow trains,

pr

mc1pa:lly on

steep

~

fou r driving ax l

es

are u

se

d ; but thts type of macbme l S

geoPrally less

in

favour than the

preceding

: almost

all

ens-ines with four driving axles have

already

become

a )Jttle antiquated.

It is im portant

to observe

that mu

ch importance is

attached to the preservation of th e coupling of these

axles together, instead

of

driving sepa

rately

one axle

or

a g-roup of axles by

each

pair of cylmders.

The

advance

in the

power of

ensioes has brought

ab

oub

an increa-sed weight upon each pa1r

of

wheels. A Joa.d

of

about 17 tons per axle is generallyallowe d to-da.y

io France

although

a few

years

since

15

tons were

seld

om exceeded .

Amongst

the

details of construction one should notice

first

of all the dim

ensions

of

the fire-grates

and

of boilers.

To

obtain

a sufficiently

large diameter,

especially with

large

wheels,

the

axis

of

the boiler has been raised much

more than

was

done formerly·

generally

a height

of

2.50 metres (8ft . 2i, in.) above

the

rail-level

is

to-d

ay the

norm al height,

although

f

ormerly this dimension

was

nearer 2.15

metres

(7ft. OH in.). This necessitates

the

sho

r t

chimneys characteristic of

modern

locomotives.

lb

is scarcely necessary to add that engineers

have

never

regretted this

increa

sed elevation

of

boilers

;

if

there

st

ill exists a divergence of

opinion

in

this

matter,

it is

between those who think that there is no disturbance in

the stabilitr and

those who

think

that

there

is

a distinot

advantage m this respect.

The

effeotive pressure

of

steam in boilers has been

carried

to 14, 15, and even 16 kilogrammes per square

centimetre

(199, 213, and

even

228 lb.

per square

inch),

the

compound s

ystem

making good use of these high pressures.

TABLE I.-FouR-CYLINDER CoMPOUND Lo c

oMOT

IVEs, IN UsE oR oN

ORDER

ON JANUARY 1, 1900.

(ORDINARY FRENOH GAUGE.)

:See

s

8J9&8.J1

I

Fig. 1

2

3

•

4

6

6

7

8

9

10

16

16

17

18

20

19

}

I

Railway .

Nord (Northern)

Ouest (Western)

{

Eta.t

(SLate)

{

Pa r

is

Orl

ean

s

Midi

(Southern )

{

P. L. M.

(Paris, Lyons,

and Mediterranean)

l

Est (Eastern)

Numbers of the Series. Number. Total.

Year Orde red.

-

- -

•

LO COMOTIVES

WITH

Two DRIVING AXLEB.

701

2121-2123, 2137

2138-2

167

2168-2160, 2161-2180

2611·2642

601-502

603-642

2701-2i06

2 8 0 ~

1 2')

1701-1714

1

75 1-1

774

17i6·1784

0

1·2

C3

0 11-12

0 21-60

0 61-150

2401-2432

1

17

20

2a

2

2

40

-

6

4

20

H

2 l

10

2

1

2

40

00

-

32

63

42

10

20

48

135

32

1885

1890

and

1892

189

1895 and 1897

1898

1893

1897 o.nd 1899

1895

1899

1898

1893

1895

and

1896

1897

1887

1692

1891

1893

1898

1898

•

Total number

of

locomotives with two driving

axles

•

350

LOCOMOTIVES

WITH

T H R l DRIYHW AXLES.

Nord

(Northern)

3121·3170 50 50 1

89

7

Ouest (Western) 2601-2626 25 23 1898

Paris-Orleans

Mi

di

(Southern)

1701-1725

1::301,1302

1303-1312

1401

1402-1416

26

2

10

1

25

27

1899

1895

1

89

7

and

1898

1896

1S98

P. L. M.

(Paris, Lyons,}

and Mediterranean)

3261-3300

3401-3550

40

50

60

1897

Est (Eastern) 8401-3450

90

60

Total number of locomotives with three driving axles . . 277

LO COMOTIVE

S WITH

FOUR

DRIVIN G AXLRS.

Nord (Northern) UO l-4120 20

•

•

1898

189S

1869

I •

P. L. M. (Pans,

Lyons,

3201-3202

4301·4302

3 ~ 1 1 - 3 2 6 0 , 3301

·3

862

4601-4540

2

2

1H

40

• •

1887

1887

and Mediterranean)

• •

••

176

To

tal number of four-cylinrler locomotives . . . . . . 808

(This does not include

.Mallet

l

oco

motives for the metre-gauge

1892

and

1893

1891 to 1895

R EMARKS.

Driving axles not coupled

radial axle in root.

Type cc Atlantic.''

American

lo

comotives, Vau

clain system.

Two driving axles between

two car.rying axles.

Loco

motives with four driv

ing axles converted.

Woolf's system, tandem cy

linders.

Converted engines.

6605 6342

12,947

_POWer Low . . .

Indtca.ted horse-power

..

Collective

I.H.-P.

... .. .

light railw

ays)

~ ~ ~

~ p e e d

of vessel . . ..

17.5 knots

Coal consumption per

I.H.-P.

per hour

... ... 1.6lb.

The high wind and heavy Eea prevented

th

e ship

an

choring

at

Torb9.y, as had

been

previously a

rr

anged ,

•

pow

er

of locomotives

being

not, however, pecul;a.r

to

Frn.nce.

F our-cylinder co

mp

ound locomotives are frequently

-

•

Paper read before the I nstitution of 1\Iechanical En-

gmeers

Referring to the frames of

locomotives,

the

Ieadino-

o

T h i ~

remark

does

~ o t apply to

M.

Mallet's articula

ted

locomotives e m p l o y ~ d m

~ r a n e e

on the light

railways

of

one-metre gauge, WJth wh1oh

the

present

paper

does not

dea.l.

7/17/2019 Engineering Vol 69 1900-06-29


I

•

ENGINEERING

[JUNE

29, I900

THE IMPERIAL JAPANESE

BATTLESHIP

'' ASAHI."

CONS TRU CTED BY l\1ES

RS.

JO H N BROWN AND CO.,

For Description,

see

P

ge

846.)

LIMITED,

CLYDEBANK, N.B.

•

•

...

bogie

has

come

mto

general use

in France.

All com

pound

locom

ot

ives with four cy

linders and two

or

three

driving

axles are

thus furnished, with

the

exception of

four

constru

cted before 1889; many of the

simple

loco

m otives have also

a.

bogie. Another ins tance of the

favour with which bogies are regarded in France is see n

in the

addition of

the

b

ogie

to o

ld m a c h i n ~

H is

also

worthy of

rem a

rk

that elegance

in

the design

of

loco

motives now re

ce

ives

mo

re

attent

ion

than formerly.

The following in forma

tion

concerning the seven great

Ja ilway lines of France, Nord, Ouesb, Etat,

Pari

s-Orleans,

Midi,

Paris

-Lyon-M editerra.ne

e

Est,* has been

gathered

with the

kind

co-ope

ration

of the

chief

mechanical engi

nePrs of

these

a d m i n i ~ t r a t i o

J\.IM.

du Bou s

quet,

Clera.ult, Desdouits, Solacroup, M offre, Ba.udry, a

nd

S alomon.

The

present paper

d

oes

n

ob

de

al

with light

railway

s

of

met re, which wou

ld

merit special consideration;

it

doe3

not treat ei t

her of electric locomotives on

trial

or

on

order for the working of

special

lines. Th e author prefers

to abstain fr

om

all comparison with English loco

motiv

es

or those of other cou ntries. Compound locomotives

with

four cylinders,

ot

her locomotives, and various de tails of

cJ n 3

tr uotio

n will be exami ned successively.

I C

OMPOUND L OCO?IIOTtVES WITH F

OUR

CYLINDER .

Table

I.

(page

847)

gi ves a

list

of the co

mpound

loco

mo

ti

ves

with four

cy

linders,

in aervioe or on o

rder

on

,January 1 1000,t for French

railways

(not

including

the

M allet locomoti ves for light r

ailways

of one m et re, as

stated

ab ove). Am ongst these locomotives of norm al

gauge, four. (N os.

28

01

-2804 Etat)

1

cons

tr u

c

ted in

A

merica,

A.re of

the V aucla.in system, witn superposei:l oy linder

s

twAnty others (

No

s. ·HOl

to

4120

No

rd,

constru

c ted in

1889 ) ha ve

tand

em cylinders, wit h three pi ston-rods in

ea.cb g roup, and one valve for a grou p of two cylinders ;

thes

e l

ocomo

tives do n

ot

belong to the category of ordinary

co

mpound ma

chines

with

intermediate receiv er,

but to

* Th

ese

se ,·en

lines

work the greater par t of

the

net

work of F rench ra ilw

ays;

th ere remains a system com

of light rail ways, generally with one-metre gauge.

t S ince that

date

new ord ers have been given for loco

motives of

th i

s

kind. The

W este

rn Railway

has decided

c n

a.

const ruction

of

a lot of 40.

•

•

•

••

that

of th e W oolf

typ

e, with steam tr a

ve

rs

ing

di rect

fr

om

one

cylinder to the other.

Putting

on

one side

th e

se two ca te

gori

es of loco

motives, all

others ha

.ve four separate cylinders,

e a ~ h

with it s own valve

and

valve gear. The oldest of these

locomotives is No.

701,

N ord, Fig.

1,

designe

d,

like

several of the following,

by

l\IL de Glehn,

dire

ctor

of

the

Societe A lsa cie

nne

de Cons

tru

ctio

ns lVl

eca

niques

.

The

two driving axl

es of this locomo

tiv

e,

No

. 701, are not

co

up l

ed. ' rhe hi(3'h-press

ure

cy

lind

ers are in s

ide

and the

low-pressure outs1de the fr ames .

In the following locomotives the positions of th e

cylinders ha

ve

been changed, which giv

es

the double

advantage of

placing the exhaust passage

fr

om th e low

pres

sure cy

linders

beneath

th

e smokebox and fixing the

smaller cy

linders outside

.

L oc

omotives

with

two driving axles de v

el

ope

d

fr

om

the

fi

rst type

have

been construc

ted

of la

rg

er and lar

ge

r

pow

er

;

then

followed the type with

th ree dr i

ving ax les,

o

ften

with wh

ee

ls l

arge enough

to pe

rmit

their taking all

except the

most

rapid trains. In ord er to still further

inc rease th e dim ensions

of

the boilers of

hi

gh-speed

engines w

it

h two driving ax les, the ty pe called

At

lantic, w

it

h one

carrying

axle placed be

hin

d the

two driving

axl

es, Fig. 11, has

bee

n

intr

oduce

d.

Tw o

locomoti VtiB of

th

is ty pe are

being const

ru cted for

th

e

No rt

he

rn

Railway. One

may consider the A tlantic

typ

e as derived from the th ree-axles-coupled mach ine,

where the

tr

ailing axle ceases to be a driver .

Ther

e

is

considerable unifo

rmit

y among

the tw

o a

nd

th r

ee

driv

i

ng-a

xles loco

motives

em pl

oye

d on th e d iffere

nt

Fr

ench

railway

s ; however, the

P11ri

s

-Lyon

-M e

diterrnn

ee

has types of two,

th r

ee, and also four -co

up l

ed

axles wh10n are pecu liar to th is l ine.

As a

lready sa

id, th e coupling-rod has be en

pr

eserved

for two

driv ing

axl

es

, to om

it

which would

ap p

ear

poss

ible

without inconve

ni

ence . t h

as

b

ee

n fo

und

in

Fra nce that the dis

turbing

forces due to the recip rocat ing

movement

of

the pistons and the ob liquity of th e

co

nn e

ct

ing

-rods

ca

n

be

dimini

shed

by

thu

s co

up

lin

g

the

wh

eels;

the machine

run

s more smoo

thly

and wea.rs th e

permanent way less . In ad dition to th is, th e coupled

wheels are less prone to slip; in fac t, with

tw

o inde

pendent axl es, i one sli ps, the s

team

immediately acts

with greater effort upon the other, makmg it slip in its

turn.

•

..........

- .

-

. -

-

•

-

Table II. g1ves various

di

mensions of four-cylinder loco

mo t

ives . In the most recent locomotiv

es it

will be s

ee

n

that the gra te area is

ab

out 2.5 s

qu

are met res (

27

square

feet ) ; for cer tain amo ng

th

em

th

e heating su rface ap

p roach

es

200 square me t res (2153 square feet ). T hese

heating

surf

aces are reckoned on the s1de of the

pl

a

tes

and

tu bes

in

co

nt

act with th e

fl

ame and hot gases.

The

sur

f

aces

indicated

ar

e not al ways co

mpar

able, for they

not a

lw

ays

ca

lculat ed in exac tly the same ma

nner

; w1th

the Se rve-ribbed tubes

ve

ry frequ e

nt l

y used, the dep

th

all owed in the calculations for

th

e ribs is not always the

sa.me ; b esides, mo re or less is allowed for the of

th e

ri

bs for

expandi

ng

purp

oses

at

th e two

extr

em1

1

es of

e

ac

h tube.

The grea te r number

of

locomotives h

av

e a

br i

?k

a

rch

in the firebox. On

certain

engi nes of the _ an s·

Orl

ea

ns

and

:

Midi

rail

w

aya

th

e Tenb

rin

ck he

ater

exlSts.

Th e weights have be en gi ven, in T able I

I. , as

they

appear on t he reports f

urni

shed to t he au thor; .

b ~ t

it

is clear

that

th ese weigh ts

cann

ot be

exa

ct m

th

m

50 ki log

ra mm

es 1 cw t . ) ; t hey must vary with

the

condition of the engine. T he weights cannot be

g iven for cer

tain

ve ry recent and not yet completed

locomotiv es .

Figs. 2

to 20 re presen t the particular types of four

cy

lind

er locomot ives . Those of t he Pa ris-Orleans

and

=--ta te ra il ways not given

re

semble the later y p ~ of the

ou thern li ne,

with

t he exception of th e Ame n can loco·

motives of the S

tate

railway. .

Th

e \

Va

lsohaert

val

ve-goar

is

employed genera1ly_

m

loco

mo

t iv

es with

fo

ur

cylinders.

Thi

s mechan ism, ha.vmg

only one e

ccent

ric is

su i

ta ble for ou tsido cylinders . Io

is a lso applied for ins

ide

cylinders never theless, t he

Gooch link has been employed for i1H1de cylinders on the

latest co

mp

ound engi nes on the Paris-Lyon -J\IM iterranee.

The

\

Vahchaer

t

syste

m gi ves good

di

st

ri

bution of steam

at t he

vari

ous poi

nt

s o f

out

-off.

The t wo

liftin

g .sha fts, one f

or

t ho t wo r e s s

cyl inders, the o

th

er for the low -pres uro

o y l i n ~ e r s

are

act u

ated by

t wo re vers ing sc

rew

s

pl

aced

op

pos

it e

.

eac

h

ot

her, F

ig

.

21,

or one a

pr

olon

ga t

ion of the other, F1g.

22,

page

852 ;

the two can

be

rever

se

d

at

will , e i he_

t ~ e r

or

sepa rat ely. Th e

drivers

are th us able to

ad

Just su1tably

th e dis tribution for all requirements, and ha ye rom

practice in

a.

very short t1me the best workmg pos1t10ns.

Admission of ste am to bhe large oylinders should always

7/17/2019 Engineering Vol 69 1900-06-29


-

11

J UN E 29, I 900.]

E

N G I N E E R I N G.

RE

CENT LOCOMOTIVE

PRACTICE

IN

FRANCE.

•

-

•

"•.

A

<;-

(

.

TitJ .1. No. 701 , Nord.

J

• l •

l

' •, , •

.•

I

-.

• •

.

-

•

.

.

Fig 2 N

os

. 2138 2157,

Nonl

.

Fig.J.

Nos.

2r6r- 218o, N o1'd.

-

"

r - ·

./ '

-

t\

•

. / ..

... -

--

- ..

..

··--.....-

•

1

.....

.

- e ' ~

:

-

-

•

-

- . . . : . . . . . -

.

I •.

)-

-

- ·-

· -

.. . .....

-·-·- :S \

V

.,. '"

l• ,._ ~/ /

1,

•

......

- ~

~ C )

IV-

f...

'

y

:( \

,

'·

4 L i

'

::

- · ·

..., 1-:--

_ . l ~

f'

F

"ij'

r-

- . / -· . . - ·

--

·

7:

\ :

/

'·

•

•

Firf .4.

Nos. sor and 50

2, 'Guest

.

•

(

\

•

r

•s:::z

. ~ .

.

· · · ~ . ···· . ...

.

}

-·

•

: t ... . .....

c

:

. · · · ·

w :

..

-

•

- ·-

-q-. -

·

r-

.-

·- ·

-t-

-

-

-

.

· - ~

- - ~ ,

I• .,.· ~

I

• •

• •

/

I \

.

•

.

'-

. . \

·

- - .

...

.

·--'·- ·

~ ~

. ..

_,-·

-·

'

;

~ ~

: -·.

1

:

••

••

0

J

\ . 1

\

•

~

/

r

..

D

oJ

•

'5\.\•

\

•

. . . . . . .

u

••

'

l l,

,_ ,_ /

....

r ~ Nos. C6r-rso,

Pa1

·

is

-Lyons-Mediterranee.

'

I

.

~

r.

•

•

•

,.

'

A

0(/v

r

~

ur l

•

'

- · - - -

--

-

· -

. -

- -

-

I

•

•

•

•

D

F< .5 .

I

I

I

1

u

wiU'eled

I

· Teru .er

I

I •

•

•

•

I I I

1

0

l l lllf l • lll

flllflllfl

I I

1·

2

0

1

I

I

•

I

I

s

F4J . G. Nos.

503 542, O t ~ e

•

r '

~

-

I I _

- - -

-

- - - -

- -

-

-

-

-

.....

-

-

~

i•

\

/ '

-

. : ' \ _ .

..,:. . ---

•

.

1-J

11

,

'

:

\ •

•-y

- - -

_ ; ; . •

•

•

I __...,

•

l

.

\.

h

•

•

•. .

•

••

•

•

•

•

f ~

.... . -·-

_,

•

•

"tfl)

':

\\;

~

,_

.......

•

• •

.•

•

•

•

-

Fig. 7. N

os. 1

70I-l7I--t

1

J

ti d

i.

•

- -

r. " . \. . . ... ·:rx.·." " --- ~ 1 -

>-

,

I I'

,

S' ~ • ~ \ . - ;

,.

I

.......

, - i

:: • - 11 ....;

.t

...

~

o

~ - ; ; ; ; ; ;

D

2

, V

.

... "

/

•

FLg. 8 . Nos . I

7S

L-I77.f, A1idi.

r

"

.

..

- - ~ - - - -

3

4

s

6

7

8

I

I

.I

I

I

[

I

f

I I

10

lJ

20

2S

. - -

•

•

- ·-

....

9

10

Me(res .

I I

I

1

30 3D

F

eet.

p . ,., 11 ;\ 6

N

6 N i " A tla1

.Lic

'' t 'c .

"":: . . .n os. 2 41 nnu 2 42,

on

. :.rr

-

•

{ I

•

'

r

'

'

•

•

I

.

,...

•

•

'

/

1\

''

--

-

~

-

- · -· -

--

-

-

-

-

-

-

·

- .

.. .

..

·-

·-

·1-

r - · - - '

~ "

I

\

I

L

.

.

.

.

I

Bv Ji

umu.r

I

\

I

c-_-,

'

"'

I

-

'

~

~

~ t l

..

'

I

,;, I

. • ... .• ' . _

' IC• it

I ~ ~

1l

I.

- : : : ~

.:0 0

IJJ

; i l ~

.

•••

~ - r : . • <

' • r

}v

0 . · '

'

I Jt 11 l=lR.F

J ,-....

11t·

)

~

~

\

~

__,j ;;] (r r : , ,

' J

- -,

\...

- , v

-

-

iJ

('\

•

f •

-

,. '· ~ ,...., ,•

'

'

1'-' ,·

: u ' :ii

J L

,

' ,

'.

'

.

,

. , ,

1"1

-

. ·, , _ ' . • ,

-

•

.

•

,

'

/

\I

.

•

•

•

Fig

.

10

.

Nos. 2401

2432,

Est.

Re /2 Nos.

3121 3170,

Nord

•

I

• . .

--

.. •

'I

. . . . . .

. ~ ~ · r·==-== = - ~ - = f · - = ~ -;;· ;.·

.

;;-

·r - - ...

, .

'

'

'

•

-

•

,

..

. .. .

,

· -

. - . - ..- . - - -

. . .

•

'

I

'

' '"

,

-

be at least from

40

to 50 per cenb. of the strok

e,

and late r

for higher speeds.

On the Paris-Lyon

-:

Mediterra.nee the reversing ·shafts

are on

the

cont rary, actuated ab the sa.me time, so that

they

always

ta

ke

th

e

sa.me

fixed rel

ative

pos

it

ion.

In

order

to g ive

the

engines

a.

sufficient

sta

rting

effort,

a. sp

ecial valve permits

the

direct admission of

steam

fr

om

the

boiler mt o

the

receiver, where a.

sa

fe

ty \'&lve

limits

the

pressure.

Wh e

n

the

two co

nn

ecting-rods

situ&ted on

the

same side of

the

engine are opposite

one

an

other, ab 180 deg. (the out3ide for

the

high-

pr

essure

I

'

•

•

·-

.

\

i

•

'

...

. .

...1

. -·-

··--

--

,,,

~ . _ J I _ ) ; W 6

-

;--

- ..

-·

-

--

- -

-- -

•

' .

•

-

~

~

r,-

- . ;-.

~

:- . ' '

'

:

. ,

·:. . .

rt

·'-

·· ·

""

... - · ··r · : - ~ - ';... - ·- -

A

I

~ .

:..--

IO 0

l--

;

1.. ' •

.

. •.

.. 9 .

I

f5464Cl

CJ Ii

nd

er

, the inside for

the

low-pressure cylinder), the

st arting effort is n

ot

sufficient

in

certain posi tions of th e

engine, on account of the coun ter pressure upon

the

small

piston of

the

steam adm itted to

the

receiver ; it ha-s been

found necessa

ry

to place between

the tw

o groups of

cylinders special s

tarting

appa

ratus,

Fi g

. 23.

I t

consi

sts

of a. large

coo

k which

ca

n inte

rrup

t

the

passage from

the

small

to the

large cy

lin

der,

an

d

which

opens

at the

same

time a.

dir

ect escape for th e small cylinders. A similar

cook exists on each side of

the

ens-ine.

Th

e opening of

this

cook transforms the locom

ot1ve

to a. simple four-

•

cylinder engine;

in

ca.se of injury to one group of

cylinders, it rendera possible working

with

the

othe

r

group only.

The

system of

the

Es t

,

Fig.

24, conei

sts

of a special box

furni

shed

with

a ftap

-val

Ye, which

n to se

parate

t

he

high-pressure

and

low-pressure

cylind

ers,

and a. va

lve

which opens. a dir

ect

escape for

the

former. Th

is

apparatus

receives

the exhaust

pipes from

both

high

pressure cylinders.

I f the two

c

rank

s for

the

high a.nd low pressure, instead

of being opposite each other, a.re constru

cted with

a.

7/17/2019 Engineering Vol 69 1900-06-29


N G I N R I N

G.

}UNE 29 I9CO

•

TABLE I.-PRINCIPAL DIMENSIONS OF

THE

FOUR-CYLINDER COMPOUND LOCOMOTIVES.

BOLERS.

N

UM BER

S

•

FIG.

R AILWAY.

01< TUE

SERIES.

Hei

g'ht

In te rnal of Axis

Pressure.

Di)meter.

above

Rail.

m.

m. kg. per

ft. io.

f

t. io.

Pq . cm .

lb.

per

s

q.

io.

1

No rd

(Northern

)

701

1.

236

2.160

11

4

ot

7

OH

156

2121-2122 1.260 2.25U

14

4

1t

7

}

99

2123-2137 1 .260 2.250 14

4

l i

7

4y'l l

199

2

2138-2167 1.266

2.250

15

4

l ?J

7

4 t n

213

2168-2t eo 1.350 2 450 15

4

8 Oi

6

2'3

3 2161-2180

1.350

2.450

15

4 8

OiG

213

26 1·

26 2

1.4 56 2 . 5 ~ 0 16

4

g l

ll s

Si

228

4 Quest

(We

ste rn

601-602 1.296

2.

231)

14

4 3,-l

;

7 4 1

90

503·542 1 380 2.486 H

4

6i

8

1

99

Etat (State)

2701-27

06

1.256 2.250

15

4

1i a

..,

4

0

213

• l G

280

1-2

804

1. 6

88 15

5

9 2

13

Pa r is-Orlean@

1-20

1.378

2.450 15

4

6

8

Ol

G

213

7

Midi

1701-1714 1. 260 2. 25 0

l4

(Southern)

4

1i

7

4l tl

199

1751-1774

1.380 2. 450 14

4 8

OiG

199

1i75·1784

1. 370 2.450 16

4

6t \

8 o,•u

2'3

P. L

. M.

1

1. 260

2 ~ 0

15

(P a

ris, LyooP,

4

1i

7

4 /

6

213

and

0 2

1.260 2.250 15

Mediterranean)

4

7

4

1

213

ll

0 3

1.320 2.2 50

15

4 4 7

4

a

213

0 11-12

1.

320 2 250

15

4 4

7

4 l

e

2l3

0 21

·60

1

.32

0

2.250 15

4

4

7

4t"s

213

9

0 61-160

1.440 2.470

15

4

su

8

1

213

10 Est

2401-2432

1.4 63 2.590

16

(Eas tern)

4 8

6U

228

12

Nord

3121-3170 1.381 2.420 15

(Nort

hern) 4

6f

7

11

213

1

3

Ouest

2501

-2j2

5

1.4

46

2.410

14

14 }

(Weste

rn) 4

8+&

7

l Ot

199

Paris-Orl

ea

ns

1701·1726

1.380 2 4

2•

J

15

4

6

7

n t

213

Midi .

1301-1302 1 380 2.420 14

(Sout hern)

4

6jl

7

11

199

16

1303-13

12

1.376

2.4 20

15

4

i\

7

11

21 3

1401

1.380 2.345 14

4

6

7

'8j

199

15

1402-1415 1.376

2.345 15

4

6r\

7 213

P.L.M. ( Paris,

3261-3300 1 .400

2.260

15

Ly

ons,

and 4

71,

7

4H

213

17

Mediterranean)

3401-3550 1.440 2. 435 15

4

8H

7

n H

213

Est

(Eastern)

3426-3460 1.4 66

2 450 16

4

9

8

is

228

I

/

Nor

d

4101-4120 1.4

78

2.050 10

•

(Nor thern)

4 10, \

6

8H

]4 2

3201·3202 1.4 00

2.260 15

(Paris, Lyons,

and

Mediterranean; 4

7 l

lf

7

4U

213

Do.

t 301 4 302 1.500

2.2ao 15

4 l l l'.r

7

4{

8

213

•

{

2

11,

3260,

}

1.400

2.260 15

20

Do

.

anti

4

7i o

7

HR

213

330: -

";362

Do.

4601-4610

1

.600

2.2611

15

4

l l

r\r

7

4H

21:3

Dll.

45

11·45

20

1.

500

2.200 . 16

4

11 rlJ

7

4tS

2 l3

19

Do.

4521-4630

1. 50U

2.260 15

4

llt'-J

7

4ft

213

suitable angle,

a.

sufficient starting effort in

all

positions

of the

eng

ine ma.y be obtained without special

apparatus

other than the admission valve di rect

to

the

re

ceiver.

This was done on the first locomotives of the ~ r i s

Mediterra.n ee; but this arrangement, which

do

es not

balance

th

e weights

of th

e p .rts so well,

ha.s

been

abandoned in r

ecent

designs.

For lu

br

icating p istons

a.

nd valves, the beat apparatus

consists of a kind of oil-pump.

set

in motion by the

looomotive gear. This pump distribute3

oil

to the four

cylinders

in

precisely regulated quantities.

The

pr

eference given in France to four-cylinder com-

I

TonEs.

O LINDB.

RS.

DRIVING

WEIGUT IN

WUEELS WORKfSG OR

DER

.

Heating

Grate

Surface.

Area.

High Pressure.

Length

External

Betwe

en

Dia.m

et

er IN

urn

ber

Plates.

Diameter. St roke .

m.

.

mm.

sq.

m .

sq. m.

mm

.

mm

.

ft

io

.

•

sq.

rt

.

sq.

ft

•

•

m. m.

m.

LocoMOTIVES WITH Tw o

DR I

VING A .xLRs .

3.660 45 204

2.27

103. 03

330 610

11

1

24,

7

a-

1109

13

24

3.900

70

9

1.99

155.27

3 0

640

12 9.\.

2

1611?

\l

13 i 25

3.900 70

9

1.95 155

.2i

310

64ll

12

9 2l

21

1671 251

3.900 70

94 1.99 166.10 340

640

12

Q

1669 13

25k

8. 900 70

107 2.30

176.76

340 640

12

2f

28

1891

251

3.900 70 106 2.30 173 .00

340

640

12

9

2ft

28

1

862

13

il

2

54-

4.200 70

126 2.74

211. 30

340 640

13

9

29.\- 25l

3.800

70

88 2.00 12

3.20

320

6 ~ 0

12

6 /

6

2

21f tr

1

326i\J

2 t,on

251

3.8

00

70

96 2.40

133.70

3t0

640

13

2f

26fij

14

39 l

1

u

25k

3.

900

70

94

2.0 5 157.6tl

310 640

12

9

1697t

2

5

3.670 50

282

2.38 176 .8 7

330

660

12 0

1

3

2

26i

1903i

t:l

a.

eoo

70 111

2.46 175.61

350

640

12

9i

2*

26 1890/

6'

25k

3.897 70

94

2.02 151.95

340 640

12

9

2l 21 1635i

131 25

3.900

7J 111

2.46 175.44

350 6:10

12

9 26

1888

25k

3.900

70

111

2.49

173.31)

350 6: 0

12

9 - 2 18651 ,

13 2oi

4 035 50

185

2.43 119.06

310

620

13

2i

tU

26i\r

1281

12

1

24 i

4.035

45

224 2.4 3

129.29

310 620

13

1

1391t 12r\

3.000 65

133

2.43 148.09

34ll 620

9

101

2l

OJ

2

6r

\

159i h 131

3.000 6'1

133

2.43 148.09

340 620

l

Ql

2

f1f

r ~ O J

1594?l

13i

3.(00

65

133

2.38 148

.0

7

340 620

0

1

0i

~ · \ l

25

i

1

593i

1

3ij

3.400

65 150

2.43 189.5l

340

620

11

1H

2fl

26H

2039U

3.400 7::

140

2.52

184.70

350 640

11

1n 2:l

27i 1988#

13 251

L OCOMOTIVES W

ITH THREE

DR IVING A XLES.

4 1 00 70 107

2 34 180. 70 350

6 ~ 0

13

5 j

ll

2i

25 r\

19 J 13f

25

4.300

iO

a

nd 45 117

2.45 194.00 350

6l0

14

l

{i-

2

"

26f

2088 1

3i

25l

4.1

00 70

107

2.38 187.97 350

6

0

13

6i i

2

1

25i

20231 1

3l

25t\

4.100

70

111

2.46 18 t. 5 l 360

610

13

5i ll

2

2

6

1953H

13 i

25

1

4.1CO

70 11

1

2.49

181.74

350

6t0

13

6?

21

26U

19

56

-{,;

13f

25i

4. \00 70 111

2.46 181. 51 350

6t0

13 5,J

o)

26

t 953U

25k

4.100 70 111 2.49

181.74 350

610

13

fi ts

26H

19j 6l iJ 1

3

251

P.OOO 65 139 2.4 5 lot .74 360

650

9

lOt

2l ' f

26

1665 i

14 r"o

25 fs

3.400

65

160 2.48 189.31 340

650

11

219o3

26H

2Cl39U 13

4.100

70

130 2.6 1 205.31 350

6 l0

13

6 in

27 2210

131

25

m r o T I WITH F ouR

DR I

VING AXL ES.

4.099

60

199

2.08 124.30

380

650

13

5f

1H

22

1 1338 15 2

51""

6

4.350 40 and 15 307 and 2.45 164 .74 340 650

247

and

154.89

14

3

1 /8" and 1

1773[

6

13 25f ll

an

4.150 50 and 55

247 and 2.21

1667

159.55

360

650

and

151.12

13

7

1U ~ l f

210

23

177

7?,

14

:1

1 6

26 ls

and

•

t626H

8.000 65 139

2.4/5 154.74

360 650

9

l

Ot

2f'w

••

26i

1

665i

14

t\-

2 5 , - ~

2.996 65

2.

10

202.06

340 650

9

9a

2 /

.,

22&

21 75

13

f

251

1 l'

3.0

'17

05

18 1 2.

14

202.10 340 650

9

trv

2,n6'

23

217

6?

6

13f

25 /

l

3.007

65

184 2.10

20

2.

88

340 650

9

2 /

e

22i

218

3i

131

25 /

r

pound locomotives appears justified. In the first place,

when a. very great power of the locomotive is required,

the compound system permits the use of

steam

a.t a high

pressure, 14

to

16 kilogra.mmes p3r square centimetre

(199 lb.

to

228 lb. psr square inch), whilst preserving

simple

di

s

tributi

on a.nd ordinary valves.

The

system

gives economy of steam, or a larg

er

power for

the sa.

me

expenditure, a.nd when

th

e engine ha'3

to

be driven hard,

this economy increase3, because

th

e boiler is less forced.

In addit ion

to thi

s, compound lo

co

motives with four

cylinders have cer

tain

advantages over those which have

only two or

three;

each cylinder producing only a smaller

I

I

Low-Pressure.

D:a-

T

otal.

meter.

Diameter.

Stroke.

mm.

mm.

m.

kg.

•

1n.

•

m.

ft

.

in

to

os

460

610

2.100

37,8

0)

181

24

6

10H

37.20

L30

640

2.130

477800

20i 25

6 4

.04

630

640 2.130 48,620

20i 251

6

l l i

47.8.5

630

640 2.130 48,930

20i

2j6

6

l l

i

48.16

530

6 1 1

2. 130 60,460

20g

25i

6

l l i

49.66

530 640 2.130

52,400

20i

25l

6

51. 57

660

640 2.040 64,00:>

22

2 5 ~

6

8l'u

62.99

500

640 2.0 10 46,

05:>

26*

6

7

45.3Z

530

6l0

2.010 49,600

20i

6

7i

48.72

b30 640

2.130 50,000

20i

25i

6

l l i

49

.2

1

5SO

660

2.140 54,880

22

7

O

51.02

550 640

2.090

• •

21 i

25.

6 lO

l.,

530

640 2.130 50,800

20i

25

6

i

60.00

650

6l0

2.180

64 ,000

211 25

6

na

63.15

550

6

t0

2.130

21i

25# 6

ll

t

600

6 ~ 0

2.000

53,501

19H

2-ti

6

6

52.66

500

620 2.000 53,500

t 9H

24

if

6

6

62.66

540

620 2.000 44,980

21t

24i

6

6:

44.27

540

620

2.000 47,910

21

24 y

6

6i

47

.16

510 6

2LI

2.000

56,600

21

2-l

i 6

6ll

49.80

6 ~ 0

620

2.00 ,

21

2l *

6

6f

660

660 2.070

69,218

21i

2 6 f l

6

9

58.29

550 640

1.750 58,570

21i

263 5 8i

57.65

660

640

1.

720 58,400

21 i 25t\

5

7H

57.48

550 640

1.750

21&

25§

5

sa

&50 640 1.

750

57,600

25k

6

8i

66.69

550 640

1.7 50

60,10.1

21i 25

5

Si

59.

15

550 640

1.600 56, 500

2 li 251

5

2U

66.61

650

640 1.600

59,900

21i 25#

6

2+8

68.96

59J

650

1.600 58.110

23

4

llfi

67.19

640

650 1.6 50

21

5

4 tG

5 5 ~

640

1.7 50

65,368

21i

25i

5

8i

61 3

660

650 1.3 00

52,800

261

1J

4

3r

\

51 97

640 650

1.500 56,900

21

25f lf

4 11

6

56

.00

640 650 1.260

57,100

21

2 5 t ~

4

l i

56,20

690

650 1.500

63,700

23

2516

4

11

-h

52.86

520 650

1.3

00

61,nOO

206

f

251

96

4 50.69

62 6 ' 0

1.

300

50,900

20 ?

.,

25lll

l

4

31

60.10

620 650 1.300

61,660

2

11

io

25 /

8

4

31\

60.85

Adhe-

•

81\'e,

kg.

tons

27,600

27.16

30,500

. 30.02

30,520

30.04

30,779

30.29

31,010

30.62

32,400

31.89

•

33,000

32.48

28,650

28.20

3

1,0

00

30.51

32,135

31.61

32,0

60

31. 56

• •

• •

31,8()('

31.30

32,800

32.28

29,600

29.13

29,600

29.13

30,370

29.89

30,150

29.67

31,880

31.30

33,778

33.24

42,470

41.80

41, 500

40.84

41,7

00

41.04

44, 300

43.60

40,700

40

.0 6

44.100

43.41

44 ,010

47 ,096

46.35

5

8 0 0

51 97

56,900

66.00

57,100

66 .20

51,700

~ . 8 6

51,500

50.69

60,900

50. 10

61,660

50.85

.

REMARKS.

-

Low-pressure out·

side cylinders.

Atlantic type.

•

V .uclaio system.

Tenbriook

beate

r io

the

firebox.

A y i n ~ ~ : axle

at

each

eod.

Ditto.

A carrying axle in

front.

Pr

essure

reduc

ed to

15 kg.

per square

centimet re, or

213

lb.

per sq. in.

113

ribbed

tubes

of

70

mm., or 2i in.

and o t h tubes

of

45

mm ., or

l i

in.

diameter ;

Converted engines.

Press

ure

re

du

ced to

15

kg. pe r square

centimetre, or

213

lb. per sq. in.

Tllo em oy m ers.r

d

:

30

'i

tubes of 40 mm

or in., on on

eng

i ne, and

247

o

e

f

45

mm

. ,

or

l i

io.

oo the

other.

'

247

tubes

of 60 mm.

,

e

f

or 1U in., oo on

en

gine, and 2 1 ~ o

65 mm . , or 2H to.

'

n

the

other.

Converted

locomo

tiv es.

Ditto.

Ditto.

fraction of the total work, the engines are less strained,

a.nd rem'l.in in good order a longer time. It s well.known

to

what

rapid wear very powerful locomotives

w t ~ h

two

cylinders

are

exposed, because

it

is sc

ar

cely possible. to

give

to

the wearmg

parts

sufficient bearing surface. In

pract

ice,

th

e cost of

mainte

nance does

not

appear grea

ter

with fo

ur than with

two cylinders from this reason. .

The arrang

eme

nt

of four cylinders, whilst

{>reservmg

the coupling nf driving axles, leads to a

b a l a n c n ~ g

of the

moving parts. The oscillations of the

l ~ c o m o t 1 v e s

apd

the variation of the weights upon the r a ~ l are r ~ d u c e d .

In

one e x a m p ~ given by M. Baudry, chtef engmeer of

7/17/2019 Engineering Vol 69 1900-06-29


JuNE

29,

I9CO.]

N I N

R I

N

G

Bsr

RECENT LOCOMOTIVE

PRACTICE

IN FRANCE.

FUj . l3

Fig .14. Nos. 2501 2525, Guest.

FUj.77N os. 3401 3550, Paris-Lyons-Mediterranee.

J

-

-

0

0

11

0

'

/

'

/

~ ~ - ··-·

•

•

•

...

I

--

-

-

-

--

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-- · - '*' - - .

- - ·- ·- ·-

--

Jr

•

- '

.

-

•

•

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\

•

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....

.

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§ , ,

fii :

V

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,

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•

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' - - - - - - ~ ~ - - - - - L - - ~ ~ ~ - - - - ~

- - - -

~ ~

•

• •

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•

ff9

16

Nos 1303 1312 Midi

h:.i

-

- ';

l

tJ

.

t

.

•

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(j

1

[

<(

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IT

le.,'

~

. - -

...... .

.--

-

I

ylo

1

~

f..

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. -

'·: .- Z

;

. '

Fig.18.Nos.

3401

34 0

1

Est.

I

-

- -

.-

.lW

•

; l

t

l

•

•

•

•

q

'

•

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...

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.

Vos.

4521-

.4530,

Paris-Ly

o11.s

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editerrani e.

I

;

i

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;-...

~

•

-

- · - ·- · - · - ·

. - . - . -r - . - .

·-

;

1

wludui

,

1

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Tuuiu

•

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fl•

•

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r:O

f G

fl

OJ

1

0

1

2 3

tf.

s

6

i 8

9 10 Metres.

1

WI I

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I

I

I I l 1 I

I

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I

I

I I

I

I

I

I

f

I

1 1

rp

I

I 1

4

2

0

j

J )

J 20

2.5

30

.3.5

Feet.

'

'

'

•

the Paris-Lyon-Mediterra.nee,

the

additional weight

UJ??n

each wheel

due to

speed was only from 1100 to 1200 kilo

grammes

(1T'e- to

1i\r ton) instead of

3600 ( 3 ~

tons) for

locomotives with two driving axles,

and

from 1400

to

2500

kilogrammes l

i to

2 tons)

in

place of 6600 kilo

grammes tons) for locomotives with three driving

axles,

the

Wheels being 1.60 metre

(4 ftJ. li y

1

lf

in.)

in

dia

meter.

• •

~ . N

os.

32

I I-326o,

3301 3362,

Paris-Lyons-M

c j ~ t e r r . e e ~

I f

compound locomotives with four cylinders cosb

a.

little

more than ordinary two-cylinder m o t i this

excess

is

largely compensated for

by

economy

in

fuel,

because

the

cost of up-keep

and

repair does n

ot

&{>pear

to

increase.

The

observations made upon locomot1 ves 5

01

and

602 of

the

Ouest, which have been

in

service for some

years, confirm these favourable opinions.

The

se two

machines have been compared with

eight

equivalent two

cylinder locomotives of

the

series 900. Care has been

taken to

pub them to varioua duties,

to

employ exactly

the

same kind of fuel for all

the

engines,

and

to

change

the

men often.

The

two compounds, compared with

the other

e n ~ n e

have shown an economy

in

coal of 12

per

cent.

Th1

s economy would have been grea ter

if

the

tot

al amount

used

by

engine

502 had

n

ot

been always greater

than that

of engine 501,

due

no doubt to some small hidden defect.

The

cost of oil has

not

been greater for these compounds

than

for

other

lo

co

motives.

With

regard to

we

ar,

the tyres

of locomotives 5

01

and

602

have run about 58,000 kilometres (or 36,000 miles),

between each returning, whilst the

other

locomotives

have

run

about 62,000 kilometres

(32, 000

miles):

the

removal of the wheels is

the

occasion of a slight general

repair

to the

mechanism.

The

wear of the valves is

considerably leas

with the

compound locomotives,

in

spite

of

the

high pressure

in

the

boiler

(14

kilo

grammes

per

square centimetre

in

place of 12,

19D

lb.

per

square inch in place of 171

lb.): the

valves of

the

eight

ordinary locomotives have been withdrawn

after

running about 69,000 kilometres (about 43,000 miles).

The

valves of compounds have given

the

following

Eer

-

•

VlceS:

Locomotive

501

High

-pressure valves, 216,000

and

332,000 kilometres

(134,

000

and

206,000 miles).

Low-pressure valves, 311,000 kilo

metres (193,000 miles) for both.

L

oc

omotive 502 High-pressure

v a l v e ~ ,

206,000

and

265,000 kilometres (128,000

and

165,000 miles).

Low-pressure

valve 3t

362,000 kilo

metr

es for both 000 miles

).

(To

be continued.)

LAUNCHES

AND TRIAL ' 'RIPS.

A

NOTABLE

addition hae been made to

the

magnificent

fleet of English-owned yachts

by

the launch, on

the

14th

inst

., of the steel twio.sorew vachb Za.ida,

built

Messrs.

J.

Samuel

White and

Co., Limited, of

Ea

st

C o w ~

for

Mr.

Alfred Shuttleworth. The vessel, which haa been

•

..._

1

A

ir l l . u t . r ~ 6

r

·f t = = = = = = ~ - = = = = ; :

•

.

11

- ·-

built

one grade in excessof Lloyd's highest class to designs

prepared

by the

builder, is of

the

following dimensions :

Length, 149.6

ft.;

breadth, 22.8

ft.; depth

12.3 ft ;

and

is

of particularly graceful appearance,

havins

exceptionally

I o n ~ a n ~

beautiful overhangs at;ld a.rtist10

b<?w

carvi_ng

endmg m a pretty figure.

She

1s schooner-ngged wtth

two pole masts.

An

interesting feature

in the

equiP.menb

is the fitting of Simpson's

patent

diaphragm ventilators

which

oa.n

be closed from

either

deck

or

below,

or

may

be left open

in wet

weather without fear of shipping

wa:ter.

T h ~

machinery consists of a large cylindrical

botler workmg

at

a pressure of 160 lb., supplying

ateam

to

a twin

set

of

triple

-ex

pan

sion engines, each

capable of developing

about

300 horse- power when

making 160 revolutions.

The

screws revolve

outward

when propelling

the

s

hip

ahead,

and the

machinery is

supported on polished steel columns throughout, having

a separate copper condenser for

ea

ch engine. A com

plete installation of electric

light

is pr r>V

ided through

cub.

On Saturday,

June 16,

the Dutch

torpedo·boat Scylla

was successfully launched

at

Poplar.

This

is the

second

of five

i ~ p r o v e d

first-class torpedo-boats

in

the course of

construction

by

Messrs. Y arrow

and

Co.,

Limited

for

the Royal

Dutch

Government, two of which

are

be

sent

to

the Du t

ch Ea.st Indies.

Messrs. William Simons

and Co.,

Limited, Renfrew

launched on

the

18th inst.

the

first of

th r

ee 800-ton

h o p p e ~

steamers recently ordered

by

the

Mersey Docks

and

H ~ r b o u r Boe:rd.

T ~ e

vessel

is

propelled by one

set

of

tr1ple-expanston engmes

and

has a

return

tubular boiler

of sufficient power

to

_propel

the

vessel

at

a speed of 10

knot s when loaded. Stea.m appliances

are

fitted to work

the

hopper doors from independent engines placed at

the

fore

and

aft ends of

the

hopper.

The

Stag, torpedo-boat destroyer,

underwent

a suc

cessful

three

hours' full-speed trial on Tuesday

the

19th

inst

.,

and

returned to Cha.tho.m. Her average speed was

•

'

30.345 whlle for

the

six

runs

on the measured mile

the average speed was 30.615 knots. The highest speed

attained

when going

with

the tide

was 32.727 knot s.

The

official detai ls are

as under

:

Draught

of

wat

e

r-forward

6

ft

. 91 in.,

aft

7 ft.

in.; stea

m pressure in boilers,

213 lb.; vacuum

in

condensers-starbOard 24. 7, port

4 ~ 8

;

revolutions

per

minut

e-s tarb

o

ard

385,

po

rt

381.6;

mean

indicated horse-powe

r-starboard

2768,

port 2791-total

5559.

On

the 21

st insu. Messrs.

John Reid and

Co

Limited

~ w , . . ~ i t e i n c h ,

launched

the twin

-screw

s t e a m ~ r

Maule;

built

by them

to the

order of Mr. Thomas DewsLury of

Leeds, for

the

Compania

Sud

Americana

de

Vapo;es

Valparaiso.

The

Maule, which

is

a a,s..'3enger

and o a r g ~

v e s s e ~ , measures

about

1000 tons,

an

will

be

fitted

with

ma-ehmery by

Me

ssrs.

Dunsmuir and

J a.okson, engineers

Govan. '

The

t w ~ -

r e w steamer Cons?elo,

built

for Messrs.

Thomaa Wtlson, Sons,

and

Co.,

Ltmited,

Hull by

Messrs

C. S.

Swan

and

Hunter,

Limited,

of

W a l l a e ~ d - o n - T y n e .

made 13 knots on sevex:al

runs

over the measured mile.

T h ~

Consuelo has been destgned for the

New

York service of

the. owners,

and

is

intended to

c

arry

a large general cargo

bes1des a number of cattle. Her leading dimensions

a r e ~

Length

over all, ft.

;

beam

ex

treme, 52 ft.

; depth

moulded, 34 ftJ. 2

m.

to

upper

deck; above the

upper

deck

a.

complete shelter deck

has

been fitted for ca.rrymg

~ h e c a . ~ t l e ,

above which

a g a ~ there

is

a.

complete bridge,

m whtch

the

accommodatton for crew engineers and

o . f f i ~ e r s has been provided, besides st,ate-rooms for a

l i m t ~ d

number of passengers.

The

engines have

been

p ~ o v ~ d e d

by

Messrs.

Thomas

Richardson

and

Sons

L u m t e ~ , of HB:rtlepool,

and .of two

sets of

triple:

e x p a n s t o ~ e ~ g t n ~ ,

each

havmg

cylinders

22

in., 37

in.,

and

m.

m

d t a m ~ t

by

42 in. stroke, steam being

s ~ p p l i e d

by

four

n d e d

boilers 16 ft. 6 in.

in

dl8.meter

by

_ 1 ft.

1n.

long, working at 200 lb. pressure

and

fitted w1th

Elhs and Eav

es' induced

draught.

'

7/17/2019 Engineering Vol 69 1900-06-29


E N G I N E E R I N G

JUNE 29,

1900

•

RECENT

LOCOMOTIVE

PRACTICE IN

FRANCE.

(For Description,

see

P

age

847.)

-

Reversing

Gea1's for

4 Cyl. Co11zpound: Locotnotive,

•

. ·

•

.

.

FU;]

2 1. With parallel screws.

Scale 1J8th.

Fig.29.

•

•

Starting Gear of

th.e.

Societe

A

sacienne .

with Me

e

hanical Cut-off Gear

for

4-Cylinder C

on'tj;

ound L

ocomoliv.es

.

•

-

-

)

•

- - -- -

.---

•

. \

I

.

--

_ l

..

•

I

I

•

...

•

•

•

I

•

•

\

• •

•

••

·

•

lt

. -

I

I

.

•

I

•

- r

•

t

•

-

•

'

•

•

•

•

-

-

I

' I

•

Fif] . zg_ Starting Gear of the E

st

for CoTnpo.und Locomotives.

-

-

·-

•

F ~ . T¥ith Fine-Screw Adjustn1ent•

·?

,

•

·-·······

·

...

3

...

... ..

..

...

.

..

....

.....

·- · ·

.

- - .

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

.... .

,,

•

·- - ··-

:

I

H. P Exrva Mt

I

. •

' I . _ I I

. , . r - - »

I

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

•

- ·- _L.a t ~ 1

___

__

_

~

:-v .

3 7

v : liT

- -®--

• • 0 . . • · • •

•••

• •

···- ··-

.

.........

--· ···

.........

· ···----

··

.... .......... . -·-··- -·· ·

-

·· ··

·-·

. ··- .. ··· ···· .......... ...

. -·

•

•

-

l

DIAMOND SAW FOR STONE.

1N

our issue of June 22, 1883,

we

published

an article

entitled "The Tools of

the Pyramid

Builders," in

which we gave an account of the res IJ.lts of . he re

searches made by Mr

. Flinders

Petr e

in

t o the methods

and tools us

ed

by the

an.

cient

Egyptians

. There is

good evidence

that

t

hey

used reciprocating saws

and

hollow drills set with jewels, and that they

worked them under great pressure, so a s to get

coarse cuts. Unfort unately none

of the

tools

have

ever been found, and we

are

quite ignorant how the

jewels were fixed in the me

tal

supports so as to stand

the heavy side s train upon them, especially when i t

was

a rec

iprocating st

rain, as

in

the case of a saw .

Even

with

moders

ap p

liances it

ha

s always been a

matter

of difficulty to fix diamonds sa tisfactorily in a

saw, with the certainty

that

they should

not

work

loose. In well-sinking

with

diamond too ls

the

matter

is

comparatively

simple, as

the

speed is exceedingly

slow. But when heavy

cuts and

high speeds are

attempted, the difficulty makes itself felt very acutely;

for,

although

the diamonds used are of inferior quality

from

the lapidary

's point

of

view, yet

they

are by

no

means cheap, and it

is

a serious matter to lose a

number of them.

The

usual method

of fixing diamonds us

ed by

the

well-sinker is to

bore small

holes for

th eir

reception

in

the end of

the

hollow drill,

and

then

to

fix them

by

burring the metal over them with a hammer or a

caulking

t ool.

This plan, although

fairly satisfactory

for

the purpose

for

which

it is in te

nded,

is Quite in-

-

• •

•

•

• •

J

- , -·-

-o -

•

f I

•

•

effectua l :when applied to a circular

saw running

at a

high

speed. A

much more

secure

method

of

attach

ment is

then

required

.

·

and ha

s been lately introduced

by Messra. George Auderson and Co., of Carnoustie,

N.B., who, at the York Show of the

Royal

Agricul

tural

Soci

et

y of

England,

held ]ast wee

k,

exhibited

a

circular saw set with diamonds

and

cutting hard sand

stone blocks at the rate of 5 in. per minute. In this

saw, which we il lustrate on the opposite page, each

diamond is fixed

in

a small s

tee

l block or die, whieh

is

afterwards fitted

into a dovetailed recess

in the

periphery of the saw. A hole of

th

e required size

is drilled

into

the block from the back, the

drill being stopped before its

point appear

s

at

the

front .

Th

e

di

amond is

the

n dropped into

the

hole

thus formed, aud a steel wire peg is driven in behind

it. The block is then

put

between the jaws of an

ele

ctric

welding machine,

an

d t

he

temperature ra ised

until i t becomes quite soft .

Pressure

is t hen applied

the metal is squeez

ed

firmly round

th

e diamond,

making good contact with all its fac ets, and the s teel

wire peg is welded

into

position.

The

front of the

block is then filed

away until the diamond

is just

visible, and its edges are mill

ed

to fit the dovetailed

recess in the saw. Naturally

th

e positions of th e

diamonds a

re

differe

nt

iu

success

ive

blocks, so

that

the

saw

may

clear ite elf.

Th

e mach ine shown at

York

did most exce

ll

ent

work, cutting sandstone blocks cleanly

at

the rate of

5

in. per minute. The blocks were me

rely

laid on the

ta b

le,

and were

not clamped down

in

any way. i'he

•

•

.

..

• • •

.

•

•

I

•

•

.

•

•

•

•

•

\

I

J

table t ravels endwise, and the saw can be traversed

along it s

shaft,

t oget

her

with the steadying blocks

and

the water pipes,

to

ehift it rea

dy

for another

cu

t,

.there being no altel a.tion in the position of the

st one after it has been set on the table. The rate of

cut

can

be

varied

s

uit

the kind

of stone on

the

1

The saw illu

st

ra ted by us

is

at work

at

Portland·;

the blade is

7ft

. 4 in.

in

diameter, and cuts a stone

3ft. th i

ck.

•

NOTES FROM THE UNITED STATE.S.

PHILADELPHIA June

23.

THE

downward

trend of

pr i

ces in iron, steel

and

coke continues. Coal is stationary because of heavy

demand and because pr ices

in

most cases are fixed by

long running

cont

racts . Business is restricted ~

actual

necess

itie

s, not only in

iron and

steel,

but

1D

nearly all other avenues. Shapes were reduced la

st

Saturday 7 dole. to 8 dols. per ton,

but

billets are

still held 5.00 dols. above their fair market values.

The only

threatening

co

ndi

t ion before

the

iron a:nd

steel industry is t ~ e fact that wages for

the

ensumg

year have

not

yet been fixed. The iron and steel works,

including

puddlers,

rollers,

sheet

mill workers, and

tin mill men,

are

co

mpa

ct

ly

organised

in

two asso

ciations, one the Amalgamated Association of Iron and

Steel Workers and the oth er the Tin-Plate Workers

National

Protective

Association. Meetings between

the companies and

the

workmen will be held in

&

few

7/17/2019 Engineering Vol 69 1900-06-29


•

•

}UNE

29

1900.]


•

DIAMOND SAW FOR CUTTING STONE.

CONSTRUC TED BY MESSRS. GEORGE ANDERSON AND CO. , ENGINEERS, CARNOUST

IE,

N.B.

(FOT Description, see opposi e Page.)

•

•

•

•

•

• •

•

•

•

•

days The

puddlers want an advance of 25 cents per ·

out

the duties of an executive officer, yet, by the wording

ton, ' the r ollers and

others an

advance of 4 per cent., his commission, he has absolutelv no legal ~ u t h o r i t y to

and

the t

in-plate

workers au advance of 15

per cent

.

glVe an

order or to be obeyed. Can anythmg be more

The

Republic

Iron

and Steel

Company, owning

absurd ?

d

Yours

truly,

35 mills and

six

bla.st-furndacdes,

bads

flahtly .refu

1

set

Hong

Kong, May

2

6

l900. H. K.

to pay the advance deman e , an t e tm-p a e

workers

will

meet

this

week with a similar refu

sa

l.

These workmen have been accustomed for years

to THE BOILER EXPLOSION

AT

winning victories, and as they would prefer to take a 'VELLINGTON.

few weeks' rest, there

will

probably be a refusal to To THE EDITOR oF ENGINXERING.

accept

old

wages. A long stop is a probability. The Srn, -I shall be obliged if one of your readers

will

managers prefer

it

also in order to correct or at

least

inform me as to what is the best method of ascertaining

tone up the

markets

which have been declining since the thickness of the platos of boilers in all parts while

:March. There is

hardly

a

ny

busine

ss

being done. the same

are

in posit10n and in ordinary working condi

People want to find

out wha

t bottom

pr i

ces

are

going tion.

to be. No. 1 foundry

iron is

down to 19.50 dole.,

and

I s

it

considered correct

to

harumer

the

plates all over

with a heavy spike.ended

hammer

with the idea that

forge

iron

is

down to 17 dols.' a drop of

5.

00 dols. when you come to a thin place, the s

pike

will go

through

Billets are still

st

ub bornly held at 29 dols. , when they and demonstrate the weakness ? Or should an

ordinary

ought not to be over

25

dols. All kinds of finished iron workmen go to work with a drill and ratchet brace and

are down, bar

iron

selling at 1 cents a pound, or 30 dols. drill holes through every place where he may suspect the

per

ton net.

Plates are

down,

but

rails keep up, and

plates to have worn

away

so

as

to asce

rtain their

actual

there

is a good dem

and

for both.

In

fa

ct

, the strength of thickness?

the whole situation is

due

to the railroad requirements ; lb appears to me a very easy matter-after the explosion

traffic is steadily increasi ng

and

so

are

earnings, but t o J l a ~ e

~ h e

report made

by

Mr . H ~ u g h t o n ~ ' : l t the

the stock

markets refu

se

to listen. The

situation is questton ts, 1f Mr. Houghton had been m t ~ e posttton of

sound

all around,

and a great

deal

of wo

rk will

be the

r k m a ~ J a m ~

Clay (before

~ h e

exploston),

c o u l ~

he

h

· d · t

th

k

et

·

st as

soon as eve

ry

one feels have so east,ly

f u r ~ n s h e ~

tbe part10ul ;rs of

plate

thtck

urn

e m o e ~ a r

JU .

nesses of irJ ~ m. , i m.,

c.

, espemally when so far as

that P.rtces have touched bottom. Export I can gatller he (Clay) had nob been required by his em

machmery reqmrements do not appear to abate . Th e , ployers or anybody else to ascertain and report these

German markets appear to be badly scared at us, but thi cknesses?

so far

no

new orders or inquiries have come from that .Personally I consider that these workmen who are sent

quarter.

Blast-furnace produ

ct

ion is

2000

tons above

about

the country to keep boilers in order at a minimum

.May 1

but

quite

a number of old·fashioned furnaces of cost, have nob half a fair chance, and I should recom

will

b l ~ w

out. A new and large steel plant to make mend them to insis.t having all small boilers m a : n t l

armour-plate

and

ot

her

heavy

cast

ing s will be

built t h o r o u ~ h l y

scaled

I ~ s t d e

and

oub,

and

~ x a m m e d

m the

near this

oity. The Sec

retary

of the

Nav

y will soon open atr, finally t e s t m ~

them

by

hydrauhc

pressure 50 per

f

1 1

f

1

te cent. above

the workmg

pressure, and carefully noting

arrange

or

a.

very mrge

supp

Y

0

a.rmour-p a

8

•

by gauge rods, &c., prepared previous to

the

test,

whether

the firebox or crown collapses

at

alL

Yours faithfully,

NAVAL

ENGINEERS.

JAArES FERRABEE

To

THE

EDITOR OF ENGINEERING.

SIR , -There left

here

on the 24th inst. in the P. and

0.

s.s.

Japan

about

150 naval

r a . t i n ~ s ,

being

the

paid

-o

ff

THE

WAR

IN

SOUTH

AFRICA.

crews of H .M.SS.

Fame

and Whiting and a few other To THE EDITOR OF ENGU\TEERING.

time-expired men. This party is placed in the sole

SIR,-In

my

letter

to you last week I ventured to assert

charge of a chit\f engineer {Jate Fa me) who has to

carry

, that one of

the

first requirements for

the

defence of

•

British interests consists in the permanent existence in

Great Britain of a large trained and organised force,

ready ab a moment's notice to go anywhere, and to aou

rapidly and effectively at any

threatened point.

Also

that such a force must be independentof the reserves,

and

consequently must consist of long-servi

oe

men.

The

force must be a trained force, perfect

in every

detail, organised into fighting units, and ready to embark

with its arms and ammunition, with its stores and equip

ment,

with every button

in

its r i ~ h t place, and

no more

buttons than are actually n e e ~ e d m _ ar ; tha.t

is

to

say,

the o r ~ must be clothed I.n a stmple but soldierly

dress, wtth

the

smallest posstble amount of those orna·

mental but useless gewgaws which have to be imme·

diately discarded when

the

troops are ordered on

active

•

service.

Mr. Wyndham,

in

his speech on

Army Reform

on

March 12

last, used several arguments whioh he intended

to employ adversely to the sys tem of

Ions

service.

He

was

profoundly conv:inced that. five years

IS

o n g enough for

any

man

to serve 10 the

tr

opics., No one

IS

likely to take

any other view. But how does Mr. Wyndham

suppose

this to be

a

~ a c t

ad

verse

to

long service? Surely,

a.

states

man possessmg so much common sense as he must see that

a troopship will carry a regiment of long-service men

fully as easily as a regiment of boys. He added that if

we

are

tempted to em a r ~

on

any Iong.eervice system,

we

shall burd

en ourselves With

a.

who

le army

of pensioners

and

.invalids/ ' course, pensions are earned

by long

serv10e, whether m the Army, the Navy, or the civil

departments.

Such pensions are really deferred pay, and

are very properly employed to prevent the accumulation

of. an ~ m y of i m p e u n i o u ~ vagabo

nd

s which might other

WISe

anse. f thus exammed, the word p ensio ners in the

above-quoted sentence loses all its intended sting and

the

word i nv lids is left . But why should this word be

more

applicable to long-service

than

to short-service men? As

a fact, it is precisely

the

opposite, always a . s s u m i n ~ tha.t

the

long-serv ice men are

not

left to

st e

w .in .the tropics for

than

fiye

~ e a r s -

Mr.

Wyndham

's limtt. The young

so.ldier

w.ho IS pi t

chforked for five years

into

a

tropical

climate

1s

really the man for whose

health,

&c., the

Secretary

of State for

War

should

be

anxious.

The old soldier knows better how to take ca.re of him

self, l'nd the riper average

age

of a. regiment of such men

p ~ o v t d e s a

m u c ~

stronger

defenceaga.inst

the

onslaught

of

disease. The

Immature

boys who

now

form so large a

prOJ?Ortion

<?f the

drafts to India

and

other tropical

stations, owmg to

the

short-service system a.nd to the

method of the

linked

battalions,

are the m ~ n

who often

•

7/17/2019 Engineering Vol 69 1900-06-29


return to

England

after a very

short

service

indeed, and

encumber the wards at Netley Hospital.

I t is, therefore, astonishing to find the late Secretary

of State for War, now leader of

the

Opposition,

agreeing

with Mr. Wyndham in

considering

long service as

utterly

unsuited for our tropical garrisons.

They do nob

really

look a.t the subject fairly.

They compare the results of the

old

long-service

arrangements in India and elsewhere

(when

men and

regiments were kept abroad

for

terms far e x c e ~ d i n g five

years in duration) with the results now produced by short

service and

quinquennial reliefs. But

it

is not entirely a

question

of

disease, to

be

settled a.t Netley. I t

is

also a

matter of military efficiency, to

be settled

by the Com

mander-in-

Chief.

No

great commander, from

Alexander

to

Napoleon, has

ever

failed

to be keenly alive to the

superior value of

the

veteran

as co

mpared

with the re

cruit, both

in

regard to endurance

on

the

march and

to

efficiency

on

the field

of combat.

Sir

Charles Dilke

very

truly pomted

out, in the

debate before referred

to, that

the

scheme

favo ured by a large

and

organised body

of

members

in

the

House of Commons was

one

giving

elas

ticity

of service,

by letting

the

men sort themselves

out

into

those wh

o

prefer

I

on&

service and those

who

prefer

short service, With

theobhgation of

keeping

up

their

train

ing in the

Militia.and

Volunteers

. Precisely:

but let those

who

select long

service be

grouped

together into

regi

ments

e

ntirely composed of long

.

service men; and let

these regiments

be

dealt

with in other

respects

similarly

to the

regiments consisting of short-service me n

-

an

equal numb

er

of regiments of each

description

being em

ployed; F )

on foreign

service,

and (H) on home

service.

Statistic

s

would then in

a

very

few

years

be

obtainable,

setting

at

rest finally and decisively the untenable

pre

tensions

of

th ose who advocate short

service

for our

ordi

nary foreign service in times of

peace,

and for

our

home

force which should be ready for active work at a

moment's

notice.

After the demonstration of the superiority of long

service,

we may

then

hope

that

means

will be

taken to

fill up

more battalions

with

long-service men, the relief

being regularly effected every five years.

f it were possible to fill the whole of the 162 battalions

(81

F.,

Rl H.), with long-service men, the short service

could then be very short service indeed, and be trained

in additional and separate battalions at various dep6ts,

from

which

also the recruits for the 162 long-service

battalions would be chosen and selected, as in all pro

bability it would be found

that

the long service would

become so popular that selection would become necessa

ry.

In such case bad characters would

not

be retained

;

and

this

:punishme

nt,

combined with the

forfeiture

of a man's

pens10n if he were discharged with ignominy, would pro

duce a tremendous lever for the extinction of

crime

and

the encouragement of good conduct in the army.

As regards c

avalry,

artillery, and engineers, there

cannot be a do

ubt that

the highest efficiency can only be

obtained in

these

arms by long training, and consequently

that

all troopers,

gunners,

and sappers should be

long

·

•

serv1ce men.

f we

ever should

arrive at the ideal

u ~ g e s t e d

viz., a

solid

nucleus of 162

battalions,

filled w1th long-service

men,

and

always

ke

pt

up

to war strength, we must still

bear in mind that tblS

would

be no more than the pro

vision for the first strong effort in a modern \9'ar of any

magnitude, such as the present war in South Africa..

Only 81 battalions would be

available

for this effort, and

a strong rese

rve

of some kind

would

be

imperative.

Hence the

necessity

of the short-service regime

nts, in

order

to pass men quickly into a reserve to be called up

in case of

emergency.

The number of

these

short-service depbt battallions

could

of nece

ss

ity

depend greatly upon the number of

men who

could rea

sonably be anticipated as recruits;

unles

s,

indeed, some

form of

compulsory service

of

an

exceedingly

lenient nature

were adopted, and

this can

only

be

done when the general

public agrees

in the

necessity.

An additional advantage gained

by

the adoption of a

long

-service

army would be

that a certain percentage of

recruits might be c,btained from our colonies and

other

dependencies.

At the present time one of war

feve_r-if

s o m ~

recruit

ing sergeants were sent to

Austraha,

New

Zealand,

Canada, &c

., it

is

quite

possible th at

a considerable

number

of

fine colomals wou

ld

offer

t h e ~ p s e l

ves f

or

ser

vice,

and especially

in those regiments

which

have be

come hou sehold words for

their deeds in

the

present war.

There

oug

ht to

be

no diffi

cu lty

in recruiting for se

rvi

ce

in the

British

Army, when

we

bear

in

mind

the

enormo_us

p ~ p u l a t i

under

the gentle rule

of

Her Impenal

Majesty,

our

gracious Queen.

June 24, 1900.

I am Sir,

yours faithfully,

Fm L

D 0FFIOER IN '84.

THE

MAXIM MUIJTI-PERFORATED

POWDER.

To

TH

EDITOR OF

ENGINEERING.

SIR That the misapplication of the phrase, "applied

for " 'for the word "dated" in my letter published in

y o ~ r i

ssue

of February 9, and replied to by Mr. Hudson

Maxim in your issue of June 8, does n0t x c ~ e d

clerical significance, is borne out by the folloWing

quotation fr

om

United States

Law:

"Letters

Patent

always have upon

them,

in the space under the title, a

memorandum that the application therefor was filed on .a

particular

specified da,-. B_ut no s u e ~ m e m o r ~ n d u m 18

evidence of the fact

1t reCites.

I t

1s

n

ot

ev1dence

at

common

law nor in pursuan

ce

of any

statute.

That

section of t b ~ Revised

Statutes*

which

gives

evide

ntial

*Revised Statutes, Section

892.

N I N R I N

G

c

haracter

to certain certified copies,

does

not include any

s

uch

memorandum,

because

it IS no

part

of

the

Letters

Patent upon which it is

placed,

and

because

it is nob a

copy of any record, book, paper, or drawing

belonging

to

the

Pa tent Office. I t

is

an indication of what

some such

record, book. or paper appears to show, but it is not

evidence of its

own

a-cc

uracy, nor is

it

covered

by the

certificate attached

to the document upon

which it is

placed."

[Chap. VI., Section 129.]

TBOJ\fAS A.

HILL.

1,

Devonsbire-street,

Portland·plaoe, W.,

June 13, 1900.

[This discussion

must

now

oease.-En. E.l

NOTES

FROM

THE

NORTH.

GLASGOW, Wednesday.

Gla3g011J

Pig-Ir<m M a ~ r k e t .

S o m e

5000 to

ns of iron were

dealt

in at the market on Thursday

forenoon.

Scotch

a ~ d

hematite iron were again called up, and the former rose m

price 9d . per ton

at

68s. 9d.

per

ton, and the latter 1s. 9d.

at 82s. 6d. per ton. Scotch touched

693. per

ton cash. Cleve

land fell off 7 d.

at

67s. lO d.

per

ton, and at the afternoon

market 10 000 tons were sold. Scotch fell off to 67s.

1ld.,

and Cleveiand to 67s. 9d.

per

ton. The set tlement prices

were : Scotch, 67s. 9d.; Cleveland, 67s. 4 ~ d . ; Cumberland

and Middlesbrough bematite iron, .Business

was

done in the. pig-iron w ~ r r a n t market on F_r1day f_orenoon

ab a mult1tude of priCes, but the

closmg

pnce

was

66s. 1 0 ~ d . per ton cash buyers. At the last Scotch wa'3

do

wn

7d. per ton,

while Cleveland was

up 8d. per ton.

The settlement prices were: 67s. 3d., 67s_. 6d., 803., ~ c .

The business done was

almost

at a standstill all mormng

on

Monday. The tone

was

a litble

irregular,

and

at

the

close Scotch

was

down 5d., and Cleveland 3d. per

ton

The sales amounted to 5000 tons, and at the

afternoon

session other 5000 tons were sold. Scotch rose

1d.

at

67s. per ton. The settlement

prices

were: 67s., 67s. 3d.

and

79s.

6d.

Some

5000

tons were

sold on

Tues

day forenoon. Scotch warrants were very scarce, and

rose in

price

from 67s. 4 d. to 67s. per ton.

without finding a seller. The net rise for the fore

noon was 1s. per

ton.

Hematite iron was called a.t

82s. 6d. per

ton,

and the

' 'back" on

it

was

3s. 6d. per

ton. At the

afternoon

meeting of the

market some

5000 tons were sold. Prices were

very strong.

Scotch

rose

to 68s. 7 ~ d . per ton, and hematite iron ~ a d e 4s. at

84s. per ton cash,

and

the settlement pr1ces

were:

68s. 6d., 6 8 ~ . a.nd 84s. per

ton.

The.

market

was

again

excited this forenoon, hub the deahng

was on

a

small

scale, not

exceeding

8000 or 9000

tons. Scotch

warrants

improved

7 d. per ton . Some 7000 or 8000

tons

were

done in

the afternoon.

Scotch warrants

closed

7d.

up

on

the

day

at 693.

1d.

per ton cash.

The

settlement prices

were 69d. 1 d., 68s.

3d., and

83s.

The

fo

llowing

are the shipments

of

Scotch pig iron

for the

week

ending June 23

and since

January 1 : For

South

America,

100 tons; for

Australia,

345 tons;

for

Italy, 2050

ton

s ;

for.

Germany, 386 tons;

for

~ o l l a n d

650 tons ; for Belg1um, 320 tons ;

for

Chma

and

Japan, 110 tons;

for other countries lesser quan

tities;

and

coastwise, 3964

tons.

The total wa.s 8236

tons,

against 4602 tons in

the corresponding week of

last year. Here are

given

the quotations

for pig-iron

warrants, makers' No.

1 : Cl yde, 84s. 6d. per ton ; Gart

sherrie, 85s. ;

Calder,

86s.5d . ;

Summerlee,

89s. ; Coltness,

90s. per ton-the f o r e ~ o i n g all shipped at

Glasgow

;

Shotts (shipped

at Le1th), 90s. ; Carron

(shipped

at

Grangemouth),

883. per

ton.

The

dull trade

reports from

America

and the

Continent have no influence

meanwhile

on prices here

.

These

prices,

abnormally

high as they

are, are maintained without difficulty by the fatuity

of

every "bear"

wanting to

back his opinion

as to the

course

of

trade, but forgetting altogether that the s

mall

and

const

antly

decreasing

stock must be oversold to anr,

large extent

without automatically causing

a "corner. '

A

glance

at

the

fluctuations

and

the variously discrepant

quotations show

the

Scotch

pig-iron market

to

be

firmly

held in

thevice abovedescribed,

and emphasise

the fact that

if

trade aspects do

not call

upon investors

to

buy warrants

they

should

certainly

deter speculators from selling them

" short," however

great

the

temptation

to

do

so

may

be.

In makers'

prices, Gartsherrie

and

Calder

are

quoted 1s.

and

1s. 6d.

per ton

higher respectively,

and

Carnbrae

is

down 1s. per

ton

from la

st

week.

The furnaces

in blast

numb

er

the same

as

last

week,

namely,

85,

against

83

at

this time last year. The

stook

of pig

iron in Messrs.

Connal and

Co.'s pig iron

warrant stores stood at

112,567

tons

yesterday afternoon, s

compared

with 122,424 tons

yesterday week,

thu

s

showing

a

reduction amounting

for the week

to 10,857 tons.

Filnished Iron and S teel.- The joint threat of the steel

and malleable iron trades must be regarded with gravity,

as preparations are

on

foot for a

general

shutting down of

work

s next

month.

The acute position cannot be passed

over

lightly,

for with fuel at from 75 to 100 per cent.

above the

normal

value,

manufacturers

are running

ma

chinery at a i t i v e loss. I t

now

rests with coalmasters

to save the position by

relaxing

prices. Coalowners for

six

months have

enjoyed

unprecedented pros

perity,

and

the course of prices this year

has been

one uninterrupted

ri

se. Makers of

iron and

steel have made it known that

under present

working conditions

they

ca

nnob carry on,

as the extravagant price of fuel has swamJ?ed all pro s

pect of profit. With

matters

so c

ritic

al, it IS no wonder

that specifications

have been

again

withheld,

and that

makers are

precluded from low

ering cur rent

quotations.

All depends

upon

the

action

of

the

coalmasters,

and

o

ne

gives

it

out

that, owing

to the

reduced

output in

the

chief

centre in Lanarkshire, be could get a r

eady

market for

the whole

of his

production,

the

pro

spec

ts

for the

large

consumer are

not hope ful. A prominent

steel company

is paying

at

the

rate

of

50,000l. more

per

(JUNE

29, I900.

annum

for

coal,

and

as there

has been no

compensation

in the matter

of

higher

prices for its

product,

it

is

not

to

be wondered

at that the

directors

favour a complete

shutting down

of

the

gates.

Ironma.sters

make

a

similar

complaint, and

as the blast- furnacemen

are

working

badly,

the waste

alone is

a heavy item.

t

was

reported

on 'Change

a few

days

ago

that

a

shipment of American

steel

plates some

3500

tons-has

been arranged.

The plates will be shipped

during July

and August. The price is not

mentioned,

but

it is

reported that the plates were

bought

at a

cheaper rate than

is now ruling

here. Structural steel

is bemg

offered in larger

quantities

a.t prices m uch lower

than

Scotch

makers

are quoting.

An

order

for 1000 tons

of steel plates, which was tendered

for locally, has gone

to

Belgium.

The

price

was so muoh below

the

figure

asked

by

a Scotch

house

that the

contractors had

had no

alternative but

send

the order abroad.

Glasgow Copper 1lf£M•ket.-There has

again

been a week

of

no

business in this

market, no

transactions having

taken place. .

NOTES FROM SOUTH YORKSHIRE.

SHEFFIRLD, Wednesday.

Hadfi

eld s Steel Fownd

1·y

Ccnnpany.

Tbe directors of

this company

propose

to increase

the

preference share

capital

from

160,000l. to 200,000l. by

the

issue

of

4000

preference

shares of

10l. each

; to increase the ordinary

share

capital

from

110,000l. to 200,000l.

by the

issue

of

90,000

shares of

ll.

ea-ch

;

and

to subdivide each of

the

existing ordinary

shares of 10l. each

into ten shares of

ll.

each;

and

in the case

of the

present

partly-paid

shares,

each l l

.

will be

credited with 153. paid up, and the re

maining 5s.

per

share will be called up

within a

short

time.

The

increase of capital is

required,

the

directors

state,

to enable the

company

to meet

the

growing re·

qu irements

of the

business

and

tbeconsequentenlargemenb

of

works.

Steam Coal

Contracts. Two

of the railway companies

drawing supplies of steam coal from the collieries of this

district, have

accepted

.the terms of the owners . The

Lancashire and Yorkshue and North-Eastern Railway

Companies have agreed to pay the price demanded, 16s.

per ton for best Barnsley bards. The

Midland

Railway

Company has

replied

that the prices cannot

be

a c c e p ~ e d

but the other oompa.nies

have

not

yet taken

any

a c t 1 0 ~

The

price

is an advance of from to 6s. per ton, a n ~ Wlll

make a difference of 100,000l. each to the two railway

companies who have accepted the tenders in the half-year

over which the contracts

extend.

Iron a nd

Steel. The reports as

to

the condition of

t ~ e

iron

trade are

not so

satisfactory

as

they

were.

There

lB

a scarcity

of new order

s

c o ~ i n g f o r ~ a r d _for

finished ma·

terial, but there are

suffic1ent

s p e C l f i c a t l O ~

on

band

to

keep the

greater

part

of the makers in

w o ~ k for some

time to

come. They, however

7

do

not d t s g ~ t s e

the f a ~ b

that

fresh

orders

are

not

commg up in

suffiCient quantt·

ties

to replace

those

that

are being

cleared off. Prices

remain

about

the

same

:

Bars, 10l.

15s. to

l l l

.

5s.

per

ton,

and sheets

12l.

to

12l. 5s.

per

ton.

W i ~ b r e ~ r d

to

materials

hematites retain their

old priCes Wltb

a.

fatr

demand.' West coast

bematites delivered

in ~ e f f i e l d

are

quoted at

93s.

to

94s. per ton,

and east

coast

d i ~ t o 92s.

to

93s. per

ton.

The

commoner qualities

of pig _

uon

have

receded

somewhat

and

now

stand:

Lancashire No. 3

foundry,

73s.

to 7 ~ .

6d. ; forge ditto, 70s.

to 7ls

.

per

ton;

Derbyshire No.

3 foundry, 75s. 6d.

to

76s. 6d. ;

and

forge

ditto, 70s.

to71s. At the same time it s ~ i n ~ d out ~ a t

there is

little

ro

om

for

further.

h ~ n ~ a . g e

m p r 1 o e s ~ owing

to

the

high cost of

fuel. This, 1t

18 t i ~ o u g h t

will keep

prices on

a

fairly

firm basis

for the remamder

of

the

year.

The

mills

and forges

are all very

fully e n ~ a g e d . T_he

demand for

a

ll

classes

of open-hearth stee

l

18

well

m':l'm

tained; bub

makers of certain d e s c r i ~ t i o ~ s _of

cruc.tble

steel complain that orders are n.ot c _ o m m ~ m m suffic1enb

quantities to enable them to mamtam theu output

.

Coal

a;nd Coke

. S o

great

is the

all-round demand for

coal, that

in several

_quarters

is intended

to p ~ 1 t

up

prices

from

July

1. The

trade

18 firme now

than

It was

m J a.nuary

last.

The

home

gas_compames are n d e ; a v o u r -

ing

to

secure

a

stock for the

wmter

m o n ~ h s

m vtew of

there

being

a

scarcity

then,

and

are

puttmg

pressure on

the

owners

to

increase

their

~ p p l i ~ .

Export

_owners

a.rd

in

excess

of

the

supply,

and

htgh

prtce;s

are

bemg offe.re

to

secure deli

varies.

The

coke trade IS e x t . r ~ m e l y _bnsk,

both

blast-furnace and steel-smelting

qua.lit1es bemg as

active as

ever.

NOTES FROM CLEVELAND AND THE

NORTHERN COUNTIES.

MIDDLBBBROUGH, Wednesday.

The Olevelamd Ir<m

Trade.

Yesterday t ~ e r e was only

a moderate attendance on 'Change and bustnees was vehy

quiet.

An

unsatisfactory

feature of the m a r k ~ t

:was

} e

desire shown

on

the part of merohants to sell pig u:on or

delivery

well

ahead

a.t a less figure than was

ruhng

for

prompt delivery. Though sellers were loath to reducd

rates the tendency was

undoubtedly.

downwards a ~ b

buyers

were very backward

.

Some

busmess was done

68s. 6d. for promp_t f.o.b. delivery of

No.

3 g.m.b. Cleve

land pig

iron.

That

price

was generally qu_otedN

there

were

merchants ready enough to sell at 1b. d

Cleveland

pig was put at 70s. 6d. ; No. 4 _foun Y•

67s.

6d.;

and grey forge 66s. 6d. There was o t ~ m g _ d 0 1

in Middlesbr

o

ugh

warrants.

East

coast

e ~ a . t 1 t e

ptg

as

unobtainable

for

early

delivery, and the nomma.l

quotati

?t

for

Nos 1 2 and was 87s. Middlesbrough hemat1

· ' ' · te d nd firm

warrants not

quoted.

Spamsh

ore

was s a Y

a .

·

Rubio could not well be bought under 21s.

ex

·shtp Tees,

•

7/17/2019 Engineering Vol 69 1900-06-29


7/17/2019 Engineering Vol 69 1900-06-29


TRIPLE-

E XPANSIO N ENGINES OF T I-lE Il\IIPERIAL

JAPANESE

BATTLES HIP ASAHI.

CONSl'RUCTED BY

ME

SSRS OHN BROWN AND C , LThiiTlm , CLYDEBANK, N.F .

F01· D

es

ct-iption, see Pu ge 846.)

7/17/2019 Engineering Vol 69 1900-06-29


JuNE

29

1900.]

AGENTS FOR "ENGINEERING."

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'h Maumo ADDaus- ENGINEERING, LONDON.

TBLBPaoNB NUllB: --8668 Gerrard.

CONTENTS

P.AQ. PAQB

French Agriculture

a t

th e Th e Max im Multi-Perto·

P ~ r i

Exhibition .. 839 rated

Powd

er . . 863

Some P rinting Machines

a t Notes

from the Yorth . .

85

the

Paris

Exhibition Il·

Notes

from South Yorkshire 854

lustraUd) 839 Notes from Olevelc.nd and

The

Cost of El ect ric Power

the

Northern Counties .• 864

Production

.. .. . . . . 841 Notes

fr

om

the South·West

856

Bla9t;-Furna.ce Gas

Eogine

M.iscellan

ea

. •• 855

at

the Par is

Exhibition

T he Cen tra l London

Ra.il-

fllmtrated)

. . . . . . . . • 846

way

.

857

Th e Paris Exhibitio n Elec · The Paris Congr

esses

. . .. .. 858

tri o P

owe

r t i o n (l llu.t· Th e International Tramways

ttated) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 846 and

Light

Railways Exhi·

e

Japanese

Battleship bition, 1900 l llust1·ated)

85

9

"Asahi"

lUmtrated)..

. . 846

Th

e

Institution

of Mecha.ni·

ece nt Loco mo tive

Pr

actice ca l Eng ineers 861

in

F r

ance

ll lttstrated) 847 T

he

K i

mbe

rley Gu n u

Long

Launches

and Trial

Trips

. . 851 Oeoil " (

Uustrated). . . . . .

865

Saw

for

Cutting Indus

t r ial Notes .. .

867

St on e

RlustratMl)

. 862 Automatic Co al · Handling

from the United States 852 P lant

a t

the El e

ct

ric Light

Engineers .

863 Wor

ks,

Leeds Rlm. ) 869

e

Boile

r

Explosion at Th

e

Physical Society

. . . . . . 870

Wellington . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 863 " Engineering" Patent

Re·

War in South

Africa .. 863 oord IUustrated)

•

•••• 871

4 Two·PfVJ

E'IV)raving

of

the

TRIPLE

-

EXPANSION

E.VG I

N8S OF 7HE IJ1PERIAL

J

APANES

E

BATT£E.

SHIP .ASAHT.


•

NOTICE TO CONTINENTAl·

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G.

L. Daube and Co.,

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Bourse, Paris, our

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ENoiNDlUNG may

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NOTICES OF MEETINGS.

IMBTITOTIOM

or

OlviL

ENGnnnms.- Mo

nd

a.y,

July

2,

at

S p .

m.

Reception,

in

the

Library,

by the P r

esident and

9o

un

c il,

M e m b e ~ s

of the

Institution

and

.Members

of the Cou

n

01

ls

of

other En gi·

ne

e

rin

g Societies 'in London,

of

t he

Members of

American and

Colo

nial En

gineerin g S

oc

ie ties

at

present visiting this country.

- Thursday , Ju ly

6,

9 p.m. Receptio n

by

the President and

Co uncil a t the Guildhall.

SociETY OF Orv tL E

NGr

NEERS. - The 32nd Annua l

Convention of the Ame rican Society of Civil Engineers will be

he

ld ,

by

permission t ~ e of t

he

s t i ~ t i o n of Civil

Engine

ers

at

t

he

Iost1tution ,

durm

g

the

first week 1n

July

. Th e

fo

llowing

programme h88

bee

n a rranged by the

Local

Committee

of

Arrangements : Mondar. July 2, 4 p.m •

In

augu r

al

Addr

ess

by

Mr. John F.

Wallace

, Pr es1de n t,

in

the Theatre

of

t he In stitution;

8 p.m ., meeting, discuss ion upon the subject of "Height

of

Buildings," in troduced bv Mr . T . 0. Purdy. Tu esday, July 3,

10 a.

m.,

i n ~ discusSions upon "

Recent

P ractice in Rails,"

introduced by Mr. Robert W. Hunt ;

and

" Filtr

ation

of Water

for

Publi

o Use,"

by

Mr. Rudolph He

rin

g .

Th

u r

sday

, July 5,

10

a. m., gene

ral business meeting.

Tn E R t5NTGEN Soc

rETY.-

Thursday, July fi ,

at

20, Hanover·

squar e.

An

nual gen er

al

meeting. The chair

will be

taken

a t

8 p.m. The Pr

eside

n tial

Address,

by Mr.

Wilson Nob

le.

ENGINEERING

FRIDAY,

JUNE 29, 1900.

-

THE CENTRAL LONDON RAILWAY.

AT length London is on the point of having an

electric railway running along its greatest thorough

fare, and serving all classes of its population. On

Wednesday last the Prince of

Wa

les opened the

Central London Railway, which runs from Shep

herd's Bush

in

t

he

west to t he

Bank

of England,

the centre

an

d focu s of t he City.

Th

e lin e

is

cer

ta in of having an immense t raffic, for along its

entire stretch there is great business activity, and

along i

ts

western half an immense residential

pop ulation. I f there

is

a

ny

place in the world

where a deep

tunnel

railway can earn satisfac

tory dividends it is here , for t he

need

of it is

urgent, not only morning and evening to carry

men and women bet ween t heir offices and shops

and their homes, but also at all hours of t he day,

for along the line of route the calls of business

and

pleasure are never hushed un til long after mid

night,

and

even

then there

is t raffic enough

to

con

stit

ut

e a

bust

le

in ma

ny a

pr

ovincial town. A deep

tunnel lin e is one that needs a heavy traffic for its

success, for its cost is enorn1ous. Upon the

5 f

miles between the t ermini of this railway there has

been

spent

3,114,000l., at least that was the amount

of t he contract, :l.nd 124,OOOl will be needed

an

nually to

pay 4

per

cent

.

on this

amount . F our

years have been spent on

the co

n

st r

uction, and

the opening has been looked for with great

eagerness, as upon the results of the working will

depend whether we

are

to see a gr

eat

extension of

this

method of t ra

nsport

. H

itherto the

public has

been sceptical about

it,

and two

ot

her lin es which

are in progress were financed with difficulty, the

experience of the City and South London Ra il way

having raised doub

ts

as to the

ir

ability to

earn

satisfacto

ry

div

id

ends.

As

enginee

rs

we must view the new line with

mixed feelings.

We

have cause to congratulate

ourselves

on its

execution,

and

t hat

London

has

always led the way

in

the matter of deep tunnel

lines, each step in the progress having been worked

out

here,

in

consequence,

in

a great part, of t he

in

vent

ive ability and the

great

engineering

sk

ill of

the l

ate

Mr .

T.

H.

Great

he

ad

. At a time when we

no longer monopolise the in pro

bl

ems of t rans

portation, it is grati

fying

to think

that

in this pa rti

cular department of the subject we still stand in

the van. On the other hand, ·

it

is subject for mor

tification to know t hat practically the whole of the

mechanical

and

elect

ri

cal appliances comprised

in

t he equipment of the line

are

of American design and

construction. The engines,

the

generators,

the

con

verters, t he locomotives, and t he hoists were all made

in

America, and are the product of American.brains.

•

Bs7

At the time they were contracted for,

many

of the

ap

paratus were far larger

than

had

been attempted

before,

and

cou

ld

only

be

safe

ly

undertaken by engineers or electricians who had

a deep fund of experie?ce to d r ~ ~ upon, and a

large confidence

in

t heir own ab il1ty. Such

ex

perience did not exist in this country; a

ll

oppor

t unities of acquiring it had been destroyed by

legislation, which had subo

rdinate

d private

enter

prise to municipal greed. ParliaJ?ent allowed

th

e

capitalist to undertake the very d:fficult o b l e ~ s

while it debarred him from the easier ones on whiCh

he might have gained t he experience he required.

Co

nseq uently, w

hen this

railway was

und

e

rt

a

ken,

those who were responsible fo r it felt

that their

o

nly

prudentcoursewasto placetheirordersfor equipment

in

the

Un ited States. There is ground for hope that

we shall n

ot

be again found in quite so hopeless a

position : British engineers are accumulating know

ledge

in

respect of electric traction,

an

d new firms,

like

the

British Westinghouse Company

and

t he

Eng

li

sh Electric Manufacturing

Comp

any, of

Pr

es·

ton, are more American than

the

Americans in th eir

desire to adopt the newest and the best of manu

facturing processes.

Th

e new line is, we believe,

uni

que

in

that every

station is placed upon an eminence, and hence

t

he

outgoing

train

is aided

by

gravity and t

he

incoming train retarded . With

stations

placed

at average distances of half a mile, the question of

stopping and sta r t ing

is

of immense imp ortance,

t hat the speed is determined

by

t he rate of

acceleration

an

d deceleration.

When

a

pp r

oac

hin

g

a station the

train

runs

up

a gradient of 1.66

per

cent, and

immediately

after

leaving

i t

descends

one of 3.3 per cent.

Th is

latter

is

equal to a pull

of

7

4 lb. per ton, and the effect of it is quite

evident to a passenger

in

the train . In running

into a station, ene rgy equal t o 100 horse-power

minutes is stored in t he

tr a

in, rea

dy to be ex

pended on

the

down

grade

.

The

motors

are

t

hus

relieved of a great deal of work which would other

wise be t hrown upon them, and the general average

speed is increased beyond what would otherwise be

practicable. On

Wedn

esday the trains ran very

smoothly,

and their

general appearance le

ft

nothing

to

be desired. I t is

an t

icipated

that

the

line

will

be opened to

the

public in a few days;

it is

the

state of

the

stations, rather than that of t he track,

which stands in th e way of traffic being undertaken

at once.

We ha

ve a

lre

ad

y desc

ribed this

railway so com

pletely

in

an earlier stage of i

ts

construction that

it will

not

be necessary

to

go over t

he

details

again. Those of our readers who desire to go

in

to

the m

atte

r carefully will find a general descrip

t ion, with a map, in our issue of

February

18, 1898.

Th

e locomotives,

by

the General Electric Company,

of Schenectady, were illu

strate

d on

the

two-page

plate published

on February

25 of

the

same

year.

In

t he followi

ng

week we gave acceleration dia

grams, plans of the power station, a

nd

detailed

drawings of the rotary converters (of t he

Briti

sh

Thomson- Houston Company), while

in

our issues

of April

8 an

d 22 were descriptions of the con

tractor's pla

nt and

of t he 1ne thods of t unn elling.

Th

e electric lif

ts

, by t he

Sprague Electric

Company,

were illust rated by us on March 3 and 10, 1899.

In

view of all this, a general account is all that we

shall

attempt

on

this

occasion.

The Cent

ral L

on

don Railway

run

s

from

Shep

he

rd

's Bush to the Bank, a distance of 5£ miles,

the whole distance being

in

deep

tunnel,

at d

ep ths

varying from 60 ft . to

90

ft.

For the

greater

part

of the distance the two tunnels are side by side,

but near t he General Post Office, where the r o ~ d is

narrow, one is above the other. Each

tunne

l is

11 ft. 6 in.

in

diameter,

an

d is encased

in

a cast

iron tu be, on t he well-

known

system devised

by

Mr. J . H.

Greathead, which has been often de

scribed by us, part icularly in connection with the

City and South London Railway and the Blackwall

Tunnel.* There are 13 stations on the line, and

it is

intended to

cover the distance from te

rminu

s to

terminus

at

an

average speed of

14 mile

s an h

our

the maximum speed being

25

miles an hour. E ach

train will consist of seven carriages designed to carry

336 passengers, and weighing, when loaded, 105 tons

without the locomotive. The trains are to follow

each

ot

her,

at

t

he

bu

sy ho

urs

of

the

day,

at

2

minu

tes inte r

vals,

an

d 28 locomotives have

be

en

pr

ovided

to

work the traffic.

Each

locomot ive h

as

two four-wheeled bogies, and weighs

97,000

lb. It

* See EN GINEERING, vol. lix., page

39

7.

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N G I N R I N

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JuNE 29,

1900.

==================================================================

four motors,

one

on each axle, of 117 horse

the armatures

being

built on

tubes, after

on

to the

axles. The len

gt

h over

the

of the locomotive is 26 ft. 7 in.

and

over

the

ft ., the width being 7ft. 8 in. The general

is very different

to

that of a

steam

loco

owi

ng

to the absence of theboiler. The arma

are built

directly on

to

the axles,

and

he

nce

motors lie between the frames, quite low down.

them

is a deck, on t

he central

portion of which

a very roomy cab, from which

an

excellent view of

road can

be obta

ined.

Forward and aft

of

th

e

a

re

resistances, placed

under

sloping cove

rs

,

give a wedge-shaped appearance

to

the

ends of

locomotive.

The

coaches have

been built

part

ly

AshburyRailwayCarriage

an

d Iron Company,

a

nd partl

y

by

the

Brush

Electrical

n g i n e e r i n g Company, Limited, of Loughborough.

They

are

entered at the

ends,

and

have cen tral

passages, the seats being arranged

both

lengthwise

nd

crosswi

se

;

th

e lighting is mo

st

excelle

nt.

The power for working the railway is generated in

ve

ry

spacious house

at Shep

herd

's

Bush,

and

trans

mitted through the tunnels to three

conve

rting and

distributing stations.

Ther

e is a boil er-house

148ft.

long by 87 ft. wide, containing 16 Babcock

and

Wilcox boilers, each having 3580 square feet of

hea ting surface. The boiler- plant

ha

s been laid

out

with t

he greatest

regard to economy,

the plant

being supplied with Archbutt-Deeley water

softeners, feed-water filters,

and

Green economisers.

The

coal is delivered on

the

ground

by the

railway

trucks,

and

is

dealt

with entirely

by

elevators and

conveyors ; provision is also made for dealing with

the ashes

in the

same way.

Draught

is affo

rd

ed

by

t

wo

chimneys, 250 ft. high,

and

10 ft.

in

dia

meter inside.

The

engine-room is

200ft.

long by

86ft.

wide,

and

contains six cross-compound Corliss

engines, constructed

by the

E. P. Allis Company,

of Milwaukee,

U.S.A.

Each engine has cylinders

24 in.

and

46 in. in diam

ete

r

by

48 in. stroke,

and

makes 94 revolutions

per

minute. It is designed

to

give 1300 indicated horse-power normally, with

an

increase

up to

1900 horse-power on overload.

There is an emergency governor

in

addition to the

governor controlling the Reynolds-Coi-liss gear,

which cuts the steam off completely when the

speed reaches 105 revolutions. The steam is first

passed

through

a

se

parator,

and after

passing

through

the high-pressure cylinder it is drained

and slightly superheated

in

a reheater.

The

ex

hau

st

steam is

co

ndensed

in

a

jet

condenser,

the

condensing water being cooled

in

fo

ur

Barnard

Wheeler

cooling towers, each served

by

fo

ur

double

fans driven

by

Belliss engines.

Upon

the crankshaft of each engine is

a

three

phase

alternate-current

generator. This

shaft

is

22 in. in diameter in

the

wheel

seat and

20 in. in

the

journals, which

ar

e 36 in. long.

There

is a

flywheel 18 ft. in diam

ete

r, weighing 100,000 lb.

The

arm

atu

re is

stat

ionary,

and

surrounds

the

revolving field. There are 32 magnet cores in the

field,

the

weight of which is 34,000 lb., while

the

complete armature weighs 48,000 lb.

Each

gene

rato

r has

an

output of 850 kilowatts at 5000 volts

and

25 periods

pe

r second.

The

commercial

efficiency

at

full load is 95.5

per

cent.,

and

at

overloads

it

is upwards of 96

per

cent.

There

are

f

our

six-pole exciters

to

energise the fields of the

main

generators ; each is of 50 kilowatts and

125 volts,

and

is driven direct

at

450 revo

luti

ons

by

a compound tandem Allis engine, wi

th

cylinders

9 in. and 15 in. in diameter, with a st roke of 6 in.

At

the north

end of

the

generating station

there is an elevated switchboard on a gallery, com

prising twelve double panels of whi

te

marble

bolted to angle-

iron u p ~ i g h t s . This board . is

fitted with

the

usual Instruments,

an

d

w1th

very t c h e 3 and _ r l ~ c k i n gear,

which we d

escnbed

10 o

ur

prevwus ar ticles.

There

are

four outgoing mains from the switchboard,

to carry

t

he

current at 5000 v ~ l t s pressure t?

sub-stations,

si t

uated

re

spectively

at Nott

ing-hlll

Gate

~ I a r b l e

Arch, and

the Post

Office. Each main

con1prises

three

copper conductors insulated with

paper.

The

se mains were constructed

by the

National Conduit

and

Cable Company,

and

have

each a

total

copper cross-section of

.1

875 in. be

tween the

power

stat

ion

and

Notting-hill Gate,

and

.125 square

inch

between Notting-hill

Gate and

Marble Arch. Two of

the

cables

end

here,

and the

other two go forward to t

he

Post Office, where the

high-tension line

t e r ~ i n ~ t e s .

Altogeth

er

the

re ar

e

19 miles of cable, weighing 78.4 tons.

As

l r ~ a d y

mentioned,

there are three

converter-sub-stat10ns.

Each

is placed at

the

bottom of a

lift

shaft,

and

is

situated

below

the

level of

the station

platform,

occupying, at Notting-hill Gate a chamber 30ft. in

diameter and

21 ft. high,

and at the

other stations

two chambers, each 23 ft. in diameter

by

15 ft.

high. At each of these sub-stations

the

current

received at 5000 volts is first transformed,

in

t hree

transformers,

to

330 volts,

and

is converted by a

rotary

converter

to

500 volts for delivery

to

the

third,

or

contact, rail on

the

railway. For this

purpose there are provided seven transformers,

two r

otary

converters, switchboards,

and

blowers.

Each transformer has

a capacity of 300 kilowatts

at

a pressure of 330 volts

on the

secondary

side,

and

the

t ransformers

are

coupled

up

on

the

delta system, on

both

the primary

and

secondary

sides.

They are

ventilated

by

blowers, made

by

th

e Buffalo

Forge

Company,

and

driven

by

6 horse

power three-phase induction motors.

The rotary

converters

are

rated at 900 kilowatts

output-1800

amperes

at

500 volts.

They

have

12 poles, and run at 250 revolutions per minute;

the

nominal potential difference between

the

col

lector rings is 330 volts.

The

armatures a

re

7 ft.

in diameter outside,

the

inside diameter of

the

core

being 5 ft. 2 in. 'Ihey are of the

drum

type, wound

with

bar

conductors.

The

co

mmutator

is 54 in. in

dil).meter, with 576 segments, and

runs

beneath 12

sets of carbon brushes. The total weight of

the

armature is 24,800

lb.,

of themagnet frame19,500 lb.,

and

of the whole machine 48,350 lb. The

current

from

the

converter is delivered

to

a

third

steel rail,

of 85 lb. weight

per

yard, fixed between

the

other

two rails, and

at

a height of 1 in. above them.

This third rail is carried on stoneware insula

tors spaced 7 ft. apart.

Th

e

current

is picked

up by the locomoti ve

by

two heavy heavy cast

iron shoes ; it passes

through an

automatic cir

cuit-brea

ker and

switch

to

the controller, and

thence through

the

moto

rd to the

track rails.

These

are

of 100 lb. weight, of bridge section, and

are

bolted

to

longitudinal sleepers. They

are

double-bonded with Crown bonds, having a total

cross-section of .62 square inch.

The

motors on the locomotives

are

of the series

wound four-pole ironclad type.

The

frames are of

soft cast-steel,

and

the

magnets are wound with

copper

strip. The

armature is of

the

series

drum

type, with 366 bars, .6 in.

by

.1

in.,

and

weighs, without the axle, 3000 lb.

The

engineers

to the

line

are Sir

Benjamin

Baker

and Mr. Basil Mott,

and the

contractors,

the

Elec

tric

Traction Company.

The

British Thomson

Houston Company, as sub-contractors, have acted

under the

advice of Mr. H. F. Parshall.

THE

PARIS CONGRESSES.

be

t ~ e a t e d on

are

. first . considered ; and general

me

et

mgs, for full discussiOn.

The

dtsoussions will

be held in

French,

English,

and

German and no

taking p ~ t can speak for longer

than

15 minutes at a time,

nor

more

than

twice on

the

same subject, without special permission.

This,

it

seems

to

us, is a far too liberal allow.

ance. Member s speaking will be expected

to

fur

n i s ~ the secretary of the Congress with a copy of

their

rem

arks, that

they

may be printed within

the

twenty-four hours following. Failing this a sum

mary will

be

published, the accuracy of which

cannot

be

officially guaranteed . The four sections

of

the

Congress work are divided into nine questions

and

a full if

not

a complete

list

of those

m e m b e r ~

who propose

to

make formal communications upon

them, is already issued. I t is highly characteristic,

but not the less

to

be regretted, that this country

is conspicuous

by

an

almost complete abstention.

The

first question deals with

the

Influence of Regu

lating 'Vorks on

the

Regime of Rivers, a subject

on which English engineers could find much to say.

Nine members supply

the

material for di

sc

ussion on

this question.

The

second question is on the Pro

gress of Mechanical Appliances

to

Feeding Canals ;

there

are

three contributions to this subject. Ques-

tion three, with four contributors, is on

the Ut

ilisa

tion of

Natural

Navigable Channels of Slight Depth.

This refers specially

to

methods of working and

material, for shallow draught, especially applicable

to the colonies. The fonrth question is on the

Progress in

the

Application of Machinery to Work

ing Navigable Channels ; there

are

seven contri

butors

to

this.

The

fifth question relates

to

the

instruction

and

improvement of canal populations.

The sixth

question is on

Recent

Practice

in

Lighting

and

Buoying Coasts, with three contributors. The

seventh refers

to

Works Recently Carried out in

Large

Littoral

or Marit ime Ports . There are ten

contributors

to

this question,

the

only one in which

England appears represented, by the names of Mr.

A. G.

Ly

s

ter and Mr.

Vernon-Harcourt. The

eighth question (five contributors) deals with the

Adaptation of Commercial

Ports

to the Require

ments of Naval Material. The ninth question

refers

to

the Progress of Mechanical Appliances

and

Plant in

Maritime

Ports.

The following Table

will show at a glance the

pr

oportion of international

participation

at

the Congress :

-l

....

-

....

Questi

on

.

: ...

•

00

•

-

8

•

0

.

c

Cl

•

0

•

c

bl)

Cl 0

Cl

•

...

::3

c

Cl)

8

... .J

C

bl)

....

• l

Cii

... ....

c

Cl)

>.

-

l)

bl)

Q

Cl

bl)

...

......

l

.....

-

...

....

::3

-

::3

)

Q)

c

...

0

::3

0

0

Cl

<

::::>

r;.:..

al

E-4

1

• •

• •

1

1

2

1

1

1 1

•

•

•

•

• •

8

2

•

•

.

1

• •

• •

1

1

-.

-

--

-

.

• •

a

3

-

• •

1

.

--

I

1

•

•

1

••

• •

-

.

4

I

2

1

3

1

1 8

.

• •

-

• •

-

. • •

-.

5

• • • •

1

1

--

1

.

. .

• •

• •

I

.

3

2

1 l

.

-

.

-

. • •

.

-

.

.

••

• •

.

1

• • 3

2 .

-.

1 2

1 10

• • -.

2

••

1

1

1

.

• •

.

-

. -

.

5

9

••

•

•

.

.

-

1

1

.

.

• •

2

Total

.

11

2

6 6

12

3

1 1

2

2

1

47

It will

be

noticed

that

Germany takes nearly as

large a

part

in the Congress as France, and the

number

of contributors do

not

inaptly suggest the

relative importance of the nations

at the

Exhibi

tion.

AMONG the

large

numb

er of

International

Con

gresses to be held in

Pari

s

in

connection with the

6

Exposition,

there

are several of technical

7

a.nce a

nd

the

pr

oceedings of which will be dealt

8

with by us in due course. We have already re

ferred to one-that of Applied Mechanics, and

may n

ow

have a few words

to

say

about

two others

- those on Navigation and on

the

Merc

hant

Marine ; the former of these will be he

ld

from

July

28 to August 3,

and

t

he latter fr

om August 4

to

12. The general rul es

and

conditions

under

which

the

se congresses will

be

held a

re

practically

the

same a9 those we have already described (see

ENGINEERIN

G page

55

ante

. The

business of

the Navigation Cong

re

ss will be classified in

to

four

sections, with nine questions

to

be subm

it t

ed for

discussion. During the Congress there will be

sectional, and full meetings,

and

excursions .

Th

e

work is divided among

the

four sections as follows :

The International

Co

ngress of

the

Merchant

Marine will

be

held during

the

we ek of August 4

to 12; we have not got any list of communications

to

be read

and

discussed,

but

judging from the

honora

ry

International Committee, this country

appears

to be

taking more

interest

in

the

Congress

than

in

that of navigation. Rather more than one.

fifth of the committee

are

Englishmen, but it re

mains to

be

seen whet

her

our participation in the

proceedings is at all active. The business of the

Congress is divided

into

five sections, each of which

has its own president,

and

a larger or fewer number

of official rapporteurs.

Th

ere are six honorary pres

i-

dents, a distinguished body, including the Ministers

of

the Marine;

Commerce ; Public

works;

the

Colonies;

an

d M. Casimir-Perier. 'fhe programme

may be summ

ar

ised as follows:

Th

e first section is

general

and

statistical, and has six divisions.

1.

The

changes

that

have

taken p l a ~ e

during the

~ s t

30 years

in the

merchant fleets of different countne.s,

in

their

steam

and

sailing ships, in tonnage, tn

speeds,

and

in lines of travel. 2.

State in t

erference

in tnerchant navies, especially with regard to tech

nical maritime education, recruiting and discipline,

sailing contracts,

effi

ciency of captains and other

1.

Internal Navigation ; Constru

ct

ion Works.

2. Internal Navigatio n; Management and Work-

•

1ng.

•

3.

4.

1n

g.

Ocean Navigation ; Works.

Ocean Navigation; Management

and

Work-

Each of these sections is divided into several

subheads, which will be dealt with

in

communica

tions made

by

various memhers,

and

upon which

discussion will

be

raised. I t is needless

to

say

that t hese various communications will come from

in t

ernat

ional

so

urces ; they will

be

printed in

three

languages- English,

French, and

Germ

an-an

d

will be

distributed

among meiubers of

the

Congress

before each session takes place, so that those wish

ing

to

participate in

the

discussions can be prepared

to

do so usefully. There will be two classes of

meetings-

sectional meetings, where the subjects to

7/17/2019 Engineering Vol 69 1900-06-29


•

jUNE

29

9

]

officers, mobilisation

and

surveillance of merchant

ships. 3. Statistics of develo

pment

during 30

years. Changes t hat have taken place in the same

time, in salaries, wages, and cost of materials. 4.

The relation and competition between sea-borne

freight , and similar freight carried on railways,

canals, and rivers . 6. P oints connected with

various systems for protecting and encouraging the

merchant marine this subhead includes questiions

as to premiums for speed, subsidies, and subven

tions. 6.

The

relations between the merchan t ser

vice and the navy; the obligations of merchant

crews; the utilisation of

pa

ssenger a

nd

freig

ht

ships

in time of war, as despatch b oats, t ransports, c. ;

the

conditions under which such ships

sh

ould be

reserved by Government .

The

second section relates to

fi

scal matters,

and

has four divisions: 1. What influence do existing

systems of dues and taxes exe

rt

on the merchant

marine

2.

What is the organisation of free ports

and zones, and the influence of these ports on the

merchant service 3.

Stat

ist ics on the fluctuation

of freights during a certain number of years, and

the

principal causes of such fluctuations. 4. Various

methods of measurement.

Th e third section is technical, and has three

di

visions. 1. What modifications can be int

ro

duced

in t

o existing international rules to prevent

collisions, with special reference to signals, altera

tions in speed, safe ty apparatus, ocean routes, c .

2.

Intern

at ional agreement on the load-line ques

ti

on. 3. International work to be under taken

to increase saf

et

y

at

sea, such as invest iga

tion of ocean currents, destruction of floating

wrecks, the path of i

ce

bergs, meteorological sta

tions, marine and pilot charts, wireless telegraphy,

lighting coasts and dangerous localities, systematisa

tiou of help at sea.

Th

e fourth section has five

subdivisions; it refers

to

matters connected with

the working of t he merchant marine. The first

subhead deals wi th improvements t

hat

mi ght

be

introduced in ships, their hulls, engines, boilers,

fuel, c . 2. The nature of crews employed and

their wages, especially with reference to negro and

l

asca.

r crews. 3. Rules, monopolies, ta riffs, &c.,

in the merchant service. 4. The reforms

that

co uld be in troduced with reference to pilotage and

salvage. 6.

The

neutralisation of submarine cables,

the

ir

improvem

ent and

extension. Section 5 deals

with the moral aspect of the merchant service,

and

baq three divisions, as follows : 1. What measures

can

be ado

pt e

d to improve

the

material

and

moral

conditions of the merchan t sailor

2.

The best

methods of orga

ni

sing provident associations,

savings banks, insurances, c. The advisability

of S

tate in

te rference

and

the r e s u ] , of exist ing

private philanthropic

enterpri

se. 3.

The

best

arrangements for shore and floating h

os

pitals, and,

generally, the hygiene of the merchant service.

From the foregoing summary it will be seen that

this is a very important Congress, and its wo

rk

should be of great value if the proceedings are

printed n extenso ; it will be

st

range if these meet

ings are not attended strongly from this coun try,

where the m

ate

rial

and

moral improveme

nt

of t

he

merchant marine is of capital importance.

THE INTERNATIONAL TRAMWAY

S

A

ND LIGHT RAILWAYS EXHIBI

TION, 1900.

TH fir

st large display of electric t raction

plant in

this country is now on view at

the In

ternational

Tramways and Light Railways Exhibition, which

was opened at the Agricultural Hall, Islington, on

the 22nd inst. , and is to close on Wednesday nex t.

By a curious irony of fate, a gent leman who, as a

trusted leader of

the

so-called Progressive Party,

has long played the part of wicked uncle to the

st ruggling if

sturdy

electrical infant, has been

chosen president of

the

Exhibition Commit

tee

.

N

ot

many years back, t

he

section of the London

Co

unty Council with which Mr . Dickinson is so

closely identified, boiled over with indignation at

what it was pleased to describ e as a proposal to dis

figure certain seco

nd

or third-rate London suburbs

by

the

adoption of electric traction. To-day we

find

the

same individuals actively promoting Bills

even more far-reaching

in their

scope than those

which

at

the outset excited

their

ani mad versions. All

this is, of course, ancient history,

and

the modern

politician has too often to do his speak ing fir

st

and

his t hinking afterwards, for him to aim with much

success at consistency. The important point is

that these gentry have at last perceived the advan-

•

•

•

N G I N R I N

G

tages to the public of up-to-date tramway equip- in the oar The

ot

her car .shown

is

one

ments; and as they acquire more complete know- ordered for the lines of the London United

ledge of the subject, we may hope for their assist - Tramways Company between Hammersmith and

ance in the removal of such legal restrictions as Kew Bridge. This car is provided with two

sti ll unnecessarily harass tram way managers anel 35 horse-power motors ; and with t he B. and L.

exasperate the public. motor rheostatic brake equipment. This arrange-

The largest single exhibit at the Hall is made by the ment is also shown separate ly at the stand, a motor

Br

itish Westinghouse Electric a

nd

Manufacturing fitted

wi

th brake being mounted on rollers so as

to

Co

mpany, Limited, of the Westinghouse Bu ilding, allow i

ts wh

eels to revolve. The device consists

No

rf

olk-street, London, W.C., who, in add it ion to in using the motors as generators, and turning the

the whole of a single bay of the great hall, have current produced through suitable resistances. A

also a stand near the main en trance to the latter. peculiarity of the Thomson-Houston controllers,

The

main exhibit consists of a sh

ort

but

fully- switc

he

s, a

nd

lig

htnin

g arrester, lies

in

th

e use of

equipped electric tramway, about 310 ft . long, on the so-called magnetic blow-out. Thus,

to take

which is run a large double deck bogie-car, fitted the lightning arrester. This consists of a spark

wi

th two 30 horse-power motors.

The

generating gap placed bet we en the poles of an electro

station is provided with a Westinghouse three- magnet: On

the

one side t

he

gap is connected

cylinder gas-engine, having cylinders 13 in. in to the line, and on the other to earth

through

aiameter by 14 in. stroke, and rated at 112 brake a graphite resistance, and also by a

shunt

horse-power, though capable on emergencies of t

hr

ough t he electromagnet aforesaid. Vhen

generating some 12 per cent . more. This is lightning

st

rik es th e line, the impedance of t he

coupled direct to '75-kilowatt 500-volt compound- coils of

the

magnet is so high that but a

wound generator, the leads from which terminate minute fraction of the discharge passes t

hr

ough

in a switchboard of the Westinghouse

sta

ndard them, t he charge as a whole taking

the

alter

type. Th e road itself is of

the

o

pen-co

nduit type. native path provided by the graphite . rod,

At the one end the permanent way is filled

in

as

it

which, th ough of considerable resistance, has,

would be in ord inary street work, but for the main owing to its

st

raight form, but little self-induc

part the track yokes and bracing are exposed, so as tion. The gap being bridged by the lightning

to show more fully the details of construction. The discharge, an arc is established along which

Westinghouse Company have adopted

the

plan of the trolley line current endeavours to escape

dividing up t

he

positive main in

the

co

nduit

into to earth ; but since this current has not

the

sections each 300 ft.

long;

each successive section

insta

ntaneous character of

the

lightning flash,

is cut

in wi

th the feeder, as

the

car enters

it

and

an

a

ppr

eciable portion of

it

flows through the

is cut out as it leaves, so that with a single car on coils of the electromagnet incl

os

ing the spark gap .

the road, but one 300-ft. section would be

liY

e at The shortest distance across this gap is parallel to

any moment, and loss from leakage can be cor- the magnet ic lines of force, but as a mo

va

hie electric

respondingly diminished. The automatic switches circuit always endeavours to set itself at right-angles

cutt ing the sections in or out are operated by

an to the

lines of magnetic induction, the moment

electromagnet fitted to the car. This magn

et

the mag

net

is energised

the

arc is shot out

is

energised by

the

main electric supply,

but

for t ransversely to the gap, and i

ts

path being th

en

too

use

in

st·,rting and

in

emergencies, a ba ttery long to be maintained by the voltage available,

of accumulators is carr ied, which is charged by it is inf>tantly extinguished. Th e cen tral-sta

tion

the live current through a small motor trans- switch, also exhibited, embodies in its const ru

ct

ion

former. The car running at the Exhibition

is

the same principle.

In

this switch when closed

fitted with an exceedingly ingenious system of the current passes mainly through a low resistance

brakes. Between the bogies and near the rails is of flexible copper plates connecting t he two ter

an electric magnet, suspended from each side of minals ; bu t arranged as a shunt to this are high

th

e car

by

a system of linkage. Springs hold the resistances

.·

forming the

co

ils of a el

ect

romagn

et

.

magnet pole-pieces clear of

the

rails

und

er ordinary

In br

eaking circuit the low-resistance s

hunt

is

conditions. But should a current be sent through opened first, and there being an alternative path

the magnets, these are attracted down, forcing the for the current t hrough the magnets aforesaid,

sh

oeswith which t hey

ar

e fitted on to

the

rails. 'l'hese

ther

e is no sparking here. 'l'he high-resi

sta

nce cir

form an effective drag brake, and at th e same time cuit

is

then broken at points within the field of the

the drag of t hese shoes on the rail is employed, by electromagnet, and just as in the case of the light

means of suitable linkwork,

to

force ordinary brake ning arrester, the arc formed is immediately extin

bl

ocks on to the bogie wheels.

Th

e pressure of guished by t

he

e

ff

ect of t

he

magnetic field . The

the blocks on

the

wheels is proportional to the controllers mount ed on the tramcars are similarly

friction experienced by the drag brakes. In wet arranged. Included

in

the casing is a powerful

weather the rails are slippery, and consequently electromagnet, between th e poles of which a

11

there is less friction.

It

follows, therefore, that contacts are made and broken, so that arcing is

the pressure between the brake blocks and the e

ntir

ely a\·oided. The trolley poles shown on this

wheels, being proportional to this, is correspondingly · stand is also worthy of attention, ow ing to the

less, and hence skidding of the wheels and con- arrangements by means of which ve

ry

great uni

seque

nt

wearing of flats on the treads is avoided. formity of pressure is

maintain

ed between

the

Another

in t

er

est

ing ex

hibit

at this sta

nd

is the collector

and

the line ; even

if the

height of the

electro-pneumatic control system, by means of latter above the car varies considerably.

For

a

which it is possible for one driver to control the difference in height of fully 5 ft., the variation

motors of two or more cars. Thus the trains on of pressure, as shown by a Salter s balance did

an electrical railway may b e conveniently made up not exceed

l lb .

'

with motor cars at each end a

nd

ordinary cars An excellent combined exhibit of traction

between.

An

air-pi

pe and

a system of conductors machinery is made by Messrs. Dick

Kerr and

run from e

nd

to end of t he train. The conductors Co., Limited, of 110, Canno

n-street

E c: the

are made up

in t

o a cable, so that the inse

rtion

of a English Electric Manufa

ct

uring

C o m p a L i ~ t e d

single connects up all

t ~ e co

nductors between

and

the

~ m ~ c t r i c

Railway

a ~ d .Tr

amway r r i a g ~

two carnages.

The

electrtcal arrangements are L1m1ted. Th e exh1b1t includes specimens

such, that

if

the controller handle at one end of rails from 65 lb. to 96 lb.

per

yard much special

of the

tr

ain is operated, currents sent to the trackwork, and a number of a t a . n d ~ r d designs of

other operate the valves of a compressed air- poles and brackets . F o

ur

cars are also shown the

motor 1n such a way that th e movements of the largest of which has a seating capacity of 64' pas

t r o l l ~ h a n ~ l e are repeated there. The ~ i r - sengers. This is obtained by the adoption of the

s?pply 1s p r o v by a n ~ of a small. electrJCal r e v ~ r s e d stairway, invented by Mr. Bellamy, of

mr-?ompressor

.

dtschargmg into

e s e r v O i r ~

of .the

the

. Ltverpool Tramways.

In

this

arrangement

the

ordma

ry

West1nghouse type. An automatiC sw1tch stairway opens on to

the upp

er deck at its

ext

rem e

cuts .o

ff

the current from the compressor when the end, and room is thus obtainfld for four seats more

receiver-pressure a ~ t a i n s the i r ~ d limit: . than is possible wi th the more usual arrangement.

A se?ond fine display of. ~ l e c t r l C t ract

iOn

appli- The plan also lends itself well to the enclosing of

ances

IS

by the Br1t.1sh

Th

omson-Houston the end plat form by glass, so as to

pr

otect driver

Company, L 1 m i

t ~ d

of 83, C ~ n ; n o n - s t r e e t London, and conductor from

the

weather. The car is

E. C. Included m ~ h e .exh

1b1

t ar.e two powerful mounted on maximum traction t rucks. These

mo.torcars, one of whtch

IS

of exceptionally elaborate trucks

are

four-wheeled bogies having

the motor

f i n 1 the

upholstery. being

quite

uns

uit

ed for driving one axle only. The 'centre of pres s

ure

ordinary

t r a m w ~ y

serv1ce, where the fact .th at so of the car body on the truck is such

that

nearly

of the passengers are likely to the whole of

the

weig

ht

is taken on

the

driv

r1dmg

ID

th e1r clothes makes

it

ad- ing axle; whilst the other axle, having lit tle

to

v1sable that a washable fimsh should be employed carry, is provided with small wheels, thus reducing

7/17/2019 Engineering Vol 69 1900-06-29


86o

weight

and

cost.

Th

e exhibit also includes a single

d e ~ k summer

car

capable of seating ?5 passengers,

butlt

for th e Blackpool Fleetwood

hn

e. Th is car

is intended for high-

spe

ed

running,

and is provided

with

air brak

es.

Axle-driven

compressors are used

to

supply

the air. In view of the fact that the

manufac ture of electric traction

plant

was

almost

o ~ e d

in .this country by hostile leg islation,

1t 1s mterestmg to note

that

lost

ground

is

now

being

recovered ; and the companies who

have united

·

to

·

make

the

exhibit just dealt with,

have

their works situated

within

the United

Kingdom. ·

Another firm, which is also

prepared

to

supply

plant of exclusively British origin, is

the

Brush

Electrical Engineering

Company,

Limited,

of 49,

Queen

Victoria-st reet, E.C. This firm shows a

car of

the

central

vestibule

type,

to seat 44

pas

sengers,

constructed

for

the

Swansea Tramways

Company. The

car is mounted on

maximum

traction

trucks,

each of which is fitted with a

motor

rated

at 25 brake horse- power. These

m

oto

rs will

maintain

the output named for one

hour, with

the te

mperature rising to not more

than

115 deg. Fahr. The specifications of

many engi

neers permit a greater temperature rise

than

this,

75 deg. Cent. or 135

deg

. Fahr. being not uncommon ;

so that unless this is borne

in

mind, the relative

power of this motor as compared

with others

may be underrated. The armature is of the

usual laminated type,

but

built up

di rect

ly on

the shaft

.

I t

has radi

al

and

axial

air

ducts,

which take the air

at

low velocity, and dis

charge it

at

the

periphery through ventilation

sl

ots

that

are

l

eft

in the pole-pieces in a posi

tion exactly opposite

the

radial air

ducts

in

the

armature .

By

this

means

a very good natural ven

tilation is secured. A further improved detail, based

on experience,

is the winding of the

field coils on

spools which fit

snugly

over

the

pole-pieces, and

are fastened down by

studs

to the fram

e.

Th

e usual

arrangement

requires

some

skill

in adjusting, as

ot

herwise

the

unsupported co

il

may be left loose to

h

ammer

its in

su

lated corners, or else is squeezed

to such

an extent

as to damage

the insula

t ion. A

feature

bf the Brush

motors

is that the carcasses

for the 17, 25, 30,

and

35 horse-power motors are

interchangeable; so that if ~ x p e r i e n c e shows a

tramway engineer

that

more

power

'is required on

the cars than he originally anticipated, the change

can be

mad

e

with li t

t

le

difficulty.

We reprodu

ce

on

this

page a performance curve showinfl the

principal characteristics of

the

25 horse-power

mo to

rs

:fitted to the

car exhibited

. The :firm also

show four types of controller, the most interest

ing

of

these

be

ing

devised by Mr. E . H .

Tyl

er,

traction

engineer

to

the

company.

By

means of this

controller the motor,

though series-wound,

can be

used to work back

into the line while descending

long gradients. An efficie

n t

brake is t hus provided,

whilst at the same time the work of the station

generators is lightened.

The

arrangement is o

ne

by

which the mot

ors

are automatically coupled up

to

the

line, so soon as their voltage, working

as

gene

ra tors, exceeds t hat of the line, and are automatically

out o

ut when

their voltage falls

bel

ow this limit .

Messrs. R. W. Blackwell and Co

.,

Limited, of

59, City-road, E.C., who have been the contractors

for as great a proportion of the electric tr amway work

carried on

in

Great Britain, have a large display of

plant and :fittings.

Taking

t

he

permanent way first,

the

firn1shows t he manganese steel frogs which they

co

nsider

to give the

most

satisfactory

results

in

practice. The wear and tear on points and

crossings is

much greater

than on the rest

of the line, but by constructing

such

parts of

Hadfield's manganese

stee

l the

repair

account

can

it

is claimed, be very l

arge

ly reduced.

B o ~ d s of

various

kind

s

are

also

shown

at this

stand. The well-known Chicago b

ond

and the

Crown

"

bond,

which has

the

ad vantage

that

it

can

be fixed without exposing both sides of the

rail are well known;

but the Edison-Brown pla

stic

bodd

though used

for some years in America, is,

we

b ~ l i e v e , less familiar to British

engineers

.

Th

e

bonding

material

in this case is

p l ~ s t i c

amalgam,

which is compressed bet ween the ra1l and the

fi

sh

plate. The

points

of

contact on

both

rail

and fishplate

are prepared by

cleaning off t

he

scale

and ru

st

by

means

of an

emery

wheel turned by

hand.

The

clean surface is then amalgamated,

the

plastic alloy

put

in place and

surrounded with cork

washers,

which,

on

screwing up

the

fish-plate, make an

ela

st

ic and watertight joint

between

p

late

and rs.il

preventing any access of moist

ure to

the bond. A


modification of this bond

has lately

been brought

out by Mr.

Brown.

In this the current is

not

carried by th e fish-plate

but by

a

st r

ip of copper.

Another exhibit at

this

stand is

the

Price momen

tum

friction brake. In this

ar r

an·gement a friction

clutch is

mounted on one

of the axles of the

trucks,

and

when

thrown into gear causes a chain to be

wound up, thereby putting on the brakes. The

clutch is thrown into gear by the motor man, and

the

pull

on the chain and

consequent

press

ure on

the

brake blocks is directly proportional

to

the

pressure

he

exerts on

the

operating

l

ever

. I t will

be

seen

that

with this brake the momentum

of

the

car

itself provides the power

by which it

is

:finally

brought

to

rest. The firm, as

agents

for the 'Chris

tensen Engineering Company, of Milwaukee,

al

so

.

t io Wrv

t7of tooo.A

Irru:tiorl MoUJr.

500VoUs. Gearllatio J·78. Wh.RAds'80"rliaJ.

-

0

00 r--

20

r-

100

.

1800

18

f--.90

/

GO

O

•#"»

A

£ < 1

- 16

_

to

K

V

•

t.ld

I

._

.

11100

•

10

/

f

,

'

t.tOO

q,

cl

I?

s 000 10

:-60

t

'

< 1 0

.;,

1100

8

l l

~

GO

O

~ - 6

_S

/

..

/

/100

4

_/ lQ

:

/

"

.

.zoo

2

CURRENT N AIHPt/1£

IQ

:lO

40

,

J(J

$0

()() 0

Axle Spcedtrer6.permin.J·m i

lu per hourAJ/:20

Armaturw

,.

, • " .. ..

A681J5

fW/ )

show

the Christensen

quick-acting air brake, which

is claimed to have certain advant-ages. The plant

includes an exceptionally compact electrically-driven

air compressor, provided with an automatic switch

for cutting off the current

when the

receivers are full.

These compressora are also used for other purposes,

and one, mounted with

it

s receivers on a truck,

and capable of compressing 50 cubic feet of free

a

ir per

minute, weighs

but

1200

lb

. This equipment

affords a ready means of providing the air necessa

ry

to operate pneumatic tools in out-of-the-way places,

since

it

is easier to run

up

a

temporary

electric main

than

a

pipe

line.

Coming to the overhead work, the firm have

at

their stand a number of trolleys, insulators, and

frogs . A specimen of the junction-boxes supplied

to the Liverpool Co

rporati

on is also on view ; and

in

addition

to the usual switches, lighting arresters,

and the like, this box contains, in a separate com

partment,

a telephone switch, by means of which

a conductor can, in case of emergency, com

municate

with

the

central

station

. In connection

with

the

steam

equipment of power stations, the

firm s

how

a

variety

of

gun-metal

valv

es

and fittings,

most ly of American manufacture. The "

Bundy

oil

separato

r is also

exhibited.

This device consists

essentially of a series of grids,

the

constituent

bars

of which are hollow, and have openings

opposed to the flow of the

stea

m. The spaces and

bars

on successive gr ids alternate, so

that

the

steam

has

to

follow a zigzag course. As a consequence,

the o

il

is flung against the grid bara, and, collecting

there, passes

in

to

the in t

e

rior by the

openings

provided, and is :finally drained away at the base

of the :fitting. Another

intere

st

ing exhibit at th i

s

stand is a specimen of a cast welded joint. These

joints are

highly efficient, but, unless a

very

large

number

are

to be made, are expensive.

A large working model of the L11ne closed-con

duit system of electric

traction

is exhibited by

the Electromagnetic

Traction

Company, of 39,

Hamilton House, Bishopsgate-street Within,

London, E. 0.

The

conductor in

this case co

nsists

of a flexible

st r

ip of

iron resting on

glass insulators,

at

the bottom

of a closed

conduit.

At the

cr

own

of the

conduit

are pole-pieces of soH iron,

the

tops of which a

re

level with

the

rail surface, a

nd

along these sli des a collector, attached

to

the

car.

An

el

ectromagnet

, also

carried

by

the

car,

attracts the strip in the conduit below, and

holds

it

against

the

pole-pieces immedia tely''under

the

car.

As th

e

latter

passes along,

the strip

be

ing

no longer held up

by

the attraction of

the

magnet,

falls back

to

the b

ottom

of

its

con

dui

t by gravity,

so that on

ly

those pole-pieces immediately un der

t he

car

are ever live. To prevent oxid

at

i

on

of the

contacts between

the

conductor and the pole-pieces,

[JUNE

29,

I

900.

Mr. Lane :fills his

conduit

with coal gas or similar

inert fluid. ·

Chilled castings are less in favour

in

the British

Isles than in some other countries. Still for

tramway

work, there is a steady demand for'

this

product

for oar wheels, and in many cases also for

points

and

crossings. Specimens of such goods

are

shown

by

1\Iessrs. Mill

er

and Co., Limited, of

the London Road F oundry, Edinburgh. Chilled

wheels

are

also shown by the

British

Griffin Chilled

Iron

and Steel Oompany, Limited, of 18, St .

Swithin's-lane,

London, E. C.

The

makers l

ast

named

claim

that

the

body

of

their

wheels is

nearly

as

soft and

tough as

wrought iron,

and

show specimens which have

been

punched witho

ut

cracking. This

remarkable

toughness is at the

same

time

combined

with

a satisfactory chill on

the treads.

Another

notew

o

rthv

exhibit at this

stand consists of specimens of

mot

or axles, finished

by cold rolling. The surface left is perfectly

cylindrical and highly finished, whilst it is further

claimed

that

the metal is so much hardened by

the process as to

be

sensibly st iffer than if turned

in a lathe. Messrs. Askham

Brothers

and Wilson,

Limited, of Sheffield, show a fine selection of tram

way points, crossing and special work,

in

crucible

cast steel. The firm also show t heir drain rails,

which are special rails used at points where wet

tends to

collect. The grooves

in

these rails open

into

drain boxes, and the

la tte

r are connected

to

the sewers.

The

Electric

Construction Company, Limited, of

Wolverhampton, show

at

their

sta

nd a large rail

way

generator

and a 30 horse-power tram motor.

The most prominent

feature of this

exhibit is, how

ever, a 70-kilowatt variable ratio transformer, a

number of which are

in

use on the

City and

South

London line, to reduce th e high-tension voltage of

1000

to

500 volts for

the

working conductors.

A very :fine and varied display of machine tools

is made

by

Messrs. Chas. Churchill and Co.,

Limited.

Most

of the tools

are

standard patterns

already

well

known

on this side of the Atlantic,

and include a Warner and S wasey turret lathe,

operating

on

stock

2 in .

in

diameter, a Hendy

N

orton

screw

cutting

l

athe,

two Bullard boring

mills, two Cincinnati milling machines, a

Co

l

burn keyway

cutter,

and a

number

of lathes and

drilling machines

by

various makers. A tool more

es

pe

cially connected with tramway work is a 4-

spindle

rail drill.

In

t

his

machine

the

spacing of

the

drill

spindles can

be

varied within wide limits,

since each spindle is driven

by

a telescopic shaft,

provided

with Hooke joints

at

either

end .

The

feed is given by raising the table, and an automatic

throw-out is fitted for stopping

the

feed when the

work is done.

Another interesting show

of

tools

is

to be found

at

the

stand of MessrB. C. W.

Burton,

Griffiths, and

Co.,

of

12 and 13, Ludgate-squar e, Ludgate-hill,

E. C.

The novelties h

ere

include a lathe of the firm's

design, embodying a modification of the Hendy

N

orton

system of

altering

gears in screw cutting.

In

the

lathe in

question

there are two no

tc

hed

index

plates, one having

nine

no tches

and

the other

fo

ur.

With

the

principal shift lever in one of

the

nine notches, four different threads can be

cut

by

shifting the second shift lever in succession to

the

four notches of the second index-pl

ate

. Hence, to

cut any of the 36 threads

within

the range of

the

lathe, it is

merely ne

cessa

ry

to change over two

handles. The

lead

screw is placed under the shears

in

side the bed, and

the

reverse for screw cutting or

turning is effe

cted

by a handle near the headstock,

and

not by reversing the countersh

af t

. All the

feed screws have divided heads. The lathe ex

hibited

ha

s 8-in. centres,

and

the back gear can

be thrown

in

and out without

stopp

ing the lathe.

Another sp

ecial tool

to be

seen

at

the same

stand

is

a machine for

cutting

straight or spiral oil grooves in

brasses,

and

where large

numb

ers have

to be

operated

on

th is machine should prove

hi

g

hly

efficient. This

firm also show

the

aluminium calliper gauges, which

are now coming

into

general favour. In this gauge

the

body of

the

ca

llip

er

is

of a stiff aluminium alloy,

but

th e gauge

di

stance is taken between two

hardened steel plugs screwed into the calliper

arms.

When

desired, the gauge can be set above

or below sta

ndard,

by screwing

one

of these plugs

in

or

out.

The

li

g

htnes

s of

the

se tools makes them

very handy in use, even the la rger sizes of 18 in.

or

2-ft. gap.

Messrs. R. Becker and Co., of 50 and 52, Rjving·

ton-street,

Curtain-r

oa

d,

London, E. C., also show

a number of tools, amongst which is a very con-

7/17/2019 Engineering Vol 69 1900-06-29


JuNE 29 1900.]

venient shearing machine, by which plates can be

cut

up to

any

length

and

width,

the depth

of

cut

not

being

limit

ed

as

usual

by the depth

of

the

gap.

A circular cold sawing machine, having a s wivelling

head, permitting rails to be

cut

any angle, is also

on view at

th i

s s tand.

Wood-working tools

are

exhibited at the stand

of Messrs. J. B.

Stone and

Co., of 135, Finsbury

pavement,

E.C.

Amongst

them

is a chain mor

ti

sing machine described in

our

issue of July

14

last.

Another

interesting tool at this stand is a

belt-lacing machine.

The

lacing is done with wire,

tw

o sections of belting being sewn together by

means of a somewha t closely-wound spir al of wire

which is afterwards flattened. The machine is

nearly automatic in action,

and the joint

is made

in

a ve

ry

few moments.

We have already referred to the gas engine

hibited by the Westing-house Company, but other

firms

ar

e also showing this type of motor. Messrs.

Crossley Brothers, Limited, of Manchester, have

at

their stand

two highly-finished gas engines, one

rated

at

19

bra

ke

horse-power, whilst the other,

specially

de

signed for dyn amo driving, is capable

of generating 12 actual horse-power in continuous

runs. The se engines are .standard designs,

and

embody no novelties of importance.

Their

general

construction is too well known

to

need recapitula

tion here. Messrs. Tangyes, Limit ed, of 35,

Queen Victoria-street, E. C., also show a gas

and

an

oil engine. In

the

gas engine a novel feature is

introduced iu res

pect

to the gas valve.

After

a

missed ignition,

the

exhaust leaves

behind

it

in th

e cylinder

air

containing

little

of

the

pro

ducts

of combustion from previous charges.

Consequently, at the end of the next suction stroke

the volume of oxygen contained in

the

cylinder is

more

than

in normal working,

and

a richer mixture

of gas can be satisfactorily consumed. To provide

for this, Messrs. Tanyge have fitted a simple device

by

which

the

governor, whenever

it

fails to o

pen

the

gas valve, causes a small wedge to move

up in

the path of the tappet, so that it will open it in.

wider

than

normally. More g

as

is thus drawn into

the

cylinder, producing a rich

er

mixture, and in

creasing the econo.rp.y of the engine at low loads.

The most striking

departure

in gas engine prac

tice is, however, to be found at the sta

ll

of Messrs.

John Gibbs

and

Son, of

15,

Victoria-street,

S.W.,

who show engines const

ructed by

the Blaxton

Eng

ineering Company, Limited, of 69, Old-street,

London, E .

C.

This engine gives an

impul

se every

stroke

.

Its

arrangement

will

be

be

st

under

stood

by referring to

the

annexed engravings, of which

Fig.

1 represents a longitudinal section through

the

engine,

and Fig.

2

the

details of

the

valve

by

which

•

Jl-0.2 .

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

Fig 7 .

f

I

•

•

c•

D

.

•

•


with the exhaust pipe

by

a non-return valve F.

Th

e cylinder pressure is therefore immediately

reduced to that of

the

atmosphere.

The

pistons,

however, continuing their s

tr

oke, a valve H,

Fig. 2, is opened

by

a

tapp

et controlled by the

gove

rn

or,

and

communication is

thu

s established

between the working cylinder and the partial

vacuum in C.

The

products of combustion

in B, therefore,

flow

into

C, and

at

the

same

time a

fr

esh charge flows

into the

wo

rking

cylinder by the

jnle

t valve A. On the return

stroke, compression begins as soon as

the

back

piston covers

the port

s E . As the piston con

tinues

its return

stroke,

its

back edge finally un

covers these ports,

thus

providing an escape for the

contents of C thrp ugh the non-return exhaust valve.

The

ignition of

the

charge is finally effected

by

a

hot

tube in the usual way.

I t

would be quite possible

to dispense with the equilibrium valve H altogether,

and thus

do away with mechanically-o

perated

valves entirely, _but

by

using this valve a ready

means of governing the engine is provided. If the

speed rises, the governor prevents

this

valve being

opened;

and

hence no fresh charge is drawn into

the working cylinder, so that th e next o

utstroke

of

the

pistons is an idle one.

Coming to sundries useful

in

station work, atten

tion should

be

drawn

to th

e automatic railway

signals shown

by

Mr. Washington Hume, of 9,

New

Broad-street, E. C.,

and

to the exhibit of the boiler

and steam-pipe coverings

at the

s

tand

of

the

Cape

Asbestos Company, Limited, of 8, Minories, London.

These asbestos cove

rin

gs

are

made up out of

the

peculiar variety of

this

ar

ticle found

in

Cape

Co

lony.

This blue asbestos, as

it

is called, is of remark

ably light weight, and has very strong fibres. The

coverings

are

made on the principle of

the

common

eider-down quilt,

the pa

cking, however, being loose

asbestos, and the fabric enclosing the same being of

asbestos cloth, stitched throug h with asbestos twine.

Jackets

can,

in

this way,

be

made

to

fit most irre

gular contours ;

and

since

the

material used is rot

proof

and

unaffected by hot steam surfaces, the

covering will last as long

or

longer than the boiler

to which

they are

fitted.

The ea

se with which

they can be removed and replaced greatly facilitates

repairs to t

he

boilers or pipes which

they

clothe.

Ocreful tests have shown

the

high efficiency of

these

coverings as h

eat

insulators.

Messrs. Holden and Brooke, Limited, of 110,

Cannon-street,

E.C

. show at

their stand

steam

fittings suitable fot central station work. These

include grease separators, feed-water heaters,

the

Sirius steam trap

and

the firm's well-known in

jectors.

Anoth

er useful appliance is

the

"

Test

"

water-gauge, which is of

the type

which

shuts

off

•

0

0

A

0

0

0

.

0

•

•

•

0

0

•

•

the governing of

the

engine a

cc

omplished.

Th

e

a u t o ~ a t i c a l l y the

s t ~ a m

and

water in case of a glass

engine 'has two pistqns connected to a common breaking. As ordinarily constructed, there is no

trunk.

The

ba

ck

piston fits the ordinary working method of testing the condition o t hese automatic

cylinder B, whilst

the front

one fits

the

bored valves, but in

the

gauge in question an alternative

guides C.

The annular

space

left

between

the

blow-through is provided, giving sufficient Yolume

latter aud th e trunk constitutes a

pump

chamber. of flow t<f operate the valves if they

are

in working

During

an

out

stroke a vacuum is created in th s

order

.

pump

chamber,

the

degree of which is adjusted to Some interesting applications of

g r ~ p h i t e

will

be

the point

desired,

by

connecting

the

chamberwith

an

found

at

the

s

tand

occupied

by the

J

oseph

Dixon

air vessel D of suitable size. On nearing the end of Crucible Company, of 28 Victoria·street West

its outstroke

the

back

pist

on unc?vers a r i n ~ of

m ~ s t e r

For lu :>rica

ting

'the

gear

wheels of elec

ports, marked E on the figure,

wh1oh

commun1cate· triC tramcars this firm have lately introduced

a

861

graphited wood grease," which

it is

c l a i m ~ d

greatly

reduces

both

noise

and

wear. The

matenal

is a

mixture

of graphite, petroleum grease, ~ n d

finely-gro

und

cedar sawdust. The sawdust, owmg

to its

absorbent

properties, holds the grease well,

and prevent

s

it

from be

ing

squeezed o

ut

from be

tween the wheel

teeth. An

other application of

graphite

to be

seen at this stand, is

to

the construc

tion of high non-inductive resistanccs, capable. of

passing a large mome

ntary current. These

resist

ances

are

used in the Thomson-Houston lighting

arrester

a.s a shunt

to

the coils of

the

magnetic

blow-out, as explained

n an early

portion of

this

article.

•

THE INSTITUTION OF MECHANICAL

ENGINEERS.

ON the morning of Wednesday last, the

summer

meeting of

the Instituti

on of Mechanical

En

gi

neers

was commenced. The summer meeting this

year is being held in Lo

ndon

and

about

a

month

earlier

than

usual, th is somewhat exceptional

course being

taken in ord

er

to entertain more

effectually the members of the American Society

of Mechanical Engineers, who are visiting

this

country for

the purp

ose of

taking

part

in

the

Paris Exhibition, and the various meetings which

are

to be held in connection

therewith

.

At the time appointed for

the

meeting a large

number

of American engineers

and

members of

the

Institution assembled n the hall of the Society,

which was crowded to overflowing. In the

regretted

absence of

the

Pr e

sident, owing

to

ill

health,

Mr.

Edwa.rd P.

Martin,

Vice-Pres

ident

of

the Institu

tion, occupied the chair. The proceedings were

opened by

an

ADDRESS OF WELCOME TO THE AMERICAN

ENGINEERS,

in the

course of which Mr.

Martin

expressed his

regret

that

Sir

William

White

was

not present,

to

extend

to the American guests of the Institution

that cordial welcome which was in the

hearts

of

all.

Mr. Martin said

that he

had the

good

fortune

to be one of those who visited the United States

on

the memorable occasion of

about

10 years ago.

He

remembered then the words

Mr.

Carnegie us

ed

in

his speech

in

which he

extended

to

the

visitors

the

greet

ings of America : Welcome,

thrice

welcome," he said,

to our

guests ; ,. and Mr.

Martin

felt

he

could not

do better than repeat

the

eloquent words of

the gr

e

at

American steelmaker.

I t was then a

very short

time before the English

visitors, of which

he

was one, felt that

they

were

not

strangers

in

a foreign land,

And what

we

felt then, he continued, " when we visited your

shores, we hope you will feel now that you have

come in a body to see us ;

and

we trust that

when

you return from

that

vast exhibition in the beauti

ful city of

Paris,

with

your

faces turned westward

that you will

think here

you have made one step

home."

Mr . E. Windsor Richards, Past-President, n

addressing Mr. M organ and the

other

members of

the

American .party,

had

p l ~ a s u ~ e

in

endersing all

that

t ~ e

chai.riDan.

had

sa1d,

In most

cordially

welcoming the engineers from the Un ited States

to

England. He

trusted thei

r visit would afford

them

occasion for. the interchange of new ideas,

and

beyond all

that

1t would lead to the making of

many true and lasting friendships

Mr. Charles H. Morgan, the

President

of the

Ame.rican

S o c i ~ t y

of Mechanical Engineers,

in

re

turnmg thanks m a few words, said that he and those

with h.im were almost v ~ r w h e l m e d

by

the generous

receptiOn

they had

received. I t was a

great thing

to them

to feel

they

were

at

home

in the

house of

this Institution, and

in

the great capital of the

country..

Whenever

English engineers came again

to

Amenca they

would be

heartily

welcomed; and

he would only add, Oome, all of you

"

The

secretary next read a letter which

had

been sent

by

Sir 'Villiam White, in which he

stated

his great regret that the

state

of his

health

prevented his a

ttending

the meeting.

RoAn Loc

oMOTION

.

The adjourned di

scussion

on Dr.

Hele-Sha.w's

paper on "

Road Locomotion

was next brouoht

on. I t will be r e m e ~ b e r e d

that

~ h i s

paper

;as

read

at the

last meeting and

partially

discussed.

The paper

was

printed n

full in

our

issues of

Ma_y 4, 11, 18, and 25, pages 597, 630, 663, and 696,

w h1lst a

rep

or t of the discus&ion will

be found n

7/17/2019 Engineering Vol 69 1900-06-29


862

ENGINEE

RING

our issue of May 4, page 577. The author had Mr. Bryan Donkin had prepared a Table giving

prepared an adde

ndum,

which he first read, and in particulars of

certain tests

made

at

Richmond and

which

he

dealt with

the

1000 miles road trials that Birmingham. This he had handed

to the

secretary,

were

in

progress at

the

time his original paper and

it

would be included

in

the Transactions. His

came before t

he

last meeting. In this addendum, object had been to get the cost per 10 miles. He

which we shall

prin

t

in

full

next

week,

Dr.

considered, however,

that the

questions of steering,

Hele-Shaw referred to

the

satisfactory manner in safety,

and

some d

eta

ils of construction were far

which these trials had passed off, and

the

severe test more important than fuel expenditure. The pro

that the vehicles were put to on some of the steep blem of

road

locomotion was more difficult than

h i l ~ s

encoun te

red

en

rmtJte

b

et

ween London and

that

of railway or tramway locomotion, because

Edmburgh. One car,

that

of the Hon.

C.

S. Rolls, they had all manner of roads to deal with, and

in

was able to take the steepest of

these

ascents at 16 spite of improvements serious defects

still

existed.

miles

an

hour, whilst

th

e fir

st

and

longer

part

of

.In the

vehicles themselves

he

considered

the

chief

of Shap Fell was ascended at the almost incredible defect was noise, and this principally came from

speed of 27 miles an hour, and

the

long and the spur gearing used, which was

the

weak point .

steep asce

nt

of

Dunmail

Raise was made

at

20i

The

smaller motors ran from 600 to 2000 revolu

miles an hour, there being four passengers on tions

per

minute, a

nd it

was necessary to reduce

the

car. The number of vehicles entered was this speed, thus leading to complications ef the

83, but 18 did not start. No electric vehicles mechanism. The worm and wormwheel gearing

competed,

and

only two propelled

by

steam, all of Lanchester was a good solution

to the

diffi

the rest

having pe troleum sp

irit

motors.

Th

ere 'culty, but

the

a

lter

at ion from one gear to

were 33 carriages, 24 voiturettes, and eig

ht

motor an

ot

her, so as to change the speed, must always

cycJes. Fi fteen of

th

e carriages achieved a

c a U E ~ e

a jerk. The next great defect was vibration

speed of 12 miles

an

hour throughout the trials, or trembling of

the

whole carriage.

That

was n

ot

whilst three voiturettes and two motor cycles felt on short i ~ e s but after 10 or 12 miles

it

be

proved themselves capable of the same perform- came very distressing. The chief cause again was

ance : 50 of the vehicles

out

of 65 which originally

in the

gearing, and

the

want of balance in

the

quick

started returned to St. Albans to complete the

tour

running parts. There was also the annoyance from

by running in to London. The list of breakdowns smell, the oil engines being, of course, the great

is inst ructive.

n

one case a crankshaft was offenders in this respect. The

ste

am-driven motor

br

oken;

in

another there was a fractured piston- car was also liable to be a nuisance through emitting

rod

and

br

o

ken

co

unter

s

haft

;

in another

the steer- smoke

and

steam.

He

considered

the

oil engines

ing

actions were fractured ; in another the parts best for long continuous

journ

eys, the steam motors

were strained

in

consequence of a collision as more suitable for heavy loads,

and

motors driven

with a wall. One of the two steam vehicles by electricity as adapted chiefly for short town jour

failed o ~ to a cylinder head breaking, bu t neys though the weight of ba

tter

ies was against

it safe

ly

ret

urned

to London; in another case the adoption of the latter form of power. All types

the

front axle

bent

through excessive stra

in;

of vehicle, however, damaged the road less than the

another broke its crosshead and wore the cylinders; horses' hoofs did. He would point out

that

there

in another vehicle the frame and wheels turned out were no experimental

da

ta recorded as to the ratio

to be

faulty,

and

would not stand

the

wear of

the

between indicated horse-power

and

useful work, for

run

; while

in

one

the

body of

the

vehicle itself (i.e., his own

part

he thought

that

the mechanical

effi

the

woodwork) gave way. In some cases speeds of ciency was about 50 per cent. There had been,

40 miles

an

hour were

attained upon

roads free however, some excellent

Fr

ench experiments,

and

from t h ~ r traffic. n one case

11o

well-known vehicle he thought

it

would be useful if

the

secretary would

successfully raced an express

tr a

in for several miles. summarise them. At the prese

nt

tiine th ere were

The author next referred to the Paris and Lyons race, 600 makers of road carriages in France, and 6000

in

which

the

winner covered 353f miles

in

9 hours owners. He was

in Paris

last week, where

th

e

re

8 minutes, thus beating

the

express train, which were 100 to 150 motor cars exhibited. Of these, by

takes 8 hours 23 minutes to travel the shorter far the greater number were oil engines, he did not

route of 320 miles. With t

wo

exceptions, all

the think

t

her

e was very much new to chronicle of

vehicles

in

t

he run

employed

pn

eumatic ty res: a them, as they all seemed very similar to each other.

fact which the author considered accounted for the

Mr Harry

Jones said he would give a litt le advice

general freedom f rom failure of the working pa

rts.

to drivers of these vehicles. I t would be well if

The

discu

s.sio

n

on th

e paper was opened by Mr. they would adapt themselves more to

the

exigencies

E. J. Chambers, who said tha t he had had some of ordinary traffic. They should remember t

hat

experience in motor cars, as for some time past he horses were easily terrified by the sight of anything

had possessed a French carriage of

this

nature unusual and also by a strange smell. I t was a curious

which had been running with

the

very best results. fact

that

horses were so frighte led by smells as

He

considered the Ins

ti t

ution might do very good well as by noise. I t was necessary that those who

work in supporting t

he motor

car

indu

stry, more used the roads should know the rule of the road.

especia

ll

y in keeping a wa

tc

hful eye on obstructive He gave OJ? e. instance of offence

in

this

re

spect.

legislation which was likely to hamper the manu- He was driving a team of horses when he met a

facture of these vehicles. His car happened to motor vehicle which he knew would frighten his

have been

bought

in France, but he believed that tea

m; he

therefore held .

up

his whip

in

order to

equally good work could be do

ne

in country. stop the .driver who, however, did stop, the

The greatest difficulty he had exp

er

ienced was r esult being

that

he nearly had an acmdent. On

from the attendants upon

hor

ses me t: upon the another occasion

he

met a similar vehicle and he

road.

I t must

be remembered, however,

that

there he

ld

up

hi

s hand and t he driver stopped at once

had been opposition to .the of the a

nd

all troubl.e was

o ~ d e

These. were t wo in

bicycle

but

in

what a different positiOn

the

t

rade sta

nces sh

ow

mg the

differ

ent

behavwur of motor

of the would have

been

had this opposition drivers.

been successful.

Th

e same expe

ri

ence would Mr.

St

urmey thought

that

it would be we

ll

if

follow in

the

case of motor oars. Having said this, those wh o drove horses would remember that they

he would e

nter

his protest against the extremely had not a. prescriptive,right to the use of the road,

high speeds at which

it ~ e d

to

be the

delight and

that If

they took horses

they

mu

st

see

that

of some persons to run

their

motor cars. He was they were properly

br

oken

1n.

Most

ow

ners of

an own er of horses, and frequently horses were motor cars were also owners of horses or were

driven at

t

he

ra te of 18 miles an hour by cyclists, and all who drive motor cars observe the

those who were fo

rtun

ate enough

to

own good la Y s of the. road. The gentleman ~ h o la

st

ones· he

ther

efore did not see why

the

motor evidently did n

ot

know the la

w,

as 1t was provided

car

~ h o u i d

not be ' allowed that speed also. It that the dri'Ver should hold up his hand, whereas Mr.

was considered

by

some

that

motor oars were J ones held _up his whip. Drivers of motor cars n ~ w

dangerous ·

and hi

s partner, who was

the

owner of

that

the strict law could not always be observed

w1

th

a car a d ~ by a firm whose nam e he would n

ot

advantage, it being sometimes really safer to go on

mention, had been

unf

ort

unate e n o ~ g h

to be ra

the

r than stop, a n ~ so

they

took little lati

tu rned over

in

an accident, when his car was tude. The author:

t h ~ t

the quest.wn of motc;>r

bu

rn t up

in

a few minutes. A car which could be cars was now receiVIng a httle attention. Re

d1d

so destroyed was evidently wrongly designed. He not know why he. used the word now, aA the

thouu

ht makers would do we

ll

to

study

t

he

ques- su

bject

should have received att.ention

o ~ r

or

tion safety, and also the many litt le conveniences five years ago. In t h ~ companson of r a 1 ~ w a y

tha

t might be introduced and were necessary for charges t ~ a t had b

eet?-

g:tven, only heavy vehiCles

perfect

comfort. He o n s i d e r e d

there

a s ~ splendid co ls1de:ed, ~ u t 1t s.hould bo reme

mber

ed th

at

opportunity for engineers

and

coachbmlders to

the

g h ~ e r . tunc was saved up to any

combine and produce a really excellent vehicle. distance within 50 miles. He had recently travelled

[}

UNE 29 I 900

from Cambridge to London, a distance of 60 miles

in

t)vo ~ n d a ha

lf

hours. The question of o a ~

was an Important one. In America they were pr0-

posing to lay down steel ways for cycle and motor

traffic, and it was calculated this wo uld not entail

greater expense

tha

n macadam. Pneumatic tyres

afforded

an

enormous saving by reducinu the strains

on t

he

vehicle. There had been an idea t hat for

goods traffic iron tyres would do very well, but it

was found t

hat

they shook t he machinery so as to

put the mechanism of oil engines out of running.

They had there fore put ru bber on th e fr

ont

tyres

only r

eta

ining

ir

on for

the

driving tyres, and had

found considerable improvement. The Hon. C. S.

Rolls, who had a very extended experience, calcu

a t ~ d

th

at

his pneumatic tyres cost him 2d. pe r mile,

whtch was 200 per cent. more than

the

cost of oil.

~ anyone could devise a means of preventing vibra

tiOn without recourse to costly india

rub

ber and

perishable canvas he would effect a great step in

d v n c ~ Anoth

er

mechanical point was the large

proportiOn of power taken up by the transmission

gear. They had been

ab

le to reduce the cooling

water needed for oil eng

in

es to a very large extent,

hav

in

g come from 15 to 4 gallons. This had been

effected by adop

ting

special radiating surfaces.

The failure of the circulating pump was one of the

most fruitful sources of trouble.

Mr. Gus. C. Henning, speaking as an American

engineer, said that

the

average noise was less

in

American machines than in those of Europe, and

such noise as

they

emitt ed was chiefly due to the

puffing of oil from the exhaust. In considering

this matter

he

thought engineers paid too

li t

tle

attention to the elasticity of materials.

f

t h ~ y

would mount a wheel on an elastic shaft

wi

th

bearings not close in,

they

would get a vibratory

effect like

that

of a big piano string. The descrip

tion of gear wheels used was also of importance in

regard to noise. He had been taken over a factory

in order to

be

shown the silent gear used for

driving. When he got into the shop, however, he

could hardly make himself heard in speaking to

his companion on account of the din, and he ulti

mately found that this noise

pr

oceeded from the

" silent gear. " With regard to smoke, he would

say that there were two ways of getting over it,

one was

to

use

the

best American oil, and the

alternative was to burn American smokeless an-·

thracite.

Mr.

F owler had had

an

experience of six months

with

a.

heavy motor lurry which had run most suc

cessfully, a fact which he attributed to the flexi

bility of steam driving. Practically speaking, horses

had no objection to motor cars so long as the drivers

let them alone. If, however, they jumped down and

rushed to their horse's head, as it were to . call

attention

to the fact that

there

was something

of which

the

horse might

be

frightened, t hen the

la

tter

became nervous, and was apt to back into

t

he di

tch. The only trouble they had had was

with a bull ; it was tied

to

the back of a cart which,

with others, was left

sta

nding outside a public

house. The bull had taken offence at the motor

car, and had

attempted

to attack it. Fortunately,

however, it did not

get

loose,

but

only turned the

cart over ; it was a fortunate thing for the bull

itself, as had

he

at tempted to rush one of Mr.

Thornycroft's

staamvehicles, with five tons on board,

the result might have been serious. Mr. Fowler

thought

it would

be

desirable

if

somewh_at

longer

co

mpetitive trials could

be

made

than

those which

had been attempted.

He

thought six months would

be a bet

ter

period than a few days. In the north

t

he

roads were very trying to the machines, the

surface in the centre of some of

the

pig to

wns

being a disgrace

to the

authority.

Thi

s was not

felt so much at the

ext

remely l

ow

spe'eds at which

horse wagons travelled; but when a steam wagon

travelled at five miles

an

hour, carrying a very

heavy load, it was a serious matter.

He

would

wish to lay particular emphasis on the evil that had

been wrought by

the

three-ton tare arrangement

that

had been enforced by

the

Government. The

regulation necessitated a very arge use of aluminium,

and

he considered that t he limit should be raised so

as to avoid using this costly material. Another point

which required consideration was the size of the

boilers. They were a

pt

to be made too small, and

he h

ad

seen vehicles stopped on a long

co

n

tinu

ous

r ise in o

rder

that

pr

ess

ur

e might accumulate. Feed

pu

mps were also often too small, even if the boiler

were large enough for a long hill. He thought

coke was used

rath

er than coa l for these purposes,

and

that

was a smokeless fuel. Steam was not

7/17/2019 Engineering Vol 69 1900-06-29


•

j UNE

29

I 900.]

seen, except,

perhaps,

for a. few damp days in

winter, but there was the danger

fr

om sparks to

be coil idered,

and

on this account insurance com

panies might object to these vehicles backing into

sheds or r eceiving houses. f

these

vehicles were

to be

used

th ey must

be

capable of

being driven at

all times, and he would

be glad

to know how-as

had been

r eported- they

had

got

over

the difficulty

of

a fall

of

snow. Was this

by putting

shoes

on

the wheels 1 f so

it

was an

infraction of

the

letter

of the law.

The

st

reets

of Liverpool were, how

ever,

so well

swept

that

probably

the

difficulty

from snow did not ariso there.

M. Sauvage said that in his country, France,

horses had become accustomed to motor cars, they

being

much used. I t did not take a horse ~ e r y long

before

it

became indifferent to what was new and

terrifying at first. n this way they had got over

the difficulty of railway trains, electric cars, and

cycles. They often saw motor

cars

in w n ~ going

at dangerous

s

peeds,

but the horses

took no

notice

of t hem. The

development

of this industry

in

Fr

a

nce

was due to

the

happy

absence

of official

regulation

:

that wa

s a

fortunate exception

to the

general

rule

in his country. All proper-minded

motor-car owners desired that driving at excessive

speed should be stopped .

Mr. J. I. Thornycroft said that the point of

greatest importance to the motor-car industry was

the check due to re

st

rictive legislat ion. Mr.

Fowler

had

stated

that

in order to

comply

with

the

statutory tare limits, aluminium had to be used,

and he also

said that

boile

rs should be made

larger.

When, however, they had done

all

they could

with

regard to the adoption of aluminium, there was

still

not

sufficient

margin for

the

bigger

boiler.

The

indust r

y

must inevitably be crippled unle

ss

legislation in this

respect were altered. In

regard

to hor

ses they soon learnt all

about

the motor

car

and

took no

noti

ce of it. The rdal trouble

w s not in the towns hu b in

the

country, where

horses were less ace tstomed to unusual sights and

sounds. Vibration due to

bld

roads was a very

se rious disadvantage, and

it

would be well if roads

were b etter

at t

ended to.

Still

there might be a

virtue in a bad road, for

it

would

lead

builders to

exert themselves more to

counteract

vibration, so

that

they would get a. good car, and then if the

good roads came

af t

erwards, they would

reach per

Mr. Worby

Beaum

o

nt

also

pointed

out that the

r oad question was one of great importance,

and

he suggested that

the tops

of bills

might

in

many

cases be advantageously

cut

off

and

the

gradients otherwise improved. He considered

the road question might be reduced to one of

maintenance. We constructed roads at great

cost and

then

let them go from bad to worse.

The owners of horse vehicles were also

interested

in

this question;

for instance, they might

have

to

send a load of ton, for which they would

be

obliged to provide

two

horses

in

order to get

over

a

short distanc

e of difficult

ground. He did not

co

nsider

the ton-mile a good basis of comparison

for

the

co

st of road

loc

omotion

;

loading and

unload

ing had also

to

be considered . With regard

to

oil motors, in using a vaporising carburetter in

summer weather there was very little necessity for

heaters. There was

the

difficulty with

the light

oil

that the

lighter

part

would

be

taken

first, leav

ing the heaYier oil

with

which perhaps

it

would

not

be

possible to get the vehicle to start. The

spray carburetter

did

not give a vapour, but that

was nob of

impor

tance, as the spray really

ignited

more

readily than the vapour.

In regard

to go

vernor.3,

many

vehicles were run

with

them for part

of

the time

until

the

owneJ;s

got tired

of

the

slower

pace,when they would put into

play

what was

known

as an accelerator

which

was

simply

a d

ev

ice

for

throwing

the governor

out of

use. An owner

tired

of dawdling along at 15 miles

an

hour would thus

run

a machine supposed to perform 750 revolutions a

minute up to 1500 a. minute ;

this

might appear a

dan

gerous speed, but the motor part was not

that

which soonest gave

ou t

.

n

regard to circulating

water, coolers were used with a natural circulation,

and

they

required little water; he

mentioned

a case

in which 2 oz. only had

been

used on a 50-mile

run,

but

20

per

cent.

of

the

mechanical

efficiency

of

th e whole machine was th us lost. The

shaking

noticed

when cars

were standing was

not

at

all

a

question of balancing, as had

been

supposed, but

was

vibration resultin

g from infrequent ignition.

Mr.

Sidney F.

Walker

said

that

no

one doubted

that

the

mo t

or car of the future would

be

electri-

E N G I N E E R I

N

G.

cally driven, a proposition which did not meet with

universal assent from the meeting. He pointed

out that fuel burnt in small motors was largely

wasted. ·

At

present there was the drawback to

electric accumul

ators

that at

present,

owing to their

weight, they could o

nly be carried

to

provide power

for a run of about 40 miles; moreover, in a

motor

car the

accumulators were

in the worst

possible

position for

working. He had come to the conclu

sion that lead plates

would

have

to go. The

lead

only performed

the

same functions

as the

carbons

in

a

primary

battery

-

to

collect

current

which

was generated in

the

lead oxide; he thought that

the

oxide should be built up in a framework of

some other metal. He knew that this would be

met

with

the objection that

it

would be forming

a galvanic battery ; but with the present accumu

lators

there was a galvanic battery formed by the

lead

plates

and the oxide ; the matter was one for

the inventor to take

up.

Mr. Holroyd Smith considered

it

was the

duty

of the

Institution

to

deal with

mechanical details.

He

referred to the

application of

a geometrical

principle which

1\ Ir.

Davi

s had devised

for

steering

gear, and which gave absolute accurate movement of

the

wheels for every position of the

steering

lever.

This

was illustrated in

the author's

paper.

Mr.

Smith

would ask why some arrangement could not be

made for getting efficiency in steering when run

ning

backwards as well as

when

moving forwards.

He

would be glad

if

the

author

would give a

full

geometrical explanation of this.

The

author had

stated that

heavy

oil engines for internal combus

tion

had

been tried for

motor

vehicles,

but

the

difficulties of starting and smell

had

not yet

been

satisfactorily overcome.

In connection with

this

matter,

some recent experiments by Mr.

Henry

Barcroft promised

well for the

future,

for

he had

succeeded in maintaining con

stant mixture

and

compression under varying load. The

speaker

had seen a model in which varying power was

obtained by varying

the

length of stroke, but

that introduced the objection that the ratio of

clearance space was also varied.

An

arrangement

had, however, been in

vented

to get over the

difficulty, and he would be glad if Mr. Hele-Shaw

wo

uld

give some information upon the matter.

The author

had said

that

there

was a ste

ady

and

ce

rtain

tende

ncy

towards the u

se

of

el

e

ctric

ignition

. As

long

as the el

ectric ignition

was

limited

to

eithe

r

primary

or

seco

ndary

cells which

required charg;ng

and

at tention,

this

was not the

case, because, in s

pi t

e of

the

claims as to the

number of

mil

es the cells would run, there was no

means of being sure as to the amount of the charge

until

it

had ceased

to

work. Now, however, the

magneto-electric i

gnition

in which the current

is obtained by the revolution of the

motor it

self,

or by t

urnin

g a

handle

previous to s

tarting,

has

removed these objections. Mr. Holroyd Smith

thought that those who had

had

real experience

with

electric ignition wo

uld know

there was a difficulty of

always

making contact at

the proper

time.

The

usual

plan was to

have

a fibre disc, out of which pieces were

cut

and

metallic plates were

in

serted, to

make up

for

the part

removed. In this way the

perfect

circular form of

the

disc was maintained, and con

tact was formed by

the

rubbing part coming in

contact with the metallic plate. This, the speaker

said, worked

well

enough

in

the

wo

rkshop,

bu

t

in

the

motor

car oil from lubrication would get on the

disc, the brush also

gets

sa turated,

and

either

there was

no contact

or some delay occurred in

making it. What was wanted was a device in

which the

contact

would be always reliable, and

take place

at

the precise moment

needed. In

regard

to balancing, Mr. Smith pointed out that Dr. Hele

Shaw

had

stated

in

his

paper that in order to

understand

the action of

the Lanchester system

" i t must

be remembered that

the

two cranks are

disconnected, the

two

flywheels moving

in

oppo

site directions ; of course, with only a single

cylinder engine the piston is not balanced. He

was

surprised

to hear Dr. Hele-Shaw make this

latter statement, as he-the speaker- had shown, at

a meeting of

the

Institution, a model of a single

cylinder with abso

lute

balance.

n

regard to the

question of wheels, he thought that was of suffi

cient

importance

to

be

the

subject

of

a

separate

paper. There was a great

tendency

to seek the

solution of the problem of vibration by

relying

on the tyre alone.

He

had

given

a great

deal

of thought in the past to the

question

of spring

wheels proper, as differing

from those

which

depended on their

own

elast.ic

tyres.

l ie

had

investigated the subject closely and had

examined

the work of a great many people in this

direction,

the

majority

of whom had not

even

formulated the

conditions

of the problem they

attempted

to solve.

What was

needed

to prevent vibration was perfect

radial

movement between the hub and the tyre,

and

no

other

movement. In one

case the principle

had been

grasped,

the hub moving

in

a

slide

whilst

that slide was free

to

move

in

another giving motion

at right angles

to the

first.

That

device, however,

suffered from mechanical causes, but

the

same

end

could

be

obtained

and

the

difficulty

obviated.

This

the speaker proposed to accomplish by compounding

two se ts of parallel motion which would be mounted

in the wheel

and

enclosed in a frame.

Mr. Ventrice said that he spoke as a local

autho

rity

only, and as a

user

of the Thornycroft steam

van.

He

had had considerable experience with

one

of these vehicles in a central part of

London,

and could bear

testimony

to its

satisfactory work

ing

; it

created

n o nuisance, and

there had been no

complaint of

any kind.

Mr.

Hi ggins

said that the pleasurable use of

motor cars

was entirely a

matter of road surface.

Now

the London

County Council were going to put

down tramways,

and

spoil such good road surfaces

as existed.

Mr. Henry Davey said that one speaker had

referred to the prescriptive right of the road,

and

said

it

existed for no one vehicle; that was an error,

as

the

prescriptive

ri

g

ht

came from time.

Mr. Henry

McLaren spoke

as a traction

engine

builder, and referred to the manner in which the

frames of

motor

wagons might

be

strained

by

the

manner in which the steering wheels were

some

times mounted. In

the

ordinary

traction

engine,

owing to the front axle

being free

to r ock on its

central

bearing,

the

engine stood practically

on

three points, so that there would be no cross strain

put upon

it

by

the

fact of its being on

an uneven

road. In a motor car having

the

two steering

wheels each capable of swivelling on an

indepen

dent

vertical axis, however,

lhe

car was virtually

carried on four points,

and

under certain con

ditions these four points would not

all

bear on

the road, and severe cross strains might

be

set up .

Mr. McLa.ren

endorsed

what had

been

said about the

difficulties thrown in the

way

of

motor-car

builders,

by

the

restriction

of the tare

weight

of vehicle.

Some little

time ago

hi

s firm had

been

asked to

execute an

order for vehicles

of this

nature,

but

found

they could n

ot

carry it out

under

the

statu

tory

limit

of three tons.

f they

had

been

allowed four

tons

they could have produced a

satisfactory design.

He

was of opinion that the

Instit ution should turn their attention to this

matter, the law being extremely unsa tis factory ,

His firm had for a long

period

had some experience

in France, where they had run 1000 miles every

fortnight

in carrying

mails. They had there

found

the weak points in the

tyres.

When a tyre gets

thin in any place

it

stretches

there,

and

thus

pulls

off the rivets.

They

had tried the effects of

putt

.

ng

on

the

tyres

in

short

lengths,

and had successively

reduced

the lengths

of such portions until

they got

to

short plates.

Not

being

re

st

ricted to

weight,

they

had

put

on plates 6

in.

l

ong

and 1-

in.

thick,

there being ·in. spaces between, which soon

became filled up with dirt,

and

thus made a

smooth

surface.

In

this

way

they had

run

successively

60,000 miles. As r e

garded

elastic wheels, he had

tried the

arrangement,

Mr. Holyroyd Smith sug

gested, of compound parallel motions,

and

had

found

it would not work ;

it

would wear out

directly.

p r . H e l e - S h a ~ in r ~ p l y i n g to the discussien,

sa1d t o u ~ be 1 b l e to answer the majority

of

t ~ e

qu.estwns

put

m

th_e

~ o u r s e of a long dis

cussiOn, 1t was very gratlfymg to him

that

the

paper

had

exc ited

so

much interest, and he

would

ask those

who had

put questions

to

him

to allow

him

to answer them in

writing

; then they

would

appear in the

Transaction

s .

There were, however

one

or

two

points to

which he might refer

very

briefly.

The

first was the terrible case

of

the

burnt car, which had been held

up as an

awful

example.

The

burning of

the

car was a trifle

but

the

burning of

the owner

would

be

a very

serious

matter.

If

a

tank burst

when

a

car

turned

over,

and the

owner became saturated

with petrol, nothing would save his life if the

oil

got

alight, as it might do in the case of igni·

tion

by a naked flame

and

a very hot tube.

That was the danger of

tube

ianition

·

but

if

there were electric

ign

ition, the ;wner ~ o u l d be

7/17/2019 Engineering Vol 69 1900-06-29


•

•

E N G I N E E

RI

N G.

}UNE 29, 1900

THE

KIMBERLEY GUN LONG

CECIL."

(For D

esc?

·iption, see OP1:nsite PcJ{Je.)

•

•

•

•

I '

I

I

(a)

Q.

Labram, Late Chief Engineer D. B. C. M., kirted gth Feb.,

xgoo.

(b)

E. Goffe, Chief Draughtsman, D. B. C. M.

Fig 2 .

4·1 L . Swg( ; GtNn-

Long

C( ;oa

•

-

·

• •

•

·-

.

'

•

• \

---- --- ----------------

------------ -----------

•

I

. - - - - · - - - - · · · ~

) .

,

__ -------

~ : 7 1

.

- ..

. I :

Rifling for 18 Calibri?/S L ~ g t l :- i l i n g 1 ~

Elcva;tmg l

..

~ . ~ ~ - - J : . ~ _ f r : ~ . ..

' : . - ~ ~ q

~ __

- :.

.. ~ - - ~ ~ ~ - - _ ~ - .

j

,SoreAV 1 . . J

1

,

Breeolv

Blo

olv

fi rv<L

Obtur(htor.

•

•

•

•

lJ

J

Ft_g.3.

As

First-

M ~

'

•

perfectly safe from destru

ct

ion by fire. ' I t was

for that reason he considered electric ignition a

system of

the

future. Mr. H olroyd Smith had

drawn

an

electrical device which did

not

exist.

[In

reply to this, Mr. Smith said that the latest car

from France was arranged as

he

had describ ed.]

Dr. Hele-Shaw, continuing, said

that

if this were

so, it

ought

not to be. The

proper

arrangement for

electric ignition was a disc having a metallic

part protruding from

the

periphery. A spring

arrangement

kept the

conta

ct

piece near to

the di

sc, and when

the

metallic

part

came

in

contact with the

brush,

contact was invariably

made at the right time, the

pr

esence of oil being

a small matter.

I t

was possible to regulate the

ignit

er

so that

the

engine would be k

ept

run

ning

at

a speed th

at

would

just carry

it over

the end of the stroke,

an

d thus vibration was done

away with. He would send a drawing of the de

vice that was used when running in snow, respect

ing

which

an

inquiry had been made

by

Mr

.

Fowler. Briefly, it might be described as a tem

porary attachment consisting of a large framework

,

Fig 4

Fig. 5

As

Macle; for

A.:daL Firing.

As FirwUy

M ~

•

Cra.cluJ.,

hue,

\

•

•

She

ws where-

brok,e; ,off,

on-

.ftrt,ng

-

s ~

o/ur

altuati?1v

1

tlw bolt, drooe

baik, knocki n g

p ~ ,

a s slwwrv, aruL

~

·

founit also

orailteiL

Q.1/

s1wul.der

•

of wood placed round the wheel. f this were used

on a hard road it would wear o

ut; but

on a

soft

road

or

on snow it acted well.

He

sincerely hoped

that the Institution

would do something or

co-

operate with other authorities in raising the ques

tion of the legal tare. The law was an absurdity

as it stood ;

the

car c

ar r

ies a load, and if

the

law

dealt only with

the tota

l load,

and

re

st

ricted

the

load carried per wheel, there would be some sense

in it.

In

rega

rd

to the cost of carrying goods by

motor car, he would refer to a diagram which had

been made by Mr.

Sh r

apnel Smi

th,

who

he

hoped

would have spoken on the subject ; the diagram

would, however, be published with the

ot

her addi

tional matter. They proposed next Spring to make

a

thor

ough practical trial of the utility of motor

ca

rs for delivering goods in some of the chief towns

in

Lancashire,

and

to t hi

:

end they

had been

pro

mised the co-oper

at

ion of merchants

and

others,

which wou

ld

enable them to carry merchandise be

tween Manchester and Liverpool, and other places.

He was pleased to hear Mr. McLaren speak, as he

was a

tract

ion engine maker, and connected with a

class of engineers with whom the gre

at

bulk of

experience rested.

The

meeting

then

adjourned until the next

•

mornmg.

On

the

second day of the meeting, Mr. E.

P.

Martin again occupied the chair. The first paper

read was a very interesting one by Mr. Edward

Goffe, entitled ' 'Notes on the Construction of

'Long Cecil,' a 4.1

-In

. Rifled Breechloading Gun in

Kimberley During the Siege, 1899-1900." This

we

print

in

the

present issue, together with the illus

trations on the pre sent and opposite pages. There

was practically no discussion on this paper, the only

speaker being Mr. Donaldson, of W

oo

l wich.

Th

e

next

paper taken was M. Edouard Sauvage's

on Recent Locomotive Practi ce in France. " This

gave rise to a long and interest

in

g discussion, with

which we shall deal mo

re

fully in our next issue.

A paper on

P

olyphase Electric Traction, " by Pro

fessor C. A. Carus-Wtlson, was finally read, but time

did

not

permit of any discussion.

We shall continue our report of the further pro·

ceedings next week.

7/17/2019 Engineering Vol 69 1900-06-29


jUNE

29, 1900.]

N G I N R I N G

THE

KIMBERLEY GUN

"LONG CECIL."

F i9.6 .

Ri Ung

D

evUe .

'

....

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Fig. 7.

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Bormg (Roughing)

0

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0

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10 0

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Bori;ng

fU lAL R ~ f l ~ o ~ s .

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Pig .9. Rifling H«UL.

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of D.B.C

MinAu

during

s ~ g ( , ;

i

i m b e r ~ 1899 -

1900.

For 4 ·1

Lru lv B .L .

( Lorvg Ceow)

,. -

f

. f ' \

\

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•

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Gu;

MetAL

FU4e-

SteeL

Plunger

witlt, IViM•LeJ.

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Ccst -n

Rings

--

Fig .

l:l.

For

.

2 ·5 Uu:Jv R .M.L

R .A

&

D .F.A.

•

I

THE

KIMBERLEY GUN

L

ONG CECIL."

to

an

earl

y

Arms&rong," heavy for

the

work done com-

. " . , pared with one of a. more modern type but in this case

Note_s on

the

Co

nst?"UCtum of . L<mfJ Cectl

, a

~ . 1 - I weight was a. minor point to be considered, ease and

~ t l e d BreeohlOO.

d tng Gun,

tn

K tmberley

d'IIIT'tng

the

quickness of ma.nufa.oture being, perhaps, the leading

Suge, 1

899-1900.

ideas.

By Mr. EnwARD G91<

'.¥E

Associate Member, The first difficu

lty

met with was the resistance of the

of Kimberley. military authorities to the attempt to mak e th e gun, but

THE

object in view was to make a gun of greater power as this was hardly a mechanical difficulty, further. refer

than those possessed by the garrison, which were 2. 5-in. ence to it may be out of place. However, on Chnstmas

rifled

mu

zzle-loading guns (7-pounders), and were not big Day, 1899, Mr. Rhodes, chairman of the company, gave

enough to effectually reply to the enemy's 15-pounders, or the order to Mr. La.bra.m to make the attempt. Work

to make any impression on his works. was immediately started, and then the diffi

cu

lty, conse-

A gun of about 4 in. bore, firing a

sh

ell

25lb.

to 30 lb. quenb on ignorance the part o_f both Mr. L a.bra.m ~ n d

weight, appeared to meet the case, and to be possible of the author, of practical gun design, was first met w1th.

co

nstructiOn. This was overcome by a search in all books available, and

The possession of a billet of hammered mild steel the scattered information so obtained brought together.

(originally

intended

for sha.fting and ordered as such), The o u r c ~ of r m a t i o n w_

re :

. a . ~ t i c l e s _gun-

10i in. in diame ter and 10 fb. long, made by viessrs. nery, &c., m the Encyclopre

dia.

Bntanmca ; the mthtary

Sybry, Sea.rls, and Co., of the Cannon Steel Works,

~ r e a . t i ~ o n

~ m m u n i ~ o n (which

ha.d

been p r e v i o ~ s l y used

field, and of several bars of 6-in. by ~ i n . Low

Moor r o n ,

m gamt.ng mformatu:m make. shell

a n ~ cartndges

for

in the workshops of the De Beers Consolidated M m ~ the 2 . ~ · 1 0 guns earlier m the Siege); a r t 1 ? l ~ on

really suggested to the late

Mr.

George La.bra.m, ch1ef gnns m

ENGINEERING,

&c. ; and the mihta.ry

T e ~ t

engi neer to the company, the possib

ility

of making the Book on Gunnery," broug?t forward by a.n ~ t a s t i

gun,

by

boring

the stee

l

La.r

to

fo

rm the

tube, to

be

volu lteer officer, a

nd

which

Pt:<>Ved

very

s e r V I ~ b

st ren

gthe

ned by rings shrunk on, made of the Low I'rioor Durmg the progress of the work

10

the shops, a.ss1stance

iron. was also given m many details of gun-s

hop practi

ce, the

Th is resulting

gun

would evidently

be

of a type similar form of special tools used, c., oy several of the em

ployes there, whose previous experience in Woolwich

* Paper

read

before the Institution of vieohanical Arsenal, the Elswick W orks, and elsewhere, was willingly

Engineers. given to forward the work in hand.

'

. ·

I '

o I

I

I :

•

•

Approximate calculations only were made, for two

reasons, one that it was nob considered necessary to go

into very fine calculations when the two princip3.1 factors,

the

powder pressure and the test s

trength

s of the

mate

rials to

be

used were not known, and could only

be

esti

mated, recourse being preferably made to comparisons of

the performances of similar guns. The obher reason was

that time was

pressing-the

designing, and supplying of

sketches going on si

mult

aneously with the

making

of the

gun in the workshops.

The stock of powder in the town was of

many

kinds,

ranging from "mealed" to compressed cylinders in. in

diameter by 2 in. lo

ne-. Most

of it

had

been kept for a

long time, much of

1b

over 10 yea.rs for certain; but it

did not

appear to

have

det

eriorated, s

till

re ta

ining

a

good glossy surface.

The cylinder powder (b

la

ck) w

as

evidently the m

ost

suitable for use; but

there

was not very

mu

ch of it,

so

pr

ep

arations were made

to

compress the finer powder

m

to

blocks,

and

so form a slower burning powder. The

possibility of the compressing not being successful when

the stock of cylinders was exhausted,

and

of having to

use

a.ll

kinds,

had

to

be

faced,

but

there

proved

to be

sufficient cylinders

to

provide cartridges

as

long

as

the

gun

was fired.

From.

data. available, it appeared

t h ~ t

50,000 lb. to the

square mch would

be

a

suitab

le

ma

XImum pressure to

a.llow for,

that

being

about

the maximum pressure calcu

l

ate

d, when using

a

charge of 5 lb. of

powder in

the

space which would be available for a. powder· chamber

7/17/2019 Engineering Vol 69 1900-06-29


7/17/2019 Engineering Vol 69 1900-06-29


868


JUNE 29, 1900.

AUTOMATIC COAL-

HANDLING

PLANT;

ELECTRIC

SUPPLY STATION,

LEEDS.

CONS

TRUCTED BY

MESSRS. GRAHAM, MORTON,

AND

CO

.,

ENGINEERS,

LEEDS

.

Fig. 7

I

Fi9 2 .

-

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

t I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

ER

I

I

important branches

there

is

still

a

plethora

of work,

as, for example,

wi

t h

ma

chine-tool makers, boiler

makers, locomotive builders, and all sections of the

electrical engineering

trades

, whi

ch bran

ches

are in

most

cases

supp

lied wi

th

orders

whi

ch will keep them

fully going for soipe

ti

me ahead. The

iron market ha

s

been suffering something like depression, engendered

by a feeling of

distrust

as

to

the future as regards

prices and supplies. Customers buy only from hand

to mouth, and hesitate to e

nter

into renewals of con

tracts at present

ra

tes , while makers equally hesitate

t o

mak

e concessions sufficie

nt

to

indu

ce p

ur

chases.

In

th

e finished iron branches the positi on is still st rong

as regards bars, so strong, it is said,

th

at makers feel

independent for at least th ree or four months. Po

s

sibly the uncer ta in

ty

will pass away wi

th

the advent

of the quar

te

rly meetingE .

The iron

trade

in

the

Wolverhampton district is de

scribed as

quiet

. Something like

uncertainty pre

vai ls

as to

pri

ces, al though t he list

rates

appear

to

rule

generally. As regards marked bars, manufacturers

report a good volume of

or

ders on hand for be

st

branded

qualiti es, for railway and bridge material,

chiefly for

export to Sout

h Africa. Unmarked iron

has not been

in

such

pr

essing demand,

and

concessions

in

pr ices are reported, but not, it is

sa

i.

d, by

the as

so

ci

at

ion makers.

The

agents of Amertcan producers

have been offering both

raw

and finished material

iron

and

steel-

at

lower rates than local producers

cue

to

book

at

, but

th

e extent of

tr

ansactions has not

been large. Some well filled lines have been received

for tank-plates, roofing sheets, gas and water t ubes,

c

. , from

Sout

h America a

nd

Au

st

ralia. Black sheets

are

only inq

uir

ed for

in

limited lots , and generally

business is res tricted to immedi

ate

requirements. I t

is scarce

ly

expected th

at the

tone will improve unt il

t he quarterly d?cide

to

t he futu re. .The

b cal iron and steel-usmg 10duetnes generally contmue

•

F rr Description, see

oppo

site P ge.)

•

CHIMNEY

I

. .

\

-

•

•

I

•

I

I

I

I

I

I I

I

I

I

l

I I

I

I

I

I I

I

I

I

I

I

I

t

I I

I I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

•

Q

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

'

t

• I

I

I

I

I

I

Cl)

I

I

t

I

I

I

I

...

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

0

I

I

I

I

I

I

:t:

I

I

I

I

I

I

-

0

I I

I

I

\..)

t

I

I

I

.....

I

I

I

I

I

I I

I

I I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I I

I I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

LINE

busy ; there is no serious falling off

in

any

import

a

nt

bran

ch. Engineers, ironfounders, boiler

and tank

makers, bridge and girder

co

nstructors, t he men in

the

railway sheds, smiths and st rikers, are all well e

m

ployed , and so for the mo

st

part are t hose engaged in

the hardware and various other industries not so classi

fied. There is an absence of serious labour disputes

throughout the distr ict.

In

t he Birmingham district

there ar

e compl

ai

nts

that

business is

rest

ricted by high prices,

and order

s,

it

is said,

are

being

withhe

ld

in

a

nti

ci

pation

of a

general reduction in

ra t

es. This, of course, has a ten

dency to weaken rates, but t he leading houses have a

sufficiency of orders on hand to keep the mills

and

fo rges fully employed; and, therefore, they await

developments

with

complacency. Marked bars con

t inue firm at full list rates, but it is reported

that

some

list houses have been accepting less than the list ra tes

for unmarked iron, in spite of the list rates. This,

however, may not be the case. The iron, steel, and

other metal-using trades continue on the whole to be

fairly well employed.

The

dockers ' st rike

in

London seems

to

have been

very

mu

ch of a

fi

zzle.

Started

by

the

men

at

one of

the do

cks

with

o

ut

the

sanct

ion of

the

Dockers' Union,

that body endorsed t he act ion, and declared a general

st

rik

e.

I t

was alleged

at

fir

st

that some

10,000

men

were involved,

but

t hese exaggerated figures were

th

e

imagina t ive creation of newspaper press reporters, or

miscalculat ion of some of

th

e dockers' leaders, who

expected

that

men would obey t heir

tru

mpet call to

arms.

I t

seems

that

1000

was the extent of t he

possible number who could be reli

ed

upon to come

out; a

nd

of

th

ese only about

300

were

out

at

th

e

Tilbury Docks early in last week.

I t

appears that

the Dockers' Union believed

that

t he other riverside

unions would also join the st rike, but all attempts to

DONKEY

ENGIN

ES

•

call out the members of those unions failed. Strikes

' ' in sympathy, as they were called, were popular on

the platform a few years ago, but they never were

popular with the men. Then, again, the Dockers' Union

expected large financial help from other unions ;

in this also they were disappointed . The Shipping

Federation was able to supply a number of

f

ree

labourers to take the place of those who were out,

but the complaint of t he shippers was that they were

unused to the work, and took too long a t ime to

die

charge the cargoes. This doubtless was the case, but

t

hat

was

the

only

al

te

rn

ative to

no unloading

a.t

all,

or granting to the dockers all that they demanded.

Whether or not the dockers have real gri evances, one

thing is cer tain,

that

ha

sty, ill-advised strikes are

disastrous. f the union is to continue to exist as a

force, and to exercise influence with men or employe3,

it will have to exercise' more restrai

nt

upon the more

fiery spirits

in

the society, and be able on occasion to

put it s foo t down when its members become obstre

perous. As a mere fighting machine

its

power is

nigh exhausted.

The

Shipping Federation meets 1t

at every turn.

·-

The dispute of th e iron miners at Roanhead min

es

,

Fu r

ness, is being investigated by the Board of

Tr

ade,

:Mr.

H.

Foun

ta

in having been deputed to do so by the

P reside

nt

of the Board. He has obtained an exhaustive

statement from

th

e representatives of the men, and

by th is time probably from t he managing owner ; but

there was no agreement up to the date of writing.

I t

appears

that

the

differences

as to

the provisions

of the

Fa

ctories Act will prevent any further prog r

ells

with the measure. t is better so.

ny

further

amendment ought to be closely watched by all wh?m

it m

ay

concern; and it ought also to be accompamerl

by

co

nsolidation, otherwise the Acts become difficul

t.

of application.

-

7/17/2019 Engineering Vol 69 1900-06-29


_, JUNE 29 I 900.]

E N G I N E E R I N G

A

TOMATIC

C O A L - H A N D L IN G

P L A N T

AT

LEEDS.

stores and trim

by

hand . This Mr .

Dickinson fo

und to

be of

co

nsiderable

expense; and in designing the

pre

sent

plant his object was an

arrangement

whereby

the

ca

rt

s could

co

me

in

at

one

end

of

the

house,

a a

shown in

Fi

g.

1,

and

tip

their conte

nt

s

into

the screen

or

grating

, one a

fter

another,

and

f

ro

m

the

nce their contents co uld be elevated

and conveyed automatically alo

ng

the

coal

st ores; and by

means of the same

conveyor coal could a

ga

in be conveyed

to

the

e

nd

of

th

e house, in

co

n

ju

nction

with th

e elevator a

nd

conveyor, which

are

shown

fi

xed ovor

the

boilers. The

introduct ion of

this

scheme overcomes

th

e difficul

ty

experienced in handling the

lar

ge

amo

unt

of coal for the

generat

ion

of steam

to

a

tota

l

capa

ci

ty

of 5000 horse

power.

CON TRU

TED

BY ME

R• .

GRAHAl\I,

l\10RTON, AND CO ,

ENGINEER

L

EEDS

-

•

W E

have

pleasure in l

ayi

ng before our readers

an

illustrated descript ion of

th

e latest system of con

veying machinery for

automati

ca

11y

handling coal

at

the electric su

ppl

y s

tation

of Leeds. Th is

syste

m,

which was inspected

by

the Municipal Electrical

Associat ion

last

week,

take

s

the

coal first

to

the

coal

stores and then to

the

boilers; it has been designed and

erected

by

Mr

.

Ha r

o

ld

Dickinson, A.

M

I. C.

E.,

chief

engineer of

this

works,

th

e

contra

ct e i n ~ placed

in th

e

hand

s of 1lessrs. Grab am, .Morton, and Co

.,

Elevating

tmd

Conveying

Ma

c

hinery

Man

uf

acturers

, Leeds,

•

.F IG. 3

F IG. 4.

The boiler-house, as shown in the views upon

th

is

and the opposite pages, is 177 ft . long

by

62 ft .

wide,

and

is

di

vided

into two

parts by means of

the

chimn

ey

and economisers. The

re

are four Lanca

sh ire boilers,

30

ft . l<JDg

by

8 ft. 6 in. in

diameter

on

one side, and four similar boilers, together

wi t

h a

Babcock and Wilcox water-tube boiler on the ot

her

side, as shown

by

the

illustrat ions.

When

the

house w

as

originally designed,

it

was

arranged to bring

the

whole of

the

coal in by

means of ca

rt

s, and

tip it

into

the present

coal

A general descript ive view of the plant

is

as

follows :

Th

e coal is

tipped

from

the

c

arts

at one spot, when it falls

into

the

boot of an elevator.

I t

is raised

by

the

el

evato

r, and delivered to a

co

nveyor

which carries

it al

ong and deposits

it in

h

ea

ps in

th

e stores.

Th

ese are on

the

ground

floo

r, on

the

same level

as the

carts en

li

er. Below

the

stores is a con- ·

veyor trench, along

whi

ch

the

coal can

be drawn from a iJy

par

t of the

s t o r ~

to

a second elevator, which delivers it

to a push-pl

ate

conveyor running ov

er

the fronts of

the

boilers. , pouts on the

co

nveyor lead

to

the self-

ac t

ing

stoke

rs

on

the

boilers.

Re

f

erring

t o t he illust

rations, specially

to

Figs. 1

and

2, page

868, it will be seen that t he coal is ti

pp

ed

into

the

screen shown next

to the

en

trance of

the

boiler-house, on

the

l

eft

of

F ig. 2, which will hold a cartload of coal.

Underneath

this

sc

re

en

and

hopper is

fi

xed a Graham s patent au tomatic

fee

der

,

wh

ich regu

la t

es t he supply of

coal to the el

evator

boot, and by this

means each bucket of t he elevator

receives a regular feed,

and

any possi

bil

ity

of choking

the

elev

at

or boot is

avoided. A great mistake experienced

in many

plants

is

that

no simple arr

an

g

e-

ment is fixed f

or

governing

the

feed of

t be elevators, and cons

equent

ly

i t

re

quires t he attendance of one man

fo

r

th i

s

purpose

The coal is delivered by means of a

15-

in.

standard

elevator on

to

a con

t inuous co nveyor, as shown upon Fig. I ,

and is ca

rri

ed along over the co

al

stores

into

which

it

is

automatica

lly fed

at

varying positions.

By

this system

a

full

le

ngth

of co

al

stores can be fed auto

matica

lly

by

opening the whole of t he

doors, or slides,

as the

coal is depos

ited

th

rough the first opening

and

gradually

accumulates until

it

rises

to

the slide,

when the conveyor carr

ie

s it over

to

the

next

opening, and so on

until the wh

ole

of the

st

ores is full.

f it

is required,

also,

to

only deposit

certain

a

mount

s of

coal in ce

rtain

pos

it

ions,

th

is is

very

easily effected

by the at tendant.

The

chains used in these conveyors

are

stamped

steel roller c

ha

ins, so t h

at th

e

frict ion is reduced

to

a minimum. The

conveyor is built

up

of cha

nn

el iron

and

necessa

ry

supports, thus forming a sub

stantial structure. There are t woendless

st

rands

of steel chain f

or

this

conveyor

the rollers running along

the

channei

irons of the trough. The conveyor is

adjuste

d by means of

an

hexagonal

drum

arranged

with tig

htening screws. The

driving e

nd

of this conveyor is built up

of roll

ed

steel joists fixed

to the

wall, as

shown, a

nd

the

trailing

e

nd

is

supported

by

means of necessary hanging

brackets

in the trench

.

The

s t ~ r e s are divided

into

two por

tiOns, owmg

to the

r

a m

pw

ay having

to

be left for

car

age U

nd

ern

ea t

h

the

coal

stores

the

re is a

tren

ch excavated a

nd

built

up,

130

ft . long, 5 ft . wide

an

d

6 ft. 6 in. deep.

n

this co nveyor tr en

ch the

return half of the continuous conveyor is fixed

and dire

c

tl

y

und

e

rn

ea

th

the coal

sto

res floor

fi

xed seven Gra

ham s

patent

automatic

feeders con

nected

to

the conveyor by means of shoots

as

shown

up

on F ig.

1

Each

of

the

se feed

ers

is

driven

by

means of s

pur

and pinion wheels from

the line

shaft, a

nd

connected

up with

c

law

c

lu

tches

whi

ch

a

re

operated

by

levers fixed in t he

ram

p

way an

d

by

this

means there is no necessity for

the

a t t e ~ d a

to

go down into the

tr

ench for t h

at

purpose, WhQn

it

7/17/2019 Engineering Vol 69 1900-06-29


is required

to use the

coal from any portion of the

stores, an

y of

the seven

feeders

can be put in motion

by

means of

these levers,

and the

coal is

then delivered

by m e ~ n s of

the

conveying plant to the

conveyor over

the

bo1lers.

I t will

also

be

seen

that

there is no

ne

ce

ss

ity

to

have

slides or

valves over

these feeders,

as

they

themselves

act as

the valves

to prevent th e · coal

falling from

the stores below

The

coal

thus rec

e

ived is then delivered,

as

shown

upon the engraving, to a spiral conveyor (it being ne

cessary

to

use

a

spiral

con

veyor for running

under

the roadway

as a d

ee

p trench could not

be

obtained),

and from thence to

the

elevator which is next t o the

Babcock

boiler;

from here

it

is elevated on

to

a 12-in.

pu

sh-plate

conveyor,

as shown

.

. This conYeyor

is

177 ft. l

ong

, and is of sufficient

s1

ze

to handle the

whole of

the

coal req

uir

ed.

I t

is

provided

with three

outlets in

fr on

t of the Babcock

boiler,

and two outlets in front of each of the Lanca

shir

e boilers,

these

being connected

to their respective

me

chani

ca

l stoking

hoppers

by means of steel

shoots

.

At

the top of these shoots

are

the

necessary

slides and

levers for regulating the supply

of coal.

In

the centre of

the

boiler-house

ar

e three 8

nominal

ho rse-power horizontal engines, one being for reserve.

These

engines

drive one main

shaft

running

t he full

leng t h of the

hou

se, supported from the roof princi

pa l

s, and

rotatin

g at a speed of 200 revolutions per

minute.

The

whole

of

the

mechanicalstokers,

as

well

as

the

conveying

machinery,

receive the power re

quired to drive

them

from

this

shaft. I t will be seen

that

t h ~

necessa

ry drives for the

conveying

plant

are

b

elt

4rrves, except the one required for driving the

elevator and coal stores, which is a double train of

spur

gearing.

The shaft driving

the

feeders

is operated

by_ mean

s of a The total

horse-power for dr i

ving

th1s large plant 1s only 11 brake horse-power, and is

di

st

ributed as follows :

Four

brake horse-power

is absorbed for

driving the

conveyor in

the

stores.

Two

-and

-a

-half

brake

hor

se-

power for driving the

push-plate conveyor over

the

mechanical

stokers.

One brake horse-power for driving

the

spiral con

veyo r

.

One and three-quarters brake horse-power for driving

ea ch of

the

elevators.

The

remainder for the shafting

.

This plant has

now

been running

for

some

months,

and t he amount of coal handled is considerably above

the quantity set

forth in t he specification,

which

shows

that

the plant

is

capable of being driven ha rd when

the

necessity arises.

Th

e amount of coal handled by

this

plant

in ordinary

working has been

15 tons per

hour.

The coal at the present time

is

brought

to

the

electric

light

works

by

barge, and is lifted by means

of

a

steam

crane;

i t

is then carted

from

the

river

to

the

boiler-house. Mr. Dickinson, however, has under

consideration a small aerial ropeway for conveying the

coal

dire

ct from

the steam crane

to

the

screen

hopp

er

in the boiler-house, and by this

means

there

would be

a considerable saving effected, and independence of

cartmen could

be

attained.

Every praise, therefore,

is

due to

Mr. Dickinson for

the

plan which he has designed for handling the coal

in

this boiler-house,

which was already

constructed;

but

in the new

extension

of pl

ant

which he

is

design

ing, he has arranged

that the

coal bunkers should be

directly

over the

boilers, and by this means

the

coal

will be lifted from the

barges

direct

on to

the c

onveyor

over

the

coal bunkers, thus automatically distributing

i t throughout

the continuous

lengt h.

The

coal

will

then fall by gravitation from the coal bunkers

to

the

stoker

and

the

boilers.

WORKMEN 'S COMPENSATION CASES-ERRATUM.-In the

report

of

Stead

v.

Moore,

on page

827

of our l

ast

issue,

th

e words Mason v. Dewne, at

tne

commencement of the

eighth paragraph should be deleted, and the seventh and

eighth

paragraphs should

be

continuous.

CANADIAN METALLURGICAL I NDUSTRY. -The Cataraqui

Mining and

Development Company has entered

into

preliminary arrangements

with

the c

ity

council of King

ston to establish a blast-furnace there. I t will cost

60,000l.,

and its

output is

to

be

not

less

than

100 tons

per

da

y. On its part, the

city

is asked

to

grant

an

annual

bonus of 800l. for

15

years, a free site, and partial relief

from local taxes.

THE LoNDON AND NoRTH-WEST

ERN

IN YoRKSHIRE

The London

and North-Western

Railway Company has

now v

irtually

completed a lin e between

Heaton

Lodge,

near

Huddersfield,

and

Wortley, Leeds. The running of

through goods trains will be commenced early next

month,

and

passenger traffic will be begun on August 1.

The line will

be

a great advantage to the London

and

North-Western Company, as it will give it four lines from

Heaton

Lodge

to

Leeds.

The

line

is

miles

in

length,

and

in has

been carried out in

three

seotions by Messrs.

J. Wilson fl-nd Sons, of

Huddersfield;

Messrs. Monk and

Newell, of Liverpool;

and

Messrs.

Baldry

and Yerburgh,

of Westminster, under the superintendence of Mr. L.

Trench, and M.r. A. A. M a c g r e ~ o r , resident engineer.

Some

of

the

gradients are heavy-10 one case 1

in

70.

E N G I N E E

RI

N G.

•

THE

PHYSICAL SOCIETY.

AT the meeting of the Physical Society, held

on

J u ~ e

22, Mr. T.

Blak

esley, Vice-President, in the

cha.u, a

paper entit

l

ed Not s on Gas Thermometry,

by Dr. P. Chappuis, was read by Dr . Haaker. The

author

having been led to recognise that hydrogen could

not be used as a thermometric substance

at

high tempera

tures

Ot;l account of

its

action

on the

walls of

the

glass

reservous,

ha

s

had

recourse to a constant-volume nitrogen

t h e r m _ o ~ e t e r , with an initial pressure slightly under

800

~ 1 l l i m e t r e s . The

value of

the

coefficient of expansi on

of mtrogen at constant volume is variable, diminishing up

t<? 80

deg. Cent., and then increasing slightly.

In

fact,

m t ~ o g e n at

100

deg. Cent. behaves like hydrogen

at

the

ord10ary ~ e m p e r a t u r e s , its compressibility being less

than

that reqmred by Boyle's law. A table of corrections was

t ~ e r e f o r e

prepared.

The

readings of

the co

n

sta

nt-volume

mtrogen thermometer

are

too low, but the corrections are

small, amounting to about 0.04 deg. Cent.

at

the tempera

ture of boiling sulphur. The mean result of the author's

experiments for

the

boiling

point

of sulphur

is

445.2 deg.

under a pressure of 760 millimetres. Callendar

and

Griffiths r e s u ~ s obtained with a. constant-pressure 'air

thermometer

1s

444.53 deg.

The

difference is

attributed

to the joinb action of seve

ral

causes : 1. The

c o r r e c t i o n ~

for a constant-pressure thermometer are about double

th

ose of a constant-volume instrumenb.

This

correction

applied to Callendar

and

Griffiths resultl would raise

it

about

0.1

deg. 2. Oallendar and Griffiths ha.vt' used a

l u ~

for

the

gas co

nstant

which is larger

than that

obta10ed

by

more recent experiments.

Adopting the

latter a l ~ e , the boiling

point

would be raised to 445 deg.

3. The _divergence may be due to the e x p a ~ s i o n of the

reserv01.r.

The

most accurate way of determining this is

by the 10terference method of Fizeau.

This

method is

used with small pieces of the material, and the author

has

emp

loyed

it

to

determine

the

coefficient of expan sion

be_tween 0 deg.

and lOO

deg. Extr

ap

olation to

450

deg.

m1ght cause errors. The linear expansion has recently

been determined

by

Bedford between 0 deg. and 840

d e ~ .

a compal'ator I?ethod. The homogeneity of porcela10

IS doubtful, espemally when glazed,

and

the great differ

ences occurring between the expansions obtained from the

above methods is

attributed

to

the

change in form of

the

t u ~ e

in Bedford's experiments, broughtl about by unequal

thickness and_ wa

nt

of homogeneity, and consequent un

f'qual

e x p a n S I < ? ~ · T h ~ a u t h o ~

therefore adheres

to

his

value

< >f

the boihng pomt obta10ed from the expansion by

the FJ_zeau method, whilst recognising the uncertainty

attach10g to

the

applicationof

the

coefficient of expansion

of

the

reservoir over

an

interval four times as great as

that over which

it

was d e t e r m i n

A paper on .A. Comparisoo of Imptvre Platinwm Ther-

mometers, by Mr. H. M.

Tory, was read by Professor

Callendar. The object of th is

paper is

to investigate the

~ r o b a b l e _ order of accuracy attainable in the determina

t ~ o n

of

h ~ g h

temperatu_res, by use of ordinary commer

Ctal speCimens of

platmum

Wire. Five wires

w e r ~

com

pared from 400 deg. to

1000

deg. Cent. The fundamental

c o e ~ c i e n t s

of

the

wires varied within

40

per

ce

nt.

of

the

maxtmum value, hub

the

temperatures observed by them

w b ~ n

calc';Ilated

on

the pla:tinum scale by means of

the

ordmary simple formula,

d1d not

differ by more

than

9 deg. 1000 deg. Cent.

E a ~ h

wire was directly com

pared With a

pure standard

Wll'e, the two being wound

side by side in the same tube. Curves have been drawn

with

the

platinum temperatures of

the standard

wire as

~ b s ? i s s m , and

the d i f f ~ r e n c between the temperatures

md1cated

by

the two

Wire

s compared as ordinates. These

curves

are

all

straight

lines within

the

limits of observa

tion,

and

hence the determination of two constants is

sufficient to enable us to compare an impure platinum

thermometer

with the

standard,

and

therefore with

the

sca

le

of the gas thermometer. The two constants can at

once Le o

btained fr

om observations at

the

boiling

point

of sulphur and the freezing pointl of silver, and thus a

practiCal thermometric scale can be established, which

between 0 deg.

and

1000 deg. never differs by more than

2

deg. or 3 deg. from the gas scale.

Professor Callendar said

he

was unable

to

agree with

the correction to his observations made by

M.

P.

C h a p ~ u i s . He c o n ~ i d e r e d that the uncertainty in the

ooeffiment of expansiOn of

the

gas was due to uncertain

changes in the volume of

the

bulb,

and

to unce

rtainty

in

the coefficienb of expansion of mercury. The fundamental

coefficient of mercury was .00018153, according to Reg

naul , .00018216, according to

the later

reduction of

Broch,

and

.00018256, according to experiments by Chap

puis with a hard glass bulb.

It

made a difference of no

less

than 4 per

cent. in

the

fundamental coefficient of

expansion of

the

glass, according as

the

original results of

~ g n a u l t , or phe value found by Chappuis, assuming the

hn

ear

expansiOn of

the

glass, were adopted.

The

im

portance of

the

changes

in

the volume of the bulb

had

been fully pointed out, and a method of taking approxi

mate

account of

th

ese changes

had

been explained

in the

paper

on

the

boiling point of sulphur

in

1890. Unfor

tunately the glass employed was rather f t , and

the

changes

of

volume which occ

ur r

ed were too

great to

permit

of

the

most accurate det

er

mination of

the

coefficient.

The boiling point, when corrected for ·

the

smaller expan

sion of the bulb, came out lower than

444.53

deg. With

regard to porcelain, Professor Calle

ndar

did n

ot

consider

it

a good material on account of the He did not

think that the average coefficient of a tube or bulb over

a large range of temperature could be inferred from a

small and

possibly asymmetric specimen.

The

results

might be less inconsistent

in

the case of homogeneous and

well-annealed metallic bulbs.

The

correction for

the

expansion of the bulb was, he believed, given by

the

expression d

t =

c b

8) t

t 100).

He

did not agree

with M. P. Ohappuis that the correction was independent

(JUNE 2 9, I 900.

of c_ although the value of b was c ~ r t a i n l y most important

at

h1gh

temper

atures.

He

also

WlBhed

to take exception

to

the .method adoJ?ted by Ohappuis of calculating the

correction of

the

mtrogen thermom

ete

r. According to

Joule and Thomson, the correction should be greater .

according

t_o other

.au.thorities,

ib

might be less.

h o ~

to diScuss thiS m a future communication to the

So01ety.

. Mr .

G l a z ~ ~ r o o k

said

that

although he plaoed confidqnce

10 ChappuiS formula for a definite piece of porcelain

between certain temperatures, he thought further and

careful work was neoessa.ry before fixing on a formula

for

ordinary use. ·

Professor Carhart said he would like to see a comparison

made between

the

r e ~ u l t s

of _experiments

~ i t h

gas ther

mometers

and

those w1th plat10um and platmum-rhodium

couples

Mr . Rose-Innes expressed his interest in the behaviour

of n i t r o ~ e n about 100 deg. Cent., as mentioned in M.

ChappulS' paper.

Dr. Lehfeldt said the peculiarities of the nitrogen scale

between 70 deg. and

80

deg. might be explained by the

reversal of the properties of nitrogen between 0 deg. and

100

deg.

A

paper

on

The Law

of

Oailletet a;nd Math,ias and the

Oritical ~ e n s i t y was rea? Professor S. Young. The

law of Cailletet and Mathia.S lS very nearly, though in mosb

cases not absolutely, true,

t

appears to be only strictly

true

when

the

ratio of

the

actual

tlo the

theoretical den

sity at the critical

point

has

the

normal value 3.

77.

The

curvature of the diameter is generally smaller the -

nearer this ratio approaches

its

normal value. The cur

vature

is

in

ne

a

rly

every case

in

opposite directions,

according as this ratio is greater or less than 3.77

.

The

curvature is generally so slight

that the

critical density

may be' calculated from

the

mean densities of liquid and

s a ~ u r a t e d v ~ p < ; > u r at temperatures from

:b?ut

t h ~ b o i l ~ n g

po10t to Withm a few degrees of

the

crit1cal pomb, wtth

an

error

generally

not

exceeding .1 per cent. If, ho

w

ever, the critical density is calculated from the mean

densities at low temperatures, the error may be consider

able ; in

the

case of normal deoane,

it

is between 5 and

6 per cent.

The

law does nob, as a rule, hold good at all

for substances the molecules of which differ

in

com

plexity

in the

gaseous

and

liquidstates.

Mr.

Rose

Innes

said that

10

his paper the author had

used the generalisations of Van der Wa.als, although the

author

himself

had

shown that they were not strictly

true.

Professor

Young

said that

the

aeneralisations held

in

some cases, although they did not m others. In all cases

they

were approximately true, and

it

was therefore

advisable to use them, and study the results as far as

possible.

The

Society

then

adjourned until next October.

TRANS

-

SIBERIAN RAILWAY-ERRATUM

.- I n our article

on

the Industrial

Prospects of

China

it was inadver

tently stated on

page

786 that ~ r e t e n s k is west of Lake

Baikal. This should have been east :

it

is nearer the

Pacific.

V

UL ITE BoiLER

CoMPOSITION.-The true old saying,

Of making books· there is no end, and much study

is

a

weariness to

the

flesh, though

it

has

lo

st none of its

point or

truth while coming down to

us

through the

centuries, might, perhaJ?S, in these

latter

days be altered

as follows:

To

the mcrease of boiler dlSincrustants

there is no end, and the use of them tryeth the temper

of man. Undoubtedly many of the nostrums offered

have a very limited efficiency, while others, though

effective, scarcely produce results commensurate with

their

cost.

This

being

the

case,

we

are glad to have

met with a composition called Vulite, which does

seem to fulfil whab the makers claim for it, at any rate

so far as the

prevention of new and

the

removal

of

old

scale

are

concerned. We have tried this composition

for some considerable time n boilers under our charge

with very satisfactory results. I t is composed of purely

vegetable matter,

and

appears to have no effecb whatever

on

the plateEt.

t

is made by the Vulite Syndioa.te,

Limited, 40, Wilson-street, Finsbury, E.C.

THE WoRLD's PIG

IRON.

- The

United

States, Great

Britain, Germany, France, and Belgium produced last

year 34,548,900 tons of pig iron. This total was made up

as follows : U nited States, 13,620,703 tons; Great Bri

tain.

9,305,319

tons; Germany,

8,029,305

tons; ~ r a n e e ,

2,557,388 tons; and Belgium, 1,036,185 tons. The corre

sponding production

in

1889 was: U nited States,

7,

603,642

tons; Great Britain,

8,322,824

tons; Germany,

4,

524,558 tons ; France, 1,

732, 964

tons ; and Belgi

urn,

832,226 tons; making an aggregate of 23,016,214 t o n ~ . Ib

follows that

the

increase n

the

pig-iron production of the

fi ve

countries during

the

last ten years was 11,

532,686

tons. Carrying

the

comparison back still further to 1

884,

we find

that in

that year

the

five countries made

18,132,556

tons of pig, viz.: U nited States, 4,097,868

tons;

Greab Britain, 7,811,

727 tons; Ge

rmany, 3,600,612

tons

i

France, 1, 871,537 tons/

and

Belginm, 750,812 to?S ·

The 10crea.se

in

the production during the 15 years

~ n g

1

899

was a.ceordingly 16,415

1

344

tons.

The

most st rilnng

feature about

th

ese calculatiOns is

the

remarkable progress

which

is

observable

in

the production of American pig,

the output

having increased more than threefold in the

15 yeare.

The

production of German p i ~ has also more

than doubled

in the

same period. On the other hand,

the increase in the output of British pig has been only

moderate- barely 20 per cent. The increase

in

the

French

production has been something over

33

per cent.

and Belgium makes a. very similar showing.

7/17/2019 Engineering Vol 69 1900-06-29


jUNE 29, 1900.]

ENGINEERING

ILLUSTRATED PATENT

RECORD.

COMPILED BY w. LLOYD WISE.

IILBil,_.i BD..... ABSTRACTS

OF

RBOBNT

PUBLISHED

BPBOIFIOATION8

UNDER THE AOTS 1888- 1888.

The

number

oj Views given Vn. the Speciftation DTawings is stated

in each case

;

where none

Me

mentioned, the Specification is

'

not i l lmtrated.

•

Where in ventions Me communicated from abroad, the Names, c.,

of the Communicators M e given

in

italics.

Copies of Specifications

may

be obtained

at

the

Pa t

ent Of/i.U Sale

Br

anch, 6, SOt£thampton

Bu

i ldings, Chancery-lalne, W.O.,

at

the uniform price of 8d

The

date of the adve·rtisement of the acceptance oj a CO mlplete

Specification is,

in

each case, given aJter the abstract,

un l

ess the

Pa

tent

has

been se

al

ed,

when

the

date

of se

al

i

ng is gi

v

en

.

A ny person

may at any

time within two

months

from the date of

the adve

rt

isement of the acceptance of a complete Specification,

give notice

at

the Patent O fice oj opposition to the

grQIIl,t

of a

Paten t <m Qlll V of the grOt£nd:s mentioned in the A ct.

ELECTRICAL

APPA.R.ATUS.

25,,972.

F. de Mare, Belgium.

Electrolytic Inter·

rupter . [7

Figs.]

December 18, 1

899.-

The nega tive electrode

comprises

a.

vessel of lead oast in one piece, and a spiral

g roove on i

ts

o

ut

er surface wh erein a current of water mroulates,

a

sheat

h of copper covering the open

part

of the spiral groove

Th

e level of t he acidul

ated water

within the vessel is indicated

by

means of a glass·

float

. The essel is connected to a water

suotionJ nozzle, designed to draw away

at

the same

rate

as it

is being

pr

oduced, the explosive mix t

ure

of gases generated

during t he working of the mstrum e

nt

. According to one of the

•

•

arran

ge

ments

described in

this

specification, the current is regu·

la.ted by mounting t he pl

at

inum wire of the positive pole upon an

ad

justing

screw. This wire passes t

hrou

gh a small stuffing-box,

and slides in a platinum tube which is attached to a fine glass

tube

that

forms a. prolonga tion of a. larger tube, ground

at

i

ts

upper

end against a moulded pl

ate

of glass or

por

ce

la

in which

rests in a recess formed in t he upper por tion of the leaden vessel.

I t is

stated that

if there is no water available, the cooling and

the

dr

aw

ing

o

ff

of

the

gases may

be

effected by means of a j

et

of

air und

er pressure, or of carbonic acid, without

alt

ering the

appara

tus in any respe

ct. (Accepted

ay 23, 1

900.)

13,233. Max

Gehre, Dusseldorf,

Germany. Wind

Motor for

Producing Electric

Current.

[2 Figs ]

June

26, 1

899.

- Tbe wind motor is arranged to operate rat ch

et

me

chanism, which raises,

by

means of a drum

and

cord or

cha

in, a weight. Periodically the r

at

c

het

mechanism is released,

after a number of

ra t

ch

et

moveme

nt

s, so

that, by

the a

ct

ion

of the wetgbt, a longer }asting

and

always constant, backward

•

•

•

··

'

..

•

rotation of t he ratch

et

mechanism is produced. The wind motor,

however, remains in mot ion during the backward rotation of the

r

at

ch

et

wheel, in order to be st rong enough in weak winds to

effect a fresh lifting

und

er the influence of i

ts

imp

et

us.

Th

e re·

leasing mechanism may, as shown, be of t he kind described in

specification No. 5934, of 1899. It is

state

d t

hat

the arrangement

is particularly well adapted for feeding elect ric accumulato rs by

peric

<}ioa.lly

operated dynamo machines. (A

ccepted

lltay 23,1

900.

)

11,693. Callender's Cable

and

Construction Com·

pany, I.tmited,

and

T.

E. Callender.

Connecti.ng

up

Branch

Circuits. [4 Figs

.) June 5, 1

899

.- The bared

e

nd

s of the negative con

du

cto r and of the n eutral conductor

are

•


respe

ct

ively connected

toget

her inside the service box by bridge·

pieces In the ordinary manner, but in place of both the bridge

pieces being also connected to the terminals of the branch or

consumer's circuit, all is usual, only one of them is so connected,

the

other

being connected to a contact ring, whilst the

other

terminal of t he branch or consumer's circuit is connected to a

second co

ntact

ring. In order to close the circuit a plug is

inserted into these rings. The plug is made in two pieces of

•

Fig.1.

••

FitJ.Z

non-conducting material ~ t t i n g one wi thin the other, and each

carrying a conducting band. These bands respe

ct

h•ely fit

the

co

ntact

rin

gs

and

are

connected by a fuse wire which lies wi t hin

the

ou

t

er

par

t of

th

e

plug

. The positive conductor, which is

usually the inner conductor in a t riple cable, oa.n be similarly

connected to the circuit through one of the conducting rings.

In this case the br idge-piece connecting the bared ends of the

negative condu

ct

or is not connected to the circuit.

(

.A

ccepted

ltlay 23, 1900

.)

GAS ENGINES, PRODUCERS, BOI ·DERS, &c.

12,357. A. G.

New,

Woking, Surrey. Gas Engines.

[3

Figs. June

14,

1899.-To reduce the noise caused by exhaust

gases iesuing from internal combustion engines

into

the atmo·

sphere, a valve which

ca

n completely close the ex

it

passage from

the exhaust box

to

the atmosphere

during

each cycle of the

engine is provided, and

at

t h

at

period

at

which noise tends t·O

..

..

.

(a

,u

.r) c:

occur it is ca

us

ed to close,

and

opens again

to

allow

th

e exhaust

gases to escape as soon as thei r

stat

e of disturbance in the box

has subsided. It is proposed that the valve be actuated either by

motive power from the engine, or

automati

cally by means of the

high velocity of the escaping gases impinging against t he valve,

which is in such case spring-balanced to remain open under

the

normal pressure.

(Accepted M

ay 16, 1900.)

GUNS AND

EXPLOSIVES.

9482. A. Reichwald, London. (Fried. K t-upp,

Es

e

n,

GeTmany.) Rammer. [9 Figs.] May 5, 1899.- In the tele

scopic rammer a toothed wheel engages successively

with

toothed

rods. The improved rammer consistsof a

number

of toothed rods,

the

first of which is fo

rm

ed from a. single rod, and is furnished

with a

rammer

bead or plate, while the remaining toothed rods

are each built up of two parallel cheeks connected at. tbeit rear

ends by a crossbar. The single toothed rod lies within the cheeks

of th e second, thi s within the cheeks of the

third,

and so on. By

means of dovetail tongues and grooves the several rods are accu

rately guided within eaoh

other

long-itudinally. The t ravel of each

of the

tooth

ed rods within

the

other is regulated by means

of

sto

ps. At the rear end

of

each toothed rod,

except

the last, there

are pro

vided

notches into which, when the rods are fully extended,

.2.

spring-pressed pawls, attached to the ne

xt su

cceeding rod, take,

and thereby pre vent the rods from closing up automatically. It

is stated t

hat

the whole s

ystem

of rods when closed

up,

does

not

take up

more space longitudinally

than that

occupied by

a.

single

toothed rod. The last rod which surrounds the others is contained

in a casing which ent irely encloses the completely closed

up

series

of rods.

In the

fore partof t his casing is mo

un t

ed a toothed driv·

ing wheel, whiob, when

ro

tated, causes

the

several rods to be

pushed

out

in succession. To this end the front teeth of the

second a

nd

following rods are slightly s

hor

tened, so

that

every

one of these rods is only extended a

fter

the one preced ing it has

been fully drawn out, this

latter

drawin$' the rod following along

with

it.

Contributory devices are proV1ded.

(.Accepted May

16,

1900.)

8758. A. T. Dawson and S. T. Buckham. London,

and L.

s.

SUverman, Crayford, Kent. Projectnes.

[2 Figs.)

April

26,

1

899

.- This invention relates

to the

co

nstru

c·

tion of

pr

oje

ct

iles for heavy g uns . The gas check, according

to

this

invention,

is

in t

ended

not to

be

torn

off by

the

rifling when

the

project ile is fired, and

the plast

ic

mater

ial which forms part

of

it

is g uarded ag

ainst

deform

at

ion when

th

e project ile is stored

•

on board ship or in

the

magazine. The erosion in t he inte rior of

gun

barrels is principally caused by

the

passage of the highly

heated explosion gases between the projectile and the bore. In

order to prevent t his the projectile near its base, behind the

ordinary driving band, is provided with flanges preferably made of

copper, forming between them g rooves for the reception of plastic

packing and lu bric

at

ing material. These flanges may eit her be

separately attached to the projectile, or they may be formed on a

ring or band, separate from or forming a. continuation of the dri ving

band.

The

flanges are made of such

sect

ion, that whilst they offer

sufficient support for the plastic ma

te

rial between them. it re

quir

es comparatively little force to mak e them take the rifling,

an

d

there

is space between them into which

any

one of them can

fold back should it meet with excessive resistance, so that t hey are

not liable to

be

torn off during the passage of the proj

ect

ile along

the bore. The flanges may be

of

s

uch di

ameters that, when the pro

jectile is pushed home t

he

rearmost flange comes first in contact

with the interior surface of

the

chamber. (.Acce

pt

ed

May

1

6,

1900. )

2180. B. Preener,

Birmingham.

Cartridge CUps.

[7

Figs

]

February

S,

1

900

.- Tbe s

ubject

of

this

invention is

a.

supplementary magazine or

ca

rtridge carrier for Lee-Speed

magazine rifies

1

and the construction iR such

that

when the bolt

of the a

ct

ion

1s

drawn back to load,

the

lower portion of the

back

end

of the supplemen

ta ry

cartridge

ca

rrier

can

be inserted

Fig.1 .

L

ru

·-

·

· · ;

V

V

. .

2 .

between the walls of the shoe, over the back end

of

the maga

zine ; the front end of the carri er

then

rests against the face of

the action and its back end against the

extracto

r

on

the bolt·

bead, in which position

the

cartridges may

be

forced into the

ri

fie

magazine by the

thumb.

I t is stated that the whole opera

tion can be easily performed with one band. (A ccepted luay 16,

1

900.

)

SHIPS

AND

NAUTICAL APPLIANCES.

8271. A. Buchanan. Barrow-in-Furness. Uprights.

[2 Figs.]

June

7,

1899 .- This n t i o n relates to improvements

in, or

in

connection with, stagings for use

in

building or

operating

upon vessels on stocks. Sockets are carri ed

at

certa in distances

apart into which

the uprights

carrying

the

staging are

attached.

These sockets are sunk

in the

ground and the upright i i Recured

thereto by bolts. The upright is formed of iron girderinl( of

such cross-section as to take

the

form the

se

ries of st eps for the

purpose

of

enabling individuals to ascend

th

rough the medium

•

FUJ

•

I I

.

:-.

.

_-J

•

} C J

I • '

I

>

r • ,

I '

' I

•

•

L :1.

..j.p

• ,

1-=--' a:

0

: ~ :

0

' '

I 11 I

\ I r" I I

_. ,

I

I ' I

I \

I

I

I

I :

I I I

I

-

'

,)

1;:

: ; ; ; ; ~ ; ; ; ; : ; ;

:

of

the

st eps. The upright is adapted to ca

rr

y

stag

ing

at

the

required heig

ht

. The sockets are so arranged t

hat it

is possible

to remove an

upright

from one socket to

another

as requ ired.

this being effected

by

releasing one or more of

the

bolts,

and

allowing the upright to binge or p

ivot

upon one bolt, when

it may

then be allowed to

tu

mble upon 1ts bolt, being lowered by

suitable

taokle on to a trolley

after

which the remaining

bolt

may be

rem

oved to t he upright, then

take

n t o the

nex

t sooket, one bolt

being fixed , raised

by

the tackle and again secured in p osition

(Accepted May

16, 1900

.)

STEAM ENGINES, BOILERS,

EV

APOB.ATORS, &c.

10,624.

R.

G.

Brooke, Macclesfleld, Chester.

Water

Gauges.

[3 Fig s.] May 19, 1

899

.-Tbe steam boiler water

7/17/2019 Engineering Vol 69 1900-06-29


•

gauge is provided with a ball

in

both upper

and

lower arm s,

arranged

to

be forced by the flow of steam or water against seats,

upon a full bore discharge occurrini (as on the breaking of a

gauge glass), but to be unaffected by a sufficiently less dischar

ge

such

as

occurs in blowing

through.

The discharge

ap

e

rtur

e in-

te

nded for testiog is of a slightly less cross-sectional area t han

the bore of t he gauge l a s s while the discharge opening for ordi

nary blowing th rough IS of a cross-section large enough for ordi·

nary blowing-through purposes, but too

sm a

ll

to

brin g

about the

action of

the

balls. (.Accepted

Ma

y 16,

19

00. )

10,859. G. F. G. Des

Vignes, Chiswlck, and w.

A.

Cloud, Gnnnersbury.

Steam Generator. [10 Figs. ]

May 24, 1899.- The body of

the

boiler constitutes a steam and

water vessel, and is, with the exception of its ex treme ends, en·

closed within a casing. Projecting downwardly from the steam

and water vessel are two rows of t ube boxes, each closely inter·

sected by smoke t ubes extendin g t ransversely from all sides, so

that one set of tubes crosses the other set

at

right

ang

les,

and

the

sectional

tube

boxes const ituting each row are arranged with two

of

their

ang

les in

juxtapo

sition

with adjacent

boxes, so th

at

all

sides thereof are exposed and access may readily be had to the

•

I

I

whole of the smoke tubes. Eaoh tube box is at

its

upper end

connected with

the

steam and water vessel and

the

lower ends of

the

tube

boxes or sections of each row are connected with an ex

te

rnal pipe ar ranged to commun icate with the water space of the

steam and

water

vessel. The furnace is arranged beneath and

between the two rows of sectional tube boxes, and the space be·

tween the said rows

const

ibute s the combustion chamber, so that

t he smoke and products of combustion play partly upon two

angles of

the

t ube boxes of eaoh row and paSB through

the

smoke

tubes into a flue constituted by the shell or casing, and thence

around the body of the generator and away to the uptake. ..Ac-

cepted

Jlay 16 1900.)

10 959. A.

J .

Liversedge, London. Steam Boiler.

[4 ii s

.]

May 25 1

899

.-This invention has for its chi ef objects

to provide a better circulation of t he water, and to provid e a

greater heating surface in steam genera tors having u ~ a t e d

I

•

I

I

I

I

I

I

/

/

/;

, I I

/ 1

: ' '/

1•1 1 1

/ I I

,.

t• '

.

z.

(

1

1,.9 1}

~

. I .

I

flues than has hitherto been obtainable. According thereto

water-circulating tubes are t e ~ in the. g a t e d

flue by expanding one or both of thetr ends.tn t h ~ con uga ttons of

the flue. The drawings show several ways m wh1oh the fo rm and

arrangement of the

tubes ma

y be varied. A

ccepted

Ma

y

16, 19

00.

)


11,363.

B.

c.

Platts

and T. Lowther, London.

Steam Boner. [6 Fips.] May

31

, 1899.-0ne construction of

boiler according to this mvention comprises a cy lindrical outer

shell having concentrically arrangeti within it a. furnace tube.

Within the

annular

space between

the exte

rior of the furnace

tube and

the

inner surface of t he

outer

shell t here are, at

the

two opposite sides of the boiler, a couple of r

et u

rn flues of seg

m

enta

l cross-section,

pr

ovided with water-circulating tubes.

Th

e upper t

ubep

l

ate

of each r

eturn

flue is at its highest part

not

above t he level of the highest par t of t he furnace

tube

or

flue. Va.rious modifications are described and diagrammatically

shown.

(Accepted

Jzay 16 1900.)

8554. B.

Siebert,

Elblng, Prussta. Water-Tube

Boners.

[9

.F

igs . ] Apr il 24 1899. - A water-tube boiler, ac

cording to this invention, comprises a steam chamber and a water

cylinder, with

an

inclined a ~ i n stand-pipe connect in g the

•

0

•

(MH)

steam chamber to the w

ate

r cylinder, headers taking

up

a group

of

water

tubes

and

arranged in

step

form

at

t he fr

ont and

rear of

the boiler, and which form stand-pipes connecting the steam

charuber with

the

water cylinder . The headers are arranged so

as

to

form a smoke-tigh

t

wall.

A

ccepted

Ma

y 16,

1900.)

10,276.

J .

R.

Rhodes,

Manchester.

Improving Cir

culation in

Boners.

[2

F igs. ]

May 16 1

899

.-According to

this invention, t

her

e is provided in

in t

ernally fired

steam

boilers

of the Galloway type, which have a stay extending fr

om end

to

end, an attachment to

the

cross flue tubes, extending above

the

surface of the water into the ste am space, and bifurcated or

rf1}

.

1.

'U .2I. :

- .

·---- -)

I

I

I

j._

I

I

.

-

•

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I •

- - - -

I

--··---· ··

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

t

• I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

.

.,

.

f

I

f

0

divided

into

two or more sections, one or more of whioh

are

sealed, and t he remainde r open. It can be used with or without

a.

j

et

of steam, and is for the

pu

rpose of dire

ct

ing and controlling

the cur rents of liquid with the object of increasing the oi roula.tion

in the cross flue tubes of such boilers. Specificat ion No. 5688 of

1

892

is referred to.

(Accepted

May 16, 1900.)

TEXTILE

MACHINERY.

10.099. T. Wilde, Oldham, Lancs. Self· Acting

Mules.

[10 Figs.] May l S 1800.- This invention relat es to im

provements in and relating to self ·actin g mules, twiners, and the

•

JUNE 29, 1900.

like machines,

and

has for its object to provide means whereby

the aperture existing between the ends of the doors in front of

the mule carri age can be effectually olosed and the

dust

thereby

prevented from

entering

the carr iage th rough the said apertures.

Applied to each or every

alte

rnate door

end is

a slide

or

flap

adapted to close

the aperture

between two door ends, which slide

or the flap may be actuated either by hand or automatically when

opening and closing the sa

id

doors. When adapting the said

slide or flap to be

actuated

by hand it is furnished with a b utton

l ·7.

by which, when opening or closin g the said doors, the slide or

flap can be slid or turned over or from the

apertu

re r espectively.

In arranging the slide to move automatioa.lly there may be upon

the door a ba r or rod under the influence of a spring, the upper

end

of which bar

or

rod is connected with the said slide,

and

the lower

end adapted

to

bear

against t he

carri

age or fram e

to which t he said doors are attached, so that when opening

the

door the spring causes the bar or rod to recede or fall and

the

re·

by wi thdraw the slide from the apertu re. Ac

ce

ptedM

ay

16 ,1900)

VEHICLES.

9258. C. de

Mocomble, Paris,

France. Propelling

Vehicles.

[5

Pigs.] May 2 1899. (Co nvention date De

cember 29, 1898.

)-Acco

rding

to th

is invention a winch dri

ve

n

by an eleotrio or

other

motor is suspended by an

adjustab

le

1 ·······

...

.

•

•

I

I I

t ~

spring with a roller driven by t he winoh gea r

bea

ring

against

the

rail of a t

ru

ok or other movable body above it. Thi s roller being

P.ressed upwa

rd

s by the spring has such friction on the rail

that

1t propels the truck or

other

movable body to which the rail is

attached.

A

ccepted

May 16, 1900.)

MISCEI·LANEOUS.

8446. C.

B. Berry,

Manchester.

Lubricators.

[6 Fig.] April 22, 1

899.-

This invention aims at producing a

more simple means tor heavily b r i c a t i n ~ the moving

part

s of large

p a r ~ of

la rge machinery in motion whtcJ:l cann

ot

be served by

l u b r t o r s such as are used for ehaft bear.mgs. As apJ?lied to the

crankpm, crosshead, and shdes of an engme, the lubr1cant is led

from tts chamber to a casing formed within or upon or attached

to the crankpin, t he cranked pipe which conveys the lubr

icant

having one of its ends entering the casing and the other entering

th

e lubri

cant

chamber

or

receptacle in a line co-axial with

the

•

• I

...... .

cr

ankshaft

. The outside of t

he

casing

on

the

cr

ankpin

is

turned

to form a bearing surface or groove, and the casing

s

perforated

so that lub ricant can pass from th e interior of the casing to it

Upon the groove

or

bearing

su

rface,

and

eo as

to

be capable of

rotation there

in

or thereon, is placed a recessed ring or collar

which is also perforated and may have a flexible 01 jointed pi{>e

leading to the croSBhead or slide blocks. The casing is also t

commun ioation with passages or channels whioh pass th rough

the substance of the crankpin and keep its bearing surface lubri·

cated.

(

Ac

cepted M

ay 9, 1900.)

UNITED STATES PATENTS AND PATENT PRAOTIOE.

Descriptions with illust rations of inventions

patented

In the

United States of America from 1847 to the present time, and

reports of trials of patent law cases in the United States, may be

consulted, gratis, at the offices of ENaiNBKRtNa,

S5

and 36 Bedford·

st

reet, Strand.

•

Engineering Vol 69 1900-06-29

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Transcript of Engineering Vol 69 1900-06-29