MARCII 2, 1900.] •

E N G I N E E R I N G. 275 THE WATERWAYS OF RUSSIA.

By C. H. M OBERLY, M. Inst. C.E., M. I. Mech. E. (Continued ! 1'01n page 7 4.)

THE last g1·oup of Russian waterways is tha.t of

proved them to be impract icable. After this t he O\Vners of iron works in the Oural Mountains ' and tho~e interested in agriculture in the spl~ndid gram country through which the Irtish flows were anxious to establish a route between the 'rivers I~n.ma and ~robol, along tho Tobol, Irtish, and Ob r1 vers, and across to the Enisei ; and put forward sundry p;oposals for doing this. But nothing came of all thts. The owner of one of the iron works in the Oural Mountains actually cut a canal for several miles ; but he was not allowed to proceed. The Government considered it too importan t a work to be executed by private enterprise ; whils~ at the. same time, they could not find money t~ carry 1t out themselves. The whole thing was, therefore, dropped.

short distance only-in the line-of-water communi. cation from Irkutsk to Tiumen, in Western Siberia. Of its tributaries on the left side, only two need be mentioned as available for traffic- the Abakan, over 200 mileR from the Mongolian frontier, and the Great 1\:ass, about 140 miles below Yenisoisk, which forms the beginning of the Ob-Enisei route, to be described later on. On the right side there are many tributaries, of which may be mentioned the Upper Toungouska or Angara, the Middle Toun­gouska, and the Lower Toungouska.

iberia, to illustrate which a map of the whole of .. iberia was published in our issue of January 13, 1899, on which the great Siberia:a Railway and other railways are also shown.

The Waterways of Sibet'ia ha.ve as yet received very little attention ; they have only been par­tially ~mrveyed, and information about them is very sc.-'l.nt. The rivers are mostly in their primi­tive condition, and their development is quite in its infancy. This account of them, must, therefore, necessarily, be rather sketchy.

Siberia occupies one-third of Asia, and the whole of the northern part consists of a vas t low-lying country extending to the Arctic Ocean where it terminates in marsh land, scarcely above the level of the sea.

The river Enisei divides Siberia into two parts whose characteristics differ very much from each other. The western part consists mainly of vast level plains, of which most of the southern portion is extremely fertile, forming a splendid wheat country. The southern part of Eastern Siberia, on the other hand, is principally a high plateau, gradu­ally sloping down to the sea, and not nearly so

In 1849 the authorities in Siberia were instruc~ed to draw up a general scheme of communications­by land and water - for the whole of Siberia. B ut no money was forthcoming, even for making surveys, so that hardly anything was done till 1887, when at last 11.n insignificant amount was allotted for improving the waterways of Siberia which enabled preliminary steps to be taken. Th~ firs t work actually done was the marking out of the channel in the lower part of the rivers Tobol and Toura. The work of clearing and regulating the channels and marking them out has gone on ever since, but very slowly.

_Th e .J!-ngara is the most important of these tnbutartes, as it brings down the traffic from Irkutsk. It flows out of the south-west corner of ~he Baikal Lake. This latter appears to be formed 1n a h~ge ~l~ft in ~he roc~s, and is, probably, of volcantc or1g1n. It 1s 400 mtles long 60 miles wide in_ the widest part, and has an area of 20,000 sq uaro miles. The greatest depth was considered to be 4200 ft .; but the deepest sounding obtained in 1896 was 5500 ft. Its surface is 1280 ft. above the sea. The water is fresh and exceedingly clear · and it is a most singular thing that there are seals 'and corals in. it. The Ang.ua is 1200 miles long. At 33 mtles from the Baikal Lake is the town of Irkutsk th~ plac~ for. transhipment of goods from and t~ Cht~a md Ktakhta. From Irkutsk, the river is nav1gable by steamers for 400 miles, down to the town of Bratski 03trov. From there to the mouth,

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FifJ. 50.

fertile as Western Siberia. On the south it is bounded principally by the Chinese mountains. Almost the whole of the northern part of Siberia is covered with splendid primeval forests, contain­ing magnificent cedar, pine, and larch trees, which latter are most valuable for the construction of canal locks and barges. These forests shelter an immense number of fur-bearing animals.

The rivers flowing through this vast Siberian low-land are of great length and volume, and have very extensive basins, and must, ultimately, play a leading part in the development of the country, in spite of the fact that they all fall into the almost inaccessible Arctic Ocean. At present only very little has been done to improve the navigation of some of them to a limited extent, and there is but little water communication between them. There is no water communication whatever be­tween Siberia and European Russia, important as such connections would be. The history of the attempts to develop suoh waterways is, briefly, as follows :

In 1797 the first survey was undertaken of a line of water communication between the rivers Ob and Enisei. In 1805 surveys were ordered to be made of the following routes: (a) Between the Kama and Petchora, across the Timan Range ; (b) between the Petchora. and the Ob, across the Oural Moun­tains; (c) between the Kama and the Tobol, which falls into the Irtish, a tributary of the Ob, across the Oural Mountains ; nnd (d) between the rivers Tobol and Chousovaya, a tributary of t he Kama­also across the (Jural Mountains. In 1806 a survey was ordered from the Ob to the I{ara Sea, and another for a route by tributaries of the rivers Ob and Petchora, with a canal crossing the northern spur of tho Oural Mountains, with a view to shortening the route from the Ob to Archangel. But the difficulties along both these latter routes

' N

Carl..alisecL Part or the -OB-ENISEI ROUTE-

betw~ the .Ri.ver.s KET AND GREAT KASS .

•

Meanwhile, serious attention was given to the great need of Western Siberia-a water communica­tion between the rivers Ob and Enisei so as to establish a waterway from Irkutsk to Tiumen, a distance of over 3000 miles, and thus afford the means of developing traffic between the heart of Siberia and European Russia. Detailed surveys were made of the Ob-Enisei route in 1878-9, and work was actually commenced in 1883.

Before describing this route, the principal rivers of Siberia, which fall into the Arctic Ocean, must be noticed. These are the Ob, Enisei, Lena, Yana, and Kolima.

Th"!- Y ana and K olima are wholly unexplored. Th e Lena. rises a little to t he west of the Baikal

Lake, is 2400 miles long, and is navigable by steamers for 1760 miles from its mouth. It is not connected with any other river, nor is it practically appt·oachable by sea; so that it is altogether isolated, and is not available as a trade route for anything but local traffic, and need not be described as one of the waterways. It has considerable tributaries, and flows past the important govern­ment town of Yakoutsk.

The Enisei is formed by the junction of two rivers in Mongolia-the Beik-khem and the Oulouk­khem. After flowing 200 miles in Mongolia, it enters Siberia, and then continues in Siberia for another 2000 miles to its estuary in the Arctic Ocean. It has no bar, and ocean-going steamers can ascend it for 1000 miles, or even for 1400 miles, to the town of Eniseisk. The area of its basin is 800,000 square miles. It is navigable for 1600 miles from its mouth, and would be a very important waterway for t he seA.-borne trade of Siberia if the Arctic Ocean did not render it almost inaccessible for trading purposes. Local trade and steam navigation is developing along the river; but at present its principal importance is as a link- for a

. - . ... _ - -

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107'

I

767 miles, rapids prevent steam navigation. The breadth of the river at Irkutsk is 1890 ft., and at Bratski Ostrov 7000 ft. ; whilst the greatest breadth is 2k miles. The depth varies from 13 ft. to 30 ft., except on the rapids, where it is 4 ft. to 5 ft. To make the river suitable for steam navi. gation, the channel should be cleared of stones, and one or two short lateral canals-about 1! miles long- with locks, should be constructed to avoid the worst rapids, on which the current is very strong. I t falls into the Enisei 53 miles above the town of Eniseisk.

The Ob, and its great tributary, the Irtish, are by far the most important rivers of Eastern Siberia, flowing, as they do, through the vast, fertile, and productive districts of Semipalatinsk and Semi­retchensk, and the governments of Omsk and Tomsk. The Ob is formed by the junction, at the town of Biisk, of the rivers Biya and l{atoun, which rise in the Altai Mountains. The Biya is only used for floating down tim her ; there is no navigation on the Katoun. The Ob (from Biisk to its mouth) is over 2000 miles long, and is navigable by steamers for its whole length. The area of its basin is 1,200,000 square miles. The principal t ributaries on the right side are the Tom, Choulim, Ket, and Vag, and on the left side the Irtish and Sosva. The great Siberian Railway crosses the Ob at K olivan, about 500 miles from Biisk. Below the confluence of the Irtish and Ob there is nothing but local traffic, which is very insignificant, and consists chiefly of supplying breadstuffs and salt to the nomadic tribes of the L ower Ob, and the small trade of the few works and settlements on the rivers Tavda and Sosva.. The Ob has so great a volume of water that the obstacles to navigation in the shape of snags, boulders, &c,, do not cause any difficulty to those who knows the channel. At its mouth it is so wide that it is more like a sea

than a river ; but vessels cannot enter it with a draught exceeding 12 ft.

The T om falls into the Ob 600 miles below Biisk, and is navigable for 400 miles ; 60 miles fron1 its mouth is the government town of Tomsk. The upper part-above the 400 miles - is only suitable for floating down timber. Tomsk is the station at which goods going westwards, as well as eastwards, are transhipped.

Th e Ghoulim falls into the Ob 700 miles below Bii~ k, and is navigable for 600 miles, as far as the town of Achinsk. An enterprising Tiumen mer­chant, of the name of Tiufin, opened the naviga­tion by towing up 4000 tons of cargo to this town by a steam tug in 1866. He also opened the steam navigation of the Kiya (a tributary of the Choulim) 80 miles up, to th e town of Mariinsk, in a similar manner, about the same time. The Choulim has not much water, and navigation is rendered difficult by numerous snags, a stony b ottom, and strong current. But in spite of these difficulties and dangers, which cause numerous accidents, the t raffic is steadily increasing, and its importance among Siberian waterways growing.

The K et comes in about 60 miles below the Choulim. It is navigable for 330 miles, as f3.r as the town of Makovsk. The first steamer ascended to this town in 1868, with a cargo of 130 tons. This river is the beginning of the Ob-Enisei route, and will be alluded to again with that route.

The Vag falls in 320 miles below the Ket, and 370 miles above the Irtish. It is navigable for 240 miles by steamers, and for 340 miles by light barges. Formerly this river was used for the traffic between Tobolsk, on the Irtish, and T ouroukhansk, on the Lower Y enisei.

Besides these tributaries and those to be men­tioned on the left side, there are many others that have plenty of water for navigation, and could easily be made navigable ; but at present they are lumbered up with quantities of enormous cedar, pine, and larch trees, which have fallen into them.

On the left side, the Sosva, about 300 miles above the mouth, is the only tributary of fair size, besides the Irtish ; but it is hardly navigated, and need not be mentioned as a waterway.

The I rtish j oins the Ob 550 miles from the mouth, and is a very considerable river ; it is 2000 miles long, and is navigable by steamers during spring high water for 1200 miles, to Semipalatinsk. But there are several .rapids some miles below Semi­palatinsk, which prevent steamers getting higher than Pavlodar, 970 miles from the mouth, during summer low water . It rises in t he Mongolian Mountains. Aiter flowing through Mongolia for 350 miles, it enters the Nor Saisan Lake, which is 100 miles long, on the frontier. It then flows through the exceedingly fertile districts of Semi­palatinsk and Omsk, and falls into the Ob near the town of Samarovsk.

The wheat produced in the Semipalat insk and Semirechensk district~, the produce of cattle­farming, and salt from the Kirgis steppes, as well as breadstuffs from the Ishim and Barabinsk steppes, are carried mainly by water down the Irtish to Tobolsk, then up the Tobol and Toura to Tiumen, and thence by rail westwards. The Great Siberian Railway now crosses the Irtish at Omsk-450 miles above Tobolsk-and carries off some of the traffic.

Tributaries of the Irtish are-on t he right : The Boukhtarma, 180 miles above Semipalatinsk, which is used for floating down t imber in spring and autumn ; the Om, at Omsk, down which corn is floated in barges in spring, and t he Tara, 140 miles below Omsk, which is also used for floating down corn in the spring ; and on the left : t he I shim, which has plenty of water, but which is n ot navi­gable on account of the large number of mill dams on it ; and the Tobol, the lower pa rt of which forms one of the most important links in t he great through waterway of Siberia. The length of t he Tobol is about 850 miles ; but it is only navigable for 400 miles- to t he town of Kourgan-and that only during spring high water. At.Kourgan, ~he Great Siberian Railway crosses th e r1ver, affordtng means of transport for the produoe of the district. The courae of the river is very winding, and the channel very change1ble; there are also n ume­rous mill dams across the river, so that during s ummer low water navigation above Yaloutorovsk - 200 miles from the mouth-ceases, a nd only shallow-draught st eamers oa.n run between Yalou­torovsk and the mouth of the Toura- a distance of 20 miles. T ug steamer~ s~ldom go &hove

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

Yaloutorovsk with a load. The riYer could easily be rendered satisfactor ily navigable ; and there can be no doubt that it would then carry a heavy traffic. At 110 miles above its mouth, the Tobol receives the river Toura on the left side, and 20 miles lower down, the Tavda.

The To·nra, together with the lower part of the Tobol- from their confluence to the mouth of the Tobol-form a very important part of the Siberian waterways, and their condition must always have a great influence on the character and amount of trade between European Russia and Siberia. The Toura is 400 miles long, and is navigable for 180 miles, t o the town of Tourinsk, at high water ; at low summer water, it is only navigable for 60 miles, to Tiumen. Above Verkhotoura- 220 miles up­the country is well wooded, and supplies Tiumen with timber, which is floated down in spring. The bed of the lower part of the rivers Toura and Tobol is sandy and argillaceous, and the channel is exceedingly changeable; the width of the stream is from 350 ft. to 840 ft. Below the mouth of t he Toura, the T obol widens out, and after receiving the Tavda, it widens out to 1750 ft. The fall of the Toura, from Tiumen to its mouth, is 0.23 ft . per mile, and on the lower part of the Tobol, the fall is 0.2 ft. per mile. The mean velocity of these portions of t he two rivers is 1. 75ft. per second. The volume of water at low water is 2400 cubic feet per second at the mouth of the Toura, and 3400 cubic feet per second on the Tobol, just below t he mouth of the Toura.

Besides t he spring flood, there are several floods during the season, caused by rains in the moun­tains. Telegraphic signals have been arranged to give notice of the approach of a flood, which enables tug steamers very often to avail themselves of the temporary rise of water and save lightening their c:\rgoes.

(To be continued.)

HAND AND MACHINE LABOUR. ( Contin.v.ed frortt page 250.)

CUTLERY. IT does not fall within the scope of these articles

to make any comparison in the quality of American goods, and those of a similar kind made in this country. It is probable that in many lines Shef­field will continue to keep the leading position. But there are other kinds of Sheffield goods which used to hold the markets of the world, and which have been displaced by American products, pos­sibly not (Jf so good a quality, but of better design, and lower price. It is certain, at any rate, that every year Sheffield trade is being cut into more deeply by American competitors, and it is probable that the chief reason for this is the larger use of mechanical appliances, and consequently cheapness in production. Data are not available for high-class table cutlery, in which Sheffield will prohably remain unrivalled ; but so far as axes, shears, &c., are concerned information is avail­able, and is of considerable interest. We will t ak e first house carpenters' adzes, of which some par­ticulars are given in Table X LIII. Under the hand method all t he workmen were paid by the day, at rates varying from 1 dol. to 2 dols .; at present a large part is piecework, and the r emainder are paid by the hour or the week.

The particulars of one dozen 5! -lb. carpenters' axes, with 6}-in. blades, are given in Table XLIV. It will be noticed t hat the number of operations is

T ABLE X LIII.-Procluction of One JJoze;n H ouse Ca·rpentcr s' A dzes 1.uith 41-I n. Blades.

Mode of Production. Hand. Machine. Da.te.. . . . . . . . . . . 1860 1895 Number of different opera-

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

ployed . . . . .. . ..

8

2 104 h.

16.3 dols.

24

25 12 h. 50 m. 3.927 dols.

Number of hours worked Cost of labour . . . . .. Average rate of wages per

hour ... ... ... 15.6 cents 30 cents T ABLli: LIV.- P rodttelion of 1 Doz£n 5!-LlJ. Carpente•r:s'

Axes 1.uith 6~. Jn. Blades. ~!ode of Production. Hand.

Date... . . . . . . . . . 1895 Number of different opera-

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

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

5

2 104 h. 0 m. 20.75 dols.

Machine. 1895

17

17 12 h. 27 m. 5.422 dole.

increased from five to seventeen , and wh ereas two workmen conducted the five operations in the hand

[MARCH 2, 1900.

~Ttethod, a W?rkman for each operation is required 1n t he machtne me~hod. .In the former case the workmen were a sm1th, . patd 2 50 dols. a day, and a helper at 1.50 dols. ; 1n the latter there are nine or ten distinct trades, such as foraer hardener ~emperer, polisher, &c., besides their helpers <tnd mspectors. The labourers are paid 1. 25 dols. per day, and the others from 2 dols. to 2.50 dols., exc~pt the grinder, who earns 6. 50 dols., and the pohsher 5. 50 dols. In the machine method the steel was cut into lengths and forged into 12 axes complete at one operation, requiring 6 hours 28.8 minutes for one man, while under the hand method with blacksmiths' tools, an aggregate of 84 hours was necessary-a ratio of 13 to 1. Har­dAni~g and ~empering occupied 21.6 minutes by ~achtne, ag~1~t 2 hours by hand, while sharpen. mg and pohshmg took 4 hours 4.8 minutes and 18 h ours, respectively.

Shears.-In the production of one dozen pairs of 8-in. s~ears, t~e. operations of forging, hardening, tempenng, drtlhng holes, and putting blades to. gether by the hand method, occupied 10 hours

T ABLE X L V.-Prodttcticn of One DozEn Pa i1's of 8-l n. ShCQ/T'S.

Mode of Production. Hand. Date... . . . . . . . . . 1855 Number of different opera-

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

ployed . . . . . . . ..

7

1 23 h. 51 m. 2.385 dols.

Machine. 1895

16

16 4 b. 20 m. 0.977 dols.

Number of hours worked Cost of labour . . . . .. Average rate of wages per

hour . . . . . . . . . 10 cents 22 cents 24 minutes, which appears a high output with blacksmiths' tools. With cutting machine, furnace, trip hammer, clipping machine, fitting and drilling machine, and emery wheel, 1 hour 29 minute~ were occupied, or about one-seventh of the time. A comparison of t he principal operations is given below:

Hand. Machine. Filing handles . . . . . . 1 hour 14 minutes Grinding sides and edges 2 hours 14 , Polishing . . . . . . . . . 10 , 1 b. 45.8 m.

Table XLV. contains data concerning this in· dustry.

D AIRY P RODUCTS. F our items are examined under this head, as

follow : 500 lb. of dairy butter in tubs; 700 lb. of dairy print butter ; and t wo samples, each of 500 lb., of cheese.

B 1ttte·r.- The first operation is receiving and straining the milk ; in the machine method the work of weighing is also included. In all cases this was done by hand, improvements in modern appliances reducing the time by half-from about 8 to 4 hours ; separating the cream was, of course, done by hand in the old method, and for one sample of 500 lb., the time occupied was. 33 hou~ 20 minutes, compared to 2 hours 17 mmute~; m anoth er sample the t imes wer~ respect1v~ly 16 hours 40 minutes and 1 hour 15 mmutes. Coohng the cream was done in 15 minutes by the modern, and in 8 hours 20 minutes by the old method. Ripening the cream is the next opera~ion. Under the modern system this was accomphshed by the

T ABLE XL VI.-Production of 500 Lb. of Butter i'll Tubs. Mode of Production. Hand. Machine.

Date. .. . . . . . . . . . 1866 1897 Number of different opera-

tions involved . . . . . . 7 8 Number of workmen em·

1 ployed . . . . . . . . . 3 h 30 Number of hours worked 125 b. 0 m. 12 · ml.s. Cost of labour . . . . . . 10.666 dols. 1. 783 do ·

T ABLE XL VII.-Production of 500 Lb. of Dairy ~eese. Mode of Production. Hand. Ma.~~gse.

Date... . . . . . . . . . 1866 N um her of different opera-

tions involved . . . . . . 5 10 Number of workmen em- 2 ·

ployed . . . . . . . . . 1 5 b 35 m Number of hours worked 42 b. 51 m. · Cost of labour . . . . . . 3. o71 dols. · V04 dol.

use of an aerator cooling vn.t; t he respective tiro;~ were about 1 hour 40 minutes and 8 ~ours f minutes. Churning, washing, and saltmg,b· n~r the tub butter, was performed by a corn

11 ~

t ion machine that replaced the old dash c lUr ~-r · t d 50 hours worked by hand ; 31 .5 mmu es a~ hand

are the times recorded for the macht~e ant hour methods. Packing into tubs required Cl . 30 minutes and 8 hours 20 minutes. eanl~g,

. ' . t t of the routllle wh1eh forms so tmportan a par . h e work of a dairy was done by hand m eac cas t'

' · · d use o but owins to the better orgamsallon an

I

MARCH 2, 1900.] E N G I N E E R I N G.

machinery, the time required was in the proportion from .121 dols. to 10 dole. In the second example engraving machine. The example taken for corn­of about 17 to 1. In this industry we find a r eversal the t tmes were 163 hours and 10 hours 24 minutes parison is the woodcut of a kitchen range, the block of a common condition. Under the hand method and the labour cost 73.5 dols. and 2.8 dols: measuring 7i in. by 9 in., or about 70 square inches. female labour was exclusively employed, while n.t Tables L. and LI. give particulars. I t is not In 1883 this work cost 47.8 dols., or about 2s. 9d. present only men n.re engaged; the former earned at first clear how the use of machinery in what is a square inch ; in 1895 the same work cost a little 1 dol. n. day, the latter from 1. 25 dols. to 2 dols. distinctly art work can so far reduce the amount of less than 10d. ; the average wages paid in each case

Oheese.-Under the old arrangement the manu- time, and also permit the use of less skiJled and were nearly 40 cents an hour, or, say, 1R. 8d. An facture of cheese was carried out by females, paid lower- priced labour. The blank, in the case analysis of the two processes is of some little in. 1 dol. a day; at present it is the work of males of the brass die, was cut by a steam saw instead of terest: Table Lli. shows the hand method followed earning from 30 dols. and 40 dols. a month in the T AilLE L. -Produotion of One B'rass Die for Box in 1883, and Table LIII. the improved methods of

TABLE XLVIIf.-Produot-ion of 500 Lb. oj P'rinti.tng, 2(; I n . by 40 ln. 1895. Even under this latter, competition is out of Dai1·y Cheese. Mode of Production. Hand. Machine. the question with the various half .. tone processes. In

Mode of Production. Hand. Ma.ohine. Date.. . ··· ... ··· 1874 1896 neither of these Tables is the preparation of the box. D 1840 1896 Numberof different ope- d h' h th · d t k · t a.te... ... ... ... rations involved .. 5 6

woo , on w 1c e engravmgs are ma e, a en 1n o Number of different opera- Number of workmen em- consideration; that is an entirely separate industry,

tions involved . .. .. . 8 14 Number of workmen em- plohed · · · · · · · · · u 5 (To be conti-nued.)

N ~:::l:~ of .h.ours ;orked. 75 h. J m. 5 h. 2~ m. g~s~ ona~u~ours .. ~vork~~ 121.~~~ ~·ols. 1~£62 ~ois: Cost of labour . . . . . . 7. 500 dols. 0. 854 dol. A vherage rate of wages per

19 our . . . .. . .. . cents 27 cents MODERN FIELD ARTILLERY. case taken for comparison. By the machine method, warming the milk, the first operation after weighing, and adding rennet, is performed in steam­heated vats that have replaced the old kettle and stove; the relative times are 48 minutes and 6 hours 15 minutes. Although cutting up the curd and removing whey was done by hand in each case, the more favourable modern arrangements made the ratio in this operation 1 to 28- 15 minutes against 7 hours 8 minutes. Stirring and grinding the curd by machine took 1 hour 5 minutes, and by hand 14 hours 17 minutes. Pressing and bandaging occupied respectively 30 minutes and 7 hours 8 minutes ; curing occupied 12 minutes, as against 12 hours 30 minutes, or 62 times as long. Table XL VIII. summarises the general facts for this industry.

ELECTROTYPING·. The production of electrotype plates is such an

important accessory to the printing trade, and requires to be carried on so expeditiously owing to the promptness with which illustrated journals must be produced, that more rapid processes than those that were possible by hand have become necessary. The comparison instituted does not take into consideration an increased saving of time by the use of the dynamo as compared with simple immersion in the electrolytic solution, but the me­chanical processes referred to show a great economy as compared with the old methods. The example selected was 100 electrotype plates, each 8! in. by 7i in. The wax having been prepared, the former were moulded by the modern method under a steam press in t wo hours 30 minutes, as compared with 15 hours with a hand press.

TABLE XLIX.- Produotion of 100 Electrotype Plates 8! In. by 1~ In.

Mode of Production. Hnnd. Date... ... .. . ... 1865 Number of different opera-

tions involved . . . . .. 18 Number of workmen em-

ployed ... ... ... 28

Machine. 1896

19

28 89 h. 30 m. 23. 218 dols.

Number of hours worked 260 h. 0 m. Cost ofla.bour .. . .. . 67.025 dols. Average rate of wages per

hour .. . .. . .. . 20 cents 26 cents The metallic face was put on the moulds with a blackleading machine, in 7 hourP, and in 21 hours with hand brushes. The backs were rough­shaved by machine in 2 hours, and by hand in 60 houn~, and the fine shaving was completed in 6 hours and 18 hours respectively. The steam bevel­ling machine trimmed and bevelled the plates in 2 hours, as compared with 29 hours ; the mounting blocks were rough-cut by machine and by hand in 1 hour 30 minutes, and in 25 hours, and the blocks were finished in 3 hours and 25 hours respectively. With regard to the purely mechanical parts of the work, the modern sample was much superior to the old, the impressions produced by the machine pro­cess being sharper, and the bevelling, scraping, and truii1g the mounting blocks, being superior in all respects to the wo1 k done by hand, assisted with the hand plane and square. In Table XLIX. are given particulars of the two methods.

EN ORA VING AND DIE SINKING. Even in this essentially artistic industry, machi­

nery has come to play a most important part, as is shown by several examples selected for comparison. Of these we may tako two : that of a brass die for box printing, 26 in. by 40 in. ; and fifteen 2-in. seals engraved with the arms of a society. In the case of the first the time occupied was reduced ffom 635 hours to 38,5 hours, and the labour cost

by hand ; this was done in 30 minutes instead of THE 37-MILLThfETRE AU'IOl\IATIC GUN. 5 hours. In drawing the design, hand-tools were IN view of the great interest in field artillery, used in both cases, but only half the time was awakened by the war in South Africa., we begin consumed at the later date-5 hours instead of 10. to-day a series of illustrations of modern field guns, In 1875 the designer earned 3.50 dols . per day of their carriages and equipments, commencing with 10 hours ; in 1896 he earned only 3 dols., a.nd was the system of Messrs. Vickers, Sons, and Maxim, of course, able to do twice the amount of work. Th~ Limited, whose machine guns are made at the Erith grea.test saving ~ppe~rs in the next operation, that of works of the company; these works were organised cuttmg the destgns 1n the rough. In 1896 this was and equipped on most admirable lines by the original

TABLE LI.-Production of 15 Seals 2-In. in D·iameter Maxim Company, now absorbed in the Vickers com-F/rujra,;ed vn. the Arms. bination; the big guns are made at the works of

J.\IIode of Production Hand. Machine. the parent company in Sheffield, and the naval and Date... ... .. . ... 1893 1895 coast-defence mountings and ammunition at their Number of different opera- Barrow works. The ordnance director of the com-

tions involved ... ... 6 7 pany is Lieut. A. T. Dawson, who combines an active Number of workmen em-

1 d 8 and progressive energy with a splendid training, N~;:~r of ·hours . ~orked 163 h. 10 m.

6 partly at the Government Gunnery Department, 10 h. 24 m.

Cost of labour ... . .. 73.508 dow. 2.802 dols. H.M.S. Excellent. Of the field guns manufactured Average rate of wages per by Messrs. Vickers, Sons, and Maxim, Limited,

hour ... ... ... 45 cents 27 cents we take first their 37 -millimetre automatic gun, done with a routing machine driven by steam power because so much has been said of it in connec­in 20 hours, the operator being paid 2 dols. a day. tion with the war in South Africa. The prin­In 1874 with hand tools, the workman, paid 1.40 dols. ciple of the gun is similar to that of the Maxim a day, took 480 hours, so that although the wages rifle-calibre machine gun, in that the recoil is now paid are much higher than they were, the utilised for withdrawing the cartridge, reloading cost of this operation was 67.2 dols. in 187 4, and from a belt, and of firing the gun. Its prin­in 1896 it was 4 dole. Finishing the work occu- cipal advantages may be briefly indicated: The pied about six times as long by the earlier as by rapidity of fire is 300 shots of 1 lb. per minute. the later method. Its accuracy is notable, becn.use the automatic

In making the seals quite a different process has mechanism does not disturb the laying, and been developed : in 1893 the blanks were cast and once the range is effectively found, it can do each seal was engraved and lettered, while in 1895 destructive work at from 3000 to 5000 yards range. the design was engraved on a pattern from which Experience proves that the mechanism, although the seals were cast, leaving only the letters to be automatic and finely adjusted, gives little or no engraved. In this way as many as 160 copies could trouble, for the reason that strength and accu­be made up to a certain point, with but little in- racy characterise its design and manufacture. crease in cost, and therefore the contrast shown in I t is light and compact; the gun itself is self­Table Ll. would have been much greater, as only contained, and weighs 3 cwt. 2 qrs. 24 lb., or 15 seals are taken for comparison. 189 kilogrammes. The field carriage, shown in

ENGRAVING ON WOOD. Fig. 6, page 279, in firing position, weighs 6 cwt. 3 qrs. 26 lb. The limber, illustrated by

This, owing to the increasing popularity and far Fig. 7, weighs 9 cwt. 15 lb. The whole field greater cheapness of direct half-tone processes, is equipment of gun, landing carriage, limber, and becoming rapidly a lost art. But though its 200 rounds of ammunition, as shown in Fig. 5, page

TABLE LII.-Prodtwtion of One Wood Engraving 278, works out in all to 15 cwt. 3 qrs. 12lb., which, 7! I n . by 9 In., i-n 1883. for a gun of such power, is most satisfactory.

Operation. Time Worked.

Rate of Pay per

Day. Labour Oost.

-------------1---- 1---- ·

l. Drawing sketch on paper . . 2. Making tracing from sketch .. 3. Transferring tracing to wood

block .. .. .. 4. Finishing drawing on .wood

block .. .. . 6. Making r:traight -line work

on block . . . . . . 6. Finishing straight -line work

on block . . . . . .

b. m. 14 0 4 0

4 0

17 30

60 0

so 0

dole. 4.00 4.00

4.CO

4.00

4.00

4.00

dole. 6.600 1.600

1.600

7.000

20.000

12.000

TABLE LIII.-Produotion of One Wood Block 1~ In. by 9 In., in 1895.

Operation.

1. Photographing direct on block 2. S&ralght-line work on block .. 3. Fin isbing block . . . .

Time. Worked.

b. m. 3 0 8 0

26 0

Rate of Pay per

Day.

dols. 4.00 4.00 4.00

Labour 003t.

dol a. 1.200 3.200

10.000

applications are yearly more limited in consequence of competition, t·he cost of production has been, through photography and engraving machines, largely reduced. The comparison is interesting also because it is a handicraft, and involves no out­lay for plant, except a photographic out·fit and an

•

In entering upon a detailed description we may say that the mechanism is divided into two parts; the details are illustrated in E'igs. 3 and 4. One part is fixed, consisting of a water jacket around the barrel, a casing over the automatic mechanism, with a strong rear block H, and an hydraulic buffer for controlling the recoil. The water jacket has three openings, a water inlet and outlet wit.h screw plugs, and an exit for steam, so arranged that no water can escape. There are, of course, stuffing-boxes and glands at either end, between the barrel and the water jacket. The other part of the gun recoils with the barrel, and consists of plates (marked R) attached to trunnions ?n eithe1 side of the barrel at the chamber, extendtng !'ear­wards, and having at their rear end a crank placed a~ross t~e casing with th~ en~s project­ing on etther s1de. At the one stde IS a volute spring K, and at the other a handle D, shown clearly in all our engravings of the gut?, at rest aoainst a roller L attached to the outs1de plate. This crank, as shall presently be explained, ha.s also a lock, and acts as a propelling agent, with the help of the volute spring. The shaft h~s a con­necting-rod, as shown on the pl~n (F1g. 4) by which it is linked up to the rr:echantsm.

The gun is fed with c~rtridges from ~ belt w hi eh is shown under the nm of the wheel1n our engraving of the ~un in the firin g position, This

E N G I N E E R I N G. [MARCH 2, 1900.

37-MILLIMETRE AUTOMATIC CON, TRUCTED BY 1[ES, R '. VICKER,',

GUN IN USE IN THE TRANSVAAL WAR. ONS, AND ~lAXI~I, Lli\liTED, AT THEIR ERITH \\TORKH, KENT.

F1{} .1. Fig. 2

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GENERAL VIEWS OF 37-MILLIMETRE AuTOMATIC GuN AND CARRIAGE.

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FIG. 5. GENERAL VIEW oF 37-MILLl METRE AUTOMATI C SHIP's GuN wiTH LANDING CARRIAGE AND Lll\IBER.

belt passes through a feed-block, better shown in the elevations of t he gun (Figs. 1 and 2). In this fe ed-block there are one sta.tionary, and two movable, paw Is (Fig. 3). The latter are fixed to a slide in the upper part of the feed-block, and as the gun re­coils, levers, actuated by this recoil, move the slide rearward, the pawls being at the same time sud­denly pressed down by a spring clutch grip, the car­tridge thus carrying it rearward inside the casing. The barrel returns to its normal position, leaving the slide pawls and their carriage immediately over

•

the r e_ar of the chamber r eady for the loading operat10n.

But before this lo~ding and working can takA place automatically, it is necessary to work the me­chanism in a manner corresponding to the recoil of the gun. This is done by moving the crank by the handle on the right-hand side of the case. One turn of the crank brings the first cartridae over the loading place in rear of the chamber, t h: second sends it home in the chamber, while at t he same time the pawl clutches the second cartridge on the

belt at the slide marked A on the sectional dralr· ings. A safety catch holding the trigge~ may t~~~ be unlocked and the automatic operatiOn o~

' 11" tl trJUuer gun be commenced by merely pu mg 1e oo

once. 1 ·itb 'Vhen the gun is discharged, the ~arre ' " 37

the recoil plates and mechanism, recoil~ a.bou1t. h millimetres (1! in.), and a spiral sprmg . w

1~~e surrounds the -barrel is compressed. Durmg . 8 recoil the crank ha.nc.llc outside the casing remr~ in co~tact with the roller L, which is attache

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

37-MILLIMETRE AUTOMATIC GUN.

CON~ TRUCTED BY MM " R '. VICKER , ON , AND MAXIM, Lll\II'l'ED, ERITH.

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Fro. 6. 37-MILLIMETRE A u TorrrATIC GUN IN FIRING Pos iTION.

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Fm. 7. LIMBER FOR ;17- MILLniETRE AuTOMATIC GeN.

the outside plate. The curve of t he crank handle is so set out that t he latter r eceives a circular move­ment, which is accelera ted during t he recoil. By this rotating of t he crank the mechanism is tluown back clear of t he breech sufficiently far to extract the empty case from the bcurel, and to tak e a fresh cartridge from the belt in the feed-block in the manner already indicated. The t urning of the crank also brings the volute spring attached to the crankshaft into ten ~:~ion . As the lock travels backwards, the carrier A drops, being guided by the cams I fixed to the casing of the gun, and the guide· block attached to the cover. ' V hen in its lowest position, t he carrier places the new cartridge taken from the belt opposite the chamber

of t he gun, whilst the empty case is simultaneously placed oppo8ite t he ejecting tube below, X . The carrier has grooves only two-thirds of its length, whilst t he cartridge is held firmly by a spring gib and a tail spring.

The reaction of the spiral spring which encircles the barrel, next brings the latter a.nd the recoil plates ,vith all the mechanism back into the firing posit ion ; t he lock moving forward pushes the new cartridge into the chamber, and the empty case into the ejecting tube. During the htst par t of the forward t ravel of the lock, the carrier A is lifted by levers G which engage with lugs on the ~nrier. These levers are actuated by suitable projections or lugs which form part of t he side levers connected

•

279

with t he crank. These lugs cannot well be traced in Figs. 3 and 4, but the end of t he leYer G can be plainly seen engaging the carrier. The carrier in rising engages with the base of a fresh cartridge in the belt, and being only grooved two-thirds of its length, drops the empty case, which is ejected through the t ube X.

As the lock is brought to the rear and away from the breech by the action of the crank, the rear part of the side levers attached to the crank depresses a t umbler M, and this dra ws back the firing-pin, the position of which can be seen in Fig. 3, and compresses the main spring, When the tu m bier is down, the nose of the hand sear p is forced into engagement with a bent in the t umbler by the action of the main spring s. There is also a safety sear n, which prevents t he firing-pin being released before the lock is home and the carrier in the firing position. I t will t hus be understood that if pres­sure is taken off the trigger immediately after the explosion of a cartridge, the gun will be automati­cally loaded, but will not be discharged. Single shots may thus be fired, or continuous firing carried on at the will of the gunner .

To unload the gun, when firing has ceased, it is only necessary to t urn the crank handle fully over to the fron t twice and let it go ; t his empties the carrier of the projectiles, which have been taken from the belt during firing operations. These pass through the chamber without being discharged, a.nd thence into the ejector t ube as full charges instead of empty cartridges. They may be withdrawn by hand if the lock is drawn back by turning the crank handle to the front. To provide for safety there is a special arrangement with indicator lever, which when turned to the " safe" position locks the trigger, so that it cannot be pulled back by the finger .

Before proceeding to describe the carriages, it may be well to give a Table of t he particulars and ballistics of the gun.

Pa.1·ticu.lars of the Maxim 37-Millimetre Automatic Gun . Calibre ... .. . .. . 37 mm. (1.457 in .) L ength of gun over all (with-

out shoulder-piece) ... 1873 mm. (73.75 in.) L ength of gun over all (with

shoulder-piece) .. . . .. Rifling (uniform) 12 grooves \V eight of shell .. . .. . L ength of common shell .. . Burater in common shell .. . L ength of steel shell .. . Burster in steel shell .. . W eight of cartridge-case ... L engt h of cartridge-case ... \Veight of cartridge (com-

plete) .. . .. . .. .

2225 , , (87. 58 , ) 1 turn in 30 calibres 453 grammes (1 lb.) !>3.3 mm. (3.673 in. )

22 grammes (340 grs.) 91.3 mm. (3.596 in. )

13 grammes (200 grs. ) 167 grammes (5. 9 oz.)

94.5 mm. (3. 72 in. )

656 grammes (1.45 lb.) L ength of cadridge (com-

plete.. . .. . . . . .. . 166.8 mm. (G. 566 in.) W eight of powder charge{ 35.5 g rammes (1 oz .

(sm<;>keless) ... . . .. . 110 grs.) Veloc1ty ab muzzle .. . . .. 549 m.-secs. (1800 ft-secs. Perforation of wrought iron

at muzzle ... . .. . .. P erfuration of wrought iron

ab 100 metres . . . . .. P erforation of wrought iron

ab 600 metres . .. . ..

57 mm. (2.25 in.)

53 , (2. 08 , )

35 , (1.39 , )

Mountings adapted for all services haYe been designed. In some of them the T -piece, or other attachment of the gun, works in a socket in the mounting ; in others it is cylindrical, and slides over a pivot on the mounting. In either case the gun is capable of moving freely in a horizontal plane, but, of course, can be clamped in any position. The position of t he gun in the vertical plane is given by means of an elevating screw. The training is effected by the man laying the gun, who, with the help of the shoulder-piece and his right hand on the pistol grip, has full control.

The field carriage for this gun is shown on the drawings reproduced (Figs. 1 and 2), the engraving (Fig. 6) showing the gun in the firing position. It consists of the trail, the crosshead, t he elevating gear, axle, and wheels. The trail is made of two plain steel plates, forming the sides, joined to­gether by the t rail shoe and the socket bracket. The trail is further strengthened by the traversing segment and by transoms. The two sideplates slope from the socket bracket towards the trail shoe, and at the same t ime diminish in depth. The trail shoe, which prevents the t rail end from digging down in the ground, is provided with a socket for the handspike and a trail eye for attach­ing the carriage to the limber ; it is also fitted with a t:iCraper underneath to steady the carriage, and to prevent its running back during firing.

The bracket, which is made with a socket for the pivot of the crosshead, is formed to take the

280

axle-tree immediately in front of the socket. In the trail between the sides is a sheet steel tool-box fitted to take a spare mechanism, as well as a few necessary tools and a"cessories. On the " near " sideplate is carried the handspike, and on the "off " sideplate is a leather pooket containing the cleaning-rod, which is mg,de to fold up so as to occupy as little space as possible.

The crosshead, which is pi voted in t he socket brc1cket, is made to receive the gun, the trunnions of which rest in bearings secured by the usual cap-squares. The crosshead extends to the rear forming an arm, the lower part of which slides on the traversing segment fixed to the trail, and by means of a. clamping bolt, the crosshea.d can be c!amped in any position between the training limits. At the extreme end of this arm is supported the nut of the elevating gear .

This gear is composed of a left-handed, and a right-handed screw, one working within the other. The outer one, which works in the elevating nut, has a hand wheel for turning it. The head of the inner screw connects with the elevating joint on the underside of the gun, and by turning the handwheel the gun mfLy be elevated or de­pressed. The elevating nut is partly split, and has a clamping bolt, by means of which the elevating gear can be tigh tened up, thu'i preventing the screws working down during firing.

The axle is cylindrical and made of steel with two stays on each side ; these stays are connected to the trail sides to strengthen the axle. The wheels are of the usual construction with metal naves. The gun is fed from an ammunition box p'aced on the box carrier on the left-hand side of the gun, the box always travelling wit h the gun. This box contains a belt holding 25 rounds of ammunition.

In firing, the gunner rests with his left shoulder ag-1inst the shoulder-piece, and the right hand on the pis'"ol grip. A second m~n presses down the trail by means of t.he handspike, thus keeping the carriagd perfectly steady during firing.

The principal particulars of the field carriage are as follow:

Field Carriage for 37-Millimeflre Jllaxin~ Autom~tic Gun.

Cwt. Qrs. Lb. Weight of gun .. . ... .. . 3 2 24

,. ca.rria8'e including shield n.nd shoulder·ptece... .. . .. . 6 3 26

Weight of limber with boxes . .. 9 0 15 , 300 roundd of a.mmnni-

tion .. . . .. . .. . . . . . . 4 0 0 Diameter of wheels . .. . . . . . . 52 in. Track of wbeel:s . .. .. . .. . 62 , Height of axis of gun . .. .. . 44.4 ,

The limber is shown on the engraving on page 279 (Fig. 7). It consists of a steel frame resting on coach springs connected to the axle. The Rplinter bar of t he frame ie a trough-shaped steel p late fitted with wood. It has drag hooks to take the swingle trees, and also drag eyes for attaching the trail hooks in case the drag hooks or s wingle trees should be da maged. The limber is constructed for pole draught, and the pole is con­nected direct to the axle and supported by a bracket on the splinter bar. At the rear of the frame is a hook for attaching the trail eye of the carriage.

The limber-box, which is bolted to the frome of the limber, is made of steel plate, and divided internal ly in six compartments, each to take two ammunition boxes of 25 rounds each. It is fitted wi t.h double door-3 hinged at the back of the box. The box is fitted with a seat and arm-rests, and provision is made for carrying necessary entrench­ina tools, water tanks, and stores. The shield, which belongs to the gun, is ca.rried on the top of the limber-box in travelling. The wheels are interchangeable with th~se of the carriage. The ammunition boxes are m~de of wood, with a slid­ing lid, and hold 25 rounds each. They are fitted with a handle at one end, and at each end near the bottom of the box are guides which fit the pro­j ections of the limber-box carrier, preventing the box from falling out.

All our warship3 have the 37 -millimetre gun fitted to landing carriages, and these, as they are for field use, may also be included in our serie~. An engraving, Fig. 5, on page 278, illustrates this carriage, and the weights are as follow:

Land in(} Carriage for 37 -lllillimetre Automatic Gun. Cwt. Qrs. Lb.

w e:ght of gun ... ... ... 3 2 24 , carriage . .. . .. . . . 3 3 13 ., limber empty with ammu-

nition b~xes ... .. . . .. . . . 5 2 f5

E N G I N E E R I N G. Weight of 200 rounds of a.mmuni- Cwt. Qra. Lb.

tion ... . . . . . . . . . . .. 2 2 18 Diameter of wheels . .. . .. .. . 42 in. Tra.ck of wheels . .. ... ... 47 ,, Height of a.xis of gun . . . . . . 34.15 in.

This naval landing carriage is of a very light con­struction to allow of easy transport by a small crew. The carriage consists of the trail pivot· plate, cross­head, elevating gear, axle, and wheels. The trail is made of two steel tubes connected by the trail shoe at the lower end, and at the upper end by means of T-pieces and taper pins attached to the axle. Half-way down t he trail tubes is a connection-piece, which serves as a support for the elevating gear. There is bolted at the end of the trail shoe a steel trail eye for limbering up. Provision is also made for carrying a tool box on the top of the trail shoe. The pivot-plate, which is mounted on the axle between the T -pieces of the trail tubes serves, as a support for the crosshead, to which it is attached by means of lugs front and rear. It is capable of vertical movement round the axle to obtain the elevation or depression re­quired.

The pivot:-plate is extended to the rear forming an arm. This arm has on its underside two lugs for connecting the head of the elevating rod, and on the top it has a racer or sliding segment on which t he clamping bracket attached to the elevating lugs of the gun slides. The racer is fitted with stops at each end to limit t.he training. The clamping bracket which is situated between the elevating lugs of the gun has a clamping jaw in the centro, which is actuated upon by an eccentric bolt passing through t he elevating lug of the gun and the clamp­ing bracket. By turning the handle of the eccen­t ric, the gun can be secured in any position between the training limits. The cros~head , which is capable of horizontal movemen~, is mounted on the pivot­plate immediately over the axle. The gun rests in the trunnion bearings, and is secured in the usual manner by cap-squares. · On the right-hand side of the crosshead near the base of the same is a lug which supports the ammunition-box bracket, carry­ing the ammunition box, and this bracket is placed underneath and in line with t he feed-block of the gun, taking part in all the movemen ts of the gun.

The ammunition box used with this mounting is not of the usual shape, one end being h igher than t he othor to reduce the width of the carriage with­out changing the capacity of the box. It is pro­vided with a handle and metal guides like the ordi­nary box.

'l'he elevating gear consists of a plain rod sliding in a sleeve supported by the connecting-piece of the trail tubes. This sleeve is partly split open, and is fitted with a. clamping screw and handle, by means of which the gun can be locked at any angle.

The axle is cylindrical, and is fixed to the trail tubes as described above. The wheels are of the usual construction, with the exception of the pipeboxes, which project very little outside the wheel, so as to minimise the width of the carriage. The carriage is very compact, and when the wheels are taken off the mounting, it can be stowed away in a very small space.

The limber, also shown in our engraving, consists of a steel frame fixed to a cylindrical axle and provided with a h ook for attaching the carriage in travelling. '!'he front of the frame is fitted with a pole with crossbar for transport. On the top of the frame, provision is made to receive two ammunition chests (each holding four ammunit ion boxes, each of which holds a belt holding 25 cartridges) as well as a water tank containing 2 gallons of water for re­filling the water jacket of the gun. The ammuni­tion chests are made of steel, and are secured to the frame by a small door and locking bolts; t hey are also provided with grummets for carrying. The wheels are of the same construction as those used with the carriage.

(To be conti-nued. )

THE INSTITUTION OF lVIECHANICAL ENGINEERS.

A GENERAL meeting of the Institution of Mecha­nical Engineers was held on Thursday of last week, February 22, Mr. J . Hartley Wicksteed, Vice-Pre­sident of the Institution, occupying the chair, in the unavoidable absence of Sir William 'Vhite.

After the usual formal proceedings the chairman announced that, owing to Mr. J. A. F. Aspinall haYiog been e1 ected vice-pres ident, there was a

[MARCH 2, I 900.

-racanc:y for a member of council. Ac~ing in accord­ance with. t he rules of the Institution, the council ha~ appOinted Mr. Arthur Tannett \Valker to fill thts vacancy.

THE LoNGWORTH PoWER H..uatER, AND

PNEUl\IATW TvoLs. . Two pa~ers we:e down}or reading at the meet­mg, the first bemg on Improvements in the Longworth Power Hammer/ ' by Mr. Ernest Samuelson, of Banbury. The second was on " Portable Pneumatic Tools/' by Mr. Ewart C. Amos, o.f London. . Thes~ two papers were read consecu t~ vely, the diScussion on. both being taken at one time. In our present Issue we give on page 301, Mr. Sa.muelson's paper ; while ' on page 304 we commence the publication of the paper by Mr. Amos. Owing to the fact of two papers being read, not much time was left for discussion ; the latter was thu ' only commenced and it will be continued Pot the next meeting which will be held on the 22nd inst. '

At the concluding of the reading of the papers the chairman asked the authors whether they had any remarks to add, but Mr. Samuelson stated that he had nothing to say which could not be re· served until he replied to the discussion. Mr. Amos said that it was an illustration of.the rapid improvement being made in the design of pneu­matic tools that diagrams showing further develop­ments in this direction had only been handed to him after the proofs of his paper had been cor· rected; the latest development was a three·cylinder drilling machine with an improved valve movement. He had given in a table the air consumption and maximum duty of certain pneumatic drills working in wood and metal. The revolutions of the ma­chines, however, which were stated in a column in the table, were given with the machines un· loaded ; he adopted this course because it was necessary to have some uniform basis of compari­son. It would be understood, however, that in some cases the speeds were too high for actual work.

Mr. Chambers, of Tip ton, opened the discussion on t he paper~. He said that he had had some experience with the Longworth power hammer in his works, having purchased several of these ma­chines from Mr. Samuelson ; they had taken the place of the ordinary smith's oliver, and he thought that when working men of this country got more educated, it would be impossible to get anyone to do the arduous work necessary in using an oliver. He thought it was an occupation which in its trying and exhaustive character was on .a level with puddling. The British workm~n dtd not always understand what was for his own good, and the speaker had had a good deal of diffi· culty in introducing the pneuroaticall~ controlle.d hammer. He had, however, determmed t~at I& was necessary that such a machine should be mtro· duced into his works, and five years before bad purchased a. hammer from Mr. Samuelson. What had become of that machine he did not know, but at any rate it had become a wreck ; but it so far answered its purpose that Mr. Samuels~n pro· ceeded to make improvements and re-d~~ngn. the machine, which in its present state was mfim~ly better than at first although not yet perfectly atts· factory. He thought anyone attempting to (ollow his example by substituting this power hammer .for manual work would find a certain number of diffi· culties ; one would be that his men wou~d not help him ; secondly, that his partners, or dtrectors, ,1,~ he manaaed a company, would say, "!told you so . when the first breakdown occurred. The oth_er difficulty would be to make the machine do Its wQrk satisfactorily. Mr. Ch~mbe~s, apparentll~ had overcome these difficulties himself, for stated that he had now no trouble with his men, and that he h~d 14 of the hammers in work. One cr reat ad vantacre he found with these hammers ~ver the stea~ hammer was that it took only one hand to work them and perhaps only one boy, that was if the prop;ietor listened to his fo~emhl~ and workmen · but if he took the matter lll own hands and saw that it was put through [ro· perly, he ~ould find that the machine ?ould e~~ two boys going. A point he would 1mp~ess was Mr. Samuelson in the design of the machme ]in-the need for more adJ' ustment. The upper cy t

· en · der being brought low was a gre~t Impr.ovem Th~ for he had known one to fall off ill working. f t need for adjustment was emphasised by the .ac that directly there was any play in the mecbamsm

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the hammer began knocking itself to pieces. There was much greater strain on the mechanism of this hammer than in the case of t he steam hammer, for the latter had on]y vertical stresses ; for that reason ho wanted a tool with plenty of weight in it. The use to which he put these hammers in his works was for the making of spindles of various sizes ; t hey were, therefore, used for ligh t work, such as was generally done by the steam Ryder forging machine.

Mr. Macfarlane Gray said that he realised some­thing which people often wished for- that they might come back a generation la.t€r and see what had been done in the meant ime in the way of improvement and advance. In the year 1865 a paper was read before the Institution in which a pneumatic riveter which he had invented was de­scribed. I t was, perhaps, interesting to say how the invention had come about. He had been told by a lady who was a. friend of his that the energy de­veloped by burning one t on of steam coal was equal to that exercised by an average workman for ten years. The lady had given t he fi gures for this, and he had been so struck with the statement, that when he got home he checked them over and found they were perfectly correct. At that time he was employed in the Vauxhall Foundry at Liverpool. On the following day he had gone into the yard to see men riveLing boilers, when the remark the lady had made occurred to him, and he thought, Why could not this work be done by steam, seeing there was such an enormous margin in favour of mecha­nical power 1 He went home a.nd wrote a. pro­visional specificat ion for a steam or pneumatic

· riveter. Drawings of t his will be found in t he Transactions in the 'Volume for the year 1865, and ~fr. Gray exhibited at the meeting the specification drawing which had been lent to him by the P atent Office, as the specification itself was out of print. The machine he designed was, however, ultimately unsuccessful. The stroke was too long and the tools were not stiff enough, so that they would not stand the work. It was with great pleasure that he noted the beautiful devices which had since been brought forward and were illustrated by the diagrams on the wall. H e regretted, howe,Ter, that the descriptions of the mechanism of some of the too]s were not worded differently so that they might be more easily followed.

At this point Mr. Wicksteed proposed a vote of thanks to the authors, as it was evident that the discussion would have to be adjourned to the next meeting, and it was desirable that any m em hers from the country who had attended and wished to speak, and would not be present at the next meet­ing, should be heard.

Mr. Boorman, of Leeds, had had some experience of power hammers and had found there were seYeral peculiarities in them ; although they were very useful tools, he was confident t hey would not displace the steam hammer, as there were posi­tions peculiarly suited for both types of machine. The power hammer was adapted for swaging, planishing, and forging between dies ; one thing against it , howeYer, was that it could not strike a single blow. Mr. Samuelson had said that he could do this with a Longworth hammer, but that was contrary to the speaker's experience, and he thought even if it could be done it could not be done satisfactorily ; that was a very important feature. Another point was that t hey could not let the tup come down and put pressure on the work for holding it while it was bent over the anvil, as could be done by the steam hamn1er.

Mr. Reavell, of Ipswich, said that in designing his new works he had contemplated putting down a hammer which should be of the steam hammer type, but worked by air; because he thought that the extravagance of the steam hammer in the use of steam was due chiefly to condensation. H e had written to Mr. Samuelson at the t ime, but the latter could give him no satisfactory answer ; perhaps since then he had thought over t he matter and in his reply to the discussion would be able to give the meeting some information.

Mr. Samuel J ohnson, of Derby, said that in the Midland Ra-ilway shops they used pneumatic drills and found them of the greatest service. One excel­lent piece of work they did was in cutting out copper firebox stays ; the man could get inside the firebox and work all round with his pneumatic drill, thus replacing the extremely difficult a.nd trying work of hand drilling; he could hardly think of anything more advantageous than this. They also used pneumatic tools for caulking aud rough fettling, the advantage being especially noticeable

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in steel wheel castings; he thought there was a very great fut ure for pneumatic tools in general. He was, however, not sure as to the pneumatic riveter. It might, perhaps, come into use, but not, he thought , for locomotive work.

Mr. T. Hun·y Riches said that Mr. Macfarlane Gra.y's remi~iscences nminded him of an early ex­perience of h1s own. At the first works over which he had charge he found amongst other things an unused steam riveter, and with the enthusiasm of youth he had given orders for this to be fitted up. The result was hardly 8atisfa.ctory, it took three men to hold up, and one of these was knocked end for end. In more recent t imes he had t ried nearly all the pneumatic tools of which there were examples before the meeting, and one point that should be noticed was the effect of vibration in holding up. H e had found a good deal depended on the form of handle. That handle wa.s best which, like an ordinary saw handle, was not joined to the machine at both ends, but had only one attachment. With the more rigid handle obtained by the double attachment, he ha.d found vibration materially affect the ope­rator. He had made some experiments in working pneumatic drills, tabulating how long it took t o make hol es of a. given size, and how much air was consumed by different machines. He had found considerable variation in the latt er rsspect, the difference being as much as 25 per cent. He had t ried pneumatic power by applying a. tube expander to a drill spindle, but the result had not been suc­cessful. By the use of a Stow flexible shaft, how­ever, he had been able to expand heavy tubes, but had not been equally fortunate with light ones. These pneumatic tools were especially useful for tapping. There was an advantage in the use of air that it could be worked expansively, and was, therefore, superior to water in regard to adjusting the power used to the work done.

Mr. Samuelson here said that he wished it t o be unden,tood he did not claim for the power hammer an exclusive place in the workshop, and he considered that up to a certain size, say, up to 5 tons, it would be useful, but it would not alto­gether supersede the steam hammer. Mr. Chambers also interposed, stating, in r~gard to what Mr. Boorman had said, that it was quite possible to strike a single blow with the Longworth hammer, though whether this could be done as ad vanta­geously as with the steam hammer might be a matter of opinion. Mr. Amos said be would give at the next meeting some data in regard to the arrangement of handles alluded to by Mr. Hurry Riches.

The meeting then adjourned.

THE PARIS INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION.

(Concluded from page 216.) THE LARGER FINE ART PALACE.

WE recently (see page 213 ante) described the general arrangements of the larger of the two permanent buildings on the Champs Elysees, which are to contain the fine art exhibits of France and of the other countries t hat will con­tribute towards the coming Exhibition. This week we propose to refer briefly to the internal structure and the means employed in its erection, though we regr et we are not able to publish details of the very interesting steelwork that enters largely into the construction. At the present moment work is carried forward night and day, with the object of having the buildings complete in time to receive the exhibits, and the high pres­sure that prevails leaves no leisure to the con­tractors to supply drawings. At a later date we shall hope to make good this deficiency.

The illustrations that we publish on our two­page plate, and on pages 282 and 290, are sufficient to show that the roof trusses of the great hall are admirable pieces of design, a fact which makes one regret all the more that construe· ti ,.e details are to be concealed as far as possible by exterior decoration. It seems unfort unate that so much good work of the engineer should be hidden by the ornament, no matter how admirable, of the architect·. After the plans of the build­ing had peen definitely settled, the final designs and calculations for the framework were entrusted to one of the most important contractors in Paris - MM. Moisant, Laurent, and Savey, from whose report we reproduce some of the diagrams (see Figs. 1 and 2 of our two-page plate). The

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trusses, which are entirely of steel, are 45 n1etres (147ft. 7 in.) span, and 56.15 metres (184ft. 3 in.) wide outside. Their height from springing to summit is 36.95 metres (121 ft. 3 in.) ; they are spaced at distances of 12 metres (39 ft. 4 in. ) apart. As will be seen from the diagrams, they are c:ir­cular trusses and are carried on columns 14.95 metres ( 49 ft. ):high. I t will be seen from the dia­grams that the thrust from the trusses is taken by the wide stanchions to the massive blocks of concrete that form the foundations. We may now, in a few words, give some idea of the manner in which the framework has been erected. The contracts were divided between three impor tant firms whose names are familiar to the readers of ENGINEERING : MM. Moisant, Laurent, Savey, and Co.; MM. Dayde, Pille, and Co. ; and t he Societe des Ponts et Travaux en Fer. These three firms made a col­lective tender in which the names of MM. Moisant, Laurent, and Savey appeared firs t, probably because they had been employed to make the preliminary investigations and final calculations for t he structur~. This was two years before the adjudication, and when the contract was let en bloc, it was divided by the successful firms into three pads, and settled by drawing lots, the only manner uf avoiding difficulties or jealousy. In this way the right-hand part of the building fell to MM. Moisant, Laurent, and Co., and also, we belie Ye, the grand stairway ; the left portion of the contract fell to the Societe des P onts et Travaux en F er (Maison J oret); the great central dome was to be built by Messrs. Dayde, Pille, et Cie. In the erection of the left. hand portion of the building, the contractors do not appear to have introduced any special or inte­resting devices to facilitate the work ; the absence of buch methods has been much in evidence with many of the struct ures in this Exhibition. They contented themselves with erecting a vast mass of scafto lding that enclosed the width of roof with planked stagings at different levels, so that the work could be carried on with convenience and security. On the other hand, MM. Moisant and Co. made use of extensive and very ingenious appliances that have been extremely successful, and which are certainly among the most interest· ing of the preliminary works of the Exhibition. Electricity is the motive power employed, in con­trast to the more general use of steam, and the most usual hand labour and primiti l'e winches t hat have been so largely employed. The illustrations which we publish give an excellent idea of the staging, which combines a travelling gantry and a revolving traversing crane. The engravings from photographs on pages 282 and 290 very clearly illustrate the mode of placing the columns and arched ribs in position. The apparatus consists of a high wooden tower of remarkably light construc­tion, which is mounted on a carriage placed upon tracks, one pair of which is laid at right angles to the other, the direction being shifted by means of what is practically a turntable, on which the crane can be brought and turned about its axis, so as to be useful in any required direc­tion. It will be seen that stagings are con­tructed on the tower at various levels, but they are not so elaborate as on many other scaffoldings used in connection with t he Exhibition works. There is nothing special about the arrangement of the hoisting winch, w hicb is driven by a dynamo placed on a higher part of tl~e staging. The form of the main arm of the crane 1s shown on the draw­ings, Figs. 3 and 4, and on the other engravings ; it is free to turn through about 60 deg., and it receives the hoisting chain as shown in the figures ; this chain passes along the hoisting arm as far as a travelling carriage which runs upon it. By this arrangement the working area is very effec­tively covered. The work of erection has been car­ried on under the best conditions, and with remark­ably efficient method. It commenced by setting in vlace the columns and the first sections of the ribs along the enclosing walls. One of the illustrations (page 282) shows the crane putting in place the framework of the side galleries of the fagade on the new A venue, and near one end of the palace. Of course it happened, as t he work proceeded, . that on each side of the hall the partly erected rtbs pro­jected far over ~owards the centre ~see Fig. 3)~ until the middle closmg length was put 1n. For thts last operation the two timb~r towers show!l in tl~e illus­trations were brought tnto use. 'rheii stagmg was furnished with screw jacks, so that the centre lengths of the ribs could be lifted clear of the scaf. folding and adjusted in place ; a! soon as the con·

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M ARC[[ 2 , 1900.] E N G I N E E R I N G.

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nections were made, the jacks on the stagings were run back and the stagings were shifted into posit ion for the next rib. An examination of the drawings and general view of the scaffoldings will show that every facility was provided for the work of erection,. and at the same time for the safety of the workmen. We may now consider the construction of the dome which intersects the framework of the hall roof opposite t he great central en trance ; this dome rests on a circular ring suppor ted by four special girders j

the intersection of these curved surfaces resulted in some very complicated details, which, like all the rest of the steelwork, has been admirably carried out. In t he erection of the dome, the scaffolding used by Messrs. Dayde and Oo. is illustrated by Figs. 5 to 8. I t does not at all resemble that we have just described, and, wi th one exception, is a fixed staging. I t consists essentially of a, central structure surrounded by a circular staging and some isolated framing ; t his latter has been employed for erectipg the columns shown in t he illustration. The circular staging carries a t its, upper par t, a platform and a. circular track, imme­diately coincident with the position· the dome· occu~ies. The central par t of t he s taging, which is· relat1vely independent , carries an iron socket or bearing about 12 in. in diameter, calTied on a plat· form, where the hoisting and manreuvring a.ppara-

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tus a:e placed, by which the framing is raised and put 1-';1 place. The hoisting arm itself consists of two gnders 115 ft . long. At about one-fourth of its length a block is attached which fits in t he socket · nearer the outer. end the arm rests on a carriage that tr~vels on the Cll'cular track before mentioned. In this wa_y a revolving traverser is provided, the short end bemg loaded so that any practicable load can be handl~d safely. Rails are bolted to the two girders on which run two small carriages with winches and hooks, so that the whole of the area necessary can be well covered. The hoists are worked by steam but the travellers on. the girders are operated by har:d, as well as the rotatwn of the latter. Platforms are dis­tributed across the whole staging, and every means appears to have been taken for facilitating the work and th~ conveni~nce and safety of the work­men. Eng1neers w1ll be unanimous in their ~avourable criticism of the design of the steelwork m the great Fine Art building, no less than of the way in which the erection has been carried out. B~fo~e concluding, we may notice that the dome w.Ith 1ts s~an of 230 ft. and its cupola of 147 ft . in d1ameter, IS surmounted by a campanile 60ft. hiah. In the construction of this immense building no l~ss than 6000 tons of steel have been required and this explains why the contractors are som~what be~indhand, the conditions of industry in France, bemg, as we have often explained, not favourable to the rapid execution of work.

THE LATE MR. PETER BRUFF. THE death took place, on Saturday night, Feb. 2!,

of Mr. Peter Schuyler Bruff, one of the oldest members of the I~stitution of Civil Engineers, to which he was elected 1n 1840. Mr. Bruff had attained the very ad­vanced age of 89, and he leaves a widow who ia still older, viz. , 97. Mr. Bruff died at his residence, Hand ford Lodge, Ipswich. He was in harness a lmost to the last having acted as chairman of the Tendring Hundred Water Works Company, and engineer to the Harwich Conservancy Board.

Mr. Brutf, who was a pupil of the late Mr. J osep~ Locke, played many parts in his time, but hts great work was t he establishment of rail­way communicat ion between Colchester and Norwich. T.he old Eastern Counties line strllggled with great difficulty from Shoreditch to ColcheAter, but its re­sources were then exhausted. Another group of capitalis.ts, with ~r. Bruff, appeared on the scene, and proJected a lme from Colchester to Ipswich and Bury St. Edmunds, a branch being a fterwards pro­posed from Haughley (between Ipswich and Bury St. Edmunds) to Norwich.

Mr. Bruff's ideas were carried out; but when his Jines had been completed, they were not found to be of m.uch co.mmercial value, and in 1862 they were uruted wtth the Eastern Counties, Norfolk, Eastern Union, East Anglian, and Newmarket system~, under the general designation of the Great Easte~. Even when this was done, the newly orga.msed Great Eastern found itself in a. difficult position, as it had nothing but agricultural traffic to depend on. Mr. Brutf, however, lived to see the Great Eastern establish a. line of steamers to the Continent, d evelop a valuable connection with the North of England vici Lincoln, and open out a vast suburban traffic, so that at length it has become a fairly good property.

Mr. Brutf was associated with the water supply of H arwich, but t he earlier borings which he made in connection with the matter proved unsuccessful; and it was finally found necessary to obtain water from Mistley, a place 10 miles a way. l\1r. Bruff was also consulted in connection with the water supply of Colchester, and the works established u nder his guidance have now passed into the bands of the Colchester Town Council. Mr. Bruff became engineer to the Harwich Conservancy Board about 35 years since, and he designed and constructed a cunred jetty at Landguard Point; this bad. the effect of preserving the ports of Harwich and Ipswich, and also opening out Parkeston Quay.

Mr. Bruff prepared plans for the sewering of Ipswich, and the works which he proposed were car­ried out by Messrs. Pearson. He was a lso consulted in connection wit h a number of other minor local un­dertakings. In his earlier days, Mr. Bruff was a n a ctive member of the R oyal Harwich Yacht Club, and for a long period he was a prominent figure at the annual H arwich Regatta.. Mr. Bruff had somewhat outlived his contemporaries, but the services which he r endered to East Anglia are not likely to be soon forgotten.

CoAL IN GERMANY. - The production of coal l&st year by the collieries comprised in the German coal syndicate was 48,024,014 tons. The corresponding output in 1898 was 44,865,536 tons, so that the production in­creased last year to the extent of 3, 158,478 tons.

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

NOTES FROM JAPAN. (FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

A SHORT while ago the Minister of Finance was said to have under contemplation a charge in changing p a pe r ior gold, owing, it is said, to his d esire to pre­vent gold leaving this country. This rumour caused ~ general tightening of the purse-strings, and bank 10terest on fixed deposits for twelve months, which had fallen to 5 per cent., the normal rate for Japan, has once more gone up to 6 per cent.

The banks and public companies in general are now pu~lishing their half-yearly balance-sheets, most of whtch must be extremely good reading for the fortu­nate shareholders. The country sadly wants money, and, when foreigners are in a position to understand what legal rights they rfally can occupy with regard to the purchase and mortgage of real estate, there ought. t o be a. good safe outlet for foreign capital at ab.out 7 p er cent. in mortgage debentures on existing ratlways and sound manufacturing concerns, say, to half of their paid-up share value. Ivlost of these conce.rns require capital.. All the private railways are starvmg for t he want of 10creased rolling stock.

The wording of the new treaties leaves manv things open to question ; for instance, at present foreigners a re very much agitated as to t he status of the former settlement perpetual leases. As foreigners read the law of Japan anent this, should a man become bank­rupt the propert y in the former settlements reverts to the Government. The letter of the law is said to r ead in this way, but the Japanese Government would not be likely to interpret it in this spirit; and, no doubt .some specia~ la w wi~l be issued to cope with the. dlf!iculty. D.lfficulty 1t reil.lly is, as all trans­a.ctlOns m the buymg and selling of real estate on t he former settlement have ceased in consequence for the past six months.

The tariff, too, presents many anomalies, I suppoee all Customs House tariffs do; for instance, the import duty on wagon material is 10 per cent. , while that for carriages is 5 per cent. Now, as a matter of fact, the wheels, axles, and buffers for the wagons of Japan are to the same specifications as are those for carriages, the sole bars are the same in section and material, but, of ~ourse, are shorter than t hose for wagons, and the sprmgs, too, are made of the same quality but differ from. those for carriages in being shorter. You can readtly see that such an anomaly is likely to lead to t rouble and loss. Then, again, the duty on plates and bars is about 5 per cent., but were any of these plates punched, drilled, or machined in any way, the duty would leap at once to 20 per cent.

The Americans have formed a trust with M essrs. Murai Brothers, the large tobacco people, and it is the first large undertaking where foreigners and Japanese have formed a partnership. The capital is 10,000,000 yen, held half by the Murais and the Americans re­spectively. .Many think that this is the first of a se~ies of trusts, but I doubt it. It is a very difficult thmg for two firms in different count ries to combine and have one common interest when each works that p~rt of the business situated in its own respec­tive country. Theoretically it seems simple, but in puctice there are innumerable difficulties.

A curious commentary of the new departure is that a r ival tobacconist issues an ad,·ertisement in some of the leading papers which must cost close upon lOOl. a day, calling attention to the fact that this contract means half of the profit of t he business going into foreigners' hands, and depriving Japanese men and women of work; likening himself, in attacking this big trust, to small Japan attacking big China, and calling upon patriotic Japanese to support him. Another subtle point in his advertisement is that he acknowledges that smoking is a waste of money, but h e wishes to prevent as much as possible of this wasted money le!L ving J a. pan.

As far as one can see as yet, the new treaties have made very little, if any, difference in t he facilities for the foreigners doing business in Japan. Perhaps it is too soon to expect any marked change, especially as so much doubt s eems to exist as to the exact legal status of the foreigner. This will no doubt be cleared up before long, and then we shall see what can really be d one.

Business generally for the importers is "ttery dull outside of Government requirements.

The market here for iron and steel has not yet r e­sponded very fully to the prices ruling in their place of manufacture. Large orders have gone abroad for gas tubing for the new oil wells opening out on the west coast of this island, but I think the orders have been over-done. Orders for steel and iron sheets and bars have been plo.ced, but at prices which leave the importer very little margin.

A great deal of pig iron of Chinese m anufacture is finding its way here just now, and is said to give sa.tisfaction.

BRAZILIAN STEAM NAVIGATION.-The Amazon Steam Navigation Company is building a stern wheel light­draught steamer to ply ou the Negro.

[MA RCII 2, 1900.

PNEUMATIO DESPATCH.* By PR?FESSOR c. A. CARUS WILSON, M.A.

. THE question of the intercommunication of the inba b1tB:nts of ~ondon was chosen by the chairman of tb~ ~oClety, Str John "Yf olfe Barry, as the subject of his n~augural addr~ ID November last, a.s well as that of hlB ~ddress deh vered at the opening of the p · sess10n. rev10us

In tho~e addr~es Sir John W olfe Barry dealt with the quest10n of the mtercommunication of the inbabitan~ of London by means of stree~s, and he pointed out the enormous ~oss to the commumty, both in public conveni­ence and m actual money value, due to the congested state of the thoroughfares of the Metropolis. He endea· voured to pro.ve, as .I beli~ve successfully, that it would be worth whtle laymg out many millions of pounds in order to remove the causes of congestion.

The traffic that we see in our streets is however but the complement of that which is passing continu~usly alo~g ~hose . chann~ls of communication, by means of whtch m~ll~gence 1S conveyed, and the whole social and commerctal hfe of the ~etropolis carried on. Stree~ and thoroughfares .have the1r own special functions to perform ; t~ey may be likened to the arteries of the body while the hnes along which intelligence is conveyed ~mble ita nerves. Congestion in either is fatal to the well-being of the whole.

The Post is by .far. the m?st i~portant of the many ~ean.s of commumcat10n of u;ttelligeoce in London, and ID ~h1s paper I propose to constder to what extent it might ~ 1mprov~ by ~he utilisation of some recent advances 10 mechamcal sctence.

A letter posted recently at the post office in Parliament. stree~ addressed to New Broad-street, a. distance of 2i ~ilea, took 2 hours 43 minutes from the moment of postmg to the moment of receipt. The letter ha.ppened to be posted just as a collection wa.s being made. If we allow 15 minutes for. the time that usually elapses between the moment of postmg and the moment of collection the time occupied would have been about three hou~. I propose to t ake this a.s a typical case, and analyse the reasons why this letter took such a long time to cover so short a distance.

Th.e letter is subject to certain delays which may be classified . as follows : delays of accumulation, delays of handhng, and delays of transit. Consider first the delays of accumulation. A letter has to lie in the box several minutes before collection. Through· out the whole of its journey to its destination it is subject to the disadvantage of having to wait for oth~r letters to accumulate bofore it can be sent on. The trial letter, which was posted in time for the 11.45 collection, had stamped upon it "12.15 L ondon, S. W.," thus show· ing that within half.an-hour of the time of collection the letter was no nearer its destination than when it was posted. Adding together the delays due to accumulation at each stage of the journey, we shall not be far wrong in saying that one hour, or one-third of the whole time of travel, is lost in waiting for other letters.

Take now the delays of haodline-. The letter is taken out of the collecting-box and put mto a bag with several other letters to await the departure of the van which takes it from the branch office to the district office. There it is thrown out with other bags, which have to be arranged and carried to the sorting and cancelling tables. When these processes have been effected the letter finds its way into another bag, which, when ready, is closed and carried down to await the departure of the mail van. It is the~ taken up, thrown into the mail van, which takes ~t to the General Post Office. Here a similar process ts gone throu~h, many minutes passing during which the bag contaimng the letter is lying about awaiting the n~xt stage. All these delays, though not, perhaps, exceeding two or three minutes ea.ch, in the aggregate mount up to a considerable time, and I estimate that in the case I have taken, quite 40 minutes would be lost in this '!ay, which added, say to 20 minutes for actual delivery, bnngs the total up to one hour. .

Now consider the delays of transit. The matl vans have to travel along the congested thoroughfares, and are subject to the delays common to the traffic of the Metro­polis. Forty minutes would not be too much to.aJlo~ for a mail van to get from the district office at Vtctona to the General Post Office. Even then the van might be delayed by an unexl?ected block in the tra~c at some point, thereby just mJssing a delivery, and a~ding pe!ha.ps 20 minutes more, making the time of trans1t practiCally one hour. · 'd

Summing up the different delays, '!e ma.y.roughly dtvl e the three hours ot'cupied by a letter m gettmg from West· minster to the City as follow: 60 minutes .for .accumud lation, 60 minutes for handling and dehvermg, an 60 minutes for transit.

The foregoing analysis of the delays to which a. letter is subjected in passmg through the post enables us to see the lines upon which a system would have to be .de· veloped, so that we might send letters in as short~ tune as we n ow send telegrams. Such a system must ~nsure that the letter shall be despatched i~~edi~tely wLthout waiting for other letters, thereby ehmmatmg the d~li{t due to accumulation. The letter must be brought rl~ into the Post Office and deposited close to the sorting and cancelling ta.bies, thus reducing delay du~ t!d handlins-; and, thirdly, the letter must be tra.nst:Wt t from pomt to point by some rapid means of. transtt tha is not hindered by surface traffic, thus reduomg the ~fa of transit. All these requirements appear to be satlB e in a. system of pneumatic despatch: . .

Stated briefly, this system consiBts 1n connectwg tw~

* Paper read before the Society of Arts on February 28, 1900.

MARCH 2, rgoo.] or more points by a tube placed underground. A written message or letter is packed inside a carrier which closely fits the tube in which it is placed. Air pressure is then brought to bear upon the carrier, which is blown through the tube at a high speed. Such a system, in theory at any rate, fulfils the required conditions. The letter can be sent off immediately, thus avoiding delays of acccu­mulation. The ends of the tube at which the carrier is put in and to which it is transmitted can be placed close to the sorting desks in any convenient part of the build­ing, thus avoiding delays due to handhng. Thirdly, the tubes themselves can be pla~ underground, where they are not affected by outside influences, and any desired speed of transit can be attained.

The pneumatic system was introduced into England as long ago as 1853, in order to meet a difficulty encountered by the Electric and International Telegraph Company in keeping up a communication between their branch and central station~. It was found that when a great number of telegraphic mes~ses had t~ b~ sent th~ accumul~tion involved great delay m transmiSSion, and 1t wa.s dee1ded to send them by pneumatic despatch.

In the year mentioned Mr. Latimer Clark laid down a line of tube connecting the company's office in Telegra{>h­streeb with the Stock Exchange. This wa~ a single hne of 3 in. diameter, actuated by a vacuum, that is to say, the air was exhausted a.t one end and the carriers were blown through by pressure of the atmosphere. This was the first pneumatic despatch line used in any country.

In 1858, Mr. C. F. Varley introduc~d for the first time the use of compressed air, thus enabling a double line of t ubes to be used, the carrier passing in one direction under the action of compressed air and in the other under the action of a vacuum.

In 1870, Messrs. Siemens and Halske introduced two important modifications. In the first place they pro­posed to .use a. current of. air circulatin$ throug~ a con­tinuous line of tube, passmg out to a dlSta.nt pomt, and returning, not necessarily by the ~ame route, to the point of departure. Second.ly they P.roposed intermed~ate sta­tions, by means of wh1ch a carrter could be put m to the tube at any (>&rt of the circuit without interfering with the flow of a1r or the travel of other carriers in the tube.

The pneumatic system was adopted on a. gradually in­creasing scale by the English Government, hub none of the tubes laid down exceeded 3 in. in diameter, anrj they were used only for carrying telegrams. The present extent of the pneumatic tube system in L ondon is shown in Fig. 1, page 283, for which I am indebted to !\1r. J. Hookey, the Engineer· in-Chief to the Post Office.

In 1855, Sir Rowland Hill instituted an investigation into the possibility of carrying mails by the pneumatic system. The fcheme was pronounced to be feasible, but to involve so great an expense as to necessitate an extra tariff, a course which Sir Row land Hill did not see his way to adopt.

In 1861 an experimental line, two-thirds of a mile long, was laid down in Battersea Park by the Pneumatic Despatch Company. This tube was 2 ft. 6 in. high, nearly circular in section, and contained rails on which ran a small carrier. The a.ir was exhausted at one end by a large fan, and the carrier driven through by atmospheric pressure. The success of this experiment was cons1dered to be so great that the tube was transferred and laid down between the North-Western District Office in Eversbolt­street, and the London and North-Western Rail way Station at Euston. This tube wa.s opened for traffic in February, 1863, and for several months carried the mails between the Eversholt-~treet Post Office and Euston.

The successful workin~ of this line involved the over­coming of a ~at many difficulties, notably that of bring­ing the camera to rest at the exit of the tube. This was accomplished by the engineer to the company, Mr. T. W . Rammell, to whose ingenuity the whole of the pneumatic apparatus was due.

The Pneumatic Despatch Company was so satisfied with the result of the working of this line that they took measures to construct a line on a much larger scale, con­necting Euston Railway Station with the General Post Office. This tube was 4 ft. 6 in. wide inside, and had an area nearly three times larger than the one laid down in Evershol t·street.

The first portion of this tube was about 1 mile long, and connected Euston with a. station in Holborn, where the engines were placed. This line wa~ opened to the public for traffic in November, 1865. The second portion of the line, about 1! miles in length, was constructed later, and connected the station in Holborn with the General Post Office. The tu be was laid underneath 0 x ford­street, Holborn, and the Holborn Viaduct, and is still intact. Trains of cars travelled throughout the whole length of this line from the General Post Office to Euston and back, calling at the intermediate station at Holborn. Experiments showed that 12 tons of mail could be carried through from end to end in about 14 minutes. The enter­prize, however, was not a commercial success, and its use was abandoned.

No further attempts seem to have been made to convey letters by pneumatic despatch until the year 1892, when a line of tubes, 6 in. in diameter, was laid down in Phila­delphia between the General Post Office and the Bourae, for the purpose of carrying mails between those points, the system employed being that designed by :1:\Ir. B. C. Batcheller. This system makes use of a continuous and uninterrupted flow of air. Tubes connecting the different points are laid underground, and the letters are conveyed in steel carriers closely fitting inside the tubes, forced along by the action of compressed air admitted at one end.

The carriers consist of a. thin steel shell, as shown in Fig. 2, page 286, provided with two bearing rings of specially ~repared woven cotton fabric, which fit the tube closely. These rings have been knowo to run for 10,000 miles •

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

before ne~ing replacement. The carrier is closed at one end by a hmged hd secured by a lock, so contrived that it cannot come open when inside the t11be.

The simplest. form of pneumatic circuit is equi{>ped as follows : An .a1r compressor at one end, supplymg the compre~ed a1r to the tubes: An up-and-down line of tubeS la.1~ underground, connecting the two stations: A transmitter and a receiver at eaoh station.

The ~ir passes from the . compressor through the first tran~m1tter along the up hne of the tube to the distant recetver, through which it flows in an uninterrupted course to the ~ransmitter in a distant station, back through the down hne of tu be to the receiver in the first station, and thence to a reservoir at atmospheric pressure, from which the compre~s~r draw.s. its supply. Th.e object of this arra~gement 18 to utthse as far as poss1ble the same air contmuou~ly, and not to draw more damp air from the atmosphere than is necessary to make up for leakage.

The steam compressors are of the ordinary duplex type, the compression taking place in a single stage without a;rtificial cooling. The transmitters at both ends of the !me a~e of the same type, and consist essentially of a rock­mg p1ece, shown at M in Fig. 3, carrying two cylinders Band C, which can be rocked at will into line with the tube. A byepass D is provided by which the air can flow continuously along the tube, while the rocker is being mov~d. ~n the position sho~ in the figure, the air is p~mg d1r~ctly through the cyhnder B, an? t~e cylinder C 18 accessible to the operator. The earner 1s inserted and the rocker thrown over, the cylinder then comes in line with the tube, and is exposed to the force of the air pressure which catches ib and carries it forward. An ex. ternal view of this apparatus is shown in Fig. 4.

The rocking motion is effected by a pneumatic piston working in a cylinder H. When the pperator wishes to despatch a carrier, he pulls the lever K, thereby setting a spring in tension which effects the discharge of the carrier, if allowed to do so, by a. time-loo~ which can be set for any given number of seconds, at the expiry of which time air is admitted into the cylinder H, and the rocker thrown over automatically. The object of the tima-lock is to prevent the operator sending the carriers at too frequent intervals through the tube. The head­way between the carriers is fixed, say, at 10 or 20 seconds, as the case may be, and the operator has simply to insert the carrier and pull over the lever, when the time-lock will despatch the carrier at the proper moment.

The receivers at the near and distant station differ from one another, because the pressure of air at the distant station may be several pounds per square inch, while at the return end of the tube, in the near station, it will be that of the atmosphere; hence a different kind of receiver is needed in order to deal with the difference in the proosures.

A section of the receiver used at the distant station is shown in Fig. 5, and is called a closed receiver. This is furnished with a dead end into which the carrier pa~ses by its momentum, and where it is brought to rest by the buffing action of the air which it compr€sses ahead of itself. lVIeanwhile the stream of air continues to flow uninterruptedly through the slots shown in the figure. The compression of the air in the dead end works a pneumatic piston by which the dead end is turned over and the carrier allowed to fall out by its own weight on to a receiving table. Fig. 4 shows a. closed receiver in conjunction with a transmitter.

The receiver used at the near station is called an open receiver. The air passes continuously along the tube through slots and down to the reservoir. The carrier is taken by its momentum into an extension of the tube beyond the slots closed ab the further end by a sluice gate. It there compresses the air in front of it, and when the compression reaches a certain value ib actuates a valve which withdraws the sluice ~ate. There is suffi­cient pressure of air behind the earner to force it beyond the sluice gate out on to an open receiver. The whole process acts automatically, and the carrier is brought to rest and discharged in a. few seconds.

In many cases it is desirable to have a station along the line of tube, so arranged that only carriers intended for that station will be discharged there, all other carriers passing on to the distant sta.tion. In this case the inter­mediate station is provided with an intermediate receiver, as shown in Fig. 6, page 283, somewhat similar in action to a closed receiver. The front of the carrier is pro­vided with a disc, which is set in a particular way when the carrier is destined for the intermedin.te station. As the carrier comes to rest in the dead end, the disc strik~s an electric contact, and an electric current actuates a mechanism which rotates the dead end of the tube, so that the carrier is discharged at the inter­mediate station, as in an ordinary closed receiver. If, however, the disc is not set for discharge at this station, the dead end will be rotated through a right angle, and the carrier dropped into the main tube again, and forced on its way to the distant station. The whole proce8s is completed in n.bout 8 seconds.

Stations furnished with an intermediate receiver of this kind are also furnished with a pneumatic switch placed in a subway in the street at the point where the tubes diverge from the main line into the intermediate station. This street switch is furnished with an electro-pneumatic arrangement, so that the intermediate station can be per­manently cut into or out of the main line of tubes.

Profoosor \V. Cawthorne Unwin was the first to state the general principles of the motion of a carrier in a pneumatic tube, in a. paper communicated to the Institu­tion of Civil Engineers in N ovem her, 1875. He there ~hawed that for a given initial velocity of air, the pres­sure decreases as the distant end is approached, and the velocity of the carrier increases with the distance from the starting point. Thooe principles have an im­portant bearing upon the practical working of a pnel:·

matic tube. Thus, it is necessary to know the varia­tions of pres3ure along the line, since upon this depends the proper working of the different pieces of apparatus a.t each point. Also, since the velocity is not umform, it is important to know exactly how long it takes the carrier to travel through different portions of the tube. The results observed by careful measurement on tubes now in use in the United States agree in a re­mark~ble way with those predicted by Professor Unwin's equat10ns.

The column of air has to be kept circulating con­tinuously, ready to convey the carrier forward a.t any instant; hence by far the larger part of the work done is expended in overcoming the friot10n of the air on the side of the tube. The coefficient of friction of air in tubes of different sizes hag been ascertained by numerous experi­ments, and is well known. If one end of the tube is open to the atmosphere, a definite pressure is required at the other end in order to move the column of air through the tube at the required velocity. Thus a mile of 6-in. tube requires a pressure ab one end of about 7 lb. above the atmosphere in order to make a carrier travel through the entire length in two minut~, while an 8-in. tube, 3! miles long, req uireg a pressure at one end of 12 lb. above the atmosphere in order to force a. carrier through the tube from end to end in seven minute3. The presence of a carrier in the tube tends to retard the column of air, and, therefore, demands a slightly higher pressure than would be required if the carrier were absent. A carrier weigh­ing 30 lb. requires a._pressure of about ! lb. to move it at 30 miles an hour. This must, therefore, be added to the initial pressure required to move the column of air.

It is evident that the efficiency of such a means of trans­mission is exceedingly low, since only a small proportion of the total pressure is actually used in driving the carrier. It would, however, be a mistake to lay undue stress upon this fact, since the criterion of efficiency in any system of despatch is the degree of usefulness ob­tained. For instance, the proportion of the horse-power of an express locomotive pulling a mail train that is actually expended in overcoming friction due simply to the weight of the mails, would not be re~arded as an estimate of the efficiency of the whole combmation. The all-important condition is that the mails reach their destination as quickly as possible.

It is sometimes urged that it would be better to have a. larger carrier travelling on wheels. There are three ob­jections to this: 1. The carrier is liable to leave the rails and get stuck in the tube, thereby increasing the chance of accident. 2. A heavy carrier cannot be forced up to the sorting and cancelling tables if these are anywhere but on the ground floor of the post office, thus involving delays due to handling. 3. A large carrier running on rails introduces the practical difficulty of air leakage past the carrier. This is a serious matter, and was one of the chief difficulties encountered in the old pneumatic tube between the General Post Office and Euston.

The effect of loakage is to require a higher terminal pressure in order to make the carrier move at the same mean velocity. The larger the carrier the more difficult it is to prevent leakage, especially when the carrier is running on wheels. In cases where it is essential to use carriers on wheels, it would be better to drive it directly by some form of motor. Thus, in the old pneu­matic tube between the General Post Office and Euston, better results could have been obtained by driving the carriers direct than by thf3 pneumatic syetem. Even if this were done, however, the difficulty of the air friction is not alto~ether surmounted, since the carrier in its for­ward mot10n has to drive before it and to drag behind it a column of air of the same length as the tube.

I bad occasion recently to calculate the power required to propel, by means of electric motors, a carrier travel­ling in the pneumatic tube between the General Post Office and Euston. With a clearance equal to 40 per cent. of the area of the tube, the power req_uired to main­tain the whole column of air in motion while the carrier was moving at 40 miles an hour, was about 20 horse­power. When the speed of the carrier wa.s increased to 60 miles an hour, the power required increased to 60 horse­power. With direct driving, an increase in the clearance mvolves a decrease in the power required, which is the reverse of what happens when the carrier is propelled by air pressure. Hence, when the carrier is large enough to require wheels, it should be driven direct.

Tubes working on the Batcheller system have been laid down in Philadelphia, Bo3ton, and New York. The first to be constructed was that in Philadelphia in 1892, where the General Post Office is connected with the branch post office in the Bouree, distant a. little over half a mile by an up-and-down line of 6-in tubes. A 30 indicated horse-power compressor is placed at the General Post Office, and the pressure required to move the air only is 7 lb. per square inch. The time of transit is 1 minute ont a.nd 55 seconds back. The whole of the letter mail between the Bourse and the General Post Office is carried by the pneumatic tubes, and it is esti­mated that letters posted at the Bourse have pra()tically the sa. me ad vantage of despatch as if they had been posted at the General Post Office.

The second line in Philadelphia. connects the General Post Office and the Pennsylvania. Railwar. Station, with an intermediate station at the Reading Ratl way terminal. This is a double line of 8-in. tubes, tlie distance between the end stations being nearly 1 mile. The compressor is driven by a 60 indicated horse-power steam engine. The time of transit from the General Post Office to the Penn­sylvania Station is 1 minute ~5 seconds. T~e ~rriers are 24 in. long, and have a capaCity of 800 cub1c mches, and a weight of 13lb. when empty. They oan hold, on an average, 600 lettere.

In Boston a double line of 8-in. tubes connecting the General Post Office with the Union Railway Station,

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E N G I N E E R I N G. [l\ L \RCII 2, I 900.

PNEU lVIATIC DESPATCH.

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FIG. 2.

distant nearly a mile, was constructed in D ecember, 1897. A eo m pressor of 50 indicated horse-po ~er is placed in the basement of the Generall:'ost Office, where the average pressure is 6 lb. per square inch. At the General P ost Office one transmitter and one open re­ceiver are placed in the sorting-room, while at the U nion Station one transmitter and one closed receiver are em­ployed. The time of transit from the General P ost Office to the U nion Station is 90 seconds. The letters are usually tied up in bund les and thrown in t o the carriers. The whole of the letter mail between the Post Office and the station is carried through the t ub 3 and averages 361,000 letters and circulars daily. The number of carrier journeys actually made is 1500, while the capacity of the tube would admit of as many as 10,000 being made in the day. The tube is working 21 out of every 24 hours, 3 hours at midnight being utilised for cleaning and overhauling the machinery. Since the opening of the tube the mails from the U nion Station have been closed at the General Post Office 30 minutes later than previously, and from 20 to 30 minutes are saved to the public in the despatch and receipt of mails from and to thA General Post Office.

T hree lines of tubes. a~ shown in Fig. 7, page 283, have be~n laid down in New York, each starting from the General Post Office, one extending to the P roduce Ex­change, laid in October, 1897, one to the P ost Office in Brooklyn, laid in August, 1898, and one to the Grand Central R ailway Station, la id in March, 1898.

The line to the Produce Exchange is ~ mile in length, and c0nsists of a double line of 8-in. tubes laid beneath the streets. The up and down tubes are worked by a single air compressor placed in the General Post Office. Each end of the line is equipped with one transmitter ; the P ost Office end has an open receiver, and the Produce Ex­change end has a closed receiver. T he carriers travel with an eight-second headway, and a re running continuously from five in the morning to nine o'clock at night, the average weight of letters carried in one day being about 2000 lb. The time of transit is 1! minutes each way, as compared with 15 minutes formerly taken by vans. This does not represent the whole saving of time effected, since the letters are delivered close to the sorting and cancelling tables, thereby saving the delays of handling. Further, the letters are conveyed continuously, and each letter is sent on immediately it is posted at the General Post Office.

The line to Brooklyn consists of two 8-in. tubes and is 1! miles long. l\fany mechanical difficulties were en­coun tered in laying this line, since it ha.d to pass across the Brooklyn Bridge, and Yery carefully designed expan­sion joints were necessary. These, however, have worked satisfactorily. The power plant for this line consists of one air compressor placed in the General P ost Office, and two in the Brooklyn P ost Office, one of which is kept

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F IG . 8. TRANS'\1ITTER AT BROOKLYN PosT OFFICE.

in reserve. Fig. 8 shows the transmitter at the Brooklyn P~st Office . . T~e initial pressure is 6 lb. per square inch With no earner m the tube, and the earners travel with 13 seconds headway ab a mean speed of 30 miles an hour. The average wei~ht of letters carried during the day is ~00 lb., consistmg of about 126,000 letters and 20,000 cu culars and papers. The whole of the letter ser vice between New York and Brooklyn is conducted by means of these pneumatic tubes. The time of trans1t is three minutes each way ; the time with the mail vans used to be 27 minutes.

qfficial statistics ~how tb~t ther~ is a gain to all the ma1ls of about 35 mmutes m the t1me required between Brooklyn and New York, while to the mails connected with outgoing despatches from the Grand Cen tral Station, there is a saving of 40 minutes. This allows of a later close, which in some instances may mean a gain of many hours in delivery at distant points.

The line extending to tlie Grand· Central Station is 3! miles in length, and consists of two 8-in. tubes. T here

are three intermediate stations, one at Eight~-st~t, 00t9

at . Madison-square, and _one at . Twenty-~tght -s~~~ Atr compressors for working the lmes are sttuated a

· t ' e 90 horse· General Post 0 ffice and at the ratl way ~ta. lOD, 0~ .. al res· power compressor being used for each hne. ~be 1.rutl P k d sure is 12 lb., rising to 17 lb. when the tube IS bemg w~r ~3 to its full capacity. The carriers pass thdroug.h t~eror utbe with a 15-second headway, and t~ose ~tme b the intermediate stations are automa.t1~lly 8100:~ Joo lb intermediate receivers already described. ~ u f transit ~f letters ~re carried in one day, andredthe tfhe 4~ minutes IS seven mmutes each way, as compa ~1 worked previously taken by the mail vans. The lines are twenty-one hours out of the twenty·f<?ur.. . h su le·

A great feature of the traffic on this lme lS t e a~he mentary service between the 9-eneral Post pmce ~to 45 railway station. Special earn ers are s~t pro~ Office to minutes after closing time a.tl the Gene. os ve e of catch trains at the Grand Central ~tatton, an a rag out· 200 to 300 letters being sent in thts way for every

MARCH 2, 1900.] E N G I N E E R I N G.

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going mail, resulting in a saving of time to letters thus jshow that the Pneumatic System reduces these delays to a sent of from one to three hours, corresponding to the minimum; that it is not a paper scheme, merely attrao­time they would have been delayed in waiting for the tive in theory; but, on the contrary, that the working next mail. of this system in the United States has proved conclu-

I. began this paper with an analysis of the delays to sively that ib is thoroughly practical, and able to bear ~htch letters were subject. These delars are inevitable the heaviest strains that may be put upon it. m a postal system conducted upon ordmary lines, how- Why should we not have the benefit of this system in ever well it may be organised, and I believe that the England ? It wonld enable us to send a letter across system we have in London is not excelled by any other London in one-third of the time that it takes at present. srstem of the kind anywhere. I have ~ndeavo\}red to . If sent Qn ~t the furth~r end b;r extra deliverr, with a

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special fee, a letter conld be posted in \V estminster, for instance, and reach its destination in the City within half.an-hour. Country mails arrivin~ in London could be sent ont at least one deli very ear ier, while for out-goin~ mails the gain would be equally marked. The postmg time for the ordinary night mails could be ex-tended from 6, certainly to 6.30, and possibly even to 7 . With a late fee, letters could be posted at any of the branch offices at 7.30 instead of 7, as at present, or with an extra fee it would be possible to posb up to 8.

Having shown thab thts has been done in other oities, having shown that ib is most desirable to do it for this, the biggest and busiest city in the world, I oan only ask1 in conclusion, "Why should London wait ?''

TJJE ELECTRICAL ENGINEER YOLUNTEERS.-We are n.sked to state that a ''send-off" dinner will be given to the active contingent of the Electrical E ngineer Volun­teers, who will be leaving shortly for South Africa. The dinner will take place at the Prince's R estaurant on Saturday. March 3, and the chairmA.n will be the Right Hon. Lord Kelvin, G.C. V .O., F.R.S., honorary colonel of the corps .

BEARING SPRINGS.-At a meeting of students of the Institution of Civil Engineers, held on Friday, Feb­ruary 23, Mr. J. I. Thornycroft, F .R.S., in the chair, the pa.per read was on ' ' Bearing Spring!J," by Mr. B. Humphrey, Stud. Inst. O.E ., and Mr. H. E. O'Brien, B. Se., Stud. Insb. O.E. The following is an abstract of the paper: "The paper treats of the use of a spring and the conditions for high efficiency. Springs for similar work vary greatly in design, and there is great variation in the formulas used for deflection, &c. Springs were unknown 300 years ago, and many improvements haYe been effected in the suspension of vehicles durin~ the pre­sent century. The theory of laminated spnngs was £rst thoroughly investigated in 1852 by Phillips. Two approximate methods of arriving at the deflection, one of which is due to Rif.ter, are shown, and a res'UITIW of Phillips' researches is given. Formulas arrived at by D. K. Olark are also given, and the main points of Sir B. Baker's paper are noted. A de­scription is then given of the process of manufacture of springs in the worksho_p. The author's experiments on springs are described. Spring steel was £rst tested in tension. The laminated and spiral springs were tested in compression. In those tests for which the Young's modulus E, of the material of the spring was known, tne deflection calculated from Phillips' formula was found to agree closely with the actnal deflection. The large varia­tion in efficiency, on the basis of deflection per ton load per pound weigbb of material in the spring, is noted. Spiral springs are compared with laminated springs, and the suitability of the former in certain posibions is pointed out. Experiments showing the difference in resihence of a laminated and a spiral spring are described. A list of references to papers on springs concludes the paper." A discussion followed, in which Messrs. W. H. C. Clay, F. Fisher, C. S. Rolls, L. H. R ugg, and T. Rich took part.

288

NO~~S FROM THE UNITED STATES. PHILADELPHIA, February 21.

THE expected surprise in the iron market has not yet appeared. The markets throughout the country are rather quiet. This is not at all surprising in view of the largely over-sold conditions. Prices have not ~eakened, and there does not appear to be any weaken­Ing tendency at work. A few transactions have taken place for something less than·current quotations and thes~ sales gave. rise to th~ rumours of a ge~eral dechne. The eshma.ted reqmrements for the coming season are entirely too heavy to afford room for the inference of any mate1 ial decline in prices. Large consumers a re now negotiating for deliveries during the last half of the year, but these negotiations may be prolonged for weeks. In a retail way it may be said that there is an abundance of business, but the aggregate of sales is, after all, a. triflina matter. Re.cent . d~velopments in .Wes~rn Pennsyl~ania are qutte s1gmfioant. There 18 qu1te a struggle in pro­gress there to enlarge manufacturing capacity. The developments in the Carnegie-Frioke dispute furnish the newspapers with a text for a great deal of writing, bu~ the ~ctual facts can b~ very concisely stated. The Fr1~ke 1nterests have s1mply brought auit for an equttable ascertainment of the Frioke interests, and that is substantially about all there is of it. There a.~e rumours that suit,will be brought for the abroga­tiOn of the five year s coke contract which calls for the delivery of coke at 1. 35 dols. pe~ ton in pla.oe of 3. 50 dols., the present price. The billet manufac­turers have been holding billets up to about 35. 50 dole., and buyer .a, who would like t o place contracts for up· wa:rde of! mil~ion ~o~s, have nonc.t :on of doing so at such pnoes. Pla te 1ron 1s m very heavy demand, and this de­mand will probably continue with verv little downward fluctuation. There iS' an abundance of business coming to the front for pla.tes, shapes, bars, m erchant steel, and steel billets, and the volume of business would be con­siderably larger were i t not for the feeling that the enlarging capacity mg,y bring about a reaction in the spring. Chicago markets are ' 'ery active, and the demand from agricultural sources for mining require­ments, and for electric9.l equipments to cover the 1000 mile3 of projected trolley line to be built this year, are keeping manufacturing and equipment in· terests quite busy. All conditions are favourable, CongresR has passed one financial Bill, a nd another is on the stooks and will go through. The Presi­sidential nominating Convention is to be held in this city in June, and President McKinley will be re-nomina-ted with a hurrah.

NOTES FROM THE NORTH. Gusoow, Wednesday.

Glasgow P ig-Iron Ma1-.Tcet.-Dusiness was again very quiet la.st Thursday forenoon, only some 5000 tons changing hands. Prices, however, were very firm. Hema­tite iron rose 1~d. per ton. In the afternoon from 7000 to 8000 tone were dealb in, and the tone wa.s steady, the finishing quotations just closing the turn ea.sier than the 'forenoon. The settlement quotations were: Scotch, 69a. 1~d. per ton; Cleveland, 69a. 7!<1. ; Cumber­land and Middlesbrough hematite iron, 77s. 6d. and 783. per ton. Between 7000 and 8000 ~ns of pig uon changed ha.nds at the forenoon meetmg of Fri­day's market, and it was reported that ca.blegra.ms from New York gave the state of the American iron trade a.s quieter than it had been. There wa.s a. drop in prices all round, ranging from 3d. to 7d. per ton. In "the afternoon about 10,000 tons changed bands, and prices had a moderate recovery-Scotch iron 2! d., and Cleveland 2d. per ton. The closing settlement prices were: 68s. 9d., 69a. 6d., 77s. 3d., and 783. per ton. At the afternoon market on Monday about 8000 tons were sold, but the tone was fle.t, the losses ranging from 3d. to 5d. per ton. About 10,000 tons were d ealt in at t h.e g,fternoon market, S cotch and hematite iron recovering 3~d. and 2d. per ton respectively. The settlement prices at the close were: 68s. 7! d., 693. ~d., 77s. 1~d. and 78s. p er ton. On Tuesday m orning the p ig-iron market wa.s very idle, despite the fa.vourable news from the seat of war. Only some 5000 tons were sold, and there was a general rise in quota.tions varying from 1~d. to 2-!d. per ton. In the afte.rnoon a.bout other 5000 tons changed hands, and prices were easier-Scotch giving way 2d., Cleveland 3d., and hematite iron ~d. per ton. The following were the settlement prices: 69s. 9d., 69a. 4~., 77s. 3d., a.nd 78s. per ton. 'fhe market was idle and flat this forenoon, only from 7000 to 8000 tons being dealt in ab easier prices. There was a decline in prices a ll round. About 15,000 tons were done in the afternoon, when prices were again weak. The settlement prices at the close were : 68s. 1~d., 68s. 6d., 76s. 9d., and 78s. per ton. The fol­lowing are the curren t quotations for No. 1 makers' iron : Clyde, 84s. per ton; Ga.rtsherrie, Summer lee, and Calder, 84s. 6d. per ton; Coltness, 89::~. 6d. per ton-the fore­going all shipped at Glasgow; Glenga.rnock (shipped ab Ardrossan), 83s. ; Shotts (shipped at Leith), 86s. ; Carron (shipped at Grangemouth), 85~. 6d. per ton. The fol­lowmg are the returns of shipments of pig iron from Scotland for the week ending last Saturday : South America, 265 tons; for Australia, 364 tons · for Italy, 100 tons ; for Germany, 115 tons ; for Holland, 735 tons ; lesser quantities to other countries, and coa.stwtse, 6002 tons, the tot~l for the week being 7979 tons, as com-

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

pared with 4652 tons. There is now a. fair increa.se of shipments for the yea.r-51,643 tons up till la.at Saturday, as compared with 37,645 at the corresponding date of last year. Dull, lifeless markets have again been the order of the day throughout the week in Scotch pi~s. The news from S outh Africa has been good but 1ts fa:vourable effect has evidently been counter~cted by shghtly mo~e ~mfavourable nev.:s f~om America., and the ~read that 1ts_u;nmense product10n mspues. Speculation IS absent, wa1tmg for more assured conditions and as home consumers and Continental buyers both h~ld aloof the dullness in the market is easily explained, and per con: t~rcr-, the strength of prices in the face of this dulln~s by the ~evere drain still continuing on the public warrant stores, IS already severely attenuated. Makers' quotations are unchanged, but there is an ea.sier tendency. The number of blast-furnaces in actual operation is 85, being two more than. in . the c_orresponding week of last ~ear. The stock of p1g 1ron m Messrs. Connal and Co. s public warrant stores stood yesterday afternoon at 211,735 tonE~, whereas the stook yesterday week stood at 215,518 tons, thus showing for the past week an increase amounting to 3783 tons.

Finished Iron antd Steel.-Business continues to be brisk in respect both of finished iron and steel, but nothing of any very special importance has occurred during the week to render it remarkable.

Glasgo'W Copper llfarktt.-Copper on Glasgow Exchange la.st Thursday forenoon continued quite idle, and there were no quotations; and the same wa.s true of the after­noon market. There wa.s nothing done in copper on Fri~ay, ~he mark~t continuing quite idle. Copp~r wa.s a.gam qulte a nGmma.l market on Monday, there bemg no transactions or quotations. At the close on Monday copper was put down at 75l. per ton as the settlement pnce. That price was quoted at the forenoon market yesterday, but no business wa.s done. The copper market to-day was but an apology for one; it was only nominal.

Clyde Shipbuilding Trade: L awnches in February.­Business in the shipbuilding trade of the Clyde has been somewhat dull dunng the past month. The severely bad weather of most of the month is getting blamed for mnch of the dulness, but there must certainly be other ca.nses. The tota.lla.unches reached 17, making an aggregate of between 26,000 and 27,000 tons. The following are a few of the really large vessels launched during the month: The Sobraon, a P. and 0. L iner, a vessel of 7300 tons, built by Messrs. Caird and Co., Greenock; the Clan MacMillan, 5200 tone, huilb for the Clan Line by Messrs. Alexander Stephen and Sons, Linthouse; the Planet Venus, a vessel of 4400 tons, built by ~Iessrs. Napier and Miller, Y oker, for Messr3. Ley land and Co., Li ve~ool ; the Tugela, a vessel of 3500 tons, built for a. Marse1lles firm, by Messrs. Rodger and Co., Port Glasgow; the Sirius, 3400 tons, built by Messrs. Russell and Co., Port Glasgow, for a Marseilles firm. There were also launched several steam fishing trawler~, and one or two towing boats. The new orders that are known to have been placed during the month closely approximate 16,500 tons.

Orde1·s for Electric Car.~.-The Tramways Committee, a few days ago, opened the tenders for the electric motors and controllers for the new electric cars. It was agreed to give an order for 200 to the Westioghouse Company, and another order for 100 to Messrs. Dick, Kerr, and Co., Kilmam ock and London. The total cost will be be­tween 60, OOOl. and 65. OOOl.

NOTES FROM SOUTH YORKSHIRE. SHEFFIELD, Wednesday.

Messrs. Vickers, SM8, and Maxim.-The capital of Messrs. Vickers, Sons, and Ivia.xi m is again to be increased, Lusiness continuing to expand at such a pace as to render it necessary to lay down new expensive planb and machi­nery. In March last year the ordinary share oapitaJ wa.s increased from 1, 000, OOOl. to 1, 250, OOOl. by the issue of 250,000 shares of ll. each. In November last another issue of 250, 000 ll. ordinary shares was made, and it is now stated that the directors are about to announce a fresh issue of the same amount. The ordinary share capita.! will thus be raised to 1, 750,000l., making with the preference capital 2,500,000l., and with the 4 per cent. debentures an aggregate of 3, 750,000l.

Great Oenf/ral Railway and the Coal Block.-The directors of the Great Central Ra.ilway were on Saturday last met by a large and influential deputation of Grimsby coal traders and shipowners, headed by Alderman G . Doughty, the borough member, requestmg further facilities for the carrying on of their trade to be granted by the company. In introducing the deputa­tion, Alderman D oughty called attention to the large increase in the shipping of coal from Grimsby on export account. While in 1896 the export of coal from the port of Grimsby was 1,028,288 tons, in 1899 it wa.s 1,839,836 tons, an increase in three years of over 80 per cent. While the accommoda.tion was satis­factory 1n 1896, little had been done since that time; and great difficulty was now being experienced in dealing with the vast volume of trade. Wha.b was required was more dock and extra drop or hoist accommodation, better transit from the collieries, and better siding accommodation for storage. It was also suggested that the £sh dock trade, which now de­manded not less than half a million tons of coal a year, should be worked separately from the general export trade. On behalf of the railway company a promise was made that earnest consideration should be given to the question. Further facilities were offered for the direct transit of coal, it was agreed that the two branches of trade should be in future worked separately and special attention was promised to the question of

[MARCH 2, 1900.

ho!sts. With regard to the general exporb trade th : pany hoped ~fore long to make such improv~mee ~m· would materially ~sist t his important branch nf .as dustry. o ID·

South Yorkski1·~ Ooal T rade.-Reports received f all parts of South Yorkshire show that b~iness is ac~m and owners are able to secure excellent prices for all thee, ~an put on the open market. The output of steam eo~ lS very large and st<?cks e<;>ntinue low. Although the sea.son of the year 1s. ag~mst heavy shipments bein made, a good tonn~e IS 0e1~gsent to Hull and the othe~ ~ast coast ports, while the mla.nd demand is as great It has. ever been. Gas coal is in good request, and th: supphes of small coal, slack, and smudge, are by no means equa:l to the dem~nd. Best samples of steam coal are ma.kmg 15s. to 16s. per too, secondary sorts realisin 12s . . 6d. to 13s. 6d. per ton at the pits. Engine nuts sel~ as h1gh a.s 12s .. to 12s. 6d., screened slack is quoted at 9s. t<? lOa., and p1b slack 7~. to Ss. per ton. Prices of all kmds of coke are advancmg.

. Iron and Ste~l T:ades.-The demand for all kinds of u_on and s~eel lS s~Ill very great, and many firms have difficulty m meetmg the requirements of customers Ma.~ers of Swedish ~ateria.l are booked fCJr the whole of thetr <;>Utput of best 1rons for the present year and orders are bemg .accepted . for del~ veries in 1901. There is the utmost dtffic.ulty m securmg promise of supplies this yea.r, and pr10es are fully double what they were two years ago. The SwedlSh steel trade is in a similar state an? quotations only hold for 24 hours. In two years pnoes have gone up fr<?m 8l. 5s. t.o 13l. 10s. to l4l. per too. The demand for oru~tble steel. lS extremely brisk, and most houses are working to their fuJlest capacity. Manu· faoturers of Siemens and Bessemer steels are full of work bnt ~h~y are ha.~pere~ in their operations by difficulty i~ ~btamu~g sup~hes of Iron and fuel. With regard to the hghter mdus~r1es, the bran_ches that supply articles of luxury are quiet; but there JS a. good demand for articles for use.

NOTES FROM CLEVELAND .AND THE NORTHERN COUNTIES.

MIDDLESBROUGH, Wednesday. T he Cleveland Iron T rade.- Yesterday there was a

fairly large attendance on 'Change, and the tone of the market wa.s very cheerful, but the amount of business transacted wa.s only small, war news occupying most of the attention of those present, and indeed you could hardly draw traders into business conversation, so much ~ere th.eir thoughts apparently taken up by the all· absorb· mg top1c of the day. Consumers, it must be remembered, are very well bought for spring delivery, and are at pre~ent in no great hurry to enter into new contracts for dehvery ahead. At the same time it is understood that qontineotal customers still require a considerable quan­tJty of pig iron, and substantial orders in the early future are generally looked for from that quarter. Both merchants and makers yesterday put the price of No. 3 g. m. b. Cleveland pig iron at 70s. for early f.o.b. delivery, a.nd the sales that were recorded were at about that figure. Foundry 4 was 693. 6d., and grey forge 69-:i., whilst there was again no reliable quotation for mottled and white iron. No. 1 Cleveland pig was steady at 72s. 6d. Middlesbrough warrant8, after s tiffening to 69~. 'ijd., eased a little, and closed 69s. 3~. cash buyers. East coast hematite pig ranged from ~Os. to 82s. Gd. for Nos. 1, 2, and 3. Spanish ore wa.s stronger, owing to better freights. As a rule, sellers quoted 21e. ex-ship Tees for rubio, but in one or two cases rather less might have been ac· repted. li'reights Bilbao-Middlesbrough were fixed at 6s. for early tonnage, and vessels were reported rather sea.rce. For forward cbarteriogs higher freights were asked. To-day the market was flat; hu~sellera would nob reduce their rates for makers' iron, notwithstanding that Middlesbrough warrants eased to 6!h. ld., and by the close further fell to 68s. 6d. cash buyers.

MaJnujactu,red I ron anuJ, Steel.-In the manufactured iron and steel industries a lob of work is going on and prices are tending upwards. In some cases rates have again been raised, but there are complaints among m~nu· facturers that quotations here are not advanced so ra.ptdly a.s they should be when rises in other districts are com· pa.red. Common iron bars might still be bought at 9l. 5s., and best ba.rs at 9l. 15s., though some sellers ask rat~er more. Steel ship-angles, iron shi~-angl~, and steel ship· pla tes are each Bl. 2s. 6d.; while n on sh1p-plates remam at 8l. 5s. H eavy sections of steel rails have been put up to 7 t. 5s. net at works.

Ooal and Coke.-Fuel on the whole keeps stron~. Bunker coal, however, is hardly in such good requestas~ was, and prices are a. shade weaker. In gas coal the .deman is brisk. Coke continues in great request, espeClally. ~or local consumption, and average blast-furnace qua~tles are fully 26s. 6d. delivered here over a. period. ConsJder­ably more has been paid for prompt delivery.

Bolcko1tJ, Vaughan, amd Co., L imited : Ann-ual Report. -The 35th annual report of the directors o~ M~rs. Bolckow, V augha.n, and Co. 's huge unde:ta.kmgs lS as follows: " "'vVe have purchased the pro{>arttes of the Clay· lane Iron Company, Limited, consistlDg of the Sout,h Skelton Ironstone Mine adjoining the Company s North Skelton mines and six blast-furnaces wtth wharf adjoining the dompany's iron and steel works at Eston. Y our company took possession on January 1 last, and your directors recommend that the purchase money should be debited to the profits o~ the year. The profit available for dis tribution, includlng t~e. :dounJ received from the Cleveland Salt Company, L1~1t . 'an. other eources, and after providing for deprectatwn, 18

MARC II 2, 1 goo.] 466,253l. 10s. This sum, added to the balance. of 64 237l. 16s. 9d., brought from last year's account, giVes a ciisposable surplus of 530, 491l. 6s. 9d., which it is pro­posed to appropriate as follows : For payment of interest on debentures, 4929l. 63. 9d. ; for payment of divid~nd on preference shares, 23,604l.; for payment of dividend on 81 488 fully-paid shares at 8 per cent., or ll. 12s. per sh~re (of which 12s. dividend has been paid), 130,380l.1Gs.; for payment of dividend on 93,045 shares with 12/. paid at 8 per cent., or 193. per share (of which 7s. interim dividend has been patd), 89,323l. 4s. ; for purchase of Clay-lane Iron 9ompany's. properties, 215,000l. ; f~r expenditure on var~ou.s extens1ons, new plant and machi­nery at the colltenes and works, 48, 184l. 12s. 5d. ; hala~ce to be carried forward 19,069l. 7s. Gd.-530,491l. 63• 9d. Your directors conside~ it a~ivisa~le on account of the difficulties of stocktakmg m Winter, to alter the future date of the close of the company's . fina.!l­cial year from December 31 to June 30. This wtll necessitate a. change in the. date of . the 1;\nnual general meeting, and a resolutiOn embodymg thlS pro­Posed alteration will be submitted to the meeting to be held on the 7th inst. The stocks of materials. and all

· expenditure on oa.pital account have been venfied by ~:ressrs. Hulse and Co., Limited, of ~Ianchester, and the value of the stooks, as shown on the balance-sheet, has been certified with the articles of association, are Mr. Henry Lee and Mr. W. S. B. McLa.ren, who are eligible,

f 1 . )) and offer themsel vas or re·e ect10n.

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NOTES FR0~1 THE SOUTH-WEST. Cardiff.-The steam coal trade has, of course, been a

good deal influenced by the announcement that the Government bad accepted tenders for the supply of 100 000 tons of the best steam coal for shipment during Ma.'rch April May, and June at 22s. 6d. to 23s. per ton. For p~mpt a~d early shipment the demand has been slow, and although the tone of business has been, if anythingt a shade better recent quotations have been maintainea with difficulty: In the house-coal trade prices have also shown a downward tendency ; No. 3 Rhondda large has made 22s. 6d. to 23s. per ton. Foundry coke has brought 32s. 6d. to 333. per ton, and furnace co~e 28s. to 30s. J?er ton. As regards iron ore, the best rub1o has been qUiet at 20a. to 20~. Gd. per ton.

.Ale.umdra ( N etuport) .Docks.-The report of the directors of the Alexandra (Newport and South Wales) Docks and Railway Company, Limited, for the half­year ending December 31, states that the net revenue account shows a profit of 41,001l. This, together with 11,525l. brought forward from the previous h~.lf-year, provides for rents and debenture and other mteresb, leaving a. credit balance of 39,044l. Out of this sum the directors recommend the declaration of dividends at the rate of 4! per cent. per annum on the consolidated first J>reference A stock and on consolidated second preference B stook at the rate of 4 per cent. per annum on the pre­ferred ~rdinary stock, and at the rate of 3 per cent. per annum on the deferred ordinary stock, leaving a balance of 10 344l. This sum the directors have transferred to the ~rve fund, increasing it to 14,132l. Out of this amount two suspense accounts, amounting to 11,820l., have been written off, leaving 2312l. to the credit of the reserve.

M ilford Docks.-The report of the directors of the Milford Docks Company for the half-year ending De­cember 31 states that the loca.l trade (including the use of the dry dock), returned a profit of 3t79l., as against 2235l. for the same period of 1898. Warrants are being prepared for the payment of 17s. 9d. per cent. for the past ho.lf-h:jr on the A debenture stook, the payment for the first . f of the year having been 7s. 3d. per cent.

Track of B-ristol.-Recent Bristol trade has been of about an average character. ~o Black Sea steam~rs have come in, but from Amer1ca three steamers Wlth ~eneral cargo, one grain laden, and one having petroleum m tanks have arrived. Avonmouth is busy, four large steamers having been accommodated.

Stoamea.-The annual report of Mr. W. Law, super­intendent of Swansea Harbour, states that the trade of the port improved nearly 11 per cenb. in 1899. The in­crease was wholly in exports, the imports having re­mained stationary. The diversion of the Cwmavon copper ore traffic to Port Talbot caused a considerable loss, but this was made up by an increase in other im­ports. Mr. Law calls attention to the necessity for another dock extension in the near future. With regard to the tin plate trade he o~erves : "The tin plate trade has been eminently satisfactory, and the present outlook warrants the assumption that the dimensions of this branch of export trade will speedily eclipse the record )'ear 1893. The enhanced shipments were 40,000 tons Practically every Continental country has inor~~ed its demand for Welsh t inplates. Much was expected from the introduction of tin plates into the countries of the Far East, but, so far as 1899 is concerned, the shipments vitf SwanSt>a were disappointing, and show a. loss of 10,000 tons; it is believed, however, that the check is only tem­porary. The United States have increased their p~r­chases l'ia wansea from 22,932 tons to 30,046 tons, wh1ch i9 very gratifying."

CORK SHRETING-ERRA'l'Ulr.-The address of the agenb for the cork sheeting described on page 264 of our last issue, was, we regret to say, inaccurately given. It should have been Mr. J. F. Butterworth, 28, Queen­street, E. C.

'

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

MISCELLANEA. Mn. A. A. CAUPDELL SwrNTON will lecture at the

Camera Club on Thursday, March 8, upon "Steam Tur­bines, Land and Marine."

The next meeting of the Society of ~Iodel Engineers will take place on Thursday, March 8, at 7 p.m. The models entered for the model-making competition organised by the society will be on view for inspection during the evening. Tickets of admission (free} will be senb, on receipt of post card, by the hon. sec., Mr. F. E. Powell, 6, Farringdon-avenu~, London, E. C.

The Admiralty have entered into a contract with a private firm to construct a new building slip at Chatham Dockyard with workshops and other accommodation. The dimensions c,f the slip will permit of the building of the largest battleships and crui~ers, nnd it is so planned that vessels when launched will run no risk of grounding on the opposite shore of the river. The cost will approach 150,000l.

We have received from Messrs. George Phillip and Son, the well-known map publishers, a copy of a new wall map th_ey have recently brought ont, showmg the railways in the U nited Kingdom. Different colours are used to denote the different systems, so that it is easy to follow the ramifications of any particular line. A peculiarity of the m:l.p is that a larger scale has been adopted for England and Wal€s than for Scotland and Ireland, since the railway network in these two countries is not nearly so closely meshed.

The new prospectus giving particulars as to the exami­nations in sanitary knowledge organised by the Sanitary Institute, of Parkas Museum, Margaret-street, L ondon, W., has just been issued. Mr. R. White vVallis, the secretary to the Institute, informs us that! the certificates granted on the results of these examinations are now accepted by over 200 local authorities, including the principal towns of England. The Institute, we may note, has recently instituted examinations for inspectors of meat and other foods.

The City and South London Extension to the Bank and Moorgate-street was opened on :Monday, F ebruary 26, and the old terminus at the Monument has been closed. A new station has, however, been opened at Denman­street, close to the London Bridge stations of the South­Eastern and L ondon, Brighton, and South Coast Railway Companies. The line passes under the river by two new tunnels, and the Bank Station is beneath St. Mary Wool­noth Church. There are five lifts here, capable of accommodating 340 passengers. At the Moorgate-street Terminus, which adjoins the existing Metropolitan Station, there are four lifts.

The Employers' Parliamentary Council have issued a pamphlet announcing that the trades unions have aban­doned their appeal to the House of Lords on the law relating to picketing as ]aid down in Lyons v. Wilkins. It accordingly follows that the paragraph of Conspiracy and ProtectiOn of Property Act of 1875 relatmg to picketing is to be construed literally; and it is, accord­mgly, illegal to watch or beset a place of business with any object other than receiving or giving information. This proviso has hitherto been held to legalise so called "peaceful picketing," but the judges have, as already stated, dec1ded that the words must be taken in the literal sense, and that men having a difference with their employer may not attend near their employer's premises with a view to inducing other men by argument or persuasion to refrain from working for their opponent. Any attempt to do this renders the pickets liable to be dealt with summarily by the magistrates, or they can be restrained by injunction.

Devonport's ~;>rogramme under the new Navy Estimates is more extens1ve and important than in any previous allotment of work to this dockyard. This is especially the case with new construction, although the amount of work is spread over all departments. The battleship Implacable is to be completed during the ensuing finan­cial year at a cosb of over l,OOO,OOOt., of which 298,493l. will be spent after Aprill. On the battleship Bulwark 332,126l. will be spent during the next twelve months, leaving 230,525t. to be spent ab the end of March, 1901, to complete her. A first-class battleship will be laid down as soon as the Montagu is launched, and by the end of the next financial year 34,504l. will be absorbed in labour and material. A second-class cruiser \vill also be begun, and provision is made for 85,880l. to be laid out on her during the financial year.

small "fire-resisting " safe constructed by a well-known eafe maker, but bought by the committee in the o~n market and tested on their own account. The safA m question measured 19 in. by 19 in. by 25 in. high, and was surrounded on four sides by the fire. The exposure w~ 1! hours, the temperature at the com.mencement of this period being 500 deg. Fa.hr., and the htghest tempenture attained inside the test-hut was 1670 deg. Fa.hr. The paint blistered, rolled up, and entirely disappeared in 15 minutes from the commencement of the test. In ~0 minutes the upper part of the safe was. re~·hot, and m 85 minutes the contents burned, flames 1ssumg from the sides and the top of the door, and the two sides of the safe bulged. On breaking open the safe two days later the contents-paper and book- were found t_o ~ com­pletel7. destroyed. The safe proved! on examt!latl0n1 to be built with double walls of sheet uon 0.116 1n. th1ck, the space between-about 2ft in. wide-being packed with slag wool. •

A correspondent to the Field give some further d~tails concerning the man-eating lions which. so effect1vel.Y checked the construction of the U ga.nda ratl way. A pa1r of these lions killed no less than 28 Indian coolies, in addition to Africans, compl~tely stopping the who!e wo~k for three weeks, the men bemg too scared to contm~e 1n the vicinity of such dangerous neighbours. The ammals appeared to bear charmed lives, as for long attempts to shoot or trap them were utterly unsuccessful, the beasts

. h . h th' "b"'" esca.pmg on more t an one occaston w en e1r ae seemed absolutely certain. In one instance, the engineer fixed up a trap dtvided into two compartments, separated by steel rails, in one of which armed men were ~laced as bait. For some time the inventor of the trap h1mself served as bait, bub the lions fought shy. Later on, three armed Sepoys acted as the decoy. A lion then entered the trap, but the men were so scared that they failed to shoot him, and he finally escaped. In the end, both animals were shot, and the normal course of the work resumed.

A Parliamentary Paper just issued contains replies from railway companies to the Board of Trad~ circular calling attention to the inefficient means generally pro­vided for establishing communication between a passenger and the guard of a train. In regard to the replies from the different companies. three letters from the general manager of the Great Western Company are given, the last of the series being dated January 3. They show that many of the compants trains are composed of corri­dor carriages already eq01pped with electrical means of communication; but the company have decided to adopt the brake system. The lasb letter from the general manager of the Great Eastern Railway Company is also of recent da.te-January 13. It shows that the company have been making trial of an electrical system of com­munication and also of the brake system. The London and North-Western, the Great Northern, the London and South-Western, the North-Eastern, the Midland, and the North London Companies all state that they will adopt! the brake system of communication. The Great Central say they have for many years employed an efficient means of 'Communication (the brake system), which has received the approval of the Board of Trade ; the L ondon, Brighton, and South Coast Company have had in use for many years an electrical system of communication which, in their opinion, cannot be improved upon; and the South-Eastern and Chatha.m Companies reply that they have had in use for many years an electr1cal system approved by the Board of Trade, and they do not contem· plate any change for the present, but will carefully watch what is being done on other lines.

THE RoYAL METEOROLOGICAL Soor&TY.-As this society will attain its jubilee on Tuesday, April 3, having been founded on April 3, 1850, it is proposed to observe this fiftieth anniversary in a special manner. The council have arranged for a commemoration meeting to be held at 3 p.m. at the Institution of Civil Engineers, at which the President will deliver an addre38, and dele~ates from other societies will be received. In the evenmg a. conr versazione will be held at the R oyal Institute of Painters in Water Colours. On the following day, April 4, the Fellows will visit the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, and in the evening will dine together at the Westminster Palace Hotel. In view of this jubilee celebration, Mr. G. J. Symons, F.R.S., was elected president ab the annual meeting of the society on January 17, but owing to ill­ness he has since been obliged to resign this office. Under these circumstances the council at their last meeting appointed Dr. C. Theodore Williams as the president of the society. Although the SE:cond haJf of 1899 was in one sense a

prosperous period for most English railway companies, since there was again a considerable increase in the traffic MANCHESTER SHIP CANAL.-The chief engineer to the returns, the net revenue hardly increased at all, the in- Manchester Ship Canal Company has prepared a.n esti­creased gross receipts being obtained only at the cost mate of the oap1tal which will have to be expended in the of a much _greater proportional addition to working event of that company's Bill of the present session re­expenses. The accounts of the 12 leading com- ceiving the sanction of Parliament. This estimate, which pa.nies show that their gross receipts were 39,840,000l., will be laid before the Select Committee to whom the Bill an increase of 1,625,000l., or 4.3 per cent. on those will be referred, puts the total expenditure at226,18H., of for the second half of 1898, while their expenditure which 176,315l. will be required for a proposed new dock was 23,680,000l., an increase of 1,557,000Z., or no less on the site of the ~Ia.nchester racecourse and other adjoin­than 7.0 p6r cent. Their net revenue was conse- ing lands. The area. of land proposed to be taken for this quently 16,160,000l., an increase of only 68,000l., or 0.4 dock is given at 25 acres 1 rood 34 poles, and the esti­per cent. Almost the whole of the gross increase was mated cost of purchase is 42,075l. The balance of the therefore swallowed up in additional expenditure, which estimated ex~nditure amounting to 49,865l.-will be was due chiefly to the greatly increa-sed cost of coal, oil, laid out on railway accommodation for the proposed dock. and other materials. To put the facts another way, the The Ship Canal Bill for the present Session does not deal wor~ing expenses were 59.5 per cent . . of the. receipts, with any financial proposals for raising this capital, a.s it agan~.st 57.9 per cenb. for the correspondmg penod of the is expected that the award in a recent arbitration with prev1ous year. reference to the sale of the Duke's Dock at Liverpool to

A very interesting test has recently been made bf the I the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board will provide ample British Fire Prevention Committee, the subjecb bemg a funds.

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MARCH 2, 1900.]

AGENTS FOR "ENGINEERING." AusTRIA, Vienna: Lehmann and Wentzel, K!irtnerstrasse. 0APK TOWN: Gordon and Gotch. EDJl\'BUROn : John Menzies and Co., 12, Hanover-street. FRANOB, Paris : Boyveau and Ohevillet, Librairie Etrangere, 22,

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We desire to call the attention of our readers to the fact that the above is our SOLE Address, and that DO connection exists between this Journal and any other publications bearing somewhat almllar titles.

TBLX&R.APBIO ADD&us- ENGINBERJNG, LONDON. TBLBPBONB NtJl[BBR-3663 Gerrard.

CONTENTS. PAQE

The Waterways of Russia (fllustrated) • • . . • . • . . . • • 275

Hand and Maohine Labour 276 .Modern Field Artillery (Il­

lmtrated) . .. .. . .. .. .. .. 277 The Institution of Mecha·

nioal En~neers . . . . . . . . . . 280 The Paris International Ex·

hibition (Ill us.) . . . . . . . . 281 The Late Mr. Peter Bruff . . 284 Notes from Japan .. . . ... . 284 Pneumatic Despatch (ll·

lustratecl) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28~ Notes from the United

States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288 Notes from the ~orth ...... 288 Notes from South Yorkshire ~8 Notes from Cleveland and

the Northern Counties •. 288 Notes from the South-West 289 Miscellanea .. .. .. . .. . . .. • 289 The Navy Estimates ••.... 291 The M~kiog of the Engineer 298 The Reconstruction of our

ArtHlery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293 The Amendment of the

Companies' Acts . . . . . . . . 294

PAGE Notes . . . . . . . . . • . . • • . . . . . • 295 The Diameter of P ropeller

Shafts ........ ....... ... 295 Public School Education . . 296 The Royal Engineers . . . . . . 296 The Status of Engineer

Offic.era . . . . . . . . . . . . . • • • 297 The War in South Alrica .. 297 American Competition . . . . 298 Searchlights used by the

Boers . . • • . . . . . . . . . . . . • . 298 Diagrams of Three Months'

Fluctuations in P rices of Metals . . . . . . . . . . • • . . . . 298

Industrial Notes .......... 800 The Physical Society . . . . . . 801 Railway Accidents • • . . . . . . 801 The Longworth Power

Hammer (Rlustrated) . . 301 Launches and Trial Trips . . 808 Portable Pneumatic Tools

(lllttst·rated) . ...... • -· . . 304 Workmen's Compensation

Oases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 806 11 Engineering" Patent Re·

oorii (fllustra.ted). • . • • . • • 807

Wi th a Two-Page Bngravi1l{f of THE PARI S INTERNA· TIONA.L EXHIBITION; ROOF OF TBE LARGER FINE A.~T PALACe .

•

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

NOTICE TO CONTINENTAL ADVERTISERS.

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

NOTICES OF MEETINGS. INSTITUTION OP CJ~IL ENGINEBRS.-Tuesday, March 6, at 8 p.m.

Paper to be furthet· discussed: "Corrosion of Marine Boilers," by Mr. John Dewrance, M. Inst. O.E. ; and, time permitting, paper to be read with a view to disoussioo : " A Short History of the Engineering Works of the Suez Co.na,l," by Sir Charles Ho.rtley, KO.M.G. , M. Inst. C.E. At t his meeting a ballot for members will be taken. Students' meeting, Friday, March 0, at 8 p.m. Paper to be read: "The Dist ribution of Stress ih t he Walls of a Th1ck Cylinder," by Mr. John Duncan, B.Sc. (Victoria), Stud. Inst. O.E., Mr. W. A. Wa,les, and Mr. G. J. Day.

SOOIETV OP ARTB.-1\londay, March 6, at 8 p.m. Cantor Lec­tures. "Photography of Colour," by Mr. E. Sa.nger Shepherd. Four Lectures. (Lecture I.) Wednesday, Maroh 7, at 8 pm., " Macombe's Country (South of the Zambeai} : Its Ancient Gold­fields and Industrial Resources," by Dr. Carl Peters.

lNSl'ITUTION OP ELHCTRIOAL ENGJN"ERR.S.-Thursday, March 8, at the Inst itution of Civil Engineers, at 8 p.m. "On the Applica­tions of Electricity in Medical and Surg1cn.l Practice," by Dr. H. Lewis Jones, M.D.

THR INSTITUTION OP Er..ROTRIOAL ENGJNBBRS : STUDENTS' .SECTION. -A visit of the Students. to the Works of Messrs. La.ngdon­Davies' Electric Motor Company, 101, Southwark-st.reet, S.E., at 11 a.m. Meet at the works.

SociET\ OF E~OlNBRRS. - Monday, March 5, at the Royal United Service Institution, Whitehall. A paper will be read, entitled, "The Closing of Breaches in Sea and River Embank­ments," by Mr. Richard F. Grantham, M. Inst. O.E., F.G.S. The chair will be taken at 7.30 p.m. precisely.

SOOIETY OF 0REMICAL INDUSTRY ; LO"h'DON SECTION.-Monday, March 5, at the Chemical Society's Rooms, Burlington House, Piccadi1ly. 1. "The Presence of Naphthalene in Coal Gas," by Mr. R. W. Alien. 2. "Notes on the Determination of the Iodine Value of Oils," by Mr. Arthur Marshall, A.I.O., F.C.S.

Tm: INSTITUTION OP J UNIOR ENOINEBRS.-Saturday, March 10, Oonversazione at the Westminster Palace Hotel. Reception at 7 p.m. by the President, the Hon. Charles A. Parsons, F.R.S. , and Mrs. Parsons; Mr. Basil H. Joy (the chairman), and Miss Joy.

ROYAL INSTITUTION OP GREAT BRITAlN.-Tbe Friday evening discourse next week (March 9), at 9 o'clock, will be delivered by Professor Frank Clowes, D.Sc., F.O.S. , M.R.I. Subject, "Bac­teria and Sewage." Afternoon lectures next week, at. 3 o'clock. On Tuesday, March 6, Professor E. Ray Lankester, M.A., LL.D., F.R.S., on "The Structure and Classification of Fishes " (Lecture VIII.). On Thursday, March 8, Mr. Charles Waldstein, Litt.D., Ph. D., L.H.D., on "Recent Excavations at the Argive Hermum (in Greece). (Lecture 11.) On Saturday, March 10, The Right Hon. Lord Rayleigh, M.A., D.O.L., LL.D. Sc. D., F.R.S., M.R.I., on "Polarised Light." (Lecture 11.)

ENGINEERING. FRIDAY, MARCH 2, 1900.

THE NAVY ESTIMATES. THE Navy Estimates for the financial year, which

commences on April! next, have just been issued, and the discussion on them commenced in the House of Commons on Monday last. They may be considerod by some of less interest than usual on account of the great importance of the operations of our Army in South Africa. Public attention is all drawn that way ; the spirit of the nation is military rather than naval. In spite of this, never more than now in the whole course of our long history, has it been plainer that our strength rests on sea power.

The total net estimates for the coming year reach the imposing figure of 27,522,600l. ; which is nearly a million more than the estimates for the present year. We give in the Table, which appears on page 292, an abstract of the net estimates on the different votes for the present and preceding five years. This shows very clearly the growth of naval expenditure. It will, of course, be understood that the differences he· tween gross and net estimates are represented by appropriations in aid, and we have, therefore, not considered it necessary to give the gross estimates in our Table.

The figures in Vote 8- the shipbuilding vote -are those which chiefly interest us. Under its three sections, it is proposed to spend very nearly 13 millions sterling-actually 12,925,000l. This is a. trifle above the an1ount for last year, the dockyard expenditure being 380, OOOl. in excess. Contract work, on the other hand, is estimated at 272,000l. below the sum set down in the our­rent estimates. One would think that the present would not be the time to reduce expenditure in any branch; but, according to Mr. Goschen, there appears to be no choice in regard to contract work. In the annual statement of the First Lord of the Admiralty issued last year, it was pointed out that progress on ships under col)strqo-

•

--tion had been greatly influenced by the unprece­dented activity in mercantile shipbuilding. This activity was partly natural, but was more espe­cially stimulated by the engineering strike of the previous year. The delivery of materials was so delayed, that some of the ships to be built in pri va.te yards were not laid down at the time appointed. In addition to this, the armour-making plant of contracting firms proved insufficient to meet the demand. Under these circumstances, it will be remembered, the earnings of the contractors fell short of the amount provided in the Estimates by about 800,000l. I t was hoped that the check to expenditure was merely temporary, and after matters had settled down there would be no diffi­culty in getting all the Navy work done that was required from contractors. So far from this prov­ing to be t rue, Mr. Goschen now tells us that '' the al::normal activity in shipbuilding and engineering has, during 1899-1900, seriously affected progress and expenditure on ships, machinery, and armour. Delays in delivery of material, difficulties in secur­ing adequate numbers of workmen, and other causes have caused the aggregate earnings on con­tract work to fall short of the estimated amount by about 1, 400, OOOl., though the estimate was carefully calculated on the basis of actual earnings in past years on ships of similar character, and on very close investigations of the possible output of armour."

This is a. serious state of affairs, and will come as an unpleasant surprise to most persons; for if there is one thing more than another upon which we have prided ourselves, it is the unrivalled re­sources of our pri va.te shipyards and engineering works, which should form such a source of strength in time of war. I t is a matter to which we shall make further reference.

The new programme of shipbuilding provides that there shall be laid down during the coming year two battleships, six first-class armoured cruisers, one second-class cruiser, two sloops, two light-draught gunboats, and two torpedo-boats. Of these, the two battleships, two of the armoured cruisers, the second -class cruiser, and the two sloops, will be built in the dockyards ; so that, putting aside the four boats, only four cruisers are to be given out to contract. Considering the failure of contractors to meet the programme, it was to be expected, and, indeed, tinevitable, that the major part of the new construction should be carried out by Government establishments. On the whole programme, however, the value of work to be done.under Vote 8 is almost equally divided between the dockyards and the contractors, the former being allotted construction which is to cost 6, 596, OOOl., while there is to be spent on contract work 6,329,000l. The full list of ships that will be in hand is one of considerable magnitude, consist­ing of no less than 77 vessels of various sizes, of which 17 are battleships and 20 armoured cruisers. The other 40 are made up by one first-class pro­tected cruiser, two second-class protected cruisers, one third-class cruiser, eight sloops, two light­draught gunboats, four torpedo-boats, 21 torpedo­boat destroyers, and one Royal yacht . The whole forms a list that would be a respectable Navy for most foreign Powers ; but it is not a ship too many.

Mr. Goschen in his speech on Monday, claimed credit for moderat ion in not taking advantage of popular enthusiasm to bring forward a sensa­tional estimate. It would, perhaps, be better if the Government t<i>Ok a lit tle more advantage of popular enthusiasm. Still any panic increase would be foolish just now ; and it would be useless for present purposes to introduce a heavy programme of new construction. There does not appear any immediate prospect of needing the services of the Navy, and the Government have done wisely in resisting the pressure put upon them to mobilise the fleet. We have weathered the worst of the South African trouble, and are beginning to think that we see the end. A few weeks ago it was possible for a foreign Power to have put us into a most embarrasing, if not humiliating, posi­tion. If hostile action had been taken, we should have had to decide between depleting this country of t rained soldiers and leaving our generals at the Cape witheut reinforcements. There would have been grave reasons against both courses. But now that we are beginning to be victorious there is lit tle danger of interference. It is true that the Continental newspapers are full of the idea, but that is quite a difte r{)nt thin~ from the Govern-

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E N G I N E E R I N G. (MARCII 2, I 900 . • -==-· =

TABLE SaowiNG NET AMOUNT OP V oTE. }\)R NAYY E sTIMATF.S J.'OR THE CoMING ANI> FrYE PREVIOus YEARS. dispa~age anything but the highly-finished article. Tlus IS largely a peace view founded on drill and evolutions. In war time we should have to make

Yote.

1

2 3 4 5 fi 7 8

9 10 ll 12

13 14 15

I

YEAR. -

EYF~CTI\'E SKRVJCES.

••

Wages of officers, seamen, and bol s, coastguard, Royal marines .. .. .. .. .. ..

Victualling and cloth ing for the Navy .. Medical establishments and senices .. Martial Ln.w . . . . . . • . • • . . Educational services . . . . . . • • •• Scien ti fie services . . . . . . . . •• • •

Roya\ Naval Reserves . . . . . . • • • • Shipbuilding , repairs, and maintenance :

Section I .- Personnel . . . . . . • •

, II .-- Materiel . . . . . . • •

••

• •

, III.-Contract work . . . . Naval armaments .. . . . . . . . .

d ••

Work~, build ings, and rtpairs at home and abroa Miscellaneous tffective services . . . . Admiral ty Office . . . . . . . . . . ••

Total effective servic s • • . . •• ••

NO~ · EFYE(,"TIYE SRRY ICF.S.

• •

• •

• •

H~olf ·r ay, reserved, end retired pay .. Na,·al atJd marine pensions, &c. . . Civil ptnsions and gratuities •• .. • •

• •

• •

Total non-effective l!ervices •• • • • •

E:<1 H.\ E. TDIATR.

1895·1896 1896-1897_ ~7· 1898 1898·1899 1899·1900 HI00-1901 up for losses with the best material that came to hand. '' Amongst the blind the one-eyed man is

and . . 4,133,500 4,419,801) 4.696,000 4,988,000 5,242,700 .. 1,367,100 1,369,6(10 1,a8~, eoo 1,491,'700 1,606,700 • • 151,400 156,200 161,400 167,000 li6,600 • • 10,6CU 10,600 10,600 11,400 12,200 • • 79,400 81,300 85,600 6,600 90,600 • • 61,400 63,300 e6. 7oo 67,~00 69,500 • • 215,600 229,800 249,900 267,000 27 J ,000

. . 1,81o,roo 2, 104.0GO 2,126,000 2,218,000 2,417,000 •• 2,655,0< 0 2,251/ 00 2,064,000 2,97l,COO 3,799,000 • • 3,416 000 6,386,000 5,440,000 5,612,000 6,601,000 . . 1,693,200 2,543,200 2,775,000 2,549,2CO 2,710,800 . . 547 ,000 618,400 648, 00 650,100 795,100 • • 176,800 189,2CO 195,400 232,900 248,200 • • 237,200 236,800 243,600 247,700 261,f 00

• 16,554,200 19,656,200 19,£97,600 21,649,800 24,302,000

• • 761,300 '749,000 749,500 752,500 774,7(0 • • 1,007,900 1,030,100 1,063,200 1,082,900 1,116,0to • • 317,300 324,400 327,400 332,900 341,1500

-• • 2,0 6,500 2,103,5(0 2,130,100 2,168,3CO 2,232,200

I

5,627,000 1,715,300

208,f 00 13,300 92,300 66,900

271,100

2,612,000 4,084,000 6,329,000 3,004, 700

45,800 271,200 267,100

king;" and, if highly-trained sailors or soldiers are not forthcoming, naval reserve men and volunteers are far better than raw levies. During the' naval wars of the last century our fighting ships were largely manned by landsmen. It is proposed now to establish two new services, a marine reserve and a reserve of seamen who have passed their twelfth year. These will afford a most notable addition ~o ~he potential of the Navy. In regard to the existing reserve there has been a fallina off in numbers of 1000 on the present estim

0

ate the total being 28,700. The Admiralty are "le~

25,208,500 and less relying upon the mercantile marine and are drawing almost exclusively from fisher-

786,700 men." The fisherman is more to hand than 1

•123

•600 mercantile Jack, who may be thousands of miles 343,500

away when needed. Moreover, the latter is largely

16 Additional force in Australasian waters- at nu it y pay.

2,253,800 a foreigner. On the other hand, fishermen are by no means ideal men-o'-wars men, in fact, their

60,300 t raining and mode of life is diametrically opposed to the routine of a war vessel. They are, how-

2i·522·eoo ever, a hardy and tractable class, and, at any rate, can go to sea without being sick ; though it is

able under . . . . . . . . . . . . ••

Or().cd total • • •• • • • • ••

menta adopting it. Every day puts us into a more independent position, and when the end comes we shall have 100,000 veterans, furnished with stores, ammunition, and transport, ready to be landed in any part of the world within a month, and in some parts in much less time. France is not likely to interfere, with l\iadagascar and her West African colonies lying defenceless so near t o our present base, and so far from hers. If Russia had really intended to make a dash for India she would have done so already ; the opportunity is rapidly slipping away. We shall probably never be better able to de­fend our North-West frontier than we shall when this war is ended, after our men have heen receiving lessons in mountain warfare from the B oers fox five months. They are apt pupils of most capable instructors, and both masters and scholars may be proud of the results of the time of study they have spent t ogether. \Ve are receiving an amount of abuse which we find it very difficult to understand, but we may console ourselves with the proverb " Threatened men live long., If the rulers of foreign countries had intended to strike, they would have assailed us in our h our of weakness ; in the time of victory they will certainly leave us alone.

R easons such as these remove the need for Mr. Goschen to apologise for an increase of a million over last year's figures, which, after all, is only about half the average of t he increase of later estimates. As will be seen by our Table, five years ago, when the present Government came in, the total amount of theN avy Estimates was 18,700, OOOl. 'l'he next year there was an advance of over three millions, next year about half-a-million, the next year nearly 1! million, the next year- the present - 2,800,000, and for the coming year the advance, as stated, is not quite a million. If, therefore, we consider t he political outlook of the present moment, the estimates now brought forward are certainly moderate, unless those of the past few years have been altogether extravagant. No one considers- excepting a few peace-at-any-price fanatics - that the Naval Estimates have been ex­cessive. Probably the spending of these extra millions has been the most economical step the nation has ever taken. Large as is the cost of a Navy in peace, it is a trifle to that i.n war. .

It will be seen that the largest mcrease m the estimates is for personnel, the votes for which absorb not far from half the total excess. The number of officers, seamen, boys, coastgu9.rd, and royal marines for the coming year are 114,880; as compared to 110,640 of the present year. With the resources of the country in shipbuilding and engine cons truction employed to their fullest extent, the question of manning such ships as we have naturally comes to the front. In former years when the Navy was more the shuttlecock of party than at present, personnel r~ceived .but small attent ion at the hands of the parliamentarians who ruled in the councils of the nation. The reason was that a big programme of new ships was taken as the criterion of naval progress, no matter whether t he vessels were to be manned and gunned

• • 60,300 60,300 60,300 60,300 60,300

•. 18,701,000 21,823,< 00 122,338,000 23,778,400 26,59J,500

curious h ow deficient they are, at first, in sea legs or not. The public are better instructed now and on the deck of a big ship. Still the six months' have learnt to look more critically at the naval pro- training in the service should make them into gramme. The foolishness of having more ships valuable material, as a reserve. than we have sailors to man them is obvious, but, Turning from personnel, which rightly occupies beyond that, the question arises, what should be the foremost place this year, to matiriel, the most the proportion ? Mr. Goschen said some things on important feature is the failure of contract work, to Monday which we think will come rather as a sur- which we have already alluded . Mr Goschen ap­prise to a good many who hold views on this subject. peared to consider that no one was to blame for the He was of opinion t hat the wastage of ships would shortage on ships and engines to he built outside be faster than the wastage of men. "A ship, in the R oyal Dockyards ; it was a visitation of these modern days, with the machinery and engines Providence, following naturally on the strike of every kind involved may easily be put out of and commercial activity. That is a view which action without the crew suffering severely at all. , will not be shared by all who have seen the

It would be satisfactory to know whether this working of Navy contracts. F or many years the is an expression of Mr. Goschen's own opinion, or Admiralty have been doing m )re and more to make whether he was speaking also for his naval colleagues engineering and shipbuilding £rms careless a~ to on t he Board. By far the greater number of sea whether t hey get Navy contracts or not, until at fights have been decided, like land fi ghts, by t he last a good many prefer to work for foreign Govern­killing or wounding of men ; and although the ments or on mercantile vessels. We have frequently nature of t he ships has changed entirely since t he pointed out in these columns the manner in whic.h great naval wars, it is difficult to see exactly where contractors are subjected to arbitra:Y and unfa.ll' the immunity of personnel, as compared to materiel, t reatment. There is no need to go mto that a~a.m comes in. Of course a ship may, as Mr. Goschen in detail. I t is now a dozen years, or more, s~ce says, be put out of action without the crew suffer - Sir Nathaniel Barnaby publicly stated that shl~­inbcr severely ; but we cannot see that such an event builders seldom if ever made a profit on theu ' , . h is probable. No British ship would cease fighting contracts with the Admiralty ; and smce t en we until her guns were silenced or her motive power have had a good deal of light thrown on the destroyed ; and it is difficult to conceive such matter by the publication of details: ~ork things being brought about by the action of an has been made unnecessarily expensive m a enemy without enormous loss of life. In the variety of Wtl.J S, most of which can be t~a~ed to old days wooden ships were not oft en sunk in interference by officials unqualified by trammg or action, although th ey sometimes foundered after- experience to j udge what should, or should not, _he ward ; but if a modern ship is less likely to keep done. Occasionally an Admiralty overseer or m­afloat, she is more likely to take her crew to t he spector is met with who_ gives 1?-ee~less troubl~ on bottom with her. The putting of a ship out of his own account, but this happily 1s an e~cepho~, action by the mishap to machinery, without t he and is generally due to a young man's desue to air crew suffering at the same time, -could hardly be a newly-acquired dignity. That soon wears off; more t han a defect of an accidental nature which but what does not wear off, and, indeed, grows could probably soon be remedied by t he engineer - year by year, is t he knowledge that he mar fin~lly be ing staff, or by the aid of one of t hose floating judged for any shortcomings, real or u;nagmary, factories of which we have some hope from by a chief who has not the knowledge wht~h w~uld Mr. Goschen's speech. The machinery of a war- enable him to form a just estimate of the ~1tuatwn. ship is generally too well protected to stand That feeling pervades the w~ole techmcal staff the chance of serious inj ury whilst the crew from the highest to t he lowest, ID ~he dockyards and remain unscathed. With the enormous powers at W hitehall. Under one ruler thmgs ma~ be worse of offence of modern weapons, especially the quick- than under another but an overseer, an mspector, £ring and machine guns, n~ither ships nor crews an engineer , or a c~nstructor nerer knows whether will go through a close action without suffering his work- now or in years to c~m~-~ay not ~ severely. If vessels are lost, the crews will probably judged and condemned by an official 1gnorant 0

go with them; and if they are brought into port, the subject, and of whom he may never have it will take far less time to repair the ships than heard at the time. to train fresh men to take the place of those killed It is the dread of judgment by ignoranc~ that or disabled. That is an argument in favour of a makes technical officials often appear so arbitrary reserve of men rather than a reserve of ships. and unreasonable in their dealing with contractors. On the other hand, two ships might come in It is right that. everythin~ should be. as good : much battered, and each with a loss, perhaps, of it can be for slups upon which the nu.hon de~en f half its total complement. In that case the sur- for its existence. Contractors do no~ compla~~h 0t viving men might be combined, and go to sea at strictness, if it be reasonable and um~orm . ~ ~e once in a fresh ship that had been held in reserve. they do complain about, and. most bitterly, 18 ld­The problem is largely one of finance, and needs a uncertainty of what they will have to do. f careful weighing of the probabilities and costs. miralty contracts are so drawn that the manu ~c-

Whatever may be Mr. Goschen's or his col- turer is at the mercy of the Department, restif g leagues' views, however, it is satisfactory t o learn entirely on the decision of t he Controller of. ~le that they are studying how t o increase the Navy. I t is the uncertainty what. that decislO~ reserves. The attitude of the professional sailor, may be, which paraJyses the . techmcal staffh'an like that of the professional soldier , is, generally, to. often makes the cont ractor's ltfe a burden to tm.

MARC)[ 2, I 900.]

It is getting an old tale now, and we are reaping the fruit of making a non-engineering class supreme in the manufacturing control of an engineering Navy. Mercantile work, and work for foreign navies, has been plentiful of late, with the result that we are not very far from I ! million short in the constructional programme of the fleet.

THE l\1AKING OF THE ENGINEER. SIR WILLIA1\! PREECE recently gave an address

on the functions of the engineer, in which he delightfully indulged his usual fondness for point and brilliancy. 'l'hus, he describes mathematics as the shorthand of thought and the purest form of logic; experiment as the handmaid of observation ; and measurement as the instigator of accuracy and precision. These are little gems of clear-cut dis­tinction, plainly the result of careful thought and refining polish. They stand self-recommended to the acceptance of all.

But we cannot say quite as much for his pithy definition of engineering as '' applied science," for rigourists will be found to carp at the term, and condemn it on the score that it suggests a duality in science, insinuating thereby that there is one kind for the professor and another for the engineer. But we w.ould point out to such sticklers, for what they consider propriety and precision, that it is by no means evident that the term does imply the imputed duality or differentiation of science. It is quite certain that in the minds of those who knowingly use the term, as well as in the eyes of those who are familiar with it, science ·is always science; it is always the systematised collection of the facts and laws of Nature, whether you find it in the laboratory or in the workshop, the lecture­theatre or the draugbting-room. In th~ former, you may have chiefly theory; in the other, you will find that self-same theory brought to bear upon the interpretation of Nature and upon the wants and convenience of man. The engineer takes formulre derived from abstract investigation and applies them to the concrete problems of his pro­fession. Sometimes, as in electrical engineering, they fit admirably ; at others, as in some cases of civil engineering, they require a. little procrustean treatment in order to adapt them to the precise conditions of ordinary practice ; but in the one and the other, the formulre and their adaptations are distinctly the teachings of science.

The powers of analysis are every day employed to netermine the time, the place, and phase of astronomical occurrences, some of which affect the common routine ·of life, whilst others seem in­tended mainly for the delect~tion of the astronOI;ner; and, although assumptions have to be made that were not discussed in the lecture-room and un­foreseen contingencies allowed for, yet no one feels disposed to say that such applied mathe­matics differs in any essential from what is known as pm·er kind. Whoever would undertake to show that the mathematics of a Cayley or a Sylvester, differ from the mathematics of an Ada.ms or a Kelvin, would have a hard and unenviable task before him. Initiate the pure mathematician into the myste1 ies of the observatory and you have a powtrful astronomer ; among others, witness Airy at Green­wich and Ti~serand at the Paris Observatory. In the same way, add to the attainments of the man of science the teachings of experience, and you will have an excellent engineer. It is conceded to-day that a thorough acquaintance with all the branches of science connected with his profession is an essen­tial requirement for the engineer. A man who is merely an expert in material mattera is a good workman, mechanic, or artisan, but he is not an engineer. By courtesy he may be called so; but his conscience must tell him that he has no more right to the title than the medical man with only the parchment of a. licensing body, has to be called doctor.

Sir William Preece drives the matter home with heavy phraseology when he says that ''scientific men talk nonsense when they observe differences be­tween science and practice, and so-called practical men act foolishly when they ignore science and assert that an ounce of practice is worth a ton of theory. " The once-lauded "rule of thumb " is fast losing ground, and deservedly so, being the result of repeated trials and frequent failures. Practice based on science commands success, but when based on rule of thumb it often means error, delay, and expense. The engineer can no more neglect a knowledge of the laws of Nature than the man of

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

293 •

~cience can to-day allow himself to ignore the teach- science, he is then fully prepared to commence his tngs of successful practice. Sir William opened a engineering training, and to enter the workshop severe fire on the science of the Chair, which he or the drawing-office, where alone he can acquire charges with being obsolete or behind the time . . that combination of knowledge and skill, as well He is not satisfied with the Professor because he as that training of the brain and the hand for has found some who were not sufficiently in touch mutual aid which goes by the name of technical with the industrial and economical interests of the education. As our article of last week showed, country; but why condemn the profP.ssion for the we are not in entire agreement with Sir William sake of a few incompetent members 1 I t happens, Preece; but the dangers he points out are real, and he sars, ''that in my own special branch (electricity) all he says is worth consideration as the opinion of practice has always been in advance of theory. The a man of wide experience in many fields. progress of telegraphy and telephony owes nothing to the abstract scientific man. The fundamental principles and natural facts t hat underlie the prac­tice of electrical engineering are the teachings of actual experience and not the results of laboratory research or professional teaching. The science is, however, now established, and those who are aca­demic st udents have the advantage of acquiring a knowledge of facts and principles in the class-room before they commence their practical career."

We must dissen t from these censorious pro­nouncements, for the various branches of electrical engineering incontestably owe n1uch to Lord Kelvin, Dr. John Hopkinson, and a dozen other eminent professors, and men of original research ; but we are in entire agreement with Sir William Preece in the views which he expressed at the end of his address about the making of the engineer. He very properly insists upon a broad, solid, and general education as the foundation for all subsequent work. Specialisation must be avoided until the student has reached the time of life in which he can think and work for himself. To omit this subject and shelve that, merely because it h~s no immediate bearing on engineering, is to stunt mental growth and condemn the youth to be an uncultured member of the profession, a dia.sdva.n­tage from which he will suffer all his lifetime.

The fashion has grown of late to begin at a very ~a.rly stage, the study of physics and chemistry, and we are anything but sure that the system has given good results, mainly owing to the fact that when schoolmasters begin to teach science, they forget that their first business is to educate their pupils. They yield to the temptation to instruct them, which is a totally different thing. We certainly h~ve no admiration for the faddists who try to people our physical and chemical laboratories with mere chil­dren, who pooh-pooh well-written text-books, and replace them with leaflets of directions. The unfor­tunate tyro is required by these pitiless instructors to invade the domain of science armed with a bundle of leaflets and a train of rude pieces of apparatus. With such primitive appliances his immature mind is expected to realise the laws and phenomena. of Nature. As if he were not already sufficiently handicapped by his unpreparedness for the work, some of our would-be reformers of scientific instruction would have the young invader stop on his way in order to shape for him­self, as best he may, the weapons he may need to continue his advance. To be consistent, these intemperate advocates of the new-fangled system should not t\llow him to make any experi­ments involving a. knowledge of time until he has succeeded in making all the parts of a. chronometer and putting them together. "Setting students to make apparatus leads in most cases to nothing but waste of time and material." When Professor Carey Foster wrote these words in 1895, he was referring to physical laboratories of an a.dva.noed grade ; we can infer his appreciation of the puny efforts of boys and girls at experimenting and mea­suring. Let us not forget that early familiarity iB verY. likely to breed lasting contempt. Before beginning any practical work, the student should be equipped with good general knowledge such as may be obtained from following courses in which the subjects are illustrated by experiments appro­priate but not necessarily showy ; let him be re­quired to write abstracts of each lesson, and to sketch the apparatus on the lecture-table, and you may be certain that his powers of observation, comparison, and criticism will be better trained than by any amount of playing at science.

Sir William Preece does not advocate the too early teaching of science. He will have h~ intending engineer pass first through the ordi­nary curriculum of the school, and then proceed to a university, from which he will emerge as a young man not only well imbued with the re­fining influences of literature and art, but also possessed of sound general knowledge and corre~t scientific methods. With a well-earned degree 1n

•

THE RECONSTRUCTION OF OUR ARTILLERY.

IN the long series of articles on " American Com­petition" which has lately appeared in our columns, one fact stands out pre-eminent- that scientific progress is a distinct disadvantage to a people who have not the courage or the enterprise to adapt themselves to it. When there is movement all around we must move too; to sit still is to fall behind, unless we can persuade all the rest of the world to share our repose, which is impossible. The present war teaches exactly the same lesson, in an even more unmistakeable fashion. We find ourselves in the position of manufacturers, with old-fashioned plant, suddenly confronted with the competition of a. new and relatively unimportant firm provided with the latest machinery. Our artillery has been outra.ngetl and outclassed, be­cause we could not bring ourselves to scrap the guns which look so beautiful on parade. So deter­mined were we to ignore all progress, that we would not even supplement our field and horse artillery by a. few guns of the newer design, even when war was imminent. We knew that a vast armament, of the latest patterns, was being prepared against us, and took no steps to meet it, fancying that the skill of our men would more than redress the differ­ence. The analogy to an old manufacturing firm, trusting to its reputation and experience was com­plete.

In no branch of manufacture has there been more rapid progress than in artillery. M. G. Ca.net, the eminent inventor, and the technical director of MM. Schneider and Co. in relation to guns, said in his recent Presidential address before La Societe des Ingenieurs Ci vils de France : '' Never satisfied, the artillerist is ever demanding more; and in response to his constantly-growing demands, we see the means of production being modified with great rapidity ... As the steelmaker, b~coming more and more master of his material, is able, partly by the addition of scientific combinations of chromium, nickel, manganese, &c., and partly by new processes of annealing and tempering, to give to the metal qualities which before were thought to be irreconciliable, the artillerist, always greedy, extends the limits of his audacity; and the progress of the two industries becomes so rapid that none can say which leads the advance." In such a condition of affairs, no nation can afford to rest satisfied for long with its armaments. Painful and costly as change must always be, it has to be faced ; or else defeat, actual or rela­tive, must be expected. The temptation to wait and learn by the experience of our neighbours is very great, and no doubt we have yielded to it in the matter of quick-firing field guns; but it is a perilous experiment, and sometimes ends, as it is now doing, in providing gratuitous object-lessons to the entire world.

We are on the eve of a great alteration in the artillery of all the military nat.ions, and at the present moment the subject is receiving the gravest attention in many countries. With a. view to aiding in the solution of the many important problems which are now pressing for consideration, we commence in this issue a series of articles on ''Modern Field Artillery," in which we propose to illustrate and describe, among others, the most recent designs of two emi­nent firms: Messrs. Vickers, Son, and Maxim, and Messrs. Schneider and Co. There is a special interest attached to the work of these firms, as guns from both of them are arrayed against us in South Africa, and have led to the sudden read­justment of military ideas which we ·have seen. Only this week it has been announced that the British Government have completed an arrangement with Messrs. Vickers, by which they have power to manufacture mechanisms of all calibres under the Vickers patents, up to and above 12 in. At the present time, the Vickers

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294

mechanism is being applied to all new field guns under manufacture : to 4.7-in., 5-in., 7! -in., 9.2-in., and 12-in. guns, both for land and sea service. We illustrat ed a 12-in. Vickers gun in our issue of January 20, 1899 (vol. lxvii., page 76), showing the form of breech screw which is the special feature. It will be remembered that the sections of the interrupted screw are stepped, and that a much larger part of the circumference is occupied with threads than in the old pattern. This not only renders the mechanism capable of being easily worked, but also reduces the total weight of the gun, enabling this saYing of weight to be added to the chase, thereby rendering it possible to increase the muzzle energy of the gun. F or the Brit ish (}overnment the mechanism is adapted to the De Bange obturator system, which obviates the neces­sity for the ammunition to be enclosed in brass cases. The Vickers mechanism has also been adopted by the United States Navy, while the 100 Vickers-St. Chamond guns have been ordered for Spain.

Our arhicles come at a most appropriate t ime, ~or there is a great deal of ignorance, even in well­informed circles, as to the pointt~ in which the Boer artillery (that is, French and German artillery) has excelled ours. If the theatre of the war should be shifted, as appears possible, to t he flat country of the Free State, it is quite likely that the man-in-the-street will, with his usual precipitancy, review his opinions, and decide that our present system is all right. It is to be hoped, however, that in the meantime a solid weight of educated opinion will have been formed to apply pressure to the Government in the right direction. Our new armament must not only be of the best possible quality, both as regards design and mate­rial, but it must be adapted to the very varied needs of this vast Empire. We are not like our Continental neighbours : we do not know before­hand the sites of our battlefields, and conse­quently we must be prepared for widely diffe­rent conditions of warfare. Hitherto, we have been content with field, horse, and mountain guns ; but in the future we shall have to extend the cate-•

gory very much, and our advisers will have to set forth clearly what are our requirements, and then see that they are fulfilled. We trust, how­ever, t hat when the artillerists" extend the bounds of their audacity " they will not confine themselves to increasing t he demands on manufacturers. It was not Messrs. Schneider who dragged the "Long Toms " through the passes of the Drakensberg mountains and up the slopes of t he steep hills over­looking t he Tugela. It was not even done by trained artillerists, but by Boer farmers. Our scientific officers, in spite of their incomparable coura.ge and high devot.ion to duty, are apt to take restricted views as to what is possible, and many of these ideas will have to be revised to bring them in harmony with the new mat6riel. Our pages will show, during the next few weeks, how greatly the powers and dimensions of field artillery have been ~nlarged in readiness for the demand which has arisen. They will also show what increased burdens will be laid upon our officers in relation to trans­port and handling.

THE AMENDMENT OF THE COMPANIES ACTS.

Two Bills, having for t heir object the n1aking of certain important changes in t he law relating to limited liabilit y companies, are to be brought for­ward in the House of Commons during the present session. Of these, the first has been prepared and brought in by the following members : Mr. Faith. full Begg, Mr. La wson W alton, Mr. Gordon, Mr. Hedderwick, and Mr. Marks ; while the second has been in troduced by the President of the Board of Trade, and backed by the Attorney-General and the Solicitor-General. Though last in order of date, the latter measure, sanctioned as it is by the Law Officers of t he Crown, is the more likely to become law.

At the close of the Session of 1899 considerable disappointment was felt that the Government were unable, owing to the shortness of time, to place upon the book a statute which would remedy the ~11 too patent defects of the law relating to com­panies, defects which were described in eloquent language by the Lord Chief Justice in his address to t he Lord Mayor in the aut umn of 1898. I t is therefore satisfactory to find t hat the attention of t he Government will b~ devoted durin~ the present

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

Session to remedying existing evils and making changes which, if they do not render perfect, will at least render the company law more difficult to evade. The various clauses of the Government measure 1nay be summarised as follow :

By Clause (1) it is provided that a certificate of incorporation given by t he registrar in respect of any association, shall be conclusive evidence that all the requisitions of the Companies Acts in respect of registration and of matters precedent and inci­den t thereto have been complied with, and bhat the association is a company authorised to be regis­tered and duly registered under the Companies Acts. Hitherto the registrar's certificate has merely been conclusive evidence that all the requisitions of the Corn panies Act, 1862, in respect of registra­tion have been con1plied with [see 25 and 26 V., c. 89, s. 18]. For the purpose of satisfying him­self that the rules as to registration, &c., have been duly attended to, subsection 2 of Clause (1) provides that the registrar may require the statu­tory declaration of the company's solicitor.

The second clause applies the provisions of the Pharmacy Act to companies, while the third renders it unlawful for a company to carry on the profession of a surgeon, physician, dent ist, or midwife, under a penalty of 5l. for each offence.

The proposed amendment of the law relating to the appointment and qualification of directors is of considerable importance. Thus it is suggested that no person should be appointed director of a com­pany, or be named as a director, or proposed di­rector, in any prospectus, unless, before the regis­tration of t he articles or the publication of the pro­spectus, as the case may be, he has (i.) signed and filed with the registrar a consent in writing to act as ~uch director, and (ii.) either signed the memorandum of association for a number of shares not less than his qualification (if any), or signed and filed with the registrar a contract in writing to take from the company, and pay for his qualification shares (if any). Again, on the application for registration of t.he memorandum and articles of association of a company, t he applicant must de­liver to the registrar a list of the persons who have consented to be directors of the company, and if this list contains t he name of any person who has not so consented the applicant shall be liable to a fine not exceeding 50l. The foregoing provisions do not , however, apply to a private company, nor to a prospectus issued by a company after the expira­tion of one year from the date at which the com­pany is entitled to commence business. Clause 5 provides that every director who is required to hold a specified share qualification, and who is not already qualified, must obtain his qualification within one mo11th after his appointment, or such shorter time as may be fixed by the r egulations of the company. Otherwise he vacates his office. I t is suggested that a penalty of 5l. per day should be imposed upon any unqualified person acting as director of a company.

The above provisions relating to the increased liabilities of directors, were foreshadowed and de­clared to be necessary by the Lord Chief Justice in his famous address to the Lord Mayor in No­vem ber, 1898. As was stated in an article in ENGINEERING for November 18, 1898, ''if directors were made more directly responsible, not only for things they themselves do wrongly, but also for the wrong-doing it may be their duty to prevent in others; then, doubtless, there would be fewer directors." Fewer, perhaps, but possessing better qualifications than those which have hitherto been considered sufficient to allow a man to take his seat upon the board. If loss to the company involves cer tain loss to those who control its affairs, it is clear that in seeking to protect their own pockets, the directors must unavoidably uphold the interests of the shareholders.

(MARCH 2 , 1900.

company. Unless these conditions are complied ~vith on the expiration of 40 days after the first ISsu~ of t he prospectus, all money received from apphcants for shares shall be forthwith repaid to the ~pplicants with?ut interest, and any condition requutng any apphcant for shares to waive com­pliance with any requirement of this section shall be void.

Clause 8 prevents the company from commenc­ing business unless (a) shares held subject to pay. ment in cash have been allotted to an amount not less in the .whole than the minimum subscription ; (b) every clirector of the company has paid to the company on each of the shares taken by him a pro­portion equal to the proportion payable on applica­tion and allotment on the shares offered for public subscription; and (c) not less than three-fourths of the aggregate amount payable on application and allotment on all the shares allotted has been paid to and received in cash by the company. Other con­ditions of less importance [see Clause 8 (1) (d)] have also to be performed. Nothing in Clause 8, how­ever, prevents a company from paying or contracting to pay any preliminary expenses. Any other con­tract made by a company before the date at which it is entitled to commence business shall be pro­visional only, and shall not be binding on the com­pany, unless adopted after that date.

A return of shares allotted must also be made. Thus by Clause 9, when a company makes any allotment, a return shall within seven days be sent to the registrar stating (a) the number and nominal amount of the shares comprised in the allotment, the names, &c., of the allottees, and the amount (if any) paid on each share ; and (b) particulars with regard to the number and amount of shares allotted as fully or partly paid up otherwise than in cash.

When shares are offered for public subscription, it is to be made lawful (by Clause 10) for a com­pany to pay a commission to any person in con­sideration of his subscribing for shares or procur­ing subscriptions for shares in the company only when the payment and amount of the commission are authorised by the articles of association, and disclosed in t he prospectus, and the commission paid or agreed to be paid does not exceed the amount so authorised.

Clause 12 comprises a long list of specific re­quirements as to particulars of the prospectus. More important among the items which, it is pro­posed, should in future find a place in the pro­spectus, are the following : (a) The contents of the memorandum of association, with the names, &c., of the signatories, and the number of shares subscribed for by each. (b) The number of shares fixed as the qualification of a director. (c) The names of directors or proposed directors. (d) The minimum subscription on which the directors may proceed to allotment, and the amount payable on application and allotment on each share. (e) The number of shares and debentures to be issued whether as fully paid up or in cash. (f) The names and addresses of vendors of any properly purchased by the company. (g) The amount paid, or intended to be paid, to any promoter, and the consideration for any such payment.

By Clause 14 it is suggested that the first s~t~­tory meeting of every company shaH be held w1thm a period of not less than one month, and not more than three months, after the filing of the statutory declaration required by this Act a<S a condition of commencing business. The nature of the matte~s to be discussed at this meeting are all set out m Clause 14.

It -is also proposed to place restrictions upon the allotment of shares. Thus, Clause 6 provides in effect that n o allotment shall be made unless (a) the amount (if any) fixed by the memorandum or articles of association, and named in the pro­spectus (if any) as the minimum subscription upon which the directors may proceed to allotment ; or (b) if no amount is so fixed and named, then t he whole amount of t he share capital has been sub­scribed, and the sum (if any) payable on application has been paid to and received by the company. The amount so fixed and named, and the whole amount aforesaid, are to be reckoned exclusive of any amount payable otherwise than in cash, e.g., e~clusive of n1oney paid in shar~s to vendors to the

In spite of regulat ions to the contrary, it is pro· vided by Clause 15 of the .Bill that the directors shall convene an extraordinary general meeting at the request of holders of not less than ~ne-tenth of the issued capital. If the dire~tors fatl to P.e~· form this duty, the persons 1nakmg the reqmru­tion may themselves convene the meeting and pass resolutions t hereat.

Perhaps the most important provision of the Bill is that which relates to the registration of mort­gages and charges. In future, should Clause 16 of the Bill become a section of an Act of Parliament, t he manufacturer will have an opportunity of ascer­taining whether t here is a floating charge upon all the company's property before he _supplies it with goods on credit. The clause 1n ques­tion provides that g,fter the passing of the Act (a) every mortgage or charge for the pur­pose of securing any issue of debentures ; or (?) every mortgage or charge on uncalled or unpatd

I

1\lfARCH 2, 1900.]

capital of the company; or (c) every mortgage or charge created or evidenced by an instrwnent, which, if executed by an individual, would require registra­tion as a bill of sale, or (d) all floating charges on the undertaking or property of the company shall be ·void cs against the liquidator and any creditor of the company unless registered in the manner re­quired by the Act within seven days after the date of their creation. If the mortgage or charge comprises property in a foreign country, a deed purporting to specifically charge such pro­perty may be registered, not withstanding that further proceedings may be necessary to make such mortgage valid or effectual according to the law of the country in which the property is situate. Should any mortgage or charge not be registered through inadvertence or other sufficient cause, a judge of the High Court may rectify the register upon such terms as may seem to him just and expedient. Where the mortgage is satisfied a memorandum to that effect may be entered on the register by the regist.rar.

Certain modifications of the annual summary, at present prescribed by Section 26 of the Companies Act, 1862, are also proposed. In addition to the particulars already specified, this annual summary shall set for th (a) the total amount of debt due from the company in respect of all mortgages and charges which require registration under the Act, or which would require registration after the com­mencement of this Act ; and (b) the names and addresses of the persons who are the directors of the company at the date of the summary.

Auditors must be appointed at each annual general meeting to hold office until the next annual general meeting, and if the company fails to appoint auditors, they may be appointed by the Board of Trade.

With regard to companies limited by guarantee, it is proposed that a company so limited shall not be capable of having a capital divided into shares, unless the memorandum of association so provides, and specifies the amount of its capital (subject to increase or reduction in accordance with the Com­panies Acts) and the number of shares into which the capital is divided. Every provision in the memorandum or articles ofi. association of such a company, or in any resolution of the company pur­porting to give any' person a right to participate in the divisible profits of the company, otherwise than as a member, is to be void. .

By Clause 30, if any person in any return, report, certificate, balance-sheet, or other document required by or for the purposes of the Bill wilfully makes a statement false in any material particular, he is made guilty of a misdemeanour, and shall be liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, with or without hard labour, and on summary conviction to imprisonment not exceeding four months with or without hard labour, and in either case to a fine in lieu of or in addition to such imprisonment as aforesaid. The fine so im­posed must not, in the case of summary conviction, exceed 100l.

Passing for a moment to consider the clauses of the Bill introduced by Mr. Faithfull Begg, it may be shortly stated to include and make provision for most of the evils, to the remedying of which the law officers have directed their attention. Accord­in~ to the ~em~randum endorsed upon it, the obJect~ of thts Bill are as follow: (1) To provide tha.t dtrectors shall in any prospectus inviting sub­scrtptions state the minimum amount on which they intend to allot. (2) To provide that pay .. ments t.o a limited extent only may be made out of the capttal of a company to persons guaranteeing o~ .procuring the subscription of shares. (3) To vJstt promoters and others who have not made a fair disclosure with liability to compensate sub­scrib.ers who have the~eby suffered loss. ( 4) To provtde that the reglSter shall be open to all persons, and to establish a three-monthly return of outstanding debts secured by debentures, mort­gages of uncalled or unpaid capital, or floating charges. (5) To authorise the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies to keep a register of directors and the companies in which they have held office; and !ffia~y (6) to enable Courts of Justice, under certa1n circumstances, to remove directors from offic~, to declare persons disqualified from acting as dtrectors, and to order meetings of the company to be called.

. Although the Government Bill is not likely to gLVe place to that introduced by private members, we may hope to see a statute passed before the

E N G I N E E R I N G~

close of the present Session which will be a j udi­cious compound of both measures. Such a statute should, it is submitted, be framed with a view to rendering the law of joint stock companies at once difficult of evasion, and easy of comprehen­sion to all those who in all honesty are anxious to hand over their various undertakings to the tender mercies of a limited liability company.

NOTES. AN A!1ERIOAN BOARD OF TRADE.

IT is of interest, in view of the strides made by America in the promotion of an export trade in manufactured goods, to learn that there is every prospect of the establishment of a new executive department. It is to be known as the Department of Commerce and Industries, and will bear a close analogy to our own Board of Trade. A Bill is now before Congress, and we are told that there is an excellent prospect of it being enacted during the current Session. With the view of providing the machinery of the new office, the Bill proposes to consolidate the Life-Saving Service Lighthouse Board, the Marine Hospital Service, the Steamboat Inspection Service, the Bureau of ~avigation, the United States Immigrat ion, the Bureau of Statistics, the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey Office, the Department of Labour, the Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries, and the State Department Bureau of Foreign Affairs. In addit ion, the sponsor of the measure would establish a new bureau in the Department of Commerce and In­dustries, to be known as the Bureau of Manufac­tures, and '' to have charge, under the direction of the secretary of the department, of the macufac­turing interests of the United States, to gather, compile, and publish information in respect to the same, and information in respect to securing markets for our products abroad and to assist in developing and expanding the manufacturing in­dustries of the United States and the markets for the same." The provision I'eq uiring consular officers and all other officers of the Governn1ent resident in foreign countries charged with the duty of facilitating and promoting the commerce of the United States to report to the Secretary of Com­merce and Industries, would be a distinct improve­ment upon the present unsatisfactory system; and as for the new department as a whole, the general revival which the leading industries of the country have recently experienced, has done much to emphasise the importance of the establishment of a new department, and the leaders in both Houses are giving the subject very close attention. It is rather odd that the United States should be lacking in this respect. England has her Board of Trade, France her Minister of Commerce, Industry, and Tele­graphs, the Netherlands a Minister of Public Works and Commerce, Austria-Hungary a Minister of Commerce and National Industries, Italy a Minister of Commerce and Agriculture, Spain a Minister of Commerce, Secretary of Agriculture and Public Works, Portugal a Minister of Public Works and of Industry, and Russia has just estab· lished a Ministry of Commerce and Industry, in­stead of having it, as before, a branch of the Finance Ministry. These Governments all recog­nise the fact that a department of this kind is essential and necessary for the care, promotion, and development of commerce and manufactures. It is in order to be on a footing of equality that America proposes to set up a similar institution.

TnE GoLDFIELDs OF WESTRA..LIA.

In a recent issue of the Bulletin of the French Society of Civil Engineers, M. J ules Gamier gives an interesting survey of the gold industry in West Australia, and prognosticates a very prosperous future for it, in spite of the scanty water supply. West Australia represents, he considers, the oldest portion of the island Continent, the surface de­posits being largely decomposed granite, the over­lying sedimentary strata having, in the course of ages, been denuded. The mountain ranges one time existing in the interior have thus been levelled, and, as a consequence, the rainfall has diminished to its present inadequate proportions. The old river beds have been filled in, leaving little trace at the surface of their existence below. These old river beds contain much alluvial gold, but they are, on the other hand, extremely difficult to locate, and, in fact, the general levelling of the whole sur­face by the disintegration of the old granitic rocks has made the discovery of any new mine a matter

295

depending very largely on chance, since the outcrops of the lodes are generally completely covered by the above-mentioned detritus of the granite. That the mineral wealth is extremely great, there can, however, be little doubt, and M. Gamier antici­pates that, in addition to gold, extensive deposits of tin are also likely to be discovered. The future prosperity of the country is intimately bound up in the correctness of these forecasts, since it would seem almost impossible for agriculture or stock raising to be practised in view of the severe drought~. The country is, however, well if thinly wooded. The whole distance from the coast to Coolgardie passes through a continuous forest, the trees, how· ever, being widely separated and affording no shade, as their leaves lie in almost vertical planes. The pioneers who prospected the interior suffered the greatest hardships, the loss of life being prodigious, whole parties dying of thirst, or lack of food, whilst in other cases a single survivor returned to tell the tale, though sometimes be brought back with him a fortune in gold dust. The bicycle is now being used to a considerable extent for prospecting. It runs easily on the dry and hard surface, and it is seldom necessary to dismount. Thus equipped, certain prospectors have penetrated for some hundreds of miles into the interior, taking with them a sufficient supply of food and water to last them till their return if all goes well, but in case of an accident to the machine, they run the risk of being confronted by almost certain death. The great scheme of supplying the many districts 'vith water from the coast range is being pushed forward. The catchment basin is in the headwaters of the Swan River near the coast. The impounding resel'voir is to be near Mount Helena, and is to be formed by constructing a dam 115 ft. high and 650 ft. long across a narrow gorge through which the river flows. A storage capacity equal to 700 million cubic feet will thus be provided. The pipe line, 280 miles long, will terminate in a dis­tributing reservoir at Mount Burgers, where a site is available at a level of 460 ft. above the town of Coolgardie.

. THE DIAMETER OF PROPELLER SHAFTS.

THE Technical Committee of the British Corporation for the Survey and Registry of Shipping, of which Mr. Archibald Denny, the well-known shipbuilder, is chairman, has recently had under careful consideration the important subject of the diameter of propeller shafts, in view of the large number of fractures, with more or less serious consequences, which have lately taken place.

The original rules of the British Corporation for shafting, as published in 1893, followed the general practice of that day, and specified that the propeller shaft should be of the same size as the crankshaft, the line shafting being 0. 95 of the crankshaft. When propeller shafts began to give so much trouble, the Committee of the Corporation, being very much pressed by the shipowning and underwriting members, made an increase of 5 per cent. in diameter for the propeller shaft, and as the breakages continued, another 5 per cent. was added later. As more break­ages were reported, the shipowners pressed the tech­nical members to make a still further increaRe. During these constantly recurring breakages, however, the Corporation had practically no complaints as to the shafting of vessels built to their rules, a fact which is shown by an analysis of the li.qts drawn up by Lloyd's at the time. The Corporation rules required a slightly larger propeller shaft than Lloyd's, which might or might not account for the absence of complaints ; but the fact remains that their percentage of fractures was exceedingly small. The technical members of the British Corporation Committee decided before taking action to have a thorough investi~ation of the matter, with results which are embodied m the following new formula and rule, just issued; and it will be seen that it increases the crank and line shafting by 10 per cent. in strength:

1. Diarneter of Shafting.-The minimum diameters of crank, thrust propeller, and intermediate shafts may be found from the following formula, except where the ratio of length of stroke to distance between main bear· ing~ is unusual, when they will receive special conside­ration:

D = V ..P.L~.s. x B.

Where D = diameter of shaft. P = absolute pressure, i.e. , boiler pressure +

15lb. S = stroke of engine, in inches. L = diameter of low·pressure cylinder, in inchEs. B = 1. 0 for crank and thrust shafts. B = .95 for intermediate shafts. B = for nropeliE\r shafts, to be taken from the

following Table :

Coefficient I of Displace­

ment of Yeaael at 1

Ratio of Diameter of Propeller to Diameter of Or an ksbaft.

- -Moulded D.!ptb. 13 14 15 16 17 18

-. 6 1.0 1.01 1.02 1.03 l.U4 1.05 .62 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.0 l 1.05 1.06 .64 1.02 1 03 1.0t 1.05 l.G6 1.01 .66 1.03 1.0! 1.05 1.06 }.(J7 1.08 .6S 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 .70 1.05 1 06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10

- 7•l 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 • J

I .74 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 . 76 1.08 1 09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 .7~ 1.00 1. I 0 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 .80 1.10 I l.ll 1.12 1.13 114 1. 15

' Toe v .. due of the divisor C in the formula, depends on

the ra.tio ~2

2 where L = diameter of low-pr8$sure cylin·

d er, and H of high-pre3Sure cylinder in inches:

•

L:! Two Cranks at 90 Deg. Three CrankJ Four Cranks Compound or Quadruple at 120 Deg. at 90 De~.

112 also Three Cranks at Triple Qua.drup e 120 Deg. Quadruple Expansion. Expansion. Expansion. -

ratio 3k 9,910 3} 10,160 3~ 10,410 3.\- 10,660 31 10,910 3l 11,160 3i 11,410 4 11,660 4 ~ 11,!)10 H 12,160 4~ 12,410 H 12,680 -4i 12,910 13,650 6 13,375 14,160 ! 6} 13,840 14,670

"t 14,305 15,1£10 1)1' 14,770 15,690 .r 6 15,235 16,200 6! 15,700 16,710 7 16,6 ~0 • 17,730 7} 17,560 18,630 8 18,410 19,530 Si 19,260 20,430 22,660 9 21l, 110 21,330 23,661) 9~ 20,960 22,200 24,660

10 21,no 23,070 25,660 10! 22.540 23,940 26,680 11 23,330 24,810 27,500 lli 24,120 25,660 28 420 1! 24,900 , 26,5l0 29,310

Intermediate ratios to have intermediate divisors. 2. The web3 of buiH crankshafts should be keyed as

well as ~hrunk on to the shaft, and the diameter of the shaft should be increased in the way of the web to make up the loss of sectional area at the key way.

3. Propeller shafts should be forged from in~ot steel or from rolled iron bars of ~ood quality and not from scrap. Liners should be fitted m one len~th, bub if not so fitted the space between the liners must be protected by efficient lapping. Joints in brass liners should be fused. Uare musti be taken to avoid abrupt changes of strength at any part of the length of the shaft.

New Clause in Rules for Special P eriodical Swrveys.­When the after bearing is worn down to an extent exceed­ing 2 per cent. of the diameter of the shaft, it must be re bushed.

In connection with the first of the Table~ , it may be said t hat in view of the fact that when vesse ls were m oderately fine there were r elatively few cases of broken shafts, the Committee for their experi­ments t ook a fine ship with a moderate-sized pro­peller as being correct under t he old ru le, or nearly so, and started with a propeller shaft, the size of which was the same as the crankshaft-there is, however, the addition of 10 per cent. on the strength-then they reasoned as follows: " The size of ships has greatly increased, while the speed and hence the size of shafts has not incre3.sed proportionately ; on the other hand, owing to the size of the vessels, the propellers have increased in diameter out of proportion to the shaft ; hence vessels of whatever fulness when at sea, if they hava large propellers in proportion to the diameter of the cranksha.ftfl, while pitching and racing at sea bring increa~ed percussive strains upon the shafts; and the Committee decided t o increase the size of the propeller shaft as the ratio of the propeller to the crankshaft increases. But on the other band, any veesel of whatever size and with whatever size of pro­peller if of very full form , will, when trading in balh .. st, have ~ore of her propeller out of the water, which will bring greater percussive strains upon ~he propel.ler shaft than in a fine vessel. The Comnuttee combme these two reasons into one Table as shown. '' Of course no one can say that the actual sizes specified are correct, they must be more or less emp~rica.l, based upon general experience as to .wha~ has fa1led; but the Committee consider that the tdea 1s correct, and fur­ther experience will show whether the amount. is s~ffi­cient. They think also that they are correct m golllg back to the old rule for fine vessels with small pro­pellers, and on insisting that propeller shafts shall.either be built of homogeneous steel or first-rate scrap 1ron.

The second Table is the same as the Committee drew

E N G I N E E R I N G. up at the beginning of the operations of the Corpora­tion, but the constants are modified to give the 10 per cent. greater strength. ,

•

PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION. To THE EDITOR OF ENGINEERING •

SIR,- I have read with great interest your leading article, in your issue of Februa1723, on .. Public School Education," and I quite agree w1th your definition of the object of education; but the method of obtaining that object is open to discussion, and I venture to differ from the conclusion which is arrived at, namely1 that physical science is better than classics for educatm~ the mind . Suppose we consider the education of an engmeer, who­let us not forget-is only one of the manr types of boys that comes under a schoolmaster ; we wish to train his mind so as to be able to grapple with any problem that may arise ; and these problems are not only those con­nected with inanimate objects such as tie-rods and piston­rods, but the much more important problem of dealing with mankind; and one who can apply the laws that in­fluence the human mind, where the conditions vary with every individual, is more likely to be successful than one who is only tr&ined in the hard-and-fa-st methods of physical science.

What better training can there be than the study of language and pure mathematics, which are entirely the work and creation of the mind of roan- not a language taught parrot-like, but scientifically taught by giving the reasons for the inflections and the relations they express ; so that the meaning of the writer is conveyed, and by teaching the student to arrange similar sentences in his mind, and thus to deduce more fully what the man who is writing desires to express under the circur.1sta.nces ? This is a training in science which will give a. broader method of reasoning than the rules of roechani~.

The objection to studying modert;l ~urope~n languag_es is that they have lost many of tbeu mflect1ons and dis­tinct characteristics which belong to a pure language ; and also that we have not to band the work of centuries of mental effort, as we have in the case of Latin and Greek, giving us opinions on passages which show the dif­ferent conclusions that may be arrived at by clever men working on the same data. It will be said that all this is above a. schoolboy, but is not education the contact of the young mind with the minds of men who h~ve trained themselves in the above way, and whose devot10n to their profession of teaching excites the admiration of men, tbetr critics.

A combination of classics and pure mathematics exercises all the faculties, such as memory, imagination, and induction; aud when the special leaning develops, then is the time to modify the teachin~ and to let the boy devote himself to literaturf\ or physics; and in after life the early exercise of his weaker faculties when they were growing will produce a more evenly-balanced mind.

Lastly, let us not altogether forget the mor~l.trai~ing of a boy away from home, as too many promtSmg hves have been lost from the want of a little ballast.

I am, Sir, yours faithfully, w. w. MARRINRR.

Greenwich, February 26, 1900.

To THE EDITOR OF ENGINEERING. 'm - You deserve the warmest thanks of everyone

having our national interests at heart for again calling attention to this matter.

I am now twenty-seven years of age, and have no hesitation in saying that, aparb from the mosb elementary rules of arithmetic, algebra, and Euclid, .I have bad to acquire the whole of my useful mathematical knowledge ~mall as I know it to be) since I left a. London Public Rchool, now twelve years ago.

Greek and Latin are right and necessary to understand our own and most Continental languages, the etymology of scientific terms, and they prevent one saying "sym­pathy for, &c.; but what in the world is the use of teaching boys of fourteen and fifteen to hammer out execrable penta.m.eters and hexa.meters in t~ose languages when the majonty of the youngsters. w11l have to b~ turned loose in the workshop or office m a few months

• • ttme ! It is true I was in the upper fifth, and that there was a

"modern , class, which ranked with the upper fourth, and out of which there was no promotion. But somehow no one liked the ''modern " class, and the distinguishing subjects I believe, were German and book·keeping, so tbo.b anyone who wanted to rank well in the school avoided it if possible. . . .

Taking your definitton of education as mental athlet1cs, it is surely the case that a mathematical training is better than a classical.

A fairly good memory, and . an ear for rhythm !lnd style will go far towards learmng any language, a.ne1ent or m~dem · but mathematical p1·inciples must be grasped and understood by the intelligence; anyone who carries out works of construction soon finds out that the o~$e he wants is not among the formu1 £e he can memonse from 1'Iolesworth.

A nyone who read some months a.go in the Daily 1lfa il a series of articles by ~Ir. H. G . Wells {a. quondam schoolmaster I believe), cannot fail to be struck by the unfavourable' comparisons drawn between the w~y ~e learn mathematics here, and the way the subject JS specialised and cultivated on the Continent.

He says {and who can but agree'?) that every intelligent boy of fifteen ought to haYe a. 'lcorking ~nowledge. of mathematics, including geometry, log:1.r1thms, tngo­nometry mechanics, &c. ; the trouble is that our schoo~­masters 'do not succeed in making one-tenth of the1r classes unclcr~tand. what they are learuing, and are just

[MARCH 2, 1900.

content with so many "sums right " ; hence the awful croppers at the Term examinations.

A good deal of the trouble li~, of course, in our antiquated and preposterous system of weights and measures (the people who back them up ought to have to measure their time by King Alfred's candles) ; who does not remember the agonies of 30i yards to the rod (N. B.-Multiply by 121 and divide by 4)? who bag not passed tbrongh the trials of reducing Parliamentary miles and furlougs to feet and decimals for calculation, and back to yards, feet, and inches for gaugers and inspectors to work by ?

I have taken the n sk of troubling you with this letter, because I have been badly handicapped all through on this point, and with recollections of my struggle to {>8..SS the entrance examination to the I nst. C. E., and vanous efforts from time to time to get a bowing acquaintance with the calculus. I cannot but hope the present generation of schoolboys will start hfe with a better mathematical outfit than did

Plymouth, F ebruary 24, 1900. Yours truly,

H. B.

To THE EDITOR o~· ENGINE&RI~o. SIR,-I am glad to notice that you have taken the

question of "Public School Education , in hand, and hope you will allow me, a. teacher with an experience of over half a centur.y, to join in the discuesion. Educa· tion mus t be studied from the twofold aspect of the subjects to be taught, and of the methods of teaching adopted. I heartily agree with you that the latter is the more important point, but the former does none the less claim our most anxious consideration. The main object of education is, a.s you sa.y, culture and training­study must sharpen the intellect, invigorate the cha­racter, and excite noble aspirations. The object of education is gained in exact proportion as these ends are secured. Now, the subjects to be taught are the "whet· stone of the understanding; " but the succ~s of the sharpening process will depend far less on the nature and quality of the bone than on the skill of the operator. For example, the study of the gr:\mma.r and tb~ liter· ture of the classical languages is no doubt calculated to secure high educational ends, but not more so, I venture to assert, than the same study of modern languages; and, indeed, it may be contended with much ~h<?w o~ rea~on, that the range of ideas of modern CbrlShan hterature appeals more to the sympathies of a modern lad than that of the ancient heathens . And now consider the enormous collateral advantage derived from a knowledge of, say, only French and German ; the student ca.n read. up hi~ sub­jects from the points of view presented by foreign mmds; true, the "worshipper of i.nutility " wil.l urge against these studies their usefulness m travel and m personal and written intercourse, but we do not all worship at that shrine and many of us think that this power is an advan­tage t~ be sought rather than a drawback to be depre­cated.

And as for "Science," its study produces in the hum~n mind (in the words of Wallace) "a f~Jler and clearer ID· sight into the course of Nature, and mcreased confidence that the 'mighty maze' of Being w.e see .everywhere around us is • not without plan. , , I s It possible~ ove~­estimate the intellectual and moral value of such mvestl­ga.tions? And will anrone ~ bold ~nougb ~o com{>are the halting steps of ancient science with the gta~t stndes of modern conceptions, invent!ons, .and discoveries '!

No advocate of modern studies will plead f?r the exclu­sion of Latin and Greek from our echool ourncula, bot be j ustly claims that modern thoug~ts shall bold rank and position equal to those of the a.nCJents, and parents must persistently use their influence to induce head-masters to meet their reasonable demands.

So much for the subjects to be ta.ugh~, but now we have to deal with the far more important and more difficult problem of methods of teachin~. Not .uhat Y0d teach but how you teach is the ma.m quest10n; an bowe~er Englishmen, with' their '' .pra?ti?&l" sen~e, ma_y be given to snatch at result&, still, It JS an ax10matiC truth that in education processes are worth more tbaf results. I dare not enter on this subject of methods o teaching a.s I fea.r that I have already exceeded the space yo~ can allot me; but with your leave I should be glad to diecuss that point in{our n~xt number.

am, Sir, you~, A. SON!".KNSCHIUS.

Wandsworth, February 27, 1900.

THE ROYAL ENGINEERS. To 'l' HE EmToR 01•' ENGINEJo~RHiG. .

Sta,-I am aware t?~t. the present is _the t1me ~~~ fighting and not for cntt?tSm, bu~ I b~ve JUSt read ?t: nd Bennet Burleigb's report m to-day s D(nly Teltgr:!Jh, at I cannot but tliink tha.bsuob remarks as h.e has m e asr: the uoefulness of the corps of Royal Eogmeers, a.s ~J:!?out sent composed, should not be allowed to P~ ~ of special notice being ta:ken of it. \Vhenev~rdc.ri~CLS:en this branch of the serVIce has been made-an It as .0 very scathing of late years, among all who were reallrh~t the know on such matters-~t has alway~ ~en t~e cis who the flgita.tion was got up by m teres~ CJVll ~ngtnee ied wanted the jobs that Royal Eogmeer. officers occu~net for themselves· but such cannot be said of Mr . .Be Burleigh, who ~vrites as follows : their

"One of the Army reforms someone should tu~n·on a.~tention seriously to is the modification or ~he a It\~ a of the R oyal Engineer branch of the serviCe. f As startling proposition, but hear. the plea. ther!ei~her 88 rail way experts and telegraphtSts they are . r ts of smart or useful ab the work as traiJ?edd s~c~~.15 e of civil life. who can always be obtameE 1.n : a.hso· war. The field companies of Royal ng1nee

!vlARCll 2, I 900.] •

Iutely stand in the way of doing that which every soldier should be taught to do for himself, promptly and swiftly, uflon the field, i.e., constructing trenches, rifle pits, wa Is, or whatever defensive or aggres­sive worlcs may be necessary. Ea.oh infantry bat­talion oa.rries trenching tools, a Scotch o:.rt with 70 spades, and so on. These are ample for all ordinary pur­pose~, but the knowledge that trenching i3 your .sappers' special job, delays ready resort to these implements. All ordinary field work the battalions should tbemsel ves be a.bl~ to execute. L et there be 50 or 100 skilled men, chiefly accustomed to building opera tions, and a sailor or two included in each regiment. See that the men are trained workmen and given a higher rate of pay upon enlistment. Most of them, no doubb, would soon rise to the dignity of corporals and sergean~.s, but that would be a further gain to the servic3 and to their usefulness. Save for ballooning and one or two other highly technical branches connected with warfare, the big arruy of highly­Eaid engineers could be curtailed with profit to the ~ueen's SE'rvice. I have only hastily outlined my view, but distinguished officers to whom I have spoken upon the subject, agree that there is much to recommend the pro­posed reform."

Years ago, I pointed out in the Press tha t the 996 officers included in the corps of Royal Engineers were altogether excessive, and that the majori ty of these were P.urely in civilian or semi-civilian employment, and that 1f the German standard was taken that 350 officers would be the allowance; and I made the statement that in faee of the fact that we were greatly below the German standard in the matter of artillery there was nC> j usti6oa.­tion for suoh an over-officering of the corps of Royal En­gineera, and that they were not required, and the first war would prove this, and so it has. 'rhere are at present in South Africa. 159 Royal Engineer officers out of the 996 composing the corps, and this at a. time when the whole of our Armr. is in the field, the balance are in their snug civll jobs, viz., Board of Trade, Colonial Governoro, Masters of Mint, Railway Inspectors, British Museum, Local Government Bo~rd, Railway Commissions, Post Office, Barracks Work, Works De­partment in India, R ailway Department Egypt, and other civil jobs too numerous to mention here; all of which should be, and could be, filled to much better ~urpose by speoial1y trained oi vilians. But no, the Royal Engineers are noted for their anxiety for place and pay, and it is not the fir3t time that our poor troops have had to suffer for the incompetency of the R oyal Engineers in the field; but what can be expected, the Royal ~oglneers are jacks of all trades and masters of none, viz., tlie only trench dug on Spion Kop was in the wrong place (see :Mr. Bennet Burleigh's account), and consequently wa~ useless as cover for our men. The truth of the matter is that the R oyal Engineer officer is so used to acting as a mere ornamental figurehead, that left to his own resources be is sure to blunder. The system has been proved so rotten in every way, time and again, that the shame is to think that the remedy was not effected while there was yet ~ime, and was delayed until our gallant fellows have to suffer, in the field, from the gross incompetency of these semi-soldiers who have long been a bye word with experts, who should know, and with ordinary T ommy Atkins, whose favourite expre~sion for any piece of bad work is" done like a sapper."

Now, in case it ma.y be said that I am prejudicad in thi3 matter, I will draw attention to one important fact, to prove that the men are all right, and tha.t it is the system thatiswrong. TheRoyal Artillery and the R oyal Engineer officers all pass through the R')yal Academy at \Voolwich. In the one case the Royal A rtillery office· s go into the artillery and become expert artillerista, because they stick to that one speoial branch, but the Royal Engineer leaves the "shop," in the words of an eminent milita.ry critic, who states that the R oyal Engineer officer "goes out to supervise things generally for the world at large;" and I have this officer's criticism of the R oyal Engineer Corps by me now, and I find that his remarks and suggestions are almost identical with those of :Mr. Bennet Burleigh. He advises the abolition of the field c:>mpanies and the reduction of the corps of Royal Engineers, a'3 he stated that a very large number of the Royal Engineer officers are borne on the Army Estimates who do not do a day's real soldiering in the cour3e of the year. Thus it is tha.t, while the Royal Artillery officer strives to become a.n expert in one special branch of the service, the Royal Engineer officer becomes more or less a handy man, with the usual result that be is proficient in nothing. It took a.bout half a dozen Royal Engineer officers, from the rank of colonel downwarda, nearly a fortnight to supervise the con­struction of t he trestle bridge over the Modder River. One civil engineer, that was worth his sa.lt at all, and who knew anything of rapid rail way work, should have built the sa.me miserable little structure in a.t moat three, and with quick work two, days ; but even a civil engineer to do such work must have h~d colonial experience ; home training is no good for rapid work of this kind. In conolueion, I must again remark that this is not written in spite against the Royal Engi­neers; but the time has come when it is one's duty to be outspoken. Our army is too small to admit of any one branch being bolstered up in incompetency, and were it not for the grand hero that Tommy Atkins has proved himself to be, we might be in a bad ca.se to-day; and in no small matter would this be due to the fact that anyone that dared to say unpleasant things in regard to the army wa~ looked upon w1th as much favour as a. mad dog.

That the War Office is not aware of the require­ments of the Army is evidenced, for, in face of all criti­cism, they now propose to increase, instead of reduce, the oorps of Royal Engineers; in other words, they mean

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

to t~ain up so many more semi-civilians and call them soldters .

When A rmy reform is once more undertaken at the end of the war, no doubb the proper witnesses will be ~n~e more packed for the inquiry; but when it does come, 1t .ts to be hoped th&;t such. me~ as Mr. Bennet Burlei~h wlll be ~a.ll~d. to gtve theu evidence, as these are diatn­t~rested mdt vtduals, who have but one object in Yiew, vtz. , the efficiency of our A rmy.

I am, Sir, your obedient ser van t, R. G. R ANDALI,, Civil Engineer.

THE STATUS O:B" ENGINEER OFFICERS. To THE EUITOR OF ENGINEERING.

SIR, - The ohang~s p~oposed in th~ rank of engineer officers, as dealt With m Naval E sttmates for coming y~a.r, are ~o a great extent mere tri via.lities. They deal With a sh~ht readjustment of the bogus rank termed " .rela tive . .' The main point which lias been so much dism~s~ed m E~GINEERING remains untouched. Instead o~ t r1 fhng ~ith t he spurious article we want the real one, vtz., executive rank for the naval engineer, who in this respect. stands to·day in the same position in which he stood stxty years ago. As an officer of the civil branch he remains practically an "ou tsider," merely employed in the Navy wearing a. naval uniform, and merely" rank­ing with " the genuine article-the officer of the sea man branch. This position is obnoxious to the naval engi­neer, who claims to be an essen t ial part of the Navy to as.great an extent as the seaman officer. Aput from thiS stands the anomaly of the engineer officer being in coll?mand of large b_odies. of me!l, and yet holding a rank wh1ch does not ent1tle h1m to Issue orders. Civil rank confers no powers on the holder; it does not in itself entitle the holder to issue a single order to any one. That the engineer officer has authority to issue orders to his subordinates in the engine room department is due to a. short clause in the R egulatiOns, which directs that the officers of the civil branch '' shall have all necessary authority within their own de­partments . . ." On the other hand, executive rank carries in itself the power to issue orders. The most junior executive officer-a warrant officer even-has the power, if he chooses to exercise it, of giving an order to officer of the civil branch whatever his rank rua.y be. The late Admiral C. Fellowes-who advocated executive rank for eng'ineer officers-touched on this point of the power of issuing ordera, when giving evidence before the oom­mi ttee of 1876. He stated that, in his opinion, the engineer officer cc sbou1d have the power of giving an. order to any man in the ship, witbonb the {>OSSibility of that man disobeying the order or even questiOning it. "

X. CHANGES IN RELATIVE RANK.

As at Present.- An officer on promotion to engitnee11 from assistant engineer ranks with, but ajte1· a lieutenant (of junior rank), until six years have elapsed; after six years he commences to rank with the lieutenant, i.e. , the engineer of seven years' seniority ranks with lieutenant of one year.

P1·oposcd CJhange.- The engineer to commence ranking with the lieutenant directly he is promoted. Similarly, on promotion to chief engineer, he ranks with, but after lieutenant of eight years, and oontinuas to do for jour yeard, r..fter which t ime he commences to rank with the lieutenant of eight years. At this period he is termed sta.tf engineer. . .

Proposed Change.- To rank wttb lieutenant of eight years directly on promotion ; the name '' staff engineer" being dropped.

THE WAR IN SOUTH AFRICA. To THE E DITOR OF ENGINEEBING.

SIR1

- I am naturally gratified that Lord R oberts' strategy has corresponded in its principal outline wit h the ideas contained in my letter of the 11th inst., and we must hope that the result I also ventured to foretell, viz , the raising of the siege of Ladysmith, will be an accom­plished fact before long. We are very properly kept in the dark concerning important movements of troops, a.nd consequently Berlin appears to have received the first intimation of General Cronje and his force being sur­rounded by the British ab P aa.rdeburg, about 30 miles from Kimberley. When the detail of the ma.nreuvre is written and kno,vn, it will be interesting to learn the exact position of the Cavalry Division on the morning of the 17th. This much seems certain, that General Cronje ha.d succeeded in evading it, and was in full retreat easterly, after a fine and wonderful night march, when the mounted infantry under General Kellr-Kenny came up with the rear guard of the Boers at Khp Drift; and after a running fight during the 16th and 17th, suc­ceeded in heading off the main body at Koodoosrand Drift, and in compelling the Boar force to retrace its steps and to laager ab Pa.ardeberg, a position now described as a. cutting 2 miles long, 150 ft. wide, and 50 ft. deep. On Sunday, at daybreak, the engagement was re­newed, but the B oers, although weary and harassed, had during the night entrenched themselves in the river bed, and were thus able to make a gallant stand against a. determined infantry at-tack, aided by a. stron~ artillery fire. W e lost heavily, and did not suc­ceed m driving home the attack. This was a great feat of arms on the part of the Boars, and shows the perfection to which they have carried the art of quickly entrenching themselves, and of previously selecting a position in which such entrenchments can be used with the greatest effect. The battle of las t Sunday is said to have closely resembled L ord Methuen's fight on the ~Iodder River, excep t that our gallant foe then had a stronger po~ition to fall back upon : whereas at the Battle of the Drifts, on

297

the 18th inst., he was surrounded. On Monday and sub­sequently be was battered with a. terrible artillery fire from 48 guns, a few being 4. 7 in. calibre ; nevertheless, General Cronje refused to capitulate for many days.

Wha.t ·ma.nner of man have we here who can make the rough soldiers he commands bend unconvinced before his iron will, and fight as if their very souls for all eternity depended on it ? Ma.y be, he hoped to be relieved. May bel he thought that every day's delay to the advance of Lora Roberts was worth any sacrifice. May be that he preferred death to surrender. Who knows ? Whatever the reason, his .actio~?- compels c;mr admiration and respect. Mean­whtle, Ktmberley will probab1y be converted into an a-d­vanced b!l.se, to which many of the stores now at De Aar may bs forwarded.

If!!' sma.~l scale map be examined, like the little map pubhshed m the Tirr?tes on October 19 last, it will be seen that the easterly advance of a British army from J acobs­dal must com~l the foe south of Springfontein to retreat north at an early date. But we hear of 6000 Boers still ~t S~ormberg, and of large forces near Arundel. How IS thiS ? Are they badly informed concerning events on on the Modder ? or does it mean an attempt in force to out our line of oommunica.tion somewhere near De Aar ?

At Lad.ysmith it is s tated that the Boers are going north! hundreds of wagons being seen by the garrison t~e~kmg along the Dundee road. Surely, therefore, a. s1mila.r movement would be expected to occur on the southern front!er of the Orange F ree State, unless a str<?ke were m tended on the Cape to Kimberley Ra.llway.

It is possible that the movement at Ladysmith is for the present confined very much to the impedimenta of t?e Boar forces, to. some of the heavier guns, ammuni­tiOn,. and the heavter stores-acd that the reduction in 6ghtmg men has not~ yet bee~ very considerable. ~tall events, suffi01ent rema.m to offer a very effective

resiStance. to Gene~al Buller's advance. Perhaps some fi?e mormng, he wtll awake to find the hills in front of h.1m fr~ of the enemy, and Ladysmith relieved. The t1m!3 .wtll th~n have arrived for carrying into effect a great ~eCis1_on, w.btoh must have been already settled in con­JunctiOn wit~ L ord R oberts- to wit, the future action of the Natal F1eld Force.

';{'he writer of " The Military Situation , in the Times, thmk~ th~t a. large force should be sent back to Durban b~ ratl, s~tpped to t he nearest Cape ra.ilw.ay, and sent by ra.~l to rem force Lord Roberts. I cannot believe that this will be done.

1. It would occupy a long period of time during which the Natal force would not contain a single Boer com­mando. . 2. It would utte~ly disorganise the present organisa· t~on of the Natal F1eld Force, which has taken such a t ime to perfect.

3. It would leave Natal weakly garrisoned. 4. It would be turning our back on the enemy because

we feared to fight him on the Drakensberg. 5. It would leave Roberts to bear the whole brunt of

the fighting during the operation. . 6. ~Ioreover, the Cape railways must ha.\'e enough and

more than enougq, to do at present in feeding Kimb~rley a.nd ~ur forces on the Modder, and on the souther~ fro;nt1er o~ the Free State. The very able critic who wntes datly for the Westminster Gazette "The War Revi.ewed," has examined the subject of the time reqUI~ed, . and the result w~s very unsatisfactory. But 1t. 18 not only a quest10n of time, it is also o. quest10~ ?f morale. The German '' vorwarts, immer vorwarts 1s always preferable when possible to the French cc reculer pour mieux sauter." There are severs. passes through the Dra.kensburg near Ladysmith avail· able for wheeled t ransport. Some are fortified some not . Our troops in Natal are becoming expert in' moun­tain warfare, and it is very questionable whether well­made entrenohm~nts in a. river cutting are not as difficult to capture as the sohanscs on the hills. An a.d vance by Vat) R eenan's Pass, or by one or more of several others within a. few miles of it, would land our Natal army by s. a short march on the plateau of the Free State, and-like L ord Roberts' recent advance vid J acobsda.l-would threaten to out the Boer forces in two, and, in addition would tend to separate the Transvaalers from the Fre~ Staters, thereby aiding a. process already commenced from other causes, and which should be assisted by every means in our power. Even if General Buller, after trial, should find the Drakensburg so strongly held that be cou1d not hope to force it, except at a cost which he might consider unwarranted, he would, neverthele3s, by the mere presence of a. British army on their frontier, hold or contam a large force of Boers; and be would be in a. posi­t ion available for a forward movement at any moment when, from any reason, the Boar resistance in front of him ~as reduced ; and this would probably occur at the very t1me when the Na.tal army could most effectively join hands with L ord Roberts in the Free State, preparatory to the general ad vanoe on the Transvaal wh1ch will follow, unless ~Ir. Kruger should previously sue for peace.

From every point of view, therefore, it seems to me that there is only one reasonable course open for General Buller, viz., an advance, or an attempted advance, on the Orange Free States, v ia the Drakensberg. An advance, v ia, Laing's N ek, on the Transvaal, would ·not cooperate with L ord Roberts, would tend to separate our armies, and would place us strategically in such a. position that we should merib disaster. The Boar defence of the country north of the Tugela has been an im{>ortant object lesson, and the knowledge gained should be of great assistance to all those who may be called upon to defend a mountainous district against the advance of a numerically supericr foe. L ord R oberts' view that the htll country to the north of Hindoostan should be held

in fol'Ct', and held with tenacity, against an invader, has been completely justified by the experiences of the pre­sent war ; and, speaking generally, it can scarcely be gainsa.id that the defence of India has been helped by the knowledge gained in this South African war: a know­ledge which places defence on a stronger footing than heretofore.

The Royal Military Academy at \Voolwich is a grand school, well-organised, well-directed, and amply p rofes­sored. The life of a. cadet should be a. happy one, both in the ola.ss-rooms and the grounds. In t he former they are instructed in all those details, both practical and theo­retical, with which their future professional duties are intertwined. When out of the class-rooms they have riding, and _gun drill, and other drills to fill up some of their spare t1me; and for the rest they are provided with a fine gymnasium, t wo racquet courts, three billiard­rooms, an excellent library and reading-room, a canteen and smoking-room, workshop:i, a. shooting gallery, with revolvers, &c. In shor t, if a man be not happy at the Royal Military Academy, he is not likely to be happy anywhere, either in this world or the next.

Mr. W yndham stated in the H ouse last week tba.t W oolwich and Sandhurst are full. Officially this is cor­rect ; but it is quite certain that in this t ime of storm and stress a. great number of extra. cadets could be accommo­dated if the powers that be thought fi t to do so ; and thus enable the men to whom it is_ . proposed to give commis­sions in the Royal Field Artillery, without any literary examination, a. chance of a. short special training as cadets at W oolwich. If only a six months' course were given, they would be three times more useful when they joined thetr distinguished regiment.

In war time I fancy the cadets would willingly sur­render their three billiard· rooms-sa.y for eight beds ea.oh - or 24 beds ; 20 beds could be placed in each racket court -40 beds. T he field officers could turn out of their t wo quarters in front of the main building, store their furn i­ture, and receive compensation allowance say twice 8 rooms a t three beds each - 48 beds. Then the single rooms in the two wings could bold another bed a.Q!ece, or twice 44-88 beds. 'rotal, 200 emergency beds. T here is also a new corrugated iron barrack being slowly built (by the proverbial two men and a. boy, and a. Royal E ngineer sergeant looking on), for 12 single rooms-which might be hastily completed in a. week, and be double-bedded for a few monthtt.

Thus a total of 224 emergency cadets could be put up in addition to the usual " full " establishment, and I dare say the same could be done at Sandhurst.

It is not reasonable when we are waging a great war that such military schools shtmld proceed in the same even tenour of their ways as they do in times of peace. Steam should be raised, and the schools exploited for all they are worth, if only to give a short military tra in­ing to Mr. W yndham's emergency wen, before they place themselves in khaki and go to the front.

But we must hope that the war will soon be over. Yours fai thfully.

F IELD Ol<'F'ICER IN '84. F ebruary 27, 1900.

A~IERICAN COMPETITI ON. To THE Eorrou Ol<' ENGINEERING.

SIR,-I t may interest your readers to learn tha.t the action for libel t ha.t the Na.tiona.l Conduit and Cable Company of New York commenced against us last year in the matter of a. letter we wrote to your paper as to the way in which the cable contract for the Dublin tramways was let, has now been finally dismissed for want of prosecution.

W e inform you of this in justice to ourselves, as the t aking of this action against us was published at t he time. Further comment on our part is needless.

Yours faithfully, T HE B RITISH I NSULATED W IRE

CoMPANY Lntn'En. February 27, 1900. G. W. NISBETr.

SEARCHLIGHTS USED BY THE BOERS. T o THl<~ EDITOR Ol<' ENGINEERtNG.

SIR - In the daily papers of this date, reference is made 'by a Laffa.n telegram to a searchlight plant made by us, a.nd seized by General Buller's t roops at Colenso.

'\Ve need scarcely state that the plant referred to was not shipped with our knowledge for u~e by the Boer Government, nor can we trace having shipped a plant of th is character to Sout h A frica through last year.

W e supply a. large number of high-sP.eed eng:inea !or coupling direct to dynamos, to elect nca.l eng1neermg firms both a.t home and abroad. W e have in many cases no means of knowing the ultimate d~tinatio!l of tb~e plants and it is probably one of these lnsta.llatJOns wh10h lS refe~red to in the telegram.

Yours faithfully, .RANSOM ES, Surs, AND J El<'FERIRS, L IMITED.

J . A DAMS, London Manager. 9, Gracechurch-street, February 26, 1900.

PRICES OF METALS. IN the accompanying djagra.ms each vertical line re­

presents a market day, and each horizontal line repre­sents ls. in the case of hema.tite, Scoto_b, and C!eve~nd iron, and ll. in all other cases. ~he pn ce. of q_u1cksilver is per bottle the contents of whtch vary 1n we1ght from 70 lb. to 80 ib. The metal prices are per ton. Heavy steel rails are to Middlesbrough quotations.

•

E N G I N E E R I N G. [ MARCH 2, I 900.

DIAGRAMS OF THREE MONTHS' FLUCTUATIONS IN PRICES OF METALS.

(Spec~ly compiled f rom Official R eports of London Metal attd Scotch Pig-I ron Warrant Markets.)

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SumtARIN E BoATS.-By a. ! Ote o~ 4 to 1, the United majority of the b?a.rd holds that the boat has not minority, voted for the purchase of. the H olland submarine ac;: tion will be sub~tt~d to the Secretary of the Navy for IV RtR-tes Naval Board of Construct1on has reported ad- advanced to a suffi01ently safe stage for the GoYernment boat on the ground that the expenmenta.l stage had been h1s approval, and 1t 1s expected that an effort will be \0 versely upon a proposition that the Government should to consider the propriety of building a fleet of such passe~, and that the addition of such a. vessel to the made to secure the appointment of a. new board whose \0 purchase the Holland submarine torpedo-boat. The vessels. Rear-Admiral Hitchborn, who formed the Amenca.n naval service was desirable. The board's decision will be final. ,

300 -INDUSTRIAL NOTES.

"THE Ninetieth Annual R eport of t he Friend ly Society of Ironfoundus of England, Ireb nd, and W ales , indicates that this trade union is one of t he oldest in existence, wit h a continuous history. E~­tablished in 1809, when the Combinat ion Laws were in full force, and in most places rigidly administered, it is recorded that the Bolton Lodge used at times to bury their books in the town moor for safety, not only fo.r t~e. security of t he records, but for tho safety of the 10d1v1dual membfra of the lodge, especially t he officers. The repeal of the Combination Laws in 1824, revised in 1825, was a welcome furprise to men who riske~ ~heir liberty in the st ruggle for the right of assoe1at10n to mutually protect e .1.th other in their suppor t of labour's cause. Th~ repor t for 1899 states that t he year was "one of

almost unexam pled prosperity, not only in our own trade, but in all other tradt>s, especin lly in tboae con· nected with the iron and steel industrie,. ;, As a proof of that prosperity in the ironmoulding branch, t he report states that the increl.se of funds d uring last year, after payment of all expense~, was " 23,388l. 18s. 6d , a magnificent incrE ase, and one without p arallel in the hhtory of t he society." It is hinted that t his money will be required when t rade declines, but " at present th ~ general indication is that we have entered up :.n another year of prosperity, judging by t he orders on band and the amount of work in prospect."

The report continues: (( W e a re pleased to st ate th~tt our expenditure for dispute shows a decrease of 599l. 14s. 6d. as compared wit h the previous year, 1898, thus showing that, on the whole, our relations with our employc r c:; haYe been and still are highly satisfactory, which we most earnestly hope may r emain so. " I t goes on to say that conferences with t he employers were held on s~veral occasions during 1 99 with beneficial e ffect, and a hope is expressed tha t t his interchange of opinion will tend to lessen the number of di~putes in t he future, ((which is most de~irable in the interests of all concerned." The me:e expression of such a hope has a value, l:ecanse of the influence that may result upon occasions when the members feel inclined to origina~e d isputes in their local Lrancl:.es.

E N G I N E E R I N G. shops. Accident benefit absorbed 503l. 6s. , or about 6id. per member per year. Three members were granted 100l. each, and four 50l. each, which sums, with the ex­penses incidental to such grants, make up t he total amount expended. In addition to t his, however, the society succeeded in obtaining full compsnsation under the Act from employers for two members, both hav­ing been awarded half wages, one until recovery, the other beiog still in receipt of such wages.

The cost of superannuat:on benefit during the year was 13 235l. lls. 8d . , being an increase of 379l. 7s. 1d. over 1898. The cost is equal to 3~d. per member per week; it has remained at this rate for five years. During the year 120 new claimant s came on the funds and 81 died, so t hat the net increase on the fund was 39 aged members. Funeral benefi t cost a total of 2927l. 10s., or an increase of 470l. over 1898. The average age at de3rth was, members 55 years and four months, of wives of members 54 years and four months. This is a high average. Benevolent grants in the year amounted to 396l. 6s. 4d. This total was chiefly made up of grants to other unions engaged in disputes and for the appeal case carried to t he House of Lords by t he Yote of the Trades Union Congres~.

The cost of management in the year was 4746l. 16s. 6d., an increase of 549l. 13s. over 1898. The report explains this increase by saying t hat nearly one­fourth of the total is due to t he decision of the members to join the federation of the t rades, the pa.yment to which was 466l. 4s. for the year , and is destined to largely increase. In the cost of management comes print· ing, a portion of which comes back as income by sale of reports, rules, cards, &c. Then there are salaries, cost of offices, and rents of club-rooms, fuel, gas, postages, and all other items of expenditure. After deducting amounts returned as income, t he net cost of manage­ment is 1d. per member per week, not a large amount considering the number of branches, which is 125, and all the expenses of the central office in L ondon.

The cash balance in hand at the close of 1899 was 91,567l. 9e. 6d., or 5l. 1s. 10f d. per member. This is a very high average for a ny trade union to haYe in hand. In the Table below is given the aggregate in­come and expenditure for 69 years, the amounts work­ing out as follow :

Number of years, 69; average number of members, 8695; aggregate income, 1,904,619l. 3s. 8d.; aggregate expenditure, 1,813,05l l. 14s. 3d. ; cash balance, 91,567l. 9s. 6d. The average income was equal t o 1s. 2~d . per member per week ; the a,rerage expendi­ture to l s. 2d. per member per week .

The details of the expt>nditure are given as follow:

T he total number of branches is 125, an increase of nine in ten years. The aggregat e number of members at the end of 1899 was 17,971, an increase of 3150 in the same period. The increase in the year 1898 was 380, and dur ing last year 676. It is noted t hat the increase is mainly in towns where labour is best organised, least in those places where the soc·iety is weakest and the wages t he lowest ; and from such dis- Kinds of Benefits paid, t ricts ss the latter there is a large influx of lads into and other Expend1ture. the trade. These have to be drawn into t he union

Aggregate Average Average A m id Cost per Coat per

. ouots pa Member per Member per ln 69 Years. Year. Week.

after t hey have learned the trade, and have migrated t o ot her districts. But strikes agains t non-union men are more rare in this union than in many others.

£ s. d. Donation hE ndit . . . . 922,305 2 5t j Sick benefit . . . . 291,603 3 1! Superannuation benefit 219,677 12 11! Funeral benefit .. .. 88,522 17 nl Disputes, including ex-

tras .. .. .. 6,,456 3 2~ Accident benefi t . . . . 41,643 9 8 Benevolent grants . . 9, 216 13 0 I Working expenses .. 184,242 18 3!

£ s. d. 1 10 9

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The t otal contributions of membera in 1899 was 58,457l. 4s., being an increase of 2995/. 12s. over the previous J ear . The increase was almost entirely due to t he increased membership, as the conttibutions per mtmber were 18s. 6d. below t he payments in 1898, when they were high owing to the dispute in the engineering trades. Bank interest ~howed a marked increase, the total being 1383l. 10s. 6d., or 315l. 5s. 4d. The fot egoing figures show bow small a proportion more than in 1898. The aggregate income reached of the whole has been expended in mere labour dis­a t otal of 62,875l. 18s. 3d. , being a decrease of putes, as compared with all the other benefits. It is 7292l. 1s. 4d. as compared with 1898, last year being unions such as this t hat have turned the scale from un­tolerably free from levies. T he average payments popularity and denunciation to popularity and appre­amounted to 1s. 4!d. per member per week. ciation in the public mind. One fact stands out pro-

The total expenditure in 1899 amounted to 39,486l. minently, namely, that t he cost of old age pensions in 19s. 10d., or 10!d. per member per week. The ex pen- this union, after an experience in this benefit alone of diture waR the lowest in any year since 1890, wh ile the 63 year~, is only 1! d. per member per week for an income was t he largest for the last ten J ears. The allowance of 7s. 6d. per week t o the aged members chief interest that the public have in t he expenditure who claim on the fund. Even t he sick benefit, t he full is the mode, or, in other words, the object s for which rate being 9s. per week t o Ss., and lower after a period, the money was expended. The major portion was only costs 2! d. per member per week. Unemployed devoted to provident bEnefits, under the following benefit is the most costly, 7d. per week. Altogether heads : Unemployed benefit cost 6628l. 17s. 10d., or the record is an encouraging one in all respects, not t he 1f d. per member per week. The amount so expended least being t hat disputes only cost ~d. per week per was less by 10,255t. 18s. 8d. than in 1898. This is the member, and there are prospects that eYen this amount lowest paid since 1889. '!he proportion of unemployed will be reduced. last year was, on the average, l. 7 per cent. of the

( lVlARCH 2, 1900.

Boilermakers, ironfounders, smiths, and strikers ara fully employed generally, though in some places they only .rep?rt trade as moderate. The real test of act1V1ty 1s the number of unemployed, and the lists of those are smaller .than. usual in nearly all the chief cent~es where engmeermg aud cognate industries are carr1ed . on. At M~nchester, ~alford, Stockport, North wtch, and W arrm gton engineers, boilermakers, and bra-ssworkers report trade as moderate but only a few are unemploy~d, in t he iron trades' 1 hey are busy, as also are tronfounders and machine works. Sheet-metal workers and wire weavera are fully em­ployed, but wiredrawing has declined. In the O:ci. ha m distr~ct ~mployment is r~ported to be good at the engmeenog works, slack m machine and tClol shops ; ironfounderEl, boi'ermakerP, pa.tternmakers and spindle and flyer makers' report good employ: ment, gasf!leter-makers, t inplate moulders and plate and machme moulders, moderate, irongrinders as slack. In t he large area described as the Bolton d istrict employment is mostly good in all branches. I n the Blackburn a.nd Burnley districts employ­ment in the engineering and iron t rades generally continues good. I n the iron and steel trades the position appears to be a little less eti·ong, but this only refers to w me fluctuations in selling which have not affected the quotations of lccal makers.

The position of the iron and steel indmtries in the "'\}..7 olverhampton district continues good in all branches. With a buoyant trade, prices are firm at the advanced rates for nearly all, if not quite all, classes of material. Consumers of finished iron with orders from the War Office and the Admiralty Departments have been pressing for deliveries on uncompleted contracts, which accentuates the strain on the productive powers of t he firms engaged. Railway and bridge· ma king material is in heavy demand, and also aJl classes of sectional irou for engineering and other general purposes. Producers of steel are so heavily pressed with arrears of uncompleted orders that they are not able to accept much new business where speedy delivery is required . Makers of black sht>ets report a better demand for galvanising purposes, as a greatly expanding trade is expected from colonial and other markets. Producers of pig iron can only sell for limited supplies, as there is a. difficulty in obtain· ing fuel. 11 here is no indication of any falling off in trade; on the contrary, in most cases buyers are plentiful and anxious tl) secure deliveries, while sellers a re few who can offer any guarantee of prompt delivery . All through South Staffordshire, East W orcesterohire, and Shropshire workera in all branches of the iron and steel industries are we11 em· ployed. The activity in t he several bra_ncb£s of boilcrmaking, bridge and girder constiuct10n, tank making and gasholder making continues. Iron· founders are busy also, w bile t he engineering branches reJ~ort trade as moderate. This description, however, does not imply that any number ar~ out of .employ· ment. T he cycle trade continues shghtly to 1mprove.

The iron and steel t rades in the Birmingham ~i~tri~t continue t o be in a buoyant condition. Busme~s J.B brisk, prices are firm , with, if anything, a further up· ward t endency. There are great complaints as to the difficulty in obtaining a ~ufiicient supply of fuel, P~0i duction being thereby checked. Orders for matena are coming forward quite as freely ~s ~hey can be ur:dertaken. The supply of crude p~g 1s m~ch re· stricted by scarcity of fuel. The pnce~ or uon of this description are now ranging as h1gh ~s from 72s. 6d. to 77s. per ton. Northampton p1g went up as high as 75s. to 77s. 8d. per ton last week for forge qualities, but little business was dote at tb~e figures. Derbyshire pig was quot~d at 80s .. to. 90~. per ton dalivered, but the supphes were hm1ted. Marked bars are firm at full rates, the standard minimum being lll. 10s. per ton, according to brand of ordinary qualities. 'beets and hoops ~eep .0 P their prices, t he demand being gocd. The t-ngme~~mg and allied trades continue in much the same cond1tto~, most of them being good ; in none of the branches~! there any real slackness as regard.s employme~t. ~re ironfounders, patternmakers, snnt~s, and ~tr1kers he the busiest. 'l'he cycle trade contmues qmet, butt t motor industry is good. On t~e whole, employ met 1 is fairly good in all the other 1ron, steel, and. fe .a industries ; the worst reports say that trade lS aJr, moderate, or quiet.

aggregate memb~rship. This is regarded as a lo~ The engineering trades throughout Lancashire fully average, a nd indiCates a record of good employment m maintain t he activity recently reported from time to the year . The cost of dispute benefit in t he year was t ime, in nearly all branches. Even in those where only 1059l. 12s. 6d. Considering that. it w~s a year complaints were beard of new work not coming for-of di~putes in various trades, and that m th1s branch ward as freely as previously, there are as yet no signs h ~J"dl nd several advances in wages were conceded, t he cost was of slackening off, for the work in band, or on order, is The difference in the rates of wa~es .in t. e h~ ~on

d h t . d · t b fit s ffi · t t k •h o ks go1'ng for so e t' me to d1"strt'cts and 1·n the South Wales d1stnct.s m t . small, an t e propor .1on on .1spu e. ene was u Clen o eep " e w r m 1 t nces f Th . · 11 1· t th b "ld " f t rade has often bE en considered in relatiOn ° P ' trifling as compared w1th those m rece1pt o unem- come. 1s espre1a y app 1es o e u1 mg o b t Eome

ployed benefit. These facts indicate a better under- locomotives, all firms so engaged being full handed for and efforts have been made to bring a 0~ b the

standing between employers and employed. a long period. E lectrical and hydraulic engineers are arrangement whereby ~·ages can be .regu~atc h ~alt's The cost of sick benefi t in thE' yettr amounted to similarly pressed with work. Stationary engir.e eliding scale. At last 61X of the leadiDg .. out be l\Iid·

9988l. 19s. , being an increaec of 1447t . . 18s. 10d. over builders are not, perhaps, quite so pressed with new fi rms in Lhe iron trade have agreed to J011l td. t ·cts the previous year, 1~98. The proportwu of mem?ers work, but they also will be busy for months to come. land Wages Board, so that wages in t he ~woth 18

;lid· on the sick list was 2. 7 per cent. , a p ercentage w luch, Machine toolmakers have not so much new work will be regulated by the slidin~ scale as

1~ e ·n be it is said, (( we ba ,·e little to complain of. " Aud yet offeril1g, but there is no sign of slackness in those lands. Uniformity will be obtamed, and t ere d1

em· this ia an arduous branch of t rade in many respects, branches. In the textile machinery shops t he firms less friction, in t he dealings of employer an owing to the changes from heat to cold in the casting are busy in some districts, not so busy in others. ployed under this arrangement .

MARCH 2, 1900.] E N G I N E E R I N G. .,01 .)

The telephone wire men at Leeds a nd Hull struck work on 'l.'hursday in last week for an advance in wages of 2s. per week. The rates hitherto ruling have been 23s. to 2-!s. per week.

(d) The wave front formed by a spherical wave incident on a spherical surface.

(e) The wave front formed by a plane wave incident on

were in firat class condition, as was also the track, which was laid with 90-lb. rails in 45-lb. chaira, there being te!l sleepers to each 30-ft. rail. 'l'he sole cause of the acet­dent which resulted in the death of one passenger, and in inJury to several other.3, as well as to driver and !Jre­man of the goods train, arose from the lack of suffi01ent care in loading at Birmingham the b~le of cloth respon­sible for the miechief .

--The movement for an advance in wages in the

cotton trade is taking form. A formal demand will probably be made soon for a 10 per cent. in some br&nches and 6 per cent. in others. The question was first raised at Oldham, now it is to become general. At a meeting held in .Ma nchester at the end of last week, it wa~ agreed to remit the queEtion to the several districts for final approval. At O!dham the vdvet weavers have sent in a demand for an advance of waaes in certain "sorts. , Counter-proposals have been ~ade, and both will be considered by the Council of theW eaYers' As3ociation.

It; is reported that the engineers h1Ye served notices on the employera on the north east coast fvr an ad­Y&'l< e of 2s. 61. p er week for time hands, and 5 per ceut. on piecework in the engine shops, and 2s. for time hands and 7! per cent. on piecework in t he ship­yards, the advance to take effect in April next.

The engineers, patternmakers, and machine workers at Bradford have been conceded an advance of l s. p er week in wages as the outcome of a conference with the Employers' Federation.

---It is s9.id that nE'gotiations are again on foot for

amalgamating the Northern and ~lid land sliding scales so as to arrive at a. uniform rate as far as practicable. The matter has been discussed over and over again in past years, with no decision upon the subject.

It is l'eported that efforts are being made by Ru~sian firms enaaged in the texti le indus tries to induce dyers of cotto~ goods in Lancashire to go to Russia to assis t in the dyeing and bleaching of cot~on cloths. woven by Ru3sian manufacturers. E xceptwnally htgh wages arJ offered, reaching, it is said, to 20l . per month for tbe services of this class of workers. Some of the opera.tives appear to ha ve accepted the terms offered, eo that we shall have Russian competition in t he tex­tile trades, if not at home, in foreign countrie~.

A great strike of carpenters and joiners is reported to have taken p1ace in Berlin, some 10,000 pers?ns being involved. The t urnfl'B, wood-carvers, machm-'3 hauds, and the French polishers t hrown out of work by the strike will add very considerably to the aggre­gate number of t he unemployed if no settlement is &rri Yed at.

I t is stated tha.t a number of the Lancashire coal­owners are withdrawing from t he Indemr..ity Associa­tion, which was formed to recoup the employers for claims under the Workmen's Compensation Act. The grounds are said to be the diminution of serious col­liery accidents of late. This is good news; compen­eation is not so muoh required as s~fety, and this appears t o be more and more secured.

---The Duke of Norfolk , as Postmaster-G eneral , re­

cogniEes t he right of t he pos• al employes to combine, and will consider any grievance3 which the P ostmen's F ederat ion or the F a wcett Association ml).y lay before him. But he declines to receive a deputation to dis­cuss grievances, point ing out that many of the alleged grievance3 were considered by t he Tweedmouth Com­mittee. The federation asks for the aboli tion of Christmas boxes and of compens-1.tion in lieu t hereof. \Vhsn the waitero at the H ouse of Commons obtained higher wages " in lieu of t ips," they wanted the tips just the same, and denounced the member who ob­tained for t hem higher p1y . I t is t o be feared that the "abolition " of Christmas boxes will not abolish them, but only add to the men's emoluments; that is t o s.1y, to the emoluments of some of them, for under the present system all share in the total amount col­lected, the sums being entere i into books for t he purpose.

THE PHYSICAL SOCIETY. AT the meeting of the Physical Society, held on

February 23, ProfessorS. P . Thompson, F.R.8., :b.,oreign Secretarr, in the chair, Professor R . W. W ood, of the University of Wisconsin, U.S.A., exhibited and de­scribed:

1 "Photographs of Sound Waves and the Kinema.to­gr_aphioal Demonstration of the Evolution~ of Reflected Wave Fron~." The sounds were produced by electric sparks and photographed by means of the light emitted by carefully timed subsequent sparks, according to the method described in the Philosophical Magazine for last year. The photographs included :

a. spherical surface. In cases (d) and (e) the wave fron ts are complicated and

contain cusps. Professor Wood pointed out that the paths of the cusp3 on the wave fronts traced out the

• ca.ust1o curvee. In the following cases the wave fronts were drawn for

100 successive positions, and the evolution of the re­flected wave was made clear by means of a kinemato­graph;

(a) Plane wave on a hemispherical mirror. (b) S~herical wave on a. hemispherical mirror ; and (c) Otrcular wave inside a. complete circular mirror. 2. "A New Scudoscope." In this instrument the real

and inverted images formed by two convex lenses are viewed stereoscopica.lly. The inversion of the object viewed causes the relief to be reversed.

3. ' ' Diffraction Colour Photographs.,, Professor Wood showed some coloured photographs taken by his diffrac­tion process. The princiJ?le of the method is based upon the tri-colour theory. Dtfferent colours are produced by gratings, so ruled and arranged as to throw upon the eye the particular constituents of the required colours. The arrangement of grating3 necessary t o produce a coloured picture is obtained by photographing properly spaced gratings through red, green, and blue chromograms of the object. The superposition of one grating upon another which occurs in this process gives rise to an in-and-out-of­step arrangement, which produces secondary spectra.. These, however, seldom affect the picture to any serious exten t.

AcciDENT AT W onTLEY J uNCTION. T he derailment of three mineral cars on December 11,

at Wortley Junction, on the .'rviidland Railway, .J.ed to a serious collision with an express passenger tram. One passenger was killed and others injured. The report on the usual Board of Trade inquiry has just been issued, but in reviewing the evidence, the Inspector, Colonel V on Donop, R.E., expresses himself as unable to offer any explanation of the derailment leadmg to the catastrophe, as all the available evidence has fatled to disclose any defects either in the track or the rolling stook. The cars responsible for the mischief formed part of a train of 46 wagons and a brake van proceedmg from Bradford to Hunslet. The three wagons were near the middle of the train, and when they left the line the train parted, and the driver, unaware of what had happened, continued his cour-se. The derailed car3, running forward a few yards, fouled the down main line just as the 6.20 p. m. Man­chester expre3s was passing, and wrecked the whole of one side of its second vehicle, killing one passenger and injuring four others. F ortunately the speed at which the express was running wa-s only 18 miles an hour, and consequently only one of its carriages suffered serious injury. The train, with the exception of the leading carriage, kept the rails, and was brought to a stand within about 90 yards from the site of the accident.

4. " Artificial P arhelia." When printing fine gratings upon gelatine, if the film is too thick no point is formed, but the gelatine warps. If such a fi)m is placed in a con­verging beam, the central image is a;ccompanied by four T HE ACCIDENT AT QUAR'l'ER R OAD ON THE CALEDON1AN marked concentrations of light situated at the extremities RAILWAY. of two diameters at right anglE*!. An ex9.mination of one The serious accident on the Caledonian Railway, be-of these plates with a microEcope shows that there is a tween Gla.ssford and Quarter Road, on December 23 last, ridge for every third line of the grating, and that the has been the subject of an inquiry by Colonel V on Donop, pla.te :s crossed at right anglrs to these lines by irregularly whose report has just been published by the Board of spaced cross· ridges. Trade. The facts of the case, as established at the in-Pro~essor Wood also exhibited some photographs taken guiry, are as follow: Whilst the 3.15 train from

by zone plates, or silvered copy of a R owland grating, a Strathaven to Hamilton and Glasgow was running photograph of a dyn'l.mite explosion, the motion of a ball between the above-named stations, seven of its eight 10 it~ fligh~, and the anom11lous dispersion produced by a vehicles left the raih. The train broke in two, and cyanme pnsm. the driver, discovering what had happened, kept on, in

Mr. B oys ~ave some details concerning the photograph order to avoid being run into by the rear portion of of the explos1on shown. the train, which, running on for about 100 yards after

ProfesEor Everett expressed his interest in the demon- leaving the rails, came into collision with the stonework strations. of an over bridge. The leading two carriages were cam-

Professor Herschel asked if the photographs of sound pletely wrecked and the remainder more or less injured, waves after reflection bad been verified by comparison whilst two passengers and a guard were killed and 12 with waves on mercury. · more injured. The line between Glassford and Quarter

Mr. Watson pointed out that this could not be done, R oad is single track, and the train, before reaching the as it is impossible to get a solitary wave on the surface of bridge at which the accident occurred, bad come down an mercury. Owing to the dependence of velocity on wave incline of 1 in 65, l:f miles long, and round a curve of 30 length, any such solitary wave draws out into a train of chains radius. The train was made u_p of six bogie carriages waves. and two six-wheeled carriages. One of the latter was

The chairman proposed a vote of thanks to Professor second from the engine and was the first to leave the rails. Wood, and announced that by invitation of Professor The total wreck of this vehicle rendered it impo~sible to Callendar a special meeting will be held at University say if it was in any way defective, but there is no evidenc~ College on March 2. favouring this hypothesis. On t?e other band, an exa~n-

The meeting then adjourned. nation of the track showed that 1t had been slewed bodily out of its proper position. This defect was first n<?tice­able at a distance of 190 yards above Brown Tod Br1dge, and amounted to 2 in. in 40 yards ; for the next 100 yards nearer the bridge, the tra:ck. had be~n shifted bod_ily to a. considerable extent, and 1t IS to thts want of alignment that Colonel von Donop attributes the accident. The rails themselves were of ample weight, viz., 80 lb., and were laid on 46·lb. chairs, but there should apparently have been more ballast to the outside of the curve.

I

RAILWAY ACCIDENTS. THE A CCIDRN'l' TO THE IRISH MAIL AT NORTON BRIDGE.

THE LONGV\rORTH POWER-HAMMER. Imp rovements in the Longworth Power-Hammer.*

By Mr. ERNEST SAnfUELSON, Member, of Banbury. WHILS'l' economy in J?OWer is engrossin~ th~ attenti<?n

of all who are engaged m the manufa.cturmg. mterests m this and other countries, and the tendency 1s ~ concen­t rate steam power in on.e spot, and convey 1ts. energy either by means of eleotr10al power, or by shaftmg and belts or by a. combination of both, to the tool~ we are brought to the consideration o~, amongst other thmgs, the advantage in the use of power m place of steam hammers ; and as this subject has not been before the members of this Institution since 1882, when Mr. D .. Longworth read a paper-f describing a hammer in wh1ch the blow was rendered variable by means of a movable fulcrum, the author has thought that a ~hort. description of some further improvements upon thiS des1gn of hammer may be of interest to the members.

In 1891 the author's attention was directed to Mr.

(a) The reflection of a. spherical wave, as a spherical wave from a. plane surface.

(b) The reflection by an ellipse of circular waves from one focus, and the concentration of the waves as circular waves at the other focus.

CoLONEL YoRKE's report on the remarkable accident to the Irish mail last December at N orton Bridge, on the London and North-Western Railway, has just been pub­hshed by the Board of Trade. The accident arose from a. carelessly packed bale of cloth, which escaped from a. two­J>lank open goods wagon into . which it was loaded _at Birmingham and finally found 1ts way between the rails for up fast t~affic at Norton Bridge 9;nd dera~led ~he mail train. The wagon referred to had s1des 22 10. high, and its contents were covered with a. tarpaulin in the usual way. The train conveying it_ passed through Norton Bridge on one of the do~n hnes at. 11.45 pm., an~ as the Irish M ail did not arnve there ttll 3.22 a.m., this bale must! have been lying on . the line f<?r some hou~s before the accident; and there IS some evidence that 1t had pre,' iously come into contact with other train8, since when finally found the cov(\r .was. ripped off, a.~d it '!as partially unrolled. An exa.mma.t10n of the ma1l engme at Stafford showed that the screen-plate to the water­catcher of the tender, which is 7~ in. above rail level, had been bent, though nothing was fel t by the engine crew. I n the end this bale got under the wheels of the fifth vehicle from the' engine, a bogie sleeping car, and caused the latter to leave the rails. The t rain continued to travel with the wheels running on the sleepers and ballast for a di~tance of 1120 yards without. 9.:pparently. any of t~e trainmen being aware of the cond1t10n of affau s. At th1s point, however, there is a junc~ion with the North S.ta.f­fordshire line and the. up fast hne, and .here the dera~led bogie slewed to the r1ght, and the tram br?ke up .mto three parts. The engine and the four lea.dmg vehwl~s kept on the rails, and were brought up by the automattc brake. The fifth vehicle, on the othe.r hand, fell a.o~oss the up slow line, on w bich a g?ods tram was followu~g the express at a. speed of 3~ mtles an ~our. The engme of th1s came into contact wtth the dera1led oar, and was <?Ver­turned into the space ~etween ~he fast and slo~ lines, The rest of the mail tra.1n, follo~mg on, tho.ugh 'YJth some wheels derailed, ran off ~o the ngh~ ~t the ~unot10n afore­mentioned, and came mto a collts1on With t~e goods train, thus completi!lg the wr~ck ?f both trams,. No fault is found by the mspector '!lth e1ther the men lm.me­diately concerned or the maten al. The cars and engmes

Longwortb's patent of the previou~ Y.ear, and, be~ng struck with the advantages of the prmc~ple upon wh1ch he bad improved his hammer, entered mto an arrange­ment with him for the manufacture of the.same, and the various drawings here rep~es~nted serve t? 1llust rate these improvements, and the pnn01ple upo!l wh1ch the hammers are now built. They form a. .distmcp departure fr?m all previous modes of construct10n, as mstead of varymg the intensity of the blow by means of a. D?ovable fulcrum or frictional brake upon some of the movmg pa~ts of t~e hammer, it is regulated by means of a .cushH;m of all' rendered variable in volume under the ptston m a con-

* P aper read before the Institution E ngineers.

of Mechanical

(c) The plane wave front formed by the reflection of a spherical wave at a parabolic surface.

-r See Proceedings, 1882, page 204.

302

trolling cylinder in a. simple manner, by means of an air val~e under the control of the attendant.

¥tg:. 1, page 29~, is a. section which ser\'es to illustrate the prmctple on which th~ hammer is built. Ib will be seen that the hammer conststs of the usual piston piston-rod and .tup, hub the piston-rod is prolonged upwards, and carnes a ~upplementary or st!cond piston working in a ~~cond cy.hnder. .The lower cylinder merely acts as a

controlling' . cyl.mder for regulating the intensity of the blow, wht~h ~ effe~ted by means of a series of air port~ commumcatmg With the lower cylinder and the outstde atmospher~, which ports can be opened or closed one or more at a ttme by a simple cylindrical plug valve under the contr0l. of the attendant, by mea.nR of a hand or foot lever, F1g. 2. Tho t op piston works in a

1$0 Ru.r. pu ntl11L.J' 1-lb. &veting Hwnm-er.

Fi{).7.

E N G I N E E R I N G. tup. Upon. the crank passing the bottom of its stroke the . to.P cylinder gains upon the falling piston and tup until ,1t closes the communication of the air through the top row _of holes, afte~ wh~ch this air is compressed, and the mot10n of the falhng plSton and tup is thereby a.ccele­ra:ted. If now the lower cylinder is in free communication wtth ~he atmo~phere throu~h i~ bottom air ports, the tup will fall to Its lowest pomt, v1z. , the face of the anvil and the full force of the blow will be struck· but if all these.ai.r ports are closed the lower piston will compress the a.tr m. the b?t.tom of the co~trolling cylinder until that pressure 1~ suffietenb to sustam t~e. falling weight, a.nd the tup will be prevented from str1kmg the anvil. . Small self-actm~ air valves in the bottom cylinder allow

a1r to be drawn m by the lower piston on its upward

[l\1ARCH 2, 1900.

?POD its g.rea.~est air cushion, which can be allowed for m bhe desigmng of the hammer to suib particular work T.he speed and stroke of the hammer can be varied to suit different cl~es of work ; thus, for riveting or cutlers work (see .Ftg~. 6 to ~), a quick speed and short stroke can be. mamtamed, whilst for general forging or stamping (see Ftgs. 3, 4, ~, 10, 1~, 12, and 13), a long stroke and modera te speed IS o~ta.mable, which enables the attendant to mo.ve or handle hl8 beat on the anvil. 0Wln~ to the comparative length of the side links, the

yersed Sine of the arc through which the end of the rock­mg .lever moves affects but sHghtly the true vertical tr:lot10n o~ the top cyli~der, and the tendency to wear st~eways .lS re~uced pr&etiCally to a negligible quantity by bemg gwded ID a long neck or gland on the top portion

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second or "actuating " cylinder freely in a vl•r ti<:al line, and a double series of air holes communicating freely with the atmosphere is drilled round this cy lindor to regul:l.to the cu~hion of air in the same, accord­ing to the nature of the work to be done under t he hammE r, and to prevenb the piston strik ing the covers ; this cushion also assists in intensifyi ng the blow, and in lifting the tnp on its upward stroke. The upper or " actuating " cylinder is connected by means of a croES· head, with two side links, to one end of a rocking lever working upon a fixed fulcrum, whilst the other end of this rocking lever is connected to a. crank by a. connect -ing-rod.

Thus, when the crank is put m motion, the rocking lever raises the side links, and with them the upper cy­linder, until the top piston cuts off the air a t the bottom row of holes in same, !lnd, this air becoming compreseed by the cylinder still continuing to rise, eventually lift:;, the top p iston with it, and thereby the piston-rod and

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stroke when neceesary to restore atmospheric equilibrium ; these, however, remain at rest when the lower cy linder has free atmospheric communication through the lower port.q, The top of the lower cylinder remains in free comm unication with the a tmosphere ab all times. The cylindrical air valve is under the control of the a t tendan t by means of a suitable system of hand or foob leve~, and is kept in its normal position CO\ ering the whole of the air ports to the lower by means of a spring, as shown on Figs. 3 and 4; and when the hammer is started , the piston works upon the air cushion, as explained, and the work can be readily introduced upon the anvil. By opening one or more of these air ports, the air cushion in the lower cylinder is regulated a.nci the force of the bl0w controlled, and by rapidly opening and clo~ir g them again, the attendan t can deliver eingle blows upon his work-this, of course, being contingenb upon the thick· ness or height of the iron being less than the clearance between the tup and anvil when the hammer is running

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of the p iston-rod in the earlier design. The lower or main piston-rod is similarly guided in another long n~ck on the lower cylinder, and the tup is placed be.tween st~e guides where a. hammer of this type is reqwred, as Jn Fi~. 13. In order to reduce the total heighb and to bettr gUide the top cylinder, the author has more recen.t Y brought this cylinder down to work inside the c~ntrolhng cylinder, making the top cover serve as a g~1de, t~us relieving the piston-rod of that function, the hnks bemg journalled on pins formed on the top cylinder cover (see F igs. 2, 3, and 4, page 299). 'd d

In the earlier design the wear of the tools was prov1 _e for by the crosshead being adjustable upon tb~ top cyhn· der gland, see Fig. 1, while in the later destgn tb~ eo~ necting- rod to the crank is made so that it can read1ly len~thened or shortened as shown in Fig. 2 ; th~ p~per position of the top cylinder relative to the anVll belDgd when the faces of the tool are touching each other, a.n the front end of the rocking le\'er is at the lowest pomt of its stroke, the bot tom of the piston in the top a.Jr cy· linder should just cut off or close the bottom row of holed in same. The working cylinder being so far remove from the work upon the anvil, no danger is incurred from grit or heab afff!cting it . .

F ig. 5 illustra tes the acceleration of the actua.ttDi

•

MARCH 2, 1 goo.] E N G I N E E R I N G. 303

cylinder due to the poSition of the crank and rocking The power required to drive the hammer is propor­lever in a. 3·cwb. single standard hammer. The uniform tiona.te to the work obtained from same, for when the speed of the crank being 5.88 ft. per second, the speed of hammer is running upon its full cushion of air in the con­the rocking lever, and with it the actuating cylinder and trollin~ cylinder, the compressed air assists in raisin~ the tnp is accelerated on the down stroke to about 9. 5 ft. per tu~ OI? tts upward stroke, an~ a. minin;mm pow~ris requu~d. second at mid-stroke. . . I T~1s m creases as the bl~w ~s mtens~fied unttl no cush10n

Figs. 6 and 'i show a. different form of dr1ve adopted ex1Sts, and the full blow lSgtven. F 1g. 14 shows the power for the smaller sizes of hammer, such as for riveting required by a 3-cwt. hammer when running light, and when work the movement being obtained by means of a crank delivering the fullest blow; these diagrams were taken and~ slide block on the top of the cylinder co~er; but from a steam engine connected through a cou~tersha.ft to this form is not recommended for the larger stzes and the .ha~mer, the actual power aJ.;>sorbed bemg 3.1 ~nd heavier work. . . . 8. 7 1n~1~at£:d horse-po~er respe~t1vely, after deductmg

per minute. and 229 x 0.036 x 60 = 494, or the pounds of water per hour.

The indicated horse-power being 10, as taken from the cards. the water used per indicated h.orse-power per hour =49.4, to which must be added a lilJeral allowance for condensation in the cylinder and steam pipes, say 30 per oeut., which would make the consumption of water equal 64 lb. per indicated horae-power per hour.

Figs. 8 a.nd 9 show a hammer des1gned for plamshmg the fnct10n of the engtne, sha.f tmg, &c. Fig. 15 shows where the blow is reg~ lated by .means of. a movabl.e ~ul- car?s taken from the top and bottom of the actuating orum. This hammer 1s fitted wtth a rookmg lever stmllar cylmder of the same 3-cwt. hammer, and from the con­to Longworth's earlier arrangement, and a ready means

1 trolling cylinder when one air port is open down to the

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of regulating tb~ blow when the hammer is a t rest is found to su!fice, m~tead of adding the additional parts of the controlling oyhnder, &c. ; because in this class of work, . when ~nee the strength of the blow is determined upon 1t re~~ms constant, and can be stopped by means of belt shtfttng ge~r. The controlling cylinder, however, can be fitted to t~ts ~lass of hammer if desired, when the mo~a~le fulcrum IS d1Spensed with, and a rocking lever of s~mtlar type to the other hammers is used. f Figs. ~0 and .11 illustrate a hammer specially designed o~ weldm~ boiler flues, the flues being carried on any BUI~ble saddle, such as are used in boiler-shops · and a ~peh~l ad vantage is obtained in the use of such a hammer m t bets class of work, because of the uniformity in the num r of blows per minute. Thus when the first few ~~v? t~lows are giveni· the lighter ones which follow to

ms e work are de 1 vered at the same speed and the fullest advantage is. taken of the heat. whereas ir: a steam h9.mme~ when the hghter blows are delivered a reduction ens~es m the number per minute. ·

f Flgs 12 and. 13 illustrate two further types of framing or general smt ths' work,

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position where all are open, and the hammer is giving its fullest blow.

Fig. 16 represents cards taken from a 4.cwt. steam hammer, having 8·in. cylinder with 16 in. stroke. which shows ~he wasteful power expended in tools of tnis class ; for whtlst about 64 lb. of water are required per indi­cated horse-power per hour to work this hammer from the oaloulations as below, a fairly economical engine sh?uld not use more than about, say, 20 lb., and it is in thts respect that the advantage of a oower over a steam hammer is most evident. •

Water consumption of 4-cwt. steam hammer as ta-ken from cards in Fig. 16, the average pressure at end of strok~ being 1~ lb: ab?ve atmosphPre :

Cyhnder, 8 m. m dtameter by 16 in. stroke. Number of blows per minute, 120. Thus 50 x 16 x 120 x 2 = 192,000 cubic inches or the

volume of steam used per minute. ' Specific volume of steam at 30 lb. absolute = 838.

Thus 19:~00

= 229, or the cubic inches of water used

LAUNCHES AND TRIAL TRIPS. MRSSRS. Alexander Stephen and Sons, on Tuesday,

the 20th ult., launched a steel screw steamer of the dimensions of 395 ft. by 48 ft. by 30 ft.. for the Clan Line. The vessel is fitted with engines having cylinders 26 in. , 41 in., and 67 in. in d iameter by 48 in. stroke, and boilers 18 ft. 6 in. in diameter by 11 ft. 6 in. long, fitted with H owden's foreed draught., and intended for 200 lb. working pressure. The steamer will carry close on 7000 tons dead weight. The vessel is named the Clan Maclachlan •

The s.s. Braeside, builb by ~Iessrs. R. Williamson and Son, W orkington, for Messrs. Thomas Pinkney and Sons, of Sunderland, went down the Clyde on her trial trip on the 16th ult . She is a vessel 128 ft. between perpendiculars by 20ft. breadth moulded by 10 ft . 4i in. depth moulded, and carries 240 tons on 9 fb. 4i in. loaded draught, and steams 10 knots loaded. She is fitted with a set of MoKie and Baxter's standard high ratio com­pound surfa-ce-condensing engines, having cylinders 15 in. and 32 in. by 24 in. supplied by steam from a horizontal return-tube boiler 10ft. 6 in. by 10ft. long. The results a ttained were satisfactory.

--r:J;he Glory, battleship, builb and engined by Messrs.

Laud Brothers, Birkenhead, which is to be completed as rapidly as possible to serve as flagship on the China Station, anchored ab Spithead on the 22nd ult. on the conclusion of her eight h.ours' full-power trial. The Glory left Portsmouth on Wednesday afternoon. At 5.30 a.m. on F ebruary 22 she got under way with 70 revolutions which gave her a speed of 121 knots, but the speed wa~ s~ea.dily increased to ful~ power by the time the measured diStance off the Cormsh Coast was reached at eight o'clock. She then made four runs over the 23-mile course and finished her trial on the return run up Channel. Sh~ drew 26ft. fore and aft, and had 265 lb. of steam in her boilers. The vacuum was 27 in. starboard and 25.8 in. port, and the revolutions were 108.5 starboard and 106.7 port, with a total indicated horse-power of 13,745. There was no air pressure, and the mean speed of four runs over the course was 18.124 knots. The mean vacuum in the smokeboxes was .4 in., and the coal consumption worked out at 1.58 lb. per unit of power per hour. Off S t. Catherine's Point, the steam trial being then com­pleted, the stopping, starting, and steering trials were satisfactorily carried out .

The new cable-laying and repairing steamer V on Pod­bielski, built by 1\~Iessrs. David J. Dunlop and Co., Port Glasgow, for the Norddeutsche Seekabelwerke Company, of Cologne, successfully underwent her various trials on Saturday, the 3rd ult. Some particulars of this vessel appeared a short time ago, when she was launched, and we hope shortly to describe her in full detail· but it may b~ interesting to mention here some of the SPecial features m her construction and outfit. Although this is the first cable steamer turned out by her builders for German owners, and is the first German-owned cable vessel, yet Messrs. Dunlop have constructed several steamers of this class for British. American, colonial, and French ownera, notably H. M. T.S. Monarch built to the order of Her M ajesty's Postmaster -Gene:al about 16 years ago. The following are the dimensions: L ength be­tween perpendicularst 255ft. : breadth moulded 35 ft. · depth moulded to unaerside of main deck, 16 ft.'; depth moulded to underside of spar deck, 23 ft. 6 in. 1,he ~peed of the vessel when laden with 500 tons deadweight lS nearly 13 knots per hour. The V on Podbielski has a. C';It~ater stem and elliptical stern, the paying-out and ptckmg-up gear fitted on stem and stern being so arranged as to reduce as. fa.r as possible the rnbbing of the cable on the hull when 1t IS handled. The upper deck is flush all fore and aft, giving an unobstructed lead from the dif­feren~ cable tanks to the picking-up and paying·outl m&?hmes at the bow. and stern. The cable machinery, wbtch has been supphed b:y ~Iessrs. J ohnson and Phillips, o.f Old Charlton, .London, lS of t~e most m~d~rn descrip­tiOn, a:nd. the m am forward portiOn, compnsmg engines and piCking-up gear, occuptes the space between the crew'~ quarters and the rooms for cable hands on main deck. T~e cable tanks are three in number, first and second bemg arranged forward and third aft each having cones in centre 6.ft. in diameter at bottom ~nd 3ft. 6 in. at top, the capamty of the tanks being about 20 500 cubic feet. Deep water. b~llast trimming tanks are ' fitted on the Mcintyre prmmple, the tops of which form the bot~oms of cab~e tanks, in the forward and after holds havmg a oapamty of 300 tons, the pumping arrangements for all the several compartments being of the most appr~ved and . efficient description.. '!'he pr?pelling ma.chmery C?nststs ,of two s.ets of trt ple. expansiOn sur­faoe-oo~de~smg: engtnes, havmg cylinders 17 m., 28! in., and. 47 m .. m diame~r by 33 in. length of stroke, each engm.e bemg fitted wtth ~dwar9s' air pump and separate centnfugal pump for mroulatmg water through con­~ensers. The propellers are loose-bladed, having ca.st­lron ~osses with four bronze blades bolted on. Steam is s~pphed by two larg~ single-ended boilers, 15 ft . 9 in. in d1am~ter by ~0 ft>. 9 m. long, eac.h having three furnaces of Detghtons patent, alll?roport10ned for a. working pres­sure of 18~ lb. per squa!e mch; there is a separate funnel to each botler. The tnal results were satisfactory.

PORTABLE PNEUMATIC TOOLS.* By Mn. EwART C. AMOS, Member, of L ondon.

TnF. engineerins indu~try at the present time is enjoy­ing a period of activity quite unprecedented in its history, and, as a consequence, is calling for an immense in­crease in the number of its labour -reducing machines. Prominent amongst these are portable pneumatic tools and appliances ; and it is not too much to say that there i~ every indication of their extended application. They ha.ve been used in America for a considerable time, although in this country, with certain exceotions, they

•

Fif1.1. u R oss " H a mm er .

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

of t~e leading ~nd more enterprismg firms, who have ex­perimented Wit h pneumatic tools for some years past· and he ~ls~ recognises that cer:tain kinds of portabl~ pneumatic riveters and other appliances have been in con­stant nse for a considerable time, but he ventures to ho_pe that the various tooJs described and illustrated in th1~ paper may be of interest, as showing what has been achieved up to the present date. The various tools which can. be <;Ir1 ven .bY .compressed air are many, and are rapidly moreasm~ m number ; but in order to confine the su~je~t to the hmits permitted in a paper of this de­sortpt10n, the author proposes only to refer to portable hammer3, riveters, and drille, makin~ also a very brief

•

[MARCH 2, I goo.

ally a ~ho~t strok~, and although economica.l in air con· su.mptlOn m relat10~ to the number of blows given, they will not ~mpa.re with valv~ hammers in giving powerful blo~s, whiCh are necess~ry .m heavy chipping or riveting Owmg, however, to. thetr Simple construction, they he.v~ probably a longer hfe. than the ynlve hammers, and for s~ch purposes ~ beadmg . flu~, hght ca\llking and chip. pmg, and espe01al!y carVI!Jg I~ stone, &c., they compare very favourably w1th their rtvals. The speed of the valveless ha.~mers is very high, being 10,000 to 20 000 strokes per mmute. '

Valve H OIITI!fMrs.- Valve hammers will probablr secure the market for general and heavy chipping, caulkmg, and

' ' Little Giant .. H ammer.

Pis ton n nd V a! ve in extreme positions.

F Fi..g. 5.

Ready l o Stnke. M

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•

-

A F4J.2. '' Q and C '' Hammer.

6 / B I

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I F

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"Little Giant .. Ham mer.

As·J· L eft hut{ F i9. 6.

Return Stroke.

-

a

y ... •

Rtght half (reversed) . • •

F

K •

•

have not been so well appreciated until the laat few years, reference to hoists and other appliances driven by com- riveting. Their speed for ordinary work ranges fro~ and considering their importance and the valuable assist- pressed a.ir. 1500 to 2000 blows per minute, although t~ey ea~ ance they are rendering to the shipbuilding and many HAMMER. . driven much fas ter. Their stroke, however, IS conddb· other industries, it is somewhat singular that compara- Since the mechanism employed for utilising compressEd ably longer than that of the va.lveless hamme~, an t e tively little information h~ been circulated about them air to secure a percussive action is essentially the same in blow struck correspondin8'1Y greater. excepb by trade descriptions. Doubtless.somee~plana.tio!J both hammers and riveters, it will be sufficient to de- There is more air lost m tbe ports, , but othe! ~van­for this IS to be found m the fact that the1r practiCal apph- scribe the mechanism in one of them only and for this tages, including better control for ustng .the a1

1

1r kexpan· cation in this country is of comparatively recent date, and purpose the hammer will servE>. ' sively, overcome this $mall defect. ~t 18 we nown fur ther that some of the earlier tools were unsatisfactory. HammerR may broadly be divided in to two types, viz., tha~ the natu~e of a blow (whether hght or hfeavy)tb~ \ Vhatever the cause may be, it appeared to the author the valveless hammer and the valve hammer. Th1s is a vartous matena.ls, produces an effect apart rom that the subject was one which would be of interest to t~e convenient description, yet, perhaps, not strictly correct, I a~tual work done as measured in f~ot-pounds: For b:; members of this Institution, and that the valuable dlS· because, although the valveless hammer has no valve be. ample, 10,000 small blows representtng a. cert~mdnum ult, cuesion likely to arise from such a paper would be of great yond the st~ik~ng pist?n, this is itself a valve to effect the 1 of .foot-pounds might fail to produce a. desue . reslees benefit to many of our engineers who may be. desirous. of pr~per adm1~10n ? f a1r to alternate ends of tb~ work~ng wh1ch a.. smaller number ~f heavy blows, repre entlDg obtaining authentic data upon a class of machm.ery ~h.1Ch cylinder ; whtlst m the vA.lve hammer, a. rec1proca.tmg energy m foot· pounds mtght effect. f is likely to prove such a. valuable adjunct to their e~ostm.g valve, working either at right angles to or parallel with Having now considered the claims and .a.dv~ntages 0

types of machines. The author, at the same t1me, 1s the striking piston, acts in combination with it to regu- the different types of ha.mmerP, all of which, lt may ~ aware that the subject is by no means a new one to some late the inlet and exhaust of the compressed air. Before stated, can be worked economically at from JO lb. tbe _ - 1 coming to a. description of these, it may be interesting to 80 lb. per square inch, reference m~st be ma ~ to d

* Paper read 'b~fore the Ioetitution of Mechanical set forth the advantages and otberwise of the two systems. illustrations in order to exp1a.io tce!r cqn~tructtOn an Engine~r~, ' Va ll'C1c:M H(Jifflme?·s.- Va.lve}ees hammers }l~ve e~eenti - a.ction under coropr&SE'd air,

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•

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MARCH 2' I 900. J E N G I N E E R I N G. "Ross ~, H~tm.cr.-FiS". :I sho~s in section a. "Ross, ward stroke. It flows through K, thence through c

hammer m whtch ~h~ stnkmg p1ston becomes t~e val.ve ~assing between the annnlar spnce formed between tb~ to control the adm1sston and .exhaust of the work~ng flUid. lmer and the outer casing, and back through c~ to back A represents the outer casu~g, made from sohd-drf:l-wn of piston, thus d'riving it forward. At the eame time steel t~be, bored and fit.ted w~th a. phosphor:bron?.e lmer exhaust takes place through D. The same ac ~ion take~ B. whtoh ~o~ms t.he cylinder m wbtch the pts.ton works ; place on the rea~ward strok~, ~hen ~be forward ports c E, the stnku~g p1ston made from a steel forgmg, ground I and Cl are then m commumoatton w1th K. In order to fib the cyhnder; D , the exhaust _ports, open to t~e far as poss~ble, to eliminate vibration, a condition wbi~ a.tmosphere tbro.ug.h th~ valye G; C and C1, the adm1s- ts present m all hammers, the cushion piston L has been stpn port.Q, admtttmg hve au to alternate e~ds of the I introduced at the rear of the piston. ptston; K, another port always ope~ to the a1r ~upply; "Q cun.d C" Hcvmmwr.-F1g. 2 shows in section a. G, the exhaust valve; H, the trtgqer actuat~og ~be "Q and. C " single hammer. A represents a bronze s~m.e; F,. the phospho~-bron1V3 hand!e, to wht.oli hve handle, mto which is fitted the steel liner B, which forms a.tr ts admttted at the pomt F ; L, a ptston cnsh10n, has 1 the working cylinder ; C, the striking piston, which acts

"Little G ~ant ·· Hammer.

FitJ. 7. Section at X, F4J. 5. \ •

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($30Z .C.)

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L

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.Fig.1Z Fig.18. I I

0 0 9

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s I" 11

always full and constant pressure behind ib from the air supply through the port LI ; and M shows the working t)ol.

Ili must be noted that this hammer is caused to work by the opening of the exhaust, and not by regulation of tlie admtesion. The direction taken by the fluid under pre..~ure, when connected to the handle at Fl, will be readily seen by notin8' the arrows. The piston is slightly reduced in diameter m the middle, and the inside edges of the two collars thus produced form the cut-off edges for pressure, whilst their outsides govern the exhaust ports. It will be readily seen that when the piston is in the middle of its stroke there Is a dead point, the live air only finding admission to the chamber formed by the reduced portion of the piston, since the ports C and C• ~re all cut off from admission of live air, but tibiA does not mterfere with its proper working as the cover is very s~all. Moreover, when starting, the piston will fall etther to one end of the cylinder or the other by gravity. and when at work the momentum carries it over the dead point. The diagram shows the front exhaust valve open, and the piston just commencing to make its for·

FitJ. 8. Section at Y, Pi9. 6.

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as its O\VD valve; D, the outer cap, connecting the liner to the handle ; E, the throttle valve; F, the trigger actuating same ; and G, the point to which the air su_pply is attached. The action of the hammer on the tr1gger being depressed is as follows: The air having passed the valve E flows alon~ the passage d and through a. large air port into the cyhnder or pressure chamber ; this has the effect of maintaining a. constant pressure under the shoulder of the piston, and tends to drive it backwards. When, however, the ports b in the piston C, which are also large openings, come into communication with the cylinder, the pressure fills the hollow portion of the piston and the cylinder in its rear, driving the piston forward to strike its blow. At this instant, however, the piston ports come into communication with the exhaust port c, when the pressure under the piston shoulder again returns the piston and the blows are repeated in rapid succession-it is stated as many as 10,000 to 20,000 per minute. It will be noticed that in this arrangement of ports the air is used exl?ansively. The same type of hammer is made in a modified form, being provided with a. second piston p laced in the rear of the other, the

M tuating fluid working between the two pistons for the forward stroke. It is claimed for this that vibration is t·educed to a minimum.

Coming now to the valve hammers, to briefly, and at the same time accurately, describe them is not an easy matter, because although they are simple in action and not excessively complicated with regard to the number of working partll, yet their movements and arrangements of ports is such as to make their description somewhat difficult. The author has, however, endeavoured to be as brief as possible, while at the same time referring to their essential features.

"Little Gia'Tlt " Hannmer. - This is illustrated in Figa. 3 to ~~ to which. the following key applies : A, working cyhnder; B, p1ston hammer; D, working tool; E, con­trolling valve; E 1, steel seating for same; F, handle; G. G 1, thrott~e valve bushing; lL throttle valve; I, trtgger actuatmg same : a., bore of cylinder; a), passage leading from apace c to the cylinder, and always full of flu1d preesure when throttle valve is open; a2, passage leading from cylinder to toP, of valve chamber; a3, pa.s­sage from front end of cylinder to annular space ta m ~alve cha~ber; a 4, exhaust passage at rear end of cy­linder lea.dmg to exhausb through interior of valve · a tS bye-pass from a2 to cylinder; a6, bye-pass from cyli~de~ to a7 ; a?, exhaust passage in forward end of cylinder to atmosphere; b, reduced portion of striking piston · bl annular cha~ber formed b~ such portion ; e, openini int~ the controlhng ~alve bushmg; et, opening into cyhnder from va.lve b.us~ng; e2, cap ~n top of valve bushing; e3, ann~lar portiOn m valve busbmg; c", openings in valve E leadmg to exhaust port e6 ; t l5, central chamber of valve • e6, exliaust to air m handle; t B, enlarged diameter of valve for cushioning; to, recess behind &3 ; eio, small boss o~ top of v~lve. Fig. 3 represents a longitudinal sec­honal elevatiOn of a. hammer with the striking piston at the rear end. Fig. 4 is a similar view, but of the oppo­site half, and showing the striking piston at the forward end of the stroke. Figs. 5 and 6 show the handle and valve porti<?~ in section .with the. valve ab the top a.nd bottom postttons respecttvely. Ftg~. 7 and 8 show hori­zontal sections taken on lines X and Y of Figs. 5 and 6 respeoti vely.

The action of the t0ol is as follows : F luid under pres­sure havin~ been admitted by operating the valve H passes through th.e o~e':ling e and 1;1~der the head of th~ valve~~ .thue forcmg 1t mto th.e pos1t10n shown in Fig. 5. The atr ~s then able t~ pass m to the. cylinder, through the openmg e1, and thts forces the . piston forward into the position shown in Fig. 4. It will be noted that the pis~on is red uc£d in diameter at b, which together with oyhnder forms a chamber bl, so that as the piston nears its forward limit of stroke, fluid pressure enters the chamber b1 from the passage at, which is in direct com­munication with space e. At the same time the passage a2 is broug-ht into communication with b1 and thus the air passes along to the top of the valve E: and forces ib into the bottom position as shown in Figs. 3 and 6. When the valve. is. in this position a olea.r way for the com­pressed a.tr lS open to the fronb end of piston through e, e3 , and a 3, thus effecting the return of the piston. Thus far the live air admission has been dealt with to drive both piston and valve in both directions. Com­ing now to the exhaust and taking the piston in its rearward motion firsb, the air escapes along the pas­sage a" a.nd through the openings e4 in va.l ve and out through e6 • In its forward motion the piston exhausts first through a}, which leads direct to outer atmosphere (see Fig. 4). Wh(:)n a,7 is passed, the air esc21.pes through a.3 , wh1ch is op_en to atmosphere through e3, t 4, and ta, when the valve E is up. The exhaust of the valve is eff(:)cted thus: During the backward move­ment of the piston, and as its annular portion is passing a2, it permits the fluid pressure on top of valve E to escape through a,2, a6 into b1, a,o, and a7, to atmosphere, with the result that superior pressure under valve head from e again lifts the valve. The valve is forced into i ts bottom position due to its area on the top being larger than the ring underneath its head. It is obvious that both the striking piston in its backward stroke; and the valve in both directions should reoei ve some form of cushioning, so as to reduce shook, and prevent iniury to valve and cylinder. In the piston this is effected by its closing the port a4 before the end of its stroke. In the valve the desired cushioning is secured in its upward stroke by means of the boss e1o, which causes the air to escape rather slowly into a2. In its downward stroke the cushioning is effected thus: The portion ,s of the valve E is of a dia­meter nearly equal to the small bore of the valve bushing, and there is also provided a small groove e9, Fig. 5. When the valve is moving down, the portion e8 first enters the small bore of the valve chamber, and this tends to retard the passage of the air through the bore, and permits the excess of air to acb as a cushion. Up to a certain limit the same hammer may be used to give light or heavy blows, and this may be effected by regula­tin~ the amount of opening given to the throttle valve. Ib IS nob desirable, however to simply rely upon the trigger to do this, but preferably to provide a regulator, so that however hard the trigger may be pu'3hed, it only opens the valve the dooired amount. In the "Little Giant" hammer this result is obtained by making the throttle. va.l ve bushing in two portions, G and G 1 • The part G is fixed to the handle, whilst G 1 is capable of being screwed in or out. The effect of this adjustment, when taken in combination with the valve Hand the trigger I, is such that when G 1 is unscrewed, the J:>___Ort g 1 may be moved into such a position that the valve H can be pushed by the trigger I to the limit of its stroke without uncover­ing the port g 1 at all, and, by adjustment of the pa.rb Gt, any destred opening may be given for the admtssion of air. In order to ~ut the valve H in equilibrium a small opening admtts the compressed air to either side

306

of i~, which, together with the spring shown effects the destred re~ult. I~ ~ill be obvi~us tha:t fewn~ss of parts, and espe01ally of JOmts, are destrable m the construction of a too~ ?~ing compress~d air at a. high pressure, since the posstb~tty of l~kage.lS thereby considerably reduced. The questu~n of ]Omts lS of necessity more difficult to deal With m a valve hammer than with a. valveless hammer, but in the '.' ~ittle Giant." type this danger has been reduce? to &: rrummum, by dtspensin~ with a valve block and .mserting t.he valve ~ushing dueot into the handle, whtlst the cyhnder port10n A is securely fixed to the ~andle F by means of a. sleeve K. Another feature o~ tlus haw mer is. th~ eoonomioa.l u~e of the compressed au, due to the ou~h10nmg of the movmg parts taking place o!l the exha?st at~ r~ther than from the admission of live a~r, and takmg thts m connection with the solid oonstruo­tt?n o.f the v~l ve, the same being well cushioned in both dneo~10ns ~f t~:S travel, the "Little Giant " of the type descn bed, .ts hkely to prove both an economical and a good wea.rmg hammer.

"B '' r:r F ' 9 . oy~ .u.arn:m.e-r. - tgs . to 15 show several seo-ttona.l VIews of a. Boyer hammer, in which the following letters of ref.erence .indicate the various par ts referred to : A, the workmg oyhnder; D , the handle; G, the air pas­sage from throttle valve to cylinder; G• throttle valve· H, trigger actuating same;, I, the valve 'block; I', cap at e?d. of same ; ~~ ~he working tool ; ~ the piston, con­ststmg _of a sohd ptece of turned steel fitting the bore of the cyhnder M 1 ; 0, the valve; P, passage from cylinder to small space e ; Q, passage from cylinder to small space n ; R, pa.ssa~e from front end of cylinder tosmaH space m · S, port leadmg from space e to front of cylinder through ~assage R ; T, passage from cylinder through U to space e; T1 , from air supply to cylinder; X, from air supply to e.

. X is only necessary to supply fluid to front end of p18ton vid Sand Rand to bold the valve in rear position. Other le tters on the drawings are referred to in the fol­lowing description of the working of the hammer : Figs. 10 and 12 represent the piston in its forward and the valve in its rearward po$ition. The motive 'fluid having been admitted, passes along the passage G and then through W into space et and a.ots on small area it of the valve Q, and tends to force the va.l ve forward, but fluid pressure in space e admitted by the pa~age X acting upon the large area c of the valve 0 will hold the valve in the rearward position against the pressure acting on the small area. it. The fluid will pass from space c through passages Sand R to the front end of the piston driving the la tter backward, the rear end of the cylinder being open to exhaust through the slots l in va.l ve 0 and groove h, the latter being constantly open to the a tmosphere through passages i , j, k. As the piston moves backwards it uncovers ports P and Q, and the pressure in front end of cylinder will exhaust through passage Q vid the groova nand passages o, ir j , k to the atmosphere; the front end of the pa~a.ge P w1ll be uncovered by the front end of the piston at the same time as the front end of the passage Q, and the fluid in space e will esoa.pe through passages P, Q, groove n , and passages o, i , j , k to the outer air. Passa~e P being larger than passage X, by which the fluid IS supplied to the space e, the pressure on the large area c of the va.l ve 0 will be greatly dimi­nished, so that the pressure a.c~ing on the small area d of the valve 0 will force the valve forward to the position of Figs. 11 and 13, whereupon the ring b of the valve 0 will close the passage X and cut off the supply of fluid to space e, thereby permitting_ pressure at d to hold the valve in the forward position. The annular space p will now be opened, from which fluid pressure vid W and el will pass to the interior of the valve, and acting on the rear end of the piston will first bring it to rest, forming a. cushion, and later drive the piston forward. As the piston moves forward and finally strikes a blow on the chisel, the air in front oa.n esoa.pe through passage Q until the latter is closed by the front end of the piston, and there­after can escape through passage R, grooves m, a, and n , and passages o, i , j, and k to the atmosphere. When the piston is moved so that T and T 1 are m communioa.tion 11id groove Ml, fluid under pressure will pass vid Tl, ~[l, T , and U to space e, and acting on the large area. c of the valve 0, will overcome the constan t prfssure on its small area dJ and force the valve back­ward, and thus open X, admttting more fluid to space e to bold the valve in that position; also fluid will pass from e toR vid Sand to the front end of the piston to assist in driving the piston back. The recoil accomplishes most of the return of the piston. During the backward movement of the piston the end of the cylinder is open to exhaust through slots l in the valve 0 and groove hand passages i, j, k, until the passages P and Q are uncovered by the front end of the piston, at which time the valve opens, and, admitting fluid, arrests the piston and drives it for­ward. Although communication between T and T 1 is out off a lmost d irectly the piston commences its backward movement, the valve 0 will not change its position (from rear to front) because sufficient fluid pressure is passing into space e through passage X to hold the valve, not­withstanding the escape of the fluid vid S, since the latter is of less cal>acity than X . It will be readily understood that the act1on of the compressed air along the passage G acting first on one area and then on another area of the valve 0 , drives it in alternate directions, and that tbo valve in turn admits air to ei ther end of the cylinder ; at the same time the piston opens and closes cer tain ports in the cylinder as in the case of the valveless hammer, and the combination of the dual motions of the valve and the piston produces the desired result of causing the piston to rapidly recipro­cate and deliver a number of blows upon the tool K. In this hammer it will be noted that the striking piston passes through the valve, which has the effect of increas· m g the stroke of the piston as compared with the original design of the hammer {in which the val\'e wa-s arranged

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

i~ a separate chamber immediately in the rear of the plSton chamber), and without increasing the overall length. In order to effect a cushion on the piston on the rearward stroke, live air is admitted before such stroke is completed: With regard to the valves, owing to their extreme hghtness and shortnees of s troke, it is stated that cushioning of the valve is unneces.Qary.

(To be continued.)

WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION CA ES. Jllason v. A. R. Decvn, L i-mitecl ~· lllo01·e and Son, Third

Parties.- This onse was heard in the Court of Appeal on February 17. It was an appeal from a judgment of the Judge of the County Court a t Salford, on a special case stated by an arbitrator under the W orkmen's Compensa­tion Aob, 1897. The applicant was .Jane Mason, the widow of Frederiok Wilham Mason, who had been killed in the course of his employment by a fall from a scaffold. The deceased was in the employment of M essrs. A. R. Dean, Limited, who are furnishers and decorators at Birmingham. Ab the time of the accident the deceased man was assisting at the building of the Lyceum Theatre ab Eccles, near Manchester, for his employers, A. R. Dean, Limited, who bad contracted to do part of the work, namely, the painting of the ceiling of the theatre. He was walking on the soa.ffoldin~ when one of the planks gave way, and he fell to the p1t floor and wa-s instantly killed. The applicant made the emplorers respondents to the arbitration, claiming compensation from them. The resp<Jndents delivered a defence, in which they denied hability on the ground that the employment was not an employment to which the W orkmen's Compen­sation Aot applied ; and they also alleged that Messrs . Moore and Sons or their workmen who had erected the defective scaffolding were the persons responsible for the scaffolding. The t·espondents delivered to Messrs. Moore and Sons a notice of claim to indemnity against all liability on account of an accident oa.used by the scaffolding. At the hearing of the case before the arbitrator, it was contended on behaU of the applicant that the respondents were undertakers within the mean· ing of Section 7, sub-section 2, of the Workmen's Com­pensation Acb, and tha.t they were engaged on work of construction in a building exceeding 30 ft. in height, and then being constructed by means of a scaffolding. The respondents contended that the work which they had con­tra.cted to do was not work of construction within the meaning of the Act, and that they were not undertakers within the mooning of the Aot. The arbitrator de­cided tha.b the respondents were undertakers, and that they were engaged in the c.;onstruotion of a building exceeding 30 ft. in height, such building being then in the course of construction by means of a. scaffolding, and he awarded the applioa.nb the sum of 300t., with costs. He stated a case for the opinion of a County Court Judge, which raised the following questions: 1. Whether the responden ts were under­takers in the construction of a building within the mean­ing of the Act ? 2. Whether the employment in the course of which personal injuries were oa.used to the de­ceased workman was employment to which the Workmen's Compensation Act applies? The County Court Judge set aside the award of the arbitrator with costs, on the ground that, the case of Wood v. W alsh and Sons (1899, 1 Q.B., 1009) showed that painting the ceiling of the theatre was not an employment within the Aot. The ap­plicant appealed.

Mr. R. W . Harper appeared for the applioa.nt ; Mr. C. A. Russell, Q. C., a.nd Mr. Byrne for the respondents ; and Mr. Ames for the third parties.

The Court allowed the •appeaL Lord Justice A. L. Smith said: In my opinion the

respondents a.re liable in this case. The County Court Judge has held that they are not liable, thinking himself bound so to hold by reason of the decision in Wood v. W alsh and Sons. But that case has really nothing to do with the present. Messrs. Moore and Sons, a firm of builders, had undertaken the work of building a theatre at Eccles. By the terms of the contract, the building o wner was at libedy to give some portions of the work to other persons. He therefore placed a portion of i t in the bands of the res{>Ondents. While the respondents were carrying out thetr part of the work, the deceased man, being then in their employment and engaged in the work, fell from a scaffolding. The question is whether the respondents were undertakers within the meaning of the \Vorkmen's Compensation Aot. The Act applies to "employment by the undertakers, as hereinafter defined, on, in, or about any building which exceeds 30 fb. in height, and is either being constructed or repaired by means of a scaffolding or being demolished." H ere the building was not completed. The respondents were pu• on to do certain work which would help to bring it to nompletion. According to their contract they had to put UJ? a ceiling, erect a proscenium, and fix the pri va.te boxes, With columns, caps, &c. Some of the work was decora· tion, pure and simple. But there was evidence to show that they had also to perform atructural work. The building was over 30 ft. high, and it was being con­structed by means of a scaffolding. It is clear that the deceased man was employed on a. building within the Aob. The q._uestion remain~, ' Vaa he employed by undertakers withm the meaning of the Act? By Sub­section 2 of section 7 "undertakers" mean, in the case of a building, the persons undertaking the construction, repair, or demolition. In my opinion a. person who under­took tne construction of a. substan tial part of a building is an undertaker within the Aot. I therefore think that the judgment of the County Court Judge is wrong, and that the applioa.nt is en titled to the compensa.tion which was awarded to her by the arbitrator.

L ord Justice Collins and L ord Justice Romer having

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(MARCH 2, 1900.

delivered judg ments to the eame effect, the allowed.

appeal was

Douglas v. llfincn·a 1llining Company, Li1nited.-This was an appeal from an award of the Jud~e of the \Vrex. ha~ County Court, under the W or km~!! s Compensation Act, 1897. ~he responden.t was the widow of a miner, who .at the time of the acotdent which caused his death was m the emp~oyment ? f the U nited }linerva ~fining Company at the1r lead mme. She claimed compensation under the Act. It appeared tha.~ on .Saturday, April 15, ~899, tb~ deceased man was workmg m the 340-ya.rdslevel JD the mme. A ladder was provided for men to get from the 340-yards level to the upper level the 315-yardslevel The~e W8.9 also a " sump " shaft witb'a cage working in ib leadmg from one level to the other, used for raising the lead ore from the lower to the higher level. The evi­dence showed that ib was dangerous for the men to nse the sump shaft for the purpose of going up and down, on a.ccount of the engine-man not being able to see the bottom of the shaft, and because there was no indi­cator on the eng ine to tell the engine man the position of ~he ~e in the shaft. This was known to the men work­mg m the 340 level, but there was no notice posted up in the mine prohibiting them from ~oing up or down the shaft. It appeared from the evidence that the men frequent!~ did so,. though they did not do so when any of the mme offima.ls were present. The engine man moreover, was ordered not to wind the men up the sump shaft. H e usually left off work after windtng up the load ore,, and tb~n the miners would leave work. Upon the day m quest1on, when the men were leaving the m me, the deceased man called out to a. boy to wind him up the sump s.haft, but the boy refused, saying that he would only wmd up the tools. The deceased man having called out, " Go on, then," the boy started the engine to wind up, as he thought, the tools, and when the cage was near tlie top, the deceased man, who was in the cage, called out," Higher up." The boy then became confused and pulled tlie wrong lever of the engine, with the result that the engine gob out of gear, and the ~ge fell down the shaft, and the man was killed. The County Courb Judge found {a) that the a{loident arose out of, and in the course of, the deceased man's employment; (b) that the deceased man wa.s not guilty of senousand willul mis­conduct. H e said that be tbougho that the evidence clearly showed that it was a. recognised custom for the men to go down the sump shaft, and this appeared to have been known to the officials in the mine ; that the men were not distinctly told to go by the ladder, and not to go down by the shaft, and that the men habitually used the sump shafb. He aooordingly made an award in favour of the respondent for 24ll. 1Gs.

Mr. Ruegg, Q.C., and Mr. Bryn-Roberts, for the ap­pellants, argued that the accident wa.s attributable to the serious and wilful misconduct of the deceased. It was serious and wilful misconduct to deliberately break a rule of the mine. MoNiobolas v. D awson, (1889, 1 Q.B, 773) was referred to.

Mr. C. A. Russell, Q.C., Mr. Samuel Moss, and Mr. T. E . Morris, for the respondent, were not called upon.

The Court dismissed the appeal. Lord Justice A. L . Smith said : This is a. case which

the Legislature never intended to be brought to this Court, because it is a question of fact and not of law. The claimant for compensation has to make out that the accident arose out of and in the course of the deceased man's employment. It was the duty of the deceased man to go down to the 340 level, and when he bad finished his work to leave that level and go out of the mine. The a{lcident occurred when the deceased man was going out of the mine. If that stood alone it is clear that the a.cci· dent arose out of and in the course of the employment. It is said that the deceased man went up by the sump shaft and nob by the ladder. Did the fa.ot that the de­ceased man went out by a wrong way prevent the acoi· dent from arising out of and in the course of his employ­ment ? The County Court Judge upon the evidence found that the sump shaft was not the proper way for the men to ascend or descend by; bnt he also found that it was ha.bitua.lly used by them, and tha.t it was a. recognised custom that they should do so. There wa.s plenty of evidence upon which the County Court Judge could find that the a.coident arose out of and in the course of the employment. That being so the only way in which the employers oa.n escape liability to pay compen­sation under the Aot is by showing that the accident was attributable to the serious and wilful miscon­duct of the deceased man. The County Court Judge found that the sump shaft was ha.bitua.lly used by the men. It was said that the employers did not know that. How can this Court say, when the shafb was habitually so used, that ther~ was no evidence upon which the Judge was entitled to find that the aooiaenb wa-s not a ttributable to the serious and wilful miscondaob of the deceased man ? The appeal must, therefore, be dismissed.

Lord Justice Collins and L ord Justice Romer con• ourred.

In the course of his judgment, Lord Justice Romer re­ferred to the following passage of Lord Cra.nwortb's in Brydon v. Stewarb (2 Macqueen, H. L., 30), where he said, at page 35: ''I quite adopt the argument of the

olioitor-GeneraJ, that a. master ts only responsible while the servant is engaged in his employment; but then we must take a. great latitude in the construction of the phrase, "beingenga.ged in his employ.'" Andatpa.ge36, he said : "Whatever the man does in the course of his master's employ, according to the fair interpretation of these words, ewndo, 1norando, redcum.do, the master is re­sponsible ; and it does not, in my opinion, make the sligh test difference that the workmen bad, according to the finding of the jury, no lawful excuse or proper cause for leaving their work."

l\lARCJ I 2, I 900. J

"ENGINEERING" ILLUSTRATED PATENT RECORD.

COMPILED BY w. LLOYD WISE. IBI.BC,_.1'&D,.,..,.. .lBSTRACTB OF RECENT PUBLISHED BPEOIFICATIONB

UNDER THE ACTS 1883-1888. I'M number of views given in the Speciji.catiO?l Dra·wings t$ stated

in each case ; where none a-re mentioned, the Specification is not illustra ttd.

Where inventions are communicated from abtoad, the Names d:c. of the Comm.unicators are given in italics. ' '

Copit& of Specificaticnu may be obtained at the Paten.t Office Sale Branch, 16, Southampton Buildings, Chancely-lane, W.O., at the unifonn price of Sd.

The date of the advertiBem~mt of the acuptance OJ a complete Sptci/ication is, in each case, given aJter the abstract, unless the Patent has bun sealed, when the date of sealing i~ given.

4nv person may at any time 1oithin t too month$ f>·om the date of the advertisement of the acceptance oj a complete Specification, g_ive notice at tM Patent Office of opposition to the gra11t of a Patent on anv of tM ground$ mentioned in the A.ct.

AGRICULTURAL APPLIANCES.

5101. G. H. Coleman and A. R. Morton, Chelmsford. Cultivator. [5 Figs. ] March 8, 1899.-Tbe frame of the culti· ' 'ator is furnished with a pair of end brackets provided with ~uides set vertically or with a slight forward inclination, in which guides is adjustably mounted a frame carrying the tines ; the ends of this frame are linked to the extremities of a pair of arnu keyed on a rocking shaft adapted to be rotated by a band lever whose anJrular adjustment determines the position of the tine· carrJing frame r~Jatively to the main frame. The tine-carrying

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frame is retained Jn the desired position by means of a locking 1>olt engaging a notched quadrant on the frame, and linked to, and operated by a finger on the hand lever. Either rigid or spring tines may be employed, and where the latter are used, they may \le constructed with a curved extension of the upper end project­ing rearwardly beyond its point of suppo!ii, an~ bearing agai!lst the rear part of the tine, or a separate remforcm~ curved sprmg strip may be fixed with the tine to a common pomt of support. and extended rearwardly to bear against the rear portion of the tine. (.Accepted J anuary 31, 1900.)

6590. R. Haddan, London. (1?. Mandel and Oo. , H un· garv.) Plough Carriages. [3 Figs.] March 27, 1899).­'tbis invention relates to plough carriages, and has for its object to prevent the waste of lubricating material. For this purpose two &Xles are employed, one for each wheel, arranged side by side or superposed and mounted so that e~ch of them is turned

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·with its respective wheel. The bearings in each nave box lie close to o~e another, and to prevent the axle~ movin~:t end,yise in thei.r bearmgs, adjustable collars are used wb1ch also hold 1n the lubr1· -eant. Tbe nave boxes are coupled together by a plate which carries at the same time the arm of the plough. (.A ccepted Janttary 31, 1900.)

ELECTRICAL APPARATUS.

22,088. British Thomson - Houston Company, London. (C. P. Steinmetz, Scl~nectady, U.S.A.) Incan­descence Electric Lamps. [2 Figs.] November 4, 1899. -Under this invention it is proposed to provide incandescence electric lamps with flJaments of metallic carbide. A refractory conductio~ filament, such as, for example, an ordinary carbon filament, 18 OO\•ered with material, such as lime, which at low temperatures is a non-conductor, but which when raised to a bigh temperature becomes a conductor. The filament may be covered with the material refened to, and then heated by an electric current or otherwise, the carbon combining with the metallic base thereof to form a refractory carbide ; or a mixture of lime and carbon-containing material may be carbonised, and t he resulting ftlameot covered as above. Conductors of other forms mav be substituted for filaments when desired. The first olaim is a8 follows : An illuminatio$' conductor which consists of a refractory conducting suppor t mth a pyro-electrolyte tbereon. (Accepted January17, 1900.)

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E N G I N E E RI N G. 23,283. British Thomson-Rouston Company. (E

Tltomson, S wam,J?IICOtt, u. s.~ .) Safety Device for Trans~ tor~e~s~ [3 J• rqs.) November 22, 1899.- For the purpose of pre· v~nt1~g IDJury to consumers or to apparatus in the low potential cn·cu1t, due to leakage from the p rimary to the secondarr circuit; of n step·dowo transformer, there 1s inserted in the primary circuit a do_uble·po!e <:Ontnct bt·enker, which operates to interrupt the pr~ma.ry o.trcUlt whenever leakage of hi~h potential current from th1s cu cu1t occurs. The contact breaker Is prefe1·ably operated by means of an electromagnet energised by a circuit which in­cludes a grounded shen.tb ; it may, however be operated from t~e secondary line in a two-wire or the oeut~al line in a three· wtre system, or fr )m the casing of the t ransformer. Various altern~tive arr~nge!Dents are diagrammatically illustr 1ted, in all of w~tch the ctrcUlt breaker opens the primary circuit, but is not d1rectly actuated by the current therein. (Accepted Janua>y 17, 1900. )

1865. A. Orllng and C. G. G. Braunerhjelm, Stock­holm, Sweden. Controlling Apparatus Operated by Beat, Light, or Electric Waves.- This invention relates t<? appdoratus for coo~rolling rudders

1 signalling devices,

and t~e hke, by means ?f the mtermittent action of beat, light, or eleot r1c waves upon res1stanceslo,.a.ted in the receivin~ apparatus ~nd cot;nposed of a material the electrical conductivLty of which 1s .sens1bly affected by the action of such waves. Apparatus of th1s nature, hitherto proposed, has, it is stated, been actuated only by means of wa,·es continuously applied. The apparatus is s~ co~stru~ted that the controlleq !Dechaoism is moved in oppo­stte duect1ons whenever the sens1t1ve resistance, after a short or long pause, is again subjected to the action of the waves. The

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sensitive resistance is located in the circuit of a battery, in which circuit is also included the electromagnet of a relay, which is energised whenever, in consequence of the incidence of the waves, the rE>sistance of the circuit. is diminished. The armature of this relay closes a second circuit, which in turn includes the electromagnet of a second relay, the armature of which, by means of a fin~er acting on a pi \'Oted rocking piece, closes one or other of a patr of alternative circuits, both connected with the same battery, in which circuits are included the electromagnets which actuate the controlling mechanism. The in\'ention is described by way of exantple, with reference to a r udder controlled by means of rays from a searchlight, and automatically returned to its middle position whenever t he circuit is broken. (~ccepted J amtary 31, 1900.)

GUNS AND EXPLOSIVES.

5005. Sir W. G. Armstrong, Whitworth. and Com­pany, Limited, and E. W. Lloyd, Elswtck, New­oastltt. Fastening the Doors of Torpedo Tubes. (6 Figs.] March 7, 1899.- Tbe door is pressed against the end of the tube by means of two semicirculnr straps of a V -section, each of which is connected at one end to a bracket on the end of the tube, by means of a binge pin engaging in an oval hole in the bracket. The inclines of the straps bear on corresponding in· clines on the door, which is thus pressed against the tube around its entire periphery, while a steel ring presses into a white ~etal ring dovetailect into the end of the tube, and makes a watert1ght joint. The other ends of the straps are forced together by means

.Fig.1. RO.Z. R{j.8 .

of an adaptation of the knuckle joint, which may be fttted 'Yith an eccentric pin to give extra power. .The end of one str~p 1s .con­nected to a tightening lever, which 1s connected to a pa1r of hoks, which are, in turn , connected to the end of the other strap. When this lever is pulled down, the ends of the straps separate, freeing the door· but when it is pushed up, the ends of the straps are forced together, and the door is pressed against th~ tube. The lever is furnished with a catch-rod, which engages w1th a notoh in a lug on the upper strap wben.the lever is in. tbi~ position, thus securely holding the door unt1l the catch 18 d1seng.age~. A second lever is provided, which op.erates an e~ntnc pm, by means of which the straps may be still further t1ghtened. (A c· Ci'pted Janumy24, 1900.)

241811. G. Roth, Vienna, Austria. Shrapnel Shell. [1 FtgB.J December 13, 1899.- The portion of the casing of a shrapnel shell which receives the bursting charge, and which is generally made thicker to withstand the force of the explosion, is formed by fitting one withiu the other a series of metallic cups, between which are spaces which allow them to close up one

against the other, but not to burst when the shell explodes. It is claimed that by t his means the manufacture of shrapnel shells is facilitated, while the material of whioh they are com­posed may, by drawing, be rendered tougher and more elastic; which process cannot be applied to any considerable extent to the thick walls of shells as usually constructed. (.4~ted January S1, 1900.)

2698. L. K. Scott, Farnborough, Rants. Sightinf; OrdDance. [4 Pigs.) February 7, 1899.-The object of thl8 invention is to accelerate the laying and to increase the efficiency of the firing of ordnance at night, by placing under the oontrol of one man all the operations required for moving the search­light and for laying the guns. The searchlight apparatus is mounted on trunnions so that it may be elevated or depressed simultaneously with the gun through the intervention of a cam wbioh actuates sighting apparatus, it may be of the type de· scribed in prior specifications Nos. 169 of 1894, 7584 of 1898, or 18,731 of 1898, and automatically sets in motion the telescopic

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or other si~bt, so t hat the gun may be laid by the axis of the beam of light alone fo r close ran~es, or by the line of sight in conjunction with the beam of light for longer ranges, where ,:rreater accuracy of laying is required. To increase the amount of fi re under the control oi a single operator, any required number of guns may be carried on an oscillating platform, the movement of which reaembles that of a gun in its carriage ; this platform is fu rnished with automatic sighting apparatus of the type abo"e referred to, and with searchlight apparatus adapted to operate automatically and simultaneously with the sight. (.Accepted Jan­ua'11 31, 1900.)

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GAS ENGINES, PRODUCERS, HOLDERS, &c.

4914 .. W. P. Thompson, London. (P. Blanc, Pads.) Rotary Explosion Engine. [4 Pigs.] Mt\r..!h G, 1899.­Within a cylinder there is fitited a revolving drum furnished with a pair of pigton plates sliding in a pair of longitudinal grooves diametrically opposite to each other on the surface of the drum. The piston plates are pressed outward against the wall of the cylinder by springs in the grooves; and one of these plates, re· ferred to as the motive plate, receives on one side the pressure resulting from the explosion, while on the other side it com­presses the fresh gases; the special function of the other plate is

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.,,. to d rive the burnt gases into the exhaust and t o draw in a fresh charge of gas for the next explosion. The drum is in contact with two small portions only of the surface of the cylinder, and near these portions are a. p~ir of chambers which ~erve altern~tely as explosion and compresstot;t chambers, and ":h1ch are fur~shed with compression and explos~on por~ fitted w1t~ valve~ sUitably timed which are not desonbed or 1llustrated m detatl. Near these ' chambers are ports in the wall of the cylinder through which the motive fluid is drawn in. The drum is hollow and forms an exit for the exhaust, which enters it through a port in

E N G I N E E R I N G. on its outer edge lifting blades or spiral beaters and at the bottom paddle-shaped pieces. The revol\'ing cylinder is immersed in a few inches of water, and when revolved rapidly the bottom

its "~all, Sliffhtly in advance of t he second piston plate above re· ferred to With respect to the direction of rotation. (A ccepted J an'ltary 31, 1900.)

· paddles act as~ gentle centr ifugal pump and cause the water to MACHINE AND OTHER TOOLS, SHAFTING, &c. flow through the valve at the bottom of the cylinder, the grain

being fed through the hollow central shaft into t he valve which is 7091. Tangyes, Limited, Soh~, a nd J. Robs~n, so weighted that stones and dirt drop through into the tank, and

B andswort h , Staffordshire. Var1able Gear. (6 Ftgs. ] paes away with the discharged water. The grain is floated by the April 4, 1899.-Tbe d riving and drive!l shafts are arranged in line water to the paddles at the bottom of the drum and conveyed to w1th each other. and on the oppos1te ends of ~h~se shafts ar e the lifting blades at the periphery, and so ca rried to the outlet at mounted the two par ts o~ a. cone or other fnct~o~ clutche~. the top; the water then passing radially through the perforations Tb3.t par t of the clutch wh1ch 1s mounted on the dnvmg shaft 1s fall s again into the tanlr. (A ccepted January :n, 1900.) furnished with a grooved pulley, and on the driven shaft is mounted a corresponding pulley. An endless rope or flexible driving bel t runs on these pulleys, and on a projection from the lev<>r which operates t he clutch is mounted a pair of guide pulleys, which, when the clutch is engaged, a re not in contact with the belt ; when, however, t he clutch is disengaged, these

1091

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pulleys press on the belt ~nd tighten it, so that through it t he d riven shaft is r evolved in the opposite direction to the dr ivin.2' eb~ft. The part of the clutch on the driven shaft may be keyed tbereon, so as to be capable of longitudinal motion, or the entire eh~ft may be fr ee to move in the direction of its length, and the p~rts of the clutch a r e normally held engaged by means of a epriog. It is stated that more than one belt o r cord may, when desired, be provided for , transmittin~r motion from the d riving to the driven shaft; but though described as speed gear , it does not clearly appear that a variety of speeds may be imparted to the driven shaft, either in a forward direction by means of the clutch, or in a. backward dir ection through the belt and pulleys. The invention is described as applied to a motor -driven launch. (Accepted J anuary 31, 1900.)

23,916. A. Goodwtn, Sou~hwark, and A. T . Booth, Barlesden. Transmitting Motion through ~e~t­ing. (2 Figs.] November 30, 1b99.-For lhe purpoee of av01dmg the wear and tear which occurs when motion is transmitted from one shaft to another by means of belting running on a fast pulley on the driving ehaft, and alter~a~ely on a f~t or on a loo~e pulley on the driven shaft, and of obv1at10g other d1se.dvantajl;es msepara· able from this arrangement, such as \vaste of lubricant, and loEt

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power due to the motion of idle parts, the motion is t~ansmitted by means of a belt passing over a pulley fast on the rlnven. shaft, and also over a puUey fast on a sleeve mo1:1nted to rot.ate ~'tth the driving shaft, but cap~ble of endwise mot1.on thereon ; thlB sleeve being also provided Wlth a loose pulley adJacent to the fast one, and with means for moving it, with the pulleys transversely to the belt the lateral displacement of which may be prevented by means of a fork or the like. (Accepted J amta?·y 31, 1900. )

MILLING AND SEPARATING MACHINERY. 500!. w. E . W estrup, London. Appa~atus for

Washing Grain. (4 Figs.] March 7, 1899:- T.hts apparatus comprises a tank, conical at the bottom and cyltndnca.l at the top,

.Fig.1.

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--inside which is a perforated cylinder having a fiat bot~om in the centre of which is! a small conical hopper fitted wttb a lo~se b~ll vah•e, inside this is a drum, fiat at the bottom, o.nd bavrng

MINING, METALLURGY, AND METAL WORKING.

27,197. J. H. Darby, Brymbo, Wrexham. Washing and Disintegl'ating Apparatus. (1 Fig.] December 23, 1898.-This invention relates to a.ppara.tu5 suC'h as that described in appliant's prior specification, ~o. 5376 of 1898, it is now die· covered that such apparatus is appliclble not only to drying, but also to washing and disintegratmg coal or ore. F )r this pur­pose the axis of the apparatus is vertical, instead of hori zontal ; and instead of a rotating cone, a stationary cone is preferred, with paddles rotating therein. The large end of the cone is sur ­mounted by an inversely truncated cone, or by a cylinder, and the apex of the lower cone is' cut away, leaving an opening tor the heavier material to drop through, the central portion of this

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opening is closed by a cowl, which di rects the ftow of water. A shaft furnished with paddles is arranged centrally within the cone and caused to revolve at a speed varying with the aize of the apparatus and the nature of the substance treated therein . Under the lower cone is a trou~rh, supplied with water , which rises to a considerable height within the r.one. The coal or ore to be treated is poured into the cone and driven round by the paddles, t he water rising by centrifu~al force, aided by an upward cur rent, and carry· ing the coal or light material through an opening at the upper edge of the cone, on to an inclined gauze strainer, whence the water returns to the t rough. Conveyors or other means are pro· vided for removing the coal from the strainer , and the heavy mater ial from the trou.~rh. (Accepted Ja-nuary 17, 1900. )

23,954. J . W . Fowler, Auckland. New Zealand • Detonators. (! F igs.] December 1, 1899.-The nitro-glycerine is cotJtaioed in a well formed in the bottom of the cap, and is thus protected from friction arising whe~ the end of. the f';J se. is fitted into t he cap ; and tbe detonator 1s enveloped 1n an 1nd1a· rubber CO\'erin~, which ser ves to securely hold the fuse, and to protect the detonator from accidental concussions. The fuse fits ti~tbtly in the cap, and is gripped by the roll on the upper end of the rubber cover, so that it is firmly held while being placed in position for fi ring, or when it is necessary to withdraw t he deto­nator. The cap of the detonator is preferably made of copper, and cylindrical in shape, t he end of the fuse being protected from reaching the nitro-glycerine by the annular sh oulder a round the well. (Accepted Janua..ry 24, 1900.)

STEAM ENGINES, BOILERS, EVAPORATORS, &c.

21,771. Simpson, Strickla nd, a nd Co., Limited , a nd W . Cross, Da rtmout h . Steam Engines. (3 Fi(ls.] October 31, 1899. - In steam engiues with two or more cylinders, each oylinder is furnished with a piston or other distr ibuting valve, and these valves are arranged in pairs, each pair being worked by means of a c rossbar connecting t?e valve spindles 'inside the casings, and reciprocated by a spmdle operated by link geo.r. Steam is admitted and cut off by the inside edges of

(2~pt} ..............

one vah·e and by the outside edges of the other ; thus, while the valves are moved in the same di rection, t he pistons perform simultaneous strokes in oppositt: direc.tion.s, theiz: oran~s being also opposite one another . The mventton 1s de~cnbed wtth refe· rence to dra~ngs w~ich illustr~te a four-oylind~r quadruple· expansion engme bavmg two pans ot crank~, at nght an~les to one another ; it is, however, said to be npphcable to E'Dinnes of the t riple-expansion and other types. (Accepted Ja111tary 17, 1900.)

2486. E . Buss, St. Gallen , Swltzerlan~ • . Hi~h· Speed Engines. (7 Figs.] ~e~r':lary 3, 1899.-Tb1s 1!lven~1on has for object to prevent or to m1mm1se the effect of the v1brat1ons which are set up in the engine frame in conseq~ence of the inerti~ of the monng parts, which may be com~u01cated to the building or vehicle containing the motor. It 1s stated ~ b~ specially applicable to the motors of self-~ropelled veb1.cles , but it may also be applied to sto.tionary engmes. The. c.}:lmder and the parts connected therewith, and the frame, ~utldmg,, or vehicle are not rigidly connected together, the cyli~der. bemg free to move in t he direction ot its axis, and . os01Uatmg or Yibrating normally in opposition to the reciprocatmg part_!~ ; t.he oscillations of the cylinder and the parts referred to . bemg .m· versely P-roportional to their respe<'tive masses. The 1nven~1on is deecrtbed and illustrated with r eference to motors of vanous

[ MARCH 2, I 900. typ~s. a~d is said to b~ appli~ble to steam, compressed air, car­home. ac1d, and e~plos10n e.ngu:~es. ~be first claim is as follows : A ,QU1C~·s.troke ptston engme m wh10b the cylinder, instead of bemg ngtdly con.neoted to the frame, is movnbly supported ther.eon and. rec~1ves fr~m the. mo~or wb~n . at work to·and-tro mot10ns (os01llat10ns) WhlCb osclllat10ns comctde with the osoilla· tions of the reciprocating parts and are opposed to the same in t~e direction of their motion ; said oscillations being so propor· t1oned that they balance those of the reciprocating parte or that their length in proportion to the length of the oscillations of the reciprocating \)ar ts is approximately in inverse ratio to that of their respect1ve mass ; so t.hat the common centre of ~ravit.r of the cylinder, together with the parts connected with it on t he one bGnd, and that of the reciprocating parts on the other hand, remains approximately stationary. (Accepted Ja11u· ary 24, 1900. )

24,672. W. Fai rweather, Glasgow. (Babcock alld Wilcox Company, Xeu• Y ork, U.S.A.) Water-Tube BoUers 2 F igs.] December 12, 1899.-The ~reneral arrangement of th~ main par ts of this generator is substantially the same as that adopted in previous types of the Babcock and Wilcox marine boiler· the water tubes being downwardly inclined towards the front of the generator, for the purpose of increasing t he capacit,\' of the combustion chamber of its furnace at its rear part. The inclined water tubes are arran~ed in two groups, one above the other, the t ubes in the upper being of smaller diameter than those in the lower group ; and between these groups of tubes is a chamber which permits the expansion of the furnace ~ases. At the top of the lower g roup of tubes is a baffie-plate, wh1ch extends from the front of the generator, partly over the furnace, fomliog a deftect-

Ftg .1.

Fcg. 2 .

ing plate for the products of combustion and an ash receptacle ; from the inner end of this plate another baf!te·plate extends up· wards across the expansion chamber and pa_rt1ally across the upper g roup of tubes while in front of tbis a thud baffle depends from the top of the generator partially across the upper group of tu~~s . By these means the furnaces gases are directed alo~g the en 1re length of the water tubes, and through the expanston. cham.be~ a much higher degree of expansio~ being e~ected thnn 18 at~;re t in fu rnaces of ordinary constructiOn ; wh1le the ashes an us carried up with the products of combustion .are collected on to~ of the first baffle, whence they may be re~d!IY removed througi a door a t the side of the generator . A mod1fied arrangement 8

described and illustrated. (Accepted Janttary 31, 1900.)

MISCELLANEOUS.

2585 w. Wbyte and J . M. Robson. Newca•tle. Stnfli;.g .Box Packing. [3 Figs.]. February 4, 1899.-Th3 packing rings, which may be of any t~~table ~et~l or alloy, ane of the usual section, are arranged 1.n ~ cybndncal brass·=! slightly smaller iu diameter than the ms1de. of the s~uffin~nded the upper end of this case forms tbe neck·rto~, and ~e~ point outward to receive the packing gland. At an mtenn afe h'ch the case bas upon it a projecting flange, on~ surf~~ ~ w ~0 bears upon a series of coiled springs inse! ted m cav1t1es lUf an ft fitted in ~ ca,-ity in the stuffing-box, wb1le the other sur ace

'd' . er also COD· the flange is in contact with a faced brass eh mg rm,.b lf.Japped tained in a cavity in the stu!fing-box: On~ _or .moree ua er part spring packing rings may be mserted to cav1tle~ ~ t~ to ~ftow tbe of the casing, to prevent passage of st~am, do j ~iog of fibrous casing and packi n~ to be laterall~ ad Juste . · suo lemental packing for lubrication is eitbe~ mserted 10

1to S Fi:. 1 shows stuffin~r-box, or between the pa~ktn~ and ~be g an ~arioe engine, in vertical section the. stuf!iog-box of an 1~Yt~rt~~e description in the right-band half ~em~. 10 acc~rdance " 1 1 alf is modified the provisional spectftcatton,, wb1le the left·hd1 b ry 17 1900. as the result of fur ther expenment. (Acctpte antta '

UNITED STATES PATENTS AND PATENT PRA~OE. . · t' patented m the

Descriptions with illustra.t1ons of 1nven tons nt time, and United Sto.tes of America from 1~7 to the. pde~tates mos be reports of trinls of patent law cases m the Untt3e~ d 36 'Bedford· consulted, gro.tis, at the offices of E~or:sEERISO, <>an • st reet, Straud.