MAY I8, 1900.] S01\1E STATISTIC RELATING TO ELECTRIC POWER PRODUCTION.

By PBILIP DAWSON. (Concluded from page 640.)

AccoRDING to Mr. Ga.rcke, the total capital in-vested in electric lighting installations in Britain is approximately 15,000,000l. The total capital already invested in tramways is nearly 25,000,000l. Table IlL (page 539 a?tte) gives us some material from which conclusions may be drawn regarding the probable increase of electric traction in Great Britain. Comparing the rate of progress of this country and Germany we have the following results : -

1807. I 1898. 1899. ;... >. >.

c c d d d c aS - c:S - c:S -~s ~s .P13 8 e E ~h: aS .- aS .-.. .. Ql .. Q> .. Q> ... ~ Q> .. j:Q Q> ... j:Q

0 0 0 0 0 0

Miles of track equipped 1,000 440 1,SOO 500 2,300 900 Number of motor co.rs.. 2,000 800 3,100 1,600 6,400 2,000 Total capacity of power

stAtions in kilowatts .. 19,000 20,000 26,000 28,000 54,000 40,000 I

If we go back to 1894 and take the averaae rate of increase during five years, 1894 to 1899, ;e have :

United Germ:mv. England. States of

America. -

Miles annually newly COD structed 427 166 2,200

Number of new motor cars put 1,050 376 in service annually 3,000

kilowatts newly Power 1D ID stalled annually .. 10,600 7400 100,COO

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

TABLE IV.-MILEAGE 0}' TnAM WA rs IN AMER ICA, AND NuMBER Olt' CARS, DuRING TKN YEAKS, 1390-9 - -

MILEAGE. 1890. I 1891. 1892. 1893. 1894. 1895. 1896. 1897. 1898. 1899. - -- -

miles miles miles miles miles miles miles miles miles miles Electric 2,523 4,001 6,939 7,466 9,008 12,683 12,600 14,300 16,30V 20,000 Horse 6,400 6,302 4,460 3,497 2,243 1,232 1,230 9e0 760 600 Rope 510 69! 646 657 662 599 60{) MO 460 400

team 604 642 620 566 614 619 620 470 MO 500

Total miles .. 9,037 10,609 11,005 12,186 12,527 14,933 14,950 16,270 17,970 21,400

NUMBER OF OARS. 0 1rs. CIUS. Oars. I Oats. Cars. Oars. Cars. I Cars. Cars. Cars. - -

Electric 5,592 8,892 13,415 18,233 24,849 36,121 26,121 39,748 45,785 51,000 Horse 21,9i 0 21 ,798 19,315 16,845 11,507 5,420 5,420 5,177 3,123 3,000 Rope 8,795 4,372 3,971 4,805 4,673 4,871 , ,871 5,199 4,i01 4,200 Steam 751 815 698 616 639 2,957 2,957 2,653 2,451 2,000

'

Total eat'S 32,108 .. 85,87i 37,399 40,499 41,668 I 49,369 36,859 I 52,777 56,060 60,200 I TABLE V.-APPROXTMATE GROWTH OF ELKCTRIO PowER Pr.ANTS IN GERMANY.

- 1894. 1895. 1897. 1898. 1899. - -

Total number of stations of a ll kiods 169 206 322 452 578 Total power in kilowatts installed for all purposes 42,000 57,000 97,200 138,000 224,000 Total electrical horsepower used for stl\tionary motot"S 6,000 10,000 22,000 36,000 69,000 Power in kilowatts installed used for traction only 19,000 20,000 53,000 Powe1 in kilo .vn tts of storage batteries used for power and lighting 5,400 9,800 13,200 -Power in kilowatts of storage batteries used for traction work 14,000 Total number of continuouscurrent plants 141 162 266 380 483 Total number of alternat ing-current plants 15 16 26 29 33 Total number of polyphas e plants 8 12 16 23 33 Total number of combined continuous and polyphase plants .. 5 6 14 20 27

Total of monocyclic plants -

2

Total continuouscurrent plant in kilowatts 73,200 96,000 147,400

Total altematingcurrent plant in kilowatts 4,200 4,400 11,000 15,000 18,000

Total polyphase plant in kilowatts . . 3,000 4,500 8,000 14,000 31,000

Total mixed plant in kilowatts 800 1,900 6,000 13,000 27,000

Total monocyclic plant in kilowatts .. ... 6CO To get a better idea of the average increase in

electric traction in America we have to go back to 1889 and take the average increase dwing the last ten years, in which case we find : The average annual mileage constructed for electric traction TABLE VI.-ArPROXIMATE GROWTH OF ELKOTRIO LIGHTING PLANTS IN GREAT BRITAIN, 1895 TO 1899. dW'ina the last ten years in the United States has been :bout 2000 miles. The number of motor cars put into operation have been 3600, and the power

1895. I 1896. 1897. 1898. 1899. in kilowatts installed to run the cars has been N 70,000 kilowatts. o Takin~ the increase between the end of 1898 and T 1899 in uermany and England, we find :

umber of stations belonging to private companies 63 67 67 76 90

orporation electricity works 60 60 73 77 120

otal power in kilowatts of private company stations . . 42,000 42,000 45,000 60,000 95,000

11 11 corporat ion stations 40,000 42,000 56,000 69,000 145,000

Germany. Great Britain. TABLE VII.- APPROXIMATE NuMBER, CAPACITY, AND GROWTH OF ELECTRIC PowER AND LIGHTING STATIONS IN GERMANY, FRANCE, SwiTZERLAND, AND ENGLAND {TRACTION ExcEPTED}.

- Increase. Increase. -

p.c. p .c. 500 28 840 60

GER~JAXr. FRAXCE. SWITZERLAND. GREAT BRITAfX.

Miles of t rack equipped Number of motor cars put in 74 500 83

YEAR. Total Avail Total Numbe) Total Avail~ Total Number! Total A\rail: Total A \'a il- Total Number of Stations able. Power ml of Stations I able. Power m sen1ce .. 2,300 Total Nl;ltnber able Power in of Stations. able Power in K1lowatts. K1lowatts. Total co.pacity in kilowatts of 107 12,000 43 I of Stat1ons. Kilowatts. Imowatts. 28,000 power installed . . . . 189~ 169 42,000 819 42,000 - -

! -

-

1895 206 57,000 123 82,000

1896 389 65,000

127 84,000

1897 322 97,000 987 29,000 140 101,000

1898 452 138,000 631 68,000 --

- -

1899 578 224,000

250 240,000

At the present moment there are under construc-tion in Great Britain some 400 miles of electric tram and railways, and Bills f?r about 500 m?re miles have passed through Parliament. Assuming that at least four cars go to every mile of track, and 20 kilowatts station capacity is installed. per car equipped, which has so. far been th.e case 1n Great Britain, we see, assuming that this rate of con-struction will continue for the next five years, which from experience in other countries ~s a f~ir supposition to make, before 1905, ~500 mtles ~ill be equipped, 10,000 motor car~ will .be put Into service, and 200,000 kilowatts w1ll be mstalled for

TABLE VII1.-APPROXIMATE CAPITAL INVESTMENT AND EXPENDITURE ON ELECTI'RIO POWER STATIONS, ELK

France, and Switzerland for the last few years; and Table VIII. shows the large sums involved in these installations.

It is interesting to note that of the total 240 000 kilowatts for all purpo?es install~d in t his cour:try, r oughly 100,000 are Installed In London and its suburbs. Of the total 40.000 kilowatts available for traction, nearly 13,000 kilowatts are to be found in L ondon. This is due to the main line railways which have been equipped so far with the exception of t:he Liverpool Overhead, all' being there.

From careful investigation it is probable that eventually at least half the total power installed will be utilised for traction purposes.

From the large expenditure involved, it is evident how great the importance is t o most carefully

~xamine all the conditions that a new plant may lu.ve to fulfil as well as the local conditions which obtain.

TABLE I X .-Approxim'tte Cost of some Brit ish Plan ts per K ilo watt I nstaUed i n 1898.

N .Ut E OF Tow:s.

Aberdeen Alt rincham .. Ayr Bedford Belfast

Black burn Blackpool Bolton Bradford Brighton Bristol Cambridge

baring Cross St rand ..

0

ublin

undee din burgh .ne ham

D D E F H ampstead . . Islingt on Manchester .. N p

ot t ing Hill . . or tsmouth .. res ton p

s horeditch

' ~ est ruinster

and

Ca8acity in Total Cost, in Totnl Output eluding Land in 1898

K' owatts. per Kilowat t. in Board of Trade Units.

630 76 412,400 390 78 212,200 625 56 161,100 320 145 328,400 500 70 356,500 55() 63 368,000

1050 78 870,000 1050 5S 430,000 2080 66 1,419,300 2090 101 2,648,700 20i6 50 1,362,800 525 83 260,300

2575 140 3,246,200 900 62 560 54 462,000

3270 79 4,175,000 90 93 59,200

l Oll '

83 1,001,900 1100 131 912,000 3360 92 4,773,000

480 233 455,900 810 137 1,225,000 636 110 448,000 705 124 1,081,300

4533 123 5,055,200

T ABLE X .-Total Approximate Cost of Some German Plants p er K ilowa,tt I nstalled.

Station Total Ou t.pu t Capacity in Total Cost in 18989 in NA~tE OF Tow:s. Kilowatts In per Kilowatt. Board of stalled in Trade Units. 1898.

Al tona 1,130 120 1,512,0(10 Berlin . . !.8,008 68 14,230,000 Brcmen 2,400 42 603,000 Breslau 1,200 72 882,000 Cnssel . . 450 118 158,000 Darmstadt 730 67 257,000 DUsseldorf 1,600 80 568,000 Elberfeld 900 73 403,000 Frankfor t on the

Maine 6,000 54 2,696,000 Hamburg 5,000 96 10,500,000 Ha.nnover 3,000 74 1,087,000 Cologne 2,000 57 1,187,000 Ko:tigsberg 800 69 332,000 LE'ipzig 2,000 67 816,000 Stettin 1,700 9' 790,000

The cost per kilowatt installed, taking into con-sideration t he expenses connected with securing the concession and the cost of land buildings, as well as all the rights of way, cables, and machi-nery, do not differ materially in different coun-tries. The only exception to this may be found in some plants installed in the wilder portions of America and the colonies, these plants, for t he most part, being merely temporary. Tables IX. and X. give some costs of plants of various sizes in this country, and in Germany. Table XI., taken from Mr. Garcke's "Manual of Elec-trical Undertakings," is very interesting ; it

E N G I N E E R I N G. (MAY 18, 1900.

TABLE X I. -PER CENT. OF CAPITAL SPKNT ON VARIOUS P ARTS OF LIGHTI~G PLAXT IX GREAT BRITAI~. (E. G ARCKE.)

YEAR. Number of Per Gent. of Per Cent of I I 1

Plants from Capital Spent on Capitnl Spent on P~r Cent . of Per Cen t . of Per Cent. of P~r Cent. or which Average Buildings and Plant and Capttal ~pent on Capi tal Spent on Capital Spent on'Ca~t ~al,Spent. on

--- ---:--0-bta_ined . Land. Machinery. ~lams. I Motors. 1 Instruments. 01~~;:0&~1 52 22.30 36. 70 32.16 - -----3.17 1.39 3.11 1895

1896 1897 1898

64 21.12 35.16 35.15 3.35 1.18 3.28 81 19.98 34.24 34.24 4.38 1.27 2.48

2.06 92 18.99 35.72 35. 72 4. 50 1.35

shows how the initial cost is subdivided in case of British electric lighting plants .

the second class "766," of which 15 were constructed in 1898.

CALEDONIAN RAILWAY PAS~ENGER LOC01\10TIVES.

GREAT interest has been manifested in the suc-cessive improvements made within the past three or four years on the locomotives built from the designs of Mr. J. F. Mcintosh, for ' the Cale-donian Company's service between Carlisle and Glasgow and Carlisle and Aberdeen. Lately there has been an almost universal mo,ement on our railw.ays to~ards greater tractive power to meet the 1ncreasmg demands of traffic superintendents and to obviate the makeshift of a pilot over heavy banks, if not all the way between termini ; and we regret to admit that in this long-delayed and now welcome movement, the graceful proportions which have nearly always distinguished the British locomotive from those of other countries, have not in all cases been maintained. The handsome ap-pearance of the latest "Dunalastair, " however, quite recently put upon the Aberdeen run, leaves nothing to be desired. The perspective view which we publish on the opposite pag~ will give a good idea of t he handsome appearance of these

engtnes. This latest type, known as Dunalastair's No. III.,

or, according to the number of the prototype, 902 Class, has, we believe, the greatest tractive power of any British locomotive in service, with one excep-tion. The steady progress towards t his latest success is indicated by the Table of dimensions of all three classes given below. The original Dunalastairs, '' 721 Class," came out in 1896, and there were 15 of t hem. In connection with t hem a great compliment was paid to Mr. Mclntosh by the Belgium State Railway authorities, who, when in-

TABLE I.-CO?nparative D imensions of Dumalastair Engines.

---

Cylinders. Diameter . . . .. ft. in. Stroke . . . . , Between centres .. ,

Wltetls. Diameter of bogie on tread . , Diameter of driving and trailing

tread .. . . .. ft. in. Boile'r.

721 ClMs. 766 Class. 902 ClMs.

1 6t 2 2 2 3

3 6

6 6

1 7 2 2 2 4!

3 6

6 6

1 7 2 2 2 ~

3 6

6

Height of centre from rail ft. in. 7 9 7 9 8 0 Leng th of barrel . . . . , 10 3~ 11 1 1l 1 .Mean outside diameter of bar

rei ... . . ft. in.1

9} 4 91 91 Firebox.

Length outside . . . . ft. in. 6 5 6 5 6 11 .Sreadtb outside at bottom 11 4 (J~ 4 0! 4 0! Depth from centre of boiler,

front . . . . . . ft. in . 5 6 5 6 6 9 Depth from centre of boiler,

back . . . . ft. in. 6 0 5 0 5 8

Number Distance

Tubes.

between tubeplates tt. in.

Diameter outside .. Heating Sttrjace.

Tubes . . . . .. . . sq. ft. Firebox . . ,

Total . . 11 Firegra.te area . 11 Working pressure in pounds per

square m ch . . . . . . Tractive force . . . lb. Capacity of tender tank ga.ls.

~65 265 269 10 7 11 4! lt 4! 0 l i 0 1t 0 1f

1284.45 1381.22 1402 118.78 118.78 188

--

1408.23 1500.0 1540 20.63 20.68 23

160 176 180 14,400 16,840 17,350

8570 4125 U26

vestigating the successes of locomotives throughout Europe and America, fixed upon the Dunalastair as t he desiderated standard. Five were built at Glasgow from Mr. Mclntosh'a design, and ex-perience with them resulted in 65 more being ordered from Belgian firms. These locomotives we illustrated and described in our issue of February 3, 1899 (vol. lxvii., page 144). They em-bodied improvements on the original Dunalastairs, which were also incorporated in the design of the

Of the three classes just nan1ed, we ai ve, on the opposite page, diagrammatic sketches

0 which will

further explain t heir differences. Of the latest type, we. this week publish a longit udinal section and sectional plans on our two-page enaraving while we also give views of the tender on p~ge 652: . The centre line of the boiler of the latest type IS 8 ft. above the rail level, being thus 3 in. higher than that of the engines built in Glasgow for the Belgian State R~il way and the Caledonian engines, class 766. The firebox has been lengthened 6 in., and is 6 in. deeper. The heating surface has been increased by 40 square feet and the grate area by 2.37 square feet. The boiler pressure has been raised from 175 lb. to 180 lb. per square inch, thereby increasing the tractive force to 17,350 lb . The '' 902 " class of engines, from their laraer fire-boxes and increased boiler steam pressure, ~s com-pared with the former Dunalastair engines, run with a freer exhaust; the diameter of the exhaust nozzles is 5i in. at present , but it is anticipated that after the engines are in thorough working order, they will be widened out to 6ft in.

These engines work the 2 P.:u. up corridor train from Glasgow to Carlisle daily, which is equal to 21-- vehicles, representing a weight of over 360 tons, not including weight of tender, passengers, luggage, &c., and they are unassisted even from Car-stairs to Carlisle. The load of the down corridor train from Carlisle is equal to 16! vehicles, which represents a tonnage, exclusive of the weight of the tender, passengers, luggage, &c., of over 300 tons, and this t rain has been worked from Carlisle to Beattock without assistance, a distance of 39! miles, in 42! minutes, which, in view of the gra-dients, and of the fact that from Carlisle to Beattock the line rises to a height of 350ft., must be pro-nounced exceptionally good work.

Having given in the annexed Table the general dimensions of t he engines under notice, we may now indicate one or two details of the latest type before referring more fully to some of the perform-ances of all three classes. The centre of the boiler is, as already stated, 8 ft. above the level of the rails. The shell is made throughout of Siemens steel. The barrel is 4 ft. 9! in. mean diameter, and plates 1k in. t hick. ~f.1he length of the firebox outside is 6ft. 11 in., and the shell plates are ft in. thick. The firebox itself is of copper plates 1\ in. thick, top and sides, and ~ in. thick at back and front, and 1 in. thick at tubeplate. The t ubes are of special red metal 1f in. in diameter, about 11 ft . 7 in. long, and cambered. The firebox crown is stayed by eight girder stays and sling stays, the sides, back, and front by bronze stays 1 in. in diameter.

The boiler is fitted with patent combination injectors in the cab, thus practically doing away with all external pipes. The engines are also fitted with patent gauge glasses, steam heating apparatus, steam sanding, and steam reversing gear. This reversing gea.r is a combined hand lever and steam reversing gear. In reversing the engine the hand lever catch is put out of the notches, and the steam turned on, when the lever moves either backward or forward, as required. If desired, on releasing the catch, the lever may be pushed for-ward or pulled backward without the steam, as with the ordinary reversing lever handle. This is a great ad vantage, as with most steam reversing gears, the engine can only be reversed when steam is available. The cab, cab windows, reversing lever, and regulator handle are slightly altered.

The tender, which was illustrated on page 652, runs on t wo bogies with wheels 3 ft. 6 in. in dia-meter, and 6 ft. 6 in. centres. It carries 4125 gallons of water and 4! tons of coal, without heaping.

In our next article we intend to give some

-

MAY I8, 1900.] E N G I N E E R I N G.

PASSENGER LOCOMOTIVE; CALEDONIAN RAILWAY.

,

.

.

. ,

..

,

'

t

. ' . . . . . . ' 1 .

~ "1. 0 0

0 ..

r .. I 0 t 1 ; 0 0 I t o * 0

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

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(For Description, see opposite Page.)

I

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I , ' ,

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r

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Fxo. 5. CALEDONIAN RAILWAY PASSENGF.R Loc oMOTIVE; DuN..U.ASTAIR No. Ill. CLASS.

-I' ' r-' ..... Q Pig.G. 721 CLASS

...... ,..- )i I ,.-,~ ,,..,...--, .... I ,, , , 3610 GAL . I / ',

" \ 0') / I

[J 11 . ,. /I') - -r- - - 1)- r I \ I ~ \ ! \ I ~~ ' 1 .. ) ... I (- - ~ ,.... : (-- \--) ~- ,-,; \ . ./ "

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---G,' --- . ~----.- 8 1 /1 ---!-- 9 I 0 ., ___ .. __ . 8 'qj, .:.-- --' ' b.'-- -6 '6 ;:. _'_ . ~ I, . YJ"s1- -~~~---;.-~~-- T . c . ;--- -; ~3c ~~ -----;~~-;---r 1 c ~;-~;;L W1GHT

r L 12 19 0 M 13 . 4 . 0 T 18 . q 2 86 . I . 1 B. IS /4 .3 D./6 0 . 0 T. I~ . 6 0

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-( " n Fig.?. 1()6 CLASS.

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- - r- ------- ---

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0) A / t-. ([ J li ' .. .

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/ "'\ ~ . f' /-~ "'\ \Cl'_ / L '

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':Y ~ - - \.....6: 6:./ \_.., , s:/~ ! -,~r;/ . . , '-.....3 6)

' 1../ \.. ' ../ \.,i6:/ ..,~, . , -o~--- ] Q 1 - .. .,. -!-- 0 ----- !1,9 "4 - n ----- 11 . 3 - --:r2 .~- 30 . 7 .. 4 ;2~ o.z - ~ ,_. s o 3'1 ~ . w . . . ~~1-i

, . , , . .j ~ --____ :=~~ __:~-:_~- ---------------------.57 , f...-_-_-::.:.~~~ -1-Jj;~=~---:.~= ----- ---------- ~~~~-~ ::. __________

l r

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T C . (l 18 . 8 . 0

T C . Q 16 '17' ()

l .c a I~ 17 .. ()

T TOTAl W/DHT OF NO/If 4.9

c () 0 0

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- / .. --,1 \ ~--, "' ... / ." ' / , ' I / ....... \ I / "'\.

. . re a r . c 9 2R 11 3 22 - 6

r . c . a TOTAL WEIGHT OF TENDER 45 0 0

Rg.8. 902 CL ASS

I c R I

u., !/ I (~lz) . " / ' .... . .. ;. ~ / ' "' ' ...... \1P; . ! : 1--(~ 6_) \ . GJ 6/ 1 \ .., (-~ ,s~) I . ~ -. \I-'

........._6 6 ,.."' '...If';, ...,3 { : .g.,~;;- l ..- ---6 ' 6 =--- .j._ r- s .6 ---- )t ~ . ----- . G --

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--6 9; ----- ; - ---- 10 11 - -- - --- 9 6 -----+----- 11 IOi---- +-- - 11 0

, J. ------------------------ -S1 8 "tt - --- ------ ---- --------T C . 0 T . C 0 T C 0 T . C . 0

22 1.9 .3 17 . I . 0 I 7 . 10 . I I 7 . 2 !J

- -----------------r. c . a 22 . 6 I

T . C Q TOTAL WEICHTOF ENCIN 51 . 1/1. . 0 -TOTAL W1CH T OF TENDER 45 . 0 . 0

tions of the apparatus, in our issue of January 26 (see page 118 ante). The radical difference between the old process of making water gas, intrClduced some years ago, and the present one, which Mr . Dell wik has orjginated, is that, while in the former the gas leaving the generator during the blow con-t ains principally carbon monoxide in addition to the inevitable nitrogen, in the latter it consists principally of carbon dioxide and nitrogen. .As water gas of theoretical composition contains 167 bhermal units per cubic foot, there are obtained from 1 lb. of carbon the following results : With the older methods 3627 thermal units equals 44:.8 per cent. of the heating value of the carbon; on the other hand, \vith the Dellwik method 7564 ther-mal units are obtained, equal to 92.5 per cent. of the heating value of the carbon. With the old methods there are obtained from lib. of carbon 21.7 cubic feet of water gas ; with the Dell wik method there would be 44.7 cubic feet. The method of working is described in the paper, and results are given of its application for practical purposes.

In the discussion which followed, Sir Lowthian Bell pointed out that this was the second time water gas had been brought before the notice of the Institute. The former occasion w&s when the last Paris meeting was held, and it was said then that the production of water gas resulted in a. loss of heat. The consumption of heat to produce a. change in the substances when gasified was equal to t~e heat needed to effect a. change from a solid

:: fO l\ g~~~ous matter, the result was, therefore, !hat it .~ppeared they were attempting to produce

energy without the expenditure of fuel ; that of course, was an impossibility. Some of those pre sent would rem~mber the calamity which overtook a water gas sy~tem some few years ago. He was glad to see ~hero was no preten~e in the paper at getting heat without the consumptiOn of fuel. The applica-tion ?f heat, ho~vever, was sca.1cely less important than Its productiOn, and there was no question in the speaker's mind that water gas was a very remark-able and valuable substance, and he thought that the author of the paper was justified in ant icipat-ing it would play a. prominent part in the manu-facture of steel and iron.

results of tivea.

the workjng of these Caledonian locomo-( To be contVn.ued.)

May 10, the President, Sir .villiam Roberts-Austen, again occupied the chair.

Mr. Bauerma.n had seen in Stockholm, at the works conducted by Mr. Hammer, this fuel largely in use, and was struck by its convenience. He would have been glad to have had a little more

THE IRON AND STEEL INSTITUTE. IN our last issue we gave an account of the pro-

ceedings at the first day's sitting of the recent meeting of the Iron and Steel Institute, and we now continue our report.

On the second day of the meeting, Thursday,

WATER GAS. The .first paper taken wae a. contribution by Mr.

Carl Dellwik, and was on " The Manufacture and Application of Water Gas." This paper we shall print in full shortly, together with the illustrations. Our readers will remember that we recently pub-lished an account of the Dellwik-Fleischer system of producing water gas, together with the illustra.-

detail as to the process. Mr. Alexander Tucker asked for details as to the

application of gas for tube welding. As was well known, for such purposes gas and air were ad-mitted under pressure. It was stated by the author

t~at the flame of w!l'ter gas was such that a. platinum wrre would melt 1n the flame from an ordinary gas-burner, its heating power per unit of volume

being 2! times that of producer gas. It woald, therefore, lend itself to economical work in this field.

Me. "\Villiam Deigh ton, of Leeds, had had con-siderable experience with water ga~, and his firm were now putting down a plan t for t he Dell wik pro-cess. At present they used the ordinary process for making water gas, t he resulting producer and water gases being stored in separate gas-holders. The pro-ducer gas was passed through scrubbers on its way to t he gasholder, and as s. result they got a gas which burnt with an intense blue flame. He had made inquiries as to t he probability of success if t hey adopted the scrubbing process, and he was obliged to say the replies were somewhat discouraging. He had, however, determined to proceed. He did not know whether he would be able to do better with the Dellwik p rocess. He used the water gas t hey manufactured on the premises for welding t ubes of 1! in. in diameter; and they had also welded a cylinder I t in. thick. He added that when water gas could be successfully made from fiaming coal, then t here would be a wider applica-tion of that description of gas.

Dr. Lud wig Mond asked whether in calculating the efficiency named in the paper the fuel used for raising steam was, or was not, included.

Mr. Dell wik, in replying to the d iscussion, said that they had produced water gas from coal in America, but the methods were not applicable to t he present process. They were, however, making experiments and hoped to meet with success. The results appeared, indeed, satisfactory, but the mecha-nical details had not been corn pleted. He would point out that corn bustion did not depend wholly on the materials, but on the proportion in which t hey were mixed, and also the time they were in contact with each other ; in fact, he might say that t ime was the foundation of the invention. For t ube welding, water gas had been introduced in Diisseldorf for t ubes of 7 in. diameter. The tem-perature of the combustion of his water gas was identical with that of gas made by t he older p rocess. With a. thin flame com1ustion was perfect owing to the surface exposed. That was with ordinary pres-sure, with, howeyer, a thick flame it was necessary to have an air blast, and in that case t he temperature would be higher than with an open flame. In using a generator for water gas it was desirable to make as much water gas as possible, and not what was a bye product of the apparatuR producer gas. Dr. Mond asked if the coal used for producing steam was included. In Professor Lewis's experiments, that was !O ; but the result at K onigsberg did not include steam coal. He had had many inquiries as to advisability of firing boilerd with this gas, but did not consider it desirable to do so.

UTILISATION OF SLAC. A paper by the R itter Cecil von Schwarz on

"The Utilisation of Blast-Furnace Slag, was next read by the author, who accompanied the reading by certain practical tests showing the tensile strength of briquets made by the method described in the paper. This paper we print in full in our present issue, and. may therefore at once proceed to the discussion.

Sir Lowthian Bell was the only speaker. He said that within a short distance from where he lived in Yorkshire there were blast.furnaces close to the sea, butno port. They had, however, created a har-bour by using Portland cement made from the slag of the furnaces. The ordinary way of making Port-land cement, as everyone knew, was by burning clay, mixing it wi th limestone. He thought that the cement produced at the furnaces referred to was much cheaper than t hat mentioned in the paper. There being no other speaker on this paper, Mr. Sch warz replied, saying the cement mentioned in his paper was burnt cement, really Portland cement., and not what was generally known as ala g cement.

EQU AL-TEMPERATURE HoT BLAST. A paper by Messrs . Lawrence F. Gj ers and

Joseph H. Harrison, entitled "On the Equalisation of the Varying Temperatures of Hot Blast, " was next read. This paper we print in full in our present issue.

The dis ~ussion was opened by Mr. W. Hawdon, of Middlesbrough, who Eaid that the matter was one of considerable importance. In America they had already recognised the ad vantage of keeping t he heat of blast uniform ; but in order to do this they had reduced the temperature. There did not

E N G l N E E R I N C. [MAv 18, rgoa. appear to him great merit in this procedure, for the higher the temperature, the more economical was the working. If they could get high tempera-ture and regularity at the same time, the result would be a great improvement on the present methods. Irregular blast produced scaffolding in the furnaces, and t hat was why the Americans had brought down the temperature, so as to get r egularity. Under the circumstancE's, he con-s idered the step taken by the authors was one in t he right direction.

analysis, suitable furnaces, skill and watchfulness on the part of the workmen, and also the use of forg-ing tools which cause the metal to flow in a circum-ferential direction.* The forgings were all forged solid from round ingots or billets. Mr. Hadcliffe said, in reference to the use of steel for propeller shafts, that the metal was reliable when all the various operations essential for its manufacture are combined with skill and judgment. The piston-rod for the 40-ton steam hammer at W oolwich was originally of wrought iron, and after seven years at work was replaced by one of steel made in the gun factory. This latter had been in almost constant working for up-wards of 14 years. They had to replace a broken foundation block, and patch up the cast-iron hammer legs, yet the piston-rod remained intact. The breaking strength was 33 tons when oil-hardened, the . elongat ion being about 30 per cen t. Approximately, the carbon was about 0. 26 per cent. , manganese about 0.600 per cent., and silicon about 0.25 per cent. H~ thought this was a suitable kind of steel for piston-rods of steam hammers, and for pistons of marine steam engines and propeller shafts.

Sir Lowthian Bell thought it well to point out the danger of drawing general conclusions from particular instances. The working of the blast-f urnace was subj ect to so many variations from numerous causes that it was needful to proceed very carefully ; he was not disposed to attach so much importance to the temperature of the blast. The true test was the temperature of the escaping gases, for that gave the economy of the furnacee. The blast- furnace, from the tuyeres upwards, was an apparatus for extracting the heat gene-rated at the tuyeres ; and it was for that reason that he attached importance to the temperature of the escaping gases. The authors, however, were accurate obsorvers, and what he had heard would lead him to take an early opportunity of observing the temperature of the escaping gases, which were the only true indication.

THE ORES OF B.RAZIL. A paper by Mr. H. K. Scott on "The Manganese

Ores of Brazil" was taken as read, the author not being present. Mr. Scott, brother to the author, made, however, a short statement. H e said nearly all the ore produced was taken by Messrs. Carnegie and Co., and Messrs. Bolckow, Vaughan, and Co. It had been said that t he methods used in the mines were old-fashioned and out of date. That was a misconception which arose from the fact that someone visited the mines and wrote an account, which, however, was not published for a consider-able time afterwards. As a matter of fact, the ap-pliances were modern, and the mines were up to date.

Sir William Roberts-Austen was glad to see the recording pyrometer doing such excellent work. The diagrams attached to the authors' paper were the best he had ever seen.

In replying to the discussion, Mr. Harrison said they had attempted to get regular temperature of blast so as to get equal results, a thing that was distinctive of modern practice. That was shown by what Sir Lowthia.n Bell had recen tly said that old processes were being discarded for new ones to get more regularity. With the old pipe stoves the temperature was lower, but it was more re-gular, and although the production was not so great, in other respects better results were obtained. Their effort had been to get high temperature and regular working, so as to combine the benefits of both systems. .

GuN T UBES AND PROPELLER SHAFTS. A paper by Mr. F. J. R. Carulla entitled "In-

gots for Gun Tubes and Propeller Shafts,, was the last read. This we print in full in our pre~?ent

lSSUe. The only speaker on Mr. Carulla's paper was

Mr. F. Radcli1i'e, who referred to the author's statement that an octagonal mould had been used at Woolwich; and that he, t he author, considered it must be sounder than a round one, as the ingot would be better, though the square form was still more so. The speaker said that at Wool wich a few ingots were cast in an octagonal mould which made the sides concave, but the results obtained did not warrant the officials' proceeding further with this form of mould. The ingot cast from it weighed about 88 cwt. The speaker thought that for gun tubes the square form of ingot was the most risky one to adopt, it being suitable only for forged t runnion and breech rings. This was owing to the fact that, when holes are punched and drifted, the metal is made to flow in a circumferential direction. At Woolwich they got over the difficulties of cracks in the ingots and flows in the forging by either lining the moulds with firebricks or composition, buttons being cast inside to make the mould adhere. Three or four casts could be made from a (). ton or a 10-ton mould without re-lining. No difficulty was experienced in making gun forgings to stand a soft teRt with a breaking strength of 30 tons per square inch and 30 per cent. elongation, when the test is taken longit u-dinally. When the test is taken transversely, means have to be taken to cause the metal to flow in a circumferent ial direction during the operation of forging, otherwise the average elongation of a t ransverse test would be about half that taken longitudinally. A-tubes, liners, 8 -tubes, j ackets and trunnions, are mostly tested in a transverse direction. The middle part of the inner side of each test-piece must be~ tangent to the bore. To successfully forge these tubes by means of the ordi-nary tools at the sten.m hammer is almost imprac-ticable. During the last three years, the speaker continued, upwards of 3000 gun forgings have been made in the gun factory at Wool wich, the number of failures being under 3 per cent. This success Mr. Radcliffe attributed to t rustworthy chemicnl

CONCLUDING PROCEEDINGS. The usual vote of thanks to the Institution of

Civil Engineers for the use of the theatre was proposed by Sir John Alleyne; after which Mr. Andrew Carnegie proposed a vote of thanks to the President. In acknowledging t he vote, Sir William .Roberts-Austen said th~t ~t was particularly gratify-ing to him that he should have received t he good wishes of the members of t he Institute through the personality of so distinguished a representative of the metallurgists of the other hemisphere as Mr . Carnegie. This, he continued, would be the last London meeting over which he would preside, for early in July the Council would meet to select his successor.

This brought the meeting to a close. The attend-ance, we believe, was the largest on record, the full audience t hroughout being in pleas~nt contrast to some of the gatherings of former years, when we have seen no more than half-a-dozen persons present. This better attendance is doubtless chiefly due to the varied nature and practical character of the papers presented, and the Council are to be congratulated on the result of their labours.

The autumn meeting will, as stated in our last issue, be held in Paris on September 18 and not on the 11th of that month as originally proposed.

PARIS EXHIBITION RAILWAYS. ( Continued from page 581. )

T HE PARlS M ETROPOLITAN. IT ma.y appear incorrect to include the costly

Paris Metropolitan among the railways constructed for the Exhibition, but on account of the service it will r ender .to visitors, and from the fact that, in a measure, it links together the main sections in the Champ de Mars and the far-removed annexe of Vincennes, it may be claimed for this important and extensive work that it is essentially an Exhibi-tion rail way. R unning from one extremity of Paris to the other, a.ud with numerous stations on its route at short inter.vals on some of the most crowded thoroughfares, it cannot fail to be of great permanent benefit to the city, always badly provided with surface means of communication, which become almost paralysed during such exceptional periods as the present. One of its extremit ies touches the fortifications at the P orte de Vincennes, while at the Place de la Bastille the already existing Vin-cennes Railway will help to conduct the traveller further on his way to the Vincennes annexe of the

* A description of these tools will be found in P~tenb No 8709, year 1897.

MAY 18, 1900.] E N G I N E E R I N G.

Exhibition ; he also will find at this same Place de Flachat ~vas follow.ed later b~ different engineers I and workmen. There was another reason why the la Bastille a line of electric tramway, to which we a~d syndtcates seekmg c~ncess10ns, and each succes- city Government was opposed to the metropolitan have referred in a previous article (see E NGINEER st ve scheme ~resented a dtfferent route, new methods system being in the hands of the great railway INO , page 358 ante), that forms an alternative link of constru~t10n, and ~odes of working. No less companies. One of the evident results of such a in the drawn-out chain of communication. At the than 40 ddferent proJects were- during the 20 combination would have been direct connections other end of the Metropolitan (which is the reali- years following ~he origin~l . sche~e-submitted to with. existing lines and frequent. and easy t rain sation of one small part of a vast plan of railways the F rench Soctety of Ctvil E ngmeers. In 1877 serVIces between the centre of Paris and the subur-for the city, that may some day be carried out) is the prolonged effor ts were nearly crowned with ban districts. But such facilities would interfere the chief station of the Place de l'Etoile. From success. The '!ork was to . be entrusted to the seriously with t he largest source of municipal the Place de l'Etoile there are some extensions, g!eat ~rench ra1lway compan1es - an exc~llent idea, revenue- the octroi. All provisions and most con-one of which runs to the P lace d u Trocadero, close st.nce 1t pre.sen~ed a means of ~on~1ectmg all the structive materials, pay a duty for the privilege of beside the entrance to the colonial section of the dtfferent matn lme~, and. of estabhshmg one o~ more being consumed, or employed, in Pl:Lris. The Exhibition. The Paris Metropolitan is thus essen- great central statiOns m the heart of Pans. I t enormous sums thus raised of courRe enable the tially a Exhibition railway, although its main pur- appears a matter for regret t hat this project could 1 Municipal Government to continually improve and

FIG. 1. P LAN OF TJ:IE PARIS M ETROPOLITAN RAILWAY COl\lPLE'IED, AND OF A UTHORISED PROJECTS. pose is for permanent, and, therefore, for a higher 1 not bo carried out ; for, if it had been, P aris ' embellish the capital, but the octroi constitutes a order of usefulness. In any case, it is to the Ex- would to-day possess the most commodious cent ral very formidable tax on the inhabitants, who would, hibition that the Metropolitan Railway owes its railway system of any great city, instead of such to a large extent, avoid it, if facilities existed for existence at the present t ime, for the project- a system being non-existent . When the International them to live outside the boundary. The policy although an old one- has been delayed for many Exhibition of 1889 was decided upon, the question has, therefore, become established not to factlitate years, and would cer tainly have been postponed of a metropolitan rail way again became prominent, such emigration of the population, and although still longer, but for the special necessities of the and an elabora.te scheme was prepared. The Govern- such a policy may be open to criticism, it is pr~sent season. ment was cordially in favour of the undertaking, one expressed and adhered to by the Municipal

It ~ould occupy too long to de~cribe in detail but the ~Iunici~al Council of Paris was consi~t- Govern!lle~t. The French .Governmen~ approved the htstory of the many efforts that have been made ent]y hostile. L,ke the London Oounty Counctl, the pnnc1ple that the Pans Metropoh tan, when to e~tablish a metropolit-an railway in Paris; stilJ, the. ~aris ~funicipal Government is. soci~listic ~nd oo~structed , should be so laid out as . to lead a br1ef sketch of its history may be given. The pohttea~; 1t holds an unco~cealed antmo~1ty agall?st t ratns from .all parts of .the country mto the first scheme that was seriously proposed was that t he pohcy of t he great ra.1l way compantes, and 1n- heart of Par1s, and thllt 1t ~hould be the con-of. MM. Brame and FJachat, as long ago as 1856; siste~ th~tanymetropolitan line should bemunicip~l. nec~ing lin~. between ~he. d~fferent rese~1t,X ; the thts was, in fact, a. scheme contemporary with the If th1s v1ew had been accepted, no doubt the ra1l- Pans Muntc~pal Coune1l mslSted tha~ It .should London Metropolitan and before that costly ex- way would have been completed before now, and be a wholly Independent and urban hne, Involv-p~riment had been proved to be successfuL The wor~e~ with the w~nt of success so often a.ttendin.g ing ~he nece~si ty of changing t~ains for any j?urney ptoneere did not easily allow their scheme to be ~untc1pal enterprtses. I~ the end, however, t lus ou~~nde Parts, even for. t~avelling. on t~e Cemture. abandoned ; it passed through many vicissitudes, at m has b~en ach1eved, .p~rt1ally, at all events, for the I t 1s t rue that the cond1.t10ns of ~olahon were not an~ often came before the public with various modifi- l\~etropohtan now pract~cally comp.l~ted, has. been brought so far ~s a ~1fference 1n gauge, but at cat10ns. The example first given by MM. Brame and duected, and mostly built by mum.CJpal engmeers all events, the d1menstona of tunnels are reducd,

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THE P~~RIS

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Fro. 5. RECONSTRUCTION OF STREET S u RFACE ABOVE T oxN.EL.

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M ETR OPO LIT A N RAILWA Y . (For Description, see P age 638.)

F1o . 7. G I RDER CovERED WAY, R uE DE RIVOLI STATIO~.

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so that the rolling stock of any of the main lines cannot pass along the rails of the Metropolitan. It is difficult to unders tand how such a decision could have been authorised. So far as its own traffic is concerned, the Paris underground rail way will be of constantly increasing importance, but it can never serve as a connection with existina lines, as our own Metropolitan has been made ~ do, and in that r~spect its future usefulness will be limited.

It was under such general conditions that the Paris Metropolitan Rail way system was decided on,

~nd conces~ions granted. The privilege of work-log the rall ways was accorded to a corporation called the '' Compagnie Generale de Traction," but the works themselves-at leas t, so far as the underground portions were concerned- were to be carried out by the Paris Municipal body, which, like our own London County Council, had high ambitions in the building way. It therefore under-took -having recourse largely to contractors- to execute all the tunnels, covered way, open cutting, the viaducts, and the restoration of all roads under which the lines would pass; it also undertook the construction of station work below the ground level, including the platforms. On the other hand, the concessionaires were responsible for station buildings on the street level, for the electric power stations and plant for the produc-tion of current for lighting and traction, and, of course, for the general equipment and working of the line.

The cost of the municipal part of the under-taking has been estimated in a very general fashion at a sum of 165 mill ions of francs for a system of not less than 80 kilometres; this is equivalent to 6, 600, OOOl. for 60 miles, or 132, OOOl. a mile. When . it is remembered that the lines are con-structed at a very slight depth beneath the surface for the most part, involving the deviation and recon-struction of sewers, and, in fact, of the magnificent underground system of Paris, so far as it is inter-fered with by the line of railway, this sum appears too moderate. We are informed, indeed, that it will be largely exceeded, and if the Paris J;UUnicipal methods resemble those of our own County Council, there is no doubt that this will be the case, for the former, so far, have worked in the same manner, employing contractors partly, and for the rest their own engineers and workmen. With the natural municipal desire to remain in favour with the latter, they have established rates of wages higher than those ruling in the open market, and not only are these paid to their own workmen, but the workmen of the contractors employed also participate in the same advantages of reduced hours of labour, and increased pay. Municipal socialism appears to have a stronger hold in Paris than in London. But even if the estimates werd not to be exceeded, the liability incurred by the Ville de Paris for the construction of the Metropolitan system will be enormous. There is no cause for surprise at the constantly increasing taxes with which Parisians are burdened, or that the Ville de Paris should be opposed to any measure tending to reduce the octroi receipts. On the other hand, the concessionaires- the Compagnie General de Trac-tion- has assumed enormous liabilities. Besides its immediate outlay, which will be very large, the t ~rm of the concession is for 35 years, a short period in which to provide for a.mortisation of capital; moreover, th~ gross re.cetpts are to be divided between the Vtlle de Paris and the conces-sionaire company in a manner we will briefly de-scribe.

In order to ascertain how brge these receipts might be, it was necessary in the first place to ~ecide upon the rates of charges to be made, wluch are to be as follows : The trains will be made up of two classes of carriages, and the price of tickets, independent of distanc~, will be 26 centimes for first-class and 15 centimes for the second. F or the benefit or' workmen, tickets at special rates will be issued before nine in the morning at a uniform rate of 20 centimes ; these will be ''round trip , ticke~, givina the holder the right to return by any train during the day. ~order to gai~ a ~e~urn on the first estimated expenditure-the 16o m1~hon of fra!lcs, ?f which we spoke just now- the V1lle de P11r1s w1ll receive from the c>ncessionaire company, the sum of 6 centimes for each return ticket sold ; the same sum for each second-class ticket, and 10 centimes for each first-class ticket. If the number of p~ssengers carried during the year excee~s 140 mi!-lions, the proportion coming to the V llle de Pan

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E N G I N E E RI N C. will be increased by 1 millime per passenger, from 140 to 160 millions, by 2 millimes for each passenger; from 150 to 160 millions, and so on, by 3, 4, and 6 millimes ; no increase will come to the municipality on any passsenger excess above 180 millions. The arrangement appears somewhat complicated, and the chances are small that the number of passengers will exceed 140 millions for a long time to come, taking into consideration the way in which the trains are made up, and the conditions of travel. We have explained this curious arrangement in some detail, because it forms an interesting example of municipal enterprise, and one which would no doubt be gladly followed by our own County Council were it permitted the opportunity. When it is remembered that the great railway companies of France undertook to carry out this same work with the additional advantages of creating a central station in Paris and establishing a means of rail way communication between the different systems, the suburbs, and the provinces, which, as we have seen, the Paris Metropolitan is not designed to do, it will, we think, be realised that a striking example is afforded, of the undesirability of plac-ing t oo much power in the hands of the munici-pality.

The plan of the complete Metropolitan R!lilway scheme of Paris, which we publish in Fig. 1, shows the undertaking to be one of enormous proportions, the entire completion of which is more than doubt-ful, especially in view of the fact that some of the great railway companies have already completed, or are carrying out, extensions which will penetrate more or less into the heart of the city. The pro-posed Metropolitan system comprises a number of principal lines with junctions between each of them and three supplementary lines. The first of the former, marked A on the plan, and the only one with which we arc concerned since it is that now almost completed, commences at the Porte de Vin-cennes, and running in a westerly direction, extends as far as the Porte Dauphine at the entrance of the Bois de Boulogne; it is a low-levelline for the whole of its length, which is a little more than 11 kilo-metres ; over this are distributed 18 stations, the chief of which are Vincennes, Bastille, Lyon, Hotel de Ville, Louvre, Palais R oyal, Tuilleries, Champs-Elysees, Place de l'Etoile, Trocadero. It is claimed by certain French critics that the line has been badly laid out, in this sense, that its principal object is t o connect the centre of Paris with its two great promenades, the Bois de Boulogne and the Bois de Vincennes, while the only actual reason for constructing so costly a wotk as a metropolitan rail way should be to assist traffic in the crowded commercial quarters. The second line (B), which, with the others, of course, is only projected, will commence near the end of the first at the top of the Champs Elysees by the Arc de Triomphe, and will be at first in tunnel or in open cutting, then on viaduct ; it will to a certain extent be a circular railway, duplicating the Ceinture at a short distance from it. It will cut the first line when passing in front of the Lyons and Orleans rail way stations, without making any junctions with the lines of these latter companies, and will terminate at the Place de l'Etoile. The length of this line will be over 23 kilometres, and it, together with the one which has been executed, are the only two of the system, the route of which will be clearly under-stood by those who ~re not thoroughly familiar with Paris ; the directions of the others are more or less obscure. Thus, for example, one of the projected lines (C) leaves the Port Maillot, that is to say one end of the Bois de Boulogne, and passing the circular line, is extended near the Ceinture Rail-way, into a district which at the present time is only badly served with omnibus and tramway lines. This rail way would have a length of 9 kilometres, the same mileage as that of a fourth line (D) laid out to run across Paris from north to south. It would be unnecessary to attempt any explanation of the various branches and connec-tions projected to supplement these railways ; they are marked on the plan, but it may be mentioned, however, that none of them con-template direct relations with the exterior of Paris. As for the remainder of the scheme, it may be mentioned briefly that the fifth line (E) has a length of 4 kilometres, and another (F) of 6 kilo-metres ; this last named, practically follows for the wholo of its length, the circular railway to which we first referred. Another line (G) was laid out on the same course as the actual ' extension of the Orleans Railway, but this has been aban-

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(MAY 18, 1900. ~oned; a line (H) is proje~ted to penetrate Into the catacomb quarter, whwh is one of tho most ~iserable in Paris, and which is practi-cally w1thout any means of communiec1.tion. It is at present intended that this rail way shall be con-

str~cted! it will certainly be inte~esting as an engmeermg work on account of the d1fficulties that would be encountered.

The scheme as elaborated is in tunnel for seven-tenths of its whole length ; less than one-fifth is in cutting, and the remainder is on viaduct. The latter type of construction has been avoided as much as possible, in spite of the fact that Parisian passengers do not like underground travelline1. Tho Ville de Paris has undertaken to deliver to the concessionaire company, within a period of eight years, a total length of 42 kilometres of railway, a contract which will almost certainly not be adhered to. But however this may be, the fact of actual interest is that the fi.r.it line of the system and some branches are practically completed, and that these are essentially adapted to serve as Exhibition rail ways. The engineers who pre-pared the general scheme, specified that it would be desirable to use a shield in driving the tunnels. This recommendation, however, did not meet with great success, because of the slight depth of the tunnel below the streets, which, moreoYer, for the most part, are more or less filled with sewers, and mains for water, gas, compressed air, &c. Largely in consequence of these existing works, all of which had to be deviated and reconstructed, not only has the cost been very largely increased, but the traffic in many places has been interrupted for a long time. Although, as we have already said, the sections of the tunnels are not large enough to admit the standard rolling stock of the main lines, the amount of material excavated has been very great, as the line is, of course, double through-out. The minimum radius adopted for the curves is 246 ft., and all curves in opposite directions have to be connected by a tangent of at least 165 ft.; only one exception to this rule exists, a.t the exit of Place de la Bastille station, where two curves of minimum radius are connected by a tan-gent 115ft. long. The maximum gradient is 1 in 25, and two inclines in opposite directions are always separated by a level gradient of at least 165 ft. long. No level crossings are permitted at branches or junctions, which has necessitated a very costly construction of special tunnels, generally in single line, and similar to those which we recently described as having been built on the Champ de Mars Rail way in passing above or below the princi-pal tracks. The stations are on level gradients, and when an incline immediately succeeds, the level is extended as far as possible in order to facilitate the starting of trains.

We shall, on another occasion, publish a series of type sections of the Paris underground rail-way, as carried out; meanwhile, we may say that the tunnels are built with curved sides, the internal width being 21 ft. 8 in. at the rail level, and 23 ft. 3. 5 in. at the springing of the arch, which is 8 ft. above rail level. The height of the elliptical arch is 6ft. 9.5 in., and that of the two side walls is 9 fti. 6. 6 in. ; these are connected by an in vert, the lowest part of which is 27. 5 in. below the rails. The total clear height in the centre of the arch is 17 ft.; the invert is built with n. rc1dius of 67 ft. 6 in., and the thickness of the masonry is 19.69 in. in the centre; the thickness of the elliptical arch is 21.6 in., and that of the side walls about 29 in.; these walls are curved with a radius of 39 ft. 4 in. ; recesses are made in the side wa1ls on each side of the tunnel, 82 ft. apart. The inner faces of the walls are clothed throughout with a coating 2 centimetres thick, of V assy cement for the arch, and of P ortland cement for the side walls and the invert. The whole of the masonry is built of the stone employed usually in Paris and the neighbourhood, for the foundations of buildings ; it is a stone well suited for the pm-pose, as it possesdes a high power of resistance to crushing. The single -line tunnels, which are chiefly used for connecting lines, have a width of 12ft. 9.5 in. at rail level, and 14ft. 1 in. at the springing, which is 6 ft. 2 in. above rails; the con-struction closely resembles that we have described for the double-line tunnel. The circular arch has a radius of 7 ft. 0. 6 in., with a thickness of 19.7 in. at the centre, and 23.6 in. at the springings ; the side walls are 8 ft. 3 in. high, and 23.6 in. thick, with curved inner faces forming arcs of circles of aboqt 39 ft. radiu~. The io vert has "

I

MAY 18, 1900.] "

curved inner face of about 70 ft. radius, and a thickness in the centre of 19 in.; the under-side has a fiat bearing on the ground 16 ft . 3 in. wide.

The stations are of several types ; a few are in open cutting, some others are in masonry tunnel ; othera are in girder-covered way with side walls and inverts of masonry, and finally there are the ter-minal stations of which we shall publish plans on an-other occasion. These latter are arranged practically as two stations, of the looped type, one for arriving, and the other for outgoing, trains; they are connected by a circular single-track tunnel, but in no case is any provision mado, although this would have been quite easy of accomplishment, to connect with any of the main lines, or even with the Ceinture. The arched type of station has been adopted wherever the water-bearing strata. has not prevented a sufficien tly low rail level; the subsoil of P aris is for the most part freely charged with water at comparatively sligh t depths, and t his was one of the difficulties that had to be overcome by means of the shield which has been so success-fully employed on many underground works in t his country. These arched stations have a clear width inside of 46 ft. 4 in. at the springing level which is 4 ft. 11 in. above the rails ; they are covered by nn elliptical arch with a rise of 11 ft. 6 in. in the centre, and are made with an elliptical invert, the lowest point of which is 27 in. below the rail; the total height is 18 ft. 8 in. The invert and the side walls up to t he platform level are covered with a coating of Portland cement ; the rest of the arch is lined with glazed bricks or tiles which will largely assist t he electric lighting of the stations. The standard length of the platforms is 246 H., which will accommodate trains of six carriages, the length of each carriage being 39 ft. The level of the platform approximates with that of the footboards of the carriages ; at first it was decided to make these platforms 33 in. above the rail level, but this was afterwards increased to 37 in. ; they are 13 ft. 1 in. wide, with a transverse slope of about 1 in., and they are carried on counter-arches and brick piers built at right angles to the access of the tunnel.

The stations built with girder-covered way have tl. clear width of 44 ft. 3 in.; this structure is carried on side walls connected by an invert of similar form to that used in the tunnels. The structure consists of a series of airders with small arches turned between, as is illust~ated in the engravings which we publish on page 641. The ends of the girders rest on hard bedstones and between these the face of the walls is chamfe;ed to an angle of 45 deg., the work being finished with st~ne-facing ; the main girders are connected by a series of longitudinal beams, which are shown clearly in the illustration. The u!l-derside of the arches turned between the ma1n girders will not be concealed, an?, inde~d, ~ill be used as a decorative feature ID the 1nter10r of the Rtation.

For the terminal stations a combination of the arched type has been adopted, together with single-track tunnel. We shall see, however, that Rome special constructions have been foun~ desirabl~ to meet particular requirements, partly 1n connectiOn with the Exhibition service. As we have already said, the station buildings had to be constructed. by the concessionaire company, and not by. the Vllle de Paris although, of course, the designs were approved' by the latt.er body. ~h~ principal con-ditionij to be filled ID t hese buildmgs were-easy access for the public, ample communication between the street and platform levels, and that they should not be so conspicuous as to interfere with the harmonious perspectives. of the stree~s. For the following data. on this subJect, we are In-debted to Mr. Hervieu, Conducteur des Ponts et Ohausses, and chief of the technical service of the Metropolitan Railway. Speakinggener~lly, theme~ns of access to the station consists of a starrway starting at the street level and leading to an u.ndergro.und gallery containing the ticket offices, and Withopenu~gs to other staircases and footbridges connected With the departure and arrival platforms ; in ~any ~ases special staircases are also pro\"ided leadmg direct from the arrival platforms to the stre~t. . It seems as if a single entrance, such as IS In r:nany cases provided for stations where. the tr~ffic ":1ll be extremely heavy, will be found Insuffi?Ient 1f the Metropolitan is to be as crowded as 1s generally supposed. It is to be regretted that no su b:way communications are provided betwe

..

E N G I N E E R I N G. [MAY 18, 1900. -

SCHNEIDER-CANET 75-MILLIMETRE GUN-CARRIAGE AND LIMBER.

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with the help of the trail lever ; in this model, however, two small sights have been added on the axle, which give a central sighting line, and enable the man at the trail to replace the gun in the re-quired direction when a round has been fired. The gunner has then only to give the gun a sHght lateral displacement on the carriage, by means of a hand-wheel and an endless screw, which engages a hori-zontal sector ; with this device the gun can be made to pivot through about 2 deg. on each side. The hand wheel is fitted on an arm fixed to the axle, and the sector is made movable over a dovetailed arc. The gun slides, during recoil, in aT-shaped groove, which joins it to the system, while it does not prevent its displacement. The wheel-brake consists of a cross-piece fitted with shoes ; two sus-pensions under the trail ; two bars and two crank-nuts carried in the axle supports. The brake is only used occaC3ionally during firing. The gun is

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taneously. A small oscillating level is provided to rectify elevation in quick firing.

To maintain the carriage in perfect working order it is only necessary to keep it clean and well lubri-

-MAY I 8, 1900.] E N G I N E E R I N G.

SOHNEIDER-OANET 75-MI~LIMETRE GUN AND CARRIAGE .

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Fro. 135. 75 MlLLDIETRE GeK AND CARRI AGE WITH HYDRAULIC BRAKE AND TttAIL-Si>ADE. -

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cated. Leakage of liquid from the recoil cylinders is not to be feared; it could only take p lace through the glands that surround the rods, and t hese are easily kept quite tight. The recuperator springs being regulated in advance to run out the gun com-pletely under the greatest firing angle, they are submitted to only moderate action, and require no _attention during firing. The surfaces against whiCh there is a. sliding action, remain uncovered only during the time recoil lasts. The limber is practically similar to that of the preceding type.

75-Millimeke (2. 952-In.) G-wn, Long T ype, on Oct,r?iage 1tJith H yd!rattlic R ecoil, and Spade ~t,ndcr A xle or at E nd of T1ail (Figs. 137 and 138) :

Weight of gun .. . ... 330 kilogs. ( 727 lb.) :: ~~~j~~~rl~ .. ::: ~~~ :: ~15i~g :: ~

Muzzle velocity .. . ... 550 m. (1804 fo. ) Energy of projectile... .. .102.5 t. -m. (341 foot-tons).

In this specimen t he gun is fitted at its lower part with a bearing solepl$\te which slides, during recoil, in a gun-metal guide fitted to the carriage.

The guide contains the recoil cylinder and the recuperator ; it pivots horizontally on the axle, thus allowing a lateral deviation of more than 3 deg. on each side. For elevating the whole system, formed by the gun, the guide, and the axle, pivots to t he carriage brackets, with the help of a hand crank, an endless screw, a friction wheel, a square pinion, and a toothed sector. The recoil oylinder allows a longer recoil than in the preced-ing models, so as to reduce the rising of the car-riage when the gun is fired. The recuperator consists of a multiplying piston, loaded with Belle-villa springs ; the opening of the ports in the recoil cylinder is r egulated by a central rod with varying section.

At first the carriage was fitted with a wide spade under th~ axle, but this was later on replaced by a wide trail-spade which worked better. In order to endeavour to still further reduce lateral deviation, this type has been tried with two small plough-shares placed under the axle, and which acted in conjunction with the trail-spade ; this gave the carriage three bearing points in the ground and the arrangement worked well.

Two seats have been added for the gunners, and the experiments demonstrated that the muzzle velocity for this particular type could reach 480 metres (1575 ft.) without inconvenience to the gunners.

In short, this was the first model which embodied a long recoil for the gun, the carriage being non-recoiling, rising but slight ly, and in which seats were provided for tw0 gunners.

75-Millimet;re (2.952-In .) G1,t,n, Long Type, on Ocvrriage, uvith 1Iydtaulic R ecoil and T1ail-Spade (Figs. 139, 140, and 141) :

Weigh b of gun . . . . . . 396 kilogs. (873 lb.) , carriage .. . . .. 642 ,, (1415 , ) , projectile . .. 6.5 , (14~ , )

Muzzle velocity ... ... 550 m. (1804 ft.} Energy of projectile ... 100 t. -m. (333 foot-tons).

In this t.ype the special objects were to design a carriage adapted for quick and precise firing. In order to prevent rising of the wheels and lateral deviation of the gun produced by the percussion when firing, the gun is connected to the carriage by

,E N G I N E E R I N G. (MAY 18, 1900. CARRIAGE FOR 75-MILLIMETRE GUN WITH HYDRAULIC BRAKE.

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a hydro-pneumatic recoil cylinder. Owing to the length of recoil and to the weight of the gun, the effort on the carriage when the gun is fired, is too slight to cause the wheels to rise. Conse-quently, unde r the usual conditions of field service and on any nature of ground, each round produces a recoil of only a few centimetres without increased penetration of the spade, or rising of the carriage.

This type contains besides all the secondary appliances deemed most advantageous for quick-firing artillery ; the cartridge-case is metallic ; the breech opens in one action; the empty cartridge-case is withdrawn and the striker is cocked automati-cally ; the gun can be displaced on the carriage for lateral training; the sights are placed laterally on the cradle, which facili tates laying the gun during return and loadiag; sights enable the gunner at the trail lever to place the gun in position, &c. These advantages, joined to the stability of the carriage, allow the gun to be so quickly served that it can fire 16 aimed rounds per minut e.

The gun is of steel of the standard quality. It consists of a tu be, strengthened in the rear by a jacket, and in front, up to the muzzle, by coils. This construct ion has been chosen in order to strengthen the system followed for guiding the gun, and t o render the latter heavier, so as to reduce the effort on the carriage caused by firing ; it has, morever, the ad vantage of increasing to a marked degre3 the coefficient of security in case projectiles charged with high explosives should burst in the bore. Besides this, the coiling of the chase reduces the heating of this part of the gun during rapid fire. The tube is made to butt against the rear end of the jacket to which the recoil piston is jointed. The jacket does not have to withstand any longitudinal effort; both it and the chase coils are made with guiding flanges which project on each side of the gun, and are not liable to sustain any damage. 1'hese guides extend over a length of 2 metres (7S. 7 4 in.), and during recoil they remain constantly engaged in the cradle; this reduces frict ion, and insures a regular ret urn of the gun, whatever be the firing angle.

The carriage is in two parts ; the larger, which is held on the axle, is fitted at the rear with a rigid trail-spade; the smaller part carries the cradle on horizontal trunnions, and is made to pivot laterally on the larger part of the carriage. The cradle in which the gun slides is in one piece, and is made to contain the liquid and air cylinders of the hydro-pneumatic recoil system. The cradle is of tempered gun-steel; the groov.es in ~vh.ich t~e flanges slide that auide the gun, are lined 1ns1de with brass. On the left-hand side of the cradle are placed the scales and sights. The rear en~ of the guid? is. conn?cted with the training mecharusm. The h q md cy hnder is placed near the gun, and immediately below it. The recoil piston is joined to the rear of the gun by an elastic joint, the bushes being made absolutely tight. When ~he gun recoi~s the liq~i~ is forced into the air cyhndera at the sides, by ra1s1ng loaded valves. It compresses the air, and this limits the

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recoil of the gun. When the recoil is spent, the compressed air exerts a pressure on the liquid and forces it to return through small ports in the liquid cylinder, which causes the return of the gun in two or three seconds, and with equal smoothness, what-ever be the firing angle. During the time taken by the gun to return, it is loaded and set, so that no time is lost in serving it. Besides the cylinder covers which limit the air space, diaphragms are provided, which separate the air from the liquid upon which it bears, and which is under an equal pres-sure. Escape of air cannot, therefore, take place. In exceptional cases, however, if there was such an escape, the joints are easily repaired or replaced, and two men can recharge the air cylinder in a few minutes, with the help of a small pump, which forms part of the accessories of a battery. The device for checking recoil requires no attention and runs no risk, unless-as would be the case for the gun itself-it happened to be destroyed by the fire from the enemy. Repairing of the joints is quite an exceptional operation, but it is easily carried out from the stores supplied with each gun, and does not require any special skill on the part of gunners.

The smaller part of the carriage is of gun-metal, and it cg,rries t he cradle trunnions. It is held on the larger part by circular clamps, and a pivot on which it is movable to correct devia-t ions in trd.ining, but which holds it firm during firing; it can easily be taken to pieces. The larger part of the mounting consists of two brackets with the edges brought down, joined together by top and bottom trail-plates and stay-bars; in the rear is fixed a strong spade, the top part of which is bent horizontal, to prevent the trail from ploughing up the ground. Owing to this arrangement the trail is always displaced easily. This part of t he mounting is, moreover, fitted with the setting mechanism, various other devices, and with the wheel drag. The axle is of tempered gun steel; it is held on top of the brackets, and the journals are lubricated t hrough the centre, this rendering it unnecessary to remove the wheels. It is fitted with two seats suspended on springs. The right-hand seat is provided with a small auxiliary sight, which enables the gunner at the trail to . set the carriage in a line with the target.

The gun-training sector is in the plane of the carriage and turns on an axle at the rear of the axle; it is driven by means of a crank, an endless screw, a helicoidal whee1, and a pinion . The endless screw and the helicoidal wheel are placed in a casing which protects them from dust and accidental shocks. The helicoidal wheel is not keyed on the training shaft, but drives it through a spiral spring ; this gives a certain elasticity to the system and protects the mechanism against shocks caused by the firing and the joltmg during transport. When it is r equired to shift the mate1iel, the gun is strapped to the carriage at the breech end, to insure the safety of the training mechanism. The top part of the sector is fitted with a dove-tailed slide, made to travel laterally through an

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endless screw worked by a crank. The slide is joined to the cradle by means of a spherical head that moves in a groove ; it causes the lateral dis-placement of the cradle as well as its elevation. The cradle and gun being balanced when the gun is run out, the training is rapidly and smoothly effected.

(To be continued.)

HAND AND MACHINE LABOUR. (Continued from page 428.)

WoonwoRK.- DooRs, WINDow FRAMEs, &c. SoME time ago a trade union strike was ordered

because an attempt was made to introduce Ameri-ca.n-made door and window frames into this country, the British workmen refusing to erect the imported goods in their position. We do not propose to enter into the question as to whether such workers' action was justifiable ; but the fact proves that something is to be learned from a study of Ameri-can conditions, for goods are only imported when they cannot be produced at home in sufficient quantities or at the same low price. The facts brought out in the report before us are, there-fore, specially interesting. We take first a cherry five-panel door, 3 ft. by 6 ft. 6 in., having solid panels, veneered rails and stiles, and the general results are given in Table LXXXVII. In the old method the corn plete door was the work of one carpenter earning Ss. 4d. per day of 10 hours, while 33 are engaged under the machine system, many of them earning 50 per cent. more wages, the labourer even getting Ss. 4d. per day. Not only were the saws driven by steam power, but planing, mortic-ing, boring, sand-papering, &c., were done by machine power, and thus tho time taken per door is reduced from 27! hours to 10! hours. The

TABLE LXXXVI I.-Production of 50 Oher1-y Doors 3 Ft. by 6 Ft. 6 In.

Mode of Production. Hand. Date... ... ... ... 1857 Number of different opera-

tions involv~d .. . . .. 18 Number of workmen em-

ployed ... ... .. . 1 Number of hours worked 1385 b. 0 m. Cost of labour . . . . . . 277 dols.

Machine. 1895

21

33 510 h. 0 m. 19l.G2 dols.

Average rate of wages per hour .. . . .. . .. 20 oen ts 37 oen ts

men, too, have profited, as their average wage has increased from 10d. per hour to 1s. 6d. per hour, and yet the cost of the door is still much less- under 4 dols.

In the case of 50 white pine doora the result is still more remarkable. Here, again, instead of one man, ten were needed for the 1S operations, and instead of 500 hours, the 50 doors were completed in 56 houra, while the labour cost for the 50 doors was 11.30 dols. against 112.50 dols. Each door thus cost only 1l!d., against nearly 9s. 4d. Here, the rate of wages was about the same, the hand-made doors being manufactured in 1S94 and the machine doors in 1S95, so that the

MAY 18, 1900.] in t ime and cost is purely d ue to the adoption of mechan ical methods.

In dressing lumber - plan ing, grooving, and tongueing-all operation s n ow done by machine in -stead of hand , we have a r eduction in t ime from

142~ hours t o 2 hours 20 minutes for 1000 ft . , and the cost has been r educed from 21.37 dols. to 0.54 dol., or from 88s. to 2s. 3d., al though the wage formerly was only 6s. 3d. per day, against from 103 to 12s. for sawyers, and 6s. 3d . for labourers now.

In making mahogany moulding with a specially designed machine, the coRt is r educed to one-twen t y-fifth what it formerly was, while wages have been nearly doubled. Thus, in 5 hours, work is don e for 4s. 10d., which, in 1858, occupied 170 hou1s,

~nd cost over 5l. The worker to-day gets 9s. 8d. for his day's work, against 6s. 3d. under t he old system.

In yellow pine moulding t he r esult is still more marked. Wit h hand labour i t required 187! hours to make 1000 f t . of cornice mould-ing-of the ordinary 0 . ~ pattern~ w~ile now it is done wit h a steam-d r1 ven machme In 2 h ours 18 minutes. The wage is abou t t he same, con-sequently t he cost is r educed from 28.12 dols . to 27 cents, or l s. 1!d. for t he 1000 ft.- a very r e-markable result . TABLK L XXXVHI. - Produotion of 50 P ai'rs Yellow

Pine Window Sashes. Mode of Pro:luotion. H and. Ma.ohine.

Date... . .. . .. . . . 1891 1894 Number of different opera-

tions involved . .. .. . 8 Number of workmen em-

ployed ... ... ... 1 Number of houra worked 312 h. 30 m. Cost of labour ... .. . 46.87 dols.

11

14 30 h. 30 m. 3. 70 dol.

Average rate of wages per hour .. . ... .. . 15 cents 12 cents

In Table LXXXVIII. we g ive the general r esults for 60 pairs of yellow pine window sashes with s ix 10 in. by 15-in.ligh ts in ea?h sash. The car pen ter i!l 1876 with saw, plane, chisel, hammer , and a bit of s~nd-paper, worked steadily, p erhaps wearily, on for 31 days a t 6s. 3d . per day, and p r oduced his 60 sashes one after t he other. In 1894, .14 sawyers, planers, machinem~n? sash mak er, '~it~ sa~~ing, p~aning tenoning, mor t1emg, and '' r eh shing machines did' the same work in the fraction o f a day, for t he combined time of t he 14 men is only 30! hours. The labourers got 3s., and t he others from 4s. 2d. to 6s. 3d. and 7s. per day. The average wage is lower because a greater propor t ion of les3 skilled labour is utilised but t he net r esult is tha t t he sashes are now ~ade for about 4d. instead of 4s. each . 'l'he putting together cost only 1s . 3d. for t he 50 sashes.

We take now window frames 2 ft. 10 in. by 6 f t . 10 in. for brick houses. H er e also th e old t ime carpenter worked with t he usual hand tools, b~ing paid 1.60 dols. per day of 10 hours, and t~e t tme taken for 50 of t he frames was 383 hours 20 mmutes, the labour cost being 57.50 dols. U nder t he modern machine system ther e are 13 m achine op~rations giving employment t o 14 men. There ar e saws, planers, dado machines, boring machines, and the like. The most of the workers get 2. 50 dols., the labour ers 0. 75 dols., but as t he t ime tak en is less than a fourth, or 92! hours, t he work, notwith -standing the higher wages, is done for less than half the cost-25.10 dols. , or for about 2s. per window. Wit h windows of the s~me size for fram e housos, the differ ence is s till gr eater and the cost much less-1'3. 6d. per win dow.

M ATCHES. The story is told against the Scotchman t ha.t he

only uses his own matches when he has ascer tained that all his fellow t ravellers have non e ; but when it is noted that 100 gr oss of boxes of matches can be made for a labour cost of 13s. 6d., it seems r emark-ablA that even the E nglish fello w traveller should not have a box ! H ere t he int roduction of machine methods has decr eased t he cost of manufacture to one-eighth the amount of 1844. In t he mach ine pro-cess there are ten operations against fo.ur by h~nd, machines being used to cut t he wood Into sphnts, to place them in the dipp ing f ram e, to dip the1n in the sulphur and composition and to remove then1 from the frame and even to put them into boxes-a marvellous series of operations. All t hese opera-tions are done for 1, 440,000 matches in less than eioht hours, and t hen t h e packing, done by six fe~1ales, takes 21 hours 49 mi nutes. Obviously a 'packing machine is ueedcd, for of t he labour cost

E N G I N E E R I N G. for making t he matches- about l a. per 100,000-9d. goes for packing and only 3d. for t he act ual work of manufacture. The cost of making t he matches by hand was in 1844, about 7s. 6d. per 100,000, or nearly eigh t t imes more. The wages, too, ar e m uch h igher now; eyen the female packers get 4s. 2d. instead of 3s. 4d. per day of 10 hours in 1844.

T nmER. Timber en ters so largely into structural opera-

t ion s that it is importan t to note t hat at t he presen t t ime poplar boards can be produced by machine methods, at on e-eigh th of t he cost involved, also at the p resent time, by hand meth ods exclusively, t he rate of wage in both cases being t he samo. Wit h white pine boards the d iffer en ce is more r emarkable, for in 1854 100,000 ft. took 16,000 hours to pr od uce, as compar ed with 272 hours in 1896, t he relative labour cost being 533l., as compar ed with a little over 10l. I t is not pos-sible to mak e comparison of t he various p rocesses involved-th er e wer e nine by hand and 38 by n1achine, but circular and band saws have made an enormous d ifference, as compar ed with the primitive jacksaw, and i t is ob vious t hat if the tim her of a colony is to be cheaply harvested the only successful method is by large m echanical plan ts.

P LUMBERS' W ORK. In p lumbing work it would be easy to find in-

stances wher e the t ime taken and t he labour cost now is only a twen t ieth or a t wenty- fi fth part of what i t formerly was : for instance, in the matter

The decrease in cost is almost in t he same p ropor tion.

The int rod ucton of the printing machine instead of t he old hand press, has had an equally marked effect. W e find in the case of magazines, for in-stance, t hat work which formerly took 3170 hours is n ow don e in 14 hours 56 minutes, while t he labour cost is reduced f rom 61l. t o 19s. 3d. In print -ing n ewspapers t he difference is equally marked, the time having been reduced in one case from 3660 to 18~ hotu s, and the labour cost from 90l. t o 26s. It is therefore the m or e sur pl'ising to note t hat in some cases in A m erica t he old methods are still adopted , costing 40l. where ll. would do the work wit h modern pla nt. These r esults, alike in typesetting, and print ing, show how cheap books , magazines, and newspaper s have been made pos .. sible, wit hout affecting the wages of t he operatives.

{ To be continued. )

AU TO MATIC ELECTRIC SI GNAL S AT THE P ARIS EXHIBITION.

ON page 508 a.nte we gave a plan of t he Paris Exhi-bit ion ground. Circulation within the area will be facilitated by t he electric railway shown in t he accom-pany ing plan {Fig. 1). This railway will be signalled automatically , and , of course, electr ically , on the well-known system in use on t he Liverpool Overhead Railway (see ENcn~EERT a of F ebr uary 10, 1893, page 163), which has boen in successful operation for seven years. This system, it will be remembered, was worked out by Mr. I. A. Timmis, M. Inst. C.E., of 2, Great George-street, \Vestmin~ter, S. W. , who is now assisted by his eldest son and partner, Mr. E . W. Timmis, Assoc. M. I nst. C. E . The F rench pa tents are taken out in the joint names of Mr. Timmis and .Monsieur A. Lavezarri , member of t he Society of Civil Engineers of F rance, of 42, Rue Blanche, P aris, a well known engineer, who has carried out t he arrange-

of tapping and threading a cast iron pipe, a very f requen t operation , the time taken for 100 f t . of 1-in. pipe is no w 1 hour 5 minutes, instead of 26 hours 40 minutes, when t he stock and die only was used; wages ar e about t he same, and thus t he labour cost is r educed from 4 dols. to 16 cents or from 16s. 8d. to 8d. T o take another and very differen t product-30-gallon copper range boilers-we find t hat in 1855 two coppersmit hs earning 7s. 6d. per day took 1800 hours wit h primit ive tools-hammer and stake-to make 100; wher eas to-day 12 workers, four of them with only 6s. 3d . per day, wit h t he / assistan ce of hydraulic press, power saws, &c., make { the 100 boilers in 54 hours . Solderin g and brazing

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is n ow done with t he help of steam blowers, &c. , in 16 hours, against 800 hours. The t ime in 1855 was n early 33 times t hat n ow required, while t he labour cost was abou t 27 times greater, having been 285 dols. against 10.70 dols.

. THE R ESULT OF THE LINOTYPE. In r egard to p rint ing, it is interesting to note

the r esult of t he intr oduction of the linotype upon t he cost of typesetting . As is perhaps well k nown, the p r inter's measuremen t is in ems-there ar e, for instance, 25 ems in t his line of E NGINEERI NG, and 2385 ems in a column of t his type. N ow, in one case, t he compositor, according to t he Government rep ort before us, was, when working by hand, paid l s . 8d. per 1000 ems, and 100,000 ems were set by 10 workers in 127 hours ; so t hat to earn l s. 8d. t he men worked 1. 27 hours, roughly l i hours, and thus the wage was 1s. 4d . per hour. .Now the linotype does t he same work in 38 hours 16 min utes, or in a li ttle more t han one-fourt h of t he t ime, and t he wage is a t t he rate of 10s. 6d. per day of 10 hours. In add it ion, the linotype does th e work of st er eotyp-ing . The comparative cost is 9. 76 dols, against 41 dols. , showing a reduction to q uite one-fourth, ra th er more than was the case with the time occupied. This example is one of t he most unfavourabl e com-parisons to t he linotype. In Table LXXXI X . we g ive t he r esults of another case : T ABLE LXXXIX.-Typesettir~g by Hand against Lino

type Machine. Mode of Production. Hand. Machine.

Dt1.te... . .. .. . . .. 1896 1896 N umber of different opera-

tions involved .. . .. . 2 4 N umber of workmen em-

ployed ... . .. ... 2t 4 Number of hours worked 177 h. 0 m. 22 h. 28 m. Cost of labour ... ... 46.00 dols. 5. 68 dols.

The a verage wage is abo