} UNE

737

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

8, I 900.]

ARCHED BRIDGES OVER THE RHINE.

* ' Although it was arranged that a t ug was not to guide

(Concluded fr<>m page 680.)

THE main arches are very much like those of

the B onn bri'dge. Coun t'rng, as b ef ore, th ever t'Icals from t he pier, the wind-bracing lies in the
plane of the upper members, descends down t he
portal at vertical 1 and passes through the diagonals of the first panel to the bearings. This
portallooks less heavy than that at Bono, as we
recognise from Figs. 97 and 98, t he latter being
on our two-page plate. Figs. 99 and 100 give
further details of the girders and wind bracing.
We do not wish to t ire our readers by repeating t he descriptions which we gave on page 409
ante. That account will be found clearer when
consulting these figures while r eading it. Fig. 97
(below) refers to the upper member at verticals 1
and 2, Fig. 98 shows only t he vertical!. In both
we see t he portal; we further get a good idea of
vertical], of the upper girders of t he diagonal wind
bracing situated in the plane of these girders, whose
cross-section tapers from t he point of intersection,
and of t he angular and lattice cross stiffening . In
Fig. 98 the diagonal of the second panel is the

.Atlantic seaboard. Nevertheless, Americ~ ~as m~de

rapid strides in the direction of competitiOn with
this country ."
.
How serious is this handicap of inland carnage
0~
may
be
seen
from
Mr.
Consu
l
Fraser's
report
t he trade of Baltimore for the year 1899. Balti-

more t han one long boat through this passage, several

boats were taken in tow at t he time on t he very first
day ; some of them collided wit h the f~lse work. in
spi't eof th e f end er courses, f or t una t e1ywith ou t d om g
any serious damage. The rive.r police then r evoked
its special regulations, and directed the whole up more, Newport N~ws, and Norfolk, are comparaand down traffic t hrough t he second opening under tively favour ably situated as r egards the coalfields
the left arch. Fig. 102 illustrates the state of affairs of Virginia, West V irginia, Maryland,. and Kenat that period. As the old pontoon bridge ~as still tucky yet t he price of coals at the P1t averaged
in existence, only 600 yards above t he bridge, a from '3s. to 3s. 9d., while the price f. o.b. at t hese
special signal service.. had to be establish~d t? avoid ports of lading was about 7s .. 3~ . , and is ~ow close
collisions. The traffic on the L ower Rhine Is con- on 12A. Notwithstanding this Inland carrtage r~te,
siderable, and t he task was not an easy one.
last year approximating to, and t his year exceeding,
The architectural decorations are t he work of 4s. per ton, Poca.hontas and other equally wel~
Professor Schill, of Diisseldorf, whose design had know n coals from this district have made their
obtained t he first prize. The character of the stone way into t he island and coast ports of t.he Central
structure is well shown on the upper part of and Sout h American littoral. The Untted States
Pier VI. (Dtisseldorf side) with its portal (Fig. 103 Navy report (1896-8) on t he efficiency of the various
above). It is more modern in its general features coals used by warships, . contains two analyses
than the architecture at Bonn, but less realistic and of Pocahontas coal, showmg fixed car~on 78.98
modern in decorative detail. The cen tral Pier V. and 80 per cent. of fixed carbon respectively, and
is crowned with the lion rampant of Diisseldorf. states that 117 out of 123 command.ers of naval
The iron structure has practically been left un- j vessels reported ~hat they preferred t~ns coal ab?ve
ador ned ; t he pleasing iron railings cost alone 4250l. any other Amertcan coal. Taken 1n connectiOn

FIG.

97.

P ORTAL FROM THE BRI DGE

most prominent feature, apart from the portal. In

Fig. 100 we have the lower boom of t he girder,
with vertical 1 and t he lower wind-bracing; we
further see half of vertical 0 and the end shoe of
t he lower girder. Fig. 99 5hows the lower end of
vertical 2, with part of the false work. The cut in
the r oadway, where temperature varia.tions may
exercise their influence, occurs at ver&ical 4- n ot
at 3, as at Bonn. These are t he chief differences
between the arches of the two bridges ; t he portal
at Bonn coincides with vertical 2; it will be r emembered at D tisseldorf t hat it coincides with ver tical 1.
The erection of the left-bank main arch commenced in July, 1897. By the beginning of September the arch was almost closed, as ouT progres
illustration , Fig. 101, demonstrates. In October
the arch, with its suspended roadway, could be
lowered on to the bearing. The process was conducted as at Bonn (compare page 546 ante). Level
instruments had been secured on t he piers; the
accurate distance between Piers IV. and V. had
further been determined. Pier V. yielded by 6
millimetres (0.25 in.), measured at the level of t he
roadway; Pier I V . gave a smaller reading. The deflection increased by a. few millimetres in t he course
of the weeks following t he operation. These figures
are very satisfactory . The erection of t he main arch
on the right or D usseldorf bank, was rendered more
difficult, because a. clear waterway, about 50 yards
wide, had to be left for t he down-river traffic, whilst
the up-ri ver boats steamed under t he left arch.

FIG.

103.

P ORTAL FROM THE BA.J.'lK.

The cost of the bridge proper, not reckoning

t he approach viaducts, amounted to 190, OOOl. The
Gute H offnungshlitte was r epr esented by the
manager of their bridge depart ment, Professor
Krohn, t he designer of the bridge. The su bstructure was erected by Ph . H ofmann and Co., of
Frankfort, r epresented by engineers Lauter and
Wendehorst. The Rhenish Railway Company entrusted the superintendence of t he operations to
Mr. Nakonz.

wit h t he detailed reports of t he tests, these statements may be held to demonstrate that these coals
are equal as steam coals to the British Admualty
coals.
If now it can be shown t hat steam coal ,
equal to P ocahontas, of proved adaptability for
domestic purposes, of t ried capacity in t he railway
engine, in the sm.ith's shop, and in the coking oven,
can be sent to tidewater at a nominal cost, it will
follow that from that port will come t he American
competition t hat shall certainly capture certain
markets. I t is t he purpose of this article to
THE ALABAMA COALFIELD.
demonstrate t hat the State of Alabama will, within
MANY considerations have combined during the t he course of t he next two years, be in an economic
past few years, and especially during the past few position, t hrough t he port of Mobile, to control
months, to draw public attention to t he coal sup- t he coal t rade of t he West Indies and of the At plies of England, not only in t heir relation to lantic and Pacific por ts of South America. U ltidomestic consumption, but also to export. While mate developments may be expected greatly to
one set of men has been declaiming against expand- transcend this modest outlook, especially after
ing exports and propounding impracticable sugges- the construction of a canal to t he Pacific but it is
t ions for limiting the right of producers to seek sufficient for t he purpose to k eep wit hin the limits
t heir markets wher e t hey will, another has been of early probable realisation.
watching the beginnings of serious competition
From time to time, attention has been drawn in
from the U nited States, foreseeing that that corn- t his country to the amazing growth of t he coal and
petition will be effective in certain markets from ~ron interests of Alabama. This State has leaped
sheer weight of economic conditions.
m the short span of one generation into front rank
A steady and growing trade is already established as an industrial State. Its coal production in the
in American coala with the 'Vest Indies and certain year 1870 amounted to t he n ominal totAl of
of the South American ports, and a few shipments 10,000 tons. I ts output for this present year
have been made to Mediterranean ports, and t his will bulk 1000 times t hat amount 10 000 000
notwit hstanding on e treme~dous handicap. ''The tons ; and its yield of iron ore h~s g~ow~ in
great drawback of the Amertcan coalfields," observes like proportion. It is exceeded by only four
Mr. F orster Browne, "and our chief safeguard in at most five of t he States of t he Union
ts ' or
1
compet I'tI.on , lS
t h e gre~t d tstance
'
'
* The previous articles appeared in our issues of Feb- regar.d to. th err
duction of coal
and iron ; and its industrial ea proital
ruary 9, March 16, Maroh ~0, April 27, and 1viay 25.
at wh1ch Important Amel~ican coalfields lie from t he . -Birmingham-claims that, owing to cheapne~s of
m

E N G I N E E RI N G.
production, it fixes t h e price of pig iron for the
world. At the present moment, owing to t he
~bnormal demand for iron, t he State is actually an
1mporter of coal for coking, and its energies are
concen t rated on t he manufacture of pig. L ocal
energies ha ve, in fact, up to the present been
absorbed in supplying the always-O'rowing local
de1na.nd, though sp oradic exportatio~s have been
made. The Mexican Central Rail way once a warded
t~e contract to Alabama, and the coal was supplied
New Orleans at a heavy charge for carriage.
But a more profitable domestic market was found,
and no f urther attempt was made to obtain Mexican
business.
The development of t h e coalfields must, however,
inevitably outstrip t he development of the iron
interests, and in the near future there will be a
heavy surplus of coal for export.
These reserves will be apparent at t he moment
that a new waterway to Mobile will be open. This
waterway, of which more will be Aaicl further on in
th~ cours~ of t his article, is the key to the position.
W1thout 1t, t he fields would, in all probability,
~ever be a great factor in the world's supply. With
1t, they may perhaps, in the fulness of time, rival
in ren own the great deposits of Sout h Wales.
Alabama has an area of 51,000 square miles, a
p opulation exceeding a million and a half, a network
of rail ways and rivers, a fin e harbour in Mobile
connecting with t he Gulf of Mexico, a climate
which never stops work, plenty of labour, not highpriced, light taxes, and liberal mining laws.
I ts coal lands belong geologically to the great
coal basin of the Ohio, and exceed 5000 square
miles in area in the Warrior field alone ; the other
two fields- the Coosa and the Cahaba- being
measured in hundreds of square miles only. The
Warrior is one of the great coal deposits of the
world, and the extent of its measures and the
quality and dimensions of its seams have been
exploited to a surprising degree, considering t he
size of t he field, and the fact that it has been ~:;cien.,
tifically mined for fewer than 30 years. General
knowledge of its resources is largely due to the admirable efforts of t he State Geological Bureau,
whose scien tific experts are constantly investigating
in mine and field.
The minimum estimate of measures is 2600 ft. ,
exceeding t hose of the great coal State of P ennsylvania by 500 ft., and greatly exceeding those of any
other State. They include between 30 and 35
seams of coal, of which five have been extensively
mined. About half the seams are at least 2! ft. in
thickness, and there are six of 4ft. and over. E stimates of total quantities are at this early stage of
development, of course, to a considerable extent
guesswork ; but Mr. M'Calley, Assistant Geologist,
who has reported on this field. estimates that if all
the seams shall average throughout t heir whole
extent a thickness equivalent to that of their most
accurate and r eliable measurement, they will contain a sum total exceeding 1,000,000,000 tons of
mineable coal.
Almost every variety of bit uminous coal is to be
found in the field, and experience has long demonstrated t he special fitness of certain of the coals for
special purposes. Some of the seams produce a
coal which is used almost entirely for coking purposes, or for smelting iron ore, or for foundry and
smiths' work. House and gas coals abound. Some
of t he seams produce a coal high in fixed carbon,
with little ash or clinker. Actual tests of these as
steam coals have been few in number, as lit tle of
the coal has r eached the shore; but where they have
been tested by t he Navy Department they have
stood at, or near, t he top, and private users have
commanded them.
Some of the coals '' are soft and of a dull colour,
while others are hard and bright, and bear transportation well ; some, in mining, break out as large
lumps, which do not pulverise in handling, whilst
others can be mined only as fine coal ; some, on
weathering, crumble quickly, while others, to the
naked eye, are not affected for years; some have a
face and butt structure; some in form are cubical,
while others are columnar and fiaggy, and others
still have no regular forms at all; some con tain
considerable mineral charcoal in thin sheets along
the planes of stratification, while others are perfectly solid and homogeneous throughout ; and
some are dry and compact coals, though t hey hold
considerable free gas, while others are highly bituminous and cake on burning, or coke well "
(McCalley ).
Now this great co~lfield is cut iq two by t he

ma

river from which it takes its name. The Warrior

river makes its devious way into the Tombigbee
r iver at D emopolis, and t hence into the Alabama
river, which flows into the Gulf of Mexico, covering
in its windings a distance of about 300 miles from
the coalfield to tide water. The south-western
boundary of t he coalfield is found at Tuscaloosa, on
the river; and this town is believed by a succession
of geologists to stand on t he greatest thickness of
coal measures in the known world. The covered measures at Tuscaloosa are believed to be over 3000 ft.
in thickness, with nearly 50 seams of coal of an
aggregate thickness of nearly 100ft. of coal. The
general dip of the strata of the field is some few
degrees to the south-west, and as this dip is greater
than that of t he inclination of the surface of the
count ry, the measures thicken towards the southwest until they become covered with the drift. In
addition to this small angle of dip, the strata of
the north-west side of the field have a general dip
to the south -east, and t hose of the south-east to
the north-west, thus giving the basin character to
the area. This basin is t raversed by t he Warrior
river, and t he crucially important r esult of the
formation is that the cre~m of the field lies along
the- banks of the river and of its tributaries north
of Tuscaloosa. The counties of Walker, J efferson,
and Tuscaloosa, where lies the bulk of the coals,
are intersected by a network of rivers and streams
- flowing into the Warrior- which require little
aid from t he hand of man to make them as effective
channels of transport as art itself could devise.
As the coal and iron interests of the State have
developed pari passu, and as t he iron deposits lie to
the eastward, the large collieries lie some miles to
the east and north-east of the river, and depend
entirely on rail ways for transportation t o the
neighbouring iron deposits. Hence the river portion of t he basin has lain quiescent, waiting its
turn, pending the time- now close at hand- when
through Governmental efforts the Warrior river
shall have become a highway of commerce. Little
scientific mining has as yet been done along the
ri ver, and knowledge of the details of the deposits
is n ot as accurate and clearly defined as i t is of the
eastern part of the field. Considerable casual
mining has been done, however; and there is ample
evidence that t he greatest thickness of coal in the
entire fi eld is to be found contiguous to the river,
and that a great deal of it is of a high quality.
The physical structure is such that it has been
found easy to identify the various seams, and those
vf proved r eputation towards the east are also
found close to the river. Coal can be seen everywhere, in the beds of the rivers and creeks; and in
the steep banks of the Warrior it can be seon for
distances, seam over seam, in many places 7ft.
t hick, in others t hin, but seldom under 28 in.
A characteristic formation is to be seen near
the mouth of the L ost Creek, where t hree seams
outcrop in the bank, t wo above high water, one
below. drainage level. The top seam was extensively mined up to 1860, when t he Civil War
stopped all colliery operations in the State. I t is
42 in . thick, has an inclination of 3 deg., is selfdraining, and the coal was delivered by gravity to
barges, which were perilously floated to Mobile on
freshets. This coal is stated by the Mobile Gas
Company to be the best it has had for gasmaking.
Similar references might be made in .number, but
this one is chosen, because it illustrates aptly
the cheap conditions under which great quantities
of coal for a long time can be extracted. Figures
on t his point will be given further on, in connection
with figures showing t he cost of transportation to
Mobile.
It may be advisable to mention some of the
seams which have been extensively worked farlher
to the eastward, t he coals from which have established a rep utation, .and which underlie, and are
mineable in, t he river district.
The Pratt seam, running from 36 in. to 50 in. in
thickness, averaging close to 4 ft., is the principal
source of supply for blast-furnace coke. About
12,000 tons per day are taken from this seam alone
by t he Pratt ColliAries, near Birmingham, and four
other mines towards the south-west and the river
extract about 6000 tons per day between t hem. It
averages about 4500 tons per acre, shows by analysis
about 62 per cent. of fixed carbon, is cubical in
structure, and bears transportation well.
The Newcastle or Corona seam, aver aging 7ft.
thick and 8000 t ons to t he acre, is extensi~ely
mined. It is a hard, bright, clean, cubical block
co~l, free from impurities, ~nd bears transportation

(J UNE 8, I 9<)0.
and weather well. It mines out in coarse lumps,
exhibiting on planes of its bedding lenses of
mineral charcoal. It has a large percentage of
hydrogenous matter and low ash.
The Black Creek seam covers over 3000 miles,
and its coal has t he highest r eputation of any in
the State. Its average analysis shows over 70 per
cent. of fixed carbon, and low ash and sulphur.
I ts seam runs about 30 in. thick, and hence is more
expensive to mine than the usual run of the seams,
but its tested reputation brings a higher price.
Further details are unnecessary. I t is sufficient
to say t hat the immediate vicinit y of the Warrior
river is underlain by many mineable seams, carrying a fair average quality of bituminous coal in
most cases, and a highly superior quality in some.
As has been stated, much of t he coal can be
extracted at a minimum cost by drift mining. H ow
great may be the saving in initial outlay will be
illustrated by recording the capital expendit ure of
t wo collieries opened last year in the Warrior field .
In one, heavy hoisting and pumping machinery was
r equisite, and the cost of opening the pit to a production of 1000 tons a. day was 21, OOOl., less the
value of the coal extracted in the course of development . F or opening the other to the same capacity-a drift mine in which which practically no
machinery was necessary-only 5600l. was required.
In selected places along the river it will be possible,
with an expenditure of 10,000l. , t o open up drifts
which shall produce within six months time 3000
tons per day for 300 days in the year. The cou11try
is heavily timbered with a variety of beautiful and
useful trees, and timber is available at a minimum
cost.
The cost of extraction of coal throughout the
field averaged last year under 2s. 6d. per ton, including interest on capital and placing on rail. No
doubt t he figures are slightly higher now, as the
general rise in prices and wages has affected
Alabama as it has the rest of the world, and the
abnormal demand for coal and iron has started a
boom there unprecedented in the history of the
State. Some of t he small iron works established
t here last year have had to shut down lately, as
t hey have been absolutely unable to obtain supplies of coal.
If, however, the coal owners are paying out more
to get t heir product to the surface, they are being
well paid in their turn . The price of coal at the
pit mouth averaged last year in excess of 4s. 6d. ,
and t he net profit thus exceeded 2s. per ton. At
present writing, colliery proprietors are receiving
5s. 10s. at the pit .
Now all this great field of bit uminous coal, of
such good quality, and so cheaply and easily mined,
would have but little interest for England if it
wer e to continue to be bottled up, so to speak, as
it now is, by expensive land carriage. But t he
cork is about to be drawn ; and herein is the point
of, and the excuse for, this article.
The United States Government, more t han 15
years ago, began t he work of transforming t he
Warrior river into a safe navigable stream. It has
slowly progressed with t he work, entrusting details
to t he engineer corps of its army. The work has
been done in a most substantial manner. A
number of locks have been introduced into the
riv~r, all of them 52 ft. wide, and 322 ft. long,
with a depth on t he cills of 6! ft., wit h dams of
rock-fill type, and iron gates. These improvements
have progressed so far that, at present writing, a.
limited southern stretch of the Warrior field is
already in water communication with Mobile. By
t he end of next year (1901), t he head of open navigation will be some miles further up ill the heart
of the coalfield, and further great stores of coal
will be tapped. They will be transported to
Mobile in barges drawing 6 ft., and carrying 500
tons.
The highest of the numberless estimates that
have been made of t he cost of t his water carriage
is 1s. per ton. We may now assemble all the
figures, and see at what price Alabama is going to
be able to put coals f.o.b. at Mobile :
~.

Mining, handling, screening, and placing

.
on barges ...
...
. ..

Transportation to Mobile .. .

... ...
U nloading and storing

...
Management ...

..

Total

...

d.

2 G
1 0
0 3~
0 3

Oi

Even if the abnormal conditions now obtaining

in t he State continue for some time, and we
should htwe to m~ke additions to th~ above ~orma~

calculations, the amount would be t rifling. The

result in any case is startling, and cannot be approached by any other known coalfield in the world.
It is clear that, in t he near future, Mobile will be
exporting coals at a price with which no American
or European port can hope t.o compete.
That t hriving city, with its fine harbour, foresees
its future, and is preparing for it.

THE COST OF ELECTRIC POWER

PRODUCTION.
By

739

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

JuNE 8, 1900.]

PHILIP

D AWSON .

(Continued f 1om page 704.)

VIII. - Oost of Production of Power in Pence per

Unit in London and Provincial T owns (Albert Gay
and 0. H . Yea1na-n).

T ABLE

Number or
Plants on Genera DistriYear.
which
tion. bution.
Averncf.e
Base .

18fl8.

1896.

I' em s.

I X. - Average Cost of P?o~uctio;t. of E_ectrjci6y in

Pence per Boa1d of Trade Url'l,t ~n Brtttsh Lighhng Stations ( Jt' Garckc).

T ABLE

Average
Average
Average
Average
from
from
from
from
13 London 68 Provincial 17 J~ondon 83 P aovincia.l
Stations.
Stations.
Stations.
Stations.

Fuel ..
..
Oil and was te
Wages
..
Maintenance
Rent and rates
Managemen t

d.

d.

d.

d.

1.04
0. 19
0. 67
0.41
0.31
0.80

0.81
0.18
0.76
0.34
0. 23
0. 7(3

1.05
0.18
0.54
O. uO
0.34
0.03

0.78
0. 16
0.66
0.30
0.22

1396
189(3
1897
1898

60
61
84
98

2.45
2.13
1.97
1.79

0.3(3
0.20
0.26
0. 25

R ents,
Rntes,
and
Taxes.

Mnnagemeu t.

Various.

0.36
0.28
0. 21
0.22

0.81
0.62
0.57
0.49

0.10
0. 08
0 06 .
0.0(3

'

never less than 10,000l. Supposing t hat the entire

metropolitan system of 210 miles could ~ave been
equipped on t he best overhead system, mstead of
the conduit, a saving of b.etw~en tw?-~J~d-a-half t?
t hree million pounds sterhng 1n the m1t1al exp end1-

o.6p

THE Metropolitan Street Rail way Company of

8.24
2.78
3.08
3.32
New York operates, in round figures, 210 miles of Tota.l cost ..
track, which are now made up of 127 track miles
operated by horses, 60 by electricity (trolley or
TABLE XI.-A VERAGE OPERATING AND M AINTENANCE EXPENSES IN P ENCE, WITH
conduit), and 25 by cable. Six years ago, the ent ire
PLANTS IN AbrERICA, BOARD Olt' T RADE UNIT G ENERATED.
system was operated by horses. During 1893,
the Broadway cable (about 10 track miles) was
started ; and in 1895, 15 more track miles of cable
Belted Cross-Compound Con
DirectCoupled Corliss

Conde nser Plants. Units of dens ing HighSpeed. Units

were put into operation. The Metropolitan Comof over 600 HorsePower.
ovea 1000 Horse-Power.
pany had made several attempts to int roduce the
ITEMS.
trolley into New York; but owing to the condition
of a.ffa.irs which had previously prevailed there,
Ftom
From
To
To
when the electric-light, telegraph, and telephone
d.
d.
d.
d.
Operation .Account.
companies had all their wires overhead, regardless
of appearance, laws had been passed rendering su pplies:
the use of even a t rolley wire impossible. The Coal

.01(34

.1377
.1150
.1643
fear that any modification might pave the way for
Wa.ter
.0099

.0078
.0112
.0142
the general reintroduction of overhead cables and
Oil, g rease, and waste
.0093
.013S

.0061
.0087
wires rendered r epeal impossible. After careful Boilers, eng mes, and pumps, miscel
investigation and expert advice, during which
lnneous
.0034
.0049

.0011
.0016

surface contact and accumulator systems had to Electrical department, supplies

.0017
.0042
.0024
.0060

be rejected as unreliable or inefficient, it was L abour:

resolved to put down a conduit system, and t o E ngineers, oilers, and wipers

.0325
.04 '6
.0683
.09i(}
build the culvert in such a way t hat, should Firemen, miscellaneous

.0300
.0!29

.0614
.0437
electricity prove unsuccessful, the cable system Electrical depar t m ent, labour
..
.()17(3

.0252
.03t6
.0495
could at once be installed without expensive
Maintenance Account.
alteration.
The success of the conduit is to be traced to t he supplies :

VARIOUS T YPES OF

Bel ted T a.ndem Compound

Non-Condensing High-Speed.
Units of over 400 Horse
Power.

r ABLE

XII.- Cost

of Fuel and Water Oonswmption in a

Small English T1action Plant.

Units ~reneratcd . .
..
..
..
..
..
Avern.go cost p er unit . .
Coal consumpt ion , pounds per kilowatt
Oil.
s. d.
Engine @ 2 3
..
..
..
Vacuum , 3 0
..
..
..
Vnlsoliue , 5 0
..
..
..
Water
, 0 6! p er 1000 gn.llons . .
..
..
Coni
, 11 0 , ton

..
..
..

12,261
1.055d.
8.35 l b.
gallon s

..
10~
..
5
..
7
..
102,000
. . 45 tons 14 cwt.
3 qrs. 7 lb.

Waste
5 (I
Wages 22 12 0

.0003

Engines and pumps, sundries

.0016

.0004
.0024

.0006

.0008

.0006

.0008
.0042

Electrical department, supplies . .

Units generated . .
..
..
..
Total generating exp enses
Cost per Board of Trade unit ..
Coal per unit
..
..
..
Water
,
..
..
..
Wnges
,
..
..
..

..

..

Buildings
Boilers

Water

..
..
..
..

Wt\'"'eS
0
Oal ..
Waste
Water
Coni ..

. ..

..

..

..

..

..

..

s. d.
4 10 0

.. .

..

5 5
4 7
1 0
1 16
0 7
5
7
0 5
3 18
44 9
17
3

0
0
0
0

0
0
3~

Coal..
.
..
Units genemLed ..

..
..

Oil ..
Waste
Water
Coal ..

..

..
..
..
..

31.58 pea cent.

4.42
,
.32
11
5.10
"
58.51

. . 224 tons 14 cwt.

..
48,402

!Ifarch, l 897 :

Snlurdar

Unils generat ed ..
Water
..
..
('Qal ..
,,
,.

..

..

..

I I

' I

d.

.1756

.2509

.0139

.0199

.0056

.0060

.0043

.0062

.0063

.0090

.0440

.0629

.0263

.0376

.0339

.0484

.0002

.0003

.0029

.0042
.004(3

.0021
.(0(19

.0030

.0001(0)

.0012

.0018

.0012
.012(3

.0011

.0016
.0025

.0032
.0001(0)

.0014

.0008

.0029
.0043

.0062

.0088
.0108

.0010

.0014

.0003

.0005

.0017
.0011

.2751

.2876

.4112

.3099

.0162

.0271

.0390

.0081

.4402
.0110

.2013

.3147

.4502

.31 9

.4628

.0155

.0016

.1938
0112

.2050

TABLE XIII.-CosT oF PRODUCTION AND C oAL, W ATER, AND OIL CoNSUMPTION AT PowER
S1'AT0N 01" METROPOLITAN ELEVA11ED, CHICAGO.

Mont hly COST OF ELECTRICAL OUTPUT J>ER. KlLOWA'I'THOUR.-P ENCE. Gallons of,Gnllons o f
Cylinder LubricntOu tput
Oil per ing Oil p er
of
10,000
10,00Q
K1Jowntt
Supp l ies,
Fuel. La.bour. Oil, Waste, Water. R epnirs. Total. Kilowatt K:Iowatt
H ours.
Hours.
Hours.
&r..

M'ONTil,
1899.

January

2,070,537

.16(3

February

1,605,472

Mnrc h . .

1,088,885

.193
.188

September

1,538,109

November

1,852,026

for

Average
6 months ..

1,G31 ,COG

.140
.165
0. 170

.OO L
.081
.113
.075
.067
0.079

.o 8

.012

.00~

.011

.012

.013

.013

.020
.016

.010

.010

.009

.009

0.01

0.011

.010
.013

I
-

.255
. ?.26

.8
.664

.342

.72

.246

4.40

.263
0.285

6.32

P ounds Pounds
of
of
Water Fuel p er
l{ilo.
per
Pound
wattof Ooal. H our.
3.84

1.76

.232

6.68

4.22

. 424

6.69

4.46

20 9}

1.44

5.60

3.~0

7 11!

4.08

1.76

4.62

3.83

82

2.132

1.835

5.28

0.015

Price
of
Fuel
per
Ton.

3.86

l{ind of fu el - bituminous.

X . - Cost of Generatilng Elect?io Energy jo1 ture would have been effected. Only in a case like
Tm.ction Purposes/or 10, 000-Kilowatt Plant ( Esti1n.ate the one which presents itself in New York, and
of H. F. Parshall in One and Four Stations.
where the traffic is so abnormally heavy, would
Cost in P ence
such an expenditure have been possible. It m ust
Cost in P en ce
p er Donrd of
per Boa.rd of
Trnde Unit, Five not be overlooked that the construction of a conduit
I tems.
Trade U nit, One
separate Stations
besides at least doubling the total capital expendi~
Plant Four 2500
with 6CO l{i)o.
Kilowatt Units.
watt and 800
ture, entails an enormous amount of annoyance to
Imowatt Units .
a city during its construction, as the people of
Coni, d elive ry and handling 0.124 1
0.1660
W ater at 4d. p er 1000 gals.
Brussels, Berlin, and New York now know to their
0.0082
0.0103
Oil, wnste, nnd s upplies ..
o.ooss
0.0110
cost.. The New York results are of the ut most
J,abour
..
..
..
0.06l 0
0.2000
value in comparing horse, cable, and electric conMaintenance . .
..
.
0.0257
0.0350
Depreciation, interest, induit systems, as all three are owned and run by one
surance, rotes and taxes
0.2081
0.3254
company .
Total
It must not be forgotten that conduit lines are
0.4248
0. 7367

new, while the cable lines have been running some

splendid way in which it was built, and which cost years. The somewhat unexpected result is obtained
as much as 40~ OOOl. per mile of single track, and that the electric car-mile only costs 62 per cent. of
T ABLE

December, 1896:

Coal. .
..
..
Units genetnted . .

Total cost of power

0
6'
3

P c1centages of Cost.
Wages

..

r eprurs ..

17,388
G9l. lls. 10d.
0.9605d.
9 lb.
7.8 gals.
23l. 10s. Od.

..
18, '768 Ib.
..
76l. Os. 1d.
..
0.072d.
.. 0.42 lb. 79 tons
u sed
7.72 gnls. 14,500 gals.
used

d.

Rlsu.me.

Rate of Wages.
Chief
..
..
Three A si tants . .
Three Stokers
..
Clerk..
..
..
Two Boys . .
..
Man on elevator ..

Engines and pumps, sundries

ElecLricnl department, la.bour

Week Ending November 12, 1897 :

Units generated . .
..
Totn.l generating expenses
Cos t of Board of T ande unit
Coni p er uaai L
..
..

To

L a bour:

Cost of operation

Week Ending Novcrnber 25, 1897:

Buildings
Boilers

From

Tons Owt. Qrs.

.. 267 18 2
..
53,423
. . 16 m ot or cars in
the morning
. . 20 motors 8 tmil
ers from mid-day
on.
2190

. . 18,300 gals.
t ons

740

ENGINEERING.

[JUNE 8,

1900.

THREE-PHASE ALTERNATING GENERAT.OR AT THE PARIS EXHIBITION.

OONSTRlJCTED BY MESSRS.

J(OLBEN AND CO., ENGINEERS, PRAGUE-VYSOCAN, BOHEMIA.

(For Desc/ription, see Page 746.)

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the cable cat~ mile, although the cable in this instance

is working under most favourable conditions. The
chief items responsible for this result are repairs and
maintenance of cable, greater cost of keeping rolling
stock in repair, owing to jerks caused by grip,
greater cost of power, the cable requiring nearly onethird more power than the electric system, greater
damages due to accidents to people and property,
greater cost of transportation (due, in one particular, to car lighting, which, in the case of the
electric cars, is included in the motive power) ; and
finally, to the expense of keeping the various pulleys
over which the cable runs oiled and in good working
order, these all being moving parts, which in the
case of an electric conduit, do not exist.
Table VIII. gives the cost of producing electric
energy for lighting purposes, according to Mr.
Yeaman, in London and the provinces.
Table IX. is given by Mr. Garcke as represAnting
the proportions of the various items of prime cost
of power, so far as electric lighting stations are concerned ; and it will be noted that in all cases the
cost of power is far higher than is the case where
power is generated for traction purposes. I t will

therefore, be of interest to examine the Tables on

page 739, based on actual results obtained, and also to
compare the estimates of some well-known traction
engineers. Table X. gives the estimates of Mr. H.
F. Parshall, as submitted by him to the tramways
committee of Glasgow and its manager Mr. John
Young. It shows the advantages which Mr. P arshall expects to gain by the use of large stations and
polyphase high-tension currents. The results given
in the Tables, taken from actual pract ice, entirely
confirm the views expressed by him.
Table XI. is of interest, and is the result of the
comparison of a large number of American power
stations; it gives the average range of all the
various items which make up the Table cost of a
Board of Trade unit. It is hardly nece&sary to call
attention to the great economy of large slow-speed
direct-connected units over all other ones as shown
by this Table.
Table XII. gives the results obtained in a small
recent British installation put jn by the author.
Table XIII. gives some very interesting figures
realised at the power station of the Metropolitan
Elevated Electric Railway at Ohicago. This station

is by no means as economical as it might be, besides

not being one of the most modern ones. The coal
used is neither particularly good or cheap. Nevertheless, comparing it to the data given in Table X.,
which refers to the most modern and to a neatly
ideal plant, the results obtained are not far removed
from those which it is expected will be obtained
in the new Glasgow plant.
(To be continued.)

THE ENGINEERING LABORATORY OF

THE BERLIN TECHNICAL RIG H
SCJIOOL.
THE centenary celebration of the Technical High
School at Berlin, to which we drew attention in
our issue of October 27 last, was not only an occasion for grand speeches, the unveiling of busts, the
bestowal of honours, and the creation of a new degree,
- the doctor of engineering-a distinction which applied science and technical colleges claimed as a
right by the side of pure science and uni versi t i~ s.
More stipends were founded, not as scholarships for
intending students, but to enable student::i who have

} UNE
:

8, 1900.]

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

74 I

THREE-PHASE ALTERNATING GENERATOR

AT THE PARIS EXHIBITION.
CONSTRUCTED BY l\IEccR .

KOLBEN AND CO., ENGINEER

~ ---------- ------------------ - - - - ---------

(For Description, see Page 746.)

1 qoo

------

'

PRAGUE-VYSOCAN, BOHEMIA.

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

FVj . 3.

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already shown ability and reliability to make special
studies at technical centres inland and abroad, and
a fund was started to be applied in t he interests
of industrial science; at the opening ceremonies the
fund amounted already to 75, OOOl. Further, papers
of general scope were read, and r eports had been
prepared. .Among the latter are two quarto
volumes on the '' Engineering Laboratory of the
Technical High School, and the Work done in it, "
c"mpiled by the chief of that department, Professor E. J osse. We are greatly obliged to the author,
who has sent us copies of these reports ; for the

matter which they contain is highly interesting,

and the books are worthy of the occasion. The t wo
volumes, together of 121 pages, which have been
publi!:ihed by R. Oldenbourg, of Munich and Leipzig,
are admirable specimens of typography, and are
copiously illustrated by excellent engravings in t he
text.
THE ENGINEERING LABORATORY.

When the establishment of an engineering laboratory was resolved upon in 1895, there were-in
Professor J ossa's opinion-none but modest models

to imitate and improve upon, as the physical charact~r predomina~es P.ven in the engineering laboratories of the Un1ted States. The aims of the ne'v
institute were to be both instruction and research
and the steam engine, particularly in its thermal'
relations, was to be the foremost subj ect of study.
The large engines were not to be idle, and they
have been coupled with dynamos, pumps, compressors, &c., rather than with brakes. In addition to steam power, electric, hydraulic, and pneumatic power are at t he disposal of the students.
Only the large engines are permanently mounted.
The smaller engines, which can be replaced without
i~cur~in~ high ~xpenses, come and go. The foundatwns are espectally arranged for this purpose, and
the students learn how to mount and erect engines.
The laboratory is, in fact, as much an erecting shop
as a testing laboratory.
The original ~ant would have sufficed only for a
hall, 20 metres m length and 10 metres in width
(66 ft. by 33ft.), situated in the park of the college. The embanassing munificence of Professor
A. Riedler, who presented the college with several
large engines, for which there would not have
been room in that hall, helped Professor J osse to a
larger building. He proposed to make use of these
engines for lighting t he college, and found the
authorities ready to increase the grant, as the whole
scheme was now more promising, and to consent to
a. building 56 metres (150 ft.) in length.
The
width could not be altered, but an annex, 26 ft.
wide 69 ft. long, has been added to t he fron t. y..,re
need liardly mention that Professor l~iedler is not
the only benefactor. There is no railway siding,
but the large trucks can pass through the gates on
both sides of the building, and the heavy pieces are
taken up by a travelling crane. The main entrance
is in the annex, in whfch we also find the offices

742

and rooms for the attendants, and the accumulator

batteries in the basement, and the magazines on
the upper floor. The steam-heater pipes are also
in the basement; a separating wall has been built
to keep off the vapours from the electric batteries.
The hall proper has no basement. All the pipes
are easily acces3ible. The foundations and flooring
are in cement; in some parts, between the conduits,
the cement is inlaid with laths, which makes a
very substantial and firm flooring, on which the
students mount their little portable tables.
The three boilers and repair shops are in the
boiler-house of the college, about 250 ft. away.
The Paucksch boiler has two internal furnaces,
composed of sectional rings of varying diameters;
the large Heine water-tube boiler, a gift of the
firm of A. Borsig, is fitted with a Frohlich smokecorn bustion device, the small Heine boiler with
an Axdorfer gas pre-heater. The steam pressure
can be raised to 256lb. per square inch. The water
separator of the main steam pipe to the laboratory,
is situated in the laboratory itself, with an expansion stuffing-box just before it. The superheater,
system Schworer, is placed in the annex. The
water is taken from the town mains, various
wells, and a mammoth pump, to which we shall
refer lower down.
The q uadruple-expa.nsion engine (two intermediate pressure cylinders)of 220 horse-power and for a
steam pressure of 18 kilogrammes (256 lb.) was built
by the Stettin Company'' V ulcan" in vertical marine
engine fashion, to the design of Professor J ossa, and
works with a surface condenser. The stuffing boxes
were supplied by the Philadelphia Metallic Packing
Company, the water separator by HoldenandBrooke.
The slide-valve gear is of the Klug type, and an
auxiliary slide feeds steam direct into the second intermediate-pressure and the low-pressure cylinder-3.
The automatic governor requires special power, for
which purpose an hydraulic cylinder has been provided, an electric motor having proved unsuitable;
the governor can be r eplaced by a hand wheel. In
testing, the engine is also worked with triple or
double expansion, by cutting out the high-pressure
or one of the intermediate-pressure cylinders, which
can be done in several ways A report on these
experiments is promised. The second engine, a
150 horse-power triple-expansion engine, from
the Gorlitz Engine Works, is coupled with the
Sch worer superheater, and fitted with different
Collmann valve gears for the first two cylinders.
The dead spaces f;an quickly b e measured after removing the admission valves. The third, horizontal
60 horse-power engine, also built by the "Vulcan,
Works, near Stettin, resembles t he engines
of the water works at Stralsund, but has be~n
modified for experimental purposes. The laboratory
further possesses a compound portable engine, presented by Rudolf Wolf, of Buckau-Magdeburg, a
40 hor.3e-power high-speed vertical engine from the
"V ulcan" Works, various smaller engines, a dou hieacting feed pump from Klein, Schanzlin, and
Becker, another feed-pump, the gift of Weise and
M onski, of Halle, and other auxiliary machinery.
Among the pumps we notice a differential pump
built by the Breslau Company, late Ruffer, to the
desians of Professor J osse, with two sets of
plu;gers to serve both as an ordinary ahd hydraulic
pump, wit h windows in the barrel, exchangeable
1ing val ves, s ume new rub~er valves, a;td set~ of
steel rina plates for producmg a throttling resistance. There are also an electric centrifugal pump,
the mam~oth pump to be mentioned later , and
various small pumps. Further, a Riedler hydraulic motor, a Pelton wheel, a Westinghouse compressor (steam power), a compound compressor, a
blowing engine, a blower from Sulzer Brother s,
but no pneumatic motors. The electric transmission of p ower is entirely by con~inuous curren.ts,
b ec1use their measurements are stmpler than with
triphase currents, which would otherwise have
been preferred ; electricians are not to be trained
in this department of the college.
Professor J osse, the chief of the laboratory, has
under him one engineer, five stokers, four machinists one electrician, and four men. The
laborat~ry receives about 750l. annually for oil,
repairs renewal of lamp carbons, and general
r enewals also of machinery ; in this respect the
liberality of special firms is probably reckon~d upon.
The chief expenses, coal, gas, water, salaries, &c.,
are borne by t he college. ':l'he cou~se of instruction
comprises three years, .or In Contine~talla~guage,
six semesters. Practical work begtns wtth the
third semester and t he students work in groups of

E N G I N E E R I N G.
five or six. The college has for some years been
unable to accommouate all the young engineers
who desire admission. The general plan is to set
problems for practical solution. From the summary of the course of studies, we gather that particular attention is paid to the thermal aspect of
engineering problems.
THERMAL E FFICIENCY OF STEAl\! ENGINES .

Among the researches carried on in the laboratory, the successful experiments to increase the
thermal efficiency of the steam engine command
the highest interest. A great deal of the heat
supplied to a steam engine is lost in the exhaust, or
in the water of condensation. Many attempts have
been made to utilise this latter heat by the help
of some liquid of low boiling point whose vapours
could afterwards perform additional work. Gottlieb Behrend and Zimmermann have worked in
this field for the last ten years, but had so far failed
in their practical trials, much to the satisfaction of
their numerous critics, who questioned the principle of the idea. Not discouraged, they induced
Professor Josse to take up the problem; and the
report which he now presents, after three months
of experiments, is very remarkable and promising.
He had a condensing engine built by the Berlin
Engine Works. and Foundry, late J. 0. Freund.
The steam passes from the low-pressure cylinder
over a surface-condenser coil, in which liquid sulphurous acid circulates. The steam is condensed,
and the sulphurous acid heated to a temperature of
65 or 70 deg. Cent. (149 or 158 deg. Fahr.), and
evaporated, the vapour pressure of the acid rising
to 11 or 15 atmospheres (156 lb. or 210 lb. p er
square inch). These vapours do work in the
cylinder of the "cold- vapour engine,, which
they leave at a temperature of 15 deg. Cent.
(59 deg. Fahr. ), and a pressure of 2.8 atmospheres (40 lb. ) We give round numbers ; the
exact values can be seen in the descriptive
account which is illustrated by diagrams. The
escaping sulphurous acid is condensed again in a
surface condenser, cooled with water, and pumped
back into the coil of the first condenser, which
therefore serves as evaporator for the second, the
cold-vapour engine. Thus the process becomes
continuous. The chief dimensions of the two

engmes were :
Steam Engine.

Diameter of high-pressure cy...

..
. .. 310 mm. (13.4 in. )
linder ...
Diameter of low-pressure cylinder
. ..
...
. . 530 " (20. 9 , )
Stroke
...
...
. .. 500 , (19.7 " )

Cold V tpOU1' Engine.
Cylinder, diameter
...
. .. 200 ,, ( 7. 9 ,, )
Stroke
...
...
...
... 500 , (19.7 ,, )
The speed of the former, 41.5; of the latter, 77 revolutions per minute.

The arrangement could certainly be improved upon

in several respects. Yet the power developed by
the new corn bination has already been increased by
56 per cent. of the original value. It is clear that
the ad vantage will be the greater, the greater the
steam consumption of the engine. The original
engine consumed 8. 6 kilogrammes of steam per
horse-power per hour, and the combination yielded
one horse-power at the expense of 6.6 kilogrammes
of steam. But it must not be thought that t he importance of the experiments is confined to wasteful
steam consumers, which we might cure in some
other way, or simply avoid. Suppose a cent ral
station of 3000 horse-power capacity, in which t he
generation of 1 horse-power requires 7.5 kilogrammes of steam per hour. The addition of that
condenser and of the cold-vapour engine will help
us to 0.5 horse-power for every 7. 5 kilogrammes of
steam, 1500 horse-power altogether. If we have a
better-class engine which is satisfied with two-thirds
the amount of steam, we should still have a gain of
1000 horse-power. But in mining districts the
former figure might frequently be realised. The
cold-vapour engine does not require any attendance,
and special difficulties have not been experienced.
Ammonia, and also acetone and benzene, might
answer equally well as sulphurous acid. Preference was given to the latter, becauRe the cylinders
in which it works do n ot need lubrication.
It must not be forgotten that Behrend and Zimmermann enjoy patent rights for their system.
Nobody will grudge t hem success, however, after
many years of disappointments. And those disappointments may not be over yet ; for we mu.s t
wait for further investigation and experience.

[JUNE 8,

1900.

In any case, the experiments of Professor Josse

deserve careful attention , as t hey appear to indicate
t.hat under certain conditions a substantial advantage can be gained by adding a cold-vapour enaine
to a central condensing plant. It must be b; rne
in mind, however, t hat the proposal is by no means
new, and further practical difficulties may yet
present themselves. Single engines would not
profit so much as large installations.
We pass over experiments on high-speed pumps
and their behaviour at increased speeds, and on a
high-speed air compressor supplied by A. Borsig>
and fitted with new valves designed by A. Riedler
and Stumpf, n ot becau~e these trials lack in interest,
but because they cannot profitably be explained
without entering into greater detail than we can
afford space for here.
P mrPs.
The mammoth pumps, to which we finally come,
are better known in this country as American
P ohle pumps, and in France as emulseU?"S. Professor J osse traces them back to Loscher, who in
1797 already investigated and applied the method
of raising liquids by feeding compressed air through
a small pipe into the well pipe. The Pneumatic
Engineering Company of New York, the Paris
Compagnie de !'Air Comprime, and the BerlinTegel firm of A. Borsig, among others, make a
speciality of this application of compressed air.
The latter firm has already supplied more than 130
large mammoth pumps. An inquiry into their
working and their efficiency, based upon experiments conducted at the college, and at various
installations, will, therefore, have a general
interest .
The pump r equires a comparatively deep but by
no means large well, into which t he water-pipe dips.
Along the latter runs the air-feed pipe, of smaller
section, which in the Borsig pump ends at the
bottom of the water pipe in a ring, so t hat t he air
enters radially from all sides. 'l'he shape of this
nozzle is important. When the air-feed is turned
on, which, in the ~tendal sugar works, where hot
water has to be raised 14 ft., is done automatically
by a float, the water rises in the pipe, being lifted
up by large bubbles, occupying the whole section.
After a while we find the column turned into an
emulsion with large and small air bubbles, and the
water discharge is, therefore, intermittent. To
get over this feature, a German firm, not named,
has introduced a corrugated well pipe, whose horizontal sections are circles of alternatingly small and
large diameter. The corrugations are to prevent
the sliding back of the water; when a large bubble
escapes, the water column moves with a diminished
speed, as if it were sliding down.

The acting force is really the water outside the

pipe, which has a higher density than the mixture
of air and water, and to raise the liquid to a certain
height requires !:\ certain depth of immersion.
Hence the necessity for d eep wells. The advantages of t hese air-lifting pumps are that the pump
proper has no valves at all ; so that sandy and
muddy water, and also hot water and acids, can be
dealt with, and great heights overcome, provided
we have wells of sufficient depth. The great height
of lift is one of their chief r ecommendations ; their
great simplicity and low price another.
The well at the college has a depth of 30 metres
(about 100 ft.), and a diameter of 166 millimetres
(6.14 in.) only. The three well pipes experimented
with had all t he same height - 120 ft . The corrugated pipe had major and minor diameters of 78
and 70 millimetres (2. 76 in. and 3. 07 in.) ; the t wo
mammoth pumps had the same diameters, respectively. The corrugations did not appear to constit ute an improvement. For whilst the smooth
Borsig pipes yielded a maximum efficiency of 44.6
per cent., the others gave always lower values
and did not exceed an efficiency of 25.6 per cent.
It n1ust be pointed out, however, t hat in t he corrugated p.\Pe the air was introduced simply by a
small pipe bent to the shape of a. J. In comparative tests it r esulted t hat the Borsig pipe, without
its ring n ozzle, remained superior with t he ordinary
amount of air feed ; when more air was forced up,
in order to raise more water, the efficiencies became
equal.
The experiments conducted at the college, and,
further, in Glogau, ~wickau, and at other places,
are more easily expressed by curves t han in words.
The immersion depth of t h e well pipe should be
about the same as the heigh t to which the water is to
be raised, and t he ratio should not exceed 3: 2. The
MAMMOTH ( P oHL'E)

J UNE

8, I 900.]

greater the height, the more air we want, of course.

But it is, in general, advisable to keep the air
supply low : we do not profit much by trying to
force the yield. When 265litres (58 gallons) of water
are wanted per minute, we should supply 1. 65litre
(0.36 gallon) of air, reckoned at atmospheric pressure, per litre (0.22 gallon) of water ; when we
want 400 litres per minute, we should increase the
air feed to 2.5 litres. The speed of the water
column should not go much beyond 6 ft. per second.
Large-size well pipes offer little ad vantage. The
78 millimetre pipe yielded only 1.2 per cen t.
more water than t he 70-millimetre pipe, although
its section is by 20 per cent. greater. The compressed air pump realises, on the whole, perhaps,
the s1me efficiency as t he pneumatic mot or. But
it is less expensive, simpler, and claims far less
attention than pneumatic or electric insta1lations.
Its popularity for many situations may hence be
expected to spread.
In repeating our thanks to Professor J osse, we
can only express the hope that we may soon have
in this country an eng ineering laboratory in which
such work and such instruction can be carried on.
Meanwhile, the rising Ziirich engineeri ng laboratory
will further tempt our ambition.

THE W A VERLEY STATION,

EDINBURGH.
(Concluded from page 248.)

WE conclude t his week our series of illust rations

of the new Waverley Station at Edinburgh, of t he
North British Railway Company, by reproducing
on page 752 drawings of some of t he interesting
details of the footbridges across the sta~ion and of
their connections with the roof principals, while on
page 744 we give a general view of the station in course
of reconstruction and of the magnificent booking hall
on the main platform . There are four footbridges.
Two of t hem extend righ t across the station from
the old town or 1\{arket-street to t he new town, one
ending at Leith-street, and the other going practically to Princes-street . One of these, t he J effreystreet bridge, is a public t horoughfare, and has no
connection with the station. It is at t he east end
of the station, and is at a high level -about the
height of the station r oof. The other is under the
main station r oof, but extends also over the sub
urban platform verandahs, and has steps to each
of the platforms, and while connecting the platforms, it constitutes addit ion11.l en trances and exits
to and from the station. This bridge abuts on the
station buildings on the main line platforms, and
from this point t here has been built over the
bridge, a gangway communicating only with th e
new hotel. The location of t hese bridges will be
seen by reference to t he plan given on page 248
ante, as well as t he position of the shor b bridge
from the mail-room in t he station buildings to the
post office.
The station footbridge, which affords communication between all the plat forms and to the old
Waverley steps leading direct to Princes-street,
has a total length of about 560 fb., and is composed
of lattice girders 11 ft. deep in spans ranging from
37 ft. to 161 ft. The girders are placed at 16 ft. 6 in.
centres, and are carried on cast-iron columns.
The flooring consists of Hobson'A curved plates,
covered with concrete and granolithic paving. An
ornamental wrought-iron railing is carried alongside each girder and forms a parapet or guard
bebwcen t he lattice bars.
The main roof of the station over this footbridge on t he south side of t he station b uildings,
is carried on the footbridge girders by hog-backed
lattice cross - girders placed on the top of the
bridge gliders, and on t hese rests the main r oof
girder at t his point, and also t he ends of t he r oof
principals. From there to the north corner of t he
station building, t he west s ide of the hotel gang way
forms the roof girders, on which t he roof principals
abut about two-thirds up . Wood and glass on the
top and sides encloses the portion of the footbridge
from the south station waJl to Market.street, crossing t he suburban lines, over which the roof is of
the verandah type and only covers t he platform.
The gangway to the new hotel is carried on top
of t he station footbridge. The por tion adjoinin~
t he office b uildings is supported (on t he west side)
-that furthest from the walls-- on t h e footbridge
girders by Y-suppor ts, formed of double L 's. On
these there is fastened a channel bar 12 in. d eep,
which carries Hobson's floor plates; at t he side
abutting on t he walls the floor plat es arc carried

E N G I N E E R I N G.
by a. channel bar bol ted and checked into t he
mason ry. The sides of the bridge, or gangway,
are framed with timber and glazed, but at intervals
of 12 ft. double L's are carried up from t he Y 's
already mentioned, and on t hese rest the ends of Hbeams, t he other ends being let into the wall of
t he building. These H-beams form cross gutters
of the roof of the g-3.ngway, and t hey also carry
the ends of small principals, t hus forming a ridgeand-furrow r oof, which is glazed with H elliwell's
patent glazing. The fl oor is of steel p lating and
oak. North of the station buildings the gangway
is carried by side girders of t he lattice type,
of 100-ft. span by 11 ft. d eep, with H-beams
forming crossgirder s, carrying joists and an oak
floor. This por t ion of gangway (illustrated by
Figs. 140 to 145) is also covered in by timber work
and glass. North of t he offices the roof principals
abut at differ ent levels, as shown in Figs. 140 and
141. N ear the n orth end of t he hotel gangway the
roof has a very fla.t slope against t he hotel wall, as
showu in F ig. 142.
J effrey-street footbridge-the high-level bridge
for the use of the public, and without connection
with t he station platforms-has a total length of
about 600 ft. in spans varying from 50 ft. to 90 f t.,
mostly 7 ft. deep. The portion at the n or th end
is carried by stone piers until it reaches t he line
of the north station w~ll, which, at this point,
has a gap in it of 145 ft. in length. This gap
is spanned by a hewy lattice girder weighing abo ut
80 t ons, which carries the roof and footbridge
girders. This girder can be. seen on the rig ht
side of t he engraving (Fig. 149), and beyond it
a part of t he J effrey.street footbridge. The gradients in t his north portion of t he footbridge are
about 1 in 7 and 1 in 11. The bridge then enters
into the main station roof (Fig. 146), and is carried
on lattice cross-girders between two of the main
roof girders, which are strengthened for the purpose. The widt h of t he bridge here is 13 fb., and
it is en ti rely enclosed by t imber and glass. The
por tion across the station is level. This extends to
the south station wall, where the footbridge is
again uncovered . This (the south) portion consists
of four spans with three intermediate piers of
steelwork. The g irders are 7 ft. deep, lattice
pattern, and are 14 ft. 6 in. cent res. The gradien t
here is 1 in 40. With t he exception of a port ion
at the north end, which is of Hobson 's flooring,
t he whole length of the floor is formed of plain
curved plates stiffened by T or L bars, and covered
with granolithic pavement.
The station waJls, which, with t he bookingoffices, &c., were built by Messrs. G . and R .
Cousin, Alloa, formed no inconsiderable part of t he
work . On the nort h side t here is a retain ing wall
along t he back of t he Waverley Market, t he new
H otel, and the General Post Office, and beyond t hat,
eastward, the ordinary panelled station wall, b roken
at one part for a loading bank. H ere t he roof is
carried on t he large lattice girder previously mentioned, which is 149 ft. long. This, as we have
already said, is sho wn on t he engraving on page
744 (Fig. 149), which illustrates t he whole station
in course of reconstruction. This view shows the
panelled walls nor th and south of the station, t he
roof in process of construc~ion, the North Bridge
completed, with a corner of the station buildings
showing through t he span on t he righ t, t he Generil-1
P ost Office is t o the right ; and just over it the
top point of the Scott monument in Princes-street,
and in the distance th e hist or ic castle over against
the 'vestern gardens.
The wall on t he south sid e d ivides the main and
the suburban stations. It rises 27 ft. above rail
level, including the parapet, which is 4ft. 6 in.
high. The foundations are of concrete, and the
walls at bottom are 2 ft. 6 in. t hick , stepping out to
3 ft. 6 in. at the pilasters, which form panels of 37 ft.
6 in. diviied by three semicircular smaller arched
panels, as shown on the engraving. The panels
are 18 in. t hick. There is an ornamental cornice
on each side of the wall.
Where the pier of t he Nort h Bridge breaks the
line of t he south wall, as shown in t he engraving
opportunity has been taken to construct on th~
top of t he wall a water-storage tank which is
101 ft. 6 in. long, 20 ft. in width and 9 ft. 6 in. in
depth. I t is built of cast-iron plates, with heavy
flanges and strong bracing inside. A larae parb of
t he tan k overhangs the wall, and is supported by
three web ~irders and .rolled ~eams 4 ft. apart.
The total he1ght from ra1llevelts 28ft. 4 in.
In t he north wall a sign'\l cabin is carried by

743
brackets bolted on the face of t he station wall; but
on the sout h wall, owing t o t here being main line
t raffic on one side and suburban traffic on t he
other the signal cabin is carried t hrough t he walJ.
In. ali cases t he cabins have steel framework and
wooden boarding. The brackets ~re of. cast iron,
of 1!-in. metal, and the n orth cabin proJects 11 ft.
from the face, being tied back wit h 2-in. bolts extending through the wall.
We have in our introductory article referred to
the water supply, signalling, &c., and to the goods
department at the extr eme east of the stati.on! for
which Messrs. J ames Young and Sons, Ltmtted,
Edinburgh, were contractors, as well as. fo r large
street diversions, and to the other equ1pment of
the station ; and may now conclude with a reference to the station buildings.
These b uildings, designed by Mr. Raithby , chief
architectural assistan t to Messrs. B lyth and Westland, are sit.uated on the main platform and
opposite the two cab ramps. They for m a rectangle of about 225 ft. by 160 ft. in widt h, and
con tain t he main booking hall, with office in the
centre, refreshment-rooms, general offices, &c. The
booking hall is entered from the front through two
large d oorways; it has also 'fide passages from t he
north and the south, and two towards the east . The
hall is illustrated by Fig. 150, page 744, which shows
itt3 handsome appearance. The booking oilice in
the centre is a splendid piece of cabinet work, and
t he mosaic floor, the ornamental stonework, oaken
r oof, and stained-glass dmne makes a tou,t ensemble
not unwor t hy of ''the modern Athens, " as Edinburgh is fondly ec1.l1ed by its citizens. The buildings beyond t he hall are three storeys in height
above the platforms, the waiting-rooms, &c., being
on t he platform level, while the floors above are
used for general offices, &c., connected with the
traffic department. There are extensive stores in
the basement floor below t he platform level. The
different floors, where necessary, have been connected by hydraulic hoists.
The station is ligh ted by about 210 arc-lamps, of
which about one-t hird are 10-amper e, t he remainder
being 7 -ampere. Besides these, there will be,
when the works are entirely completed, an equivalent to about 3000 incandescent lamps of 8 candlepower. The conductor s are on the three-wire
system, the outer voltage being 460, while the incandescent lamps are run at 230 vol ts. In the
meantime t he current is got from t he Edinburgh
Corporation's installation.
In concluding, we wish to express our indebtedness to lHessrs. Blyth and vVestland for permission
to illustrate t he works, and to Mr . J. T. H arrison,
resident engineer on the n orth bridge and r oof,
and especially to Mr. J. S . Pirie, of Messrs. Blyt h
and Westland, who was r esiden t engineer on t he
whole works generally, for conduct ing our representative over t he works, on several occasions during
t he reconstruction of t he station and bridges.

VICKERS ORDNANCE AT THE PARIS

EXPOSITION.
VICKERS, SoN, AND MAxrM, LIMITED, have an
exhibit at Paris, which is at once worthy of the
great international reputation of the firm and of the
magnit ude of t he Exposition. I t is conceived on a
liberal scale, and it embraces only that which is essentially modern, for the firm are progressive if any
thing; and, while varied in its interests it, offers in
th e splendid example of ordnance a peculiar attract~on to the professio_nal and lay mind at t he pr~sent
t uD:e. The r~s':llt. I S . that t he special pavilion in
which t he exh1b1t IS dtsplayed so advan tageously is
con t inuously crowded. This, indeed, has been
the case since t he opening day, for t he Vickers
exhibit was exceptional in being r eady at the date
?f the ina~gural c~remonial , a unique r esult which
ts but consistent With t he prompt realisation of cont ract conditions that is so characteristic of the company. The pavilion is from the d esigns of M .
Alphonse Richardiere, of P aris, and t he general
scheme was to typify the important manufactures of
the companY:. The lower part is built to represent a
great for t .w1t~ dome-shaped r oof, blending in finer ounded ltnes m to the upper works of a great lineof-battleship, with barbe~t~s and casemates, guns
and moun~s, masts and mihtary tops, and all gaily
dressed wtth flags, t he effecb, as seen from various
points of the Exhibition, being strikingly s uccess
ful. The area covered is 2500 square feet t he
length of t he pavilion, which is oval on plan beina
100 ft., and the widt h at the cen tre 33ft.
t h;

On

E N G I N E E RI N G.

744

[} UNE 8, 1900.

THE WAVERLEY ST TION OF THE NORTH BRITISH R AILWAY, AT EDINBURGH.

l\l E1\ R~ .

BLYTR AND

'VJ~

TLAND,

J~NGINEER.

, EDINBURGH.

(For DescTiption, see Page 743.)

FrG.

149.

ground floor there is a comprehen&ive collec ~ion of

m odern artillery, while upon an inside gallery,
around the pavilion, and reached by four spiral
staircases, ar e arranged models of a number of
ships built by t he company.
'l'he collection of models, it may be said before
tJ.king up the subject of ordnance, in clude every
type in a modern tleet-battleships like H.M. .
V e ngeance and the Japanes~ ship_of 15,200 to~s,
t he Mikasa; armour clad crutsers, hke H. M. . Kmg
Alfred, of 14,200 tons and 23-knot speed, and
H. M. . R ogue and Euryalus ; first-class cruisers
lik e th e Powerful, Niobe, Amphitrite; secondclass cruisers of the J uno and Doris type ; thirdcl...tss cruisers, gun b oats, torpedo-boat destroyers,
and submarine boats. The merchant shipbuilding
works a very extensive department, is also r epresented.
'everal types of marine engines ar.e.
illust rated, for it should be rem em be red that
Messrs. Vickers, Sons, and Maxim, Limited, are
the only firm in this country who can build,
armour, arm, and engin e a ship without outside
help. Of their armour-plate, there are several
splendid specimens on show, n otably a plate
1111. in . t hick, which shows the slight effects sustai~6ed by attack from a 12-in. gun firing 850-lb.
project iles with. an energy ;>. 17,300 fo?t-tons, the
penetration bemg only 2 ~ m. to 2! m.
Much
interest is taken in this well-executed plaster cast
from the ori<>'inal plate after trial. Crankshafts,
locomotive a~d other axles, rail way tyres, steel
tost-p ieces, and other exhibits indicated that the
company's great army of 15,000 to _16,000 ~en
a re engaged in peaceful arts as well as tn producmg
some of the most destructive weapons of modern
ti1nes . It is with t hese latter, h owever, that we
are moro concerned fo r the pi.:esent.
'everal of the naval guns of the compcl.ny .are
r epresented in the ~avilio.n, including the 12-lD.,
the 7.5-in., a nd t he 6-111. qutek-firers. . For all these
guns Messrs. Vickers construct mountm~s, and t he
frequent working of tbe~e affords. great Interest to
the visitors. The 7.5-m . gun IS a new weapon,
and we therefor e give illustrations of it on page
7 ~ 5 , as fitted on t he Yickers nan d mount. As to

Gt<;NER~L V I EW OT!' THE

TA.TION D u RING REco~ n wcnos.

FJo. 150. TaE BooKtN.o RALt,

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

8, 1900.]

JUNE

745

7.5-IN.

QUICK-FIRING
~IES

CONSTRUCTED BY

AT

GUN
VICKJi~RS ,

RS.

THE

EXHIBITION.

PARIS

SON , AND MAXIM:, LIMITED, SHEFFIELD.

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FIG.

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the gun itself, it is built up on the wire-wound

system, so that it need only here be stated that it
is 386.7 in. long, and that the weight of the gun
with the breech mechanism is 16 tons 1 cwt. We
give a list of principal dimensions and ballistics:

,.

\ '\
:'\
'---\,_---=~--.....:_ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ __:,...~\~~ : ',

"~

Thickness of shield ...

Weight of shield ...
Angle of elevation ...
,
depression ...
Rounds per minute ...

....-."

-t - - -- - +- ----- -t~r

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3 in.
2 tons 1 cwt.
16 deg.
10 ,
6

I t will be seen from this Table that the gun

Principal Dimensions a11d Ballistics of 7!-In. Gun.
developes a muzzle energy of 11,826 foot-tons,
Diameter of bore . ..
...
...
7.5 in.
wJ1ich is equal to 730 foot-tons per ton of gun-a
L ength
,
. ..
.. .
. .. 375 in. = 50 cals. splendid result when taken in conjunction with the
Total length of gun . . .
...
. ..
386.7 in.
rapidity of fire -six rounds per minute. This
Diameter of chamber
.. .
..
11 ,
power is largely due to the form of the breechLength of chamber ...
...
...
54.25 ,,
.. .
.. .
17 t ons
Maximum pressure...
block associated with its mechanism, which is
Muzzle energy
...
. ..
... 11,825 ft.-tons.
well shown in Figs. 2 and 3. The block and
Nature of charge . . .
...
...
Cordite
the mechanism is the standard Vickers type for
Weight
,
.. .
.. .
...
50 lb.
guns of 12-in. and 9.2-in. bore, and is the same
,
of projectile...
.. .
.. .
200 ,
,
gun and mechanism ... 16 tons 1 cwt. 0 qr. as that now adopted under the company's patents
,
mounting with shield ... 10 , 14 , 2 ,, for all British service weapons. It will be seen

that instead of being parallel with interrupted

screw, the block is divided circumferentially into
segmental portions in regular steps of varying
radii. Thus the 7.5-in. gun has eight segments,
and of these six are threaded so that three-fourths
instead of one-half of the circumference is available for resisting the pressure. This enables the
breech-block to be shortened by something like
one-third of its length, and the breech end of the
gun, which is by far the hea viest part, is correspondingly reduced. The weight thus saved at
the breech, when added at the muzzle, greatly
increases the period of the propulsive effect of the
powder, and accelerates the speed and energy of the
projectile, and thus enormously adds to the power
of the gun.
The central pivot mounting illustrated, consists

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

--

[JUNE 8,

1900.

of a ~teel top carriage resting on a horizontal roller experts. In the old gun the recoil after each shot need .be no difficulty in equipping our Army with
bearmg on a steel pivot. The cradle in which the was utilised for performing a series of automatic the most efficient ordnance.
The exhibit at
gun is free to slide during r ecoil is cylindrical, and o~eration~-extracting the cartridge, ejecting it, Paris, indeed, serves as a splendid object lesson,
attache~ to the cradle .are three cylinders, one of w1thdra w1ng a new bullet from a b elt, ramming a n ot only to t-his country but to foreign nations that
the ordmary constructiOn to overcome the r ecoil, new charge home in the chamber, and firing the we still h old our prominent position in respect of
and the other two (one on each side of the recoil g~. In the n ew gun the mechanism to perform originality of design and superiority of manufacture
cylinder) c?~tain t~e. springs for running the gun th1s fivefold task for each round is operated dif- in all the munitions of warfare on land and on sea.
up to the finng pos1t10n after the recoil. The con- ferently. The explosive gas which has sped the
nection between these three cylinders and the gun bullet upon its way, passes through a small valveTHE PARIS EXHIBITION ELECTRIC
is ~ade by arms projecting from the breech ring, controlled opening, near the muzzle end of the
POWER STATION.*
~s 1s clearly shown. The whole weight of the tnov- barrel into a tube, and this gas drives a piston
Ing parts, gun, cradle, and carriage, is balanced on which, acting through a connecting-rod, sets in TrrE INSTAI.LATION oF ME RS. CARELS FRERES AND
MEssRS. Kor.Bll~N AND Co.
the roller b~aring which makes the training a very motion the mechanism behind the breech. The
THE first large electric generating unit at the
easy operat10n. The elevating and training of the change has made the gear most simple, with fewer
electrical gallery of the Paris Exhibition, which was
gun are performed by the rotation of two hand- parts than in the Maxim. This Vickers' gas gun in a position to furnish electric current for lighting
wheels conveniently placed with regard to the will, it is stated, stand t he roughest usage even from purposeea, was the three-phase steam alternator of the
sho~ld~r-~iece ag~inst which the gunner leans. untrained soldiers or sailors .
Elektricitats- Actien Gesellschaft, formerly Messrs.
Ant1-fr1ct10n bearings. are used where most required,
Kolben and Co., of Prague Vysoca.n, Austria. It was
Leading
Pa1ticulctrs
of
Sorne
of
Viokers'
Field
Gun
s.
so that these operat10ns are easily performed by
started on May 2, and both engine and dynamo
bad been so well tested previously in the company's
one man, notwithstanding the grent mass to be
Muzzle
Weight
Weight Muzzle
factory, and EO well fitted in place that from the first
m oved. An electric contact is fixed on the cradle, Diameter
Muzzle Energy Round~ of Gun
of
Velo
day's run the group was able to furnish current for
with
an~ is so .a~an~ed that unless the gun is in the of Bore. Projec- city. Energy. per Ton M~e\e
1
of
Gun.
u Carriag e. the lighting of "Vieux Pd.ris." The group is situated
tile.
firmg pos1t10~ 1t cannot be fired. The sighting
in the 30 metre gallery, and is devoted to the electrical

arrangement IS such that only a small aperture in

cwt.
ID.
grams.
ft.seo. ft. -tons ft.-tons
service of the Exhibition. It is placed at the foot of
215
2000
.85
31.73
600
.303
~he shield is necessary. In this design of mount
the large staircase leading from the Palais de l'Eleclb.
Increased protection fron1 shell fire is obtained
1800
1.457
1
22.47 122.7
300
11!
tricite into the "galerie des machines., The engine,
17!
1950
87
240
36
1.85
3
by the construction of the top carriage, which is of
which was made by ~1essrs. Carels Freres, of Gand, is
19146.6
396
1870
2
44
6
30
considerable thickness, while the general arrangea horizontal tandem compound, making 94 revolutions
70<1.4
12
2.958
12 5
1575
214.8
17t
ment of the several parts is well disposed and
1560
2 11
787.7 I 12
1St
12. 6
3
per minute; it drives the flywheel three-phase alter2500
606.7
5 l6.3
20
23!*
3
14
are under exceptional protection. They are also
nator, made by Messrs. K olben and Co., of Prague.
20
886.9
12
1850
341.3
15
3
Thh alternator is designed to absorb 1100 etfecin few parts, and easily kept in good repair, very
674
45
1200
51!
1011
4.7
tive horse-power for driving induction motors, furlittle attention being necessary.
The loading gear is an interesting feature. It * Weight of gun only. Weight of mounting depends on type used. nishing 825 kilowatts at a compound pressure of
3000 volts. The rotor has 64 poles, thus generating
consists of a shot tray pivoted on a bar at one side
The automatic principle formerly confined to at 94 revolutions per minute, a periodicity of~ x ~
of the cradle, as shown on the plan, so as to move
2
60
with the gun when it is being elevated or depressed, guns of rifle calibre and !-pounder guns, has now
or when it is swinging on its axis. It is arranged too been extended in a modified form by Messrs. = 50 cycles per second. The rotor is made in halves
so that the longitudinal axis of the tray is always Vickers, Sons, and Maxim to weapons firing and consists of a heavy cast-iron flywheel carried by
10 double arms, in the rim of which are fitted the castparallel to the axis of the gun. The tray is con- 3- pound, 6- p ()und, and up to 14- pound prosteel cores. The weight of the rim is sufficient to
jectiles-all
at
great
energy.
Thus,
guns
of
diffetrolled by a worm and wormwheel gear actuated
reduce t he irregularity of the angular velocity to
rent
calibres
now
fire
in
a
minute
:
Three
hundred
by a handwheel suitably mounted near the breech
~h having a moment of G D 2 = 600,000 metre-kilos,
on the left-hand side of the gun ; a clutch is pro- 1- pound projectiles, thirty-five 3- pound shots where G is the weight in kilos, and D the average
vided, so that the worm gear is put out of action. or shells, thirty 6-pounders, and twenty-five 14- diameters in metres of the revolving masses. The 64
The tray is swung by hand only. The drawings p ounders, ranging in velocity from 1870 ft. to steel cores have an oval cross-section wit h cylindrical
projections which fit exactly in corresponding holes
reproduced show the tra.y alongside the g un, while 2500 ft. per second.
The automatic mechanism of these new Vickers in the flywheel rim, thus reducing the magnetic reon the engraving the tray is in position behind the
breech, and the projectile is being driven home guns, giving rapid fire, is strikingly simple, and luctance between steel a nd cast iron in proportion to
great interest is excited by the frequent working the different magr:etic ratios of steel and cast iron.
into the chamber.
Barbette mounting is also provided for this gun of these weapons at the pavilion in Paris. We The poles of the cores are made of sheet iron oast
into the steel cores. The core winding is made of
have
in
a
previous
iss
ue
illustrated
this
mechanism
as well as for the 12-in. and 9.2-in. ; but as we
copper strip of 5 by 25 millimet res ; the single
(see
page
180
ante);
but,
it
may
be
said
here
that
h ope later to illustrate the Vickers mounting
layers are insulated from each other by means of
instead
of
the
block
being
screwed
in
the
breech
which has given such splendid results, we n eed not
parchment paper punchings. The wound cores are
and
swung
laterally
into
and
out
of
its
place,
h ere enter into any details. N or is it necessary to
compressed hydraulically. The surface velocity of
remind o ur readers that Messrs. Vickers, Sons, and it works in these g uns in a vertical plane be- the wheel is 27 metres per second, the external
?rlaxim are also constructing garrisons and dis- tween guides and the recoil of the gun, when diameter of the wheel being 5.55 metres. The sta.tor
appearing mountings for their various typas of it is fired, is utilised for operat ing the block. which carries t he high-pressure winding has a lamiordnance. And h ere, before departing from t he Thus on recoil a spring placed under the gun is nated iron core with deep slots, which are insulated by
subject of naval guns, it may be interesting to give compressed, which, operating a lever attached to micanite troughs. The winding consists of 96 coils,
a Table of the leading dimensions of the principal the bottom of the breech-block, pulls it down- which are laid in the slots and securely fastened. The
wards; meanwhile a little clip moving with the whole is carried by a strong cast-iron frame, which can
of these guns :
block extracts the cartridge from the chamber. be shifted axially, so that single armature coils as well
L eadir.g Particulars of Vickers' Naval Gwns.
The putting in of the new projectile by the gunner as magnet coils, can be easily replaced. The stator
sets the automatic mechanism in action again to frame is also adjustable in a vertical direction by
Muzzle
i
means of heavy adjusting bolts resting upon the castI
Wei2bt
Muzzle
Muzzle
Eoer~y Rounds We gb~ of reclose the breech and to lock the block in place
Diameter of Pro Velo E
The magnetic proportions of the
T
per
Gun w1th for the next round. The rapidity of firing is thus iron sole plates.
of Bore. j ectile.
city.
oergy. per on Minute Oarriog~
of Gun.
only dependent on the service of the projectile, alternator, as well as the windings, are so calculated
that at Yarying loads only very small pressure varia------1
----tons owt. and three or four men can easily keep it going at a tions are noticeab!e. The dyn1.mo is, therefore, dein.
lb.
ft. -secs. ft.-tons
12
8 19
2,ll9 781.11
47
45
2600
much greater rate even than that indicated in the signed with a high air-gap induction, strong iron sabu13 17
8
6,340 721.37
6.0
lOO
2775
Table above. The 14-pounder g un attains a velocity rations, small armature leakage and reactance, having
17
2~
6
11,825 730
200
2920
7.5
1* of 2500 ft. per second and a muzzle energy of 606 a good pre~sure characteristic at no load, and a favour28
19,~{,9
685
9.2
380
27CO
50
7
39,843 791
12.0
850
2600
foot. t ons, notwithstanding its great lightness and able short-circuit curve. The full-load current is
reached with the short-circuited armature windings,
-quick fire.
* Weight of gun only. Weight of mounting depends on type used.
As to mobility, the Maxim has always been made at an excitation corresponding to one-third of t he
Even more interest is taken in the field ord.nance, so that two mules take a complete field equipment. normal voltage. The dynamo works very smoothly
and quietly at full, and even at 25 per cent. over,
.The
gun
may
be
carried
on
a
tripod
or
on
the
new
by reason of the great success of Vickers' guns in
load ; its total weight, excluding the exciter, is 63
quadripod
system
by
a
couple
of
men.
The
comthe recent South African War ; our Legislature
tons.
bination
carriage
and
tripod
is
now
a
well-known
might do well to make itself acquainted with
The exciter for the alternator is a six-polar conthe groat improv~ment~ in _ fiel~ art~l~ery, so adaptation. But this principle has also been ex- tinuous-current dynamo, the armature of which is
admirably shown In th1s Vtekers Pav1llon, for tended to larger guns, as, for example, to the 3-in. keyed direct on to the main engine shaft, upon an
an investigation such as this would b e invalu- 12!pounder landing or m ountain gun. 'l'his gun extension beyond the outside bearing of the engine.
able when considering the future needs of fires a 12!-lb. projectile with a muzzle velocity of It therefore makes only 94 revolutions per minute,
the artillery branch of the service. We have re- 920 foot -seconds, and a rapidity of fire of seven and generates a current of lOO volt s and 80 to lOO
cently had a series . of articles on Vick~rs' field r o unds per minute has in many instances b een an1peres. The whole energy required for the exciting
is,
therefore, only about 1 per cent. of the useful outobtained.
The
gun
and
its
carriage
are
so
conartillery when we Illustrated and descrtbed the
guns made by the company. The rifle-calibre gun estructed that they can quickly be taken to pieces put.
From the terminals of the alternator three highfor
transport,
and
as
quickly
remounted.
The
g
un
was described on page 370 c~nte, the !-pounder
pressure main cables lead to the distribution switchand
its
mechanism
form
one
load,
while
the
carriage
gun on page 277, the 75-millimetre gun on pages
board, on which are mounted all necessary controlling
can
be
divided
into
three
loads,
i
.e.,
t
he
trail,
the
310 and 339 the 12-pounder gun on page 412, the
safety and measuring apparatus. The high-pressure
12-pounder 'separable gun on page 433, the 15- cradle, and hydraulic buffers, and the wheels and switches of the board are so designed that their
pounder on page 468, and the 4. 7 -~. field. guns axle, all of which are well within the limit of load manipulation is perfectly safe ; they are operated
by the electrician standing upon an elevated plat
on page 503. It !Day, h owever, be :ntere.s tmg to allowed for mules.
It will thus be seen that Messrs. Vickers, Sons, form.
give a Table show tng some of the d1mens10ns and
and 'Maxim, Limited, have anticipated all the reThe three-phase current generated by the Kolben
ballistics of these guns.
A new rifle-calibre gun, called Vickers' gas gun, quirements which h a ve been so pronouncedly
* See pages 647 and 712 ante.
brought
home
in
recent
field
operations;
and
there
is shown and examined with great interest by

JUNE

8, I 900.]

alternator is used for feeding the high-pressure distribution cable system of t he Exhibition, consisting of
two parallel three-wire armoured cables of 2 by 40
millimetres per section. The two mains feed t he
transformer stations in the following parts of t he
Exhibition :
l. The H orticultural Building.
2. The quai and the buildings on the Cours la Rei ne.
3. The "Palais des Cong res."
4. One part of the " Quai De billy."
5. The footbrid?,e across the Seine.
In " Old P aris ' there are installed seven K olben
three-phase t ransformers, which reduce the high
pressure of 3000 volts down to 110 Yolts ; t his current
is used for both arc and incandescent lighting.
I t may be rtmarked that the alternator exhibited
by t he Kolben Company is the thousand th dyn a mo
manufactured by t his firm. Five alternato1s, of t-xactly
the same size and out put as the one exhibited, are now
working at the three-phase central station of Prague,
where they are used for generating current for public
and private lighting and power uses, and for the electric

tramway serviCe.

SUBMARINE TELEGRAPH ENTERPRISE.

AN important change has taken place during t he

last few months in one branch of British submarine

telegraph enterprise, viz., a closer working union
between t he Brazilian S ubmarine Telegraph Company,
Limited, the Western and Brar.ilian Telegraph Company, Limited, and the London-Platino Brazilian
Telegraph Company, Limited. As a result of this
closer working union, the Brazilian Submarine Telegraph Company, Limited, is now known as the
Western Telegraph Company, Limited. The change
was, no doubt, judicious and advisable as it was necessary to strengthen British telegraph interests in the
Western world, and especially in South America. Including dividends on shares held by it in other telegraph companies, the revenue of the Western Telegraph
Company for the second half of last year was 139,596l. ;
and after providing for all working charges (including
4790l. for the repair of cables), the profi t reali~ed for
the six months was 109,284l. , increased to 114,317l. by
a balance of 5063l. brought forward from June 30,
1899. Two quarterly divid ends of 1! per cent. were
paid for the second half of la&t year, 45,000l. was transferred to the reser ve fund, and 679ll. was carried
forward. The reserve fund stood, at the commencement of June, at l,Ol5,853l. , and after taking from it
83,379l. in part payment of the cost of a new cable,
the fund still stood, a.t the close of 1899, at 991, 938l.
it will be seen that the fund was reduced during the
half year to t he extent of 23,915l. But it still
amounts to nearly one-third of the whole share and
debenture capital of the company, and it is, no doubt,
a precious asset. The reserve fund of 991,938l. at the
close of December, 1899, had been invested at the same
date to the extent of 706,275l. , the balance bting represented by spare cable, ca~ h in hand, and shares in
other telegraph companies.
The Submarine Cables Trust has just completed
another financial year. The trust accounts are made
up annually, April15, and in the 12 months ending
Aprill5, 1900, the r evenue collect ed by the trust was
24,870l. The expenses of the year were 1269l., and
payment of the coupons maturing upon tho trust certificates absorbed 20,286l., leaving a ba lance of 331 5l.,
which was applied to the red emption of 27 certificates
at 120l. per certificate, leaving a reliq uat of 75l. t o
be carried forward to the credit of 1900-l. The largest.
investments of the t rust have been made in the stock
and ehares of the Anglo-America.n T eleg raph Corn
pany, Limited, the Eastern T elegraph Company,
Limited, and the Eastern Extension, Australa.E>ia, and
China Telegraph Company, Limited. These t hree
investments amount altogether to 340,845l , out of a
total nominal capital of 374,285l. The S ubmarine
Cables Trust was formed in 1871, and the stocl{s and
shares which it holds in the Anglo- American Telegraph Company, the Eastern T elegraph Company,
and the Eastern Extension, Australasia, and China
T elegraph Company were acquired a t prices much
below t hose now current, so t hat the trus t is in a strong
position. Since the formation of t he tru~t 54,242l. of
surplus revenue has been applied in redemption of truE>t
certificates : and the redemption of every certificate
st rengthens, of course, the value of those r ema.injng in
circulation. When certificates are redeemed, their
holders retai n t he coupon of reversion attached to
each certi ficat e. This coupon of r eversion entitles
its holders to a p1o 1ata share in the assets of the
t rust when all the cer t ificates have been redeemed;
and this may prove a source of considerable profit,
especially as certificates of the nominal amount of
81,900l. were surrendered upon being purchased in
the market in the earlier history of th e trust below
par, together with the coupons of reversion attached
to them.
We called attention in E NGINEERING a few mont hs
_since to the threatened Pacific com peting cable, and
we f ndeavcund to enforce upon the principal existing

E N G I N E E RI N G.
companies the necessity of a r eduction of rates, so a.s
to preserve business conn ecLions which had been
laboriously and successfully built up. The companies
have acted substantially upon this policy, and the
result has been that t he proposed official Pacific
ventu re is r eceding into what appears now to be a
very dim and distant fu t ure.
peaking in t he House
of Commons , Mr. Hanbury called attention to t he
reduction of rates, and the es tablishment of what
were virtually strategic cables all over th e world, and
t he right honourable gentleman added that the public
had r eally little to complain of in the existing cable
system. That this is t he deliberate conclusion of the
presen t GoYernment, at a ny rate, is shown by a furthur
observation of :Nir. H anbury to the effect that be and
his colleagues had gone into the su bject thoroughly.
The House virtually decided to leave the whole matter
in the hands of t he Government, and this would appear
to mean that there is an end for t he present of a new
competing Pacific cable.

1\iANCHESrER STEAM USERS'

ASSOCIATION.
THE annual meeting of the members of this Association
was held on Tuesday, ~lay 29, a.t the offices, 9, Mountstreet, Manchester. In the absence of the president, Mr.
Adam Dugdale, the chair was taken by the vice. president,
Mr. Charles Heaton, Bolton.
The report of the committee of management was read
by the secretary. It stated that at the close of 1899 the
number of members wa3 2047, the number of works 3457,
the number of boilers enrolled 6765, and the subscriptions
and special service fees, &c., received amounted to
14,517l. During the past year there had been an increase
in the constituency of 79 firms, 175 works, and 330 boilers.
The financial position of the association was s tronger
than at any previous period, and during the past twelve
months, as compared with the preceding year, there bad
been an increase in the sub.3criptions of 589l. , and a.
surplus revenue over expenditure of 1141l. 19a. 2d. The
reserve fund now stood at 21, 981t. The committEe also
congratulated the members upon the continued immuni ty
from boiler explosions which thAy experienced, no ~x
plosion having arisen from any boiler under the inspection
of the Association during the past year. It was now 45
years since the Association insti tuted in this country the
system of careful periodical inspection of boilers as a
means for preventing the occurrence of boiler explosions,
which at that time were very frequent and very terrible
in their results ; and its long ex perience endorsed
th e wisdom of its founders and had established the
conviction that by the universal application of such
a. system of inspection as that so long carried out by the
Association wa.s to be found the remedy for these disasters.
Dllring the year the Association had recorded outside its
ranks, ~5 explosions, killing 31 persons and injuring 51
othera. Of these, 15, killing 25 I?ersons and injuring 46
others, might be termed "explos1ons proper, " while the
remaining 20, killing six persons and injuring- five others,
might be termed "miscellaneous explosives," i.e , those
arising from the bursting of steam pipes, stop valves,
stills, kiers, &c. In addition to these explosiOns, two
others arose from the bursting of hot water boilers, by
which three persons were inj ured.
The report further stated that the working of the Boiler
Explosions Acts had been most beneficial in promoting
boiler inspection, and the inception and pa~ing of
these Acts were due to the efforts of the Association.
During the present session of Parliament several Bills
seeking to make boiler inspection compulsory had been
introduced. One Bill, originally introduced by Sir
William Houldswortb, M.P., at the request of the Committee of the Association, would secure the adoption of
compulsory inspection without at all harassing tl:ie steam
use r, and practically would not affect those who had {>laced
their boilers under t he inspection of the Aesociatlon or
any of the insurance companies. It would simply compel
careless steam users to adopt the precaution already voluntarily adopted by careful steam users. To tbis Bill we
have already made reference on several occasions in these
columns. A Select Committee of the House of Commons,
the rfport went on to say, bad been appointed "to
consider and report. upon the advisability of legislation to
insure the systematic and regular inspection and certi fication of boilers, wjth the object of diminisLin~ the risk to
life and property arising from boiler explosiOns." This
Committee was now ~itting, and the Association's chief
engineer, among other experts, had been examined. The
proceedings of the Committee were being carefully
watched in the interests of steam users.
The Chairman, in moving the adoption of the report,
said it would be perceived that the Association continued
to make steady progress. The fact that so many firms
now joined it was proof that the principles upon which
the Association was founded were sound. It was established fortyfi ve years ago simply and .purely to save life
and propert.y. There were no shareholders and no di vidends to pay, and they could, therefore, afford to spend a
\'el'Y large prOJ?Ortion of their income upon their clients.
Special attentiOn was being given to the question of
boiler incrustation and methods for its removal and prevention. They were now setting up a chemical laboratory where feed water and fuel could be anaJysed and
their members advised accordingly. The Association's
consultative work was constantly increasing. Last year
they ins{>ected 236 boilers d uring construction, and be
(the Chatrman ) desired to call attention to that most
importan t point. It was of great importance when
a boiler was being constructed to have it carefully
Examined during tbe procees of ccnstruction. The

747
Board of Trade returns showed that a very large proportion of the disastrous ex~lo~ions ~hat bad occurred
outside the ranks of the Asso01at10n m~g~t have been ~re
vented by timely i.nspection, a?d t~e Of?ID~O~ was becommg
general tba.t n0thmg but leg1Blat10n m s1stmg upon compulsory registration !lnd inspection. ~ould meet the cas~.
Since the introductiOn of Str Wdhnm H ouldsworth s
Bill, which, from the p oint of view of the ?Ommittee of
the Association was most complete and effi01ent, and the
least harassing' to steam users, the. Wor~me~'s Compensation Act bad come into force, wb10h, smce 1t made emloyers liable for all accidents, natu rally covered much of
the ground of Sir Willi~m. Houldswor~h's Bi~l. All the
Bills before the House 1nststed upon mspectlon by competent persons but no definition was given as to who
were competen't. The Association'~ cb~ef engi_n~er ha?
suggested that the Council of the In~t1t~ t10n of C1vll EJ?gt
neera and the Council of the InstitutiOn of M echamcal
Engineers should give certificate~ to such as wer~ c~>n
sidered by them to be fully qualified. The Asso01atton
hoped th at the Select Committee would be able to promote such a Bill a.s should prevent, as far as human
agency could do, the great sacrifice of life and property
which now took place.
Mr. H enry H arrison (Blackburn) seconded the moti on,
which, after a. few remarks by some of the members
present, was carried unanimously.
Upon the motion of Mr. R. H. Ainsworth (Bolton),
seconded by Mr. C. Crossley (Halifax), the thanks of t~e
Association were presented to the. Committee for t~e1r
past services, and they were rea.ppomted for the ensumg
year.
Votes of thanks to ~he Chairman, and also to the chief
engineer and th e staff, were unani mously passed, and the
proceedings terminated.
NEw YORK SunwAYs.-Two additional sub-contracts
have been awarded by t he executive committee of the
New York Rapid Transit S ubway Construction Company. The successful bidders were Messrs. Hayes
Brothers, of Jonesville, Wisconsin. and the T erry and
Tench Construction Company, of New York. The firstnamed contractor will build the subway between 82nd
and 104th streets. The contract with the Terry and
T ench Construction Company ca1ls for the erection of all
the ste'el to be used on the viaduct section of the road
between 125th and 133rd streets ; on the main line,
between Hillside-avenue and Kingsbrid~e-road on the
west side ; and between 140th-street and Bronx Park on
the east side line. There will be three passenger stations
included in the section, which will be built by Messrs.
Hayes Brother3.
PERSONAL.- Messrs. R. H eathfield and Co., of 1,
Leadenhall-street, London, E .C., announce that they
have been appointed sole English agents for th e iron and
steel manufactures of the 'fennes2ee Coal, Iron, and
Railroad Company, and sole L ondon agents for the sale
of their pigs.-Messrs. W. T. Glover and Co., Limited,
electrical wire and cable makers, announce that their
address will be in future at Trafford Park, Manchester.The Committee of the British Corporation for the Survey
and Registry of ~hipping havf:l j ust appointed Mr. J. B.
Clift, of Tacoma, Washington, and Mr. Samuel S. Welch,
of Southampton, to represent the society at the ports
named as nonexclusi ve surveyors.-Messrs. J ohnson and
Pbillips' Electric Cable Works inform us that Mr. T. M.
Harvey has rejoined their staff.

- -CENTRAL ARGENTINE RAILWAY.- The gross receipts of

this undertaking last year were 1,286,655l., as compared
wi tb 997, 032l. in 1898, showing an increa-se of 289, 623l., or
29.05 .Per cent. The length of line in operation was the
same m each year, viz. , 845 miles. The working charges last
year were 611,354l. or at the rate of 47.51 per cent. of the
gross recei pts. The corre8ponding charges in 1898
were 502,421l., or 50.39 per cent. of the gross revenue.
The net revenue acquired last year was, accordingly,
675,30ll, as com pared with 494,611l. in 1898. Tliese
satisfactory results were largely attributable to a
good harvest having been secured last year in the
Argentine R epublic.
The expenditure on capital
account to the close of last year was 10,902,692l. The
number of locomotives upon the sy~tem a.t the close of
last year was 142; the num ber of vehicles in use in the
coaching department was 241, and in the goods and live
stock departments 3981.
CoAL IN THE UNITED STATE .-The production of coal in
the Uni~ed States last year was 258,539,650 tons, as compared wtth 219,974,667 tons in 1898. The outP.ut of bituminous col\llast year was 198,219,255 tons, wh1le the out.
put of anthracite was 60,320,395 tons. The corresponding
total~ in 1898 were : Bitumin~ms, 166,592,023 tons; anthraCite, 53,382,644 tons. It wlll be seen that the increase
in the general production last year was 38,564,983 tons.
The largest coal-producing States in the American union
are Alabama., Ilhnois, Ohio, Pennsyl vania, and W est Vir
ginia. The output of Alabama in 1899 was 7,234 758 tons
as compared with 6,535,283 tons in 1898 ; or' Illinois'
23,~35,445 tonll, as compared with 18,599,299 tons ; of
Oh10. 16,679,88~ tons, as compared with 14,516,867 tons;
of Pennsylvama, 75,591,554 tons, as compared with
65,165,133 ton~; and of West Virginia, 11,755,222 tons,
as compared w1th 16,700,099 tons. The following States
each produced upwards of 5,000,000 tons of coal last year .
Colorado, 5,425,618 tons: Indiana, 6 529 826 ton I owa.'
5,265,480 tons; KE?ntucky, 5, 120,3JO t~ns ~ and M~~y land:
5,516,363 tons. The coal productiOn of Kaneas Missouri
T~nness~e, W ashin~ton , and Wyoming w~ also nob
w1thcut Importance laet year.
...

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

NOTES FROM THE UNITED STATES.

PHILADELPHIA, May 31.

IRON and steel markets are duller this week, if that
be possible, than for months. The refusal of Bessemer
pig and of billet manufacturers to reduce quotations
about 20 per cent., is responsible for some of the dullness. Consumers refuse to buy these or any other
products of furnaces or mills, except in the small way
and to keep going. The present attitude of maker~
and consumers cannot continue indefinitely. There is
a.~ enormous consumption in progress and buyers will
stmply be forced to cover. Production is being gradually r educed in most iron and steel mills. In some
places mills are down to single turn, the great rush
is over... But this, it is claimed, i_s only temporary.
The pos1t10n taken by good authorities that the pre~ent extreme course of buying next to nothing
IS ~ven more dangerous than last year's course of
t rymg to buy too far ahead. Bar iron has been
shaded 1 dol. within a week. Sheets are lower. Merchant. steel of all grades has dropped. Plate iron and
steel 1s down, and at last structural material, which
has stood at the top of the list all through the present
storm, llas weakened and lost 2 dais. per ton since
last week. Steel rails have gone off in W astern
markets, and big orders are now hung up until a
general drop is announced. Railroad requirements
keep snap and life in the market. All equipment
makers, from locomotive builders down, are crowded
with work. There is no change in the general conditions. Wholesale trade is dull, but retail trade is active.
The masses of the people are getting better paid than
for 20 years, and commodities are low in price. New
enterprises are crowding along, and the opinion is
general that, as soon as the Presidential nominations
are ~a.de, business will pick up an~ speculative activity
set 1n. The summer stoppage w1ll soon begin. The
iron and steel workers, in their national convent ion just closed, have asked for what amounts to a
20. per cent. advance. This, in the face of a drop in
pnces, comes at an unfortunate time. Shipbuilding
activity is increasing, and capacity is overtaxed. The
projected yards, if started, will have a. capacity for
about 12,000 men, according to plans laid. There is
certainly an urgent n eed for more vessels, but this
want will be largely met by t he termination of the
South African war, which, by the way, American
sentiment does not want to see brought to a close
until t he Boers are a political nonentity.

[JUNE 8, I 900.

THE M'INNES-DOBBIE INDICATOR.

BRAZILIAN TELEGRAPHY.-Adirect cable has been laid

between Para and Pernambuco. A cable from Manaos to
Para is working well.
TRE MEssAGXRIES MARITIMEs.-The dividend of this
important French shippin~ company for 1899 has been
fixed at 4~ per cent. A rehquat of 1320l. is carried to the
credit of 1900.

GAB AT RIO DE J ANEIRO.-The Rio de Janeiro Gas Company returns its profits for 1899 at 91,431l. Of this sum,
however, 78, 056l. was absorbed by interest and redemption
of obligations, and after providing for loss on exchange
and some other item~, the council of administration wa,g
not in a position to propose any dividend upon the share
capital of the company. The quantity of gas sold by the
company last year was 17,920,907 cubic metres, showing
an increase of 2.52 per oent as compared with 1898.
GERMAN CoAL MINI'~G. -The extraction effected in the
four principal German coal-producing districts in the first
quarter of this year amounted to 8,174,924 tons, as compared with 6, 699,928 tons in the corresponding period of
1899, showing an increase of 1,474,996 tons, or 22 per
cent. Of the increase of 1,474,996 tons, the Breslau
district contributed 38,255 tons; the Halle district,
1,043,804 tons; the Klausthal district, 16,034 tons ; and
the Bonn district, 376,904 tons. The number of persons
engaged in coal mining in the four districts in the first
quarter of this year averaged 39,860, as compared with
36,226 in the corresponding period of 1899.
TRANS-SIBERIAN RAH.WAY.-The number of passengers
carried over the Trans-Siberian Railway la.st year was
1,075,000, as compared with 1,049,000 in 1898, 600,000 in
1897, 417,000 in 1896, and 211,000 in 1895. The weigh t
of goods carried last year was 40,759,000 poods, as compared with 43,371,000 poods in 1898, 27,485,000 poods in
1895, 11,433,000 poods in 1896, and 3,560,000 poods in
1895. Traffic was not commenced until 1895, and then
in only a very imperfect fashion. Even now the great
line is not in oomplete operation. When through traffic
has been more fully organised, the speed of some of the
trains is to be increa-sed.

--IN RusSIA.-The scarcity of fuel

FuEr,J
in Russia has
directed attention to the best means of turning to the
best account the great quantities of turf w~ich Rus~ia
contains. It has been calculated that turf 1s met With
over an area of 135,000,000 deciatimes of land. The
Russians are in the habit of burning the peat right off,
or making it into briquettes. Turf can be made available
for consumption ab about 16 copecks per pood. A copeck
is one-hundredth part of a. rouble, which is equivalent to
about 3s. English; and a pood is equivalent to 36 lb.
English. The Russians consider that the calorific power
of turf is at least double that of wood.

WE illustrate on this page a. steam engine indicator

of a new type, which has recently been put on the
market by Messrs. T. S. M 'Innes and Co., Limited, of
41 and 42, Clyde-place, Glasgow. The special feature
of the new indicator lies in the fact that the springs
are placed outside the cylinder of the instrument, and
are thus prevented from attaining any high temperature, which, in the case of the pressures now being
used, might impair the accuracy of the indication.
Our engraving shows very clearly the position of the
spring in the new instrument. These springs can be
easily changed, since by slackening two milled heads,
made of ebonite, in order to facilitate handling, when
the instrument is hot, the whole arrangement of
piston-rod, spring, and straight-line motion can be
removed. On unscrewing another and smaller milled
head, the piston and its rod can be detached
from the head gear, and the spring r emoved and
replaced by another. It will be seen that the
whole of that portion of the instrument likely to
get hot is protected by ebonite sheathing, which
is an immense convenience in handling t he instrument under difficult conditions, such as, for instance,
on a trial trip with a. bit of sea on. The indicator
will act efficiently up to speeds of 800 revolutions per
minute, and the standard springs provided range up to
pressures of 438 lb. per square inch. The intended
Yertical travel of the pencil is If in., and the barrel
is of sufficient diameter to give cards 3 in. long. The
barrel is provided with two interchangeable springs,
one intended for use in ordinary conditions, whilst the
other, which is stiffer and shorter, should be used in
indicating very fast running engines. The two springs
can be changed in a few seconds, it being only necessary to take out a couple of screws in order to enable
the one spring to be removed and the other inserted.
The clips for the paper are not of the usual construct ion, but are hinged, enabling a new card to be inserted without risk of tearing it, as not infrequently
happens with the ordinary spring clip.

BOOTHMAN'S FEED-WATER FILTER.

THE salient feature in Boothman's feed-water filter

is the use of separate solid-drawn brass casings,
to enclose the filtering material. These cases fit into
seats, as shown on the annexed engraving, being
merely r etained in place by the pressure of set-screws.
When these screws are slackened, the casing can be
withdrawn, and the material renewed without any
loss of time. This is a matter of great importance, as
t~e efficiency of a filter depends greatly on the attentiOn bestowed on the filtering material; and if this can
only be got at by breaking and remaking one or more
joints, it is not likely to be renewed oftener than can
be helped. The makers state that in a filter of 3000
indicated horse-power, such as that illustrated, the
entire operation of removing the old material and
inserting the new can be performed in five minutes.
These solid-drawn casings are, naturally, very light:
a matter of some importance in ships of war, in which
the weight of the machiuery must be reduced to the
smallest possible amount.
The operation of the filter can be easily followed
from the engravings. The water from the feed pumps
enters at the bottom branch, Figs. 1 and 3, and has
two paths open to it.
Ordinarily, however, it
traverses the right-hand passage (Fig. 3), and so
into the filter, the incoming water surrounding the
casings, which are perforated. The water passes
through the filtering medium, down the casings into
the lower part of t he filter, which communicates with
the underside of the differential valves, A, C. If the
valve C be open, there is a. direct passage through
it to the boiler, as shown.
When the filter is working under normal conditions
the bye-pass valve A will remain closed, as shown,
because the area of the valve C, exposed to the boiler
pressure, is greater than the ar~a of the valve A,
exposed to the feed pressure, by the cross-section of
the spindle B. The spindle B passes through the nut
D, which is free to slide in the crosshead, but cannot
rotate. When the feed pressure on the inlet side
NovA SooTIAN METALLUROY.-The Nova Scotia Iron increases (owing to the filtering material getting foul)
and Steel Company will shortly commence the constructo an amount sufficient t o overcome the boiler pree
tion of coke ovens and blast-furnaces at North Sydney.

JuNE 8, 1900.}

E N G I N E E RI N G.

749

THE

BOOTHMAN

FILTER.

FEED-WATER

Ft{J1.
...

Fig.8 .

oova <c

TO 80/LEA-

/ INLT
SLUDC VALV ,

710 F/LTR
I

.... ______ ,

F===!

OUTLET FROM FILTER

-- - - --... -- - ---- . -,

of the element fitted for double filtration.

'"' hen
blowing through with steam this valve is lifted by the
pressure between the inner and outer m edium, and
allows of the grease arrested by t he inner medium to
be blown out through the screw-down sludge valve
fitted on the outside of the chamber.
TheEe filters are tested hydraulically to 500 lb. per
square inch by the makers, the Boothman Patent
Filter Syndicate, of Fyfe Chambers, 105, West Georgestreet, Glasgow.

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

I
I

Ft{j.2.

,,
,. ,

.,.f,.,,'

'

'

'' .... . . ,
~

I, '

'

,#

', I

0
_,

':,,
'
~

"'

~-

THE V OLTA CONTACT FORCE : ERRATUM. -In the

remarks on Hittorf's researches on the peculiar behaviour
of chromium, in our issue of June 1, page 724, read:
The passive state is not due, as in the case of iron, to the
formation of any oxide layer on the surface. The word
"not" was inadvertently omitted.
I

'
0

RoLLING STOCK FOR THE ORLEANS RAILWAY.-The Paris

and Orleans Railway Company has the following additional
rolling stock now in course of construction : 68 locomotives160 tenders, 171 passenger carriages, and 2200 trucks.
Of the locomotives which are now being built for the
company, eight are electric engines. These are intended
to be used on the Quai d'Orsay extension. At the close
sure acting on the lower side of t he valve C, the t wo desired t o close the outlet valve C the handwheel is of last year the company owned 761 locomotives for~as
valves and the valve spindle will move downwards, turned in the ordinary way, the nut D being held by senge~ and ~ixed traffic, 553 goods engines, an 83
shuntmg engmes.
opening the vah-e A and allowing the feed water to a feather in the crosshead.
pass direct to the outlet branch; the maximum pr~s
The filtering material used is Turkish toweling,
sure desirable ou t he filtering medium being about known as "brown t erry" cloth, or closely-woven flax
JAPAN SoCIETY OF MEcHANICAL ENGINEERS. - We
25 lb. per square inch. Example : S uppose the boiler made in the form of a st ocking and drawn over the have received a copy of the Proceedin~s of the Society
pressure to be 180 lb. p er square inch, the diameter perforated tubes from the top. Both the filtering of Mechanical Engineers in J apau, of wh1 ch Mr. Sa-dakazu
of the bye-pass valve A, 3~ in. , the dia meter of t he material and perforated tube are enclosed by the Sakata is President. The papers printed in the Proceedspindle B, 1:l in., then the area ex posed to the pre~sure outer casing, which is held in place by the set screw ings include the following : "On Gas Engines," by Mr.
on the inlet side = area of 3~ in . circle- area of on top, the set, viz., perforated tube, filtering medium, J. Nakahara, M.E. ; " New Method of Approximating
to Cycloidal Teeth of Wheels by Circular Arcs," by Mr.
1! in. circle = 8. 4 squa re inches, and tha t on the and outer casing forming an clement.
S. Kosaka., M .E . ; "An Oil Tank Wagon Suitable for
underside of the valve A = the full area of 3! in.
The filter can be cleaned by steam admitted at the Japanese Railways," by Mr. M. Crizukn, M.E.; and on
or 9.62 square inches. Therefore 9.62 x 180 = cook shown in Fig. 1, at the bo ~tom, and esca.ping at "Friction Clutch," by Mr. A. Inokuty, M. E., Koga
1731.6 lb. pressure on the underside, tending to keep the sludging valve. It rises up all the casings, and kuhakushi. There are abstracts dealing with the followthe valve closed. The area. of top or inlet sid e is 8.4 in. passes through the filtering material in the opposite ing subjects : " Investigations of Earthquake Effects pn
and therefore when the p ressure increases on the inlet direction to the water. In some cases, two layers of Cliimneys ;" '' Serpolleb's Self-Propellin~ Road Vehicles
side to 206 lb. on the square inch the bye-pass valve A material are used, as shown ; and space is then left for an~ L ocomotives ;' . "Patent Abstracts;' "Very Strong
will open and allow t h e water to pass direct to the the dirt to run down between them, the dirt from the Wmd Observed m Japan." The Proceedings are
boilers. The feed pressure and t he boiler pressure can inner layer not having to be forced through the outer. printed in the picturesque Japanese characters, there~ore we. have to confess ourselves unable to review them
alwa.ys be read on the pressure gauges. When it is
Au automatic sludge valve is shown at the b ottom m detail.

E N G I N E E RI N G.

750
NOTES FROM THE NORTH.

GLASGOW, Wednesday.
Glasgow Pig-Iron Market. -Business was quiet on
Thursday forenoon, only some 10,000 tons changing hands.
The tone was steady, a nd the S()le change was a drop of
1d. in Scotch iron, making the "back " on Scotch 9d. per
ton. In the afternoon other 10,000 tons changed hands
and prices were easier, Scotch closing 5d. p er ton down o~
~he day, and Cleveland a lso 5d. down, while hema.tite
u on made 1d. per ton. The back on Scotch iron changed
t o 11d. v er ton. At the close the settlement prices were :
Scotch uon, 67s. 4~d. p er ton; Cleveland, 693. 1~d. ;
Oumberland and Middlesbrough herna.tite iron respectively, 793. 3d. and 853. per ton. At the foreno~n meeting of the market on Friday some 10,000 tons changed
hands. The tone was very steady, and Scotch iron made
an advance of 2~d. per ton, and hema.tite iron ~d . per ton.
The settlement prices in the afternoon were: 67s. 7~d.
69s. 4~d., 793. 7id. and 85s. per ton.
The pigiron warrant market, in company with the Stock
ExchaWS'~ was closed on M onday, that being a holiday ( h1t-Monday). The market at the o2ening on
Tuesday forenoon was poor and inactive. Only 5000
tons were dealt in. Scotch fell lld. per ton Cleveland
6d., and hematite iron 8~d . per ton. Othe~ 5000 tons
changed hands in the afternoon, and the market was
very depressed. At one time Scotch iron was 1s. lld.
down on the day, but the final close showed a loss of
~s. 6d. per ton. Cleveland was 2$. lower, and hematite
non 23. O~d. per ton. The settlement prices were :
66s. 1~? p er ton, 67s. 3d., 77s. lid., and 85s. per ton.
T o-days forenoon market opened weak, but afterwards
steadied. Scot ch, after being 5d. p er ton down at
653. 8d. cash, rallied to 65a. 11d. buyers, or 65s. 10d.
one month.
Cleveland was nob dealt in.
In the
afternoon there was a sharp slump, Scotch closing
down l s. ~d. on the day, and the turnover was
ab?ub 10~000 tons as in the forenoon, the settlement
prices bemg: 6-!s. ~d., 67s. 3d., 75s. lO!d., and 85.s. per
ton. Tuesday's quotations for No. 1 makers' iron were :
Clyde, 87s. p er ton; Calder and Gartsherrie, 87s. 6d. ;
Summerlee, 903. ; Coltness 9ls. 6d.-the foregoing all
shiJ?ped at Glasgow.; Glengar~ock (shipped ab Ardrossan), 863.; Shotts (sh1pped at L eith), 90s.; Carron (shipped
ab Grangemouth), 883. per ton. The following are the
returns of the shipments for the week onding last
Saturday: To Canada, 140 tons; to South America
275 tons ; to India, 193 tons; to Italy, 275 tons ; t~
Germany, 792 tons; to Holland, 475 tons ; lesser
quantities to other countries and 2625 tons coastwise, the whole shipments amounting to 5185 tons,
a~ compared with 5147 t ons in the corresponding week
of last year. The stock of pig iron in Messrs. Connal
a nd Co.'s public warrant stores stood at 129,050 tons
yesterday afternoon, against 136,229 tons yesterday week,
thus showing a reducti on for last week amounting to
7179 tons. The special feature of the past week's pigiron market has been the continued uneasines3 of dealers
trying to adjust their settlements to the provisions of the
n ew rule, and this factor is m ostly responsible for the
fluctuations that have taken place. Trade reports show
no improvement on their recent retrograde movement,
whether from America, the Continent, or the home industries. Makers show more inclination in every district in this country to meet buyers' requirements, a<:J the
dearth of fresh buying orders is being felt for the first
time for some years. American competition, especially
t o the Continent, is Lecoming very serious, and must
prove a potent factor in ruling prices here; this mean while applies more to manufactured iron and steel than to
~ig iron. The number of blast-furnaces in actual operation
1s still 85, against 83 at this time last year.
F inished Iron and Steel.-It is thought not unlikely that
a number of the smaller iron and steel works may shut
down durin~ July, as the difficulty on the fuel question is
becoming etill more pronounced. The ad vance of another
l a. per ton on the price of coal is a great hardship on the
maker and the consumer. S ome consumers are exceedingly wrath on the matter. They are not getting their
proper requirements, and they allege that some of the
coalmasters are shipping the coal in order to secure big
prices in this country. The Coa.tbridge makers of malleable iron feel the competition from America in hoops and
strips. Tubema.kers are finding that new work is falling
off, but they hope, however, to be busy on South African
a ccount as soon as the war is ended. A similar hope is
being expressed by other consumers of finished iron and
steel; indeed, they say that there will shortly be a great
demand for their work.
The Late Mr. W iUialm W atson, Iron M erchant.-Genera.l
regret was expreased on 'Change yesterday at the announcement of the death of Mr. William Wilson, iron
merchant, 28, Royal Excha.n~e-squa.re. Mr. Wilson, who
was the secretary for the Scotch Pig Iron Trade Aasocia
tion since its institution, was connected wit h the pig-iron
market for the long period of 40 years; in fact, he wn.s one
of the gentlemen who were mainly instrumental in forming the A ssociation. lVIr. Wilson1 who was 60 years of
age, had been ailing for some months. He leaves a widow
and grown-up family. At the close of the forenoon
session of the pig-iron market yesterday ~Ir. S ervice rflferred to the loss which the members had sustai ned
through the death of their secreta ry, and as a mark of
r espect it was unanimously resol ved to close the market
t o-morrow (Thursday) afternoon, the day of t he funeral.
Glasgow Coppe1' .ll iarket.-Another week has passed
without any business being done in the Glasgow copper
market. The price has been quite nominal all the week,
and at the close to-day the settlement price was 71t. 15s.
p er ton.
Clyde Shipbuild ing Trade, L aunohes i n Map. -Thi3

branch of the local trades has not made any improvement

during the month just closed. Order3 remain a~ scarce
as ever, and many shipbuilding firms report that they
have had next t o none. This is attributed to the high
rates of wage3 prevailing, and to the prices of materialsiron, steel, and coal more particularly- being very high.
It is felt that unless matters take a turn, and that very
soon, there will bs many empty berths in the yards in the
near future. Thirty vessels were put into the water during
the month, making 56,800 tons of new shipping- war
vessels, steamers, a. barque, and eight yachts-and making
for the fiv~ months of the year 180,650 tons, an increase of
six vessels, but a decrease of 13,012 tons, when compared
with the corresponding period of last year. The new
orders a mount approximately to 10,000 tons, so far as are
known. The following are a. few of the principal ve~sels
in the month's output: H.M.S. Aboukir, first-class
armoured cruiser of 12,000 tons, built at Fairfield for
the British Admiralty; the screw steamer Rowanmore, 9200 tons, built for the J ohnstone Line, Liverpool, by M essrs. Connell and Co., Scotstoun ; the
screw steamer Ajax, 6800 t ons, built by Messrs. Scott
and Co., G reenock, for the Ocean Steamship Company ; the scre w steamer Itola, 5000 tons, builb for
the British India Steam Navigation Company by
Messrs. William Denny and Brothers, Dumbarton; the
screw steamer Onta.rian, 4500 tons, built by Messrs.
Robert Dunca.n and Co., Port Glasgow, for the Allan
Line ; the screw steamer Vermont, 4300 tons, built for
the South American Steamship Company, Valpa.raiso,
by Messrs. Ba.rclay, Curie, and Co.; the torpedo-boat
destroyer Tiger, and sundry steam yachts and trawlers.
P rice of E lectn.'c Light in E dinburgh.- The Council
of Edinburgh have decided, by a large majority, in favour
of making the electr:c light current 3!d. per Board of
Trade unit.
The P r ice of Gas.-At H elensburgh, where the Town
Council have had the opportunity of managin~ the gas
affair3 of the burgh for the past year, the price of the
town's gas is to be continued at 4-a. 7d. per 1000 cubic feet.
The M ontrose Ga..q Company have informed the Town
Council that the price of gas is to be put up. At R othwell and U ddington there is not to be any change in
price. A very favourable annual report has just been
submitted t o the shareholders of the company. At
Dundee it is expected that the rise in the price of gas
will be raised 6d. per 1000 cubic feet, and at Perth in is
probable that there will be a. rise in the price.
The P rovan Gas W orks : Large Contraot.-The Gas
Committee of the Glasgow Corporation recommend that
the con tract for the exea vating and building work required
for the first section of the ne w Provan Gas Works be
given to M essrs. R obert M'Alpine and Sons, 188, St.
Vincent-street. Messrs. M'Alpine's contracb includes
the excavation and concrete work for two gasholder~, each
of which will contain 8,500,000 cubic feet of gas; also the
erection of the retort house, the coal stores, the purifier
house, the lime stores, the boiler house, the station meter
house, the exhauster house, the offica..q, the workshops,
the limekilns, the preparation of the rail way, &c. Messrs.
M'Alpine bind themeelves to complete all this work
within two years.
Tho amount of the contract is
171,756l. 13s. 4d.; the ironwork, which will not be finished
for another 18 months, has nob yet been contracted for.
It will involve an expenditure of ab least another 150, OOOl.
A ga-s-holder alone costs, roughly, about 53,000l., of which
23, OOOl. is for the tank and 30, OOOl. for the gasholder.

NOTES FROM SOUTH YORKSHIRE.

SHEFFIELD, Wednesday.
T ickhilt Light R ailway Scheme.- An inquiry was held
at Donoa.ster last week before the Light Railway Commissionera into the scheme for the construc tion of a light
rail way to 'fickhill and other parts of the district. It
was explained that the prop osed railway No. 1 would
start from the Dearne Valley Railway, which had been
authorised by Parliament, and pass near t o the village of
Wad worth to Tickhill. Railway No. 2 would pass from
Tickhill eastwards t o Bawtry. R ailway No. 3 would
cro~s over the G reat Northern R ailway at Bawtry, and
go by Mieson to H axey. The proposed light railway would
form a continuous line from the Sou th Yorkshire coalfields
The district through which it
to the river Tren t.
ra n was agricultural, and one which had a good deal of
land in it capable of growing market garden produce.
The means of transit were, however, at present very
primitive, and the introduction of a line would very
largely increase the trade of the district. After c0nsidera.ble discnssion, in which itl wa-s admitted that if the
Dearne Valley Railway were not constructed, Railway
No. 1 would not be much use, that part of the scheme was
withdrawn. L ord Jersey, chairman of the Commissioners,
in concluding the inquiry, intimated that the Commissioners took a favourable view of the scheme.
G?eatc1 She,f)ield. - The exten<:Jions of boundary made by
the Sheffield Corporation Bill, which has just passed the
House of L ords Committee, will make that city the
lar&'est municipality in the country o utsid~ the Metropolls. The area of the city before the Bill was promotAd
was 19,651 acres. To this 4009! acres has been added,
brioging tho total a rea up to 23,6GO~ acres. Bradford,
with 22.843 acres, is the next largest county borough in
England.
Grirnsby Dock Subsidy.- A resolution will be proposed
at the ensuing meeting of the G rimsby Corporation that
that body grant a subsidy of 500l. per annum for seven
years towards the interest of a p ortion of the capital to
be expended in connection with the making of new docks
at Grimsby, so urgently n eeded to meet the requirements
of the p ort.

[JUNE 8,

1900.

Iron and, Steel.-Most of the large works have been

closed down during the pa.st week owing to the Whitsuntide holidays, and, as owing to the long-continued prosperity in trade, most of the men are well off, the holiday will be somewh:1.t prolonged. The further a{! vances
which are threatened in coal, coke, rolling, and other
materials is being viewed seriously by manufacturers.
So long as the manufacturers of material in America and
Germany were equally pressed no great harm was likely
to ensue, but now the latter appear to have overtaken
the demand and are beginning to look round the foreign
markets. It is feared the day is not distant when their
surplus stocks of iron and steel will be coming to England, to the advantage of the consumer, but the serious
detriment of hotr.e makers.
South Yorkshire Coal Trade. -Although the Whitsuntide holidays have interfered considerably with the working of the pits, a. brisk trade continues to be done at advancing rates in all qualities of fuel. The pressure immediately before the holiday was considerable, consumers
being anxious to obtain stocks to tide them over the
recess. H olders of expiring contracts have been doing
their best to obtain full supplies, knowing that the contracts which will be made at the close of the existing
ones will be at fully 5s. advance on their present rates.
Export business is very brisk, and high price3 are being
paid by foreign buyers. In house qualities a good trade
continues to be done. Prices have been firmer, though the
advance has not been sufficient to make any general
alteration in the market.

NOTES FROM CLEVELAND .AND THE

NORTHERN COUNTIES.
MIDDLESBROUGH Wednesday.
The Cleveland I rO"'l Trade.-Holidays have altogether
upset business. The market is very idle, and in the
absence of transactions it is difficult to fix quotations.
Yesterday there was no market here. To-day the Exchange might almost as well have been closed for the
amount of business that was done. There were plenty of
sellers of No. 3 g.m.b. Cleveland pig iron at 703. for
prompt f.o.b. delivery, but that figure did not tempt
buyers into the market. Some of the makers would nob
quote at all. Reliable rates for the lower qualities were
not obtainable. Middlesbrough warrants were stationary
throughout the day at 67s. cash buyers. There was no
east-coast hema.tite pig iron to be got. Nos. 1, 2, and 3
were 85s. to 87s. 6d., but quotations were quite nominal.
Middlesbrough hematite warrants nob quoted. Rubio
ore was still about 2ls. ex-ship Tees.
M an ufactwred I ron and Steel. -Several firms closed
their works for the holidays. A lot of orders are still in
hand, Lut very little disposition is shown to enter into
new contracts. Prices m some branches have an easy
tendency, but they can hardly be said to be quotably
changed.
Coal and Coke.-Fuel keeps steady and firm. Inquiries
for coal for the Baltic ports are now pretty numerous. Gas
coal is steady, and for the time of year stron~ prices,
ranging from 15s. 6d. to 17s. f.o.b. Bunker coal IS selling
at from 15s. 6d. to 17s. Coke continues in very good request for home consumption, o.nd quotations are maintained. The general market rate for average blast-furnace qualities is 29s., and several sellers adhere firmly to
that rate for delivery over the rest of the year.
M essrs. Head, Wrightson, and Co., Limited.- Tbe reporb
of the directors of M essrs. Head, Wrightson, and Uo.,
Limited, Thornaby-on-Tees, shows the gross profits of
the company for the year ending April 2l last to have
been 33, 489l. U s. 5d. to which has to be added the
balance of the preceding year, 2122l. 6s. 7d., making a total
of 35,61ll. 183. The directors propose that this should be
applied in payment as follows : Interest on debentures
to April 21, 1900 6537l. 3s. 9d.; reserve account for depreciation of capitaf expenditure, 6500l.; reserve account for
general purposes, 3500l.; a. dividend ab the rate of 7 per
cen t. for the year free of income tax, 14,700/. ; directord'
fees, including management salaries, 2500l.; balance to
be carried forward, 1874l. 14s. 3d. The result of the
year's trading, continues the rep ort, had been satisfactory. The work in progress was very large, and the
prospects for the current year were favourable. The
policy of the board in acquiring the Eaglescliffe Foundry
and the Stock ton Forge W orkea, in order to iticrease the
productive capacity of the property of the company, and
m adding new machinery, tools, and plant so as to reduce
the cost of manufacture, had been abundantly justified.

NOTES FROM THE SOUTH-WEST.

Cardiff.- There have been numerous inquiries for steam
coal for early shipment, and an imp~sion prevails that,
now that tho hohdays are over, a strong demand will be
experienced. The best descriptions have made 23s. to
23s. 6d. per ton, while secondary qualities have broughb
20s. 6d. to 22-d. 6d. per ton. H ouse coal has ruled
fi rm ; No. '3 Rhondda large ha~ realised 22s. 6d. to 23s.
per ton. F oundry coke has brought 32s. 6d. t o 33s. per
t on, and furnace ditto 30s. to 3l s. 6d. per ton. As re
gards iron ore, the best ru bio has been making 20s. 6d. to
2ls.per ton.
Watc1 Supply of Du1slcy. -Messrs. Taylor and Santo
Crimp have reported to a committee at Dursley on a. six
days' test of a well in Ca.swell Grounds. The test was
sati::sfactory, 127,000 gallons per 24 hours having been
pumped from the well. With regard to future motive
power, a small committee has been appointed with a view
t o the adoption of two gas engines and a reservoir to hold
100,000 gallons.
The West and the Midlands.-An improvement in the

JUNE
0

8,

900.]

75 1

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

'.

was made, and it was only by dint of continuous labour

The traffic receipts for the week ending May 27 on 33 that the water could be k.epb ?own.. When she was
railway service from the West to the ~!id lands, via the
Severn Tunnel, will come into operation in July. In of the principal lines of the United Kingdom ~mounted docked the pumps were stLll dtsoha.r~mg water frb!D
March the attention of Mr. H. Y. Adye, divisional super- to 1 806 791l. which was earned on 19,865! mlles. For three outlets and darkness had sent m when the s 1p
intendent of the Gren.t Western Ra1lway at Plymouth, the 'cor:espo~ding week in 1899 t~e receipts of. the same was shored rlp. She presented a very ba.t~red a:ppearwas drawn to the delay at Hereford to passengers lines amounted to 1,810,50ll., Wlth 19,604~ miles open. ance. The decks were torn. up and the s1des nddled,
travelling from the West by the 8.30 p.m. from Ply- There was thus a decrease of 3710l. in the rece1pts, while above deck only the CLt~del .escaped absolute demouth to Malvern, Worcester, and Birmingham. As a and an increase of 261! in the mileage.
struction. A complete survey 1s bemg made.
result of his action, a new train will, on and after J ul~ 2,
At the invitation of the President of the Meteorological
'l'he decision of the Trinity House authorities to remove
leave Bristol at 12.20 for Pontypool-road, conneotmg Society a. meeting wa'3 held at the .rooms of the S?oiety on
there with the 12.45 from Cardiff. Passengers will by the 30th ult. to consider the guest10n of a. memonal of the the wireless telegraphy installation between the Sou~h
this train connect ab Hereford with the 2.20, thence to late Mr. G. J . Symons, F.R.S., the dis~inguished ID:ete?ro- Goodwin JJightship and the South Foreland, was. d1SMalvern, Worcester, and Shrewsbury. Passengers from logist, and founder of the British Ramfall Or~amsatlon. cussed by the Dover Chamber ?f .Commer~ <?n Fnda.y
Torquay by the 9.0, from Exeter by the 10.15, and from Itl was resolved unanimously that the memonal sh~uld last. It was decided to memona.hse the Trtwty Board
North Devon, vid Ba.rusta.ple and Taunton, a~ 10.55, take the form of a gold medal, to be awarded . from t~me and to request the Chamber of Commerce o~ the ports of
will share in this service, and have their journey shortened to time by the Council of the Royal Met~orolog10al Som~ty the United Kingdom to support t.he me!Dorta.l, .as well as
Lloyd's and other shipping bodies, Wl~h a ~tew to the
by one hour and forty minutes.
for distinguished work in connection Wlth meteorol?giO&l establishment
of a. connection between hghtsbtps and the
science.
Contributions
will
be
received
by
the
assistant
Corridor Traim on the Great Western .Railway.-The
shore on dangerous sands. It was urged that the numl:>er
secretary,
Mr.
W.
Ma.rriott,
70,
Viotoria.steet,
Westgeneral manager of the Great Western writes to the
of lives and the quantity ~f v~luabl~ p~operty wh10h
secretary of the British Chamber of Commerce.: " ~ ~m minster.
could have been saved from the Goodwms m recent vears
duly in receipt of your letter of May 28 mqUlnng
In his lecture at the Roval Institution on "Explo- bad there been such communication with the sh<;>re w.ould
whether it is the intention of the company to place cor- sives " Sir Andrew Noble stated that were a mass of have been enormous. The im.portanc~ of fittmg lightridor trains of the latest type on the London and W.est of 500 lb. of gun-cotton "detonated," the time taken to turn ships with wireless telegraphy m.stall~t10ns so that they
England service; and, in reply, I beg to say that m the
1
could a.ct as sentinels or scouts m ttme of war, and .as
the
whole
into
gas
would
be
less
than
of
a
second.
event of a. new train now running OD; the South of Irela1;1d
20 000
a centre for the conveyance of important commercu~l
proving, as is confidently expected, m every respect satlS Lyddite is also easily detonated, and the explosiOn ~s telegrams from vessels to the shore, was also put ~orward
factory it is possible that more trains of the same class extraordinarily violent. In one of his experiments Str as of national importance. The chamber had: wntten. to
may be' brought into use, in which event ~be requirements A.ndrew reduced a. castiron shell weighing about 10 lb., the Trinity House pointing out the value .the 1~Rta.llat10n
of the important West of England serVlce would natur- almost wholly to fine dust. Such fragmen ts of the shell had been in reporting wrecks, and es.P._eOiall~ m the case
ally be taken into the careful consideration of the com- RS held together made indentations in the outer steel where the l!ghtship itself was collided Wlth by the
pany."
vessel in which the shell was exploded. The depth of steamer R. F. Ma.tthews, an~ badly da.~aged, ~arrowly
Gas at Olevedon.-Owing to the rise in the price of these dents indicated a striking "elooity of about 1200 escaping disaster. The Trimty authont1es rephed th.at
coal the Clevedon Gas Company has been compelled to footseconds, which it should be remembered had been the installation was experimental and was remo~ed a.t .tts
temporarily advance the charge for its gas from 33. 6d. to attained in a distance of under 2 in.
conclusion, the subject being now under the consJde.ration
4s. per 1000 cubic feet. The advance will take effect
Messrs. Elder, Dempster, and Co., who have hitherto of a devartmenta.l committee. The o~amber considered
from July 1.
imported the bulk of the bananas sold in the English that thiS installation, rather than bemg remo ved from
(JoaJ, and Railteays.-The increased cost of coa.~, iron, market from the Canary Islands, now intend to bring sands so dangerous as the ~oodwins, shoul~ h~ve been
and other materials is telling upon the Welsh railways. them over also from the West In dies in the new line of retained wbile the comm1ttee were constdermg the
Every possible effort is being made to economise, and coal steamers which they will run there. West Indian bananas matter.
stocks have been largely drawn upon. Thid is especially have hitherto been exported to America., as it has not been
Some interesting vartioul.a.rs CO!!Oe~ing the ~oun~a.in
noticeable in the case of the Taff Vale Railway Company. possible to bring them to this country in proper condition, section of the Ca.na.d1an Pacific mam lme were g1ven 1n a.
Another policy adopted is to cut off all concessions but to overcome this difficulty, the cool air system, which paper read before the Engineers' Club, Philadelphia., by
granted in respect of rates. The London and North- ha.s proved so successful in the large White Star steamers, Mr. W . S. Vaux, Jun. 'he line cro~ses four distinot
Western, the Great Western, the Rhymney, the Brecon carrying fruit from Australia, will be fitted in these boats mountain ranges, the most imp~rta.nt being the. Rooky
and Merthyr, the Ta.ff V ale, and the N eath and Brecon on a. very extensive scale. The owners have decided to Mountains prope~ an? the S~lkuk. The su!Dm1t level
Railway Companies have advertised that the rebate of 6d. place this work in the hands of Messrs. J. and E . Hall, attained by the hne m crossrng the former 1s 5296 ft.,
per ton allowed on the carriage of eo~ in own.erd' ~agons Limited, of Da.rtford, who have fitted the White Star whilst in the Selkirks a. height of 4303 ft. is reached. .In
to Birkenhead and Ellesmere Port will be dtscontmued. steamers above mentioned and all the ships for the Cape spite of its lower elevation and lesser snowfall, the line
This means that the rates will be increased by about 10 fruit trade.
over the latter r~nge has proved muc~ the. more .difficult
per cent.
The Queen Regent of Spain signed a decree on May 1~, to maintain, owrng to the fact that m thiS seot10n avaBirmingham and South Wales.- At the annual meeting in aecordance with which the following Spanish warships lanches are frequent, and to protect the line from these, it
of the Patent Shaft Company, at Birmingham, it was will be disarmed, and either sold or used as dep()ts for ha.s been necessary to construct 6 or 7 miles of snow sheds.
stated that, owing to excessive rail way rates, the removal coal, for ammunition, and for the m.ateriil required in The total snowfall in the Rookies has amounted to as
of the compa,ny's works to South Wales was in contem- submari.n e defence : Alfonso XII. and Alfonso XIII., much as 43 ft. in a. winter, and 57 fb. have fallen in one
first-class cruisers; Conde de Venadito, Isabel II., and week. Nevertheless, the line here can be kept open by
plation.
Marques de la. Ensenada., second-class cruisers; Teme- means of rotary shovels. Avalanches, however, bring
Taff Vale .Railway. -On Friday the Taff Vale Railway rario, Martin Alonzo Pinzon, Vioente Yaiiez Pinzon, down rooks a.nd trees with them, which the shovel is unCompany op~ened for traffic a new branch between Ponty- Marques de Molins, and General Va.ldes, torpedo gun- able to tackle, and resort has often to be made to blasting.
pridd and Nelson, with intermediate stations at Coed- boats ; Eulalia, Pilar, Condor, Aguila, Seguira., Cuervo, It is found thnt in many cases avalanches rolling down
penmaen and Cilfynyd~ . ';('hese districts hav~ hitherto and Tarifa, gunboats ; Retamo..<uL, Rigel, Ejerci to, and one side of a valley may pass a. considerable distance up
had no railway commurucat10n for passengers Wlth Ponty- Castor, torpedo. boats; and five coast-defence ships. The the other side, and thus several of the snow sheds are
pridd, and a. service of seven regular trains daily, with an armoured cruisers N umancia and Vitoria, and the un- constructed to r~isb the impact of snow slides from
extra. late tmin on Thursdays and Saturdays, will now armoured cruiser, Infanta I sabel, will be treated in the either side. The2e shedsa.re constructed of heavy timbers,
run to and from Pontypridd i.n connection ~th. the same manner as the above a.s soon as their boilers require and to guard against fire, water is laid on from sources
Cardiff and Rhondda valleys trams. The new line 1S an renewing or any other important repair is called for.
up the mountains above. Further, the sheds are not conextellSion of the Ta.ff Vale Company's Pont- hon-Norton
tinuous, but are divided up into lengths of about 200 fb.
The
fact
that
acetylene
can
be
readily
decomposed
branch, which terminated at the Albion colliery. The
each. The free space between two consecutive sheds is
into
its
elements
has
long
been
known.
When
this
is
course of the new line is between the canal and the river
protected by deflector fences, which are devised to turn
the
carbon
is
liberated
in
an
extremely
finelydone,
until it approaches the Dowla.is Abercynon Works, which
an avalanche over the sheds and away from the open line.
divided
state,
and
being
absolutely
pure
is
superior
to
the
ib joins by a. short branch. The line then turns no.rthThe heaviest gradients are on the west of the Rooky
best
lampblack
for
the
manufacture
of
lithographic
ink,
wards and joins the Taff Vale Company's Llanca.1ach
Mountain range, where the "temporary " line down the
varnishes,
and
photographic
eurposes.
Commercial
calbranch.
cium carbide is, however, still too expensive to permit Kicking Horse Pass has inclines of 4.4 per cent. Four
N ew Dock for Barry.-An influential syndicate is of acetylene black prepared from it competing with engines are often needed to take ea.at-bound trains up
stated to have been formed for the purpose of construct- lampblack. In all carbtde works, however, there is a these gradients, whilst west. bound trains are only
ing at Barry a dry dock, capable of receiving and repair- considerable quantity of material produced which is of permitted to descend at but little over a walking
ing the lar~est vessels afloat. The undertaking is sup- such inferior guality a.s to be unsaleable, and Mr. Hubou, pace. At intervals there are blind sidings running up
ported by mfiuential shipowners, and is not connected a. French engme~r, proposes to make use of this waste, the mountain. The points are norma.lly set for these
with the Ba.rry Railway Company. The dock will be for the production of the acetylene black. The sidings, so that a runaway car would be turned off the
constructed on land belonging to Lord Wimborne to the process of manufaeture is simple. The acetylene is main line and brought to rest before it ha-d got very far.
eastward of the present Barry docks. and about 350 yards forced into an explosion vessel filled with hydrogen, until In the Selkirks the heaviest gradients are 2.2 per cent.
from the entrance to those docks. Vessels will enter the a. pre8sure of about 75lb. is attained. The explosion is Much temporary trestle-work was pub in a.t the original
dry dock free of dues to the Barry Railway Company. then effected by raisin~ a coil of platinum wire inside the construction of the line. These trestles are now being filled
The site has been pronounced by eminent engineers to be vessel to a white heat. Acetylene being an endothermic in, and in some places, where the conditions are favourable,
an excellent one, there being a satisfactory depth of water substance, a considerable quantity of heat is liberated on this is being accomplished by hydra.ulioing. The jet
at the contemplated dock entrance. The dock, if con- its decomposition, but owing to the gas having been from the monitor washes the gravel into a sluice which
structed, will involve an outlay of between 250, OOOl. and diluted with hydrogen, as described, the highest pressure takes it down the mountain side, and is arranged to dis300,000l. The directors of the Barry Railway Company reached during the explosion does not exceed 370 lb. per charge at the point desired. The water is allowed to flow
are also considering_the question of additional dry dock square inch. Ona cub1c foot of acetylene yields 1 oz. of off, leaving the gravel behind in a thoroughly consolidated
accommodation at Ba.rry.
the black, and, in addition, 1 cubic foot of pure hydrogen, condition. The point of discharge is shifted from time
to time as the work proceeds. This plan has proved
which itself may have a considerable commercial value.
highly economical, even when the local conditions have not
The Belleisle, hulk, was docked at Portsmouth on been altogether ideal.
MISCELLANEA.
Saturday evening for the purpose of investigating more
LoRD RAYLEIGH has calculated that, to support himself fully the effects of the Majestic's gun fire. Operations
THE ELEOTRIO LIGHT AT CAPE T owN.-We learn that
in the air by a vertical screw, and with the muscular were commenced at Selsey Bill as early a.s half-past four
power he is capable of exerting for any prolonged period, in the morning, when the work of pumpin~ was begun, 100 additional electric lamps are to be provided in Cape
a. man would require a screw 295 ft. in diameter, even and the ship rose with the tide. It has been unpossible to Town this year.
assuming that the latter was weightless and Wlthout stop all the leaks, and the most it)lportant vunotures had
been timbered over. Mr. J. A. Yates, ohtef constructor
friction.
CANdDIAN BRlDOEBUILDING. - The Phrenix Bridge
at Portsmouth, to whom the ship had been handed over C~mpa.ny has secured a. contract for a. gre&t cantilever
The gold output of New ... outh Wales during May for temporary repairs, was in charge, and he, finding
amounted to 17,636 oz., valued at 60, 757t., as compared that water was entering from the started ri ,..ets rather bndge over the St. Lawrence a.t Quebec. The bridge will
with 14,641 oz., valued at 52,262l., in May, 1899. The than from shot holes, decided that the trip to Ports- involve the use of about 27,000 tons of steel. The structure
yield for the last five months was 141,434 oz., valued at mouth could be safely uudertaken, provided the pumps which will cost 900,000l., will be 150 ft. above the river'
494,257l., as compared with 144,408 oz., valued ab were kept constantly going. For this purpose he had an so tha.b ships with the tallest masts can pass under it and
it will be 76ft. wide. It will be built in three spans, t~o of
497,890l., in the corresponding period of last year.
adequate staff of men to work in relays. and as soon 600ft. each, and the centre span 1800 ft. The bridge will
The extension from Stookwell to Clapham Common of as the ship was clear of Medmery Bank three tugs took contai~ four rail~a.y tracks, a. drive-w~y, and walks on
the City and South London Railwa.;v-the first under- her in charge, one on the battered port side to hold her each side. It will take the Phrenix Bridge Company
ground rail way worked by electricity m the :Metropolis- up, one ahead to tow, and one astern to be ready for any three years to turn out the structural material a.nd to
was opened this week for public traffic. The extension emergency. Soon after the trip commenced the Belleisle erect the bridge. In order to ship the structural material
north of Aioorga.te-streeb to Islington, near the Angel, went down considerably by the head and the disposition from Phrenixville to Quebec, special cars will have to be
with a station at the corner of Old-street and City-road, of ~he tugs wn:s changed, one being placed on each side, ma-de to .hold the massi~e beams and girders which will
ia still in progress.
while the leadmg tug was cast off. Very slow progress be used tn the construot10n of the great work.

[JUNE 8,

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

752

1900.

WAVERLEY STATION, EDI:N"BURGH; DETAILS OF FOOTBRIDGES.

:MESSRS. BLYTH AND WESTLAND, EDINBURGH, ENGINEERS; MESSRS.

P. AND W. MACLELLAN, LIMITED, CONTRACTORS.

(For Description, see Page '743.)

Pig. 1111.

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ENGI NEERING, J u NE 8, 1900.

----

ARC I-IED

BR I DGE

ACROSS '"rE RI-II NE

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D U S S E L D 0 R F.

(ll'ot DC$C,1'ttYnltf Ptt!fe 737.)

Fw. 98.

FIG . 99.

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----~----------------------------------~---------, ~-----------------------------------------------

E N G I NEE RI N G.

j U NE 8, 1900.]
AGENTS FOR "ENGINEERING."

NOTICE TO CONTINENTAL ADVERTISERS.

AusTRIA, Vienna: Lehmann and Wentzel, K"rtneratrasse.

0APB TOWN : Gordon and Gotcb.
EDINBURGH: John Menzies and Oo., 12, Han?ver:~reet.
FRANOB, Paris: Boyveau and Obevillet, Librame Etrang~re, 22,
Rue d e la Banque; M. Em. Terquem, 31bla, Boulevard Haussmann.
Also for Advertisements, Agence Havas, 8, Place de la Bourse.
(See next column.)
.
GlUUIANY, Berlin : Messrs. A. Asher and Oo., 5, Unter den Lmden.
Frankfurt-am-.Main : Me!Srs. G. L. Daube and Oo. (for
Advertisemen ts).
Leipzig : F . A. Brookbaus.
Mulhouse : H. St uckelberger.
GLASGOW : William Love.
INDIA Calcutta: Thacker, Spink, and Co.
' Bombay : Thacker and Oo., Limited.
ITALY: U. Hoepli, Milan, and any post oftlce.
LrvBRPOOL : Mrs. Taylor, Landing Stage.
JdANOBBSTER : John H eywood, 143, Deansga.te.
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THE PATENTS EXAMINATION
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QUESTION.
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TELEPHONB NUHBBR-8668 Gerrard.

TIILB6RAPBIO

CONTENTS.
PAGB
PAGB
Arched Bridges over the
The Mineral Wealth of the
Rhine (lllmtrattd) ...... 737
World .. .. . . ......... ... 755
The Alabama. Coalfield . . . . 737 The Rating of Electric Light
The Oost of Electric Power
ing Undertakings ...... 756
Production .. .. .... .... .. 739 Notes .... ...... .... . ..... 756
The Engineering LaboraThe Training and Status of
tory of the Berlin Teoh
Engineer Officers . . . . . . 757
nical High School ...... '140 Naval Engineers .......... 758
The Waverley Station, Edin
The Maxim Multi-Perfo
burgh (Illmtratfd.) ...... 743
rated Powder .. ........ 768
Viokers' Ordnance at t h e
The Weig hts of American
Paris Exh ibition (nlus.) 743
Bridges . ... ....... .. ... 759
The Paris Exhibition ElecLocomotives at the Pa ris
trio Power Station (nlusExhibition (IUust1ated) 769
trated) ....... .. . ........ 746 The War in South Afrioa. .. 769
Su bmarine Telegraph EnterLending Library for Engi-

prise.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 747

neers .. .......... ...... 769

Manohester S team Users'

Mari ne Eogine Governors
Association .. .... .. : ..... 747
(Rlmtrated) ...... ......
Notes from the United States 748 Diag rams of Three Mont hs'
The .M'Innes-Dobbie lndioa.
Fluctuations in Prices
tor (nlu.strated) - .. .. 748
of Metals ...... . ... ... ...
Boothman's Feed Water
Testing Mach inery at the
Filter (nlmtrated) ...... 748
Pw Exhibition (Rltt.S
Notes from the ~orth .. .... 760
trated) ............ ......
Notes from South Yorkshire 750 Industrial Notes ..........
Notes from Cleveland and
Compression a nd Liquefa.o
the Northern Counties .. 750
tion of Oases (lUmtrated)
Notes from the South-West 750 On Large Cargo Steamers
Miscellanea. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 701
(Rltutrated) . . . . . . . . . . . .
The Patents xamlnation
Boiler Explosion neQr Bolton
Question . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 753 Launches a nd Trial Trips . .
The Future Supply of Gutta
cc Engineering" Patent RePercha . . . . . . . . . . . . . 754
cord (IUmtrated). . . . . .

With a

760
760
761
761
762
763
766
766
767

Tw<>PaiJ~

:&VJrafJing of an ARCHED BRIDGE

.ACROSS THE RHINE AT DUSSELDORF.

appointed by the Board of Trade to consider what

additional powers shall be given to the Patent
Office in regard to the issue of Letters Patent. The
matter turns principally on the examination question, and we propose now to briefly consider some
alternative systems.
In the United States of America there are a
number of officers, termed "Principal Examiners,"
each of whom has, in turn, a number of assistants.
Each Principal Examiner has entrusted to him the
examination of all inventions of certain classes.
If the examiner's decision be favourable to the
grant of a patent, it is practically final as regards
the Patent Office; but if he rejects the application, the applicant is notified as to the reasons,
and given such information and references as seem
needful to enable him to judge whether to renew
his application or alter his specification.
If the applicant persists in his claim, with or
without altering his specification, the case is reexamined by the same officer, who is supposed to
duly reconsider the case in connection with any
amendment of the specification which the applicant
may suggest, and any argument he may present to
show that the patent should be granted, with or
without amendment of the specification. Such a
re- examination may be had as often as the examiner
may reject the application upon new grounds.
But if he twice refuses a patent upon the same
grounds, alleging want of patentability of all or any
of the claims made, the applicant may, by paying
a fee, appeal to a Board consisting of three officers,
and styled '' The Board of Examiners-in-Chief."
Should they sustain the adverse action of the
examiner, in whole or in part, the applicant may,
on paying a further fee, appeal to the Commissioner of Patents; and from the Commissioner, if
necessary, he may carry the case to the Appeal Court
of the District of Columbia. If any of these three
tribunals should decide favourably to the applicant,
either as to the whole or part of the matter involved in the appeal, and he acquiesce in the decision, the case is remitted to the examiner for
further action, in accordance with the terms of the
decision. But even then, the examiner may allege
some new ground of objection which had formerly
escaped his attention, and may still refuse the
patent, and on this new ground of objection an
applicant might find it necessary to again resort to
the higher tribunals. Notwithstanding all thie,

753
many United States patents are afterwards upset
for want of novelty.
In the German Patent Office there are .four
Application Departments, distinguished respectively
as I., II., III., and IV. ~he Chancell<?r of the
Empire decides what technical branch IS to be
allotted to each department.
There are two
Appeal Departments, distin~ uished . as I. ~nd I I.
The Appeal Department I., ~nte? aha, deci~es .on
appeals against the decisions of the Apphcah.on
Departments I. and II.; whilst amongst t.h~ duties
of Appeal Department II. is that of de01d1~g ~he
appeals aaainst the decisions of the ApplicatiOn
Departme~ts III. and IV. T.he. applicatio~ fo~ a
patent is subjected to a prehm1nary exammatwn
by a member of the Application Department.
If this examination is deemed to show that no
patentable invention exists, the . ap~lic~nt is
notified accordingly, the ground bemg 1n~Ic!'ted.
If the applicant does not a~swer .the prelim1n!'ry
notification within the prescribed time, the appli?ation is considered as withdrawn. If he rephes
within the t ime, the Application D?partment ~omes
to a decision in the matter. If It be considered
t hat no patentable invention exists, the application
is refused by the department. From such refusal
the applicant may appeal to the proper Appeal
Depart.ment, whose decision is final. The member
of the Applica~ion Department who ~ave t he preliminary decision does not tak~ part 1n .the appeal
proceedings. In Germany, as 1n the U ruted States,
many patents, though granted after examination,
are afterwards revoked for want of novelty.
The American and German systems are both
open to serious objection. The decision in every
case naturally depends upon the temperament. and
the peculiar ideas of the examiner. One examiner,
or board of examiners, will recognise the existence
of novelty and patentable invention where another
examiner, or board of examiners, will be clearly of
opinion that there is nothing of the kind. And the
fate of an application is, mostly, determined upon
m~re documents ; and, necessarily, in the absence
of such evidence respecting matters of fact as is
usually produced to a Court of Law in the United
Kingdom, when it is called upon to pronounce as
to validity or invalidity of Letters Patent. It results
-as is inevitable- that in the United States and in
Germany, whilst many patents are granted that
cannot be upheld, many are refused without really
adequate reason. Injustice follows. Deserving inventors are deprived of well merited reward. And the
public are misled by the granting of patents in
respect of inventions actually old, but which
(owing to the official investigation, with power of
refusal) they are wrongly led to regard as new.
Every patent, be it valid or not, goes forth to the
world with a. kind of "Hall-Mark.', If the patent
be in reality11 bad, as it frequently is, then the
"Hall-Mark is misleading. It is all very well to
say that there is no official guar~ntee. The fact
remains that a large section of the public entirely
overrate the reliability and value of the official
examination, and act accordingly. It is quite
common to hear United States a.nd German
patents alluded to as indefeasible.
It is true that, in the case of a United States
patent, inspection of the records will show what
alleged anticipations have been cited. But that
cuts two ways. For it may be wrongly inferred
that, as the patent was nevertheless granted, it
has been authoritatively decided that the specification on which it has issued discloses a new and
patentable invention; or, equally without ample
warrant, it may be assumed that the very fact of
the prior patents or publications having been cited
implies doubt as to the validity of the patent,
though granted.
In Germany the applicant is, in practice, required
to recast his specification to accord with the official
notion as to what is new, and examiners' reports
&c., are not, as a rule, accessible to the public:
although, under exceptional circumstances, inte
rested parties are enlightened as to the facts.
In Switzerland, if, in the course of the examination, the examiner thinks he can see that the in
vention is not patentable, either by reason of want
of novelty, or for any other reason, he gives pre!iminary and secret notice of this to the applicant,
In order t hat the latter may, at his own option
maintain, alter, or abandon his application. Thi~
plan is open to objection, because it fails to
insure for t he public guidance either that the
patentee shall limit his claims to what is new or
shall indicate what is old sufticient1y to inf~rm

754
others as to what, if anything, is new. It follows
that an applicant n1ight elect to ignore what the
examiner had pointed out, and might mislead the
public into the belief t hat he possessed rights which
had no existence in fact.
The late Mr. Bennet Woodcroft, F.R.S.-to
whom this country owes so much in respect of
patent indices, abridgements and so forth-recommended that the applicant for Letters Patent, or his
agent, or both, should be required to notify on each
provisional or complete specification that they had
examined all previous specifications on the same subject, and that they believed the application was for a
new invention; also that the applicant be made to
say which of one, two, or three previous patents
approached the nearest to his own. Thus, said
Mr. Woodcroft, the most able persons to make a
search would be a.t once employed on that duty,
without causing cost to the country and confusion
in the Patent Office. We do not regard this as a
workable scheme nowadays. The expense of a
separate search on the lines indicated would, in
many cases, be prohibitive; and compulsory
references to prior patents (especially to patents
still in force) might well be, in many cases, unduly prejudicial to the applicant who was required
to make them, without being essential to the safeguarding of t he public. This is well understood
by persons familiar with the existing practice in
cases of opposition.
Many years ago, a sub-committee appointed by
the National Association for the Promotion of
Social Science recommended that patents should
be granted only after the examination and report
of competent examining officers as to the n ovelty
of the invention, as to its being the s ubject-matter
for Letters Patent, and as to the sufficiency of the
provisional specification ; but that where the report
was adverse, the applicant should be, nevertheless,
entitled to obtain his patent, subject to the following conditions :
(a) That the adverse report should be recorded,
and printed with the specification.
(b) That in any proceedings, on or against the
patent, the patentee should give security for costs.
(c) That in any such proceedings the patentee
should be liable to the payment of costs of the
opposing party, as between attorney and client, in
case he should be defeated on any of the grounds
stated in the examining officer's reporh. The conditions as to giving security for costs and payment
of costs, as between attorney and client, to be
satisfied upon a certificate of a judge upon the
trial of any cause, that the validity of the patent
had been affirmed at the trial.
This scheme would not work well. Novelty and
patentability of subject-matter, being questions of
degree ; questions as to which wide differences of
opinion are not uncommon ; it follows that, in many
cases, serious injustice would be likely to flow from
the attempt to carry out such a scheme. Of what
commercial value would a patent be, with such an
adverse report even r~oor~ed against i~, not. to mention the printing of It mth the spemficatwn, and
the onerous condition~
If infallible examiners
were obtainable, the case might be different. But
it is only needful. to ~ecall the pr~ctical workin~ of
preliminary exammatwn systems m other countnes,
and some of the proceedings in our own Courts, to
demonstrate how dangerous it would be to place
inventors in the manner suggested at the mercy of
any set of officials having to deal, in a necessarily
perfunctory manner, with a very large number of
cases. The plan might suit a few wealthy persons
(including some who have made money out of doubtful patents) on the principle that might is right.
But, surely, it will not be den~ed that a meritorious invention at least occaswnally emanates
from the brain of a person of limited means. And
what possible chance would such an one have of
turning his officially-condeJ?ned paten~ to oo~
mercial account ~ Even w1th a s~em1ngly vahd
patent it is somet~me~ ex~remel~ difficult to make
a start with a meritonous 1nventwn. Under such
a. system as proposed, what would have been the
prospects of . the. patentees of so~e of ~hose
inventions which, In the past, have prov~d highly
successful, both practically and commeim.ally, and
which, though seemingly on the border hne, were
ultimately held to have been patentable 1
.
Let us not be misunderstood. W e do not des1re
to overstate the case. But we conceive the question to be one of the utmost imp?rtance i~ its be~r
ing upon our commercial vrospenty as an Industnal
people.

E N G I N E E R I N G.
Even in Germany, where a patent was once
upon a time refused for the Siemens regenerat ive furnace, they now commonly grant patents
for trifling things, even for so-called inventions
that many persons might be disposed to regard as frivolous. Such patents offer encouragement and lead to beneficial results. But it does not
follow that a new and meritorious invention will
be recognised as such by the particular examiner,
or body of examiners, with whom it may rest to
decide whether a patent for it shall, or shall not,
be granted. That is where the German system is
open to serious objection, and sometimes operates
unjustly.
In our own country the aim should be to encourage to the utmost, by a liberal system, the introduction and publication of numerous improvements, each of a minor character, but the sum of
which, to adopt the language of the Select Commi~tee of 1872, contributes greatly to the progress
of Industry.
To this end it is desirable, as far as practicable,
to afford to applicants for patents (in order that
they may not waste time and money in the dark)
and to the public (so that t hey may not be deceived
by unscrupulous patentees) full information concerning the novelty of inventions in respect of
which Letters Patent are sought.
But inasmuch as patents have sometimes been
ultimately supported in respect of inventions which
even eminent judges have r egarded as not patentable, it is not advisable, in any unopposed case,
that Letters Patent should be refused on the ground
that the invent ion, or alleged invention, is obviously
old, or has been previously patented in this country,
provided the applicant (if required) so amends his
specification as to indicate to all who may read it
how much of what it describes was previously known.
Lastly, it is not advisable either to make it
publicly known that the specification has been
amended at the instance of. the Patent Office
authorities, or to give publicity to any official
notification of any kind (whether by endorsement
on the specification or otherwise) implying doubt
as to the novelty of the subject-matter in respect
of which Letters Patent are granted-because
such publicity would obviously create prejudice
against the patent, and where based upon erroneous
opinion, would operate unjustly.
Capitalists would be averse to interesting themselves in a patent as to the validity of which even
a r emote implication of official doubt existed ;
whilst manufacturers would equally hesitate to take
licences, since t hey would be likely to believe
themselves entitled to use the invention without
the patentee's consent, and, consequently, without
payment.
It is of the utmost importance to remember that
these are considerations such as are likely in these
days (and even more in the future) to affect a very
large proportion of the patents granted in respect
of inventions of great utility, not previously in the
market, yet very near what is sometimes called
the border line between patentability and nonpatentability.
Should the Committee's report unfortunately
ignore these practical considerations, and should
the Government be so ill-advisea as to act accordingly, then it is to be feared that a practice may
arise in regard to the granting and withholding of
patents which will be the reverse of beneficial in
its consequences.

[J U~ E 8,

1900.

parties of india-rubber and gutta-percha, and that

in the majority of purposes to which they are put,
~h~y can~ot replac~ one ~nother. This being so, it
IS Impossible to VIew without some alarm the inincreasing rise in the price of gutta-percha, a rise
which has been of steady growth of late years, and
all the circumstances of which point to its further
acceleration. It should be understood that, whereas
the various trees yielding the india-rubber of commerce are found growing pretty well over all the
tropical parts of the globe, the area of the distribution of the gutta-percha tree is much more circumscribed, the trees, of which there are several species,
being found only in Borneo, Sumatra, and the
Malay Archipelago generally. Even this restricted
degree of occurrence would not be so important a
matter were the best possible means taken to collect
the product without destroying the tree or mutilating it to an extent to render it non-productive in
the future. It is, however, the regrettable fact that
the careless and destructive method of collection
adopted by the natives who commenced the business is being followed with hardly any limitation
by their successors of the present day. It may
be asked, why cannot prompt steps be taken to
combat what is regarded on all hands as an
evil, which may have serious consequences. The
answer to this is, that such efforts have been
made in the past, and more recently with greater
promin~nce, though the useful result has been but
very small. It is all very well issuing proclamations, such as that recently made by the Governor
of British Borneo, the difficulty arises in enforcing
them. There is practically no supervision over the
gutta-perch a collectors of the Borneo jungles, and
it would need an immense police system if each
native were to be followed and have his actions
reported upon. The present system of collection
has other drawbacks besides that of the destruction of the trees, because it leaves the collector at
full liberty to increase his yield of milk by mixing
the better class with commoner, and in some cases
worthless, sorts. The milk, which the natives in
Borneo call '' su-su " is not coagulated in the forest,
but is sold to the merchants and traders who bargain for it. The buyer then sets to work to coagulate the milk, and it is not until this process is
complete that it can be ascertained whether the
gutta is of good or low quality-a circumstance
which is all in favour of the wily native. This
coagulation, it may be said, is brought about by
pouring the milk into boiling water, and it is not
customary to call in any adventitious aid such as
wood-smoke or chemicals, as in the processes of
coagulating india-rubber milk. This promiscuous
blending of the various juices obtained in the forest
cannot but be regarded as unfortunate; and if any
satisfactory means of supervision could be effected,
so that the milk of various qualities could be kept
separate, it would certainly prove of benefit to the
manufacturers of gutta-percha goods, besides simplifying the business from the merchant's point of
view. As we have said, the merchant is rather
buying a pig in a poke when bargaining with the
collector for gutta milk ; and although we do not
at all wish to adopt a didactic position towards
those who are on the spot, and are naturally more
conversant with the position of affairs than we can
be at this distance, yet it is permissible to point
out where improvement is desirable, even if it is
difficult to effect.
As regards the acclimatisation of the important
gutta-percha tree, the Ironandra gutta, in other
parts of the globe, there does not seem to have
THE FUTURE SUPPLY OF
been any more success attained than in the case of

GUTTA-PERCHA.
india-rubber. The French have taken a forward
ALTHOUGH there are still many people to be part in the transplanting of the gutta tree ; but one
met with who fancy that india-rubber and gutta- of their authorities, in reporting on the r ecent sucpercha are practically one and the same body, and cess attained, adds that the peculiar climatic condi
think th erefor e that any deficiency of the latter can tion which the tree requires are mostly absent in
be met by the employment of the former in its the French colonies. Nor have matters progressed
place, yet, of course, such a survival of ignorance ' far enough to say anything definite with regard to
is not general, and it would seem to savour rather the n ew gutta-peroha plant which has been disof impertinence were we to occupy our present covered in Northern China, and which is now under
space by tabulating the important differences be- cultivation at the Colonial Gardens, Paris. The
tween the properties of the two bodies. Certainly, fruit of this tree is said to contain 27.34 per cent.
chemically speaking, pure gutta-perch~ is very of gutta of excellent quality, though this can hardly
closely allied to india-rubber ; but then, to quote a be the only part of the plant yielding the substance.
well-known instance, charcoal and the diamond are It seems clear then, that for the immediate future
also chemically identical. Not that we wish this we are not likely to have any contributions to the
comparison to be read too literally, because there supply other than what comes in the ordinary way
are also certain physical properties which india- from Singapore or other Malay ports ; and it carrubber and gutta-percha enjoy in common ; but tainly behoves both sellers and buyers to discoun~
our main point is to en~phasise the fact that there nance. to the ut~ost an! methods of proced~re with
exists a considerable dtfference between the pro- . regard to collectwn whiCh threaten the contmuance

JUNE

8, I 900.]

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

755

of the supply. Although much has been heard used up 550 tons of the best quality, a figure which
THE MINERAL WEALTH OF THE
about the extraction of gutta from the leaves and will probably be exceeded by the Pacific cable. As
WORLD.
twigs of the trees, so far this has certainly not been at the present time the best crude gutta is over
a commercial success. Without expressing an 6s. per pound, it is not surprising that there is a
'l1HE workers busily burrowing far into the crust
opinion on the details of the prospectus of the growing disposition to utili..c;e rubber in its place, of t he earth, day after day, to recover the great
Gutta.-Percha Corporation, Limited, which has wherever this is at all possible ; but, as we have riches stored by Nature in all countries, almost
recently gone into liquidation preparatory to recon- already said, this raises certain points of great prac- equal in number the teeming population of London,
struction, it may be permissible to express some tical importance, which we do not care to discuss at while in Great Britain alone there are as many
surprise that the process of extracting the substance this juncture. " We might as well insulate with miners as there are inhabitants in Glasgow, the
from leaves by means of volatile solvents should 5l. notes as with gutta-percha,, said the managing second city of the Empire. In other words, the
have been considered of so much value, seeing that director of a cable works t h e other day; and no number of persons employed at mines, q uarries,
M. Serullas had entirely failed to make a fortune doubt his feeling of irritation is shared by many of and mineral workings throughout the world is
out of hiR patent. We write without any special his corn petitors.
4,355,204, while in the United Kingdom there are
knowledge as to whether the failure was due to imAs regards the use of rubber for deep-sea 875,603. Small as is the area of these isles, no
perfection in the product, or whether the process cables, there should be plenty of it to spare, country excels in this respect, and, moreover, our
could not be made to pay in face of the competition seeing how the vulcanised rubber electric light colonial possessions double this number of mineral
with the ordinary supply. But whatever may have cables are being replaced at the present day workers, Ceylon contributing 310,210, and India
been wrong with the London company-and its by the paper insulated cable.
As long as the 310,888. Germany takes second place to Britain,
flotation has been severely criticised by practical paper cables can be protected from damp they can with 498,569, the United States coming third with
men in Atnerica- its object to get at t he product be made to give the highest insulation resistance 444,678 ; then our great dependencies already
without destroying the tree is certainly a commend- which is required, and they are not subject t o decay named, and next in order France, with
able one, and one which may yet be attained as is rubber. There does n ot seem any possibility, 292,821 ; Russia, 239,434 ; Austria - Hungary,
with financial success. One thing is certain, any however, of using such cables for deep-sea work, 219,227 ; Belgium, 160,150 ; Japan, 118,617;
process such as this, involving the use of hydro- for many reasons which need not detain us here, followed by the South African Republics and
carbons, cannot be carried on in t he Malay Archi- so the advocates of gutta-percha need fear no com- other countries of less importance. The finanpelago; and the matter of the collection and trans- petition except from rubber. Although the various cial results are not in direct ratio to the number
port of the leaves is one that must necessarily prove factors that go to determine the span of life of of workers engaged, however, for the ''black
of some difficulty.
vulcanised rubber cables ar e, as yet, but imperfectly diamonds ,, of Northumberland are not r eckoned of
It is said, though we do not vouch for the understood, no such uncertainty exists with r egard the same value as the other species got at Kimberaccuracy of the statement, that the available gutta. to gutta-percha. Of this body it may be said, on ley, alt hough the volume of labour and the ultimate
supply has practically been cornered, in view of the strength of careful observations extending over industrial influence are probably greater. Thus
the rise in price which must necessarily ensue many years, that it retains its properties intact when a miner's labour at K imberley yields in the year
when t he Transpacific cable scheme comes to kept under water, or otherwise screened from sun- an average of 336l. worth of diamonds; about
maturity. The somewhat languid interest which light. Broadly speaking, we may take it that vulca- four times the average worth of the year's labour
we in England, b oth politicians and populace, take nised rubber insulation is subject to deterioration of the mineral worker of England. A comin the matter of this cable, is proving a source of by the chemical action of its own constituents, parison between the conditions in Cey Ion and the
irritation in Canada and Australia; but there is although in most cases of decay the part that heat Cape Colony is still more striking. Thus, in the
every r eason to suppose that the scheme will be and light have played has, no doubt, been not at all pear -shaped isle of t he Indian Ocean, 310,210 men
carried out at no distant date. As regards the unimportant. The matter of rubber 1Je1sus gutta- toil and moil for a whole year, winning only two
insulation to be employed, it is to be n oted that percha for deep sea insulation, as we have already million sterling of the earth's treasures principally
the American advocacy of rubber-covered cables said, has lately given rise to some exchanges of made up of plumbago; while, in the Cape Colony,
for deepsea work finds very little support in opinion between .America and Europe; America 17,065 men are rewarded by 4,610,587l., eightEngland. Certainly, we want no experimenting championing t he cause of the former, while Eng- ninths of which is due to diamonds. With India
in a cable where one span- that from Vancouver land and Germany have spoken in favour of the it is not possible to make the same comparison,
to Fanning I sland- would be 3561 nautical miles latter. .Apropos of this, we may say that the India- as the value is not given in the case of many of
in length. The shor t length deep-sea rubber- Rubber World of New York has recently an- the products.
cables, that have recently been made in America nounced the intention of publishing some original
The mineral wealth of the United Kingdom
by the seamless process, are giving every satisfac- articles on this subject, a11d we have no doubt that yielded for the latest year for which Government
tion; but European experts say that it is impos- they will be read with interest on this side by those figures are available- 1898-77,415,063l., of which
sible to put on the seamless rubber insulation who are concerned with the manufacture and use 64,169,382l. was due to coal; 3,406,628l. to iron ore ;
without destroying the best properties of the of cables.
while the output of clay, limestone, sandstone, and
rubber, and rendering it liable to early decay.
The action of sunlight, already referred t o, slate alone of the other products of Nature exceed
The matter is clearly one where difference of results in a. rapid oxidation of the gutta-percha, in value a million sterling. As such mineral
opinion exists, and it would seem that the advo- a dark brown resinous body being produced which wealt h is the foundation of industry and comcates of gutta.-percha are likely to hold the field in is quite distinct from t he light yellow resins which mercial greatness, it becomes interesting to glance
cases of long distances and great depths. This naturally occur in the sound material; in some cases, at t he figures for some of our great friendly
means that a constant supply of gutta-percha, and the oxidation may have proceeded so far t hat but rivals, and here naturally t he United States comes
that of the best quality, will be absolutely neces- very little of the hydrocarbon is left. Some of the old first to mind. The total for the same year is
sary for the furtherance of cable enterprise ; and gutta-percha which is, at certain times, advertised 143,453,468l., or nearly double the amount for the
the price may rise to a figure which will cause the for sale by the Post Office or Admiralty, consists United Kingdom. The proportion of coal to the
golf-players, and the few other users of gutta.- very largely of oxidised material, and ha-s but very aggregate, however, is less, for only 41 million
perch goods, to declaim loudly on their gr:evances. little value in the market. Gutta-percha, it may sterling was coal : petroleum accounts for nine
Gutta-percha, it may be said, contains from 20 to be mentioned, has but very few applications com- millions, and natural gas for three millions. Iron
40 per cent. of res ins, which, when present at t he pared with india-rubber. In the latter case, there ore mined and converted into iron accounts for 24
lower figure do n ot interfere with its properties are al ways a number of cheap goods being made million sterling, as compared with our 3,406,628l.
as au insulator, but which have to be entirely into which many substances, and among them old But all told, and excluding agricultural produce,
extracted for the golf-ball manufacture. As the rubber articles, can enter ; but in the case of gutta- the mineral wealth of t he United States per head
commercial gutta contains dirt, both organic and percha the goods, such as telegraph cables and of the population does not much exceed that in
inorganic, water, and varying quantities of the golf-balls, which absorb the great bulk of our this country, where it is about 39s., in the States
resins just mentioned, the yield of pure material of imports, require new first-class material, and there it is just over 2l., the excess being due largely to
which the golf ball is made, and which is available is no market for third-rate goods into which decayed the working of gold and silver, which yielded in
for submarine c~bles and subterranean telephone material could enter. It has been stated that 500 all 27 million sterling. Of our great Continental
cables, is very much less than the fi gures which tons of gutta-percha are used in England annually rivals Belgium alone approaches this ratio of
represent our annual imports of the substance from in the golf-ball manufacture ; and even if this figure mineral production pett capita. That '' black ,
Singapore. This figure has varied a good deal year by savours somewhat of exaggeration, there is no need country rivals us in mineral wealth per head, but
year; but statistics which are available demonstrate to insist upon the fact that a large and increasing does not exceed us. France only secures about
that while the export to different countries has shown amount is used. So far there are no signs of a sub- 1~s. in this way ; the German Empire about
great variations, the total annual export has shown stitute for gutta-percha as regards golf-balls, and 18s. 6d. per capita ; the great ore-producing Spain
an increase from 1844, its commencement, to the there seems every reason to predict a further rise about 7s. ; and Austria-Hungary about 9s.; while
present day, when it is somewhere about 52,000 in the price. With the growing anxiety of France Russia, owing to her great peasant population,
cwt.; of this quantity England has taken the bulk, and Germany to possess their own cables inde- comes out at only about 4s. 6d. In some countries
though Germany has, of r ecent years, become a pendent of London, there can be no doubt that there is greater weal th pe'r capita, as, for instance,
much larger consumer than formerly. The difference many important deep-sea cables will yet be laid to in t he great nitrate-producing republic of Chili,
in the amount of our imports is strikingly shown by make demands upon the supply of gutta-percha. where it amounts to over 50s. per head, but
a glance at the figures for 1890 and 1896, which arc L Joking at the facts t hen generally, although we in ani ving at t he actual wealth of the popula64,686 cwt. and 29,722 cwt. respectively; though do not say t hat there is any present necessity for tion it is necessary to take into consideration
it should be mentioned that the total export from writing in an alarming vein, it must be admitted other facts, and thus, although our investigation is
Singapore for the former year was 90,250 cwt., and that if tho future supply of the material is to be interesting, it is necessarily of limited importance.
not the average figure of 52,000 cwt. as mentioned assured in sufficient quantity for our needs, every It may, however, be worth giving t he totals as
effort should bo made to p revent the wasteful cut- taken from the recently issued Home Office reabove.
The amount of gutta used varies largely as ting down of the trees. If, as we are credibly in- turns. The United States tops the list in the
the makers of deep-sea cables are busy or other- formed, the proclamation of the governor of North value of the mineral, &c., productions wise an important cable necessitating the pur- Borneo has proved of no avail to stem the evil, 1~3,453,468l. ; then comes the United Kingdom
ohas~ of a large quantity of the insulator. then the gravity of the case seems to call for wtth 77,415,063l.; the German Empire third with
48,755, 595l., principally brown coal and iron and
Thus the French cable from Brest to New York further action of a more stringent nature.

copper ore ; Russia, largely due to petroleum,

29, 749,243l. ; France, with brown coal, iron ore,
cement, lime, slate, stone, &c., 25,624, 240l. ;
Belgium, 11,909,344l. ; and Austria- Hungary,
11,400, OOOl. The South African Republic, it is interesting to note, produce 16,955, 006l., due mostly
to the Randt gold mines.
It is pleasant to note that the Australasian
colonies reach a total of about 18,000,000l. sterling,
the gold countries naturally taking first place with
New South Wales at the top with 4,824, 748l.; then
W estralia, 3, 998, 037l. ; Victoria, 3, 482, 337l.; Queensland, 2,981,347l. ; New Zealand, 2,181,875l. As
the colonial census has not recently been taken,
it is scarcely worth while working out the result
per capi ta ; but it excels any of the results given,
being in some cases far over 3l. Canada wins about
10,000, OOOl., which is also equal to a large return
p er capita.
As to the nature of this mineral wealth, it is not
to be wondered at that coal bulks most largely.
Of this most useful product <:>f Nature 663,820,472
tons are returned as the year's output, and it
is gratifying to note that of this one-third was got
in the British Empire, the r emaining two-thirds
being got from foreign countries. The United
States contribution is 199,557,797 tons, that of the
United Kingdom 205,297,000 tons. The difference
-6! millions- is probably being fast wiped out, if,
indeed, the United States is not now building
up an excess against this country. The German
Empire output, consisting largely of lignite, is returned as 127,928,490 tons. Thus the three
countries, so often bracketed from the industrial
point of view, provide 80 per cent. of the world's
coal. In industries, iron occupies the next place,
and we find that the iron made from British ores
totals just under five millions, whereas the
United States makes 12 million tons from
home ore.
This latter total is equal to onethird of the world's make, which is 34,076,233
tons. SpaniRh ore accounts for 3, 958,376 tons,
German ore for 3,795,946, French for 1,679, 300
tons, and Swedish for 1,427,807 tons. Several
of these figures have been ''estimated " by
Mr. C. Le Neve Foster, who has prepared t he
Home Office return under review. As regards the
other products it may be said that they include
441,869 tons of copper, 449,073 kilogrammes of
fine gold, 789,983 tons of lead, 15,771,631 tons of
petroleum, 11,353,173 tons of salt, 5, 695,968 kilogrammes of fine silver, 77,523 tons of tin, and
470,994 tons of zinc. We commend Mr. Foster for
adopting the metric system of weights throughout
his report.
The British Empire, it may be said, yields 33
per cent. of the world's coal ; 14! per cent. of the
iron ore ; 33i per cent. of the gold ; 27 per cent.
of the salt ; 16 per cent. of the tin ; 11~ per cent.. of
the silver ; and 8i per cent. of the copper. Again,
as regards safety, the collieries of the United Kingdom occupy a high place compared with those of
other countries ; our death-rate from accidents
being 1.23 per 1000, whereas in Germany, for
instance, it is 2.53. In coal mines alone our deathrat e is about half the average for all foreign countries. The total rate for the world is, however,
only 1.68 p er 1000 ; which itself is distinctly satisfactory.

THE RATING OF ELECTRIC LIGHTING

UNDERTAKINGS.
lighting undertakings being of comparatively recent date, it is somewhat difficult to
lay down any very exact rule~ whereby their ~a~ua
tion for assessment can be estimated. No de01s10ns
of the High Court can be referred to for t?e _PUrpose. So far as we can see, however, the principles
which apply to gas works also apply to electric
supply works. As yet, howe\~~r_, u eithe! the u~d.er
takers nor the rating authonties are In a positl~n
to say how far initial outlay and money spent m
renewals and experiments can .b~ taken ~nto consideration for the purpose of arnvmg at a JUS~ conclusion. A further difficulty also presents Itself.
By virtue of the Electric Lighting Act, 1888, sec. tion 2, the local authority has power, aft~r the lapse
of a certain number of years, and subJect to the
conditions specified in that section, .to take over
the undertaking upon terms of paymg the t hen
value of all lands, buildings, works, materials, and
plant . . . such value to be in case of difference
determined by arbitration.
As yet there has
not been the expression of judicial opinion as to
ELECTRIC

[JUNE 8, I900.

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

756

the true measure of the value. In the case of the

London Street Tramways Company v. the London
County Council [(1894) A. C., 489], the interpretation of a somewhat similar expression affords us
considerable assistance. By Section 43 of the
Tramways Act, 1870 (33 and 34: V., cap. 78) the
Metropolitan Board of Works were empowered,
under certain conditions, to purchase tramways
" upon the terms of paying the then value (exclusive of any allowance for past or future profits of
the undertaking, or any compensation for compulsory sale, or other consideration whatsoever) of
the tramway, and all lands, buildings, works,
material, and plant of the company suitable to and
used by t hem for the purposes of their undertaking." It was decided that the arbitrator was
right in rejecting all evidence of past and future
profits, including evidence of the rental value of the
tramways considered as let or capable of being let
to a tenant, and in awarding that" the then value
of the tramway and all lands, buildings, works,
&c.," must be measured by what it would cost to
establish the tramway if it did not then exist, subject to a proper deduction in respect of depreciation.
The question arises, Is the company entitled to
any deduction from their gross revenue, in order
to provide against this loss1 Where a tenant takes
property, the life of which it can be foreseen will
be determined within a limited period, when the
tenant's stock-in-trade must be disposed of at a loss
on its cost ; the tenant will require under such circumstances to make provision against the depreciation his capital would suffer in this way. We have
seen that under the two Acts above referred to the
authorities must purchase as between outgoing and
incoming tenants, t he rolling stock and other effects
at a valuation. Upon general principles of rating,
a tenant is entitled either (1) to actual cost of maintenance when the property is kept up to its prime
cost and value, or (2) to a sinking fund to provide
for the depreciation. From this it appears that
no further allowance can be made in respect of
compulsory purchase.
Experience has already shown that the promotors of electric lighting undertakings may rely
on a great and progressive increase in the demand
for their current. It is t herefore a wise economy
on their part in erecting the works and laying t he
mains, to make provision for this increa~ed demand, by putting down plant far in excess of their
immediate requirements. Thus, suppose a corporation were to construct a lighting station, laying
out a sum of 200, OOOl. in order to render it large
enough to cope with the future needs of a rapidly
expanding district. Assume that the site. for works,
buildings, and the necessary landlords plant cost
120,000l., and the Inains 80,000l. After the works
have been completed and in full working order
for a period of three years, t he accounts will
What,
show an annual but decreasing loss.
under s uch circumstances should be the proper
method of assessing the property 1 While, on the
one side, t he outlay may be pointed to, and the
structural value, or contractor's theory, may be
brought forward to support an assessment which
would only be justifiable if the whole property
were fully utilised ; on the other hand, it may
also be unreasonably asserted that as no profit is
being made, no tenant would give any rent for the
property upon an annual tenancy.
The latter contention is probably fallacious,
because the part of the plant which is lying idle is
not contributing to the rate profits; moreover, if
that part was to be abandoned, and the plant
economically used, it would be quite possible to
make a profit which would justify the rate.
Further, it has been repeatedly shown that a properly and economically equipped lighting installation usually does show a profit.
To rate the property on the capital value of
200,000l. would clearly involve the rating of prospective profits, because, no present profits being
made, it is only out of the future profits the rent
and rates could be paid.
To put the whole matter in a nutshell, the
occupier of the installation must be looked upon
as representing both landlord and tenant. To find
a tenant for a concern which showed an annual,
albeit a decreasing, loss would b e impossible. To
find an enterprising company willing to undergo
the risk of loss for a few years, in the hope of increasing its turnover when customers began to be
plentiful, would not be difficult. The capital sunk
and losses made during t his period must rather
be looked upon as a charge upon the capital

account than the profit and loss account, and

go, perhaps, to make up what is often called ''good
will." If the business is prudently conducted
during this period, the capital so sunk will probably prove to have been judiciously laid out, and
..
will become remunerative in the future.
The following extract from a judgment of Lord
Esher, M.R., in the case of R. v. South Stafford..
shire Water Oompany (16 Q.B.D., 359), is of importance in this connection. In referring to the
rating of a water works which comprised certain
reservoirs and plant not in actual use, but which
were intended to meet future requirements, his
lordship said: "There might be works of the
undertaking which had n ot become part of the
actual system, as, for instance, a reservoir, or
second lot of engines not yet used at all, but constructed with a view of becoming part of the works
in the future; such would be no part of the existing system of works, but would be intended for
another system, and would, of course, be rejected
in making the calculation. But that is not this
case, for here every part of the works is in actual
use, though they are too large for the supply of
water at present required. Therefore, in answer
to the first question raised by the special case,
namely, whether in calculating the value of the
works in t his parish, allowance is to be made for
all the works of the undertaking now in use, or
only for such of them as are required for the
present supply, I say that all works which are now
in use are to be taken into the account, and not
such only of the works as are necessary for the
present supply. Then, further, I think that the
value of the whole, which is found by the arbitrator
to be 462, OOOl., has been arrived at upon a right
theory. As the works in use are in excess of the
present requirement, a tenant taking the whole or
part of the property in a particular parish ought
not in justice be asked to pay the same rate of rent
as he would if all the works were earning profit.
, . . I am of opinion that it has, since all the
works must be taken into account, as they are all
in existence and being used. "
The following scheme will serve to show, in a
gen eral way, the principles upon which electrical
undertakers are assessed at the present day:
VALUATION OF ELECTRIC LIGHTING WORK.
GROSS RECEIPTS.
s. d.

For the year ending...

Sale of current
.. .
,,
, under
tract...

...

...

.. .
.. .

con~

. ..

Public lighting
.. .
Rental of meters ...
Discounts ...
...
Sale of materials, stores,
Deduct

s. d.

.. .

. ..

.. .
. ..
...
&c.

...

s. d.

s. d.

WORKING EXPENSES.

Generating and Dist'ribution of

Electricity :

...
Coals and other fuel
Oil, waste, water,. and
...
engine-room stores
Salaries of engineers and
...
officers
...
. ..
Wages at generating and
distributing stations .. .
Miscellaneous expenses .. .

Management Expenses :

Directors' remuneration ...

Salaries of secretary, clerks,
&c. . ..
. ..
. ..
Stationery and printing ...
General
establishment
charges
...
. ..
.. .
Auditors
...
...
.. .
Law charges . ..
...
.. .
Rates in the on rateable
value

. ..

O oouPIER's SHARE

. ..

. ..

s. d.
(Tenant's Capital).

s. d.

schedule (A)
...
. ..
Interest on capital employed
Trade profits...
. ..
.. .
Risks and casualties
...
Income tax on tenant's profits ab thereon
.. .
...
Repair and maintenance of
tenant's chattels .. .
. ..
Gross value ...

----...
s. d.

~.

d.

STATUTABLE DEDUOT10N8.

Maintenance and renewal of

mains and works ...
...
Insurance ...
...
...
Allowance for depreciation

e a e>

Rateable value

o It

JUNE

8, 1900.]
N 0 T ES.

RESULTS oF EuROPEAN RAILWAY SYSTEMS.

'

The United Kingdom earns the largest sum from

each mile of its railways of any European country,
and the ratio of the expenses to the 1evenue is
about an average. An official German return shows
that the State rail ways of Holland yield 1100l. per
kilometre (equal to about two-thirds of a British
mile), the Austria-Hungarian, 1073l. ; the Swiss,
1344l.; the French, 1436l.; the German, 1840l.; the
Belgian, 2040l.; and the British, 2720l. On the other
hand, France works her railways most cheaply; we
do not include in this remark any allowance for
relative efficiency. Her expenses absorb 62 per
cent. of the receipts, Germany comes next with
65. 7, Austria-Hungary56.6, Britain 57, Belgiumo9.9,
Switzerland 60.7, and Holland 65.6 per cent. Threefourths of the Austria-Hungarian receipts are from
merchandise, and so are two-thirds of the German
and Belgian receipts ; while in the other countries
from 60 to 56i per cent. only is got from goods traffic.
It is interesting to note further, as an indication of
the tra veiling facilities afforded, that for every 100
kilometres, or every 62 miles, there are in Britain
65 locomotives, compact Belgium alone excelling
with 69. Austria-Hungary has 22, Holland and
France each 27, Switzerland 28, and Germany 36.
Of passenger carriages, Britain has 130, Belgium
135, Austria-Hungary 48, Holland 69, Switzerland
70, France 71, and Germany 72. Of goods wagons
Britain has more per 100 kilometres than Germany,
France, and Austria-Hungary united.
.

THE NAPHTHA INDUSTRY OF THE TEREK

DISTRICT.

The naphtha industry of the Terek district is

not attracting the attention it deserves, nor has it
been developed to the degree one might have expected. It has been in existence close upon 70
years, but it is only during the last six or seven
years that any real progress has been made. A
number of small works have existed some 30 years,
but very little is known about them, and their
capacity has not been ascertained. Still there is
every reason to expect a good future for them, for
the natural conditions are similar to those of some
of the best and richest petroleum districts in Europe.
The naphtha appears very regularly, and there is
nothing casual or incidental about it. One of the
reasons that the Terek naphtha deposits have been
less noticed lies in the fact that the escape of gas
is not nearly so extensive as, for instance, in the
Apscheron district, but this only tends to prove
that the naphtha at Terek is more closed in. In the
Terek district naphtha was discovered in the year
1833 at Grosny. Up till1894 the naphtha was collected in wells, varying greatly in depth ; the
naphtha was raised in leather buckets by hand
winches ; the aggregate production rose from an
annual average of 65 tons to one of 2400 tons.
In the year 1893 a rational naphtha industry with
boreholes was commenced, and from that date
the naphtha industry of Grosny has made rapid
strides. There is no occasion to doubt that a
similar development is in store for other hitherto
obscure and unnoticed parts of the Terek district.
AMERICAN TIN-PLATES.

While the English tin-plate industry is threatened

with further labour troubles it is interesting to find
that the American trust is strengthening its position. To-day, it is estimated the American TinPlate Company does 90 per cent. of the tinning
that is done in that country. It controls 282 mills
in 35 works. There are but five independent
manufacturers and but 16 independent dippers,
and nearly all of these are bound up with or dependent upon the American Tin-Plate Company,
simply for their own existence and because the
trust is able to keep up prices. But it is generally
allowed that the trust can kill them off when it feels
disposed, and that in due course it will. An illustration of the treatment of the "jobbers" is afforded
by the matter of brands. Before the Tin-Plate Company was formed individual jobbers carried their
own particular brands, many of which had become
established, and owed their hold upon the trade
largely to the reputation that had slowly accrued.
They were held to be as much the property of the
individual jobber as were his store fixtures. But
with the advent of the trust, it became evident
that the status of brands was to be changed. ''We
will be pleased to furnish to you tin of your particular brand," said the trust, "but before we
deliver a pound to you it will be necessary that you

E N G I N E E R I N G.
make over to us for a term of fifteen years your.
rights in the brand.
Had there been no duty, the
trust might have been defied, and particular brands
made abroad. But with the duty there was no
remedy but to submit, and make the best of a very
indifferent job. The jobber is not the only individual who has to suffer; the jobber is at best
a parasite, and if there can be direct trade
between the producer and the consumer, on any
basis short of absolute dictation on the part
of the first-named, that condition is much to be
preferred. But here it is the consumer who suffers
most. Two years ago the price of 100-lb. coke tin
was 2. 75 dols. a hundred, and at that price the
mills were able t0 continue business, though in
many instances, it is stated, at a loss. To-day the
same grade 9f finished tin sells for 4.83 dols. a
hundred. These prices permitted the American
Tin-Plate Company in the first year it was in business, and notwithstanding it was hampered by old
contracts, to make more than 2, 500,000 dols. That
does not, of course, take account of the profits
made by the other big corporations that came in
for a share. It is a truism that the removal of the
duty would not lead to any resumption of imports
on the large scale of six years ago. But the removal of the duty would stop the oppression of the
people by the trust, which would be obliged to reduce the present exorbitant prices for fear that
American users would buy from Welsh manufacturers. Yet, even then, with prices decreased sufficiently to keep out foreign plate, the trust would
reap large profits, and b~ able to pay more than fair
dividends, even in its present capitalisation.
AN ENGLISH PNEUMATIC TOOL FACTORY.
Whilst a number of English firms manufacture
pneumatic tools of various types no single firm, so
far as we are a ware, has, up to the present, under
taken the manufacture of a complete line of these
goods, ranging from air hoists up to pneumatic
hammers and portable air drills. Recently, however, the International Pneumatic Tool Company,
Limited, of Palace Chambers, Westminster, having
purchased the British patents for the Little Giant
series of pneumatic tools, have made arrangements
with Messrs. Evans, O'Donnell, and Co., Limited,
the well-known signal engineers, of Chippenham,
for the lea.qe of a portion of that company's works
for the manufacture of the tools aforesaid, on a
large scale. Many of the parts of these tools are
peculiarly suited to production on automatic machines, and of these a number, built by Messrs.
Alfred Herbert and Co., of Coventry, have been
laid down. The same firm have also supplied
the turret lathes with which practically all the
heavier turning and boring needed is accomplished.
The Little Giant hammer has already heen described in our columns on more than one occasion,
and engravings representing sections through the tool
will be found on page 426 of the present volume.
The ham mer is of the valve type, and has, therefore, a comparatively long stroke. The capabilities
of the tool are well shown by the fact that
with it a chip ! in. thick, i in. wide, and
18 in. long, has been cut from a !-in. steel plate.
It would probably be impossible to take such a
heavy cut from a !-in. plate by a pressure tool,
such as a planing machine, without buckling the
plate, and in any case much more time would be
needed to secure the work in place than is required
with the pneumatic hammer. N a.turally, to take a
cut of such a character n. certain amount of practice
is necessary in the use of the tool. A beginner
always suffers from the vibration which arises, in
the main, from a neglect to keep the tool well up
to the work. In addition to the hammers the
company also make the Little Giant drills, the construction of which was fully described in the paper
recently read by Mr. Amos before the Institution
of Mechanical Engineers. When used for wood
boring, these drills are provided with a special
valve, enabling the direction of rotation to be
reversed. This is a great convenience, as it
much facilitates the withdrawal of an auger bit
fron1 its hole. These drills are remarkably
light for their power ; the small size capable
of drilling !-in. holes in steel weighing but
8 lb. The castings are beautiful specimens of the
founder's art, and we regret to learn that the
company have found no English firm willing to undertake their production, and are therefore compelled to obtain their supply from America. As explained in the paper by Mr. Amos,there are four cylinders. At Chippenham these are bored on a turret

757
lathe, the work being held in a jig, which in~ures
that all are interchangeable. All holes are finlShed
by standard reamers. Pistons and valves are
turned over-size, hardened, and finished by grind
ing to a working fit. The reversing drill ?as ~lso
been modified so as to serve as a pneumatlC ho1st,
which is particularly useful where head room
is limited. In place of a drill socket the spindle in
this instance terminates in a worm driving a chainwheel. One on view at Ohippenham on the occasion
of our visit there weighed but 26 lb. complete, yet
was capable of lifting 2000 lb. at the rate of 6 ft.
per minute. In another application the spindle is
fitted with a wire brush which Messrs. Evans,
O'Donnell, and Co. find extremely useful and efficient for cleaning castings.
THE TRAINING AND STATUS OF
ENGINEER OFFICERS.
To THE EDITOR OF ENGINEERING.
Sm,-As you have been kind enough to devote some
space in your columns lately to a discussion on the organisation and position of naval engineers and of the steam
branch generally, I should be glad if you would allow me
to add a few remarks on the same question, as it is one of
the deepest public concern. It wtll be at once conceded
by every one who is competent to hold any opinion at all
on naval matters that, however perfect in other respects
our naval material, pelf'SO'YVMZ, and organisation may be, the
efficiency of the whole as a fighting machine must depend
absolutely on the efficiency of the boilers and machinery
of our warships. Considenng the complicated and delicate
nature of modern machinery and boilers, it is also evident
that this efficiency for prolonged stress in action will de
pend entirely on the capacity and resource of the engi
nearing pM'sontnel. From this it follows that it is of the
very highest importance, we may say without exa.g~era.
tion, of vital concern to the country, that the engmeer
officers of our Navy should be even J>(>SSessed of the very
highest qualifications for their profession, and that the
whole of their training should be designed to fit them to
perform the tryin~ duties of the department which they
will have to ma.mtain in efficiency, and control in
action with the enemy. The truth of the latter state
ment, and the force of the above reasoning, was practically admitted by the .Admiralty when the present
trainmg college [for engineer students at Key ham, was
founded.
.Admitting that the system of training then laid
down was a good one, and from an engineering point
of view fairly met the needs of the Navy at that time,
has the system been properly modified and developed to
meet the demands wh1ch an almost revolutionised modern
Navy makes on the varied branches of engineering knowledge required in the engineer officer of the present ? The
majority of the senior engineer officers now serving, who
have to judge of tne quality of the young officers sup
plied to the Navy from the present training college, will
say No; they will agree with the opinion expressed by
Chief Inspector of Machinery Charles M. J ohnson,
R.N., "that the _present system of training engineer
students for the N a.vy is not calculated to make them
thoroughly practical, re.sourceful engineers." Mr. Johnson's proposed remedy is to give the students a thorough
sea-going engineering training, in ships specially selected
for the ~urpose, after they have left college, and before
considermg their education finished. There is no doubt,
however, that the present system mi&"ht be so modified
and exi,>anded as to meet all the requirements, and it is
high trme that the .Admiralty were roused to a due
sense of their responsibilities to the country in this
mat~r.
T.h~ Admiralty having built a SJ?le~did engineermg trammg college at one of our prmetpal naval
ports, with splendid facilities, and at great cost to the
country, ~h.en practically ignored its existence. On their
annual V1Slts to the Dockyards '' My Lords" consider
nearlr ev~ry other e'!t:lb!i~hcnenil. out this college of
s~ffi.CJen~ iWportance to clatm the1r personal inspection.
They put a naval officer of the rank of commander in
C?mma.nd of it, selected .no~ for any special qua.lifica~lo~s he may have for thts. 1~porta.nt post, but making
1~ s1mply a means of provtdmg a co~forta.ble shelving
bille_t for an officer physically, or otherWlse, unfit for active
serv1ce afloat. A very able professor who, doubtless,
would be an e~celle~t head master of a public school, is
m~e the practlCal duecto! of the college, and is aided by
ordmary schoolmaster ass1stan~, the senior of whom alone
has had any engineering training whatever.
The theoretical engineering training is a courae of lee
tures, about one a month, given by a fleet engineer R.N.
for the students under three years, and a. more ad va.nced
course by the naval engineer assistant to the chief engineer of the dockyard, for the students of the fourth and
fifth years ; these latter lectures are very valuable and
are htghly appreciated, but there are not enough of them.
The commander, su.pposed to be responsible for the good
order .an? ~ell. bemg of the students, is rarely visible,
and d1Sc1phne 1s largely left to the students themselves
under a young engineer officer R.N. In fact the
whole..concern wants. waking up and thoroughiy re :
?rgamsmg; the pra.ct1ca.l result of the present system
18 ~. ma~e the students on the one hand mathematlCl&~s m the narrowest sense of the term, and on the
ot~er: fatr~y com~tent engine fitters from their workshop
tra1~mg, m w~:uch more than. half of their time is spent.
Th~tr success m the colle~e IS made to depend almost
~ntuely on the math~matlCal part of their training. Is
1b any wonder that wtth the present system and more
especially with the present indifference to th~ establish-

E N G I N E E R I N G.
ment shown by the .Admiralty, the students are not so
q_ualified for their important duties as the country has a.
nght to demand ? What is wanted to make the Naval
Engineering College a success?
I~. the first place, .the Admiralty must consider the
trammg of naval engmeer officers in the college of Keyham of the same importance as the training of the executive officers in the Bri ta.nnia. The staff for the former com.
prises a. commander R. N. and eight other officers; the latter
~ post:captain, commander, . and eighteen oth'er officers,
1nclud1~g professors of vartous languages and sciences.
A speCially selected ~ost.captain R.N. must be placed in
command of the Engmeers' Training College, he must be
able. to count his s~rvice as sea time and in every way as
serviCe for promot10n to flag rank. The scientific head
of the college should be a professor of engineering of the
highest attainmen~, and his assistants should also be
engine.ering professors, specialists in physical and chemi~al sme!lce, hy~ra.ulics, elect!ic~l engineering, &c., the
mstruct10n to m clude the prm01ples of the design and
construction of boilers and maohinerv, guns armour
h~lls ?f ships, and of all implements and app~ra.tus meb
w1th m the Navy. Laboratory practice in chemistry
metallurgy, _physics, electricity, &c., should be greatly
extended. The attempt to make the students senior
wranglers in pure mathematics should be discontinued,
and only those who show special aptitude for this
special branch of study should be allowed to devote
so ml}ch of. their time to it. As Admiral Melville, Engineer-m-Chief of the United State Navy, said in his recent
report : " One of the most important duties under my
bureau, and one which the Personnel Bill has made more
important, if possible, than heretofore, is that connected
with engineering at the Naval Academy, This special
instruction must never be left to the control of others
than engineers of great practical experience as well as
high theoretical atttainments." Durmg the last year or
two of their college course facilities should be given the
students to visit the ~hipyards and workshops of the best
shipbuilders and enginee111, gun and armour factories,
electric light, and other specialists on the Admiralty list
of firms. The education gained through the eye in this
way supplemented by proper book-work instruction
would be of the greatest value, and leave a life-long impression on the memory. The first year after leaving
the college should be pas~ed in the Reserve and should
be considered a. vital part of the training; every facility
should be given the young officers to gain varied
practical experience in different ships under steam,
for courses of Whitehead torpedo in the torpedo
depots, electric light, and gunnery in the schools, &c.,
for all of which they would have been prepared theoretically in the~r ~allege course of not less than five years.
The French and German languages should also be taught
in the college ; it is unfair to include the former language
in the examinations and to provide no facilities for studying it. I am aware that the programme I have sketched
is a.n extensive one, but if every effort is made to give the
students a distinctly naval engineering training, one
which includes all branches of mechanical engineering,
I a. m satisfied it can be carried oub. All the elements
of success in the general arrangements of the college itself and its surroundings already exist, reorganisation on the lines indicated will attain it. With
such a. high ideal as the one we have set before us,
it is necessary that the very best youths should be
attracted to the engineering department of the Navy, but
the present treatment of the naval engineer prevents the
most desirable candidates from coming forward. As the
grievances of naval engineers have been before the public
now for some time in their pu blisbed statement, and in
various letters in the public Press, I need not enlarge
upon them, but their wants are all summed up in one
word, "Recognition." They want to be made really part
and parcel of the Navy, not treated as civilians and
hirelings, but fairly given all the privileges and honours
which executive officers of the same rank enjoy.
There is one aspect of the Admiralty policy designed
to subordinate and degrade the naval engineering profession which affects the whole body of engineers in and
out of the service, and that is the attempt to set up an
independent set of artificers for work outside the engine
department, under the control of executi~e officers. This
is altogether unneceesary, and does not m any way conduce to the efficiency of the service. All mechanical
ratings in the ship should be under the engineer officer,
who should be responsible for maintaining the efficiency
of all apparatus and mechanism for whatever purpose it
may be fitted on board. The fi~hting officer should be
able to devote the whole of his attention to the best
methods of using all the weapons, guns, torpedoes,
searchlights, &c., in action., and a go?d acqua.mtance
with their gener~l construct10n and wor~u~g s~ould alone
be acq uired of him. The system of spe01a.bsts m gunnery,
torpedo, navigation, &c., should not be. necessarr, every
lieutenant should have a. thorough practiCal acquamtance
with these subjects. To ~ridea.vour to make a.m~teur
engineers of these o~cers. IS a. ~~te .of valuable t1me;
besides w hicb an engmeermg tra.1~:nng 1s by no means the
best suited to give an officer that 1mpetuous br~very, l}ndisturbed intensity of thought, and reckless danng whtch
characterised the naval hero of the past; but, on the contrary, tends to make hi~ anxious a.~d preoccupied about
various complicated details. from wh~cb the mm~ e~oul.d
be entirely free. As Admual Melvllle says agam, m hts
admirable report : "Various outcrol>pings. i~ ~he s?ape
of electrical hydraulic, and pneumatic spe01a.httes d1vert
the thoughtless into considering thes~ fiel~s fund~men
ta.lly separate from that of steam engmeer.m g, while th.e
fact remains that the man educated full y m steam engineering is in tb.e.very front r~n~ of the a.dva.l?ced workers
in sucl:i specialities.. :rhe pnnmples o~ the s1de bran~hes
are of extremesimpli01ty, those govermng the mecbanl8ms

(j UNi 8,

1900.

bein~ essentially the same as in good mechanical engi- applied for until after 1895.

You will see by looking ab

neermg."
the dates of application on these patents that one of them
The engineers do not contend for in~rcha.n~eability was filed December 14, 1893, and the other three were
with the fighting line in our Navy; they constder that filed J anua.ry 31, 1894, while the English patent of Mr.
engineering in all the va.rions branches represented in Hiram S. Maxim for multi-perforated powder grains
the Navy is their special domain, and is quite sufficient illustra.te_d in Mr. ~ill's letter, No. 17,994 of 1894, was
to absorb the whole of their talents and energies; but not a.pphed for until September 21, 1894, nearly eighb
although their sphere of action is a. different one, they months after the last of mine was applied for; and still
consider that they are entitled all the same to equal Mr. Hill makes the statement that none of my above
honour and authority in their own line, and the same patents was applied for until after 1895.
recognition from their country, the safety of which it so
I also send you a. copy of my United States Patenb
largely rests upon them to defend. Hoping you may be No. 428,3llt applied for September 24, 1889, and which
able to lend your powerful aid towards improving and shows a. tuoular powder ~rain such as was claimed by
perfecting both the training and position of the naval Mr. Hiram S. Maxim in hiB English patent just five years
engineering personnel, a. work for which your journal is later lacking three days.
so eminently qualified,
It should be noted that United States patents bear the
I am, very truly yours,
year of issuance and not of application, while British
patents bear the date of application.
FLEET ENGINEER, R.N.
Mr. Hill starts out by making reference to a.n article
in ENGINEERING wherein it is said that "the distinguishNAVAL ENGINEERS.
ing feature of the gunpowder invented by Mr. Hudson
To THE EDITOR OF ENGINEERING.
Maxim and Dr. Schupphaus is its form." That is to say,
SIB,-It is not a.l ways a. wise plan to reply to an that it is in the form of multi. perforated cylinde~. Mr.
anonymous correspondent, and, as a. rule, I refrain from Hill adds: "All of the foregoing subject matter, so far
doing so, but as " Fa.irplay," in your last week's issue, as form of powder is concerned, was disclosed in Mr.
charges me with giving an incorrect statement I must, for Hiram S. Maxim's British patent, No. 17,994, of 1894, in
the s!l'ke of the issues involved, break from my usual which tubular and other forms of powder which permit
practiCe.
of internal cavities are described." It is true tha.b the
" Fairpla.y" states that I am incorrect when I state distinguishing feature of the Ma.xim-Schupphaus powder
that chief engine-room artificers have sole and absolute is its form, because this was the first multiperfora.ted
charge of the machinery of vessels whose engines are smokeless powder ever made; but as black powder grains
2000 indicated borsepower. He says that be has had been made in the same form long before the advent
stndied the Nav;v List, and can find no such case in of smokeless powder, there was no novelty in the form,
its pa.ges. "Fa.uplay" ought to know that there are and I have never claimed any novelty for the simple
more ships upon the sea than those whose names appear multi-perforated cylinder, and I have never patented
in the Na~y List; those I had in my mind when I such a powder grain anywhere in the world. Three of
wrote the letter to which he takes exception, were the my above patents mentioned by Mr. Hill are for improvefirst-class torpedo-boats Nos. 94, 95, 96, all three of which ments in cartridges and cartridge charges, wherein multihave engines which are of the power stated. There are perforated grains are employed; while the other is for a
five others of 1750 indicated horse-power. All these boats die for making multi-perforated powder grains, and all
are in charge of chief or engine-room artificers. So much smokeless powder now made for the United States
for the correctness of my statements, which disposes of Government is made with this same die.
point number one. Point number two is: Chief engineMr. Hill accuses me of not ha.vinR mentioned in my
room artificers have been sent out as as~ista.nt Admiralty writings
lectures the above Bnti.qh patent of Mr.
overseers. This, "Fairpla.y " states, is stretching the Hiram S. and
Maxim of 1894, and also one for a grain having
case with a vengeance. D oes "Fairplay" imply that I a single central
patented by him in 1886. lb
have overstated what actually has taken place? If so, ma.y be sufficientperforation
me to explain that I preferred to
let me state it again, only more clearly. Chief engine- mention those whofor
done the same thing a. long time
room artificers are out at the works of private con- prior to Mr. Hira.mhad
S. Maxim, and done it much better.
tractors assisting engineer officers. The enfPneer officer
I inclose for your inspection a. sketch showing an acceleis at these said works to oversee Admiralty work, rating
charge built up of multi-perforated grains
to watch all tests, and take notes of all trials, made powder
by General Rodman, then Captain Rodma.n, in
&c., but, not being ubiquitous, he cannot be in all 1857, and
is illustrated in his book, "Experiments
places at once, so he sends his assistant, the chief on Metalswhich
Cannon and Gunpowder," ~ublisbed in
engine-room artificer, who watches these tests, sees the 1861. This for
invention of General Rodma.n dtd not leave
Admiralty mark pub upon the particular work, and takes much opvortunity
for his successors to make valid claims
all notes which are the basis of the official memoranda. of for multi-perforated
powder grains. About the only imthe work in question. If this is not being what I de- provements possible m
form of perforated grains inscribed him to be, will "Fairplay" tell those of your vented by Rodman are the
those of transversely perforated
readers who are not quite capable of appreciating the rods invented and patented
me, and angular forms of
difference between this position of an "assistant Admi- perforations laid out with bymathematical
accuracy for
rruty overseer" and one who only 11 assists" an Admiralty securing equal burning thicknesses between multi-perforaoverseer. It is too profound for me, so I give it up.
according to the Maxim-Schupphaus patents.
"Fairpla.y " quotes what he is pleased to call a. "well- tions,
It is noteworthy th at each of the forms illustrated in
known" clause of the Queen's R egulations, which states Mr.
S. Maxim's patent above mentioned, taken
that all engineer officerd below the rank of chief engineer forty Hira.m
years later, is far inferior to the form invented by
are, in addition to any special duties apportioned to Rod man.
them, to keep eight hours' watch per day when under
Black powder, however, did nob have the tensile
steam, to insure the watches being pla.ced in charge of
officers (the italics are "Fairplay's "). What object your strength necessary to enable the advantages at firsb excorrespondent could have had in quoting the foregoing I pected by General Rod man to be derived from the form
cannot imagine. What does be want to prove? Does he mentioned. He therefore tried other forms of grain, and
mean your readers to infer that engine-room artificers finally abandoned them for a grain with a. single perforado not keep watch in ships where engineer officers are tion, which was in general use until the advent of smokecarried ? If so-and now I am about to open the Navy less powder, which possessed the necessary qualities for
List at random, and am prepared to quote any ship whose the attainment of accelerating combustion with the multinames I find on the pages I have opened indiscriminately perforations of Rodman. But as smokeless powder re-what about the Hermione, twin cruiser, second class? quired entirely new processes and &J?paratus for its manuI find she carries a ftet:t engineer and one assistant engi- facture, I invented the form of dte illustrated by you
neer of two years' standing. Now even allowing that the June 10, 1898, for the purpose of making General Rodengineer keeps watch, which senior engineers as a. rule man's multi-perforated grams.
I believe General Rodman never patented his invennever do, they have far too many other duties for watch
keeping to carry out the regulation "Fairplay " quotes- tions in gunpowder, but a. United States Patent was
there would still be eight hours to be kept by somebody. taken in 1883, by Norman Ward, applied for March 2,
"Fairplay" does not understand the subject or he would 1882, a copy of which I enclose, which illustrates tubular
never have given himself away so cheaply. In con- and other forms of powder grains, including multi-perclusion, Sir, I may also state that I have no d esire forated cylinderfl, three years ahead of the earliest of Mr.
to enter into a controversy with your anonymous Hiram S. Maxim's patents on the subject.
It may be well for me to add, for the benefit of those
correspondent, but I have a. real desire to witness the
subject of Naval Engineers being fullv and properly dis- who are not familiar with the patent laws of different
cussed in your pages. I, too, like ': Fairplay," am a lay- countries, that it is not necessary for a. device to have the
man, but I have a wide and extenstve knowledge of the least novelty in order to get a British p~a.tent, for no
Navy, and am keenly interested in the qnestion of per- 2earch for novelty is made in the British Patent Office,
sonnel. In the engine-room department the Navy is woe- and a thin~ without a single new feature may be patented.
fully undermanned, but this will not be remedied by re- In the Umted States, however a careful search is made
fusing to aP.portion the engine-room artificer his due meed for preexisting patents, and although mistakes sometimes
of reAponstbility in the very trying and onerous duties occur, an American patent is some guarantee of novelty,
while a. British patent is none whatever. It is notewhich are performed there.
worthy that each of the above patents of Mr. Hira.m S.
I am, Sir, yours truly,
Maxim are British. They could not have been patented
A. MARSHALL.
in the United States.
The suggestion that has been made about my change of
THE MAXIM MULTI-PERFORATED
name, the enclosed facsvmile copies of documents in my
possession will prove to you that I had assumed the name
POWDER.
of Hudson in 1875, since when I have discarded that of
T o THE EDITOR OF ENGINE.&UING.
SIR,-In your issue of February 9 last appears a long Isa.ac.
As Mr. Hill is a. patent expert and must have ba<i all
letter relating to multi-perforated smokeless powders, by
a person signing himself Thomas A. Hill. The letter the patents be~ore him, it would be an injustice to ~is
contains such extraordinary statements in view of the professional skill to presume that he made these mlSactual facts in the case that I trust you will allow me to sta.tements through ignorance.
Very respectfully,
answer the same in your columns.
HUDSON MAXIM.
I enclose vou copies of my U nited States patents re891, Sterling-place, Brooklyn, New York,
ferred to by.Mr. Hill in his letter, Nos. 538,618, 540,326,
April 6, !BOO.
540,327, and 540,328, and which Mr. Hill says were not

j UNE 8, 1900.]

THE WEIGHTS OF AMERICAN BRIDGES.

To THE E DITOR oF ENGINEERING.
SIR - Enclosed you will find some formulre for the
weight of American bridges, which may be interesting to
English engineers :
Formulcejo?' the W eight of Ame1-ican R ail1oad Bridges:
All weights are per line&l foot of single-track bridge.
Steel only.
Live loads = two engines, 100 tons each, and 4000 lb.
per lineal foot of tra.ck, limits 10,000 lb, and
12,000 lb. per square inch.
100 + 9 l
Deok pla.t~-girder bridge . . .
. ..
100 + 8 l
,
lattice
,
. ..
. ..
300 + 12 l
Half through plate girder bridge
Half through plate girder bridge
200 + H~ l
ties on shelf angle
...
. ..
Half through plate girder bridge
600 + 10 l
with solid steel floor
...
. ..
400 + G t
Pivoted through truss bridge. . ..
,
deck
"
ties on
200 + 7 l
. ..
...
. ..
top chord . . .
400 + 5~ l
Through pin bridge
...
. ..
400 + 6 l
Deck pin bridge with shingers . ..
,
,
ties of top chord
300 + 6 l
Railroad Trestles :
L oads as a. hove.
W eight of spans as above.
,
bents and bracing = 9 lb. per square foot
of side profile, from ground t o base of rail.
Eleotrio Railroad Bridges:
T o carry 25-ton oars, or 2000 lb. per lineal foot of
track, limits 10,000 lb. and 12,000 lb. per square
inch.
W eight of steel per lineal foot of si ngle-track bridge
are for
Beam bridges
. ..
. ..
30 + 5~ l

Deck-plate girder bridges ...
30 + 5 l

200 + 1.8 l
Pony truss bridges . . .
. ..

200 + 1.6l
Through trues bridges
...

...

Elcct1ic Railro-zd Trestles :

Weight of spans as above.
,
bents and bracing = 6 lb. per square foot
of side profile, from ground to base of rail.
H ighway B ridges, 'with W ood Floors:
Dead weight of floor= 40 lb. per square foot . Li ve
loads, 100 lb. per square foot, and units 10,000 lb.
and 12,000 lb. per square inch.
Weights are per square foot of floor, and include
steel only, without joists.
3 + Ppan
Girder bridge with sidewalks ...
4.4
3 + soan
without sidewalks
3.4
"
"

Truss

"

"

"

with sidewalks

without sidewalks ...

3+

~oan

H
span
7

High'way Bridges, with Solid Floors :

Dead weight of floor
150 lb. per ~quare foot.
Deckplate girder bridges ...
...
3 + ~an

.6

H alf through
Truss bridge .. .

759

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

3 +span

2.1
3 +s pan
4

Very truly yours,

H. G. TYRRELL,
D esigning_ Engineer for Boston
Bridge Works.
Boston, May 12, 1900.
[The form ulas given above are of a. type very common
in the U nited Stat~, a.nd we need only add that the
letter l denotes the span in feet, so that from the first
formula given the wetght of a. deck plate-girder bridge,
100 ft. long, would be 100 + 900 = 1000 lb. per foot run.

-Ed. E.]

LOCOMOTIVES AT THE PARIS

EXHIBITION.
T o THE EDITOR oF ENGINEERING.
SIR1 - The express engine of the Midland Railway
Company will prove to be one of the most attractive of
the exhibits at Vincennes, but its unique features are
by no means confined to a graceful outline alone.
The Midland Rail way route is hea. vier than the majority
of our ~reat trunk lines, and the wei~ht and speed of the
main hne trains little, if at all, infenor to any, yet it has
been found possible to work this excellent service with
individual heating s urfaces of only 1216 square feet; the
engines of another line having distinctly easier gradients,
and which have an equal amount of surface and cylinders
19 in. in diameter, usually finish their runs with express
trains equal to 14 coaches with hot smokeboxes and with
doors frequently bulged so badly as to drop red-hot ashes
on the cylinder fall plates. In this case the ratio of heating surface to grate area is 58 t o 1, and the new engines
by which they are being replaood have 25 per cent. more
surface, and the ratio is m creased to 77 to 1 ; on the
other hand, the Midland boilers have the smallest ratio,
viz., 49.6 to 1, of any en~nes doing fast main line work
in any country on bitummous coa.l.
A competing line which continues to use large numbers
of older engines having about 1100 square feet of heating

surface, is said to get only five months' service out of a.

single set of tubes, a.nd it is notorious that the repairs and
renewals of the small fireboxes of certain engines which
were much admired, and which have only r ecently been
superseded, were both frequen t and costly. Presuming
that the repair bill is normal, the Midland boiler is the
lightest and least expensive generator in use for SD;pplying
steam t o 19l-in. by 26-in. cyli nders at expr ess speed.
As only 36 per cent. of the weight of the engine is
available for adhesion and for braking, the engines are
comparatively slow in starting and st opping1 a nd have
therefore to attain a high maximum s peed m order to
keep time; that they d o so with the exceptionally low
coal consumption claimed is evidence of their free running at high speed and of the Pxcellent work of the S mith
type of piston valve.
Outside bearings are usually objected to because of the
serious addition necessitated to the cost and weig ht of the
framing, and on account of th e bi~her stresses on the
axles which they involve in conjunctton with lateral press ures at the flanges, and with the resistance to steam
t hrust when the inner boxes become slig htly worn ; it
must be admitted that nearly all classes of outsid e frame
engines have a bad r ecord in the matter of broken and
" flawed 11 cr anks, but d oubtless some sacrifice of simplicity and of economy in first cost in favour of the reathetics
of the composition of the handsome b rass axlebox and the
graceful curves of the frame and splasher will meet with
popular approval.
Yours, &c.,
QoE'QU'UN.

THE WAR IN SOUTH AFRICA.

To THE EDITOR OF ENGINEERING.
Sm,-The t ide of war rolls on, and the sands of independent Boer life are being submerged. If, Sir, you have
ever observed the advance of an incoming tide over a
somewhat irregular flat, you will have noticed that which
in many respects illustrates the advance of an overwhelming force over a country weakly held by opposing forces.
The higher patches of sand which, for a. t ime, stand
proudly above the water are soon surrounded, and are
even tually submerged.
So with the enemy, he is en abled to show a bold front
in certain localities favourable for d efence; but the
very force of our numbers flowing st eadtly eastwards in
the Orange River State has speedily converted these
positions into trav.s from which the Boars cannot hope to
escape, except as d isorganised forces. L ookin g back over
the work of the past few weeks, the w ost striking fact is
the energy of the British advance. The celerity o f
movement, the brilliant initiative of the Commander,
the elan of the troops, and the fine spirit of all, have
combined not only to astonish the Boers, but to utterly
d estroy, as with a whirlwind, their powers of resistance.
L ord Robert8 must indeed be a. wonderful commander,
to be able, at his age, to d irect such far-reaching movements in such a. dashing manner. Of course, a great
superiority of men, guns, \and organisation facilitates good
strategy. U nder such circumstances a man can hardly go
wrong. But the s trategy of this advance from Kroonstadt,
good as it was, is less remarkable than the impetuosity and
celerity of the ad va.nce. The penetration of a. projectile
may be said to vary as the square of i ts velocity; and in
a similar manner the v is viva of an army of invasion t o
overcome resistance is immensely increased by rapid
movement. The molecules in the one case, and the
groups of armed men in the other, are similarly dri ven
asid e because they have no time to arrange for a combined
resistance.
The question of supply must have been one of great difficulty to solve satisfactorily, because there were so many
columns advancing quickly and simultaneouily, and on
different routes. Some time ago a corre3pondent of the
T imes drew attention to our transport and supply as one
of "the things we have done well."
Another thing which seems to have been well executed
is the repair of damaged communications, and especially
tha t of the rail way bridges.
As a rule, the actual permanent bridge has been left in
its damaged condition to be dealt with at some future
time, and a crossing of a temporary nature has been
made at some point a little removed from the permanent
bridge as p ossible, b ut at a much lower level, a d eviation
line being simultaneously formed to the said lower
crossing. In this way the impetus imparted to the train
running d own one d eviation line t o the crossing at a
lower level, helps to take the train up the other deviation
line on the far side of the crossing.
The supply of an arm y during such a rapid adva.nc&
must have failed, unless the arterial line afforded by the
railway had been very promptly put into working order.
To the things which have been done well must now be
added the embodiment of our Yeomanry into so effective
a war force.
Wherever they have gone they have earned golden
opinions for their dash and ~:ffi01ency. The Y eomanry
have for many a year been the butt for undeserved joking
and tomfooling by journals such as P unoh, which should
be able to discern latent merit wi t h more perspicuity.
In future willing men who can ride and shoot ar e likely
to be treated with more consideration.
So we have arrived at the Golden City, and the mines
and buildings are unhurb. The d eliberate d estruction of
mining maohinery could do the Boer cause nothing but
harm. The reef could not be d estroyed, and the machinery
would have been rep aired at a certain cost by people who,
in numerous cases, bave been symp athisers with the
Boers.
We are told that Mr. Kruger and the more bellicose of
tbe Boers intend to make a stand in the Lydenburg distriob. This must be a. very doubtful p olicy on their part,

and I cannot believe thatJ it will produce any impm;t~ntJ

complications. The Celts in the W elsh .mounta.ms
during the Heptarohy might be a lmost a fair parallel.
Kruger, the would-be leader ot a n A~rikander South
A frica, from Cape T own to the ~am best, and ~ruger, a
refugee, with 10,000 malcon tents m the mountatns round
L ydenbnrg, are very d ifferent personages. Surely he
ca.n, as a sensible man, see that the game is played outJ,
and the board stand s at checkmate.
An attempt will, no d oubt, be made by L oud R oberts
to induce htm to surrender, and it certainly seems very
desirable to attract him, and other Boer lead ers, by offers
of clemency. W e must bear in mind that the Orange
J3'ree State was actually independent prior to the war;
and thab the Transvaal was practically independent.
Consequently, the burghers of these two Republics are in
a category very distinct and different from that of the
rebel Boars in Cape Colon y. The distinction appears to
be well understood at the front, if one may judge by the
difference in treatment meted out to the above two
classes ; and wh y should Kruger, Steyn, a nd other leaders
be exempted ? '\Vhy should there be a ta lk uf sending
Kruger to St. Helena ? Surely that is enourh of i tself to
make a man irreconcilable. He is old, very old, and has
shot his bolt. His private fortune, and the estates of the
other leaders form a mere fleabite in the cost of the war,
and ar e not worth regarding, Kruger, Steyn, Cronje, &c.,
should be offer ed clemency and amnesty and retention of
their worldly effects. In exchange, they would, of course,
be required t o announce to their followers that the inevitable must be accepted, and that the yoke of the cursed
R oinek borne with fortitude. In time, perhaps, the yoke
will be found to be an easy one.
Now is the time for the Queen's Government to show
its statesmanship, but this should not be permitted to
encroa,cb upon the m ilitary question of security for South
Africa, as a whole. L ord Robert~ should be sole arbiter
on that matter, and we should enforce his requirements
even if Cape Colony winces at them. A p ermanent
South African army is a sine qud non, and South Africa,
as a whole, must pay for that army.
Federation is therefore absolutely necessary unless we
people in E ngland are so foolish as to permit ourselves to
be saddled wit h the a nnual cost of the said army; in
addition to the annual interest and sinking fund on
the capital which the war will have cost us when
finished.
This would be rather more than a fair "white man's
burden," and should be strenuously resisted by the British
taxpayer.
An excellent opportunity of enfor cing his views upon
the Govern men b will soon be at ba nd. The man in the
st 1eet can, if he will, ab the coming General Election,
insist upon each candidate pledging himself t o promote
the organisation of a permanent South African Army on
the same lines as our Indian Army, i.e., a force offic.e red
by Britishers, but paid for locally. It is the payment of
the future South African Army which the British taxpayer and voter has to consider.
The military correspondent of the W estminster Gazette
is very emphatic upon the necessity of finishing the war
quickly, and eeems t o me rather unduly anxious to get
the army home again.
For what purpose?
Like a ship, to be paid off out of Commission?
He seems an xious about the return of the army by sea,
if war were in the meantime declared with a naval Power.
But the only troubles which seem to be breaking are
Cbinawa.rds, and it is scarcely necessary to point out to so
intelligent a writer that our soldiers in South Africa are
very well ~itioned should it be necessary in the near
future to send an ex_pedition to the Far East. If Russia
send 40,000 men to Pekin, we must send 50,000.
The advisability of finishing the Boer War quickly is
equally pressing- but the reason assigned is very different.
S ince writing the above, we now hear of the occupation
of Pretoria by Lord Roberts. This concludes the war
so far as a war on the two Republics is concerned. W~
may probably be compelled to continue hostilities against
a greatly reduced number of the enemy, who may b old
rough portions of t he country of small v.alue, and still
defy the Britisher . . . but their resour ces must soon
come to an end when the railway to Delagoa. Bay falls
in to our hands.
Practically the war is now over; so much so that L ord
Roberts could easily sps.r e 50,000 or 60,000 men should
the Government consider it n ecessary to send a strong
force to the Far East.
Faithfully yours,
J one 6, 1900.
FIELD OF~~IOER IN '84.

LENDING LIBRARY FOR ENGINEERS.

To THE EDITOR oF ENGINEERING.
S rR,-I may advisA your r eaders that the library of
the ~orth of England Institute? Mining and Mechanical
Engmeers has always been avallable as a lending library
for ~he use <;> f the members ; those r~iding at a distance
paymg carriage, no other charge hems- made.
. I have the pleasure. of enclosing {l ) a copy of the
hbrary catalogue, showmg that the books are suitable for
nearly all classes o~ ~ngine~rs ; and (2) a copy of the
am.nual1eport, contammg a bst of the periodicalR which
are also available for perusal by the members. "'
~ ca~d catalogue of periodic~! literature is constantly
mamtamed up to .date., ena~ling members to refer t o
pal?ers on any s ub]ecb m wh10b they may be interested.
Tht~ car<;l catalogue. cou!d be extended t o all classes of
engmeermg papers, If smtably suppor~d by engineers.
Yours faithfully,

w
AL'l'ON B ROWN.
Newcastle-upon-Tyne, June 6, 1900.
M.

E N G I N E E R I N G.
MARINE ENGINE GOVERNORS.

To THE EDITOR OF ENGINEERING.

. S~a,-~he use .of t~e gimbal for keeping a body freely
mclu~ed m all dU'ect10ns whatever is not new, and the
con~r1vance can be used for the anti-racing of the marine
engines.
The. rough sk~toh accompanying this letter shows
som.e 1dea. of ~h1s schem~. It is drawn for the port
engm~ of a t~-screw s~1p. The pendulum will move
the shde valve m every duection of rolling and pitching,
!

Fi-g 1

- -

' I
o I
: I

.t
'
,
i ~Jltrorrl
.
--.
-~-~---~-----

~.

~-

~/

(Specially compiled from Official Reports of London Metal eld Scotch Pig-Iron W ~ant M01rkets.)
MAROH.

APRIL.

M
. AY

. ..

.ltJ~
.f..

--

11 .

r.u

.1 :ve

--

IN

'

146

I :: s"
1/
..., lal1l/
rJPe

'

0 I
I I
0 I

,./AA

jilt

142

/40

.....;

-l

138

rt\

/36
sue~

M~TALS.

r.

~-

8, 1900.

DIAGRAMS OF THREE MONTHS' FLUCTUATIONS IN PRICES OF

156

[] UNE

UIJI

_J.

'

134

ALi- holes with~

ferl'orll1J!AJJ
Plate tJJ
keep d tl.6b

..........~

I'll

~-

f>'{;

130

out.

...

.'

'

..

..

...-._

...

. -

.. .

-...,..

. ..
. .. .....

-.

30

Fig .2.

28

" "''

26
?A

10

lA

"""

Se-c. tlrro. A.B .

except in the cases when she inclines to the port side, or
has her after end immersed in waves. It will also not
act within a certain limit of angles, as ib will be seen from
the sketch.
Recently so many of the Japanese d estroyera sailing
home by their own steam from here have had terrible experiences, owin~ to the racing of the en~ines. I think a
little considerat10n of the scheme will gtve some light for
the prevention of racing.
As I ha.ve not exhaustively examined previous methods
of anti-racing, I may be pardoned if the same means have
been applied before. I enclose my card.
Yollrs truly,
London, May 28, 1900.
E. ODAGIRI.
COAL ON THE NoRTHERN OF FRANOE.-The quantity of
coal and coke carried over the Northern of France Rail way
las t year was 13,358,160 tons, as compared with 12,878,850
t ons in 1898. Of the 13,358,160 tons carried last year,
11,328,105 tons came from the basin of the Nord and the
Pas-de-Calais, wbile 1, 729,710 tons were Belgian coal,
192,020 tons English coal, and 108,325 tons German coal.
BELGIAN BLAST-FURNAOES.-The number of blast-furnaces in activtty in Belgium at the commencement of June
was 34, while 5 furnaces were out of blast at the same date.
The total of 34 representing the furnaces in blast in Belgium at the commencement of June was made up as
follows: Charleroi group, 14; Liege grou~, 14; Luxembourg, 6-total, 34. The output of pig m Belgium in
May was 99,820 tons, as compared with 97,030 tons in
May, 1899. The aggregate output of pig in Belgium in
the first five months of this year was 489,020 tons, as compared with 498,080 tons in the corresponding period of
1899.
NEW SoUTH WALES RAILWAYS.-The Government
report for the quarter ending with March shows that
the earnings for the past quarter, totalling 816, 755l. for
lihe 2771 miles open, show an increase of 63,039l. over
the corresponding quarter of last year. The expenditure
totalling 430, 904l., shows an increase of 20,848l., the
result being an improvement in net revenue of 42,19ll.
for three months for an increased mileage of 66 miles.
With few exceptions all classes of traffic contributed to
the increase, viz. : First-class passengers, 9079l.; secondclass 7927l.; parcels, &c., 4341l.; general mercandise,
15, 124l.; grain, flour, &c. 25,887t.; minerals (other than
co9-l and coke), 433ll.; coal and coke, 894l. Wool shows
a, decrease of 830l.;. a.nd live stock, 3714l. The passenger

20
18

' : ,

~.

.~

....

"' .

..

...

r.

16

14
12
{)

10

...

:~l .if ,,

6
~

~ .

0 . ....

. .

..

...

'

PIA

....
I

'Ei

lfl r

!!t
.

'

. ..

. ..

..

..

~~++~~~~~rr+++++4+4

~1H~~++~++~~~~+

IN the accompanying diagrams each vertical line represents a market day, and each horizontal line
represents l s. in the case of hematite, Scotch, and Cleveland iron, and ll. in all other cases. The
price of quicksilver is per bottle, the contents of which vary in weight from '70 lb. to 80 lb. The
metal prices are per ton. Heavy 2teel rails are to Middlesbrough quotations.
traffic shows an increase of 604,646 j)a.Bsenger journeys; similar works between Gresbam and Blayney. The first
and the goods traffic, 154,386 tons. The grade improve- section of the "pioneer " line, Moree to Inverell, a dis
menta between Harden and Oootamundra are approaching tanoe of 35 miles, Morae to Gravesend, was opened for
completion, an~ satisfactory progress has been made with . traffi c on February 1la.st.

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

j UNE 8, I 900.]

50 -TON

AT

THE

PARIS

VALERE MABILLE

COMPANY,

~IARIEMONT,

MACHINE

TESTING

CONSTRUCTED BY THE

EX H I B I T I 0 N.
BELGIUM.

.li

li

IU

A'
1"1
I I 11

...

A
I"\

11

"" : I

,.,.
I

I I

~~-L--------------------------------- - -----------------------------------------~--------~----------------------~-----

W E illustrate, above, a. 50-ton t esting machine

shown at the Paris Exhibition by the Valere Mabille
Works, at Ma.riemont, Belgium ; we are informed that
this ma.ohine is largely employed in Belgium. In the
engraving A is the cast-iron frame in which the hydraulic cylinder is placed, the pist on P of which is in
ooe piece with the rod Tat the end of which is the head
~1 to which the testing apparatus is attached.
Water
is forced into the hydraulic cylinder by a small threecylinder double-acting puxnp, the constant delivery
from which forces t he piston in t he direction of the
arrow, when the valve V is opened and the valve VI
c:osed. To bring the piston back to its normal posit ion, the valve VI is opened and V is closed. On the
fume A 1 are attached all t he levers of the balance
m3chanism which rests on the supports S ; the piece
t.> be tested is secured to the head M 1, and the
system of levers L, x , t, xl, t 1 , x 2, t 2 , x3 transmit the
load. When the machine is not in opera tion the sliding
piece 0 is at the point I, and 0 1 is at the point P, on
the bar X 3 on which the divisions corresponding to tons
are engraved, those of kilogrammes or other units
being on the bar X 3 The piece to be tested being in
place, it is fixed either direct to the heads ~1 M 1, or,
if it is too short, by means of an auxiliary rod with an
adjusting screw, the attachment being made by gripping pieces or other suitable devices, varying with the
form of t he piece and the nature of the test. If water
is then forced into the cylinder in front of th e piston
P, the latter is forced in the direction of t he arrow
and draws upon the tes t-piece, the equilibrium of the
lever system is disturbed, and, to r estor e it, it is
necessary to move the sliding weight 0 along the engraved lever X 2 and 0 1 along X 3 in order that the two
points b, b1 may remain at the same height; at the
moment of rupturing the test-piece, the balance of
the system is destroyed, and the breaking strain
is indicated at the point when the pointer of the
sliding weight has stopped. The length of the machine is about 13ft.

INDUSTRIAL NOTES.
TnE forty-ninth Annual Report of t he Amalgamated
Society of Engineers is, from the trade union point of
view, most encouraging, though there were no events
in the history of this union which call for special
remark, as of absorbing importance. Indeed, that is
from one st andpoint, a pleasing feature, as even a
strong union, like t hat of the Engineers, could not
easily at an early date risk a nother dispute like that of
1897-8. "Happily there was peace within our borders/' says the report, and " as a result of this, as
well as of the good trade which has obtained during
the year, we have added just on 100,000l. to our
balance, and finished the year with more money to
our credit than at t he end of any previous year in our
history." There is the greater rejoicing at this,
because of the gloomy predictions of a year or two ago,
when the strike and lock-out bad been so prolonged.
It was felt, indeed, even by the great employers
engaged in the contest on the other side, that to
cripple such a union in r espect of fund s would be a
social and industrial disaster, because of the enormous
provident benefits which the union guarantees to its
members. To fight on a. question of policy, to resist this
or that demand is one thing ; to crush a g reat institution is another; the latter is not now desired, as it was
many years ago, even by the stoutest foes to trade
unions, for it is recognised tha t they are, on the whole,
a. steadying force. The question of extending the
union's influence by increasing the number of members

is well put in the report. After calling a ttention to

the fact that a great number of men are still outside
its ranks, and pointing out that " strengthening t heir
posit ion is in the interests of all," it adds : "It should
be put to the non-union workmen that our benefits are
more liberal than in any other trade society , and that
our numbers and position are such that we can only
speak and act in a collective sense for engineering
operatives. " This is the true spirit in which to act.
The benefits are large; not only th~ largest in any
trade union, but larger than are to be found in any
other society of any kind. Then, the power to speak
and act in a collective sense is of importance to employers, and will, in future, t end towards peace.
The report regards the legislation of 1899 as almost
barren from a labour point of view, only in one point
was there an advance, raising the age of factory
workers to 12 years. Old-age pensions made no progress, except that there was anot her inquiry, and the
question of railway couplings did not get beyond
t he debating stage. In the present year, however, a
little more progress has been made as regards two of
those subjects, as the next annual report will probably
show. But it is stated that considerable progress was
made in 1899 in respect of loca l bodies, as regards a
standard rate of wages, and in other ways. Workmen
are mtJre and more represented on such bodies, and
their influence, if prudently exerted, will be, to them,
advantageous. The r eport gives a rather full abstract
of the Board of Trade returns, and Lloyd's r eturns
respecting engineering, shipbuilding, and the exports
of machinery being given for three years- 1897-8 and
1899- and the launches also for the same periods.
Those returns are of an educational value. They
show t he men what the trend of t rade is, and may
influence them in some of their demands, if the figures
are read aright.
The year 1899 ended with a total membership of
84,957, showing a net increase during the year of 1393
members after allowing for deaths and exclusions.
The deaths alone numbered 1140. Attention is called
to the fact that there has been some weeding out of
undesirable members, and that greater care is now
exercised as to admissions, '' of only duly qualified and
reputable men." A high standard of character, and
of skill will advance the reputation of the union.
The total income of the society, in 1899, was
324,112l. 17s. 6d. This was 126,000l. less than in
1898, in which year the contributions and levies wer e
more by 66,000l., and the volun tary contributions t o
the lock-out fund reached 40,000l. In the income of
last year is the sum of 3000l. repaid by the M ar hine
Workers' Societ y. The contributions and levies in
1899 amounted to 312,419l. 5s. 10cl. Interest on cash
balances and investments reached 3359l. 7s. 4d. It is
expected that t he latter sum will this year, be nearly
double, as a large sum is now let out at 5 per cent .
interest. Hitherto this sour ce of income has been
neglected by trade unions.
The aggregate expenditure for the year 1899 was
225,066l. 2s. 5d. It is the mode of expenditure of
this large sum that chiefly interest s the general public,
and here very little exception can be taken to the
several i terns. Donation and travelling beonefi t cost
46, 797l. 10s. 5d., and sending some to sit uations
517l. 17s. 3d. This is a very large amount considering the prosperous state of trade in 1899, and it
causes some misgivings with respect to the regularity
of work, even when trade is good. On the other
band, only 666l. 4s. 8d. was spent out of the '' contingent fund '' for labour disputes, which is an ex-

cellent record for so large a society wit h 607 branches,

in the Unit ed Kingdom and ot her pa rts of the world.
Sick benefit , stewards, and beds cost 46,464l. 16s. 7d.,
and surgeons' certificates 135l. 13s. 10d. Accident
benefit, and loss of tools by fire cost 1407t. 93. 2d.; all
of these three items relate to illness or injury of members. F uneral benefit cost 13,950l. 7s. 6d.; then comes
superannuation, 79,252l. 19s. 10d. This is a source of
anxiety, but some sectuity is now guaranteed by the
reserve fund. Benevolent grants absorbed2226l. 3s. 10d.,
and emergency and local levies, 1439l. 13s. 2d. Then
there is the further sum of 3969l. 11s. 11d., grants
"to our own " and other trades. These amounts
represent benefits, in some form or another, paid
during the year.
The cost of management is necessarily large, remembering that there are 607 branches, besidee t he general
office, the district committees' councils in Canada and
America, and in Australia. Branch and district committees cost 2092l. 6s. 6d. ; secretaries and gener al
office salaries, 9855l. 5s. 3d . ; treasurers' salaries,
1070l. 5s. 3d. ; special and branch auditors, 837l.
7s. 11d. ; banking ex penses, 663l. 3s. 10d. ; lost time
of officers, 42l. 12s. 6q. ; organiser s' salaries and expenses, 1079l. 12s. 10d. ; full wages in certain cases,
109l. 6s. 2d . Then there are federation fees to the
National Federation of Trades, 2076l. 7s. 6d . ; Trades
Congress and the P arliamentary Committee, ll4l.
1s. 8d.; and t o t rades councils, &c., 655l. Os. 7d.
Printing and stationery cost 3503l. Ss. 6d.; postages,
telegrams, parcels, &c., 1497l. 16s. 2d.; rents, fuel,
t axes, &c., 2823l. 11s. 4d.; legal expenses, 163l.
6s. 2d. The remainder is made up of various items
incidental to a large society. The engineers are no
longer so parsimonious in ealaries t o officer s as they
were. Branch officers are paid by scale, in proportion
to numbers, but in the general office the ealaries are
more liberal, as they should be.
The aggregate cost is thus summarised- Benefits
in 1899 : 197,774l. 19s., or 2l. 6s . 6~d. per member;
management, 27,291l., or 6s. 5d. p er member for the
year. The balance, cash, reserve fund, and secur ities
amounted to 307,168l. 2s. 8d.; of which 205,286l. 5s. 3d .
was in cash in the branches and general office ;
85,128t. 17s. 7d. , superannuation reserve fund, and
16, 752l. 19s. 10d. general fund, stock, &e. Though
the superannuation reserve fund is only given as
85, 128l. 17s. 7d. as above in the summary, its total
worth at the end of 1899 was 106,859l. 17s. 9d.
The aggregate cost of the va rious benefits duriug
the 49 years of t he existence of the societ y t o the
end of last year was :

s. d .
Donation benefit
... 2, 619,846
53 6 9i
Sick benefit .. .
. .. 1,106,891
24 5 10~
Superannuation benefit 1, 069, 685
68 6 10~
Accident benefit
.. .
75,492
1 16 11
Annual benefit
.. .
336,209
7 7 Si
Benevolent grants ...
105,088
2 4 2
Grants to own and
other trades...
.. .
315,273
4 15 10

---116 19 6i

Total cost, 49 years 5,514,804

The heavy expenditure in 1851-2 employer d' lockout, the cost of the nine hours' strike in the north of
Engla nd, and t he eight-hours dispute and lock-out in
1897-8, are included in the above.
A portion of the superannuation r eserve fund is now
used in loans upon house property to the members
25,142l. 17s. 9d. being so far advanced; this is ex:
pected t o produce at leas t 5 per cent. per annum.
The other portion, invested in stock, &c., is

E N G I N E E RI N G.
59,986l. Os. ld., besides which there is available cash
2 1,73ll. Os. 2d. for further investment or advances.
Of the general fund ll,952l. 19s. lOd. are in stock,
lOOt. cash in the Leicester and General Co-operative
Engineers' Societies, and lOOl. in the Co-Operative
Printing Society, and lOOOl. in the Manchester Office
proparty. As things look now, the Jubilee of the
society will see it in a. flourishing condition, numerically and financially , and it is hoped by the officials
that as regards trade prosperity it will not fall behind
the two last years. 'rhe report is a valuable contribution to current economical history.
The position of tho engineering industries throughout Lancashire remains pretty much as recently reported. All the leading branches continue to be fully
employed with work on hand, and will be for some
time. In the locomotive department, builders are r eceiving numerous inquiries, involving a large weight
of work, from various railway companies, so that the
indications point to great activity and full employment
for a considerable time ahead. In the other chief departments there is no lack of work, though in some
instances the work in hand is being completed faster
than new orders are received.
This, however,
may not mean that orders in hand will be completed without being replaced in time; it merely
means that a goocl. deal of new work is being
kept in abeyance, simply because there is no guarantee of early delivery, or by reason of the dearness of
material, and consequently the enhanced price of the
manufactured article. So long as there appears to be
a chance of easier terms customers will hold back,
especially as in doing so they do n ot really delay deliveries of goods to their order. On the whole, the
position is fairly good, and the outlook favourable. In
the iron t rade there seems to be a feeling indicative of
slackening down, a lessening of the volume of business,
and of weakening prices. This is due to a feeling
of uncertainty as to the future, as shown by an
advance of inquiry either for raw or finished material.
The statement of the barmakers to the Midlands'
Association does not warrant any depression in tone
in the Lancashire districts, and doubtless it will be
found that a firmer tone will prevail when work is
again in full swing . There is a general absence of
hbour disputes of any serious kind.

hold firmly to the basis of lOl. l5s. per ton ; it was

stated that the Consultative Council at Manchester had agreed to the sa.me course.
It was
also stated that no m em her of the association
had been doing businees b elow the fixed rates
The marked bar houses stand firm to their rates of
lll. lOs. per ton, and report a steady business. It is
reported that some Belgian iron was being sent into
the district, and also American bars under those rates.
Galvanisers have been doing a steady business, but
black -sh eet makers are somewhat quiet. Steelmakers
continue busy, and prices are well ma intained. There
are anticipations of a large influx of orders for South
Africa, now that the war seems to be nearing its
termination. The iron, steel, and other metal-using
industries are mostly busy; but there is slackness in
some branches-not of a serious character, but sufficient
to cause complaints. Engineers, ironfounders, boilermaker s, smiths, and strikers are fairly well employed,
and so also are most of the other heavier branches.
The high price of material and of fuel is being felt by
some of the manufacturers, as prices do not in all
instances advance p ro ~rata. On the whole, however,
the position is fairly good, and the outlook continues
to be favourable. There are no eerious labour disputes
pending in the district.

--

The dispute in the potteries has been settled by a

compromise, the employers having conceded 5 per
cent. advance in wages to date from October l next.
The other matters in dispute are to be r eferred to a
conciliation board for adjustment. It may be that in
this instance good will arise from the strike, though
the men suffered severely while t he strike lasted.
There was a strike of bricklayers also in the same
district, and this has been s&ttled by a compromise.
The employers offered an advance of !d. per hour,
which the men accepted with an agreement binding on
both parties for three years. This will secure peace
for that period in that branch of the building trades.

I t appears that labour troubles will arise on the

nOith-east coast over the wages question. Following
on the lines of t he engineering branches, the ship repairers made a demand for an advance of I s. per" eek,
upon the refusal of which the men, to the number of
about 600 it is said, gave in their notices. The riverside workers Eeem to generally agree with the action,
Reports from the Wolverhampton district indicated and will act in sympathy with t hem. But it is not
an easier tone, as regards prices in some departments yet too late to avert a strik e of magnitude in this busy
of the iron trade, towards t he close of last week. Pro- district.
ducers of pig iron were showing a willingness to
The strike of about 300 platelayers on t he North
reduce quotations for forge iron , and it is said that
ordera were accepted for immediate supplies in some British Railway is caus ing some uneasiness in Edininstances at from l s. 6d. to 2s. 6d. per ton lees than burgh a.nd Glasgow, and between those citie3,
previously. But these concessions were by no means it is alleged, that some mischief may be done to
general. Quarter-day quotations for the better quali- the p ermanent way. It is, let us hope, but an idle
ties of pig iron have been firmly maintained, as also rumour, for such action would bring discredit and
dieaster
on
the
cause
of
labour.
The
men
are
but
have been those for the better qualities of finished
poorly
paid,
only
19s.
per
week
;
they
ask
for
22s.
per
iron. Marked bars continue to be in large demand,
and makers are pressed for deliveries of order s given week, a n advance of 3s. The work is dangerous, and
it is of a respon~ible character, so that the men deserve
out on quarter-day. Under these circumstances, and
with the probability of a further advance in iron- consideration at the bands of the directors.
workers' wages, makers of best bars, plate, and cable
The dispute with the colliery enginemen and stokers
iron resist the tempting offer s of speculating dealers in parts of South Wales eventuated badly last week.
at a reduction off the current rates. Unmarked iron The colliery owners made concessions to the enginehas been changing hands at lOl. 10s. per ton, but men but not to the stokers, with the r esult that the
some of the leading firms still remain firm for stokers ceased work on Friday last. It could not be
lOl. 15s. per ton. There have been regular inquiries for expected that giving an advance to one section would
tank and boiler plates, and manufacturers of strip and satisfy t he other. The result is that thousands of
small sizes have a good demand, as there is generally .men will be involved, as other matters in dispute have
for other descriptions of iron. Steel continues to be arisen-as to the employment of non-union men, a s
in a ctive request, and there appears to be little busi- well as the wages question in those districts. At the
ness done with American agents, though they have Merthyr and Dowlais collieries work was resumed a.t
been active in pushing for orders. British production the close of the week. The coal t rade of South Wales
is, it seems, generally preferred. The iron and steel- is excessively busy.
using industries continue to be well employed as a
rule. Engineers, ironfounders, boilermakers, tankThe dispute in t he building trades at Macclesfield
makers, gasholder erector s, bridge and girder con- has been settled by a.n advance of !d. per hour from
structors, smiths and striker s, and the workers in the t he 2nd inst., and another !d. in September, making
railway sheds have been well employed, and there the wages 8d. per hour.
does not seem to be any serious indications of a decline
as regards employment.
The strike of cotton spinners at Mossley has been
settled, after lasting a month, the stoppage affecting

In the Birmingham district, on the last market day 1000 operatives.

before the holida}S, prices were firmly maintained,
but very little was done in the w~y of bu~iness t~a~s
It seems that the La narkshire miners are standing
actions. Ba.r makers found no drfficulty ID obtammg firm by the eight hours' day. The ow~ers do not like
full association rates, and pig-iron rates were un- it, but t he system appears to be workmg well for all
changed. The increased firmness in tone was no doubt concerned.
due to th e fact tha t the accountants' certificate, made
known at a meeting of the Standing Committee of the
CoAL IN FRANOE.-The imports of coal into France in the
Midland Wages Boa rd, anllounced an increase in the
average selling price of iron, by the twelve selected first three months of this year amounted to 3,170,070 tons.
as compared with 2,559,800 tons i!l the correspond~ng
firms of lls. lld. per too, from 8l. l4s. 7d. ~o 9l. 6s. 6d. t:eriod of 1899, and 2, 154,4.80 tons m the correspon?n?g
per ton. This advances wages to the Ironworkers period of 1898. Coal was Imported from Great Bn tam
from 10s. 3d. to lOa. 9d. p er ton. The figures quoted m the firsb three months of this year to the extenb of
do not indicate any prospect of r educed rates at pre- 1 882 890 tons, as compared with 1,473,690 tons a.nd
sent, and they may lead to an a ccess of orders whi~h 1' 273' 880 tons, and from Belgium to the extenb of
have been k ept back in . the hope of . a fall In 1' 092' 750 tonfl, a.s compared with 913, 500 tons in the
prices. The general comllllttee of the M1dland Un- c~rre~ponding period of 1899, and 716, 330 tons in the
marked Bar Association h eld a meeting and agreed to corresponding period of 1898.

--

[JUNE

8, I 900.

COMPRESSION AND LIQUEFACTION OF

GASER*
By ARTHUR L. RroR, Brooklyn, N. Y.
{Concluded from page 733.}
THE physical constants which have been determined
with regard to the liquefied gases are given in the Table
opposite, which wa.s prepared . by Mr. Waiter Dickerson. It will be noted thab the order of the liquefaction
of the ~ases historically is almost exactly that of the
descendmg critical temperatures; it is the attaining of a.
low temperature limit that has taken all the time and
study that have been devoted to this matter. Somo of
the gas~, when in the liquid form, are lighter, and some
heavier, than water, as shown by the values of ~pecific
gravity; of the constituents of air, nitrogen is lighter and
oxygen is heavier; the mixture, containing four-fifths
nitrogen and one-fifth oxygen, is a little lighter than
water.
Professor Jacobus and 1vir. Dickeraon have found tbe
Jacent heat of air at atmospheric pressure to be about 140
British thermal units, but this figure is stated as only a
rough approximation. This is about the only vR.lue which
has been determined with regard to air in the interme
diate or vaporous state.
Any calculations a~ to the efficiency of liqnid air as a.
fluid for a prime mover must necessarily be only approximate. The approximations can, however, be made on
the right side, and the air given the benefit of the doubt.
Professor Henry Morton has recently made some calculations regarding the maximum amount of power which
could be obtained by the expansion of 1lb. of liquid a.ir
under certain circqmstances. The same hypothesis which
be used will be assumed and his figures adopted.
Suppose 1lb. of liquid air to be confined in a cylinder
and heated to 70 deg. Fa.hr., then let it expand a.t 70 deg.
to atmospheric pressl1re, the expansion to be hyperbolic.
It is not known what the volume of the air will be at
70 deg. before expanding, but it is certain that its ratio
of expansion will be less than it would be if expanding
from the volume of the liquid at - 312 deg. to the volume
of the gas at 70 deg. and atmospheric pressure ; this
ratio is something le88 than 800, hence we will caJl the
ratio of expansion 800. The volume of 1 lb. of air at
70 deg. Fahr. and atmospheric pressure is 13.36 cubic
feet.
The work done in a hyperbolic expansion is, W = P-l x
v~ x logo R .
whenp2 =final pressure per square foot= 2,117 lb.
v 2 = final pressure volume= 13.36 cubic feet.

R = v2 = ratio of exp~nsion.
t ll

W = 2117 x 13.36 x 6.685 = 188,000 foot-pounds.

. used
: :-: : 188,000
3,
= . 09~o = h orae-power per pound of a.1r
60 3 000
per hour, and
= 10.55 lb. of air per horse-power per
hour, if the terminal pressure equals the back pressure,
no compression and no clearance being considered.
This result cannot, of course, be realif'ed, for there are
many sources of loss which cannot be avoided, and which
will make this figure for the weight of air per horse-.Power
hour much higher. However, even if it could be reahsed in
actual practice, it is only just inside of the figure which
has been obtained in our best steam engine3 under practical workinl! conditions.
In these figures the liquid is considered simply as a.
storage medium for energy, and no account is taken of
the amount of heat necessary to develop or store the
energy.
In order to get a comparative idea as to the relative
values of liquid air and water for power storage, two
similar cycles for water will be calculated, and comparative figures obtained.
The range of temperature in the cycle taken for air i3
from - 312 deg. to 70 deg. or 382 deg.
Starting with water and heating it to 504 deg. under
700 lb. pressure absolute, and expanding it to 2lb. pressure absolute and 126 deg. Fabr., gives a range of temperature slightly less1 viz., 378 deg. The ratio of exl?ansion
will be 25i. Tb1s final volume of llb. is 172 cub1c feet,
a.nd considering the expansion to be hyperbolic, we have

-x-

.ok

W = 288 x 173 x 5. 59=~80,000 foot-pound~; ;~ 3~~

.1415 horse-power per pound of water used per hour,

and .

!1 15 = 7.08lb. of water per horse-power per hour.

By heating the water to 546 de~. under 1000 lb. presl.iUre and expanding to a.tmospher1c pressure the range of
temperature would be still less, or about 334 deg
The final volume would be 26.3 cubic feet.
. of expa.ns10n
.
26.3
R at10
As = 55.
W

= 2117 x
2 5

26.3 x 4.04

; 3~~~00 =

= 225,000 foot-pounds.

.1139 horse-power per pound of water

60
used per hour.
.
=- 8.8lb. water per horse-power per hour.
1 39
From these figures it will be seen that under the conditions assumed, water will give off from 20 per cent. to
50 per cent. more energy than liquid air, during ~xv.~u
sion through equal temperature ranges. The poss1b1hty

* Read a.t the New York December meeting of the

American Society of Mechanical Engineera.

} UNE

8,

1900.]

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

TABLE I.
Pu vstCAL CONS'rANTS.

...

:l

Cl)

-...
0

CD

Substance.

Q)

Critical
Temperatures

-........

f/)

..

-o

H .

slA~etyleoe

10 Ethylene C2Hoo~
11 ~ r et h nn e OH4
12 Nitric oxide NO
13 Oxygen 0 2

14 Argon

16 Onrbonm n.

deg. C. deg. 1'' atmo.

selenide .. H .. Se
3 Ammonia .. N-B-.~
4 Propane .. C3HG
. . c.,-H.,
6 Nttrous
oxide N.,O
7 ELhane
C2HG
fs C.ubon di
oxide C02
0 Ozone
OJ

oxide
16 Air ..

-....,

E
1>,

1 Water
2 llydride

...
P-c

..0

Temperature or
Saturated Vapour
at Atmospheric
Pressure.

Q)

.0

865

689

200

185
130

365
266

9l
115

{)7

2 ~ 6. 6

44

37

98.6

35
31

06
93.2

75
50.2

88

75

31

10
- 8 l. 8 93. f) -118.8 -

50
115.2
135
182

deg. 0.

HO

deg. F.
82
1- 90.4
- 107

r Still liquid at}

1 - 161 deg. 0.
- 81 1- 113.8

c.

Q) a.. aS
a..~;s:;;E
~

760

950
760

51.7
5 L9
712
50.8

102
161
163.6
18 l.4

150
- 169 - 272
263.4 - 185. s - 302.4
- 264
- 167 - 869
- 29-!.5

138

187

- 30-!.6 - 189.6 - 30Z).3

-146
-234

35
20

41.8 - 68
27
-77
12l

e...
IUs;::""
...
_A
O N
~~
cS t.t Q)

o -

..

35.5 - 190
39 -- 191.4

H2
He

deg. F. deg. C.

~9

~~rn )i

212

Ql

80
93

- 139. 6 - 219.1
-140 1- 220

Freezing Point.

- 115 - 175
- 128
- 135. 4 { Still liquid nt}
- 151 d('g.
I
- 112
- 66 - Gt>
- 135.4

CO

- 23 l
- 389

89
93

N .)

c
..t:l -

-121

- 185.8

()....:~"'e

41
83
45
85

li Nitrogen
18 Hydrogen . .
19 Uelium

Q)

c.

50.6 -

..{

-207
310
312.6

- 310.6

Below } -264

- 214
3l8
405

443.2

- 353.2

194.4
243

760

80

10;)

60

l1l

aS

<:!)
0

Den&ity of IJiquid
at Temperature
Given .

Colour of
Liquid.

1 at 4 deg. 0.

Colourle'3S.

'li)
0
Q)

40
8.5
20 95
12.97

"
"

,"

0. 6364 at 0 deg. C.

21.99
19.07

"

21 .94
23.89

0.83 nt 0

de~.

"
0.

Dark" blu e
easily ex
ploded. Colourless .

13.9i

7.98 0.415 at - 164 deg. 0 .
"
14.98

"
15.96 r 1.124 at - 181.4 ' Blue.
deg. 0 .
'
19.9 . About 1.6 at
Colourless.
-187
deg.
0
.
'
l 8.96

deg. 0 .

14.01

2.02

0.933 at - 191.4 }

'

"

Light blue

0. 885 at - 194.4 } Colourless.

deg. 0 .

"

of the use of liqu id air in a. prime mover comes from the f (while open a.t both ends) of a small amount of cotton
fact that the upper temperJ\.ture limit for the range waste dipped in oil and air.
assumPd is so low as compared with that for the steam.
The retarding effect of extreme cold upon chemical
The upper limit for the air is at 70 deg. Fa.hr., or 531 deg. action was shown by t he reluctance of sodium to burn in
absolute, and the p ossible t hermal efficiency is i H = .72 ; water, after immersion in the liquid air; when it lost
for the wa t er the upper limit is 504 deg. F ahr., or 965 deg. the chill, combustion took place.
ab3olute, and the {>Ossible efficiency is H ~ = .39. If the
The fact tha t below th e critical tem perature mere cold
efficiency of the hquid is in a ny way comparable with would liquefy air, wa-s demonstrated by putting a small
t hat which can be gotten from steam in the steam amount of liquid air in a. long-necked bulb, to the end of
enginfi> , the efficiency of the a.ir engine should be good. which was connected a. toy balloon. The balloon exT he cost of production of a pound of air would be pa.nded till all t he liquid in the bulb was evaporated,
mu ch greater than that of a p ound of steam, so that to thus leaving nothing but gaseous air at practically atmobe a commercial factor, the efficiency of the air engine S{>heric pressure. The bulb was then immersed in liquid
would have to be much greater than thab of the steam air, and gradually the balloon contracted till the liquid
engine. \Vhether this can be accomplished, the futu re put in the bulb again appeared and was poured out on
alone must decide.
t o the floor.
The me~ns of m_easurii:~g this degree of .ex~r~me cold
As to other uses, re~rigera.tion,. medical cautery, prevcmtion of chemical actiOn, explosive COI!lJ?Ounds, reduc- were menttoned, Wlth t~etr probable unr~liabtlity. The
tion of resistance of conduct ors for electn c1ty and use for hydrogen thermometer mtroduced a. posstble element of
prevention of the ill effects of anresthetics have be~n sug- C?ns~de!a.ble error in _that, at th.e. temperature of liquid
gested, a nd others will do u?tl~ss develop as expenmen ts a1r 1t JS used near 1t.s o.w~ orttJOal temperature. .In
are tried. I t is on1y Wlthin a few months that the the use of the the rmopile It 18 assumed that the law which
liquid could ~e obtained at a. co~t th.a.t allowed of trial governs its temperature curve at nor.mal temperat ures,
of its propert1es for any excep t s01ent1fic purposes where hol~ s good ~hroughout, and exterpola.~IOn thus mn.de may
no possible financial return was to b~ expected, and cost be In constd_era.ble error. The pla.tmum the~mome.ter
was a second ary consideration. W1th a large supply usually use~ 18 pro~ably most ~early. correct,. as Its resiStavailable, rapid developmen t m ay be looked for, and new a.nce curve IS practtca.ll~ ~ stratght h~e, which extende.d
uses wi1l be constantly discovered.
passes through the or1~m of co-ordma.tes, and there 18
T he historical a nd scien tific paper of Mr. ~ice was little reason to supp.ose.It does not actually do so..
Whenever the hqmd was exposed to the a.u, dense
supplemented at the time of i ts fi rst oral presen tatiOn by an
exhibition of the physical properties of ligu~d air and clouds of congealed va.po~r f?rmed and .fell to t?e floor,
i ts effects upon substances. A can conta tnmg a. con- and small bul.ks of ~be h qmd thrown m the. air or on
siderable quantity had been procured for the purpos~. table or fioor_ 1mrn~:ha.tely evaporated, though m a. Dewar
It was encased in thick fel t, with loose cover, as the hqUld bulb a. quan t tty w~l k_eep .fo~ hour~. If a.ll? wed to .rest
could not be contained in a closed vesael.
.
o~ t he fte~h, the ~1qU1d a.tr .Immediately ra.Jses a bhster
Some of the air was filtered into a. D ewar bulb, whtch Wlth the sharp pa.m of burnmg.
was circulated among those present, so tha.~ the colourless
slightly blue limpid liquid could be ~as1ly seen_. The
object of filtering wa-s to remove mmute particles of
ON LARGE CARGO S1'EA.MERS.*
solid C02 which would otherwise dull t he perfect transBy Professor J. H. BILES, Member of Council.
parency.
.
I T is hoped tha.b the importance of th~ s~bje~t makes
Chemic:..lly pure alcohol, freezmg ab ~bout - ~02 ~eg.
or 203 deg. Fabr. , was solidified, and while ~roppmg m a. it unnecessary t o offer any excuse for brmgmg 1b before
thick viscous mass from the end of a. glass stiCk was frozen this Institution. Mr. Hunter, in his paper read at Newinto rigid icicles by pourin g the air over it. Merc~ry castle before the summer meeting last year, dealt with
freezing at 39 d eg. was also turned to ~ fibrous sol~d, the historical side of this subject, and placed before us
views of the type of the large ste~mers of to-~ay. . In
being frozen into a rectang ular block .1! m. square with his
this paper ib is J?roposed to deal wtth the subJect 10 a.
an eye screw in either en~ . .Ropes.bemg run through the ~eneral way, With a. view to considering the ~ffect of
.
.
.
eyes, it carried 170 I ~. swm~mg on It.
of size upon some of the elemen ts of destgn.
Rubber immersed m the a1r was m ade br1ttlAhke chma., mcrease
Experience has shown that increase of size of cargo
paraffin crumbled in the hand like chalk, meat ~u~ned to st eamer has been accompanied by reduction in cost of
stone and a. rose dipped into it shattered on stnkmg the carrying 1 t on a nautical mi~o, sometimes c~lled t_?e "cost
ta.bte'like delicate glass.
.
.
per ton-mile." T he wor1nng expenses, m oludmg coal,
Pieces of iron and tin were rendered bnttle by lmmer- wages and upkeep, a re less per ton carried in the large
sion, so that they broke in the fingers or under.the ham.~ er tha n in the small steamer.
like glass. Copper, however, did not loose 1ts ductth ty
It is an interesting question to consider what will be
(so also with the "rOY,&l " metals}.
the effect of further increase of size upon these working
Liquid air poured m wa ter at first floated. but as the expenses. Size may be increased by adding to one or
nitrogen, being the fi~t to evaporate, bo~led off~ t~e more of the dimensions- length, breadth, and depth of
heavier oxygen sank m glob?les. Practically hq~1d ship. The effort of such increases must be coneid~red in
oxygen being gotten by all? wmg a. beaker filled w1th relation to stability, strength (and consequent wetght of
air to stand some time, a pi~ce C?f f_elt that would not strncture), resistance (and consequently increased horseburn of itself, even thou~h fa.uly 1gn~ted over a. J3u nsen power). Stability may be considered as dep ending in
burner, was d ipped in It, after which. combust10n was large ships, u~on t he rela tive p osition of the C. G., and the
complete and immediate. Cott on so Immersed bur':ed metacen tre-10 other words, upon the G. M . The stability
with almost expl~i ve violence. 4 s~el watch . sprmg
R.nd an arc light carbon burned Wlth m tense bnlltancy
* P aper read before the Institution of Naval Arohiin it. A wrought-iron tube was shC?wn. bent and tor.n
in to ribbons by the explosive combustiOn In one end of 1t beets.

must be neither unduly increased nor unduly decreased.

It will be shown later that G . M. approximately varies
as the depth of a. ship, when the ratios of breadth, draught,
and depth are unal tared. This will involve an increase
in total weight of cargo in approximately the ratio of
the product of the breadth a nd depth; a.nd1 as the weightcarrying on a. given draught will only m crease as the
breadth, we must, to carry a full cargo of thesa.medensity,
increase the draught of the ship approximately in the same
ratio a.s the increase of depth. If this is nob done, we
must either carry cargoes of less density, or have empty
Apaces in the ship. If the less dense cargoes pay increased freight per ton in proportion to their reduced
density, the commercial result may be at least as good. lb
is probable that in progressive increase of size there would
soon be reached a. point where this condition would nob
be fulfilled, and it would be necessary to find increased
weight-carrying in propor t ion to capacity. This can
only be done by increasing draugh t. If existing ships
have the most profitable ratio of capacity to weightca.rrying, it is evidPnt that with increase of depth and breadth
must be associated a. proportional increase of draught.
If they have not, then the most profitable ratio can be
obtained by increasing beam and depth until they have.
Further increase must then be accompanied by increase
of draught. It seems reasonable, however, t o assume
that ex perience has ta.ugho shipowners what is the most
profitable ratio, and that they have long since adopted it;
and that, in consequence the further increase of beam and
depth is dependent on the possibility of obtaining sufficient draught of water in the ports anri docks to which
they trade.
The question resolvea i tself into the one: What is the
ad vantage of increased draugh t upon the working expenses of steamers of in~rea-sed dimensi0ns, and what are
the losses involved in these large sizes, if draught is not
increased ?
Increase of length does not affect either stability or
ratio of cs.paoity to dea.dweight, but is dominated by
strength considerations and by facilities of docks and
wharves. It has been the practice in determining the
soant1ings of large ships to find t he stresses to which they
would be subjected if placed in equilibrium on the crest
of a wave in which every particle is momentarily at rest,
the length of the wave being the same as that of the ship ;
and the height being one-twentieth of the wave in length.
The maximum stress permissible in such conditions is determined by experience. If it is considered desirable not
tto increase this stress with increase of dimension~, then
it has been shown by the late M r. \Villiam Froude that
the scantlinga which are dett\rmined by the above con sideration must be increased in the ratio of the square of
the increase of dimensions, if all dimensions are increased
in the same propertions. It is interesting however, to
considar the effect of increase of individual dimensions
sepa.ra.tely. S uppose Lis the length1 B the breadth, and
D the depth moulded of a. ship, the oasis of strength catcalculations is the formula p = ~ Y, p being stress, y the
distance from the neutral axis of the point whose stress
is p, M the bending moment to which the ship is subjected, and I the moment of inertia about the neutral
axis of the section under consideration. If length of
ship only be increased, y will be unaltered. and M will
vary as L 2 If the sca.ntlinga vary as L 2 , I will increase
as L2, and ~ Y and stress will be unaltered. H ence, for
unaltered stress, sca.ntlings must vary as L 2.
If breadth of ship only be increased, !YI will increase as
B, and y will be unaltered. I will increase as B, if all
horizontal measurements of scantlings increase as B.
Hence~ Y and, therefore, stresses wi11 be unaltered, if
thicknesses of hori zontal plating be unal tered, and that
of vertical plating vary as B, and all thicknesses other
than horizontal plating vary as a. ratio between unity and
that of the increase of breadth depending on the angle of
the plate to the horizon tal.
If depth only be increased, y will increase as D ; ~I will
vary as D, if d raught vary as D ; and I will vary as D 3,
if all vertical measurements of scantlings vary as D .
H ence

!Yi Y

will vary as

B-

of ver tical plating vary as

Hence, if all thicknesses

~ , and all horizontal plating

have an unaltered thickness, the s tress will be unaltered.

P lating between the vertical and horizontal wi ll vary in a.
similar manner to the preceding case. F rom the two
preceding cases it is evident that for constan t lensth no
change in B or D affects the thickness of honzonta.l
plating if t he ratio of draught to depth be maintained.
If B be constant, and L and D vary in the same ratio,
so that ~ is constant, the sca.ntlinga of horizon tal plating should vary as L 2, and vertical plf\Jting should vary
L 2, t hat 1s,
. a.s L .
as D
If Lis constant, and

is unaltered, horizon tal pla.t

ing should be unaltered in thickness and vertical plat ing

should vary as ~' tha t is it, should be unaltered. If D is
unaltered, and

is constant, the scan tlings of horizontal

plating should vary as L 2 and vertica.l plating should vary

as L 2 B, that is as L B.
F rom these deductions ib is eviden t tba.b the most expensive way of increasing size is t hat in which D is unaltered, and the least expensive is t hat in whioh length
is unaltered. The above remarks apply only t,o longi

CARGO

LARGE

STEAMERS.

'-.,)

0\

(For Description, see Page 763.)

CONSTANT

Fig.1.

-
VARYING
DRAUGHT

CRA UGHT

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tx1
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LENGTHS

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pt

F~ fH':.~

Fig .3.

CONSTANT

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11/0 ZIXXJfXJO:JS.OUO
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. 11

jU

8, 1900.]

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

tudinal scantlings, and can only be made use of wi tb the

as.qumptions in view upon which they are based.
M r. Hunter took as his type of Atlan t ic cargo steamer
a. vessel 500 ft. long between p erpendiculars, 60ft. breadth
moulded, 36 ft. de.E_th moulded t o upper deck, and 44 ft.
t o shelter d eck. Draught of water loa.d..,d 27 fb. 6 in.
D ead weight 12,000 tons; oa.paoity 20,000 cubic feet at
40ft. {>er ton, and 1000 tons of coal space. The coal consumption. of su~h a vessel eteaming at 12 knots, judged by
figures g1ven m Mr. Hunter's paper, m ay be taken at
56 tons p er day, w hich, assumin~ the consumption to be
1.6 lb. per h orse-power, would glVe 3500 indicated horsepower.
Accepting these figures as being properly correlated,
we may make use of them to determine the corresponding
figures for vessels of enlarged dimensions. In order to d o
this we must examine the relations between dimensions
and the principal elemen ts of design which vary with
dimensions. These elemen ts may be taken to be : (1)
W eigh t of bull; (2) weight of machinery; (3) weight of
coal ; (4) capacity ; (5) weight of cargo.
The elements wh10h are assumed to be constant are:
(1) General character of form; (2) speed; (3) coal consumption per indioa.ted horse-power; (4) distance which
cargo has to be oa.rried ; (5) stability as measured by G .M.
The last assumption is m ade in the belief t hat a satisfactory ship can be produced of dimension s very much
greater than those of the tyPe ship, b ut with t he same
G.M. From what follows 1t will be easy to modify
dimensions, so as to give any required G .M., a nd those
who wish to make a different assumption may-, by using
the same met hod, see what the effect of m akmg such an
assumption will be upon a design. The mea-sure vf G .M.
taken is that which the ship would have if stowed with a
homogeneous cargo; nob that such ships would necessarily cany such a oa.rgo, but that the variations from
such stowage m ay reasonably be a-ssumed to be proporti onately the same for all variations of dimensions. F or
instance, it is found in some trades that a satisfactory
ship is one tha t, if stowed with a homogeneous cargo,
has its C. G. coincident with its m etacentre ; its G . M. is
nothing. S uch a ship J.>robably n ever goes to sea with
G.M. = 0; but the variation of the cargo from homegeneity is such a.s to give a satisfactory amount of actual
G.M., and in the same trade i t would be reasonable to
assume that the satisfaction would be the same in a ship
of larger dimensions worke d under the same trade conditions. In the p articular type under consideration, it is
assumed that the ship, whatever the dimensions may be,
will be as satisfactory a sea-going vessel, if her G. ~l. with
a homogeneous cargo be the same as that of 1\1r. Hunter's
ship. ' he G.M. assumed for the type ship is 1.4 ft.
To simplify the work, it is further a..qsumed that the
C.G. of the fully equipped ship, with cargo a nd coals on
board, will vary in he1ght in the ship in direct proportion
to the variation of depth moulded . This involves the
assumption that: (1) the hull, (2) the machinery, (3) t he
coals, and (4) the ca~go ~hi~ the ~ggregate, have their
common e.G. varymg m eight d1rectly as the depth
moulded. T he fi rst will probably be a ccepted without
much question~ but i t is desirabl~ to have fuller infor~a
tion on the p omt. The second mvolves the assumption
that the strok e of the engines and the diameter of the
boilers vary as the depth. .These assumptions are n~t
likely to very closely agree With th~ facts, but they. Will
approximate to them, a nd, as the weight of the m achinery
is small compared with the total displacement, probably
not exceeding 4 per cen t., n o large error can be involved
in the assumption.
.
With reference to oeals, we make the assumption that
the arrangement of bu?kers will remai~ the same,, and
that there will be an m orease of capac1ty proportional
to the increase of the product of the dimensions of the
ship.
.
.
As the indicated horse-power var1es as the two-thirds
power of the displacement, it will approximat~ly va~y as
the twothirds power of the product of the dtmeDSJons,
if draught and depth a re increased in the same proportion. Consequen tly the coal oapacit7, whet;t the bunkers
are increa-sed directly as the dimens10ns, Will be enlarged
in the ratio of the .. power of the indicated horse-power,
2

The other end of the G.M., the metacentre, can be

d etermined absolutely accurately. For similar forms,
such as the ships of all dimensions here considered, are
a.s~umed to be
BM = !_ = a L na = m ~.
V
b LB d
cl
Where
I = Moment of inflrtia of the water plane.
V = Volume of displacement.
L = L ength between p erpendiculars.
B = Breadth moulded.
d =Draught.
a , b, and m are constants for similar forms.
If K B be the height of the O.B., and KG the height
of the C.G. above keel, then G.M. = K B + BM - KG.
K B will vary direct ly as d, if the vertical ordinates of
form be expanded vertically from the type form in the
rat io that the draught, 27 fb. 6 in. is to d. K G will vary
a.s D, the depth, so t hat we may write

while it is only necessary to increase i~ directly as the

indicated horse-power. This unduly m crea.sed bunker
capacity may, therefore, be changed to cargo ~pace, a.n d
there will be an addition to the cargo capaCity, wb10h
will make it slightly larger than that obtained by the
direct increase of dimensions.
In Mr. H un ter's design the bunker ca.pa{)ity is about
5 per cent. of the cargo capacity. If H be the bunker
capacity and C the cargo oap&.?ity o~ Mr.. Hun~er's design and l b d be t he ratios m wh10h dimen sions are
incr~ed, (H' + C) x (l b d) will b.e the total bunker and
cargo capacity of the en1a!'ged sb1p. If H
.05 C, the
total capacity will be 1.05 C l b d. If the requued bunker
capacity be H (t b d)n = .05 C (t b d) ,, then 1:05 .c
(l b cl) - .05 C (l b cl)i will be the a ctual. c~rgo. capacity m
the enlarged ship, after sufficient proviSIOn IS made for
bunker S{>ace.
Assumtng values of products oft b d to .b~ 1.2, 1.4, 1.6,
1.8. 2.0, we get the result that the capa01ttes are respectively: 1.211, 1.41~, 1.614, 1.816_, and 2.016, the cargo cap acity of the type sh1p. These differen ces only amount r~
spectively to 226, 250, 272, 296, and 318 tons at. 40 cub1c
feet but they are appreciable. The effeob of th1s oha.n~e
fro~ coal to cargo upon the vertical p osition of e.G., Will
not be worth taking accoun t of, as generaJ~y the C. G . of
cargo space a nd t h at of the fully laden sh1p, are so near
that the sm~ll addition to the weight of the cargo (less than
1 p er cent.) wiJl produce no appreciable effect upon the
vertical O.G. It may therefore be assumed tha:t the
vertical height of C.G. above k eel, o~ ~ull,. II?achmery,
Q\rgo, a nd coal varies as the d epth of sh1p m Simllar types.

=:

T ABLE 111.-FIG. 3. Constant Draught, 28 F t.

c:1

...
j:Q

ft.

ft.

ft.

500
550
600
650
700

60.0
67.0
73.0
78.8
84.0

41.6
45.8
60.0
64.1
58.3

= ~ B2 + ~ = ~,

kd
k
"'
which is a p arabola. If we give the values of a cargo ship
form having a block coeffi cient of .77. and a G. M. of 1. 4 ft.
the equation is
D = 00562 B2 + 23. 82,
Band D being in feet.
So far, we see that length has no effect on the value of
G .M . It must, however, be taken into account for strength
purposes, and ~robably the simplest assumption to make
1s that length 1s a. constant times the depth. T aking a
series of va.lues of B, beginning at 60 ft. (that of the type),
and maintaining a constant ratio of L t o D, we have, ~y
substitution, in the above formula, t he results shown ID
F ig. 1 in the curves marked breadth and depth, which are
plotted to a length base. On assumptions already enumerated, curves of weight of hull and machinery, weight
e f coal, weight of cargo, capacity of cargo, and cubic feet
of sp ace p er ton of weight of cargo a re drawn.
F rom the curves in Fig. 1, the following T able h as been
produced:

.c:1

~.;

<I)

t>

-0c:1Q)
"0

~tO]

- 0

...:>

....t>

Q)

- ::.3 aS

~~:a

tons

tone

.C

.co

>-0
......

tons

tons

~g

....
()

bOt:.o
~ :;;

..O0.... ~""

aS
Q,

::s<D
Os:lo

oubic feet

633,000 76.0
1600 8,330
867,800 90.8
1880 9,540
2150 10,490 1,119,700 107.0
2270 11,800 1,422,700 128.0
2500 12,650 1, 760,800 140.0

17,600 7,670
21,500 10,140
25,500 12,860
30,000 15,930
34,4 0~ 19,360

Varying Draughts.

T ABLE IV. -FrG. 4.

.. ..
...

.Q

::s
aS

"CS
aS
Q)

.c

j:Q

I
Q)

...:>
.Q

(.)

......

~~

...

... . e

tons

tons

Q)

-~
Oc:1;>, 0
aS Q)
...

IDQ)

.,

.c _.c:1 .c:1
~0 bD~
- ::.3 aS -Q)o
0

~~::a ~

l o I'
.,
.
,.e O

bD~

~ aS

b: o

.,Q)
cu
rx.c:0

....

......

0~

aS

,!:JQ)

Q.

aS

::I Q,

ft.

ft.

ft.

600
660
600
650
700

69.0
64.7
70.8
76.2
81.8

41.7
46.8
50.0

tons tons tons

oubio feet

29.2 18,000 7,4 60 1620 8,920 630,000 70.7

32.06 23,850 9,880 1950 12,020 834,400 69.5
35.0 30,800 12,650 2300 15,850 1,090,400 68.5
1.393,000 67.2
58.33 40.8 48,800 19,650 3160 26,100 1,743,000 66.6

Whether we assume constan t or varying draught with

I ncrea-se of size, the actual dimensions work out p ract ically the same. It is obvious that the vessels whose
d raught can be increased with increase of size will carry
more deadweight than those of the same si~e but of cons tant draught. But there a re two important questions
which arise in relation to t hese considerations. The first

With constant draught, is the larger vessel more

1s :
profitable than the small ?
On what would probably be admitted as reasonable
assumptions as to first cost, cost of coal, wages, victualrmg, repairs, interest, depreciation, and insurance charges,
&c., the following comparative costs for carrying a t on
0 f cargo oOOO nautical miles, ab 12 knots, ha ve been
estimated for t he ships of constant draught given in
T able I.
TABLE V.
L ength of ship in feet
500 550 600 650 700
Cost in shillings per
ton of cargo
...
8.6 9.0 9.6 10.4 11.12
From this Table ibis seen that for dead weight cargoes,
unless draught of water be increRsed with increase of
dimensions, the cost of carrying a t on of cargo increases
with increase of dimensions. 'he second question is, if
draught be increased proportionately to the other dimensions, is the large vessel more profi table than the small ?
Applying the same system of estima ting t o the ships of
varying draugh t given in T able II. the following Table
has been prepared :
TABLE VI.
L ength of ship in feet
500 550 600 650 700
Cost in shillings per
ton of cargo
.. .
8.6 8.0 7.6 7.2 7.0

TABLE I.- FIG. I.-Constant .D1au(jht, 27Ft. 6 In.

aS

Q)
Q)

bo~
...
0
Q)o

...:>

(1)

k cl
T his equation gives us a rela tion between B, D, and d,
which must be satisfied for con stant G.:tti. \Ve may
solve this by assuming either that: (1) d is constant, or
(2) D has a fixed ratio to d. The former is generally imposed by harbour and dock authorities; the latter,
approximately, is i mposed by the B oard of Trade's freeboard tables.
T aking the first, we have

-=
g.cu
..... 8

..Q
...:>
Q,

., <15,9
.c
..... .c
bD_, 0

()

Q)

Q>

d
c, m, and k being the constants for the type ship. From
this it m ay be seen that G. M. varies as D, if the ratios of
B.D. and d remain unaltered.
If G . M . is to be constant, sayS

+ c d 2 + m B2

.
aS...:>

:S
~

bO

-"CS
~
Oc:1Q)

Q)'

.c
...:>

B2
G.:rvr. = cd +m- - k D,

D= - Sd

-., -., . ...

.,Q)c:1
.... ...
.Ocu
...:>

~ 0

From this Table it is seen that, if draught be increased

t:IJ- (.)
aS
...:>
bO~
proportionately to increase of dimensions, the cargo can
~
~
...
::I
aS
~
Q,
~Q)
Q)

aS
c:1
Q)8
Q)o
aS
cul:d
::;;t
Q)
...j:Q
=='s:lo
be carried at a steadily decreasing cost as size increases.
8
0
0
!:'!
~
A
A
~
~
The 700.ft. ship will carry 12 tons for the same cost as
tons tons cubic feet
the 500-ft. ship carries 10 tons. lb draught remains contons
tons
ft.
. ft.
ft .
800,000 72.7
stant, the 700-h. ship will carry 7. 7 tons for the same
600 60.0 44.0 18,050 6,050 1000 11,000
7,960 1140 12,800 1,072,000 83.7
~.6 21,900
560 66.2
cost that the 500-ft. carries 10 tons.
1,400,000
96.6
1270
14,690
26,920
10,060
62.7
600 71.8
Tables V . and V I. give comparative figures, which
1,764,000
109.0
1410
16,190
30,110
12,510
67.0
77.0
650
measure efficiency on the assumption that earning power
700 82.0 61.6 34,630 15,320 1540 17,670 2,192,300 124. 0
depends on weight carried. If we assuume that the total
capacity of t he ship is the measure of earning power, then
Taking the second assumption D = w d, ~ being a. con - we must relate the respective total working expenses in
stant, substituting in equation (1), and solving for cl, we the two cases to their respective capacities. The follow
1ng T able gives these comparisons :
have
~

...:>

.c:1
Cl)

-=

.c:10

.C
bo-CIS
...

(.)

(.) ~

._ J m. B2

'V k ?.IJ -

}2

2 (k 1V - 0)

S
-2 (k 1.U - C)'

L ength of ship
...
Cost per cubic foot of :

which resolves into

Ft.
600

Ft.
650

Fb.
600

Ft.
650

1ft.
700

cl = ,._1.241 B2 + 4.0 - 2,

Ships in Table I. ... 6912 5430 5000 4773 4621

when the values of the constants are substituted. Apply ,,
, , II. . .. 5912 5660 5380 5072 4936
ing this formula in the sa!De V!ay as in the. first case, we
obtain the results shown m F1g. 2, from wh10h t he follow - From these figures it is seen that cost of carrying 1,000,00&
ing Table has been produced:
cu hie feet of cargo decreases with increase of size, provided that its density is not sufficient to loa.d the ship
TABLE 11.- F IG. 2. Va1ying Draught.
below t he practicable limits of draughts of the harbour
or the ship. In the harbour whose draught does nob
-"CS ....

allow ships to load to more than 27 ft. 6 in., the 700-ft.

Q)
0
O c: t ' 0
(.)

ship must fill up wit h cargo not exceeding a density of

CISQ)

.,

t
O
c:1
.,
.t>
...:>
....

......
.
....
124 cubic feet t o the ton ; while in a harbour whose
.Q

:a
.c:10

.c:1
.c:1
.c:1
t;l.
.
.
br
,Q
:SbO
btbO
~
t:.o<a
drau~ht admits of loading to 38 ft. a cargo of anything of
...:>
Cl)=
.~:a~
...
0
Q)
...
s:l.
Q;)CIS
~... Q)Q, ~... .... 8 Q) ~::a Q) o ~ 0
c:1
aS
denstty not exceeding 70. 9 cubic feet to the ton may be
Q)
0
!:'!
!:'!
j:Q
A
A
A
~
carried. In all cargoes of mean density b etween 71 a nd
124 cubic feet, the harbour having onlr 27ft. 6 in., would
tons tons tons oubio fe et
ft. tons tons
ft.
ft.
800,000 72. 7 be unable to fully load the 700-ft. sh1p. These who are
500 60.0 44.0 27.5 18,050 6,150 lOOO 11,000
560 66.6 48.4 30.25 22,830 7,900 1200 14,730 1,061,000 72. 0 familiar with the densities of cargoes in different trades
71.0 62.8 33.0 30,680 10,080 1420 19 ,180 1,373,000 71. 6 will be able to j udge from thes~ fi.gu~e~ of the importance
600
76.6 67. 2 35.76 38 ,800 12,650 L660 24,490 1,740,000 71. 0 of increased draught of water m md1V1dual cases.
650
700 81.5 61.6 38.5 48,000 15,640 1920!30,640 2,159,000 70. 7
Summarising, it has been shown t hat : (1) Increase of
size of the type ship is profitable, if in a trade where
The resulting differences between these two assump deadweight cargoes of 70ft. p er ton &re carried, draught
tions may be seen in the dra ught c_olumns of th~ tw0 be increased proportionately with the other dimensions.
T ables. The comparison of results 1s b~st seen m th e (2) Increase of stze is unprofita.ble in such t rades unless
columns "Weight of cargo , and " Cub1o feet per ton accomp&nied by increase of draught of water. (3) Increase
of size, without increase of draught, is profitable in trades
weight of cargo.,,
Corresponding cur ves for a 15knot cargo and J>a.8- where cargo is of a density gradually reducing with insenger ~teamer, havin~ a block coefficient of . 73 are glVen crease of size.
It is hoped that others competent to more fully discuss
in Figs . 3 and 4, and m Tables Ill. and IV.

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

766

8, I 900.

this qu~stion may. be in.duced . by .this paper to take up rity. The boiler was only used at a. low pressure for plied by 30 water-tube Belleville boilers in four groups.
~be su~Jec~, and g1ve this Institutwn the benefit of their chopping bay for their own purposes.
The armamen~ con~ists of two 9.2.in. guns, 12. 6.in., and
mvest1gatwns at some future time.
Mr. G. M. Gray, engineer-surveyor to the Board of 17 smaller qu10k-firmg guns. Her complement is 760
~rade, presented a repor t, ~ith sketches, of an examina- men.
twn he had mad e of the boiler after the explosion. The
BOILER EXPLOSION NEAR BOLTON.
firebox had collapsed and ruptured, the cause being the
?-'h~ s.s. Boltonhall, recently built by Irvine's Ship.
A FORMAT~ investigation under the Boiler Explosions thinning of the plates through corrosion. In fact, the fire- bU1ldmg and Dry Docks Company, Limited, W est
Act has been conducted by the Board of Trade relative box was quite worn out, and the explosion was simply due Hartlepool, to the order of the West Hartlepool Steam
t o an explosion which occurred on January 26, at Football to the absolute old age of the boiler.
Navigation Company, Limited, proceeded to Barry D ock
This concluded the taking of evidence, and Mr. Gougb on May 17, where she will load a cargo of coals for Aden.
Farm, Farnwortb, near Bolton, owned by Mr. Thomas
R~dyard, and br which the former owner, Mr. John then .a ddressed .the Cour~ and submitted the followin g She is of the following dimensions: L ength, 352 ft.;
breadth, 48 ft.; depth, 27! ft. ; with a measurement
Ridya~d, . was killed, and another man injured.
The questwns on whiCh he desu ed judgment :
What was the condition of the boiler in June, 1893? cargo capacity of 8000 tons. E ngines of the tripleCommlSSIOners were Mr. Howard Smith barrister-at-law
Was it sold as old iron in 1895 ? Has i t been repaired expansion type have been supplied by Messrs. William
and Mr. F . J. Pilcher, consulting engin~er. Mr. K. E .
Allll.n and Co., Limited, Sunderland, with cylinders
Gough appeared for the Board of Trade, and Mr. Burgess since 1895?
H as Mr. Thomas Ridyard the lrnowledge and experi- 25 in., 40 in., and 66 in. in diameter by 45 in. stroke,
(of Messra. J. Phetbean, M onks, and Co., solic-itors) for
Mr. Thomas Ridyard.
'
ence necessary to enable him to examine a boiler, and to steam being supplied by two singleended boilers conr. Goug~, in opening t~e proceedings, described the determine the pr~sure at which i t could safely be structed to work at a pressure of 160 lb. After t he
adjustment of the compMses the vessel ran her trial,
bOiler a-s bemg of the vert10al type, made of iron and worked ?
Was a competent person employed to examine the when i t was ascertained that a speed of 11~ knots had
measuring 6 fb. 9 in. in beighb by 2ft. i in. in dian{eter.
H appeared to have been made about 1886, by a person boiler either before it was purchased by Mr. J ohn Rid yard been maintained, the engines working smoothly throughout, and the ship giving evexy satisfaction.
na~ed Scholes, who was now dead. In 1887, Mr. Hall, or at any time thereafter ?
Were proper measures taken by Mr. Thomas Ridyard
a m1neral water manufacturer, of Bradsbaw near Bolton
that the boiler was worked under safe condiMessrs. William Denny and Brothers, launched, from
bought it for 17l. from Mr. Rothwell, also a 'mineral wate~ to. insure
?
their yard at Dumbarton, on May 17, a. steel-screw
manufacturer in the district, who had worked it at a t l On S.
What was the cause of the explosion ?
steamer of large '3arryin~ capacity, named the Itola, that
:pressure of .40 lb. In 1890, 1\IIr. Hall, who was then workWas the explosion caused by the neglect of M r. Thomas they have b uilt for the Eastern trade of the British India.
mg the boiler at the same pressure, insured it with the
Steam Navigation Company. The dimensions are 410ft.
Vu!ca~ Insurance Company, an.d abou t three years later Ridyard?
Mr. Burgess, addressing t he Court on behalf of Mr. by 50 ft. 6 in. by 32ft., the gross register tonnage being
their m spector reported that 1t was getting worn and
adviEed its repa:ir or renewal. Mr. Hall t~erefor~ put Thomas Ridyard, thanked Mr. Gough for the fair way 5300 tons. The machinery will be supplied by Messrs.
d own a new boiler, and the old one remamed on his in which he bad presented the case. The chief facb that Denny and Co., and will consist of a set of single-ended
premises until1895, when be sold i b as old iron for 35s. he (Mr. Burgess) wished to impress upon the Commis- boilers and triple-expansion engines.
~o r. Wrigh.t, brewer, LittleH~lton. Mr. Wright found sioners was that, whether rightly or wrongly, his client
The Ailsa Shipbuilding Company, Troon, launched, on
1t, 1t ~as ~aid, to~ small for hlS purpose, and without relied upon his father as being competent to d ecide as to
unloadmg 1t, sold 1t for 2l. to Mr. J obn Rid yard, who the safety of the boiler, and, therefore, on the question, the 17th ult., the s.s. F ern, which they have built for the
then kept the Football Farm at Farnworth, where it was " Was the explosion caused by the neglect of Mr. Thomas Gla-sgow, Dublin, and L ondonderry Steam Packet Comsubsequently fixed for driving a hay chopping machine Rid yard ? " be asked the Court to return an answer in the pany, L imited. The dimensions are: L ength, 188 ft. ;
&c. Mr. John Ridyard and his son, Thomas, the present negative. The whole of the circumstances showed the breadth, 28ft. 10 in. ; and depth, 12ft. 9 in. The engines,
which are of the triple-expansion type, are being supplied
owner of the farm, had had some experience in colliery confidence of the father in the safety of the boiler.
In giving jud~ment, ;rv.fr. ~oward Smith revie~ed the by Messrs. Dunsmuir and J a.ckson, Govan.
engines and boilers, and apparently considered themselves
competent to examine the boiler and determine the facts and the eVlden ce m detail, and dealt fully w1tb the
The large side ballast tank steamer Llansannor, which
pressure at which it might safely be worked. They various questions submitted by Mr. Gough on behalf of
jointly made an examination, and came to the conclusion the Board of Trade. The Court, he said, had no d oubt Messrs. William Gray and Co., Limited, have built for
that it wa-s fit to stand a pressure of 30 lb. on the square whatever that the explosion was caused by over-pressure the Llansannor Steamship Company, Limited (Mr.
inch. Four years ago, Mr. John Rid yard made over the of steam, the firebox being quite worn out. Proper mea- Thoma,g Morel, managing owner), Cardiff, had her official
farm to Mr. Thomas Ridyard, who continued to occa- sures bad nob been taken by Mr. Thomas Ridyard to trial trip in Hartlepool Bay on May 25. The Llansannor
sionally work the boiler. Both of these men had appa- insure that the boiler was worked under safe conditions, has been built to Lloyd's highest class. Her principal
r ently full confidence in the boiler, and attended to it and the Court', therefore, held t hat he was to blame for dimensions are : Length over all, 350 ft. ; breadth, 51 fb.;
depth, 27 ft. ; and her deadweight capacity, 6200 tonE~,
themselves. Abou t 11 o'clock on the morning of Friday, the explosion.
Mr. Gough, on his finding of the Court. asked that with large measurement capacity and deck area for cattle
January 26, it was at work at a pressure, as indicated by
the gauge, of 25 lb. Mr. Thomas had occasion to leave the Mr. Ridyard be ordered to pay a portion of the costs and or timber, &c. The machinery consists of a. set of tripleexpansion engines from the Cen tral Marine Engine
boiler on some other business, and stopped the engine, the expenses of that investigation.
Mr. Burgess made an appeal to the Court for leniency, Works of the builders, having cylinders 25i in., 40! in.,
father meantime being employed close by in sharpening
the knives of the haychopper. At half-past 11 the son as Mr. Rid yard had losb his father and had been a serious and 67 in. in diameter by 45 in. stroke, these enginel:l
returned, and the safety-valve was then blowing off. He sufferer from a pecuniary point of view by the explosion. being supplied with steam by three main boilers, workin g
Mr. Howard Smith, recognising the various points at a pressure of 160 lb. per square inch. The trial was
was just about to start th e engine when the boiler
exploded, giving way in the firebox and severely scalding urged in favour of lenien t treatment towards M r. Thomas satisfactory, the sped being 10~ knots.
~Ir. John Ridyard and a man named Ashton.
They Ridyard, said the decision of the Court was that he be
were removed to the infirmary, where, a few days after, ordered to pay the sum of 5l. only to the Board of Trade
towards the cost and expenses of the investigation.
Mr. Ridyard died.
T ilE MAY-0TAWAY FIRE ALAR;\1.-A n ingenious form
Several witnesses were then called by Mr. Gough.
of. automatic fire alarm is now being introduced into
Mr. J ames Rothwell deposed to buying the boiler,
th1s country by the MayOtaway Syndicate, Limited, of
LAUNCHES
AND
TRIAL
TRIPS.
stating that he paid 18l. for it, and subsequently sold it
4, Broad-street Buildings, Liverpoolstreet, E .C. The
THE Dutch torpedo-boat Hydra wa-s successfully device is of New Zealand origin, and ha~, we are informed,
to Mr. Hall for 16l. or 17l.
Mr. William Hall, of Patricroft, said that when living launched at Poplar on Saturday, the 12th ult. This been adapted there to the protection of many important
at the Royal Oak, Bra.dsbaw, he purchased the boiler, vessel is the first of five improved first.cla~s torpedo- buildings. The heat detector used is of a very simple
a fter having it examined by Mr. Scholes, the maker, who boats being built by Messrs. Yarrow for the RoyaJ Dutch character, being merely a fine wire of copper stretched
said ib could safely be worked at 50 lb. pressure. He used Government.
along one wall of a room near t he ceiling, and the existence
ib from May, 1887, down to 1895, when he got a new one,
of which can be easily concealed by the mouldings where
M essrs. Ropner and Son, Stockton-on-Tees, launched, desired. This wire has suspbnded from its centre a small
and sold the old one as scrap iron for ll. 15s.
Mr. Inskip, inspector to the Vuloan Boiler Insuran ce on the 15th ult., a steelscrew steamer, named D aleby, of COJ?ical block of carbon, which fits loosely into a vertical
Company, deposed to having frequently examined the the following dimensions, viz. : L ength between perpen- gUide tube of gla-ss, at the bottom of which is a platinum
boiler when on Mr. Hall's premises at Bradshaw, the last diculars, 330 fb. 6 in.; breadth extreme, 46ft. 6 in.; depth contact piece. Normally the platinum and carbon contime he did so being- in April, 1894, when he considered moulded, 27 fb. The steamer will carry about 5600 tons tacts are separated by a considerable air space, but should
it safe to work at 30 lb. pressure, but not to con tinue long dead weigh t on Lloyd's freeboard. She will be fitted with the temperature of the span wire rise, its dip increases,
in work withoub repairs. He was nob su rprised at the a set of tripleexpansion engines by Messrs. Blair & Co., and fi nally the two con tacts touch, closing an electric
Limited, of about 1200 indicated horse-power, steam circuit, which by means of an automatic transmitter,
boiler exploding at that pressure six years afterwards.
M r. W right, brewer, Little Hulton, in his evidence, being supplied by two steam boilers 15 ft. 3 in. by indicates in the fire station the exact site of the fire,
said he purchased the boiler from Mr. Hall in 1895, 10 ftJ. 6 in., with a working pressure of 160 lb.
according to a prearranged code. At the same time a.
bell annunciator of the usual kind indicates in t he dwellwhen he wanted one to work at a pre.~ure of 60 lb.
The China, which has been built by Messrs. Wigha.m ing in question the particular room attacked by the
for a brewery he was starting. He had had no experience with boilers, but he did not take anyone with Richard son and Co., Limited, to the order of the A ustrian flames. The usud means are provided for testing the
him to examine this one before buying it, and no infor- Lloyd's Steam Navigation Company, of Trieste, for their state of the eleotrical circuits from time to time. The
mation was given him by Mr. Hall as to its condition . China and Japan trade, wen t for a very successful trial electrical arrangements differ in no essential feature
He did not r emember whether or not the boiler was sold trip on Tuesday, the 15th ult. This steamer is 416 ft. in from those adopted in similar cases by other designers.
to him as old iron, but he thought it very cheap. The length by 52' ft. beam, and is fitted with quadruple.ex- The automatic transmitter consists of an ebonite wheel
boiler, however, he found was not large enough for the pansion eng mes balanced on th~ Yarrow, Schlick, and provided with contact pieces round i ts rim, and mounted
purpose for which he required it, so he sold it to Mr. Tweedy system, which, together with the forced-draught on the main arbor of a clockwork mechanism. The closing
:Ridyard. If it had been sufficient for his purpose, he boilers on t he Howden system, have also been constructed of the heat detector circuit releases the clockwork ~ear,
should have employed a boilermaker to d o the needful by Messrs. Wigham Richardson and Co., Limited. The causing the ebonite wheel .to rotate, and the oontacb p1eces
sizes of cylinders are 24 in. and 34 in. and 51 in. and 74 in. thereon complete the circuit to the fire station in succesrepau s.
By Mr. Burgess : W~tness did not tell.either r. Rid- in diameter by 54 in. stroke. The boiler pressure is 210 lb. sion, and the currents passed are t here recorded on an
yard or his son anyt hm g about the bmler havmg been The results of the trial were mosb satisfactory, the mean ordinary Morae type. The arrangement of the contact
speed obtained on a six hours' run with 8000 tons dead- pieces is different for every transmitter, so that no quesbought for old iron.
tion can arise as to the seat of the fi re. When the transMr. Thomas Ridyard, farmer, of Football Farm, said weight on board being 12~ knots.
mitting disc has completed a revolution it is automatically
--his father, who bought the boiler .and ~ad been kille~ by
On the 16th ult. the screw steamer Glenby, built by locked, and is out off from the station circuit. The essenthe explosion, was formerly an. engme-Winder at a col.hery,
and often assisted the mechamc employed there. W1tness Messrs. R opnerand Son, of Stockton-on-T ees, to the order tial feature of the alarm is, however, the beat detector,
himself before taking over the farm, was also an engine- of Messrs. R . Ropner and Co., West Hartlepool, made her which is of very great delicacy. Thus, if a wire werA
winder 'at a colliery, but I?revious to thab was engag~d at official trial trip. She will carry about 3100 tons dead- strung between two points, 17 ft. apar t, and bad a. dip of
the pit as a fireman, and m that wp.,y got some experi ence weight on Lloyd's freeboard, and her engines are of the 1 in. at its centre. this dip would be increased to nearly
of boilers. The exploded boiler was the ~rat they ha.d triple-expansion type, supplied by Messrs. Blair and Co., 1~ in. by the wire lengthening_but -(tr in. The ma~nifica
ust>d at the farm and it was bough b and paid for by hlB Limited, and indicate about 800 horae power. A speed of tion is, therefore, enormous. Further, t he wire being fine
it very quickly acquires the temperature of the surroundfather. His fatber, before buying the boiler from Mr. about 11 knots was maintained on the run.
ing air. Thus a pan of spirits being set on fire at one
Wright, sounded it with a hammer, and came to the
T he Fairfield Shipbuilding Company, Glasgow, on the side of a room and the heat detector being arranged at
conclusion that it will suib his purposE:\. I t was only used
at a p ressure of 30 lb. for hay-chopping, and worked about 16th ult. launched the firstcla.ss armoured cruiser the ceiling line of the wall opposite, the contact block is
every seven weeks. It was kept in a ~ry place, a~d ~t Aboukir. She is of Crossy type and an improvement on seen to move almost instantaneously. The magnification
ness depended entirely upon the occas10nal examm atwns the D iadem class, and t he type has been fully described of motion varies with the initial dip, and in practice this
in ENGINEERING. Her dimensions are : L ength, 440ft.; is fixed so that whilst con tact will be made when the
made of it by his father.
By Mr. Burgess : The reason they did not call.in an ex- beam, 69~ fb.; displae;ement, 12,000 tons. Her engines temperature attains some 20 d eg. or 30 deg. above the
pert to make an inspection was that be thought his father, will deveJop 21,000 horse-power, giving a. speed of 21 highest summer temperature, the grea~est <;old of winter
who had bad 30 years' experience, was a. sufficient autho- ~nota. Her o.rmour is 6 in, tbick 1 and steam will be sup- will Qot overstraiq the wire,

x:

[] UNE

JUN E

8,

900.]

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

"ENGINEERING" ILLUSTRATED PATENT

RECORD.
COMPILED BY

w.

LLOYD WISE.

IBI.lWI""'KD"" ABBTRAOTS OF B.EOENT PUBLI.SHED BPBOIFIOATIONB

UNDER THB AOTB 1888-1888.
Tht. number of views give-tl in th6 Specification Dratoings is stated
i'l each ca8e ; where none are mentioned, the Specification is

not illustrated.
Where inventions are communicated {Tom a-broad, the Names d:c.
of tM OommunicatO"r s are given in italics.

Oopw of Specifu;ations may be obtained at the P ateflt 0 {ftce Salt
Bra'nch, 16, Southampton Buildings, Ohancery-lcvne, W.O., at
the uniform price of Bd.
The dau of the advertisement of the acceptance OJ a complete
Specification is, in each ca8e, given alter the abstract, unless the
PaUnt has been sealed, wht'tl the date of sealing is given.
Any person may at any time tQithin two months from the d.au of
tM advertisement of the a.ccept.ance of a complete Speci fication,
give notiu at the Patent Office oj opposition to the gram.t of a
Paunt O"n atn'V of the ground:s mentioned in the .Act.

AGRICULTURAL APPLIANCES.
11,987. J. B. Lamprey Brockley, Kent. Plant
Washing Appliance. [3 Plgs.) June 8, 1890.- A bowl is

provided for holding or catching the liquid with which plants ar e

douched to avoid waste of liquid. I t is form ed with a channel
from its periphery to its centre, and has a smaller vessel, which

safet.Y when testing explosive fuses are provided. (Accepted

.lip nl 25, 1900.)
3731. E. Sander, Berltn, Germany. Incandescence L~mps. Febru~ry 2~. 1900.- To produce material for
non-metalhc t\laments wbtch w1ll conduct electric current when
cold in suflicient quantity to beat them, oxides of the groups
of ear th all<aline metals, or magnesium, or aluminium or t he
rare earths thorium and zirconium, are mixed with th~ oxides
salts, or sulpb.u r combinations of the iron, chromium, or platinun~
g roup~ (or \Vttb t he metals of t~ose groups) and exposed in an
electncal furn ace or other smeltmg app:n atus to bi~h tempera
ture so lhat the mixt ure melts, and when cold furm shes a firm
substance. The way in which the materials should be combined
is outlined, as wen as the process of manufacturing the fused
conducting body. (A ccepted April 26, 1900.)

secured in the handle of t he telephone, and a further rod in

elect rical connection with t he ot her contact of the switch and
with the diaphragm works in a similar manner in a second
metallic guide tube, also secured in the handle of the instrument,
the two guide tubes being insulated from each ot her. When the
transmitter and receiver tubes are pushed as far as possible into
the handle, the apparatus is rendered compact, and may be
carried in the pocket. (.d ccepted .April 25, 1900.)

GAS ENGINES, PRODUCERS, HOLDERS, &c.

7474. G. E. Stevenson, Cheshire. Gas Scrubbers.

[3 Fi:JS.] April 10, 1899.-Accordiog to t his in vent ion, coal gas

scrubbers of the "tower " ty pe are provided with perforated
metal trays, arr~nged horizontally in the tower, one a bove the
other and stopped oft shor t of the opposite walls of the t ower
2356. Siemens Brothers and Co., London. (S iemens alternately. These metal t rays carry boards est on edge or on
and Balske, Berlin. ) Stage Ltght Regulator. [3 F igs. ] canvas screens. Water, ammoniacal liquor, or other purifying
February 6, 1900.- The degree of li~ebt from any number of dist r ibuted lamp groups can, by this invention, be regulated from
o.ne central point, so that single groups or several, or ar , can be
Btmultaneously lit up and extinguished. The regulat~ g a pparatus consists of a number of sector levers mounted upon a
common abaft ndapted to be I'Oto.t ed by a hand wheel ana toothed
gear. The sector levers are not mounted direct ly upon the abaft,
but are loose upon t he hubs of ratchet wheels fixed to the abaft,
and ar e coupled with the sbafL when two pawls arranged one
above t he other on a common pivot, lil<e t he limbs of a pair of
sbeara, are made to engage with the ratchet wheels, which en
ga~ement can be effected by drawing out a springpressed bolt,
and giving it a turn so as to bring a p in fixed t o t he bolt, over an
abutment which then holds the bolt in the withdrawn position.
A regulating device so constructed is provided in front of each
group of lamps, the contact slide of the " resishnce " of which

may be placed in position over t h e outer portion of the channel

through t he u ncovered centre of which the stem of th e plant
passes when the bowl is in posiLion. The plant can be t reated
liberally with liquid, as that which runs off t he foliage is not
wasted, but is caugh t by the bowl. (Ac cepted .May 2, 1900.)

7499. W. B. Sleep and R. B. Sleep, Plymouth, and

w. Parkin, Sheffield. lm~lement Points. [8 Pigs. ]

April 10, 1899.-The ol.>ject of thts invention is to provide for

fixing shares, points, or the like by means of single bolts, and
without the necessit y for using sockets, and to this end each sbue
or point i3 provided with two or mo1e studs or projeC'tions between

. .1.

Fig.3

'

'

74 ')9

or against w~icb, when the share or poin~ is in. po~iti<?n upon

the leg or tine, the end of the leg or tme w1l1 he m such
manner t hat when a bolt is pass ed through the share or poiut
and the leg, and is tightened, ~he share or point will be r!gi~ly
held, the said studs or proj ect tons preventing lateral or tw1shng
movement of the share or point upon the tine. (.Accep ted May 2,

23 ~S

can be moved by means of cords which pass round t he sector

levers. If a number of the sector levera coupled with the shaft
be moved simultaneously, t hey can occupy various relative posit ions in consequence of t heir previous separate movement s, so
that while some are arriving at the end of tbE'i r motion, others
may be at some distance tberefrom. In order not to prevent
further motion of the abaft, the levers are autcmaticalJy dis
connect ed from the abaft when they arrive at the end of their
motion, and are automatically recoup1ed with t he abaft on the
r eturn motion, for which purpose the pawls ar e each provided
with a projection which bears against a fixed stop in eith er end
position, so arranged t hat when the pin on the one lever of a pair
bears against t he stop, fur ther r otation causes the corresponding
pawl to disengage from t he ratchet wheel ; on t he return motion,
h owever, t h e other pawl of the pair, in engaging with the ratcbeli
wheel, effects t he coupling up of the lever again. An index on
each sector lerer indicates upo11 a scale t he number of resistance
sections included in the circuit. (A ccepted ...4pril26, 1900.)

L. M. Ericsson. Stockholm. Portable

Telephone. [6 Figs.] May 15, 1&99 -A por table tele.phone,
10,248.

according to this invention, is so constructed that the dtstance

between t he t ransmitter and the receiver may be varied without
interrupting the elect rical connections. For this purpose the
t ransmitter and the receiver are reepectively attached to tubes or

1900.)

. . 7.

EI.ECTRICAI. APPARATUS.
8223. w. c. Fraser, Portsmouth, and G. K. B.
Elphtnstone, London. Testing Galvanometer.
[2 Pigs.] October 19, 1899. - Tbis galvanometer is arranged so

tbat it may be used for t he purpose of testing firing primers to

determine the actual current r equired to fl re them, and also
whether t hey are in proper condition , and further for facilitating
the testing of battertes to ascer tain if they ar e i!l a proper s.tate
of efficiency. A d ead beat ammeter movement 18 mounted m a

agent, is fed from t he top of the tower in a shower, the arrangement being such that the gas in rising up the tower travels to
and fro over the trays in a zigzag manner from side to side, between t he wetted surfaces of the boards or screens, and is prevented from rising up through the perforations in the trays Ly
the liquid which is falling through t he perforations. (Accept ed
May 2, 1900.)
20,494. E. N. Mazza, Turin, Italy. Separating
Gases. [4 Figs.] October 12, 1899.- The inventor proposes to
separate ga<Jes by means of cent rifugal appliances in t he same
way as liquids are now separated by such means. A drum revolves ver tically on a shaft to which it is rigidly fixed by means
of several dia.pbragms, it is closed at the bottom, leaving a central
inlet for the gaseous mixture to be separated, and is divided into
several compar tments by these diaphragms. The dr um has one
or more other compar tments at its upper end, according as two
or more constituents have to be separated from the mixture. l t
!B stated that " if the abaft, an~ the drum a~d di.aphragms with
tt, are made to revolve at a BUttaLle speed, tt wtJl cause in the
middle a rarefaction, which wilJ cau~e the gaseous mixture to
rise through the central fiue. The diaphragms violently force
the mixture towards the drum, and at the same time it ascends ;
when it arrives at the upper part, t he separation wi11 be complete
and the gases of the mixtur e can be distr ibuted in concentric
riog~ according to their different densities." What might be expected to prove a " suitable speed " is not stated, nor is there any
tndication of the material of which the drum might be safely constructed. Various uses for such an appar11tus, one of which is to
skim t he atmosphere of i~ oxygen, are outlined. (.Acce-p ted
A.pril25, 1900.)

C. Elliott. G. Damp, and J. McDade,

Leyland, Lancs. Cleaning Retort Pipes. [3 Figs.]
12,012.

J une 9, 1899 - An apparatus is provided for cleaning and scraping the interiors of retor t ascension pipes. The interior of each
pipe has a revolvable cutter or scraping appliance mounted on a
shaft which passes through a packed gland in t he end of the
pipe. Means to rotate the cutters and traverse the san::.e within

/ J /)U

the pipes are provided so that scale and other accumulations

may be removed. All the cutter shafts ar e in bearings in a bracket
and the shafts are driven by ~earing. The bracket carrsing t he
cutter shafts and the gearing tberefor is t raversed vertically by
means of screwed shafts operated by worm gear ing or the like.
If desired the r evolving cutters may be arranged to act only in
one direction of t raverse, means being provided for a quick return
stroke. (.Accepted b!ay 2, 1900.)
O&Se and provided with n pointer moving over a scale, and one
end of the ammeter coil 1s joined to an adjustable rheostat, so
that by means of a plug switch the coil and t he rhe~stat may be
connected in series to the terminals. The rheostat 18 capable of
being var ied throu~hout a rang.e. of about 5q ohD?B, and valnes
are assigned to the different pos 1 ~ 1 ons along this reBIB~nce, so t~at
the curren t which any battery g 1ves through a particular ! es1stnnce oan ea ' ily Le r ead off on the ecale. ~rrangemeots to lnsure

r ods arranged to telescopically slide within t he handle of the instrument. The receiver terminals in t he t ransmitter bead are
connected to t he coil terminals of the r eceiver by extensible conductors, such as two insulated wir es coiled in a double-threaded
spiral arranged with~n the. telescopic t1;1bes and the handl.e. A rod
in elect rical connection w1th one termmal of t he t ransmttter and
wi~b one oontnot of the switch works in a metallio (f\lide tu~e

GUNS AND EXPLOSIVES.

11,526. A. T. Da.wson and G. T. Buckham, London.
Separable Guns. [6 Flgs. ] June 2, 1899.- Mountnin, boat,
and light field g uns are, according to this invention, made in sections easily separable for t ranspor t. The barrel, which may con
$ist of an inner tube reinforced by outer tulles or wire, comprises

E N G I N E E R I N G.
one .section. The jacket, on which are formed the trunnions
lockmg lugs, and sight bracket, is divided in halves on a verticai
plan~ an~ so comprises two sections.
The breechpiece and
lockmg r~ng complete the number of separable parts that to
gather mak~ a comP,lete gun. Keys are provided to prevent the
~arrel turmng r~latively to the jacket. When wire is employed
ID the construct1on of the gun barrel it is enclosed by a sheath to
protect it when the jacket is removed. The front and rear ends
of the jacket are screw-threaded, and its two halves are secured
together on the ~arrel by means of the looking rin~ on the front
and the breeoh-p1eoe on the rear, stops being proVlded to insure

[JUNE 8, I 900.

arrangement, if the feed-nut be either held stationary by any

means or have its rotation retarded so as to revolve slower than
the drill spindle, the latter, instead of advancin~, will be made
to trav~l backward tbrou.gh the nut, although 1t is still being
rotated ID the same direct10n as for the forward feed. The speed
of such backwar.d motion will, of course, be greatest if the feednut be held s~t1o~ary. In the arrangement here illustrated the
fee?m~t has Jts nghthand end formed ne a boss or shaft, on
wh1ob 1s mounted one of the differential gear wheels. On the
feed-nut slides a clutch rin~ with teeth on both faces, one set of

surface, wh}cb fits in one of the parte to be fastened. By turnin

the eccentno p~rts .round, t.he centre line of the bolt may be
justed and .vaned m. any dneotion. It is stated that such latitude for. adJustment ~~ the coupling of various machines, or parts
of machmes together, 1s of value. (Accepted April25, 1900.)

J.

10,925. W. J. Orr, London, and J. Thomas, South

Wales. I.ifeSaving Appliance. [2 Pigs.] May 25 1899

-The figures rep~esent. the appliance when in the wa~r, th~

lower figure. showmg it 10 plan. It will be seen that the ap .
ratus comprises a centre beam provided at its forward end ~b
a cross-piece ~nd shaped bead, and cigar-shaped arms hinged
to t~e oros~p1ece. Through the centre beam extends a shaft
prov1ded at 1ts rear end with a screw propeller, and at its forward

Fi.g .1.

r:ll11-...
2.

'""""

-)

____ ...

10 _

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IIUH I

.46/J,

the breech-piece and locking ring always occupying the same relative positions when screwed home. The breech-piece projects
to the rear of the jao'ket and barrel and is internally screwed at
this projecting part to receive the breech screw, lUi:S for hinging
the breech mechanism, as well as lugs for attaching the elevating
gear, being formed on the breech-piece. The looking ring is kept
from turning by a spring bolt, and the breech-piece is locked to
the jacket by an oblique setting screw. The halves of the jacket,
instead of being held by the breech-piece and looking ring, may
be secured together by bolts or by a hinge on one side and bolts
on the other. (.Accepted .Ap?'il25, 1900.)

teeth being adapted to engage a ring of teeth fixed to the framing

of the machine, and the other set of teeth adapted to engage a
ring of teeth fixed to the wheel whiob runs on the boss of the
feed-nut. The arrangement is such that when the clutch is moved
so as to cause its teeth on one side to engage with the teeth fixed
on the wheel mounted on the feed -nut boss, the feed-nut is
rotated ~y th~ differen.tial gear for effeotin~ the forward moti~n
of the dr1ll spmdle, wblle when t he clutch ts moved to cause tts
other set of teeth to engage wi tb the ring of teeth fixed to the
framing, the feed-nut is either retarded or stopped for effecting
13,754. J. W. Ottley, London. Covers for Rifle t he baokward motion of the drill spindle. (Accepted Jfay 2, 1900.)
Barrels. [4 Figs.) July 3, 1899.- Tbe inventor provides a
lacing cover of heat-proof textile for rifle barrels. The covering is
10,559. W. E. Hipkins, Birmingham. Weighing
for use in bot climates where the beat of the sun would make the Machines. [2 Figs.] May 19, 1899.-Tbis invention relates
to steelyard weighio~ machines which are arranged to print a
record of each weigbmg operation, and according thereto such
machines are arranged to print the weight in two or more stan

end with a bevel pinion that gears with a bevel wheel fixed to a
cross-shaft provided with crank handles adapted to be operated
by. a. pe~aon who li~;9 face downward. alon$' the centre beam,
gr1ppmg 1t between h1s knees and placmg h1s feet against pegs
that project from each side of the beam near its rear end. The
apparatus may be formed of hollow metallic structures, or of
wood, cork, or <?t~er buoy~nt material cover~d with waterproof
substance, and 1t 1S stated 18 made of such etze as will allow of
its being stowed away. (A ccepted .Ap?'il25, 1900.)

9893.

T. Whltaker. Borsforth, Leeds.

Exoa

v~tC?rs. {5 Figs.) . May 10, 1899.- In excavators, according to

th1s 1~vent10n, t~e j1b extends out a considerable distance beyond

t he p1voted upr1ght, at whose lower end is a driven pullev or

drum. On the jib " is pivoted a swinging or oscillating cradle "

barrel inconveniently bot to handle ; and tor use in shooting

when it is desired to suppress the air currents which cause that
most inconvenient mira~e which arises from a heated barrel, and
renders accurate sighting difficult. (.Accepted .Ap'r il25, 1900.)

FUJ. 1

3366. G. Ehrhardt, Eisenach, Germany. Gun

Trunnion Bearings. [6 F igs.] February 20, 1900.According to this invention the shield t runnion forks are cut
away at the back, and in the recesses so formed blocks are fitted
which, when in position, retain the t runnions in position. To
keep the blocks in their proper place, pivoted plates are pro\ided,
adapted to be held in position by nuts on swing bolts. To dismount a g un whose t runnions are carried in a bearing constructed

....... __ .. __ _
'-=~;;;;;;;;;;;1_:::------.----:r:-~---.--r--i~;;;;;;;;;J~b;F==~
r------""- - . &. . - --.L.------

Fig .2 .
provided with two pulleys, one of which receives a rope from the
pulley or drum on the upright, and the other a rope attaohed at
both ends to the bucket arm. The cradle is proVided with two
or more guide rollers between which the bucket arm slides. The
operation of t he apparatus is sufficiently indicated by the drawings. (.A ccepted Jzay 2, 1900.)

762!S. D. Wiokham, Ware, Herts. Filter for

Liquld.s . [2 Pigs.] Aprilll, 1899.-For the purpose of filtering

IDSJII

.
dards instead of as heretofore in one standard only. The figures
relating to the different standards are arranged in different
planes, and means are provided for causing either standard to
come into operation at will. The improvements also relate to the
steelyard, poises, and attachments. (.Accepted .April 25, 1900.)

according to this invention, the nuts on the swing bolts are first
loosened, the swing bolts are then swung back and the pivoted
plates turned do\vn, whereupon t he blocks may be withdrawn,
so leavinlt the trunnions free to come out. To remoun t t he gun
the operation is reversed. A modification is represented wherein
the blocks are held in position in the recesses of the trunnion
forks by securing plates having projections which are arranged
11,935. J. Brown and T. Haddock Bolton, Lancs.
to work in vertical grooves formed in the trunnion forks. (Ac- B oring Bar. [8 Figs.) June 8, 1899.- This invention refers
cepted April25, 1900.)
to a boring bar and apparatus connected therewith, and is aJ?plic1567. F. R. von Mannlicher and o. Schonauer, able to lathes, hotizontal and vertical boring machines, dr11ling
Vienna, Austria. Repeating Firearms. [11 Figs. ] machines, and the like, and consists in providing means whereby
January 24, 1900.-Repeatin~ firearms with cylinder majlazines t he adjustable metallic cutters may be re2Ulated accurately with
and revolving car tridge carriers are constructed according to a minimum of labour. The bat is providea with openings or slots
this invention with breech casings having at both ends of the
cartridge slot projections formed with arc-shaped hollows which
~terve to support and guide t he cartridge rim and the tip of the

beer and other liquids apparatus according to this invention comprises a cylindrical vessel having a dished bottom, and an upper
edge recessed for the reception of a rubber packing ring, on to whtch
the cover is tightly pressed by bolts passing through a flange.
The interior of the cylinder has a depending screen or shield from
near the top to near t he bottom, and has one or more bottom lipa

Fig. 1.

'\

in which are disposed cutters which can be adjusted or reg-ulated

and expanded, as desired, by means of o. cone on the end of an
operating screw, the latter being l?rovided with means for looking.
The cutters are provided with pms or projections which fit in
slots to prevent them from turning, and to maintain them in a
uniform moving posit ion. Springs move the cutters in an inward
direction. (.A ccepted Jfay 2, 1900.)

bullet respectively, the middle of the cartridge being unsupported.

MISCELLANEOUS.
The feed spring of the cartridge carrier is so arranged as to effect
the rotation of the carrier until the last cartridge has been raised
11,722. J. A. Saner, Northwich, Chester. Bolt
out of the magazine ; it also serves as an axis fot the carrier. Fastening Device. [4 Figs. ) June 6, 1899.-This invention
The bottom closure of the magazine consists of a removable t ray has reference to bolts, suob as may be used for coupling driving
eecured in the magazine by a rotatable locking plate, retained in
its locked position by a spring on the bottom of the tray. (.A c
Fig. J.,,
cepted May 2, 1900.)

r~o
~.,

MACHINE AND OTHER TOOLS, SHAFTING, &c.

4613. Siemens Brothers and Co., Limited, London.
(Siemens and Hal8ke, A ctien-Gessel8chajt, Berlin.) Rock
DrUUng Machine. [3 Figs.) March 10, 1900. -Tbis invention

relates to a construction of rook-drilling machine operating witb

rotary motion of the drill spindle and differential forward feed,
wherein the mechanical withdrawal of t he feed spindle while the
driving shaft continues running without requirmg to move the
differential wheels out of gear is affected by such an arran~ement
of the differential gear that the feed-nut is rotated at a greater
apeed than the drill spindle for the forward feed. With this

.
I

'
I

~--,.'~

w n)

and driven machines. The bolt shank is eccentric between the

cer,tre ~ine of the threadedl.art of the ~olt and its sh~ft ~r Rhank,
which 1s preferably tapere . The comcal shaft flts wttbm a bush
or sleeve, the bole through which is also eccentric to its exterior

or which crossbars can rest for supportin~r perforated trays or

meshed wirework partitions, on which the filtering media can be
placed, there being triangular-shaped rings near the edges which
retain the filtering ~edia i'?- oo~paot c~nditlon and prevent un
necessary side swagmg yet msurtng a sat1sfaot.ory olosmg between
the edges of the t rays or partitions and the cylinder. Certain
modifications and alternatives are described. (.A ccepted Ma'V 2,
1900.)

UNITED STATES PATENTS AND PATENT PBAOTIOE.

Descriptions with illustrations of inventions patented in the
United States of America from 1847 to the present time, and
reports of trials of patent law oases in the United States, may be
consulted, gratis, at the offices of ENOINBlUUNO, S5 and 36, Bedford
street, S~r~md.

'