OcT. 6, r893.] E N G I N E E R I N G.

90 -INCH GUN LATHE; WORLD'S COLUMBIAN E X P 0 S I T I 0 N. CONSTRUCTED BY THE NILES TOOL \VORKS COMPANY, OIIIO, U.S.A.

(For Description, see Page 417.)

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THE BRITISH .ASSOCIATION. (Continued from pcuJe 386.)

THE last sitting in Section G was held on Tues­day, the 19th ult., when four papers were down for reading.

FLASHING L IGHTS. Mr. 0 . T. Olsen fi rst read a paper in which he

described a system of flashing lights for lighthouses which he had devised. The author stated that Lord Kelvin had suggested the Morse alphabet should be used for communicating to vessels the name of a light observed, but the system had been found too complicated for the purpose. The author proposed what he hoped would be a solution of the problem. He would select all the principal light­houses and light vessels in the world, and would allot to elch a number, beginning with 1000. He would make each light flash its allotted number, and no other, by means of automatic apparatus. The shortest and easiest system of flashing signals that had been introduced was that of Admiral Colomb. It consisted of ten figures represented by short and long flashes, t hus :

1. 2 .. :1 .•• 4 .... 5 ..... G ••• 7 - - - 8--- n --- 0---. . " . . . .

The present flashing, occulting, intermittent, and revolving lights were capable of performing the service by a slight alteration in the clockwork. The longest time taken by any one number would be 55 seconds, and as the number would be flashed once a minute, there would then be only 5 seconds' bright light, whilst the shortest time would be 23 seconds, so that the bright light would be of 37 seconds' duration. In fog the author would pro­pose that the numbers should be given by a siren.

The discussion was op~ned by Mr. Kenward, who said that he should prefer for a system largely in use the intensifying of the power of a light by reducing the time occupied in flashing it. He spoke of the advantage of long and short flashes, by which the international code could be intro­duced. The light should be clear and distinct, so as to be seen at as great a distance as possible from the source of danger.

Mr. V ernon Harcourt said that on the Casquettes three lights had formerly been used, and had been replaced with advantage by one flashing light. It was desirable, if possible, to introduce an interna­tional code. The author had touched on signals to be used in time of fog. The power required for the transmission of light was less than that necessary for the transmission of Round ; the latter necessitating very powerful machinery. In rock lighthouses this machinery was very dilllcult to arrange for, and the siren might therefore be replaced with advantage by gun-cotton explosions.

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The sudden explosion would carry further than the same volume of sound when continuous.

General Webber doubted whether practical sea­men would approve of the system suggested by the author. When on a coast the mariner generally knew what light to look out for, and if he had to spell out a code he might prefer that there were no light at all. Colonel Cunningham said there was already a good system of lights in use. At Ramsgate, in clear weather, six lights could be seen at once, and they were all clearly distinguishable by means of the flashes used. The proposed code would be very likely to be mistaken, and if one element out of the twenty-three used were missed, it would put the reading out.

The author in replying to the discussion said that to embrace all the lights throughout the world would want four figures. The time occupied seemed, at first g1ance, formidable, but the flashes were not difficult to remember, and wit.h the code he suggested, the seaman would be able to say without doubt what the light in sight really was . H e spoke as a sailor, and not as a landsman.

Mr. Head, in proposing a vote of thanks to the author, said that it might be possible to divide the ligh ts of the world into sections ; for instance, no one on the coast of Denmark would be likely to mistake a light in sight for one that would be, say, on the south coast of Africa, and in this way the complexity of the signals might be greatly reduced.

AN AUTOMA'riC GE?II S EPARATOR.

Mr. William S. Lockhart next described an automatic gem separator which he had devised. The description was illustrated by diagrams, and the apparatus itself was shown in the theatre at work, water being laid on for the purpose. The separator was devised for Lhe purpose of selecting precious stones from the worthless gravel or debris with which they are associated, without the inter­vention of the hand-picking now practised, thus avoiding the danger of loss by theft, and also other disadvantages. In South Africa, Burmah, Siam, Cey Ion, and other parts of the world, the systems of washing vary to some extent. All systems, however, resolve themselves finally into the pick­ing over of a concentrated deposit of clean-washed gravel to discover the gems it may contain, and it is at this point that the separator comes in to perform what has hitherto been done by hand. When it is realised that the proportion of gems to worthless pieces of mineral is not a percentage merely, but of one of many thousands, the utility of such a machine is obvious. The concentrated gravel when washed is most carefully classified into sizes, beginning, for diamonds, at 1

1u in., and in­creasing by sixteenths up to ~ in., or still further if

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required. Each size of gravol is fed into a sepa­rator adapted to suit it. The separator has no moving parts, and takes ad ,-antage, by means of a stream of water running through it, of the slight variation in specific gravity between the gems (3. 5 to 4) and the worthless minerals (2. 5 to 3). It is possible to separate such substances by immersing them in a prepared solution of high specific gravity, just as pebbles and chips may be separated in water, but. there are practical difficul­ties about such a process, and the gem separator described substituted a moving current of water for the heavier solution. The ad va.ntages thus gaiued were that the process was continuous, the separated materials were deposited in their proper receptacles, those for the gems being guarded by locks. The operations of the machine are not confined to gems. The separation of any mineral from its gangue, provided always there is a slight difference in specific gravity, may Le effected, and the machine will work on broken material in a dry or merely wetted state, or on slimes run in with a stream of water.

A short discussion followed the reading of this paper, in the course of which the author was asked by various speakers whether a sieve would not answer the same purpose as the apparatus described; what quantity of water would be used ; what weight of stuff could be turned out in a day, and whether the glass surfaces of the cylindrical cham­ber in which the separation took place would not alter the action when they were worn. In reply­ing to these questions the author said that ~ sieve was on1y useful for separating particles with regard to size, whereas his machine acted by specific gravity. It had been objected that the apparatus was tedious in work and complicated, but he would point out that it required no attention, and it could hardly be called complicated, as there were no moving parts. The machine shown required 16 gallons of water per minute, and that was well paid for, as the product was so valuable, and the water could be used over and over again. The pro­prietors of the gem mines said that it did not matter what quantity of water was used so long as the work could be done at all. The glass cylinder referred to required to be very accurately bored, but it was not found, so far, to deteriorate by use, the glass being harder than the quartz it separated. It had been in work a year, and was still quite good. A head of water of 8ft. was all that was necessary.

VENTILATING FANS. Mr. W. G. \Valker next described, by the aid of

models, some experiments he had made as to the efficiency of Yentilating fans or air propellers. By making the back of the blades convex he had found

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great advantage, and also that 20 per cent. of the a ir fed to the fan came in at the tips. It was therefore a mista.k~ t o place such fJ.ns in a wall. The advantage of upwards of 40 per cen t. was, the author slid, attained by the use of his form of fan. ProbJ.bly the above figures may be taken as ap­proximate rather t han precise.

A TESTING MACHINE.

Professor R 0binson next described the vVicksteed testing machine used in the workshops of the engi­neering section of University College, N ottin3ham. W e shall publish Professor R obinson's paper in ful l. The chief points t o be noticed in this machine are that there is a new arrangement of hydraulic gear for adjusting the poise, it being worked Ly means of steel wire ropes. In this way the poise can be moved by simply opening or clo ,ing an hydraulic valve. Great speed of operating was thus obtained, t ogether with perfect silence in the t esting-room.

The proceedings in this section were brought to a. close by a vote of thanks to the President being proposed by Professor R obinson, a.nd seconded by l\Ir. Vernon Htl.rcourt.

It will be seen from our r zport that there were sittings in Section G on four days of the meeting ; there being no papers read on Saturday. This un­doubtedly wa.s an advantage. On the Wednesday of the meeting only one section of the Association met ; that day being therefore almost dies non so far as sections were concerned. It is a question whether the meetings of the British Association could not be curtailed one day, and the long ex­cursions be taken on Wednesday instead of on Thursday.

T HE E VENI NG L ECTURES. Including the President's address, t here were

four evening lecture3 during the meeting. Dr. 13urdon Sanderson's address, which we have already referred t o, was delivered as usual on the first Wednesday of the meeting. On Friday evening Professor Smithells gave a most interesting lecture on " Flame." The Saturday evening lecture was delivere i by Professor Vivian Lewes, and, though forming a part of the proceedings of the Association, it was intended only for the working men of the district. These lectures for working men are an excellent idea. The tickets are sold at 2d. each, and the lectures are always largely attended ; they naturally do a great deal to make the Association popular amongst the working classes. The subject selected by Professor Lewes was ''Spontaneous Corn bustion," a most appropriate matter in a coal-mining district. On Monday, September 18, Professor Victor H orsley lectured on '' The Discovery of the Physiology of the N ervous System." The latter subject being beyond our province, we do not propose dealing with this lecture.

F LAME.

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

were, therefore, two opposite forces at work, the current of air and gas, as it were, tending to carry the flame upwards, whilst the effort of the flame was t o expend itself downwards. A point might be reached where these two forces could be balanced, supposing there were power of sufficiently delicate adjustment. The volume of air and gas passing through the tube during a given period of time was not sufficient to prevent the flame de­scending where the full area of the t ube was avail­able for the passage of the gases. The constriction of the tube, however, caused a much more rapid flow at t hat part, so that the upward flow of the gases overcame the downward t endency of the tiame. Where, however, the stream was more sluggish, the flame Inastered the flow of gases. The same effect could be obtained by passing a rod vertically up the tu be till it touched the cone, and on pulling down the rod t he cone would follow the point of it. A more convenient application was found in two tubes of different diameters, one sliding within the other, by means of which the inner cone was obtained on t he inner tube and the outer cone remained on the outer t ube. The flame could thus be dissected or reconstructed at will. By means of experiments the lecturer showed that the inner cone was much hotter than the outer cone. A fine dust of a sort of copper was introduced into the gas, and by means of separat­ing the cones in the manner already described, it was found t hat the green coloration was confined to the outer cone. The simplest flame-that of hydrogen or carbon monoxide-consists of a single hollow cone of flame. vVhether the light of the flame was due to the mere hotness of the gases, or to something of the nature of automatic electrical discharges, was, the lecturer said, a. moot point, but one on which more light would probably be thrown before long. Professor Smithells next took the case of a gas which was a step more com­plex than that of hydrogen, and showed t hat in t he flame of cyanogen the red inner part of the flame was due mainly to the formation of carbon monoxide, and t he outer cone was produced by this carbon monoxide combining with another atom of oxygen and forming carbon dioxide, a fact which was proved before the audience by the dissection of the flame in the manner we have already referred to.

Professor Smithell's lecture was delivered in the Albert Hall, a handsome and commodious building. After referring to what might be described as the earlier classical aspect of the subject, the lecturer proceeded to say that the recognition of flame as being essentially burning gas was due to Van R elmont, who lived about the year 1600. H ooke ga.ve a very complete account later, and the exact chemical nature of the process was discovered by L:1.voisier at the end of the last century. Humphrey D avy appears next in connection with the subject, and he d iscovered the relationship between flame and explosion, on which subject some experiments were made by the lecturer. Pro­fessor Smithells showed that in the Bunsen burner t he feeble luminous flame produced was separable into two p1.rts. This he did by means of a Bunsen burner, consisting of a long glass t ube, and by increasing the amount of air added to the gas before combustion, the inner cone separated from the ou ter one and descended the glass t ube. The r eason for this was that the air entering the tube was used for the first fl ame ; the excess of gas formed a second flame on reaching the free air at the t op of the tube. By .careful adjustment ~f the proportions of g~s and air, the movable or Inner cone of fLtme was made to take up its desired position . I t was aho shown that the two parts of the fh,me could be fixed apart from one another by slightly constricting the gla~s tube a~ one poin~, and the following explanatwn was gtven of th1s phenomenon. The comb~stible mixture of .gas and air is constantly ascendmg the tube, wlulst the tendency of the combustion is to descend. There

Going still a step higher, the flame produced by the combustion of hydrocarbons, or mixtures of hydrocarbons, was next dealt with, and by means of photographs thrown on the screen it was shown that such flames were made up of three distinct parts, all of which were thin sheaths. There was first a bright blue part visible at the base of the flame; secondly, a bright yellow body; and t hirdly, a faintly luminous mantle investing the whole flame. In the pictures thrown on the screen a very small blue flame and the blue and lilac mantles were seen as complete cones. The flame was next turned up somewhat larger, and the blue cone was interrupted by the appearance of a yellow patch, the latter growing rapidly as the flame was enlarged, un til it over­shadowed the other both by its brilliancy and extent. The blue and lilae parts corresponded with the two cones of flame produced by the Bunsen burner. Proceeding to the chemistry of the sub­ject, the lecturer showed by reducing the oxygen in the :flame that it was the hydrogen and not the carbon which was left unburnt-a fact which is perhaps contrary to popular assumption. Dissect­ing the flame of a Bunsen burner, the products from t he inner cone contain free hydrogen and carbon monoxide, and these gases pass on to burn in the outer cone, which corresponds to the lilac mantle of an ordinary fl ame. ' Vith regard to the luminous yellow part, the lecturer repeated Davy's experiments with wire gauze, by which Davy had been led to t he conclusion that the luminosity was due to the separation of solid carbon. Reference was made to Dr. Frankland's theories on the luminosity of flame, which are opposed to those of Da.vy; still, the latter's views were held by the majority of persons in the present day, but it was fair to remark that Frankland had not yet said his last word. Professor Smithells also commented at some length on the popular misreading of Davy's views, which did injustice to them. The sepa­ration of the carbon, however, was the result of the intense heat produced by the combustion in the blue and lilac parts of the flame, and the hydrocarbons being thus roasted, deposited carbon just as t hey did when passed through hot tubes. Some very beautiful and suggestive experiments were next made, by means of burning benzine in

[Oct. 6, 1 8gj.

the flame-dissecting apparatus. This substance could be bu~n t in ~ single ~one o~ p~le fla~e if a large quant1ty of atr were mixed with 1t; whtlst with less air. two .cones were produced. The supply of air be1ng still further reduced, a separation of carbon was found in the centre of the flame, whi1st the cones were separated. In bringing his lecture to a c~ose, Professo.r Smit~ells d~ew the following conclu­swns from hts cousideratwn of the experiments that had been made. In ages past the earth had been the scene of flames of colossal proportions. Our sphere was a cooling and also an oxidised body, which at one time must have been too hotfor the waters to have existed in their liquid state. At still mora remote periods in the earth's history all the waters were probably an enormous gaseous envelope of uncombined oxygen and hydrogen These gases, after an intervening time, would com~ bine, so that huge cosmical flames would rend the atmosphere. Steam formed in this way would descend to the hotte~t strata of this pre-geological atmosphere, where it would be dissociated. Many other oxidised compounds would also have existed in the atmosphere as uncombined gaseous elements. I t was startling to think r..ow nearly the earth at that time must have resembled the sun of the pre­sent age, and if oxygen cou!:i be found in abundance round t he sun, it might be that it not only looked like the fiery earth of a bygone age, but that the t wo had much in common in their chemical history. A chemical theory of the sun's heat was now no longer held, but it might be assumed that the sun possessed a fair share of oxygen, an element which had ruled the earth's chemistry throughout its geo­logical history and for ages precedent.

At the conclusion of bhe lecture a vote of thanks to Professor Smithells was proposed by Professor J . Emerson Reynolds, and seconded by Professor Dixon. The experiments throughout the lecture were high ly successful, although carried out under exceptional difficulcies.

S PONTANEOUS COMBUSTION.

The lecture to working men, by Professor Yivian Lewes, was given in the Tabernacle, Nottingham, on the Saturday evening of the meeting, September 16. The lecturer commenced by saying that when an inflammable substance ignited without the appli­tion of fire, it was usual to refer to the phenomenon as spontaneous combustion, but such a term did not correctly express the action which led to the result. It was said that early in the last century a woman was found burnt to death, there being no apparent cause of the accident, which was therefore referred to spontaneous combustion, the theory being con­st ructed to account for what was otherwise not to be explained. The term found acceptance, but at the latter part of the eighteenth century Lavoisier introduced a wider knowledge of the subject of combustion. It was now known that it was im­possible for the human body to ignite sponta­neously, but it was never theless true that large bodies of coal, or smaller quantities of oily ra~s, would ~gnite without any apparent cause, wlulst hayricks frequently followed the same course, and this had kept alive the term "spontaneous combus­tion. " The old theory of combustion was that every combustible body contained phlogiston, and when combustion took place this substance escaped, giving rise to flame, whilst the products were s~t free. By means of Black's balance, however, 1t was found that when any substance was burnt the products were heavier than the body pre­vious to being burnt, and Lavoisier pointed out that the oxygen of the atmosphere was the chief suppor ter of combustion. This was an impor.tant discovery, but now more was known on the subJect, and it was found that corn bustion could take place under cer tain conditions without the presence of oxygen ; thus, an timony would burn brilliantly in an atmosphere of chlorine gas, and in all cases.of corn bustiou, a hod y with certain definite properties united with something else to form the products of combustion, which were equal in weight to the sum of the weights of the two bodies uniting, whilst t he characteristic properties differed from those of the original substance. This was the result of chemical combination, and the proper con­ception of combustion, therefore, was the evolution of heat during chemical combination. \Vhere the combination was slow, heat would be given off as rapidly as generated, so that the temperature of the mass became but little raised, and would not be detected by the senses. The roasting of metals and the decay of substances was an example in point,

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and could be descr ibed as slow combustion. ~~eh m bustion could al wa. ys be accelerated by ra1smg

~~e temperature, and, indeed, the hi~her th.e tem­perature the more rapid was the chemtca~ act10n, .so that at a certain temperature all c~mbu.stlble.bodtes underwent ignition, a state of thmg~ tn w htch t~e heat evolved was t o be seen. A st~ll more raptd form of combustion we terr~ explos10n. It. wo?ld be seen, therefore, that durmg the slow oxidaho:n of combustible bodies, heat was generated, and 1t was only necessary ~or. t~is heat to b s r aised to a cerb in point for 1gn1t10n to take place. The action thus brought about was referred t o ~s spon­taneous combustion. When the combusttble sub­stance had a. great affinity for oxyge:n and a low point of ignition, spontaneous combust10n would be brought about very r eadily . In the case of p~o~­phorus it was necessary to prevent the access of a1r m order to avoid ignition. Further, the finer the st~te of division of the substance the sooner would Its spontaneous iO'nition take place, from the fact that the area of su~face exposed to the action of the air was so much greater, and the heat was therefore generated more rapidly than it could escape. So.me substauces aO'ain, had the power of absorbmg many tim~s th~ir own ~olume of gases, and this gave rise to an Increase In temperature, due to ~he compression of the absorbed gas, and th~ chemteal activity of the gas thus com~ressed was .mcreased. Cc~.rbon was a &ubstance of tlus nat ure ; Its absorp­tion was at first very rapid, but it gradually de­cre:\sed; the temperature also influenced the action. Certain kinds of charcoal prepared in closed retorts would ignite spontaneously if expo3ed to the air before cooling, and this was due to the great porosity of that material. \Vhen oxygen wa<J condensed from the atmosphere upon a sur­face it was in a very active condition ch emically, so that a chemical combination would be brough t about with considerable rapidity. If charcoal were burnt at a high temperature, the carbon was in a dense condition, and would resist to a considerable extent the setting up of chemical action by the oxygen absorbed and condensed in it ; but if the charcoa.l had been formed at a low t empera­ture the condensed oxygen would act r apidly upon the hydrocarbons and hydrogen still remaining in the mass. In this way the temperature would be raised to a dangerous point, and from this cause many unexplained firea had been brought about, owing to beams being charred through contact with the flues and heating apparatus. Experimen ts had shown that when wood had been charred at 500 deg., it would ignite spontaneou~ly at 680 deg. if air were admitted to it ; but if the wood had been carbonised at a temperature of 260 deg , it was only necesc:ary to have it brought to 340 deg. for spontaneous ignition to take place. The first theory formed as to the spontaneous com­bustion of coal was that it was due to the heat given out by the oxidisation of sulph ur and iron compounds, known as pyrites. Dr. Percy showed that the pyrites had little to do with the matter, but that, on the other hand, spontaneous ignition was due to the oxidisation of the coal. Pyrites might assist by swelling as it became oxid ised, and thus splitting up the coal, exposing hrger surfaces to the action of the oxygen in the atmosphere. The heat of coal was accompanied by a penetrating odour, similar to that produced by the scorching of wood. If coal were stored wet or in a broken state, firing frequ ently took place, more especially at sea, and many ships had been lost in this way. Coal, as first produced, was in large pieces, so that the exposed surface was small, and air had free access throughout the mass, to keep down the temperature. The handling that the coal received tended to break it up into smaller pieces, so that by the time it was stowed in the ship it was a dense mass of small particles, and was therefore in a condition to have its tempera­ture raised, owing to the large surface exposed t o the air and the free absorption of oxygen. The quantity or mass of coal had a most important bearing on the l iability to spontaneous combus­tion. \Vith cargoes up to 500 tons the cases of spontaneous combustion were about i per cent. ; at 2.000 tons the percentage rose to 9. The length of t1me the cargo was in the vessel was also an im­portallt fa~tor. Coal sent to European por ts was ~arely. subJect t o spontaneous combustion, whilst m shipments to Asia, Africa, and America the prop?rtion rose considerably. The time the coal wa~ m the vessel was one reason for this, but the mam cause was the increase of heat in h otter

E N G I N E E R I N G. climates . 1\1oisture had a marked effact upon the spontaneous combustion of coal. The absorpt ion of oxygen was at first retarded by external wetting, but after a t ime the presence of mois ture accelerated the action of the absorbed oxygen upon the coal, and so caused a serious increase of heat. In a case that had b een brought under the notice of the lec­turer, coal was loaded into one hatch of a ship in dry weather, whilst in another hatch it was raining while t he loading was going on. In a few days the wet loaded coal was 10 deg. higher in tempera­ture t han the dry portion, and finally the former was subject to spontaneous ignit ion. The lecturer next went on to refer to the danger of oily waste being left about in the n eighbourhood of coal, and stated that spontaneous combustion would be more abundan t in such a case than in any other. Cases were on record where serious fires had r esul ted from sparrows using oily waste in building their n ests.

(To be continued. )

THE ENGINEERING CONGRESS AT CHICAGO.

(BY oUR NEw YoRK CoRRESPONDENT.)

(Continued from page ~69.) THE M etallurgical Section occupied their time in

considering pig iron. Mr. E . C. P orter, of Chicago, presented a paper

on "American Blast Furnace Practice." In this he stated that the present blast furn ace practice dates practically from the completion of furnace A of the Edgar Thomson Steel Company, in 1879, which introduced rapid working and large outputs, but at fi rst without much regard to economy in fu el. Experiments to r educe the fuel consump tion were made at the South Chicago furnaces of the Nor th Chicago R olling Mill Company in 1885, with important r esults, which have been already r e­corded. The general adoption of the Bessemer steel process made it n ecessary to obtain iron as low in silicon and sulphur as possible, and obliged furnace men to exercise greater care than before, and was an impor tant factor in improving the general practice. After cont rasting the South Chicago furnaces and the Edgar Thomson he con­cluded : "In modern American furnace plants we find each stack built and operated separately and distinctly from its sister s. E ven the custom of working furnaces in pairs from the same hoist is no longer considered the best practice, because an accident to the hoist would affect two stacks instead of one. Instead of the single gigantic engine we find two or even three independent engines pro­vided for each stack ; and in plants of two or more stacks the air r eceivers are so connected by a system of valves that any one engine in the house may be applied t o any on e of the stacks. Each boiler, or a.t least each pair of boilers, is provided with a chimney, so that h ere almost complete inde­pendence exists, the only part of the apparatus co~r.mon to all being the main gas flue. Even in case of failure of this, it is possible to fire each boiler with fuel independently. While the majori ty of the hot-blast stoves now in use are so constructed that a common chimney is necessary, yet t here are a number of new types of stove that are provided each with its own chimney, a feature, in my estima­tion, of great value, as it r enders each of the stoves attached to a furnace entirely independent. A furnace thus equipped could suffer the temporary loss of an engine, a stove, and two or three boilers without interruption in its operation.

"The external appliances being thus provided for , the maintenance and prolongation of t he Jife of the interior of the furnace-the lining-has in recent years received the earnest attention of furnace managers. The use of water-cooled plates, inserted in the lining and about the wall of the furnace, illustrates the ingenuity and courage of the modern furnace engineer, for the juxta position of cold water and molten iron, separated by a film of metal a fraction of an jn ch in t hickness, is, at first glance, r ather startling. By their aid the life of the lining has been materially prolonged, and, more valuable still, the lines of the bosh es are steadily preserved at something n ear their original contour, thus greatly assisting in maintaining uniform per­formance of furnace operations. The performance of the Edgar Thomson furnaces is a remarkable ins tance of this. ' '

Mr. Porter closed by calling attention to the fact that smelting iron in America had been

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brought to its present E~~ate of d~velopment by a careful study of the daily ?peratlo~ of the fur­nace in the smallest detaiL This paper was thoroughly discussed.

The next paper, " A New Direct Process for the Production of Pig and Refined Iron, " by Alexander Sattmann, Donawitz, Austr ia, was then read . The process may be described in general as o~e where gas is substituted for the usual sohd fuel, and the process is divided into four p~ases. 1. H eating the ore and the i1ux. 2. Red~ctw.n of the ore and carburisation of the resultmg u on sponge ~ith r educing gas.. 3. Melting .the carb~­rised iron sponge by the d1rect corn bustwn of s~hd fuel. 4. Separation of the slag from the resultmg pig iron and refining with oxidising . gases imme­diately after melting, thereby prod ucmg a more or less carburised metal.

\V. J. Keep followed with a paper enti.tled "Sul­phur in Ca.st Iron ," the purport of which was to prove that t he deleterious effects of bulphur were greatly overestimated, for only a small p ercentage can be ma.de t o remain in carbonised iron.

The last paper was by W. C. R oberts-Austen, on "Advances in Pyrometry."

"\Vhile the engineers were t hus employed, the Aerial Congress was '' taking flyers," that is, the.y were trying to see h ow near they could come to this desirable and to be desired end. Mr. Octave Chanute presided with grace and dignity. In his opening address he sk etched the various matters to be considered, such as the internal work of moving air, anemometry, aviation, supporting sur­faces in the air, air propellers, the scre w propeller, motors, flying machines, materials of aeronautic engineering, forms of flying machines, behaviour of currents, and meteorological o bservations-puints that were seriously and scientifically con sidered. No one present thought the problems n early solved , but all had hopes of a solution in the future, and the praises of the investigator s were sounded, the worthy president going one octave higher than the others. H e th ought one of the most important problems was that of equipoise, and three-fourths of the failures were due to a lack of equilibrium.

The following extract from his r emarks shows the progress of this science :

' ' The conditions as to r esistance, lif ting power, propellers, and motors are now pretty welJ known, the speeds can be calculated with approximate accuracy, and while improvement can doubtless be achieved in the energy of the motor, in the effi­ciency of the screw, and especially in the form of the dirigible balloon t o diminish the resistance, it may be affirmed with confidence that railway express train speeds cannot be attained with balloons of practicable dimensions. They may be used for war purposes or for exploration, but while we may say that the balloon problem is practically solved, we may also say that the solution does not promise to become a commercial success or to yield a large money reward to the inventors.

" With artificial flying machines proper, should a practical one be d eveloped, very much higher speeds may be expected. The pigeon flies at 60 miles an hour, th e swallow at 125, and the martin is said to fl ash through the air at something like 200 miles an hour. Professor L angley has lately shown that, within certain limits, high sp E:eds through the air will be more economical of power than low speeds, and recent advances in light s team engines seem to have reduced them to a less weight per horse-power than is generally thought to obtain with the motor arrangements of birds. It seemr, tharefore, not unreasonable to entertain the hope that man may eventually achieve a mechanical success, if not a commercial one, in the attempt to compass a mode of transportation which will greatly exceed the speed of the present modes of transpor­tation. The mechanical difficulties in obtaining safe support from so intangible a fluid as air are so great that men would long ago have given up the attempt if it had n ot been for the birds. But then there are the birds, and some of them, at least th~ sailing birds, seem to b e able to soar indefinitely upon the wind with no muscular effort whatever, so that the argument that man cannot hope to float hi s greater weight than theirs upon a.i r would seem not t o be well founded. nut, as already stated, the mechanical difficulties are very great, and it is n ot surprising that they should have d eterred many men competent to advance th e solution of the pro­blem from considering it at all, and that it should mainly have been left in the hands of the n on­imaginative and ill-informed inventors, who, with

410 E N G I N E E R I N G. l OcT. 6, I 893.

TIPPING-BOXES FOR DEPOSITING CONCRETE AT LA GUAIRA BREAKWATER.

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imperfect knowledge of the elements of the 1 covered similar phenomena., and had since main- 1 been practically solved, but it was apparent that problem, believe that success is to be achieved tained what he called the "undulatory theory of balloons in order to obtain a. high degree of speed through a single happy thought. " I air movements." must be enormously large and costly. He said a

Professor S . P. Langley presented a paper on the A paper on "Anemometry," prepared by S. P. flying machine of some kind that would be "Internal 'York of Moving Air. " This paper gave F erguson, of Blue Hill Meteorological Observatory, speedier and cheaper was desirable, and discussed the results of scientific obser vatiOns of atmospheric was briefly sketched by the secretary of the Con- various materials that might enter into the cum· phenomena, as the resul t of which the writer gress. I t appropriately supplemented Professor position of such machines to give them strength, announced some discoveries of wavy or oscillatory Langley's paper. R . H . Thurston, director of and at the same time the requisite degree of l?ght­movements of the upper air that were deemed very Sibley College, Ithaca, New York, then briefly ness. Among the other papers presented were : important by the assembled aeronauts. Carl E. addressed the company on ''Materials of Aero- "The Elastic Fluid Turbine as a :1.\'Iotor," by J . H. Meyers, of New York, after hearing the paper nautic Engineering. " So far as the balloon was Dow, Cleveland ; '' Behaviour of Air Currents, :' by .1ead, announced that some years ago he had dis- concerned, he said the problem of materials had George E . Curtis, of the Smithsonian InstitutiOn;

OcT. 6, 1 893.] E N G I N E E R I N G. 41 I

TIPPING-BOXES FOR DEPOSITING CONCRETE AT LA GUAIRA BREAKWATER. CONSTRUCTED BY ~IESSRS. STOTHERT AND PITT, LIMITED, ENGINEERS, BATH.

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and "Meteorologieal Observation, , by General Hazen, of the Weather Bureau at 'Vashington.

The American Institute of Architects held their annual session, and elected the following officers : President, Daniel H. Burnham ; first vice-presi­dent, George B. Post, of New York ; second vice­president, Levi G. Scofield, Cleveland; secretary, Alfred Stone, Providence, R.I. ; treasurer, S. A. Treat, Chicago; board of directors, E. H. Kenda.ll, New York; Cass Gilbert, St. Paul; Thomas Hastings, New York; A. Page Brown, San Fran­cisco ; C. F. SchweinfuTth, Cleveland ; Georga A. Frederick, Baltimore ; Jeremiah O'Rourke, New Jersey.

The Congress on Architecture was opened Ly an address from Mr. Bonney, in which he paid tribute to the subject as a "supreme and all­embracing art, " because the other arts minister to it. In view of the beautiful buildings erected at the Fair, this position seemed well taken.

A brief address by President Kendall, of the American lnstitute, followed. Director of Works .Burnham, of the 'Vorld's Fair, then entertained the audience with a paper on the organisation of the Exposition. The paper was in the form of a con­cise narrative of the organisation of the working forces of the }.,air, including an account of the selection of the architects and the distribution of departments and authority among the men in charge of the general work. He also gave credit to

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the different persons who contributed to the general plans of the Fair for the ideas presented by them . Incidentally Mr. Burnham paid a warm tribute to the memory of his old partner, Mr. Root, who died before the plans were matured. He could not believe that the plan of the Fair would have been better if Mr. Root had lived, he said, but it would have been modified and stamped with his own great individuality. Mr. Burnham also took occa­sion t o give Miss Sophia G. Hayden full credit for

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designing, unaided, theW omen's Building, showing that all questions raised upon that point were un­founded.

The first paper offered was by Frederick Law Olmstead, the landscape artist of the Fair. It was entitled ''The General Scheme and Plans of the World's Columbian Exposition." It was read by Alfred Stone, secretary of the Congress.

In this paper Mr. Olmstead described how land­Rcape artists and architects had transformed the bleak and barren Jackson Park, which was a. decidedly unlovely spot, into the beautiful Exposi­tion grounds, with their lagoon and wooded island. In the original design the wooded island was to have been a mass of foliage, as natural as possible in appearance and entirely free from buildings. In other words, it was to have been a foil to the arti­ficial grandeur of the g reat buildings; but the demand for more space became very pressing, and the J apaneso temple was allowed to be placed on the isl:\.nd, and even that pretty structure spoiled the general effect.

Mr. Olmstead called attention to the fact that the first sketch of the plan of the Exposition was drawn by the late John Well born Root, and pro­vided for a great architectural court, with a body of water therein, this court to serve as an impres­sive and dignified entrance hall to the Exposition, and Tisitors arriving either by boat or train were to pass through it. E ach building was also to

412

have a watet" as welJ as a land front, and be accessible to boats. This ground plan was subse­quently modified, the proposed outer harbour was abandoned, and the peristyle and colonnade at the end of the east transept of the main court were in­troduced.

The failure to carry out this original desian, in the writer's opinion, detracted much fro~ the artistic val ~e of the Exposition, and added much to its cost. Mr. Olmstead criticised another feature of the F~ir, and that was the presence of too great a number of small buildings in the spaces between the great struct.ures. It would have been better, he said, if these spaces had been reserved, as originally intended, for landscape and floral effects.

Chief \V. H. Holcomb, of the Transportation Department of the Fair, read a paper on the use, for transportation, of the lagoons, of Lake Michigan, of the intramural railway, of the elevated railway, of the great trunk lines, of the terminal facilities, of the chair system, &c. Charles F. Foster followed with a paper describing the me­chanical power plant of the Fa)r, and R. H. Pierce, chief electrical engineer, devoted a paper to the electrical plant.

The military section was also well attended, many men well known on both sides of the Atlantic being present. Space prevents more than a glance at them and their deliberations. Among them may be noted General Nelson A. Miles, General A. W. Greely, General Holabird, Colonels Wilis­ton, Mercur~ and Clows, Major Livermore, Cap­tains Capron, Blunt, Birnie, Heath, Michler, and a number of lieutenants of the United S tates Army, Captain W. T. Unge of the Swedish Army, and Captain Raphael Ma.llin of the Mexican Army. Capta.in Blunt read a paper on the modern infantry rifle, illustrated by models of the Mannlicher and the old K rag-J orgensen guns. Captain R a.phael Mallin, of Mexico, read a paper on a proposed infantry rifle which does away with metallic car tridge cases and decreases the shock of recoil. Captain L a Garde illustrated the d ifference in eff~ct between 45-calibre and 30-calibre small arm projectiles on human bones by showing the bones of cadavers which had been fired into for test purposes, and Captain W. T. Unge, of the Swedish artillery, reai a paper on range and position finding.

The papers presented on coast defence consisted of two from England and one from America. The latter was by Colonel H. L. Abbot, and related chiefly to harbour defence by mines and torpedoes. There is very little doubt that in case of a foreign war it would be found that we could offer a pretty stubborn, and the writer believes a most effective resistance. Colonel Abbot certainly has made a great advance in this subject, and the reporter's favourite simile of ships leisurely bombarding New York City from a safe distance will be an old wife's fable. It is possible a ship might throw a shot or two, but she would be found among the relics of the past in a most remarkably short time. Colonel W. R. King followed with a paper showing pro­gress in controllable torpedoes operated from shore stations. Some sixteen different inventions in this l ine were described, including such well-known ones as the Sims-Edison, the Guy, the P atrick, and the Halp'n Savage. Professor James Mercur, of West Point, discussed "Military Land Mines," and a valuable paper on ''Range and Position Finding for Purposes of Gunnery" was read by W. 0. Smith, of the firm of Elliott Brothers, of London.

The following day this Congress considered "Intrenched Camps." This subject was discussed by Captain F . N. Maude, of the Royal Engineers, and Lieutenant A. M. D'Armit, of the United States Engineers. '' The Transportation of Troops and Supplies" was considered by General S. B. Holabird, U.S.A., and Colonel Olbrecht, of Swit­zerland. The last paper, however, was of more direct interest to engineers. It was on '' Military Railways, Bridges, and Rolling Stock," by Cap­tain C. G. Bate, Royal Engineers.

The var jous styles of modern gun construction nat urally followed, for if one man fortifies, another man must destroy. J ames A. Longridge, the English inventor of wire-wound guns, gave a history of wire-wound gun development, and argued in favour of his system as compared with others or as compared wiih the gun built up of steel forgings. Captain Rogers Birnie, U.S. A., discussed the question in general, while Fleet Engineer George Quick, of the :Brit.ioh Navy, pre-

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

sented a paper advocating, amcng other things, the "outside screwed union " system of gun construe· tion, which admits of the gun's being repaired easily. Then followed a paper by Lieutenant Sidney E. Stuart, U. S. A., on "The Manufacture of Steel for Modern Guns and other Ordnance Purposes. " The author gave an excellen t summary of the progress which has been made in the United States in the manufacture of guns, armour plate, and projectiles, and discussed the metallurgy of steel used in gun construction.

A summary of t he operations of the topographical and the signalling branches of the army was pre­sented, the 1nost important being an interesting description of the signal corps of the United States Army by General A. \V. Greely, chief signal officer. Three other papers by Lieutenant J ervey and Ma.jor ,V. R. Livermore, United States Engi­neers, and Von Usedom, Chief of the Royal Prussian Government Survey, described military surveying and map-making. Colonel Alfred A. Woodhull, of the Medical D epartment, U. S. A., discussed '' The Sanitary Relations of Military Sites. " Dr. Paul Kohlstock described the mea­sures taken for t he sanitary supervision of the E1be basin during the cholera epidetnic in Ham­burg in 1892, and gave numerous proofs of the fact that the spread of cholera is due almost wholly to the use of drinking water containing cholera bacilli. The other papers set for the session were "Some Remarks on Aerial Warfare," by Major J. D. Fullerton, Royal Engineers, and ''Collection and Transmission of Intelligence in the Field, '' by Colonel F. C. Beresford, of the same service. The "J\1odern Infantry Rifle," by Captain Stanhope Blunt, one of the United States Board who adopted theKrag-J orgensen gun for the United States Army, was a most interesting paper, and carefully reviewed this subject. He claimed we have the best maga­zine rifle in the w<. rld, and this conviction was shared by his hearers.

Then came the paper by Lieutenant E. St. J. Greble on "Rapid Fire Guns, " followed by one from Captain Henry Metcalfe on ''Projectiles;" and two papers on "Explosives" were presented, one by Lieutenant Willoughby Walke, and the other by Mr. W. R. Quinan, of Pinole, Cal. A mathematical discussion of the motion of the pro­jectile in its passage through the bore of the gun was contributed by Captain James M. Ingalls, who certainly is better qualified to speak on this subject than almost any other officer in the United State~ Army.

(To be continued. )

THE IRON AND STEEL INSTITUTE. I N our last issue we gave an account of the first

day's sitting, on Tuesday, the 26th ult., of the recent Darlington meeting of the Iron and Steel Institute. On the members assembling again on W ednesday, the 27th ult., in the Hall of the J\1echanics' Insti­t ute, the President, Mr. E . Windsor Richards, again occupied the chair.

CARBON I N IRON.

The first paper taken was a contribution by Pro­fessor A. Ledebur, of the R oyal Mining Academy, Freiberg, on "Carbon in Iron. "

We intend publishing this paper in full shortly, and therefore proceed at once to the discussion.

The discussion on Mr. Ledebur's paper was com­menced by Mr. Snelus, who said that the subject was one of great importance, but the paper would require much longer study than he had been able to give to it in order to discuss it properly. The author had said that silicon forms a necessary con­stituent of grey pig iron, but only a brief period had elapsed since this important part played by the silicon in grey pig iron had been recognised­a recognition due to observations made partly by himself and partly by others. Professor Ledebur had also stated t hat he was able in 1879 to remark, in the second edition of his treatise on pig iron, that the presence of silicon in pig iron diminishes its capacity for taking up carbon, and, on t he other hand, it is necessary for the forma.tion of grey pig iron. Pig iron free from silicon remains white, even after slow cooling, and grey pig iron changes into white if its content of silicon be abstracted. From this the deduction followed directly that if molten white pig iron has the opportunity aff()rded it of taking up silicon, it will change into grey pig iron. The author stated that he thought this was the fir&t express statement (.\3 t o th~ tru~ rulPt of

silicon in grey pig iron, and as to the relations which exist between silicon and carbon in that metal. Seven years later his observations were completely confirmed by the experiments of Wood and of Turner. Mr. Snelus, however, pointed out that the action of silicon in relation to carbon had been often discussed before 1879, and about ten years previous to that t ime he had explained the action of silicon in separating carbon in the form of graphite from pig iron. It was to be regretted that the author was not acquainted with these facts, and he could only think that the Proceedings of the Insti­tute were not so widespread as he had imagined, and had not found theirwayto Freiberg. The author held that there were four different modifications of carbon which could be readily distinguished from each other, the first being a graphitic form; the second resembling gra.phite, called by the author temper­carbon; the third, carbide carbon ; and the fourth, hardening carbon. Mr. Snelus was of opinion that the proofs were by no means satisfactory that these four conditions existed, and it would be well not to be too positive at present. The author had said it was a matter of common knowledge that manganese exerts an influence diametrically opposite to that of silicon and aluminium, and Mr. Snelus pointed out that if manganese were present the iron would take up more carbon, whilst if silicon were preaent the carbon would appear as graphite. If the iron were cooled slowly, the carbon was thrown out more rapidly; if quickly, it was more likely to remain in solution. He was of opinion that more tests were required before the conclusion could be arrived at that the carbon found on fracture was anything more than graphitic carbon.

Mr. H adfield said the determination of the dif­ferent forms of carbon seemed to be of high im­portance to the metallurgist, as, if the problem could be solved, it would lead to a much better understanding of some of the difficulties now ex­perienced in the t reatment of steel. During his recent trip to the United States, he found one of the large car-wheel makers was already devoting considerable attention to this question, and that he obtained beneficial results by carefully nuting the variations in percentages of hardening carbon. It might not be generally known to members that Professor Ledebur had for many years been devot­ing hi m self to the consideration of this important question, and it was to be regretted that his valu­able contributions on this subject, which had ap­peared from time to time in " Stahl und Eisen," bad been overlooked by the technical press here. Only recently this gentleman's work was awarded by the Berlin Society for t he Promotion of Scien­tific Investigation, a prize of 3000 marks and a silver medal. The Institute was, therefore, very fortunate in getting this valuable contribution. With reference to Professor Ledebur's remarks respecting the complicat ions met with when in­vestigating the effect of silicon, Mr. Hadfield had put on the table two samples of steel, which con­tained .3 and .8 per cent. of carbcn respectively, each with 2 per cent. of silicon. Both these samples would harden. and the one with. hi~h carbon intensely so. Professor Ledebur s::ud p1g iron free from silicon remained white even after cooling, and grey pig iron changed into w~ite if. its contents of silicon were abstracted. Th1s, wh1lst true as regards pig iron, was not so as regards a malleable product, as in the samples just referr~~ to. Both these samples contained quite as much s1hcon as would turn white into grey pig iron, and yet the steel samples hardened readily, and sufficiently to scratch glass. The same samples, minus carbon, would not have done so. The apparent anomaly was puzzling, a.c; one would be inclined to thin~ that in any case silicon would have exerted a .mo~l­fying influence even in the steel, just as 1t d1d upon the combined carbon in pig iron, yet the reverse was the case.

vVith reference to the use of t he word '' temper­ing," Mr. Hadfield inquired whether our ordinary word '' annealing " would not be better he~e, and .be less misunderstood 1 Certainly, anneahng w htte iron, as in the malleable iron process, was som~­what equivalent to a tempering process, such as tn tool steel, but still there was a distinct difference, and it seemed to him the word "tempering " con­veyed a wrong interpretation. In any case, it o~ly denoted partial softening, whereas in the a?nealmg of malleable iron the hardness was ent1rely re­moved · all knew t he softness of malleable iron casting~. Whilst dealing with this subject, it miaht be interesting to mention some samples of

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American malleable iron castings that. had. come before the speaker and been analysed 1n his own laboratory :

C. Or. Si. S. S1mple No. 1 Trnce 3. 20 . 20 .05

No. 2 ., 3.07 . 23 .0! 'Fo~ged sample . . 2.10

P. M:o. Cu. .19 .21 .02 . 20 . 21

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To his astonishment the r esults showed no less than 3. 2 per cent. gr~ph~te, or more than in a large proportion of grey ptg uon produced. Profes~or Ledebur spoke of this being a second modificatiOn of carbon and resembling graphite, but as far as Mr. Had6eld's own results went,_ he could not ~ee any difference as compar~d w1th ~he graphit.e separated during the analytical operatiOns ~n ?rdl­nary pure Swedish or other pure grey ptg Iron . It would be very interesting to know if any oth~rs present had had similar experien?~· He was qu~te aw~re that considerable quant1t1es of graphite were usually met with in English malleable cast­inas but he had never heard of anything like this hi~h percentage ; usually it was not more than half the figure above given. Notwithstanding the presence of so much graphite, this sample shown a fine-grain steel fracture, and it was fairly forgeable at a low heat. The forging operations showed Lhat some graphite was removed or com­bined again with the steel, as the analysis only gave 2.1 per cent. Unfortunately he had not yet had a complete analysis of this particular sample, but would be glad to add it t o the written discus­sion. Much still remains to be done in the new direction of analytical work opened out by Pro­fessor Ledebur, and, without doubt, this particular branch, along with accurate heat determination, would prove to be of the utmost importance to the met~ll urgist.

Professor Roberts-Aust~n said that the Institute would be grateful to the author for having put in a coherent form facts that had been familiar to many for some time. The au thor had spoken of the eft'ect of hardening carbon, and had explained its s.ction in the hardening of steel. He had said a percentage of hardening carbon in the iron causes the hardness and brittleness to be increased with a rise in the percentage of hardening carbon, but diminishes again when the percen tage passes a limit not yet accurately determined. This, the author said, explained the hardening of steel. The per ­centage of the hardening carbon remaining in the steel is raised by sudden cooling, and the steel becomes hard and brittle. If the hardened steel is now heated to as low a temperature as 200 deg., there commences a partial decomposition of the iron carbon alloy, with the formation of the iron carbide with the carbide carbon. The higher the temperature is raised, the more marked does this action become. Like the carbide formation in cooling iron, this is accompanied by an evolution of heat. The views held by M. Osmond and the speaker did not admit that the facts stated by the author explained the hardening effect. They might go towards explaining it, but were not free to fully do so. The speaker had before shown that at a temperature of 850 deg. Cent. there was a change due to the iron itself, and not due to carbon. The second point of change was due to the relation be­tween the carbon and iron , but this point ranged from 700 deg. Cent. to 500 deg. Cent. Between these two points the change was due to the com­bination of the iron and carbon, or to other materials in the iron.

Mr. J. E. Stead, of Middlesbrough, said the paper was a valuable summary of the know ledge of the last few years on the subject. The author had r e­ferred to the observations of Wood and Turner, and the speaker wished to say he was respon­sible for t~e ch~mical pa.rt of that paper, which was con tamed In the Journal of the Institute for 1885. I t was common knowledge that if silicon were added to pig iron, carbon would be thrown out in graphitic form. The author had said that the second modification of carbon which he named " t emper-carbon " resembled graphite in some respects. The nam'e was chosen by the author for the reason that this form of carb?n was mainly formed during the prolonged heatmg of white pig iron, during the tempering process. In steel that had been heated to redness and contained upwards of 1 per cent. of carbon, thi~ f~rm of carbon might also be observed. The speaker dtffered from the author in giving to this carbon a separate name, and held that what was called temper-carbon was simply graphitic carbon. There was one test which was wanting to conclusively

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

show this, and that test Mr. Hadfield had ma~e . The characteristic graphitic mark on paper w h1eh was shown, was sufficient to prove that temper­carbon and graphite were the same thing. He thought that, on considering the work of Abel, Ledebur, and others, it would be admitted that c1.rbon did form definite carbides in iron and steel, and therefore the homogeneous solution theory was untenable. The fact that the residue left on treat­ing soft steel by Abel's r eagent, or with ex­ceedingly dilute acid dissol ved in strong hydro­chloric or sulphuric acid with the evolution of a carburetted hydrogen, was proof that it was not a mixture of iron and carbon, but was a true carbid e. Mr. Stead proceeded to refer to the use of . tl~e microscope in the examination of steel, and sa1d It would be a very valuable adjunct t o the metal­lurgical laboratory. That he had become con­vinced of, and had established the system in his laboratory, but he found t hat he had not time to polish t he specimens for etching by hand. I t was an operation t hat took about three hours, and it might be well enough for professors who had plenty of time at their disposal, but it was not to be done as a matter of routine in a laboratory where tests were made for industrial purposes. Wishing, however, to obtain the advantages of microscopic examination, he had de\'ised a small hand machine, and he now found that he could polish in a quarter of an hour a specimen which would formerly have taken three hours to do. This he thought would be of value to the analyst, and on a future occasion he would be glad to put the details of the machine before the Instit ute. Mr. H a.dfield had referred t o what appeared to be an anomaly, viz., t hat although 1 per cent. of silicon in pure iron caused the separation of graphite, the same silicon in 1 per cent. carbon steel did not have a similar effect. \Vhen fluid grey pig irvn is suddenly chilled at t he temperature at which 1 per cent. carbon and 1 per cent. silicon steel naturally becomes solid, no graphite is found, and all t he carbon is found in the com­bined state, whereas, if allowed t o solidify at lower temperature, graphite separates. It seems most probable that the deficiency of carbon in 1 per cent. carbon steel, compared with that in pig iron, causes its solidification t·O take place at a point considerably higher than t hat at which graphite can suddenly separate. The sudden unnatural chilling of the pig iron and the natural setting or solidifica­tion of the steel at about the s1.me temperature, leave the carbon combinl3d in both cases from one and the same cause. He advanced this as a pro­bable explanation, and if it is correct the apparent anomaly vanishes.

Mr. T. Turner, of Mason College, said that the paper before the meeting was of considerable value, and though much of the matter it contained would be familiar to many of the members from the abstracts of Professor LedP.bur's work which had appeared in the J ournal, this was the first occasion on which the facts had been collected together, and many of these observations were the result of Professor Ledebur's own investigations. The paper treated a very difficult subject in a clear and lucid manner. Mr. Snelus had rightly pointed out that the fact that silicon, when present in cast iron, rendered the metal grey, had been discussed in the early days of the Institute ; but the observation was even older than that, for Dr. Percy, writing in 1864, stated that it "had long been observed, in the first instance by Sefstrom, t hat t he carbon in grey iron, in which much silicon exists, say from 2 to 3 per cent., is wholly, or nearly so, in the graphit ic state. "* In his earlier years Professor Ledebur was manager of an iron foundry, and his work on cast iron, from which a quotation had been made, was probably the best work on the sub­ject which had yet been published. Though Pro­fessor L edebur might fairly claim to be the first t o clearly and plainly state the result of the addition of silicon to white iron, it must also be conceded that the German founders did not take advantage of this knowledge until after the results of the experiments of Mr. Wood, who was assisted by Mr. Stead, and his (the speaker's) own experi­ments had been communicated to this Institute in 1885 and 1886. In regard t o the remarks of Mr. Had field and Mr. Stead about temper carbon, there appeared to be a slight misunderstanding, as Pro­fessor Ledebur stated that temper carbon was a

* "Iron and Steel,, page 131.

variety of graphite, so that t he observations of Mr . Hadfield tended to support, rather than to cont ro­vert, what was mentioned in t he paper. In con­clusion, he (the speaker) would only add a word of support to what had fallen from Professor Roberts­Austen for now there certainly did appear to be very st; ong evidence in support of the existence of carbide carbon in steel.

Sir Lowthian Bell anticipated that Mr. Stead did nut mean to say that carbon could not be separated from white iron otherwise than by silicon, and for his own part he believed the separa~ion could. be made without the admixture of any th1rd matenal. In order to test this point, he had many years ago cast a block of white iron weighing 6 tons. On splitting this open, it was found to hav~ been changed from white iron to grey iron. This was to be accounted for by the slow cooling of the mass having the effect o! a squeezing-.out action, which resul t ed in graph1te carbon bemg deposited be­tween the crystals of the iron.

Mr. H. Bauerman said that graphite was not necessarily largely crystallin?, being ofte~ granul~r, yet havin()' the characteristics of graph1te. \Vtth regard to

0 temper-carbon, it was a term used in

Germany, and some confusion might arise from its translation into English. Carbide carbon occurs constantly in cement steel. He was very glad to hear what Mr. Stead had said about a practical machine being devised for polishing specimens, to prepare them for microscopic work. At present the student was dependent on the work of others, and had to rely on photographic representations of the surfaces. In order to get the best resul t from work of this kind, it was necessary that the investigator should do it for himself, so that he could absolutely see the operation, and gain t he advantage only to be got from actual observation. When the polishing of specimens took so long a period, this was not pos­sible in many cases, but with I\1r. Stead's machine the difficulty would be removed. \ V e should then have a larger body of observers directly engaged, and knowledge would be advanced. Mr. E. Riley had carried out experiments in which he had made a silicide of iron, containing 23 per cent. of silicon, but with only traces of carbon. The pieces of iron were, however, covered with graphite. Silicon would drive carbon out, so that it would appear on the surfaces of the metal in its graphitic form. He had made experiments t o see how much carbon he could put into iron, and had found the limit to be 4f per cent., which was about equal to that contained in the very best steel.

THE M aNUFACTURE OF WIRE.

Mr. J. P. Bedson next read a paper on "Iron and Steel Wire, and the Developments of its Manu­facture. " This was an excellent contribution, and was listened to with great interest by the members present. We shall print it in full shortly, and may, therefore, at once proceed to the discussion which followed.

Mr. Bauerman was the first speaker, and referred to the point upon which the author had spoken, as to the rotting of wire in the galvanising process. The wire is unwound from the swifts or r eels, and passed through a shallow bath of dil ute hydro­chloric acid, and thence through a bath of molten zinc. It had been stated that wire treated in this manner often gave trouble, as it would sometimes become rotten through weak acid being present in the wet coils as they lay on the swifts before winding off. 'l'hen, again, the wire would miss taking up the molten metal if the surface got dry and a thin film of oxide had formed. These and other reasons tended to spread the notion that all galvanised wire was exceed. ingly brittle and rotten, owing to the process it went through. In t he paper a description was given of the invention of the author's father, by which these difficulties were overcome, but Mr. Bauerman pointed out that it was of interest to remember that the rotting of wire was said to be due to the presence of hydrogen rather than acid. The speaker wished to state that Messrs. Bedson's exhibit at the Chicago Exhibition was a very admir­able one. There was nothing else in the Exhibition like the collection of charcoal blooms shown by that firm.

Mr. J ames Riley was struck by the absence of reference in the paper to open-hearth steel. That was the great source from which wire was made and yet not a word was said about it. He did not know whether there was any spec=al obj rct in thi~

, 414 . ENGINEERING. [0cT.6, I89J

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suppression. In following the author's descrip­tions, he noticed t he large number of processes that the wire had to go through in the hands of the wire-drawer, and he could not help thinking that possibly now and then failure of the material might be due in some measure to these processes, and not exclusively and invariably to faults in the steel, as steel makers were always informed.

Professor Turner remarked, in regard to the question of pickling, referred to by Mr. Baucr­man, and to the presence of hydrogen, that steel pens, which were made of a medium hard steel, when pickled can be broken readily in the fingers, they are so brittle, but having been heated and allowed to cool, this excessive brittleness disap­peared. P~ofessor Ledebur had ~ttributed .this quality of br1ttleness to hydrogen, wh1eh was drtven off by the heat. Professor Roberts-Austen said that if steel were put into acid and then heated, there

was no doubt that hydrogen was got out, the quan­tity being four times the volume of the metal.

In replying t o the discussion, Mr. Bedson said there was no doubt hydrogen was taken up by iron, and cleaning the wire was r eally half the battle in manufacture. Mr. Riley had called him to account for mentioning basic as against acid steel. Mr. Bedson stated that the use of Bessemer steel gradually grew to very large proportions up to 1884, when it r eceived a very rude check, from which it had never recovered, by the introduction of basic Bessemer steel. If ever there was a new system which revolutionised a t rade, it was, the author said, the introduction of basic metal for the wire trade ; and further, if ever there was an old adage which had had the lie given to it, it was that one could not make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. The author wished to make himself more clear on this point, and added that in the days of puddled

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iron he could take any of the common ores, which were made into pig for puddling for wire purposes, and nothing but the poorest results were obtainable; indeed, the wire rods would hardly stand drawing. Even with the highest quality of cold-blast metd the r£s ults were poor in comparison to those now obtained from basic metal at only half the cost. In fact now in basic metal these very same co~mon, ores ga,re the finest drawing material wh1eh was ever known, and which can only be approached by the highest class of charcoal Bes­semer metal, as made in Sweden. It was for these reasons that h e had felt called upon to mention the basic process; otherwise he had tried to avoid reference to any special forms of manufac· ture ; this reference was, however, forced upon him by the circumstances of the case. What Pro­fessor Turner had said about pens reminded him of some galvanised bolts h e had once had to inspect. These had broken off at the head when tested with a very slight blow, and the manufacturers were in some concern to know what to do. He himself felt no hesitation about the matter, as he knew how to remedy the defect, and advised the con­structors to heat the bolts just below redness. This was done, and they all passed. He was glad to say, however, that since the introduction of soft steel they could not very readily spoil the material. With high carbon steel it was different, and the acid used with the stronger steels was so dilute that it could be drunk. He had seen needles dipped into weak acid, and taken up immediately, but the effect was such that when dropped they would snap.

STEEL PLATE MANUFACTU RE. A paper by ~1r. William Muirhead, of Mother­

well, entitled "Suggested Improvements in Con­nection with the Manufacture of Steel Plates,' ' was next read. This paper was r emarkable from the fact that no one appeared to understand it, although all the speakers, except the President, thought that they did. ~fr. Jeremiah Head, although an old plate-roller, quite failed to grasp the meaning of the author's descriptions, or even of the diagrams on the wall. Mr. James Riley, who has also had some experience in plate-rolling, was, according to

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the aut~or, in a similar state of ignorance; whilst Mr. Wailes must, we fear, be included in the same category. Another remarkable circumstance about this paper was that nearly every one appeared to have tned these now "suggested improvements" at some very early period of their career. Indeed, one speake; wen_t so fa; back as fifty years, when he had assisted tn puttmg the suggested improve­ments into practice, '' as a boy." Of course theee statements must be discounted by the fact that the paper was be~ond the comprehension of the meet­mg. Mr. MUlrhead, who is a practical steelmaker a~d plate-r?ller, deserves, however, all commenda­tw~ for ~Is efforts to ~dva~ce the industry in ~hlCh he _Is en~aged, a~d In sp1te of some difficulty In foll~w1ng hl8 reason.mg at ~mea, the paper is a suggestive one, and might be read with advantage by many of those who knew all these things even in '' their earliest youth."

The P~esident, in inviting discussion on t his paper, said_ that he was afraid Mr. Muirhead only saw one side o.f the qu~stion, and t hough the adv~ntages of his suggestwns might be apparent to him, t here were counterbalancing features which would also be apparent to others.

Mr. J ames Riley said that the paper was worthy of t~e a?tho~, who observed a great deal and apphed his mind to what he observed. Mr. Riley regrette~, however, that. the _author's powers of observat10n had not carried h1m a little further. The new features he described in his paper were in use ~t Newto~ many years ago. The engine for ~orkrng the mlll was made in 1878, and the prin­ciple was used first for rails and afterwards for angles and other s~ctions. Direct drivincr was here ':~sed ; the~e being no gearing, and th~t had been In .operatwn for fifteen or sixteen years. Mr. Mmrhe~d had seen the Newton 'Vorks four or fiv~ times., and could hardly have failed to observe this. Wtth regard to rolling plates direct the method ~ad an. attractiveness, it could not b.e doubted ; Indeed, It had been discussed sever~) times before the Institute. Steelmakers had not however_, taken to slabbing with their eyes closed~ Mr. Muuhead had referred to the advantages, but

•

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had failed to grasp the disadvantages. The author had said that six or eight sizes of ingot moulds would be sufficient, bu t Mr. Riley maintained that those who know the different sizes of plates required would be aware this was not the case . Neither did the speaker agree that the proportion of scrap would be reduced; his own conviction was that the reverse effect would be obtained. The varia­tion in quality had also to be considered. If they could get one skilled man at one furnace, it would be possible to use the direct proces3, and it has been followed in t he U nited 8tates with success, but that su ~cess was due t o the difference in manu­facturing steel ; a necessary difference, owing to the differen t conditions in force in America. Mr. Riley would point out also that in the case of break­ages it would be a m ore serious matter.. Years ago the speaker had rolled plates wit h the initial heat of the st eel as taken from t he furnace, no heating furn1ce b eing used, but the risk of accident was too great to allow hint to follow up t he plan, and he thought the author would be landed in a great many complications if he attempted it. In d oing work on the ingot there was no ad vantage t o be obtained after a certain necessary amount of work had b een d one. Ther~ was n o doub t about the benefit of large ingots, and he would hesitate 1nany times before he would go back to the cumbersome m ethods of former days.

Mr. Davis, who rose at the invitation of t he President, said that Mr. Riley had gone round the whole subject, and left very l itHe for any one else t o say. He expressed t he opinion, however, t hat to adopt the author's suggestions would be going backwards, and the scrap he was sure would rise frem 24 cwt. t o 30 cwt. p2r ton.

Mr. Wailes said that the p1per seemed simply a. suggestion to cog and roll at higher speeds) the process being the same except heating the shb after it leaves the shears. He would suggest t o the author to study the American syst em of thrae high mills roll ing the ingot direct, which was the very quickest he was acquainted with . The basic open -hear th ingot gave better opp')rtunity of direct rolling, on account of t hE; m ore trustwort hy nature of that metal.

Mr. S nelus said that he and the late Mr. E. Wil­liams h~d n1ade experim ents, and had spent many weeks in a mill trying r olling after the manner suggested by the author. They had con1e to the conclusion that it was no.t a satisfactory way of making plates. H e agreed with Mr. R tley, and imacrined t her e was not much improvemP.nt to be made on procedure with a good cogging mill followed by a good train of rolls . H e r eferred to the visit paid the day before by members to the Weardale Com­pany's works at Tudhoe. There, he said, the rolling was too slow. With quicker rolling the finish was better, the surface scale being n1ore easily thrown off at a high speed. H e was laying down in Cumber­land a mill to run at high speed, and he thought this would be worthy of a visit from any one interested in these matters. The mill was not quite finished yet, but would be shortly. The author had referred to t he fact that in cogging the end of the ingot became concave, and that danger was to be apprehended from laminations on the ends or edges of finished plates, caused by the inward anole or concavity which forms on both ends of the

0

slab. The necessity for the removal of t hese laminations at t he guillotine causes a very heavy percentage of sc~ap. The opp?site con.dition occurs in slab hammermg ; a convextty formmg on both ends of the slab, and much less scrap was there­fore made. The author had claimed that the lighter inaots he was advocatin,. would not be so liable to

0 .:> •

lamination and he had further stated that coggmg, as at pres~nt carried on, with its consequent re­heatina was a cumbersome-almost an ugly­operati'~n, and from the arguments he had endea­voured t o adduce, an unnecessary one. He had referred to ingots having oon'·.ex ends, and M.r. Snelus said it was perfectly possible to cast them 1n this way, although the author had suggeste~ that it caused complication. Mr. Snelus ha~ cast Ingots with concave bottoms to the moulds, whtch gave, of course a convex end, and thus avoided cutting off 80 mu~h of the end as the members had seen done on the previous day at Tudhoe.

Mr. Jeremiah Head was the next s~,ea~er, and eaid that the author's '' improvements might be described as an ad vance backwards. Many years ago he had rolled plates direct from t he ingot, but he had found the waste too great. Mr. Head pro­ceeded to make some further remarks on the paper,

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

but as he had not been m ore fortunate than many others present in grasping the author's meaning, it is not, perhaps, necessary that we should further refer to them.

Mt·. H ollis said that until the cogging mill was introduced at Tudhoe they had forty sizes of moulds, but by cogging these had been reduced to three. This had led to a saving of 6000l. a year. Unti! the cogging mill was introduced, they had rolled the whole plate from the ingot. With regard to the speed at which the rolls were driven, it was practically the same as t hat of t he engine.

Mr. Beard said that the method suggested by the author was not novel, and that it had been followed with iron plate rolling fifty years ago­rolling from the slab, of course, instead of from the ingot.

At this point the meeting was adjourned, the time for catching the trains for the excur.sion being almost reached. On t he following day, on the discussion being renewed, Mr. H ead read passages from the paper in j ustification of the view he had taken on the previous d ay; and Mr. J ames Riley added a fe w wprds to his remarks of the day before, pointing out the range of work that was given with a cogging mill, as compared to that sug­gested by the author.

Mr. Lamber t wished to view the subj ect from an engineer's standpoint. Mr. James Riley had re­marked that the great bugbear of the plate-roller was breakdown of machinery. This would be so increased by the proposed method of the author t hat it would be fatal t o direct rolling. The speaker would suggest, however, that high speed might be attained without putting t oo sudden a stress on to the engine. He would suggest a steam by-pass, which would allow the engines to creep until the ingot was between the rolls, when the peripheral speed could be increased 50 per cen t. In r oll ing, the toraional stress was not increased if the rolls could get over the bite, and were started going. With gear the torsional effect was in­creased, and i t would be desirable to drive direct when possible.

In replying to t he discussion, 1\ir. Muirhead said that there was no comparison between the Newton and Lanarkshire methods. Mr. Riley had three en­gines, and the cogging rolls were geared ; he had one engine, driving direct. Mr. Riley here interposed that in his remarks he had distinctly stated that reference was made to fourteen years ago. The speaker said he did not agree t hat more scrap would be made with his method ; in fact, there would be no scrap at all. Mr. Wailes said it was impossible t hat the ingot would s tand the work ; the speaker was very glad to hear that, because he had rolled an ingot in the way he proposed, and it had stood the work. The author, in the course of further remarks, intimated that various speakers had failed to understand his paper, among them Messrs. Riley, Head, Davis, Snelus, and H ollis.

The President, in proposing a vote of thanks to the author, said that he likewise had not under­stood the paper, but he was sure that the meeting had been very much entertained, if it had not been instructed. He thought, perhaps, the failure of members to grasp the author's meaning was due to some confusion in terms. That, perhaps, could be set right. There wa.s one point, however, on which he was at one with t he author, which was the ad­visability of running rolls at greater speed, so as t o work t he ingot when hot.

[OcT. 6, 1893.

ducing the ore into the ore-separating machine in an annular stream, and then causing the receptacle in which it fell to revolve . In this way a proper portion of material would be taken from all parts of the mass. We shall illust rate this machine shortly. It was shown by the author in opera­tion , and i ts accuracy was t ested by the exact propor tion of material for which the machine was graded being extracted from the whole. A valuable application of the principle from a com­mercial point of view was a small hand machine which the author had devised for supplying a number of bottles with an equal amount of material of a uniform description. The labour that would be saved in many industries by the use of this machine is really surprising . For mixing drugs on a wholesale scale we should imagine it would have a wide application.

In the discussion which followed, Mr. Snelus said he had had an opportunity of seeing this machine in work, and testing it at leisure, and he would bear testimony to t he great advantages to be obtained by its use. The difticulty in applying it on a practical scale with regard to ore would, how­ever, arise from the fact that iron ore was gene­rally contained in several bunkers, and it would be difticuH to know, therefore, whether the con­tents of one was a fair average representative of the others.

WROUGHT I RON IN INDIA.

A paper by Professor Thomas Turner, on the production of iron in small blast furnaces in India, was taken as read, the time to catch the train for Consett having arrived. This paper, we under­stand, will be open for discussion at the spring meeting of the Institution. The subject is one of considerable interest, and as members will have every opportunity of reading the paper, which we propose publishing in full shortly, if discussion be allowed it should be of a satisfactory nature.

0oAL VVASHING.

On the afternoon of Wednesday, the 27th ult. , t he principal excursion was to the Randolph Pit of the North Bitch burn Coal Company. '!'he chief point of attraction here was the plant being erected for the washing and separation of coal on the Luhrig system. A paper on th is suhject had been contri­buted by Mr. James I'Anson (to whom, it may be added, so much of the success of the meeting was due, on account of his exertions as local secretary). This paper was taken as read, and served as an admi'rable guide to those who inspected the machi­nery. In our issue of February 13, 1891 (vol. li., page 184), we gave full d escription and illustrations of coal-washing plant on t he Luhrig system, and we need not, therefore, repeat the particulars. Mr. I' Anson was present t o explain t he action of the machinery. The installation is t he first that has been put up in the district, al though the system has been in operation some t ime at the Mother­well and Bardy ke pits of Messrs. Merry and Cunninghame with success. There are 200 plants at work on this systetn on the continent of Europe. At the Randolph P it , which the members visited, the installation was not quite complete, but was sufficiently so to clearly show, by the aid of Mr. I'Anson's explanations, the process of work­ing. I t may be stated that this plant will per­form the operations of washing and grading of coal ; in fact, it substit utes an automatic process for the whole operation at bank, except hand pick­ing of the large coal. The cost of labour is

SAMPLING OF In.oN OR&. naturally r educed, and at the Randolph Pit .1.\Ir. A paper by Mr. T. Clarkson, on "The Sampling I'Anson states that it does not exceed i d. per ton

of Iron Ore, " was next read in abstract by the all round, including both the washing and the dry author. The main object of this paper was to in- separation process. The plant has a capacity of troduce to the meeting a machine which the author 1500 tons per day of 10 hours on the basis of a had devised for cutting out a fair sample of ore coal containing 23 per cent. of ash. Ash contained from a mass. This is by no means an easy task. in washed coal of f () to 3'?; not to exceed 6 per At t he recent meeting of the Institution of cent . The rubbish or dirt, which has been Mechanical Engineers held in this district it was washed out , is g uaranteed not to contain more tlian explained how it had been contrived to get a 2 per cent. of fine coal. The cost of labour is fair sample of grain from the large silos in guaranteed not to exceed 10d. per ton of coal which it was stored, and for this purpose a handled, including labour in hand picking, sorting, pipe was placed in the middle of the silo, washing, and loading into trucks. It will be seen perforated at intervals, and the grain t hat fell from what we have stated that the guarantee is down this pipe was accepted as an average of the within the figures quoted as possible by the system, whole. This, however , is not sufficient in sampl ing as might naturally be expected. One of the most ore and l\1r. Clarkson showed by his diagrams that notable features in the use of the Luhrig appa­t he' central pipe, and als9 the curved pipe, had been ratus is the additional value given to the nuts, tried bu t had failed to give a fair average. The which are delivered in a state that cannot be ob­Ame;icans introduced a cutting-off apparatus, but tained by the ordinary methods. After visiting the this was geometrically sho~n to be also n.ot acct;trate.l Randolph Pit, the ~embers were taken by coach Mr. Clarkson ultimately h1t on the rlevice of 1ntro- and tra1n to the Darhngton Steel ' Vorks.

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THE DARLINGTON STEEL AND I RoN WoRKS. Here they had an opportunity .of seeing many of the processes of steel productwn. The present plant of these works consists_ of se.ven c~pola.s, two Bessemer acid conver ters, s1x roll_1ng mtlls, one of 34 in., one of 24 in., one of 16 1n., and ~hree of 12 in. The land occupied by the ~orks 1s ab?ut 68 acres, and there are seventr engmes, supphed wit h steam by thirty-seven boilers. T~e annual aggregate output capac~ty ?f ~he works 1s 100,000 tons of finished matena~ 1n t~on an~ st~el. The weekly productive ca.pae1ty of Ingots 1s 1150 tons ; of heavy rails, 1500 tons ; of. steel sleepers . or girders, 1300 tons ; whilst colhery and plantatiOn rails, fishplat-es, bars, &c., ~ay amount to 750 tons. l\1r Hugh Bell is t he chauman of t he company, and Mr. Alfred B owen the engineer. ~bou~ 9?0 men are employed, and 50, OOOl. a year IS .Pa1d 1n waaes Accord in a to " Local N otes," written by :M.t J~mes I'Ans~n as a guide for members at the me~ting these were t he first rolling mills eetab­lished i~ the district. The date ~a~ about 1~57, and the founder was the late W1lham Barnmg-ham.

(To be continued.)

THE TOWER BRIDGE. (Continued from page 382.)

\VE now pass to another part of th~ work, namely, the columns of the towers. The lll~stra­tions on our two-page plate refer to th~ Middle­sex piers which however, are substantially the same as those of 'the Surrey side. Fig. 61 shows the diaphragms at the. t op of the column~, and Fig. 62 is a. cross-sectwn of t he same. F1g. 63 is a cross-section of t he col UJ?ns at .the a.ttac_hment of t he landin O' girders. F1g. 64 ts a sectwn of the bottom of

0the column, and Fig. 65 an eleva­

tion of the T-bars in the centre of each plat~, and F ig. 67 a sectional. plan through the base ; F 1g. 66 a sectional elevatwn of the base of column. In Fias. 68 to 73 are shown the iron and steel superstructure of the Middles~x pier, . the S1:1rrey pier being of similar construction. F1g_. 68 1s a._n elevation looking from the fixed span s1de, t hat 1s to say, with one's back to the shore. I t will, of course be understood that the masonry comes over ~nd hides all t he metal skeleton. F ig. 69 is a side elevation, and Fig. 70 a front elevation, looking from the bascul~, or from a vessel in t he main channel. Ftg. 71 IS a plan of the top land ­ing, and Fig. 72 the middle and first landings. Fig. 73 shows the roof girders. Vv e may pass over the metal work in t he roofing of the towers as not possessing features requiring to be put on record, and the same may be said of the details of the girders, flooring, and staircases in t he towers. 'l1he ties forming the vertical wind bracing were put in such a manner that when the bridge was fully loaded with its dead weight all over, each tie had an initial strain corresponding to 3i tons per square inch of section.

(To be continued.)

90-IN. GUN LATHE. \Y .& illustrate on page 407 a massive la. the de­

signed and built by the Niles Tool \Vorks Company, Hamilton, Ohio, for boring and turning steel ingots used in the construction of heavy ordnance for the United htes Government, and now exhibited at Chicago.

The general dimensions of this machine are as fol­lows: Actual swing over the ways, 91 in.; swing over the carriage, 70 in. The bed is 60 ft. 6 in. long, taking between centres 45ft., arranged with triple­shear tied together by a continuous web and wi th heavy cross-girts. The weight of the bed alone, 60 ft. 6 in. long, is 110,000 lb.

Tbe main spindle is a steel forging, with front bear­ing 16 in. in diameter, 24 in. long. The service this tool is required to do in boring ingots imposes very unusual strains on the spindle, and in order to t ake up the thrust, the spindle is provided with seven thrust collars, enabling it to withstand an end pressure of 200,000 lb. The area of the collars are sufficient to reduce the pressure to 500 lb. per square inch. The lathe is powerfully geared to stand this heavy duty. The driving cone has five steps for a 6-in. belt, and is so geared that there are twenty changes of speed to the facepla.te . All the gearing of the headstock is steel, castings or forgings, cut from the solid, of heavy pitch ~nd grea~ strength in all directions. The carriage 1s Qf mass1ve yroportions, clamped its total length on t he outside o the bed, and hy t wo clamps on the

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

inside of the bed, equal in length to t he widch of the bridge of t he carriage, and is provided with taper gibs for adjustments. The carriage carries two sub­stantial tool posts, one in front, with compound move­ment , and one in the rear.

It is t raversed for feed and quick movement by three separate and indepPndeut movements, one move­ment being by means of the lead screw, which is 6~ in. in d iameter, one continuous forging 60 ft. 6 in. long. This screw is placed in the centre of t he bed in a groove provided for t he purpose, and arranged with coverings to protect it from dirt and chips. The thrust in the lead screw is provided for in a manner similar to the spiudle by means of thrust collars. The bronze feed-nut engaging with the lead screw in t he carriage is 36 in. long, very accurately fitted, and the weight of this nut alone is 1200 lb. Provision is also made for moving the carriage independent ly of the lead-screw and rod gears by a shaf t driven from an independent countershaft, giving a quick traverse to the carriage of 10 ft. per minute. A safety device is provided, making it impossible to throw the quick- t raversing gears into engagement at the same time with the feed -nut on the lead screw. The tailstock is secured to the bed by four bolts, engaging with a T -slot in the bed, and i t is traversed on the bed by a ratchet lever operating a pinion gearing into a rack on the bed. The la. the is provided with steady-rests having ring bearings for sustaining heavy work. The large one will t ake 60 in. in diameter, the load being sustained by a ring bea ring having over 1200 square inches of projected area. The lathe has sufficient strength and stiffness to carry a. load between centres weighing about 60 tons, and to perform the necessary cutting operations. In the steady-rests shafts or ingots weighing over 200 tons can be operated upon success­fully. 'l'he gt·oss weight of t he lathe complete is 130 tons.

TIPPING BOXES FOR DEPOS ITING CON­CRETE SACKS AT L A GUAIRA BREAK­WATER.

MR. A. E. CAREY, in a paper r ead before the Inter ­national Maritime Congress and reproduced in a recent issue (page 314 ante), referred to a useful form of depositor used by him in laying the immense concrete sacks of which t he lower part of La Guaira Break­water is constructed. 'Ve give on pages 410 and 411 illustrations of the tipping box or depositor. They were constructed by Messrs. Stothert and Pitt, Limited, Bath. The engravings on page 410 show the form adopted in the earlier s tages of the work , while Figs. 3 to 6 illustrated a type used later. The prin­ciple will be readily understood from t he illust rations. The appliance consists of an opeu rectangular box, one siue of ' vhich swings on trunnions so as to form a door. The box is supported by curved rockers resting on an underframe, carried by a series of small wheels running on rails placed on the pier. The cent res of gravity respectively of the full and empty box are so adj usted that when the box is fi lled with a 72-ton sack of concrete there is a tendency to upset t he box relatively to the underframe, and when the box is empty the tendency is to rock back to its original position. The rocking motion is prevented, during t he process of filling and t raversing the loaded box, by a series of hooks which engage with the lower flange of the back girder of the superstructure ; and in order to prevent the door swinging open with the pressure of the bag, t here is a system of hooks which project up through the curved lip in the front of the box. The under-carriage is provided with travelling gear worked by worm and wheel, by which the whole machine can be moved forward.

The box, as shown on the engravings, consists of a strongly braced lattice frame resting on rolled H ­girders, the box itself being lined with timber, the sides -with 2~-in. elm, and the bottom with 2-in. t eak . The rockers are made of cunred bulb t ees, and the under -carriage is also built up of rolled sections, and runs on eighteen wheels 12 in. in diameter. The lip over which the bag rolls is formed by a curved plate stiffened by teak packing-pieces, fitted in between the lip and the front girder. The door of the box is stiffened by trussing both top and bottom, there being a very considerable bending moment at the time of starting to deposit the bag. Guides are fitted to keep the rockers from getting out of posit ion, and t imber buffers are fitted to t he front of the under -carriage to check the rocking motion at the end of the travel. Considerable care had to be exercised in working out the details, as every precaution had to be taken to insure that the bag should not be torn. All the sharp arrises of wood and metal that could pos­sibly come in contact with the bag had to be rounded off, and the catch gea.r, worked by a handle at the back of the machine, had to be so designed that the front hooks which secure the door would be housed well below the lip at the moment the rolling com­menced. In the box shown in the engraving the pre caution was taken of providing two small ratchet lift ­ing jacks fitted into the bottom of t he frame, so that ,

if necessary, a start could be gi ve!l. to the box, and pulleys were placed in such a positw.n tha~ the box could be pulled back again by a rope, 1f reqmred . .

In the later box, shown by :Figs. 3 to 6,_ some. shght modifications were introduced, the door bemg stlffe~ed by H -bE'ams instead of t russing, and the t ravellmg motion being actuated by ratchets.. The ha11~ le gear for working the catches was also shghtly_ modifie?, as will be seen by a comparison of the IllustratiOns. This depositor measured 32 ft. long a.t t he back and 32 ft. 6 in. a t the door, 6 ft. 6 in. wide at t he botto~, and 7 ft. 6 in. at the top, the depth being 4 ft. 9 m. The method of coustruction and the d imensions of the various beams, angles, plates, and brackets forming t he underframe and body of t he depositor are gi v·en on the illustrations, so that it is not necessary to refer at length to t hese. The door has pivots 2~ in. in diameter, with strong forged ends riveted to the top angle on the ends of the body. T hese pivot s work in easy bearings bored out of solid forgings riveted to t he end angles of the door, with caps at the bearings . . The outer ends of the pivots have a hexagonal collar t1ghtly screwed on and pinned through. The door is secured by four rect­angular bolts 2~ in. by 1i in., and having 2 in. pro­jection above the floorpla.te. The bolts a.re worked by wipers, and have gun-meta.l rubbing-pieces. 'l'hese bolts are raised and lowered not less than 21 in. by the direct action of a lever at the back , working the four wipers simultaneously by means of a through-going shaft 2g in. in diameter, and segmental beYel gear. The two outer ends of the shafts have tail pieces or cams for t he immedia te lowering of the bolts should the depositor go forward wit hout this first being done. The bolts always remain down till raised by the back lever. The body is held iu place by two strong wrought-iron hook catches placed so as to secure t he longitudinal close to the rockers at the ends of a 2-in. shaft working in wrought-iron brackets, and actuated by the tipping lever in t he cent re. The lever for work­ing the door bolts is retained by a drop link, and has a stud fixed on the side of it, to form a locking arrange­ment t o prevent the tipping lever being used first. Both types of depositors carry about 75 tons of con­crete.

•

LA.ISSLE'S P U LLEY-MOULDING MACHINERY.

THE special feature of the pulley-moulding ma­chinery of Messrs. Laissle and Co., Oberkochen, Wurtemburg, illustrated on page 415, is that it moulds whole or spli t pulleys of any diameter or width, with one or more sets of straight or curved arms. The machinery, patented in England in March, 1889, is exhibited at Cnicago. To attain the object in view, t he frame of the machinery consists of an upper and a lower part bolted together. In the upper part are a number of concentric rings, fi tting pretty closely within one another, each ring represent ing the half mould of t he rim of a pulley of corresponding diameter. The~e rings are t he patterns. The respective pattern is raised, by half of the width of the required pulley, iuto the half mould box. A pattern of the half boss and arms having then been placed wit hin the ring in the mould box, the moulding is effected in the usual manner ; the box is then removed, the other ha.lf moulded, the t wo halves are fitted together, and the casting can begin. The details will better be under­stood if we t ake a definite case.

Supposing we have to mould a pulley of 600 milli· metres diameter, 120 millimetres width, 60 millimetres bore, with five straight arms. These dimensions cor­respond to 23.6 in ., 4. 7 in., and 2.4in. The first thing to be done is to move the three ring carriers 16 (Fig. 1) into the position of the ring 3, of 600 millimetres diameter. By t urning the handwheel 25, the plane disc 46, with spiral grooves 44, will be rotated by means of the bevel gearing 21, the la.tter engaging with a set of t eeth screwed to the disc 46. The extended ends of the ring carrier screws 17 (Fig. 2) enter into the grooves 44. These screws being rigidly connected with the carriers 16, the latter move likewise , and slide in the slots of the three-armed piece 18 (li'ig. 1) t owards the circum­ference or towards the centre of the disc. S imul­taneously the upper end of the carrier 16 is pushed in its dovetailed slot, from the one ring 3 to another. The spiral grooves 44 cause the carriers 16 to follow one another in a spiral line. They can, t herefore be centred by adjust ing the screws 17. The handw'heel 25 is t urned until the scale bar 34 (Fig. 2), on which the diameters of all the rings belonging to one set are marked, is brought to the required position, that is until the division 600 millimet res becomes visible. Th~ scale bar , of pentagonal section, is fixed to one of the carriers 16. The ratchet wheel 22 and pawl 23 hold the hand wheel securely .

Jn order now to raise t he pattern ring to the height corresponding to the width of the pulley the screw clamp 33 is loosened, and the wheel 41, sh~ft 30 and pinion 29 are rotated, so that the toothed r ac'k 28 cylinder 26, carrier support 18 resting on it and th~ carriers are raised until the scale-bar 34 r:aches the respective division 120 on the vertical scale 35. We

•

•

• £ N G I N E E R I N G. [OcT. 6, 1893 .

DETAILS OF EXPRESS LOCOMOTIVE: COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION. CONSTRUCTED BY THE NEW

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(For Description, see Page 432.)

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have a.lrea.dy explained that each mould consists of an upper and a lower half, each of half the required width. The ring 3 is therefore raised through half the distance only which the scale indicates. The carriers 16 had previously been adjusted to ~he diameter 600; the r ing will thus, a~so, have been ra1sed, and can now be secured by clampmg the wheel 41 by means ?f the screw 33 which passes through a. segmental slot 1n 32, fixed to the frame 1. This being done, t he central boss 13 and arms 14, straight or curved, are placed on the central pin 38. Boss and arms are separate, so that the boss may be adapted to the bore. ~f the pattern is intended for split pulleys, the boss lS pro­vided with flanges.

The machine being thus prepared, a mo?ld box 10 of suitable dimensions, having three lugs, lS mounted on the studs 5 (Figs. 1, 3, aud 5). In the case ?f smaller pulleys, a special box frame ~r support 12 l S

employed, resting on the stu~s 5, whilst the small~r mould box is held by the spec1al studs 5a. The box l l:!

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OcT. 6, 1893.] ENGINEERING.

DETAILS OF TENDER FOR EXPRESS LOCOMOTIVE: COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION.

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CON TRUCTED BY THE N E\V YORK ENTRAL AND HUDSON

(Fo1· Description, see Page 432. )

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buffer 37 before coming to rest. Further, to obviate any shifting of the rings with regard to one another which would endanger the dovetail grooves, one of th~ supports for the rings 15 et, (Fig. 2) is prismatic at the top, fitting into an angular notch ; any accidental shift would thus be rectified when the ring descends. The other two supports 15 ma.y be fiat. vVhen t he moulding is finished, the box has to be raised off the box. This is done by turning the ring 7 (Fig. 3) by ~ea:ns of. the ~andle 8; the.stucls 5 are pushed up by tnchned rtm p1eces 9 on 7 (F1g. 10), the studs 5 havinO' collars bearing against the underside of the l ugs of th~ mould box, finally lifting the box off the boss 13. The special box frame 12, mentioned above, participates in this motion.

For high bosses, the upper part receives the modified form of Fig. 10; for ordinary bosses, the form, Fig. 1, is emJ?loyed. Extra strong rims can be obtained by applymg cheeks, hoops, or other suitable pieces of iron, brass, &c. , to the pattern ring, or also by raising two rings at the same time. The arms can be thickened by placing packing pieces of sheet metal or cardboard under the pattern s-et of arms. Pulleys with several sets of arms, above one another, are made in more than two parts ; the middle part can be moulded by the same machinery and in the same way, but will have to be provided w ith one set of arms on its upper and one on its lower surface.

\Ve have to add a few remarks. The pattern rings leave sufficient clearance; if they are kept tidy and are well oiled with paraffin now and then, no rusting nor sticking is to be feared. Sandhooks are not required. The sa.nd, not too fine, is well rammed, and need not be especially dried ; the casting operation requires no particular experience. These machines were first fur­nished for diameters from 8 in. to· 40 in. Larger machines up to 60 in., and r ecently even to 80 in. in dia meter have been asked for. These machines are supplied with a limited number of rings, so that pulleys of several diametera may be moulded simul taneously. For greater variations of size, several machines are preferred to one, which would become too complicated. !for diaineters varying between 8 in. and 60 in., dif­ferent firms in Germany, France, &c., use four or five machines.

\Ve are infor med that one man, not a trained moulder, can mould a pulley of 24 in. in diameter and 7 in. in width in twelve minutes, and in a day can turn out moulds for half a ton of pulleys. A first-class man has finished the moulding of a pulley 60 in. in diameter and 8 in. in width in less t han an hour. Split pulleys cause no greater trouble; they may be split a long or between the arms. When everything is kept in good order, the pulleys are said not to require any balancing. This would, of co urse, mean a considerable saving. There is practically no limit to the width obtainable; the mould boxes are d ivided into several compartments to facilit at e the fitting in of several sets of arms.

THE STEAM TRIALS OF THE PACIFIC STEAMER "LIGURTA."

TFIE screw steamer Liguria has completed, with satis­factory results, her s t eam trials, after having her com­pound engines converted to machinery of the triple­expansion principle by Messrs. David Rollo and Son, Liverpool. The vessel, which has, of course, been fitted with new boilers to suit the higher pressure, and has undergone a complete overhaul, belongs to the Pacific S team Navigation Company. She is a s is ter ship to the Iberia, and the alterations now com­pleted are similar in every .respect to those carr~ed o'!t in that vessel, and fully Illustrated and descnbed m our issues of July 21, August 4, and August 18 last (see E NGINEERING, page 206 ante). It is not, therefore, necessary to enter into the details. The cylinders, it m ay be stated, are 33 in., 58 in., and 88 in. in dia­meter, the stroke being 60 in. , and the heating surface in the fou r boilers is 13,200 square feet. The official trials were on September 21, the v~ssell~aving.MorpethD~ck, Birkenhead, shortly before etght o clock 1n the mornmg. The draught forward was 19 ft. 11 in. , and 20 ft. aft, at which the displacement was equal to 6000 t ons. After adjusting compasses, the vessel proceeded past the Bar Lightship, when the engines were opened out to full power. The steam pressure at the boiler was 183 lb., at the intermediate cylinder receiver 65 lb., and at the low-pressure cylinder receiver 14 lb. The vacuum was maintained at 25 in. With the engines running at 72 revolutions, the indicated horse-power worked out to 4535 indicated horse-power, as will be seen from the accompanyin g indicator diagram cards taken during the trial. The average speed from the Bar Lightship to the Skerries was 16 knots, and 16~ knots from thenc? back to the Crosby Light,, a distance of over 100 mlles. The run was htghly satts­fa,ctory, the engines working smoothly.

NOTES FROM THE UNITED STATES. PHILADELPHIA, September 26.

ORDERS for plate and structural material for the past week foot up between 4000 and 5000 tons, abotlt

E N G I N E E R I N G. [OcT. 6, 1893-

INDIC.~.L\.TOR DIAGRAl\18 FROM ENGINES OF S.S. (( LIGURIA."

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INDICATOR DIAGRAMS. I I ·TAKEN ON TRIAL TRIP $£PT '21!1 183.3 I I I t

BodsrSteam 183/bs. M.P.Rece.~verGSibs. L.P.Hec 14/bs. I

I Vucumn 25 Revolut1ons 72 ~peeri 16·2 Knots. I I

Oruf't 13 ' t( Forwt! 20· o'Ah t I

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Total I. H. P. 4535.

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on~-half of whi?h is for one large building in this city. Ra.llmakers est1mate that about 5000 tons of rails have been sold since last week, nearly all in small lots. Pig­iron production is still kept under 90,000 tons per week, or 100,000 tons less than the maximum produc­tion of last spring. The only signs of improvement this week are to be found in the placing of orders for engines, cars, and machinery, which orders were countermanded a few weeks ago. The production of mills is slight ly greater than a mouth ago. Prices are somewhat lower. Rolling mills are increasing output in the west, where the.re is a better feeling. \V ages have been red uced among 1ron and steel workers generally, about 10 per cent. The Cleveland ore market is very dull. S0uthern i ron producers report very dull mar­kets at Cincinnati and St. Louis. Chicago markets are quite ac tive in nails, barbed wire, and sheet iron. Stove and wagon makers are buying material for winter use. The money markets are a l ittle more comfort­able. General manufacturing activity is increasing slightly. Coal production continues in ex cess of last year.

NOTES FROM THE NORTH. GLASGOW, vVednesday.

Glasgow Pig-I ron Market.-Owing to the occurrence of the autumn holiday throughout the Glasgow district, no iron market was held last Thursday. When the market opened on the following day, business was very dull in the forenoon, only some 6000 tons, mostly Scotch, being sold, while the price dropped l ~d. per ton from Wednesday's close. One lot was sold at 42s. 4d. per ton fourteen days. The market was also flat in the afternoon ; Scotch being done at 42s. 2d. cash on Monday, and at 42s. l~d. this week, with a "plant." Towards the close of the market the tone became very weak, 42s. 1~d. per ton cash being done, with sellers over at that price, or 1d. down from the forenoon. Only 2500 tons changed hands altogether. One lot of Cleveland was sold at 34s. lO~d. seven days, with sellers for cash over at that price, or Id. under the forenoon 's finish. The settlement prices at the close were: Scotch iron, 42s. 1~d. per ton; Cleveland, 34s. lO~d. ; Cumberland hermatite iron, 44s. 3d. per ton. On Monday forenoon the market was very dull. Scotch iron, of which 7000 tons were sold, fetched Friday's closing price, 42s. l~d. per ton cash; and sellers were wanting 1d. more per ton at the last. One lot was sold at 42s. one month, with 9d. forfeit in seller's option, and 42s. l~d. one month, with 1s. forfeit in seller's option. 11he market was irregularly in the after · noon, but finished steady. About 7000 tons of Scotch iron were dealt in. In addition to the official business, 500 tons were done at 42s. O~d. per ton Friday, with a " plant, " and 1500 tons at 42s. 5d. one month, with l s. forfeit in buyer's option. A transaction also took placs at 423. 2~d. fourteen days. The settlEimant prices at the cloee were-Scotch iron, 42s. 3d. per ton; Cleveland, 35s. ; Cum­berland and Middlesbrough hematite iron, respectively, 44s. 4~d. and 43s. ~d. per ton. The warrant market was moreactiveon Tuesday forenoon,and the feeling was firmer. Several lots of Scotch iron changed bands at 2d. per ton advance, at 42s. 5d. Cleveland iron, while idle, rose 3d., and hematite warrants rose from 1~d. to 7~d. per ton. At the afternoon market the tone was easier, Scotch dropping to 42d. 3~d. cash. In all, some 10,000 tons changed hands. Tbe closing settlement prices were­Scotch iron, 42s. 3d. per ton: Cleveland, 35s. ; Cumber­land and :Middlesbrough hematite iron, respectively, 44s. 4~d. and 43s. 4~d. per ton. The market was quiet this forenoon, with scarcely any business done till near the close, when a. mod~ra.te quantity of iron changed hands. The tone wae a shade steadier, Scotch and Cumberland iron being ~d. up in price. In the afternoon the market was fi rmer, Scotch iron rising 1! d. per ton, and Cleve­land ~d. per ton. The following are the current quota­tions for several special brands of makers' iron, No. 1 : Gartsherrie, 49s. per ton; Summerlee, 49s. 6d. ; Calder,

.--.ean Pres . I. H.P. 1493 Scule h.

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

50s. ; Langloan, 55s. 6d. ; Coltness, 56s. 6d.-the fore­going all shipped ab Glasgow ; Glengarnock (shipped at .Arc1rossan), 49s. 6d. ; Shotts (shipped at Leith), 51s. (id.; Carron (shipped at Grangemouth}, 53s. Gd. per ton. Last week's shipments of pig iron from all Scotch ports amounted to 4224 tons, as compared with 7626 tons in the corresponding week of last year. They included 675 tons for Canada, 140 tons for South America, 232 tons for India, 335 tons for Australia, 695 tons for Italy, 488 tons for Germany, 425 t ons for Hol­land, smaller quantities for other countries, and 650 tons coastwise. U p till the end of last week there were still 39 blast furnaces in active operation, against 78 at the same time last year. Two were making basic iron, 13 were working on hematite ore, and the re­maining 24 were making ordinary iron. The stock of pig iron in M essrs. Connal and Co.'s public warrant s tores stood at 331,763 tons yesterday afternoon, as compared with 333,005 tons yesterday week, thus show­ing for the past week a decrease amounting to 1242 tons.

Calder Blast Furnaces.-After being out of blast for about four weeks, four furnaces have again been blown in at Calder Iron Works, and the ammonia-recovering plant connected with the works has also been put into practical operation, as sulphate of ammonia is now commanding a. good price, several pounds per ton better than the lowest level reached in the course of this year.

Finished b·on and Stetl.-Iron bars and sheets are at present in brisk demand, both for the home trade and for export. Common bars have lately been selling at from 5l. 5s. to 5l. 12s. 6d. per ton, and best bars up to 6l. 2s. 6d. S hipbuilding steel is in demand, and some heavy lots are reported to be in course of negotiation, builders endea­vouring to lower prices, while makers are firm owing to dear fuel.

Clyde Shipbuilding Trade: L a,unches During September. - This branc:h of loca! trade suffered consi~era;b~y during the past, owmg to a d1spute between the shtp JOiners and the carpenters a.s to their respective boundaries of work in the construction and finishing of a ship, and which resulted in the lock-out of some hundreds of workmen. This circumstance had the effect of limiting the month 's output of new work, which was between 18,000 and 19,000 tons, made up of ten steamers and eight sailing ships. In the corresponding month of last year the output was quite 21,000 tons greater, but a large portion of that extra ton­nage was due to the fact that the Campania was included in that month's launches. L ast month's largest steamer waR the Shenandoah, 4000 tons, built by Messrs. Alex­ander Stephen and Sons for the Chesapeake and Ohio Steamship Company, Limited, L ondon. None of the other steamers included in the month's output were of any very special note as regards kize or anything else. The sailing vessels ranged up to 2250 tons.

Ne·w Shipbuilding Contracts.- The contracts for new vessels reported during the past week include a large steamer, a vessel of 1250 tons g-ross, for the Clyde and Baltic trade of lVIessrs. J. and J. Denholm, Greenock, the order having been placed with Messrs. Scott and Co., of the same port; a s teel screw steamer of 250 tons, which Messrs. J ohn Shearer and Son, Glasgow, ha.ve contracted to build for the Irish coasting trade; and a steel screw steamer which is to b£: built by Messrs. H . M'Intyre and Co. , who have lately acquired Kelliebank Shipyard, Allo!t. It is also said that an order for two new steamers for one of the Clyde rail way passenger fleets has just been placed, but concerning which no details are yet available. It 1s said, however, that the steamers are to ha Ye a speed that is not equalled by any others at present afloat.

R oyal Scottish Society of .Arts.- A meeting of this society was h eld in Edinburgh on lVIonday night, 1\tlr. Alexander L eslie, C.E ., president, in the chair, when reports by committees were submitted on papers read before the society last session. The awards will by-and­bye be announced.

Additional R efuse Destructo1·s for Edinburgh.-Quite recently a refuse destructor, the first of its kind, was

OcT. 6, I 893.] • •

brought into practical. use i.n Edinburgh, a?~ it has give? such an amount of sat1sfact10n to th~ mum01pal authon­t ies that sites in other parts of the 01ty have been looked for two additional establishments of the same sort-one of them to cost 7250t., and t he other 21, OOOZ. for ground alone.

NOTES FROM CLEVELAND AND THE NORTHERN COUNTIES.

MIDDLESBROUGH, W ednesday. The Oteveland I ron Trade.-Y esterday Lhere was a

pret ty large attendance o~ 'Change, and early i~ the.d.ay the market was strong-, ~1th a go_od nnmuer of mqutr~es and a fair amount of busmess domg, but later on affau s eased again, and .buyers were rather,.. b.1.ckward. A t the opening, tra.nsact10ns occurred at 3os. 1~d: ~or prompt f 0 b delivery of No. 3 g. m.b. Cleveland p1g 1ron, and a s~l~ ~r t wo was recorded at 35s. 3d. , few makers being prepared to accept less than the latter figure. Towards the close however. buyers were not disposed t o give more than 35s: for No. 3, and little l;msi~ess was done, as se~l~rs were not inclined to reduce thetr pr10e. The lower quahttes were rathoc easier, No. 4 foundry being obtainable at ~3s . 6d. and grey forge at 32s. Gd., bu t some firms would not sell at quite such low figures as these. Middlesbrough warrants opened a t 35s. 2d., but closed weakish at 35s. cash buyers. ~ f~irly sat isfactory acc:oun.t was g i v~n of tho hematite p1g tron trade, and deh vrrtes were sa1d to be good notwitbstand in~ the closing of the Sheffield market.' The general pnce named for early delivery of Nos. 1. 2, and 3 make!s' easb c~ast brands w~s 43s. 3d. Spanish ore was qutet. Rubto was obtamable at between 12s. and 12s. 3d., ex-ship Tees. To-day the market was very quiet, and quotations were practically unchanged. For prompt No. 3 the price was 35s. to ~5s. 3d. Middlesbrough warran ts closed 35J. O~d. cash buyers. Ma~e ami Disposal of Pig I ron.- Y esterday Mr. J ohn

Dennington, secretary to the Cleveland Ironmasters' Association issued the monthly report from the a.ssocia­tion's office's at Iv!iddlesbrough, showing the make and dispost~.l of pig iron during September. They show tha", ab the end of last month, of the 143 furnaces built 89 were blowing. This is a decrease in the number of furnacEs built of eight, and of the number blowing of one, as com­pared with the number a t the end of September last year. There has been no change during the month . The number of furnaces on Cleveland pig at the end of the month was 49, ag~inst 50 at the end of Au~ust. a decrease of one. The number of furnaces on hematlte at the end of September was 40, as against 39 at the end ? f ~ug~st, an increase of one. The make of Cleveland p1g Iron m the port of Middlesbrough was 100,483 tons, as against 103,402 tons in August. a. decrease of 2919 t ons. Outside the port the make of Cleveland pig was 12,835 tons, as against 13,814 tons in August, a decrease of 979 tons. The make for the whole district was 113,318 t ons, as against 117,216 tons in August, a decrea~e of 3898 tons. The make of other kinds of pig, includ ing hematiteJ spiegel, and basic pig- iron, was 116,990 tons, as against 116,215 tons in August, an increase of 775 t ons. The total make of all kinds was 230,308 tons, as compared witb 233,431 tonll, a decrease of 3123 tons. Makers' stocks of p ig iron in the port of :Middlesbrough at the end of September were 100,618 tons, against 103,086 tons at the end of the pre­ceding month, a decrease of 2468 tons. Makers' stocks outside the port were 5002 tons, against 5805 tons at the end of August, a decrease of 803 tons. The tot al for the whole district was 105,620 tons, against 108,891 tons at the end of August, a decrease of 3271 tons. .1\'lakers' stores amounted to 1342 tons, against 2232 tons a t the end of August, a decrease of 890 tons. Pig iron in public stores was-North-Ea-stern Company's stores, 2065 tons, against 2315 tonfl at August 31; Connal's stores, 87, 966 tons, against 88,294 tons at the end of A ugust; totals, 196,993 tons at end of September, 201,732 tons at end of August ; decrease, 4739 tons.

.!Jfanujactu1·ed Iron and Steel.-D uring the week hardly any change has taken place in the manufactured iron and steel trades. Although most of the establishmenta keep fairly busy, new orders are very scarce, and prospects are certainly not encouraging. There are firms who might accept work at ra ther ltss t han the following market rates: C~mmon.iron bars, 4t. 17s. 6d.; iron ship plates, 4Z. 15s. ; 1ron sh1p angles, 4l. 12s. 6d. ; steel ship plates 5l. 2s. 6d. ; and steel ship angles, 4l. 15s.- all ]ess th~ usual ~ per cent. discount for cash. For heavy sections of steel rails, 3t. 17s. 6d. net at works is still asked but orders might be placed at a little below that figure. '

September I ron Sh?'pments f rom the T ees.-The returns of the shipments of pig iron and manufactured iron and steel from Middlesbrough for September show a total in· crease of 2108 tons as compared with S~ptember, 1R92, and ~ tons above A ugust, 1893. The t otal clearances coast~1se were 3~, 727 tons for l~st mol?- th, and 35,592 tons m the precechng .month: :W•th a . smgle exception, ~hat of 1891, so far t hts year s ts the h1ghest quantity of tron sent to Scotland in the corresponding nine months of any year during the last decade. The total of last month'~ coastwise shipm~nts amounted to 44,251 tons, as agamst ~4, 597 tons 1n the previous month, and 52,729 to~s m September, 1891. The shipments out­ward durmg the month j ust ended reached the total of 74,442 tons, C<?mpared with 7~,972 tons in August. U~9~, and . 63,972 m Se.ptember of 1892. The quantity of fore~gn. shtpm~nts ~f ptg w~ 55 2:-36 tons. The ahipment:J o~ ptg u on to If:!dta, Russta, Germany, and China are htgh, and two-thtrds of the whole of the finished steel went to Ru~sia a~d India. 67,716 tons of pig iron have gone to Ru~s1a durmg the pasb nine months, the highest

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

shipments to that country since 1833. T he total ship­ments, both foreign and coastwise, of all classes were 118,693 tons, as against 118,569 tons for the previous month, and 116,585 tons in the corresponding period of last year. D uring the past tAn years the total shipments for the nine months have only been once beaten-vir.., in 1883.

The F uel Trade.-On Newcastle Exchange a brisk and full demand is reported for steam and gas coal. The pits are working fully, and high prices are asked for such lots as are obtainable for early delivery. Best Northumbrian steam is quoted 14s. f.o.b., and even more is said to have been paid . Small steam, 53. 6d. t o 6s. Coke steady. H ere about 12s. 6d . is generally mentioned for blast fur­nace qualities delivered at Cleveland works.

NOTES FROM SOUTH YORKSHIRE. SHEFFIELD, W ednesday.

Charles CammelZ and Co. , L imited.-A tJ a meeting of the directors of this company it haR been decided to pay an instalment on account of dividend for the current year of 2Z. per share on the ordinary shares and 10s. per share on the A and B shares, being at the same ra te as was ps.id at the corresponding period of last year.

Sheffield Exports to the United States.-The q.,uarterly return of exports to the U nited States from the :Sheffield consular district shows a serious falling-off as compared with the corresponding period of last year . The total export of all classes of goods during the quarter ended September 30 was 74,551Z. 17s., against 122,445l. the pre· vious three months. In cutlery there is a decline of nearly 60001. , the fi gures for the past quarter being 25, 146l. , against 30,974l. during the corresponding quarter of 1892. S teel shows a reduction of 29,000l., the exports for last quarter only amounting to 40,613l.

The Dore and Chinley Raitway.-A party of engineers has been t aken a p reliminary run over the Dore and Chinley Railway, which it is hoped will be shortly opened for goods traffic. The new line is 20 miles long, has cost nearly a million of money, and has been in course of construct ion for nearly five years. The Totley and the Cowburn tunnels are t wo of its most expensive features. The former has become famous as an engineer­ing success, taking second place to the Severn T unnel in point of length, but coming out first as an achievement over natural obstacles. It is 6200 yards long, and runs under P adley Hill, which contained a combination of natural reservoirs t hat were constantly being tapped. In the tunnel the water has been t urned into deep cul verts, and may be 3een at Totley Brook running with a regular force of over 700 gallons a minute. This portion of the work, and as far as H ope, has been undertaken by Mr. Thomas Oli ver, con t ractor, from thence to the terminus by Mr. J. P . E dwards. The largest viaduct is at Chinley. The resident engineers for Messrs. P arry and Storey, of Nottingham and Derby- (the Midland Company's engi­neers), are Mr. P ercy R ickard, M.I.C.E ., on the fi rst part, and Mr. G . E . Storey on the last sect ion.

I ron and S teel.-The condition of trade, so far as the heavy industries are concerned, is lamentable. Many of the largest industrial establishments in the district have suspended operations pending a return to regular supplies of fuel at rea.c:;onable prices, and the losses must be very severe. In the mean t ime large orders for bar, sheet, and marine material are being placed elsewhere, and perma­nent damage is being done to the trade of the di~tricb. Nearly all the blast furnaces are damped down or blown out. F ew orders for railway material need now be ex­pected from the home companies, so that the outlook in this direction is discouraging. Converters of crucible cast steel have fair lines in band, but are very short of suit­able qualities of coke. Eng ineering firms are suffering severely.

The Coal D i.fficulty.-There is a slight alteration in the condition of things since last report , as coal is coming in from Durham, but there are complaints all round as to its quality. As a large number of men have returned t o work a t the old prices in the adjacent Derbyshire coal­field, and 6000 in South Yorkshire, some relief is shortly expected. Those working will have to pay a levy of 1s. a day towards the maintenance of the men who are " out." The colliers in this district are as determined as ever to accept no reduction whatever. House coal is falling in value, and it is believed that in a day or two engine coal will also decline in price. The p it proprietors who are allowing their . ~en to retur~ to work are reaping a rich harvest , and 1t 1s very certam that the solidarity of the pitowners' combination is jeopardised.

NOTES FROM THE SOUTH-WEST. Cardiff.-Steam coal has continued firm, and it is

expected that prices will be maintained all through this month. The best descriptions have been making 14s. 6d. to 15s. per ton, while secondary qualit ies have brought 13s. 6d. to 14s. per ton. H ousehold coal has been in rather increased demand ; No. 3 Rhondda large has made 13s. 6d. per ton. The iron and steel trades have remained inacti ve ; heavy section steel rails have been making 3l. 12s. 6d. to 3l. 15s. , while light section ditto have br_ought 4l. 10s. t o 4l. 17s. 6d . per ton. Coke has been fa1rly ateady; foundry qualities have made 20s. 6d. to 2l s: per ton, and furnace d itto 18s. t o 19s. 6d. per t on. The tmplate trade has shown some depression.

W~st G'louce~tershire Water Company.-The half-yearly meetmg of thts company was held at Bristol on Satur­day, Mr. E. Horton in the chair. Mr. E . D. Marten the engineer, reported that although on some days during the recent drought the consumption of water by cus-

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tomers had been nearly double the . normal, yet in all that dry time pumping operattons had never lowered the level of the water in the well a t F rampton Cotterell pumping station more than 29 ft. on~ of a. total depth of 340 ft. This was sa tisfactory, affordmg further evidence that the springs which yield the supply of wat~r are practically inexhaustible. The direct ors _obser ved 1n tbetr report : " D uring t he six months endmg S~ptem­ber 2, 1893, 582 additional services had been I_a1d on, making the number of h0uses and other propert1es ~up­plied by t he company on that date 4510, and wh10b, together with Aome meter and other miscellaneous sup ­plies, are estimated to produce a water rental of 3515l. 18s. per annum. To th is must be added 50l. per annum for rent of property belonging to t he company, t hus making the total estimated income on that d ate 3565t. 18s. per annum. This is an increase of 310l. 12s. 4d. d uring the past six months, and is greater than that for the corresponding period of 1892 by about 20 per cent., th us showing that the demand for the company'~ w!l't er is steadily on the increase. The erection of new bUtldmgs upon land along the route of the company'z:~ mains has been maintained with increasing activity." The report was adopted, and a d ividend was declared for the past half· year at the ra te of 1 per cent. per annum.

Wages in Wales.- A meeting of the S liding Scale J oint Committee of the Monmouthshire and South W ales Col­lieries Associat ion was held at Card iff on Saturday, under the presidencyof Mr. W . Abraham, MP. The auditors' report showed that the price of coal had ad vanced con­siderably, but owing to the str ike and heavy contracts entered into by the coalowners in Decemb~r, 1892, the average selling p rice would only enable them to declare an advance of l i per cen t. in colliers' wages. D uring the strike the output had been very considerably diminished, and nearly all the coal h ad been absorbed to carry out cont racts entered into in December, and, therefore, ab the price which ruled then. The next aud it would show a considerable ad vance in colli~rs' wages.

The "Agamemm.on. "-The Agamemnon, line-of-battle ship, made a steam t rial of her machinery off Plymout h on lt riday. The trial. which proved satisfactory, was carried out under the d irection of Mr. R . Burridge, fteeb engineer of the ship, and Mr. A. W . R arvey, fleet engi­neer, represent ing the chief inspector of machinery. Gun t rials were also carried out to test the efficiency of the mount ings. Eight rounds were fi red from each gun, and the mountinga wi thstood the test satisfactorily.

The "Centur ion. "-The natural draught trial of the Centurion, l ine-of-battle ship, proved successful, the con­tract for 9000 horse-power being exceeded by 703. The vessel's mean draught on trial was 25~ ft. , and her a verage speed during the eight hours' run was 17! knots per hour by patent log. The coal consumption was 1.9 lb. per indicated horse-power per hour. The Centurion has a displacement of 10,500 tons, while her engines, supplied by _th~ Greenock F oundry Comp~ny, have been designed t o md10ate 13,000 horse-power w1th forced draught. H er cost for hull and machinery will be about 608, 000l. H er armament will consist of four 29-ton guns, ten 4.7-in. quick -firing guns, and a formidable array of l ight wea pons and machine guns, besides two submerged t orpedo tubes. The forced draught tri1tl, which followed the natural d raught trial, was less successful, as the engines did not develop t heir contract force of 13,000 horse-power. A further trial will be carried out in about a fortnight, and it is expected that the con tract power will be ultimately at tained.

CATALOGUE.-W e have received from 1fessrs. Smith and Grace, of 35, queen Victoria-street, L ondon, E. C., a copy of their new ca~alog.ue of pull.eys, shafting, plummer blocks, and other mtllwr1ghts' fi ttmgs. The catalogue is well illustrated and very completely priced, and should therefore prove part icularly useful to Continental and other buyers.

WILLANS MEMORIAL Fu.Nn.-W e are asked to m&ntion that the subscript ion lists for this fund will be closed on November 1, so that any engineers or others who intend to send in subscriptions, and have not done so should do 'so at once: Mr. :Alexander Siemens, 12, Quee~ Anne's-gat t>, W estmmster, I S the treasurer of ~he commit.tee. It may be reme~ber~d that the ~ro~osal 1s to estabhah a fund in connectiOn wtth the Inst1tut10ns of Mechanical and Elec­tr!cal Engineers, from the interest of which a premium m1~ht be awarded fo.r papers r elat ing to the subjects whtch the late Mr. W tllans made so peculiarly his o wn.

NaVAL EXHIBITION AT SouTHAMPTON.- An important ~aval E xhibition, the larges t held in the southern coun­ttes, was opened on the 3rd insb. Professor Biles deli­v~red an address on the exhibits, which are thoroughly repr~sentati ve of every department of the mercantile marine.. H e traced the history of the shipbuilding enterpnse, and contrasted the early efforts with those of lat er days. H e wanted to see such exhibit ions opened throughout the leng th and breadth of the land t o secure the supp ort of the whole country in the adva~cement of ~he mercantile marine interests. P eople in districts far ~nland c~uld. not. take tha b interest they otherwise would m the shtppmg mdustry. We were more interested in what happened on the sea than on the land and the more :ve could do to excite the interest of the 'Reople in the Importance of tbe mercantile marine of E ngland the more wo~ld .we be able to maintain that supremacy ~hich made th1~ tsland home one of the most glorious of modern ~~~es. Most of the large shipping companies sent exh1b1ts, and some fine models of the lat~?st-built vessels from Glas~o~! the Tyne, and other shipbuilding centres are on exh1b1t10n.

422 E N G I N E E R I N G. [OcT. 6, r 893.

ACCIDENT ON THE OLD COLONY RAILROAD AT CHESTER, :MASS., U.S.A. (For Desc'ription, ~e P age 424.)

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OcT. 6, 1 893.]

AGENTS FOR "ENGINEERING." . , ,. · 1 ehmann and Wentzel, l{!irntnerstrnsse.

AUSTRIA, tenna. . ~ d G ' "h C Tows · Cordon an Ow ·

;\PE • • M , · and eo 1'> IIa.no,•er ·street. EDJ~'lH!ROII: .J?h"o .~~:~e nnd Ch~\iU~t, Librnit;e Elrang~re, 22, FRA~CB,?t~nJ~n:u~; ~i. Em. Terquem, 3lbls Boulevard llau smann. !rs~ ~or A<h·erlisemenls, Agence linms, 8, Place de la Bourse.

("ee l.leloBw.)l . . 'le l'S A A her and Co. 5 Unlel· den Linden. GER~IAXY er m . "' . . • ' '

' J,eipzig : F. A. Brockhaus. Mulhou e : H . t.uckelberger.

cusoow : WiUiam Lo,·e, . l NDlA Calcutta: Thncker, pmk, an~ qo.

' Do m hay : Tho.cker and Co., Lum le~. ITALY : u. Iloepli, Milan, and ~ny pos~ ollice. LI\'ERrOOL: llrs. Ta.ylor, Landm? laoe. a M \NCHESTBR: J ohn Ileywood, H 3, Dean .,nte. N~w Ol'Tll W .\L&', ydne~: Turner a~d !!'cnd~rson , 16 and 18,

Hunter-street. Gord~n and Gotch , 0 eOt o e·, t1 eel. QL· ~~SL.\N D ( ourn) B11 ' bane: Cordon and Gotch.

• {~ORTu)', Town '' ille : T. \\'illmett and Co. ROTTERD.\)! : H . A. Kramer nnd ~n .. souru At'STRALIA Adelaide: W. C. Rtl:{by . UNITBD T\TE.S, N'ew York: W. H . Wiley, 53, East ~Oth·s~re~t.

' • Chica.go: II. Y. Ilolme , 44, Lakes1de Building._ VICTORIA, ~hLBOl'RNS: l\Ieh ille,_ M_ullen and ' lade, 261/264, Colhns­

street. Gordon and Gotch, Lmuted, Queen- treet. ----NOTICE TO A:'IIERiyAN UB ~R:IBER ·,

we beg to announce that Amen can ub~crtplt_on to 'ENOINBERrNO , now he addre sed eit.hcr direct to t.he puhltsher t 1\I R.. CuAR.LBS

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d M II. v. llolmes, 44, Lake ·1de Bullcltng, Chtcago. The an·ces ~f ub cription (payable in advance) for one_Yeat· a re.: For r~:n (foreign) paper edition, ll. 16 . Od. ; for thiCk (ordinary) paper edition, 2l. os. 6d.,. or if remitted to Agenls, 9 dollars for thin anrl 10 dollat·s for th1ck. -

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ENGI~TEERING can he supplied, direct from the publisher, po t free for Twelve Months at the following rates, payable in advance:-

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

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01Bce for Publication and Advertisements, Nos. 86 and 36, Bedford-street. Strand. London. W.C.

TELEORAPUIC ADDRKSS- ENGINEERING, LONDON. TELEPIIO~E NUMBKR- 3663.

ENGINEERING is registered for transmission abroad.

CONTENTS. PAOE PAGE

The British Association. . . . 407 1 The Disposal of _Refuse . . . • 428 The Engineering Congress Morley Met~onal College

at Chicago . .. . ..... . .... 409 for Workmg Men and The Iron and St('el l nstit.ute 412 \Yemen .. . .... . .. . ....• 428 Tbe Tower Bridge (l llus- Mari ~e Engine Ind~ca.tor .. 428

tratert) . . . . ....... . .... ~ 417 Ma.chtce Constrcotton and 90- In. Gun Lathe(Illm.) .. 417 Drawing, 1893 . ... .. .. .. 428 Tipping· Boxes for Deposit- Steam Fishing Smacks . . . . 4 28

ing Concrete acks at. La. Ball Bearings for Thrust Guaira Breakwater (ll- Blocks (l lltUtrated) .. .. . 429 lu.,trated) .... .. . . ...... 417 Beam Engines for Padd!e

laissle's Pullt>y · Moulding Steamers .. ........ .. .. 429 Ma~hine (Itlust,·ated) ... 417 Miscellanea . . . . . . . . . . . • • 430

Toe Steam Trials of the Diagrams of Three Mont hs' Pa~ific Steamer "Ligu- Fluctuations in Prices of ria " (lllmtrated) ...... 420 Metals ............ .. .... 4 ~0

Notes from the United Open - Spindle C a. p s t a. n States .......... . ....... 420 Lathe (l llmtrated) ...... 431

Notes from the NorLh . . . . 420 Welch's Nut Lock (Ill-us. ) 431 Notes from Cleveland and lndtutrial Notes .. .. ... ... 431

the Northern Counties .. 421 Ticket Ca.nrt>lling, Datin~, Notes from South Yorkshire 421 and Regiatering Machine Notes from the South-West 421 (ntustrated) ...... ..... . 432 The Classification of Rail- Locomotive at the Colurc-

way Passengers ........ 423 bian Exposit ion {l llus-The Chester Bridge Disaster t rated) . . . . . . . • • • . • . . . . • 4 32

(lllmtrated) ••..•...... . 424 The Waste of Heat in Iron The Weather of September, Smelting (lUusttated) .. 433

1893 ....... .... ..... . ... 425 On the Manufa.oture of Basic Brhish Colonies at Chicago 425 teel at Witkowi tz . . . . . . 435 American Universities at Peterhea.d Harbour Im-

the Columbian Expo&ition 426 provf:ments . . . . . . . . . . . . 436 Notes ................ .. . . 427 Launcb~s and T• ial Trips .. 436 Note on a New Testing " Engineering" Patent Re·

.Machine at Unh·ersity cord (Illmtrated) ... . ... • 437 College, Nottingham .... 428

With a T wo-Page Engraving of THE TOWER BRIDGE: DETAILS OF P I ERS.

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

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

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

The Publlsher begs to announce that a Reprint Is now ready of the Descriptive Matter and Illustra­tions contained In the issue of ENGINEERING of April 21st, comprising over 130 pages, with nille two -page and four single. page Plates, printed throughout on special Plate paper. bound In cloth, gUt lettered. Price 6s. Post free. 6s. 6d. The ordi· nary edition of the issue of AprU 21st Is out of print.

NOTICES OF MEETINGS. LONDON ASSOCIATION OF FORElfEN ENOINEERB AND DRAUGBTShlEN.

-Saturday October 7, general meetinJr, at 7 p.m. , in Cannon· street Hotei. Paper nt 8 by Mr. John E. Reid, "A Trip to Chicago and Back."

NOR.TH OF E.~GLAND I NSTITUTE OF MINI~G AND M ECUANWAL ENGtNEERB.- Sa.turda.y, October 14, in the Wood Memoriai Ha.n, Newcastle-upon-Tyne a.t two o'clock. An address will be deli vered by the Prt>slden t, M~. ~· L. Steavenson. The fol~o~ving papers will be open tor discussiOn : " Queensland Coal-Mmmg, and the Method adopted to 0' ercome an Underground !<'ire," by Mr. Eel ward . Wright; "The Geology and Coal Deposits of Natal," by MT. R. A. s. Redma.yne; "Corliss-Enginoo Fan at Seghill Colliery " by Mr. C. C. Leaoh. The following papers will be taken as read~ li Mining Explosives: Their Defin i tion as Authorised under the Explosives Act, 1876," by Mr. A. C. Ka.~·ll; u Note on the Antimon) Deposit of El Altar Sonoro, Mexico," oy Mr. Edwa.rd Ha lee ; u The Choice of Coarse and Fine Crushing Machinery and Processt>s of Ore Treatment.-Parb V., continued," by Mr. A. G. Cha.rleton.

portions to the total are. stea~ily decreasing. ~n analysis of the figures gtven _In n. rece!lt Pa~ha­mentary return shows that 1n the United Kmg­dom, for instance, there were out of every ,100 passenaers fourteen or fifteen years ago, 1 of the fir~t 11 of the second, and 82 of the third ciass. Now the third class ha.ve ad­vanced to close upon 90 per cent., w lule the first class stands at 3! per cent., and the second class at about 7.15 per cent. It is sai~, ho":ever, that Scotland, having in large measure d1scontu:ued booking second-class passenger~ on the home hnes, is responsible for much of tlus decrease ; but an examination of the figures for England alone - where with the exception of the Midland and Hull a~d Barnsley, all the leading lines book second-class passengers- does n.ot show any apJ?re­ciable difference from those apphcable to the United Kingdom, as given. Indeed, _the di~eren?es are purely fractional so that there IS no gainsaying the fact that second-~lass passengers are being absorbed not by the first class but by the third class, and that half of the passengers who forme.rly trave~led first ao now in the second, but mostly 1n the thud-

o . class carnage.

ENGINEERING. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 6, 1893.

THE CLASSIFICATION OF RAILWAY PASSENGERS.

A CAREFUL observer of the composition of rail­way trains leaving any of our great stations ca,nnot have helped noticing the growing tendency towards the preponderance of the third-class passenger, moce especially in the ordinary, as distinct from the "daily-breaders', trains, in the latter of which season ticket holders predominate. And in this case there is no choice, for many lines do not issue third-class season tickets. But the full significance of this tendency is not appreciated by the rail way companies, or, if it is, they seem lax in attempt· ing to arrive at a means of arresting it. It may be urged that the spirit of the age trends t owards equality, or rather towards a belief in equality, and that this phase of railway travelling is but an item in a great transformation or Equalisation. Certainly that idea is advanced to explain the change. It can only be, however, by theorists or dreamers. The characteristics which of old divided society into three great sections, still pre­vail, although, perhaps, not to the sa.me ex.tent, and if the composition of a rail way train seems to prove the contrary, it is accidental. The change is duo rather to the desire to get full value for every shilling spent. P erhaps this economy is a necessity consequent on the standard of living. The working class or the masses, by reason of their great numbers, have exerted a power over the railway companies where corn· petition is operative, and have thus secured many successive concessions towards comfort and ac­c :>mmodation as well as in cheap fares, and while these improvements were being made no correspond­ing change was Introduced in the conditions of tra veiling for the second or first class, with the result that now practically the third-class passenger has all t he advantages of the second, without paying the extra fare. '\Vhat wonder is it that the second­class passenger should consider the want of return for the extra charge, and act accordingly 1 More­over , the effect of first and second class passen­gers going third now tends to an increase in the demand for additional comfort, for the experience of past ea.se engenders something like discontent with altered conditions. F or the less fare of the lower class the passenger not infrequently expects the same accommodation. The shareholder, there­fore, stands to lose, whereas there might be gain if something were done to conserve the second class.

That there is a steady diminution in the number, not only of the second but of the first class pas­senger, there can be little doubt. I t is true that as regards the actual number there is apparently little falling off in England, but it must not be forgotten that t here has been a great increase in the total number of passengers in recent years, and the pro-

Pe'r Cent. of Total Number of Passengers in Respective Classes.

1879. 1892.

-First. Second. I Third. First. Second. Third.

England • • 6.5 11.3 82.2 3.27 7.43 89.3 Sootland . . 11.05 7.45 81.5 5. 3 .92 93.8 Ireland .. • • 10 23.3 66.7 6.63 18.57 74.8 Unitedi<ingdom

1 6.9 11.1 82 3.54 I 7.16 89.3

Even in Ireland, where the first and second class passengers are more numerous, the decreasing ten­dency is very pronounced. In the case of Ireland, by the way, the number of passengers is relatively very small. Last year, for instance, each inhabitant made but five railway journeys, whereas in Scotland each head of the population made, on an average, twenty railway journeys, and in England and vVales the number of passengers is equal to twenty-six times t he population. In Ireland the rail way system is not developed to the same extent as in England-it would be better for the country and its industries if it were ; and there, at all events, the belief in ec1uality, which so characterises the age, has not ex­tended itself to rail ways. At the same time, how­ever, it must be admitted that the significance of the figures given is in great measure minimised by the travelling incidental to the great size of London. A passenger travelling from Charing Cross to the Temple, or to Westminster , a distance of less than a mile, is accounted in the figures given as equal to the passenger travelling from London to J ohn-o'­Groat's, although the latter goes five or six hundred times the distance, and pays proportionately. The metropolitan underground system is accountable for nearly one-seventh of t.he total passengers on all English and '\Velsh lines. and to this must be added the urban, if not also suburban, traffic of the other dozen lines taking their millions of passengers from London. In London the dis­tances are short, and the difference in fares there­fore small, so that as a rule many t ravel first or second to obviate the chance of associating with a sailor who has just landed at the docks, and who regards it as necessary to maintain the traditions of Jack ashore ; while the working man, however tolerable his company under ordinary circum­stances, is not the n1ost acceptable fellow-passenger when he has his working- perhaps oily-garments on. The practice of allowing workmen to return in ordinary trains with workmen's tickets, which ob­tains in the metropolis, accounts also for a prefer­ence for the second class by many. These and other considerations, which need not be enlarged upon explain the comparatively low percentage of third~ class passengers on trains which we may tern1 metropolitan. In some cases the percentaae of ~hird-class _p~ss.engers is as low as 75 per cent.7 and 1n no case 1s 1t over 85, and that only in cases where outside traffic accounts largely for the totals ; while, as we shall show presently, the ratio of second-class reeeipts to the total are much greater on the London lines, running up t o 20 per cent. The s~m~ conditions do not obtain in the large pro­v1nc1al towns, for, as a rule, the working men live close to their employ, and when they travel for pleasure, are generally neatly dressed. I t follows therefore, that the number of passengers carried scarcely represents the true state of the case,

•

since n1a.ny will travel second or third class on a short journey and yet go third when on a journey of say more than forty miles, the chance of un­welcome fellow-passengers being minimised. One proof of this is the abolition of the second-class carriages on the t hree L ondon and Scotch lines, where the paucity of passengers in this class was very pronounced formerly. The diff-erence in fare between third and second clasg is so great t hat few consider the extra advantage which consists solely in a carpet on the fl oor, and perhaps a slightly better cover and finer hair in the cushions, but with no extra accommodation. Practically all is quite as good in the third class, and the chance of unsociable or unpleasant companions nearly about the same.

As the P arliamentary r eturns do not give t he mileage of passengers, either in the aggregate or under the respective classes, the receipts must form a basis for determining the relative proportions of the traffic by the classes. Last year the first-class passengers paid 3.12 millions, the second class 2. 37 millions, and the t hird class 22.21 millions, season tickets being excluded for the present. Thirteen years ago first-class passengers paid nearer four millions and second class 3!, the de­crease apparently being slight. But when one t akes into consideration the enormous develop­ment in traffic, the decrease is most pronounced. The first class, if t.hey had advanced in the same proportion as the total passenger receipts, would have paid 5.34: millions instead of 3.12 millions, while the second class should have paid 4. 75 millions, instead of 2.37 millions, or exactly dou1)1e. Any reduction in fares can only account for a very small proportion of this apparent decrease, and does not affect the general transposition. It is easy to under­stand the enormous increase in the third class, where the receipts last year were 22.21 millions, instead of being 19 millions, if t hey had only in­creased at the same rat io as thE-' t otal. In other words, traffic representing 3.2 millions, which at 1d. per mile works out to 768 million miles, went by third class instead of first and second class, and the railway companies thus lost the surplus fare­about 1t millions sterling- minus the first cost and upkeep of the superior carriages. All other charges are about the same, and the difference in the price of carriages is now very small, for the third-class passenger is continually demanding concessions, and his comfort is attended to with as much solicitude as that of t he first class. This is particularly so on the long - distance lines, where all the conveniences of t he first class are provided. The dining cars introduced on the Scotch line at the time of the abolition of the second class are proof. They may indeed help towards a s till further reduction in firs t-class travelling, for should they prove a success, as is very probable, similar arrangements will, in all likelihood, be adopted in many other trains. An advantage once conceded and appreciated must be extended.

Of the total received for ordinary passenger tickets-excluding season-ticket receipts- 80.3 per cent. comes from passengers travelling third class, 8 .5 per cent. from the second class, and 11.2 per cent. from t he first class, whereas thirteen years ago out of each 100l. the first class paid 18. 4, the second 16.3, leaving only 65.3 to be contributed by the t hird class. I t may be desirable to give the ratios for tho three countries for the sake of com­parison with the tabular statement above :

Per Cen t. of PMsenge1· R cce1pts oy Respective Clasecs. -

1879. 1892.

--First. Second. Third. Fi rst.. Second. Th ird.

England • • 17.8 16.1 60.1 I to. 9 8.8 80.3 Scotland •• 22 8.85 69. 15 13.65 1.15 85.2 Ireland .. 21.2 26 52.8 13 22.6 64.4 •• j u. 2 U ni ted King-dom 18.4 16.3 65.3 8.5 80.3

The decrease in the higher classes is again very pronounced in England, and in Scotland there has been a heavy drop in the second class d ue to the discontinuance of second-class bookings as already r eferred to, while in Ireland the change, although apparent, is not quite so pronounced, for here the second class seem to absorb nearly as many first class as they lose to the third. The figures for Scotland seem to indicate that the first class has profited a litt le from the disco~tinuance .of t he second-class carriages, since the rat10 of first 1s now higher than in any other part of the kingdom.

•

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

Many who formerly travelled second now go first, for the difference in fare is not quite so great as in England, particularly in the metropolis. Again, those who travelled fi rst think twice ere transferring to a third class, whereas the change to second would not involve so much consideration. The Table shows, apparently, a less absorption by the third class than was indicated merely by numbers of passengers, due to the unequal fare per mile. The very slight difference between the ratio of second-class passengers and that of second-class receipts, as shown in the two Tables, may be accepted as proof of the fact that this class predominates on short journeys. On an average each first-class passenger paid last year just over 2s., each second-class 9d., while the third­class passenger paid 7i d. N ow t he difference between third and second class fares is more than 20 per cent. ; so that the average journey of the third-class passenger was longer than that of t he second-class passenger.

In this analysis of the r esults we have not lost sight of the fact that the discontinuance of second­class bookings of the several lines indicated, may have affected the general result, and it might, there­fore, be desirable to take the cases of some of the leading railways which still carry second-class pas­sengers, t o show how they compare with the general result.

P ercentage of Passengers and OrdiJnary Receipts by .Respective Classes on P rincipal Railways.

Per Cent. Passengers. Per Cent. Receipts.

I First. Second. Third. First. Second . Third.

I

Great Eastern .. , 1. 99 6.85 91.16 7.4 9.6 83 ,. Western . . 2. 40 8. 17 89.43 8 10 82

" Northern •• 2.55 3.79 93.66 13.2 3.06 83.'/4

London and Nor th -Western • • •• 3.09 5.14 91.77 14.1 8.5 7'i.4

London and South -Western •• • • 4.8 8.7 86.5 13.7 11.8 74.5

London & Brighton 3.8 7 89.2 14.6 12.06 73.34 London and Chat·

ham .. • • • • 5. 5 9.35 85. 16 19.9 17.1 63 Metropolitan • • 3.86 11.6 84.54 9.5 18.6 72

, and District • • •• 7.68 16.7 . 75.62 14.6 21.4 64

Midland • • 3. 16 - 96.8 l 11.1 - 88.9 ••

North· Eastern • • 2.06 1.42 96.52 7.93 2.49 89.68 ,. London •• 2.44 18.96 78 6 5 24 n

South · Eastern .. , 3. 26 8.3 S8.44 15.9 15.7 68.4 Caledonian .. 2.66 91.71 14.9 2.4 ~2. 7 .. 5.63 N or tb Bri tisb . . 5.3 .05 94.65 12.5 .4 87.1 Glasf,tow and South-West~rn 4.3 - 95.7 1~. 1 - 87.9 •• • •

The figures are suggi stive; but it is difficult, if not undesirable, to deduct any general conclusion, other than t hose already put forward. The lines connected with London have a large ratio of second­class receipts, while in most cases a great difference between the proportion of firs t-class passengers and receipts (columns 1 and 4) would suggest that for long distances the extra comfort is acceptable. The influence of the West End traffic gives the Metro­politan and District a position differing from most lines. In the case of the Midland it can scarcely be said that the discontinuance of the second class has affected the general classification, except that the thirds absorb the lot.

We have shown conclusively that the second­class passenger in ordinary bookings is gradually disappearing in England as well as in Scotland. A very large proportion of season-ticket holders, it is t rue, travel by this class ; but this is due to the fact that in many directions third-class season tickets are not granted. It is not, there­fore, surprising to note that throughout England there is something approaching an equality of receipts for season t ickets of the three classes ; but in cases where t he third-class t icket is granted, as, for instance, on the N orth-Eastern, L ondon and North-Western, Lancashire and Yorkshire, Man­chester and Sheffield, and especially on the Scotch lines, there is a great preponderance in the third class. The discontinuance of second-class carriages on all lines would, therefore, not be greatly opposed Ly the majority of season-ticket holders, and there can be no gainsaying the necessity of action in one direction or another . We have time and again urged the claims of t he second-class passenger to greater consideration,* believing that with reasonable con­ditions there is abundant scope for all three classes. The second-class passenger , as we have incidentally pointed out, gets little or no advantage over the third class ; the space afforded 1s not any more. And this is the more remarkable when the accommoda-

* See ENGINEERING, vol. liv., page 699.

[OcT. 6, 1893.

tion given to the first-class passenger is considered. Six of the latter get a compartment in all trains, against ten in the second and third ; and as there are but four compartments in each first-class carriage against five in most other carriages, it follows that the railway company are satisfied with twenty-four first-class fares per carriage, although t hey exact fifty fares from the second as well as from the t hird. class travellers. The first-class passenger does not in any case pay double the fare of the third class, far less the second-class passenger, and unless more accom· modation is granted to the second-class passenger - say in allowing a compartment to each eight passengers, with a width equivalent to that in the first class, or reducing the fare to a basis 10 per cent. higher than the third class, t he disappearance of the second-class passenger will be accentuated. The figures we have given clearly establish t he present condition of affairs. The cause is self-evident. The future depends on conciliatory action. Moreover , it is a question of earning profit. If by conceding accommodation commensurate with the difference in fare between the respective classes, or by a reduction in fare, the volume of second-class traffic could be main­tained, a n1onetary ad vantage will be gained. Ot herwise, most of those travelling second will lapse, like so many others, into the third class.

THE CHESTER BRIDGE DISASTER. ON August 31 there occurred near the little vil­

lage of Chester, Mass., one of those railroad bridge disasters which unfortunately have been of such frequent occurrence in the western and southern States. In the eastern States, and on the main lines of t he leading railroads, one has not usually looked for such a thing to be possible.

The Chicago special, which runs over the Lake Shore and New York Central .Railroads as far as Albany, and from t hat point on the Boston and Albany, stopped at Chester at 12.31 P.l\I. At this point it was nine minutes late. The t rain started up, and was soon running at 30 miles an hour, and at t his speed came to the b1·idge over the branch of the Westfield River. The bridge was situated 1! miles east of Chester, and was known as WilJcutt's Bridge. The approach on the east was a tangent , while that on the west was a moderate curve, which ended just west of the bridge. The bridge itself was on the angle, and was a skew double-track through-riveted lattice bridge of two spans, each of 104 ft. 6 in. in the clear, with two t russes for the double t rack. It crossed the river at a height of about 28 ft. abo\e the water, resting on heavy stone abutments and a pier in the centre. It was built in 1874 by t he Niagara Bridge Com­pany, and was in a good state of preservation. \Vhen the t rain entered on the bridge, going east, it had just left a curve whose centre was to the north, and it probably still possessed a tendency to throw the bridge to the south. The engine pass­ing over the fi rst span caused it to give way, throwing the train to the sout h ; it passed on over the second span, broke away from thefirstcar, and through the upheaval of the rails was thrown into the embankment about 50 yards beyond the eastern abutment of the bridge. The first car, a baggage and buffet car, while thrown to the south, was so far along that it passed over the first span and crashed into the westerly end, and then was carried down with the bridge in the easterly span. It was entirely demolished, the sides and top being wholly separated, and thrown in different directions. 'rhe next car , a sleeper, the "Elmo, " crashed three times into the bridge t russes, was swung round at right angles to the rails, and dropped 30 ft. into the river , parallel to and close against the central pier on t he western side. The floor of the car rested at an angle of about 45 deg., the bottom corner being in the bed of the river. The second sleeping car, which came next, was forced out of its proper position in the t rain, and thrown quite adistance on one side. The dining car, which came second, was jammed into the rear of the first sleeper ' ' Elmo," and was lying on the wreck of the bridge. The dining car hung in an inclined position, its rear end being high in the air, supported in part by the girderP, and by the first passenger coach, whose front end lapped over t he chasm. The last car, the smoker , was not derailed or much damaged. The terrific nature of the collapse can be, to some extent, realised from the illustrations on page 4:22, and also from the fact that seventeen people were killed, and over thirty injured, many very seriously. The top

•

OcT. 6, 1 893.]

v'ew shows the wrecked bridge looking from the n~rth · and the lower one is a view from the west a.butm~nt, looking down on to the wreck, after the overhanaina car had been dragged back out of the way. Tbhe bphotograph from which this was ta~en clearly shows a large number of ~he empt~ n vet holes and loose cover-plates, to whiCh the disaster was clearly due.

The cause uf the accident _has been m?s~ care-f Uy inquired into by the Ratlroad Commissioners, a~d unfortunately there is no possible chance of questioning it, as it brings out one of ~he most flagrant cases of carelessness of ~oder~ times. It will hardly be credited that a lead~n~ ra~lroad co~­pany-in fact, one particularly pndmg Itself on _Its careful management- could have allowed exte~si ve alterations to have been made on one of the bridg~s on their main line without so much as one of their enaineers having been near the place. .

E N G I N E E RI N G.

was necessary also to disconnect the laterR.l bracing, which had been done at the first four upper chord joints. ' Vhile it is possible that some of these laterals may have been temporarily fastened by a drift pin, or perhaps a bolt, the wreck shows clearly t hat, if fastened at all, it was very in­securely. I saw no evidence that it had been fastened at all."

This report shows clearly that the disaster was caused through the bridge having been weakened by cutting out rivets and taking off the cover­plates, and allowing a heavy t rain to pass over at a high rate of speed .

THE WEATHER OF SEPTEMBER, 1893. SEPTEMBER commenced with glorious au tumn

weather, but at the equinox there was "the cold of snow in the time of harvest." Nevertheless, all things considered, the weather of the 1nonth was seasonable, though there was overmuch rain in north Scotland and south-west England, and a marked deficiency in east E ngland and west Ire­land. The mean pressure and temperature of the atmosphere, at extreme positions of the British I slands to which the I sle of Man is central, were as follows :

From the evidence given before the CommiS­sioners it appears that the Boston and AI ban_y Compa~y had ~een increasing .the weight of the1r engines and trams, and so deCided to st~eng~hen their bridges. Plans were made by thetr bndge enaineer submitted, and approved. A verbal con­tr:ct wa~ then made with a firm of bridge-builders to carry out these alterations, and there the matter rested, the company in no way taking meas~res to see that the work was done proper~y. In ev1~ence the bridge engineer stated that his d~t_y finished Positions. with furnishing plans, and that supervunon. of the work was out of his department. The chtef and assistant tmgineers gave the same evidence, and had to acknowledae that no one had been ordered to see that the bcontractors did t he work in a proper manner and that no orders had been given for running the trains at a slow rate of speed during the alterations.

Mean PreBSure.

Difference from Normal.

Mean Tempera­

ture.

Difference from Normal.

Professor Swain, who made the official report to the Commissioners, says :

" My examination of the wr6ck showed very clearly however, what had caused the disaster . The st;ucture had been seriously weakened by the workmen engaged in the repairs, and had been left in a danaerous condit ion.

• ln. North • • 29.61 South • • 29.92 West • • 29.85 East • • 29.78 Cent ral • 29.79

• m. below 0.16

.. .06

.. .01

.. .10 H .08

de g . 52 60 58 66 56

de g. nil

above 1 ,

nil 3

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

Places. Rainy Days.

• • 25 • • 18 • • 18

Sumburgh •• Scilly . . • • Valentia -Yarmouth - • • 15

Amount .

• ln. 5 24 4. 76 3 48 1.04

Difference from Normal.

• 10.

more 1.92 " 1.~4 less 1.05 .. 1.87

" I will now explain in what way t he structure had been weakened, and state how it gave way. It was one of the trusses that failed, and the part that first gave way was the upper chord of the south truss of the westerly span. The section of the The daily general directions of the winds over top chords and end posts was made up of two these islands give a resultant from W. by N., t he vertical webplates, two angles at the top of these normal being W. by S. The notations of the plates, and a variable number of cover-plates riveted weather indicate fine bright days to have varied to the angles. The bottom of the webplates was between ten in east England and four in north Scot­not latticed, except in the end posts, and the design land, overcast days between seven teen in north was in this respect defective ... As the rivets con- Scotland and f:ix in the central district. The mean necting the plates to the angles were driven out, temperature, at 8 A.M., for the entire area of these they could, of course, be replaced by bolts, so that islands, at sea level, was 61 deg. on the 3rd, but fell no weakening need have resulted at this time ; but to 52 deg. on the lOth, then r ose to 60 deg. on the before the new plates, which were to go over the 14th, descended slowly and then rapidly to 46 deg. on old ones, could be riveted down through thesesanie the 23rd, whence it rose to 55 deg. on the 29th . holes, it would obviously be necessary to leave for The highest temperature- Si deg.-was reported a time both the new and the old plates entirely at L ondon on the 6th ; the lowest-28 deg. - at disconnected from the angles below them to a cer- Kilkenny, on the 23rd. After the 19th ''autumnal tain short distance, depending on circumstances. showers came frequent and chill from the west-

" Within this distance the two webplates with ward. " On the 23rd snow fell to the depth of t.heir angles were entirely deprived of any lateral 3 in. or 4 in. over a large part of north England. support or assistance from each other, and if the This is so uncommonly early for snow that the distance were less, the chord in this condition could Times thinks it heralds the near approach of winter. support but a small fraction of the compressive "The natural indications, such as abundance of load which it would be capable of sustaining if the berries, point to a hard and severe winter, but our top plates were firmly riveted down. climate is so uncertain that t oo much importance

"An examination of the wreck indicated clearly must not be attached to these signs. At the same that when the ill-fated train crossed the bridge the time they are causing anxiety." Aurora was seen upper chord of the south-west truss was in the on the 1st, 14th, and 19th in north Scotland. condition just referred to. Thunderstorms occurred in east Britain on the 8th,

" The old plates had been disconnected from the in south England on the 20th and 21st, in east angles throughout the second, t hird, and part of England on t he 27th, in Ireland on the 28th. On the fourth top chord panels from the west end- the lOth, 1. 07 in. of rain was measured at Scilly ; that is, for a distance of some 25 ft., and no bolts on the 13th, 3. 59 in. at Glencarron, 2. 91 in. at appear to have been put in to replace the rivet~. Fort William ; on the 17th, 1.86 in. at Jersey; on ~f any were put in, t hey must have been very few the 21st, 1. 08 in. at Nairn ; on t he 22nd, 1. 05 in. m number. I saw no evidence of any. at Wick, 0. 95 in. at Aberdeen. The greatest R.t-. "In ~act, i~ the wreck this portion of the chord mospherical pressure, 30.35 in., occurred on the

ltes entirely wtthoutcover-plates, and consists simply 12th ; the least, 28.7 in. , on the 29th. The of the webs and angles. If the cover-plates had been weather was very stormy and often gloomy in the bolted securely to the angles, they would, without north of Scotland. During the four weeks ending question, have been found connected to the chord the 30th the duration of bright sunshine, estimated in the wreck, or there would have been some in percentage of its possible amount, was for t he evidence that they had been so connected, while, United Kingdom, 39; Channel Isles, 48; south­as a f~t, they were not in the vicinity, and I saw west England, 44; south, east, and central Eng­no evidence of their having been torn away. land, 43; north-east England, 40 ; south lreland,

' 'These facts indicate beyond the possibility of a 39 ; west Scotland, 38 ; east Scotland and north doubt the cause of the disaster. Ireland, 34 ; nor th-west England, 33; north Scot-

'~ Moreover, in disconnecting the cover-plates, it land, 28.

BRITISH COLONIES AT CHICAGO. ·v. - NE'IY SoUTH ' VALEs-couliiiHed.

IN Department L- that of Liberal Arts-New , 'outh Wales makes a large and very interesting display; for although there are only about one hundred principal entries in the_ catalog?e_, most of these refer to extensive collective exhibits. The aim has been to set forth thoroughly the actual conditions of all classes of public education in the colony and this has been done in a very thorough man ne~. Group 99 of the Exposition classification refers to primary, secondary, and superior educa­tion and Class 842 of th is group includes the arra~gements, work, and results of pr~mary scho_ols. In this class the Department of Pubhc InstructiOn, through the Commissioners for New South Wales, takes a prominent part. The public school~ are illustrated by a series of large photographs, illus­trating a variety of types, and these are followed by specimens of work done by the pupils of both sexes, and of ages varying from six to seven­teen years. 'Vhen it is stated that the cases displaying these objects contain specimens of work from no less than 574 pupils, it will be under­stood how comprehensive is the scope of t his ex­hibit. The objects shown are principally needle­work, drawing, and writing. F ollowing this is the collective exhibit of the Technical Education Branch , which has developed with a rapid growth since 1865, when the first class for technical educa­tion in the colony was held at Sydney in the Me­chanics' School of Arts. This small beginning increased under t he care of the committee of that school, until in 1873 it was decided to found a technical or working man's college. Five years later P arliament was induced to make a grant of 2000l. to assist the classes, and in 1883 the Govern­ment appointed a Committee to carry on the work which up to that time had been done by t he Me­chanics' School of Arts. This Committee, known as the Board of Technical Education, controlled the classes for six years, and as t hey were able to obtain an annual vote of 17,000l., the period of their control was marked by very considerable developments. In 1887 another change was made, and the modest school of 1865 was in­corporated into the general scheme of education in the colony, and fell under the charge of the Department of Public Instruction . Apparently the result of this important change has been most satisfactory ; the number of classes had increased from 119 in 1887 to 306 in 1892 ; the num her of students rose from 3384 to 10,089 in the same time ; the number of examinations from 1219 to 3332; and the cost per pupil was reduced from 6l. 15s. in 1889 to 3l. 7s. in 1892, without, it is to be supposed, diminishing in any way the efficiency of the train­ing. The principal college is, of course, in Sydney, but there are branch colleges, or classes, in no less than twenty-se"'en other towns in New South Wales. The following comparative list for 1891, 1892, gives an idea of the importance of this divi­sion of the Public Instruction Department:

1891. I 1892. Increase.

N umber of classes . . • • •• 295 306 11 s tudents enrolled .. • • • • 8,466 10,089 !.,623 N umber of individual students .. 6,688 8,329 1,6H

" students examined . . 2,563 3,332 769

, , passed •• 1.704 2,271 567 A mount of fef's received .. •• 3. 721l. 4,388l. 664l. V isitore to Technological Museum 112,632 144,253 31,621 V isitors to branch museums in

country towns • • • • • • 25,842 40,332 14,490

We have not space to enumerate the various branches of technical education for which reaular classes are held ; it must suffice to state t hat there are not less than seventy subjects, ranging from cricklaying to surgery' from mathematics to the technics of the sheep farm, from cooking to geology. As said above, the chief college is in Sydney. I t is a. handsome block of buildings on 3! acres of ground, and adjoining it is the re~ently completed Technological Museum. At the rear of the college is the chemical laboratory, and behind are the engineering shops. In the south-west corner of the building are the architectural and cookery schools. Both as regards space and appli­ances the facilities are excellen t for the conduct of all t~e . manual classes. As may be supposed, so flouriShing a branch of the Department of Public Instruct ion is well represented at Chicago. The following list gives t he number of students exhibit­ing, and the classes to which their work belongs:

Nature of Class. Number of Exhibitors.

Architecture .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Carpentry .. . .. . .. . . .. . 0. 35 Cabinetmaking . .. . 0. ... .. . 2 Plumbing .. . . 0. . .. • 0. .. • 12 Masonry and stone carving 0.. .. . ... 3

, drawing .. . . .. . 0. .. • 2 Mechanical drawing . 0. ... 0 0. 11 Patternmaking . 0 0 .. • .. • .. • 5 Ironfounding o.. • .. • • .. • ... 1 Boilermaking .. . . . . .. . .. . . .. 2 Fitting and turning 0.. .. • .. • • •• 30 Manual training .. . . . . .. . . .. 67 "rood carving . .. . .. .. . .. . . .. 3 Art ... ... . .. 0.. ... ..0 109 Modelling 0.. .. • • .. • .. .. • 23 Photolithography . .. . .. . .. ... 8 Industrial arb . .. .. . ... .. . .. . 20 Caligraphy . .. .. . . .. .. . . .. 2 Phonography .. 0 .. • • .. .. • .. • 11 Miscellaneous .. . .. . .. 0 .. • • .. 4

The Department of Public Instruction has spared a part of the contents of the T~chnological Museum to increase the value of their display. The museum was opened about 1879, and contained a fine collec­tion of specimens when it was totally destroyed by fire in 1882. As stated above, the museum now adjoins the Technical College; it has been completed at a cost of 20,000l., and contains 30,000 specimens. One collection sent to Chicago is labelled '' A Cen­tury of New South Wales Economic Plants." Each of the 100 specimens is mounted on a separate card which contains the botanical name, the locality, and the special purpose to which it is put. There is also a case containing a similarly arranged collec­tion of specimens of food plants used by the aborigines ; a third of medicinal vegetables ; a fourth of indigenous vegetable gums, largely ob­tained from varieties of the eucalyptus. There is also a collection of no fewer than 115 different specimens of tan bark, including all the commercial varieties, some of them containing 33 per cent. of tannic acid. The very complete collection of indi­genous fibrous plants used in commerce will be found of interest. Finally there is a curious collection of Australian galls, with particulars of the special insects forming them. Another order of exhibits are the educational collections of Australasian wools, collections containing no less than 580 specimens, on each of which full information is placed.

The University of Sydney has done its part to­wards the display made by New South Wales in this department. This university was founded by the Legislature in 1850 ; the government is vested in a senate of sixteen fellows, appointed by election, and comprising among their members a maximum of six professors. The chancellor ~nd vice· chancellor are elected by the senate. The Government endowment amounts to an annual revenue of 15,000l., and its own property is worth 300, OOOl., in addition to a beque::!t which will realise 250,000l. The following degrees are gra.nted by this university: Bachelor and Master of Arts, Bachelor and D octor of Laws, Bachelor and Doctor of Medicine, Master of Surgery, Bachelor and DJctor of Science, Bachelor and Master of Engi­neering. There are four affiliated colleges : St. Paul's, 1854 (Church of England) ; St. John's, 1857 (Church of Rome); St. Andrew's, 1867 (Pres­byterian) ; and a non-sectarian college for women. The teaching staff consists of fourteen professors and forty lecturers. In 1892 the number of stu­dents attending lectures was 592, including 99 women. The objects sent by the university are a number of photographs of its buildings, and a col­lection of about 600 of the insects of New South Wales, properly displayed in cases.

In Group 150-Literature, Books, Libraries, and Journalism- the exhibits are sufficiently numerous to illustrate that the development of these indus­tries in the colonies is highly satisfactory. Books and newspapers, engraving processes of all kinds, and topographical maps .are e~cell~nt for comple~e­ness and finish ; espeCially IS th1s the case w1th the exhibition of photographs, of which several hundred have been sent. In the various other groups devoted to the Liberal. A:ts the colony is well represented, though It IS unnecessary for us to devote space to the enumeration of the objects sent. We may, however, refer to the exhibit of the Government Astronomer, Mr. Henry C. Russell, a:fid which consists of a n

1umber

of fine astronomical photographs. The Sydney Observatory was due to Sir vVilliam Denison: governor of the colony in 1856, and two years later the first official astronomer, Mr. W. Scott, entered upon his office. He wag succeeded in 1862 by Mr.

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

G. R. Smalley, and in 1870 by the present astro­nomer. lJ p to that date the buildings and instru­ments were very imperfect, and efforts were made to improve them. The telescopes now in use are a meridian circle of 6~ in. objective, and an 11!-in. equatorial. In 1889 a standard star camera was added, and the observatory is still occupied in completing that portion of the st.ar chart it under­took to make-the area between 52 deg. and 64 deg. south. The meteorological service is very complete, there being 1300 stations in the colony, and these send in reports daily or twice a day. The staff ~onsists of the director and two assistant observers, six meteorological assistants, one computer, one photographer, one instrument- maker, and one attendant.

In conclusion, we must not forget to mention the collection of N ew South Wales birds by the Commissioners of the colony, a collection of mammals by the same body; the splendid herbarium of New South Wales plants (468 specimens), and the "Century of Fruits and Seeds of New South Wales," both by Mr. J. H. Maiden, of the Sydney Technological Museum. There are in the catalogue of this Department of Liberal Arts rather more than one hundred principal numbers ; but these represent 600 or 700 exhibitors, and some thousands of objects. When it is remembered that but little direct commercial benefit can result from this display, we can appreciate all the better the lively interest taken by the colony in the Columbian Exposition, and the just pride displayed in what they have accomplished during the last fifty years. \Vhen we compare this display with that made by this c0untry in the same department, one cannot help feeling it would have been better for us not to have exhibited at all, than to have appeared to so much disadvantage beside this remote colony.

The same remark holds good for Department M­Ethnology, Archreology, Progress of Labour and Invention. In this department we make two exhibits, one of "The sacred Marza stone of Mexico and its symbolism, " and some enlarged photographs of Indian monuments and buildings in Central America. New South Wales makes t hirty-two distinct exhibits, comprising over 1000 objects. It does not come within our province to refer in detail to this admirable collection. It includes specimens of weapons, utensils, clothes, and tools made and used, not only by the aborigines of New South Wales, but by those of Australia in general and many of the islands, especially from New Guinea, the Solomon I slands, and the New Hebrides. The principal exhibitors are the Board for the Protec­tion of the Aborigines, t he Commissioners for New South \Vales, and Mr. A. Liversidge, Professor of Chemistry in t he University of Sydney.

(To be continued.)

AMERICAN UNI"VERSITIES AT THE COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION.

V.-COLUMBIA. COLLEGE. THis New York seat of learning is usually spoken

of as a college and not a university. For a whole century it provided for the youth of the metropolis comprehensive undergraduate instruction, crowning their work by conferring the usual academical dis­tinctions. In addition to t his strictly collegiate work, it has during the past few decades succes­sively surrounded itself with professional schools and halls for the higher instruction of its graduates. It is now n o longer a college, except in name ; it is, and it successfully dischuges all the functions of, a university . We have in our mind several instances of legally constituted universities which are li ttle else than good collegiate institutions ; in Columbia, on the other hand, we have a real, fully-equipped university quite content with a college name.

The college was founded by royal charter in 1754, and called King's College in honour of George III. Shortly after the severance of the colonies from the mother country, t he corporate title of the new institution was changed to Columbia College in order to meet the altered conditions of the social and political world.

During the revolutionary period, Columbia had a stern struggle for existence as the t ide of war flowed and ebbed over the Empire City. Even after the cessation of hostilities, it attained only very gradually to a condition of mediocre prosperity. I ts adolescent stage was languid, often decidedly anremic on account of the exiguity of its ways and means, and at times seriously trotrbled with diffi­culties arising from tentative experiments under-

taken with a view to adapting the college to the educational wants of the city and it environs. This period of trial ~nd uncertainty has now finally passed away, and Columbia College is to-day looked up to as one of the ornaments of the city as well as one of the brightest foci of learning in the State.

Down to 1858, Columbia was an institution of the usual college type, providing courses of undergraduate instruction in the Liberal Arts faculty only. In that year a Law School was estab­lished; two years later (1860) the College of Physicians and Surgeons was, by arrangement of the Regents of the University of the State and the sanction of the Legislature, adopted as the medical department. Then followed in 1863 the inaugura­of a faculty of Science, and in 1864 the opening of the School of Mines . This school enjoys the dis­tinction of being the first in the United States that offered a scientific and technical training to intend-• • • • 1ng m1n1ng engineers.

Two other faculties have since been added, viz., Political Science and Philosophy.

F or more than a century Columbia College occu­pied a commanding site in Park Pl~e. The en­croachments of business ultimately compelled a change ; and in 187 4, a new building for the School of Mines was erected at a cost of 30,000l., while the School of Arts was installed in its pre­sent imposing pile at an expense of 40,000l.

The teaching staff comprises 226 professors and assistants, headed by the President, Dr. Seth Low, a man who to scholarly training and accomplish­ments adds experience in public affairs and ad­ministrative qualities of no ordinary kind. Among the most widely known of the present teachers, we would mention Dr. William P. Trowbridge, the eminent Professor of Civil Engineering, and Dr. Thomas Egleston, author of "Metallurgy of Silver, Gold, and Mercury in the United States," and likewise a frequent contributor to our columns. Among the late professors were Alexander P. Holley, who lectured on the metallurgy of iron and steel from 1878 to 1882, the year of his premature and lamented death ; Dr. William G. Peck, author of text-books on mechanics and physics ; Dr. Charles Anthon, famous for his college editions of the classics ; and Dr. F. A. Barnard, a pro­foundly learned man, who for twenty-six years (1864-1890) presided over t he development of Columbia, and more than any one else contributed to make it a college worthy of its location in the great American metropolis.

The students for 1892-93 numbered 1748, and were distributed as follows :

In the School of Arts ... .. . ... 272 , :Mines .. 0 .. . ... 277

" Philosophy ... . .. 87

, 1\Iedicine ... ... ... 534 , Law 0 .. ... 625

" Political Science ... 197

• Total (deducting 244 duplicates) 1748

That Columbia College has exercised a wide influence on the development of civic and national life, as well as on the training of professional men, may be gathered from the number of its living alumni. An analysis of its publications shows that there are

1653 in the Arts SohCJol. 3541 , Law .School. 230 , School of Political Science. 665 , , , , Mines. 141 , , Philosophy.

3641 , , Medicine.

Columbia College has not received from the millionaires of New York the encouragement and patronage one would expect in a country of princely liberality. It owes its foundation not to the gifts of a circle of benefactors, but to the proceeds of a lottery authorised by the State Legislature. Its history, too, is inkeepingwithits humble origin, being little else than a record of struggles and financial em­barrassments. No wonder, then, that the pecuniary inducements which it holds out to the student are fewer and less substantial than in Harvard or Yale. Yet, despite her small emoluments, Columbia makes a generous concP~sion in favour of the impecunious engineer, one of the clauses in the regulations of the School of Mines authorising the president to excuse from the payment of tuition fees any candi­date for admission of good moral character and in­dustrious habits. We are not aware that our Royal College of Science goes so far in the help it offers to the needy aspirant t o mining engineering know­ledge.

The college has in its gift fourteen scholarships

OcT. 6, I 893.]

of an annual value of 20l. each, a~d twenty-four fellowships of l OOl. each. T~ere IS ye~ another fellowship which offers spectal attra~twns, for besides beina of the value of 1401., It has t he

restige of l1aving been f?unded by Profess~r ~yndn.ll. It is coll_lme~oratt ve o! th~ professor s course of lectures gt ven In New 1: ork I~ ~885, and is awarded on the condition that th~ r eCIJ?Ien.t shall devote himself faith !ully ~o t he tn vestigatwn of some subject in phystcal SClence. .

The various schools of Colum?m College ha~ their own separate librarie.s until 1883,. when It was thouaht advisable to unite and consohdate t he whole into one grand fi reproof Libr~ry Ha_ll. T~is was erected at a cost of 80, OOOl., and IS provided with every arrangement to render read_ing ~asy,. comfort­able and u eful. B esides the chief hbrartan, there is a' staff of twenty assistants, who attend to the workina conditions of their several departments and th; requirements of the students. The number of books in 1855 in all th~ sch~ols was 18,000 ; the consolidated library contained In 1892 an aggregate of 163 000 bound volumes.

The' observatory, though well equipped with transit, refractor , ordinary, and diffraction sp~ctro­scopes was further enriched by Dr. Lewis M. Ruthe~ford, of New Y or~-one of the J?ioneers of celestial photography-with an equaton_al refra~t­ing telescope of 13 in. aperture, . and furntshed ~1th correcting lens for photographiC wor~, a transit of 3 in. aperture, a sider~al clock, a micrometer for measuring photographtc plates_, and sundry ot~e.r appliances. The obser vator~ 1s open t o the civil engineers, as the_y are ~eq~ued to_ follow a pre­scribed course of mstructwn 1n practiCal astronomy.

The undergraduate courses in the School of Mines extend over a period of four years, and embrace minina engineering, civil engineering, metallurgy, geology and palreontol~gy, analytical and applied chemistry, and architecture. On entering the school, the stu_dent selects a~y one of the six courses above mentwned, and he IS held to abide by his choice unless permitted by the faculty to make a change.

Summer classes are annually held in mechanical enaineering surveying, mining, and geodesy. At th: end of their third year , the young miners spend about six weeks with their adjunct professor in visiting mines and putting their knowledge to the test of actual work. In like manner, the civil engineers have to take the field with t heir Pro­fes or of Geodesy and Practical Astronomy, and are not expected to return unt il they have completed a survey of some region of the country.

The Columbia exhibit at Chicago includes some specimens of the engineers' field-work as well as publications of professors and graduates, ann_ual reports, statistical charts, photographs of build­ings and laboratories, &c. I t is not, however, to this well-displayed exhibit that Columbia looks t o add to her fame ; but, in the words of Dr. Low's inaugural address, it is to her ~lumni _and her faculties. She expects her alumni to bUild upon the foundations laid in the past ; and she looks to her faculties to impart sound instruction, to hold fast the learning that wa! wrested from experience ar.d from study, and to carry the ever-shift ing boundaries of knowledge forward into the vast un­known.

N 0 T E S. ENGIN£ERING I N D ENMARK.

THE Elsinore Engineering and Shipbuilding Com­pany has, during the last working year, had a turn­over of 80,000l., against 120,000l. the previous year. The number of hands employed averaged 504, against 684 the previous year. The average wages per man had been about 52l. 15s., against 50l. 10s. the previous year. The gross profits were, how­ever, not much smaller than during the previous year, viz., 20,400l., against 21,000l., owing princi­pally to the last year having been a good one for repairs. \Vorking expenses were about 12,500l., which was over 3000l. less than the previous year. The net profits were about 7800l., or about 9 per cent. of the share capital. The shareholders get a dividend of 5 per cent. The number of repaired vessels was 164, again~t 1GO the previous year. The dry dock had been used by 45 vessels, against 43 last year. Fi\e new vessels had been delivered, of an aggregate tonnage of 4125 tons gross, and with engines of 1260 indicated horse-power , and a number of engines, boilers, &c. In hand were a steamer, an ice- breaking steamer, a cargo steamer,

E N G I N E E R I N G. : •

a cattle steamer, &c., of an aggregate value of 60,000l.

S TREET R AILWAYS IN THE UNITED STATES. There were 5783 miles of street railway in the

United States in 1890, as compared with. 20~0 miles in 1880. Of the 5783 miles in operatwn In 1890, 4062 milee were worked by horse-power, 914 miles by electricity , 283 miles by the cable system, and 524 miles by s team. ~ince 1890 t he propor tion of electrically-worked hnes ha:" been increasing, but precise data upon t he subJect are not at present available. The capital expended upon the lines in operation in 1890 amounte~ t o 389,250,000 dols. in round figures. The earntngs of all the lines in 1890 amounted to 91,721,844 dols., while the working expenses of the year were 62,011,185 dols. , leaving a profit of 29,710,659 dols. Of thit; profit of 29,710,659 dols., 13,970,903 dols. was devoted to meeting t he fixed interest charges of the year, while dividends absorbed 10,180,726 dols. The number of passengers carried over the lines in 1890 was 2,023,010,202. The number of cars in use upon the lines in 1890 was 32,505. The number of employes was 70,764. Philadelphia had 277! miles of street rail way in 1890 ; Boston , 237f miles; Chicago, 193 miles; N ew York, 180! miles ; and Brooklyn, 173! miles. When length of track and not length of road is considered, the relative position of the five cities is greatly ch(l.nged, Chicago ranking first wit.h 330,1- mil~s; N ~w York second with 377! miles ; Boston th1rd with 365f mtles ; Brooklyn fourth with 357! miles; and Philadelphia fifth with 351 miles. The reason for the difference is that in Chicago, N ew York, and Brooklyn the lines are nearly all double-tracke~, while in Philadelphia, and to some extent also 1n Boston t he tracks usually occupy different streets, although con verging to the same terminus. The New York street rail ways carried in 1890 no fewer than 449 647,853 passengers (this total including the mov~ment over t he elevated lines). The number of passengers upon the Ch icago s~reet lin~s in 1890 was 180,326,470 ; upon the Philadelphia lines, 165,117,627; upon the Brooklyn lines, 147,500,399; and upon the Boston lines, 129,038,563.

has involved the employment of _a capital of 3,560,000l. , and, taking account o~ ships purchase,d and the cost of alterations made 1n the compa~y s other s teamers the aggregate outlay of capital during the tweive years is carried t o 3?800,000l. Two-thirds of this capital has been derived fron1 the reserves ; the remaining 1,400,000l. has _been raised by loans. A steamer of ~ ~ew type IS on hand at La Ciotat ; t his steamer IS Intend~d t o_ be employed upon th~ . company's Indo-Ch1na ~1ne. The council of administ ratiOn has recently decided upon the construction of another large steamer, which it is proposed to employ _upon t he com­pany's Brazilian and La Plata hnes. Contracts concluded in 1881 between the Governm_ent of Cochin China and the companf for oarrymg on certain coast services terminated in December, 1892 ; they have, however, been renewed for a further period of ten years from J anuary 1, 1893. The company has aban~oned without re~ret ~he workina of an annexe hne between Cochm Ch1na

0

THE M E 'S.AGERIES MA.RITIMES. In the course of last year this important French

company brought two first-class new steamers into use. These steamers were named respectively the Armand B ehic and the Ville de la Ciotat ; they represented together 13,125 tons burden and 14,000 horse-power. N otwithstanding that these two steamers were brought into service in the course of 1892 the amount at which the fleet stood in the book's of the company at t he close of last year (viz., 5,486, OOOl.) did not differ materially from the correspondinp; total a year previously. While two new steamers were added to the fleet last year, three were withdrawn from it, viz. , the Meinam, the Ebre, and the Rio Grande. The aggregate burden of these steamers was 6054 t ons, while they had an aggregate of 4600 horse-power ; they had been sold in order to be broken up. The Armand Behic and the Ville de la Ciotat stand in t he books for 462, 159l., while t he Meinam, t he Ebre, and the Rio Grande (withdra·wn from service) figured for 197 ,338l. The amount standing in last year's balance­sheet for stores at Marseilles, Bordeaux, and La Ciotat and abroad, and sundry works in course of execution at La Ciotat, was 65,275l. less than in the preceding year ; hence the comparatively small in­crease in the definitive amount at which the fleet stood in the books D ecember 31, 1892. The statutory reserve fund, which amounted at the close of 1891 to 249,082l., had increased at the close of 1892 to 256,673l. ; the insurance fund also advanced from 296,886l. at the close of 1891 to 342,692l. at the close of 1892. The bringing into service of the Ville de la Ciotat has practically completed t he plant required for the company's Australian line, which is now accommodated with four steamers, each of 6500 tons burden and 7000 horse-power. The council of administration has recognised the fact that, in carrying on the com­pany's ocean service, it must keep step with the great English steam shipping companies, which are always aiming at a highest speed only attain­able by increased tonnage and addit ional engine power. During the last twelve years the com­pany has brought into service twelve new st eamers, representing altogether an aggregate burden of 118,468 tons, and an aggregate force of 94, 150 horse-power. The construction of these steamers

and the Philippines.

INDIAJ.~ v. ENCLl SH CoAL I N Loc oMOTI YE:. Evidence of the extension of coal-mining in India

is afforded by the increasing ;atio of Indian_ c_oal consumed on the rail ways there. Of fully a mtlhon tons of coal used last year, 876,000 tons were Indian coal and only 204,603 tons English. The increase o~ the former-the native coal- for the year was equal to 11. 92 per cent., and on the latter there was a decrease of 5. 64 per cent . The East Indian Rail way is alone in using coke, but several lines still adopt wood, of which 300,682 t ons were consumed last year- a decreasing quantity. ~his may also be said of the use of patent fuel. Pnces of English coal vary with the port .. At Kurrachee the price is 22 rupees per t on, whtle the Bombay and Baroda Company, which uses exclusively Eng­lish coal, pays for t he greater quantity of it about 13 rupees, although some qualities, not much used , cost up to 16 and 20 rupees . Welsh patent fuel, used on the Burmah line, costs 17 rupees per t on. The native coal, on the other hand, seldom costs more than 10 rupees, and the relative steam-raising efficieo cy of the English as against native coal is certainly not more than 1 .20 against 1. The report of the Director -General of Railways hasassumed that 1.11 tons of E nglish coal are equal to 1 ton of Bengal coal, and on this common standard some informa­tion of the consumption per train-mile is given. In the only case where English coal is exclusively used, t he consumption per train-mile is equal to 43.95 lb., the cost (3. 87 d. ) being little above the average, while in cases where Bengal coal is ex­clusively used it varies from 39 lb . to 51 lb., the cost being from 2d. to 3d. On metre-gauge rail­ways the lowest consumpt ion is on a line using English coal exclusively. Five thousand tons are used, and the average consumption is 25.16 lb. per train-mile, the cost being 3.38d. per train-mile, notwithstanding, t oo, that it is taken 100 miles inland. On the other metre lines B engal coal is largely used, the consumption per train-mile work­ing out in most cases to about 33 lb. The cost varies from l id. up to 5!d. per train-mile, accord­ing to the situation of the line from the mines. Very much, of course, depends on the haulage, for, as is well known, a light train requires relatively less coal, excepting for high speeds, which latter, again, must be borne in mind in considering figures brought forward to show the approximate consump­tion per 1000 gross-ton miles. English coal is very frequent ly adopted on the fast t rains, which, of course, run comparatively light, while on the heavy slow mineral and gvods trains native coal is usually adopted. It is not, t herefore, surprising to find that in one case 163! lb. of English coal is consumed per 1000 gross-ton miles; while on the Bombay and Baroda line it only equals 126 lb. per 1000 ton- miles. Taking the Indian Midland, Madras, Eastern Bengal, East Indian, and other large lines, comparing favourably in respect of working conditions with the Bon1bay and Baroda, it is found that the consumption per 1000 ton-miles is much less favourable, about 150 lb. nat ive coal being needed. There is great disparity in the results on the metre-gauge lines largely using B engal coal, and the r esult of 163! lb. for English coal in the case already quoted , is about as low as o~ any lines, while in some cases it runs up t o 287 lb. But withal it is pretty evident t hat the efficiency of the native coal, taken in oonj unction with its cost, will tend t o its extensive adoption in future years.

•

-NOTE ON A NEW TESTING MACHINE AT UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, NOTTINGHAM.*

By Professor W. ltoBINSON, Assoc. !\f. Inst . C.E. ~ FU'TY ·TC?N testing machine, designed by Mr. J. H.

W1~ksteed, 1s the mos~ rec~nt important addition t o the eq~tpl!lent of the engmeermg laboratory in this college. Th1s s1ze and t~pe o! tes.ti.ng machine was decided upon on account of 1ts s1mphC1ty, accuracy, and con venience for experiment and demonstration.

The machine tests the strength and behaviour of ma.teri~ls of cc;mstruction, t~king specimens up to 5 ft . long, 10 tens10n, compress10n, and bending or cross· breaking. It is worked by pressure water from an accumulator, the pressure bein6' about 500 lb. per square inch; but t~e load on the spe01men is not measured by the hydrauhc press~re gauge. On~ end of the specimen only ts oonne~ted w1th the hydra.ultc ram, the other being c~>nnected . w1th a dead weight balance, consisting of a sn~gle honzonta.l lever or s teelyard with a travelling po,se o~ 1 ton. Whatever force,, then, is applied, say, m pull~ng one end of the spec1men, by the hydraulic power, IS measured by an equal and opposite force applied t o the other end of the test-piece by the weighted balance. The scale on the s teelyard is subdivided by the vernier on the poise weight, which enables one to read to hundredths of a ton. The t;neasurement~ of the loa~ and yield pro· duced thereby 10 the test-ptece are regtstered in a. con­tinuo~s curve by a Wicksteed antogra.phic recorder. The diagram thus produced show a the amount of yielding of each test-piece for every increment of stress from start to finish, and the soale of the diagram is ascertained entirely from the readings on the steelyard of the machine, the interval between 1 ton and maximum load giving the vertical scale of the diagram.

In order to obtain accurate results it is immaterial whether the steelyard is atl the top, the middle, or the bottom of its range, so long as it floats free from contact with the stops, inasmuch as the knife edges l ie in the plane passing through the centre of mass.

This machine is remarkable from the fact that the weight of the steelyard itself is utilised for measuring the load. In other words, the 1-ton travelling poise does not go to 50 fulcrum distan ces on the long arm, but it only goes to 33 such lengths upon the long arm, ~nd travels the other 17 on the abort arm of the steelyard, and consequently the velocity ratio between the clip· box and the poise is so low as 33 to 1, even when the greatest pull of the machine (50 tons) is being exerted. R eally, the weight which is balancing the pull of 50 tons on the specimen is not 1 ton, but nearly 1! tons, bearing the ratio of 50 to 33.

The poise is adj usted upon the steelyard by a new arrangement of hydraulic gear. The plunger of a. long hydraulic cylinder thrusts forward a ps.ir of pulleys carried on a crosshead, and pulls a pa.1r of horizontal wire ropes which are counterweis-hted at their other ends. These ropes pass close to each stde of the poise weight, and there are clips upon the ropes which come in contact with the crossbar of a Watt's parallel motion, titted at each sid e of the poise, and very delicately adjusted so that the ropes are able to pull the poise hori­.tontally, but are unable to influence ib vertically, as the balanced parallel motions will give way to the slightest upward or downward force, and will transmit only hori­zontal forces to the studs by which they are attached to the 1-ton poise.

The g-reat ad vantage of using hydraulic gear for moving the po1se is that by merely opening or closing a small valve by turning a lever, the adjustment for weighing the load can be made at any r equired rate to suit the varying resistance of the test-piece. There is a similar advantage in loading the test-piece by pressure water brought from an accumulator and completely under con­trol by the supply val ve8.

By opening the valve either partially or full bore the rate of loading can be regulated between about 0.2 in. per minute and 20 in. per minute, that is, a range of froru 1 to 100.

This machine is thus completely fitted with hydraulic ~ear, including the Wicksteed autographic recorder, and 1t can be very easily manipulated. The other novel features of the machine will be best understood by inspec· t ion of it in the laboratory. The extreme length of specimen that can be dealt with is 5 ft. 6 in.

It is hoped that these arrangemen ts of the machine will allow experiments to b~ made with extreme rapid.ity, in order to nnd how far t tme-rate or speed of loadmg, apart from impact, in~u~n~es the flow of material, eith~r so as to increase or dtrumtsh the strength of the speCl­men or to increase or d iminish its ductility in elonga-' . tion and compression.

Another advantage of hydraulic gear to apply the load, to adjust the poise wei~ht, an~ to give the diagram. auto· matically, is perfect stlence m t~e test-room unttl t~e specimen breaks. Th~ operator. 1s thus able to explam the behaviour of specimens durmg the progress of the

t est. 1 . h d'ff In order to obtain comparable resu ts wtt 1. erenb machines it is necessary that (1) some standard ~1 zes of test-pieces should be agr~ed upon, a?d (2) the dtfferent machines should be cahbrated agamst one another. Doubt less many pract.ical difficulties ab ~nee arise in always obtaining spemmens of the same size. At. any rate the test-pieces should. be ma~e t.o the S&IJ?e .drawtl!g9, that is, similar in proporttona, w1t~11~ fixed hmtts of sizt::, for test~ in tension. Thus the ~o01ettes of ~erman Engt· neers, Ironmasters, and Arc~ttects haye tsaued regula­tions as to the method of testii!g maten!l'ls; the test · bars are generally to be 8 in. long, wtth a sect10nal area of 0.45

* Paper read before the British Association in Sec­tion G, Nottingham, on Tuesday, September 19, 1893.

E N G I N E E R I N G. to 0. 75 square inch, and round bars 10 diameters in length.

It has been suggested by Professor U nwin that a good way of comparing machines would be to strain a care· fully selected test-piece well within its limit of elastic recovery, and obtain da ta for the same piece from each machine. A comparison of these data. would perhaps enable the results from the various machines to be re· duced to a uniform and comparable standard.

After the reading of this paper votes of thanks were passed to the author, and the section adjourned to the engineering laboratory on the ground ftoor, where Pro­fessor R obinson explained the construction of the 50· ton test ing machine, and carried out several tests with it.

The general opinion of those present was in favour of adopting some uniform 'Standard sizes of test -pieces.

THE DISPOSAL OF REFUSE. To THE EorTon oF E~GINEERING.

Srn,-Only those who have themselves undertaken the task of writing papers can appreciate the amount of labour which has to be expended in the preparation of such a valuable contributirm as that of Mr. Warner on "The Disposal of Refuse, " printed in your last t wo num­~ers. 9ramm~d as it is ~ith facts and figures, it is almost Imposs1ble for 1t to be entirely free from error; and with your kind permis~ion, I will take the liberty of pointing out one or two mtstakes.

In giving the number of destructors of different types adopted by local authorities, Mr. Warner puts down only one to the credit of the H orsfall type. As a matter of fact there are ten cells of this type at work at Kidacre· s~reet, ~eeds, and six a.t Oldham; and, at the present trme, etght more are hem~ erected at L eeds, and six at Salford. My fi rm has also supplied ironwork for the erection of destructors at Calcutta, Sydney, and Mel­bourne; and it has fitted up no fewer than 52 Fryer cells with Horsfall's patent system of forced draught. At the present time, the Nottingham and Armley-road L eeds, destructors are being fitted in a similar manner. '

I think, also, it is only fair to Mr. H ealey another inventor, to add that he is erecting a destructo; fo» the L eyton Local Board.

Mr. vyarner . al~o states that the power available at Oldham IS 59.6 md10ated horse-power per cell, instead of 15 indicated horse-power, which is the correct figure. Th~ amount burned at Oldham is given as 5.5 tons per

cell, mstead of 7 ton~ per cell per 24 hours, which is correct, as may be easily ascertamed by application to the Oldha.m authorities.

Again, in dealing with tbe important question of the utilisation of power, Mr. Warner puts down the whole cost of the disposal of the refuse as the p rice of produc­tion of power, overlooking the fact that that cost must be incurred, whether the power is used or not, in order to ~et rid of the refuse. This point was well brought out m the discussion by Professor U nwin.

Believe me, dear Sir, yours obediently, G. WATSON, Engineer and Secretary.

The Horsfall Refuse Furnace Com pany Limited Victoria Chambers, L eeds, Oct . 2, '1893. '

MORLEY MEMORIAL COLLEGE FOR WORKING MEN AND \VOMEN.

To THE EDITOR OF ENGINEERING. SIR,-May I call your attention to sorue new classes

beginning here the first week in October, which we think may be of interest to some who have not yet joined our college? . Now that .the rig~ts and duties of citi~enship are occupy· mg an ever-m.creasmg share .of attent10n, what study is more appropna.te than the h1story of the way in which those rights and duties have arisen ? A course of ten lectures will be held on W ednesday evenings in connec· tion with the University Extension Society by Mr. Graham Wallas, J:\1.A., on "The English Citizen Past and Present. , He intends to trace the history ~f the vestries, the poor laws, municipalities, county councils Parliamentary representation, public educati on, th~ H ealth Acts, &c. , all as far as possible illustrated by instances taken from the history of L ambeth and South· wark. How much weary repetition of the mistakes made by our forefathers might be saved, if only people would inquire what was the experience of the past! A conver­sational class will be held ab the end of each lecture in which students will have an opportunity of getting help in their special difficulties.

For those whose interest lies in science rather than in the world of men, a class in "Steam, has been arranged (by special request of several of the present students) in connec­tion with the Science and Art D epartment, and as those who study steam in its practical and technical aspect will certainly feel the need of understanding the laws of heat on which the existence of steam depends, a class in ' 'Heat''' has also been planned under the same teacher.

A class in elementary Italian, one in Greek, and one (under Mr. R . D. Metcalfe,.Mus. Bac.) in singing on the Tonic Sol-fa system, complete the list of new classes. For particulars of fee~, which range from 1s. 6d. for the first term (with an entrance fee of l s., payable once for all, by new members) I would reft\r your readers to our pro­spectus, where will also bt\ found details of the old classes in English, foreign languages, political economy, book · keeping, arithmetic, shorthand, building and machine construction, dressmaking, cooking, drawing, carving, &c., not forgetting the Orchestral Society, which meets every W ednesday in the Royal Victoria Hall, under the leadership of lVIr. Dove, and has the ad vantage of prac­tising with the orchestra of the hall.

[OcT. 6, I 893.

One word more as to the scholarships awarded here Eight men and one woman were enabled by these scholar: ships. to visit Cam~ridg.e last Aug~t durjng the summer meetmg of the U m versi ty Extension So01ety. Six stayed the whole month, attending the lectures arranged by this Society, three were only able to leave their work for a fortnight, ~ut all tel.l the same t~le of an enjoyable and profitable t1me, of kmdness rece1 ved, and the widening effect of a glimpse into a. kind of life different from their own.

The committee hope that the public will enable them to grant similar advantages to the best students of the coming session. Yours faithfully,

EMMA CoNs, Hon. Sec. Waterloo-road, S.E., October, 189::l.

MARINE ENGINE INDICATOR. To 'l'HE EmTon OI'' }~NGINEEHING .

SIR,-! shall feel obliged if any of your r~aders can give rue particulars of any appliance-other than Chad­burn's-ytorking off the .crankRbaft of ~ marine engine for a~toma:t10ally and contmuou~ly showmg, on the naviga­tlOn bridge of a. steamer (by air bubbles in tubes or other­wise), the direction in which the engines are working " ahead , or " astern," and every revolution. '

I have carefully examined your adver tising columns for som e weeks, bnt have not found any machine mentioned similar to t he above.

Thanking you in antioipa.tion, Yours faithfully,

H ENRY PLATER • 24, L eadenhall-street, London, E.C.,

September 29, 1893.

MACHINE CONSTRUCTION AND DRAWING, 1893.

To THE b;DITOR 0.1!' ENGINEERING. .~IR,-As a rule, I fear I am not very much in sympathy

w1th t he examples set by the l::)cience and Art Depart­ment in their examinations. I think it, however, only fa ir to say that the example so seemingly unfair to "Spanners" would have been understood by 99 out of ~very 100 workmen. Buring my days as a. draughtsman 1t wa~ a common way of specifying a si:te of a union couphng, although the more "1sual method of stamping spanners with the size of the bolt was in that shop adopted.

Although my experience h as at most been only one-third of that of Mr. Phillips, I can inform him that it is by no means uncommon to refer to spanners by their breadth of jaw, and during my own pupilage in one of the largest English railway shops it was the only method in vogue, causing no more trouble than if they were stamped with th_e size of bolt; it served, too, to impress indelibly in my mm~, without the necP.ssity of multiplying by 1.5 and addmg l in., the size of all spanners in ordinary use.

I am, dear S ir, yours faithfully, J. H. B.

Cambridge, October 3, 1893.

STEAM F I SHING SMACKS. To TIIE EmTon Olt' ENGINEERING.

SIR,-I n otice in your issue of the 15th inst. you state, and qui te correctly, that the safety valves on the boilers of fishing smacks are habitually tampered with. I have evidence of this every week at Grimsby, a place where there are no fewer than from 600 to 700 smacks fitted with these small vertical boilers, with an average pressure of 60 lb.

I quite agree with you that measures should be taken to stop this bad practice.

If any qualified engineer were to take a walk around the fish docks of Grimsby and inspect the condition of several old boilers that have been taken out, with the uptakes and Galloway tubes in such a condition that they could not keep a fire alight, he would be rewarded for his trouble by experience.

The most of fishermen working these boilers have no conception of the danger they run, neither do they under· stand the construction of the boiler internally. The most astonishing part is that out of so many vessels there are not m ore explosions.

This last week a skipper came into port with a com· plaint that his boiler was leaking through the Galloway tube, meaning that the water was passing from the one end of the tube to the other, and he could not get more than 20 lb. of s team. He himself had examined the safety valve and slide va.l ves of the engine and found them all right, so it could not be anything else than the leak. Another time the J>Ointer of the steam gauge went right round, the pin bemg out; no person knew what pressure was on the boiler. Another time a piece of inser· tion cloth was put under the face of the Rafety val ve, and shored down from the deck to keep it tight.

I corroborate your suggestion. Fishermen, ignorant of their danger, ought to be protected by a compulsory law of lock-up safety valves, also more stringent super·

• • VlSlOn. I am also informed of another bad practice that

ought to be taken up by some person in authority, which goes on at the same port. There are over one hundred steam trawlers of the very la.tesb design of triJ?le-expansion engines, sizes about 11 in., 17 in., and 28 m. by 21 in. stroke, and boilers carrying 160 lb. pres­sure, everything a facsimi le of a passenger steamer engine. With a few exceptions, these ships are all manned with bandy firemen, who are ab libe-rty to take these vessels away from seven to twenty·eight days, and go 1300 mile3 to sea in the very worst of weathers, without passing any

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OcT. 6, 1893.] •

E N G I N E E R I N G. =·

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examin~tion a_s to fitness, ei ther to satisfy the Board of Trade or any tnsurance company.

think it is no disparagement to the worker. that he c~n­not make it like an iron structure. There 1s no quest10n of the advantages of the American beam ~ngine. M~ny constructed a long time ago do not show s1gns of weanng out. They are, when carefully desis-ned, very economical, but their weight is a serious objectton.-Eo. E.]

lines of contact, as between the balls, the grooved necks, and ball paths. · th

The advantages of this arrangement of bea.nng are e In justice to the own~rs, I must sa);' that each company

has a qul\lified supermtendent engmeer, who has the ~wer to engage what class of men he choos&~. Many of

fhe men, I am told, are good men for the wo~k, and some ersons go so far as to say better than eng1~eers wo~ld

be; for this reason-these men .have to do the1r own fi r10g and cleaning down, where engmeers do not _care to . do this (and many cannot). But at the same ttme I thmk the Board of Trade ou~ht t~ <?&.use these ~en to pass an examination as to thet r abthty !or tak10g charge of steamers in this trade. I am also mformed that on more than one steamer the furnace crowns have co~e down. Another trawler was l?sb, no pe~son knowmg ho_w. Grave fears were entertamed sometlnng went wrong With the boiler. . . .

I am, 81r, yours obed1ent~v.J S UMMER V ISITOH.

Fish Dook-roa.d, Grimsby, September 29, 1893.

BEAM ENGINES FOR PADDLE STEAMERS.

To THE EDITOR OF ENGINEERING. Sm - 'Ve are very much interested in your article

"Bea'm Engines for Paddle Steamers" (issll:e of Sep· tember 1, 1893), giving an account of the engme o~ the steamer Ronam, as we we~e _when y~u before pubhshed (November 9, 1888) a descr1{>t10n of t~1s s~m~ st~amer.

There are a few inacoura01es, to wh10h, m JUStlCe to .our old friend the beam engine, we must call your attention, and we believe you will be glad to corr~ct them. .

1 The wooden frames of the American beam engmes ne~er "wobbled " . to the extent that "allowan.ce had to be made for this m clearance between the p1stona and cylinder ends ; " and so far from " 5 _in . [ clearan~e] being not uncommon, " we must ~ay t~at m our exper1~nce of over forty years (during wh10h ttme we have bUllt and repaired hundreds of these engit;tes) we have not s~en one engine with 5 in. clearance ; 1 m. at each end bemg the usual desisn for the largest of them. If there ever was a beam engme with 5-in. clea.ranc~ at each end or at both ends, it was because of an egregious blunder, not from nec~sity. .

2. You refer in a complimentary manner to the trO? frame and keelsons of the steamer H onam, parentheti­cally remarking, "which, by the way, is now being adopted in Am~rica."

We have a number of boats on our list, as well as tho3e built by others, built before the Hona.m, which have iron or steel engine frames and keelsons, and some of these boats have wood hulls.

3. The Puritan has not forced draught. The blowers mentioned only ventilate the fire-room, which is so open that no extra air pressure is possible.

No exact t est for determining the economy of the Puritan engine has been made, but on the City of Fall River, a boat (about the dimensions of the Honam) be­longing to the sam~ line, and having the same s~yle of engine as the Pur1tan, careful tests were made m 1883 (see Journal of the Franklin Institute, July, 1884). These teats showed an average consumption of 2.04lb. anthracite coal per hour p~r horse-power, and we have reason to believe that all of the engines. built since~ o! the same style, perform just as well. 'fhe C1ty of Fall R1 ver, by the way, has a wood hull, with wood engine frame and keelsons, and both cylinders have a designed clearance of 1 in. only. The engine frame does not ''wobble."

Of courde, there is no use in these days ad ,·ancing the advantages of the American beam engine. The tide is setting in other directions, but they have bee>n, and still are, extremely serviceable, and, considered all round, are economi<:al for work performed.

Respectfully yours, W. AND A. FLETCHER COMPANY.

S. TAYLOR, V. -P. and G.S. Hoboken, N.J., September 12, 1893.

To 'l'.EIE EDITOR oF ENGINEERING. Sm,-In your description of the engines of the steamer

Honam, contained in your issue of September 1, you say the wooden gallows frame usual in American practice made a clearance of 5 in. between piston and cylinder ends, a not unusual allowance.

Allow me to say that in this you have been misin­formed, as such an excessive clearance is altogether un­heard of.

In engines of the size of the Honam's we have adopted 1 in. of clearance as amply sufficient, and this, too, with wooden frames; while, m the case of smaller engines, 40-in. to 50-in. cylinders and strokes of 10ft. to 12 ft., I have made the clearance as little as i in. without fear of results.

Yours truly, H. T.

New York Iron Works, New York City, September 15, 1893.

RowLEY.

BALL BEARINGS FOR THRUST BLOCKS. To THE EDITOR OF E NGINEERING.

SJR,-Seeing that so much interest has bee>n show!?- in this m atter, we venture to address a. further commumca­tion to you, gi vin~ general details of the application of our anti-friction roller bearing to the thrust block of a propeller shaft, which was referred to in our letter pub­lished in your issue of the 15th ultimo.

Before describing our bearing, we may say that Mr. Yolk, in his letter in your issue above referred to, hasi in our opinion, stated the principal cause of failure in al ball bearings-namely, that the balls crowd together, and the surfaces in contact moving in opposite directions cause considerable friction ; added to which, balls do not afford sufficient bea.t·ing surfaces for heavy loads.

In our bearing a series of coned rollers are ar­ranged on either side of the thrust collar of the shaft, so as to take the thrust pressure when going ahead or astern, as the case may be; and tbe.se

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coned rollers are kept in their proper relative posi­tion by two series of balls, one of which is placed near the outer, and the other near the inner ends of the rollers. As the number of balls in each series is equal to the number of coned rollers, it follows that there is a pair of bl.lls (one at each end) between every pair of rollers. These balls perform two distinct functions- namely: (a) To space the rollers and l?revent the surfaces of any pair commg in contact; and (b) to prevent radial displace­ment of the rollers, either by the action of pressure or gravity.

[The statement regarding the u wobbling " of the The balls roll upon adjustable patbs.z .. which are formed wood~n gallows frame was given on the authority of as described by your correspondent, lVl.r. Wing field, in A~er1can experts who were in this country in connection your issue of the 29th ult., and which is the only true Wtth the construction of steamers with beam engines

1 form for the grooves in the case under consideration.

~any years ago; and the excessive clearance was, accord- l Care is taken to so proportion thA diameters of the driv­mg. to th~m, not _unusual. Moreover, many eminenb ing neck3 on the coned rollers (in which the balls fit) to engmeers m ~mer10a op~osed the adoption of the iron the paths on which the balls-driven by the rollers-run, gallows frame m the l\1omng, built by Messrs. Inglis in that there is nothing but pure rolling motion between 1869, on acc~unt_ of it3 want of flexibility-a certain the roller necks balls and paths. amount of th1s ? emg deemed desirable. It I S gratifying The ball paths ar;, in this case, stationary with the tba~ the. expenence of the firms who write to us on the bearing casing, and the relative direction of revolution eub)ect mdtcates that now wooden frames are so satis- of the rollers and balls is as shown by Fig. 4 where a is factory. ~verybody admits the ingenuity with which a. ball and b, bare roller necks. ' the Amencans construct in wood, but as wood shrinks The grooved necks of the rollers and ball paths are and swells, to the destruction of rigidity at the joints, we formed with larger ra.dii than the b~lls, thus giving 'true

following : 1. Large touching surfaces to take pressure. 2. Prevention of friction between surfaces of rollers. 3. Prevention of radial displacement of rollers. 4. No scrubbing, only rolling movement, between all

moving parts. 5. Adjustment of ball paths. . . It should be mentioned that, as an add1t10na.l ~rec~u­

tion against radial displacement of the rollers, pro]ectmg collars are formed on the casing, against which the ends of the rollers would bear if displaced radially. These collars are so arranged in form and dimens.ions that, sho?ld the roller ends touch them, there will still be only rollmg movement on the lines of engagement as the rollers re­volve.

The sketches will, w~ think, sorve to illustrate the fore-going description :

]fig. 1. is a diagram showing the general arrangement of the coned rollers and spacing balls.

Fig. 2 shows the thrust collar on the s?aft, and the relative positions of the coned rollers, spacmg balls, ba.ll paths, and casing.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged view of one of the coned rollers with balls, &c.

In conclusion, we may state that, after the very exten­sive experiments we have made, the results therefrom obtained, and the obser ved action of balls under pressure, we have no hesitation in expressing our opinion that! balls, by themselves, will never be found to act satisfac­torily under even moderately heavy pressures, and that con sequently they are not well adapted for thrust blocks of propeller shafts.

Yours faithfully, P URDON AND W ALTERS.

2, Great George-street, W estminster, S. W., October 4, 1893.

AN ELECTRIC REGULA'rOR.-Mr. Henri Campiche>, of Geneva (at present of the Royal Hotel, L ondon), is intro­ducing an exceedingly simple electric clock and time distributor. A pendulum, beating seconds, operates a. pawl which rotates a ratchet wheel of thirty teeth, making one revolution per minute. At one point in its revolution this wheel completes an electric circuit, and energises an electro-magnet. From the armature of this magnet a long tail-piece stretched towards the pendulum, which at the point carries a spring. At the moment the circuit is completed the armature gives an impulse to the pendulum, the shock being softened by the interposition of the spring between the pendulum and the armature . The same current can be distributed to a number of clocks, each provided with an electro-magnet and a. few wheels t.o operate the hands.

---H.M.S. "SPE'EDY."- The first official trial of the

torpedo gunboat Speedy took place on Tuesday last, the 3rd inst. This vessel, as our readers are aware, has been built and engined by M essrs. J. I. Thornycroft and Co., of Chiswiok, and is especially interesting from the fact that she has Thornycroft water-tube boilers. The trial on Tuesday was with natural draught, and was for a period of eight hours. We shall give full particulars of this trial when we deal with the forced draught trials, which will take place shortly. In the meantime it will suffice to say that the results were of a highly satisfactory nature, over 500 horse-power more than the guarantee being obtained. The speed of the vessel was 18.5 knots. The total mean ndicated horse-power was 3043 ; the steam averaged

190 lb. pressure. The revolutions w~re about 209 per minute for the starboard engines, and 203 for the p ort

• engmes.

RAILWAY AociDENTS.-A return of accidents and casualties reported to the Board of Trade by the several railway companies in the United Kingdom during the six months ended June 30, 1893, has been issued as a Parliamentary Blue-book. During the six months there were reported 12 collision s between passenger trains or part'> of passenger trains, by which 43 passengers and one servant were injured; 16 collisions between pas­senger trains and goods or mineral train~, &c., by which 47 passengers and five servants were injured; six col­lisions between goods trains or parts of goods trains, by which seven servants were injured ; one case of a. train coming in contact with projections from other trains travelling on parallel lines, by which one servant was killed and three passengers were injured; 26 cases of passenger trains or parts of passenger trains leaving the rails, by which three servants were killed and 19 passen­gers and two servants were injured ; eight cases of goods trains or parts of goods trains leaYing the rails, by which one servant was killed and two were injured; three cases of trains or engines travelling in the wrong direction through p oints, by which one p assenger and one servant were in­jured; 14 cases of trains running into stations or sidings at too high a speed, by which 78 passengers and three servants were injured; 70 cases of trains running over cattle or other obstructions on the line, by which five passengers and other persons were injured ; 22 cases of trains running through gates at leYel crossings, by which one passenger was killed and one passenger and one ser­vant were injured; five cases of failure of machinery, springs, &c , of engines, by which two servants were in­jured; 294 failures of tyres, by which two passengers and one servant were injured; nine failures of couplings, by which five servants were injured ; and two other acci­d ents, by which three passengers and thr&e servants were injured. The total number of personal accidents reported by the se\'era.l railway companies during the six months amounted to 524 persons killed and 4302 injured.

430 E N G I N E E RI N G. [OcT. 6, 1893.

MISCELLANEA. IN a very short t ime the Admiralty will introduce into

the service two new ~2-pounder quick-firing guns. Although of the same cahbre-3.085 in.- tbe guns will be of di~er~nt lengths. The longest will be about 10ft. 6 in., and 1s mtended solely for use on board ship· and the ~hart gun, wliich will have a length of about 7 'ft. 6 in.,

DIAGRAMS OF THREE MONTHS' FLUCTUATIONS IN PRICES OF METALS.

IS to be called a field gun. z 0

At a m~eting of the Manchester City Council on W ed­nesday, Str John Harwood announced, amid loud cheers that aft~r consultation ~ith the engineers and dredging master, 1t had been deCided that the Ship Canal would be 8 ready for opening on January 1 next. On that day, there­fore, vessels would be free to traverse the whole length of 86 the canal from the M ersey t o the Manchester D ocks.

8

Two new war vessels are being got ready in Chatham Dockyard for launching, and both are expected to be ready to be sent afloat before the end of the present year. The larger of the two vessels is the F orte, a swift cruiser rated as a second class, of 4360 t ons displacement and of 9000 horse-power. The construction of this ves~el has been watched with considerable interest as the whole of 48

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(Specially compiled from Officiol Reports of London M etal wnd Scotch Pig-Iron Warrant Markets.)

J ULY, 1893. A UGUST, 1893. SEPTEMBER, 1893. I

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the machinery and boilers is being :nanufactured in t-t--r-+-t--r-++-+-+-+-+-+-+-+--t-11-+-+-+-+~ Chatham Dockyard, instead of the order beingplaced %~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ with a private fi rm. The other vessel, the Dryad is receiving her engines and boilers on board from the m~nu­facturer, and is so far advanced that she will be ready for launching within a month.

The I ron A ge states that the greater portion of the steelrail outputin Americais nowusedforrenewals and J8t~~~~~±~~~~~~±~~E~$~g~~~*~~tEe~~!~~~!~!~~~tat~ not for new lines, as was suggest ed by Mr. Carnegie. Thus for the years 1889 to 1892 the following was the distribut ion of the output, t he tonnage used for tram lines being deducted :

Year. Production Used for New Ranewa.l Require·

of Rails. Roads. ments. Gross Tons. Gross Tons. Gross Tons.

1880 1,458,297 518,400 939,897 1890 1,786,778 534,900 1,251,878 1891 1,225,87 4 389,900 835,974 1892 1,440,264 446,700 993,561

A certain. propor~ion of the rene"';'als is due to the replace­ment of tron rails, but the maJOr portion of the t racks relaid was steel originally.

In a pamphlet issued, M. Arnould Locard discusses the peculiar fauna of the P aris water mains, which it appears are infested by numerous molluscs, which appear to thrive well in their peculiar environment. The largest of t~es~ molluscs ar~ t~e D.reissentia .A.rnouldi, which attam sizes up t_o l~ 10. 10 hetght, and are ~omparati vely more numerous 10 the water roam s than 10 the River Seine. They fasten themselves fi rmly to the sides of the mains, and form a great obstruction to the passage of the water. So firmly do they adhere, that very powerful scrapers are required t o move them. As for remedy, M. Locard suggests that the mains should be laid drv for a few days, when the molluscs would die, and might then be removed, and the main thoroughly washed out before being again used for conveying potable water. To prevent their reintroduction, the water supply should invariably be filtered before passing into the mains.

The F rench Government has issued an order to the navy, for the preservation of boilers not in use, as follows : On board all ships in the reser ve, as well as on those which are laid up, the boilers will be completely filled with fresh water ; and this is to apply to shell boilers as well as to those of the tubulous or pipe type. In the case of large boilers with large tubes there will be added to the water a certain amount of milk of lime, following the instructions furnished by Belleville and Co. for the preservation of the tubes of their boilers, or a solution of soda may be used instead. In the case of tubulous boilers with small tubes, milk of lime or soda will be added, but the solution will not be so strong as in the case of the larger tube, so as to avoid any danger of con­tracting t he effect ive area by deposit from the solution ; but the strength of the solution will be just sufficient to neutralise any acidity of the water.

Messrs. H icks, H argreaves, and Co. supplied the engines t o the large new cotton mill which was recently opened in Bombay. The mill in quest ion has 9000 spindles and 1000 looms, and i ts output is estimated at 40,000 lb. of yarn and 16,600 lb. of cloth per day. The engines were built to the specification of Mr. M. Longridge, of the Engine Boiler and Employers' Liability Iusurance Com­pany. They are of the horizontal triple-expansion com­pound Corliss type, with cylinders arranged in pairs t andem fashion, and are capable of indicat ing 3200 horse­power. The cylinders are 30 in., 49 in., 53 in., and 53 in. tn d iamet er, with a G-ft . stroke. T he boiler pressure is 180 lb. per square inch, and the normal speed of the engine is 55 revoluti<:ms per min~te. Th_e power is t rans­m itted from the engme t o the mill shaftmg by ropes, the main drum being 32 ft. in diameter, and grooved for fifty-six l il-iu. rop~s.

I t is proposed to put a power t ransmission plant at Wey­nau, inSw1tzerland, by means of which a total of 2000 horse­p ower, obtained ~Y turbines fr~m th~ River Aar,_ will be transmitted to ddferent facton es, situat ed at d istances ranging from ! to 12~ miles from the power station. F or the shorter distances-viz., up to about 4 miles, it is proposed to use com~ressed air as the t~a~smi tt~r, whilst for the longer distances the transmtss1on will be effected electrically. The current to be employed is of the al ternating type, the: potential on the line being 8000 volts which will be transformed down to 100 to 150 volts' where required. The conductors wi11 be ca.rried on posts, special preca~tions bein~ taken .with the insulation. The air-compreasmg plant wtll cons1st of fi ve compressors, capt\ble of providing 90,000 cubic feet of

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NoTE.-Each vertical line represents a market day, and each h orizontal line represents 1s. in the case of hemat ite, Scotch, and ~levelan~ iron! and ll. in all other cases. The price of quicksilver is per bottle, the contents of which vary In weight from 70 lb. to 80 lb. The metal prices &re per ton. Heavy ateel rails are to Middlesbrough quotations.

air at 8 atmospheres pressure per hour. The distribut ing pipes will be 10 in. and 7 in. in diameter, and will be of cast iron.

In the A nnual of the Engineering Society of the U ni­versity of Georgia, Mr. B. M. Hall describes the method by which the Suwanee Canal Company is cut ting an outlet for draining t he Okeefenokee Swamp, in Charlton County, Georgia. This swamp lies in an elevated plateau 116 ft. above high tide in the St. Mary R iver, from which river the swamp is separated by a ridge 32 ft . above the swamp level. A narrow channel17 ft . deep was first cut through this ridge, and a pumping plant was then placed at the swamp end of this channel. This plant consisted of two centrifugals d riven by steam, and capable of raising 30,000 ga.llons (U.S.) per minute, in a flume arranged so as to discharge i'nto the channel already mentioned. The rush of water rapidly deepens the channel, its act ion being aided by a '' porcupine " barrow. This consists of a log 10 ft . long filled with harrow teeth which is dragged up and down the channel by cables. The cost of excava· t ion by th is method is said to be only 2! cents per cubic yard.

I n a paper read before the International Electrical Congress, Chicago, Professor D. C. J ackson stated that four d ifferen t varieties of underground electric conduits were at ~resent in use in America. These were cast or wrought Iron pipe, cement -lined sheet-iron pipe, tile, terra-cot ta, or clay pipes, and wooden tubes. Of these glazed terra-cotta was most used, t he sect ions being 3 ft. long, and the ducts rectangular, and each capable of con-

taining at least three cables. It was watertight and nearly \¥t ight, and the glaze has a high electrical resist· ance. hen laid in concret e t he conduit should be laid with its top 2ft. below the pavement; without concrete at about 3ft. The t ile conduit was laid on a bed of cement from 2 in. t o 6 in. thick. It was covered with concrete to a similar depth, so that when the w hole had hardened, it re· sembled a continuous set of stone ducts. J oints between the sections were made either by burlap strings soaked in asphalte, or more commonly by a tile sleeve cemented on. ~he simplest conduit used was wrought· iron gas pipe laid either bare in the ground, or imbedded in concrete. The ducts were usually 2 in. or 3 in. in diamet er, the latter size accommodating four cables. The joints are made with screwed sleeves, and the pipes are usually 20 ft. long. E xperience shows that cables can be pulled easily round curves in these pipes of not less than 3 ft. radius. W hen laid in concrete, the pipes are spaced about 1! in. apart. W hen alternating currents are used, the out and return cables ehould lie in the same conduit to avoid losses by eddy currents and hysteresis in the pipe. Wood conduits were largely used in P hiladelphia. T~e wa:lls were about 1:]: in . . t~ick, and the top was covered w1th 2-m. plank as an add1t10nal precaut ion. The com­monest form was built of 4 in. by 4 in. pieces of wood with a 3-in. hole bored through them. Tbe wood was preserved _with coal-tar oil (carbolineum). The disadvan­tage of tb1s system was the dest ruction of the covering of the cables by the preservatives used for the wood. The only type of conduit used on a large ~cale was the cement ­lined iron pipe.

OcT. 6, 1893.] E N G I N E E R I N G.

=· :: w

- . '!' g 4; -OPEN-SPINDLE CAPSTAN LATHE.

CON~ TRUCTED BY MESSRS. JOHN LANG AND SONS, ENGINEERS, JOH NSTONE, N.B.

... . ~·· - .. .;, .... ·..:...

~

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- --- --THE capstan lathe which we illustrate on this page

is one of a type now being constructed by ~lessrs. John Lang and Sons, of J ohnstone, and is intended for making from bar iron all kinds of screws and studs. The saddle carrying the t urret is fitted with a self­acting feed, the rate of ~hich can ~e changed without stopping the lathe, by s1mply movmg the hand lever shown in front of t he headstock. By this means three rates of feed can be obtained, viz., -?7! in., -hin., and y\ in. par revolution of lathe spindle. The screwing head is arranged to swing out of the way when not in use. The clie holder is of an improved type, having no front plate, and thus permitting screwing to be done right up to a shoulder. The dies are cut from bar of special shape, and fit into slides in the screwing head without machining. They are made in long lengths, and the threads can be re cut many times before the dies are worn ont. Grips for holding bars from ! in. to 2 in. in diameter are provided with the machine. The capstan rest hl.s provision for five tool!:. The machine illustrated has a 2~-in . hole through its spindle ; the height of centre is 8! in. ; the bed is 6 ft . long by 12 in. wide, and the total weight complete is 28 cwt. The cone pulley is designed for a 3-in. belt, and has four steps. As illustrated, the lubricant to the dies and tools is supplied from an ordinary trough, but a centrifugal pump is fitted when desired.

' VELCH'S NUT LOCK. THE nut lock illustrated below has been recently

brought out by Mr. \Villiam J . "\\7elch, of 25, \Vel­lington-street, Strand. It does not a im at securing the nut by means of increased friction, as is ordi­narily done, but it opposes an absolute obstacle to its rotation, rendering it a matter of certainty that it

ca.nnot get off the bolt. This is done by forming a ~otterway through the end of the bolt, and driving 1nto the slot a. cotter with a thin tail, whioh may, or may not, be bent across one of the fiats of the nut as desU:ed. This slot is so proportioned that, when the nut lS screwed home to the last t hread, its inner end

-. .. ....... ... -.... . .. - .. . ~ ..

: -- ~

• -• -·­·­·-­·-· -··· ... -···

is below the face of the nut u.t least 1\ in. If the nut should not go so far home it will, of course, cover more of the cotterway. To allow for these variations, several (say four) sizes of cotters, slightly tapering, are supplied for each size of bolt. Should the nut require t o be screwed farther home in course of time, from the stretching of the bolt, or from the pieces which it secures wearing closer together, the cotter can be replaced by one slightly larger.

It will be seen that this nut lock can be used with bolts in any position- horizontal , vertical, or inclined - that it jams the n ut through a considerable range, and t hat it is easily removed, leaving both nut and bolt uninjured. There are many purposes for which the absolute assurance of safety that it gives will recommend it highly.

I N DUSTRIAL NOTES. T HE coal war continues. The hopes, even expecta­

tions, of a possible arrangement during the past week were not realised. The coalowners met and discussed the situation, l:>ut dispersed with the intimation that when the men were ready and willing, and had armed their representatives with full powers t o nego­t iate, the coalowners, committee would be ready to meet them. The hitch is an initial one; upon i ta re­moval depends everything connected with the dispute. The employercs expressed their willingness to arbitrate from the fi rst; they reiterate their readiness now; but the basis of arbit ration must be the rates of wages to be paid, which, after all, involves a reduction if the arbit ration board, or the umpire, or anybody t o whom the dispute is referred, so decide. So far the attit ude of the coalowners has undergone no change ; it is consistent with-is, indeed, practically the same-as that t aken at the first conference at the \Vestminster P alace Hotel. The miners' conference at Chesterfield met after the decision of the coalowners, conference was made known by the manifesto issued by Mr . A. M. Chambers on the day previously. The delegates at the miners, conference simply reasserted their pre­vious decision not to meet the employers to discuss any reduction in wages whatever. They, however, re­iterated their willingness to meet, and reaffirmed their former statement that the late rates of wages were t he normal condition of wages in the several districts, and pledged themselves not to seek any advance in those rates until the prices of 1890-91 were again realised. In a certain sense, therefore, the position is that of a deadlock, each par ty taking a stand at a point whir.h necessita tes either a prolongation of t he contest, the intervention of a third party, or a surrender on one side or the other. Arbitration seems to be out of the question, for that would mean a submission of all matters to the arbitra tors. This the men decline. Conciliation may be a means whereby a. basis could be

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found, if both part ies would agree to accept interven· t ion, but not otherwise. .

The deadlock is not however, so absolute as 1t was. The Federation of Miners has decided that the men may return to work on the old rates of wages wherever the coalown~rs consent to pay such r ates, the only condition being tha t the old hands shall r eturn to work when and as soon as room can be found for them at their old stations. This step is important, because it will remove the block at the pits, and render it possible to obtain a ~upp~y ~f cod and fuel_ for manu­facturing purposes m dtstncts now d~st1tute; a~d, moreover, it may be the means of solvmg the ddli­culty, by preparing the way for more peaceful ~ego­tiation in districts where the non po.'lsurn.us att1tude is still maintained. It is now generally admitted that the calling out of men, where no notices of a re­duction had been given, was a tactical blunder. Now that the ta·ctics are changed, and men ar e a llowed to work at the old rates where they can, pecuniary assist­ance will be given by t rades which hitherto have held aloof, or have only assisted by voluntary contributions instead of by levies. The men who return to work are to pay a levy of 1s. per day towards assisting those who are still out. In this way the contest will per­haps be p rolonged in certain di~tricts, but the prin­ciple of self-interest will operate upon both parties.

The great coal war will be rem<>mbered for many strange incidents- for changes of attitude and policy, and for vacillation in some cases where firmness should have been conspicuous; in other cases for an adherence to the main object of the strike, namely, the preven­t ion of any reduction whatever, and for the stout­hearted pluck shown by the men and their families in the face of privation and want. The latter qualities must be admitted, and even admired, for it shows that brave endurance is still a characteristic of the British people. But the chief interest will centre in the final result of the conflict, as a test of the possi­bilities of great federations to control industrial warfare. In all similar conflicts the federation principle has been defeated. This was the case iu the miners, agitations from 1870 to 1879. This was also the experience in the agricultural labourers' movement from 1870 to 1879. It also broke down in the building trades in 1859 to 1864. I t was by no means a success in the dockers' federations, with other classes of men, in the years 1889 to 1892. But the Miners, F ederation is constituted of miners only, not on the principle of amal­gamation, as in the Engineers, but by joint action in the common interest, when circumstances seem to re­quire it. The degree of success cannot be estimated a.t present in this case.

The effect of the par tial resumption of work cannot as yet be estimated, but the supply will be largely increased all over the kingdom. Durham, N orthum­berland, • 'outh "\Vales, Cumberland, parts of Stafford­shire, and t he Forest of Dean have resumed work where\er they had been stopped. The federation at its recent conference condemned the Forest of Dean men for accepting a reduction of 20 per cent. , and r efused to receive a communication from them. But the men thus condemned have a very good answer, in t he fact that they were not supported by the federa­t ion as they had been led to expect. The condemna­tion was mainly based upon the acceptance of the slid­ing scale in the Forest of Dean, but , singularly enough, the sliding scale was allowed to operate in Staffordshire, the men being thanked for pecuniary help from their earnings under the sliding scale. Yet in Sout h W ales the most frantic efforts were made to upset the sliding scale, even in spite of the fact that the cessation of work involved t he prosecution of the men for breaches of contract. This is the curious part of it-the policy was not quite the same all round . And even the acceptance of work without reductions was not equally condemned in all cases, for some of t he men re­sumed work at pits in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire before the conference resolved to permit it. The oddest thing about the whole matter is that the men employed at the Ladyshore Colliery were not allowed to return to work on the lines laid down by Mr. F letcher the proprietor, who proposed to give 30 per cent. ad~ance on the old rates. But the resolution of the Lancashire and Cheshire Federation gave permission a day or two afterwards to all the men in the two counties to resume work at the old rates. The resumption of work will be partial in Lancashire, Yorkshire, Derbyshire Nottinghamshire, Staffordshire where not under th~ sliding scale, Leicestershire, Somersetshire and Ulou­c~stershire. The full effects of this partial r esump­twn of work can only be known after an interval but pr~sumably the p its at which the 25 per cent: reductwn was demanded by official notices will s till be closed.

---The general effects of the coal strike, in the shape of

a coal famine and high prices, reached an acute stage t owards the close of last week, when coal in London was advanced a furth er 5s. per ton, which together with 2s. advance on the previous Monday, ~eant 7s . per too advance io one week. AR the weather has not

432

bee~ at a.l~ severe up to the present time, the pressure of h1gh prlCes has not been felt to the extent it other­wise would have been; but fuel is needed for cooking o.?d oth.er purposes in the poorest home, so that the h1gh pnr.es h a.ve been serious. The worst feature is, however, that thousands have been thrown out of work, or have been only partia lly employed by r eason of the scar city of fuel, so that t he workpeop'Ie a r e less able to bear the hig h p rices than they were in 1872-73 when work was plentiful, and wages were hiah i~ n early every industry. But it is not in London ; lone or even mainly, tha.t the coal stoppage has bee~ disastrou~ to other workers. It is equa.lly, and even mor~, so 1n a ll the iron and steel producing districts, and m all places where engineering in a ll its branches, and iron shipbuilding and all kindred t rades a re carried on. It has also greatly affected the carrying trades, especially by sea and rail way, thousands of the workers engaged being thrown idle, either wholly or partially, in connection with those industries. The w orst may be over, by the partia l resumption of w ork, but it will t ake some little time in many instances before the pits will be in a condition t o produce the full quantity of their usua.l output. For the miners, this may happen : the partia l stoppage of works may h ave the effect of not again placing them upon full time unt il the depression in trade has passed a way, and this may not ha ppen for months.

---The condition of the engineering trades in L anca­

shire cannot w ell be described until the coal crisis is over, for all branches are affect ed by it, and it over­shadows all other conditions. Several of the la rge eng ineermg establishments t hroug hout the district are t olerably w ell off for work, but on the whole the state of trade in those branches is fa r from satisfactory. N ew work comes forw ard very irregularly, and the work in prosp ect is not of any con siderable weight. Some of t he large establishments have kept fa irly well employed during the coal dispnte, some by reason of good stocks, and ot hers, where pressed, by paying higher prices. But generally work has been much interfered with in nearly a ll t he districts ; some of the firms have been only working half time, and others short time, for weeks past. In the iron trade business is r es tricted t o the most pressing necessity, for present requirements ; both sellers and purchasers appear to be holding back until the collieries and iron w orks are again in full oper ation. In the finished iron b ranches there is little doing, and ther e is little change to report in the steel trade. Fortunately there are no serious disputes p ending in any of those branches of indnstry .

In the Sheffield and Rotherham district the coal dispute has had a most depress:ng effect all round, the local industries being in a very disorganised condi­tion. Thousands of workmen a re out of employment, and there seems to be no indication of any great activity in any department. The steel and fi le indus­tries are most depressed, chiefly owing to the fuel diffi­culty. It is said that Sheffield has not known, since 1880, so serious a derangement of local trade, or such a cute distress. L 1.bour difficulties are, however, gene­rally abdent in the district.

--In the Birmingham district very little business has

been d oing in the iron and st eel branches of trade ; both merchants and consumers appear to be holding back in the expectation of better t erms. The house­hold brass and iron furnishing trades seem to be the mo3t busy, and a la rger demand is experienced for a ll kinds of domestic u tens ils, such as lamps, stoves, fire­irons, and fenders, and tinpla.te workers a re busy in bright stamped goods. Bedstead manufacturers antici­pate being busy with a good winter trade. Metal rollers and tube and wire drawers are a lso fairly well em­ployed. But even here the full extent of the season's tra de cannot be gauged till the coal crisis is over.

In the \V ol verhampton district fairly good business has been done both in crude and finished iron, but t he coal supplies have in some ca ses been r estricted. The demand for p ig iron has increased by r eason of the lessened production elsewhere. This also applies t o ba rs, plates, s heets, hoops, &c. The prices of most articles have increased w ith the augmented d emand, and where not increased the quotations a re firm . On the whole, the W olverhampton district has d one fairly w ell during t he coal dispute, as its supplies have not b een stopped, a lthough somewhat r estricted in some cases. In neither of the two districts are there a ny serious labour disputes.

--The Admiralty havo increased the weekly wages of

the labourers at a ll the Governmen t dockyards, as promised some time ago. This incr ease will reach in the aggregat e about 32,000l. a. year. • ome fur ­ther concessions are being made, and a ppear t o be very satis factory to the dockyard workers, according to report.

If the items of expenditure of the Sailors' ~nd Fire-

EN G I N E E RI N G.

men's Union, rerently published, be at all correct, the fig ures will startle such well-conducted u nions as the Eng ineers, Ironfounders, Boilermakers and Ship­builders, Carpenters and J oiners, and a host of others. T he chief items are : Salaries of officers, 9779l. ; rent and rates, l328l. ; printing and stationery, 2215l. ; legal charges, 2559l. ; cost of weekly publication of organ, 1377l. ; other expenses of management, 5003l.; total, 22,26ll. ; losses by the Cardiff Home, 5504l. , or a g ross t otal of 27, 765l. Against this the benefits rank thus : L ock -out pay to members, 2573l. ; strike pay, l92l. ; sick pay, 512l. ; medical aid, ll3l. ; funeral benefits , 506l. ; shipwreck claims, 40ll. ; out­of-work, 74l. ; and superannuation, 62t. ; total, 4438l., out of an aggregat e expenditure of 32,203!. Truly the mouths of t he old unionists must water a t the blissful state of the new unions , in so far as they may covet salaries and expenses.

The long hours worked by carmen have come before the police cour ts recen tly, from which it appears that in some cases the driver and the horses are out eighteen and even more h ou rs per day. If the Car­men 's Gnion still exist, it ought to do something in this matter. And what of t he poor horses? They have no union, but there is a Society for the Preven­tion of Cruel ty to Animals.

---The boot and shoe strike at Bristol has ended with

advantage t o the men. It was feared a t one time tha t the strike would cause a serious d isruption all through the boot and shoe trades districts, but the executive came down with force, and even tua lly secured a settle­ment of t he dispute. The whole conditions of labour in this trade have been undergoing an importan t change during the last few year s, and very soon the entire trade will be under factor y law. H ome work aud sweating will be at an end. The system of half a century ago is a. matter of hist ory ; even that of a. q uarter of a century ago is fast passing away, never to return.

---The farriers' strike in the London district has ended

in a collapse, the men 's places being taken by men from the provinces, but a t the advanced rates, and with a reduction of the working hours. The men have lost, b u t the condit ions fought for have been practi­cally won. The fact is, there is such a large mass of surplus labour at present, tha t a strike in any trade is exceedingly risky.

Amid all the strikes and failures of the present, one trade seems to be flourishing, that of the sheeting weavers, the men employed a t which have just ob­tained 25 per cent . advance in t he H eywood district of Lancashire.

Apart from strikes, there is the grave question of the unemployed, the number of whom is increasing enor­mously . In London the matter is becoming serious, and it is to be hoped that the foolish wild talk of the past two years will not be repeated. In L iverpool the out-of-work can be counted by many thousands. It is generally so in most of the la rge towns. It is a diffi ­cult problem, looked at from every standpoint. If work could be found a t occupations which came into competition with ordinary labour, there would be an outcry. If the rates are largely increased , there will be grumbling by the ratepayers. The Exchequer is about empty, so that t he S ta te cannot or will not do much. L a.nd cultiYation is out of the question. But some local works could p ossibly be hurried forward, so as t o give employment to some at least.

The coal strikes on the Con t inen t have extended . In Belgium the total number out a t the close of last week was over 12,000 in the Charleroi district, and a general cessation of work was d ecided upon this week. At Mons the t otal number on strike was much reduced, and all chances of a general strike were regarded as at an end. In tihe Liege district only about 750 were on strike at the commencement of the week, and a ll was quiet.

In the Carmaux district, France, the voting was for a. general strike, only 34 being adverse to that policy out of 2850 who vot ed. A t L ens some disturbances took place, the men on strike being dispersed b y t he gendarmes. Several wer e wounded, and fi ve were arrested. Other strikes are r eport ed in France , bu t none of a. very serious charact er. In no case has the cessation of work on the Continen t had the slightest effect upon the coal d ispute in this country .

The strike in the P as de Calais ciistrict, after cost ing the miners about 2,000,000 francs, has practically ended without much advantage to t he men. There is, indeed, little chance of any desperate labour struggle on the Cont inent until the men a re organised more on the lines of English unions. The men strike without due deliberation, and without means.

The appeal of the L ondon Trad es Council for finan­cial a.gsistance to the miners on strike offers no opinion on the n1erits of t he dispute. The appeal is for the

[OcT. 6, 1893.

hungry, for the women a nd children who suffer and cannot help t hemselves. It was a wise decision on the par t of the council to avoid all controversy because of the differences existing between th~ various sections of the miners as to matters of policy. As a rule, the appeals of the London Trades Council have been most successful, dating back to its fi rst establishment in 1859, or the early part of 1860, when it collected money for the builder s' strike. As a rule a close inves tigation of the merits of the case is insti~ tuted before credentials ar e given to collect funds on behalf . of a s trike. In this c.ase no su?h investigation was needed, all the facts bemg notor1ous. The chief u nions that have not contributed will either send their money direc t to the miners or Ulrough the London Trades Council, now t hat the lalter have appealed.

TICI{ET CANCELLING, DATING, AND REG I S TERING MACHINES.

AT the ~7orld 's Colum bian Exposition t he Keller P rinting Company, of 708, Broadway, New York, ex­hibit severa l machines for print ing and dealing with t ickets intended for use on r a il and tram ways. Three of these are illustrated on page 414. Fig. l shows an appliance for cancelling or punching a large number of tickets a t one operation. These tickets, a specimen of which is shown on the base of the machine, have a number of days of the month- 1st to 16th- p rinted on the upper margin. They are, however, only available for use on one particular day. To indica.te this date, the tickets given out to the conductors haYe a notch M cut out of the space corresponding to the particular day. T o effect the notching a large packet of tickets B is placed in a box, and strongly compressed by means of the screw D turned by the crank handle E. Over the t ickets there is a sliding oarriage F, carrying a. tool G, clamped by a screw H. By turning the handle I the carriage is moved, throug h the inter­mediary of the pinions J and fi xed racks K, over the pack et of tickets, and the tool is caused to plane a g roove, which shows as a notch M in each ind ivid ual ticket. This notch, as shown, indi­cat es that the ticket is good only for the 5th day of the current month. By perforating , by a hand punch, t he line of hours at the base of the t icket , the con­ductor can still further curtail t he time during which the ticket is available.

Fig. 2 shows a ticket holder and register, by which a. w eb or ta.pe of tickets can be cut up and dated, each tick et being counted as it is wi thdrawn, to prevent fraud . The tape is drawn throngh feed rollers 4, 4 by turning the handle 3, and passed between a printing cylinder B and a bed cylinder 6. Upon the printing cylinder is a knife, w hich cuts off the tickets 7 as it d elivers them through t he slot 8. A counting device 9 is gear ed to the printing cylinder, and keeps a. register of the operation. It is inclosed within the case, which is normally closed by the locked door shown at the back of this view. By the use of this machine all t roublesome counting of the stock of tickets is avoided, while d ishonest officialSs find an exact account kept against them.

Another form of dating machine, designed for turn­ing out tickets rapidly for street railways, ferries, &c. , is shown in Fig. 3. The individual tickets in the roll are divided from one another by a perforation and a pair of notches, w hich are a lso used for maintaining t he r egister during p rinting. The roll of tickets A is placed on the stud U, and held sideways between t he two laths B, B. The end of the tape is passed around the wheel L, and is t hen carried around the bed cylinder E, again passed over a portion of the peri­phery of L , and then carried around the wheel M, the recrossing of the tape producing frictional tension, after which it is carried to the winding r eel ~T. This la.tter is operated from the shaft carrying the type cylinder by a belt w hich slips when the coil on the winding reel becomes of such size t hat it will take up more of t he t ape than is fed in the operation of the cylinder E . This cylinder is fitted with lugs which engage the notch os in the tape of tickets to secur e the register, as already expla ine.d. The type is placed in slots running parallel with the shaft, and held by screws. An inking d isc K continuously inks the type. The counter 0 records the number of tickets dated.

LOCOMOTIVE AT THE COLUMBIAN E X P OSITION.*

(Concluded from page 390.) Steam P ipes.-Steam pipes to be of cast iron. Ground

joints made with ball-jointed rings to cylinder and T -pipe.

Exhaust Pipes.-(Fi g. 65.) E xhaust pipes to be of cast iron, with double nozzles 3~ in. in diameter, made with ball joints and secured to pipes with t hree bolts (Fig. 5G).

Dry Pipe.- Dry pipe to be 7 in. in diameter outside, la.p-

* F igs. 1 to 20 occur in our two·J>age plate and on page 330 in our issue of September 15; Figs. 21 to 42 occur in our two-page plate of September 22; Figs. 43 to 53 ocour on pages 3R8 and 389 in the issue of September 29, and the remaining fi~ures on pages 418 and 419 in this issue,

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OcT. 6, r893.] E N G I N E E R I N G.

welded wrought iron, fitted with brass sleeves, rive~ed , iron pedestals bolted on. Cast-iron centre plat9 supported caulked, and ball-jointed. Back end secured to cast-Iron on cross bridge to receive centre-pin. branch pipe in dome: front end secured to fron t flue Ettg1'ne-Truck Box.-(~ig. 52, page ~89 a,nte. ) Engine-

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beet> and to T-pipe i n smokebox. truck box to be of cast uon fitted wtth bras s shell and 8 Th~ottle Valve.-(Fig. 31 of two-page plate, September projecting Babbitt m etal bearing. Spring side bearing 22.) Throttle VJhe to be a. dou~le seat balance valve 1 to b3 se~ured. to frame. }~rak~ to be fi~ted to ,~ruck. as placed in dome. To be ground in ttght, a~d operated by a

1 per spem6cat1~ns under Engme Truck Brakes. Engme

bell-crank lever connected by a rod passmg through the . truck to be fin~shed all OYer. turret to the throttlo lever. Whcels. - (Figs. 50 and 51, page 389 ante.) \Vheels to

T ur1·et.- Turret to be of cast iron, drilled and tapped be ?a~t- iro!l spoke .centres, with steel tyr~s secur~d by as shown. To be finished all over. . . retammg nngs. D1ameter of wheels, 40 m. outs1de of

I nj ectors.-Injflctors to be Momtor No. 10 on. nght- tyres. . . . h~nd side and No. 9 on left · hand side, placed outside the .Ax lcs.-Ax1es to be of hammered 1ron, JOUrnals 6i m. oa.b, with'handlefor operating them inside. by 10 in. Ax~es to be stamped with name of maker

Check Valve.- Oheck valve to b~ of th~ standud.pattern. and .d9:'te of for~r~1g. . . . To be cased with Russia iron w1tb fimshed cast· Iron top Fttttngs. -Engme to be provtded w1th whistle, steam and bottom. gauge, a ir gauge, steam heat gauge, steam heat-reducing

Air Brake Equipment.-Ai.r brake equipment,for engine valve (Gould), three.gauge co~ks, water glass with shield, to be as per vVestinghouse A~r Brake O~mpan~ ~schedule cab lamp, blower, oil cans, stgna~ lamps, br~cket, and all AI, with 9i in. air pump, 16 ~n. by 33 1_n. aux lhary res~r- neces~ary wrenches, fireto~ls, chisels, packmg.tools, &c. voir, No. 15 driver brake cyhnder, and Improved equah~- Two Jack s~rews and a pmch bar ~o be p~oVIded. A ll ing engineer 's valve with feed v~lve attachment. Atr exposed . fittmgs to ~ave wrought-~ron finiSh. A ll ex­brake e::Jnipment for tender to be as per schedule B. posed p1 pes to be fimshed. All fimsbed removable nuts

A ir Signal.-Engine to be supplied with complete case-hardened. All thre.ads -p-. S. standard. air signal equipment as. per schedule J. . . !ender l(rame. -: (F1g. G.2.) Ten~er frame to. be

Dri-ver Brake.-Engme to be fitted w1th equa.h sed built of 6~ 10. by 4 m. by f m. angle 1ron substantially pressure dri ver brake, operated by two cylinders placed riveted and braced. Pine fltlOring 2 in. thick to cover under footplate. Brake shoes to be of the Ross Meeban the whole t op of frame, and 1-in. c.ak flooring to be laid

attern. in coal spacE'. T op of oak flooring to be covered with p Engine Truck B rake.-Eagine truck to be fitted with sheet iron secured by countersunk head screws. brake as per schedule vV. Y. and W. D. American Brake Tank - (Fig. G 1.) T ank to be made of ! in. iron, Company. To be co~nected. ~y pipe and. hose connec- rive~ed with i il-in. ri ~ets 1~-in. pitch. Angle irons and tions with 12 in. by 33 m. aux1hary reserv01r. bracmg as per drawmg. Tank valve C)vers t o have

Mttallic Pa.cking.-P1ston -rod~ and yalve ~tern s to be Russia iron c~sing a~d cast-tron finished top. T ank valves fi tted with United States metallic packmg (Ftgs. 28 and to be fitted w1th stram ers. 29 of two-page plate, September 22). Water Scoop.- (Fig. GG.) vVater scoop to be fitted

Wheel Covers.-Wheel covers m1.de of i- in. sheet-iron to tender, operated by a lever placed on the lef t hand fa.~ed with 1~-in . anale i~on fini ~hed. . side of the coal spa.oe. . .

SprinJ R igging.-Engme to be hu.n~ on spnngs sup· Gould Drawba.r.-~ender to be .fitted at back end w1th ported in stirrups underneath the dr1 vmg boxes. Equa- G.mld drawbar. H eJght from rall to cen tre of drawbar lisers to be made of best hammered iron slotted at both 35 in. Buffer casting to be fastened to bumper beam on end3 to receive hangers, and in cen t re to receive wrough t- back end of tender. H eight to top of buffer casting from iron fulcrum. Gibs for fulcr tlm and hangers to be of steel. rail, 50 in. F ront end of tender to be fitted with draw

Slack.-Stack to be straight, 15! in. in diameter insidE', castings and drawbar to footplate of engine, also with height from b >iler to top of stack 40 }-fi in. Ca!t-iron top safety chains and hooks. and base and Russia iron jacket. Base to be fitted air· Trucks.-Trucks to be four-wheel, with wrought-iron t ight to smoke box. Height of stack above uil 14 ft. side fram e. Bolster of channel iron, with plates riveted 10 in. with engine central in pedestal. on top and bottom and cast-iron end caps bolted on. Centre He~dtight.-Headligh ~ to be of special rou~d pattern castings (Fig. 64) to be bolted to bolster. 9ast-iron

with 18 in. rE:fl ~ctor. T o be secured to headhght·board top and bottom bolster plates to be bolted to stde frame supported on cast-iron brackets. H eight over all, 34~ in. and to bolster. T op bolster plate to receive the safety To have illuminated number of engine on both sides. truss which carries the axle safety straps. T ender truck

Sm?kebox Front a n.d .Door.-Smokebox front and door box (Fig&. 63, 64 and G5) to be of cast iron, with brass to ha of c:1.st iron finished on out~ide and fitted air-tight. j 0urnal bearings and malleable iron keys. Cover to be Numbsr plate to be secured to doer, numbers to be riveted of malleable iron. Axles of hammered iron. to be stamped tu plate. with name of maker and date of f<?rging. Wheels (Fig. 50,

BeU and Yoke.- Bell and yoke to be of N. Y.C. on page 389 ante) to be of cast-1ron s poke centres, steel standard pattern (Fig. 58, page 418). B~ll to have the tyred, secured by retaining rings. T ender to be equipped following corr.posit10n ; four p :1.rts copper to one of tin. with West in~ house air brake. Brakes to be applied to

Safety Values. -Two 3 in. Richardson combination both trucks. T ender to be equipped with air signal, steam muffiers and safety valves to be placed in dome cover. heat pi pe, and couplings.

Dome.-D.)me to be Jagged wi&h asbestos cement and Painting.-Engine and tender to be painted black and r.overed with NQ. 12 sheet iron casing and cast-iron rings. ·varnished, eaoh coat of paint to be well rubbed before tbe To ba painted and striped. next one is put on. All stamping and lettering to be done

Sand Box. -Sa.nd box as per Fig. 57, with N o. 12 in aluminium leaf. Engine to be numbered on side of sheet-irou body and cast· iron top and base. S&nd val vGs d ome and panel of cab. T ender to be numbered on back to be operated by a handle in cab on right-hand side. end, and lettered "N. Y. C. & H .R.R." on side of tank. S1.nd pipes li in. in diameter to run to front of each main dri v&r.

Hand·Rail.-H and-rail of wrought-iron p ipe, finished, supported on columns, screwed into bosses, which are fastened to boiler.

Running Boards.-Running boards of i\ ·in. iron faced with an~le iron secured to boiler with wrought·iron brace$. Finished all over.

Cab.-(Fig. 59.) Cab substantially built of black wal­nut secured with joint bolts and corner irons. Ceiling of alternate ash and black walnut strip3. To be furnished with seats and tool boxes for engineer and fireman. Sashes to be fitted with plate-glass. Wood work to be well rubbed. oiled, and varnished.

Cab Handles.-Oab handles and handles on smokebox to be finishf'd and to have a Russia iron casing around middle of handle.

Cab Brackets. - Oab brackets to be of cast iron bolted to back frame, finished all over. Handles to be covered with Russia iron casings.

Grates. -(Figs. 17 to 20 on pag-e 330 ante.) Grates to be ca.st iron of the rocking s tyle, operated by lever on foot­plate. Grates to be supported on cast -iron side frames secured to sidPs of firebox by studs. Back grate to be stationary. Filling-piece 3 in. wide to be used at back of firebox.

Ashpan.-Asbpa.n to be made of ~-in . iron with angle­iron corner and stiffening pieces. To be made in two parts; lower part secured to upper by bolts and keyP. Upper part to be fastened with studs screwed into grate side frames and provided with split k eys. Ash pan to ha.ve front and back dampers closely fitted and operated by levers in the footplate. Ash pan to be dust-tight.

PiU>t. - (Fig. 53, page 389 ante.) Pilot to be of oak, sub­stantially made and braced. 1'o be securely bolted to bumoer beam, and provided with horned draw casting as par Fi.g. 60_. on p~ga 418, and .drawbar. To be set to clear tha ratl4~ 10. t'11ot to be pamted and striped.

Footp!ate. - Footplate to be of oast iron securely bolted to frames.

LQ(JginJ and Jacket -Boiler to be lagged with asbestos ?ement, and jacketed with Russia iron, secured by Russia tron ~a.nds. L1.zging and jacket to extend over smokebox and m cab to b lok And of boiler.

Engine Tru,ck.-(F igs. 48 and 49, page 389 ante.) Engine truck to have squ!l.re wrought· iron frame with wrought-

•

THE WASTE OF HEAT IN IRON SMELTING.

On the Waste of H eat, Past, P resent, and Future, in Smelting Ores of Iron. it

By Sir LowrHI.AN BELL. Bart., F.R.S . O wiNG to an apprehended d earth of papers, at the

request of the Council an appeal was made to m e for one on desulphurising pig iron. As there was no time to prepare anything new on this subj~ct, it became neces­sary that I should endeavour to gather ma terials for the present communication from an investigation which has occupied my attention for somo time past.

Practically, my object will be to lay before this m eeting the amount of heat which is los t, even in our most perfect blast furnaces, and then to offer some suggestions for avoiding at least a portion of this waste.

Although my contribution to our American volume did not m eet with universal approbation in the United States, my esteem for the members of the iron trade of that great country remains unaltered, and I rejoiced on being honoured by an invitation to write, for the Chicago E xhibition, some account of my present views on the position of the blast furnace. Unfortunately my engage­ments at the time did not permit a compliance with this request. G reater leisure, however, has r evived the wish to despatch one more message to our colleagues in the western hemisphere. To be candid, I must admit that the selection of the subject of this paper was greatly influenced by the hope that its contents may afford the information asked for by my friend, Dr. Raymond, of New York.

Since our first and illustrious President, the Duke of Devonshire, delivered his address, almost exactly twenty­four years ago, we have heard so much on the economy of fuel in smelting iron ore, that some may hesitate to believe that any coke or coal is still being wasted by those engaged in the work. Among our members there are doubtless some who came into the world at or about the birth of our Institute, and I coveb the pleasure of placing before them a brief survey of the extraordinary progress which has been made in the direction referred t o, .

* Paper read before the Iron and Steel Institute.

I

\

433 :

during the lifetime of some of the founders of this body. . t 11 DJ.vid Mushet who wrote fifty or s1xty years ago, e s us that to produ~e a ton of pig iron in Scotland, 11;! tons of coal was consumed. This was reduced to 8 tons before 1830 and since that year, in Cleveland has been broughti dow~ to iess than 2 tons in furnaces using the poorer mineral of that dist rict.

I am not going to de' ~in you with any inqu~ry as to how such an extraordmary waste of power arose, but bring you at once to wha t was considered, so late as 1R30, a reasonable expenditure of coal. To produce 3 tons of coke- the quantity frequently required- 5 tons ab least of coal was consumed, which, with 20 cwt. to 30 cwt. for blowing-engine and calcining the ironstone, gave 5 to 5~ tons of raw coal per ton of pig iron.

At that period very little, if anyth~ng, wa.s known of the quantity of beat ge_!lerated by a given wetgbt of fuel -nothing had been d1scovered as to tb.e mode of the quantitative measurement of h eat, and, 10 consequence, no one knew anything of the actuai a~ount of this agent involved in the process we are cons1dermg.

E xperience, reverenoed as the Rule of Thumb, was the sole guide of the iron~aster of that day, and 3 ton~ of coke for each ton of 1ron was the result of the lessons taught by this adviser.

More recently scientific researoh made known that a given amount of heat, however produced, was capable of raising a certain weight of water 1 deg., t wice the heat 2 deg. , and so on. Under the appellation of beat units or calories, the quantity of heat can now be measured with about the same exactitude that its intensity is estimated by m eans of the thermometer and by the pyrometer. Add to this knowledge the fact that the same means of measurement has enabled us to determine the quantity of heat evolved in the various chemical and other changes which take place in the blast furnace. With such arithmetic as this at our command, the appropriation of the beat evol ved by the combustion of the fuel can be traced wi th a very close approach to t ruth, so that we are enabled to distinguish between what is n ecessary and what is waste. If, for example, a smelter sixty year~ ago h ad been told that the gases leaving his furnace were charged with an amount of heat which represented nearly 27 cwt. of the 3 t ons of coke he was using to produce 1 ton of pig iron, surely he would have asked himself, Can I not utilise some of this vast am'>unt of power now being lost?

Viewed by the knowledge now at our disposal, it may seem difficult to understand why no inquiry was made in the direction just intimated. Every one about a furnace must have been aware that the intense temperature of the hearth rapidly disappeared during the ascent of the highly heated gases towards the throat. It must also have been clear to the most casual obser ver that this arose from their beat being transferred to the cold materials intro­duced at the top, during their descent towards the tuyeres. Notwithstanding this, it never seemed to have occurred, even far into the present century, to any fur­nace owner to ascertain whether any great amonnt of the heat dealt with remained unappropriated. T o give you an idea. of the important function played by this inter­cepted heat, it was ascertained ab the Claren ce Works, twenty-five years ago, that of the high tem perature in the hearth of an 80-ft. furnace, 70 per cent. present at any particular time owed its origin to its absorption by the materials during their immersion in the heated gases.

Let us apply som e of the science taught us by chemists and others in recent years to the operations of a furnace consuming 60 units of coke for each 20 units of pig iron, obtained from an ore like that found in the adjacent hills of Cleveland. In undertaking this duty a good deal must be left to a mere estimate, because, so far as I know no scienti fic examination was ever applied to a furnac~ working, in former times, under the conditions named.

A fter allowing for the foreign matters in the coke each unit of the fuel used in the furnace was calcula~ed' under the conditions of its oxidation, to yield whe~ burnt with air at 100 d eg. Cent. (212 deg. Fahr:) 2545 calories, equal therefore to 152,700 calories for the 60 cwt. of coke consumed. On the other side of the account we have this heat appropriated to an extent of 84,028 calories lea~ing 68,676 calories co~sidered as having been carried off 10 the ~ases. R eckonmg 2545 of these thermal units to represent one unit of coke, we have 33.017 cwt. for actual work, and the remaining 26.983 cwt. expended without any useful results.

W e will n~w anticipate our hi~tory of the d evelop m ent of the 1ro~ trade by about stxty years by quoting the recent practiCe of a furnace at Low Moor, communi­cated to me by our President. It differs in principle in no way from the furnace, the results of which have just been described. Inetead, however, of having a b~ight of 42 f ~., it was increa~ed in this r~spect to 70ft., w1th a capamty of 10,700 cub10 feet. This addition was made expressly to avoid the great waste of heat in the escaping gases, subsequently recognised by means of the great enlargement of the Middlesbrough furnaces about 27 years ago.

The weekly production, by a similar alteration at Low Moor, was raised from 80 t ons to 350 tons per week and the coke was reduced to 38 cwt. per ton of metal. Some of the items exhibit a smaller amount of heat being re­quired than happens in the smaller furnace but the ohief source of saving i~ in the waste gases, thes~ b~ing, owing to the sma.Iler wetght of coke use~, reduced m quantity as wel~ as m temperature. By est1mate the weight of the gases m the smaller furnace was about 356 units for 20 of iro~, while in thab of 70 fti. they are computed to be 224 umts, or about 37 per cent. less. In the calculation given on the ne~t page the calories, contained in the gases per ton of tron, are reduced from 68,676 to 21,951, which represent 26.983 cwt. and 7. 981 cwt. of coke respectively.

,

434

Particulars of H eat Developed and A ppropriated in a Furnace about 45 ft. in H eight, Blown with Cold A ir.

H eat Evolved-Coke used per ton of iron, 60 cwt. less

10 per cent. water and ash = . . . . Deduct 2.04 carbon contained in the

limelltone, carrying oft an equal

54.00 of carbon.

weight of carbon in coke in upper region of furnace. . . . . . . . 2.04 ,

Leaving for combustion a.t the tuyeres.. 61.96 ..

Evolution of heat , 51.96 carbon burnt at tuyeres Calories.

to carbon oxide x 2400 . . . . . . . . Of this 5.00 units burnt in zone of reduction to

carbon dioxide x 5600. • • . . . . . .

A ppropriation of Heat-

124,704

28,000

152,704

Coke = Units. Calories. Tot~l 264_5

Calones. Calol'les Evaporation of water

in coke . . . . 1. 50 wa.ter x 640 = 900 Reduction of iron in

20 of pig iron . . 18.60 Carbon impregnation . 60 Expulsion of ca.rhon di·

oxide from limestone .17 Decomposition of car-

bon dioxide by car-bon . . . . .. .6

Decomposition of hy­grometric moisture

Metalloids reduced ap· .1e

proximate . • . . . . Fusion of pig iron . . 20 units

, slag . . . . 31 , Loss by radiation,

convection, &c. . . • •

Ca.rried oft in theescap· ing gases . . . . • •

••

• •

X 1, 780 = 33,108 X 2,400 = 1,450

X 370 = 6,£90

X 2,400 = 1,440

X 34,000 = 6,440

X X

.. 4,200 330 = 6,000 660 = 17,060

• •

• •

7,500

84,038

63,676

per Unit. .377

13.009 .o65

2.471

.666

2.138

1.650 9.593 6.700

2 947

33.016

26.984

152,714 60.000 The estimated temperature for the gases of the older fur­nace is 774 deg. Cent. (1415 deg. Fahr . ), and for the other 408 deg. Cent. (771 deg. Fahr. ). It should be remarked, however, that both are probably in excess of the real quantity, due to the assumption of carbon. as carbon dioxide, being p erhaps a little overst ated. Mr. Windsor Richards, indeed, gives 420 deg. to 600 deg. Fahr. as the t emperature of the escaping gases in the 70-ft. furnace at Low M oor.

A portion of this econ omy, it must be supposed, may be due to the carbon as carbon dioxide being in a larger proportion to the carbon oxide than in the former in­stance.

In the year 1828 it occurred to Waiter B. N eilson, a ga.s works manager in Glasgow, to suggest h eating the air previously to i ts admission into the blast furnace. He ha.s left no record of any grounds upon which he founded the expectation of realising a saving beyond that equiva­lent to the heat thus inject ed among the materials. Ibis, however, highly improbable that any marked amount of success would have attended any such att empt. Neilson lived before the days when ch emistry bad become a science studied by, or indeed much believed in, by men occupied in industrial pursuits. But were it otherwise, we have Dr. P ercy, a leader among scientific metallurgists, quot­ing, as we shall hereafter see, the opinions of chemists nearly forty years after the date of the b ot-blast patent. As a result of t heir labours and his own, he admitted that h e was a s unable to explain its mode of operation a s h e was to give a reason why hot water dissol ved more of cer­t ain salts than cold water was able to do.

In the early days of smelting iron ore with heated air, owing to the defective nature of the apparatus employed, a very moderate temperature was reached, which rarely

Particulars of Heat Evolved wnd Appropriated in a F ur-nace 70 Ft. in H eight, Blown with Cold A ir.

Evolution of Heat-Coke consumed per 20 cwt. of pig iron,

38 cwt. less ash , &c., equal to 34.51 of carbon. Less carbon in 15.5 of limestone carry-

ing ofl' 1.86 of that in coke . . . . 1.86 --

Leaving to be burnt at the tuyeres 32.65 32.65 cwt . of carbon burnt to carbon oxidex2400 =76,360 5.00 , ot this CO carbon dioxidex6600= 28,000

---104,360

Value of one unit of coke 104•360 = 2745 calories. 38

Appropriation of Heat-

Evaporation of water • 1n coke .. • • • • • • .95 X 640 =

Reduction of oxide of iron . . 18.6 X 1,780 = Carbon impregnation .. .6 X 2,400 = Expulsion of carbon dioxide

15.5 370 = from limestone • • •• X Decomposition of , c. 1.86 X 3,200 =

water • .. ln blast hydrogen .. ·: .14 X :;4,0UO =

Metalloids reduced, approx1-ma.te .. • • • • • • • • • •

Fusion of pig iron • • •• 20.00 X 830 = , slag .. • • •• 30.00 X 560 =

Loss by radiation, convec-tion, &c. •• • • •• • • • •

Carried oft in escapin2' gases ••

Calories= Coke at 2745 cal.

608 .221 33,108 12.062 1,440 .524

6, 735 2.089 6,952 2.169

4,760 1. 734

4,200 1.530 6,600 2. 404

16,500 6.011

3,600 1.275

82,403 30.019 21,957 7.9S1

104,360 38.000

exceeded 330 deg. Fahr. Late~ furnace managers were satisfied with the blast when 1t melted lead, probably, therefore about 620 deg. Fahr. (33~ deg. Cent.). .

Not po~sessing a ny scieutific data connected w1th the

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

earlier application of the h ot blast, I am compelled to look for my illustrations when the subject fi rst began to engage my 9-tt ention about the year 1868. At this period we had succeeded, at the Clarence Works, in ra ising the temperature of the air t o 485 deg . Cent. (905 deg. Fahr.). At that time we had reduced the consump tion of coke to less than 30 cwt. for Cleveland No. 3 iron, the yield of the calcined iron ore being about 42 per cent. The estimated quantity of carbon burnt at the tuyeres t o carbon oxide was 24.44 units per 20 of pig iron, and of this 5.47 0f carbon passed off, by the reduction of the ore, as carbon dioxide. This raised the heat produced by the fuel to 3087 calories per unit of cok e used, which, in the particular case of which the data are given below, was 28. 92 cwt. per t on of p ig. The efficiency of the coke was further increased by the addition of 509 t hermal units, bringing the total to 3596 calories per unit of coke instead of the 2735 calories in the cold blas t furnace ab L ow M oor.

The weight of escaping gases, per 20 units of pig iron, was 170.59 units, and the t 8mperature being 452 deg. Csnt. (848 deg. Fahr. ), the calories carried a way were 17.922, equal, t herefore, t o 4. 984 of cok e.

In t he year 18G2 M essrs. Whitwell built a pair of fur­naces 60 ft. in height, and in the same year M essrs. Bolckow and Vaughan constructed one 75 ft. high, with a capacity of about 10,500 cubic feet. Mr. Vaughan's object was an increased m ake, but in addition to this a considerable econGroy of fuel was realised. I was per­mitted to inquire into the cause of this unexpected saving, and I found a la rger amount of carbon dioxide and a reduced amount of heat in the escaping gases. This d is· covery led us to erect a pair of furnaces at the Clarence Works 80ft. in height, with a capacity of 11,500 cubic feet, or close on double that of the six furnaces already in blast there. Subsequently others were built with a capa­city of 25,500 cubic feet, the h eight being the same as the first two, viz., 80ft.

Discussions arose in the meetings of t h is Institute, and in those of the Mechanical, as well as the Civil E ngineers, in which it was urged that by still further additions to the capacity of our furnaces, aided by a still more intensely heated blast , we might hope to reduce the consumption of P articuln1·s of H eat Developed and Appropriated iln a Fur-

nace 48 jt. in H eight, B lown uith H ot A ir at 485 deg. Cent. (905 deg. Fahr. ).

H eat Evolved from 20 Units of Pig Jron-Cokeused 28.92, less 2.66ash, &c. = .. .. 26.36 Less 1. 92 of carbon in limestone as C02 carry ing

eQ ual quantity . . . . . . . . . . 1. 92

Carbon burnt at tuyeres . . . . 24.44 Carbon burnt at tuyeres 24.44 x 2400 = 58,656 Of this burn t in reducing

zone . . . . • . 6.47 x 5600 = 30,632

89,288 Heat in 125.12 of blast 125. 12 X 485 x

. 237 ~pecific beat . . . . . . . . 14,724

104,012 Value of one uni t of coke 104•012 = 3596 calories.

~.92

A ppropriation of H eat per 20 Uni ts of Pig I ron-Units. Calories. Calories. Coke.

Evaporation of water in coke .74 x 640 = 473 = .131 Reduction of iron peroxide .. 18.6 x l , 780 = 33,108 = 9. 207 Carbon impregnation . . . . .6 x 2,400 = 1,440 = .400 Expulsion of carbon dioxide

from limestone . . . . 16.00 x 370 = 6,920 = 1.646 Decomposition of carbon di·

oxide by carbon . . . . 1.92 x 3,200 = 6,144 = 1.708 Decomposition of hygrometric

moisture from hydrogen .. Uetalloids in pig iron reduced,

.12 X 34,000 =

approximate . . . . . . -Fusion of pig iron .. .. 20.00 x 330 =

, slag . . .. .. 31.5 x 550 = Loss by radiation, convection, approximate ..

, in water fo r cooling tuyeres . . . . . .

4,080 = 1.134

4,174 = 6,600 =

17,325 = 5,200 = 1,700 =

1.160 1.837 4.816 1.446 .473

Carried off in gases •• • • • • • •

86,164 - 23.957 .. 17,848 = 4.963

104,012 = 28.920 coke below what, in my opinion, after some attention to the conduct of blast furnaces, appeared probable.

The question was frequently put as to what mi~ht be regarded as the minimum weight of coke at wh10h it would be possible to produce a ton of No. 8 iron from the ironstone of the Cleveland district. In naming 1 9~ cwt. t o 20! cwt. as a probable figure, it must be remembered what disturbing influences are const antly at work, all of which t end to m odify such calculations. There are dif­ferences in the quality of the coke, a greater amount of sensible heat carried off in the gases, arising from irregular charging, and even from the known fluctuations in the moisture of the air, or from microscopic leaks at the tuyeres, all of which circumstances t end to render the problem one of great complexity. In such a. calculation we had not to deal with differences of s~veral hundred­weights to the ton of m etal, such as perplexed the minds of m en upon the introduction of the hot blast. While, theref0re, I am not disposed to question the accuracy of those who give instances of the Middlesbrough furnaces producing No. 3 at an expenditure of 19 cwt. of coke, I put it to pract ical men in the trade, after an experience of twenty years with eno~mous .furnaces, _and air pro­bably as highly heated as IS physically possible, whether I was far out in naming 19! cwt. t o 20~ cwt. as the pro­bable l imits of coke consumption.

Of course I am not suggesting t he impossibility, under the ordinary run of conditions, of a furnace producing even at 19 cwt. for a short time. It must be understood my observations are reserved for an average over several months. Indeed, I am not prepared to deny, by a care­ful selection of minerals difficult to mainta in, and by

[OcT. 6, r 893-

ve~y careful manipulation equally difficult to secure that th1s low rate of consumption m ight be obtained' for a longer period than that contemplated in the previous paragraph. N either am I making a!ly allowance for any change m the form of the furnace, hke that described by Mr. H awdon at Middlesbrough a few weeks a.go. ~n order. to form an approach to a correct opinion on

thts questwn, we must make ourselves acquain ted to some extenb with t he nature of the changes which take place in the blast furn ace.

First, as regards the origin of the heat produced. This is due, a s we have seen, t o the conversion of almost all the carbon of the coke t o carbon oxide, next to a portion of this carbon oxide being raised to car bon dioxide and lastly, t o t he heat in the blast. The Table gi ven belo~ will serve as an indication of the d ifferent conditions under which on e unit of coke may contribute heat in smelting i ron ore.

The second T able given below will serve t o show how the efficiency of the coke is promoted by the use of the hot blast.

With regard to our ability t o greatly increase the tem­peratur~ of the blast, in order thereby to raise the third factor g t ven above, and thus reduce the first two, it must be borne in mind t hat as we diminish the coke burnt and consequently reduce the volume of air blown into tb~ furnace for each ton of iron made, the quantity of heat, for which the air ha.s to ser ve as a vehicle, is increased. If, then, the expectation of making a. ton of Cleveland iron with 16 cwt. of coke had been realised, it would have required the blast to be heated to about 1150 deg. Cent. (2102 deg. Fahr.), a t emperature not likely to be reached.

The T able below shows how rapidly the t emperature of the blast rises as the quantity of air is decreased.

The increase in the heat units conveyed by the air is, of course, to make good the defici ency in the heat arising from the wi thdrawal of part of the coke. E ach step is based on withdrawing 1 cwt. of coke per t on of pig iron .

Height of furnace •• ft.

Formation of carbon oxide . . Carbon oxide to carbon di·

oxidl1 . . . . . . • • Heat in blast . . . . • •

Temperature of blast, deg. C.

Cold Blast.

42

1734

077 0 -

2711 -0

Hot Hot Hot I Bot Blast. Blast.. Blast. 1 Blast.

48 80 76 90

2028 2018 2055 1915

1059 1636 1887 1612 609 634 723 794

35961 41sS -

4165 4321 - - - -

485 485 780 819

-----Blast. Temperature. lJeat Units in

Dlast.

cwt . 95.43 90.08 84.35 79.39 74.00 68.65

d eg. Cent. 637 654 786 935

1103 1304

deg. Fabr. 1036 1209 1447 1715 2017 2379

12,156 13,956 15,753 17,586 19,348 21,209

In respect to the second item, viz., the generation of carbon dioxide, it may be observed if we ha.d a furnace filled with coke alone, we should, by its combustion, have the whole of the carbon passing away at the throat as carbon oxide, CO. The formation of carbon dioxide, C02, is exclusively due to the action of t he carbon oxide on the ore, the amount of which dioxide I have estimated as not exceeding 6.58 units per 20 units of pig iron. If then the carbon has .to be reduced, it must be by lessening the amount escaping a s carbon oxide. But here we a.re met by an insurmountable barribr . Carbon, in the form of oxide, is a powerful reducing agent, but in the form of dioxide it is the very reverse, that is, at such tempera­tures as a re met with in a blast furnace, even in its upper zone, meta.llio iron is rapidly oxidised. W e have thus two antagonistic forces present, and as wa-s proved experimentally, when one-third of the carbon in the gas~ exist s a.s carbon dioxide, further complete reduction IS suspended. Indeed, as a. matter of fact, in practice .we rarely or never arrive at such a point of oxygen saturation as that just indicated. It is worthy of re!Ilark that the more intense the tem·

perature the more active is this oxidising t endency of the high er oxide of carbon, and we £nd, in certain cases, a. g-reater p ortion of this gas generated by reduc~ion, pass­mg back again to the condition of carbon oxtde by ~he dioxide dissolving t he carbon of the fuel, and thus rob?I?g the furnace of i t s power of k eeping \lp the requisite supply of h eat by carbon, which ought t o be burnt at the tuyeres, disappearing in the upper regions of the fu~nace,

If, then, a furnace, by reason of its insufficient dim~n­sions, or from other causes, has the t emperature of tts reducing zone unduly raised, carbon dioxide d~s~ppea~, and car bon oxide t akes its place. In the subJmned hst there appears one h aving 6.52 of carbon in the £rst-named state, C02, but as an average this may be doubted. .

Ebelmen , and my very est eemed and venerable fnend, Ritter von '.l..'unner, of L eoben, a metallurgist of the highest repute, led the way in the examination of the changes which take place at d ifferent levels in the blast furnace. Similar inquiries were extensively pursued at the Clarence Works, with the advantage of ha~ing one. of 80ft . in height, with a capacity of 25,000 cubte feet, m· stead of the diminutive furnaces examined by these two investigators.

To illustrate the nature of th~ changes referred to, we will examine t he results of one of t he many analyses made at Claren ce.

On a charge of the materials being introduced through

•

•

the closed top of t.he furnace, the only action to be recorded is the cooling of the escaping ~ases, or, in other words the pre-hea.ting of the ma.ter1als. As I have already mentioned, the extent to which the gases a re cooled depends somewhat on the temperature of thecal­cined ore, wbiob, taken directly from the kilns, varies from merely warm to considerably above this. For such a.n inquiry the electric pyrometer of L e Cha.tellier is indis­pensable. A furnace, 300 yards distant from the labora­tory was placed in communication with the pyrometer, and' its readings taken down every minute during a. period of three hours. W e may, after a. mere reference t o the accompanying diagram, showing the fluctuation of gas temperatures, proceed to consider the changes which follow.

OI"UM SIII1f11" ~CES or TEM.PEUTIJR£ IN ESCAMNC USt~ FROM AH 80r! riiRli.ACt JJ n£ Cl.AIIUCCt WOUS 01 nit IIITliOOUCT IOII or TM£ etmtS t.ACM M15HIIIC ~ CWTS.

Ml ,. tp u 1 IIJ s p ~ ~ 7 ~ 13 .H I~ IJ 11 AtiNf

lSd ISf" ~

,144' ,. .. 11v ~.1.

JJ,. 11.4 72,.

• 11tl '" IU 7PQ"

• "' "" u6 ·- rztl nd • fll

•

"" "d • ~d

"' ui ,_. 641 • 6~ "' • SU' no ~ ~I(

tlllll .~ • ~1 SJi

n4 S6d

171 nd 104 'fi

Cif A If l • !S SS'O

• Stl ~

s.-4 JJd • szi flf •

S/1 Stl' • od SfO

fll 'i! o' . I

~ o· I .,,

I o'

• • 4.10 I f-- m •sd

,. ) •

"' 444 1/ I I • t.JO I • fto· . ,

/ I 411 Utf ... ""PfAifS I • • 400 / 11 -N 110 !JJi

/ MI , .. ,. 1/ I ,:,

;n( .J • J 8f( ~~~ V V ~~ '··(

I ""' ,

1 a 0 Jb .. 11 &!L ,ii·· u _, b ID u IM!.v!

There are certain minor phenomena. which take place in all blast furnaces, such as the sublimation of a. very

Examples of Ratio of Carbon as Ca1·bon Dioxide to Carbon as Carbon Oxide in D(Oerent Fu·rnaccs.

Tempera· Height of I Carbon Carbon Ratio. I ture of as as Oxide. ca-s eo.,. Cas CO.

Furm~ce. Blast. Dioxide. -

~ N G I N E E R I N G. escaping gas is perpetually changing ; as a. fact., however, the oxidising tendency of the dioxide present, under ordinary conditions, is rendered inoperative by about 240 volumes of carbon oxide per 100 of carbon dioxide.

A word now as to the limit given of 6.58 units of carbon as carbon dioxide per 20 of pig iron. We have first the oxygen to remove from the actual iron in this quantity of pig, which I have taken a.t 18.6 units. In addition to this, the precipitation of carbon from carbon oxide is also accompanied by a. formation of carbon dioxide. This reaction led to a large amount of time being devoted to its examination in the laboratory. This curious phenomenon begins to be perceptible a.t 232 deg. to 254 deg. Cent. (449 deg. to 489 de~. Fa.br.). At 420 deg. Cent. (788 deg. Fahr.) the prectpita.tion of carbon goes on so rapidly that in seven hours every 100 parts of iron present was impre~ated with 144 of pre01pitated carbon. In one ca-se, usmg a. factitious oxide of iron, a.s much as 770 of carbon was separated from the carbon oxide used per 100 of the metal.

It appears, then, that tb~ temperature of the upper part of the reducing zone is very suttable for this change, for although carbon dioxide in sufficient quantity arrests it, that quantity is not found in the escaping gases of the blast furnace. It is suppoRed that carbon enough is precipitated at a level, where it is not affected by carbon dioxide, to represent the portions found in the pis-, and hence .G unit is added to the carbon as carbon d1oxide generated by reduction of the ore, and is included in the 6.58 units already e.poken of.

At the same time, the large quantity of carbon found in blowing out a. furnace would indicate the extensive nature of its formation. The carbon so precipitated disappears from the gases, only, however, to reappear there at a. later stage of the process.

(To be cO?ttinued. ) •

ON THE MANUFACTURE OF BASIC STEEL AT WITKO\iV!TZ. ~·

By PauL K rrPELWIE. ER.

I I<' the small amounts of steel which are manufactured for special purposes in crucibles and refineries are left out of consideration, ib is evident that much the greater quantity of steel and ingot iron is produced-

( a) In the Bessemer process, with an acid slag, when the pig iron available contains only a. small amount of phosphorus.

(b) In the basic Bessemer process, with calcareous slag, when the pig iron employed contains at least 2 per cent. of phosphorus.

(c) In the open· hearth process, with an acid slag, when the scrap and pig iron available contains a small amount of phosphorus ; and

(d) In the basic open-hearth furnace with ca.lca.reons slag, when the pig iron employed is melted with scrap whiCh is too phosphoric for the Be.ssemer process and the acid open-hearth process, and does not contain enough phosphorus for the ba,sic B essemer process.

-deg. Cent. tt.

Cold 42 6.25 462 48 6.47 460 80 5.27

- -32.16 1 22.21 1 17.36 1

I 6.12 4.C6 3.28

"\Vhen it is principally a. question of the conversion of - pig iron into steel, and the cost of the raw material is

about the same. the cost of the conversion va.rie~, in­creasing in the order in which the processes are mentioned above.

616 fO 6.81 13.62 1 i.34 819 90 6.61 12.82 1 2.28 854 76 4.76 17.65 1 371 • • 80 6.62 12.21 1 1.87 • • 80 • • • • 1 2.61 •• 103! • • • • 1 2.R6

small proportion of the earthy constituents of the mate­rials, the formation of traces of ammonia, and to a much greater extent that of potassium and sodium cyanides. 'l'bere is also, of course, to be found in the escaping gases the nitrogen of the air which has served to burn the fuel. The two elements, however, which alone concern us are the oxygen and carbon in their combined form, which appear in the gases a.t their exit from the throat.

Experimentally ib was determined in the laboratory that although pure precipitated peroxide of iron com­menced to lose oxygen at 141 deg. Cent. (285 deg. Fahr.), this compound, aA it exists in calcined Cleveland ore, resisted deoxidation until the temperature was raised to 199 deg. Cent. (389 deg. Fahr.). At this, however, the a<.:tion is very faint, the loss per hour being only at the rate of .28 percent. of that found in the ore. At 415 deg. Cent. (779 deg. Fabr.) it only reachf:'d 5.80 per cent. At a bright red-heat, after an exposure of nearly four hours, we only succeeded in expelling 90 per cent. of the oxygen contained in the peroxide as it occurs in Cleveland cal­ciced ore. An apparent limit to the reduction of oxide of iron by carbon oxide will occupy our attention here­after.

By the reaction just described carbon dioxide is formed, and in reference to the oxidising character of which it was ascertained that tb.is gas is rapidly decomposed at a. temperature of 417 deg. Cent. (782 deg. Fahr.) when brought in contact with metallic spongy iron. In forty minutes the iron bad absorbed 2.6 per cent. of oxygen, a. corresponding wei~ht of the carbon dioxide gas being re­duced to carbon oxtde.

The power of carbon dioxide to oxidise spongy iron, as has been observed, is intensified as the temperature rises. Thus, at a. low red·hea.t 100 volumes of carbon dioxide has its oxidising power over metallic iron in Cleveland restrained by 66 volumes of carbon oxide, a.t a full red 213, and at a temperature approaching whiteness 909 volumes of this gas is necessary to obtain the same result.

In the blast furnace we have a much more complicated et&te of things to eontend with, because, a-s may be seen by the diagram already given, the temperature of the

The cost of con version is lowest in the ordinary Besse­mer process; considerably higher in the basic process ; higher still in the acid open-hearth process, and highest of all in the basic open-hearth process.

The cost of conversion in the open-hearth furnace, which is higher than that of the Bessemer process, is to some extent compensated for by the fact that scrap iron can in many places be obta.int>d vary cheaply.

The facb that during the last ten ye&.rs the conversion in the open-hearth process has, in spite of its greater cost, become rapidly and widely adopted, is to be explained by the circumstance that few countries are in the fortunate position occupied by England of being able to obtain by water carriage large quantities of pure ore at cheap rates; and also that open-hearth steel works ca.n be started with smaller plant, and consequently less expenditure of capital, and may be enlarged to meet the demand, whereas the manufacture of steel in the Bessemer or basic Beseemer process involves the employment from the beginning of expensive plant, and requires a large output to enable it to be carried on economically.

There is another circumstance which has conduced to the rapid increase of the number of open·hearthsteel works.

Although I believe it is possible to obtain products with all these processes of equally good quality, still the slow oxidation, particularly in the later stages of the process, in the open-hearth furnace, enables an equable quality of matecia.l to be obtained with greater certainty.

The slow oxidation in the open-hearth furnace, which is an ad vantas-e in the latter process. is, however, a. great disadvantage m the early stages.

The long period of time required for working a charge involves a. greater consumptiOn of fuel, greater destruc­tion of the lining of the furnace, and a. greater loss of metal by oxidation and by its passing into the slag, and finally a. smaller output per furnace, and a. con~equently higher expenditure in wages.

A rapid oxidation, such a.s takes place in the Bessemer converter, in the first stages in the process of conversion into steel, and a slow oxidation during the later stages, such a.s occurs in the open·hea.rth process, would appear to be method best suited for the manufacture of a.n equable product, provided it be found practicable to carry oub this combination, which is, in fact, a combina­tion of the Bessemer and open-hearth proces~es.

Such a. combined process has been employed in Wit-

* Paper read before the Iron and Steel Institute.

435 kowitz since 1890 and the results obtained outweigh any of the disadvantages attaching to the .Pr~ss. .

It must be pointed out that the ptg non obtama.:t>le Witkowitz contains too much phosphorus for use m t~e ordinary Bessemer process. while it does nob conta.m sufficient phosphorus for the basic process ; and further, that a supply of cheap scrap i~ not a.va.ila.:t>le. f'he problem, therefore, was to convert m to steel or mgot uon of good quality a. pig iron containing too much phos­phorus for the Bessemer \'rocess and too little for the basic Bessemer process, wtthout the use of scrap.

The circumstances under which the work is carried on are so mew hat as follows :

Pig iron from a blast furnace (sometimes from two bla-s t furna-ces) is run into a. ladle, and transferred to a. Bessemer converter. The pig iron varies from light grey to white, and as ib contains only a. small quantity of silicon--0. 8 to 1.2 per cent.-it is liable to be ejected from the converter to a considerable extent, and hence only small charges of about 4 tons are blown. The oxidation in the acid Bessemer converter is only continued till the pig iron is desiliconised, which takes place in about five or six minutes. The producb thus obtained lies some­where between white iron and very hard steel.

These short blows in the Bessemer converter only attack the lining very slightly. Over a. thousand charges are often made in the same converter, and more than a. hundred with the same bottom.

The slag contains all the silicon of the pig iron and a. large proportion of the manganese, but no phosphorus, and is employed as a. non-phosphoric manganese ore in the manufacture of ferro-manga.nese.

The completely desiliconised product, which. however, still contains some manganese and a. considerable amount of carbon, is introduced into a. ladle, taken to the open­hearth furnace, and run into it rapidly through a hole low down in the side .

As two blast furnaces are often unable to supply suffi­cient pig iron for three open-hearth furnaces, about 40 per centl. of cold pig iron and 60 per cent. of melted pig iron (yearly aserage) are added with each charge.

It is plain that running in the melted pig into the O.Pen·hea.rth furnace is more convenient and less expen­SJ ve than cha.r~ing the furnace with solid material. But this running 1n of the pig iron also requires mucb less time, and avoids the cooling down of the furnace, which would otherwi3e take pla.ce. As the material which is run in in the molten state is completely desiliconised, it does not attack the basic lining of the furnace, and a smaller proportion ·of lime suffices to keep the slag in the furnace basic; the time r equired for working a. charge is consequently considerably diminiflhed, the a.mounb of iron taken up by the slag is also less, while the ex\)6nditure of fuel and cost of wages are, owing to the rapidtty of work­ing, much smaller.

The following figures will give a. more complete view of the process :

First half, 1892, in three open· hearth furnaces, which were nob running 22 per cent. of the time (Sundays, holidays, repairs), were melted 1649 charges, with an average of 18.37 tons per charge ... 30,297 tons

Melted pig from blast furnace ... . .. 17,016 tons

Solid pig... ... . .. 11,156 , Scrap ... ... ... 2,125 , Ingots produced .. . 28,172 ,

56.16 per cent. 36.82 " 7.02

" Ingots for rails and girders, steel

tubes, angle iron, &c. ... ... 2~,632 tons Ingots for boiler plate .. . . .. 4,540 ,

Total .. . .. . . . . 28, 172 tons That is to say, 7.1 tons per charge.

1. The consumption of fuel was: a. Coal for producers, including heating Tons.

up and keeping the furnaces going during repairs . .. . .. . . . . ..

That is, 0.160 ton per ton of ingots. b. Steam coal for blowing engines, heat-

ing the converters, ladles, &c... . . .. That is, 0.155 ton per t on of ingots.

Total coal par ton of ingots 2. Lime . . . . . . . . . . .. . ..

4507

4358

0.315 2241

That is, 0. 0795 ton per ton of ingots, 3. Consumption of ore . . . . . . . . . 1779

That is, 0.063 ton per ton of ingots. 4. '\V ages and salaries altogether, 4s. 6d.

per ton These data show that the consumption of coal, lime,

and ore, and the conversion of pig iron into steel in the basic open-hearth process, are so low as to reduce the cost of convers1on about 10s. per ton (although we only use some 56 per cent. of melted pig non), in com­parison with the cost of conversion in the open -hearth furnace from the commencement, and only amount to the same a-s in the basic Beesemer process when carried out on a. large scale.

If it bad been possible to employ still larger quantities of melted pig iron, the results would probably have been still more favourable, and would not have exceeded the cost in the Bes.qemer process with non-phosphoric pig iron.

This combination of processes enables the conversion of pig iron into steel to be effected in the cheapest possible way under those unfavourable circumstances, in which the pig iron contains too much phosphorus for the acid Bessemer process, and too little for the basic Bessemer process. This method of working also enables the l>ig iron to be eml>loyed directly from the blasb furnace w1th good r esul ts m works where ib is possible to do so, and where it was previously done, but abandoned for certain adequate reasons .

PETERHEAD HARBOUR IMPRO.VEMENTS. RPports by WILLIA~r SHIELD, M. Inst. C. E.

A SPECIAL meeting of the Poterhead Harbour Trustees was held .on the 12th nlt. for the purpose of considering the followmg reports by the Improvements Committee and by ~Ir. \Vi1liam Shield, M. Inst. C.E., the resident engineer at the Harbour of Refuge Works P cterhead. The tru~tee~, after full discussion, approved ~f the recom­mendatl~ns ·~the rEiport by the ImJ?rovements Committee, and a Btll wtll therefora b3 dEipostted in the ensuing ses­sion of Parliamenb.

REPOR'l' BY IMPROVEMENTS COMMITI'EE. " It may be proper to remind the trustees that on

May 2 last the oommittee reported what had taken place up to that date, and along with that report submitted a plan for the deepening and improvem ent of Port H enry Harbour, which bad, by the instructions of the com­~ittee, b 3en nrepared b:y ~fr. Milne, the harbour super­mtendent. The committee thereby unanimously re­solved t o recommend that M r. Milne's plan should be adopted by the trustees. The trustees. however, res~l ved b ef'?re adopting that .re~ort to submit the plans to an en~p?eer of reput~d sk1ll m harbour construction for his optmon and ad vJCe, and further remitted to the com­mittee to give effect to this resolution. In carrying out this remit the committ3e bad regard to what the trustees indicated ab the meeting in question, to the effect that if Mr. Shield, the resident engineer of the harbour of refuge works, would accept the appointment he should be requested to do so. The C.)mmittee accordingly put themselves in communication with Mr. Shield, and were informed by him in reply that he would be glad to under· take the duty required of him. The committee met on May 18 last, when it was resolved that Mr. Shield should be requested, while keeping in view primarily the scheme suggested by the committee for utilising Port H enry, to consider and advise the trusteee as to a scheme of harbour improvement which would give accommoda­tion for not less than 200 additional herring fishing boats at the least expense, having in view at the same time what was best for the future development of the port. The committee bad an interview with lVIr. Shie~d on May 26 ~or the. purpose of submitting to htm personally the v1ews of 1ts member~, and, as will be seen from Mr. Shield's report dated August 3, 1893, he ack nowledges having re~eived at that interview and from various other sources the fullest information for enabling him to comply with the request of the committee. After receiving from Mr. Shield the report above referred t o and relative plan, the committee again met on August 7, when these were submitted, and after consideration thereof ib was resolved to have a second interview with Mr. Shield. in order that his plan might be further considered in all its bearings, and thab be might have an opportunity of hearing the views of the individual members of the committee regarding his proposals. There· after, on August 10, the proposed interview with Mr. Shield took place, when all the membere of committee were present with the exception of Mr. Farqubarson, who was unavoidably absent. After very full considf!ration and consultation with Mr. Shield, the committee approved generally of the report and plan, and resolved, in the event of it being necessary to go to Parliament, to recom­mend to the trustees the adoption thereof. There being. however, in the opinion of the committee, serious finan­cial difficulties in the way of carrying out the scheme in its entirety at present, Mr. Shield was requested to report to the committee, after full considera~ion, at what cost Port H enry can be deepened, leaving thA entrances as at present, in such manner as may keep in view the ultimate completion of the whole scheme, the total sum to be at present expended not to exceed, say, 25,000l. ; and thereafter that the law agent should ascertain what steps of procedure would be necessary to carry out the modified scheme. In accordance with this re­solution, with a copy of which Mr. Shield was fur· nisbed, he has now made a supplemental report, dated August 14, and after considering it at a meeting hE=~ld on the 22nd curt, the members, who were all present with the exception of Mr. L eask, unanimously approved thereof, and resolved to recommend its adoption. At that meeting a letter from the law agent, dated August 17, was submitted, giving his opinion as to the procedure necessary for obtaini~ag powers to carry out the works, and after considering its t erms, the committee were of opinion that procedure by Act of Parliament was in various respects preferable t o procedure by Provisional Order, and resolved to recommend that statutory powers be obtained by the trustees : {1) to execute the works in Mr. Shield's plan and principal report, or at least so much of them as can meantime be executed in accordance with supplemental rt!port; (2) to obtain J20Wers to alter or vary the harbour rates and duties; and (3) to obtai n powers to modify the operation of the sinking fund in future, so that the annual charge upon the revenue would not be quite so onerous as under the existing Acts, also that the neces­sary sanction be applied for, and, if possible, obtained to pledge the municipal rates in security of advances to carry out the harbour improvements: The com~ittee further instruct the law agent to furmsh them wttb an approximate estimate of the cost of a~ un~pposed Bill in Parliament to carry out the above obJects.

MR. SHIELD'~ REPORT. "~Iy instructions are, while keeping in view primarily

the scheme suge-ested by the committee for utilising Port Henry, to cons1der and ad vi~e the truste~s as to a scheme of harbour improvement, wbt~9 would ~we ac~ommoda­tion for not less than 200 addt t10nal berrmg fishmg boats, at. the least expenqA, h'\ving in view at the same tim~ what i3 best for the f11ture deYelopment of the port.

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

Mr. Shield went on to say that be was indebted for infor­mation to Mr. Milne, harbour SU )Jerintendent, and Mr. Birnie, barbourmaster; and stated that he had had fre­quent and profitabJe conversations with fishermen, pilots, and others. He ?ad made a thorou~h survey of the har­bours, and bad gtven the matter bts full consideration. In vi~w of the harbour of refuge works, which were now m progress, and which bad for their object the sheltering of the South Bay, an extension of the South Ha.rbour naturally suggested itself for cons ideration. r:J;h1s harbour.coul.d be extended e~ther in an easterly direc­tiOn, l:;y takmg 1n and excavatmg a portion of K ei th­Inch, or by inclosing additional area in the South Bay. He was not prepared to recomm~nd the firsb of these schemes, o~ account of the relatively large cost which it would en tall for the amount of accommodation provided, ~nd on acc<;mnt of the difficulty there would be m provid­mg convement and easy means of access. By the second method, viz., inclosing additional area in the South Bay, accommodation to almost any extent might readily be provided. He did not, however, consider t~at the time bad yet arrived when it would be expe­dtent to undertake works in that direction, inasmuch as ~t a later period, when the sheltering works had been further adYanced, works of a less substantial character than would now be necessary, would suffice. Although there could be little doubt that future extensions would be in the direction of the South Bay, the present inquiry na:rrow~d itself to a consideration of the proposals con· tamed m the report of the Improvements Committee. In regard to the propose.d closing of the P ort Henry entrance, the fisher.m?n U?ammously condemned that proposal, under extstlng mrcumstances, and he conuurred in the view they took. D ealing with the proposal to close the North Harbour entrance, he said that when it was remembered that the depth of water at Port Henry entrance ab low water springs was lefls than 2ft., while at the North Harbour entrance it was upwards of G ft., such a proposal ought not for one moment to be enter­tained. P.roposals had been made to prevent or lessen the range m Port Henry Harbour by constructing jetties to baffle the waves, but he was satisfied they would be harmful rather than otherwise. A proposal had been made, assuming the entrance to Port Henry and North Harbours were left open, to partition off a portion of the barbou.r by means of a pier running parallel to the north­west pter, so as to form a wave basm. By that scheme however, P ort Henry Harbour would be greatly reduced in size and utility. . He recommended (1) that Port H enry Pier be extended m an ~ast-north-easterly direction for a distance of 210ft., the w1dth of the new entrance to the North Harbour thus formed to be 120ft., or ab0ut 15ft. wider than the present one; (2) 265lineal feet of the north-west pier to be removed· (3) a short spur .nea~ly in line with the present Port Henry ~ter, bub trendmg m a somewhat more southerly direc­tiOn, to be run out from the extension of that pier so as to form the north side of a new entrance to Port Henry 50 ft. wide. Instead of carrying the passage squar~ through the north-west pier, he had inclined it somewhat to the northward, his object being to render the course of vessels using it as direct as possibie to and from the open sea. In order to equaliee the water level be pro­posed another channel should be formed which 'must be so placed as not to admit waves or requi;e booms. That could only be done by forming a connection between Port H enry and the inner North Harbour. H e recommended that the passage should be 50 ft. in width . In order that this passage might not isolate the new No. 1 and boom crane jetties, a movable bridge was necessary and that bad been provided for. (4) He alcso recom~ended a smaller spur jetty to check any run along the south-west quay, and the construction of a central jetty. (5) He proposed that a new quay wall should be constructed on the west and south-west sides of Port H enry Harbour in order to afford the necessary amount of space for don­venient working. (6) T~e whole area of Porb H enry Harbour, and also a portton of the north outer basin to be deepened to 4 f t. below low water ordinary spr'in~ tides. In conclusion, Mr. Shield stated that the cost inclusive of contingencies, but exclusive of land and com~ pensa.tion, would amount to about 43,000l. H e estimated tba~ the area of Port Henry . Harbour, according to destgn, would afford accomruodat10n for about 245 herring boats of average size.

SUPPLEMENTAL REPORT BY MR. SIIIRLD.

[Oc-r. 6, r 89 j.

sec~ions of the work which it is p~opos€d to car1y out. Port Hen~~, when deepened., wtll urquec.tionably affo:d m~cb add 1t1onal accommodatLOn, and be very useful dur~ng fine weather; .but durin~ rough weather incon­vemence from excess1 ve range 1s sure to be felt and I hope that at no very ~istant date the harbour ;evenue ma~ be such ~s to admtb of the scheme being completed. f . Wlll now, Wtthout further remarks, furnish the informa­tiOn asked for. Assuming the entrances to Port H enry and ~be North Har~o~r to remain unaltered, and the ex­p.endtture to be hmtted to, say, 25,000{., the execu­tiOn of th_e following sections ~f the work must be post­poned- vtz : (1) The pr~posed p1er extension and its spur. {2) The reD? oval of 265lmeal feet of the north-west pier and th.e formation of a I?-ttW entrance connecting Port Rnny w1tb th.e outer basm o.f the North Harbour. {3) The deepen~ng of a chan?t>l tn the North Harbour. {4J Jetty No. 1, masmucb as 1t would reflect waves in a manner dangerous to boats .enteri.ng the b.arbour. (5) The pro­posed ne'Y passa~e (mclu~1 ve of br1dge) connecting Port Hen~y w1th the mner basm of the North Harbour. After makmg allowance for the construction and remo\ al of the dam which it will be necessary to form across the present entra:nce to ?ort H enry Harbour, the omission of the foregomg sectiOns of the work will reduce the cost to. about ~4, 400l. ~be paasage connecting Port Henry ~1th the ~n~er bas1~ of the North Harbour is, however, 10 my opm10n, so tmportant a feature in the scbemt­that .I strongly urge the necessity of including it in tb~ first ms~alme?t o~ work to be done. Should the trustees concur m tbts v1ew, the above estimate would be in­crea~ed by about 3200l., making a total of, Eay, 27,600l."

LAUNCHES AND TRIAL TRIPS. WITH a view of ascertaining the best form of water·

tube boiler, the Ad~iralty determined some time ago to supply one of the ~me 56· ft. vedette boats, building by Mr. J. Samuel Wh1te, of East Cowes with a coil boiler cons.tructed according to the bnilder'~ new system. Tb~ official two hours' full-power trial was recently made in Stokes Bay with very satisfactory results An ample su.pply of stea!D was furnished at a pressu~e of 160 lb., With only 1.8 10. of atr pressure; the mean revolutions were 530 per minute, the average speed with and against tide 1_4 57 knots, and the indicated horse-power 210. The steadmess of the steam and the absence of priming were the subject of congratulation, while the saving in weight ~be superior accessi.bility ~fforded for sweeping the heat~ mg surfac~_, the unmu.mty from leakage owing to the great elast1c1ty of the cotls of tubes, and the great eaving effe~ted in. the consumption of. fuel over ~be ordinary loco­mott ve bmler, rendered the tnal of spec tal interest.

The new steam tug Humberto Rodriguez, built by Sir Raylton Dixon and Co., Middlesbrough, went on speed trial on the 25th ult., when the guaranteed speed of 12 knots was exceeded. She has been built for Messrs .. Hawkes, Somerville, and Co., of L iverpool, re· present•ng Cuban owners. The principal dimensions of the vessel are : L ength, 135ft. 6 in .; Leam, 24 ft. 6 in.; depth moulded, 14ft. 6 in. The engines have have been fitted by Messrs. ' Vestgartb, English, and Co., of Middles· b~ougb. The cylinders are 15~ in., 25 in., and 41 in. in diameter by 30 in. stroke, with a large steel boiler work· ing at 160 lb. pressure.

CoAL IN I LLINOIS.-The working of coal appears to be acquiring considerably increased importance in the State of Illinois. The output in 1891-2-tbat i~, in the twelve months ending June 30, 1892-was 17,862,276 tons, show· ing an advance of 2,201,587 tons as compared with the corresponding output for 1890-1. The number of work· people employed in 1891-2 was 33,622, showing an increase of 681 as compared with 1890-1. The quantity of coal mined by machinery in 1891-2 was 3,871,939 tons, as corn· pared with 3,027,305 tons in 1890·1.

CHICAGO, MILWAUKEE, AND ST. P AuL RAILROAD.- The le~gtb of line worked upon this system in 1892-3 was 5724 mtles, as compared with 5721 miles in 1891·2, and 5721 milea in 1890-1. The number of locomotives upon the system in 1892-3 was 797, as compared with 798 in 1891-2, and 801 in 1890-1. The number of passeng€r CM'S upon the system in 1892-3 was 738, as compared with 684 in 1891-2, and 678 in 1890·1. The number of cars upon the system in 1892 · 3 was 27,539, as compared with 26,138 in 1891-2, and 25,317 in 1890-1. The net revenue acquired in 1892-3 was 11,486,947 dols., as compared with 11,468,504 dols. in 1891-2, and 9,137,724 dols. in 1S90-1. The ratio of the working expenses to the traffic receipts stood in 1892-3 at 66.19 per cent., as compared with 64.48 per cent. in 1891-2, and 66.78 per cent. in 1890-1.

"~fr: Patrick Irvine. has, at your request, sent me an ex­tractmmuteof tbemeetmgof the Improvements Committee held in his office on the lOth ins b. It runs as follows: 'The report and relative plan prepared by Mr. Shield for the d~epening and impr~ving of Port Henry were again sub­mttted t o the commtttee; and, after very full considera­tion and consultation with Mr. Shield, the committee ~pproved gener~lly o_f the report and plan, and resolved, m the event of 1ts bemg necessary to ~o to Parliament, to recommend to the trustees the adoptiOn thereof. There being, howe•er, in the opinion of the committee, serious financial difficulties in the way of carryingout the scheme in its entirety at present, Mr. Shield was requested to report to the committee, after further consideration at what cost I>ort H enry ~an be deepened (leaving 'the entrances as at present), m such manner as may keep in view the ul timatecompletion of the whole scheme-the total sum to be presently expended nob to exceed, say, 25,000[.; and, therefore, that the law agent should ascertain what steps of procedure would be necessary to carry out the modified scheme.' . "I regreb. that at present it ~hould only be deemed prac­

tteable to g1 ve effect t o a portiOn of the recommendations contained in my report of 3rd curt., inasmuch as by leaving the harbour entrances as they now are full ad­vantage cannot meanwhile be derived from those

BLAS'l' FuRNACES IN THE UNITED S•rATES.-Thenumber of blast furnaces in the United States in activity at the commencement of September, 1893, was 132, their agg_re· gate weekly productive capacity being 85,510 tons. The corresponding number of furnaces in blast at the com· mencement of March, 18!)3, was 255, their aggregate weekly productive capacity being 176,978 tons. The corresponding number of furnaces in blast at the com· mencement of September, 1892, was 23G, their aggreg~te weekly productive capacity being 15l,G48 tons. The corresponding m1mber of furnaces in blast at the corn· mencement of March, 1892. was 305, their aggregate weekly productive capacity being 193,902 tons. It will be seen that there was a very sharp curtailment in the production in September this year. This was, no doubt, attributable to the severe financial crisis then preYailing in the U nited Sbl\tes.

Oct. 6, 1893.]

"ENGINEERING'' ILLUSTRATED PATENT RECORD.

CoMPILED nr ,V. LLOYD WISE. SELECTED ABSTRACTS OF RECENT PUBLISHED SPECIFICATIONS

UNDER THE ACTS HS~3- 1888.

The numbtr of views given in the Specifi.cation Draw ·ng_li is ~taled in ea,ch cMe; wher.: none are meutLoned, the Specificatton ts not tl:U8trated. .

Where inventions ar~ commumc~ted fro.m ~broad, the Names, d:c., (If the Communwators are gwen ~n ttaltc~.

Copies of SpecijicationiJ may be obtatn.ed at the Patent Office Sale Branch, 38, Cwrsitor·street, Chancery·lane, E. C., at the un•'jorm price of 8d.

The datr. (l.f the ~dverti.sement ."f the accevtance of a compute svccificu.tton. is, tn each case, owen ojter the ajlstr.act,, unlus the Patent half been sealed, .when .th~ date of sealtng tb' gtven.

~7111 perso?~ may at any tnne wttlnn two months from th.e.dat~ of tite advertistment of the acceP.lance of a c~plete specLjtcatton, fl'Ve notice at the Patent OJtce of oppos*ttton to the grant of a Patent on any of the orounds mentioned in the .Act.

ELECTRICAL APPARATUS. 4910. E. L. Joseph, ~o~don.. Electric Swit~he~.

[3 Jt igs.] .Maroh7, 1893.-TOJs mvent1on rebtes.to a ~w1tchm whioh segmental con~act plates a.!e secure~ on .an meulatmg base, and the connecting p1ece for (llosmg the ou cu1t between the con· tact plates when required, consists of a crossb.ar mounted OJ? a. central thumb·piece which can be turned on 1t~ centre to brmg the connecting piece into or out of contac~ w1t~ the contact plates on the base. The base A of the sw1tcb 18 constructed of n m \terial such as earthenware,. an~ the .contact plates B Bl are secured t > it, the conductmg wtres be10g led through b~les in the base A to the binding posts B , B2 of the contact

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plates. The usual thumb·piece D turns on the centrepin E and ha.s secured to it the connecting piece F, compos~d of a. piece of sheet metal, the ends of which are bent and split. The bent ends of the connecting-piece F pass in under the con tact plates B. Bl (dotted lines, Fig. 1), and being flexible accommodate themselves to the form of these plates and make electrical contact with them at both ends. The thumb·piece D and connecting·piece F are returned definitely to their normal position, as soon as they are turned in the direction opposite to the arrow clear of the contact plates B, BJ, by the spring 0 acting on the connecting-piece F. H represents the cover of the switch, which may be secured to the baseA by a bayoretjcint. (.Accepted .August 23, 1893).

11,579. w. P. Thompson, Liverpool. (C. L. Coffin, Detroit, Wayn.e, Afichigan, U.S.A .. ) Electrically Beating Metal. [4 Figs.) June 13, 1893.-Tbis invention relates to means for electrically welding sheet metal, pipes, &c. The edges of the metal are first fl anged along the proposed seam and a re bolted between a clamp and mandril M connected to one ter· mina.l of a source of electrical enerjly, the edges being br ought in contact with a conductor connected with the other terminal. A

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heating current le then passed through the conductor and the material until the edges are r aised to a welding temperature, the operation being then completed by rolling or hammering. The mandril M is supported on the base A parallel with the arm B, and tbe conductors are hinged to the base, and clamp the material against the mandril. The insulated conductor is carried on a traversing carriage E on which is also a pressure roller F. (Accepted .August 23, 1893).

13,489. B. Zeitschel, Berlln. Electric Bell. [2 Figs.] July 11, 1893.-In this invention the electric bell is constructed with a ftat case a provided with banging slots b, and hwing the downward hanging contact spring c. the yoke d, bell cla.ppet e, the contact carrier /, and con tact g fitted in it. One bobbin i is scre\~ed firmly into the bell support l, and at the other end its core t l pnsses freel~ through an opening in the case. The other

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bobbin k is fi rmly screwed by its core k' into the case, and passed nt the other end freely tbrou~rh the bell support l, a nut 1n holding the parts together. The case is closed by a door pro,·ided with aide cheeks which, by means of screws o, are fixed eo as to be easily detachab_le. Tbe ~ong has iu t he centre a wave depression, and at each &tde a wave elevation tl (Fig. 1), in or der to increase the sound. (Accepted ~ugu.9t 23, 1893

E N G I N £ E R I N G.

GAS, &c., ENGINES. 14,650. T. C. Hogg and D. W. Forbes, London.

Hydrocarbon Eng1nes. [13 F'1'gs.] Aug-ust 13, 1892.-I n this in ven tion the air supply is drawn into an annular ch:1."?ber arranged in the rylinder cover outside the mixing chamber 1J m to which the hydrocarbon is deli\•er ed . Between the chambers and the cyJir,der is an automatic valve lJ'2 opening inwards, aod ron· trolled in the opposite direction by a spring b:J. The hydrocarbon

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is injected into a ctntral chamber formed in the cylinder cover, and between this chamber and the first is a. second annular one th rough which the ex haust is led, the central chamber into wbi ·b the hy drocarbon is injected being maintained at a high temperature. The igniter consists of coils or corrugated plates to which the beat of burning gases in the cylinder has access. The governing is effected by simultaneo'Js 1y shutting off the exhaust and throwing the pumps out of gear. (Accepted .August 16, 1893).

MACHINE TOOLS, SHAFTJNG, &c. 18,642. S. Ford, London. Friction Clutches. [6

Fi{Js.) October 18, 1892.-This invention relates to friction clutches in which the friction is produced by pressing a. conical p lug, connected with one part of the machine, into a. conical r ecess formed in another part. A is a shaft to which motion is t.o be given by the clutch. The part B is adapted to rotate loosely, and the part C to slide longitudinally on the shaft, but the latter is prevented from turning on it by a feather. The

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surfaces of the parts B and C, which come into frictional contact, are made concave and convex r espectively The outer portion of the frictional surfaces makes a comparatively small angle with the axis of the abaft A, eo that these parts of the two surfaces grip one another firmly when the part C is pushed into the pa rt B, the other portions of the surfaces which stand at a greater angle to the axis, preventing those which stand at a small angle from being pressed together with sufficient force to cause them to bind. (Accepted ..4 ugust 23, 1893).

18,701. J. H . GrUJiths, Ironbridge, Shropshire. Converting Reciprocating into Circular Motion. [6 Figs. ] October 19, 1892.-Tbis invention has r eference to means for converting reciprocating into ci rcular motion, in which a srrew·threaded rod is rotated by a reciprocating nut, the object being to cause the rod to rotate always in the same direction as the nut. The rod is form ed with right and left-banded screw­threads 2, 2a, 3, 3a, and upon it are mounted two nuts, ea<'h

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adapted to engage with one of the threads, and with a h older capable of being reciprocated, eo that when the bolder is moved in one direction it engages with and mo,·es one of the nuts in one direction and rotates t he eh:l.ft, and when it is moved in the opposite direction it engages and moves the second nut, which by acting on the other screw·thread rotates the spindle in the same direction as before, the nut that is fo r the time out of engagement with the holder being inoperative. (Accepted ..dugust 23, 1893).

MINING AND METALLURGY. 23,219. E. J. Rule, Redruth, Cornwall. Rock

Drills. [6 Figs. ) December 16, 1892.-This invention relates to rock drills described in Patent No. 15,198 of 1891, and refers to cuff or drillholder having cone end to attach the drill bit to the piston·rod ; to spring washer packing for thl' forward end of the piston-rod to pass through, which also acts as a buffer for the front piston; a sprin~ pressure upon the slide valves; and to a. clip to connect the dnll by. The valves ar e held down by a bearing pieoe A made with a tubular stem part B, to inclose a spiral spring C, to press down the face of bearing piece on top of the valve, recesses D being pt·ovided in the covl'r E to aocom· modate the stem Band retain the spring. The drillholder F is a solid piece of metal, each end bored with a tapered hole, one to

437 ftt the dr ll·rod and the other the end of tb~ piston-rC'd. A transverse r ectangular·shaped cotter bole Fl 1s ma-de tmr?ugh the middle. The pack in<~'" asber G is composed of se,reral pteces ot leather C'ut in dieo eh:pe, with a hole thr~ugh, to fit the pack· ing-box a.nd pieton·rod. The edges of the p·eces are recessed, so

23219

that when two discs are placed together a wi~e £pring can be embedded, this sprine" pressing tb.e leather. umformly upon the rod and keeping it ttght. The chp I cone1ets of two tru~tum cones made to fit the one in the other and secur ed to dnll by dovetail bearing and tightened by a piece J drawn together by a bolt and nut 1{. (Accepted ..A.ugust 23, 1893).

5409. W. Jones, London. Rock Dril~s. [2 Fig~.) March 14, 1893.-Tbis i.Jlveo~ion r elates to percus~~ ve rock dnll, worked by fluid pressure, such as compreestd a1r, and thP. ex· hauet is effected without the intervt:ntion of cams, tappets, &c. The val ve D is in the for m of a double piston connected by e. rod E, each of these pistons having air pa.ssag~e .. The ':ah•e reciprocates in the box F, to which the Jl!Otor ~u1d 1s admttttd through either of the ports 0. On the cyhnder e1de of the vah•e box Fare two por ts Hand I, one at ee.ch end of the main cylinder A, and communicating respectively with t~e ~wo eJ?dS of the main cylinder A, other ports J, K commu01catmg wtth tbe at­mosphere. As the valve D r eciprocates in the box F, it admits the fluid a.lterne.tely to the two ends of the main cylinder A through t hl' porta Hand I r especti\·ely, and puts the ports H a~d I alternately through the intermediation of the passages R 10

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the respective euds of the piston vah·e in communication with the exhaust ports J, K, eo that the ends o f the main cylindr r a r e alternately exhausted. The reciprocating motion of the piston valve D is obtained by the compressed air leaking alternatt>ly through restricted paeeages ioto the chambers L, .M at the respec­tive ends of the ,·alve. These two chambers are in communication wit.h tht> atmosphere by means of the two small ports N, 0 lead· ing to the main cylinder A, and then two openings P, Q in the side of this cylinder leading ioto the atmosphere. The ports N, 0 and the openings P, Q are a.lternately opened and closed by the main ptston. The motor fluid accumulates in one of the recesses L, M, and exhausts freely from the other, the action being alter nate, eo that the piston valve is shot over and ther eby efi'Mts the necessary changes of moYement of the pi-ton. (A c­cepted August 23, 1893).

RAILWAY APPLIANCES. 13,344. A. Flues, Frieberg, Moravia, Austria.

Preventing Railway Accidents. [11 .Jtigs. ) July 8, 1893.-'Dlis in,·ention relates to means fo r preventing railway accidents, in which a. lever B is arranged on the locomotive engine, directly controlling a steam out.off valve L. A stop A arranged in close proximity to the t rack, is connected with the block signal, so that when the line is blocked this stop will be in

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the path of the lever B, and when the locomoti ''e or carriage passes it will displace the latter, which will cause the steam to be cut off. The lever K direcdy controlling t1he cut·off valve is under the action of a sprin~ D, which effects t he closing of the valve, and a steam C) linder N, causing the return movement of the parts to their normal po~itlon, whilst the arm C directly a.cted upon by 1 he lever B effects the disengagement of the lever K from the normal position. (~ccepted ..A.u{IU8t 23, 1893).

STEAM ENGINES AND BOILERS. 19,476. T. B. Sharp, Smethwick, Statrs., and J. A.

and S. Fletc~er, Ashton·under-Lyne, Lancs. Safety Valves. [3 F t.gs.) October 29, 1892.- Thts invention consists of a large unloaded ,·ah•e and a small subsidiary load ed valve the large vah·e being pressed to its seat when not blowing off steam by the boiler pressure. a is the valve box, pro"ided at the top with a flat chamber b io which the large principal valYe c workEt this valve seating itself on the annular seats d a.nd d2 at the bottom of the chamber b. The top of this chamber is closed by a disc e having in it an axial paesa.ge openin~ into the chamber b. In the passage b2 the am all loaded su beicliary val ve fis seated. The stem of the large valve c has an axial hole, and through this stem steam of the boiler pressure passes into and fills the ohamber b, and presses on the top and bottom of the valve. In the seat of the valve c is a deep annular r ecess, thus leaving the two concentric projections d and d2 for the valve c to seat itself upon. I n the sides of the valve box et a re a series of holes 9

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openin~ into the annular recess h. By these boles g and annular r ecess h the chamber b is put into communication with the ex­ternal air, and the steam blows off or escapes when the valve c is raised from its seat. The lifting of the Yalve c in the chamber b is limited by an annular projection i on the top of the valve seating itself against the underside of the valve-box cover e. Steam presses on a portion of the valve c, and passing by the axial hole in the stem, fills the obamber b and presses upon the whole

of the upper side of the valve, and the a rea of this side bein,:.t larger than its unrlerside, the valve is pressed to its seat by the boiler pressurt'. The underside of the sm'l.ll subsidiary loaded valvef at the top or the valve case is pressed upon by the st~am io the chamber b, and this valve is so loaded as only to be lifted from its seat when the boiler pressure exceeds that at ·which the boiler is arranged to work. ( Accepted .August 23, 1893).

5267. G . J . Churchward, Swindon, Wilts. Steam Traps. [6 Fi,gs.] March 11, 18!)3,- This invention relates to steam t raps fo r automatically discharging the water o~ conden­sation from the couplings, pi pes, &c., of the steam heahng appa.· r atus in railway carriages, &c. In a case A a float B is arranged resting on projections D and covering a hole E in the bottom of the chamber A. This hole E ha~ a raised edge forming a. eeat. I n the case A webs Fare placed to insure the float B returning to its proper position on the seat after having been floated by the water of condensation. In the top of the case A are studs H to

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control the amount of lift giv~~ to the fl<?at B, and at the s11111e time to keep it in a central pos1t1on when hfted off the seat. ~he hole E is closed steam-tight by the bottom of the float B restmg on the seat, hut immediately upon the entrance of_ wat~r of con­densation the pressure of the float B upon the_ seat 1s reheved, and the float is lifted up to the studs H, so allowmg the water to be blown out through the bole E. Alter the water has been thus discharged the float B again rests upon the seat, and prevents the issue of steam. The bole E iR pl~ed_ toward~ the outer edge of the bottom of the float D, thus gettmg 1t at a d1stance from the cent re of flotation of the float. (.Accepted .Au!Ju.St 23, 1893).

10 849 J Wotherspoon F orest Bill, K e nt, and J. havie, ·Glasgow. Beating an~. E vaporating Wate r and Conde nsing Steam. [4_ P't.flB. ] _Jun~ 2, 1893. - I n this invention the apparatus is made w1th a ~yhndncal s~ell 7 and with closing end plates 8, 9, the back end of the s~ell bemg ft~n ed outwards and riveted to the end plate 8, and tt~ other enl.ha\'ing a ring 10 riveted to it, forming a flange ~o wh1ch the end door 9 is bolted. The steam beating wo~m 11 1s made of a solid drawn brass tube, conically coiled, ~nd Js?olted to the. ead plates which allows it to expand. Stea~ ts. adm1tted to the" orm and regulated by a valve 15, and the dram 1s controlled by a cock

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16 and is led into the hotwell of the mai.n e~gin.es. The v~pour · · from the salt water is collected by a. sht p1pe 18 h3;v1ng a. ~81~fatin valve and is led into the bottom of the ma.m con­de~ser ~be inl~t feed water is supplied to the appat·atus by a

· · der the control of a valve 22 regulated by a ftoat le,•er 2~. W~~~~be yapOUr iS led iD tO the main COndenser the sea y.rater ~S eve. orated under a partial vacuum,_and t?e supply flows ~?to_t e eva.~orator from the main circulatmg dtscbarge by gr~' 1tbt1?n, bein re ulated by the float lever and valve 22, the v~ ve em~

go f'n when the water is at its normal level, and bemg close ~;Pt~epbuoyancy of the ball if t he water r ises. (~ccepted ..tlu!]tat 23, li93).

E N G I N E E R I N G. 12,580, J . B . Fitts and w. E. Anderson, Blacks·

burg h , Montgomery, Virg inia, U.S .A. Oonde nsers. [5 Figs.] June 27, 1893.-'l'his invention relate~ to condensers for condensing the exhaust steam from engines, &c., and consists of a chamber containing tubes E for the passage of the vapour, with trays I for containing a. cooling fluid in which the tubes are submerged, the t ray being made of a porous substance, so

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that the cooling liquid will percolate through. Between the layers of tubes are the receptacles for containing the coolin~ liquid, consist­ing of horizontal partitions. Openings a, at on each side of the coo­cfenser admit air to the surface of the water co,·ering the tubes, means being provided fo r causing a current of ai r to pass from one set of openings through the other, to induce rapid eYapora­tion and cooling. (Accepted .AU!JttSt 23, 1893).

MISCELLANEOUS. 9124. B. A . Webster, Bave rhill, Esse x , Mas sachu­

setts, U.S.A. Buffing Wheels . (4 Figl1.] May H, 1893.­Tbis invention relates to rotary tools fo r burnishing in a process which invoh'es the application of a composition con ~aininf-! wax and colouring matter to the surface, and in which the surface is presented to a. rapidly moving polishing tool having a yielding acting surface. The shaft a is provided wi th a. longitudinal ai r passage al connected with an air pump which is continuously operated by the power that rotat cs the shaft, so that a constant air pressure is maintain('d. To this shaft is affixed a burnishing wheel cornprising a flexi ble peripher~ b, composed of a sheet of canvas, and ri!{id holders bl affixed to the abaft and to the edges of

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the sheet. Each of the holders is composed of a collar 7 exter­nally screwed and provided with a flange 8 and a!? internally· threaded collar having a ftangE' 10, the collars 7 betng affixed to the shaft a by set screws. The flanges 8 and 10 constitute jaws between which the edges of the sheet b are clamped. The holders bland fle xible sheet b inclose an annular air chamber surround­ing t he shaft and communicating wi~h the ai r passag~ in the la.tter through orifices a2, so tha:t atr m~y ~e force~ mto the chamber by t he air pump to const1tut~ a ytt>l~mg cushton f?r the flexible periphery b. The flexible ~ertpbe~ 1s ma_de ~uffiCiently loose to er1able the air pressure to distend 1t and gtve 1t a convex outer surface. (Accepted A ttgust 23, 1893).

12,676. L. Bulcock and w. J. Thre lfa ll, ~urnley, Lancs. Shedding Motions of Looms. [2 J!t!JS.) June 28 1893.-Tbis invention r elates to means for operattng separate an'd distinct healds to form selvedges. Motion is imparted to the rocking shaft A by a crank B, fixed by a nut C on the tappet abaft D on the outside of the tappet wheel E, aA'ld then connected by the rod F to the arm G. To the bealds li fo r operating the

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warp threa~s. are attached bands of leather w~ich ~re passed under the loose boss J mounted on the stud h earned by the bracket L and then crossed one on each side of the loose boss and secured r~spectively to pins M in slots N of the double-armed lever 0 . The 8racket L is firmly secured to the loom fr~me by bolts P, and is continued downwards to serve as a stay-p1ece for the rocking shalt. (.Accepted .August 23, 1893).

13 487. J . B e arne a nd w. J. Strong. New Y ork, U.s:A. Ce n t ral Valves for Gas Purifie rs. (6 Figs.] July 1!, 1893.-This invention relates _to a. centre seal for gas purifiers, cons: sting of the sbell10, ha.vmg the revolvable top 11, and provided with inner and outer chambers 15, 14, two of the

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chambers 15 beil:;g divided by a. partition, the ceDtral _vertical outlet tube 16 to which is connected the laterally extend1ng out­let pipe 26. Within the tube 16 i11 ~n inle~ tube 18, having its upper part cut away. An inlet p1pe 17 ts connected to the tube 18. Each of the revolvable valves above the top of the

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casing is provided with the vertical tr~nsverse partition 30, and establish communication between the 10ner and outer chambers 15 and 14. (Accepted .A ttJUSt 23, 1893).

13,698. w. Boaz, London. Tube Expanders. (7 Figs. ] July 14, 1893.-:rhis invention r~lat£~ to t.~be expanders, the body of which conststsof a metal dtsc, 10 '~hJCh are fo~med three radial grooYes. In theee groove_s a re adJuSted can·~agf:B B carrying rollers C free to revoh e on pt \'Ots I?· These carriages also carry bearing blocks b fo r abuttmg aga_mst the tubeplate. a is a recess in which is a plate F form ed wath curv~d slots Fl corresponding in number to the carriages. The carnages have

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studs passing th rough the slots F' and through radial slots in the body, and by these pins the carriages a re guided anrl their simultaneous movement insured, they being brought together when fi rst applying the expandt>r to a tube, the pin<t also retaining the ca.mpla.te in its position in the recess. Tbe campla.te is turned by bu_tton~ f to bring to~ether o~ separate the carriages. The mandnl E IS ftattened at El along 1ts len~th, and is passed tbrough the centre of the body A and bears agamst the rollers C. (Accepted .A ugu11t 23, 1893).

18 038. c. Billington and J . Newto n , Stoke-on· Trent. Sluice Valve. [2 Figs. ] October 10, 1892.-This invention relates to a sluice vah'e, the object bein~ to construct valves having a hollow elongated nut so that the pressure re­quired to open or close them is resisted by a metallic plate, and a collar on the lower end of the hollow spindle. a is the metallic body of the valve, with a screwed cover b hadng a stuffin~-box b2 formed in it a screwed gland c, an externally Rcrewed sptndle d, the lower ~vedge-shaped portion of which fits int_o a r~cess formed in the divided valve{, and the upper part of wh1eh proJects into the internally screwed lower portion of the elongated nut g.

When the vah·es are being opened by lifting the di '' ided vah e from between its seatings, the lower internally scre·wed part of the rotated slee,·e 9 causes tbe thread of the spindle d to rise up into the hollow portion of the elon~ated nut y , and. draw the divided valve f from between its seatmgs ?~· meaus o! 1ts w~dge­shaped lower end e, which, when the v~lve ~s between ~ts seat1~~s, tends to force the two parts of it agamst tts respectn·e sealmg, so as to insure tightness of fit and prevent leakage, the_ pressur~ exerted in opening tbe valves being resisted by a. metalhc plate t , a collar on tbe lower part of the sleeve !J, and the internal lower part of the sore wed cover b. (Accepted .august 16, 1893).

UNITED STATES P AT.ENTS AND PATENT PRACTICE­Descriptions with illustrations or 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 oi ENGINEERING, 35 and 36, Bed ford­street, Strand.

R USSIAN R AILWAYS.- The aggregate revenue of all the Russian l ines in th'=' first three months of this year amounted to 64,974,319 r oubles, a.a compared with 64,220,206 roubles in the corresponding period of 1892. T he average length of line worked in the first three mon ths of this year was 27,833 versts, as compared with 27,361 versts in the corresponding p eriod of 1892.

FLORIDA SHIP CANAL COMPANY.-Tbe Florida Ship Canal Company has been r eorganised .. l'he canal! it is estimated, will cost 10,000,000t. There wtll be a cuttmg 17 miles in length, from St. Augustine's. to the St. John's, which will be followed for several m tles. Another cut­ting will carry the can al ~o Or~ng_e Lake, sit~at~d in a. heavily t imbered yellow pme d1str 1Ctl, where 1tl 1s pro· posed to establish a d ockyar d and ship-repairin g works. T he canal will run then ce through Ala.chua County ~o t~e Gulf. Altogether the canal will be about 150 miles m lengt h.

SouTH A~'RICAN TELEORAPHY.-Mr. Roach, with whom is associated Mr. Ellerton Fry, has left Cape Town to fulfil a contract which he has made with Mr. Cecil Rhodes for the construction of the fir3t section of the great Africa~ overland telegraph from Salisbury to Tete, on the Zambes1. Further contracts for construction to N ya-ssa. have also been signed by Mr. R oach. The wires are to be str~tched upon iron poles ; these poles are expected to be deh vered vid Beira in the course of the next two mon ths. Mean­while some work remains to be done in connection with the com pletion of the su r vey for the great line.