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

SEPT. I' I 893]

&

259

STONE-DRESSING MACHINE.
CONSTRUCTED

BY

:MESSRS.

BR UN TON

AND

TRIER,

LONDON.

(For Description, see Page 268.}

LITERATURE.
Scientific and Technical Papers of W erncr von S ieml'nS.
Vol. I. Translated from the second German edition.
London : John Murray. 1892.

is the first of three volumes in which it is intended to publish an English translation of the
second German edition of the collected papers of
the late Dr. Werner von Siemens, together with a
biography, as well as an account of the rise of the
great electrical firm of Siemens and Halske.
The volume consists of his scientific papers alone,
which are n ow published in a collected form in
English for the first time, and in the preface it is
stated that it is believed that it will prove ''Dr.
vVern er von Siemens to be one of the foremost
amongst the many workers who, during the present
century, have revolutionised the manner of living
by developing science, and applying its m ethods to
the problems of everyday life.'
It has long been recognised that the Brothers
Siemens, from the nature of their work, occupied
an important place in the band of practical scientific
men who have been the means of making the great
changes in social and national life which have
occurr ed during the latter half of this century.
P ossessing, as they did, a knowledge of the latest
ad va.nces made in science, and the resources of
minds trained in the practical school of manufacture, they ably discharged the responsibilities that
fell upon them as industrial leaders. At the time
when their public work began, the electric telegraph, which has, as much as anything else, r evolutionised our commercial life, was in its infancy,
and was only being adopted for land lines ; ocean
t elegraphy had not been attempted, for the difficulties connected with the effective insulation and
protection of the wire r endered success improbable.
'fhe great interest of the present volume will be
when it is considered
that it contains
reft.lif)ed

T H IS

memoirs upon the state of telegraphic en gineering

in 1850, and again, after ten years' further work,
papers on duplex working ; the electrostatic induction observed upon land lin es ; the mercury unit
of r esistance ; the laying and testing of submarine
cables ; the influence of light upon selenium ; photometry ; besides a number of papers of general
interest as speculations upon the causes of natural
phenomena. A few of the papers have been
written by Dr. Warner von Siemens conjointly
with the late Sir William Siemens; most, however,
are by the former worker, and were originally published in the Oornptes R endt(;S, P oggendorif A ?Wtetlen,
and the reports of the Berlin Academy of Science,
of which he was a member since 1874.
The first paper in the volume deals with the hotair engine, which t he author viewed, with many
others of the time, as a powerful rival to the steam
engine. The awkward bulk of t he apparatus had
not then come fully into view, and the author states
that if '' untrammelled by patent laws, one cannot
avoid looking upon the invention as one of t he
most important of the age. " But it may well be
questioned whether this opinion of the action of
patent laws was always held by him.
A po.per upon the application of the electric
spark to the measurement of high velocities follows,
in which we get a lesson h ow easy it is, owing
simply to an incomplete state of knowledge, for
even a man of undoubted scientific skill to imagine
that a higher degree of accuracy had been attained
1
than was really the case. The 100 000 of a second of
I

time is spoken of as being a practically measurable interval by the aid of the method, but it is
now recognised that the measurement of intervals
of time by the aid of the spark is subject to errors
amounting t o n early 100 times this.
It is stated in a paper on the electric telegraph, published in 1860, that, as early as 1847,

Dr. Siemens having seen some samples of gutta~

percha, then a fresh importation, recognised its
suitability for the purpose of insulating underground
wires, and had brought experiments with it to so
successful an issue that a short trial line was put
down. Without doubt this should be considered
one of the important events in the history of the
electric telegraph. Strange r esults were soon ob~
tained from the long underground wires, the capacity of the line giving rise to phenomena but little
understood at the time, just as the introduction
during the past few years of high voltages and
frequencies has attracted attention to the selfinduction of circuits carrying alternating currents.
In another memoir presented to the Academie des
Sciences in April, 1850, we have a clearly-written
account of the state of electric telegraphy at that
time. The overhead wires, used from the first in
this country, are described, as well as the best
forms of insulators for them; but much is made of
the difficulties caused by varying atmospheric influences. Lightning conductors to the poles are not
even mentioned ; evidently they had not then come
under the observation of the author, who is confessedly in favour of underground wires. The
discussion of. th~se latter is taken up, and the
modes by w h1eh 1t had been proposed to insulate
t hem: and to us it is interesting to read that in
England and in the united States "tubes of cast
iron. or lead wer~ used for sh ort. lines to protect the
coat1ng of varn1shed cotton w1th which the wires
were covered against the dampness of the soil.''
Had this not been thrown into the shade by
the appearance of gutta-percha, the use of oil
as an insulator must have followed earlier than has
pr~ve~ to be the. case. We. have on page 34 a descriptwn of a. b1t of pract1eal testing of the day
A covered core is to be tested, and the workma~
h.olds one. terminal ~f a~ induction coil, the oppo~
Slte term1n~l 0~ Wbtch l !S ~OI}Ue9ted Wi~h the Wire,

260
T~e wire itself is passed slowly throucrh a tank of
ac1dulated water in which the work~an k eeps his
hand. As soon a.s any defective part (such as may
u e due to an atr-bubble encloseu in the auttap er cha covering) passes into the tank, ''the ~ork
men recei~es such sharp shocks as could n ot escape
the attentwn of even t he dullest." Education has
probably since inr.reased t he "figure of merit " of
the human galvanoscope to such an extent as to
r 9nder its u se undesirable, but this reminds me of
some of Cavendish's experiments. Ther e can,
~owever, ~e n o doubt that few, if any, weak places
1n the coattng would escape t.he sear ching test of an
alternating electromotive force of several hundreds
of _volts. The. finished wire was further tested by
be1ng placed 1n a tank, and the steady current
pas~ing .thr?ugh. the core to the water when placed
~n c~rcutt wtth e1ght cells was considered too great if
1t ~1sturbed a sensitiYe galvanometer. The more
sat1sfactory tests by loss of potentials involving the
u se of an electr ometer are described in a joint paper
of later date (1860), and the well-known test for
faults bearing the author's name is asrecentas 1874.
There was much to say in 1850 in favour of
under~round wires on account of their exemption
from 1nterference by atmospheric influences. But
a.s soon as ~elegra.phists h ad long well-insulated
hnes on whtch to operate, they experienced the
effects due to the very considerable electr ostatic
capacity of the line. These effects ar e referred to
in the memoir, and their cause poin ted out, but the
li:mitat~on thereby imposed upon the speed of
s1gnalhng does not appear to havA been felt until
rapid aut01natic instruments had been perfected
and brought .i nto general use. The preference by
the author for dial instruments, whether printing
ones or not, to t hose of the Morae type, is shown
as early as this date, so that the essential differences bet ween the practice of the workers in
this country and on the Continent had already exhibited themselves. The disadvantages of the
system adopted had in some measure been felt,
but in such hands as those of the author and his
eo-workers were minimised, in order that t he concurrent advantages migh t be r etained.
In a paper published in 1856, the author deals
with the practicability of sending several signals
simultaneously by one wire, and mentions all t he
more important principles that have since been
followed in practice. Singularly enough he consider ed Kruse's method to be out of t he range of
practicability, whereas it is at present in use on
the mor e important circuits of this country, though
many important details had to be invented before
this was possible. The methods advocated for
iuplex working, t hough similar to those now
adopted, were not at t his date sufficiently developed
to render it possible to apply them to lines having
much electrostatic capacity.
Some experiments on electrostatic induction,
published in 1857, furnish interesting reading,
particularly when it is considered that they were
undertaken with a distinctly practical end in
view. In the course of these experiments, Siemens
found by accident that by heating a glass plate,
used as the dielectric of his condenser, there was
an apparent increase in the dielectric constant ; so
much so, that on heating the glass up to the melting
point of lead, the deflection of the needle of his
ballistic galvanometer was increased some 30 times
by the extra charge. He was ultimately led to the
belief that the incr eased capacity of the condenser
was really due to an electrolytic separation from
the glass of metallic sodium and potassium at the
coating answering to the negative electrode. This
hypothesis has been confirmed in a striking way by
the recent experiments of W artburg and Tegetmeier, who have satisfactorily shown the actual
substitution as well as the transference of ions in a
glass plate submitted to electrical stress at a similarly elevated temperature.
The state of electrical science was such that the
author considers the differences between the socalled ''free " and ''jar " electricities, and proceeds to verify F araday's view that the surface
charges on insulated conductors are due to the
presence of a similar an~ opposite charge _upon the
walls of the room in wh1ch the conductor 1s placed,
and hence that no true distinction exists. At the
same time the difference between '' electric force "
or potential and the '' density " of charge_ is well
appreciated. The author proceeds to cons1der the
nature of the molecular work done by the silent
discharge through a dielectric, and describes his
apparatus in whi<:h ozone can be produced by such

E N G I N E E R I N G.
means. The causes by which the discharge takes
t he form of sparks when a conducting fi lm is
opposed to an unstable dielectric, such as a layer of
air, ar e very clearly pointed out, and then, after
stating that he still did not consider the experimental
work sufficiently advanced to dogmatise, he adds,
''Finally, I will only r emark t hereon, t hat it is
very l ikely t hat the seat of the electricity is removed from t he conductors to t he n on-conductors
surrounding them, and may be defined as an
electrical polarisation of t he latter." He did not
let the matter rest here, for in a later paper we find
h im describing experiments upon the heating effect
of successive charges upon the dielectric of a condenser. It is a little amusing to-day, when it is
proposed to rationalise the electrical units, to find
that practical electr icians and scientific investigators,
in the persons of Dr. Siemens and L ord Kelvin,
discovered a difference of ' ' 4 1r " between some of
their independently devised formulre.
In a book offering so much solid r eading, it is a
change to see a little of the humorous side of the
author. In a description of a visit to the top of
the Cheops pyramid during a sandstorm, we are
offered an account of t he initiation of an Arab
escort into t he mysteries of western science. Grave
doubts existed in the sober minds of t he Arabs as
to the legitimacy of certain proceedings upon the
top of t he pyramid with electric sparks drawn from
t he Mghly char ged air. The r emonstrances of the
Arabs proved to be without avail, so t he latter decided to remove th e savants by force, and with every
prospect of success, until the effect of a !-in. spark
from a L eyden jar (extemporised out of a bottle of
champagne covered with wet paper) was tried upon
the nose of the most powerful and aggressive of
the Arabs. The way in which the astonished son
of the desert fell, picked himself up, and then,
with a great howl, disappear ed as fast as he could,
followed by his companions, is vividly described.
P erhaps the moat important chapter in the book
is that r elating to the proposal for a repr oducible
unit of electrical resistance. The Brother s Siemens
early recognised the importance of exact r esistance
tests, and, like V arley and others, had sets of coils
made. Now that the mercury unit of Siemens has
at last been expressed in terms of t he C. G. S. unit
to four significant figures, it is a useful check upon
other standards, but Siemens at that day could
hardly have realised the difficulties in the reproduction of a standard to the high degree of accuracy
soon demand4td by the advance of science. On the
other hand, his unit is r eadily r eproduced for comparatively r ough purposes, and it is only lately that
one has been able to say what an ''ohm" is. Now
that the R oyal ComGl.ission on electrical standards
has completed its labours the matter is different,
but if Siemens's essentially practical unit had been
adopted, it would have saved years of doubt and
difficulty, and after all would have been upon as
satisfactory a basis as the metre itself, or our muchabused standard yard.
His searching criticism upon the first determination of the ohm by the British Association in 1860,
proved to be only too well founded, as, for example,
his r emarks upon the length of the wire of the
r otating coil, and although the unit was not "some
few per cent." in error, as he thought might possibly be t he case, still it proved to be over 1 per
cent. different from what was intended. In 1860,
for practical purposes, doubtless Siemens's unit had
more to commend it than now, for an exactness
of ! per cent. was then sufficient; the contrast
to-day is but a measure of t he rate at which electric::l.l science has advanced in the meantime.
The remarkable properties of selenium form the
subject of several papers, and one point to which
further attention ought to be directed is the observation that, without any indication of polarisation,
the resistances of certain forms of selenium ''cells "
vary with the size of the positive eleotrode, so
that: if one of these cells be made with differentlysized electrodes, its resistance will be found to
have a different value if the direction of the testing current be reversed. The explanation given
of the behaviour of selenium under the action of
light and heat, is that depolymerisation occurs, and
this seems good on general grounds.
One of these papers, in answer to one by Dr.
Bornstein, goes on to discuss the use of selenium
in photometers, as well as the subject of the brilliancy of illumination. The author holds that a
correct photometer should show differ ently-coloured
lights as ~quivalent, when they make distant
objects perceptive in the same degree.

[SEPT.

I , I 893.

If, however, it is attempted to measure light in

this way by t he eye, t he results obtained will be
wholly dependent upon t he observer, and in some
experiments upon the visibility of objects under
differently- coloured illumination, this personal
effect quite prevented any concordant table of the
coefficients of the brilliance of differently-coloured
lights from being obtained. The author's lamp for
the production of a unit of white light, similar to
that adopted by t he Paris Convention, was more
successful.
A geological paper occurs in the volume, suggested
by a visit to Vesuvius. In a r eview of the various
theories that have from t ime to time been suggested as to the strucLure of the earth, the necessity of time for the propagation of tides in viscous
matter is advanced in opposition to the assumption
that the eart h n eed necessarily be solid in order to
be rigid.
A masterly examination of the variation of the
conductivity of carbon with change of temperature,
shows how easy it is for an investigator working
alone in a wide field of research to arrive at inaccurate r esults, and it als9 shows how necessary it is
that the details in even a simple experiment should
be varied in all possible ways. A distinct disagreement existed between the r esults of the
work of Matthiesen, Betz, and Auerbach upon the
conductivity of carbon, and this is proved by conclusive experiments to be due to a different mode
of attachment of the metal wires to the carbonrods under test. The important , though still defective, generalisation that t he conductivity
diminishes with t he heat energy possessed by th~
body, is insisted upon by the author to an extreme
degree. Perhaps he is right, but that the high
temperature of the electric arc is due to a for cible
disengagement of the heat of polymerisation of
carbon (or of whatever material of which t he poles
may be made) under the effect of electric stress is
a view that will have to be supported by further
evidence befor e it can be accepted. The phenomena
of polarisation of carbon, and of bad conductors
gen erally, and particularly the recent experiments
of Professor Dewar upon conductivity at low temperatures, lend, howe\'er, much support to such a

VleW.

A somewhat heavily-written chapter upon t ube

magnets contains a modification of the AmpereWeber theory of magnetism, and, incidentally, a.n
account of an experiment of a very similar character to t hat r ecently published by Dr. R obb,
proving t he oscillatory nat ure of t he discharge of
a L eyden jar. But it is remarkable that Siemens
did not actually discover this phenomenon himself,
for in a paper upon the velocity of electric signals
in wires, aa early as 1875, he records how, when discharging a condenser through a short circuit, he
obtained a single spark upon a rapidly-revolving
steel drum, whereas when the discharge took place
through a circuit of considerable resistance (and
possessing much inductance) he obtained not a
single spark, but a series of sparks from the single
discharge. He gives an elaborate explanation of
what he considered to be t he cause, and knew that
the discharge had taken a longer time in the
latter case, but had evidently quite missed the import of the obser vation.
The very impor tant subject of radiation from
flames, in connection with which the name of Sir
William Siemens will be remembered, is entered
into in an account of some experiments performed
at the glass works at Dresden. I t is there shown
that furnace gases heated to a temperature of
1500 deg. Cent., exhibit no luminosity unless
active combustion is in progress, or unless dust be
present. Nevertheless some experim ents are described in which it would appear that heat is
radiant so as to affect the thermopile, but t his was
with the hot gases from a shielded flame, ar d open
to objection on that ground. The ether disturbance caused by the coalescing of the molecules
undergoing combination is assigned as the cause of
luminosity, so that the author sums up by saying
that "the light of flame might then be called electric light with the same propriety as the light of
ozone tubes or Geissler t ubes, which only differs
from the first principally by containing a. dielectric
of very slight maximum polarisation. " As this was
written in 1882, it will be seen how advanced the
views were t hat the author held upon abstract
physical science. 'Vhen, however , we come to the
treatment of geological and astronomical questions,
we find the author in the position of an actively
hostile critic, holding views that are distinctly

E N G I N E E R I N G.
heterodox ; but as the statement of his opinion is
accom.panied by the descript.ion of many novel
experiments, our knowledge 1s very considerably
enriched on that account alone. One of these
experimentg is with a Loyden jar, one coating of
which is a sheet of flame ; and al thouah such a cond enser shows much loss, similar t~ that due to
leakage, it is quite capable of receiving and subsequently parting with A. charge. The work of translating this volume must have been very heavy
indeed, but has been on the whole well performed.
A number of passages are written in what is a
somewhat involved style, but this can hardly be
avoided. Surely, h owever, in the execution of such
important and responsible work, the translator
ought to have the cr edit, and the reader the satisfaction, of having t he translator 's name which is
.
'
not gwen.
Then, too, in an English edition
the
w?odcuts, of which there are n ot a large number,
mtght surely be made afresh with English lettering,
~hereas we have ~o.be content with those employed
1n the Germa.n ed1t1on. There are a few misprints,
too, as,. for instan?e, in the formulre on page 127 ;
but th1s can eastly be attended to in a future
edition. There is an excellent portrait of the
author, and the volume is one which can be read
with great profit by any one possessing an interest
in physical science, and muoh in its pages is so important as to call for further investigation now that
the author's labour is past. In his inaugural
address, when admitted into the Berlin Academy
of Science, he pointed out that science did not
exist only for the enjoyment of the limited number
of its professors, lmt that the task of those who
studied it was to increase the store of knowledge
of the human race so as to "lighten the hard fight
for material existence by pressing into service the
slumbering forces of nature. " T owards this end
Siemens did his full share of work, as the present
volume amply shows; and when we r eceive the
second and third volumes we shall probably see
that the hard fight for material existence has been
materially lessened by his labours.

THE ENGINEERING CONGRESS

CHICAGO.
(BY

ouR

NEw

AT

YoRK CoRRESPONDENT.)

(Continued from page 246.)

\V.EVXESDAY's proceedings were opened by four

papers on steel, as follows : "The Treatment of
Metals for Structural Purposes," by J ames Christie;
"The Use of Basic Mild Steel as Material for Construction in Germany, " by C. Weyrich, Germany ;
'' A Proposed Method of Testing Structural Steel, "
by A. E . Hunt; and "The Use of Mild Steel for
Engineering Structures," by George C. Mehrtens,
Germany.
Mr. C. C. Gleim, after announcing that Messrs.
'-tVeyrich and Mehrtens were leading German advocates for the use of mild steel, stated that in
Germany specifications permitted the r ejection of
steel which exceeds the higher figures, as i t is
liable to be deficient in elongation and ductility.
The general tone of the discussion favoured mild
steel for structural purposes instead of wrought
iron. Two instance3 of its value were cited, as
follows:
Mr. George H. Morison referred to the case of a
schooner striking the steel drawspan over the St.
,John 's River, Florida, and t he only damage was
the bending of a vertical post, which was struck by
the bowsprit with such force as to break the
latter where 26 in. thick. He thought the post
would have been m ore badly damaged if of wrought

trOD.

Mr. Robert H. M oore said that his fear of mild

steel and of screw threads on steel had disappeared. In one case he used iron anc~or. bolts f~r a
steel structure owing to the preJUdice against
steel, but some of the rods broke at or near the
screw thread.
The r ods had been upset and
annealed.
The President who is at the head of steel manufacturers h ere ~ntered the discussion. He said
there wa~ much said about making steel mild by
CYivina it a low tensile strength ; he thought it was
in fa;t ''rotten " when too lo w in tension and too
long in elongation. By melting too low to reduce
the phosphorJs, or by blowing too low to reduce
the carbon the steel is damaged by the excess of
hydroger.. and nitrogen whic~ is blown int~ it and
cannot be eliminated. ~ng1neers should rtd themselves of the idea that the maximum strength means

maximum safety. The danger in the use of steel

is largely increased by making it too mild. The
damage in melting is not due to the eiimination of
phosphorus, but to the consequent introduction of
hydrogen and nitrogen.
River and harbour improvement here and abroad
was discussed, and much preference expressed for a
system of providing sufficient appropriations at the
outset to finish the work. Captain Black described
a system of making estimates for the appropriations
and construction of works.
These remarks were in connection with the
following papers : '~American Grain Elevators, "
by E. L. H eidenreich ; " Manufacture and se of
Paving Brick, " by D . W. Mead ; " Carbon and Its
ses in Electrical Engineering,., C. M. Barber;
"Inland Transportation, " Captain F. A. Mahan ;
" The Improvement of Harbours on the South
Atlantic Coast of the United States," Captain
W. M. Black, U.S.A. ; "The Electric Light
Plant of Guadalajara," R . M. de Drozarena,
~iexico ; ''Practical and ..tE~thetic Considerations
in the Laying Out of Cities, " F. Stubben ; "The
Relative M erits of Working Hoisting Machinery
by Steam, Water, and Electricity," by Mr. G.
A. Goodwin.
These papers were n ot discussed at length, and
the session closed with abstracts of three papers
from Mr. Fulscher, chief engineer of the North
Sea and Baltic Canal, describing the sand dams,
the lock at the Baltic end, and the canal in
general.
The first paper of Thursday received some pretty
hard raps. It was " The Gauges of Rail way
Track in General, with Special Consideration of
Narrow Gauge Railways," by E. A. Ziffer, of
Germany. After condemning the paper on the
ground that its assumptions were not justified by
the facts as to economy of operation and equipment, the objectors proceeded to annihilation by
the statement that the subject was of little importance in the United States, as the advantages of a
standard gauge were recognised everywhere. This
is the old argument based on the answer of a man
to the charge that his dog had killed some chickens :
"It is impossible, he was tied up at home at the
time specified ; my dog died the day before this
slaughter; and finally, I never had a dog., Some
years ago an eminent writer on engineering matters
stormed a narrow-guage convention in Cincinnati,
where they had been having a lovefeast hitherto,
and had about decided on a single suspended rail
as the acme of narrow-gaugism. His text was,
'' Whatever you can d o with a narrow gauge you
can do better with a standard gauge." One of his
auditors told the writer he did not mind this statement, but the trouble was that he went in and
proved it.
It was further shown that the author had made
n o distinction between street rail ways and industrial railways, although the latter are for special
use in warehouses, on plantations, &c., and are
built for convenience rather than for any other
consideration. The writer once laid out an 8-ft.
gauge railway, but it was for conveying granite
from a quarry to the cutting sheds, and was only a
mile long. It would be unfair to contrast this with
any ordinary road.
Next came the following papers : '' Transmission
of Power in Operating Cable Railways," by Robert
Gill ham ; "A New Method of Calculatin~ Cross
Sections of Roads and Railways," by F . S. Ribeiro,
Portugal : "Distinctive Features and Advantages
of American Locomotive Practice, :' D. L. Barnes ;
"Rail way Signalling," by G. Kecker, Germany. It
was noted in respect to the last paper that there
should be a distinction made between signalling and
operating signals.
The paper of Mr. Gelbeke, of Germany, "Surveys
for Railway L ocation," was next read, and it was
apparent that his methods in Germany, where the
Governm~nt maps and cartoons were so accurate
that he could almost locate in his office, were very
different from those possible in this country, but
the use of the compass and camera was cornmended.
F ollowing this came Mr. Engel's paper on "The
Limits Attainable in Improving the Naviga bility of
Rivers by Means of R egulation ." The difference was
remarked between exact problems in land construction, and dynamic forces enco~ntered .in hy~ra~lics
that require extensive analysts and 1nvesttgat10n,
many of the forces being insidiou9, as in. the M~ssis
sippi River, where in a bend of on~ m1l.e radms a
two.mile ~urrent may cause a 2-In. dtfference of

261

head that will erode banks and form crossing bars

there. Also, a rise of surface level is often accompanied by a rise of bottom, and erosi0n occurs in
falling stages.
Colonel King noted the exceptional nature of the
Tennessee River, a completed, not shifting stream,
and has a fixed regimen to secure greatest depths.
Upstream pools must not be lowered, nor the
current made too great. In deepening the channel
the cross-section must be kept approximately constant. Improving the worst obstructions first gave
some relief, and left more secondary ones for
future improvement as demanded. Three feet was
~ecured and locks built for 5 ft.
Improvements
are comparatively permanent; dams built of very
small stones laid shinglewise withstand great
floods that would demolish wall masonry, Though
the German engineers may not be able to improve their rivers beyond a certain point, we can
ours.
Next came a series of papers on waterways and
their improvement and preservation. The titles
were as follows: "History of the Conversion of
the River Clyde into a N A.vigR-ble Waterway, and
the Progress of Glasgow Harbour from Its Commencement to the Preseut Day," James Dea~,
Glasgow; "The D evelopment of Quay Cranes in
the P ort of Hamburg, " C. N ehls, Germany ; "The
Plant of Maritime Commercial Ports of France, "
by H. Despres, France; "Railways in New South
Wales, " T. F. Birrell ; " Study for Rail waye from
Guadalajar~ to the Pacific Ocean," S. V. Pascal,
Mexico ; "Railways of Mexico," E. B. Basave,
Mexico; ''The Rearrangement of the Railway
System of Cologne, " F. L ohse, Germany ; '' Comparison of Modern Engine L oading with Standard
Specifications for Spans from 10 to 200 Yards, " by
C. D. Purdon.
That evening Mr. F. V.l. Skinner presented a
paper with stereopticon views showing the Americ$\n
method of bridge erection. The subject of waterways was continued on Friday. An abstract of a.
paper by L. Franzins, of Germany, was read ; the
subject was ''Description of the Lower Weser and
Its Improvements." Here it was proposed to deepen
the river by stirring t.he sandy bottom and allowing
the current to carry off the sand. Some details of
this plan were given. One of the United States
engineers showed that scrapers, piles, and even
dynamite had been employed for this, A.lso that
steamers had been sent, deeply laden, so that the
propeller might effect the same purpose, but the result was simply to redeposit the sediment at a point
lower down.
The harbour papers were closed by submitting
the following : "A Brief Account of the Building
of Leixoes Harbour," by A. J. N. Soares, Portugal,
and "Method Used to Secure the Stability of a
Quay \Vall at the Port of Altona, on the Elbe,
which has Shifted its Position after Corn pletion,"
by B. Stahl, Germany.
The meeting next proceeded to consider sewerage
and water supply, when the following papers were
presented and read by abstract : "Purification of
Sewage and of Water by Filtration," by H . F.
Mills ; '' The Sewerage System of Mil waukee, and
the !tiilwaukee River Flushing Works, " by G. H.
Benzen berg ; '' Experience Had during the Last
Twenty-Five Years with \Vater Works havin~ an
Underground Source of Supply," B. Salbach, Germany ; ''Some Questions concerning the Filtration
of Water," by W. Keummel, Germany.
In regard to the paper on underground sourceR
of supply it was pronounced to be very valuable,
and a regret was expressed that the character of
the wells and methods of sinking had not been
stated. It was shown also that a stream might be
polluted, while a subterranean flow directly underneath which rose 3 ft. above the water level of the
stream was pure. Other instances were cited
where fresh water had risen through 300 ft. of salt
water. The writer can add to this a small experience. The soldiers frequently obtained fresh
water in Morris Island during our war by sinking
wells RO near the ocean's edge that they were often
submerged by a high tide.
Mr. Rudolph Hering. one of our be&t authorities
on sewerage and sewage, thought too much stress
was laid on utilisation of sewage, and not enough
on its purification. Sewage is not purified by flowing in water, but on1y diluted. F1ltration was the
best method of purification. He also stated that
the chemical treatment at the Exposition r emoves
only the organic matter held in suspension, or
about half, leaving that held in solution. Another

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given time for the purification and not hurried.
This interesting session was then closed by
r eading by title t he following : '' Possibility of
Increasing the Water Supply from the Soil for
Purposes of Irrigation and of Augmentir1g the
Flow of Rivers, " by G. H. 0. Volger, Germany,
and '' On the Distribution of vVater in the City of
Mexico," by L. Salazar, Mexico. The meeting then
adjourned .
The next meetings to be considered in this Congress were t hose of the American Society of
Mechanical Engineers.
About 300 assembled on Tuesday. August 1, at
the Art Palace. President Eckley B. Coxe was in
the chair, and presided with his usual grace and
suavity of manner.
The first matter of interest was t he report of the
Committee on a Standard System of Tests of
Materials.
As the conference of engineers in
Berlin was so recen t, Mr. H enning, chairman,
simply presented an account of the confer en ces held
in Europe for the purpose of establishing unifonn
methods of testing materials, and it was suggested
that the society memorialise the U nited States
Government to send duly accredited r epresentatives
to the conferences abroad to further the movement
of establishing international standards of tests.
After this he read a paper by Professor D ebray,
chief engineer of P onts et Chaussees, in France,
on the desirability of a general adoption by all
countries of a uniform method f or the tests of

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materials of construction. R esolutions presented

by Chairman Henning 7s committee in favour
of international standards of tests were then
adopted.
Professor Martens, of Berlin, spoke in German
in support of the movement to secure uniformity in
the n1ethods of testing. He said that the origin of
the movement in Germany was due to a proposition
emanating from Professor Egleston of this country
in 1884. His r emarks were translated by President
Coxe, who adds a knowledge of German t o his other
accomplishments. A motion was then adopting
requesting the American Society of Mechanical
Engineers to take charge of t his subject.
The report of the Committee on a Standard
Method of Conducting Locomotive Test s was presented by the chairman, Mr. William F orsyth . The
principal feature of this report was the shop t ests
for locomotives as practised at Purdue University.
The apparatus is arranged with the driving wheels
of the locomotive resting upon wheels that are part
of a dynamometer. In this way certain points could
be better d etermined t han by a road test ; but the
committee thought the road test should supplement
the other.
Professor Lanza inquired as to the probable error
likely to occur in determining the amount of water
in a boiler at the conclusion of the test by observing
the height by the water glass, as he thought the
error might be quite large, and also as to the advisability of using two indicators in engine testing
in place of one indicator with lon g pipe connections.

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

Mr. Forsyth favoured tho use of water meters in

boiler testing.
Mr. George Gibbs said he found no difference in
the use of long or short indicltur piping when
taking cards under the severe conditions of a r oad
test. He also believed in the accuracy of meters,
and that thera was little error in determining water
level in a boiler at end of test by a guage.
Mr. E. B. Meier called attention to differences
in r epor ts of committees on standard locomotive
and boiler tests. In the latter it was not advised
to pump cold water in the boiler at the end of the
test to bring the water up to the initial level, as
the water at the end of the test would be at a
much lower temperature than when starting.
This report was particularly interesting, becau8e
there had been some slight feeling that the society,
by making official tests of various locomotives,
might seem to be advocating some particular form
of construction, and thus favour an individual
manufactur er. This is evidently n ot the proper
ground to view t he case. The society, as a body, is
eugaged in the search fvr and dissemination of such
mechanical facts as will be of value to its membership and t.he world of scientists. If in the course
of fairly conducted and impartial tests one locomotive shows better r esults than another. there is
no reason why such tests in detail, with the conclusions drawn by the experts, should not be made
known. Several things are probable : one is that
hardly any form of locomotive will show superior
results in all rospects. It may be more excellent
in one way and inferior in another; and, moreover,
if the tests are published in detail, the results
drawn by others may not be in strict accord with
those drawn by the investigators; but finally, suppose both these results should appertain to one
locomotive, who is more interested in knowing it
than rival manufacturers ~ They can ascertain
exactly what they must do to improve their own
form of machine. The ground taken in r egard to
an official investigation by the society would, if
carried further, put a stop to all acquiring of knowledge by its m em hers from it, for it is hardly possible to find a machine which is n ot in some form
made by various manufacturers, and the usefuln ess
of this society might be almost said to have ended.
f
There is one case parallel to this view, and that is
the method of excluding from a jury any one who
has read abo ut the case to be tried. The result
wa., to obtain as jurors men of such a low order of
intelligence th~t they were incapable of forming an
opinion, or else those who had not sufficient general
information to lead them to take any interest in
everyday life
Naturally following this matter came a paper
enti liled, ''Test of the Locomotive at Purdue
Uni\ersity by ProfessorGoss." This was commented
on very favourc1.bly by Professor Denton. He
showed t he great ad vantage.s of this method of
testing, and s tated it was a very easy matter to
secure and maintain any desired condition as to
pressure, speed, point of cut-off, rate of combustion, load, &c., in ftict, to do those things which
all experience had shown could not be done upon
the r oad with any decree of accuracy, l eaving for
the road test those points which could be determined only on the road. The form of dynamometer used had proved to be of the greatest value
in this work, the mere turning of a small valve
serving to change the load at will, and when once
set the load remained constant for any desired
time. In this way it had been found entirely
practicable by the committee, who had inspected
the apparatus, to get and ste.adily maintain any
desired l oad upon the locomot1 ve up to 250 horsepower for each wheel, or a total of 1000 horsepower, and there was no burning of blocks nor
trouble of any kind. He concluded by favouring
the appointment of a committee of this society. to
test in this way a simple and compound locomotive.
The Purdue University, it may be said, were
willing to place their apparatus at the disposal of
such a committee. The value of this method received at this point a confirmation from one of
England's greatest engineers, to wit, Sir Benjamin
Baker who being an honorary member of the
society, had 'come in to listen to the discussion. He
stated he would have bean greatly pleased to have
had this report some two. months. ago, when he
was on t he witness-stand In a smt between the
London and North-Western Railway and the
M anchester Ship Canal. The tracks had to be
elevated above the masts of vessels in the canal,
and t he canal wa~ requirei to bear the increased

cost of handling the railroad traffic over the heavy Dominion of South Africa) are embraced in this
gradients. It was startling at the trial to hear the map, as jn considering a subject of such general
diverse testimony of engineers on the economy of interest as railway enterprise, no distinction can
types of locomotives. In his testimony for the really be drawn between them, and they must be
canal company, he had maintained that one ton of considered as the concrete whole which it is to be
the Welsh coal used in the locomotives of the road hoped they may become in the not remote future ;
would lift 600,000 tons 1 ft. high, whtle t hose on and that rail way development has and will largely
the other side had maintained that it would not do and powerfully contribute to this result, no one can
nearly so much-in fact, about 400,000 tons only. doubt.
He was pleased to note that the r esults obtained
The history of railway enterprise in South Africa
by Professor Goss and given in the paper, when may be generally divided into three periods. The
corrected for the difference in value of the coals first period, extending roughly from 1857 to 1877,
used, sustained his opinion, being about 641,000 may be called the period of private enterprise. The
tons 1 ft. high. Just hefore leaving England he second period, from 1877 to 1887, may be termed
had talked with Mr. Webb regarding the perform- one of intra-colonial Government enterprise.
ance of one of his latest compound locomotives, The third, from 1887 to the present time, has been
Mr. Webb informing him that these locomotives one of extra-colonial Government enterprise.
were now carrying traffic over the road at an exDuring the first twenty-year period all the earlier
penditure of 2 oz. of coal per ton per mile, a per- colonial lines were planned, constructed, and passed
formance which was r egarded as exceptionally out of the hands of the private companies who made
,
good.
them into the hands of the Colonial Governments.
The secretary then presented in abstract Mr. A. The Government of the Cape Colony did not, howMallet's paper on "Locomotives Operating by ever, wait to commence the planning and construcTotal Adhesion on Curves of Small Radius," which tion of rail way lines on its own account till it had
was followed by that on '' The Development of the purchased all the undertakings in private hands,
Compound Locomotive," by A. von Borries, of but several years previously, say in 1873, in
Hanover, Germany. This paper showed much consequence of the impetus imparted to trade by
patient research, being for the most part historical. the successful working of the Diamond Fields, an
8uch papers are always of interest, because they extension to Worcester in the W astern Province
afford a target for the iconoclast to shoot at. There was for the second time authorised. The Natal
is one craft, however, which has thus far resisted Government followed exactly in the footsteps of
them, and that is N oah's Ark ; the reason for this the sister colony in the matter of purchasing private
will appear to the Bible student, for Moses' account lines and undertaking Government extensions. It
of the Author of the design precludes any anterior appears, therefore, that the second period slightly
claim ; but for thi~, no doubt, a. certain writer overlapped the first, and during this tenyear period,
would announce that he had often thought of such within the Cape Colony at least, the bulk of the
a design in a previous state of existence, only his main lines and branches, the objective of which was
ideas were of a more ..esthetical character than the Diamond and Gold Fields traffic, have been
corn pleted and opened, either directly or indirectly,
those shown in the Ark.
'' Experiences in the Construction and Opera- by the Government concerned. During the latter
tion cf Rack Railways," by Albert Schneider, was half of this period an attempt was made to revert
then read by the secretary. This was discussed by to the original principle of subsidised lines conMr. Hildenbrand, who represents the Abt system structed by private enterprise, with far from enin the United States, and to whom we are indebted couraging results. The third period of extrafor the Pike's Peak Railroad. Mr. Hildenbrand colonial Government enterprise was inaugurated by
gave the paper credit for its comprehensiveness and the Convention f()r the extension of the Cape
for the many illustrations of the roads and rolling Government rail ways into the Orange Free State,
stock. He thought almost any load c0uld be the Transvaal, and British Bechuanaland, by which
handled with a suitably designed locomotive. He the Cape Government Railway Department became
set down the cost of this sty le of road with a rack constructors and workers of foreign lines, ratified
over an ordinary one at 15,000 dols. per mile, and by t he Cape Parliament in 1889.
The terminal starting points of the South African
stated further, owing to the fact that a much shorter
road could be constructed between two terminal railway systems have been determined by the posipoints in a hilly or mountainous country where the tion of the somewhat limited number of points
grades made possible by the rack were used, the along the coast of South Africa a.t which nature has
total cost of the road would bo, in most cases, less, afforded fairly good roadateadand harbour accommodation, and in the neighbourhood of which the more
and the operating expenses as well.
Chairman Nason then read the report of the important centres of population have arisen. It is
Standing Committee on Standard F1anges, giving a somewhat remarkable that natural harbours and
statement of what had been done in conjunction safe roadsteads should have been so conspicuous by
with the Master Steam and Hot Water Fitters. their absence in the long coast line abutting on
The effort made to secure the adoption of standard either side at the second most southerly and temflanges by manufacturers is making general pro- pestuous cape in the world, and which is the most
gress, only one concern having thus far refused to important natural passing point for the world's
commerce. It might be almost stated that there
do so.
(To be continued. )
are no natural harbours, and only seven partially
protected road steads- Port N olloth, Table, Kalk,
Port Elizabeth, East London, Durban, and Delagoa
THE DEVELOPMENT OF SOUTH
Bays, and two river mouths, Port Alfred and
AFRICAN RAILWAYS.
Pungue, which have so far been utilised as ports in
IT is doubtful whether the general public would connection with rail way lines along some three
agree with the assertion that rail way enterprise in thousand miles of South African coast.. Enormous
any country is a subject second to none in impor- as the passing traffic has always been and is, this
tance for that country. "But few engineers would absence of natural harbours has militated to a great
dispute the fact t hat in the present century the extent against the possible increase of merchant
development of a country, that is, its progress in the shipping t ouching thereat, beyond the bare necesranks of civilisation, is chiefly dependent on the sities of the South African trade itself, and, as a conmeans and facilities it affords for external and in- sequence, against the rapid settlement of the country,
ternal communication, and rail ways rank first which has therefore somewhat lagged behind other
among such means. The subject matter of this and less favoured colonial sites in this respect.
Rail way construction in the Cape Colony comarticle will be dealt with under the following
heads : 1. General History of Rail ways in South menced with a line from Cape Town to W ellingt~n
Africa. 2. D etails of Location, Construction, in the Western Province. An Act was passed m
Equipment, and Maintenance of South African the se~sion of 1857 by the Colonial Parliament,
Railways.
3. Past and Probable Future Cost. guaranteeing a minimum rate of interest (6 per
4. Traffic and Earnings of Constructed lines. 5. cent.) on a sum not exceeding 500, OOOl., and for a
Government v. Private Railways. 6. The Ox Wagon period limited to fifty years from the openi~g of ~he
v. Locomotive Train. 7. Objects to be aimed at railway for traffic, to any company or pnvate mdividual who would undertake the working and
in Future Rail way Extensions.
1. The plan on the next page, prepared from the construction of the line. Like many others of the
Cape Government rail way maps, shows the various more important steps towards progress which have
existing and proposed lines in a way which will been taken in this colony, this Act was due to the
suitably explain their origin and object. It will be foresight of Governor Sir George Grey, who himself
seen that the whole of the South African colonies turned the first sod on March 31, 185!.>. Half
and adjacent territories and states (the future the Government guarantee was secured in a very

ENGINEERING,

1, 1893.

SEPTE?!IB'ER

'

COMPOUND ENGINES, WITH "WALKING " BEA)~ AM, OF THE PADDLE STEAMER "HONAM."
CONSTRUCTED BY .MESSRS. A.

AND J. INGLh, Ll

ENGINEERS AND SHIPBUILDERS, GLASGOW.

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

SEPT. I, I893]
peculiar way, viz., it was not to be charged to the
general revenue of the colony, but to ~he reven~e
of the d ivisions most benefited by the hne, that 1s,
the Cape, Stellenbosch, and the Paarl. Th_is
principle has been largely adopted elsewhere In
foreign countries, both in Europe and America, and
seems to be a very sound and expedient one, and
in some respects it is rather unfortunate that it
was not given a more extended trial in South Africa,
as it might have materially assisted in the development of subsidiary and local lines, though it was
inapplicable to the t runk lines leading to the interior. In projecting this line from Cape Town to
Wellin gton, only local wants and reasons were consulted ; it ran through a rich agricultural and
p opulous district which could readily support a
rail way service, irrespective of the development of
interior trade or ulterior extensions, although when
the latter came t o be planned this line became the
ground work of the main trunk rail way from the
west to the int erior.

11

F~. 1.

in the meantime was q uite as anxious to ?om~ence

extensions on a. larger scale towards the InteriOr as
the sister colony of the Cape, but it laboured under
the disability of being a Crown colony, and had _not
a free hand in guiding its own railway poh~y.
Many at tempts were made to induce the Colon1a.l
Office to sanction the raising of a loan for these
purposes, but all efforts were fruitless till the colony
consented t o contribute 200,000l. towards the Z ulu
war bill and relieve the home Government to that
extent f~om t heir liability. The only thing effected
during the period ending 1877 was th~ purchase of
t he private line above mentioned. ThiS for the last
two or three years of its existence had become a
most valuable property, and the example affor_ded
by its success made the Natal Governm~nt a~xwus
to acquire it as the starting point of their proJected
system. An Act, N o. 6 of 1875, was passed
authorising its purchase by arbitration, b?t a most
unusual and unfair proviso was inserted Into what
was practically a compulsory sale, to the effect that

n '

----~

L---~---~--~r---1'-

BEAM ENGINES FOR PADDLE

STEAMERS.

MAP O F SOUTH AFRI C..:~

eh<lWlng

RAILWAYS .
C4;>> Go.trnm~n t 1/w'""'")ll

~~~~

1/aiQ/

o,.,. - -

*'"d r tft lllrt.r*.Jft/llt

~hlr

The company who undertook the making of ~his

line successfully completed the task of constructiOn,
and opened their 58 miles of railway for pu~lic
traffic in November, 1863. The traffic on the hne
was excellent, and still continues t o stand at the
top of the list of South African Government railways in this respect ; but the terms offer ed by t he
Cape Government when the policy of owning railways was adopted, were so advantageous, that a sale
of the company's undertaking was negotiated,
agreed to, and finally san.ctioned by_ an Act of the
Session of 1872, and the hne passed Into t he hands
of the Rail way Department for 773, 019l. , or
13,328l. per mile, as part of the projected trunk
line t o the interior . As a consequence of this, the
separate liability of the divisions through which the
line ran for half the guarantee, was rescinded by
Act 19 of 1874, and the principle of that liability
has so far never been again adopted in South
Africa.
Although the Cape Colony was the first to project railways in South Africa, to Natal belongs the
honour of first actually using steam thereon for
public traffic ; for a short line (two miles in length)
from Durban to the wharves at the Point (Port
Natal) was opened by a private company in 1860.
Shortly after that the Government, for the purpose
of bringing down stone to the harbour works,
made a short extension of three miles up to the
Umgheni River, and this was leased to the private
company. The history of this private undertaking
for the first ten or twelve years was by no means
encouraging, as it did not pay. The colony of Natal

""~

- . .. ..

CD"'lld ;;:==

., txllfl>o~IUd

Act in 1870. Act 13 of 1873 re-authorised the extension of t he railway to Worcester, and the sum
of 315, OOOl. was appropriated for this purpose
(4922l. per mile). Turning now to t he Eastern
Province of the Cape, we find .that an ~et was
passed in 1862 for the constructiOn of a hne fr?m
P ort Elizabeth to Grahamstown, but nothing
was done under the authority of this Act.
A company was incorporated in 1871 ~n Poz t
Elizabeth
and obtained the concessiOn for
a rail way from Zwaartkops to Uitenhage, 13
miles in length ; this company was form ed by
a few local merchants in Port Elizabeth ; they had
plenty of capital at their command, and the undertaking, as experience has shown, was sound and
r emunerative, but they unfortunately made a
bungle of the financing, and the Cape Government
stepped in and took over the li~e ~efore completion for 63, 760l., or 4904l. per mile, In 1873. The
timber for the bridges on this line, which was
colonial, and improperly seasoned, had to be renewed at once before t he lir..e was opened for
traffic, at a cost of 13,000l. (or 1000l. per mile).
It is necessary to t urn to Namaqualand for the
next instance of private railway enterprise during
our first period. The Port N olloth Rail way was
constructed to connect the Cape Copper 1\fining
Company's mines at O'Okiep with the small harbour at Port Nolloth. This railway was built for
and by the company, and opened for traffic in
January, 1876. For this p urpose the following
Acts were obtained : (1) in 1869, authorising the
construction of 48 miles : (2) in 1871, for 12 miles
more to I{ookfontein ; (3) in 1873, for 38 miles to
O'Okiep. Port Nolloth is 300 miles from Cape
Town, communication being maintained by coasting steamer every ten days. The line is of a
2 ft. 6 in. gauge (being the narrowest gauge
adopt-ed in South Africa, with the sole exception
of the Beira Railway, which is 2 ft.). Locomotives were originally used, but scarcity of water
and over-abundance of sand made their employment so expensive and unsatisfactory that
they have been abandoned, and the traffic is now
worked by mules, assisted by gravitation on the
downward journey. There is a missionary station
a t Steinkopf, near t he end of the line, but a passenger carriage, running three times a week, amply
serves the traffic. We may, however, rank this
line as one of the best, if not the very best, paying
railways in South Africa.
('l'o be continued.)

the price to be paid should not exceed 40,000l. for

the two miles. The actual commencement of the
Government extensions did not take place till1879,
and will be considered in its proper place. A
branch line to Wynberg was the next railway underta~en in the Western Province of the Cape, and
was also the work of a private company. The first
sod was cut on August 14, 1861, and the whole
length of six miles opened to public traffic on
December 19, 1862. This branch commences with
a j unct ion at Salt River with the old Cape T own
and vVellington Railway, and has been, as was
originally intended, extended to Simonstown (the
Imperial naval station in False Bay). The line was
made partly to serve the r equirements of the districts traversed, and partly for military and naval
purposes. It was purchased by Government, under
Act 8 of 1876, for 75,000l., or 12,500l. per mile, and
has since been extended to Kalk Bay (nine miles in
1882) and to Simonstown (five miles in 1890.)
An extension of theWellington line toWorcester
(64 miles), with a branch to Malmesbury from
D 'Urban-road Junction (36t miles), was sanctioned
by an Act in 1861, but nothing was done by the
Cape Town and Wellington Railway Company under
the Act beyond the execution of some heavy cuttinge in the Tulbagh Kloof (or Ghat), which were
undertaken to provide employment for a number of
navvies thrown out of work by the completion of
the older lines. These works cost 42,000l., and
were found to be only partly available for the extension when it was undertaken on Government
account, and the cost was charged to revenue by

IN the Transportation Building at the Chicago

Exposition one can trace the changes which have
taken place in the different means of locomotion
for two or three hundred years past, and can form
a for ecast as to future development. Nowhere
is this clearer than in the methods of marine propulsion. The twin-screw is displacing the single
scr ew, and the paddle-wheel giving place still
more decidedly to the screw propeller; while in
t he method of propelling the paddles the beam
engine is destined soon to pass away.
One finds
several services which were former.ly carritd on by
paddle s teamers having beam engines now conducted
by scr ew steamships. The Bergen, Bremen, and
Hamburg of the Hoboken Ferry Company are
cases in point,* while several paddle steamers have
now been fitted with other types of engines than
that of which the '' walking beam" was such an
attractive feature. It is true it required marvellously little attention ; but it was far from conomical. I t can serve '!lo pur_p ose to ~ing a requiem
- many of our Amencan friends might claim that
it is yet too soon for that. Certainly in this country
the beam engine belongs to the past. It never
gained any distinct hold on British fav our altho';lgh admired by Scott Russell, but se~eral
engmes of the type have been made in ~his countxy
for service in foreign waters, and a record of
m?dern engineering -practice .would not be complete
without a reproductwn, typiCal of the British design. Messrs. Inglis some years ago made probably
the most successful engines of the class and one
is illustrated on our two-page plate this w~ek and on
page .271. These we should have been glad to
describe long ago ; but characteristic modesty on
the part of M essrs. Inglis suggested excuses as
frequently as we urged the claims of our readers.

* See ENGINEERING, vol. liii., pages 223 and 263.

PLA T E

SHEA R S

FOR

CLYDEBR I DG E

CONSTRUCTED BY MESSRS.

CRAIG AND DONALD,

S T EEL

JOHNSTONE,

\\T 0 R K

s.

t-.)

"'

N.D.

(For Description, see Page 269.)

C)
~

z
t:r1
t:r1
~
~

z
G)

..

"

c-......::.

--=....;-'

:.:;;::>-~

-.--. -

~-

..
--

'

...._.----~
-~

-=::::~-

~-

The present time, however, is n ot inopportune,

since we may be said to be in the transition stage.
Soon the triple-expansion direct-acting engine wiJl
be extensively adopted for paddle steamers, as it
already is for screws.
It is not difficult to trace the evolution of the
beam engine as applied to the propulsion of
paddle steamers. The great difficulty in paddle
engines was to get a sufficient length of stroke of
piston, while keeping the engine low in the ship,
and minimising the length of space required. It
was soon recognised by 'Vatt and some American
engineers that th e most natural and possibly most
picturesque arrangement was io adopt the simple
old-fashioned beam used by N ewcomen f or the

'

colliery pumps and land engines. While American

engineers adopted this system, R obert Napier,
'Vatt, Maudsley, and Fawcett continued t o use the
side lever engine, t he first named bringing it t o its
perfect stage in the Persia and Scotia. This side
lever may be termed the English form of the beam
marine engine. Here it was consid~red undesirable to obstruct the deck with the" walking beam,"
while the adoption of the side lever enabled the
engineer to choose any proportion of stroke and
an y size of paddle wheel that would best serv~ the
purposes of the ship.
American engineers have continued to use the
baam engine, although, as we have ind icated, there
are evidences which encourage the belief that

it will be superseded. Messrs. Inglis were the

only firm in this country which largely adopted
the ~ystem, and the engines of the H onam , which
we illustrate this week, are a typical design. One
of the largest beam engines constructed, however,
was for the Puritan in t h e Fall River Company's
New York and Boston service.* of which we have
already published a full description with engravings.
The lnf!lis beam engine indicates several departures
in the details when compared with the American
engine of that day, and was n"":.ore strongly built.
The gallows fram e, which supports the main centre
of beam, instead of being of wood, as was the usual

* See ENGINEERING, vol. li. , page 64.

practice in the United States, was of steel plates and

angles, and of box section. It was secured to massive
box keelsons on the floor of the ship. This style of
framing had not then b een adopted by any other
firm, and it gave great satisfaction. The wooden
frame adopted in the American engine "wobbled, "
and allowance had t o be made for this in the clearance
between the piston and cylinder ends, 6 in. being
n ot uncommon. It is easy, therefore, to under stand t hat there was considerable waste of steam
and conseq uent loss of efficiency. The steel frame
- which, by the way, is n ow adopted in America- is
perfectly rigid, and only the ordinary clearance is
n ecessary. The H onam's engines wero on the
compound principle, and in this respect also were

(fl
~
~

--i

-......
~

()()

\0

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

SEPT. I' I 893]

ROTARY STEAM SNOW SHOVEL AT THE COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION.

CONSTRUCTED BY THE LESLIE BROTHERS :MANUFACTURIN G COMPANY, PATERSON,

N.J.

(For Description, see Page 268.)

Fig. 1.
'tot'--

- -- -/)-.
Jik..._
V
f'T

' "- .. ..

----------------------- ..
..

21

//

~~-

--------- --

- --

--- -- -

--

............................... 1. . .

'lot

.
-"
~

;:::

c~

.. ' " L

V~ ~

'-=

.1 . 11

.t
:~

s~ .~ :L
:._____________..:s:::.....:oo:L: :
: ., " .,
4!1
--------....L---
4-.J/; --------t------- --------- IG 3~ .. ... ..................... - ..... - ..... --.. ---- ------- -- .................. 8 ' &n
------- -----"i
8
.
aJ' IQ '/l ,,
- ..... -- ................ ................................ ........... - ...
t -- ...... ....... ............ --- --- ------ ..I
700()

a departure. The cylinders, as shown on t he front

elevation, were inclined towards each other at the
head, admitting of the piston-rods being connected
to the one point on the forward end of the beam .
This secured a perfectly balanced motion. In t he
engines of the Puritan a1ready referred to, the
cylinders are nearly vertical, and are connected at
two points to the walking beam.
The great difference in the size of the two engines
- the Puritan's indicate 7500 and the H onam's only
2900- militate against any reliable comparison

-~

of results, more especially as the former is worked

under forced draught with Sturtevant fans, and h~a
two superheaters ut ilising the waste gases before
they pass into the smoke-stack. It may be noted, however, that the indicated horse-power in the Puritan
is at t he rate of about 9 per square foot of grate
area, while the power was 1 indicated horse-power
to 3! square feet of heating surface ; in the
H onam the results were 9. 7 indicated horse-power
to 1 square foot of grate area, and 1 indicated
horse-power to 2. 73 squar e feet of heating surface.

I
I

~l:

-- -

The reJative coal consumption results wou]d be interesting, but they are not given in the case of the
Puritan. In the Inglis boats fuel economy has
always been a marked feature.
The high -pressure cylinder of the Honam's
engines is 40 in. in diameter, with a stroke of
10 ft., while the low-pressure cylinder is 72 in.
in diameter, with a stroke of 9 ft. 10 in., the difference in stroke being due to the inclination of the
cylinders. Double-beat steam and exhaust valves
are provided, while the high-pressure cylinder

268

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

P ,t ..tirulars nf Some P a ddle Stexme1s tcith R eam Enqincs I t is shown hy the L eslie Brothers :Manufacturing
Constructed b!f M curs. ltl{)li.~, Glasgow.
~
Company, of P a.terson, ew ,Jersey, and is the out----.
-JC3:.:
come of various othe r and e:lrlier patterns that bowed

($
!$

their weak points by the stress of service. The p er .c

0
bO
8
,.bd
.,.bd~
5 01,
CIS
~
specti ve view g ives a good idea of th e machine,
c
CIS
c
CIS
.c
0
a.,.c
0
which in use travels ahead of a train, and cuts its
I:Q
~
....
. en-

way through drifts of any height. It will be seen

-Oroas tonnage . . . . . .
that ex ternally it resembles a co vered car, but with
3076 1781 3168
00
28
the addition of a formidable wheel surrounded by
l..engt.h on load-water line
ft . 292
242
308
270
Breadth moulded . .
..
,,
42
36
42
a. casing a nd mounted at th e f ront end of the car .
38
Depth mould ed
.
. . ft. io I 15 12 6
16 13 3
\Y ithin the car, which is carried on t wo four -wheeled
Load dr.L u~nt.
..
..
ft.
11
11
10 0
10
1
trucks, is the machinery for driving the wheel. As a
I>~adwe tg-bt capaity
. . ton, 920
6~6
876
43
a
comparison with the present type, there is a lso shown
Men.)urement capa.dty in to1u o I
40ft...
..
..
..
. seos 1972 asoo
23.
the No. 1 "rotary , made by the same firm. This was
Passenger accommod1tion, Euro
put into service in J a nuary, 1887, on the Union Pacific
1s I u
pean
..
..
..
.
21
13
For daY Railway, and during t hat winter it ran 2930 miles, and
Passenger
accommodat:on
cleared the t racks over that distance at a cost of
ligbt
0 .1inese, first class
..

16
a 18 ser

Vl CC
16. 9 cents, or about 8~d., p er mile; or, including t he
Pl.Hene-er
ac.:ommoda tion
0 r..ly.
pushing engine attached to it, f or 33.5 cent s p er mile.
Cbincse, second claE& . .
. ' 164
1C6
170
Up to April 1, 1893, this rotary No. 1 had cleared
S ,>eed on trial
.
. . k not
13
12
121
16~
B . P. 40 67,319 miles ; i ts last work was in Echo Canon on
Diameter of C)lind er
.
in
68
62
72 { J1.
P. 72 "?vlarch 29 of this year, w here the snow had filled t he
S~roke . .

ft.
12
10
14 J 10 0


c uttin gs to an almost unprecedented depth; the
l
9 10
I ndica ~e.i hor e . p ~wer
mach ine was almost im mediately after eent to Chicago
1450 1200 1840
2900

Stea.m pressur<:
..
1h.
27
:35

33
75
for exhibition. The wheel in front of the car, and on
Consumption of fuel at full power
which the efficiency of the snow plough depends, is about
per hour ..
..
.. C\\ t.
3J
27
40
lOft. in diameter a nd 40in. deep. To the cast-iron centre
I
a re bolted ten radial scoops, open on the front from the
is fi tted with expansion valves. The surface con- cen t re to t he periphery. On each side of the scoop is
denser is placed alo ng dide the cylinders, as shown hinged a. cutting blade so arranged as to reverse auto
in the forward elevation, while the pumps are matically; the capacity of each knife is such that it
worked hy a. rod fro m the walking b eam, as shown cuts sufficient snow to fill the scoop t o which it is
on the fro nt el e vation. The cooling surface is 5395 attached during one revolution of t h e wheel; by this
square feet.
The walking b eam, which is con - means all choking of the machine is avoided. The wheel
structed in the same way as is usually adopte d in is inclosed in a circular casin g rather larger tha n the diaAmericln vessels, with cast-iro n centre and forged meter of the wheel, with a square hood above, t he top
steel strap, is 23 ft. in length, 11 ft. d eep, and of which is curved over as sho wn, to deflect the snow.
At th e top of the hood is an opening which can ue
weighs 14 ton~. The sec tion of beam strap is closed on the right or left with a slide, operated from
7 in. by 9 in., and the main centre is 14 in. in dia- the inside of the car, so as to throw the str eam of
meter in the main b earings.
The piston-r od is snow on one side or other of the t rack as may be
6f in. in diameter in the case of the high-press ure, desired. The boiler placed within the car is of the
and 7 in. in that of the l ow-pressure engine, and of r egular locomoti ve type, bolted to the frame of t he
steel, while the co nnecting-rod is 23 ft. long from machine, which consists of heav y I and channel irons;
ce ntre t o centre, and 13 in. in diameter. The crank- there is considerable weight and solid ity in this frame,
shaft is 17t in. in diameter. The paddle-wheels have rendered necessary by the hea\'y strains thrown upon
feathering floa ts, and are entirely of steel. They it. The engines are also of the locomotive ty pe, with
are 21 ft. in diameter, and the floats are 15 ft. by a p air of horizontal cylinders bolted to the frame, 17 in.
dia meter and 22 in. stroke. Po wer is transmitted t o
4ft. These latter measurements are very unusual, in
two crank discs on t he countersha ft,on which is mounted
and it would certainly be very interes ting to kno w if a. bevel pinion that gears into the bevel wheel on the
the builders of s ome of the recent fast paddle main shaft carrying the wheel. Both shafts run in
steamers have gone s o far as to reduce the diameter long bearings, and a. thrust journal is fitted t o the wheelof their wheels t o 2.1 times the strok~, or to shaft. The trucks on which the snow plough is
increase the tloat area t o 60 square fee t.
moun ted are substantially of the ordi nary American
Steam is supplied from three double-ended four-wheeled type; the fron t truck, however, has a n
boilers placed athwartships and fired from the extra frame for carry ing an ice plough and Ba nger .
wings. These b oilers are 14 ft. in dia m eter and The former protects the machine from being derailed
14 ft. l o ng, and have in all l 8 furnaces. The grate by snow or ice adhering to the rails or ties. It is swung
area. is 297 sq uaro feet, and the heat in g sur face from the front of the extra. frame in such a way that it
can be lowered until the p oints of the two ice cutters
7939 square feet. They work at a pressure of a nd chisel edges it carries can be lowered to within l in.
75 lb., and at 33 revolutions the engines d e vel oped of the top of the ra ils, which are thus k ept clear of
2900 indicated h o rse-power.
ice. Any accumulation is r emoved by t he fla nger which
The steamer, which, with the engines working is hung from the back of the ex tra frame. Both of
at this p o wer, attained a speed of 16! knot s , is these devices are operated by an air cylinder arranged
270 ft. lo ng, the breadth m o ulded being 38 ft ., and with steam connections in case the supply of comthe extreme breadth 72 ft. 6 in., the d e pth pressed a ir should fa il ; t hey are con trolled fr om t he car,
moulded 13 f t. 3 in., and the extr eme 30 ft. and an indicat or is provided t o show w hether they are
The tonnage is 2800 t ons.
The sponsons, up or do wn. The following are some of t he principal
while supported in the usua l way by beams and dimensions of the snow plough which we ill ustrate :
Disbnce from cent re to centre of
stay:J, the beams b eing 8 ft. apart, are carried
trucks ...
...
..
...
... 15 ft. 5~ in.
round the e n t ire ship. There are three d ecks.
T otal wheel base
. ..
.. .
.. . 19 " 11~ "
The l ower deck, which is fo r cargo, is of steel,
R igid wheel base
.. .
.. .
.. . 4 " 6 ,.
while the two above are of wood, the distance
8
...
...
. ..
N umber of wheels
33 in.
Diameter of wheels . ..
...
. ..
between each being 9 ft. The t op deck is e ntirely
,.
journals .. .
...
.. .
rese rved fo r promenading, and on the main deck
5t
"
L ength of journals
.. .
.. .
. ..
9~ ,,
there are large saloons. The Chinese saloon is
D iamet~r of axles
...
...
.. .
5t
H
abaft of the engines, and i~ 72 ft. l ong by 45 ft.
Outside width of car . ..
. ..
.. . 9 ft. 7i in.
mean width. }.,orward of the machinery are un. ..
... 30 ', 4 ,,
T otal length of car .. .
H eight from rail t o t op of smoke
U3ua1Jy large s tate-rooms f o r European passengers.
staok .. .
...
. ..
...
. 13 , 11 ~ in.
The dining saloon is forward o n this deck. I t
Diameter of snow wheel
...
..
9 , ' 8~ ''
is 44 H. lo ng by 36 ft. mean breadth, and is
...
...
.. . 3 , 4 ,,
W idth of wheel.. .
seated f or t we nty passen gers.
10
Number of scoops
.. .
.. .
.. .
Projection of wheel shaft from face
. ..
. ..
.. .
. .. 4 ft. 9 in.
of car .. .
ROTARY SNO\V PLOUGH .
Diameter of shaft to face of thrust
A Mo:-w t h e striking novelties to the Eugliah visitor
bearing
...
.. .
...
...
Bt in.
at the Columbian Exposition, are the snow ploughs exDiameter of shaft t o face of casthibited in the Transp or tation Building. Probably in
8 in.
iron boss
...
.. .
...
. ..
no European country, except Russia. or Scandinavia,
Diameter of sha ft at end
...
. ..
G '
3 ft. 4 in.
need a snow plough form a. par t of a. railroad equipment.
...
.. .
L ength of thrust bearing
10 ftl.
Diameter of wheel casing .. .
.. .
The occasions when rail way traffic is arrested, or eveu
Extreme width of ,.
...
... 10ft. 6 in.
inte rfered with, in this r.ountry are com pa ratively rare,
D epth of casing from front of car ...
4 ,, 1 "
a nd under no circumstances have vast masses of snow
.. . 10 " 1 "
H e1gbt of casinfr from rail ...
t o be dealt with, as in the United States. In t he
Projection of hood of casi ng from
n orth of Scotland, indeed, the more rigorous climate
5 ,. 7 ,,
front of car . ..
...
..
..
r enders the mechanical clearing of the tracke more
Belpaire
Ty pe of boiler . ..
.. .
.. .
.. .
frequently necessary. America. is th e home of the
5t in.
Diameter
...
.. .
...
. ..
snow p lo ugh, and the latest developme~~s which are
Thickness of plates . ..
. ..
.. .
! ,
exhibited at Chicago, are, indeed, surpnsmg and mas...
. ..
.. .
L ength of fi rebox
92 "
4G ,
'Vidth
,
...
.. .
...
s ive machines. One of these we illustrate on page 267.

Q) CIS

- -

~5

(SEPT.
~Laterial of firebo \. and boilf r
...

Number of tubes
.
...
Out ide diameter of t ubes ...
L ength of tubes
.. .
.. .
~faterial ..
.. .
..
.. .
Diameter of steam dome .. .
Height
,
,.
.. .
Number of cylinders ...
.. .
Diameter
,,
.. .
.. .
Stroke .. .
...
.. .
.. .
Diameter of crank disc
..
,
counter haft .. .
Pitch diameter of bevel pinion
Number of teeth
..
.. .
Pitch diameter of berel wheel
Number of t eeth
..
...
Class of Lrake .. .
.. .
.. .

I, I 893 .

...
...

Rte-1
lil

2 in .
... 9 ft. 10 in .
... Iron B. \ V.G .
...
30 in.
...
46~ .,

...
..
...

...
...

.. .

...

2
1'i in.

22 ,.
2 ft. !l in.
6~ in.
30- ,.
22
49.63 in.

39

... W estioghou e
automatic

As to the cost of wo rking the snow plough a. few

words may be added, taken from an officia l report by
the Union Pacific R!l.il way Company of the service
done during t he month of ll.,ebruary , l e 7. The report
refers t o a l e~s modern type of rota.ry machine tha.n
the one we illustrate :
Rotary Sno'W E xcavator :
D ots.
Engineer and fireman'd wages 270.20
l 'ucl (5 tons) ...
... ... 116. ()(i
Oil, tallow, and waste ...
... 36.42
~1aterial ..
... ... ... 70.01
Pushing L ocomotive:
E&gineer and fireman's wages 184.20
Fuel (111 tons) ...
..
. .. 222.00
Oil, tallow, and wast.e ...
... 10.85
Material ...
...
...
.. . 7 &5
L abour ...
...
.. .
... 65.b3

T otal

.. .

..

...

Dola.

492 63

490.43
983.06

During the month that this expense was incurred

the mach ine cleared 293 miles of track, a.\eraging a.
total cost of 33.5 cents, or less than Is. 5tl. , p er m ile.
\Ve may add in conclusion that when desired t he
snow ca n be project ed to a distance sufficien t to
clear ten or twelve tracks ; i t therefore finds considerable occupation in the station yards of American
railway e.

TRIER'S DOUBLE ACTION STONEDRE SING MA CHIN E.

TnE stonedressing machine we illustrate on page
259 is designed to act on two edges of a block simultaneously, producing at their intersection perfect
arrisses. The cutting tools are the well-known discs
invented by :Messrs. Brun ton and Trier, which have
superseded all others for this class of work. Two of
them a re employed, one having a horizonta l and the
other a vertical motion , the direction of cut being in
all cases at right angles t o t he length of the stone.
Each t ool is mounted on a spindle in a. holder, so
arran ged that it has an automatic motion at each end of
its stroke, whereby the t ool is put in position for cuttin g
both in going and returning. The cuts are alternate ly
roughing a nd finishing, the t ool in tra veiling in one
direction t ak ing off t he bulk of the stone that has to
be removed, and in r eturning skimming off the remainder. These operations take place at two different
levels, and in lines of which one is in advance of the
other. The feed varies from 1 in . p er minute for hard
granite to 4 in. on hard sandstone, and takes place at
the end of the cu t. The depth of cut may be anything
up t o 1 in.
The tool rests are carried backwards and forwards
on the slides by connecting- rods worked from crank
discs, which a re themselves driven by s pur gearing
from t he first motion shaft. The stroke of t he crankpins can be varied to suit the size of block under treatment, and the two crank discs are so a.rrangec.l relatively to each other that the tool -boxes never fou l
each other. The position of the tool -boxes can also
b e ad justed by screws, both horizontally and vertically .
The power r equired t o drive the machine varies,
according to the s tone, from 3 to 6 horse-power. I t
will cut the hardest stones, such as granite, syenite,
or bard limestones, as well as the softer kinds. The
machines are made in three sizes to dress blocks of the
follo wing dimensions : ( 1) 12 in . by 1 in. by 9 ft. ;
(2) 24 in. by 36 in. by 9 ft. ; {3) 36 in. by 48 in. by
12 ft. By having two tables the time lost in chang ing
blocks can ue reduced to a very small amount. Three
d riving worms are provided to gear int o th e worm
rack shown, an d by their a id t he table can be
run completely off the guides, and another table
ru n on.
I t is claimeLl that th is is the only machine pro
ducing su rfaces superior to and closely resembling the
best hand tooling, with stra.igbt tool marks at right
angles to the length of the stone, as required by architects. The finished stones are unplucke<l and unstunned
and can be rubbed with great r apidity. The makers
are ~Iessrs. Brunton and T rier, 19, ;reat Georgestreet, \Y estminster.

SEPT.

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

I, I8931

AUTOMATIC BEATING AND VENTILATING

FREIGHT CAR.
NoT onl y do many parts of the United States suffer
from au extreme range of climate, varying from Arctic
cold to tropical heat, but the country is so vast that a
railway journey may begin in one extreme, and end a
few days la ter in the other. The passenger t akes this
a9 a. matter of course ; the human frame will bear very
violent changes of temperature without much ill
effect. But it is not the same with many varieties of
food. ~lost perishable articles rapidly d ecay under
exccssi \'e heat, and if they are to be transported for
long distances in hot weather they must be artificially
cooled. H ence ther e has arisen in America the r efrigerator car, in which beef and fish can be carried t'or
tho usands of miles without suffering a ny injury.
o
perfect is the system that meat can be dehvercd in
New York in better condition if it be dressed in the
western plains than if the beast be carried alive and
Pla.ugbtered immediately at the journey 's end. All
this we in England can readily understand, although
the necessity for refrigerator cars has not yet gro\T n
sufficiently urgent here to lead to t heir introduction.
But it will be news to many of our r eaders that
heated cars are pro,rided in the States for certain
products. Euly fruits and vegeta bles g rown in the
warm climate of Florida cannot bear exposure without
injury to the freezing atmosphere of the north. If
they are packed in the ordinary way, and d espatched
by train, the chances are that th ey will be frozen
and s poilt in transit, to the great detriment of their
quality. To meet this difficulty, the Eastmau Car
Company, of Boston and Chicago, constructautomatic
heating and ventilating freight cars, and are now
~bowing them in the Columbiau Exposition. As will
be seen from the illustration on pages 262 and 263, the
heat is furnished by a stove (Fig. 2) fed with petroleum from a tank. This stove is below the level of
the car floor (Fig. 4), and delivers its products of
CJmbustion into a stovepipe fitted between the frames,
and finally rising above the car roof (l!.,ig. 3), where it
ends in a cowl. The stovepipe is inclosed within a
second pipe, and the channel con taining it is lined
with asbest os a.nd galvanised iron. The temperature
is regulated by a. t hermostat comprising a. Bourclon
tube filled with kerosene oil. The whole car has double
\Va.lls, separated by a space for hot air, and each wall
is hollow to prevent conduction of heat through it.
At the end of the car there is a wide space for t he
distribution of the warm air. The car is carried on
two four-wheel trucks, and has a capacity of 50,000 n'.

269

LOCOMOTIVES AT THE COLUMBIAN

EXPOSITION.

On this rear shaft are two bevel wheels, either of

which can be driven through a friction clutch. These
wheels gear with a third beYel wheel on a short
vertical shaft, from which motion is conYeyed through
spurwbeels to a eecond vertical shaft carrying a pinion
gea.t ing with th e large spur ring cast on the baseplatE'.
The travelling wheels are worked hy a vertical shaft
passing down the cra ne-post, and geariug w ith a foreand-aft Ehaft on the level of the axles. The vertical
shaft is driven through the intermediary of a second
short vert ical shaft from a be,el wheel on the interme
diate shaft. The boiler is 4 ft. in diameter by 6 ft.
5 in. high. It will be noticed that all the handles arc
conveniently grouped togethr.

ON page 274 we publish perspective views of three

of t he eleven locomotives that form the magnificent
exhibit of t he Brooks L ocomotive "\'Yorks, Dunkirk,
in the tate of New York. They are all of normal
gauge, aud form part of an order to be delivered to an
American railway company after the close of th e Exhibition. As we propose to publish detailed drawings
of one of the s imple, and one of the compound Brooks
engines exhibited, we shall content ourselves thil:! week
by adding a. Table of some of the leading dimensions of
the t hree engines of which we give illustrations. Of
these Fig. 1 is a ten-wh eeled passenger engi ne ; Fig. 2
a six-wheeled switching or yard locomotive; and
Fig. 3 is an eng ine of the "Mogul " type.
HARBOUR vVORKS.
P rincipal D imensions of T hree L ocomotives Exhibited at
To T~ EDITOR OF ENGINEERING.
the Golumbian Exposition by the Brooks L ocomotive
S m, - In your issue of the 25th ult. you illustrate and
Works, Dunkirk, N ew Y ork. (See page 274.)
describe the Bilbao breakwater works at present in
course of construction. Those members of the engineerFig . l.
ing profession who devote themsel ves more especially to
Fig. 2. r Fig. 3.
- - - -1
- - marine works must. like myself, be exceedingly pleased
E n.qine.
to find such a detailed and well illustrated d escription of
Total we igh~ in workins
these important works, showing fully th e design, the
138,000
114,000
order ..
..
..
l b.
118 000
method of execution, the plant employed, and the cost of
102,000
111,000
114,000
Weight on drhing wheels "
the undertaking.
,,
truck wheeh .,
27,00J
16,000
Total length of wheel base ..
25 ft.
10 ft. 8 in . :H ft.. 6 in.
On looking at the section of the brea.kwatE'r, Fig. 2. on
Rigid wheel bat~e
..
..
14 ft. 6 in.
LO 11 8 ,.
14 ft.
page 230 of your last week's issue, I was astonished at
the immense amount of material which is being swallowed
Cylinden, d:c.

Diamettr of cylinders
ID .
19
19
19
up in this work. Per metre in length of the breakwater
Stroke of piston
..
26

26
24
there is no less than 860 cubic metres of ma.terial (fxcludMetalli c, by }
ing the parapet), and yet the total height from foundaKiod of piston packi ng
C.
C.
J
erome,
Same
Same
{
tion to top (parapet excluded) is only 21 metres, so that
Chicago
were all the material put into the form of a. rectangular
Diameter of p istonrod
in.
~t
3!
Size of a~eam ports . .
,,
1g x 18~
I t X 18! Ig X l 8l oross-section of the height given (21 metres) it would ha,e
,,
exhaust porta
,.
3 x 18!
3 X 18t 3 X 18! a. width of not less than 41 metre!?.
The design is the ordinary composite arrangement of
Wh eels, d:c.
Diamcterofdrivingwbeele in.
72
49
assorted rubble from the foundation up to 6 mE'tres below
1\5
truck wheels ,.
3J
30
low-water level ; from th ence up to 1 metre above low.,
driving axle jo';l r
water le\'el there are large concrete blocks of 60 and 100
nal
..
..
..
1 n.
8

11

Diameter of truck axlEjourna l

..
..
in .
Diamete r of main crankpi11
journals
..
..
in .
Diamete r of coupling- rod
jou rnals
..
..
in .
Length o! driving springs ,.

6t
&!
61t and H
- e6

/s!

6i
6!
6!

6!
and 5
36

36

Boiler.
Description of boiler ..

8elpaire type, , )
by Well man 1
I ron and Steel J"' Same
Company,
Thurlow, Pa.
60
58
Steel
Steel
! to t
~ to ~
No. U B.W.G.,
by Duquesne I
Tube Works
Same
Company,
Pittsburg
202
l SO
2}
2}

Same

SCCTIOH oF BILBAO BREAKWATER

tons weight. with rubble filled in between their interstices,

and from this level to the top it is concrete in mass faced

with 10-ton concrete blocks .

As you are well aware, I have lifted up my voice time
HEAVY PLATE SHEARS FOR CLYDEafter time against the continuance of this unsightly, unMate rial cf tubes
Same

BRIDGE STEEL WORKS.

reliable, unsciontic, and E'xtravagant system of construcTHE two engravings on page 266 illustrate a very
tion, and I think I shall be rendering a. service to the
,
..
..
engineering profession in pointing out the defects of this
powerful set of plate shears made by Messrs. Craig and Number
212
.,
..
in .
2
class of work whenever an opportunity presents itself.
Donald, of J ohnstone, N. B., suitable for large steel Diameter
Distance between centre of
The accompanying figure shows a section of the Bilbao
works where the heav iest class of plates are rolled.
3ltl
211":1
tuues . .
..
..
in .
3r'aThe blades in this machine are 9ft. 6 in. long, and Length of tubes
..
. . 13ft. 10 in. 11 ft . 1 in . 1L ft. 1 in. breakwater (taken from your last week's issue), and on
thi~ section l have shown, by means of the central por..
firebox
..
in.
1H
9
98
the standards have 37 in. depth of gap, so that a plate
Width of
.,
..
,.
S2
tion etched crosswise, the section of monolithic work
32
32
6 ft. wide and of any length may be cut into two piecs
,.
water spaces roun d
which would be am]Jle for the nnder-water portion of the
of 3 ft. wide. There is a clear distance between the
firebox
..
..
in .
3~ to 4
S!
?t
structure, instead of the immense mass of loose rubble
Material
of
outer
fir
ebox
standards of 6ft. 6 in. The machine is driven by two
and huge concrete blocks, as actually constructed. The
shf
et
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Steel
Steel
Steel
20iu. cylinder engines, and as there are no flywheels Thickness of plates in firebo~
c~ntral monolithic portion I have shown would be built
the apron carrying the top blade can be stopped at any
of blocks of moderate weight, say 9 to 12 tons, and
sheet ..
..
..
in.
~ to S
! to ~
!
point by shutting off the steam where required, so that Material of inside of firebox
Ster:l
S teel
cemented together by neat P ortland cement grouted into a.
Steel
solid mass, founded on the top of a. grouted rubble and
a long plate may with safety be passed between the Tbioknesa of plate in fire
box
..
..
..
in
r. and ::
l "l and :t
..
shin~le base below the level of the Eea bottom, and exstandards and cut across at any part. This arrange Thickness
1"
"
of tubcplates (fire
tendmg well beyond the width of the breakwater. The
ment is also advantageous in cutting a rectangular
brx) . .
..
..
in.
~
:\triangular portions on each side of the breakwater above
plate of any length into two tapered p1ates suitable Thickness of tubeplates
G
the foundation would be of loose rubble to guard sgainst
(smokebox) . .
..
in.
I>
~
for scnrphing in the case of shell plating. The plate Size
a.nd n umber of crown
undermining action, should there be any at this d~pth,
is cut diagonally from the lower corner on the one end
plate stays . .
.
. . 220 at 1 in. 190atlin. 190atlin. which I think hardly likely.
to the upper corner on the other. The great d epth of Working pressure . lb.
1 ~0
180
180
I might point out that the St. Helier's breakwater
Grate
surface
..
sq.
ft.
25.3
21.7
21.7
gap provides for very wide plates of this description
J ersey, which I carried out. is somewhat higher fro~
~59
Firebox h eating surface .,
...
141
134
being dealt with. From shipbuilders, &c., tapered or Tube
foundation to cope than the Bilbao one, and the width of
,
1646
1186
1232
11
scarphed plates are often called for, and in most plate Total
.,
the under -water portion, shown on the accompanying
1798
12SO
1366
mills, where the facilities for shearing are not as defigure(13 metres), is that which I adopted at Jersey, and
T ende>.
with the most successful1 esults. I m1gbt further remark
scribed above, a great waste is incurred through having Weight of tender emply lb.
36.400
34,000
35,400
,.
,.
full
that the St. Helier's breakwater, like that of Bilbao is
69,730
8 1. ~00
84,600
to shear each plate from a rectangular plate instead of
of wher:ls ..
Ei.(ht
Eight

Ehrht
ex posed to the Atlantic, so that in this respect the ~ir
rolliog the plate double the width of the broadest end Number

D .e.meter , ,

JO .
33
31
33
cumstances
are
further
comparable.
of the tapered plate and cutting two tapered plates Total wheel base
..
10 ft. 6 in .

.Now t o deal with the details of the construction of the

from it. The saving in the production of such plates Diamete r aod len gth of
B1lbao work. For handling and depositing the 60 a.nd
journals
..
..
..
becomes a matter of great importance when much
100
ton
blocks,
expe.nsive
bl~~-making plant, powerful
Water capacity
. . gals
4000
3100
41)00
work of the kind requires to be done. This machine Fuel capacity
.. tona l
8
travellers, and speCial depos1tm~ barges are neceseary
6
8
cuts with great ease a 1~ -in. steel plate of the full
an~ li~e~se b~~ges for dep?sitmg the rubble; all of
leng th that the blades. '_Vill admit, but is sufficiently
whiCh l B m add1t10n to the ordmary plant for constructing
po,verful to cut up to I t-m. steel plate. The gearing
the II?Onolithio super~tructure ot:l top of the 100-ton blocks.
7-TON TRAVELLING JTB CRANE.
is all of , 'iemens-Ma.rtin cast steel, and is very massive.
I~ 1s worthy of not1ce that th1s su perstructut e, which is
TnE 7-ton travelling jib crane which we illustrate
The total weight of the machine is about 90 tons. on page 270 was constructed by the Yale and Towne subJect to the full force of the waves, is faced with blocks
One of these machines, as described, was recently put Manufacturing Company, ~.. tamford, Coon., U.S.A., of only 10 tons weight, whilst the enginee,rs for the WC\rk
down for the Clydebridge Steel Company, near Glas- and is now on view at Chicago Exposition. It has a have de.emed it necessary t o have blocks of GO to 100
tons wetght below low water, where there will be less
gow, and has proved a t horough success.
radius of 21 ft., and is d esigned to run on lines of 7-ft. force of ~he sea to be re6isted. I do not call in question
gauge. The jib can be raised and lowered by means ~n the shgbtest degree the adoption of the 10-ton blocks
THE CuNARn STEAMER "LucANIA."- The Cunard of a separate d r um driven by a worm and worm wheel m the one case and the 60 to 100 ton blocks in the other
steamer Lucania has been redocked at Birkenhead in con- the win~ rop~ runniDg round a snatch block. The ma~ bt>ca.use the circumstances are different.
'
sequence of her taking a list when floating out of dry drum is driven by spunvheel and pinion, and is fitted
The 10-ton blocks are all cemented together and to
dock, and beyond the abrasion of a. few feet of her paint
the concrete hearting, thus forming a solid mass, whilst
with
a
powerful
brake
capable
of
sustaining
the
full
at the turn of the bilge amidships, not the slightest
the 60 to 100 ton blocks have each to depend on their
load.
The
cylinders
are
arranged
at
each
side
of
the
appearance of damage ha.s been found. The Cunard
own weight for resistance to displacement.
framing,
the
valves
being
driven
by
a
cross-shaft
from
Company, being thus satisfied of the perfect condition of
'V~a.t I do nd fault with is the monolithic work comthe vessel, have arranged to take her over from the bui 'ders eccentrics situated near the centre of the crankshaft. mencmg only above low-water level. Had the monolithic
as soon as she undocks. There is, therefore, nothing what- The turning motion is operated from a r ear shaft driven work ben commenced at the foundation, then the whole
ever to prevent her s \iling to morrow a9 already arranged. from the crankshaft through an intermediate shaft. structure, not merely the facing, but likewise the hearting,
Inside diameter
..
in .
Material of barrel of boilt>r . .
Thiokn ees of plates .
in.

58
Steel
J to :
~

1J

11

11

..

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

SEVEN-TON TRAVELLING CRANE AT THE

(SEPT.

1893

I,

COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION.

CONSTRUCTED BY THE YALE AND TO,VNE :MANUFACTURING COMPANY, STAMFORD, CONN.

(For Description, see Page 269.)

,...

,:

.
'
.
.
-- ...

r=;;':~= J;~~- -- J
"'"'

'

-... .

-""'

.,

/I

-.. I

. .r.. "
'

I
I

'

......

'

Fig. 2.

'

'I

'

I
I

'
I

- 't

I
0

Fig 1.

'
I

k-----
I

4--------- J

ll:. . . .

'

l.L........
4

91'
'J

- 0-

I
I
I

''

------------- ------

I
I
I
I

- - - 4

'

st-----1-- ------- .fJ'

. ........ ..

__ J

1:::::

" J

""'

!<:)

~:::::::======~ r~

..

'

__ ""'::::..
- _r_ ,

~~~~------~--~ ~
0

";("- - -

'

~ - . --. --- ..:":'::

. ~ffiffiffi;m;; ~~~

.....
CS>

1........11

. '

<$,

I;)

V)

"lI

'~'!!

--

I
I

...
o

'

-'
I

. '

I
I
I

I
0

180,

could have been constructed of 9 to 12 ton blocks, and

the cost of the very expensive plant for constructing a~d
depositing tobe 100-ton blocks, and the barges for depositing t he rubble, would have been saved; and, further, an
immense reduction in sectional area of the work would
hav~ been effected, as shown by the figure.
The engineers of the Bilbao work have evidently not
known bow to construct monolithic work under water,
or they would hardly have been responsible for the design
now being carried out.
I bav~ already stated _that the cubical conte~ts per
metre in length of the B1luao breakwat~r (~xcludmg the
parapet) is 860 metres, bu_t had monoh th10. work been
carried out, as per the sectiOn etched crosswise, the co~
t ents per metre in length would only have been 300. cub_10
metres. There would thus have been a. reductiOn m
quantity of about two-thirds, whilst the cost of the w~rk
would have been reduced t o about one-half. As to mamt enance, the cost for such of the monolithic structure
would be practically nil, which can hardly be hoped for
from the rubble base and loose block structure.
Yours truly,
WALTER R oBERT KINIPPLE, M.I.C.E.
3, Victoria-street, \Vestminster, August 28, 1893.

ENGINE VIBRATION.
To THE EDITOR OF ENGINEERING.
SIR,-'Vith reference t? your ~ecent interesting articl,e
on the balancing of marme engmes, and Mr. Y arrow s
experiment, I inclose .a sketch of_ an arrangement of the
reciprocating parts wh10h would give a perfect balance.
It is an old idea to balance by means of cranks opposite to one another, but the arrangement eketched may
have some novel features.
.
. .
The reciprocating parts of eac~ cyhnder are movm~ m
opposite directions, and the we1gh;ts o~ lihe parts bemg
made equal, the stresses due to mert1a are equal and
oppositely direct ed.
.
.
.
B y using two valves to each cylmder, the mertia. of the
valves might be similarly balanced.

Beside the balancing effect, the friction of the crank- of the engine is so objectionable, the absence of vibration
shaft bearings would be reduced, as the bearings would could ha-rdly be t oo dearly bought.
be relieved from all pressure due to the steam on the
Yours faithfully,
piston.
H. T OZER.
Of courea the objection to such an arrangement is the
August 22, 1893.
multiplication of parts and theexfen::~e of the crankshaft.
To THE EDITOR OF ENGINEERING.
SIR-I have read with great interest your article on
engine vibration in ENGINEEUING of August 11. I have
previously made and gained experience which coincides
precisely with those experiments made lately by Mr.
Yarrow on a small engme indicating 1600 horse-power,
and as I imagine that my experiruents will be of interest to many of your readers, I will describe them as
follows:
One of the mail steamers belonging to the Austrian
Lloyd's Steam Navigation Company bad her old compound engines converted into triple-expansion engines,
by putting on each cylinder of the old compound emrine
a small high-pressure cylinder, as usually done. ForI
merly those engines ran 70 revolutions per minute, and
I
I
it was intended to keep the same number of revolutions

I
for the converted engine, and to keep also the same pro
peller. After the conversion of the engine was effected, it
I
I
was found that when the engine reached the same number
I
I

I
of revolutions as formerly, such t errific vibrations were
I
I
set up that all the steam pipes and connections were in
r-. 1 I
r
I
danger, and the scan tlings forming the engine foundation
I
I
I
,. I
were
likely to be loosened. At the st ern of the ship the
_I
r.
- - I
- vibration was so bad that no pa.ssen~er could have slept
Il lS
I
in his berth. To obviate such a sen ous defeat, a series
of experiments was made.
1. The engines were stayed by longitudinal and
athwartship stays, but without any favourable results.
2. 60 tons of cast iron were put under the engine foundaThis might be reduced by placing the centre lines of ~he
two cylinders at right angles to one another, and couphng tion to give more resistance to the ship, which improved
things a. little, but not very much. Vibrations at the
the connecting-rods into the same cranks.
Balancing in a vertical direction by means of a revol ~ stern was just a.s bad as before.
3. The two high-pressure piston valves wore taken out.
ing weight, lea1ing the lateral stresses unbalanced, 1s
the boiler pressure was reduced t o six atmospheres, a.nd
only a. partial solution of the difficulty.
For pleasure steamers, where the continual throbbing the engines run as before, compound, with the only dif-

w.

-o-

"

"

COMPOUND BEAM ENGINES OF THE PADDLE STEAMER "HONAM."

CONSTRUCTED BY

~lESSRS.

A.

AND J.

(f)

INGLIS, ENGINEERS, GLASCO"'"

t'lj
"'0

..,

(Fo,. Description, see Page 265.)

...H
......

OQ

\0

t'Ij

z
CJ
~

z
tT1
tT1

~
~

1/.W.BEJiNETr

.t4Di> C

z
C"l

ference that the weight of the moving parts of each and decreasing respectively until the right proportion
engine was increased by the weights of the high-pressure
,.....pistons and piston-rods which were added to 1t. The
~ibration of engine and ship was just as before, perhaps a
~
f }<:J 1 ~
F<.fJ
24;

..
little more ; this could not be precisely ascertained, as
,
)!'

we are not the lucky owners of the scientific instrument

I
I
tJ
'
called" the vibrometer/' Now these experiments were
a clear proof that the whole mischief has been done by

.......
increasing the weight of the movin g parts. As the

engines were already built into the ship, and an experi

- ... . . . - .
ment such as Mr. Yarrow has made in his shop would have

been impossible, I therefore took rE'fuge in a model ex:o

periment. A wooden model, 1! in. to the foot. of the I
engine was made, and the weight of the mming partfl,
;!
reduced to the same scale, was put in the shape of a disc
i~}

on the up-and-down moving piston-rod. The bedplate

h
of this model was supported by four little spiral springs,
so that the model was free to move in any direction ;
the crankshaft was driven from outside by a little To~"""9
Cca,.
1w.,
-ft ~
1~

flexible rod. In turning round the model it was sean

~~
~

u
,..,I1[[
1that it jumped off from its supporting springs after a few
turns of the handle of the turning gE>ar, which corresponded
J
18,.,
~
to! the aotual state of affairs on board ship. The next
thing was to put balance weights on the mod~l and
change the weights of those balance weights by adding was attained between moving parts and balance weights.

,,..

.3i

After this experiment bad been carefully carried out,

one could turn the model round at any number of
revolutions without setting up any considerable vibrations. It must be remarked that the model was
secured against athwartship vibrations, and could
show only vertical vibration, for the athwartship vibrations are of no consequence to the ship. After the proportions of the balance weights has been thus experimentally determined, they were carried out full size,
put in place, and a trial trip made ; the result was
that ~he engines were perfectly steady at any number of
revolutions, and no vibrations were felt at the stern of
the ship, and the difficult question of preventing vibration in marine engines was, in this way, solved in
a most successful manner. The experience which I
gained only corroborates Mr. Y arrow's last experim ent,
and I quite agree with what he says, that th e vertical
vibrations in marine engines can be completely annihilated by judiciously and carefully oalculating and placing
the balance weights.
Trusting you will excuse me for trespassing upon your
valuable space,
I remain, Sir, your obedient servant,
Trieste, August 21, 1893.

F . KODOLITSCH.

FEED-\VATER HEATING.
To THE EDITOR 0~ ENGINEERING.
Sm,- M. .J. A. Kormand, in his clear and interesting letter, leaves very little more to be said by us, as
the points of differen ce between us are very few. It is
gratifying to us to find a gentleman of such authority and
expertence in almost perfect accord with us on so impor
tant a subject.
We may, however, be allowed to say that our aims in
ad voca.ting feed heaters are :
1. To heat the feed water, and thus by equalising temperatures relieve the boiler of the alarming and injurious
strains due to unequal expansion.
2. To extract the- air from the h eated water in order to
render the feed water non-corrosive.
3. To remove all greasy matters from the feed water.
4. Placing the heater on the delivery side of the feed
pump, thus at once obviating any trouble in the working
of the pump, and at the same t ime securing the maximum
of heat being imparted to the water.
\Ve think each of the above points are of equal importance, and that the machine which we manufacture deals
with tbe whole of them in a simple and satisfactory
manner.
We quite agree with M. Normand as to the utility and

t-..)

'-..}
H

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

[SEPt.

t, 1893.

a~ visability o fitting fe.e~ water filters! and think with 35s. 3d. ; Cum berland and !vliddlesbrough hematite iron, ammonia has been considerably reduced, with the result

respectively, 45s. and 43s. 3d. per ton. The market was that the prier, of the commodity has now run up to 15l. 5s.
somewhat uregular on Friday forenoon. At the opening per ton, whereas the p rice a year ago was only lOl. 5s. per
the tone for Scotch was firm, and 42s. 7d. cash per ton ton. The advance in price had already been in progress
was paid. Subsequently the price dropped to 42~. 5~d., for some month s, hub a very marked impetus has just
but finally rallied to 42s. 6~d. About 10,000 tons were been given to the advance by the action of the ironsold. One or two lots of Cleveland were sold at 35s. 3d. masters; indeed, within the past few weeks, the price has
per ton cash. A fair amount of business was done in been run up 2l. per ton.
Scotch iron in the afternoon, largely of an option characShipbuilding Oontracts.-It is probable tbab contracts
ter, however, 4000 tons having been done at 42:~. 6d. a
month, with ls. forfeit in sellers' option, and 2000 tons at for som~thing like 40,000 tons of n ew shipping have been
42s. 4~d . and 42s. 5d. this week with "plants." The casb placed with Clyde shipbuilders during the past month;
business was done at 42s. 6~d. Monday and 42s. 6d. one newspaper puts the amount at even 60,000 tons, and
other days this week. Business was also done at 423. 5~d. speaks of a " boom " having again overtaken this branch
cash, and at the close sellers were quoting 42d. 6~d., of local trade. The more recent contracts include an
or the price current at the forenoon's close. Including order for a cargo and passenger steamer of 4500 tons,
option business, fully 12,000 tons of iron changed bands. which is to be built by the L ondon and Glasgow ShipIn Cleveland 1{)00 tons were dealt in at 35s. 3~d. and building and En_gineering Company. Messrs. D. and W.
35s. 4d. cash, and the price at the last was 1~d. per ton Henderson and C o. have also secured an order for a screw
better than in the forenoon. One lot of Cleveland bema- steamer of about 3000 tons gross.

tite iron changed hands at 45s. ld. cash. The closing

CONGRESS OF HYGIENE.
settlement prices were- Scotch iron, 42s. 6d. per ton;
To TB& EDITOR oF ENGIN&&RING.
Cleveland, 35s. 4~d. ; Cumberland and Middlesbrough
NOTES FROM SOUTH YORKSHIRE.
SrR,-I beg to ask you the favour kindly to insert the hemati te iron, 4os. and 43s. l~d. per ton respectively.
SH&FFl&LD, Wednesday.
following publication m the nex t issue of your. esteemed Monday 's forenoon market was fairly active. Scotch
The Heavy Trades.-Business in connection with the
paper:
iron was firmer, and was dealt in a.t 42s. Sd. and 42s. 7d. iron and steel trades has been reduced to a. minimum by
It is well known that the next (the eighth) Interna. per ton, business leaving- at the higher figure. Some8000 the dispute with the colliers. It is now cP.rtain that next
tional Congress of Hygiene and Demography will be held tons changed bands, including 3000 tons at 42s. 7d. one week the majority of the blast furnaces in this district
at Budapest in September of next year, under the high month, with 1s. forfeit in sellers' option. A few thousand will have to be damped down, as supplies of coke are
patronage of His Imperial and Royal Majesty. The prelimi- tons of Cleveland iron were sold at ~5s. 5id. to 353. 6d. per only available at extortionate prices. li'orge pig is nomi
nary workisalreadyprogressing very briskly. Thepa~rsof ton cash, and at 35s. 7id. to 35s. Sd. one month; and one or nally quoted at 42~. 6d., and foundry at 448. 6d. ; but no
subjects for the nineteenth (hygienic) and seventh (demo- two lots of bematite iron were disposed of. In the after new business is doing, and, in fact. the iron trade is
graphic) sec~ions being already selected, the referees for noon th e market was steady but quiet. For Scotch rapidly approaching a deadlock. The majority of the
these papers have also b sen asked to receive them, and 42s. 7d. cash next day, and 42:~. Sd. Friday were done, mills are only running two or three days a week, and
many of these gentlemen have already sent in their also 42s . 6d. Friday, with a. "plant. " Only some 6000 many of them have totally suspended operations. Some
acceptance of these duties. The series of further questions tons were done, and at the close the cash price was un- good orders for bar have recently come up from South
will be arranged according to sections about the beginning changed from t.he morning. Nothing was doJ?-e in Cleve- Africa. and Australia, but as they are at rates prevailing
of next month, and will then be sent out to the foreign land or hematite irons. The settlement prJCes at the a month or six weeks ago, they have to be placed aside
scientists in order that the preliminary works for. the close were-Scotch iron, 42s. 7i d. per ton ; Cleveland, awaiting more favourable circumstances of production.
scientific part of the Congress may, as nearly as posstblA, 35s. 6d. ; Cumberland and J\iiddlesbrough hematite iron, Sheet rollers would be busier on better-class work, if they
respectively, 45s. and 43s. l!d. per ton. Only a moderate could accept the rates of a month ago, but they cannot.
be completed before the beginnin~ of autumn.
The executive committee espe01ally desire to realise as amount of business was done on Tuesday forenoon. On Best qualities of boiler plates are going well, and home
far as possible the decisions of the London Congr.ess. the announcement that the Durham miners were not going buyers are paying the advances for immediate deli veries.
Special international committees have been orga.msed to strikE" and that consequently the blast furnaces in the There is a further lull in the demand for marine and railwith regard to several decisions a.ccepted at the L ondon north of'England w)ll not Le shut down, some sales were way material, as customers will not pay the revised rates,
Congress ; they are at present oc~upied with the s0lution made, and the cash price of Scotch iron dropped to preferring to wait. Some of the tyre-makers have
423. 5~d., recovering to 42s. 6~d. p~r ton. About 8000 accepted a reduction of 5 per cent. in their wages. Agents
of the various ques tions thus mooted.
To England it will be o! .some special interest to kn?w tons were sold, a. large number of the lots being of a of Bessemer billets have cleared out stocks, but are taking
that one important dectston was acc~pted ~~ the m forfeit character. One or two lois of Cleveland were sold, few new orders, and no contracts at current quotation of
atigation of the L0ndon Congress. Thts. d ecJston re~ers and the cash price fell l~d. per ton. Hematite irons re- 5l. 17s. 6d. to 6l. per ton. Crucible steel makers are
to the organisation of a. separ~te se~t10n f~r trO_PlCal mained unchanged. The market was steady at the very busy on best tool qua.litiQs for delivery to the United
countries. The presidEmt of thts spe01al sect10n wtll be opening in the afternoon at about 423. 6d. cash for Scotch, States, South Africa, and the mining countries of South
Dr. Theodor Dicka. and the two secretaries will be Dr. but th e tone became flatter later on. Scotch was idle, America.. Many of the manufactories in the old staple
Isamb:ud Owen and Mr. S. Digby. These gentlemen only a few thousand tons being d ealt in; but the price trades are closed until engine coal returns to a. reasonable

kindly consented to accept these pos~s, an:d are now fell to 423. 5d. cash, with sellers over at that quotatlOn- prtce.
or l~d. per ton down from the m orning. Business was
en~aged arranging the programme of thts sect~ on.
.
Rolling Mill Proprietors and tke Situation.-The memalso
done
at
42s.
7!d.
Friday
with
a
call,
and
at
42s.
lO~d.
The honorary presidents of the several sect10ns w1ll be
bers of the Rolling Mill Proprietors' Association have
one
month
with
6d.
forfeit
in
buyers'
option.
Cleveland
elected by the executive committAe as soon as th~ names
issued a. circular in which they say : ''In consequence of
iron
was
i~
very
activa
demand,
bet~een.SOOO
and
10,000
of those foreign celebrities shall bs known who wtll take
the high prices which are now being charged for coal, and
tons
being
sold-one
operator
alone
d1spos10gof
6000
to~s.
pa.rt in the Congress.
in view of the fact that the r@lling mills are bein~ worked
The
price
was
very
fiat,
down
to
35s.
l~d.
cash
be10g
After the t ermination of the Congress several excur
at a. loss, we r egret to have to inform you that either the
done
with
sellers
at
35s.
2d.,
or
2~d.
back
from
the
fore~ions will be arranged, amongst which one will be to the
mills must be set down or a higher charge made for rolling
noon:
In
addition
to
the
cash
transacti~ns,
d
ealing
.al~o
Irongate on the lower Danube, to ~elgrade, and to Conduring the continuance of the strike. The rolling mill
took
pla.ce
at
36s.
lid.
a
month
fixed,
w1th
1~.
forfeit
m
stantinople, which, doubtless, wlll be of some attracproprietors are reluctant to adopt the former alternativ e,
sellers'
option.
At
thfl
close
the
settlement
pnces
weretion.
but recommend their customers to give out as little work
Scotch
iron,
42d.
4~d.
per
ton
;
Clevel.and
35s.
l~d.;
I remain, Sir, yours obediently.
1
Cumberland and Middlesbrough hematite tron, respec as possible until the coal dispute is settled; m ean while,
C. M uLLER, M .D.
ti vely, 45s. and 43s. 1~~ per ton. Business was very in some measure to mitigate the loss consequent on the
(Chief Secretary).
quiet in the market this forenoon, but the tone was excessive price we have to pay for fuel, tbe association
steady on the whole. From 8000 to 10,000 tons of Scotch have resolved that until further notice the discounts will
be as follows: Rods, 15 per cent. ; cast-steel sheets, net;
were
sold,
the
cash
price
varying
between
42s.
4~d.
and
THE UriLlSATION OF SMALL COAL.
Bessemer steel sheets, 5 per cent.; circulars, 15 per cent.''
42s.
!ijd.
per
ton.
Some
lo
..
s
were
sold
at
42s..
4d.
a.nd
To TH& Eor'l'OR oF ENGIN&&RING.
The Coal Orisis.-Until this week the men in this
SIR - In your article on the utiliga.tion of small coal 42s. 4~d. on Friday with a "plant," 42s. 6~d. Frt?,ay w1t~
plant. district have been very peaceable, and have expressed
(pa.ge'248 of last issu~) we . find you refer to the Perret a call and 42s. 3d. one m onth open wtth a.
furnace, but make no ment10n of ours, although we h~ve The ~arket was very quiet in the afternoon u~til just their intention of abiding by the decisions of the
constructed and erected a larger number of dust-burn10g about the close when one dealer came m and federation. In the meantime prices of coal are at ex
furnaces than any other firm. In South Wale&,. for bu~n bought 5000 to~s, which stiffened the ~arket, and treme rates ; engine slack that was 6s. 6d. a month
ing anthracite, we have fitted hundreds o~ b01le~s w1th sellers were asking 42s. 6~d. at the ~nLBh, an ~d ago is now 13s. 6d., and 6s. to Ss. per ton is the
Ontstde average increase in the rates for house coal. North
most satisfactory results ; these are d ea:lmg wtth . the vance of l~d. per ton from the mormng.
exact form of fuel to which you referr~d m your ar~tcle, of this there was very little doing, but 1000 .tons country coke agents are pressing business in this locali ty,
and do it in a. way that leaves. ~o.tb10g to be desired. changed hands at 42s. 6~d. and 42s. 7d. cext week wttb a but the commodity is only taken where ibis absolutely
They meet the difficulty of util1s10g small coal, both call. A few lots of Cleveland iron were d~alt in, and the neces3ary to c.m tinue operations. Ib is believed tha.t
anthracite and soft coal, with a.n efficiency that has price also mad& l i d. ?f advance. The clos10g settlement when the dispute is settled it will be found a. consider
prices were Scotch uon, 42s. 6d. per ton ; Cl~vel.and, able portion of the coal trade will have permanently lefb
never been equalled.
.
35s. 3d. ; Cumberland and Middlesbrough bemat1t~ 1ron, the district.
We are, S1r, yours truly,
respectively, 45s. and 43s. Hd. P.er ton. The folloWip.g are
MELDRUM BROTHERS.
N ational A ssociation of Ooll iery M a;nag e1s. -The annual
some of the prices of No. 1 spe01al brands of makers 1ron :
Atlantic Works, City-road, Manchester,
Gartsherrie and Summerlee, 49s. per ton ; Calder, 4~s. 6d.; general meeting of this body will be held in Sheffield on
August 29, 1893.
Langloan, 54s. 6d. ; Coltness, 66s. --the foregomg all Friday, Septemb~r 1. The report of the council states
shipped at Glasgow; Glengarn~ck (shipped at Ardro~san), that " the wide influence of the association may be
48a. 6d. ; Shotts (shipped at Le1th), 5ls. ; Car~on (~h1pped gathered from the fact that it has now amongst its memNOTES FROM THE NORTH.
at Grangemouth). 53s. 6d. per ton. Last weeks shtpments bers colliery managers from Scotland, N ortbumberland,
GLASGOW, Wednesday.
of pig iron from all Scotch P'?rts amounted t~ 6230 tons, Durham, Yorkshire, Cumberland, North Wales, Lan
Glasgow P ig-Iron M arket. -In consequence of a pre~i as compared with 5124 tons m the correspondmg week of cash ire, Cheshire, Derbyshire, N ottingba.msbire, \Var
sure of sales of Scotch iron, the warrant market was du last year They included 650 tons for Canada., 405 tons wickshire, Leicestershire, Staffordshire, W or cestershire,
last Thursday forenoon. About 6000 tons were soldi and for Indi~, 150 tons for Australia, 170 t?ns for Italy, 450 Gloucestershire, Monmoutbsbire, and South Wales. The
the cash price dropped to 42s. 5!d. per. ton. One ?t ?f tons for Germany, 220 tons for Russia, 140 tons f~r ~ffect of certain steps adopted in accordance with the
Scotch sold ab 42a. 9~d. one month, w1t.b ls. forfett m H olland, 300 tons for China and Japan, small~r quanti committee's sugges tions is that the balance-sheet is th e
buyer's option. The market opened flat t.n the afternoon ties for other countries, and 3451 tons coastwtse. T~e most fa,ourable one that th e council has ever issued.
on the announcement of the bank rate bemg advanced to stock of pig iron in M essrs. Connal a:nd Co.'s public The council suggests to branches the d esirability of co5 per cent. and business was done at 42s. 4d. per ton cash warrant s tores stood at 336,780 tons, aga10st 337,790 tons operating with the tf'cbnical education committee of the
on Mond~y of this week. There was a. reco~ery after- yesterday w~ek, thus showing for the past week a r educ- county council of their district in arranging for highd however on the announcement that etght blast tion amountmg to 1010 tons.
class lectures on mining subjects. One of the chief
ft:r~:~es had be~n dampe~ down and two blown out, and
objects of the association is to improve the scientific and
t 423 6d cash was pa.1d for Scotch ; but at tb~ close
Scotck B last Furnaces.-Some eighteen blast furnac~ intellectual p osition of colliery managers, and the council
~tier~ we ~e s~llers at 42s. 5~d .., w~icb made t~e price un- have been damped down during the past week or so, m is of opinion that lectur es on mining problems by experts
t ab the opemng 10 the morn10g. .A bout consequence of the action of the ~iners. At t~e end o f are most useful means to that end. The executive learn
tha
m
f
d
h
c a.nge ro
1 d'
two last week th ere were only forty-stx .furnace.s .m actual with pleasure the success which has attended these
10 000 or 12 000 tons were dealt m, m e u 108,' one or
.
lots at 42 3 9d and 42s. 9~d. one month, wttb l s. forfeit operation. The ironmast~rs are now 10 a postt10u to J;>Ut lectur es in some districts, and strongly r ecommend the
in buyer./ option. Several tho~sand tons of Cleveland their coal on the market and get the benefit of the high branches to approach their county councils at once with a.
view to arran~e for such lectures during the winter.
abo changed hands, and the priCe dropped ld. per ton. prices that have lately been reached.
Cumberland hamatite iron was done at 45s. 3~. a mon~h
S ulphate of Ammonia.-Owing to. the stoppage of so Happily famiharity with fatal accidents, which is the
for a sm1.ll quantity. The settlement prtces at t e many blast furnaces, the product10n of sulphate of experience of various colliery managers, does not engender
eLse wers-S~otch iron, 423. 4jd. per t on; Cleveland,

h.tm that the proper pos1t10n for them ts on the Ruction

stde of the feed pump. The results we have obtained
with filters so far confirm this opinion, but we also con
sider that it is impossible, even with the most efficient
filter, to completely remove all the ~reasy matter, as we
frequently find, even where great C'are has been taken. that
a quantity of grease is found in the heater on its being
opened out after a. long run; of course this would not be
the case in a. heater where the water and the steam used
for heating it came in contacb and mixed with each other.
The importance of this question of feed heating, advocated by us for so many years, and only now generally
admitted, will, we trust, be considered a sufficient excuse
for again trespassing on your space.
Yours faithfully,
JOHN KIRKALDY, LIMITED.
John Kirkaldy, 1\'Ianaging Director.
40, West India. Dock-road, L ondon, August 28, 1893.

SEPT. I ' I

893]

273

E N G I N E E R I N G.
directors are complaining that the siding accom~odation at
the stations is insufficient to meet goods trafi:ic, a~d they
are pressing the company to make large extensio~s, m vol ving an outlay of several thousand pounds. ':I;' he dtrecto~s C?f
the Buokfastlei~h Company do not constder that 1t 1s
responsible for this outlay.
T he "Ferret " ancl the "Lynx. "-The Ferret and the
Lynx, two of twenty torped o-boat destroyers, which are
to have a guaranteed speed of 27 knots per hour, are to be
ready for trials at Devonport during the early part of the
next year. Both these vessels are being built .bY Messrs.
Laird Brothers, of Birkenhead. The F erret IS to be out
of the contractors' hands by F ebruary 20, and the Lynx
by April 5. No. 97 torpedo-boat, which is one of ten now
in course of construction, will be ready for transfer from
the contractors to Devonport by the end of D ecember.

th!\t indifference to them which familiarity with less

.
senous
occurrences a.1ways does. ,
Facts from a Coalowner.-At the annual meeting this
week of Messrs. H enry Briggs. Son, and Co., Limited,
colliery J>roprietors, Mr. A. C. Briggs, managing director
and cbatrma.n of the Yorkshire Coalowners' Association,
presided. In th e courcSe of an address he said th ey had a
fleet of steamships which had run to Continental ports
and found regular employment for miners until lately,
when contracts terminated, and much of the trade was
allowed to lapse because they could not compete in price.
They had taken prices even as low as in 1888. It was a.
question of closing those pits which got coal for ex port,
or having wages reduced. There was a ge~era.l depr~s
sion in the country, and they must take thetr share of tt.
If instead of seeking to assist the masters to keep up
wages under existing circumstances, the colliers would
M iljord Docks.-The directors report : "The business
prevent the sinking of a. lot of new collieries that under- of the company exhibits s teady progress. T.he steamsold to get a connection, they would be taking a. more ship Spree left the dry dock at the end of Aprtl, and the
practic!Joble course.
directors hope the dock will be used by other ~easels ~f
the same line. With reference to the Canad1a.n mall
service mentioned in the last report, it is understood that
NOTES FROM CLEVELAND AND THE
the ma.tter has been in abeyance in consequence of the
NORTHERN COUNTIES.
absence of the Canadian Premi{)r in Europe. The
MIDDLESBROUGH, Wednesday.
directors rE\gret that they have not yet been able to give
Tlte Cleveland Iron Trade.- Yesterday the attendance effect to an arrangement with the National Provident
on 'Change here was only small, and little business ~as Institution for th6 purchase of the railway and pier, but
done. Early in the day the tone of the market was fat~Jy negotiations are still pending with that object. ':~;'he
cheerful, and quotations were ~rm, but, later on, affa.trs general manager reports the tonnage of vessels ente~mg
eased somewhat. At the opemng, sellers asked 35.s. 6~. the docks during the half-year as 133,043, as agamst
for prompt f.o.b. delivery of No. 3 g. m. b. Clevel~nd pt.g 126 291 in 1892." The earnings of the company for the
iron, and reported that they were able to obtam this half year amount to 4995l., and the expenditure to 4583/.,
price. Transactions, however, were recorded at 35s. 4~d., leaving a profit of 412l.
and buyers were not inclined to pay more than the latter
Gas at Bristol.-At the half-yearly meeting of the
figure. No. 4 foundry was quoted 33s. 9d. ; grey forge Bristol
Gas Company on the 24th ult. the maximum di viwas in better request, and was generally quoted 32~. !>d. d~nd was
The chairman said the sale of gas
Inquiries for the last-mentioned quality were reported was three declared.
times as much as it was twenty years ~ince,
more numerous, and a good deal of it might have
been sold at 32s. 6d., but sellers, as a rule, would and the increase in the hire of gas sto,es in the same
not listen to such a price. :Middlesbrough warrants period was nearly 25 per cent.
Severn and TVye Railway.- The directors rep ~ rt that
opened 35s. 4d. cash buyers. By the close of the market
buyers were very shy, and were not disposed to pay quite the serious depression in the Forest of Dean coal trade,
so much for pig iron as was realised in the morning. Oa which commenced early in 1892, became acute during
the other hand, sellers were firm, and were most unwilling the past half-year, and that the company's revenue for
to reduce their quotations. It was difficult to purchase that period is insufficient to discharge the interest on the
prompt No. 3 under 35s. 4~d. Middlesbrough warrants debenture stocks. The prolonged labour difficulties in
closed 35s. ld. cash buyers. Notwithstanding the falling the Forest mining industry, which chiefly occasioned the
off in the demand from Sheffield and district, hematite depression referred to, have resulted in the stoppage of
pig iron keeps steady. Mixed numbers of makers' east the principal house coal collieries. Mr. E. V. Elhs, of
coast brands are still quoted 4-33. 6d., a] though some Gloucester, having obtained a. judgment against the
buyers state that they ~ave do~e bu.si~ess at .rather l.ess company m respect of unpaid debenture interest, prethan this figure. Spa.msh ore 1s qUletish, fret ~hts beu~g sented a petition to the High Court of Justice, in
low. Rubio may be quoted 123. 3d. to 12s. 6d. exsh1p accordance with which an order has been made
'l.'ees. To-day the market was steady, but No. 3 Cleve- appointing the directors, manager&, and the general
land pig was said to be obtainable at 35s. 3d. prompt manager and the secretary, receivers of the underf.o.b. delivery. Middlesbrough warrants closed 35.i. 2d. taking. The management of the line will, therPfore,
cash buyers.
continue as hitherto, but all receipts and expendiManufactured Iron and Steel.-A somewhat unsatisfac- ture will be accounted for to the court, and the
tory account must again be given of these t.wo important surplus will be distributed from time to time under its
industries. Manufactured iron makers are badly off for direction. The net revenue for the past half-ye~r amounts
work, and orders for steel material are by n o means easily to 5287l. ; and after deducting 689l. for rent charges and
secured. Quotations have altered very little since we last bank interest, there remains a balance of 459'il. , equal to
reported ; but probably most firms would accept contracts about~ per cent. per annum on the debenture stock of
a.t rather less than the pr{)sent market rates. Common the company, which bears interest at the rate of 4 per
iron bars are quoted 4l. 17s. 6d.; best bars, 5l. 7s. 6d.; cent. per annum. It is intended, with the necessary
iron ship-plates, 4l. 153 ; steel ship-plates, 5l. 2s. 6d.; authority of the court, to make a distribution as early as
iron sbtpangles, 4l. 12s. 6d.; and steel ship angles, practicable.
4l. 15s.; all less 2! per cent. ab works. Heavy sections of
The "Halcyon" and the "Harrier. "-The steamship
steel rails are quoted 3l. 15s. to 3l. 17s. 6d. net at makers' Cragside, of Newcastle, arrived at Devonport on Monwork 3.
day, having on board the machinery and boilers for the
The Fuel Trade.-Fuel generally is firm. The announce- Halcyon and the machinery for the Harrier gunboats,
ment that the Durham miners' ballot has not resulted now building at Devonport. The boilers for the Harrier,
in the requisite majority in favour of a strike has given together with the machinery and boilers for the Hussar,
considerable satisfaction in trade circles here. It is still are expected to arrive from the contractors, l\1essrs.
difficult to fix quotations for fuel, for they continue to Hawthorne and Leslie, in the courM of a few weeks.
vary a good deal. High rates, however, are asked, and
Ectst
Usk
Railway.-The
tender
of
Messrs.
Linton
and
whilst the output is very large a good demand is reported. Co., of Newport, which the directors of the Great
Coke is dear. 'Few consumers here are as yet necessi- \Yes tern Rail way have accepted for the construction of
tated to buy, as they have contracts running on much the East U sk line, is for the road between Somerton
cheaper terms than can at present bP. obtained. As much Bridge and Cold Harbour Farm, a distance of about
as 14s. 6d. has been asked for good blast-furnace coke 2-i miles. For the present a single line of railB will be
delivered at works here.
laid. but the bridge will be erected so as to provide for a
double line if necessary.

NOTES FROM THE SOUTH-WEST.

Cctrd({f.-Tbe state of business affairs is just now so
unsettled that it is difficult to give quotations for any descriptions of steam or house coal; but, upon the whole,
prices of steam coal appear to be falling, while the value
of the best households will be regulated by the daily supplies. There is not much doing at present in patent fuel.
Coke, which has been in good demand, is extremely scarce,
and those makers who bad stooks in hand are realising
good prices. The iron ore trade has ruled quiet. Operations have been resumed at several collieries, and on
Friday and Saturday several heavy trains of OC\al reached
the Bute Docks.
Watr Supply of Pembroke.-An apRlication to the
Local Government Board from the Pembroke Town
Council for permission to borrow 1280l. for works in con:
nection with the water supply of Pembroke Dock has
been refused, the inspector sent down having reported
unfavourably.
A Sm11ll Devon3hire Rai/w.Jy. --The directors of the
Buokfastleigh, T otnes, and South Devon Rail way report
that the revenue for the half-year amounted to 3H6l.
After payment of all fixed and other charges, there was
a balance of 274l. available for dividend, admitting of a
distribution of 2 per cent. per annum upon the preference shares. The Great Western Railway Company
has declined to take over the line. The Great W estern

A N eu: Ferryboat.- Messrs. Machlacblan, of Paisley,

launohed on Wednesday a. double-ended steel paddle
vessel, built to the order of the Cardiff and Penarth Steam
Ferry Company. She is named the Rate.
The Electric L ight at Newport.-Mr. R. Hammond,
author of "Municipal Electricity Work," has been appointed consulting engineer t o the Town Councils of Newt d W k fi ld t 0
1 t . l ' ht'
k
por
an
a
e
e
carry
out>
e
ec
n
o
tg
mg
wor
under provisional orders. Mr. Hammond, as a contractor, ha& erected electricity works at Dublin, Hastings,
Eastbourne. Brighton, West Brompton, Madrid, Blackpoo1' L eed s, & c.
The "Renown."-The contract for the engining of the
Renown line-of-battle ship has been secured by Messrs.
Maudsley, Sons, and Fi{)ld. The Renown, which is to be
built at Pembroke, is alineof-ba.ttle ship of 12,350 tons.
Her bottom is to be sheathed with wood and copperedHer length will be 380 ft., the same as vessels of the
Ramillies class, but her breadth will be 72ft., or 3ft. less
than the Ramillies. During this year 2l2,96ll. will be
spent on the vessel, of which 35,320l. will be for dockyard
labour~ 96,750l. for mate~ials, 53,000Z. ~or. contract work,
and 13,36ll. for e3ta.bhshment .and m~1dental charg~s.
The armaiJ?-ent of the Renow~ w1ll ~ons1s~ of four 10m.
breechloadmg guns, ten 6m. quick-firmg guns, and
twen~y 6-pounder and 3-pounder Hotchkiss guns, besides
macbme gunCJ and torpedoes.

Water Supply of Newpo?t.-No.twithstanding a. fe~

days' rain during the last s1x or e1g~t weeks~ the ~ndi
tion of the water supply of Newport 1s becommg senou~.
The present storage accommo~:h~tion for the borough JS
262,000,000 ~allons of water, d1v1ded as follows: Pantyreos reserv01r, 144,000,600 gallons; ~ynysybro,82,000,000
gallons and th e subsidiary reservotr, ~6,000,000 gallons.
But the' amount of water in store is ~nly 1~6.00~,000 g~l
lons. Possibly the autumn will brmg w1th 1t heaVIer

rams.
THE FASl'EST PADDLE BoAT IN THE WoRLD.-In re
ference to our note undt:~r this heading in our issue of
August 11 the Societe Cockerill point out that the speed
of 22.16 k~ots obtained by the L eopold I I. .was tb~ mean
of a number of runs on the measured mtle, wh1L'lt the
speed of 22.2 knots attained by their boat the Marie
H enriette was the mean of four runs from Cloch to
Cumbrae, over which the mean speed of the L eopold II.
was 21.955, the runs being as follows:
Number of
Revolutions.
Knots.
Time.
hr. min.
2210
37 6
51.40
21.77
37 40
2215
37 1i
51.75
2180
37 37~

}
}

SA~lUDA'S

SHIPBUILDING YARD. -Some time ago We

called attention to the fact that Messrs. Samuda Brothers
had decided to discontinue work in their famous establishment on the Thames, at Poplar (vol. 1v., page 599),
and now the whole of the plant is to be brought to the
hammer. The event, as we then indicated, marks an
important epoch in the history of Thames industries,
which we then reviewed, as the firm was established
some thirty-five years ago, and since then many vessels
of all types, wardhips and merchantmen, have been
constructed in the yard. The list includes eighteen
warships for the British and foreign navies. The yard,
which covers over six acres, was well equipped, and the
sale, which is to be conducted by Mr. Bradshaw Brown,
Billiter-square Buildings, will last from l\Ionda.y next
until Friday, the catalogue including over 1300 lots.
THE PosniAS'l'ER- GxNER.u, ON M uNICIP.\L TELEPHONEs. -An important question connected with telephonic extension was raised on W ednesday by a deputation which waited upon the P ostmaster -General in his
priva.te room at the House of Commons. Sir Charles
Cameron, M.P., introduced the deputation, the leading
members of the Glasgow Town Council, who asked that
the corporation of that city should be allowed a licence to
start a. municipal telephone exchange. Mr. Provand,
M.P., supported the views of the deputation. The
Postmaster-General, in reply, said he would come to no
decision adverse to municipa.l enterprise. The Government would not at all interfere with the freedom of
municipll enterprise with regard to any matters it could
legitimately control for the public interest. The telephone, however, was not a part of municipal business,
but belonged to the telegraph system, which was conducted
by the State. It was not confined to the municipal area
like water, gas, or tramway works. In continuance of
the policy of the late Government, he was now engaged
in purchasing the trunk lines of the telephone system,
and until that was completed it was impossible to consider the question raised by the present application.
The movement might possibly develop into the Government's taking over their entire management, but any
step taken in advance in local districts would complicate
m~tters: He was stro~~ly ~n. favour of further powers
bemg gr~en to the ~~mc1paht1es to manage affairs which
were strictly mummpal, but be could not enter into
fur~her details on the question raised by the deputation
until the agreement as to the trunk telephone lines bad
been finally settled.
VENTILATING AND H EATING. -Ventilating and heating
systems .are a byword for in~fficiency, and pl'Oba.bly
always will be wh1le people of d1fferent constitutions and
temperaments congregate in the same building. A room
which one man calls draughty is declared by another to
be .stuffy. But the principal reason is that most ventilatmg arrangements a.r~ under very little control. They
depend on the suct10n of heated columns of air
and this cannot be easily altered.
When it i~
desired to. ~ave the ventilation really under control,
~more P 081 ttve system must be adopted. For instance,
10 th~ Houses of Parliament air is pumped both by recipr?oa.t 1.ng pumps and rotary fans into the chamber, being
hkewtse cool~d or war~ed, as the. case may be. At the
C.en.tr.al
Instttute
of
.C1ty
and
Gullds
of
London
1'n
Exh1'h
l~ltt.on-road, a fan IS used to distribute air through the
bulldmg. At the Law Courts, also, there is an elaborate
wh. icb, however, often
fsy~tem
1 t oftm.fechanic.ald ventilation,
I
a1 s. o sa ts ~ o~r JU .ges. . n Amertca, where systematic
heatmg of buildmgs 18 carr1ed further than with us the
u~e of fans is exte0;ding:, an? one method adopted there
With great success ts bemg mtroduced into this country
by. ~essrs. Charles Erith and Co., of 13, Little
Trm1ty-lane, London, E. C. In the buildings of the
Knowles. Loo.m 'Vorks,. at Worcester, ]\-!assachusett$,
t?e entt.re atr, .a mountmg to one and a half roilh~n cub1c feet. 1s ch9:nged by this system eYery six
m mutes by .a fan spectally .constructed to deliver large
volumes agamst pressure, wtthout allowing any to blow
back through the centre. 'Vhere considerations of cost
do not :r.revent its adoption, there is n o doubt as to the
desirability of mechanical ventilation The
d f
the public distribution of electric energy will "'s~r~la ?d
its introduction.
or a Y at

274

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

[SEPT.

L0 C0 M0 TI VES

AT

TH E

C0 L UMBI AN

CONSTRUCTED BY THE BROOKS LOCOMOTIVE

\VORKS,

I, I 893.

E X P 0 S I T I 0 N.

DUNKIRK,

N. Y.

(For Description, see Page 269.)

- -

FIG.

1.

T EN- vVHEEL PASSENGER L OCOl\IOTI VE.

, .

-...,_

FIG.

2.

Six- WHE.F:L SwiTCHING L o c oMOTI VE

-.

Fta. 3. "

MoGUL " L o c o .HOTI VE

E N G I N E E R I N G.
AGENTS FOR ''ENGINEERING.''

fully support what was said by the honourable

AUSTRIA, Vienna: Lebmann and Wentzel, K~rntnel'8traeae.
member as to the meagre nat ure of the information
The
New
Cunarders
"CAMPANIA"
and
"LU0APB TOWN : Gordon and Gotob.
given this year on many points upon which the
EDINBURGH: _J ohn Menzies and Co., 12, Hanover-atreet.
CANIA ;, and the WORLD'S COLUMBIAN public should be informed. It is impossible to
FB.ANOll, Par1s : Boyveau and Cbevillet, Librairle Etrang~re 22
EXPOSITION OF 1893.
Rue d e la Banque; M. Em. Terquem 3lbl.e Boulevard HauBB~ann'
arrive at any definite conclusion from the official
Also tor Advertisements, Agenue Have.s 8 Plac e de la BoU1'9e: The Publlsher begs to announce that a Reprint is figures in r egard to matters of cost, and in this way
(See below.)
' '
GBilllANY, Be.rli~: Messra. A. Asber and oo., 6, Unterden Llnden. now ready of the Descriptive Matter and Illustra the great aim of Admiralty officials is r eached to an
Le1pz1g: F . A. Brockbaus.
tions contalned in the Issue of ENGINEERING of extent almost cynical in its completeness. ''There
Mulhouse: H . Stuckelberger.
AprU 21st, comprising over 130 pages, with nine ought to be proper means for making a fair comGLABOOW : William Love.
lNDu, Calcutta : Tbaoker Splnk, and eo.
two -page and four single page Plates, printed parison between the cost of a ship built in a dockBombay: Tbacker and Co., Limited.
throughout on special Plate paper, bound ln cloth, yard and the price of a similar ship built in a
ITALY: U. Hoepli, Milan, and any post oftioe.
gUt lettered. Price 6s. Post free, 6s. 6d. The ordl private yard, " said Mr. H anbury, and the propo
L IVERPOOL: Mrs. Taylor, Landing Stage.
nAwov edition of the issue of AprU 21st ls out of print.
MANCDESTRR: John Heywood, 143, Deansgate.
~
sition is so evident that none can gainsay it ; and
Nsw SOUTH W ALBB, Sydney : Turner and Henderson, 16 and 18, -=-====-=======
yet every obstacle is thrown in the way of such a
Hunter -street. Gordon and Gotoh, George-streeb.
comparison being mad e. Admiralty and dockyard
QUBL'iBLAND (SOUTH), Brisbane : Gordon and Qotch.
(NORTH), Towns\ille: T. Willmet t and Oo.
officials seem n ever yet t o have r ealised the fact
R OITBRDAM: H. A. Kramer and Son.
that it is public money they have to spend,
SOUTH AUSTRALJA, Adelaide : W. C. Ri~by.
FRIDAY, SEPTE1llBER 1, 1893.
and that their salaries are paid by the nation
UNIT&D STATBB, New York: W. H . Wiley, 63, East loth-street.
Chicago : H . V. H olmes, 44, Lakeside Buildin~.
at large. E xcepting in cases where it would
VtOI'ORlA, M'BLBOURNB: Melville, Mullen and Slade, 262/264, Collmsbe giving an advantage to foreign P owersetreet. Gordon and Gotoh, Limited . Queen-street.
THE NAVY ESTil\1ATES.
at the possible expense, in case of war, of
NOTICE TO AMElUOAN SUBSCRIBERS.
T HE discussion on the Navy E stimates has been this country- there is no justifi cation for secrecy.
We beg to announce that American Subscriptions to ENOINBBRING
may now be addr essed either direct to t he publisher, MR. CBA&L&S resumed in the H ouse of Commons this week, and In spite of this the Admiralty and dockyards resent
GILBERT, at the Offices of t his Journal, Nos. 35 and 36, Bedford has followed the usual desultory course.
There is any effor t to get particulars of cost, as if they were
et reet, Strand, London, W.C. , or to our accredited Agents fo r th e nothing to which P arliament could more profitably
the directors of a private trading establishment;
United States, Mr. W . H . WJLEY, 63, East l Oth-street, New York,
and Mr. H. V. B olmes, 44, Lakeside Building, Chicago. The turn attention- nothing more vital to the interests indeed, they are far more reticent bhan most people
prices of Subscription (payable in advance) for one rear are: For of the n ation than the state of the Navy- but no engaged in commercial pursuits.
Ther e are, of
thin (fo rei~ n) paper edition, 1l. 16s. Od. ; for thick (ordinary)
paper ed ition, 2l. Os. 6d., or it remitted to Agents, 9 dollars tor subj ect is handled in a more lame and inconclusive course, difficulties in the way of making comparifashion by our legislative and tax-imposing Chamber. son between the cost of production in a dockyard
lhin and 10 d olla rs tor thick .
We
need
not
seek
far
for
the
r
eason
of
this
;
the
and in a private yard, the chief being ''establishADVERTISEMENTS.
The charge for advertisements is t hree shillings tor the ftrst four explanation lies in the want of combined attack. ment charges. " No one expects a public departlines or under, and eightpence for each additional line. Tbe line The Admiralty is like a compact force in a strong ment to work with the same economy as a private
a verages seven words. Payment must accompany all ordera tor
single advertisemen ts, otherwise their insertion cannot be citadel- that citadel being general indifference to business where the heads have the direct incentive
guaranteed. Terms for displayed ad\e rtisem ents on t he wrapper naval matters-whilst the criticising members are of personal emolument. We know that the dockand on the inside p ages may be obtained on application. Ser ial like a disorganised levy, aimlessly hurling them- yards ar e a national insurance-j ust as our whole
adver tisements will be inser ted with all practicable r egularity, but
selves against the secure walls of the fortress.
Navy is- not n ecessary excepting as a provision in
a bsolut e re'(Ulal'ity cannot be guara nteed.
I t is much to be r egretted that there is no orga- time of war. The public would make allowance for
Advertisements iD tended for l.Dsertion in the our
a. righ t to know what
rent week's issue must be delivered not later than nised naval party in the House ; a par ty that would this, and at any rate we have

6 p.m. on Thursday. In consequence of the necessity think nothing of political interests-so far as the we pay as prem1um on our msurance.
for going to press early with a portion of the editton,
We would go further than Mr. H anbury, and not
alterations for standing Advertisements should be Navy is concerned- but would simply strive for
received not later than 1 p.m. on Wednesday after such things as would be for the prosperity of the only pit the Government establishments against
noon 1n each week.
fleet, as an engine of national defence ; and private yards, but dockyard against dockyard. If
The sole Agents for Advertisements from the Con not, be i t r emarked, either as a means of providing half a dozen similar ships are to be built, they
tlnent of Europe and the French Colonies are the
a profession for younger sons, of keeping private should be distributed amongst as many different
AGENCE HAV AS, 8, Place de la Bourse, Paris.
shtpyards and engine shops employed, nor for the establishments, Government or private, and the
SUBSCRIPTIONS, HOME AND FOREIGN.
support of the working men and tradespeople of results compared. The proposal is, of course,
ENGINEERING can be supplied, direct from the publisher, the dockyard towns. If these personal interests far from novel, and there are, equally of course,
p ost free tor Twelve Months at the following rates, payable in could be sunk, there would be the makings of a several far from novel objections to it. The chief,
advance : strong party in the H ouse ; for there are numbers in r egard to the inter-dockyard competition, is
For the United Kingdom .... .... .. .. .... 1 9 2
having a knowledge of all the elements which build that some of the dockyards are more favourably
.. all places abroad:up the service. The party would, of course, always situated in regard to carrying out work than others.
Thin paper copies ..... ... .. 1 16 0
be in opposition, and its members should be pledged Thus at Portsmouth there is more concentration of
Thick
..
. ... ........ 2 0 6
n ever to accept oftice ; so, doubtless, after all, offices than at Chatham ; but this is an argument
All accounts are payable t o the publisher, Ma.. CBARLU GILBBRT.
Indeed, when we come t o that the offices should be remodelled. The plant
Cheques should be c roesed " Union Bank, Cbariog Cross Branoh." the idea is Utopian .
P ost Office Orders payable a t Bedtord-street, Strand, W.O.
think deep er, the scheme bristles with difficulties. and machinery in some yards are more efficient than
When forei~n Subsoriptions are sent by Post Office Orders F or instance, the dockyard members, whose poli- in others, and the same r easoning applies here ;
advice should be sent to the Publisher .
tical mission is simply to get all the work and the in fact, the chief argument in favour of the competiForeign and Colonial Subscribers receiving
Incomplete Copies through News-Agents are re- highest pay for dockyard hands, could ne\er be ex- t ion system is that it would necessitate a clean
quested to communicate the fact to the Publisher, pected to suppor t any measure which would im- sweep of much that is obsolete and inefficient-not
together with the Agent's N$\me and Address.
to say deplorably rotten . It is the latter fact,
prove
the
r
egulations
as
to
con
tract-built
vessels,
01Dce for Publication and Advertisements. Nos.
and we should hardly find the admirals helping to however, which is the true obstacle to r eform in
85 and 36, Bedford-street, Strand, London, W.C.
improve the status of the engineering branch, if the this direction. Too many sleepy, obsolete, comb.LlJGRAPIDO A.DDRBSB-ENG INEERING. LONDON.
proposals clashed with the interests of the executive fortable ways and customs would have the disquietTBLBPHONB N UMBBR-3663.
officers. Yet these two things stand in the fore- ing glare of publicity turned upon them, and the
most place of n ecessity in naval reform. Whatever unnecessary would become painfully obvious.
ENGINEERING is regietered for transmission abroad.
may be the difficulties in .the_ way of form atio~ <?f Happily for the unnecessary, the British public
an independent and consc1enbous naval party, 1t 1s cares for none of these things at present ; nor will
CONTENTS.
certain t hat very little good will be done until some it until we have to put our naval resources to their
PAOB \
PAOB
ultimate use, when we shall find, at the cost of men
the
units
which
now
cohesion
is
effected
between
Literature ... . .. . ... . . 259 Not~ from Sout h York
The E ngin eering Cong ress
1 sh1re ..... . .. . .......... 272 criticise-t oo often from the faddist point of view and treasure, how lamentably deficient we are in
at Chicago . . _ .... .. .. .. 261 Notes from Cleveland: and
- the naval policy of whatever side happens to be our organisation.
The De\"elopment of South
the Nor thern Count1es .. 273
The N aval Defence Act occupied a good deal of
Africa n Railways (IllusNotes from th~ South-Wesb 273 in power. N o wonder the H ouse empties when
t 1ated) ...... ....... ... .. 264 The N~vy Esttmate~ . . .. .. 275 the Naval Estimates come on. The fight is alto- attention during the debate. The subject was quite
Beam Engines for Paddl~
The Ra1lways of I~d1a .. .. .. 276 gether too one-sided to be _of interest ; the result well thrashed out at the time the Act was passed, and
SteamPrs (Illustrated) .. 266 Manchester
Sh1p Canal
all that can be added to what was then said is that
Rota ry Snow Ploug h (Illusl:'~ospects : . .. ..... : .... 277 is always a foregone concluston.
trated) .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268 Bnt1sh qolome.s at 9 h1cago 277
'fhe discussion of this week was on the usual the prognostications of evil then made regarding
Trie r's Double-Action Stone
Non Ar clDg- Ltgh t mng Ar
it, have not been fulfilled, but, on the contrary, it
party
lines.
L
ord
Ge~rge
Rami]
ton
made
a
lo~
g
Dressing Machine (lllusI r ester U llu8trated) . . .. .. 278
trated) . .. . ....... ..... 268 11Notes (I llustrated) .... ~ ... 279 speech, the aim of wh1Ch was to sho~ how ad~Ir has resulted in good for the Navy. Lord George
Automatic IIeating and V enNotes from the Umt~d
Hamilton in his speech showed how fallacious are
ably
the
late
First
L
ord
of
the
Admualty
gu1ded
tilatiog F r eight Car (RStates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279
naval policy, whilst Sir U . K ay-Shuttleworth and many of the comparisons made between the navies
lustrated) .. .. . ..... .. .. 269 A Water-Cooled Brake ErgoH eavy Plate Shear s for th e
m~ter (l_llmtrated) . . .. . . . 280 the Chancellor of the Exchequer attempted to of different nations. It is said that one country
Clydebridge Steel Works
Manne Boller Co~stru<?tlOn 280 t hrow discredit on that which had been done possesses so many first-class battleships and so
(lllu.strated) .. ... . ... 269 L~unches and Tnal Tnps .. 282
Locomotives at the ColumMiscellanea .... .. ... .. . ... 282 during the previous Administration, a~d magnify many of the second class, but in many cases the
first-class ships are first-class only in size, being
bia n Exposition (l llus
6- lnch Foot Lathe (lllus
their
own
wisdom
in
the
conduct
of
affaus.
From
trated).. . . . . .. .. . .. .. . . 269
t_rated) .. .. :.. . . . .. .. . .. 283
unfit for r.hat category in nearly a11 r espects as to
a
lawyer's
point
of
view
n
othing
could
have
b~en
7-Ton Travelling Jib Crane
Bner 's Red uc10g Valve (ll
(Illustrated) ... . .... .... 269
l u.sltCX:Ud) ...... ...... .. 283 more admirable than much of the verbal fencmg offensive and defensive powerR. '' Brassey's Annual"
H a r bour Works(lllustrated) 26Q Iodustnal Note~ .. .... : ... 283 and quibbling, but to the sing~e-m~nded Briton it gives England thirty-five first-class battleships, but
Engine Vibr ation (lllusI mpr ovemen ts 1n t he R1ver
many of these are very slow and have but an elementraud) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 270
Tees (l llust,ated).: .. . . . . 284 is very sad to see the most v1tal m ter ests of the
tary secondary armament- that important factor. in
'Feed- Water Heating ...... 271 F ast Ocean Steamshtps (ncountry made the shuttlecock of party politics.
Congress of Hygiene . . . . . . 272
lustrated) . - . . . . . . . . . . . 286
the offensive power of a modern war vessel- wlulst
The
debate
was
opened
on
Monday
last,
August
The Utilisntion of Small
The Port of Ve01ce (l llusCoal.. .. .. . . .. . . .. .. . . . . 272
trat~d) .. : .. ;,-- .......... 287 28, by Mr. Hanbury, upon the shipbuilding vote of some have really obsolete muzzle-loaders. L ord
Geor O'e Hamilton would deduct thirteen vessels
Notes from the North . .. . 272 cc Eog1oeer1Dg Patent Re
1
797
OOOl.
beinCY
brought
forward.
1\Ir.
H
anbury
cord ( ntustrated) . . . . . . 289
~ade' an excall:nt speech, which was a capital from bthis list of so-called " first-class " battleships,
With a Two-Page Engrav!ng of the COJ!POUBD E N GINES,
illustration of what we have advanced above; the namely, the five echelon turret ships Agarnemnon,
WITH u WALKING" BEAJf!. _OF '!HE P~DDLE
futility of attempting too much single-handed. We Ajax, Inflexible, Edinburgh, and Colossus. These
-NOTICE.

ENGINEERING.

STE~MJ!R

HONAJf.

E N G I N E E R I N G.
vessels are all very slow, and have no s ubsidiary
armament. To these should be added the Devastation, Thunderer, Dreadnought, Neptune, Superb,
Alexandra, and Temeraire. The sunken Victoria
makes the thirteenth ship to be deducted from the
original list. No one can question that the older
ships above named could never hope to compete on
anything like equal terms with the more modern
vessels recently turned out, both in this country
and abroad, but in making comparison it is
necessary to see in what case the oth er side
stands. The late First Lord has made the necessal'y inquiry, and he finds that only one ship
-the Redoubtable- should be deducted from
the French list of first- class battleships, leaving that country with a t otal of fifteen vessels
worthy of the class. From the Russian list one
ship also is taken-the Peter the Great-so that
ten vessels remain. We thus see that, according to
the amended list, Great Britain has after all but 22
first-class line-of-battle ships against 25 of the two
other Powers combined- and that tht'y might be
combined in line of battle we suppose no one doubts
the possibility in light of recent developments.
L ord George advised a supplementary estin1ate to
provide funds for building a ship to replace the
Victoria, and instanced the fact that he asked for
money in a supplementary estimate when the
Sultan was sunk. The Government, however,
thinks there is no necessity for haste. It may be
pointed out that had we gone to war with any
naval Power, or combination of naval Powers,
within the last few months, we should have
started with what would have been equivalent to a serious defeat to the bad- the
Victoria at the bottom of the Mediterranean, t he
Howe with h er bottom ripped open from stem to
stern, and the Camperdown unseaworthy from the
damage to her bow. The placing of three firstclass battleships out of action, without any damage
received in return, would be the equivalent to our
foes of a very satisfactory engagement. The work
on the Howe should also form the subject of
a supplementary estimate, as it is quite extra work,
out of the category of " fair wear and tear," but
this proposal was also negatived by the authorities.
As was said during the discussion, ''The Treasury
had completely overmastered the Admiralty. "
A point that was touched lightly upon during
the deba.te, but one upon which more is likely to
be h eard bAfore long, was the treatment of contractors by the Admiralty. Sir Edward Reed
quoted some particulars of cost of cruisers- the
figures also serve to illustrate what we have already
said as to the difficulty of arriving at conclusions as
to cost-by which it was shown that three vessels
of the Edgar class, built by private contract, cost
respectively 334,000l. and 337,000l. per ship, which
was 30,000l. less than the Admiralty estimate. Two
similar ships were built in t he dockyards, and cost
37, OOOl. more than the estimate. The Secretary to
the Admiralty explained that the increase was due,
first, to additions and improvements made to the
ships during their construction, and, secondly, to
increase of wages. The increase in wages was only
4000l. ; consequently 33,000l. had been spent in
additions and improvements. " These additions
and improvements," said Sir Ed ward, ''had been
forced on the contractors, who had naturally applied for some corresponding allowance. But the
Admiralty had refused to give them more than a
third of the sum they had themselves expended
on addition~ and improvements, with the result
that the contractors were, if not practically ruined,
subjected t.o a loss of the most shameful kind. " In
replying to this point, Sir U. l{ay-Shuttleworth
said that the extras ' 'were adjusted item by item
on the basis of the prices asked for by the contractors."
"\Ve are not aware what value is to be attached
to the latter statement, but it is evident that either
it is grossly misleading or else Sir Ed ward Reed
has been quite misinformed. . No contractor wo~ld
ask for prices for extras whtch would leave h1m
with a heavy pecuniary loss, and we are forced to
the conclusion that the "basis of adjustment>"
r eferred to by the Financial Secretary, _bore but a
d istant relation to the actual payment; 1n fact, the
phrase was a piece of that political jugglerr w~ich
Government officials are so clever at putt1ng tnto
the mouths of Ministers for parliamentary use.
"\Vhatever may be the merits of the present case,
however we know that the Admiralty have of late
taken a' very ill-advised attitude with regard to
contractors, and we have no hesitation in saying

the Board has used the enormous powers it reserves to itself in a manner that is oppressive
and unfair.
\Ve hear complaints on this score
from some who were formerly the closest
friends of the Admiralty, and amongst the most
trusted of naval contractors. We are precluded from giving instances, because contractors are naturally timid, and conversations on
these points have to be regarded as confidential,
but in the matter of " extras" great injustice has
been shown. These extras are forced on the contractor, and the Admiralty officials determine the
prices paid. Unless contractors have entered into
a sudden conspiracy to misrepresent facts, the sums
allowed are now often quite inadequate to pay for
the work and material.
It will be a bad thing for the country if the
Admiralty succeed in destroying th e confidence of
contractors, and the new departure seems likely to
lead to this end. Agreements to supply articles
are drawn in such a way that the department has
quite despotic powers, and so long as the contractors felt that they could depend on t he good
faith of the department they were content it should
be so, a tacit understanding being sufficient guarantee to protect them from injustice. That has been the
tradition between the service and contractors for
ages, but a new policy has arisen lately, and contractors have found that not only will the powers,
hitherto justly exercised, be used for the purposes
of extortion, but even finesse will be had recourse to
to gain an advantage in settling a contract. Certain
persons at Whitehall appear to act as if all contractors were dishonest, and to take ad vantage of
them were a clever and creditable thing to do.

THE RAILWAYS OF INDIA.

THE depression in trade, which has been experienced lately over such a widespread region, consequent on a great variety of causes, has affected
India most adversely, owing in large measure t o
the difficulties of the silver problem, and it is surprising that the report of the Director-General of
Rail ways for the year ended with March last does
not indicate a greater falling-off in the financial
return. The trade influence is sufficiently felt in
the checking of the progress which has marked
preceding years. A year ago Lieutenant-Colonel
Sargeaunt, R.E., was able to indicate a net profit
equal to 5. 76 per cent. on the capital expenditure,
which far exceeded the returns of most countries.
For the year under review the return is 5.43
per cent., so that t he falling-off is but .33 per
cent., due, as we shall presently show, to a
decrease in the goods traffic-almost entirely in
the export grain trade. Even greater economy
hss been manifested in working; the ratio of expenses to gross receipts has been 46.92 per
cent., rather less than in the preceding year.
The percentage return we have given, of course,
represents the statistical result, being the one by
which comparison may most properly be made with
other countries, as, for instance, Britain, where the
average return has decreased now to 3.85 per
cent., while in the case of the Australian colonies
from 3 t :> 4 per cent. is about the return. Unfor
t unately, however, the interest on a large proportion of the Indian railway stock has to be paiJ, not
in the currency of the country, but iu the currency
of Britain-gold, and the depreciation of silver
involves very heavy losses. During the year there
was a very heavy fall in exchange, which makes
the results still more unfavourable. The recent
decision of the Government for the maintenance of
the exchange value of the r upee at 1s. 4d. will
assist matters ; but the rail ways will still be encumbered with the heavy rates of dividend on
a uaranteed stock. Under its contracts with guaranteed rail way companies the State has to pay interest
at high guaranteed rates until the contract~ terminate and is consequently unable to obta1n any
ad vant~ge from the increasingly easy condition of
the money market. The State could now raise
money at 3 per cent. to pay off loans raised at high
rates of interest, but the contracts compel them to
continue to pay a mean rate of 4.8 per cent. Indeed, owing to the fal~ in e~change, the amo_u nt
remitted to Eno-land
raised this to a sum equiva0
lent to 7. 6 per cent. on the t otal capital raised .
These circumstances explain why the net revenue,
equal to 5. 43 per cent. on the capital, is insufficient,
and that a further sum, equal to about f per cent.
on capital, is involved as loss, meeting the guaranteed dividend, &c., in gold currency. After allow-

[SEPT.

I, I ggj.

ing for contributions for sinking funds which will

redeem the capital at the expiry of the periods for
which the annuities run, the apparent loss is 135!
lakhs of rupees. It is not our purpose, however,
to enter into any question associated with currency;
it will be sufficient to consider some of the principal features of the year's operations.
Next to paying off the debt which now absorbs
large sums annually for interest charges, a most satisfactory method of reducing the apparent loss will
be the construction of railways, promising financial
success, with capital raised on the easy terms now
possible. The surplus earned will assist lines less
favoured in raising capital. The practice of the
Government is to expend annually in extensions
about two and a half millions, and while this may
not by some be considered sufficient, the regularity
and consistency of the development is commendable. Much depends upon the direction of the
extensions, a subject to which we may refer at some
future time; but it may be said generally that
special attention has been given to the linking up
of many small systems. The new mileage opened
during the year, although considerably less than
the previous year, is about the average of the past
fifteen years, about 490 miles. 1\iore than one-half
is on metre gauge. This brings the total mileage
up to 18,042 miles, of which 10,345 miles is standard
gauge. The average cost of single track for
standard gauge is 125,256 rupees, while the metre
gauge single track cost 63,256 rupees. The difference is thus almost 100 per cent. The traffic
is much greater on the standard gauge lines,
due to the more populous, fertile, and industrial
districts having the broader gauge. The net
revenue is four times that on the metre lines, on
which, too, a greater proportion of revenue is
absorbed for expenses, but, as was shown in our
analysis of the returns of the previous year, * it
does not follow that the metre gauge lines are less
efficient for their purpose, although this year the
standard lines return a higher ratio of net earnings,
6.47 to 5.26 in the case of the metre lines. The
metre lines are most serviceable as feeders, which,
doubtless, explains how, in the past t hirteen years,
while 2176 miles of rails have been laid on the
standard gauge, 3720 miles have been laid on
metre gauge.
As has been indicated, the gross earnings show a
decrease equal to 3. 61 per cent., the receipts per
mean mile open equalling 13,141 rupees, against
14,110 rupees in the previous year. As can readily
be imagined, there are great differences in the earnings of the various railways, but it is .satisfactory to
note t he development over a period of years experienced by all classes of rail way, from the East
Indian, on which the traffic per mile of line worked
has doubled in thirty years. The same can be
said for many of the other railways, while on some
of the metre gauge lines, which do not date so far
back, as in the caee of the Rajputana, J odhpore,
Burmah, &c , the traffic has doubled in ten or
fifteen years. Evidences, indeed, are afforded in
all directions that the rail ways create the traffic.
The fluctuations of a year br two are not of great
importance wh en progress is steady over a period
of years. In the earnings from passenger trains
for the year there is practically little difference on
the preceding year ; there is a fractional increase
on the number and t otal payments of passengers,
but receipts incidental to the traffic make the net
result a slight decrease, notwithstanding that there
has been an increase in passenger train mileage. In
each case, however, the differences are within 1 per
cent. The pa.sstmger train earnings per mean mile
open were 7210 rupees-in our currency abo ut 4.80l.
- or 3. 19 rupees per passenger train mile.
Turning now to goods traffic, the decrease in
earnings is more decided, having been 5. 34 per
cent., although the goods actually dealt with made
a slightly greater aggregate- 1490 tons per mile
open, or 4. 79 rupees per goods train mileage. The
ton mileage, however, was 4.63 per cent. less, the
average haul having been 160} miles. It should
be recalled that in the previous year there was an
unusually large export traffic in wheat and seeds
- -the decrease on the year is 885,903 tons- and the
totals this year are, under the circumstances,
favourable, and well above the average. Indeed,
but for this decrease in grain, the tonnage of goods
traffic would have been very great, for grain makes
up 5! million tons out of the total of 18,87 4, 000
tons dealt with, and it contributes a third of the

* See ENGINEERING, vol. liv., page 420.

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

SEPT. I' I 893]

Secretary, to make the fact known throughout of warehouses by private enterprise. It is also
the world, so that goods may be shipped direct to proposed to encourage the construction of 1200 to
Manchester against the opening of the canal. The 1500 ton barges for transfer or st?rage o_f go?ds, a
canal as far as Saltport, a length of J1 miles, indeed, system which should commend Itself,_ In. VIew. of
has been opened for some time. During the half- the large number of canals in communtcatLOD: With
year 708,169 t ons of merchandise traffic have been the ship canal. Lord Egerton, the chau ma!l
c:u ried o,er the opened portion of the canal, as ' of the company, is certainly co~fident of ul~I
against 423,579 tons during the corresponding period mate success. There is no questiOn of the su~t
in 1892. Saltport, indeed, has become a port of ability of the proportions of the canal, and Its
great importance, and already Lloyd's have an great convenience, on which he enlarged at th_e
agent there, 'vhile regular services are conducted meeting, and further of its being a g ~eat engiResults per Train Mile in Rupees.
- - - - - - - - : - - - - - - - - - - - - - - to L ondon and GlasO'OW for the transport of Man- neering undertaking which does cr~d.It to the
chaster products. One of the vessels carried 4000 abilit y and courage of Mr. Leader "'\VIllu~~s; b u t
Standard Gauge.
Metre Gauge.
t ons, the draught of water having been 21 ft., merit is not always rewarded. . His lo~dship urged
-indicating a satisfactory depth of water at the that the population of the district contiguous to the
1892 a.
18912.
18912.
18923.
entrance at Eastham. Of the traffic only 48,132 canal, which, including only the area to a~d from
- - t ons was chargeable with tolls, the remainder which traffic is carted around Manchester, IS put at
Earnings
4. 23
4. 39
3.03
3. 01

..
,
Expenet>s
1. 98
1. 52
1.58
1.93
being for the construction of the canal works, two millions, must be fed, and he looked for a large

2.41
1.43
N et earnings . .
1.51
but this was sufficient to pay working expenses import of foodstuffs, notably from Ireland, as. well
.. I 2.30
and leave a balance. Along the line of the canal as raw material. But as Sir John Harwood p01nted
These results should be considered in conjunc- establishments are being erected ; a pontoon dock out, in a speech studiously moderate, a great part
tion with the fact that the cost of the metre gauge 300 ft. long and 70 ft. wide is already in the of the traffic would be taken from other places, and
lines is but half that of the standard lines. The dock (see page 250 ante) ; graving docks are under there would be a desperate fight for it, although
standard line trains on the average carry 209 construction, while ten dredg~rs are at work cutting he believed that the canal would win in the end,
passengers, each tra veiling 43.64 miles, while the waterway and removing the dams. The finan- because the cost of transport by water is much
the metre train takes 230 passengers, each going cial situation is settled, the needed funds having cheaper than carriage by rail. It is well that this
40.43 miles. The case is reversed in the goods been provided by the Manchester Corporation, who contest should be borne in mind, particularly in
trains, where each standard train takes 140 tons, have now borrowed 4i millions for the scheme, the arrangement of agreements for warehouses,
each ton going 178 miles, against 77.69 tons going while the cost of the important work carried out &c. ; for, after all, victory usually rests upon
131 miles. The rates do not differ much as between during the year has been within the estimates. details. Financial differences which determine the
t he two systems, although there is great variety. The sales of plant not now required are realising choice of routes or of ports of discharge are not due
The lowest fare in some cases is ~d. per mile, but good prices. There is, moreover, complete harmony so much to transport itself as to the little conusually 1d. to l !d. ; third-class fares range from between the corporation and the shareholders' veniences and despatch which insure quick and
1id. to 2!d. per mile ; second-class, 3d. to 4!d. ; directors, so that there was cause for satisfaction economical discharge and loading.
and t he first-class from 6d. to 9d. Of the total at the meeting, which, however, was very properly
number of passengers carried the two lowest classes blended with a due appr eciation of the necessity
BRITISH OOLONIES AT CHICAGO.
constituted 97.37 per cent., the second-class 2.24 for very careful action.
I I. - CEYLON.
per cent., and the first-class . 39 per cent. of the
The present stats of the works justifies the exGREAT BRITAIN shines at the Columbian Expo
whole. Goods rates vary so much that unless de- pectation that the canal will be open within the next
t ails of the classification were given the figures half-year. It was at one time anticipated that the sition by the reflected light of her colonies, which
would not be interesting, but it may be noted that works at Runcorn would occupy two years, owing have never before appeared to such advantage at
food grains are carried for l id. to 3d. and 4d. per to the arrangements made with the Weaver Trustees any International Exposition. Some, it is true,
ton per mile, and coal at slightly cheaper rates.
to pass traffic through the canal docks ; but the have abstained altogether - a wise proceeding for
As to the expenses, the increasing use of Indian work has been carried forward so expeditiously any country not prepared t o make a fully creditcoal for fuel tends to economy. 875,000 tons out that it was practically completed in fourteen able display ; but those which have taken part
of t he total of 1,080,000 tons of coal used last year months, and now water is let into the canal for 3~ have covered themselves with credit, and have to
was from Indian mines. In addition, of course, miles in front of Runcorn. This work involved the some extent made good the deficiencies of the
there was the native wood, patent fuel, &c. The construction of heavy embankment, extending to mother country. Prominent among all our posfollowing as to the working expenses per train 2 miles, on ground reclaimed from the Mersey, and sessions are New South \Vales and Canada, but
mile may be interesting :
which passes from ' Veston Point past the old that is because they are the most important and
Runcorn Docks and under the great Runcorn the richest. Relatively it is hard to judge who has
Standard. , Metre.
British.
Bridge. The canal thus divided from the estuary done the best where all have done so well. In a
of t he Mersey is being dredged to 26 ft. depth, but recent issu\3 we endeavoured to give an idea of the
r upee
rupee
d.
Maintenance
. 50
.87
5.19
there is still a series of openings below Runcorn exhibit made by Cape Colony ; to-day we propose to

Locomotive . .
.64
.63
8.31

have something to say about the display of Ceylon.

where
sluices,
&c.,
will
subsequently
be
placed,
in
Carriages and wagons ..
.17
.11
2. 98

In July, 1891, Lord Knutsford, Secretary of

order to interrupt, as little as possible, the natural
Traffic
..
..
.32
.25
9.71

General
.18
.21
1.39

flow of water into the Mersey. The works at this State for the Colonies, informed the Governor of
point also included the construction of the Wedton Cey Ion that a R oyal Commission had been
We have given the British results for a normal Mersey Lock (600 ft. long), of a lay-by with a depth appointed to look after the interests of Great
year. Taking the rupee at ls. 4d. value, it is seen of 12ft., and of a swing bridge described, with Britain and her colonies at the Columbian
that only in traffic charges can the Indian rail ways, others, in a series of articles on bridges in our Exposition, and suggested that if it was ineven of metre gauge, claim a lower rate of expenses. previous volume. Foundations had to be made for tended that the island should be represented,
The employment of native labour largely accounts a~ ad?itional line in co~nection with a possible arrangements should be made direct with the
for this item being less. Of the 17,000 employed w1dening for accommodatmg the Scotch mail traffic Co_mmissioD:. A local committee of eight distinonly 4500 are now Europeans, the great majority ?f the London and N orth-Western Railway, accord- gmshed residents was formed, and this committee
of whorn are on the main lines, while of East mg to agreem~nt; but if the company do not decided that it would be preferable to maintain an
Indians there are 5807.
apply for parliamentary powers to widen their line independen_t position, while o~ ~ourse working in
within three years, they must recoup the canal com- harmony with the Royal CommlSSLOn. The Colonial
pany
~he cost of the fo~ndations now being put in. Secretary approved this course, and the work of
l\IANCHESTER SHIP CANAL
The h1gh-level road bndge near Latchford is almost preparation_ was co~menced. The persons chiefly
PROSPECTS.
completed, and the water let into the canal from Interested In makmg a successful exhibit from
THE shareholders of the Manchester Ship Canal Latchford to Warburton.
The new aqueduct Ceylon were the members of the Planters' Associahave never met under more satisfactory auspices carrying the Bridgewater Canal at Barton and tion, their desire being to open up new market l!l
than they did at the half-yearly meeting on Mon- which is 1100 ft. long, weighing, when full of ~ater for Ceylon tea in the United States. So far as
day. Lord Balfour of Burleigh, the arbiter on the 1400 tons, is about completed. From Barto~ can be judged, they will fully achieve this object,
claim of the London and North-Western and Great to Manchester the work is nearly finished, and in and reap an ample return on t he money and trouble
\ Vestern Rail way Companies for compensation for other lengths the process of removing the old rail- expended by t hem. In 1891 the Hon. J. J. Grinthe deviation of their lines, had a warded a sum ways and of excavating is proceeding. The directors linton, a member of the Legislative Council wa8
equal to a fourth of the original claim. The total ~oo, _are maki~g everY: effort to have t he sewage pass~ appointed as special Commissioner, and h e w~s insum claimed was about 450, OOOl., and the canal mg Into the nvers tributary to the canal deodorised structed to go to Chicago in 1892 to make arranO'ecompany had even to deposit 383, 713l. by agree- or purified.
ments for space, &c. , with the Executive of the
ment before possession of the old lines was granted. . While thus pushing forward operations, the Exposition. One result of Mr. Grinlinton's visit
But now the total sum awarded is 100,66ll., so that duectors are s tr enuously endeavouring to insure was t~e allotment of about 28,000 square feet in
although probably 2o,OOOZ. of expenses have been a large measure of financial success from the open- four dtfferent parts of the Exposition buildings and
incurred, the Canal Company have secured an ad ing. In the sale of surplus land the principle gro unds, as follows :
vantage by r esorting to arbitration. The progress of on _whic~ they are proceeding is to encourage works
Sq. Ft.

the works during the half-year was decided the whiCh will foster traffic. Thus a large sawmill is
The Ceylon Pavilion ...
... 24,000

Agricultural
,
...
droughthavingproved of great advantage. The Run- to be erected at Ellesmere Port, a co-operative soap
...
...
1,684
1\IIanufactures ,,
... ... .. .
1,350
corn section, which involved the greatest difficulties work at Irlam, large frozen meat stores at Mode
Women's Building
...

540

from an engineering point of view, and was t here- Wheel, pontoon and ship-repairing works at Ellesfore ~etained in the hands of the engineer instead mere, and a pontoon and graving dock at Mode
27,574
of bemg let to contractors, has practically been com- Wheel, where, also, large abattoirs are to be conThe Ceylon Pavilion is beautifully situated on
ple~ed, so t hat now t here is every prospect of navi- s~ructed by the Mancheste~ and Sa~ford Corporagahon to Manchester being open in six months, and tiOns. Other works are bemg negotiated for while t he north ~id~ of the grounds, not far from the
L ord Rosebery has been officially asked, as Foreign agreements are under consideration for the e~ection ~e~man Bmld1ng, an~ facing the lake. Its design
IS Simple, rectangular m plan, with a bold octagonal
goods earnings. Bombay, by the way, is very
steadily absorbing the majority of the wheat export
traffic, to the disadvantage principally of Calcutta.
Coal, which comes next to grain, stands about the
average, 2.88 million tons. Metals and oils show
increases ; but the most remarkable difference is in
the carriage of sugar , of which over 1 million tons
have been carried, against 29,159 t ons in the
previous year. Other products show little changf'.
The results per train mileage may be tabulated :

277

E N G I N E E R I N G.
rotunda in the centre, and entrances at the
ce~tre of each end and at front and back. The
obJect ?f the architect in designing this pavilion
lvas to ~ntroduce as much native work as possible.
-:A-ccordmgly, ~e find tha~ the_four stairways leadIng to the main floor, whiCh 1s raised 4 ft. above
the ground, are in .richly carved stone, copied or
adap~ed from the r~1ns of temples that still mark
the s1te of the ancient capital of Ceylon, and date
from 545 B. c. to 1235 A. D. Passing through the
handsomely carved portals, the visitor finds himself in the main hall, the ceiling of which is
B';Jpported by t~enty - f?ur elaborately carved
pillars ~rranged 1n. two hers, the upper portion
supportmg the higher r oof of the pavilion ;
all of these columns, with their curious cross
bracket capitals, are copied from the finest examples..of decorative work possessed hy c~ylon.
Th~ cetlmg ~f the pavilion is divided into panels of
sat1nwood riChly carved, and the inner faces of the
wa~ls are filled with paintings executed by native
art1sts: Perhaps the most important feature of the
court 1s the tea-room that is placed at the top of
th_e ~entral. rotun~a, access being obtained by a
wInding starrway, Inclosed within a screen of very
elaborately carved wood. This room which commands beautiful views of the lake and grounds, has
proved. a great attraction to privileged visitors, and
from It a general knowledge of the virtues of
Ce~lon tea has been distributed to all parts of the
United ~tates:
The exterior of the building is
fra~ed In satmw.ood, and t he steep tiled roofs are
copied from classic Ceylon architecture. The cases
within this characteristic building are of satinwood
and ebony, and are crowded with the natural and
ma~ufactured products of the island, specimens of
nahve art, &c. The architect of the pavilion is
Mr. H. F. Tomalin, Public Works D epartment,
Ceylon. The smaller courts-those in the Agricultural, Manufactures, and "\Vomen's Buildingsthough, of course, much less ornate, are conceived
and executed in the same spirit.
We have said that the primary inducement to
exhibit at Chicago was the wish t o make known
Ceylon tea in t he United States; it followed
naturally that everything should be made to reflect
the importance of this growing industry. Even in
this country few people realise h ow great has been
the development of tea plantation in an island
whose staple product we are accustomed to believe
is coffee. As a matter of fact, however, this latter
industry is in decadence, h aving been a. few years
since irreparably damaged by disease ; the consequence of this disaster was that coffee planters
started on t he cultivation of tea.. The first imports
were made to this country in 1873, when 23 lb.
were sent over ; in 1880 this had grown to
162,575 lb. ; in 1885 to 4,372, 000 lb.; in 1890 to
45,799,000 lb .; and in 1892 to 71,809,000 lb. At
the present time no less than 265,000 acres are
under tea cultivation, and it is worth noting that
while the profitable limits of coffee cultivation are
fixed between 2000 ft. and 5000 ft. above sea level,
tea plants flourish from near sea level to 6000 ft.
above it, the more delicate and lesser yields coming
from the higher elevations. The crops vary from
350 lb. to 700 lb. per acre, though this rises as high
in some cases as 1000 lb. The climate appears
especially favourable for tea cultivation, as the
leaves are picked aJmost continuously at intervals
of ten days. When brought to the factory it is
spread thinly on shelves and left to wither for twentyfour h ours (or longer in wet weather), after which
it is put on to rolling machines for a short time,
and allowed to ferment in shallow trays for a few
h ours. The final process consists in exposing the
fermented mass to a temperature of from 180 deg.
to 240 deg. for about a quarter of an h our. After
cooling, separation by means of screens assorts the
tea into different q ualities, and it is ready for packing, an operation preceded by a second heating to
150 deg.
India and Ceylon h ave well-nigh driven China
teas from the British market, and Ceylon may
b e proud of this comparatively new in.dustry, wh.ich
places her in the van of tea-producmg countries,
and as3ures for her a source of weal th not likely to
be troubled by disastrous competition. The area
of land placed under cultivation for this purpose is
annually increasing, and it appears a moderate
estimate to expect that within t he next five years
300 000 acres will be devoted to the production of
at l~ast 100 million pounds of tea. With the exception of some 5 million pounds c?nsumed in the
island, all the rest must find a foretgn market, and

hitherto th.is has been attended with no difficulty.

The following Table shows the proportions in which
foreign countries purchase tea from Ceylon, and
indicates great possibilities of increase in the near
future:
Countries.
1892.
1891.
United Kingdom
. .. 63,7 44,987 64,815,075
Austria. ...
.. .
...
74,426
93,793
Belgium . . .
. ..
605
85
. ..
France .. .
...
21,210
1u,374

Germany .. .
123,077
. ..
92,291

Holland .. .
. ..
2,280
970

Italy
.. .
4,279
4, 649
. ..

Russia.
.. .
...
11,2il0
400

Spain
.. .
...
16,995
13,380

Sweden .. .
...
300

Turkey .. .
.. .
...
4,211
3,130
India
.. .
. ..
620,161
528,037

Australia. .. .
. . . 3,210,598
5,166,154

America .. .
...
163,187
100,8D3

Africa.
.. .
.. .
70,828
64,728

103,988
China
.. .
..
163,041

Singapore .. .
11,381
...
3, 618

89,617
~Ia.uritius .. .
. ..
68,783

18,326
~Ia.lta.
.. .
... . ..
2, 000

--

Total
. . . 68,274, 420 71,153,657

This very extensive industry gives employment

to a large number of persons, probably not less
than 200,000. Out of the three million of inhabi!auts of Ceylon, more than two millions are engaged
In agriculture. Of other industries the principal
are as follows : Small traders, 62,000 ; coir workers,
64,000; carpenters, 46,000; fishermen, 25,000;
je~ellers, 19,000 ; ca.rters, 58,000; plumbago
miners, 8000 ; blacksmiths, 13,000 ; gem diggers,
800. By the last census the nationalities were thus
defined:
Europeans
. ..
...
. ..
. ..
4, 678
Singhalese
.. .
...
...
. . . 2, 041,158
Burghers . . .
...
. ..
.. .
. ..
21,231
Tamils . . .
...
...
. ..
...
723,853
Moormen.. .
...
.. .
...
...
197,166
:Malaya . ..
. ..
..
. ..
.. .
10, 1~3
Veddahs . ..
...
. ..
...
. ..
1,229
The Europeans are chiefly English. The Singhalese aud the V eddahs form t hat part of the
population peculiar to Ceylon. The former are
of Aryan race, from the north of India, the connection between these remote places being proved
by monuments dating from 250 B. c., and by Indian
literature still more remote. The Tamils occupy
chiefly t he northern part of the island, and are a
distinct race, coming from Southern India,
which still furnishes a large number of immigrants. The Moormen are of Arab stock, and
in Ceylon, as in Southern India, control a
large part of the local t rade, but live quite
distinct from the other races, following their ow n
customs, religion, and laws. The Ivlalays are
chiefly descended from transient dwellers on the
island coming from the Malay Peninsula. The
Burghers are also a race apart. They come from the
Portuguese, who owned the island from about 1500
to 1650, and from the Dutch, who succeeded them
and remained in possession till near the end of the
last century, when it became the property of this
country. Of course th~ Burghers, with but few
exceptions, cla1m Singhalese as well as European
ancestors. These three millions of very mixed inhabitants live in a country richly endowed by
nature. The island h as an area of 25,333 square miles,
of which about one-sixth is mountainous country,
attaining a maximum height of 8296 ft. The famous
Adam's Peak is the fifth in altitude of the mountains of Ceylon. Most of these mountains are
wooded to the summit. Rivers are not numerous,
and carry but little water in the dry season ; the
most important is the Mahaweliganga, the Ganges
of Ptolemy, which has a main stream of 150 miles
and drains one-sixth of the island. The heat is
not excessive, and almost any variety of climate
can be found between t he sea level and the mountain tops. The rainfall has a great range, from
about 35 in. in some parts of the island to 228 in.
in others. The rate of mortality in the towns
ranges from 1. 6 to 4 per cent. In the Cey Ion
Pavilion at Chicago the physical and ethnographical
features of the country are admirably illustrated by
maps and diagrams prepared by native exhibitors,
and by life-sized model~ of the different native
races. The mineral resources are also shown by a
large collection of specimens. !\1inerals in Cey Ion
are very numerous, but only e. few are found in
paying quantities. Iron is abundant, but coal does
not exist. Gold, platinum, cobalt, t in, copper,
&c., are also found, but not in paying quantities.
Plumbago in splendid quality is obtained in qua.n-

[SEPT.

I,

1893.

tities large enough to add sensibly to the revenue

of the country. Gems are abundant, though few
are found of great size and perfection. They are
chiefly sapphires, rubies, zircon , amethyst, cat'seye, moonstones, garnets, &c. The pearl fisheries
of Ceylon h ave long been famous.
As we have already said, more than two millions
of the three million inhabitants are occupied in
agriculture. Rice forms the staple food of the
population, and the cultivation of paddy, from
which the rice is produced, gives occupation to a
l~rge prop~rtion.
There are. no less than sixty
different kinds of paddy cultivated, one of which
is grown on non-irrigated land, and a few varieties
are grown with tank irrigation. The remainder all
~eq.uir~ swampy land, which can be submerged by
Irr1gatwn canals for some weeks, until the surface
has become quite free from weeds. The seed meantime is spread on the g round and allowed to germinate, and after a succession of soakings it is in a condition to be sown. The field is then drained and
smoothed, and the germinated seed is spread broadcast ; after a delay of seven days the water is admitted, and the field is kept submerged until the
grain ripens, attention being paid during the two
or three months occupied, to careful weeding.
When nearly ripe, the water is again withdrawn
and the harvest takes place. The various processes are well illustrated in the Ceylon Pavilion.
So also are the industries connected with the palm
tree, of which several varieties are of great importance. The kitul palm yields sugar and toddy, a.
favourite intoxicating drink, obtained from the sap
flowing from the excised flower stalk. As much as
two gallors of sap is thus obtained from a single
stalk in twenty-four h ours. After filtration and
boiling the sap crystallises into the native sugar;
about six million cakes, or 893 tons, of this product
are made and sold in the island. The wood of the
kitul palm is used for construction, and especially
for irrigation flumes. Brt~sh fibres are also manufactured from this palm. The areca palm is very
largely cultivated for the nuts it produces, and of
which about 6000 tons are exported annually ; the
wood of this palm is also used in building.
Rattans, aloes, and hemp are the other agricultural
staples of the island . These are illustrated at
the Exposition by raw products and manufactured
articles in great variety.
As with other Crown colonies, the Governor of
the island, aided by the Executive and Legislative
Councils, makes and administers the laws, which are
subject to the approval of the Crown. The Executive Council consists of five of the principal Government officers. The Legislative Council is composed
of the Executive, four other Government officers,
and eight unoilicial members chosen by the
Governor. A very complete system of native village
councils has established the principle of selfgovernment. Public education has been largely
developed in the colony, under the aid of a Government grant and with the co-operation of various
missionary societies, no less t han 154,000 children
being r egularly instructed.
No one can examine the various exhibits of this
interesting colony without receiving the impression
that its prosperity is great and steadily increasing
under British rule. We believe, as we have already
said, that the planters of Ceylon will be well r epaid
for t h eir enterprise, and will establish large and
profitable business relations with the United States.
And we are quite sure that they could not have
intrusted their interests to a commissioner better
adapted in all respects to protect and promote
them, than the Hon. J. J. Grinlinton.

NON-ARCING LIGHTNING
ARRESTER.

MR. ALEXANDER tT. W ultTS has done good

service for the protection of electric lighting and
electric power stations by his lightning arrester.
In a heavy thunderstorm there is always the possibility of the discharge finding its way through the
line to the dynamo and injuring some vital part.
Many devices have been d esigned to protect various
installations against this danger ; the extensive
experience of the Westinghouse Company, of Pittsburgh, favours that introduced by 1\Ir. \Vurts.
I t is plain that an efficient lightning arrester
must (1) afford a ready passage to earth for the discharge, and (2) it must prevent the dynamo from
short-circuiting itself on the passage of the flash.
Mr. \Vurts' arrangement is shown in Fig. 1,
where seven cylinders of his alloy are arranged

SEPT.

279

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

I, I893]

vertically and at a very short distance ap~rt, th'!s

forming six air-gaps. Tho number of cylinders In
an arrester depends upon the character ~f the
circuit for which it is constructed. The cylmders
are usually 1 in. in diameter, 3 in. long, the interval being t'! in..
The diagram, F1g. 2, sh ows the .dynamo t.er mina.ls connected to the extreme cylmders, whilst
the middle one is put t o earth. One arrester,
therefore, serves to protect both sides of the circuit. When the line becomes charged, spurks leap
across the air-gaps on both sides the grounded
cylinder, through which the discharge is harmlessly
conducted to earth. As the cylinders are massive,
there is no danger of their being burnt out; and,
moreover as the alloy used will not maintain an
a.rc it foliows t hat the heavy current which may be
de~eloped will not follow in the path of t he discharo-e and the dynamo cannot short-circuit itself
for : ny appreciable length of time. The surfaces
of the cylinders being r oughened, there are hundreds
of confronting points to facilitate the discharge.

no severe strain will ever be put upon the station

arrester and the dynamos and transformers will be
perfectly safe. Of course, it is assumed tha~ good
eart h connection is made by as short and duect a
line as p ossible.
.
E lectric rail way circuits are also very hable to
inj ury fron1 lightning discharges. This arises from
the fact t hat the t rolley line is directly exposed to
the influence of the electrically disturbed atmosphere. It is true that one pole of t~e dynamo ~nd
also of the motor is grounded (see Fig. 3). At first
it might seem that this arrangement w~mld be ~u~
cient to carry off any charge that might preJ udtcially affect the working conditions of ~he lin e ; but
it is found in practice t hat the fi eld coils an.d armature coils of the dynamo offer some considerable
impedance to discharges of an oscillatory and high
frequency character, as light ning flashes are known
to be, the r esult being a remarkable te1~d en cy to
"side-flash" to the frame of the machine, t hus
breakin <Yb down the insulation and disabling t he
dy namo.
LINE

Fig . 2 .

C ROCI NO

/16(8

Piu. 1.

.
,.

186/.A

.....",
.'

II 1'
I

F~g. 4- !i
I
I

"

-.

'

..'
o

pany depend for their ele.ctric e~ciency o.n the

complete absence of all coils of wire. It IS !ldmitted that rapidly oscilla~in g ~ischarges are im
peded n ot only by t he ohmic resistance of the ?Onductor t hrough which they pass, but also and c~Iefiy
by its self-induction. These arresters .offer~ Sim~le
and direct path to earth for t he dtsruptive diS
charge, and the mechanical ~rrangements are so
determined as to operate with promptness and
certainty, thereby offering protection to the gene
rat ing machinery.

N 0 T E S.
THE NoRTH SEA-BALTIC CANAL.
THE approaching compl~tion of the North Sea
Baltic Canal (the canal w11l, n o doubt, be opened,
accordino- to t he original plan, in 1895) has caused
quite a. ~umber of important engineering undertakino-s t o be taken in hand , or, at any r ate,
serio;sly proj ect ed. The Copenhagen free harbour,
which will entail an expenditure of abo ut 1,000,000l.,
must be classed among these, and at Dantzic the
buildino- of a. free harbour is n ow under discussion.
In Sweden the Malmo will be materially extended,
and other schemes have also been to the for e.
Liibeck has extended her quay acccommodation;
and the Trave-Elbe Canal will, n o doubt, soon be
commenced. Pillau and K onigsberg will be connected by a ca.nal20 ft. deep, which will cost about
375,000l. The town of Stettin is expending 550,000l.
upon an extension of bulwarks and harbours,
and Bremen will apply 1,500,000l. to t.he deepenino- of the vVeser. Hamburg, finally, is building
a deep harbour at Cuxhaven; an~ at Kiel material
extensions of the harbour are be1ng urgently advocated; in any case some additional quay accommodation will be provided for.
ELECTRIC RAILWAYS.
The recent rep ort of the Committee appointed to
frame clauses for inser tion in the Bills promoted by
electric railways (see page 85 ante) emphasises t he
well-known fact that there is a large amount of
leakage when the rails are used as conductors for
the current. When only one rail is used for this purpose the leakage is into the earth, and thence along
any pipes or wires that offer an easy path. When
iho rails are used as the positive and n egative conductors r espectively, the leakage becomes very much
more serious, and, indeed, is practically prohibitive
of this method of working. Our columns cont.ain
accounts of several attempts t o avoid this difficulty
'

----

The action of the arrester is easily illustrated by

passing the discharge from a L eyden battery
through it, when bluish sparks are seen corresponding to t he air-gaps.
The following t est has also been made. An
arrester similar to that shown in Fig. 1 was placed
in circuit with a. dynamo. Six of the air-gaps
were bridged over with a t hin piece of tinfoil. On
closing t.he switch, often only one bright spark was
seen, the strips of tinfoil remaining intact, thus
showing how very rapidly the short circuit was
interrupted. Had any other than a. non-arcing
metal been used, it is evident that the machine
would run serious risk of being completely destroyed.
This arrester is substantially made ; and as it
contains no moving parts, no coils to offer any
impedance to the pas3age of the discharge, it requires n o adjustment and no special attention.
During the past year more than 2000 have been in
use in various parts of the United StateS', their
performance giving everywhere great satisfaction.
Several instances are recorded in which t he lightning sparked incessantly across the cylinders without damaging t he arresters or even interrupting
the service.
Experience shows, however, that in cases of
excessive discharges a division may occur at the
station arrester, a part going through the air-gap
S\nd t he rest t hrough the dynamo. 'his leads to
the conclusion that long lines must be further provided with their own arrester. When this is done,

To provide against these dangers, the W eatinghouse Company have devised the "keyston e
arrester " shown in Fig. 4. By comparing Figs. 3
and 4, it will be seen that the path of the discharge
will be from the line across the air-gap of the
arrester, and thence t o earth. In leaping across
this air-space, sufficient heat is produced to expand
the air inclosed within the chamber; and thus
violently to blow out the two carbon rods or arms
(shown as black heavy Jines) passing through the
marble sides of the apparatus. As the carbon tips
separate from the carbon blocks, against which they
slightly press, two new arcs are formed, which
further increase the suddenness and violence of the
expansion of the air within the chamber. The arms
are thus driven out into t he position shown by the
dotted lines (Fig. 4), thereby breaking the circuit
and protecting the machines. The arms strike a
horizontal bumper and fall back at once into t heir
normal position, the arrester being then r eady for
further discharges.
The action of the apparatus is infltantaneous as
a pistol shot ; t h e duration of the discharge is practically inappreciable, and the t ime during which
the dynamo is short-circuited is infinitesimal, and
hen ce no damage can ensue. In a recent trial the
entire power-house of one of the large electric
railway companies of New York was short-circuiied
through t his arrester, and the circuit was interrupted so promptly that no spark whatever could
be noticed at t he brushes of the generators.
The arresters used by the Westinghouse Com-

Fig. l.

---

- --

ig. 2 .

- - --

by carrying the current in buried conductors and

connecting short lengths of rail to these at intervals,
so that the leakage is localised. A more recent
method, proposed by Lord Alfred Spencer
Churchill, is to make connections to the buried
insulated conductor every 20ft. or so, and at each
to erect a special contact piece above the roadway. On the vehicle is a brush so long that it wiH
always touch one of those contacts, and thus
always be in communication with the main conductor. In the annexed view C is t he buried conductor, A the contact piece, and E the brush.
HIGH SPEED ON RAILWAYS.
In a paper r ead b efore the Engineers' Club of
Phi!adelphia, Mr. C. S. Churchill, permanent way
e~gineer to the ~ orfolk ~nd 'Yestern Rail way,
discussed t he questwn of h1~h speed on railways.
The speeds Mr. Churchill had in view were such as
100 miles per hour, and for this he considers that
the maximum grades should not exceed 20ft. or
possibly 30 ft . per mile. The quickest curves
should n ot exceed 2 de g. (2864 ft. radius). Tho
r oad-bed should have four tracks, the inner ones
being reserved for the high-speed passenger traffic.
The tracks should be spaced at least 13 ft. centre
to centre, ~nd every precaution taken to protect
them by usmg moderate slopes of the cuttino-s and
embankments. In aarth the slopes should b~
to
1, in solid r ock to 1, and in l~ose r ock from to
1 to 1 t o 1, as may be required. Berm ditches
should be provided at the top of all cuttings. N 0
level crossings should be permitted. The bridges
where the span is not too great should be of
masonry, and elsewhere plate girders should be

lt
t

280

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

used up to 100 ft. span , and up to 120 ft. span all

truss bridges should be of the riveted type. The
sleepers should be 7 in. by 7 in. by 8t ft., and there
should be 3000 per mile. The rails should weigh
100 lb. per yard, and n1ight be 5f in. high, with a base
5l in. wide, and a head 2i in. wide. The number of
rail j oint s should be reduced by laying the rails in
60-ft. lengths, the spaces for expansion between the
rails being as a maximum t in.
S ome better
method of securing the rail to the sleepers than
s pikes should be u sed. The Bush interlocking b olt
is simple, and has given good results. Guard rails
should be used on all bridges, the distance b etween
the guard rail and the main rail being 7 in. All
switches should be protected by distant signals, set
sufficiently far from t he switches f or the trains t o
be able to stop after sighting the signal and b efor e
reaching the switch.
THE ELECTRIC LIGHT IN B uDA-PEsT.
The latest example of a gas company's adapting
itself to m odern requirements and substituting
incandescence lamps for gas burners is reported
from the Hungarian capital. The General Austrian
Gas Company, of Buda-Pest, have commissioned
Messrs. Schuckert and Co., of Nurnberg, to supply
everything necessary for the illumination of the
capital, the company retaining the manag ement of

C.E., descr ibes the use of con crete in brid<>'e substructures in N ova Scotia. For s uch purpo~es concrete has, h e claims, many advantages. Suitable
stone for ashlar work is often unobtainable at a
reasonable price, and then concrete is much cheaper.
Concrete piers can also b e built by unskilled labour,
and with great rapidity. During t h e past ten years
the piers and abutme nts of 147 bridges have b een
built of con cr ete in Nova Scotia, and of these only
one has fa iled, and in this case the want of success
was due to careless workmanship. The climate of
Nova Scotia is very trying to ordinary masonry, as
i t ran ges from 15 deg. b elow zero Fahr. t o 90 deg.
ab ove. In on e case t h e masonry piers of a lar<>'e
bridge proved a constant source of expense to
the rail way company. The water penetrated the
masonry at high tido, and on the tide receding
froze there, dislodging the s tones. I t was finally
determined to case the whole pier in concrete, a nd
since t h en ther e has been n o further trouble. In
forming piers of concrete the heart of the pier was
made out of rubble concrete, and t he face out of
fine con cr ete. This fine concrete consisted of one
part clean gravel, t wo parts sand, and one part
P ortland cement. The hearting was formed by
laying the rubble stones in position by hand . None
of these stones weighed less than 20 lb. , and they
were placed 2 in. to 3 in. apart. The whole was finally

EM

DC

[SEPT.

I,

1893.

A WATER-COOLED BRAKE ERGOMETER.

By FREDERICK J. SMITH, Millard L ecturer in
Mechanics, Trinity College, Oxford.
THE d ifficulty of keeping the coefficient of friction constant in the brake ergometer must have been experienced
by many who have tried to determine the work done by
motors of different descriptions, when subjected to
various electrical cond itions. In some of my earliest
work on this subject, an account of which was published
in 1882, I find that an unlubricated web band or rope,
acting as a brake on a well-polished pulley, &ave E.. constant frictional resistance, as long as the temperature
was kept low, not above 25 deg. Cent.; I also found thab
the rope did not wear much at such a temperature. By
using a hollow cylinder, having a rather thm face, as the
brake pulley, filled with ice, the temperature was prevented from rising during a short test, lasting about sixteen
minutes.
These tests were far more satisfactory than any made
with lubricated brake-blocks or lubricated ropes. The
web or rope is preferable to the brake block, in that its
mass is small when c1mpared to that of a row of blocks
attached to a metal band.
Since these experiments were made, I find that in the
motor trials made for the Society of Arts, in which gas
engines were t ested, a dry rope quite free from lubrication was used, the rise of temperature being prevented by
a drip of water on the inside of the pulley. The results
were excellent. The coolin~ of the brake pulley by
means of water has been put mto a practical form by ::1\Ir.
F. Ga rrett and by Mr. H alpin, the brake pulley in each
case being furnished with flanges for keeping the water
against the internal surface of the wheel (Proc. Inst .
C.E., vol. xcv., page 17). In the brake wheel of Mr.
H alpin the water is supplied to the trough and constantly removed by a scoop pipe. The amount of resistance due to this method of removing the Water is nob
mentioned.

OM

17S?

s
the installation. The actual plant is for 16,000
incandescence lamps of 16 candles ; provision is,
however, to be made for a considerable extension,
probably tripling, of the plant. The lighting of
certain districts is t o commence with December.
The installation will be interesting not only for ils
dimensions, but chiefly f or t he combination of the
continuous and the alternating or rather diphase
current systems. The feeding of the lamp circuits
will be effected by means of continuous-current
dynamos and accumulators. The p ower h ouse
b eing, h owever, at a distance of two miles from
the t o wn, high-pressure alternators have been
selected as primary generators not to require
t)O heavy conductors.
Two triple-expansion
steam engines of 500 h orse - power each are
being erected in t h e power h ouse. They are
coupled directly with two diphase dynamos for
1800 volts and 100 amperes, connected in parallel,
whose fi elds are excited by two smaller dynamos.
These exciters will supply the current for Jighting
the p ower h ouse. The main currents pass through
three lead-covered cables to the two diphase
motor s. Each of the iron-sheathed cables contains two concentric leads, the third cable remaining for reserve. The m otors are again directly
coupled with the continuous-current dynam? s,
whose current flows t o two accumulator batten es
of 148 cells each of a capacity of from 1500 to
2200 ampe;e- hours, discharging at about 500
amperes. The three-wire system will be adopted
for the lamp circuits. The annexed diagram explains the connection s. S r epresents lamps at the
station, E D t he exciting dynamo, EM the exciting
magnets D G alternate double-current generator,
D M a.lt~rnate d ouble-current motor, D continuouscurrent dynamo, L line, A battery. R otary transformers of the polyphase ~ype are also spok_en
of in t h e information supplied t o us. A l.arge Installation of this kind will b e watched w1th considerable interest.
CoNCRETE PIERS IN NovA ScoTIA.
In a paper presente d to the International Engin eering Congress, Chicago, Mr. Martin Murphy,

grouted up with fine concrete, so that the composition of the h earting was five parts rubble stones, one
part g ravel, two sand, and one P ortland cement.
Many arches were also built of con crete. At first
care was taken to avoid h orizon tal planes of
weakness by build ing up the concrete in layers
with radial j oints, so that each layer resembled a
voussoir. At present, h owever, the a rches are
built en masse, s ufficient material b eing provided
t o complete the job at once. In d ep ositing concrete under water, Mr. Murphy has made use of
paper bags stiffened with glucose, and holding 1
cubic foot of concrete each. These a.re made up
q uickly and deposited rapidly one after the other.
The paper is immediately d estr oyed by t he submersion, and t he concrete remains. The cost of
the b ags is about 35 cents per cubic yard of concrete. This meth od has been s uccessfully employed
in 15ft. to 18 ft. of water.
NOTES FROM THE UNITED STATES.
PHILADELPHIA, August 22, 1893.
I T is safe to say that at no time in the history of
the country was there so much business held in check,
awaiting t he action of t he Government on questions of
finance. R ailroad companies t hree months ago bad
plans completed for considerable work in track-laying,
t he putting in of machinery, and the extension of
fa cilities ; much of this projected work is at a standstill. Hundreds of enterprises have been set aside for
the time being, which, if prosecuted, would sustain
quite a demand for iron and steel products. All
branches of the iron trade suffer alike. The little
business that is coming in is coYering only immediate
requirements. Prices have not \'arid for two or three
~ eeks, and it seems impossible to make any impression on them. The weekly production is now about
100,000 tons of crude iron. Pig tin has dropped, and
t inplate moves sluggishly. The arrival of large shipments of gold, and the prospect of an early vote upon
the silver question at vVashington, are creating
anticipations of relief. Coal production continues
heavy in all regions. The coke output has very
largely declined, owing to suspension of furnaces,
mills, and foundries. Manufacturin g interests hope
for a reaction as soon as the public mind is set at rest.

Believing this method of braking a pulley to be simple

and easily managed, I have constructed an absorption
machine, in which a constant circulation of cold water is
kept up, the water being introduced and removed along
the axis of rotation, so that resistance to rotation due to
the removal of the water may be as small as possible.
By means of the machine de~cribed in this paper, a test
may be easily extended over a long period. A recording
cylinder has also been added, so that changes in tension
can be readily observed.
The construction of the water-cooled wheel is shown in
the figure appended. The water enters a. tubular steel
shaft D C at C ; the shaft carries the brake pnlley A and
the dri ving pulley B; the water fills A and Bows out
through the shaft at D. When the machine is in action
the effect of the movement of the colder and there[Qre
denser watQr from the centre is to keep it where it is
required, namely, against the inner face of the pulley.
'I he rope is usually taken once round A ; one end 1s fixed
to a spring balance above the machine, and the other end
carries n. known weight. The rotation of the pulley constantly tends to lift the weight. The spring balance is
furni shed with a pointer which writes a line upon a
revolving cylinder, so that changes in the pull on the
spring can be easily observed. These are usually found
to be very small.
MARINE B OILER CONSTRUCTION.*
By C. E . STROMEYER, Assoo. M. Inst . C.E., E ngineerSur veyor, Lloyd's Register, Glasgo w.
I N responding to the request to contribu te a paper on
some subject connected with marine engineering, it was
felb by the author that, as his work on boilers is on the
point of being published, and as his time has only recently been much occupied in considering the numerous
problems connected with their construction, it might be
possible to place before this Congress both a concise and
yet a fairly exhausti ve summary of the present process of
manufacture. That these few remarks cannot claim to
be more than a. very brief outline will, it is hoped, soon be
apparent; but that the field is also a very much larger
one than would at first sight appear, will be<'ome evident
on recalling the various subjects connected with it, and
which affect either the sizes or the processes of manufacture.
There are all the various conditions of working a boiler
at sea, the question of coal consumption, leakage, and
corrosion, the f:ffioienoy, heat transmission, funnel
draughts, and priming. All these are important matter~,
and may not be neglected in determining the sizes of

* Pa_per read before the International Maritime Con-

gress, London Meeting.

SEPT. I' I 893]

boilers. As regards scantlings, it is also neressary to

know how steel behaves after being under the various
treatments to which it is subjected in the boiler yard as
well a.s at sea, to what extent heat affects it, what injuries
punching and drilling will produce, and what are the
various causes of spontaneous or mysterious cracks and
failures.
But when all these matters have been satisfactorily
ascertained, there remains the as yet practically unex
plored field of stresses in boilers. The problems seem
simple enough-given a cylindrical .shell, a cylindrical
furnace, a screwed stay or a fiat plate, find what pressure
any one part will stand without giving way. But if these
questions are examined carefully, the simplest of them
grows complicated. Tbuq, screwed stays of 1 square inch
section might be expected to withstand a. pull of from 25
to 30 tons, yet in a. boiler they sometimes break before
apparently 10 tons is reached. This is most probably due
t o a combination of tension and bending stresses, caused
by the relative change of form of the boiler shell and of
the combustion chambers, but which is not easily determined. If this uncertainty did not exist, if one could
acoura.t~ly calculate the strength of the various parts of
a. boiler, then there would be no need for the present high
factor of safety.
On account of the extensiveness of the general subject,
the following remarks will be restricted to a. description
of the various workshoP. practice~, though to do this
without very numerous tllustra.tions must naturally be a
difficult and not altogether satisfactory task.
On rer.eipt of the steel plates at the boiler yard they
are measured, and then marked off, ready for planing the
edges and for drilling the holes. Sometimes the holes in
the shell plates are drilled before the edges are planed,
sometimes afterwards, and in shops fitted with the newest
appliances, the boles are not drilled until the shell plates
have been bent and bolted together. This plan is recommended as being the best, but it is slower than drilling the
plates before bending-, because otherwise the drilling of
the holes cannot be commenced uutil the planing and
bending is completed, whereas in the other case the two
OP.erations end together. Besides, on account of the possi.
bllity of usin~ multiple drills, this part of the work is ElO
much accelerated, that in some shops all holes are drilled
before bending the plates, and are subsequently enlarged
when the plates have been bolted t ogether. Finally, these
should be separated and the burrs rem oved, in order that
none of them may lod~e between the plates, thus preventing them from commg into close contact.
The ?rilling of the s.h~ll plate holes naturally takes up
more t1me than the drtlhng through the thmner plates in
the interior of the boiler, not only because these holes are
fewer and smaller, bub also because more drills can be
employed at one and the same time. On account of the
proximity of flanges, and because of irregularities in the
shape of ruost of these seams, the slower process of hand
dril!ing is stil~ indulged in in .m any works, only a few
hav10g supphed themselves w1th the necessary special
drilling machines.
After being planed on their edges, and either before or
after drilling, the shell plates are bent by passing them
through a. system of three rolls which are placed either
horizontally or vertically. The operation is very simple
but, for obvious reasons, the ends of every plate that
passes through these rolls cannot have been bent to same
curvature as the rest of the plate, and requi re to be set
by other means. Numerous attempts have been made to
arrange three, four, and even five rolls in such a manner
that this additional work is not necessary, and presses
have also been used for this purpose; but the results are
not satisfactory, and th e plan now usually adopted is
either to leave the plates longer than required, and finally
out off the two ends and use thEtm as butt straps, to heat
the ends of the plates before rolling and to hammer them
t o the proper shape, t o press them into shape after rolling
between the jaws of a riveting machine, or even to leave
them flat and to spring them with the help of the two
butt straps with whi ch they are covered. Where lap
joints are used, the di~culty is still greater, because the
Oluvature of one plate 1s reversed, and this change is a
very sudden on~. . In some works Ion$' iron beaters are
placed along th1s lme, and the projectmg lap hammered
down.
To those engineers who have studied the failures of the
last ten yaars, such a treatment at once suggests that it
may seriously endanger the strength of the structure and
a. few remarks on the injury done to steel by worki~g it
at a. certain temperature, called either blue heat or black
heat, may be of mterest, or rather the following simple
exper~ents ~ill show w~at th~ danger is.
Stnps of mtld steel1i m. thtck and 1 in. or 2 in. wide
n.re sbeared about 6 in. or 9 in. long. Of these No. 1 is
placed half. way under a steam hammer or press and its
projecting end bent down with a sledge hamme; through
an angle of 45 deg. The steam hammer is then lifted
and the bent part of the angle placed uppermost and
again hammered down. According to the toughness of
the st eel this operation can be repeated from t en to thirty
times before the sample breaks.
No. 2 is placed between two bars of iron which have
be~n heated to a dull redness, and is kept there until the
brtght sheared edges have changed their colour to a straw
or purple one. Tbis sample is now treated in exactly the
same way as No. 1, but it will break after one or two
bends. If it ~ad been heated till it had grown dark blue
or even grey. tt would ~ave stood as many if not more
bends than No. 1. Thts shows that there is a critical
temperature at which steel or iron is rotten.
~o.. 3 is treated in exactly the same way as No. 2, with
thts dtfference, that ~he bending is stopped as soon as a.
surface crack shows 1tself. It should be put aside for a.
day~ and c~n. the~ b~ broken by simply throwing it on an
a.nvtl or strtkmg 1t wtth a hand hammer. This shows that

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

zones may have become brittle. At any rate, it is w.ell

by this special treatment steel and iron can be made per known that the elongation dimil}ishe~ and the tena01ty
manently brittle. This brittleness is removed by annealincreases the slower a steel test ptece 1s br~ken. If tom
ing, but not by longcontinued rest. It can be produced asunder
by a. dynamite explosion,. a tes~ ptece elongates
by any mechanical treatment if carried out at a blue heat, about twice
a.s much as under ordtnary cucurrstances.
and it is not nece~sary that surface cracks should show
There is n othing particularly strange in the fact th~b
themselves ; this is only recommended as a guide to insure
such fractures sometimes extend right across a plate, for 1t
a su~essful experiment.
Applying this losson to the above-mentioned case of must be remembered that the metal on either side of a
bending a shell plate near the end of its lap at a blue.heat, fracture is at first moving at a velo~ity equal ~o that
it is but too probable that it will account for many fatlures with which sound tra,els on steel, vtz. , three mtles per
at this point-that is, o.n inch or two inside of the inner second or about five times faster than a rifle bullet.
Another trouble connected with fla.nging, is that due
row of rivets.
Heaters are also vory frequently applied to furnace to the very serious change of form of all flanged plates
mouths and saddles, and it is these ~arts more than any after annealing: var~ous mean s had to be a?opt~d to
other which fail by cracking after bemg in use for some prevent it, for other wise furn.acE; holes would mvarta~ly
time. Fortunately, this never occurs under steam, but be at least l in. oval. Th1s IS also one of the chtef
reasons why it is practically impossible to anneal plates
afterwards when the boilers have cooled down.
It would, however, be rash to assume that all such after they have been fitted, unless they are kept bolted
failures are due to injurious treatment in boiler shops; together while in the furnace. That suflir.ient allowance
for tbare is only too muoh ground for believing that the (usually i in.) is rarely made for end plates where they
temperature of boiler plat~s when steaming often reaches have been heated for fittiog together, can be demonstrated
a blue heat, particularly under forced draught; and on nearly every boiler, the shell plates at these points
where this is combined with a concertina action of the generally showing a slight depression where they have
various corners, brittleness of material and subsequent been made to follow the retreating ruaterial of the
corners. Similar remarks apply to the flanged plates of
cracks may be expected.
Some of these remarks apply to the treatment of the combustion chambers.
The flanging of furnace saddles is one of the m ost
internal parts of boilers, but before discussing them a few
difficult operations in the boiler yard. Recently, on
remarks on riveting the shell seams are necessary.
A riveted joint should be both strong and waterti~ht; account of numerous failures, much attention has been
wh ether this is so or not depends not only on the destgn, directed to this point, a nd the corners, which at one time
but also on the workmanship, whether the boles are fair, were made almost square, are now only bent to the
whether the plates are in close contact, and whether the gentlest possible eur ves. This is effect ed either by
rivets fill the holes. To attain these various objects the arranging for the saddle seam to be on the water side of
plates should not only be well fitted, but during the t he tubeplate, or by making the flanges deeper. It is
riveting operation they should bt firmly screwed together thought that the cause of the cracking of these flanges is
by num erous bolts, and the press'llre of the hydraulic due to working them at a blue heat, which has already
ri veter should not be removed until th e riv et 1s fairly been explained, to the injudicious use of heaters during
cool, otherwise the remainin~ spring of the plate tEtnds to construction, or to over-heating combined with local
stretch it, thereby reducing 1ts diameter and also allow- straining while in use at sea.
All such riveted-boiler seams as are exposed to the
ing_the seam to open.
The usual plan of ri'\"'eting boiler shells is to do all the direct action of the flame, are liable to crack on Mcount
longitudinal seams first and then the circumferential of over heating, for not only are there tw<> thicknesses of
ones, starting at the back end seam. But then, unless ruetal, but these are se\)ara.ted by two layers of iron scalE',
the front plate is flanged outwards, its seam has to be and perhaps by an a.tr spacE~, or by spongy charred oil
riveted by band. In a few works special hydraulic which was used for drilling, and then not removed. As
every one of these substances are ,ery effective non-conriveters or special steam hammer riveters do this work.
The following are some of the troubles and dangers to du.cto:s, no pains should. be spared ~n removing them and
be expected with riveted seams. L eakages frequently show brmgmg the two plates mto metall1c contact. With this
themselves at the ends of the longitudinal butt-strapped end in view, some works bore out th e combustion chamjoints, and up to the present the only real1y effective means ber front plate, and machine the back end of the furnace
of preventing this is to plane or draw out the ends of the others pickle the plates so as to remo ve the scale and
outer butt straps of the inner strakes, and to tuck them others, again, wash the seams with sal-ammoniac but 'none
in under the adjoining strakes. It is customary either of these means wm be efficien t unless the very greatest
to drive st eel wedges into the butts of the outside strakes care is taken during the riveting operation to draw the
or t o substitute ecrewed plugs for the rivets w hi eh pass two ~lates quite close together by numerous bolts. As
through their centre lines. These studs or plugs are the d1fference of the diameters beheen the furnace and
also often used instead of rivets in varioud difficult cor ~h~ hol~ into which it has to fit is often more than i in.,
ners in the combustion chambers and elsewhere. In 1t 1s evtdent that the plates cannot be brought into con.
some works such corners and the ends of troublesome tact . unless they ~re stretched, either .bY being very
seams are welded. One danger which attends hydraulic hea.v1ly hammered 1f cold, or screwed up 1f warmed with
rive~ing is, that if too much pressure is applied, or if it is heaters. That there is danger in both methods has
a.pphed too suddenly, it may lead to the immediate or already been mentioned, but in practice it seems that
subsequent bursting of a riveted seam, so that manu- failures need not be apprehendE'd if the plates are heated
facturers who can boast of the heaviest riveting machin e~ beyond a blue heat.
The riveting of the internal parts presents no special
unless they use them judiciously, may be doing mor~
harm than good.
Indications of excessive pressure difficulties, and is chiefly done by hand.
Caulking is the final operation to which the plates are
having been applied to the rivPts can be detected by the
un~ulatory sha.pe of the originally straigh~ edges of the subjected, and calls for few remarks. It is customary to
ca!-11~ all boiler seams both inside and out, and apparently
var1ous r1 veted seams.
During the period that the sh'ell plates of a boiJer have thts ts necessary, for experience seems to show that if
been planed, bent, drilled, riveted, and caulked, the plates only the outside edges of the seams are caulked they very
of the inte~nal pa~ts will have been fianged and fitted to ?ften give. trouble while under steam, and the general
getber, dr1lled, riveted, and caulked ready to go into 1de~ preva1ls that those seams are the most perfect into
wh1ch no wat~r can enter. Bu~ it only requires the most
place.
T o describe the flanging operations in cet ail would O';Irsory attentton to the oaulkmg operations to be conrequire far too much time, and therefore only a very short v.mced that a seaD?- cannot be depended upon for watersummary can be attempted. The edge of the plate to be tightness UI?-less 1t h.a s. been caulked with the water
flanged is heated to redness, about 2 ft. t o 4 ft. at a time pressure on tt, and thts 1s, of course, impossible with the
for hand flanging, a nd 6ft. to S ft. for machine fianging mner edges. To caulk them for the sake of making them
the length de~ending somewhn.t on the thickness of tb~ watertight would ther~fore appear unnecessary. But if
plate, the thmner ones growin~ cold sooner than the the two pla~s are ~ot JD l?erfect contact, and if there is
thick ones. The plate is placed on iron blocks with the an~ chance of tbetr rookmg on each other durin~ the
heated edge projecting, which is then bent down either various changes of pressure and temperature it is evtdent
by an hydraulic press, a steam hammer, or by heavy that under certain unfavourable condition~ the outside
wooden mallets. Hand ftanging is impracticable for ~dg~ D?ay open and leak, and to guard against this rockplates above 1 in. in thickness. but as regards accura<:y mg 1t IS necessary to caulk, or at least fuller all the inside
edges, so that even those joints in which the plates are
of '~ork all three processes are about equal.
. Ltke the other OJ?eration, Banging is also not without not in COt;ltact wip be firmly re~ting at least on their two
tts dange~s. Burmng and wasting away and undesirable ed~es while the rt vets are holdmg them together
The ~nal caul~ing . operation proceeds while the
deforruatton may be guarded against, but, in spite of the
v~ry ~ea.test care, J?lates which have been fianged and bydr~uhc pressur~ IS bemg slowly raised until double the
latd asi~e are somettJ?eS fou.nd to have cracked overnight. workmg pressure IS reached.. The necessity for this high
Anneahng a .Plate 1mme~1ately after flangin&" is not test has been ~epeatedly d~sputed. but many instances
always praottoable, and m order t o relieve 1t of its could be. ment10ned of bo1lers which failed only just
seve~est strains some smiths have adopted th a plan of before thts pressure was reached, or which have exploded
~eatmg t~e centre of every plate immediately after fiang under st~am pressure a.fter having been only recently
tng. It 1s. also affirmed that only such plates have tested With col~ water; a;nd until such cases can be
cracked wb10h were kept carefully fiat during flanging reasonably explamed as bemg due to other causes th a
' treacherousnes~ of. the material, or ignorance of the actual
whereas the puckered ones escaped uninjured.
. Why plates should crack spontaneously in this manner stresse~ at the pomts of fracture, the general public at
1s as yet a. mystery ; for although there can be no doubt leas.t wtll prefer to be assured that their boilers have been
that one of the oo.uses is the slowly increasing strain on subject ed to a severe proof test, and have shown themthe ~lDflan~e~ end during the period that the flanges are selves to ~e safe under conditions which are not likely to
co_ohng, st1ll1t seems unreasonable that a material which recur whtle they are under their care.
w1~l elongate 20 per cent. in a testing machine and show
a s11ky fracture, should tear asunder \V ben worked into
p c\.CU'IC N ~"
A
a Aa:oged plate, and then reveal a coarse structure. To by the Canadia.~GPTI<?fi R yangCents have been made
attr1b.ute these failures to inci pient flaws which was at steam service bet act c V ai way o{z;npa.pny f.or a monthly
o:ne t1me a favourite explanation, is now~days not con- and Brisban
d Seen a.ncouver tts a016c terminus)
The dtHmers are also to call
stdered ~ sati~factory one. The only other one which at Victoria B~~i8 h bdley.b.
0
sugge.sts 1tse~f 1s, that the slowness with which the stresses a conn c . '
.
um ta, a.~
onolu.lu. At Sydney
grow: m thecu~mmference of the plate destroys its ductility all oth!r ~~~tsw~~ll'e :ffr~ted Wit~local hnes running to
and mcreases 1ts hardness to such an extent, that certain . and T asmania.
ua ra la, as we as to New Zealand

E N G I N E E R I N G.
LAUNCHES AND TRIAL TRIPS.
ON the 24th ulb. the s.s. Olive was taken out on trial
at the measured mile at Tynemoutb, when a speed of
9~. knots. was obtained, ~be vessel being loaded. The
trtal was 1n every way sat1sfactory. The Olive has been
built by M essrs. W. Harkess and Son, of Middlesbrough,
for Messrs. J. Burnett and Sons, of L ond on, for their
London and Paris line, and is fitted with lowering masts
an? funnel, to ~nabl~ h er t o pass under bridges across the
Seme. The dtmens10ns are 173 ft. by 26 ft. 6 in. by
12ft. 9 in., and the vessel oarries about 600 tons on a
drau~ht of 11 ft. The e~gines a re by Messrs. Westgarth,
Enghsh, and Co., of M1ddlesbrough, and have cylinders
15~ in., 25 in., and 41 in. in diameter by 27 in. stroke,
the steam pressure being 160 lb.
The second-class cruiser Bonaventure carried out h er
four hours' trial of her machinery under forced draught
in a highly satisfactory manner on :Friday, the 25th ult.,
off Plymouth. On Wednesday particularly good results
were realised in the natural draught trial, when a. speed
of 19.2 knots was obtained with an indicated horse-power
of 7340. On Friday an indicated horse-power of 9279
was developed, giving a. mean speed of 20 knots. The
contractors' estimated speed was 19.3 knots and 9000
horse-power. The engines worked smoothly throughout,
and there were n o signs of a leak anywhere when an
examination of the machinery was made at the completion of the trial. Details follow: Mea.n steam in boilers,
145 lb. ; mean steam in engine-room, 136 lb. ; air pressure in stokeholds, .87 in. ; vacuum-starboard, 26.4;
p ort, 26.1; revolutions-starboard, 144.9; port, 141.4;
mean pressure in cylinders, high pressure-starboard,
53.1; port, 54.1 ; intermediate-starboard, 29.5; ~ort,
29.0; low pressure-starboard, 14.5; port, 14.5; mdicated horse-power-starboard, 4685; port, 4594-tota.l,
9279 ; speed by log, 20 knots. The mean speed of three
runs along the land was 20.3 knots; in one a speed of 22
knots was reached. Before returning to the Sound gun
trials and trials of the capstan and steering engines were
successfully carried out. The helm was put hard a-port
from hard a-starboard in 22 seo.
I

The s.s. Olimpia, built for Spanish owners by Messrs.

W. H arkessand Son, of Middlesbrough-on-Tees, has just
completed her loaded trial on the measured mile. The
dimensions of the vessel are 160 ft. by 24 ft. 6 i n. by 12 ft.
3 in. moulded. The engines !lire by ~1es s rs . W estgarth,
English, and Co .. of Middlesbrough. The cylinders are
13 in., 21 in., and 34 in. in diameter by 24 in. stroke,
working with steam at 160 lb. presRure. Although a
heavy sea was coming over the bows, the speed was fully
I;Dain tained.
Messrs. J . M'Arthur and Co., Paisley, have launched
a "double-ended, paddle steamer named Kate, built to
the order of the Penarth Steam Ferry Company, of
Cardiff. Engines to propel the steamer at a high rate of
speed are now being fitted on board by Measrs. Bow
M'Lachlan, and Co., of Paisley.

MISCELLANEA.
THE Yosb Typewriter Company, Limited! h~ve removed
their Irish branch from Central Hotel BUildmgs, Berrystreet, to 9, Rosemary-street, Dublin.
The annual summer excursion of the Junior Engineering Society, particulars of which were given in our
issue of August 4 last, passPd off very successfully, and
the members returned to town on August 19.
Our readers will regret to learn that, owing to ill-health,
Mr. Thomas Urquhart has found it necessary to resign
his position as manager of the Nevsky Iron Works, St.
P etersburg, and retire to this co~ntry. Mr. U rquha~t
has spent twenty-five years in Russia, and the va~ue of h1;5
contributions t o the advancement of locomotive engineering is universally recognised.
We recently mentioned the proposed employment of a
diving-bell at the barrage across the Nile. Mr ..Lieurnur's
ingenuity seems to have been rewarded. It IS report~d
that the diving-bell operations ha~e been successful m
locating the leak in the bed of the r1ver on t~e up stream
side of the dam, and endeavours were bemg made to
close the passage before the barrage gates were opened.
The flow of water was utilised to send a puddle of clay
through the passage, and it was hoped .that some of
the clay would remain and eventually close 1t up.
From experiments made by Messrs. S~emen~ and
Halske Berlin it appears that the average hfe of mcan descent'Ja.mps ~t different expenditure of watts per candlep ower is as follows :
Life of
Expenditure
L a.mp.
of Energy.
45 hours
1.5 watts p er candle...
...
.. .
200 ,,
2
,,
,,
...
...
. ..
450 ,,
2. 5
''
''
. ..
. ..
. ..
1000 ,
3
"
"
...
...
.. .
1000 "
3. 5
''
''
...
. ..
. ..
The traffic receipts for the week ending. Augus~ 20 on
33 of the principal lines . of the. Umted Kmgdom
amounted to 1,489,048l., wh10h, havmg been e~rned on
18 388 miles gave an average of 80l. 19s. per mtle. For
th~ corresp~nding week in 1892 t~e receipts of . the same
lines amounted to 1, 707,347l., with 18,19!) mtles open,
giving an average of 93l. lOa. There was thus a d~crease
of 218,299l. in the receipts, an i~crease of 189 m .the
mileage and a decrease of 12l. 11s. m the weekly receipts
per mil~. The aggregate rec~ipts for seven weeks. to date
amounted on the same 33 hnes to 11, 316,11~l. , m c~m
parison with 11,808,4921.. for the correspondmg pertod
last. year ; decrease, 492,379l.

In a recent issue of the Electrical W orld, 1\!Ir. E. F.

N orthup states that quartz fibres can be obtained in a
similar manner to glass fibres. Any wheel more than
3 ft. in diameter and 4 in. wide at the rim may be
used. The circumference is first covered with smooth
black paper, across which a strip of fly-paper 1 in. wide
with the sticky side up is pasted. A quartz rod -Prr in.
to i in. in diameter is next prepared and fastened on to
a brass rod. The quartz is then melted in the oxy-hydrogen flame, and another rod is then brought in contact
with t he fused end. By means of this second rod a
thread is drawn over the wheel, which is rapidly revolved, and any length of fibre can then be drawn out.
The fine fibre thus produced is equal in quality to that
obtained by Mr. Boys' arrow method, but the coarse fibre
is rather brittle and weak.
Information was received at Portsmouth on Tuesday
from the Admiralty to the effect that the Ramillies,
tirstclass battleship, will relieve the Inflexible in the
Mediterranean Squadron, and that the latter ship will be
substituted for the Nelson as port guardship at Portsmouth. The Resolution, sister ship to the R amillies,
will take the place of the Rodney in the Channel Squad ron, the latter proceeding to the M editerranean to relieve
the Edinburgh. The Devastation, which has been renovated at Portsmouth, is to be port guardship at D evonport in place of the Swiftsure, while the Empress of
India, another battleship of the Royal Sovereign class,
will supersede the Colossus in the M editerranea.n. the
latter relieving the Audacious as coastguard ship at Hull.
These alterations are made in fulfilment of the detel'mination of the Admiralty that the Mediterranean
Squadron shall be exclusively oomposed of high freeboard
ships.
Some experiments on the strength of concrete beams
recently made by Mr. S. R. Lowcock, A.M.I.C.E., show
some interesting results. The beams used were of three
sizes, namely, 21 in. by 18 in. by 4 i~., 30 in. by 18 in. by
6 in., 39 in. by 18 in. by 19 in. The cement used had a
tensile strength of 665 lb. at seven days, and the aggregate
was clinker obta.in ed from furnaces burning ashpit refuse.
The beams were supported with clear spans of 12 in.,
18 in., and 27 in. respectively, and were broken by
weighting them in the centre. The results show that the
breaking weight might approximately be represented by
the following formula :
W = .06CB D2
L
where W =breaking weight in cwts., B breadth, D depth,
and L length, all in inches; and C = 1. 9 for 1 and 4t concrete, 15 days old, and 2.8 for the same 21 days old. For
1 to 6 concrete C = 1.2 for 14days, and 1.1 for 21days
concrete. For 1 to 8 concrete C = 0.3 for 14days, and
0. 4 for 21-da.ys concrete.
The Scarborough Electric Supply Company, Limited,
commenced the supply of electricity in Scarborough on
Saturday last. A s yet the current is only available in
a portion of the town, but the remaining connections are
being completed as fast as possible, and it is expected
that in the colll'se of a week or two the whole of the mains
will be in operation. The company was formed at the
end of last year by Mr. A. A. C. Swinton under an agreement with the Corporation of Scar borough, and is working under a. transfer of the provisional order obt ained by
the corporation. The alternate current high-tension
system, with low-tension distribution from sub-stations,
is employed. The charge for electricity is at the rate of
7d. per Board of Trade unit, with a cash discount and a
slidmg scale rebate amounting to 20 per cent. as a maximum for large consumers. Colonel R. F. Steble is chairman, and Mr. A. A. C. Swinton managing director and
engineer-in-chief to the company. The whole of the
electric generating plant and transformers have been
supplied by Messrs. C. A . Parsons and Co., of Heaton
Works, N ewca.stleon-T yne.
Mr. Y erkes, of Chicago, has an observatory being
built for him which will eclipse the Lick Observatory in
having the largest telescope in existence. Cost is to be
no consideration as long as the observatory becomes the
largest in existence. w~ th ~his ~iew the new observat<?ry
is to have a refractor 40 m. m dtameter, that of the L10k
Observatory being only 36 in. The lens is now being
made by Mr. A. Clark , W ashin.gton, while the supporting column and telescope are bamg constructed by Messrs
Warner and Swasey, Cleveland, Ohio. The column will
have a height of 30ft., and will weigh 45 tons. Upon it
the steel polar a xis, 13 ft. long and weighin~ 3i tons, is
mounted and upon this, again, the declinatiOn axis, 1 ft.
in diameter and weighing 1! tons. The latter supports
the telescope, which has a l~ngth ~f 59 ft. and a maximum
diameter of 4 ft., and we1ghs s~x tons. Alt~10ugh. the
total weight of the telescope and tts countet:weights IS 7.5
tons, the great instrument may b~ brought mto any posttion by a slight pressure. Some Idea may be formed of
the height of tpe obser vatory ~hen ibis stated that, if ~he
refractor is pomted to the zemth, the centre of the obJective is 69 ft. above the earth's surface.
In discoursing in his latest official report to the Colonial
Office on the future of British Honduras, the Governor,
Sir Alfred Maloney, refers to the question of rail way
communications in Central America as a subject in which
the colony has a. deep i~ter.e..qt.. As to the American
inter-continental hne, whlCh IS sa1d to be contemplated,
it is probable, be s~ys, that its course would be a~ong the
western or Pacific slope or base of the central highlands
that represent the backbone of the .isthmus that co~nec~s
North with South America. Whilst any such hne, 1f
ever constructed, would nob, in Sir Alfred's opinion, fail
to be of moment to British Honduras, the interests and
position of the colony lie so much to the eastward, and

(SEPT.

I, I 893.

along the opposite slope of the great watershed referred to, as to preclude, he fears, the hope of any
connection with such inter -continental scheme; so
what comes more directly home to Le considered is,
What can the colony do for itself, and how soon ?
The sur vey for a. line of railway to the frontier of the
colony has been entered upon. The result will
materially help the Government to come to a. decision
whether or not British Honduras can in the near future
undertake such an enterprise, which it is generally
acknowledged is essential to open the locked-up Crown
lands to the south and west, that have been for generations and still are practically a terra incognita, a nd likely
to remain so without a railway. If any railway approaching British Honduras could be met by the extension of a
local line beyond the colony in whatever direction may
prove practicable, the ad vantage for the colony would be
great, and Belize might be reestablished as an entrepot
for Southern Mexieo and no small portion of the northern
part of the Republic of Gua.temala. Further, the value
to the colony of a. branch ser vice along th e valley of the
Upper Sibun River through and into Crown lands is
evident.
Tuesday's Gazette contain~ the provisional regulations
for the navigation of the Corinth Canal. They include
the following : The net tonnage, resulting from the
system of measurement laid down by the International
Commission of Constantinople, and inscribed on the
vessel's official papers, is the basis for levying the navigation dues, which at present are as follows: For steam
vessels proceeding to or from the Adriatic-75 centimes
per ton for mail steamers, and thos~ that habitually carry
passengers; 50 centimes per ton for all other vessels. For
steam vessels not proceeding to or from the Adriatic-50
centimes per t on for mail steamers, and those that habitually carry passengers ; and 40 centimes per ton for all other
vessels. A charge of 1 fr. per passenger will also be levied.
The following will pay no transit dues: Hellenic vessels
of war, except vessels assimilated to them by special conventions. Fishing and other boats under the H ellenic
fia.g whose tonnage does not exceed 3 tons. The charge for
towage in the canal by the tugs of the society is fixed at 10
centimes per ton ; the minimum charge to be 50 fr. The
charge for pilotage is fixed at 1! centimes per ton; the
minimum charge to be 10 fr. Vessels may be towed by
tugs not belonging to. the Ca.~a.l Society. Sue~ tugs must
pay the dues to which ordmary vessels passmg through
the canal are subject; except when going through the
canal to meet vessels of their owner, which they intend
towing; or when returnjng to their usual berth after
having towed a vessel through, when they shall not be
subject to payment of the dues. The Canal Society
accepts, in payment, draughts at sight drawn by masters
on th eir owners, a nd accepted by the society. Payment
in cash at the entry of the oanal must be in gold coins, of
the type of coins of the Latin Union, or in sterling pounds
at the fixed rate of excha nge of 25.15 fr.; or in coins of
20 marks at the fixed rate of exchange of 24.85 fr.; or in
T urkish pounds at the fixed rate of exchange of 22.75 fr.;
or in Egyptian pounds at the fixed rate of exchange of
25.75 fr. Silver coins, such as are legal tender in
Greece, are accepted in payment as odd money up
to 10 francs. The dimensions of the canal, when corn
pleted will be as follows: D epth, 26i ft.; width at the
bottom, 70 ft. ; tota.l length in statute miles 3 miles
1610 yards.
From the last British Consular report it appears that the
manufacture of Portland cement has been commenced in
China. The works are &ituated at Tonshang, 80 miles from
Tientsin, and were opened three years ago. The plant is
of the most modern description. A branch line connects
the works with a railway running to Tientsin. The raw
materials used are mountain limestone, fireclay, marl, and
a rough kind of china clay, all of which are found in the
immediate neighbourhood of the works. The fuel used
is hard furnace coke made on the premises from the local
bituminous coal. The process of manufacture is somewhat more elaborate than that adopted in the Thames
works, much greater care and attention being necessary
to insure the production of good Portland clinker. The
present output is 300 tons per week, and is the limit of
thecapacity of works. It is all used at the various works
of the Imperial Government harbours, forts, Yellow
River embankment, railways, arsenals, &c., very little
fi nding its way into the bands of private consumers.
There is every probability that the demand will soon be
largely in excess of the existing works. The cement is
guaranteed to stand a tensile strai~ of 400 ~b. per squ.are
inch at seven days. For some ttme considerable difficulty was experienced in obtaining cement of uniform
quality. It was no easy matter to get the ignorant,
slovenly Chinese coolie to understand the absolute necessity of accuracy and carefulness in every stage of the
process. No reliance whatever could be placed on the
native foremen nor any assistance expected from them,
their ideas being as loose and crude as those of the coolie.
Bnt something like system has at last been established,
and the work technically proceeds with the utmost satisfaction, the output being as uniform in quality as it is
possible to obtain anywhere. The furnace coke employed
in the kilns was also a great source of trouble at first.
The teohnical work, including a large chemical laboratory
and assay office, in which the minerals from the various
mines and establishments of the Chinese Engineering and
Mining Company, as well as of the Government, are analysed and assayed, is under the control of an English
manager, whose sole foreign assistant is an English mill~
wright. Owing to the severity of the winter, it is impossible to do any mixing for four months in the year, so
that the output is limited to about 9500 tons per annum.
The work goes on for sixteen hours a day, including
Sundays.

E N G I N E E R I N G.
6-INCH FOOT LATHE.
CONSTRUCTED BY

MR.

W.

H.

ASTBURY,

GRANTHA~I.

the regulator is clearly sho_wn in ~ur engr_aving. ~t

consists of a gun-metal casmg havmg an mlet vah e
for the gas at one end and an outlet to the r~bb~r
tubing at the other. The interior o~ the casmg ts
d ivided into two parts by a bellows dtaphra~m made
entirely of metal, but nevertheless very flex tble. ~
spring behind this bellows tends always to force 1t
back against the pressure of the gas. Connected to

11 SI '

and moving with the bellows is a spindle, to which are

attached a series of links of the type used in t he pneumatic ri veter. As the bellows is forced out b y the
gas pressure, t hese links act with a continuously increasing leverage on the gas valve, which can thus be
easily closed against a. very considerable pressure.
The regulation thus obtained is stated to be very p erfect, t he gas pressure in the outlet chamber being k ept
practically constant.

[NDUSTRIAL NOTES.

TRIS lathe has been designed for tool-room purp oses and the higher grades of mechanical work re quired by electricians and amateurs. vVhilst it is not
marked by any new features in construction, the
proportions adop ted, combined with the various fixt ures, adapt t he machine to performing effectually a
wide range of work, as sliding, surfacing, screwcutting, milling, elot-drilling, grooving taps and
r eamers, wheel-cutting, dividing, &c.
The lathe shown has a gap bed of rather unusual
length, viz., 7-ft. , admitting piec~s 4 ft.. 6 in. between
t.he cen tres, and by removing the bridge piece oYer
the gap the swing is 24 in.
The headstocks are 6 in. height of centr es. The
fast head is double geared, the wheels and pinions
being of gun-met al, with machine-cut teeth. The
spindle is of crucible st eel. It has conical necks
hardened and ground t rue, and running in hardened
steel bushes with pro,ision for adjustment.
The rear end of the headstock carries a reversing
motion with steel cut pinions. A d idsion plate and
stop, and also a tangent wheel and worm, are fitted to
the spindle for d ividing for wheel-cutting, grooving,
&c. ; they having an index reading to thousandths of
an inch. Various chucks are pro,ided for boring,
d rilling, &c. The saddle has T -slots on the top, and
tr,werses the full length of t he bed, having positive
self-acting, sliding, and surfacing motions, controlled
by friction and driven by a. back feed -rod from t he
change gears. The cross-slide carries a compound tool
rest graduated to swivel to any angle; a separate
vertical attachment to the cross-slide, also g raduated,
is provided, upon which the upper, or tool slide, can
be mounted, affording a. convenient arrangement for
making angular milling cutters, bevel gears, and suchlike. To the tool slide can also be fixed vertical and horizontal cutting and drilling spindles, driven by the overhead works from the treadle-wheel by endless bands,
a.s shown, for tap grooving, cutting key seats, &c. For

screw-cutting a quick-withdraw motion is fitted to

the cross-slide screw, which has a d ivided index and
pointer r eading to thousandths of an inch. The
guide screw is of steel, cu t four threads per inch, and
has twenty-two change gears; these, and all g ears
throughout the lathe, including the rack, are machinecut from the solid. The t ail stock has a steel spindle, the
feed screw of which has a collar at the handwheel end
divided to read to t housandths. A n adjustable centre
is also provided to set over for sliding tapers.
The additional compound slide-r est, sho'ft'lw.,. .n out of
the way at t he further end of the bed, is provided to
avoid unnecessary wear of the sliding parts of saddle
and bed at the headstock end when doing short pieces
of work by hand.
The equipment includes a. collar plate, combined
with a drill r est , to support t he outer end of long
pieces for boring w ith flat drills in conjunction with
the tailstock. An adjustable T -reat and set of tools
for hand turning, face and angle plates to secure work
for chucking work on the live spindle, are part of the
equipment. The treadle has an easy motion, the
crankshaft running in antifriction bearings, and being
driven by chain connection at the ou ter end as shown,
with two well-designed balance-wheels. The lathe is
constructed by Mr. \V. H. Astbury, Ora.ntha.m.

BRIER'S REDUCING VALVE.

THE ingenious reducing valve which we illustrate on
t his page has been d esigned by ~I r. H enry Brier,
1!. I. 1I. E., who has for some years past been connect ed
with the cot ch and Irish Oxygen Company, Limited,
of Hamilton-str eet, Polmadie, Glasgow. The valve is
intended for attaching to the cylinders of compressed
gas supplied by t he above company, and by its means
the pressure of the gas, as it issues from the cylinder,
is reduced to such a low point that ordinary rubber
tubing can be used to convey it. The construction of

THE coal dispute still overehadows every other incident in the labour world, and gives colour to all labour
questions. It is peculiar in many respects, inasmuch
as the dispute is not a. squa.re one as between coalowners and miners merely, but is also a dispute
between different sections of miners. I t was thought
that the recent conference held in London would lead
to some kind of m odus l'ivemli by which at least
the area of the dispute would be circumscribed, by
allowing sections of the men to return to work
where the reductions in wa.ges were not insisted
upon. The r esolut ions arrived at, however, scarcely
pointed to such a.n arrangement. The possibility
of an arrangement upon the basis of no further
ad vance in wages until the prices of 1890 were
reached was indicated, but the cea.l decision was tha.t
no partial settlement should be agreed to. The expulsion of the Durham delegates rather pointed to a prolongation of the d ispute and to the possibility of its
extension, especially as it was followed by a delegation to v isit the northern counties, so as t o counteract
what is alleged to have been l ukewarmness on t he
part of the local officials. Altogether the situation
has been rather complicated than simplified by the
L ondon confer ence. Some of the prominent leaders
ar e inclined t o t hink that the refusal of arbitration
was a mistake, and such a. course of action was equivalent to t he burning of the bridges, so that there should
be no retreat.
T he situation in the ,y elsh coalfields has changed
somewhat, b ut the federationists and the sliding scale
men face each other as combatan ts. Indeed, the figh t
in Wales is mainly between these two sections, the
coalowuers having little to do in the quarrel, except that
they employ the law to enforce the existin g contracts.
It appears that a. large batch of men have been already
fined for breach of contract, though the fines were of
small amount. But the cases decided govern other s, so
t hat a large number may be prosecuted and fined unless
they r esume work. Upon this matter there is a
very strong d ivergence of opinion, though the feeling
in favour of a r esumption of work has been growing
stronger and stronger of late.
One of the misfortunes in connection with the South
\ Vales dispute is the dead set made against :Mr. 'Villiam
Abraham, .M. P. ' Vhatever complaints may be made
against the sliding scale, he and his colleagues only
voiced the decisions of the men's own conferences, by
large majorities, after the matter had been thrashed
out with much vehemence, a.nd some bitterness.
That the leaders believe the scale t o have worked
w ith advantage on the whole is most true. Their
content ion is that, over a series of years, the sliding
scale has tended to equalise wages; that if it has not

~
tended to advance wages to the highest point, it has
prevented the falling of wages to the lowest point.
'.he recent redu ctions in South Wales caused a
divergence of opinion upon the value of the scale as a
r egula.tor of wages. But the circumstances ha.ve been
somewhat peculiar. The situation is n ew. In no
oth.er instance have .the wages been kept up by a fede
:atton. The experience thus gained may be valuable
In the future. But events have not quite justified the
split among the men at this juncture.
The F.o~~st of Dean men are to be pitied. The dispute ongmally commenc~d in that district, in so
far as the federation is concerned. First came
shortness of work ; the pits were partially closed,
and large numbers were idle. Then came a determination to strike, but the relief rather took the
shape of out of-work pay than strike pay. For a time
the men got more by not working than by partial employment. But when the real strike commenced the
pay was stopped, so as to place all upon an equal foot
ing of no pay for the first week or two, or longer.
Now it appears that strike pay is not forthcoming,
and the men are wavering to the verge of giving way.
The reasons for the peculiar circumstances are that
the local associations have the command of their own
funds, the federation having no large central funds at
command. Hence the position in the Forest of Dean,
and hence their present attitude.
The condition of affairs in Durham remains much
the same as before. The ballot indicates a resolve
not to strike. This resolve seems to have been
strengthened by the conduct of the recent conference
in expelling the Durham delegates. But in some of
the districts the men are strong for a strike. There
is a. feeling of sympathy with the efforts of the federation to keep up wages, which is natural and inevitable. The times are trying to the men and to their
accredited officials.
In the Midland coalfields there has been and is some
wavering. Most of the local miners' associations are
weak in funds, and inducements have been held out
to return to work in many instances. The restiveness
of the men increases as the pinch of poverty comes
home to them.
The strength of the federation appears to lie in the
Yorkshire and Lancashire districts, both of which are
well organised, and pretty well off for funds. They
have also sturdy leaders who are prepared to risk
n1uch for the cause they have espoused. If their
policy fails, they, at least, can point to a great struggle
for the conditions which they have formulated, and
in which nearly 300,000 men have taken part. They
know the cost of fa.ilure. The very existence of the
federation depends upon some arrangement which shall
not spell defeat. If they can secure conditions which
do not amount to defeat, the organisation will survive,
and will perhaps become all the stronger for the contest. If they fail, the federation will become a mere
matter of history.
The condition of the engineering industries in Lancashire, as elsewhere, is affected by the coal dispute, the
scarcity of fuel and its dearness. Otherwise the prospects of trade are, if anything, better than they were,
though the general run of engineering industries remains in a quiet state. :JY!ost branches continue to be
only moderately supplied with work, e.nd new orders
come forward very slowly, but some have been and
are being placed. Stationary engine builders have a considerable amount of work, while boilermakers are fairly
well off for orders. Locomotive builders have recently
secured moderate orders, but not sufficient to keep the
works going at full speed. ~1achine toolmakers are
fairly well employed here and there, but, as a general
rule, they are short of work. Labour questions ar e
quiet in all the engineering branches, there being an
almost total absence of disputes, and no indication has
been given of any intention to reduce wages, or to alter
the working hours, either as regards the fifty-three hour::J
per week, or the eight hours in the few firms where the
experiment is being tried. It is expected that t he
report a~ to the latter experiment will be of a
favourable character when t he time comes to review
its working over the year during which it is being
tried. The iron trade is very quiet; very little business is being done. The finished iron trade is even
worse, the works being either partially or wholly
stopped for want of fuel, or because of its high price.
1foderate inquiries are reported for steel, but business
generally is very slow.
In the Cleveland district things are less bright than
they were. The dispute as to the use of the rat~het
machine in the ironstone mines has developed mto
what might be termed an acute stage; the men
think that they will be able to command their
t erms. They sa.y generally that they will refuse to
work the ratchets on th e t erms now in vogue on and
after September 5. The tippers and daymen also

N G 1N E E R l N G.

agree not to go into the mines and fill the stone. The together with the liabilities of the then existing Tees
agitation is against the system, not against the ratchet, Navigation Company. The jurisdiction of the Tees
Conservancy extends from welldefined limits in Tees
they say.
Bay to a. point in the river at High \Vorsall, a distance of
The Scotch iron and steel trades have entered into 25 miles from Tees Bay. The area. comprised within
a rather serious crisis. The mineowners, under g reat their jurisdiction is about 8000 acres ; 7500 acres in the
and 500 acres beyond the estuary.
pressure, have agreed to advance the wages of the estuary
Channel of River.-At one time there were no less than
miners 2s. per day. The first advance of b. not being four different channels of the river between Middlesdeemed sufficient, the men went for another Is., so brough and the sea ; these channels were so tortuous,
that there have been two advances of ls. each within varying, and uncertain that several of the leading lights
a fortnight or three weeks. The prices of iron and were placed upon rollers so that they could be the more
steel will not permit of working at such high r ates, and easily moved as the main channel shifted. The depth of
many furnaces have been damped down, and the iron water on th e bar in 1863 was 3! ft. at low water of ordiworks have been partially or wholly closed. Large nary spring tides. At the present time the depth on the
purchases were made of Cleveland iron, it would seem, bar is 20ft. at low water and 37ft. at high water. This
but nothing has been able to put life into the iron and material improvement has been effected by the judicious
construction of training walls, by dredging, and by the
steel trades.
construction of breakwaters.
Training Walls.-At present there are about 24 miles
In South Wales all the large works have been upset of training walls in the river and estuary ; these training
by the coal dispute, and the excitement consequent walls are carried up to about 5 ft. a.bove low-water level,
thereupon. At Ebbw Vale Iron and St eel Works the and are constructed entirely of slag from the local iron
men had to turn out to defend the non-strikers, one of works. The greater part of the slag was broken at the
the most curious of all modern labour developments. iron works into piect:~s that could easily be handled,
As matters have now quieted down, those men have loaded there into keels and punts, and cast out by hand
resumed work. But at the large iron and steel works on the site of the work; but, wherever the depth perat Dowlais, Cyfarthfa, Blaenavon, Briton FeiTy, and mitted, thAbroken slag was dropped from hopper barges
to form the foundations of the walls. Occasionally during
Swansea, many furnaces have been damped down, and the the
progress of the work the sand overlying the clay on
works have been wholly or partially stopped. A large the site of the walls was scoured away to a depth of 18 ft.
number of the tinplat~ works have had to suspend or 20 ft., while in some cases the deposit of slag has been
operations. Thousands of iron and steel workers, continued by keels and hopper barges for a period of six
copper and tin workers, have been thrown idle by the weeks before the wall began to show above low water.
excitement and stoppages at the pits, and by the The formation of these walls was in progress for twentythreatening conduct of the strikers.
Singularly seven years. By the construction of these training walls
enough, the prices have not materially advanced in and the other works referred to, the river at low water is
any of these trades, though the price of fuel has gone now confined in one channel, as shown on the accomup considerably. The condition of things in the panying plan.
Breakwaters.-The South Gare breakwater for the proSouth \Vales districts is deplorable just now, and tection
of the entrance to the river was begun in 1863, and
no one can forecast the result of the coal crisis.
took twenty-four years to build; it is a Portland cement
concrete structure, upon a foundation of slag, with slag
In the Wolverhampton district generally the condi- hearting between the exterior walls near the head, where
tion of things in the iron, steel, and cognate industries it has an extreme width of 220ft. at the level of the roadhas not been so bad as elsewhere. The 1ocal iron trade way. Nearly 5,000,000 tons of slag and over 18,000 tons
continues fairly busy, and the mills and forges have of cement were used in its construction. The whole
been better employed since the great heat has subsided structure is upwards of 2! miles in length. Owing to
and the weather become more favourable for working. increased scour in the river and other causes, it has been
Here the fuel question is not so acute, the firms being fouad necessary to protect the head of the breakwater
a wave breaker of concrete blocks, varying in weight
able to get supplies from collieries not on strike. Bar by
from 300 tons to 40 tons each.
and plate orders appear to be tolerably plentiful at
For the manufacture of the larger concrete blocks a
the old rates, and makers refuse to accept forward timber platform was prepared on a suitable part of the
contracts except at the rate of from 10 to 12i per cent. foreshore, a little above the level of low water. Upon
advance in prices. Makers of common sheets are this platform blocks were built in frames, and when the
pre- y well employed, and steel plates are in demand concrete was carried about half the height of the block
two timber baulks were built into the block; these baulks
owing to the stoppages in Wales.
were laid across the block, with their ends projecting some
In the Birmingham district the supply of pig iron little distance beyond its sides, so that chains for lifting the
has been restricted in consequence of the damping block could be readily attached to the timbers. For depositdown of furnaces in Yorkshire a11d Derbyshire, and ing these blocks two barges were rigidlysf1cured some 20ft.
by means of two heavily trussed timber beams laid
prices are somewhat higher. There is a steady demand apart
across and secured to the decks of the craft, one beam forfor finished iron, and prices have hardened. The local ward, the other aft; these beams were also used as lifting
trades have not been so acutely touched by the coal beams. When a concrete block had to be deposited, the
dispute as in some other districts, but they have felt barges were brought to the platform on the early flood
the pressure in many instances. No serious disputes tide, and placed so that the block to be removed lay
directly underneath the lifting beams and fairly between
exist in those districts.
the barges. The chains attached to the tim hers of the
The Trades Union Congress will open its sittings at concrete block were made fast to the lifting beams ; and
Belfast on Monday next, but its doings and proceedings as the tide rose, the block thus secured was lifted from
will be left for general treatment until the sittings the platform and carried where required between the two
barges ; the barges were then moored, the chains released,
have ended. The Zurich Congress has not left its mark and
the block dropped into position . Blocks were also
behind it, as was anticipated, for the different factions built upon launching ways laid across the deck of a barge;
continue to attack each other just as much as they the barge so loaded was towed into position, and the
usually do the capitalists. The fact is the leaders of blocks launched where required. Large masses of conthe "new movement" do not quite know where they crete were also deposited by sinking old and otherwise
stand, or what their policy is. The men see many things useless craft filled with concrete.
Blocks of 60 to 70 tons are now built on launching ways
that are wrong, and need to be remedied; but they are
not at one as to the remedy, and even if they were, laid at the level of the roadway of the breakwater, and are
they are not at one as to the means and methods to be launched by screw or hydraulic ja.cks some two or three
months after their manufacture. During stormy weather
adopted.
it has frequently happened that a 60ton block has been
off its ways and driven by the sea a couple of
The state of things on the Continent of Europe has washed
hundred feet along the road way before being finally
been rather strained in several instances-in Italy washed over the side of the breakwater. The glass in the
between French and Italian workmen; in Spain lantern of the lighthouse, 55ft. above the level of high
partly over industrial and social, and partly over water, has also suffered in stormy weather.
political matters ; in Belgium, parts of France, and
The North Gare breakwater has been completed for a.
in Austro-Hungary, over the condition of miners, length of 3330 ft., and a. return wall formed across the
stirred up, no doubt, to some extent by the coal strike end of the work to protect the slag backing on the harbour side of the breakwater. The structure of the breakher e.
water consist s of a solid Portland cement concrete wall
The British Government has made a further advance on the sea face, averaging 12 ft. in thickness by 26 ft. in
in the improvement of the condition of its employes. height. On the harbour face the wall is backed by
balls for a.n average width of 50 ft. The slag
The War Office and the Admiralty have agreed slag
balls used for backin~ weigh about 3i tons each, and
generally to a minimum wage for the labourers. This are brought from the Iron works in barges ~pecially confixing of a minimum will ha,e the effect of lifting up structed for this purpose ; each barge carries forty slag
the entire labouring class to that standard. The wages bogies on cradles, and each bogie carri es a slag ball. The
have been low enough in all conscience.
loaded bogjes are lifted from the barge by means of an
overhead Titan crane, and placed on rails; ten or fifteen
bogies are formed into a train and run to the tip bead
IlHPROVEMENTS IN THE RIVER TEES.* behind the breakwater. About 1,000,000 tons of slag
By Mr. GEORGE J. CLARKE, of Stockton, Engineer to the have so far been used in the construction of the breakTees Conservancy CommiAsion.
water. This work has been temporarily discontinued, in
T ees Conservancy.-Forty.one years ago the Tees Con- order that observations may be made of the changes, if
servancy Commission was constituted by Parliamentary any, which may take place in the entrance channel or
authority, and took over the control of the River Tees, North Gare sands.
* Paper read before the Institution of 1-Iechanical Rcclarnation of Foresho1c.-Tbe reclamation of the foreshore of the River Tees has engaged the attention of the
Engineers

---

E N G I N E E R I N G.
The hopper barges are built of iron. Their principal
dimensions are : L ength, about 90ft. ; breadth, 27 !t. ;
depth, 11ft. They have six doors, three on each side,
hinged to the keelson; each door is abou t 8~ ft. long by
6 fb. wide. The doors are raised by hand-winches arranged
on th e after deck of the hopper. Two men are req ui~ed
for each hopper targe. The tugboats used for towmg
the hopper barges are mostly double engine paddle boats
of from 40 to 60 horse-power, and carry a crew of five
men : one master, t"'o enginemen, one fireman, and one
deck hand.
So many and so varied are the fact0rs affecting the cost
of dredging- the nature of the material to be removed,
the depth of cut which may be made by the buckets at
6ach revolution, the depth of the cuttins required, the exposure of the situation, the length of. tune ~uring w~ich
work may be carried on each day Without mterrupt10n,
the distance to which the material has to be towed, &c.that only the most general comparison can be made of th e
cost of dredging at one place with the cost of dredging at
another. On the T ees alone, the cost of some of the
dredging done during the year 1891-2 varied from 4d. to
20.4d. per ton, while the average cost of the whole year 's

Commission from time to time. The total area of the

land a~ present reclaimed from the foreshore of the river
is about 2400 acres. In 1892 the Commission obtained
parliamentary powers for a further reclamation of the
foreshore near Port Clarence and Cargo Fleet ; this additional reclamation is shown on the plan.
Dredging.-By the combined action of dredging and
tidal scour, the increased depth now obtained by the
former is maintained by the latter. Since 1854, about
29 million tons of material have been removed by dred~
ing from the bed of the ri ver; nearly the whole of this
material has been deposited at sea by hopper barg-es.
The more recent engineering improvements in the r1 ver
have been the result of increased dredging operations, by
means of which not only have deep-water berths been
formed in the ri ver at Port Clarence, where vessels drawing from 15 ft, to 21 ft. may safely lie afloat at low water,
but also the navigable channel has been considerably
widened, deepened, and improved. It is intended to
construct a channel having a low-water depth varying
from 12 ft. ab Stockton to 15 ft. at Middlesbrough, and
maintaining at least the latter depth from Middlesbrough
to the sea. The total length of channel to be thus deepened,

PLAi'-J OF THE RIVER TEES

rROM VICTORIA BRIDGE. STOCKTON, TO

THE

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widened, and improved, is about 12 miles ; and the whole

of the work in connection therewith is in a forward state
of pro~ress towards completion.
Durmg the two years ending Oc&eber, 1891, the total
amount of material dredged from the bed of the river was
nearly 3, 700,000 tons. At that time the Commission kept
fully employed a fleet of six powerful dredgers, namely,
five doubleladder dredgers and one singleladder dredger;
also between forty and fifty hopper barges carrying from
200 to 300 tons each, and nine steam tug boats for towing
the barges to sea. The shortest distance towed w~ about
10 miles ; the longest 31 miles. The greater part of the
material removed by dredging consisted of stiff boulder
clay; but no less than 302,000 tons of rock-gypsum with
red sandstone-were removed by one dredger alone,
without the aid of any explosives whatever. During the
summer months dredging operations were carried on by
night as well as by day. An immense number of old oak
tree trunks 60ft. and 70ft. long, boulder stones up to
7f tons weight, horns and bones of various animals, also
some ancient hnman remains, have been dredged from
time to time out of the bed of the river.
The larger dredgers have double ladderR working in
wells, and are capable of excavating to a maximum depth
of from 33ft. to 34ft. Their principal dimensions are:
L ength, from 125 ft. to 140 ft. ; breadth, 34ft. to 34! ft. ;
moulded depth, 9! ft. to 10! ft. ; length of bucket ladder,
72 ft . to 80 ft. As a rule 36 to 40 buckets are placed on
each ladder ; the capacity of eac()h bucket is 9 cubic feet ;
the buckets, with their links, pins, bushes, &c., are all
interchangeable amongst the various dredgers. The
engines on the dredgers are single-cylinder jet-condensing
of from 50 to 55 horsepo" er ; the cylinders are 35 in. in
diameter by 40 in. stroke. All thE- dredgers are fitted
with steam winches fore and aft, having the usual diffe.
rential gearin~, so that the movement of the dredger IlJay
be regulated either longitudinally or transversely. When
dredging rock, five or six buckets are removed from each
ladder, and replaced by heavy forged-iron or cast-steel
claws, there being generally about six buckets between
eac()h pair of claws. For many years cast steel has been
largely employed in the construction of &he working parts
of the dredgers. The upper and lower tumblers are of
steel, cast in one piece ; these castings weigh 23 cwt. and
35! cwt. respectively; the backs and mouthpieces of the
-.,uckets, also the links, pins, bushes, and spur pinions are
of cast steel ; the tumbler shafts and ladder roller
spindles are of forged steel; the bodies and bottom-plates
of the buckets are of g-in. steel plate. The various parts of
the buckets and attachments are drilled, turned, punched,
stamped, riveted, and put together at the commissioners'
workshops. The crew of a double-ladder dredger usually
consists of nine men : namely, one master, one engineman, one fireman, two laddermen, three winchmen, and
a cook; but while dredging clay, two additional men are
employed to loo~en the clay in the bucket~ as they pass
the level of the deck of the dredger.

&
I

dredging was 8.62d. per ton. During the same period the
cost of towage varied from1.65d. to 4.98d. per ton. The
cost of dredging here given includes the cost of the dis
posal of the dredgings, the cost of all wages, coals, stores,
repairs, chains, tow-ropes, &c., for dredgers, tugs, and
hopper barges; but is exclusive of the first cost of the
dredgers, tugs, and hopper barges.
Lighti1U) of Oham.nel.-There are altogether fifteen
lights upon the T ees : one white revolving flashlight in the
lighthouse ab the end of the South Gare breakwater,
visible for a distance of ten miles ; two red leading lights
at the fifth buoy, two similar lights at the ninth buoy,
two green lights, four fixed white lights, one occulting
white light, two gas buoys, and a pilots' shelter. Of
these, the two gas buoys, the pilots' shelter, and three of
the beacon lights are supplied with compressed oil gas,
ea~h having a storage capacity available for six weeks,
burning day and night continuouRly. The application of
this illuminant, instead of oil, is now being extended to
the whole of the lights on the river, with the exception
of the south breakwater light, and the fifth buoy leading
lights. The gas is manufactured by the Commission at
their Graving D ock Works at Cargo Fleet, near Middlesbrough. A barge carrying two large welded storeholders,
ha,ring a total storage capacity of 900 cubic feet, is spe
cially reserved for the purpose of refilling the cylinders
of the various lights ; these storeholders are charged at
the gas works with a ~pressure of 10 atmospheres, and
towed from light to lignt as occasion requires; the pressure in the storebolders is sufficient to recharge th e
cylinders of the lights by simply connecting them through
a flexible pipe. The barge containing the storeholders is
kept always afloat with the storeholders fully charged.
Moorings.- There are altogether about a hundred
mooring buoys in the river and estuary, the property of
the Commisson, besides some forty mooring dolphins.
The more recent mooring buoys are made of mild steel
plates, with cast-steel crossheads and nuts, and forged
steel spindles and shackles; they are 8 ft. in diameter by
9ft. long. Both the ebb and flood buoys in a berth are
secured by a 3in. stud chain, shackled to three bridle
chains which lead from three ,Piles placed in the form of
a triangle; these piles are dnven well below the surface
of the river bed.
Results of I mprovements.-As some indication of the de
velopment of th e river, it may be of interest to note that the
largest cargo shipped from Middlesbrough D ock in 1864
was 708 tons. The largest in 1891 was 5000 tons, while in
1892 ~ ves~el with 6500 tons dead weight cargo left the river.
Br1efiy It may be stated that by the energy, enterprise,
and forethought of the Tees Conservancy Commission, an
exposed and dangerous estuary has been converted into a
safe and commodious harbour of refuge ; a. shallow wandering, and uncertain river has been converted into'a safe
navigable waterway; and a Jarye tract of waste and useless foreshore hae been reclaimed, and made available for
profitable and useful purposes.

FAST OCEAN STEAMSHIPS.*

By Mr.

ELGAR1 LL.D., F.R.S.E.,

Vice-President.
WHEN the present meeting was arranged f0r I was
asked to read a paper upon the above subject, with
special reference to vessels of the largest type . such as ~he
new Cunard steamships Cam pania and Lucan Ia, for wh1.ch
I am the consulting naval architect: The secreta~y mformed me that th e subject was considered very sUitable
to the occasion, especially ~s no .paper upon it has. b.een
contributed to our'fransact10ns smce the late Mr. Wilham
John -one of the ablest and most valued members this
Institution has had during the third of a century it has
existed-read one upon "Atlantic Steamers/' in 1886.
Our present knowledge and experience of many of the
conditions that limit or influence speed at sea, and of
their separate or combin~d ef!ects, are by no means. exact
or exhaustive. In constdermg the general question of
the proportions, power, and detailed arrangements requisite for a ship in order to absolutely insure. that the
highest possible average speed shall be obtamed, and
kept up over an indefinite number of Ion~ ocean voya~es,
und er the restrictions imposed by the existing condittons
of ship, engine, and boiler construction, harbour and dock
accommodation, &c.-a question which would be a mere
matter of calculation if all the eircumstances affecting it
were fully and accurately known- we find that the
answer depends ultimately, to a great extent, upon personal judgment, and is open to be materially affected by
hopefulness or imagination. It would be unprofitable to
attempt to enter upon such a speculation here, and I
resist the temptation to do so. It might, perhaps, be
more useful and appropriate to call attention to a few of
the principal points that affect speed at sea, and some of
the directions in which theory and experience show the
way to continued improvement.
The Great Eastern is the most wonderful instance the
world has seen of attempts to obtain high speed over long
nistances at sea. She was designed forty years ago, and
her name is ~robably associated in the minds of most
people only With errors and disaster. Our Transactions
contain but little about her, although her constructor,
Mr. J. Scott Russell, was one of the founders of this
Inetitution, and was for over twenty years one of its most
prominent members. It is universally known that she
was remarkable for her enormous size ; but it is often
forgotten that there was anything else about her worthy
of notice or admiration. Every new ship that is built of
greater dimensions than her predecessors is naturally
compared in size with the Great Eastern. The Great
Eastern was remarkable, however, nob only for the vast
ness of her proportions, but also for the thought, care,
and skill employed in her design and construction, and
for the extent to which problems relating to high speed
upon the longest ocean voyages, some of which are, ab
times, thought to be peculiarly modern, were understood
and worked out by her d esigner. I have thought ib
might be interesting to compare the latest large steamships with the Great Eastern more in detail than is
usually done, and to bring into the comparison not
merely si~e, but some of the leading details of design and
constructiOn.
In the latter part of 1851, Mr. Brunei began to work
out his idea of a great ship for the Indian an d Australian
trade. He spent two years in inquiries, investigations,
and calculatwns ~elating to the numerous problemsmany of them qU1~e novel then, though more familiar
now-that were r&lsed by such a tremendous stride in
advance of all.former experience and ideas. The magnitude of the stnde was as great as would now be involved
by the construction of a ship 1200 ft. long and 30 to 35
knots speed.
The following is a comparative statement of particulars
of the Great Eastern and Cam pania :
" Great Eastern. " "Campania."
ft. in.
ft. in.
L ength over all ...
692 0
622 0
L ength
between
perpendiculars ...
680 0
600 0
Breadth moulded
82 2
65 0
D epth moulded to
upper deck
...
58 0
41 6
tons
tons
Register { gross ...
18,915
12,950
tonnage under deck 18,837
10,267
ft. in.
ft. in.
L oad draught ...
30 0
27 0
Passenger 1st class
800
600
accommo- 2nd , ,
2,000
300
dation .. . 3rd ,
1,200
700
Indicated horsepowt\r of engines about 8,000
about 30,000
Speed at sea in
knots at full power 14 to 14!
22 to 23
Th~ Great East~rl?- had two separate sets of propelling
mach.m ery; one dr1 vmg a screw propeller, and the other
a pa1r of paddle-wheels. The screw engines were the
most powerful, and coul~ ind~ca~e up to 4500 horse-power
at s~a. Th.e P,addle engines md10ated R500 ; so that the
max1mum mdicated horse-power was about 8000. This
power gaye a speed of 14 to 14! knots at sea, with a coal
consum~t10n of about 400 tons per day.
There were
fou~ cyhn~ers to ea~h se~ of engines; those of the screw
engmes bemg 7ft. m dtamet~r, with a stroke of 4 fb .
a~d those of the paddle engmes 6ft. 2 in. in diameter'
wtth a ~troke of 14 fb. Th.e screw was four-bladed, and
had a dtameter of ~4ft.. With 44ft. pitch. The paddlewheels were 56 ft. m diameter. The working steam
pressure appears to have been about 20 lb., and steam
FR.\.NCI .

* Paper read before the Institution of Na.va.l Architects.

E N G I N E E R I N G.
was cut off in the oylinders at one-third of the stroke.
The boilers were tubular a.nd of the square box type, and
they were double-ended. There were ten boilers in all,
18 ft. long, 17ft. 6 in. wide, and 14 ft. high, with 112
furnaces.
The Campa.nia. has also two separate sets of propelling
machinery, but in her case they drive twin screws. The
propelling power is fully three-and-a-half times that
of the Great Eastern, and the speed more than 50 per
cent. greater. This increase in power and speed is obtained with a daily coal consumption that is but little in
excess of the Great Eastern's. There a.re five cylinders
to each set of the Campa.nia's en~inee, and they work
three cranks. There are two htgh-pressure and two
low-pressure cylinders, and the high-pressure cylinders
are placed upon the low-pressure.
The cylinders
are 37 in., 79 in., and 98 in. in diameter respectively,
with 69 in. stroke. The screw propeller~ are smaller than
that of the Great Eastern. The boilers are thirteen in
number, twelve being double-ended, and one single-ended,

done to increase the strength, and prevent the undue

straining, of such a structure as a ship's hull by extra
riveting. In the Campania, three of the edges of the
bilge strakeR and the top edges of the upper strakes of
plating on e&eh side are treble riveted, and the remainder
are double riveted ; and all the butts, which are lapped,
as in the T eutonic and Majestic, are quadruple rivetedexcept at the extreme ends, where they are treble riveted.
Mr. Brunei communicated his views respecting a great
steamer for the Indian trade to the directors of the
Eastern Steam Navigation Company, after discussing
them with Mr. Scott Russell and others. This compauy
was formed in 1851, to convey mails, passengers, &c., by
the overland route between England and India and
China., with a. branch to Australia. The Government,
howeveri gave the contr&et for the whole service to the
Peninsu ar and Oriental Company in March, 1852; and
the Eastern Steam Navigation Company found itself in
the position of being unable to carry out the objects for
which it had been incorporated.

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room for about 800 separate cabins, larger than those now
fitted up in packet ships, with large saloons capable of
accommodating 1000 or 1500 first and second class ~as
sengers, and would carry 3000 ton&; weight of cargo, Without making any allowance for that increase of speed pro
portiona.te to the mere increase of size, of which we see
every day fresh proof; the average speed of the ship,
with the proposed power of engine and calculated consum~tion of coal, would be 14 knots at the average,
makmg the passage out in 34! days, say 36; but With
that increased speed which has been shown to take place
with increased dimensions, we may speculate upon the
voyage being performed in 30 days.
"This same vessel, fitted up for the Australian voyage,
and loaded deeper, would carry coals to Australia and
back; would take out 3000 passengers easily, and a. small
amount of cargo only, but could bring back any amount
that could be conveniently collected; or if proVIsion were
made for taking in 3000 or 4000 tons of coal in Australia,
that additional amount of cargo might be taken on the

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C.AMPA N IA '

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with 100 furnaces-or twelve furnaces less than in the

Great Eastern.
Figs. 1 to 4 show the main structural features of the
Great Eastern and the Campania. One of the chief
differences is that the main structure of the hull is much
deeper in the former vessel than in the latter. The Great
Eastern was a flush-decked ship, with no erections on
deck, except a few small houses at the middle line, shown
by dotted lines ; and the moulded depth from this deck
was 58ft., making the vesselll.7 depths in length. The
Campania carries upon her upper deck-in conformity
with the type of vessels that has been developed for the
accommodation of the largest number of passengers-two
tiers of decks. The first, or promenade, deck consists of
forecastle, poop, and midsbip deck for passengers, nearly
400ft. lon't. This deck is practically continuous; the
midship part being separated from the forecastle and poop
only by a small break at each end. Upon the promenade
deck a large amount of first -class passenger accommoda
tion is provided, which includes library, drawing and
music rooms1 smokingroom, twenty state-rooms, &c.
The second, or Rhade deck, is carried right across the
promenade deck as a shelter to the passengers, and it
extends fore and aft over the whole length of that deck.
Upon it are carried the boats, cabin accommodation for
the captain and officers, chart-room, wheel-house, &c.
The moulded depth from the upper d~k of the Campania is 41ft. 6 in., making 14~ depths m length. The
moulded depth from the shade deck is 59! ft., which is
only 1~ ft. more than the moulded depth of the Great
Eastern from the upper deck..
.
Apart from this d1fference m moulded depth, the mam
features of the structural design of the bull are ~ery
similar in the two cases. There are several complete non
or steel decks-the upper one being of great ~xtra
strength * a bottom made very strong by means of. m~er
bottom plating and longitudinals, and a very s1m1lar
amount and arrangement of internal subdivision of the
hull by watertight bulkheads.
.
.
.
.
The framing of the hull was entuely long1tudmalm
the Great Eastern, and the inJ?er ~ottom was carried ~p
as shown in Fig. 3. The longttudmals were 2 ~t. 10 m.
deep, and ~ in. thick. They were about 2 ft. 6 m. apart
on the flat of the bottom, and 5 ft. apart from the bottom
to a height of 36 ft. The scantlings of the hull seem to
have been arranged upon a simRJe principle. for Mr.
Scott Russell says, in his work on 'Naval Arch1t~cture,"
page 394, "there is one thicJ:cness of pla:tes, ! m., for
skin outer and inner; one thickness for mternal work,
~ in.'; one size of r~ vet_, i iJ?.; one P,itcb, 3 in.; and one
size of angle iron, 4 m. oy 4 m , by j m.
The shell plates, which were f in. thick, were only
10ft. long and 2ft. 9 in. wide ; being,. it may be pre
aumed, the large3t obtainable at that tune. The weight
of one of these plates would be under 7i cwt. The bulkhead plates, which were ! in. t~ick, were .about 9ft. long
and 3 ft. wide. The progress smce made m the manufacture of ship-plates is shown by the fact that the sh~ll
plates of the ~ain ~ortion of the hull of the <;Jampama,
which are i 1n. thick, average o~er 2? ft. m length,
5 ft. 3 in. in breadth, and 45 cwt. In weight. .Mr. S~tt
Russell says, '' The Great Easter? ~as ent.1rely built
with single riveting, the double nvetmg bemg at the
butts mostly." We have since learned that much can be

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passage out. The passage out to Port Philip F~ho~ld be

made easily in 36 days, and home by Cape Horn m the
same time. "
Mr. Brunei was authorised to continue his communications with shivbuilders and en~ineers, and t o invite t enders. The contracts for buildmg the vessel, as slightly
enlarged to 680 ft. by 82 ft., were signed at the end of
1853. The hull and paddle engines were given t o Messrs.
Scott Russe11 and Co., of London, and the screw engines
to Messrs. James Watt and Co., Soho Works, near Birmingham. Mr. Scott Russell wrote as follows to the
Times on April 20, 1857 : " My share of the merit and
responsibility is that of builder of the ship for the
East ern Steam Navigatio~ Company. I de~igned her
lines a.nd constructed the Iron hull of the ship, a.nd am
responsible for her m erits or defects. as a piece of naval
architecture. I am equally responsible for the paddlewheel engines. . . . It is to tbecoUlpany's engineer, Mr.
I. K. Brunei, that the original conception is du~ of
building a steamship large enough to carry coals suffiCient
for full steaming on the longest voyage. He, at the out* In the Great Eastern this deck is cellular in con- * "History of M erchant Shipping and Ancient Com- set, and long before. it bad assumed a merca.ntil.e. form,
struction and consists of longitudinal girders plated at
communicated his views to me, a.nd I have participated
merce,"
vol.
1v.,
page
488.
(W.
S.
Lindsay.)
the top a~d bottom with i-in. plates.
They then turned their attention to the main oversea
route followed by British commerce round the Cape
towards India, China, and Australia, which was nearly
the same as far as Ceylon. "On the fact of this great
pathway of commerce they grounded, and not without
plausible reasons, their sche?le f~r t~e profitable employment of various vessels of gtgantw stze between England
and Ceylon, from which place sl!laller vessels wer~ to
diverge to the other parts of India, as well as t o Chma,
Japan and Australia; the intention, however, being to
despat~b their firsb great vessel, when ready, direct to
Calcutta, Sydney, and Melbourne."*
Mr. Brunei reported as follows, in March, 1853, to a
committee appointed by the direct_ors t~ confer. with ~im
upon the design of ~be great. shtJ?:
The d~ ensions
arrived at by calculatiOn for this sbtp would be, m round
numbers, 670ft. long and 80ft. beam. Th~ sized vessel
would combine most of the advantages which we seek to
obtain. It would carry coal to Diamond Harbour (in the
Hooghly), and b&ek to Trincomalee ; it would afford

SEPT. I, I893]
in the contrivance of the best means to carry them into
practical effect."
Su~cienb capital was raised to build the ship, which
the dueotors ,~tat~d could be completed in eighteen
mont~s,, and
~h1ch would, undoubtedly, according to
a.~l ex1stmg experience, pa~s through the water at a. veloc~ty of 15 knots an hour, ,wtth a smaller power in proportlon t o tonnag'e t han ordma.ry ves~:~els now require to make
10 knot s." Th~ first plates of the flat portion of the
bottom were la.1d on May 1, 1854, but 1t wa.s not till
NovefD:ber 3, 185~, that she w~s ready for launching. The
la~nchmg operatiOn wa.s, as 1s well knownha. disastrous
failure, and the vessel was not got into t e water till
January 31, 1858. The cost of the launch is said to have
amounted to 120,000l., and tha company's funds became
exhausted. The vessel lay in the Thames for more than a
year with all work stopped upon her, when she passed into
the hands of a new company called the " Great Ship Company." S he made her first steam trial in September,
1859; and as the t rade for which she was originally intended could only be worked, if at all, by a number of
such ships making voyages at regular, and nob too long
intervals, with smaller vessels in the Indian Ocean t~
distribute the freight and passengers among the eastern
ports, this idea. bad t o be given up. She was accordingly
pub into the Atlantic trade, and xr.ade nine Transatlantic
voyages between 1860 and 1863. Upon the fourth voyage,
with 400 passen'ters on board, the rudder head was
twisted off, and the paddle-wheels damaged in a heavy
gale, and the vessel wa~ obliged t o put back to Queenstown. On another voyage outwards to New York, she
passed over a reef of rocks off Long I sland Sound, which
t ore the bottom plating open in ten places, and made one
h ole 80 ft. long and 10 fb. wide. Her very complete subdivision protected her against anything more than local
damage, and most of the passengers landed in ignorance
of an accident! which would probably have proved fatal
to any obh er existing 1essel.
The Great Eastern's speed npon the Atlantic sometimes reached 14~ to 15 knots average during on e day,
with a draught of water on leavicg port of about 28 ft.
Upon one voyage her speed averaged 13! knots outwards,
and 14 kn ots homewards. The highest average speeds
upon the Atlantic in 1852, when the Great Eastern was
designed, were about 10 knots. It will thus be seen that
the anticipa.tiona with regard to her speed were not withou t justification.
Owing to the impossibility of working upon the Atlantic
at a profit, the ship passed into other hands, and was
afterwards occupied chiefly in cable-laying. After the
demand for her employment in this work fell off, she lay
many years, uncared for, in Milford Haven, and was at
last sold and broken up.
~Ir. W . S. Lindsa.y says: "Though far from realising
the expectations once enterba.ined with regard t o speed*
and !mall consumption of fuel, her failure is m ainly to
be attributed t o the fact that, at the time she wa.s constructed, there were no lines of traffic on which a vessel
of such h uge capacity could procure, with despatch, the
amount of freight or passage money necessary to insure a.
profit."
The G reat Eastern was a. failure commercially; but,
from a mechanical point of view. she was in all her main
features successful t o a degree that was marvellous, when
compared with the standard of the time. Mr. Brunei
did not know the "law of comparison, " taught us by the
late Mr. Froude, whieh shows bow the power required to
drive a ton of dis placement at a given speed in a small
ship becomes reduced as the dimensions are increased in
similar ships; but be well knew the fact that the pro.Portion of power to dis placement becomes less as a sh1p is
increased in size, for the same speed. He acted upon this
principle in 1836 in the design of the famous Atlantic
steamer Great W esternb and carried it to a.n extreme
length in the design oft e Great Eastern.
Mr. Brunei said : "I never embarked in any one thing
to which I have so entirely devoted myself, and to which
I have d~voted so much time, thought, and labour, and
on the success of which I have staked so much reputation. "t This will be understood when the responsibilities
of the designer of such a. vast and novel work are considered. Almost ever ything bad t o be thought out and
arranged for, with but very little help from existing ideas
and experience. Mr. Brunei said in one of his memoranda : "E very part has to be considered and designed as
if an iron ship had never before been built; indeed, I believe we should get on much quicker if we had no previous habits and prejudices on the subject."
The lines were designed by Mr. Scott Russell upon his
wave-line principle. The cellular construction of the
hull, and the inner bottom, with the very complete
internal ~ubdivision into watertight compartments
-an arrangement that would fulfil the most modern
a nd stringent requirements, as laid down in the
recent report of the Bulkhead Committee- were due to
~r. Brun.el. Inv~sti~ations upon th~ rolling of ships,
wtth spao1a.l applrcat10n to the deste-n of the Great
Eastern, were made for Mr. Brunei by bts friend, the late
Mr. William Froude; and, I think, we probably o we
Mr. Froude's important contributions ul>on the rolling
of ships t o our Transactions to his association with Mr.
Brunei in this matter. Mr. Froude employs in his first
paper on "The Rolling of Ships" (vol. ii. of Transactions,
pages 219-221} data obtained from rolling experiments
made with a model of the Great Eastef'n. Mr. Brunei
also wanted to experiment upon the relati ve resistances

E N G I N E E R I N G.
in water of clean copper and painted iron surfaces, with
the view, at first, of having the outer shell of the Great
Ea.stera of wood, sheathed with copper. He apvears to
have finally settled upon iron, because of the d1fficulty
of devising any means of dealing exhaustively with the
question; and because be doubted whether, with a. very
long surface, the smoothness would much affect the total
resistance.
Having dealt at much greater length with the subject!
of the Great Eastern than I would otherwise have done,
because of the want of information in our Transactions
respecting the design amd performances of the most
w~:mderful piece of naval architecture eve~ project ed, I
w11l pass on to some of the general quest1ons involved
by the growing demand for increased speed a.t sea..
There are already several ships that can cross the
Atlantic ab an average speed of over 20 knots, or 23
statut~ miles per hour.
The Campa.nia crossed from
Sandy Hook to Queenstown, on h er first voyage in ~!ay
last, at an average of 21.3 knots, and during one day she
averaged 22.3 knot s. These speeds are a little over 24!
and 25i statute miles per hour respeoti vely. It is thus
already possible to cross the A tlantic at a.s great a. speed
as journeys of the same length could be made on land by
all but the fastest rail way trains. The Canadian Pacific
Railway, for instance, takes 5 days 19 hours between
Montreal and Vancouver, a. distance of 2906 miles, giving
an average apeed of a little less than 21 miles per hour.
There are various standards by which the speeds of
ships are judged. W e have the trial speeds, which may
be determined by a series of runs over a measured mile,
or by runs over various distances in smooth water at sea ;
we have runs for a certain length of time in ordinary
weather at sea; and, finally, we have the average speed
which a ship can maintain, year after year, over the whole
of her voyages in all seas and all weathers.
The last-named is the kind of s peed now under consideration. A mong the conditions essential to high speed,
as thus d efined, are : (1) Great size of ship ; (2) a form
suitable for driving easily at high speeds over heavy seas
without shipping heavy wa.ter1 or lifting the propellers
sufficiently to cause racing ; (;:s) deep draught of water;
(4) steadiness in ~ sea. way; (5} great stren~th of st~uc
ture and of ma.chm ery; (6) a large proportion of b01ler
power, so as t o enable a full supplf of steam for the
engines to be easily kept; (7) a ful and well-regulated
supply of air to the furnaces.

(To be oontinued.)

THE PORT OF VENICE.

The I mprovement of the Lido Entrance to the P01t of
Ven.ice.
By CRSARE

SPADO~,

of the Italian Civil Engineering

Corps.
THE V enetian Lagoon is in communication with the
outer sea by means offiveoutlets (called "ports") through
the littoral , and these "ports " are named Treporti,
St. Erasmus, Lido, Malamooco, and Chioggia.
The littoral, or foreshore, is princ1pally subject to the
winds blowin~ from N.E. and S.E.
The S.E. wmd produC" !S a. heavl sea, which frequently
dama.g'es the works of th J "ports.' The N.E. wind, with
a sma.ller fetch (60 milE-.3), does not usually cause so great
damage. It is found !rom observation that the matter in
suspension transported by the sea. currents generally
passes from north t owards south.
Opposite to the mouths of the "por ts" deposits of
sand, &c., form, and they are larger on the windward
than the leeward side. They are termed " sca.nni," and
in 1882 extended from the western or left side (sae Fig. 1),
in front of the outlets of the "ports " of Lido, St. Erasmus,
and Treporti. The "Ca.vallino littoral " and the "Lido
littoral " (between which is the outlet of the three "ports")
are in their general directions inclined to each other at an
angle of 136 deg. In consequence of this sharp or sudden
change in the general directiOn of the foreshore, combined
with the heaping-up effects of south-easterly gales, the
Cavallino littoral has more largely increased than the
other, and its enlargement has gone on to so great an
extent as to stop up a former, or sixth, outlet, known as
Lio Maggiore. A reference to the plan dated 1882 also
s hows the exist ence of numerous submerged sandbanks
right across the outlets of the "ports." The ports of
Tr~rti and S t. Erasmus were badly blocked, while that
of Lido was in a somewhat better condition.
The continued deterioration pointed to the necessity of
so improving the porb of Lido that it might form a permanent and satisfactory approach to Venice, as it was on
the lagoon here that the city is situated with its docks,
quays, arsenals, &c.
The port of Ma.lomocco was the only navigable one for
large ships, but its use involved the circuitous navigation
of la.goonary canals t o the extent of 14 and 16 kilometres
t o reach the arsenal, and the maritime stations respectively. This approach, however, was very diffi cult of
navigation, owing to the numerous and sharp bends and
strong curr6nts ; and in addition it requires continuous
dredging to a depth of 10 metres below high water t o
permit of the convenient passage of vessels. If, however,
the ontlet of the port of Lido could be made efficient, the
navigation of lagoonary canals in approaching Venice
would be r~duce d to 7i kilometres to the maritime station
and 2i kilometres to the arsenal. In sddition to these
reduced distances there is the advantage that these particular lagoona.ry canals maintain themselves naturally ab
* The expectations with regard t o speed appear to a. navigable depth.
The t endency t o deposit in the lagoons is greater than
h ave been fairly realised, though with a. consumption of
coals that greatly exceeded Mr. B:r:unel's estimates. . . the tendency of the outflowing waters to remove the
t "The Life of I samba.rd K10gdom Brunei, C1v1l
* Paper read at the International !viaritime Congre'!s,
Engineer.'' By Isambard Brunei. (L ongmans, Green,
L ondon Meeting, July, 1893.
4\nd Co. 1870.)

material, and consequently the lagoons are getting filled

up, especially those of Treporti and St. Era.smus.
The deterioration of the port of Lido was clearly traceable to the same causes as formerly threatened the existence of the port of Ma.la.mooco, and the same remedy was
used-viz. , the construction of two dykes made ab the
sides of their mouths and produced beyond the banks, so
as to atop the heaping-up action of the waves and to
constrain the outfiowing current to pass in a constant
channel across the banks, and thus permanently maintain
a deep approach channel.
The carrying oub of the remedy in the case of the Lido
was more difficult than in that e f Ma.lamocco, inasmuch
a.s in the latter case only one mouth of a lagoon had to
be dealt with, as against three in the former.
In the year 1872 Messrs. Ma.ti and Coutin, civil engineers, desi~ed a scheme to include the three mouths of
Treporti, St. Erasmus, and Lido, in one entrance or
" canal port." They p roposed the construction of two
dykes, the first or north-easterly one to start from the
Sabbioni Point at the extreme western end of the Cavallino littoral, and the second or south -easterly one from
the Carboni Point at the extreme east ern end of the Lido
littoral. These dykes, shown 3i kilometres apart at their
base, conver~e so as to give a parallel-sided entrance t o the
" canal port 'of a width of 1 kilometre, and the dykes
or embankments were to be produced seawards into a
depth of 8 metres below high-water mark, it being considered this was necessary in order t o reach a point where
the material of the sea bottom was not liable to movement
from the action of surface waves. The northeastern
dyke thus required to be 3440 metres in length, and the
south-westerly one 2730 metres.
The width of the " oa.na.l port " between these dykes
was fixed at 1 kilometre, having due regard to the areas
of the interior lagoons, the previous experience a.t the
Malamocco port being taken as a. guide.
. The. entra.n<?S wa.s also fixed to .be i~ a south-easterly
d1rect1on1 ha.vmg regard to the d1rect10n of prevailing
strong wmds a.nd the contour of shore.
The scheme thus formulated was con sidered by the
authorities, together with three others of a. slightly modified character, and finally it was decided to carry out the
north-eastern dyke as proposed, but to modify slightly
the width between the dykes a.t the entrance, and to alter
the length of the south-western dyke. Thus the width
was made 900 m etres, and the consequent change in
position of the north-western dyke necessitated a length
of 2850 metres, at which length a. depth of water of
7 metres would be reached.
There was a. further alteration-dictated by motives of
economy only-in the curve a.t the root of th~ southwestern dyke, by which alteration certain very deep portions of the appt'oach were avoided for the permanent
emba.nkmentd.
A ccordingly, in 1882, the works were commenced, and
in 1888 the north-eastern dyke was completed for a length
of 3130 metres, of which 2890 metres consisted of solid
work above " the level of the medium tide," whilst the
other 240 metres were submerged.
As the construction of this dyke proceeded, the mouth
of the Treporti outlet! was naturally improved, and a.
channel was formed across the bank 5 metres in depth. It
had, however, a. "bar " with only 3! metres depth over it,
and a.t its outer end ib took a. south-easterly direction,
then turning southward, but maintaining its depth
throughout. But it appeared thab the ebbing currents
from the Treporti outlets were not sufficient to secure the
required depth, and the extension of the dyke into 8 metl'es
of water clearly would not ha.ve the destred effect ; and
as no im~rovement had taken place in the mouth of the
Lido, whtlsb the bank between the Lido and Treporti had
increased, it became urgent that the south-western dyke
should be carried out. Its construction was commenced,
therefore, in 1889, and the work is still in progress.
The mode of carrying out the work presented nounus ual features.
Both dykes have their top levels a.t 0.50 metre above
high-water mark; they are 6.50 metres wide, with side
slopes of 1! to 1. The upper part is made with large blocks,
each containin~ 9 cubic metres.
The foundations of the north-eastern dyke were good,
and no quicksands were met with, but more difficulties had
to be overcome in the south-western dyke, principally
due to the great depth of the outlet of the Porto di Lido.
In this outlet channel the ebb currents had a high velocity,
which exercised a stron~ eroding effect on the bottom .
In consequence of this h1gh velocity it was not deemed
advisable to start the south-western bank at the extreme
land end and extend it seawards, as bad been done with
the northeast dyke. Tl!erefore, that portion of the mouth
of the Porto di Lido was not interfered with at first, but
the rest of the embankment proceeded with between the
dates of July, 1889, and March, 1891, and a.b the same
time the north-east dyke wa.s stron~ly protected. Then the
closing of the old outlet of the L1do was proceeded with
and completed a.t the end of 1891, the totA.l length of embankment then being 2350 metres; but from that date
up to the present time operations for strengthening this
south-western bank have been continuously in progress.
The estimated cost of the scheme was 6,424,000 lire, and
up t o the present 4,280,000 lire have been expended.
The sur vey and plan dated 1892 (Fig. 2) shows the condition of the sea. bed in the neighbourhood of the works.
In 1889, when the construction of the south-west dyke
was started, the new mouth of the Treporti ran in a direc
tion nearly north and south, crossing the site of the southwest d_y ke, in an almost similar direction to the old outlet of Lido. Between these two outlet channels waa the
large sandbank 900 metres long, and with a dep,th of 1.20
and 2 metres below "medium high tide mark. ' A s soon
as the old mouth of the Lido was closed, the diverted
currentA foriP ed a ne w channel across this eand~nk,

288

E N G I N E E RI N G.

THE

LID 0

ENTRANCE

OF

THE

POR T OF

VEN I CE.

/88~

Fig. 2.
PORT OF LIDO

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having a. depth at places of more than 8 metres and an

average width of 100 metres. After crossing the bank
this new channel of the Lido joins that of the Treporti,
and one channel is formed, having an a verage width
of 250 metres and a depth of not less than 6 metres.
Further on the channel decreases in depth, and ultimately
is blocked by a slight "bar" having 5. 70 m~tres depth,
but m ore recent observations have indicated a tendency to increase in depth.
The new "canal porb " or entrance channel is stated,
for navigation purposes, to have a. depth of 6 metres, and
when it is considered that the north-eastern dyke reaches
to a point at which only this depth originally existed,
these results are considered very satisfactory.
The effect of the scourin~ action of th e new currents
has been, amongst other thmgs, to remove the sand from
the remains of some old wrecked ~alleys supposed to have
gone down in the wars of Chiogg1a (1377-80).
The increase of depth in these new channels is continuous, but from the experience at the Malamocco port
and elsewhere it is concluded that some years must pass
before the new channels may be considered permanent,
and in this interval many additions will require to be
made to th~ works.
It is believed that when the two dyke:~ are completed,
in accordance with the original scheme, the entrance
channel between the parallel portions of th e embankments will have a depth of 8 metres, and will branch out
into two distinct channels, one towards the mouth of thA
Treporti and the other t owards that of the Lido.
The mouth of the St. Erasmus will not probably r emain
independent, but will join that of the Lido if any tend ency in this direction be encouraged by judiciouR works.

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Section 88 to 2

V
\

1.1

.... ..........
~

1719

r.

d ecided to order the construction of two st eamers in England, one of which, with a tonnage of 1200, will ply between the Bulgarian ports and Constantinople, while the
other, with a t onnage of 800, will und ertake the local
coast service. It seems probable that the local service
will prove remunerative, but the Austrian Lloyd steamers
will be dangerous competitors for the traffic with Con.
stantinople. The new venture gives evidence of the enterB uLGARIAN SHIPPING ENTERPRISE.-The first Bulgarian prising spirit of the Bulgarians, which is also indicated
Steamship Navigation Company was ina?gurated at a by the numerous co-opera.tive societies now being formed
meeting of subscribe ra on August 29, at wh10h a. board of in all parts of the country.
directors was nominated. The new ~mpany w1ll have a
capital of 2 000 000 fr. and will recmve a Governm ent
A P owRRF t.:L HAN DWORKRD Fa E ENGJNB'.-A new
subvention ~qu~l to 9 per cent. of the paid-up capital; design of ~. aud fire engine has juE.t bet n constructed by
1,300,000 fr. have b een alr~ady subscribed. It has been Messrs. M erryweather and Sons for one of the leading

South American fire departments. The engine is fitted

with the firm's new patent valve box with 9-in. ~umps,
and, worked by forty-eight men, is capable of dehvering
250 gallons of water per minute and of throwing a jet
150 ft. high. The machinery :md pumping levers are
bri~ht throughout, steel being used to a great extent. The
works are fitted in an op en mahogany cistern, the fore
carriage being arranged m order that the engine may be
drawn by men. It is, perhaps, th e most powerful hand
fire engine e.ve! constructed, ~nd is furnished ~ith a la~ge
amount of mimed and outlmed hose, an art1c~e _also mtrod_uced by Me~srs. Mer_ry_weather, the outhnmg protectmg the fabnc from m)ury or wear when used on
rough roz.dwal ~, and alEo vre~erving the canvas from
rot.

SEPT.

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

i, 1893]

come backwards out of the space, and thus releasing the sear lead escaping oil or liquid grease into the oil well and. to ~revent
and allowing it to be pulled off and the hammer to fall, the bolt it passing to the outer side. The edge ~f the s~1eld s. also
similarly treated and packed, the end bemg. proVIded Wl~h a
leather, as a packing to exclud~ dust. The SJ~es of the shtelds
Pig . 1.
a re reces.sed and: recta.ngula~ ~mgs are fitted 10 them, the cas
OoMPILED BY W. LLO'"Y..,..,D WISE.
ings havmg sprmge h eld w1th1n the r eturn ed:ges of them to
BELBCTBD ABSTRACTS OF RECENT PUBLISHED SPEOIFIOATIONB
retain the sprmgs in their positions! and Y':t gtve play for comUNDER THE ACTS 1888-1888.
pression . The open parts of the ca.smgs fit 1n the recesses of the
shields, aod the outer parts bear against the walls of the axle box.
'I'M number of views given in the Specification Drawf,ngs (8 stated
'8'
(.Accepted July 12, 1893).
in each case; where none are mentioned, the Specification u
wt illmtrated.
17,904. J. B. Atherton, Manhattan, Ralnh.l lJ,
Where I nventions are communicated from abroad, the Natmt8
Lancs. Chain. Making Machinery, &c. (4 F~gs.J
&c., of the Communicators are given in italiC8.
Ootober 7 1892.-This in vention relates to t he machines deecnbfd
Copiu of Specifications mmy be obtained at the Patent O{ftce
in Patent'No. 1063 of 1892, and its object is to enable t~em to fo.rm
Sale Branch, SS, Cursitorstreet, Clutncery-latM, E.C. , at the
a weldless ohain in whioh the ends of each length of wu e formm g
uniform price of Sd.
the link are twined upon themselves to a g r eater ~xtent. T~e
The date of the advertisem-ent of the acuptame oJ a complete
sprocket-wheel C is 6xed upon the spindle B to rece1ve the cham
specification is, in each case, given after the abstract, u1lless the
16Jgg
after the principal operations of Its f?rmation are ~ompleted. The
Patent has been sealed, when the date of sealing is given.
D is fixed upon the epmdle B, on whtr h ts also fixed
..tny pe1son may at any time within two months from the date (If A reuuining outside, behind the projection C, until the look is aratchet-wheel
notched wheel. The lever F is pr ovided with a pawl at
the advertisem ent of the acceptance of a complete specification, again cooked, when the space is again filled as before. (A ccepted
give wtice at the Patent Office of onosition to the gramt of a J u ly 19, 1893).
Patent on any of the grouniis mentioned in the .Act.

"ENGINEERING" ILLUSTRATED PATENT

RECORD.

Fig .Z .

RAILWAY APPLIANCES.
GAS, &c., ENGINES.
15,700. W. R. Sykes, London. Railway Signalling
16,339. S. Grlftin, B ath , Somerset. Liquid Hydro- Apparatus. [6 F igs.) September 1, 1892.-Th_is in\'enti<?n
carbon, &c., Engines. [3 Figs.) September 13, 1892.- ha.s refer ence to balance lever plates fixed upon the etgnal P?St 10
This invention r elates to liquid hydrocarbon, &o. , engines. When
the pr~ssUTe in the motor oylinder reaches a. certain point, it a cts
on the available area. of the enlarged stem of the valve C and
opens it, allowing communication between the passages A, E,
the compressed and inflammable charge being thu~ admitted to
the igniting tube and fi red. The valve C is held open by the pressure in the cylinder until the exhaust val ve is opened, when it is

conjunction with operating the signal a r m. When the dtstant

&ijtnallever is operated in the far cabin, and the balance lever c
which operates the cam piece i throu~h a r olle r Q is D?oved,
the sway beam m. is raised by the connecting-rod l m\o a

~~Fig.2.

c:

Fig.J.

g radually returned to its seat by the spring D, thus again cutting

off communication between the ignition tube and the motor
cylinder. The valve C is thus opened at the same point of each
recu rrio~ compression stroke, thereby timing the firing of the
oharge. To temporarily r elieve the pressure on the spring D in
starting, the adjusting screw is turned back. When the engine
is running the adjusting screw is turned in the reverse direction
until the stop nuts reaoh the opposite limit of their movement.
(.A ccepted J uly 19, 1893).

its lower eod, and receives an oscillatory movement about a pivot

Fl. The pawl engages with t h e ratrhet-wheel D. The leYer G
is provided with arms o:~, G3, the forme r of which extends upwards
in the path of an a.ntifriction roller H carried at the end of a
reciprocating elide Hl. One end of a spring is connected to
th e lever G and the other to the framing of the machine. The
a rm Q3 has projections Jl, J 2. The lever K is connected to the
lever G, from which it r eceives oscillatory movement by the link
L. The lower end of the lever K is provided with a central ridge,
on each side of which is a surface curved to fit the wire of which
the chains a re formed. (d cce,pted July 12, 1893).

Fig. 3.

16,132. G. Watson, Kilmarnock, Ayrs, N.B. Sluice

GUNS. &c.
Valves. [3 Figs.) September 9, 1892.-This in vention relatfs
15,070. G. F. R e dfern, London. (E. Temstrom, slanting position, and a movement givEn to the middle up to sluice valves. The main valve A is made with double doors B
A snu res, S eine, Jl,ance. ) Armoured Turrets. [4 F igs. ) right rod o to the diAtant arm, eo that the bottom of a slot having parallel faces a nd fitting r ings C, and slidin&r betwe<n

Au~ust

20, 1892.-This invention relates to an armoured turret

having an upper cupola a arranged so as to admit only the gun
and the immediately adjacent parts of t he moun ting above the
level of the g round. The cupola tits on to the outer armour c,
and springs ar e introduced between the two in order to reduce

Pig. I

'bears against a pin. Upon the stop signal being operated in opposite faces, encircling ports in the valve casing E. The main
the rear cabin, the balance lever d is worked, and through a roller vahe is worked by a. tubular screw spindle F, whirh, without
actuates the cam piece j, to which is conneoted the rod k to the

stop signaL The stop aod distant signals a re thus lowered.

(Acce,pted July 19, 1893).

Fig .1 .

STEAM ENGINES AND BOILERS.

16,494. N. Macbetb, Bolton, Lancs. Furnishing
Support for Piston-Rods. [6 Figs. ) September 16, 1892.

- Thi s invention r elates to horizontal steam engines, and t he

object is to decreaae the tendency the pistons haYe to bear
hea\'ily upon the lower parts of the inter iors of the cylinders and
rods, &c. Below the piston-rod a bearing is applied, this bear
ing being made in two parts, aod being not quite rigid, to enable
it to accommodate itself to the slight irregularities of the piston
rod. On e part of the bearing is of gun-metal, aod the other steel.
The bearing rests upon four carriages d, each formed with two

Ft9.Z

Ff{J. 7.

Fig.2.

a
moving on eod, acts on an internally screwed nut Fl fixed to a
projecting part of t he main valve. Through the tubular spindle
extends a small screw one G, which similarly acts on an inter
nally scr ewed nut secured to a small valve between the plates of
t he main one, and is adapted to close a small port thr ough the
latter. Indicators are provided for Rhowing separately the positions of t he main and small valves. (A ccepted Jttly 12, 1893).

15,510. C. de Bailllencourt, Brussels, Belgium.

Combing, &c., Long Fibres for Spinning.

projecting ribs. T wo of t he carriages are sustained by a larger

one e, and the other two by a corresponding carriage el, these
two larger ones being sustained by a bottom ooe f, the connec
tions allowing any upper carria~e to rock upon its supportin~
fulcrum oo the lower carriage. Endwise movement is prevented
by the bed being provided with two side studs which enter slots in
the faces k2. The bed i sustained at eight separ ate points, and
each one of these is capable of independent ver tical motion owing
to the carriages being mounted on fulcra. (~ccepted J uly 19,
1893) .

... ...

...

...

August 29, 1892.-This invention relates to dressing and preparing long fibres for spinnin~r, in which the latter, carried in clamps,
are caused to move intermittently along beams having vertical
movement, whereby the fibres are brought under the action of
teeth of aprons and thus combed. Each press m m1 as it occupies
successheJy positions m to m3 presents a longer portion of
the fibres suspended from it to the action of the combs during

------

MISCELLANEOUS.
15,918. W. Button, London. ( M. Brown, Woodstock,
the friction between those parts. The gun is supported in a Cape of Good IIopa.) Shields of Axle-Boxes. [5 F igs.)
cylinderf having trunnions carried in bearings in the cupola, September B, 1892.- This invention relates to paoking the shields
ringel, m being arr~nged for locking the gun in firing- position and employed in axle-boxes to prevent entry of dust and escape of
,

ISO 70.B

means for preventing t he mechanism from being handled or the

jlun wo ked until after it is locked to the cylinder .r. I n aiming
through an orifice io the oylinder supporting the gun, a telescope s is provided with a mirror to re flect the image of the object
to a. point below the guo. (.dccepted July 19, 1893).

16,298. T. Southgate, London.

Fig ..Z

.. ------

ISS/11

Small Arms. (10

Fi.rJs.J September 12, 1892. - The object of this invention is to

prevent the accidental discharge of small arms. The locking bolt
A is pi\oted oo tbe tail B of the sear B 1, and is free to be rocked
on its centre so as to release the latter. A stop block is formed
on the inner surface of the looking plate D above t he sear tail
When the lock is oo~ked the bolt A is pressed by its spring into
the e.pace between th~ stop block and thE> tail B, thus locking and
~oldtng the.eear nose m the ben~ of the tumble F; The trigger G
1s formed wtth a spur Gl extendtng upwards behtnd the sear tail
and in contact with the in ner eod of the locking bolt, this spur
being sloped eo that wheo the t rigger is pulled it presses the inner
end of the locking bolt forward, thus causing the bolting end to

[2 Figs. ]

oil, and to provide m~ans for pre,enting rattling. The faces of

the shield next the axle hole are g r ooved, and a gasket of mater ial
such as sheepskin with the wool on is fixed therein, with a projecting fringe to bear against the circumference of the axle to

the prf'limina.ry combing, whether the latter a re extEnded or

shor tened and repeated. When the fibres, however pass under
tbe.action of the finishing combs ~n they are dres.sed thr oughout
thea whole length, the combs be10g of g radually JDcreasin~ finen~ss. The first and second machines of the set operate wlth inc~med ar.bors to the aprons, while the. finishing machine is provtded wtth aprons wtth combs of mcreasing fineness upon
horizontal arbors parallel with the beam. (A(ce.,.,ted July 12
r'
,
1893).

D. B. Farqubarson, Newcastle-on-Tyne
P<!ta:toD~gglng Machines. ~5 Figs.) O~tober 3, 1892._:
17,552.

Th1s m vent10n relat<s to potato dtggers, m which an endless

travelling screen driven in a t ransverse direction is used this bar d
being composed of loniitudinal tubes P attached to IiX:ka of end-

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

290

(SEPT.

I, I 893.

Ieee chaloe driven by sproc ket wheels from gearing on the axle leather is maintained in place hy a r ing n having a concave face the counterpar t die. A cutter T is fixed across the piston-rod
ca~ried by the two d riving .wheels. The potatoes, after being t o fit the top of the former, which fits into the annula r space and under the lever D, to raise the lt.tter when the fCirmer la moved
rateed by a share, a r e deh ver ed on to the inner aide of t he has a flange forming a means of attachment to the cylinder bead. upwards, the d ie F being raised with it by the links H. (.Acupttd
(.A ccepted J uly 12, 1893).
July 19, 1898).
15,859. W. Button. London. (M. Br01vn, Wood1tock,
14,507. J. IL Collllls, Glasgow. Dyelllg aa4
Cape Town, Cape of Good H ope.) Bydraullo Ltftlllg Soourlllg YarD. [11 Figa.] August 11, 1892.-This invention
Jaoka. [3 Figs.] September 3, 1892. -This invention relates retates to machinery for d yeing and scouring yarn. The revoluto hydraulic lifting jacks, and its object is to p r event the ram tio~s of the ab~t 8 operate!" co~-wheel ?"1 and cam, t.nd the lt.tter
r eced ing after pressure is put on for lifting purpose. The ram aa tt r evolves gtves an oscallataog motaon to leven pt, pl, t.nd
A is fi xed upon the traversin~ screw base B t.nd carries the slid cra.nk p , ther eby partially revolving backwards and forwt.rd.e the
ing cylinder C, notches D bemg arranged in parallel order on

.1
~ . 1.
,

Fig.2.

.\
I I

c
0

tf.

the ram A for engaging the spring catches E when the CD.m levers
ITSSZ.
Fare folded backwards oJose against the sides of the cylind er 0

to prevent it from re oedin~ alter pressure is put on . The handles

t ra velling- screen, where they are separ ated from the soil, leaving F are pi\foted to springs H attached t o t he cylinder, and by pull

the potatoes to roll off the screen on to the surface of the g round lng them down the shoulders formed by t heir fo rked pivoted ends
at the r ear end of the machine. (.Accepted J uly 6, 1893).
turn against the face of the cylind er and withdraw the spring
15,428. B., B.
and F. Wren, Manchester. Balling catches E from the notches D for allowing free downward moveI
m
ent
of
the
cylind
er
C
on
the
ram
A.
(.Aectpted
July
19,
1893).
Thread. [4 Figs.] Auctust 27, 1892.-This invention relates to
a m achine for balling thread, &c. , and consists of a main frame
16,590. J. Noltsch, Chemnitz, Saxony. Sitting
to the front part of which is attached a swinging frame c carrying Machtnes for Flour, &c. [4 Figs. ] September 16, 1892.a series of spindles d d riven by bevel wheels e on a shaft carried This invention relates to the revolving vanes of sifting machines
in the swing frame, and actuated by pulleys and endless bands for g rt.nular material, such aa fiour. The machine i8 mounted
from the main d riving shaft. The swinging motion is imparted in a frame consiating of fou r posts M and a pair of beariDgs b, h,
to tbe frame c by bellcrank levers and links, the bowl g2 of the which support a.nd guide the shaft d, the lat ter being provided
bellcrank lever g working on t he outer edge of the cam h, a bole with a journal / and belt pulley n . The hushes g, i of the bearin the per iphery of the plate h being made at the point where t he ings h and bare divided and adjustable. The stand is divided chain wheels dl , d2, from which a r e suspended the two eeta of
d epression for "coverin ~:t in" is to be situated, this r ecess being into three compar tments A, B, 0 by means of partition plates pol es j with their hanks of yarn. The poles are suspended by
the chains pa88ing over the wheels dl, d 2 so that they balance each
oth er and t herefOt"e, at each partial turn of the wheels ln one
dir ection, the yarn at one side of the maobine is dipped whilst
that on t he other sid e is raised up, and vic1 veraa. (.Acupttd
J uly 19, l~S).

c.,

. Z.

16.259. G. Mltehelt. Dalawinton, Dumtrles. Ex

pressing 011, &c., from Substances contatntng tt.

[4 Figs. ]

Septembet" 10, 1892.-Tbis invention r elates to means

tor expreaaing liquids, such aa oil from seeds, &c. If the main
r am g is drawn back and t he yress boxes hare" open," the hopper,
which is full ef t he materia to be pressed, is drawn along the
top, and as it paeses over the open epaoes n , between the prees
plates, th e latter are filled with the material, the hopper being
d rawn back to its original position, and the hydr aulic pressure

Jii:g.l .

fitted with an ad justable and movable section, so that it ean be

altered to the r equir emen ts of any special sh aJ?e of ball. The
flyers 17 are mounted in fixed r ails, and a re dnven by gearing
from the main shalt. On the end of each spindle d is fi xed a
small box which is supplied with an adhesive cement. When tbe
balls are r eady fo r " netting" the machin e stops, and the attend
ant places a ticket upon the adhesive end of each spindle, and
then sets t he me.chine on again for "netting." Means are pro
,;ded for actuatin~ the stop motion fo r " netting," for altering
the speed of the spmdle automatically, and for varying the ten sion u pon the thread as r equired. (A ccepted July 12, 1893).

16,193. G. Mltchell, Dalswlnton, Dumfries. By

drauuc Machinery. [2 Figs. ] September 9, 1892,-This

invention consists in the arrangement of the balance cylinder a

at the back of the main hydraulic cylinder b, in which is a supplementary piston c having cup leathers fo r workJng under pr essure from either side. The piston c is connected by a rod et of
smaller diameter to the main ram e, the piston-rod passing thr oullh
a gland! situated between the two cylinders, and which works
hydraulically tight from either side. A hole dl is provided in the
p iston-rod down its centre from end to end, the or ifice g being
always within t he main hydraulic cylinder b, a nd affording com
munication between the main cylinder band t he baek of t he supplementary aylinder and piston c. The annular ar ea ar ound the
r od of the supplementary p iston on the front side forms the effect ive a rea for balancing the main ram e back into its cylinder .

Fcg .1

Fig . 2 .

'

o, ol, oll, oa fixed to the frame by scr ews, a sheet metal trough,
r iveted to the bottom plate, fo rming a fourbh compartment. On
the driving shaft dare conical drums c, cl, c2, having incUned fan
blades, while tile correspondingly conical sieves surrounding tbe
latter a r e mounted on wooden bars placed in the compartments
A, B, 0, and a rranged in circular rows, t hA upper ends being
secured to the par titions o, ot, o2 by an~le iron rings, while the
lower ends are screwed upon other partitions secured to the
framework. (.A ccepted July 19, 1893).

'

Yt.g. 3 .

16,282. A.C. Kirk, Glasgow. FlangiDg. Shaplllg, &c.,

Metal Plates. [4 flips.] September 12, 1892.-Tbis invention
relates to machinery for f\anging, shaping, &o., metal plates so as to
be available for various opera t ions in making metal structures such
as boilers, especially where the direct action of an hydraulic ram
is not suitable. The table A has an hydraulic cylinder B under neath, having a piston-rod C extending up above the table, and
a rranged to pull down and raise a lever D, to tbe end of which a
ftaogiog block F is attached, the counterpart block G being fi xed
to the table. The die F is attached to the lever D by two links
H, the upper ends of whioh a re connected by a pin which slides

Fig. ! .

I f

applied froo1 the pumps. .As tbe liquid is express' d it falls on to

the removable plate, and from there into t he channels in the soleplate a, and further into the rece ivin~ tanks. The pressure being
completed, the ram is withdrawn, and with 1t the boxes, leaving the cakes standing loose in the open spa-ces between the press
plates, and on the removable plate being withdrawn th~ y fa ll
throug h the boles in the sole-plate on to an adjustable r ecetviog
table, when the plate is replaced and the process r epf'ated.
(Accepted J uly 19, 1893).

Fig .2. .

16193.

A
When this is heincr effected the front side of t h e supplementary
piston c is exposed to the pressure from the hydraulic main
thr ough the inlet branch h, while the main cylinder and back of
the supplementary one through the hole d 1 are in communication
with the exhaust. When these conditions are reversed and the
main ram is being forced out, a g reater pressure is exer ted than
that due to the area of the main ram alone. At the bottom of the
gland r ecess a neck ring is placed and form ed .so as t? receiv~ a
U cup leather tladdJe fashion, the conv ex portaon havmg a seraes
of p rojec~>ioos j, in which the cup leather r ests, the hyd raulic
liquid freely ci rculating between these projections and p&seing to
the inside of the oup leatbet' by means of the boles le from tbe
main cylinder. The cross holes m, communicating between the
spaces, materially assist in retaining a uniform pressure inside
~lle cup leather, ~nd keeping j t tigbt "t low prese~ree . ~he

UJIITED STATES PAlB.lirB !BD PATENT PJUO'l'IOB.

Desoriptions with Ul';JBtr&tions of inventions patented in the

United States of Amenca from 18t7 to t he present time, and
reports of trials of patent law oases in the United States may be
consulted, g ratis, t.t the offioea of EN&nintNG, a6 t.nd 36, Bedford
in a slot K in a small piece L fix ed on t he lever . The lever D, at at1eet, Stnnd.
the end opposite t o that at which the die F is attached , is connected by links M to a blook N. The rod 0 has fixed across its
A. M <?NSTBR ~nENCH RAILWAt.-:Including 320i miles
upper part a bar P, which, when the piston-rod is moved down- of line 1~ Algerta-for the enterl?rlSe of the colllpany is
wards, a cting in a notch Q formed in the top of the lever D, not restr10ted by the sea-the Pans, Lyons, and Mediter
moves the lever down ward , depressing the die F and cauein~ it to
act on the plate to be ftangP.d. A block S fixed on the upper ranea.n R ailway Company had last year no less than
part of the frame is provided with a c urved part facing the 5635 miles of line in operation. The F rench Treasury
counterpart die G, and shaped to correspond whh the path of has gl'a.nted a. guara.ntee of interest upon the company's
the ed~e of the plate R whilst being bent, and so as to turn new network obligation capital. Last year the Treasury
tfle dj~ iPWI'rd to prees the pl~te fully B1~inet tlJe vertical fi\CO of llad tQ ~dvance 706,719l. to m~ke good this guarantee,