THE STRAINS ON CIRCULAR LOCK-GATES.

No. I.

By O. H. Romanes.

Mr. Peter W. Barlow’s investigations on the subject of lock-gates* show that curved gates give greater strength than straight gates, and so permit a reduction in the cost of material, and also the nearer the curve can be preserved in the true figure of an arc of a circle the greater the strength of the gate. Let A B and B C, Fig. 1, represent a pair of gates meeting so as to form an arc ABC. We shall in the first place investigate the directions and magnitudes of the forces which will maintain the gates in their circular form. We shall then proceed to determine what radius to use, with a given span, in order that the quantity of material in the gates may be as small as possible; or, in other words, to determine the most economical form to adopt in practice for a pair of circular lock-gates. The gates have to sustain the pressure of water upon their convex surface, and this pressure, we know, always acts normal to the surface against which it presses at every point. Hence the pressure at every point of the surface A B C is towards the centre O of the circle.

which is required. The following table contains the calculation of the equation for a series of values of the radius. The quantity m x p is taken equal to unity. No error can arise therefrom, as mp is a constant depending on the head of water and the strength of the material of which the gate is to be made:—

Value of radius in feet.

40

41

42

43

44

45

46

47

48

49 .

50

r2

1600

1681

1764

1849

1936

2025

2116

2209

2304

2401

2500

Arcsin.c-=40ft-

Angle at centre Q A 0 BU to A O B. Fig. 2.

arc    sin. fOOOO    =    1-5708

„    „    0 9756    =    1-3494

„    „    0-9524    =    1-2610

„    „    0-9300    =    1-1943

,,    ,,    0-9092    =    1-1415

„    „    0-8889    =    1-0949

„    ,,    0-8696    =    1-0545

„    „    0-8512    =    1-0184

„    „    0-8332    =    0-9849

,,    „    0-8164    =    0-9556

„    ,,    0-8000    =    0-9273

2513

2268

2224

2208

2210

2216

2231

2249

2269

2294

2318

Deg. Min.

90

58

56

2L

26

54    45

53

F/G /

This table shows that the quantity of material in the gate is least for a radius somewhere between 43ft. and 44ft. The value of the radius can be found with accuracy by applying the differential calculus to determine the value of r which will make Q a minimum. Since r = c cosec. 0, by substituting this value in the equation previously obtained we have—

Q — mp c* 6 cosec ²0 = a min..

sin. 0 — 2 0 cos. 0 = 0

a.

.-.20 = tan. 0

an angle of 66 deg. 47 min. nearly, from which 9 = U1653,

F/G 2

«T

to | to

Let p, estimated in terms of some unit of weight, denote the pressure of water acting on unit surface of the gates. Resolve the total water pressure on each gate into two pressures acting 'at right angles to each other. That is, resolve the normal pressure on A B into a pressure perpendicular to D B, and similarly with the pressure on the gate C B. The pressure on each gate perpendicular to A D C will then be p x BD. It should be observed that the pressure p must be expressed in terms of the pressure on the square of the linear unit of measurement, in which we reckon D C and B D. For instance, if we take D C and B D in feet, then the pressure p must be estimated in tons, say, on the square foot.

Now, the pressure perpendicular to AD C is resisted by the quoins at A and C. Let it be represented by F C perpendicular to A D C for one gate, then FC=jo x DC. Let 0 represent the angle B O C, and r the radius O C, then F C = p r sin. 0. Resolve the pressure F C in the direction of the tangent at C, that is C E, and F E parallel to A D C. Now E C = F C cosec. 0, but F C = p r sin. 0, therefore E C = pr, and F E = p r cos. 0. The pressure perpendicular to B D O was shown to be equal to p x B D. But B D = B O - O D = r - r cos. 0. Therefore the pressure perpendicular to BDOis pr — p r cos. 0. This pressure must be resisted at B, for the quoins are not supposed to offer any resistance in the directions CD or AD. For the same reason, the pressure F E must be resisted at B. Therefore the whole pressure at B is p r — p r cos. 0 + F E, that is p r, the same as the pressure in the direction of the tangent at the quoin C, and similarly this pressure is met by an equal and opposite pressure from the gate A B. Draw adc parallel to ADC, then the pressures at a and c will be the same as those at A and C, for the pressure at every point of the arc is equal in magnitude, and its direction is always that of a tangent to the circle at every point.

Having now stated the principal strains on a pair of circular lock-gates, or more correctly speaking, on a pair of lock-gates in the form of a circular arc, we now come to the second part of our investigation, viz., the determination of the radius to use, with a given span, in order that the quantity of material in the gates may be as small as possible. The pressure of water against the convex surface of the gate was found to cause a pressure on every cross section of the gate perpendicular and equal to the radius of the circle multiplied into the intensity of the water pressure, measured, say, in tons on the square foot. That is, the pressure on every such cross section is p x r. Let m be the area of the cross section for one ton of pressure, then mpr will be the area of the cross section of the gate, and as the pressure is uniform all round the gate, the area of the cross sections will also be uniform all round. This area multipled into the length of the gate will evidently give the cubic content of the material in the gate required to resist the pressure of the water. In Fig. 2, let the angle AO B = 0 = arc sin.

- , where c is half the span and r the radius of the gate;

then r 0 = rare sin. - = length of gate A B. Therefore, r

the cubic content of the material of the gate is,

of ' ~

<o

and r = c (1'088) = 43'52ft., when c = 40ft. To find the salient angle B A D, or <p, join A B in Fig. 2. Now O D = 43-52 x cos. 66° 47' = 17-155 BD = 43-52 - 17-155 = 26’365 26-365

= *6591; therefore <p — 33 deg. This gives a ratio of rise to span =

and hence tan.4> = -

40

24 min. nearly.

1 : 3 "03, nearly.

Hence the radius which gives the minimum amount of material is about 43’52ft., and the angle AO¹ B at the centre of the circle, Fig. 2, corresponding to this radius is about 66 deg. 47 min. This would be the proper angle for a pair of iron gates, or for gates made of timber, when the latter could be got of suitable shape, and scantling at a price that could be afforded. In the case where the gates have to be made, either in whole or for the most part, of Memel fir, a curve of larger radius must be used. The reasons which must govern our choice of a curve, under these circumstances, we leave for consideration in our next paper, in which we also propose more fully to consider the question of Memel fir lock gates.

Q = m p r* arc sin. -.

r

Suppose we wish to construct a pair of gates with a total span of 80ft. By substituting various numbers for the radius r, in the equation beginning with the . value, r = c = 40ft.—for this would give a semicircular pair of gates AB" C, Fig. 2—a series of values of Q will be obtained, and it will be found that these values gradually decrease and then gradually increase. The radius corresponding to the smallest value of Q will be nearest to that

* Trans. Inst. C.E. Vol. i. 1836.

THE ESTABLISHMENT OF STEEL GUN FACTORIES IN THE UNITED STATES.

We have for some little time had in our hands a volume of the “ Proceedings ” of the United States Naval Institute bearing the above title. It is a work of about 340 pages, well illustrated, and is written by Lieutenant W. H. Jaques, U.S.N., a member of the Gun Foundry Board appointed to consider the question of ordnance manufacture, and to this end to visit all the chief establishments in Europe. The report of this Board we reviewed briefly in our impression of August 1st. The volume now before us consists chiefly in a detailed and illustrated account of the work of the Board, to which the report itself appears almost in the relation of a summary. To this, however, are added extracts from reports of the discussion in the House of Representatives leading to the appointment of the Board to suggest measures necessary to meet the need of the country, and also of further discussions after the report had been sent in, on attention being called to it by a question raised by Mr. Morgan, of Alabama, which was answered by Mr. Hale, acting chairman of the Committee on Naval Affairs.

The work is valuable. The Gun Foundry Board dealt with matters which called for more full treatment than could be given it in the brief official report, and for illustrations. Official habits differ in different countries, and hence an English reader is a little puzzled on first taking up this work as to its character. In this country we should be surprised if our United Service Institution obtained the services of a member of one of our important committees to bring out a report of an exhaustive character, throwing the official report of the committee into the shade. At the same time, we only remark on the proceeding as being startling, perhaps, to English prejudice and conservative habits; certainly not to object to any freedom of publication of reports, for we have before now pointed out how liable we are in this country to lose much of the benefit of the experimental work carried out, from the habit of keeping it confidentially recorded in docu-

ments which, in the nature of things, are hardly likely to be much read by future comers to the departments concerned, while those members of committees who were personally engaged in the experiments are dispersed. We are, it may be seen, now speaking of the shape in which the information is given by Lieut. Jaques, rather than of the information itself. The fact is, however, that the chief features have been already given in the summary of the report of the Gun Foundry Board referred to, namely, that in The Engineer of August 1st last, and only certain points need to be here mentioned.

Under the head of England, Elswick is first taken, and among other designs the crane supplied by Elswick to Italy for Spezia, which is capable of lifting 160 tons through a range of 40ft., is shown in a plate. This crane is much commended, as also are the small capstans and other hydraulic appliances peculiar to Elswick. The designs of hydraulic machinery for working heavy guns, which originated in Elswick, are referred to but very briefly. The Royal Gun Factories, as on other occasions, receive rather scant attention. The chief charm of this establishment appears to be that it contains Price’s furnace—of which drawings are given—that it has a Mallard testing machine, and that instead of boring out metal, trepanning, or boring round a core, is performed generally. The plant, we are told, “ because of its transition state, contains very little worthy of imitation;” a conclusion which is the more likely to be arrived at if the designs originated in the Royal Gun Factory are attributed to others. On pages 674 and 675 are figures which are copies of Gun Factory official drawings, showing Gun Factory methods of dealing with wire coils for guns. These are entitled “ Cylinders as prepared by Armstrong,” “Armstrong methods,” &c. Such an error is to be regretted. Altogether, Colonel Maitland might consider that he has hardly met with the treatment he would naturally expect from a member of a U.S. Government Commission. Yavasseur’s carriages receive great attention. Seven full-page or double-page figures are devoted to them. They are declared to be without an equal. Firth, Brown, and Cammell receive attention, especially the manufacturing processes of the compound armour of Wilson and Ellis. The fact of Cammell’s firm having expended £30,000 on compound armour before receiving any Government support is noted. Whitworth’s Works, however, as we remarked in the review of the Board Report, receive the highest commendation. Lieut. Jaques’ work is devoted to Whitworth material from pages 633 to 647. Bessemer’s process and the basic process are noticed. The application of wire to ordnance is reported as possessing great merit, but not yet past the experimental stage.

Under the head of France are noticed the establishments of Bourges, Ruelle, Messrs. Marrell, St. Chamond, and Le Creusot. The 100-ton hammer and 160-ton crane at the last-mentioned works naturally receive attention as well as Schneider’s portable steam crane. The shipyard and construction works for bridges are mentioned, and the development of the Creusot Works, which it appears has produced the remarkable result of rapidly transforming “ a neglected village of only 3000 souls ” into “ a populous centre of 30,000 contented people.” We fear that this notable production of “contented people” is only for home use, or there might be a brisk demand for the supply. Seriously, however, Messrs. Schneider appear to take great pains in looking after the interests of their men. Maillard’s testing machine is described at length. Terre Noire is next noticed, and then the present condition of French artillery, a list of the naval guns approved for future construction being given. The De Bange obturator, and the guns of De Bange and Dard, and Schultz wire gun, are mentioned. The report on Germany is lamentably weakened by the failure to see Krupp’s works; Jacques makes up for this, as far as possible, by giving the experimental results of 1883. Griison’s works were not visited, probably because neither steel nor guns are manufactured at Buckau. In Russia the Gun Factory and Aboukhoff Works are briefly dealt with, as well as the present condition of steel manufacture and of Russian artillery. It appears that Whitworth’s system of liquid compression is adopted in Russia.

The question is then taken up as it concerns the United States. The sources of supply of ordnance are enumerated, and the establishments named are stated to have no experience in steel. Letters from the South Boston Ironworks and West Point Foundry are given. The resources of the Cambria Iron Company, Springfield Ironworks, are reviewed. The recommendation of the Board to purchase steel from private companies, and to maintain an efficient gun factory, are of course given. Liquid compression and trepanning are recommended by them. On questions of machinery and tools Messrs. Greenwood and Batley are referred to at some length. Buildings are also discussed. The hydraulic press is recommended instead of the forge, by which a considerable saving in money is said to be effected. Watervliet Arsenal, West Troy, and W ashington Navy-yard are recommended to be made into gun factories, the army and navy having separate establishments. France is quoted in support of this division of the work. There is to be no Government foundry, the steel for the ordnance being obtained from private firms. The cost of the plant required for the manufacture of the tempered parts of guns up to 100 tons ready for delivery at a gun factory is estimated at 660,000 dols., or, including the adoption of liquid compression, 835,000 dols.; whilst the plant of a gun factory will cost about 900,000 dols. The price of guns in the various factories of Europe is given as the following:— Krupp, 51 to 60c. per lb.; Whitworth, 38c. per lb.; Woolwich guns, 30^c. per lb.; 24 centimetre steel land service guns for France, 48c. per lb. The price of French steel has been greatly reduced. The Royal Gun Factories nevertheless are to be congratulated on making by far the cheapest guns.

Eventually after some discussion in the House of Representatives, a motion was passed calling for a plan and estimate for a gun factory to complete guns from 6in. to 16in. calibre, and whether this can be more economically

CO

oo

performed in a Government or private establishment, or by dividing the work between Government and private works. To arrive at this conclusion inquiries were sent to the various private establishments. Lieutenant Jaques considers finally that the question will be thus effectually dealt with if a sufficient appropriation of money is voted by Government.

THE PHILADELPHIA ELECTRICAL EXHIBITION.

The inventions of Mr. Edison were displayed in an exhibit which was made up by seven different companies and individuals. Mr. Edison showed his inventions in tele-a pilot lamp ; in fact, this display comprised all the fittings of a central lighting station of the most improved type. A large cone painted white, round which were fixed some 2700 Edison lamps, plain and coloured in spirals, attracted great attention when lighted, but drove visitors away from the neighbourhood, both on account of the heat and the glare produced by this amount of light.

The dynamos exhibited included those from 25 up to 400 lights, also the large one of 2000 A-lamp power known as “Jumbo,” which was drivendirect by an Arming-ton and Sims’ engine, the current being carried across the adjoining street by means of Edison’s underground conductors to the adjoining lecture-room. Some idea of the magnitude of this machine may be realised by comparing bearings however seem to give some trouble, as those in the large dynamo machine were kept cool by means of a stream of water circulating through them. All the Edison exhibits were interesting, but that which claimed th greatest attention from electric engineers or others interested in the problem of the best means of distributing the electric current for lighting purposes was the assortment of working models illustrating the underground conductors of the Edison Electric Tube Company of Brooklyn. To understand the important changes which have taken place in the form of the conductors, which enable a saving to be made of about 60 per cent, of the weight of copper necessary to carry a given current, one must go back to the Edison exhibit at the Electrical

Us

SI

IP

frj

Mi 1

ill

is

IS

ic

Cm

ii

ms

mm

JOHN r.WAIN

Fig. 3

mm

1111

Fig. 7

SMS

'Hip

flU

cl

Fig. 5

rig 6

EDISON’S LEAD CONNECTIONS.

graphy, his etherscope, odorscope, microtasimeter, and the armature, which is composed of bars of flat copper Jjin. several other instruments with queer sounding names, by jin., and 4ft. Gin. Ion j, and having a total weight of four which did not come within the objects of our visit. There tons, with that used in an ordinary dynamo. With the were the exhibits of the separate companies working the exception of “Jumbo,” the Edison machines have lost lamp, machine, and underground conductors; also that of some of their characteristics such as the double pair of

Exhibition in Paris. The Edison underground conductors then were of semicircular section, the flat faces of each

pair being opposite to one another, and separated by half an inch of the same composition with which the tube in which they were embedded was fitted—Fig. 1. At certain distances expansion boxes were put in to allow for the rise

• I THEATRE

in temperature of the conductor, which were so proportioned that the limiting temperature was 50 deg. Fall.

Fig. i

7/

L ill

150

m)

These conductors are still manufactured, although we were informed that since the introduction of the three-wire system which we now illustrate there is little demand for the older form. The difference between the two plans of distribution will be easily understood by referring to the

Fig. 4

(J

4---

y—

LI

pv]

L\

were

con-

the corporation for central station lighting and private installations. The office of the combined exhibit was also fitted as the testing station, and the wires from the dynamos were led where numerous instruments displayed for reading current, testing potential, and trolling the output of each machine by the observation of

long poles; these are now much shorter and reduced to two—in fact, the appearance of the newest machine is more like the improved Ilopkinson type.

The position of the brushes is well arranged in all the Edison machines, and it is quite the exception to see any sparking or marks of scoring on the commutator; the plan, Fig. 2, which represents a Supply Station and arrangement of electric mains. Two dynamo machines are used to work the system. They are marked m in the plan and are joined in series, the third or neutral wire B is connected to the junction between the two machines, and the positive and negative wires are lettered A and

Three Wire System.

Outside size of tube.

l'Slin. l'Slin. l*05in.

501,264

450,241

250,000

168,100

90,000

56,644

27,225

2in.

'■ l|in. |

...    107,289    ...    220    lRn.

...    66,581    ...    170    ...    lin.

...    33,015    ...    100    ...    fin.

"M

more

announce-

C. Lamps are put either between the positive and the neutral wires or the negative and neutral. Although there is double the electro-motive force between the mains in the branches which lead into the houses, the potential is that of the ordinary amount as used in the two-wire system, which is 110 volts for lamps having a resistance of 140 units or ohms. The circles marked J B indicate the junction boxes where the positive conductors are connected to one disc of metal, the negative to another and the neutral to a third disc, a fusible safety plug being inserted in each of the joints, which serves the double purpose of preventing an increase of potential and an easy means of disconnecting the main by means of the manhole at the top of the junction box. Three small telegraph wires marked by fine lines I) on plan may be seen, which lead to the current indicators in the engine-room. By this means the difference of potential of the three wires on the junction box can be read off irrespective of the distance, and the electro-motive force of the dynamo machines altered by putting in or taking out resistances in the circuit of the field magnets. In the plan Fig. 2, a theatre is shown fitted with 300 lamps; when these are suddenly put on the effect would be to dim the lamps in the district, and the defect would be immediately remedied by putting on more pressure. Although the three-wire system is claimed by Edison in America, Dr. John Hopkinson has an invention as regards the use of three wires almost precisely similar but without the detailed arrangements of Edison. To ascertain the potential at the far end of the conductor, the Hopkinson plan is to use a differentially wound galvanometer with two coils, one having a very high resistance and the other a very low one which conveys the current to the main conductor and acts in opposition to the high resistance coil, thus avoiding the use of the return telegraph wires employed by Edison.

Both Dr. Hopkinson and Mr. Edison are to be congratulated on the great stride this three-wire system makes towards the solution of the distribution problem, and the following comparative tables will enable the reader easily to understand the economy of employing three small conductors instead of two larger wires.

Two Conductor System.

Area of one Maximum Inside Area of one Maximum conductor, cir- current, size of conductor, current, cular mills, amptres. pipe, circular mills, ampbres.

. 620 . 580 . 400 . 315 . 220 165 . 110

The cost of laying these tubes is about 7d. per foot in the country and 5i,d. in New York; excavating and paving are generally taken at the following prices: Pavement, Is. per foot run of trench; ordinary cobble stone, lOd. per foot; and macadam, lOd. to Is. per foot. Tubes are laid from 2ft. to 2ft. Gin. deep. The manufactory of the Electric Tube Company is at Brooklyn, and is well worth a visit by those interested in the practical development of standard size conductors and connections for electric light supply.

The system of fittings which we illustrate are the invention of Mr. J. Kruesi, who superintends their manufacture at the Brooklyn Works, where we had an opportunity of seeing the various processes in operation. The conductors or core of the tube are copper rods which are drawn into convenient length, so that in the first instance each can have a layer of thin rope twisted round, and afterwards the three rods together are similarly treated and placed in the wrought iron tube which resembles a gas pipe. The outer windings of the spiral come in contact with the inside of the tube, and a liquid insulating material is then poured in which flows along the spiral convolutions of the cord thoroughly saturating them, and insulates the conductors from each other and from the tube, where a coupling has to be made. A pair of clamps are fixed the end of the length of pipe, and furnish it with a ball end, which rests into a hollow in the coupling-box Fig. 3, with the double object of making the joint and allowing of a certain amount of elasticity, which is checked by the rib in the coupling-box. To allow for expansion, the connections in the box are of stranded coppered wire, Fig. 4, preferablyof higher resistance than the copper in the mains, so that the heat developed will cause the insulating material with which the box is filled to be softened. The eyelets in the connection are for the purpose of attaching the small wires to the instrument for reading the current, and these are either brought back in the tube or in the ordinary plan adopted with telegraph wires. Fig. 5 is an illustration of a bend at 120deg.; Fig. G shows an elbow ; and Fig. 7 a bend at 120 deg. All the connections necessary for underground work on the three-wire system are made with twenty-one sizes of electric tubes, four patterns of coupling boxes, and eight patterns of ball clamps, with thirty pieces for ordinary joints. 250,000ft. has been already laid, and only two cases have occurred where there was a defect in the insulation, which is said to be never under 200 megohms per length of 20ft. Tubes carrying two conductors have lor a long time been used in New York for the supply of the electric light to the district which is lighted throughout by the Edison lamp; this installation is electrically a great success. The chief difficulty has been the melting of the safety fuses in the street coupling boxes, thus extinguishing the lights. Lead in any form is very unsuitable for safety fuses, owing to the gradual corrosion at the joints, which causes heating and the premature destruction of the fuse. This is obviated at present by gold plating or coppering the ends where contact is made, but even with this precaution the Edison fuse is certainly far from perfect, and an unsatisfactory detail of a most efficient system of distribution.

Yesterday was the 79th birthday of M. do Lesseps, so he becomes by French reckoning, an octogenarian.

EDUCATION IN THE SCIENCE OF NAVAL ARCHITECTURE.

The foundation of the John Elder Chair of Naval Architecture, and the appointment of one of our foremost naval architects to the professorship thereby called into existence, marks an epoch in the history of the agencies through which a knowledge of the science of naval architecture has been disseminated. In view of the change which the appointment of Professor Elgar—who delivered his inaugural address before a large and interested audience in one of the class-rooms of the Glasgow University on the 11th inst.—makes in the prevailing order of things with respect to scientific instruction in naval architecture, it may be useful to review what has been done in the past.

The period during which scientific knowledge and methods have had any considerable place in merchant shipbuilding does not extend back over very many years. In connection with the Royal Navy, however, the study of scientific naval architecture has been fostered and promoted under Government auspices almost from the commencement of the present century; not, however —it must be added—without alternating periods of regard and neglect, nor irrespective of pressure from extraneous sources. Although progress in this matter has not been solely due to Government agencies, it may be said that a large part of the positive and accurate scientific knowledge which now exists has grown primarily out of the exigencies of the naval service, and has come from sources more or less supported by or connected with Government institutions. It will of course be understood that the science of naval architecture is a field in which many besides shipbuilders, and indeed many besides professional naval architects, have laboured with signal success. The fund of knowledge has been enriched, and the pra: ice of shipbuilding improved, by men whose associations with the shipyard have been of an indirect and amateur kind, and—it must be added—whose valuable labours the shipyard has often but scantily recognised. Mathematicians—mere theorists, as they have been called—have made original investigations and scientific analyses which have upset many previously received practical notions, and established principles, the appreciation of which alone has led to subsequent progress in actual practice. The part taken by mercantile shipbuilders has largely consisted in the experimental verification, and sometimes the practical correction of principles thus evolved, but even to this extent the service done has been largely incidental. Those considerations which form the economic basis of every commercial concern have naturally circumscribed such service, and only a few notable firms have been able to break through the common restrictions.

The systematic study of scientific naval architecture may be said to have only begun in Britain in 1811, in which year, as the outcome of recommendations made by a Government Commission appointed to inquire into naval construction in 1806, the first School of Naval Architecture was established at Portsmouth, under the direction of Dr. Inman, a distinguished member of the University of Cambridge. All the great advances which had been made previously in the science of naval architecture were chiefly due to foreigners, and anyone wishing to acquaint himself at first hand with all that was then most advanced must consult the learned treatises of such distinguished Frenchmen as Bouguer, Dupin, Euler, D’Alembert, and the Abbd Bossut, of the distinguished Spaniard Don Juan d’Ulloa, and of Chapman, the celebrated constructor of the Swedish Navy. One or two English writers, between 1750 and 1800, had published translations of some of these foreign treatises, but the only original work of any importance was by Attwood, who contributed a “ Disquisition on the Stability of Ships ” to the “ Proceedings ” of the Royal Society, in papers delivered in 1796 and 1798. These contributions were both a criticism and an extension of flotation and stability investigations by Bouguer, and as an example of scientific method applied to exact calculations of the qualities of ships are still well worthy of study In 1791 a Society for the Improvement of Naval Architecture had been formed, the membership being both numerous and influential, and in 1806 the growing sense of need for improved scientific methods culminated in the appointment of the commission above-mentioned, and in the establishment five years later of the first School of Naval Architecture. This institution existed for over twenty years, over forty students were trained, and the science of naval architecture was greatly promoted through its agency. Almost as a body the students of this school, with their able teacher, deserve the honour of being regarded as the founders of an English literature of naval architecture. The member of the school who was most active in this direction was Mr. A. B. Creuze, F.R.S., who edited a valuable, and now very scarce, series of papers on “Naval Architecture,” in three volumes, and who was the writer of the article, “Shipbuilding,” in the seventh edition of the “Encyclo-pccdia Britannica.” This article contains an admirable historical account of the progress made in naval architecture from the earliest times, and a rlsuml of the state of knowledge then existing on the subject. The recognition, however, of Dr. Inman’s services, and his pupils’ capabilities as designers, by the naval authorities, was of a cold and disappointing nature. Ultimately, however, many of them attained positions wherein their talents found worthy exercise.

After the abolition of the School of Naval Architecture, under Dr. Inman, in 1832, no agency for higher education existed until 1848, when the urgent necessity for a steam reconstruction of the Navy forced attention to the want of trained men, and resulted in the establishment of a second school at Portsmouth. The principal of this school was Dr. Woolley, an eminent graduate of the University of Cambridge. From 1848 to the present time, Dr. Woolley has occupied a prominent place amongst the promoters of naval science, and the pupils produced by the institution under his directorship have given in various ways good practical evidence of his capability as a teacher.

Amongst the most eminent men that passed through the second School of Naval Architecture were Sir E. J. Reed, Mr. N. Barnaby, C.B., Mr. J. B. C. Crossland, and Mr. F. K. Barnes. Sir E. J. Reed left the Government service soon after passing through the school ; but Mr. Barnaby, Mr. Crossland, and Mr. Barnes were afterwards appointed draughtsmen at the Admiralty, and were employed as such during some years. Sir E. J. Reed was Chief Constructor of the Navy during the most important period of the armour-clad reconstruction of the Navy; and Messrs. Barnaby, Crossland, and Barnes were his assistants. The present types of warships, and the state of efficiency these have attained, are largely due to the labours of these gentlemen at that time. The members of that school appear to have been content, however, to become able specialists in war-ship design, and have not entered upon the wider field of mercantile ship construction, and the many large and far-reaching questions which relate to the whole field of naval architecture, including mercantile as well as naval. The value of their services to the country generally, has been much less than it might have been

if some of them had devoted themselves to merchant construction, and the study of the problems connected with it. Sir E.

J. Reed is, however, somewhat of an exception ; his professional work, like that of the other members of this school, has been mainly confined to war-ship design, and the special problems involved in it; but his influence has extended far outside of this. He has conferred great benefits upon the mercantile marine by his outspoken and able advocacy at all times of the extension of scientific education among all classes of naval architects. It was largely through his efforts, and mainly because of his willingness to act for some time as secretary, that the Institution of Naval Architects was successfully launched upon its career ; and he also helped, very materially, to procure the foundation of the School of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering at South Kensington, after the reading of Mr. Scott Russell’s paper at the Institution of Naval Architects, in 1863, by pressing upon the Admiralty the urgent necessity for it.

This new school was placed for a time under the control of the Science and Art Department at South Kensington, Dr. Woolley being Inspector-General, and the late Mr. C. W. Merri-field, F.R.S., Principal. This school, unlike its predecessors, was not nominally a mere Admiralty establishment, but offered admission to private naval architects and engineers, and did not exclude foreigners. It remained in operation at South Kensington until 1873, when the Admiralty decided to establish the Royal Naval College at Greenwich, and to train their students of naval architecture and marine engineering there. Since 1873 therefore what may be regarded as a continuation of the third school has been at work at Greenwich, the Admiralty granting facilities for the entry of private and foreign students, much as was done at South Kensington. The full course of instruction extends over three years, the fee being £30 for each year, or £75 for the course. The Admiralty have made a condition that any applicant for admission passing up to a certain standard in examination will be received into the college as free students.

A further competition is open to all comers for two scholarships of £50 a year, one presented by the Admiralty, and the other by Lloyd’s Register, both being tenable for three years. The total grant being £150 in each case, those scholarships are capable of supporting six students at a time at £50 a year each. Although they have been absolutely open to all comers for several years, there has scarcely been a single competitor up to the present time.

The small extent to which this institution ha3 been taken advantage of by private students, or by those whose aim is to qualify themselves for service in merchant shipbuilding, notwithstanding the inducements existing in the shape of these substantial scholarships, has often been subject of comment. Various reasons have been adduced for this state of matters, but the true cause would seem to be largely concerned with the character of the entrance examinations and with the course of study provided. The instruction given has been admirably adapted for creating a staff of war-ship designers and expert mathematicians, such as are required in the various departments of the Admiralty service. The course of instruction has been framed expressly with a view to this, and has been too purely mathematical and special in its character to be adapted to the wants of the mercantile marine. Hence, although mercantile naval architects have been invited to avail themselves of the training afforded at these establishments, the numbers who have done so has been but small. A very high standard of mathematical knowledge is necessary before students can follow the course of study in naval architecture which is pursued there; and this has been a great stumbling-block in the way. The principle of requiring a man to become a first-class mathematician before attempting to teach him much of the science of naval architecture, and its application in practice, is of questionable merit, and at any rate it cannot be carried out in the mercantile marine.

The want of satisfactory means for obtaining a good scientific and practical training in naval architecture has for some time been felt to be very pressing in all those districts where mercantile shipbuilding is carried on. The evening classes conducted under the auspices of the Science and Art Department, South Kensington, which have been established in some places for a considerable number of years, and which have recently been extended throughout the country, have supplied a part of this want as far as elementary teaching is concerned. Until recently, however, the antiquated character of the questions set for examination was subject of general complaint, both on the part of students and teachers. In August, 1881, Mr. William Denny read a paper on “ Local Education in Naval Architecture” before the Institution of Naval Architects, in which adequate expression was given to these complaints, and at the same time proposed amendment offered. As a consequence of this paper, and of the steps taken by the institution in appointing a deputation to wait upon the Government, the questions have been considerably improved, inasmuch as they have been made more ir. accordance with modern needs. Questions concerned with shipbuilding in iron and steel, and with the scientific problems of modern naval architecture, now assume greater prominence, while those concerned with wood and composite building have had given them a lessened importance, although the entire abolishment of questions relating to wood building— a step urged by Mr. Denny—would be in no way disadvantageous in these days when scarcely a wood vessel of any size is being built Throughout .all the three stages, “ elementary,” “advanced,” and “honours,” the questions are now so framed as to form a fairly crucial test of a student’s knowledge of the science and practice of modern shipbuilding.

The work of the classes, however, is necessarily limited, and it cannot be carried far enough to give so thorough an education as is required for advanced students. During the past three years efforts have been made by the Council of the Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland to supply adequate means of advanced education. In 1880 the Council had before them a project, promoted, for the most part independently, by Mr. Robert Duncan and others, to establish a Lectureship of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering. It was proposed to collect funds sufficient to endow the lectureship under the auspices of the Uni versity, and promises of substantial aid were obtained from several members. Mr. J. G. Lawrie, a prominent member, and one of the original promoters of the institution, volunteered to give the first course of lectures, and did so, according to arrangement, during the winter months of 1881-82, before a considerable number of students, the lectures being delivered in the University of Glasgow during the day, and repeated in the institution rooms in the evening. Next season the lectures were continued under the same arrangements, but without the funds necessary for the endowment of the lectureship having been subscribed, and these praiseworthy efforts were still being carried on when, in November, 1883, the gratifying ment was made of a gift of £12,500 by Mrs. John Elder, widow of the late eminent engineer, for the endowment of a Chair of Naval Architecture in the University. The founding of this chair, and the subsequent election to the Senate of the University of Mr. Francis Elgar to the professorship, have thus

TEST PIECE PREPARING MACHINE.

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doubtless, obviated the need for further efforts to found the lectureship; but there are many commendable objects connected ■with the University chair to which the continued efforts of the gentlemen who supported the latter project, might fittingly be directed. Many students who can afford it will, doubtless, study the higher branches of naval architecture at Glasgow University; and all that is wanted, to enable even the humblest outdoor apprentice in one of the shipyards of the Clyde to obtain the advantage of the University training, is the foundation of bursaries or scholarships, so as to provide them with the means of support during the time of attendance at the classes. If a few small University scholarships were established, for which all classes of workers in the shipyards and drawing-offices might compete, the highest professional distinction would then be within the reach of the poorest lads.

In the single-action spring the principle involved is the same, the only difference being that the piston-rod is pulled out of the cylinder by the opening of the door compressing the spring in the front part of the cylinder.

The strains are here all in tension, and the door is absolutely linked up to the piston and cannot move without it. The object in both cases is to produce a slow closing movement of the door, preventing noise and unpleasant recoil.

THE INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS.

ELECTRIC LIGHTING FOR STEAMSHIPS.

STEVENS AND MAJOR’S PATENT SILENT CLOSING DOOR SPRING.

The accompanying engraving illustrates a new door spring. In the double-action spring, as the door is opened in either direction a cam is caused to drive a piston-rod l into a cylinder, at the same time compressing a spring between the piston and the further end of the cylinder. The piston carries a small

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At the first meeting of the session, on the 11th of November, Sir J. W. Bazalgette, C.B., President, in the chair, the paper read was on “Electric Lighting for Steamships,” by Mr. Andrew Jamieson, Assoc. M. Inst. C.E.., F.R.S.E.

The author commenced with the statement that, although it was not more than three years since the first application of incandescence electric lighting to the general illumination of steamships, the advantages accruing therefrom had been so universally recognised, that more than 150 ships had been fitted with it, and scarcely a man-of-war or a first-class passenger steamer now left the builder’s hands without having it on board. This rapid success was mainly due to the following causes:—(1) Electric lighting on the incandescent system, when properly fitted, was more healthful, cooler, more easily handled, and more artistic than other systems of lighting; there was no smell, and no products of combustion to tarnish giltworlc; it was more agreeable in every way than any of the older methods of illumination. (2) The danger from fire was less, as neither matches nor lighted tapers were required. (3) The daily cleaning and replenishing of lamps, as well as the keeping in store of highly inflammable oil, paraffin, or candles, could to a greater extent be dispensed with. (4) The expense of maintenance was not much in excess of that of the older methods of illumination —in some cases less—whilst the space occupied by the plant was not great, and its position near to, or in, the engine-room caused no annoyance to passengers.

As the dynamo which furnished the electricity for feeding the incandescent lamps had to be driven at a uniform velocity, neither the ship’s main engines, nor the donkey, nor winch-engines, were suitable for the purpose. The dynamo must have an engine for itself. It was, in most cases, necessary to place this special engine and the dynamo in such a position that the men on watch at the main engines could, with a minimum of trouble, also attend to the electric plant. This position, therefore, was naturally somewhere near the starting platform, and if possible on the ship’s floors, so that undue vibration and noise might be avoided. Frequently a convenient recess could be provided, either immediately behind the main starting platform or opposite to the thrust block, just outside the screw-shaft tunnel door. Only in large installations would it

brass plate valve, which on the inward stroke opens, and allows oil to pass freely through the piston ; but an effort of the spring recoil coming into play, this valve immediately closes, and the oil is trapped between the front of the piston and the front end of the cylinder, from which position it can only escape gradually into the outside containing box through a small opening which is closed by a taper plug d, its position and amount of opening being regulated by a screw. In this way the closing movement can be made as slow as may be desired. Oil has free access from the box to the back portion of the cylinder, which therefore fills as fast as the piston comes forward, under the action of the spring, and so is ready to charge the front end of the cylinder the next time the door is opened. Shortly, the action is that of a pump without an outlet on the delivery side, except by leakage.

pay to have on board an electrician solely to atttend to the dynamo, its engine, and lamps. In such cases, a convenient and cool position was generally selected between decks, in the same compartment with, or in that next to, the refrigerating machinery, if such should be on board, so that one man might attend to both of these novel appliances.

Where practicable the axes of dynamos with large, heavy armatures should be placed fore and aft, to obviate as much as possible the effects of gyrostatic action, since the angular velocity due to rolling was greatest athwartship. The author here gave Sir William Thomson’s formula and examples, to show the pressure produced on the dynamo bearings, under different circumstances, by gyrostatic action.

In selecting a dynamo it was necessary to determine whether or not it fulfilled certain requirements:—(1) It must develope electromotive force suitable for a certain lamp when driven at a certain definite speed. (2) It must be self-regulating; that was, the electro-motive force generated at the given speed must remain constant to within 5 per cent., whether working one lamp or more, or the full number of lamps. It was preferable to have a slight fall in electro-motive force as the number of lamps was reduced. (3) There must be no undue emission of sparks at the commutator brushes. (4) When running light, or with less than the full number of lamps, there must be no undue heating of any of the parts. (5) The conductivity of the copper wire with which it was wound must not be less than 96 per cent, of pure copper. (6) The insulation resistance of the armature and electro-magnets should not be less than 10,000 ohms per volt generated at the required speod. The dynamo should be tested mechanically and electrically before being put on board ship, and afterwards, when fixed in position, by a final trial of not less than six hours’ duration, with

its own engine, and with all the lamps in circuit. There was considerable diversity of opinion regarding the limit of speed of a dynamo on board ship. As a consequence of the general desire for low speeds, most of the best forms of dynamos, the Siemens, the Edison, the Edison-Hopkinson, the Victoria, the Ferranti-Thomson, and the Pilsen-Schuckert, had been specially modified for ship use, so as to produce the required electro-motive force and current, at speeds varying from 400 to 650 revolutions per minute.

The success or failure of an installation on board ship depended as much upon the engine as upon the dynamo, and every care should be taken to procure one that needed the minimum of attention, and was not likely to break down. The engine should be capable of driving the dynamo during a voyage to Australia and back, without a hitch and without requiring overhauling. The demand for such engines, more especially for those driving direct, had led to the production of a great variety, many of them excellent in workmanship and in detail. It was frequently necessary that the engine should be capable of doing its work when supplied with steam either from the main or from the donkey-boilers, so that the electric light might be available in port as well as at sea. This entailed capability for working under variable pressures, and thus the size of the engine must be adapted for the lower pressure. One of the most important adjuncts to the engine was its governor. It should be sufficiently sensitive and reliable in action to keep the engine within 5 per cent, of its normal speed, with a load varying 90 per cent., and a boiler-pressure varying 10 lb. per square inch. No mechanical governor could do this, and consequently a good electrical governor, which would automatically open and close the throttle-valve, in perfect synchronism with the load, or work to be done, and leave the valve in its last position until a change was made either in the load or in the steam pressure, was greatly to be desired. The author showed how this problem had been solved by means of his electrical governor.

Then were detailed the different methods of driving dynamos on board ship by belts, ropes, gearing, direct-driving fast-speed engines, such as Brotherhood’s, the Westinghouse, Messrs. Siemens’ Frictional Drive, &c. The author explained the methods of fitting leading wires into vessels, instancing certain well-known cases by plans of the s.s. Adelaide and the s.s. Arawa; and gave a practical rule which he had been in the habit of using for the dimensions of such wires. Insulation-resistance was too often neglected by electric-light engineers. Amongst submarine-telegraph engineers it was considered of vital importance to watch the insulation-resistance with the most rigid accuracy, not only during the manufacture of a cable, but during its submersion and after it had been laid; whereas, in the case of electric lighting, those charged with the fitting up of an installation very seldom thought of, or even knew how to take insulation-tests, either of the dynamo or of the leading wires. It was far from right to allow leads to be run up like bell-wires, without the slightest knowledge as to whether a flaw or a fault had crept in, and all engineers should insist upon rigid inspection, as well as thorough and searching tests, before an installation was passed. The insulation-resistance-standard need not be nearly so high as in the case of submarine cables; but nevertheless it did require to be several hundred times more than the copper-resistance, otherwise a fault would soon develope, and short-circuiting occur, under the combined influences of the electromotive force and damp or wet. The dielectric should, therefore, in addition to being a good insulator, be thoroughly water-tight and as little liable as possible to be affected by atmospheric changes.

The author then gave a description of what he had found to be the best form of switches, fusible plugs, lamp-holders, lanterns, and globes. Finally, he directed attention to the powerful searchlights used on board men-of-war, and to the novel application of arc-lighting for salvage and fishing purposes.

The paper was illustrated by a large number of diagrams.

Public Works in France.—M. Raynal, the Minister of Public Works, in the course of his interview with the Budget Committee last week, gave some interesting information with regard to the execution of the public works planned by M. de Freycinet when in office. The construction of the railways has since been made over to the principal companies, but a sum of £35,160,000 remained to be spent upon canals, rivers, and ports, of which £28,520,000 was for canals, £4,000,000 for ports, and £2,640,000 for rivers. A further expenditure of £4,000,000 for ports, and £1,200,000 for canals has since been found necessary, the port of Le Havre requiring £2,440,000, and that of Bordeaux £800,000. It is proposed to raise the money required by loans to the State from the Chambers of Commerce, these loans to be repaid by annuities commencing in 1887, and spread over periods of ten, fifteen, and twenty years.

SPECIAL PLANT FOR MAKING WAGON IRON dide forming the foundation plate of the machine. The saw is

traversed self-acting for cutting, and at a quick speed by hand to withdraw the saw after it has passed through the work, and start At a recent meeting of the Manchester Association of Employers it to work again. The top of the table being quite clear, bars of and Foremen, Mr. John Craven—Messrs. Craven Brothers, Man- any length can be cut either square or at any angle. Six head-chester—read a paper, to which reference has already been made in our “Lancashire Notes,” descriptive of a special plant of machine tools constructed by the above firm, and which is now in full operation at the Great Western Railway Works, Swindon.

The whole of the plant has been solely designed, both in its arrangement and the character of the tools employed, for the construction of complete sets of iron underframes for railway wagons, with all their parts interchangeable; and we have selected for illustration a couple of multiple drills, one horizontal and the other vertical, included in the plant, which present several new features may be stated that the material for the under-

UNDERFRAMES.

of interest.

shank; the drills are regulated to stand out of the spindles, so that all the cutting points touch the bar to be drilled, which is put into a table or trough under the spindles; the trough is filled with lubricant and the bar is immersed at the time of drilling, so that the drills are perfectly lubricated. The trougiis on each machine stock bars are piled together, and the 30in. saws cut them on one are made with special provision to receive the different parts end to exact lengths in an hour, including fixing. It is not always of the underframing, which are readily fixed by cramps. The necessary to cut both ends when they are sawn square at the table or trough is supported on two slides, which move rolling mills; but it is always necessary to cut one end when the vertically by two screws and worm-wheel motion geared together, bars are cold to ensure their being all exact lengths. The saws run There is a self-acting motion for each drill, driven by a belt from at a circumferential cutting speed of 30ft. per minute, and as they the pulley-shaft on the machine, and a separate motion, driven revolve dip themselves into a trough on the slide under the table, from the line shaft by a belt, to raise and lower the trough, when carrying round sufficient lubrication for cutting, and this prevents j the drills are not at work, for putting the parts in and out of the them getting hot. Each saw will work a month before it requires ! trough. When the bar to be drilled is put into the trough, it is re-sharpening, and this is readily done by a small portable appa- j raised to bring it in contact with the drill points, and the machine ratus fixed on the top of the table with a small emery wheel is started by the strap lever. When the drills have done their

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framing is brought into the shop simply in the state in which it leaves the rolling mill, and is first dealt with by a machine for straightening bars, which has a horizontal ram, working in slides, actuated by an excentric shaft driven by spur gearing. As the sections of the sole bars are 9in. by 3^in., and the headstocks 9in. by 3in., the ram requires a ready adjustment, to allow the bar being rapidly turned flatways or endways, and this is done by a

driven from the line shaft overhead. The two 20in. saws cut all the angle brackets and cut ten angles 3in. by 3in. at the same time in one hour, including fixing, and the four saws being selfacting do not require any attention after the work has been fixed. The work next passes on to a series of vertical multiple drilling machines, specially designed to meet the irregularity of pitch in the holes that have to be drilled in the various parts of the under

work, they are stopped, and the trough is lowered by the independent motion. There are two spindles working through stuffing boxes at the bottom of the trough, which project into the inside, and by lowering the trough the spindle ends come in contact with the drilled piece, and it is thus raised ready to be taken away. The drilling spindles run 100 revolutions per minute, and the self-acting feed, which is 200 per inch, is made purposely fine to avoid excessive

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band wheel in front of the machine, which regulates the position of the ram to suit the various sections; also to put a greater or less set upon the bar to be straightened. Two men and a boy mind this machine, and they straighten fifty sets of ironwork in a week of fifty-four hours. The material is next passed on to a series of sawing machines for cutting cold iron; two of these machines have saws 30in. diameter, and will cut through a sectional area of 24in. by 6in., whilst two others have saws 20in. diameter, and will cut through a sectional area of llin. by 4in. The four machines are alike in construction; the table of the 30in. saw is 6ft. 9in. by 4ft. lOin. and 20in. saw 4ft. by 3ft., with T-bolt slots to fix the work. The saw is upon a spindle in a head-stock driven by a worm wheel and a worm on a shaft, with feather keys, to allow the headstock carrying the saw to travel on a fixed

frame, and which, from their frequently being very close together, vertical pressure to obtain a smooth round hole without burr, and would render it very difficult to drive the drill spindles by wheels to make the drills last as long as possible without stopping to of any kind. To overcome this difficulty, and to drill all the holes sharpen. Sets of drills are, however, always ready to put into the at one operation, each spindle is driven by a crank, as shown in machines, and these are sharpened by special men. Good drills accompanying illustrations, Fig. 2.    have stood constant work for four days without sharpening, and

we

Each crank is exactly the same sweep, and is made to the form which has been found the best is with shanks of uniform revolve by a wrought iron connecting plate provided with size, turned to fit the spindles, and swaged on two sides to form bushes to fit all the crank pins on spindles. The connecting two parallel cutting edges; they are ground on the ends, and plate receives motion from two cranks, which have crank pins maintain their size until the drill becomes too short. These drills, working in two bushes in the connecting plate, and they are placed it is said, cut equally as well as twist drills for this work, where near the end of the plate to divide the strain; the two main cranks they are not so expensive. The drilling machine, of which are caused to move exactly together by gearing, and are driven by give an illustration, has thirty-eight spindles for drilling four a belt from the line shaft. The drill spindles have parallel holes corner buffer brackets, two centre draw-bar brackets, together for drills, which are held by a set screw against a flat on the drill I six plates, seventy-six holes, including two 2^in. diameter

for buffer rods; these six plates are drilled two together when forces I tested a number of concrete beams having different proflat, but when finished they are bent by making them hot portions of cement. Such concrete as that used at the Forth and putting them in a die under a hydraulic press to make them developed a tensile strength under transverse stress of about 10 to the required shape, the centre drilled hole being a guide to keep all j 12 tons per square foot, so that it was from no inherent weakness the other holes in true position. The time for drilling and fixing ' in the concrete that masonry was substituted for it in the 30ft. the six plates is eighteen minutes. After passing through an upper length of the main piers. Our reason for its adoption was ending machine for cutting the sole bars to exact lengths and that we believed by using natural flat-bedded Arbroath stone set in shapes at both ends to fit the headstock channel bars, the work two to one cement mortar, with both horizontal and vertical bond, goes on to another set of drilling machines, the last machine— we made certain of obtaining practically a monolith, whilst with differing from the former ones in that the spindles are horizontal, concrete, however careful the inspection, there might be cleavage This machine has forty-three spindles, with a drill at each end, as planes of perhaps dangerous extent in places. The special stresses shown in the accompanying drawing. Each spindle is driven by a on the piers arising from the cantilever system of construction brass worm wheel, Fig. 1, gearing intoa screw; this screw is 17ft. long, have received, as I have already said, our most close consideration, driven by a pulley at each end, one half its length having a right- and we doubt not that the desired factor of safety of four will be hand thread, and the other a left-hand ; the drill spindles being obtained as regards all shearing, tensile, and compressive stresses equally divided, the strain is consequently within itself and pre- to which the masonry may be conceived to be liable under any vents end pressure, whilst the spindles having a drill at each end, reasonable hypothesis which can be framed. Happily, we are there is no collar pressure endways. This machine drills two sole relieved from all anxiety as to the foundations, since the piers rest bars on the flanges at the same time, also drills the top flanges of either on rock or on a boulder clay, which for all practical purposes four diagonal bars which form one set of this work. The parts to is as hard as rock. It may be mentioned, however, that the be drilled are held by cramps on tables at both sides of the spindles, heaviest load at the base of any of the 70ft. diameter caissons, and the tables are moved inwards, self-acting to close upon the including the tilting action of a 56 lb. per square foot wind, is drills both sides at the same time. When the drills have done about 24,000 tons, or at the average rate of a little over 6 tons per their work the tables are readily withdrawn, and other work operated upon in the same way. The drills are lubricated in cutting by a pipe on each side of the frame the full length, short branches opposite each drill to play upon it. Provision is made to collect the lubricant, which is conveyed by a pipe into a tank in the floor, from which it is pumped to a tank overhead to keep up a constant supply without waste. The time for drilling and changing two sole bars is twelve minutes.

The preparing of the material through the progressive stages which have been described is so completely automatic that seven men and two boys supply the whole of the manual labour required, and this is chiefly in putting the parts in and out of the respective machines. The whole of the machines are fixed in line along one side of a shop 300ft. long, the front of the machines facing the centre of the shop. The machines are all driven from a line shaft the full length of the shop, and this shaft is driven by a pair of horizontal engines with lOin. cylinders, 20in. stroke, running 140 revolutions at 110 lb. steam pressure, and there is ample power for additional machines. After passing through the series of machines already described, the frames are put together on movable trussels with fixed brackets or gauges to keep the frame right to standards, and all the parts being exactly alike both as to position of all the holes and length of bars, the work of putting together is soon done. The frames are then passed into three of Messrs. Tweddell’s patent portable rivetters, which are suspended over the wagon framework on three light overhead travellers; each portable rivetter has its own hydraulic lift to raise, lower, and place it to the required position without the necessity of chains hanging about. These rivetters are supplied by pipes with self-adjusting joints from an accumulator which works several others of these machines for various purposes. Two men and one boy rivet up an underframing in two hours; the frames are then mounted on springs and wheels and fitted with buffers, draw-bars, &c., and sent out complete to the wagon shop, where the wooden bodies are mounted upon them. Fifty sets of these underframes are made per week of fifty-four hours, and more, if required, could be turned out with minor additions to the machines or by running the present one faster; but this is not desirable, as the saws, drills, and cutters would require more frequent sharpening, and as the machines now work, they balance the output without getting sive quantities of any part of material.

and carefully measured several times before the stresses could be determined. The inward slope of the cantilever gave rise to forces of sensible amount from the component of the vertical forces square to the plane of the cantilevers. A much more difficult problem, however, was presented by the stresses produced by wind. Thus, for example, a force acting horizontally on the cantilever near the 350ft. girder, and at right angles to it, produces at the main pier a downward pressure on the leeward side, and an upward action on the windward side, together with a twisting action, and vertical and lateral pressures on the cantilever end pier. All th forces had to be traced through the different members and bracings, and the same had to be done for a wind force acting as a moving load at every point of the cantilever. It was also essential to consider the wind as blowing not only at right angles to the line of the bridge, but also at such other angle as would impose on each member the greatest amount of stress. By a reference to the diagram it will be seen that the stresses produced by wind are very severe, and, therefore, exactness was required in order that no part might be unnecessarily heavy, nor, on the other hand, be strained beyond the allowed amount. After all the stresses as a framework structure arising from the dead load, a travelling train, and from wind had been ascertained, a new set of problems chiefly from the magnitude of the work, and the weights of the

. ■S, •

arose,

with

ST

Stresses Prom. lAe De.oJcL TuOOuuL above.

Stresses from, five_Lvve Jjocub above.

Maoauruurn. total. Stresses cm.

WisuLw cord. CcunJULevcr

Mbximxun, toted. Stresses on. X eewctrob CoenliLever

square foot, deducting nothing for the water displaced by the pier. As it is impossible to produce the working drawings of the bridge on the present occasion, a short tabular statement of some of the leading features may be desirable:—

Steel in main cantilevers................

„ centre girders ................

,, viaduct approach ..............

Cantilevers, 080ft. projection; 843ft. and 40ft. deep.

Bottom member of cantilever, a pair of tapering tubes :

Distance apart centres at piers ..........

40,000 tons. 1,600 „ 2,800 „

120ft. 31'5ft.

THE FORTH BRIDGE*

By B. Baker, M.I.C.E.

(Continued from page 357.)

ON a large scale, the mean values of coefficients for different surfaces are derivable from launching ways of ships, brake experiments, and other data. In launching ways the coefficient must be singularly small, for with declivities of ^in. to lin. in the foot, ships not only start, but acquire a velocity of ten miles an hour or more very quickly. In some of Mr. Denny’s experiments it would appear that even with this flat slope the velocity acquired was fully half that which a body would attain falling freely, so the retarding friction during motion must be very small. Again, the coefficient of friction at starting could not exceed '06, but of course in ordinary launching ways the pressure per square foot and the character of the surfaces are different to those in the Forth Bridge, though the total weight of the moving mass may be the same, and the facts are worth mentioning on that account. Brunei’s broadside launch of the Great Eastern in 1857 affords, however, valuable data directly applicable to our sliding bed-plates, for the weight of the ship was 12,000 tons, and the launching ways were iron on iron somewhat rough on the surface, and imperfectly lubricated or not lubricated at all. As a residt of experiments with a small section of the launching ways, the inclination was made 1 in 12, as it was thought a small force would then start the ship, and a similar force restrain it from acquiring undue velocity, the observed coefficients of friction ranging from T25 at starting to ‘067 at moderate velocities. On commencing the launch an estimated force of about 500 tons was required to assist gravity on the 1 in 12 incline, hence the starting coefficient with the 12,000-ton load would be about '125 as in the model. Again, when started, the 1 in 12 Avas more than sufficient, for the vessel ran on some 3ft. or 4ft, and, spinning round the handles of the winches, injured five men. Subsequently, however, owing to want of rigidity in the ways, rusting of the rails, or some other disturbing cause, considerable trouble was experienced, and cessive additions had to be made to the hydraulic presses during the three months occupied in the launch. For the last 30ft. or 40ft. Brunei estimated the power required, inclusive of gravity, at one quarter of the weight, or double that which started the ship at the top of the launching ways. Railway trains are not as heavy ships, but afford valuable data as to the coefficient of friction of steel steel under severe pressures, such as must obtain at the point of contact of the tire with the rail. Captain Galton’s experiments show that the coefficient varies widely with the speed and other elements, being sometimes as little as '05. With dry rails the adhesion of the driving wheels indicates a coefficient of about '20 to '25, and with wet rails T5 to '20. Probably with greasy rails it would not exceed the TO arrived at by Morin fifty years ago as an average. Calculations of the stresses on the piers have been made upon the hypothesis that coefficients of TO and '25 obtain different bed-plates at the same moment in the manner most unfavourable to the structure. A variety of other assumptions and test calculations ha ve been made. As a final result we are of opinion that the maximum stress on the masonry of the main piers will be something be-tween 9 tons and 12 tons per square foot. To attempt a closer approxi-mation would only serve to advertise our incapacity to appreciate the complex character of the problem and the uncertainty of of the data. So far as compression is concerned, our concrete, which has a crushing resistance of 50 tons per square foot, would thus give a factor of safety of at least four. The solid Arbroath stone piers are, of course, of far greater strength both as regards compression and the shearing and possibly tensile stresses to which the piers may be subject under the extreme hypotheses made as to force and distribution of wind. Very valuable data as to the ability of a massive rubble pier in cement to resist a heavy lateral force were afforded by the experimental arch of 124ft. span and 7ft. rise built in Paris some fifteen years ago. The thrust of the arch was about 1400 tons, and, treating the abutment as an elastic solid, the stress upon the masonry would range from 14'7 tons compression to 8'7 tons tension per square foot. To ascertain the ability of cement concrete to resist heavy shearing and tensile

* Paper read before the British Association.

»    „    „    ends    ........

Tube at piers, 12ft. diameter, 11-in. thick, 830 sq. in.

,, end 5ft. ,,    fin. thick, 120 sq. in. ,,

Top member of cantilever, a pair of taporing box lattice girders: Distance apart centres at piers ,,    ,,    ,,    ends    ..

Girder at piers, 12ft. x 10ft.

„ ends 6ft. x 3ft......... 60

Columns over piers, 12ft. diameter, 368 to 468 sq. in.

Diagonal struts (tubes), 8ft. to 3ft. diameter, 198 to 73 sq. in. area, and 337ft. to 74ft. long.

Diagonal ties (box lattice), 8ft. to 3ft. deep, 163 to 67 sq. in. net area, and 327ft. to 82ft. long.

Horizontal wind bracing (box lattice), lift, to 3'5ft. deep, 88 to 20 sq. in. area, 142ft. to 40ft. long.

Vertical wind bracing (box lattice), 4'75ft. to 2⁻6ft. deep, 84 to 28 sq. in. area, 160ft. to 60ft. long.

Central girders, 350ft. span, 51ft. and 41ft. deep; bottom members, 32ft. apart centres, 142 sq. in. not area; top members, 22-25ft. and 19ft. ccntros, 139 sq. in. gross

Internal viaduct, lattice girders with spans of 39ft. to 145 t.

Floor, buckle plates and trough girders.

Wind fence, close lattice work, 4ft. 6in. high.

Viaduct .approach, lattice girders, under rails continuous over two 168ft. openings, 22'5ft. deep, 16ft. apart; floor and wind screen as for internal viaduct. Masonry piers 25ft. x 8ft. at top, and 50ft. X 20ft. at base.

Rolling load: (1) Trains of unlimited length on each line of rails, weighing one ton per foot run; (2) trains on each lino mado up of two engines and tenders, woighing in all 142 tons, at the head of a train of sixty short coal trucks of 15 tons each.

Wind: A pressure of 56 lb. per squaro foot, striking the wliolo or any part of the bridge at any angle with the horizon, and acting square or obliquely upon an area equivalent to twice the piano surface of the front girders, with a deduction of 50 per cent, in the case of tubes. The total wind pressure so derived amounts to 2000 tons on the 1700ft. span, and 7900 tons on tho whole superstructure included between tho two cantilever end piers. The following table shows the magnitude and intensity of the heaviest resultant stresses in tons on some of the principal members from dead load, live load, and wind, distributed as already described:—

area.

33ft.

22-25ft.

606 sq. in. net area.

area.

on

area.

Dead.

Live.

Wind.

Total.

sue

§i

ii

on

seine

.5

in 8

m u

<D

ii

in 8

I    i i'e §i

II    i? II

zn u

Bottom member .

2282

2-8

1022

1'2

2920

3'5 i 6224

7'5

Top

2253

4'4

997

2'0

544

IT i 3794

7'6

Vertical

1550

3'3

705

1'5

1024

2'2    3279

7'0

Diagonal struts „ ties

Hor. wind bracing. Ver. „    „    .

Central girder top.. ,,    ,, bottom

802

754

80

42

337

4'1

167

0'8

414

2'1    1383

7-0

4'6

0'9

0'5

186

169

2'4 ! 303

330    2'3 i 301

1'2

2'0

2'2

2T

194

265

108

182

247

1'2    1134

3'0    350

1'3    319

1'4    822

1'8 ¹ 878.

7'0

4-0

3'8

6'0

6'2

Owing to the batter of 1 in 7^ of the main girders and the adoption of double piers, not merely at Inch Garvie, but for the piers on either side of it, the calculation of stresses involves interesting and complicated problems. It is fortunate that from the nature of the ground no unequal settlement can occur in the foundations, or some of the stresses would be indeterminate by reason of the double piers, which, I may add, were not a feature of the original design.

At the centre cantilevers any unequal loading is supported by the double bracing between the piers at Inch Garvie; but at the north and south cantilevers the support is twofold, namely, the resistance of the bracing, and the pull on the holding-down bolts at the cantilever end pier. The first problem that arose, therefore, was to ascertain how much of the load would be supported by each of these reactions. But the weight of each part was not known, and in a structure of this magnitude it required to be ascertained with accuracy. This could only be done by the method of trial and error; and as the stresses produced by the weight of the structure itself are very considerable, and as the secondary bracing is an important item, detailed drawings had to be made

mam

some

different members themselves which cause local stresses of considerable importance in some instances. An all-important point was, of course, the stress per square inch admissible upon the several tension and compression members. The only limit practically imposed upon us by the Board of Trade was that the stress should not exceed one-fourth of the ultimate strength of the steel without reference to the question of the relative proportions of live and dead load, or the character of the stress. In settling the sectional areas we did not bind ourselves to any formula derived from Wohler’s or other experiments on the fatigue of metals, but considered each member separately and had reference to the whole of the circumstances, including the character of the rivetting and other details of construction. As many competent engineers are of opinion that the rational way of proportioning structures is to assume varying ultimate resistances of the metal for different proportions of dead and live load, and adopt an uniform factor of safety of 3, we tested the actual areas of the Forth Bridge members by the following rules, and found in all cases an excess on the requirements:—(a) For a constant load assume the ultimate tensile strength to be 30 tons per square inch.

(b)    For a load varying from nil to a maximum assume the strength to be 20 tons per square inch if the alternation of stress is frequent, and 22'5 tons if it is seldom, as in the case of a hurricane.

(c)    For alternate tension and compression assume the ultimate strength to be 10 tons if frequent and 15 tons if seldom. The above apply to tension members and are to be divided by three for the working stress. For struts the working stress equivalent to the above, from the results of my own experiments and from other considerations, I take to be 40 per cent, of the stress causing first flexure, as given by the following empirical formula;:

/= ('44 - '002 ?•) (t + 18) for tubes / = ('40 - '004 r) (t + 18) for lattice] where r — ratio of length to diameter, and t = tons per square inch, as set forth in paragraphs a, b, and c, but increased in all cases in the ratio of 34 to 30, which are the specified minimum strengths of the steel used for compression and tension members respectively. I have no doubt that any structure proportioned by the above rules would have an ample margin of safety, but, as already stated, the stresses in the case of the Forth Bridge are lower than indicated. The diagram of stresses shows that the lower tubular member is the most affected by wind, and, in fact, under the conditions assumed the leeward tube does the work and the windward is almost relieved of stress. Looking at the huge 12ft. tubes as they now lie at the Forth Bridge Works, with their ten longitudinal T-bars 12in. by 7in. by §in., having double angles rivetted to the web of the T, and with annular stiffeners every 8ft., certainly nothing could appear better adapted to resist stress and fatigue, and I should not feel the least anxiety if they were subject to double the stress which will ever be imposed upon them. I may add that the preceding formula for struts is based upon my experiments with steel ranging from 26 to 56 tons in tensile strength, and fairly represents the average results, though in this instance, as in all others where columns are concerned, individual experiments differ rather widely, owing to initial stress, unequal bearing, or other cause. In proportioning the rivetted joints of the tubes and other members, the shearing area is generally made one and a-half times the net sectional area of the plates connected if in tension, and half that for plain and butted joints in compression only. In my first paper I said that the maximum wind pressure upon the 1700ft. span had been assumed to be equivalent to a pressure of 56 lb. per square foot upon the double surface, and I regretted that such assumption necessarily involved many matters of pure conjecture, which rendered it impossible to state with precision what factor of safety would belong to the Forth Bridge. The same remark, of course, applies even now with equal force to every other bridge, because there exists a lamentable lack of data respecting the actual pressure of the wind on large structures. Mr. Fowler and I have spared no pains during the past two years to contribute something to the general fund of information; and other engineers, doubtless, are experimenting—for experiments, and not speculations, are wanted. We have had now for two years, on the island in the middle of the Forth near the centre pier of the bridge, three wind gauges or pressure boards; the large one, 300 square feet in area, is fixed square to the east and west winds, and of the two small ones of l| square feet area, one is fixed as above, and the other is free to swivel square to the wind in any direction. When speaking at the Institution of Civil Engineers on the subject of wind pressure, previous to the erection of these gauges, I ventured to prophesy that, contrary to the opinion of many, the large board would show a smaller average pressure per square foot than the small ones.

(To be continued.)

Naval Engineer Appointments.—The following appointments have been made at the Admiralty:—Warwick Monkhouse, assistant engineer, to the Cleopatra; Frederick Jarvis, assistant engineer, to the Audacious; G. 1’ascoe, acting assist,-engineer to the Defence.

RAILWAY MATTERS.

MISCELLANEA.

Six months ago Brazil possessed 3500 miles of railway, an increase of about 500 miles in a year, and 1500 miles more in actual construction. About one-fourth of these lines is owned by the Government, and as many more have Government guarantees of interest, usually at the rate of 7 per cent.

The promoters of the Charing-cross and Waterloo Electric Railway, which was sanctioned by Parliament in 1882, for the purpose of constructing an electric railway from Waterloo Station, passing under the River Thames to Northumberland-avenue, have decided to abandon the authorised railway, and to dissolve the company.

A new railway is proposed to be made in North Lincolnshire, which will commence at North Thoresby by a junction with the East Lincolnshire section of the Great Northern Railway, and terminate at South Killingholme Haven. The line would be one step towards improving the communication of Hull with London and the south generally.

At the open-hearth steelworks of the Cambria Iron Company, the Johnstoicn (Pa.) Tribune says experiment is now being made of casting steel tires for locomotive and car-wheels by running the metal directly from the furnaces into cast iron moulds, and ready, when cooled, to be fitted and shrunk on. This process, if successful, will dispense with the ordinary process of casting in sand moulds, and will not only greatly facilitate operations, but also lessen the expense.

The Furness Railway Company intends to replace the viaducts over the estuaries of the Leven and Kent, erected in 1860, by new structures. The Leven viaduct, between Ulverston and Cark, has fifty spans of 30ft. each, with a drawbridge to permit vessels to pass through, and is 521 yards long. The Kent viaduct, between Grange-over-Sands and Arnside, has also fifty spans of 30ft. each with a drawbridge for shipping, the total length being 522 yards. Traffic on the line is now very heavy, and heavier engines are about to be used, making a change necessary, though the existing viaducts have stood well.

“ Some further correspondence appears,” says the United States Railroad Gazette, “in The Engineer as to the engines ‘Rocket A.D. 1829,’ and ‘Rocket A.D. 1830,’lately illustrated in these pages. The writers do not deny that Mr. Nasmyth’s sketch represents one of the engines used in the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railroad, but generally agree that the Rocket had been then little altered, and in fact was identical in construction with the Rocket of the Rainhill trials in 1829. They also agree in thinking that the sketch of the ‘ Rocket A.D. 1830’ really represents,

Rocket, but one of the seven engines built between the trials at Rainhill and the opening of the line. If this assumption is correct, the titles, ‘ The Locomotive A.D. 1829,’ and ‘ The Locomotive A.D. 1830,’ would more correctly describe our illustrations. It appears, at any rate, that the eleven months in question was an eventful period in tbe history of the locomotive, and that its development then made greater progress than is generally believed.”

The Indianapolis Journal says :—“ So common is it to remark that railroad men, especially train employes, are poorly paid, that we have taken the trouble to ascertain the average salary paid per month to the men in the different branches of train service, selecting July, which was the dullest month in the year with the Indianapolis railroads. The pay-rolls of three different Indianapolis railroads—which are a fair criterion of other roads centreing here—show:—

No. 1.

not the actual

No. 2.

No. 3.

These wages indicate that the men were kept pretty busy, if it was a dull month.”

The offer of the Cable Tramways Company, London, to lease the Birmingham tram lines, in opposition to the Birmingham Tramways and Omnibus Company, which now controls them, has brought out an offer from the local company to consent to the strong desire of the Corporation to run penny stages, on condition that the Corporation will, under the new lease which is to be entered into, sanction the use of steam or other mechanical power, including the cable system. The company states that only by the use of cheaper motive power can penny stages be made remunerative. To enable them to thoroughly decide upon the merits of the offers now before them from these two companies, the Public Works Committee of the Corporation are consulting Sir Frederick Bramwell, and are otherwise making careful and complete inquiries. For the cable system it is contended that while giving the public an infinitely better, cheaper, and more frequent service, it causes far less hindrance to traffic than ordinary tram lines. On Tuesday the Birmingham Council granted permission for the running of steam for three years upon one section of the Western Districts Tramways.

Mr. Swan states that he has obtained 5800 hours as the life of an incandescent lamp, and large numbers of the Swan lamps said to have reached 4000 hours. We do not know how the life is calculated.

Experiments have for some time been made in Belgium for preserving wood by exhausting the air from the pores and filling them with liquid gutta-percha. The gutta-percha is liquefied by mixing it with paraffin and subjecting it to heat. After it is introduced into the pores it hardens as it becomes cold.

According to the experiments described in Dingier's Journal, there is no evidence of the development of electricity during the conversion of water into steam; even upon quiet electrified surfaces the steam which arises is electrically neutral. S. ltalisher has also shown that no electricity is developed by the condensation of atmospheric vapour.

Mr. W. H. Preece has stated that his experiments show that the luminous power of an incandescent lamp increases as the sixth power of the intensity of the current. As the energy expended increases only as the square of the intensity, the luminous power varies as the cube of the energy expended, but the duration or life of the lamps diminishes rapidly with the increase of light.

For some years M. Henri Becquerel has measured the absolute intensity of a magnetic or electro-magnetic field by observing the rotation of the plane of polarisation in the light traversing a body placed in the field. The indications of the apparatus are instantaneous ; the optical measurement is easily made with great precision ; an apparatus for absolute measurement can be easily constructed, and the method can be applied to very weak as well as very strong currents.

As a test of glue the Tischler Zeitung has given the following “ Carefully weigh a piece and suspend it in water, at a temperature not exceeding 10 deg. C.— 50 deg. Fah.—during twenty-four hours. The colouring matter is then precipitated, and the glue swells in consequence of the absorption of water. On removing the glue from the water, the increase in weight will be found to be in proportion to the quality. The weight of the colouring matter can also be ascertained by weighing the glue a second time after it has been thoroughly dried.”

Fievey has shown that the broadening of the spectral lines in hydrogen, nitrogen, &c., is independent of pressure, and corresponds with elevation of temperature. The Journal of the Franklin Institute says that by recent experiments he has proved, in opposition to the declaration of Van Monckhoven, that pressure has no direct influence upon the breadth of the hydrogen lines, but the broadening is due to the resistance which is opposed to the current by the medium which it traverses. Hence he concludes that an increase of complexity in the constitution of a spectral ray is a sure index of an increase of temperature in the producing vapour. This conclusion justifies the inference that the temperature of the solar spots is greater than that of the limb.

Experiments have been made at the Theatre Eoyal of Munich, in order to determine the elevation of temperature and the amount of carbonic acid, under illumination by gas and by the electric light. The temperature was observed during the plays, when there were on an average between 500 and 600 persons in the theatre; the thermometer was observed every ten minutes. The experiments showed that the electric light greatly diminishes the increase of temperature. It does not render ventilation superfluous, but it requires a less active ventilation than gas, since it does not, like gas, contribute to the carbonic acid and to the increase of heat, and though gas does in some cases afford assistance in the ventilation.

M. Hignette, in the Bulletin technologiquc des Ecoles nationales d'Arts et Metiers, describes a new ceramic product from the waste sands of glass factories, which often accumulate in immense quantities so as to occasion great embarrassment. The sand is subjected to an immense hydraulic pressure, and then baked in furnaces at a high temperature, so as to produce blocks of various forms and dimensions, of a uniform white colour, which are composed of almost pure silex. The crushing load is from 370 to 450 kilometres per square centimetre. The Journal of the Franklin Institute says, the bricks when plunged in chlorhydric and sulphuric acids, show no trace of alteration. The product has remarkable solidity and tenacity; it is not affected by the heaviest frosts or by the action of sun or rain; it resists very high temperatures, provided no flux is present; it is very light, its specific gravity being only 1*6; it is of a fine white colour, which will make it sought for many architectural effects in combination with bricks or stones of other colours.”

are

The future growth of San Diego depends mainly on railway extensions, bringing that port into connection with interior districts rich in mineral and other resources, and giving it a large distributing and transit business as a terminus for transcontinental railways. That these roads will be built there is no reason to doubt. In 1881-82 the Californian Southern Railroad was under construction, intended to connect with the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad, and through it with an important system of lines, forming a transcontinental route. But this plan could not be at once carried out owing to the opposition of the Central and Southern Pacific lines; this opposition has now been overcome, and it is understood that the original plans will be carried out without delay. The Utah Southern Railway is being extended in this direction, and it is believed that its managers are making San Diego their objective point. The Southern Pacific Railway has a charter to build to San Diego, and a valuable concession has been granted by the Mexican Government for a railway to connect San Diego with Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fb Railway system in Southern Arizona, passing through the Mexican provinces of Lower California and Souora. The construction of these lines will open up immense areas in Southern California, New Mexico, Utah, and Colorado, which are as yet only partly explored, but are known to be very rich in minerals, &c.

A correspondent, Mr. C. Paine, in his travels in Europe, writes to the Railroad Gazette—America—some of his railway impressio He says of our system of heating, for instance:—“The mode of heating, or rather of not heating the carriages there, with flasks of warm water, is ridiculous; as the passenger cools, so do the flasks, until finally both would freeze together if the weather was cold enough, which it is not. A few carriages are heated with stoves suspended beneath the floors; these are better. In Switzerland they have contrived a bad compromise between the European and American carriage, combining, in the long car on trucks, the division into compartments of the European carriage with the end doors and centre aisle of the American, which results in the worst railway cars possible, I think. It contributes to the bad reputati of the United States in Europe, that they are called American cars. The railway employes are always in uniform, invariably civil, generally attentive, apparently anxious to be of service to the passenger without regard to a tip, which, however, they do not decline. They usually speak some other language besides their own. My observation led to this conclusion: that, although the art of railroading is as well understood in this country as it is in Europe, so far as the building of roads and the running of trains are concerned, yet we do not compare favourably with the Europeans in important particulars; we do not spend enough in order to secure safety; our employes are not so well disciplined as theirs; our passengers do not receive so much attention and are not so comfortable as they are in Europe.

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Although the greatest care is exercised at the Mint, many of the blanks which are prepared for coins are either too light or too heavy. The first are remelted, and the others are filed away until they have the proper weight. These operations cause the loss of valuable material, and interfere with the sharpness of the impression. W. F. Chandler Roberts, chemist of the London Mint, employed an electric current in connection with suitable acid baths, in order to regulate the solution of superfluous metal, having ascertained that the quantity dissolved was exactly proportioned to the time, if the current was kept constant. He also provided, in a similar way, for the galvanic deposit of additional tal upon coins which were too light. In both methods, as described in his Cantor lectures, provision was made for automatically breaking the circuit, when the right weight was reached These processes cannot be applied at the London Mint, where the law directs that every defective piece, whether too heavy or too light, shall be remelted; they have, however, been used with great advantage at the Mints of Bombay and Calcutta.

in'-

says

NOTES AND MEMOKANDA.

Mr. James Stuart, who has been elected member of P

Society of Arts.—Wednesday, Nov. 26th, at 8 p.m.:

M = F rj

14.888. Ventilators, F. W. Willcox, Sunderland.

Mr. James Stuart, who has been elected member of Parliament for Hackney, is the Professor of Mechanism and Applied Mechanics in the University of Cambridge, and fills the vacancy caused by the death of Mr. Fawcett. He is the eldest son of the late Mr. Joseph Gorden Stuart, of Balgonie, Fifeshire.

Mr. T. T. Murray, who was drowned in the river Eden, near Carlisle, while angling for salmon last Friday, was a retired chief inspector of machinery in the Eoyal Navy, a post which he held for four years. He had been thirty years on commission, and retired on full pension. He was sixty-five years of age.

Of the stern wheel boats sent out for the Nile Expedition, Messrs. Yarrow and Co. heard by telegraph on the 14th that a successful trial under steam of Yarrow boat No. 2 had been made at Alexandria, from which it appears that no time was lost in taking it out and putting it together. Advice is shortly expected of the other stern wheeler which is being erected right up in the interior, considerably above Wady Haifa.

The first sod of the proposed new Barry Docks and railway was cut last Friday by Lord Windsor. The dock will have an area of about 40 acres eight miles from Cardiff. The engineers of the proposed undertaking were Mr. H. M. Brunei and Mr. Thomas Foster. The docks include basin of 8J acres and timber pond of 15 acres. The contractor is Mr. T. A. Walker. The proposed railway will practically connect Barry with the Ehondda steam coal district. The length of the line at once to be constructed is sixteen miles.

The gas committee of the Nottingham Town Council report that they have appointed Mr. L. T. Wright as general manager. During the past year gas has been manufactured at a cost of Is. 4d. per thousand less than hitherto, and this notwithstanding an increase in the cost of coal of about 6d. per ton. The amount of gas consumed from the 25th of March, 1883, to the 25th of March, 1884, was 1,163,225,500 cubic feet. The committee advise that a further reduction of 2d. per thousand cubic feet should be made in the price of gas.

Yesterday the adjourned inquest was held on the bodies of the three men who were recently killed by the explosion of three boilers at the new basic steel works at Bilston of the Staffordshire Steel Company. Mr. E. B. Martin, chief engineer to the Midland Boiler Inspection Company, who had examined the boiler on behalf of the Crown, deposed that the cause of the explosion was the softening of the plates by overheating through shortness of water. The boilers had been overworked to get steam. The inquiry was further adjourned.

The town of Walsall has expended £53,500 in the purchase of land for sewage purification and in the construction of sewage and surface works. To complete the works, the principal of which is the sewage farm, an expenditure of a further £29,000 is necessary, and on Wednesday Mr. C. T. Hidyard, Local Government Board Inspector, held an inquiry at Walsall into the merits of an application by the Corporation for permission to borrow the necessary sum. At the close he remarked that he should report favourably of the application.

It is said that Parliamentry sanction is to be sought to the transfer of the Bute Docks, Cardiff, value about £3,000,000, to the Taff Yale Eailway Company, to which the Marquis has agreed. An agreement providing for the amalgamation was signed on the 14th by Mr. W. T. Lewis on behalf of the Bute trustees, and Mr. G. Fisher on behalf of the Taff Yale Eailway Company. By this arrangement Lord Bute is to be repaid all the money expended by him in the construction of the Eoath Dock. Parliamentary powers will be sought to ratify this agreement.

It has been decided that a portion of the balance left over from the fund raised for the relief of the sufferers by the Hartley Colliery explosion, some twenty years ago, shall form a fund out of which grants are to be made in the case of fatal accidents occurring at the collieries in North-East Lancashire, where no permanent relief fund, such as is in existence in West Lancashire, has yet been formed. The fund amounts to about £2750, and the grants will amount to £5 in the case of persons over sixteen, and £210s. in the case of persons under sixteen years of age, and these will go to supplement the relief received from the respective colliery funds. The average number of deaths from accidents in the above district is about seventy per annum, and the grants will come into operation after the 1st January next. If, however, the fund is to be permanent it will have to be supplemented.

At a meeting of the Glasgow Engineers’ Association held on the 13 th a discussion on the crossover communication on the river Clyde was resumed. Mr. T. F. Thomson advocated a traversing bridge, slightly above quay-level, and Mr. A. J. W. Watkins a high-level bridge, with hydraulic lifts at the quays, in addition to the inclined approaches. Mr. Thomson proposed to cross the river in five spans, the centre span consisting of two cantilever traversing girders, the machinery for working which would be concealed under the quays. The bridge allowed for passenger, street, and railway traffic. Mr. Watkins considered a high-level suspension bridge with stiffening girders the most suitable, as, owing to the rise on the river banks on either side, the approaches would be comparatively short. The bridge would also allow for railway communication between Stobcross Depot, terminus quay, and the new Cessnock Docks while the hydraulic lifts would accommodate the transportation of goods between the quays.

The official trial trip of the screw steamer Musgrave, built for the • pilot and lighthouse service of the Queensland Government, by Messrs. Alexander Jack and Co., Seacombe, took place on Tuesday, 11th inst. The vessel measures 125ft. by 22|ft. by 12ft. moulded, and is fitted with machinery by Messrs. James Jack and Co.; the engines having cylinders 23in. and 45in. in diameter by 30in. In a letter entitled “ An Item of History of the Idea of Making stroke, steam being supplied by two steel boilers working at 901b. the Parts of Guns Interchangeable,” in the Journal of the Pressurc- The full speed trial was run from the Crosby light-ship, Franklin Institute, Mr. F. H. Storer, of the Bussey Institution, round the North-West light-ship and back, a distance of 29 miles;

“ It has become in some sort customary for writers in an<^ Although the weather was most unfavourable, a speed of about American newspapers and magazines to claim as a distinctively D-i knots per hour was maintained throughout, after which a American contrivance the construction of machines and imple- series of progressive speed trials were run on the measured mile at ments, and particularly fire-arms, with interchangeable parts. Crosby. The trials, which were in every respect highly satisfactory Recently Mr. Charles H. Fitch, in a paper entitled ‘ The Rise of a *° concerned, were superintended on behalf of the Queensland Mechanical Ideal,’ published in the Magazine of American History Government by Mr. G. G. Dick, their executive engineer, for June, 1884, while admitting that ‘ the plan of uniformity in The operation of the Factory Act as applied to ironworks formed fire-arms was attempted in France in 1783, and was noticed by the subject of a paper read by Mr. C. C. W. Hoare, Government Thomas Jefferson,’ has said explicitly that of the leaders in Inspector of Factories for the district, before the Institute of Iron interchangeability, ‘first was Whitney, inventor of the cotton and Steel Works’Managers at Dudley on Saturday. Mr. Hoare gin, who introduced some of its most essential administrative pointed out that in the ironworks boys from fourteen to eighteen features at his armoury at Whitneyville, Connecticut, which was years of age could be worked either by day or by night, but not by established before the close of the last century. Next, Hall day and night. In either case the hours would be from six to six invented a breech-loader, designed with especial reference to its or from seven to seven. During the discussion, Mr. R. Smith-interchangeable manufacture, .... &c.’ I would submit Casson, the general manager of the Earl of Dudley’s ironworks, that as a mere matter of historic fact, and solely as concerns the complained that it militated against the iron trade that boys could question of priority, it may possibly be open to doubt whether the not go to work until they were fourteen; and further, that the foregoing statement can be made to harmonise with the following hard-and-fast lines laid down in the Act as to the exact hours at remark of Professor Erman, who, travelling in Siberia in 1828, which the boys should begin to work and the exact hour at which wrote as follows‘ Leo Sobakin, born in 1742, was a serf in the they should leave off, would, if observed, interfere with the carry -Government of Tver. He early displayed great mechanical inge- ing on of the mills with the regularity which now prevailed. Mr. nuity, and was sent to England to study. On his return to Russia Hoare replied that in cases where boys of thirteen years of age had he was appointed superintendent of the machinery at Ije. Of the passed the fourth standard, they could at once go to work, but apparatus erected or brought into use under his direction, much that as to the second point raised by Mr. Casson, there did’ not was undoubtedly invented by himself, and was quite original. It appear to be much help for it but to comply with the Act. conduced much, for example, to the perfection of the fire-arms In the course of his paper, Mr. Hoare said “Many of you are made at Ije that every piece was made there according to a model, clever mechanics. Why do you not arrange to adopt one of the and if it did not exactly fit or correspond with that model was machine fans now in use for cleaning away some of the dust pro-rejected by the overseer. The system of shaping the several parts duced in dry grinding, glazing, and polishing ? All these trades by simple pressure was also carried to a great extent. All the are more or less injurious, and much may be done to mitigate the pieces of the same denomination in Russian arms are consequently evil without going to any great expense. A large flax °mill in so perfectly equal or alike, that the experiment has often been Shrewsbury has no fewer than seven exhaust fans °in use, and the successfully made of taking to pieces a la,rge number of muskets fibrous dust produced there cannot be nearly as injurious’ as dust and then from the promiscuous heaps of similar parts to put them from grinding metals.” Here is a machine suggestion which all together again.’¹’    deserves attention.

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TURNER’S BOILER, S.S. KNIGHT OF THE CROSS.

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We illustrate above a boiler patented by Mr. Turner, of Barnard-road, Birkenhead, of his most recent design.

J he first of his boilers was manufactured under his superintendence at the Canada Works, Birkenhead, and has been in constant use on the west coast of Africa for the last six years. It was fitted on board the cargo steam launch Bagieda, of the following dimensions, viz.:—Length between perpendiculars, Mft.; beam, 9ft. 6in.: depth of hold, 4ft. 6in., and 3ft. 2in. draught of water loaded. The engines are of 13£ nominal horsepower. The boiler has 230 square feet of heating surface, and 10 square feet of grates; the working pressure is 801b. per

square inch. The engines are of the high-pressure, non condensing type. The speed of 10 knots per hour was guaranteed, but upon the trial trip a speed of 14 knots was attained, the propeller making above 400 revolutions per minute against 260 promised with the ordinary boiler. The twin-screw tug and tender Game Cock is also fitted with two of Turner’s patent boilers, and has, within a few months, been for five years doing hard and constant work, and this, we understand, on a small consumption of coal. During the whole time of this long service not a rivet or seam has been caulked, and, with a few exceptions, the same tubes are still in the boilers as at the

commencement. The Game Cock was also built at the Canada Works, Birkenhead.

Other tug-boats and a passenger paddle steamer, named the Wellington, were supplied with Turner boilers, all of which were manufactured at the Canada Works, and have for several years been working with good results, and to the satisfaction of the owners. The steamship Dryburgh Abbey, fitted with three of Turner’s patent boilers of 250 collective nominal horse-power, has been running constantly for nearly three and a-half years, the last voyage having been from London to Cape Town and round by Natal, and thence to Calcutta, and from Calcutta to

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CRANK SWEEP CUTTING MACHINE.

MESS! S. CRAVEN BROS., MANCHESTER, ENGINEERS.

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Rangoon and Bombay, and from Bombay to Marseilles, and thence to Cardiff. The speed of the vessel averaged above 10 knots per hour towards the end of the journey, and the boilers were reported by the engineer to be in good condition on her arrival, and ready for immediate service. The average con-

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Steamship Knight of the Cross, full-power diagrams, February, 188?. Collective indicated horse-power, 916'7; steam, 891b.; vacuum, 30in.; revolutions, 138 ; speed of vessel, 13J knots.

sumption of coal per hour was 18 tons, which compares very favourably with another vessel of similar size with engines of same dimensions, and from the same patterns, but having much larger boiler-power, and whose speed was less than that of the Dryburgh Abbey, and the average consumption of coal not less 26 tons per day.

total heating surface of 2100 square feet, and a grate surface of    THE VAN DUSEN LOCK NUT.

67 square feet; the safety valves blowing off at a working steam Tiie peerlese Manufacturing Company, Third-avenue, Louis-pressure of 92 lb. per square inch. The trial trip of the Knight v;llG) n y., are now introducing the somewhat novel form of of the Cross took place in February, 1883, and the engines iock nut illustrated by the accompanying engravingsFig. 1 indicated 9167-horse power, the propellers making 138 revolutions per minute, and the vessel attaining a mean speed of 134 knots per hour; and this very satisfactory result was obtained on a very moderate consumption of coal, and the size of the grate will bear testimony to this statement, the proportions being 0⁻073 of a square foot of grate surface, and 2‘29 square feet of heating surface to each indicated horse-power.

On the 6th of September, 1884, the twin screw tug and tender, Knight of St. John, also built at the Canada Works,

Birkenhead, for Messrs. Prenderville and Co., had her trial trip.

This vessel was built from the same designs as the Knight of the Cross, but is 10ft. longer. The engines are likewise made from the same designs and patterns, with the exceptions that the high-pressure cylinders are 18in. diameter, and the low-pressure cylinders 36in. diameter; the cooling surface in the condensers was also considerably increased. The boilers in this case are of the ordinary cylindrical type, and have a total effective heating surface of 3350 square feet, and a total grate surface of 120 square feet. On the trial trip, which took place on the 6th of September, 1884, the greatest speed the vessel attained was a mean of 12£ knots per hour, the engines indicating collectively 773'54-horse power, the propellers making 115 revolutions per minute, the maximum speed. In this instance, the proportion of grate surface is 0'155 of a square feet, and 4'33 square feet of heating surface to each indicated horse-power. The trial trips of both these steamers took place under equally favourable circumstances. We give copies of the indicator diagrams, taken on the trial trips of both uessel. Each boiler of the Knight of the Cross has 128 tubes 2|in. diameter outside, and 40 stay tubes of the same size. The common tubes are 8ft. 7£in. long, No. 10 gauge thick ; the stay tubes are in. thick. The steam shell is of iron, J Jin. thick.

The tube shell is of steel of the same thickness. The factor of safety is 57. The boilers stand end for end in the ship side by side, one fired forward, and the other aft.

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A represents nut lock detached. Fig. 2, A, nut lock in position ready to apply; B, the tool used in setting the lock—it is simply a bar of iron having a hole |in. larger than the bolt—when

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Steamship Knight of St. John, full-power diagrams, September 6th 1884. Steam, 951b.; compound gauge, 5]in.; vacuum, 27in.; revolutions 115 ; collective indicated horse-power, 773'54; speed of vessel, 12J knots.

We have received from Mr. Turner the following particulars concerning the performance of the boilers and engines of the twin screw tug and tender Knight of the Cross, built at the Canada Works, under his superintendence, for Messrs. Prenderville and Co., of Liverpool. The vessel is 136ft. long between perpendiculars, 22ft. 6in. beam, and 12ft. 3in. depth of hold. She is supplied with two pairs of inverted compound surface-condensing steam engines of 1104 nominal horse-power, having two high-pressure cylinders I7in. diameter, and two low-pressure cylinders 34in. diameter, the stroke qf pistons being 24in. This vessel js fitted with two qf Turner’s patent typers, having a

Our illustration represents a specially designed crank-sweep cutting machine made by Messrs. Craven Brothers, Manchester, for the Midland Railway Locomotive Works at Derby. The crank is held in a pair of headstocks, each with a carrier to grip on the wheel seats of both ends of the crank axle, with the sweep in a horizontal position opposite the cutter head. The cutter head is driven by powerful treble gearing, and is 4ft. diameter upon a strong spindle. The part carrying the cutters is steel, and has cutting tools made of 1 jm. steel, which are the shape of ordinary lathe tools held in the recesses by wedges and arranged in sets, some standing prominent off the edges and others on the face which cut alternately, some making furrows and the others following, cutting away the ridges, so that the surface, at half a revolution of the cutter head, is the same as a roughing cut on a shaft with a |in. traverse, and the cuttings are the same as come off a lathe with a coarse traverse. The feed is put on twice during one revolution of the cutter head, tools being omitted to allow the feed to be put on opposite the empty spaces. The headstock, carrying the cutter head, is advanced on slides on the bed by a self-acting motion, till the required depth in the crank sweep is cut away, and when this is done the self-acting motion for advancing the cutter head is stopped, but the cutter head continues to revolve, and the two-face plates on the cutter headstocks carrying the crank are made to revolve simultaneously at a slow speed by a self-acting motion. Thus as the cutter head continues to revolve, the crank pin is rounded in the same way as the sweep is cut out. The sides of the sweep are finished and the pin rough turned within |in. of the finished size either for parallel or curved bearings. The other sweep is then presented to the cutter head in the same way as already described. The machine is so arranged that two circular saws can be put on the spindle to take the place of the cutter head, when it is desired to cut a slab out of the crank-sweep to be used as a test piece, and when this is done the cutter head can be applied, the sides finished, and the pin rounded in the manner previously described. A machine for doing similar work, although laid down on somewhat different lines, was made by Messrs, Craven, in 1864, from the designs of Mr, John Ramsbottom for the London find North-Western Railway Works at Crewe,

placed as indicated one or two smart blows with a hammer on the tool force the lock flat, the teeth entering the metal of the bolt. In Fig. 3, A represents the lock applied.

HOWL’S PATENT TUBE VICE.

The accompanying engraving illustrates a new tube vice

manufactured by Messrs. Lee, Howl, and Ward, engineers, Tipton. The engraving explains itself.

On Sunday, the 9th inst., the boiler of the smelting works at Eurville—Haute-Marne—exploded. Of the eighty workmen in the building at the time, seventeen were killed on the spot, three have since died, and forty others were more or less severely injured,

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H. S. Hele Shaw.

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Sir,—I shall be much obliged if you will publish the following list of French, Italian, and British armoured navies, devoid of technicalities, so puzzling to the general reader. Sir Thomas Brassey was reported yesterday as stating at the Fishmongers’ banquet, “ He could confidently say, as regards the important stood at the present moment in I do not know how to reconcile this state-

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BUILDING AND FITTING.

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Alexandra

Neptune

Agamemnon

Ajax

Conqueror

Dreadnought

Hercules

Temeraire

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Monarch

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Penelopo

Rupert

Hotspur

N orthumberland

Minotaur

Agincourt

Achilles

Warrior

Lord Warden

Hector

Valiant

Orion

Triumph

Swiftsure

Invincible

Iron Duke

Audacious

Shannon

Defence

Repulse

Wivern

Cuirasses d’Escadre.

'Tempfito

Tonnant

Vengeur

Belifcr

Boulo-dogue

Cerbbro

Taureau

i^Tigre

■<

Scorpion

Viper

Vixen

Black Princo Water witch Resistance English, 59.

Armoured Cruisers. Warspite (building) Imperieuse (fitting) Northampton (fitted) Nelson (fitted)

'ID 35

Grand total, 63.

Navires Cuirasses de Ire Classe.

Pr. Amedeo

Palestro

Roma

Ancona

Maria Pia

Castelfidardo

San-Martino

Affondatore

N.

Gio. Bausan

To mount 100-

ton guns.

Navires Cuirassbs de 2e Classe. Etna Vesuvio

Torquay, November 13th.

Four

pro-

are

sumed the lead.

8, Dalhousie-terrace, Edinburgh,

November 17th.

[For continuation of Letters see page 368.]

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

[We do not hold ourselves responsible for the opinions of our correspondents.]

THE ROYAL INDIAN ENGINEERING COLLEGE.

Sir,—There is an advertisement in your last issue—November 14th—headed as above, but stating that the course of study is arranged to fit an engineer for employment in Europe, India, or the Colonies. Further, that sixty students will be admitted in September, 1885, and that for competition the Secretary of State will offer fifteen appointments in the Indian Public Works Department, and two in the Indian Telegraph Department. Now precisely the same advertisement is appearing in the Bristol papers, and therefore presumably in the local papers throughout the whole country. Were it not for this fact I would not trouble you with this letter, but I feel it to be my duty to the local college with which I am for the time connected to make an attempt to point out to what this enterprise is clearly tending, in wliat position the Government stands with regard to it, and to humbly offer a suggestion or two.

When about the year 1870 the project was formed for establishing the Cooper’s Hill College, it was said to be distinctly with the object of providing trained engineers for the Indian Civil Service. Even then the Government of India wrote to the Duke of Argyle, as Secretary of State for India, a letter in which were the following words :—“ We consider the success of such a college to be a matter of very great uncertainty, that it must be regarded as an experiment, and that we have great doubts that any real necessity exists for its immediate establishment.” And further on, “ The institution—that is, the proposed Indian Engineering College—in short, would in our judgment be distinctly condemned if it could not be conducted on what would be an entirely self-supporting basis.” In addition to this, the Institution of Civil Engineers addressed to the Duke of Argyle a vigorous protest against the proposed establishment of the College. Yet in spite of this the scheme was carried into operation, and, moreover, was specially maintained by the Indian Government—vide second report of the Royal Commissioners on Technical Education, Yol. I., p. 413—though each young man sent out to India cost no less than £321 to educate. The project in its original form has signally failed, and now mark the result. The numbers of the students having fallen to an alarming extent, notwithstanding the fact that the staff consisted of, and still consists of, men of the very highest rank, both as teachers and of science, and who might be safely trusted to make the system of education all that could be desired, the College was, rather more than two years ago, thrown open to students training for the engineering profession generally. It was, therefore, by this course placed on exactly the same footing as any other engineering college, but with two important exceptions:—(1) That the Cooper’s Hill College is supported by the taxpayer. (2) That very heavy inducements are offered as prizes to students to enter, in the shape of Government appointments.

In spite of this, however, the number of students was, a short time ago, only two-thirds of that which could be received, and in order to increase, or even maintain the number, an extensive and likewise expensive system of advertisements is necessary nearly a year in advance. Meanwhile the investment of capital goes on. A mechanical laboratory, costing £2000, has just been instituted; other laboratories have been doubled in size and a handsome for drawing constructed, and the Government thereby committed to a greater extent each year to support the establishment.

Now, what in plain English is the real state of the case? It appears to be this: (1) Local engineering schools supported by private effort are quite competent to supply engineering education of the highest kind; and, indeed, even now, threaten to raise the supply above the demand. (2) Yet the supporters of those colleges are taxed to maintain a far more expensive rival system not only of education, but of advertisements, that must result in taking students from those colleges, and in tho end inflict certain injury to them in such an obviously unequal struggle. (3) There is, moreover, no logical reason that can be adduced why the Government should train engineers for private employment any more than members of any other profession. Yet, since only seventeen appointments are offered for 1885, this is what is done for 70 per cent, of the sixty students who will enter Cooper’s Hill in that year. (4) I therefore venture to suggest the following way out of the awkward dilemma in which such an anomalous state of things must place a right-minded and honourable body of men like those in authority.

Reduce at once the scale on which the Royal Indian Engineering College is maintained—making, of course, suitable compensation to those of the staff thus temporarily inconvenienced by this change—so as to provide for no more than the seventeen candidates required for the Indian Civil Service, allowing, perhaps, a small margin in case of accidents. Then, throw open the appointments for competition to all engineers, with proper limits as to age, &c., and let the examinations be of as strict and searching a nature as can be reasonably devised. If there be not an abundant supply of first-rate men, who can successfully compete with those of Cooper’s Hill, then by all means maintain the system—i.c., let the Indian Government do so—but if, on the other hand, there should be such a supply, then the right thing to be done is obvious^ and need not be suggested by

University College, Bristol, November 17th.

THE CARNAC ROOF STRESSES.

Sir,—In a communication which appears in your current number, I find that Mr. D. B. Rabadina makes the curious statement that I treated the Didcot and other roof for stress “by assuming 45 lb. per square foot for dead and accidental load on the authority of M. Levy.” Now, if Mr. Rabadina had read my articles more closely and critically he would have learnt from the Bristol and Cardiff paper, June 20th, 1884, to which he refers, that I had only then recently consulted Levy’s work, and found in it an A fortiori argument in support of my views on wind pressures. Also he will find it there stated that M. Levy adopts the lower pressures of 28 lb. and 33 lb. per square foot for similar roofs. It is therefore somewhat hard to conceive how Mr. Rabadina came to the conclusion that I had, from the beginning, relied upon Levy for a 45 lb. load. The fact of the matter is, as I have before stated in your columns, that I adopted the 45 lb. load as a maximum, only after making most diligent inquiries in the proper quarter, as to the dead weight on these particular roofs, and not then till I had made an independent calculation of the wind pressure, which satisfied me that the 45 lb. load was in excess of the actual load per square foot.

With regard to the remainder of the contribution, I fear that the distribution of wind forces materially differs from mine—at least, in principle if not in effect. For instance, the normal and vertical wind pressure components are not found by the same decomposition of forces. The whole difference lies in the answer to this question, Is the absolute horizontal wind pressure, before it has been resolved in any direction whatever, and merely after it has been proportionately reduced in intensity, so as to permit it being applied over a larger surface, less on that account an absolute force? Clearly not; thereupon this reduced horizontal wind force, which spreads itself in two directions, one normal the other parallel to the rafter, must be resolved on tho assumption that it is an absolute, not a competent, force. Now the decomposition of forces, used by Mr. Rabadina, assumes that the normal is the absolute and the horizontal reduced pressure a component force, in which respect, therefore, it differs more than “ slightly ” from my distribution of wind forces.

To set at rest, however, the minds of some young student engineers who for a long time past—so it has been whispered to me— have seen sorely perplexed by this question, I would add that the results obtained by the method of distribution, adopted in this

instance by Mr. Rabadina and on a former occasion by Mr. Edmonds, would differ in effect from my results only by being slightly in excess. The method, therefore, is perfectly safe and practically applicable, insomuch that it would add an insignificant amount to the strength of the structure, which might serve as a useful margin in countries like India, occasionally visited by cyclones.    R. H. Graham.

November 18th.    _

THE NAVY.

class of battle ships, that commanding position.” T ment with the list I send you for publication—from official sources —added to which nineteen of our most modern battle ships are only armoured about one-third the length of their water-line, and the guns of our fleet are mostly obsolete muzzle-loaders; while the French ships are armoured the whole length, and their guns are all breech-loaders.

A List of the French and English Armour-clads, officially given in the French Navy Estimates, Exercise 1885, pp. 1700-1712, 3, and English Parliamentary Return January 1st, 1884, Estimates for 1884-85. For Armament, Armour, and other Particulars, Admiralty List, May, 1881, and “ The British Navy,” by Sir T. Brassey, Vol. i.

'Neptune Formidable Hocho Brennus - Magenta Charles Martel Margeau Requin ^Iiidomp table

Dugnesclin

Sultan

Superb

/Admiral Baudin Furieux Terrible Caiman

Ships Fitted. Admiral Duperre Devastation Foudroyant Redoubtable Friedland Fulminant Tonnere Colbert Marengo Ocban Richelieu Suffron Trident Savoie Revanche Surveillante Valoureuso Heroine Couronno

/Vauban

Bayard

Turenne

La Gallissonnifero J Triomphante I Victorieuso Alma Atalanta Reine Blanche Thetis

Belleislo

Devastation

Glatton

Gorgon

Hydra

Cyclops

Hecate

Princo Albert

. 4 (Arroganto .2.jg \ Implacable © 3 /Opini/ltre Sjj \Embuscado /Protectrice ^ (.Refuge

French, 59 Armourclads.

Canonnibres Cuirassdes. , l Achbron O J Cocyte jj, g j Phlegeton g¹⁻¹ (Styx

Flammo Fusee Grenade Mitraille Grand total, 67.

The above names, being taken from official recognised sources, are a certainty.

Names of the Italian Fleet, from “ Carnet de l’Officier de Marine,” p. 190, a.d. 1884.

'Ruggiero di Lauria Francesco Morosini Duilio J Dandolo ") Andred Doria Italia Lepanto

Formidabilo

Terribile

Varese

Total French and Italians, 89. English 63.

Admiral of the Fleet,

Thomas Symonds.

TIDAL ACTION.

Sir,—So far as the points at issue between Mr. Boult and myself are concerned, there is, I think, much of the information which he appears to require in the article on “Estuaries” which you publish in your last week’s issue, from the pen of the late lamented Mr. W. R. Browne. Without, however, admitting identity of opinion with that gentleman on very much of what he says, I beg to invite Mr. Boult to peruse that article.

I discover from his last letter that he does not dispute the generally accepted explanation of the origin of the two great primary tidal waves; then it should be very easy for him to see that, since high and low water alternately succeed each other at intervals of about six hours, it must be impossible, owing to the quantity and distribution of the land, for primary waves of great moment to be generated in the northern hemisphere. If the earth would only rotate much more slowly, so as to allow the water timq to run round the various continents in the northern hemisphere, from ocean to ocean, and keep up with the producing force, then primary waves would be produced which would astonish Mr. Boult, and in the very antipodes of Van Diemen’s Land, about which he talks; but as land and water are at present distributed, he must see that his question was absurd. In the southern hemisphere, however, we have a great expanse of water, with far less to hinder the development of the primary waves, and consequently, though still greatly affected by varying depth and barriers projecting from the north, these two heaps are produced, and sweep round the southern portion of the globe in the direction contrary to its rotation.

I have drawn a distinction between these two irregular heaps of water and the waves arising from them, which are cut off by projecting continents as the earth rotates, and here Mr. Boult encounters a difficulty which I will attempt to explain. The primary wave differs from a true wave undulation inasmuch as it is controlled by the forces which produce it, and it is consequently constrained to move mainly in the direction these forces take in relation to the earth’s rotation. I do not desire, however, to assert dogmatically that these heaps are not waves; it should satisfy Mr. Boult if I say that in this they differ from the tides we know in the greater part of the northern hemisphere, which are simply offshoots from these primary heaps superimposed upon and consequently slightly modified by the tiny primary upheavals and depressions produced in the northern hemisphere. Now when one of these primary waves comes opposite the southern opening of the Indian, Atlantic, or Pacific oceans, it tends to extend towards the equator; consequently, it flows northward, and at the same time—in virtue of its original impulse—westward, till a portion of . it cut off by the projecting continent of Africa, South America, or Australia, and this detached portion forthwith “ becomes .    . .

simply .... a monster wave,” an offshoot of the primary heap, but no longer dependent upon or materially influenced by the sun and moon’s resultant attraction.

Just here it strikes me that the primary wave will be almost entirely intercepted by the continent of South America, which projects southward almost into Antarctic regions. We may therefore only expect small tides in the waters off the west coast of the South American continent, and so with the southern projections of the other continents; while on the south-east coasts of the same, the wave impinging more directly, will, generally speaking, give more ample tides there.

The article on “Estuaries” which you publish is very interesting, and replete with useful facts. There seems to be about as much already known on the subject of scour, &c., as affected by the various disturbances to which the water of estuaries is subject as can be got at by observation, without the aid and guidance of truer hypotheses to replace some of the simple but wretched theories generally accepted by hydraulicians, and enable them to direct their observations and experiments by more perfect ratiocination.

Widnes Foundry, Widnes,    R. SNOWDON.

November 18th.    -

THE FORTH BRIDGE.

Sir,—From a personal inspection of this great work, so far as it has progressed, I consider the pneumatic method of laying the caisson foundations very ingenious; and when they are entirely filled in with concrete from the bed of the rock upwards, the foundation will resemble solid stone with an outer lining of steel. The original drawing given in The Engineer only had two caissons for the double ends or cantilevers of the great and half arch. It certainly presented a very startling appearance, caissons have now been adopted, giving it a much broader base to throw out the cantilevers from. I notice that about forty-two miles of plates have to be bent for the tubular compression members. They seem to be very cruelly treated; they are heated and then bent, and receive a final bending process when cold. We should have ordered, under the circumstances, the plates to be bent at the mills, and they would retain their original strength and shape. As regards the whole structure sliding on the lower bed-plate to meet the expansion and contraction, I must express grave doubt. Were the two surfaces accurately planed and perly lubricated, this, no doubt, would take place; but with rough surfaces the slightest irregularity will cause abrasion, which will hold like a vice; and, moreover, the cold, damp salt-water mists will play sad havoc with the rubbing surfaces, which the force of expansion would fail to move. At the new Clyde Viaduct, in a length of 376ft., the observed range is 2in. What will it be on these spans of 1700ft.? Well, I say about 10in.; or does the middle cantilever push the end ones, weighing about 12,000 tons, the distance of 10in., while the force of contraction draws it back again. The rubbing surfaces under the circumstances would require to be kept in first-rate order, but which I consider impracticable. The damp mists penetrate the’smallest opening between metallic plates, and so far as I have observed rust soon sets in, which finally settles all sliding action. From the peculiar form of the pyramidal cantilevers, I consider the expansion will take place in a level line, and I hope some other means to meet this expansion will be otherwise shown than that provided for in the sliding base plates. It is well known in these parts that we have looked upon the Forth Bridge as an obstructive one. Sir Thomas Bouch was pinned down to an uniform headway of 150ft. It has been shown that the two main waterways can be bridged across with two cellular bowstring bridges thrown out in cantilevers depending on weight and not on bolt fixtures, but on both if desired in the course of construction. It has likewise been shown that I provide no sliding action in my design. If in any design a wave of deflection caused by wind pressure or any undue shock given to the superstructure cannot be met with but by the instantaneous sliding action of, say, 12,000 tons, or a third of the weight, in the short space of a second or two, then I say such a viaduct is not a safe structure. In my proposal the expansion of the mass will be upwards, just the same as the expansion of the Southwark cast iron bridge. The elliptical arches of the bowstring principle rest on the foundations in a similar way as the elliptical arches of London Bridge built of granite. While I depend on the weight of the structure resting solidly on the foundation to resist the most tempestuous wind pressure averaging about 35 lb. per square foot, at the same time my chief object is to maintain the navigation of these waters free from obstruction, within 1700 of width and probably over 150ft. of uniform headway.

November 10th.    John G. Winton.

ELECTRIC LIGHT CABLES.

Sir,—In your number of 14th last, page 371, it is stated that in Greenock the electric light cables covered with lead are to be laid in a trench, having in it a layer of fine sand, and that the cables to be covered with sand to a depth of 4in. This procedure is a great mistake. Many years ago, when I was a director of the Shaw’s Water Company in Greenock, I used to watch the lifting of old lead and iron pipes out of the ground to note the kinds of soil which were best adapted for laying pipes in, and I found invariably that lead and iron pipes which had lain in sand were more corroded than pipes which had lain in clay soils. When afterwards, residing in Dumfriesshire, I met with a remarkable proof of the destructive action of sand on lead pipes. The ground around the ancient castle of Anchancas, near Moffat, was subsoil ploughed, and in doing this lead pipes were discovered which had supplied the castle with water. Through correspondence with an eminent antiquary, I learned that the peculiar construction of these lead pipes was the same as that of lead pipes made in the twelfth century. Now, the parts of these pipes which had lain in peat moss were as good as on the day they were put in the ground hundreds of years ago, while all the parts of the pipes which had passed through a bed of sand had entirely disappeared; the sand had con-

James Johnstone.

F.ESISTAACm WEIGHT DIAMETER

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Supplement to THE ENGINEER, November 21, 1884.

DIAGRAM FOR FINDING THE SECTIONAL AREA OF ELECTRIC CONDUCTORS.

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anonymous

Mustard.

continuance of the enormously elaborate and costly clerical staff, which exists in dockyards, to which there is nothing corresponding in private shipbuilding establishments, and for which there is no need in the public shipbuilding service. In all matters of the providing of stores, the payment of the men, and the conduct of the work on the building of ships, the responsibility finally rests upon the chief shipbuilding or engineering officer. From him must originate all the information which is embodied in the ponderous volumes of the storekeeper, the cashier, or the accountant, whose highly-paid clerks write up fairly in leather-bound books information which they can neither understand nor verify. It would be interesting to have a comparison made between the cost of the clerical staff, say of Pembroke Dockyard, and that of a private establishment employing twice as many men. We mention Pembroke because that is exclusively a shipbuilding yard. If we

be told that it is a great naval arsenal, and that quently all these expensive luxuries, as we consider them, real necessities ; but Pembroke exists for shipbuilding, and why it should be saddled with the cost of a naval superintendent, an accountant, a cashier, and a staff of clerks whose united salaries exceed many times over the salaries paid to the shipbuilding officers, we entirely fail to understand. Incidental charges would become less in not less “ obscure,” if reforms

are

were

occupied in most establishments, whilst at Elswick the special study of the questions relating to guns and gun mountings was leading to a continuous course of improvement and securing a practical monopoly of orders. There is no other cause to be assigned for the fact that Elswick stands alone in England at the present time in these manufactures, and the Committee have not displayed their usual discrimination in this case, or they would not have left it to be inferred that some action on the part of the Admiralty beyond that already taken was needed to encourage other makers to enter into competition with

FOREIGN AGENTS FOR THE SALE OF THE ENGINEER.

PARIS.—Madame Boyveau, Rue de la Banque.

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NEW YORK.—The Willmer and Rogers News Company, 81, Beekman-street.

PUBLISHER’S NOTICE.

*#* With this week's number is issued as a Supplement, a Two-page Diagram for Finding the Sectional Area of Electric Conductors. Every copy as issued by the Publisher contains this Supplement, and subscribers are requested to notify the fact should they not receive it.

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A. S.—The only way to get such an appointment seems to lie in applying to firms making locomotives for export. You might obtain some information by applying to the Consuls in London. Their addresses can be found in the Directory.

J. S.— Wilson’s rule is practically right. Locomotive type boilers have smaller grates than Lancashire boilers, because they as a rule work with a stronger draught and bum a different class of fuel. Small coal is quite unsuitable for use in ordinary fire-box boilers.

J. B. D. (Stockwell Park).—Your letter on the Rocket contains no information that we have not already published. The Rocket in South Kensington has little or nothing of the original engine, save the shell of the boiler, about it. The fire-box is a sham one of sheet iron, the wheels are comparatively modem, the connecting rods of wood. It supplies little or no information concerning the original appearance of the engine, and is practically worthless for the purposes of the present discussion, which is not whether the original Rocket was or was not like Mr. Nasmyth’s sketch—because it certainly was not like it—but whether or not a second and improved Rocket was built for and used on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway in the year 1830. One section of our correspondents assert that no second Rocket was on the line during the period named, another section assert that there was such an engine—a contemporary of the Northumbrian—and both parties seem to be equally positive.

MUSTARD MACHINERY.

(To the Editor of The Engineer.)

Sir,—I shall feel obliged if any of your correspondents can give me the name of the maker of machinery used in the grinding and other processes in the manufacture of mustard.

Lincoln, November 17th.

8UB8CRIPTION8.

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MEETINGS NEXT WEEK.

The Institution of Civil Engineers.—Friday, Nov. 21st, at 7.30 p.m.: Students’ meeting. Paper to be read and discussed, “ Water Supply, Sewerage and Sewage Disposal Works at Wellington College,” by Mr. Sidney R. Lowcock, Stud. Inst. C.E. Tuesday, Nov. 25th, at 8 p.m.: Ordinary meeting. Paper to be further discussed, “ Electric Lighting for Steamships,” by Mr. A. Jamieson, Assoc. M. Inst. C.E., F.R.S.E.

Society of Telegraph Engineers and Electricians.—Thursday, Nov. 27th: Council meeting at 7 p.m., ordinary general meeting at 8 p.m. Adjourned discussion on the following papers :—“ On the Theory of Alternating Currents, particularly in reference to two Alternate Currents Connected to the Same Circuit,” by Mr. J. Hopkinson, F.R.S., Member. “An Account of Experiments with Alternate Current Machines,” by Professor W. Grylls Adams, F.R.S., President.

Society of Arts.—Wednesday, Nov. 26th, at 8 p.m.: Second ordinary meeting. “ The International Health Exhibition,” by Mr. Ernest Hart. Thursday, Nov. 27th, at 8 p.m.: Howard Lectures. “The Conversion of Heat into Useful Work,” by Mr. W. Anderson, M. Inst. C.E. Lecture I. Introduction—the law of motion—potential and kinetic energy—laws of impact.

THE ENGINEER.

NOVEMBER 21, 1884.

LORD RAVENSWORTH’S COMMITTEE.

The Committee appointed at the end of last April, of which Lord Ravensworth was the chairman, reported to the Admiralty some time ago, but their report has only just seen the light, in the form of a parliamentary paper. It is not easy to see why the publication should have been so long delayed; but at all events, in view of the great interest now being taken in naval affairs, the appearance of the report is most opportune. The general drift of the Recommendations made by the Committee has already been made known by paragraphs communicated to the press, or by speeches delivered in public by members of the Committee. This fact somewhat detracts from the interest with which these recommendations might otherwise have been received; but it gives the greater value to the evidence tendered to the Committee, and to the documents contained in the appendix to the report. We are left in doubt as to the circumstances which caused the Committee to be appointed. If rumour may be credited, this Committee owes its origin in no small degree to the personal influence of one of its members, whose silence in Parliament was purchased at the price of an investigaiion. Further, it is not at all improbable that by granting this very limited inquiry, the Admiralty thought it might be possible to avoid the fuller and comprehensive investigation of our naval affairs which is so pressingly required. If this hope was ever entertained at the Admiralty, it is destined to be disappointed.

The instructions to the Committee were brief but comprehensive, as they originally stood. Lord Ravensworth was informed that the Committee had “ to inquire into the conditions under which contracts are invited for the building or repairing of ships, including their engines, for her Majesty’s Navy, and into the mode in which repairs and refits of ships are effected in her Majesty’s dockyards.” As the work of the Committee progressed, these instructions received a very important and possibly unlooked-for interpretation. Having dealt with contract shipbuilding and ship repairing, the Committee turned to the question of dockyard works, and then Lord Itavensworth informed his colleagues that he had been in communication with the First Lord, who distinctly objected to any discussion of the question of the administration or the management of the dockyards. Now such a limitation as this obviously precluded the possibility of the best results following from the inquiry. Shipbuilding or ship repairing in the dockyards is so much influenced by the conditions under which the professional officers have to do their work, by the naval superintendence which they have to endure, and by their relations to the numerous and highly-salaried clerical officials, that it is impossible to begin a discussion of changes which might promote efficiency without referring to dockyard administration and management. That this view of the matter is a reasonable one is to be inferred from the fact that out of the four memoranda appended to the report by different members, no less than three refer to the exclusion from the inquiry of dockyard administration. Probably this narrowing of the field of inquiry enabled more definite recommendations to be made on some points; still it left untouched what, after all, is a very important matter, namely, whether we are getting out of our national shipbuilding establishments results proportionate to the expenditure upon them. When a Royal Commission is appointed to investigate into the state of the Navy, dockyard administration and the organisation of the Admiralty will undoubtedly claim no small share of their attention.

Turning from these general considerations to the work actually done by the Committee, it may be stated that the report is presented under two great divisions—first, the building and repairing of her Majesty’s ships by contract; and, second, repairs and refits of ships. We have so recently discussed the subject of contract shipbuilding for the Navy, that it is not necessary to enter at any great length into the first section of the report. The Committee put on record the official opinion of Mr. Barnaby, that the first cost of building a ship by contract is not, on the whole, in excess of that of building a similar ship in the dockyard, if the establishment charges of the dockyard are excluded from consideration. Moreover, the Committee say that the whole question of incidental charges in the dockyards is so obscure as to render untrustworthy any comparison between the cost of shipbuilding in public and private yards. With this conclusion we entirely agree; but if Mr. Barnaby’s view is correct—and it probably is so—then, on economical grounds, a large increase in contract shipbuilding is to be desired; and such an increase is strongly recommended by the Committee for the further reasons that, “ not only would the resources of the dockyards be rendered to a greater extent than at present available for repairs and for the building of ships of an experimental type, but familiarity with the art of building war ships would be spread throughout the country.” In our previous article a similar recommendation was made, for practically identical reasons. As regards repairs to her Majesty’s ships, the Committee strongly recommend that they be not performed in private yards, because of the much greater expense incurred, as compared with what would suffice for similar work done in the dockyards. With this view also we heartily concur, and it is to be noted that only two or three firms in the country have benefitted by the occasional departure from the regular practice of the Admiralty to do their repairing work in the national establishments. Stated briefly, therefore, the Committee would diminish dockyard shipbuilding, concentrate repairs and refits in the dockyards, and increase considerably contract work on new ships. They also consider it of the utmost importance to maintain the efficiency of the dockyards, and to perform sufficient building in the dockyards to ensure constant employment and perfect familiarity, on the part of the constructors and the workmen, with the latest details of the most modern ships of war. Here, again, the Committee take a most reasonable view, and, on other grounds than those named by them, dockyard shipbuilding should undoubtedly be continued; but continued, as we maintain, under improved conditions. The shipbuilding officers in their professional work should not be hampered or controlled by naval superintendence. Sailors undoubtedly have a right to a voice in the construction of their ships, and to their armament and fittings; but the red tape, which prescribes that every letter written on a technical subject by a chief constructor in a dockyard to his official superior at the Admiralty should pass through the hands of a naval superintendent who simply forwards and countersigns a document which he, in many cases, does not understand, cannot reasonably be maintained, nor can there be any justification for the

took Portsmouth, we should conse-amount, even if they were

made in the directions indicated, not merely at Pembroke, but in all the dockyards.

The Committee state that, as regards the quality of contract work performed under Admiralty supervision, there is unanimous testimony that it is in no way inferior to that performed in the dockyards. This statement will not surprise anyone familiar with the subject, but it is important to have it on record, as statements of an opposite kind are not unfrequently made, and in some quarters it seems to be assumed that the bad work which marked the gunboats built by contract during the Crimean War fairly represented the quality of the work done generally. Another clause in the report deals with the question of the supervision exercised over contract work by the Admiralty overseers. This clause is, in our judgment, one of the least satisfactory in the report, because it leaves untouched the vital defect in the present system. We quite endorse the Committee’s opinion, that the functions of the overseers are discharged discreetly and conscientiously; but we contend that the overseers have so little freedom of action, even in matters of minute detail, that they cannot do justice to themselves or facilitate the progress of the work. On this point we spoke fully in a previous article, and need not repeat what was then said. The Committee make another statement with which we thoroughly sympathise. They say: “ While fully acknowledging the necessity of keeping ships of war abreast of the most modern improvements, we are of opinion that it is desirable to discontinue the system of endeavouring to adapt every ship to the latest improvements, whether in gunnery or mechanical appliances, that may arise during the period she is under construction;” and they add, “We consider that the gain to the naval strength of the country by the more rapid completion of vessels possessing fittings of the most approved type at the time they were designed would more than counterbalance any advantage that might be gained by adopting the latest improvement at the cost of serious delay during the construction of the ship.” If these opinions could be made the basis of our policy of war-ship construction, the advantage to the naval service would be immense. Another notable passage in the report is that in which the Committee say, “We have it in evidence that undesirable results have attended the acceptance of inordinately low tenders made by firms not possessing the necessary experience, and, while advocating the general extension of the practice of building by contract, they consider that regard should be paid to the character and experience of the firms who may submit offers rather than to the apparent economy which might result from the acceptance of an estimate based upon an insufficient acquaintance with the requirements that will be exacted.” Here, again, we cordially agree with the Committee.

The final clauses of the first section of the report deal with the question of delays occurring in the completion of ships on account of the unsettled nature of the armament, and the aggravation of the difficulty in recent years by the changes in guns and gun mountings, the introduction of torpedoes, &c. No exception can be taken to the manner in which the ruling conditions are set out, but the other remarks, made under the head of armament, scarcely appear to be either fair or in their proper place in such a report. The Committee allude to the fact that the Admiralty exclusively employ one eminent firm for all hydraulic mountings and loading appliances for the heavy guns of the Navy, and they recommend that encouragement should be given to the general engineering talent of the country to design, manufacture, and supply the carriage and hydraulic arrangements for working and loading the guns. Now, it would have been worth while for the Committee, after entering upon the discussion of this subject, to have treated it a little more fully. They would then have had to say that Sir Wm. Armstrong and Co. have attained their present position by means of exhaustive experiments and an enormous outlay upon the special workshops and plant of Elswick. There has been nothing to prevent the “ general engineering talent of the country ” from designing, manufacturing, and supplying guns and gun mountings, except the fact that this “general engineering talent” was otherwise

a com-

engineers

carrying out large works, and establishing a reputation of their own, are ready to assert that not only can Cooper’s Hill turn out perfect engineers, but that a good engineer cannot be produced without a Cooper’s Hill training, or without passing through a somewhat similar curriculum elsewhere—then, and not till then, will we he convinced that practical training is entirely a secondary consideration. But this is just what the engineers have not asserted, and will not assert. The Institution has spoken very clearly and explicitly on this point. Its members, of course, do not object to the highest possible training in “ book engineering ” being imparted to young menj; but they leave it to those who earn their bread by teaching to clamorously assert that it is needless to ask for more than books can impart. Even these gentlemen begin to see that something more than is found within the covers of a volume is indispensable, and a workshop—we beg pardon, a mechanical laboratory—has been recently established at Cooper’s Hill, at a cost of £2000.

In conclusion, we would say that we are very far from

we

Plentv of provisional orders have been obtained, districts hftye been mapped out, designs proposed, companies formed

Elswick. It will be convenient if we reserve further comments upon the report of the Committee to a future article, in which we shall chiefly deal with the repairs and refits of ships.

COOrER’s IIILL COLLEGE.

We were never of the number of those who advocated the establishment of the Royal Indian Engineering College at Cooper’s Hill; and all that we have from time to time urged against it has been more than justified by the events of its brief history. We publish this week a letter by Professor Hele Shaw, of University College, Bristol, which we commend to the attention of our readers. Professor Shaw shows that the College has become so far unpopular that extensive advertising is requisite to keep it even tolerably busy; and he very pertinently asked why should Government undertake to train civil engineers any more than they train lawyers or physicians? Professor Shaw, with a reticence which will be appreciated, has not attempted to explain why the College is a failure. As professor of engineering himself in what may, perhaps, be called a rival establishment, this reticence is graceful and almost necessary; but nothing of the kind operates to compel us to silence, and the only reason which has restrained us from dealing before with the questions raised by our correspondent is that we run the risk of repeating ourselves. Even this may be incurred, however, under the circumstances, and we propose here to supplement Professor Shaw’s observations with our own.

When Cooper’s Hill College was first started, the Institution of Civil Engineers explained, without any ambiguity of language, that such an educational establishment was entirely unnecessary. The reply of the Duke of Argyle was that he could not get as many trained engineers as he wanted for India; to which the obvious answer was, not that trained engineers were not to be had, but that they were not to be had at the price bid for them. We have no desire to open up the old animosity between the military and civilian members of the profession in India. No doubt exists, however, that the latter were unfairly and hardly treated as compared with the former, not so much in the matter of pay, as in pensions, leave of absence, terms of service, allowances, rank, and such like. The Indian Government—or at all events, the Duke of Argyle—held that it would be cheaper to establish a school than to pay proper salaries to good men; and Cooper’s Hill was started against the advice of those most competent to pronounce an opinion. Atfirstalargenumberof Indian appointments were thrown open to competition, and the College filled ; but, as might readily have been foreseen, the supply outstripped the demand the moment retrenchment took place in India, and the College, with an expensive staff, is now kept up, and has been kept up for some time, in order to educate about fifteen young men for service in the East. The originators of the scheme by no means liked to confess that they had made a mistake. It is easily understood that the members of the staff have no particular desire to see theCollege broken up. It was therefore decided some two years ago that, although the Indian appointments were necessarily so few, a large number of students would still be taken, and it was believed that the public would flock to Cooper’s Hill. It happened, however, to be known that the education there was frightfully expensive. At the beginning it was pretty clearly understood that every young man trained there, in return for the £700 or £‘800 which that training cost his parents, was almost certain to get an Indian Government appointment. In one sense of the word, the Cooper’s Hill man was provided for for life. When it was made manifest that only a small percentage of pupils could win this position, the whole aspect of affairs was changed, and parents and guardians thought twice before sending their sons to so costly an establishment. It is to be noted that the great expense of a training at Cooper’s Hill lay not alone in the fees, but in the manner of living of the pupils. The style of the place—its very atmosphere, so to speak—all conduced to outlay. There was as much difference between Cooper’s Hill in this respect, and such a college as that in which Mr. Shaw is professor of engineering, as there is between Eton and the City of London School, or between the mess of a crack cavalry regiment and that of a regiment of the line ; and all this, be it observed, in no shape or way affected the scientific training imparted at Cooper’s Hill. No doubt men were well taught—they are well taught there now— but just as good a training can be had in half-a-dozen other engineering colleges which we need not name. All these things told against the College, and it has so far fallen from its high estate that it has to tout for pupils, and enter indeed upon a most undignified and unworthy struggle with self-supporting institutions.

The College owed its birth to the demand for engineers for India, and with the cessation of that demand the College ought either to have been closed—as was at one time contemplated—or remodelled fully and completely. Only a very partial remodelling has taken place, however, and to a large extent all the old vices of the Cooper’s Hill system remain. It was a mistake for the Government to set up such an establishment at all; but under different methods it might have been fairly successful, entirely apart from turning out Indian engineers. As we have already explained, the College was far too expensive in its ways to be generally useful. Indeed, parents thought twice, however rich they might be, before sending their sons to an establishment where moderation in the spending of money was the last thing thought of. It was essentially a rich man’s College; and although, as we have said, things are not quite what they were at Cooper’s Hill, it remains an institution where education cannot be had at a cheap rate. But there was more than this against the College. Somehow Cooper’s Hill men never turned out quite first-rate ; and when they arrived in India they were practically useless. They did not really supply the want which then existed. No attempt whatever was made to give a practical training in this country. Men were taught from books to be engineers by men who were not themselves engineers, and who—we speak with all due deference— knew nest to nothing practically about engineering. So apparent was the deficiency of the training, that at paratively early period in the history of the College arrangements were made with certain leading firms to give the pupils six months’ practical training in office routine and workshop practice. This was, of course, better than nothing, but very little. The truth is that a radical defect exists in the entire system of education; it aims at far too much. All that is heard by outsiders concerning the merits of the College comes from men who, having no practical experience whatever, are quite unfit to pronounce an opinion one way or another. To these gentlemen, books, if properly emptied into the heads of pupils, are competent to make engineers. They might, of course, as well assume that a treatise on equitation would enable a man to ride straight to hounds, or that Greener’s book on guns would teach a man to bring down a brace of snipe with his right and left-hand barrels on a windy day. Books and colleges and professors are competent to teach about one-half, or perhaps a little less, of what an engineer should know, and the other half must be learned in actual work. If the choice lies between a good training in a college, or in an engineer’s office wherein books are a secondary consideration, there can be no question which is the better of the two. Of course we know that this will be regarded as heterodox and retrograde; but before we are condemned, we would ask our critics,—Who is it that attaches the highest value to theoretical instruction; by whom are the merits of such a training as Cooper’s Hill gives belauded ? The answer is plain,—by professors and others specially engaged and specially interested in educational work. It is not easy to lay hands at this moment on any of the engineers really at the top of the profession who have had anything in the least degree resembling the training which it is now-a-days the fashion of those who know least about real engineering to assert is absolutely indispensable. None of the great work done up to a comparatively recent period was accomplished by highly trained men, according to the Cooper’s Hill sense of the term. When who have been themselves successful in deprecating the education of engineers in theory, and willingly admit that it is, perhaps, impossible to find men better able to instruct in this than the professors of engineering in our colleges; but much more than this is required, and no persons are more ready to admit it than some of the ablest professors of engineering we have. The mistake made lies not in teaching theory, but in the assumption that it can be made to supersede practice. Another mistake is to assume that the persons who insist on this are competent to pronounce any opinion whatever of value on the subject. No one is so fitted to say what the training of a youth intended to be an engineer should be as an engineer who lives by his profession ; and such men will be the first to repeat, and this as the result of long training, that an ounce of practice is worth at least a pound of theory. Cooper’s Hill can never be successful in turning out engineers, because it can teach only one half what they ought to know, and charges as much for that half as should suffice for the whole, and this is beginning to be thoroughly understood by parents and guardians.

THE PROGRESS OF ELECTRIC LIGHTING.

Yesterday a deputation of electric lighting engineers waited on Mr. Chamberlain to confer with him on the modification of certain clauses in the Electric Lighting Act. Whether this interview will have much effect remains to be seen. We much doubt, however, that any change in the law can touch the core of the matter. Electric lighting is at present in a very anomalous position. So far as the establishment of a house-to-house system of lighting is concerned, it makes no progress whatever’. Indeed, the movement is rather in a retrograde direction, for installations, such as the Edison Company’s in Holborn, which were established, have been closed. On the other band, good work is being done in lighting individual buildings, such, for example, as the new Law Courts, Eberle’s Hotel in Victoria-street, and the First Avenue Hotel in Holborn ; while at no time has so much arc lighting been done in docks, railway stations, ironworks, &c. A great deal of incandescent lighting, too, is being done in cotton mills in a quiet way, the dynamo machines being driven by bands from the mill engines, which run, as is well known, with unsurpassed regularity. The electric light, whether incandescent or arc, is completely successful in a mechanical and scientific point of view. There are no longer two opinions about its merits. To what then must its failure as a district light be attributed ? This is the precise question that is at the present moment engaging the attention of all those who are interested in electricity. Curiously enough,there is nothing like a general consensus of opinion on the subject, and that being the case, it is perhaps too much to expect that there can be unity of action.

As we have seen, the question at issue has narrowed itself to this,—Why cannot district lighting be established ?

—these last on paper—but nothing has come of it all. On the one hand, it is urged that the Electric Lighting Act has proved simply fatal to the novelty it was supposed it would foster and cherish; on the other hand, it is advanced that legislation has nothing to do with the matter, and that the true secret of non-adoption by the public lies in the fact that electric lighting cannot be made to pay. It is quite possible that both arguments are right; but the influence of the Electric Lighting Act may be wholly neglected if it can be shown that, Act or no Act, electric lighting cannot be a commercial success. We fear that this is a fact, and that a great deal has yet to be done in the way of cutting down expense before commercial success can be obtained. Mr. Edison is a very clever inventor, but it does not appear that he, more than any one else, can achieve impossibilities ; and it is now fully understood that the system of lighting with which he is identified is the most expensive in existence. We need not stop to say a word in praise of the beauty of incandescent lighting, but like most other beautiful things, it is frightfully costly. The aesthetic craze which agitated men’s minds a couple of years ago, brought to the knowledge of middle-class folk with moderate incomes much about which they knew nothing before. One of the very first things they found out was that high art furniture, and draperies, and wall-papers, to say nothing of dadoes, and pictures, and blue china, cost a tremendous lot of money. The apostles of sweetness and light had overlooked this little difficulty. Incandescent lighting must be classed, we fear, not only with blue china, but even with pictures; and until it can be cheapened enough to be acceptable to the average householder, legislation can affect its adoption one way or another very little indeed. Why incandescent lighting should be so costly we shall explain in a few words presently. Let us first prove that it is expensive. It may be asserted that in New York, with gas costing 9s. 2d. a thousand feet, and with Edison himself on the spot to advise, incandescent lighting ought to succeed, if it is to succeed at all. In 1882 Edison opened the First District illuminating station. He undertook to light an area of a little under one-fourth of a square mile, and the capital was found by the firm of Drexel, Morgan, and Co. Last month there were 12,540 lamps up, the number having gradually risen from 2323 lamps, with which the undertaking commenced. The mains were all laid under Mr. Edison’s own eye, so to speak, and he did all he knew how to do to make the speculation a success; but the result, notwithstanding the enormous price of gas, has been disastrous. The cost of fitting out the district has been £200,000, and the actual receipts last year were £6000 in excess of the outlay, which is about £16,000 a year. This means about 3 per cent, on the capital; but then no allowance is made for contingencies, and it does not need much explanation to show that a return of 3 per cent, in such an undertaking as this is simply ridiculous. In fact, the profit, if there was any, was generally nominal. The average life of the lamps seems to have been 400 hours only, or about one-tenth of the durability claimed for Swan lamps. Our contemporary, the Statist, in dealing with this question, points out that it is impossible that a 16-candle incandescent lamp can cost less than a 7ft. gas jet, with gas at 5s. a thousand. If this be the case in London, then electric lighting must cost nearly twice as much as gas—which is of course fatal.

Are we to assume that this state of affairs must always endure? We venture to think not. In the first place, if half as much energy had been expended on arc lighting as has been devoted to the incandescent system, the whole subject would stand to-day on a different footing. There are great possibilities in store for arc lighting, and this is beginning to be found out in the United States. The great foe to house-to-house lighting is that the demand is so variable, and that there seems to be no possible means of controlling it. Thus, although, as we have seen, Edison had no fewer than 12,540 lamps fitted, the largest number ever going at one time was about 5500 only. The average duration of lighting per day referred to the whole of the plant, was only about two hours. If we compare the effect of this on a central electric lighting station with that on a central gasworks, we can at once appreciate what it involves. The gasworks run steadily day and night, the gas-holders acting as fly-wheels, so to speak, and intercepting irregularities in demand. If there is a steady falling off in the requirements of the public, as, for instance, in summer, then one or more benches of retorts are disused; with the advent of long nights more retorts are charged; but the plant in action is always worked to the best advantage. The electric lighting station, on the other hand, has nothing to intercept or control fluctuations in demand, and a plant adequate to feed a couple of thousand lamps may have to be kept going to supply a few dozen. Let us suppose that fifty houses in a street are lighted. At midnight all the lights are out, save in one house, where a dancing party is being given, which does not break up till dawn. The whole of the plant provided to supply fifty houses has to be kept burning to light up one house. Nay, more. Lights are kept going in the bedroom of a sick person all night. The station must keep at work to supply this light. The cost of a few lamps burned in this way must be reckoned up in pounds per hour. Of course it may be urged that this can be got over. We do not deny that it can, but it has not yet been got over. The storage battery promised to make electric lighting by incandescence a success, but it has not kept its promise, simply because there is no good storage battery at present in use. We say this with a full knowledge that there are storage batteries which have attained a fair measure of success,but theydo not seem to satisfy electricians in general. We stated months ago in these pages that commercial success was not to be expected for incandescent electric lighting without the aid of storage batteries,and nothing has since happened to make us change our opinion. It is, we repeat, absolutely essential either so to construct a central establishment that variations in supply will not injuriously affect its flexible arrangements, or else to introduce, between the consumers and the producers some regu. Jfttop which will equalise the demand on engines and

vehicles as well as the five rear ones been fitted with a good continuous brake, it is highly probable that the result of the accident would have been far less serious than it was.”

dymamo machines no matter what the fluctuations in the great depth. The furrow slice was very wide—indeed, requirements of the public.    | much wider than seems to be necessary, and it would

appear that the plough is certainly not adapted for ploughing deeper than six inches. However, it will be According to the Agricultural Reporter to the Govern- I experimented with fully in the black cotton soils of ment of Madras, in his annual statement, which has just Bellary, to which place the plough has been sent by reached us, the demand for improved implements and Messrs. Massey and Co., the local agents of the Ipswich tools at the Saidapet Experimental Farm was greater last firm. Even without the improvements which are found year than in any previous year since the farm was opened, to be desirable, the ploughs exhibit a considerable advance so that it was, unfortunately, impossible to supply all that on any English ploughs yet sent to India for the use of were applied for. We are told that efforts were made to ryots, induce private firms and individuals to manufacture agricultural implements and tools, but these efforts do not

IMPLEMENTS AND TOOLS FOR INDIA.

THE STAGNATION IN SHIPBUILDING.

,    ....    ,    ,    COLLIERY EXPLOSION FUNDS.

Endt aTw on” in that part oVlndTa, andblre the

industry can be carried on successf ully a considerable capi- sum /f’about £30)0oo 8Urplus, arising from the Oaks Colliery tal must be sunk m providing the necessary machines, Explosion Fund raised in 1866, for the relief and support of 658 tools, and other appliances. Messrs. Massey and Co., persons who were rendered destitute by the deaths of 365 men engineers, of Madras, have shown a good deal of enter- and boys who were killed in that explosion. As this was the prise in setting apart a portion of their works for the largest fund ever raised in relation to such an accident, a few manufacture of agricultural implements, machines, tools, facts relative to its working cannot fail to be read with interest.

,    &c., and these gentlemen are now engaged in this new The committee, in making their appeal at the time the fund was

industry with a good prospect of establishing it on organised, estimated that no less a sum than £75,000 would be a sound basis. Messrs. Oakes and Co., of Madras, required to meet all the claims. This clear sum was come to by are also now engaged in the trade, having become the working of the Lundhill Colliery Relief bund formed in the local agents for several extensive firms of imple- Ujg for the support o92 widows 3 orphans, and 217 fatherless •    c.    ni i .•    r, • c    children : when 20 widows and 52 children were on the fund

meat    manufacturers.    Dr. Dhanakoti    Raju    of    the o £10’43 2s 4d> remained in hand. The total amount rai8ed

Tangal Works, Saidapet, has begun to manufacture iron . ^he Oaks Fund Committee was £48,747, nearly £15,000 was ploughs ; and A. bankaralingum Anchory, a locksmith of    subscribed by noblemen, and £5593    in sums of not    less than

Dindigul, is now also engaged in the work. It was hoped    £50 each>    The claimants thrown on    the fund at the    first were

that Messrs. Groves and Co., agricultural engineers, of made up of 68 men, 248 women, and 374 children. At the close Coonoor, would have been able to make ploughs, &c., for of 1871 the committee had expended no less a 3um than sale on the Nilgiri Hills, in Coimbatore, &c., and pattern £21,354 14s. 3d., of which £17,809 18s. 8d. was given as general ploughs were sent to them ; but the firm found that the relief, £892 10s. in marriage portions to widows who had at cost of labour and materials was too high at Coonoor to that time again engaged in matrimony. The balance in hand admit of implements being made there at the price at at that time was £34,067 13s. lid. Between the dates of the which they can he made on the plains. It is anticipated    explosion    and the end of 1871 99    widows had ceased to be

that at the Famine Orphanage, at Kareir, it will be possible    claimants    on the fund ; of these 88    had re-married    At that

t„ make up ploughs for lAl requirement.. Patierns of

ploughs lire sent from the farm on loan to any respectable ₁₈j6to the en<l of 1880,asre»t change had naturally comeover person desiring to make similar ploughs, and this privilege ^be fund. At that period there were only 2 men, 34 women, and has been availed of in several instances; while a consider- 23 children, there having been a decrease of 171 recipients in able number of ploughs have been sold as patterns. During the four years. Of the 25 females who ceased to be dependent the year there were sold from the farm, eiglity-one im- upon the fund in the five years, 6 had married, 12 died, and 7 « proved country ploughs, sixty-one Swedish ploughs, tliir- ceased to be claimants ; 2 married stonemasons, 1 a quarryman, teen single-stilted Swedish ploughs, twenty-five iron 1 a railway porter, 1 a weaver, and 1 a farm labourer. The ploughs of various kinds, eleven drag harrows, grubbers, receipts for the five years amounted to £6284 3s. Id., and the and bullock-hoes, and ninety-one parts of ploughs, expenditure £7239 17s. 3d. The excess of expenditure over At the close of the year the registered applications    was £9o:>l4s. 2d., reducing the balance in hand to

for ploughs remaining to be met included 122 ploughs *28,444 15s 3d From 1872 to 1875 the position was of course „f different kind.. The Swedish plough having prove,.

very successful m one or two districts, 2,0 were I Ther<, however, a balance in hand of £34,06713s. lid. imported, of which most were distributed over I'¹® Qf the 189 widows left by the explosion, 98 remarried from 1867 Presidency. For wet land cultivation, a compact and to 1874, viz., 2 in the first-named year, 34 in 1868, 25 in 1869, durable plough, less than 30 lb. in weight, made entirely 20 in 1870,and 17 in the four following years. Twowere married of iron, excepting the pole, has come much into favour, at the age of 19 years, and 47 between the ages of 21 and 29. The draught is within the power of an ordinary pair of No fewer than 12 widows were married at 30, and 37 between cattle. They can be made for £‘12 13s. per score. Modi- the ages of 32 and 52 years. At the present time thereare only fications have been introduced in several of the ploughs 21 persons dependent upon the fund, and as the accumulated experimented with during the year, which, it is hoped, interest had reached £2957,.the committee agreed to vote will render them more efficient and better adapted to the    to the \\ est Riding Miners Permanent Relief Fund,

This is the £500 to the Barnsley Benkett Hospital and Dispensary, £200 to the Ripon Industrial Home, and £100 to the Bradford Industrial Home, where most of the girls were trained as domestic servants.

In the North of England the question of the stagnation in the shipbuilding trades and the possibility of recovery is being largely discussed, and the chief northern journal has produced a set of figures that are of general interest. They show that whilst the tonnage of the vessels in course of construction in Great Britain was at the beginning of the year 1881 in the total about 843,000 tons, it rose in the following year to 1,264,000 tons. By the beginning of the year 1883 it fell to 1,075,000 tons, and at the commencement of the present year it fell again to 729,000 tons. Finally, in October it had decreased to 355,000 tons. These figures point to two facts—first, that there is ground for the very serious complaints as to the decay of shipbuilding ; and secondly, to the fact that that falling off is so great that it may speedily bring about its own cure. It has been supposed that there was over-production in shipping, but whether that view is accepted, or the slightly different one that the trade has fallen off, it must be concluded that now the stoppage in rapid construction is so complete as to make it clear that there will be, with the loss that is tolerably constant, an equipoise speedily attained. A year ago we were building more rapidly than the position of the trades and the Btocks in hand seemed to make it needful; now we are building less than the loss, for it is to be borne in mind that not only are the vessels the stocks fewer and less in tonnage, but the speed of construction is less. Winter will thin our fleets, and less will be added to these fleets by building, so that though the closing of certain navigations may throw idle a few vessels, yet the position with the spring will be very much improved, and there ought to be then some recovery in the shipping trade, whilst the economy that bad times enforces will have produced reductions in the cost of working; and thus the future would seem to be not altogether hopeless for the shipping trade.

FATENT-OFFICE BUSINESS.

It does not seem that all the business of the Patent-office is managed with that ability that commands the respect of those for whom it is conducted. Such matters as the hearing of objections to permission to lodge a disclaimer are apparently simple things if those who appear for applicant and objector are directed by one who has any capacity for determining the order of the hearing, and of those to be heard. It is not conducive to respect for official position that these cases should be simply got through somehow ” by those who appear in the case, and each being imbued with a strong sense of the greater importance of his own side, wants to be heard first, or whenever it may seem to him best. The official by whom such matters are conducted should be able to marshal those who appear before him so that time shall not be wasted through that want of order in the proceedings, which results from a want of perception of the nature of the case, and the way in which it should be conducted. The time of counsel and money of owners of patents are wasted, and things are said which are not conducive to good feeling, and no satisfactory result of an interview at the Patent-office is arrived at. Men who have to appear in cases of this kind are expressing strong opinions on the shortcomings of official capacity for conducting these affairs, and are asking when they are to be properly administered.

THE RECENT BURSTING OF A SIX-INCH GUN.

The bursting of a 6in. breech-loading gun on board the Active on Thursday, November 13th, was not so serious a matter • as has been represented. The gun was a new one of the pattern known as Mark II.; weight, 81 cwt. There is an order to fire a scaling charge always for the first round from a gun newly mounted to clear out any foreign matter which would cause fouling. This was in this instance omitted, and the gun was fired with a half charge of 17 lb., and presumably with a common shell weighing 1001b., and about 5ft of the muzzle end of the piece were carried bodily away. It is conjectured that the projectile was wedged and checked by some hard body lodged in the lacquer of the metal. The muzzle portion is lost. The fracture of the steel where it broke away we believe appears very good and sound. The gun was made at Elswick. Almost all guns now have this portion made of solid steel, consequently no question as to any special system is raised. It may be necessary to make tests as to the power of a small object to check the shot and burst the gun. A machine gun might project a bullet down the bore of a piece in action. What the effect would be of firing a gun with a bullet lying in the bore some way up is not known.

a Bam

VALUE OF INDEPENDENT AUTOMATIC BRAKES.

requirements of South Indian farming, legitimate work of an experimental farm, and not the manufacture of ploughs for sale. Until recently the farm was compelled to engage in the manufacture of ploughs for sale; persons desirous of introducing improved

ploughs could not procure them without incurring much i A REI,0RT to the Board of Trade by Major-General Hutchinson trouble and expense, excepting through the agency of the has been published on the accident which occurred on 3rd Sep-farm. However, as this is no longer the case, it is pro- tember between North Wootton and Wolferton stations, on the posed in future to confine the work of the farm workshops Lynn, Hunstanton, and West Norfolk Railway, worked by the chiefly to the manufacture of new implements that appear Great Eastern Railway Company. When the 4.45 p.m. passenger to be worthy of a trial, and to afford the necessary train—consisting of a tank engine running chimney first, and aid in adapting implements to the requirements of seven vehicles, five of the vehicles, but not the engine, being native agriculture, or in modifying and improving I fitted with the Mestinghouse brake—from Lynn to Hunstanton native implements. When a good pattern implement has 1 vYas run.n'ng between horth M ootton and Wolferton stations, been obtained, copies can be multiplied to any extent by the engine and all the vehicles left the rails. The train came to

Messrs. Massev and Co or anv of the firms and rest in about mne*y >’ard8 fr(?m the first mark of awheel having • v -a i u    ,. ’’ i    , mounted a rail, with the engine turned over on its right side on

LITERATURE.

individuals before mentioned, and possibly other enter- the edge of a ditch on the right side of the line, and with its prising men will before long engage in the industry. The chimney still towards Wolferton ; the first vehicle, a carriage following is a statement of the cost of making up at the truck, remained still attached to the engine, and was turned farm the four kinds of ploughs in greatest demandover on its left side with its trailing end towards Wolferton;

Single-stilted Swedish plough, £1 15s. 8|d.; improved    the second vehicle, a horse-box, was turned over on its left side

country plough, with iron stilts, 15s. lfd.; improved    across the left rail, about opposite to the front of the engine, its    Minutes of    Proceedings of the Institution    of Civil Engineers;

country plough, with wooden stilts, 15s. lOfd.; primitive    front and rear couplings having both given way ; the third and    with other Selected and Abstracted Papers. Edited by James

plough, £l Is. lOfd.    fourth vehicles, a third-class and composite carriage, were on    Foruf.st, Assoc. Inst. C.E., Secretary. Four vols., lxxv. to

Messrs. Ransome, Head, and Co., of Ipswich, sent to their left side still coupled together, but the composite separated    lxxviii. London: The Institution. 1884.

the farm ploughs of three varieties, which thev had I    ^ f short interval from the vehicle in the rear ; the fifth, sixth,    [First Notice.]

specially made to suit South Indian requirements, and    fnc\ sevent 1 velucle8>.a third-class carnage, composite, and    ^yITH0UT    any Gther evidence of the    supremacy of the

•which they were anxious to have tried at’saulapet. The    Sa”“'Institution It Civil Engineers as centred with any

ploughs ar-e distinguished as W K. S.-mrxhfied form-    «"dr-ed society i„ any part of the world, the four volumes

lv. VV. b., and W. b. It. -A. W. lfie plough W. K. b. is a Qf the train was fitted. The engine and some of the carriages before us would alone establish its unique character in this small one; it is made of wood, and has iron working parts; were not provided with the brake, and consequently could not respect. These volumes together contain no less than 2028 iHs neat and compact, and weighs only 28 lb. The plough be worked from the engine. Those carriages which were fitted pages, chiefly of original papers,fully illustrated by excellent K. W. S. is made of iron,    and    weighs 52 lb., but is without    carried wTjth them a reservoir of stored energy, and when the    engravings and lithographs. The papers read before the In-

a wheel or a coulter; these,    if added, will increase the I accident occurred this brake went on instantaneously in all    stitution aregenerally of a higher ormore complete character

weight about 121b., and    add    to the cost of the plough,    the rear coaches and did valuable work. No other brake can do    than those read before any other engineering society;

Plough W. S. It. A. W.    is a wooden plough, with iron    this, as no other carries a store of energy by which it may act    while it may without any fear of contradiction be said that

working parts; it also is well made and compact, and its    ‘fni?P^d₀e^ oftfcbf enSinf.Put ?Pon tfam'. Thls the discussions upon the papers read contain the opinions

weight is 53 lb. The soil of the field in which the case setsfortlhmia remarkable way the value of the store of com- Q£ ^ mog£ advanced and exDerienced members of the

ploughs were tried was a sandy loam in good con- I ^rcmnston’crmtj E rbe^Tled'w    profession, and this gives a higher value to them than they

dition, and was in a favourable state for ploughing. with the brakC) myay ^ wJth safety_ Iny concluding his report would, excellent as the papers may be, have without them. Plough W K. S—modified form—cut a first-class Major-General Hutchinson says “This accident must,! think, A paper with its discussion at Great George-street may be furrow, hut the plough is scarcely strong enough be attributed to the dangerous oscillation of a tank engine looked upon as containing the best information on its sub-tor ordinary work. I lough K. W. S loosens the sou very having been attained when running at a higher speed than it is ject; and some idea may therefore be formed of the value well and makes a fairly good furrow, but the draught was safe for such engines to attain. It was a fortunate thing that of the four volumes which yearly issue from the Institu-heavy, due partly to the abruptness of the mould-board the five rear carriages of the seven vehicles composing the train tion under the energetic supervision of Mr. Forrest, and to the absence of a wheel; being entirely of iron, the were fitted with the Westinghouse brake, and that the com- About two-thirds of each volume are occupied with original plough is better adapted for general use. Plough pressed air had been left in the reservoirs under these carriages papers, some of which have been read and discussed W. S. R. A. W. will plough deeply and cut a good furrow, after their arrival from Wisbech at 4.26 p.m., as either by the the remainder of each volume is filled with abstracts

^ie^&V7.lTneedL“^ in foreign - Transactions - and

jSS-SuV-fiSa orVthTautomffS', Ofpape^ead.thefourvolun^ofthese^ion 1883-4contain 1 n “ specially tor Stirling deep black cotton brake having been called into play b the BeVerance of the twelve,with more or less lengthy discussions; andassupplying m, ‘    ' one O! two trials have yet been made with it. COUpling between the fourth and fifth vehicles, the brakes were some i(lea of.tke comprehensive character of the Institution

1 le new plough has a digging breast m addition to the I applied, and were largely instrumental, no doubt, in preventing as representing all branches of civilian engineering, we will oidinary mould-hoard. >» hen working with the digging I the three rear vehicles from running in upon the front of the here give their titles. The first is on the Northern Pacific breast it turned the soil over very efficiently, hut not to a ‘ train and upon each other. Had the engine and two front Railroad; (2) The New Eddystone Lighthouse ; (3)

Electrical Conductors; (4) Adoption of Standard Forms of Test-pieces for Bars and Plates; (5) Speed on Canals; (6) Hydraulic Propulsion; (7) "Wire Gun Construction; (8) Experiments on the Composition and Destructive Distillation of Coal; (9) The Comparative Merits of "Vertical and Horizontal Engines, and on Rotative Beam Engines for Pumping; (10) The Antiseptic Treatment of Timber; (11) On the Passage of Upland Water through a tidal estuary; (12) Wood Pavements of the Metropolis.

The other selected papers—i.e., those printed, but not read—are forty-seven in number, and the relative value of papers not read and papers which have been read is not to be measured by this fact, as not only is it impossible to discuss more than about a dozen in the limited number of weekly meetings, but some of the papers contain so much of statistical or mathematical matter that reading and discussion would be difficult, and often unprofitable. The papers discussed are usually of the kind which may have their value enhanced by the expression of opinion, or criticism by men of practical experience guided by theoretic knowledge of the subject; and there is no institution where a technical subject is so fully or ably discussed as the one of which we are writing. This is a fact well appreciated by those who write papers on subjects likely to be discussed, and they are consequently more careful in what they write, and take more trouble to obtain new and trustworthy data. The value of a paper depends very much on the extent to which it is supported by carefully ascertained figures, and it is to be hoped that the character of the Institution “Proceedings” will always be maintained by the exclusion of all papers which have not scientific value by reason of their contained facts, figures, and reasons. For instance, a paper full of general statements, such as “The air pump should be properly proportioned with reference to the size of the cylinders, the speed of the engine, and the nature of its work,” is useless. Papers containing such information (?) are mere advertisements for their authors, who, by inference, say, “ If you want to know more you must consult me;” and of recent years this is not confined to the papers of some societies, but to books pretending to be “practical treatises,” while in reality they stop short, in almost every particular, of giving that information which is looked for in a book. So many papers are communicated to the Institution that there is no necessity for accepting any hut those which are worthy of a place in the “ Proceedings,” either by reason of their intrinsic merit or as eliciting a really admirable discussion.

In the first of the volumes under notice, the paper by Mr. N. T. Douglass on the Eddystone Lighthouse possesses interest, as being descriptive of a structure which has displaced one of remarkable historic interest, and indeed, marked an epoch in engineering. The paper fully describes the new structure and its construction, and gives the reasons for the departure from the form of base adopted by Smeaton. The new lighthouse has a cylindrical base, from which, at 2|ft. above high water, the curvilinear shaft of the tower commences. Accurate and beautiful as was Smeaton’s system of building, it cannot but be admitted that his reasoning with reference to the bole of a well-grown oak was not that which would commend itself to modern judgment guided by more complete knowledge of the dynamic action of heavy masses of water in motion. The form he arrived at was, nevertheless, a good one, though the cylindrical base now adopted lowers the centre of force of a wave stroke. A good deal of the discussion on this paper turned upon the construction of the lantern, the lenses, and the system of illumination, and, as usual, much of the credit due to Teulere was ascribed to Fresnel.

Mr. Preece’s paper “ On Electrical Conductors ” related chiefly to telegraph wires, though reference to the larger conductors used for electric lighting was made, and especially dealt with by several speakers in the discussion. The use of other metals than copper and iron, and of alloys was a feature of both paper and discussion, and the question of overhead versus underground telegraphs was discussed, the sum of opinion being, on the whole, in favour of the latter, an opinion which has since forced itself upon the Telegraph Department. In this volume are, amongst other selected papers, on “Mining and Treatment of Gold Ore in the North of Japan;” “ Discharge of Streams in Relation to Rainfall in New South Wales;” “The Theory of the Dynamo-Electric Machine;” and “ Practical Results Obtained from Various Water-raising Machines in Holland.” The abstracts of papers are about eighty in number, dealing with various branches of engineering, physics, and metallurgy.

In the second volume of the session is a paper by Mr. W. Hackney “ On the Adoption of Standard Forms of Test Pieces for Bars and Plates,” a paper which elicited considerable discussion, and showed the necessity for a standard length, because of the different results obtained with the same materials when tested with specimens of different sizes or lengths. Often the length of specimens tested by tensile stress is not given, but the figures are sometimes taken as a guide by practical men, who would be misled were it not for the large factor of safety usually employed. This paper, like a good many others on the same subject, though not the same title, brought out the fact that for most engineering purposes great refinements in the measurement of the stresses in the different periods of the tensile test of a bar of iron or steel are of little importance. Testing machines have been established all over the country, and valuable physical information has been obtained by their aid under the direction of admitted ability, but it is not impossible that engineer students in technical colleges may spend more time than can be usefully occupied in pretty experiments with a testing machine. I11 the metallurgical laboratory the testing machine cannot too frequently be employed, but the engineer needs to know but few of the facts which the tensile test will give him relating to material he will use for a bridge or boiler. The ultimate strength and the ductile extension stand first; the limit at which elastic extension changes into permanent extension stands next; and the fact that very minute permanent extension

BUTLEK’S COAL STAITH.

j's

—.....-Ll.....

fflrt

Up

rPS)

>/ //

'///////%

//

ft

/>

//

sY

S'

[<Vj

-I-

dD

@

----

35

W-

more

may be proved to take place before the elastic limit is passed is of little importance to the engineer; and this view is held by engineers who devote the greatest care to the accuracy of their determination of the stresses in the structures they design. Being certain of these stresses, it is desirable to have the highest tensile strength compatible with considerable extensibility. The limit of elastic extension is always considerably above the stress designedly put upon the material employed, and where stresses are ambiguous or uncertain within limits, or where practical defects increase stress locally, then extensibility is necessary to permit local accommodation to strains arising from inaccuracy of dimensions or the causes already mentioned. Whether lower factors of safety would be allowed if higher limits of elastic extension could be obtained in structural materials or not we cannot say; would, but even then the bridge builder or would require higher ultimate strength and an equal extensibility, and the tests of importance to him would remain the same, and as simple as now. With the construction of ordnance it is important to consider other points, and the relations of the whole of the facts and figures obtainable in the testing machine have much greater significance.

The paper on “ Speed on Canals,” by Mr. F. R. Conder, opened up a very wide field for discussion, and over a hundred pages are occupied by it. The relation between speed and the section and sectional area of the canal, the form of the boat, the means of traction or propulsion, and the comparative advantages of canal and railway transport, were all opened up, but the last-mentioned was not so fully discussed as it has been during the last year or two in various quarters. The scientific questions involved attracted most attention, and the discussion did nothing to make the future of inland canals look much more hopeful than now—at least in England—for the advantages of quick delivery and of little breaking of bulk are so much in favour of railways.

perhaps they boiler maker

The principal feature of the invention is the use of a traverse table for conducting the wagons horizontally to and from the sidings to any point along the quay at which it may be required to tip. In working from a high-level railway, lifts may be dispensed with, the coal being lowered down from the mouth of the shoot into the ship by means of an anti-breakage box, which breakage and trims the cargo. The coal is lowered by a brake, the weight being taken up by chains attached to the doors. There are other chains attached to the box, so that at any point of its descent, by releasing one brake and taking another, the tension of the chains may be transferred from the doors to the box itself, thus permitting the doors to open by the pressure of its contents, which distributes itself in the ship, and the box being empty, is brought back to the mouth of the shoot by a balance weight.

The shute and tipping cylinder are mounted on a frame spanning the traverse table, to which it may be attached for moving to any point required, the motive power being hydraulic. The traverse table being detached, is free to run to and from the sidings with the wagons. Any number of these traverse tables may be worked along a quay by extending the stage. For shipment from low level railways, where the wagons have to be lifted, they are run off the traverse table into an ordinary staitli, which is mounted on wheels and provided with appliances for moving to any position required.

Our engraving gives a side elevation, in which A is the traverse table; B, the tipping cylinder; C, the shoot; D, the trimming-box; E, levers and rocking shaft for opening and shutting the mouth of the shoot by the action of weights ; F, pulleys for lowering the trimming-box ; G, balance weight for bringing the trimming-box back when empty.

saves

BUTLER’S COAL STAITH.

A working model of the coal staith illustrated herewith was exhibited at Cardiff during the summer visit of the members of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, by Mr. Samuel Butler, of Cardiff. The inventor of this new staith claims that he can complete the loading of a 2000-ton steamer in three to four hours, and therefore that he can remove the necessity for, or the supposed want of, increased dock accommodation. A dock would, at this rate of loading, be enabled to ship four to five times the quantity of coal that is now being shipped. The claims which are set forth as being met by this invention are:— To avoid the loss of time in moving a ship whilst loading; to economise quay space by keeping the ship stationary; to load into two or more hatchways at the same time; to avoid loss of time in trimming the cargo by putting the coal in one part of the hold whilst the trimming is done in another; to do away with the necessity of double screening by avoiding the breakage now occasioned by allowing the coal to drop from the mouth of the shoot into the ship; to save labour by doing a considerable amount of the trimming by appliances; to enable bunker coal to be put on board at the same time as the cargo.

The Heating Power of Gas.—M. Lefebvre, engineer to the Paris Gas Company, has recently been lecturing at Kouen upon heating by coal gas. Among other things, the lecturer explained to his audience the characteristics and performances of atmospheric as compared with lighting burners. Theoretically, with the gas under examination, 16 litres would raise a litre of water from freezing to boiling point. With a common steatite fishtail burner the mean of 26 experiments conducted by M. Lefebvre showed a practical consumption of 31'844 litres of gas to perform the same work. An atmospheric burner, composed of a vertical copper tube provided with a copper mushroom top, pierced with lateral holes, gave 39'60 litres as the mean of 13 experiments. By diminishing the air supply, the consumption of gas in the same burner was reduced to 35'32 litres. By means of a gasholder, in which were made successively mixtures of 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 per cent, of air with the same gas, the calorific effect of the various mixtures of air and gas was shown as follows :—

Percentage of air ..    ..    0⁻0

Gas consumption ..    .. 31'84 37"40 39'20 40'40 45'60 48⁻00

Going on from this point, M. Lefebvre showed the effect of adding hydrogen gas. Having first determined the calorific power of a given burner with the normal gas to be 32'05, the lecturer successively added hydrogen in progressive increments of 10 per cent, up to 60 per cent. The addition of the first 10 per cent, of hydrogen lowered the efficiency of the burner—i.e., increased the consumption of gas to perform the same work—from 32'05 to 34'40, and the figures corresponding to the higher increments of hydrogen aro 36'80, 37‘56, 40'24, 42'40 and 44'52. Thus it was shown that the more hydrogen is contained in a coal gas the poorer is its heating effect. On the other hand, progressive additions of bicarburetted hydrogen—C4H4—resulted in a notable reduction of the bulk of gas consumed by the burner. The object of these tests was to expose the allusions as to the supply of ‘ ‘ heating gas of low illuminating but high fuel' value,” fostered by partisans of water gas schemes.

10    15    20    25    30

Sliding friction in systems of mechanism gives rise to losses of

con-

heat-

. (2)

up

THEORY OF THE SLIDING FRICTION OF ROTATION.

By Robert H. Thurston, Hoboken, N.J.

energy and to increase of resistance which are usually very siderable, and which are often the only sources of “ lost work,” and of the reduction of efficiency below its maximum value—unity. In any well-proportioned and properly managed machine or train of mechanism, the wastes of energy are due solely to friction; in badly-proportioned mechanism, subject to overstrain or shock, causing deformation of parts, energy is lost equal in amount to the work expended in producing permanent distortion. But as the engineer generally only considers cases of correct construction in determining the magnitude of such waste, it may be asserted as a general and fundamental principle that in all good engineering the sole cause of waste of mechanical energy is friction. These facts and this principle sufficiently indicate the importance to the engineer of a careful study of the magnitude and of the method of such losses. The writer has elsewhere* given the results of experimental determinations of the values of the coefficients of sliding friction, and has shown that the lost work in mechanism varies very greatly in amount; that it is, under favourable circumstances, vastly less than has been generally supposed; and that it is influenced, where lubrication is employed, by every change of velocity of rubbing, of temperature, and of intensity of pressure, as well as by the character of the lubricant. In machinery and millwork, and in mechanism generally, it is usually found that the wastes of energy caused by sliding friction are principally due to friction of rotation, i.e., to the friction of shafting, of journals, and of pivots in their bearings. This form of friction, and this method of waste, are the subjects of the paper here presented. The friction of straight sliding pieces has been frequently studied and is well understood; that of rotation has been less fully investigated, although considered at some length in a few treatises. The importance of the subject is such, however, as will justify the most extended examination.

The friction of journals causes a waste of the energy traversing a machine, which is dependent in amount upon the velocity of rubbing; the magnitude of the load, the method of distribution of the resulting pressure and of variation of its intensity, the size of the journal, the nature of the lubricant and its physical condition, especially as determined by its temperature, and on the value of the coefficient of friction as determined by all these modifying conditions. A journal in good order, well-fitted, and smoothed down by prolonged working, should never show evidences of measurable wear. Such journals have sometimes been known by the writer to show no appreciable alteration of form or fit after years of constant work. Two cases may give rise to such performance of form and fit. The first case of permanent fit of journal is that in which the journal is exactly fitted to its bearing when new, and so perfectly adjusted that no sensible wear takes place. In this case the pressure brought upon the rubbing surface by the load is distributed by a certain method of yielding of the loaded metal, and according to a simple and definite law, the investigation of which is one of the principal objects of this paper. Under this law, an adjustment takes place which, if the bearing surfaces are sufficiently large, of good material, and well lubricated, is permanent. The second case is that in which wear occurs, and until all parts of the journal and bearing in contact wear until a fit is thus attained, such that every part is compelled to carry equal pressure and until wear ceases to be observable. The third case to be considered is that in which the journal is loose and the bearing surface, or surface of actual contact, is assumed to be a straight band of inconsiderable width. These are the three typical cases for cylindrical journals, and these cases only are to be here studied. Actually in practice, probably neither case is often met with; the real condition of the journal is usually intermediate between one or the other pair of these type examples. It is evident, from what lias been just stated, that the friction of journals, other things being equal, depends greatly for its amount upon the method of distribution of pressure, and is not necessarily, and probably may not be often, measured exactly by the product of the load on the journal by the coefficient of friction. It may be sometimes, and in fact is, very much greater. It thus becomes an important problem to determine the manner in which variation of intensity of pressure affects the total resistance due to friction, and the method of that variation as produced by the different modes of fitting journals.

The work done and heat developed by the friction of any journal is measured by the product of the total normal pressure on its rubbing surfaces into the mean coefficient of friction, and into the space traversed by the surface of the journal, relatively to the surface of the bearing, in the given time. If p represent the mean intensity of pressure, l the length of journal, 6 the angle over which the pressure distributed, »q the radius of the journal, / the mean coefficient of friction,! and n the number of revolutions made in the given time, the work of friction will evidently be U = p . I. rq 6 ./. 2 tt rxn

= 2 sr ?•? f pin 8.......(1)

When 9 = ir, as in a journal receiving no pressure from its cap,

U = 2ir‘¹r\f pin;

and when 6 = 2 ir, as when the cap is screwed down hard,

U = 4 ir² rlfpl n.

When the load is fixed, the intensity of pressure varies inversely as the area of the journal, and p l rq 6 becomes constant. Hence, in such cases, the resistance of friction, fp l rx 9, is constant, and the work of friction and energy wasted becomes proportional to the diameter of the journal; while both quantities are independent of the length, except so far as it affects the coefficient of friction. Journals are therefore properly proportioned by making their diameter such as is dictated by considerations of strength and safety against “ springing,” and determining their length by reference to loss of work by friction, and the liability to heating. The minimum limit, as to length, is set by this last consideration. As has been fully shown by the writer, the coefficient of friction increases with increase of bearing area, and consequent decrease in intensity of pressure; the conclusion therefore follows that bearings should be as short as is consistent with security against heating. This conclusion is the more important from the fact that a long journal is liable to spring, and thus to concentrate pressure at the end, and to cause heating in that way. With every diameter of shaft, therefore, there is a limit beyond which no increase of length of journal will prevent heating. With a given shaft, ing under a given load, no increase of diameter will reduce liability to heat—if the shaft does not spring—and increasing its length may afford advantage only up to a limit.

The heat due to friction, H, is proportional to the work done on the journal, and is measured in thermal units by the quotient of that work U, by the mechanical equivalent of heat, J, i.c.,

H = ?.........

This heat is carried away by conduction to adjacent masses, and by radiation. If it is carried away as rapidly as it is produced, the journal remains cool; if not thus carried off, the journal heat until the rate of dispersion is equal to that of production, or until it becomes necessary either to apply cooling agents or to stop the machine. The temperature attained by a journal when thus heating is limited by the facilities for conduction and radiation of heat from it. The maximum safe temperature is that beyond which liability to rapid and dangerous heating is incurred, and is always

(3)

cos. 0 dd

cos². 0 dd

which is to be integrated between the limits

+ *

⁺ 2’

to obtain W in terms of Pi, when the journal bears upon a semi-cylindrical surface, or between the positive and negative values of 0 for any other method of bearing. From the relation thus obtained the value of pi is deduced. It will be seen that px is the measure of the maximum intensity of pressure between the rubbing surfaces, occurring when 0 = 0, i.e., at the bottom line of the bearing. To determine the maximum pressure p' on the journal, let A C B, Fig. 1, represent the trace of the bearing surface upon the

J.

,r

C T--E

FIG I

w = p cos. 0 = pi cos.² 0, '+ 0'

W= 2w = p₁ir₁

— Pi l n ^ 0' + £ sin. 2 0

• • (6)

When

When

nearly; . (8)

of 10001b. per square inch—70 kgs. per square cm.—on a bronze bearing, the maximum compression would be but    the thick -

of the brass.

The force of friction, at any element E, is, for the full journal— .    0'64 W cos. 0

⁼ —n,—

and varies from zero at 0 = 90 deg. to a maximum, at 0 = 0, when— fpi —

The total pressure on the bearing is—

0 = + l

P' = 0'G4 W

= 0 G4 W = 1-27 W

The total force of friction is— / P' = 1-27/W The moment of friction is—

U = Ma = 1*27/W a t iq

= 2*6/ft rq t ir W, .......    ,—,

where a is the angular velocity of the shaft, t the time taken, and n the revolutions made in the unit of time.

The power lost in friction is—

U -f- 550 t =2-5/nr₁irWri-550 • ... (14) when the units are British and the time is measured in seconds. As will be seen later, the resistance, the work done, and the power wasted, are l⁻3 times as great as in a journal loosely fitted, in which the rubbing surfaces are in contact only along a narrow band parallel to the axis of the journal. The case above considered assumes a fit originally and no subsequent wear. In such case the journal must be of such size that the maximum pressure pi may be below that at which the unguent is liable to be forced out, or heating to occur.

Case 2.—Uniform pressure on the rubbing surfaces may be observed in cases of journals so small as to wear slowly under their loads, or, perhaps, when heating, as is often the case, causes the “brass” to grasp the journal by springing the sides inward. Both are familiar cases to every mechanical engineer who has had much experience, especially if accustomed to the management of steam machinery. In well-designed machinery a bearing is usually composed of a softer metal than the journal which it supports; it therefore takes the wear, and if the extent of rubbing surface is small, the journal is merely “smoothed up,” while the bearing wears down. If the surface is too small, the bearing may abraded and “ cut,” and both it and the journal rapidly injured. If, however, the surface under pressure does not cut, wear takes place slowly, and without excessive waste by friction. Every bearing surface, if not abraded, will, whether fitted or not, wear under heavy pressure, but with decreasing rapidity, until all parts sustain a certain intensity of pressure, when the rate of becomes a minimum, under a pressure which is a minimum for that bearing under the existing conditions as to lubrication. _ In some cases the whole bearing surface may not be brought into play, the uniform pressure, so established by wear over a part of it, being sufficient to carry the load without further wear. These two cases are probably the most usual in all cases of heavily-loaded or carelessly-fitted journals, as the preceding case represents the usual case of weU-fitted, lightly, or fairly-loaded bearings. In every case there is a certain pressure limit, above which wear will take place, and below which it becomes inappreciable; the bearing will therefore wear down until the pressure due to the load is so distributed that this pressure limit is everywhere reached over a certain limited area, and wear ceases, or until all parts of the bearing are brought to a state of minimum wear under a uniformly distributed pressure. In the case here studied the pressure is of uniform intensity, p₁; that on an elementary strip of bearing, of length l and breadth ?q dd, is p\ I rq dd; its vertical component is p, l rq cos. 9 d8, and the total load is, for a semi-cylindrical journal,

r

\V=Pl l rq/

⁼ 2 pi f »q;......

and the intensity of the uniform pressure attained is

Pl~ 21 .....

The total pressure on the journal surface is P⁷ = pi I ir ?q

= |rW = 1-57 W, . . or 0 57 greater than the load.

The total force of friction is

/ P = 1-57/W.....

The moment of friction is

M=/Fr₁ = P57/r, W

The work of friction is

U = Ma = 1-57 aftrj W = it² f ntrx W,

= 10/ n t jq W, nearly, ....    (20)

or 1*57 times that on a flat surface, or on a loosely-fitting journal. Were the angle of contact reduced, making the angle 0 = 30 deg., the friction becomes but 5 per cent, greater than that of an equally loaded flat surface, or of a loose journal. It is thus seen that, where ample area of bearing surface can be secured, it is best given the form of a strip or band lying along the bottom of a long “brass,” rather than made to cover the full semi-circumference of a shorter journal.

Case 3.—A loosely fitting journal, ABC, before wear has produced a sensible widening of the line along which contact originally takes place between journal and bearing, when in operation, carries its load at a line parallel to the axis of the journal, and at one side of the line of vertical resultant pressure—Fig. 2. If at the lowest point B at starting, it rolls up the side of the bearing

•F

o'

FIC.S

* “Friction and Lubrication,” RR. Gazette Pub. Co., N.Y., 1878. “Materials of Engineering,” Parti., second edition, J. Wiley and Sons N.Y.,1884.

t With good lubrication it may be assumed that, in heavy machinery anil under pressures not far from 100 lb. per square inch (7 kgs. per square centimetre), the value of / may be reduced below 1 percent., varying approximately inversely as the square root of the intensity o ’ pressure.

below the temperature of decomposition or vaporisation of the lubricant. A warm journal will often work better than a cold one; a hot bearing is always a source of danger. A journal so proportioned as to run warm with good lubrication is to be watched with the utmost care. As already seen, since the tendency to heat increases directly as the intensity of pressure, and as the amount of work done, and inversely as the area across which the heat can be transmitted, the diameter of the journal, if it be sufficiently strong and stiff, does not affect this phenomenon.

Case 1.—The perfectly fitted journal is the most interesting of the three cases here to be considered. When a journal is exactly fitted to its bearing*, as is usually the fact, without pressure, the action of the load will cause a minute change of form, which, although quite imperceptible, will produce a variation of intensity of pressure between the rubbing surfaces, from a maximum on the portion normal to the line of direction of the resultant load, to zero on the surfaces parallel to that line, and according to a simple and easily determined law. This method of distribution of pressure, which was, as he believes, originally investigated by the writer, is determined in the following manner: The maximum intensity of pressure under which any journal of good form and correct proportions may be worked is from 600 lb. to the square inch with iron journals, to about 10001b. with steel—35 to 70 kilogrammes per square centimetre; the elastic limit of the bearing metal is always far above these figures, and that of the metal of the journal usually very much higher still. The compression of the metal, under working pressure,will be proportional to theintensity at the pressure at each point, and this principle will determine the law of distribution of pressure. The intensity of pressure will be everywhere proportional to the elastic displacement of the metal. Let p represent the intensity of pressure on any element of the surface of the journal having a length l, and a breadth iq d9, and let N represent the normal pressure on this elementary area l r1( dd ; then

N = p l rx dd

The sum of all the vertical components of these elementary normal pressures, p — N cos. 0, where 8 is measured from the vertical, is equal to the load W on the journal, i.c.,

W =j‘ p l r₁

But the normal pressure p varies from a maximum, at the bottom of the bearing, to a minimum at the sides, there becoming zero when the bearing is a semi-cylinder. At intermediate points the normal pressure is

(4)

p — P\ cos. 6,

in which quantity p\ is a constant, the value of which is to be determined. The value of p being obtained, and introduced into the formula,

= p₁lr₁f

(5)

0 = - 7r

2*

vertical plane, the journal being perfectly fitted and unloaded. When the load comes upon it the journal will sink a minute distance, O O', C C', A A', B B', and will rest in equilibrium between the elastic resistance to compression, thus brought into play in the metal, and the weight sustained by the bearing, the surfaces of contact taking the new position A' C' B', of which every point now lies directly under its original position, and at a distance from it equal at every p metal in the direction of

The compression of the the normal pressure p will be at each

oint to O O'.

point, as E, equal to EI. The product of this vertical displacement, E J, into cos. 0; and the intensity of pressure, the elastic limit of the metal not being exceeded, will be proportional to this compression, varying from 0 at B' to a maximum p' at C'. At any intermediate point the compression is, for a small total depression of the shaft O O', cos. 0, and the intensity of pressure consequently p' cos. 0. Since the load W is sustained by the sum of the vertical component of these normal pressures, each of which is of the intensity—

cos.² 6 dd,

- 0'

- 0'

as before, and—

+ 0'

to I =1

0i =

Pi -

p = Pi cos. 0 =

l rT

0 = lr

3,

W _ 0-64 W 1-57 Irf    lry

and the pressure at any point E of the journal, has the intensity—

0*64 W cos. 0

. . (7)

v = W • „ = 2 W cos. 0,

U48 l.TiP 3 fr,

and the maximum pressure is nearly equal to two-thirds the load on the journal divided by its projected area on the horizontal plane, and is very nearly the same as in the previous case, although one-third the bearing surface has been removed. This is often done by engineers in charge of heavy machinery, to prevent risk j of gripping or binding should the bearing heat. It is evident that the same method applies to the case of the spherical journal. The extent of compression is determined by the magnitude of the modulus of elasticity of the metal compressed, thus, for a pressure

ness

. .    (9)

0'64 W

lr i

cos. 6 d0

. (10)

(ID

. • (12)

M =/Fr₁ = 1-27/W rx . . • The work of friction is—

(13)

be

wear

IT

+ 2"

cos. 0 dd

tH    rH

N—*    W

(17)

(18)

(19)

until, at some point I) the inclination becomes equal to the angle of friction END, E D F, when it ceases its upward movement and continually rotates, sliding on the line whose trace is D, as-long as the coefficient of friction remains constant, or rising with increasing, and falling with decreasing friction, continually finding new positions of equilibrium until motion ceases, or the conditions again

____become constant. At any one instant, there are three forces in

* The custom now common of grinding journals to size, and sometimes equilibrium, the weight W on the journal, the normal reaction N of scraping the bearing, makes this an increasingly frequent case.    of the bearing, and the resisting force of friction F = / N, which

(21)

The normal pressure is—

(22)

. (23)

= W sin. <£>

. • (24)

and such form that the

/PV-

Id

(26)

and

(27)

(28)

was

to conclude that the Rocket of 1829 and 1830 were the same; but this is not evidence or proof.

November 18th.    Another Old Swannington Man.

P.S.—To me it is a matter of pleasure to see the old line mentioned in the papers. Its existence seems hardly known. No history appears to have been written, and soon those who can write one will be gone. Could Mr. Weatherburn furnish a section of the old line as it was in 1832?

Sir,—I see that the discussion on this old engine—or engines— continues in your pages, and I am glad it does, because such an interesting matter should not be closed until all the facts come to light, and the good is separated from the bad.

Rocket of 1829 which ran at Rainhill which Mr. Nasmyth drew, and which went to Leicester.

Engineer Mr. Stannard says, “ There was one Rocket,” but he is all at sea; he also says, “ David Weatherburn from Liverpool to Leicester.”

Well, Sir, first, the driver’s name was Robert, not David; secondly, the engine was the Rocket, not Comet; and thirdly, she went from Liverpool to Newcastle to be “coupled” before being sent to Leicester. She ran as a ballast engine for four months defore the Swannington line was opened, and her name was only changed to Comet on the 17th July, 1832, that was the grand opening day.

Mr. John Ellis, the chairman, said he should like her name changed to Comet, the reason being that the public should think it was a new engine. Strange to say, Messrs. Stephenson only sent one new name plate to rename her, and I should say for about a month she had the brass plate Comet on the left side of the boiler, and no name at all on the other side. The two old Rocket name plates which were taken off were for years lying about at the West Bridge engine shed. Mr. Williams is quite wrong about the engine being put together in a “ little shed at West Bridge.” She was brought by canal to the North Bridge, then taken by road to a siding about half a mile from Leicester, and put to work at this siding, which is where the old Fosse Roman road crosses the railway.

There never has been any doubt as to all these facts; so why some correspondents should in The Engineer raise questions and try to mystify the matter, I don’t know.

November 13th.

The

is not the Rocket of 1830, In The

took the Comet

CIV

was

railway.

Gorton Foundry, Manchester, November 18th.

Sir,—Referring to Mr. J. Nasmyth’s sketch in yours of the 12th September, 1884, when he says “ This sketch of the Rocket,” implies that he on that day knew no other engine of that name but the Rocket. Then, again, the sketch implies that it has been taken from an elevation, which the view into the top of the chimney tender, &c., suggest, shows that it must have been taken from a distance, thereby precluding Mr. Nasmyth from knowing the correct name of the engine he had sketched. I have as much respect for Mr. Nasmyth as any of his friends can have, and have not from the first said one word intentionally to offend either him or his friends, and I would rather let the correspondence referring to Mr. Nasmyth’s sketch drop here, and will just again try to convince your numerous readers that I was quite correct in what I said in my letter which appeared in 'your paper, 19th September, 1884, and will begin with referring to the letter signed “Boiler” in yours of November 14th, 1884. “Boiler” says, “At the suggestion of Mr. Booth, the steam of the Rocket was turned into the chimney.” I say it was turned into the chimney in the old locomotives of the Stockton and Darlington type, years before the Rocket was made, and I say the fire-box and tubes of Rocket’s boiler suggested by Mr. Booth would not have supplied her pair of 8in. cylinders with steam to run her a mile without the blast pipes

The diary

Another

may be represented by the sides of the triangle N B D. Then, since N and F are at right angles—

W² = N² + F2 = (1 + P) N²

V 1 + G

The force of friction is, since a = <p, the angle of friction— / W ₌    % tan.

V 1 + P V 1 + tan.² <p The moment of friction is—

M = F rj

= W sin. <p _ / Wn

VT+7² • ¹ ¹ ¹

The work of friction, or energy wasted, is—

U = W atr\ sin. <p = a ^ —

Vl+P

= 2 W trnDi sin. <p = 2 W * n 1 r? . .    .    . (25)

V 1 + p

This case is thus seen to be that producing least waste of work and energy, and hence, in that respect most desirable; but it is evidently a purely ideal case which can never be obtained in practice. If approached too closely, rapid wear, heating, and all the consequent cost and damages are increased. Case 3 is that of minimum friction, but of maximum wear and heating, as Case 1 that of minimum wear, and Case 2 that of maximum friction. In practice, the best arrangement is usually, so far as the writer can judge from his own experience, that of freeing the sides of the bearing by cutting them away so as to clear the journal entirely to an angle of at least 30 deg. from the horizontal, and even 60 deg. for very long, stiff journals, moderately loaded. This gives a modification of either Case 1 or Case 2, and on the whole minimum friction and wear. In conclusion, it may be considered proven that: —(1) A perfectly fitted cylindrical or spherical bearing of ample area of rubbing surface, will, in the absence of wear, have the pressure distributed in such manner as to make it zero at the sides, and a maximum at the bottom of the bearing, varying at intermediate points as the cosine of the angle included between the given point and the bottom of the journal. (2) The friction on such a cylindrical journal, and the lost work, exceed by above one-fourth that of the ideal case of bearing on a line, or that of flat surfaces under the same load. (3) A bearing so proportioned as to wear constantly, but without cutting, will be subjected to uniform pressure throughout the area of rubbing contact. (4) The friction on such a bearing is nearly 60 per cent, in excess over that of the ideal case, or on a flat surface similarly loaded; it should always be relieved by freeing the sides from pressure, in the manner often practiced by engineers, as above described. (5) Any journal, wearing smoothly and symmetrically, and without shake, will in time wear to a fit, such that the pressure upon its surface will be of uniform intensity throughout the whole area brought into bearing, and the rate of wear reduced to a minimum, while the waste by friction becomes a maximum. (6) Maximum efficiency of machinery in which journal friction, is the main source of waste of work and energy, is secured by giving the journals such diameter that they will neither twist nor spring under their loads, such length that the load may be carried principally on the lower portion of the bearing, brass shall not bind or grasp the journal, or in any way subject the journal to serious lateral pressures. All lateral pressure due to grasping or binding action, decreases efficiency. The proper size of journal is, as is evident from what has preceded, determined only in part by the consideration of the amount of power and energy lost by its friction. Since to increase or diminish the diameter of a journal increases the speed of rubbing in precisely the same proportion in which it diminishes the intensity of pressure produced by any given load, it is evident that the work wasted and the heat produced on the unit of area bearing surface is approximately the same, whatever the diameter of journal, within moderate limits : for, within such limits, the coefficient of friction may be considered as constant. The diameter of journal is therefore determined by the strength and stiffness demanded, and not by the liability to heat, and is calculated by the rules for strength of materials. The length of a journal is determined by reference to the laws of friction. A convenient method is to fix, by reference to experiment, a quantity of work of friction which may be safely allowed for the proposed journal, reckoned per unit of its area. Thus, the writer has found for the crank pins of marine engines, under intermittent pressure, 60,000 /, measured in foot-pounds, to be a good allowance ; Rankine found 44,800 / to be a good figure for locomotive practice: 50,000 / is an intermediate figure sometimes taken for general practice. For unintermitted pressure, still smaller values must be taken. Then the work of friction is nearly, per unit area, 60,000 /,

Z.=„ = ⁶⁰>⁰⁰⁰

Id P V

Thus the intensity of pressure is limited by the velocity of rubbing, and the given load P on the proposed journal being divided by this pressure p, the length must be at least

i = JL

p d

in which expression d is known already by calculations of strength.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

(Concluded from, page 392.)

THE rocket.

SlU,—When I saw the name Robert Weatherburn, Leicester, Ihoped it was the signatureof thedriverof theoldRocket on the Swannington Railway; but regret to see from his son’s letter that “ Bob,” as I used to know him, has joined the majority. Now Mr. Weatherburn, in the first place, gives the wrong date of the opening of the line. It was not June, but 17th July, 1832, when the line opened. It is true that the Rocket went from Newcastle to Leicester; but that does not affect the question, because, after running on the Liverpool and Manchester line, the engine went back to Stephenson’s works, had the cylinders raised, a large pair of trailing wheels added, and was coupled.

Mr. Weatherburn goes on to say that it has not been proved that two Rockets were on the Manchester Railway at the same time. Perhaps not; but it is clear the Rocket of 1829 is not the Rocket of 1830, drawn by Mr. Nasmyth, and afterwards sent to the Swannington Railway. . Mr. Weatherburn further goes on to suppose that the “uninitiated” might be mistaken; but certainly Mr. Nasmyth was initiated into his business well enough to be able to know one engine from another; so I cannot accept the assertion that Mr. Nasmyth has made a mistake in the name, especially now Mr. Weatherburn himself has made such an important mistake as the date of the opening of the line.

There are a few points that deserve special attention:—(1) Mr. Nasmyth’s drawing is exactly similar to the Swannington Rocket;

(2)    the Swannington Rocket ran four months under that name;

(3)    then we get the information from a Newcastle fitter that a new name-plate was sent for the engine; (4) last, there is the fact —and, as I think, a conclusive one—that the old Rocket nameplates were for years lying about at the West Bridge engine shed. The dimensions Mr. Weatherburn quotes really prove nothing, as they are simply those of the engine when named Comet, and given m Wood s well-known book. It may or may not be “reasonable ”

A Swannington Servant in 1832.

Sir,—I think Mr. Weatherburn’s letter in your issue of November 14th bears out nearly all my statements with regard to the Rocket, and also with regard to the Comet being sent to open the Leicester and Swannington Railway. One of your correspondents has said that the Rocket’s name was changed to the Comet after she arrived on the Leicester and Swannington Railway. So between him and Mr. Weatherburn there would be two Comets on that line, which I think rather improbable.

“One who Remembers the Facts” complains of “those who talks so off-hand,” and goes on to say: “ There never was a doubt that there were two Rockets on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, and that one went to Leicester.” That is, to say the least of it, an “off-hand” statement, and one which, I think, is not at present supported by any trustworthy evidence. If tin was a Rocket on the Leicester and Swannington Railway which had previously worked on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, it must have been the original Rainhill Rocket—the only Rocket I ever saw or heard of on the Liverpool and Manchester—which may have gone there after the Comet, and also after the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, and prior to passing into the possession of Mr. Thompson.

I fear some of your correspondents, though not speaking from their own knowledge, but from hearsay, are getting into an unnecessary tangle over the matter. “ Philo” says: “It does not seem likely that the Rainhill Rocket would be employed in the regular service of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway; ” but being there at the time, I know for a fact that she did take part in the opening, and ran on the line for some time afterwards.

With regard to Mr. Boulton’s sketch of the Northumbrian, I feel sure he has made a mistake, and has sent you a sketch of one of the engines of the Meteor class. Mr. Nasmyth’s sketch is certainly more like the Northumbrian, as I recollect her, than Mr. Boulton’s, whilst neither of them bears any resemblance to the Rocket.    Rob. Stannard.

Hull and Barnsley Railway, Howden,

East Yorks, November 18th.

Sir,—Probably the most trustworthy and comprehensive record of the performances of the early engines of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway is to be found in “ Wood on Railroads, 1831.” The author, being one of the judges at the Rainhill trials, v specially acquainted with the Rocket of that time, and an illustration of it with the Novelty and Sanspareil engines is given in that work.

The Rocket is there represented with a low-top fire-box, and tabular statements of its consumption of fuel and water with the loads taken, not only at the Rainhill trials but afterwards, are also given, but not a word is said about a new Rocket, or even the same with a new boiler or fire-box. He tells us that Mr. Stephenson had improved the Rocket, and by applying the steam more powerfully in the chimney, was enabled to raise a much greater quantity of steam. In the tabular statements of its performance, comparing it with other engines, there is one peformance from Liverpool to Manchester, made for the purpose of ascertaining the result of travelling right forward upon long stages as compared with travelling backwards and forwards upon short stages; which is the strongest evidence of the Rocket being at work after the opening. I do not think it is consistent with the author’s practical knowledge of the working of locomotives and railways, that he would have omitted to mention that a new Rocket had taken the place of the original, or that so important an item as a new boiler and firebox had been made for it, had such been the case; and as my personal acquaintance with that engine began early in 1832, and jears out the illustration given by Mr. Wood in the work before mentioned, I think it is conclusive that the Rocket of 1829 was the same as assisted at the opening and worked afterwards on the

Thos. Hunt.

turned up in the chimney, and the great improvement in her steam-making was attained by reducing the nozzles or ends of the blast pipes. The word “indentical” is just the very word I find in a note made in September, 1830.

In mine of October 29th, 1884, I gave you the log of the Rocket for November 19th, 1829, when she was going to be sent from the Liverpool end to Mr. Stannard’s contract at Eccles. March, 1830, I find a note to the effect that six engines are completed, and two more ordered on the plan of Rocket. I find a note dated April 3rd, 1830, which says: “ Rocket, which took the prize of £500—part of which Mr. Booth had—at Rainhill trial, has for some months been constantly employed at Eccles cutting and Chat Moss ”—I give you the exact words used at the above date. May 1st, 1830, I find Mr. Cropper and Mr. Booth passed the whole distance from Ordsal Lane to Liverpool in a railway carriage drawn by horses. On May 1st, 1830, the Rocket first crossed Chat Moss. On August 28th, 1830, the Rocket, Arrow, and Phoenix brought the directors through. On Wednesday, September 1st, 1830, George Stephenson, thecontractor, was killed at Olive Mount cutting. September 15th, 1830, I recollect distinctly seeing the Rocket with diagonal cylinders, wood tender, and water-cask painted green. October 30th, 1830, note says, “Rocket still at work night and day, taking rock, &c., from Eccles to Chat Moss. On Thursday evening, the 28th, 1830, the Rocket, running tender first, Henry Hunter, a publican from Eccles, was riding on tender, Rocket broke tender-axle, and killed Hunter. The body of the tender, with the water butt falling on Hunter, killed him on the spot.” (These are the exact words used in note made October 30th, 1830). December 11th, 1830, says, “ On Saturday another new locomotive, same principle as Northumbrian, placed on the road, making in all ten now in use, and an eleventh expecting every tide at Liverpool from Newcastle via Carlisle. The wheels of the Majestic are made entirely of wood, and all the other metal wheels are going to be changed to wood.” January 8th, 1831: “ No new engines since the Majestic. The Planet and Northumbrian make two trips daily with goods; the Majestic makes a trip when she can be spared. Additional engines are daily expected from the manufacturer at Newcastle, as Stephenson has an unlimited order.” January 22nd, 1831: “Three locomotives, all coupled together, bring twenty-four wagons of goods to Manchester.” February 5th, 1831: “The Mars and Mercury, same construction as Planet, have arrived from Stephenson’s, and are placed on the railway. The Samson and Goliah had been constructed by Mr. Stephenson, and one of them has arrived by Carlisle. Some of the engines consume 500 gals, of water on the journey from Liverpool to Manchester.” The Twin Sisters locomotive is named as conveying goods in the night, as one of the oldest engines on the railway—before the Rocket, also says that “Last Tuesday, January 25th, 1831, the Rocket was sent out with a bent axle, and struck the points at Olive Mount cutting, and Rocket turned over on her side. No one hurt. The train was second-class carriages.” February 26th, 1831: “Stephenson’s locomotive Samson brought thirty wagons from Liverpool to Manchester, and was helped up the incline by Mars, Mercury, and Arrow. Time, 2 hours 21 min.

I may ask “Philo” to read my first letter in yours of September 19th, 1884, and he will see that I said positively that the sketch by Mr. J. Nasmyth was not at all like the Rocket, and would only mislead posterity. I am positive the Rocket of October, 1829, was the same unaltered—except blast pipes, &c., as named—in anything referring to her general appearances, and the same and only Rocket on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway from October, 1829, up to January 25th, 1831. How can “ I’hilo ” explain his remark about the Rocket being altered and her cylinders being made more horizontal—a fact, as “ Philo ” says. How does he prove this, when we find them now at Kensington the same angle ? I say they were during 1829, 1830, and 1831, and ever were. Where did “ Philo ” learn that Rocket ballasted on Birmingham line, where did she, as he says, turn a complete somersault? I have given you her subsequent history in regular service on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway.

The fact referred to by “Philo”—he can’t prove, he says—did Mr. Hunt or Mr. Boulton know this. I say no ; no other Rocket was on the line during the date I have named. I have for forty-three years known that Mr. Hunt was from a youth about the Liverpool and Manchester, North Union, and London and North-Western railways, and I know no one more likely than he to speak positively on this point. It is well-known that Mr, Robert Stannard was at the making of the railway, and we are all agreed on the main facts, namely, that the Rocket of October, 1829, and at the opening of September 15th, 1830, and up to January, 1831, had cylinders at an acute angle, and wood tender with a cask or water-butt on it, as shown in your sketch on September 12th, 1884, page 191, by Mr. Phillips, M.I.C.E., and that the sketch shown by Mr. J. Nasmyth is misleading, and not at all like the Rocket.

I have nothing to do with any other engine of the same name which might have been on either the Leicester and Swannington or Stockton and Darlington railways. I think I can prove that “ Boiler ” is mistaken about the Rocket being sent back to the factory between 1829 and 1831; if “ Boiler ” will read carefully, he will find I have named all the engines as they arrived. “ Boiler” asked, Did the Liverpool and Manchester Railway Company buy the Rocket-how can there be any doubt about this ? “One who Remembers the Facts” says,“ There never was a doubt that there were two Rockets on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway.” I say he cannot give the slightest proof that there were two during the time referred to.

My only reason for taking any part in this correspondence has been, from the first, seeing Mr. J. Nasmyth’s sketch would tend to mislead posterity, and feeling sure that I could throw some light on the subject, I at once wrote you very positively, and as yet nothing has been written to prove me at all wrong. If no one could have done more than “Philo” has done, we should not have made much progress. If I did not feel sure that I am giving information to men much more worthy of it than he appears to be, I should feel sorry I had given my time; but the esteem I have for your paper, having been a subscriber from the first, gives me much pleasure in contributing what information I can with a certainty of being correct. I will leave “Philo’s ” remarks to the consideration of your very numerous readers.

In a letter signed “ J. P. D.,” Leeds, in yours of September 27th, quoting J, Nasmyth’s autobiograplier, he—Mr. Nasmyth—says:

“ I saw the famous Rocket the day before the opening—September 15tli, 1830. The interest with which I beheld this distinguished and celebrated engine,” &c. &c. Does not this prove that he had not heard and knew nothing of any but the one, and only one Rocket ?

I trust before “ Philo ” writes again on this subject he will be able to muster sufficient courage to give us his real name and address. “ Philo ” would perhaps like to look through my father’s diary ; it would take him a long time to go through the notes and memoranda. I have one of the first in my father’s ( diary referring to steam engines I gave him a copy of, and I may say I have this same engine in my possession, and it is in fair working order to-day. It is worded thus : William Wright’s condensing steam engine, Ashton-under-Lyne, commenced working two minutes before six o’clock this 2nd day of June, 1819, present James Drinkwater, Thomas Baldwin, John Boulton, note refers to one of the first condensing engines made by Messrs. Petrie, of Rochdale, to the design of my father for Mr. Newhall, of Townhouse, near Littleborough, in 1828, and which was the first steam engine I had started, which I did for the first time; it is working yet at Townhouse Mill, Littleborough, near Rochdale, and will bear very favourable comparison with anything that has been done since. The engine-bed and engine-house front is all of ashlar, and to give some idea of it, the window, bottom of the engine-house, is all in one stone 21ft. long, 3ft. bin. wide, and 2ft. Gin. thick.

I have as much memorandas, notes, sketches, &c., on this subject as would fill a book, and many interesting illustrations. I

of calling in the aid of some other power which may—and indeed, in practice, not unfrequently does—fail at the critical moment, leaving the unfortunate occupants of the train at the mercy of that ruthless demon which the engine driver, by simply opening the steam valve, had conjured up.    Charles Fairholme.

9, Gracechurch-street,

Nov. 18th.

roar

Clement E. Stretton.

some

con-

so

reface to me

It is not , and it is

for Professor Herschel to say how it got into it consistently with his theory.—Ed. E.]    _

.-•■hi,'-

can

W. Lloyd Wise.

on

B. H. Thwaite.

THE SOCIETY OF ARTS.

MA

Examples.

Answers.

S = Si x —

where E = E.M.F. in volts.

4.—Required, the sectional area for We take here the result of No. 3, a wire to carry a current of 73 amperes under similar conditions to Question 3, having a faU of 7 per cent, instead of 1‘25 per cent, in E.M.F.

and multiplying it by we get

*0466 as the required sectional area.

also find that they had some serious accidents in those days from crank axles breaking.    Isaac W. Boulton.

Ashton-under-Lyne, November 19th.

THE HEBERLEIN BRAKE.

SlB,—May I beg of you kindly to grant me space in your next issue to correct a trifling error in your excellent article on the recent trials of the Heberlein automatic and continuous friction brakes, the words “ friction-rod ” having been accidentally substituted for “friction-reel” in describing the fitting of the locomotive.

I would also wish to call attention to the fact that although, as correctly stated in your article, we have of late been paying particular attention to light railways, we would by no means wish it to be misunderstood that our brakes are only available for such lines. On the contrary, their use on normal gauge main lines for both express and ordinary trains is constantly extending, the Orel Witepak and the Sakon States’ Railways, for instance, employing no other continuous brake.

May I also be here allowed to point out that your correspondent “ Dux,” although he has made a most able exposition of the vexed question of continuous brakes as between compressed air and vacuum, appears to have been drawn inadvertently into an error as to the general question, when he states it to be not whether brakes should be automatic or non-automatic, but “ whether automatic brakes should be worked by compressed air or vacuum.”

This mistake has probably arisen from the manner in which the advocates of the pneumatic brake have invariably, during the long-fought “battle of the brakes,” endeavoured with the utmost coolness to appropriate to themselves exclusively the use of the word automatic, as if the automatic brake and the Westinghouse brake were synonymous terms! Fortunately this is not the case, and there exist a large number of railway men of the highest standing who still hold to the idea that the simplest, cheapest, and most practical way of destroying the dangerous momentum of a moving railway train is, and must always be, to employ that very momentum—which is always inevitably present when wanted—to neutralise itself, as is done by the automatic friction brakes, instead

The Heberlein Self-Acting Railway - Brake Company.

PRESSURE OR VACUUM BRAKES?

Sir,—Your correspondent, “ Dux,” page 376, has rendered very valuable service by the extremely lucid and concise way in which he has directed attention to the altered conditions and fresh ground upon which the battle of the brakes must in future be fought. It will be remembered by those present at the Newark trials nine years ago, that, after the experiments with all the brakes, the unanimous opinion was strongly in favour of the automatic system. Advocates of the vacuum remarked that “they could soon make their brake automatic; ” but this does not seem to have been quite such an easy matter, for we find that the Vacuum Brake Company has fought against, and resisted to the utmost of its power, the adoption of automatic brakes and the well-known conditions of the Board of Trade. Railway companies have been induced to fit no fewer than 1138 engines and 6658 vehicles with the inefficient simple vacuum brake, and now, since the Penistone disaster, the Vacuum Company admits that it has been in the wrong, and that “ an automatic brake is desirable.” It is, indeed, to be regretted that the company did not make such an important discovery nine years ago at Newark, as it would have saved hundreds of lives and thousands of pounds. The brake question now is, undoubtedly, as stated by “Dux,” between pressure and vacuum.

A table was recently given in the Field by Mr. Kiernan, to prove that the vacuum brake, with its large cylinder, is as powerful as the smaller ones used in the Westinghouse system, and, of course, the readers are expected to consider the two brakes as of equal efficiency. Every brake, from the simple lever on a coal wagon to the best continuous system, is of equal power when “full on;” that is, they will all, if necessary, skid the wheels of a train. The question therefore is not one of power, but of time required to bring that power into efficient action. Every engine-driver knows the efficiency which resulted from the increase of steam pressure in the locomotive engine; why, then, should not the same rule apply to brakes?

Advocates of vacuum brakes imply, and wish the public to believe, that a force of 12 lb. will act as well as one of 60 lb., but no one can accept such a conclusion. The fatal defect in vacuum brakes—both automatic and non-automatic—always has been, and always must be, “ slowness of action.” To make the low-pressure of 12 lb. capable of exerting the required power, the areas of the cylinders must be made fully six times as large to do the same work as the high-pressure of 701b. or 801b.; but the all-important point is that every increase in size of course increases the cubical contents of the apparatus, and a greater quantity of air has to be moved to apply and release the brakes, hence slow action must follow. The advocates of vacuum brakes boast about the power they can get with their large cylinders, but they carefully avoid giving the enormously increased size and contents of the apparatus and the amount of air which has to be moved to fill and empty these large cylinders. Having frequently noted the time required to bring pressure and vacuum brakes into full action, there can be no doubt that vacuum brakes are slow in operation. An express train running at sixty miles an hour is passing over 88ft. per second; therefore, if a disaster occur to such a train, the telescoping and fatal consequences are all over long before a slowly-acting brake can even begin to exercise any retarding power. On the other hand, the pressure brake, by means of the triple valve, the high-pressure, and small pipes and cylinders, is capable of being applied as nearly instantaneously as possible, therefore it acts and makes its power felt by retarding and holding back the portions of trains, thus avoiding telescoping and loss of life. F^or these reasons, and these alone, I have advocated, and continue to advocate, the adoption of high-pressure brakes on account of their instantaneous life-saving powers.

40, Saxe-Coburg-street, Leicester,

November 17 th.

EFFICIENCY OF FANS.

Sir,—I owe you, as the very able conductor of your valuable Journal, a grateful tribute of acknowledgment for the prominent exposition, and considerate and, in general, favourable animadversions which you have been pleased to express in a leading article of last week’s issue of The Engineer, on some views which I propounded regarding a mode of estimating the efficiency of mechanical ventilators.

As regards the recent history of the discussion, of which short appcrcus were contained in the paper, towards which I tributed a new treatment of the question, it will, I hope, acquit me of any intended use of severity in criticising, or rather in seeking to protect, my views against some points of its past contentions which were noticed in the dissertation, to say that upon such valuable services as others have recently rendered—and are still rendering to the subject by their contemporary writings and experiments —I had not, in the short time allowed me to express my general concurrence in the paper before it was presented to the Mining Institute at Dudley, had I conceived any thought of doing originally, sufficient opportunity afforded me to enter. My comments on the passages submitted to me expressed only my assent or dissent to the conclusions which they offered ; and I should add that the substance of my occasional interlineations was not at all prompted and derived, as your readers will be led to suppose, from a mistaken representation of the matter with which you p their very temperate discussion, from information furnished by the Dudley Mining Institute. From that Institute I have received requests for communications and the perusal of a paper which embodied them, but no other correspondence.

The marginal notes made in the paper suggested themselves to me only from long attention to the subject, carried on as leisure would permit, by study and special experiments of my own, especially since the subject’s new discussion lately, for many past years. Some copyist’s errors escaped me in revising a proof of his paper sent to me by Mr. Alexander Smith ; and the area of a fan inlet, 0'267 square feet, in an account of one experiment is unintelligibly described as 267 square feet of blade end surface; while Mr. D. K. Clark’s name was also accidently misspelt in the circulated paper.

Regretting these inaccuracies, and trusting that this letter of corrections may appear in rectification of some particulars of your otherwise most valuable leader, to the important property stated and laid down, in which, of the science of fluid ballistics, I would be most desirous, if space permitted it, to do all the justice here which it amply merits.    A. S. Herschel.

47, Lovaine-place, Newcastle-on-Tyne,

November 17th.

[In the article referred to by Professor Herschel, an error occurs by the misplacement of a decimal point. The power required to run a given fan is stated at one-tenth of what it ought to be. The correct figures stand thus :—By the ordinary mode of calculation in favour with many engineers, the power needed is 03H.P. nearly. By Professor Herschel’s method the power is 0'095 H.P., and by ours it cannot be less than ‘227 H.P., and may be more, to be disputed that this latter amount of work is in the air

SEWER VENTILATORS.

Sib,—I observe from the report of a meeting of the Eastern Counties branch of the Association of the Municipal and Sanitary Engineers and Surveyors, held at Colchester, as given in your journal of 31st October, that the experiments made at Ipswich with vertical pipes for carrying off the noxious gases from the street sewers profess to be a success, being a step in the right direction which, it is to be hoped, will soon be carried out to greater perfection in all large ciries.

Having had experience in the formation of channels for conveyance of draughts and currents in whatever direction desired, I may possibly not be considered out of place in offering suggestions for further improvement. It will be evident to close observers that in street openings from the sewers there must, of necessity, be a current upward and another downward—the gases ascending, and air descending to fill its place. Both these currents, by skilful arrangement, might have their free course at the same opening, the vertical pipes spoken of being at their connection so constructed as to collect the gases and carry them upward, and at the time leaving sufficient openings for entrance of water and air; but it is indispensable that the vertical pipes should have a strong draught upward, and never downward—like some of the chimneys still being built. These could be supported each by a lamp-post, being at same place, and carried a few feet higher, delivering toward the street with a bent bell-mouthed end, so as to carry the gases in the opposite direction from the houses.

Chimneys having extra strong draught might be very serviceable in large cities, placed at important points where many branches of sewers could be connected, to draw out of these the pestilential vapours, and deliver them 100ft. overhead, at the same time relieving the sewers of their pressure, and thus aiding them in pushing forward their load. But for common use, the vertical pipes being abundant and rightly attached to the street openings, with sufficient draught, would, I believe, be found to serve the purpose well; and I will have pleasure in assisting in carrying out the same with all necessary particulars, if the committee connected therewith should so desire it. Should you, Sir, be able kindly to find a place for the foregoing observations, they may help to draw more attention to this much-needed part of sanitary reform, and will oblige    N.

Belfast, November 11th.

TH® patent-office sales department.

Sir,—I notice in your last week’s issue a paragraph which appears to me likely to create an erroneous impression. The inference to be drawn from it is that printed patent specifications be obtained at the Patent-office sale department only after a most unreasonable delay. Now, having considerable experience—for I have to purchase many blue-books—I deem it only just to the department to state that unless the list of specifications required is very heavy, the orders sent in are, as a rule, very promptly executed. Considering the enormous number of specifications in store, it is obvious that a reasonable time must in every case be allowed for getting out the particular specifications required. If we compare the time occupied in executing an order at the Patent-office sale department with that taken up in getting at any particular book required in the British Museum library, the result is decidedly favourable to the Patent-office authorities.

46, Lincoln’s-inn-fields, London, W.C., Nov. 13th.

THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON AND STEEL.

Sir,—The discouraging conclusions for inventors, arrived at by Mr. Lowthian Bell, in his work on iron and steel manufacture, are, I am glad to see, not accepted ncni. con. by you—ride p. 375, vol. lviii. That a manufacturing process like that of the iron and steel, which has had such remarkable developments during the last quarter of a century, should be considered to be practically perfect economic grounds, by anyone cognisant with the revolutions which applied science is constantly effecting is indeed astonishing; the fact that the late Sir William Siemens was not content with the existing methods in producing iron and steel will be patent to all who know the extent of his researches and experiments in attempting to produce steel by direct and more economic methods; and until ores of the most inferior or phosphoric class are converted by a direct process from the ore into steel, without loss of initial heat of fusion generated by direct combustion of carbonaceous fuel, the manufacture cf iron and steel is a field still worthy of research and experiment by scientists and engineers.

Dartmouth Villa, Tranmere, November 15th.

VISITS TO THE PROVINCES-MILLING ROLLS.

SlR,-We observe in your issue of the 14th inst. a statement that suitable chilled rolls for milling purposes are not manufactured in this country, and makers of milling machinery are obliged to send to America for them. This we think is not owing to the superior quality of those imported, but rather to the English machine makers not knowing where a suitable article is to be had here. Allow me on behalf of our firm to say that we have manufactured rolls for milling purposes for several years, which have and are giving entire satisfaction both in uniformity of chill and hardness, at the same time take the necessary grooving.

Walker, Eaton, and Co.,    W. H. Walker, Jun.

Sheffield, November 18th,

The opening meeting of the Society of Arts for the season took place on Wednesday night at the rooms, Jolm-street, Adelphi. Sir F. Abel, the new chairman of the Council, occupied the chair. There was a full attendance, and 163 new members were proposed.

The chairman, in his inaugural address, alluded to the loss the Society had sustained by the death of Sir W. Siemens, whose unexpected decease in November of last year deprived them of the customary address upon which he was engaged. That address dealt largely with electric lighting. With reference to that subject he— the chairman—bore testimony to the continued steady progress made during the past year in the application of the electric light. The brilliantly successful display at the Fisheries Exhibition had been far outshone by the achievements at the International Health Exhibition. The electric light of late had been successfully introduced into many public buildings in London and the provinces. A tendency to exaggerate the danger attending the introduction of electric lighting in houses had been encouraged by the occurrence of a few fires and of a few fatal accidents, but they could be guarded against by skilful and experienced constructors and simple regulations; while the proportion of fires from electricity, compared with those arising from gas, oil lamps, &c., was small. Several small electric railways had been worked, including one twelve miles in length between Portrush and Giant’s Causeway. In the United States the application of electricity to street railways appeared to have been very successfully inaugurated in Cleveland. Electricity as a motive power had also been applied to launches. The address next dwelt with balloons and aerial navigation, the use of compressed air for torpedoes, the value of liquefied carbonic gas, and other scientific improvements. The chairman alluded at some length to various matters discussed at the recent Health Exhibition. With reference to the question of the water supply of London, he ventured to think that our hope for a radical improvement in the water supply of this great metropolis lay in the application of some simple, expeditious, cheap, and effective mode of chemical treatment to supplies from sources now in use, previous to their filtration, rather than in a complete change of our source of supply. The Society of Arts might justly be proud of the position it had frequently occupied as the initiator of movements and undertakings which had afterwards developed into national importance; but nothing gave them more satisfaction than the steps the Society took which eventually led to the general promotion of technical education. He could not conclude his address without a word of reference to the approaching International Exhibition of Inventions, the utilitarian character of which was to be tempered by its association with all that was most interesting in the history and the later development of music. Although the very natural desire to preserve as personal property the results of expenditure of ingenuity, labour, and capital might deter many from publicly exhibiting the methods or appliances by which more or less important improvements in particular industries had been achieved, the character and results of the Exhibition would demonstrate that the principles which had governed its organisation had proved the reverse of detrimental, either to its importance or to the interests of progress in the development of our trades and manufactures.

The chairman presented the Society’s gold medal for exhibits in the International Health Exhibition to Messrs. Doulton; the Compressed Lime Cartridge Company; M. Germain, on account of the collective exhibit from the Belgian Normal School for Women Teachers; Messrs. Nobel Bros.; the San Joso Fruit Company; Messrs. Moir and Co.; Mrs. Charles Clarke, of the School of Cookery; M. Pasteur; Messrs. J. and E. Hall; Mr. Thomas Fletcher, and Messrs. Collinson and Lock. The Society’s silver meijal was also awarded to the Marquess of Lome for his paper “ On Canada,” and others.

A vote of thanks to the chairman terminated the proceedings.

DIMENSIONS OF ELECTRIC LIGHTING LEADS.

We give as a supplement to our impression of this week a practical diagram for facilitating the determination of the proper j of any copper lead of 96 per cent, conductivity for electrical purposes, more especially for electric lighting by incandescence. With the very slight calculations required, any intelligent electrical artisan can tell almost at a glance what size of lead ho should use for any given number of lamps and given distance from the generator, and thus the use of conductors not suitable for the purpose on hand may be entirely avoided, and in many cases the not infrequently marked difference in candle-power at the different parts of the circuit will also be avoided. There is little doubt that the diagram will prove practically useful, though it does not, as Professor Forbes would say, include all scientific minutiae. It can be applied in all circumstances in which copper conductors of 96 per cent, conductivity are used for electrical purposes. Mr. J. S. Beeman, who is the compiler of the table, has had considerable experience in its use, and he accords it the more value as being the result obtained from a practical experience of the wants of electricians.

The following are examples showing how the diagram or table can be used:—

Questions.

1. —Required the sectional area for Referring to the diagram, we find

a wire to carry 100 ampferes    that the area required = 0 5072 of a

250 yards at a difference of    square inch, being tho value of

potential of 101'265 volts at tho ordinate to tho abscissa of terminals, and 1-25 per cent. 250 yards, fall of E.M.F.

2. —Required, the sectional area for Referring to diagram, we find tho

a wire to carry 78 ampfcres 150 ordinate of the abscissa 150 yards, yards, all the other conditions equals 0 804 square inch sectional remaining the same as in area. But the current being 73 Question 1.    umpires instead of 100 amphres,

0‘304 must be multiplied by

which equals 0'222, and is the required sectional area in square inches.

loo

where S=sectional area required. 8!=sectional area found by diagram.

C=current in am pi:res.

3.—Required, the sectional area for Referring to diagram, we find, as in a wire to carry 73 ampferes    Example 2,76 x 2 requires 0‘304 sec-

with an E.M.F. at lamps of    tional area; but the current being

85 volts 75 yards distant from    73 amperes, 0'304 is multiplied by

generator, all the other con- 73 . .    ..

ditions remaining the same    ioo’ aso’ ^ ° E.M.F. being 85

as in Question 1.    volts, instead of 100, 0‘304 ¹

multiplied by 15?,

■m(rnx™) cquals°'²⁶¹>

the required sectional area.

S = Slx-£

S = SJx il x 1^5 E x ±*

where P=new percentage fall of E.M.F.

5-—Required, the sectional area of In this case as the distance is under a wire to carry a current of    50 yards we use the abscissa at

73 ampferes with an E.M.F. at    the top of the diagram, i.e., on

lamps of 85 volts, the lamps    the line B C, we take the ordinate

being 10 yards^from the gener-    at 20 yards (being lead + return)

ator, a fall of 7 per cent, being    and find tho sectional area in the

allowed instead of 1*25 per    column to equal ‘04025, then

cent, in the E.M.F.    applying the formula given in

Example 4,

8 = ‘04025 x A? x L5-5

we obtain, 0’00616 sectional area required.

(From our oum Correspondent.)

The orders now at the mills and forges, although not individually la*-ge, are in the aggregate enough, with the additional light orders which are constantly arriving, to allow of fairly steady running. And there is no reason to believe that there will be much decline in this amount of employment up till Christmas. By that time, however, order books will probably be worked up rather close.

The operatives are getting the most out of the present business. The masters’ position may be correctly summed up as : Prices scarcely ever so low as now, and competition never more determined. It is still a matter of impossibility to accept the prices frequently offered by merchants for shipping orders, and they therefore pass on to other districts nearer to the seaboard.

The marked iron houses continue to find that orders, alike home and export, which formerly came to them, have now been transferred to other firms, who are prepared to supply a bar of excellent quality for much less money than the list houses generally demand. The change which of lato has come over many of the Australian buyers in particular is a prominent illustration of this state of things. The effect is, that in very self-defence certain of the older iron firms are now more than ever cultivating what they are pleased to term a “ second quality trade.” Yet it is somewhat singular that a few exceptional houses who refuse to tamper with their qualities find that the call from customers who will have none but the very best iron is steadily growing. Orders of this class are coming from South America, Australia, and India, but the American and Canadian orders, whether for this or any other class of iron, except best sheets, are very restricted. Marked bars are £7 10s., other good qualities £7, ordinary £6 10s., and common £6 to £5 12s. 6d.

The Earl of

met

upon

(From our own Correspondent.)

There was a very fiat market at Manchester on Tuesday. In Lancashire pig iron moderately large sales are reported to have been made at a little under the full rates, the basis of transactions being about 41s. to 41s. 6d., less 2h, for forge and foundry qualities delivered equal to Manchester. About the same figures are also being taken for some brands of Lincolnshire, but generally makers of district iron are quoting Is. to Is. Gd. per ton above these figures, and in one or two cases are firm at about 42s. Gd. to 43s., less 2£, as their minimum for delivery here. North-country irons are steady at about late rates, good foundry brands delivered equal to Manchester being quoted at 44s. 10d., with sellers in some cases taking 6d. per ton less.

Hematites continue only in poor demand and low in price; the best qualities of No. 3 foundry are being offered at 54s., and good be got readily at about 53s., less 2^ per cent.,

2s.

pro

on

to 21, and the surplus,

AMERICAN NOTES.

(From our own Correspondent.)

New York, November 8th.

Business of all kinds has been seriously interfered with during the past week, on account of the presidential election, and the agitations which have grown out of it. Just at this time both sides are claiming the presidency, and as the official count of this state will not be made until next Tuesday, it gives room for manipulations, bribery, and sharp practices, which our politicians so thoroughly understand. The Republican party will not tamely relinquish the power which it has exercised for twenty-four years, and will use millions, if necessary, to retain that control. All branches of business are dull. Manufacturing activity is declining. Within a week or two several thousand workmen have been discharged in this State, and in Pennsylvania. In the textile markets there is such an accumulation of goods as to make a general reduction of output imperative. The imports of dry goods continue heavy ; but within a day or two past it is made apparent that the importations for the rest of the year will fall off. At the next session of Congress a Bill will be introduced dispensing with oaths in the Custom-house, in reference to valuations, &c., and doing away with a number of petty regulations.

The steel making capacity has been reduced very largely, and is now very little in excess of 600,000 tons per year. There are indications that the price of steel rails will advance to 28 dols. as inside price for large lots, and 29dols. to 30 dols. for small lots. The importations fell off from 566,202 net tons in 1871, to 38,977 tons last year. Next year’s consumption of rails is estimated at 750,000 tons to 1,000,000 tons. If the companies will agree on single turn production there will be no trouble about prices, but probably the Pennsylvania and New York companies will keep prices below 30 dols., run double turn, and control the market.

The secret of the low price of the Canadian Pacific order for 10,000 tons is explained in this way. The managers of the Scranton Steel Company, father and son, happened to be in the same train on their way to St. Albans, Vermont, with the selling agent of a competing works in the same town, the Lackawanna, who, seeing his competitors going so far towards the border, imagined they were on their way to Montreal on the same business, and, by telegraph authority, lowered his price 1'50 dols. and secured the contract.

October fires occasioned a loss of 8,500,000 dols. in the States; smaller fires, 1,500,000; total, £10,000,000.

Exports of petroleum and petroleum products for September foot up 57,396,034 gallons.

The Trunk Line war still continues, and rates have declined to 12 dols. to Chicago; to St. Louis, 15 dols. A call for the representatives of the Trunk Line roads has been issued, to meet in this city next Thursday to adjust rate matters.

THE IRON, COAL, AND GENERAL TRADES OF BIRMINGHAM, WOLVERHAMPTON, AND OTHER DISTRICTS.

Dudley’s quotations are still nominally 12s. 6d. above those of the other “list” houses, and stand at, for rounds, £8 2s. 6d. lowest quality, £9 10s. single best, £11 double best, and £13 treble best. His lordship’s rivet and T-iron is £10 10s. for single best, £12 for double best, and £14 for treble best. Angles, and also strips and hoops from 14 to 19 w.g., are £8 12s. 6d. lowest quality, £10 single best, £1110s. double best, and £13 10s. treble best. Strips and hoops of |in. and 20 w.g. are £9 12s. 6d., £11, £12 10s., and £14 10s., according to quality; and of fin., £10 12s. 6d., £12, £13 10s., and £15 10s. respectively.

The enquiries for plates do not increase, yet here and there export orders for boiler sorts are under execution. Tank plates are £7 upwards; common boiler plates, £8 to £8 10s.; and superior, £9 to £9 10s. Black sheets are active at £6 15s. for merchant singles, £7 to £7 5s. for galvanising singles, and £7 10s. to £712s. 6d. for doubles.

Prices more than demand are chiefly complained of by the galvanised sheet makers. There is no cessation of the underselling which for some time has characterised the trade, and firms who by reason of the location of their works can accept export contracts at lower figures than those required by midland manufacturers, are getting by far the largest orders. The best markets at date are Australia, India, and South America.

Morewood’s corrugated sheets of the Red Star brand are £1115s. for 18 and 20 b.g., £12 15s. for 24g., £14 15s. for 26 g., and £1615s. for 28 g. The Red Diamond brand is £12, £13, £15, and £17, according to gauge; and the Lion brand an additional 5s. per ton, all delivered at outports. Woodford Crown galvanised flat sheets are £15 for 18 and 20 b.g., £16 for 24 g., £18 for 26 g., and £19 for 28 g. The Anchor brand of close annealed sheets is quoted £17, £18, £20, and £21; and the Lion brand of double best flat sheets, £20, £21, £23, and £24, according to gauge.

Hoop, strip, and other merchant iron firms do not report activity in new business, but at present they have almost enough to do. Strip iron is about £5 15s. to £6 for common sorts; and iron hoops, £6 5s. upwards. Steel hoops are quoted £6 15s. to £7 at works.

The native output of pigs is steadily going into consumption, but there is no temptation to blow in more furnaces, since the vigour of outside districts is very conspicuous. Prices tend towards ease, and second and third-class qualities of native makes are weaker by Is. to Is. 6d. per ton compared with quarter-day rates. All-mine pigs, however, maintain their value fairly well at 60s. for hot, and 80s. for cold blast sorts.

Coal prices do not advance. Forge coal is Gs. to 7s. per ton long weight into boats; thick coal, 7s. 6d.; and blast furnace coal, 8s, to 10s. according to quality.

The colliers’ representatives in the Cannock Chase district have the employers at Birmingham and submitted a sliding scale. It was based upon the selling price of the best deep coal raised at four collieries, with a minimum of 2s. 6d. per stint. The masters, however, refused to entertain a sliding scale which was not based upon the average selling price of the entire output of the district, and they added that under no circumstances could they assent to a higher minimum than 2s. 4|d. per stint.

Constructive ironwork of a galvanised sort is not very active at present as regards new business. Still, there are firms who have some considerable contracts on hand, the execution of which will occupy them for several months to come. In one case a large market building is being got out on Central American account.

Hardware houses trading with the United States express confidence that business will soon improve, and that under the new President certain judicious, albeit not conspicuous, tariff alterations favourable to traders on this side may be by-and-bye anticipated. West Indian advices are not at all satisfactory, but they are not much worse than they were. Firms who are interested in the South African trade speak a little less unfavourably.

The general dullness is adding to the disappointment which traders in the Midlands feel at the persistent refusal of the local railways to afford them senable relief, and the notices given to Parliament by the companies.\to seek powers to increase terminal charges are viewed with alarm.

Yesterday—Thursday—the arbitrators under the Mines Drainage Acts sat in Wolverhampton to hear appeals against a proposal to make a draft award for a mines drainage rate upon the Old Hill district of 3d. per ton on fire-clay and limestone, and Od. per ton on coal, ironstone, slack, and other minerals.

At a meeting of the Board of Examination for mine managers’ certificates for South Staffordshire and East Worcestershire for granting certificates of competency, Mr. J. B. Cochrane has been elected a member of the Board, in place of Mr. Barker resigned. The next examination takes place in January.

A deputation from the Birmingham Consular Association, consisting of the representatives of the United States, Columbia, Greece, the Netherlands, Germany, Norway and Sweden, France, Spain, Italy, Ecuador, and Turkey, have this week waited the new Mayor of Birmingham—Mr. Martineau—and congratulated him upon his succession to the office.

The Nut and Bolt Makers’ Association—operatives—has now been established over fourteen years. During that time it has paid over £9000 in strike pay, £600 in funeral allowances, and contributed £370 to the distress funds of other societies.

NOTES FROM LANCASHIRE.

ordinary qualities can delivered into this district.

In manufactured iron there is a slow business doing, and the forges in this district are generally being kept well employed. It is, however, only exceptional where makers have any great weight of work far in advance, and more anxiety is being shown to secure specifications. Delivered into the Manchester district prices average about £5 10s. for common bars to £5 12s. 6d. for the better qualities; £6 to £6 2s. 6d. for hoops, and £7 to £7 2s. Gd. for common sheets.

Ironfounders report trade as extremely quiet, and so far as heavy builders’ castings are concerned, there is comparatively little or nothing going out in the shape of new work. Prices are cut down so low that common heavy castings delivered into this district are being offered at £4 per ton, and ordinary cast iron columns can be got at about £5 to £5 10s. per ton. Pipe castings are also extremely low in price, and ordinary sections delivered into this district are quoted at about £4 7s. 6d. to £4 10s. per ton.

Locomotive and railway carriage builders continue, as a rule, fully supplied with work. The Ashbury Carriage Company has work in band which will keep it fully employed well into next year, and I hear that Messrs. Sharp, Stewart, and Co. have just secured a contract for fifteen locomotives for the Bombay and Baroda Railway.

In the tool-making trade, although there is an absence of any push of work, the leading firms are kept moderately well employed.

Some of the large mill engineers have also a good deal of work in hand. During the week I was at the works of Messrs. Hick, Hargreaves, and Co., of Bolton, and they are so pushed with orders that a considerable extension of the foundry has become necessary, and the roofs of the present foundry and the erecting shops are being raised, so as to provide greater facilities for work. Amongst the orders which the firm have in hand are several large mill engines, of from 1000 to 1500-horse power, for India, besides others of from 1000 to 1200-horse power for new mills that are being erected in Lancashire. In most cases the engines are for ropedriving, but in the Oldham district there would seem to be in some quarters still a preference for wheel gearing, notwithstanding the many advantages which are undoubtedly secured by transmitting the power through ropes where a mill is specially laid out for this system, and in one or two of the new Oldham mills the engines are being put down for wheel gearing. The engines in all cases are of the Corliss type that has long been made by the firm, and the only new features to notice in connection with them are a patent automatic barring engine and an automatic supplementary governor—Knowles’ patent —that are in most cases being applied to the engines now being made. The barring engine is a very simple arrangement for overcoming the difficulty experienced in large mill engines when they have stopped in such a position that they require to be turned through a considerable angle before they can be re-started, and it is so constructed that the falling in gear and out of gear movements are accomplished automatically. The supplementary governor, which, as its name implies, is applied for regulating the main governor of the engine, has been found to give most excellent results, and automatically corrects the smallest tendency to change in speed, thus maintaining a practically uniform speed of the engine under all conditions of working. The apparatus, which was first applied by Mr. Knowles to his cotton-spinning mills, has been adopted by the principal mill-owners in the Bolton district, and in all cases has been spoken of most highly. In addition to mill engines, Messrs. Hick, Hargreaves, and Co. have in hand marine work of a specially heavy character, and amongst this I noted an excentric 7ft. Gin. diameter, and 15in. wide on the face, and weighing five tons, which is probably as large a piece of work of the kind as has ever been turned out.

Apart from special branches, such as I have referred to, the condition of the engineering trades generally is not at all satisfactory, and as I have reported previously, there is a continued failing off in the weight of new work coming forward.

The coal trade is extremely dull for the time of the year, and in some cases pits are again getting on to short time. Where they continue working full time, the output is in most eases in excess of requirements, and a good deal of coal accumulates in wagons on the pit sidings, which has frequently to be put upon the market at low figures, and there is a tendency to give way in prices, although quoted rates are nominally without material alteration. All classes of round coal are in poor demand, and at the pit mouth prices average 9s. to 9s. 6d. for best coals, 7s. to7s. 6d. for seconds, 6s. to 6s. 6d. common house coals, and 5s. 6d. to 6s. steam and forge coals. Engine classes of fuel appear to be moving off rather better, but supplies are still plentiful, and with good Yorkshire and Derbyshire slack offering here at prices which leave less than per ton at the pit, there is a strain upon prices for the local Auction. Burgy at the pit mouth averages 4s. 6d. to 5s.; good slack, 3s. 9d. to 4s.; with common to be got from 2s. 6d. upwards.

Shipping has shown a falling off during the past week, and at the ports on the Mersey steam coals have been offering at very low figures, 7s. to 7s. 6<1. being about the average for delivery at the high level, Liverpool, or the Garston Docks.

The agitation for an advance of wages in the West Lancashire district has altogether subsided, and the employers and the men are now adopting the more sensible course of considering a sliding scale which shall regulate wages in the future without the recui -rence of disastrous disputes.

Barrow.—I have a much better tone to note in the iron trade of this district this week. More orders have been booked, and makers are now fairly well sold forward. The improvement may, ami probably will, be a flash in the pan, but I share the opinion of several manufacturers that a succession of these temporary improvements will not only give new life to these dull times, but will help very materially to bring about a gradual return to a permanent good trade. The value of pig iron has advanced very materially, being 2s. per ton higher than it was six or seven weeks ago. Quotations now represent 42s. to 43s. for forge and foundry iron, and 44s. to 45s. for mixed parcels of Bessemer iron at makers’ works. The output of the furnaces represents about four-fifths of the producing power of the works. Stocks are not so large as they have been. Steel makers have been more fortunate in getting orders lately for both heavy and merchant qualities of steel. There is nothing new in the shipbuilding or the general trades. The work of constructing a continuation of the high level bridge at Barrow has been commenced by Mr. J. Fell, contractor, of Leamington. When completed, this bridge will give access from the main street in the town to old Barrow Island, and will span Hindpool-road, the main line of the Furness Kailway, and the wharf which separates the Devonshire and Buccleuch Docks. The bridge is of iron, and will be 80ft. in width, a passage of this width between the two docks named being spanned by a powerful hydraulic drawbridge. The masonry of the new municipal buildings at Barrow, which are of a pleasing Gothic design, is nearly completed, the only portion yet unbuilt being the tower, and this has been constructed to half its height. From three to four miles of the tramways in Barrow have been laid. The length proposed to be laid at present is miles. Messrs. Kitson, of Leeds, are building the engines and cars. The West Cumberland Storing Company has determined to open a storeyard for warrants of pig iron at Maryport.

THE SHEFFIELD DISTRICT.

(From our own Correspondent.)

In several of the lighter industries there is an acceptable accession of orders for the Christmas and New Year trade, chiefly from the metropolitan and country merchants, who appear to expect a heavy business in those articles of utility and luxury which usually take the form of season gifts. Several manufacturers tell me that their travellers who have just returned from Scotland have done remarkably well, particularly in and near the towns where the woollen industry is carried on. This is easily accounted for. The woollen manufacturers are busily employed—in fact, they usually are when the cotton industry is depressed, and vice ver&d—and the employes make long wages. It follows, of course, that the manufacturers are also well off in regard to purchasing power. I was through the South of Scotland last week, and as I passed late at night, such seats of the woollen industry as Hawick and Galashiels, I found the mills one blaze of light, eloquent evidence of abundant work. There are rather better indications from Ireland as well, and though it is rather early for the late abundant harvest to tell trade, the feeling generally is one of increased confidence. In the cotton districts affairs must be very bad. Never a day passes but cotton-workers, many of them bare-footed and thinly-clad, shiver through our streets. They are not impostors, and the wretched wives and children with them are too real in their misery to excite any doubt of their “ distressful situation.”

There have been some assertions rather freely made of late that Sheffield manufacturers are deficient in enterprise. No greater mistake could be made. In the ordinary staple trades there is no lack of energy. Messrs. William Hutton and Sons, of High-street, silversmiths and electro-platers, are erecting an immense establishment in West-street, on the site of Sanderson Brothers’ famous old steel works. Anyone who examines an electro-plating establishment, or a cutlery factory, would admit that for ingenuity of mechanical appliance there are few industries so conspicuous. Messrs. Ward and Payne, the well-known edge tool and sheep shear manufacturers, have re-built Limerick weir, destroyed during the famous Sheffield flood, and there may be seen the very latest inventions—several by their own workmen—for utilising power and increasing efficiency in the production of the finished goods. Messrs. Charles Cammell and Co., in the heavy branches, display every desire to meet the demand for large castings, which is certain to be a still more prominent feature of trade in the future. They have recently received one 30-ton and one 50-ton ladle, made by the Yorkshire Engine Company, and are now in negotiation for one to hold 105 tons. The Yorkshire Engine Company has also just supplied them with an 85 ton crane. These are only a few proofs of business enterprise, which ought to be greatly multiplied.

At the Sheffield Police-court on Monday two carters were committed for trial at the sessions on a charge of having stolen a large quantity of steel bars, the property of Messrs. Edgar Allen and Co., manufacturers, Wellmeadow Works. The weight, I believe, was close on two tons. The difficulty with steel, as with gold, is in identification, and the knowledge of this difficulty, combined with the necessarily easy of access to stock, the bars lying “ handy ” about the premises, is tempting to persons in the position of carters. The marvel is that cases are not more common.

Another case of “rattening” has occurred at the Union Wheel, Alma-street, this time in the sickle-grinding trade. Messrs. Barker, Mitchell, and England, manufacturers of machine knives, &c., of the Havelock Works, Moorfields, have rented “hulls” at the Union Wheel, where they recently put on workmen from a distance. This was obnoxious to the Sheffield men, who resent what they regard as the intrusion of strangers when their own townsmen are out of employment. The strangers’ bands were therefore removed, by which they were rendered incapable of working, i.e., “rattened.” The buckles of the bands, which were 35ft. long by 2iin. wide, were found in the fireplace, where no doubt the bands had been burnt.

A reminder of the Oaks Colliery explosion comes to us from Barnsley in the form of a meeting of the Explosion Fund. The Fund was formed in 1866, for the relief of the widows and orphans of the 365 victims of the explosions at that colliery. The Earl of Wharncliffe presided. 678 persons were left dependent upon the fund. Of these, 156 were widows, and 346 were children. The number has now been reduced which amounts to £28,000, is invested with the Barnsley Corporation. At the present time there is now a sum of £2959 accumulated interest. The meeting was called for the purpose of deciding what should be done with the funds. Mr. Watson, of the Miners’ Permanent Relief Fund, stated that they had 15,841 members, from whom £45,940 19s. 5d. had been received. A sum of £27,804 19s. 7d. had been paid for benefits in 179 fatal accidents. They had had 12,815 minor accidents, 232 permanent injuries, and 406 widows and children chargeable. The explosion at the Wharncliffe Carlton Colliery—20 lives lost—they estimated to cost about £4000. There were now on the fund, 86 widows, 207 children, 96 permanently injured members, and 38 aged members. The capital of the fund was £21,622 18s. 4d. t was stated that the Swaithe Main Colliery Explosion—65 lives lost —Fund would be exhausted in about five years. The meeting decided to let the £28,000 remain invested as at present, and that the managers should not in any way part with the control of the fund, either capital or interest. It was agreed to give a sum of £1500 to the West Riding Miners’ Permanent Belief Fund, £500 to the Barnsley Beckett Hospital and Dispensary, £200 and £100 to the Ripon and Bradford Industrial homes respectively.

(From, our own Correspondent.)

Scarcely any change has taken place in the Cleveland pig iron trade since last reported. A few sales have been made during the week, both by makers and merchants, and last week’s prices have been steadily maintained.

The market held at

yea

area.

The department of the finished iron trade which seems likely to be most active next year is that of test plates for bridge building. Several lots of a thousand tons each have already been placed with Cleveland manufacturers, and more are in the market. In almost all cases somewhat

on an average

or three weeks of

52s. 6d.; Carron, at Grangemouth, 49s. and 48s., specially selected, 53s. 6d.; Kinneil, at Bo’ness, 45s. and 44s.; Glengarnock, at Ardrossan, 50s. 6d. and 43s. 6d.; Eglinton, 45s. and 41s. Gd.; Dalmellington, 48s. fid. and 44s. 6d.

The condition of the Scotch malleable iron trade exhibits scarcely any change since last report. Business is fairly active in some works, while others are in want of employment.

The past week’s shipments of iron and steel manufactures from the Clyde embraced nine locomotives, four of which went to Calcutta and five to Queensland, their aggregate estimated value being £10,714. There were, besides, a steel tug and four steel brages, valued at £16,600, for Calcutta; machinery of different kinds to the value of £18,350 ; sewing machines, £3100 ; steel goods, £4160; and general manufactures, £35,400.

Messrs. William Baird and Co., of Gartsherrie, have just paid £25,000 to over fifty individuals, fe&ars at Kilsyth, in proportions varying from £80 to £3000, for the minerals contained in about 100 acres of ground, which the Court of Session has decided to be the property of the feuars and not of the superior.

The very cold weather which has been experienced during a part of the present week has slightly improved the demand for household coals, and fair shipments have also taken place at a number of the ports. At Ayr 7514 tons of coals were despatched, while 5589 tons were sent from Troon: Glasgow General Terminus, 11,844; the Queen’s Docks, 8003 tons; and Grangemouth, 8064 tons. The demand for coals for manufacturing uses is quiet, and the prices of all sorts are slightly lower; indeed, a reduction of about 3d. a ton has been made in certain localities course of the past week.

The miners of Stonefield, Cambuslang, and Hamilton districts held a meeting a few days ago at Hamilton, when the wages question sidered, and a resolution adopted to application for an advance in the Indeed, some of those present openly expressed their apprehension that they might be required to submit to a decrease of pay before very long.

The Fife and Clackmannan coalmasters have

in the

was con-make no meantime.

new

are

men

THE PATENT JOURNAL.

*** It has come to our notice that some applicants of the Patent-office Sales Department, for Patent Specifications, have caused much unnecessary trouble and annoyance, both to themselves and to the Patent-cffice Officials, by giving the number of the page of The Engineer at which the Specification they require is referred to, instead of giving the proper number of the Specification. The mistake has been made by looking at The Engineer Index, and giving the numbers there found, which only refer to the pages, in place of turning to those pages and finding the numbers of the Specification.

10th November, 1884.

Engine, F.

Mr. C. II. Cobbold, F.G.S., of the Plumbley Colliery Company, Eckington, is at present delivering a course of lectures on “ Coal Mining,’, under the auspices of Firth College—Technical Department. These lectures are very interesting, and promise to be useful. Mr. Cobbold is giving attention to-morrow—Saturday—to “ The Various Systems of Boring by Special Appliances.”

Dr. C. B. Webster, the United States Consul at Sheffield, has issued a circular to local manufacturers informing them of the World’s Centennial Show, to be held at New Orleans, and of the desire of his Government to have examples of the progress made in the industrial arts from the various trades’ centres of the world.

A Reuter’s telegram from Rome, placed in my hands as I close this letter, st ites that the Italiin Ministry of Marine have decided that Schneider-all steel—armour, shall in future be adopted exclusively for war vessels of the Italian Navy. I made inquiry at our local manufacturers here, and find that they regard the telegram as premature, to say the least. They are in daily expecta'ion of herring the decision of the Italian Government, and they believe that the reason they have not received it is because the decision has not yet been arrived at.

THE NORTH OF ENGLAND.

Middlesbrough on Tuesday last was well attended, but no new feature was noticeable. Sales of No. 3 g.m.b. for prompt delivery were at 3Gs. 3d. per ton, and for next r’s delivery 36s. 6d. to 30s. 9d. was asked, and here and there obtained. The output of forge iron is less than it was, and consequently the price is slightly stiffer. Those makers who are short of that quality have raised their price to 34s. 6d. per ton; and, indeed, it is difficult to purchase any below that figure. No. 4 foundry iron is 34s. 9d. per ton for prompt, and 3d. more for forward delivery.

Messrs. Connal and Co.’s stocks of pig iron at Middlesbrough and Glasgow again show a decrease. The returns for the week ending Monday last are as follows:—Stock at Middlesbrough, 53,024 tons; decrease, 290 tons. Stock at Glasgow, 579,886 tons; decrease, 190 tons.

A great improvement has taken place in shipments from the Tees during last week. Up to Monday night 49,863 tons of pig iron were sent away, or about the same as shipped in the same number of days last month. Scotland is, it appears, taking a much larger quantity than last month.

There is a decidedly better inquiry for finished iron, and as pig iron is dearer, some makers are raising their quotations. On the other hand, certain consumers are believed to be holding back their orders in the expectation that prices will fall still further when the wages question is settled. This, however, is scarcely likely to result in view of the fact that the prices of finished iron have lately been far from remunerative, and makers require all the relief they can get from wages. Ship plates are offered at £5 to £5 2s. 6d. per ton, angles at £415s., and common bars at £5 2s. 6d., all on trucks at makers’ works, cash 10th, less 2k per cent.

Messrs. A. Leslie and Co., of Hebburn-on-Tyne, have, it is stated, received an order for a steel vessel of about 4000 tons burthen. The vessel is for the Anglo-Australian Steam Navigation Corn-pany.

Messrs. Raylton Dixon and Co. have, in addition to the vessel already commenced, received orders for small boats, which will give employment to a great number of hands during the winter months.

There are signs of renewed activity at some of the marine engine works on the’Tyne and Wear. Messrs. Palmers’ Shipbuilding and Iron Company have just booked orders for two marine engines of the new triple expansion kind. The North-Eastern Marine Engineering Works, at Sunderland, are again working full time, having in hand five marine engines.

Messrs. James Laing and Co., of Sunderland, have given their fitters notice of a reduction of wages to the extent of 2s. per week.

At a recent meeting of the Cleveland Foreman’s Association, Mr. Bentley, foreman smith at the Tees-side Ironworks, exhibited a marvellous specimen of welding and flanging from basic steel boiler plates ^in. thick. The specimen was a four-way branch pipe, 9in. in diameter internally. It was like two pipes intersecting each other at right angles. The length from end to end of the opposite branches was about 5ft. Four plates had been used, each forming two adjacent half pipes. Looking at the branch pipe in plan on either side, the centre lines of the tubes marked the lines of welding. The angles between the adjacent branches were well rounded out. Each plate had been first stamped out by hydraulic pressure between two cast iron forms to the desired shape, and the welding was done afterwards on a mandril. It was intended eventually to flange the extremities of the branches, but this had not been done when the specimen was shown. The sound given out by the piece when poised upon a single point of support and smartly struck showed that it was as solid as though made of one piece.

One of the northern wagon building companies is using basic steel boiler plates in the construction of mineral wagons. Each wagon requires rather more than a ton of plates to form the sides, bottoms, and ends, and fifty wagons are in progress. The basic steel plates in this case, and also in that last referred to, were rolled at the Newport Rolling Mills, Middlesbrough, and were of a quality soft enough for welding and for standing Lloyd’s quenching test, they were tough enough also to stand a breaking strain of 2G tons with 27 per cent, elongation and 50 per cent, contraction of severe tests are imposed, but not more than can be obtained with care. If any considerable portion of the 28 millions of money to be devoted to Indian railways should be spent in the immediate future among English bridge builders, it is not unlikely that there may be a substantial rise in the value of the materials they use.

The Iron Manufacturers’ Association has reconsidered the claims it had intended to make before the Standing Committee as to plate rollers’ tonnage rates. Instead of pressing for the adoption of the novel principle of differential rates, according to the power of the respective mills, it is now intended to ask the committee to authorise the payment of these operatives partly by shift-wages, and partly by a bonus dependent on the output. Each mill will have a normal output fixed somewhat below its real average power. For this normal quantity or below, the chief roller and his assistants will have a fixed sum per shift, uniform for each position as near as practicable throughout the district, and subject to variation with ironworkers’ wages generally.

For every ton above the normal output, the employing firm will pay 2s. Cd. per ton bonus money, which will not vary with district rates. This bonus money will be divided between the roller and his assistants, in the proportion of 9d. to the former and Is. 9d. among the latter. Both roller and his assistants will be paid direct by the firm, but the roller will still have power to engage or discharge his assistants, subject to the approval of the manager and to the rules of the works. Under the proposed arrangement, the chief roller will still be able to earn from 14s. to 18s. per shift clear. It is thought not unlikely that the new arrangement, which is an exceedingly fair one as between all affected, may be accepted by the rollers and their assistants without appeal to the Standing Committee referee.

NOTES FROM SCOTLAND.

(From our own Correspondent.)

The Glasgow warrant market was in a very excited state up till near the close of last week, in consequence of the efforts of “bears”to obtain iron to square their accounts. The demand for this purpose was so pressing that in one day warrants rose about Is. a ton. Now, however, the tone of the market is much quieter, and there is less apprehension of further failures than there was last week. The upward turn in the market is due almost entirely to the stoppages that took place within the past two brokers who had largely oversold their accounts; and if this trouble is now at an end, the natural expectation would be that prices will again decline, the condition of business being so unsatisfactory. The shipments of Scottish pigs, both foreign and coastwise, in the course of the past week have amounted to only 6678 tons, as compared with 6783 in the preceding week, and 12,107 in the corresponding week of 1883. There are ninety-six furnaces in blast, against 101 twelve months ago, and it is hinted this week that the ironmasters may probably be inclined to reduce the number, with the object of preventing an accumulation of stocks. The decrease in the stocks in Messrs. Connal and Co.’s Glasgow stores in the course of the past week was only about 300 tons.

Business was done in the warrant market on Friday at 43s. 6d. a ton for cash. Monday’s market had quotations at 43s. 4^d. to 42s. 10£d. and 43s., whilst on Tuesday the quotations were 42s. 10.]jd. to 43s. cash, and 43s. l^d. one month. Business was done on Wednesday at 43s. to 43s. 7d. cash. The market was somewhat excited this—Thursday—forenoon, when the price advanced to 44s. cash, but at the close the figures were 43s. 7d.

The values of makers’ iron are generally not quite so firm this week, and several brands are selling at a reduction of 6d. to Is. a ton:— Gartsherrie, f.o.b. at Glasgow, per ton, No. 1, 55s. 6d.; No. 3, 50s. Cd.; Coltness, 59s. and 52s. 6d.; Langloan, 58s. and 52s. 6d.; Summerlee, 54s. and 47s. 3d.; Calder, 53s. Cd. and48s.; Carn-broe, 50s. 6d. and 47s. 6d.; Clyde, 48s. 6d. and 45s. 3d.; Monkland, 44s. 6d. and41s. 9d.; Quarter, 43s. 6d. and 41s. 6d.; Govan, at Broomielaw, 44s. and 41s. 9d.; Shotts, at Leith, 54s. Cd. and held a meeting at Dunfermline. Trade was reported to be exceedingly dull, and the prospects for the winter more discouraging than at any similar time since 1876. It was unanimously agreed to reduce the minimum shipping prices of coals by 3d. a ton, and the quotations f.o.b. at Burntisland will now range from 6s. 6d. to 7s. a ton. These figures show a decrease of Gd. to Is. a ton, compared with those rulingin September last.

The chairman of the Holmes Oil Company informed a meeting of the shareholders held the other day in Glasgow that the works are all but finished, and that distilling operations will now proceed with two benches of retorts.

In the Clyde shipbuilding industry matters are not improving. Indeed, trade is still getting worse, and the yards that have something to do are putting the operatives on short time. Several yards are closed altogether, and others are husbanding the little work they have, so as to keep their permanent staffs together.

WALES & ADJOINING COUNTIES.

(From our own Correspondent.)

There was a good deal of astonishment shown in the coal world of Wales towards the end of last week, when the first rumours came out of the coalition between the Bute Docks and Taff Vale Railway, and it lias turned out to be more substantial than a rumour. I am now in a position to state that at an early day an application will be made in Parliament for powers to enable the Marquis of Bute to sell absolutely the docks to the Taff Vale Company; the Taff Vale Company to carry on the docks, repaying all moneys invested. To have an increased directorate, in which will be included nominees of the Marquis, and to raise additional capital for carrying out the additional undertaking.

Such is the startling scheme which burst upon the Barry Dock promoters at their luncheon on Friday last, after the cutting of the first sod of the Barry Docks. The boldness of the project, the far-seeing results that may be anticipated in welding antagonistic forces for the general good of the district, all show from whom it has emanated, and Mr. W. T. Lewis may fairly be credited with another distinct success.

If the fates which rule over the destinies of projected railways are auspicious, the next year will be a busy one for Wales. The resuscitated Risca and Cardiff Bill is to the front, and should succeed. Legislators must overlook minor considerations of individual suffering for the “greater good of the greater number.” And here, most emphatically I may state, is a great virgin coal district which imperatively needs opening out; and without a railway that is impossible.

The Barry Dock people have begun well in securing Mr. Walker. They are now going iii for powers to connect the line which has been sanctioned with the Penarth Extension Line of the Taff Vale Railway. Railway No. 2, again, is sought to be extended to the Fentre Colliery.

Another projected line is the Cardiff, Penartli, and Barry Junction. This will consist of six lines, connecting the various lines with new stations at Cadexton and Barry, and now that the Barry Dock is to be, these will be a necessity. The Rhymney Railway seek to obtain power for a short link at the Bute Docks, and to obtain running powers over the Taff at the northern Junction of that line with the Pontypridd, Caerphilly, and Newport.

The Rhondda and Swansea Bay Company is going in for powers to construct six lines of rail for connecting its line with the Cwmavon, with Britcn Ferry, and generally improving its own line. Then the Taff Vale Company proposes four lines, one from the College Works at Llandatf to the East Moors, another from Ferndale Engine Shed to Mardy Colliery, and the others links and combinations. Finally, the Great Western seeks to construct two railways, the first to connect the Ogmore and Pencved lines, another a link between the S. W. Railway at Neath with the corn-pay’s Neath and Swansea line.

The coal trade is better this week, and both house and steam coal are increasing in activity; but there is still plenty of room for improvement. It is but to be expected that the demand for house coal should be increased. What is much wanted is an increase in the steam coal business which shall give full time to the colliers again. Latterly the week has begun on Tuesday night at many collieries, and I shall not regard the revival in trade as sufficiently pronounced until full time is restored. Some fair cargoes are going from the ironworks’ collieries this week. Steam small is decidedly improving, both in demand and price; but coke lags on account of the slackness of the iron and steel trades. I have no improvement to record in connection with any of the works. Some slight stoppages have occurred at Cyfarthfa, which will throw a few hands out. So far the furnaces are going, though every spare comer is being stocked with pig. This may, and I hope will, pay. Last week there was a little financing amongst buyers and sellers, and pigs went up, but from the first the men well posted in the trade shook their heads. We have to wait a little longer for improvement.

1 have referred in this column to the indignation expressed in the district against Government for getting steel rail orders executed in Germany. Singularly enough, a cargo of steel rails came to Swansea from Holland this week, for the tramway company. Buyers will go to the cheapest market, apart from national considerations.

Colliery proceedings are going on well at the new Elliot Pit, New Tredegar; 400 yards already sunk out of the 450. Near Pontypridd the great taking of the year, Ynyscaedidwg, is going on well. Oefn Glas pit has been sold, and will be started forthwith. Near this place, and between it and Nixon’s, Merthyr Vale, a piece of mineral land is for sale, 14 acres valued at £1400. This shows the market price of virgin property at present.

The strike of the Gelli and Tynybedw continues in a determined fashion. The men appear disaffected and self-willed. It is a pity they do not seek work elsewhere, and allow a new set of men to work the collieries.

I have just heard a whisper of good news for our steel works. India will want 150,000 tons of rails. Victoria and New South Wales are going in heavily, and the combination against the Ring having failed, good work is in store.

Condensed from the Journal of the Commissioners of Patents.

Applications for Letters Patent.

*** When patents have been “communicated,” the name and address of the communicating party ai o printed in italics.

14.824.    Embroidering Machines, W. H. Farmer, London.

14.825.    Razor Straps, A. Dey, Glasgow.

14,820. Ferrules for holding the Rids of Umbreli.as Ac., W. Gadd, Manchester.

14.827.    Brakes for Carts, Ac., J. Smith, Halifax.

14.828.    Cutting of Velvets, Ac., G. A. Lees, Stockport Moor.

14.829.    Dynamo-electric Machines, J. H. Greenhill, Belfast.

14.830.    Ventilating IIeatino Gas Stove, I. Westle\, Birmingham.

14.831.    Obscuring Transparent Lamp Shades, Ac., W. Byers, Gateshead.

14.832.    Lubricating Washer, G. A. White, Green-gates.

14.833.    Jaws, Ac., for Machine and other Vices, G. B. Taylor, Edgbaston.

14.834.    Metallic Picker for Looms, R. Pickup, D. H. Wilkinson, and J. Holt, Burnley.

14.835.    Promotinq Combustion in Fireplaces, II Walker, Birmingham.

14.836.    Button-hole Stitch Sewing Machines, G. Browning, Glasgow.

14.837.    Supports for Lawn Tennis Nets, F. S. Lang-shaw, Manchester.

14.838.    Supplying Air to Minin, Ac., II. Manton, London.

14.839.    Saving Fuel, tic., in Open Fire-grates, J. Shaw, London.

14.840.    Primary Batteries, R. A. Loo, London.

14.841.    Button-hole Stitch Sewing Machines, G. Browning, Glasgow.

14.842.    Rivettino Metal Plates, A. J. New, London.

14.843.    New and Useful Mechanical Movement, C. H. la Due, Liverpool.

14.844.    Nf.w and Useful Mechanical Movement, C. H. la Due, Liverpool.

14.845.    Applyinq Water as Motive Power, E. J. ilayball and H. S. Cooper, London.

14.846.    Construction of Insulators, L. Gutmann, London.

14.847.    The Perfection Light, T. J. II. Hawkins, Hillingdon Heath. <

14.848.    Indicating whether a Railway Carriage Door is Fast or not, J. Kayo, London.

18.849.    Extensible Frames for Pictures, A. Man-chain, London.

14.850.    Embf.ddino Wire in India-rubiier Tipino, H. Pegler, London.

14.851.    Toilet Requisite, L. A. Groth.—(S. Winkler, Szabadka.)

14.852.    Insulator for Electric Purposes, L. A. Grolli. — (J. Wolff, Szepes Iglo.)

14.853.    Treating Copper Matt, A. W. L. Reddle.— (J. J. ami Ji. Crooke, U.S.)

14.854.    Stop Cocks, E. Cupitaino.-(/. A. Hencktlt, Solingen.)

14.855.    Tandem Velocipede, I. T. Townsend and J.

J. Horne, Birmingham.

14.856.    Injectors, S. Maefarlane, London.

14.857.    Curry Combs, A. W. Cox, London.

14.858.    Machine for Bending Rails, J. W. Hartley, London.

14.859.    Paper Pulps, tic., II. Vossicr and A. Wilbaux, London.

14.860.    Metal Foil, C. Cheswright, London.

14.861.    Water Meters, W. G. Stuart, London.

14.862.    Correcting Deviations of Ships’ Compassfs, W. Spinks, London.

14.863.    Metallic Frames for Cars, Ac., E. G. Brewer. —(J. T. (I'oodj'etlow and It. M. Cushman, U.S.)

14.864.    Disinfectant, J. Y. Johnson.—(A. O. Beck, Paris.)

14.865.    Electric Alarums for any Clock, Sic., H. W. Wilson, London.

14.866.    Caustic Soda and Potash, F. Bolton, London.

14.867.    Railway Signalling Apparatus, A. M. Clark. —( W. Hadden, U.S.)

14.868.    Holding Sliding Windows In Open Positions, A. Spencer, London.

14.869.    Lasting Machines, G. Hawkes, London.

14.870.    Weaving Looms, H. H. Lake.—(C. Coupland, United States.)

14.871.    Fastening IlEviCEsfor Boots, tic., H. H. Lake. —(J. 11’. Parker, U.S.)

14.872.    Magazine or Repeatino Rifles, C. F. Wood, Enfield Lock.

14.873.    Raf-ts, T. A. F. Hall and II. T. Clancliy, London.

14.874.    Artificial Fuel, W. L. Wise.—(O. B. Borne-misza and W. von Kopal, Vienna.)

14.875.    Money Boxes, R. Gardner.—(F. W. Bossert, Offenbach-on-the-Maine.)

14,>-76. Printing in Colours, A. Grafton, London. 14,877. Horizontal Sawing Machines, S. W. Worssam, London.

12th November, 1884.

14.878.    Motion of Hobby Houses, Ac., W. Hayhurst, Burnley.

14.879.    Paring the Curls of Hat Brims, S. Wilde Manchester.

14.880.    Air Pump Buckets, J. Musgrave, Manchester.

14.881.    Steam-heated Cylinders, J. Hawthorn and

J.    P. Liddel, Manchester.

14.882.    Heating Buildings, Ac., S. Moorhouse, Manchester.

14.883.    Crank Axles for Locomotive Engines, Ac., 8. Perkins, Manchester.

14.884.    Shuttles, J. Brierley and A. Hill, Manchester.

14.885.    Photographic Engraving, J. R. Sawyer, London.

14.886.    Showing Dissolving Views, Ac., J. A. R. Rudge, Bath.

14.887.    Shirt Cuffs, D. Knibb, Oswestry.

14.888.    Ventilators, F. W. Willcox, Sunderland.

14.889.    Gaiter or Extended Legging, R. J. Spink, Oswestry.—27tA September, 1884.

14.890.    Tramway Wheels, W. Brown, Birmingham.

14.891.    Hand-piece for Dental Burring H. Hallam, London.

14.892.    Combined Cooking and Ornamental Oven Mantel Register, J. Winfield and H. G. Evered Derby, and H. W. Underhill, London.

14.893.    Gas-pressure Regulators or Governors T. Caink, Leigh.

14.894.    Fastenings for Boots, Ac., E. Wright, Hands-worth.

14.895.    Valve Lubricator for Railway Carriage Axles, W. P. Thompson.—(A. Schliwa, Dortmund.)

14.896.    Flushino Water-closets, Ac., T. B. Walter, Liverpool.

14.897.    Combined Ventilator and Electric Motor,

K.    L. Sheldon and P. Higgs, London.

14.898.    Lozenges, Ac., H. T. Wrigley, York.

14.899.    Billiard Tables, E. Bennett, London.

14.900.    Plough Coulters, T. C. Sargeant, Weedon.

14.901.    Steamship Propellers, J. Lapsley, Glasgow.

14.902.    Liquid Meter, J. Bowie, W. Turner, and M Hill, London.

14.903.    Adjusting and Securing Cuffs, &c., G. Lowry, London.

14.904.    Balancing Window Sashes, Sic., J. B. Adams, London.

14.905.    Watches, R. Bragge, Birmingham.

11,9 06. Planes, H. Sykes, London.

1 1 ,907. Carpet Sweepers, B. H. Evers.—(W. Castle, United States.)

14.908.    Fire-proofing Textile Fabrics, G. Harrison, London.

14.909.    Bricks and Tiles, P. Bawden, London.

14.910.    Earthenware Plates, W. Searles, Balham.

14.911.    School Copy-books, J. C. Mewburn.—(IF. Walcker, raris.)

14.912.    Brackets for Supporting Spouting, G. Cheadle and J. Simmonds, London.

14.913.    Bicycle and Tricycle Lamps, C. Philiips, London.

14.914.    Gunpowder for Ballistic Purposes, W. Hope, London.

14.915.    Ammunition for Military, <fec., Small-arms, W. Hope, London.

14.916.    Dynamo-electric Machines, S. Pitt.—(C. de Nottbeck, St. Petersburgh.)

14.917.    Girders, B. A. Stoffcrt, London.

14.918.    Polishing Granite, R. Lawrence, London.

14.919.    Coverings for Horticultural Uses, T. C. March, London.

14.920.    Trimming Wicks of Oil Lamps, J. Knight, London.

14.921.    Wasiiino Carriages, &c., J. Burch and S. and T. Kay, Stockport.

14.922.    Folding or Portable Fencing, C. Causley, London.

14.923.    Combination Letter Printing and Stamping Machine, W. C. Burton, London.

14.924.    Vessels, A. Bohnes, London.

14.925.    Embroidering Machines, H. J. Haddan.—(//. Stockel and S. Berger, Saxony.)

14.926.    Muffs, Ac., J. Imray.-(J. Jenneau, Paris.)

14.927.    Electric Switch, A. Khotinsky, London.

14.928.    Grinding and Pulverising, B. Stone, London.

14.929.    Miner's Safety Lamp, J. Douglas, London.

14.930.    Smelting Apparatus, R. Stone, London.

14.931.    Frames of Lamps for Ventilating, T. Heron, London.

14.932.    Retaining Device for Neckties, L. N. Loeb, London.

14.933.    Box, Sic., for Galvanic Batteries, T. J. Jones, London.

14.934.    Recording Music upon Pianos, Sic., W. B. Woodbury, London.

14.935.    Motive-power Engines, II. C. Walker and R. Carey, London.

14.936.    Signalling on Railways, A. J. Boult.—(C. M. Ser(/e, Valsonne.)

14.937.    Crank and other Shafts, G. R. Owen, London.

14.938.    Envelopes, A. J. Boult.—(F. De Coppet, Lausanne.)

14.939.    Bottle Stoppers, J. S. Davison, London.

14.998.    Screw-cutting Lathes, J. Shaw, Bradford.

14.999.    Washers and Nuts for Fastening Driving Belts, W. Gadd, Manchester.

15,000. Gearing for Driving Velocipedes, W. B. Kettle and H. J. Brookes, Smethwick.

15,001. Hollow Double-headed Key or Pin, J. Lees, Lower Clarksfield.

15,002. Tire Cleaner, G. Holmes, London.

15,003. Indicating Apparatus, D. K. Simpson, Liverpool.

15,004. Metallic Pistons, J. Qualter and E. Hall, London.

15,005. Automatic Governor and Expansion, C. B. Parkes, London.

15,006. Staiths, S. Butler, London.

15,007. Propelling Bicycles, Sic., J. E. Atkinson, Greenwich.

15,008. Teaching Time in Music, F. L. Treheame, London.

15,009. Baising and Lowering Boller Blinds, J. E. Hopkinson and It. H. Lapage, London.

15,010. Non-conducting Material for Covering Steam Boilers, &c., J. C. Mewburn.—(J. L. Mar tiny et Compagnie, Paris.)

15,011. Coal Boxes, 8. Langloy, London.

15,012. Condensing the Exhaust and Promoting the Draught of Steam Engines, A. Greig, London.

15,013. Protecting Metal Goods against Rust, J. P. M. Millard.—(C. Haselliorst, Dresden.)

15,014. Artificial Stone, J. Thompson and J. H. Bryant, London.

15,015. Peculating the Supply of Water to Steam Boilers, T. H. White, Manchester.

15,016. Combining Wool Embroidery on Silk Plush, J. Baker and T. Waters, London.

15,017. Baising, &c., Window Sashes, H. A. Williams, London.

15,018. Baryta and Strontia, A. C. Henderson.—(/. Marlin and E. Maumenl, Lyons.)

15,019. Stone-cutting Apparatus, &c., W. Stewart, London.

15,020. Dentifrice, S. Jennens, London.

15,021. Metallic Springs, W. Buckley, London.

15,022. Umbrellas or Sunshades, C. L. Holdemess, London.

15,023. Aerial Navigation, A. J. Boult.—(A. Aubrie, Bordeaux.)

15,024. Globe Holders for Lamps, <fec., W. II. Sleop, London.

15,025. Contact Makers for the Holders of Incandescent Lamps, A. Swan, London.

15,026. Separating, &e., Oxygen and Nitrogen from Atmospheric Air, L. Q. and A. Brin, London.

15,027. Separation of Ores and Mineral Products, F. J. King, London.

15,028. Supporting or Holding Glass, S. D. Arundel, London.

15,029. PoLisiiEDand Annealed Wire, &c., J. Sheldon, London.

15,030. Electric Arc Lamps, F. Thornton and O. Bomanzo, London.

15,081. Preparing Lubricatino Oils, C. Rumble and F. Sear, London.

15,089. Invalid Bedsteads, G. F. Ransome, Liverpool. 15,090. Heating Stove, W. K. FuUcylove, Bugby. 15,091. Fustian and Velvet Cutting, S. Turner, J.

and T. Chadwick, Levenshulme.

15,092. Cheese Tasters and Butter Tryers, T. Hough, Wolverhampton.

15,093. Corkscrew Cork, A. L. Adey, Belfast.

15,094. Skates, J. J. Bugg, Birmingham.

15,095. Safety Device for Doors, A. LaurenQot, Paris. 15,096. Portable Gas Muffin Stove, J. E. Maffey, Southampton.

15,097. Fishing Floats, A. V. Catmur, London.

15,098. Smooth Toothed Wheels for Magneto Call Bells, H. T. O. Fraser, London.

15,099. Tie-holders, F. L. D. Matthews, London.

15.100.    Multiplying Motion, C. Warren, Ip>wich.

15.101.    Dumb-bells, W. A. Woof, London.

15.102.    Suspenders for Hats, <fcc., B. Scaife, London.

15.103.    Pneumatic Signalling Apparat s, C. E. Zimdars, London.

15.104.    Brake Mechanism for Warp Beams of Looms, II. J. Haddan.—(J. Brandt and G. W. von Nawrocki, Berlin.)

15.105.    Cans, C. d’H. Dressier, London.

15.106.    Purifying, &c., Liquids by Electrolysis, A. Z., N. G. A., and L. P. G. Champy, London.

15.107.    Preparing Materials, A. Parry, London.

15.108.    Desulphurising Coal, G. E. Vaughan.—(R. R. Savours, Bilbao.)

15.109.    Forming Ice Surfaces, A. MacLeod, London.

15.110.    Gas Engines, C. W. Pinkney and C. F. A. McAllen, jun., London.

15.111.    Governors, F. Jenkin, Edinburgh.

15.112.    Tweed Hats, A. Horowitz, London.

15.113.    Torpedo Apparatus, A. J. Gold, London,

15.114.    Action of Keyboard Instruments, V. Willis, London.

15.115.    Cut Nail Machines, J. W. and J. L. Ileward, London.

15.116.    Fastenings for Bracelets, Ac., F. W. Fuchs d F. G. Heynemann, London.

15.117.    Corrugated Sheet Metal Tubing, C. D. Abel. —(M. Wiirfel, Bochum.)

15.118.    Bogies for Cooling, Sic., Slag, W. Cochrane, London.

15.119.    Transparencies, E. O Griinert, London.

15.120.    Hall Lamps or Lanterns, It. H. and B. S. Hughes, London.

SELECTED AMEEICAN PATENTS.

From the United States' Patent Office Official Gazette.

305,656. Rotary Engine, Benjamin T. Babbit, New York, N.Y.—Filed May 7th, 1884.

Claim—Tho combination, with tho shafts B BL tho discs and sorics of buckets 0 c Cl cl, and tho nozzle D, of the shaft F, the pinion /1, and spur wheel F¹, gear-

plain caps and end openings closed with caps provided with bearings for the crank shaft, the whole arranged and adapted for service substantially as shown and for the purpose described.

305,762. Cut-off Slide Valve, Wilhelm Schmidt, Brunswick, Grand Duchy of Brunswick, Germany.— Filed April 2nd, 1884.

Claim.—(1) A pair of slide valves adapted to slide upon each other, and provided at their contact surface with recesses adapted to periodically communicate with the exhaust space or exhaust port of the engine, for the purpose of reducing the pressure between the said valves and causing them to move together, sub-

[305,762|

*'//■///

/jZZA

V7777JJW/A

LZZJ

stantially as described. (2) The combination of a main valve having auxiliary ducts s s¹, crossing tho main ports a c, with an expansion valve adapted to slide on the back of tho main valve, the contact surface of one or both of tho valves being provided with recesses 0 o\ communicating with the ducts s *1, substantially as and for the purpose described.

305,968. Velocipede, Edgar E. Sell, Charleston, S.C.— Filed March 10<A, 1884.

Claim.—(1) Tho combination of tho frame A of a bicyclo, having a rearwardly-projccting portion, eyes d d¹, with a supplementary vehicle having a frame F, with eyes m m, and with means, substantially as described, whereby said eyes to to are coupled to the eyes d off, as set forth. (2) The combination of tho frame A, projecting in front of the driving wheel B, tho supplementary frame F, having a steering handlo K, and means for coupling said frames A and F togothor, as sot forth. (3) The combination of the bicyclo frame A, constructed for being coupled to a

[305,9681

Wr

A-

with

November Vith, 1884.

14.940.    Lasts for Boots and Shoes, R. Wallwork, Manchester.

14.941.    Handy Envelope, A. L. Adoy, Belfast.

14.942.    Locks for Railway, Sic., Doors, W. Wilkes, Bloxwich.

14.943.    Washing Sand by moans of Rotary, Sic., Machine, R. II. Taylor, Cheltenham.

14.944.    Standard for Shoemakers’ Lasts, II. French, Halifax.

14.945.    Tea-pot Lid, J. T. Armstrong and C. Leo, Henley.

14.946.    Portable Refrigerator Boxes, Sic., F. H. Relph, London.

14.947.    Floating Cranks, D. A. Quiggin and R. A. Sloan, Liverpool.

14.948.    Pumps, W. F. W. and J. E. Ellis, Manchester.

14.949.    Rino Spinning Frames, J. W. Dawson and H. Nimpson, Manchester.

14.950.    Rino Doubling Frames, J. H. Dawson and II. Simpson, Manchester.

14.951.    Oxyiiydrooen and othor Microscopes, L. Wright and H. C. Newton, London.

14.952.    Bells or Gonqs, J. H. Hunt, Birmingham.

14.953.    Electrical Apparatus for Communication botwoen Passengers and Guards, J. Badcliifo, East Rotford.

14.954.    Railway Block-signalling Apparatus, J. Radcliffo, East Retford.

14,956. Releasing Fallen Horses, R. C. Jones and J. W. Cunningham, London.

14.956.    Guard Forks, A. .J. Beal, London.

14.957.    Window Bunds, W. C. Morton, Birmingham.

14.958.    Lawn-tennis Backets, A. A. Trimmings, London.

14.959.    Swinging Davits for Raising Ships’ Boats, G. Adamson and F. Madgin, London.

14.960.    Showing Musical Signatures, E. T. Gregory, Lond

14.961.    Metal Fencing, D. K. Weatherly.—(A. E. Murray, Cape of Good Hope.)

14.962.    Washing Wool, L. A. Groth.—(A. Monchablon, Paris.)

14.963.    Match-box, L. A. Groth.—(Teixido y Ca., Barcelona.)

14.964.    Steam Pumping Engines, A. G. Brookes.—(//. R. Worthington, U.S.)

14.965.    Preparation of Beverages, W. II. Thow, Liverpool.

14.966.    Seed Drills, L. R. Knapp, London.

14.967.    Substitute for Lithographic Stones, C. E. Layton.—(P. C. Mailer, Leipsic.)

14.968.    Feeding Bottles, F. Rutard and F. Delas, London.

14.969.    Wheel Stilt, S. Davies, London.

14.970.    Weighing and Filling Packages, W. T. Whiteman.—(Clawson, Thurber, Whyland, and Co., If. S. j

14.971.    Wheels for Tramcars, C. A. Edge

14.972.    Dri\ ino Gear for Bicycles, G. M don.

14.973.    Boots and Shoes, W. T. G. Ellis, London.

14.974.    Domestic Fire-grates, T. Fraser, London.

14.975.    Bicycles, G. Sayer, London.

14.976.    Bits for Horses, J. F. Tattorsall, London.

14.977.    Fountain Pens, A. 8. French, London.

14.978.    Raising Water by Atmospheric Pressure, R. G. Laird, Nuneaton, and C. Matcham, Kirsham.

14.979.    Pipes for Smoking, R. S. Moss, London.

14.980.    Game called “Sandringham,” R. S. Moss, London.

14.981.    Hose Electrodes for Primary, &c., Batteries, R. II. Radford.—(H. F. B. Schaefer, Berlin.)

14.982.    Signalling Helm Movements, G. Read and T. Westhorp, London.

14.983.    Working Button-holes in Leather Gloves, J. Whitby, London.

14.984.    Bolts, W. Edwards, London.

14.985.    Lubricators, R. T. Baines and A. Thomson, London.

15(h November, 1884.

on.

, London, arbutt, Lon-

14th November, 1884.

14.986.    Carrying Books or Tickets used by Tramways, <Src., T. J. Whiting, London.

14.987.    Connecting Jack-hooks and Levers, E. Hol-lingworth and T. Kershaw, Halifax.

14.988.    Treating Vegetable Substances, T. G. Young and J. Pettigrew, jun., Glasgow.

14.989.    Cement for Floors and Pavement, R. L. Lowe, Manchester.

14.990.    Portable Cooking Ovens, F. Clayton, London.

14.991.    Ferrules for Umbrellas, &c., R. Heaton, Birmingham.

14.992.    Sulphurising, Sic., Matches, J. A Elliott.— (E. Fitch, Canada.)

14.993.    Perambulator Bodies, M. Cook. London.

14.994.    Cutting Fustian Cords, &c., II. A. Poole and J. Tattersall, London.

14.995.    Trouser Suspenders, J. H. R. Dinsmore, London.

14.996.    Boots, Sic., M. Frankcnburg, London.

14.997.    Glazing Skylights, Sic., W. H. Burdock, London.

15,032. Slow Combustion Stoves, J. Wolstonholme, Derbyshire.

15,033. Stoppers for Bottles, W. Smith, Aston.

15,034. Waterproofing Paper, &c., W. Macrono, Glasgow.

15,085. Weavers’ Bobrins, J. Holding, London. 15,036. Manipulating Cements, B. W. Goodison, Liverpool.

15,037. Flushing Apparatus, R. Anderson, Liverpool. 15,038. Extracting,' &c., Bones, F. Seltsam, Liverpool.

15,039. Making Cylindrical Shells, Sic., J. Whitley, Leeds.

15,040. Cleaning Boots and Shoes, G. Healey, London. 16,041. Counters for Indicating Revolutions, W. Cuthbertson, London.

15,042. Hot-water Pipes, A. Waters, London.

15,043. Portable Exercising Stool, G. J. F. Tate, London.

15,044. Ring-spinning, and Doublino Frames, R. Riloy, Manchester.

15,046. Wheels for Velocipedes, F. A. Skidmore, Covontry.

15,046. “Cremona’’ Violin Ciiin Grip, E. Smith, Poolo.

15,047. Sizino Paper for Decoration, W. Macrono, Glasgow.

15,048. Treating, Sic., Varnishes, W. Macrono, Glasgow.

15,049. Car for Shooting Purposes, E. C. and J. W. Clift, Wellington.

15,050. Steam Boilers, J. D. Morrison, jun., and S. Kent, Gateshead.

15,051. Billiard Cues, T. Thorp, Whitefield.

15,052. Preparing Food for Cattle, A. C. Bamlett, Thirsk.

15,053. Extending Table, A. Thomson, Glasgow. 15,054. Stirrufh, &c., J. M. Fletchor, Chcadlc.

15,065. Ejector Condensers, &c., T. II. White, Manchester.

15,066. Cells for Batteries, J. B. Spence and H. A. Fergusson, Loudon.

15,057. Working Auriferous, &c., Substances by Lead, E. Probert, San Francisco.

15,058. Uncoupling Pipes on Trains, J. Imray.—(A. P. Kapteyn, Paris.)

Cap-spinning, Sic., Frames, Josiah and Joseph

15,059.

Ward, London.

15,060. Car Wheels, R. F. H. Hovet, London.

15,061. Automatic Coupling of Railway Carriages, J. Rhodes, London.

15,062. Metallic Labels for Umbrellas, <tc., A. F. Boham, London.

15,063. Duplex Crank Piston Steam Engines, J. Dow, London.

15,064. Frames or Clasps for Purses, A. Merzbach, London.

15,065. Makino Aerated Drinks, G. W. Chinnery, Walthamstow.

15,066. Perambulator Bodies, M. Cook, Soutliwick. 15,067. Stockino and Clothino Knitting Machines, W. Harrison, London.

15,068. Cleansing Pipe for Water-closet Basins, A. Emanuel, London.

16,069. Electric Meter, A. P. Trotter, London.

15,070. Water-closets, S. S. Phillips and H. F. Green, London.

15,071. Drain Pipe Trap, D. Tennant, London.

15,072. Fire-liohters, E. G. Brewer.—(C. Navarre, Capelle au Bois.)

15,073. Brushes, S. P. Wilding.— (M. Lintzmeycr and

Schwab, Nuremoerg.)

15,074. Daylight Reflector, W. J. Brower, London. 15 075. Product Impervious to Air and Water, E. de Pass.—(A. Lebre, Paris.)

15,076. Forming Ice Surfaces, Ac., W. W. Nightingale, London.

15,077. Public Urinals, J. Halley, London.

15,078. Saving Lives from Burning Buildings, W. R. Lake.—(E. Pons, Paris.)

15,079. Steam Engines, J. H. Johnson. — (Messrs.

Lecouteux and Gamier, Paris.)

15,030. Reproducing Writings, Sic., 8. and S. R. Chatwood, London.

15,081. Burners, &c., S. and S. R. Chatwood, London. 15,032. Boots and Shoes, T. P. Millet, London.—(U. Melachrino.)

15,083. Combined Cigar-cutter and Solitaire, H. Hahn.—(J. Cejka, Vienna.)

17th November, 1884.

15,084. Grinding Grain, I. Watkin, Liverpool.

15,085. Apparatus for Condensing, O. Row, Liverpool. 15,086. Domestic Fireplaces, J. Inshaw, Birmingham. 15,087. Regenerative Open-hearth Steel Making Furnaces, T. Williamson, Glasgow.

15,088. Cheeks for Register Stoves, E. Jones and J. J. Calcott, Bristol.

3Q5.65CI

>£

AO

------ —----- ~

ing tho shaft B¹ with tho shaft F, and tho pinion / and internally-toothed wheel F², gearing thh shaft B with tho shaft F, all substanially as horoin described. 305,752. Governor for Water-wheels, Sic., Warren T. Kellogg, Cohoes, N.Y.—Filed April Qlh, 1884.

Claim.—(1) Tho combination, with a governor A, and a vibratilo shield or pawl raiser II, providod with two separated seats h, as liorein described, of a single excentric B, connected, ns described, to two oppositely-moving arms F and Fl, each of said arms being providod with two pawls G, arranged to roach in opposite directions, as herein set forth, all being constructed

[305,752!

■h\

‘ii

\\ A

and arranged to operate substantially as specified. (2) In a water-wheel governing mechanism, tho combination, with a single excentric B, and slotted guide D, of the oppositely-moving arms F and Fl, connected to tho strap b of said oxcentric, as and for tho purpose specified.

305,811. Steam Engine, Benjamin W. Grist, Reading, Pa.—Filed February 11 th, 1884.

Claim.—A double-cylinder vertical trunk engine composed of the following elements: Two upright cylinders each having one-half depth of steam chest cast integral therewith and combined, forming a valve chamber common to both cylinders, a double balanced

[305,811]

i(

==

D-valve, a valvo rod, guide, and block, a single excentric, and double crank shaft, arranged to give alternate, simultaneous, and directly opposite movement to tho trunk pistons of tho cylinders by rods F, a base upon which tho cylinders and valve rod guide are bolted, having front and rear openings closed with

supplementary frame F, with tho steering bar E, carrying the small wheel D of tho bicyclo, and detachable from tho framo A, as set forth. (4) Tho combination of tho frame A, having tho lower eyo d, with tho rod /, dotachably connected to tho uppor pa the framo, and having an eye d¹, as sot forth. (5) Tho combination of the framo A, having eyos d a¹, the frame F, having eyes to to, auu th > pivot bolt g, adapted to both sets of eyes, and serving to connect tho two frames together, as sot forth.

CONTENTS.

rt of

The Enoineer, Novcmbor 21st, 1884. page Stresses on Circular Lock Oates. No. I. .. 383 Establishment of Steel Gun Factories in the

States ...................,H

The Philadelphia Electrical Exhibition.

(Illustrated.)..    „    .............

Education in tiif. Science of Naval Arciiiteo-

(Illustrated.)............

Stevens and Major’s Silent Closing Door Sprino 386

The Institution of Civil Engineers......

Special Plant for Making Iron Wagon Underframes. (Illustrated.) ............

The Forth Bridoe. (Illustrated.)........

Railway Matters................

Notes and Memoranda ............

Miscellanea..................

Turners Boiler, S.S. Knioht of the Cross.

(Illustrated.)..................

Crank Sweep Cutting Machine. (Illustrated.).. 391 Van Dusen’s Lock Nut. (Illustrated.)

Howl’s Tube Vice. (Illustrated.)......

Letters to the Editor—

The Royal Indian Engineering College .. 392 The Carnac Roof Trusses .

The Navy .........

Tidal Action .......

The Forth Bridoe.....

A Mistake.........

The Rocket Locomotive ..    .

Pressure or Vacuum Brakes

Efficiency of Fans.....

Sf.wf.r Ventilators.....

The Patent-office Sales Department .. .. 899 Manufacture of Iron and Steel

Visits in the Provinces......

Leading Articles—

Lord Ravensworth’s Committee

Cooper’s Hill College.....

Progress of Electric Lighting.

Implements and Tools for India Colliery Explosion Funds ..    ,H|

Value of Independent Automatic Brakes .. 395

Patent-office Businass......■

Recent Bursting of a 6in. Gun..

Literature ............

Butler’s Coal Staith. (Illustrated.)

Theory of the Sliding Friction of Rotation.. 397 The Society of Arts Dimensions of Electric Lighting Leads .. .. 399 American Notes The Iron, Coal, and General Trades of Birmingham, Wolverhampton, and District .. 400

Notes from Lancashire ......

Notes from Sheffield ......

Notes from the North of England

Notes from Scotland........

Notes from Wales and Adjoining Counties .. 401 The Patent Journal Abstracts of Patent American Specifications. 402

i' 1:1 .

383

884

386

887

388

889

889

389

.. 8D1

8D1

392

392

892

392

892

398

399

399

399

399

893

894

394

395

395

395

395

.. .. 400

In,|

400

401

401

401

Epps’s Cocoa.—Grateful and Comforting. —“ By a thorough knowledge of the natural laws which govern the operations of digestion and nutrition, and by a careful application of the fine properties of well-selected Cocoa, Mr. Epps lias provided our breakfast tables with a delicately-flavoured beverage which may save us many heavy doctors’ bills. It is by the judicious use of such articles of diet that a constitution may be gradually built up until strong enough to resist every tendency to disease. Hundreds of subtle maladies are floating around us ready to attack wherever there is a weak point. We may escape many a fatal shaf t by keeping ourselves well fortified with pure blood and a properly nourished frame.”—Civil Service Made simply with boiling water or milk. Sold only in packets, labelled—“ James Epps & Co., Homoeopathic Chemists, London.” — Also makers of Epps’s Chocolate Essence,—[Advt.|

Gazette.