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DEc.

22,

1893.]

A NEW PERU.

(

FRoM

A C oRRESPONDENT.)

THE

gigantic scheme of rail

way

communication

between

the

United

State

s and

the

most southerly

Republic of So

uth

America has been, for some

years, occupying the at tent ion of American capi

talists, who believe that

th

e full

lett

er of the Monroe

doctrine can only be put

into

practice by binding

toge

ther the

peoples of both continents with rails

of s teel over which the iron horse may run for

the

benefit of all. Already ve

ry

large sums of

money have been expended in reconnaissance, and

a vast amount of information has be

en

obtained re

garding

territory

mu < h of which was never before

visited by the foreigner.

The reports of the engineers who visited the

different sections of the

pr

oposed railway do not con

tain,

in

any instance,

an

expression of

the

imprac

ticability, not

to

say impossibility, of the scheme,

although at many po

ints

it has been fo

und

that the

construction will be a

hard

nut to crack, and, conse

quently,

the

shareholders will require pockets of

fathomless de

pth in

o

rder

to

meet the en

ormous

cost . But even supposing that

the

railway should

be built,

what

would be th e gain

1

It will

form a Brobdingnagi1n " switchback ,,

eystem along which the alternating eleva

tions and depressions will, in some parts,

have a range of over 8000 ft.,

and

therefore

pleasure-seekers would have th e full benefit

of

their

money's wo

rth

in the

shape of

wonderful combinations and changes of cli

mate.

Its

financial outloo

k,

however, is

different.

The

p e o p l e ~ of

South

and Central Ame

rica have not, up to

th

e present

at

least,

depended solely upon

the

U

nited States

for

their trade

-

either

export

or

import .

Indeed, th eir ideas

in

that respect are

thoroughly cosmopolitan, and,

in

Yisiting

their shops, one sees

just

as many classes

of goods stamped with Eu ropean

trade

-mar'ks

as

with

that of the American eagle.

The

Americans certainly put a

lot

of goods on the ·

market, but, with

the

exception of hard ware

and some lines of cotton fabrics, th ey do

•

not

even ho

ld their

own

with

England,

France, and Germany.

The

two latter countries

are well repres

en t

ed in fancy lines which are

ever

in

demand. The American carrying trade

would need a seco

nd

Diogenes

to

discover

it,

for, as

a

matt

er of fact, a

ship

flying the

stars and stripes

is an object of curiosity.

Of course

there

is

plenty

of enthusiasm regard

ing the project on the part of

the

different republics,

but when it comes to a question of j o i n i n ~ in the

financial part of

the

pr

<

gra.mme,

the

e

nthu

siasm

will assume a milder form. What the Republics

of South America

want

are railways that

run

bet ween points within their own territory, and

not lines from Chicago to the Antarctic Ocean,

with flag

stations

at almost inaccessible points

in the

Andes. The lines

requir

ed are those

that will tap the rich districts of

the

interior, such

as lie

in the

valleys between the three ranges of

the Cordilleras, and enable the

pr

oducts of such

territories

to be

conveyed

to either

coast as

the

necessities of commerce may dictate.

The

Argen

tine

Republic

and

Chili are engaged

in

such a

scheme, and, if

the

money is forthcoming,

the

Transandine railway will in a few years become a

powerful

rival

of the line at Panama. Of

the

latter it may be said that

the

sooner

there

is an

in ternational arrangement for its operation, the

sooner it

will

succeed

in what

it has done much

t owards- killing the trade of western South

America.

But while Chili

and the

Argentin e

are

engaged

iu joining hands over the Andes, or at ]east through

them, for

many

tunnels will be required, their

neighbour Peru is

busy

scheming

out internal

im

provements, which, if carried out, will raise

her

from

the

dust of the late

unfortunate

war,

and

place

her

once more

in

the van of

South

American Re

publics. Like mo

st

of her neighbours, her finances

are not

robust,

but it

is

to her credit

that

she

is

striving to recoup her losses

through

peaceful

c h a n n e ~ s and, if she is not dis

turbed by

any

int

ernecine struggles, she will gradually develop

her power as a member of the commercial and poli

tical world.

The

crisis brought

on by

the silver

question has affected her considerably, but not more

so

than

any of the other countries

tha

t have carried

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

on business on the basis of th e white metal. When

the

news of the action of the Indian Government

arrived by cable, she suffered a great shock,

but

the

wise counsel of

her

Ministers wa s followed,

and

the

recovery in values was almost as rapid as the decline,

alth

ough the former s

tandard

was not,

nor

will it

be, reached. Peru has much to sell, and therefore,

i f any scheme is

put

in operation whereby contracts

can be

made

for gold or for silver, she will be abl e

to hold

her

own just as well as

her

neighbours.

The enormous territory that extends from the

latitud

e of Lima to the frontier of Ecuador and

Nu eva Granada, and from the western Cordilleras

to the

Brazilian bo

undary

line, is still practically

unknown,

and

for

the

sole reason that it is almost

as inaccessible as the African lake regions, owing to

the absence of roads. Of this territory more will

be said later on, as the first object of

this

article is

to deal with a district

but

a

short

distance from

the

Pacific coast.

One of the

greatest

drawbacks to

the

northern

coast of Peru is the absence of an

adequate

supply

of water. Throughout the territory lying between

the

eighth parallel of

south latitude and

the Gulf

of Guayaquil,

and

as far back as

the

foot-hills of

M P O

THE DEPART1f " OF

PIUR

.

•

•

••

:,

••

.

•

I

•

•

•

••

749

While this state of affairs exists in

the

valleys

proper the uplands remain at all times a barren

waste sand, because the water obtained during

the

rainy

season quickly percolates

t ~ r o u g h

the

loose soil,

and

the fine

sand

is

so

on

drifted

about

by the winds in much the same

manner

.as the ~ r y

snow in the north-west of Canada. Th1s sand

1s

a

source of great inconvenieJ?-ce a n ~ trouble to ~ h e

inhabitants

of the Immediately

bordermg

the

rivers. You may

build

a house in

an

appa

rently

good location, but.af.ter few m o n t ~ s you

will

hardly

be able to distinguish your residence

from

any

of

the

adjacent

sandhills.

The

fact

that

you

have er

e

cted

a barrier

to

the free course of the

wind will

result in the sand

being accumulated at

your

door so fast that unless you

prepare

to remove

your goods and chattels to other parts promptly,

you will wake up some morning only to find _that

you

are

living

in

a cellar, the ground having

attained

an altitude considerably

higher than that

of

your

ridge pole. In the town of Arenal may be seen to

day a church not only completely enveloped in eand,

but

also filled with it

up

to the rafters, and in the

vicinity

are many

houses that had

to

be abandoned

owing to

the

encroachment of

the

sand.

The

same

can be said of many

other

places in this

department.

Thus the inhabitants have to combat the

two

great

extremes of absolute sterility

and

over-abundance of water, which

alternate

a.t uneven periods, the

drought

being at

least

ten

times as prolonged as

the

floods ;

but, even under these difficult circumstances,

they are

able

to

produce a fair

amount

of

cotton, which commands a high price, as

it is very white,

and

long

in

fibre.

· ~ ~ ' " L f J . .

\

The possibilities of the Chira and Piura

Valleys are so very great,

if the

watershed

were controlled, and a thorough

system

of

irrigation practised, that the

subject

is now

under

consideration by several

prominent

engineers, who have

been examinirg

the

rivers from

their

sources

to their mouths,

with

the

view to

the

construction { f such

works as will

render

the

great

tracts of

land

fit for culture at all seasons of the year.

The

-  

SC C

HU

R

DCS CRT

Sc

o l

tt

I

•

56

mtf r

 

/ ··

•

•

t

__

.. ...

-- -

.

..

the C o r d i l l e r a E ~

the seasons

are

marked

by

a

total

absence of

rain

during periods varying between

five and seven years. 'Vhen the period of rain

sets in, however,

it

makes up for

l o ~ t

time,

and

the

quebradas  that for six years have

been nothing

but valleys of burning sand, become in the space of

a few days the channels of fearful torrents, that

carry

great

masses of rock along as if they were

pieces of driftwood. In a journey along the coast

some startling effects of

the

power of

the

water

are

to be seen. At

the

mouths of the

b r a d a s

rocks weighing many tons are piled up in a great

barrier, and

are

cemented together by the clay and

sand that have been deposited in the interstices by

the

receding water. To move such masses would

require months of labour,

yet

when the rain com

mences in the Cordilleras the wall of rocks is swept

into

the sea as if it was built of cane and mud.

The writer has seen in the vicinity of Cabo Blanco

(

Department

of

Piura)

rocks, which would weigh

at least 30 tons, buried

in

the

sand

of

the

beach,

and

on going up the q

ebrada

discovered that they

had

been

brought

down as much as two leagues by

the water, as the same formation was not met with

within that distance. Nothing can

be

done to remedy

the

destructive influenceof the wa.ter from the ce Tos

without

great

E\xpense,

but,

as the ta

bl

a:o or table

land is high, it is possible to store sufficient water

in the interi

or of

the

province for use

during

the

dry

period. This

remark

refers to

the

lands ly ng

between the Chira

and

u m b e ~ Rivers, which dis

trict has but a very small population, and that dis

tributed according to the positions of small streams

that flow

toward the

sea, the

greater portion

of the

territory

being a desert.

In

the valleys of the Chira

and

Piura

Rivers there

is the same uncertainty as regards water. During

the rainy season the rivera overflow their banks,

and

sweep

everything

that is movable

into the

Pacific.

'Vhen the dry

season

sets

in ,

the

people

has

ten

to

plant

cotton, corn, yucas, camotes, and,

in

fact, all sorts of vegetables, on the ground from

which the water recedes, and for two years they

harvest from two

to

four crops

per

year,

after

which

the land

becomes so parched that nothing

will grow on it

'

land is so light and friable

that

it would be

worse

than

useless

to cut

channels

to

lead

the

river water direct

to the interior

portions

of the ground. f a channel of, say, 2 ft. be

cut, the action of the water soon wears away the

soil,

and the

property

becomes

either an

island,

because of

the river

dividing itself,

or it

is trans

ferred to

the

oppos

ite bank

by

the stream

deserting

the old bed for the new.

There

is a

striking

instance of this near Sullana, where the

cotton

chac

t·

a

is

now in the centre of the river. Again, it

will be a

very

difficult matt£ r

to

take, as

it

is pro

posed by some, the water from

the river

imme

diately north of Sullana,

and

lead it do

wn

by canal

along the base of the tablazo  because the owners of

the property along the river between the canal

inlet and the

point where the water

returns to

the

river, st rongly object

to

have their lands deprived

of the water that passes a.t present.

Pumping by

steam power has

been

tried, and was found to be

too costly, but a sys

tem

of waterwheel is to

be

introduced,

and this,

in places where

there

is

sufficient current, will do a

great

deal to irrigate

individual haciendas at small cost.

The

map,

Fig.

1,

on this

page, will

indicate

the

peculiar position of

the

watershed and its outlets.

From the

mouth, which

forms an extended delta to

Arenal, the

River

Chira no rmally flows between two

low banks, and has an average width of about 250

yards.

At

Arenal the land rises abruptly on the

southern and eastern

bank, while

on

the

northern

and ~ s t e r n

the change of level is

very

slight,

except

where spurs of the elevated

ran

ge jut out to the

water's edge. During the greater

portion

of

the

dry season the stream is divided up by countless

s a ~ d b a n k s

s o ~ e

of which

e ~ t e n d

for upwards of a

miJe, but

occas10nally-that

Is, when

there are

mists

in the

mountains

whi

eh

form the

watershed

of the

river-the

volume of water increases sufficiently to

cover these shoals, and the river then aesumes

an

i m p o ~ i n g a s p e c ~

a l ~ h o u g h there is really not

sufficient water In whiCh a

hen,

sufferioa from acute

suicidal mania, could accomplish

s e l f - d ~ ~ t r u c t i o n .

Farther

up,

the river

flows

through

a

definits

channel even when the water is very low, ar.d

in

some places a d e ~ t h of four

to

seven

feet

can always

be found. As will be seen

by

the

chart

the

river

is fed by

three

distin<tstnams - the

a c . l ~ a ,

Quiros,

7/17/2019 Engineering Vol 56 1893-12-22

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OBSERVATION AND PRI\TATE SLEEPING CARS AT THE WORLD'S COLUMBIAN

CONSTRU CTED BY THE PULLDIAN PALACE CAR

COM

PANY,

U L L ~ I A N ,

ILL.

(Fo1· D

esc1·ip

tion, see Page 755.)

EXPOSITION.

Pt

9.8.

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and Somatc- " hich

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numerous tributaries

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1

earth,

which holds the maj or porti on until

it

is Thi s

great

wo

rk,

which is but one instance of th e

th e mountains of Ayavaca and Fri as. These moun- evaporated ag

ain

next day

by

the action of the skill of the primitive inhabitants of Peru, was

tains form a spur of, and

are

overshadowed by, the solar rays. accomplished under a. system of

government

truly

western range of the Cord illeras, so that but little The

In

cas

had

evidently studied this question of communistic, and

it

ehould be a guide to th ose who

of the moi

st

ure- la

den

air

fr

om th e east reaches precipitation carefully before locating th e

ir

wond er - are going to undertake th e w

or

k of irr igation in the

them, it being cond ensed on the eastern slopes of ful canal between the head wate

rs

of the Chira and valley of the Chir a., as

tamperin

g

with the

riv er

the range tha t marks the western boundary of the Colan on the Bay of Payta, because

they

selected south of where it is joined by t he Somate can only

Department of Cajamarca.

The

supply of water for

their

inlets

the

two points Chocan

and

La res

ult

in failure to distribute the water equitably,

to the Rio Chir1. therefore dep ends solely upon

the

Solana, where th ey

not

only secured th e fullest

and that

will mean dissatisfaction, which may be

clouds from

the

Pacific, borne by

the

south-west complement of supply, but also the elevation neces- followed by energetic measures of self-

pr

otection on

winds which prevail tow11.rd

and after

sun set, but, 1sary to utili

se

t

he

force of gravitation.

The

Rio

1

the part of the various property-owners. A canal

a.s

the

pr

ecipitat ion rar ely t

ak

es the form of rain, (th ey would call a.

bu

c

ket

of wat er

a. lak

e in these properly loca

ted

will do much to lessen, if n

ot

the increase of

the

river

vo

lume is very gradual, as countries) Soma.te was igno

red

by them,

and

even prevent, the destru

ct

ive floods that

ar

e now looked

th

e clouds are condensed

by direct

contact with the , now

it

contributes but

little

to the general supply.

up

on as a matter of course, and even expected,

during the season of rain, and, when the long dry

period

has

arrived, there can always be on hand

a.

reserve of water for irrigation as well as for domestic

purposes.

It will be noticed

that

all the little u e b l u ~ are

si t

uat ed immediately on

the

banks of

the

rivers,

but

even to

these

the

water

has to be

br

ought on

donkeys' backs,

in

barrels holding

about nine

ga

llons each, and is sold from h ouse t o house

just

as is milk

in

London. The

port

of Payta is at

present wholely dependent

up

on the ra.ilwa.y for its

supply of water, which is

brought

from Vivia.te, a

station

marked on the map as La. Chira, dis

tance 17 miles.

It

is then hawked

about

the

-l

U l

0

I

t r1

z

C)

z

tT1

tr1

Id

z

C)

•

I l

t:1

t%j

()

•

t\)

t \ )

...

.....

00

\0

7/17/2019 Engineering Vol 56 1893-12-22

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DEc. 22 1893.]

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

751

OBSERVATION

AND PRIVATE SLEEPING CARS: WORLD'S COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION.

CONSTRUCTED BY THE P U L L ~ I A N

PALACE CAR COJ\IPANY, PULLMAN,

ILL

.Pig.n.

Partition A

11

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.... I

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streets

and

sold at 20 cents

per

cargo (two barrels,

holding 9 gallons each). Should

there

ever be a

breakdown

on the

line, a

water

famine in

the port is

certain, as the

sup

ply

by

donkeys would not be

sufficient, a

journey

of 34 miles for every 20

aallons being necessa

ry

. A commendable effurt

is beina made

by the United States

Consular Agent,

Mr. J .°F .

Hopkins, to sink

a well for water within

the limits of

the

town, and, if he succeeds in o

btain

ing a sufficient supply,

he

will no.t

on

ly secure for

himself a handsome return, but will be the means

of

attracting to

the port of Payta ~ h e numerous

whaling vessels

that

now go for the1r

fr

esh-water

supply

to

Eten and Pacasmayo. However,.

if the

irriaation

question is solved, that of supplymg not

only Payta,

but

Piura,

which depends

during

the

dry season

u p o ~

wells only, ~ n d the other towns of

the province, will ~ o t be a d1fficult ?ne. .

If the Chira R1ver system requ1res regulat10n,

that

of

the Piura ne

eds compl

ete

reconstruction, as

the

full effects of

the

prolo

nged

drought

are felt

in

that

valley.

The map

shows h

ow

the watershed

supplying

the

Piura

River is

confined

to the

south-

·

•

I

:•

•

••

· I

••

..

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.

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• 0

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•

•

•

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-

•

•

••

c:. •

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..

..

•

..

•

•

..

•

..

•

..

•

••

•

••

• •

••

·l ·

t l

-

....

I

•

•

-

·-

.

....

'

•

•

I

•

I

I

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

.

··

-

a

I

•

, ..... ··  ····

..

• •

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

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•

•

•

•

•

•

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.. .

--

..

.

• •

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..

-·

western slopes of

the

Altos de Frias, which face an

extensive sand dese

rt.

There

are

many tributaries

to

the

north

and

east of the river,

but

none to

the

south

and

west,

the

Sechura desert, extending as

far as the Pacific, being devoid of all vegetable life.

The Sechura Indians live mainJy on the coast,

and

follow

the

calling of fishermen. Thei r means of

existence depend on their harve

sts

at sea, as they

barte

r

their

fish

at Payta,

Piura, and other points,

for

the

necessa

ry

vegetable food. At Catacaos, where

there

are

other

tribes,

the

hatmaking ind ustry is

th

e

mainstay of the population. There, what

are

known

in England as ' 'Panama

hats, are

manufactured

in large quantities,

and

some of

them

are of very

fine quality, selling for as much as 150 solas-

after

t hey have l

eft the

possession of

the

makers.

Sunday is

their

day of sale,

and

it is a. wonderful

sight in the

Pl

aza

on

that day.

The

mode of

selling is very odd.

An

Indian will walk up to one

of

the

buyers, who usually

sit

on the footpath out

side their doors, and thrust a hat into his hands.

He does not open his lips ; in fact, not a muscle of

his face moves, and one could be pardo

ned

for

.

S  /k

•

Pontl

•

•

•

•

•

s:

.

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

'

•

<:)

'

·

....

0

I

•

•

•

•

•

•

I

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

. Jl.

• 8av  '

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

M

irrOr

•

I

•

•

_ _ _ : : : : : .

:

~ l ~

•

•

'

-

,...,

. •

.

'

.

··--

--

- ..

' I :

11 ' I I ' t

• •

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0 · - ' • • •

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c::: • I •

III D I '

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: : : :

.. • . .

t :

f I

I o I o I

•

•

•

•

•

•

I

•

I

I

im

agining him

an

escaped effigy

fr

om Madame

Tussaud's. The buyer turns

th

e

hat

over, examines

it carefully, and names a price without even look

ing at

the

vendor, who remains perfectly sil

ent and

motionless.

I f the

price is

not

satisfactory he

increases it a little; still no answer. Then'

the

price is gradually raised, and when

the

~ q u i r e d

figure is reached a

' 'Si

is grunted out by

the

seller. The hat is

then

tossed into

the

house

and

the

money paid, without another word being

spoken. If

the

purchaser does

not

rise to

the

amount wanted by th e seller,

the hat

is

thrust

back

at

the Indian,

who moves off as before- silent.

One buyer after another is visited in like

manner

until all t he hats are sold, and

then

a large pro

portion of

the

money goes to

the

supplier of the

grass, who gives credit, and

the

rest is divided up

between solid f

oo

d

and

chicha.

The only means of improving

the

Piura

River

system is by curtailing

the

flow

near Yapatera,

and

forming reservoirs with proper

storm

overflows.

A good fall could thus be obtained for distribution,

but

the cost would be m ore

than

the landowners

•

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752

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

(DEc. 2

2

I

893.

STEAM

BOILER

EX PER I

MEN

T S.

R

ESULTS OF

EXPERIMENT No . XVIII.

PARTICULARS

AND DIMENSIONS OF BOILER.

I PRINCIPAL OBSERVATIONS-cor.tinucd.

Date

of

Trial:

June 15, 1888 .

Place:

Royal Arsenal, Woolwich.

Type of

Boilo1· :

Portable boiler, locomotive.

Beating Surface :

Heating

surface of boiler

• • • •

••

• • •

Flregrate:

Dimensions of firegrate . . .

.

Ar

e

a.

of grate . . . . .

.

Ratio of h£ i n g surfa-ce to grate surface ...

• • •

Fluea:

•• •

.

• • •

.. .

• • •

...

...

285

square feet

3 ft. 1 in. by 3 ft.

4

in.

.

.

10.5 square feet

... 27.2

I

1

Coal and Ashes

-con

tinued

Total weight of pure and dry coal used l?er hour ... . .

Ratio of total pure and dry coal to coal moluding ash, c.

Tot

al coal used, including ash and clinker, per bo

nr

.. .

, weig

ht of

ash and cli

nk

er ... ... ... ..

Temperature of

Gases

:

... 104lb.

...

0.

912

.

. 114

lb.

261b. ash, 15lb. olinker

m ~ e r a t u r

of furnace gases

at

base of chimney ... . .

.

575 de

g. Fahr.

Rtse m temperature of

g a ~ e s

from temperature of air on day, about 515 ,

Draught:

Chimney draught . .

.. .

...

. .

...

.

.

• ••

.

PRINCIPAL

RESULTS

Combustion:

Pounds of coal

burnt

per square foot of grate surface per hour ..

, , , heating surface per ho

ur

0.25 in

10.8 lb.

0.4 ,

Kind of Hues a

nd

direction of gases

... ...

Transmission of Beat :

Th

ermal units per square foot of heating surface per hour

37

30 T. U.

{

No brickwork.

Straight

.

.

through small tubes to

chimney.

.

PRINCIPAL OB

SE

RVATIONS.

Evaporation:

Time:

Duration ...

•••

... ...

...

.

. .

Steam Pressure:

Mean steam pressure above atmosphere . .

.

, absolute steam pressure ... . . .

Temperature

Fahr.

corresponding to

thi

s pr

ess

ure

Feed

Water:

Temp

erature of feed ... ... ...

Total feed water evaporated . .

.

, ,

per

ho

ur

...

...

.

.

...

Coal and Ashes:

Total

co a.l put

on grate ...

...

• • •

. .

.

, dra.wn ...

.

...

.

.

.

.

.

, used, including ashes a.nd clinker

...

Per cent. of ash and clinker in total coal used

...

mois

tur

e in fuel

. 

.

.

.

would relish. The work in this river

is

not likely

to be

commenced

until

the

Chira

improvements are

well

un der

way,

and their results noted.

I t

is

probable,

however,

that

a

scheme

will

be

proposed

to

supply Piura

and vicinity direct from th

e

Chira.

To sum up the

proposed

improvements

regarding

irrigation, it can be stated, as a

matter

of fact, that

the

amount of land now non-productive (reaching

hundreds

of thousands of acres)

will, if broug

ht

into

cultivation,

pay for the

work

in a very short

space of

time,

as

the

climate

is

admirably

suited

to

the

production of cotton,

coffee, tobacco, and other

valuable

vegetables, as will be

seen

by the follow

ing official

list

of

crops

harvested

from land that is

favourably

situated as

regards irrigation:

Crops per year.

Sugar-cane . . . . .. . 4

Cotton .

.

... ... ... .

.

2

Maize ...

..

. ... ... . . 4

Rice ..

..

. ... ... 3

Rami

e ... ... ...

..

. ...

4

Tobacco ... ... ... ... 5 to 8

Coffee ... .

. ..

. ... .. . 2

Hemp

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

2

Cacao .. . .. · .. · .. · .. · {

; : a ~ r ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

P otatoes .. ... .

..

... 2

Camotes (sweet potatoe;,) .. . ... 3

Yucas ... ... . . ... .

..

2

Beans ... .. ... ... ... 4

Cocoa-nuts ... ... ... .

.

{ ; a ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ d

To be continued. )

STEAM BOILER

EXPERIMENTS.

No.

XIII.

By Mr. BRYAN Do

NK

IN, Jun.,

and

Pr

ofessor

A. B.

\V.

KENNEDY, F

.R.S

.

Exp

e1·i

ment

N o XVIII.

J une 15, 1888.

This experiment

was

made

at

the request

of

the

authors at the

R o

yal Arsenal, Wool

wich,

by th

e

kind p e ~ m i s s i

of

Colo

nel English,

R .E , and the

authorities.

The

boiler used

was

made by Messrs. Marshall,

Sons, and Co. ;

it

was

of

the multitubular loco

m otive

type,

and

was

not new.. T h ~ feed water

was

weighed

in a tank

on

a

weighbridge, but the

gases were un fo

rtunately

not analysed.

Li

e

uten1nt-

Pounds of water evaporated per pound of coal from f

ee

d te

m-

8

.03

lb.

5.3 hours

pera

tu r

e . . . . . . . . . .

E } ~ ~ h ~ ~ v a p o ~ ~ t i o n ~ ~ r p o ~ ~ d ~ ~ ~ m a ~ ~

at

~ ~ 2

d e ~

...

. .

Equi

vale

nt

evaporation per pound of coal pure and dry ... . .

, , , square foo t

of

grate per hour

..

.

9.

57

,

10

.5 ,

104.4 "

3

.85

,,

1.192

• • •

• • •

...

•

72lb

86

.7 "

,, , , , heating surface .. .

Factor

of evaporation ... ... ... ... ... ... ..

. .

. . 317.7 deg. Fahr

. .

60 deg.

Fahr

Percentage

Bala

nce-Sh

ee

t of H

ea

t

..

.

...

4

869

lb

.

. 920

Heat

Ev

olved.

1

Per Cent.

Heat

Ab

sorbed.

Per

Ce

nt

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

...

616 lb.

H eat from pure and dry coal ... 100 Heating and evaporating water  65.2

Radiation and una

cco

unted for

.

.

.

10

.. ..

.

60

6 ,

.

..

4.3 ash, 2.5 clinker

by difference .

.

...

..

. 3 . 8

T

ota

l

• •

.

ota

l

100

0

00 ..

.

.

.

.

2

Colonel

Englis

h,

P r

ofessor

D w ~ l s h a u v e r s

Dery,

Iment,

and

9

lb. in

the

first. L:1stly,

the

evapord.

and one of the authors, were present. The boiler tive

efficiency in No. XI. Experiment

was 70 per

was ho

used,

but not surrounded by

brickwork

of cent., and inNo.

XVIII. 65

per cent., or

5

per cent.

any kind, and the

barrel

only covered

in

the usual better

efficiency

with

11

per cent.

mo

re

h

ea ting

way

with

wood

lagging and

sheet

iron. Stoking

surface, all

the

other

re

s

ults being approximately

by

hand was

done by

the

ordinary

f i r e m a n

the the same.

The d

et ailed

figures are

given

in

boiler

was

not forced, and there was no economiser. the Table annexed. A radiation trial in this case

The steam

generated was

employed to drive

a

steam

unfortunately could not be

arranged

fo

r.

engine.

The boiler

was

in

re

gular use

at the

Arsenal, and was worked under ordinary

conditions,

THE AMERICAN

SOCIETY OF

NAVAL

nothing

being

especially prepared

for

the

trial. ARCHITECTS.

I t

is not co

nsider

ed necessary

to

g ive a

drawing

of

this boiler, as,

though

smaller,

i t

is

si

milar in

all respects

to

the one illustrated in

ENG

INEERIN

G

on

page

344, March 18, 1892, and

was by

the

same maker.

No time curves

have been ptepared.

The duration

of

the experiment,

viz

., 5t hours,

was

rather

short,

but could

not

well

be prolonged.

Colonel English kindly gave

the

authors

every

assistance

po

s

sible

to insure good reliable results.

The

gases

from

the fire went

straight

through

the

tubes

and up

the

chimney. Steam

pressur

e was

about

72

lb.

The

temperature

of the furnace

gases

leaving

the

boiler,

viz ., 575 deg.

Fahr.,

was too

high

for

the most

economical working; however, 8

lb. of water

were

evaporated per

pound

of

coal

fr

om

the

temperature

of the

cold feed. About

11 lb. of

coal

were

burnt

per square foot

of grate.

As this experiment

(No.

XVIII.)

was

made with

a locomotive

tubular boiler

of

the

same construction

as that

used

in Experiment

No. XI., and as the

two boilers are very nearly

the

same size, it may be interesting to compare the

chief

results. The same

coal was burnt,

and

both

were fired by

hand.

The

heating

s

urface

was about

11

per

cent. less in Experiment N o. XVIII.

than

in

Experiment

XI. The

g

rate

areas,

pressure

of

steam, feed

temperatures,

and

the

coal burnt per

hour differed very little. In the latter

test

the

water

evaporated

per

hour was rather

less.

The temperature

of the

gases and

the chimney

draught did

not

differ

mu

ch

in

th

e

two

cases.

The

pounds of

coal

burnt per

square

foot

of

grate per

hour were

10.8 and 12.5 resp

ective

ly.

The thermal

units

transmitted per

square

foot

of heatin

g surface

were very nearly the same

; 8 lb.

of

water

were

evaporated per

pound

of

coal in the last

experi-

 F n.oM ouR

NEw

YORK CoRRESPONDENT.)

(Contilnued from page 722.)

IN

SPECT ION

oF MA C

HINERY

AND BoiLERS.

THE " United States Treasury Rules for the

Inspection

of

Machinery and

Boilers

was

by

James

T. Boyd,

and

produced

an

active

discussion.

Mr. Boyd

demanded

a

revision.

Among other

matters, he wished the

clause

requiring a chief

engineer

thirty

years of age, and who

se

service

as

first

assistant had been for five years, in

cases

where

the

engines exceeded

2000

horse

power, struck

out;

likewise that which made

the

law

apply to

boilers

now

in

service, the

effect

of

this being

to

reduce the working pres

s

ures 10 per cent.

of

existing boilers. He thought

the laws

and rules should

be revised by engi

neers of

pro

mi nence, one

from the navy,

one

from the

revenue

marine, one from the

merchant

marine, and

one captain

fr

om

the

merchant

marine.

He illustrated the defects

of

the present laws by a

letter

from Mr. J . F. Pankhurst, general manager

of the Globe

Iron

Works,

of Cleveland, 0.,

to the

Board

of

Supervising

Inspecto

rs,

with reference

to

the safety valves on the new Belleville boilers which

the

Globe

Works

are bu i

lding for t he

Great

Northern

twin-screw

passenger steamers.

The

existing United States rules for calculating the size

of

safety

valves

were adopted in the days when

30

lb.

was considered a high

pressure for

a

marine

boiler,

and

i t

takes no

account

of

the steam

pressure

in

the

boiler.

The

absurdity of this rule is shown

by

the

fact

that

if

the

sa

fety

valves

on these

Belle

villa boilers were

made

the full size called for, they

would have

an

area times as great as the cross

secti

on

of the main st

eam

pipe, and would

empty

•

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DEc.

22,

1893.]

E N G I N E E

RI

N G.

753

:

the

whole boiler

in

17 seconds at 250 lb. pressure.

The sudden

opening of so large

an exit a.t

high DETAILS

oF

HoLLOW

SHAF1'ING; BETHLEHEM

RuN "

roRKS.

pressure is generally c

::

mceded

to

be exceedingly

·

-

dangerous, and quite likely in

itself

to cause

the

-

explosion of a weak boiler.

In

the

discussion, which was

extended, it ap·

peared that

all

present

desired a g

reat

ref

o

rm in

t

he

existing methods, although

they

diffe

red

as

to

the

method

to

be employed.

The

speakers

thought

there was too much

theory, and

a

number

claimed

that

technical mechanical

formuh:e

should be ex

cluded, so

as to make the rul

es confo

rm to

pro

gress.

Th

e spe:1.kers all scored

the

present

methods

in unm

easured

terms.

Col.

E.

A.

Stevens thought

the

re shou

ld

be an

officer with

the

rank

of a Cabinet

officer

to reprdsent the merchant marine at

Wash

ington. Thi s view was favoured

by Mr. Stratt

on,

who also

thought, and most

agreed with him, that

the

establishment of a

Department

of Commerce,

of

equal imp ortance with

other

departments, and in-

cluding

the

Bureau

of Navigation,

the

Life-Saving

Se

rvice,

the

Lighth

ouse Board,

Hydrographic

Office,

Revenue Marine

Service,

and Steamboat Inspection

Service, would

be

productive of incalculable good

to

t he

merchant

marine.

Mr. Stratton

said

that

if

a Secretary

of Commerce could, in his official report

to CJngress, give force

to re

co

mmendations

need-

ful to a proper conservation and

development

of

our

marine, such as is given

to

the

recommenda

tions of

the Secretary

of

War

with rega

rd

to

river

and harbour impr

ove

ments, it

would be of g

reat

value

in taking

away

the appearance of

lobbying,

now so necessary

in putting through

Congress even

the

smallest

measure

desired

to benefit

Americ.1n

shipping.

HEAVY STEEL FoRorncs.

The

next

paper

was

by

Mr.

R. W.

Davenp

o

rt,

and

e

ntitled

:

"Production in the United States

of

Heavy

Steel

Engine, Gun, and A r m o u r - J . I l ~ i t e

Fvrgings.

' Thi

s paper should be

printed in

full,

but

space does n

ot permit, and the

condensation

will of courae

on

ly present

its salient

points. The

author

traced

the

development of forging plants,

statin

g

that

five ye:1rs ago

th

e

United States

had

none.

In

1885

the Bethlehem

Company, of which

the

author

is vice-president, decid

ed

to establish

a. plant

of

the

firat order.

The contract

was given

to Sir

J oseph

Whit

worth

and

Co

., and the

prin

cipal

items

were : Two

hydraulic

forging presses

c o m p ~ e t e . with

engines and pumps,

one of

1500

and one

of 4500 tons capacity,

together with two

\VhitwOJth hydraulic travelling forging cranes

and

other

necessary appliances for each

press;

a com

plete fluid compression

plant,

including a press of

7000 tons capacity

and

a 125-ton hydraulic travel

l ing crane for serving

it

(the

upp

er

and

lower

heads of

this

press, weighing respect ively

about

135 and 120 tons, were mllde at the Bethlehem

works); some

lar

ge machine tools, such

as lathes

and

boring

milh,

typ

ical of

the best

development

in

their

r espective classes

; a]

so designs

of

open

hearth

furnaces

and

special tools. These machines

were

guaranteed to represent the latest practice

of

the Whitw

orth Company,

and this

was fulfilled,

although it

was erected

and put in

operation

by

the e m p l o y e ~

of

the

Bethlehem Company, who

at

the

s\me time constructed

a fine

plant

of

four

open-hearth

furnaces of 110

to

120 tons,

and

a

machine

shop

of g

rand

dimensions,

partly

equ

ipped

with

t ools exceeding

in

capacity

and

power

any

ever

in the country. Preparations were

also

made

for

the production of arm

our-plate,

the

U

nited

States

Navy having decided

on

all-steel plates.

Although the contract made

with theNavy Depart

ment

did not

specify forged heavy

armour,

yet

the

company decided

to make it by this

process,

and

made

a. contract

with

the Creusot

Company for

drawings of machinery

and

full

information

as

to

m

h o d s and shop pract

ice, a.s well as

the

right to manufacture

armour-plates

under their

patent

s. \Vhile

the new plant

was in general

modelled

af t

er that at Creusot, modifications were

introduced,

Ruch

a,, the incr

ease of

the

weight of

the hammer from

100

tons to

125

tons, the length

of the

forging dies from 6 ft. 6 in.

to

10

ft., and

the

stea

m

pre

ss

ur

e from 75 lb.

to

125 lb.

The

valve

motion

was also

greatly impr

oved,

and

hydraulic travelling cranes us

ed instead of power

swinging ones. Likewise

improvements were

made

in the

be

nding press

ani

in the

tern pering

plant.

In

two years

and

a

half

after

ihe actual

work

on

the

plant had

be

en

begun,

the

first

armour-plate

was forged.

The

result

of

experiments on the

forging presses

led to the constructi

on of a double-

Comparison

of

Three

Steel

Shaf

ts.

Case I.

·••Q

•G

I.,-

....

•

...

• • ...

Q

.

w - ~ ' j ...

Cl.

gS Q ii s P . - ~ - . a

< C D . . . . , ~ -

•

0 ·- C

IS

< g ~ ~ p .

os ~ ~ s o .

~ A · ; ;

.... .

...... ....,

.

s:: C: l l g.

·z

8 w ·

CD ... a - o .r1

::::>

Q ....

_. en

s o ~ .0

Q

gS( /)00

.... 0

a>·.- G _.,.

--a....... c

d

........ -

....

: oo A ' ag d

OcoA ( ) ....

e .. . ·; ; c

~ p .

~ ~ C D -

.s::c .......

So CJ

- c : ~

» t ,.. 1) .

....... c

os

..s::

• c

... ~ o ~ Q ) .a

~ c d eno ...

..s::

.,.

0

a) . ... ril

Q

...., -

..s:: s:l - (") tl

en bi....J... .a -

0

::::o

""aQ)

o.

cr.

= . .

..

s:: 'j Q)g

-oo

... · , . ~ ~ ~ g . . c

· ·x

C...,:i

Q ) a :

Q

~ a : l

() 0

' j O ~ . . . ,

: : : ~ : . : : :

·

  t

-·-o

a

_, . . .

...

( )·a'

( /)

g . ~ ~ ( / ) p.w o

-AZ

p.< -4 ril /)

a _.. ..

c

-

•

Aru s o f ser t

ions

• . . . • . . . . . . . . . . . . sq . tn .

Weig

hts per yard

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

.1

b

131.95

13

.Z

i 3

280 65

1346 1354 2861

C o m p l

a ~ h · e strengths under

applied

loads 10 flex u

r e, or

under apph

o d

horse

-powers in ion . . . . . • . . . . · · . · · . · ·

307

100

307

Load, in p ounds , at

middle

of a sp an of 12f t.

oo two

suppo. tta,

whtch

st r

atns

to one-halt elastic limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

276,200 89,900

276,200

Lengt.h

of beam

on

two

supports,

whi

ch is strc&ioed by its own w e i ~ to one·

half elastic limits . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

·.

. .

121ft

. 6 in.

77

ft

. 6 in . 83 ft. • iu.

Ho rse -powers transmittEd at 60 revc lutioos per minute whc n strainEd to

one ·

ba

' f elast io l imits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

15,780 6180

15,780

cv: • Q • Q

. ....

.......

Q • • . . . Q •

s:: .. 1j c ..

Cl. os Q Q

, - C l , Q ) ~ - . . o

<§ tQ)P .

::::

< CD ...., Cl.-

·- os A........ <JS

ea . . , ~ E g

. . . . J ~ QC

....,

CD

0 •

o

Q

s:: ra; er

.,.

m

.

= 8 ... .c

)..... .0

.... 'j .... .,.., /)

s ()

osQ)-

Gl(1} _()

.  ·=

ea

·   _..

--a

...

·- os :

w .s . -  

:ooA -9

o a oO O? ,...

~ · l ~ Q )

~ ~ 1 J

: ' , . j f

0 0 0 .... _p.

. ,...... e o

.... li 0 .......

/)

.

....,

....

-d

; ; i . . c ~

. , . we...,

' j · . o o ~

.0

QSQS en

..s:: ...., 0 a)

.... r:z:l

Q ) : : > ~ . . - 4 ~ - -

..s::e

.

s:: .e

/) Cl..,J

... c;

s ~ o , . . s G I O •

fl.)

. . . . gS

....

~ g $

S:: 'jQ) ... ...:(/)

. ) dO_ :

oc><Q) o

' j ~ Q ) ~ t - t l , . .

~ : : : : . . . . , c11 oo.,

;.::

2

...

·

r

............ 0 . ~ Q I

_ . . ~ _ . .

cet.li:cAZ..r.

....

Cl.< ra; n

( / )

,-4 ( /)

p.

•

Comparison

of

Th ree Steel Shafts.

Case

11

.

-·

120.

17

1

2 1.

28

2i6.34

1227 2513

. I

Areas

of sections

. . . . . . . . . .

..

. . . . .

sq

. 10 .

1226

eights

per yard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

lb

Comparative st rengths under appliEd loads

in

flexure,

or

under applitd

293 100 29S

orse

·powe1 s

in torsion

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

Load, which, at middle of a beam 12 ft . in span on t wo supports,

c a u s e

227,2CO

77 ,500

2'17,200

trains equal t o

one-half

e'a.stic limit . . . . . . . . . . . .lb .

of beam on two suppo rt s which is st rained

by

its own wc..ight to one

halC elas t ic ltmils . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

11 5 ft . 6 in.

75 ft. 9

io.

80

ft.

8

in.

Horse

powers tran

s

mitted at

50

re v

o

lu

tions per

minute \\hen st r

ain<d t.o

12,980

44 30 12,930

ne-half ebsti

c

l.mits ..

. . . .

..

. . . . . .

..

. .

cylinder forging press of 14,000

tons

capacity,

with

pumps

driven by

15,000 horse-power

e n ~ i n e s , the

design of

Mr

. John

Fritz, and with Mr.

E.

D.

Leavitt,

jun.,

as consulting

engineer

on the pumps

and

engines.

The author then

divided his

subject into

the

following heads :

1. "

The

Casting of

Ing

o

ts ."

2.

' 'The

Conditions of

Shaping

and Forging."

3.

"Treatm£-nt

after

Forging/'

4.

"Introduction

of

U

ou

s

ual

Ing

redients into the

Composition

of the

Steel

intended to

give

to it De

sirable Qualities."

He

considered the

best meth

od for avoiding defects

in casting

to be

the

Whitworth

process of fluid

compression.

He

thought

unif

o

rm

heat

at

a

pr

o

per

t e m p e r a t u r ~

the

first

requisite in shaping

and

forging

; but the

next

one

was

the

use of

proper

machinery.

Internal strains and

defects

frequently

resu

lted fr

om

shaping

with

hammers

of insuffic

ient

power .

Hydraulic pressure of such

a

character as

to penetrate

to the

centre

and

cause flowing

through

out the

mass, and

continued

for a

suitable time,

so

as

to insure thorough

action, is fav

ourable to

the

best

results. A similar effect is

attained,

thou

gh

to

a.

less degree,

by

the

use

of

a

hammer

develop

ing ample power

for

the

wo

rk,

especially

if

such

power is

due to

a

great weight

falling

by gravity

only.

The author

continued :

' ' A most important factor in

the

use of hydraulic

presses for forging is, the

ability

to produce with

them

long

lengths

fo

rged

hollow

over

a mandril,

and this

class of forgings is especially

adaptable to

marine sha

fting

and

the part

s

of built-up

guns.

In the manufacture

of hollow forgings

the

con

ditions of shaping

are

in all respects favourable

to

the

production of

sound

w

or

k of

the highest

quality.

A hole of

suitable

size is bo

red

throughout

the

cen

tral

ax is of

the

unforged ingot,

thereby

r emoving

the

po

rtions rendered

defective

by

segregation

and

'piping,' and

disclosing

any

interior

defec

ts that

may

not have

been removed

by

boring.

The bored

ingot

fo

rms

a hollow

cylinder with

walls

much

thinner than the cr

oss·section of

the

solid

ingot

;

this

condition great1y facilitates

heating, and

prac

tically removes

the

danger of

internal

cracking

during that

operation.

The

forging of

the

com

paratively

thin

walls of

the cylinder

over a solid

mandril

also

insures thorough work,

and

makes it

possible

to turn the

forging

out at

a low

and unif

o

rm

heat,

thus

fixing a

unifor

mly fine

or amorphous

grain.

A solid forging,

on

the

other hand, of the

same

outside

diameter,

would be much

hotter towards

the

central

axis

than on

the

outside,

and the

gradual

loss

of this

high

internal

beat

will

tend

to

coarsen

the grain by

crystallisation

and

set up

internal

strains.

In

the

hollow forgings

any

internal

defects show themselves

on the inner

sur-

face, while

in

solid forgings

their

prese nce is

hidd

en

and

can

only be

disclosed

by

boring.

Hollow

forgings of

beautiful appearance and of

a

large

variety of dimensions

are daily produ

ced

under

the hydraulic

presses at the Bethlehem forge, and

this

class of work was well

repre

se

nted in

the

com

pany 's

exhibit at the

Chicago

Expo

s

it i

on

by

several

fine specimens,

one

of which is

a.

s

haft

20

inches

in

o

utside diameter,

67 feet long,

with

a

hole

8

inches

in

d iameter forged

through the entire length.

"

After

forging, two processes

are

employed, ' ' viz.,

annealing and tempering, or hardening, or

a con

bination

of

the

two.

To these

must

be added

sur

face

or

case

hardening,

which, while

heretofore

fr

equently used in the treatment of

small forgings,

has recently

come

into prominence on

a large scale

in the

application of

the Harvey and other

processes

to the producti

on

of

hard-faced

armour-plate."

Then

followed a description

of these

proceesea

and

their

effect.

Under

"unusual ingredients introduced

for

the

purpose

of

imparting

physical

qualities,"

the

author

specified chromium,

tungsten, manganese

(in mol'e

than

usual

quantities), aluminum and nickel, and

stated

some

experiments had been made with

copper.

He alAo described

the

effect of each

on

the

steel.

In regard

to gun

forgings,

he

sa id

it

r

eq

uired all

the

resources of

the

stee1maker to o

btain

a

pet

feet

product,

a.nd

th

o

ught

a

steel

alloy would

probably

give

the

best

results. \Vhile

chrome had been

u ~ e d

for

parts

of

small

~ i m e n s i o l s ,

he

thought

n1ekel gave

the best promise for Improvement in

physical qualities. In reg11rd

to armour-plate,

he

claimed

the

intro

duction

of

carbon by

cementation

~ n t o

the face of

the plate,

with subsequent

harden

Ings,

kn

own as

the

Harvey

process,

had

given

the

b e s ~ r e s u l t ~ . In respect to marine shafting

and

engine forgmgs

there

was a field

for great

improve

ment.

He conceded that

soft steel had some

ad

vantages,

particularly when manufactured at

forges

where

the

harder

class of steel was not understood

or

could

not

be

handled properly, and

that

it

would

bear rougher treatment; it also

cost

less

for

machi

ning.

Against

all

this he

set

the

low elastic

limit

of

soft steel, and attributed many

failures

in it to

this

cl.use.

Th

e

desire to reduce the

weiaht

of

parts in the marine

engines

without

sacrificing

stiffness

had led

hollow forgings.

The danger of

too

great reductwn had led to making

the axial

holes too

s ~ a l l

to

allow of

p r o p e ~

hollow

forging

on

a

mandrtl, a?d r e s u ~ t e ~ 111

sohd

forgings

with

subsequent bonn

gs,

brmgmg about

a

distinct

loss

the quality

of

the metal. The remedy seemed to

him to be the use of

a

material with

a

greater

elastic

limit and

a

degree

of toughness

able

to

resist

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•

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

75

5

PECKHAM'S

EXTENSI ON TRAl\IW

AY

TRUCK.

CONSTRUCTED

BY THE

PECKHA \1

\

IOTOR TRUCK

AND

WHEEL.

C01IPA

NY,

KING

STON,

N.Y.,

U. S.A.

•

•

•

••

Fig. 1

Fc g.2.

_

-

-

_I;

--

-

0

0

0

0

0 0

0

10

O

0

0

0

0

0 0

0

Pir

-

I

• ~ ~

-

 

I

'I

I: := . ·

~ w

I

I

I

- ; LJgg O)

I

.:e

I

'

I

'

r Pl '

1

\.

'

•

.--

 

.:

I

I

-

I

r \

tY

•

I

\I

I

p

I

•

e

C)

llf

I

lo O

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0

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.,

a

fi)

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;::

\..

G

G

I

'

•

•

' ' '\,../

b

'

J

......

I

l 9 0I •

·•

-• · •• l 9 0

·-----

=C:]

---

-

'   ) ;

1 001

.......

--

ltO

..

•

1

T

I I

•

• ~ . . .

•

•

~

-

-

0 0 \ 0 0 0

0

0

0

0 0

-

.Jf

-

 

CJ

....

-

.

'

•

,

.

_

•

.

,

•

 

\

f

V •

._

.

Fig.

4

•

-

....

-J

Flf;.5

•

'

'

H  

.,.;;

. .

<)

"

tOE

'

I '

'"

. .

'

.

.

'.

•

..

<: •

. .

--------·--t

--

  y l6

- - - -

-  

.... 0 0

0

0 0 0

0

Z016 8

a gain in strength

of

three to

one,

and

a

reduction

in

weight of more

than

one-half as compared with

so

lid

soft steel sh

afts

of equal

weight

a

nd strength

respectively. "

Thi s

paper

called for th a very interesting dis

cussion, which drew forth

valuab

le

opin

ions and

sugg

es t

ions.

CoAL BuNKERs.

Next came Coal

Bunkers and

Coaling Shi

ps,

by Lieut

. A.

P. Nittack, U.S

.

N. The author

t hought the disposition of

the

bunkers and the

lack of adequate facilities

prevented

the

rapid

coaling of

a

man-of-war. He

showed by

the follow

in

g T

ab

le

what

was

the

capacity of

the bunkers,

and the time required

to

fi ll

them,

in cer tain

men

of-war:

Atlanta .. .

.

Chicago .. .

Charles on

...

Yorktown ...

Baltimore . .

San Francisco ...

Newark ... .

.

...

...

• • •

...

...

...

Total Coal

Capacity.

Tons.

... 490

... 824

... 7

58

...

...

11

45

... G28

... 800

Time re

quired to

Fill Bunkers.

Hours.

33

28

26

24

60

33

28

What was needed

in future ships

to coal rapidly

was:

1.

As

few

and as

l

arge bunkers as are consistent

wi\h the requirements of coal

pr

otection, water

tight sub

division,

and

considerations of stability.

•

0

2.

The

spar

-deck

scuttle

s or

hatches to take in

coal

in

bulk over all, supplemented by side por ts

to

adapt

the

ship

to coaling by

ot

h

er

met

hod

s .

3. Im

proved mechanical

app

liances for

handling

coal, not only in hoisting and

dumpin

g it on board

in

bulk, but in g

etting

i t out of the

bunkers

into

the fire-rooms.

In cru ising ships he would place the bunkers

below the

protective

deck, extending t hem t he

breadth

of

the ship

, but dividing

them by

a fore

an

d -aft bulkhead amidships.

A

pair

of bunkers,

starboard

an

d port, would

thus

take

up

all the

space vertically

betwee

n t

he

pro

tective deck and

the

inn

er bo

tt

om,

and,

longit

udin

ally,

be

t w

ee

n

the

at

hwart ship watert ight bulkheads. I t is

pro

posed

that one pai

r be

forward

of

the

fire-room,

and another between the eng in

e a

nd fire-rooms;

or

in

case

there are two

fire-rooms, as is usual,

and

it

is

desired to

add

a

third pa

ir of

bunke rs

,

then

between the two

fire-rooms.

From their

l

arge

size

they would admit of

ra pid

coaling, and from their

position would be

a gre at

protection fr om

raking

fire

eithe

r f

orward

or

af t

. Fo r each

pa

ir of

bunkera,

in t he amidship li ne, he would have a rectangular

trunk

, at least 6ft.

by

12ft. ,

from the protective up

t o

the spar

deck-

th i

s to

be

u

sed

as

a

coa

li n

g

ha t

ch ,

and to

be strong

enough itself to ho

ld

coal

when

the

bunkers

are

full. I t

shou

ld

be divided fore and

aft by

th e l

ongitudinal

bulkhead

between the pa

ir

of b

unk

ers ca

rried up

to

within

at

le ast 10ft. of

the spar

deck

.

The auth

or

then described

in d

et a

il

the arrangements and the apparatus necessary,

toge

the

r

with

the various

advant

ages that

he

claimed

for

his

s

ystem.

To be continued. )

PULLMAN

OBSERVATION

AND SLEEPING

CAR.

FIGS. 9 to 1

5,

on pages 750 and 751, show the arrange

ment of two more of the

very

elabo

ra t

e railway

cars exhibited

at

t he Columbian Exposition by

the

Pullman Company. Both are

triumphs

of luxu

ry

in

railroad accommodation, and, as will be seen from

the plan, Fig. 10, there

is

no crowding possible in the

observation car. One half is arranged w

ith

fixed seats,

and the

other

is disposed as a drawing-room,

th

e

tw

o

compartmen

ts

being separated by two private Eections,

each with four seats. In

the

cent re of the car is th e

ladies' ret irin

g-

room, divided into a vestibule, a b

at h

room,

and

a toilette; a second l

avatory

is provided at

one end of

the

car.

The

seats in

the

drawing-room

are arranged in the best manner for com

fort

and

for seeing the country,

and

at the end is a covered

platform on which chairs can be placed ;

in

th e centre of t,he drawing-room is a writing-tabl e

The fittings throughout are of the most elaborate

character; marble is replaced by onyx, and th e

bath-room

and

lavatories are tiled throughout. The

outer platforms at the ends of the car are protected by

railings and gates,

and

t

he

whole

width

of

the plat

form is

avai

lable

fo

r stand ing room, beoause

the ste

p

can be covered with hinged flaps that when lowered

form an extension of the platform. The slee

ping

-car

shown by the plan, Fig.

13,

is of a very se

lect

and

luxurious kind.

I t

is divided

in t

o

ten

rooms, accom

modating

twenty

persons : th e rooms

are fi

t

te

d

with

silk, plush, and carved woods, the colours and d e ~ i g n s

of each vary ing, and every room is provided with its

own lavatory

co

ncealed beneath

triangular

cushions

in

one corner of

the

comp

artment

.

Fi g

s. 11

, 12, 14,

a

nd

15

are cross.sect

io

ns g iving some i

dea

of

the style

of

decoration adopted.

PECKHAM

D O U B L E

EXTENSION CANTJ

.

LEVER

TRAMWAY

TRUCK AT THE

WORLD

'S COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION.

"'E

illustrate on

this

page a form of

truc

k for elec·

tric cars, constructed by the Peckham Motor Truck

and Wheel Company, Kingston, N. Y.,

U.S.A.,

for

the

Brooklyn City

Ra

ilroad Company, and exhibited at th e

vYorld's

Fair,

Chicago.

The

prmcipa-1 feature of

the

truc

k is

the

care

taken

to

pr

event

end and

side oscilla

t ions of t he ca.r body, which, it has been found by

experience, seriously diminish th e adhesion of th<'

wheels. The woodcut, Fig. 1, shows

very

well

the

general construction of

th

e

tru

ck, whil

st

fur t

her

details

are given in the line engravings, Figs. 2 to 5. In all

motor cars it is advantageous

if

the

motors can be

easily

got

at on simply lifting off the car body.

This,

of course, m

ea

ns an open-topped bogie,

the

usual

ce

ntrepin

bearing being inadmissible. In

the present

case the car body is carried upon a frame supported by

eigh t s

pir

al sprin gs resting upon the frames of the

truck

pr

oper,

and

by

four ordin

ary

ca

rr i

age

spr

ings.

Th

e

springs, as will be seen, are placed so as to reduce

end

or side oscill

at

ion to

a.

minimum. The main truck

frame is supported by spiral springs from

the

axle

boxes, the

o n s t r

of which is sho

wn in Figs

. 4

and

5. To

the ax

les

1s

keyed

a

spurwheel,

into which

gears a pinion on the end of the motor shaft. The motor

itself is ca.rried by a frame, one end of which

rests

on

7/17/2019 Engineering Vol 56 1893-12-22

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/engineering-vol-56-1893-12-22 8/29

the axle of the

whee

l it

drives, and

the

other

end

on

the

spring

banger, shown

in

detail

in

Fig.

3.

Two

motors can

be

fitted to

each truck, as

shown

in

Fig.

2,

from

which al

so

the

general arrangement of th e brake

gear

will

be

apparent

. The principal dimensions of

the

truck are as follows :

L e

ngth

of car sill . . .. . . .

, truss support .. . .. . . .

, truck frame .. . .. . . .

, spring base . . .. . .

.

, wheel ,

..

. . . .

Width of tru ck fra.me .. . ... . .

Height of truck frame with empty car

ho

y

. . . . . . . .

26ft.

20ft.

16 ft .

12ft. 8 in.

6 ft. 6

in

.

5 ft. 11 in .

25

in.

-

FOUR -

CYLI

NDER

TIVE A'r THE

EXPOSITION.

COMPOUND LOCOl\1:0-

WORLD'S

COLOMBIAN

\ VE publish below

and on

page 75 engravings showing

the details

of const

ruction

of

the

four -cy l

inder

compound

consolidation locomotive

wh

i

ch

formed

the

subject of

our two-page plat

e of Dec( mber 8, and of which a

woodcut

was also published in our issue of

the

20th

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

between the inner

and outer

firebox is from in. to

4 in. wide, but p

ockets

are

formed in

the outer

plating

to

give room for

the

ax le-boxes of

the trailing

wheels.

This

necessit:ttes a cor

re

sponding

cutting

away of

the

mud

ring, as

shown in Fig. 10. The firegrate is fitted

with rocking bars of cast iron, details of which are

illustrated in Fig. 11. The frames, of

the

usual Ameri

can

bar

type, are of wrought' iron, and are shown in

F ig. 12, whilst Fig. 13 shows the arrangement of brake

gea

r, which has

been

supplied by th e

New York

Air

Brake

Company.

Coming

to the

cylinders, these

ar

e

arranged

tandem

fash ion,

the

high-pressure lead i

ng

. As will be seen

fr om Jfig. 14, page 754,

the

diameters of

these

cylinders

are 13 in. and

26

in. respectively,

the

stroke being 2ft.

2 in. The

cylinder

ratio is therefore 1 : 2. 8 7. The

valves, as

usual

in America, are placed on top of

the

cylinders

(see

Figs

. 15 and 16) ; that for the

low pres

sure cy

li

nder

is

of the ordinary D type (F igs. 20 to

23), balanced

by re

lief frames behind. The high-pres

sure

va lve is of

the

pi

ston type

(Figs.

17

and 18), and is

dr iven

by linkw

ork from the low-pressure valve-rod in

such

a way that the two val \·es move in opposite direc

tions. This is accomplished by placing a rocking arm

.

J/ " •

•. ... -.

 .

- .. .

I I

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...

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•

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..

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October.

Th

e engine in question was exhibited. in

the

Tr ansportation Department of the C o l u m b ~ a n

Exposition,

Chicago, by the

Brooks

L o c o ~ o t n : e

Works of Dunkirk,

N.

Y. ,

who

have hu1lt 1t

for t h ~

Great Northern

Railroad

of America.

The

eng

ine as will be seen

by

reference

to

Fig. 1

of our'

two-

page plate of December 8, has ei

ght

coupl

ed

wheels and a two-wheeled. bogie in f r o n ~ .

End views and sections of the eng me

ar_e s h o ~ v n

Figs.

2 to 5. The boiler_(Figs. 6 and 7) lS 63 m. 10

diameter and

11

ft.

7  m . long

betw

een

tubeplates.

I t is of the Belpaire type,

and

is

built

e n t i ~ of steel,

the

plates being

,rr,l

in

. thick, and the w o r k t ~ pressure

180 l

b.

per

square

inch. The

tubes,

208 m number,

are of

ir

on,

2

in.

in diameter,

No. B . v V . ~ .

~ h e

firebox is 9 ft. 6 in. long insid e, a

nd

1s 5 ft:

6 m:

w1de

at

the

top , being narrowed down to 32 m . w1de at

th e

grate

in order to pass

the

bar frames. The space

in the intermediate receiv

er,

as shown

in

Fig. 14, one

end of which is attached by a

link

to the low-pres

sure

valve-rod, a

nd tb

e

other to the

high-pressure piston

valve. The lubricat ion of

this

rocking arm is accom

pl i

shed by

mounting it on a hollow spindle, connected

to

the

low-pressure lubricator. The general

part

icu-

lars of the valve setting are as follows: .

H igh-pressure valve, trave l ... ...

, , lap ... . .

,

''

L ow-

pr

essure

va

l ve,

,

,

inside clearance

lead ... .. .

travel ... .. .

outside lap .. .

inside clearance

lead ... .. .

1n

.

...

4

t

0

...

...

...

...

7

l

..

•

•

..

.

h

The main

steam

pipe, at i ts

connect

ion

with

the

high-pressure cylind

er

, is fitted

with

a 2-in. vacuum

[DEc. 2 2, I 893·

valve, and

relief valves

of the

same

size are

fitted

to

the

low-pressure

cylinder

.

Th

e

starting valve

con

sists of a

reducing

val ve fitted between

the

main

steam

pipe and

the

low-pressure va hre.chest. Thia

valve

is

shown in place in Fig. 16, and in detail in Fi g. 19.

As

wi ll be seen, it consists of

a

sp ring-loaded va lve which

is normally closed, and this is

the

position in which

it

is

shown

in our engraving. I t will, however,

be

seen

that the thrust of the spring is transferred to a

forked

rod, l in. wide,

between

the two

branches

of

which

the va

lve

spind

le passes. This

rod

is widened

out

beyond

the va

lve at either end t o 1  in., and by

forcing

this

widened

porti

on

past

the spindle

the

spring

is

shoved

down,

and

the

valve

opened and held

open until

the

pressure on

the

low-pressure steam

chest is sufficient to again compress

the

spring and

close the

valve

. The

fork

ed

rod

aforementioned is

connected to th e

reversing

lever in such a way that

whenever this l

eve

r is in its extreme position, in either

backward

or

forw

ard

gear,

the

reducing valve

ope

ned,

but is cloeed on

bring

ing

the

lever

back

towards

mid gear.

Details

of the connecting and

coupling rods are given in Figs. 25 to 27, whilst the

construction of the two-wheeled bogie is shown in

Figs. 28 to 30.

ENGINES OF THE ITALIAN CRUISER

'' ARETUSA."

ON the two-page plate published with

th

is issue

we reproduce

drawings

of

th

e engines of

the

Italian

cruiser Aretusa, des igned

and

constr ucted by Messrs

Orlando

Brothers

in

their shipbuild

ing yard and engine

works

in

Leghorn.

The Aretusa,

of

wh

ich an

e n g r a v ~

ing is gh·en on page 759, is a torpedo cruiser of 850

tons, and is s intil

ar

to

th

e

Skipjack

and She l

drake,

and

other vessels of

the

British

Navy.

The hull and arma

ment have been designed by

the

late Commander Vigna,

of th e Italian Royal Navy, while the eng ines

were

designed by Eng. Sal

vatore

Orlando, a

nd

constructed

under th e

direct

supervision of the late Mr. Giuseppe

Orlando

The

total

wei

ght

of engines, boilers, water, spare

pieces, &c., is 173 tons, making about 86 lb. per indi

cated horse·power. The stroke is very short, owing

to

the

necessity of

bring

ing the cylinders below

the

protective deck. The

principal

dimensions of the

cylinders are as follows :

Diameter of high-pressure

cylinder ... .. . ...

Diameter of intermediate

pressure cy linder ...

Diameter of low-pressure

cylinder ... ... .. .

Stroke ... ... .. .

0.590m. (23.23

in

.)

0. 919 m. (36.18 in.)

1.375 m. (54.13in.)

0. 460

m. (18.

11

in.)

The shortness of stroke does not involve any

in

con

venience in working, wh ich is ~ m o o t h

and

regu lar

The

eng ines

are

placed in two

separate

compartments,

the

reversing and

starting

gears being in the

centre,

and

the

condensers placed at the sides of the ship.

Each condenser has 1787 brass tubes, 16 millimetres

(.63 in . ) in

diameter,

with a condensing surface of 237

square metres

(2551.14

square

feet).

The

condensing

water is

driven

through the condensers by two centri

fugal pumps,

the suct

ion and discharge pipes being

250 millime

tr e

s

(9.

84 in.) in diameter. The condensers

are made en tirely of

delta

metal. The feed and bilge

pumps are of

th

e

Worth

ington modified

pattern,

and

their working was very effective during

the

whole

of the tr ials , and also when the vessel was under st

ea

m

•

•

•

m

co

mmiss1on.

The low-pressure slide valves are fitted with Joy 's

assistant cylinders,

this

being their first application in

Italy. Each of these developed

during the

t rials 8 to

10 indi

cated

horse-power. The slide valve and rod ·

weigh 326 kilogrammes ((

71

8.7 lb.)

The

low-pre

ssure

eccentrics worked smoothly, and did not show any in

dication of heating at a speed of 270 r evo

lutions

.

The boilers, four

in number,

of the open-bottom

locomotive type, are placed

two

forward and

two aft

of the eng ines,

the

former

supplying

the

port

and

the

latt

er

the

starboard engiuea. The

total

heating sur

face is 782 squa

re

metres (8417.68 square feet), and the

firegrate surface 17.28 square metres (about square

feet). The air blast is delivered under the grates

through a closed

ashpit,

each boiler

having

its own

funnel of 1.60 me

tres

(62.99

in.

in diameter. The

boilers proved

very

satisfactory. No leakage, priming,

or

other

defect was noticed under

natura

l or forced

draught steaming.

The

propellers ' bosses are of gun-metal, with blades

of

Stone

's patent bronze, the

diameter

being 2.400

metres(8 ft .

),

and th e pitch 2.760metres (9ft. 0.66in. )

Under

the contract two t

rials were

to

be

made,

one of

ten hours'

duration under natural draught,

tohe power dev eloped

to

be not less

than

2000

indicated hor se-power, and a three hours' trial under

forced draught, with an indicate d hor se-power of

not less

than

4000.

A

premium

was t o he

paid

for

ex tra power developed

in

the forced

draught

trial.

The natural draught trial

was

made

on September

22,

1892,

with

a

co

mmission of naval officers on board,

under

the presiden

cy

of Comanda

nte De

Simone. The

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I

ENGINEERING, DE CEMBER 22, 1

893

TRIPLE-

E XP

AN SION

E NGI

NES

OF

TH

E

ITALIA

N TO R

PE

DO

GUNBOAT ARETUSA.

 

Fig .2

( 11 \

_l

•

I

Fig.3.

I

., ,

CO

N

STRUCTE

D BY MESSR-S. ORLANDO BROTHERS, LEUHORN.

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. . I

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7/17/2019 Engineering Vol 56 1893-12-22

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E N G I N E E R I N

G.

757

INDICATOR AND VIBRATION DIAGRAMS; ITALIAN TORPEDO GUNBOAT "ARETUSA."

~

•

-

 

H

....

;)

V

V

Q..

Q,

c:

~

-

-

 

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< >

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c

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-

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c:s

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V>

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-

 

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:s

c :;

Q..

.J

115 pm

Pressurt in

lht

bodtrs · · · · -----lbs __ 173

, tn

lht

tngmt rooms __ _ .,

_.

170

• m lht f,rst r

tc ttvtr

• __ ,

__

60

•

in

th t su ond rtct

tvtr_

_ • __ 15

Vacuum·----   -- -   -- --

  zz•

Rl'

vo(utions

ptr Minute ___ _______

__ 260

Fig.

5 .

M an prtssun

Kg

·4

551

HP

54d'lJ'1ir--...

Fig . 6.

Mtan

prtSsurt

Kg .2.

21)

HP n1

3/

.

•

•

•

Fig _:_ :_

M

an

prtSs

un

Kg 0

91

. /.H.

P.

764

75

Co

llufivt

I H .P. 219G

l

6

•

Q,

c:

·-

c:

l..J

0

Q..

/ .

IS

p.m

Pressure tn

lht

boiltrs __ - - - - - - Lhs _170

•

" tn tht

tngmt

rooms .

  ..

_168

1

 

tn th t

first

rtettvtr

.

__

_

,

1

· -

50

,,

inth t su

o

nd

r e u w ~ r

., __ l l

Va

cu

um .__ ____ __ _________________ 23'

JOY s INDICAT

OR

DIAGRAMS.

Pr

t.SSur

t iA. bodt rs llu;.176

. R e v

2&6.

RfvO lutions ptr Mi

t7utt

. ______ _____ Z64

Fig. 8 .

Pig

.

71

-

M

tan prt'ssr

J.rt Kg 5.01.1

HP

14Q.

I8

J fccuv Pr>e.ssure

Kg

. :l

 

JS . I .JI.P.

7.

22

~

-

 

N

Fi g . 9

...

;)

Q..

t on pr tssurt Kg 2.13.1 H P 157 Z8 .Fig.12.

-

~

-

 

N

Fig

. IO .

- -

-

.

 

..

-

138 A

c:s

'

....

Q..

Mta

nprtHv.rt K9 0 94 4,/

HP

755. 10

M e a : ~ PrusurC/ Kg .

8, 90 . I .H .P. 9, S8

.1

Colleclt'vt I HP 2253.

16

-Toto{

IHP for th t two Eng,nts 44 4

9 , 4 2 .

Frg.16. .Extrcm ,

A/l,.

rv.:volution.e 230.

r - - - - - - - · - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

~

~ ~ - - - - -

 

~ ~ - - - - - - - - - - - -

 

~ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

.Fig

.Jt .

.Bn:dge U..·volu I ons 2'l2.

•

••

r.o ·

17.

r:

1 A.n

Jlcv"

7

•·

1

;,

,n q 2SO

.c t.

g

• / i

.;JCv

·

em e

v v t . (A ; VV '-<J

I f

1-  

~ - - - - - - - - - -

- - ~ -

- - - - - - - ~ - - - - - - - - - - -

- - - - - ~ - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

- - --

A'g.JB.

Extrer:.e .Afv. Jl e

.;oluLu:n

:; UO

..Fig.

15. Extrane

.AIL

. Revol:o.iums 2 78.

_, ______________________

________

______________________________

1::9 c

~ ~

•

firm

wa

s re

prese

nt

ed

by

~ I e s s

Orlando,

jun., the

ship

being in comm

and of Ca

pt

ain

Parolda.

Th

e

wea

ther wa

s fine,

with

a sli

gh

t no r th-w

est

wind

blowing.

Th

e

tr ial

commenc

ed at 6.

15 a..m .,

the

eng ines being under full s team at

about

230 r

ev

olu

tions

per minut

e

with

natural

dr

aught.

The

ship

st arted opposite

th

e r i a . Tower.

Th

e mean

average of

the

revolutions indicated by the con

tinu

ous

recording

apparatus

for

th

e

ten

hours was for the

port engine

21

.7 revolutions,

and

for

the

starboard

engine 218.5 revo

luti

ons. During

natu

ral

draught

tria

ls i t is allowed

in th

e Italian

Navy

to

run th

e fans

t o

ass

ist

the

ve

ntil

a tion, but not to give

any air

pressure in

the

sto l(eholds. Th is time

th

e fa

ns

were

not

p

ut

in motion during th e tr ial , as

the

contracto rs

did not

conside r it necessary. Th e distance of 72

miles fr

om

the

Meloria. to Nervi, in

the

Gu lf of

Genoa., was

run

in 3 hours 59 minutes, giv ing a. mean

speed of 18.06 knots.

The

ship was th en turned and

put on her ret

urn

course, complet ing her trial a t

4.15 p. m., south of Leghorn, without

a.

sin gle

hitch during the

whole

of

th

e

ten

hours '

run. The

mean indicated horse-

pow

er for

th

e ten hours was

2129, being 129 over the contract . The vibration of

the

hull

was very slight ; t he annexed curves (Figs.

13, 14, and 15) were taken at the extremes forward

and aft, and

on

the

brid

ge ,

which is

a

little

aft of the

centre of the ship. I t should be not ed that the

number of revo

lutions

a.t

th

e time of t ak ing these

vibra

tion

diagrams varied

slightly,

as indicated

on

the

diagrams.

Th e diagrams t aken from the Jo y 's assistant

cylinders

gave

a

collect

ive

indic

a ted

hor

se-po

wer

of

13.0 . Th e working of th e ma.in engines

wa

s very

sa

tisfa

ctory and

no

i

se

less, wi tho

ut h

eating or tr o

ubl

e.

Th e forced draught three

hours'

tr ial was also suc

cessful. The contrac t power to

be

obtained on this

trial

wa

s 4000

horse

-power, but th is was excee

ded by

422, the mean

in

di

ca

ted ho

rse-power

for th e

three

hours being 4422, with a.

mean

of 264 revolutions per

minute for the st a

rb

oard engine a

nd

265.23 for the port

en

g ine.

Th

e assis

tant

cylinders

ga

ve 16.80 indicated

horse-power,

th i

s power being

added

to

the

power

developed

by the

main engines.

Dia

grams we

re tak

en

e,·ery quarter

of

an

hour;

we a rc able

to

g ive

th

ose

of

1.15 p.m. (Figs. 5 t o 10}.

The

mean indicated horse

pow

er

being 422 over the co

ntra

ct ,

the ma

x imum

of

the

premium,

about

5000t. has been paid

to the

firm.

•

The

highe

st

number

of revolutions

per minute,

reached

sever

al

tim

es during the

trials, was 269 for

the

sta r

board engine and 270 for

the port

;

the

approximate

maximum power reached

was

n

cady

4 00 indic

at

ed

horse-pow er. Ann exed

are

also

th

e diagrams

of the

Jo y

's assis ta

nt

cy

linder

(Figs.

11 and 12

). A me

c.

n

sp

eed

of 20.70 kn ots was obtained du ring the

th r

ee

hours'

tria

l.

Th

e

re was

ra in a

nd

wind

blowing strongly

from

th

e

south-wes

t towa

rd th

e finish of

the

tr ial.

On the same day, befor e s

ta r

t ing

the

official trial,

curves were taken t o show

th

e vibrations under diffe

r

en

t speeds .

Th

e curves are reproduced on Figs. 16

to 18. Th e grea

test

vibrations were observed at a

speed of from 2;: 0 to 240 rev o

luti

ons, while at

a. hi

gher

speed the vibrations diminished. On

th

e preliminary

trials, however,

the

v

ib r

at ions were very remarkab le.

In order to obviate th is, the constructo rs decided to

change

th

e low-pressure pistons. The original low

pressure

pi

stons

were

of

the

usual form, with cas t -iron

rin gs similar to

those

of

the

high and

in t

erm

edia

te

cylinders,

and weighed each 540 kilogramm es

(11

90 lb

.}

.

Th ey were

c

han

ged

for

new

pisto

ns

wi th

b

rass

rings,

eac

h weighing 430 ki logrammes (948 lb .).

Th e result was a decided

impro

vement, as it dimi

nished th e v ib rations

in

th e hull, and allowed

th

e

engines to be run at t heir very high

power

witbcut the

sl ightest trnuble.

I t may be added that the

Ar

etnsa is

ft.

lo

ng

by

25 ft . 6 in. beam, and a t 11 ft. 9 in.

draug

ht

di

s

pl

aces 740 ton s. Her ar mament consists of

one

12-

centimctre

gu

n, six 6-pounders, and th ree 3-pounder

qu ick-firing gu n

s,

and three

ma

c

hine guns

. She can

lau

nch

fi

ve

torpedoes simulta neously .

NOTES FROM

THE

UNITED STATES.

PHU

.

ADE

LPUIA,

Dece

mber

11 , 1893.

Tu

E pu rch

ase

of 4:3,000 t ong of

rail

s by th e

P e

nn

sylvania. Railroad

Company probably

marks a

new era

in

rail h

ny

iug. Sc,·era.l oth er s

ys t

ems are

in

need of su ppli es, and

ma k

e

rs

expect th eir o

rders in

J anua ry.

Th

e mill price is fixed

at

24 dols.

The

de

pr

elJ

s

ed

con

dition

of

trad

e c

ontinu

es

in

a

ll

o

th

er

branches.

Manufacturer

s are

tr

ying to for ce business

by moderate concessions.

Locomotive

builders are

ob t

a ining

a.

little mo

re

work, but

the

demand for

rolling s

to

ck has

not

yet

improv

ed .

Foundry

ir on is

moving slowly

at

14 dols. for No. 1, forge iron

12

dols. ,

steel bill

ets

19.50 dols.

in

e

astern mark e

t s. Old

iron

rai ls a re

14

dols

.; th

ere is no

demand. e r c h a n t bar

mills are running half

capac

ity. The

ta r

iff agit

at

ion

is now on, and

the expectat

ion is

that

a decision will

be

reached

within two weeks. ome

are

in favour

of

postponing

the date

of

the

fnforcement of

the

Bill

until

'eptt-mber

. Th e general situation

in

business has not

improved.

Ther

e is an

unpreced

e

nt ed

ly

la rge

volume

of

money in banks. Competition is very

severe in

all

channels of trade. Idleness is quite

ge

nera

l,

a·

1

there

is

but

little res

umpt

ion of work. Large buyt..

....

in all

direc

tions

are

pu r

chasing very meagrely. This con

dition of things will continu e into

January,

when a

revival of

grea

t er

or

less magnitude may be expected.

ARLBEllG

RAILWAY. - A new tunnel 1486 ft. long has

been built alo

ng

the Arlberg Railway. Tbe tunnel was

rendered necessaryby the fall of an a.valancba in July, 1892.

Nsw A ~ J E S Ex cunsiON STEAMER.-The Fairfield

Shipbuilding Company have ju

st

laid down in th eir

works

at

Govan

a.

new

light

-

draught

paddl

e steamer,

which is to be built on the American principle with four

decks. This vessel, ordered by

Mr.

Arnold \VilJiams,

and

intended for a new co

mpany

registered as the Palace

Steamer Company, will be 330 ft. long, with

a

beam of

40

ft., a. moulded dep th to the upper promenade d

ec

k of

21 ft. 6 in., a

nd a

draught of 8 ft. 6 in. The hull will be

composed of steel thr oughout,

and

th ere

are

to be no

fe wer

than

eleven bulkheads, designed to give rigidity

and

safety to

the

wh

ole structure. In all there will be

four d

ec

k

 

lowe

r,

main,

upp

er,

and

promenade deck.

The last ment ioned, exte

ndmg

over th e vessel for th ree

fo

urths

of its length,

and

free from all obstructions except

the bridge, the ('hart-house,

and

the ventilators, is to be

reserved exclusively for first ·class passe

ng

ers, while ample

promenading space will be provided for second-c

l8.8s

passe

ng

ers on

the upp

er deck, which will correspond to

the promenade d

ec

k of

the

Royal Sovereign

and other

popular

Tham

es pleas

ure

steamers. Th e

ro

will for first

class

pa

sse

ng

ers

be

two

hand

some dining-rooms,

situate

one on the lower deck

and

the other on tho main deck,

the total

seating being for 400

and

ample dining

space is being

arran

ged for seco

nd

-class

trav

ell<>rs. The

vessel, which is

to

be well appointed

th r

oughout,

and to

cost U

O,OOOl.,

is

intend

ed for a new summer service either

to B oulogne or

to

Ostend, or to both

al t

ernately, and her

engines, capable of st>curing a continuous speed of

20

kn

ots, will allow of

th

e return journe-y being made

to

either

pla

ce from

London

in a day.

The

vessel will be

co

mpl

e

ted

by

June

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

[DEc.

22,

1893.

PISTON

AND

PISTON VALVE

PACKING.

CO

NS

TRU

CTED BY THE LEEDS

ENGINEERING

AND HYDRAULIC COMPANY, ENG

INEERS,

LEEDS.

Fig

.3

·

P¥J 1

:H-+Cop.IC'

l u L S p r ~ 9

Bf tJ.4Sl4J19<U

p ;;e

cit.eo eh,

(1(1/go ru 9 .

I

'

,.I

,,

.

,

/ I

1

962

.A

A.

B .

•

..

\VE

illus

trate

on

this page

a form of packing for

piston rings now being manufactured

by the

Leeds

Engineering and Hydraulic Company, of the Provi

dence Works, Cross Stamford -street, Leeds. The

packing represented

in

F igs. l and 2

is

the form

adopted for a 29-in. piston, whilst

ia Figs

. 3

and

4

the

same

type

of packing is shown as applied to a

marine engine piston-valve. Essentially the

pa

cking

cons

is t

s of

four rings,

of

wh

i

ch the inner pair are

n

ot

split, and are turned to fit

the

body

of

the

piston

on

the inside. Externally they are turned

to

a conical

form, so that when

in

position

the

two form a

pair

of

truncated

cones placed base to base.

ro

ckets

varying

in

size a nd number with th e diameter

of

the

piston

are cast in these rings, and in them are

placed spiral s

prings,

as shown, the pre

ssure

of

which

tends

to keep

the

rings

apart

from each

other.

The other pair

of rings

are

spli t, and fit

the

cylind

er

externally, whilst internally

they

are turned

to fit

the

conical

portions

of

the

inner pair of rings.

As

these

latter are

always

being pressed apart by the

springs aforement

ioned,

it is

obvious

that the

result

of this will be th at

the split

rings

are

pressed out-

wards against the cylin<Jer walls. As will be seen,

there

is

always solid metal between the body of the

piston and

the

wall of

the

cy

linder. The

only point

s

in

which

the packing

varies

with the size of the piston

are in the

number and stiffness of

the

springs used, and

in

the thickness of

the

rings themselves. The makers

have,

we

understand,

fou

nd

it

advantageous to

replace

two

or

threP, of

the

spiral

springs

by

brass

pins, wh ich

tit tightly into the boles

in

o ~ e

of

the

inner

~ i n g s and

loosely

into the other

. TblS keeps

the rmg

s more

securely in position.

ORE AND COAL WASHING MACHINE.

ON

the present

page we illustrate a

ne' type

of

jigging machine, designed for c o n c e n t r ~ t m g ores,

coal-washing,

and

other purposes of

eJ:

like a t u r ~

In jigging machines which have x e d .s1eves, w h e r ~ m

mineral

s or other substances, haviDg d1fferent ~ f i c

gravities,

are

separated

by means.

of a.

st r

eam of water,

the

plung_ers mot10n

to

the water

g e n e r a rece1ve, _m ex1stmg ty pes,

their reciprocatory mot10n from etther

cranks,

eccen

trics, or levers and tappets. .

Such arrangements

nece

ssitate steam

or

other

mottve power

and shaft

ing

and the

chief

merit a ~ e d

for

the

p p a r ~ t u s

we' now descr ibe

is

that experunve permanen t fittmgs

are

dispensed

with, and,

i f

there

a

n a ~ u r a l

bead

of

water,

no

other s o u ~ c c : >

of

p_ower

requtred.

ferring to our

i l l u s t r . a t l O n ~

Ftg . l lS a c.ross sect10n

of

the

machine, wh11Bt F1g. 2 IS a sect10n through

the ,ralve cylinder on a larger sca le.

The

a p p a r a . ~ u s

will be seen to consist of a trough

or tank,

wh1ch

is divided at its upper part into two compartments;

_

I -

,

'

:,0

I I

' '

I

I o

A

- ·

-- -,

a

is

the

rec iprocating piston

by

which motion is

given to

the water

used for w

ashing; b

is

the

sieve

or screen on which the ore or coal is washed. As

the

rectangular piston moves up and dow n, it causes

a backward

and forward

flow or pu lsa tion of the

water

contained in the

tro

ugh. This is communicat

ed

to

the

water in

the oth

er half of

the

trough, and

the

water is thus made to pass backwards and forwards

through the

sieYe,

keeping the material operated

upon

in ag itation.

This,

of course, is the ordinary

jigging machine, well kn

own

to mining engineers.

r ~ g . t

•

-

-

Referring now

to

Fig. 2, we seo how

the

reoipro

ca t

ing motion is gh·en t o th e wooden piston, and

this

const

itutes

the

novelty

of

the apparatus.

V\'a

ter

at

pr essure flows into the h a ~ b e r a a. .

Th is is closed

at th

e

bottom

by a d1aphragm of

indiarubber

or

other flexible material. A rod,

the

top of whi ch is shown

in

Fig. 2, connec ts the dia

phragm to

the

rectangular ~ v o o d ~ n piston, which

agitates

the

water, as

shown 1n

F1g.

l .

The upper

part

of

the chamber

a terntinates in

a v a ~ v e case

into which fits a piston valve,

the latter

bemg con

trolled by means of

the

le,·

er

an? weight shown,

?r, i f

necessary, a s

prin

g

may

be used

1n

pl

ace.

of

t_he

wetght,

the

action being the same, ~ o w e v e r

1n

e ~ t h e r case.

The

chamber

a a being filled w1th water havlDg a head,

its interior is subjected

to

a

static

presRure. Upon

the

piston valve being rai sed,

water

flows fr om

the

chamber by

the

ports (two of which ~ r e s h o ~ in

the

illustration),

and

the

static pressure belDg

reheved,

the

S

ectwn,

A

.

B

Fig.4.

I

•

I

I

·- ·-

·- ·t

-·---

o-

8

1

•

I

diaphragm rises, assumi

ng the

position shown in Fig.

2,

and

carries

with

it

the

rectangular pis ton . I t is

assi

sted

in this by the reaction of

the

spr ing shown

coil

ed round

the

connecting-rod (F ig. 1) ; at

the

same

time

the valve actuated by the l

ever

and weight

descends.

The

flow of water, being thus

suddenly

arrested

by the

closing of

the

va.lve, expends its ki netic

energy by causing th e diaphragm to reciprocate, forcing

down the

rec

tangul

ar

wood

en

pis

ton, and thus

pro

ducing

the downward

stroke.

The

momentum of

the

water

also

at the same time

causes the

valve

to rise

•

•

•

.

•

(its premature opening being provided against

by

pro

vidi

ng a suitable amount of lead

 ,

and the same cycle

of

movements is rep

eated

.

t would appea

r

at

first sight

that

after the

machine

had been

in work

for a few

strokes it would

cease

to act, as an equ ilibrium of pressu

re

would be

set

up

in

the

chamber

a 

so that

the

piston

in the

cylinder

abo ve would be forced upwards sufficiently to

open

th

e ports

wid

e enough

to

give a balance

to the

two

opposing forces - namely,

those

of the

weight

and le \

•er above, and of

the water

pressure

du e to

the

head. Such, however, is

not the

case,

the

action being somewhat similar to that of

the

hydraulic ram, or water

hammer,

often experien

ce

d

in pipes. The apparatus will, we understand, work

with

a head of from 10 ft. to 20 ft. or more.

After

the water

has

pa

ssed through

the

motive part of

the

machine, it is utilised for supplying the hutches, and

it is said that experience shows but little more water

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THE

ITALIAN

TORPEDO

GUNBOAT

ARET US A."

.H::: ·••

·••·

is

requir

ed for

the

double purpose of

dri

ving and

washing

than

would

be

necessa

ry

for washing alone.

The

machine has

the

undoubted advantage of being

co

mpact, portabl

e,

and easily insta lled, no foundat

ion

being re

q

uired, whil

st

it can be put in any

position

wher

e

a. pipe ca

n

be

run

to

it

.

V

a.riation

in

speed of

running

is obtained

by adjustment

of

the weight or

spring, the

speed of

the

machine being

adjustable from

80 to 350 strokes

per

min

ute

with a 25-ft. head, and

to

high

er speeds

with

a

greater

head.

In

a

ll

jigging

machines

of t

his nature some head

of

water is requi

r

ed

to carry off

the skimpings,

" or

light

was

te

material ,

and

als o

to

for ce

the

water through the

sieves

and

j i

gg

in

g

hutches.

vVe recently

had

an opportunity

of seeing one of

these

m

ac

hines

in pract

i

ca

l

work

at

Brentford,

when it was engaged in

separating

cinders

from ashes,

and it

is

probabl

e

that in manufacturing

es

tabli

sh

ments, where there is any considerable amoun t of

steam power em ployed, it would

pay

very well

to

wash

ashes in this way,

for

the

sake of

the

useful fuel r

e

covered in

the

sha pe of cinders. The following are

particulars of

a

tr

i

al

made

previous ly to our

v

isit:

The si

ze of

the hydrauliccylinder was

6 in.

in

di

ameter.

The number

of

strokes

made was 120 per minute,

th e

ir len

gth

being I in. to in .;

the

amount of water

was 50.55

lb.

per minute, and

the

bead of

water

25ft.

The

size

of

the

plunger was

2

ft

.

11 in. by

1

ft.

3

in.,

(For D

es

ription,

see

Page

756.)

the sieve

being of

the sa

me

dimensions.

The horse

power of th e machine wa s 0.38. In coal -washing by

the

ord

inar

y process, it has been found

that

a

weight of water equal

to

one-half

the

weight of

coal washed was required, so

that

washing 30 tons

of coal would require 15 tons of water. The amount

of

water used with

one of these

ma

c

hines, to get

the

same result in coa

l

-washing, was

13.5

tons, thus

show

ing

a saving of

water

of 1.5 tons

in ten hour

s, in addition

to the saving resultin

g from

th

e f

act th

at no

steam or

other motive power was made

use of.

The

advantages claimed

are

as follows: Th e machine

is

entire

ly

independent

of all

other pl

a

nt, and

may

be

used

in places

where no motiv-e power is ava ilable. I t

is extremely s

imple; ther

e

are but

few

moving parts;

no

shaftin

g,

with the

necessary

attention and

lubri

cation, is required.

Ther

e is no belting to

perish.

Th e

machines can be fitted in

any

position,

and their speed

regulate d without rega rd

to

the other plant. This

is a

matter

of grea t importance, as, for

th

e proper

and

e

ffi

c

ient

performance of

their

work, jigging

ma

c

hines req

u

ire a. steady and uniform

speed,

whereas

the

speed of th e shafting in mining plant is subject to

var

iation du e to the chang

in

g load in the

ore-crushers

and other machines, and it

is often

necessar

y to

employ

coned pulleys

or

other gear to enable

the

speed of

the

jigging

machinery

to be altered.

Th i

s

hydrauli

c

jigging

machine,

producing its

own motive power

and

I ./'.

•

'

-·

being quite distinct

from

other plant, can

be

regulat

ed

as to speed by

the

simple operation of altering

the

tension of

the

contro

llin

g s

pring or the

position of

the weight

upon

the

lever,

as the

case

may

be.

There

is also

an ab

sence

of

l

atera

l

vibration, which

is in

herent to the

use of eccentrics,

c

.,

and

as modern

pra

c

ti

ce

tends to the

use

of

a.

considerab

ly

increased

speed,

this is

also

a.

m

atter

of

import

ance.

The

machine may be driven

by wa t

e

r, which

is used

over

and

over again,

or

it can

be actuated by

means

of a

ram in

a

running st

ream

at

a distance

from it,

the

ram

ra ising

water, and thus giving

the

required

head.

The ma

chine is

the inv

ention of Me

ssrs

.

Sennett

a

nd

Duri

e, of

Brentford,

London,

and

is

being introduced

by

them.

R ussiAN

ROAD

S.- A

most

important

Russian

road along

the

north

coaet of the

Black Sea.

is approac

hing

its com

pletion.

Its

length is over

200

miles,

and it

s con

st ru

ction

will undoubtedly have

the

greatest influence

upon the

culti

vat

ion of

large tract

s which are

at pr

ese

nt

very

thinly populated,

a.

fact which has mad e the work con

siderably more difficult. Both from

a.

commercial and

a

military point

of view, the new

road

possesses great

advantages

.

RAILWAY

COLLISIONS AT RO SCREA AND

EN

FIELD

t )

t'rj

)

•

t-.)

t-.)

00

\ )

w

•

I

I . - ' ' '

,

-   " . ' ' ' ' "

I t I1- -

.. ,   . - -

---··

--

- - - . . - ·-- --· - ---·---

- -   - -- - ..

"

·-·

·

----

:::: - _ " "__ _ •. a. =- ~ : ~ ~ ' ~ ~ ' " .

-   . - ·- . z

)

· -

--····

· I 11

General

Hutchinson's

repo

rt

s on two s

light

collisions

have

just

appeared.

The

first, which occurred on October8

near Roscrea station, on

the Great Southern and

W

astern

Railway of Ir eland, was

ca

used by the driver of a light

engine attempting to

bank a.

passenger train up an

incline, although this was contr ary to

th

e block rules and

necess

itated hi

s passing

two

signals of

danger

  H e ran

into

the train he wished to a-ssist, and six passengers were

injured, and the guard,

wh

o was at the

do

or of his van,

was knocked off, but

happily

not seriously

injured.

After the collision the train was found to be divided, and

the driver of

the

lighb engine alleges

tha.b it

was

th

e

dividing of the

train that

caused

the

collision,

but Ge

neral

Hutohinson that

this was

the

effect of bhe collision,

rather than the

cause.

The

second collision was

a.

slig

ht

one

at

Enfield Town

terminal station,

on the G

reat Eastern

Railway, where, on October

17

,

a.n

incoming passenger

train collided with the buffer-stops. Seven passengers

complained of injury, and the buffer-stops, which were

old, were damaged. Like mo

st

buffer-stop collisions,

this was

due

to

running into a.

terminal station

only to the continuous brake, which in this case, however,

did not fail to ac

b,

but caused the

wh

eels to skid. Such

collisions will continue to occur

until

all railway co

m

panies

adopt the

rule of allowing the use of band

brakes

on

ly

when entering terminal stations, reserving

th

e con

tinuous

brake

for other occasions,

and

see

that it

is

str

ictly

ca

rried

out.

To

limit

the

speed

to

"

hand-brake

" speed,

without forbidding the use of the continuous brake, is

quite

useless.

Mu

st we

wa.ib

till some duke

is

killed

before the Board of Trade insist on

thi

s?

z

tr1

trl

z

C)

•

V \

\0

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7/17/2019 Engineering Vol 56 1893-12-22

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THE

CANADIAN

COURTS AT THE WORLD S CO LUMB IAN EXPOSITION.

(Fo

·r

Dc::x; ·iption   see Page

772.)

- ··

-

- ~ ~ -

f

\_

\ .•· _. .. . : · 1 r

t

. .-   , ,

, . _..............

:

• • •  ..... • _

.• -

•

;.

:

L

_

·.

;r a-;s-

 ;a •

. - -

•••

. :r

..-

Frc.

10.

N E ~

A ~ D J N I ~ c .

Frc. 11. AGRI C

ULTl RAL T I O ~

•

•

·-

 

•

F I G.

12.

A CRICl;LTURAL

l\1ACliiNERY.

FI

G .

13.

N E R Y

ExnnnT .

-1

0 \

t

t I1

z

C)

.......

z

tr1

t I1

~

z

)

•

I I

0

tyj

)

•

t

t

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0

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•

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DEc. 22, 1893.]

AGENTS FOR "ENGINEERING."

AusTR

IA,

Vienna: Lehma.nn and Wentzel, Kii.rntnerstra.sse.

OAP ToWN :

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and Gotoh.

EDTNBURGn: Jo hn M

enzies

and Co. , 12, Hanover-str

eet.

FR.L'lCE, Paris : Boyveau

and

Chevill et , Lib rai rie

Etrang

ere, 22,

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le

Boul

ev

ard

Haussmann.

Al

so for

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n L B

Agonce

ll

a.vas, 8, Pl ace de

la

Bo urse.

(See below.)

GERMAN Y,

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r

lin:

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ess

rs .

A. Ashe

r

and

Co., 5, Unter den

Linden

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ip

zig :

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A.

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khaus.

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MAN

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ohn

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NR w SouTu WALRS, Sydney : Turner and H end

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r

ee

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ew

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T

ELEPHONE

NUMBKR -3668.

ENGINEERING is r

egis

t ered for t r

ansmissio

n

ab road

.

CONTENTS.

PAGE

A

New

Peru

llmtrated

) . . 749

Steam

Boiler

p ~ r i m e n t s .

No . xnr. . .

........

... 762

'l h

e

American Society of

Nava

l Arch ite cts .

. . . . .

.. 752

Pullman Obser

vatio

n and

8leeping

Car

Illu

strated)

75

6

Pe

c

kh

am Do11ble-Extension

Can tileverTram way

Tr uck

at the World 's Columbian

l : xposition

tlUuatrated) . . 755

''our -

Cylinde

r

Compound

Locomotive

at the

World's

Colum bian Ex p

ositi

on

Il

lustrated)

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

766

Eoginesof th eItalian

Cruise

r

" Ar

et

usa"

Il

lustra ted).. 766

Notes

fr

om

the United

States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 757

P iston and Piston Val ve

Pack llmtrated ) ..

..

758

0 re and

Coa l

W

a.shing

Machine

l

l lmtrated

. . . .

758

Notes from t he North ..•• . . 760

Notes from Cleveland and

the

No

rth ern Counties ..

'760

Notes from

South Yorkshire 760

N

otes from the

South-West 761

Misce llanea . . . . . • • . . . . •••. 761

Th

e

Debate on

t

heN

avy

. . 763

Dangerous O

cc

up at ions . .•• 764

The

Dist

ribution of Power

from Niagara

.. •

.•••

•. •.

.

'766

PAGE

The Evol

ut

ion of the Atlan -

tic Grey hound

.. ..

_

. ..

• 766

Notes . . • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . • 766

Shipbuilding

and

Marine

Engineerin g in 1893 (I llus

tra ted)

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

767

H

.v

dra.ulic

Po w

er S

uppl

y in

London . . . . . . . . . . . • . . . . 769

Th

e Stability of Armour-

c

lads

. . . . . . . . . • . . . . . . . • 770

Steam J ets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 770

The

Unemp l

oye

d . . . . . . . . . . 770

Economica l ~ p e e d of St e

am

-

s hips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 770

Patent Office Library . . . . . . 770

M

et

hod

of

Taking Out

Str

es

ses . . . . • • . . . . . . . . . . 770

Ve

rtica l

Engine

and Centri

fugal

Pump

l l lmtrated ) 771

Ba

xt

ers' Lock Nut Il lu& 

tra ted) .. . . . . . . . . . . . . • • 771

Industria l

Notes

.

. . • .

.• . .• 771

British Colonies at

the

World's Columbian Ex-

position (I ll

ustra

ted) . . . . 772

Some Pr a

ct

ical Ex am

pl

es

of

Blasting IUmtrated)

. ..

. 773

Rail

way

uollision

at

Droit

wich . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. . . . . 774

Laun

ch

es and Tr i

al

Trip

s .. 774

•• Eng ine erin

g

Patent Re·

co

rd (Illustrated )

. . • • . • . •

77 6

lJ'ilh a

Tw

o-Page EngraiJing of the TR

IPLE

-

EXPAN

SI

ON

EN

GIN ES OF TilE ITALIAN TORPEDO GUNBOAT

A.RET

USA. 

•

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

riff

SPECIAL NOTICE.

The Publisher begs to state

that

he has recently

received

a

number of communications having

re

ference

to a special

number of the "Engineer ing

Review," for which advertisements are

being soli·

cited. Many telegrams have apparent ly

been

sent

out by the publisher of

that

periodical so

worded

as

to unintentionally

convey the Idea

that

the

advertisements were

being solicited

for ENGI·

NEERING. The Publlsher begs to state

that

the

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NOTICE.

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EXPOSITION OF

1893.

The Publlsher begs to announce

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now

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ENGINEERING of

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bound

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NOTICE.

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is

drawn to the alteration In

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to the

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communications for the

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ENGINEERING.

FRIDAY,

DEC

EMBER

1893.

THE DEBATE ON THE NAVY.

THE debate on th e state of the Navy, which took

place

in the Hou

se of Commons on Tuesday last

followed the course that might have been expected:

I t is

the

misfortune of our system of government

that

it is almost impossible to sepa

ra

te t he adminis

tration of the

Navy

from

party

politics. The fact

although deplorable, is inevitable, unless some r a d i ~

cal change be made, and i t is useless to blame thi s

or that individual for a defect which is

inher

ent

to

t

he

p e r n i i o u ~ s ~ s t e m

that

has grown to be a part

of o

ur

ConstitutiOn.

Lord

George

Hamilton

was

careful to say that his motion was of a non-partisan

character,

and

we are willing to give him credit for

a

ll

candour,

but the task

of lif ting

the

administra

tion of

the

Navy out of the mire of party politics

was entire

ly

beyond his powers ; as, indeed, it is

b_eyond

the

p o ~ e r of a n ~ a t e ~ m a n so

to

do

by

s1mple declaratiOn of a

v:

·1sh or Intent ion. What

ever may have been said, or might have be en said

by the leaders on either side, had the P r i m ~

Minister accepted L o

rd

George Hamilton 's motion

it

would have been looked on as a party victory for

the Opposition, and would have been made use of

at the polls.

I t

is n

ot

for th is reason

that the

course taken by

Mr. should meet with p ~ r o v a l although

parhamentanans appear to cons1der

it

an all

sufficient excuse. So degraded hav e we become

that political self-preservation is

un

blushin

CTly

ackn

owledged

the

first law of

nature

for

f r ~ n t

benches.

' ' I s it

likely," say t

he

supporters of the

Government, "that Mr. Gladsto

ne

should acknow

ledge his adversaries

right

and himself wrong 1

It

would be sin1ply political suicide

"

Such senti

ments

are not dishAd up raw and undisCTuised for

the

consumption of

the

British public ;

that

is not

our modern British m_anne:. We cozen

an

d gloze ;

we obscure counsel with wtndy rhetoric· we ignore

facts which do

not

serve our purpose '

or

unduly

emp.

ha

sise others t h a ~ do; we

attribute

unworthy

mot1ves to others, posmg ourselves as

the

most dis

interested of pat riots : but perish ordor ar ts

learning, national honour,

and

public security

long as we can sit

tight

in

the

sunshine of 'the

Treasury Bench, dooming our opponents t o the cool

shade of Opposition : and there is not a pin to

choose between

either

party.

H owever,

the

administration of

the

Navy is

in

the

g

rip

of

party

politics, a

nd

it

is t

he duty

of

every non-political journal to make as good a fight

as l)ossible for

the true interest

s of

the

country.

A few weeks ago* we published a simple statement

* See page

593

ante.

of facts which showed

what

would be, at a

future

date, th e posit ion of

the British

Navy in relat ion

to that of two o

ther

P owers. We

then stated

that

we were too near danger poi

nt

for inq

uiry

into

this question t o

be any

longer delayed,

and

we

think an unbiassed examination of

the

Tables we

put forward can lead to no other conclusion.

Certainly n

othin

g said

in the

d

ebat

e of

last

jTuesday

evening has weakened o

ur

opinion

in

this respect.

Lord George Hamilton was repeating our previous

statement in asserting that "our command of the

sea is

at the pr

esent mo

ment in jeopardy," alth

ough

the

danger might

be

prospective

rather

than im

mediate,

and

we

can

ther

efo

re

suppo

rt

the

Con

servative ex-First Lo

rd

of the Admiralty without

fe

ar

of accusation of political bias. Time is indeed

iu this

matter

the master of the situation.

I t

is

not as

it

was in days past, when wars were prolonged,

and th e construction of vessels could be pushed

forward t o

take their

place

in the

line of

battle

though they might

not be

c o m m e n c ~ d at

the

time

peace was broken. In this way England 's ship

building resources have stood her

in

good

stead

in

the

days of th e o

ld

wars ; but such

thin

gs will

not

happen again. As a nation now finds it se

lf

on

the

decla ration of war, so will i t have to fight its way

to

the

end. P otential

energy

is not

lik

ely

to be

a factor of mo

dern

naval s

uc

cess, although ship

yards and engineering shops will be of value to

make good quickly the damages of battle. Modern

wars are of

short duration

on land,

and

are

li k

e

ly

to be still

shorter

on sea.

Th

e e

nd

might come

before we

had

t ime even

to

la

unch half-a-dozen

torpedo-boats.

When

the

Naval Defence

Act

of

1889

was passed,

the Government of

the

day undertook

that

the

British Navy of 1894 would be equal to any t wo

navies of

Europe. Lord

George Hamilton claimed

that

this promise was fulfilled,

or

would be

by

April

next,

but that there

was li t

tle

margin to spare.

Looking to

the

fu ture, however, he found that at

th

e co

mm

encement of t

he

next financial year

France

will have six battleships building, and

three

more will be commenced in

that

year.

The

dis

placement of th ese nine ships would be 106,000

tons. will have six

battleships

building,

and

two

w1ll be

commenced

next

year. This gives

eight altogether , with a displacement of

90,000

tons; or, taking.both France and Russia, seventeen

b

attl

eships, with

an

aggregate t o

nn a

ge of

196,000

tons. Of course we

ha

ve not

next

year

's pr og

ramme

re

vealed,

but

as

at pr

ese

nt

arranged

G

reat Britain

will have three ships building,

representing

42,000

tons,

and

two of th ese have only

been

commenced

w

ithin the

last

three

weeks or so. In addition

to

these line-of-battle ships,

France

and R ussia have

each

two

coast defence

ve

ssels in construction,

having

an

aggreg

ate

tonnage of

2

1,000 tons

and

th e

se vessels

are

so heavily armed and armo

ur

ed t

hat

they might take their place in the line of batt le were

they present; and the course of naval warfare would

likely be such

that th e

y would have every chance

of being present. Passing to first-class cruisers

L ord George Hamilton pointed

out

t hat F r a n c ~

will

have

fiv e building, r

epresenting

a displace

~ e n t of

30,000

tons,

and

Russia two, equal

to

a

d1splacement of

23,000

t ons. Against th is,

En

CY}and

will h ave only one building, representing ; dis

placement of

1.4,000 ton

s, a single vessel not

yet

begun. Summ1ng up these figures, it will

be

found

that

at

the

comlll:ence flent of

the

next

naval y

ea

r

F r ~ n ? e and Russ1a: Will have twenty-eight ships

bu1ldmg, re

present1n

g a displacement of

270

000

ton

s,

and Great Britain

will have four ships

b ~ i l d -

ing, re_presenting a displacement of

56,000

tons.

Summtng

up, Lord George

said

that in the course

of next

year France and

Russia will have

twenty

one armoured ships

in

various stages of construc

tion, with a total displacement of 217 000 tons

which would be equal to

half

the total

~ u m b e r

of

battle

ships ava ilable for

the

Navy of G

reat Britain.

We

find a good deal of comfort in Mr. Glad

stone's reply to

the

late First Lord 's attack. With

th? :political

part

of the question, which

th

e Prime

Minis

ter

resolu te

ly

refused

to

ignore, we have

little

concern. I t is a satisfaction that Mr. Gladstone

acknowledges

it

to be the capital duty of the

Government

to

make adequate

pr

oposals for the

defence of the country. " Such a phrase may of

course,

mean

no

thing,

but in

the pres

e

nt

case' we

think it

means

a. great deal.

The

present Govern

ment

have found

they

have made

rather

a mistake.

U

n d ~ r

pressure of a falling revenue, and with a

~ e f i c t t o face, t he old tactics-common alike in

tunes past to both parti

e s -

have been to squeeze

7/17/2019 Engineering Vol 56 1893-12-22

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the

Navy.

I t

was an easy and popular course,

but of

late years

the

Press has done

some

thing to

enlighten the public,

and

since

the

great exposure of 1884, a new temper

has been engendered.

The

average citizen sees

how essential a strong Navy is to national exist

ence ;

not simply to natio

nal

self-glorification,

but

to

th e continuance of that commerce by which W

all live. The present Government have been some

what

slow

to

recognise

this

salutary awakening,

but

the course of affairs out of doors during the

last few weeks has

apparently

opened their eyes.

If

we

can

read

between

the

lines of Mr. Gladstone's

speech, therefore, we shall have a fair shipbuilding

programme when

the

Estimates

are brought

for

ward early next year. Doubtless it would have

pleased

the Government

well enough to have

acquiesced in that which

Lord

George Hamilton

asked,

but

it does not do for old parliamentary

hands to climb down.

I t

exalts the wisdom of

the

other side.

There is one circumstance in connection with the

provision for naval expenditure which seems as hope

less as ever. When the

late

Government brought

forward

the

Naval Defence Bill, it was

attacked

by

the Opposition for reasons which appeared to us,

and

which we still believe, to have been purely partisan.

I t is difiicult

to

see how business men, accustomed

to the conduct of large constructive works, could

seriously question the wisdom of

prov

iding some

thing

like a continuous programme.

The

opposi

tion,

fortunately

unavailing, was, however, so

strong and

so explicitly

stated

that even parlia

mentarians have not been able to eat their words,

and the Navy Estimates will

st

ill remain the

sport of public opinion, as it blows hot

or

cold

from year to year, whilst the prospect of a

poor Budget is likely

to

produce

that

state of

danger which unscrupulous Chancellors of

the

Exchequer-and

they are all unscrupulou  have

no hesitation in bringing

about

by curtailing the

Navy

Estimates. One would have th o

ught

that

Governments would have been only too glad to

be protected against themselves,

or

against

the

breath of unp opularity due to a rise in taxation ;

and

so

they

would

have been

were

it

not that poli

tical tactics demand opposition to one of the wisest

measures ever brought before Parliament.

DANGEROUS OCCUPATIONS.

PuBLIC opinion is rapidly changing

on

the

sub

ject of dangerous occupations. Formerly the con

ditions of employment were regarded as a matter of

consideration for the workman only,

and

if he

accepted them it was assumed

that

he found ~ h e

risks were counterbalanced by

the

advantages. He

was free to follow or to leave a calling as he

chose, and the fact that he

retained

it was assumed

to be evidence that he found it more remunerative

than other and safer occupations. The Manchester

school of politicians, which preached

the

doctrine

that individuals

and

classes were quite able to safe

guard their own interests,

both

personal and finan

cial, without

aid

from

the

State, is now pretty

nearly extinct, for experience has clearly shown the

fallaciousness of

its

views. Freedom of contract

between an employer with capital,

and

a workman

witho

ut

capital, either in the shape of money in his

pocket

or

of a share in the funds

and

protection of

a

trade

union, is a

very

one-sided affair.

The

claims

of an

empty

stomach cannot be deferred until better

times, like those of capital,

but

must

be

met

day

by

day, and, if possible, several times a day.

Hence the

isolated workman is not usually in

a

position to make an

i n e p e n e n ~

bargain with his

possible employers, and demand n c r e a ~ e d payment

to cover

the

risks of a dangerous occupation. I t is

only in times of great commercial prosperity, when

every

possible hand is employed, that

the

less

skilled and unorganised workers

are

able to make

successful deman ds for increased remuneration.

At

all

other

times the demand for employment keeps

waaes down to a point at which the risks to life

and limb are n

ot

provided for, and it further pre

vents

any

systematic agitation f or improved means

and processes

by

which these risks may be mi li

mised. The

better

class of workmen- those w1th

more

than

average ability-naturally avoid call

ings which threaten their lives, and hence it comes

that

these

are

filled with

the

least

able of the

lab

ouring classes. Those with no education or

skill

and

those who from physical or

mental

reasons

are i'nept in fighting the battle of life, find them

selves impelled by a force too powerful to be re-

•

N G

I

N RING.

sisted into trades in which the dangers are

greatest

and

the pay small

es t

.

The sense of a civilised community now demands

that

the State should endeavour to exercise a

paternal care over those that

are

not competent

to

take care of themselves. Women and children

have long been the

subject

of special

industri

al

legislation,

and

now this is even being extended

to

adult male workers. Provided this is not carried too

far, no reasonable person can object to it.

The great

majo rity of employers

are

anxious to deal justly

with

those

that

work for them,

but

the task is

render

ed

difficult-and

sometimes almo

st

imp

os

sib l e -by an unscrupulous minority, whose com

pet ition iu the

market

renders lib eral

treatment

almost impossible. Legislation is required in

many

trades to

bring up

a few members to the

standard of humanity that the majority desire

to

practise, and which they would readily adopt, were

it

not that

it

would put

them

at a disadvantage in

the market,

and

lessen not only their profits, but

the amount of employment

that

they could pro

vide. Further, legislation is valuable in prevent

ing the evils that come from long acquaintance

with danger.

I t

needs some

external

pressure to

cause even a gentle-hearted

man

to

adopt

new

systems of working, even when they do not entail

any great

expense. Habit is very powerful,

and

most of us e

ndur

e inconveniences in our daily life

simply because we continually defer making the

slight effort

re

quired for

their

abolition.

We

con

template in

all seriousness making

the

change

next

week

or next month, and

years slide

past

without

it being effected. Not without reason the demon

said, To-morrow always was my favourite day."

An

Act of

Parliament

is useful when

it

obliges us

to fix a date for the reform which we have not

hither

to

been able

to

find a fitting opportunity

to

undertake.

The present Home Secretary, the Right. Hon.

H.

H.

Asquith, has turned his

attention to the

ques

tion of dangerous occupations,

and

wi th in the past

few days two reports of department committees

have been issued regarding them,

on

" Various

Lead Industries," and on Potteries respectively.

The former is

the

more impo

rtant

of th e two, as

the industr ies in question

are

no toriously dan

gerous, particularly that dealing with the manufac

ture of white lead. For some time past much

ha

s,

however, been done to

render

it less noxious to

the

work people by the issue of rules whieh require

the

employers

to

pr

ovide overalls

and

respirators

for use in certain processes, and also accommoda

tion for washing

and

bathing.

The

employer is

required to see that the wo

rkp

eople wash faces

and

hands before .each meal-time, and take a weekly

bath

. He

ha

s to provide all necessary appliances

for t heRe purposes, and insist on their use. By these

means

the constant

absorption of l

ead throug

h

the

skin is greatly reduced ;

the

overalls

prevent the

clothes becoming fouled, while the cleansing pre

vents

lead particles being carried in to food, or

accumulated under the nails and in the pores of

the skin. To minimise the absorption of lead dust,

the

plates of lead carbonate are required to be

wetted before they are removed from the white

beds,,

and

again at

the

crushing mills. But in

spite of these precautions much dust is created.

That this is so will be understood from a descrip

tion of

the

process of manufacture. Gratings

or

thin

plates of metallic lead

are

made

into

stacks

within a brick cell. Thi s is done as follows : The

floor of the stack is first covered with a layer of

tan ; on this are arra nged as closely as possible

stoneware pots filled

with dilute

acetic acid,

and

on the top of these

are

placed four

or

five

layers of lead plate. The whole is covered over

with boards, forming a second floor, upon which

fr

esh

layers of tan, pots, and plates are arranged. This

is in

its

turn covered

in

th e same way,

and

so

on

until

the

stack is full, as many as

ten or

more

layers going into one stack. When it is complete,

it

is closed and left

ten

to fifteen weeks ;

the tan

heats

and

evolves carbonic acid, the

heat

volatilising

the acetic acid. Chemical action between

the

lead,

the

carbonic acid,

the

acetic acid,

and

the air takes

place, leading through a series of changes not

clearly understood

to the ultimate

pro

du

ction of

an

amorphous basic carbonate of lead,

or

white lead .

'Vhen

the

process is supposed to be complete, the

stack

is opened

and taken

to

pieces.

The

corroded

lead plates

are

carried in trays, generally by

women, to corrugated rollers, over which there

passes a constant stream of water. In front of these

rollers the corroded lead is tipped,

after

being

[DEc 2

I

893.

dipped in water or thoroughly wetted

by

a

hose,

otherwise much dust

arises,

and

even this

does not

entirely

prevent it. In passing through

the rollers the wbite lead is separated from any

remaining blue

or

metallic lead.

The

crushed

material next passes into a shallow

tank,

having a

perforated

bottom,

in

which it is raked about, com

pleting the separation. 'l'he blue lead is rak€d

out, and

th

e white lead passes with the current of

water to

grinding mills, where

it

is ground up anu

run into a series of washing

tanks

or becks.

Her

e

the

lead

settles, and the water is

run

off; the white

lead is

then

removed,

put into

earthenware

or

copper pans, and placed in drying ovens. Th ere

it

remains from three

to

five days ; the pans

are

taken from the ovens

by

hand labour,

and

the

dry

white lead is ei ther packed directly

in

casks or

thrown into

bin s for

subsequent

conversion into

paint. The emptying of the ovens and the packing

of the white lead is necessa

rily

a

very dusty

opera

tion, since the white lead, being perfectly

dry

and

friable, rises readily as dust.

Such i a general outline of the process.

The

chief

danger arises fr om the inhalation of the dust ,

which is carried directly in to

the lun

gs, and also by

the

saliva into the stomach.

There

is also danger

from absorption through the skin, and by particles

being dropped

into

food from the hands. These

two latter

are

fairly provided against

by

the

present

regulations, and it is to the former

that

the com

mittee directed their principal attention. They

found, by

inquiring

of

the

medical officers con

nected

with the

various works, that women

are

more

susceptible to lead poisoning than men,

and

young

girls than full-grown women.

I t

is well known

that

lead is capricious in

its

action on the

human

constitution, and that while some can resist its effects

almost perfectly,

others

succumb

very

readily.

From

the evidence

taken

it would appear that a

strong

organisation is the best defence, and

that

conse

quently

the weaker sex

are the

chief sufferers. As

it is impossible to predict what will be the effect

on a given person of the absorption of lead, the

committee have

taken the

bold course of recom

mending

that

no female labo

ur

be permitted, after

January

1, 1896, in

the

white beds, the

roller

s, the

wash becks, the stoves,

or

in packing dry

white

lead . Practically this covers the entire manufac

ture,

and, if the recommendation be adopted, must

have very serious consequences on the trade.

I t

is

little

less than a revolution to

prohibit

women working

at

a manufacture t

hat

has hitherto

been carried on almost entirely by them.

I t

means

either that higher-priced male labour

must

be

employed, or

that

machinery must be adopted as far

as possible. Engineers are n

ot

likely to grumble

at this latter a

lt

ernative ; at some of

the

best

organised works many of the processes

are

con

ducted

by aid

of automatic mechanism,

and in

all

machinery might be adopted

to

a

greater

extent

than it is. I t shows how crude processes survive

when labour is cheap and ignorant

when

we relate

that,

in forming the stacks, in some works wom

en

carry on their heads plates of lead, varying from

30 lb.

to

50

lb.,

up ladders 10 ft. to 15 ft.

high.

At

others women cast these plates fr om

the molten

lead. Evidently

the

owners

need

some

pre

ssure

br

ought to bear upon

them

in order to

enable them to recognise

that

they live at the close

of the

nineteenth

century, and to see that not only

is

it

indecent

to

allow igno

rant

women

to

continue

in such tasks, but also that

it

is uneconomical.

Th e disinclination

that

we should otherwise feel

in concurring in the recommendation to abolish

female labour at two

years

' notice is a good deal

reduced by th e knowledge that it is now used, in

part,

for such unnecessary purposes.

From

t ime

to

time processes for t he manufacture

of white lead in a perfectly innocuous manner have

been placed before

the

public,

and

some of

the

se

are now at work,

but

their output is, relatively, so

small

that

the committee pass them over in a few

words. Foreign competition in white lead is so

~ e v e that regulations demanding a radical change

1n

1ts method of manufacture would kill the home

industry entirely. Besides white lead, there is

manufactured sulphate of lead, red lead , orange

lead, li tharge,

and

yellow lead . None of these

la tter are so poisonous as white lead,

and

beyond

general recommendations concerning T

en t

ilation

and personal cleanliness

the

committee have

little

to suggest.

The

Potteries Committee of

Inquiry

found that

the chi

ef

evil they had to deal with was the

dust

of

clay and flint. These haye a serious effect

O{l

the

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DEc. , 1893.]

~ e a l t h

of

the

workers,

setting

up inflammatory action

1n the

lung

s, and

ending in

gradual consolidation

and

abolition of the functions of the organs. Analysis

of the

mortality

ret

urns

for males above the aae of

f

ourtee

n f?r the .year 1890, of

the parish of

Stoke

on

-Trent, 1nclud1ng

the county

borough of

Hanley,

the

boroughs of

Longton and Stoke, and the lar

ge

town

of

Fenton,

show that, of the

total

mortality

fr

om all causes among

potters,

bronchitis accounted

for 42

per cent.,

pn eumonia and

pleuri

sy 8

per

cent., and

pulmonary consumption

21

per

cent.

Thus

71

per

cent. of

the

deaths

arose from

chest

disea3es. Among pressers, bronch itis was

the

cause of

death in

47

per cent

. of

the

cases

and

other

l u ~ g

diseases in 7 per cent. ;

p u l m ~ n a r y

consumpt10n accounted for 21

per

cent. In this

clags, therefo re, 75 per cent.

di

e from

chest

diseases.

In males above fourteen, living in the

district,

but not engaged

in

pottery labour,

d i ~ e a s e s

of

the

chest

produced

26

per

cent., and pulmonary

con

sumption

14 per cent. of

the

deaths. The dust is not

directly poisonous,

in

the

ordinary

sense of the

word,

but

it is so deleterious that the average

len

gth

of life among

potters

is forty-eight

year

d while

among

non-potters

in

the

di

strict

it is fifty-three

years. I t is

evident

ly impossible

to

abolish clay

and

flint

n the pottery

trades,

or to prohibit adult

male

labou

r,

and therefore the

committee could

only insist

on

improved

vent

.ilation

and greater

clean

lin

ess.

Lead

poisoning also occurs

in the potteries

from

the glazes employed, and is especially liable to

attack young

women

and

lad s, especially if they are

ill f

ed

or debilitated. The

bad

effects of the lead

are, however. being gradually reduced,

as

shown

by the statistics of the hosp

ital

s

and

the experience

of medical men. This is probably due to gr

eater

personal cleanliness,

to

an improved

standa

rd of

living, and

po

ssib ly

to

increased

in t

elligence among

the worker3.

The committee su

ggest that in

future

no child

under

four t

een be

employed in

the

dipping

hou se

or the dippers' drying

room, or

in any

process

of ware-cle

aning afte

r

the dipp

ers, glost placing,

china

sco

urin

g,

ground

laying,

or

majolica

paint

in

g,

or in any

process in which

lead

is used . Over

alls

and

head

coverings

are to be pr

ovided for all

workers exposed to

lead

du

st ; no food is

to

be

eaten

in a

room

in which lead is employed; efficient

ventilation

and dai ly cleansing

are to

be provided

f

or;

washing appliances

are

t o be

supplied

ex

cessive temperature in

the

wo

rk

shop s is

to

be

avoided, and

no

female under sixeeen years of age

is t o

be employed at treading the

lathes used

by

turners.

These

recommendations

are much

less

drastic

than

those propounded by the

Committee on

Lead Indus ries,

the danger to be met

being

less

imminent

.

They amount to little

mo

re

than

common-sense su

ggest

ions

that any humane

employer would wish

to car

ry

out.

I t

is ev

ident

,

however,

from

the tone

of

the rep

o

rt, that

greater

oppos

ition

is

to be

expected from

t h ~

work

people than from the employers. Dust 1s pre

ferr

ed

to drau  

hts,

overalls are found

to

be irksome

to

work in :crupulous cleanliness inv olves more

trouble t h a ~

work people

often care to take, and

in

ma

ny

ways the proposed

reforms

will provoke

opposition. Th e position of an

emp

l

oyer thus

becomes very

unple

asant.

He

is urged to

spend

money and thought for the benefit of

his

work

people

and he

finds his efforts resisted

by the very

p e r s o n ~

who

reap

the gain of it .

must c o n s o ~ e

hims

e

lf by the

reflection

that

were

It

not

for

thts

want

of

though t

-

this

preference of r e ~ e n t

ease

to

future

well-being-

he

would find It d1ffi.cult to

obtain

hands and

would have

to

pay

greatly

increased w a ~ e s

for those

he

did

ge t.

I t

is un

doubtedly t r ~ e that the office of

t ~ e

Inspector of

Factories is as

much concerned

w1th workpeople

as with employers, and that a c o n s t a n ~ and stea

dy

pr

ess

ure

is r

equired to bring o t ~ partles up

.to the

level of practice which

b ~ t ~ ~ d m t t

to be

desuable.

One

great

u

se

of

these

Inquiries will be

to

demon

strate to the lab

o

ur

e

rs that

t h

ey must bear thei

r

part in the steps taken

for

the preservation of their

health.

THE DISTRIBUTION

OF

POWER

FROl\1 NIAGARA.

AT

the meetinrr of the Instituti

on

of Electrical

En

CTineers

held

Thursday,

the 14th i n s ~ the

d i s ~ u s s i o n

on

Professor

F orbes's

paper on

The

Distribution

of P ower from Nia.gara" w ~ s r e s u m e ~

The firat

speaker

was Mr. Fen·ant1, who

sa i

d

E N G I N E E RI N G.

that

he

had

not been present at

the reading of

the

paper,

but had

been able

to study it

since. A

remarkable fact

in

connection with

the

scheme was

that,

although

a number

of

the

best designers

in

the

world

had

been asked to

prepare

plans,

and

done so,

none

of these had been found

entire

ly

satisfactory, but

the

information supplied had ap

parently

furnished

a

very good basis for

the

designs

actually adopted. In the dynamos

there

were

several novel features, such as the oil insulation of

t ~ e

coils.

On this

head he

might

mention

that he

hims

elf had

taken

out a provisional

patent

f

or

a

very similar method some years ago, but had after

wards abandoned

the

idea,

and

he thouCTht wisely.

The engineers to

the

Cataract Corn

pany

had been

round

the Continent examining designs

and

col

lecting information,

and in

the dynamo designed

by Professor Forbes

he recog

ni

sed

features

due to

Mr. C. E.

L. Br

ow

n, of Baden, such as

the

mica

insulated

armature

coils, which were a special

featur

e of

Mr. Brown's

design.

He

was

surprised

t ~ a t after

all the researches made a

higher

poten

tlal

than

2000 volts was

not adopted in the

dynamos.

The

practice of transforming up

had

o?jectionab

le

f

ea tur

es.

Ther

e was

a

very

great

d1fference

between

designing

and

building dy

namos

as

a regular every-day practice,

and

designing t

hem after

getting

all

the

infor

mation available in the world,

and

then doing

the work,

without

great pe rsonal experience in the

making,

and

above all

in the running,

of such

machines.

f

this matter

ha.d

been

left

to those

who sent in the b

est

designs,

and

t he work of im

provement

placed in

their

hands, it would, he

thought, h

a.ve

been

better

. I t was,

he not

ed, pro

posed

to

use 20,000 volts on

the

line. This was

adopted on

the

assumption that since 10,000 v<:>lts

difference between one wire

and

the

earth

was used

at

Deptford,

there

would be no more difficulty in

using 20,000 volts between

the

two leads.

This

was a

fallacy.

At

Deptf ord concentric wiring was adopted,

in

which,

though the outer

mi

ght get

to

earth,

no

harm

was done, whilst if one of

the

mains

at

Niagara

did

so

the

electromotive force would fall to 10,000

volts. In limiting

their

first

attempt at

high poten

tial w

ork to

20,000 volts,

he thought th

e

author and

his assistants were very wise. Looking

at the

subway

as shown in

the

drawings, he t hought

it

would be

a very " hot " place. He had

been

very clo

se

to a

very high electromotive force himself,

and

fo

und

10,000 volts

quite

alarming when it

got

out of

control. He

thought

the proposed periodicity of

16 

wa

s too low,

and

even with

one

of 25,

li

ghting

would hav e

to

be sacrificed. Forty would be a

much more satisfactory

number,

as with it

both

arc and

incandesce

nt

lighting were possible. One

side of the question was

most

imp

orta

nt,

viz., the general principles on which the

Cataract

Company

got its

information

and

assistance.

They

proceeded

in

a very clever way.

They

form

ed

a commission, including t

he greatest

scient

i

sts

in

the

world, to obtain

and report on

pl

ans

and

specifications, for which very inadequate prizes

were offered. Though these plans were pre

pared

by

experts,

one

firm alone having spe

nt

1000l. on

them,

nothing

was found satisfactory,

and

so

the

next

year

the company sent

its

engineers round the

world

to

ga ther information, though

intending

all

the

time

to have the work exec

uted

in America.

In

short, the

designs as adopted were based upon

the

unrecompensed work of the world.

He

did n ot

attach any blam e to Professor

Fo

rbes personally,

but he

must

r

eg

ret that t he beautifully worked

scheme of

the

company had been so successful.

Mr. Alexander

Siemens, referring

to Mr. Ferranti'

s

cha.rae aaa.inst the Cataract Company,

thought

it

was

right to point out

that

the c o ~ d i t i o n s

of

the

competition clearly showed

that

1t

was In

tended

to

execute

the

work in America..

His

own

fi

rm

had

n

ot thought

these

conditions were suffi

ciently favo

urable

for

them

to

undertake the

pre

paration

of detailed plans, and they

had

accord

ina

ly only sent in an ou tl

ine

scheme, and so

were

out of the running for the prizes.

The amount

of

the

pri

zes was also clearly

stated, and

all

tenderers

must

have

acted

with open eyes.

With

regard

to

the

potential

of 20,000 volts, he

did

no t.perceive

any

difficulty

in

making

c a b l ~ s

to

carry

th1s. In some

experiments made by

hts firm, 50,000 volts

~ a d

been safely carried. In

respect

to

one other

.pomt,

was

it

so absolutely

certain

that

the

contmuous

current

cou

ld

not have

be

en used

by

runnin

g

the

machines in series ? P ersonally, with

the

experi

ence he had gained,

he

would be afraid of under

taking the insulation of the dynamos. He

had

on

va

ri

ous occasions,

for

different classes of work,

made comparative

es t

imates for

the

alternating

and

continuous

current

systems, and, up

to the

present,

had always found

the

advantage to lie with

the

continuous current.

Mr. S.

H.

Evershed

remarked that much

fault

had been found with

the

low periodicity adopted,

but he

thought

previous speakers

had

not con

sidered the effect of the back electromotive force

caused by mutual induction between the mains.

Taking the

mains as of

3

square inches

in

section,

and

the

current

density as 333 amperes

per

square

inch, the back electromotive force at a periodicity

of 100 would be 880 volts

per

mile, whilst

the

loss

due

to direct

resistance of

the

cables would be

27

volts only.

At

a periodicity of

25 the

back electro

motive force would be r

ed

uced to 192 volts,

the

loss

due

to

resi

sta

nce remaining as before.

From

these

figures it was evident that Professor F orbes had

a

st

rong argument

in

favour of a low frequency.

There was a point, however, on which

he

wished

for information, viz.,

the

reasons for adopting an

artificial load f

or

facilitating

the

working of

the

machines in parallel.

The

device appeared un

necessar

y,

as al

terna

tors were successfully paralleled

without such aid.

Mr. Crompton found fault with

the paper

in that

no information was given as to the estimated cost

per

horse-power

transmitted to

Buffalo. All other

questions

as

to details of design, insulation, perio

dicity, were subordinate to

this

one question, Would

the enterprise pay

7

His own firm had had many

simila r schemes, of course on

a

smaller scale,

brought

befo

re

them, but

in

every in

sta

nce

they

had to abandon

the project

on account of

the

cost

involved, even

wh

en

the

distance to which

the

power was to be transmitted was only

ten or

fif

teen miles.

With

regard to

the

question of ethi

cs

raised

by Mr. Ferranti,

he

quite

agreed that

there

had been a barefaced

attempt to

pick

the

brains of

the

world.

Ife

spoke feelingly on the subject,

because

the last

corner in variably did this, since

no system of

patent

laws

yet

devised could

protect

the

pioneers, who were, of course, unable to cover

every possible

meth

od of accomplishing a given

end

in their

specifications. He agreed with Mr.

Siemens as

to the

comparative advantages of

the

continuous current, holding

that

with a given

amount

of copper more could be done

by

the

con

t inuous than by the altern

ating

system. Mr. Sie

mens claimed

that

he could supply cables

sa

fe f

or

working at 20,000 volts, but he had said nothing

as

to the cost of such cables. R e wondered if

Profe

ssor

Forbes had

ever seen a high-tension

switchboard during a

thunde

rstorm. Be did not

mean a

natural thunderstorm

due to

the

elements,

but a

real

artificial" one, due to the vagaries of

high-tension

current

itself. He th

ought

that if

arcing occurred at one

end

of

the

18-mile conduit,

it would soon reach

the other

end. He had a good

deal of experience with porcelain insulators, which

he saw it was proposed to use

in the

conduit,

and

had

found that what was good enough for

the

telegraph

depa

rtment

was

not

good enough

fo

r use in und

er

ground lighting conduits. After much trouble

he

had, however,

got

a material which worked satisfac

torily

a.t

an

electromotive force of 200 volts ; but

20,000 volts was

a

very different

matter

. Oil in

sulation

he

did

not

believe in, nor did

he

agree

with previous speakers

that

a

periodicity of

42

was

satisfactory in arc lighting.

Mr. Kapp

read a communication from

Mr.

C. E. L. Brown

to

the effect that

he

had found no

difficulty in working alternators

in

parallel even at

high

peri

odicities. In fact,

he

had been unable

to

detect any

difference

in the

working between a

range of 15 periods

and

100. He had worked

a machine of his successfully

in

parallel with

a

Ganz machine having a totally difl'erent curve of

electromotive force.

No

artificial load was neces

sary. As regards transformers, a high frequency

was certainly best. I t should fur

ther

be

kept in

mind

that large transformers wo

uld not run

co

ol as easily

as small ones.

For

motors

a

high frequency was

quite

as good

as

a

low one,

and

fo

r arc lighting

a periodicity of less than 40 was useless. He

thought

the adoption of a two-phase system with

four wires was good, but

apparently

the worst

possible design for

the

dynamos had been selected.

In reply, Professor

Forbes

congratulated ths

Institution

on

the discussion that night, w

hi

ch had

risen far above tho level

to

which it

had sunk

at

the previous meeting.

The

speakers that evening

had at

least

attempted to

grasp ihe problem,

whereas

on

the previous occasion

he had felt

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766

nothing but sorrow

at

the failure of the various

speakers

to take

a comprehensi ve view of the sub

ject, though there was some excuse in the fact

that but little time had been available for the study

of the paper before the discussion took place.

For

.

a

work of

this

kind

months

of st

udy

were

requtred

. One

remarkable feature

of

the

discus

sion was, however,

the

fact

that nearly

every

adverse. criticism had been combated

by

some

succeedmg speaker. He was astonished

at

the

way

in which the. proposed a d o p t i o ~ of low frequency

had

been

rece1ved.

He

had

claimed

no credit

for

it, as he had believed himself

to

be a mere plodder

but, judging from the discussion, he appeared to be'

in fact, a discoverer. In noting the varyin<Y

o p i n i o n ~

expressed from different

parts

of the h ~ h he had

observed a

sort

of reflection of

the

course of rea

so

ning he

had himse

lf

gone

through

before draw

ing up

his .final plans, and he had no

doubt

that

when

the various speakers

had had time

for further

c o n s ~ d e r a t i o n , their opinions would be greatly

m o d 1 f i ~ d . . In 1890 every member of

the

Niagara

Comm1ss1on was opposed to the adoption of the

alternating current, but since then all but one had

been converted. In his report, drawn up at that

time, the use of the alternate current, an electro

motive force of 2000 volts, step-up transformers

and Tesla motors, were all outlined. The only

mi

stake he made

at

the

time was

to

recommend

th

e Mordey

alternator,

which had, by

further

experiment,

been

found

unsuitabl

e for the con

ditions obtaining

at

Niagara. Mr. Mordey would

remember

that

in experiments made to teat this

in which it was

attempted

to run

the

m a c h i n

in parallel with a high resi

sta

nce, consistin  7 of

glow lamps interpolated between the machines,

the

lamps went up and down with a perio

dicity of several seconds. In his remarks, Mr.

Mordey had entirely failed to grasp the fact that

this was a power plant, and not an electric lighting

one. The machines used must

run

in step without a

waste

current, and no ri

sk of breakdowns could

be

faced, such as

had

occasionally occurred with the

Mord

ey alternator, which, in short, did not work

well enough for his company. He had adopted

the

principle of the artificial load as an additional pre

caution against breakdown.

He

had anticipated

that

manufacturing firms would raise difficulties as

to

providing transformers to work

on the

plant, and

had therefore

himself prepared designs for eve

ry

special case required. He had given experimental

proofs of the advantages of low frequency, with

which proo fs no speaker had dealt. Mr . Mordey

wanted him to use 500 volts, but in that case 400

square inches of copper would be required.

I t

should be

remembered

that the

space required for

insulation in a 5000 horse-power mac

hine

was pr

o

portionately less than in a smaller machine.

Pro

fessor

E.

Thomson had objected to

the

design of

the

dy

nam

o on one point, and had the suppo

rt

of Mr.

Kapp. But Professor

Th

omson 's criticism was based

on

the

common American system of proportioning

the parts, not by Kelvin's law, but by

the

drop of

electromotive force. The dynamos in question

could, no doubt, have been improved in efficiency

by aiding more copper or more iron, but he had

st

opped short

at

the point at which an expenditure

of 60 dols. would not increase the output by 1 h orse

power.

Mr.

Ferranti

had

charged

him

with

appr?

priating the

ideas of

Mr

. C.

E.

L . Brown,

but 1n

answer it was only necessa

ry

to

re

call

the

fact

that

in

the

letter read

by

Mr. Kapp, Mr. Brown said

that the worst possible design

had

been adopted.

He

had to

thank Mr.

Kapp

for

hi

s study of the

dynamo,

and hi

s

~ r a b l e

. criticism of

the

same. Ris own calculatwns

d1d

not agree per

fectly

with

those of Mr. Kapp, but the difference

was not large, and Mr. Kapp could not be ex

pected to go into the

~ i n u t i r e

of the

d e s i g ~ .

Re

turning

to Mr. Ferrant1, he absolutely den1ed that

that there was any plausible resemblance between

his own machine and any of

those

submitted

to

the

Cataract Company. Though

he had not intenti

onally

tried to make his machine of an original type,

the

fact

nevertheless remained

that the

design differed

mo

re

from those

submitted to

the company than

these latter

did inte r .

Mr. Ferranti

had

also

said

that

if

one of his conductors were

put

to

ground,

the electromotive force would be reduced

to

10,000

volts, and had advocated the claims of concentric

wiring in which one of the conductors was already

to ground. What would happen, though, to the

ele

ctromotive

force if

the

otherconductor grounded ?

He would

have no

e

lectromot

ive force

at the

further

end

at all Of course

the

risk of

this

was

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

~ e d u c e d the c o n c e n t r ~ c system ; still he

thought

1t mo

re hkely

to occur w1th it than with one of the

conductors in the subway. He had to thank Mr.

Evershed for his calculation of the ba.ck electromo

. v ~

force, showing the necessity of a low perio

diCity. Mr. Crompton complained

that

no details

had been as to cost,

but neither

now nor at a

future date

was it

lik

e

ly

that

this

information would

be published. In conclusion he would

state

that he

had

now not one particle less confidence in his

designs than

he

had before

the

discussion took

place.

THE EVOLUTION OF THE ATLANTIC

GREYHOUND.

MR.

C

HARLES

H. CRAMP H paper, read

at

the

first meeting of

the

American Society of Naval

Architects

and

Marine Engineers, has already been

~ e f e r r e d to .in these columns.

We

had a full

report

1n

our last

ISsue,

and

we recommend its perusal to

those of our readers who

are

interested in

the

subject. Mr. Cramp was assuredly well advised in

his choice of a starting-point. For some reason

which we must confess we have never been able

appreciate,

the

fashion has been to take

the

Ari

zona as the first of the distinguished family, and to

ignore her immediate predecessors, who were little

inferi?r

speed,

and

.possibly were actually her

superwrs

In results

attamed

for expenditure.

Mr.

Cramp

's

paper takes

the

famous City of Brussels

as

the

starting-point. There is some reason in doing

so.

She

was

the

first vessel

to

cross the Atlantic

under

eight days, and if a line must be drawn some

where, as it obviously must, here is a convenient

place to rule it. In his description of this ship

however, we at once fiud a divergence between h i ~

notes and our own. fie says her engines were

simple direct·acting, with two cylinders 90 in. in

diameter and 54 in. stroke. We have thought

that they were horizontal trunk engines, with

cylinders in. in diameter and 48 in. stroke.

This discrepancy is n

ot very important, but

it

serves

to show how difficult it is

to

arrive

at

absolute

accuracy concerning

things

not a

quarter

of a

c e n t ~ r y old. L e . a v ~ n g her, he mentions

the

Oceanic,

Celhc,

and

Adnat1c. The former he surely gives

100 t ons too much. For her gross tonnage was

3707, not 3808 tons.

The

error in

re

spect to the

two

~ a t e r

is more

important,

but

it

is

probably

a pnnter s m1stake. The length of

the

Adriatic

should be 437 ft., not 417 ft., and

the

steam pres

sure carried was never as high as 80lb. These points

should be emphasised, for to

the

great length of the

early White Star boats is largely attributable the

regularity and comfort which characterised them,

whilst their economy in working with what nowa

days would be called low-press

ure

st eam should not

be

minimised. So far,

Mr.

Cramp

ha

s been com

paring

vessels

by their

length between perpendi

culars,

but in

speaking of

the

City of Berlin some

other measurement is taken, for we should call

her

length 488 ft . 6

in.,

not

499ft.

In speaking of the Britannic

and

Germanic,

the

vessels which competed so successfully with the City

of Berlin for the Atlantic record, justice is again

inadvertently denied to the economy of th e Bel

fast ships by putting their steam pressure and indi

cated horse-power too high.

The

most

important

point of difference between ourselves and Mr.

Cramp's history is in regard to the competition of

the flyers of 1881. We agree that the Servia was

"out of the hunt   as regards the blue riband, but

Mr. Cramp asserts

that the

City of

Rome

held it

with a passage of 6 days 18 hours,

and beat the

Alaska

by

some 37

minut

es.

We

know

that the

City of

Rome

was claimed as a record boat, but

we do n

ot think the

claim was sustained. Whilst

she was in

Inman's

hands she never got near

the

record, and her subseque nt passages were mea sured

in a provoking and confusing manner, some pub

lished times being reckoned from Roche's P oint. to

Fire Island, and on other occasions

the

Fastnet

was taken as the eastern end of

the

course.

The America was surely worth a fuller notice

than

is given her, for she was a very remarkable

ship, even if her career was

not

a financial success.

Her

rival,

the

Oregon, is credited with a steam

pressure of 170 lb.

This

would

be

a good pressure

for

tripl

e-expansion engines.

The

Oregon

had

only compound engines, and we

think Mr.

Cramp

will find 100 lb. nea

rer her

li1nit.

Mr. Cramp

th

en goes

in t

o interesting details

regarding

th

e triple-expansion vesse

ls

built for the

North German

Ll

oyd Company

at

Fairficld, and

•

(DEC. 2 2 I 893 .

gives a

t a b l ~

of allowance for Southampton pas

sages

at

var1ou s mean speeds to bring them into

the parity of Queenstown. Here he says that at

19 knots some fourteen hours must be allowed

for the extra distance to Southampton.

In

four

teen

hours at

th

at speed some 273 nautical miles

would be

run.

This s

tatement by the

builder of

~ u t u r e competitors with

the pre

sent record-holders

1s

of

great

value,

and

sho uld be pigeon-holed for

future reference when controversies

on

records and

ports

are

to the

fore.

Curiously .enough,

whilst he

gives full

and

accurate particulars of

the

Colurn bia, Normannia

and Furst Bismarck, he ignores the Hamburg

L ~ n e ' s Augusta Victoria, and speaks of the Fiirst

B 1 ~ m a r c ~ the

first

really important

merchant

ship

bmlt

1n Germany.

Surely the

difference

b e t ~ e e n th

e ~ w o ~ h i p s is not enough

to

destroy

the

e ~ r h e r

~ e a s e l s

cla1m. f n w o r t h y of

the

distinc

twn

claimed for her later s1ster,

she

might at least

be deemed worthy of mention. The criticisms on

present

British practice are brief,

and the

same

remark may be applied to those

on

future American

building. The theory is excellent. No one wishes

to carry unremunerative deadweight, but if it be

found that to do so promotes the objects for which

the ship was. b:uilt, viz., the c?mfort of passengers

and the rap1d1ty and regularity of transit,

better

and

more cheaply

than other

means could do

the

diminution of cargo capacity earnin(7 o ~ i n a

fr

eights may be,

and

possibly is, a go

6

od inv

est·

ment.

NOTES.

THE wATER RE

QU

IRED FOR FL

US

HING CLOSETS

AND

DRAIN

S.

A S " ' E C I ~ L committee of the Sanitary

Institution

have_Just 1ssued

report

on

the

quantity of water

required for flushmg water-closets, in which a very

s u b s t ~ n t i a l increase in

the

amount now commonly

used 1s

re

commended. In

th

e course of

their

work

the

committee

ha

ve carried out a series of over

800 experiments, and their recommendations are

therefore, of great weight. A number of d r a i n ~

were

~ a i d ,

consisting partly of pipes and partly of

half-p1pes and OJ?en

c h ~ n n e l s .

The gradients

a d o p t ~ d for the

4 - u ~ .

drains

50ft.

long were 1 in

30,

11n

40,

n:nd

1 1n 76, a ~ d for

the

4·in. pipes

26ft.

long

11n

40.

The

6-m.

drain

s 50 ft. long

were laid at 1

in

30

and

1 in 40, and those 26ft.

long

at

1 in 40.

At the

head of each drain a

s

im:pl

e short hopper ?asin of good

type

was fitted,

havmg an S trap w1th a 2-in. sea  eadin(7 with a

bend into

the

drain,

the

top of

the

c l o s ~ t basin

being 2 ft. 3 in. aboye

the

~ r a i n . A good syphon

waste-preventer, d1schargmg 2 gallons in five

c o n d ~ and 3 gallons in .ten seconds, was placed

4 ft. 3 1n. above

the

basin, with which it communi

cated with a 1  -in. pipe. Artificial excreta, made

out of.soft soap, cocoa fibre, and clay, together with

five pieces of newspaper, were placed in the basin

and the flushing ciste

rn

discharged, notin(7 in

each case how much

material

was left inb the

closet traps, in

the

drains,

and in the

dis

conn

ect

ing traps placed

at the

lower

end

of the

drains.

The

amount

that

passed through was

also noted. As regards the closet

trap,

it was

fo

und

that

a 2-gallon flush left,

on the

averaCJe

5

per cent. of

the

m ~ t e r i a . l in

the

trap, whiist a

3-gallon flush practiCally cleared,

the

retention

being 1 per cent. only. In

the

drains little dif

ference was found between the 4-in. and the 6·in.

When 50 ft. long, and laid at 1 in 40, with a

2-gallon flush 21 per cent. of the material was

r ~ t a i n e d , a.nd with a 3-gallon flush 3 per cent.

In

d1sconnectmg traps 36 per cent. was retained with

a 2-gallon flush, and 26 per cent. with a 3-gallon

flush.

?

t h ~ case of

t ~ e

26-ft. drains, 3 per cent .

~ a s r e t a 1 n ~ d

1n

t

he d r ~ 1 n s , and

26

per

cent.

in the

d1

sconnectmg

trap,

with a 2-gallon flush whilst

with a 3-gallon flush these figures were reduced

to

1

per

cent

and

19 p ~ r cent . espectively. Taking

a general v

1ew

of the1r exper1ments the committee

consider

that the

minimum flush s h ~ u be fixed

at

3 gallons,

and tbe

maximum

at

not less than

3

gallons.

CARRIA

G

E-WAY

PAVEMENTS.

A very interesting paper on "Carriage-way

Pavements" was read before the Society of Arts on

December 13, by Mr. Lewis

H. Is

aacs,

F.R.I.B:A.,

Assoc. In st. C.E., surveyor to t

he Board

of Works

for

the

Holborn District. One of

the

difficulties

in

.constructing a satisfactory pavement was, he

po1nted out, due

to

the extension of tramways,

7/17/2019 Engineering Vol 56 1893-12-22

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/engineering-vol-56-1893-12-22 20/29

as

it wa

s

exceedingly di fficult

to

maintain th

e r

oa

d

near the

tram

rails.

In

theNorth of

England, pave

m ents were fr eq uen tly made of gritstone sets,

wh ich

did

n

ot

t a

ke

a p

ol

ish

and become

slipp

ery

like

g

ranite, and

were che

ap

er t o lay,

though

le ss durable.

' fhe bloc

k s

varied in width fro

m 5

in.

to

7 in

. ,

and

wer e

fr

om 7 in. to 10

in

. lo

ng,

a

nd

8 in. to 10

in

.

deep . \V it h granite sets, blocks 3 in .

wi

de

pr

oved

in tho

lon g

run

m or e econ om

ica

l

than

t h

ose

4

in

.

wide. Th

e

fi rst

c

ost

of lay

in

g 3 in.

by

n n.

se t

s

of Aberdeen grani te in Gracechurch-s trcet was

l 4s.

6d.

a

yard, and when ta

k en

up at the

e

nd

of

twenty

-

ti

ve y

ea

rs,

the tota

l out lay ,

in

cluding

r

epai

r

s,

h

ad been

18s.

9d.

p er

square ya

r

d, fr

om

which

2s.

3d.

sh ould

be

taken for

the

value

of the

o

ld

mat erial.

The

n

et

cost

per

year was th us 74d.

per

sq

ua re yard. A t p r

esent prices

this

would be

in

creased to

~ d .

per yard. \V

oo

d is more expen

sive

,

costing about 1s

. 4

  d.

pe

r

sq

uare

yard

per

a

nnum,

th

e initial cost being Ss. 6d . p er ya

rd. This class

of pavem

ent sh

ould n

ot

be used on steeper

grad

es

t han 1

in 30, or a t

n1

ost

1

in

27.

Asphalte

was

the

favourite

pavement in Berlin, and was

yearly

being extended

.

The

h or

ses did not slip

on

it

much, as

it was kept

ve

ry

clean, being washed

do

wn

every morning and

after

eve

ry good

shower

of

rain. Its tota

l c

os

t

is

about

ls.

9d. per yard

per

annum

for laying

and

maintenance.

As

regards

street clean sing, m ost Co nt inenta l cities were

be

t ter treated in thi

s resp

ec

t

than

London.

The

p roper

method was

to

wa s

h

the

st re

ets

with copious

supplies

of water,

and

it

would be

a gr

eat

ad van

tage if

L o

nd

on

had

a

municipal

supply

of unfilt

ered

water laid on specially for this purpose. The fol

lo

wing Table shows

t he

compa

rative merits of

as

phalt

e, g

ranite,

and wood

under

various heads :

Fi r

sb. Seco

nd.

Third

.

A ~ p h a l t e

G

ranit

e W

oo

d

'V

oo

d

Asphalte Granite

Pu blic hygiene

..

.

No iselessness .. .

Sa

fety for horses,

under exis

ting

conditions for

cleansi

ng

...

Cleansing . . . .

Durability ...

Economy ... .

.

Facility

of repairs

for tram-

W

oo

d

Asphalte

Granite

As

pba

lte

G

ranite

Wood

Granite

Asphalt

e ,

,

W

oo

d Asphalte

Aspha.lte

, Granite

Granite

,

Asphalte

ays

...

SHIPBUILDING

AND M AR INE

EN

G

INEERING

I N

1893.

THE

fact

that

the total

production

of

new shipping

t hrougho u t

the kingd o

m

in the ye a

r now closing is

3 5,000

tons, or ne

a

rly

a

fourth,

less

tha

n th e aggre

gate of las t year, is not surprising, and,

from

some

point

s

of

Yiew,

no

t a

ltogether unsa t

isfactory.

I t is

true

it indicates that

w

here

fo

ur men found

employ

me

nt in 1892 only

th r

ee

men

were

required in 1893 ;

and

t

ha t

,

therefor

e, th e

re wa

s

but three-fourth

s th e

mo

ney earned

at s

hipbuilding.

But a

ct

ivity in s

hip

building can only

be satisfactory in the best

sense

when

the

condition

s wa

rrant that prosp

eri ty.

I t has

been s

hown

by official stati

st

ics

compiled

by

Lloyd's

that

the

w

aste of

s

hipping

does

not much

exceed

300,000

tons

per

ann

um.

As

a ma tter of f

ac

t ,

if we

t ake the removals from that re gis

tr

y,

owing

to

all

causes,

for

the

pa

st year

given in the

re

port

issued

quite

recently,

we

find th

at the vesse ls

l

ost,

stranded,

or r emo

ved

from

a

ct

ive se

rvice mad

e

up

a

to

tal of 257,048 ton

s.

This, of

course,

takes

no

cognisance of vessels

removed

by sa

le

to other cou n

trit>

s,

and these are as

ac

tive, if not

more

so,

in their

comp

etit

ion

and trade as wh

en c

ar

rying

the

union

jack

. Another point to be

noted

is that

as Lloyd's

includes a great preponderance of the tonnage of

nearly every maritime nation

within its purvi

ew

,

the

257,048

tons

indicated represent, within a compara

tively

few

tons, the

loss

of

o

cea

n

cargo-carry

ing

craft

throughout the

world.

The loss

in the British

merchant

fleet

in th

e

twelve months

was

144,746

tons,

and

with this

latter

figure

we hav

e

prob

a

bly

more

to

do. There is,

it is

tr ue, some room

for

excess

to

dea

l

with the increase of merchandise

to

be

car

ried,

due

to natural

expansion of trade; but this

is

really

a

limited

quantity,

and

as the production in

past year

s

has

been l

argely

exceedi

ng the legitimate

demands, the

fact

that there is decr

eased output is

not without

it

s adva

ntages

.

Eve

n

this year, as we

s

hall pres

e

ntly

show,

the

total merchant tonnage

for British

owners exceed

s

what

we

ha v

e

termed the waste of

shipping,

although

not

so

larg

e

ly

as

in

some recent

years,

a

nd this

ci

rcum

stance r

eally

gives

courage in the hope

of

future

im

pr

ove

ment

.

The extensive machinery now in

u

se

in the

shipyards

a

nd engine works

tends

to facilitate produc

tion

at a rapid

pa

ce, and this,

combined

with the

popul a

rity

of e

norm

ous

cargo-carryin

g vessels

of 5000

to 8000

tons dead weight

capacity,

aggravates the

s

itua-

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

tio

n.

t

is

beco

min

g

more

and

mo

re e c o g n that

sa

l

vati

on

for

the

shipbuilder as

we

ll s h p o ~ n e r

lies in occasional

cessat

ion, or part1al cessat10

n,

a

nd the fact that

s

toppage

of works

b.

rings in

it

s

wake dire re

s

ul t

s t o w

orkme

n does n

ot

10fiuence

greatly . Probably the m

en

or t.heir represen

tatives

a re

in

part to blam

e.

The

t1me

was when

employers

we

re willing

to ta ke wor k

even.

a.t .t

er

ms

necessitating

some

sacrifice, sa tisfied to ~ a m t the

bond

of

uni

on.

No

w,

however,

co

mmer

ctal cons

td

era

tions dominate mor

e

and more,

and the growing

ten

dency of parliamentary interference seer:ns likely .to

further

th is e

nd. In stead

of la bour a

nd

cap1tal

re

cognts

ing

a

community

of

in terests,

th e

re is

apparent on

both

s

ide

s a s

pirit

of

ind

e

pend

ence

which

is

derogatory

. t o

the

maintenance of

mutual

adv

an

ce

men t.

In

th e cl

osmg

year,

notwit hst a

ndin

g the extr.eme d i f i i

u ~ t y

of ~ n d i n g

work

th

ere

have

been

many

disputes,

wh1c

h,

w1th t he

exercise

of a little self-control and good sense, might

we

ll have been

o b ~ i a t e d . The

joiners

' dispute at

Gl

asgow

is

an insta

nce

in

po

int.

On

the

C

lyd

e th e

re

is

a most

hopeful des

ir

e on th e part of

the

e

mployers

for mutual

action between

the masters' and

men

's

asso

ciat

ions.

Yet th

e

workmen

s

eem

at times des

i

rous

of a c

ting indep

ende

ntly,

ir resp

ective

of

pr

e

vi

ous agree

ments.

The purpose of a. trades ~ n i o n p p a . r

n t l ~

is,

at

least occas

ionally

,

to mak

e

stnkes,

not

to obvtate

them,

and

certainly lib

erty, if not also th e other

high-s

ounding but

q u i ~ e

term

s, u - l ~ t y

and fraternity,

are sacnficed

. Is 1

,

th erefore, surpnsmg

th at commerc

ial

co

nsiderati

ons outweigh the

de

sire t o

keep work

s goin

g? In severa

l cases firms wr.

ite us

stating

that they h

ave no

return to

make, as It

imposs

ible

t o get

work except

at less

than cost

pnce.

Under the

c

ircumstanc

es they

we

re

clearly

better t o

ac

t

as

the

y

di d

.

In

view

of

a

ll

the

facts,

it is,

ind

ee

d,

surprising that

the

tonn

age is

as

high as

it

is.

These

are the

conditions w

hieh operated.

Let us

now

con

sider the

r es

ult.

' Ve

hav

e said that th e waste of sh

ippin

g in the

Br it ish fleet

in the

y

ea

r

was 144,746

tons. The

out

put

from private ya

rds

in

the

United

Kingdom

this

year

was

883,874

t o

ns. Th i

s

repr

ese

nts the measure

me

nt

of

742

c

raft,

sma

ll

and

great-from th

e

tiny

launch

to

the

Cu

n

ar

d li ner

Lucania,

of

something

like 1

8,0

00 ton

s

displacement

and 12,950

ton

s

measure

ment. Of th i

s

total,

h

owever

, 158,292

tons

w

ere

for

foreign

countries,

and

deducting l ~ o

th e

tonnage for

the

Briti sh

Navy-

this year, unhappily, very

small-

the

t otal

British merch

a

nt tonnage

is 710,000

tons,

which

is 565,000

tons more

than the

waste.

The tonnage

c

onstruc

t ed

for

foreign

nati

o

ns,

how

e

ver,

mu

st

really be

cons

idered,

since i t

enters

into

compet

i

tion,

and thu

we

find tha.t Britain a

lone has much

mo re than met

the loss

due to wrecks, &c ., wi

t

hout

cons

id ering the

increa

sing

tonnage constructed

by other nations . The

T ABLE

I . -A

ggregates of Production i1i. the United

St

eamers* . •

Sailing ships ..

•

•

T

ota

ls . . . .

British Navy

yar

ds ..

K ingdom.

Aggregat es of Produotion.

1893. 1892.

-

-

tons

tons.

749,838 974,826

134,036

275,136

883,874 1,249,962

31,640 50,450

-

1891.

tons.

1,003,796

228,749

1,232,546

68,100

1890.

tons.

1,139,015

141,929

1,280,944

22,620

•

1

n 1892 and 1891.

In

th e la tte r years

it

bore a

propor

ion to

the

total merchant tonnage of ~ 4 · ?

a

nd

20.2

er cent.

respectively.

Th is ye

ar

th e rat

1o

ts per

ent.

The merchant tonnage

t h e r

added lS

,

coO?

arativ

e

ly speaking,

a

trifle more : f f i c 1 e n t on the bas

iS

f

ca

rgo-carrying th an

it a t first

stght aJ?pears. f we

ss

ume

that

a s

hip

is

able

to

do bu

t a

thud of the work

f a ste

ame

r, and

bring

t he

m e r c h a . ~

o n n a

for

he

year to th e basis of steam

tonnage

, 1t.

i l ~

be

found

h

at the produc t

ion

of

the yea

r

now

closmg

1s

equal

to

29 000 s

team tons, wh

ereas in 1892

it wa

s 948,000

o n ~

and in 1891 about one

mill

ion

tons.

Th e

de

crea

se

,

f o r e in production

,

although

it

represents

a

ou

rth so'far

as wage-earning

goes, is

only

equal to

an

t

p

c

p

0

a

0

t

t

8

t

t

f

'1

8SG

6 6 2

ROSS rONS

1. a

o

.ooo

I,JOO

.

OO

1,

250

,

00

1.200. Q

1,1

50

.

00

I, 100,

00

/, OSO ,OO

,

I

' 

'

·

000,00

,,

JSO.

OO

900

. 00

850 . 00

800

,

00

750, 00

700, ooo

65 0.

00

600

,

00

550,00

500

.

00

450 ,00

100,

00

350 0

0

300.

00

250

,

00

20 ), 00

/J

0

'

I

, I

0

0

0

'

v

0

71

'\

I

I

4 G 8 70 2 4 6 8 80 1 4 G (J 90 Z 4 8

...

A

'

\I/

V

...

I J

18S&.8

60 2 I G 8 70 2 4 6 8 80 2 4 G 8 90 Z G 8

f 4 3 ) 1860. 1870. 1880. . 1890.

eighth so far

as cargo-carrying

or fr

eigh

t

competition

s

concerned.

I'he

de

c

lin

e

in

the sa

ilin

g

tonnag

e

pro

bably

indi

cates less spec

ulative building,

a

lt h

o

ugh

ately the principle

h ~ s

.

growing

.of a m ~ n a g e r

organising a.

co

mp

any

b n l l ~ a n : t p r o m s ~ s .

w h10h

' -re

not r

ea lisable

accord10g to ex1st10g cond1t10ns, w1th

the

vi

ew

pr

ima

r

ily

of

se

c

uring

com miss

ion on gross

e

arnings.

The

total sail tonnag

e is

134,036 ton

s,

the

mea

surement of 234 vessels. I t is barely hali what it

was

a

year

ago,

wh

en

it

r eac

hed an abnorma

l le\ el,

but it about equa

ls th e totals

of

1890 and 1889.

The

decreas

e

is mor

e in the general size of the craft th an

in number

, there be

ing

a

le

ss dispos i

tion for the

moment

to

construct immen

se

craft,

a

nd it may

be

that the mishaps to some of the big

sh ips

hitherto

bu

i lt h

ave had

so

me

effect

in bringing

about

this

result.

•

1

1

The tonnage

of

steame

rs

shows

a

very grea

t

decr

e

ase

on

several past year

s,

the

a

ggregat

e being

749,838, the

measurem

ent of 508 vessels. This

is

225 ,000

tons

of a

de

crea

se

.

The

tota

l, in other words,

is only

two-thirds

of the steam tonnage of

the

two pa

st

years. f

com

parison is made with th e three

preceding

year

s,

the

drop

is st

ill more mark

e

d, being in the

case

of 1889

about 430,000

ton

s.

In

the t otal of 1

889

, t oo, a com

parativ

ely small numb

er of

warships

were

included.

Instead, howev

e

r, of

being

matter

for

sa t

i

sfact

ion , i t

is qu

it

e poss

ib l

e

that

th is

total

of 1,1

88,000 tons has,

in large me

asure,

necess

it

ated the short total this year.

That it

is a c

ase of

necess

it

y not

only th

e l

owness

of

1 

916,514

871,436

98.6

G and totals

..

Steel tonnage of pri·

v

ate

yards . . . .

Per ce

nt

. of total ..

1,300,412

1,207,311

96.8

1,300,646

1,195,083

1,303,464

fr e

ights

*

obtaining,

but

the exten

t of

idle tonnage,

1- - - - - dem

o

nstrate, as

we

ll

as

the

low re

muner

a

ti

on

to

1,

208,7

2

3 capital sunk in steamship companies, on which subjects

_

4

..

1

_ we

wrote quite recent

ly

.

t The decrea

se in

steam

7.00

Foreign · owned ton-

nage . . . . I

Per cent. of total .

·I

Total

mer

chant ton·

naget.. . . •

Per cent. of steam mer

chant

onnage to total

In

dic

at

ed horse·power

of engines . . . ·I

Per cent. of all war

158,292 188,312

17.94

15.1

872,449 1,131,816

84.6 75.5

227,462

18.46

1,130,816

79.8

-

I

272,963

21.3

1,1

94

,705

88.2

917,354 1,003,529 1,022,206

I

1,078,256

ships

to

merchant - - -1- - -  • 

- - -

1 - - - -

sbipsbuilt ..

.. ,

4.95 1

3.

1 9 6.1

* Includes warships

built

in pri vate yards. t Exc

lu d

es British

and foreign warship

3.

'

h

•

e

a

-

t

1

'

.

n

y

-

t

e

s

tonnag

e

of the year, however

, is

fr

om

400,000 to

500,000

ton

s less th an in the f

our previous years

although

in

1888

i t

was about

as

low,

as will

be

see

from the diagram ac

c

ompanying this arti

cle,

whic

gives the

aggregate production

in all private yards

The

falling-off,

however,

is n

ot qu it

e so

marked if

w

exclude

ships-of-war, for d

urin

g the past three

years

la rge number of vessels

have be

en constructed through

o

ut th

e co

untry

for

the

N a

va

l

Defence

Act fl

ee

t.

I

i

s,

th

er e

fo

re,

des

irab

le that,

as

in

Table

I. ,

the

tota

me r

c

hant tonnage built should

be s

hown

se

parately

since it

refl

ects

on

the

general quest

i

on of freight

From this Table

i t

will be seen

that

the

decrease

i

merch

a

nt tonnag

e

is

not

mor

e

than 330

,0

00 tons in an

year

sin

ce 1888,

and is

about 260,000 t o

ns when

com

parison

is made with the

past two years.

A

poin

which

is not

without

its significance is

that

th

sail tonnage is

very

much

less

th i

s year

than it wa

tonnage has, of

course,

materially aff

ec

ted the marine

engineerin

g

indu

s

try,

and

pr

obably this may

not

be an

inappropriate point a.t

which

to r efer eo it. Table

I l l .

gives

the

collec

tive

po

wer of the

eng

in

es const ruc

ted

a t

the

various po

rt

s.

In

c

luded,

of co

urse,

is

the

power

for

st eamers re-cng

in

ed. The total is affected,

mor

e

than

is

that

of

tonn

age,

by work

for the

Government,

for altho

ug

h the Admiralty are

more

inclined

now than

formerly

to

allow

the

engine

works

in connect

i

on with

th e

Dockyards

to construct

new

engines for

cruise

rs and

gunbo

ats, there

is

still a la r

ge

number

of

wa r

s

hips

e

ngined by private

firms.

In d

ee

d,

fully one-fourth of

th e

total pow

er is

for British

and fore

ign Government vess

e

ls, for

the London

firms,

the

Thomson,

Fairfield, Ea r

le,

and the Barrow

Compani

e

s, as well as Mes

s

rs

. Hawthorn,

Leslie, and

Co., have

their to tals augmented by Government work

l\1oreover, a

goodly

part of the

tota.l

is for sh ips

re

e

ngined,

although not so l

arge as

in

some previous

years

.

The total

p o v n ~ r

including all marine

engines,

was, therefore,

917,354,

as against fully

a

million

indicated horse-

pow

er in the three

preced

ing years.

Excepting

Gove

rnm

e

nt

vessels,

compa ratively

few

high

-

speed steamers ha

ve

been constructed,

the

great

majority

of

the

engines being

f

or cargo-carrying

steamers, and in these latter the

a

im is

to

pro

duce the

l

owest power consistent

with a moderate

* See

ENGINEERING,

page 486

ante.

t

l b1'd. , pag

e 5 44 ante.

7/17/2019 Engineering Vol 56 1893-12-22

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/engineering-vol-56-1893-12-22 21/29

•

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

[DEc.

22,

1893.

TABLE I.-STATISTICS OF SHIPBUILDING

IN THE

UNITED KINGDOM

IN

1888·

93.

I

Per

Cent . of Steam to Total

Ton

s. I

•

Total Production.

I

Per Cent. of

Steel

to Total Tons.

Per Cent. of

Foreign owned

to Tota l Tons.

District.

1893.

1892. 1S91.

-

1890.

I

889.

1888.

1893. 1892. 1891. 1888.

189

3.

I

1892. 1891.

I

1888.

I

1893. 1892. 1891. 1890. 1889. 1888

- -

Scotland. tons tons tons

tons

tons

tons

Clyde (in c

ludin

g outports) . . 279,916 335,191 335,076 353,7H>

335,201

278,970

99 .48 98.87 98.68

96

04.8

52.3 68.00 81.6

14.7 21.37 26.72 36.6 34.4

18.3

ther ~ c o t po rt s

••

• •

22,723 59,361 67

9 5 ~

69,155

60,664

30,047

100 95. 17 94.88 90

96.9

52.2

54.79 93

36 6 25.3

32.2

14

10.4

E n g ~ a n d .

•

26.4

27.2

34 21.2 27.3

yne

• •

•

•

••

• •

147,248

229,469 185,369

234,754

281,710

213,205

98.88 97.2

96.36

94 6 98.28 96.31 98.94 99.34

26.85

10.95 10

.2 12.85 17 6 22.2 23

ear

•

•

• •

•

•

••

122

,535 190,8

02

192, 114 197,481 217,336 142,410 1

00

99.8

100 98.6 98.19 90.3

79.18

100

11.28

67

7.68

ees

• •

• • •• • •

93,915 99,279

120,132

127,739

110,436

57,170

98.14

93.05

97.56

76.71

98.18

95.15

95.42

96

I

35.3

12.1

4.3

1.35

11

.8

6.6 13.23 8.9

est Hartl

epool . . . . 66,641 90,924 96,993

99,847

Ba.rrow-in-Furness(including

Work

ington

Wbitebaven)

26,791 33,489 36,845

27,549

Mer

sey

..

• • • •

• •

9,071

40,125 25,975

30,253

Blyth and Whitby . . . .

5,010 21,277 11,754

16,059

Humber (Hull and Grimsby) 9,143

14,094 19,070

9,624

Thames

and other English

and Welsh ports

• •

• •

13,625 33,123 37,795

37,388

I reland.

Belfast and Londonder

ry

37

87,256

99,827 103,466 77,376

speed when the vessel is heavily

la de

n. In most

cases

th

e

triple-expansion engine has been adopted, and

there are

two

or three

instances where

it has

been

introduced

for paddle

steamers, driving

three

cranks.

Messrs. Inglis la

st year,

and Messrs.

Denny

this

year,

have so fitted

steamers,

and the

results have been most

satisfactory.

There are this year,

too,

for the first

time, i

we

mistake not,

instances of

the quadruple

four-

cr ank

engine

in large steame

rs.

These are the

large International liners Kensington and Southwark,

built by ~ I e s s r s .

Thomson

and Messrs. Denny respec

t ively,

but

the quadruple, as a rule, does not seem t o

have met

with

that favour which was anticipated.

T

  BLE

I I I Ind icated H orse-Power of Engines

Constructed.

e

• •

••

r

Scotch

ports . .

Clyd

Otbe

Tyn

Wea

Tees

liar

Ilum

Ba rr

Mer

Bl

yt

Tha

e

• •

• •

• •

r

• •

• •

••

• •

• •

•

•

tlepool

• •

• •

ber

• •

• •

ow and district .

• •

ey.. . .

hand

Whitby

• •

mea

and

.Bn

Irela.

The

glish ports

nd ..

•

•

Tot al

• •

Docky

ards

other

• •

•

•

• •

•

•

1893.

1892.

1891. 1890.

255,435 275,899

332,906

374,324

23,010

3l,405

39,090

41,671

114,147

2 2 8 0 0 ~

185,741

206,311

77,665

104,261

98,070

97,000

51,471

43,378

73,480 60,000

48

,550

67,460

57,990

57,000

28,290

2 ~ 6 4 3

67,923

H,380

31,480

36,300

26,975 62,720

15,468

34,850

17,075 28,403

2,080

10,942

6,89

4

8,830

70,112

89,048

98,006

69,432

55,720

48,390

45,950 38,285

-

892,354

1,003,529 1,022,206

1,078,256

27,000

I

3,500

- -

917,354 11,007,029

-

-

T-

he coal saving,

it is

urged,

does n.ot

c o m p ~ n s a t e

for

the

i n c r

e a s ~ in

working

parts, part1eularly m a cargo

steamer, where

the tear and wear is great and the

facilities for repair under emergency not

too

many.

'fhere is indicated in the past two years a

tendency

to go back to the

compound

engines for coasti ng

steamers

as

well

as steam trawlers.

The

contention

is that while the coal efficiency is

not

so great,

the

engines are more readily ma

nipul

ated

by

men

w l ~ o a ~ e

not

over skilful, and the

tear

and wear questiOn 1s

again

brought forward. . .

As will be see

n

from Table Il l .

a

ll

distn

cts have

suffered, although those depending

on

Government

work do

not

show

the same h

eavy

decreases.

Moreover,

the districts

that

undertake re -eng

ining work have

done fairly

well. On the Clyde,

although

there ha s

been

a la r

ge

decrease in the total

t o n n a g ~

it been

largely

in

sa

iling

vessels, so

that

the manne

eng

meer

ing output is not so

much

less, the decrease on 1892

being

only

20,000 indicat

ed

horse-power, or about.7

per cent.

I t

s much great

er

on the totals of

pr

ecedmg

years. In

the

other parts of

Scotland

it is about 20 per

cent. On th e Tyne it is particularly heavy,

the total

being but

a

half

what

it was. This

is also the case

with

tonnage, being in

both

instances

consequent

on

the fact

that

less

Governme

nt

work has

been

under

taken.

Messrs. Hawthorn,

Leslie, and ~ o .

,have. not

completed

the

same

la r

ge number

of

cru

isers engmes,

and Messrs. Palmer had not

two

battl

eships wi

t h their

engines.

T h e ~ e

were

completed during the ye

ar,

but

were included m the t ot als of 1892. The total

power

of

the \Y ear shows a

decrease

of about 25 per

cent

. ; ~ h e

Tees is

rather

higher, owing to the greater proportiOn

of steam

tonnage.

The other ports s

how

a less total,

that in th e case of the

Mersey

being but a

half,

due

again to

the

warship engines constructed last year.

This

also

accounts for

the.

increase

the

T h . a ~ e

total,

whil

e

Ireland

occup1es a

~ r e d 1 t a b l e

pos1t10n,

show

ing

an increase over

a

se

n

cs

of

years,

no t

withstanding

that

the

vesse

ls

were all of

mode

ra te speed, alt h

ough,

as a

rule, of

greater aver

aae size than the

fleet

se

nt from

any

other

port.

Nearly all firms indicate decreases except

where

Government

work is the chief product. 1-Iessrs.

84,109

73,909

100

97.98

100

.1.00 1

00 100

100 100

17.1

41,691

12,471

99. 32 100 100 88.5

75

75.75

86 33 19

I

23.4 5.17 17.19 0

88.5 15.5

35,773 22,538 I

98.1

88.6

93.44

90.3 97.6 67.7 50.65 72

21.6 186

10.78 22.6

38

15 5

24,118

20,202

98.43

100

99.14

79

ij 57.5

100

99.14 100

0 8

0

6.8 9.8

5.2

21,712

7,474

37 66 43.76 43.8

100 100 9 8 . ~ 4

1

00

1.67 5.77

5.49

0 32.62 0

'

10,3i6

14,785

98.75

96

93.02

73

95.7 67.2 74.56

66 I

.87 7.65

15.29

17

25 17

I

87,265

40,308

100

100 100 93

94.1

78.4 85.05

87.7

I

2.96

I

13

7 0

3.6

3.6 5.7

Humphrys, Tennant, and Co., London, have

com

pleted engines for

British and

foreign

vessels

which

aggregate 83,600 indicated ho rse-power ;

bu t,

of

course, these have

not

been ex clusively

bu ilt this

year. In

like manner, Messrs.

Ma.udsl

ey,

Son, and

Field completed

engines

of

about

54,000

in dicated

horse-power. Messr s. Penn

have completed

engines

and Germany have taken a fair tonnage, but there arc

evidences in consular re p

o

rts of

activity

in

s

hipbuild

ing in these centres.

T BLE IV Countries where B1·itish-built Forei{ln·owncd

Ships were Registered

Norway

of nea rly 30,000 indicated ho rse-power. The

Fair

field

Company top the

l

ist of

firms

in the provinces,

with a total

of

48,300 to ns, the aggregate

of

six S

sets

of engines,

including

those for

the

Lucania,

the

F

•

pam ..

Russia.

new Cunard steamer. The five years  to ta l of th is

ranee

••

• •

•

•

• • • •

•

•

•

•

•

•

• •

• •

• •

•

•

1893.

I

1892.

1891.

•

•

27,737

19,850 50,

17,17l 3,699 3,637

•

••

16,083 10,365 7,690

••

12,021

2,064 7,597

Aust

r ia

• •

• •

• •

• •

21800 1,179

0,37d

olonies

and India

..

• •

• •

9,718 25,964 39,894

ermany

•• • • • • • •

8,379

19,623 31,392

outh Amerioa

• •

• •

••

7,6 5l 9,182

14,148

elgium

7,538 1,782 -

• • •

•

•

••

ta.ly

5,060

-

-

 

.

• • • • •

•

• •

est ln dies .•

• •

••

• •

3,9 21 1,087 2,399

urkey

2,329 -

-

 • • • • • • •

bina

. .

• •

••

• • • •

1,830 1

,8

55

3,218

reece

• • • •

• •

•

•

1,817 7,073 11,812

enmark 614

- -

  •

••

• •

•

•

frica . . 110

-

-

 

•

••

•

•

•

•

ther

nations

and not classified 26,935 63,968

53,790

158,292

1 188,312

227,462

firm is 208,300 indicated horse-power, with which

C

the

engineering management have reason to be

sa t

isfied,

in view,

parti

cu larly, of the high speed

s

B

got

with the steamers.

The majority of

the vessels

1

were of

20

knots speed. Messrs. Thomson, of

Clyde-

W

bank, come second

with 42, lOO

indicated horse- 6

powe

r, also

for high-speed

craft,

includ

ing

three

G

paddle steamers,

and a

British

c

ru i

ser built

in

one

D

of

the

Dockyards

. Messrs. Harland and

'-.,.

olff, A

Belfast,

come

next with 41,640 indicated

hor

se-

0

power. These

were mostly

for

cargo or

"inter

mediate" steamers, many of them tw in -screw. Last

year this firm

took

second place

amongst

engineers,

th eir total being 37,550 indicated horse-power. The

Central Marine Works,

West

Hartlepool,

completed

The total

t

onnage of

vessels for

British owners was,

therefore,

725,582

ton

s ; and

as

the

fore

ig

n-owned

tonnage

i

nd

i

cates

a decreasi

ng tendency,

it follows

that

the

home shipping

is on a r is

ing ratio. The

point

of

interest is

really as

to its

dist ribution amongst

the ports. Last year London took

27.6

per cent

.

of

the total; this year the ratio is 28.1 per cent.

Gla

sgow this year comes second with 18.8 per

cent.,

against only 9.85 per cent. last

year. Li

verpoo l, wh i

ch

was first among

the ports two

years

a go, is

but

third

this year, with 15.26 per cent. of the total,

aga

inst

25 per cent. last year. The n

orth-easter

n ports from

Blyth to \Vhitby take 15.15 per

cent.,

agains t 17.6 per

cent. last year,

the

Tyne and Hartlepool taking the

greater proportion.

Card

iff and

the

Br isto l ports

took 4. 73

per

cent. ;

Hull

and Gri msby about

4 per

cent. Of the total England took

73.5

per

ce

nt.,

nearly

the

same proportion as

l

as

t

year

.

Scotland

took

25.3 per ce

nt . - 22

per

cent

. be

ing

for

the Clyde

the

proportion

of the

north country

last

year

havh1g

been 18 per

cent.

Ireland,

however, has not

spent

much in

tonnage, her

proportion of th

e total being

only

1.2 against

7 per cent.

in

th e previous y

ear, and,

curiously enough,

Scot

land has sent

nearly

t:he whole

of that tonnage. The Ir i

sh,

however, ha ve sen t more

tonnage

to

cotland

than

they

go t. Similarly the

north-east ports have contributed la rgely to the

Glasgow

tonn

age,

while

but one steamer was sent fr om

the

Clyde to the north-east ports. One steamer built

on

the

Clyde had her eng ines from

the

north -east coast.

Last year it was

the

other way about.

25 se ts of engines, of 36,550 in dicated horse-power, in

cluding three sets for old steamers. This is above

the average, and is in addition to tw elve ordinary

ma.rine

en g

ines built for a

sugar refinery in China

The total

of

this

firm f

or

five

years has been

169,800

indicated horse-power

for 135 vessels, so

that the

mean is

about

1260

indicated horse-power. All were

for the

merchant service.

The

Naval Construction

Company, of

Barrow, who were

third last year with

26,975

indicated

horse-power,

have

this year a total

of 30,800

indicated horse

-power, the largest engines

bei

ng

for an Indian

troopship.

Messrs.

Denny

and

Co.,

Dumbarton, take a

creditable

place with 30,060

indicated horse-power,

all

for m

erc

hant

vessels. Very

few of

the

other firms exceed 25,000 indicated horse

pow

er.

One of the most rema

rk

a

ble

features is

the

decrease

in foreign-owned tonnage built in

the

kingdom. There

has been

a

steady decrease over

a

se r

i

es of years

from

293,093

tons in

1889 to 158,292

tons this year. This

latter

is about half the former,

but

on

e

must at the

same time

consider the

decrease in

the aggregate.

Withal,

however,

f

oreign countries

are taking a less

proporti

on

of our tonnage

. In 1 89

other nations took

22.37

per cent

.

of

the tonnage

produced,

and this de

creased to 15.1 per cent. last year, co

nsequent

,

as

we

then conjectured,

to a less inclination to

risk

money

at

a

time

when the

shipping

trade was depressed than

was

displayed

by the Br i

tish

shipowner. Even with th e

aggregate

output so low,

the

foreign

proportion

is

now

on ly 17. 94

per

cent. I t can scarcely

be

said that this

is due t o any decrease in the activity in building

up merchant navies, for one might almost say

that,

notwithstanding the condition of

the

shipping trade,

there is manifest on all hands

a desire for a

merchant

navy, and, as

a consequence,

we are taking

a

le

ssen

ing

s

hare in

the

carrying

trade

of other

co

untrie

s.

Pro

bably Norway indicate

s

greatest vitality

for

her

posi

tion amongst

the

nat

ions.

Her

courage is worthy

of

the

Viking, and,

to

jndge

from the figures

given

in

Table

IV.,

she

seems, while supporting her own

builders

to patronise

British

firms, for in three years

nearly

100,000

tons have

been sent thither. The time

was

when

they

were

sa tisfied with our old discarded

barks

but

now

they are

constructing

a la r

ge

fleet

of

modern sh ip

s

and stea

mer

s,

whi

c

h, with the dari

ng

and hardihood of

the

Norwegian, are worked most

economically, and therefore most successfully, in com

petition

with

our.

e s s e l ~ .

I t is sc.arcely

n?cessary to

indicate our

vanous

clients.

S

pam,

Russia,

France,

Little

need be

sa

id as to the

c

haracter of the

vessels

la

unched.

The

most important

was the

Lucania,

con

sort to the

Campania.

\Ye

have already placed

on

record

not only full

details

of the vessels, but also

of

their

performances.

* They

have

done well in

their

first

year, having

by success

ive runs reduced

the

rec

ord

to 5

days

12 hours 47

minutes outwards,

and

5

days

12

hour

s 7 minutes homeward, the former

being the run by the

Lucania

and the latter

by

the

Campania.

Both

w

ere made

at the same time, in the

end of October and beginning of November, and the

mean speed was, respectively, 20.93 and 21.28 knots.

The Campania in seven runs outward has ma

in t

ained

an

average

of 20.1 knots,

her

highest

mean for a

voyage being 20.94: knots, while

the

average on the

seven homeward runs was 20.90 knots,

the

highest

sp

eed

being

21.3

on

her

maiden

trip

home.

The

Lucania

in her

runs

o

ut

and

home has

averaged 20

7

-

 

-

 

*

See ENGINEERING, vol. 1v. ,

pag

es 461

660

71-:l 771,

838 912 and

pages

46

,

309

, 342 ,

399

,

460 517

580 , 648

ante.

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770

THE

STABILITY OF ARMOURCLADS.

To THE

E DITOR

OF ENGINEERING.

SIR,-The considerable importance of the constructive

stability

of

ships is

probably sufficient reason for

intrud

ing the

subject further

to your notice; and as Mr.

J. J.

O'Neill in

his

letter

asks,

A ~ a . i n , in the light

of

the

Victoria

's midship structure, 'N. A. ' might, perhaps, be

good enough

to

show

that injury in th i

s region would

be

at least equally

disa

strous as a.t the ends,"

in reply to

the

opinion might be expressed

that

injury to the

m1dship portion could

not be

more disastrous than

injury

to the ends.

And

to

show that it is

equally

so is

not

a difficult

matter,

for,

~ _ i t h

injury. to

the

midship

structure, the

shou

ld

er

or

sta.b1hty

there

1s

dest roy

e

d, there

is

no

reserve of buoy

ancy

or stability

left

to either

side

to

which

the

vessel

may incline, and she rolls over.

A

v e s ~ e intact has

a shoulder

or righting

power at

the

water lin

e to right the vessel upon

any

inclination or

p o w ~ r ac

ting

on

the

Vt\ssel.

f

a

portion

of

the midship

structure

is destroyed, the vessel loses so

much

of her

original buoya.nGy and shoulder in proportion to the

volume destroyed. The vessel

sinks

deeper

in the water

in

proportion to the volume destroyed,

thus

increasing

the

upsetting power

of the

bottom

buoyancy ;

and, with

a

reduced volume of shoulder or

stabi

lity at the water line,

there may

not

be

suffic

ient

power

to

resist

any

inclination

of the vessel,

and

conseq

uent

capsize.

The object of constructors should be to place a reserve

of buoyan

cy shoulder

and

st a

bility

within

the

vessel that

shall resiet

this overturning

power of bottom buoyancy,

and

maintain the

vessel

upright

on

the

surface of

the water.

Double bottoms

in

the vicinity of the portion in

jured

only add to this

upsetting

vqlume of bottom buoyancy,

and helping

to

the

capsize.

Cofferdams would

hardly meet

th e case. \Vhat is

wanted

is a

i ~ i v e

internal reserve

of

shoulder or sta-

bility

that

sh a

ll be equal to, or

greater

than, the original

should

er or stability intact

.

But in the present

s

ys tem

of cons

tr u

ct

ion the

sligh

test

injury

to the hull seems to prove disastrous,

and

to render

the

vessel unstable

and

liable

to

capsize. Is it too

mu

ch

to conceive that some attempt should be made to render

th

e vessel more unsinkable

and stable

under

the

co

ndition

of injury?

Here is a <ireadful disas ter which should be a warning

in

time. Cannot we hope that some consideration and

investigation should be made

in

the matter by our

pr

esent

B oa

rd

of

Admiralty?

In

referring to the

ea

rlier

type

of vessel, we do

not

notice any very great alteration in the

internal

construc

tien of

the

present

type

of vessel,

with the

exception of

the addition of the "protective deck." But this ' 'pro

tective de

c

k"

is of but

little

valne as giving

internal

reserve

of buoyancy and stability to the vessel, as proved

in

the

case

of the

Victoria.

I t

is to

be

hoped that

the

Lords Commissioners of the

Admiralty may be disposed to look more

into the

matter of the

const

ru

ction of armourclads

internally

for

protection

from

sinking or

fou

ndering

in any

future

de

s

ign

s for shi ps for

the Royal Navy.

I am, Sir,

Your very obedient servant,

N. A.

L ondon, S. E., December, 1893.

STEAM JETS.

To TRE

EvrToR oF

ENGINEERING.

SIR,-A month or

nwo

since

many

of the technical

journals,

under th

e heading of "Duplex Nozzles," pub·

lished

certain

disparaging statements as to

the

s

tatus

of

an

old

and tried

friend, viz.r

the

solid, s

impl

e,

or

central

steam jet as ap p

li

ed to blowmg

purp

oses.

As

strong con

se

rvatives in

this matter,

we

wish you to allow

us to

reply

on

th

e

other

side.

Sir Willia.m Siemens was, we believe, one of

the

first to

claim higher efficiency for

the annular

over the

central or

solid atea.m jet for blowing purposes. We bad, however,

supposed

that

no one

in the

se

days

who

had

given

th

e

subject any

practical consid

erat

ion would now

s ~ p p o r t

the propos iti on. t should, howev

er,

be noticed, m the

first place,

that

a.

nominally

annular jet

is

not

really so

unless

the

air, or whatever

other

fluid

is

to be

p r o ~ e l l e d ,

is

admitted into

the

annulus t h r o u ~ h the

ce

ntre, as 1 the

blowers designed by

Sir

Willia.m Stamens. In the duplex

nozzle refe

rr

ed

to

above, not only is no provision made

for

admitting air

inside

the

annulus, but

t h ~ an

nular jet

itself acts as a shield to

prevent

access of

air

to the

tral or

solid

jet. Th i

s explains

the ad

vantage of

the In

terrupted

annulus of. the duplex no

.zz

le, the three four

jets

in

the ring

allowmg access of

au to the

ce

ntral

Jet

well

as

all round tbems el ves.

We

have

made

the

subject of

jet

blowers a special

study

for

the

l

ast ten

years, and,

with

respect to

the

form of

nozzle have come to a definite conclusion that

the

central

or

solid

jet

is

the most

efficient for

all ordinary

purposes,

and that any

departure

from

this

nob only increases the

first cost and adds useless complications, but actually de

tracts

from

the

efficiency.

Having these very decided opinions, we were rat.ber

surprised a.t

the

prominent

position given

in the

techmcal

press

to

the alleged advantages claimed for

~ h e

duplex

nozzlt'.

To

leave no room for doubt,

y ; ~ obtamed o n ~

of

the

du{>lex nozzles (as well

as the

o m b t m ~ g

~ u b e

supphed

with it),

and

conducted a series of tests wtth It, the e s u ~ t

of

which

we give

below. '.ple

z z l ~ has

a.

c e n ~ r a l Jet

in.

in

diameter,

and

three Jets m a r t ~ g surroundmg th.e

cent

ral

jet, and having

a var1able ope

mJ?-g,

.

the

full maxl

mum

area

being

equa

l to that of a sohd Jet upwards of

7 millimetres

in

diameter. .

The

duplex nozz

le

was

regulated

so

as to

gtve

the same

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

effect as a so

lid central

jet

of 4 millimetres diameter,

which

is considerably larger

than

our

ave

rage size.

This

size of nozzle, viz., 4 millimetres, was taken as a.

standard

for comparison,

as being the

size of nozz

le in the third

tyRe of blower referred

to

la ter on.

The position of the regulating screw in the duJ?lex

nozzle was f

ound after making

several

tests with

vanous

forms

and

sizes of combining tubes, giving

equa

l vo

lum

e

of

outlet air at equa

l pressures.

The air

lpressures te

ste

d

were j in.

water

column, which

may

be

taken

as a normal

ashpit

pressure, 1 in.

wate

r,

and

2 in. water.

To

a

rr i

ve at

the

proportional efficiency of

the

nozzles,

an air receiver of a ce

rt a

in capacitywas fi lled

with

cold dry

air

ab 20

lb

.

pre

ssu

re

above

the

atmospere,

and emptied

fi

r

st

th r

oug h

the

duple

x nozz

le

with the r e ~ u l a t o r in the

p_roper position,

and then through

the s1mple nozzle.

This

was

repeated

several times, and it was found that

the duplex nozzle reduced the pressure from 20 lb . to

5 lb.

in 25

seconds, whereas

the

simple nozzle, giving

the

same effect, required 45 seconds. In

othe

r words,

the

duplex

no

zzle,

to

give

equa

l effect, re

quir

ed 80

per cent

.

more steam th an the simple

central

nozzle.

We

presume, howeve

r,

that

the

efficiency of

the

nozz

le

as

such is of secondary consideration,

and

that

the

really

in teresting question is to the relative efficiency of the

compl

ete

blowers.

To

ascertain

this

a. series of experi

ment s were made

with

the duplex nozzle and

the

com

bining tube

supplied

with

it,

with our

own blowers of

various sizes, and a third form of blower which has

recently bt: en in evidence. The air pressures tested with

were

as

mentioned above,

v i z . ~ in.,

1 in.,

and

2-in. water

column, the correspon

ding steam

pressures being 16lb.,

42lb., and

70 lb. above

th

e atmosphere.

The net result of the series of experiments is to show

that

to

do a given

quantity

of work, where

our

blower

required a unit weight of steam, say

llb. , the

duplex

arrangement used between lb.

and 3J

lb.,

and

the

third

form of blower from 2 lb.

to

4

.f

lb.

As the question of forced or assisted draught is con

tinuously coming

mor

e to

the

front,

and

as

the

steam

jeb offers

the

simplest a.nd, for most purposes, th e best

form of blower, we think the figures given above should

be

of

in terest to many

of

your

readers.

Yours

truly,

MELDRUM BR OS.

At

lanti

c Works, City-road, Manchester,

Dec

ember 19, 1893.

THE UNEMPLOYED.

To

THE

E DITOR

m· EN

OINEERING.

Srn,-In

your

re

view lasb week of

th

e Blue-Book tssued

by the

Board of Tra.de upo n

the

unemployed, you refer to

"' trade societies a.s being effective agencies " dealing

therewith,

and state

that these

"pay their

members when

out

of work from 3s. 6d. to 18s. per week, " some of these

extending

over

"on

e

or

two quarters" of

the

year.

You

also

state

that those

"agencies are

best which give unem

ployed benefit," one reason being

they

relieve

th

e

ra t

es,"

and

that

"in the

skilled trades 10

per

cent.

are

unem

ployed. "

In your Indu

s

trial No

tes " you say more

than

one·

seventh of the engineers

are on

the funds, " costing l s. 8d.

per member

per

week."

You

also

state the '' Ir

onfounders

are granting

5s.

per

week

to

time-expired

members,, &c

.

Now, for

my

own part, although I freely

admit the

pro

blem of

the

unemployed is a very difficult one

and

that

trade societies are showing an

~ x c e e n t spirit'

of " help

one

another" in the matt

er, I

cannot

see

the

wisdom

of

having, say, 5 to 10

per

cent. of

the

whole of

the

workers

ah_vays out of work from year's ~ n d to

year'

s end, and

bemg

o ~ e .o

r

le

ss well

s u p p o r t e ~ m

enforced idleness by

the rema.mmg 90 to 95

per

cent. m emp loyment;

neither

ca

n I see that

trade

societies o

ught

to

be

specially required

to relieve the rates.

Th ere is one

thing

about

th

e unemp loyed question

which always puzzles me-namely,

Why

does every person

you ask give a different reason for

it, and

generally a pre·

ju

diced

one? Th

ere

mu

st be a correct reason,

and

some

of our best-informed .men

must

know

the

reason. Why

cannot the

laws wh10h govern labour economics

be

laid

down simply

in

text-books

and taught

in schools ?

I t ap pears to me

that

if every man

in the

country made

the

greatest

possible prod uction of useful commodities

by

means of

the

most improved machinery, and that every

gaol, workhouse,

&c

.,

wa

s conve

rted into

a modern high

class factory, we should then be

in the

best wealth-pro

ducing condition. But I am told no. t would interfere

with

free labour to put prisoners to useful work or employ

workhouse people usefully.

They

say,

in

effect, the less

the output the

richer we are;

the

fewer

the

workers,

and

the

more numerous

th

e idlers,

the

higher

the

wages

and

the better off the people. One man says we want a good

war

to reduce

the

population. Another, l

et

us build war

ships to employ the people. The building trades pray for

fires

and earthquakes, the

deco

rator

s for royal

w e d d i n g t ~ ,

the

shipbuilders for gales

and

shipwrecks,

&c

.

I

cannot,

however, see

bow limiting

production,

or de

stroying

what

is already produced,

or putting people

criminals or

not-to

unproductive labour

can

be of

the

l

east

service

in in

creasing w

ealt

h, nor

can

I see how in

creased production of useful commodities can fail to

increase wealth.

You

rs faithfully,

J.

F.ERRADEE.

Stafford, Dec ember 19, 1893.

ECONOMICAL SPEED OF STEAMSHIPS.

To TITE EDITOR Ob ENGINEERING.

Sm,-

In his

letter

of October "

Se."

calls at en·

tion to an

error of

Mr. W. J. ~ l 1 l l a r

s, where

he

asserts

[DEc. 2 2 1893.

that the work done will

vary

as the producti of

the

power exerte

d

and

space traversed."

f

that is the

actual wording it must

undoubtedly be a

slip of

the pen.

"B. Se.,

"

to

prove

the erro

r, makes use

of the assumption that the power

varies

a3

the

cube

of the

velocity;

and though I am perfectly aware that

this

is

stated

on

the authority

of Rankine, I

am

afra

id

it is rw

t

at

all

in

accor

dan ce

u·ith fact.

No one has a higher

r

espect

for

the writings

of

Rankine than

I have,

butl

I

ca

nn

ot accept

them

as infallible, and when his statements

do

not

agree

with

actual

experiment, ·I, for one, part com

pany with him

on

this

road to knowledge.

f

"B. Se." says

he

believes

Rankine

notwithstanding

-which

is

equivalent to "so much the

worse for

the

facts "

- there is

an end

to

the

arg

ument; but

if

he

thinks my

statement

is

not

corr ect, I hope

he

will give

me

a few

examples (one

or tw

o good ones will be sufficient) of ships

or torpedo-boats whose horse-power

varies

as

the

cube of

the velocity.

I

ca

n

give

him dozens where it is either very

mu

ch less or ve

ry mu

ch more, whichever he pleases. Of

course

there must be

no nonsen

se

about

the

examples.

They mu

st emb

ra

ce a wide range of speeds. " B. Se."

will find that

at

low speeds

the

power varies considerably

lower

than

V 3: at

about

10

or

12 knots it is somewhere

about V3;

the

power then increases much f

aste

r

than

V3

up

t o about 17 knots, above which speeds it again increases

at a lower

ratio

than V 3 

Th e

re

s

istanc

e does

not vary a.s

V 2  but

as

kt or

f J

et, or Ey

V,

or

l Oa

V, up to

about

17

knots, where

t=time,

V

=v elocity;

k {3, y,

and

a being constants.

Above 17

knots the

law changes.

R.

DE

V

L L A ~ l i L .

St. Hel

ena,

November 24,

1893.

PATENT

OFFICE

LIBRARY.

To THE EDITOR

OF

ENGINEERING

.

SIR,-   fully indorse

the remarks

of " Disgusted "

re

the delay

in getting

periodicals a.t

this

library. '.fhere are,

however, some foreign periodicals, such

as the

"Revue

Generale des Chemins

de

Fer," the "Organ fiir }

i'o

rt

schritte," which

appear

ve

ry

ir r

egularly, so that thP

Patent Office librarians

ca

nnot

be

altogether blamed for

the unpunctuality with

which the se appear on

the

tables

of

the library

rooms.

A good

cata

logue is sadly wanted, also some arrange

ment

whereby

re a

d

ers

would

be

enabled

to

find

out what

new books

are

put on

the

shelves.

There

is also much

delay in th is respect, for one wou

ld

naturally expect

that

a Patent Office library would t

ry to keep abreast

of

the

tim es

with

rega

rd

to

te

chn i

ca

l li tera ture.

The lighting

of

the

l

ibrary

leaves

mu

ch

to be de

sired,

and ibis

a wonder to me that

th e

re

are

so

many

visitors

ab night. Several systems of gas lighting hav e been

tried, but

I

thin

k

the present

arrangement is the worst

of all. \Vhy has

not

electric

light

been introduced ? \Ve

hope

to

see

marked

improvements

in th

e new

Pate

nt

Office

library,

for

the

present manag

e

ment

is

in

ma

ny

respects most unsatisfactory.

Yours faithfully,

London, N., December 18, 1893.

M ERNOK.

METHOD OF TAKING OUT STRESSES.

To THE EDITOR OF ENGINEERING.

SIR,- notic

e that

in

my letter

of November 1

4,

kindly

published by you on

the

,15th inst

., ther

e is

an

error,

viz., in the formuhe for flanges "cosine" should read

' 'sine

"

in

every case. I believe

this

is

my

mistake.

With apology for giving you so much trouble,

I am, yours

truly,

B URNET

ADA.MS.

December 17, 1883.

T HE "BnYri

SH A ssociATION   Scmnv

T BREAD Sr

sT

EM

-M essrs. SeHg,

So

nnenthal,

and

Co. , London, have

brought out one

of

their

"Lightning "

pattern

screw

plates

adapted

to

the

"British AssociatiOn system" of

screw th read. The case contains nine sizes, Nos. 0 to 8,

and

should do much towa

rd

s extending

the

adoption of

th is valuable system of threads.

The

dies are circular in

form,

and are

held

in an

elastic stock.

The adjustment

is made

by a.

conical-hE-aded screw, which tends to separate

the dies, whilst

th

ey can be forced together by a tighten

ing

screw on

the

stock.

They

are

th u

s held very rigidly.

Th e thread is out full

depth

at one operation.

CATALOGUE

S. - We hM

·e

received from the General

Elecric

Company, Limited, of

69

and 71, Queen Victoria

street, London, a copy of th eir catalogue of electric p lant

for 1894.

Incand

escent

lamp

s

are

a new feature in

this

catalogue,

the Edis

on ·Swan monopo

ly

having expired.

Of these, two classes are supplied by the company, viz.,

long life

lamps and

high-efficiency lamps.

'l

'he former

take 56 watts for 16 candle-power lamps,

and ha

ve

an

average

lif

e of 12

00

hours.

An important

note is added,

to the effect that Continental candle-power is 14 per cent.

less

than the

E nglish

st andard, a fact

of which con

sumers would do well to

take

note

in

purchasing foreign

ma<ie lamps. In addition to

lamp

s,

the

catalogue in

cludes

illustrated and

priced descriptions of practically

every variety of electric

plant,

from dynamos

to

medical

coils.-We ha

ve also received a copy of

the

new catalogue

issued

Me

ssrs. J . Copeland

and

Co., of

the

Pul teney

street Engine

Works, Glasgow, con taining reprodu ctions

of photographs

taken

of

the

different

types

of engines,

boilers, evaporating plant, hydraulic presses,

and other

machinery con

structed by

them.

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•

DEc.

22,

1893.] E N G I N E E R I N G

VERTICAL

ENGINE

AND CENTRIFUGAL PUMP.

C)NSTRUCTED BY ~ I E S S R S . THWAITES BROT

HE

RS, LIMITED

 

E ~ G I N E E R S BRADFORD.

WE illustrate on this page a centrifugal pump and

engine combined, which is being

exhibited by

Messrs.

Th waites Brothers, Limited, of Bradford, along with

other

machines,

at

the

Industrial Exhibition

at

New

castle-on-Tyne. The pump is constructed on

th

e

Capell

prin

ciple,

and

is capable of discharging 450

tons of water per hour. The engine is,

as

will

be

seen, of the vertical type, the cylinder being sup

ported on four

stee

l columns of

ample

size, so

as to

insure complete stiffness in working. A

ll the

working

parts

ar

e

made adjustable and with large

wea

rin

g

surfaces,

and

the

lubricatio

n is automatic and

adapted for continuous running. The combination

is specially

suitable

for

draining

docks,

or

for circu

lating the water through the condensers on board

ship,

and

owing

to the

special

constr

u

ct

ion of

the

pump,

it

is c

laim

ed that

it ca

n

be

run

at

a slower

speed than any other pump of the same size. The

results of trials supporting this c

laim

were

published

in our issue of February 3, 1893. We und erstand

that

Messrs.

Thwaites have

a

large number

of

these

machines in

progres

s

for

va

ri

ous vessels in our Navy.

•e

THE M

EXICAN

NAVY.-The establishment of a Govern

ment dockyard is being

co

nsidered in

co

nnection with the

proposed improvement of

the

Mexican Navy. The

port

of Guayma.s is said to be its probable site. Vera Cruz is

to have

an

arsenal and a floating dock. The latter is

being built in France.

BAXTERS' LOCK NUT.

THE accompanying

illustrat

ion represents an ar

rangement introduced by Messrs. Baxters, Limited

Sandiacr

e, No

tt

s,

with

the

v

iew

of co

unteracting

t h ~

tendency

of

nuts to

slacken

under vibration, with

out

in

terfer

ing with fre edom of

adjustment. There

are

really

two nuts.

That touching the

work has

as shown in the illustration , a fem ale cone, and t h ~

upper

nut

is

shaped

to fit

into

this. The upper

nut

is split through,

and

is sprung on to the stud, so that

771

th

ere is always a certain pressure between it

and th

e

stud. Any loosenin g of the lower

nut,

due to work

ing, will tend to press

it

upwards, and, by

means

of

the cones, the pressure of the upper nut ou the stud

will

be

increased.

INDUSTRIAL NOTES.

THE state of the skilled labour market , as disclosed

by

the

Board of Trade Jou rnal

and

the Labou1·

a

zette

shows a decrease in

the

proportion of unem

ployed o r th e first

ti m

e this year. Indeed, the

pro·

portion

is

even slightly

under

that

of 1892

at

the

same

d

ate

.

In

the thirty

-

two

societies

which

r e

ported

there was an

aggregate

of 338,689 members,

the total

number of unemployed being 24,534,

or 7.2

per cent.,

as against

7.3

per cent.

in

October. In October and

November of las t year

the proportions

were

7

9

and

7.8 per cent. respectively. Considering that the total

numb

er of societies

reporting

is ten

more

this

year,

with a largely increased membership in nearly all

cases, the returns are more favourable than was

expected. rhe

percentage

of

unemployed members

in

th

e thirty-two societies shows a larger proportion

out

of

work all through th

e year,

as

compared

with

last year, but, whereas

the

number increased rapidly

from the end of August

up

to the end of November,

in

1892,

the variation

th is year in

the

same

thre

e months

has been very ttlight, and the curve is now towards a

lessened

proportion,and

this, too, in spite of

the

disloca

tion of trade by

the

coal crisis, lasting over four

months.

In the shipping and iron and steel

trades

the propor

tion out of work was large,

being equal

to 12.2 per

cent. of the total, bn , on the whole, the prospects are

br

ig

hter

than

for

some

time past.

In

the

building

trades the proportion

out

of work was

only

3.7 per

cent

., as

compared with

3.6 in the

previous

month.

The furnishing trades

show

some

improvement,

the

ratio being 5.4 per cent. out of work, as against 6.1

in

the

previous

month.

The

co

tton trades are

brisk,

but

the

woollen, silk, hosiery,

and

lace

trades

are

depressed.

The

clothing

and

boot

and

shoe

trades hav

e

been very f lack, especially for this season of

the

year,

while the printing and allied trades have fallen from

5.2 per cent.

to 3.8 per

cent. of unemployed. The

classified percentages show that only 1 per cent. of

the

engineering

and sh ipbuilding industries

report

trade

as

good,

while 81

per cent. represe

nt it as

dull

to very bad. This is the worst case of all the detailed

trades.

The

number

of fre sh disputes is fewer,

and

the

numbers involved smaller than in

any

month of

this yea

r. Of

the 35,7

69

members affected

by disputes,

32,000 belonged to

the

Scotch coalmining industry,

in which the dispute has, happily, ended.

The

engi

neering

and c o ~ n a t e

trades appear

to have

no

dis·

pute worth

recording.

Unusual attention has been given

to the state

of

trade in the unskilled branches of labour, and some

rather

curious

results

are given

as the

outcome of

special inquiry.

t

appears that the dock

and

river

i d ~ workers have,

a

s a

r u l ~ b e e ~ steadily

employed,

an Improvement bem g mamfest m

London

and Liver

pool, while

at

Cardiff work continues brisk. As re

gards the emp loyment

of dock labourers in London at

all places except Tilbury,

the

total employed in the

last week

of

November was

7736,

as

compared with

6886 in

th

e first week of the

month.

The average for

t he four weeks was

7151,

as compared with

7313

in

November, 1892. The average

n

October

was

6698

as compared with 6812 in October la

st

year. The m o r ~

detailed figures in

the

c

hart

show a larcre

rise n the

proportion

of employed during

the

two last weeks of

November. But the total number of paupers has in

creased

rather

largely, and some curious suggestions

arc thrown

out

as to the cause. Th e coal strike

affected

very many

adversely,

by

slackness of

work

and

decreased wages.

Illness

also

has

contributed to

the increase of pauperism in various districts. But it

appears

that the most

notable feature

in the increase

of pauperism is from the ranks of the common lodging

house class, a class

which,

from one cause aml another

such as unfitness from sickness, priv

at

ion

and

a

roving

disposition, seldom

ta

kes permanent employment.

These people

have,

doubtless, also suffered from the

coal

st

rikes, for the money collected for the miners in

the

streets of London

was div

er t

ed

fr om

the

ordinary

beggar. But in West Ham

the

increase has been ab

normal, there

being over

3000

paupers more than

in

November, 1892. In mo

st

of

the east-end

districts of the

m e t r o . p o l ~ certain trades are very slack, but the chief

suffenng 1s

among the

labouring

class of a

rather

un·

certain character as to regular employment, that is to

say, the

casual

labourers

generally. Many

railway

em

ployes,

and those

whose work is in connection with the

railways and the other carrying trades, north, south,

east, and west, have

suffered owing

to

the coal dis

pute. that. disput

e is

now ended,

it

is .

probable

that

the mdustn

es affected will

revive

somewhat

and

thus lessen

the

number of unem

ployed

and of the

paupers.

The

report of the Boilermakers and Iron Ship Builders

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•

~ o c i e t y

for December shows a

very bad state

of

trade,

m so

far as employment

is concerned

in

those

indus

tries.

The

total number

on the

funds was

8743,

as

against

8486 last mon th .

The number

on

donation

was

3889,

as compared with

4060

last month,

a de

crease of 171

;

but there was an increase of 187 sign

ing the vacant book, which more

than

counterbalances

the decrease. The number out of work was 6852, or 18

per cent. of the total members, exclusive of the sick

and superannuated. The cost of benefits was 7075l.

nearly. The report says : All th is does not look very

bright, but we

are

inclined to think that soon after th e

New Y eo.r has

co

mmenced there will be

an

improve

ment. There are

indica-tions in

the right

directions.  

\Vith all the depression, the

number

of members

in

creases, whi ch is a most

unusual

thing in the history

of trade unions. An increase of contributions is im

posed upon all members who

run out of

benefit, so

that neglect to pay

up

imposes upon

them

ex tra pay ,

with the loss of benefiL for a time. Efforts

are

also

be

ing made to

restrain

the agents

of some employers

touting for

men out

of t

he district. Th

e report re

minds such

employers that

the

society

often

he

lp

s them

when trade

is

brisk

and

men

scarce, so that

there ought

to be

some reciproc

ity. But, generally, the emp

loyers

and

the union work harmo

niously

together, as the last

four years abundantly prove. The report contains an

item of 17l. l ls. 4d. paid to a shipbuilding firm for

losses sustained by the bad workmanship of four mem

bere. But the men named have to repay the amount

to the soci

ety

before being entitled to benefit. The

bonus claims are rather heavy- 2125l. for accidents,

nine of which

ar

e for 100

l.

each, and 23 for

50l.

each,

the other& being 25l. each. The outlook in the several

chief s

hipbuilding di

s

tr i

c

ts

is

not very

promising,

but

on the Clyde alone there

are about

177,000 tons in

hand . On the Tyne things are

quiet

. On

the

Tees

there is

an

improvement. In the boiler and bridge

making

dist ricts

things

look a

little brighter,

and

especially in th e

St a

ffordshire

districts.

As the

ship

joiners' st rike

is

ended, things

will be bu sier en the

Clyde

for some

time

to come. There is me

ntion

of

an

appeal to the Government

rP.specting some

recent

con

tracts.

In

th e La

nca

s

hir

e

districts there

is a

mor

e hopeful

ton

e

in

th e engineering

bran

ches of

industry, although

just

at

pr esent the signs of revival are few and not very

apparent. Heavy stationary engine bu ilders have a

fa ir amount of work on hand, and machine tool mak ers

are tol erably well employed,

but

generally th e estab

lishme

nts

for t he most p9.rt are only moderately sup

plied

with

w

ork

. In the boilermaking branches

trade

is quieter than it

ha

s been for some time p

as t

, and in

the locomotive branches the trade outlook is far from

satisfactory.

In th

e :

Manchester distri

ct

the

engineers

describe trade as bad; the

steam

engine makers as

moderate, but

with

a

slight

increase in the number of

un

emplo

ye

d the

ma

chine workers

and

metal planers,

and also brassfounders and finishers,

report

th e

state

of

trade

as moderate, but

the

boilermakers as bad,

th ough the

number

out of

work

has not increased. In

the iron

trade

there

h

as be

en a firmer tone,

but not

so

mu

ch on

account

of a largely increased demand, as

because of

the

sc

ar

c

ity

of

su

pplies. The expec

tati

on

is that

pr i

ces will

advance during

the

next

two

or three

months,

a

nd therefore

the

re appears to be

some

de

sire

to pla

ce

orders

for

delivery

at

present rates during that

period. Manufactured iron is firm

at

recent rates,

but

there is no quotable advance at present. In the

steel trade raw material has advanced by about 1s. per

ton,

but

for ste el boiler plates quotations are merely

nominal, as there is very

little

inquiry.

In

the

Oldham and Bolton

district

s the iron and s

te

el in

dustries are a

little

brighter; two large iron works,

long closed owing to the coal

di

spu te, have been re

opened,

and

generally

there

is a more hopeful tone.

In the

Barrow

district the steel works have re-started,

and at \Vorkington the men

at

the steel works

ar

e on full time. The shipping

trades

are, however,

quiet. In

the Li

verpool

distri

ct

the ~ i p p i n g

dust ries an d

all

cognate branches

are

qUlet, and m

some cases

ver

y dull. But

the

general

run

of

~ h e

cot ton industrie

s

keep

well employed,

and

the build

ing

trades are

f

ai

rly well off for work,

bearing in mind

th

e season of the

year.

On

the

whole the outlook is

not altogether di

sc

oura

ging,

thou

gh

there ~ r e

few

actual indi

c

ations

of

activity

.

In th

e chem1cal

and

glass indu

st r

ies trade has been resumed, af ter the long

stoppage for lack of coal, but many men are still o

ut

of

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

request. Armour and

s

hip

-

pla

te ma

kers are very

slack,

but

a few firms

are fairly busy

in

the

r

ai

lway

t

yre

and

ax

le

departments.

Skate

an

d

joiners

' tool

makers are fairly

bus

y, and iron

a

nd steel

found

ers

are

a little

better

off

for work,

th ough 7 per cent .

ar

e

st ill out of work, while many are on short time. Steel

smelters are moce active, for the demand for Bessemer

and Siemens steel billets is fairly good, and that for

steel wire is causing exceptional activity. There is

also

an in

creased demand for best crucible

cast

steel,

both for export and for

th

e better classes of cutlery.

In t

he

general staple

trades

of the dist rict it is alleged

that fully 50 per cent. are only pa.rtially employed, and

th

e Sheffield C

orporation

is finding

work

for

the

labouring class in levelling, laying, and improving the

recreation grounds of the town,

in ac

cordance

with

the c

ir

cu

lar

of

the

Local Gove

rnment

Board. The

building

trades are busy, very

few

re

ally s kill

ed

men

being

out

of work.

In

other

districts

of

Yorkshire the

engineering and cognate

bran

ches of trade are ve

ry

dull. In Leeds and th e

surr

ounding district one

large

firm is stated

to

be busy, a

nd

that one is on

special

work, the

manufac ture of elec

trical

appliances,

for which th ere is a good

demand

at

pr

ese

nt.

The

ironfounder

s and st ee

lworkers are ver

y

sla

c

k, the

close of

the

coal

strike not having had the

full effect

expected as yet.

But th

e glass trades are better off

for work now that fuel is no longer scarce. York

shire generally suffered much from the coal dispute,

and the districts a.re very slowly reco

ver

ing from th e

di sorganised condition of

tr

ade conseque

nt

thereupon.

The industries not large

ly

dependent upon the coal

supply are in a bet ter condition, but all have suffered,

and

are still

suffering, from the sa.m e cause.

In the Hull

district

engineering

and

shipbuilding have

been in a

bad

state for some time pas

t, fr

om 20 to 25

per

cent. of workmen being out of work. But owing to the

recent gales and damage to shipping, a good deal of

rep

airing has come in, which

ha

s given a degree of

ac t

ivi ty

not

otherwise

obtainabl

e, the

number

of un

em

pl

oyed

ha

ving th e

reby be

en

redu

ced.

The other

s

hipping

and

riverside

trades

ha

ve

be

en bu

sy

since the

close of the coal

dispute,

and the

demand

for

sea

men is

grea

t

er than

for some

time past

. On the whole,

things are

b

etter

and

bright

er

in Hull than

f

or

a long

t ime

has

been

the

case.

The pr

ospects for

the

new

year also are regarded as tolerably favou

rJ..b

le, as trade

goes.

In the W olverhampton dist rict some good business

was done during the

past

week, th ough the orders

booked were of limited weight, mos

tly

for home con

sumption, aud for the

co

mpletion of contracts. There

were also good inquiries for galvanised sheets,

co

mmon

bars,

and

hoop

ir

on,

by export

agents.

But

the

wou

ld

-be buyers

co

mplain of high prices, and hold

back. t is said that Belgian makers and competitors

ara again

in the mark

et

with

building

and bridg

e

building requisites, underselling th e

British

makers .

t

is s ta ted that

the

Belgian pr ices

are

15s. p

er

ton

below local makers

in

St aff

ords

hire,

after

all

the

cost

of ca rriage. Yet

the

local

makers

declare that th

ey

cannot

make at a

profi

t

whil

e coal

and

fuel

are

so

dear

in pr i

ce. The

mak

ers of finish

ed ir

on, bars,

plate

s,

and

angles especially complain, a

nd

even hint

the

possi

bility

of closing

the

works

in

preference

to

reducing pre

sent pr ices. Steel plates and billets are in fair demand,

and fair offers are made for common sheet , angle, and

ship iron for home consumption. In

th

e engineering

branches trade is regarded as fair,

but

some are out of

work. Puddlers, mill rollers, steel workers, and blast

furnacemen are busy when coal is

av

ailable. Bridge

and girder makers, boiler and ta.nk makers, and

gasholder makers are well employed, as also

are

the

heavy iron founders. In the ha

rdwar

e

trades

business

is dull,

except in

the

l

oc

k

tr

ade.

Th

e

br

ass a

nd

co

pper

trades

have improved

in

some branches, and so also

have edge.tool

and

agricul tural implement makers.

Short time is being worked in the tinplate, iron-plate,

and

steel

toy trades;

t he anvil-smiths

and

vice-makers

are

also slack. Genera

lly

the

district

has well main

tained ita own for some months

past, but the

competi·

tion

of

other districts

will now

be

felt

in

m

ost

cases.

In

th e

pottery distr

ict s of Staffords

hi r

e

the iron and

ste

el and the engineering

trades

suffered severely by

the

scarcity of coal fuel generally.

Fully

10 p

er

cent.

of

the

engineering

trad

es

are unemp

loyed.

But

it is thought that t rade will improve with the New

Year in all the local industries, as well as in the iron

employment.

and steel trades. Among the miscellaneous trades of

In the Sheffield and Rotherham

district

the local the dist rict there is a slight improvement in some,

indust ries generally are

not

so active as usual

at

th is while others maintain the general activity which has

time of year. The silv

er

and electro-plate trades are prevailed for some tim e past , in cases not much affected

not so well employed as

in

previous years at t ~ i s by th e high pr ice of fuel. The worst tr ades report

date. th ey

are

working twelve hours

per

day m- 10 per cent. of the men out of work, while some

are

stead

of fifteen

usually in

Dece

mber. There

is a

as

low

as

4 per cent.

The

general

average would

be

larger demand for

railway

material than for the last about 7i

per

cent. unemployed in the dis

tri

ct.

three months but

the

accumulation of

work

is said . .

ot

to equal'

the

losses

resultin

g from

the recent

In

the

Bristol, Gloucester,

and S o ~ e r s e

t 6 h 1 r rlis-

~ t o p p a g e .

Cutlery,

files, a

nd

steel generally

quiet

tr icts e n ~ i n e e r i n g is not so ~ o o d as m but

to

dull,

but engineering work is

said to

be m

bett

er . the electr1cal branches are fa1rly busy . Shipwrights,

[DEc.

22

1893.

boilermakers,

and ironfound

e

rs report

no improve

ment in trad

e,

but

the iron and

tinpla

te work

er

s

are

fully emplo

yed.

The

iron trade

is a lso

reported

good

in Gloucestershire.

The miners in

th e

Forest

of Dean

are busy,

but

not over bu

sy

in the Bristol and

Somerset coalfields gen erally.

In the Birmingham district, engineers, toolmakers,

machinists, bedstead-makers, and cycle-makers are

more active,

but

a goodly

number

of men are out of

employment. Bra.ssworkers on electrical work are

busy, but not for cabinetwork or house furnishing.

Ele

ctro-plate workers,

metal

rollers, tubework ers,

wireworkers,

and the

several branches

of

th

e iron

trade

are tolerably

well employed. The tinplate

trad

e is fairly good, but some are out of work.

\Vork

ers

in malle

abl

e

iron are

busy, and iron fencing

is

in

demand. Enamelled sig n

and

advertising

trades

are so

bu

sy th at some are

working

night

and

day. Many of the miscellanous

trade

s of the dist

rict

are fa

irly

well

empl

oyed, a

nd

several that were

depressed

are

feeling some improvement .

The

bed·

stead.

maker

s

have

sec

ured an advance

of 5

per ce

nt.

by

federating with

the employers.

This

appears to

be

one of

the

poss

ible

methods of

industrial pe

ace in

the future.

In

the coal tra.des the first ste p has been taken in

the constitution of a Board of Conciliation,

a.

meeting

of the reprenta.tives of the coalownersand the federated

miners having been held to prepare a code of working

rul es and elect a. chairman.

'fhe

lat ter they were

not able to agree upon, so that the

matter

is referred

to the Speaker of the House of

Co

mmons to nominate

one.

I t

is a

matter

of

regret

th

at

the

conference could

not

agree upon a chairman, bu t the provision of a way

out

of the difficulty in case of

any

want of agreement,

has been found

to

be most valuable. The

re

seems

to be little

doubt

as

to

the successful launching of

the Conciliation Board at the date originally fixed.

The

Scotch miners

ha

ve

arrang

ed

their

diffi

cu lty,

and

coal no longer blocks

the way

to indus trial ac

tivity.

The question for the

public

now is, \Vhat is

to

be done

to

r

ed

uce prices ?

The

min

ers are ge tting

no more

wages now

than they

were six

month

s ago, except in

So

uth

Wales, where th ey have

an

increase of

per

cent., and in some parts of Scotland an d in the

Forest of Dean;

but

the price of coal is

at

least 6s.

or 7s. p er ton dearer in London, and much dearer else

where tha.n it was six months ago.

The House of Lords has passed the Employe r& '

Liability Bill through Committee, and also the

third

reading. Now it will ha

fe

to be returned to the

Commons wi

th the contracting-out

clause in

it

,

and

some

further

amendments .

The

question is, \Vhat

will the House of Commons do ?

The

answer is believed

to

be : Reject the amendments of

the

House of Lords,

and

resto

re

th e Bill to

wh

ere it was when it

left

the

Commons.

Th

e

re

is some t

al

k of a possible mod lls

lirendi, after a conference

with

the Lords,

but

much

will

depend upon

the

way in

which

the

advocates of

the

chang

e

made

in the Bill condu

ct th

eir cause in

the

Commons. f no

arran

gement can

be

effected , the

work

expended on

this

Bill is

practically

lost .

For

the

present t he Bill is

bung

up. ,

BRITISH

COLONIES

T THE

WORLD'S

COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION.*

By J AlfES DREDGE, Member of the British Royal

Commission.

(

C )l lcluded

fr

om page

7 45.)

4, 5,

AND 6. J A hfAIC

A,

TRINI

DAD,

BRJTISR GtHANA We

must

pass over with only a few words the

sp

lendid e

ff

o

rts

made by these little

co

loni

es

t ') do credit to the Mother

Country, to show th e world

th

e

ir

special resources, and

to aid in

the

success of the Columbian Exposition. The

view of

the Jamai

ca Court in

th

e Manufactur

es

Building

will suffice

to

show how well arranged and varied were

th

e

contri

butions from this island. They comJ?rised

specimens of all the useful animal, vegetable, and mmeral

products, plans and photographs, pottery, textile goods,

aud other

nat

ive manufactures. and statistics. The

J a.maica

ex

hibit was

und

er

th

e charge

of

Co lonel C.

J.

Ward,

the

commissioner for

th

e colony.

The ve

ry beau

tiful display

of

timber in

the Forestry

and

u l t u ~ a . l

Building, made by Trinidad, under

the

care of

JV

r.

Vm·

cent, opened up new possibilities to American builders,

and especially to the constructors of rai l way cars, for

wh om nothing is too costly in the way of wood for

in ternal deco ration. t is satisfA ctory to note that it is

the earnest desire of this colony to present its co llecticn

to your Institute.

British Guiana, with Mr. J . J. Quelch as commis

sioner, shone chiefly in the Agrioultural Building,

wh

ere

in a. very beautiful pavilion the agricultural products of

th

e

co

lony were well displayed.

1 I NDIA.-India was, unfortunately, but very poorly

represented, th ough the handful of f'xhibit

oJ

s in the

Manufactures Building exhibited In dian textile, metal

work, c., of great value. The

~ s i o

Mr.

Read in abstract before

th

e Imperial Institute.

I

7/17/2019 Engineering Vol 56 1893-12-22

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/engineering-vol-56-1893-12-22 26/29

•

D

Ec

. 2 2, 1893.]

Blechynden, however, erected a. very beautiful Oriental

pavilion in

the

grounds, chiefly for the benefit of the

Indian Tea. Association, and in this building, eight

differe

nt

di ·

trict

s and about 100 different companies were

represented. t

ap{>ear

s probable

that

one result of

the

Co lumbian E xpos1t10n in

the

U nited St

ate

s, will be a

large t ransfer of

the

tea t rad e from

China.

to

India

a

nd

Ceylon.

8. C.\NADA.- Th ere remains for notice the exhibib made

by

the

Dominion of Canada.. As may be nat urally sup

posed, thi s exhib

it

was of

th

e highest

imp

ortance, and one

of special

interest

to that section of

the

Americ

an

people

who l

oo

k f  rw

ard

w

ith

hope

to the

Dominion seoe

dmg

from allegiance a

nd

throwing in

its

l

ot

with

th

e

Stars

and

S t r i p ~ s

pr

oba.bly

th

ere is nob a

ve

ry large

numb

er of

serious people e

ither

in t b ~

United S ta tes or Canada. who

regard th is

n t i n ~ e n o y

as a possible one, and

the

mphat

ic loyaHy displayed during

the

whole period of

th

e Exhibition by Canadians of all shades of politi

ca

l

opinion, who visited Chicago,

mu

st have been sufficient

to set

at rest

any doubt

which might

pr

eviously have

j

•

•

•

I •  

E N G I N E E

RI

N G.

Building, the trophies of bituminous and anthracite coal

from British Co lumbia, and of

ot

hers from the Nova.

Scotiacoalfi elds,

hint

ed at the wide

exte

nt of th is sour

ce

of wealth. The se and displays of nickel and nickel ore

formed

th

e chitlf f

eatu

re of

th

e

Ca

nadian mining court,

but

there we

re

also remarkable collect ions of minerals from

all

part

s of

the

Dominion.

Th

e

Forestry

Building showed

how

ri

ch Canada is in woo

d,

b

ot

h of fine

qu

a

lity

and

colour for cab inet and decorat ive work, and in pine and

cedar. The Douglas fir from the Pacific slope was exhi ·

bit

ed in planks 4 in. thi ck, 4 ft. wide, and of prodigious

length, and the Quebec

pine

and spruce were also we

ll

r

ep

resented. E specially worthy of notice was

th

e tro

phy

of w

oo

d p ulp in all stages of

manufa

c

ture

, from

th

e rough

timber

to

fini shed

pa

per, a

nd many

ot

her a

rti

cles

manu

factured from th is material. The pa ,·ilion of Canada

in

the Agricultural Hall was one of the beautiful objects

within the building; it illustrated in a concentrated form

the mag ni fice

nt

resources of

th

e soil enjo.ved by the

Dominion. Ooe of

the

objects

that at t

racted most

po

pular attentio

n was a monster cheese w

ei

ghing 11

to

ns,

,

•

•

FIG.

13.

H ORTICULTURAL

SE

CT

IO

X.

existed on

the

subject.

Th

e various pictures thrown on

the

screen will serve

to

gi

'

e an idea of

th

e

exte

nt

and

oba.raoter of the diapl

a.y

wade

by Canada. in almost eve

ry

department

of

the

E xhibition.

In

the

Manuf

actur

es

Building th e crowded space behind th e handsome screen

upon

the

main aisle was filled with ex

hibit

s attesting the

manufacturing power of the Dominion.

Th

ere were shown

cases of t extile f

ab

rics, furs, leather, cutlery, and porce

lain ; trophies of bard ware, wall papers, stoves,

and

graphite;

exhibits of furn

itu

r

e,

musical

instrum

ents, and

carved stonework.

In the

Machinery

Hall th

e

Ca

nadian

section was hig

hly

creditable,

a l t h o u ~ h

of course

it

was

dwarfed by th e fine display made by Germany and some

ot

her

na t

10ns.

In

the

Tran

sportation Building, the

Canadian section was of exceptional interest. Bes ides

th

e magnificent exhibits

mad

e by

the

Canadian

Paci

fic

R ailw

ay

Company,

th

ere were a large

numb

er of objects

connected

with

railroad

equipment; there

was a fine

model of

th

e Chignec

to

s

hip

rai lway, which, when com

pleted, will sho

rt

en

the

ocean voyage to ports on the L ower

St. L awrence, and

spa

re vessels a long s

tr

etch of dangerous

navigation. T here was a. fine collection of road c l e ~

for which

Canada

is famous, including a large series l' f

sleighs. T h ~ r e were many models of vessels, amon

gst

which was a specially

fi

ne one of

the Empr

ess of J

apau.

one of the Pacific fleet wo

rkin

g

in

connection with

the>

trans

co

ntin

e

ntal

railroad ;

th

ere were also specimens

of na.tive canoes. The fishing indus

try

of Canada is

very impo rtant, and it was we

ll

represented

in the

Fi s

he

ry

Building by models, prepared specimens of all

kinds of fi sh

take

n in

Ca

nadian waters, fishing ap

pliances, fish

presened

for f

oo

d,

and

general products.

Th

e ad

va

ntage of prox

imity

t o Chicago, enjoyed by

Canad

a.

, e

na

bled her, among all

the

foreign countries,

to

make an exceptionally fine display

in

th

e H o

rt i

cu

ltur

al

Building, where she occupied 9000 ft ., divided in to th ree

court s, devoted to fruit, vegetables, and wine respectively.

In th is section

the

province of Ontario was conspicuous.

Especially interesting

wa

s

the

display from

an

experi

mental Government fa

rm

at

Ottawa

, from which were

sent one

hundr

ed

and thirty

varieties of grapes,

thirty

six of

ra

spbe

rr

ies, fifty-seven of c

urrants,

seve

nt y

-four of

gooseberries,

and

fo

rt y

-four va

ri

eties of che

rri

es. D

e

spite the fact that Canada. lost a large amount of her fruit

display by

the

destruction of

the

co

ld

storage bui lding,

she occupied one-sixth of

the

space set aside in

the

Horti-

cultural Building for fruit.

In

the vlines and Mining

and manufac

tured

for

the

Dominion Government ; one

of

the

Chicago newspapers, comment ing on

this

prodigious

effort of

the

dairy, sta ted

that

"ib was

due

to

the

col

labora

ti

on of no less

than

1400 cows.''

Finally

reference

should be made to

the

Canadian

}>av

ilion, where

the

executive representa.th·es had thetr offices. Of the

officials,

the

chief commissioner was

Mr.

T. S. Larke ; the

com

mi

ssioner for Central Toro

nto

was lVIr. G.

N.

Cock

burn;

for Ontario,

Mr. Awrey;

and for Quebec,

Mr. John

Mcintosb.

Th

e World's Columbian Exposi

ti

on of 1

893

was full of

wonders-

the

triumph

s of soience, of

art, and

of

industry

in

all its forms; it was a bewildering forecast of th e

legacy which th e energy and skill and civilisation of

the

expi ring century will bequeath to its successor. But

surely none of

the

illustrations of progress gathered

toge

ther

within

the

limits of J ackson Park exceeded

those co

ntribut

ed

by the

colonies of thi s cou

ntry

, whose

cr&

d

it

has indeed been nobly

maint

ained by her children.

SOME PRACTICAL EXAMPLES OF

BLASTING.*

By Mr.

PE

RRY F. Nu RSEY ,

Pa.sb

Pre

side

nt.

Contilnued

from

page 714.)

Demolition of a Bridge

t

R eadi ng .-   n

the

course of

widening

the

Great Western Railway between Maiden

hood and Didco tJ several brick and timber bridg

e3

bad to

be demolished and supersed ed by s

tructur

as on

mor

e

mode

rn

principles.

The

diffic

ulty

which

had

to be non

te

nd

ed

wit

h in

the

removal of these

bridg

es was that

th

ey were over

the

main line,

and

it was a

sine qw non

that th

e traffic should be in no way

in t

e

rf

ered

with

or

obst

ru

cted. t

wa

s originally in tended to put in skeleton

centre rib s wi th laggings under

the ar

ches, and

up

on

these to remove

the ar

ches piecemeal.

There

was not ,

however, sufficient room between

th

e minimum

st

ructure

gauge and

the

soffit of

th

e

ar

ches

to

introduce

the

ribs

a.od

lagging, so

that plan had

to be

ab

andoned.

Among

others w

as

one of Brunei's brick over bridges,

kn

own as

Mustard

L ane Bridge,

ca

rrying

the

ro

adway

across

the

line at l2 miles

71

chains, at the eas t end of Sonning

Cutting, near R eading. The contractors for that po

rt i

on

Pllper read before

th

e Society of Engineers.

773

of the works in which the bridge was si t

uat

ed were

Messrs. Lu cas and Ai

rd,

whose engineer, Mr .

Herb

ert

Ashley, consulted the author in

th

e spring of

1891,

to

the feasibility of removing

the s t ~ u c t

by blastmg.

Having

inspected

the

bridge and sa.t1sfied

the

con

tr a

cto rs

on

that

point,

and

having

submitted a.

scheme for

ca

rry

ing

out

the ope

rati

on,

th

o

auth

or was ins

tr u

c

ted to pro·

ceed with

th

e work.

The bridge consisted of th ree semi-elliptical brick spans

of 31ft. 6 in., and 28ft. 6 in. high from rail level to sof? t,

with brick abutments,

parap

ets

and

w ng walls, the u t ~ m g

here being 30

ft

. deep.

Th

e two p1ers were 5 ft. th1c

k,

and the

bridge was

19ft.

wide between

the

parapets.

~ b e

lines of rails passed

under the

ce

nt r

e

s p ~ n the two s ~ d e

spa

na bei

ng

over

th

e slopes of

th

e

cuttmg.

An outhne

of

th

e bridge,

with th

e

parapet

removed

ready

for

b l a s ~

ing, is seen at Fi g. 5 (next page). T.he

~ e m e

of

tion

pr

opounded by the author conststed m first cuttmg

thr

ough the crown of each of

th

e side

ar

ches by blasting,

and

th

en through

th

at of the cent re

ar

ch. 'l'his would

leave

the

piers standing

with a.

half-span

attached on

e

ith

er sid

e.

Then

by simultaneous

ly

firing charges on

the

inside of

the

two piers

at the

springing of the

centre

arch, it was conceived that

the

pier wou

ld

be thrown out

wards on to th e slopes of

the

cutting, th e two hal ves of

the

centre

arch falling on to the rails. T h i : ~ point was

important in view of clearing

a.

way

th

e debris, as

the

time

during

which the wo

rk

of denaolition

had

t o be carried

o

ut and the

line cleared was very s

hort

.

t

wast more

over, ordered

that

no explosive was

to

be placed m posi

ti

on

until a.

given train, which

mark

ed

the

commencement

of the longest

in t

erval, which was two ho

ur

s, bad

pa

ssed.

Th

e bridge was pre

par

ed by removing the road metalling

and

th

e_parapetsi and the holes were drilled as shown in

plan

at

Fig.

6. b will be seen that there were five sets

of fo

ur

holes, markoo respectiv e

ly A, B,

C, D,

and E.

In

deciding

U{>On the quantity

of explosive

to be

em

ployed, while us

mg

sufficient to bring down

the

bridge,

great

care

had

to be

tak

en

not

to damage

the

telegraph

wires. nor to injure a co

ttag

e which was situate just ab

the end of the bridge. Carbo-dynamite was the explosive

selected by

the

author for

the

work,

and ib

was decided

to c

har

ge each of

the

boles

in

row A with 8 oz ., those

in

row C

with

6

oz.

,

and

those

in

row E

with

6 oz . These

c

harg

es were for

cutting th r

ough

the

crowns of

the three

arches,

the

borebolee for which were 13 in. deep,

just

passing

t h r o u ~ b th

ree

gut

of

the

five rings of bri c

kw

o

rk.

In the two sertes of boles

Band

D, which were 5 ft. 6

in

.

deep,

and

were drilled

in

the haunches of the ce

ntral

arch, the charges for the t

op and

bottom boles were eaoh

16 oz., and those for

th

e two

intermediate

holes 14 oz.

each. The

quantity

of c

arb

o-

dyn

ami te used was there

fore

12lb.

8

oz.

, plus

tw

ent_ 

1-

oz.

prim

ers, which

brought

the

to

tal

to

13

lb. 12

oz

.

Th

e c

har

ges wera

tamp

ed

with

dry

loco

sa

nd.

'£he method of exploding the charges simultanrously

in three sets of fours

tn

th e crowns of

tbe ar

ches and one

set of eight in

the

two c h e ~ was a.s follows : A

length of ins

tantan

eous or lightning fu:Ge, burning at

the

rate

of 150

ft

. per second,

Wa

d attached to

the

de

tonator

in priming charge, and was led

io t

o a coupling box.

Here

th

ey were coupled

up to

a l

engt

h of

ordinary

30-

second safety fuze , which, on being lighted, burned down

to

the

group of instantaneous fuzes, igniting them

and

ex ploding the de

tonator

s,

and

through

them th

e charges.

The

arrangement of

th

e fu zes for exploding

the

chargE's

in the

crowns is seen at

Figs

. 7 and

9,

and that for ex

ploding

the

charges

in th

e haunches at Fi g. 8.

Th

e s

afety

fuze is marked S,

and the

ins

tantane

ous fuze I.

The

sim

ultan

eous explosion of

the

various cbarge3 was neces

sa

ry

in order, firstly, to get th e maximum effect out of

the combined c

har

ge ; secondly, to save tim e;

and

thirdly

to

p r e v

the possibility of the ex _plosion of one h a r g ~

separatmg

an

un

exp

loded one from tts fu ze, or otherwise

dislodging it so that it might cons

titute

a source of

dang

er to

the

workm

en

when clearing away

the

debris.

The day fi

xed f

o.

r

the l i t i o n

was

Sunday, April

19,

18

9

1, and everythmg

was

1n

re

adme

ss for c

harging the

holes at 2 p.m., ab which hour th e

train

which marked

the commencement of the longest interval was to

pa

ss.

As a. matter of fa

cb,

however, the

train

was 15 mintutes

late, but

di r

ectly it bad passed

th

e holes in row A were

b ~ r g

and

simult a

ne

ously fired,

the

crown of

th

e

ar

ch

be

mg

c:ut completely

th r

ough.

Rows

C

and

E we

re then

success1ve

ly cha

rged

and

fired

with

similarly satisfactory

resul ts.

Then

came th e heavier charges in

the

haunches

which were likewi se put in and fired.

t

was hoped that

would have ha.d the desired

e f f ~ t

of th rowing

the

pters over on to

the

slopes of

th

e c

uttmg, and permitting

th

e two halves of the ce

nt r

e span to fall inwards on to a

bed of st

raw

below. U nfo

rtunat

ely th is was

not the

case

for

th

e piers moved s

lightly

r

ound

upon themselves

and

the tw

o

hal

ves of

th

e cent re s

pan

jam

med

at

the

f ~ o n t

the

whole str uctu re, however, being broken up i n t ~

numerous partR, and ready to fall down directly the

nip

a.t

the

front was o v ~ r c o m e . To

th i

s e

nd

heavy ropes were

thrown

over

the r1m

of

the

arch,

ju

st at

the

bite,

and

a.tt a

.c

hed

to

a goods locomot1ve which bad

br

o

ught

up

a

tram

of wo

rkm

en a

nd ma t

erials

prior to the

blast.

After

.

two br

ea

kag

es o

f. the

ropes,

the

bridge

and

one of

the

p ~ e r s

ca

me .down w1th a c

ra

sh, se

nding

clouds of red

du.st mt o

the

atr. The

want

of success in bringing the

br1dge clean by m

ea

ns of

the

explosive was doubt

e a ~ due to

th

e 0 1 r c u m

a n c e that the

final charge was just

a. httle too

Tht

s was th e result of

an

xious care

fulness not

to

mj

th

e telt'gra.ph wires or

the adjacent

house .

On

mou

ntmg

to

the top

of

th

e

br

idge,

after the

explostons,

to

a

rrang

e

the

hauling

ta

ckle,

the

struc

tu re was seen to be re

nt

~ n d

fi

ssured

in

all directions.

t

was a l ~ o clear that a trtfie

t r o n ~ e r

chuge

in

each of

t h ~

boles. m.

the b a u n

of

the

c:e

ntre

arch would have

re :

ulted

m 1ts comp.lete, mstead of lt

ti partial,

collapse.

As soon

as the bndge

was down, a

ga

ng of

about 40 men

7/17/2019 Engineering Vol 56 1893-12-22

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774

ENG INEER ING

set to work to clear the down line,

which

was more free mite, roburite, secur

it

e, bellite, von Da.hmen's safety

from debri s than the up

lin

e. A

large portion

of one

pier dynamite,

fortis powder,

Hengst's

powder,

lith

ofra.

ct e

ur,

had deposited

it

self over

the

latter, while

the

other pier and carbo-dynamite. I t will be seen, however, that for

was

only slightly

shift

ed

from its

normal

position. As his

practi

cal work be has se

lect

ed th e two latter only.

the

larger

masses of

bri

c

kwork

were

broken

up, the debris This is not because of their

greatly

superior power over

was loaded into

tru

cks and the trusses of straw finally

the

others, for there is not, in his opinion, such

a.

ve

ry

cleared off, the down line being opened for traffic in about wide margin between any of them as regards strength as

two

hours

from the collapse of the s

tructure.

Th is wa.s is sometimes claimed for

them.

The

re

is, however,

a.

some

time after

the period assigned,

and

consequently

the

difference between some

of them a.s regards the

wa.y

in

traffic was delayed. As soon a.s the wa.y had been cleared, which they exert that strength. L et us

take,

for example

the

waiting

trains were passed through, and the traffic dynamite, which is the oldest and bes

t-kn

own high

e x ~

both

up

and down was

carried on

over

the

down rails. plosive

(but

which is now gradually being superseded by

The removal of

the

wreckage was no easy matter, as other nitro-compounds), and compare its action with

that

Brunei's

brickwork

held sp

lendidly together,

the pi

er on of

lith

ofracteur, which

at

one

time pr

omised to become

the up line obs

tinately re

sisting demolition on a

larg

e

its

formidable rival. Th e explosion of

dynamite

ta kes

scale,

and

yielding on

ly

to piecemeal disintegration and place with flashing rapidity, and its full power being so

removal.

I t

was a fine

night, though

rather cold, and a mstantaneously developed, its action is more or less

liberal

supply

of refreshments being provided by

the

con - locally in tensified, resu

lting in

a smashing effect within

tractors,

the

navvies and labourers stuck to their work a comparatively limited area. In lithofracteur, however

throughout the

night

as onlyEnglish navvies and labo

urer

s the power is developed a little more slowly, and the

can stick.

Nor

is less

to

be

sa

id for the company's

tardation

causes it. to act w.ith greater.liftiJ?R' and_

n d ~ n g

sectional engineer

and othe

r officials, who,

with th

e con- effect than dynamite,

and

Its power IS ut1hsed m domg

tractors' engmeer, remained by with the author and his work over a wider area. There are also two

ot

her featurea

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

I

. 

'

•

•

I

•

•

•

•

•

Fig

.5.

Fig

.6.

t ...

I

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

.

 

-

 

•

•

•

•

I

•

Fig .1.

(1970

£)

I I

L

l tnt of bort holeJ .J

I

I

-

  D

'

to 0

A]o

...0

•

80

0

1o

0

..

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

I

•

•

•

•

•

•

I

' '

•

•••

....

 

.. .. ....

 

. .. •6

•

•

I

I

0

CO

0

0

s

colleague, Mr . W

alter

F. Reed, all night. By 7 o'clock on

Monday

morning bo

th

lines were cleared,

and the

re·

mova.l of

the

wreckage sufficiently ad va.nced to permit of

the finish being left in the

hands

of subor

di

nates who

had

arrived to

relieve

guard

. Not being

able

to get

at

the

quantity of brickwork moved, the author can only sum

marise

th

e res

ult by

s

tating the

broad fa

ct that

one of

Brunei'

s

bridg

es, consisting of

three

spans of 31 ft. 6 in.

each, over

the Great Weste rn

Railway, was demolished

by

a di vided charge of 13 lb . 12

oz

. of carbo-dynamite.

With the exception of the delay caused t o the traffic, the

result

was conside

red

to be most satisfactory.

As

regard s the quantity of explosive employed to per

form a given

amount

of work,

the re

sult compares favour

ably with

that

in

the case of

another r i ~ g e in

n ~ i n g

Cutting, which was subsequently demohshed bla

st

m

g.

This bridge,

although

in the same cu

tting,

did not come

within Me

ssrs. Lucas and

Aird's

contract. It was

taken

down

in

September, 1891, but

not

by the author.

The

bridge had one semi-elliptical arch of

30

ft . Ppan and a.

roadway

width of

18 ft. 3 in., c

arrying

a. road over the

railway. The bridge was str i:r;>ped

in the

same way as

that removed by the author, In addition to which the

brick and conc

rete

backing was cleared away from both

sides of

th

e arch. In this case

the total

charge was 23

lb

.

12 oz. of tonite, disposed in thirty holes. As a matter

of course the disin tegration of the structure was more

complete: and the

c l e a r a n c ~

of

the b ~ i s

t h e r

effected more q u i c k ~ y than m the auth?r s case, as, m

deed,

it

should be

with lb

. of explos1ve for

.o

ne

ar

ch,

as

against

on

ly

l3i

lb. for th ree arches. In v1ew, how

ever of

the

delay

that

took

pla

ce

in .the

clearance

i o n after the blast in

the

author 's bndge, he would

undoubtedly

slightly increase his c h . a r ~ e s to a o s s

amount

of

about

16 lb.

in th

e case of a Simllar demoht10n,

other things being equal.

As r ~ g a r d s the precautionary measures taken, the

author

may menti

on that

in

order

to prevent

damage

to

the

rails by the projection downwards of

the

bottoms of

the shot holes,

or

by the fall of the bridge, the

permanent

way

was protected

by

a double layer of trusses of

straw

,

placed crosswise one over the other.

The

author, bow

ever, would not adopt this method again, for .the reason

that it binders the removal of the smaller port1pns of the

debris. In

pla

ce of

straw

he would use

stout

timbers .for

protecting the rails from injury. A further

pr

.ecautlOn

was the presence of a staff of telegraph w1th tools

and

material

s for repairing n y d a m ~ g e d w1res, but whose

services fortunately were not

r e q m ~ e d

although a ew

brickbats

were hurled tbroue-h the air at each explosiOn.

The windows of the

a . d j o ~ m n g

~ o t t a g e were opened,

and

the

tenants were temporarily evJCted. No

da.m

.age,

ever was done he

re

only a few fragme

nt

s of

bnck

falhng

b a r ~ l e s

although

not

noiselessly, the slated roo

f.

The

e a s o ~

for

th

is immu

nity

was ma.mly

du

e

to the

fact

that the holes we

re

all

put

in vertically, and

that

the

charges were well

di

stributed. . .

Selection of Explosivea.-In

the course of his experience,

th e author has had to x p e r i m e n ~ with and to demonstrate

on a working scale t b ~ p r a c t 1 o a ~ c h a . ~ a c t e ? f a. con·

sidera.ble number of

btgh

explostves, mcludmg dyna.·

I

I I

1

Ltnl or

/tlrt

holts

.-4

I

•

... . . .

.

• • .

.

.

.

,J )

0 0

0

00

Eo

0

0

0

I

I

•

• • - - 1

Ftf1

.9-

s .

which commanded lithofracteur and carbo-

dynamit

e

to

the author

in the circu

mstan

ces

under

which

he

employed

them. These are plasticity and resistance to the action of

water. Plasticity enables an explosive

to

be pressed well

home

in

o a borehole of larger size than the car

trid

ge,

or

one of irregular shape. I t can also be made to readily

conform to

the

s

hap

e of a cleft

or

crevice

in

which

it

may

be desired

to

use

it.

Capability of resisting the action of

wat

er, too, is of the greatest

imp

o

rt

ance

in

sub-aqueous

operations, or in the event of accidental exposure to

water. such as occurred

with

the

author

both

at Je r

sey

and Wapping.

Water,

moreover, from

its

incompres

sibility, forms an excellent tamping, and in vertical holes

and

holes bored at an angle which permits of the water

being retained, it is

not

unfrequently used

to advantage

with explosives which permit of it. In dwelling upon

these features, the author would by no means be thought

to dec

ry

the excellent qualities of the

other

explosives

mentioned

by

him,

and

still others

to

which he

has

not

referred. There are circumstances in which the use of

lithofracteur and carbo-dy

namit

e would be inadmissible,

and

where some of

the

others alone could be employed.

To

be

contilnluecJ,.)

RAIL\VAY COLLISION AT

DR

OITWICH.

ON October 26 the 1.25 p.m. down Midland

p a s s e n ~ e r

train

from Bristol to Birmingham

ran

inbo six

trucks

which had been left on the line just north of Droitwich.

Five

passengers

co

mplained of injury,

and

some damage

was done to

the

tram

and the

permane

nt

way.

From

Major Marindin's report, which baa just appeared, we

gather

than an up goods

train

had,

after

doing some

shunting at

an

up

siding, been shunted through a cross

over road on to

the

down line to allow an up goods to

pass, and, as it was about to turn at Droitwicb

to

form a

down goods, ib

had

already been marshalled

at

a siding

some three-qu arters of a mile before reaching Droitwicb

Junction, wtth

the guard's brake-van next to the engine.

After

the

train had

been placed on the down line, it drew

f

or

ward towards the station, leav

ing

six trucks on

the

down line unknown to any of the shunters or guards.

The engine was

then

un

co

upled a n ~

ran

round its

train,

usi

ng

the same cross-over road that 1t

had run

through

to

get on to the down line, but, a . l t h o u g ~ the n g i n c a ~ e

within 180

yard

s of the wagons, the dr1 ver failed t o nottce

them. Th e engine then coupled on to its

train and

drew

it

forward on to

the

Great

Western

lin e clear of

the

branch

to Birmingham, to allow the Midland passenger

to

pass.

The passenger

train

le

ft

the station with all

the

signals

off

and wh

en

the

engine was some

200 yard

s from

the

t r ~ c k s the driver saw them

1

but,. owing to there being

sidi

ng

s

at

the

spot,

and the hne

bemg on a curve about

24 chains radius, he

did not

realise that

they

were m fro

nt

of him until he was about

50

yards from them, when he

did all he

co

uld

to

stop his train . Th e first wagon was

complete

ly

broken up,

and

.

it

derailed

the

engine,

c a u ~ i n g

it to foul the up line, whtle the other five were driven

ahead a q ua.rter of a mile.

Major VIa.rindin considers that no blame attaches

to

(DEc. 2 2, I 893.

this driver,

though

it would

have

been wiser of him to

have

slackened speed on first seeing the tru cks, even if be

was not sure of their fouling his road. Although

it

was

ju

st possible for the sig

nalman

to Ree the two nearest

trucks, yet. owing

to

the si

ding

s and

it

was

ex

tr

emely difficult for him to notice

that

they were on the

wrong road, and therefore he cannot be held to blame.

The foreman sbunte

r,

however, should have seen that they

were properly coupled ;

and

even if, as

he stated

in his

eviden ce, he bad coupled them on to the other trucks be

fore the train had backed on

to

the down line, be should

have seen

that they had

not become

unc

oupled

and

been

le

ft

behind when the train drew forward n.gain. The goods

guard,

though

not responsible while

shunting

operations

were going on, should

have

seen

that

n

ear

ly a th ird of his

train was missing, and it is certainly curious

that

the

driver

of the goods train failed

to

see the trucks when

running

round his

train.

Any

of the many devices for automatically protecting

trains shunted on to the wro

ng

road (a plentiful crop of

which have appeared s i n e the Taunton accident) would

not ha

ve protected these trucks; but,

had it

been

the

practice for all trains shunting at the rua.nr. sidings ab this

s

pot to

always run

with

a van

at

their tatl, the failure to

do thi s would

ha

ve

at

once called the signalman

's

atten

tion to something being wrong. I t is always dangerous

to

allow a train

to

be on a

main

line

without

a. van at its

tail,

and it

is to be hoped

that

this accident, which might

easily have b€en as disa

st

rous as

that

at Taunton, will

lead to every endeavour being made to always arrange f

or

this

in

future•

LAUNCHES AND

TRIAL TRIPS.

THE new screw steamer St. Brieuc, built to the order

of Vicomte

Le

Guales

de

Mezaubrant

by

1 e s s r s .

J.

J ones

and Sons, of Li verpool,

went

on

trtal

on the 11th inst.

The

dimensions of the steamer

are

: Le

ngth

between

perpendiculars, 1

58

ft.

; beam,

25

ft. 6 in . (moulded) ;

depth, 12

ft.

She

is

about

400 ton s gross,

and

is in

tended for the passenger

and

cargo trade between

Havre

and St. Brieuc. She is fitted with triple-expansion engin

es

,

the cylinders bei

ng

14 in., 22 in • and

36

in. diameter

resp

ect

ively, having 2ft. st roke. The pumps

ha

ve a uni

form stroke of 16 in. The dimensions of the pumps

are:

Air, 12 in. ; circulating, 7 in.; feed, 3 in. ;

and

two bilge

pumps of 3 in. The engines

are

supplied

with

steam by

t

wo

single-e

nded multitubular

s

te

el boilers 9 ft. 9 in.

in

diameter by 9ft . 1 in.

in

length, each

with

two furnaces,

the grate

area

being 52.7

squa

re feet,

and

beati

ng

surface

1442 square feet. U nder the cross bunker, which

ha

s

a capacity of

50

tons, is placed a fresh-water ballast tank

for supplying the boilers,

and

on deck a tank is placed

for

the

exhaust steam of

the

deck winches. On

the

t rial,

a speed of

12

knots was attained with a working pressure

of 160 lb., 98 revolu tions, and 420 indicated horse-power,

an ample

supp

ly of steam being given with partially

closed dampers

du

ring

the

gr

eate

r part of the trip.

Several special cabins are provided for passengers.

The s.s.

Hotham

Newton left the Cleveland doc

kyard

of Sir Raylton Dixon and Co., Middlesbrough, for her

official trial trip on the 12th inst. This vessel has been

built to the

order of l\Iessrs.

J.

M.

Lennard and

Sons, of

Mi ddlesbrough, for carrying oil in bulk. The principal

dimensions

are

: L e

ngth,

322 ft. ; beam, 41 ft. ; depth

moulded, 26 fb. 6 in. The hull is divided into tanks for

the carrying

of

oi

l by

thir

teen

tran

sverse bulkheads,

and

a. centre line bulkhead which runs right fore and aft.

Water ballast is provided for under the engines

and

boilers

and

pump-room,

and

also

in the

fore

and

af

ter

peaks. This is the first oil steamer built on Kenda.ll's

patent system of expa.nsion trunkways for

co

nt rolling the

oil cargoes

under

v

arying

degrees of e m p e r a ~ u r

Th

ese

trunkways allow a clear spa<le in the middle of the ship

for the stowage of coal and gel?era.l cargoes, as they

are

fitted

at

the sides of

the

vessel mstead of on each side of

the centre- line bulkhead, as in previous _systems. A

cofferdam is provided at each end of the otl tanks, and

can be

rapidly

filled

with wat

er

in

case of nee

d.

The

e

ngin

es and boilers

are

placed

right afb,

a

nd

these

hav

e

been fitted by the North-Eaetern Marine .Engineer ng

Company,

Limit

ed, of

Sund

erland,

the

h n ~ e r s

bemg

24 in., 39 in.,

and

64 in. in

di

ameter

by

42

m. st

roke,

with two large steel boilers working ab 1

60

lb. pressure.

On the

trial

everyth ing worked satisfactorily, a speed

of

over 12

knots

being

attained.

The last of the three l a r ~ e cattle steamers builb by

Messrs.

Fu rn

ess,

Withy, and

Co. , L im

it

ed, Hartlepool,

for the Chesapeake

and

Ohio Steamship Company,

Limited, was taken out to sea for trial trip on the 2 ~ h

insb. The engines, which were

built by

Messr .3. S.

Ric

hard

son

and

Sons,

Hartlepo

ol, worked satisfactorily.

The

twin-screw steamer

Sout

hwark, built

by

Messrs.

William

Denny and

Broe., Dumbarton, for

the

In ter·

national Navigation Company, has completed a seri

es

of

steam a

nd

co

al consumption trials, with sa.tisfa<'tory re

sults. The dimensions

are

480 ft. by 57 ft. by 40 ft.,

the

gross tonnage being

8650

tons,

and the

net 5600 tons.

Th

e

dead weight carrying capacity exceeds 10,000 tons, and she

has accommodation for 200 saloon passengers,

and

be

tween decks 1000 em

igrant

s c

an

be carried.

The

engines

are of the quadruple-expansion type, with four cranks,

the

cylinders being 25 in.,

3 7 ~

in .

5 2 ~

in.,

and

74

io.,

with a. stro

ke in

each case of 54 in. On

tbe

trial

the

vessel

carried more than half her deadweight, and the mean of

two

run

s on the measured mile gave a. speed equal

to

16. 38

knot

s, the boilers supplying a sufficiency of steam.

The boilers

are

fitted with Brown's system of induced

draught. The steamer is intended for service between

Li\'·erpool

and

Philadelphia.

7/17/2019 Engineering Vol 56 1893-12-22

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DEc. 22 , 1893.]

"ENGINEERING" ILLUSTRATED PATE NT

REC ORD.

COMPILED

BY

w. LLOYD WISE.

SELECTED ABSTRACTS OF RECENT PUBLISHED SPECIFICATIONS

UNDER THE ACTS 1883-1888.

Th

e number of views

given

in the Specijica,tion Drawings is

stated

in

each ca,se ; where none are mentioned, the Specification is

not illustrated.

Where I

nventions are communicat

ed f

rom

abroad,

the

Na mes,

<f&c ., of

the

Communicators are given in it

alic .

Copies

of

Specijicatunu; may be obtained

at

the Pa t

ent

Office

Sale

Br

anc

h, 38, Cursitor-street,

Chan

cery-lane, E. C., a t the

un;form price

of

8d.

The date of the

advertisement

nf the acceptance of a comple

te

specification is ,

in

each case,

given

o:fter the aJ>stract,

unless

the

P atent has been sealed, when the da te of sealilng is given .

.Any

person

may

at

any time wi t

h

in

two

months from

the

date of

the

advertisement of

the acceptance

of

a complete specification,

give notice a t the Pa te

nt

Office

of

opposition to the gram.t

of

a

Pa

tent

on any of the

grounds

me

ntioned Wl

the A ct.

GUNS, &c.

20,215. A. Chapman, Wlgst

o

n,

Leicestershire. R

e·

peatt

ng

Fire-Arms.

[11 F igs.] Nov

embe

r 9, 1

892.-

This

tove

nt i

on refers pa r ticu larly

to

repeating

ft

re-a.rms of the Le e-Met

ford " type , and its

object

is to dispense with the pr esent form of

and to provide an a rrangement for

feec:H

ng th e cartridges

to t

he

c

ham be

r

of a

g un

by mea

ns

of

a

belt h

passi

ng through an

opening

in

the under side

of

th

e

fi

r

e-arm

. T

he

mo'"ement of

this

•

-

 

.,------

--

,_

f . . I

Ji ig .

2 .

i

I I

.. _

'11.

·--·----

 :.

.

..... ,.--

--

•

- -l

- • N

.

o

I

o

. . . t•

~ · : a . : - .

..,

--

.

20 21J:

Fig.J .

belt is effected

by

means of a sp

rin

g cylinder

ope

rat ed by a hand·

knob, and provid ed with studs to engage

the

car t rid

ges

,

from

whence th

ey

are r

em

oved by

the

ex tract or for d elivery to the

cham ber in t he

ha

rrel by the action of the b reech-bolt g. Thi s

ex tracto r is

con

nect ed to a sp rin g-con trolled

pl

at form k, whi ch,

when depre ssed, is level with the ca rtridge on t he top of th e

cylinde

r,

a.od when ra i

sed by t

he

a

ct

ion of

the sprin

g

l is in

a

line

w

ith the

chamber

in the barrel

. A

ccepted .November

8, 1893).

11,509.

T. B

ergma

n

n,

Gaggenau, B

ad e

n ,

Ge r

many. Small Ar m s•. [13 Pigs. ) June 12, 1

893.-

This _nveJ?

tioo

relates to b reec hloadmg small

ar

ms. Wheu a cartrtdge 1s

fired in the ba rr el by pulling the trigge r, t he pressure of the

gases

is

generated so

ra

pidly, and

is so

e a t upon th

e

side wa

lls of

the

c

ar

t

ridge

-ca

se,

t

hat

t

he latt er, with the

br

eech-b

olt

B

and

b

ree

ch cl

osure,

ca

nnot move ba

ck imm

ediatel

y.

Afte

r t

he pro

jec -

.Fig

.z.

,

•

Ft..g

J.

;

' ---'

S09

til e

ha

s rea ch ed

a

sufficient amoun t of propelling

for

ce, the

powd er

gases

still

in

excess open

the breech,

and

the

br eech-bolt

is

for

ced back to

its

ut m

ost

limit,

the

spent ca

rtridge

being

ejected and t he l

ock

being cooked an ew. Du ring the forward

movemen t of th e breec h-bolt B another

cartrid

ge is passed out

of the

m a . g a

i n t ~

into

the barrel. The finger allows the t rigg er to

mo

ve

back

for

renewed

pulli

ng

,

and

the

weapon

is ag

ain

r

ea

dy

for firing.

.A

ccepted N ovember 8, 1893).

MACH INE T OOLS, SBAFT I NG, &o.

21,'129. G. Br own,

Eastfte

l d, Galashlels, N.B. Dr iv·

1ng Ba nds. [1 Fig.] Novembe

r

28, 1892.-Th

is

in

ven

tion

re

lates to mean

s

for

r

egulati

ng and

equalis

ing

the

t ens

ion of

spindle

-

dr i

ving

bands. Th

e

band

A d ri

vt>

s

the spindle B from

the

power -dri ven

cylinde

r C, and

in

descending

runs over the

c

0

pulley D, which

slides

on rods E fixed into an a

rm

F on the

frame of t he machi ne. Th e pulley D is dr awn forward or let

bac

k

by

a

weight

H

hu n

g

on the end of

a c

ord

G w

hi

ch

runs over

a. sma

ller fixed

pulle

y

J, the

r

eby

re

gu la ti

ng and e

qualising

t h e

tension

of t he band A.

A

ccepted

.N

ovem ber 1, 1893).

RA IL WAY

APP

LIAN

C

ES.

22,903. T. Marsden and I. Th omps on, Nelson,

La n cs. Actuating RaUway

Signals.

[3 Figs. ) Dece mber

13, 1

892.-

T

his invention comprises

a le

vt>

r A j oin ted

to th

e

rail

s

an

d inclined upwar

ds,

so

that whe

n

an

engine or carriage

pa

ses

over one

end or it, the

other

end raises a c

atch

to ca use

the

re

lease

of a c

hain fi

xed to a

balance leve

r

at ta

c

he

d to the

se

maphor

e,

and

thus

r aise

the signal

automatically

and

retain it

so

long as the

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

joi nted leve r is dep r essed. Within th e ca b

in

is a le,•

er

whio_ 

the

sig

nal wire is

atta

ched. By pulling

this

lever the stgnal1s

A

l

ow

er

ed an

d

the

wire drawn forward

until

t

he catc

h

is in

p

osition

to

s

ecu

re it with

the

s

igna

l de

pre

ssed .

.Acc

e

pted

N ovember

8,

1893).

23,284. E. Barton and W. Seddon, Bol ton , Lancs.

Railway

Signals.

[2

Fjg

s.J

D

_e

c

embe

r1 7 ,

8 9 ~ .

vent ion has r

efe

ren

ce

to

railway stgoal

s,

and

con s1s ts of a stg nal

wire

compen

s

ato

r

and

multip

ly

ing

whe

el for

facilitati

ng

t ~ e

mo

vem

ents

of s

igna

ls

and in

suring their a

ct

ion.

An

eccen tn c

wheel G

is attached to

the

opera ting hand le

A

by a rod

H,

an d is

provided with grips L which come in

co

n tact with

a

chain M

.

•

P

f

..,

·

,

••

L ig J

N

,

, ,

, ,

,

,

/

. "'

coupled

to

the signa

l

wire

N. As

the

full

sid

e of t he wheel

pre

s

ses

dow

n

the

c

hain during

i

ts operation

,

it

incr

ea

ses t he

speed of

t.

he

signal.

The ohain passes beyond

the ecce

n tri c wheel

an

d

over

anoth

er pu lley ,

it

s end

being

a t

ta

ched to a

frame

carrying

weights

w

hi

ch compri

ses

th e compensato r , a

nd

insures

the

signa l i n ~

when the ope

rating han dle is r eleased

by the

poin tsman. ( Accepted

o v e m b e r 1893).

18,485.

L. B. Kenney, Da nsvme, Livin

gs ton

e, N

ew

Yor k .

Car

Couplings.

[7

Figs. )

Octobe

r

a,

1

893.-Th

is

in vention has r

elation

to t win -j

aw couplings

of the

Janne

y "

type, a.od i ts

object

is to provide means for automatically t hrow

ing open the pi voted jaw and maintaining i t in ~ b a t position while

uncoupled.

A is

the drawhead,

B

the coupling jaw, b

a

non

ro tatable pi

v

ot bolt on whi

ch is

pi

voted

the

j

aw

B. A

co

il s

prin

g

surrounds t h e

bo

lt

at one

e

nd, and ha

s

one

of

its ends en

g

aging

it,

and its other

end be a

rin

g

on an adjacent

part of

the

jaw . A

removab

le c

asing

surrounds t

he

sp ring, and has one of i ts

sides

Fi

.1 .

Fig .S.

r j .

J.

A

open,

through

which one end of t he sp rin g works, means being

pr

ovided for

r emo vably c

lampin

g

the

cas

ing in

pl

ace

. A

lo

cki

ng

plate is

pivoted

on

the side opposite the jaw,

a s

prin

g

normally

closing 1t.

A hori

zo

ntal

l

eve

r

works through the side of the draw

head, and

has

its inner

end c

onnected

to the

lo

oking

plate

,

this

lever being

capable of bE.in

g locked to

hold

the locking plate out

of

op

erative

posttio

o. The

dr a

whead has a ftanged mouth,

and the

locking

jaw

is provided with a

lookin

g

ann, the

locki ng p la te

normally bearing against the flange

round

the mouth of the

draw

·

head. A vertical pin passes

through

ears on the end of the

locking plate oppos1te the jaw, the spriBg normally pressing the

l

ocking plate forward. ( Accepted N ovember

8, 1893).

STEAM

ENGINJCS AND BOILERS.

38

06

. G. B

ar

k er, B

i rmi

n gh a m. S. P . H utchinson,

P hi ladelphia, P enn., U.S.A.) F

ur n

aces. [5 F igs. ] Feb

ruary

1893.

-This invention relate

s to

furna

ces. 4

is the

shEll, 1 t

he ashpit,

11 t

he

g

ra te, 20 the dome,

18

the staves, and

9

an

adjufltable

rin

g.

Th

e

ashp

it

1

is

pro

v

ided wit

h air-tight

fit ting doors

and

a pe

rforated

g ra

te

bearing 8. Means

are pro

v

ided

for admitting and regu

lati ng

air

t o t

he shell

4,

stave

18,

and per

forated arch 16 from the ashpit 1.

ThE.

fire is kindled by light

fuel

pla

ce

d

on the

g

ra

te, the

c

oal

or

coke for the

permanent

fire

added ; the feeding door is

then

closed, and

a.s the

staves 18 be

come heated

, the air

from

the

a.s

hpit passes t

hrough apertures

8, 10, through g rooves 19, and mi ngles wit h the gases above the fuel,

and burns

at

a high temperature. The arch 16 becomes highly

heated, and de

flect

in

g

heat back upon the fuel, increases the

heat

a.t

the

c

entre of the furnace

.

The temperature ris

es

in the

furnace

chamber

abov

e t

he

fuel

to an

intense he at , which o

an be

moderate

d by

partiall

y

closing

the

apertures

8 by

th

e leY

er

30

and

rin

g 9,

and

can

be

a

rr este

d by entirely olosing t

he apertures

8

775

and the ashpit doors 7. The product s of combustion pass up

wards

t

hrough th

e

perforations in the arohes

16

and

17,

and

are

. .1. . 2 .

..

19

, 2  )>

18

.

-

.

• •

•

•

•

•

• •

0

..

9

13

10

I

utilised by passing_ hrough the flues

_o

f a boiler, and then

around th e air -h eatmg ftues of the hot-au apparatus. (.Accepted

November 8, 1893).

68'10. J .

W oo ds Bo s ton

~ h ~ e .

. Steam,

&c.,

En

gines.

(3

F igs.] Aprif 1, 1893.- Thl s mvent10o ~ a t e s

to means for actuating th e cut- off val 'es of s team, &

c.,

engmes,

so that it is inc reased or diminished equally at ea ch end of the

st

ro

ke

of

the valve

as

the

lo

ad

on

the

en

gine ~ s .

A

slo tt ed

quadrant i

is

employe

d ,

wi th

wh

ic

h t

he

valve spmdle

n ~ a g

one

end of t he

link being

c

onnected

by a rod to a lever

n

p1votea

on

the engine

framt>,

th i

s lever being joi

ne

d

by

a r

od o

.to

a_n

eccentric q on t he eng ine shaft,

while

the

ot

he r end of t he

hnk JS

Fig.

1.

•

Rg .2.

conne cted by a rod to one end of a lever

adju

s tably pi voted on t he

eng ine fram

e,

the

o

ther end

of

th

is l

eve

r

being

s

lotted

so as

to

engage

a

pin on the

firs t lever ;

the

c>c

ce

ntri

c

th u

s

operatt'

S

the

two ends

of the

lillk in

oppo s

ite di rections. 'I h

e h

eig

h t

of

the

gov

ernor

balls

adju

sts t

he

p

osit

ion of the link r e

la tively

with the

val ve s

pindl

e,

and

the movement of the v

alve

will

be

varit'd to

increase or diminish the cut-off

equally at

each end of

the

s trokE. .

.A

ccepted N

ovem

ber 8, 1893).

1 14 1.

J . E . L. Ogd en,

Goole,

Y

or

ks. R e

ducin

g

Valve

s .

[3 Figs.]

January

26,

1

893.-Thi

s

inve

ntion

relat

es

to

s te am, &o.,

pr

e ·ure reducing valves. When t

he

steam pre esure

acts on the t op of the valves,

an

d

the

l

ow-p

r

essu

re side B has

s team

eno

ug h to keep

dow

n t he diap

hragm F against

the action

of a spring G, then when the low s team pre ssure is a li tt le more

reduced,

t

he

s

prin

g forces

up the diaphragm

,

open

s

the

s

mall

ste

am

va

lve,

an

d

admits high

-

pres

sure s team

to the hollow

of

the

lar

J,re

valve, and t o

its balan

cing

cy

linder

and piston

. The

dia

phragm being re

leased from the pr essu

re of this

steam

on

the top

of

the sma

ll valYe,

moves up

further,

and

th e latter , by

co

ming

i

nto cont a

ct with a bridge,

pe

rmits

st

eam to have acceBB to the

low-pressu

re side,

till

the pr essure rises sufficiently to move

the

diaphragm

against

its

spring,

and

so close both

s

mall

and

l a r ~ e r

steam valves, and cut off steam supply to the low-preBSure s1de

until

a

further

fall

o ~ o u ther

e.

.Accepted N ove

mbe

r

8, 1893

).

169.

B .

Bock

t ng W

al t

ou ,

La n

cs.

Reduc

in g

Va l

ve

s .

[7

Figs.] January

4,

1

893.-

This inventio n has

referen

ce

to

va

lves employed to

dist ribute

fluids un der a

high

pre ssure

in

mains,

at

a reduced preBSure. When the

steam on

Fig

.2.

the

outlet side of

the va

lve c re ach es a p ress

ure

above the desired

one,

this pr

essure within the apparatus a , acting

upon

its dia

phragms

l-1,

causes each two of t

he

latt er which are adjar.ent to

mo ,·e a httle way aw ay from each other, the combined small

7/17/2019 Engineering Vol 56 1893-12-22

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mo ,·ements of all tbe

diaphragmq

, through the spindle

b

and

lever d, thus

mo,

•

ing t.h

e

c towards

its

seat cl,

and r

es

tr icting

the p a s s a ~ e for

the

tt )\V

of

steam,

and

r

ed u

cing

the

pressure

admitted

to

and ex

is·

.ing in the case d and chamber a on the

delivery slde of the valve c. (Accepted November 8, 1893).

260. T . W a l k e r a n d G. F . Alder

Tewl te sbury

Gloucester . Expa ns t on Gear .

[9

F igs.)

Januar y

6,

1

893. -Thi

s 10,

ention

re

lates

to t rip e x p c ~ . n gea r for fluid·

pressure t ngiues, and

consists

of steam admission valve gear

ha ving a

wrist

pla te with

proj

ec tion s

on it

s periphery in c-rder

to

duw with it

the valve-rods

C

so as to

open

the

admi

s ion

Ft.g .Z

c

c

•

valves, t he trip plates H,

Hl having

a

project

ion

G

on

each,

to

r

elease

the valve-

rod

C

from

the wris t plate A, the t rip plate

being actuated by

the

engine

gover

nor,

and

moved

upon the

same

axis as the

wrist plate. A sp ring D is provided for h o l d i n ~

the

valve-rod C in contact with the wrist plate. (Accepted N o·

vember 8, 1893).

24,134. T., R., a n d W .

L e e s

,

Bol l lnwood

,

L an

es ·

Expa ns i on

Va l v e s of S t eam Engines .

[8 Figs.) De·

oember

31, 1892.-

This invention

relates to the c

onst

r

uction of

expansion valves for

steam

engines in

orde

r

to vary the quantity

of steam admitted

to

the cylinder

at

each

stroke to

corr espond to

the

work on

the

engine. In apply

ing

it to an eogine in which

the

lifting

of a

single va

lve

cont

rols

the quantity of steam, two

rocking

shafts

are used, one of which is operated by a lever

from

an

eccentric

on the crankshaft, so that the

va

lve

is lifted

twice

during

each

revo

lution of

the crankshaft,

and

steam

ad·

mitted

to

each end of the cylinder  On

ea.c

h of the rock shafts is

moun ted a bellcrank lever, th e upper arm s of which a re con·

nect< d by a link, so that both levers move simultaneously, but

in opposite directions. On the lower horizontal arm of each bell

crank

le

ver are t riggers, also shaped as bellcrank levers, the

•

I

.;

lower a

rms

of which are eo formed as to engage

unde

r

latera

l pro

jections

on

the

va

l ve

spindle,

and raise the

spind

le

at ea.

ch lift

of

either

of the trigge

rs.

Th

e

ltft

of

the

valve

and

the t

ime it

r

emains open de p

end

on the

length

of

ti

me

during

which one

of

the

tr iggers is a c t i o ~ on the under surface of the lat eral proj ec·

tioos of the v11l ve spmdle.

To

modify the shock

due

to the rapid

clos

ing

of the valve, the valve spindle is

co

nnected with an air

dashpot, the

piston

of

which is

prov

ided with

air passages

cover

ed

at the

top

by a s

lidin

g

plate

.

When

the valve S.Pindle

is raised the piston

of the

daehpot is

de

pressed, and tbe

a.u con

tained

in it passes

th

r

ough

the air pas sages

by the

sliding plate.

On

the

spindle falling, the pis ton rises, and drawing air through

a small orifice, its free motion is impeded, and thus a too r

apid

des

cent of

the

vahre

spindle

is checked.

(Accepted N

ovembe)· 8,

1893).

llriiSCELLANEOUS

.

1109.

J . M. B ethe r ing ton Manches te r . B ear ings

fo r

Mu l e s

, a c . (1

F ig. )

January 18. 1893 .-Thi s in vention

r

elates

to bearings for mules.

The

shaft is fitted to revolve in

bearings, and an annular collar

c

is

mounted upon it, and le

secured by a ecrew. A washer e is mounted upon the flange of

th e

bearing

bush b.

In

the opposite faces of the pa r ts

c

and:

e

channels are formed to receive hard steel balls/ , the c

hannels

10

the

two

faces form

ing

an annular race.

(Accep ted November

8,

1893.)

18,245.

M . Todd , Ne w B e ~ f o r d B r i s to l, Mass. ,

U.S.A. ThUl Coupl ings . [5 F u J ] September 29, 1893.-

Ftg . / .

Fig 3;. ..

A

E N G I N E E R

I

N G.

hinged

to

the first.

Th

e bow A of tbe

clip is secu

r

ed

to tbe

axle

a.

tieplate

and

nuts.

Upon the fo

rward

arm of the bow of the

c

hp ts formed

th e lower half of a squa re

box

made to receive the

forward pi

rot -

pin

carried by

the forked inner

end

of the thill

-

iron

D. To

the

r

ea

r

upper part

of the lower half A2 is

hinged the

upper

half. When

the

cover is down

its

front part is

kept

from longi·

tudinal or lateral displacement by two dowel pine entering ho les

corr espondingly located in

the

lower half on each side of

a.

screw

tapped

perforation made

to receive the bolt B. Within tbe

cen·

tro.l part of the lower and upper hah es, rectang ular

bearing

blocks E a ~ e placed,

these

blo

ck

s

consisting

of vulcanised

rubber,

and each ha ,

r

iog formed

in

it

a

semi

-cy

lindrical

g roove.

TrarJeversely each block is a narrow groove of lar ge r dia.met< r

than

the

groove e,

to re

ceive a cylindrical collar for med upon

a pin centrall y between

the

forks of

the

thil1-iron. .Accepted

November

8, 1893).

20,46

0.

J . W hi tehead To t t l ng ton .

La.ncs. Sup

p ly ing Fue l to

Furnaces .

[2

.Figs.] November

12, 18{:12.

-

This invention relates

to fuel

supp

lying and

dis

tr

ibuting appa·

r

atue des

c

rib

ed in

Patent

No.

ll,0

82 of 1890,

and consists in

meanA for conv eJ iog tbe fuel along

the distributin

g t r0ugh

and feeding it to the discharge funnels in front of the

I -

•

:I

----· . ____

_.

0

 

.: ----- -

0

0

 

•

\

0

\

I

70460

0 • 0

furnaces. In place of t

he

endless belt a. shaft a is employed

along the trough D, and is arranged to move about. To these

shafts a series of scrap ers are attached, which

se n

·e to mO\ 'e the

fuel

along

until

it

is

guided

by ga tes g extending

h r o u ~ h

ope

n·

inge into the

funnels io front

of the

furnace. (Accepted November

8, 1893).

23,840. B . a n d F . A.

Bol t, R ochda l e,

Lancs . Ree l ·

ing c., Machines .

[4

Yigs.

]

December

24,

1892.-Thi s

invention relates to appliances fo r holding down spindles in

spinning.

&c., macbinfs. In s

tead

of the spring hook usual1y

employed for each spiodl<', a

rod

is

mounted upon

the spindle rail

•

•

•

•

•

•

.

'

.

• •

. ,. .... .

 

,.-   .: ,..

•

' ' ~ ' '

_,.,

,.

,

,.

.....

. ..., . ...,. ..

·

. a\ . \ . '

' '''-'-' -. 4.

; , •

' ' '

' ' ' '

.

.

• •

• •

a

ll .HO

a,

so that i t

pr ojec

ts

over the

edges of the wh

an

res

c

of th e

spindles

b,

and pre

vents th em from

being lifted

du r

ing

doffing.

Thi s rod is mounted upon the s pindle rail, so that when requ ired

it can be moved back clear of

th

e edges of the wharves to free the

spindles, and replaced to hold and lock

them

in position. (Ac -

cepted November 8, 1893).

21,601.

M.

T . N ea le

London. Sea Signal l ing Ap·

para tus . [5

Fig

s. ) November 26, 189

2 . -The

vessel A

i>J

fitted

wit

h a

gong

0 ,

and

B

with

a resonator

and mi

cr

op

hone D for re·

ceiving the

sound emitted

from the gong when struck by th e

hammer E,

th a

t can be operated from

the

deck.

Wh

en the bell is

struck, the mechanical vibration is conveyed through the water in

eve

ry

dire

ct

ion, but especially in a di r

ect

line

ahea

d of the part of

the bell struck. T

he

resonator D is

pla

ced at t

he

same level as t

he

.Fig

.1.

B

-

-

A

-

 

,

.0

bell,

and

its diaphragm is in vibratioo

a.

leJm patby with the

bell C.

The

mechanical vibr

ations

received by th e diaphragm I cause the

electrical pulsations in

the

wires J or

Jl

to defttct the needle in ·

st rumf:nt to the left or

right, according whether

the sounds are

received on

the starboard

or

port

side. The

ne

edle

instru

ment is

in electrical connection with a magnet , ahove which is a rranged

a short reed for reproducing upon the receiving vessel the sounds

or signals sent by the JZODg of the ,·easel communicating. Ac·

cspted N IVtmber 8, 1393).

8058.

J . a n d A.

Moss.

B ebden B r idge,

Yorks .

Pick ing

Mot ion

o f

Looms

for

Weaving .

[6

t

ins.]

April 21, 1893.-This

in

v

ention

refers to the picki

ng

mechanism

of looms for weaving. Overh ead picking a rms are employed,

composed of fiat spring steel,

eo

tb at after being bowed and sud

denly released th ey exe rt sufficie

nt

force to p ropel the shuttle

backwards

and

for wa

rd

s acro

ss

the loom. Th ese

spring

picki ng

arms are co

nnected at

th eir upper ends to short cross-

shafts

[D

Ec.

2

2, 1893.

wheels. The

horizontal

rod carrying the star\\ heel S is rotated

hy means of a clutch H, arJd

slotted

Je ,·er r

iding over

a flxed

stud

project ing

from the

lcom

frame, eo

that

as the stay moves b

ac

k·

Fig

.2.

Fig.1.

•

EOS 

ward and

forwa

rd

the rod

is

made to rock,

and

so giv£s the

necessu y

movement

to

the

etarwheel. (

i ccepted N

ovembe1

·

8,

1893).

23,679. J . Wild Oldham

,

Lancs . Mor t i s ing a n d

B or ing B o le s. [3 Oecember

23,

1892.-Thi s in ,•ention

consists in means for mortising

and

bor

ing

timber eo that it can

be worked by either hand or power. Oo a frame A

is mounted

a

sliding

head

b which carr ies the chisels and

bits c

to which a

toothed

r

ack d

is

secure

d. Furthe r ba

ck on

the same

frame

another

tooth

ed rack

e

is fitted,

and

so

a n ~ e d that it

c

an

be

sec ur

ed to

the fram

e A or elide up

and

down. Between

these two

Fi.g .1.

Fig .

2

.1=

I

:

A

-

t I

.

i l )

t o o t h ~ d racks

d,

e, a.ud gearing into

th

em, and mounted on a stud

r n e d by a hand leve r, but eo

a r r a n ~ r e d

th a t it oan be secur

ed

to

tbe lever {J or

ld t

pe

rf

ec tly free to r

evoh

•e on the

stud

.

, S a

spurwhee

l h,

so

that

when it

is r

equ ired

to

mortise by

band

1t 18 only necessary

to

secure t he spurwheel h to the lever

g,

and

the ~ c k e to _he frame

A,

and loosen the s t

ud

in the framework.

bJ; t he hand le\'er g up or down, a

co r

responding

mot10n ts given to t h ~ head b. Means are

pro

vided

tor

mortising

by powe r and for bonn g by power or

hand

.

(A ccepted

.N

ovember

1, 1893).

UNITED STATES PATENTS

AND

PATENT PRAOTIOE.

J?eso

riptions with

i l l u

t r a t i o n s

of inventions

patented

in the

Umted Sta.tC:e

of

Amer1c1. from 18

4_7

to the present

time, and

reports of

tnal

s of patent law ca.ses

m

the United States may be

consulted, g

ra

t is,

at

the offices ot ENGINEERING,

35

and

36

, Bedford·

street, Strand.

AN AMERICAN SHIP CAN'AL

. A proje

c t for

cut t ing

a

sh1p

cana

l b e tween

Chesa.pea.ke

Bay

and

the Delaware

ha

s b £en recently rev iYed.

- - -

A

VI

CTORIAN SuSPENSION

BRID

G

E . -W h

en

the ques·

tion re

-erecting a

bridge over the Snowy, de

s

troyed by

floods m

1891,

was before the

Orbost

co un

ci

1, a suggestion

of suspension ~ r i d g e ,

made

by

Mr.

George Seymour,

en

gmee

r to the sh

tr

e, was a cc epted. The

bridge

consists

of four bays of 27 ft. each on th e

eas t

si

de

of the river

a?d three of the s

ame

length on th e w es t s ide, a p e n ~

span

of

and two sp

an

s o f 55ft., on e on either

s

1de of the su s

p en siO

n. Ther

e

are

f

ou

r 6-in.

cablefl

ca pabl

e o f a

strain

of 1

50 tons each. Th

e su spe

nd

er s:

pl a

ce

d

a t

a

di

s ta nce of 5

ft. apar t ,

we re t es ted to 10 tone

Th e t ow ers

are 26ft.

ab ove th e de ck

ing

of

the

bridge, and

are

form ed of four pi les of 18 in.

in

dia·

met

er,

s tayed

by a. strut pile o n ea ch sid e,

and

le t into

a foundation

of fourteen

heavy pi l

es

. The base o f the

foundation on w hi ch ea ch t

ow e

r s ta :1d s

cove

rs

an

area

of 180

square

f

ee b. The

piles

ba

ve b e

en dri

ven down

to

th

e r

ock,

and are braced togeth

er

and

cl

ose

b

oa rded

to

pr e

ve

n t the

lodgm

en t

o f

t imb

er. The cables are ancho

red

to th e piers

on the bank

of the

ri

ver, a

nd

these, again,

are

s tayed

and

braced. Th e dec

king

is

fr om 25 ft. t o 30 ft .

aboT"e summer lev el. The width varies fr

om

17ft . to

55

ft.

The susp en s

ion

span

is

s t iffen ed by la tt ice ~ i r d e r s