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Engineering Vol 69 16th March 1900
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MARCH _16, 1 goo.] E N G I N E E R I N G. 339
7 5-MILLIMET R.E GUN WITH NA\TAL LANDING CARRIAGE AND LIMBER. CON TRUCTED BY NIE R, . "<riUJ<l·~R ·, ON AND M XIM L ' ~ , A , IMITED, AT THEIR ERITH ' VORK , KENT.
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Fig. 28 .
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Fro. 25. NAvAL L ANDI NG CARRIAGE.
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Fro. 26. NAvAL LIMBER • .. • • •
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MODERN FIELD ARTILLERY: equipt:l1ent of ~he 76-~ill_im~tr~ ~uns of Messrs. Vickers, Sons, and Max1m, LlJTnted, by r~pro-
(Co-ntinued from page 314.) · · ducing drawingtl of the naval gun landing car -THE 76-MILLIME'rRE GUN F OR FIELD AND riage and limber, and of the method adopted for
MouNTAIN U E-(contin1ted). t ransporting the mountain gun equipment on the Wy. contj.pu~ this week our illuf? tratiops of t)1e I bfc\clrs of p1ulea. The ~un dealt with in both cases
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is, so far as barrel and breech mechanism is concerned, the same as that illustrated on page 312 m~;te, and described in detail in ow· preceding art icle .
The N aval L rtnding Oa1-riage and Limber.-The naval landing carriage and limber are shown in Figs. 23 to 26. The carriage is of the same type as the mountain carriage, illustrated by Figs. 8 and 9, page 312 a;nte, with the exception that the axle is not detachable from the trail, and that the trail shoe is provided with an eye for limbering up of the c..'l.rri~ge .
The limber (Figs. 23, 24, and 26) consists of the following parts : The frame, the ammunition chests, axles, and wheels. The frame, which is made of steel angles, is connected to t he axle by means of clips and cotters. I t is fi tted with hooks and brackets for securing the ammunition chests, and in front there is a. bracket for suppor ting the pole. At t he r ear end of the frame there is a limber hook for attaching the trail end of the carriage. The limber boxes, t wo in number, are constructed of brass tubes held together by a steel frame. Each tube is internally of the same shape as the chamber of the gun. This provides for an all-round support for the eartridge, and prevents it being shaken durh1g transpor t . Each chest is fitted to take 21 or 24 r ounds. On the lower edge of the chests there are holding-down studs which engage with the lugs and hooks on the frame, and the chests are thus secured to the frames. The tops of the chests are covered with wood and canvas, and are fitted with carrying loops and staples and st raps for attaching the entrenching tools, &c. (Fig. 24).
The axletree is of rectangular section , constructed to receive the same class of wheels as are used with the carria:ge. The limber is fitted with a pole having a crossbar for man draught . In fron t t here is a prop to keep the pole up whilst unloading .
The leading pn.rticulars are tabulated : Particulars of 75-J,fillimttre Gun and Naval La-ndi'Tig
· Car riage and IAtmlJer. Weight ot gun · . .. . .. Diameter of bore . . . . .. L ength ef bore . . . . ..
, gun, total .. . W eight of charge ... .. .
, , gun and mecha-•
D}SID . . . . . . . . . . .. lv!uzzle velocitr .. . ... Rounds per mmute.. . .. . !Jength of. recoil.in cradle ... Weight of carriage .. . . .. Diameter of wh~ls . . . . .. Width of track ... .. . Angle of elevation . . . ~ ..
, depression ... Heigbt of a.~le abo':e gro~nd W eight of hmber, mcludmg
42 rounds ... . .. ...
'12.5 lb. 75 mm. (2.953 in.)
31.6 in. 35.85"
5 oz. 100 grains
236 lb . 920 foot-seconds
12 14 in.
602lb. 36 in. 32 ,
27 deg. 10 , 26 in.
1377 lb.
•
A longer gun .is also made for landing purposes
340 to fit t he above carriage, and to fire a projectile of the same weight giving a muzzle velocity of 980 foot-seconds with a charge of 5~ oz. The total length of t.his gun is 51.1 in.
The 1\Iountain Gun.-This 75-millimetre gun is s pecially suitable for mountain use. The tnountain carriage, which was illustrated by Figs. 8 and 9 on page 312 ante, and which differs slightly from the naval landing carriage shown by Figs. 23 to 25, may be drawn short distances, over smooth roads, for which purpose a pair of shafts are provided to fit into the sockets of the trail end. The front ends of the shafts are supported by lugs and straps attached t o the ordinary packsaddle, as shown by Fig. 27, page 342; but for long marches and in mountainous countries, the different parts of t he equipment a re carried on mules, making in all four loads. The pack-saddles are all interchangeable, i .e., any load can be carried by any animal provided with a saddle. The loads ar e thus made up on the five mules :
1. Gun with mechanism. 2. Cradle, which is cast in on e piece with t he
recoil buffers. 3. Trail, complete with elevating gear. 4. Axle, wheels, and tool-boxes. 5 and following loads hold each twelve r ounds
of ammunition carried in four boxes. With each of the three first-mentioned loads
there are two hand-spikes or carrying bars to facilitate the lifting of the loads on to the mules.
Dismounting the Motrmtain Gttnf or M 1deSaddling. -The operation of dismounting the gun preparatory to loading the mules may be described :
1. Take the rear sight out of its socket, and place it in the case provided on one side of the cradle. Relea.se the catches on the piston-rods ; turn the two piston-rod handles upwards as far as they will go. The gun is now free, and can be withdrawn by putting a. rod through the eyelet and in this way can be carried on to the mule.
2. Put the cradle in greater depression by turning the handwheel till the arrows marked on the handwheel bolt aud the elevatin~ worm-bolt meet, after releasing the catch, turn the ax1s bolt handle a.s far as it will go to the rear-that is, a quarter of a. turn. The cradle is now free to be lifted off the trail and placed on the mule.
3. To detach axle and wheels, support the front end of the trail by handles, then turn the axle lever 90 deg. upwards after relea.sin~ its latch. Roll axle and wheels ba.ck, and put hand-spikes through the loop handles and place the trail on the mule.
4. The fourth load is made up of axle and wheels, drag washers, and linch-pins to be replaced on the axle after the wheels have been taken off.
]jfule Loads.-And now we may give the loads on each of the mules as illustrated on pages 342 and 343.
In t he gun load (Fig. 28) t he g un is carried on the top of the saddles, and on each side there is a lift ing-rod for raising the loads on or off the saddles. The breech and the myzzle of the gun ar e protected by leath er covers.
Weight of gun complete with mechanism , leather covers, breech, and
muzzle . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. \V eight of crossbars . .. . . . . ..
,, saddle comJ?lete with harness, picketing rope, bridle, head rope, reins, and numnab . . . . . . . ..
Lb. 236.0
.> 2.o 'i .5
50.0
Total .. . . .. .. . .. . 296.0
In the cradle load (Fig. 29) t h e cradle is carried on the top of the saddle, and is secured t here by straps ; on the front part of the cradle t here a re strapped the shafts, each strap end being furt her supported by straps attached t o the loin straps of the harness. Crossbars are also carried , one on each side, to facilitate unloading. Tompions are provided to prevent any grit entering the cradle during transport, and a mop is supplied for cleaning out the cradle before the gun is mounted.
Weight of cradle complete with buffer fi lled ... . .. .. . .. . ...
Weight of one pair of shafts . .. .. . , two crossbars . .. ... . .. , tom pions, mops, &c. ... .. . , saddle complete with harness,
picketing rope, bridle, head rope, reins, and numnah . . . . . . . ..
Lb.
194.5 28.0 7.5 8.25
50.0
Total .. . . .. . .. 288.25
In t he trail load (Fig. 30) the elevating gear and quadrant are attached to the trail, and all are carried on the top of the saddle and secured there by straps; on each side of the saddle t h ere is slung a leather box containing the necessary spare parts a nd tools . On the left-hand side of the trail is
E N G I N E E R I N G.
carried the hand-spike, which is secured by means of straps.
Weight of trail completo wir.h <Jle\'nting gear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
Weight of hand-spike ... ... ... , , tools in leather boxes.. . . .. , saddle complete with harnes.q,
picketing rope, bridle, head rope, reins, and numnah .. . .. . .. .
Lb.
2L8. 75 5.75 4.5
50.0
Total .. . .. . .. . .. . 279.00
In t he axle and wheel load ( Fig. 31) the axle is s trapped on to the top part of the saddle, and the wheels are carried as side loads on specially con· structed hangers supported by the hooks on the arches of the saddle-tree. The hangers a re made in the form of pivots representing the axle arms ; on to these pivots the naves of the wheel are placed and secured by dragwashers and linch-pins, thus providing for a sound and reliable support for the wheels. The wheels are further secured by two load girths. A pair of drag ropes are carried on the top and the two brn.ke ropes are carried one on each side of the saddle.
Weight of axle ... ... ... . .. , wheels .. . ... . .. . .. , , drag ropes and brake rop~ ~,
&c. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. Weight of one pair of hangers .. . .. .
, , sa.ddle com~lete with harness, picketing rope, bndle, bead rope, reins, and numnah . . . . . . . ..
Lb. 45.75
142.00
19.00 20.75
50.00
Total . .. ... ... ... 277.5
In the ammunition load (Fig. 32) the cartridges are packed in ammunition carriers constructed of brass tubes fixed in a skeleton steel frame. The interior of each tube corresponds with the chamber of the gun. By this arrangement the cartridges are fully protected during transport. Four of these ammunition carriers constitute one load, two carriers being placed on each side of the animal in hangers or cages, supported by the saddle-tree hooks, and secured by the load girths.
Weight of one pair of hangers .. . . .. , four ammunition carrierd .. . , 12 rounds of ammunition .. . , , saddle complete with harness,
picketing rope, bridle, bead rope, reins, and numnah .. . .. . . ..
Lb. 17.0 39.0
172.0
50.0
Total .. . . .. . .. . .. 278.0
The Operations for Remottnling. - And finally we may describe t he operation of remounting the gun after it has been transported by t h e mules to some vantage point :
1. Put the axle in its place and lock it to the trail by turning the lever down till it reaches the stop.
2. The wheels with dragwa.shers and linch-pins are placed in their position on the axle.
3. See that eleYating gear stands in the right position indicated by the arrows. Drop the cradle axis in the jaws or bearings provided for it m the front of the trail, then turn the axis handle forward till it is locked. Drop rear end of cradle on to the head of elevating gear quadrant and secure it with the pin.
4. Lay the cradle in horizontal position and see that the piston-rod handles stand vertically. Place the front collar of the gun on the bridge at the rear end of the cradle and push the gun right home, when the ends of the pjston-rods will enter the holes in the lugs of the gun. Now turn both handles outwards 90 deg., pull down the catches and the gun is ready for firing.
(To be continued.)
HAND AND MACHINE LABOUR. {Continued from page 310.)
FURNITURE. AMERICAN furniture, with a few exceptions, does
not commend itself to British tastes ; on the other hand, the machine processes which involve a certain degree of monotony in design, give good work, and r elat ively great cheapness. This may be illustrated by 1\ few examples.
B edsteads.-The wooden bedstead is of exceptional use in this country ; in t he United States its use is general. Table LIX. gives the labour cost T ABLE LIX.-Production of Twel1•e Hard-wood Bedsteads
4Ft. 6 In. Wide, 'With Cart'ed Panels. Mode of Production. Hand. Machine.
Date... . .. . .. . . . 1866 1897 Number of different opera-
tions involved .. . . .. 15 Number of workmen em-
ployed . .. ... ... 5 Number of hours worked 571 h. 0 m. Cost of labour .. . ... 141.900 dols. A vera.ge rate of wag& per
hour ... .. . .. , 2-t .8 cents
35
52 41 h. 6 m. 6.068 dole.
15 cents
[ MARCII 16, I 900.
of 12 hard wood bedsteads, panelled and c&rved and 4 ft. 6 in. wide. As in most cases, the num~ ~er of operations and of wor~men has been largely Increased, ~nd the latter bemg to a COilBiderable eX: tent ~nskilled, ~he average rate of pay is reduced i sttll, w1th all the tmprovemcnts, it seems incredible that the labour cost is only about 2s. per bedstead. In Table LX. some of the principal processes are compared:
TABLE LX.-:-Time Occtt,pied by Rand and by Mackint Processes m Some of the Processes of Making Ttoclve Wooden Bedsteads.
Operation. Hand. Machine. Times as Long.
-hours h. m.
• • 132 • 48 27.5 •• 120 3 0 40 • • 30 1 45 17 • 12 0 33.61 20 • • 12 0 48 15 • • 12 1 36 8 • • 60 1 16 49
CutUng stook into eiz~s .. Planing 11 11 • •
Smoothing edges . . . . Gutting irregular shapes . Carving ,. .. Finishing , .. Cutting tenons and g rooves ..
------- -Bureaus.- Table LXI. gives particulars of making
12 bureaus of oak, plain, and with four drawers, 16 in. by 42 in. In this, machinery has brought great changes, though the total saving in time is only about fom·fold. In general the processes follow much the same course as for bedsteads already referred to. T ABLE L X I. - Production of 12 Plain Oak Bureatlsluith
Four Drawers 16 In. by 42 In. Mode of Production. Hand. Machine.
Date... . .. . .. . .. 1866 l 896 Number of different opera-
tions involved . .. .. . Number of workmen em·
ployed ... ... ...
18
1 4~3 h. 0 m. 110.75 dols.
2l
36 108 h.40 m. 21.718 dols.
Number of hours worked Cost of labour . . . . .. Average rate of wages per
hour .. . .. . .. . 25 cents 20 cents Embossin g Chalilr-Back Fillings.-By the mode~
method of t reating the em bossed wood for chm backs a great saving is effected over the old method of carving by hand. The work is, of course, not elaborate and one man could cut 960 ft.-run with car vino- t~ols in 60 hours ; he was paid 2. 50 dols. per d:y of 10 hours. At present, one man, with an embossing machine, does the same .amount of work in 1 hour, and the rate of wages 1s 60.cents a day. To this has to be added the propm:t10n of engine-driver's time at 2 dols. a day, makmg the total labour cost 0.05G7 dol. , or barely 3d., as compared with 15 dols. (3l. ). Some . particu.lars are given in Table LXII. Companson m1ght
T ABLR LXII.-Production of nao Ft.-Run of Embosstd 1Vood for Chair Barks.
Mode of Production. Hand. Date... . .. . .. .. . 18li0 Number of different opera·
tions involved . .. . .. 1 Number of workmen em-
ployed ... ... ... 1 Number of hours worked 60 b. 0 m. Cost of labour . . . . . . 15 dols .
Machine. 1896
2
2 1 h. 2 m.
0.0567 dol.
be extended indefinitely in the industr_y . of furniture makino- · but they all show Rimilar result s, and the' processes involved are, of course, also very similar.
IRoN BoLTs, N uTs, RIVETS, AND \V A.SHERS.
Some very interestino- data. are available respect· ing these products; s~me referring to th~ !ea~ 1840 and 1895 · others to 1~6u and 189o, an others again to the same year, 1895, for hand and machine methodA.
Bolts. - Taking first the production of 6~ square· headed bolts, ~ in. in diameter an~ 12 m. Ion~, Table LXIII. gives some general particulars. It~ be noticed that by the machine method the time
T ABLE LXIII.-Production of 500 Square-Headed Bolts i I n. in Diameter atnd 12 In. Long. .
!\!ode of P roduction. Hand· Mrs:5ne. Date ... . .. ... 1895 Number of different opera-
tions involved ... ... Number of workmen em-
ployed ... ... .. . Number of hours worked Cost of labour .. . . ..
3
2 142 b. 51 m. 32.14 dols.
1
10 8 h. 37 m. 1.79 dols.
Average rate of wages per 20.8 cents hour .. . ... .. . 22.5 cents
r equired to produce these 500 bolts was ~~ about one-seventeenth that of hand labour, ~n . the wage was slightly less, the c~st bv~~te~e~ q uite the same ratio. The h~nd-m~ e ,..0 8
1 a the work of a skilled blacksmith pald 2.t 5 tlo s,
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MARCH J 6, I 900. J day and a helper paid 1. 76 dols .; the wages paid to the 'seven men w·orking by the machine method are aiven below. Tables LXIV. and LXV. ana.lysA the ~1anufacture of each class. It will be noticed in the former that all of the seven operations are performed by one skilled workmen and one helper. TABLE L ' [V. - Particula1·s of liiam.ufactu?'lrl{! 600 . quctre.
Hea.rltd Bvlt.tt, ? I n. in fliam.~ ter, and 12 In. Long, by Ha'TI.d, in 1896.
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Operation. Tools Time Dally Labout·
Employed. Occupied. Pay. Cost.
dole. dole. 1. Ileadlng bolts
Ditto . . band toold
h. m. 22 61 22 Ill
2. 75 6.285
2. Pointing bolts Ditto
• • • •
• • 3. Threading bolts . ..
1 Ditto
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.. .. " 11
.. .. 11
11 .. 6 42 5 42
42 51 42 61
1. 75 3. 999 2. 76 1.671 1.76 1.000 2.76 11.786 1. 75 7.499
The first line in the above Table for each operation refers to the blacksmith, and the second to his assistant. The next Table LXV. gives similar data by the machine method. It will be noticed that the time required for heading the 600 bolts is little more than one-tenth; for pointing, one-third; and for th1·eading, one-fourteenth. On the other hand, the time of engineer, machinists, fireman, and labourers has to be added. It is said that the bolts made by machine are better finished, and in all other respects equal to the hand-made bolts. TABLE LX V. - Pa1·ticula1·s of 11Ianufactwrirl{! 500
Square-Heacled Bolts ~ In . in Diamete1· and J2 I n. Long b,11 Jlfachine in 1805.
I • '0 Ql ,..
Operation. Appliance Occupation . Q) ~ • g ~ Used. _g ~ ~ .o o
I ~? ll-4 :so - --·--.·-----1·--1- -
1. Heading bolts Heading machine
2. Bevelling ends Pointing of bolts macbioe
3. T b re ad i n g1 Threading bolts machine
4. Shifting iron . ·I Trucks
6. Making dies Machinist's and keeping tools tools
6. Fu r nishing Engine power
7. Firing boiler ..
1
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Bolt· maker Pointer
h. m. 2 30
2 0
Threader 3 0
dole. 0.14 per
100 CJ.05 per
100 0.12per
100 1.25 per
day 15 2. 75 per
day
Labourers
Maobioi.sts
£ogineer
1
Fireman
22.5
15 3.00 per day
15 2.00per dny
I
doJs. 0.700
0.260
0.600
0.047
0.069
0.076
0.050
-In the forectoing three labourers and two machinists are inc luded.
N1tts.- The sample of nuts taken is 200 lb. of 1 !-in. square nuts, weighing 168 lb. per 100 ; by the machine method these nuts are hot-pressed. Table LXVI. gives some general, and Tables
E N G I N E E R I N G.
I t will be noticed that the work of threading was done by a separate smith, of course by vice, tap, and stock. The modern method is much more elaborate, as given in Table LXVIII.
There were employed in the operations included in Table LXVIII. two blacksmiths and one helper, four machinist3, and three labourers. It will be not iced that the work of packing and hauling, keeping tools in order, &c., are included in Table IJXVIII., so that the Faving by machine labour is scarcely correctly stated as 5 to 1. Deducting the items not included in the hand method, the time occupied is only t wo hours, or 9 to 1, the ratio of labour cost being approximately the same.
TABLE L 7 VIIT.-Pa'tUculars of 200 L b. 1~ -I n.. Equa1·e N -uts ntade by Machine in 1895.
OpPration. Appliance.
•
~ Em plo) es' Ql ~
Occupation. e ~ ~ ~~
.. - . -'-" Oco .DO «Q ~
----- -- ----- --·-- ---1---1--· I h. m . dole. dole.
1. Heating iro. Furnace and FeE:der 1 0 0.22 pe1· 0. 22') and formioJI press keg
2. R e m o ,. i n g Dressing Dresser 0 45 0.08 per 0.08~ burrs machine kPg
3. Threading . . Tapping Tapper 0 45 LOO per 0.076 machine day
4. Making dies, Smith's Smith 0 6 2.50 per 0.2~ 0 Tools, &c. tools day
Making d ies, Smith's Smith's 0 0 t.50 pet· 0.150 &c. tools hel:per day I
6. Maintainin g Maohinist's l Mach10ist 0 20 2.50 per 0.083 tools tools day
6. Misce1lo.neous Barrowll, &c. Labourers 0 20 t.26 per 0.042
7. Packing in lla.tcbet kegs
8. Ha u 1 i n g to Wagon shipment
9. Furnishing Engine power
Packer
Teamster and horse Engineer
and fireman
day 1 0 10 2.00 per 0.033
day 0 10 !.40 per 0.040
day 0 10 2.60 per 0.042
day
Rivets.- In the production of rivets under the modern method, a steam heading machine was used for putting on heads; this occupied 1 hour 6. 7 minutes, as compared with 17 hours, or 15 times
TABLE LXlX.-Production of 200 Roun.d-Hmdecl Rivets f In. in Diatrnete1·, cmd 2 bt. Long. Mode of Production. Hand. Machine.
Date... .. . .. . . .. 1896 1896 Number of different opera-
tions involved .. . .. . Number of workmen em-
ployed ... ... ...
2
2 20 h. 0 m. 4.500 dols.
G
9 1 b. 35 m. 0.366 dol.
Number of hours worked Cost of labour . . . . .. Average rate of wages per
hour ... ... ... 22. 5 cents 23 cents as long, with black~::~mith's tools. Cutting the rivets to length by power shears, took 8 9 minutes, against
TABLE LXX.-PRODGCTION 01'' VABIOUS KINDS 01'' CHAJN.
Year of Produo· tion.
Different Different Workmen Time Worked. Labour Cost.
1 Quantity.
Operations. Employed.
- --~-- -1
Description. -------Hand. Machine. Hand. Machine. Hand. Machine. Hand. Machine. Band. Machine.
!-in. coil chain .. ~-in. " .. i·lo. " .. ~·iD. 11 ••
••
• •
• •
• •
lb. 100 100 100 100
1860 1895. 1860 1896
1897 1897 1897 1897
3 4 3 4
LXVII. and LXVIII. detailed, particulars of these manufactures. It will be noticed that the handmade nuts are referred back to 1840, and it appears remarkable that at this early date the 200-lb. weight were made in so short a time as 19! hours .
TABLE LXVI.-Production of 200-Lb. Weight of 1~-In. Square-Headed Nuts.
Mode of Production. Hand. Machine. 1896 Date... ... ... ... 1840
Numberof different opera-tions involved ... . ..
Number of workmen em-ployed .. . ... . ..
Number of hours worked Cost of labour . . . . .. Average rate of wages per
hour ... ... ...
2
2 19 b. 30 m. 3.956 dols.
20 cents
15 3 h. 52 m. 0.648 dol.
16.8 cents
TABLE LXVII.-Pa1·ticulars of 200 L b. of l~·ln. q1U11re Nuts made by HO!nd in 1840.
------Operation. Workmen.
-------- -------1. Heating and form·
ing nuts . . . . Blacksmith Ditto ditto Helper
2. Threading nuts . . Blacksmith
Time Occupied.
b. m.
3 45 3 45
12 0
I Rate L'.!.bour of Pay. Cost.
'---J---Idols. per dole.
day 2.25 0.844 1.10 0.412
I 2.26 2.7oo
10 9
10 9
2 2 2 3
11 11 11 11
h. m. 10 50 8 48 5 28 8 0
h. m. 3 58 3 10 2 2 1 36
dole. 3.383 2.250 2.534 1.402
dols. 0.683 ().603 0.420 0.426
3 hours, or 20 times as long. The total time, as shown in Table LXIX. by the modern method, is 1 hour 36.6 minutes, as against 20 hours by handa ratio of more than 12 to 1. The quantity dealt with is 200, and the rivets were made by both methods in 1895.
IRON AND STEEL CHAIN.
In this country, where the lot of the chainmaker is claimed to be little better than a severe form of slavery, it will be of special interest to examine the old and new methods of ohainmaking in the United States. Table LXX. contains information on the production of several kinds of chain.
In the first operations by the machine method, the links are shaped by a power-winding machine. This required, for the i-in. chain, 10 minutes for the 100 lb., as compared with 3 hours 12 minutes, or 19 times as long when done with blacksmith's tools. The second operation--that of cutting off the links from the wound bar-occupied from 5 to 10 minutes in each of the examples taken, with the power cutter. With hammer and chisel about nine times as long were required. Welding required by the machine method, from 1 hour 20 minutes to double that time; about half as long as hand work.
Altogether, the ratio for the first three items is less than 3 to 1 in favour of machine work, and 6 to 1 for the fourth item. I t is stated that the chains turned out by machinery are inferior to that pro~uced '?Y hand. Tables LXXI. and LXXII. conta1n detail~ of the manufacture of 100 lb. of 1-in. chain by hand in 1896, and by machine in 1897. TABLE LXXI.- Pa1·tiou.larH of Prod1toirt[J 100 Lb. of i bt.
Uhain by Ha71d in 18!>5.
Operation.
- -~--~-
1 ~ I Appliances. Occupntion.
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1. Cutting out Smith'dtools Chaioma.ker 0 48 2.05 per 0.205 links . . 100 lb.
2. &hapiog links 11 11 3 12 2.05 per 0.820 100 lb.
3. Welding links
4. }<' \1 r D i 8 hi n 8 power
I I
Engine "
Engineer J.nd fireman
-
4 0 2.05 per 1.025 100 lu.
0 48 2.60 0.200 per day
T ABI,E LXXII.- Pa1·ticttlara of Producing 100 Lb. of i-In. Chain b!J llfachin.e in 1897.
• '0 Go ,..
Operation . Appliances. o~cupatiou . .!C ::s~
Gl'"' • OCI) eo to. ~8 ·- ~ as ~ ~ ~
- -b. m. dole. dole.
1. Coiling bar Winding Winder 0 10 1.50 0.031 • machine per day tron
2. Cutting out Cutting Cutter 0 10 1.50 0.031 links machine per day
3. Tnkiog links Truck T1·uckman 0 1.7 1.26 0.004 to furnace per day
4. Welding into Furnace and Chain maker 1 20 0.50 per 0.417 chains welding 1 100 lb.
machine 5. Ditto Ditto Helper 1 20 0.50 0.083
Testing Tester o 2.o per day
6. Testing • • 1.50 0.008 machine per day
7. Maintenance Machioist.'s Machinist 0 1.7 2.75 0.010 tools per day
8. Foreman •• • • Foreman 0 . 8 2.75 0.005
9. Furnishing Engine Engineer per day
0 1.7 2.50 0.009 power per da}
0. Firing boiler • • Fireman 0 1.7 1.60 0.005
• •
1 per day
The chainmaker's assistant is paid by the chainmaker out of the allowance of 2s. per 100 lb. of chain. As the time occupied by him is only 1 hour 20 minutes, it will be seen that price allows the chain maker to earn very good wages.
(To be oontitnued. )
THE WATERWAYS OF RUSSIA. By C. H. MoBERLY, M. Inst. C.E., M.I. Mech. E.
(Concluded frorn page 276.)
The N itsa is a small tributary of the Toura, which is only worth mentioning because the town of Irbit, which is a great centre for the Siberian trade, is on it. It is navigable by steamers to some distance above Irbit during spring high water.
The agricultural distr)ct, the produce of which has to be conveyed down the Irtish, and then up the Tobol and Toura, to Tiumen, for further conveyance to Europe by rail, is of immense extentabout 1000 miles north-west to south-east, and 600 miles across. The impenetrable forests of the northern part of Western Siberia abound in furbearing animals, in whose furs there is a very large trade ; whilst the mountainous part of the government of Tomsk is one of the richest mineral di~tricts of the empire, producing gold, silver, copper, iron, precious stones, coals, the finest kinds of clay, and various building materials - most of which products are exported to Europe. The amount of all this produce ought to be enormous, and the greatest part of it should be conveyed along the lower part of the Tobol and the Toura; but owing to the very unsatisfactory condition of the navigation of these rivers, the actual amount of exports is not great. The goods carried on these rivers in 1892 amounted only to 260,000 tons, and the goods carried on all the rivers of Western Siberia to 326,000 tons. But these quantities have been steadily increasing.
The navigation on the Toura and Tobol lasts about four months only; steamers dare not leave Tiumen for Tomsk later than September 27, nor Tomsk for Tiumen later than October 2.
The steam navigation on the ri vera of Western Siberia has been very slow in developing. The first steamer started in 1844, and remained solitary till 1854, when t wo more were added. In 1860 there were 10 steamers ; in 1870, 22 ; in 1880, 37 ; in 1890, 66; and in 1893, 102 ; of which 11 were
•
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75-MILLIMETRE MOUNTAIN GUN, WITH TRACTION CARRIAGE, AND MOUNTED ON MULE. CONSTRUCTED BY :MESSRS. VICKERS, SONS, AND MAXI~!, LI~IITED, AT THEIR ERITH WORKS, KENT.
(Fo,- Description, see P age 339.)
,
•
built at Tiumen in 1893, of from 25 to 180 horsepower. Most of the steamers are of less than, and very few over, 100 horse-power ; only one has 250 horse-power.
In 1893 there were only 200 barges on all these rivers. But t he number of steamers and barges is now increasing rapidly-and will do so still more as the waterways receive proper attention and are developed. The extension of railways has not diminished the water traffic ; on t he contrary, it has stimulated its development. Thus, formerly, when the Oural Railway from Perm stopped at Nijui Tagil, goods used to be con veyed by carts from Nijni Tagil to Irbit, and thence to Tiument he terminus of the waterways. Opening the railway as far as Tiumen had the effect of very rapidly ncreasing the river traffic threefold.
The Ob-Enisei Route (see Fig. 50, page 275 ante) is the only canal route in Siberia, and its history has already been mentioned . Starting from the Ob, it goes up t he river l{et for 330 miles; then up the river Ozernaya. for 9~ miles ; then up the river Lomovata.ya for 31 miles ; then up the river Yazevaya. for 21 miles ; then across the lake BolAhoe for 3~ miles ; then along the summit level canal for 5 miles ; then down the river Small Kass for 59 miles; then down the river Great Kass for 127 miles ; which falls into the Enisei, 140 miles below Eniseisk; making the total length from the Ob to 586 miles. As already stated, the formation of the Enisei this route was started in 1883. The condition of the route then was as follows :
The K et did not require much clearing or regulating, as it was already~ naturally, fairly n~vi~able. It.s width, where it rece1ves the Ozerna.ya, 1s 350ft.
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to 420ft., and it is much wider at its mouth. In many places it flows in several branches. one or other of which- not always the same- is always suitable for navigation.
The Ozentaya was from 70ft. to 280 ft. wide, and 2 ft. to 7ft. deep ; it had a fall of 13.72 ft., mean velocity of 0. 77 ft. per second, and a discharge of 645 cubic feet per second. It has considerable affiuents, and was fairly suitable for navigation for the 9~ miles forming part of this route.
The L omo1·atayo is ascended for 31 miles. lt had a. width of 35 ft. to 246 ft., depth of 1 . 4 ft. to 7 ft. , fall 40.53 ft., m0an velocity 1.64 ft. per second,
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and discharge of 320 cubic feet per ~econd, nnd was full of obstructions, consisting of accumulat•ons of trees. Trees fall into the river when t he banks are washed away in flood time, and are carried off ti ll they meet with an obstruction which stops them. They get waterlogged and sink. In this way the existing obstruction is increased, till huge masses of stranded trees are formed, rising as much as 7ft. above summer low-water level. As so many of the Siberian rivers flow through exten~i ve forests, these obstructions aro very comn1on. As long a.s tho rivers were only navigated by small b oats which could be hauled, overland, past such
places, no steps were taken to clear away the obstructions . But as soon as the increase of traffic required larger craft, it became necessary to remove these timber blocks. In some places they ha.d to be blasted away, whilst in some, t hetr removal proved impracticable, and a new side channel has been formed. But there were no such extreme cases on the Lomovataya.
The Yaze1·aya flows out of t he lake B olshoe to the Lomovataya, and is 21 miles long, was 21 ft. to 35 ft . wide, 1.4 ft. to 3.5 ft. deep generally, and 7 ft. deep near t he lake ; it has a fall of 11.27 ft., 0. 63 ft. per second mean velocity, and a discharge of 30 cubic feet per second at t he lake, and 52 cubic feet at its mouth. It flows between low banks, on a boggy ground, and is full of pond weed, water lilies, reeds, and other water !ITOWths .
Lake Bolshoe is of oblong shape, about 3~ miles long and 7 ft. deep, with a mud bottom. I t is covered with growth, like t he river Yazevaya.. It is surrounded by dense forest, and is, therefore, shel tered, and not exposed to strong winds. I t is 63 ft. above the River Ozernaya, and 175ft. above the Enisei, and forms the summit level of the route.
'l 'hp Snutl( K rcss flows out of the Lake Bolshoe to the Great Kass, and is 59 miles long. The upper part was like the Yazovaya in character, and the middle part like the Lomovataya, with obstructions caused by the accumulation of sunken trees ; whilst the lower part was similar to the lower part of the Lomovataya and the upper part of the }{et. The breadth was generally 140ft., the fall49.84 ft., and the discharge 3 15 cubic feet por second near the lake, and :3:38 cu hie foet at the mouth.
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(For Descritpflion, see P age 339.) •
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The Great K ass, from the Small Kass to the I the Enisei, up to the town of Eniseisk, were quite Enisei, is 127 miles long, was 105 ft . to 560 ft. navigable in their natural condition, and did not wide, and 2. 8 ft. to 7 ft. deep, and had a mean call for any works of improvement. Yelocity of 0.07 ft. per second, with a discharge of The Summit L evel Connecting Canal.-In this con-925 cubic feet per second. This river, as well as l dition of things, it was at first proposed to form
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the route for the passage of barges 140 ft.long and and the scheme was, therefore, reduced to suit 24.5 ft. broad, with a draught of water of 4ft., barges 70ft. long and 21 ft . broad, with a draught carrying 300 tons; and the work was actually com- of water of 35 in., carrying 80 tons. Meanwhile, menced. But the cost of this scheme, estimated the locks at the ends of t he summit level had a.t 10,000,000 roubles, was considered too high, already been finished of the larger size; but the
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remainder were made of the smaller size, and the cana.l and rivers forming the route were all made suitable for the passage of the 80-ton barges. The cost of forming this route was 3, 000,000 roubles.
. Thi.s route is indicated on the general map of S1ber1a, and a separate sketch map (Fig. 50) t o a. larger scale is given on page 275 ante to illus trate the canalised portion of the route.
There arc 12 locks in all, viz., 1 lock on the Ozernaya, 3 on the Lomovataya, 3 on the Y azevaya, 1 on the canal, and 4 on the Small Kass. In the construction of the locks and gates, w hi eh are all of timber, larch was largely used for the cills and underground parts. The canal is 5 miles long and 42ft. wide on the bottom. In cutt ing it, enorn1ous sunken trees had to be removed, and the greatest depth of excavation was 17.5 f t. The summit level is bounded by the lock on the canal-3~ n1iles from the lake-on one side, and Ly the lock on the Yazevaya- 6 miles from the lake- on the other side ; thus the summit level is 13 miles long. If the lake should not supply sufficient water, an additional supply can be easily obtained from the upper part of the River L omovataya. by an alimentary canal. 'ome of the locks are of a peculiar construction. Instead of having a separate lock and weir, a combination of the two has been made, which the Russian engineers call a lock-weir. It consists of a pair of ordinary lock-gates and a draw-door weir in line, going right across the river, which is confined to a width of 42 ft., at each end of a basin 217 ft. long, thus forming a large lock chamber 42 ft. broad and 217 ft. long. Each draw-door weir consists of two sliding shutters side by side, thus dividing the breadth of the river into three parts. One of these is occupied by the lock-gates, and the other two by the shutters or draw-doors. The advantages claimed for these lock-weirs is that they will pass two barges and one steamer a.t one locking, thus saving time in passing the traffic, and that they cost less than ordinary lock -gates and separate weirs. The floor of these chambers is formed of slabs nailed to the heads of piles, the space between which has been filled with fascines, rammed down hard.
This canal route completes the line of water communication from Irkutsk to Tiumen, the distances being :
From Irkutsk. Down the River Angara. . . . . ..
,. .. Enisei ... ... The Ob·Enisei route ... . .. Down the River Ob... ... ... Up the River Irtish . . . . ..
, , Tobol .. . .. . , Toura to 'l'iumen ... ,
I From Irkutsk to Tiumen • • •
...
...
...
...
... ... .. .
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1\Iiles. 1167 193 586 690 250 110
GO
3056
One of the Russian engineer officers, whose reports have been consulted in preparing this description, p oints out that the cost of transport on the V olga, where everything has to be towed against stream, is from one-third to one-fourth of what it is on this great Siberian waterway, where a great part of the work is down stream. Even now Siberian wheat is carried to St. Petersburg and sold a.t a profi t . I t is safe to conclude, the; efore, that if the Siberian waterways were put 1nto proper working condit ion, the cost of transport would be lowered considerably, and a. very large importation of Siberian produce into Europe would take place. In that case, also, there is hardly room to doubt that the carriaae by the inland waterways would be found much m~re profitable than the sea. can·ia.ge by the Arctic Ocean and along the Enisei.
Some may consider that the Great Siberian Railway will supersede the waterways to a gres.t extent; but the present writer thinks, on the contrary, that so far from there being any antagonism between these two modes of transport, they will co-operate and mutually develop e each oth er's traffic. The waterways have been too much neglected, much to the disadvantage of trade.
The last of the Siberian 1·ivers, which will be briefly ment ioned, is the Amour, with its tributaries.
The .Amour is of course, n ot actually wholly Russian but it i; so for all practical purposes, and whateve~ development of t raffic there is on it ~ust come from Russia. Till the last few years very h ttle progress has been made in navigation of the Amou~', and th e information ab0ut r ecent deYelopments 1s very scant, so that only a Yery s~wrt account can be given of the r.iver here. It 1s .form~d b! the junction of the Rnrers Argoun-wh1ch ; 1ses ~n the Mongolian Mountains, and for the lash oOO m1les of
E N G I N E E R I N G. •
its course forms the boundary between China and Russia. - and Shilka, which is about 800 miles long, rises in the M ongolian Mountains, and, after a. short course in Mongolia, enters Russia, where it continues for the remainder of its course. The length of the Amour itself is 2300 miles, the first 1250 miles forming the frontier between Russia and China, and the last 550 miles flowing through the Russian seaboard province.
n the left s ide there arc, besides other . ., , the tributaries Zeya-entering at Rlagoveshtchensk, 1500 1niles above the mouth- and the Boureya, about 200 miles lower down, which flow through an exceedingly fertile district. There are gold mines on the Zeya., and Blagoveshtchensk is not only in th e cent re of the goldfields , but is also the chief trade centre of the district, with a population of 40,000 inhabitants.
n the right side there are also various t ributaries. Of these t he principal one is t he Soungari, which i. a very large river, falling into the Amour about 900 miles above its mouth ; it is entirely Chinese, aud is connected by tributaries with t he important towns of Kirin and Tsitsikar. Another tributary is the Oussouri, which for the greater part of its course forms the frontier between Mantchouria and Russia., flowing into t he Amour at Kha.barovka, about 650 miles above the mouth. The Amour falls into t he Sea. of Okhotsk at Nikolaevsk.
Hardly any surveys have yet been made on the Amour or its tributaries ; nor have any works of regulation or improvement been carried out. I t is navigable for its whole length by steamers, and steam naviga.tion goes up the hilka for 300 miles, as far as Stretensk . Steamers are also run on t he Oussouri and Soungari, and steam navigation is rapidly increasing genera.Hy. I t is considered safe for s teamers to go as far as Hlagoveshtchensk on a draught of 4! ft . at all times, and when the water has risen, after rains in the mountains, they may draw 8 ft. of water, On the Oussouri 2i fe. , and on the hilka 2 ft. draught is considered afe at all t imes, and more during floods. Navigation is open from May to October.
Presumably works for regulating and deepening the channel and buoying it will be carried out as quickly as possible; and there can be no doubt that there is a. great future for the navigation of the Amour, the development of which will certainly be very largely stimuhted by the construction of the railways which the Russian Government has undertaken.
THE PARIS INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION.
TB}; MACHINERY AND C HEMICAL B UILDING . A~IONO the very important buildings of the
Paris Exhibition that we have yet to describe, are those to be devoted to Mechanical and Chemical exhibits. We shall deal with both of them in one article, because they are both the work of the same architect, and their constructive details are practically ident ical. Each building forms a part of the great range extending down each side of the Champ de Mars from the E lectricity Building to t he Seine, and each adjoins the Electricity Building, the Machinery Hall on the left (when the visitor stands with his back to the river), and the Chemical Building immediately opposite, on the right ; mid way between them will be the great cascade, the chief decoration of the Champ de Mars . The fa~ade of each building consists of a. portico extending as high as the first storey, with ten semicircular arches terminating at each end with a projecting rotunda covered by a dome (see Fig. 1, pages 345 and 354). U nd~r the portico is a wide promenade, between which, and the Exhibition structure, is a row of restaurants, cafes, &c. , such as we have seen exists in other buildings. The arch itect is M . H enard, and the exterior decoration will be elaborate ; of these we will not speak to-day ; i t will be sufficient to publish illustrations of the buildings when they are quite completed. The entrance from the Champ de Mars will be through the rotunda nearest to the adjoining buildings, the Textile and Civil Engineering palaces respectively. The rotunda · have the same character of arches as the portico forming the fa~ade ; internally, and at t he leYel of the fust floor, a gallery runs round the rotunda , leaving an open space, so that the dome iR visible from the ground level. This dome is framed in timber, t ut t hP. curb on which it is
[11ARCII I6, 1900 .
placed, as well as the stanchions supporting it · o~ steel. The flooring of the upper gallery is'~:~ ned on . ste~l bra.cke~ attached to the stanchions a?~ proJectmg for a. dtsta.nce of 16ft. The fa~ade ~lv.mg o~ the garden of the Champ de Mars, ~ tin1shed 1n fibrous plaster, while the back of th buildiJ?-g is fill~d in with sa~h-framed panels a~: glass, 1ntermediate spaces bemg filled with plaster pa.n~ls. Although our d~scription of one building apph es, . except for ummportant dehils to the other, t.he similarity does not extend to th~ir mode of erect10n, as they were the subject of two different contracts; the .Machinery Hall was entrusted to M. Roussel, whtle the Chemical Building has been the work of the well-known contractors, MM. Ba.udet, Donon, and Co., whose name Lq associated with the conRtruction of some of the most im· portant works in France. 'Ve are indebted to this firm for their kindness in giving us data from which this article and its illustrations have been prepared. If we refer to the diagrammatic plan Fig. 1, page 345, of these buildings, the arrange~ ment of. the first s~rey, ns well as of the ground floor, w11l be read1ly understood. The lines of galleries are extensions of those in the adjoining buildings. From front to back, that is from the Avenues bordering the Champ de Mars, to the main gardens, and commencing from the former, there is tirst a gallery 39 ft. wide ; then three others, each of 88 ft. 6 in., separated from each other by narrow spans of 29 ft. 6 in. ; then a span of 24 ft. 6 in. where the restaurants and cafes will be located; and finally the port ico of 32 ft. 4 in. In the other direction, crossing these galleries at right angles, we shall see firs t , that as the buildings adjoin that for the Electricity exhibits, a special connecting gallery had to be introduced. This gallery is 39ft. wide, and its roof is intersected with the roofs of the galleries at right angles, involving con iderable complication of detail which has been admirably carried out. At the opposite end, that is the end nearest the Seine, there is a gallery 29 ft. 6 in. wide, into which the roof trusses at right angles are also connected ; beyond and adjoining this gallery, and forming the termination of the building, is a gallery 90 ft. wide, 1·unning without interruption from the back of the building to the rotunda in front. High-level galleries, which, as in the other buildings, are 23 ft . above the ground, are provided in all the 29 ft. 6 in. spans ; in those of 41 ft. ; over the gallery reserved for th~ restau· r1nts · over the portico, the rotunda, and m those parts 'of the 90 ft. spans which form t~e exten· sion of the 29 ft. 6 in. and 41-ft. gallenes. The wide transverse spans already referred to, are pro· vided with two balconies carried on brackets, an.d about 6 ft. wide. Access to this higher level ts secured by elevators, stairways, and t~ve~g plat,. forms. In addition, as the travelling s~dewalk passes behind the Machinery Hall, a statiOn has been arranged, a.t which passengers can stop to enter that buildina at the first-floor level.
The trusses ar: placed at equal distan~es al'3{t of 9 metres (29 ft. 6 in.) for all ihe galleries. T .d
trusses for the laraer spans are cantilevere, and the lantern framing
0 of the large span rests on the
ends of these ~rackets. .The section~ of. the ga~)· leries we pubhsh (see Ftgs. 2 and 3, page. 34 f show the general arrangement, as well as de~s 0
construction. The section (Fig~ 3) supplied . us by th e contractors shows only three succes~n·e spans, but they ar~ sufficient to give a cleant: of the various arranaements of the structure
o h' h arate sides the 90·ft. gallery trusses, of w tc a. sep ection is ai ven in Fig. 2. These sectiOns may
o · t es of con· be taken to include all the vanous YP struction . . that
The small frames of the 29 ft. 6 10. spans carry the la.nten1 are placed 14ft. 9 in. apart fr~~ centre to centre. The steel c.olumns that. ca:r~ 0~ cantilever trusses at a hetght of. sprwrlates 45 f t . 1 in . above the ground, are bUilt u~ 0 d~ally and angle-irons, and are. connected longttu b rs by liaht lattice girders wtth arched lower mem ~ and :tra.iaht upper members, the latter carryt1 the gutte;;. At a height of 23 ft. abo~e the g~~u~ ' the columns are also braced by the g1rders ea ytng the upper aa.llery floor. The roof trusse.s a~e con· nected by purlins formed of light N lat~tce. ~~~ and upon these purlins the roof covenng 18 Ill J this is in sections either of zinc or gl~ze~ fram~, ~:w suitable spaces are left for yent~atton. in the words may be said about the frammg carryb g and floor. The principal girders have plate wela~king they are fixed between the columns, the P
M ARCH 16, 1900.] E N G I N E E R I N G. of the ~oor running at ri~~t an~les. The spans of ' longitudinal bearers. The towers were shifted by these gi~·ders _Eue ~ach d1v1ded m to three p~rt~ by means of ~he hoisting winches hauling on a chain secondary lattice guders, attached to ~he prtn01pal anc~o1·ed In the ground. The upper platform beams. The two outer secondary gtrders carry carrted two pulleys for raising the steelwork · they the ends of the planking, and at the same time act were mounted between two of the beams. 'There as struts. ~etween the columns. To them are was also a crane possessing somo special and intesecured _JOis~s spaced 1 . metre apart, ~o which r~sting features. t~e floormg l S fixed. Thts arrangement IS a very The arm of this crane was made of two U-bars s1~pl~ one, .al~hou~h at the angle formed by. ~he placed back to back, leaving a space of 7 in. bebu~d~gs (similar In ea~h ?ase) and th~ Electricity twe~n them, ~vhich gave r<?om for the traYelling Bu1~dmg, some .comphcahon of detail was un- carn age M (Fig. 6) and chatns, by which the loads avoidable, as ~Ill be seen by r~ ference to the were hoisted; the U-bars served as a track for the small plan, Fig .. 4 a~nexed,, whiCh shows that ca.rriage_ wheels. :r'he bars were connected by each of . the m~1n guders IS attached at one st1rrup-uons that did not interfere with the pasend to 1ts s~e01al c?luml!- and at ~he o_ther to sage of the carriage, and at the same time stiffened a corre~pond~n~ main gtrder, which I S also the crane arm. The arrangement was further ~ecured ID a Similar ma~ner. The space en~losed st~engthened by a syst~m of bracing shown in IS pentagonal, and the mner e~ds of the grrders Figs. 6, 7, and 8. The Inner end of the arm was form a smaller pentagon, as will be seen by re- counterbalanced by ballast. The carriage was fer~nce. to the plan. The ~paces left ~e~ween the made of two side plates and t wo pulleys were mam girders and the bel t girders are d1v1ded by a mounted between for the pitched chain. On the
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laid on a 31- in. gauge; the trucks were framed of plate-iron stiffened with U-irons. On the top of these frames in each truck was riveted a flat circular plate, on which ran rollers attached to the underside of the crane arm, so that a free movement in any direction could be given to the latter independently of the travelling trucks. The lateral displacement of the crane was obtained by hauling on an endless chain guided by a series of transmission pulleys placed at intervals round the staging and leading to a controlling handwheel, the movement of which was transmitted by gearing to one of the wheels of the corresponding travelling trucks, to which the arm was secured as described above.
The maximum erecting frontage of the Machinery Hall had a widt h of 124 ft. 8 in., and included a span of 29 ft . 6 in., two cantilever arms of the same length, and the skylight framing. This considerable width required the simultaneous operation of two such stagings and crane arms as we have de-
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system of intermediate joists, so as to leave no inconveniently wide spans. The combination is somewhat original, and it has been employed with good decorative effect on the underside of the girders, that is to say, in the ceiling of the ground floor, by leaving the girders and the pentagon frankly visible. When we add that the steelwork in the Machinery Hall and the Textile Building, amounts to more than 4800 tons, and that the loads provided for are 102 lb. per square foot of flooring, and 18.6 lb. per square foot of roofing, we shall have said all of special interest about these buildings, except what concerns the manner in which they were erected. As already mentioned, the contracts for t his work were let to two constructors, who employed different methods, so that a short description of each will be necessary. In the erection of the Machinery Hall two similar stagings used together were employed. Each section of the work comprised the erection of a span either of 29ft. 6 in. or 41 ft ., and also one or two of the cantilever trusses of the 88ft. 6 in. gallery. M. Roussel, the contractor, decided to employ only one type of staging, which could be shifted easily, and was adapted to the varying requirements of the different spans. In order to avoid as much as possible the work of r iveting at a height , the sections forming one piece, were riveted on the ground; t his was safer and more convenient, but it involved the employment of heavier hoisting machinery. As in the erection of several other buildings, the flying platforms suspended from the staging were manreuvred by winches at the ground level. The two towers that formed the travelling stage were t imber-framed and square in plan, measuring 24ft. 6 in. on a side. The diagram, Fig. 5, page 347, shows clearly the form and mode of bracing. At a height of about 89ft. above the ground, the tower was fin ished with a platform on iron joists, while at the bottom it rested on a solid wooden frame supporting a floo1·. This frame was borne by four wheels running on rails laid to a gauge of 24 ft . 6 in. and laid on
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larger of the t wo pulleys the hoisting chain was placed ; it then went to two guide pulleys, and was brought down vertically to a 2-ton winch. The travel of the carriage was controlled by another chain. This latter was attached to the end of the crane arm, and after being rolled around the smaller of the t wo pulleys on the carriage, was brought over the guide pulleys to the staging and t hence downwards to a 1 i-ton winch. By this means the load, after being hoisted, could be hauled to any required position. In order to bring the empty carriage with its hoisting chain back to t he outer end of the arm, a light chain attached to the carriage passed to the end of the arm, and passing o't"er pulleys hung down, a balance-weight behlg attached to the free end. The crane was mounted on two trucks free to travel at the same t ime upon f<ails laid at right angles to each other ; thes:e rails were made of I -bars a.nd were
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scribed. The sets of trusses were riveted up as far as possible on the ground ; they were then brought to their place by winches and held steady. The two hoists then put t he two columns that were to suppor t the set of trusse•, into position, and the ironwork forming the roof framing, assembled as described, was then hoisted. By the arrangement for shifting the crane arms, these were made to describe arcs of a. very flat ellipse, which gave the required moven1ent with less overhang t han would have been possible with a. circular movement. The whole arra.ngetnent was very practical and successful; it is to be regretted that so ingenious an installation was not operated electrically.
The work of erection was commenced with the 39 - ft. span, adjoining the AYenue de la Bourdonnais that bounds one side of the Champ de Mars, and witth the gallery of the same span that forms a return along the Electricity Building. At
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E N G I N E E R I N G.
THE PARIS EXHIBITION; THE MACHINERY AND
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the same time that the 39-ft. longitudinal span was put up, one of the cantilevers of the 88-ft. gallery was erected. The pair of stagings was then shifted for erecting the other cantilever of the 88-ft. span, the ne~t 29 ft. 6 in. span, and half of the second 88-ft. gallery, as well as the lantern framings. The same operation was repeated a
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third time. 'rhen by a fresh displacement of the staging, t he restaurant gallery, the last 29 ft. 6 in. span, and also the second cantilever and lantern frame of the other 88-ft . gallery, were erected. A further displacement was required for . erection of the 90-ft. roof and the dome.
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entit ely different method was followed by the cond tractors. The various galleries were erecte separately, and therefore two stagings were c~~bined, one for the wide and the other for : 29ft. 6 in. or 39-ft. spans. Moreover, ~he word was hoisted into position in small secttons an riveted in place. This involved many objections i
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MARCH I 6 , 1900.] E N G I N E E R I N G. 34/
THE PARIS EXHIBITION; THE MAC HI NERY AND CHEMICAL BUILDINGS.
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29 ft. 6 in. by 25 ft. 6 in., and at the top the form corresponded exactly to that of the 41-ft. gallery . The staging, mounted on wheels, .could be shifted on tracks, the movement being obtained by gearing on the rear axle worked by a paw 1 and hand lever. Figs. 9 to 12, page 345, are diagrams of the staging ; from them it will be seen that the rear face of the staging "as employed for the erection ; at a height of 44 ft. above the ground was placed a working platform on which two hoisting platforms were mounted that could be shifted at right angles one to another. One of them was so much smaller than the other that it could pass between the frames of the larger one. Pulleys on the hoists carried
the lifting chain that passed down vertically to a 5-ton winch ; the small hoist was used for raising the columns and longitudinal connecting girders. The trusses and other framing were hoisted by the larger travelling stage which had a crane arm of about 15ft. carrying two pulleys; the chain passed from these to a 5-ton winch below.
The scaffolding employed for the larger spans con· sisted of a travelling stage with a base of 55 ft. 9 in. by 23 ft. 9 in. ; it rested on wheels and three lines of rails placed 27 ft. 7 in. apart. The stage was shifted in the san1e way as the smaller one. The work of erection could proceed in whichever direction the stage was shifted. On the top of the
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staging was a movable hoisting device, with a crane arm projecting on each side. On both of these arms were two pulleys; the inner ones were used for hoisting t he can t ilever trusses of the r oofs, and the outer ones for t he rest of the framing ; all the work was riveted up in place as before described. The erection of the small galleries was completed b efore th e large staging was employed. As the framing of the lantern was above t he range of the staging, a supplementary d evice was added to the crane arm of t he travelling hoist (see F ig. 12). The same staging was used for the largest spans, but the travelling hoist or hoists was replaced by two 5-ton winches, which, working together, were able to handle the largest pieces. In the work of erection, the outer spans were first put up, then the smaller staging dealt with the 29 ft. 6 in. gallery, while the larger one followed behind, erect ed the adjacent wide span. This process was repeated three times. The gallery adjoining the Electricity Building, and the complicated intersections of the various longit ud inal spans, were then completed. Finally, the transverse 29ft. 6 in. span was erected , and the large staging finished its work with the 90-ft . span parallel t o that of 29 ft. 6 in. The erection of the r estaurant galleries and other work was don e with the aid of hoists and simple staging. At the present time the work of concealing all the steelwork with plaster decorat.ion, is advancing.
R ussiAN PROGRESS IN ASIA.- Prominent amongst the industries which the Russians have started in Asia is that of cotton growing, which dates from the year 1884. In the year 1880, the production had risen to about 24,000 tons, and in another four or five years it bad been doubled. Only about 25 to 30 years ago there were no Russian colonists in Central Asia; but in 1893 they numbered over 52,000 persons in the districts of Sir Darja, Samar)_{and, and Tergana, and since then the number of Russia.n colonists in tho11e districts has been doubled. The increase of Russian colonists has tended to materially and s~eadily reduce the annual deficit of these provinces. A canal between the Black Sea and thesituated ab a lower level- Caspian Sea iA being advocated in various quarters, and it has been sta~d with some confidence that a. canal of this description would 6'rea.tly diminish the risk of famine in the ~outh-ea.stem dtstricts of European Russia.
SOOIETY o~· ENGINEERS.- At a meeting of the Society of Engi~eers, held at the Royal United Service Institution, Whitehall, on Monday evening, March 5, Mr. Henry O'Conner, President, in the chair, a paper was read on " The Closing of Breaches in Sea and River Embankments," by Mr. Richard F. Grantbam, M. Inst. C. E .. F.G.S. The author first referred to the great tide of November 29, 1897, which did so much damage to the sea and river walls and property on the coasts and on the banks of the tidal rivers of Essex and Kent. The causes of the great rise of tide and of the breaches in the walls were ascribed to the violent gales and sudden change in the direction of the wind and to the cracks along the tops of the walls and their sufficient height. The methods of stopping the great breaches at Dag_enham and Middle Level were briefly referred to. The author then obsi rved that Brading Harbour, in the Isle of Wight, aboub 600 acres in extent, was reclaimed in the year 1622 by Sir Hugh Middleton, but in a short time th~ tide agam broke in and overflowed the harbour until 1880, when it was again shut out. Great difficulties and freq uent failures W"ere met with in closin6' the sea embankment, the tide breaking down the pihng time after time. The first line of piling across the opening had to be abandoned, and a new line in rear of the old one was formed which was ultimately closed. The embankment now forms the road from St. Helens to Bembridge. Three serious breaches caused by the great tide of November, 1897, came under the author's notice in the river walls of N orthey Island in the Blackwater below Mal don, Essex ; in those of the Cold Harbour and Rid ham Marshes in the Swale, in the parish of I wade, Kent; a.nd in those in the River Crouch, in the parish of Stow Maries, Essex. The lands overflowed were grass marshe~, and were of no other value than that which they possessed as agricultural land. It was therefore of the greatest importance that the cost of closing the breaches should be very moderate and well below the value of the land, which of late years has ~een so much red.uced. T~e author considered that mstead of attemptmg to p1le across the breaches, the cheaper plan, and one with the least risk would be to form an inset or horseshoe wa.U around the breach. The tide was shut out of Northey Island in this way in four months without serious difficulty. In a similar way the tide wa.s shut. out f~om C<?ld Harbour and Ridham Marshes, but ser1ous d1fficulttes and failures occurred before the wall waf' finally and permanently closed. The details of t hese works ~ere described. In conclusion, the author summanaed the various methods of closing serious breaches in ri ~er walls, and quoted the principles laid down by Captam ?erry and the late Mr. C. B. Vignoles. He suggested that m the case of land having only an agricultural value, where the area was not too large, the inset wall is the cheapest, and is attended with the least risk. The paper was illustrated by maps and diagram~, lime-light illustrations being also introduced.
E N G I N E E RI N G.
ARCIIED BRIDGES OVER THE RHINE. (Continued from page 182. )
THE cofferdams , within which the foundations of t he piers were laid, ar e very interesting. In gen eral they consist of an apron of outer wooden sheet piling, 7. 8 in. in thickness, and an inner wall of iron piling, immediately s urrounding the concrete. The space between the two walls, which has a width of about 13 ft. , was fill ed with earth or t he spoil from the dredgers. The iron walls are formed of I -beams, alternately large and small, t he small irons being placed at r igh t angles to the large beams which t hey hold together ; the arrangement is clearly indicated in F igs . 25 and 26 on our two-page engraving published this week. In the case of the abut ments on shore, the outer wooden piling could be dispensed with. In other places the tim her piles were first driven in, a staging having previously been rammed from floating machines. Each pile was wedged firmly against i ts fellow already in position, which receive.d its final blow whilst the n ear pile was preliminarily being fixed. The piles were up to 50 ft. in length, and were n ot rarely damaged in being driven 10ft . into the gravel, although they were provided with iron shoes. The mon keys weighed about 1 ton, and were not given more than 23-in . fa ll, so as n ot to crush the heads . An attempt to protect the wood against the blows of a heavier monkey by inter posing 1-in. iron plates failed . The iron beams were treated in t he same manner, and could much more easily be dealt with, although they were driven down to depths of 30 ft . into the ground. The large ston es frequently in the way were cut by the irons as if by a ch isel ; occasionally a beam bent over and had t o be drawn out by a grabber . In Fig. 18, we see t he iron beams gradually descending deeper and deeper ; a ligh t monkey began the work, a heavier weight fi nished it. Figs. 25 and 26, already mentioned , show how the r ight and obtuse angles of t he iron walls were obtained, and how the framing for the stiffening was secured. The iron piling of a central pier had a length of 85 metr es (279 ft. ) ; t he work proceeded at t he average rate of 1. 8 metre (6ft. ) per day, and occupied 46 days. Before the pier trench was completely enclosed , a floating dredger had begun its work ; it was succeeded Ly two grabs (Fig. 19), moving t he on e along, the other across th e staging. In order to leave a counter pressure for t he fi lling between the two sheet pilings, the excavation commenced in the centre of the pier.
Details of the stiffenings between the two sheets of piling, and between t he inner wall and a longitudinal rail balk, resting on four strong piles (Fig. 23), are shown by Fig. 24. The struts were 10 in. by 10 in. ; they were secured by str ingers and screws, and by pairs of wedges. As t he different struts had temporarily to be r emoved durin g the deposition of the concrete, t he connections had to be readily made and broken . The beton was deposited in 33 ft . of water, with the help of two iron tubes, so-called fu nn els, 12 met·res (39 ft. ) long, 0.6 metre (2 ft. ) in diameter, consisting in their upper parts of rings, 0. 8S metre (32 in. ) h igh. 'I'he funnels wer e suspended from trucks, moved by winches, with and across the funnel bridge (Figs. 20, 21, and 23) on four pairs of wheels r unning on rails. There were two funnels, one for each half of t he trench. When receiving the fi rst charge, t he funnel was fitted with a cylindrical iron box, the lid of which opened on striking t he bottom of t he p it . Afterwards, the work proceeded under a continuous beton-feed , as much as possible without interrupt ion day and night . W hen a br~ak could not be avoided, the funnel was raised and emptied. The bridges advanced one foot at each step, and only t he two stiffenings that happened to be in t he way were temporarily removed; this was done from a raft floating in the trench. The corners into which the funnels would not penetrate wer e filled in with the help of a wooden box, as shown in Fig. 21.
It had orig inally been planned t o put the concreting p lant on shore. The floating installation , illustrated in Figs. 20 t o 24, offered greater facilities, however, and could moreover readily be shifted over to another pier. The elevators discharged the gravel from a float ing stage into either of the two t ip wagons, which ran on the lower p latform of t he scaffolding. At the same time, the cement and trass receptacles were emptied from the higher platform. One box of ground trass and two sacks of cemen t just filled a wagon ; t he proportion was
[MARCH I 6, I 900.
20 kilogrammes of trass to 186 kilogrammes of cement. The ~a~on was now pushed up to the mouth of the m1xmg drum, the lid on the elevating .shute being turned over so that the gravel fell Into the other car. The various appliances for lifting the sacks, &c., were actuated by belts from the pulleys of an 8 horse-power portable e~gine, placed on a floating platform, as marked in F~g. 23. In t he drum, t he mixture was sprayed With water ; when ready the mixture was discharged into a car which, pushed into a siding (Fjgs. 20 and 23), was taken up by the steam crane and lifted on to the depositing bridge, whence it was returned in the same way. The crane rested on t he corner of the cofferdam staging, and its jib swept round in a circle. The exchange of the cars required one fixed and two movable turntables. The superintendent of the whole installation, who had especially to watch over the water feed to the mixing drum and to stop the movement of this drum in case of any irregularity in the supply of the other materials, had his hut on the top of the floating structure. The beton layer of the central piers has a thickness of about 16 fti. It left on the Bono pier about 20 ft . of iron piling projecting ; on the Beuel river pier, t he foundatione did not go down quite so deep. The space between the wooden and the iron sheet pilings could now be filled completely, and the trench emptied with the help of a centrifugal pump. The filling of loam and gravel did not keep the water out entirely, but the few cracks were soon stopped. The water, however, also came in from below, in places where the poles and irons of the sheet pilings had not made a good joint. The mineral-water spring, above spoken of, made its appearance at this stage. A 25 horse-power portable engine sufficed, however, to overcome these troubles. Fig. 27 on our two-page engraving, reproduced from a photograph, gives a view of the dry Beuel river pier trench, and may explain some features which the description has left a little obscure.
In building the central pier~, travellers with electric crabs riding on the top of the false work, suppor ted by the cofferdam, and further, .elec~ric winches were made use of, as can be seen m F1gs. 28 and 29 ; the latter served for hoisting the stones from the boats. In the case of the Bonn abutment, a high traYelling crane was employed, wide enough to em brace thew hole width of the pier (Figs. 33 and 34). The electric power station was hous~d un~er one of the brickwork arches on the Bono side (F1g. 13). The manner of putting in the so-called_ cyclops facing for the straight part of the long pier walls is rather curious. N ot to waste t ime nor money, cheap basalt blocks were hammered and split into more or less polygonal heads, about 2 ft. in diameter. These heads were carefully arranged and fitted together on soft ground until the required area was covered , then marked with lime water lines and numbers, and photographed ; w~th the help of this photograph, the heads coul~ qmckl~ be grouped again afterwards, so t hat. the I~mer br~ckwork and the outer facing, of which Fig. 28 gtves an idea, could grow simultaneously. .
The wooden and iron piles around the nver piers had now to be removed again. The method of procedure was we believe novel. The webs of the large I . bea~s were drilied with ! -in. holes, arr anged in a horizontal row, as close above t~e beton as could be managed. The props shown 10
t he view, Fig. 35, which refers to the Bonn pier, were t hen fixed about 5 ft. above t~e b~ton, and the flanges of the small beams, which 1t will b~ remembered, alternate with t he larg~ bea~s an e are at right angles to t hem, were dnlled '!Ith th same bits and the holes opened out to a diameter of 2 in. Three electric motors were instal~ed for this purpose ; t hey stood on the staging (Fig. 28~ and drove the flexible shafts by means of ~opes a.n weighted pulleys. Figs. 31 and 32 explam the ~rrangement. The large beams were furt e~ weakened by the chisel. An ~dvance of 3 ft. k day in this drilling was considered g~od .wo~~ This done, t he water was allowed to ri~~ m was trench the earth between the two sheet pilmgs d
' ·thd an excavated the wooden piles were WI ra.wn, ' A · blewae the rolled beams broken off singly. n rron ea attached to a tuo- and the respective I-beam bent 0f6
way · a floating ~rane t hen bent it back. As a ru e, on e 'operation of this kin d sufficed. The cor~e~ beams gave a good deal of trouble, however; so_me ff to be twisted about for hours, finally ~reakiM;s~of not in t he row of holes, bu~ below that lme. d t he ! -beams could, however, be re-used to boar u_,
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MARCH r6, Igoo.] E N G I N E E R I N G. 349 the abutments from which fortunately they had not to be withdrawn again.
The river piers are perfectly symmetrical with r egard to their longitudinal axis, but the axis of the pedestal is by 0.825 metres (32.5 in.) n earer the ruiddle of the central arch t han t.he beton foundations, as we recognise from Fig. 30. This was d one in accordance with the gen eral scheme, to which we
development of t he pier, t he upper portion (Figs. 37 to 40) projects about 4 f t . over the beton bed. ~~is is d~te to~ rat her r egrettable change in the ortgmal d estgn ; 1t would possibly have caused less t r ouble t o extend the beton bed t han to build under t hese difficult circumstances. The Bonn embankmentnecossitated the lay ing of a. special lining of beton 5 ft. in t hickness outside the beton founda-
The ea.rthworks are completed to Ibadan, and the rai ls are expected to arrive there in a few weeks. Large bridges are required over the Oyan and Ogun Rivers.
Mr. Shelford next spoke of extensions to each of these railways. H e was not there to advocate any policy, but to lay before the Cbamber the information he had at his command concerning the extensions whicb had Lean spoken of, and in some oases surveyed, so tbat tbe Chamber might be able to make representations to the Colonial Office as to the extensions which should be carried out.
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slu\ll refer later on , to erect the main a rch befo1·e the side arches were put in p osition. The possibility was also taken into consideration that the side arches mjght have to be blasted away in case of war, when the piers would become abutments.
t ions (Figs. 37 and 39) ; t wo flig hts of s tairs leading d own t o the river r est upon this foundation.
(To be contin·ued.)
The maximum dimensions of t he pedestal of t he WEST AFRICAN RAIL W .AYS. Bonn pier are 27 metres by 10.6 metres (about ~In F REDBRIO SHKL~·ono, B.Sc. (London), Assoc ~I. 88 ft. by 34 ft.); the maximum dimensions of Ins t. C. E., ab the special request of the Incorporated the beton bed are 32 by 12.75 metres. Just Cba.mber of Commerce of Liverpool, delivered a lecture
1 th h k b k h t · 1 to the African trade section of the Chamber on Monday unc ernea t e s ew ac s , t e wo pters lave afternoon, February 26, in tbe Banqueting Hall of the a length of 24 94 met-res (82 ft . ) and a thick- Excbange Station Hotel, a.t Liverpool, upon tbe subject ness of 8. 6 metres (28 ft. ). The general character of "West African Railways," for which the firm of of the piera, their round towers, capped by strong Shelford and Son are the consulting en~ineers to the hexagonal steeples with copper terminals, and Colonial Office. Mr. Shelford first descnbed the work the semicircular archways for the track and the already done and in progress. At Sierra. Leone the rail-
way was almost completed to Rotofunk, 56 miles from footways bore in harmony with the most interesting Freetown ; the line traversed difficult country, with architectural monument of Bonn- the minster- numerous ravines requiring many high steel viaducts and and are, we think, harmonious in themselves ; our rock cuttings on the slopes of the mountains. This work readers may judge fro1n the photograph of the was a fine example of a modern narrow-gauge railwa.yBeuel pier, reproduced in Fie:. 36, page 351. The the gauge being 2ft. 6 in. The progress ha.d been greatly
..... retarded by the Hut Ta.x Revolt in 1898, but the trade colours of the grey basal t, t h e yellow sandst one, the of the colony had shown an extraordinary recovery after red tiles, aro well blended wit h the grey and green tbe disturbance was qllelled. A portion of the line to of the metallic superstructure. Songo Town had been opened last 1\-Iay, a.nd was doing
Views of the abutments are given in Figs. 37 to 41, well. On the Gold Coast, good progress had been made 351 vV · 1 · F . 42 d · with the Sekondi-Tarkwa line of 3 ft. 6 in. gauge, so far
page · e give a so, 10 Ig . annexe ' a VIe w in face of great difficulties in landing ~oods in surf boats, of one of t he two quaint t oll-houses which have been the enormously heavy clearing req_utred, and the diffi constructed on the shore piers. The roofing reminds culty of obtaining labour. Labour IS very scarce at this one of Scandinavia ; the fac;ade has a s tyle of its part of the Gold Coast>, and the cost of importin~ labour own. The odd d ecoration s, the bears presenting was prohibitive unless a long extension of the lme was the mighty bare swords, the irate toll-house keeper, authorised. The rails were expected to reach Tarkwa. in the students, soldiers, and the nixies of the Rhine the early autumn. At Lagos the Carter Bridge-half a.
mile long- had been completed in 18 months over the on t he capitals , the inevitable cyclists, the musical lagoon, which was of great 'depth, and had a soft mud bands performing under architraves r esembling bottom and a. current of 4 or 5 knots. The Dentonmusic sheets \Vith notes dotted over them, can road and railway bridges are also complete. The unfor tunately, or fortunately, not be dis tinguished. railway, which is of 3 ft. 6 in. gaug-e, was opened These realistic exceedingly modern decorative as far as Abeokuta (which has a. populat10n of 150,000} on
..... August 1last, and IS already domg well. The progress elements may be criticised, but t hey are afte r all as was greatly impeded by the difficulties with the French characteristic of the age and the people- a merry in 1897, when the labour was absorbed as carriers to race dwells on the banks of the middle Rhine- as the armed forces sent up. The greatest difficulty to be the crriffins devils and m onks' grimaces of our contende~ with was the complete absen~ of rock or
ob ! . h gravel suttable for ballast for nearly 60 miles. The ex-most eaut1ful meducval churc es. . ten~ion to Ibadan- 130 miles from Lagos (population,
The length of t he beton foundatiOn, 21 metres 180,000)- has proceeded very rapidly, the last 41 miles (69 ft. ), does not suffice for the long itudinal I of heavy earth works being carriC?d out in eeven months.
That the railways must be extended, if they were to open up the colonies as intended, is obvious from a. glance at a ma.p of these colonies. The rail ways already constructed made li ttle impression on the vast areas of these coloJ?i~. At ierra Leone the amount of country tapped ~as ms1gmficant, and an extension of 80 miles of Jighb !me would open np an area of 6000 square miles to the mfluence of the railroad. It was impossible for produce to b~ b~ought out o~ the country, unless tbe railway got to. wtthm 30 or 40 mtles of tbe place of production ; other· w1se, tbe cost of transport was prohibttive .
On the Gold Coast an extension of theSekondi-Tarkwa Railway to Kuma.si was proved feMible by Mr. Shelford himself when he travelled through the almost unexplored co~ntry in tbe spring of last year. It was thou~ht that th1s route was barred by swamps a.nd the Adansi Hills; bu~ Mr. Sbelford found that, although the route will requtre a great deal of survey, there is no insuperable obstacle. Along the whole length of this route numerous gold conce~ions haye_ been ~ranted, many of tbem of gr~t. promtse; and It 1S possible that tbe construction of this line may cause a great development of W est African gold mines. A line from Accra. (the capital of the Gold Coast) to Pong upon the Volta nver, was surveyed and reported upon at tbe fame time. It will be easy and cheap to make, aud will serve a large and industrious population, and tap the rich country where palm kernels and other natuta.l produce and oil are now allowed to lie upon the ground, because the cost of transport prevents their reacbing the market. Mr. Shelford, m 1899, upon hi~ retur~ journey, travelled from Kumasi to Accra along a hne which bas also been proposed ; but he was convinced that the Ta.rkwa route to Kumasi showed much greater prospects of success. Another line which hA.S been much discussed is a line from Apam to Oda. This would serve a. very large population and rich district, but it will probably have to wait a few years. A coast line has alao been reported upon from Accra to Apa.m, but it could not c0mpete with the ships on the sea.
At Lagos, lVIr. Shelford had little information to give about the country beyond lba.dan towards the Niger as he had not been authorised to make a. survey. There are, however, n~merous large towns in this country, such as Oyo (populat10n 60, 000), Ogbomosho (30, 000), Ilorin (70,000). It was a question whether tbe Lagos Railway with a. bad ha.rbour at its base, should be extended to th~ Niger and . on to Hausaland, Sokoto, and Kano, or whether thiS country should be reached from the N iger Coas t Protectorate.
'r~e r~ilwaJ:S in W est A~rica were costing about 6000l. a.. mile, mcludmg tbe atartmg of operations a.nd the ereotlOn of workRbops, quarters, offices, and landing-stages; and had proceeded at rates of approximately 14 miles a year at Sierra L eone, 20 miles a. year on the Gold Coast, and 26 miles a year at Lagos. If extensions were authorised, they could be carried out at a considerably reduced cost per mile; and if considerable extensions were authorised at tbe same time1 the speed could be very greatly increased. The approximate cost of 6000l. per mile compared favourably with the Congo Railway, which cost over 10,000l. a mile, although of only 2 ftJ. 6 in. gauge, with very steep gradients, and a fairly open country. :rtfr. Shelford was glad to say that the health amongst tbe staffs had. considerably improved since the beginning of the works, but there was room for improvement yet.
GERMAN CAPITAL IN NoRWAY.-The large German electrical manufacturing firms are very wide awake to wbat goes on in other countries, and have on many occasions shown tbeir willingness to render financial support to electric nndertakings-a plan which has done much towards raising them to their present> excelleni' position. One of the most recent examples of this system JS the co-operation which has just been arranged between the Algemeine Electrici tats Ge~selschaftJ in Berlin and the Norwegian Company Barbu. The German company places a capital of 1,000,000 kr. at the disposal of the Norwegian company, whereby it will be possible to utilise the whole of the company's water power ab E venstad, of wbich about 6000 horse-power are being used. The aggregate capital is now 3,000,000 kr.
THE TRADE IN CALCIUM CAnnroE.-The Swedish Technical ~ociety has passed the following regulations for trade in calcium carbide. The price is quoted per 100 kilogrammes, and applies, unless otherwiae specified, to gross weight, that 1s net, plus the immediate packing m receptacles with about 100 kilogramme contents. The packing shall be in air and watertight vessels of iron, strong enough to stand the wear a.nd tear of transport. Should other packing be desired~ special arrangements must be made. A carbide, whicn yields less tban 290 litres acetylene, but not below 266 litres shall be received by the buyer-subject to a margin of 2 per cent.-but the buyer is then entitled to deduct an amount, whtch represents double the deficit in gas. In cases, where the carbide yields less than 265 litres, the buyer is not bound to receive it. Ib must not be delivered in larger pieces than a closed fist, a.nd must not contain more tlian 10 per cent>. powder; a.ll that passes through a sieve with 1 millimetre apertures is called powder,
350 E N G I N E E R I N G. [MARCH I 6, I goo.
THE JONES UNDERFED MECHANICAL STOKER. CONSTRUCTED BY THE G:b:ORGE D. l\iOFFAT COMPANY, LONDON.
Fig. 1.
Pig . 3 .
WATER Su.PPLY OF LEEDs.-At a meeting of the water works c~mmtt~e of the L eeds City Council on Thursday, the 1st. mat., 1t was agr~ed to serve notices to treat upon five owners of proper~y m the Washburn Valley, in order that t~e commtttee mtgbt be able to remove nuisances and polluttons . . Already as many as 1000 acres of land for this purpos.e a~e m the possession of the council, and it is hoped t~a.t wt~hm 12 months the ~hole of the required property will be m the hands of the c1ty council. The scheme which t~e city council has for a long time been carryi~g out, will thus. be completed. The object has been to secure for the ctty a. supply of pure water by the council having absolute control of the watershed. At the same meeting it was resolved not to put into force the compulsory powers which. the committee possesses for the purchase of land belongmg to the Duke of Devonshire in the upper reaches of theW ash burn watershed. It was also arranged that Mr. J. W. Dacre, of Otley, should represent the council as arbitrator in regard to the purchase of lands from Mr. J. D. Hannan, at W est End, Dacre Banks. The storage in the L eeds reservoirs represents 112~ days' supply, as compared with 116~ days' supply last year.
WE illustrate on this page a mechanical stoker which, having met with considerable success in America, is now being introduced into this country by the George D. Moffat Company, of 33 and 35, Char~rhouse-squa.re, Londo~, E .C. The general conatructton of the stoker w11l be easily understood by a. reference to our engravings, which show that it is a va.~iant of the well-known underfed coking type, the feedmg forward of the fuel being in this instance effected by the steam cylinder, shown t o the left in Figs. 1 and 3. The former of these engravings shows the apparatus as applied to a boiler of the internally fired type, whilst Figs. 3 and 4 relate to a water-tube boiler. In working the stoker the coal is placed in the hopper shown, which is kept full, a.nd the fuel falls in ~ront of the. stea.m-act~a.ted ram already referred to wh1ch pushes 1t forward mto a "retort," a. cross-section through which is shown in Fig. 2. There a re no grate bars, a. dead plate being used instea d, extending from the upper edges of this retort to t he sides of the flue, and the fuel, ag it is pushed forward by the ram, rises a.nd flows over 011 to these plates. A series of air ducts, clearly visible in Fig . 2, supply T HE LATE M R. G. J. SYuoNs.-W e record with regret
· h 1 h f the death of Mr. George J ames Symons, which took au to t e coa near t e top o the retort, mechanical place on Sa.turda.y, the lOth insti., at his residence in draught being relied on to give the requisite pressure. Ca.mden-SCJ.uare, the cause being para.lrsia. Mr. Symons This air flows over the green co3.1 in the retort and was born m London in 1838. He jomed the Meteoroup through the live fuel a bove. As the fuel is pushed logical Society in 1856, and became in the followin~ year uearer to the stratum of combustion, the volatile one of the meteorological reporters to the RegiStrarmatter is driven off, but has to pass up through t he General, a posti which he held down to the time of his burning fuel above, which consumes it completely, and dea.th. In 1860 he published his first annual volume of thus prevents t he generat ion of smoke. All coal is "B~tish J;ta.infall,:' which contained re.corde from 168 accordingly t horoughly coked before rea.chiug the zone sta:tlOJlll, Vl~. , 16:-l m England and five m Wales, there of combustion. In order to give time for t his the bemg none m Scotland and .Ire~and. ~fr. Symons gradu. . h . ' . ally developed a. vast orgamsa.t10n of voluntary observers, 1nstruct10ns as to t e workmg of the stoker adv1se •so that h is last published "British Rainfall " for 1898 that not mo:e than two strokes of th~ rat;n should be contained recorda from 2545 stations in England, 237 in made a.t a ttme. The rate of combustiOn 1s under the Wales, 436 in Scotland, and 186 in I reland a total of absolute control of the fu·eman. 3404 stations. .By his collection of statistics ' he became
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the greatest authority in the British Isles on the distribution of rainfall. The Council of the Society of A~ in 1897 awarded him the .Albert Medal. Mr. Sym?ns was a member of the Council of the Royal Meteorologtcal Society from 1863, he was president 1880-1, and secre· tary 1873-9 and 1882-99. H e was elected president a second time on J a.nua.ry 17 last, in view of the jubilee of the Society taking place during this year; but owing to a. paralytic seizure he had to resign the office. He wa~ a fellow of the Royal Society and a. member of the council, chairman of the Krakatoa. Committee, and a member of the Council of the Royal Botanic Socteby and of the Sanitary Institute.
INSTITUTION O.F MECHANICAL E NGINEERS : GRADUAm' lviEETING. -On Monday, March 12, e. meeting of t~e graduates of the Institution was held, Mr. Gra.ham Hams, Member of Council, occupying the che.ir. Mr. Brees van H oman, Graduate, read a most interesting pa.~r. on "Steel Skeleton Construction, as Applied to B?ildmgs on t~~ American System." The autho~ opened ~l.S paper by gi vmg the prin01pal reasons for th~ mtroduct:to~ of tb.e above system. The vertical extensiOn of buildn~gs 18 necessary, owing to the value of ground, and the mtro· duction of steel construction has enabled the thickness of ~alla to be reduced, thereby preventing the waste of I'O?m m the lower floors of buildings. The columns for!DlDg the principal part of the steelwork are usually ~u~t up of rolled steel sect ions. The floors of the building are carried by steel girders, which also generally car the walls running from floor to floor. For foun a· tions a. gravel soil, confined laterally is the best. One-half to one-fifth of the load causing se~tlem~nt is usually taken as the safe load. For sofb so1ls pilf are used. For buildings of over 20 sto.reys th~ ~ t system of foundations is used, the foundatlo~ conststJng of a. series of layers of rolled joists bedded 1n concrete£ Caissons are usually sunk for the heaviest ty~ 0
foundations. The loads vary with the use to whused1oh t~e building is to be put. The factor of safety 10
designing the steel~ork is from three to four. For fire· proofing, brick, terra-cotta., plaster and asbestos ~re used. '£he prohibitive price of the latter prevents ft:J greater usage for this purpose. Caps a~d ~ or the stanchions are not used, joints betn$ f:Dade tht every two or three floors. As regards pamtmg,d
8
steel should be well cleaned and s.cra.~ an a coat of linseed oil applied before n vetmg. When finished , two coats of metallic pe.int, made from the oxides of lead and iron should be applied to the srl· work. This should not 'set in less than 30 hours. or floor loads, experiment has shown that 33.3 lb. per1~oare foot is sufficient in most cases. In New York 75 · ~ square foot, and in Chicago 70 lb. per square .foob\jd~ gs be provided for. ' ¥ ind pressure is negle~ted ~n u Jn i of less than 100 ft . in hetght. Above thiB hetght a.posedhor · zontal pressure of 30 lb. per square foot on the e~ . ·surface must be provided for. The cost of such bwldib~ as the author described is from ls. 6d. to 2s. ~r cu
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foot. The chairman warmly congra.~ula.~ Mr. v: H oma.n on his paper, and started the diSCUSSl~~· A d 1 cription of the French system of concrete pthng, and good discussion followed.
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DETAILS OF ARCHED BRIDGE AROSS THE RIVER RHINE AT BONN.
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NOTES FROM THE UNITED STATES. PHILADELPHIA, March l .
A RATHER quiet market prevails throughout the United States, owing to the uncertainty on the part of a. good many consumers who are anxious to buy, and as to whether prices have been hammered down to their lowest probable point. This uncertainty is indicated by the fact that there are inquiries now in the market for crude and finished material, some of the inquiries covering very large quantities, especially of crude iron, Bessemer, forge and foundry. It is evidently the desire of a. large number of consumers
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to secure supplies for the latter half of the year just a.s soon a.s they think the right time has come to strike. It is also evident that they are halting between two opinions- they are hesitating until some developments of progress are more fully manifested. The market is uneven, although quite a. number of small consumers are making liberal purchases amounting to 50 to 100 ton lots largely of foundry iron. There is no disposition to make a. marked concession. Prices are virtually the same a.s they were a. week or two ago, and a. careful inquiry a.t headquarters fails to show any disposition on the part of holders to rush into big contracts for next fall's delivery a.t much less
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than asking prices. Billet buyers are still fought by makers who refuse to make any concession. Sellers quote 36 to 36.50 dols., and business ha.s been done as low as 35.50 dole., with several offers now in the market at 35 dols., which will likely be accepted before the close of the week, for about 30,000 tons of material. In finished iron the demand keeps up very fa.i.r for this time of year in a. retail way. Merchant ba.r mills are crowded with work, and are booking orders for small quantities of iron at about 2.10 to 2. 20 dols. per pound. Car builders failed last week to place large orders for large quantities of material, which they wanted a.t a. trifle under 2 cents. Inquiries
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are in hand for about 50,000 tons of steel rails, which will be contracted for before the middle of :March. Plate and structural material is very strong, and the entire market is satisfactory.
PRn.ADEI.PHIA, March 7. The approach of the open spring weather is stimu
lating inquiry for material of all kinds, from crude iron to the most highly finished products. There are fewer possibilities of a. reaction in prices than a month ago. Prices are from 75 to lOO per cent. higher t han th ~n, and productive capacity has been very greatly increased. The possibilities of an over supply
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have been the basis of the expected reaction, but all who are familiar with the situation recognise that consumptive requirements will be of extraordinary proportions, and there are very few possibilities of supply overtaking demand for months to come. Our furnaces are oversold, and have more business offered them than the managements are taking. 1 light concessions have been made in quotations for early delivery, but the con cessions are not frequent enough to warrant a change in selling '(>rices. BessAmer is held very firmly at all Western points at 24 dole. at furnace. Basic iron is very urgently wanted, and all inquiries show that buyers are now in the market. Foundry irons are in better supply, although most foundrymen are short of stocks. l l'orge iron is in bette r demand, the rolling mills everywhere being quite busy with work that will keep them busy for two to three months ahead. Billets are wanted in large quantitie3, inquiries now being from 75,000 to 100,000 t ons, but manufacturers refuse to make the quotations which buyers demand. The best quoted price is 36 dols. Steel rails are 35 dols. and firm. All track material is in very a ctive demand, owing to the fact of. so much track laying throughout the country. Plate-Iron has dropped from i to~ cent p er pound, and business is of moderate proportion owing to the belief that prices will go still lower. Structural material of all kinds is strong and active, and mills are oversold for some time to come. Merchant steel is quiet, although productive capacity will, no doubt , be fully engaged all the year. A report from Western sources shows that agricultural implements will be in good demand this season, because of the extension of the agricultural area., due to good prices and to the increasing export trade. The iron market, in a. general way, has a stronger tone than two weeks ago, and it is believed that there will be a general strengthening all along the line.
NOTES FROM THE NORTH. GLASGOW, Wednesday.
Glasgow Pig-Iron Market.-Last Thursday forenoon there were some 20,000 tons dea.lb in. The tone was steady, though Scotch iron gave wa.y 2d. per ton, Cleveland 2d., and hematite iron 1d. per ton. In the afternoon only about 5000 tons cha.n~ed hands, and the prices were steady. At the close of the ma.rkeb the settlement prices were : Scotch iron, 69s. 3d.; Cleveland, 69d. 7~d.; Cumberla.nd and Middlesbrough hema.tite iron, 78s. 4~. and 80s. per ton. On Friday forenoon some 15,000 tons changed ho.nds. Prices were very firm. Scotch rose 1~d. , Cleveland 3¥J., and b ema.tite iron 3~d. per ton. Aboub other 15,000 tons were d ealt in dunng the afternoon, and the tone was firm, hema.tite iron making other 2d. per ton. The settlement prices were: 69a. ~d. , 70s., 783. 10~d., and 80s. per ton. At the forenoon session of the pig-iron market on Monday, some 10,000 tons changed hands, and the prices were strong owing to the heavy withdrawals of iron from the stores. Scotch iron rose 3d., Cleveland l a. 2~-d., and hematite iron H~d. per ton. In the afternoon the market was very strong, especially for Cleveland, which left off close on 2s. per ton on the day. The afternoon sales amounted to about 10,000 tons. 'l'he sales amounted to about 11,000 tons on Tuesday forenoon, the market was fairly active, and prices were higher; Sootch and hema.tite iron rising respectively 9d. and 6d. per ton. Cleveland i'&ve way 3d. per ton. Other 10,000 tons changed ha.ndR in the afternoon, and prices were steady. The settlement prices in the afternoon were: 703. 6d., 71s. 9d., 80s. 3d. and 8ls. per ton. A quie t business wa.s done to-day, about 10.000 tons being dealt in. There was a. fall all round. The market was rather better in the afternoon. The settlement pri~es were : 70s. 6d., 71s. 7!d., 79s. 6d., and 81s. per ton. The following were the prices for No. 1 makers' iron on Tuesday: Clyde, 81s. per ton; Summerlee and Ga.rtsherrie 84s. ; Ca.lder, 86s. ; and Coltness, 89s.-the foregoing all shipped at Glasgow; Glenga.rnock (shipped at Ardrossan), 82s. per ton; Shotts (shipped ab Leith), 86s. ; Carron (shipped ab Grangemouth), 85s. per ton. The Scotch iron markets have risen quietly but steadilr throughout the week. There have been plenty of dull, idle markets, but hardly a fiat one. This firm attitude, in face of an almost complete absence of buying, either on home or Continental account, and in the face of duller trade reports from several branches of the steel and iron trades, can only be explained by the heavy de<;reases from the public warrant stores which are daily recorded, and by the belief, which is very general, that the present dulness is only a temporary lull. Amenca.n reports show no improvement, stocks of pig iron increasing heavily for the month of February, but prices there are, with few exceptions, well maintained, under the belief there also that fresh buying by consumers must shortly start up. Makers here show but little anxiety to sel~. The high price of fuel is undo'! btedly checking fresh busm~. . The number of furnacEs 1~ blast is 85 a.gainsb 84 at th1s time last year. The followmg are the returns of shipments of Scotch pig iron for the past week: To India., 117 tons; to Australia., 682 tons; to France, 710 tons ; to Gerruany, 915 tons; to Holland, 490 tons; to China. and J a.pan, 350 tons; sma~er quantities to other countries; and 3697 tons coastWise. The stock of pig iron in M~r3. Conna.l and Co.'s public warrant stores stood at 200,793 tons yesterday afternoon, as compared with 205,715 tons yesterday week, thus showing a decrease for the pa.sb week amounting to o&0211 toM•
E N G I N E E R I N G. (MARCH I 6, I 900.
Finished I ron and Steel.-The trade situation in Scot- f d k t I = land. has shown but little change this week. Activity in bunt: a oc · E"ust. t is inte!lded ~hat the new dock the l.ron a.nd steel centres has ag"'t·n been ri·fe, but fr.- - L s a. of consldera.bly larger dtmen8lons than the pre
... ~ sent Royal Dock, the area of which is 25 ac'NWl • speetfica.t10ns have not been abundant, and, indeed in the • ....,. manufactured branch a. feeling prevails that top mark Iran and Steel.-There is a well-sustained demand fo must now be near a.t hand, if ib has not even been reached. all classes ? f iron, and prices .are still movin~ upward: Make~ themselves candidly admit that the rulin~ values The followmg are the qu_otat10ns for delivertes in Shef· are btgh. Consumers are more and more inchned to field: West. coast hemat1tes, !Ha. 6d. to 93s. per ton. buy only for immediate wan~, and with the enormous east coast dttto, 89s. to 9~.; Lincolnshire No. 3 foundry' productive CS.{>&eity now available, should this method 733. to 74a. 6d.; forge dttto, 7ls. to 723.; Derbyshi~ become a.nythmg like general, makers must soon get No. 3 foundry, 76s. to 77s. 6d.; forge ditto, 69s. 6d. to abreast of their arrears, with the inevitable consequence 70d. : bars, lOl. 15s. to .Ill. os. ; sheets, 12l. to 12l. 5s. that underselling would once more be seen. In the case Manufacturers of cru01ble steel are exceedingly weU of boiler-plates, a. heavy p enalty is attached to any break- off for work, and ~en all rounq ~re D;laking full time. in~ through of the recently arrived at agreement. For One reason for t~ts great &<?~Vlty Is ~be practical shtpbuildmg steel the demand has somewhat sagged, yet stoppage. of Am~noan competitton. Basmess in that the consumption over all is very heavy. Exports have country 13 so bnsk that the steelmakers have plenty been heavy, and some capital orders for structural work to do to meet the ~ome demand. Heavy COD@ignmente are at present under negotiation. Steel angles are again are !1° longer recet ved here to realise the beSt price quoted a.t Sl. to Bl. 2~. 6d. per ton, ship-plates at sz. 103. obtamab~e. The. work~e~ employed in this branch have to 8l. 12s. 6d., and boiler-plates at 9l. 10s. to 9l. 15~. per had no dt.fficulty 10 obta.mmg an advance in their wages. ton. Sheets command 12l. to 12/. 10s., and rails 7l. 53. The leadmg file manufacturers have several months' work to 7l. 10s. per ton. These quotations are above those on ha.~d. In 1872 they agreed upon a price list, and fixed ruling in the North of England. Half-a..crown per ton the discount at 35 per cent. Since then it has gradualJy under the current quotations has been accepted for for- lengthen~ until it was about 70 per cent. On account ward business. 0! the actl ve demand, and the increased cost of prodoc.
t10n, most makers have reduced their discounts 5 to 12& Shipbuildi71(J amd Engineerhtg.-In the shipbuilding per cent. For shovels, pi('ks, hammer3, and other ex
and engineering branches, but little new has transpired of cava.ting tools there is an unprecedented demand and late. As yet the Admiralty have not made a. move with makers are full up with work. The tools are largeiy for re~pec~ t? new work,. but so well placed are the Clyde South Africa., India., and Egypt. shtpb~nldmg firms w1th the necessary heavy pneumatic Uoal and C'oke.- The main difficulty with which ooalmachme tools, that they should be &:ble to quote on good owners and coke makers have now to contend is to meet ter~ a.s S?on as schedules are recetved. Gl~gow loco- the pressing demands of customers. Stooks, both at the motn:e bmlders were ne~er so busy . . . Electr1c and hy- ·collieries and at works and on railwa s, are low, and dra~hc firms a.~e also hea.vtly pressed wtth orders ; but for there is little prospect at present of theh being a preci· sta.t10na.ry engmes the demand has fallen off severely. a.bli' rep~enished; the consump~ion is so.great. P/cesare
Sulphate of A mmonia. -Tbis commodity is in fairly ruhng htgh, a.~d _common coa.l1s dearer m proportion than brisk demand at from 12l. 2s. 6d. to 12l. 5s. per ton f.o.b. best.. A~ collie.r~es where there a~ coke ove~ ~be s~aU Leith. The tota l shipments this year amount to about coa.ll.S bemg utill.Sed for coke makmg, and this 18 helpmg 25,000 tons, which is decidedly higher than ab this time to starve the market. last year. =========
Gla3gow Copper Market.-\Vhile no dealing in copper was reported last Thursda.JY forenoon, the sellers' price was given at 79l. 53. per ton. The price lost 5s. pet ton in the afternoon. Copper was neglected on Friday morning, but in the afternoon one lot of 25 tons was dealt in at 78l. 15s. per ton March 30. On ~Ionda.y copper was idle all day. While there were no dealings in copper on Tues. day the price for March 30 wa...q quoted at 79l. 5s. per ton. Copper remained nominal all day.
Extension of Paisley Water Work3.-A meeting of the Water Commissioners w~ held last night - Provost Mackeuzie presiding- when a. report by Mr. J a.mes Lee, master of works, on extensions of the water works, which will be necessary now or in the near future, was submitted . The report! showed that the total cost of the extensions required would be 205,500l. It was afterwards agreed to recommend that, in view of these contemplated extensions, the Commissioners apply for further borrowing powers to the extent of 200, OOOl.
Electric Tramways Contract.- The Tramways Committee of the Corporation have accepted the tender of Messrs. M'Ca.rtney, M'Elroy, and Co., Glasgow, for the construction of the overhead portion of the extension of the electric tramways, which has been sanctioned bJ the Town Council. The contract price is 47,483t., and it includes the providing and fitting up of the poles, wires, and rosettes. The committee have accepted the following tenders by Glasgow firms for the remainder of the underground work, which requires to be done to complete the conversion of the tramway lines : Messrs. Daniel Murra.y, 18.563l.; Messrs. Stark and Sons, 12,85ll. ; M essrs. A. and .J. Faill, 9463l. and Messrs. J a.mes Ca.meron, 4688l. All the contracts are to be completed within a. yt\&r.
NOTES FROM SOUTH YORKSHIRE. SHEFFIELD, Wednesday.
The Hull Coal Trade.-The returns of the Hull Incorporated Chamber of Commerce and Shipping jusb issued show quite an unprecedented condition of trade at that port. The tonnage senb to the port last month reached a. total of 237,136 tons, as compared with 197,616 tons in February, 1899, an increase of 39,520 tons, or 20 per cent. In the last two months 476,592 tons had been forwarded, a.n increase of 75,424 tons, or 18.80 per cenb. on last year. The exporb trade shows even more remarkable figures. The coastwise exports for last month totalled 31,103 tons, L ondon alone taking 26,988 tons. The coastwise exports last year were 25,290 tons, the increase being thus 23 per cane. In the two months just ended 74,491 tons has been despatched coastwise, as against 48, 122 tons last year, an increase of 26, 369 tons, or 54.7 per cent. The exports to foreign countries totalled 112,529 tons, compared with 72,215 tons in February, 1899, an increase of 55.8 per cent. For the two montha the exports reached the unprecedented total of 207,939 tons, an increase of 42,844 tons, or 26 per cent. on la.st year. These figures give a. fair indication of the rush of business which may be expected when the export se~on opens.
N ew Dock for Grimsby.-The growth of the general shipping trade at Grimsby in recent years and the lack of mcrea.sed dock accommodation, recently led the CorJ>Or&tion of that borough to approach the Great Central Railway Company, and urge the provision of greater facilities for ca.rrymg on the trade of the port. L ast week a.n important conference was held of landowners and others interested in the trade of Grimsby, and a. committee has been formed with a view to the construction &.nd development of an independent deep-water dock by
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NOTES FROM CLEVELAND AND THE NORTHERN COUNTIES.
Mrom.ESBBOUGR, W edneed.ay. Tne (Jleveland Iron Trade.-Yesterday the weekly iron
market here was well attended ; a most cheerful tone pre· vailed. Inquirie3 were very numerous, and a fairamoont of business was transacted. Sellers of all descriptions of pig iron were firm at advanced rates, bat several boyent hesi tated to follow the rapid upward movement. Those, however, who needed iron for early delivery were obliged to pay sellers' prices. Prospects for the future were regarded as brigb b and encouraging, and sellers pointed to the low and still decreasing stocks, the improving ~hiP,men ts, and the fact tha.b producers are well sold, as mdi· cations of probable further advances in quotations. No. 3 g. m. b. Cleveland pig iron was sold by both maken and merchants a.b 718. 6d. for early f. o.b. delivery, and that may be regarded as the general market rate, thoogh several genuine buyera endeavoured to place ordeJ'S ab rather less. No. 1 Cleveland pig was advanced to 74s.; No. 4 foundry and grey forge to 70s. 6d.; and mottled and white to 70s.-a.ll for early delivery. Middlesbrough warrants were steady and firm at 71s. 7!d. cash boyers. The demand for ea.sb coast hematite pig was reported pre tty good, and quotations showed some improvement. Advances in price, however, are checked by the cheapness of Cum berland iron. Nos. 1, 2, and 3 ea9t edbb brands sold at 81s. 6d. and up to 82s. 6d. was as~ Y several rua.kers. There was no quot;ation for Middles· brough hema.tite warrants. H.ubio ore w~ ~ery strong at 21s. ex-ship Tees, and there were pred1~tions that a higher rate would rule ere long. To·day Mtddles~rough warrants moved about a. little, falling at one ttme ~ 71s. 3d., but they closed pretty firm at 7ls. 6d. cas buyers. There was no other alteration in the market.
Manufactured Iron and Steel.-The~e is continued very great acti vi by in the finished iron and steel trades and briskness is promised throughout the summer months. Quotations all round are very strong. but ~y do not move U{> at all rapidly. Rails, however, he.vb f } ad va.nced 5s. smce last week. For large orders t e 0
• !owing are the market rates, but small Jots for early delivery have realised considerably higher prices h.Com~= iron bars, 9l. 5s. ; best bars, 9l. 153: ; li'On s tp-d teel Bl. 5l.; and iron ship·a.ngles, steel shtp·~lata3,f a~ 8 ils ship. angles, Sl. 2s. 6d., while heavy sect10ns o. 8 ra or are 7l. 10.s.-a.ll less the usual 2! per cent. dlSCOunt f cash, except rails which are net at works.
Coal and Ooke.- The demand for bunker coal is be~te~, but supplies are plentiful, and from 15s. 6d. f.o.ci>k~ quoted ~fa.nufa.cturing coal showa no change.
1 contin~es in excellent! demand, es~ially edfor 1'Ave:~ sumption, and rates are fully mamt&!D · over blaat-furna.ce qualities keep at 26~. 6d. dehvered here the nexb few months. nal
Messrs. Bolckow, Vaughan, and Co.-At the a~an, rueeting of bhe shareholders of Messrs. Bolc~ow, V ~ug the and Co., the chairman, Mr. Henry Lee_, m movm\are· adoption of the report, justified the act10n of the 818 e holders in paying for the purcha~e of the h Cla~per~y property out of the profits of the year. ~ eJ. cur a yielded a. handsome profi b. It ~as propo jd from large expenditure in sinking a. ptt on pf<?perty be ~ the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, and which was sop f the to contain 40,000,000 tons of coal. The turnove~~h bad company during the paat year w~ ~.OOO,OOOL., cent. debts amounting to only 24l. A d1 v1dend o~: ~m of was declared. The report was adopted. . ebl inati· 1000l. was voted to vartoua religious and c~nta e tutions situa~d near the eompany's properties•
MARCH 16, 1 goo.]
NOTES FRO~I THE SOUTH-WEST. Ca'rdiff.-The steam.coal trade has shown rather more
strength ; and if the demand continues as strong as it is at present, some advance in prices is even antic:ipated. The best steam coal has been making 20s. to 22s. per ton, while secondary qualitieB have brought 19s. to 193. 6d. p~r ton. The house.coal trade has not shown much change; No. 3Rhondda large has made 22s. to 23s. per ton. Foundry coke has brought 32s. to 33s. per ton, and furnace ditto, 28s. to 30s. per ton. As regards iron ore, the host rubio has been quoted at 20s. to 20s. 6d. per ton.
South Wales Coal and Iron.-The quanti ty of coal shipped foreign last month from the five principal 'Velsh ports-Cardiff, Newport, Swansea, Llanelly, and Port Talbot-wa..q 1,397,647 tons, while the quantity shipped coastwise was 331,134 tons. The shipments of iron and steel from the five ports for the month were 2842 tons ; of coke, 9003 tons f and of patent fuel 65,862 tons. The aggregate shipments for the first two months of this year were: Cardiff-coal, 2,631,603 tons; iron and steel, 4207 tons; coke, 12,166 tons; and ~atent fuel, 70,572 tons. Newport-coal, 596,403 tons; uon and steel, 1899 tons; cokt-, 3984 tons; and patent fuel, 15,573 tons. Swansea-coal, 362,857 tons ; iron and stet:l, 68 tons; coke, 2478 tons; and patent fuel, 64,938 tons. Llanelly
· -coal, 39,950 tons. Port Tal bot-coal, 50,176 tons. Grmt Western Colliery CompCtlfly, himited.-Mr. J.
WethEred presided at the eleventh annual meeting of this company at Bristol, and said his anticipations of prosperity in 1899 had been verified. This was largely attributable to a good demand for fuel for the manufacturers of steel and iron, and the ~eneral prosperity in almost every branch of industry at home and abroad, until the supply had been overtaken, with the inevitable consequence of a great and sudden ri~e in prices. No doubt the demand for coal for vessels for South Africa. bad had an influence, but not so much a-s some imagined. The reserve fund was raised from 8952l. to 20, OOOl. ; and, considering the nature of the undertaking, that amount was none too large. The expenditure on the property had increased from 348,967l. to 354,690l. ; buL by writing off 10,000l. for depreciation, it would be reduced to 344,t.i90l. The cost of workmen's compensation and insurance was 2664l. The operation of the Act could not in the present early stages be ea-sily estimated; but it was hoped that the cost would not exceed the amount named. L ast year it was about i<J. per ton. A dividend on the ordinary B shares was declared for the past year ab the rate of 10 per cent. per annum.
The Swamea VaUey.- The steel trade has continued active, and the output of tin bars has been fully an average. A new furnace at the Upper Forest is expected to receive its first charge shortly. The tinplate trade at the Morris ton and Midland Works has not been quite eo flourishing as had been anticipated. The price of tinplates has gone up during the past twelve months to the extent of abont 60 per cent. The various spelter works continue in a satisfactory condition. The foundries and engine sheds are well employed.
Dockyard Staffs.- The uumber of men employed at Portsmouth in the financial year just ending ha-s been 7976, their wages amounting to 574,68ll. At Devonport the number of men employed has been 6772, their wages amounting to 487,915l.; and at Pembroke 2397, the wages amounting to 172,652l. The number of officers employed in the three dockyards in the past financial year has been as follows : Portsmouth, 260; Devonport, 213; and Pembroke, 65. The salaries of these officials have been : Portsmouth, 47,404l. ; Devonport, 39,465l.; and Pembrokt-, 12,607l.
Water S'Upply of Briton FeT'ry.-A new reservoir for supplying tbe Briton Ferry district with water was opened on Tnesday in the presence of the Mayor of Neath and other gentlemen. The amount of the contract was 16.437l., and it was well carried out by the contractor, Mr. J. Allan, of Cardiff.
Coal at Llanelly.-Mr. D. John, of the Felinfoel brewery, has just purchased an extensive taking of coal on the outskirts of Llanelly, between Penprys and Llangennech. A powerful company is to be formed to develop the property.
The Electric Light at Torquay.-At the last meeting of the Torquay Town Council, the Electric Li~hting Committee recommended that, subject to an estimate of the cost being prepared by the engineer (Mr. Storey), the council should apply to the Local Government Board for power to borrow 10,000l. for additional generating and other plant, and 5000l. for extension of mains. In order to save time, the committee advised that specifications should be prepared and tenders invited and accepted for carrying out the works contemplated, conditionally upon the sanction of the L ocal Government Board being obtained to the necessary loan. The committee also re· commended that, upon the completion of the works to the satisfaction of the council, Mr. Storey should receive n. special honorarium of 250l. for his services. The recommendations of the committee were adopted.
SANTOs.-Proposals have been submitted to the municipality of Santos for the electrical lighting of that city.
CaTALOGtTRs.-Messrs. Johnson and Phillips, of the Victoria Works, Old Charlton, have just published a revised price list of carbons for arc lights.-We have received from Meesrs. G. F. Smith, Limited, of the Paragon Iron Works, South Parade, Halifax, a copy of their new catalogue of drilling and boring machines. Illustrations of numerous patterns of radial and other drilling machines are given, and of several designs of boring machines .
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E N G I N E E R I N G.
MISCELLANEA. OwiNG to the enormous demand for furnace coke
cert!l'in producers in the Counellsville district, Pennsylv~rua., haye fallen ~ack on the old system of coking in pll~s, theu ovens. bemg unequal to supplying present requuements. Tlus procedure is, of course, only a temporary measure pending the completion of new ovens.
The traffic re~eipts fo! the week ending March 4, on 33 of the prmctpal hoes of the United Kingdnm a.~ounted to 1,674,185l. , which was earned on 19,86~ m1les. F or the corresponding week in 1899 the receipts of. the same lines amounted to 1,655,207l., with 19,60~ mlles o~en. There was thus an increase of 18,978l. in the receipts, and an increase of 261! in the mileage.
A new swing bridge has just been opened at Carnarvon. The designs were prepared by Mr. C. Wawn M. Inst. C. E. The bridge is of the rotating type, and has lat~ice g.irders. 155 ft. long ove~ all,. and a roadway 7ft. 9 I!J. wide, with a path 2 ft. 6 m. wide on each side. T~e brtdge has unequal arms, the centre of the pivot bemg 101 ft . from the ends of the girder, and a clear ~a.tenya.y of 85 fb. is p rovided. The weight of the bridge 1s carr1~d O? 24 steel roll~ra, and a 2 horse-power Crossley g~ engme .1s used to swmg the span, hand. turning gear bemg prov1ded as a sta.nd·by. . Belgia:n capital c0ntinues to engage itself extensively m Russtan underta.kingf!, many of which are mining and engineering concerns. It is estimated that Belgian companies at present operate in Russia with a. share capital of about 1000 million francs (40,000,000l.), which is a very large sum for such a small country. In the single year -Au.gust., 1898 ~o August, 1899- twenty-eight BelgioRusstan compames were formed out of a total of 57 forei~n Russian eo m pani~, the share capital, as far a-s the Belgian companies are concerned, amounting to about 100,000.000 franc.11.
With reference to the paragraph on page 323 of our 1~~. issue regarding some experiments with Kermode's hqmd fuel system, we understand that Messrs. Sir W. G. Ar~strong, Whitworth, and Co.1 Walker Shipyard, have earned out very careful expenments in this direction with crude Borneo oil, and their results calculated on the same basis as those published in our issue of November 17, 1899, by Mr. Kermode, show an evaporation of 14.48 lb. of water from, and at 212 deg. per lb. of crude Borneo oil with their own system of steam jets. The trial in question was carried out under adverse conditions, and lasted for 24 hours. Since this trial under more satisfactory conditions higher evaporative results have been attained.
The trade and navigation returns for F ebruary show exports amounting to 23,219,849l., an increase of 3,837,443l., or 19.7 per cent., on the corresponding month of 1899, the imports amounting to 37,G04,808l. , an increase of 3,065,699l., or 5.8 per cent. The value of the iron and steel exports was 2,516, 552l., against 1, 727,181l., an increase of 45.7 per cent. ; and of the coal and coke exports 2,680,608l. , against 1,629,426l. , an increase of 04.5 per cent. For two months ended February 28, exports amounted to 46,803,531l. , an increase of 7,073,86ll., or 17.8 per cent. ; imports to 82,160, 722l., an increase of 5, 405,007l., or 7 per cent.; and re-exports to 11,057,790l., an increase of 59,420l., or 0.5 per cent.
Th& English military balloons are lighter and more compact than those adopted by any other Power. Other nations use oiled silk for the envelope, but our constructors use gold beaters' skin, which is very much lighter, an envelope of 10,000 cubic feet capacity weighing only 100 lb. In addition to being lighter than silk, the membrane is much more impermeable. The cable used to oonnect the balloon with the ground is of wire, and weighs but 87 lb. for a length of 550 yards. The total weight of a balloon complete, and capable of lifting two aeronauts, is less than 2 cwt.; to which, however, must be added the weight of the cable. Hydrogen is used for inflation, and is carried compressed in steel bottles, this arrangement being much more convenient than that of generating it on the spot by means of chemicals. This store of compressed gas is the heaviest portion of the equipment, as about 2! tons of bottles are needed to supply one charge to a balloon.
The W estinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Com· pany, who own the American patents of the Pardons steam turbine, have recently put three of these to work. Each set consists of a 500 horse-power turbine coupled direct to a 300-kilowatt alternator, and these alternators are run in parallel. Exhaustive economy tests ba.ve been made of the sets with the following results:
Steam per E lectrical H orsePower Hour.
Lb. At full load .. . . .. . . . . . . 16.4 , three-quarter load . . . . . . .. . 17.0 , one-half load .. . .. . . . . . .. 18.2 , , one-quarter load .. . . .. . . . 22.0
The boiler pressure was 125 lb. per square inch. The W estinghouse Company have now a turbo-generator of 1500-kilowatt capacity in course of construction. The spindle of this machine, complete with its vanes, weighs 2800 lb., and is 6 ft. in diameter across the largest set of turbines. The designed speed is 1200 revolutions per minute. This g_enera.tor is to be t-sta.blished at the works of the United Light and Power Company, New York.
The continued increase in machinery sizes has apparently occasioned a demand for weighing machines of ex· ceptional dimensions, and we have this week received notes descriptive of such from two different makers. One of these firms, Messrs. W. and 'T, Aver:y, Limited. inform us that
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353 they have just completed a100-ton platform weighing ma· chine for a northern shipyard. The platform, which is 25 ft. long, is provided with rails both to the standard gauge and to a 7-ft. gau~e. Tested under a. full load, the machine proved sens1tive t? an addition of .7 lb., or to a~C?ut 1 part in 30,000, which 1s about three times a.s sensitive as required by the Board of Trade regulations. The second machine, which has been built by Messrs. Henry Pooley and ons, Limited, of Kidegrove, North Staffordshire, is intended for use in the Ebbw Vale Steel Works for weighing rails. The most remarkable feature of this !D~chine is the extraord~nary leng:th of th~ P,la.tform ; It IS 71ft. long and 7ft. w1de, and It has a weighmg ca.paci ty of 60 tons.
In a .Paper recently published in the ''Journal of the Frank! m Institute" for J a.nuary, Dr. Coleman Sellers remarks that the introduction of the Whitwortb forging press marked an important advance in the working of tron and steel as compared with the costly steam hammers previously in use, and hydraulic presses became absolutely essential in perfecting the link and pin system of bridge construction. Some of the forgings required for the 5000 horse·power dynamos needed by the Nia.gara Falls Power Company could not, be stated, have been executed by means of any existing steam hammer in America or elsewhere, and the Bethlehem Iron CompR.ny were the first to introduce into the States the hydraulic system of forgin~ on a large scale. Forging by pressure in place of Impact by hammers enabled deformation of metal to be effected with the least expenditure of power and with great exactness, as was soon manifested in the readiness with which hollow shafts were produced . About 1893 the work at Niagara Falls called for steel rings of absolute uniform density, having an outside diameter of 11 ft. 4 in., with a width on the face of approximately 50 in., and a thickness of over 5 in., wh10h ncce!!sita.ted the use of a. press of greater capacity than any heretofore erected. The press at Bethlehem, combined with the Wbitworth system of compressed steel ingots, was taxed to its utmost to make what was needed in this case. It is interesting to note, he added, that tbis work was the first product of machinery introduced mainly to furnish armour.pla.tes and the massive steel forgings needed for modern ships of war.
In the second of his course of Cantor Lectures on the "Photography of Colour," delivered at the Society of Arts, Mr. E. Sanger Shepherd discussed the problem how to represent a coloured object in a monochrome print. He referred to the difference between contrasts of colour and contrasts of shadow, and pointed out that all that could be done in monochrome was to represent the respective luminosities of the different colours. After remarking on the different luminosities of the colours of the spectrum, be said that ordinary silver bromide plates were infinitely more sensitive to the rays of the violet end than of any others. To get negatives of equal density throu~hout, therefore, two methods were possible -either the vwlet and blue might be screened off so a.s to allow the other end to pick up, or the plate might be made more sensitive to red, orange, and green than to blue. In connection with the latter alternative, he mentioned the curious fluorescing property possessed by certain dyes, and pointed out that if such substances were mixed with the emulsion, the light, owin~ to the fluorescence produced, w0uld affect the plate m much the same way as if it consisted entirely of blue rays. In this way we could get part of the way towards a perfect photograph of the spectrum, but we were still far from a perfect plate, and he doubted whether one could ever be produced by this means. The lecturer next explained the principle on which the luminosity of a piece of transparent coloured glass could be measured. and illustrated the action of the machine used for the purpose. Coming next to colour filters as a means by which different coloured objects could be made to produce images of equal density on the photographic plate, he rejected liquid solutions and stained glass as unsuitable for the purvose, and pronounced in fa.vour of aniline dyes, sealed up m gelatine or collodion between glasses. By experiment a number of these had been found of fair per· manency, and by combining suitable ones in a colour filter, a perfeot photograph of the spectrum could be obtained.
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ELECTRIC PowER IN CALIFORNIA.-The Edison Electric Company is about to snpply Santa. Ana, California, with electricity generated at the Santa Clara in the San Bernardino Mountains 100 miles away. The company is already supplying L os Angeles with electricity from the same source at a distance of 83 miles.
THlil TRIAL OF TBE "HIGHFLYER " AND THE "HERMEE." - In answer to a question put by Mr. John Penn, the following details of the trials of H.M.SS. Highfiyer and Hermes were given by Mr. Goschen in the House of Commons on Monday last, as reported to the Admiralty by telegraph : " The results of the last two trials of the Highflyer and Minerva are as follow, as reported by telegraph : March 3, 1900. Minerva and Hi~hflyer completed satisfactorily C 2 steam trials (i.e., of 60 hours' duration at 17 knots) ; coal, all purposes, Minerva 3b8 tons, Highflyer 375 tons; coal per mdicated horse-power, engines only, Minerva 1.95, Highflyer 2.07; coal per indicated horse-power, all purposes, Minerva. 2.22, Highflyer 2.37." "March 7, 1900. Minerva and Highflyer completed satisfactorily D 1 steam trials (i.e., of 30 hours' duration at hi~hest speed that can be maintained); coal, all purposes, Minerva 225 tons, Highflyer 267 tons; coal 12er indicated horse-power, engines only, Minerva 1.97 Highflyer 2.1; coal 'Q__er indicated horse-power, all pur~ poses, Minerva 2.22, Highflyer 2.52. Highflyer averaged 400 horse· power, and l knot greater ~peed than Minerva,"
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MARCH 16, 1900.]
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AGENTS FOR "ENGINEERING." AusTRIA, Vienna: Lehmann and Wentzel, Kartnerstrasse. CAPE TOWN · Gordon and Gotch.
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TBLRGRAPHIO ADDRR88~ENGINEERING, LONDON. TELBPRONR NUMBER-3668 Gerrard.
• CONTENTS. PAGE
Modern Field Artillery (ll-ltt$trated) . . .. .. . . . . .. . . 339
PAGF. The Vincennes Annexe of
Hand and Maohine Labour 340 Notes ............ ..... . •. 359 The Waterways of Russia . . 341 The Paris International Ex·
the Paris Exhibition . . . . 358
Royal Engineers • . . . . . . . . . 360 The Scott Engine Trials at
hibition (Ill us.) . . . . . . . . 344 Arohed Bridges over the
Rhine (fllttSt1'ated) . • . . . . 348 West Afr10an Railways •.. . 349 The Jones Underfed Me·
chanioal Stoker (IUus.) . . 350 Notes from the United
States .... . ..... .. ...... 351 Notes from the ~orth .. .... 352 Notes from South Yorkshire 352 Notes from Clevehmd and
the Northern Counties .. 352 Notes from the South-West 363 Miscellanea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353 The Weight of Motor Wa~ons 355 Strikes and Poor Relief . . . . 356 Iron and Steel- British and
American . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357
Ranelagh Works ... . .... 361 The War in South Alrica . . 361 Mechanical Flight . . . . . . . . 361 Marine Engine Working . •. 361 Engineering at Cape Town 362 Continuous v. Polyphase
Motors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 362 Squaring the Cirole (ll·
lustrated) .. .. . . .. . . .. .. 262 Rail way Accidents . . . . . . . . 362 Okes' Safety Cover for Mud
Holes (lllttttrated) . . . . . . 363 Industrial Notes . . . . . . . . . . 363 Portable Pneumatic Tools
(llltl8tra.ted) . . . . . . . . . . 365 " Engineering'' Patent Re
cord (fllm trated) . • . • . . . • 367
With a. Two-Page Engraving of an ARCHED BRIDGE JJ.OROSS TBE RIVER RHINE .AT BO.NN: DET~ILS OF FOUNDATIONS.
E N G I N E E RI N G. 355 ...
first anticipated. The oil engine at th~t time was NOTICE TO CONTINENTAL ADVERTISERS. looked upon by many as the only possible motor.
Advertisements from Germany should now be sent It was splendidly boomed by a number of v~r~ through Messrs. G. L. Daube and Co., Frankfurt-am- pushing individuals, aided by a few honest ~ Main, who have been appointed our Sole Agents for misguided " mech.anica.l cranks ; " to ad~pt ~ · e that country for Trade displayed Advertisements. American expressiOn for half-fled.ged engmeenng Advertisements from France, Belgium, and Bol· amateurs. Happily the country-side has no~ been land should be sent through the Agence Havas, overrun by droves of useless motor cars m the 8, Place de la Bourse, Paris, our Sole Agents for way predicted ; but some ~ood. and useful work those countries for similar Advertisements. - has been done in another direction. One or two
READING OASES. - Reading cases for contnin.i ng twenty-six numbers of ENGINRERING may be had of the Pubhsher or of any newsagent. Price 6s. each.
NOTICES OF MEETINGS. INSTITUTION OF Cn·IL ENGINBBR8. - Tuesdn.y, March 20, at 8 p.m.
Papers to be 1·ead with a. view to di.sc:u~sio,~ : 1. " The Great C~ntral Railway Extension- Northern Dms10n, by ~fr. F. W. B1~der, l\1. lost. C.E. 2. " The Great Central Ra1lway ExtensiOnSouthern Division," by Mr. F. Douglas Fox, M.A., Assoo. M. Inst. C. E. Students' visit, Friday,March 16, a.t2.30 p .. m., to the Cathedral works in progress at Ashley-place, Westmmster. (Assemble at the works at 2.30.) St udents' meeting, Friday, .March 23, at 8 p.m. Mr. D. Drummond, M. Inst., C.E., in the oha1~. Pap~r t~ be read : " The Development of the Modern Locomotive Engme, by Mr. J. W. Cross, Stud. Inst. C. E.
INSTITUTION OF ELRCTRICAL ENGINEER8.- Thursday, M~rch 22, at 8 p. m., at the Insti tution of Civil Er:tgineers. "Storage Battery P t·oblems," by Mr. E. J. Wade, AssoCiate.
INSTITUTION OF E LECTRICAL ENGTNBERS: STUDKNTS' SECTION. - Students' visit to the Works of 1\Iessrs. Ea.ston, Anderson, a~d Qoolden, Limited, on Saturday, 1\Iaro~ 24, at 11 a.m. A tram starts at 9. 50 from Cha.ring Cross for Er1th. .
ROYAL INSTlTOTION OF GREAT BRITJ.IN.-Fr1day, Mar<:h 23, at 9 o'clook Sir Andrew Noble, K.C.B., F.R.S., M. Inst. C. E., M.R.I. Subject:, "Some :\lodern Explosives." Afternoon leotures next weE'It, at. 3 o'clock. On Tuesday, March 20, Professor E. ~ay L!Lnkester, M. A., LL.D., F.R.S., on "The Structure and Classlficatton of Fishes " (Lecture X.). On Thuraday, March 22, Mr. Halford John Maokinder, M.A., on "Equatorial East Africa a~d Mount l{enya (Lecture 1.) On Saturday, March 24, The R•ght Hon. Lord Rayleigh, M.A., D.C.L., LL.D., Sc.D., F.R.S., M.R.I., on " Polarised Light " (Lecture IV.).
SOOIETV OF AR.TS.-Monda.y, March 19, at 8 p.m. Cantor Lectures. 11 Photography of- Colour," by Mr. E. Sanger Shepherd. Four Lectures. (Lecture Ill.) Wednesday, Maroh 21, at 8 p.m. "The Use and Abuse of Food Preservatives," by Dr. Samuel Rideal. Mr. Otto Hehner, F.I.C., F.C.S., will preside. .
ROYAL METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY.-Wednesday, the 21th lOSt., at 7 30 p m at the Institution of Civil Engineers, Great Oeorgestreet · W~stmioster. The following papers will be read : "The Ether,Sunshine Recorder," by Mr. W. TJ. Dines, B. A., F.R.Met.Soo. "Remarks on the Weather Conditions of the Steamship Traok between Fiji and Hawaii," by Captain M. W. C. Hepworth, F.R. Met. Soo. "Comparison by Means of Dotl3," by Mr. Alexander B. MacDowall, M.A., F.A. Met. Soc.
INSTITUTION OF MECHANICAL ENGINEER8. - Thursday, March 22. The chair will be taktn by the President, Sir William H. White, KC. B .. , LL. D., D.Sc. , li'.R.S., at 8 o'clock. Adjoumed discussion of the two following papers : "Improvements in the Longworth Power Hammer," by Mr. Ernest Samuelson, Member, of Ban bury; and "Portable Pneumatio Tools," by Mr. Ewart C. Amos, Member of London. Paper : "Observations on an Improved Glass Revea.ler for Studying Condensation in Steam·Engine Cylinders, and, Rendering: the Effects Visible," by Mr. Bryan Donkin, Member of Council, London. .
TilE ST.U' ~'ORDSIIIRE IRON AND STEEL INSTITOTE. - The SIXth meeting vf the session will be held at the Institute, Dudley, on Saturday the 24th inst. at 7 p.m., when Mr. Oodfrey Mella.nd, B.Sc. (Vict.) A.R.S.M., F. I. C. (Mason University College), will read a paper ~n "The Relations of Aluminium to Iron."
TilE INSTITUTE OF lliRINE ENOINEERS.- Friday, Maroh 16, at 7 p.m. The Annual Meeting.
ENGINEERING. FRIDAY, MARCH 16, 1900.
THE WEIGHT OF MOTOR WAGONS. THE Light Locomotives Act of 1896 was a measure
that was received with as much general approval by the public as, perhaps, any piece of domestic legislation of recent years. It was looked upon as the emancipation of a promising field of industry from unjust legislative trammels. No one looked this gift-horse of Parliament very carefully in t he mouth, the good intentions of our legislators being taken as sufficient evidence of the wisdom of tho Bill. The Act was to create a new industry, and practically no one existed who had the experience needful for criticising it from the point of view of engineering details. The chief thing that people thought of was speed, for it was concluded t hat makers would soon tul.·n out vehicles that would go as fast as the law would permit. Another circumstance that militated against proper criticism of the Bill was the fact that those persons who were loudest in their cry for the 1nea.sure were looking chiefly to company-promoting ends. They thought little about the making of self-propelled carriages and carts, if only they could take ad vantage of the popular wave of enthusiasm to extract a few thousands from the pockets of the more easily duped classes. It has always been a matter of satisfaction to us that we did something at the t ime towards checkmating these questionable operations.
Since the passing of the 1896 Act some progress has been made in the art of designing self-propelled vehicles; but not altogether in the directioo at
manufacturers who have devoted t hemselves to the development of steam wagons for goods t raffic, have worried through the difficulties inherent to an~ new engineering departure, and we seem .now, to JUdge by some examples of these vehicles ~e have recently seen, likely to witness a notable Improve-£ ment in the carrying facilities at the command o the rural districts.
There is however one very serious obstacle to this advan~e, the w~ight allowed for vehicles. The Act of 1896 (59 and 60 V., c. 36) exempts from the provisions of former Acts :
Any vehicle propelled by mechan~cal power, if it is under 3 tons in weight unladen, and 18 . not used for .the purpose of drawing more than o~e ve~1cle (such veh1cl~ with its locomotive not to exceed ~n. weight 4 to~s), a~d 1s so constructed that no smoke or v1S1ble vapour 18 e~:xntted therefrom, except from any temporary or acc1dental cause.
It will t herefore be seen that for a. motor vehicle to have t he advant~ge of the Act, it must be under 3 tons in weight.
It is further provided that : In calculating for the purpose of this Act the weight of
a vehicle unladen, the weight of any wa~r, fuel, or accumulators used for the purpose of propulsiOn, shall not be included. ·
The chief reason for the legislation limit ing the weight of any vehicle is evidently to save t~e public highways from damage. So far as the sohd road is concerned, any undue wear from abnormally heavy wheel loads can be provided against by .proportioning the width of tyre to the total we1ght; as in the old days, wagon tolls were dependent on the width of t he felloes. A more important consideration than that of damage to road surface is the strength of bridges. Damage to such structures is, however, provided against by the Act in a sufficient manner by another clause; for it is laid down that :
The council of any county or county borough shall have power to make bye-laws preventing or restricting the use of such locomotives upon any bridge within their area, where such council are satisfied that such use would be attended with damage to the bridge or danger to the public.
Under these circumstances, so far as the probability of breaking down bridges is concerned, one would t hink that a hard-and-fast limit of weight might have been omitted from the Act. The local authorities would be sure to protect their bridges by a sufficient bye-law, and owners of self-propelled vehicles woulcl have the opportunity of running higher weights on the solid ground, even if they were debarred crossing weak bridges.
The ultimate test to which a bridg~ is put does not, however, consist only of the weight of the vehicle, but of the vehicle plus the load. Here the question may be complicated by the number of wheel() and the length of wheelbase; possibly under extreme conditions the weight of the horses ought to be taken into consideration in making a comparison between animal and mechanical traction. We are informed that some of the Liverpool lorries carry 10 tons, and if the weight of the vehicle be added the collective load on t he four wheels would be perhaps not far short of 12 tons. It seems a litt le unfair that such weights should be permitted to horse-dra wn vehicles when mechanical traction is limited to smaller loads. It is true that the motor wagon is likely to go far afield, whilst the Liverpool lorries are for purely local traffic, but there always ren1ains the right of the county or borough authorities to pro· tect their bridges by special bye-la. ws.
These considerations are, or rather should be, a little beyond the mark ; for it is the duty of those having control of high roads to bring them up to the requirements of reasonable traffic. Corporations, boards, and other local authorities are far too apt in the present day to act obstructively to improvement ; in the towns by trying to get power into their own hands, in the rural districts by takin~ t heir stand on the principle that because a thing was so 100 years ago it must remain so for ever. In both cases the result is generally
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the same, nothing is done t hat can possibly be left undone. I t is Parliament, however, not t he local authorities, that is responsible for the 3-ton limit; but when Parliament releases its re~triction, the hampering nature of which was n ot seen at the time it was made, then it will be necessary for t he r oad authorities to bring t he high ways up to t he demands made upon them.
Mr. Thornycroft, who has taken up t he manufacture of steam wagons in a very thorough manner, says that a motor vehicle to carry 3 to 5 tons load can hardly be b uilt to weigh less than 3 tons. Mr. Thornycroft, as we all know, is a past-master in t he arti of designing l igh t machinery, and, if he says, after four years' exp erience, a thing cannot b e done, we may assume t hat such is a fact. I t is true t hat by the application of most ex pensive materials-large quantities of aluminium are used - and a lavish expenditure on costly machining operations, t he tare has been barely kept within t he legal limit ; but t he end can only be reached by making the vehicles unduly expensive. By t he undue cutting down of weigh t, not only is first cost increased but upkeep also, as t he factor of safety is whittled away. Ample evidence of this has been already given in actual work. In one case of breakd own we call to mind, the cylinder castings wer e too t h in even to bear the steam pressure, and, indeed, the whole mechanism was so light as to merit the n ame of fl imsy, had it not been for the excellence of the workmanship. On the other hand, those firms which have been willing to put in honest and durable, but not superfin e, machinery, have been driven out of the market. Although Mr. Thornycrofti may doubtless claim a gratifying immunity from breakdown, i t is only by lavish expenditure t ha t this end has been obtained. Especially in t his motor wagon business we need just now competition, but t hat we are not Yery likely to get until t he law is alter ed.
The question of damage to road surface by extra weight is one t hat should not occasion much discussion. The motor vehicle, with fairly wide tyres, is more likely to improve t han to cause deterioration to a properly constructed road, having a good foundation. Seven ty years ago-for t he ''steam on common roads " problem is a very ancient one - it was s tated in t he r eport of a Parliamentary Committee t hat with steam coaches t he wider tyr es that would be adopted, would prevent t he roads being so injuriously acted upon, and allusion is made to the now well-recognised fact t hat it is what Mr. P unch 's "vet." referred to as t he "'ammer, 'ammer , 'ammer on t he 'ard 'igh road, " which, not only " ' urts the 'orses 'oofs," but also breaks up the surface.
The French makers of motor vehicles have considerable freedom as regards weight, and there are strong r easons in favour of t his course. Mr. Thornycroft advocates a rule providing t hat t he maximum load should bear a proportion to t he width of tyre, basing t he ratio on existing p ractice with horse - d rawn car ts and wagons. Mr. Burls, in a paper read on this subject, states t hat '' from obser vations of t he lurry tyres used at Liverpool for the t ransport of heavy loads by horse t raction, it has been proposed that a gross load of two-thirds of a ton per inch width of tyre may safely be permitted." As an illustration , he supposes a. case in which t he useful load is ~ t ons carried on a four-wheeled wagon. The weight of t he vehicle would be 5 tons, t hat of fuel, water, &c., 2 tons, which, with the useful load of 8 tons, would make a gross total of 15 tons. This would aive 22~· in . total tyre width , and that might be distributed in the proportion of 5 in. to each of the two forward tyres, and 6t in. to each of the rear tyres or 23 in. altogether. Such a vehicle, Mr. Burls state~ would maintain wit h ease a speed of 4 to 5 miles' an hour on ordinary r oads and in every-day work. The Local Government B oard Regulations at present provide that for a motor carriage of 15 cwt. to 1 ton the width of tyre on each wheel shall n ot be less t han 2~ in., for 1 ton up to 2 tons :~ in., and from 2 tons to 3 tons 4 in.
The width of tyre has an important beari~g on the tractive resistance. When the wheel Is so narrow that it mades a rut, the resistance goes up enormously. The t ractive resistance on railroads is 10 lb. per ton, on good asphalte 15 lb., on ~ood paving 30 lb., best macadam 43 lb., ordinary macadam 60 lb. to 80 lb., and on soft macadam 97 lb. Best gravel is 57 lb., a sand r oad 360 lb., and finally loose sand, 560 lb. Some experimen~s hearing on this point are q uoted b;y Mr. Burls 1n
E N G I N E E RI N G.
h is paper. The Uniteq States Agricultural Bureau caused a loaded wagon with 2-in. tyres to be ~auled over a dirt road, making deep ruts. Fourm.ch tyres were next su bstitu ted , and t he tractive resistance was found to be r educed by on e-half. The author had seen a steam wagon take 3i tons up an incline of 1 in 6 on hard dry macadam, but it failed to carry 3 tons up a gradient of 1 in 10 on a recently rolled macadam surface, into which the wheels sunk sligh tly. The following appears even more convincing as to the value of road surface. A team of mules easily hauled 3 tons up a smooth macadam surface of 1 in 10, but they failed to pull the same load down a falling gradient of 1 in 16 on a sand road , though i t was shown by a tractograph that double t he pull was being exerted in the latter case.
The question of control has a lso to be considered in dealing with t h is question of load, but here it is still more imperative to take t he gross weight rather t han to reduce the weight of vehicle. Indeed, one might logically go to t he opposite extreme, for a 4· ton steam wagon carrying 3 tons is likely to be under more efficient cont rol t han a. 3-ton wagon carrying 4 t ons. The queEltion here is of a complicated nature, far too much so to be made t he subject of any cast-iron legislation.
So far as we are aware, Continental nations have not found it necessary to impose a fixed tare l imit. In France, where t he motor car has found its most extended field, the la w r equires t hat vehicles proposed for any route shall be submitted to t he engineers of t he d epartment of P onts et Ghattssees concerned. The system appears to work well in France, but we by no means advocate a corresponding plan in t his country. In t he first place, we have noth ing q uite corresponding to the P onts et Ghaussees, and we imagine t hat motor-car b uilders and users are by no means anxious to be under t he t h urn b of local boards and r ural road au thorities. The French builders have, as a matter of fact, been allowed greater freedom than their English brethren. We are informed that the steam motor cars of t hese prominen t makers have a tare of 4! tons for a useful load of 2 tons ; which certainly seems high. In another well-known case it needs a tare of 7t tons to carry 3 tons of passengers on board, whilst a trailer is hauled weighing 3! tons and can be loaded with another 3 tons of passengers. The English engineers have done better than t his in ca rrying a 4-ton cargo on a 3-ton tare; in fact, during the Liverpool trials of last year the Thornycroft " No. 2 , carried 6! tons on a 4-ton tare.
A tont· de force such 1\S t his may be very gratifying from what is known in t he show yard as a "racing" point of view, but probably the French structures are commercially superior to our own vehicles, in spite of the more brilliant performance of the latter. What are needed now are practical results, not show-yard competitions. The makers of these s team-p ropelled freight vehicles are coming more and more to recognise every day t hat t hey must abandon all suspicion of flimsiness if t hey are to achieve any lasting success. I t has been drummed into them by hard experience on t he road side. The lesson was learned years ago by the traction engine builder, and motor car de&igners ar e working in the same direction of strength and rigidity. In some respects t hese ends have been reached by a more skilful disposition of material, but when science has done i ts utmost, bulk is still needed. H ere it is the Act of 1896 blocks the way, and by an inflexible r estriction chokes t he new industry it essayed to create.
We must not, however, blame St. Stephen 's for what Great George-street or Storey's Gate has more recently found out . The fact is that until actual experiment was made even locomotive engineers had no idea what large powers were required for steaming on common roads. It is all p lain enough since it has been shown to us, but at first we were misled by one of our familiar terms, ''horse-power." A pair of horses would be q uite able to drag a load of 3 tons in a van, then why should not a 3 effective horse-power steam engine do the same thing 1 Or suppose we allow a further margin of 100 per cent . , and make it 6 horse-power, surely that would be sufficient. Probably no engineer, at any rate not one at all accustomed to traction problems, ever argued in this way ; but it is a fact apparently that no one engaged in motor-car design at first quite recognised how much power really was needed. But we now find 3-ton vehicles fitted with engines of 25 to 30 indicated horse-power, and Mr. Burls reminds us t hat Mr. Steavenson stated
•
(MARCJI I 6, I 900.
at t he last Engineel'ing Congress that one horse developed as much as 13 " engineer's horse-power " for sever al secon_ds in starting a heavy load.
U nder these cucumstances one can easily understand that ~he horse,. as. a traction engine, takes a lot of beatmg. H e 1s hke an electric motor that can be enormous]y overloaded, and which carries a large battery of accumulators that weigh nothing. Moreover, when he gets his hoofs firmly planted every pound tells ; t here is no slipping of the wheels in t he same hole ; if they go round at all the car t goes on. In spite of t his the horse has been beaten , and will be superseded for some, perhaps a go~d many, uses, t hough certainly not all, even p uttmg pleasure and sport on one side as some en t husiasts have declared. '
The brilliancy of the success of the steam rail· road so dazzled us three-quarters of a century ago that we have hardly yet recovered our clear vision. \'\
7 e let canal traffic slip ; our country hiohways are in the same condition they were 100 years ago excepting where they are much worse. But areat as t he rail way is, and marvellous as are tht3 ch:naes it has wrought, i t must ahvays lack mobillty. That is t he drawback to any rail system that runs on a schedule. The vehicles cannot overtake and pass each other, and they must stick to their lines. The advantage t he motor wagon has in this respect compensates for t he increased tractive resistance due to absence of rails ; but much might be done even in this respect. If road engineers would lay macadam as Macadam would have laid it, the figure of de-merit of 97 for soft macadam might be reduced to the figure of merit of 42 given by Telford for best macadam. Perhaps some day we may er-en go beyond that, and when motor wagons become more common objects of the coun~ry, a county authority will awake to the fact that roads as well as railways are useful for goods traffic, and will r evert to the level trams of the last century. Then tractive resistance may be further reduced to, say, 20 lb. to 30 lb. per t on, and yet vehicles would be able to pa~s each other when going the same way. The boon t his would be to agriculturists would be great. We need all the help we can get in solving the ever-growing problem of foreign competition, of which transport is one of t he leading factors.
STRIKERS AND POOR RELIEF. T HE recent decision of the Court of Appeal in
t he case of the Attorney General and the Powell Duffryn Steam Coal Company, Limited (on behalf of t hernsel ves and all other ratepayers of the Merthyr Tydfi l Union) v. the Guardians of. the Merthyr Tydfil Union, will be read with a consider· able feeling of relief by employers of labour throughout t he country. The short effect of t~e decision is that strikers cannot lawfully obtam relief from the rates, although the guardians _of the poor may assis t the wives and children ?f strikers.
It will be remembered t hat when thlB case came before L ord (then Mr. Justice) ~~mer .last year, his lordship refused to grant an !~Junction to re· s train the guard ians from giving assiStance, because (a) the Local Government Boa~d wa~ co?Btituted by statute a special t ribunal for .mvestigatmg c~es of this nature ; (b) the declaration aske~ fo.r "as t oo vague, omitting all reference to spec1al Circ~m: stances arising from hidden and urgent .necess1ty ' (c) the guardians, in acting as. they d1d, had ob· tained the consent and sanctwn of the Lo~l Government Board. .After an argument wh1ch lasted for six days the Court of Appeal has reversed this decision. In the course of. a lengthy judgment Lord Justice Lindley said : '' The penalty inflicted by the Vagrants Act of 5 George IV., Clause 83, section . 3, upon every able-bodied man refusing to work IS for a wrong done by t he person imprisoned ; and the wr~ng done is by becoming chargeable, or by rendermg others whom he ought to support, chargeable. on the rates when he had no justification for so domg. I t would be an entire perversion of this statute to construe it as ent itling an able· bodied ~1an, who could support himself if he would to rehe~ of .a.ny kind by the parish authorities. . . . The mab~t~ to maintain himself, which j ustifies an able-bodie. man in requiring relief from the poor law _au~:ties must I apprehend be a real actual ma 1 .Y
' ' ' h · h h can m to suppor t himself on any terms w IC e. d fact comply with, and which,, as ~et~een hiJ? a~o t he ratepayers, do not j ustify lum m ref~smg bl~ suvport himself." After referring at C0D8ldera
MARCH I 6, I 900. J length to the poor law statutes, which have been passed from time to time since the days of Elizabeth, his lordship continued : ''The colliers who struck work were able-bodied men, who might have obtained work, and who might have maintained themselves and their families. These men, when relieved, were not so reduced by want as to be unable to keep themselves and their families off the rates, and it was their clear duty to do so if they could. The authorities were not justified either by the poor law statutes or by any regulations made under them in affording such relief. . . . To use t he rates to support strikers or any other persons able to support themselves is in my opinion illeaal. Mr. Justice Romer has t reated the case as b~ng one of urgent necessity, and has held t hat the guardians were justified in granting relief on that ground. To my mind, if a poor person physically able to work can obtain work and so support himself and family there is no urgent necessity, nor any necessity at all, for granting him relief., His lordship granted a declaration to the effect that the payment by the defendants out of the poor rates of any monoy for setting to work or for the relief of able-bodied men, who were at the time able to obtain and perform work at wages sufticient to support themselves (and their wives and families if any), was unlawful and ought to be disallowed by the auditor on auditing the defendants' ac~ounts, but concluded by saying, ' " This declaration does not include relief given to, or for, the wives and children of such men, and the said declaration is without prejudice to, and is in no way to affect, the power of t he Local Government Board to remit such disallowed payments, although unlawfully made, under the Statute 11 and 12 Vict. chap. 91, s. 4, or any other statute enabling them 1)0 to do."
In so far as this case is likely to have any effect upon disputes between employers and employed, it will be seen that the proviso to t he j udgment of the Master of the Rolls considerably weakens its force as a weapon in the hands of the masters. The knowledge that relief for his wife and family may be obtained from the rates, while his own wants can be provided for by the union funds will hardly operate to deter the would-be striker.
But coupling this decision with that of the revising barrister, who, in September, 1898, deprived about 12,000 men of the power of voting because they were receiving relief from t he parish, it will be seen that the striker is indeed in an evil case ; on the one hand if he is provided with relief he is deprived of t he rights of citizenship; on the other hand, assuming t hat his union is powerless to assist, starvation stares him in the face. '' To use the rates to support strikers " is, in the opinion of the Master of the Rolls, illegal- an opinion which will be shared by all reasonable men.
An exercise of the power vested in t he Local Government Board, with which, apparently, the Court has no power to interfere, may also charge the ratepayer with payment of relief money to strikers and t heir families. We are not a ware, however, that the Local Government Board often interferes with the poor law guardians in relat ion to questions of poor relief, nor are the various boards of guardians likely to run counter to t his decision of the Court of Appeal, and make liberal provision for those who are physically capable of supporting themselves and their families.
IRON AND STEEL BRITISH AND AMERICAN.
THE American Iron and Steel Association gives, in the form of a supplement to the B1clletin , which it publishes, some interesting particulars of the iron industry of the United States during the past year. These have been compiled by Mr. J. M. Swank, from details supplied by the makers. Our readers are aware how remarkably the production of pig iron has advanced in America recently, it having more than doubled during the last five years, the figure for 1899 being 13,620,703 tons gross. It is true that by taking the period named the advance is made to appear more remarkable than it would do if the comparison were extended further back, because the year 1894 showed a lower total than had been reached for some time previously, owing to the commercial panic of 1893. Twenty years ago, in 1879, the United States produced only about 2f million tons of pig iron (2, 741,853); ten years later, the output had increased by nearly 5 million tons (7,603,642); whilst iu 1899 t he total was, as atated, 13,620,703 tons.
E N G I N E E R I N G.
The increase of 1899 on 1898 was 1, 846,769 tons, the total for the latter year being 11,773,934. This amounted to an advance of 16 per cent., an astonishing rate . of progress in view of the magnitude of the fi gures. But great as the advance is it is even exceeded on a comparison which takes u~ one year further back, for iu 1897 the product was 9, 652,680 tons ; so that between 1897 and 1898 there was an increment of 2, 121,254 tons. The jump from 1894 to 1895 was greater still ; but, as already intimated, 1894 was not a normal year owing to the panic of the previous year. The consumption of iron in the United States last year somewhat exceeded the quantity made, the additional amount used being accounted for by a reduction of stock held, and by a h·ifling quantity imported. There were 289 furnaces in blast at the end of 1899, an increase of 87 on the previous year. On the ot her hand, we had 297 furnaces in blast in 1898, or 95 more than the Americans had, although our product in pig iron was 3,164,215 tons less than theirs ; a fact bearing eloquent testimony to the manner in which American furnaces are driven. According to Mr. Swank's figures, the larger part of the iron produced in 1899 was Bessemer pig, which accounted for 8, 202,778 tons of the total. Basic pig amounted to 985,033 tons. Spiegeleisen and ferro-manganese was produced to the extent of 219,768 tons, whilst the production of charcoal pig iron was 284,766 tons.
How far these totals exceed the corresponding figures for our own manufact ure we need hardly point out . It was in 1890 that we lost to the United States our premier position as an iron-producing country which we had held since the foundations of the modern industry were completed. No longer ago than the year 1884 our total pig-iron product was not very far from double that of America, who came second to us. During the next six yearA the United States had more than doubled their output whilst we had practically stood still, so that the Americans- who, at the end of the previous year, had been nearly ;} million tons behind us- at a bound headed us by over a 1! million tons. That is to say, between 1889 and 1890, they made a gain of nearly 2 million tons more than we did. This lead they have held since, with the exception of two years. The first was the bad period of 1894, already mentioned, and t he next was in 1896, when the t wo nations made almost a dead heat, we having a trifling ad vantage. In 1884 we produced in Great Britain 7,811, 727 tons of pig iron, and our total in 1898 was 8,609, 719 tons, so that in the latter year America beat us by over 3,000,000 tons. Last year's figures will probably show an excess in favour of American production equal to our own total product in 1881, and probably equal to our own total product in 1862, or, say, something over 4,000,000 tons.
The causes that have led to this rapid progress in America are many, but t heir exact value and influence may be a matter of dispute. The most controversial is that which depends on the American high import duties, but whatever may be said about the pernicious influence of protection in killing competition, which is the spur to improvement, there is no doubt that the Americans have brought their blast-furnace practice to a very high degree of perfection. At the present time the demand for iron and steel is so excessive t hat no just estimate can be formed of economy of production by studying prices current; but American ironmasters, especially those o£ the Alabama district, express themselves confident, not only of being able to beat British makers in neutral markets, under normal conditions, but that they will be able to unload surplus stocks in the United Kingdom without undue sacrifice. The great question of freight - which one would think would be final with the Atlantic Ocean and 200 or 300 miles of land carriage between the furnace and the English port-- they hope to solve hy getting remarkably low rates in cotton ships owing to the fact that the iron is useful as ballast. Already a good deal has been sent away in this manner, but chiefly, we believe, when business was so dull a few years ago, that supply was altogether in excess of home demand. As to railway carriage from the works to the port of shipment, that is a matter that the Americans have treated in a very practical manner. Improved facilities for handling, big cars, with the consequent light tares and heavy hauls, have all been taken advantage of, so that the tonmile rate is ~xceedingly low.
•
357 Although we may expect any competition in pig
iron to come chiefly from the Alabama. district, it is the more northern States that produce the great bulk of American pig iron. Thus in 1899 Alabama is credited with a little over a million tons, whilst P ennsylvania, which heads t he list, has a total of over 6~ million tons. Ohio comes next with about 2! ~million tons, whilst Illinoif- the only other • tate that gets near the million - has a. total of a little short of 1! million tons.
A great part of the northern pig is used for steelmaking in the Pittsburg, Chicago, and Cleveland dist.ricts, and here we find a comparison of our own figures with those of America even less reassuring than the pig-iron stR.tistics. In saying this, however, it must be remembered that this comparatively little country cannot expect to compete in mere bulk of busine[3s done with a nation covering so vast an area, and comprising so great a population, as that of the United States of America.
'furning to another work by Mr. Swank, we find that in 1898 not only was more pig iron made in America than in any previous year, but 1nore Bessemer steel, more open-hearth steel, more structural steel, more plates and sheets, and, were it not for t he single exception of 188'7, more steel rails also. In 1898 there were made in the United States 6,609,017 tons of Bessemer ingots and 2,230,292 tons of open-hearth ingols. The United Kingdom produced but 1, 759, 386 tons of Bessemer steel ingots in 1898, so that the American converters overtopped our own by the surprising figure of 4,849,631 tons. In open-hearth steel we had, however, a slight advantage as a trifling set off, our product for the year being 2,806,600 tons.
The figures are largely accounted for by the natural conditions of the two countries. In Great Britain we have already made most of our big railways and equipped them with steel rails. In America there are vast areas which have never heard the sound of the rail way whistle or the locomotive bell. As the population spreads outwards, and territories are developed, railways have to be constructed; or rather, one should say, the railway goes first, and peoples the waste places. Then there is the enormous demand for rails that has been created by the improvement of electric traction, and the consequent fuller development of the street railway system. This is a phase of civilisation we in England have no more than commenced to touch. The electric street railways of America are generally quite extensive systems, not only running through the urban streets, as our horse trams do, but branching out into the country, and connecting up towns 20 miles or more apart. The rails upon which this traffic is carried on are of a substantial nature with a deep flange, so that they account for a good deal of Bessemer steel. During 1898 close upon two million tons (1,981,241) of rails were produced in the United States. Of these, 142,808 tons were exported. During the same year the United King· do m produced 751,951 tons of rails, and of these we exported 476,047 tons. That leaves 275,904 tons of rails used in the United Kingdom during 1898, as against 1,838,433 tons needed for United States railways.
Our excess in open-hearth steel is, of course, largely due to our great shipbuilding industry, and it is, indeed, surprising that the Americans have come so close to us in this matter. In basic steel we made 216,088 tons in 1898 by the open-hearth, whilst of acid steel we made over 2i million tons (2,590,512) during the same year. On the other hand, in America of the 1, 569,412 tons of openhearth steel made in 1898, there were 1, 569,412 tons made by the basic process and only 660,880 tons by the acid process. So lit t le, if any, of the American Bessemer steel is made on the basic process that no subdivision is given to it in the American returns. In England, however, it still occupies a prominent place in the returns of Bessemer steel, being roughly in 1898 two-sevenths of the total output, the basic Bessemer ingots amounting to 504, 134 tons, and the acid Bessemer to 1, 255,252 tons.
Reasons for the difference between the practice followed in each of the two countries in this respect are again to be found in the natural conditions. Most of the steel, as has been stated previously, is made in the Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Dlinois furnaces where the Lake Superiol' ores are used. A great deal of this ore is almost Bessemer in quality, and is extremely rich in iron. The supplies of ore to ou1· own blast-furnaces, coming largely fl'om Spain,
are not so rich in iron, though wholly Bessemer in quality, and the iron made can, therefore, be used in acid lined furnaces, which offer advantages over basic furnaces in many respects.
That the Americans will be able to successfully compete with us for t he steel trade in neutral markets is beyond doubt. At present the conditions are so unusual, both at hon1e and abroad, that no useful corn pari son can be made in regard to prices. In buying and selling steel in the United States, t he favour is all on the part of t he supplier ; it is not a case of makers seeking orders, but of consumers seeking where they can get material. A striking instance of this was seen at the latter part of last year in the case of t he Carnegie Company wishing t o have some orecarrying vessels built ; the inducement t hey offered tp the shipbuilding company to undertake the work immediately being, t hat the steel needed should be supplied without delay. Experience teaches us that such a state of affairs will not last very long ; and just now the Americans are so extending t heir facilities for iron and steel supply, t hat t here will be the possibility of an enormously extended out put before long. No doubt the excessive demand (as it appears to us now) for iron and steel will keep up for some time yet, for the undeveloped parts of the world are being opened out at a surprising extent ; but sooner or later a slackening will supervene, for uniformity of demand is not compatible with the condit ions upon which t he commerce of nations is now carried on.
That slackening, whether it comes in one, two, or three years, will place our iron and steelmakers face to face with a competition the like of which has only been even thought of by t he more far-seeing and better-instructed among the1n. ' Vith cheap and rich ore, low railway rates, and factories the best equipped in the world, an enormous product of iron and steel will need placing. Guarded by protective tariffs, the prices will be maintained in America, whilst all material that cannot be sold at home will be, to use the expressive American t erm, "dumped 11 on any foreign market that will absorb it, at whatever price can be obtained.
I s it possible, it may be said, that British steelmakers can fight against a competition such as this 1 Putting other considerations on one side, if the American makers are prepared to sell at or below cost price, recouping their loss abroad by higher pr ices at home, how can we hope to make a living 1 The question is difficult to answer categorically; but happily these artificial aids to commerce are wonderfully delusive and very apt to find t heir natural level. If the Americans continue willing to sell us steel below cost price, or even to give it to us for nothing, so much t he better for us, as a nation ; so much the worse for the Americans, as a nation. If they would do the same thing for all commodit ies, we might have a very good time indeed. How the American people at large would look on such an addition to t heir natural burdens is another matter, and it is quite possible the steelmakers may find a diffic~lt~ in carrying out the programme even to the hm1ted extent they propose.
Leaving a consideration of these artificial aids to commerce, in which the Americans place so much reliance, if we turn to the nat ural and legitimate advantages the Americans have over us, there is ample cause, if not for uneasiness, at any ra~e !or making the most of our resources, and t·efurblShmg those business qualit ies which we have always claimed to be native to the British race. A boundless supply of rich iron ore is one of t he first things to be remembered as being possessed by the Americans. During 1898 there were forwarded from the leading iron districts o.f the country 16,593,~35 tons of iron ore, and of thlB total the Lake Super1or mines supplied 14,~,~ tons, pr~ctically all very rich in iron. Now, 1t lS a great thmg for a country to have these magnificent ore supplies within its borders. We have no parallel to it in England. When we come to inquire more closely, however, we find there is something to be said on the other side. A great part of this or.e is smelted. 800 miles or more away from the m1ne~; that 1s to say, a greater distance from t~e mme to the furnace t han Bilbao is from Cardiff, and not very much less than Bilbao is from Middles~rough. ·o far as distance is concerned there ts n~t much to choose between England and A mer1ca, and America has t he richer ore, although not so satisfactory in regard to phosphorus. But when we come to look at the thin~ more closely,
E N G I N E E R I N G.
Cardiff and Middlesbrough have a great advantage over P ittsburg. The sea stretches from Spain to England; there is unbroken water carriage from the N ervion to the Severn or the Tees. N ow, the Pittsburger has to bring his ore about the same average distance, but he has t he journey broken up into three parts. First, t here is the transit from t he mines to the tihipping port on Lake Superior. That may cover anything, perhaps, up to 80 miles, and the ruling gradient is down ; but at any rate it involves loading and unloading cars. The voyage of 600 miles or so in the ore ship is followed by another trans-shipment from t he steamer to t he train. When the ore gets to the blast-furnace, and thence in the shape of iron to the steel furnace, and then t hrough t he mills as rails, plates, sheets, merchant bars, &c. , it has yet another 400 or 500 miles by train before it can get to the port of shipment whence it is to be carried t o the market abroad.
This varied journey by rail and lake would be absolutely fatal to the hope of an export trade in steel had the Americans been content to follow old plans, adopt old ideas, and copy old precedents. In place of this, they have thought wisely and acted boldly. They have made special cars easy to load and easy to empty. Ships are uniform in design, and fit the shipping piers. Their hatchways are spaced so t hat half -a-dozen 50-ton trucks can be emptying themselves of ore and filling it into the ships as fast as they can be brought up. The landing machinery is a carefu1ly thought out and boldly executed piece of true engineering work, which operates with ease and rapidity t hat must be seen to be appreciated. The railway that carries the ore to the furnace is also an example of the forethought and fearlessness which governs American engineering practice in nearly all branches. The Carnegie Company not only have their own port on Lake Erie, but they have their own rail way from that port, Coneaut, to their blast-furnaces at Pittsburg, and this line is used for mineral traffic alone, carrying no passengers. The result is t hat all expenses can be reduced t o a small sum, and ore can be carried at one-sixth of a. penny per ton-mile.
I t would, however, take far too much space to make even reference to all t hese various det ails. American iron and steel makers are excelled by no other class of manufacturers in the possession of those qualities, essentially characteristic of their race, which are needed to make up a great and successful industrial nation. I t is these things, far more than rich ore to be picked up by a steam shovel, outcropping coal, and some other natural advantages, which make them rivals warily to be fought ; without slacking effort or neglecting opportunity. Have our iron and steel makers, our railway managers, our miners, and engineers, our capitalists, and even our workmen, taken that to heart ? Or have they folded their hands, thanking God for a little present sunshine, and waiting for the deluge ?
THE VINCENNES ANNEXE OF THE PARIS EXHIBITION.
( F ROM OUR SPECIAL CORRE PONDENT.) FEw people appear to realise that a very im
portant part of t he P aris Exhibition will occupy the relatively remote Bois de Vincennes, and comparatively few of the millions visiting Paris will find their way to this distant annexe. A recent visit to Vincennes accomplished two objects; it was possible to ascertain the exact condit ion of the works, and the probable date at which they may be completed; and by placing ourselves in the position of a visitor , we were able to form a good idea of the facili ties that will be afforded for reaching this part of the Exhibition. The most central spot for depart ure to Vincennes is the Gare St. Lazare, though it must be remembered that the temporary or permanent residents of Passy, Auteuil, and some other quarters at the further extremity of P aris, will have to allow a considerably longer time for their pilgrimage. One hour and a quarter was the exact time occupied between leaving the Gare St. Lazare and arriving at the annexe. The method of travel adopted was by omnibus as to part of the journey, and by a new electric tramway as to the other part ; this latter has the advantage of a relatively high speed, and a stopping station close to the entrance to the annexe; moreover, no time was lost in waiting for exchange of vehicles. But 1! hours for so short a distance appeared deplorably long. Later on, during the
(MARCH 16, 1900.
pe~iod of t~e Exhibition, the new Metropolitan Ra1lway, wh10h we propose shortly to describe will ~e opened, ~nd by this means it is claimed the t1me of the JOurney will be reduced. It will take about .half an hour to go from the Trocadero to the pomt where passengers must alight to take the electric line just referred to, but, on the other hand, must be remembered the delays in waiting for t he train and the tramcar. The new Metro· politan Railway will have no station near the Gare St. Lazare, so that the route we adopted will ~robably remain .the most convenient and expedi. t10us for t hose m t he central district of Paris. M?reover, it appears out of the question that the rail way can be ready when the Exhibition is opened. One thing may, however, be predicted that the routes to V incennes will not be so en~ cumbered with t raffic as to cause delays to those visitors who wish to see the annexe.
.After all that has heen published in the French papers, and the official statement of the Adminis· tration of the Exhibition, we were fully prepared to find buildings finished and ready to receive exhibits; but from the moment we passed the entrance gates, we were disagreeably surprised. This gate gives on to a broad avenue, or what will be one in due time, very possibly by the date of opening, for a. few hours suffice to transform roadways. To the right is a. rail way track, evidently intended for the t ransport of exhibits, and especially of locomotives and rolling stock, which are to be shown at Vincennes; there is a special advantage in the site for this class of exhibits; a branch from the Ceinture Railway running around Paris, makes connections with the whole of the French rail· way systems, so that the work of transport will be reduced to a minimum. Unfortunately, as the branch is only a single t rack, it must inevitably be crowded and so will greatly delay the definite in· stallations. Continuing, we reach the beautiful park, known as the Bois de Vincennes; here the delay appears very discouraging. We stand on th e site allotted to Class 106-that of Hygieneon which a large number of buildings are to be erected by France, England, Germany, Switzer· land, Belgium, and Austria, to give an idea o~ a model workmen's town. It is true that one dwelhng is about finished; this is the contribution of the famous chocolate makers, MM. Suchard and Co.; t here will be an English cottage; and signs of activity exist on the part of MM. Meunier and Co.; but. that is all. Turning to the right we again find the smgle railway t rack, and following it, arrive at an immense location, over which a large . number of sidings are being laid, and wh1?h are about half finished. The mode of laymg all t his track is very primitive, a. matter . of no importance as it will only serve for standmg room; but a ar~at deal has to be done before the objects in 01:ss 32 can be installed. These tracki are intended to be gathered under a series of vast railway sheds, and as these latter are not nea!lY finished, the work of completing t~e t~ack laymg must be deferred for an uncertam t1me. The steel work of the great sheds is scarcely finished ; although of very large dimensions, the structures are very simple, the t russes are polygonal, and are surmounted by a lantern ; the contractors are MM. Roussel and Co. These halls, to the number of 10, are set back one behind the other, an arrangement necessitated by the lay .of the ground and it is clear the aeneral effect will offer
' b no special architectural attractions. The co~tractors have commenced to put on the corrugated rron roof sheeting ; but the glazing is not begun, and the ground is covered with its primi~ive . turf . . If these lilBtallations are to be finished m ttme, h1gh pressure is necessary ; drainage has to. be at~ended to, t rackR laid, platforms for public CirculatiOn made, and all the hundred details necessary for comple-tion, commenced and finished. .
Leaving this range of buildinas we arn ve at the centre of the annexe the Lake of Vincennes, a very beautiful spot. 'On one . side is a wooden building being erected by Itahan workm.en ~ore rapidly than the sheds just referr~d to; th1s willJe for the exhibit of the Adriatic Ra.1lway system. . n the left is an ugly timber-framed, corrugated n·onf clad shed, which, however, has ~h.e adva.~~ge 0
being complete and ready fo~ ex~1b1ts; thts JS the Canadian section. On the nght 1s another wooden and iron-framed building also complete, and wh~de exhibits of machinery are being erected ; outs1 e
· 't' t b put are sections of water-t ube b01lers wa1 mg o ~ together ; this is the United States Machmeq
•
MARCH !6, 1900.]
section. This is well forward, but the assurances that evet·ything will be ready by the middle of April may be accepted with reserve. Following the main avenue of the Exhibition, and which makes a wide circuit some distance from the lake, we come suddenly to a huge mass of earthworl\, on which a few workmen, with one or t wo wagons, are leisurely working ; one day this will be converted into a cycle and automobile racing track, and adapted for other sporting competitions which are to take place at Vincennes. As these will not be held at the commencement of the Exhibition, delay is but of little importance fortunately ; for it is clear the track and accessories could not be completed by April 15.
Opposite these earthworks, on the other side of the avenue, is a large stretch of ground, on which is being erected three series of shed framings, which, together, take the shape of an immense horseshoe; the centre section of this building will be devoted to road motors ; the other two are intended for cycles, and for the exhibits of motors for cycles and automobiles. The building is being erected by Ml\11. Dayde, Pille, and Co. ; the construction is very simple, consisting of light trusses wit h arched inner and straight outer members. Neither roof covering nor glazing has been as yet cornmenced.
Such is all that is at present visible at Vincennes in the way of preparing for the overflow of exhibits. It is stated that there will be an Army and Navy Pavilion, a large and complete installation for aerostation; and a nun1ber of restaurants around the lake, surrounded by gardens, which themselves will form horticultural exhibits; but all these things are for the future. I t is only fair to remember that, given the material on the ground, the erection of temporary buildings can be carried on with marvellous rapidity, while some of the exhibits relegated to Vincennes will be in the open air, and for them the sites are ready. But without wishing unduly to disquiet exhibitors or those visitors who wish to see the commencement of the Exhibition, the conclusion is unavoidable, the preparations here are hopelessly behindhand. At the last meeting of the organising commission of the exhibits and competitions for automobiles at Vincennes, M. Jeantaud stated that the exhibition in question could not be ready before May 15, which date may be safely put forward to June 1.
NOTES. THE STOR.M OF FEBRUARY 13.
THuNDERSTORMS are not frequent in winter. When they do occur half-a-dozen times, as they did during the past three months, wiseacres talk and affirm that the laws of Nature are disturbed and that the seasons are on the change. The storm that swept over Europe in the middle of February was particularly severe in the Eastern parts of France. Many cities record scores of unroofed houses and hundreds of broken or uprooted trees. Few large cities were entirely free from accidents of a serious nature. In Paris, the storm began with great violence ; the lightning is described as dazzling and incessant, and the thunder was often deafening. At 8 P.M. on Monday, February 13, the wind blew at the rate of 40 miles an hour. It gradually increased during the night, and at 6 next morning it swept by the Eiffel Tower with a velocity of little less than 100 miles. The passage of such a depression caused a remarkable oscillation in the barometric column. On the morning of the 14th the mercury stood at 738 millimetres, and 23 hours later it rose to 767 millimetres. It is seldom that a variation of an amplitude of 29 millimetres has been registered within a period of 24 hours.
FIRES IN THEATRES. The fire at the Comedie Fran~aise, at Paris,
following so shortly after the fire at the Grand Theatre, Islington, should again bring before those in authority, and also before those responsible for our theatre entertainments, the great necessity of keeping the question of fire protection in view as far as is practicable in the working of a modern playhouse. It has been proved over and over again that the moment a fire gets the slightest hold Qf a theatre, the spread must be a rapid one, and the result is inevitably the entire gutting of the building. In the two instances we have,before us, we have been particularly fortunate, for neither of the conflagrations occurred at a time · when the performance was being carried on, and there was hence no audience to take panic, and no loss of life in that direction. How ra.pidly a fire of this kind,
E N G I N E E R I N G. however, spreads, may be seen from the fact that both at the Grand Theatre at Islington and the Oomedie Fran9aise at Paris, it was with the greatest difficulty that the few employee in the house at the time were able to save themselves, and, in the case at Paris, one life was lost. Both theatres -the Grand at Islington, and the Paris Oomedie Fran~ise-were notable fire traps; and it was terrible to think of what would have happened in either case had tlie fire occurred during a performance. Assuming, however, the known fact that a fire, when once alight in a theatre, spreads rapidly; we should like to impress upon all concerned that the great question nowadays is to provide rapid exits for the audience and employes, and these exits must be easy and straight exits, and not the kind of circuitous exits so often to be found in the London playhouse. "Exit" comes before everything, and it is the more important, owing to the fact that an audience very often get.~ into a panic without there being any fire or other cause to create a rapid exodus. Next, however, to exit comes the question of preventing the stage catching fire. H ere there are two remedies : First of all, the compulsory banishment of all open lights; and, secondly, the compulsory use of nonflammable textile materials for the scenery, and the impregnation of all wood work in such a manner as to prevent its catching alight.
HoLLow GLAss VESSELS. Several interesting novelties have been intro
duced at the glass works of P. T. Sievert, at Den ben, near Dresden. Hollow glass vessels of unusual dimensions are made in the following manner. The glass is ladled from the furnace and poured on an iron plate, which is hollow and provided with very fine perforations for admitting compressed air. A portion of the glass is caught in lateral grooves, and the glass slab supported in this way, while the plate, with the glass on it, is turned over. The glass begins to ooze out by its own weight, and the compressed air is turned on to finish the shaping. Suitable supports or moulds are applied from underneath. Professor Walther Hempel reports in the '' Chemische Indust.rie '' that he saw a semi-spherical glass vessel, half a cubic metre in capacity, made within three minutes. The yielding of the glass t o gravity was checked by raising another iron plate from below, by means of a toothed rack. Cylindrical glass vessels, troughs, &c., are prepared in a similar manner in sizes which no blower could manage, simply for want of strength. But the process lends itself also to the making of smaller-size articles, bells for lamps and lanterns, developing troughs, &c. Another novelty is curious. The glass is poured on an iron plate as before, and rolled to the required thickness. A pad of asbestos paper, impregnated with water, is then placed on the glass surface, and the respective mould quickly applied. The mould cuts off a slab of glass of the desired size, and the steam, generated from the asbestos paper, gradually forces the soft glass into the mould. 'rhe process works much more expeditiously than glass-blowing, and has one advantage over pressed glass. As the inner side of the glass is only exposed to the action of the water vapour, it retains its natural fine polish. Colour effects are produced in the following way : The pattern which, we presume, must not be too elaborate, is drawn on thin paper. The pigments are applied to the paper in the shape of powdered glass of the required colour, the respective spots having been painted with some sticky substance. The pattern is now put on the glass, when still on the iron plate, pattern downward, and fixed by means of a roller. The paper flares up instantaneously, while the bits of powdered glass fuse into the glass plate, yet preserving some of their sharp edges so that the light is reflected in all directions.
THE RussiAN MERCANTILE MARINE. vVe recently (see page 327, wnte) gave an account
of the developments which have taken place in the Russian mercantile marine, and especially that part of it which trades between the Black Sea and the Far East. We now supplement our former article with a few notes from a despatch which has been received at the Foreign Office from Her Majesty's Embassy at St. Petersburg, which gives particulars of the whole of the Russian mercantile marine. Of late years, several measures have been passed for the purpose of improving the condition of the Russian mercantile marine, of which the most important is the abolition of the import
359
duties on iron ships, and the well-known law of May 29, 1897, by which, from January 1, 19_QO, the trade between Russian ports, even when lying on different seas-excepting only the carriage of salt from the Black Sea to the Baltic- is reserved to ships bearing the Russian flag. An order issued a few days earlier, and often overlooked since, hfl's restricted even Finnish coasting trade to the Balt10, thus removing another possible rival not pur.ely Russian. The coast is therefore clear for Russ1a's own mercantile marine. In 1897, the Baltic had one steamship company with five steamers plying mainly between Riga and St. Petersburg, two shipowning firms with seven steamers between them, and a few small coasting steamers. From that year, however, on the abolition of duties on ships, a development has been going on. Three more companies have been founded : the "Rossia " in Libua, the "Russo-Baltic," and the " Russian East Asia" in Riga. The latter, the largest of these companies, was founded by the Danes with the object of keeping up communications with the Far East, and seems to be a branch or extension of the Danish East Asiatic Steam Navigation Company, whose vessels, by the law of 1897, must of necessity now come under the Russian flag to be able to ply between Russian Baltic ports and Russian East Asiatic possessions. Special privileges seem to be offered to Danish shipowners to induce them to place their ships under the Russian flag. The total of Russian seagoing cargo and passenger steamers entered in Baltic ports was, in 1899, only about 30. The :Black Sea fleet is much larger. The well-known '' Russian Company" had, on January 1, 1899, seventy- five steamers of 61,485 total register tonnage. Then comes the Volunteer Fleet, of which we gave particulars in the article above mentioned, and whose aim is to keep up communication between Odessa (and St. P etersburg) and the Far East. Then, of local importance only, are other companies, the best-known of which is the Black Sea Danubian Company, plying with nine steamers between Odessa (and Batoum) and the Danubian ports of Roumania, Bulgaria, and Servia, and of political as well as commercial importance. In the White Sea there is but one seagoing steamship company, the Arch angel-Murman Steamship Company, plying about the Polar Ocean, the Norwegian and White Sea ports, and Archangel, besides the Solovetski pilgrim steamers, and the Archangel river companies. In the Pacific possessions of Russia her fleet is insignificant, but has increased since the East China Railway Company started five steamers in 1898. It has six other steamers now building. In Russia, as in other parts of the world, the number of sailing vessels is decreasing, but they are still far from being things of the past, especially in the Baltic, where, in 1889, 25 new sailing ships were added to the ocean-going trade. Many, however, have been lost at sea of late years, and many sold. The total, in 1899, of sailing craft from the Baltic plying with foreign ports was about 220. In the Black Sea, sailing navigation is falling off more and more, and the foreign trade has been nearly abandoned. In the White Sea and on the Murman coast it is very different ; the inhabitants have no other resource. The ships are, however, mostly under 200 register tons, and are therefore of little or no significance · n international trade.
GER;,fAN RAIL ExPORTS.-The exports of rails and per· manent way material from Germany last year amounted to 140, 196 tons. The corresponding exports in 1898 were 154, 642 tons.
SELL'S DIREC'l'ORY 01<' REGISTERED T:ELEGRAPHIO AD· DRESSEs.-We have received from :!vir. Henry Sell, 167, Fleet-street, E. C., his annual issue of the "Directory of Registered Telegraphic Addresses," which is compiled from official lists supplied by authority of the PostmasterGeneral on January 1, and is, therefore, not only complete, but thoroughly accurate. As every firm of any consequence has now a "registered" address, it will be understood bhab the Directory is incidentally a com. prehensive directory of the principal firms throughout the kingdom. These are arran~ed in alphabetical order, and according to the trades, while seh'arately there is a list of the telegraph address "words. The directory, which extends to over 2000 pages, is issued at 21a. to non-subscribers and at 1&. to subscribers. This includes a quarterly supplement, with corrections, additions, &c. There are in the book, too, special articles on British trade and foreign competition, and a. digest of the main features for 1899 of the following industries : Iron and steel, engineering, shipbuilding and shipping, coal, petroleum, texilles, agriculture, tea. and sugar. Two maps of South Africa., in coloure, are also given.
ROYAL ENGINEERS. To THE EDITOR OF ENGINKRRING.
StR,-Mr. R. G. Randa.U in your issue of the 2nd inst. makes certain statements disparagingly of the Royal Engineer~, which ought not to remain unchallenged, and a ltllough only a sapper I ask him to prove his asser tions.
He writes that it is not the firs t time that our poor troogs have had to suffer through the incompetency of the R oyal Engineers in the field. Will Mr. R andall kindly inform me where the British troops ever suffered th~ough the incompetency of the Royal E ngineers? W1th reference to Mr. Bennet Burleigh's account of the Royal Engineers on Spion Kop, I would point out to your correspo.ndent that the Royal Engineers were not ordered up until twenty-four hours after it bad been taken, and then they were too late to be of any practical use. Your corresponden t also omits to mention that the topography of the surrounding ground was unknown, and tha t a thick fog hung over tlie Kop for some time. Assuming that a trench had been dug in the wrong place, the fact that it had been badly located could only be discovered when the fog lifted. The order, I presume, was given by the commanding officer, who also located th~ place where the trench should be dug; therefore I fMl to see why Mr. Randall should blame the Engineers. W e care not one jot for Mr. Bennet B urleigh or his criticisms; we have our own opinion as to llis reason for being prejudiced against our corps. Where does Mr. Randall obtain his information from, that we are Jack-of-all-trades and master of none'? We are, in the wo.rqs o.f a well-known Royal Engineer officer, whose opm10n IS worth h undreds of Bennet Burleigh's, Jack-ofall-trades and master of mcmy. I make bold to say that 80 P.er cent. will hold their own a~ainst their brothers in civ1l life, and also against the mfantry regiments for heroic conduct in the field, as recent despatclies from the front amply prove.
As for the statement that Royal Engineer officers are merely ornamental figureheads, and when left to their own resources are sure to blunder, such a statement is simply rubbish. Does your correspondent consider Lord Kitchener a mere ornamental figurehead, and has be ever blundered ?
I suppose Lord Roberts appointed him his chief for the reason that he knew him to be a mere ornamental figurehead. Who avenged the death of General Gordon, only a mere ornamental figurehead, L ord Kitchener ? I s Sir Charles Warren a mere ornamental figurehead? Was the late Lieut .. General Sir Gerald Graham, V.C., G.C.B., G.C.M.G., a mere ornamental figurehead ? In the Egyptian campaign of 1882 L ord vVolseley, then Sir Garnet W olseley J.. in his telegram of August 29, reports to the Secretary of ;:;tate for War :
" General Graham's dispositions were all that should have been, and his operatiOns were carried out with coolness for which he has always been so well known."
Again in his dispatch of Seytember 24 Sir Garnet \Volseley writes: '· The brunt o the fighting throughout the campaign fell to the lot of Major-General G. Grabam, V.C., G.B., commanding the Second Brigade, and it could not have been in bet ter hands."
T o that coolness and gallantry in action for which he has always been well known, he adds the power of leading and commanding others. Does this read as i f Lieut .General Sir Gerald Graham was a mere ornamental figurehead? Did Lieut. -Colonel J. A. Farrier, D.S.O., earn this order through being a mere ornamental figure· head in the field ? I s Lieut.-Colonel R. C. Maxwell, now at the fron t, a mere ornamental figurehead, and was it for this he received the sword of merit ? If Mr. Randall thinks so he ought to be under him for a week or so, and I h ave no doubt but what he would soon change his mind. Was Lieutenant Digby ,J ones, who gave his l ife in the defence of Ladysmitb, and who would have been recommended for the V.C. had be lived. a mere ornamental figurehead ? Were Major Massey, Lieutenant Bell, &c., mere ornamental figureheads? W ere the gallant Royal Engineer officers who gave their lives in the Crimea, mere ornamental figureheads? Again, Mr. R andall makes a most sweeping and damaging assertion which I ask him to prove. H e writes:
" 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 time, and was delayed until our gallant fellows have to suffer in the field from gross incompetency of these semi-soldiers." What does this statemen t amount to? Just this: that the Royal E ngineers have been guilty of actually killing their own comrades. Sir, such a statement is sufficient to make any soldier, be be Royal. Engineer or not, blush with shame. Mr. Ra.ndall &ays It ca.n be proved. I ask him for those proofs- solid prooft3 ; not any of Mr. Bennet Burleigb's criticisms.
Whr did L ord Roberts ask for so many E ngineers ? Was 1t because he knew they were incompetent semisoldiers? No; because be kne~ that the~ wer~ his mainstay, and ind1spen~able to .htm. I beh eve .1 t was the Duke of W ellington who satd that the E ngmecrs were always useful, sometimes indispensa:ble, and someti~es invaluable. Our respected colonel said the other evemng that when the Royal Engineers are asked to dC? ~ny other work, they do it as no other branch of the Bnt1s~ Army could do it. L et Mr. Randall remember that 1t was a small company of these in?ompetent semi·sold_i~rs who, with the Canadian~ made 1t so warm for Croo]e that he surrendered. Does Sir Geor~e White consider the gallant 23rd Company Royal Eo&'me~ra, who have ~elpe~ so heroica lly to defend Ladysm1th, mcompetent sem1-sold1ers? Were those sappers who assisted Lieute~ant Dig by J on~ to blow up bhe Boer gun with gu~·C?tton m competent se~lsoldiers? W ere those non-oommtssiOned officers who fell m the Crimea incompetent semi-soldiers? I presume that
E N G I N E E R I N G.
this was the reason why the corps of Royal Engineers raised the beautiful memorial arch, here in Brompton Barracks, to their memory ; if so, then it would be well if the British A rmy was composed of more of these ornamental figureheads and incompetent semi-soldiers.
The Royal Engineers fl3ar nothing from honest criticism, but such assertions as Mr. Randall makes must be proved before they can be believed. I hope your correspondent will not quote Mr. Bennet B urleigh as proof of his s tatements, as Mr. Burleigh's criticisms are merely twaddle.
S hould the Army reform be undertaken at the end of the war, I hope that Mr. Burleigh will not be called as a. witness, not that any Royal Engineer from L ord Kitchener down to the youngest bugle boy fears anything, but let there be witnesses called who are unbiassed in their opinion. I am only a six months' sapper; and, in the opinion of your correspondent, probably do not know much, but I have been long enoug_b in the corps to know that we are second to none in the British Army.
Apologising for taking up so much of your valuable space,
I am, yours, &c., S. M. E ., Chatham, March 9, 1900. SAPPRR.
To THR EDITOR Oll' ENGINEERI NG. Sm,-In your issue of March 9, I find that your cor
respondent signing himself "Field Officer in '84 " takes excep tion to my letter which appeared in the previous issue of ENGINEERING. I am very much afraid that I have roused up an old Royal E ngineer officer in t his said "Field Ofhcer in '84," as his mode of attack is that commonly adopted by the officers of the Royal Engineers when attempting to meet criticism. If I ""as quite sure that I was dealing with a Royal E ngineer officer, I might be better able to reply to your correspondent; but, in the meantime, I must protest against the manner in which "Field Officer " has endeavoured to twist my remarks. In dealing with the R oyal Engineers, I have always, hitherto, refrained from maki ng my criticism personal: not because I was not well able to do so, but because I have no quarrel with individual members of the corps of Royal Engmeers. I have attacked the system and the corps collectively, and I am very sorry to think that Major Massey's name has been brought into the discussion. I knew that he was among the killed, and there is no one that honours a gallant soldier more than the writer of this letter ; and I would be the last to say anything that might cause grief to the relatives and friends of one of England's heroes. I have never yet impugned the gallantry of the Royal E ngineers, when taking their part as soldiers. On the field of battle all corps or reg iments are one; all are Englishmen (I use this term in its broad sense), and all are ready to risk their lives and lay them down, if need be, for their Queen and country ; nor can it be sa.id that civil engineers have been backward in this respect; more than one has already given his life for his Queen and freedom in South Africa, and as long as E nglishmen are Englishmen it will ever l:>e the same.
In speaking of Spion Kop, I quoted from Mr. Bennet Burleigh's letter, and I am sure that he would be the last to make an unfair statement on such a mat ter. " Field Officer" says that the maps were at fault, and that it was only when the fog lifted that the mistake was discovered; but here, again, "Field Officer" only supports what I contend, viz. , that the ·Royal Engineers are incompetent, and undertake work that they do not understand, or else neglect to do that which they cla.im as part of their duties. The Royal Engineers pretend to be able to furnish the maps required for military purposes : they do so for the manreuvres, with what result is well known to army officers generally. Here is a military cr iticism of their map provided for the troops at the '94 manreuvres: "The map the Southampton Ordnance S urvey Office issued for the cavalry manreuvres would have disgraced a small jobbing printer in a small country town." I claim that a good map, besides other information, should not only give the elevation of all summits and gaps, bub also the rate of incline of all roads, ranges of bills and moun tains; to this might also be added the water-courses, for-more especially in tropical and very mountainous regions-the best roads are often to be found along the edges of rivers and streams, and in many cases in the beds of the rivers and streams themselves. Were such information accurately given on military maps, the Army Service Corps would be able to s take out temporary roads for supply and other purposes, where permanent ones were not available. The artillery officers would know which were the best routes for their guns; and staff officers would not make useless attacks upon for~ified positions, in the hopes that such were the key to a position, only to find that, after such a height has been won at great cost, it was still dominated by a neigh· bouring rjdge, and also that it was inaccessible for his artillery; or again nearly as bad, j ust as his attack was properly developios-, find himself face to face with an unclirubable precipice.
While on this subject of maps, there is one matter that I wish to call attention to. On March 7, at the United Service Institution, Colonel Sir T . H . Holdich, R .E., makes the statement that military officers cannot make maps without the aid of civilian professionals, viz., professional topographers. Quite true; but he also makes the sweeping assertion that there are none such outside of India. T his s tatement I altogether dispute. In the first place, any qualified engineer, before he is competent to locate a railway, muet have such knowledge, and the rougher the country the more absolu tely necessary is this qualification. Colonel Holdioh suggests that such men should be trained up, and that with such professional assistants a half- company of sappers would do for the whole of South Africa; but, for the life of me, I do not see where the sappers come in. As
[MARCH 16, 1900.
is usual in all cases. where the civilian anq the military element comJ>lne, the civilian would do the work, and the soldier would do the bossing and take the credit for all (good. w~rk only). I see no earthly us~ for sappers on th1s JOb; the only way, to my mmd, that they could be used would be as living survey flags, that is, of course, ta._king fo~ gr~oted that they wou~d wear the scarlet tumc ; but m thts capacity I am afra1d that they would be rather expensive substitutes for the a~ticle. ordinarily in use. In face of all this, dOE'S any one 1magme tba.t I have made n. misleading statement, when I quoted Mr. Bennet Burleigh's account of Spion Kop ; does "Field Officer in '84" dare to accuse Mr. Burleigh of wilful distortion of facts? Remember the veteran war correspondent takes his chances in the field with the best of the Queen's soldiers, and is, as we lllB.Y almost say, one of them; he would hardly descend to any· thing so low as to wilfully traduce any branch of that
• serVIce. " Field Officer " objects to Mr. Burleigh's idea. that
our infantry should be made independent of the en· gineer~, in regard to entrenchments, but what these objections ~re he do~ not say · if he h~ given his reasons plamly one m1ght have ~n convmced, but in absence of any such1 I would like him to answer me one question: Have tne Boers, or have they not, proved tbemsel ves past masters as field engineers ? I say that ther have ! In this assertion I think that most people wil support me, be they milita.ry or civilians; this bemg so, is there any objection why our own infantry should be trained to form cover for themselves in a similar manner ? I, for one, see no reason why they should cot. In the Boer army we have only a lot of farme111, hO it cannot be said that the work is too scientific for our own men; since I presume that we may credit the ordinary private in our A rmy with about t he same a verage brain capacity as the Boer farmer ; and since they are instructed in such work by their officers, I do not think that an English gentleman ought to be any less competent to instruct his own men. But no : the Royal Engineers will not admit that they can Le dispensed with here; since ther are afraid that if the ball is once set rolling, it may ultt· mately end in the abolition of the corps, or at all events in their being confined to proper useful limits. Another writer in the Daily Telegraph, of February 27, MajorGeneral Webber, late R.E., is equally as rabid against this seemingly common-sense idea as "Field Officer" ; but, like this latter, be gives no reasons why such training is undesirable. In connection with this matter of entrenchin~ by infantry, it is j ust as well to rem~mber that in the Cnmea, where the corps . of Royal Engmee~s did not compare very favourably With the French engt· nears, that some of the most useful work was performed by the assistant engineers, who were officers taken from line and other regiments. Among tba.t number was the present Commander-in-Chief, who was then a subaltern in the 90th Foot, I think.
A.a regards "Field Officer's " remarks about Juliua Cresar and his times, I, together with the rest of humanity have a more or less elem~ntary knowledge of tha t w~rthy gentleman; but it is news to me that the corps of Royal Engineers, both officers and men, are direct descendants of that distinguished general. But, when one comes to consider the matter, certainly some of the methods of the Royal Engineers are quite up to those antiquated times. In using the the term "Jack-of-aBtrades," as applied to Royal Engineers, I also added, and '' mast~rs of none " ; and in case •' Field Officer" may have forgotten, I likewise said that they were ?nlr bandy men · and since "Field Officer " has such o.n mttma te acquaintance with Julius Cresar, perbap3 he h&;S also beard of Bacon who sa.id that "a little knowledge 18 a dangerous thing ~, a remark very app]ica.ble when applied to the Royal Engineers. Ago.i!J, " Field Officer" picks out the following officers, as ~b?WlDg Vfbat the R~e.l Engineers can do by way of provtdmg emmen.t and t.Si tinguished men for the Army. I mar tell bun that have included all these general officers m the 159 (out of the 996 officers composin~ the cor~) who are at present employed in South Afnca ; but 'Field Officer ". makes no remarks as to my statement that this corps JS over· officered to the extent of 646 officers, and that these are employed in civilian, or virtually civilian, jobs; to quo~ t he words of a military man, in writing of the cop>S 0
Royal Engineer~, he says, ' ' the corps as a who e ~n scarcely be called soldiers;" and it looks very much hke it when we take these figures into account. The five general officers selected as the shining lights of. th0hcolp6 are Sir William Nicbolson, Lord Kitobener, Str ar es Warren, Sir Herbert Chermside, and Gene~al E. Wood, C.B. Of the first I know nothing, but h.eartt~y.conetulate him on receiving such praise from Sir Wllham ~khar t. Lord K itcbener has done very wel~, but l thmk that Egyptian business was made just a llttle too juch fuss of ; I myself rather look upon it as a rather ~ge kind of Cook's tourist excursion. There were somt>thmg like 35 000-or was it 50,000 ?-men employed on o~r side, ar:yway, it was a large number, and the mal~ thing was to be able to feed these a.t a ve~ ~e~e distance from the source from .wh~nce supphes eto drawn · Rnd in order to do tblB, Jt was neoe~ry build a' narrow-gauge railway. The Royal Eo~net>~~ assisted, of course, more or lees by the ~ver·. esplloe civil engineer, as also by the equallY, mf~rtor rd ofticer-nndertook the jo?, and it .was finished tn r~ed time, so the Royal E ngineers cla.tmed. I have a.es~ 11 in the construction of railways where the '!ork w~ a. ~ one hundred times as heavy, and we butlt a.t ~ e ra k of 6 miles per dar ; the Royal E ngineers on .thetr dO,: averaged somethmg like three-qua.rters of. a mt~e per b·Jk T heir track-layin~ record was about one mtle da.tly:J 1 ~ that they once latd 1~ mile. Give me 57 men, an . lay t wo miles of track complete in one day of tee worktng
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MARCH r6, rgoo.J
hours, and pass a construction train over that same night . H ow many men would the Royal Engineers employ to do the same work? Well, anyhow, t he railway was built, and the Dervishes made a. stand, when they felb like it ; our L ee-Metfords and machine guns did the resb. None of the enemy got to within o.boub 700 yards of our troops, with a single exception; here they succeeded in getting as olose as 300 yards, and it was owing to this sudden and unexpeot~d attack that Major-General Hector Macdonald was able to display the only bit of generalship that was called for on the occasion. As his brilliant manceuvring of his brigade is fresh in the minds of all, it is nob necessary for me to allude to it here. For this General K itchener was made a peer, and received 30,000Z. General Rob.erts, for his celebrated march to Ka.ndahar, was made a kmght, or a baronet, I forget wbioh ; a.nd I think he missed the £ s. d. altogether. Which was the most important work? Anyway, my own ide~ is that as a general (except ~e earns a. reputation as such m the present war) L ord K1tchener has yet to make his mark ; as a good organiser be has done more than well. Sir Charles Warren was at one time head of the Metropolitan Police- I make no remarks of the way in which he filJed this job. But was it soldiering, and was he then qualifying for his future position of general officer ? You see, then, an officer of R:oy~l ~ngineers is suoh an adaptable and " resourceful , md1 vidual, that he is able to even act as boss policeman; but to say that suoh employment, from a soldiering point of view, is usefuJ, is analogous to saying that our present clever bead of the Metropolitan Fire Brigade, Commander 'VeJls, is qualifyine' for a future post of rear-admiral. General Chermside IS unknown to me ; I therefore spare remarks. General Wood has, I belie \'e, done some fairly good work as a major; bnt of all these officers mentioned, I have yet to learn that they have ever done anything to entitle them to eminence as engineers. Even ''Field Oft:icer," much as he seems to uphold the Royal Engineers, must have his slap at their method of working. In his letter to ENGINEERING of March 2, in which be shows how a number of additional cadets might be accommodated at the Royal Military Academy at W oolwich, he says : " There is also a new corrugated iron barrack bemg slowly built (by the proverbial two men and a boy, with a Royal Engmeer sergeant looking on ) for 12 single rooms-which might be hastily completed in a. week." Such is '' Field Officer's '·' opinion of the Royal Engineer's method of building barracks; but more of this a.t a~oth~r time. General 'Vebber has made the statement, m h1s letter to the Daily T elegraph, tha t the corps of Royal Engineers is the only branch of the service which in time of peace repays some of its cost by work rendered to the State. I will show, from a. money point of view, how far from being correct such a statement is.
To conclude this letter, for the length of which I must aF.logise to you, Sir, I wish to remind cc ]field Officer ' that Mr. Burleigh stated that in both railway and telegraph work the civilian article was much smarter and more efficient in their discharge of the work respeotivell required of them. On such evidence, therefore, does ' Field Officer '' still propose that the amateur military engineer shall still attempt t? . carry on this civil work, which can be more exped1t10usly and efficiently done by the properly - tramed man, whose regular pro.fession ib is ? If he can a.ns~er these questions put to hrm QY me, clearly and conclusively, and prove that the Royal Engineers are, by eith~r training ?r experience, fitted f?r su~h work, then he will suc~ed m driving home a sp1ke for the corps of Royal Engmeers thab he will be able to defy the agitation of the whole British public to draw.
I am, Sir, your obedient servant, R. G. RANDALL,
Maroh 10, 1900. Civil Engineer.
THE SCOTr ENGINE TRIALS AT RANELAGH WORKS.
To THE EDITOR 0.1<' ENGINEERING. Srn,-\Vith reference to the description in :vour journal
of the 9th ult. of the Ranelagh Works and the account of the steam consumption trials of the Scott engine, it would be interesting to know, and only fair to state, whether the Babcock and Willcox boiler used was fitted with a. superheater according to the most recent practice of the makers.
Yours truly, ENQUIRER.
THE WAR IN SOUTH AFRICA. To THE EDITOR 01!' ENGINEERING.
SIR - For a considerable period, approximately since the great Franco· German War of 1870, it has been the fashion to under-rate the cavalry eomewhat as follows: "It has seen its day .... It can still be usefully em-ployed as a screen .... It is useful in scouting, and to gather information." ... and finally, when a. war breaks out, and our War Office wires to our Colonies accepting help- it adds parenthetically, "dismounted troops preferred ." It was all one; but in future it will be quite another affair, and soldiers will expect to ride into action, either on a pony, a. horse, a camel, an elephant, or an armoured train. At all events, it will be univeraally acknowledged that the cavalry and horse artillery form a most efficien~ and important force, of the greatest p ossible value under certain conditions of warfare, such as those now obtaining in the Orange Free State.
Curious to relate, this was precisely the experience gained in the great American Vf ar of Secession : a. war far more closely allied in its ~eneral military bearings to the one we are uow engaged upon, than any other in history.
There is always a tendency to diEcuEs the last great war, and to f<.'rget the teaching5 of those before.
E N G I N E E R I N G.
The crushing defeat of the Boars by Lord Roberts at ?aardeberg was only consummated after immense ma.rchm g effor ts on the parb of our troops, and some bard fighting; but his latest success, the defeat of the Boers at and near Poplar G rove, and their disorderl.v· retreat (Lord Rober ts used the word ''rout" in his first despatch) has b een effected by a. simple ma.noouvre, with only 50 ca.sualties on our side: 11,000 to 14,000 men carefully entrenched, and holding an extended position, simply bolted directly General French threatened their line of retreat and of supply by a turning movement carried out by his division of ea valry and horse artillery.
At last we seem to have gob into the swing of it, under the able directi0n of our dear old Field Marshal. But what a pity we took so long to think of ib, and meantime losb our hundreds- aye, our thousands- of brave men !
Before L ord Roberts took the field1
ib seemed as if the lengthening series of bewildering mwtakes would never end ; a.s if the initial errors would never cease to dominate the war. Now we begin to see daylight. In fact, t he Boars a re defeated already, although the war may drag along for many a day, for the sake of Mr. Paulus Kruger and his corrupt Government of Hollanders ; but for no other reason, as the Boars would geb as good terms now as ever they will. In fact, the tendency will be, as time goes on, towards an increased severity in our terms in direct proportion to the increased sufferings of our wounded caused by the expanding bullets now used by the defeated Boers in a. spirit of spitefulness and barbarity.
In all probability, some of the thousands who ran from Poplar Grove with such effective rapidi ty will reach their own farmsteads, and remain there. By some it is considered that the strength of the Hoer forces in the field has been greatly exaggerated. I think, on the contrary, that they have been very much underestimated from the very outset to date. They have been numerous enough to attack us in strength in N a. tal ; to besiege L adysmith ; to beat off, time after time, the most heroic and determined attempt of B uller's forces to relieve it ; to besiege Kimberley and beat off Methuen's relieving army ; to invest Ma.feking, and keep at bay Plumer's r~lieving force ; to attack Cape Colony at three widely separated points, viY.. , Colesberg, Stormberg, and Dordrecht; to send a commando into Zulula.nd; to capture and hold T aungs, V ryburg, and Kuru man ; and, in fact, the greater portion of British Bechuanaland (and Griqualand West; to keep open their numerous lines of communication and supply; to overawe hostile natives ; and to direct the labour of friendly natives for purposes of defence.
In short, it is only necessary to sum up the various simultaneous services performed by the Boers at any one time in order to become impressed with the large numpers who must be gathered under the flags of the two ·Republic3. A prisoner st~ted, a f~w weeks back, that the Boars had 120,000 armed men in the field ; whether so or not, it is quite certain that every available man, and a great many youths of sixteen years or so, have been commandeered and armed, and sent to do duty of some sort in connection with the war.
Even women who can shoot have been employed in the trenches before La.dysmith.
Moreover, there can no longer be the shadow of a. doubt that the Boars have employed armed natives as auxilia ries, the forces under General Buller having encountered them on three several fights during the recent operations on the Tus-ela.
Approx1ma.tely, therefore, the number of rifles with which we have contended can be formed by estimating the male popula.tions of the two RepubJics; those who remained at home unfit for war being amply offsetted by several thousands of rebellious British subjects who have taken up arms against their Queen, and by the other sources above mentioned.
The numbers of our foes will now in all probability rapidly decrease, irregular forces having a. peculiar and wonderful way of melting under the intluences of adversity. Mr. Kruger's hysterical appeals to the burghers at Poplar Grove to stand their ground and fight, ca.n only mean that he regards the Boar's cause to be truly a. lost one and this must be so, for has not our sun, dear oJd cc Bob$," gone right round them ; and he will " shadow , them further !
Mafeking.- The latest news of Lord Kitchener rather looks a.s if a force to relieve Mafeking is being organised, and about to be despatched from Kimberley. Whether Mafeking should fall or not, its heroic defence will ever remain one of the brightest memories of the war. I am afraid the garrison is in sore straits, and may not be able to hold out muoh longer. Baden-Pow~ll, L ord Cecil, and its other gallant defenders (many of whom, alas! are only with us in honoured memory), have, however, materially assisted the British cause by occupying the close attention of a considerable Boer force during the entire war. Now, more than ever, this force can least be spared by Mr. Kruger, and we must hope that it will soon be ordered to raise the siege, and march on scenes ~here true soldierly qualities can be better displayed than m the persistent bombardment of a hospital and a. woman's laa~er, from a battery out of the range of the defenders' artillery. · Lac~ysmith.-From a return picked up on Bulwha.na., it appears that the two large Boar guns fired 3000 rounds. Whethe'r this means that each fired 3000, or each fired 1500, it is not clear. If the former, the guns must be ne_a.rl.Y worn out so far as their liners are concerned ; a nd 1t JS questionable whether our own 4. 7 guns would not have broken down at an earlier s tage. In this connection, your French expert "Anglophil" wrote to you, pointing out that the steel of which British ordnance is manufactured has to pass tests which in Fran ce would for the purpose be regarded as ludicrously insufficient to insure ~bat st.rength and hardness which are at all events requued for the lining tubes of large ordnance; and consequently
tha.b be believes English guns are less likely than French guns to be produced at ma~mum efficiency. . .
This brought "Suum C01q ue" on the stage, who 1s evidently an English expert, and who replied thab E nglish "wire" guns have more circumferential strength than necessary, as 7 tons of p owder pressure is more than enough for the liners, which would erode rapidly under any greater pressure, and probably erode quite quickly enough at 7 tons pressure.
P recisely: and that is just wha.b the French expert said in Gther words. He never raised the q nestion of the outer strength of our guns, but of t heir inner strength, which is mainly connected with their power of resistance to erosion. If the liners of onr guns were made of harder and tougher s teel, we could use larger charges without increasing erosion ; or, with the same cba.rgP.s, could lengthen the life of our guns, the erosion per shot bein~ less. T ake which you will, and in either case the gun IS improved without any alteration in size, weight, shape, or general design: but simply by an improved liner of better s teel, that has passed higher tests -the French tests.
This kind of gun the French declare they possess, as indicated by the question put to :.Mr. Goschen the other night by Sir Charles D ilke, and which brought from the First Lord quite as unsatisfactory answers as those given by the English expert in last week's ENGINEERING.
Yours faithfully, March 11, 1900. FIELD 0 ..L<'l!'ICER IN '84.
MECHANICAL FLIGHT. T o THE EDI'l'OR Ob' ENGINEERING.
Sm ,-In your issue of November 20, 1893, you .PUb· lished a letter from me on the n.bove subject, in wh10h I stated : ''In order to sustain weight in the atmosphere, it is a.bsolutel)r necessary to deliver air downwards; and in order to ascertain the weight of air to be acted upon, and the speed with which it must be moved, the following formula, so well known to marine engineera, is per-
fectly applicable: W 8, where W is the weight of the
mass of fluid acted tf'pon in pounds per second, S is the downward velocity in feet per second, g is 32.2 ft. per second."
Since writing the above, recent and more exact experimen ts have shown that the reactive force or lift is very much greater than that given by the above formula.
I have found that the usual formula. for ascertaining the centrifugal force of a body is applicable. A frame fitted with blades, such as is shown in your issue of May 5 1893, contains a given weight of air, for example lib., tbe after upper portions of the blades are formed to the arc of a circle 18 in. in diameter, speed of air throu~h frame 60 foot.seconds. The centrifugal force or lift works out as = 150 lb. which is nearly the lifb as ascertained by experiment.
These results are more than twice a.s favourable as those shown by the original formuln.. It would appear that the lifb is due to the motion of the particles of air being turned from a straig]lt line into the arc of a. circle.
Yours faithfully, HoRATIO PHlLLIPS.
Roedea.n, Brighton, February 27, 1900.
• MARINE ENGINE WORKING. To TllE E DITOR oF ENGINEERING.
SIR,- ! offer the following probable explanation to ~Ir. Charles E. Russell of what he has noticed, a certain rate uf steaming requires a certain rate of firing and transmission. The stop valve being closed suddenly, cauees a. sudden increase of pressure in the boiler, at the same time the mass of water and steam bubbles which under the first conditions had a certain density will now become denser, due to the bubbles becoming smaller and fewer, thus causing a con traction of the mass and a. consequen t fall in the glass, and the larger the mass the greater the effect. Both these effects will be felt by the feed v.ump and in the same direction ; that is to say, there Wlll be less head to pump against and more unbalanced pressure to do it wi th, and the rate of flow of heat not being so suddenly checked as the flow of steam, the 15 minutes is accounted for. From this it will be seen that I suppose the whole process to have a. kind of momentum of its own. With regard to his second question, what he has noticed may be due to the sum of two or three causes. Comparing the top with the bottom end, in the first place the . wrist·llin is smaller t~an the c.rankpin, a~d their motiOns w1th regard to their respect1 ve brasses I S different, the motion of the crankpin round the bottom brasses being a wiping motion in the opposite direction to that in which the crank revolves, whilst that of the wristpin is nearly a. direct blow, thus tending more to exP,el the oil film and bring the metals into contact. The difference between the upper and lower brasses may be due to the valve setting not allowing sufficiently for ~he rec~proca.ting weight, i .e., the sliding blow or grudge ts heaVler on the down stroke, in addition to which the .upper brass is in a hotter place with more metal roun? 1t probably, and this with the steam and water passmg down the piston-rod, .wou~d ~ffect the oil more. .This is allowing that the wnst-~m IS fixed to the connectmg-rod, and not the bra.sses, wh1ch I conclnde is the case.
Yours truly, L ondon, March 11, 1900. L. 0 . P . Y. Z.
To THE EDITOR oF ENGINEElU1'lG. SIR,-In reply to Mr. R~ssell's letter .relatin~ to the
above : (1) During the t1me the mar10e en~mes are running, at a fixed r~gular number of revol~~1ons, ~he boilers are also workmg under regular cond1t10ns, v1z., ev a.poration, combustion, feeding arrangement~, &c.
•
c
Directly the main engines are eased, the steam sud denly becomes confined, with no means of exit at its pressure, except through the auxiliary pi pes he~ce the mcre~ed speed of the aux~iary engines, d~e to extra veloc1ty of the steam. Owmg to decreased ebulition lev~l of water falls in ~lass, showing the more accurat~ lev~l (~xcept for the httle extra. height due to capillary act10n m the glass tube) of the water inside of boiler.
ToJ> hal v~s of cx:os.qhead, and crank head brasses, as a rule m ver t1cal engines, wear more than the bottom halves by reason of the e~tra weight u pon them due to pis ton, ~1ston-ro~, connect1ng-rod, &c., .also due. to their heating. Heat radtated from base of cyhnder m1ght cause crosshe~ brass to appear ~arm e:cternally, especially if the engme has been standmg on 1ts top centre (while under steam) for some t ime.
figure with a circle 21 in. in diameter, I could not detect it, I think it may interest some of your readers.
A t a recent meeting, Mr. Ackermann gave the method to t~e members of the Civil and l-"lechanical E ngineers' SoCJety, and invited anyone to investigate the problem and calculate the error.
Mr .. Marshal!, a member, subsequently worked out the followmg proof, from which it is seen that the error is less than 0.1 per cent. It would be interesting to know whether the problem of "squaring the circle " has ever been more nearly solved.
, no fogmen . being out. ~e tb~refore ran on, and only g<?t evtdenc_e of a tram bemg in front of him on passu:~g . the W 1 velsfield signal-box, where the aignal!Jlan e~b1lnted a .hand danger signal. The brakes were 1mmed1~t~ly apphed, but failed to stop the train before the colltston occ~rred . The neglect to have fogmen oub arose from the illness of the only regular fogman a d from the Sl;ldd~nn~ wit~ which the fog cam~ 0~. Colone~ Manndm, lD summm~ up, states that he cannot b.u t thmk. that some mechan10al system of placing fog s1gn~ls m1g~t be adopted which would at leasb protect the. line until tbe regular fogmen bad time to arrive at tbeu J>?Sts, and most engineers will probably go farther than this.
Yours truly, Portsmouth. GEORGE CLARET.
ENGINEERING AT CAPE TOWN. T o THE E DITOR OF ENGINEERING.
SIR,-1\ilany of your readers may recall a serious acciden~ a few years ago to the Zealandian Shaw-Saville s.s. Iomc, when the tail-shaft broke, t he vessel being towed about 1000 miles to this port by thA homeward bound Haw~rden Castle .. After dry docking, the extensive repatrs to the torn-Jagged tube were pluckily undertaken 'J?y M essrs. q unningham and Gearing, Atlas Works, pendmg the arn val of a new shaft section from Liverpool, when .the work was com.pleted to the entire satisfaction of all .mterested; the sh1p performing her round trip without hmdrance. Recently t he big twin Persic for Australasian ports, arrived late with the massiv~ shank of steel rudder bead (13 in. in diameter) fractured below the ~ler quadrant. The improved type of plate rudder_:permltted the easy removal of the spind le section, 1~ ft. la ng, and full~ 6 to~s weig~t, by a lighter and ship's tackle ; a tract10n engm e bauhng the bulky mass to Breestre~t, when the staff at once began operations pending receipt of two forged collars from the Queen's I sland Works, Belfast.
The shaft was trimmed, keyways cut, and some turning do!le, ~o that a few w~ek~ later, after a. night's t ask in adJusting keys, and sbrmkmg on forgings, the work was carried off safely, and by combined efforts of sea and shore staffs all was made good within 12 hours at the ~nchorage, t.he m~ter a~d c~ief engineer of the huge hner expressm g then grat1ficat10n with the execution of a.ll details in toe contract, and giving '1. certificate to tha t effect. No cargo was disturbed, and no dock expenses incurred, t he Persic prosecuting her voyage in perfect order.
The Atlas W orks a re constantly engaged in minor work for war, commercial, and mail steamers, the owners of the latter appreciating the presence of a fi rm always prepared to render prompt and skilful succour in case of emergencies, which inevital:~ly occur even to the most perfectly equipped liners. U nder the strain of a great fleet, the busy "Atla.s" has never refused a burden, and is a consolation t o suffering skip pers.
Y ours, &c., P. F.
Adderley-street, Cape Town, F ebrua ry 20, 1900.
CONTINUOUS v. POLYPHASE MOTORS. T o THE E DITOR OF ENG INEERING.
StR,-I note in a recent issue of your valued paper the eta.tement that the engineers of the Central London system have decided to use continuous instead of polyphase motors, ' ' as polyphase motors cannot give sufficient torque at s tarting."
As this latter statement has been made a number of times, and is entirely erroneous, will you kindly permit me to correct it by pointing out that, as a matter of fact (and one which can be easily verified by inquiry at any of our engineering works on this side of the ocean ), polyphase motors are now regularly designed which give any star ting torque required; and that in the present state of the art it is found that, for equal weights and equal capacities, and equal armature diameters, polyphase motors give much greater torque than the best contmuous.current motors, even when the la tter are series-wound.
For this reason we are, on this side, supplanting con tinuous-current motors by polyphase motors, on cranes and in other places where large starting torque is needed. I am myself now estimating on a plan t where polyphase motors will supplant continuous.current motors, the motors being used for running the rolls of tube welders; the change being made for the reason that it will be possible to save about 30,000 dols. in cost of wir ing, and in addition requiring only about one-half the horse-power of motors. The guaranteed starting torque of the poly phase motors is three times the full load torque. If you will read recent editorials and discussions published on this side of the water, you will find, to quote from a recent article, that "it is to the polyphase motor that we look for a solution of the inter-urban traffic question." T o use direct-current motors for railway work is to be behind the times. It is true that, about six or seven years ago, there was
some difficulty in getting torque, but I know of crane motors which have now been in use for seven years, with much better results than direct-current motors.
Yours truly, R EGINALD A. F ESSENDEN. F ebruary 24, 1900.
SQUARI NG THE CIRCLE. T o THE EDITOlt OF ENGINEERING.
Stn,-Having hit upon t~e following construct~on f?r describing an angle approx1mately equal to a radtan, m which the error is so slight that although I drew the
Constr-uction: With 0 as centre and any radius 0 R. Describe the circle K C R B. Draw diameter KB and produce it to D making
BD = 0 B, the radius. T HE A CCIDENT NEAR T ULLAMORE, ON THE GBEAT
OUTHERN AND WESTERN RAILWAY (IRELAND}. At the point D in the first line K D erect perpen
dicular D L making D L = 0 B. Colonel von Donop's report on the collision which took
place on J an uary 8 last between Tullamore and Gleashill on ~be Athlone line ~f the. Great Southern and Weste~ Railway ?f .Ir~land, lS chiefly in terestin~ as Rhowing a lack of disc1phne amongst the company s employ63, ~ well~ an utter reckl~~ness i~ mis-statement by some of the wttnesses when gtvmg evtdence at the inquiry. The ~acts .of th~ ~ are as follow: The Athlone branch IS a smgle.hne railway, and is worked on the electric staff system. A special train, consisting of a number of empty goods wagons, left Tullamore at 6.15 p.m. It passed G leasbill station, 7-lJ miles further on, at 6.54 p.m., where staves were clianged · and ns it left the station, the signalman noticed th~t no tail li~hts were visible. He therefore telephoned on to Portarling· ton, the next station, advising the signalman there of the fact, and asked them to find out if the van was on the train. He bad previously given the signal "train out of sec· tion " to Tullamore, a.nd did not cancel this when he noticed the absence of the tail lights, and two other employEh who eucceeded him in the box, acted with equal indis· cretion, though they were informed of the absence of the tail lights. When the train reached Portarlington it was found that the end portion was missing, bot the guard was nevertheless on the train, and both he and the driver asserted that the missing wagons would be focnd just outside the Portarlington distant signals. In the meantime, a passenger train had started from Tullamore, and ran into the missing wagons at about three miles dis tance from that station, so that the driver and guard of the broken train had gone on a distance of 13 miles, and past one s tation without discoverin~ their loss. This fact naturally needed some explanat10n at the inquiry, and the guard, driver, and fi reman of the missing tram struggled manfully to concoct a plausible story to fit the facts and yet shield them from the consequences of their breach of rules. Unfortunately for themselves, they had given an entirely different account of the affair to the stationmaster, and the truth al'pea.rs to be that the guard, feeling lonely or cold, determmed to ride on the engine instead of m his van. H ence when the breakaway happened he was none the wiser, and was unable to follow the rules of the com~any, which provid e that, in the case of a. train partmg, it is the guard's duty to protect the rear ,POrtion of the train. Thinking that the brakes were on m the van, they sent back the fireman to take them off, probably telling him t? stoP. in the van. H e, however, failed to board the tra.LD, which proceeded without him, both driver and guard .being u~aware that be had been left behind. Ac~ordmg to hlB own account, he failed to notice 'that some of the wagons were missing, and on reaching Glea.shill ,ta.~ion told the s tation master that h~ had walked all the way f~m Tulla· more, and that notbmg bad been left on the line. The consequences of this disgraceful disregard of rules by the train crew might have been serious, but most fort~nately the driver of the colliding train saw the obstructmg van in time to reduce his speed to 8 or 9 miles an hour at the point of collision.
L
r
D
At 0 inK 0 mak e < K 0 C equal to 45 deg. Join C L cutting the circumference in R. Join 0 R, then < B 0 R is very nearly one radian.
Proof: Through C draw C P perpendicular to K D and C N
parallel to K D. In the triangle C P 0.
< C 0 P = 45 deg. < C P 0 = 90 deg.
. · . < 0 C P = 45 deg. . ·. 0 P = CP. Then for simplicity le t C P be unit length.
Hence 0 C = ,J2. Then C N = P D = P 0 + 0 B + B D.
= 1 + J2 + /1/2 = 1 + 2 ""'i Again, N L = D L - D N.
= J2- 1.
Hence, ta.n < L C N = N ~-CN
Now . ·. C N is parallel toP D . . ·. < B 0 R = < C M 0 . And . ·. < C M 0 is exterior to t he triangle C Ivi R . .·. < CM 0 = L • (C R M+ RC M ). But . ·. 0 C = 0 R. . ·. < C R M = < 0 C R. And < 0 CR = <, (0 CM +RC M). . ·. < C M 0 = <, (0 C lvi + 2 R C M). But < 0 C M = 45 deg. {. ·. C N is parallel to K D }.
And< RC M = tan- 1 N L = tan- l _ J?: .=... ~. C N 1 + 2J2
I .e., <RC M = 6 de~. 10 ntin. 30 sec. . ·. < CM 0 = < B 0 R = 45 deg. + 2 (6 d. 10 m. 30 a.)
= 57 deg. 21 min. 0 sec. = 57.3500 deg.
Whereas one radian = 57.2958
Difference 0.0542 Or an error of leas than T'lr per cent.
Yours truly, CLAUDE P AIN.
St. Catherine's, Frimley, S urrey, Ivla.rch 6, 1900.
RAIL WAY ACCIDENTS. THE WIVELSl!' IELD COLLISION ON THE L ONDON,
BRIGHTON, AND SOUTH COAST RAILWAY. T HE Board of Trade report concerning the very serious
collision which occurred on December 27 at Wivelsfield, near Keymer Junction, on t he L ondon, Brighton, and South Coast Railway, has just been published. The accident arose from the 5.45 up Pullman express running into the boat train from Newhaven, which had been stopped a t W ivelsfield star ting signal for some minutes, and bad jus t started forward. A dense fog prevailed a11 the time. Both trains, as is we fear usual on this rail way, were behind time, though on the present occasion the fog and holiday season afforded some excuse. The three rear vehicles of the boat train were practically destroyed, whilst the fourth had three compartments destroyed, and two other vehicles were slightly damaged. The engine of the Pull wan train was upset and fell across the down line, the tender was derailed, the front brake van broken up, two carriages were telescoped, and a third badly damaged, whilst one of the P ullman cars was considerably injured. T he casualties were much less than was to have been expected, four passengers and a guard being killed, and 17 passengers injured, the injuries in 10 cases being serious. The fireman and both guards of the Brighton train were injured, but the driver escaped. The accident arose from the driver of the Pullman train disobeying the company's rules. In general the Pullman train precedes the boat train, but owing to the delays in start ing from Brighton the boat train e-ot in front. The driver, having found the line clear for h1m up to Burgess Hill, assumed he was, as usual, in front of the boat train, and not seeing the s ignals owing to the fog, thought they were clear,
CoLOGNE T RAMWAYS.- The Municipal Council of Cologne has decided to take over. the tra~wa.ys of that town from the Belgian company which has httherto owned them.
STR}!;SSES ON THICK CYLINDERS UNDER lN'J;"ER~AL P nESSORE.-At a meeting of students of the Iostttut1on of Civil E ngineers, held on Friday, March 9, Proh fWr Capper in the chair, the paper read w~ on ~'T e J.S· tribution of Stress in the Walla of a Th1ck Cylinder Sub· ject to Internal Pressure, >' by Messrs. J ohn Duncan, B.Sc., Stud. I nst. C. E ., W. A. Wales, and G. J . Day. The following is an abstract of the paper : The paper ~e· scribes an in vestigation undertaken .bY ~he . author~ Wl~ a vie\v to determine how the stress IS distnb~ted. m t J walla of a thick cylinder, subjected ~ a h~gh mtern pressure. After giving the leading d1mens1ons of the cylinder, the authors describe the ruea.ns. ta.k~n to j;!terf mine the stress at different depths m the w . 0
the cylinder by measuring the diametrical extenswn wj thin the walls and ca1culating the stress~s from the strains on a basis of a tension test of a. spe01men, after· wards cut from the walla of the cylinder ; the means adopted for applying and regulating the in~rnal pressbre are described. The results obtained are g1ven 1} ~ ted lated form with the theoretical stresses, ea cu a according t~ Bar low's and L ame's theories, and these are ~raphically represented by a series of curves .. The pa.,jhr lS also accompanied by drawings of the. cy~nder. 'bede extensometcr used for measuring the strams, LS ~e~cn tl~ The paper c~ncludes with a comparison of t e .rest obtained. with the theoretical results, and suggesAt1J;~s as
' · b th woCUS· to the cause of the d1fference etwee? eR V Cl k, sion followed, in which Messrs. F. F ishedr, F B S n!~n· J . A. W ickham. R . C. Mo~s, B. W. H ea , · · o schein , and A. Bromley Smith took parb.
~1ARCH I 6, I 900.] E N G I N E E R I N G.
OKES' SAFETY COVER FOR MUD-HOLES. I
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SECT/Ol A . D
THN illustration above shows a. cover for water-tube and other boilers, and for mud and manholes of Yarious kinds, devised by Mr. J. C. R. Okes, of Ormond House 63, Queen Victoria-street, London, E. C. The door i~ circular and is conical, and to enable it to be passed through the plate, the door and the plate are both c~amfered away at two pl~tes, the door at its greatest diameter and the hole at 1ts least. The result is that the size of the door is reduced at one spot, and the size of the hole in the plate is increased, with the effect that the door can be passed edgewise through the hole. The door is then rotated 90 deg. and drawn into the hole, when it makes a joint, because the cham~ fered portions no longer coincide. It will be noticed that the chamfering is only partial, and that there is enough surface left in every case to make a joint.
There is an outer cover which stands on the outside of the boiler, and against which the nut is screwed. A flange on this cover enables it to be easily detached, should it be stuck by the jointing material. By driving a. chisel between the flange and the plate the outer cover is readily loosened. The cross-piece on the bolt is to enable the inner cover to be kept in place, while the man is turning away to find the outer cover and the nut. If a straddle-piece, like an enormous hair-pin, be slipped on to the bolt behind the crosspiece, the inner cover cannot fall back into the boiler when the man leaves hold of it. The cover is very ingenious, and presents evidence of having been very carefully designed.
INDUSTRIAL NOTES. THE Boilers Registration and Inspection Bill, pro
moted by the Trades Union Congress, nnd in charge of ~fr. Charles Fenwiok, came on for second reading on Wednesday in last week, this being the second measure promoted by trade unions which has occupied the attention of the House of Commons this Session already. This is not the place in which to discuss the merits of the measure. On one point, there was a strong divergence of opinion among the trade unions supporting the Bill, but the matter wa~ arranged before the day of its discussion, namely, the provision that the inspection should be by boilermakers. The engineers put in a claim to be appointed inspectors if the Bill were carried, which claim was conceded. It was agreed on all hands that Mr. Fenwick made an admirable speech in movin~ the second reading ; it was moderate in tone, and his facts and figures were well arranged. His plea was for preventive measures to insure safety t? persons, which inquiry afterwards could not pos· s1bly effect. :Mr. Alfred Emmott, in a maiden speech, supported the view that further legislation was required, but he did not commit himself to the proYi· sions of the Bill ; but, he said, if the Bill was to be ca_rried pro jo1·mtt, and then be relegated to a commlttee, he would support it. The rejection of the Bi11 was mO\·ed by Sir .A. Hickman, but there was no necessity to go to a diYision after the assurance of the Home Secretary that the Government proposed to deal with the measure in another BiB. The old
Fig .5.
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a~~ument that inspection shifted the onus of responsiblhty from the owner of the boiler to the inspector cannot hold good, for such an argument would strike a blow against all inspection. 1'he crux of the case rather is in over-inspection, tha.n in no inspection at a:ll. The .object of inspection in this case is safety to hfe and hmb. It ought not to be harassing to the u~e~; it should rather superinduce greater care and 'Y1g1l~nce. In the event of a serious explosion, the mq~1ry would~ as now, fix the responsibility, but in reahty the oh1ef care should be to avert the accident if possible. Employers, as well as Mr. Fen'"iok, admitted that further legislation was required, and the Home Secretary declared his intention to make provision in his Factories Bill for the trades thereby affected.
. The new Factories Bill is rightfully regarded as an 1mporta.nt mea~ure. Its key~note is safety, but it has other provisions. The Bill proposes to enable the Secretary of State for the Home Department to make regulations for the safety of persons employed in dangerous trades, and it provides a mode of procedure for the consideration of objections to such regulations, while in draft, by a referee, who is neither to be an inspector nor a person who would be affected by the proposed regulations. A child is not to be allowed to clean any place under machinery in motion, if, in so doing, it is possible for him to come into contact with such machinery. Every steam boiler must have a proper safety valve and steam and water gauges; it must be cleaned and examined internally at least once in three months, and be examined internaJly and externally by a competent engineer once in every twelve months. Thus, in so far as factories are concerned, boiler inspection is secu1·ed. The Factory Acts may be applied with modifications, to laundries carried on by way of trade or purposes of gain, with special provisions, as regards steam laundries, for regulating temperature and carrying away steam, and in every laundry brought under the Act, for the separating of stoves for heating irons from the ironing· room, against the use of gas-irons emitting noxious fumes, and for keeping the floors in good condition. In respect of bakehouses, after January 1, 1904, all underground ba.kehouees, that is those whose floors are more than 3 ft. below the surface of the footway of the adjoining street, must be certified to be of suitable construction. The employment of a child under twelve years of age is specifically prohibited by the Bill. Other clauses deal with the two-shift system, with overtime, with out-workers, tenement factories, &c. When it is remembered that the terms factory and workshop are now of wide application, the measure of the Home Secretary may well be regarded as important and far-reaching, but it does not depart from the linea of legislation already familiar in such Acts. The provisions relating to laundries are extensions, but they are on the lines of safety to the persons employed, and for insuring healthful conditions.
---By the accident of the speedy termination of the de-
bate on the Boilers' Registration and Inspection Bill, the question of old-age pensions came on for discussion on Wednesday in last week. Sir Fortescue Flannery moved the second reading of his Bill for making some provision for placing members of friendly societies in a position to receive pensions, under certain conditions, at the age of sixty-five years. The proposed pension was 5s. per week, two-thirds to be provided by Parliame~t and one-third by the local authority. The mover estimated the cost at about ~ millions sterling a year. It was. objected that the plan suggested was only "an extensiOn of outdoor relief, and that in a wrong direction." This is hardly the case, for if any section of the people deserve encouragement it is that section represented by friendly and other thrift societies. The Government objection to the Bill was that the whole question of cost must be considered, which was not done by the Select Committee of last Session. Mr . Chaplin stated that the eRtimated cost was 10,000,000l. now and 15,000,000l. later on. The Bill was talked out after about an hour and a half's debate. The only labour member who spoke in the debate pleaded f?r ~hose. who could not afford to make provisiOn m fnendly societies. Surely there ought to be some distinction between the thrifty and the thriftless. Workmen themselves denounce the non-union man who refuses to contribute to the union and yet demand that Government shall take c~re of hi~. Tak~ ~ concrete case. The Amalgamated So01ety of Engmeers, and all the tra{}e unions on that model, keep their own unemployed, sick, disabled, and aged members, and yet contribute t heir share to the poor an_d oth~r rates. ~urely such provision deserv~s cons1derat10n: T~e 1dea of old-age pensions is a.dnn~able. Paupensm lS hateful to the really industriOus classes. But there appears to be a section whose aspirations do not soar above the workhouse. Any scheme which makes no difference in t reatment will be unjust and harmful, and will cause opposition even in the ranks of labour.
The report of the Ironfounders for the current month st~tes that there is a continuance of general activity in th1s branch of trade. The number on donatioa benefit had decreased by 30, and those on sick benefit by 21 in the month. It states also "that there are als~ ~ore new order~ reported to be in sight, so that there 1s every promise of a continuance of the present general activity." The returns as to the state of trade C?nfirm this view. Out of 125 branches, only one,, w1t>h 81 I?embers, reports short time, the same as m the prev10us month, but with one member less affected. Out of the total, 86 branches with 11,907 members, report trade as very good ; this shows an increase of six branches, with 545 more members than last month. Then 32 other branches, with 4866 members, report trade as good ; so that 118 branches, with an aggregate of 16,773 members, notify in the returns that employment is very good, or good. The total number in receipt of benefit was 1924, or 51 fewer than in the month previous. Of that total 326 were on donation benefit, 670 on sick benefit, and 853 on superannuation allowance. The other 75 were reported to be unemployed, but out of benefit. Not a single member was on dispute benefit, and only two in the previous month. The total number of members was 17,94 7 ; the total balance in hand was 94, 083l. 12s. 6d., an increase of 1452l. 6s. 2d. in the month. The cost of all benefits was 8td. per member per week. The funds have increased by 22,267l. 3s. 9d. since the February report of last year. As regards the advance in wages movement, the Wakefield members have been conceded the advance of 2s. per week as requested, "without the slightest friction. " In other places the negotia~i?n~ have been carrie~ on in the same spirit of conmbat10n. The report g1 ves at some length the proceedings of the Federation, particularly as to the mapping out of the United Kingdom into districts, of which there are eight : six to England and Wales, one for Scotland, with Glasgow as the centre, and one for Ireland, with Belfast as the centre, sub-centres Dublin and Cork. All the districts are large; that with London as a centre comprises 15 counties ; No. 2 has 13 counties ; No. 3 twelve counties ; No. 4 seven counties ; No. 5 Yorkshire alone ; No. 6 four counties and Middlesbrough, with Newcastle as the centre. Thus is the work of the Federation mapped out for organisation purposes.
According to the report of the Amalgamated ociety of Carpenters and Joiners, employment is very fair for the time of year. In the two first months there is generally a degree of slackness far greater than in any other months of the year. The past two months were not an exception, only that the slackness was very partial and comparatiYely light. Tho total number of members was 62,319, of whom 2009 were on donation benefit, 1738 on sick benefit, and 827 on superannuation allowance. Of the 2009 on donation benefit 230 were in the United States, Canada, Australia, and the Cape, so that 1779 were reported as unemployed in the United Kingdom, not a le.rge proportion for this season of the yea.r. Another indication of rros-
I
•
parous trade is the termina.tion of disputes more or less in the men's favour. At Newport, for example, the men were out on strike for 42 weeks, but the strike terminated in the second week in February, the rules contended for being agreed to and signed by the employers, the men thereupon resuming work. In the shipyards, at Cardiff, Penarth, and Ba.rry, disputes have also been settled, work having been resumed at those places. At Cardiff the dispute was over t he hour system, which the employers wanted to introduce, as against the day system hitherto in vogue. The employers made concessions which the men agreed to, and the rules drafted wore signed. Only in one instance are members warned of a. pending dispute, namely, at Rochdale, where they are requested to see the branch secretary before accepting employment. The absence of disputes is an encouraging sign. The levelling-up process has been going on for a. long time, so that wages are now more uniform than they have ever been. Uniformity is not really sought, but what is desired is that there shall not be such a wide difference between the high and the lower levels of rates in the various towns of the kingdom. The chief agitation now carried on is as regards the fixing of ''joinery manufactured under unfair conditions." Two proposals are before the Council from various branches, one to prepare a. list of firms making joinery under fair conditions, the other a. list of those who do not . Of course, this covers the whole ground. Formerly the building firms prepared their own joinery, now a. good deal of it is manufactured by firms having expensive machinery, while a good deal is imported from abroad. Both will be affected by t he resolutions of the branches.
---As regards employment, there is very little, if any,
chau~e in the position of the engineering t r ades throughout Lancashire. Lessening pressure is felt in some branches of the machine· tool industry ; but makers are still sufficiently full of work for some time to come to insure steady employment. The heavy stationary engine builders complain of a lack of new orders to replace those running out ; but in the lighter sections of highclass work, especially for engines required for electric driving, they are as much pressed with new orders as ever. Hydraulic engineers also continue to be exceedingly busy, having quite as much work as they can undertake ; although there is a lessening pressure as regards the lighter classes of pumps, owing, it ie said, to the war in South Africa. Locomotive builders are iull of work; sufficient, in fact, to carry them well into next year. Boilermakers are likewise full of work, in some cases for some time ahead. Makers of textile machinery are mostly well engaged ; but in the spinning sections there is less pressure than there was some time ago. On the whole, there is little to complain of as regards all those branches, and others of a. like nature, users of iron and steel. The iron trade has been quiet; consumers being content to purchase only for present requirements, without committing t hemselves as t o the fut ure. Prices have been maintained; but there appears to be hope of easier terms pretJently. Finished iron makers, on the other hand, are sufficiently full of orders, and apparently do not anticipate a. decline in prices. The steel trade is active, and prices firm. Generally the position is more favourable to producers than to consumers.
There is no slackening off in activity in the iron and eteel trades in the Wolverhampton d istrict, alt hough both consumers and exporters are more immediately concerned with obtaining deliveries on accepted contracts than with entering into negotiations for fresh bargains. Those whose present wants are fairly well covered prefer to hold back orders. for future deliveries, iu the hope that later on they w1ll be able to renew expiring contracts on easier terms. The ironmasters do not hold that view; they consider that the present high rates will be adhered to for some time to come. This view is supported by the dearness of fuel and pig iron. Moreover, there is every probability of a further advance in ironworkers' wages at the next ascertail1ment of t he a\·erage selling rates of all claeses of iron, which will help to keep up the rates for at least the two months during which the advance will operate. Th.e advance in wag~s follows the rise in prices, and mce ver~a a decrease m wages follows lower rates. The exper1ence of t he members of the Unmarked-Bar ~takers' Association indicates that lower rates are not probable at present, for they ea~ ~asily obtain an advance of 5s. per ton on the mtmmum quoted rates, and some are already advocating a further advance of lOa. per ton at the next quarterly meeting. Others think t hat any further advance ~ill seriously check the demand. :Merchants are buymg freely where they can for the supply of their .own customers and for foreign and colomal markets wtth whom a. good trade is being done. The s~eet t rade_ generapy is buoyant and for hoops and stnp there ts a bnsk demand. The steel trade is full of activity, and the selling prices are firm. The ~arious iron and eteelusing industries continue ~>Usy 1n almost all br~nches in the engineering and alhed trades, and also m the
E N G I N E E R I N G.
hardware industries, both light and heavy. Indeed, it can scarcely be said that there is any material slackening down in any branch of importance in the district. If such should arise, the probability at present is that it will result from the high price of material rather than from a decrease in t he demand.
In the Birmingham district the tone in the iron market la~t week was scarcely as strong as a month previously. There were signs of a possible drop in prices. There was no scarcity of work in any department, but orders were being rapidly worked off, and, it is reported, they are not quite so spontaneously replaced. Buyers, it is said, now want a little tempting. Speculative buyers are checked by the high rates. Merchants who had been buying to hold for a favourable opportunity have begun to sell, thus to some extent bearing the market. Nevertheless, the tone generally has been healthy , as the weakness indieated was regarded as temporary only. American producers have been sounding the market, both for iron and steel, but their quotations ha.ve not been such as to tempt business. In t he finished iron departments a steady trade continues in all the best descriptions. ~1akers of bars hold out for full rates, and, as a rule, get them with no difficulty. Hoops and strip have been sold at slight concessions on full rates. In galvanised sheets the immediate call is not quite so heavy, but some good orders are on band. Exports have not much increased in volume, but the rise in values is apparent, owing to the completion of old, low-priced contracts, the higher rates coming into the returns. The chief markets have been Australia, India, and South America. The producers of steel have enough orders on hand to last for some t ime, and the rates are firm all round. The iron, steel, and metal-using industries are mostly busy, wit h here and there some quieting down. On the whole, there is little to indicate any turn of the tide towards slackness, but the high price of fuel and raw material is felt.
The dispute in the rivet trade is not settled yet. The workers, it appears, have taken the rather unusual step of refusing t he terms offered by certain employers until all make the concessions asked for.
The representatives of the employers and operatives in the cotton industries of Lancashire ha.ve had a. further conference as to the establishment of a permanent conciliation board, but matters were not sufficiently advanced for any definite action. 'l'his does not mean that serious difficulties have supervened ; it is hoped that a full discusRion of a ll controversial questions will end in an agreement when the scheme is finally proposed. Meanwhile, the joint committee continues its work as heretofore.
The picketing case of Lyons v. Wilkins and others, in connection with the Fancy Leather Workers' strike, has suddenly collapsed. It has cost a lot of money, and has been before the public for three or four years, and is an instance of the Law's delays. Mr. Justice North granted an interim injunction restr~ining the union from continuing picketing during the dispute. That decision was upheld by the Court of Appeal. The plaintiffs further appealed for a perpetual injunction, which was granted by Mr. Justice Byrne; this was upheld on appeal in the same court. Then it was determined to carry the case to the House of Lords. Now the caso has been withdrawn, on the plea of want of funds. The rich t rade unions seem neglectful of an opportunity to t est the question of picketing- what may and what may not be done.
The "labour unious,'' comprising sections of various trade unions representing labourers more or less skilled and unskilled, are agitating for an advance of 10 per cent. in wages on the Tyneside and the north-east coast. The united bodies repres~nt, it is affirmed, some 22,000 workers, and have considerable funds at their back.
It is report ed that the Uovernmcnt narrowly escaped a defeat on Friday in last week over t he que · tion of a minimum wage for labourers in the Admiralt y Departments. Mr. Goschen was. p~esse~ to make a concession, but refused, though 1 t 1s eat cl he was pressed by the Whips. The result was t hat in a division one of the Whips bad t o go into t he lobby again t the Government, he baYing pledged himself to support the cJa im when a candidate for a scat.
The London Plasterers are again in dispute, a number of men having struck work in the early part of last week. It arose over a. rule, thought to be necessary by the Employers' Association to avoid fri ction, but which t he Operatives' Union deny to he necessary . Negotiations led to the resumption of work by most of the men uncler the old conditions, and it is hoped t.ha t a. satisfactory settlement 1-vill be effected.
The rivet-heaters' strike on t he Clyde, involving fully 10,000 hands, was temporarily settled by the
[1\IARCII I 6, I 900.
meu resuming work for one month on the old tenus pending negotiations with the employers. '
In Northumberland and Durham the miners fa,·our a. larger demand than the employers have conceded and there is some friction in consequence. The miners~ officials in these two counties have not a. bed of roses just now; they ha,·e all their work cut out to satisfy the cravings of the men for higher wages.
The general strike of glass makers in the Charleroi district of Belgium ended last week, after six weeks' duration. The men had to yield, and resumed work unconditionally after much privation.
The strike of miners in Bohemia, ~I ora via and Silesia. continues. Negotiations have from ti~e w time been going on, but with no success so far. The men claim an eight-hour day, instead of ten as hereto· fore. The intervention of the Governmtant is asked for by the , ocialist and some of the Liberal deputies.
COAL IN RussiA.-The output of coal in Russia. in 1877 was 1, 77 4, 193 tons. In 1898, the corresponding total had been carried to 12,032,258 tons. The demand for coal has much increased in Russia of late years, in consequence of the growing dearness of wood. 'fhere has &lao been a large increase in consumption, in consequence of the pro. gress of railways and metallurgical industry. A large proportion of the annual coal consumption of Russia has accordingly to be obtained from external sources.
YoRK HIRE CoLLEGE Exc iNKERING Soci.E'Ir.-Mr. H. J. Graves, the vice-president of the Derbyshire Engineering Association, read a .Paper before the members of the Yorkshire College Engmeering Societr on Monday, the 26th ult., on "The Mechanical Treatment of Coal and its Influence in the Construction of Modern Boiler-Houses." Mr. Wilson Hartnell presided. The lecturer pointed out that the three most important fea. tures in connection with a system of distributing coal were that: (1) It should be expeditious; (2) more or less automatic i and (3) involve ample storage cap~ity. By means of d1agrams, Mr. Grea.ves proceeded to describe the method adopted at the \Vhitecbapel . road (Leeda) Electric Lig_hb Generating Station bf Mr. H~rold Dickinson. By this method the coal lB first Sifted through a screen, then conveyed by means of an a~tomatic feeder (to regulate the supply per hour) m to an elevator from which, by means of push-plates on an endless ' chain, the coal is discharged automatic. ally into hu~e hop_pers placed over ~he ~re~ for the pur· pose of rece1ving tb. Double handling lB .1':lvolved, b~t that could hardl1. be helped unde_r the condttlOns prevailing at the Wbtteba,ll-road Sta.t1on. The lecturer nex~ proceeded to dP.scribe the system adopted at the Crown Point Generating Station, where the push-t>lates are sup· ported on rollers, thus involving less friotu~I? · The coal lS here raised from barges and conveyed duect ~ the boiler-house. A newer system in use ~t the Kensmgto.n Electric Lighting Station was also 1l.lu~tr:ated . This London station is self-contained, and as 1t JS ID a densely populated (>art, the utmost economy of space has bad to be practlSed. A storage capacity of 650 tons of C?al has, indeed, bad to be developed \Vithin an area (contam· ing seven boilers) of some 135 ft. long by 46 ft. wtde. AB a virtual outcome of Mr. Greaves's lecture, Mr. H. ~· Dickinson arranged for ~be me~~rs of the. Yorkshtrd College Engineering Soc1ety to v1s1t the Whi~hall-roa Electric Lighb Station, when the coaJ-bandling plant would be practically expounded.
OuR RAIL ABROAD.- The exports of rails from the U nited Kingdom in Febru!.ry were 26,837 tons, as com· pared with 33,350 tons in February, 1899, a':ld 10,6f~llto:ff m February, 1898. The demand accordlDg Y. rt.s to rather appreciably last month, altbou~h the expo d Japan were 4670 tons, as compared ~th 162 to~ a~ 175 tons res.Pecti vely ; those to MextC<?, 6095 !d ~ose compared Wlth nil and 40 tons respect1vely i a. d 'tl to the Argentine Republic, 4036. tons, as com~re ~ac~ 225 tonA, and 4163 tons respecttvely.d.A grea eo~ the tion in the demand occurred on ln 1an &CCJUD , 88 exports to British India having been only 10,158 t~~~Jy coml>ared with 22,016 tons, and 17,:322 tons respec .!V red Brittsh South Africa only took 1278 .tons, aT6m~grewith 1235 tons, and 9097 tons respectlvbly. f tbiBa year gate exports in the fi rst twod mo.n~ s 66o 220 tons in were 67,688 t~ns, as .compare w1t , o:~ 766 tons ~he correspondmg. per10~ of 1899, an~h! e~ports to m the corr~ponding penod of 1~98. 8376 tonE' Egypt declined, to }?ebruary. 28 thts yenr, to din riod a.s compared with 17,275 tons m the corres~~n g ~od of of 1899 and 17 344 tons in the correspon m~~pe~n.s as 1898 · those to' the Argentine .Repubhc, to 7 · 0 ctiv~ly. compared with 293 tons and 15,206 tons respe red those to British South Africa, to 10,491 ~n~, ~ aC:d~ose with 1840 tons and 17,310 tons respectlve !a,' 'th 42 425 to British India, to 18,186 toll;S, as comp~he ~her h~nd, tons aud 42,474 tons respectn:elv. O~b United King· Denmark took 5463 tons of ratls fro~ er as compared dom in the first two months of .thlS yea ' 5330 tons, with 374 tons and 1702 tons respectiVely; J ap::~~tively ; as compared with 167 tons and . 609 tons d 2828 tons Mexico, 6095 tons, as compared Wlth 4 to~~~ red with respectively ; U ragua;r, 1298 ~on A ~s alasia.pa9096 tons, 3 tons and nit ~espect1vely; and 5r3~{tons r~spectively. as compa.red wtth 7428 t~ns J"·ffi lt'es in India is, of The recurrence of famme 1 cu 1. d nd course, not calculated to assist the Indtan ema '
MARCH r 6, r goo. J •
; E N G I N E E R I N G.
Tb~ l.a.tter are capable of driving bars for borin w k · 1 •
pos1t10n, or re. turning crankpins &c and th .g or 11£ ~ear wheels by wh10h the rotary motion of the crankshaft usefulnes~ is very large. Th~y d~u econ~:!i~!uge be ds ~{lnhve1yded to the part K, .which is fitted with a suitable wor~ed wtth 60 lb. to 8~ lb. _of air pressure. Y rl . o . er o~. chuck. L IS a threaded eleev~, which, in
PORTABLE PNEUMATIC TOOLS.* By ~In. EwAnT C. A~10s, Member, of London.
(Continued, f'rorn page 336.) PouTABLE DmtLs.
. THE many advant~ges to be derived from the applicatl<~n of compressed a.tr for the purpose of driving portable d!1lls are probably ~ore apparent than in tlie ClSe of e1ther hammers or r.tvet~rs. .In the author's opinion t~e portable pneull!a.ttc <;lr~ll,, Wlth its many application~ will S?on be recogm~e? (tf tb IS not already) as one of the ~ost tmportant add1t1ons that ha:ve been made in recent t1me3 to our sto~k of labour·savmg machines. A greab deal ?f wo~k, whtch for ecOJ?Omic reasons had before to be. dr1Ll~ 1.n the shop prev1ous t~ erecti~n, can now be drtlled ~11: stt~2 , and the result, be31de3 bemg more satisfac tory m Itself, has considerably reduced the cost.
F1g. 22 shows an outstde vtew of a, "Little G · t, conJ~nctton wtth L' and other parts, proVlde for the able a~r drill. Fig. 23 (page 366) is alon itudi tan port- f~edmg down ?f the drill. This tool is also fitted with a elevatiOn taken on lines 1-1 of Figs 24 a~d 25 n~~ec~~o~al &lb_p~e reversm.g arrangement (not shown on drawing) ~ross-sectiona.l view taken on line 2.2 of Fig · 23 tg:F· 1~5 d ·ulc . en~bles tb to do all classes of work for which 1s a similar view taken on line 3.3 of F ' · 23• tg. . r1 . 1S sutta.ble. trpe of drill the .motor consists of four si~gle.~ctf: thts h fr1gh 26 a~ows the interiox: of a.." Wbitelaw" drill with hnders arranged 10 .Pa.ira, and havin each air of .g cy- a t e <?&SlDg ~amoved, whils~ Ftg. 27 shows the passage C?tmected to oppo~tte ends of a doutle cra~ksbaft~ts~bs of the au l~dmg to the. cy~mder and the method of P1Stons of ea.oh pa.tr travel in opposite direcLion e rev~rsal. . Tb~a type. of dr11l 1s actuated by two double· parts of the stroke to effect smooth running Th~ ~t 1 !1-11 0ctt~g osh~lat1~g cy hnders A and B, driving a crankshaft ders are con. trolled by balanced piston val v~s set t! m- , o w 10b 1s attached .a pi~ ion D dri vi':lg ~he gear off ab five-etgbths of the stroke and should therefocut fheel E attached to the drlll spmdle. Its a.ot10n IS therepro.ve ecC?nomica..J. Referring to 'Figs. 22 to 25, A is th~ ;.re :i 0 D:}f sheen, and referen~ to the. cross.section. ma.m casmg, which contains the mechanism . B and B 1 htg;. b ' Wl .s ow that by rotatmg the milled handle F
•
i
"Little G iant'' Portable A ir-Dn'/1.
.Fi[J.21.
H-+-
Besides ?rilling, portable pneumatic drills can be usEd for !ea.mmg, tappm~, tube expanding, clea.n.ing castings, bonng wood, screwmg nuts on to bolts, bonng cylinders ~nd Oorliss valve seats, grin~in~ steM~:pipe joints, turnmg up crank and car-wheel pms m pos1t10n, and a variety of other purposes which will readily sua-gest themselves. The method by which compressed air is utilised for driving the drills is generally by means of single or double-acting cylinder motors, the cylinders of which are sometimes fixed and sometimes oscillating, and these again actuate suitable mechanism for driving the bib, and are encased in the body of the drill. The piston air drill, as it may conveniently bP termed, has become a very important factor in boiler work, shipbuilding, and constructional work generally. As a reamer or tube expander the
TABLE III.-Pnewmatic Drill8. - --~ ... . .!. I • Q ~ CD ..Q • CD 0
j:l.o~ (h I .... - .... ~
~ g)~~ ~· 0 .... ~ !:) A C1S
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11) ~
u.c .. ::s ~ Q ~~ ..,a ..Q -:::s::> ,.Ill CD oa.. bO O~co <IS?; 0~
~::s ·- :> ..... Ql
I ~ ..,o .~ 9 Az ?! ~:a s:: ~p.. ~ <'
I I -TYPE.-'' Little Giatnt " (Figs. 22 to 25).
I lb. I CUb. n. .
0 I I per mm.
45 125 2~ 46 3-in. holes in metal 1 I 35 190 u I 35 2-in. ,. " -2 19
I 250 1 25 lt in. " " a 8 760 15 ~·in . • • 11 ,
Type.-" Whitcla1o, (Figs. 26 and 27). 4 • • 1000 ' t 15 t-in. holes in metal tS 14
I 720 •! 20 :3-in. boles in soft wood
7 20 250 1 25 For tube expanding 8 3\) 120 lk 30 J-in. holes in metal
TyJ:e.-" Boyer "(Figs. 28 and 29). 2 I 46 180 1 ~ 30 3-in. boles in metal 3 41 240 1 25 1 , , , 6 17 500 ~ 20 { ~ ,, , .,
3·in. holes in soft wood
- --saving over band labour is very great, and a.t the same time the work is turned out much faster-a great point in shipbuilding. Pneumatic drilJs are made in a large number of sizes, from light drills suitable for small holes up to powerful ones developing 2 to 3 horse-power. -------------
* Paper read before the Institution of Mechanical Engineer3.
' w IC geara m to a. short rack G at the end of the lever
Ot.Jv 11o&e
.See 1 'a l,ve be tow ,
"Boyer '' Ptstou Air Drill.
Scale !rd.
•
• • .. 0
• • • • • ' • • • • • • • ' • • ' • • • • • • • • • • • . I
R eg ulattng Valve , see above. ,
are one pair of cylinders, and 0 and C1 the other, and arranged ab right angles to each other a.nd connected to a common crankshaft D. By this arrangement a dead centre is avoided. The air admission and exhaust is controlled by two piston valves E and Et, shown most clearly in Fig. 24. These are worked by small eccentrics off the crankshaft, and serve to control the four cylinders; f is the wa.in pressure chamber, having communication with the supply pi,Pe H. Fig. 24 shows one of the piston valves in sect10n, from which it will be seen tha.t it is reduced in diameter in the centre, and is hollow. The arrows show the direction taken by the air. Cylinders B and Bl receive air communications through j'J and f 3, and cylinders C and Cl through c3 and c"', the exhaust taking place through the interior of the two valves. Fig. 24 shows the action to be as follows: f is full of live air which is blowing through c4 and f 3 , to supply oy tinders er and B l, whilst cylinders B a.nd Bt are exhausting trrough f ~ a.nd c3 into the centre of the valves, and thus •c- t~e atmo~phere. Referring to Fig. 2~, k and k1 a.re
.. • • • • • • '
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • . • •
F4J.21i. Vertit.al Section through centre of Machine .
E.:r.Ju:vus!J
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l.lt rough centre of Cyl.inders. • •
Scale t th. •
•
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H, the hollow portion I changes its position, with the result that reversal takes place in the usual way adopted in oscillating cylindere. The exhaust is made into the casing and escapes through suitable apertures. The reversal is instantaneous, and the machine IS well adapted for all kinds of drilling, tapping, tube expanding, woodboring, &c., the reversing arrangement especially lending itself for such purposes. The machine is supplied with ample lubrication, and is fitted with ball bearings throughout.
Fig. 28 illustrates a transverse vedical section of a '' Boyer '' piston drill, and Fig. 29 is a. horizontal section taken through the centre of the cylinders. The machine consiAts of three parts: 1. The upper housing into which the throttle-valve and steadying handle are screwed, and which forms a live- a.tr chamber carrying the motor. 2. The diaphrapm which forms the lid or cover of the upper housmg or live-air chamber, and through which the hollow exhaust spindle projects. 3. The lower houeing secnred to the upper housing by means of Ecrews,
•
E N G I N E E R I N G.
PORTABLE PNEUMATIC T 0 0 L S.
Fig 28. _ Longitudinal Section •
on 1-1.
" Little Giant " Portai.J!c A tr -Dri/1 .
• •
I
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·Fig . VI. Section on 2-2.
Ft9 25 Section on 3-3 .
• .. . L ooktng towards I!Jrill . • • -•
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and containing the gear-wheel rack, bearings for drill spindle, &c. The motor is in the form of a. three-cylinder smgle-acting oscillating engine, the cylinders being carried in a. rotary frame. This frawe consists of a.n upper a.nd lower plate, a.nd is triangular in sha\)8, a.s shown in Fig. 29, and is free to revolve round its centre on two bearings, the lower one being a. hollow shaft, a.nd connected by gearing to an internally toothed wheel in the lower half of the casing. The a.dmi..~ion of air to the cylinders is regulated by the valves formed in the pivots upon which the cylinders vibrate. The cylinders are single-acting, and the inner ends are open, a.nd therefore a.ir under pressure, of which the upper casing is always full, has free access to the pistons on that side. It would seem, therefore, that air being admitted through the pivot valves would only produce equilibrium, but since one of the cylinders is always open to the exhaust through the hollow bearing of the tnangular frame this equilibrium becomes disturbed, and the compressed air has full effect l!J.)On each piston as the valve comes in line with the exhaust. The cylinders are constructed of steel tubes, a.nd are fitted with trunk pistons, havin~ their connecting-rod ends attached to a fixed crankpm common to them all; the pistons having been set in motion by the introduction of compressed air into the upper casing and into the cylinder as already described, has the effect of causing the three cylinders, together with their triangular framing, to rotate round the fixed crankpin, and thus transmit rotary motion to the spindle by means of the gearing before referred to. This class of machine is fitted with a. regulator by means of which the power and speed of the drill can be varied as desired.
For results of work done by air drills, reference must be made to appendix a.t end of paper.
(To be continued.)
X
A CAPJo; TRAMWAY.-\Ve learn that engineers have been laying out a. new tram line which is to connect Cape T own and Sea. Point with Camp's Bay and to go over the Kloof.
---OuR Looo~roTn~E E XPORT ·.- The new year has begun
well as regards our locomotive expor ts. The value of the engines despatched from the United Kingdom in February was 121,588t., as compared with 75,214l. in February, 18!)!), and 50,8801. in February, 1898. Last month's figures were helped up by the exportation of engines to British India. to the va.J ue of 58, 646t., as compared with 25,626l. in February, 1899, and 13,232l. in February, 1898. The aggregate value of the locomotives exported to F ebruary 28 this year was 267,695l., as compared with 166,657l. in the corresponding period of 189D, and llD, 7 42l. in the corresponding period of 1898. The value of the engines exported to South America in the first two months of this year was 45, 5541., as compared with 21, 5001. a.nd 82651. respectively, while British South Africa. took engines to February 28 this year to the value of 431 741!., a.s compared with 15,193l. and 48471. ; British Ind1a, to the value of 99,027l., as compared with 71,3151. and 32,128t. respectively ; a.nd Australasia-, to the value of 35,846l., as compared with DD15 and 51,360l. respectively.
GoLu.-The imports of gold iato the United Kingdom in February were valued at 1, 747,544!., as compared with 2,200,734[. in February, 1 9!), and 756, 06H/. in February, 1898. The receipts of gold from Germany and Holland were upon a heavy scale last month; on the other hand, the three principal gold-producing regions-South Africa., British India, and Australa.ai.a.-ma.de somewhat smaller deliveries. The imports from South Africa in February
were only 3603l. as compared with 1,365,9271. in February, 18!)9, a.nd 865,808l. in February, 1898. The value of the gold imported into the U nited Kingdom in the first t~o months of this year was 7,012,436l., as compared w1th 4, 631, 37ll. in the corresponding period of 1899, Thd 4,817, 181l. in the corresponding period of 189~. e large increase in the imports to February 28 th1s year was due to the fact tha.t the gold imported fro~ Germany in J a.nuary and February was valued a' 1, 721,083l., a.s compared with 54,225l. and of 70,380/. in the corresponding periods of 1899 and 1898. Gold wa.s a lso received from the United States to February 28 this year to the extent of 2,574,27ll., a.s com· pared with 2782l. and 5624l. On the oth6r band, gold wh only received from outb Africa in the first two mon~ h of this year to the extent of 19,973l., a.s compared w:t 3,209,285l. a.nd 2,893,537l. British Indian gold was lDl· ported to February 28 this year to the value of 193,662l., as compared with 275,565l. and 276,050l. ; a.nd Australasian gold to the value of 897, 4251., 630,861l ..• and ~16,327/. It will be seen that Australa.sia is, for the tLIDe be1ng, ohr most important source of gold supply. ~he value of t e gold exported from the U:nited Kingdol!lln Februa189~ 955,885l., as compared Wlth 2,0G8,092l. tn February, · ' A.nd 1, 859, 622l. in February, 1898. The a.ggrega~e8~&r~ in the first two months of this year were ~,342, . . , compared with 3,959, 118l. in the corre:spondu~g per1od of 1899, and 5,348,23ll. in the correspondmg perwd of 1~~ Gold wa.s exported to South Africa in the firat two mon red of this year to the extent of 440,0001 .•. as eo~~ f with 200,100l. and nil in the corre~pondmg pen ° 1899 a.nd 1898 respectively. Tbe war has thus hfd t~d effect of not only greatly reducing the imports 0 _gble from South Africa, but ha.s also involved an apprecJa export to that quarter.
M.\ RCTI I 6, I 900.]
"ENGINEERING" ILLUSTRATED PATENT RECORD.
COMPILED BY w. LLOYD WISE. IBLBOTED ABSTRACTS OF REOENT PUBLISHED BPBOIFIOATIONS
UNDER THE AOTS 1888- 1888. Th6 numbt1" of views given in the Speoi.fi~atiO?l D1·awings is stated
in each case ; ·where nO?te w·e mentioned, the Spe&ijication is not illustrated.
Whecre i·nvention8 are ct>mmtmicated f rO?n a~road, the Names, d:o., of the Communicators w·e given in i talics.
Copies of Speoijications may be obtained at the Patent Office Sale Branch, S6, Southampton Buildings, Chancery-lam, W.O., at the uniform priu of Bd.
The date of the advertisement of the a~ceptance OJ a complete Specification is, in each case, given aJter the abstract, unless the Patent ha.s beecn sealed, ·when the date of seali•n.g is given.
.Any person may at any time within two months from the date of the advertl~ement of the acceptatnce of a complete Specification, give notice at the Patent Office o.f oppositiO?~ to the g1·ant of a Patent on any of the g1·ounds ?ne1ltioned in the .Act.
ELECTRICAL APPARATUS.
2660. C. S. Lemstrom, Relsingfors, Finland. Electric Influence Machine. [8 Figs.] .February 6, 1899. - The machine comprises a pair of concent ric drums of dielectr ic material revoluble in oppostte directions, in which eleotrioity is accumulated both from the inner surface of the inner d rum and from the outer surface of the outer drum. The fixed spindle which supports the drums is mounted iu insulating supports, and its ends are of metal, while its central por tion is composed of in · sulating material. These metallic ends carry each a. pair of collecting combs arranged opposite each other, one on the inside and the other on the outside of the drums; the two pairs of combs
;; .. r ~ l
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being ~iametrioally opposite each other, the .conducting ends of the spmdle, to which they are attached, fo rmmg the poles of th~ machine. The drums are coated with meta.llio st rips of about 5 millimet res width, cemented to their surfaces, parallel with the axis; andleach drum is p1·ovided with a transverse conductor furnished with brushes, the conductors being set at angles of 90 deg. to each other. The machine is fumished with air-drying apparatus comprising a petroleum lamp, and the drums are sup· ported on cross-arms formed in the shape of propellers, which oause a current of d ried air to flow through and over the d rums (.Accepted Febrtuzry 14, 1900.)
4812. 0. Imray, London. (The G. L . Thom~son .Manu,facturing Company, Chicago, U.S.A.) Electric Welding Apparatus. [5 Ft'gs.] February 27, 1899.-The seams of tubes, sockets, cycle fitt ings, and the like, are welded by heatin~r the edges to be united by radiation from electric a rcs, pressing
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• • I • I I I I t I I ' I • I I t
0 ·- - JJ I I
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the heated edges together, and finally hammering or pressing down the rib formed alonK the seam. The elect rodes, which are preferably carbon pen01ls adjusta.bly mounted, pass through the walls of a refractory furnace chamber ; and several pairs of alectrodes may be used if desired. The heat is radiated through ~ slit in the underside of the chamber on to the article to be
E N G I N E E R I N G. welded, which is held In a olamp so that t he edges can be pressed together, the weld being completed by means of a tilt hammer O{'erated by a t readle. The apparatus is preferably of the duplex kmd, so that two operators work at a sing le movable furnace chamber, ~ne operator. watching_ the heating o.nd wor king the clamp, wht!e the other ts hammenog the seam, and replacing the welde~ ar t tcle by a fresh one ; t he furnace chamber bein~ moved as destred from one operator to the other. (Accepted Febrtu11ry 14 1900, ) I
1765. S. P. Thompson, London. and M. Walker Ca~bridge. Surface-Contact Electric Traction: [6 Pigs.] .January 26, 1899.-This invention relates to t hose systems of electrtc t raction in which current is supplied to the motors from studs or section~ of rail, each of which, when supplying C?rrent to the motor, IS connected by an automatic switch to the btgb-pressure main, and again automatically disconnected therefrom when. t_he car has passed. In . order to prevent any stud from remammg connected to the high-pressure main after the car has passed it, t he switches are at·ranged so that a stud is first connected to the high-pressure main to supply current to the
or' '-='" • ~
.... .:;:.
ll .... ~ r+~ "1.~ Cl c::J •t... ·t.. t. t.
( IUJ .)
motor, anct subsequently to t he low-pressure or earthed main, to take the current leaving the car. Two skates or sets of skates are employed, one of which makes contact with n stud when con· nected to the high-pressure main; and the other, when the stud is connected to the low-pressure main. Each stud must thus, of necessity, be connected to the low-pressure main before the car can leave it, nnd this constitutes the principal feature of the invention. I t is, moreover, possible to run a car without earth return , and yet to use only a single row of studs. The coils which actuate tbe switches may be arranged either in series or in parallel, and both of these arrangements are described and illust rated by means of diag rams. (Accepted Feb1'uary 14, 1900.)
GAS ENGINES, PRODUCERS, HOLDERS, &c.
4742. B. G. Colman, Birmingham. Manufacture of Illuminating Gas. Maroh 4, 1899.-The object of this invention is to increase the illuminating power of the gas, and to more completely remove the naphthalene therefrom. For this purpose, the gas, hefore it enters the condenser, is passed throuJirh a centrifugal separator, which may consist of a modified form of cyclone dust collector, furnished with means for admitting and dischar(ting the gas, and for collecting and removing the tar. The temperature of the gas at this stage being about 100 deg. to 140 deg. Fabr., the tarry part icles are deposited, while constit uents of low boiling point, aucb as benzene, are not removed, and only light hydrocarbons are deposited in tbe condensers. These hydrocarbons, which readily dissolve naphthalene, are heated by passing through a coil in the foul main, and conducted to a washer in which the gas, divided into a number of fine streams, is passed through them ; the naphthalene is thus removed, while the gas is enriched by the vapour given off by the hydrocarbons. A portion of the ga.s, amounting to from 10 to 20 per cent., is drawn off through a bye-pass before the gas reaches the condenser, and afterwards added to the cooled gas, the P.ortion of the hydrocarbon thus retained, serving to increase its illuminating power. (Accepted Februw·y 7, 1900.)
4749. C. B. Dent, Tamworth. Outside Incandescent Gas Lamp. [2 Figs.] March 4, 1899.-Tbe lamp is construc led so that a port ion thereof is made to descend, and to cover up and protect the mantles, whilst the globe is removed. The details of construction may be varied according to t he type of lamp to which the invention is applied ; its application to a gas "arc, lamp being described and illustrated by way of example. 'Ihe mantle cover or protector is adapted to slide on
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•
the gas-supply pipe or pipes, and is suppor ted by strips or rods which rest on the upper edge of the g-lobe, and serve to support the cover normally in its raised posit ion, and to return it to this position when the globe is replaced. On removing t he globe for cleaninff, the cover descends until it occupies a position in whioh it effecttvely protects t he mantles from air currents; a stop or stops prevent its further descent. Various modifications of this device are briefly ind icated. (Accepted Februa-ry 14, 1900.)
27,559. T. Wilton, Beckton, Essex, Purifyin~ An· thracenes. [1 Fig.] December 31, 1898.·-Anthracene ts purified by means of liquefied ammonia, which dissolves the impur1ties, the anthracene bemg insoluble therein. In apparatus described and illustrated by way of example, liquefied ammonia under pres· sure is passed into an airtight receiver having a strainer in its lower part, on which {'Ulverised crude anthracene is placed ; below this is a vessel in whteb the impurities are collected, and from which the ammonia is evaporated by beat or other wise, passing in the gaseous form through a condensing ooil above the receiver. The purified anthracene is removed from the receiver, and crude anthracence substituted therefor ; and ammonia is again ad· mitted, the process being thus continuously conducted without sensible toes of ammon:a . . (Accepted J arvuarv 17, 1900.)
GUNS AND EXPLOSIVES. •
6591. Sir W. G. Armstron~c. Whitworth, and Co., Limited, and J. Ronner • .Newcastle. Slings for Lifting Shells. [4 Figs.] March 27, 1899.-For the means of securing a band sling described in applicant's prior specification, No. 16,656, of 1898, t hat now described may be substituted. The handle of the sling is cranked, and its ends are mounted in bea rings fixed to one end of the band, and are provided with eccentrics embraced by stmps on a plate carrying countersunk lugs a-dapted to enter holes in the other end of the band. When the band has
Fig.1. Fig .Z. RI Q , ._UI
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been passed round a shell, the handle is turned down, moving the plate away from its beal'ings, and practically increasing the length of the band, when the lugs can enter the boles. On turning up the handle the band is again shortened, so t hat the lugs oannot pass out through the boles, while the weight of the shell tends to keep the sling olosed. A pin may be provided on the end of the band! to el?gage wi~b a V -cut on the plate, the insertion of the lugs m t betr corresponding boles bei og thus facilitated. (Accepted February 14, 1900. )
7026. A.. T. Dawson, Westminster, and J. Parker, Dartford, Kent. Percussion Primer. [1 Fig.] Apri1 1, 1899.-This primer, which can be introduced into the charge in a gun, and fired by a blow, compriseR a cylindrical C.\Sing having a front chamber charged with powder, a perfo rated and reces3ed anvil block screwed into the primer, a percussion cap held in the rece3s of the anvil block, a striker adapted to slide in a bore of
the primer casing, and provided with a button head lodged in a recess _of the primer bead, and a t ransverse safety wire holding the stnker. When the charge has to be fired, a blow is struck on the bottom at the end of the stem of the striker ; the safety wire is thus broken, and the front projection of the striker fires the percussion cap, the fla.me from which passes through the rent and fires the front powder charge. (Accepted February 14, 1900.}
5349. A. B. Brown. Edinburgh. Range Finder • [1 Pig.] Aprill, 1899.- A sextant is adapted to be used as a range finder, the ranges corresponding to the angles subtended by objects, the heights of which are either known or assumed, being marked on the index·pla.te. As these angles are small, the inst rument is fitted with gearing which multiplies the angle between the mirrors, the angle as indicat ed on the index-plate being, in the example of apparatus described by way of illustrat ion, 80 times that through which the movable mirror is turned. On the index-plate are a series of arcs corresponding with the
heights, known or ~sumed~ and n. series of cur~ed lines indicating the ranges, and mtersectmg the aros at pomts corresponding with the angle subtended, at these ranges, by objects of the known or as~umed he~gbts. The index-arm is fitt~d with a radially movable pomt~r, wbtcb ~n ~e set to the reqwred height, and means are proy1~ed for adJustmg the fixed and movable mirrors. The movable ~u·ror is turned by means of a cam operated by a worm on the mdex-arm, t he pitob of which determines the ratio of the angles through which the arm and mirror are turned . (Accepted Febr·ua1·y 14, 1900. )
HYDRAULIC MACHINERY.
5188. B. L. Doulton, Lambeth. Closet Supply :Valve. [~ Pigs.] March 9, 1899.- For the purpose of pre\'entmg concussion due to the sudden closing of the valve, there is
Fig.1.
attached to ita spindle a rod connected to a piston having a number of perforations covered by a loosely fittin~ metal disc on its upper side. This piston works in n. <'ylinder c?ntainiog oil the upper and lower par ts of which are in communica~ion through
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a t>assage the cross-section of which can be regulated by means of a screw. The pis ton, when at rest, occupies the upper portion of. the cylinder, the supply valve being then closed; on opening t his valve, however, the piston descendfl, the oil passing upwards t ~ rough t h e perforations t h erein. On r~leasing the valvt>, t h e piston slowly ascends, and the perforat10ns being now closed, the oil is forced into t he lower part of the cylinder through the port, at a rate gover ned by the regulating screw ; by means of which the valve is caused to close slowly, and concussion is pre vented. (.Accepted Feb1"UatrV 14, 1900.)
1466. W.B. Moore, London. Tap. [6Fig8. ] January2 1, 1899.- The bore of the tap is taperfd toward its outlet, and termi nates in the seat of a ball valve, the ball of which normally closes the tap. Around the outlet is a sleeYe, having at its lower end a grid or c ross-piece, from which projects a rod, tE>rminating in
a cup adapted to lift the valve from its seat when t he sleeve is raised. Tbe sleeve is furnished wlth a lifting handle, and has in its sides guide slots which engage stops on the body of the tap, and limit its motion in both directions. (Accepted Feb1-uary 14, 1900. )
STEAM ENGINES, BOILERS, EVAPORATORS, &o.
5949. E. Gearing, Harrogate, Yorks. Boner Fur· naces and Flues. [1 F ig.] March 18, 1899.-A steam boiler furnace or flue, a.ccording to this invention , is formed with a series of annular a rch-like corrugations projecting ou twardly into the water sp~e of the boiler, connected by intervening cOI·rugations of a less curvature, which p roject inward ly into the ft re
'· space of the furnace or flue ; the thickness of the plate being varied in proportion to the diameter of the tube, so that the parts thereof which have the largest diameter have also t he greatest thickness, whilst in t hose parts which have the smalles t diameter t he thickness is proportionately diminished. (A ccepted F ebruarv 7, 1900.)
5166. J. I. Thornycroft London. Steam Separator. [4 Fig8.] March 9, 1~99.-This steam separator , which is d escribed and illustrated, in its application to a steam generator constructed in accordance with applicant's specification, No. 5215, of even date herewith, comprises an inner chamber communicating with t he steam main, and provided with steam inlets t hrough its upper par t ; an outer chamber nearly or entirely surrounding the inner chamber, and provided with steam inlets throu~h its upper part, and a water outlet at its lower por tion ; and a longitudinal partition between the two ch1mbers and the
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two sets of steam inlets, so arranged t~at the steam enterin_g the out.er chamber has . to pass almost enttrely ar~und the outstde of the inner chamber before it can enter therem, and that water entering the outer chamber with the steam, will be separated t herein before the steam reaches the inn~r chamLer. The water outlet pipe of the outer chamber term.mates b~low t h.e no~al water level in the upper vessel of the boiler , and 18 provided ~th a non-return valve, compr ising a conical ~alve t hat clos~s agar~lst a seat in the lower end of the outlet ptpe, and_ a spring wh10h keeps the valve closed until it is opened by the weight of the water accumulated in the outlet pipe. (A ccepted Februarv 1, 1900.)
5215 J I Thornycroft, London. Water-Tube BoUe;. [4.FifJs. ] March 9, 1899.-This invention hasrefer~nce to water-tube boilers of the "Darinrc" type, such as a re d~B?rlbed in applicant's prior specification, No. 17,809 of 1890, compristng an upper steam and water vessel, and three lower water vessels, be tween each t wo of which t here is a firebox whose walls a re formed by some of the bent tubes t hat connect the lo~er and upper vessels. According to this invention, each of the s1de lower water vessels is separately connected to t he uppe~ steam and water vessels by external downflow tubes that are mdependent of the centra.i lower water vessel and its downftow tu~es, so that each ~f the side vessels and the water tubes extendmg therefrom. will recei\·e t heir supply of water directly from the upper vessel, tode· pendE>ntly of the central lower vessel. Th~ innE'r _and .outer groups of tubes form flues, the upper ends of which are m d1rect c~rumu·
E N G I N E E R I N G. nication with upwardly t-xtending gas exit channels fo rmed by and between walls or casings, the inner of which is arranged at some distance from t he outer surface of the top portion of the upper &team and water vessel, which is thus protected from the direct action of lhe hE ated gases. The upper ve~sel is furn ished
(ws
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with a steam separator , which may be constructed in accordance with applicant's specification No. 5165, of even date herewith ; a separator so constructed is desoribed a nd illustrated hy way of example, but is not an essential feature of this invention. (Ac· cepted Felm~ary 7, 1900. )
5979. W. JCaton, Preston. Injector. [2 F'ig8.] March 20, 1899.- The injector compr ises a hollow casting divided by diaphragms into three compar tments, the first of which carries t he steam nozzle, and iB in communication with the water supply pipe ; t he second compartment contains a. " lifting and concentratin~ cone," in the top of which is an opening communicating with this compartment; and the third compar tment contains a delivery nozzle, t he bore of which has the form of a double cone or Venturi tube. The second and third compartments a re in
communication through a port provided with a lift valve, and a number of small perforations at the junction of t he concent rating cone and the delivery no?.zle allow water to flow from the third compartment to t he bore of the nozzle. On fi rst turning on steam the lift valve is raised by the mixture of steam and air from the water supply pipe, the pressure of which is unable to overcome that of t he steam in the boiler ; on the entrance of water , however, t he boiler pressure is overcome, the water being at fi rst drawn into the delivery nozzle through t he perforations a t its base until the lift valve closes. (.Accepted Febrttatry 14, 1900.)
23,238. E. A. Vetillard and E . Scherdtng, Parts. Fuel Injector. (4 Fig8. ) November 21, 1899.- This invent ion, which has reference to applicant's specification, No. 8669, of 1899, is designed to enable a stream of liquid and pulverised fuel to be injected either simultaneously or separately into a. furnace consumin~ solid fuel. The construction resembles that described in the pr10r specification referred to, with the exception that t h e cone which in the previous apparatus opened directly into the atmosphere, now contains another cone "always conical," an aspirator supplying the annular space between these cones with
Fig.1.
- · ·-Fig. 2 .
O_t11.)
a current of steam and air, which forms the vehicle for t he pulverised fuel suppHed through the inner cone. Instead of steam, an oxygenating a~ent may be supplied to the annular space between t he cones. The a.ppar~tus for supplying liqu.id a~d pulverised fuel to the furnace differs from that descnbed 1D the specification above referred to ; i t is stated, only in respect of a steam supply to t he "aspirator," which i~jects the_ air and. p~lverised fuel independently of that whtch supphes the hqmd fuel injecto;, so that either or both kinds of fuel may be injected at will. (Accepted Felm.w:ry H, 1900.)
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3407. V. c. J. Ortmans, Brussels. Steam Traps. [9 Fig8.] (Convention date October 11, 1898.) February 1 ~, 1899. - Two metal tubes having differe~t c_oefficieots _of expans1on are arranged parallel to one another.w1th1~ t he casmg of t~e appa· rat uP, thei r ends at one extrem1ty bemg fixed to the co.smg, and
[M ARCII I 6, I 900. their ends at the other extremity being attached to a valve chamber with which they communicate. Pivoted to a bracket carried either by the valve ohamber or by the casing is a le\•er one end of which is jointed to one end of an adj~table rod which passes through a supporting bracket carried by th~ casing, in which its other end is secured by screw nuts which also serve to effect the adjustment. A coiled spring sur: rounding this rod tends to depress the lever, and by adjustinethe length of the rod, the position of the lever with respect to the valve spindle may be var ied. The water of condensation entera tl:e valve chamber through one of the tubes, and passing through
the lift valve therein, escapes through the other tube. Should steam enter the tubes, their expansion raises the vah·e chamber, and brings t he outer end of the vah·e spindle in contact with the lever. thus closing the valve; should the pressure of the steam, and consequently its temperature, exceed a certain limit, the pressure of the coiled sprinr is overcome, and risk of Injury to the apparatus is avoided. A modification of the apparatus, in which two tuhes of like material inclined to each other, with a. third tube or rod of material having a different coefficient of expansion, are substituted for the parallel tubes, is described. (.Awpted Felrrua,ry 14, 1900.)
MISCELLANEOUS.
4340. F. R. Ltpscombe, London. I'Uter. (t Pig1.) February 27, 1899.- A hollow earthenware vessel is divided into three compar~ments, the highest and lowest of which are connected by a number of tubes open at both ends, and fasteued into the plates which form the top and bottom of the central chamber . The upper ends of all of t hese tubes, except one, are stopped with caps, and perforated near the top of the central chamber ; and a spiral brush, made of fibre, bristles, or me~, fu rnished with a handle, is fitted to each tub.e, ~as to be re~y accessible when its cap is removed. The hqmd to be poriOed, being admitted into t he upper compartmeo~, descends to the lower through the open tube, and thence ascends through the re·
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= (.,.1k)
maining tubes, enteriDg the central compartment! which m~y contain n. filtering medium, through the pertorattoos at their upper ends· it is thus split up into a number of small ~treams, and compell~d to Bow in a circuitous manner. Meaos otnbr thb" the brushes, such as worms, cones, or . baffle:pl~tes may e su ft stituted for t hem if desired. The pur1fled hqutd is drawn th through a. tap at the bottom of the central compartment, ~ sludge being collected in and remo\•ed from the lowest. c~TP'f ment. It is indicated that this apparatus may be apphca) ea 110
to the purification of steam. (Accepted Febntaly 14, 1900.
6641 M. Fremery and J. Urban, Oberbruch, Ger• many: ArtUlclal SUk. [3 Fig_B.) March 28, 1899ilu{!! liquid used for washing passes successH·ely through the ce the threads wound on a number of rollers art·anged one overo\'ed other, the rollers being moved from below upwards, and rem
Fig .1 . •
Fig .2.
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for drying when all traces of the soh•ents have beeu remov~ The process is applicable to all classes of wound-up or fs~tbe cellulose products, and it is cla im.ed that ~Y me~~;~~ liquid, cellulose may be perfec~ly washed w1t~ a sma qufao 1 (.AcctpUd which, it is stated, has not been posstble hereto ore. Felmtarv 14, 1900.}
UNITED STATES PATENTS AND PATENT PRA~IOE. Descriptions with illustrations of inventions pate~t~m~ :!d
United States of America from 1~7 to the. presen m~Y be reports of trials of patent Jaw cases m the Umt~ S~a~'Bedford· consulted, gratis, at the offices of ENGIX EERJNO ~~ an ' street, Strand.
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