335

AT~tgara Falls Suspension Bridge.

The suspension bridge companies have decided on the construction of the bridge |br the passage of railroad trains. The strength of the supporting cables is to be not less than 65,000 tons. The cost is not to exceed $190,000 ; and the work to be completed by the 1st of May, 1849. Charles Ellet, Jr., Esq., of Philadelphia, has been appointed the engineer. Tile bridge will be in sight both of the cataract and the whirlpool, and span the gorge by an arch of 800 feet, suspended 230 tibet above the surface of the Niagara river. Hunt's Merch. Mug.

Large Railway Girders.

Within the last few days some interest has been excited at Witham by the arrival of some very large-sized cast-iron girders, for two of the bridges on the li~e. These girders, which were cast at Derby ~,are said to be the largest single girders which have ever been cast, with one exception ; they are fifty-three feet four inches and a half in length, and weigh about thirteen tons each. London Artizan.

Cost of Locomotives in France.

In 1839, the price of locomotives in France was 300 francs the 2 cwt. ; the price in 1847 is 225 francs. In 1839 the French work- shops produced only twenty to twenty-five locomotives per annum ; in 1847 the railways carJ obtain 300 to 400 locomotives from the workshops of Paris, Rouen, Creuzot, Mulhausen, and Arras. Ibid.

A M E R I C A N P A T E N T S .

List of dmerican, Palents which issued in the month of Februa~w, 1847, wilh Exemplificalions, by CuarL~S M. K~LLr:~, late Chief flAa~aminer of Patents, in lhe U. N. Patent O2~ce.

1. For an Improvement in CIosi,g Doors; Daniel Ball, Albany, • Albany county, .New York, February 1.

The patentee says , - - " The nature of my invention consists in ap- plying the eotnpotlnd lever, or knee joint, to doors, so as to close thenl by a weight, without the interposition of a spring or chain, which are so liable to be deranged."

Cla im.--" What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by letters patent, is the combination of the eomp6und lever and weight, with a door, tbr closing tile same, substantially in the manner and for the purpose set forth, without interposing a chain or other flexible fixture."