SEPT.

27,

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

1901.]

433

FOREIGN COMPETITION IN SHIPPING whence coasting vessels, as well as river steamers the former company- and beyond these establishdistribute the German manufactures locally ~ ments little is done in merchant shipbuilding, a.
AND SHIPBUILDING.
indeed, the principal communication with Siam, and result in large measure due to the high protective

progress made by some of our industrial

coml?etitors in shi:pbu~lding and shipowning is very
considerable, and 1ts tnftuence in the diversion of
commerce is still more marked than statistics suggest. So long as the shipper has sufficient cargo
for one, or even severa~ ports consecutive upon an
ocean route, to fill a Rht p of moderate size it may
be just as c~nvenient to charter a '~tramp "
steamer belongmg to any nation always provided
that the freight is low enough,' and the British
'' tramps" are excellent in this respect. But with
'l;HE

Fitf.l.

..

YEAR

practically the whole local trade, is now in

the hands of the Germans. India, China, Japan,
and Australia have arrivals from Germany
every fortnight. There is a large subsidy for
maintaining these services, which are conducted by
the Hamburg-American and North German Lloyd
companies, working conjointly. Recently a new
contract was entered into for a service which
will embrace not only the East Coast of Africa, as
hitherto, but also the West Coast; and larger and
fasters steamers are being built for the purpose,

MERCHANT FLEETS OF THE WORLD.

189Q

Frfl. Z.
YEAR

1900.

GREATBRITAIN

GERMANY

UNITED STATES

FRANCE

tariffs, which are not fully compensated for by theshipping and shipbuilding subsidies.
In the United States, on the other hand, t hereseems every prospect of a new subsidy schemebeing brought forward, as it is recognised that
much good might accrue from regular sailings to
foreign ports. The only distinctly American lines
are those to Southampton, and another across the
Pacific ; and Americans reproach themselves with
the surprising fact that only 13 per cent. of the
foreign import trade, and 7 per cent. of the foreign
export trade, is carried in American vessels ; whereas
in the days of the old wooden sailing-ships, 25 per
cent. to 30 per cent. was the average : the decrease
has been very gradual. The increase in American
merchant shipping in recent years has been largely
on the Lakes and in the coasting trade of the
United States. But a new period is at hand, when
the United States will endeavour to gain the same
position with a modern merchant fleet that she once
enjoyed with her famous wooden sailing ships.
Diagram Figs . 1 and 2 illustrate by a series of
flags the growth of the principal merchan t fleets
of the world during the past ten years. In this
diagram it is assumed that three sailing-ship tons
~re only equa~ to one steam ton; thus the diagram
IS on the basts of steam tonnage, and is consequently a more accurate measure of the carrying
capacity of the respective fleets than if sailing and
steam tonnage had been reckoned of equal importance. Reckoned on this basis, the British tonnage
has increased from 8, 584,600 to 11,700,000 ; the
German tonnage has increased from 1, 146,000 to
2,116,000; and the United States tonnage from
952,900 to 1,131,151 ; the only other increases
wor th noting are those of Norway, from 693,000 to
1,066,600; of Russia, from 246,500 to 476,900; and
of Sweden from 279,900 to 466,000. Generally speaking, each nation has considerably increased its carrying capacity, although in varying proportions. The
I.-Reckoning Sail and Steam T onnage as Eq1tal
the Tonnage in 1890 and 1900 was as FoUows :

T A DLE

NORWAY

1890.

No.
United 1\ingdom

British Colonies

America, United St~tes of

Austria-Hungary

Danish .

Dutch

French

German . .

Italian

Norwegian

Russian . .

Spanish ..

Swedish ..

ITALY

SPAIN

RUSSIA

SWEDEN

DENMARK

'

HOLLAND

AUSTRIA HUNGARY

.,.A....
IOJ

the beginnings of foreign commerce, the general

experience is that the consignments are comparatively small, and that much canvassing over a wide
area is necessary to secure a complete cargo even
for a series of ports. In such a case it is of great
impor tance to have trading steamers as distinct
from the '' tramp,'' and that these steamers shall
leave the manufacturing country at regular intervals,
so as to distribute goods at stated periods. It will
be recognised that, hitherto at all events, Britain
has held an advanced lead, and that foreign nations
have commonly had to send their foreign goods vid
London or Liverpool, to the disadvantage of the
growth of their trade. The transshipment necessary
in such case is not only costly, but results in
breakage, as well as inconvenience. Germany fully
recognised this a few years ago, and the results
have been very striking. At t he present time she
has as many sailings across the Atlantic as
Britain. She has a splendid fortnightly service to
the Far East, her ships call at convenient ports,

under a subsidy which will insure a return upon the

capital involved. The East African steamers have
been running monthly for some years, and it is an
evidence of the advantage of such regular communication that the value of goods carried has increased in seven years from 610,000l. to 1,966,960l.
sterling, of which 300,000l. and 956,000l. respectively were German manufactures. There is also a
regular service to the West Indies and South
America, and it will be seen that although the
German Merchant Navy is now only one-fifth in
point of tonnage that of the British Merchant
Navy, its effect on the distribution of consignments of German goods is greater than mere
comparisons of tonnage suggest.
The French fleet has not been materially increased, notwit hstanding heavy subsidies, although
the Messageries Maritimes and the French TransAtlantic Company have done great service in the
promotion of French foreign trade; both have
their own shipbuilding yards-inadequate as regards
\

tone.

9167 10,241.856
2904 1,355.250
3272 1,823,882
368
269,648
280,065
808
544
378,784
1380 1,045,102
1876 1, ~9,311
816,567
1b55
3369 1,584, 355
ll81
427,335
534,811
883
1470
475,964

1900.

No.

tone.

8914 13,241,446
192! 1,019,808
2820 2,035,062
270
416,084802
519,011
406
530,277
1214 1,350,562
1710 2,650,03S.
1176
983,65&
2380 1,640,812
1246
720,901
597
694,780
1433
637,272

vast value of the shipping trade of the world may be

indicated by an approximate estimate. In a computation of the exports of all the principal
countries in the world, it is found that the value
of all the exports from the contributing countries
in 1886 increased in value by over 200,000,000l .
sterling by the time they became imports at their
destination ; and wbile some part of this increase
may be due to profits, insurance, &c., a large
proportion is to be accounted for by transport
charges. In 1898 the corresponding advance--&
rough measure of the value of the world's
transport trade-was 228,000,000l. sterling. The
increase here is at & much less percentage than
the addition to the volume of trading, indicating
much cheaper transport. It becomes of interest
to ascertain whether or not Britain's share of this
great transport trade is a relatively increasing
or a decreasing quantity. The only method of
arriving at such a result is to take as a basis the
tonnage of merchant ships entering into, and clearing from, the harbours of different countries.
This is shown by two contrast diagrams (Figs. 3
and 4) in which the totals are given on &
line divided to indicate the total tonnage, the
tonnage owned by the country itself, and the
tonnage of foreign ships other than British.
The years compared are 1880 and 1899. In
the case of the U nited States, the British proportion has in t wenty years increased from 61 per
cent. to 67 per cent. of the total, the British tonnage frequenting American ports having gone up
from 16,000,000 to 26,000.000. The German tonnage has increased from 2! millions to 4,614,000
tons ; but with the exception of Norway and
Sweden, the other increases are barely propor-

'

434

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

tionate to the total. As regards the shipping in

French ports, our proportion in twenty years ha~ increased from 40 to 47 per cent., while the home tonnage has decreased by several points. In the case of
Germany we find that a. very considerable increase
has been made in the total, and that the home
tonnage has more than kept pace with this increase,
the proportion having gone up frorn 39 to over
44 per cent., while Britain's proportion has conBRITAIN$ Ov~RSEA SHIPPING

WoP.x

diagram, Fig. 5, shows the tonnage entering or result of the recent extended use of wood pulp for
clearing with cargoes (excluding ships in ballast), papermaking. The Danish and Dutch advance is
and indicates the total British owned, and the accounted for by the large amount of dairy produce
foreign owned, for a period of fifteen years. The being sent from those countries; and here it may
diagram needs no further explanation.
be said that the steamers engaged in this trade are
Diagram, Fig. 6, shows the nationality of the largely run by dairy associations promoting this
steam vessels which have thus entered into, or 1 particular trade.

cleared from, British ports during fifteen years; it

Another way of indicating the relative progress
refers only to steam vessels, as British owners have 1 of steam shipping is by showing the proportion of
FOR fOREIGN

CouNTRI ES

1880
IU!! TDitS.

ro

ao

"10

4o

.58 736 ooo

~o

l=====~====~===~t====~~;;;;;;;;;;;;:m~m;;;;;;m;m; SHIPPINB IN
I

HARBOt/RS

OF U NITED K1N6DOM.

UNITED STATES

Fig.J.

GERMANY

I
I
I

RUSSIA
I

-""""'""' n"ALY

BRITISH Slf/PPING.

SHI/JPIN6 OWNED BY NATION rTSfLF.

SWEDEN

FOREIGN SHIPPING .

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

I
I

..J

BRITAIN's 0VRSEA SHIPPING WORK FOR fOREIGN CouNTRIES .

/11/LL~

Now

TONS.

30

TO

91:78 .817

80

50

SHIPPING I N

HARBOURS OF
I UNITED KINGDOM

I
I

F i9. 4.

I
I
I
I

I
I

I
I

NORWAY

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

__________ _

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

TONNAGE OF STEAM VEssELS OF fOREI6N FLEETS ENTERING & CL!ARIN6 FROM 8RI77SH PORTS.

Fig.5.

Fig 6

& Ci.EARINGUKJIARBOORS WITH CARGOES.

Prg)ar.diromJJcar-dofTr.a.de./unl/~218(/900} P..aqe-8&9.

TONNAC0FVSSEtSKrERIN6

(11rom.Bonr.d of Tr..ade TablesI N2l8.

P..ag.e8&9.
)

'

00000

loo ....

8D,DDD,J!bo

'

"

-/

--

r-.......,1/

oP_tf.

sr.! ....

--

00000

11

000

I
I

JfOQ"'

y
I

~~

riS~ oV'r V

~~;
aa

....

~0

...... ""'

00

28,()00,000
VI,DOO,O

:to.ooo oo()
1

fOMIG
......!
_....

DG

85

~ o.,.,'l'lefJ

88

89

go

9/

91

g)

I/

2fJO0,000 ~.
.. \:

\ i--- -

7,8
9$

96

97

98

99 /90(1

,.,,.

oqooo
8

/
I

,,

..

6fl? ~;_

','~ , /

~-o

.....

~--/ 1--

qooo ~- ---

40

Cl ~~-

I
I

,/

I
I

('

~f.~'~:

--

~0~,
,
,
,

//
...--._

-------- ', 4..,,. ~:::~-f~~~f!l:

...
,
, ... _7'...:: /
'
'
''V
V
....
~
,
,.,
~HiD'
8~~~-- -..
,~

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17 ,,-'
,'

tl~~t/

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/'

,-

~ ......

,,

...

'

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'
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...... ....... I /

"'

- -

, ,

/I

.oJ

/
V

/ .....

- v

.. ..--

......-

/ ./

~,.,

" "". .,., .-"

~- ........

/V

".

- ~ ~=-/

---

u.s.
87

--

/
I

........

17
I

V/

~-

2OOfJOO
86

.--

"
-... ............. -_....
--- ---

~;

;'

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I

88

89

90

practically discarded sailing vessels, so that for

most purposes ~t.eam vessels c?mpete m?re a.ggre.ssively with British owned ships. The Increase In
all cases, it will be seen, is marked. The drop
in the United States line in 1898 was due to
the war which necessitated the American line
steamers' being enlisted for service as cruisers.
The N orwegia.n and Swedish increase is largely a.

/
91

92

.....__

I
93

9'1

95

96

97

I
98

I
gg

ISOO

tonnage owned by the respective Powers passing

through the Suez Canal, the gateway between
the Western and Eastern countries. This is
indicated in diagram, Fig. 7, which shows, for
ten years, the total tonnage of ships of all
nationalities passing through the Canal, as well
as the t onnage of vessels of British, German,
French, and Dutch nationalities. It will be

ii

;'

,/
,
;

IB#J

~,

/'

--

12

,l

, ..,,

(7l)

sidera.bly decreased-from 37 to 32 per c~1~t. As

regards Russia., it will be seen that our pos1t10n has
improved, but that Italy has captured the la.r~er
proportion of the augmented tonnage frequent~ng
her own ports, the ratio of Italian t?nnage havmg
increased from 34: to 44 per cent., whlle ours has decreased to 26 per cent. In the Belgian tonnage the
foreigner has made greater progress than ourselves,
due largely to German ships, w~i~e in ~weden and
N orwa.y we fail to hold our pos1t10n ; 1n respect to
Holland our position has barely kept pace w1th the
total tonnage.
.
.
As to Britain, it may be sa1d that t~e foreign
tonnage frequenting our harbou;s. has 1n t~enty
years increased from 17-! to 35 milhon to~s_; 1f we
eliminate ships in ballast and ta~e only si!'Ilmg an~
steam vessels with cargoes, the Increase lB p~a?tl
call in the same proportion, 13f to 27! million
toui Of the total increase in fif~een years,. of
25,000,000 tons of shipping entering or lea.vmg
the tTnited Kinadom w1th cargo only, 13,000,000
d
to the t:>foreigner and barely 12,000,000
~~ th~e British ships. Of all shi~ping in_ our harbours in 188o, 29.6 per cent : carr1ed foreign flags,
while now the propor tion IS 34: per cent. The

... .........

,, /

...
81

t/
Zfi

IS,DOO,IXJD

(J()

. ,_,l "

~' !

oop:;;

"

~0

l
~~

'I

e~( ;,../'

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

SEPT.

27,

I 901.

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

F I REWOOD-SPLITTING MACHINE.
CON 'TRUCTED

1\JE R~.

BY

M.

GLOYER

AND

CO.,

435
building yard, but at the steel works ; ib is _doubtful
if in the immediate future labour rates wtll recede
to their former level. It is interesting to note the
relation of the cost of labour to the total cost in
regard to British ships. Table II. indicates
such costs now and ten years ago for different
c!asses of ships constructed at works which ar_e
amono-st the best in this country, so far as machinery :nd management are concerned . I t should be
noted t hat wages have considerably. increased
during the ten years referred to, so t hat In the COJ?parison some allowance must be made for t~1s,
where the intention is to ascertain the effect of Im
proved mechanical appliances towards the greater
economy of labour. In the oase of the hull there

ENGI NEERS,

LEEDS.

(For Descritdic.n, sr.e Foge 4 13)

~

'

Fig.?.

TONNA6EOFSHtPSPASSING THRdTHE !JUEZCA

NDICATING
TlOHAlJTY.

P,.gJ__gr_.edfromJ3cqrdofJ'r~lalJl4

roHS

~!~ ~-+~----~.-4--r-+-~-T~r-1

9'~~-r-+--r-i-1--r-~----~~~
I~

7.2040001---t--l--t-+--t--+-t---t---t---1

6.400P 11--t---t---il---t--r----t-+--t--+--1

~oo.~~~~-r~~
+-~-+----r-~-+~

'
~~~~----+--t--+----~;--+~-----t--r~

S2040001---t--r--t-+--t--+-t--;-- r - ;

~BOQOI:00
.~-+--1--t-+--t---t-~
. -t--t----i

~0~100n
~.-r-+----~~~--t----r-~~~

seen that so far as genertil trade is concerned

we hold our own.
Coincident with development of home tonnage
for home requirements, there has been a steady
aim in competing countries to' develop the shipbuilding industry. The tendehcy during the past
decade to increase naval artbaments has enormously
assisted this, for patriotic reasons have suggested
t he building of those warships at home ; at the
same time the great shipowning companies were
encouraged- a stronger word might even be used
:._to have their vessels built at home. Existing
shipbuilding yards have thus been largely developed to undertake a class of work which fifteen
years ago was unknown to t hem. Formerly all
large passenger steamers for Germany, Austria,
:America, and other countries were built in Great
Britain, and it was the rule that complete drawings
had to be supplied with each ship. I t might be easy
from t his source to trace the evolution of the large
ships built by some of our industrial competitors,
but, at the same time, it must be frankly admitted
that there have been, paTlicularly in recent years,
departures which suggest distinct originality. At
the present time our greatest competitor in shipbuilding is Germany ; t his is due in some measure
to the combination of cheap labour with efficient
tnachine tools ; in fact, some of the works of
Germany are at least as well equipped as those on
the Clyde. Without entering into details, it may be
said that wages are lower. The engineers, for
instance, working on the construc~ion of the great
Atlantic liners are paid about half the hourly rate
obtaining in some establishments in this country;
and althotrgh the economy or efficiency of the
labour may be less, the total labour cost of work is
under that ruling in this country. In America,
on the other hand, wages are higher, and since
laboursad ng ma~h i nery can ntel' into the c':'st of

building ships only to a more or ]ess restricted

extent, the labour cost of a ship is greater, probably
from 10 per cent. to 15 per cent. Material, on the
other hand, is cheaper in America ; and wherever
it is possible machinery has been adopted to a
greater extent than in this country. In spite of
high labour, new shipbuilding yards are being installed in the United States, for the execution of
Govei'nment, as well as of private, contracts.
I t is difficult to obtain accurate comparative data
on the relative cost of ships, because of the great
variations in design, and the fact that the ocean
steamer of British build differs much from the
coasting or lak e steamer as constructed in America.
Lake steamers are efficient cargo carriers. The
largest of t hese carry 7900 tons, and, fitted with
q uadru pie-expansion engines supplied with steam
from water-tube boilers, costs at present from 9l. to
l Ol. per ton of dead weight, while 3000-ton steamers
cost from lll. to l ll. !Os. per ton . In this country
the ocean " tramp," to take 4000 tons at 9 knots,
costs lOl. ; the 6000-ton 10-knot steamer, 9l. !Os. ,
and t he 10,000-ton 11-knot steamer, 12l. per ton
dead weight carrying capacity; so that, even allowing
for the lighter scantlings, t he American lake ship
is not much costlier than the British steamer. In
the Lake districts, where there are special facilities
in the way of steel and co~r, t he only chance of
compe.tition at present with British builders appears
to be in the event of a t rade being developed between the Lakes and the Atlantic; a practice
already inaugurated. The canal lock which limits
the dimensions for vessels to trade between the
inland Lake ports and the Atlantic is 270 ft. long,
45 ft. wide, and 14 ft. deep.
In the prices given above there has been an advance of 50 per cent., so far as Britain is concerned,
as co'm pared with thoce of a few years ago, largely
6wing to the cost of labour, not only in the ship-

J.600PfJOt---t--t---t--t--t-- - t -t--t--t---1
J.20QO<XJ1t---t--t--t--t--t---t-t--t--t---1
uo~~~-r~----r-~-+-;----r-;-~
+-~

WQ0001!---t--l--t-+--t---t-t--t--+-~

ZDOQOO'.OI--t--t-+--+--+-r-~-+---l~,

(~

~p

y ~-~

...;". -

lZOQOOOr-t---t--t-;--r~
-~~~r-+,-:,.~

.~,.~

... -- 7
.......... .
800000
. -~~~---~~..~
. -~-t-_,==T-~-+-.~
.,

fOO.OOO
1890
ff4)

DJ!j CH

-
91

9l

--~

93

gf

. - - -

95

9o

91

- .....-

"

g~

iV/11

seems practically no change, the slight increase

shown in several cases being probably due to the
higher rate of wage. Genera1ly there has been a
slight decrease in t he labour cost of t he engines,
which is, perhaps, the result of the introduction
of automatic machine tools and increased cutting
speeds in lathes and the like. But in the case of
boilers there is no marked improvement. Modern
high pressures demand more careful workmanship,
so that the labour bill is necessarily higher.
Commendation may here be expressed for a
practice now being int roduced in one or two of the
Am erican works, where a mathematician is specially
engaged to work out formulre for establishing the
length of time necessary for any job in the machine
shop; t he needed speed, cut, and traverse being
thus ascertained, the machine-man, when he gets
the job, has these data given him, and is thereby
informed of the time a job should take, and how it
may be accomplished within that time. The result
is said to be a markf'd economy.
Th e limited Rpplication of machinery posPib~e in
the build ipg of the ship has till now militated

E N G I N E E R I N G.
against the extension of the American merchant
marine; but should Congress pass a subsidy Bill, it
will compensate the shipowner for the higher capital
charge involved in building in the States owing to
dearer labour, and there will then be every prospect
of a great extension in American merchant shipbuilding in the immediate future. At present there are
about ten yards on the United States seaboard
capable of producing the largest vessels, besides a
number of firms who have facilities for moderatesized steamers, so that the economic condition is
the only obstacle to pronounced succeAs. This is
being improved by the extensive additions to the
American Navy now decided on and under coneideration.
!I.-Showing Labour Cost in Ship Construction.

TaBLE

Cost of Labour in Relation

to Total Cost.
Date.
Hull.
Ohannel passenger steamer

,.

Oruiser . .

,, ..

Battleship

,,

..

..

Cargo steamer

Paddle steamer

"

..
.
..
..
..
..
..
..

Eogines. Boilers.

per cent per cent per cent

1690
1900
1887
1 99
1891
1897
1889
1900
1891
1898

41.7
41.6
42.3
46.6
46.8
49.6
38.2
40.1
40.9
42.0

28.4
28.8
29.4
20.4
21.8

24.7
23.8
22.7
82.6
80.5

88.6
30.7

88 8
35.2
40.0
41.6
35.0
S9.9

8i .8
88.8

In Germany there has been a steady advance in

the number of shipbuilding works, as the following
Table indicates:
Table Showing Growth of Shipbuilding in Germany.
Year.

Number ot
Works.

Number ot
Workers.

Shipbuildiog
Slips.

- - -:- - - - -;- - - - -:- - - - - - - ~~~

~:~gg
!~
1~

Docks.

1890

25

21,800

108

17

1900

89

87,750

154

27

Simultaneously with this increase in the number

of such works, there has been a material growth in
auxiliary industries, particularly in the production
of steel plates for shipbuilding, which are now
exported to the Clyde and elsewhere. Again,
although raw material is admitted to Germany free
of duty, the quantity importfd in 1899 was only
39,000 tons, as compared with 52,000 tons in the
preceding year; at the same time the total tonnage
of steel actually used had increased from 69,000
to 85,000 tons.

THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION.

(Continued from page 404.)

.
THE ENGINEERING SECTION.
SECTION G met again on Monday, September 16,
the President, Colonel Crompton, occupying the
chair. The first paper taken was a contribution by
Mr. Killingworth Hedges on
PROTECTION FRO?tf LIGHTNIN(}.
The author compared Continental and American
practice, and gave an account of his rearrangement
of the system used at St. Paul's Cathedral, where
the conductors, erected as recently as 1872, were
found to be totally inefficient, both as regards the
conductivity of the joints and the resistance of the
earth connections. In the plan recommended, both
for this installation and for the more recent one at
Westminster Abbey, the number of ordinary conductors from air to earth had been greatly increased ;
and, besides these, horizontal cables were run on
the ridges of the roofs and in other prominent
positions so as to encircle the building, being interconnected to the vertical conductors wherever they
cross one another. The horizontal cables were
furnished at intervals with aigrettes, or spikes,
which were invisible from the ground level, and
designed to give many points of discharge. At the
same time they, in conjunction with the cables,
would receive any side flash which might occur
should any portion of the building receive a direct
stroke of lightning. The unreliability of soldered
joints for conductors, whether of cable or tape,
led the author to design a special joint box. Owing
to the difficulty of sinking an earth plate of sufficient
area on account of old foundations at St. Paul's, a
tub~lar earth had been designed. It needed little
space, and had the advan~ge that, if a ~uitable
moist ground were not obtatnabl~, the des1re~ low
elect.rical resistance could be attatned by leadmg a

tube in connection with the rain-water pipes, so

that a portion of the rainfall was diverted to the
tubular earth. The author alluded to the immense
amount of damage to property annually occurring
which might be prevented if efficient conductors
were installed. He mentioned that instead of every
church having its lightning conductor, not 10 per
cent. were so provided ; and in the case of other
public buildings the percentage was not much larger,
the reason in the case of the former class of buildings being that a vicar wishing to safeguard his
church has usually to pay the cost out of his own
pocket.
The discussion on Mr. Hedges' paper was opened
by Mr. Currie, who said there appeared to be a
change of front in regard to the manner in which
lightning conductors should be fixed. Formerly it
was considered they should not be in contact with
the building. The Lightning Committee then said
they should follow the building line, but now Mr.
Hedges had gone back to the first-named plan.
H e would be glad to know which architects s h ou Id
advise.
Professor Jaruieson gave details of laboratory
experiments, and illustrated by means of the b1ackboard certain principles in regard to the action of
lightning. He would be glad to know why rods
should be preferred to flat strips for conductors.
Another speaker gave instances of bad earths he
had met with.
J\'lr. F. G. Bailey pointed out that the author
had said that architects, as a rule, treat the question
of lightning conductors in a very brief manner,
and in their specifications seldom say anything as
to the way in which they are to be run, or of the
necessity for good joints and good earth connections. The speaker thought it would be hupeless
to expect architects to pay more attention to the
matter until electricians and engineers had decided
what should be done. As yet the practice was far
from being settled. There was no proof that all
these elaborate copper strips were necessary, for
no case was on record of copper rods having fused.
The author, in reply to the discussion, said that
Mr. Currie was quite right in regard to the change
in practice. He had recommended keeping the
conductor away from the building, because that was
the plan followed on the Continent, where lightning
storms were much more frequent than in this
country. It wa~ very difficult, in following the
shape of a building, to avoid corners and sharp
turns, which would prevent the current from following the conductor. In a case in which a chimney
had been struck at Wallsend, the lightning went
to the chimney first, then to the conductor, and
after that back again to the chimney, knocking
part of it down. He had preferred round rods to
flat strips, on the authority of Dr. Oliver Lodge ;
and agreed that architects might get puzzled if first
one thing were recommended and then another.
He would, however, prefer not to lay down any
rules as absolutely definite until more results were
brought in from the various persons who were
making observations all over the country. It was
in order to get these data that the Lightning Committee had been constituted.
TaE Col\rnERCL\L IMPORTANCE oF ALUMINIUM.
A paper by Professor E. Wilson on the '' Commercial Importance of Aluminium " was next read
by the author.
This paper we publish on
page 464. After referring to the great increase in
the production of this metal, the author proceeded
to state that as far as was known aluminium
existed nowhere uncombined in the metallic state,
and its production was essentially a chemical
operation. Aluminium could be used to produce
an enormous number of alloys, some of which, containing l to 2 per cent. of other metals, combined
the lightness of aluminium with greater hardness
and strength. Other alloys, containing from 90 to
99 per cent. of other metals, exhibited properties
of those metals, but much improved for certain
purposes. The purest aluminium obtained cornmercially contained traces of iron and silicon; since
the weight of a given volume of a metal might
govern its financial value, copper being 3.37 times
as heavy as aluminium. The prices of metals
fluctuated very much~ but taking copper at 70l. and
aluminium at 130l. per ton, aluminium was considerably cheaper than copper. The use of aluminium
as a conductor of electricity was engaging the attention of engineers very much at the present time,
and already large quantities of it had been used.
Weight for weight the conductivity of thiQ alqminiurn

[SEPT.

27,

1901.

was double that of copper, or, for equal conductivity, half the weight of aluminimn would be required; or for a given length of conductor carrying
the same electric current with the Eame loss-that
was, the same fall of potential-the relative weights
would be as one of copper to half of aluminium.
This necessari1y involved a great s11ving in transport, and there was the additional advantage that
fewer and lighter poles were required for erecting
overhead conductors. It had been urged against
aluminium that it gave trouble in jointing. The ordinary metals were strongly electro.negative to aluminium, so that if other metals than aluminium were
used in jointing, galvanic action would occur in the
presence of moisture. In power transmissions
mechanical joints had been made with success;
but, with proper precaution, aluminium wire could
be welded either by the use of the blow-lamp or
electrically. Aluminium could be melted in plumbago or sand crucibles without becoming brittle or
taking up silicon, provided that the temperature
did not much exceed 626 deg. Cent. or 1160 deg.
Fahr., its melting point. The shrinkage of pure
aluminium was .20 in. to the foot, as compared
with .187 in. for copper. The addition of aluminium to iron or steel had the great advantage of
keeping the metal more fluid in the ladle, thus
saving by the avoidance of blowholes. At high
temperatures t he metal decomposed nearly all
metallic oxides, and prevented blowholes by combining chemically with the gas which formed the
holes. Its action was stated to be about twenty
times as powerful as silicon, and the resultant
steel was superior in toughness and ductility.
The discussion on Professor Wilson's paper was
opened by Sir W. Preece, who said that, in common
with many other engineers engaged in the practical
application of electricity, he bad devoted a great
deal of attention to aluminium, because he felt
that if all the merits claimed for it were well
founded, it would be of immense service for extending telegraphs through new countries. For
telegraphic and telephonic purposes they had been
trying for several years to get the proper stuff
manufactured which would withstand the variable
strain to which the wires were subjected in
storms-snowstorms particularly. In South Africa
thousands of miles of telegraph wire had to be
carried on the backs of negroes, and it was a very
great point to save weight. But although therd
were a good many miles of aluminium wire worked,
up to the present the success had not been such as
to give any cheerful hopes of its ultimate use. He
did not know why it should be so. The manufactured wire drawn down to the sizes required
for telegraphic purposes was not uniform in its
texture, and it had not, up to the present., succeeded in withstanding the strain of air pressure
like iron or copper. He looked upon that as
entirely a defect of the manufacture, and not a
defect of the material itself ; and he was sure it
was only a. question of time to get it thoroughly
cured. The question of joints had been entirely
solved in telegraph wires, and would be in all other
applications. They had only to wait for improvement in manufacture of the material.
Professor Barr pointed out the difficulty of soldering aluminium. He understood that the operation
was carried out in a bath of solder, the parts having
to be scraped clean, and kept from contact with the
air. It was a misfortune that the coefficient of expansion was high and that the metal would so
readily take permanent set. Good castings could,
however, be made. Another speaker said that Mr.
Wilson had attributed the good effect of aluminium
in molten iron and steel to be due to the reducing
action causing gases to be absorbed. He, however,
was inclined to attribute the result to the absorption of nitrogen.
Mr. Nichol Brown said that the author's estimate
of 500,000 tons of copper l?eing produced a year
was about right. When he (the speaker) first went
into the trade, some years ago, the quantity was
about 100,000 tons; but if there were only the
same use for copper now that there was then, the
demand would only be about 150,000 tonR at the
present time. That was to sa.y, the greatlyextended demand had come from new uses, and
of these the applications for electricity were
the chief. This pointed to the fact that unless
more copper were discovered the price would
go up. He doubted if aluminium could be bought
at 130l. per ton. He thought the price was more
nearly 150l.' a ton.
:Prof~ssor J amiesop bad been told by the trade

SEPT. 27, 190!.]

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

t hat it was Yery difficult t o know what solder to described, and illustrated by lantern slides, a
use for alun1inium. In a .ship upon which he b~d number of bridges in the prov~nces of Szechuan
made a voyage 90 per cent . of the cooking utensils and Yunnan, in western China . Ther e was, he
were of aluminium. Another speak er referred t o sai8, reason t o believe that the form of the
the rapid manner in which aluminium was corroded bridges 'found in these provinces was evolved
in salt water.
locally, although much of the decoration was
Colon el Cromp ton, in closing the discussion, said distinctly of Indian origin, and was, no doubt,
that he had used a good deal of aluminium,- in- the- introaooed -with - the-B\iclahist faith. - The Chinese
form of tubes, and also in the form of sheets, and had learned t o use their materials with considerable
he did not find that they could obtain in practice skill, and a thorough investigat ion of their handiwith any ?~rtain~y alu!llinium having the strength craft possibly would reveal whether t hey bad
and elast101ty gtven 1n the paper. When they developed a forn'iula for t heir guidance or whether
applied to those who supplied alun1inium.. t ubes, by long experience t heir bridge builders had
and asked them to give some guarantee of what learned to turn out good work by empirical
their power would be of withstanding mechanical methods. The subj ect as a field for scientific
stress and vibration, the manufacturers insisted investigation was untouched, and would certainly
upon a t hickness so far in excess of what would be yield results of great interest when compared with
necessary in copper and in still harder and t ougher medimval and modern work in Europe.
alloys, t hat, practically, the saving in weight was
RECORDI NG S ouNniNOS BY PHOTOGRAPHY.
so small, it was not worth while incurring t he
risks of using the lighter metal. vVhen they dealt
Mr. J. Dillon next described, by means of , diawith a metal such as copper they could have tubes grams and black-board sketches, an apparatus he
excessively thin and excessively durable. The had devised for taking and recording soundings.
question of the use of aluminium as a. conductor lie said t hat hydraulic and other engineers had long
was of t he highest commercial importance ; but been considering the most suitable form of a mathere seemed to be some uncertainty in'" its chine for ascertaining and recording the depths of
product ion, which was a. gr eat stumbling-block to ri vers, harbours, and other waters. F or some years
its use in that direction.
ny of the r emarks he he. had been engaged in pert_eoting a machine for
made were n ot in the direction of discouraging the this class of work which was attached t o a boat. It
producers of aluminium, but were simply intended t o enabled t he user t o do much more work wi ~h greater
get authorities t o look into the causes of the failures accuracy by reading oft' or recording from a movable
which occurred, and which appeared t o be the real scale the variable depths of water the boat was
bar to the extended use of aluminiun1. In outh passing th~ough. He explained the method of
Africa they had found aluminium utensils a great working by means of charts and diagrams, and then
b oon, and the metal served a useful purpose in showed how the records could be photographed.
regard to electric conduct ora, as it kept the price
A very ~rief discussion folJqwed, in which one
of copper in check. .All present were anxious for speaker asked if the apparatus had been used for
t he success of aluminium, but it was best t o look at any important work and whether the speed of.ten
the facts clearly. It would be a great thing if knots as mentioned by the au~hor had been reached
the chief stumbling-block, the uncertainty of the in practice. In reply, the author said he had tried
and~ had used it a t a
product, could be r emoved.

the invent ion in .a river .abroad

.....
In replying t o the discussion, the author said speed of three mtles por hour.

that the unreliabilit y of aluminium was chiefly a

THE HEIGHT OF wAYES.
defect when used for telegraph purposes, and not
when it was ut ilised for the making of larger
A paper by Mr. Vaugha.n Cornish on the size of
cables for p ower distribut ion. He thought that wave~ at sea was next re~d. The author said the height
was due to the r elatively higher wind pressure on of the ocean waves in deep water, far from land,
the smaller wires. In regard to what Professor has been determined with fairly concordant results
Barr had said, it was doubtless a difficult matter by independent observers. - The values which we
to solder aluminium effectively, but it could quote are the average of the heights of a number
The operators must , however, be of successive waves.
be done.
well trained. The most troublesome task was
to prevent the formation of oxides, but with __..-~;.___ _ __-;-_R_c_io_h_ts--:-in_ R_e_et_. --=--- - -- practice this could be guarded against.
The
.. -~-c.
Wilson
Desbois.
Pari~
.
Mean.
question of thermal properties and p ermanent
Barker.
set was important and interesting. No doubt
2n.43
28.54
28
27.32
Hurricane . .

the expansion co-efficient was ver y great. H e was, Strong gale .

16.67
23
20.07
20.~4

16. 42
14
14.71
of course, not certain tha t the explanation h e had Gale . .
..

10.83
9.416
8

given of the _way aluminium afiecLed iron and steel St rong breeze
castings in getting rid of blo w-holes was the true
one, but his knowledge of metals led him t o think so.
These values are only about one-half of the 40ft.
What was said about the absorption of nitrogen was, or 60 H . which experienced seamen frequently
however, of interest. In regard to the relative de- state to be the size of the waves met with in
mands for copper and aluminium, he would point strong gales in the open ocean. The author has
out that if the us~ of the latter metal were doubled, it observed during gales in the North Atlantic t hat
would only equal 2 per cent . of the consumption of waves of a larger size recur at short intervals, and
copper. There was evidently, then, a large field for that it was these which riveted the attention and
aluminium without much affecting the copper which were dangerous. :ae thought that it was the
supply. The tests he had quoted did not give the average size of "ordinary maximum'' waves which
inconsistent results men t ioned during the discus- were commonly estimated by seamen at 40 ft. to
sion. The experiments had all been most carefully 50ft., and he suggested that it is desirable to record
made in Professor Capper's laboratory at JGng's Col- in future not only the general average height, but
lege, London. In joining aluminium wires great care also the height of the ordinary maximum waves.
must be taken not to introduce any other metal. This practice would do a way wit h much of the apHe had no data as to whether a soldered j oint parent discrepancy between the accounts of the size
would last, but he considered it would be bad of waves at sea, and would give some not ion of the
policy to expose it to air. He would not recom- simultaneous differences of roughness at different
mend aluminium for marine construction, unless it points. The highest \vaves in deep water are recorded
could be so well painted as to keep the salt water during storms, but the longest are the swells enfrom it. It must have absolutely complete protec- countered in a calmer atmosphere. At sea, where
tion, as the chlorine gases evolved from t he salt the ship rises and falls, and there is no fixed object
water would soon eat the metal away. He did not to provide a datum line, crests and troughs are
see any reason why such different results should be judged less by actual elevation t han by convexity
obtained from different samples of tubes, as t he or concavity of the water's surface. When the proprocess was now well under cont rol.
Colonel files of two waves of nearly equal amplitude, but of
Crompton here said the makers would not guarantee very different wave length, are combined, the resultcertain specified results unless t he thickness of ing wave line presents a series of inequalities, the
metal were so increased as to render the lower wave length of which is fairly 1egular, and equal,
specified gravity of the metal of lit tle benefit, on the average, to that of the shorter component.
because there was such a s mall saving in total The author illustrated by sketches on the blackboard that when . the . two combining waves of very
weight-as to be hardly worth considering.
different wave length are of equal steepness, the
CHINESE BRIDGES .
combination appears as a series of inequalities,
A paper by Mr. R. L ockhar t .Jack on "Bridges which, although displaying minor sinuosities of
in N orthern Ohioa " w~s ne~t read. The ~\lthor outline, have the wp.ve length of the longer

43 7
component. Their average amplitude is also eq ual
to that of the longer comp_o nent. ~his in~cates
that a swell. even of great amplitude JS not d1rectly
measurable in a storm ; that a great swell scarcely
affects the recorded average height and length
of the shorter storm waves, but that it can cause
irregularity of the kind referred to in the last Rectien-; and,-fu-rther, that the-appearance of the w ater
may change somewhat suddenly from that of an
irregular short sea to that of an irregular long swell,
the longer component being the dominant wave.
There was no discussion on t his paper, and the
Section t hen adjourned.
Wednesdn,y, September 17, was the last day
on which the Mechanical Section met. The President, Colonel Crompton, again occupied the chair.
Sl\IALL SoaEw GAUGES.

The first business was t he presentation of the

report of the Committee on s mall screw gauges.
No copy of t his report was distributed, although it
had been printed.
A PoRTABLE R ANGE-FINDER.
Professor George Forbes read a paper on "A
Folding Range-Finder for Infantry." 'fhe author
stated that the instrument shown belongs to the
class known as a '' one-man portable-base rangefinder. " It possessed great accuracy up t o 3000
yards. It is founded upon the original idea of
Adie, whose instrument was liable to errors. B!lrr
and Stroud, of Glasgow, and Zeiss, of Germany,
have brought range-finders with short bases to
great perfection, as they could give all the accuracy required. Our Navy is fortunate in being supJ?lied with the Barr and Stroud instrument. The
mekometer is the instrument now used by our
infantry, and it has done admirable work; hub a
one-man instrument which allows the observer to
be under cover, and which is applicable to moving
objects, is needed. It must be of good form, convenient to hand~e, and extremely.:.pertable in spape,
length, and weight. It should be useable without
a stand, and the magnifying power of its telescope
flhould certainly not exceed 12 diam~ters. It should
have an accuracy so great that even at 3000 yards
there should be no possibility of an error exceeding
2 per cent. in the hands of an average man. Its
use should be attainable after a short training by
an average man_. not accustomed to optical instruments. It should not require too much care, and
should even be able to stand moderate rough usage.
It is desirable that if it ever gets out of adjustment,
the fact should be immediately apparent. It should
work well on badly -lighted objects and those
affected by mirage. These conditions are based
upon the War Office specification, and the inst rument shown at the meeting em bodied the inventor's
desire to meet them. The instrument consists of a
folding aluminium base, 6 ft. in length, and a field
glass. The base is a square tube hinged at its
middle part. Each part of the base has at each end
a doubly reflacting prism. The rays of light from
a distant object strike the outer pair of t.hese four
prisms, are reflected at right angles along each tube,
and are then reflected at the two middle prisms
into the t wo telescopes of the binocular fixed to the
base in directions parallel to the original rays intercepted by the outer prisms. It is the measurement
of ~ the angle b etween these rays that tells the dis
tance of the object l ooked at. This angle is
measured by two vertical wires, one in each telescope, seen by the two eyes. One of the wires is
fixed and the other is moved by a micrometer screw
until the two wires appear as one, and the object is
seen distinctly. This gave the distance accurately
to 2 per cent. at 3000 yards. But stereoscopic
vision gives far greater accuracy. The wire seems
to stand out solid in space, and the slightest turn
of the screw causes the wire to appear to be nearer
or farther than the object looked at, and when
the wire appears to be exactly the same distanne,
the micrometer reading gives the distance with
an accuracy far greater than that attained by
observing the duplication of images on the retina.
The author proceeded to refer at greater length to
t,he accuracy of stereoscopic vision. Dr. Wolf, of
Heidelberg, had a stereoscopic comparator for detecting the motion of the stars from photographs
taken at different dates. With t his instrument
the author had observed the movement of some of the
stars at right angles to the sun's motion by means of
two photographs taken at intervals of four years.
The nearer stars appear with this gigantic base to
stand out distinctly nearer than the others in the
stereoscope, although no micrometer with the same

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

[SEPT.

BLEACH! G PLANT AT THE GL SGOW EXHIBITIO

C 0 N ST R U CT E D

BY

!vi E S

R .

~lATHER

AND

L I ni I T E D,

P LA T T,

EN G INEER , ,

'1], 1 go~ .
I

l\I A N c H E I T E R.

(For Desc1'iption, see Page 441.)

.-

'

---

---

-.

FIG. 1.

magnify~ng

power could detect the paralJax. The

llb.
base we1ghs 3 lb., and the binocular weiahs
0
and magnifies twelve times.
'
The discussion on Professor Forbes' paper was
opened by Professor Stroud, who said that he and
Professor Barr had been engaged for a long time
on r_ange. finders, but had not succeeded in getting
an Instrument so light and portable as the one
shown. Their inetrument was larger and more
accurate. He did not consider the range-finder
described would be useful for marine work. He
thought that coincidence adjustment would be more
accurate than stereoscopic adjustment .
Professor Barr joined with his partner in congratulating the author upon his paper. It was
unfortunate that it was impossible to discuss the
matter without comparing the range-finder which
was the subject of the paper with the instrument he and his partner had introduced. The
latter was the only one of the same kind which
had preceded the present form, and, therefore,
comparison was inevitable. At the present time
almost every large ship in the Navy had two of
the Barr and Stroud instruments, and over 400 had
been supplied. He did not agree, as had been
stated, that the success of their range-finder was
due to accuracy of workmanship. A good engineer
endeavoured to devise a machine which should n ot
need ext reme accuracy for success. The defect of
the range-tinder described by the author was its very
small fitld. The centre of the object might be
clearly defined, but the other parts would have less
light in the image. The military authorities very
much wished for an instrument that could be used
as a telescope to pick up an object. He would also
prefer prisms so as not to need silvered surfaces.

~I

--:] ~,{>;,

""""=

.7~

I .

'"

":!

pu ~nn
........ ., .

tL

Scourvtg

W""'hin9 Appa.rab.u
~

I . -._/

,~-1_~--J
1

Boiling Kicr
I

Q.

Ct\

't:T
p, t=

'

..
~l

li

l;tr

-1
~

~~

~~

{sm o)

I "-'

...

~c

~
li

Cuide~ o
He did not agree that binocular vision was so accuDr. Henderson referred to the error of 2 per
rate as the method of single coincidence. In the cent. at 3000 yards, men~ionecl by the author and
Barr and Stroud finder one eye was on the object considered that some error had been made i~ the
1
and the other on the scale.
. calculation.

~NCl

N B E R t N C.

,.

43~

use on board ship, but he would n ot advise the

BLEACHING PLANT AT THE GLASGOW EXHIBITION.~ one described in t he papet: for ~arine. work. In
regard to- what ha:d been said aboat t he size of the
CON TRUCTED BY ~lE 'R '. MATHER AND PLATT, LTD., ENGINEERS, MANCHESTER. field and the r eflecting prisms, he could only say
t here were many things that might have been
( For Desc'ription, see Page 441.)
altered or added to wit h advantage; but he had to

work to a specification framed to meet certain

..
. general conditions.

THE MAKING OF T YPE

Mr. Mark Barr next read an interesting paper on

'' The Manufact ure of Type., After r eferring to

'
. the early history of type-making, t he author went on

to say that the obvious development in this field is

..

that the mechanic shall provide a means for accu

ratelyreproducing, in steel of minute dimensions, de

signs which are made in t he freer mt:dlum of pencil or

'
crayon in large size. I t is the place of engineering

. to tnus put t he capable modern designer m touch

~
with t he r equired pruduct. Typ ~ is cast in a metal

mould arranged in a simple automatic machine

which produces thousands of pieces a day. The part
of t he mould which forms the printing ch~racter is

called t he matrjx, which is made in copper or brass .

At first matrices were carved or engraved by hand.

Then steel punches were made from which the

.
matrices were stamped or sunk.

~:t_-;~-j~::;.f~
The carving of the character in r elief is done
I
in an engraving machine. But it is necessary to
use an accurate pattern of large size. I t might
be imagined, upon one's first contemplation of the
problem, that some kind of pantograph could be
used to carve the punch direct, in reduced copy,

from t he original dra wing. But this is out of the

.,
question. The p unch must be in relief wit h sloped

sides,
whereas
t
he
drawing
is
a
mere
outline
on
t
he

Fie. 3 .

fiat.
The
letter
must
be
in
1
elief
in
the
t
hird

'

stage. The first met hod of making patterns is to

trace out the character at a fixed depth in wax or

clay. The ne w process entirely dispenses with wax

and electro-plating, and produces in 30 minutes a

pattern cut direct from solid brass. The dtfficulty

.
,
.

..
was to design a pantograph which would carry a

. ('

direct-cutting tool without undue vibration, and
1

which, at the same time, would be easy to work .

I

The
author
overcame
this
difficulty
by
making
the

parts very heavy and rigid' and by using ball bear

ings of extreme accuracy and hardness throughout
,

the machine. He further increased the rigidity by

inserting a steel straight-edge or guide-bar which

keeps t he main fulcrum, the copying-tool, and the

tracing end in alignment. And by the use of t his

bar
it
was
p
ossible
to
support
the
weight
of
the

tracing end of the linkage. Further, it was possible

to dispense with t he long link and to thereby

bring the operator n earer to his work .

The
cutting-tool
has
approximate
tractrix-formed

bearings of steel on steel, and the speed of running

is about 25,000 revolutions per minute. A quickt

acting magnetic clutch is used for star ting and

stopping. The drawing is traced round by a short

post, tho diameter of which is homologous wit h the

diameter of revolution of t he copying cutting-tool.

The difficulty was immense in the beginning, when

it was attern pted to carve rapidly in solid brass. A
large amount of superfluous material had to be removed in order to leave the design in relief on a
smooth plane, and the wear on the tool was prohibitive. But the difficulty was o"ercome in a very simple

manner; two brass plates were soldered together

f
under about 30 tons pressure, thus making a

"sandwich" of perfect flatness, and wit hout elastic

irregularities. The top plate was of speciai brass,

equal in thickness to the r equired r elief of the
character. The sandwich plate being put in t he
pantograph holder, the cutting tool (which is a steel
prism of rhomboid section) sinks just t hrough the
F w. 4.
top plate, and is free to move without end-cutting in
the brass in obedience to t he motions of the tracerColonel Crompton Eaid that having lately been years ago when he was in t he Army, and could bear end of the linkage. Rivets are put through the
engaged in South Africa, where he had to place the witness to the accuracy of stereoscopic vision. letter in several places, and the superfluous brass
largest guns yet uEed in the field, h e had had some One of the requirements of a range-finder was that fa.lls away upon heating t he pattern. A special brass
experience in t he need of range-finders. The supply it should not be affected by mirage. I t was often alloy was necessary in order that the high-speed
was contemptible, and they invariably found them- easy enough to get the range from hill-top to hill- tool would cut freely and without burr. I t took
selves without t he necessary equipment in this top ; but when the ob~ervation had to be made eight months to get the right kind of brass, but
respect. I t was usual for t he artillery officer to over a mountain side, it was often impossible to finally a very simple alloy was obtained which
take a bicycle and ride across country, carrying a lay the gun or to point rifles. The extreme range actually cuts without a vestige of burr or rought heodolite, and in this way the district was p ortioned of the modern rifle was about 2000 yards. At the ness. But the author found that in t he heating
out and definite ranges plotted on a map. The reason outer end of the range it was more important to necessary for the soldering, the braes became so hard
of t he breakdown in t he equipmen t was afterwards secure accuracy than at the nearer positions, because as to break every tool. Then a special solder was
known. It is t he Service custom to place a rAnge- at the first part the trajectory was flat, but toward~ made which melts in boiling water, andthe difficulty
disappeared. A solder which melts at 222 deg.
finder on t he end guns of a battery only. When the end t he bullet drops rapidly.
Professor Forbes, in reply, said he was glad that Fahr. was ultimately used.
the big guns were sent to the front, this usual rule
By means of lantern slides the author illuswas followed, although they were only to be used Messrs. Barr and Stroud were working on different
singly. H e had made expe ~ iments himself some lines. Their instrum ent was admirably fitted for , trated some of the machines he had designed for the

-;I_J..:ul"

440

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

work in q uestion; amongst them the hydraulic the rack by t he amount t he gap is wider than the was a great thing, for it would be manifestly impospress used for soldering, a milling machine with a :oll~ r. When the chain becomes elongated enough, sible to surprise an enemy by a machine t hat could
special form of cutter, and an extremely accurate It w~ll be longer t han t he rack, and the r ollers in be heard over. half a coun ty. ~he efficiency of th e
grinding machine. It 1~1s.y be ad4ed. that by t he the end spaces will press against the outer surfaces cha,in drive was a great point in its favour,
old hand. method the average, t ime (or cutting a of the last tooth spaces. In either of these cases reaching, a~ it did, sometimes to 97 per cen t. If
punch suitable for good printing was six to eight of ~xtr~mes the~e is no backlash; but during the ordinary gear gave but 60 per cent., t here would be
hours. By the machine system t he average time is pen od 1ntervenmg ther e would be lost motion or a saving of not far from 30 per cent. in t he size of
from 30 minutes to 1 hour. The average cost per backlash.
engines. If power trapsmission could be obtained
punch by the hand method wa'S from 7s. to 10s . . The author next proceeded to discuss bhe ques- with such small lo3ses, it would revolutionise t he
By the n ew system the year's production of punches twn of roller chain as against the plain block chain. use of machinery. The wonderful improvement in
has shown t he average cost per punch to be He pointed out t hat in t he latter, when the block the manufacture of power chains had been reached
about 1s. 3d.
enters the tooth space it goes to the b ottom .of the by perfecting details of practice, by perfect machine
The paper was of considerable interest, and we space at one side of it, and during about half a tools, and by the proper selection and t reatment of
h~pe at a future date to be able to place before our revolution it has to creep under pressure to the steel. This great advance was due to t he rivalry
readers fuller details of the beautiful machine-tools other side of the gap or space, then the chain of two men : the author of t he paper and Mr. Hans
described.
. ,
straightens itself and takes it out of the tooth. Renold. It was a most pleasing incident in the
.
0IIAIN-D&IVING.
The tooth and the block have very s mall ar eas of proceedings of the Section to see Mr. Garrard
A paper entitled '' Some Recent Developments contact ; the outside of the block or roller is in the exhibiting his rival's productions, and so fairly
in Chain-Driving" was next .r ead by Mr. C. R. best position for catching grit. The r oller has the giving him credit for the good work done.
Garrard. After referring to the requirements same dirt and grit to contend with, and the same . In' replying to the discuss ion, t he author eaid
o_f ~hain driving, and the engineering prac- very small area of contact, but t he movement does that in small chains they recognised no limit to
~~c~ In regard to loads on bearings, the author not take vlace between the outside of the roller speed, but with large chains the case was different.
pomted out that an ordinary bicycle chain takes and the tooth ; the roller sticks and binds on the Th_e cr~tical point arose when t he links commenced
loads from zero to 600 lb. The pressure p er tooth under the pressure, and its larger and better~haml!ler 9.!! t he bottom 9. the tooth space of t he
square inch reaches 11,765 lb. When the load on protected area has the movement during the creep sprocket ~heel. In small chains the distance was
the chain is only 400 lb., then t he pressure is under pressure.

small and the parts light. In answer to a further

7843 lb. p er square inch. This pressure cycleThe discussion on Mr. Garrard's paper was opened q~estion by Sir F rederick Bramwell, the author said
engineers have succeeded in showing to b e per- by the President, who said t hat the aubhor had t h_a t effect would be less noticeable in vertical running
fectly possible and practicable, and are able to lay prepared this contribution at his special request, chains, although t her e would be the same tendency.
out a driving chain so t hat it will give way practic- as he considered that chain-driving had a great The method of lubricating described by t he Presially all over at once. If 'laid off with a bush suib- future before it, and by its aid many t hings would dent of the Section had produced wonderful results.
ably made, and the rivet or stud is correctly formed be done that had before been out of t he r ange of He, Colonel Crompton, had lubricated larger chains
!l.dd hardened, the bearing surface will n ot suffer ; engineering pracbice.
by drilling a hole in the rivet. The author hoped
it will improve with use. The author stated he
Mr. Mark Barr said that n o doubt many engi- to do that with bicycle chains, so that t here would
was convinced that bearing surfaces of extremely n eers presen t had not realised how much there was be no lubr icating fron1 the outside.
.
highly carbonised steel, correctly treated, give to consider in the design of driving chains. The
HARDNESS OF MATERIALS.
t he best result outside t he jewelled holes of the author had said, in regard to the use of ball-bearwatchmaker. After speaking on the subject of ings for electric motors, dynamos, &c., t hat when
A paper on ' ' The Measurement of the Hardness
ball-bearings, the author said that the most severe the speed is high the noise is intolerable, and he of Materials," which was to have been read by Mr.
conditions in chain-driving to be met with occur in had had to remove many sets, and a fast light line T. A. H ea.rson, was not presented, owing to the
bicycle chains. The best observed result in his shaft had to have its ball-bearings removed for t he absence of the aut hor. This is to be regret ted, as
experience was 5000 miles, ridden in 50 days net, same cause. This shaft took 10 per cent. more the s ubj ect is one of interest, and a good discussion
without it being necessary to adjust t he chain. This power to drive it without the ball-bearings . Mr. on it would be valuable.

Barr, r eferring to this, said that if balls in bearings

chain was exposed.
THE C&ITIOAL PoiNT oF RoLLED J oxsTs.
In the construction of the modern roller chain were too large, noise would be inevitable ; to run
none of t he hardened parts are in tension, it being silently they must be small, but t his invqlve~ bad
A paper on "The Critical Point in Rolled Steel
all on the side links ; t hey are generally made mechanical design. The author had also said that Joists " was next read. The aut hor pointed out
from cold-rolled Siemens steel, showing 60 to 65 ball-bearings are e minently suited for thrust, and phat in r olled steel joists for floors t he two
tons per square inch in t he cold-rolled state. The had given an instance in which, by the substitution elements which determine the section to be used
r ollers are generally bored and turned from bright of balls,-! horse-power was saved on one drill press with a given load per square foot of floor area
drawn rods, and hardened usually by case-harden- when making 1-in. holes in the solid. Mr. Barr, are the stress per square inch produced by t he
ing. Sleeves are sometimes made the same way commenting on this, said he preferr~d t hrust- load, and the deflection produced by t he same load.
as r ollers, sometimes swaged up from cast-steel bearings to be of the tractrix form.
At first, par ticularly with small spans, it is the
strip and hardened.
Lord Rosse pointed out that driving chains stress per square inch which is the governing aleThe rivets or studs in the author's works are by wear were liable to get out of pitch. Sir ment; this stress must not exceed safe working
made fro$ carbonised wire; the outer surface, to Frederick Bramwell next asked how it was known limits. As the span is increased the defleca depth of about one-sixth of the diameter, is that t he wear took place on the slack side of a chain. tion becomes the ruling element, the stress per
highly carbonised, whereas the centre portion is ' He anticipated i t might be so, but .what was t he square inch falling into t he background. The desoft low carbon steel. One of t he greatest diffi- proof ~ He would ask what was the ~imit of speed flection must not be sufficient to crack the ceiling
where there is one, nor sufficient to be unsightly
culties to overcome is to fasten the parts together in a chain drive such as t he author described 1
substantially, so as not to have wear taking place
Colonel Crompton said he had been interested where there is none. The author exhibited diagrams
where it is not intended. In the case of a chain many years ago in chain-driving, in connection wit h two cur ves shown. The first was the curve of
' 'stretching," it will be found that t he parts that with the design of traction engines. As a bicyclist, a given maximum stress, and showed the loads a
were intended to be driving fits and rivetted up tight later, he had also been brought into contact with . ~teel joist would carry for various spans. The other
had become loose. It is only quite r~cently that the subject, and now ag~in as a designer ?f military cur_ve .gave the load~ which l!roduce a def:lect~on
it has been possible to harden the wearing surfaces tractors he had to consider t he problem 1n another wh10h IS a const9.nt g1ven fractwn of the span. 'Ihe
intensely hard.
. aspect. . What Lor~ R osse ha~ said about chains curves cross each other, .a~ d th~ p~~nt of ~ross~ng
In case-hardening, "crystalline" or "fine" gram stretch1ng and get~mg o.ut of p1tc.h was t.rue up to t he a~th~r called the" critlCal point.. At t hts p01nt
can be pr oduced as required. To get the hardest two years ago ; but chams no~ made . ih.d n ot go t~1e dtstrtbu~ed load produces ~~e g1 v~n s.tress and
surface animal charcoal is used and the articles out of 'pitch at all. He had r1dden a b1cycle for g1ven deflectiOn. Before the cnt10al p01nt IR reached
are he;ted in a closed pot to very n early 1000 deg. 2000 miles with t he . same chain. and the pitch was tl1e l?ad produces the sp~ci~~d stress, ~ut is inCen t., the time being proportionate to the dept~s t he same at the fi!l1sh as ab the st~_rt. . He hoped suffi01e?~ to pr?duc~ t he hmitmg d~fle?tLOn ; after
desired. Seven hours will produce j 2 in. deep In he had1 h~lped to 1m.Prove m~tters l'n ~lus respec~. the critical po1n~ Is passed,. the dtst_n?uted ~oad
suitable mild steel. If t he articles be plunged It was evident that ~t would be un?e~I~a~le to 011 produces t he spe01fi~d deflectiOn~ but Is 1nsuffi01ent
straight into cold water, there will be fo?nd on chains _o? t~ _?u!stde~ -~s the lub_r1cant would t? ~roduce t he ~peCI.fied stress ; In other wor.d ~~ the
f!acturing a crystalline grai!l ~f the art10les be cause ~ gr1t to adlie;e, and the mtXture. would hmit of deflectiOn 1s reac~ed before .the h.mit of
qeated a .s~con~ tim~ ":i.t~out any carbol).ising agen~, _ form a grinding medlUm that wou.ld work 1nt~ the stress: . Exa~1ples ~er.e. given of vanous siz~s of
giving th..em_.~er~ly tun~ ~o.. get to th~ h:eat: ?11'~ irollers . . _In ordei: to get over this, the lubn?ant steel J.Ol~t~ with the hm1t1ng .~~ressea a.nd deflect1~ns.
would heat cast steel, taktR'g them on t he r tsl'ng ,should be of a nature that would ~ot allow gn t ~o Gener~hsmg, up ~o t he cnt10al p01nt ~he stress
neat ana que~chi11g' tlien1 again, there will be fo'un~ 'get in. . H e had concluded somethmg of a metalhc curv~ 1s the m~re 1mport!l'nt ; beyond tlus the ~e
a v ery inuch finer grain: in the .fr.a cture, anq, tlie, nature would oe best, ~nd had therefor.e made a flectiOn curve JS more Important. The t\!o !msurface is much hardet!.
.
mi!{ture of ftaked graphite worked up w1th ~llow portant parts of t he curves taken together are ca.Hed
. Some wear is inevitable, but one may set o~~ a and beeswax, eg.ual parts ?f each. 'l,he cha1!1 was the curve of loads.
.
.
,
olhin drive with solid wheels so that t he. relatiOn made hot and Immersed 1n the melted lubr10ant, . The formula used ID drawing the curves was
will remain t rue until t he cha..in is worn right away. which would run in between the roller and t he gtven, ~nd examp!es w~re quote~.
~0 Mr. Hans Renolcl, of Manchester, belongs the sleeve. When cold it would be extruded ~t t he
There was no d1scusston on tlu s paper.
u 0'nour of pointing out the way to accomplish this. ends of t he roller very gradually, and would
A C
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.u
.
.
.
l
d'
h'
l
th
t
ld
l
t
f
,
lR
URRENTS
IN
HUROHES.
The chain wheels w:hen new are -made greater In form a dust-exc u mg ve 1c e a wou
a~ ~I
.
.
.
.
p'i~h than t he chain .; tHen, ~o gEtt phe chain around months. That was one way, and Mr. Garr~rd 1n his . T he last paper read 1n t,h1s SectiOn at the .~ ee~-,
the~ wbee( or sprocket gaps are made_ wi~er t han p_n.per had shown another. In answer to ~tr Fred~- mg was br Mr. J. W;, 'Ihomas and was . on
Atr
tlie~ rOI).er~ reg_uire. fn order to explain hts mean- riCk J3ramwel1, he had known cases. of hght ~ha1n Currents m Churches. The auth?r po1n~ed ?ut
in ; the "''author considered the sprocket op ened driving up to a speed of 1400 per ~Inute, and t~1at th~t ~own draughts were n?t co~t1nuous m h1gh
o\i~ ~g a rack. . W.hen new, .t he two end rollers without . undue noise.. The A~er1can looomo~1les bUildmgs, but that the co.ld an fallmg from t~e top
te~s a ainst th.e sides of t he end tooth spaces now often see.n runmng so nOiselessly .had h1gh- compress~s t he la.y~r of an: b~neath, _and, ow.mg to.
fowardsg the middle, i.e., the ohai}l is shorter than e:peed chain dr1 ves. For war-tractors nOiselessness the elastic properttes of a1r, 1t rema1ned statiOnary

to

..

/t .

441

E N G I N E E R I N G.
economy effected in power for .driving, t~e expensive renewal of washing machtne bowls 1s entuely
obviated, and the saving of water very great,
amounting to about 75 per cent. , owing to the
effective method of circulation adopted for washing.
The labour of the bleach works is alEo reduced to
a minimum. The economy in space will be seen at
once from the gener al plan (Fig. 2) ; and to demont>trate on a practical scale the results that can be
obtained from the new system, we understand
that Messrs. Mather and Platt, Limited, have put
down a complete bleaching plant in a special build
ina at t heir own works, to be worked continuously,
bl~aching cloth for their clients in their own presence.
The process of working consists generally in
Ea.turating the cloth through the machine shown
by Fig. 3, with a solution of hot alkaline li quor .

near the floor of the building for some seconds, and

afterwards an air current was formed, the result
being that alternating air currents were produced
at intervals of about half a minute. The pressure
of the outer air when falling down a building at
freezing point caused the pressure of the air inside
the building to be increased greatly, whilst during
the up current the pressure was reduced to its
lowest limit . Alternating air currents upset the
ventilation of high buildmgs with too much top
exit, space, and caused the products of respiration
to be breathed over again. The author's remarks
were illustrated by wall diagrams showing the
effects referred to.
This brought the proceedings in the Section to a
close.
Next year's n1eeting of the Aesocia.tion will be in
Belfast, on September 10.

(To be ccmtinued.)

BLEACHING PLANT AT THE

GLASGOW EXHIBITION.

Fie

of the largest and most interesting stands in

the Machinery Hall of the Glasgow Exhibition is
that of 1Ylessrs. Mather and Platt, Limited, the
well-known Salford firm ; it measures 112 ft . long
and 22 ft. wide, and the fifty odd items shown
are remarkable for their variety, including bleaching plant, water-softening and filtering appliances,
sewage farm equipment, electric generators and
motors, pumps, and steam heating plant ; and each
item displays some originality in design or arrangement. In our gen eral review of the Exhibition we
had occasion to n otice several of these exhibits,
and at the time promised to return to the subject
and to illustrate several of the important manufact ures on the stand. At present we propose to deal
with the complete set of bleaching plant, which we
illustrate on pages 438, 439, and 442. Fig. 1 is an
engraving prepared from a photograph taken at the
Exhibition, and shows the whole plant, a plan of
which forms Fig. 2. One important departure, as
compared with other systems,. is that the grey cloth
is bleached in the batch instead of in the fold . The
plant consists briefly of a wagon with roller (Fig. 3
illustrating the method of winding); of a saturating
bath, where frictional rollers, as shown in Fig. 2,
r otate the batch; of a t urntable and capstan for
moving the wagon and passing it into the boiling
kier, which is shown in perspective by Fig. 4,
while a double kier is shown in cross-section by
Fig. 6 ; and finally of a chemicking, souring, and
washing bath, shown in perspective by Fig. 6.
This plant, which has been patented by Mr.
William Mather, promises to play an important part
in the development of the bleaching industry, especially in connection with the treatment of the finer
classes of textile goods, seeing that it provides for
the treatmen t throughout in the full open width
instead of making the cloth into a crumpled rope
and passing it in this condition through a very
large number of mechanical operations, as is done
almost universally at the present time. Such a
system of bleaching has long b een sought after for
all kinds of h eavy goods, which are inj ured permanently by being creased, as well as raised goods and
those having a pile face, also for the finer kinds
of woven fabrics with a floral or other figure produced in the' jacquard loom. This desideratum has
been the occasion of the expenditure of very large
sums in experiments and trials on a large scale.
The system now introduced breaks new ground and
marks a departure in principle from anything that
has been attempted before, and its development
will be watched with interest .
The dominant feature of the system is that the
liquors are made to pass through the cloth instead
of the cloth t hrough the liquors, and the mechanical
details by which this is achieved are ingenious. In
the process under notice the cloth is treated at its
full breadth from the dry " grey " state to the full
"bottom , white bleach, and this without handling
the goods mechanically, or passing them through
any running machinery. All the operations, as
already stated, take place in the batch form , so
that the goods are perfectly protected from mechanical injury, and no pul1ing or distortion of the
fabric is possible, and goods bleached by this process are, in consequence of the method of operating,
wider, heavier, and thicker than when bleached in
the rope state, and are, of course, entirely free
from stripes or band marks. As practically no
running machinery is required, there is very great

6.

ONE

'

the cloth was previously forced tightly in . contact.

The batch, with its perforat~d facepla~~, Is slowly
rota fed during the whole t1me of b01lmg by. the
gearing shown in Fig. 5 ; a very powerrul ?uculation of the liquor takes place long1tudJnally
between the convolutions of the batch from ~elv
edge to selyedge ~ith a:bsolute. evenness. After
boiling, the alkalme hq~or IB let off, water
admitted and the cloth IS thoroughly cleansed
before r~moval from the kier ; the door is t~n
raised, and t he wagon or wagon~, wit.h the cloth,
drawn out and taken on the rails laid down for
the purpose, to t he adjacent open,-width chloring,
souring, and washing apparatus (F1g. 6, page 442) ;
a handy jib crane transferring the batch from the
wagon to the app~ratus in whi~h the whole of the
subsequent operations of bleac~mg are_Performed.
This open-width apparatus Is prov1ded wtth a
perforated plate and suction cb~mber, as well as
with the arrangement for. cauEmg t~ e b~tch to
rotate slowly as desc.ribed In. connectlo~ w1t~ the
kier. The suction chamber Is at one end, with a
central bearing recess; while at the other end of
the bath there is a bearing which is capable of
longitudinal motion by s~rew and ha~d wheel
placed outside, and by thts the. batch 1s for~ed
close up against the per~orated dlSc of t~e suctwn
chamber. As in t he kter, the batch IS rotated
whilst the liquor is being circulated. The whole
of the fi ttings are of special material that is not
acted upon by acids or alkalies, and in this open
apparatus the operations of chemicking or chloring,
washing, souring, and the final wa hing are performed without removal and without a moment's
loss of time. A powerful centrifugal pump effects
the circulation of the liquor.

In this machine the cloth is wound on to a batch of

large dimension ~, with one edge of the cloth in contact with a perforated suction end plate. The end
is double-plated, with a space between forming a
s uction chamber, while the periphery is geared to
facilitate the rotating of the batch in the kier, &c.
Only the inner plate is perforated, as shown. The
roller and end plate, with t he suct ion chamber, are
carried by a special wagon, as shown in Figs. 3
and 4. 'l'he batch, when completed, as shown in
Fig. 4, is about 5 ft. in diameter, and contains
approximately t hree-quarters of a ton (dry weight)
of cloth. This batch of cloth, saturated with hot
alkaline liquor, is run into the patent kier shown
in Figs. 4 and 5.
This apparatus, it will be seen, is of the horizontal type, with the well-known valve door, which
is capable, without tho screwing up of any bolts,
of making a joint perfectly steam tight against
40 lb. working pressure per square inch. After
running the wagon or wagons into the kier, t he
door is closed, the circulating liquor is admitted
and then caused to circulate through the mass of
cloth by means of the centrifugal pump placed underneath the kier and with suitable pipe connections,
the whole of the batch being submerged in liquor.
The principle of 4lction is that . t his liquor is
drawn from the suction chamber behind the perforated plate at the end of the batch, against which

When the final washing has been performed, the

batch is lifted out of the cistern and is placed on
a simple wagon, which takes it to an open-width
squeezing machine, through which the cloth is
passed for a final squeeze as it runs on to the drying
cylinders, thoroughly bleached, with its surface and
texture uninj ured, and after having been und er
treatment in the bleach-house for on1y about 14
hours.
We should mention that the apparatus is n ot
onJy used for bleaching, but is applicable for dyeing
many classes of colours where goods in sufficient
quantities require to be treated; and at the Glasgow
Exhibition a number of pieces are shown dyed with
perfect evenness in the same apparatus in which they
wer e bleached. We show in Fig. 7, page 442, a special
type of kier on the same principle as that described
above, but of a simpler nature and obviating the
use of wagons. In this arrangement the cloth is
wound on to a centre inside the kier, passing at
the same time through the hot liquor ; the cover
is then secured, and the circulation performed in
the same manner as in the wagon type of kier.
After boiling and washing, the goods are drawn out
of the kier ready for the n ext process. This type
has been employed very considerably for linen
bleaching, and has given satisfactory results in the
saving of time effected and in the quality of work
produced.

'

____- ..... ,

- --

---

THE MERIDIONAL RIFT ON THE

UGANDA RAILWAY.

BLEACHING PLANT AT THE GLASGOW EXHIBITION.

R11ilwa.y*has to cross the great meri- CONSTRUCTED BY

dional rift which runs nearly north and south at
about the thirty-sixth line of longitude. This rift
is bounded on the east by the K\kuyu escarpment,

and on the west by th e Mau escarpment. It has a

width of 25 to 30 miles, and extends north and

south beyond British territory, its length being
several hundred miles. The floor of the rift is by
no means level, but rises from the south at a
gradual slope to the saddle at Longonot. After
several undulations it slopes downwards again to
the nort h, past L ake Ba.ringo. The Uganda Railway, between the 362nd and 375th miles, descends the Kikuyu escarpment and reaches the
floor of the rift. and then it ascends-the fall
being between 2000 ft. and 3000 ft.-the Ms.u
escarpment. The descent involves some heavy
work, including eight viaducts and several heavy
r ock cuttings; and in order to avoid the delay which
would have occurred to the advancement of t he
rails while these works were being carried out, it
was decided to at once descend by means of haulage
inclines to the floor of the rift. whence a surface
line could be laid to mile 375. These inclines have
now been in use for nearly eighteen months, and
have transpor ted the permanent way and material for
200 miles of rail way beyond, as well as all the food
and necessary supplies for over 10,000 men employed in the construction of the r~ilway. The
permanent line will be completed in the course of
the next three months, when these inclines will be
taken up.
As the matter is one of great interest., we take
the opportunity to publish, on our two-page plate
and also on the opposite page, views of the inclines,
together with a plan and sections (Figs. 1 and 2).
Fig. 4 on the two-page plate shows the top incline
on a gradient of 1 in 7 ; this is entirely worked by
gravity, all the load being down-hill. The brake
gear is fixed at the top of the incline; the loaded
wagon bringing up the empty one.
The two n ext inclines have maximum gradients
respectively of 1 in 2 and 1 in l f , and, as t here are
several changes of gradi'e nt, it _was considered advisable to have a windmg engine, so that it would
be possible to brin~ UJ? i heavy load, such_ as a
locomotive. In pract1ee It has been found advisable

to work the inclines with the engines always in gear,

as otherwise, without a very considerable preponderance on the descending load, the drivers frequently
allowed the load to travel at a dangerous speed.
Fig. 3, page 443, shows the winding engine and
brake-gear at the head of lA. incline ; a wagon of
rails is standing on the level ready to be placed

on the incline.
_
_
On these inclines lA. and lB the wagons are placed
on carriers which run on a 5-ft. 6-in. gauge ; and
}""ig. 5 on ~ur two page plate shows a loaded ~rrier
just approaching the pit, whe,n ce the wagon will be
sh unted off on to the 155 ft. of level that connects
lA incline with lB incline. The platform rigged out
at the side of the carrier is for t he convenience of

.
t he staff working the traffic.
Fig. 6 shows the same incline . with .a de~cendmg
load near the middle. Fig.
IR a stde y1e'! and
shows the carriers near the mtddle of the tnchne.
Incline lB is worked in exactly the same way as

l.A , and a general view of it is shown in Fig._8 . .

'fhe changes of gradient on these two mchnes

were introduced to save work, as large embank
ments on such a steep slope would have bee~

practically impossible, and would hav~ necessitated heavy masonry walls. The maximUI~ and

minimum grades were so arranged that the ~a1l~ on

1h e carriers should never be at a greater tnchna

tion than 1 in 7 and no trouble of any sort has

been experienc~d in 'working them. , They are

capable of passing a much greater traffic than has

,
to pass over them, and ~re therefore only worked
during the hours of daylight..
.
The bottom incline No. 2 1B wor~ed 1n the sam_e
way as the top one, No. ~-~y gravity-and ternnnates at the Kedong Statwn 1n the K~don~ Vall_ey,
as this portion of the rift is called. Ftg. 9 1s a. v1~w
of the escarpment from near the bottom of thts Incline, and shows also inclines lB and l _.A.. 'Fhe brake
gear and clip drums for working the mclmes were
manufactured by Messrs. Fow~er and Co., and the
steel wire ropes by l\1essrs. Bulhvant and Co., under

~IE

THE Uganda

>

R . l\IATHER AND PLATT, LTD., ENUINEERf.!, l\IANCHE TER.

(For Description, see Page 44L)

'

T re . G.

* See ENoiNEEBINO, vol. lxviii., page 161.

~~

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443

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

TEMPORARY INCLINES ON THE UGANDA RAILWAY.

(For Description, see opposite Page.)

..-

..-

c:::

..
L.

F4J.1.

c:::

;r

...~

'CID

..

c:

STAT!Of4

90

w:1

c:::

.... .

.X

I!

..

5;;

Cl

130

140

~~16511'1.

l~Hdqht

1232 0 (1.

c
~
c

Fif!.Z.

ION

_I_N f'' I N:; rJP3 1651 FT :

I'

,........,

.,,,, 1100 FT L~;

'-.. 7

., ....
l

llDD_!!_

14..111 RC. 145 0 FT

r..

\.......-

I iO

general character of the engines is well shown in

our engra vings. As will be seen, t hey a re of a t ype
which has become the makers' standard for t he smaller
class of marine compound engine. The cylinders
are supported oo t he one side by columns cast
on the condenser body, and at the front by separate
cast-iron columns. The valve chests for both cylinders
are readily accessible, and tbe feed, circulating, and air

Pig.J.

FIG

3.

WINDIKG ENGINE AND BRAKE AT H EAD OF THE

N0 .

l A IN CLI:KE.

t.he direction of the con sulting engineers to the proportion of short sticks, Messrs. Glover and Co.
Uganda Rail way Committee, M essrs. Sir A. R endel attach a patented screening arrangement, which is
shown in p osit'ion in the engraving. It consists of
and Co.
long troughs fitted wit h live rollers so oanted that
they throw up the sticks and allow the dirt and waste
FIREWOOD MACHINERY.
pieces to pass betw~en, t he longer sticks being caro~ page 435 we illustrate a machine for splitting ried on and delivered at the end of the t rough, or are
firewood which has recently been designed and conveyed to an ingenious bundling machine.
mt).nufaotured by ~1es!.lrs. 1YI. Glover and Co. ' s~w
mill engineers, of Holbeck-lane, Leeds, and whtoh we
lal-,ely had an opportunity of seeing in operation. As
ENGINES OF THE S.S. "FLESWICK."
will be seen by t he engraving, it is a double-sided
WE illustrate on page 450 a. set of compound engines,
machine having a heavy flywheel, which is placed on
th3 top, that being ~he po~iti~n prefer~ed, as it is found supplied by Messrs. McKie and Baxter, of the Copeto ml).terially help ID deh vermg a sohd blow t hrough land Works, Govan, for the s. s. F leswick, a. coasting
the knives, a necessary condit ion when hard or steamer built recently by the Ailsa Shipbuilding
knotty wood has to be split. The knives are below, Company, of Troon. The Fleswiok measures 179 ft.
in length, by 27ft. 10 in. beam. by 13 ft. 1 0~ in. deep.
and are worked bv connecting rods.
With this powerful machine hard wood can h?. split The engines have cylinders 21 in. and 47 in. in d ia
wi r.h facility and knots can be out through wtthou t meter by 33 in. stroke, and on trial gave t he ship a
waste of wood. It is especially effective with hard speed of 10! ko otfl, when carrying 770 tons of cargo.
and cross-grained Australian or New Zealand wood, It is claimed that for the coasting trade, with t he
which can be divided into t hin or thick sticks. For boats constantly in and out of port, compound endealing with dirty or barky wood, sleepers, or wagon gines are, on the whole, more satisfactory than triple
wood containing bolt holes, &<'., which out up wiLh a expansion ones, as they cost less to maintain. The

,/

(6304. C.)

pumps are all driven by t he usual beam from t he lowpressure crossh~ad. The special feature of the engines
1s to be found ID Baxter's patent steam starting and
reversing gear, which is shown in dP.tail in Fig. 3. Its
place on the engine is between the back columns
as shown in F ig. 2, and the piston-rod of the reversing
cylinder is directly connected to an arm on th~

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

444
y;eigh-bar of the r eversing gear, as shown at A
1n. Fig. 3. A peculiarity of the steam cylinder of
th1s reversing engine is that it has distinct Eets of
ports for the inlet and exhaust. The latter opens
into the cylinder at some distance from the cover s.
To check the motion of the piston, the steam cushion
is relied on in place of an oil or water cylinder, such
as is common in direct-acting s team gears. An "overtaking motion , or floating lever is fitted to the
valve which shuts off steam from the cylinder at
any position of the links. This is obtained by
coupling the rod B from the controlling handle, not
direct to the valve spindle C, b ut to a lever D pivoted
atE on the link F, one end of which rotates on a pin
in the cylinder casting, whilst the other is connected to
the valve-rod. ln the position shown, steam is shut off
from both ends of the cylinder. By moving up the rod
B, howeYer, the valve is r aised, and steam admitted
above the piston through the central port. As the
piston goes down it raises the rod G; and this by me~ns
of D and the connecting links bring back the valve to
its original position, and shuts off t he s upply of steam.

from 0.10 to 12 k ilogrammes per &quare centimetre. The

rate of flow through the water orifice F had been previously me'lsured with great care by means of the barrel
G graduated along the tube k, k.
The author has experimented sucoessfnlly upon a thinwaned _orifice, a~d upon three converging nozzles having
respectively a diameter at the narrowest part of 10.49,
15.19, and 24.20 millimetres (0. 41 in., 0. 59 in., and 0. 95 in.).
Without entering into detail of the ilgures involved in
these calculations, Fig. 2gives in graphic form the results
obtained with converging orifio~, in all oases where the

a b and a' b' have been drawn on Fig. 2. These differ froiD
the theoretical line by 1 per cen t. more and les3 respectively. The line 0 D corresponds to Grosshof's formula.
I = 15.26 po.o6oo,
The correspondence between the theory and the prac .
tice is satisfactory. It is the same when the subsequent
pressure p (aval) exceeds 0.58 P, in which case the consum ption of steam depends on the two p ressures p and P
simultn.neously, whilst the consumption depends on P
only if pis less than 0.68 P.

Hr---==~- 11
L

;?'=.F~~

Fig. 1.

--:>Air

DIAGRAMMATIC SKETCH
OF

APPARATUS.

THE EFFLUX OF STEAM.

Experiments on the E scape of Steam Through Orifices.*

B
By M. A. RATEAU, of Paris.
lv
(Tra;nslated fro?n the French .}
e
THE calculation of steam turbines depends upon the
knowledge of the laws which determine the escape of
F
eteam through converging or converging-diverging orifices. In order to verify exactly the formul re for the

escape of steam, the author undertook, in 1895-6, at St.

Etienne, a eerit!s of experiments on this subject, accordE
G

ing to a method which gives the greatest possible precision. A short indication of these experiments has been
f
~iven in the report on steam turbinea which the author
bad the hon our to present last year at the International

Congress of Applied Mechanics in Paris. But at this

time he had notl yet completed all the calculations of the
results of his experiments, whereas now be is able to give
an account of the result~. They differ a little from those
0
the author provisionally announced at the Congress of
1900.
Those investigators who experimented before and since
the author, namely, Minary and R esal in 1861, Peabody
and Kunhard in 1890, Parenty in 1891, Miller and Read
in 1895, SJnd R osenheim in 1900, have all used the same
method, which consists of condensing in a surface conCOMPARISON 01' EXPERIMENTS ON CONVERGING ORIFICES AND fHEORE'TICAL CALCULATIONS .
Fi!J.Z
denser the steam, which escapes by the orifice, for a sufficiently long pe-riod, and then weighing the condensed
155
155
water. But this method, beyond being very laborious,
can nob give great precision, because, in th~ ~~st place,

it is very difficult to keep constant the Imttal steam

a '-....._
x Orifil:. 24;20 ~m..dtaJ1teler
pre~sure (pession d'amont), P 1 during the whole of the
......
experiments, and the steam, being never absolutely dry,
c -.......... .............
,
)(
,,
J5J9
the water which it carries with it is weighed with the
,.
A ............ .~t ...:.. "-...... .......
'
I
..........
condensed water, so that the results found must be
............
104-9
0
:-......
-........;

.........
f-...
........
"
generally over-estimated.
.........
........
............
The author therefore proposed to remove these causes
a
........
..........
...............
.......
~
.
of error so as toobta.inexactresults within two-thousandths,
5
.....
I
..........
and to use besides, sufficiently large orifices to deliver
.........
r-..........
......
~
.......... .....
............
up to more'than 900 kilogrammes of steam per hour
.... .........
...
..........
..........
He has reached the desi red result by condensing the
..........
..........
~
..........
..........
steam in a. stream of water with the use of an ejector.........
~
..... ........
......
......
condenser, and by measuring the total Y.ield of water and
"""' ~ '
)-..... ......
...............
the initial and final temperatures of this stream. Thus
........
he was able to make all the readings at the same moment,
....................
..............
~
0
......
..........
)- ......
as soon as constant conditions were obtained; an.d each
..........
........ ...
'
......
x-........
<1
.............
experiment did nob last more than one or two mmutes.
0
)'.
..........
............
0
......... ......
Io has been p ossible thus, without much trouble, .to make
0
~
~
"""
5
......
.........
I
more than 140 obser,ations under the most van ed con'
:
:-......
~~
........
N
........
ditions.
~
"""

.....
.:
.'
Fig. 1 represents d-iagrammatically t~e app~ratus em- ,
r-.........
~<l ~ ~
F:::t--......, "-....
ployed. A is the ejector-condenser wh1ch re~e1ves steam
~-............
...... , r......
' r...... cR'b'
...........
through the pipe B, and cold water by the pipe C. The
!'-.... ~ ~
hot water containing condensed steam eEcapes by t~e
..........

....
pipe D into the sheet-iron chamber E, where the .au
..... B
"""' ~ ""
r...... r......
' ..
separates out ; then it goes out through the convergmg
~
.........
0
orifice Fat a pres3u re mea.sured by the wa:ter gauge h h.
t--.. t--..
t-- r-.. b
The rise in temperature of the water IS me!lsured by
14
the thermometers e and f graduated to twe~tietbs .of a
(7046 B
7
/2
6
8
9
10
11
5
3
4
2
degree, and previously calibrated in comparison With a
Pressur~ P. Kg.pu cm, z
Baudin thermometer.
.
.
The n ozzle to be tested is placed ~itbm the ~t~e at I.
In the latter case the consumption may be very exacbly
It receives the vapour through the pipe H, 5~ m1lhmetres subsequent preEsure p (aval} was less than 0.58 of the
in diameter, a.nd throws it il:~t<? .the large p1pe B., of 120 initial pressure P. The points indicate the ratio~ rate represented by the formula
millimetres in diameter. The tmtial pressure P (c~ l amont)
I == P (15.20- 0. 06 log. P),
wa.s measured by one or other of the gauges a or. b. The of consumption in grammes per second and per sq uare
resultant pressure p (a l!aval) was measured by either the centimetre of orifice, at the absolute pressure P (d'amont) I being the consumption in grammes per second and per
metall'ic pressure gauge rn, or the me~cury gauge c ~
in kilogrammes per square centim tre for different values square centimetre of orifice, and P the initial pr~sure in
kilogrammes per square centimetre.
The steam arriving from the boiler by the pipe N,
P.
.
t o the
rushes with centrifugal force into the separator J, on of There
are fifty-nine results wh'1cb a.pproxtmate
account of the partial v~cnum therein, and the s!Dall theoretical straight line A B, calculated from Regnault's
quantity remaining can be measured by the spe01ally tables by the thermodynamica.l for~ula, assuming t~at
BALDWrN LocOMOTIVES.- Oontinued activity is noted
arranged apparatus L .
. .
h' the mechanical equivalen t of beat 1s equal to 425 ktlo- in the Baldwin Locomotive W ork3, Philadelphia, all the
The author was thus a.ssu~ed from the beg.mnmg of 18 grammetres per calorie. The differences do. not usually departments being on full time. During the first six
experiments that the qua.ntu.y of water passmg the sepa- exceed 2 per cent. The mean of the results g~ves a figure months of this year the company completed 652 looomo
rator never exceeded two to three-thousandths; and as the seven thousandths in excess. when compared w1th the theo- tives; this, compared with the first six months of 1900,
error due to this method could not exceed a quarter .of retical calculation. This difference ma.y be due to the during which less than 600 were completed, shows a.
this amount, or a.n insignifi?ant figure, be has neglected 1t. displacement of ~he thermometer zeros(of ~me to two t~nths remarkable increase. A new ma.chineshop now under
The pressure before pa.-ssmg the nozzle could. be regu- of a degree} durmg the course of the tr1als. It w~ll be oonstruc~ion at Sixteen th and ~{>t:ing Garden Sbre~ts
1 ted at will by means of the cock K ; a spe01al val ve, ob~erved that this would not exceed .3.5 thousandths, 1f one will, when completed, afford fa.01httes for a further ID
~tuated by the crank g. enabled the pressure p (aval} to assumed for the theoretical c~lou.latlOn a val.ue 428 for the crease of production. Re~ent deliveri~ include ship
be fixed at fllny desired a.monnt nbove the lowest pressure mechanical equivalent E, wbtch 18 now adantted; for the ments to a number of the 1mporbant ratlway systems of
caused by the ejector-condenser. The author has thus formula. of the speed of escape includes J2g N n.s afactor. the United States_; a.nd twenty-three engines of a special
been able to operate through a long range of pressures,
The scale of ordinates in the figure is oontorted on typ~ have been shtpped from New York by the steamer
a.ooount of the method of recordi~g small differe~ces. . To K!l1ght of St. George for the New Zealand Government
'* Paper read before the I.nternational Eng~neering show clearly the value of the differences, stra1ght hnes . ratlways.
Opngress, G la.sgow, 1901. Sect10n !II. : Mecbamoa.l.
I

'

IJ

11

'

'

11

'

'

'

#'

"'

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

445

steel bars, and to these aro attached, in

CANADIAN AGRICULTURAL J\1:AOHINERY. angle-shn-ped
different ways by different makers, a series of highlyAyricultuml .ill achincr!t in the CcmcuUun Puvilion at the tempered steel teeth, about i in. thick. The teeth are
Glasgow International Exhibition, 1901. *
curved in such a way that they dig into the ground, tearin~ the clods of earth ltnd levelling the furrows. The
By :Mr. G. liAu.wooo Fno 'T, B. A. c., ~mith's Falls
spike-tooth harrow is ruade in much the same manner,
Ontn.rio, Canada.
'
with the exception tha.t it has solid st eel teeth, in the
AGRIOU J,TUHE i::~ the a rt of cultivating tho ground and
obtai!ling f.rom it t!1e products necessary for the support form of pointed spikes, about 1 in. square, instead of
of ammul hfe. It I tho olde t occupation of which we spring teeth. In both these harrows there is a heavy
have a_ny record, being mentioned in the curlier part of coiled spring attached to an adj usting bar, to allow the
t!1e B1blo, where we aro told of certain persons being teeth to yiold when in contact with an unmovable ob
tdler:s of tho ground and othet " being shepherds. 'fhe struction, and also to give thom a continuous vibration.
h~rdmg of sheep wa confined to tho mounta,i nous dis- By means of a lever operating the adjusting bar
tncts, whoro the n:t~u~al growth. of grass afforded plenty the teeth mn.y be set at various angles for woik
of pasturage, and tillmg tho sOil was carried on m the ing over different kinds of ground. The disc harrow
well-watered valley di tricts, whero the periodic over- is an implement ex tensively used in America, but
flowing of the rivers fortili eel the hmd and forced an only recently introduced into Great Britnin. It i
abundant crop with little manual labour ~ftor the ground different from the others, being compc~ed of a series of
had been prepared for eed and the seed sown. H ence concave discs of highly-tempered steel, which cut the
tho proccs:ses of agr~culturo originally employed were ex- ground instead of tearing it. It will pulverise and level
tremely ~unple, bemg confine~ to me~oly prepa~ing the soil that is too hard for any other kind of harrow to
prOJ?erly handle. The discs are arranged in two sections
ground without any effort to t1mulate 1t productlvene
and the plough wu practically the only implement in u e: of SIX, even, or eight discs, which revolve on hardened
ball-bearings. The sections are adjustable to any
To-day, by the use of mechanical appliance the farmer steel
prepares va t areas of land in a hort time dws the eed angle : in some makes by one lever which compels both
to wor.k at the ~me angle ; in others by two levers
stimulate the growth of the grain, and f~rce the ma~i~ seo~ons
which allow either sect1on to be set at ~tn independent
mut?- yi.eld that the land is capable of; he opens up to angle. The former has an ad vantage in ease of operation
oultivatwn barren wa te n.nd unbroken tracts covered
perfectly level ground, and the latter has the advantage
with coarse prairie grn ; ltnd he harvest the crop with on
on rough and hilly land, while working equally well on
a rapidity undreamed of even 50 years ago.
lttnd. The depth of cutting can be regulated by the
The process of agricul ture may be divided into its level
ttngle ttt which the sections are set ; and in turning cornei-s
se,eral cla es, a follows :
workin~ on hillsides the draught on the ho1-ses can be
1. Preparing the ground for the seed by means of or
regulated m the same way. The sections are also flexible
ploughs and harrows.
to all9w either en.d to ri.se and puss over an obstruction:
2. ~owing the seed- broaden t seeder and drills.
dlSC;S a.re provided w1th scrape1-s aiTan~ed in sections,
3. Cultivation and cure of the growing crop-oultiVI\. tors The
!or keepmg them clean, the scraper-s of eacn section being
of variou kinds, horse-hoe , weeders, thi tie-cutter , &c. mdependently
locked on or off, and shifted with the
4. Harvesti ng the crop- mowers, tedders, rakes and
sectio~ of discs to wbic~ they belong. Each scraper works
loa~ers for hay, self-binding harvesters and reape;-s for on
an. mdcfrendw~t S,Pnng, and al~v~ys.fits tightly again t
gram.
the d1so. rhe prm01pal uses of tlns Implement are cutting
5. Preparing the crop for use- threshers and other turf,
a?-d pulv~ri~ing and levelling the ground after
machines.
but 1t lS equally well adapted for breakincr up
In the Cnuadit\.n Ptwilion n,t the Glasgow International ploughmg;
the land after the corn crop has been taken off which
E xhi bition, Canadian implement for the first four pur- cannot.
~e done with a t oothed harrow. F or this purpose
poses are represented by tho products of six factories the. Br1t1 h farme~ generally uses a rigid-tooth cultivator;
namely, the ~In.. ey-Harris Company, Toronto; the Frost while the Canadian farmer uses a di c harrow which
nnd W ood Compu~ny, mith'sFaUs; theNoxon Company answe1-s also for ordinary harrowing purposes.
'
In~ersoll ; D a.vid JYiaxwell and on 1 t. lVInry's ; all of
wh1oh manufacture a large variety of Implements ; ttnd the . Anot~er.kind of h~rrow, but only adaptable for use in
V erity Plow Company, and the Cook hutt Plow Com- hght soll, IS the cham harrow, made of tt series of steel
pany, both of Brantford, which are devoted exclu ivoly links.
Sowers (Fig . 1 . and 2, page 446).-Th.e ground being
to tile production of plough.
The earliest implements u ed by the ettlers in Canada broken a~d levelJ Is ready f?r the recept10n of the seed.
were imported from Great Britain, but as the almo t The earliest metnod of sowmg was to carry the seed in
illimitable n,rea. of arable land in Canada became opened a receptacle, scattering it broa~lcast by the hand, and
up to settlement, the demand for implements soon induced some fell on good ground and y1elded a crop, while some
their manufacture at home. The rapid development of fell on bad ground and was lost. In our day, howtheWest rowar~ed these ~arly man.ufacturers with success, ever, the chances of thus losing seed are reduced to
and the capae1ty of the1r factones was constantly in- a minimum by mechanical devices. For different purcrea ed, until to-day Canada i the large t producing poses, seed. is sown in. different ways-brondca t, and in
British Colony and, next to the United tate , the largest rows, or dnlls. lVIachines for both methods are shown
the broadca t seeder bl the ~fassey-Harris Company'
producer of farming machinery in the world.
uob seeds ~
P loughs. - Th e first d emand was, naturally, for ploughs and the drill by the Noxon Company.
for breaking the land. 'fhe plough is the oldest and peas, .beans, ~arley, and some others, are, us a rule, sown
simplest of u:vicultural implements, being represented m dnlls, wh1le grass seed, clover, and sometimes corn
amongst the lueroglyphic.s on the ancient tombs of Egypt, are sown broadcast. There are two varieties of drills___:
dating back more than 4000 years ; and as early as the the hoe and the shoe. The seed is contained in a box
year 1000 B. C., the plough was described by one of the from which it passes t o the ground through a series of
Greek historians a con i ting of a beam~ a share, and tubes, at the bottom of which are the open hoes or shoes.
handles. 'fo-day it consi ts essentially of t t1e same parts. The hoe-dri.ll hoes a channe~ through the ground by
Until the past century it was mad e of wood, and its form m~ns of d1amon~-shaped pomts, the seed passes into
had not undergone mp ny changes ; but now it is safe to ~h1s channel, and .1s covered by the e."lrth falling back on
say that no other instrument for use in agriculture or for 1t. The shoe-dnll has a row of steel runners with
any other purpose can boast of o many varieties of hape V -shaped bottoms which are curved upward at the points
and construction as the plough. Its forms ttre numbered in a form resemblincr a shoe. These sharp-bottomed
by thousands, every country and almost every locality shoes cut funows through the earth into which the
having its own models, and every condition of land bE:'i11g seed passes, and short drag-chains attached to the rear
provided for. The varieties Rhown in the Exhibition are of the shoes throw a loose covering over it. Gmss seed
a E-lection of those made in Canada to suit the conditions ~ay be sow~, frOJ? th~ drills by ~ep~acin.g the hoes with
scatterers, wh1ch, mstead of dtggmg mto the grQ~d
of Great Britain, where the soil };R been cultivat ed for
generation and i free from many of the ob tructions met sca.tter the eed broaden t o~er it. In .the regular broal
with in the barren and unbroken wildernesses of Western cast see<;]et-s the tubes are dispen~ed w1th. altogether, the
Canada. 'fhey a re constructed on the straight line prin- seed falling from the box, and sprmg cult1vator teeth are
ciple, and all local conditions have been met. A difference attached which throw the covering over it. The feedin the method of holding and turning the plough in this wheel which carries the seed from the box to the t ubes concoun try, although very slight, ha been provided for by sis~ of a :solid cut-awaJ7 cylinder of about 3 in. in length
the use of two adj ustable sup:Porting wheels attached to (F1g. 1, page 446). This IS turned by a genring driven
the beam, and by an increa e m the thickness of the heel by the road-wheels, o that when the machine is at rest
of the lund 'ide, to prevent too rapid wear at this .Point. the ~eed i closed; it is also olo ed when the hoes or sho~
The mould-boards are made of oft centre or "syndicate, nre hfted from the ground, or there is a motion of backing
steel, which preven ts brittlE-ness and p ermits of cleaning; the maohme. On the rear of the seed. box there is an
the landsides and coulters are made of crucible steel, indicator bowing how much seed of different kinds should
highly tempered; the beams are of wrought iron and the be sown to. the acre-gr~in seed being ~i ven in pecks and
handles of wood, making the plough much lighter than gr~ss. se~d 111 pounds (F1g. 2). By movmg the pointer on
the English teel-handled ploughs, with, a has been th. mdicator to the figure showing the quantity it is
proved by experience, equal strength and greater ea e of desued to sow to the acre, the feed -wheel is shifted
handling. The point ' are made of cast teel1 chilled, and enlargi~g or diminishing the size of the opening in th~
may be detached and replaced by new pomts as they measunng channel to allow just the amount desired to
pn$5 through. Besides this there is a dial which registers
wear.
Har1ows.-Aftor the ground ha been broken and turned the numher of nares sown. The ho~ are held in posiby the plough, it is pul ve1ised, and a level eed-bed made tion by springs which allow them to pass over ob trucby the u e of a harrow. Of the h arrow there are shown tions freely, and to quickly return to their working p o iseveral varieties: the spring-tooth, the pike- tooth, and ti?ns. They are locked securely to the frame by clamps,
the disc, each having its particular merits and uses. w1tho~t the u e of bolts or pins, so thnt they may
Harrows are usually made in sections, which may be be ea ily removed and replaced by cultivator teeth. The
coupled together to allow two, three, or more sections to de~th at which they deposit the seed and the angle l'lt
be u ed at a time. The framework of the spring-tooth whtch they. out the ground is regulat ed in ome by spring
hanow i made of one continuou bar of steel running pressure, m others by a mechanism similar to the
entirely around each ection, across which are everal reversing link of a locomotive; and they may be lifted
?ut of the ground . either altogether by a lever, or
m~el'endently by cbams. Another lever iR provided for
* Paper read before the International Engineering Con- sh1ft1?g the hoes to a double-line, or zigzag position, to
gress, Glasgow, 1901. Section I I I.: Meoh~mical.
perm1t clods to puss between when working on rough,

lumpy ground that has not been sufficiently broken up

by the harrow.
Oultivators.- The third process of agriculture the care
of the growing crOJ?-iS an important one; but the
implements used for It are of the simplest variety. The
ground must be kept clear of weeds and thistles, and it
must be loosened up, especially while the crops are young,
after it has become caked either by rain or by sun. F or
these purposes a variety of implements is used, such as
horse-hoes, spring-tooth and rigid-tooth cultivators,
weeders, hillers, &c., but all may be ola sed under the
general head of cultivators. The most extensively used,
and the only variety shown in the Canadian ection, is
the spriog-tooth cultivator. The framework is of angle
steel and strongly braced; tho teeth, or tines, are S-s ha ped,
and are made of spring steel, oil t empered ; the points
are of various shapes, and are reversible and interchangeable, permitting points for various purposes to be used on
the same tines. The teeth are ananged in section
imilar to the sections of the harrows, which are su pported
by a shaft at the front, and the depth of cultivation is
regulated by spring pressure on each of the sections. On
the Massey-Hurris cultivator this pressure is applied from
the front, while on the Fro t and W ood, the ~oxon, and
the ~Iaxwell implements it is applied directly to the rear,
above the teeth. One lever, a ISted by a coiled spring,
serves to lift the teeth out of the ground and to force them
in, according to the depth desired.
Most of the spring-tooth cultivators are arranged also
for -use as broadcast seeders, space being provided above
the front of the sections for the seed-box.
Ha1rveste1s.- Tbe process of harvesting the crop is the
one that has brought out the greatest ingenuity of man in
the d~velopment of farming machinery. Neither the
preparmg of a seed-bed nor the sowing of the seed
necessitated the applip~tio.n of machinery in the early
days, and natural fertihsat10n saved further labour; but
when the crop ripened it had to be gathered before the
weather ruined. it, and prepared for use. This was done
by means of s~cld~, th~eshing-floors, flail , 'vinnowing
bo~rd.s, an?- grmdmg rmlls, all of which are hown by
pam tmgs m the tombs of ancient Egypt. Egypt was
one of the first countries in which agricultural practice
wnsdeveloped, and animal power applied to the various
processes. From Egypt the knowledge of agriculture
spread to Greece, thence to Rome, and from R ome to the
rest of Europe, and the first mechanical device for cutti~g grain b.Y animal P.Ow~r was suggested by the Romans .
Pliny d escnbes a deVIce m use by the Gauls in the form
of a car t with a comb-like bar in front, which stripped
off the ears of wheat and delivered them into a box.
A~ter th~ lapse of eigh~een centuries the principle of
this machine has been re-m vented, and is now in use in
the headers which harvest the enormou crops of wheat
of Canada, the United tates, and other parts where only
the grain is gathered, leaving the straw to be burned .
7'he problem of developing the primjtive sickle and scythe
m to the most use~ul and available machines for harvesting
the gr~ss and gram crop o.f the world has long engaged the
attent10? of man, but I~ was not until comparatively
recent ttmes that the practtcul results showed any great
efficiency. During t he nineteenth century however the
mower, the reaper, and the binder have co~e into ~xist
en~e, .and have passed .through many sta~es of shape and
prm01ples of con~tructwn and ?Peration mto.their .Present
t~te of p erfection. T hese ttme and labour-savmg machines are 1~ow deemed. indispen5!1ble by all who raise
hay ~nd gram; a!ld theu product10n has alone rendered
po Ible the opemng u.P. to ~ett!ement and as-rioultural develoP.ment;S of .the _prarne d1stn.ots of Amenca, Australia,
Russia, S1ben a, South Amenca and Africa in all of
~vhich parts Ca,n adian-made harvesting maohi~ery is now
m every-day use.
Bo~h mowers and binders are exhibited by the MasseyHarns Company, the Fr9st and Wood Company, the
Noxon Company, and Dav1d ~laxwell and Sons. While
the principles of operation and the results obtained are
the same in all, the ?leohanical .methods. of obtaining this
result, and the deviCes by which the d1fferent machines
~eet the varying conditions imposed upon them, are
~Jfferetit ; and each firm claim superior ad vantucres for
Its own co~truction, which it is not the purpose ~f this
pa~er to disc~ss.
] or harv~tmg the hay crop, four machines A.re used.
The grass IS out by the mower, turned for drying by the
tedder, gathered by the rake, and loaded on the wagon by
the loader. R akes are hown by three firms, tedders by
two, and the loaders by only one.
Jl:fowers (FiG" . 3 to 6).-9n the mower .a solid and heavy
tubular ea t-1ron frame IS used a th1s secures a more
p01feot a!ld permanent alignm~nt of the running gear
and shaft~ng t han a steel frame, which must be built up of
~everal p~eces bolt~d t~getber. The wheels are of cast
Iron,. 31 m: to 34. m. high, 3~ in. to 4 in. wide, and are
proVlded w1th h?t:Izontal and ver~icullugs on the rims to
m ure good dn_vmg co~tact w1th the ground. The
wheels com~urucate the1r forward motion to the shaft
and the mam. g~ar-wheel through a ratchet and SJ?ring
pawls on the mside of t~e hubs of both wheels (Fig. 3
page. 446). From the mam gear-wheel the motion is com~
murucated to the cross-shaft by various arrangements of
spur and bevel wheels and pinions, giving a rapid motion
to t~e crank, and thence ~o the knife through the conneotLI?-g-rod. The conneotmg-rod is long, and is in some
machines mnde of wood . the variety used being wellseasoned. second-growth hH~kory, and in others it is of
wrought Iron or s~eel. It IS attached to the knife-bead
and to the crank e1ther ~Y a ball-and-socket joint (Fie-. 4)
or ~y a hook at:d eye (F.tg. 5). The speed given is m a
rat~o of from 5? to 62 VIbratwns of the knife to one revolutwn of the dnve-wheels. A lower speed tha..n this would
not out ~apidly .enough in . heavy grass to prevent
some of It blookmg the action of the machine, and

..
E N G I N E E R I N G.
a h~gher speed \Vould overheat the bearings. The
buttmrb apparatus, consisting of the heavy steel cutter . ar, t
fingers or. guards, ~nd the sectional knife,
18 lla~ac hed to a hinged portion of the main frame
ea. e t e hanger, by large bearings, and is sup~
ported at each end by a shoe with either wheels or
steel runners. It is made of different lengths to cut a
swath of from s; ft. to 6ft. wide, and the width of tread
between the dr1 ve-.wheels is proportionately wide-from
~ ft. to~ ft. -to g~ve the machine stability. The knife
IS held tightly agamst the guard plates by several clips,
to make a close. shear out and to prevent short and soft
grass from gettmg between the knife and the bar. After

levers (Fig. 6)-o~e. for throwing the machine in and out

of gear, one for tiltmg the cutte~-~ar to any angle to suit
the n~t~re of the ground or condition of crop, a foot-lever
for r~1smg the bar fro~ t he ground, t~mporarily, while
turmng corners or passmg an obstruct10n leaving both
hA:n~s free to ~andle the reins, and a hand-lever for
r~1smg the ~ar hig~er and. locking it in the raised positt<?n: A coiled sprmg assists the action of both of these
ralSmg levers. qn the outer shoe of the cutter-bar is a
track clearer, which ~eflects the grass sufficiently to leave
a clear track for the mner wheel on the succeedmg round
of the mach~ne. It. works against a pressure spring
thB~t allows it to gtve freely before all obstructions.

Fig . 1.

[SEPT. '17,

1901.

four-pronged for~s, m9u!lted on a zigzag steel shaft at the

rear of the. maohuie, gi vmg the forks three positions, and
they are p1voted about one-third their length above this
shaft.. The shaft is operated directly from the centre by
a o~am, the power coming from the drive-wheels through
an mternal spur gear near the centre of the main axle.
By ~!- lever the forks can be adj usted up and down while in
motion, and the machine thrown in and out of gear. The
forks ar~ provided 'vi~h springs, which prevent breakage
from stnkmg obstruct10ns.
.R<;tke.- 'l,he horse rake is made to dump either automatically, by means of a friction band or a spurwheel on
the axle, thrown on by a foot lever, or by a hand lever

So-uJe,rs.

H oe Drill .

Fig . Z. A rrangem-ent for R e-gulating the Flow of Seed, a:rul Dia~ f or

De,tail of Feed from See-d-box

into the T ubes .

l nciica t i ug JV,u:mber of A eYe$ Sow?t/.

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Fi,g . 3 .
Method of
Driving Mo wers
through Pawls
in the Wheels .

Fi.g .6.
Sectional End View ,
showing the Adj ustable
Bra ce , T ilting L ever, Haud
and Foot Spring Lift
and Underdraft .

T wo leading_ methods of attaching the

Connecttng_-rod to the Knife.
.-. .Forged Steel Ja ws
.Fie. 4 .

A d) us table B race .
Fi-9 .5 .

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Tempered
Steel
Wear~ug

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f7tm. 8}

much use, the constant strain on the cutting apparatus

has a tendency to makAit sag backward, and to t hrow the
knife and the connecting-rod out of line, although every
effort is made by the use of large and strong bearings to
prevent its doing- so ; and if this were not remedied the
knife would out m to the fingers, and soon the entire apparatus would be. ruined. A stron~ brace is. therefore provided, conneotmg the panger wtth ~he solid tubular part
of t he main frame, wb1ch can be adJusted to take up any
wear and keep the cutter-bar and the connecting-rod
alw~ys in perfect alignment. The hanger conne~tion
must also allow the cutter-bar to accommodat~ 1tself
automatically to the most uneven su~face, so .t~at It may
float easily up and do~ ov~r all IITeg:ulanties of phe
ground without interfenng w1th the act10n of the knife.
Con venient to the operator on the seat there are several

The horses dt'.liW the machine from below the pole, the 1 assisted by a. coiled spri11g. The teeth are made o a ne
draft being ~pplied directly to t he hange~, and the weight 1 qu.ality of ~ruoible sprin~ steel, tempered. By the use of
of the pole ts counterb~tlanced by the rlr1ver on the seat; I this maten al the Canadian manuf~toturers can use lightthus !elieving all. weight from the horses' necks, while weig~t teeth of less than ~ in. in diameter ; while on all
drawmg the maobm~. .
.
.
English makes the teeth are very he~wy, being made of
Hay Tedder.- Tb1s Implement IS used for tossmg and wrought steel and not tempered, of vanous shaped section,
turning the grass for drying. It can tun1 as much and about 1 in. thick. vVhen the teeth are raised, the
grass in one day as ten people can by hand, and by its gn.tbered hay is forced out by a line of clearing rods. The
use a much better quality of hay is secured than by hand wheels and axles are of steel. The rakes are made of varyturning, and for the reason that it permits the grass to ing width, from 7ft. to 10ft., and the teeth are from 3 in.
be more quickly and uniformly dried, instead of being to 4 in. apart.
sun-scorched on the top by being left too long on. the
L oader.- The bay loader, Fig. 7, pa~e 447, is a comparaground and imperfectly turned. It is strongly and tively Fecent machine, but its use is bemg greatly extended
ligh tly constructed, and 1S drawn by one horse. The frame every year. Its advantages are many, the principal being,
is of angle steel, well bmced to give rigidity, the wheels perhaps, that, by its use, hay is often secured when ready
f\..re channel steel, and about 4 ft. high. There are six for the stack that might otherwise be ruined by th~

...

....

447 ..

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

190 1.]
wen.ther . \Vhon the hay hns been t urned t\.nd thoroughly
dri ed , it must be collected without loss of time ; and t he
farmer often works far in to the night rather than take
the chan ce.. of lo ing his crop before morning. . Further,
the loading of the hay on tbe wagon is the most laboursome part of hR-ymaking. vVi t h the loader i t is possible
for three men to place a ton of hay on the wagon in five
minu~es, whi le it would require the same men fully
16 mmutes to do the work by hand. The machine is
attached to t he rear of the wngon, a nd operated by t he
same team that draws the load, adding but slightly to t he
draught. The driving power comes from the wheel
t hrough a ratchet and pawl in the hubs, which may be
thrown on nnd off at will. These drive a cyli ndrical oage
revolving on t he axle, nnd carrying six rows of curved
teeth which pick up the hay nnd deposit it on an elevating

binding harvester of t o-day, which ranks high, not only as

a great time a nd labour-Mving machine, but as one of the
greatest inventi ons of the nineteenth cen tury.
B inders (Figs. 8, 9, and 10).-This is essentially a
place-cbangmg machine; it cuts the grain, binds it in
compact sheaves, and deli vers the sh eavP~ but it in no
way alters the form or condition of the gram itself. T o
do this there a re six distinct operations, namely: reeling, cutting,. elevating, paokinghtying, and discharg~ng.
Tne mechamsm for each of t e first four opera.t10ns
forms a complete machine in itself, which can be worked
independently, and those in which adj ustment is necessary
for varying condi tions are separat ely con t rolled by the
operator, while the last two op erat10ns are worked t og-ether. The reel holds the gram against the knife until
1t is cut, t hen lays it on the moving platform canras,

Pig. 7.

H ~ L oader.

Chain

B inde1s.

1''1J 8 .

11et hod of
Dr1.vzng B inder
f rouz 1/rzin Wh eel,
also raising
and lowering
devices .

Steel
~luf Sprr.ng

~rrangeme~zt f or Eleva ting H ea vy nud T angled Grain .

Allowtng fo r expanston o f spa<.e between elevators with a constant tight h old on the grain.
~

~~--

- Fig. 9.

Pig.70.

screen whose driving roller is the revolving cylinder. It

is then carried to the top of t he loader whence it falls on
the wagon, where i t is put in position by hand labour.
The angle of elevation is automat ically ndjusted as the
height of the load on the wagon increases. An upright
frame supports soverallon~ wood lats which rest on the
ascending hay, to prevent 1ts being carri ed away by wind
or falling over t he ides.
(1-ra.in H a.rrcsting.- For ha rvesting grain onl y two
operations are n ecessary-the cutting, and t he tyin~ of t he
bundles. There are two machines for cutting gram- the
reaper and t he self-binding lu\rvester, or binder, a.s it is
more generally caUed. The reaper simply cuts t he grain,
delivering it m gavels which must a fterward be t ied by
hand. Of the reaper there nre two varieties-the manual
delivery and the a utomatic self-delivery. The binder
both cuts tho grain and ties it in sheaves. In the early
days, when machines were first int roduced to take the
labour of ty ing off t he hands of the farmer, wire was
used, but this had many disadvantages, and gA-ve much
trouble to users. Experiment finally produced ~l1e twine-

which carries it to t he foot of the elevators. Here it is

carried upward between two canvases to the top and on
to the slanting binder-deck under which the packers
work. I t is tlien pack ed tightly against the binder cord
until t he required size of bundle is obtained, when a trip
is pressed releasing a esttch, which, in turn, throws the
tying mechanism into gear. The needle arm rises t hrough
t he deck, carrying the twine which completes the circle
of the sheaf, a quick knot is tied, the twine cut, the
n eedle quicldy returns to its position below the deck, a nd
the bundle is discharged on the ground or on a carrier at
the will of the operator .
The entire mechanism is driven from a high and broadrimmed steel wheel whose motion is communicated to the
main gear sha ft through a large sprocket-wheel and a
powerful endless chain Fig. 8. On this ha ft is locat ed
t he anangemen t for throwing the machine in and out of
gear, con trolled by a lever within cohvenient reach of t he
driver when on his seat. From the main gear shaft the
motion is communicated throughout the machine by
means of chain and spur-wh eel gearing . Tqe main weight

of the machine is supported by the driving-wheel, and

the lesser weight by a steel grain wheel at tbe outer ~nd
of the platform. At each end. of the platform tpere IS a
divider extending about 2 ft. m front of the knife. The
outside' divider separates the grain t o be. out from t he
standing grain, supports it above ~he gram w~eel, and
lays it evenly on the platform. It 1s set at a slight out
ward angle, to gather in a sufficient quantity beyond t~e
end of the platfonn to provide a clear track for the gra1n
wheel.
The crankshaft is driven directly from the main g~r
shaft by a bevel-wheel and pinion. This drives the kmfe
through a wooden connecting-rod as on the mower. At
the rear end of t he crankshaft is the sprocket -wheel
for driving the long main chain which passes over several
wheels, driving directly the platform canvas, the lower
elevator can vas, and the packers, also a sha ft or roll~r
which drives the upper elevator CS\..nvas through a cham
or wheel gearing at the front. This elevator must be
driven from t he front, as i t is narrower than the lower,
t o allow the heads of long grain t o p ass up clear of the
canvases. The lower elevator is driven from its top
roller, a nd this in turn drives, through two or three
pinions, a free roller, inserted in the space between the
top of the elevators and the binder-deck, to carry the
grain across this space without danger of its falling
through on the main wheeL Each can vas is driven from
one large rolJer, the other rollers being smaller and free
running. The rollers are of wood with steel spindles
inserted at the ends ; they are pinned through in two or
three ,Places in different directions to avoid p ossibility of
splittmg, and they revolve in close-fitting malleable
collars, which prevent grain becoming twis ted about the
ends and blockinJr the action of the machine. The canvas
aprons are provtded wit h cross slat s at inter vals, to hold
the grain strai~ht and prev~nt it from slipping.
A difference m the method of driving the upper elevat or
canvas in two of the machines may be explained here. In
t he ~Iassey-Harris it is driven from the top, making the
side next the grain the tight side, and in the Frost and
W ood from the bottom, making this the loose side. At
first sight this might appear to nave different effects upon
t he grain, but the counstruotion of other p arts counterbalances this difference and makes t he result the same.
On the machine, Fig. 9, a third roller is introduced into
the elevator to make the upper ply of the canvas run at an
angle, leaving a considerable space between the two plies.
The slope of the elevator not being very steep, a tight
grip on t he grain is not necessary in dealin~ with ordinary
crops. The grain is carried up on the ttght side of the
lower elevator canvas, a nd is simply h eld in place by the
loo e ply of the upper can vas. But when the crop is
extra heavy, t he larger amount of grain deflects this loose
ply upwards to get more space, thereby making the
tis-hter grip that is necessary for th e extra weight. On
Ftg. 10, on the other band, the slo.Pe is steep, and a
tighter grip is n ecessary, which is obtamed by driving the
can vas so th at the grain side is the tighter. T o provide
for extra heavy grain, the upper elevator is made to float,
that is, the supports of the rear end are set in slots in a
fi xed frame, allowing the en tire elevator to yield with the
pressure of the larger quantity of grain. 'f he purpose of
t hese d evices is to give the machines capacity for handling
t he heaviest crops without becoming choked.
From the fron t of one of the driving rollers the reel is
operated by a gearing so constructed that it allows great
freedom of reel adjustment. On the Massey-HaiTis, the
N oxon, a nd t he Maxwell binders this is accomplished by
a bevel wheel and pinion, with bearings on the reel frame,
the power being communicated from below through a
square shaft which slides through the pinion as the reel
is shifted. On t he Frost and W ood, the power is obtained
from the top through a square sha ft fitted with a sliding
sleeve, and with universal joints at both ends, and t he
dri ving m echanism of t he reel is operated through two
chains, one for each of the two sections of the reel, which
are independently adjustable. A vibratory motion is
also communicat ed t hrough one of the rollers to a reciprocatin~ butter, which evens the butts of t he grnin, and
brings It d own on the binder deck to within reach of the
p ackers. There are two or three rapidly a nd continuously
moving packers, which force the grain tightly against the
twine and a compress hook, unt il the prop er a mount for
the size of bundle h as been p ack ed, when the pressure on
a trip t hrows the binding mechanism in gear, it being
driven from the packer shaft, generally by a chain, but
in some by n. bevel gearing, and in others by a combination of chain and spur gearing. All three of t hese
methods are illustrated on the binders in the Canadian
exhibit.
{To be continued. )
VALPARAISO.-The Chilian Congress is disposed to build
a dock at Valparaiso.
1'!ER EY RAILWAY. -An agreement has been entered
into with the British W estinghouse Electric a nd ~1anu
faoturing Company, Limited, as con t ractor, under which
that compn.ny undertakes: (a) T o execute the works and
provide the plant neces.."llry to enable the traffic of t he
railway to be worked by electrical traction within eighteen
months from July 15, 1901. (b) T o gu arantee t h e interest
of t he existin~ 4i per cent. redeemable first debenture
stock, amountmg to 249,276t., until tbe works sh all be
available for P,ublic t raffic worked by electrical p ower;
a nd to provide t he sum of 249, 276l. n ot la.ter than
June 30, 1904, for the purpose of redeeming this stock.
The con tract price for th e works a nd financial obligations is 635,303t., and is payable to the extent of
620,000l. in 4 per cent. ~1:ersey R ailway n ew first p er
petual d ebenture stock (pttrt of the 703, 750t. authonsed
b;r the .Aots Qf 18~8 an~ 1000) and 1513Q3t. in cash,

'

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

NOTES FROM THE UNI'fED STATES.

PHILADELPHIA, September 18.
T HE collapse of the steelwork er s' strike and the
r esumption of work on Monday are the events of the
hour. The widespread willingness of t he steelworkers
to sustain the strike was fruit less under t he mismanagement of the leaders. The United States Steel
Corp or a tion has n on-unionised over a dozen mills, and
will later on p ress its advantages in t h e selection of
workmen. Quite a large p ercentage of the strikers
found temporaPy employment in the inde pendent
mills. No disturbance is probable in financial circles.
A large amou nt of money has been r eleased from t he
T reasury in connection w i th the r ecent p urchase of
Government b onds. The bank s have the situation
w ell in band. The new President states h e will continue the polit ical policy of h is predecessor. This
announcement has had a good effect. The steel in
dustry is now over the crisis, and production will continue a t maximum limits. A la rge volume of busin ess
that has been held back will now presumably be brought
forward . The consumers have been asked to wait as Ion g
as possible, and having done so, will doubtless take
early occasion to secure themselves for the coming
winter. The Jessop Steel Company of Eo gland has
purchased 40 acres of land twenty miles southward of
Pittsburgh, upon which buildings will be erected for
the production of various specialties. Enlargements
of existing plants continue to be announced, and the
p lacing of orders for machinery of unusual a mounts
s ubstan tiates. t h e statements of contemplated e nl argements.
The capital of an iron sheet and
tube comp any at Youngstown, Ohio, will be
doubled to 2,000,000 dols.
Pig-iron production is
now 300,000 tons per week and will be incr eased t o
320,000 tons. Quite a number of blast -furnaces of
r ecent construction are about t() blow in. Great
activity p revails in foundry iron everywhere. Consumption of foundry and forge is exceptionally large.
An immense d emand f or m erchant pipe prevails, especially in western markets, and all manufacturers of
impleme~ts are increasing their purch ases for future
delivery. Car m aterial is wanted faster than existing
facilities supply it. Sheet-iron production is unequal
to demand. All the idle t in mills will soon be at
work, and every unit of iron a nd steel capacity will
be at work before another Saturday.

NOTES FROM THE NORTH.

GLASGOW, Wednesday.
Glasgow Pig-I ron Market.-There has been bwo idle
days on 'Change this week. L ast Thursday, on account
of the funeral of t he American President, and on Monday
of this week on a.ccounb of that being bhe autumn holiday
- were the two holidays in question. T o-day's market was
moderately active in t he forenoon, when from 12,000 bo
13,000 tons were dealt in, the tone, however, being easy.
Cleveland, which sbill monopolises attention, left off 2~d.
p er bon lower, at 45s. 5id. per ton cash, with buyers over.
Scotch warrants were the burn easier ab 53s. 10~d. sellers
one month, and Cumberland hematite iron was unchanged ab 59~. 9d. per ton cash, with buyers over. A t
the afternoon meeting pig iron waR steady, hub only some
4000 tons were dealt in. The sebtlemenb prices were:
Scotch, 54s. p er ton; Cleveland, 45~. 6d.; Cu~b.erla.~d
hematibe iron, 59a. 9d. p er ten. T he stock of pig u on m
Messr8. Connal and Co.'s public warrant stores yesterday
afternoon stood ab 58,321 tons, as compared with 58,370
tons yesterday week, thus showing for the past week a.
reduction amounting to 49 tons. The number of f~rn~ces
in blasb is 83 against 81 a week ago, and 82 at th1s time
lasb year. It would seem a-s if there was a considerable
over-sold account open in t he market, and the recent buying points somewhat to manipulations.

in the corresponding period of 1900, an increase of

49, 404l. 18s. 1d.
Greenock Water T 1ust.-At the monthly meeting of
the G reenock W a.ter Trust, held on Tuesday, it was
abated that the rainfall for the week ending Saturday,
August 27, was 0 00 in., and for the week ending August 31,
1. 23 in. The t otal from January 1 was 29.77 in., a.ga.insb
37.57 in. last year. There was in store for the fortnight
ending the 31st ult. a. bobal of 385,049,902 cubic feet-that
was to say, in Loch Thoro, bhe Corporation Reservoir,
the Gryfe Reservoirs Nos. 1 and 2, the Whinhill Reservoir, and in fourteen smaller reservoirs.
Wate1 Supply.-The bur~h of K ilmarnock has just had
its water supply very greatly increased, hub other burghs
in Sconland have fallen into the same condition as Manchester is in-a condition of "shor t commons." One
place in Scotland has had its supply so reduced that there
IS only water one hour out of the twenty-four hours per
daf; even E dinburgh does nob have a constant supply.
Wisham, however, like K ilmarnock, has had its supply
greatly increased this week by the turning on of a. supply
from a fresh source in the Upper Ward of Lanarkshira.

NOTES FROM SOUTH YORKSHIRE.

SHEFFIELD, W ednesda.y.
Oornmercial Education at the Yorkshire College.-On
T uesday, ab the L eedsChamber of Commerce, the chairman
{Mr. G . R. P ortway ) mentioned that promises amounting
t o 170l. had been received towards the scheme for esba.blishing a. commercial depa.rbment ab the Y orkshire
College. The 170l. was for each of the t hree years, hub he
would like to see the amount raised to ab least 200l.
W illiam J essop a!YI.d Sons, L imited.- Ib is announced
that Mr. Herbert Hughes (secretary of the Sheffield Chamber of Commerce) has joined the directo~a.te of Messrs.
Willlam Jessop and Sons, Limited, Brightside Works,
Sheffield.
Pr oposed Llight Railway in North Notts.-On Friday, ab
Misterton, a meeting was held for the consideration of
the proposed light railway in that district, and a. rewlution was passed that ib would be of material benefit, and
was worthy of supporb. It was announced that the
general idea. of the line of route was, starting from
R etford, to pass through Clarborough, Ha.yton, and the
low-lying lands to bhe west.
Local Oompanies.- The directors of the Sheepbridge
Coal and Iron Company announce that the net profit for
the year amounts to 247,896l. 5s. Sd. They propose to
write off capital 42,342l. 16s. 5d. , the amount expend~d
on new works during the bwel ve months, and rebam
50,000l., being the balance required for the ~hares taken
in the Dinnington Main Coal Company, Limited. They
recommend dividends making 20 per cent. for t he year on
all shares. The development of bhe South Yorkshire coalfield, they state, in which bhe o~mpany has ba~en a. lar~e
interest, has been delayed. p~ndmg the question o.f r~tl
way accommodation. This IS now settled, a.~d SIJ?kmg
operations will shortly be commenced. The thuth-e1ghth
annual meeting of the Sta.veley Coal and Iron Company was held on Tuesday ab Sheffield. The report,
which was adopted, showed neb profits for the past ye~r,
a.fber depreciation of 320, 918l. 9s. 4d., and amount earned
forward 20,579l. 19e. 2d. An interim dividend bad been
declared on February U of 5l. per share on t he A and C
shares, and 16s. 8d. per share on the B and D shares,
and on June 14 a. fur ther interim dividend of a. similar
amount was paid. lb was now decided to pay a final
dividend for the year of 6l. per share on the A and C
shares, and 1l. per share on the B and D shares.
T echnical School at Ohesterfield.-By the joint action of
the governors of the grammar school,. the t echnical ed ucation committees of the T own Council and of the Coun ty
Council a. ne w technical school has been provided at
Chesterfield. A comple~~ insball:1tion ~s in co~templa.
tion for classes in electr101ty and electn ca.l engmeermg,
and a oomplebe mechanical and electrical engineering
workshop will be opened. Ib will contain fitters' benches,
12 horse-power gas engine and dynamo, and other machinery.
I ron and Steel.-Encouraging reports cont inue to be
furnished of the state of bhe leading heavy branches of
trade. The very free buying of iron and some. descriptions of steels is causing prices to stiffe.n oonaidera..b~y.
Some heavy contracts for Bessemer and Steme~s q~a.hbt~s
were entered into before the advance, and buymg 1s still
going on . Ma.nufa.c~':lrers of ~hese stee~s say there is notl
the slightest probab1hty of priCes recedm~r, and th~b they
are muoh more likely to advance ~efore Chrfs.tmas.
There is a steady demand for the htgher qu~hties of
crucible steel hub the common hrands are bemg very
closely run by the more ex:pensive Bessemer and Siemens
steels. In most of the lighter industries of t~e city a.
fair amount of work is being turned out; hub m few of
them is t here anyt hing approaching pressure.
South Yorkshire Ooal T rade.- The satisfactory condition reporbed previously continues in b? e coal tr~de of the
disbric~. The pits are mostly workm.g fu~l bime,. and
there is a strong likelihood that thts wtll cont mue.
The demand for house coal is now heavier than is us~al
ab this period of the year, and the owners are receiving large orders .from mer.cha.n ts, who urge for prompt
delivery. There IS a good m land demand. for bar~~'. but
the demand for all classes of small fuel Is yery h mtted.
Quotations are unchanged. The coke trade IS reported to
be slightly improved.

Re-buildinq of Queen-Street Station, Gl~~go~u. -}b is

rumoured in Edinburgh t hat t~e North Bnbi~h Ratlwa.y
directors are about bo authonse a start w1t? the rebuilding of the entrance to Queen-sbreeb St~t10n, Gl.asgow and the erection of a hugE:j hotel on the SI be occupted
by t he North British Station HoteJ, George-square. ~h.e
operations have been d~layed on ~c~oun~ of the Exhibition held in G lasgow this year,, but 1b IS s~td. tha.~ the lessee
of the hotel has received notice to qmb .m six months.
The building scheme will make a notable dtfference on the
n orth side of the sq ua.re, as the new hotel a!ld offices are
to be carried over North Queen-street, wh10h has been
purchased from the Corpera.tion.
T?e co~pletion
of this b ig project will render more It;nperative bbe
suitable treabmenb of the somewhat squa.hd frontage to
the square between North Hanover.street and North
F rederick-s tree b.
Another T ramway Rccord. -To use a familiar phrase,
the tramway revenue is going up by" leapsa!ld bounds."
A week ago it was chronicled tha.b ~he drawmgs for the
preceding week amounted to 13,43ot. 15s. 5d., but even
tha~ is topped by the drawings of last wee~ to bhe extent
of 270l. 12s. 5d., the total for the week en.diDg last Satur.
day night being 13, 706l. 7s. ~Od . ; bha.b IS, 3773l. 9a.. Sd.
better than in the correspondmg week of last year. S~nce
the beginning of the financial year on June 1, the dra.wu:~gs
h ave amounted to 187,434l. 9d . .5d., ns .compared w1th
143,813l. 9s. 6d. in the correspondmg portion of last year,
showing the substantial increase of 43,620l.. ~o.~. 11d.
During the 18 complete weeks that the Exhtbttton has
GERMAN ELECTRIC RAILWAYS.- It is proposed to estabbeen open the drawings on the cars have been
219,273l. 1Ss. 2d., as c~mpared with 169,869l. O.s. 1d. lish an electric railway between Berlin and H a mburg.

NOTES FROM CLEVELAND AND THE

NORTHERN COUNTIES.
MIDDLESBROUGH, Wednesday.
T he Cleveland I 1on Trade.-Yesterday the attendance
on 'Change was nob over numerous, hub the market was
very cheerful in tone, inquiries were on a better soale
than for some time p ast', and a large business was
recorded. Demand on Continental account was much
better than ib has been, shippers who have iron
to buy for customers abroad having apparently conol~ded that they wer~ nob likely to gain any.
bhmg by further dela.ymg purchases, and, besides,
~bey d<? not lose sight of the faot that the shipping season
IS gebtmg well advanced, and that consequenbly iron for
export purposes must now be secured. Quotations all
round ~h~wed an upward movement. No. 3 g. m. b. Cleveland pig Iron was 45s. 9d. for prompt f.o.b. delivery-a
figure ab which most of the business recorded was done,
though there were makers who pub the p rice at
46s. No. 1 Cleveland pig was 47a. 9:i.; No. 4 foundry,
44s. 3d.; grey forge, 43s. 3d.; mottled, 43s.; and white,
42s. 9d. East Coasn hema.tite pig was again scarce ; and,
in fact, it was almost unobtainable for immediate delivery,
so that ib would seem t hat bhe augmented oubpub is nob
sufficient to meet bhe requirements. Nos. 1, 2, and 3
ranged from 59s. 9d. bo 60s.; and No. 1 was quoted 60s.
Spanish ore was steady and firm, rubio being 15s. 9d.
ex-ship T~es. To-day No. 3 Cleveland pig was a. little
easier, and some buyers reported tha.b they had been able
bo purchase it at 45s. 7~d., bub many sellers adhered firmly
to 45s. 9d. 9uotations for all the other qualities were firm
at yesterday s rates.
M ess1s. Walker, M aynard, and Co.-Mr. W. E.
Walker, ab the first annual meeting of Messrs. Walker,
Maynard, and Co. Limited, of the Redcar Iron Works, in
moving bhe adopt ion of the report, said the profits for t he
year compared favourably with t he years 1897-8, notwithstanding the great fall in the price of pig iron. Referring to the amount seb aside for income tax, he said that
was the amount claimed by bhe Commissioners, hub he
hoped to arrange for some modification of that sum to pay
only on the amount of profit realised. Mr. Arthur H ead
seconded, and the report and balance-sheet were adopted.
Mr. H . W. F. Bolckow was re-elected a director, and
Messrs. W. B. Peat and Co. were re-appointed auditors
to bhe company.
Ma;nufactured I ron and Steel.-The manufactured iron
and steel trades eontinue in a. fairly satisfact ory state.
Makers of most descriptions are kept busily employed,
and inquiries concerning neiV orders are more numerous
than they were. Common i ron bars are quoted 6l. 5s. ;
best bars, 6l. 15s. ; iron ship-plates, 6t. 17s. 6d.; steel
ship-plates, 6l. 5s. ; iron sheets, Bl. ; steel sheets, 9l. ; and
galvanised corrugated sheebs, 12l .-a.llless bhe customary
2i per cent. discount f.o.b. Rail way material shows no
change in price, heavy sections of steel rails remaining ab
5l. 10s. ; and oast-iron railway chairs ab 3l. l Os.-both net
cash ab works.
Oleuela;nd Miners.-At a. meeting of bhe joint committee representing the Cleveland Mineowners' and the
Cleveland Miners' Association, Sir David Dale, Bart.,
occupying the chair, three claims were received from
men employed ab Shelton Park pit-one from the horse
drivers, claiming an ad va.nce all through ; one from bhe
miners for l i d. per ton extra. to be paid on all bbe "boddy"
ground ; and one from the hauling enginemen for an
advance of Gd. p er shift. The claims were referred to
Messrs. C. H eslop and J . Thompson, on behalf of the
owners, and Messrs. Stephens and Stubbs, on behalf of the
men, with full power to settle.-The machinemen employed ab the L oft us mines of Messrs. Pease and Partners,
Limited, claimed an advance on the machine rate paid
throughout the mine, and it was referred to Messrs.
W. Walker and J. Thompson, on behalf of the owner~,
and Messrs. W . S tephens and C. J ackson, on the men's
behalf, with power to sebtle.-A claim for an advance on
bhe t onn age rate made by the minera employed at Messr~.
Morrison and Co.'s Brotton mine was referred to :Messrs.
W. Walker and D. W. Dixon. on bhe parb of bhe owners,
and Messrs. C. J aclcson and R. Stonehouse, on behalf of
the men.
Coal a;nd Ooke.-Fuel is firm. Bunker coal is in good
request, hub the supply is large. Unsoreened kinds are
Us. to Us. 3d. f.o.b. Coke is very strong and rather
scarce. Medium blast-furnace qualities readily realise
16s. delivered here, and some sellers are inclined to ask a.
rather higher figure.
MARYPORT.-The Ma.ryport Harbour Commissioners
have received a report from Messrs. Baker a.ud Hurtzig,
who were requested to advise on the improvement of
Maryport dock. The engineers recommend a. new entrance
to the Genhouse dock 60 ft. wide, the deep dock to be
widened 140 fb., and deepened. They also recommend the
construction of a. timber jetty and new quay and the
installation of hydraulic p ower. The cost of the works
proposed is estimated ab 148,000l.
PERSONaL.-We are asked to announce that the business of the Yorkshire Tank, Cistern, and Copper Company is now amalgamated with that of Mr. W. P . Butterfield, Shipley, Yorkshire.-The Irvine Forge Company,
of I rvine, Scotland, inform us that Mr. A . M. Buchana.n,
of Suffolk House, L9.wrence Pountney-hill, E .C., has
been appointed their sole representative in the London
district, and will also act in a similar capacity with
respect bo their Dutch trade>. - The Finchley Urban
District Council, at ibs meeting on bhe 16th instant,
appointed Mr. Edwa.rd Oalverb, of Buxton, as resident
electrical engineer, ab a salary of 300l. per annum, his
duties to commence from December 2.

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

FROM THE SOUTH-WEST.

Oa1d~(/'.-Tbere has been a. moderate inquiry for abeam

coal for both prompb and fu ture shipmen t, hub in t ransa ctions for disbanb dates an ea.sier tone h as been obser ved.
The besb steam coal ha.s made 183. to 18s. 3d. p er ton,
while second ary qualities have b rought 17s. to 17d. 6d . p er
t on . H ousehold coal h as n ob sho wn much change ; No. 3
Rhondda large has been quoted at 16s. bo 163. 3::J. p er ton.
F?und ry coke has m ade 1!>3. to 203. per ton; and furn ace
dt tt? 17s. to 183. per ton . As r egards iron ore, rubio na.s
reahsed14s. to 143. 3d. per ton, and Tafna 163. t o 163. 3d.
p er ton.

L lanclly.-Great activity prevails ab present in the

MlSOELLANEA..
THF: .Journal de Dal!ny (ra.lien-wan) states that the
Trans-Baikal section of the Siberian Railway will be
open ed for through traffic early in October, wh en passengers will be able to reach Sbretensk in 11~ days from
Moscow.
N abural gas is verv largely used as a fuel for manufacturing purposes in Kansas, the amoun t annually ueed in
this way being equivalen~ to about 800,000 tons of coal.
Ib is also largely used for d omestic purposes, both for
h eating and lighting.
We h ave received the n ew calendar for the Durham
Colle~e of Scien ce, Newoastle-on-Tvne, the n ew session
of wh10h begins on September 30. 'l1 he calendar contains
r eprints of the papers set at the exam inations last year.
The courses in Engineering and Naval Architecture at
this colle~e are in the hands of Professor R . L . W eigh ton,

Llanelly oo.al~eld. Sever al n~ w pibs h ave been r ecently

sunk, and t t ts reported th at smkmg operations are going
on ab H endre, Lla.ngennech, wi th every prospect of success. T he Morfa coalfield ha.s been t aken up by a. p owerful Belgian syndicate.
M. A., 1\I. I. N. A.
Bristol Docks.- Mr:. Gi rdlestone, gen eral manager of
The Winter Ses3ion of the T echnical College, Fi nsbury,
t he Bristol Docks, is abou b to make a tour through the begins on 1\Ionda.y nexb, bhe 30th insb. Professor S il van us
United States and Canada., in order to lay before ex- T hompson will lecture on Mondays on the "Design of
p or ters the ad van tages of Bristol as a distributing cen tre Generators and :Motors." On \Vednesdays the lectures
by Professor Thompson or by Mr. Verity will deal with
for their goods a.nd produce.
"Electro.Magnetism and Electric 1\tleasnrement.,
A
Guest, Keen, and Oo., Limited.-Mr:. Foraber Brown special cou rse of six lec~u res on "Insulation ,, will be deh.a.s ~een consulted with re3pect to a proposed d eeper ll ver ed on Thursdays, commencing October 10, by 1\llr.
smkm~ of Messrs. Guesb, Keen, and Co.'s pits ab Mervyn O'Gorman.
Vochr tw, where the supplies are giving oub. By sinking
The Mittheilungen aus dem Gebicte des Seewcsens abates
a?oub 80 yards deeper it is hoped to reach an unusually
rtoh seam. T he scheme und er consideration will involve thab the result of the official t rials of the M ontupet watertube boilers has n ob been pub lished by the F rench
an ou tlay of something like 50,000l.
Governme nt. It is known, however, from previous trials
T he Swansea Valley.-Sin ce the American steel strike that the tubes can be very quickly removed and replaced.
commen ced, th ere has b een mor~ acbi vity in the steel In one of these trials, which lasted four hours, the fires
and binpla.te trades in this district. Two mi1ls h ave been wer e reduced, the steam pressure lessen ed, the boilers
r e-started ab the F oxhole Works, and a similar ch ange for emptied, and a t ube ramoved-all in the space of 16
the better is expected ab Y nismendwy, so that t he tin - minutes. The tube was then r eplaced and the steam
pla.te establishmen ts of the d istrict are now generally pressure immediately restored. The total interrupt ion
acttve.
to bb e proper working of the b oiler la~ted 40 minute:!,
and of this only 8 to 10 minutes were employed in r emoving and replacing the t ube. Later, when the fires
CATALOCUES.-It h as been demonstrated that a squar e were oub and the b oiler bad cooled, 32 tubes were refoob o f bar e pipe filled night and day with steam a~ 160 lb. m oved in 1 hour and 20 minutes. All the tubes were
pressure, as in an electric s upply station, radiates annually found to be in good condition.
beat corresponding to aboub half a ton of coal. The
The brain constructed by the Can adian Pacific R!l.ilway
n ecessity of coverin~ su ch surfaces is therefore eviden t, and
is universally admttbed. But it is not always easy to Company in 1\fontreal for the use of bhe Duk e and
d ecide what is the best method of applying clothing, Duchess of Cornwall and York during their Canadian
especially to valves, bend, and j unction pieces. T here tour is 730 fb. in lengbb, and weighs 595 tons. Ib consists
are many excellent compositions in the market tbab ser ve of n in e coaches in alL This brain is hauled by locomoadmirably for plain surfaces, but leave something to be t ives of the A tlan tic and Con solidation types of p assenger
d esired when th ey have t o be applied to comQ_Jicated cast- engines of the Canadian Pacific Railway. The train is
ings. For such purposes M essrs. J ones and Hors field, of vestibule :) throughout, so that communication without
Hyde, n ear M anchester, m anufacture s heet-iron o~s ings, exposure to t he weather is made from on e end to the
of which they have sent us a catalog ue. These fit round oth er. Ib is lighted by electricity, and t elephones of a
the pipes, valves, &c. , and can be filled with slag wool, or n ew pattern have been installed in every coach. The
other non -conductor. One of their advantages is th~b they Cornwall, a day car, is 78 ft. 6 in. in length, with a width of
make an engine room look tidy, and from the p oint of 10ft. 3 in., an extreme hei~b b of 14 f o., and a weight of
view of appearance are a g reat improvement on t be usual almost 60 tons. It contams reception - room, boudoir,
oanva.scovering.-W e have received from Messre. H edges, d inin g-room, and kitch en. The r eception-room opens
l\1cKrell, and Taylor, of 31, Barbican, L ondon, E.C. , a directly on to an observation platform. The night coach
copy of their n ew catalogue of steam, h ydraulic, and York is 78 fb. ~in. in length and weighs 67:1: tong, The
Ib is
high-pressure gas gauges, thermometera, and pyrometers. Sandringham is the diningoa.r for the staff.
A special thermometer is one designed for use with super- 77ft. 2 in. long and weighs 57 t ons.
heated steam, which, in addition to a. scale of temperaO ne of the most remarkable power bransmtss1on plants
tures, is also provided with a second scale, d enoting the m existen ce is bbab between the noqualme Falls and the
pressure of saturated steam at different temperatures. cit ies of T acoma and Seattle. The former is 46 miles and
T he amount of superheat in a.ny particular case can there- the latter 32 miles from the generating station. The cur fore be read direcb from the instrument.-Messrs. Saxby ren t is generated on the three- phase system by four
and Farmer. Limited, of Canterbury-road, Kilburn, 2000 horse- p ower Wesbingbouse al ternatort~, ab a poL ondon, N. W ., have issued a. finely-illustrated Clta.lo~ue tential of 1100 volts, which for the purpose of trans
d escribing a number of large in terlocking signalhng mission is transformed t o 30,000 volts. This plant was
plan ts erected by the firm at different important railway set bo work bwo yea.ra ago, and bbe demand for curren t has
centres. In view of recent developments, the seotion d e- been such tbab additional planb cap able of generat ing
scrib ing sign alling plants worked hydraulically will be about 12,000 hor se-p owermore is in process of installation.
read with special interest. We learn that ab tbe present The n ew plant is also bo be furnish ed by the W estingtim e som e 250 stations, with an aggregate of bet\Veen house Company. The n ew generators will be eaoh of 3000
3000 and 4000 handles, have already been equipped. - kilowatts capacity, and will, as their predecessors, produce
M essra. Holden and Brooke, Limited, of the SirlUS W orks, curren t ab 1100 volts. The transformers, by which bbe
W est Gorton, Manchester, have recently published a p otential is to be r aised to the 30,000 volts n eed ed on bbe
broadsheet con taining illustrations of the different transmission line, will tbe oil-insulated and watercooled.
specialities of the firm. These include steam traps, in- There will be nine of them, each rated ab 1000 kilowatts.
jectora, high-pressure steam valves, oil separators, and a Aluminium is to be used for the transmission line, some
variety of sbea.m fittingsof other kinds.-Messrs. L an caster 125 bona being requir ed.
and T ong ue, L imited, of P endleton, Manchester, have
In years gone by little atten t ion was paid by railway
issued a pamphlet con taining r eprints of testimonials
engin eers in the U nibed States to the preservation of
from usera of their metallic pa.ckings.-The Cribtal Manu- sleepers
by creosoting, burnettising, and the like. The
facturing Company, Limtted, of the Manor Works, small interes
t taken in the matter was in part due to the
Braintree, Essex, have sent us a. copy of their elaborate very ample supplies of cheap timber then available, bob
catalogue of architectural wo.:>d en and metal casement there were also other reasons. With the light rails
venbilatora, d oors, staircases, and obber architectura l then used the useful life of a. sleeper was n ob closed
sundriea.-Messrs. E~sberbrook, Allcard, and Co., L imited, by decay, bub rather by the facb bbab serious abrasion
of t he Albert W orks, Sbf:ffield, h ave sent us a. copy of under the r ail seats n ecessitated their r eplacement,
their n ew catalogue of engineers' band-tools. This cata- even if comp arativaly sound as a whole. With the
logue consists of 84 pages, amply illustrated and fully stiffer rails no w in use bub little abrasion takes place,
priced, the articles listed includtng all the general run of and even when light rails are still u~ed, the adoption of
tools for engineers, b oilermakers, smiths, and shipbuilders. tie-plates has b ecome general and protects the timber
Dimensions are given in the m etric system as well as in
iately under the rail, so that but few sleep ers are
inches, and prices in francs as well as in sterling.-Messrs. immed
J. H . Sankey and Son, of Eisex Wharf, Cc~.nning Town, n ow removed for any reason but gen er al deca;r. In comwith the high er .Price of timber, .thts has led to
L ondon, E ., have issued a ne w catalogue of sanitary gbination
reater attention being duected to the matter of preservea.r bbenwa.re of all kind8. In another section of the ing the sleepers, but cr eosoting seems still to be generally
catalogue will be found specimens of b oiler-seating bloclcs regarded a~ too expensive, particulanly in bbe West,
suited to the requir emen ts of all the principal ins urance where the chlorid e of zinc process seems to be most in
companies, whilst chemical engin eers will be in terested fav our. As western lines run to a large extent through
in tbe samples of stonewa re chemical appar abuE', also
omewhat arid coun t ry, this process seems to ~ive satisillustra ted.-Messrs. Boulton and Paul, Limited, of Nor - sfaction
on the whole, in spite of the readiness w1bh which
wich, send u~ sheets illustrative of their iron buildings. bbe zinc salt can be wa~hed out of t he timber.
T hey include churches, ch apels, schools, hospitals,
The latest British Consular reporb from Siam gives an
cotbage.s, shooting boxes, stables, rick covers. and
many Clbher structures. They are easily taken apart and interesting account of the presen t con dition of r ailway
d evelopmen t in t ba.o country. In November lasb the line
transpor ted.

449
from Bangkok to K;~;t,-;hiOh wa.s- thefi;Bt-of bhe State
railways undertaken by S iam, waa completed. The
length of t he line is 1G4 miles, and the journey takes ten
h ours, where formerly it lasted a. fortnight, and part of
the caravan route was tbrou~h a. d ensely wooded district ,
where the traveller r an the n sk of con trtt.cting a dangerous
fever. Korat lies in a large p lain, wh ich is the cen tre of
trade of tbe Eastern L aos provinces. The construction of
the line began in March, 1892, and has been an expensive
one in h uman l ife.
''Literally thousands of coolies,
Ch inese, L aos, Siamese, and some Ind ians, have died
upon t he construction. Of Europeans engaged upon the
work, i t is said tha.b ab least thirty (probably there were a
few more) died in the country, and of these 19 were
British." Korat t rad e is mainly in the hands of Chinese.
The line, which ibis h oped will eventually connect Bangk ok with Cbieng.mai, in Northern Siam, is completed as
far a.s L opturi, about 80 miles from Bangkok, and is being
con tin ued beyond that p lace. A line west of the Bangkok River to Petchaturi is progressing . Meanwhile the
d evelopment of B smgkok itself during the last two or
three years proceed s apace; n ew roads are being constan t ly made, blocks of u nsightly or incommodious
structures have been pulled d own an d replaced by
neat shops and residences ; iron br idges have been
erected over the various canals and creeks, and electric
lig ht and electric tramways have been introduced. R oads
in the count ry have n ob yeb r eceived all the attention
they d eserve, and the presen t excellen t canal system
requi res mainten an ce and extension. A Dntch expert
has recently been engaged to advise upon irrigat io n.
In a paper read before the Philadelphia Foundrymen's
Association by Mr. A . L . Oolby, metallurgioal engineer to
the B ethlehem Steel Oompany, the m abber of using
machine - cast p ig in bbe foundry was d ealt ' vibh.
The introduction of m achine castmg became almost
a. n ecessity of the situation so soon as furn aces producing
300 to 600 bona of pig p er day became common, since
the labour needed on the pig beds with these large m elts
became most t rying, and ib was diffi cult to get men to
under take it . So soon as machine casting came into use
the pig produced WM preferred by steel makers, particularly if working the basic process. In general, ab
modern works, the molten metal is n ow charged direct
into the steel f urnace ; but in such cases in which pig is
still used, sand-cast ba9ic pig will only be accepted at a
lower price than is willingly paid for the machine-oast
product. In foundries, however, the machine-cast pig has
nob been as favou rably received. lbs advantages lie in
its n eeding less lime as flux, bein~ sand free, and in the
uniformity of its composition. This arises from the fact
bbat the furnaces are tapped into 20-ton ladles, and the
iron is thus mixed b efore casting. On tbe other h and,
some of the machine-oast pig sent to foundrymen in the
earlier days wa.s " mis fi t" iron, quite unsuitable for their
work, and the bad reputation then acquired has n ob yet
been entirely lived d o wn. Again, some macbinemade
pigs are inconveniently large, bub some producera have
already remedied this drawback. From the foundryman's p oinb of view, p erhaps the greatest drawback
is the impossibility of estimating the q uality of the
pig from the fracture, and as it is difficu lt to sample
the metal for analysis owing bo its chilled surface, Mr.
Colby recommen ds the founder to accept consignmenbs
on the guaranteed analysis of the m aker, simply taking
bbe precaution of an occasional check, when dishon esty
is suspected.
MoRE .RussiAN CoAL.- Impor banb beds of coal have just
been discovered in the Government of Olon etz (Russia.).
D URBAN.-Tbe Mayor of Durban, in reviewing the progress of the borough, states bbab during the pasb year
ther e has been an increase of about 50 per cent. in the
electric ligbb s upply, the number of lamps installed being
equal to 40,606 eight-candle p ower, g,s againsb 25,044.
During the year 850 new buildings wera er ected in the
town. The m aximum water con sumption per d ay increased from 2, 750,000 gallons to 3,260,000 gallons. The
sewer age system has been extended to the G reyville
suburb, and bhe Victoria Embankment Works are practically completed. Despite the crowded state of the town
and unfavourable conditions, the d eath-rate for the paab
year was under 17 per 1000.

RAIT.WAY COAL

T HE ScoTCH
BrLL.-The cost of the
coal and coke used in the locomotive departments of the
three principal Scotch r ail ways-the Oaledonia.n, the
Glasgow and Soutb-\ Vestern, and the North B ritish-in
the half-year ending July 31 compared as followa with the
corresponding cost in the corresponding period of 1900 :
Company.
1901.
1900.

Caledonian . ..
...
. . . 133,280
167. 438
Glasgow and South-Western
64,569
82,448
N orbb British
. ..
. . . 166, 103
133,034
Ib will be observed accordingly that the t hree companies
effected between them a reduction of 18,9S8l. in their coal
expenditure. Of course, the expenditure wa.s affected in
each case by the existence of contracts more or less
fa vou rable or ad verse, according- t o circumstan ces.
Fortune appeara in connection wtth contracts to h ave
inclined in favour of the Caledonian and the Glasgow and
South - W estern, and bo have frowned on the North
British. All three companies effected reduction s in the
distances traversed by trains, the Caled onian running
7.668,982 miles, as compared with 7,992,129 miles; the
G lasgow and South-Western 3,443,178 mileP, as compared
with 3,493,974 miles; and the North British, 8,669,403
miles, as compared with 8, 7(56,849 miles. The three companies effected between them accordingly a. reduction of
671,389 miles.

_p..

Ul

E NGINES OF THE S.S.

COMP OUND
.

CON S TR UC TED

BY

MES S RE.

McKIE

AND

BAXTEP,

"FLESWICK."

COPE L AND

WORKS,

GOVAN,

GLASGOW.

(For Description, see Page 443.)

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SEPT.

27,

1901.]

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

45 I

notwithstanding the stationariness of her popula~

AGENTS FOR "ENGINEERING."
TRACTION and TRANSMISSION. tion, may still be so classed, although, with other
AuoTRIA, Vienna: Lehmo.nn and Wentzel, Karntnerstrasse.
(Published on the first Tuesd,a,y vn. each month.)
Powers,
she
must
more
and
more
occupy
a
second
OAr& ToWN : Gordon and Gotch.
PART VU. READY OCTOBER 1.
place.
En tNBURGn : J ohn Men zies and Co., 12, Hanover-street.
PB.IOB 28., Net; POST Fan 28. 4d.
FR.ANOB, Pa ris : Boy veau and Ohevillet, Librairie Et rang/ne, 22,
Another matter to which the address draws
Rue de la Banque ; M. Em. Terquem, 81 bla, Boulevard H au ssman. Published ab the OfHces of ENoiNBt:m.mG, 85 and 86, Bedford Street,
attention is the increasing dependence of European
Also for Advertisements, Agence Ha.vas, 8, Place de la Bourse.
Strand, London, W.O.
GERMANY, Berlin: Messrs. A. Asber and Co., 5, Untel' den Liuden.
nations upon supplies from abroad. " The posiFrankfurt.-am-Main : Messrs. G. L. Daube and Co. (for
CONTENTS OF No. 7.
t ion here in Great Britain obviously is that, with
Advertisements).
P.t.Ollt
l'.t.OE
the industries of agriculture and the extraction of
Leipzig : F . A . .Brockhaus.
Cowad W. Cookc ( lllustratlous
The Legal Responalbllltles of ElecMulbouse : H . Btuckelberger.
tl lo Trnmway Com panies. By W.
in Tex t ) . . ... . . .... .. .. ... . .. .. 105 raw material (except coal) practically incapable of
Va lenti ne Ball ... . .. .. . ..... .. . . 65 Railways In Cuba ................ 110
GLABG<>W : William Love.
expansion, and with a population which not only
Electric Motors on Batt leships. Dy
j The GrenobleChaparclllan Elec
INDIA, Calcut ta: Thacker, Spink, and Oo.
J . W. Kellogg (Plates XVI L to
trio Railway (PlAtes XX VJll. to
Bombay: Thacker and Co., Limited.
XX. and illust rations in Text ) .. 71
X X.Xf. and Illust.mt.lons ln Text ) 115 increases in numbers, but which becomes year by
ITALY: U. H oepli , Milan, and any post office.
l<' Je xl ble Tmn.!lmi.salon. By Sldn ey
Economics of St reet Ra llwnys.
l
Russoll (Tllust.rotlons In Text) . . 120 year increasingly richer per head, t he consuming
lly t he Hon. Robert P. Porter
LrvBRPOOL ; Mrs. Taylor, Landing Sta~e.
(Pll\te XX l. ) ....... . ... . .. .. .. 81 r m cliou and Tmnam lsslon N ot.e11 :
power of the population increases with enormou~
MANCBESTKR: J ohn H eywood, 148, Deansgate.
The Whitehead Euclosed Go
.Mun icipal Trnd lng:
NORWAY, Oh ristia nia: Oammermeyers, Boghandel, Oarl Jobans
(g ) By D h :on lL Da.vies . . . . . 00
vem or (lllustrated) . . . . .. .. 126 rapidity, and it must be satisfied, if at all, by
Qade, 41 and 43.
Autom a ti c Switch for 200Yolt
(h) Dy the Hon. Robert P.
PortAlr. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
100
Cttrrell t (lllustmted) ..... .. 127 foreign imports of food and raw materials." That, as
New SoUTn WALKS, Sydney : Turner and Henderson, 16 and 18,
T he South por t E lect ric TramThe Kubel 1'urblue J nstal la tlon.
the addreAs states, is a conception, in r egard to
Hun ter-street. Gordon and Gotcb, George-street.
car (Plate X X XJ I. ) . . .. . . .. 127
By P rof. P mzll, Zuri ch (Plates
QURBNSLAXD (SouTn), Brisbane : Qordon and Gotcb.
Tbe B ritis h Sch uckort Coul
XXII. to XX V11. and lllU&tru.
the
United
Kingdom,
with
which
we
are
familiar
;
(NORTu), Townsville : T. Willmett and Oo.
pauy's Exhibits ut Glasgo w
tlona in Text) . . . . . . . .. . .. . 101
(Pla te X XXIlJ.) .. .... .. .. .. 128 but it will, we think, come to many as a new factor
The Krleger Eiect romoblle. B y I
ROTI'ERDA.M: H . A. Krn.mer and Son.
SOUTH AUSTRALIA, Adelaid e : W. 0. Rigby.
in economic speculations that it is more or less true
UNITED STATKS, New York: W. H. Wiley, 43, East 19th-street.
READING CASES.- Reading eases for containing twenty-six of other countries, such as France, Scandinavia.
Chicago : H . V. Holmes, 1257-1258, Monadnock numbers of ENGINEERING may be bad of the Publisher or of any
Block.
Austria-Hungary, Italy, and Germany. Especially
newsagent. Price 6s. each.
VIOTORIA Melbourne : Melville, Mullen, and Slade, 261/264 Oollinsis
it
true
of
Germany,
and
to
a
remarkable
degree;
street . Gordon and Gotcb, Limited, Queen-street.
for that country, as Sir Robert Giffen has shown
NOTICE TO CONTINENTAL ADVERTISERS.
by his fi gures, is becoming increasingly industrial
We beg to announce t hat American Subscriptions to ENGTN"Et:m.ING
Advertisements
from
Germany
should
now
be
sent
m ay now be addressed eit her d irect to the Publisher, Mr. 0 . R.
and manufacturing, whilst room for expansion in
J <UNSON, at t he offices of this J ournal, Nos. 35 and 8tt, Bedford- through Messrs. G. L. Daube and Co., Frankfurt-am
street, Strand, London, W.C., or to our accredi ted .Agen ts for the Main, who have been appointed our Sole Agents for agriculture is now very limited. Taking a money
United States : Mr. W. H. WILE\, 43, East 19th-street, New York, that country for Trade displayed Advertisements. standard as a basis of comparison, we find by
and M.r. H . V. H OLblES, 1257-1258, Monadnock Block, Chicago.
The prices of su bscription (payable in advance) for one year are: Advertisements from France, Belgium, and Hol figures quoted from the statis tical abstract, that beFor thin (foreign) paper edit ion, ll. 16s. Od. ; for thick (ordinary) land should be sent through the Agence Havas, tween 1888 and 1898 Germany's increase in food
paper edition, 2l. Os. &l.; or, if remitted to Agents, 9 dollars for 8, Place de la Bourse, Paris, our Sole Agents for imports rose almost exactly 100 per cent. ; whilst
thm and 10 d ollars for thick.
those countries for similar Advertisements.
her imports of raw and semi-manufactured mateNOTICE TO AMERICAN ADVF..RTISERS.
rials, advanced 49 per cent. In other countries
American firms desirous of advertising in ENGINRBJUNG are
there have also been marked advances, although
NOTICE OF MEETING.
r equested to apply to Mr. H. V. HOLM'&S, 1257-1258, Monadnock
Block, Chicago, or Mr. WILLARD 0. TYLKR, 150, Na.ssau-street,
Tn E Cn'TL A.ND MscnANIOAL ENGlNEBRS' SocrETY.-Tbursda.y, not so striking as in the case of Germany. Thus
Room 1910, New York City , from whom all particulars and prices OctoLer 3, a.t St. Ermin's Hotel, Oaxton-street, Westminster, when the ratios of advance, over the period named, in i.Jncan be obtained.
the President, P rofessor R. H. Smith, will deliver hie address on
ports of food and raw and semi-manufact ured mate"Fac tors of Safety."
ADVERTISEMENTS.
rials r espectively, were for Russia 35 per cent. and
The charge for adver tisements is t.bree sbillin~s for the first
29 per cent.; for Switzerland, 40 per cent. and 27
four lines or under, and eigbtpence for each addit10nalline. The
per cent.; for Italy, 42 per cent. and 28 per cent.;
line averages seven words. Payment must accoml?any all orders
for single advertisements, otherwise their inser t10n cannot be
and
for
Austria-Hungary,
85
per
cent.
and
27
per
guaranteed. Terms for displayed adver tisements on the wrapper
cent.
In France the food imports remained
and on the inside pages may be oLtained on application. Serial
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 1901.
advertisemen ts will be inserted with all practioa.ble r egularity, out
stationary, and the imports of raw and semiabsolute regularity cannot be ~aranteed.
manufactured articles advanced only 16 per cent.
Advertisements intended for insertion in the curIt is evident from this that the competition for
rent week's issue must be delivered not later than
POPULATION AND EXPORTS.
the natural products of the earth is becoming more
5 p.m.on Thursday. Inconsequence of the necessity
THE proceeding a in Section F, that devoted to and more emphasised. Even a heavily-taxed and
for going to press early with a portion of the edition
alterations for standing Advertisements should be e~onomic science, are generally among the plea- comparatively poor country, such as Italy, is inreceived not later than 1 p.m. on Wednesday after sa.ntest at the British Association gatherings ; and creasing its demands, and coming into competition
noon in each week.
. the late Glasgow meeting was no exception to the with ourselves in asking food for its g rowing
rule. A good many engineers from Section G look population, and for raw material to be worked up
SUBSCRIPTIONS, HOME AND FOREIGN.
in on F whenever there is a subject brought for- into manufactured goods. In the case of Germany,
ENGINEERING can be supplied, direct from th Publisher, ward that interests them. This is fairly often, as however, the figures are far more striking, for the
post free for twelve months at the following rates, payable in engineers are frequently also economists, for increase on food stuffs imported has been, during
advance:reasons that are not difficult to appreciate. Engi- the ten years named, from 45 millions sterling up
For the United Kingdom.............. 1
9 2
, all places abroad :neering is necessarily a calling that makes a. man to 90 millions, whilst raw and semi-manufactured
Thin paper copies . . . . . . t 16 0
consider carefully means to an end ; that is to say, articles have gone from 75 millions to 112 millions
Thick
,
. . . . . . . . . . 2 0 6
All accounts are payable to "ENGINEERlNG " Limited. it is essentially scientific, and there is a compre- sterling.
It would be interesting to follow t he matter
Cheques should be crossed "Union Bank, Cbaring Cross Branch." hensive analogy between the natural laws which
Post Office Orders payable at Bedford-street, St rn.nd, W.O.
further, and add fresh figures to those q uoted by
govern
physical
and
economic
science.
Of
course,
When Foreign Subscriptions a!e sent by Post Office Orders,
all industries are dependent on economic condi- Sir Robert Giffen. Naturally, a broad view of the
advice should be sent to the Publisher .
F oreign and Colonial Subscribers receiving incomplete copies t ions, but the connection is, perhaps, more directly situation cannot be taken on imports alone . To
through newsagents are requested to communicate the fact to
apparent in t he larger branches of engineering than judge how far we shall be affected by the compethe Publisher, together wit h the agent's name and address.
Oftlces for Publication and Advertisements, Nos. 35 in most field s of manufacturing activity ; being as tition of other countries, which is the chief point
it is our chief foundational industry, upon the pro- of interest, the natural resources of the country
and 36, Bedford Street, Strand. London, W.C.
sperity of which other branches of production mainly should be taken into consideration. For example,
TKLE&R.APBIO ADDREBB-ENGINEERING, LONDON.
the existence of plentiful and easily-won supplies
depend.
TELKPIIONE NUMBt:m.- 8668 Gerrard.
In Sir Robert Giffen the Section had an admirable of coal and iron ore, with adequate limestone,
president this year, and his address contained would facilitate the carrying on of a flouri hing
CONTENTS.
matter that makes luminous to some of us statis- E>teel trade, and render commercially possible a
PAGE t
PAGE tical facts, perhaps, hitherto not so pregnant with general engineering industry, more especially in
Foreign Competition in
The
Carbon Bisulphide
shipquilding;
and
t
his
in
turn
would
be
likely
to
meaning.
The
first
statistical
question
d
ealt
with
Shipping and SbipbuildManufacture . . . . . . . . . . . . 453
ing (llltLBt r ated) . . . . . . . 433 The Fall in Copper .... . 464 was t he enormous increase in the population of foster a shipowning industry, the competition
Tbe Briti~h Association .... 436 The American Institute of
European countries, and of peoples of European of which would have to be met. As a matter of
Bleaching Plant at t he
Electrical Engineers . ... 4E5
fact, these conditions have arisen in regard to Ger
Glasgow Exhibition (llNotes .... . ..... .. . . ...... 455 origin, during the last century ; more especially of
ltL8t1ated) ..... . . . .. . . .. 441 Heating Large Workshops 456 the English people and those of the United States. many, and, in spite of present depression in that
The Meridional Rift on the
NitroExplosives .......... 457 The g rowth all round is from about 170 millions at country, they are likely to still further increase
Uganda Railway (lllus.) 442 The Glasgow Corporation
Firewood Machinery (llTramways . . . ........ . 46'i the beginning of the century to about 510 millions in the future.
l tLBtr ated) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 443 The Tonnel between Ireland
There is another most suggestive fact brought
at the end. This includes South America and
En~oeA of the S.S. " Fleaand Scotland .... . . ... 457
Mexico. The growth of the United States alone before our notice by the presidential address of the
wick " (lll118trated) . . .... 443 The Performance of Electric
The Efflux of Steam (l lltL8
Generators .. . . . . . . . .. 458 is from a little over five to nearly 80 millions, and Economic Section. We are accustomed, and rightly
trated) ........... ... .. 44! The T. S.S. " Kronprinz
so, as Sir Ro bert Giffen says, to consider naval
of
the
English
population
of
the
British
Empire
Canadian .Agricultural MaWilhelm" (llltu trated) .. 458
Germany and preponderance indispensible to the safety of the
chinery(JUmtr ated) .... 445 The Suez Canal . .... . ...... 468 from about 15 to 55 millions.
Notes from the United
Industrial Notes ... . .... .. 459 Russia also show remarkable growth : from 20 to Empire, and especially indispensible to the safety
States . . ... . ... .. .. .... 448 Bilbao River and Harbour
of the country from blockade, and from interrupNotes from the N or t.h . . . . 448
(Illustrated ) . . . . . . . . . . . 460 55 millions in the one case, and from 40 to 135
Notes from Sou th YorkCompound Locomotives in
millions in the other. France has shown a smaller tion of commerce, which would be our ruin. In
shire . .... . ...... . ..... .. 448
South America (lllti$this matter, however, we are by no means so exceprate
of
increasefrom
25
to
40
millions.
It
may
Notes from Oleveland and
t1atetl).. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 463
here be pointed out that it is this augmentation of tional1y placed as we were a few years ago, when the
the Northern Counties . . 448 The Commercial Import
Notes from the South-West 449
ance of Aluminium .... .. 464 civilised peoples that has made possible (as it has factory industry of the world was so largely in our
Miscellanea .... . . ... ..... . . 449 A Regenerat ive Acoumuown hands as to give us almosh a monopoly of foreig n
Population and Exports .... 45l
lat or (llltLBtrated) . ... . . 466 been dependent upon) the growth of engineering
The Loss of the '' Oobra" .. 452 Launches and Trial Trips .. 466 industry ; the characteristic feature distinguishing trade in many branches. As Sir Robert Giffen
The Passing of the Steam
" Engineerin~ " Patent Retersely puts it, our Continental neighbours, especially
t
he
past
century
from
all
that
have
preceded
it
.
Engine ... . .. .. . . ........ 463
cord (I llustrated) . . . . . . 467
G1eat Britain, the United States, Russia, and Germany, are less or mor e in the same boat. It is
With tz Tuo-Poge E ngtaving of THE TEMPORARY I N conceivable that in certain wars some countries
Germany
have,
Sir
R
obert
Giffen
says,
become
t
he
CLINES ON T HE KIKUYU ESOARPM8NT; UGANDA
~reat world Powers. Fr~nce for ~conon1ic reaEons, mi~bt not b~ able to make up by traffic over their

ENGINEERING.

,P..t!IL JYAY.

452
land frontiers for blockade or interruption of com~erce. by sea.
For instance, if Germany were
VlCto!tous by sea over France, she might insis~ on
Bel~tum and Holland on one s ide, and Italy and
Spatn on the other, n ot supplying by land what
had b een cut off by sea. On the other hand
France and Russia migh t practically seal up Ger~
m any, insisting that Scandinavia and Holland
should not make up to Germany by land what had
b een cut off by sea.
Whatever may be the probability of these measures b eing put in force, we must acknowledge t he
truth of Sir Robert Giffen's contention that their
possibility makes out for Germany a strong case for
a powerful fleet. In fact, as any Power increases
its o.versea commerce, so does its need f?r nav.al protectiOn grow ; and there are few countrtes wh1eh can
increase their exports and imports without beina
largely dependent on sea carriage.
o
In this re3pect, of course, England stands at the
upper limit in the scale of n ations, whilst Switzerland would represen t zero. The only approach to
our own condition that is likely to arise is that of
Japan ; and J ap anese statesmen are sh owing a wise
appreciation of the position by building up, wit h
what might appear almost feverish haste, a powerful naval service.
Before leaving the question of naval defence we
may point out how thoroughly t he facts brought
for ward in Sir Robert Giffen 's address upset the
arguments of those who decry n aval expendit ure
in this country because it only leads ot her P owers
to emulate our example. As a matter of fact, the
increase of navies is automatic and inevitable for
all count ries in which foreign commerce is a growing
factor.
Turning to another phase of t he subject, we find
the address considering the important quest ion of
how new markets are to be found for the products
of an increasing population. '' What we see is that,
not only in this country, but in Germany and other
Continental counbries, millions of new people are,
in fact, provided for in every ten years, although
the resources of the country in food and raw
n1aterial are generally used to the full extent, and
are not capable of further expansion, so t hat increasing supplies of food and raw material have to be
imported from abroad." Sir Robert Giffen accounts
for this by the fact that the main provision for the
wants of the new people is effected by themselves.
"The butcher, the baker, the tailor, the dressmaker,
the milliner, t he shoemaker, the builder, the t eacher,
the. doctor, t h e lawyer, and so on, are all working
for each other the most part of their lives, and the
proportion of exchanges with foreign countries
n ecessary to procure some things r equired in the
general economy may be very smalL " No doubt
the home t rade in all countries exceeds the foreign
trade, and the latter may be, as the quotation just
made says, " very small;" but with the great
increase of imports there must also be an increase
of exports, unless t he country r eceiving the imports
has some sort of claim on that from which the
cotnmodities are sent, or in some way r enders
services t hat stand for value. Such a claim
England has on most other countries, in the shape
of her investments in foreign enterprises, and the
services she r enders, chiefly by means of oversea transport owing to h er preponderating mercantile marine. These are the two main reasonscoupled with the large banking and exchange business, of which L~ndon is t h e cent re-which have
enabled us to cont tnue solvent for t he many years
our imports have exceeded our e xports, and
that to an enormous extent. No one has done
more to put t hese matters before the public in
their true light than Sir Robert Giffen h as by his
previous writings.
But though it is conceivable we may be able to
"live on our income," like a country squire on
his r ents, is it certain we shall always continue in
that happypos.iti?n 1 Investment.s a~road ~ave sometimes a disquiettng way of shrmking- Just as t he
country squire's rents have b een doing of late years
-and often come to an end altogether. Sometimes
a franchise expires or a concession terminates. At
other t imes the home investor gradually buys out
the British capitalist. Recently, for instance, the
water supply of a foreig~ capital, which was ~?n
structed by British eng1neers, wholly by Bnttsh
money, fell completely into t h e h.ands of nat~ve
capitalists, and the London office, wit~ the Enghsh
staff was disbanded. In many foreign manufacturhtg establishments insufficient s~nns ~re provided for depreciation, so t hat the bus1ness 1s gradu-

E N G I N E E R I N G.
ally wearing itself out; or, again, methods are
being superseded-as in the possible case of a gas
works being eclipsed by electric light, a tramway
'?Y a railway, or, conceivably, both by n10tor cars;
1n short, there are so many possibilities of shrinkage
in foreign investments that few, if any, can be
looked upon as perennial, and unless they are constantly r enew'ed, we should be trusting to a r otten
prop if we dep end on them for support.
Are our oversea carrying trade and our banking
business on surer foundations 7 Can we b e certain
to remain the ocean carriers and financial factors
to a large proportion of humanity 7 In regard
to the latter form of business, Mr. Carnegie
has recen tly told us t hat the financial centre
of the world has shifted from London. If
he refers only to operations such as those with
which the name of Mr. Pierpoint Morgan has lately
become so intimately associated, we can afford to
accept the statement with equanimity; but there
may be more serious disturbances of the old order
in store. One t hing is certain : t h e p ossibility of
competit ion in this as in nearly all forms of commercial activity is b ecoming more pronounced. In
shipping we are n ow seeing the beginning of a
rivalry that must have a larger fu t ure before it,
especially in view of the superiorit y over us in the
bulk of steel produced both by the United States
and Germany. British shipping supremacy was
built up by cheap iron first, and was later maintained
by cheaper steel. Now we have lost our lead in
the chief raw material for ships and engines, will it
r emain 1
~
These are questions easily put, though difficuU to
answer, even tentatively ; but the importance of the
result makes the problem wor thy of t he first attention and best efforts of our statisticians and publicists.
The position is this : The British Isles contain a
population in excess of that which t he natural products of the count ry will support. We depend largely
on what we get from abroad for a great bulk of t he
actual necessities of life, and many of t he comforts
which have grown to b e the n ecessit ies of civilisat ion. Other n~tions are competing with us to an
enormously increased extent in the demand for
these commodities, so that, unless t he means of production increase in like ratio, t he p rice must go up.
We must therefore sell t hat we may buy ; we must
continue to be t he workshop of a large part of the
world (we can no longer hope to be the workshop of
the world) unless we can depend on our investments
abroad, on our ocean freights, and on commissions
upon financial n egotiations. Of natural resources
there is little left to offer but coal.
I t would b e well if trustworthy figures were at
our disposal from which to draw sound conclusions
for guidance in this matter ; but, if one may judge
by such general and isolated con ditions as are apparent on the surface, failure to maintain our position
as manufacturer s and exporters will lead to the
decline of our home trade. Sir Robert Giffen
says in his address, '' Looking at the matter
from the outside, and scientifically, it is the home
and not the foreign market which is always the most
important. " If importance be measured by volume,
no doubt this is, and must remain, absolutely true;
but as it is difficult t o imagine ourselves with a successful foreign trade and an absence of prosperity
at home, we may, perhaps, look on our commerce
with other countries as of the truest importance.

THE LOSS OF THE "COBRA."

BY a strange and terrible coincidence the second
of t he two steam-turbine propelled vessels of t he
R oyal Navy has b een wr ecked. It is only a few
weeks since the Viper was stranded, happily
without loss of life; and now t he Cobra has gone,
and with h er 67 men, only 12 out of the full number
on board being saved. Awaiting fuller details of
an authentic character, there is not much to be
said about t he disaster from an engineering
point of view. As our r eaders are aware, the
Cobra was a torpedo-boat destroyer built by Messrs.
Armstrong, Whitworth, and Co., at Elswick, and
engined by t he Parsons Marine Steam Turbine
Company, of Wallsendon-Tyne. The exceptional
speed both she and her sister destroyer, the Viper,
obtained has already been r ecorded by us. She
left t he Tyne for the purpose of b eing delivered
at Portsmouth on Tuesday, September 17, in charge
of Lieutenant Alan Bosworth S mith, who had
under his command a navigating par ty of 54 in all.
There were also 25 other persons on board, including Mr. Magnus Sa.ndison, t he chief engineer

[SEPT.

27,

190 1.

to Elswick Shipyard, and Mr. Robert Barnard, the

manager of the Parsons Marine Steam Turbine
Company. ~oth of the gentlemen were lost ;
as ~lso .was Lieutenant B oswor t h Smith, who fully
matntained the r eputation of British seamen by
remaining at his post to the last.
From the first r eports it would appear t.hat
at about 7.30, on the morning of September 18,
the vessel. struck. n ear t he Dudgeon Lightship,
off t he Ltncolnshne coast. This is according
to the r eport made by the chief engineer of t he
Cobra, who was among the saved, to the Commander-in- Chief at Portsmouth, t he statement
being th~t t he ',',ship ~truck amidships, and was
broken 111 t wo.
Durmg t he same afternoon a
drift-net fishing-boat sighted the wreck and brouaht
ashore. some of the. bodies. The master gave evide~ce
at the rnquest, whtch was opened on Friday last, t hat
the ~obra's stem was sticking straight up. In his
openmg speech the coroner said that in t he place
where the vessel is said to have struck there was a
depth of six or seven fathoms of water. If this
~ere to be taken, i!l the ordinary seamen's acceptatwn of the expresswn, as t he minimum dept h it is
difficult to understand how the Cobra could' have
struck, for she drew 6 ft. or 7 ft. only. No
information has been published as to the exact
place where the vessel was wrecked. U ntil one
knows the nature of the bottom, speculation
must be vague.
One of the survivors, who
gave some details to a newspaper correspondent, said that when he last saw t he wreck
"the forepart was standing up almost vertically, like a beacon." This man was on deck
when the vessel struck. H e said that ''all of
a sudden she struck a shoal, and t he waves
in a moment broke over her. Alarmed by t he
force of the shock, every man came on deck . . .
The seas began to roll over the forecastle, and a
few moments later the vessel broke in two, fore
and aft." A stoker also stated to a press correspondent that he was on duty in the stokehold
~hen the :vessel ~truck. "The ~at~r began to pour
In almost Immediately, and conung Into contact wit h
the boilers, caused great clouds of steam to arise.
Rushing up on deck in my trousers and singlet, a
tprilling spectacle met my gaze.
Waves were
breaking over the doomed ship. " A South Shields
man said he " felt two distinct shocks, and the
vessel appeared to be fast amidships. . . . The
Cobra meanwhile (some short time after sh e had
struck) had broken her baek, and was submerged
amidships."
The reports so far made public are in many respects so inconsistent t hat definite conclusions cannot be drawn from them. It has been said that the
Cobra sagged so much in the heavy seas that t he hull
doubled up. That she did double-up ultimately was
doubtless the case. First-class P etty Officer Warriner " felt a shock, " and after coming on deck, ..
found "the Cobra was settling down amidships,
buckling completely up. " There is n o question t he
sea was rough. " Ther e was ~ nasty cross sea,"
said one man, " t he ship began to r oll very heavily
. . . She continued to roll heavily, and then all of
a. sudden she struck the sh oal. " Such a sea as will
make a vessel r oll heavily is not likely to "break
her back," however flimsy her construction; hogging
and sagging are caused chiefly by following waves,
and not by a beam sea which is accompanied by
rolling.
H owever, on Wednesday a salvage vessel made
a survey on t he spot, and divers went down. The
stern of the Cobra was found to be projecting
5 f t . or 6 f t. above water. If t he vessel wel'e
broken right in the middle, and the parts standing
were vertical, t his would indicate t he wreck at present to b e in, say, 16 to 18 fathoms, very considerably more t han the vessel drew. In a r ough sea,
of course, the minimmn depth is reduced by the
hollow of t he waves.
Now, it is evident that extremely fast small
vessels, like torpedo craft, cannot be built to stand
going ashore on rocks, or even on shoals, in a heavy
sea.. L arger craft, with double bottoms, may, by
grea.b good fortune, get on t he rocks and off againthe third-class cruiser Apollo, which ran on t he
Skelligs, is the most notable example on r ecordbut torpedo craft cannot have double bottoms, and
must take their chance. Although the Cobra is
said to have been going slow at the t ime, the injury
to the hull amidships was B1pparently of a. most extensive nature, and t he weakening of t he structure
thus caused might be sufficient to account for the
ultimate doubling up.

SEPT.

27,

1901.]

One theory advanced, namely, t hat the vessel

struck, or was struck by, a whale, receives colour
from the fact that a dead whale with a big gash in it
has been found in t he neighbourhood. The explanation may seem a little wild at first, and it may be
thought that a whale ruust be very large and hard
to break up a destroyer. I t is a fact, however,
that wbales have been known to do serious
damage to craft far more strongly construct ed
t han destroyers can ever be, and whalers much
dread the charge of one of these enormous animals
when infuriated. That, however, refers to beasts
of this sp ecies such as are met wit h in higher latit udes. I t is seldom a large whale is seen in the
shallow water n ear our coasts. I t is useless, h owever, to speculate on the matter further ; we must
await the fuller informatioL that, it is to be hoped,
will be made public as a result of official inquiry.
We need not here refer to t he upsetting of the
large boat t hat was launched, nor to dramatic incidents t hat accompanied the rescue of the twelve
men in the dinghy. The statement cuTrent for
some time-that th e vessel had been blown in two
by her boilers bursting, was manifestly absurd, as
she had water-tube boilers of the Yarrow type.
To a large number of our readers t he death
of Mr. Sandison will be a most painful event
of a personal nature, for he was well known
and highly respected in engineering circles. Mr.
Barnard, a younger man, had, perhaps, hardly so
wide a circ1e of friends in the profession ; but the
loss of its works manager to the P arsons Company
will be a serious one. He was connected with the
steam-turbine marine works from the time the
T urbinia was b rought forward ; and many who
attended t he trials of that wonderful little vessel
will recall with saddened feelings t he bright and
hopeful young man who contributed no little
t owards her success. To Mr. Parsons and his
partners all will extend t he most sincer e sympathy
in the 'Calamity t hat has overtaken t hem ; a
calamity which, however-and this is t he on e
redeeming feature-is quite outside of the novel
design of t he machinery.

THE PASSING OF THE STEAM

ENGINE.
IN 1881 Sir Frederick Bramwell prophesied t hat
in fifty years steam engines would only be found in
museums, and all motive p ower would be derived
from internal combustion engines. His forecast
was delivered at the Jubilee of t he British Association, and will furnish a convenient text for the
President of Section G in 1931 when he delivers
his Address. Whether he will be able to proclaim
Sir Frederick as one of the few prophets whose
predictions have been fully endorsed by time r emains
to be seen, but it is, at any rate, certain t hat he will
be able to credit him with a large p ortion of the
insight of the seer. During the twenty years which
have passed since the utterance, t he gas engine has
grown greatly in size and efficiency, and t he oil
engine, which is only a modified gas engine, has
done so even more. They have both reached, and
even passed, t he dimensions which seemed to limit
their economical application. Engines using town's
gas, and paraffin oil, are now made of sizes at which
t he saving in cost of attendance, as compared wit h
steam engines, is more than counterbalanced by
the heavy cost of fuel. Their readiness in starting,
their compactness, and their general handiness
are, for some purposes, of more impor tance than
economy. Nevertheless, t he largest of such engines
must always be toys compared with the largest
steam engines. Sir Frederick's forecast needed
for its realisation a cheaper fuel than either of
these.
In 1881 t here was already a cheap gas available
for internal combustion engines. It was known
here as Dowson gas, and on the Continent as
'' Pauvre gas ; " and to some extent it was used.
JYiessrs. Crossley Brothers have employed it for
years for several hundred horse-power; and at the
Paris Exhibition of 1889 t here was a 100 horsepower engine driven by it ; and altogether there are
many installations working with it. But it cannot
be said that any gren.t progress was made. Makers
were very shy of building large engines, and
users were disinclined to purchase t hem, unless
wit h much more satisfactory guarantees t han they
could obtain.
For a long time affairs wer e
s tationary. It. no doubt suited Messrs. Crossley very
well to use gas engines and Dowson gas, for they
had a highly-trained staff to look after them ; but

'

E N G I N E E R I N G.
even t hey did not use any really large engines, the
total power required being split up into several units.
The ordinary manufacturer had little inducement to
follow their example. Even a consumption of 1lb.
of coal per horse-power-hour was not a great
temptation to him, for the 1nost suitable fuel was
anthracite, which is always dear, partly because the
cost of cal'riage from South Wales is heavy to the
greater part of t he country, and partly because it
is a fuel of very limited application, and has to be
obtained specially. I t is true coke is capable of
replacing anthracite ; but t hat also is a dear fuel in
most places.
I t needed a fuel cheaper even than Dowson gas
to put t he internal combustion engine on a really
industrial basis for large powers. This was found
in America in natural gas, and in this country and
the Continent in the waste gas from blast furnaces.
Across t he Atlantic Mr. George Westinghouse
took up t he subject, and built gas engines of several
hundred horse-power ; in Belgium blowing engines
of equal size have been produced, one being shown
at t he last Paris Exhibition. In t his country
Dr. Ludwig Mond has, after much experimenting, perfected a gas producer which will manufacture gas of exceeding cheapness. It uses
the poorest sort of bituminous slack, and wbile
converting it into gas, it saves t he greater
part of the ammonia it contains. At present
prices the ammonia obtained from a ton of coal
is worth 4s. 6d., wbile the coal itself can often
be bought for 6s. The prospect of this gas being
delivered over a large district for twopence per
thousand feet has caused Sir Frederick Bramwell
to write a letter to the Times recalling his prophecy,
and emphasising the fact that a great s tride has
been made towards its accomplishment. A company has been formed to supply this gas over an
area of 135 square miles, and an Act of P arliament has been obtained aut horising t hem to do
so. The gas is to be sold at twopence per t housand feet, which, taking 60ft. to the horse-power
hour, means that the cost of fuel would be oneeighth of a penny per unit per hour. This is just
equal to t he cost of coal in a fairly econ omical
engine, taking the price as 10s. per ton. No wonder
Sir Frederick feels his r eputation as a prophet in
the ascendant . Not one-half of the period he
allowed himself has elapsed, and yet immense progress has been made. 'here are still possibilities
ahead in the way of lower prices, for a ton of slack
will produce 150,000 cubic feet of Mond gas, worth,
at twopence per thousand feet, 25s., while the
ammonia is worth 4s. 6d., the total being 29s. 6d.
This seems to provide a very fair margin for working expenses and distribution.
The chemist has done Bis part towards superseding the steam engine, and it r emains for t he
gas-engine builder to do his. As matters n ow stand
it seems as if there would be little to choose in the
matter of fuel cost between gas and coal in the
area served by the Mond Company. In balancing
the advantage, there is the saving of t he cost of
boilers, wit h their house, foundation, and smokestack, and the attendant smoke and nuisance,
to set against the greater weight and complexity of the gas engine. There is reason to believe t hat these will decrease. Already large engines are giving an explosion at each r evolution,
and the mean pressure is rising. Now that we have
the prospect of cheap gas, there is every reason to
believe t hat means will be rapidly found to utilise it.

THE CARBON BISULPHIDE MANUFACTURE.

THERE are certain of the chemical industries
which, pursuing the even tenour of their way behind t he scenes in manufacturing towns, remain, as
far as their products are concerned, quite outside
the pale of knowledge, the possession of which is
generally supposed to indicate the man of culture
and attainments. At times, however- whether
owing to a catastrophe or to the products involved
becoming t he subject of Parliamentary discussion
- such chemical works leap into a certain promin ence, and inquiries pass from mouth to mou th
with reference to the details of t he manufacturing
operations, or t he speci'fic properties, of t he products
t urned out. To some extent has this been the case
with t he subject of our article. Not t hat there has
been an explosion, or any particularly distressing
accident at t he works, carrying on the manufacture
of this mephitic liquid, but in connection with the
Dangerous Trades Committee of the House of Oom-

453
mons, carbon bisulphide, as employed in the vulcanising processes in indiarubber works, came in for
a good deal of attention. vVith its employment in
rubber factories, however, we do n ot propose to deal
on t he presen t occasion; t hat is, as far as it affects the
health of the workpeople, t he s ubject being a very
wide one, and somewhat of a controversial nature.
Having made these disclaimers, we hasten to say
that it is t he use of t he substance in a new capacity,
and on a large scale, t hat has prompted us to refer
to the manufacture generally, the particular chemical with the production of which carbon bisulphide
is now associated being cyanide of potassium-a
body now so well known in connection with goldrecovery. Previous to the utilisation of it in
cyanide-making, t he demand for carbon bisulphide
had fallen off with respect to the two or three
industries wher e it had for a long time been largely
employed. The most important of t he uses to
which it has been put are the cold-vulcanising- if
the term may be permitted- of indiarubber, t he
extraction of oil from seeds, and, what may seem
rather a strange use, the extermination of rabbits
in Australia.
A further use for it has been in connection with
combating the phylloxera pest in Continental vineyards, the liquid for t his purpose being made into
an emulsion with water and alkali, and applied to
t he soil.
'Vit h regard to these uses, t he extended employment of what is known as the dry-heat method of
vulcanising waterproof textures has led in recent
years to a largely decreased consumption of carbon
bisulphide compared with fifteen or twenty years
ago. N evertheless, at the moment there is evidence of increased consumption again, though
it is impossible to imagine that the figure can
ever again rise to that of the period just referred to. The fact that it is such a disagreeable, n ot to say poisonous, liquid discourages its
application to a greater variety of operations where
a good solvent is required; and, t hough it has been
used to some extent in r emoving fat from wool,
it cannot be said that its employment in this
direction tends to increase ; indeed, t he evidence
points the other way. As regards the shipments to
Australia, these have decreased, t hough this fact
alone is n ot conclusive that its use as a rabbitexterminator has been abandoned, as t here are
other available sources of supply. The manufacture of carbon bisulphide is described in many
chemical handbooks and dictionaries, and there is
no need to occupy space by referring at length to
this phase of our subject, our intention being
rather to touch on one or two points which have not
been dealt with elsewhere, and which seem to present features of interest to oUlers besides those
primarily engaged in the manufacture and use of
the substance.
As we have said, the new use for carbon bisulphide is in connection with the manufacture of
potassium cyanide from sulpho-cyanide ; t hough, as
the cyanide manufacture has seen a good many
alterations since the b ody became of such commercial importance, it would be hazardous to say that
finality has yet been attained, or to predict a lon g
run for the processes now being used on the large
scale. Potassium cyanide, according to t he patent
of .Ra.schen, Dav~dson, and Brock, is made n ow by
a process, of whiCh the accompanying is a brief
epitome :
Carbon bisulphide, ammonia, and hydrate of lime
are heated together in a closed vessel, and the solution of calcium sulpho-cyanide thus obtained is
decomposed by carbonic acid and potassium carbonate or sulphate. The dry potassium sulphocyanide is ti1en mixed with quicklime and carbona~eou~ .m.at~er an~ heated w.ith agitation, and,
afeer hx1Vlat10n, yields potassmm cyanide. This
proc~ss is now in ~se on the la~ge scale by one of
our Important chemical corporatiOns, and to it can
be traced the increased activity in the carbon bisulphide manufacture which is noticeable to-day. As
far as individual makers, however, are concerned
the r ecent increased demand has n ot acted as ~
general stimulus all round, and this is owing to t he
fact that there are difficulties as to transpor t. The
rail~ay and steam~hi~ companies look askance upon
the Infl.at;nmable h qu1d, and n~t only charge high
r~tes for Its transport, but also Impose strict r egulabona as to the method of packing. Nor is there
a:ny unifo~mity as to these t ransport r egulatiOns. It IS to be noted that, whereas one line of
coasting steamers will take it as deck-cargo another
refuses to carry it under any conditions ~hatever

'

454

an explanation of this diversity probably depending

upon the fact th~t in the one case business of any
sort cannot be disregarded, w bile in the other it is
brisk enough to enable the proprietary to dispense
with the carriage of a da.ngerous class of goods.
~ha.tever the cause of the difference may really be,
1t eXIsts; and some carbon bisulphide makers find
themselves handicapped by their inability to disp ose of their product ad vantaaeously at a distance
while others find themselv~s more favourabl;
situated.
The price for potassium cyanide has fallen considerably of late years, and at the present time it is
somewhere in the n eighbourhood of a shilling a
poun~-a figure which is not suggestive of an
exorbttant profit, though at this price much of the
business which formerly went to Germany is likely
to be attracted to our shores. It is hardly necessary at this date to say that the cyanide process as
used on the gold-fields has come to stay, so that it
can hardly be considered as a speculative act to
enter on a. large scale on the manufacture of the
chief chemical involved. It is n1ore than probable,
however, that outside carbon bisulphide manufacturers will before long cease to have much interest
in the cyanide manufacture, because, if what we
hear is correct, the cyanide people are tnaking
arrangements to supply their own requirements-a
movement which was only to be anticipated in the
case of a material where carriage forms such an
important item in the cost.
Another point is that concerned with the amount
made per week . The firms in the trade at present
are not, with, p erhaps, one exception, in a !arge
way of business ; and, as one or two men can
manage several retorts, the firm 1nanufacturing
on t he large scale will, of course, have an ad vantage in cost of production. The question arises :
Are the prospects for the future sufficiently good
to warrant existing firms in enlarging their plant ?
And we cannot help feeling that they are n ot.
Of course it is somewhat presumptuous for us
to advise firms who have been long in the trade
as t o the conduct of their businesses, but it is difficulb to avoid a conviction that, if the cyanide manufacture continues on the lines mentioned above, the
carbon bisulphide required will be all made on the
spot. The next thing to expect would be an overproduction, and this would be put upon the market
in competition with the product of old-established
makers, to whom the altered condition of affairs
must perforce spell something like ruin. Of course
this prediction may not be justified by the existing
facts, but it seems anything but an extravagant one
in the light of what has occurred in other branches
of the chemical industry-that industry in which
outsiders fondly imagine that the participators in it
are, of necessity, coining money. At the present
time, in spite of the fact that both coal for fuel and
wood for charcoal-making have advanced in price,
the carbon bisulphide maker finds it practically impossible t o get a higher price for his product,
although, we may add parent hetically, he certainly
does n ot stand in an isolated position among the
rank and file of manufacturers.
Numerous as have been the attempts made to
replace carbon bisulphide in the indiarubber trade
by some solvent of a l ess n oxious character, it
would seem that but very slight progress has been
made in this direction. Into the merits and demerits of the various substitutes that have from
time to time b een proposed and, to some extent,
adopted in practice, we do not propose ~ere to
inq uire, the subject being one of a partteularly
technical character; but there is no d<:mbt that the
advent of the solvent, which shall satisfactorily
replace the su bject of our articl e, would be hailed
wit h satisfaction by b oth master and workpeople
in rub ber factories. The matter of price n eed n ot
be taken too much into consideration, as the compensating ad vantage of rendering t he factory free
from Government inspection would prove a lu~i~g
bait,, even to employers who have the nall!-e of n gtd
economists. Indeed, the Government m spectors
have pretty well made it clear ~bat, if t~e desired
substitute can be found, they wtll do t hetr best to
secure its adoption if th e extra cost should be such
as could n ot be considered prohibitive to the continuance of t he business. A body which has b een
proposed more than once as such a subst itute is
tetra-chlorid~ of carbon ; but, from all we can
gather, the t rials whic~ haye ~een made of it have
n ot r esulted in a verdtet 1n 1ts favour. And t he
price is certainly against it. In r ound figure.s, it
costs 10.:3. per g&llon, ~gainst 3s, for carb~n btS\11-

E N G I N E E R I N G.
phide, though, a~ we have just said, this fact alone
~eed not necessarily put it out of the r unning if
1ts efficacy could be established ; and t his, we fancy,
is not likely to be the case. It does not seem to
have been noted whether carbon tetra-chloride has
any toxic effects, but there is certainly nothing disagreeable about its smell ; and the fact that it is
non-inflammable is a matter of great importance
from the insurance point of view, the offices, as a
rule, declining to insure on any terms whatever
those portions of the rubber works where carbon
bisulphide is used. The exceeding inflammability
of this body, and the fact that it can be ignited by
a hot piece of metal, causes its use to be attended
with considerable risk ; and not only is fire to be
feared, but there is also the possibility of explosion,
a mixture in certain proportions of the vapour with
air forming an atmosphere of great explosive
power. Trouble has occasionally arisen from this
source when waste liq uor has been carelessly disposed of and the vapours have accumulated in a
closed space. Too much care cannot be taken to so
get rid of the waste liquor as to reduce any chance
of such danger as that just mentioned to a minimum.
However, it may be objected that we have wandered somewhat from the manufacture of the article,
and become unduly discursive on its uses and propertie~, though it will hardly, we fancy, be denied
t hat, in r eferring to the future prospects of a
chemical s ubstance, facts of importance concerning
its past and present form matter for legitimate consideration.
Before concluding, we may mention that carbon
bisulphide works now figure in the schedule to the
Alkali Act, and are therefore subject t o p eriodical
inspection- a fact which is of some importance to
dwellers in the vicinity of the works as regards the
diffusion of noxious vapours. It cannot be said
that the precautions which are now rendered obligatory to prevent t he diffusion of these vapours
into the surrounding atmosphere entail any hardship on the manufacturer, or, at any rate, individual hardship, as all manufacturers alike are
r equired to conform to the same standard; and, as
those engaged in other manufactures which come
under the Alkali Act know, the inspectors are
careful to insist only on such improvements as are
known to be possible of attainment.

THE FALL IN COPPER.

CoNSUMERS of copper will have noticed that
during the last few days the price of the metal
has suffered a sharp fall. The downward movement was initiated by the dividend declared by the
Amalgamated Copper Company, the Trust formed
to control the American supply, and consequently
the world's price. Hitherto the company has paid
quarterly dividends of 2 per cent., this including
! per cent. distributed as a bonus. On this occasion the bonus is omitted, and as it was for s01ne
time known that the concern was unable to sell the
whole of its output, and that its secret stocks were
very large, operators concluded at once that the
combine was in a bad way, that the artificial level
of prices maintained since the beginning of 1899
was no longer p ossible; and that , in short, the long
foreseen smash had come at last.
We cannot, of course, pretend to b e in the
se0rets of the Amalgamated Copper Company,
and while we say now, as we have said all
along, t hat copper cannot be kept indefinitely
in the neighbourhood of 70l. p er ton by the
methods favoured by the Standard Oil- Morgan
group, it does nof follow that the end has come
yet, much as we should like to see i t. I t l ooks
to us as though the inside circle of speculat ors have adopted this course in order to further
some ulterior purpose of their own. Had they
desired to keep the market in good humour, t hey
could easily have got together enough cash to pay
the usual bonus ; and the fact that they have
adopted altogether unexpected tactics pos~esses
significance. As we have said, we should hke to
see copper decline to a level which will allow producers a fair profit, and will not be oppressive to
consumers. But it would be premature, after the
disappointments of the past, to assume that the
end has actually come yet. Probably the ulterior
motive with which we credit the Combine is to compel
the large interests, whi~h have hitherto. remai~ed
independent, to enter 1nto a ~lose ~lha.n~e wtth
i t, and to do their proper share 1n mainta1nmg t he
market,

(SEPT.

27,

1901.

It is clear from the statistics that the Amalgamated Company has been hard put to it to
k eep supplies down, and it is also clear that if the
others refuse their active co-operation, the Trust
cannot hold its end up much longer, in spite of its
wealth and capacity for manipulation. rhe q uantity of metal in sight on the 15th inst. was 24,838
tons, compared with 27,462 tons at the end of June,
28,860 tons on December 31, and 30,175 tons at
the end of August last year. Taking t he twelve
months to the 3 Lst, we find that s upplies from all
sources were 241,220 tons, as compared with
277,130 tons for 1899-1900, and that the t rade
deliveries were 239,518 tons, as compared with
267,235 tons. In new supplies we have a decrease of a round 36,000 t ons, and in deliveries
a decrease of 27,700 tons. But seeing that the
balance has again been on t he right side, the
American interests have shipped 6056 tons of
standard copper to the States during the past
twelve months, this figure comparing wit h 12,112
tons. How is one to account for the diminution
in supplies for the past year 1 Entirely in shipn1ents from America.
These reached 111,527
tons, agains t 157,612 tons. From Spain and
Portugal the quantity r eceived was 25,969 tons,
against 24,954 tons; from miscellaneous sources
51,074 tons, against 49,067 ton s; from Chili 29,150
tons, against 24,700 tons ; and from Australia
23,500 tons, against 20,800 tons. Fro~ all sources
except America consignments are increasing, but
not at anything like the rate necessary to compensate for that one exception.
Turning now to the other side of the account,
we find that in the United Kingdom the consumption for the eight months to Aug ust was
49,434 tons, against 49,711 tons last year; in
France it was 28,065 tons, against 30,459 tons;
and in Germany (foreign copper only) 33,393 tons
against 45,964 tons. In t he United States production in the eight months was 178,006 tons as compared with 178,656 tons; while exports were only
64,691 tons as compared with 115,776 tons. Allowing
for exports of sulphate and for imports, the domestic
consumption is apparently 136,353 tons, against
81,655 tons.
This assumes that there is no change in stocks,
which brings us to the crux of the situation.
Although trade has been good, it has been less
active than in 1899 ; and even in that p eriod
consumption was only 111,250 tons. Production
shows practically no con traction in spite of the
restricted output of t he mines of the Combine, t he
many small men of Arizona and elsewhere rushing
their product to market in order to benefit by
the high prices. There is no room to doubt , therefore, that the unrecorded stocks of copper are
large.
A discharged employe of the Amalgamated
Copper Company stated the other day that t hat
concern has as much as 60,000 tons in stock. This
figure i3 t hought to be an exaggeration ; but no
attempt is made to deny that the company's
accumulations are large, and even the Amalgamated
Company cannot go on piling up copper regardless
of cons umption. This is the best augury for t he
early break up of the Combine, assuming that we
are not soon to be t reated to another spell of
phenomen~l industrial activity.

BRAZILIAN RAILWAYS.-The Government of the State of

Sao Paulo proposes to construob a line to oonneot Porta
Teliz with the Sorooa.bana R!l.ilway.
RAILS FOR N EW SouTH WALES RAlLWAYS.-The New
South Wales Government recently invited tenders for the
supply of 100,000 steel rails for the New South Wales
Government railways. The rails were to be manufactured locally, and were to be delivered at the rate of
25,000 tons annually for four years, at a price not exoeeding English or American quotations abthe time of delivery
plu s freight charges. The tenderers were to abide by the
union rate of wages. No tendera were reoei ved.
DaRLINGTON.-On Friday Mr. W. 0. E. Meade-King
held an inquiry at Dtl.rlington into an application of the
Town Council for power to borrow 12,250l. for eleotrio
li~hting purposes, and 14,000l. for gas works. ~Ir. H. G.
Heavenson said the oounoil desired to meeb the increasing
demand for the eleotrio light. Already they were providing power for 8400 lamps of s.oandle power to 106 consumers, and by the end of the year they estimated thab
power would be required for 18,000 lamps. The sum of
25 940l. had been raised by loans. and the expenditure
h~d exceeded that sum by 16'i0t. The liabilities incurred
were 3593l. in excess of the existing powers. The money
required on behalf of the gas works was chiefly for automatic meters, mains, engine exha.uster, exteneions CJf
lamps, ~(',

E N G I N E E R I N G.
THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF
ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS.
(BY

OuR

SPECIAL OoRn.ESPONDENT. )

THE American Institute of E lectrical Engineers,

founded seventeen years ago, is an energetic body
of men who know ho w to unite a reasonable amount
of the dttlce with a max imum of tho utile. This was
evident from the way in which their recent annual
meeting was p lanned and carried out; on which
occasion the opening meeting was held in New
York, and the other sessions in the Pan-American
Exposition at Buff~lo.
The essential feature of all such gatherings is
unquestionably the r eading and discussing of papers
prepared by eminent men, as well as t he interchange of ideas and professional experience t hat
followa. Visits to leading engineering works and
electrical plants have also come to be regarded as a
fitting and necessary complement to the proceeding3 of the convention. This is accepted, at least
theoretically, in England; but in t he United States
it is understood in a very practical manner. In
this country of m~gnificent distances, the lines of
communication, whet.her by water or rail, are rapid
and commodious to a degree of luxury. Moreover,
every facility is offered the pilgrim of science to
visit the busy centres of intellectual and industrial
activity that are echeloned along the main routes of
transportation w hieh connect the Atlantic with t h e
Pacific seaboard .
The American engineer of to-day, whether civil
or electrical, is essentially a peripatet ician ; and,
like the peripatetics of old, has acquired an uncommon amount of varied experience and valuable
knowledge. Jle has seen all the natural wonders
with which the New World abounds, and can describe them with a fullness of detail and fluency of
speech that are charming ; he has inspected the
great seats of mineral wealth and t he important
manufacturing districts of the country, expecting
as a res ult of all t his personal displacemen t to
enlarge his field of usefulness, and give a r efined
polish to his professional equipment. Conventions
like th~t of the E lectrical Engineers are quite to his
taste, as t hey afford him an opportunity for renewing old acquaint~nces aud making new ones, at; also
of refurnishing some technicalities and keeping his
kno wledge up to date.
At t he opening of t h e annual meeting t he President, Mr. Charles P. Steinmetz, spoke enthusiastically of the rapid rate at which membership has
increased, t he number of impor tant papers that
appeared in the Transactions, and the brilliant work
done by son1e of t he associates during t he twelvemonth. It afforded him special pleas ure to see this
n1eeting attended by delegates from sister societies
in England, F rance, Germany, and Belgium, thus
showing th~t science is not sectional and that engineering is international.
England was represented by Mr. Arthur H. Pott, Mr. D. McNaught,
and Mr. Norman 0. Sawers. France, by M. Paul
Janet, Dire~tor of t he L~boratoire Centrale; M.
Henri Boy de h Tour, M. B. Roux, M. Paul Debeauve, M . Oharles David, M. J. Courbier , M.
Maurice Aubert, and M. Marcel A.ubert; all of
whom are members of t he Societ&Internationale des
E lectricians. Ger many was represented by Herr
F. W. Janisch, chief engineer of the Siemens and
Halske Company; and Belgium by Professor Gustave G illon, of t he U niversity of Louvain. All
these gentlemen were the g uests of the Institute, in
whose proceedings t hey took an active interest.
When the usual business connected wit h the opening of the session was despatched, the members were
conveyeq by special t rain from New York to Ampere,
in the neighbouring State of NewJersey. There
they were met by Professor Crocker, of Columbia
University, and Dr. Wheeler, both of whom accompanied t he party in their t our of inspection through
the extensive works of the Crocker- Wheeler Oomp lny. Every department was found working at
full load in constructing the dynamo-electric machinery for which the company has a widespread
reputation. The energy used in every shop was
taken as a fair indication of the activity displayed
throughout t he United States in every part of t he
electric field.
Returning to New York, a visit was made t o t he
superb central station of the New York Telephone
Company; after which t he foreign delegates were
taken up to the 32nd floor of a skyscraper, f rom
which they enjoyed a fine panoramic view of the
Empire Oity.
The energy spent in the first day's p eregrinations

nat urally called for an adequate process of appro- " The Legatees of Franklin," which was accredited
priate storage, and this was generously supplied to Mr. Schuyler S. Wheeler, D.Sc. Though all
in t he evening at the social board of the Mn.rl- the world was included in the legatees of the
borough Hotel. In one r espect this banquet r e- American philosopher, said Dr. Wheeler, yet it is
called the famous dinner which Franklin had true to add that the French are his immediate
planned for a pleasure party on the banks of the heirs-at-law, because of their early appreciation of
Schuy lkill in 1749, when t he p iece de 'resistwnce, the his labours and discoveries. Paris believed in t he
turkey, was to be ld lled by an electric shock and efficacy of his rods against lightning flashes, so
roasted before a fire k indled by the '' electrified did English Whigs; but Tories did not, and they
bottle. '' At t he proper t ime t he health of all the had their way. No good patriot, according to them,
electricians in E ngland, Holland, France, and could find any merit in Fra.nklin's points ; and so
Germany was to be drunk in electrified bumpers, knobs were fitted to t he conductors which pro
t o the discharge of guns from an electric battery.* tected S t. Paul's and t he Purfieet powder magaPresident Steinmetz, however, declined to inter- zine. When Sir John Pringle, President of the
fere with the culinary methods of t he Marlborough, Royal Society, was ordered by George III. to supso t hat t he line was drawn at electrocut ion and port knobs as against points, he gave the dignified
electrified bumpers; but electrical speeches were answer: "Sire, I cannot reverse the laws and operastrictly to be t he order of t he evening. The orators t ions of Nature;" to which the king, incensed that
were expected to rise to a su fficiently high poten- so incompetent a person should hold so important
t ial to acquit t hemselves with efficiency of t heir a position, replied, ''Then, Sir John, perhaps you
duty, but excessive voltages were to be absolutely had better resign ; " and Sir John resigned.
Dr. Wheeler's remarks terminated a characavoided, so as not to cause any positive discomfort
to the auditors. To M. Paul J an et was assigned teristic series of electrical ~peeches, and a banquet
the fi rst toast, "The Land of Ampere: " in honour- t hat will long be remembered by all who had t he
ing which he dwelt upon the ability, skill, and good fortune to be present.
modesty of his illustrious countryman, who did so
The next two days were devoted t o visits to the
much by his discovery of t he laws of electro-dyna- numerous waterside electric stations in New York
mics to prepare t he way for the generators and and Brooklyn, including t he Edison Company, the
motors of the present day. M . J a net, after con- Manhattan Railway Company, at the foot of 76thgratulatin~ his American colleagues on their enter- street, and the mammoth station of the Met roprising spirit and their remarkable achievements in politan Street R~il way Company at East 96thevery department of electrical engineering, con- street. The third morning found 125 members on
cluded by assuring his hearers that French and board t he special steamer Montauk, steaming up to
American electricians are united by a bond of sym- A.lbany, the capital of t he State. The ten-hour
pathy in the interchange of ideas, methods, and day t rip up t he Hudson afforded t hem a muchwork which succeeding years will make all the needed rest on a palatial boat, and at t he same time
gave them an opportunity of discussing t he scenery,
firmer and closer.
''The Country of Faraday " was taken care of by t he success of the Pan-American Exposition, the
Mr. Sawers, a graceful and polished speaker, who papers to be read at Buffalo, and other relevant
did n ot fail to show t hat the names of Britons are matters.
From Albany a special train conveyed the party
written large on every page of the history of electrical science. He felb, however, compelled to to Schenectady, where t hey visited t he works of the
admit-greatly to his regret that, while England General E lectric Company, one of the largest in the
has been so long k nown as the mother and nurse of world for the construction of electric machinery.
elect ricity, she has lagged behind other nations in Motors, rotary converters, polyphase machines,
recognising t he vast potentialities of t he young and transformers of all sizes, are made in these
gian t that she was bringing up. This lagging is shops and shipped to every part of the world. Mr.
fully accounted for by t he astounding inertia of the E. W. Rice, t hird vice-president of t he company,
moneyed public, and the hampering conservatism of welcomed the members of the Institute, and Prot he legal aut horities, which hold such a heavy con- fessor Elihu Thomson added some very interesting
trolling hand over all electrical enterpr ise in t he explanatory notices.
Pursuing their itinerary for ten hours, Buffalo
British Isles. Public spirit needs t o be awakened
and enlighten ed, and th e brakes of officialdom r e- was finally reached late in the evening. The sublaxed, if England is to re-enter the race and again sequent work of the Convention will be considered
in a future ar ticle.
hold her own.
Herr J anisch was selected for '' The S uccessors
of Ohm," but, as he was unable to attend owing t o
NOTES.
a too sudden introduction to the ub iq uitous icewater of America, Professor Hallock, of Columbia,
THE ELEC'l'RIFICATION OF THE METROPOLITAN
a graduate of the University of Berlin, volunteer ed
RAI LWAYS.
to improvise a response to the toast. In doing so,
TRE arbitrator who is to decide what system of
he referred to the unpretending way in which Ohm electric traction shall be employed on t he Metroint roduced his work to t he world, and t he humble politan and the Metropolitan District Rail ways of
opinion he always entertained of his scient ific con- London, is the Hon. Alfred Lyttelton. He will be
t ributions. These were promptly taken up and assisted by Mr. Horace Parshall, acting for t he
developed by such leaders of t hought as Gauss and District Company, and Mr. Parker for t he MetroWeber, Helmholtz and Hertz, R ontgen and Lenard : politan Company. As everyone knows , the Metromen who have n1ade cardinal advances in every politan Company is anxious to adopt the Ganz
system, in which three-phase current, of 3000
branch of knowledge which t hey investigated.
" The Heirs of V olta " was entrusted to Mr. volts, is used directly on the locomotive. The
P. Torchio, a fellow-townsman of t he inventor District Company, which is under t he control of Mr.
of the ever-memorable '' pile, " t he fruitful pro- Y erkes, prefers the direct-current system on the
totype of all t he primary batteries of the present train, as on the Central London line. Now, as many
day. Mr. Torchio strove to show that t he wonder- of the t rains have to run on both companies' lines,
ful development of electrical engineering in it is imperative that one system should be common
America is mainly due to the scientific spirit to both, and t he arbitrator has to decide what it
fostered in colleges and universities, and after- shall be; and as he is not an engineer , he has a
wards transferred to the draughting-room and difficult task in hand. Fortunately, he will not be
workshop. Science deals with the facts of nature, troubled by any resthetic considerations. The
and the laws which govern them; and while the railway is largely in tUimel, and where it is open
scientific spirit observes the facts and deduces the it is between r etaining walls, which completely
laws, it is the special business of the engineer to go shut it from the public sight. There is therefore
furt her, and apply the laws of matter and the no objection to carrying wires, or rods, or even rails,
sources of power to the wants and convenience of overhead. Thus, either alternate or direct curr ent
his fellow-men. Among t he h eirs of Volta who could be supplied by overhead conductore. This is
conspicuously inherited t his scientific spirit, Mr. a great advantage, as contact rails on t he g round
Torchio singled out Pacoinotti and F erraris, are both a hindrance and a danger to the platejustifying his selection by a brief appreciation of layers. We ar e accustomed to look upon 500 volts
as a comparatively safe current; but that depends
t heir life-work.
The last in the series of electrical toasts was gr eatly on circumstances. Gi van good contact,
500 volts will kill as surely as 3000 volts, as was
* The battery consisted of eleven large panes of glass, demoustrated in Liverpool ; and it will be a great
coated on each side with sheeb lead. The electrified
bumper wa.a a thin bumbler nearly filled wibh wine, and r elief to all concerned if the " live rail " can be
electrified a.a a Leyden jar so as to give a. shook through put overhead on brackets attached to the tunnel
the lips.
lining and tho side walls. Whether it be above ot

455

.)

'

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

bel?w, the ~rection will be very awkward with the

trains running every three minutes and will mostly
have to be done in the four or fiv~ hours between
the. last theatre train and the first workmen's
train.
LARGE ELECTRIC POWER TRANSMISSION AT
THE URFT.

In connection with the Urft installation

an important dam has been constructed across
the Urft Valley, at Malsbenden, below the
place where the Oleff joins the U rft. Thereby a
lake is formed, covering an area of some 200
hectares, and containing 43,500,000 cubic metres
of water. . The U ;rft is a river falling into the
Roer, and Its quantity of water varies greatly from
1 cubic metre per second at low water to i50 to
180 cubic metres per second at high water
t he difference is still greater as far as the Roe~
is concerned, viz., from 1!- to 2 cubic metres per
second to as much as 400 to 500 cubic metres per
second. The building of the dam will reaulate the
state of affairs, whereby destructive floods will be
avoided, and a power station will be erected, which
can supply Enskirehen, Diiren, and Aachen with
electricity. In order to build the dam the present
bed of the prft has been laid dry and the temporary outlet IS to serve as a reserve outlet in case of
excessive water in the future, in addition to which
an overflow escape will be provided. The inlet to
the t~rbine installat~on is about two miles long,
and will have a capacity of up to 100 cubic metres
per second. There will be eight turbines of 1280
horse-power, direct co~pled with the dynamos, and
they are expected to y1eld 8000 horse-power in the
winter, and in summer, at the most, 6000 horsepower. The cost of 1 horse-power has been calculated at 0.5 pfeoning, or about one-sixteenth of a
P.enny per hour. at. the turbine ; but by transmissiOn the coat will Increase to 1 to 1. 5 pfenning.
The cost of the dam is calculated at 3,860,000
marks, or about 193,000l., and the coat of the whole
installation is about 250,000l.

such a consignment is, in these circumstances

transferred, with others intended for other station~
on the ~ame line, to a tranship wagon. This is a
wagon w1t~ doors ~n each sido, giving easy access
to the freight earned. These tranship oars are
generally run~ night trains which stop at each of
the. small statiOns where a consignment is to be
delivered, and the parcel in question is unloaded
on to the passenger platform, just as if it were passengers' luggage. Occasionally small consignments
are of a nature unsuitable for such procedure.
~uch a load, as, for example, 2 cwt. or 3 cwt. of
hme, cannot, of course, be shovelled on to a
passenger platform, and th us iR not forwarded
~y tranship car, but has t o have a wagon for
Itself. It would seem t hat in such cases it would
be only fair to the railway company that the consigner should be charged-not for the conveyance
of a full wagon load, as has a t times been suggested- but a substantial extra rate. If this were
B?, he wou~d take the ~rouble to pack small consignments m cases, whtch could go by the tranship
cars, and would thus much facilitate the endeavours
of the
company to maintain full loads behind their

engmes.
ELECTRIC PowER TRANSMISSION FOR FACTORIES.

I~ the e~tablishment of a ne~ factory the modern

en~pnee~

[SEPT. 27, I 90 r.
a mac.hin~ requires more than 3! brake h orse- power
t o dnve 1t, a separate motor sh ould be used but
w_e fan~y this is rather a sanguine estimate. I~ the
d tscussiOn on Mr. Kerr's paper, an incidental
ad vantage of electrical driving was mentioned, viz.,
the check it keeps on the workmen. When these
arrive in t he mornin~, being sleepy and hungry,
they a:re generally slow in getting to work. A
~ecordmg wattmet~r shows on inspection how long
1t. takes any particular foreman to get his men
fairly started. Mr. Aspinall further suggested that
a wattmeter attached to any machine would give
t he for eman an opportunity of detecting the use
of blunt tools by any careless or lazy workman.
HEATING LARGE WORKSHOPS.
To THE EDITOR oF ENGINEERING.
. Srn,-In answer to "Enquirer's " communication in your
Issue of Se~tember 20, I think t~at it is admitted by those
who .have g1ven the matter cons1dera.ble attention that for
heatmg workshop~ of large ar~a ~here is no system which
equals ohe warm-au blast. In 1s s1mple, not too expensive
and thoroughly efficient.
'
The plant consists essentially of fan, heater and air
ducts. .Fresh air is forced by the fan through the heater
and vartous ducts a.t a low velocity into the space to be
heated. There is nothing that can equal it where large
areas are to be dealtJ with.
The company with which I am connected heat shops in
this manner covering 9 acres, including one machine hall
368 ft. by 102 fb., and a found ry 250 ft. by- 250 ft. Our
system was installed by the Sturtevaut Engmeering Company, of 147, Queen Victoria-straet, E.C. I should be
glad ~o give '' Enquirer " any information respecting our
experience.
ltJ is gratifying to note the interest in this subjct,
which is so often entirely overlooked iu workshops. ltJ
is to be hoped that some correspondence may be called
forth by "Enquirer's " letter from manufacturers who
have considered this question.
ItJ is doubtful if proprietors of engineering establishments ~here shops are not heated (and there are many)
can estimate the annual loss when men musb work with
shivering bodies and numbed fingers, to say nothing of
the. rust and decay in machines and tools through
mo1sture.
Yours faithfully,

Is now confronted w1th a problem with

whiCh his predecessors have seldom, if ever, had to
deal- that is, What plan should be adopted for the
transmission of power from the main engine to the
different shops and machines 1 In shops of moderate dimensions, therefore, the usual plan has
been to place t he engine near one end, and to
drive all the machinery by belting or ropes.
With larger shops two engines were usually
ado~ted, necessitating two separate boiler plants;
and m the case of very large works still other distinct
sets of power-generating machinery had to be provided. On the Continent, it is true, different shops
were sometimes coupled up with a high-speed rope
transmission gear, and it is claimed that when proH. F. L. 0ROUTT,
TRAIN LOADS ON THE LONDON AND NORTHperly designed and maintained, the losses in frictio!l
Lud w. Loewe and Co., Ltd.
WESTERN RAILwAY.
were very small. The more usual ? lan hds, h:.w30 and 32, Fa.rringdon-road, London, E. C.
September 21, 1901.
A few months back an article appeared in The ever, been to have a separate engine and boiler
Statist containing figures which purported to give plant for each shop, though in some cases all the
To THE EDITOR OF ENGINEERING.
the average weight of the goods trains h auled on engines have been supplied from a single plant
SIR,-The note in your issue of the 20bh inst. , from
the London and North-Western Railway, and com- by long ranges of steam-piping. That such a "Euquirer," opens up a very large and, no doubt to
menting somewhat severely on the management of method is n ot necessarily very uneconomical is many engineering firms, a. very interesting subject; hub
the company in neglecting to secure fair average proved by the comparat ively small losses by con- to enable a definite reply to be given to his query, it
be necessary to know the class of workshops referred
weights behind their engines. The figure given, densation ex{>erienced in the case of the mains would
to, with \)articulars of their construction.
viz., 68.6 tons, was so absurd that one i.~ surprised (5 miles long) of the New York Steam Company.
Assummg, however, a~ is probable, that they are shops
to see it accepted by a number of railway journals In these mains, Dr. Emery has stated, the con- in which machine-work, erecting and fitting, are carried
ID the United States, and as the error is being very densation was trivial, the principal loss being on, and that they are on one floor with shed-roofs con
widely spread through their agency, it may be well due to leakage at the joints. Of course, every taining a considerable quantity of glass, it is likely thab
the
simplest, most economical, and most effective
care
was
taken
in
this
case
to
check
the
outward
to give here a more accuiate statement of the facts
system of heating-which would have the further advanof the case. The ordinary goods wagon of the Lon- flow of heat-a point which has too frequently tage of also ventilating- would be bo blow into the shops
don and N orth-Western Railway Company weighs been utterly neglected in ordinary workshop prac- large volumes of warm air by means of fans, the ai r
5 tons, and is designed to carry 7 tons. The wagon tice. Whilst steam can, as stated, be conveyed being warmed by passing through heaters in which
used in the coal traffic weighs about 5! tons, and quite long distances in suitably protected pipes exhaust steam, if available, ca.n be used, the fans
being
driven
either
by
beltJ or electrically. Other fans
without
very
excessive
loss
by
condensation,
there
carries about 7! tons. There are three classes
would probo.bly be necessary to exha.uab at suitable point!J,
of goods engine in use on the line. The largest is, nevertheless, a concensus of opinion that for so as to promote the circulation of the air and change ib
are compound eight-wheeled coupled engines, the such cases electrical transmission is more suitable; periodically. The distribution migho be effected without
standard load for which consists of 50 loaded and in a number of factories recently erected the the use of ducts, by fixing the heaters and fans ab suitable
wagons, including tl)e brake-van. If t he weather whole of the power used is generated by a single points. The air could, if necessary, be filtered, and the
requisite moisture added after the air was heated.
and
engine
plant,
an..d
then
transmitted
boiler
is favourable, the train is formed of as many as
'l'he whole matter, however, is dependent so much upon
55 coal wagons, the total length being then electrically to the different workshops. Quite local circumstances, that only a very broad idea of the
some 1100 ft., and the load behind the engine apart from this question as to t he distribution of system can be given without the special circumstances of
is about 700 tons, which may be taken as the power from one centre to a number of shops, is that the case being known.
A further advantage, however, is that in summer the
maximum hauled on the company's main line. The of its distribution in each shop to the machines. In
air could still be pa8Sed through the shops for ventilating
many
cases
experience
shows
that
electricity
can
standard load of the smallest goods engine is
purposes1 and be cooled by being drawn through the
45 loaded goods wagons, or 35 loaded coal wagons, conveniently be used also for this. The matter heater.3, m which cold water mi~ht be circulated so as to
or, say, 400 to 450 tons. In the coal traffic, which was discussed pretty fully in a paper recently cool ohe air, which could be still further cooled by being
amounts to just 65 per cent. of the total mer- read by Mr. W. A. Kerr, A.M.I.C.E., at a meet- passed through the air screens which would be keptJ moist
by water sprayed upon them. The screens in question
chandise traffic, these loads are pretty well adhered ing of the Liverpool Engineering Society. Mr. are
nob the ordinary screens of woven material, but our
Kerr
points
out
that
electricity
is
leas
adapted
for
to, but in the goods traffic this is not possible,
special air filters containing coke in trays, kept moist by
so that the average paying loan carried on a goods such use in mills and factories in which the fluctua- a fine spray.
wagon is about 3 in place of 5 tons. In order to tions of load are small than in engineering work- We should be pleased to bear from " Enquirer" direct, and
secure a.q full loading as possible for the goods shops where the average demand for power is only to give him fuller information to suib his pa.rbicular case.
Yours truly,
wagons, there are tranship stations at Manchester, some 60 per cent. of the maximum. As an average
WM. TATTERSALL, Managing Director for the
of
17
engineering
workshops,
he
finds
that
abou
t
Birmingham, and Crewe, but the policy of the
Sun Fan Com-pany, Limited,
company at present is to concentrate the work of 42 per cent. of the brake horse-power of the engine
4a) Thorntonroad, Bradford, September 24, 1901.
transhipment as much as possible at the last-named is lost in the friction of the transmission shaft.ing
To THE EDITOR oF ENGINEERING.
locality. Thus small consignments from different and gearing. As the total losses in electrical
StR,- 1 have lately had to go into the question of heat.
places for, say, Bangor, would all be sent to transmission could scarcely exceed 19 per cent. ing large buildin~s from a. central station, and I find the
Crewe, even if this involved a certain amount as a maximum, it is evident t hat a smaller great difficultJies m the ordinary run of such installations
of ''overh aulage. " When t hus brought together steam plant would be capable of supplying the is to regulate the heating to the great variations in tem.
at Orewe, these different consignments may amount requisite power when belt transmission is re- pera.ture experienced in an ordinary English winter. The
to n early a truck load, in which case they a re placed by electrical. Considerations of capital cost outside temperature from November to May may be
anything between 65 deg. and 0 deg. Fabr., while the
prevent
t
he
adoption
of
the
ideal
system
of
an
sent forward to their destination in a single
inside temperature should be constant ab 60 deg. Fa.br.
electric
motor
for
every
machine,
and
it
is
t
herefore
wagon. In other cases, a~d in particular w?en a
The ordinary hot-water and steam heating systems cannot
consignment has to be deh vered t o a small village, necessary to make a compromise, grouping together be regulated to anything like the exbent required, and the
or minor borough, there may be . no other goo~s at a number of the smaller machines. Mr. !{err, from consequence is tha.b the rooms a.re either overheated or too
the tranship point destined for the same statiOn ; a detailed study of the matter, concludes that when cold.

E N G I N E E R I N G.
Two systems have lately been introduced and worked
with great success, and I believe they are the only systems
that rea.lJy satisfy the conditions obtaining in this co~ntry,
as with them the heat can be regulated to a meaty,
namely, the vVebster Atmospheric Steam Heating qompany, Limited, pump system, and the W. M. B mny
system of hot. water heP.ting with fo rced circulation.
In both these systems the beating medium is circulated
through the pipes and radiators by mechanical means,
and they can be worked with the exhaust steam from the
shop engines, and from their own motors. The quantity
of steam rEquired for 1,000,000 ou hie feet of space, that is,
a shop 1 acre in extent and about 23 ft. hi gh, allowing for
a certain amount of heat lost in transmission, is equivalent
to the exhaust from about 50 indicated horse-power for
steam and 60 indicated horse power for water heating ;
but tbi3 will to a great extent depend upon the construction of the shop and the general arrangement of the installation.
The atmospheric steam-heating system is ragula.ted by
throttling the steam, thus reducing the quantity of steam
entering the radiator and only heating the same partially,
so that the temperature of rooms can be reduced to any
extent. This can be done either for each radiator
separately, or for a whole system of pipes and radiators
from a central point.
In the " Binny " system the regulation ia effected by
lowering the temperature of the circulating water. On
cold days the temperature of the water may be raised to
200 deg. F ahr., and on mild day-3 reduced to lOO deg.
Fahr., or even lower if required. It has the advantage
t hat the heater and circulating pump can be '(>laced
in the most convenient! position for attendance, Without
regard to the distance above the level of the radiators.
The circulating water can be heated in an economiser by
means of waste heat from any furnace in the factory, thus
allowing the shop engine to work with condensation ; and
it has the fur bher ad vantage that hot water can be supplied to any part of the factory or building.
The W ebster system requires smaller radiators and
return pipes than the Binny system; but this is to some
extent counterbalanced by t he cost of the specials required
for the former system and not required for the latter.
Each of these systems has its own particular merits,
and it must in each c11se be decided by the local circumstances which is the most suitable.
Yours very truly,
AL1!'RED H ANNSEN.
319, L ordship-lane, East Dulwich, S.E,
Sept ember 24, 1901.
'f o 'l'HE EDITOR 0.1!' ENGINEERING.
SIR,-R e (,Inquirer's" letter in your issue of S9ptember 20, I find the most eatisfactory way of hea ting workshops as a rule is by large stoves of the slow-combustion
''Tortoise " type, with cast-iron chimney passing through
the roof. They burn anything, though coke is best. I
have used them for years, and find them mosb economical.
I t is better to bank the stoves up at night in very cold
weather, then the men have a warm shop to come to, and
can starb work right away.
Yours fait hfully,

S. A.

WARD.

Broad-streeb-lane, Park, Sheffield,

S eptember 26, 1901.

NITRO-EXPLOSIVES.

To THE E DITOR OF ENGINEERING.

StR,-Ranher more than a dozen years ago it was
announced that a new and powerful explosive had been
discovered in France. The composition of this new explosive was supposed to be a profound secret. The
F rench officers, especially those connected with the Experimental Departmenfl, were so delighted with the results obtained that they boasted a great deal about their
new discovery, especially to.Englisl:imen.
On more than one oocasion the writer of this article
found himself in the presenc.e of a F rench experimental
officer and a clever S cotchman. T he Frenchman, in
addressing the Scotch man, said : "France is always
ahead in matters which relate to artillery. We have
recently discovered a new explosi ve. It is the first high
explosive ever discovered which can be loaded into an
armour-piercing projectile and fired through a plate
without exploding. This new explosive ia very heavy,
consequently a large amount of it can be loaded into a
projectile. It is extremely safe. It will n ob explode
unless it is confined in a very strong receptacle. If
thrown into a furnace, it will burn like so much pitch or
rosin. It may be stlirred up with red-hot irons. If you
place it on an anvil and strike it with a sledge hammer ib
will nob detonate, but when loaded into a shell and properly setl off with a powerful detonating charge, its force
lS terrific- nearly as stron~ as pure nitro-glycerine."
Then, baking a piece of cigarette paper out of his pocket,
he held it up to the Scotch man, and said : "Why don't
you plate your ships and make your shields of cigarette
paper ? It would be cheaper and just as good as tb.e steel
and iron you now employ."
He then went on to say thab the sunken turrets which
were used on the frontier would be of no value in face of
this new material, "because," he said, "a plunging shot
will penetrate about 6 mebres of solid masonry, and the
explosion will not bake place until after it has attained
this depth. "
Evidently that French officer did nob imagine that be
had been giving away any secrets. He t hought he bad
only spoken of results.
About three days after the eventl, the writer was dining
with the same Sootohman ab a Paris restaurant with some
riend~, and the conversation burned on t he new explosive.
One of the party pointed out to us a. F renchman, whom

he said had recently made a large sum of money. He ha_d

been to England, and. purchased all the. crude carboh c
acid that could be obbamed, and had sold It to the French
Government whereupon the Scotch gentleman n udged
' wmke
.
d
tJhe writer, and
. "
When the dinner \vas over, the Scotch man said : Wh~t
the deuce can the French be doing with so n;tuch carbol1c
acid? I s it an explosive? Can an explos1ve be made
. ?
f
out o It .
.
h
The writer in formed him that carbolic a01d was t e
basis of picric acid, and that picric acid appeared . to ~e
the identical material which the F rench were usmg m
their projectiles.
.
. .
.
On returning to England, a qnanttty of ptc~lO a01d was
bought, and it stood all the test~, except that It could be
detonated by being struck by a sledge-hammer. However, upon adding about 3 p er cent. of paraffin wax to the
mixture, it stood the blow perfectly. It was kaown to
the writer ab the time that paraffi n wax had been used
by Sir Hiram Maxim to modify the sensitiveness of explosive~.
.
L ater on it was discovered that M. Turpm had filed
ab the Fr~nch patent office an additlion to hls original
patent in which he described and claimed t he use of
heavy ~ineral oils for modifying and reducing the sensitiveness of picric acid.
.
The writer does not claim to be the first to have dlScovered that the French explosive was pi~ric acid,.because,
on laying the matter before some offi01als on bts return
to L ondon he le8irnb that the B ritish Governm ent were
already experimenting ab L ydd with picric acid.
_
English lyddite is nothing more nor less than pure
picric acid, and it was shown by experiments on ' the
Belle Isle " that this material by itself could not be shot
through an armour-plate without exploding ~ wher~as ~he
French claimed from the very first that theu proJectiles
could not be detonated by armour-plates, no matter how
thick ; that the material would stand the shook of an~
thing that the proje~tile could pass through; a~d. as 1t
has long been defimtely known that the mehmte of
the French is nothing more nor less than picric acid
modified by a very small percentage of thick petroleum
oil, why is it that our own Government have not taken
advantage of the knowledge whlch has so long been in
their possession ?
The recent fatal accident in E ngland with a lyddite
shell shows some of the peculiar characteristics of picric
acid. Here was a shell loaded with the most insensitive
of explosives. It had stood the shock of being fired
from a gun, and also the shook of striking, and burying
itself in the earth, and the fuz'3 had failed altogether to
set off the charge. It had been lying in the ground for
several days when it was dug up; but while the soldier
was lifting it oub of the ground with his hands, the shell
went off with terrific violence, blowing the man into
atoms. H ow can we account for such a peculiar phenomenon ? The writer is nob aware that any investigation
has taken place, but he would make a few suggestions.
Picric acid attacks nearly all metals, in some cases
forming dangerous picrates. It is also rendered very
dangerous by coming in contact with alkaline bases.
Suppose, now, that the fu ze contained some compound
of which chlorate or nitrate of potash was a component
part. This compound failed to go off, but the shock
brought ib into contact with the picric acid, and after a
few days a very dangerous and sensitive picrate of
potash was formed ; or the ehock might have peeled off
a portion of the varnish coating of the inside of the shell,
and the picric acid might have come in direct contact
with the iron, which of itself might have been the source
of the danger. It has been shown by experiment that when
petroleum oil is mixed with picric acid, tlhe tendency to
form dangerous and sensitive picrates is very much
diminish ed ; in fact, chlorabe of potash, picric acid, and
paraffin wax may be safely used in the same compound.
lb has recently been announced in the Press that a com
~letely new explosive has made its appearance in the
S tates, and it is alleged that this new explosive has been
taken over by the U nited States Government. In this
case, as with the French, a minute description of its
characteristics a nd physical properties has been given;
which points most conclusively to the fact that the compound is picric acid, or a similar material, which, like
picric acid, is manufactured from coal-tar products
modified with petroleum. Very curiously, certain
journals which claim to be scientific have described this
supposed new explosive as being quite unique in its
character, losing sight altogether of the fact that the
physical characteristics are identical with those of
m9linite, which has been known for many years.
Butl picric acid is by no means the only high explosive
which may be manufactured from coal-tar product~.
Professor Mowbray, who was employed by the MaximNordenfelt Company many years ago, made a very
violent and safe explosive by combining nitro-glycerine
and tri-nitro-toluene. Then we have bri-nitro-napthalene,
di-nitro-benzone, nitro-ben zone, and tri-nitro-cresol, which
the French have been experimenting with during the last
few years. All of these substances are at present manufactured from coal-tar ,products. "r hey are all very similar
in their action, but it IS said that they are not so liable
to be affected by coming in conbaob with metal surfaces
as picric acid. I t has also been shown that some very
peculiar and phenomenally safe coml?ounds can be made
by combining nitro-glycerine with either tri-nitro-cresol
or tri -nitro-toluene.
The composition and physical properties of melinite are
thoroughly shown in M. Eissler's work on '' Modern
Explosives," 1897; and some reference to Professor Mowbray's experiments with tri-nitro-toluene will be found on
page 147 in Sanford's work on "Nibro E xplosives," 1896.
Yours faithfully,
Paris, September 20, 190 l.
CoNTINENTAL.

'

457
:

THE TUNNEL BETWEEN IRELAND AND

SCOTLAND.
To THE EDITOR OF E NGINEERING.
SrR - I read with pleasure the article in your pa~eh on
the . ~ Tunnel between England and Ireland, "
ere
have been many of these letters; but n<?ne of them ever
give any estimate of the cost of changmg even any bf
the Irish railway gauge to that of Engla!ld. No dou b
in so large an undertaking the cost of altermg the Belfas t
and Northern County's lines would not be great; but a
great deal of the value of the tunnel goes unless all the
goods wagons at any rate could g~ throug~ from all par ts
of the country. I met an E oghsh engmeer once who
tried to f ersuade me t hat the gauges were the SM~e ; a~d
not unti I told him that I had worked on an Ir1sh railway for some years, and in the permanent ~ay office,
would he believe t hat our gauge wa~ 6 ft. 3 m . I al~o
know a man who actually took out a patent for a ship
that was to carry the t rains over and then let them go
their way on English lines-he was a Belfast man-and
did not find out for many months that the. gaug~s were
different and from many of these letters 1t stnkes me
the samrf error is there. Not, howevex:, in r. Barto.n's;
he, of course, k nows ; hub I think he might g1ve s~me Idea
of the cost, &c., of change, or what method they m tend to
adopt for trans-shipment.
Yours faithfully,
E. F. w. GRIMSHAW.
Summer Hill, E nniskerry, Co. Wicklow,
September 13, 1901.

THE GLASGOW CORPORATION

TRAMWAYS.
To THE E DITOR OF ENGINEER:LNG.
SIR - Your correspondent "Citizen," to j udge from
his r~marks, is evidently not conversant with the broad
fact'3 connected with this subject, which has become
somewhat invol ved through the various conflicting statements which have appeared in the newspapers from time
to time, and his effusion certainly does not tend to make
matters any clearer. "Citizen " is wrong in his deduction that each of the four main engines is intended to run
the whole oar service.
If the Glasgow H erald files be consulted, it will be
found that the intention was to use three of the main
engines to ruu the car service, wh.i le the fourth ~n_g~ne
acted as stand-by. Ab pres ent, owmg to the ExhibitiOn
traffic, the car service is more freguent, ~nd the p ower
required greater than it is likely to be under normal conditions for some years, even when the immediate extlensions
are taken into account: yet one of t he main engines is
found sufficient to deal with it. Of course, in winter,
when snow has to be contended with, the conditions will
be more severe, and might warrant> the authorities in
starting a second engine; thus two of the main engines
should be sufficient, with a third as stand-by, to deal
with all the power required for a long time to come. I t
might be asked at this point if the Corporation were well
advised in spending money, as they have done, on a
fourth main engine and its connections ?
While I do not pretend to give exact dates, I am certainly not far wrong in saying that the car service was
started at the end of April last, and run by one or other
of the Stewarb engines alone, until the end of May, and
during this time-! have the daily press as my authority
-as many a.s 80 cars were in service. Considering that
th~ night load would also have to be dealt with, this
period of night and day working forms a very good record
for these engines, which were new, and, according to recent
reports, had never been adjusted. Now one of these engine!,
is only equal to 800 horse-power, yet it ran 80 cars, and
as "Citizen " says that the present load is 332 cars, it
does nob require much knowledge of mathematics to
understand that 332 c us only require 3320 horse-power;
and if an additional 160 horse-power is allowed for
auxiliary machinery, the total power ab present developed
by one main engine i8 only some 3470 horse-power,
while it is described as a 4000 horse-power engine.
This does nob look like overloading, yet, according
to the newspapers, there are frequent stoppages of the car
service, due presumably to temporary failure of the main
engines. The small amount of power required for the
auxiliary machinery when only one main engi ne is running, may explain why a separate engine is not at present
used for 1lhl8 pur.P.ose, or possibly it may be that
all the load available is required to enable the
main engine, otherwise underloaded, to run steadily.
" Citizen's " second letter does not open up much
new ground, but h e appears to be labouring ab the
self-appointed task of apologist for the Allis engines, and
everything American, and denunciator of the Musgrave
and Stewarb engines, and everything British. This is
about the last r 6le one would expect a Glasgow citizen to
plav. It would be satisfactory to learn "Citizen 's "
authority for stating that the Stewarb engine has nob
been on any regular load since the beginning of June.
I feel sure he must be mistaken in saying so, as it
would be absurd to suppose t hat the Corporation sh ould
without remark in the 'fown Council, be using a 4000 horse~
power main engine for t he comparatively small power
required for night service, t his being avowedly the work
for which the Stewarb engine and its stand-by were
originally intended.
As to "Citizen's " surprise and disagpointment that
neither Messrs. Musgrave or Stewart have seen fit to
make any st~t~menb in reply to his queries, I have yet
to learn that 1b 1s the custom among respons ible firms to
take serious notice of anonymous letters in any periodical.
~o! the r_est, I am sure all self-respecting Glasgow
ettizens wtll be content to allow the Corporation of
Glasgow, and its advisers, to deal with contractors as

'

E N G I N E E R I N G.
?ircumstances ~ay dictate, in t.b~ interes ts of the city,
mste~d of malhng themselves r1d1culous by attempting
to bs.tt ~b e3e firms single handed in the public pre!ls.
Ib str1kes me as somewhabpeculiar that while "Citizen"
asks for information in an apparently ingenuous and inn;ocen b manner, he seems to have some source of informatton or '' misinforma.tion" denied to ~h~ general newspaper
r~ader, and, from pts apparent parttahty and tender soliOltude for tpe All~s. engines, I am tempted to think that,
fa:r from ~em~ a. c1t1zen of the "second city of the Empn~, " ~e 1s, or ou~b~ to be, a citizen of that Republic
wh10h. 1s no.w oher~shmg a. drea~u of empire in the geographlOal, mdltstrtal, and mantime world and whose
emblem is the "Stars and Sbripes."
'
HUOH DUNBAR.
200, George-streeb, Glasgow, September 25, 1901.

THE T.-S.S.

"KRONPRINZ WILHELM."

THE PERFORMANCE OF ELECTRIC

GENERATORS.

To lnTrHE~ EorroB oF ENGINEERING.

SrR,-I noticed in ENGINEERING for June 14, 1901, on
page 766, a description of two Oerlikon generatorE~, and
som~ of the figures. ~iven for ~he three-phase machine of
the mduotor type, .lllusbr.ated 1n F igs. 5 to 8, on page 761,
appeared .to me htghly 1mpro~able; so much so, indeed,
tha.b I qu1te expected a. correctiOn to appear in your next
issue. No such correction having appeared, I venture to
offer some comments on the figures given.
The machine is stated bo give 7500 volts and 46 to 50
amperes at 50 periods and 250 revolutions; this means
that the output is 596 to 649 kilowattls, and therefore 800
to 870 horse-power; presumably this is the normal out_{>ut
on a circuit having the power-factor 1. The excitatiOn
for this case is given atr 80 amperes ; from previous figures
the field resistance appears to be .177 ohms, the watts are
therefore equal to 1135, or .19 to .175 per cent. of the
output.
It is farther stated that when working on a circuit with
a power factor of .7, the ma.ohine requires 130 amperes
23 volts= 2990 watts, when giving 7500 volts and 100
amperes, which corre~ponds to an apparent output of 1300
kilowatts, the excitation being .23 per cent. of the apparen t output, or .33 per cenb. of the real output, which, of
course, is 910 kilowatt3, against 649 as given above.
The fall of tension is given as 20 per cent. for normal
work, bu b I presume that it should read when working on
a circuit having a. p ower factor of .7.
The centre of gyration is given as 14 fb. 5.23 in.,
which must be a misprint, M I do not think a. oast-iron
flywheel was ever made to run at about 12,000 ft. per
minute.
The weight of this machine is given as 92 tons, and,
judging by the illustration, there is no bedpla.te to speak
of. Ibis probable that this 92 tons applies to the larger
machine previously described, and that the 62 tons given
as the weight of the latter, really refers to the one we are
considering ; but even then the weight appears excessive
in comparison of some recent achievements on this aide of
the water.
Messrs. Rosling, Appleby, and Fynn, Limited, have
j ust completed an alternator, giving as a three-phaser
nearly the same output with 2250 volts between terminals
and running at 250 revolutions.
The machine was designed by me on the same lines as
a good many others now running in E ngiish central
stations. H omopolar induction through the iron, heteropolar through the spools, revol ving steel field, stationary
copper.
This machine, including a. heavy bedpla.te, weighed
only 22~ tons, oot of which 41 tons fall to the bedplate.
The output is 500 kilowatts, the temperabure rise, after
continuous running, is 58 deg. Fahr., the excitation ab
full load when working on a. circuit with a power factor
of 1 is 3600 watts, or. 72 per cent. The self-regulation is
just under 5 per cent.
On a circuit with a p ower factor of .8 the self-regulation
is 17 per cent.
No matter wha.b good opinion I may have of bhe
machine:J I design. I can hardly believe that I can beat
the best Continental firms by so much, and must therefore conclude that the figures given in your paper cannot
be accurate.
I leok forward with interest to the promieed description of other Oerlikon types.
I remain, Sir, yours faithfully,
V AL. A. FYNN.
Managing D irector of R osling, Appleby,
and Fynn, Limited.

WE r eprod uce a bove a photograph of the new North

German Lloyd st eamship Kronprinz Wilhelm, taken
by Mr. Ed ward C. P rince, of Southampton, as she left
that port on her maiden voyage toN ew York. This has
just been com pleted and took six days ten hours, the
weather br::ing very rough for four days. The ship was
fully descri bed in our issue ot September 13, page 370.

THE SUEZ CANAL.

number of ships which passed through the Suez
Canal last year was 3441, representing a gross burthen
of 13,699,200 tons. The corresponding movement in
1899 comprised 3607 ships, with a. gross burthen of
13,815,900 tons; in 1898, 3505 ships, with a g ross
burthen of 12,960,600 tons; in 1897, 2986 ships, with a
gross burthen of 11,123,400 tons; and in 1896, 3406
ships, wit h a. gross burthen of 12,039,800 tons. The
total of 3441 ships which passt:d through t he canal last
year was made up as follows: German, 462; Brit ish,
1935 ; Aust ro-Hunga.rian, 126 , French, 285; Italian,
82 ; Japanese, 63 ; Dutch, 232; and Ru~ sian, 100.
No other country contributed a total of 50 ships,
the United States only furnishing 22, t he Argentine
R epublic 1, Belgium 7, Denmark 27, Spain 34,
Greece 2, Norway and Sweden 32, Turkey 28, and
Portugal 8. The movemen t of passengers through
the cg,na.l last year comprised 282,000 persons, of
whom 154,000 were soldiers. Of t hege latter, 47,000
were R ussian, 43,000 F r ench, 26,000 German, and
13,000 English. The proportion of British ships
passing t hrough the canal has been d eclining for some
years past, while that of German shipping has baen
increasing. The proportions sustained by the flags
of the ships which passed through the canal during
the last three years were as follows :
THE

Flag.

1898.

1899.

1900.

per cent. per cent. per cent.

66. 7
65 6
67.1
British

10.8
15.0
10.4
German

6.8
85
69
French

4. 2
5.2
4.1

Dutch ..

1.2
1.1
1.8
Spanish

1.6
1.8
16
Italian

19
3.3
1.9
Russian

8. 4
27
2.8
Austrian

2.3
26
2. 0
Japanese
..

[In translation some inaccuracies found their war :Misoellaneou<J

2.4
3. l
19

into the description of the 700 to 800 horse-power Oerh100 0

100.0
100.0
kon type three-phase generators, of 7500 volts ab ~0
Total

revolutions. T he exciting current for normal work 1s

80 amperes, corresponding to 0.25 per cent. (not 25 per
cen b.) The fall of tension is 20 per cent. with cos </> := As regards the description of the goods and com0.8, and 600 K .V. A. The total weig.h t of the generator lB modities which passed through the oo.nal last year,
38 tons (not 92 t ons) ; that of the movmg masses 8 bona (not the effect of the deficit in the cer eal crops of British
30 tons). In the weight of 38 tons are included found~tion India was sharply felt in the first half of .1900. In
plates, weighing together ~ tone. The sta.tor frame 1s of the first six months of last year the t rans1t r evenue
ca.sb iron and the revolv1ng part of cast steel. The fell off 165 882l. The second half of the year showed,
diameter' of the centre of gyration is 1.8 metres (not however ~n increase of 138,075l.; this was explained
14 ft. 5.23 in.) The coils are ~ound on a ma.ndre~ and by the J ~rge movement of European t roops to China.
the field coil is formed of spe01a.lly wound copper nbbon. and also by a sligh t revival in business. The move-Eo. E .]
ment of wheat, rice, jute, and linseed through t he
canal from the E ast to Europe during the last three
CLEVELAND BLAST- FuRNAOEMEN's SEORETARY.-The years is given in the T able in the next column.
ballot for the apJ:>ointmenb to the ~osition. of. Secret~ry
In the movement t hrough the canal from Europe to
to the Cleveland Bla.stJ.Furnacemen s Asso01a.taon, wh10h the East, British exports of salt and coal showe~ some
has just been held ab Middlesbrough, has resulted as reduction last year. As regards coal, t he falhng off
follows: Mr. J. L oughran, of Middlesbrough, 1444; was no less than 265,000, viz., from 876,000 tons in
Mr. J. Hall, of Redcar, 136~ ; Mr. Loughran thus
1899 to 611,000 tons in 1900.
being elected by the small majonty of 79.

Although the S uez Canal is not exempt from the

fluctuations which appear to be inevitably incident
to all human affairs, t he canal has gradually increased
in value as a propE>rty during th e last thirty years.
The great waterway was opened for business in
November, 1869; and during t he period over which
its construction extended the shareholders received
an. interest of 5 per cen t. out of capital. In 1870
they had to depend for the first t ime upon the revenue earned, and t he 5 per cent. which t hey had p reviously r eceived was maintained. The same may be
said of 1871, 1872, 1873, and 1874; but the shares of
t he Canal Company g radually incr eased in value, as
the traffic was liberal enough to induce hopes of a
la rger distribution of profits being made. T his expectation was realised in 1875, when the d ividend u pon the
20l. shares advanced to ll. ls. 6d. In 1876 the dividend further increased t o ll. 2s. l Od., and iu 1877 t o
ll . 6s. 5d. In 1878 and 1879 there was a slight check,
the d ividend on the first of the two years receding to ll. 5s. 6d., and in 1879 to 11. 3s. 11 d. per share.
The 20l. sh ares stood, however , at t he clos13 of 1879

Wheat
Rice ..
Jute . .
Linseed

1898.

1899.

1900.

tons

tons

tons

4l6,164
211 ,207
291, 141
189.348

477
288,3i 8
285.132
155,187

484,677
185,871
867,570
202,046

1,240,163

Total

1,107,860

679,169

at 28l. 19s. 2d. each. In 1880 the canal began to

earn div:idends .with a vengeance, t he d i~tribution for
that year being ll. 17s. 6d. per share, while that amount
was carried in 1881 to 2l. 15s. per share, in
1882 to 3l. 4s. lld. per share, in 1883 to 3l. !Os. Id.,
per share, and in 1884 to 3l. 9s. 9d. p er share. The
next two years wi tnessed some falling off in profits,
the distribution for 1885 declining to 3l. 8s. 4d. per
share, while that for 1886 was only 3l. Os. 3d. per
share. In 1887, however, the dividends began to pick
up again, the return for that year being 3l. 2s. 8d. p er
share, carried in 1888 to 3l. 11s. 6d . per share; in 1889,
t o 3l. 12s. lld. per ijhare; in 1890, to 3l. 14s. I d. per
share; and in 1891, to 4l. 9s. 8d. per share. A period
of slight depression now set in, the dividend for 1 92
being reduced to 3l. 13s. 8d. per share, while that for
1893 was 3l. 17s. 8d. per share, and that for 1894
3l. 17s. 3d. per share. In 1895 t he dividend rallied to.
3l. 19a. 6d. per ~hare, and in 1896 it further advanced to
4l. o~. 5d. per share. In 1897 there was once more a set
back to 3l. 18s. Id. per share, but in 1898 there was a
recovery to 4l. 6s. 2d. per share, in 1899 to 4l. 13s. 2d .
per share, and in 1900 to 4l. 13s. 3d. per share. We
are t hus in the presence of the encouraging fact that
last year was the m o~t remunerative in t he history of
the undertaking. While the company's 20l. shares
stood, as we have just shown, at 28l. 19s. 2d. at the
close of 1879, they had advanced at t he close of 1889
to 9ll. 16s. lOd. , while at the close of 1899 they had
been further carried to 144l. 16s. Their price in
August this year had further crept up to 146l. 4s.
The Brit ish Government has a. large invest ment in
Suez Canal shares, and they constitute a. valual)le
national asset.

INDUSTRIAL NOTES.
THE thirteenth annual report of the Chief Labour
Correspondent of t he Bo9.rd of Trade, on strikes and
lock outs, just issued, is supplemented by statistical
tables prepared in the department. In a brief preface
hy the Commissioner it is stated that the disputes in
1900 off~r few features of special interest to which it is
necessary to call attention. The principal disputes in
the year which aroused public attention were those
affectiog the Thames lightermen, the Taff V ale Railway, the P enrhyn quarrymen, and the Staffordshire
pottery workers; that of the Bethesda quarrymen is
not yet sett,led.
The total number of disputes recorded in the year
was 648, affecting directly and indirectly 188,538 workrreople. The aggregate time lost was 3, 152,694 dayP.
This was a great loss in wages to t hose involved. But
s pread over the entire industrial population, the disputes only involved 2.Z p er cent., the average Joss
b ding less th~n half-a-day per bead in the yea r. The
geueral results were, on the whole, .favourable to the
work people, more so than in most recent years. The
one gratifying circumstance in the case was that the
ms.jority of the disputes were arranged directly between the pa.rties, or their representatives, by negotiation. The number arranged by arbitration, conciliation, or mediation was 32, as comp3.red with 38
ia the year previous. But conciliation and mediation
did much to prevent or avert st.rikes and lock-outs,
which after all is most to be desired.
Th~ number of disputes does not rapresent the full
c 1 s~. The numbers involved and the time lost must
be ta ken into consideration. The following Table
ghes a general idea of the number and extent of disputes during the Jast five years :

Y t~L s.

Number
of
Dispu t ee.

1SS6
1 ~ 17
l d)3
J8QJ
1:LO

IJ:W

t-6 1

71 l

Numbers Affeotej.

Number
Tv tal
of D..1.ys
I Number. Lost each
Year.
Iad irectly.

Dire!tly.

.I

7 19
6~3

--

147,950 .
167,453
200, '769
138,058 I
133,1 15 I

60,240
62,8 14 .
63,188
42,159
5!l,393

1 9~,190

230,267
253,907
180,217
183,538

3, 476,363
110,345,623
16, 289,4'id
2,516,4l6
3,152,69!

F~ wer

persons were directly involved in 1900 than

ia tither of the four previous years, but the total
number affected was great,er than in 1899. The aYerage
time lost, however, in 1900 was mu ~h greater than in
1 ~9. la t his respect the time lost in 1897 and 1898
wa.<J enormously in excess of either of the other years;
in fact, the aggregate time lost in 1897 was equal t o
the tot1h of 1896, 1899, and 1900 ; while that in
1898 wa.s 5,000,000 working days more than in 1897.

--------------------------------T.J~al

Number of Workpeople Invol ved.

18;)6.

Gr.;upl of Ttades.

189 3.

1899.

1900.

'----- ----

33,312
67, L9 f

15,0 17 16,68 l
49,392 177,029

30,524
46,831

19,1i8
74 ,864

48,137
33,656
a,969
3,312
8,070
537

9i, 189
37,oo t
7,0l6
12,623
11,734

21,432
24,918
3,561
3,478
6,261
484

21,119
61,499
2,258
12,611
4,212
1,163

19,810
24.143
2,15i
23,026
24,968
895

. . 193,L90

230,267

Bui d ing
..
..
Mioing, &J. ..
..,
Engineering, ship
ping, &J. .
..
Te>..t iJe

..
Olotbiog
..
..
Tra.nsport, &~.
..
~n~c ellaoeous
..
Pa b li~ authorities . .

1897.

365

-----

263,907 118),211 I 198,538

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

The above Table shows the r ela.ti ve numbers affect ed

ia th1 Ee,eral groups of trades under which the
s~at stics are tabulated. These tell their own tale.
Tae J ournal of the Amalgamated Society of Enginee?s for the current month contains a11 artic!e upon
the plsition of t:r;a.de unions, and the supineness of
trade unionists, w4ich is very outspoken. The writer
points out that the decision in the recent Belfast
case was the natural rea ult of the action of the illnHt 'l:tged and muddled Butchers' Union. That society
was no~ content with striking against the employment of a non-union man, but even refused to accept
him as a member when the employer offered t o pay
hi~ dues, and thus end t he dispute. Nothing, it would
appear, could satisfy the union but th.e ruin of the
employer . Another case is cited of a strike agains t a
non-member of a union, who was refused admission
bcca.use he was over forty years of age. It is high
time that responsible la bour leaders spoke plainly
a':>out these matters. Trade nnions, as a whole,
suffer because of the wrongheadedness of a few. The
total number of members in the Eng ineers' Union is
now 89,921 ; of these, 2444 were on d onation benefitiocrease, :375 over last month ; on sick benefit, 1931increase, 79; on superannuation. benefit, 3885- same as
Ltst month. Two other membera are reported as excluded for misconduct. One, who had wol'k found for
him, got drunk and lost his employment; t he other
lost his wo rk by misconduct and then left wit,hout
paying his debts. If unionism is to live and prosper,

N G 1N E E:.R 1N C.

459

-""-

The report of the Amalgamated Society of Carthe policy of the unions and the conduct of the
penters and Joiners indicates a falling-off in trade . in
members must be beyond reproach.
this branch. The number of unemployed on donatwn
benefit is nearly double what it was a. year ago, and
Toe raport of the B.>ilerm9.kers and I roo S hipbuilders the prospect s of better trade a~e not encouraging as
for the current month sta.t es that the informa.tion from the dull winter season draws near. The total number
various chief centres indicates a continuance of good of members at date of report was 67,297 ; of these
tra.ie, especially in shipbuilding and locomotiYe 1403 were on donation benefit, 1135 on sick benefit,
branches. But the repor t, adds that many members and 1047 on superannuation benefit; total, 3585-a
are not taking advantage of the present opportunity large number to pay weekly out of the funds. Some
of making hay while the sun shines. It is stated that of the unemployed are either on strike or locked out
complaints reach the office of neglect of work and loss owing to wages d isputes. These exist in 14 towns,
of time, which bring discredit upon th~ union. The ani in 14 others partial disputes exist, and in two
total number on the funds was 366S, as compared othera the local secretary has to be seen before society
wit h 3376 in the previous report. Of these, 30 bad men can accept work. The strikes are mostly against
cards gra nted- decrease, 11 ; members signing the proposed reductions in wages, for advances are not
vacant-book, 291- increase, 12; ou home donation, just now demanded. It is alleged that the American
1239-increase, 326; on sick benefit, 1400- decrease, Brotherhood of Carpentera and Joiners are seeking to
35 ; on suP.erannuat ion b enefit, 70S -same as last compel the members of the Amalgamated . Society in
month. The membership increased by Ill, after all the States to break up their branches and join the
dt. ductions caused by death and arrears. The votes American Brotherhood. The American Federation of
cast on the appr~nticeship. q ue~tion were-~or, 14,787 ; Labour is being appealed to in regard to this matter.
ag-l.inst, 18,968 ; the com ments upon the result are Modern socialism does not apparently advance the
defdrred"till t h,e next month's repo~t. In consequence brotherhood of workers, or "the solidarity of labour,"
of the issue of ne w rules, several notices appeg.r as to as Continental workmen prefer to call it.
payments in case of si'ckne.ss, accident, funeral, superannuation, and other bensfits. There are two c1 ses
The Durham miners' circular reports the decision
of embezzlement of funds reported, but civil action of the arbitrator on the house-rent question, referred
only wa~ taken, the amount in the two cases to be to him by the Conciliation Board. The allowance in
repaid, together with fines. In this wa-y t he stig ma lieu of free dwellings is to be on the basis of '' cusof imprisonment is avoided. Three members are tomary allowance. " Mr. John Wilson, 1\1 P., gives
declared as suspended for not paying their debts. A an answer to the grum biers who complained ot the
treasurer in the London district has absconded with committee's action in agreeing to a reduction in wages.
44l. 14s. 2!d. of the Society's (unds. This is the third Compensation cases are reported, and some comments
case reported in this month's report, in spite of the are made upon the Lords' decision ia the Taff Vale
special audits ordered by the council. It shows that case. Generally the Durha m miners are well employed,
strict supervision is constantly needed.
and the wages earned are comp~ratively high, in spite
of the recent reduction.
The repor t of the Ironfounders' ociety indicates
The position of t he engineering trades in Lancashire
that there is very little change in the st3.te of trade in
so far as employment in this . branch is concerned. shows no material change. Activity is, for the most
There is an all-round increase of nine on unemployed part, well main ta.ined. This is especially the case
benefit only. The number on home donation had in- with electrical engineers, locomotive and railway car
creased by 30, but 25 of these were simply transferred riage builders, and boilermakers ; in these branches
from dispute benefit to donation benefit. There is there is ample work for some time ahead . Some other
aho very little chauge in the fina ncial posit ion, the sections are not so well placed. Toolmakers are still
bl.lance being nearly the same as last month. The well employed, but the weight of 01dere ii comparareport states that the volume of business in the marine tively small, so that the prospects are not very encou
branches appear to be well m<J.intained, and t here are raging. Makers of textile machinery are slack, and
a. sufficiency of orders t o carry the firms engaged well there are few indications of improvement. The iron
into next year. In the t extile industries the outlook trd.d e is slow generally, buyers being content to puris not good, and the ironfounders in L1.ncashire and chase only for present needs. But makers of finished
Yorkshire are affected by the sh.ckness in tho3e iron are full of orders for the present. District reports
branches of industry. The returns as to employment va ry somewhat. In the Manchester and Salford disvary somewhat, the indications being unsatisfactory. tri~t, in trade-union branches, with 24,807 members,
Iu 110 places, employing 13,7:36 . members, trade was 905, or 3.6 per cent., were unemployed-the same profl'om very good to dull; in last month's returns t.he portion as in the previous month. All the engin~ering
figures werd 103 places, with an aggregate of 14,444 and allied industries report employment as good, fair,
members. In 26 plar.es, employing 3517 members, or moderate. In the Oldham district also trade was
trade was from slack to very bad ; the corresponding good, fair, or moderate, except in the textile machine
figures for Jast month were 19 branches, with 3786 branches, which are slack. In the Bolton, Bury,
members. On the whole this is not very discourag- Chorley, Heywood, and Wigan districts, fair or modeing. There were on benefit 2628 members; last month rate generally; roller makers and metal workers slack.
2619. Of the total 1063 were on donation benefit- At Blackburn and Burnley moderate generally, but
increase, 30; sick, 469- increase, one ; on superannua- slack in the textile machine shops. In the Liverpool
tion, 955 - in<'rease, 13 ; on other trade benefits, 140- and Birkenhead districts there is a slackening off in
decrease, 10 ; on dispute benefit, one -decrease, 25. some engineering sections. Generally the position is
The cost was 836t. 4s. 4d. per week, or about lld. p er fair, but the prospects do nob appear to be as encouragmember. The cash balance was 10!,950l. 3s. 2j. This iag as could be desired.
union was suspended by the recent Congress over a
The condition of the cotton industries may be indspute on demarr.l.tion of work with the Brassfounders'
ferred from the fact that a conferen ce has been helcl of
Union.
mill and factory owners on the question of working
short time. The conference was private, and ended
The Asso~i~ t d Ironm :>Ulders of S.;otla ... d report a wi~hout any definite agreement, the matter being
la.rger number of members in work than in any month adJourned. But the fact of such a conference indicates
previous in this yrar. There was an increase of 101 thi.t the position and outlook are far from satisfactory,
in employment as compared with t he end of July, and the Blackburn strike, together with the legal prowhen the holiday season in Scotland commenced . The ceedings, do not tend to mend m~tters.
union ha.s not had so m'l.ny members in full employIn the Wolverhampton district the iron tra.des are
ment since April, 1900, and it appears that thera is
every probability of its continuance. In the "idle " reported to b~ steady, with an all-r ound moderate
list appear 138 members, and the report Eays that current demand and numerous inquiries from shipping
many of those could obtain work if they sought for it firms and merchants for future supplies. Prices also
and desired it. The office has had both letters and are stiffening all round, with advances in some
personal calls for men, and vacant pla'!es are known instances. Steel is also in better demand, and rates
to the executi ve ; but still men prefer idle "bene- firmer. Labour reports indicate further improvement in
fit .., Conjointly with the Central :Moulders' Asso trade throughout the district. Electrical engineers are
ciation, the two executives have mJ.de a request yery busy, working ~ay and night shifts. Engineers,
for an advance in wagea, to date from November 28. uonfounders, and b01lermakers report employment as
Toe demand is for a return to the wages and prices good, cyclema.kera and malleable ironworkers as fair;
paid up to the Jast reduction, in F ebruary of this at Coalbrookdale and :M:adeley rather quiet. Bridge
year. The letter to the Employers' Association asks and girde~ constr.uctors are well employed. In the
for a reply by October 17 nex t. This union has al o a hardware tndustrte~ employmnt was good in eleven
dispu te with the brassfounders as t o the demarcation branches, moderate 10 fifteen, declining in one improvof work. These disputes tend to loose n the bonds of ~ng in ~ve, and quiet .in thir~eon. For the ~ost part
un ion, and will, in the end , bring disrui.Jtions, not only ~t was 10 the .sma.lle~ mdustnes tha t trade was quiet;
in the Trades Cllngre~s , but in the English a nd 1n the larger mdustr1es employment generally is fairly
'oottisb Federations of L a bour Unions. As a rule, good. Taken as a. whole, the position is encouraging
the employer cares little who does the work, if it be and the prospects are fairly good as regards the nea~
well done and there is no increase of pa.y required. future, at least.
In this case wages are not in dispute- only as to
who shall do t he work.
In the Birming' a.:u tl is~ric t the iron trades gene
0

--

..

E- NG IN E E-R 1-N G.
rally have improved, but the business put through has
not been large. Prices are firm ; in some cases an
~dvance ~n rates is reported. The demand for pig
tron has m creased; some makes are difficul t to obtain
Indications rather point to advanced rates for finish ed
iron, both of the better and commoner sorts. Generally employment in the district is fairly good. In
branches of trade unions, with 20,933 members, 604,
or 2. 9 per c~nt., were reporte? to be unemployed, as
compared wtth 3.1 per cent. m the previous month
The engineers, pattern-makers, ironfounders, tool:
makers, boilermakers, smiths, and strikers report employment as good to moderc1 te ; in t he motor branch
good, in the cycle branch bad ; electrical engineers are
fully employed. In the brass a nd copper trades employment is fairly good. In other metal trades, good
Jn. t-lev?n ~ranches, five fair, two quiet. In the outlytng dtstncts generally employment is fairly good.
The steel s~rik~ m the United States has utterly
collapsed. Thts wlll be felt as a blow to American trade
unionism, but it may eventuate in better conditions.
The men were not content with a fairly good concession, but wanted more. It ought to b e a lesson to
trade unionists throughout the world.
The di~pute at G rimsby has eventuated in disorder
and riot. Wrecked premises and broken heads where
peaceful negotiations might have settled the dispute.
The owners assert that the terms offered mean an
advance; surely this is capable of demonstration. The
men say it means a reduction. A capable arbitrator
could unravel the tang1e if submitted to him.
The law proceedings in the Blackburn strike case are
still pending. The injunction asked for was not granted
at the sitting of the court last week. The case is similar
to the Taff Vale case, and will affect the union generally whose members are out .
The tramway men's dispute at Bristol continues.
The company allege that they have filled the places of
t he 300 men who struck ; the men deny this. The
City Council is to consider the matter at a specially
convened meeting.
The labourers' strike at Swansea is likely to lead to
legal proceedings similar to those in the Taff V ale case,
owing to the threatening conduct of the men on strike.
A strike of miners at three collieries of the Rhymney
Iron Company took place last week, some 600 men
having ceased w ork. The enginemen also are out.
The dispute is causing much inconYenience to the
railway company, as the trains cannot be worked full
time.

BILBAO RIVER AND HARBOUR.

W orks for I 'TI1J]Yl'OVing the B ilbao R iver cvnc1, JJtiaki;ng an
Outer Ha1rbowr i also the Appl,icat,i on of L curue Caissons
as a B 1eakwate1 F o'IJI'I'Idation. *
By S enor DoN EvARISTO DE CHURRUCA, Chief Engineer
of the Bilbao River and Harbour Works.
INTRODUCTION.
HAVING had the honour of being invited by the distinguished engi.Ileer, 1\'Ir. L. F . V ernon-Harcourt, in the
name of the Organising' Committee of the International
Engineering Congress, to be held in Glasgow next summer,
to present a paper on the putting in place of large caissons
filled with concrete, such as are now being used for the
construction of the Bilbao breakwater, I have thought it
desirable to give, first of all, a general idea of the works
executed by the Bilbao Harbour Bo~rd to .improve ~he
river and the bar, and then to f?llow this up With a de;Scnp
tion of the harbour of refuge m course of construct10n m
the Bay of Bilbao. In. buildino-. the n~ain breakwa~er of
this harbour, we met with such ~1fficultles from the vwlent
action of the sea dwing north-westerly storms, that we
were compelled to use large steel caissons, which sh all he
described latter on.

THE BILBAO RIVER, AND WORKS MADE TO IMPROVE IT.

Gene1al D esC?iptio'f!-. - The ~aritime part o! the Nervi~:m
river known as "R1a de B1lbao," and wh10h forms Its
port,'has a total len~th of 14 kilometr~ (~ miles), the
town being situated m the upper part (Fig. 1). The. Nervion river h as a torrential character; and the quantity of
water which in summer time is as low as 4 cubic metres
p er s~cond (141 cubic feet), rises sometimes to 1600 cubic
metres (56,500 cubic feet). .Such heavy floods last only .a
shorb time so that the ordinary volume of the stream IS
small and' therefore has little influence on the river navie-atio~, which is kept up exclusively by the tidal wat~rs.
The range of the tide varies between 1. 24 metres (4 ft. 1 m.)
and 4. 60 metres (15 ft. 1 in.), this l.atter correspon4ing to
eguinoct ial spring tides under ordinarY, 11tmosphe~1.c con
ditions. The annual average of all the tidal rs;~~nges IS about
2. 76 m.etres (9 ft. ) ; th~ volume of w~te~ that ~nters t~e
river m such a tide 1s about ? million c~b~c metr~s
(10,464,090 cubic yards}; and riSes to 1~ mll~1on cu_bw
metres (15,696,000 cubic yards) at equmoct1al spnng
tides.

P aper read before the ID;ternational Engineering

Cons:t:ess, Glasgow, 1901. Sectwn II.: W aterways and
Marttime Works.

[SEPT.

D efects of the R vve1. - The oldest documents that mention the Bilbao river show that it was in a very bad
c~ndition for n avigation, and that as far back as the
Sixteenth century, works were carried out to improve it.
It wa~ most important to improve the bar, the conditions
of which were such that, according to a document dated
1503, many vessels were wrecked on it, on account of the
small d~pth over it, and the shiftin~ of its sandbanks, duo
to the violent action of the prevailing north-west winds.
To ,remedy these def~cts, in that and the following centunes, quays were built to fix the mouth of the river; but
th:es~ works did not give very permanent results, for until
w1~h~n the l~c:;t twenty years the sandbanl<s have continued
shiftmg, whilst the depth of water has been at times as
lc;>w as 060 metre (2ft.) at low water of equinoctial spring
tides.
In the river itself, from its mouth up to Bilbn,o, there
were many obstructions to navigation, such as shallown ess,
sharp curves, and banks, aU of which existed to within a
few years ago, despite all the training walls built in pasb
centuries throughout its length.
U1gent Necessity f 01 I mp1ovenwnts.-Such a state of
things affected the trade of Bilbao very unfavourably ; and
the. effects were more keenly felt when, in 1870, tbe exp ortation of iron ore for the Bessemer process of steel
manufacture was commenced on a large scale. M any
vessels entering the p ort could only go out at spring
tides, when loaded with mineral; and if, as frequently
occurred in winter, the sea was rough at the time, or the
waves choked the river mouth with sands, these vessels
could not get out for weeks. In the winter of 1875-1876
the steamers were detained inside the river during three
and a.-h alf months, although the largest did not draw
over 13 ft. This happened very often. and the vessels
sometimes were compelled to unload part of their cargo
so as to be able to get out. In consequence of this, freights
became very high.
Oreation of the Bilbao H arbotw B oa1d.- The Bilbao
Chamber of Commerce realising that such conditions
could not continue, obtained leave from the Government
in S epten;tber, 1877, to create a .Harbour lD?provements
Board, w1th power to levy certam dues on ll11ports and
exports for defraying the cost of improving the Bilbao
river. In the following month of October, the Government appointed the author of this paper as Director or
Chief Engineer of the H arbour Works, a nd the Board
was finally constituted in November 1877.
D esign cvnc1, E xecution of the W 01ks.- On account of the
different interests then existing in connection with the
Bilbao river, due to the five mineral railways that run to
it, and to the various iron works established on its banks,
it was decided to improve the river itself, and the bar first
of all, with as little delay as possible, leaving the construction of the outer harbour till later, especially in view of
the fact that this latter work involved a large outlay of
money whi<>h was not then available.
When those works were be~un (and we shall not enter
into a detailed description of them, as they do not concern
the principal object of this p aper), they soon produced the
desired effects. Most excellent results were obtained,
especially at the bar, by building a training jetty, 800
metres (2625 ft.) in length on the Jeft bank of the river
mouth, and carrying it out seawards with a gentle curve.
Formerly only 2 ft. of water existed at low tides in the
channel, which, moreover, was choked by sand during
winter gales to such an extent that no vessels drawing
over 12ft. could go out; whereashafter building the jetty,
a channel along its whole lengt was easily maintained
with a minimum depth of 4 metres (13 ft.) at low water of
equinoctial spring tides. This ena.bled steamers drawing
22 ft. to 24 ft. to go in and out easily at high water of
spring tides, and it was navigable at neap tides for
stea,m ers drawing 18 ft. to 20 ft. (Fig. 2).
The works executed in the river itself did away with the
sharp bends; an9 by _dre9ging along 14 kilometres (8f
miles), the depth 1s mam tamed at over 4 metres (13 ft.) at
low w~tter spring tides along the whole length, so that
steamers of 20 ft. draught can now come up to the Bilbao
qua.ys; whereas formerly those drawing over 10 ft. were
debarred. With the above improvements, and especially
with those carried out in the lower part of the river, where
the principal mineral tips are situated, the traffic increased
so much that in 1896-97 the total imports and exports
reached 5, 792,804 tons, apportioned as follows : 4,954,490
for exports, anrl 838,314 for imports; whereas in 1863
the total weight was only 218,000 tons. The average
capacity of the steamers that enter the river is more than
three times what it used to be in 1878. All this has brou~ht
an enormous reduction in freigh ts, and a ~peat extens10n
in the working of the mines in this regwn, which are
the fundamental cause of the great development that has
taken place in railwa,y, industrial, and shipping undertakings in Vizcaya. In SUJ?por t of the statement we have
made concerning these satisfactory results, the following
p aragraph may be quoted from Mr. Edward Wood's
address to the Institution of Civil Engineers in London,
on November 9, 1886 :"Owing to the facilities now given. Bilbao ore, which
in 1872 realised 35s. p er ton delivered at our ports (one
half the cost representing freights) is at the present time
landed at South Wales (where the import is one million
tons per annum) at the cost of from 10s. to 10s. Gd. per
ton, including freight, this not exceeding 4s. per ton."
The total cost of the works for improving the bar and
the riverJ including dredging, buoys, electric lighting,
cranes, sneds, etc., amounted to about thirteen milJion
pesetas (433,333l. *).

27,

19CI.

resulting income at the disposal of the H arbour Im{>rovements Board, led them to consider the advisibility of
building the outer harbour a.s a necessary complement to
the work done in t.he river. As the river moutli is directly
exposed to the north-westerly winds, in spite of the iJn
provements realised, the entrance of steamers continued
to be dangerous during bad weather. This defect could
only be removed by the construction of a breakwater that
would shelter the river mouth; and as in doing this it
was possible, at the same time, to create a large outer
harbour for the use of Trans-Atlantic steamers, at all states
of the tide, the following plan was studied, and was
approved by the Government on June 29, 1888.
Gene?al P lain of the W01ks.- The outer harbour is
enclosed fro..n the open sea by two breakwaters : (1) The
west breakwater, 1450 metres (4757 ft. ) long, is formed by
a straight p ortion, 950 metres (3117 ft.) long, runnjng out
from the coast at right-angles to the north-west, followed
by an arm of 500 metres (1640 ft.) at an angle of 165 deg. to
the first length. This deviation is made in order to give
a better sh elter to the steamers inside. (2) The eastern
breakwater, called the counter-mole, 1100 metres (3610 ft. )
long, running out from the coast in a westerly direction.
Between the ends of the breakwaters there is an entrance
700 metres (1970 ft. ) wide, so situated that the swell of
the sea coming through it may be as small as possible,
and make the entrance and exit of ships quite easy. In
view of this latter consideration. it would seem that it
would have been better had the entrance faced north-west;
but the ea-stern breakwater would then have had to start
from the Point of San I gnacio, and under these conditions
the waves in north-westerly gales would very likely have
entered the harbour, and also the heavy ocean wstves,
dashing against both breakwaters, would by reflection
have met precisely at the entrance, and there have formed
dangerous rising and breaking waves. W e tried to get
over these drawbacks by the plan that we have adopted,
in which the waves have a free space of 1150 metres
(3773 ft. ) wide to spread over, and then go and break
against the rocks and strand of the east coast, 'vithout
producing dangerous recoiling effects at the entra.nce of
the harbour; in fact, waves can only come in by lateral
transmission (Fig. 1).
With the experience gained with the work, so far as
completed up to now, the solution adopted has given
excellent results : for the steamers go in and out quite
freely during gales, and are quite in sh elter behind the
breakwater.
The area protected by the two breakwaters is 300
hectares (741 acres) at low water, and of this no less than
205 hectares (506~ acres) have a depth of between 5 and
14 metres (16ft. 5 in. and 46ft.) at equinoctial low water.
'fhe first breakwater is, as will readily have been under
stood, the more important of the two. It rests on a
bottom formed of mud mixed with sand, except near the
coast, where the rook is uncovered; and it was therefore
clearly indicated that the foundation of the superstructure
should be formed 'vith a sorted rubble, or a rubble nud
concrete-block mound. Moreover, as there were a few
days in the year during which it would be possible to
work with divers for building a masonry wall founded
under low water, we decided to build the superstructure
from the level of low water, and to let it rE'St on a large
mound of concrete blocks of 30 to 50 cubic metres (39! to
6~ cubic yards each), a.nd 6 metres (19 ft. 8 in.) deep,
wliioh in turn would rest on a large mound of sorted
rubble. These blocks, made with Portland cement, were
deposited at random, this system having the advantage,
that it could be carried on rapidly, and that the very
disorder of the stones and blocks would help a great deal
to break the force of the sea.
Execution of B 1eakwate1.- The contract for t he work
was entrusted to M essrs. L. Coiseau, Couvreux fila, a.n d
Felix Allard, on Octob~r 25th, 1888. The work of
depositing in place the foundation of rubble and concrete
blocks was carried on rapidly; and after two winters,
when it was clear that all the blocks had settled properly.
we began building the superstructure, after having carefilled up with rubble all the interstices between the big
blocks, and covering the whole with a levelling bed of
concrete. The superstructure itself was 1220 metres 'vide
(40 ft. ) at the base, tapering to 10 20 metres (33 ft. 4 in.)
at the top, and was 6 metres (19ft. 1 in. ) high. This work
was surmounted by a footway formed by a P ortland
cement concrete wall 4 metres (13 ft. l~ in.) wide and 3
metres (9 ft. 10 in. ) high, which in turn was sheltered
from the open sea by a strong parapet 1.50 metres (5 ft.}
thick and one metre (3 ft. 6 in.) high. The base of the
whole structure was protected on the sea side from undermining by a large concrete toe. The main wall was
formed by two face-walls of P ortbtnd cement concrete
blocks, each 3 metres (9 ft. 10 in.) long by 150 metres by
1 metre (5 ft. by 3 ft. 3 in.), J?laced ns h&\der~ an cl
stretch ers, and :filled in between w1th a quick-setting cone;rete hearting (Fig. 6, page 462).
D amut{Jes.- Tb e building of the superstructure was
begun in 1891, at t he portion resting directly on the rocks
of the coast and on the bags of P ortland cement con
creta when th.e rooks were under water. All this part of
the work proceeded sati~faotorily, but when the super
structure was extended over the base of rubble and
concrete-block mound for a length of 127 metres (417ft. ),
the wtwes during a strong gale, botween the 19th and 21st
November, 1893, undermined the facework along a length
of 80 metres (262 ft.) on the sea side, and opened :1 large
breach in it.
After having carefully examined the damage caused, wo
came to the follmving conclusions :-(1) That the found
dation of rubble and blocks1 which had in the course of
OUTER HARDOUR.
Necessity of Bt~Jildintg a H cvrboun.-The great increase two winters acquired stabtlity, lost it the moment it
in t raffic that followed the river improvements, a nd the became covered by the sul>erstructure. The waves tho.t
came with great force strikmg against the breakwater, and
* 'he conversion into sterling is based on the rate of tising as much as 20 metres (6~ ft.)in front of it, disturbe~
in falling back, the 50 cubic metre (65! cubic yards) block
30 pesetas= ll.

E N G 1N E E R l N G.

'

that formed the outer berm and sea slope. (2) Once these
large blocks removed, the a.c tion of the waves followed,
drttwing out all tho rubble that we had fplaced in the
intel'$tice' between the blocks, and then destroyed the
out ide protecting toe of t he breakwn.ter. (3) T he breakwater having lost its outward protection, soon lost also,
by undermining, its out ide facmg blocks ; and then the
sea, being able to get freely upon the heartins- of concreto,
soon washed it away and opened large gaps m the whole
work. As a. consequence of these observations, wo decided
to provide again t the undermining of the superstructure
by forming its under part with large iron caissons 12
metres by 6 metres hy 2 metres (39 ft. 4 in. by 1!) ft. 8 in.
by 6 ft. 6~ in.) filled up with P or tland cement concreto,
and resting upon the previous foundation. This found~t
tion was proposed to be carefully strengthened by filling
wi th bags of P ortland cement concrete all t he in terstices
between tho under blocks, and also by protecting the
outer sea ido with several rows of P ortland cement concrete blocks of 30 cubic metres (39i cubic yards), carefully
depo ited, side by sido, with a Titan crane. This plan
was ttpproved by t ho Government; but before canyinS" it
out most of the summer of 1894 was employed in repairmg
damages done in the previous wiuter. '\Ve made the
repail'$ in the same way as the work bad been b uilt ; but
we protected the whole of it with rows of 30 cubic metre
(39f cubic yards) concrete blocks carefully deposited side
hy ide, and ~trried up to a height of 7 metres (22 ft.
111 in.) above low tide. In fiuishjng the summer work,
tLnd as a test, we placed at t he end of the breakwater
two of the above-described iron caissons filled with P ortland cement concrete ; and we built the superstructure
over i t and the two filled caissons, which formed one mnss
of not less than 800 cubic metres (1046 cubic yards). This
was also protected from the action of the open sea by a
la rRe number of concrete blocks.
The first gale occurred on N ovember 12 and 13, 18!)4; lt
only removed six of the protecting blocks, but increa ed
the sta bjlity of the others, for they became moro closely

Cai$Sons.-From all that we have explained, we became

convinced that it would hav~ been a most daring plan to
persevere in building thc superstructure at low-water le~el
on the foundation of rubble and loose blocks, already latd,
and that t he wisest solution t hat could he adopted was to
loave all t hat p art of the work as an outer protection, and
to build the superstructure farther back under i ts shelter.
In t hese conditions we deemed it sufficient to build the
new superstructure at a depth of 5 metres (16 ft. 5 in.)
undor equinoctial low-water level. Subsequent experience
prov~d this dep th to be quite sufficient, no doubt on
account of the excellent protection a.fforded by the outP.r
mound of rubble and blocks, which is in i tself a kind of
broakwateJ'. On the other hand, for a work exposed so
much to the action of the sea, where d ivers uou ld only
work for short periods, we bad no confidence jn an upri~ht
wall made wi th blocks1 whet her laid h orizontu.l ly or malined, because of the n sk of the work settling owing to its
height, and to the fact that it reposed on a rubble mound
built upon such soft ground. vYe therefore proposed to
the Governm~nt, in accord with the cont ractors, to build
the superstructure upon large steel caissons filled with
P ortland cement concrete, resting 5 metres (16 ft. 5 in. )
below low water, a modification of thc system unsuccessfully tried in 1894, which consi ted of steel caissons
placed at the bottom of the superstructure, 1 metre (3 ft.
3 in.) above equinoctial low water. In t his en e, however,
the cnssions were founded 5 metres (16 ft. 5 in. ) below
equinoctial low water, and were sheltered by the mound
already constructed, so that the conditions of stability
were great ly incrE>ased. vVe ought also to add that in
1892 we had proposed, and it bad met with the approval
of the Government in 1893, to build t he pier-head of the
counter-mole on one large caisson, 18 metres (59 ft.) in
diamet er, 10 metres (33ft.) in height, placed 8 metres (26ft.
2 in.) below low water; and in July 1894 it was decided to
build the breakwater head in the su.me way, but with a
caisson 27 metres (88 ft. 7 in.) in diameter. The system
we proposed, therefore, of building t he whole pier upon
BILBAO

BAY

AND

RIVER

.,nssw ,

so a~ to make one ; ingle monolithic block of 13 metres by

7 metres by 7 metres (42 ft. 7 in. by 23 ft. by ?3 ft.)1 say
637 cubic metres (833 cubic yards), 1300 tons m wetght.
\Ye may add t hat this filling in place could be done after
the water had been pumped out from b~tween ~he blocks,
and that the whole caisson could b~ fims~ed ~th ~ layer
of cement concrete o50 metre (20 m. ) thick, bmdmg the
different blocks together.
.
Tt will be seen by t his method the q uan.tt ~y of concre~e
to be laid 'ht situ would be reduced t o a mmllD:un;t, that It
could be deposited out of t he water, and that If m course
of time the iron sb eeting were to rust and break away,
an enormous monolithic block o~ concrete '~ould .always
be left, strength~ned throu&'h~ut It~ mass by 1ron ties, the
resistance of wluch und er sumlar cu cumstances would be
far superior to anything that had been done in this class of
work up t o now.
It was proposed to cal'l'y thjs foun~atio~ up to. 2 m~tres
(6 ft. ~in.) above water-level of equmoct1al spnng tid~,
and to build the breakwater superstructure upon 1t,
formed by two walls made with Portland cement concrete
blocks of 30 cubic metres (39 cubic yards), .namely, 4
metres by 3 metres by 2. 50 metre~ (13 ft. 1 ~ by 9 ~t.
10 in. by 8ft. 2 in. each ), and filled m between w1t h rapidsetting concrete. This would bring the work up to 7
metres (23 ft. ) ~tbove low t ide ; and a quay could b e
established at this level, running the whole length of the
breakwater, which could be protected from the sea by a
stron~ parapet, 2. 50 metres (8ft. 2 in.) wide, 1.50 metres
(5 ft.) high, aud uound to the main work by strong
wrought-irou ties.
W e decided to finish the upper part of this sht>ltering
wall by rounding it off; and we abandoned the projecting
coping, which we had designed for the original sup~r
structure to throw the waves back into the sea, because
we found that in strong gales such a shape does not
effectually protect the footpath, and has the disadvantage
of increasing the recoil of t he waves against t he foundations of the breakwater. vVith the shape adopted, very

NERVION .

...
1

?ORTUG ALf.T

..

wedged together. \ Ve at once placed six bloDks to fill t he

gap that the others bad left; and when, on D ecember 15,
tmother storm came on, we observed that only one of
the blocks bad been taken away ; so that we inclined t o
believe that with such a large mass of blocks placed
along the outer facing of the breakwater . the whole
structure was perfectly protected from further damage.
vVe were, however, soon undeceived by the storm of
D ecember 30 and 31, one of the fiercest ever )mown.
On that evening the action of the waves became so
violent that all ~he mass of!rotecting blocks o~ 30 cubic
metr~ (3~ cubic yards), .an of over 60 tons we1ght eacb,
allla~d w1tb the crane w1 th the greatest cal'e one against
the other, and aS"ainst the facework, in two rows in width
and depth, formmg in all an apron 8 metres (26 ft. 3 in.)
wide and 5 metres (16 ft. 5 inches) high, was completely
carried away down the sea slope, leaving the toe of the
superstructure un.l?rotect ed, wliich was ultimately undermmed and demol1shed. But the most remarkable feat
of that storm was the removal of the large monolithic
mass of 800 cubic metres (1046 cubic yards) aud of 1700
t ons weight, placed, as we have already explained at the
~nd of the work, whi?h was carried 32 metres (105 ft.)
mto the harbour. lt IS t rue that before can-ying that
mass away, the waves must have begun by undermining
it ; but, nevertheless, t lus is one of t he most notable feftts
which has happened iu harbour works, and it ma~ be
compared to the one that took place in 1872 to the vVick
breakwater, where the waves canied away a block 13.70
m~tres b~ 7 ~etr~s by 640 me~res (4? ft. by 23ft. by 21ft.
2 m.), we1~hmg 1350 tons. Still, this mass bad been built
with speCial care, resting as it did on lar~e blocks set
18 ft. under low wat er, and tied in all direct10ns with iron
bands.
It is to be noticed that the Bay of Bilbao is very similar
to that of Wick, both of them narrowing in a funnel
shape;. and . the waves tha~ come in gradually rise in
advancmg till they break wit h extreme violence against
the works. \Ve ought to add that t he gale that played
such havoc with t he part of the breakwater superstructure
that rested on loose blocks and stones, did absolutely no
harm to the part near the coast, which rests on solid rook
nor to the block mound upon which the superstructur~
had not yet been built.
~t ltoation(j in 01'iyinrcl Plcms, cmd AdiJ].Jtion of La1ue

caissons, accepted by the Govett1men t on June 15, 1895,

bad been already well thought ou t and tried in these
works (Fis-s. 3 to 6, page 462).
W e demded to build the new breakwater at a distance
of 47.GO metres (156ft. 6 in.) from centre to c~ntre behind
the first one, principally in order to leave between the two
works an interval 30 metres (98 ft. 5 in.) wide where the
waves, after breaking over the first line of bl~oks would
fall and lose mo~t of their force in entering deep ' '~ater;
and also to provide room for a t ug boat, so as to fa.mlitate
tho transp ort and deposit of the caissons. W o also
decided to emp!oy caissons 13 metres by 7 metres by 7
metres (42 ft. 7 m. by 23 ft. by 23 ft.) so t}mt, when placed
a.t a depth of 5 metres (16 ft. 5 in.) Lelow equinoctial low
t1des, they would emerge two metres (G ft. ~ in.) as it
was necessary that t he top of the caissons should be' abo ve
the water-level at low tide, to enable the work to be carried
on inside. It was proposed to build them on the river
bank. Their weight was estimated at about 30 tons and
their immersion in the water at 32 centimetres (12i 'in. ) ;
but before towing them to the breakwater they were to be
ballns ted with a layer of P ortland ceme~t concret e 150
metres (5 ft.) thick, which would immerse them 3.40
meters (11 ft. 2 in.) The caissons themselves were to be
made of Bessemer st eel plates, in thick, str~ngthened
iuten1ally with a lon~tudinal fattice-shaped bulkhend,
a:td two others placea crossways, formin_g between them
s1x equal partitions, eaoh containing two Portland cement
concrete blocks of 30 cubic metres (39;}: cubic yards),
namely, 4 ~etres by 3 meters b. 250 metres (13 ft. 1 in.
by~ ft. 10 m .. by 8 ft. 2 in.). l'he rubble-stone bed on
wh10h the crussons must rest requirE's levelling up by
means of a diving-bell, to t he aforesaid depth of 5 metres
(l~ ft. 5 in.) below equinoctial low water; and us soon as
tb1s operat10n was carried out, ~he caissons could be con veyed to their place, put into alignment, and then sunk
by. filling tb~m with water. It wus necessary to fill these
c~1ssons rapidly, ~o that the sea might not break them to
pieces ; and as It would ~ave ~~en a long and tedious
process to fill them at low tide w1th concret e made in sit11
we decided to dep osit the two 30 cubic metre (39;f cubi~
yards) blocks already referred to, by means of the crane
m e,ach partition . . T?i operatiou could be e ffected very
rapidly ; after wluch 1t would be necess.-'\..ry to run Portland
cement concret e into the interstices bet\vceu the blocks

'

~a~ge.waves pass fr~~ly over the breakwater wall withou t

mJunng the foundat10ns, lit nd they fall inside the harbour
where they have little or no effect.
'
T~~ system of construction explained above has, in
additlOn, the very great ad Vltntage of allowing the superstructure to be built in SeJ?arate lengths of 7 metres (23 ft )
~o ~~at they call: settle qmt.e independently on the mound:
Th1s w~ most Important m the present case, where t he
founda.t1011 of. the whole structure is formed of a mound
of rubble rest mg on a soft bottom.
.This general arrangement would have to be altered
shg~tly near the coast, by employing shallower caissons
restmg o'D: concrESte bags dep osited upon the rocks.
'
The est1mated cost of the work is ns follows :1. Outside Protection \York
including the rubble and
I
block mound, and the part
of the superstructure built
according to the first plau * Ptas .13,550,472. 58cnts.
(451, 682l. ).
2. Tnside . vVork, including
fouudahon of rubble, caissons, s.uperstructure, and
protectmg toe blocks
... Ptas.17,582,227. 60 cnts.
(586,074l. ).
3. A pproac hRoadfrom Sant.
urce to the br~akwater
light-house, and mino;.
works
.. .
.. .
. .. Ptas. 2G1, 540. 23 cnts.
T t p
(8718l. ).
1
o a, esetas 31,394,240.41 cents. (1,046,474l.).
This total was brought down to 28 882 6fl8 p esetas
(962~56l. ), the accepted tender; and as 'the' t~tal length
of t e breakwater I S 1450 metres (4757 ft.) the cost per
me~re rnn corue~ ~ut a little less than 20,000 p esetas
which the depreciatiOn of the exchange represE>onts 16 66~
francs per metre run (203l. p er foot run); a sum that is
less than the cost of the breakwaters of Dover H olyhead
?ly~ou~b, and Cherbourg, although the one ~t P lymouth
lS built m shallow water, the one a t Cherbourg in about

* The conversion is established on a. basis of 30 eseta~

~!l. Lut t he exchange varies from 28 to 35 pes~ta~ to

E N C l N t E R. l N C.

- -

the same depth, atid the other two i n slightly greater

d epths than the on e at Bilbao.*
Execution of the W <nk.- As soon as the new .Plan was
approved of, the contractors began to work it ; sm ce then
(about Ju~y, 1895) they h a ve been able to work every year
from April 20 to Septembet: 29; that is, fo1 a period of
about five months, the rem atnder of the year being employed in .maki~g bloc~. c.a issons; an~ other preparatory
work for executwn. dunng the followmg summer. Up t o
the present, 150 ca1ssons have been placed at the following
rate :Caissons.
... ... .. . 13
1895 ...
...
.. . .. . 25
...
1896 ...
28
.. . ...
1897


.. .
30
1898 ...

...
...
30
1899

24
. ..
...
1900 ...

Thi~ is equivale!lt to a total length of 1090 metres

(3576 ft. )
. Putti?J the Ca~ssons ~n Placc.- The experience g~tined
m put~m_g the caiSSons m pl~ce led to the adoftion of the
followmg system:-The carssons first of al recei ve a
ballast of concre~e 1.50 metre (5 ft.) thick, say 136~ cubic
metres (1?8! oubrc yards) i and they a re t hen towed into
place d!lnng the l~t two hours of the ebb tide, so that as
m~ch time. as possrbl~ may be ~llmyed ~or p lacing the
~rsson OJ?. ~ts foundation and filling 1t, this latter operatwn reqmnng that the upper part of the caisson shall be
out of water. The caisson is first brought against a

During the third low tide the construction of the super~

str:uotur~, 5 metres (16 ft. 5 in.) high, that rests on the
caiSSon, lS proceeded with. This su.Perstruoture is formed
by two face-walls consisting of e1gh t Portland cement
concrete l;>locks, 4 metres by 3 metres by 2.50 metres
{13 ft. 1 1~. b~ ~ ft. 10 in. by 8 ft. 2 in.), placed in two
rows, breakmg JOmts as h~aders and .stre~cliers ; the sp ace
between the two walls bemg- .filled m with quick-setting
co~crete. I.f th e weather rs fine, the superstructure is
fimshed durmg t~e. fo.urth tide, .w ith the ~x~eption of the
parapet wal~, which lS only built when rt 1s ascertained
t hat each caiSSon ha~ quite finished settling down. Therefo~e, we.ather p eril';llttmg, all the work pertaining to one
cMsson I S accompliShed during four tides that is in two
days. This work, representing about 1004! cubi~ metres
{1314 cubic yards), is made up as follows :-

or on soft ground, there is every chance t hat they wil1

se~tle unevenly ; so that, the upper part being built solid
wr,th . mo~ta;t:z ~nd not able to follow t hese movements,
remam s r1g1~ hke a beam, and allows the sea to was h out
th~ foundat ron blocks from those__portions which are not
weighted by the upper portion. The sloping:-block system
has been t ried to remedy this ; but even if t he ull'equal
settlement is t hereby to a certain exten t coun teracted
the defe~ts of the uneq u~l settling are not remedied at
a:ll; whilst the system lS u~1satisfactory for heavy seas
hke t hose of the Bay of Btscay. In proof of this we
hav~ the works of t he neighbouring port of CastroU rd1ales, where a breakwater far more sheltered than
that of Bilbao is being built ; it rests on very large sloping
blocks, aJ?.d the short length already built was completely
wrecked m J anuary, 1900 .
From the moment a caisson is first placed to the time
Oubio
Oubic
when the superstrncture resting upon it is finished it
metres.
metres.
settles al;>out 0.20 metre (8 in.); later on, with the wei~ht
Bottom ballast,
13m. x 7m. x
and mot1on of the crane, and the action of gales durmg

1.50m.
13650
the ~nter, t he caisson settles another 040 metre (1~ in. )
(42ft. 8 in. x 23 ft .(470.54 cub.
!Daking about o6o metre (23! in.) in all. This will gfve a~
I nterior of the
x 4 ft. 11 in.)
yards.)
rdea of wbn.t would happen with a system which did not

637.00
Clll SSOn
Twelve
Blocks,
860.00
13m. x 7m. x 7m.
each 30 c.m. (4;0.88 cub. (833.17 cub. offer such facilities for settlement as are possessed by the
system herein described.
yards)
(42 ft. Sin . X 23 ft.
(39.34 cub. yds.)
yards.)
X 23 ft.)
After t.wo winters, the caisson may be considered to
li1lling up concrete
137.78
and top layer . (180.20 cub.
ha~e ent1rely settled down; the join ts bet ween them
yards.)
whrc~ are a bout 0.30 metre (llf in. ) wide, are then filled
Capacity of iron
2. 72
up w1th cement concrete, and the p arapet wall is built.
bulkheads and (3.55 cub.
Smce1898, manysteamers have used thebreakwateralready
yards.)
wooden props ..

I~
1

- - - - - - - - -- -

----

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

47 QO
~

'
---~

CROSS

.,
rUJ . ~ .

F~ . 5 .

--15.00 - ---'H

S ECTION

OF BRE AK WAH R

(As now carried on)

HIGH

. u. w.

WAT ER

P LAN OF CAISSON.

. .
CROSS

F ifj .4 .

(Or4Jinal

Fig . 6 .

'II'

I'tI
:I

lrJJ.OO~~
I...
'I

''

'

,,11

11

'

l"

,,I!

\;)

I
I .

I;' 'i

'\";'

.i,

I>)

'

OF

BREAKWATER.

Design.)

""'NOCTIAL HIGH

~
()

S E C TION

WATER .

l<.J7.00 ~

F'9.8.
..:

Tig. 7.
CROSS SECTI ON

OF

r .

..

. . . ~

COUNTER - M OL

WA TEr

WATER
-=1:...
~~~~~m>:

. I

. . Concrete- B~ro

10 S 0

Wnl

"\

UIN OCTI A L L OW

.J

GH

.. .

3
10

lD
I

JO

.W

SO

100

--

~~~==~ - ----

/SO FIT

---~-~-

caisson already in p lace; it is maintained t here in proper

aligmnent by means of ropes and also by the tug, t he bow
of which faces the op en sea. The caisson is then sunk by
p ouring wat er into it with tt. centrifugal pump suspended
from a Titan cran e, and worked by an electric motor.
If the motion of the caisson whilst i t is still floating
brings it out of alignment, we J?Ump out a lit tle water
from it, and then sink it again. There A,re always little
irregularities ; but these are easily corrected in t he superstructure, with t he berm of on e metre t hat has been left
on each side. Once the caisson is in place, eight or t en
of the twelve 30. cubi.c ~etre (39! cubic yard~) concrete
blocks are deposited m 1t by means of the T1tan crane
during the same low tide. During the following low tide,
after pumJ?ing the water out of the caisson, the remaining
blocks are m serted, and the fillin~ concrPte is run between
them with tho 0.50 metre (20 m ches) htyer on the top.
All this work is generally completed during the fi rst two
low tides.

Superstructure,
no t including
the po.ro.pet.

E ight blocks, ench }

240.00
30 c. m . (39.24 (313.92 cub.
367.50
yards. )
cu bic yards) . .
(480.69 cub.
Filling in wit h
127,60
yards.)
qu ick-setting
(16(}. 77 cnb.
concrete
..
yo.t ds.)
1004.60
(13133.86
Total cubic metres

cub. yards.)

The t ime employed by t he divers in levelling up the

foundation for one cn.is..c;on Vt1ries, as a rule, between one
n.nd two days, so it follows t hat a length of 7 m etres (23 ft.)
of breakwater can be built every three or four days. On
account of the weather, however, and unforeseen breakdowns, the work does not nlways proceed at that speed ;
in fact, sometimes d uringone ruonth onlythesuperstrncture
corresponding to four caissons has b een built, and during
other months a maximum of nine caissons hns been reached.
As soon s s a length has been built in the way described above, the rails for the 'ritan crnne are laid ul>on
it, and t he work of the next caisson is proceeded w1t h.
t he end of t he season, all the 30 cubic metre (39! cubic
* ~1. Chevalier, in his Etudes jaites en 1858 sur les At
travaux m..U1' itinnes d' A 'TI{Jleter?'C, published in the j}f errwrial yards) protecting blocks are placed on the outside, and at
des trava11X hyc7trauliqtws clc la, 1Jfa1inc, gives the accom- the foot of the SUJ>erstructure ; and the Titan crane is
panying prices for the following~completed breakwaters :- brought back withm shelter near the coast.
As this system h as been tested during six winters
Per m etre Per foot
without the slightest mishap, it can be safely recom mended
run.
run.
for seas as violent as those of the Bay of Biscay. One of

Francs.
Breakwater.
its principal advantages is the freedom with which each
404
33,200
...
...
D over
section of the superstructure r..an follow the movements of
170
14,000
Portland (outer) ...
the caisson, as the latter settles on its foundation.
195
16,000
...

Alderney .. .
If, instet\ld of building in the above . manner, a break206
16,900
...
Holyhead .. .
water superstructure is built upon a. foundation of blocks,
304
25,
000
.
..
~lymouth ...
if the latter, however carefully set, rest on a rubble mound
219
18.000
..
.
Cherbourg ...

built as a shelter ; in fact, during the violent storms of

J anuary, 1890, twenty-three steamers and four sailin~
v~sels took refuge there in. complete safety. We antimpate that the breakwater w1ll be completely finished in
1902, with the exception of some accessory works.
W e may add that the depth of 5 metres (15 ft. 5 in.)
belo~ low water of e9uinoctial spring tides was deemed
suffi01ent for the caiSSons, because our breakwater ii
sh eltered by the previous work executed in front of it and
by t he inter~al betwe.en ; b~t wi thout sucla protectio~. we
should certamly cons1der this depth inn.deq uu.te ; a nd we
are of opinion t hat, in that case, a depth of 7 to 8 metres
(23 ft. to 26 ft. 3 in.) would be necessary.
Counter-Mole.-The construction of the counter-mole
or eastern breakwater (Figs. 7 and 8), calls for no special
remarks, because t he waves run nearly parallel to it. It
has been built on a foundation of rubble stone t hat
reac~es 3 ~etr~s (9 ft. 1~ in.) und~r l~w water of equinoctial sprmg t tdes. Th1s foundation rs covered with a
banlr, formed with bags of P ortland cement concrete
raised 1 metre (3 ft. 3 in.) n.bove low tide ; and the outside
is protected with 50 and 30 ,cubic metre (65~ and 39! cu bic
yards) concrete blocks. 'I he superstructure, which rests
on the bags of concrete, is built with block face-work
and a concrete hearting deposited iln situ.
This work, with the exception of the lighthouse and
minor details, wil l be finished in 1901. It is 1100 metres
(3699 ft.) long, and its cost is 8, 116,764 pesetas (207, 559l.)
that is, 7379 pesetas per metre run (about 75l. per foot
run ). This is only 36 per cent. of the cost p er foot run of
the western breakwater, which will give an idet11 of the
relative importance of each work.
eont?acto?s.- Tbe contractors for the whole of the work

EN ..G I N.E ER IN G.

Messrs. Louis Coiseau, Abel Couvreux, and Felix

Alla.~ . who have sh<?wn great knowledge and capaoiby in
organunng and oarrymg out the work, and especially as
rega.r~ the plant f!lr making the concrete blocks and for
conveymg a.nd settmg them. W e have already described
these operations in the annual reports to the Bilbao
Harbour Board. Ibis in these works that electricity has
been employe~ for the firab time for . handling blocks up
to 100 tons wetgh t, .and a.l ~o for workmg the Titan cranes
up to 60 tons capactty, whtch the contractors designed and
used in the cons truction of the two breakwatera.
&l'e

The- firsb compound engines ordered were erected in pressure cylinder, so that perhaps three or fonr revolu1889, and the results obtained were so excellent that, wibh tions of the wheels take place {more or less, according to
the excepbion of shunting a.nd local traffic engines, no the wei~ht of the tr~in ), so that the longest train is well
eimple engines {either goods or passenger) have since in mot10n before the back pressure accumulates suffibeen ordered.
ciently to close the valve, a.nd compounding takes place.
The en~nes proved easy to handle, exhibited a high
The effect of the alteration in the interceptiD!f valve
economy lD coal and water, and, owing to the reduced wa~J to obviate the tendency to jib previously exper1enced,
dema.nd on the boiler, showed less tendency to and to insure a. certain a.nd easy starb, with the maximum
priming and scale than the original simples; they can power, whilst retaining the aulioma.ticity of the valve's
run much fuller into gear without liftin~ the water, and action, a. most valuable and important feature, putting it
thus haul heavier loads. As a.n offdet agatnst these ad van- out of the power of the driver to work non-compound
tagst~, the first compounds sometimes showed an inclina- longer than absolutely necessary, which by some nontion to jib after starting, due to the r&J>idity with which automatic systems is possible. and tends to reduce the
the automatic "Worsdell and V on Borr1es " starting valve economy. 'rh is hollow spindle arrangement was found
caused compounding to take place, reducing the power by so successful that the intercepting valve of the whole of
cutting off the live steam from the low-pressure cylinder the compounds-some 109 engines- were so fitted. A
before {in the case of long and heavy trains) the whole detail of this valve is shown in Fig. 8, page 46t.
weight was fully taken on the drawbars, or the whole
The accompanying diagrams show the princiP.al classes
train set in motion. In this valve {Fig. 9, page 464) the of compound engines on the Great Southern Rallway, and
exhaust steam from the high-pressure cylinder is held in also the corresponding simple engines for two classes.
check by a mushroom valve, which closes automatically Figs. 1 a.nd 2 a.nd 4 and 5 compare absolutely. Fig. 7,
by the ac bion of live steam from the boiler, admitted to a. designed by the author for workmg either goods or heavy
pair of small pistons operating on the back of the large passenger train.a, repreqents the most mo1ern en~ines of
mushroom. With this valve closed, no high-pressure , t he company, whilst Fig. 3 shows a.n engine of speciaJ

COMPOUND LOCOMOTIVES IN SOUTH

AMERICA.
Some P articulars of the R esults of the Compou-nd Locornotive on the Buenos A ires Great Southern Rail,way. *
By Mr. . R. GouLD, Looom~tive. Carriage, a.nd Wagon

Supenntendent , Buenos Aues Greab Southern Railway

Argentine R epublic.
'
THE question of coal con~umption of locomotives be
comes, in countries like the Argentine R epublic, which
depends entirely on the imported article, a. ma.bter of

F0. 7.

H talmg Sur/act of Tulus

..
..
F irt bo::c

' ~

x 24 in.
Wh uls. 5 /t. 8.i n .
183 Tubes, ti t n . (ozd.s).
Cy L: .

1 6 11) .

Cl ass 6.
-

T OTA L

86 ..

.. .

1 ,0 1;\

Gra te art 11 ...

10 5

"

llt aling Surface o/ Tubes ...

Cy/.., 17 in. x 24 in.:

Wh l J.s. S / I. 2 i n .
1 5 TtLbe.r, 1i in. (outs).

,..-

./

~J

',~.Ill 31>
~ lLt

T OTAL

;.:.]'

~/

...

C.

T.

W eigh/ Worh i ng r6 o
..
L ight - 14 8
Total Worlune
63 rss

r--~

c.

T.

"

II

-'-

T,

C.

C.

'

..

T.

C.

,...
..

183 Tubu, 1 ~ i n. ( ou l s).

T. c.
WtigM Worki11g 9 3
..
l.ighl 10 4
Tota l Worlt( rtg 71 1 :-s
~ -

929 sq. / 1.

Firebox ...
TOTAL

86

...

.. .

r.ors

..

Gratt arta

r6s

Cyls

..

C.

10

15

I I

7 17

8
Total 'Lighl 53

0
9
r

C.

4 .7
Waltr cap., 2,500 gals,

185 T'llhts,

..

T OTAL

11 m . (outs).

T.
Wtight Working 17

Grate area

.. Light 14 rq
Tot"t Working 65 r6s

T.

C.

Jl
10

16
1S

T.

Total L ight

'"
6

48

IS

T.

C.

T.

T.

C.

10

19

IS

\...'

~ooo

Wattr cap.,

/_

gals.

'

cy I s.

f H .P.

t L.P.

17 l f! ~

246 m . S

r!-

Whtds. s/t. 8 i n.

rl i n

1<}6 Tuhts,

Hm ti ng Sur/ a N fl/ Tu bu
.
.
Firtbo:r

X 24 i Jt.

<,u ts).

t ,ooo rq. /1.

86 ..

...

-1,0 86

..

...

20 ' 13

,,

/
T. C.

Coal, 6o CUJ/s.

Wtiglzl W orking 9 6
..
Light 8 17
T otal Working 72 o 25

T.

rr

C.

T.

I l
JO

TOTAt.

9l ..

..

t ,o82

Gr(f/t ana

rYg. 6

989 sq. / 1.

...

...

...

C
5

12
9 11
Total LLf.ltt 53 19 '5

Fi9 .3. Class 6B.

9 9
2
4 10
Co~l, 75 cwts.

le?

...

C.

tf
10

12

C.

~~::u:~~t:lt:~
:--::~ ./
~~

C.

...

9
S

T.

I'

H eati1zg S ur/ aet of Tubes ...

..
..
F irtbo:r ...

f H.P 17 in. } x 24 in.

l L. P. 2d iu .

C.

..

Class 7A.

T.

~\

_.:.;.
~

"

Whuls, s / t. 2 in.

}( F:~~
F= =~4~~;;1 '

"

20 13

T. C. .
9 13

12

Fig .5 .

T.
lt

C.

...

:/'

...

lVhuls. 5 /1. 8 i n.

Class 6A.

x 24 i n.

I,~

1~.
~
,~~

8 10
8 9
8 6
' 4
2
5 I<)
3 5
W att r cap., 2 , 000 gal~-. Coal, 6o CW(s,

48

"

./
T.

tO

Total Lzghl

'

~
/ ' r- ~\

I_~ I j_.. !: '

''Id\
- [

' JJ:::/

I0

.l. 'L

lft atin g Sur/act of Tub't!> ...

111.

Gra.U art4

'

...

..

C.

f(

...

86 ..

'\.
,...... .... . . . .

Fig . 2 .

fLu..P.P. 23ir6 in

...

sq /1.

""\

'

:;
T.

......
~'\

.....

FirdJox

"

1,000

Cyls

/t .

Class 7.

) {)

"

929 sq

/"'"" """.

r- "\

...
...

...

q]J

Fig . ~

17'5 ,,

T.

C.

11
10

14
14
Watt~r

13
I

T.

C.

T.

C.

12

11

11

cap. 2 ,500 gals.

Class 8.

Coal, 75 f w ts.
'

H1a &ing Sur/a&t~/ Tubt s

..
Firebox

Cyls 16 in. x 24 in.

Whuls, 4/l . 7~ i'n.
187 Tu bes, il in. ( ou tt).

..

T OTAL

Gratt area

..

'

.. .
.. .

951 sq. /1
86

..

. ..

1 ,037

"

...

16 5

..

T.

C.

'Wdght W orki n g l7 ro
.
L1glrt r 6 17
Tokd Wrkmg 66 r 5'5

T.

C.

T.

C.

T.

C.

T.

C.

T.

C.

12
JO

ll
JO

15

10

8
4

18
Total Ligllt SI

6
3'75

4 ...
4
4 2
"'a ~v cap. 2,000 gals. C()tU, 6o ( W /S.

(~

ttl&

$
I

TO
I

16

e , f d s'e h

20
4

'~

se

_ _ _ _ _ _ __

e 1 e

'

:/,6

_ _ _

35Feet

T.. C.
W(igllt Wflr k /ng 9
o
.
Light r o 9

4- -. :1 ..

T.

C.

T.

C.

11

11

IQ

Wntt~r

cap.,

. . 'e , '

9 JO
8oo gals.

'C.. .

:)=l

T.

C.

T.

C.

JI

9
8

8 11$

Coal, 15 cwl s.

5o .

...
...

12

T.

C.

Total 51
,,
45

12

5'25

..
1

3f

~fFttt

exhaust steam can pass, and the low-pressure cylinder is

temporarily fed by a by-pass of live steam from the
boiler. The high- pressure exhaust being completely
bottled up, compounding takes place very rapidly, as the
back pressure rising forces open the large mushroom valve
and shuts the by-pass. The defect was got over by a.n improvement, made in the company's works a.t Buenos Airell,
m introducing a hollow spmdle in the mushroom valve
with an escape passage to the chimney {Fig. 8), the office
of the passage being to relieve the high-pressure back
pressure to some extent, and so delay compounding. The

compound engines fitted with this valve are more powerengmeer~.

ful in starting, either than those fitted with the original
*Paper read before the International Engineering Con- valve or the simple engine. The by-pass admits and
ma.inbains the live steam for a. longer period in the lowgress, Glasgow, 1901. Section III. : Mechanical.

paramount mportance, and an endeavour to secure an

economy in thl8 respect led to the trial of the compound

engme.
The type of engine adopted on the Great Southern
Railway was the two- cylinder "Worsdell and V on
Borries," as being the simplest arrangement and interfering least with the duplication of parts of the standard
simple engines previously in service. All these engines,
both simple and compound, were built by Messrs. Beyer,
Peacock, and Co., under the instructions of Messrs.
Livesey, Son, and Henderaon, the company's consulting

interest as regards the compound question, in that it was

conswucted from old engines similar to Fig. 1, at the company's works. Increasing weights of trains made it
necessary to do something to adapt engines, Fig. 1-of
which the company possessed a large number-to the
heavier demand on their power. The boilers of some of
bhe older engines were replaced by new and larger ones
carrying higher pressure, the cylinders being at the same
time changed for those of increased size, and the engines
compounded, the new type being represented in Fi~. 3.
As tank engines were required at the time, the boilers
and cylinders of engines (Fig. 1) of later date than the
before-mentioned, which were in good condition, were
transferred to new frame3 and wheeb, &c., making the
tank engines (Fig. 6). Additional parts necessary to

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

(SEPT.

~ake up complete engines were orderad, and in conj anc- comparison unfair for them.

The repair statement includes a.ll repairs, general and intermediate, for the
mileages given; and although the comparison may nob be
p erfectly exact, ib is the nearest that could be obtained,
and is sufficiently a.ccura.te to show that at least the comp ound engine3 are no more expensive to maintain than
the noncompound, whilst the economy of fuel and water
i3 beyond question.
It will be seen from the Table that the engines (Fig. 2)
burn 23 per cent. less coal p er axle than their compeers
(Fi~. 1), the loads being practioally equal, whilst the
engmes (Fig. 3) actually show a.n economy of 37 per
cent.; hub as th e latter have hauled heavier trains (which
naturally show a greater economy in consnmption per
axle hauled), some of this economy must be discounted.
In the case of the engines, Figs. 5 and 7, an economy
of 14 per cent. over the Fig. 4 is shown, bob here again
allowance musb be ruade for the fact thab the flimple
engines (Fig. 4) hauled more axles. The classes Figs. 5

t10n with the parts of the engines (Fig. 1) dea.lb with,

enabled two sets of up-to-date en.g ines, of increased
power, to be pub on tlbe rails, in place of one of somewhat
obsolete type, of insufficient power. withdrawn.
The engines (Fig. 3) have proved a great success. b eing
from 2 5 bo 30 per cent. more powerful bba.n the old Class 6.
which they supersede, and showing an economy of fuel
even better than that of the compounds (Fig. 2).
The tabular statemen t subjoined shows the coal and
lubricant consumption, and also the comparative cosb of
repairs for the mileages given. In using this latter ib may
b s useful to n ote bhab the average age of engines (Fig. 1).is
16 years; Fig. 2, 10 years ; Fig. 4, 14 years ; and Fig. 5,
11 yeara. The engines (Fi~s. 1 and 2, 4 and 5) arA duplica.te in all respects exceptmg the compounding; and in
making np the cost of repaira, the accounts of which ara
always' kept separate for each engine, a. careful selection
has been made, so as to eliminate those of the older one3

FUJ. 7.
C Is. { H , P,

18

L.P

26

Whetls, Sft. 8
2 13

Tubts.

(11.. }
m

26 tn

"

T O'TAL

11w. (ouls ).
r

"'

nn 1

-- D

u~
....

\..../

12
11

se

...

'-._':..:fr
- .r~
/
,
T

lf"~.e

(1034.C)

~, -~

~.

Wt.iihl
T C.
W orking 10 r
..
L~gh t 9 11
Toln.l Worlting, 78T

,.. ~

C.
8

,,

Gratt nrea ...

20' 13

.,

13
11

Li~ht

H E1 1(?,

6o

12
11

19

}'..

}'.,.J

l\ ;:;1
I LA

T.

10

?&

Jf A

r'l r-

L: ' / '

10

~ ~
T.

C.

T.

C,

10

10

12

S~

C.

9 9
,(
4 19
4 15
Coal. 75 ewts.

,gs FEE.T

Compound Engine Intercepting Valve.

Ft:J.8. Improved Type. . __

... .:;1 Fig. El. Original Type.

Low

Oons'Uiffl,ption of Ooal ana I/u1n-icQITI;tBfor the Y ear l DOO.

Engitnes, (}lasses 6, 6A and 6B, 7, 7A at11d 10.

Passenger Engine.
Si m
pie.

Coal consumed per t rain

mile

..
lb .
verage weight of tratm
tonf
Average number of axle~
per ~rain
..

Coal consumed per ax ltper mile . .

..
lb.
Lubricant consumed per
100 train-miles . .
lb.
Lubricant consumed pH
100 engine-mHes
lb.
Batlo of coal ooneumed
per axle per mile

Compound.

Goods Engine.
Si m- Compound .
pi e.

Class Class Class Olaas Class Cle.as

10,
7,
7A,
68,
6A,
6,
F ig. 1 Fig. 2 Fig. 8 Fig. 4 Fig. 6 F ig. 7

36.00 28.05 29.25 55.68 45.00 40.60

162

16o

211

624

685

526

25

25.6

82.6

96

eo

81

1.44

1.10

0.9

0.68

0 60

0.50

7.70

6.45

6.28

7.18

7.27

5. 96

6 38

5 96

6.96

5.67

6.96

6.82

100

76.4

62.5

100

86.2

E6.2

of the noncompound engines, in which such heavy items

118 renewals of tubes and fireboxes, &c., would make the

Ooods Engine.

--

3imple.

Corn
pound.

Corn
pouud .

Simple.

Class 6 Class 6.A Class 7 Class i"

F ig. 4 F ig. 6.
F ig. 1. F tg. 2.

21

22

470

498

470

65,865

5 J,769

65,227

28920

20,556

25.692

43

the engines being supplied on " the first in fi rst oub "
principle. The rai lway is also composed of a large
number of branch lines with many juncti ons, al~o tendin6
to make the working difficult; the water is of a quality
that induces much priming, and the bulk of the road is
anballasted except by bhe earbh of the district run bhrou~h,
which in web weather becomes soft and yielding, tendmg
bo increase the tractive effort, and conaeq uen tly the
consumption. All this mast b e taken into consideration
when criticising the figures, which a.re ordinary averages,
no attempt having been made to record the beat performances on special runs, the main point being to show the
comparison of the performance of the com{>ound and
simple engines doing similar work under stmila.r con.
ditione.

f1

Water crrp ., 2, 50 0 ga/1.

1' 25

Jj A

Passenger Eng ine.\

: '.

le:
~~?

Oo8t of R epair s ( General and IJ/aintenamre). *

Engines, Classes 6, 6A, 7 and 7A.

The maintenance does not inolude wajtes of running-shed

ftttera, bu t is for ma terial and spare parte supplied during

serv1ce

~ '- b
/ =
T.

I 240

I'

~~

14

TotRI

/ ~-

..

96 ..

. ..

\.

1, 144 sq. /1

.. .
.. .

1901.

the different engines and their performance is totalled

for each class; and all coal and oil used for shunting
and light mileage, &c. is included in the train-mileage
figure, which, on the Great Southern Ra.ilway, ben a a
larger proportion to that on many rail ways where a complete servtce of booked t rains is run, the b ulk of the goods
traffic being bJ specials in dealing with the wheat, wool,
and cattle trams, which have to run as soon as made up,

Number of engines re
paired
..
..
..
32
Avera~e cost of repalra per
engtne per mileage shown 510
Average number of eng ine
miles run for o.bove en
gine repairs
..
. . 51,034
Average number of engine
miles run per o.nnum .. 2l,916

10.

H tating Sur/nu of Tubes

FiPebox

M .

'

Class

27,

THE COMMERCIAL IMPORTANCE OF

ALUMINIUM.*

By Professor E nNEST WrtSON, M .LE.E.

So fa.r as I have ascertained, no paper dealing with the
progress in manufacture and general properties of
aluminium has been read before the British Association
during the last ten years. During this period enormous
progress has been made in the production of aluminium,
as can be gathered from the facti that in 1900 no less than
5000 tons were produc~d by plant having
ombined oat.
put of about 25,000 horse-power, representing a capital of
I
over 2,000,000t. sterling.
I
I
P rogress m M a:n.uf actwre.-As far as is known, aluminium exists nowhere uncombined in the metallic stabe, and
its production is essentially a. chemical operation. The
introduction of the electrolytic process for the production
of aluminium marks an epoch in the history of this subject, as ab the present time (1901) all aluminium may be
said to be produced by this method. The proceaa was
patented in 188687 by Hall in America., and Heroalb in
England and France. In 1888 Hall was ab work with ib
on a commercial scale ab Pibtsbarg; in 1891 the plant was
removed to New Kensington, and was graduallf enlarged to 1500 horse-power, and in 1894 works o 5000
horse-power were erected ab Niagara Falls. In 1890 the
Jiigll/
Hall process operated by steam power wa.a installed ab
Patricrofb: Lancashire, bat the French and Swiss works
Pre;ssu-rb
operated oy water power in 1894 ruined the enterprise.
Ex/w~(;
Aboab 1897 the machinery ab St. Micbel passed into the
. ,r. ' I fl; I . ..
hande of M essra. Pechiney, and was soon increased to
3000 horae-power. and here aluminium is still being manufactured by the Hall process. Ab N euha.usen about 4000
horse-power is obtained from the Rhine, ab Rheinfelden
abou t 2000 horse-power, while aboub 3000 horse-power
and 7, especially bh~ latte~, were _employed for. the are used by the Societe Electro-Meba.llur~que Fran9a.ise,
heavier passenger trams, whtlRb the engmes on F ig. 4 of L a. Praz, near Modane. In 1895 bhe Bn tish Aluminium
were almost enti rely employed on goods braffic, nob being ComJ?any was founded to mine ba.uxibe and manufacture
egual to the task of the heavy passenger work ab the alumma in Ireland, to reduce the aluminium ab Foyers,
higher speeds. If ib were nob for these circumstances, a.nd t o refine and work up the metal ab Milton, in
the classes Fig. 5 and 7 would exhibit an economy eq ual Staffordshire. By the end of 1899 plant of 7000 horsepower bad been ins balled ab Foyers ; eome of it, however,
in am ount to that of the Figs. 2 and 3.
In the matter of lubricants the simples and compounds being employed for the production of calcium carbide.
I n order to meet the demands of the Pibtsburg Reduction
show practically no difference.
The absence of heavy grades on the Buenos Aires OomJ?any, and as an indication of what is expected of
Great Southern Railway renders it a favourable field for almmniam, ib may be mentioned that the Niagara Falls
the compound engine, the grades of. impor:tance beir;tg in Company are installing two new turbines. Space does
one districb only, t he bulk of the hoe bemg pract1ca.py nob permit of farther descripti on; but the above remarks
straight and level. The character of the t raffic, Wibh are sufficient to show how rapidly the electrolytic process
long runs and full trains as a rule,, causing a~ approxi- has been developed.
The E lectrolytic Oelt.-A ahorb description of the
mation to the fixed load of a. stat iOnary engtne, IS ala~
H eroulb cell which is used nb Foyers may be here given.
favourable for the compound system.
In the comparison of the cost of repairs, ib mast nob be Ib consists of a square iron or steel box lined with
forgotten tha.b this is a.s between th~.simple and C?mpc:>ond carbon, at the bottom of which is a. ca.stiron plate con
engine only. The cost of wages 10 Beunos Atres IS ab nected with the negative pole of the dynamo. The positi ve
present a.boab 50 per cent. more than in E ngland, a.od the pole of the dynamo is connected bo a bundle of carbon
material although imported duty free, has to bear several rods suspended from overhead and capable of vertical
extra charges, such as freight, packing, insurance, &c; , adjustment. The cell is nlled with oryolite, wbiob
that enhances its cost when deh1ered to the company s becomes molten by the passage of the electric current,
and then the powdered alumina is fed in continuously as
workshops in Buenos Aires.
The consumption statement is made up from the
* Paper read before the British Association, Section G,
ordinary mileage and consumption sheets for each
month of 1900, eJCbracted from the resuraen in which September 16, 1901,

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

lbong as the operati?n proceeds. The potential difference

etween the termmals of each cell is from 3 to 5 volts
and ~h~ ourre~t overcomes the chemical affinity of th~
alumu:~lUm . ox1de b~sides he~ tin~ the electrolyte. The
opera:ti?n IS e~sent1ally a dissociation of alumina into
alu~mmum, wh10h collects at the cathode or negative plate
wh.l ~t the oxygen, . which is evolved at the anode o~
P?SI~Ive pole, oombmes to form carbon monoxide and
diOXIde. The ourrenb density is about 700 amperes per
squ!lre foot of cathode, and the working temperature
yaries from 750 deg.. t? 850 deg. C. The actual yield
JS 1 to 1! lb. of alummlUm per 1 electrical horse-powerday.
A lloys. -Aluminium can combine to produce an
enormous number of alloys, some of. which, containing
1 to~ ~er cen~. of other metals, oombm e the lightness of
alummmm ~~th greater hardness and strength. Other
allos. oontaiDlnS.' from 90 to 99 per cent. of other metals
exhi~It properties of those metals much improved for
certam purl?oses. Much as has been already done, much
more. ~emams, and the alloy- producing property of
alumimum opens up a vast field for research. It must
be remem~red that electrolytic aluminium has only been
known durmg the la.st few years, and now that its purity
can be <:<>ntrolled on a large scale, consistent results may
b~ obta.med: The purest .aluminium obtained commerCially oontams trace~ ?f tr?n and silicon, giving about
99.6 \)e~ cent. of alu~1mum 10 the finished product. All
alummmm may b.e sa1d therefore t? J:>e use.d m the alloyed
state. The subJect naturally divides Itself into two
branches: (1) light aluminium alloys; (2) heavy aluminium
alloy~.

.Light A lloys.-The colour of commercially pure alumimum depends upon t.he te!Dperatmre at which the metal has
been ~reated. Cast m chill moulds and cooled quickly, or
ca~t m gr~en sand at.a. lo~ ~emperature, the metal has a
bnght white colour nearly hke that of silver. When oast
t?o h?t in dry sand, the co~our .is grey like lead or bluish
~1ke zmo. The fracture ~ram differs considerably accordmg to the method of oastmg, cooling, or working. When
dra'!D, rolled! or forged, the metal shows a. silky grain. The
speCific gra-vity of commercially pure aluminium varies
at atmospheric temperature from 2.66 when oast in sand
to 2.71 when hammered or-drawn. Compared with other
metals, its specific gravity is as follows:
Aluminium . ..
.. .
. ..
. ..
. ..
1

Zino
Tin

.. .
. ..
...
...
. ..
. ..
27
...
...
...
...
...
...
2:76
C~st iron
...
.. .
.. .
...
. ..
2. 91
N10kel .. .
.. .
. ..
.. .
...
. ..
3.37
3. 37
Copper. ..
. ..
.. .
.. .
. ..
.. .
Silver .. .
. ..
. ..
. ..
.. .
. ..
3.98
Lead ...
...
.. .
. ..
...
. ..
4.30
Gold .. .
.. .
... . ...
...
. ..
7.31
Platinium
...
..
...
...
...
8.15
The extraordinary lightness of aluminium is one of its
most striking characteristics. Since the weisht of a
~iven volume of a metal may govern its finanCial value,
copper being 3.37 times as heavy as aluminium, it follows
that whenever aluminium costs less than 3.37 times
copper, it is cheaper volume for volume. The prices of
metals fluctuate very much, but taking copper at 70t. and
aluminium at 130t. per ton, we see that aluminium is considerably cheaper than copper. It remains to be seen in
what manner the volumes of different met~s have to be
related for specific purposes.
Conductor of Etectricity.- The use of aluminium as a
conductor of electricity is engagin~ the attention of engineers very much at the present tame, and already large
qoantities of it have been installed. A number of different alloys of aluminium have been tested at King's
College, London, for the British Aluminium Company,
and it is the intention of the author to publish these m
full later, but a general reference may be made. Aluminium (containing .31 per cent. Fe and .14 per cent. Si) has
& specific resistance of
2.59 x 10~ legal ohms at Odeg. C. l.
{ 2.762 X 10-6 ,
, 15
, ) t
a temperature coefficient .00393 and linear coefficient
of expansion .000023 between 16 deg. and 100 deg. C.
W eight for weight the conductivity of this aluminium
is double that of copper, or, for equal conductivity, half the weight of aluminium would be required; or for a given length of conductor carrying the
!!&me electric current with the same loss, that is, the same
fall of potential, the relative weights would be as 1 of
copper to ; of aluminium. This necessarily involves a
great saving in transport, and there is the additional advantage that fewer and lighter poles are required for
erecting overhead conductors.
Taking the specific resistance of aluminium at 2. 76 and
copper at 1.696 x 10-6 ohms (Mabthiessen's standard) at
15 deg. 0., the diameter of the aluminium wire wiJl be
1. 27 that of the copper. For equal conductivity it follows
that the insulation on covered alominium wires will be
greater, but bhe covered wire will be still less in weig?t
than the oop~r. It is as a bare conductor for long-distance transmission thab aluminium has been largely used,
and it is therefore necessary to consider the t ensile properties and change in length due to change in temperature. The commercially pure aluminium alluded to above
has, when in the form of wire .126 in. (3.2 millimetres) in
diameter, a breaking load of 28,200 lb. (12.6 tons) per
square inch, a limit of elasticity 19,376.lbs. (8.65 ~on.s) per
square inch, and percentage extensiOn .19 withm the
limits of elasticity with an applied force of 16,250 lb.
(7.2 tons) per square inch. Alloyin~ this alumi.nium with
copper zinc, nickel, or iron in varymg proportiOns to the
extent 'of about 2 per cent. increases the tensile strength
at the expense of conductivity. It is therefore important
to know what the tensile properties. have to be in pa~
tioular ca,l3es. The Standard ElecbriO Oompany of Cah-

..

f~rnia in their 43 miles transmission line emi?loy alumi- aboutoompleteditsseoond power transmission line between
m~m wire .294 in. in diameter, having a. resistance per the Falls and Buffalo. The three-phase current is trans-

mile of 1.008 ohms at 25 deg. C., and this is stated

to have a conductivity of 59.9 per cent. of oop{>er. The
~reaking load is 22,800 lb. (10.1 tons) per square mob. No
hmit of elasticity is given, but ib is stated that at 14 500
~o 17,000 lb. per square inch there is a marked inor~ase
I~ t.he permanent ~et, which was taken to indicate the
limits of safe working load. It may be here mentioned
tha~ the tensile properties of aluminium are increased by
rolhng, hammering, or drawing. In testing wires, therefore, di fferent results may be obtained from the same
mater~al by varying the amount of drawing down. Copper
and mckeloopper alloys can give about 20 tons breaking
lo~, 16 tons bmit of elasticity, percentage extension .19
wtbh 7.2 tons per square inch applied, and conductivity
&.bout 52 per cent. of copper. ~ow, hard-drawn copper
h.a~ a breaking load of aboub 28 tons, and limit of elast~otby 12 to 1~ tons per squar~ inch, a percenhge extens~on of 0.10 'Yith 7.2 tons apphed per square inch, and a.
l~nea.r ooeffi01ent of about .000017 per 1 deg. Cent. These
bght ~luminium alloys can ha ye a limit of elasticity
exceedmg that of CO{>per, theu percenta~e extension
under a given load withtn the limit of ela.atimty is greater
(aboub twofold) than copper, and the linear coefficient
of expansion is greater. The properties of the el"Stl'o
uo
catenary, together;with the superposed effect of change of
temperature, have been examined, and they show that the
greater lightness and greater percentage extension counteract the effects of greater linear coefficient of expansion.
In faob, the factor of safety with regard to the elastic
limit.is greater than in copper under the same conditions.
W!nd P-ressu-re.-The Board of Trade regulations
reqmre a factor of safety of 6 for aerial lines taking the
maximum wind pressure at 50 lb. pAr sqoare foot. In a
copper wire 0.4 in. in diameter, the resultant force per .foot
length due to gravity and such a wind pressure may be
double that due to gravity alone. With aluminium of
the same conductivity the wind ~ressure will be about
1.27 greater than with copper. Smoe the cross-sectional
area of a wire varies as the radius squared, and the area
d t0 d
&0

h8

~xpose
wm press.ure, snow,. vanes as t radius,
tb fo11ows that for a. given material the larger the diameter
the better. In other words, two separately strung wires
of equal diameters are not so good as one wire of
the diameter of either the other two, althou~h the total
conductivities are the same in the two oases. But camparing aluminium with copper, the total tensile strength
of an aluminium wire of the same conductivity as the
copper may be greater according to the alloy chosen, and
th1s may compensate for the increase in the surface
exposed to wind, &o.
Surface E.tt'ect.- If the matbemati'Ja.l theory of Lord
Kelvin be examined, it will be seen that, provided the
electrical resistance to steady currents is the same in each
wire of a series of non-magnetic wires of the same
length, but of different specific resistances, and consequently different diameters, the increa-se in electrical resistance due to frequency is the same in each of the
wires. It cannot therefore be urged against the larger
diameter (1.27} of aluminium aa compared with copper
that this effect is increased. Indeed, the self-induction
is reduced by the larger diameter of the aluminium for
equal conductivity.
Electric Glow.-In the case of aerial wire:~ between
which exists some thousands of volts potential difference,
it is well known that the wires ~low on account of the
intense electrification of the air m the neighbourhood of
the wire. This effect is a function of the radius of the
wire. The mechanical pull varies as
,J(tield strength x radius of curvature)

mibted by three aluminium cables, each composed of

thirty-seven strands. The span between the poles, which
in the old copper lines is 75ft., averages 112~ fb. in the
aluminium line. An electrical transmission plant has
been completed in the valley of Pompeii, near Naples, in
which aluminium is employed for the line wires. Three
lines emanate from the power house-2 miles, 9 miles,
and 2 miles long respectively. In Provo Canyon, three
aluminium cables, each of seven strands, transmit over
40 miles to Tintio, which is connected with Mercur,
30 miles dista.nt1 and electric on rrent is transmitted to
Mercur vid Tintno, as readily as by the direct line between
Merour and Provo. In this manner, if one line is out of
order, power can be transmitted by the other.
Joints.-It has been urged against aluminium that it
gives trouble in jointing. The ordinary mebals are strongly
electro-negative to aluminium, so that if other metals than
aluminium be used in jointing, galvanic action will occur
in the presence of moisture. In the above power transmissions, mechanical joints have been made with success;
but, with proper precaution, aluminium wire can be welded
either by the use of the blow-lamp or electrically. The
f 11 tests n h
h
ldi
b
o owm~
Wl s ow t at we mg can e successfully
accomphahed. The original trolley wire (8 section)
has an area of .135 square inch, and a breaking load of
16 t
th t
t
th 11 3
. ons on a sec Ion, WI
per cenu. extensiOn.
The welded joint gave 1.2 tons breakmg load, with 8 per
cent. extension, the joint not bein~ broken. An aluminium
wire, . 516 in. in diameter, havmg a breaking load of
3449 lb., with 14 per cent. extension, gave 2912lb. breaking load, when welded with 20 per cent. extension. Hard
and soft solders are supplied by the British Aluminium
Company. It is necessary to break up the oxide which
forms on the surface of the aluminium, and with care
aluminium soldering is rendered easy.
Meltilng a;nd Oasting.-Aluminium can be melted in
b
1
P um ago or sand crucibles without becoming brittle or
taking up silicon, provided that t:he temperature ~oes not
much exceed 626 de~. Cent. or 1160 deg. Fahr., 1ts melbing point. The shrmkage of pure aluminium is .20 in.
to the foot, as compared with . 187 in. for copper.
A luminium, for I ron and Steel Fo'UI11.ders.-The addition of aluminium to iron or steel has the great ad vantage
of keeping the metal more fluid in the ladle, thus saving
by the avoidance of blowholes. At high temperatures
the metal decomposes nearly all metallic oxides, and prevents blowholes by combining chemically with the gas
which forms the holes. Its action is stated to be about
twenty times as powerful as silicon, and the resultant
steel is superior in toughness and ductility. The guantity to be added varies according to the iron used. Generally the amount runs from 2lb. to 5lb. per ton of iron.
Rolling and Forgiflg.-The great ductility of alumiuium makes it easy to work with rolls. Rolled sheet
aluminium .001 in. thick is used for decorative porposes.
1n fact, leaf aluminium may be said to have replaced leaf
silver. It can be forged easily either cold or warm.
Aluminium containing much silicon and iron can only be
forged with great difficulty.
H ardenitng and Anneatitng.-The hardness of aluminium varies according to its purity, the pureat metal being
softest. Ordinary 98 per cent. alominium is about as hard
as copper. Aluminium becomes harder the more it is
worked by rolling, drawing, stamping, or hammering.
The metal must be annealed in a closed muffle, and must
not come in contact with the open fire.
Drawing and Stampiflg.- Professor Thurston places
aluminium as sixth in the order of dootility, being preceded by gold, silver) platinum, copper, and iron, but it is
doubtful if it does nob rank as high as iron. Aluminium
for points (see Chattook, Philosophical Magazine, Septem- can be pressed or stamped under the drop hammer, hot or
her, 1891). The increased radius of the aluminium for the cold. Very fine effects can be produced by first burnishsame conductivity as copper would help to reduce electric ing the metal and then stamping in polished dies.
H ea11Jy A lloys-Atwmitnium Bronzes.-In 1889 and 1890
glow. The film which forms on aluminium in the {>resence of moisture is known to consist of basic alumimum papers were read before this Section on aluminium bronzes.
sulphate, and the author has found that it possesses a It was then pointed out by Mr. J. H. J. Dagger, F.C.S.,
high electrical resistance when dry. This may have im- F.I.C.; that for artillery, small arms, propeller blades,
portance in the case of overhead conductors in diminish stern rudder frames and hydraulic work, the non-corromg glow discharge.
dible properties and great strength of these alloys ranSome Long-Distance T ransmissi<Yns.-A full desoripbion dared them mosb valuable. Aluminium bronze propellers
of all the long-distance transmission schemes would be have been successfully employed for high-speed torpedo
out of the question here. The following are brief notes catohtrs. The two classes of bronze most frequently used
to give Br general idea of what has been accomplished. At contain from 12 to 8 per cent aluminium and 88 to 92 per
Northallerton, England, 4 miles of overhead aluminium cent. copper, and have a golden appearance and the
wires are employed. Screwed socket joints have proved strength of steel. The breaking load in tons per square
successful. At the Snoqualmie Falls 20 miles of over- inch varies from 44 to 39 with an average elongation of
head conductors convey current to Renton, where the 9 per cent., and 38 to 34 tons per square inch with an
line divides, one-half going to Seattle and the other to average elongation of 21 per cent. They have high elastic
Tacoma. About 139,000 lb. of aluminium are employed. limit and transverse strengths.
The horse-power is 12,000 and the voltage is 30,000.
Where forgings or stampings are required, four classes
Mcintire joints are employed, and consist of a tube 9 in. of bronze are recommended, containing respectively 10,
long, of aluminium, flattened, and large enough to enclose 7!, 5, and. 2i per ~e~t. aluminium, the rest being copper.
both wires; by special clamping tools three complete tw.ists Tlie spe01fic gravitles vary from 7.6 to 8.3, the tensile
are given and the joint is complete. The Blue Lakes strength varies in castings from 30 to 20 tonR per square
transmission scheme has 43 miles of overhead wires. The inch, and the elongation varies from 22 to 40 per cent.
poles are 132ft. apart. The aluminium used in this unUses of Pwre Aluminium..-The uses of aluminium are
dertaking has been referred to above. As indicating the very numerous. Probably the widest field is still in the
satisfaction given by aluminium, it may be mentioned purifioa~ion of steel and i~on. It ~ppeals t~ the pu~lio as
that in the new line about 1,000,000 lb. of aluminium will a matenal for construotmg cookmg otens1ls. It 18 not
be required in the form of stranded conductors, ! in. in brittle like cast iron, nor does it rust like tinplate. It is
diameter. The Pittsburg R eduction Company have re- used for internal fittings for ships instead of wood, for
ceived orders for 150,000 lb. of aluminium for the feeders motor car parts, and boiling pans for confectionery. The
on the North-Western Railway, Ohioago. The Hartford Admiralty employ it, and on the Continent soldiers are
Electric Light Company have 33 miles transmission, 2000 equipped with it when possible. It is used in a modified
horse-power at 10,000 volts, three-phase. The cable, form of lithography as a substitute for solenhofen. We
f in. in diameter, consists of seven strands. The Kansas have seen that with the increasing price of copper, alumiOity and Leavenworth Electric Railway line are using nium is being used largely for conductors of electricity.
76 miles of aluminium cable. Ab Wa.terport, U.S.A., a It can be used for roofing houses. There is no reason
6! miles transmission is employed. The tlonduotor con- why it should not be used to replace the present heavy
Bists of a seven-strand cable supported on 30-ft. poles bronze coinage. Ib wears beautifully bright and clean,

100 ft. apart. The Nia~ara Falls :Power Company has . and is suffioientlr hard for this purpose,

,. r2

j.

E N G I N E E R I N G.
A REGENERATIVE ACCUMULATOR.
Note on a Regemrative A ccu-m ulator and Its Application
jor using Exhaust Steam.*
By M. A. RATEAU, of Paris.
( Translated from the French. )
T HE ne~ a.ppa.ra.~us referred to in this pap er is intended
to allow, m a. t urbme or any other motor, the use of the
exhaust st~an;t from ~a.chines having intermittent aotion,
~uch a~ wmdmg ~ngme~ or _the reversible en~ines of rollmg mlll~.
Engm~ 'Ylth mtermittenb action are well
known to be defectt ve m respect of the satisfactory use of
the. s~ea.m ca.u.sed by condensation within the cylinders.
ThiS I~lConvemence has ~o doubt been, to a. small extent,
remedted by compoundmg, and also by condensing but
the a.~vantage gained is much less than can be obt~ined
by ~smg tb~ stea.~ ab a.bou b atmospheric pressure in a.
turbme provided with a. condenser.
T~e Hon .. C. A . Parsons ho.s already urged the use of
turbmes w1th low steam- preesure, attaobed to con-

T~e app~ratus oonsists,_ as may be seen from the illustratton {Fig. 1), ~f ~asbIron . ann_ular basins placed one

F4J.1

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tinuously-running steam engines. F or instance, if we take

a winding engine using 45 kilogrammes (99lb.) of steam p er
brake horse-power (utile), w~icli is al?out phe. minimum
for non.compound engines Without condensatiOn, these
45 kilogrammes of steam are sufficient to give, in a.
steam turbine coupled to a dynamo, an eleotric power
of ab least two horses ; by the application in this case
of the regenerative a-ccumulator sys tem, 2 horse-power
is added for each horse-power of the winding engine.
The difficulty which this apparatus solves ia the fo1low
1ng
:The turbine requires to be supplied with a continuous
flow of steam, whereas the engine working intermittently
deli vera it at more or less re~ular inter vaTs of one or two
minutes. A reservoir is therefore required between the
two engines. An ordinary reservoir would have excessive
dimensions, whilst with apparat us about to be described
this excessive size is a voided, and the cosb of erection is
rela.ti vely small.
This apparatus, which may be called a "regenerative
steam-accumulator, , serves the purpose of a reservoir.
The solid and liquid materials which it contains form a
~ torage in which the steam gathers and condenses when
arriving in excess, and subsequently reevaporises during

the _pe_riod .when the main engine slackens or stops. The

vartattons m temperature necessitn.ted by the condensation
and re-evaporation of steam correspond to the s mall
fi.uctuati~ns of pressure in the accumulator. The pressure
rts~s wh1le ~be apparatus is filling, and falls while it is
bemg emptied. The amplitude of these temperature and
pressnre osoil.lations is nob great-3 to 5 deg. Cent., and
0.10 to 0.15 ktlogramme p er square centimetre (1 4 lb. to
2.1lb. ~er square inob). This variation can be hmited to
any de~tred range by designing the appn.ratus sufficiently
large,, m aocordan_ce wit}l the periods of running and
standmg of the mam engine.
CalJing the variation of temperature t (which is, in
prao~ICe, 3 to 5 deg. Cent.), the weight of materials
formmg the storage of heR.t P, and the mean temperature
of these materials G, the quantity of heat absorbed by
the accumulator and restored by it ab each period is P G t
calori~; and the quantity ?f condensed vapour, then
vap:>rtsed, O)rresponds to thiS n umber of calories equal
PG t
'
to about L , L being ~he la.t~nt heat of the s tream.

Pap er read before t he Interna t ional Engineering

Congress, Glasgow, 1901. Seotion III.: Mechanical.

[SEPT. 27,

90 r.

ments ~re made for a _large number of steerage pa~sengE rs,

who wtll be. beat hed m spaces abaft second-olass and forward of first- cla~s &~commodation on upper deck. After
the launch the I oman was taken to the finishing wharf
where she will receive her machinery. also constructed
by Messrs. W orkman, Cla.rk, and Co., Limited, and will
shortly be ready to take her place on the Trans-A t la ntic
servioe of the A llan Line.
On ~rid.ay! the 13th inst., t here was launched from
the shtpbu~d~ng yard of Smith's J?ock C~mpa.ny, L imited,
ab North ~bteld~, a. somewhat m teresting vessel. This
oraft h~s ~een hullt to the order of the Tyne Improvement
Con;tmtssloners, an~ has been specially designed and
equt~ped to deal w1tb the very extensive system of river
m<?ormgs on .the Tyne. The work intended to be done by
thts vessel 1s of a very varied kind, including among
?ther purposes t he following: Driving screw moorings
m to the bed of the river; lifting and paying out ground
~nd ca.~le. chains; examining and repairmg existing moor~ngs; hfbmg and transporting heavy weight~, and assisbmg ab salvage operations of all kinds. The dimensions of
t~e. vess~l are 80 ft. by ~5 ft. by 8 fb. 6 in., and ehe is subdivlded mto four waterttghb compartments, with pu mping
arral?gemenb f<?r sinking and raising the craft as may be
requu ed. She IS very sbrongly built of steel, with a superstructure suited for the handling of heavy gear and buoys
and she ha-s a ma-ssive bow davit capable of lifting 40 tons:
The m~chinery arrangement consists of two powerful
steam wmcbes placed forward and aft, supplied by Messrs
Clarke, Ch~p~a.n, and Compa~y_, and one crane by Messrs.
Tang_res Ltmtted, cai?able of hftmg: five ton~, and swinging
through an 18 ft. radius. A peculiar feature of thjs boat
is-~be cet;ttre well, m~asuring 10ft. square, and through
this openmg the apphances are passed for connecting the
screw mooring ab the bottom of the river to the capstan
This craft is intended to a. great degree to replace the no~
almost obsolete wooden screw keel in the Commissioners'
servi ce. In the new cra ft all the work is intended, as far
as p ossible, to be done by steam power in place of manual
l~bour. The vessel has been constructed to the specificat iOn of ~!r. Ja.mes W alker, the engineer to t he R iver
Tyne Commissioners.

above the other, mstde a cyhndnca.l vessel of sheet iron.

The steam, which enters the vessel by the pipe near the
t?p, reac_hes ~he basins by the central channel. The portiOn wh10h 1s nob condensed, as well as thn.b which is
re-evaporated, descends along the lateral partitions of the
vessel, an~ reaches the pipe C leading to the low-pressure ma.chme.

The water oarrie d away by the steam separates out in

the upper cha mber, and falls, first through holes in the
top plate, thence from basin to ba-sin by the passages in
t~e OVeifiOW bo the bottO}Jl of the vessel, whence it is
dlScba.rged by the small ptpe, and an automatic steamtrap. The basins are always thus covered with water.
The apparatus is completed with a safety-valve and
an antomatio steam-valve, for assisting the turbine by
steam direct from the boilers.
. By means of this accumulator it is p ossible to obtain,
m an ordinary.sized winding-engine plan t, an additional
motive power of about 500 horse-p)wer, with no ex pense
but the cost of installing the turbine and accumulator,
which is nob great.
. An a.pplioa.tion of ~50 horse-power is in course of erec. _On Thuraday, the 191ih inst., the s.s. Euterpa, bollb by
t10n at the B ruay Mmes m the north of France, and, will Sir R9.jlton . Dixon o.nd Co., Limited, Cleveland D ock be working in a few mont hs.
yards, Middlesbrough, to the . order of Messra. Soaram~n~a Brothers, for the Calliope Steamship Company,
L1m1ted, of London, proceeded to ~ea for her official
LAUNCHES AND TRIAL TRIPS.
t rials. Her principal dimensions are: L ength, 352 ft. by
ON Tuesday, the 10hh insb., the steel screw steamer 47 ft: beam by 27 ft. 6 in. moulded depth, and she has a
Dc~.larne. built by Messrs. William Gray and Co'. , Limited,
~eadweighb carrying capacity of about 6000 tons on a.
for the Da.larne Steamship Co., Limited, of Helsingborg, Itg:ht d raught of water. The machinery has been suph~d ~er trial trip. The ''essel is 29~ fb. in len~th, 42ft. phed by the Cent ral Marine E ogineering Works, L imited.
6 m. m breadth, and 19 fb. deep. She IS fitted with triple- 'VestJ H artlepool, the cylinders being ~5 in., 4l in., and
expansion en~ines from the Cen~ral Marine Engine W orks 67 in. in diameter by 45 in. stroke, E.upplied with steam
of Messrs. Willia m' Gray and Co., the cylinders being 2lin., at 180 lb. pressure by three la.rga single-ended boilers.
33 in., and 56 in. in diameter, with a piston stroke of 36 in.
There , are two steel boilers, whiob work at a pressure of
The s.s. A ustriana, recently launched by Messra.
160 lb. per square inch. The ship was fully loaded, and Irvine's Shipbuilding and Dry D .:>cks Company, Li mited,
aye:aged a spee~ ? f ~~ knots, the running of the erigines West Hartlepool, and built to the order of Sir Christopher
g1 vmg every sattsiactiOn.
.
'
Furne&~, M.P., for the British Maritime Trust, Limited,
p roceeded on the 17th inst. on her trial trip. 8he is of
9~ ~~u.rsday, tb~ 12th insb.J;he~~ wa.s lau~c.hed fr.om the the following dimensions : L ength, 360ft. ; breadth,
shtpbUil<hng yard of M~srs. JJa.VId and Wllham Render- 47ft. 9 in. ; and dei_>th, 30 fb. 2~ in , and of a large measureson and Co., Limited, Partick; a large steel ecrew cargo ment cargo capaCity. E ngines of the triple.expansion
steamer, which .they have constructed to the' order of type have been fit ted by Messrs. Richa.rdson~, W estga.rth;
M essre. Maclay and M clntyte, of Glasgow. This latest and Co., Limited, Hartlepool. They have cylinders 25 in.,
adgition to~_the_ fl~etl .of vessels owned by thjs firm is' in 40 in., and 67 io. in diameter with a stroke of 45 in.,
len~th 393 fb., bread~h 50 fb. with a depth, of 28 {t. . in., and are supplied by two single-ended boilers constructed
havmg a _gross tonnage of aboub 4,5{)0 tons. A set of to work ab a pressure of 165 lb.
triple-expansion engines will be supplied and fitted by
the builders, having cylinders 25 in., 41 in., and 67 in. in
Mes:lrs. Irvine's Shipbuilding and D ry Docks Company,
dia~e~er by 4 ft . . stroke, snpi_>lied with s~~m by two Limited, have just launched from their shipyard ab West
large smgle-ended boilers, wo~kmg ab a pressure of 175 lb. Hartlepool a steel screw steamer named the Persians., and
~
.
. , --built to the order of Sir Chriatopher Furness, M.P., for the
' .
,
On Thursday, the 12bh insb., Messrs. Work.m an, British Maritime Trust, Limited, L ondon. She is of the
Qlark, and Qo., Limited, Belf~b. launched fr9m their following dimensions: L ength, 360 H.; breadth, 47 ft. 9 in.;
N 0 1 th Yard, a large ~teel twin-screw ste~mer named the :.\.nd depth, 30 H. 2! in. E ngines of the triple-expansion
lAni~n, QQilb .for the All~p. LiJ!e Steamship_ Company, type are being sni_>plied by Messrs. Ricbardson~, WestLumbed, Glasgow, and mtended fo'!' tJha.tJ well-known garth, and Co, Limtted, Hartlepool, with cylinders 25 in.,
firm's tradebetween Glasgow, Liverpool, _and _the prin- 41 in., and 67 in. in diameter, with a stroke of 45 in.,
cipal Canadian ports. The Io~ia.n has been_designed to steam being supplied . by two single-ended boilers conmeeb the J.:eqgi.r emepts of a modern first-class p assAnger structed to work at a pressure of 165 lb.
and cargo vessel, en&'aged in the Atlantic trade, and is of
'
the j ollowingdimens10ns: Leng~h betweell perpendiculars,
BELGIAN BRJQUETTRS.-Tbe exports of briquettes from
470 fb. ~ breadth, 57 fb. ; depth mqulded, 4Q .ft. The
bottom 1s framed oil the cellular system for ca.rrymg water Belgium in the first eight mon t hs of this year were 457,825
ballast, which system adds very considerably t o the ton~, as compared with 383,752 tons in the corresponding
safety of the _vessel; there is also provision made for period of 1900. The exports to France figured in t bi~
carrying ~ater ballast for ~rimming purpo~es in the total for 296,007 tons and 226,393 tons respectively.

forwar.d and after pea~ and in a dfi~ep tank a baft the

G.\ AT N&w Y OBK.- What at the time of i ts erection
machinery space. The vessel has three complete decks
extending from stem to stern, with an additional tier was the largest ga-s-holder in the U nited States was comof beams in the fore bold, and is divided longitudinally pleted in 1895, ab L ong I sland, for the Ea-st River Gas
into eight compartments by bulkheads extending to the Compsmy. Since then two other ' holders, equal in size,
upper deck. One of these compartments is further sub- have been builb. A lthough the East River Ga-s Oompa.ny
divided, forming the deep-water ballast .tank, the vessel was organised mainly for the purpose of supplying New
being thusdivided up into ninewa.'t ertighbcompartments. York with gas, the location across the 'East River was
Above the shelter deck amidships along bridge house has determined upon as it offered facilities, in docking and
been erected for theacoommodat10n of first-olass passengertl, water supply, wbioh could nob be obtained withoub a
with a commodious'saloon ab the fore end; and on the upper prohibitive outlay on the west side of the river. The
deck below this house there is further accommodation for plant is intended ultimately to supply 2t,OOO,OOO cubic
firsb-class paASengers on starboard side, wit h stairway to feet of water-gas, the requistte materials neces~ary being
shelter-deck accommodation. A large music-saloon is water for the boilers and other maohin~, coal for genearranged for ab the fore end, and a smoking-room ab the rntor and steam purpos~, and naphtha or orude petroa fter end of tho engine and boiler casings on the bnd~e leum. The la-st hwo materials demand extended dock
deck . Second-class passengers will be accommodated m and storage fa.cilities. Ab the present time the generator
the space between shelter and upper decks l;lobafb the coal pocket has o. frontage of 92 t., with a length and
engine space, ~i th a ~arge ~loon and m usio-room. Access height sufficient to store 6000 tons of broken anbhraoite
to this space will be by stauways from an entrance house, coal. T o conduob the gas to New York, the Ea.sb River
with second-class smoking-room attached on shelter r.leok was bored by a. tunnel which will ultimately contain two
and one 48-in. pipe.
sf11, and also from the afb end of bridgehouse. Arrange- 36-in. pipes


SEPT. 2 7, I 90 I.]

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

motor and generator, in which the field magnet windings of both extended into the buffer box and taking a bearing on to the
4
are connected in series " through a. resistance and with a bridge buffer springs. (A ccepted, July 31, 1901.)
across the circuit of said windiogtl, comprisi nl( a switch arm for
14,165. A. Spencer, London. Brake Apparatus.
progressively t ransferring resistance from one field magnet circuit
[4 F igs.] August 7, 1900.-Truck band-brake apparatus according
to tbe other." (A ccepted July 31, 1901.)
COMPILED BY w. LLOYD WISE.
to this iD\rention provides considerable leverage for applying the
17,262. A. Wright and The Reason Manufacturing brake, and is so arran~ed that t he brake may be put on or taken
8EL11JC'l'ED ABSTRACTS OF REGENT PUBLISHED BPECIFIOATIONB
Company, Limited, Brighton. Electrolytic Meters. off from either side of the vehicle. The apparatus comprises a
UNDER THE ACTS OF 1888-1888.
[2 Figs.] September 2~ , 1900.- Tbis invent ion has reference to
The numb&r oj views given in the Specification Drawings i8 stated mercury electrolytic meters (some forms of which nre described in
in each case ; where n<me are mentioned, the Specification i8 Pa.tent Specifications Nos. 2222, 5946, 65s:l3, and 9746 of 1900), and
not illustrated.
more particularly to t hose in which th e mercury anode is on a
Where inventions ate communicated from ab,.oad the Names higher level than the cathode, the surface of the anode being on
~o., of the Communicators are given in 1'talt".c8.
'
' as high a level as t he sill retaining th e mercury constituting it in

' ENGINEERING " ILLUSTRATED PATENT

RECORD.

Copi~

of Specifications may be obtained at the Patent Office Sale

Branch;, 96, So!tthampton Buildings, Chancery-lane, lV.C. at
the um{orm pn.ce of 8d.
'
The date of the adverti$ern,ent of the acceptance of a Complete
SrJec-ification is, in each case, give'n, a,Jter the abstract, unless the
Patent has been sealed, when the date of sealin,g is given.
A ny person may, at any time within two months from the date of
th;e adv~tisement of the acceptance of a Complete Specificat:wn,
g1:ve nottce at the Patent 0./fice of opposition to the g1'ant of a
Patent on any of the grounds me?ltioned in the .Acts.

Fig.f.

...... oft--

..t:l.

ELECTRICAL APPARATUS.
13.839. B. M. Drake and The Nernst Electric
Light Company, Limited, London. Nernst Lamp

~onductors.

Au~ust

2, 1900.-In order to render t he lightemitting conductor of an incandescence lamp of t he Nernst type

~ore du.rable it is, according to ~his invention, proposed to heat
tt. to a htgber temperature t han 1s reached in use, and in order to
effect this heating such conductors should, it is stat ed, be passed
.a~ ross and through ~n arc ~;>reduced ~etween c.ar bons separated a
dt~tance of about f 10.
This process 1s not clatmed. It is stated
that a Nernst conductor if made cylindrical soon becomes tubular
~ben. put into use, owing to the greater h eat d eveloped in the
"interiOr of t he conductor, and that such conductors are sometimes
made in tubular form. In order t hat t hey may be made of some
.shape other than tubular, and that t hey may not have a tend ency to become tubular in use, various forms of cross-section are
adopted in which t he surface is extended, and the t hickness of
material reduced, conductors of t his kind being broadly claimed
in the following terms : "In an electrolytic electric lamp a glow
body or conductor arranged to have a large radiating surface
f or a given orosssection substantially as described." (A ccepted
J tily 24, 1901.)

suspended brake-block connected by a link to the shorter arm ot

a bellcrank le,er, whose longer arm is connected by another link
to o_ne of two spring band-levers mounted at opposite sides of the
veb1cle on a shaft common to both, and each of which can b~
caused to engage with or be disengaged from a rack serving to
keep t he brake on when applied. (.Accepted July 24, 1901.)

14,222. W. E. Ktng, Barry, Wales.

enable painters to more perfectly clean and paint bidden and

under par ts of railway signal and point rods and gear, according
to this invention a tool is provided the handle of which may be

1.

(~m)~~

this invention comprises a ver tical standard which in on e form otherwise tend to accumulate t here under t he influence of electroflow off, t hus preventing the surface of the
bas T -shaped perforations, together with removable brackets lytic action, can readily
11
mercury anode from sickening." In such meters, according to
t his invention, t he cathode is made of platinum , which may be of
~< :n. I.
t he shape and fixed in the manner ehown in t he drawing. The
anode contact may be a roll of platinum foil. partly p rojecting
t
above the surface of the mercury. (Accepted J u ly 31, 1901. )
I
I

'
I

- ~

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~J!:.,'
;

~u

I
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'

'

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,'

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1501. J. A. WUdtng, Old Charlton, Kent.

fitting into the lower par ts of &be slots in t he standard when t heir
e nlarged back ends have been passed through the slots in t he
wider part or style, the device affording ready means for making
eable alterations or additions. (Accepted J uly 31, 1901.)

20,277. 0. Imray, London. (The Oesterreichische Com 'Oany, Vienna.) Osmium FUaments. November 10, 1900. In order to support osmium filaments, which are heavy in proportion to t h eu strength, even when cold, and when heated are
also soft ; a.~;>propriately shaped bodies of refractory oxide chemi
oally inert m reference to osmium are used . To prepare t hese
supports thoria and magnesia in t he proportion of ten parts of the
former to one of the latter are made into a past e with an organic
binding material, moulded to shape, burned in air till t he organic
substance is consumed, and afterwards "sintered or fritt ed together. " (AcceptedJuly 24, 1901.)

' "'::t

!_ ~ .. J

Shell

Fuses. [5 Figs.] January 22, 1901.- This invention relates

to

the clamping nut for clamping the time rings of fuses. Hit herto
such clamping has been effected by a simple nut screwed
on to the end of a projecting stem ; the arrangement inYolving the use of a spanner for operat ing the nut which. of
course, bad to be t ightly clamped. According to this invention,
upon the usual slotted and screwed end of th e stem is placed a
washer havin~ projecting nibs t o engage with the slots, a.nd it is
hollowed or dished and ecrew-tbreaded to receive a cap or cover
provided with wings or equivalent means by which t he cap can

~..,.~

GUNS AND EXPLOSIVES

8101. M.. Fiedler. Moscow, Russia. Safety Explosives. .A~ril 19, 1901. -An explosive according to this inven-

t ion compnses a. fluid and a solid, the fluid being a mixture of

nitro-benzol and t urpentine, and the solid a mixture of ch lorate
and permanganate (with or without a little bichromate) of potas
sium. The explosive will only d etonate when the fluid and solid
are mixed. Even when mixed, it is stated, if ignited in the
ordinnry manner, t he substances will burn away quietly . .Among
others, t he follow ing prescription is given : For t he solid, potassium cblorate 70 per cent. , permanganate SO per cent. ; for t he
liquid, nitro-benzol 80 per cent., t urpent ine 20 per cent. Twenty
parts by weight of the liquid are used to eighty of the solid. The
liquid is packed in soldered tins, and t he solid in sealed packets
waterproofed with chromic glue. (A ccepted July S, 1901.)
'

II

Pi.g. ~.

;,-.:

Signal or

Point Rod Cleaner. [4 F igs.] August 8, 1900.-In order to

16 865. D. P. Kegan, Glasgow. Cable Carriers.

/I.4 Figs.] September 22, 1900.-A cable suppor t according to place, in order tbat the d enser mercurial solution, which might

rEJ,

,,,

rJ

telescopic and adjustable as to length furnished with a set of

interchangeable tools, and also having a mirror t hat can
be attached near t he end of the tool, in order that parts to be
cleaned may be readily examined and progress of t he work
t bereon seen by reflection. (Accepted J uly 31, 1901.)

SHIPS AND NAUTICAL APPLIANCES.

15.755. J. Inches, Grimsby. Trawl Winches.

[3 F igs.] September 5, 1900.-Tbis invention relates to winohts

for hauljng the gear of steam t rawlers and consists of a revised
construction and arrangement of parts, and according thereto
instead of ru nning the centre or inner warp drums loosely on one
shaft, each winding or centre warp drum is keyed on a separate shaft,
with the driving wh eel keyed to t he same shaft or secured t o the
drum, thus t ransferring the wear and tear usually occurring

Eg.Z.

J. G. MWer, Edgewood Park, Pa., U.S.A

.Motor Generators. (Convention date March 1, 1900.)
17,234.

.3 Figs. ] September 28, 1900.-Tbis apparatus is for conver ting

between the shaft and drum to t he shaft and its bearings, which
are easily repaired, while the drums, being keyed to separate
shafts, are adapted to run independently of each other or both
to2'ether, as has been usual heretofore. The large cent re drums
being fast to t heir respective sbafts, the smaller outer warp drums
must be loose if mounted on the end of each main shaft, or can
be secured to another shaft of t heir own. In either arrangement
sliding pinions are provid ed on the drivin~ shaft so that t he warp
be turned by t he fingers of t he operator. The thread upon the drums can be run separately or together. (Accepted July 31, 1901.)
fuse stem is of a. different pitch from t hat upon t he washer, and
conYeniently the stem thread is of a. coarser pitch t han that STEAM ENGINES, BOILERS, EVAPORATORS, &c.
upon the washer ; for example, in t he proportion of t hree to one.
Jn usin~ this device t he washer is placed upon the stem and t he
15,198. G. G. M. Bardtngham., London. (F'. H.
cap screwed by hand into t he washer on its outside t hread, its T'}evithick, Cai1o, Egypt.) Locomotive Feed Water
inside t hread (of a different pitch) engaging with t he thread upon Beater. [6 Figs. ] August 26, 1900.-A feed-water heater for
the stem and t he two threads rotating simultaneously a jam min~
effect is t hus produced, t he dome being pressed against t he time
ring and lockmg it, and the cap jamming itself between t he dif
ferential threads of t he nut and stem. (Accepted Jtily 31, 1901.)

Fig. 1.

I'

......

1/

RAILWAYS AND TRAMWAYS.

16,767. J. Ternley, Manchester, and S. Sidebottom,
Bochdale. Buft'ers. [4 F igs.] September 20, 1900.-Buffers

Q:

" OQD04

oOtlft nn

(;
)

Fig. .J.

6~

':1

'

locomotives according t o this invention comprises a. feed-water

<()Urrent of approximately constant potential into current the
potential of which is controlled and may be readily varied, and for railway vehicles are according to this invention situated containing vessel t raversed by tubes for conveying combustion
comprises a mechanically coupled but magnetically separate under the vehicle, buffer rods from each end of t he car bei ng products, and by a. central tube for the conveyance of exhaust

--- -

--

ENGI-NEERING.

steam, and it may be also surrounded by a space for hot ga.s or during its pa.ssage through the tubes. A spray producer is used
steam. The apparatus, it is etiated, n~ed not be heavy. Two to atomise and to project into the air passing t o the condenser
forma of such heater are described and illustrated,
and in both of some It oz. of water to each 1000 cubic feet of air. It is stated

that'' only a very small percentage of this amount (of water)

passes into the tubes, the balance falling to the ground." It is
also stated that the vapoursa.tura.ted air should be " whisked
through the tubes with great velocity, to guard agninat t he

re-transfer of its heat to the tubes," and that " while under ordinary conditions less than one quarter of 1 per cent. of the at mosphere is const ituted by this aqueous vapour, atmospheric air in
which it d oes exist possesses about seventy times the heat
absorbing power of air which does not contain it, thus making it
apparent that while ita component elements are derived from
water and air it possesses vastly g reater heat-absorbing powers
than either of these separately or of the two combined in the
I
form of fog or mist or spray or steam." (Accepted July 31, 1901.)
i

21,472. R. Schulz, Berlin, Germany. Steam TurI

( bines. [2 F igs.] November 27, 1900.-According to this inven
i
o
......
.
.
..

tion, high and and low {>ressure steam t urbines which ma.y be upon

one shaft are arranged m such a manner that the end t hrust of the

=-

.
..._ ..

Fig.2.

[SEPT.

27,

1901.

is so arranged t hat rotation of the container as a whole \n one

or the other direction causes the screwed supports t o t urn
within or upon t he bodies so as t o effect t heir relat ive approach
or separation. A elower relative mot ion of t he bodies 1s pro

F1g.3.

...........

.... ,. ........
.:

,0---

0 <l .

-----

11

"I
I 1

J ~:..J __...._

--

~......

vlded when one only is adapted to be operated according to t he

invention. The invent ion is limited in the claim to vacuum tubes,
a.nd is described in reference t o X-ra.y appnatua (A ccepted
J uly 31, 1901.)

17,796. J. Strain and the Lanarkshire Steel Com-.

pany, Limited, Glasgow. Operating Furnace Doors.

[5 Figs.] October 8, 1900.-Apparat us for raisin ~ and lowering

furnace doors or lids appertaining to soaking or reheating pits or
for steelma.king, accord ing t o t his in vent ion comprises an
act uating shaft along one aide of t he row of pits, a nd upon the
shaft keyed-on levers or arms t he ends of which catoh on to the
backs of the furnace lids, the arrangement being such t hat when.

Fig. 1.

...__

'.
~~ __ _
...,... __ ....,..

ll I

----.
.._. -- "---'

these the heater e.A.-tends over the boiler and forma a return part
for the combustion products, which, with the exhaust steam, are
ejeoted at the rear above the car. (.A ccepted Jtd y 24, 1901.)

.........

-~--~~~

16 681. R. Rlcbardson, Glasgow. Locomotive

Boners. [2 Fiqs. ] September 9, 1900.-Locomotive boilers

according to this mvention comprise a fire-tube port ion near the

firebox and a water tube portion further forward. One form of
boiler according to the invention i.S desoribed and illustrated,
and is sufficiently indicated for the purposes of this abstract by

'''....,

. 1.

'.;

,)

Fig. 2 .
(-:; 73.i )

a mot ion of rot ation is given to th e shaft it causes t he lids t o b&

swung off and away from the mouths of t he pits. When t he pits
have been recharged, the levers carrying t he lids are lowered
again. Mea.ns for att aching the back of the lids to the ends of the.
levers in the case of a series of pits may comprise a lever between.
each pit, with a. rod connecting the ends of the levers together.
and receiving a pair of hooks which are upon t he backs of t he
lids.
(.Accepted Julv 24, 1901.)

,I

19,322. A. Brand, London. Caustic Alkali Manusteam in one turbine is count erbalanced by the steam thrust in the facture. October 29, 1900.-In order to convert salt cake int o

the drawings. There ii one claim, as follows: "A locomotive

boiler divided into two sections, of which one is a fire-tube
section of short length in proximity to the firebox, and the other
a water-tube section arranged forward thereof or nearer the
amokebox, the sections being connected substantially as described."
(.Accepted July 24, 1901.)

other turbine. A throttle valve ~ay b.e placed ~n the steam. c~m caustic soda cheaply and expeditiously, a strong caustic liquor
munication between the two turbmes w1t h the obJect of permtttmg being produced by the lixivia~ion of a furnace product, according
to this invent ion the black ash produced in the first stage of the
the balancing of the thrQat. (.Accep ted Julv 31, 1901.)
process ha.s added to it a further quantity of "carbonate of
lime," and if necessary some carbon, and is then t reated at a
VEHICLES.
higher temperature. The "carbonate of lime," it is stated, is
15,936. w. C. Page, Eltham, N.Z. Road Vehicle convert ed into "oxide of lime," and immediately converts the
Axle-Boxes. (3 F igs.] September 7, 1900.-In order to pro- "carbonate of soda" in the black ash into " oxide of soda," and
vide reliable means for securing the axl~-boxes on to the axle o~ a nlso comerts any "sulphide of soda " into " oxide of soda.," so
road vehicle, a screw is out on the outs1de of the a.xle-box at 1ta that on lixiviating the furnace product in hot wat er a strong solu
tion of caustic soda is procured. The last of the caustic sodai 1
removed from the furnace product in a further bath of hot water,.
the resulting solution forming t he liquid for lixiviating the succeeding batch of furnace produots. (.A ccepted July 24, 1901.)

7066. The Hon. c. A. Parsons, Newcastle-on-Tyne.

Turbines. (6 F 'igs.] April 3, 1901.- The object of this inven

22,440. T. Hyde, Manchester. Dry Hopping

Machine. [4 Figs. ] December 10, 1900 - This invention relates

tion is to provide efficient steam turbines of economicnl construction. In such turbines, according to this inv~ntion, th~ steam
casing or cylinder is preferably of the same mternal. diameter inner end, and a cap is screwed thereon. On. the inner end of t~e
throughout, and rotatable g roups of vanes alternate Wlt h groups box are slots, and in the cap a set-screw whtch, ';Yhen the cap IS
screwed up against its washer, oan be screwed mto one of the
slots in order to look the cap in place. Spanner stud-holes are
provided in t.he rim of the cap. (A ccepted J ttl.y 24, 1901)

to an improvement in the const ruction of the machine used fol'

introducing hops through the bung-hole of a cask or barrel containing beer that is being prepared for delivery to consumers, the
obj ect of the invention being to economise the t ime required t o
enable t he hops to be passed through the aperture. For this
purpose a fu nnel-sba.ped receptacle is provided for cont aining the
hops, and its smallest end is formed to fit into t he bung-hole,
and is provided with t wo t ransverse shafts. one being fitted across.

16113. T. J. Cross, Cork. Side Cas:s. [2 F ips.) Sep-

tember 11, 1900.-Irisb jaunting cars accordmg to thls .tuvention have the driver's seat at the back, a. lugga.gewell LD the
oentre, and the seats h~ve corner back-rests of curved shape.

- .1.

Fig. S.
------ - - - -

----- ---

of stationary o-uide vanes the g roups increa.9ing in the number

of vanes oont:'ined in the~1 as the steam outlet is approached, the
spaces between g roups of vanes on the same annulus being OC?U
pied by solid ring segments. Means are provided for preventmg
useless passage of st eam between. vane set~. ~wo separat~ tu~
binea on one shaft are used when the direct1on of rotat10n IS
required to be reversible. (.A ccepted Jtl ly 2.J, 1901.)
.

10,212. T. M. Colwell. Chicago, Ill. U.S.A. Con

densing Steam. [2 P igs. ] ..M~y 16, ~901. (Con~ention d~te,

Fig.!.
~~Fig. Z.

.Y. ~'"'I

-~or

, . ... J J :) ..~- ,_ "

- .

April 8, 1901. )-According to t hts m vent1on, t he coohng medium

near t he base of the funnel, and the ot her about half-~a.y between
the top and the bottom, t he ends of the shafts pa.ssmg throu~h
brackets secured to t he sides of t he funn el. Dlades or short rods
are fi tted on the shafts, and on one end of each shaft there is a
toothed wbeel the upper (which is also t he larger wheel) being
l(jl/3
provided with' a handle, and gearing into the lower or smaller
wheel. On rotat ing the upper shaft by me~na of the handle,
It is stated t hat by t hese means t he weight of the oar ,is de steering blades or rods fixed upon the abaft hft up the h~ps so
creased, t he horse brought nearer t he load, .the pa~sengera s~ats that they lie loosely in the funnel, and t he lower abaft beJDg rerendered more comfortable, and converaat10n w1th tbe dnver volved at the same t ime, a pressing blade or rod fix ed thereoo
facilitated. (A ccep ted Jt1,l71 24, 1901.)
passes the hops into t he barrel. (.A ccepted J uly 24, 1901).

MISCELLANEOUS.
UNITED STATES PATENTS AND PATBNT PRAOTIOE
15,193. R. J. Reynolds, London. Adjustab~~ ElecDescriptions with illustrations of inventions patente~ in t he
trodes. [1 F ig.] August 26, 1900.-In order t o fa01htate the United
States of America from 1847 t o t he present tune, and

ad just ment (in respect of the dlatanr e apa.rt) of t wo bod~ea reports of t rials of patent law cases in the United States, mny be
within a sealed cont ainer the bodies are made to screw qwte consulted, gratis, at t he offices of E NOINRKRINO, 85 and 36, Bedford
or use in a heat-t ransfer apparatus is air sa~u!atded a.s ;~ny a: freely in or on t hose projections by which they are supported and
oaaible with aqueous vapour. The saturat~d au IB rawn roug. are weighted _at one side, and the direction of the screw thread street, St rand
fhe oondeneer by a suction fan which slightly expands t he au