452 l['~rzff/zt: [J . F. I.,

quantities. In the present state of the mechanical world they are as universal as machinery itself. Now, a mechani- cal method which, on a device in such general use, at once reduces the amount of material used to one-third the former practice, reducing also to the same extent the weight and corresponding inertia and frictional resistance to shaft ing rotation, should be worthy of the at tention of the mechani- cal world. This is accomplished without any expensive operations, and by methods essentially American in their origin, and by which Americans have made not only such simple articles as hardware fixtures, but also such refined ones as watches.

The pulley here described is the invention of Mr. Thomas Corscade~ who has long been engaged in making special- ties in steel, some of which are familiar articles to the public to-day. He conceived the idea of making this pulley as far back as i888. Dull times giving leisure and stimulus to take up something new, drawings a n d models were made and experimented with. In i892 patents were taken out on the pulley and on the machinery for making it. Wi th the cooperat ion of Mr. George V. Cresson, a member of this Institute, and an extensive manufac turer of power-transmit- ting machinery, the American Pulley Company was formed, and a factory was equipped in Philadelphia for the purpose of manufactur ing the pulley under Mr. Corscaden's patents. Under his superintendence special machinery, dies and tools were designed and built, which permit of the production of several hundred pulleys daily.

The pulley has at tracted the at tention of the engineering public, both at home and abroad, and its extensive adoption already appears to be well assured.

IN MEMORIAM.

ROBERT WRIGHT.

Robert Wright, son of Jonathan and Mary Wright, was born February I9, I817, at Keighley, Yorkshire, England, and died January i i, 1897, after having lived a life of great usefulness, characterized by a modesty as conspicuous as

June, I897.] Obituary. 45 3

were the g rea t events in which he had been one of the chief actors.

His paren ts emig ra t ed to Philadelpl~ia in 182o, and at an ear ly age he was appren t iced as a mechanic to a firm of Engl i shmen, named H y d e & Flint, whose place of bus iness was on Beach Street . H e subsequen t ly en tered the employ of Gar re t t & Eastwiek, who at tha t t ime were located in W a g n e r ' s Alley, near Seven th and Race Streets . The train- ing he here rece ived and his na tura l gifts, coupled with the fact tha t the deve lopmen t of the ra i lway sys tems of Amer ica was in process of evolut ion, gave h im the oppor- tuni ty , as a mechanic , to prove his worth . His employers , Gar re t t & Eastwick, ycere in the front rank as cons t ruc tors of ra i lway equipment , and it was not s trange, therefore, tha t when Messrs. Harr ison, Eas twick & W i n a n s ob ta ined the cont rac t f rom the Russ i an G o v e r n m e n t for the const ruct ion and e q u i p m e n t of the l ine of ra i lway from St. P e t e r s b u r g to Moscow, they tu rned to R o b e r t W r i g h t as the mechanic bes t su i t ed . to a s sume charge of their enterprise.

Accordingly , in 1844 he went to Russ ia , under a cont rac t wi th his new employers , and at a salary whi611, even in these days, would be considered an ex t remely s~,~isfactory com- pensat ion, and which in the days of fifty odd years ago, mus t have seemed pr incely to the then y o u n g mechanic.

In all the manifo ld d e p a r t m e n t s of cons t ruc t ion and e q u i p m e n t he wffs prominent , and, endur ing the 'ha rdsh ips incident to the Russ i an climate, he kep t pers i s ten t ly at his work unti l the la t te r par t of ,85o, w h e n he re tu rned for a shor t vis i t to Ptfl ladelphia. R e t u r n i n g to R u s s i a in I85I, under a new cont rac t and a t an increased compensa t ion , he a s sumed charge of the Alexandrof f sky H e a d Mechanical Works , near St. Pe te r sburg , and, dur ing the Crimean War , cons t ruc ted the mar ine engines for the Russ i an gun-boa t fleet. His ach ievements in the field of mar ine engine con- s t ruc t ion were c rowned wi th as much success as he. had a l ready acquired in tha t of ra i lway equipment .

For his eminen t services at t~his t ime, the Order of St. S tanis laus was duly conferred upon him by the Czar; and the official not if icat ion of the conferment of this honor was

454 IVrig/~t . [ J. F. I.,

conveyed to him in a letter, a translation of which is here- with given :

" T o ROBERT WRIGHT, Chief Mechanic at the Alexan- droffsky Head Mechanical Works, near St. Petersburg, Russia : --In consequence of the intermediat ion of the Min- istry of Marine, His Imperial Majesty, by the decision of a Committee of Ministers, has deigned most graciously to grant you, for your exertions in the construction of screw engines for the gun-boat fleet, a silver medal to be worn on the neck, on a ribbon of the Order of St. Stanislaus. The Chancery of the Ministry of Marine informing; you of His Majesty's desire, forward the medal herewith.

J a n u a r y 3, z357. (Signed) COUNT TOLSTOY." Prior to this mark of imperial distinction, he had become

prominent by rescuing a large vessel (for a ship-building company ~ Perm, Russia), which, owing to some imperfec- tion of construction, had sunk, and having raised the vessel and rebuilt her engines and boilers, he was duly honored by the presentation of a gold cup, suitably inscribed, as a mark of the esteem which his great mechanical skill and inge- nui ty had gained for him.

Re turn ing to Philadelphia in I856, and having acquired a competency as a result of his labors, he retired from active mechanical work.

He married, in I84O, Emily Shoch, daughte r of George P. and Maria Shoeh, and had two children, a daugh ter, who died in Russia, and a son, who fell a victim in the Civil War, at Murfreesboro, Tenn.

Al though taking a lively interest in all the questions of the day, a defect in his hearing, which ul t imately approached total deafness, precluded the possibility of his engaging in active work.

He was a great believer in the ability of canals to com- pete advantageously with our railway systems, and deplored the po]icy which has resulted in the acquisition by the rail- roads, through lease or purchase, of the principal canals Of the United States, and in the diversion of traffic therefrom, and the falling into decay of those magnificent monuments to the engineering talent and ability O f seventy years ago.

He was an earnest vegetarian, a God-fearing and deeply

June, 1897. ] Surface for Pelton 3,[o[or. 455

re l igious man, who had p ronounced convict ions of his own, b u t who was ever to lerant of the opinions of o thers ; and thus for for ty years this modest , worth~¢ man l ived quie t ly in our midst , his life saddened by the loss of his children, b u t b r igh t ened b y schemes he was con templa t ing for the u l t ima te good of his fel low-men.

H e had been grea t ly aided, as a s t rugg l ing y o u n g me- chanic, by two of our phi lan thropic ins t i tu t ions , the FRANK- LIN INSTITUTE and the Apprent ices ' Library. H e was a fr iend of d u m b animals, and an admirer of the good work done b y the Pennsy lvan ia Socie ty for the P reven t ion of Crue l ty to An ima l s ; and it is to these three wor thy inst i tu- t ions tha t his es ta te will even tua l ly come, abso lu te ly un- h a m p e r e d b y any con ai t ions.

A n d now, since his m o d e s t y was such tha t he gave no t h o u g h t to the pe rpe tua t ion of his name in connect ion wi th his munif icent gifts , it is r igh t and f i t t ing tha t we shou ld here place on record the s ter l ing v i r tues and wor th of this hones t mechanic , who so l ived and died tha t hundreds , nay, thousands , all unconsc ious of the donor, m a y der ive grea t benefi ts as the resu l t of his i ndus t ry and thrift .

FREDERICK FRALEY ~ALLOWELL.

AN E F F I C I E N C Y S U R F A C E FOR P E L T O N M O T O R . ~

BY W. KENDRICK H&~r, Associate Professor Applied Mechanics, Purdue University, Lafayette, Ind.

W h e n a j e t irlipinges agains t a series of moving cup- shaped vanes, as in the Pe l ton motor, the entire kinetic energy of the j e t may, theoret ical ly, be given up to the motor, provided the angle of total deviat ion (relat ively to the vane) of the je t leaving the vane be 18o ° from its ori- ginal direction, and provided the vanes move wi th a velocitY equal to half the veloci ty of the part icles of th~ jet. For a~ly o ther veloci ty of the vane (the speed of the je t re- ma in ing constant), the efficiency,of the motor is r educed ;

Paper presented to Indiana Academy of Sciences, December 27, 1896.