O cT.

1 8, 1 go 1.

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

537

metho~ adopted for obtaining an exact section may

be of mterest. The centre line c c of t he hook
CRANE HOOKS.
was 1:narked off by holding the shank in a selfBy Professor JoHN GooDMAN, M. Inst. C. E .
centring lathe chuck, and after setting the hook in
W
a vertical plane, t he centre line c c was marked on
various
' ""'! block, t hen by means of a strat'ght'th HEN visiting
11
f works in the United States ' wit h a. scribm
wS99 a sma party 0 students, in the summer of edge and square the section line a b was marked
1
' t he aut hor and par t y were verY: courteously off. A mould was then prepared, and a ring of
shown over the magmficent drop-forgtng works of 1 plaster of P aris was cast around the hook, ha ving

THE STRENGTH OF DROP-FORGED

},~. 2.
~ - -- -

FIC. I.

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

-~ ---

!I

'

--- -1 -~ -

I !:
I:

I
I

il II

: I
iI

J(
II

'

I
I
I

}l/
I

'
I

I
I
I
j
I
I

N.A.

rI

I
I

,I
'II

I
I

Ye

,
I

I
I

I
I

I
I

of the section (Z) and the second moment (I) (or

moment of inertia) were then found by the graphic
method described in Ohapter IX. of the author 's
"Mechanics Applied to Engineering." A modulus
figure for the section is shown in Fig. 2. The areas

of th e sect'1ons were measuredb y an A msIer p1animeter. After finding the area, second moment,
and position of t he n eutral axis for all the sectioDB,
it was found that the following expressions gave

'
I

I
I

'
I
I

r ..

FIG. 5.

results agre&iog very closely with those found

graphic~lly :
The a.rea. of tJhe section in sq ua.re
inches (A)
. ..
...
. ..
The distance of the neutral axis from
the compression skin (yo ). ..
Ditto, tension skin (y)
.. .
The second moment (or moment of
inet t :a)(I) in inch units .. .
-

F I G.

3.

0.753 b h
0.545 h
0.455 h

The next step was that of getting a complete

set of plaster casts from the hooks in their original
state in order to compare them with the same hooks
after testing. F or this purpose plaster-of-Paris
moulds in two halves were made in the usual way
into which the liquid plaster was poured, wire cor~
irons having been previously placed in the moulds
in order to strengthen the casts . Fig. 3 is prepared from a photograph of the plaster casts of t he
books, and Fig. 4 from a photograph of the hooks
themselves after testing. During the testino- it was
noticed that t he scale peeled off in a very i~terest
ing ma nner, and thereby revealed the position of
the neut ral plane, also the lines of shear. The
lines formed by the peeling of the scale were, however, not sufficiently clear for photographing; therefore, in order to show them up more definitely, one
of the hooks was whitewashed before testing. The
re~mlt is shown in Fig. 5, in which the position of
the neutral plane is very clearly shown by the
central band of white where the material was not
severely strained, but t he whitewash peeled off on
both sides of it, due to t he distortion of the
material.
The hooks having been carefully placed in suitable shackles in t he testing machine, resembling the
links of a chain, the load was gradually increased
and at each increment of load the distance
(Fig. 1) was very carefully measured to the nearest
'[A-o- in.; at first the st rain- i.e., the increase in the
distance d - was very small, and was t ruly elastic.
When the load was removed, t he hook r eturned to
its original form. The load at which it ceased to
act in this manner, or when d was permanently
increased, is termed the "elastic limit, (L) in the
Tables given on page 539.
After the elastic limit had been passed, the strain
increased much more rapidly than before with any
given increase in the load. The exact manner in
which each hook behaved is shown in the curves in
Figs. 6, 7, 8, and 9, page 638. At length a stage
was reached when the hooks kept on opening without
any further increase in the load. This is termed
t he maximum load M in the Tables on page 539.
The amount that each hook opened under the
maximum loads can be judged from Fig. 4, but the
curves in Figs. 6, 7, 8, and 9 are not carried to the
maximum loads in all instances.
The stresses that occur in a hook section a b,

FIG. 4.

Messrs. J. H. \Villiams and Co., Brooklyn. At

the suggestion of the aut hor, the firm very kindly
presented a complete set of their steel crane hooks
the Yorkshire College, on the condition t hat t he
hook s should be carefully tested, and that t hey
should r eceive a copy of the results.
Before making any tests, accurate measurements
were taken of t he leading dimensions of the hooks,
from which the area and second momen t (moment of
inertia) of the section a b taken through the back
of the hook (see F ig. 1) was obtained by a gtaphic
method . Such a section is shown in Fig. 2. The

to

one edge coinciding with the section line a. b.

After the plaster had set, this ring was sawn nearly
through in two places, and when pieced together
t he above-mentioned edge was filed flat, a nd the
ring was placed wit h its flat surface on a drawingboard , a fine hard pencil was drawn round inside
the ring, and t hus t he exact form of the section
was transferred to the drawing-paper. A cardboard section was then cut to exactly fit t he plaster
ring. This was used for experimentally finding
the p osition of t he centre of gravity of t he section,
or the posit i'>n of the neutral axis. The mod ulus

THE

OF

STRENGTH

HOOKS.

CRANE

DROP-FORGED

<.n

(For Description, see Page 537.)

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

OcT. 18, 1901.]

539

Fig. 1, are known as combined bending and direct

W orkilng L oad.
--
stresses. The bending is due to the fact that the
line of loading c c does not pass through t he neutral Working Tension
Dendlng Stress.
Total Skin Strees.
ln oo Section
axis of t he hook section. The cending moment M in J,.o!ld
..
Tone. 1
tons inches on t he hook section is W x , where \V
is t he load on the hook in tons and x the distance w
of t he neutral axis from line of loading. This pro\V
fu
T
0
I
A
duces a bending stress on t he section, and thereby
brings the material on t he " off " side of the neutral
t ons per tons per t one per tons per tons ptr

sq. In.
eq. in.
eq. In.
sq. m.
tq. m.
axis at a into compression, and the material on the
o.as
3.38
411
a.76
3.73
' ' near , side of the neutral axis at b into tension.
0.66
6.33
6.02
6.99
6.71
The maximum compressive stress thus set up will
1.00
SAS
10.08
9.43
9.08
1.06
1
8.1l6
10.16
9.60
9.11
not in this case be equal to t h e maximum tensile
1.19
10.02
11.94
11.21
10. 7fi
1!
stress, because the tension skin is not at the same
2
1.0i
8.14
9.76
9.18
8.71
3
1.16
0.43
11.21
10.68
10 06
distance from the neutral axis as the compression
4
9.62
11.39
1.20
10.72
10.19
skin. The relation will be
5
1 26
9.90
11.94
11.16
10.69
Maximum tensile stress due to 'Lend incr
v
~1~>.imum comprt>Sstve stress due to beudiUg = Ye
Maximum L oad (JJfean of T1eo Hooks).
The maximum intensity f of t hese stresses on
Bending
t he skin of the hook is given by t he well known Work
Total Skin
Stresa.
Stress.
log
Tension
Factor
formula
Load
OD
of
Tons.
f = M Y or / o = ~ y~
In
Section.
~atety.

Tons.

where f is the tensile stress and f ,. the con1pressive

stress, relations which are true to all intents and
purposes up to t he elastic limit, but are far, very
far, from t he trut h at loads beyond t he elastic limit.
It is, however, convenient for purposes of eom pari.
son to make use of t his formula for loads beyond
t he elastic limit ; we then use t he expression
''modulus of rupture " in tension or compression,
but it must be clearly understood that the modulus
of rupture is n ot t he breaking strength of t he
material when tested in pure tension. This ques.
tion is fully discussed in the author'A book referred
to above.
In addition to the bending stresses t he hook section is subjected to a tensile stress t = W acting
A

evenly all over the section. The resulting maxi

mum stress on the skin of the material is then
On the tension aide T = f

+ t =W x Y + ~
I

atde C =;~c
0 n t hecompress10n

t = -W X -Ye - W
A

These stresses at the elastic limit, maximum load

and working load of the hooks, have been worked
out, and are given in tabulated form below.
These r esults are not quite as regular as one
could wish. The variation in t he stress at t he
elastic limit and maximum load are probably due
to some hooks being annealed more than others,
or to some leaving t he dies at a higher temperature
t han others. The material in t he 1-ton hook is
evidently of a higher tensile strength th~n that in
t he others.
The factor of safety as r egards the maximum load
is in every case quite satisfactory, and with the exception of t he 6.ton hook, which had evidently been
an nealed, the elastic margin is ample.
The material in all the hooks was of excellent

Moduli of Rupture.

-w

Mo

t!

1
1!
2

1.76
1.86
2.18
7. 12
7.29
11.49
18.16
23.28
26.87

)fo
A

! .;

to os tons to os tons
per
per
per
p er
~9.; ln . eq. in. sq. io. sq. in.
6.SS
4.87
4. 86
7.49
6.79
5.92
6.95
6 95
6.70

4 t.59
39.48
36.77
60.89
48.70
46.72
67.06
6fi.32
53.16

b7.88
47.12
43.96
72.30
68.0i
66.97
67.81

62.92
4f.SO
41.13
68.88
64.49
62.6i
64.00
66.~0 62.27
64.11 69.86

62 55
42.25
39.60
64.81
62.25
60.05
60.86
69.25
67.41

-w

Mo

6.24
4.40
2.30
8.67
5.20
2 87
2.80
2.50
1.65

-w

14.
7.4~
4.11 6
7.1 ~
10.9
6.7 6
6.0 6
6.8
6.3 ~

quality as regards strength, ductility, and rough.

ness, and none of them showed the slightest signs
of cracking even when straightened to such an
extent that the link shackle slid off. 'fhe hooks
are well designed and are believed to be superior to
any hand.forged hooks in iron or steel.
The author wishes to express his thanks to two
of his students- Messrs. J. L. Wilson and R. E.
Fawkes- for rendering very valuable assistance in
carrying out these tests, also to the makersMessrs. Williams and Co. , Brooklyn-for presenting the hooks to the college.

THE TOOLING OF MACHINES.

By J OBN AsBFORD, M. Inst. Me oh. E.
(Continued jr01n page 607.)

Perhaps the duty to which automatic screw

machines are most often put is the making of bolts
and studs. The time when bright bolts of small
and moderate size were fo1ged in boltforging
machines, afterwards to be turned up and screwed,
seems fast receding into the past ; for it is found
that they can be more cheaply made by turning in
automatic machines from bar the full size of the
head. All the smaller sizes are made from bright
Leading D imensions of Hooks.
- - drawn hexagonal stock ; in fact, it is used for all
sizes up to which such bar can be obtained
Working
I.
A.
z.
b. I lt.
Ye.
11
Load.
Most machinists are familiar with the construe

sq. 10.
10.
m.
m. tO. unit.s tion of tools for making small bolts in t urret lathes,
m.
1n.
tons
.1
0.33
0.95
0.37
0.45
0.013 but there are not many shops in which automatic
0.63 0.82
0.020 machines for turning bolts from the solid of so
1.04
0. 41
0.49
0.38
0.67 0.90
1.21
0.46
0.56
0.083
0.60
0.66 1.01
large a size as 1 in. are in use. It will therefore
0.64
0.76
0.95
1.47
O. ll
0.91 1.40
1
1.26
1.83
0.73
0.87
0. 20
1.05 1.60
be an advantage to some to show the tools used
1!
1.9 j
2.10
0.91
1.09
0.47
1 29 2.00
2
for t his purpose. Fig. 24, page 640, is a sketch of a
1.06
1. 26
0.85
2.61
2.52
1.60 2.32
s
bolt 1 in. in diameter, 7 in. long, t urned from the
2.83
1.22
1.46
1.46
8.34
4
1.66 2.68
1.36
3.20
4.01
5
1.64 I 2.20
solid and screwed up a distance of 4! in. The
1 1.78 3.00
first operation is to take a roughing cut, to reduce
the stook to within close dimensions of finished
Results of Tests.
size. For this purpose a tool such as is illustrated
- -- -I
in Fig. 26 is used. With r egard to this tool, it is
Elastio Limit (Mean of Two Hooks.)
s ufficient to say that t he body is made of cast iron,
Working
Load .m
and into it the mild steel shank is screwed. A
Total Skin
on I Beodlng Stress.
Tons.
Tons. Tension
hole is put through the latter for two reasons : to
S~ress.
Section.
receive a piece of work t hat may be sufficiently
long to extend into it, or to hold a tool for either
L
T
drilling up or shaping t he end of the obj ect turned.
f
0
w I L
fr
-A
Either one or more tool clamps may be attached
- - -- - -- - tons per LOne per tons pe1 tons pe1 tons per to the holder, but for ordinary work one is suffi
Eq. 10.
sq. fn . 6q. in. sq. In. I tq. ln . cient. The form of steady which generally gives
21.09
25.65
23.45
23.29
0.78
2.36
t
the most satisfaction is on e that is made in two
23.46
28.03
26.3j
26.14
2.89
1.10
19.40
28.20
21.70
20.00
1.15
2.30
halves, because the steady surfaces can be more
~
36.26
34. 29
32.49
30.63
3 67
3.76
1
easily brought up to t he work, and more truly set
23.18
27.63
25.93
24.88
2.76
3.47
1!
than if it is made so1id. The second operation in
2.91
25.89
24.62
22.98
27.63
2
6.65
26.40
31.87
29.62
28.15
3.22
8.40
s
turning t he bolt is to bring up another tool almost
23.81
28.49
26.81
26. 49
3.00
4
10.00
identical to t he first, adjusted to take t he finishing
16.86
19.73
18 42
17.67
8. 27
2.06
6
cut.
-

The endrounding tool (sketched in Fig. 26) is

fitted into the hole t hrough the shank of the finis.h
ing tool.holder, so that as the cut comes to 1ts
finish, this tool rounds off the end of the bolt.
For the third operation, a chamfering tool held
in an opensided tool post on the front o.f the crossslide is requisitioned to start t he cuttmg off and
chamfer the head.
It now remains to screw t he thread and cut off
the finished bolt. The scr ewing is done with a selfopening die-head, held in the turret in t he manner
detailed in Fig. 27. 'o avoid breaking the dies
or damaging t he work, t his has to be held rather
differently from a similar die in a s mall capstan
lat he ; for it must be remembered that the feed is
obtained from a cam, which is most difficult to set
to exactly correspond with the threads of the die.
To allow, therefore, for variation of t he feed, t he
die is fitted wi th the plunger and bush illustrated.
The shank of the die itself is fitted to the plunger,
and the latter is turned to easily fit the bore of the
bush. A keyway is cut in t he bush, and a feather
key is fitted to the plunger, so t hat t hey may slide
relatively wit hout rotating. Between the end of
the plunger and the inside end of the bush t here
is a spiral spring, which holds the die forward a
sufficient distance to allow it to follow its thread,
whether variation in t he feed be positive or negative.
The possibility of screwing true tAlreads wit h
self-opening dies has been much discussed; and
although some affirm that it is an impossibility, yet
it is the experience of many that, providing the
dies are correctly made, properly attended and kept
in a good state of r epair, nny sufficient and reasonable degree of accuracy may be obtained.* The
final operation in t he production of t he bolt is to
out it off with a step parting-off tool, held in an
open-side toolpost on the back of the cross-slide.
The series of operations for prod uoing studs differ
considerably from those required to produce a bolt
such as t hat just described. A stud requires to be
screwed at both ends, and it t herefore has to be
handled twice. When it is turned from the bar,
the first operation is like the finish turning of the
bolt, the same kind of tool-holder as t hat illustrated in Fig. 26 being used, together with an endrounder.
The second operation is to bring up t he selfopening diehead to out the screw. A parting-off
tool, shaped on its side to r ound off t he end of the
stud and cut it off, is t hen brought forward by the
cross.slide. This leaves the studs to size, but they
s till have to be screwed at the other end. If this
work is done on an automatic machine, a magazine
is essential to feed in t he studs, but it is a very simple
kind of thing for that purpose. The design of t he
one fitted by Messrs. Alfred Herbert is illustrated
in Fig. 28. This magazine is attached to the guidebar, from which the chuck and stock.feed are
usually operated. The chuck-glut is left the same
as usual, but t he one which works t he stock.feed
is considerably modified, being provided with a
bracket projecting beyond the end of the machine,
long enough to allow of sufficient movement to feed
the longest piece of work the machine has to accommodate. lt will be noticed that at one side the
magazine has an adjustable slide, so t hat it may be
regulated to suit the lengths of the studs that are to
be machined. The hopper is inclined at an angle
of 16 deg., that the studs may descend by gravity
into a guide-block placed at the bottom, which brings
them into line with the hole through the centre of
t he spindle. The action of feeding is identical with
that for the solid bars, a pusher.rod advancing and
pushing the studs through the spindle ; thus there
may be several such $ uds, end on end, between
the chuck and the magazine. The illustration is of
a hopper in use at the Glasgow Exhibition, on a
machine screwing studs 1 in. in diameter and 7 in.
long. An automatic machine with the hopper attached is illustrated in Fig. 29, page 641.
The small whirl illustrated in Fig. 30, page 641, is
not an easy job for which to arrange t he tools. Two
automatic machines are required, the first one being
large enough to take 1! in. stock. The first operation is to bring forward the tool illustrated in

* It is a more difficult matter to make a. die cub a

thread of correct pitch without the a.id of a leader than

many may think. The usual error is that the pitch is
slightly less than it should be. This may be due to
several causae, not the least of which is boo few threads in
the die, a.nd that the rea-cting preEsure upon the die threads
which are to give the lead causes them to cut, The
rem( dy is obvious.

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

540
Fig. 31. This centres the rod, recesses it for a
depth of in., and faces the end.
The obJect of r ecessing with a tool of this kind is
to give the drill ( Fig. 32) a clear start. This drill
has to rapidly remove the metal to a depth of lf in.
To keep it cool, and clear the cuttings from the hole,
an oil supply is brought through the drill itself,
right down to the bottom of t he hole. This drill is
held in the shank of a box-tool similar to that in
Fig. 25, and there is also a turning tool which is to
do the rough turning while the drilling is going on.
This completes the second operation.
For the third operation another box-tool carrying
the oil-supply counter-bore (Fig. 33), and also the
cutter (Fig. 34), is brought round by the turret.
These rough out the counter-bore and rough turn
the recess. The turret then brings up a plain
steady-peg, which enters the bored hole and supports the work, while the roughing formed tool illustrated iu Fig. 35, held in a forward tool-holder,
comes up and roughs out the groove and other parts
of the exterior.
The final turret position, which corresponds to
the fifth operation, brings forward the tool illustrated in Fig. 36. This is a reamer, which has its
shank turned and screwed to receive a cutter head
and a knurled nut. The cutter-head carries a
shaped cutter which finishes the recess, while the
reamer finishes the counter. bore to its correct size.
The object of the knurled nut is. of course, to
adjust the cutter in relation to the reamer. It
only remains now for the final operation on the
first machine to take p 1ace, and that consists in
advancing a cut -off tool held in an open-side toolp ost carried on the back of the cross-slide.
The articles have now to be taken to the second
machine, and chucked by the ends just finished, so
that the opposite end may be turned to shape and
screwed. The actual tools for the turning and
screwing are quite ordinary, the chief point abou t
the second machine being the arrangement of a
magazine feed. The articles are too irregular in
shape to be fed from a magazine such as t hat
already described for feeding studs through the
hollow spindle; consequently they have to be fed
into the eh uck from the chuck. end. The arrangement of t he magazine, together with the extra
details that have to be fitted to the machine, are
illustrated in Fig. 37, page 644. A half-tone view
of the machine is given in Fig. 38. The 1nagazine
arrangement consists of a horizontal V -shaped
trough A, supported upon columns B, over the
headstock of t he machine. Within this trough
the articles t<> be turned are placed, and they are
caused to traverse at the right moment along the
trough by t he feed-rod C, and the feeding pawls
or catches C1 C 1 The movement of the rod is
obtained from a cam D, attached to the edge of the
cam drum which carries the cams for actuating the
chuck and ordinary stock feed. This additional
feed - cam does not in any way interfere with
ordinary cams mounted upon the drum. A
lever E transmits the motion from t he cam to the
feed-rod C.
As the trough is a considerable vertical distan ce
a way from t he chu?k- a ma~ter of 9. in. or 10 in.:-a
carrier F is prov1ded, whiCh recetves the artiCle
from the t rough, and conveys it into a suitable
position for it to be push~d. into the chuck. . T~e
carrier is attached to a shding head G, G, wh1ch IS
guided verticalJy on the columns H H , and those, in
turn are supported by the casting that forms the
front end of the trough. The vertical motion of
the sliding head is derived. from a cam I, attac~ed
to the side of the cross-shde cam. The motwn
from the cam is con veyed through a weighted
bell-crank lever J, the coupling-rod K, and t he
levers L L (see side view). The carrier F is detailed
in Fig.
Usually, ~rticl~s to be ~urned, such as
the whirl under cons1deratwn, proJect somewhat
from the chuck after they have been gripped;
obviously, then, there .wou~d J:>e a tendenc~ for the
carrier to foul t he arttcle 1n 1ts upward JOUrney.
It must therefore be made so that it can clear the
chucked article. In order to effect this clearance,
the carrier is so mounted in the sliding head t hat
i t can rotate about the centre line X, X. This
effect is produced in the following manner : Calling
the t urned part of the carrier which fits into the
sliding head the shank, t here is n1ounted upon it
at M an annular spurwheel, which is quite free to
rotate about the shank. Attached to this wheel is
a ratchet pawl N, which engages ratchet t eeth cut
upon t he shank it~elf at 0 ; thus, when t he
annular spurwheel JS caused t o rotate, the pawl

S9.

[OcT. I 8, I 901.

will slip over the ratchet teeth if the rotation

is in one direction, but engage th ose teeth and
with it rotate the carrier if in the opposite
direction. Further along t he shank there is a
spiral spring P, its one end anchored to the sliding
head casting, and its other to the carrier shank.
Its arrangement in respect of the ratchet is such
that when the carrier is rotated through the medium
of the annular spurwheel and ratchet, the spring is
put in tension. Provision is made to retain t he
shank with the spring in that condition, when

cause the spurwheel to make half a turn; and when

it has done so, carrying the carrier with it through
the medium of the ratchet, it (the carrier) has
become right side up, the spiral spring at the same
t ime being wound up. the spring catch Q acting on
t he detent . The feed-rod C pushes an article forward into the carrier, which is then lowered into its
bottom position. The turret comes forward, and
p resents the spring plunger (Fig. 40) to the carrier.
This firstly pushes forward the plunger R, and
that in turn pushes the work into the chuck. lm-

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it has been so rotated, by the aid of a spring catchbolt Q. If, when the spring is in tension, the bolt
Q is pushed inwards, t he catch is released, and the
carrier F will rotate t hrough half a revol ution ; and
its arrangement is such that, when it has been so
released, the carrier is upside down. Assuming,
then, that the carrier has just been used, and the
sliding head is in the lowest position, with the
carrier inver ted, by the movement of t he cam I
the balance weight lifts up the sliding head G
t hrough the lever system. As it does so, the
annular spurwheel, bared on its one side, engages
a short rack held by a bracket in a convenient
position. There are enough teeth in t his rack to

mediately the chuck grips the work, the catch-bolt

Q is pushed inwards by the tool in t he turret, and
instantly t he carrier, under the action of the spring
P, rotates into its inver ted position.
Having described the magazine feed, it only
remains to mention t he several operations by which
the whirl hi completed. The shape of the whirl is
such that, when lying upon its side, it would tilt
downwards at one end, and consequently, when in
the carrier, it would not point truly to t he chuck.
To prevent this, a number of small shoes, as illustrated in Fig. 41, are prepared of malleable iron,
shaped so that the article will fit on the top, and
that the lower portion will rest steadily in the

OcT. 18, 1901.]

ENGINEERING

carrier. Thes~ little shoes a.re merely required to

hold the work In the passage through tho ma.aazine
feed; so aft er t he work is in the chuck, and the
~a.rrier becomes inverted, the shoes are dropped
Into the tray of t he machine, whence they are taken
to be used again. The first operation, then, is to
fill the tro_ugh _of the magazine with the pieces of
work rest1ng In the shoes, from which they are
conveyed through the medium of t he carrier and
~nto the chuck by the ~pring plunger (Fig. 40) held
In the turret.

54!
Consider, first., the tools for machining the large
back gear for an 8-in. headstock (see Fig. 42). The
chances are that the cored hole is somewhat out of
centre, and it is t herefore necessary to put several
tools through it to make it perfectly true. l t is
usual to use two boring reamers, which bring the
hole close to size and very nearly true ; and many
people would be content to follow t hese with a
finishing reamer, but if it is desired t hat the
hole should be very accurate, it is necessary to
interpose a. boring tool with a single cutting edge,

on the screw thread. \Vhen the chuck is opened

with tll'e usual chuck motion near the tail end of
the spindle, a piece of work such as this whirl does
not readily fall out, because the actual chuck movement is so small ; it must therefore be ejected by
a rod screwed upon the end of the stock-feed t ube,
in place of the usual stock c~ ips.
In the March 8, 1901, issue of E NGINEERING,
page 318, an inclined turrot lathe made by Messrs.
Alfred Herbert, Limited, was illustrated. That
machine is exhibited by the firm at their stall at

J fi

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C. S

ONC FINI SH TURNING TOOL AND REAMER

For the second operation, a box-tool is brought I the Glasgow Exhibition, 11.nd it may there be seen
forward by the turret to do the rough t urning.
t urning up various gear-blanks, such as t hat illusThe third tool is s1milar in shape, a~ it finishes trated in Fig. 42, page 544. The machine has been
the turned part , and also carries a cutter to form specially designed for working upon castings, and it
the recess at that end. The tapered portion has wiJl be of interest to many to know how t he tools
now to be shaped by bringing up a formed tool held are arranged on such a machine. If anything, t he
on the front of the cross-slide, during which time a tools on a heavy machine of this kind aro more
steady bush, secured in a holder in the turret, simple than those used on the small machines, for
supports the end of the whirl that has been t urned there are two turrets- a large inclined one for
ready for screwing. Without t his steady bush it carrying the tools to do the internal machining, and
is probable that the work would be wrenched out of a second four-sided one mounted upon the crossthe chuck. I t remains now for a self-opening slide of a separate saddle, for holding the tools to
die head to be brought forward by the turret to put turn the exterior.

..

to accurately trne and size the work, making it

ready for the finishing reamer. With the gear ill
question, the series of operat ions are as follow :
Firstly, chuck the casting by the boss in a. three.,
jaw chuck, and roughly bore t he hole with a boring
reamer, as illustrated in Fig. 43, heJd in t he boring
bar-holder detailed in Fig. 44. ' Vith a hole t hati
has to be finished 2 in. in diameter, this first cut
would bring it to wit hin -t~ in. of size. While this
first boring operation is being done, the outside is
roughly turned and faced with tools held in the
square turret.
Secondly, a. similar reamer is brought up to take

542

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

out a second cut, which will bring the hole to

within -rb~n in. of its size. At the same time the
outside diameter is finished and turned by a tool in
the square turret.
Thirdly, if the cored hole was out of centre, the
iwo boring reamers will probably have been drawn
slightly. To correct that, a boring bar with a
single cutter, as in Fig. 45, is used to tak e a sizing
cut through the hole. This boring bar is held in a
similar bar-holder, attached to t he hexagonal t urret,
t o those used for the boring reamers.
Fourthly, the final operation, so far as the hole
is concerned, is to ream it out with a shell reamer
(Fig . 46) mounted upon a floating holder (Fig. 47)
held in the usual kind of fitting upon the t urret.
It will be observed that t he reamer holder is to be
"floating." This is to enable it to exactly follow
t he l.o~e which has been previously b ored, so

[OcT. 18,

1901.

Dundee ; at Aberystwith ; in the City Guilds

Institute ; in some of the polytechnics ; and by
(Continued from page 514.)
the science masters of a few schools. For this
TaE PosiTION oF BRITISH CHEl\IISTRY AT THE DAWN devotion he found two interconnected principal
OF THE TwENTIETH CENTURY.
causes: the fact that the majority of the cheIN his address to the Chemical Section, to which mical teachers had been t rained in Germany, and
we now turn, Professor Percy }.,rankland, P h.D., had been educated in exceptional cases only at the
M.Sc., F.R.S., of the University of Birmingham, ancient seats of learning. The chemist was unfettered
dealt with the question : Are we progressing or by an English uni varsity record ; h e stood or fell
receding, or are we standing still 1 from the chemical by the work of his life, and not, as so many others
and general educational standpoints. The history did, by the reputation they had made in their years
of British chemistry, he said, was very remarkable, of adolescence at one of the ancient universities.
its achievements were almost entirely the results of The ~pirit of r esearch had, however, now become
private initiative, and the persons who had taken endemic there also, and Oxford and Cambridge and
part in making this history were, with some notable the universities of Scotland and Ireland now sent
exceptions, n ot servants of the State. Glancing at a continuous streatn of original communications.
the 1881 volume, taken at random, of the Chemical Many of the eminent British chemists were to be
Society's JO'l.t'rnal, he found that only 13 of the 75 found among men of leisure and men engaged in
industrial p ursuits. W e should, further, not forget
the Rothamsted Laboratory (agricultural), t he ReL
search Laboratory of the P harmaceutical Society,
1-' ---------- ----- ------------ - ------ )
the masterly work of Mr. W. J. Pope at the Goldsmiths' Institute, and the still crystallising UniverII
sity of London.
.
Much good had been wrought by the Research
)
Scholarships awarded since 1891. The fund came
~ ---- -- - ---------------------from the surplus of the Exhibition of 1851, produc)

ing an annual income of over 6000l., which, on the

I
advice chiefly of Lord P layfair, was spent in scholar
.
ships in accordance with the wise regulations of t he
f" f ;{. -- ~
Fie.- 47.

I
Commissioners.
Sixty-five chemists, including

~--------- - J lf~r--- -,

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three women, had already enjoyed t he privileges of
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these scholarships. Bearing in mind the r ooted

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objections of t his country to expending any public

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money on higher education, it was marvellous that

.
-~
.
~~

this money was so being applied instead of being

I/.:.
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dissipated, in the manner dear to Englishmen,

by
benefiting
to
an
infinitesimal
extent
a
much
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larger number of persons. But for the vertebrate
I
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Pig. 48.
character of the Commissioners, the fund would,
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indeed, in 1887, have been frittered away in

,I
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grants to provincial museums, to get ''a few more
I
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glass cases for the masses to gaze at on wet days
--- .... ---I
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and
bank holidays., Professor Frankland then
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referred to the princely patronage of higher ed ucaI
----- iI I I I II I
tion
by
Mr.
Carnegie,
and
to
the
circumstance
that
I
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the City of Birmingham is levying a rate in
--- :iY1 I
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---- ~ --- ;~ r l I I
aid of its university, as unquestionable signs of
---- ~ -- 1 I I
-
I
the times and of s~rious awakening. Pointing
I I I
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to notable examples of the best British work in t he
~ ___../\
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field of chemistry, he could not forbear yet from
I I
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drawing
attention
to
the
fact
that
the
Berlin
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Chemical Society had during the past twenty years
~
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ll
been
receiving
about
five
times
as
many
original
----
'o" I
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----,
communications
as the older London Society.
~
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Quoting a line by Schiller, that knowledge is a
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goddess to one, and to another an excellent cow,
--------------,
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I~ he was afraid that even now it was the cow, and not
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the goddess, that was in request.
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In order that t he academic world might attract
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he
ablest
men
of
ambition
as
well
as
the
able
\_\..J_.~
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enthusiast, it was necessary that the highest prizes
for academical distinctions should carry similar
avoiding any slight error in the lining of the tools original contributions emanated from Government social prestige, ren1uneration, and opportunities of
exerting
public
influence,
as were enjoyed by the
labora~ories,
and,
what
would
surprise
the
scientific
on the turret.
Fifthly, t he face has n ow to be finished with historian of some centuries hence, only four papers leaders of other professional callings, '~ they should
cutters held in th e facing and turning tool-holder came from the '' ancient seats of learning," and be at least equal to those of the Archbishop of
illustrated in Fig. 48. 1.'his holder is bol ted to the three of them were by the same investigator. Canterbury or of the Lord Chancellor." But the
inclined turret; and, to ease the double tendency Giving a list of the opening dates of the university few very moderate prizes which had existed had
deliberately
been
commandeered
to
more
nearly
colleges
in
the
United
Kingdom,
he
pointed
out
that
to force the casting out of the chuck and to spring
the tool-holder, a steady-bar (not in drawing) is the greater number of these institutions wer e equalise the value of the Chairs in all departments.
fitted in the centre of the holder, its end being cor- opened in the decade 1875-1884. They are the This principle of equalising t he remuneration was
rectly sized to enter the finished hole in the casting. colleges of Leeds, Bristol, Nottingham, Sh~f inequitable and utterly unsound from a b usiness
Sixthly, the one face of the wheel being finish~d, field, Birmingham, Liverpool, Dundee, ~ar~lff, point of view. If our Universities were really to
be
brought
abreast
of
those
of
oth
er
countries,
our
Bangor,
Finsbury,
and
.the
Central
Institut10~,
it. is turned round and re-chucked by the outside
diameter, the jaws of the chuck being fitted with all founded without assistance from the pubh c Chairs should, moreover, be thrown open to the
whole world, irrespective of nationality. That plan
exch
equer.
During
that
period
the
total
number
soft iron pads for the purpose. The boss and face
had been adopted by small nations as well as by
are now roughly t urned by tools h eld in the square of papers in the journal mentioned had shown
the country which is pre-eminent for its academic
a
marked
increase-from
422
to
671.
Much
turret, the same as those used in the first operawork had therefore been done, although the strength. The electors to British Chairs would urge

twn .
the linguistic difficulty. B ut he would appeal to
founders
and
trustees
often
appeared
to
have
The process of ~nishing the face on ~he s~c~nd
the pupils of August Wilhelm Hofmann, the father
imagined
t~at.
it
was
only
nec~ssary
to
provide
a
side is carried out In the same way and with similar
s
pacious
building,
and
to
appotnt
a
s~ff of pro- of t he Chemical Societies both of London and
tools to those used in the fifth operation.
fessors without due r egard to the necessity of funds Berlin, to whose genius British chemistry owed so
(To be continue~.)
for an~ual up-keep, libraries, and assistance. I t much, to say whether his stimulating diseourse
. had been learnt by bitter experience that th e cost lost anything of its vigour and inspiration through
of efficiently maintaining institutions of high cha- the strong Hessian accent with which every word
CANADIAN IRBIGA'l'ION.-The Canadian Pacific R~il~ay racter was enormously greater than was at first was saturated. He hoped that no narrow and
Company has under construction a. great scheme_ of Jt:riga- supposed and if fruitful research work had been short-sighted policy, disguised under that too often
tion for the Canadian North-West. The obJeob 1s ~o done, alm~st from the first, it was due to the almost misused word " patriotism," would close the doors
con verb several million ac_res of land now dry and artd
of our universities to the genius and ability of other
unaided
devotion
of
the
chemist.
Such
work
had
into good farming and grazmg ~~untry. T~e barr!3n lands
lie between Calgary and Medtcme ~at, 1mmed1a~lY: to been carried on in Owens College, the largest and nationalities.
One of the most urgent university reforms was,
the north of the railway. The plan mcludes the bU1ldn~ best equipped school of scienti~c chemistry in the
of a dam at Bow River, a mile. east of 9algary. It w1 British I sles at the Y orkshtre College, Leeds ; however, that greater facilities should be afforded
also be necessary to co~str~ct tnterseotiDg canal~. The at Bristol; ~t Mason College, Birmingham ; at for the migration of students from one university to
rest is to be left to gravitation.

THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION.

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OcT. 18, 1901.]

a.nott er. The prt3sen t system linked the student
with chains of s~eel to the university at which he
matriculated, and that university was, perhaps,
selected by the student's father because he had
been t here, though he might be quite out of touch
with university matters. Professor Frankland has
evidently little sympathy with this sentimental
attachment, and there can be no doubt that the
freedom with which the Continental st.udent moves
from o~e univer~ity to a~o~her in his own count ry,
and, w1th certa1n restr1ctwns, all over the Contin ent, ~o study unde~ .diff~rent masters, is a powerful sttmulant to or1gmahty and breadth of view.
Dr. Frankland further ineists that the period of
academic study should forthwith be extended to
fi \e year~ . But proposals were actually being put
forward to enable persons attending evening classes
to q ualify thereby for university degrees. ''Let
us beware of introducing the half-time system- a
deplorable makeshift, even in the elementary
school- -into the university !" T hat higher education which he urged would cause heavy expenditure, but it could n ot be left to private generosity. The work would benefit all classes, not only
of t his generation, at least as much as the acquisition of territory at a distance of 8000 miles from
homP, for which purpose the nation were apparently
willing to pay at the rate of I! million sterling per
week for an indefinite period. To contend that
higher education did not benefit the masses was
quite erroneous. The poor had a far greater stake
in t he prosperity of our home industries and commerce than the rich, and highe'r education and true
universities were among the most {)otent factors in
breaking down the hereditary stratification of society.
SOME POINTS IN CHEMI CAL ED UCATION.

Since higher education was the k eynote of Professor F rankland's address, this paper, by Professor
J oji Sakurai, LL D., of Tokio, J a. pan, which was
likewise well received and discussed, finds its
proper place h ere. Considering the vast progr ess
general chemical knowledge had made in the last
decades, our adherence to the old descriptive way
of teaching chemistry was to be deprecated. The
author of the paper would arrange for lecture
experiment s to illustrate the laws of chemical
dynamics, the theory of solution, &c., but would
dispense wit h a good deal of the descriptive matter,
which the student could look up in text-books.
Reverting to the controver&y whether atomic
weights should be based upon t~e ~tandard 0 ~ 16,
the view now taken by the maJOrtty of chemtst~,
or upon H = 1, he expressed the opinion that
some of the advocates of th e latter standard were
influenced by the consideration that atomic weights
were taught and had to be taught befor~ the
student was introduced to molecular weights.
That was wron g, however, since actual experiments first gave the student some conception of
the molecule. He disapproved also of the term
' ' physical chemistry.,',' for what .he preferred to st~le
'' general chemistry, because 1t was not a spectal
branch of chemistry, but the foundation underlying the whole study. His remarks were, on the
whole, meant for the pure chemist as well. as f?r
t he technical chemist, and concern educatiOn 1n
general, b ecause properly-taught chemistry had a
high educational valu~. But t~e pr~sent method,
with its isolated deta1ls, was httle hkely to attract
the student. P art of the fault was due to the fact
that t he professors were overburdened with work.
Professor Kipping, F .R. S., of N ottingham, afterwards accentuated this point; adequate payment of
the assistants was q uite as essential as salaries of
2000l. for the professor for which other spe~k~rs
pleaded ; therein lay a good deal of the supe~wnty
of Continental teaching. Professor Sa.kura1 also
expressed the opinion that. the time given to anal~
tical practice might be shortened and .su?h deta.tl
left to later periods ; a grasp of the.prmct_Ples was
of more importance than mere technteal sktll.
These latter remarks were likely to be misunderstood and both Professor Tilden, F . R.S., of
Lond~n and Professor Harold Dixon, F .R. S., of
Owens 'College, emphasised the necessity . of. a
thorough training in qualitative and quant1tahve
analysis, without which the st~dent 'Y'ould not
acquire the indispensable practical sklll. . They
did not encourage research work, therefore, m the
early career of the chemist. Professo~ Tilden agreed
with th e views expressed by the Prestdent and Professor Sakurai concerning the inducements held
out to young chemists ; the salaries of professors
9f chemistry were too low.

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

543

times to recoYer his alcohol by redistill-ition, and

might better employ his time. Professor Thorpe,
F.R.S., had a difficult position as chief of a Government laboratory in opening the discussion. While
fully sympathising with the proposal, he could not
help pointing out that the country must be protected
against any evasion of the law. Foreign countries
taxed a multitude of things; here the public expenditure had to be covered by raising duty on a
few articles, among which tobacco and alcohol had
been classed for good reasons. Methylated spirit was,
moreover, essentially alcohol, and its small percentage of methyl alcohol did not render it unfit
for many laboratory purposes. After Professor
A. Michs,el, of Boston, had mentioned that the
United States r emitted the duty paid, on the request made by the President of the Intitution, the
Section agreed to a motion, proposed by Professors
W. H. Parkins, Jun., and H. Dixon, to appoint a
committee with the object of petitioning the
THE CoAL-TAR I NDUST RY.
Treasury concerning the removal of this hindrance
In this paper, Dr. A. G. Green, of London, gave to research.
an interesting review of the relative progrel:!s of the
E sTIMATION OF ARSENI C IN B EER AND FooD
English and German chen1ical industries during the
A RTI CLES.
past fifteen years. He had selected the coal-tar
Mr. W. Thomson, F.R.S.E., of the Royal Instiindustry as his special subject because that industry affected so many other branches and tution Laboratory, Manchester, brought this quesmight well be chosen as charc1cteristic. The coal- tion before the Section. Malt was dried on wire
tar industry, the manufacture of aniline dyes, origi- cloth or perforated tiles by the gases from a large
nated in England ; but it did not develop there. coke or anthracite fire in the room underneath.
Fifteen years ago this country was still supplying Coke contained more arsenic than anthracite, and
the raw materials, though no longer holding its coke was generally employed in the Manchester
own.. Then Germany learnt to secure the by- district, which had suffered most under the
products of coke ovens, which were a novelty for terrible disease of last year. Scotland, where
that country, and its chemical manufactures took a comparatively more alcohol was consumed as
rapid 'rise in gen eraL The value of German whiskey, had been almost free from t he so-called
chemical production was estimated at 47,500,000l. alcoholic neuritis. Arsenic and alcohol seemed
in 1897 ; the coal-tar industry alone probably might to have a very deleterious comoined effect.
be valued at 10,000,000l. In 1885 Germany ex- For the .detection of arsenic he r ecommended to
ported 4646 tons of coal-tar colours; in 1899, destroy all organic matter by nitric acid and a little
17,639 tons ; in 1895 theEe ex ports r epresent ed a sulphuric acid, and finally to apply J\1arsh's test.
value of 3,500,000l. These figures did n ot in- preventing the separation of the "arsenic mirrors"
clude alizarine. The German coal-tar colour in- in two rings, which sometimes occurred by passing
dustry was concentrated in six large firms. To- a little ether or petroleum vapour through the
gether these firms commanded a capital of over apparatus. As he had found arsenic in every
2,500,000l. ; they employed E.ome 500 chemists, sample of malt he had examined, and believed
350 engineers, 1360 clerks and other officials, and that this contamination of beers must have gone on
18,000 labourers. The example of the Badische for decades, he proposed that the Royal CommisAnilin und Soda Fabrik, of Lud wigshafen, has so sion should limit the quantity of arsenic that could
often been quoted that the repetition of their be tolerated. N o appreciable trace of arsenic
figures may almost appear tedious. In the years should be found in 50 cubic centimetres of beer (a
1896 to 1900 the number of their employes had small wineglassful), but he admitted that this rule
gone up from 4800 to 6735, including 148 chemists would condemn almost all English beers. The
and 76 engineers ; and their capital-900,000l. in methods of malt-drying could be improved, how1889-has almost been doubled. The benevolent ever, by adopting a roasting process.
Mr. H. Stopes, of Hampstead Heath, protested
institutions of the works spent almost 15,OOOl. in
1899. Exact figures concerning England were in indignant terms against the improper remarks
difficult to obtain ; but hardly more than 500, OOOl. about drying malt. Air-dried malt was n ot palatwere invested in the British coal-tar trade, and able; contact between the combustion products and
not more than 30 or 40 chemists and 1000 men the mal~ was indispens~ble ; but he had constructed
were employed altogether.
The export and a double-floor kiln in which contamination with
import figures compiled by Dr. Green are very arsenic was not to be feared. The fault rested
instructive. In 1890 England exported tar colours not with the malt, but with the 60 or 70 per
to the value of 530,000l., in 1900 only 360,000l. ; cent. of s ubstitu tes employed. Glucose contained
whilst the imports had gone up from 509,00dl. in arsenic and sugar, and was further mixed with
1886 to 720,000l. in 1900. The Bradford Dye,rs' antiseptics, salicylic acid, boracic acid, formalin,
Association used 10 per cent. of British-made &c., and other injurious ingredients. The best
colour s ; 80 per cent. of German make, 4 per BaYat i~n beer was brewed from malt only, and
cent. of Swiss make, and 6 per cent. of F rench the glucose beer of Manchester was the worst
make. Dr. Green also pointed to the indirect beer known. Mr. Thomson stated in r eply that
advantages which this splendid development con- he had found many sugars free from arsenic, and
ferred on Germany ; that stimulus to scientific that his analytical process would destroy kakody 1
research was lost to England, and the cause of the and other organic arsenic compounds about which
decadence was the apathy towards higher educa- he had been interpellated. Why not brew beer
tion. Dr. Green finally referred to the success altogether from sugar 1 interposed Mr. Stopes. Mr.
achieved by German chemists in the preparation Thomson saw no objection.
Professor Adrian Brown read a. paper on '' Enzyof artificial indigo to the ruin of the Indian growers
of this dye, and to other chemical industries which me Action," concerning the disputed character of
were threatened. Glasgow had to listen to many the action of invertase and other inorganic fer
a note of warning during the time of the Engi- menta.
neering Uonference and the British Association,
THE MINUTE STRUCTU RE OF MXTALS.
notwithstanding her successful Exhibition.
Mr. G. T. Beilby, of Slateford, Midlothian,
DuTY-FREE ALcoHoL.
stated in this important paper that, according to
In this paper Dr. W. T. Lawrence, of Dorking, microscopic examinations of metallic surfaces proadvocated, not a general abolition of the duty duced by breaking, tearing, filing, rolling, drawing,
upon alcohol, but a remission of the duty paid by hammering, or polishing, metals appear in two
chemical colleges for alcohol used in their labora- forms: (a) as minute scales; (b) as a transparent,
tories.
Such duties were remitted in other glass-like substance. These two forms of metal
countries, and the matter was by no means too substance occur in all the metals examined, includinsignificant to be discussed.
Owens College, ing gold, silver, platinum, cobalt, nickel, chromium,
Manchester, paid about 50l. annually, and that iron, copper, lead, bismuth, antimony, tin, cadwas a large item for the funds of many technical mium, magnesium, aluminium, and zinc; further, in
colleges, and crippled r esearch work. The student the zinc and tin alloys of copper, and in galena.. The
who wants alcohol in any large quantity has some- forms of the metal substance do not appear to de-

Dr. E. F . Armstrong, professor of chemistry at

the University of B erlin, pointed out that there
seemed to be some misunderstanding about
chen1istry teaching in Germany, and Dr. P. J.
Ha.rtog, of Owens College, confirmed this. A kind
of practical test examination had in some German
laboratories to be passed before research work
could be entered upon, and in any case experience
in qualitative and quantitative analysis, and in
preparation work, with which t.he pharmaceutical
chemist is expected to be thoroughly familiar, had
always to precede research work. Professor W. J.
Pope, F.R.S., thought preparation work more suitable for the young chemist than early exercises in
physical chemistry, which might lead him (Jff into
speculative ground. Professor Frankland adjusted
the b311a nce by pointing to the changes which
analytical laboratory practice had undergone as the
fi eld had widened.

H
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pend in any way on the particular mechanical or

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thick and the colour too deep for this examination;
the actual thickness of the films had not yet been
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ACTION OF AID!ONI.A ON MET AT.S AT H IG HER

TEMPERATURES,

by Dr. G. G. H enderson and Mr. Beilby, was, unfortunately, crowded out. The noble metals and
copper, iron, nickel, and cobalt became completely
disintegrated when t reated with ammonia at temperatures up to 900 deg. Cent., the ammonia being
decomposed during the action, which is remarkably quick. Iron and copper rods, t in. in diamet er,
were completely penetrated to the centre in thirty
minutes, and the disintegration went on almost
indefinitely afterwards. Oopper was reduced to a
fine spongy powder in eight days ; platinum became
covered with platinum black; malleable iron tubes
became brittle like porcelain when treated with
ammonia at 800 deg, Oent. for a week. The
authors ascribe this brittleness and similar effectsgenerally attributed bo other elements- to the pre-

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

[OcT. 18, 19or.

sence of nitrogen. The action of the ammonia without outlet, like the Dead Sea, proceeds, sodium
would ha explained by the alternate formation and chloride would be deposited, while the more soluble
dissociation of nitrites.
magnesium chloride and the bromides r emain in
solution and become more and more concentrated.
THE NATURE OF ALLOYS.
In this way Mr. Ackroyd accounts for the high
Messrs. F. H. Neville, M.A., F.R.S., and C. T. percentage of bromides in the Dead Sea. ; bromide
Heyc3ck, M.A., F.R.S., both of Cambridge, re- springs are not known in the district. Some salt
ported on behalf of this Committee that they are is also brought to the lakes by solvent denudation
engaged in a verification of Roozeboom's theory of of the soil. Considering, however, that there is
solid solution in its application to copper-tin alloys. only one atom of chlorine to 417 of sodium in the
When these alloys are cooled from a temperature earth's crust, and 1 of chlorine to 3 of sodium in
at which they are completely liquid, evolution of river water, the author concludes, from observaheat is observed not only at the freezing point, but tions made in Yorkshire. that tbe cyclic sea-salt
also at one or more temperatures far below that of circulation forms an important factor in the physiosolidification. This is well seen in the cooling graphy of the earth. This aspect of the question
curves of Sir William Roberts-Ausben and Dr. he discussed in the Geological Section.
Stansfield. The present paper concerns the temSEW AGE BACTERIA. BEDS .
perature regions between the solidus and liquidus
curves of Roozeboom, and a. new method of obtainProfessor Letts, D.Sc., and Mr. R. F. Blake, of
ing records of the structure of alloys at different Belfast, dealt in this paper with the Chemical and
stages by cooling them slowly and then chilling Biological Changes occurring during the Treatment
them, by dropping the alloy into water. When an of Sewage by the so called Bacteria Beds. These
alloy had solidified before the moment of chilling, beds were supposed to act as oxidising agents,
the subsequent changes were generally very minute, absorbing oxygen from the air during the rest, and
often sub-microscopic. The chilling seemed to transferring it afterwards to the sewage when the
admit of distinguishing the large-scale structures beds are filled, the transfer being effected by the
(primary combs) already existing from the minute micro-organis ms which established themselves on
structures formed during or after the chilling. the surface of the beds. These organisms were
The paper could not profitably be abstracted with- generally regarded as nitrifying microbes. The
out going into details and reproducing diagrams.
authors find, however, that only small quantities
Professor Willy Marckwald, of Berlin, gave a of nitrates and nitrites are produced in relation to
demonstration on
the unoxidised nitrogen disappearing, the percentages being 39 for Manchester, 15 for Sutton,
RADIUM,
and 7 for Leeds sewage. The greater portion of
one of the most radio-active metals, whose radia- the nitrogen must therefore disappear in some
tions or emanations penetrate through metals, other form, and might escape as nitrogen or an
though the loss of mass is inappreciable, and infect oxide of nitrogen (chemical change), or be absorbed
everything in the laboratories in which the experi- into the tissues of animals or vegetables, which
ments are conducted.
might remain permanently in the beds (biological
Two papers, one by Dr. J . H . Gla.dstone, F.R.S., change). Analyses of the original sewage and of the
and Mr. G. Gladstone, on the "Hydration of Tin, effluents showed the absence of oxygen in either
including the Action of Light. " and the other by substance, and an increase in carbonic acid gas while
Dr. J. H. Gladstone and Mr. J . Hibbert on the sewage was on the beds, and also an increase
''Transitional Forms between Colloids and Crys- in the nitrogen; most of the nitrogen would, howtalloids," deal with a different aspect of the pro- ever, appear to escape. As regards the biological
explanation, most bacteria beds swarmed with
blems concerning the state of aggregation.
worms and minute insects, some of them forming
SALT SEPARATION AND OcEANIC SALT DEPOSI TS.
a thick layer resembling soot on the effluent.
Dr. Glaister, of Glasgow, was not satisfied with
In this paper Dr. E. F . Armstrong, professor of
chemistry at the Berlin University, explained the these investigations ; the age of the bed had cerApplication of the Equilibrium Law to Salt Separa- tainly to be considered. Dr. S. Rideal, of Westtion and the Formation of Oceanic Salt Deposits, and minster, also spoke on the paper, which suitably
described a model exemplifying the Emccessive introduced his own on
.
changes observed when mixed inorganic salt soluHUMUS, AND THE IRREDUCIBLE RESIDUE IN
tions are gradually concentrated. Nature affords
THE TREATlt1ENI' OF SEWAGE.
us many examples of drying-up or dried-up sea
The term ' ' humus, " Dr. Rideal explained, is very
basins, which help us not only to crude table salt,
but also to Glauber salt (e.g , in the J{ara. Bugas comprehensive. The primary nucleus of these
Bay of the Caspian Sea), and other products. If substances was probably non-nitrogenous, as they
the compositions of such natural solutions are could be obtained from sugar and other nonknown, Dr. Armstrong's model would show us the nitrogenous materials by the action of heat, acids,
order and the relative amounts in which those salts or alkalies ; most humus, however, did contain
After reviewing the extensive, but
nitrogen.
will be deposited.
not very satisfactory, literature on the subject,
DISTRIBUTION OF CHLORINE IN Y ORB: SHIRE.
Dr. Rideal gave analyses of the residues from the
Mr. W. Ackroyd, of Halib.x, read a su pplemen- bacterial treatment of the Exeter septic tank, the
tary paper on this .subject, which he brough.t before first contact bed of Hampton, and the black
the Bradford meeting last year. The ehlonne con- floatina particles from. Stodda.rt's continuous filter
tents of the river water increase as we go from at K;owle, Bristol, 'as well as of estuary mud.
sources of t he rivers in the west and north-west to The small quantity of peaty deposit, called burntthe east and south-east, where, in the Chalk W olds, out ash by Cameron, but more generally known as
the upturned edges of the. ch~lk ~b.sorbs a. vast irreducible residue, was of the nature of a. humus,
amount of rain water, wh1eh Is utilised by many practically inoffen!i>i v~, and of. a~ricultura.l value.
communities in the East Riding. The increase is Like peaty ~att~rs 1n general,, 1t .ent:our~ge~ th e
from 0. 7 or 1 . part i~ 100,000 to 1. 7 or 2 pa.~ts . nitrifying actiOn In the fi~al ~x1dat10n? bemg 1tse~f
The normal chlorine IS affected by manufa.cturmg slowly oxidised to carbonic aCid and nttrate. This
centres, and high winds from the sea send up the humus would partly account for Dr. Letts's loss of
chlorine figures for the rainfall. A second paper, nitrogen.

'

THE INVERSE RELATION OF CHI.ORI NE TO

.RAINFALL,

deals with an interesting, and so far over-looked, feature. Sea breezes, Mr. Ackroyd points out, are ~a~t
laden. A. Ga.utier has found as much as 22 milhgrammes of salt per cubic metre .of air, ~nd this
invisible salt is washed down aga.1n by rains, and
returned to the sea. Minimum amounts of rainfall
are marked by maxima of chlorine .contents in the
rain water and vice ve1sd. Bellucci has calculated
that 38 lb. of sea salt are deposit~d every year
per acre at Perugia. Ita~y, 75 .mtles from t~e
coast ; and in the Pennine Htlls the deposit
from the Irish Sea. would amount to 172 lb.
per acre. Thus inland lakes may o~e much . of
their salt to t he sea. As the evaporatiOn of basins

S uLPHURI C AciD AS A TYPII ID DisiNFECTANT.

In his second paper Dr. Hideal rem~rked that,

as it was known that a small quantity of sulphuric acid inhibited the growth of the bacillus
typhosus, the recent outbreak of typhoid in South
Africa had induced him and Dr. Pa.rkes, of Chelsea,
to look for some chemical, mineral or organic
acids or salts which would sterilise potable water
for soldiers in the field. Lime or carbonates were
quite unsuitable ; sulphuric acid and the acid sulphate of sodium, which would be preferable as mor.e
portable proved suitable ; one gramme of the bisulphate' would render a pint of water safe from
typhoid infection after 15 min~tes' conta:ct.. As
regards the disinfection of typhoid st.ools .In Isolation hospital~, 3 grammes of sulphunc aCid would

be required per gallon to neutralise the alkalinity

of the sewage ; and one more gramme would kill
the typhoid germ. Profe~sor Letts added that sulphuric acid was undoubtedly a remedy against
diarrhce11.
THE Nol\IENCLA.TURE OF THE IoN s .

In this p~per Professor J. Walker, F.R.S , of

Dundee, proposed definite affixes for distinguishing
the electrolytic ions as derived from various compounds. Thus kations would be marked by the
simple ending ion, as sodion, barion, &o., dots over
the symbol indicating the number of electric
charges carried, one dot for Na, two for Ba, two
for diferrion (from ferrous salts), three for triferrion (from ferric salts), &c. The ending anion,
with dashes, would indicate that the ion is derived
from an oxide salt-a. sulphate, e.g., would give
sulpha.nion SO;', osions like SO~" would be derived
from sulphites, idions like S ' from sulphides.
Complex ions would be hydroca.rbanion HC03' ,
and dihydrophosphanion H 2 P 0 4" , &c. Both Professor Frankland and Professor Divers, F.R.S., of
J{ensington, recommended some such terms. If
they had been adopted in the earlier days, the
gross misunderstanding between free sodium ions
which we assume to exist in solutions of common
salt, and sodium atoms, might possibly not have
arisen, as Professor Walker justly remarked ; last
year's discussion on ions at Bradford afforded a
rather sad example. Professor Ostwald having
approved of the use of these terms for a new
translation of some of his writings, they are likely
to come into general use.
ELECTROLYTIC CoNDUCTIVITY oF HALoGEN A c iD
SoLUTIONs.

This communication by Dr. J. Gibson, of Edinburgh, concerns solutions of hydroiodic, hydrobromic and hydrochloric acids at high concentrations. The acids possess a maximum conductivity
for a certain concentration, and stronger and
weaker acids differ notably in their chemical properties. The author has, however, succeeded in
calculating the conductivity of the concentrated
acid from experiments on dilute acids.
Dr. Farmer read a paper on ''Methods of Determining the Hydrolytic Dissociation of Salts. "
Dr. T. R. Pa.tterson discussed the " Influence
of Solvents on the Rotation of Optically Active
Compounds."
THE FLAME CoLORATION AND SPECTRmi OF
NICKEL CoMPOUNDS.

Dr. P. J. Ha.rtog announced an observation of his,

which, as Professor Smithells, F. R . S., of Leeds,
afterwards remarked, did not appear to have been
made before, although nickel salts had been experimented with for years. Dr. Hartog noticed that
nickel acetate imparts to the Bunsen flame a. momentary purple tinge, which then gives way to a. persistent red coloration. When the flame is divided in
a Smithells' burner, the inner cone shows these
colours; whether they are due to nickel seems
somewhat uncertain.
THE GENESIS OF MATTER.

Professor Arthur Michael, of Boston, Mass.,

argued in this paper t'hat, at the birth of matter,
two forms of protyle corpuscles might have existed
of opposite polarity, and ~ndowed with the sum
total of their chemical energy. Besides chemical
affinity, he only needed gravitational energy. The
original particles would be at or near absolute
zero temperature. Gravitation would bring the
particles together until the chemical affinities came
into play, and the particles combined under
enormous evolution of heat. As non-metals had a
greater power of resisting heat than metals, he
imagined that non-metals would be formed before
metals. Professor Micha.el also contributed a. pn.per
on ''The Process of S ubstitution," in which he
took the view that chemical substitution might be
a re-arrangement of molecular grouping in accordance with chemical affinities ; o.nd a third paper on
the '' Three Stereomeric Cinnamic Acids."
SPEOTROSOOl'Y.

Of the Committee Reports placed before the

meeting, we mention in the first i~stance those on the
"Relation between the AbsorptiOn Spectra and the
Chemical Constitution of Organic Substances," containing paper~ by Professor W. N. H a.rtley, F.R.S.,
Dr. J. J. Dobbie and Mr. Alex. Lauder, B.Sc.,
and by Messrs. Lemoult, Camichel, and Bayrac,

Ocr. r8, rgo1.]

and a long table of the substances whose absorption spectra have, so far, been studied. Further,
the fifth and last report on the "Bibliography of
Spectroscopy., Professor McLeod is Chairman,
and Sir \rV. 0. Roberts-Austen is Secretary of this
Committee, which issued its first report in 1881,
and now leaves the tnatter in the hands of the
compilers of t he "International Catalogue of Scientific Papers. ,
There is also the report on" Wave-Length Tables
of the Spectra of Eleme11ts,, and reports were
presented by the Committees on '' Isomeric
Naphthalene Derivatives , and on "Isomorphous
Benzene Derivatives."
A very comprehensive and instructive report on
the " tructure of Orystals,, drawn up by Mr. W.
Darlow, of Great Stanmore, and Professor H. A .
l\1iers, of Oxford, was presented to the Geoloaical
Section.
"
Pressure on our columns has prevented our
noticing a number of mathematical, physical, and
chemical papers.
(To be continued.)

THE NEW SUBWAY IN NEW YORK

CITY.
BY C.eu.rttES P&ELINI, C.E., New York.
(Continued front page 510.)
'J~UE

first section of the subway, extending from the

City Hall to Chambers-street, was sublet to the
Degnon McClean Contracting Company. The general
plan called for a loop r ound the Post Office, with a
station in Broad way and Barclay-street. It was intended t hat the loop should be doubled-decked, the
lower tracks being for express trains ; but when the
Rapid Transit Commission was authorized to extend
the road over to Brooklyn, the increased facilities
thus offered for the passage of trains led to the adoption of a simpler plan. The subway now makes a
smaller loop (Fig. 33, page 456) under City Hall Park
for switching the local trains, while the expresses
will effect their switching in a straight line under
Park-row, where the subway is provided with four
tracks. From this point, it will bs continued to
Broadway and South Ferry, whence it will reach
Brooklyn by means of a tunnel under the East
River. In consequence of this extension, the present subway really begins at Centre-street Station,
near the entrance to the Brooklyn Bridge.
The plane of the loop rails is 40 ft. below the
surface near the south-east corner of the City
Hall ; it then descends gradually, reaching its
lowest grade at Park-row, just at the en,d of Mailstreet. The loop-line then passes under the four
tracks of the main line, after which it begins to
curve upward, until it again reaches the g rade of
the subway at Bridge Station. This single.track
line, passing under the south-east corner of ~he
City Hall, widens out 4;o make r oom for a ~tat10n
with a single platform for the accommoda~10n of
passengers. Here passengers may get tra.tns for
the Bridge Subway Station, whence ~hey may
continue on the north-bound local tra.u1s, or be
transferred to the north- bound ex press trains.
This single-platform station will be the principal
feature of the loop as well as one of the most
attractive points of the whole subway. The lo?p
near t.he City Hall follows a regular curve, whtle
the outer line of the platform follows a curve
concentric with the loop, but of longer radius. Th.e
single-track line is covered. by. concrete .se!Dtcircular arches, and the stat10n ttself by stmtlar
arches of greater span, ~pringing up from the same
inner line of the loop (~'ig. 35). By Mr. Parsons'
direction these arches were built so as to rest
between ribs, which in turn lie radially to the
curve . The contrast of t hese complicate~ arches
and vaults, springing from different potnts and
running in different directions, nat~rally suggested
the idea of a Romanesqufl decoratiOn, so that all
the arches and Yaults within the station are orna.mented with tiles of various colours artistically
arranged in accordance with t~e Ro.manesque style
of architecture. As the statiOn wtll at all hours
be lighted electrically, we can imagine the fine
effect produced by reflection from the polished
surfaces of t he enamelled tiles. The subway will
be reached by a straight and ornamental staircase
built on City Ifall Park, near Broadway.
.
The soil in the first section of the subway 1s
loose being composed chiefly of loam with a bank
of sa~d underneath. Various methode have been
employed in its construction~

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

547

The excavation for the loop around Oity Hall engine. The engines of the derrick and those of
Park is carried on by the open-tunnel method, the cableway are operated by compressed air.
the sides of t he tunnel being supported by sheetThe Bridge Station, so named on account of its
ing planks which are held together by horizontal proximity to the entrance of the Brooklyn Bridge,
beams laid parallel to the line of the road, the will be one of the most important of the entire
horizontal beams being kept in place by cross- subway. It will serve both for express and local
beams. The earth is r emoved by pick and shovel, t rains ; the former will have island and the latter
and raised by means of stiff-legged derricks of side platforms. It will be similar in principle to
ordinary construction, operated by compressed air. the other express-train stations, such as at 14th,
The loop is lined wit h concrete in the following 42nd, 59th, and 95th ~treets. As the work has
manner. On the floor of the excavation is laid a not yet been begun, it calls for no description at
stratum of well-rammed concrete, 4 in. in depth, present.
(To be continued. )
then waterproofing, followed by another layer of
concrete, 1 ft. deep. The side walls are built of
concrete, 2 ft. 9 in. wide, while the semi-circular
NOTES FROM THE UNITED STATES.
arch is also of concrete, 15 in. thick at the crown,
PniLADEI,'PHIA, October 10.
and strengthened at the branches by concrete work
TnE developments in the steel industry of the past
sloping down from the crown. The waterproofing
few days have been surprising to both buyers and
of the lower stratum of the foundation floor is sellers,
particularly with reference to the volume of
turned along the sheeting planks, which will remain inquiry for 1902. This ha.s special reference to the
in the ground, and then above the extrados of the steel rail demand, which from all evidences will vastly
arch, t hus forming an impervious cover all round, exceed the requirements of the current year. The
which must keep the entire structure perfectly dry. construction for the past twelve months' fiscal year
The specification requires that the waterproofing foot up 4600 miles. The construction work for the
sha.ll be done as follows : On the upper surface of main line work will be still heavier, and a larger
a bed of concrete, made as level and smooth as demand will come from sidings, repairs, branch lines,
po~sible, there shall be spread a l~yer of asphalt, and the like, the aggregate of which can now only be
and on such asphalt there shall be immediately guessed at. Six or seven new main lines are now being
laid sheets or rolls of felt ; another layer of hot projected, the surveys for which are being brought to
asphalt shall be laid over the felt ; another layer a close. One of these is Senator Clark's new roa.d
between
Salt
Lake
and
Los
Angeles.
The
new
of felt, and so on until not less than two such layers English road across lYiexico is another. Our Burliogton
of felt nor more than six be laid with asphalt ro9.d is fighting its way into the north-west. Instances
between each layer below and on top. The felt of this kind could be multiplied. There are also urgent
shall bo composed of asbestos or other equally non- inquiries for engines, cars, and general railway equipperishable material dipped in asphalt and weighing ment during the past few days, which further indicates
not less than 10 lb. to the square of 100 ft.
that the pressure for equipment as well a.s machinery
The single-track arched line near the east end of and electrical supplies for power-houses of trolley
Mail-street will pass under the four tracks of the lines will assume a larger magnitude than w~s figured
subway built along and under Park-r ow, at a box out as recently as a month ago. Outside of steel rai1s
section formed of steel beams and corrugated iron the entire market is very strong, and an actual advance
roof, lined and filled in with concrete.
After in quotations in some lines has been made. We are
expecting in a. few days 1100 tons of sheet iron from
passing the four tracks, the loop will resume its Belgium
a.s a result of the recent strike. This is only
semi-circular section ; and, travelling upwards, one of a number of eh ipments from abroad, but apart
will again become part of the standard four-track from this the American mills will be able to take care
subway near the Bridge Station.
of their customers. Some of the mills of McKeesport
On account of the great traffic on Park-row are obliged to run on Sundays to keep up. The Ameriand at the foot of Brooklyn Bridge a. portion of can Bridge Company is now energetically consolidatthe four-track line, extending at present to a point ing its scattered bridge-building plants a.t Pittsburgh.
opposite Ann street, but to be continued later to Within seven days four new and extensive steel
Broadway, is built without interfering with the works have been projected. In fact, it looks
heavy traffic of the street. On both sides of the as though the fever of expansion had seized steelfour surface car tracks open ~uts have been made, makers, and it would be easy to sound the
that this fever of expansion is carrying prowith small narrow headings excavated cross-wise. alarm
ducers too far. That remains to be seen. There is
As soon as these headings are entirely opened a.n urgent demand for all kinds of bar iron, scalp, and
under the tracks of the surface car, " needles , or muck bars as well as bissick and Beesemer bars. The
beams-14 in. by 14 in.-are placed across, being outlook is most lfa.vourc~.ble for continued and most
temporarily supported by small timbers and wedges profitable activit y, and it is improbable that this
resting upon the unexcavated earth. Then shafts statement will have to be modified for a long time to
6 ft. by 6ft. are sunk under each end of every needle, come.
and when the plane of the foundation of the proposed subway has been reached, vertical columns
S&WAOE AT BRADI<'ORD.-At the Bradford Town H&ll,
or props 12 in. by 12 in. are placed in the shafts to on Monday, arbitration proceedings took place with resupport the ends of the needles, whilst in the ference to a claim of Mr. W. Watson against the Brad
middle they are supported by temporary timbers. ford Town Council for 500l. The Mayor (Mr. W. C.
Luptoo) was the arbitrator; and Mr. T. T. Pa.ine, of
The earth is then removed from both sides towards London,
sa.t with him a.s legal assessor. Mr. Wabson'e
the centre, and more props inserted until, when the oa~e was, that by agreement dated July 27, 1899, he under
earth has been entirely removed, each needle is took to carry out certain experiments in sewage treatsupported by five props. The needles are placed ment a.t the corporation works at Frizioghall, to trea.b
77, 000 gallons per day for a. pe~iod of 60 days, to prod1:1ce
10 ft. apart.
effluent equal to that produced by the corpora.tton
It is only when all the earth has been removed an
treatment~ and to use in ce.rrying oub this treatment one
from under the car tracks, and the road well sup- tenth of tne space ocoupied by the corporation in treating
ported by the needles and props, that the construc- a similar quantity. If the work was oa.rried out to its
tion of the subway begins, with a concrete founda- se.tisfacbion, the corporation was bound to pA.y Mr.
tion bed covered with waterproofing. On this is Watson 500l., or the matter was to be referred to the
Mayor as arbitra.tor. A great ma~s of eviden~e was
laid a thick stratum of concrete, in which are em- given
pro and con. The award w1ll be made m due
bedded the foot-blocks of the steel bents. The course.
bents are then put in position, after which the
concrete arches are begun. On the steel beams,
THE YORKSHIRE COLLEGE ENOINEERING SOCIETY,
small pillars of brick masonry are afterwards built, LEEDa.-The sixteenth session was opened on Monday,
and it is these pillars that hold up the surface the 14th inst., when ProfessorGoodman delivered a lecture
road while the needles are being removed. All on the" Life and Work of John Eriosson," who was born
the Swedish province of Vermland in 1803. As a boy
the spaces are afterwards filled in with well-rammed in
he worked on the Gotha Canal. He early showed con
earth, so as to form one continuous mass with the siderable ability, and made a name through his mechanical
roof of the subway, thereby preventing any devices. He joined the Swedish army, where he ma{}e a
study of artillery. Subseque~tly ~e c~:~.me to England,
sinking.
All t he work is done by pick and shovel, and as entering theserVlce of Mr: Bra.1t~wa1te, wh_o sn~seque~tly
took
him
into
partnersh1p.
HIS
mecham~al ~vent1?ne
the soil is loose and the traffic on the road heavy, and improvements were many and var1ed, moludmg
the headings or shafts are heavily timbered the amongst them the stea.m fire engine, the deep-sea lead,
moment a portion of the earth is taken away. and the screw propeller. He entered for a 600t. _prize in
The earth is removed from the open cut at the a Iocomoti ve competition, coming in second, after Stepheneast side of P ink-ro w by means of a stift'-legged son. He succeeded in running his en~ne a.t the rate of
60 miles per hour. In 1839, John Encsac;m went to the
derrick, and from the cut on the west side of U
nited States, where he ma.de t~e first bu1lt-up gu~. '.rhe
Parkrow as well as from the edge of City Hall ship Monitor, which played _so 1mpor~ant ~ part m ~he
Park, by ~ cableway not mor~ t~an 250 ft. in sp~n, American Oi vil War, was built from hl8 destgns. He d1ed
operated by a LidgenTood h01shng and conveymg at the age of 86.

OcT. 18, xgo1.]

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

549

HIGH-C PACITY RAILWAY WAGONS.

CON~ TRUCTED BY THE DARLI GTON \VA :rON AND l~NGINEERING CO~IPANY, LIMITED, DARLINGTON.

cylinder t hrough the central aper ture. The vaporiser

is so designed as to completely vapor ise the oil duri ng
its flow by gravitation from the oil receiver. 1'he
supply of oil may be regulated by the governor and
adjusted by hand, the vaporiser always being at
atmospheric pressure and in communication with the
cylinder through a pipe having a simple non-return
vt~.lve situated t herein. T he air required for combust ion is drawn through the same valve, and the quantity
regulated by hand adjustment.
Figs. 4, 5, and 6 give three views of the governor
on this motor, from which it will be seen that the
governor is of the inertia type acting on a throttle
Yalve. Exact adjustment is not necessary, as the
engine works well between wide limits of adjustment.
The exhaustion of the products of combustion is
effdcled by means of a valve on t he ame axis as t he
cylinder, a nd paseiog through the vaporiser.

.
-.

The er gine exhi bited will develop 20 brake horse- capacity of veh icles, and stated his opinion that
power ; the consumption, we are informed, being one " so long as t he present light trains, with large
pint of piraffin per hor~e power per hour.
propor tion of de9.dweight, and costly repairs and
renewah prevail, so long will English r9.ilways find it
impossible to handle heA.vy freigh t in volume at low
WAGONS OF HIGH CAPACITY F OR
rates."
BRITISH RAILvVAYS.
Believing that many owners of rolling &tock would
D uRINO the past four years Messrs. Sheffield and welcome t he introduction of larger units if the regulaTwinberrow, civil engineers, of Newoastle-on-Tyne, tions of the Rail way Clearing House- which practihave devoted much attention to the reduction of the cally confine t hem to the use of 10-ton wagonscost of t ransport by rail; contribut ions dealing more were modified , t hey determined to teat t he matter
especially w1 t h the working of mineral traffic have by the constr uction of some pattern vehicles. They
appeared in E NG I NEERING , June 9, 1899, and Novem- accordingly arranged with the Da.rlington Wagon
ber 23 aod 30, 1900. Mr. Twinberrow also contributed and Engineering CompJ.ny, Limited, for building the
to the .Minutes of P roceedings of t he Instit ution of Civil wagons shown by t he engravings above. These
E ngineers in 1888 a paper on "Flexible ~Theelbases vehicles have now been examined by a number of
of Railway Rolling Stock," in which he drew attention railway experts, and were promptly approved by the
to t he economies to be effected by increasing the officers of the North-Eg,stern Railway for traffic ex-

-sso

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

[OcT.' 18,

1901 .

perimentally on their lines. The wagons are of two

types-the one is fitted with double hoppers with by th~ indu~ed friction to prevent the bogie from under tractive and buffing forces are controlled by
re~urnmg to Its norm~l posi~ion after leaving a curve;
steep slopes a~ranged so a.~ tol be self-clearing, with thts has the effect of mcreasmg the tractive resistance suitable springs.
The North-Eastern Railway, we may add han1
the ~east P?~stble expense 1n unloading, the other is and accelerating. the wear of the flanges. Messrs.
placed an order for a train of these 32 ton hopp~r cars,
p_roVIded wtth a fiat floor of in. plates and ordinary
~1de d?ors, though end or bottom doors may be fitted Sh~ffield ~nd Twmberrow ~ave accordingl.v connected to be completed as soon as ~ossible, for trial in the
thetr bo~tes. to the f~ame lD a manner which insures export coal trade to Blyth. This will afford an oppor1f destred.
~he a.pphca.t10n of a directive force to the truck, tend
In preparing the designs it was determined to em- mg to return same to its normal position. It will be tunity,to tes~ t~e merits of large wagons on a "short
ploy_ standard rolling-mill shapes and fiat plates ex:
haul; ~nd .It 1s h~ped to prove that this length of
noted that each corner of the frame is tied to the le~d, whilst mcreasmg the cost per mile as compared
clu~mg as far as possible special pressed forms' and
?o.dr by m?ans of a radial link, which is under an with long unbroken runs, does not prejudicially affect
s~u~hed work, thus facilitating manufacture and provtdmg_ for the prompt and easy renewal of damaaed nutial tensi~n due to th~ horizontal helical spring ; the percentage of saving.
p_arts 1n th~ course of maintenance ; it was also ;on- the l!l'tter yields to permtt a virtual lengthening of
the hnk to a.cco!D~oda.te lateral and angular move~tdered destrable that all material necessary for hold~ents.
The
b.ogi~
1s
propelled
by
the
leading
pair
of
THE REDHEUGH BRIDGE.
t~g. ~he load should contribute to the strength and
l~nk.s, the t.ens10n lD which is normally in stable equi
WE this week publish illustrations of further details
rtgtd~ty of the atruct~re. The separate underframe hbrmm WI~h the resistance at the wheel treads.
was m conseque~ce dtspensed with, the sides being When ~ntering a cune the pressure at the flange has of the Redheugh Bridge, across the River Tyne between
formed as pla.t.e gtrders, connected by main transoms to I?rovtde for the further compression of the check Gateshead and Newcastle. A general view of the
over each bogte and by head stocks of channel section spr1~gs, ~mt the amount of the additional pressure structure was shown in the two-page plate of our issue
the fiat floor ~s also supported by lighter intermedia.t; requtred lS very small, and comes gradually into play of October 4last (Figs. 1 to 4). Reference to this will
transoms restmg on angle brackets riveted inside the as its virtual leverage at the commencement of show that the bridge consists of two spans of 248 ft.
sills and firmly united to the vertical stanchions forming angular deflection is considerable. The impact due to each and two of 168 ft. each. Details of the steelwork of
the stiffeners of the sides. The end plates of the hoppers entering a sharp turnout or sudden <>hange of curva- the larger spans will be found in Figs. 5 to 16 w bilst
a;e united by long~tudinal members formed of two plates ture is also reduced by the lateral movE)ment of the the corresponding portions of the smaller sp:ma are
ill~strated in Figs. 34 to 48 on our two-page plate
rtveted together m the form of a. wedge with the apex bogie under the control of the links.
this week, and on page 552. It will be seen that the
vertical, affording a pa_ssa~e beneath them for the passage
A centre pin is fitted to the bogie as a safety check depth of the truss is about one-seventh the clear span
of brake pull rods, tram ptpes, &c. The external staying
of t~e ends of the hoppers is clearly shown, the two
hortzontal a~gles which run back from the footplate
PI.
over the m&In transoms to the sloped plates are intended to receive the cylinder of the power brakes
~hen such are adopted, as will probably be the case
ID ~uture.
The. r~vets are closely pitched throughout
to ~nsu~e close JOints for ~he purpose of avoiding corrosiOn. ID _parts not accesstble to the paint brush; the
ma.tertal 1s cleaned of adherent scale by dipping and
scratch-brushing before painting.
The doors of the hopper wagon are moved horizo.ntally by means of wire ropes and a small hand
wmch ; they are mounted on large rollers which are
accessible fo.r lubrication and are so plac~d as to be
free from grit or dust from the load. Their security
un~er loa~ does ~ot depend upon any form of latch
which mtg.ht fail through improper replacement
--------------- ----------------------------- .28'. o - ----------------- --------------- ----+........
or. by ac01de~t, the degree of opening may be
adJusted to dtscharge ballast, &c., at any desired
rate, and they may be closed to retain the remainder
of the load after any desired quantity has been
eol
F4J.SO.
discharged.
A departure from previous practice has also been
made in the design of the bogies ; those hitherto used
under freight cars are of two types ; the older pattern
~
..~
has the side frames rigidly bolted to the axle-boxes
and united by a pair of transoms; it supports the load
.::l:.
~EC. s.a.
by means of short helical springs under the ends of a.
l
bolster which has a centre plate at the middle point,
upon which the car is supported by means of a transverse
bolster under the sills; excessive rolling of the body on
the centre plates is prevented by the introduction of
An9. 4. s;. 9'ao
~I
I.IIIJicn 21+; &/iD
side bearings between the bolsters. The bending
moments on the bolsters are very severe, and their
~ IJf; *----------------------------- lO' ,.Lr~ ToJ
'- ...
" d ~
J
.
.. -..attgw, Olftlr ~;n "nSic.J -----------------------------IS!~
depth is limited by the small vertical space available;
r--1;;;;t-------------------------~"i;~;z-o;-~~~~~~~~~~;;~;~-~~-r;;;~-;;;-;~~-;,;;~---------------------~
the necessary freedom for transverse tilting of the
bogie is allowed for by leaving some play between
the faces of the side bearings, at the expense of the
stability of the body, and when this play is reduced to prevent the bogie from leaving the body in the in t.he case of the larger trusses, and about two
by the deflection of the bolsters under heavy load, event of a car being derailed or overturned. The hole thir~eenths in the case of the ~hore spans. These prothe tilting must be accommodated solely by the widely through which it passes is formed with sufficient clear- p~rtiOns are much more rat10nal than is always met
spaced springs; these, are, however, of very limited ance to avoid contact except in case of accident.
wt.th, th.e ~hallow trusses f~voured by some engineers
flexibility. The alternative design provides for the
The designers consider that the capacity of eight- bemg dtst~nctly u.neoonomtc~l. . The ~racing, it will
attachment of the centre plate directly to the bogie wheeled cars for use on normal gauge rail ways should be Reen, IS pecuha.r, but this Js partially explained
transoms, the frames being supported by a spring over not be less than that of these examples ; as the gross by the system adopted in erecting the structure.
each a.xlebox ; the side bearings are equally inefficient weight of the hopper wagon is only about 45 tons, the This was done cantilever fashion, by building
in this case, if a desirable amount of freedom is given sidings at collieries and other works will usually be of out from the piers, the upper chords of the two
to the bogie, and it is difficult to find rQom for springs sufficient strength, but it is obvious that larger cars to adjoining trusses being temporarily connected toof sufficient flexibility, e~pecially for the compound carry 50 tons, and having a gross weight of about gether. There would, of course, have been a saving
arrangement which is very neoesea.ry in order that the 64 tons, or 16 tons per axle, will have a lower tare of wei.ght if this con~ection ha~ been permanent,
wagon may be efficiently eupported both in the light weight and less first cost per ton of capacity. They rend~rmg the wh~le br1dg~ a contmuous girder ; but
and the loaded conditions.
have prepared a complete series of designs of hopper, Enghsh a!ld Amenca.n engme~rs distrust this type of
In getting out the new design it was considered box, flat, and other cars, both for minerals and other constructton, though we bel1eve that there is no
desirable to avoid any rigid connection between the special a nd general traffic, and from 30 up to 50 tons instance on record of the failure of a well-designed
bogie frames and the axle-boxes, and any freedom capacity for standard gauge railways, and from 28 tons continuous girder. In the case of the piers between
for rolling on the side bearings ; it was also decided upwards for metre and 3 ft. 6 in. gauge. The makers t he unequal spans, kentledge was used as required to
that the springs should be placed in series in order to inform us that the price of the 30 and 32-ton cars correct the difference in weight of the cantilever arms
improve the flexibility and afford easier xiding; one compares very favourably with that of an equivalent on opposite sides of the pier as the work proceeded.
set of springs should, moreover, be compounded to capacity in standard 8 or 10-ton wagons, whilst the The new bridge being built round the old, the latter
act with maximum efficiency, both in the empty and cost of maintenance for equal service rendered must afforded a '' steadiment" for the new trusses in their
uncompleted condition, so that the comparative narrowthe loaded conditions; it was also found possible to be very greatly in favour of the high-capacity type.
The buffers and couplings with which these cars are ness of the piers constituted no danger to the cantilever
reduce the bending moments on the bogie and main
transoms by about 50 per cent. by carrying the whole fitted are of ordinary type ; but the heads of the system of erection. As stresses during this buildload on aide bearings placed 18 in. di!tant from the buffers are elongated to obviate interlocking when ing-out process were in many members of the truss
centre pivots without seriously impeding the angular working with vehicles of various proportions on sharp the reverse of what they became after completion,
curves ; the couplings are of large dimensions to meet stiffening either temporary or permanent of the memmotions of the truck.
It will be noted that there is a helical coil imme- the increasing tractive force of more powerful engines, bers normally in tension was required. In the case of
diately over each a.xle-box; the bogie transoms carry the economical employment of which will be facilitated the lower chord this stiffening was made permanent,
two large radial plates supporting boxes which enga.ga by the introduction of large wagons. The designers, and this chord turned into a girder, since, as will be
with the space between the body transoms, each box however, recommend the adoption of their equalising seen on reference to Figs. 5 and 6, the cross-girders
contains a spring compounded with inner and outer and compensating buffing and draw gear, in which are not connected to this chord at panel points, but at
the buffer stems are rigidly united by a crossbar intermediate positions. To further assist this chord
coils.
It has further been observed that bogies of short within the frame, permitting angular movement about in carrying the bending strains thus introduced, the
wheelbase are apt to travel in an inclined direction a centre pivot, which is so placed as to ensure even main panel of the bracing is subdivided as shown.
The trusses, it will be seen, are riveted, a.nd therefore
with respect to the gauge of the road, with one lead- contact of the buff~r heads with those of a standard
ing flange bearing hard against the rail, and tending wagon on all cul"ves; the movements of the cross-bar laok the "purposefulness," if we may use the term,

Oc r. r 8, 1901.]
oharacter~stio of the pin-connected structure. In the
l~tter, t1e- bars are narrower tha n struts but in
rt veted trusses t~is i_s usually ~everseo, for con~truotive
r easons, so that m stde elevat10n the ties app ear stouter
th a n t he s truts.
_The roadway, as s hown in Fig . 7, is 21 ft
wtde, _and th~re are t wo pathwa y s, e a.oh about
7 _ft. wtde ~u t s_1de the t russes. The gas and water
ptpes are, 1t wtll be seen, placed outside the p a rapets
a~d are supported ?n extensions of the footpath
but.ck et s: In a. futu~e 1ssue we shall g ives illustra tions
of the pters, and wtll complete our description o f the
struc t ure as a who~e.

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

55!

st ep would be to do aw~y wibh the Wesbminster engi- to certify that the gun I invented at Puteaux, as far ba{}k
n eers. Is t~ere any equtvalen t for Westminster in the as 1894, was as follows :
8ta.tes ? Brmg the home makers into direcb cont act wibh
(a) It was a. quick-firing gun, carried and guided in a
~he purchasers, . as t~e Americans are brought, and there cradle a~ra.ng~d with hydropneu_matic recoil, with ve ry long
IS nob~ ma.ker_m tbts country_who would nob be willing tra:veJ, msurmg the perfecb fi xtty of the carriage during
to d es1gn engmes t o the requ1rements placed before him firm g.
(b) It contained: a mechanism for adjusting lateral
and ~ho w~~ld not g~e.rantee his work and stand or fali
by ?ts condtbt~ns of pnce _and delivery as aga insb America. training, by the sliding of the carriage on the axle :
F au play ! fair play _! fatr play ! That is the burden of
(o) a double elevabing mechanism, with short eye-piece
the song.. D o not t1e the hands of the Briton and let forming a.n independent rear-sight ;
'
(d) a wheel brake, with riobed oboes, easily placed
t~e Amer10an P?mm~l him, and then have the British
pi ess all cack~mg m chorus about the superiority under the wheela when the gun was pub in battery and
~f the man wtth the free use of his hands.
There anchoring into the ground, to insure the lateral stability
ts hardly a. day passes without leaders in our Press of ~he carriage during firing, the brake acting also in the
ab~ut. the decline of British trade.
Well, the in- ordmary manner ;
fenonty of the British locomotive maker has yet
(e) two seats, from which the gunner and the man at
to be pro~ed, a nd ib is likely to be a happy day for him the breech could work; a shield protecbing them.
FOREIGN COMPETITION.
when he IS brought face to face with his American rival
In short, bhe characteristic feature of the field gun inTo THE EDITOR OF ENGINEERING.
Sm,-I ~a.;e b een ~uoh interested in the perusal of on absolute~y the same terms.. Our home makers a.re able vented ~Y me is the long-travel recoil; I firsb started
Mr. R'lnkm d lette r _1n your . i3Sue of the 11th inst., to fill t~etr ~hops mea.nw~tle to overftowin~, and the both th1s and the combinabion of long recoil with the
page 62~, on the sub)ecb of fatr play to British trade. surplus 1~ gomg to _Ameri ca.; but when quteter times other arrangements above referred to some of which are
U n~onscwu~ly, perha.p~. he ha.s pub his finger on the spot come agatn, and the rtvals again get in_to grips, it remains original arrangements, while the others were more or
I was therefore the first in a
wh~ch part10ularly a.ffect3 the locomotive trade and to be seen whebher home makers will not retain their less known already.
whtle other branches of engineering may have thei~ ow~ ascendancy, even handicap~ed as ther have always been, positio~ to build a very powerful and, in the same time
expon_e~ts, I venture to empha-sise the justice of ~1r. and aP,parently always wtll be, wtth the incubus of verr hght ~eld gun, with carriage and sighting line
w~1ch remamed completely immobile during horizontal
Ra_n~m s rema~ks from what appears to me t o be the Westmmster.
I ~av~ n_ot t~uched on the subject of patriotism because ~nog, for. a. power ~f over lQO ton-metres, the rapidity
Br1t1sh locomot1 ve makers' point of view.
Concurren~ly with r. Ra.nkin's letter there a.{>pea.red I thmk tb 1s netther fair nor necessary to bolster up the 10 the firmg exceedmg twenty rounds per minute even
'
n. p~ragra.ph 1n the da.tly press to the effect that S tr C. B. c~e by n.ppeal to that sentiment. If the British locomo- when altering the angle of elevation.
I therefore claim tlie priority with regard to the means
Elhobt, the Cape C olony Railway Commissioner h as t~ve make~ cannob compete with his rivals on eq_ual terms
placed ~ork t o the v~lue _of l,OOO,OOOl. in the U nited g~ven a. f~tr ~eld and no favour, it is bime for htm to tor~ I ha.ve invented for securing this result.
Yours faithfully,
States, ~ncluded therem bemg an order for twenty-nine hts energtes toto some other channel; but he cannot be exA. DEPORT.
locomobtves. ~ere our home makers asked to compete p ec~ed to run a. race, and carry a. heavy weight> besides,
134, Bd. Pereire, Paris, October 11, 1901.
for these engtnes, and was there any attempt made agamst compet1tors who are stripped and carry nothing
t o s~e whether they could be obtained in this country ? superfl.uous. In the ~ase of South Africa., however, there is
Wh~le er<;lers can be placed right away for American a. sp~01al _feature, vtz., tha._t the British work~ng man is
engmes, . tb ~sually tak~ several months to prepare sendmg hts brothers and his sons, aye, and gomg himself
THE LOSS OF THE "COBRA."
~o
sec1;1re
that
the
colony
retains
the
privilege
of
possessthe speetficatwn on ~ htch the home makers are to
To THE EDITOR oF ENGINEERING.
Ing
ratl
wayt~,
~nd
a.
small
sense
of
the
commonest
~rati
tender, and thus Ame!1cans get credit for their speedy
. SIR,- I _have seen 8ir Hira.m Maxim's letter of the 9th
tud~
should
Impel
a
consideration
of
his
case.
South
o~bpub. Fur~hEr, whtle. the Americans get their orders
mst., pubhshed by you, and concluding with the statement
Afnc~
cannot
act
with
the
same
freedom
as
our
other
Without outs1de c~~pebttion, the . home makers have to
that " the gyroscopic action of the turbines and the screws
colomes.
I
am,
&c.,
stand the compettt1_on of Amer10ans and Conbinentals
could nob have contributed in the least degree to the
FAIR
PLAY.
for the work for w~tch they are allowed to q uote. It is
breaking in two of the Cobra..,
October
15,
1901.
also s_tated that S~r 0. B. . Elliotb remarked that the
. It may be well to admit at once that both my brother
matertn.l to b e had m the Umbed States was superior and
tgnoramus and myself have bad in mind a kind of action
!llore adapted f~r Cape nse. So far a s locomotive work
or effecb,_ which Sir Hira.m Maxim might not define ~
lS concerned, thts stateme~b is s~ absurd and so absolutely
MODERN PRACTICE IN RA.ILWAY
gyroscopic.. T~e word was used for the sake of brevity, and
~m true that we do not behe ve S1r C. B. Elliott ever made
the matter 1s, 1t -w:ould appear, much too important to be
SIGNALLING.
It.. T_he co.mpleted article is infinitely superior as oupconf~sed by quest10ns of verbal definition. If Sir Hira.m
T
o
T HE EDITOR 01!' E NG INEERING.
plied m th1s country, and if the parts are in the least
JYia.xtm me~nt that the word "gyroscopic , was improp erly
Sm..,
We
notice
in
your
issue
of
the
11th
ins
b.
at
degree below the best that the world can produce it is the commenc~ment o f~ paper by Mr. Timmis. read before used, that ts a matte~ of smal_l consequence; but if he mean~
the _fault of the Westminster engineers, who take c~re to the Internattonal E?gmeering Oongress at G lMgow this that the f~c~ of rap1d rotat10n of heavy masses, rotating
spe~tfy, and s~e that th~y get, materials which satisfy
year, a. s tatement wtth reference to the hydraulic system as they dtd m the Cobra, could not have contributed in
their m ost s tr10 gent requtrem.ents both analytically and of railway signalling, in which be states that "it cannot ~he least degree to her breaking in two ; that is to say,
m echanically, and if, in t heir opinion, better could be had ~o~pete wit~1 the pneumatic and electric sr.stems, so that tf he puts forward a statement that the rapid rotabion of
thev would see that it was got.
' tb 1s nob a.dVL~able to take up time in descnbing it."
a heavy mass about a central axis will not bring about a
While_! have i~t~oduced t_he na.m~ of th~ Cape G overnWe are qutte at a. loss to understand upon what grounds sta~e of things of which the effect would be to oppose a
ment ratlways, 1b Is not wtth the mtent10n of p ointing Mr. Timm1s makes thab statement; for as a matter of faob resistance to some deviations of the axis, then he is putting
them out a-s blacker than their neighbours. The same the hydraulic system does compare most favourably with fot~a.rd a _st~teme~b which he must have forgotten
applies all round. Take the Indian railways as a further all ot~~r power systl~ms, both in respect of efficiency, venfy, for 1b 1s not m accordance with facb.
example of those who are evincing an awakening love for durabthty, economy 10 first cost, and in maintenance
The experiment ~s an extremely easy one to try, and
American ~~rk. Are the consulting engi~eers prepared 250 installations are now in daily work, comprising in th~ ~!though the effecb 1a, of course, enormously increased by
to p~b Br1t1sh ~akers on a level footmg wtth their aggregate between 3000 and 4000 lever~, and all these t?crea.se. o~ speed and of ma~, a. simple bicycle wheel,
Am~rtcan compe~1~rs ? Would they accept an American installations are working efficiently and satisfactorily.
hghb as 1t 18, and turned only at a speed which can eas ily
~ng_me fr?t;n Br1t1sh makers'? If so, why _do they not
We.shall be . very much ?bliged if you can find room be produced by hand, is sufficient apparatus.
mvtte Bnttsh makers to tender for Amer10an engines for th1s lett~r m your next tssue, because, if Mr. Timmis's
. It ~eems due. to the importance of this mabter and to
pure and simple, and disp enee with inspection to the statement 1s allowed bo pass uncontra-dicted it may do Str Huam Ma.xtm's very great reputation that he should
leave no doubt as to what he really did mean to say.
same extent that they do in America ? If the American our busineS!s and interests some damage.
'
Very respectfully your@,

engine is good enough for the work, then let British

Thanking you in anticipation, we have the honour
EDW. vV. SERRELL, Jun.
makers build it ; but if the Westminster specification is
to remain, Sir, your obedienb servants,
Paris, October 15, 1901.
n ecessary to secure a. working job, then let American
SAXBY AND FARMER. Lii\IITED,
work to ib. D o nob compare the incomparable and then
C. HoDGSON, Managing Director.
abuse the man who has been judged by the false standard.
Pt~.tenb Railway Signal Works, Canterbury-road,
Then there were the Midland Rail way, the Grea.b
To THE EDITOR oF ENGINEElnNG.
Kilburn, L ondon, N. W., October 14, 1901.
Northern Railway, and others in this country who went
Sin,-I have rea"Cl with considerable interest the points
to America for their requirements. Did they give the
brought forward by "Ignoramus , in your issue of
British makers a chance to compete for American engines?
October 4, and of Mr. Serrell in your issue of October 11
MODERN
FRENCH
ARTILLERY.
They did not, hub they in common with the Cape peopl~,
in regard t o the gyroscopic effect of the rotating masse;
T
o
rHE
E
niTOR
OI<'
E
NGINEERING.
the India. Office, and others are, or were, all prepared to
in the Cobra. I have also read wibh interest the remarks
Srn,-Your
issue
of
July
19
gives
the
description
of
a
accept trash from America whilst they insist upon British
of Sir Hira.m S. Maxim, which hardly seem satisfactory
new
pattern
of
field
guns
on
the
"
S
chneider-Canet'
makers working to an ironbound specification.
under the circumstances.
In the meantime ibis subject of common r emark that system. the main features of which are the following:
The resistance of the heavy rotating masses in the
(a) The gun is carried and ~uided in a cradle in which it Cobra against being moved from normal plane of rotawe have heard the last of American engines on home railways, and the time may come when we shall hear the same slides, the arra.ngE1ment con taming along-travel hydraulic tion is, in all probability, a matter for more or less
in regard to the Indian and colonial railwayP, as we have recoil cylinder, with independent air recuperator, the ex~cb calculation rather than comment. Now that Sir
1
long
recoil
having
for
its
object
to
prevent
the
raising
of
beard from Egypt, Japan, and other countries. But this
Htram has, of his own accord, placed himself in the list
is aside from the question. The point we are debating is the carriage when the gun is fired.
of "competent readers , on this question, it would be
(b) A mechanism is provided for a djusting lateral train- interesting to have his figures as to the actual resistance
fair play. Let it be assumed that the American engine is
admuably adapted fori ts work in all our colonies and depen- in~, through the sliding of th e carriage on the axle.
to change in plane of rotation developed by the rotating
(c)
The
gun
contains
a.
deuble
elevating
mechanism,
dencies. Then why should nob home builders have a chance
machinery in the Cobra. This is the only l'ort of reply
of building it on the same conditions ? There is every with short eye-piece, the system being generally styled which can put "such matters sufficiently plain so tba.b
reason to maintain that British .makPrs could compete independent sighting-line or independent rear-sight.
even an ignoramus would be able to understand it."
(d)
A
ribbed
shoe
brake
forms
part
of
the
system,
the
Yours respectfully,
successfully against America with fair play. But can
E. F. CASSEL.
that fair play be got ? I have no hesitation in saying shoes being ea.sily fitted underneath the wheels at the
that it can not under present conditions. Westminster tread, and by anchoring into the ground, insure the
56, Broad-street Avenue, E.C., October 16, 1901.
eng ineers migbb make a pretence of inviting tenders to an stability of the gun during firing; said brake serving also
American spEcification, but it would be impossible to get in the ordinary way when the gun is wheeled from one
them to dispense with inspection. In America they have place to another.
KtONDYKE TELEGRAPHY.-An all-Canadia.n Govern(e)
Two
seats
are
provided
on
the
traiJ,
namely,
one
to take whab th ey can geb. It is useless to say that they
ment telegraph line has now been brought into operation
for
the
gunner,
and
one
for
the
man
&t
the
breech.
the
geb their spec ifications carried out there. Those who are
from Vancouver to Dawson City. The line is 2200 miles
two
men
being
able
to
remain
seated
owing
to
the
fixity
conversant with the facts know that they do not, and
in length. Part of the route followed is over that of an
of
the
carriaFe.
bhab American makers will nob depart from their own
abandoned -line originally projected for the Collins overUntil
now
I
found
it
expedient
to
abstain
from
putting
system during the course of manufacture to ~ease any
land route in 1865. The object of this abandoned line
forward
my
claims
to
priority
with
regard
to
these
consulting eng-ineer with theories of his own. Because it
was to connect America with Europe, but the successful
arrangements.
which
have
been
copied
from
those
of
the
is America, W estmin.ster bows to the inevitable, and
laying of the Atlantic cable in 1866 brought the enter-
new
French
75-millimetre
gun,
th
e
type
of
which
was
inaccepts what they would reject at home. If American
prise to a. standstill. The line starts at Vancouver, and
vented
by
me
ab
the
French
Artillery
Works
at
Puteaux,
methods were a.cceptd from home makers, the home oubtouches Ashcroft, Quesnell, Ha zelton, 'l'elegra.ph Creek,
the
final
adjustment
having
been
carried
out
by
Major
put could be greatly increased, and thus the initial cost
White Horse, and Dawson City. At the Alaskan
Ste.
Olaire
Deville.
The
Minister
of
vVar,
howt;ver,
taking
would be proportionately reduced. Do away with W esbboundary it connecbs with a projected American Governinto
account
thab
the
exterior
arrangements
of
the
gun
in
minster inspection, and a further saving of one-sixth to
question are now known as a whole, since the gun has ment line from St. Mi chaels. A branch line ta'QS Forb
one-eighth of the cost might be effected.
Simpson for the convenien~e of incoming Dawson
been
pub
in
the
service,
has
authorised
me
to
make
the
The long and the short of it is this : If home makers
steamers.
besb
of
my
rights
to
priority
in
the
matter,
and
I
a.m
able
were t o b e put on a level with American makers, the first

552

[OcT. 18, 1901.

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

THE REDHEUGH BRIDGE BETWEEN NE\ VCASTLE AND GATESHEAD.

MESSRS. SANDEMAN AND ~10NCRIEFF, l\1M. I NST. C.E, ENGINEERS;

IR \VILLIA.1\I ARROL AND CO., GLA GO\\', CONTRACTORS.

(For Description, see Page 550.)

F IG. 52.

f.

'

..

--

F IG .

53.

ENGINEERING,

18, 1901.

OCTOBE R

GATESHEAD.

NEWCASTLE AND

BRIDGE BETW_EEN

REDHE U GH

TH E

~IESSRS. SANDEl\UN AND 1\IONCRIEFF, UM. INST. C.E , ENGINEERS; SIR WILLI..UI ARROL AND CO., G-LASGOW, CONTRACTORS.

(Fo1 D escriJJflion, see Page 550.)

DC. TA IL OF LATTlCC lltACIH$

TO TOP SOOM.

.. .

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.
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Fig. 34-.
J68 :

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...
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12:

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Fig. 36

168: o Spa.J~J.

Fig.3'J.

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1l".,Jfi, 1i Wb
'/li fL 16> Z.3-31bs. pr h .

g~Ch_,,.,,.,

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TBLBPUONB NUYBBR-8668 Gerrard.

CONTENTS,
PAOK
TneStrength or Drop-Forp,ed
Orane Hooka (lllustrated) 537
The Toollng of Machlne3
(l llttst?ated.) . ........ . .. 699
The British Association .. .. 642
The New Subway in New
York Oity (Illu strated} .. 647
Notes from t he United
S ~fttes ...... .... ...... .. 547
Headecb's Heavy-Otl Motor
at t h e Glnsgow Exhi bition
(Illustrated) . . . . . . . . . . . . 648
Wagons of H igh Oapaoil;y
for British lta ll\rays (ll
lustraud) .. . . .. .... . ... 649
The Redheugb Bridge (l l
lu.strated) . . .. ... . ...... 660
Foreign Competition . . . . . . 661
Modern Practice In Ro.il way
Sign1lllng ............ .. 561
Modern French Ar ti llery . . 561
The Loss of the" Cobra" .. 651
The "Cobra " Disaster .... 663
Ru3slan Coal . . . . . . . . . . . . 565
The Trade of Siam .. .... . . 666

I The

MARRIAGE.
at St. Peters, Limpsfle ld, by the Rev.
the Parish, assisted by t he Rev. L. P.
A.M. Inst. O. E., son of S. Appleyard,
Esq. , of nerne Bill, to Mabel Laming, daughter of the late
Wor thington Evans, Esq. , of 47, York-terrace, N. W.

--

PAGE

American Institute of
Electrical Engineers . . 656
Notes ...... .. .. .. .. ...... 667
Electric Lifts, Western of
F rance Railway .......... 658
Iligh-Speed Railways ...... 568
Notes from t he Nor th ... 669
Notes from Sou th York
shire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 659
Notes from Oleveland and
the Nor t hern Oountles .. 569
Notes from the South West 560
Miscellanea .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 561
Crane Weighing Machine at
t he Glasgow Exhibition
(Illu strated ) .. .. .. . .... 561
Industrial Notes .......... 661
Explosion of a Vulcanising
Pan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 662
Small Screws ...... .. .... .. 663
Launches and Trial Trips . . 663
Improved Rapid Group
Flashing Ligh ts (Jllus.) .. 564
cc Engineering " Patent Record (RlU8tra ted ) . .... ... 666

With a Ttoo-Pagt Engtaving of T HE R E DHEUGH BRIDGB

BET WEEN N E WC.ASTLE AND GATESHEAD.

ENGINEERING.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 1 , 1901.
THE "COBRA" DISASTER.
THE verdict of t he court-mart ial given on
W ednesday last will be read with sincere regret
by every one; at least every ?De w~o lov~s England.
It will n ot be s upposed t hat 1n saymg t h1s we regret
that t hat the surviving members of the crew of
that ill-sta rred vessel should be acquitted of blame,
for that conclusion was never a matter in d oubt
for a momen t. The man who might, under possible continaencies, which did not arise, have been
blameworthy went down with his. ship, and not hing occurred t hroughout t he dtsastrous voyage
t hat could reflect blame on him. I t is not necessary to say more of a brave seaman who died at
his post. The custom of holding a co.urt- ma.rtial
on the survivors of a wrecked vessel 1s a useful
ono, even though, as in t~i~ case, it is n~ more t han
a formality. So long as 1t 1s un1versal, 1t attac~es,
in itself, no suspicion of blame ~o t hose tr1ed,
and t herefore t he facts connected w1th a wreck can
be impar t ially sifted without the loss of prestige
that would accrue if even a p rirna f acie case had to
be made out against the survivors before they could
be brough b to trial. Mr. Percey could never have
had much anxiety about the issue, and no o.ne c.an
doubt that t he verdict is, so far as he and hts shtpmates are concerned, absolutely logical and just.
The following is t he t ext of the verdict of t he
Oourt:
"The Courb, having taken the evidence of Chi~f Engi
neer J. J . G. G. Percey and that of the re~amder of
the aurvivore, and having weighed and con~1der~ th,e
whole of the evidence before them, ~nd that H1s MaJesty s
ship Cobra foundered on the mornang of the 18th day of
September, 1901, while on passage from the ~yne to
Portsmouth. The Court has come to the conclusiOn that
His Ma.jeety'(ship Cobra. did nob touch the ground nor

553

meet with any obstruction, nor was her loss due to any
error in navigation, but was due to structural weakness
of the ship. The Oourb also find that the Cobra was
weaker than other destroyers, and in view of that fact it
is to be regretted she was purchased into His Majesty's
service. The Courb further finds bha.b no blame is attributable to Chief E ngineer J . J . G. G. Percey nor the re
maining survivol'!, and fully acquits them. ,
The President added that the Courb desir.d to express
their opinion that the handling of the dinghy after the
a..ccident was worthy of all praise, and Torpedo Coxswain
Franl)iS Barnea deserved great credit for the way in
which be acted on the trying occasion.
The P resident then returned I\r!r. Percey his sword,
remarking that be had great pleasure in doing so.
It is in the judgment passed on the vessel herself
t hat there is cause for regret. \Ye are told that the
Cobra was below the proper standard of strength
for destroyers, and should not have been accepted
for t he Royal Navy. The statement will be greedily
seized on by some as a condemnation of the public
d epartment which we would fain see the most efficient in the whole range of the Government ser vice,
and of a private engineering and shi pbuilding establishment of which we have always thought- and
with j ustice-we have most occasion to be proud.
It will be a matter of regret if t he impression conveyed by t he sweeping terms of the verdict leads
to exaggerated feelings of alarm. Our Navy has
been so largely successful that a single disaster
comes as an unexpected evflnt, and all are apt t o
measure the force of a calamity by its rarity. It
is t rue the Cobra disaster does not stand alone
-excepting in its unhappy loss of life- but t hose
other mishaps which have revealed t he weakness of
d estroyers in a less tragic manner are part of the
same error. 'l'he unparalleled fleet of noble ships
that has been built up under the auspices of Sir
W illiaru White and Sir J ohn D urston, and their
r espective staffs, has been so uniformly admirable
that the country has come to expect perfection as
a matter of course. Use has made us callous to the
fact that our dockyard-built ships. equally with our
contract-built ships, are triumphs of naval archit ecture and marine engineering which the navies
of all t he world have copied; but we pay t he
penalty of pre-eminence ; for a disaster in t he
Royal Navy is more noised abroad t han a. dozen
similar calamities elsewhere. It is, perhaps, because our disciples t hink they may be subject to
the same defect.
The facts concerning the loss of t he Cobra
have been fully canvassed of late, and there is
very little in dispute. The vessel was built
by Messrs . A rmstrong, Whilworth, and Co., in
order to try t he Parsons steam t urbine. Mr.
Watts has told us that the idea was t o frame the
design of the vessel so that she would pass
Admiralty inspection if the Governmen t wished to
p urchase her. S he was, however, mainly experimental, and was a larger and more highly-powered
vessel than any of her class, which had up to then
been added to the Navy, her length being no less
t han 223ft. 6 "in. Her machinery, too, came out 30
tons heavier than was anticipated, the total weight
being 183 tons. These figures may be compared
with t hose for two former d estroyers built at
Els wick for the Royal Navy - the Swordfish and the
Spitfire-which wer e 200 ft . long, and had machinery weighing 110 tons . It is worth noting that
t he extra weight of the Cobra's machinery was
est imated t o give her 60 per cent. more power than
there was in t he S wordfish.
From the evidence given at the court-martial, it
would appear t hat the scantling of the S wordfish
was retained for the Cobra, but t hat the latter
was made a. foot d eeper, t hus, of course, adding
to the strength of t he girder formed by t he
hull.
This extra foot of dept h was calculated,
according to Mr. Pine, t he Admiralty constructor
who surveyed her before her purchase, t o add 17
per cent. to her longitudinal strength. Whatever
t he intentions of the designers were, however,
t he Admiralty officials did not take quite t he same
view for on being officially surveyed with a view
t o p~rchase, it was reported that t he scantling
n eeded strengthening. A large quantity of material was therefore worked into the structurenearly all, we believe, in t he deck construction. We
a re informed that the amount was 7 tons, but the
quantity seems so large for a vessel of this t ype
that on e has some difficulty in accep t ing the statement. In any case the deck proved strong enough,
for it did not give way until the lower flange of t he
girder , the bottom of t he ship, was ruptured. As
t he vessel sank she doubled up, t he deck- to use
the expression of one of t he survivors- folding up

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

554

[OcT. 18,

I90l

like a hinge; whilst the lightship man who saw the by measurements from the actual vessels.
A architect can only give professional instruction and
catastrophy spoke of two funnels crashing together close inspection must also be made of the whole abide by t he decision of the ultimate authority.
as she went down.
structure to find whether there are any unexpected
We must not forget, however, that torpedo craft
The first accounts received, no doubt, were cal- places of weakness, due to improper working of have been built which have proved themselves able
culated to lead to the impression that the wreck material, to uncompensated deck openings, or to stand the roughest usage. There is the wellwas due to the veesel striking the bottom, and, to bad disposition of parts. For instance, bulk- known case of the Thornycroft torpedo-boat Hugin,
indeed, the first official report stated that the heads should be attached to the hull structure built for the Swedish Navy, which ran on to jagged
Cobra had gone on the rocks. When t he p osition so that the stresses they transmit would be well r ocks at high speed, and r emained with her afterwhere the vessel foundered was more clearly distributed ; and care should be taken that end from nearly amidships unsupported, without
defined, it was evident t his could not have been the no abrupt and sudden changes of strength occur. damage to her structural form. Our pages have
case, as there are no rocks marked in the vicinity, and, Some of these vessels are reported to have midship contained from time to time particulars of many
indeed, the depth is too great even for the vessel to cross-bunkers in conjunction with wing bunkers. torpedo boats and torpedo-boat destroyers having
have touched the sand and shells which here form The bulkheads to the latter forn1 an important made distant voyages to all parts of the world,
the shallower spots to which the Dowsing Light- element of longitudinal strength . It would be meeting often with the extremes of bad weather,
ship acts as a warning for much deeper-draught interesting to know whether t hese fore and aft without damage of any kind, notably twelve decraft. In short, touching the bottom is out bulkheads are continued through t he cross- stroyers built for Japan, six by Messrs. Yarrow
of the question.
But it is held by some that bunker or not. The riveting of lightly-plated and six at t he Chiswick yard, which made the
the Cobra struck a wreck, and the damage vessels is a matter upon which a good deal voyage out without mishap.
done to the bottom started a rent which developed depends. To properly close cold rivets in torpedoA matter that may have affected the result of
into the severance of the whole skin through boats is a very different matter to the ordinary hot the Cobra's last voyage was the fact that certain
subsequent wave action.
Of course, there is riveting in inch plates. There is no need here to weights, in shape of armament and stores, were
nothing to disprove this t heory, but we fear it point out the need of close good riveting to obtain not on board. This was not considered of great
r ests on very slender hypotheses. Unfortunately, the strength due to friction of parts pressed hard importance by some of the professional witnesses
too, it does not need any such explanation to together. Further plates that are properly trued at the court-martial, but the fact is worth
account for the collapse of t he hull, if we may take before erecting also give most str ength to t he struc- noticing. As the ship gave way owing to sagging
the witness of other destroyers.
ture. There is a great deal more than mere appear- strains, any weight left out of the end compartIn the official publication issued by t he United ance to consider in t hat most difficult art-light ments would be liable to aggravate the evil effect
States Intelligence Bureau is a statement respecting plating. All these and a hundred other points must by t he ends being too floaty. Naturally a ship
the destroyer Seal, built at Birkenhead for the be considered in the construction of torpedo craft. should not depend on movable weights for safety,
Royal Navy. In April last, it would appear, this 'l'heh design and their building are special branches but, as these weights might be usually on board in
vessel was struck by a heavy sea when cruising in of the naval architect's profession and t he ship- any given craft, it shows how a vessel may posthe Bristol Channel. It was thought at first by builder's craft, proficiency in which is only obtained sibly often go through bad weather, and yet
those below t hat sh e was in collision, for the blow by long study and extended experience.
come to grief at last. The Cobra at full-load
was so violent that, in the language of the
Mr. Watts stated in his evidence that calcula- draught was 490 tons displacement ; her total
report, her back was broken, and she was tions made showed that the greatest stress on the coal storage was 106! tons, and when she left the
unfit for further service.
" Her deck was steel of t he Cobra's hull could not exceed 9 tons Tyne her displacement was 468 tons. 'Vhat coal
cracked clean across, admitting daylight to the to the square inch. This would, of course, be on was on board, and what was its position at the
fire-room, and the side-plating was split for 18 in." the usual assumption that the vessel was on the time she foundered, doubtless cannot be ascerThe report further states that the trouble is crest or in the trough of a wave her whole length, tained, but the fact would b e useful to know. The
ascribed to '' t he uns uitability of torpedo- boat but presumably the calculations only r eferred to absence of 22 tons weight would, Mr. Perrett
destroyers to knock about in weather that causes static conditions. The steel in this vessel appears stated, increase the buoyancy at the ends, but as
larger vessels to take shelter."
to have been of the ordinary type, with a 28 to the amount was equally distributed, he did not
A more recent case is t hat of the destroyer Crane, 30-ton tensile strength, t he new high-tensile material think it would materially increase the tendency to
built at J arrow. Within a week or ten days ago, which has been applied to some vessels since built sagging. Again, it would be interesting to have
she, according to reports in the newspapers, had not being used. The margin of strength allowed in definite figures in regard to this point. Another
to put back to Portsmouth because her deck had t he Oobra would t herefore appear to be less than that detail that can hardly escape notice is the fact
buckled badly, and we were further informed that which was considered desirable in some of the earlier that t he girders unde1 the boilers were buckled
the defect was so serious that the vessel had to be craft. It will be remembered t hat Messrs. Thorny- through heat, a fact noticed by Mr. Pine,
put out of commission for repairs. Yet another croft and Barnaby, in their now famous paper read who surveyed the vessel for the Admiralty.
case, reported in the press within the last few days, 5iyearsago before theinstitutionof CivilEngineers,-- This witness, a first-class Admiralty constructor,
is that of the destroyer Vulture, built at Clyde- gave 6.4 tons per square inch as the stress upon the was of opinion that the vessel was quite fit
bank, which also, it is stated, had to put back to material at the section where the greatest bending for any service because she had had at least half
Portsmouth on account of structural defects de- moment occurs in one of the earliest destroyers. a dozen trials at sea in very bad weather, but
Probably that may be considered a strength in ex- bad shown no signs of straining. He also bore
veloped thr ough stress of weather.
If these r epor ts are true-and we need hardly cess of actual requirements, especially as it con- witness to the very high-class nature of the riveting
say we shall be only too pleased if we can be allowed templated the vessel in a position it might never and workmanship. Mr. Deadman, a chief conto contradict them- there is no getting a way from assume. Still the circumstances are quite possible, structor, also considered the alterations to the
the fact t hat some of our destroyers at least are one might say even probable, taking the whole life vessel were satisfactorily made, and t hat the hull
dangerously weak in their construction. Few, of the ship. Sir William White, in his Manual of was well built, so as to be capable of meeting all
we think, will hold t he view expressed by Mr. Naval Architecture, says t h at with a stress of 8 to contingencies of service as far as that class of vessel
Parsons, in giving evidence before the court- 9 tons per square inch for iron, strengthening by ad- was concerned. He stated that the design rested
martial, when he said he t hought t he Cobra was ditional material becomes necessary, and allows 25 to with the contractors. It is not the practice of the
Admiralty to tie down those who build destroyers
intended to be a fair-weather boat ; or that 30 per cent. greater strength for steel than iron.
It is, however, needless to say that the whole to any special sca.ntlings, although a minimum is
destroyers should not be able" to knock about in
weather that causes larger vessels to seek shelter." question of longitudinal str ength, when one deals specified. Under these circumstances it is evidently
These craft were distinctly intended to accompany with the case of a ship progressing among waves-- incumbent on t he Admiralty to take care t hat conthe fleet and craft of this size cannot, if they are the actual condition met with- is one of extreme tractors entrusted with the building of these vessels
to be any good, keep in t he neighbourhood of a complexity. Attempts have been made by many should be firms who have the necessary knowledge
port of refuge. They must be able to take the competent authorities to deal with the subject, but for the business, as well as a trained staff of worknaval architects, as a rule, do not consider the men skilled in the special work. The desire,
sea and keep the sea in all weather~.
There is no reason why well-designed and well- problem has been solved in a way that gives quan- doubtless laudable in itself, to "extend the area
built destroyers should not d.o so. To design. vessels titative results. The accelerating forces due to pitch- of competition" is, perhaps, accountable for a good
of this importance t hat are habl~ to have the1r backs ing and scending and other causet:; cannot be esti- deal of the trouble that has arisen in connection
broken if they meet a wave of therr own length would mated with any degree of certainty, and the calcula- with these craft.
It is to be hoped that the large body of persons
be a piece of foolishness that no compete~t naval tions can only be taken to give comparative data. In
authority has ever contemplated ; and certa1nly the the case of the Cobra, the evidence of the diver who who take a laudable, but often not very instructed,
Admiralty would never be justified in asking sailors examined the wreck was to the effect that there interest in the Navy will not give way to excessive
to venture to sea in such craft. However, the pro- was a bulge in the plAting ; and if this were panic on account of what has occurred. As we
position is too far-fetched to be worth discussing, caused by submerged, or partly submerged, wreck- have said on previous occasions, torpedo craft are a
especially as ther~ is no need to contemplate t he age, the conditions upon which calculations would necessity to the complete efficiency of the Fleet.
need for such cautwn. A thorough overhaul of the be made would be entirely altered. It is true the They may, or may not, prove as efficient in actual
destroyers throughout the Navy will, we presume, bulge was of small extent, but Mr. Watts was jus- war as their supporters and admirers maintain ;
be undertaken. It is no good blinking the fact tified in assuming that in the separated after part of but the torpedo is a weapon of such immense possithat errors have been made or else too much has the hull, which was not found, it might have been bilities that no navy can afford to ignore it. Speed is
Whether scantling in the first essential to successful torpedo operations,
been taken for granted. These small steel craft of greater magnitude.
have proved themselves so tough at times that an these special vessels should be made stout enough and speed means lightness. There is no doubt in
impression has grown up that they can hardly be to allow of a considerable bulging in of the the minds of those who have most experiE:'nce in
injured ; and though that may be true if. they structure without endangering the strength of the construction of these craft, that, on scantlings
are properly put toget~er, the proce~s IS. o~e the hull to resist hogging and s~gging strains now common, staunch and safe Yessels can be built,
needing the greatest sktll and care, wh1eh, It 1s under extreme conditions is a matter to be deter- fit to make long ocean voyages and keep the sea
boldly
in
all
weathers.
To
do
this,
however,
the
mined
by
t
hose
who
direct
the
amount
of
risk
that
to b e feared has not always been at command.
The necessa;y calculations will ha v~ to be u~der should be run; thatjs, the naval officer. The naval design, materials, and workmanship must be absolutely
of
the
best,
and
to
secure
these
ends
taken to discover whether a suffiCient margtn of
strength in the scantling has been left fo~~ safety,
* ).'rocee~ings of Institution of Oi vil Engineers, vol. the Admiralty must put a good deal of confidence
in their contractors. That does not imply there
the data being obtained, not from drawings, but . cxxu., Sess10n 1894-5.

..

OcT. 18, 1901.]

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

555

should be any relaxation in inspection or tests

but rather that more flexibility should be shown i~
taking suggestions. The overseers sent down from
\~7 hitehall are all good men and trustworthy, but they
have not had the same special training in this complex form of const ruction that has fallen to the lot of
the firms who make the work their whole study
and who build so largely, not only for our ow~
Government, but for the other naval powers.

Still the Donetz is not badly off. The I{oslov- deposits along the railway, while timber is scarce.
Veronezh-Rostov Railway connects the anthracite The commission therefore organised explorations
mines of Zisichousk, in the eastern portion of the on a large scale, extending to t he shores of the
basin, with the general network of Russian rail- Okhotsk Sea. On the JGrghiz Steppes coal of good
ways, and considerable quantities go t hat way into q uality was found at Djaman-Taou, and at Taldythe interior. By means of tho I{harkov-Nicolaiev skoul. The coal of these districts may be conand Lozovo-Sebastopol rail ways the Black Sea veyed by the Irtish and I chin Ri verR to Omsk and
ports are made accessible ; and the connection of Petropaulosk, important stations on the Siberian
the fields with the iron ore deposits of the I{rivoy- railroad. In the Yenisei basin there are numerous

Rog by means of the Ekaterininsk railway is deposits, especially in t he valley of the Yenisei
RUSSIAN COAL.
fraught with vast possibilities of expansion to both River, not far fron1 Krasnoyarsk, where the
the iron and the coal interests. The railways !ignites of tertiary formation commence, a better
THE ~emporar~ remission of the duty on coal im- themselves are good customers, for they take coal being found along the banks and at the mouth
ported Into certa.1n parts of Russia is a clear proof not much less than one-third of the whole output. of the Lower Tounjouskat. Large deposits of
~hat, from one cause or another, the domest ic supply The Moscow coal region is 400 miles long and over free-burning lignite occur in seams of 6! ft. thick
IS unequal to the demand. As a fact, Russia is and 270 miles wide, extending over the Governments along the banks of the Oka, a tributary of the
for long. ha~ b~en a larg.e i~p~rter of English coal, of Tver, Moscow, l{alouga, Tula, and part of the Angara, especially near the confluence of the
and. the lDVIta.twn to bnng It 1n free of duty is an Governments of Novgorod, Smolensk, Riazan, Zima. Coal is found at several points on both
oh~1ous comm~nt on t he shortage of the native Vladimir, and Tambov. Few mines are producing slopes of the Baikal chain, especially in the
art10le. Certainly, the quantity t hat may be im- now in this locality ; the quality of the coal is not Angara V alley, to the north of Yakutsk. Seams
ported and the places of consumption are dictated ; good, and the cost of working is high, for the also occur on the south-west shore of Lake .Baikal,
but a Government t hat is above all solicitous for the colliers find it difficult to compete with Donetz at the mouth of the Mourine, and in other places.
protection of its own industries would not permit coal.
The so - called Polish basin is situated The Amour Valley, and those of several of its
the introduction of any imports on these easy terms at the south-western corner of Poland, and em- tributaries, are rich in coal.
were the necessity not very great. Even now when braces a portion of the Bendinsk district of the
depressi?n reigns i~ many manufacturing c~ntres, Government of Petrokov, and of the Olekoushsk
THE TRADE OF SIAM.
the dut ies are remitted only in approved cases. district of Kelitz. It is a continuation of the soALTHOUGH Siam at the present time is not very
Last year, when trade was very active, there was a coal called P olish-Silesian basin. The area of the entire
famine in t he country, and not only were the duties basin is about 2600 square miles, of which 1860 important from the point of view of trade and
susp~nded, b':lt other encour~gements were given to are in Prussia, 450 in Austria, and about 350 in engineering, and is consequently rather apt to be
the 1mportat10n of the foreign article. It seems Poland. The portion worked for coal covers about overlooked in the collection of information ~bout
odd at first thought that these conditions should 900 square miles, of which 400 are in Prussia, 300 countries in the Far East, it is still very deserving
exist in a cou~try boasting o.f a coal-bearing area in Austria, and 200 in Poland. The seams and the of attention, not only from a political and social
next only to Chma and the United States and which quality of the coal are not uniform. In Poland, point of view, but also on account of its growing imcan show all varieties of fuel. But the empire is t he Reden seams-the middle of three groups, and portance in industry and commerce. I ts position
very extensive, and though coal is found in n1any known in Germany as the Sattel-Flotz-have a relatively to Burma and China makes it imposparts, it is mined on a large scale in only two loca- t hickness running from 28 ft. to 49ft. ; but as they sible to overlook it in its political aspects, while
lities- South Russia, which produced 691,500,000 extend wes~ward, the vein is divided by interlayers to the student of sociology it presents an interestpoods out of last year's aggr~gate of 985,200,000 of dirt , first into two, then into three, and lastly ing study as the only country in t he world
poods; and Poland, which produced 250,700,000 into four separate seams. At the western ex- in which the monarch is a professed Buddhist,
poods.
In the Urals 22,500,000 poods were t remity, near Zabrzhe, the Reden group con- and in which religion is the chief factor in the
obta.ined, and in the Moscow basin 16,'700,000 tains coking coal, and the lower seams of the formation of the lives of the people. We
poods; the Caucasus bringing up the rear with upper group give gas fuel. Nearer to the P olish cannot, of course, enter into details of these aspects
3,800,000 poods. Seeing that Lodz and Warsaw, in frontier the Reden coal is no longer coking, but it of Siam, although it is very necessary to note them.
P oland, are among the centres recently permitted is still serviceable for gas- making. In Poland t he From a commercial and engineering point of view,
to receive foreign coal duty free, it is a fair Reden and overlaying seams give neither coking however, the importance of Siam is increasing, and
inference that the Polish supply is inadequate. nor gas coal. Until within very recent years the its progress should be observed as one of t he
After all, 250,700,000 poods is only equal to exploitation of coal in Poland was conducted on factors which are influencing conditions in the F ar
a little more than 4,000,000 tons, and that t he old easy, but wasteful, plan of letting the roof East. As we have frequently pointed out, affairs
quantity will not go very far in such busy fall in. But the thickness of the seams led to in that part of the world are in a transition stage,
centres of textile and other manufacturing activity many accidents, and naturally there was enormous and polit ical and industrial forces are being brought
as these. The Donetz basin, in South Russia, is wastage. Moreover, the disintegration of portions into action which will not only mightily affect
equal to a much greater production than at present, of the seam and the spontaneous combustion of affairs in the various countries directly concerned,
but it is remote, and not much of its coal goes north, the coal led to numerous fires. Present methods but will also react on industrial and economic conbecause the cost of carriage is high in ~pite of the approximate more nearly to the modern, but they ditions in Britain, and it therefore behoves us not
only to study the facts, or, as they may be called, the
railway facilities granted. Poland can be better are not all that might be desired.
supplied from Prussia, and the northern parts of
Coal format ions occur on both sides of t he Urals. natural history of the case, but also its dynamics
the empire from Great Britain. By the same token, On the western side they form an almost uninter- or natural philosophy. In the present condition of
English coal has now lost a good part of its outlet rupted band, extending along the greater porti:on affairs in the world it is highly desirable that engiin the Black Sea, and Donetz coal has even been of the strata. On the eastern slopes the occurrences neers should enlarge their ideas of their work and
sent beyond the Bosphorus. As far back as 1892, are generally in small narrow and interrupted bands apply their knowledge of science to some of the
Mr. P. Stevens, the English Consul at Batoum, and patches, sometimes jammed between massive wider problems which are arising, and the neglect
pointed out that foreign coal had been superseded crystalline rocks. In their mode of stratification of which may render all their engineering efforts of
in t hat market by coal from the Caucasian fields the coal measures of theWestern U rals present close no avail.
Siam has hitherto been known in the commercial
and t he basin of the Don, both of which are inferior similarity to those of t he Moscow district . The
in quality to English coal, but which can be sold at coal is poor. On the eastern side the most im- world chiefly for its teak and its rice. The former
a trifle under the prices that English coal fetched. portant coal-bearing area extends for a distance of is of great importance from an engineering and
But in the Baltic it is not easy to see how English about 70 miles towards the south ; the more shipbuilding point of view, and although the meanorthern deposits containing poor soft coal and sures which have been taken by the Sianlese
fuel is going to be supplanted by Russian.
It is possible that, when the Donetz coalfields some anthracite, and t he southern coking coal. Government for the protection of this valuable
have been further developed, we shall see more The railways, iron and salt works, are the best timber will probably reduce the quantity which is
competition with English fuel in the Mediterranean. customers, and a small quantity goes down the yearly exported, they will make t he supply more
These fields are more than equal to the demands of K ama. In Western Siberia the only district that constant and at the same time ensure its continuthe iron and other works which have been esta- is extensively worked for coal is Kusnetsk, in the ance. On the other hand, the development of the
blished in South Russia in recent years. They cover south-eastern corner of the Government of romsk, railways, which is being pushed forward by the
an area of fully 20,000 square versts, and one of between the Salairsk and Altai mountain ranges. Government, will increase the export of rice by
their features is t he variety of the fuel produced- The field is divided into two parts by the River opening up new areas which are being brought
under
cultivation.
The
want
of
adequate
means
of
from soft coal to anthrA.cite. The latter, however, Tom ; it is 280 miles in width and 70 miles in
is not very plentiful, and the output has shown length, or about 19,600 square miles in area. This communication has hitherto prevented a rapid
growth
of
commerce
;
but
still,
in
spite
of
that,
it
a very marked decrease in recent years. Of bitu- loca]ity does not contribute nlUch to the needs of
minous fuel, t his part of Russia contains an untold the country. It is r emote from the big centres has increased in ten years from 3,800,000l. to
wealth. In the western portion alone, in the of consumption, and the local demand is not con- 5 664,359l., at which latter figure it stood at the
e~d
of
last
year.
That
year
only
showed
an
inGovernment of Ekaterinoslav, 45 workable veins siderable. The Siberian Railway promises to be a
have been discovered, having a total thickness of customer in the future, but the coal is not of very crease of 844'7l., as compared with the previous
year ; and this is account~d. for by a partial faih~re
112 ft., and about 415 milliards of poods awaiting attractive q uality.
of
the
rice
crop,
the
restriCtiOn
of
the
export
of
rice
The great railway ought to do something for the being always accompanied b~ a c?rresponding reexploitation. The eastern area is even richer. The
extension of railways during the last quarter of a development of coal production in Siberia. It will striction of imports. We will giVe a few of the
century has opened up t his fi eld very effectually, be remembered that the commission 11ppointed to most impor tant points in the latest consular report
and has not only made a South R ussian iron in- study the econ omic geology of the country along on the trade of the district of Bangkok.
dustry possible, but, as we have seen, has per- t he line of the railway turned its attention first of
We need not enter into details concerning the
mitted exportation to the Mediterranean. The all to the coal deposits, wit h a special eye to the rice trade as these do not interest many of our
capabilities of the Donetz n1ines are checked by fuel requirements of the road, and it was prom.Pt readers b'ut one point may be noted which is very
the limited market. The iron works are the best i~ locating about 50 groUJ:>S o~ workable coal or hg- charact~ristic of what is taking place in other decustomers; and the big consuming centr~s of the n1te beds: II?- Western Sibena, betwe~n the Ural partments of trade in the Far East. A powerful
North are too remote to permit of large sh1pments . . and Alt~1 chatns, there are no coal OI petroleum

ss6

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

co!D bination. has recently been formed of German

mt.llers of S1am r~c~, fo~ the purpose of keeping
pr1ces down, and It 18 s~nd that they have obtained
control of a local German-owned rice mill. This
taken in conjunction with the fact that the regula~
boats from Bangkok to Singapore are nearly all
German., and .that the tw? principal lines of steamers
connecting Smgapore wtth the German rice ports
--the . Nord~eutscher Lloyd and the HamburgAmerlcan Lines- are German also, now gives
Ger!Dany a preponderating interest in the export
of rtce to Europe. In fact, British rice-exporting
firms n1ay be said to be no longer engaged at all in
the European trade.
~eak, accordi~g to th~ Customs House figures,
agatn shows an 1ncrease m the quantity exported
and a slight increase in the value but the Consui
thinks that. these figures are. exaggerated, and he
prefers to gtve those of a prominent local authority.
These show that in 1900 the amount of teak exported was 38,332 tons, and the calculated value
of 252,557l. 10-:J. Assuming these values to be
correct, the export was destined to the following
countries:
Tons.
Europe...
...
...
...
. ..
... 11,182
Hong Kong and China ...
9,480

India. ...
... ...
...
... 14,622
Singapore and ~traits
...
...
... 1,995
Saigon . ..
...
...
...

2!7
Japan, &o. . ..
...
...
... ...
68l
Ma.niltt. ..
... ... ...
...
125

38,332

Of the direct European shipments, 11 sailina

ships, mostly under the Scandinavian flag, carried
5720 ton~ ; and stea~ne!s owned or chartered by
the Dan1sh East As1atic Company carried 5077
t ons more. The bulk of the business in teak both
in the forests and in Bangkok, remains in the bands
of B ritish subjects. The value of t eak intended
for Europe was about 10l. per ton f.o.b. The
prospects for the present year in the teak trade
are exceptionally good. Measures have been
taken by the Siamese Government for the proper
preser vation and cultivation of the teak forests
a nd there is now a very efficient forest department
administered by British officials borrowed by the
Siamese Government from India and Burma. The
cultivation of woods, other than teak, is encouraged,
to supply the large demand which is now being
made for building purposes. The other exports
are ma rine product s, pepper, silk, and miscellaneous
goods.
The total value of imports from foreign countries
was 2,576,5i0l., ~n increase of 44,403l. over 1899.
If, however, t he value of treasure be deducted from
both years, the increase is 218,836l. Cotton goods
show a slight falling-off, from 424,352l. to 409,058l.,
the decrease being 15, 299l. Ten years ago the
value of the cotton goods imported was 319,581l.
Steel, iron, and machinery, which increased in
1899 very largely, maintained their rise, the value
being 169,346l. , an increase of 11,930l. over the
previous year. The prop ortionate share of the
countries participating was approximateJy as
follows:
Per Cenb.
...
...
...
46.40
U nited Kingdom ...
.. . .. . 3L.20
Singapore ...
... ...
. ..
...
... ...
9.60
Germany ...
...
...
5.10
America
... ...

1.90
... ... ... .. .
China ...
...
.. .
...
1.70
Hong Kong ...
...
4.10
... ... .. .
Other countries ...

100.00

The frequent fires which have occurred in the

Bangkok rice mills of recent years have called for
a constant supply of rice milling machinery, which is
practically all supplied by one British firm. Kerosene oil is now mostly imported from Sumatra.
The import was d\vided as follows :
Gallons.
... ... ... 3,298,982
Suma.tra ...
949,412
...
.. .
...
...
Russia .. .
106,630
.. .
...
...
Singapore.. .

493
... .. .
... .
Borneo .. .

..

4,355,517

Cotton yarns have fallen off by about 8000Z.

The bulk of the import is British. Cycles show a
drop from 17,546Z. to 7291l. The. market was ov~r
stocked in 1899, and of course pnces fell. Amer1ca
has t he firdt place in the imports .with 4679Z., and
the United Kingdom the next, w1th 1314l. worth
of direct imports.

Coal was imported to the extent of 11,599 tons

valued at 16, 852l. It was divided as follows :
'
Tons.
U nibed Kingdom ...
...
.. .
... 4,959!
J apa.n ...
...
... ... .. . ... 2, 644
Singapore ...
...
...
...

1,805
Audtralia
...
...
...
..
.

1,789
Belgium
...
...
.. .
319

Hong Kong ...

...
...
.. . .. .
82i

Tobal
.. .
.. .
...
... 11,599
As a large part of the goods imported into Siam
passes through Singapore and Hong Kong from
man.y .countries, it is impossible to give exact
statistics as to the countries of origin.
The amount of shipping in the year 1900 shows
a sli~ht falling off, owing to the continued depresslOn of the rice export. British ships, which
entered to the number of 396 in 1898. and had
fall.en to 301 in 1899, only numbered 169 in 1900,
wh1le German vessels rose from 78 in 1899 to 195
in 1900. This further great decrease in vessels
flying the British flag was due to t he sale to
German owners of the H olt line between Singapore
an~ ?3angkok (the vessels still running under the
Br1t1sh flag for a large part of 1899, but having all
ceased to do so before 1900), and the transfer to
the same nationality of the Scottish Oriental Steamship Company's line, which took place in 1900. The
differ ence in the figures will be even more marked
in the report for 1901, for some of the boats flew
the Brit ish flag for a considerable period in 1900.
French and Danish shipping are each represen ted
by one small steamer, the former making fort nightly trips to Saigon, and the latter to t he Malay
Peninsula..
The Siamese Government is steadily pushing on
its railway system, and during last year railway
communication was opened betwee~ Bangkok
and Korat. This marked the completion of the
first of the State railways undertaken by Siam.
The construction of this railway was commenced in March, 1892. The first section of
it, from Bangkok to Ayuthia (71 kilometres)
was opened in March, 1897, and this was
extended to Gengkoi (54 kilometres further
on) by the end of the year. The railway has been
an expensive one in human life. Literally thousands
of coolies-Chinese, Laos, Siamese, and some
Indians- have died upon the construction. Of
Europeans engaged upon the work it is said that
at least thirty died in the country, and of these
nineteen were Brit ish. The route of the rail way
passes by the thickly-wooded mountain range of
the Dong Phya, which is always infested with
dangerous fever. l{orat is about 130 miles from
Bangkok as the crow fli es, and by rail 164 miles.
Its trade, like that of Bangkok, is mainly in the
hands of t he Chinese. The Lop buri line, which
branches off from the main Korat line at Ban P adji
(90 kilometres from Bangkok), has also been opened
and is now working. It is 42 kilometres long, and is
the coromencementof the line which, it is hoped, will
e ventually connect Bangkok with Chiengmai. The
construction of the line to Ratburi and P etchaburi,
on the west of the Bangkok River, is also progressing. This will be of metre gauge, the lines already
referred to being of standard gauge. In addition
to these Government rail ways there is a talk of
several small private lines which are to be built.
The construction of one in the Prabat district has
commenced and others are projected .
While rail way construction in Siam has progressed
regularly in rocent years, sufficient attention has
hardly been given to the construction of roads and
the maintenance and development of the excellent
system of canals already existing. One considerable district has been immensely altered and improved in productive power by the construction of
a long canal with many tributaries. A Dutch
expert has recently been engaged to advise the
Government upon irrigation, and it is evident that
the authorities recognise the necessity not only of
develo.Ping the railway system, but also of paying
attentiOn to irrigation and water transport, and
seem determined to place Siam in the forefront of
the rice-exporting territories of the Far East.
In many other ways Siam is progressing. The
ad vent of the cycle has done a great deal to cause
an improvetnent in the roads, ~s many of the
officials and the well-to-do pubhc have become
thoroughly imbued with t he cycling craze, and
their influence has been exerted towards the
improvement of the roads. During the past two
or three years the development of Bangkok has
been very rapid in the building line, and a con-

[OcT. 18,

1901 .
'

siderable part of the town has been reconstructed.

Electric lighting and tramways have been introduced, and in many other respects the appliances of Western civilisation are being taken
advantage of.

THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF

ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS.
(BY OUR

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.)

great interest taken in the proceedings of

the Buffalo meeting of the Society of American
Engineers was maintained to the end, despite the
sweltering heat of the dog-days. President Steinmetz enlivened matters by spicy introductory
remarks and by an occasional interjection which
usually served to throw a beam of light on the
dark points of the matter in deba te. His smiling
countenance was an outward sign of the in ward
joy which he fel t at the success of the Convention,
as was also the radiant energy of his active and
courteous secretary, Mr. Ralph W. Pope.
The representatives of foreign electrical societies
vied with their American brethren in the attention
with which they listened to t he reading of the
abstracts of papers and the discussions which followed. M. Paul J a net was a conspicuous figure
among the foreign delegates, as his high ofticial
position in the French capital very well warranted.
Rising at the last session of the Convention,
and speaking in the name of his colleagues,
he expressed his admiration for all that he had
seen and heard. H e was surprised by the high
scientific character of some of the papers, and t he
thoroughly practical spirit of others. M. J anet
assured his hearers that his three weeks' fellowship
with American electricians enabled him to add
considerably to his intellectual equipment. In the
plants which he had visited he recognised that the
hardest and most complex problems in electrical
engineering were being attacked, and with success.
The power-house at Niagara was to him a monument to the ability and ingenuity of man, just as
it was a practical demonstration of the fact that
electrical engineering has taken its place to-day
among the most exact of the exact sciences. There
is nothing merely empirical about it, for everything
rests on a sure scientific basis. Tell the engineer
the requirements of a locality as well as the natural
facilities which it affords, and he will figure out to
a nicety the dynamo-electrical machinery to be
employed.
M. J a net concluded by assuring his hearers that
they may always rely on a warm reception from any
and all the members of the French Societe Internationale des Electriciens, which he was proud to
represent on t hat occasion. It is needless to add
that these remarks, delivered in eloquent French,
were duly appreciated by t he large body of American engineers present.
When this episode, which seemed pleasing to
every one, was over, Dr. P errine described some
elements of design par ticular to long-distance
transmission. The most important part of such
designing, he insisted, referred to the regulation of
all the variables of the transmission. In working
short lines, even with alternating currents, the regulation as the load changes is determined almost
completely by the resistance. Occasionally, when
heavy currents are employed, the inductance effects
have to be considered, and generally the mutual
induction from and to other lines becomes an important factor, while the effect of capacity on the
regulation is unimportant.
H owever, it must be remembered that the importance of the least factor- the capacity-increases
with the quantity of t he charging current. This
quantity depends not only on the capacity of the
circuit, but also on the voltage and periodicity employed. With long-distance lines, the capacit y
becomes the predominant factor.
Next in importance in its effect on regulat ion is
inductance, for it exerts a direct influence on the
reaulation of the system as the load changes. The
m~re nearly the line capacity is balanced by outside inductances, the more important become the
effects of selfinduction, except where the load is
absorbed by synchronous motors, rotary transformers, or other apparatus capable of operating
with a leading power factor.
In concluding his remarks, Dr. Perrine pointed
out that the highest possible potent ials are necessary in order to restrict the investment in very long
When the volts rise above
transmission lines.
30,000, certain phenomena in the problem of inTHE

OcT. 18, 1901.]

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

sulation become important, which below that voltage

could sa~ely be neglec~ed. V oltages up to 30, 000
can readily be dealt wtt h by means of insulators of
gl~ss or porcelain, having a diameter not exceeding
7 1n. When the voltage rises to 30,000, the insulator3 must have a diameter of 12 in. or 13 in., and
be held 7 in. or 8 in. above the crossarm.
A more striking difficulty in handling high
voltages arises from surface tension. With high
voltage and small wires this gives rise to brush discharges and high-energy loes, independent of t he
leak age which t!lk es place over the surface of the
~nsulato~s, being essentially an escape to surroundJog b odtes from the whole surface of the wire.
T.his again leads to the important conclusion that
htgh-potentiallong-distance transmission cannot be
carried out successfully unless the power to be
t ransmitted is itself large, so as to warrant t he use
of conductors of considerable size.
Following Dr. Perrine, President Steinmetz
rose to give a brief description of investigations
which he had carried on for several years on the
effect of the exponential term that occurs in the
general equation of the alternating current, viz.,
A e-a. '~>. U nder certain conditions of the circuit,
this term may give rise to a number of superim
posed oscillations of differ ent frequencies and intensities which may have for resultant an excessi~ely high ~nd destructive voltage. In describing
thts very smgular phenomenon, Mr. Steinmetz
stated t hat t he first time he n oticed it was when
making a series of observations on th e effect of
opening a high potential circuit with different
types of circuit-breakers on an artificial line. This
line consisted of inductive coils, and about half a
mile of high-potential cable, with a spark gap between
needle p oints connected across the system in order
to measure an instantaneous rise of voltage. If
the needle points were brought so close together
that a discharge occurred bet ween them, then on
short-circuiting the system, an extremely high
voltage was invariably induced. It was concluded
from this and other observations that a shortcircuiting high potential arc in free space, in a
system containing self-induction and capacity, is a
self-interrupting phenomenon which may cause
very serious high-potential effects. This phenomenon can be observed on any high-potential
limited power transformer by an entire change in
the character of the arc between the high-potential terminals when inserting capacity by way of
shunt.
Mr. Steinmetz did not cover blackboards with
the forty equations contained in his investigation,
and to only a few of them did he find himself
He preferred to describe the
compelled to r efer.
phenomena observed and the condition s of the
circuit, and to describe them in the commonest
terminology at command. 'l1he investigation led
him to t hree conclusions : (1) That t he most imp ortant source of destruct ive high-voltage phenomena in high-potential circuits containing inductance and capacity, are not resonance phenomena,
but rather the electric oscillations produced by a
change of conditions in the circuit, s uch as closing
or opening it ; (2) that all such phenomena are
essentially independent of frequency and waveform of impressed electromotive force, but depend
upon the conditions under which the circuit is
changed ; and (3) that the electric oscillations
which occur in connecting a transmission line to
the generator are n ot of dangerous p otential, but
the oscillations produced by opening the transmission circuit under load may reach destructive
voltages, and, further, that the oscillations caused
by interrupting a short-circuit are liable to reach
voltages far beyond the strength of any insulation.
Mr. Steinmetz gave this brief analysis without
referring to his paper. He has a clear voice and
facile expression, and attracts attention by his
magnetic personality. Though he speaks with a
alight touch of a foreign accent, his diction has the
right ring in it , and his phraseology is always
scholarly. He has a great fund of humour and
can thoroughly enjoy a joke, whether perpetrated
by himself or by others.
Mr. Charles P. Steinmetz is the author of a
recent work on electrical engineering, which has
met with great favour in American colleges.
Among the other subjects discussed at t he
Buffalo meeting was ''Power Factor Indicators, "
by Mr. W. H. Browne; "Some Fundamentals of
Electric 1\fetere, " by Mr. C. D H aakins ; and

"The Induction Motor and Rotary Converter, and

their Relation to the Transmission ~ystem," by
Mr. C. F. Scott.
It will be obvious from what precedes that the
m em uers of the American Institute of Electrical
Engineers did not go up the State to enjoy a summer
vacation on the shores of Lake Erie or the woods of
Canada, but rather to do some long listening, hard
thinking, and arduous discussing. When two
o'clock came round every day, one was not surprised to see them strolling through the grounds of
the Exposition to one or other of the gates with inelastic step, and laden with papers which had formed
the burden of the morning's intellectual work.
T o gauge rightly the volume of work that was
expected to be done, we must bear in mind that
the programme sketched out by the officers of the
ociety included visits to the Niagara F alls Power
Company, where attention was specially invited
to the revolving field and alternating-current
generators of 50,000 horse-power capacity ; the
rotary converters of 1500 horse-power and static
transformers of 15,000 horse-power; t he Canadian
Niagara Power Company, wit h alternators of 1000
horse-power; the Pittsburg Reduction Company,
with directcurrent generators of 12,000 horsepower; t he Carborundum Company, with static
transformers and induction motors of 2000 horsepower; the Niagara Electro-Chemical Company
with r otary convertors of 900 horse-power; the
Cataract Power and Conduit Company, with watercooled static transformers of 21,000 horse-power ;
the Tonawanda Power Company, wit h oil-insulated,
self-coo1ing transformers of 3000 horse-power, rotary
converters operating railways, of 1400 horse-power,
and induction motors driving lighting generators of
300 horse-power.
Long as t his is, it does not end the list of installations catalogued for the benefit of the visiting
engineers, who, being rightly supposed to be of an
eclectic disposit ion, were not expected to be guilty
of indulging in overwork. For the relief of n ormal
mental strain, congenial means were at hand in the
quiet contemplation of t he Falls, in the Gorge
r oute, with its precipitous banks and foaming
waters, as seen by day and by night, and also by
the spectacular illuminat ions of the buildings and
grounds of the Exposit ion, provided by the ingenuity of Mr. Henry Rustin, chief electrician of
t he Pan-American Exposition.
The opportunity thus afforded for studying the
achievements of electrical engineering, and the
industrial applications of electric energy in sit'lt
and on a grand scale, was unique; and the authorities of the Society are to be congratulated on the
efforts which t hey made, and the success which
they achieved in r endering the Summer Session of
1901 memorable in the annals of t he Institute.

NOTES.
THE BRIGHTON ExPRESS LINE.
IT has been stated that the Brighton Corporation
have been offered the privilege of financing the
proposed electric rail way to Brighton, and although
we have no authoritative information on the subj ect, we have no doubt as to what they will do. Even
t he most ardent advocate of private enterprise in
opposition to municipal trading could not raise
objection. The statements published of the immense possibilities of t he line are so attractive
that one cannot resist the temptation of analysing
them; especially as it will save prospective speculators so much of trouble if not also of vexation.
There is nothing inherently impossible in the
scheme, so far aa engineering science is concerned;
but the crudity of the information available precludes any definite statement on this score. A
careful consideration of the cost of lines similarly
laid down, the high speed, so glibly spoken of in
the descriptions of this line, taken in conjunction
with the expense of acquiring metropolitan property, tend to t he view that the capital will
not fall far short of 5 millions sterling. Even
for the moderate return of 3 per cent. - and
only a Municipality can afford to speculate for
such a return- the net receipts would require
to be 150, OOOl., and assuming that the traffic
could be worked for 50 per cent. of the gross revenue-again a liberal estimate- the total receipts
would have to mount up to 300,000l. This means
that each mile of t he rail way would require to earn
about 6350l. per annum, while the passenger
receipts from English railways with t he immense

..

557
metropolitan earnings, and the i ntram ural traffic
in other large towns, only secure 2544l., and the
average for the United Kingdom is 2076l., including excess baggage, horses, &c ., or barely onethird of that necessary to pay the return of
3 per cent. on the Brighton line. The fares with
the Utopian tra veiling facilities proposed are to be
5s. first-class return and 3s. third class; and looking to t he preponderance of the third class to
Brighton and back in the kingdom - there are
90 third-class passengers for every 100 travelling-the average fare will be about 3~. 6d.;
and thus it comes that, to earn the r eturn
we ha,e already mentioned, practically 5000 passengers must be carried each of t he 365 days of
t he year. This may seem a small number for a
summer's day ; but there a re the long winter
months to reckon upon. I t must be remembered
that there is not the constant t raffic of commerce
as in the case of Liverpool and Manchester : all
passengers will be on the intermibtent business of
pleasure. Moreover, there is to be no suburban
t raffic ; and it seems doubtful if passengers for
intermediate stations are to be carried. Again, t her e
is want ing the goods and mineral traffic, which constitute such a large and profitable source of revenue
on ordinary lines. Indeed, the rail ways of the U nited
Kingdom take 2447l. per mile open from this
source, which makes all the difference between
success and failure. We note that comment is
made of the fact that the names of the finan cial
backers have not been disclosed . In reference to
the report that has appeared in the daily press that
Mr. H. Parshall has undertaken the charge of t he
electrical part of the work, we are authorised to
publish a denial.
THE AuTOMOBILE CLUB's TRIALS.
The last issue of A utomobile Olttb N ot es and
Notices contains a report of the r ecent 500-mile
road trial in Scotland. These trials extended over
five days, the longest day's run being 116! miles.
The Automobile Club have always discouraged
" scorching, " and hence in making a wards no
account has been taken of speeds exceeding the
legal limit . On the other hand, every delay arising
from any cause but traffic requirements was counted
against the car in awarding marks. The maximum
number of marks attainable was 300 per day, and
one mark was deducted for each minute's delay.
Two cars went through the whole trials without the
deduction of a single mark. One of these was an
Argyll Voiturette, entered in Class A, and therefore valued at under 250l., whilst the other was a
9 horse-power Napier car. The most frequent
cause of trouble was failure of the ignition, whilst
the steam cars lost a good number of marks
through having to stop to take in water. Tyres
seem to have caused little trouble, as we note
only two cases of delay to which this cause
is assigned. This, however, cannot be held to
show that the tyre difficulty no longer exists, as no
doubt most of the tyres used were new at the
commencement of the trials ; and since high speeds
were not aimed at, the tyres were not subj ected to
any specially severe test. In view of the fact that
ignition and tyre troubles constitute the principal
sources of trouble in motor cars, the club had
arranged, in addition to the car trials, special t.rials
of igniters and of tyres. Several manufacturers competed in them. 'fhe Sims-Bosch magneto igniter
gained full marks, running perfectly throughout,
and was awarded a gold medal; whilst a diploma
was awarded to the Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre Company for a set of t yres fitted to a 12 hon~e -power
car weighing 22 cwt. and carrying four passengers.
The tyres proved in good condition at the end of
the trials ; but it was considered that these did
not last long enough to form a thorough test, and
it is suggested that the company should enter a
set for a 3000-mile run at the expense of the club,
when, if sat,isfactory results were obtained, an
award of a medal would be made. In making
a wards for cars it was found necessary to
separate the steam and petrol cars, as the two
kinds are hardly comparable. The steam cars
run more smoothly, and are much less noisy than
the petrol cars ; but the latter are far more economical in fuel. In the end a gold medal was awarded
a 5 horse-power petrol car, entered by the Wolseley
Tool and Motor Car Company, and also to a L ocomobile steam car. The silver medals in this class
fell to the lot of the New Orleans Motor Company,
and of Messrs. De Dion Bouton, Limited. In
Class B, in which cars valued between 250l. and 350l.

ss8

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

[OcT. 18,

1901.

we~e _entered? a silver medal only was awarded, the armature is short-circuited through a resistance, a.nd standstill. He can therefore give all his a.tbention to the
re01p1ents b e1ng t he Motor Manufacturing Company. ~he extra break-induC'ed current of the shunt exciting track and signals. The apparatus are so arranged that

In Class C, for cars valued at between 350l. and 500l. ,

the gold medal was taken by the W olseley T ool
and M otor Car Company, and the silver m edal by
the Motor Manufacturing Company. In Class D,
for cars valued at m ore than 500Z., the gold medal
was a warded to Messrs. G. F. Milnes and Co.
Limited, and the silver medals to the Roadway
Autocar Company, Limited, and the Motor Power
Company, Limited. It is interesting to note that
F~ench cars ~ave taken a secondary place in these
tr1~ls, the h~~hest awards for pet rol cars being
ga1ned by Br1t1s h firms not working under French
patents.

IS absorbed by the circuiting of a non-inductive

resistance.
The_ commutators are b1lancing apparatus which
fStabh~h the contlcts by the plunging of a. metallic
finger 1n mercury, or in metallic foil for l ow intensity.
There is oue of these apparatus for each d irection of
travel, and each commutator switches in or out by t he
a ction of the press- buttons or contacts, through electro-magnets excited by branch lines from the main
leader.
The two lifts have now been w orking for several
months, and have given every satisfacti')n.

HIGH-SPEED RAILWAYS.

ELECTRIC LIFTS, WESTERN OF FRANCE

RAILWAY.
Tl:iE new station of the 'Vestern of France R9.ilwa.y,
at the end of the Esplanade des Inva.lides, will soon
be. opened for the main line service ; several of the
Bntta.ny trains will run int o it, taking at VerEa.illes
th~ " _In~a.lid~s Ver sai_lles " el~ctric rail way with siderail dtstrtbutt.ons. H1the!to 1t had only been used for
suburban trams , and, owmg to the increased traffic
expected, it has been found necessary to put d own
special apparatus for ~el.~ing wit~ the luggage. Among
these a re two electr1c hfts, whtch connect the main
hall of the station on the road level with the lines
which run below. The necessary current is taken
from the corn pa.uy's general electric system, which is
three-phase, at 5000 volts, 25 periods, on lelYing the
generating station, situa ted at Moulineaux-Billancourt
a. distance of 4i miles from the InYalides rail way
station.
The hightenaion threephase alternating current is
led to t~e !ail way station ~hrough underground cables,
where 1t 1s transformed m t o continuous current for
lighting and for working various motors, in a. substa tion containing static transformers, which lowers
the tension to 200 volts, and rotary sets of two
machines keyed on one same shaft, one a. three phase
200volt motor and one a 120-volt continuom~-current
generator, which supply the electric lifts. The latter
are interesting in that they take exclusively a 120volt current for all the relays, rheosta.ts, and commutators, the working of which, when starting or stopping the lifts, b oth in the upward and downward
travel, is automatic throughout, simply by the action
of press-buttons.
Weight of load taken
.. . 1200 kilogs. ( ~ 645 lb.)
Travelling speed per second
.200 m. (7t in.)
Total height of travel
...
4 m. (13 ftt.)
Dimensions of cage . . .
. ..
2. 5 m. x 1.5 m.
(8ft. 2 in. x 4ft. 11 in.)
Heighb of cage
...
...
2 m. (6 fb. 6 in.)
The mechanical part of the lifts consists of an iron
framing, strongly stayed, and in which the cage is
guided; a platform is provided on top, on which are
placed the dynamo, commutators, resista.n ces, &c.
The cage is built up of plates and angles, with an
oak floo ring; it is suspended on a plate-chain, which
turns over a. pulley a nd carries at the other end a
counterweight, which balances half the deadweight,
cage, chain, and accessories, and half the w eight of the
load. The cage is suspend ed to a second safety chain,
which, should the first chain happen to break, would
limit the falling speed to about three times normal
speed, by means of a centrifugal device, on which the
safety cha in is wound. This device is in constant
working, and comi.sts mainly of a casing, on the sides
of which weigh ts press leather bands, whioh act as
brakes. When a given speed is exceed ed, the centrifugal f<;> rce causes these weights to act. An automatic
w orking trellised guard and railing are provided ou
both leYels.
.
The rotation of the dynamo is transmitted to the
pulley shaft through a. speedreducing arrangemen t,
containi ng a steel endless screw and a helical wheel of
gun-metal.
The electric motor is 8 horse-power,
amply sufficient for workin g the lift. I t is of the
tetrapola.r type, and runs at 650 revolutions per
minute. It is with two exciting circuits, one shunt
and one in series. The motor starts in series, then
through the automatic rht:osta.t the inserted resista.nces
are progressively out.circuited ; the series inductors
are then cut out, and shunt exciting r emains
alone for normal work ing. The automatic rheostat
is, moreover, arranged in such a way that when it is
not on the starting key the action of the press-buttons
has no effect on the commutators.
The stoppage of the lift at each level is automatic
by means of contacts, which, on being met by the cage,
produce a r eYerse action of the commutators. S hould
these contacts not work, and should the cage continue
travelling, it would meet supplementary contacts. In
extreme cases, the cage would work a. make-and-break
on the main leader.
Besides the necessary combination for starting and
stopping the lift, the automatic commutators give also
the following connections when it stops : The motor

starting and braking is carried out withoub any shooks

a?d gradually: the driver cannot, moreover, start a.t ~
ht~her speed than that for which the macbine.q were
butlb. The cables and lines in the car are so plaood tbab
there is absolutely no danger; in the event of a. short?ircui b, the current is automatically cob out by the meltmg of a. safety fuse. No ourrenb enters the car itself, and
al~ parts are meballically connected together and with the
rails.
The nse of electriciby is surrounded with many advantages, nob only for long distance travelling, hub also for
suburban a.t;td inter-urban service; electric tra-ction may
even be sa1d to be the only means wit h which to
?Ope ~ith the constantly increasing traffic on existmg _hnes.
On the latter, however, the running
of smgle cars would nob meeb the situation and
brains musb be resorted to, formed of several' cars,
the first and the last being motor oar~, the train being
hauled by the car which is in front. The motor cars
being made to carry passengers as well as the trailing
car3, ~ larger nu~ ber of paB!!engers can be dealt with
than 18 the case w1th steam traction. Besides t his with
electriciny a. larger tractive power is available, the 'trains
can be started and stopped quicker, a. more rapid succession in the trains can be secured, increasing the traffic
largely for a given time.
The writer also entered into the description of various
technical details in the constru ction of the car designed
by hi~ company ; and stated that owing to the complete
expenments they carried out previous to the building of
their high-speed car, the latter will serve as a. type for
future oars. The most impor tant parts are stated to be
the apparatus for driving the car and the motors ; these
are on quite novel lines, they are simple to manufacture, their action is an easy one, they take up little room,
are low in weight, and their workin g can be completely
relied upon. With regard to the motors, their suspension formed the principal question, and after careful considerati~n, a. special method of suspension through springs
was decided upon.
The writer fur ther expressed the wish that all members
of the committee should contribute in hastening the development of electric railways; and pointed out thab ib
was essential, in dealing with such complicated but important questions, to give them publicity in order to
mvite criticism from every specialist in the matter.

By MR. 0 . LASORE.
A REPORT on highspeed electric railways and main
r ailway lines:-the q?estion of the day~was read ~y M r.
0. L Mche, chtef engmeer of the Allgememe E lektrtciHi.tsGesell~chafb~ a.t the mee.ting of the Railway Intelligence
Commtttee, neld a.t Berhn on the 8th inst.
The writer pointed out that faster and more numerous
means of communication were rendered every day more
and more imperative, owing to the large development of
commerce and industry in various countries; owing also
to the commercial intercourse which exists between the
several coun t ries, and to the extent of exchanges between
commercial and industrial centres. Travelling is too slow,
by reason of the speed now ruling and time losb in waiting
for subs~quenb trains. Single ca~s running ab high-speed,
succeedmg each other at short mtervals and travelling
from one .:hief town. to another, would meeb a. great need,
as also would a. raptd traffic, under the same conditions
and at stated intervals, from large towns and industrial
ce?tres to ~h~ open country. This want can be filled by
usmg electrlCtty as the source of power. Electric motors
which contain no connectins- rods and cranks to produc~
shocks and vibrations, are highly suited for great speeds.
The absence of smoke and dust, and the possibility with
single cars of having a view both to the fronb and to the
re~r, together with smoother riding, increase to a. great
extenb the comforts of travelling.
As is now well known, the German Committee for
highspeed electric traction on railways* is now contemplating the carrying out of a. series of trials, the
result of which will be to lay down the conditions for a.
A MERICAN STREET .RAILWAYS.-The Worcester (Massatravelling speed of 125 to 155 miles a.n hour. ltJ is even chus~tts)
Cons~lidated Street.R~ilwa.y Company, which is
now possible to state that with tracks as at present built, makmg great
m Its system, has J?.laced a.n
and with electric traction, S_Peeds up to 94 miles can order with theImprovements
llis-Oha.lmers Company, of Mllwa.nkee
easily be attained, an electr1c single car causing much for a.n engine toA drive
a. 2000-kilowabb generator which
less st ra.in on the track and bridge13 than do the steam means considerably more
3000 horse-pow~r and
locomotives now in use. The highest weight on the with a. maximum capacitythan
of more than 4000 horsewheels of an express locomotive is 7~ tons; it is only power, to. take ca.re of the ov~r-loa.d.
engine will
5 tons in the case of a. single electric car. The totJal not be dehv~red and set up unttl Jul~ 1, The
that being
weight of a. fast trai n, with five corridor carriages, is the bes t which any of the large A menoan1902,.
engme-builders
about 250 tons; thab of an electric single car, for long dis- could do. Th~ eng~ne will be of the vertical
compound
tance travelling, is only 40 tons. The wearing action in a. type. The pnce will be about 50,000 dols. The
Consolisteam locomotive of the mechanism with reciprocating dated Compa.ny has also placed an order for the
2000motion and counterweights on the driving wheels, kilowatt generator with the General Electric Company.
should be taken into account also in the comparison.
Taking a train with four carriages, and containing the
full complement of passengers, the train weight per
CATALOOUES.-The British Manufacturing Company
passenger works out at about 1 ton, while that of a.n Limited, of iO, Y ork-road, L ondon, N., have issued ~
electric car is only about three-fifths of a ton. There is pa.mpbleb illustrating a. number of electric light sign
therefore less work needed with the electric oar for carry- boards and ~y~tems of shop display lights, of which they
ing the same number of passengers, without counbin~ the make a. spema.hty.-Tbe Brown Brothers Manufacturing
proba\tiliby of a. much faster traffic. While maintaming Company, of Campbell-avenne, Chicago, have sentJ us a.
the present system of steam traction, a. step forward in booklet describing the Hamner core machine. In this
the way of progress would be made, if separate strebches machine cores either solid or hollow are made by ex
were worked electrically ab times when fa.sb traffic is trusion. The core material is fed into a. hopper and
most needed.
delivered finished from the machine a.t the rate of 100ft.
On the other band, each locomotive cn.rries with ib its per hour. The standard size of machine makes ten
source of power ; with electric traction thesame source of sizes of core, ranging from H in. to 1i in. in diameter,
power is centralised ab one spot, from which the necessary bob dies for intermediate sizes are also supplied when
current is supplied. In the electric central stations, coal desired.-The firms of Messrs. Dorman, L ong, and Co.,
is better and more completely utilieed ; i'n other words, Limited, and l.VIessrs. Bell Brothers, Limited, both of
1 lb. of coal produces much more power in a central ~idd~esbroug?, have jointly issued a pamphle.t describing,
station than on a locomotive. All the progress realised wtth illusbrat10ns, the spe01a.l features of their respective
in engine con ::~truction and in eleotrotecbnics, can be establishments. The two firms are very closely allied,
turned to a. better profib in the central station. Its Messrs. Dorman, Long, and Co. holding one half the
situation can be so chosen that cost of delivery is a. ehares of Messrs. Bell Brothers, Limited. Most of the
minimum. lb can be also put down near a. mine for the steel used at Messrs. Dorman, L ong, and Co.'s establishburning of inferior quality coal which it would not pay ment is made from Cleveland ore. Messrs. Hell Brothers
to transport. In tho~e countries in which there are water- have recently adopted the ' mixer " system in their steel
falls available, these can be used for generating currenb works ; the cast iron from the blast . furnaces being
for traction purpo3es ; in Switzerland, Italy, and Sweden poured into a large tank capable of holding 300 tons
examples of large hydro-electric stations are very of molten iron, and from this the charges for the
numerous. The transport to a distance of electric steel furnaces are drawn a.s required. A very complete
power in the shape of eleobric currents is at the present catalogue of electric lighb, from the simplest to the most
time surrounded with ho difficulty whatever ; thus our- elaborate, has been jusb published by the General Electric
rents of the very highest pressure, up to, eay, 50,000 Company, Limited, of 69, 71, 88, and 92, Queen Victoria.
volts, can be carried without difficulty and without street, E.C. A new feature is a.n incandescent street
danger over long distances, through lines comparatively lantern. The hood and reflector of the lantern have the
small in section. It is necessary, however, to take a. lamps attached to it and is hung in such a. manner
three-_Phase current, which has many advantages in a that the whole of the upper part oa.n be swung back for
teohmca.l point of view, and is simpler to reduce to a changing or cleaning lamps.- Messrs. Denny, Matt, and
Dickson, Limited, of 165, Fenchurchstreeb, E.C., send
lower tension for war king the motors.
F or electric traction, safe travelling must, of course, us an explanatory pamphlet concerning "Compoboard."
be provided for in the mosb complete manner. The con- This material, which is made in sheets 4 ft. wide, rang
struction of electric cars has been so improved that t he ing in length from 6 ft. to 18 fb., is made of a. wooden
working of all the apparatus is now effected with one core composed of thin narrow straighb slats of wood,
single band wheel. When the d river wants to start the joined edge to edge by cementing material, forced
car, he has only t o turn the ha.ndwheel to the right, the between them by grea.b pressure. These slats run crossspeed increasing the more be turns it. In order to reduce wise of the material. The faces of the compoboard are
and the complete
the speed, he brings the handwb eel to the left, and by formed of heavy pressed paper boards,
7
turnin~ it completely round to the left, he finishes by t~hicknees varies from 1\ in. to 1 ~ in. The material is
switchmg on the electric brake, and brings the car to a. intended for lining walla and pa.rtit1ons in place of plaster,
but many other uses suggest themselves where large
* See TRACTION AND TRANSMISSION, vol. ii. , page 42. panels not liable to split or warp are required.

OcT. 18, rgo1.]

N G I N E R I N G.

NOTES FROM THE NORTH.

NOTES FROM SOUTH YORKSHIRE.

GLASGOW, W ednesday.
G!Mgo1o Pig-Iron Market.-Last Thursday forenoon
the market was very slack, there being only a little over
2000 tons of iron dealt in, and that was wholly in Cleveland, which finally lost ~d. per ton. Sootoh iron was not
named. At the afternoon eession the business consisted
of 500 tons of Scotch, and prices k epb fairly firm. The
prico of the cotch iron was 533. 4~d. per ton one month,
with buyers over. The settlement! _ptioea were : Scotch,
53s. 4! d ; Cleveland, 46s. 7~d.; Cumberland hema.tite
iron, 59&. 9d. per ton. G lasgow pig iron market was
steady on Friday forenoon, out very quiet, only about
2000 t ons being dealt in. Cleveland , t o which business
was confined, wa~ the turn better at 46s. 7d. per ton
cash, with buyers over. Scotch warrants were quoted
ab last price-53s. 7 ~d . p er ton cash. Aboub 6000 t ons of
Cleveland changed hands in the afternoon, the quotation
closing, as in t he forenoon, at 45s. 7d. per ton cash buyers,
after being done ~d. per ton higher. Scotch warrants,
which were again quite idle, were quoted at 53s. 7d.
sellers one month, being an improvement on the day of
l~d. per ton . The settlement prices were : 63s. 4~d. ,
45s. 6d., and 59d. 9d. per ton. On Monday forenoon the
warrant market was quite lifeless, nob more than 1000
tons being dealt in. P rices were steady ab F riday's level.
Ab the afternoon session some 2000 t ons changed
bands, and prices remained steady, b ut Scotch warrants
left off ab 53s. 8~d . per ton. 'be settlement Qrices were:
5:33. 7~d. , 46~. 7~d . , and 69s. 9d. per t on. Dealing was
extremely idle on Tuesday forenoon, just 2000 tons being
dealb io. Scotch warrants were done only to the extent
of one lob for an odd date. Cleveland was the turn
ea~ier ab 46s. 6~d. cash buyerfl, and Scotch was offered
for the end of the year ab 63:i. per t on. In the
after noon 3000 tons of Cleveland changed hands, the
closing prices being 453. 6d. per ton cash, with buyers over,
and tlius there was a decline on the day of ld. per ton .
Cleveland was also done at 44s. 7d. and 44s. nd. for three
months. S cotch warrants closed the burn better on the
d ay a.b 53s. 9d. cash sellers. The settlement prices were:
53:i. 7~d., 45s. 7!<J., and a9s. 9d . per ton. At the forenoon
market t o-day aomQ 4000 t ons of iron were dealt in, all
Cleveland. ~coboh was offered at 553. per ton end of the
year d eli very, bu b there were no buyers. In the afternoon
about 3000 tons changed hands, includin~ a few lots of
Cleveland ab45s. and 44s.lld. per ton for the end of the year,
and 44s. 7d. three months. For cash Scotch was ld. per
t on down from the forenoon. The Esettlemenb prices
were: 53s. 7~d. , 45s. 4 ~d., a nd 59s. 9d. p er t on. The follo wing are the market q uotations for makers' iron No. 1:
Clyde, 663. 6d. ; Gartsherrie and Calder, 67s. ; La.ogloan,
G9~. 6d. ; Summerle~ 71s.; Coltness, 72s. per ton-all
foregoing were shipped at G lasgow; Glenga.rnook (shipped
a b Ardrossa.nk 66s.; Shotts (shipped at Leith), 70s.; Carron
(shipped a.t u ra.ngemouth), 671. 6d. per ton. G lasgow
pig iron has again been in a very somnolent condition
during the past week. The aggregate turnover for a week
would nob exceed 46,000 tons, a nd the fluctuations were
confined within the narrowest limits. The furnaces in
blast in Scotland number 84, as against 83 a. week Pogo,
and 81 ab this time last year. Deahoga in Cleveland have
again been the feature of the week. Forward iron has been
pressed for sale ab relatively lower prices than for " cash ,
warrants. The settling is attributed to Cleveland makers,
who ~how e. little more ~erness t o book forward contracts. The stook of pig uon in Messrs. Conoal and
Co. s public warrant estores stood yesterday afternoon
ab 58, 160 tons, as compared with 58,235 tone yesterday
week, thus showing for the week a. reduction amounting
t o G6 tons.
Steel Rails and Nails.-The price of steel rails has been
ad vanoed 53. per too, and Scotch nail makers have increased their p rice for steel nails to the exten t of lOa.
p er boo.
l t'inished Iron and Steel.-Busineas ab bhe moment is
just a. little dull, both in finished iron and in steel. There
are reports from South Staffordshire as to the condition
of trade there, makers of fi nished iron being full of orders,
and the prices 10s. per ton dearer than t hey were three
mon ths since. Unmarked bars are 5s. per ton up ; and
the same is true in reference to rolled steel. These repor ts
cannot bub fail to inspire the makers of iron and steel in
Scotland. Still, there is a greab amount of work in pro
gress, and in some works the order-books are well filled.
Sulphate of Ammonia.- Dealing in this commodity is
generally very brisk. The shipments for the week ending
last Saturd ay amounted to 306 t ons a.b L eith, and a.t the
ao.me port the shipments for September of this year
amounted to 2285 tons, as comp~red with 2684 tons in the
corresponding month of last year.
Professoria.l.Appoimtment to a Gla3gow L eot'INTer.-Mr.
George Roberb 'l'bom~son, B.Sc., A .R.S.M., L ecturer on
~fining and Geology m tbe G lasgow and West of Sootland Technical College, has been ap_pointed to the Chair
of Mining in the Y orkshire College, L eeds. Mr. Thompson recently visited British Columbia for the purpose of
etudying the mineral strata in that country. A fter his
return t o Glasgow he acted as local secretary of the
Geological Section of the British Association for the
Advancement of cience. H e has for some time acted
as the lecturer on geology in bhe U niversity of G lasgow,
under the H oneyma.n-Gillespie Trust, in connection with
the natural history professorship.

SnRrFIELD, Wednesday.
Messr3. E arlfi3 Shipbuilding and Engineering W orks.
- The news that the Court had sanctioned the purchase
by Mr. 0. H. Wilson, M.l.,., as a g-oin~ concern, of the
undertaking of Mfssra. Earle's Sh1pbulldiog and E ngineering Oompany, Limited, was nob unexpected ab Hull.
Twelve mont~hs ago, Mr. Wilson offered to pub down
200, OOOl. for the resuscitation of the concern, and to provide another 100, OOOl. for working capital. Ab that
time Sir Christopher F urness promised to personally
take a.n interest in the company (before it went into
liquidation ), for the building of large as well as s mall
s teamers, a.od for increasing the marine engineering
business. If, under the ne w conditions1 Sir Christ opher
will take the same interest in the yard, 1b will. it is generally considered, be a. good thing for East Hull, which
has severely felt the closing of the works.
Large Outlay on Water Works at Bradford. - On T uesday, October 8, Mr. James \ Va.tson (the water works
engmeer) reported to the B radford C1ty Council that a
total storage capacity of 2620 million gallons of water is
needed. 'l,he ag~rega.te storage capacity of all the present re..qer voi rs, 1mpounding and ser vice, is only 1660
million gallons, a deficiency of 760 million gallons. The
Nidd V alley scheme provides for the construction of three
large reservoirs on the River Nidd, wit h a. total storage capacity of 2596 million gallons, and Mr. Watson
recommended that the reservoir a.b Augram should be
gone on with as quickly as I_>oaaible. This would add
810 million gallons to the existmg storage. The Augram
reser voir, and the works connected with it, will take seven
or eight years to construct, and altogether the expense of
the new reservoir would be 300,000l.
T he Batley Trwm1vays Oontraot.-The electric traction
committee of the Ba.tley Corporation have decided to
recommend the T own Council t o let the contra.ob for the
laying of the permanent way in connection with the pro
~sed electric tramways to Messrs. Grahe.m Brothers, of
Huddersfield, for 30,000&.
Iron and Steel. -The improvement referred to last
week in the demand for high -class crucible ste~l has,
during the last fe w day~, extended to the medium and
commoner qualities. Now that the quarter has well
turned, consumers are placing t heir ordera more freely,
and although not to the same extent as ab t his period
last year some houses are doing a. fair amount of
trade. During the period of depression steelma.kers
have had to stock in order to keep their men together;
and although this has been kept to the lowest possible
point, there are considerable accumulations of s teel on
their hands. The rolling mills and forges a re better
employed now than they were a for tnight ago, and
prospects a re regarded as more encouraging. Ab most
of the iron fo undries there is a lack of work, and
many men are either wholly idle or only working short
time. Some of the engineering firms are fairly employed on grinding, punching, shearing, and similar
machinery both for the home and foreign markets.
T here are no ~igns of increased work in the file trade.
The Government are still good customers for all kinds of
excavating tools, chiefly for South Africa, and generally
the trade is up t o average.
South Yorkshire Coal Tradt. -Coalowners in the district continue t o fi nd regular employmen t for the miners,
and there is an average all-round business doing. The
demand for s team coal is well maintained, large supplies
being taken by the inland markets, and the se.btlemenb
of the G rimsby strike has improved the demand for
export. Best bards range in price from 103. to lla. per
ton; hub the latter figure is only occasionally realised.
Business in house qualities, which last week showed a
decrease, is again impl'oviog. 'frade wi th the eas tern
counties and with the Metropolis is steady, and there is
a good local sale. Best Silkatones are quoted at 1 3~. 6d.
bo 14~. per ton, and beat Barnsley house 123. to 123. 6d.
per ton. Difficulty is experienced in finding a market for
engine fuel, and prices are consequently weaker. Nuts
make from 7a. 6d. to Ss. 6d. per ton: screened slack from
5s., and pit slack from 33. per ton. T he improvement in
the coke trade is maintained.

,TAPAN.R E P oPULATION.-The population of Japan in

1888 was 30 607,000. Ten years later the corresponding
population had grown to 43,762,000, showing an m crease
of 4,156,000, or something over 10 per cenb. during the
deoade.

BaTH ELEOTRTO TRAMWAYS.- The Board of Trade has

issued an order authorising the establishment of a system
of t ramways for Bath and its tmburbs, and the work of
construction is to be proceeded with by the promobera
(Sir James Sivewrighb, Mr. L eopold Hiraob, and others)
for thwith. The order follows the lines of an agreement
entered into between the promoters and the town council,
who supported the application for statutory powers ma<le
by the outside promoters upon terms which had been
arranged. 'l'hese were somewhat interfered with by the
Light Railway Commissioners, who refused to let the
town council receive an annual way leave of 400l. , rising
a fter fi ve years t o 450l., and after a further five yeard
bo 500l., and ordered a capitalised sum t o be paid
to and expended by the council in street wideniogs on
the line of route.
The amount to be paid was
settled by an actuary, who awarded the council
11,400l., a very considerable ad vance upon the s um
which had been expected. As to the terms of purchase a.b the end of 32 years if the council so desire,
some difficulty arose from the fact that part of the lines
are outside the borough; but in this respect t he council
has ~ained its poin t, for the order says if the other purohasmg authorities do not acquire these p ortions of the
lines the council may do so. The council has already
given notice to compulsorily acquire the existing horae
tramways, and under its agreement will hand them
over ab the price paid, pluB the costa incurred.

559
NOTES FROM CLEVELAND AND THE
NORTHERN COUNTIES.
MIDDLESBROUGH, Wednesday.
The (Jlevela;nd, Iron Tradt.- Y estorda.y the market was
fairly well attended, hub business was rather q uiet. No. 3
Olevela.nd pig was easier in price, but several of bh~ o~her
qualities showed a. marked upward t endency. P1g-uon
producers, nearly all of whom are well situated so far as
orders are concerned, adhered very firmly to their q notations, and they were nob pr Pssing any iron on the market.
They pub the price of No. 3 g.m.b. Cleveland pig iron atl
45s. 6d. for prompt f.o.b. delivery, and would nob, as a.
rule, enterta in offers below that tigure. Purchases were
made, however, ab 45s. 4~d. from second hands, a nd even
less was said to ho.ve been accepted in some oases.
Merchants were ready enough to sell ab the last. mentioned
figure. The lower qualities of Oleveland pig were
rather scarce. No. 4 foundry was raised to 44s. 9d. ;
grey forge could nob be bought under 44s. 6d.;
mottled was steady at 44s., and white was pub a.b
43s. 6d. There were a good few inquiries for Ea.sb
Ooasb hematite pig, but a.a they were nearly all for early
delivery, they d1d nob, as a. rule, lead to business, there
being no iron available for sale over the next week.
or two- the output for thab period being fully disposed of, and there being no stocks to draw upon.
'f he output was admitted to be too small to meet
the requiremen ts, and makers declared that there
were considerable di fficuloies in the way of further
increasing the production. Nos. 1, 2, and 3 were
advanced to 60s. 6d. for November deli very. Spanish ore
was steady, rubio being 15s. 9d. delivered here. To day
the market was dull, a.od few t ransactions were recorded.
No. 3 Cleveland pig was said to be obtainable ab 45s. 3d.
for promJ?b f. o.b. delivery, but sellers aa a rule hesitated
to do busmess a b tha.b figure. Quotations for other descriptions were unaltered. D eliveries of pig iron continue
on a fairl y satisfactory scale.
M anufactur ed Iron and Steel.-The mannfaobured iron
and steel industries present few new features. Most
firms keep very well employed, and are turning out a lob
of work. Quotations generally are upheld, common iron
bars being 6l. 5s. ; best bars, 6l. 15s.; iron abippla.tes,
6l. 17s. 6d. ; steel ship-plates, 6l. 53. ; iron ahip-aogl~,
6l. 2a. 6d. ; steel ahipa.ngles, 5l. 17s. 6d. ; iron sheets,
8l. lOa. ; steel sheets, 8l. 15s. ; and steel boiler-pla.tet~,
7l. 15.3.-all leas the customary 2~ per cent. discount for
cash. Heavy sections of stAel rails are 6l. 10s. ; and oastiron railway cha.ira, 3l. lOs.- both neb cash a.t works.
Cleveland M iners' W ages.- An interview took place ab
the Cleveland Mineowners' offices here on Monday between representatives of t he Cleveland minera a nd the
Oleveland mineowoers with regard to the wa~es for the
ensuing quarter. Sir Da.vid Dale, Barb., presided. It
was pointed out to the men's representatives that the price
of p1g iron for the past quarter was 45s. 10.09d., a~ainst
47s. 0.58d. for the previous quarter, and than, a.ccordmg to
recent proeedure, a. reduction was now due of 2.2 per cent.
But having regard to circumstances indicated, the. owners
felt that there were reasons why their claim might fairly
be put ab 3 per cen t. Influenced, however, by the very
strong appeal of the men's delegates, the owners intimated
that 21 per cent. would be accepted in settlement. A
further meeting will be held on 1lhe 25th iosb., after the
owner's proposal has been placed before the miners.
Coal and Ooke.-There is nob much change in the fuel
trade. Coal prices are pretty much the same a~ a. week
ago. Coke is scarce, the supply falling a good deal ahorb
of the demand, and q uotations are moving upwards. The
local consumption continues heavy, and average blastfurnace qualities have been advanced to 16s. 9d. delivered here. Export coke ranges from 18~. to 18s. 6d. f. o.b.

THE MAIDEN VoYAGE Oli' TUE NoBTH GERMAN LLorn

LINER " KuoNPRINZ WILHELM."-The following iR the
log of the first voyage of the twin-aorew steamer "Kron
prioz Wilhelm " :
Outward.
September 18. Passed Ober bourg breakwater, 8 p.m.
,
19. 369 miles.
lt
.o. 376 ..
tl
21. 383 "
22. 473 "
"
23. 56! "
"
"
24. 676 "
,
26. 316 , to Sandy llook abeam, 1.16 a.m.
Distance, 30J6 miles.
Po.seage, 6 days 10 hours 16 minutes.

Average speed, 19.74 knots

Bo-rneward3,
October 1. Pas3ed Sandy Uook lig bt veesel, 2.10 p.m.
2. 480 miles.
11
,
a. 6B6 ,
"
4. 634 11
11
6. 682 "
11
6. 640 11
7. 365 ,, to Plymouth, arrived at 4. 68 a.m.
11
Distance, 2087 11
Passage, 6 days 0 hours 48 minutes.

Average speed, 28.01 knote.

The mean horae. power on the homeward round was 33,000

indicated horsepower. On the outward voyage the vessel
experienced on some of the days moat boisterous weather,
the waves running a2 hi~h as t he cha.rb and wheel-house.
Mr. Kohr, the eogineermg director of the V uloan Company, of Stebtin, who built the s hip, and I nspector B oy le,
of the North German Lloyd, were on board during the
voyage, and are to be congratulated on the result. The
Kronprinz Wilhelm lef t on the 15bh insb. on her second
voyage.

s6o

NOTES FROM THE SOUTH-WEST'.

E N G I N E E R I N G.
MISCELLA.l~EA.

[OcT. 18, Igor.

shown that the weight of the precipitate is given by the
.
11. y app1'IC
relti
a on 10 = d(a - bd1) . Wh'J
1 at not u01veraa
d - d1
able. Mr. Thacher has proved the method to yield good
results in a large number of oases, and there is a great
saving of time a.9 compared with the ordinary processes,
whilsb ample accuracy is obtained.

Cardiff.-The steam coal trade has exhibited a rather

THE bwenty.third of the series of Brewers' Exhibitions,
steadier tone; the best descriptions have made 17a. to held annually ab the Royal Agricultural Hall, will be
17e. 3d. {>er ton, while secondary qualities have brought opened to-morrow, and close on the 25th inst.
16s. to163.3d.perton. There has beenaboutanaveragedeWe are informed thattheopeningmeeting of theseasion
mand for household coal ; No. 3 Rhondda. large has been
quoted at 15s. 6d. per ton. Patent fuel has been rather of the Institution of Electrical Engineers, for the preseninactive. The demand for coke has, however. been well tation of premiums and the presidential address, will be on
A highly intereshng departure in the matter of gl&Bsmaintained; foundry qualities have brought 19.3. to 203. Thursday, November 21 instead of on November 14.
making is now being tried at the works of the Societ6
per ton, and furnace ditto, 16s. 3d. to 17a. 6d. per ton.
The traffic receipts for the week ending October 6 Anony01e l'Industrie Verri ere eb ees Derives, Brueaele.
As regards iron ore, the best rubio has made 14~. 3d. to on 33 of the principal linea of the United Kingdom Hitherto glass has been melted in pots by means of solid
14s. 6d. per ton, while Tafna. has been quoted ab 153. to amounted to 1, 996, 766l., which wag earned on 20,153;f or, more recently, gaeeous fuel. The temperature re15s. 6d. per ton.
mile~. For the corresponding week in 1900 the receipts quired to obtain the glaas in a. suitable condition for
Sewage Disposal at Cartl~ff.-Tbe Cardiff borough of the same lines amounted to l,Sl38,409t. with 19,885~ blowing is very great, hub is neverthel~a often not
engineer has presented a report dealing with a suggestion miles open. There was tbue an increase of 58,357l. in the great enough to make the ' metal " so fluid that the
glass when cold proves entirely free from bubbles.
that bacterial treatment should be adopted for the sewer- receipts, and an increase of 267! in the mileage.
An electric furnace is now being tried at the works named
age of the western district. ~Ir. Harpur states that the
A remarkable feature about the new generating plant above.
The raw material in the state of powder is fed
bacterial process is intended purely for domestic sewage ; about to be laid down ab the Willesden station of the down past
a series of inclined hearths. On its way it
and therefore is very unsuitable for the district.
Metropolitan E lectric Supply Company, Limited, is that
p&Eses through electric arcs struck between three sets of
Adntiralty Coal Oontracts.-Contra.ots have j ust been the two-phase current is to be generated direct at 11,000 carbons. As ib passes the first set of carbons, the material
let by the L ords of the Admiralty for nearly 60,000 tons volts in place of being produced at a. lower potential and is melted and tri ckles down the second inclined hearth,
f
1 Th f 11 1
b
then raised to 11,000 volts by stepup transformers, as is and thence between the second series of carbons on the
o steam coa .
e o owlDg IS a 1st of t e contractors, the case with the existing plant. which was su~>_plied by
with the q_uantiby each is to supply: Locket's Merthyr the Westinghouse Company. MessrP. Witting Brothers, third hearth. Leaving this, it passes between the third
Colliery, Limited, 7000 tons; Crawahay Brothers. Limited, of 49, Cannonstreet, E.C., have secured the set of carbons, and finally colleots in the molten state
Cffarbhfa, Limited, 5000 tons; D. Davis and Sons, contract for the new work. The plant will consist of two in a fireola.y tank, w hioh is kept hot by the waste
L1mited, Ferndale Colliery, 5000 tons; Guest, Keen,
g-ases which escape from the furnace. The tank used
and Co., Limited, Dowlais Colliery, 5000 tons; Hill's 3000-kilowatt two-phase "Kolben " generators driven by 1s of sme.ll capacity, and the whole operation of melting
Plymouth Company, Limited, 10,000 tons; Powell "Sulzer" engines running at 75 revolutions per minute.
takes but little time, 1b being po~sible to commence
Duffryn Steam Coal Company, Limited, 5000 tons;
The trade and navigat10n returns for September show bottle.blowing within one hour of starting the furLewis's Merthyr Navigation Company, Limited, 6000 imports amounting to 38,208,791l., a decrease of 3,024.06ll., nace. Special care is taken to exclude air from the furtons; and Cory Brothera and Co., Limited, 10,000 tone.
or 7.3 per cent., on the corresponding month of 1900, the nace, and the gases are rendered EO fluid by the intenee
South Welsh Coal and Iron.-Tbe exj)orta of coal from exports amounting to 21,971,302l. 1 a decrease of 2,'588,509l., beat to which it is subjected aa it paaaea the carbon eleo
the six principal Welsh ports-Cardiff, Newport, Swansea, or 10.5 per cent. The value of tne iron and steel exports trodes, that it is very completely freed from bubbles
Port Talbob. Llanelly, and Neath-in September were: was 2,075,859t., against 2.375:350l., a decrease of 12.6 per before it enters the collecting tank.
Foreign, 1,500,659 tone; coastwif*l, 323,234 tons; total, cent.; and of the coal and coke exports2,518,222l., against
The Board of Trade have recently confirmed the follow1,823,893 tons. The export3 of iron and steel from the 3, 791,457t., a decrease of 33.5 per cent. For the nine months ing Light Rail way Orders : (1) W akefield and District
six ports during the month were 4361 tons; of coke, ended September 30 imports amounted to 384,460, 711l., Light Railway Order, 1901, authorising the construction
9315 tons; and of patent fuel, 116,315 tollll. The exports an increase of 5,273,069l., or 1.3 per cent.; exports to of light railways in the city ofWakefield and the townships
of coal from the six ports during the nine months ending 209,359,040l., a decrease of 9,112,715l., or 4.1 per cent.; of Horbury, Alverthorpe, Sandal Magna, and Outwood,
September 30 were: Cardiff, 11,828,832 tons; Newport, and reexports to 50,543,899l, an increa~e of 2,500,901l., in the West Riding of the county of York. (2) Bury and
2,545,541 tons; S wansea. 1,547,980 tons Port Talbot, or 5.2 per cenb.
Diss Light Rail war. Order, 1901, authorising the construc313,592 tons; Llanelly, 193,805 tons ; and Neatb. 22,166
The Merryweather salvage plant supplied to Dover tion of a light rallway in the counties of Norfolk and
tons; making an aggregate of 16,451,916 tons. The ex. Harbour recently was brought into use successfully on Suffolk, from Bury St. Edmunds to Stanton. Walsbam le
ports of iron and steel were : Cardiff, 20,583 tone; New- Sunday last, the 13th inst. A collision in the Channel re- Willows, South Lopham, and Dies. (3) Welahpool and
port, 23,338 tons; Swansea, 285 tons; and Port Talbob, suited in the sinking of the a. a. Refulgent and such Llanfair Light Railway (Amendment) Order, 1901, amendLlanelly. and Nea.th nil; making an aggregate of 44,206 serious damage to the e.~. Alonzo, that her captain sig- ing the Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway Order,
tons. The exports of coke were: Cardiff, 48,177 tons; na.lled for help. Cd.ptain Iron sent out a tug with the 1899. (4) Kidderminster and Bewdley Light Railways
Newport, 16,305 tons; dwam~ea, 6582 tons; Port Talbot, salvage planb, which consists of alight water. tube boiler, Order, 1901, authorising the construction of light railways
7879 tons; and Llanelly and Neath, nil i making an aggre-j horizontal engine, and centrifugal pump, the whole being in the boroughs of Kidderminster and Bewdley, and in
~ate of 78,943 tons. The exports of patent fuel were: one third the weight of ordinary apparatus of the same the parish of Kidderminster Foreign in the rural d istrict
Cardiff, 319,420 tons ; Newport, 63,129 tons; Swansea, power. The plant was rapidly pub on board the Rinking of K idderminster, in the count_y of Worcester. (5}
350,878 tons; Port Talbot, 44,412 tons; and Llanelly ship. steam raised in 15 minutes, and pumping started. Black burn, Wballey, and Padiham Light Railways Order,
and Nea.th, nil i making an aggregate of 777,639 tone.
As the damage was below the water-line. the Alonzo was 1901. authorising the construction of light railways
The Electric Light at Bristol.-Ab a meeting of the run ashore while repairs ~ere made, and on Mo!lday she in the urban di~briots of Riakton, CJayton-leMoors,
elootrical committee of the Bristol City Council on Friday, was despatched to Dunkuk. the salvage plant bemg kept Great Harwood and Padiham, the rural districts of
Clitheroe and Burnley and the parishes or townthe committee considered a. communication from the on board to keep her fre of water.
sanitary committee respecting the sub-shtion near the
On September 23 la.sb some great records fo!'__produc- ships of Read, Simonstone, and Wballey, and (under
certain conditions) in the county borough of Blackburn,
Vicboria Rooms, and instruc~ed the engineer to prepare tion were made at the Edgar Thomson Steel Works of all
in the county palatine of Lancaster. (6} Hadlow
and submit plans fo11 alterations on the lines suggested. the Carnegie Steel Company at Bessemer. On the day Light
Railway (Amendment} Order, 1901. amending the
It was decided to substitute a standard for the bracket mentioned the day turn in the converting mill made 106
on the premises in Clare. street, formerly occupied by Mr. blows and 1602 tons of ingots. The night torn followed Hadlow Light Railways Order, 1897. (7) Durham and
E. Thornley. The committee was informed that Mr. with 119 blows and 1789 tons of ingots, a total of 3391 District Light Railways Order, 1901, authorising the
R. W. L. Phillips, chief assistant engineer, bad resigned tons of ingots in 24 hours. The day turn in the blooming construction of light railways in the city of Durham,
his appointment on being appointed borough electrical mill made 107 beats and turned out 1435 tons, t be night the pa.nsh of Brancepetb, the urban district of Brandon
and Byshottles, and the parishes of Bearpark, Neville's
engin~er at Be~ford. Ib was decided to re~ommen~ the turn following with 118 h.eats and an output of 1545 tons,
counctl to appomt Mr. H. H. Couzens, malDS engmeer, or a total of 2980 tons of mgots bloomed m 24 hours. On Cr<>Es, and St. Oswalds, in the county of Durham.
to the position vacated by Mr. Pbillips, and to advertise the eame day No-. 1 rail mill turned out 2185 tons of
for a successor to Mr. Couzene. Short extensions of the finished rails, while another smaller mill turned out 545
mains were sanctioned in Stapletonroad, So. Stepben's- tons. or a total of 2730 tons of finished rails in 2! hours.
PIG IN GxRMANY.- The production of pig in Germany
street, and Ca.mbridge.atree~, 'rotterdown. Tenders were In No. 1 rail mill heavy eeotiona of rails up to 100 lb. are in the first eight months of this year amounted to
received for structural alterations ab the Temple Back rolled, while in the other mill lighter sections are rolled. 5,246,639 tons, as compared with 0,532,214 tons in the
Station, necessitated by the erection of a new switch- These records for output have never been equalled.
correspondins- period of 1900, 5,367,509 tons in the corre
board i..,.&nd it W!l9 decided to accept the tender of Mr.
Le Yacht states that M. Goubet has received instructions spondmg penod of 1899, and 4,837,096 tons in the co rre~
C. A . .tlar~, bemg the lowest.
from the French Ministry of Marine to remove his aub- sponding period of 1898. Thomas pig fi~ured in th ese
SO'Uth Wales Institute of Engineer3. -A general meet- marine boat Goubeb No. 2 from the arsenal ab Toulon. totals for 2, 988,850 ton~, 3, 175,106 tons, 2, 940,961 tons,
ing of t~e South Wales I nstitute of Engineers ~as held which is tantamount t?arejection of the boat by t he~renoh and 2,597,378 tons respectiv~ly.
at Cardiff on Tuesday. Mr. T. Evens occupted the Governmen~. The Journal adds that the expenments
chair. A diecussion was continued on a paper of Mr. J. with the boat have proved that she is habitable, stable, abMIDLAND WATEBWAYB.-At a meeting of the W orFox Tallis on "Colliery T rams." The author of the solutely immobile ab any depth, can float, can be rapidly cester Chamber of Commerce, on Friday, the president
paper bad urged the. a~option of a uniform type of tram submerged an~ .br~oght to tb~ surface .again, di~plays an (Mr. G. J osela.nd} in the chair, the Scretary reported that
in South Wale3 colhenea, so that types of the structure unequalled fa01bty mher evolut10nsa.nd m the mamtena.nce finding the Birmingham city obdurate on the question of
might be kept in stook and repairs effected speedily and of her line of route, and finally an assured security due to the improvement of water communication between Bireconomically. This view was combatd by eeveral mem- her '' safety weight" and the ease with which she can ingham and the Bristol Channel ports, 1'id. Worcester, he
bers who contended that it was impracticable to have any- rise to the surfa ce in the case of danger. In the experi- ?ad: !"ritten to the B.irmingbam Oba~ber of Commerce,
tbin~ like a uniform type of tram to. suit all the varying menta .of April19 a~d 24,, 1900, ebe showed that ab~ could mv1tmg the cooperatlOn of tba.t body m the organisation
cond1tiona of the underground work m South Wales. A face With safety a btgh wmd and a heavy sea. It 1.8 pro of lectures and meetings with a view to a more general
paper by Mr. S. F . Wal~er as to the pr~vention of over- ~osed, Le Yacht stat~s, th~t t.he prinoipleJo~ her construe- ventilation of the subject. The eecretary of the Birmingwinding evoked dLScuss1on, although 1t was generally t10n shall be used m buildlDg a submarme vessel for ham Chamber bad replied that in their opinion no practical
conceded that accidents from overwinding were so few crossing the Channel, by means of which passengers would results were likely to follow such a course, and they
in the coalfield, that there was nob that degree of import- avoid the terrors of mal de mer.
thought it undesirable to take any steps in the matter.
ance attached to the subject which the author of the paper
An ingenious system for weighing the chemical pre- Mr. Alderman Day thought the Aubjeot was one upon
claimed for it.
cipitates obtained in quantitative analyses without the which information was much needed in Birmingham. He
necessity of washing or drying them is proposed in a recent deprecated any further attempt to pa-ss the Severn waterSoHNEIDEB-CANET FIELD ARTILLERY.-A.s a result of issue of the Journal of the American Chtmical Soc,iety, by way scheme, preferring that the general question of water
should be first advocated. The secretary
competitive tria1s which have been carried out in Mexico '!VIr. R. W. Tbaoher. The method is an indirect one, and communication
out that the B lack Country people are quite ready
between a field gun, heavy type, on the Mondragon consists in determining once for all the specific ~ravity of pointed
system and a field gun, li~hb type. on the Sohneider- the preoipita~e obtained i~ any particular .oJ:>era.tion. This to avail tbemsehes of an improved waterway, and he sugCanet ~ystem, both 75 milhmetres (2. 952 in.} ~n ca.~br~, being o.scertam ed, the wet~ht of the pre01p1tate produced gested tbab in the meantime some soheme might be prethe Mexican Government have adopted for thetr artillery on any future occasion m the same operation can be pared to meet their requirement~. Mr. W. C. Abell ad~
vooated the provision of electric traction on the canals.
the Schneider-Canet gun1 owing to the g~od results it calculated by determining the weight of a definite Mr.
thought the first step was to get the watergave in the various expenmente. The Mextcan Govern- volume of a mixture of the precipitate and its mother waysNeedha.m
under
one
control,
and
par~icularly to get them out
liquor,
and
also
the
B.Peoifio
gravity
of
the
latter
ment have given Messrs. Sch~eider and 9~ a first order
the bands of railway companies. Electric traction
for six batteries complete, w1th ammumt1on, and baYe after filtering the precip1tate off. The method followed of
might then be ueed with advantage. The secretary sugsent over to France a group of officers an~ ~en, to ~ollo.w is to empty the mixture of liquid and precipitate into gested
that
before
they
could
hope
to
improve
the
means
a.
specific
gravity
bottle,
the
volume
of
which
is
known.
the manufacture of the guns, and to gam matrucbton 1!1
transit the canals themselves must be improved. Mr.
the processes of manufacture of ord~ance and a.mmu~I The latter is then filled up with dis tilled water and the of
This d one, some of the liquid is de- T. Southa.ll pointed out that waterways bad a wholesome
tion. A SchneiderCaneb gun of a htgb.-power type will weigllt taken.
in
checking
railway
rates,
to
the
gr_
eat
benefit
of
the
effect
canted
off,
and
its
specfic
gravity
determined.
Calling
soon be tested aleo in Mexico, the Mextcan Governme~t
1, the districts in which they were situated. No definite action
the
density
of
the
precipitated,
that
of
the
liquid
d
inbendin~ so it would appear, to arm the whole of their
was taken.
weight
of
the
mixture
a,
and
the
total
volume
b,
it
can
be
horae a.rt1ilery with this system.

OcT. r8, 190t.]

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

CRANE WEIGHING MACHINE; GLASGOW EXHIBITION.

CON TRUUTED BY MES. 'RS. \V. AND T. AVERY, LTD., BIRMINGHA-rvi.

.ME

W. AND T. A vERY, LIMITED, Soho Foundry,

Birmingham, have a hrge exhibit at G lasgow of their
special typee of weighing machines, to which we ha,~e
a lready made reference in our general descriptions of
the Exhibition {see vol. lxxi., page 699) ; and we now
illustrate above o ne of the most interesting of the
novelties shown - a machine to be carried on the
hook of a crane for weighing castings, armour-plates,
molten lead in the ladle, and other such loads
when suspended from the crane. The suspension
loop is bolted to a strong wrought-iron fra me or body
from which all t he levers carrying the load are
hung.
The machine, as shown by the illustration, consists
of a wrought-iron box A, enclosing the weighing levers
D B. These levers aro suspended from the strong
wrought-iron frame C by means of the links D D.
The suspension loop L is directly conn~ted a nd
bolted to the frame C, and additional safety is secured
by t urning the lower portion of the loop under the
frame. In this machine none of the levers depend
upon the containing box for their support. The levers
a r e all fitted with hardened steel knife-edges, and the
links have hardened steel bearings. The main knife
edge, from which t he load is directly ~ung, is supp orted along its whole le ngth by the mam lever, thus
obviating the p ossibili ty of t he knife-edge breaking
and lett10g the load fall. A cover-plate, r emo.vable
while the machine is in use, is placed over the s1cle of
the machine, thus insuring that the levers and int~rnal
parts will be free from dust. The s teelyard IS of
wrought iron, dispensing wit h loose weights, .and the
sliding poises P P are of gun-metal. An adJustable
ball }' for balancing is affixed to the steelyard, .and
is protected from injury by a strong wroughtJron
guard G.
The general design allow.s of. the front c?ver-plate
being removed for ~be examlDati.on a.nd. cl~amng of the
working parte whlle the machme IS m tts place .for
use ; thus avoiding the time and e~pense o~ removmg
to the shops, and takin~ t.he ~achme to ~teces by a
skilled mechanic. The 1nd10a.tmg steelyard 1s arranged
to dispense with loose weights, and provision is made
for taring off chains, slings, or cam hooks.
RS.

INDUSTRIAL NOTES.
THH Pa-rliamentary Committee of the Trades Union
Congress have resolved to tak e up the Blackburn
picketing case, and appeal against the decision, if the
interlocutory injunction of the V ice Chancellor is
upheld at the Liverpool Chancery Court next month,
when the case comes on for hearing. This will be a
test case, the object being to see how far peaceful
picketing is law ful. There can be no question as to
the unlawfulness of picketing accompanied by intimidation or threats in any form. Those who resort to
such practices must abide t he consequences, and pa.y
the penalty. The case, as it stands, is as follows :
There has been a. dispute going on at the mills of
Messrs. Bannister B rot hers and Moore, at Black burn,
since !VIay last. It arose out of the quality of the
material, alleged to be bad; the operatives demanded
an increased rate in order to earn ''fair wages." The
firm disputed the allegations and refused the advance.
The oporatives struck, and picketed the mills. There
appears to have been no allegation of intimidation or
coercion, b ut the firm was incon,eniE~nced and annoyed
at t he picketing ; hence t hey sought an injunction.
At the last hearing of the case the Vice Chancellor of
the County Palatine said: " There appeared t o be a
re1sonable suspicion that certain things which were
not strictly in accordance with the law were being
done- he would not go further than this- and therefore he thought t here was sufficient ground to justify
an injunction. " This was granted accordingly. In
t he Act of 1869, u endeavouring peaceably and in a
reasonable manner, without threat or intimidation,
direct or indirect, to persuade others to cease or
abstain from w ork, " was declared lawful, provided
that the persuasion was not to break a lawful contract.
This, therefore, is the question now at iesue.

support of the views expressed, both as regards pig

iro!l ~nd finished ir?n ~t also states that "the shipbUlldmg trade contmues m a healthy condition several
new o.r ders havin~ bee~? placed on the Tyne.,' " The
l~rge mflux of busmess m t he North has caused marine
engin~ers and collate~al in~ us tries .to run a.t full pressure, 1ronfounders bemg fa1rly a.ct1ve." In Yorkshire
and Lancashire trade is not so good, and conseq uen t ly
employment has declined. In spite of the rather
heavy calls during the month, the cash balance has increased. The detailed returns as to the state of trade
s~ow that in 32 places it iR very good as compared
wtth 24 places last month; in 22 other places it was
g~od ; but a slackening off is obvious on the whole. In
9o places, with 13,033 members, employment was from
Yery good to ~ull ~last month the same terms applied to
100 places, w1th 13,736 members; on the other hand in
32 places, with 5272 members, it was from slack to v~ry
bad; last month the terms applied to27 places, with4517
members. The total number on the funds was 2658incree.se over last month, 30. On donation benefit
t here were 1089- increase 26; on sick benefit 463- decrease six; superannuati on 958- increase three other. unemploy ed 146 - increase six on-dispute' twowtse
increase one. The weekly expenditure amounted to
852l. U s. 2d., or ll:ld. per member per week. The
cash balance was 105, 134l.14s. 3d., increase 184l. lls.1d.
The balance is lo.rg?r than it was a year ago. A levy
of 2?. per member Is being voted upon in aid of the
Hahfax branch, the members of which have struck
against a superfluous number of apprentices.
The report of the Itonmoulders of Scotland shows
~bat industri~l activity in places where this union has
1ts brancht>s Is greater than ever in this section of the
?ngineering tr~d~s. Last reports stated that the" work log !llembersht~ - that is, t hose in employment-had
attamed the htghest level ever reached this month
there is an .increase of 17~ in this c~tegory. Of
c.ourse, there 18 a correspondmg decrease in the idle
hat. !\{embers are urged to attend to their work
not. to lose time, but to be diligen t , and thus support
the~r hom es. They are reminded that in case of
acc1dent, compensation is based not on the rates of
wages, bu.t on the earnings of the worker. This is
sound adv1ce, and the consideration of the point urged
ought to have effect. A case is given of a member who
lost an eye, and the offer made to him was on the
basis of his earnings fo~ the past year, which was only
a~out ~~me-fourth of h1s full wages had he worked.
FmanCially, the union is prospering. The income for
~he month wa-s 2156t. l s. ; expenditure, 1606l. Ss. 10d.;
mcrea.se of funds, 649l. 12s.; the cash balance is now
70,12'2l. 13s. 1d. The idle benefit for the month cost
403l., as compared with 535l. 5s. last month. Superannuation benefit amounted to 555l., funeral benefit
to 27ll. 'which is regarded as heavy. One member
had acc1dent benefit of 100l. awarded to him. The
union has paid its half share of expenses in the arbitration case, involving a dispute with the brass moulders
but it was excluded from the Trades Congress on that
&~count. ~ut, the report says, the union has not
w1t~drawn 1ta members from the firm in question, as
des1red by the Bra.ssfounders' Union. The question
of an advance in wages-the restoration of the reduction made in February last-is under consideration.

The report of the Amalgamated Society of Carpenters

and Joiners for the current month indicates a slackening off in employment generally. Very rarely is it
stated in the returns that trade is good. I n Scotland and Ireland one branch in each only return trade
as good. "Bad " is frequently used to describe the state
of trade, "fair " and "moderate " when there is little
to complain of. Out of a total membership of 67,408, a
total of 1538 were on unemployed benefit, 1235 on
sick benefit, a nd 1040 on superannuation allowance;
total on the funds, 3813. Many disputes are still
pending. :Members are requested to keep away from
thirteen towns; to see the branch officials in fourteen
other towns, and to see the local secretaries in three
other towns in which there a re disputes with one firm
only, making thirty towns in all were disputes exist.
The wood-workers in the United Sta.tes have resolved
to use the union stamp on all joinery exported to Great
Britain, in order to show that it is made und er trade
union conditions. The union ha1:1 voted 600l. to the
Penrbyn quarrymen. In a letter of thanks from the
men's official, there are some figures as to the dispute as it existed on eptember 10, in which it is said
t hat only 330 men out of 2500 accepted the offer to
return to work, in spite of the inducement of a. gratuity
of ll. each to all who accepted work. Complaints are
made of deductions from wages to help to pay insurance policy in cases of compensation ; members are
advised that such deductions can be recovered in the
county courts. The secretary has given some very
The report of the Ironfounders for the current useful hints as regards picketing so as to avoid any
month says: " We are pleased to be able to state that, chance of illegal acts. He points out what men can
ta king the iron and s teel trades generally, they appear do and what they cannot do under recent condit ions.
to continue in a fairly satisfactory condition; indeed,
The monthly circular of the Durham Miners' Associain some districts a n improvement in the amount of
business is reported." It goes on to give evidence in tion deals with the Trades Union Congress, and with

E N G I N E E R I N G.
the paper on "Supply and Demand," and the discussion thereon at the recent meeting of the British
Association at Glasgow. In respect of the latter, the
author of the paper seems to have declared that trade
unions were not necessary to labour, nor useful in
combating employers' associations or federations. Mr.
John Wilson, M.P., refers to the past history of labour
in order to show that la bour did not get its fair share
of recognition from a. sense of justice alone on the part
of employers, nor adequate wages from the operation
of supply and demand. A return to individual bargaining is impossible; and were it so, conciliation and
arbitration would be a. nullity.
As regards the Trades Congress, Mr. Wilson points
out the relative disproportion between the number of
delegates and the aggregate membership of trade
unions. He deals with the proposal to start a general
defence fund, and Fays tha.t there is a. danger lest
litigation should be promoted by irresponsible persons,
on possibly bad oases, caused by the folly of some
member or members. He declines to support compulsory arbitration, which, in the minds of many of
the delegates, meant compulsory union membership,
pointing out that it might mean the opposite in the
minds of employers. :M r. Wilson is a good and
thoughtful guide in matters connected with trade
unionism; out he is thought to be too slow for the
militant section in the unions. Nevertheless, they
would be wise to follow his advice.
It is suggested in the organ of the London Trades
Council that trades councils in all districts should
form voluntary corps for picketing purposes, so as to
circumvent the Lords' decision in the Taff V ale and
Belfast cases. The suggestion is not a wise one.
Whilst it might possibly cover the union ongaged in
the strike, as such, and avert an action for damages,
y~t it might also, and probably would, lead to more
intimidation and threats than are resorted to now,
because the pickets would not be under the control of
the union involved in the case. Even now the noisiest
persons near the place of business picketed are n ot
the piokets, but the street-corner men, and those who
may happen to be affected by the dispute, but who
are not selected as pickets by reason of their hasty
tempers and proneness to violence. The suggestion as
to locking up the funds is obscure. If the law says
that the funds are liable, no locking up can save them.
The only safe way is to avoid illegal practices. If the
unions have a real grievance, Parliament will redrees
it. But a certain amount of lawlessness has of late
years grown up, and employers have retaliated. There
has been real provocation in ma.ny cases, and the
labour leaders and trade-union officials who back up
that kind of thing are blind leaders of the blind, all
of whom, together, will fall into the ditch, not the less
dirty because of its being denominated a legal ditch.

busy, this class of work showing no signs of decaying

activity. Locomotive builders and others engaged on
railway work, and also boilermakers, a re well engaged,
the former having a large amount of work on hand,
sufficient to keep them employed for some time ahead.
In the iron trades business iR still reported to be slow,
buying being restricted to immediate wants. Finished
iron has been steady at late rates, but it is th ought
that no advance will be made at present. The steel
trade is fairly strong, but hardly as buoyant as it was
a short time since. 'l.'he position is not regard ed as
satisfactory in any of the branches above named, but
the outlook is not wholly discouraging.
The Parliamentary Committee of the Trades Con
gress are contemplating a conference of a mixed
character on old-age pen3ionP, consisting of trade
unionists, socialists, the Independent Labour Party,
and all other sections. Of course, the conference, if
called, will demand old-age pensions; but the chief
parties that ought to agree are the friendly eooieties,
trades unions, industrial provident societies, and the
Jik e, for those have each, in their own way, done something to ontitle them to speak on the subjec~.
l'he difficulties in the way of negotiation between
the Grimsby fishermen and the owners of the vessels
having been overcome, some of the craft have put to
sea, pending arbitration. But it is aa.id that some
time must elapse before all the men can be at sea
again. Therefore a Epeoial effort is being made to
collect funds to relieve the distress which continues in
the district. Persons who held back before can now
contribute without at all endorsing the action of the
men.
The council of the Federation of all Trades have ap
pointed a deputation to visit the Bethesda quarries, to
inquire into the situation, and possibly they may en
deavour to find some rnor.l1ts -vivendi to bring the dis
pute to an end. The trades are interested in this because of the large amount of support given to the men.
The ~Ianchester Corporation have again advanced
the wages of th eir tramway employcs- guards, dri vera,
and time- keeperd- from 2s. to 2s. 6d. per week. This
is the second advance since the Corporation took over
the tramway system. The maximum average wage
is 3ls. weekly for a ten hours' day. The union is
demanding a nine hours' da.y, with one hour off
for meals.

The strike of builders' labou rers at Swansea for an

advance in wages of !d. per hour continues, and it is
reported that there is no prospect of its termioatio11.
During the five weeks ending the 12th inst. it is said
to have cost 5000l. in wages alone. The number on
strike is not great; but the men are firm, and the
are assisting them. Their own union, however,
In the vVolverhampton district plenty of inquiries unions
were reported last week for future supplies of finished bears the major portion of the costs.
iron, both for home consumption a.nd for export, but
The Dunkinfield Colliery Company have decid ed to
buyers were shy, hoping for concessions, especially as close their pits at Dunkirk Chapel, those at As tley
puddlers' wages had been reduced 6 per cent. and Deep having been already closed. Some 1600 men
the wages of others in proportion. But that was not and boys will thus be thrown idle.
to be. Makers have well-filled order-books, and, with
the cost of raw material and fuel high, they rather looked
The trade and friendly societies at Bristol h eld a
for an advance instead of a reduction. This, indeed, demonstration to protest against the recent decisions
followed at the quarterly meetings, although best bars in the House of Lorde on picketing, holding it to be
remained unchanged in quotation. The engineering an unjustifiable attack upon trade unions. But mere
and allied industries are still fairly active in most demonstrations will not alter the law; nor will they
branches, the railway sheds being generally busy. In tend to change the practices which led up to tho'3 e
the hardware industries there are variations in decisions. Quite other action is required.
activity, but it is exceptional for any to be seriously
depressed. Some are slack or dull; the m9-jority are
The great strike of masons at Barcelona continuee;
fairly busy.
at a meeting of about 5000 persons it was resolved to
keep out until the employers capitulated.
la the Birmingham district stocks of iron were re
The bakers at Florence declared a. general strike
ported low at the date of the quarterly meetings, and,
therefore, wir,h the price of raw material and of fuel near the close of last week, on the question of night
high, no reduction in prices was announced. Best work, t he whole of the bakeries being closed. The
ba.rs remain at the same basis; unmarked bars were authorities had to get bread from other places mean
advanced 5s. per ton. Gas strip went up 3s. 6d., while. After some concessions, the men resumed work
making 12s. 6d. advance since the previous quarterly the following day.
meeting. Corrugated sheets showed a. downward
tendency. Steel was not in heavy demand, but there
It is reported that the workmen's associations of
was a. brisk call for pig iron. The engineering Amsterdam have addressed a manifesto to the workers
industries are still fairly employed, but some com- in the transport trades of Holland, France, Germany,
plaints of slackness are heard. In the other iron, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Belgium, and Italy,
steel, and metal-using industries some are busier than urg ing the men a.t all ports to refuse to unload British
others ; very few are really depressed, though they vessels after the end of this year.
may be slack or dull. On the whole, the state of the
The voting for the French Labour Councils seems to
iron, steel, and other metal industries in the Midlands
have gone \Vrong, and it is thought that some serious
may be d escribed as fairly good, with exceptions.
troubles will be caused by the attitude of the employers
The engineering industries in Lancashire indicate a in this connection. In six sections they abstain ed
slack ening off too obvious to be hidden, for the from the polls altogether.
increasing number of unemployed union members is
unmistakeable. For the preRent, however, it is mainly
ARGENTINE RAILWAYS.-Plans prepared by the Bufnos
noticeable in the textile machine-making industry. Ayres and Pacific Railway Company for a new claM of
Machine-tool makers report only a moderate amount low-side covered goods wagons have been officia.Uy
of new work to replace the orders running out, and approved.
Certain improvements proposed by the
some establishments are lessening hands. Electrical Buenos Westarn Railway Company at General Lagos
engineers and builders of high-speed engines are still Station ha.ve a.Jso received official approval.

[OcT. I 8, I 901.
EXPLOSION OF A VULCANISING PAN.
A JtOR~rAL investigation has been conducted by the
Board of Trade a.b the Council House, Birmingham, relative to the explosion of a. vulcanising or rubber-curing
pan, which took place on June 25, a.o the works of the
Rubber-Tyre Manufacturing Company. Aston Cross, and
by which one of the workmen was killed and several
others injured. Tbe Commissioners wore Mr. Howard
Smith a.nd Mr. M clntyre, and Mr. Gough a.ppeard for
the Board of Trade. The owners of the pan were represented by Mr. Shakespeare, while Edwa.rd G riffiths, the
man who wa.s in charge of the vessel when the explosion
occurred, was also represented by counsel.
The following brief particulars of the inquiry are of
interesb, and may serve to convey a useful les2on to the
owners of works where similar vessels are employed.
Mr. Gough laid before the Court full particulars of the
pan and its construction. The works, be stated, were
previously in the occupation of Messrs Byrne and Co.,
and that firm purchased in 1893 from Messrs. Robinson.
engineers, of Salford, the rubber-curing pan which bad
now exploded. It was provided with a steam jacket, the
object of the jacket being to effeob the curing of the iodiarubber by a. dry proce~. The Rubber-Tyre Company
subsequently took the business over, and adopted the web
process instead of the dry, for which purpose they dispensed witl.1 the reducing valve, and admitted bhe steam
to the pan direct instead of into:the jacket as before. The
pan had been tested to &l>ressure of 60 lb. on the square
inch, and for their busmess, viz., the construction of
motor tyrefl, the company worked it a.b 40 lb., at which
pressure ib had been assumed the explosion occurred.
The evidence of various witnesees wa.s then taken by
Mr. Gougb, and from this it appeared tba.b the men in
charge of the pan had, although warned, p ersistently
neglected to use the whole of the pins provided for
making the cover steam tight after the rubber had been
put into the vessel in order to undergo the curioS" proce&l. Apparently only twelve out of eighteen p10s or
bolts had been used. There was no safety va.l ve, although
steam was generated somewhat rapidly and the a.ttendanb
had occasionally to leave the pan in o~der to attend to
other duties on the works.
Mr. L ong, chief engineer t) the Rubber Tyre Company, in the course of hi.'\ evidence, stated thab he was
mformed thab the pan would safely stand a pressure of
60 lb. At first they worked it at 55 lb., hub finding thab
the steam jacket was useless, they discontinued using it.
The reducing valve did notac b properly, so they did away
with tha.t also. He did not think ib possible for them to
geb a. pressure of 75 lb. on the vessel; they only needed
40 lb. for their work, and to the best of h1s belief 60 lb.
was never exceeded. The bolts of the cover were in
position on the day of the e:x~losion, hub witness feared,
from a subsequent examination, t ha.t they were not all
properly screwed up.
An inspector from a. boiler insurance company. in the
course of his evidence, said he th ought if the jacket bad
been fitted. tha.t the pan would have been safe ab 75 lb.
pressure. None of t he p1ns were fitted with safety
valves, but these were necessary for seouriby in working.
Edward Griffiths, who bad charge of the pa.n, said he
was instructed to get the steam up to 40 lb. pressure by
7.15 in the evening. At nine minutes past seven o'clock
it was up to 35 lb. by the gauge, and three minutes afterwards the explosion occurred.
1\{r. Alexander Smith, M.I.C.E, also gave evidence.
He was called in to ma.ke a.n exaD.lina.tion of the vessel by
the Rubber Tyre Company after the explosion. If the
B oard of Trade rules had been observed, he sa.id, the pan
should only haw~ been worked to a. pressure of 2llb.
With the pressure ab 40 lb. he thought careful supervision
would be necessary, and ib would not be sa.fe to leave the
pan even for a. moment. From his examination after the
explosion he thought that several of the bolts for securing
the cover were missing, while one or two of the others
were nota~ sbrong aa they should have been. Thus a higher
pressure was exerted on therAma.ining bolts a.nd the breaking stro.in was reached, tb.e result of which was that the
lid gave way. From calculations a.nd from tests he bad
made of bhe obher pans he estimated that the pressure a.t
the time of the explosion was 45lh. on the square incb.
Mr. Shakespeare, on behalf of the Rubber Tyre Company, called one of the workmen, who statP.d tha.t sixteen
out of eighteen bolts were used on the day of the ex.
plosion.
Addressing the Court at the invitation of ~Ir. Howa.rd
Smith, Mr. Shakespeare urged that his clients had not
been guilty of negligencE', and he trusted the Commis
sioners in their judgemenb would confirm this. They
obtained wha.b they considered to be reliable machinery,
and although the men preferred, apparently, to work with
some of the pins not in position, he did not think it was &
matter for which the firm were to blame.
Mr. Howard Smith called attention to the fact that the
chief engineer, from his evidence, had seen the pan being
used without the hinge-pins in place, and ib was quite
competent for him to have threatened the m~n with diemiesal if they did not employ the full and necessary number of pins. He did not, however, do this, but contented
himself merely wibh calling bheir attention to the fact,
and then permitting it.
The Courb then ad journed till the following day, the
Commissioners in bhe meantime visiting the works and
makipg an examination of the exploded pan.
On the reassembling of the Court, Ivlr. Howard S mith
save judBment. H e went carefully over the main p oints
10 the eVldence which had been given, a.nd said the Oom
missioners were of opinion that proper measures had nob
been taken to ascertain the pressure ab which the vessel
could be safely worked. The actual cause of the explosion was the absence of certain bolts, the result of which
wa.a that undue strain was thrown upon the others. Io

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

OcT. 18, 1901.]

An~w~r

to questions put to the Court by the Board of

T rade, Mr. Howard Smith said the Commissioners were
of opinion that the pan was intended to be used ab a
pressure of 60 lb. per SCJ.Uare inch, whether steam was
admitted inside the origmal jacket or to the pan itself,
hub they considered t hat this pressure was much too
high to be safe, even assuming all the bolts were in
position and properly screwed up. Proper steps were
not taken when the pan was fixed, or at any subsequent time, to ascertai n the safe working pressure,
but it was assumed by the previous owners, Messrs.
Byrne. and afterwards by the Rubber T yre Company,
that 60 lb. was the pressure intended. No safety valve
had ever been fixed ; and with regard to the bolts, some
of these were overhauled last February, at which time
there was no reason to d oubt they were all in position.
b1r. L ong, the chief engineer, had, as far as he was able,
taken steps to ascertain th at the pan was being worked
under safe condi tions, but havitJg found that i b wa-s being
worked with some of the bolts deficient, be took no
p roper means to put an end to the practice. The attendant, Ed ward Griffiths, who fixed the lid, did not see that
all the bolts were in place and properly screwed up before
he applied the steam pressure. The Commissioners could
not say what this pressure was at the time of the explosion, but they were q uite certain that there was a great
deal more steam in the pan than there ought to have been.
The explosion wa~ directly caused by the neglect of
Gri ffith~. If that nob of negligence had been a. casual one,
they would have been inclined to say that the Rubber Tyre
Company was not responsible for it, since it was not to
be expected that they should have a man as superintendent of the work, and be perpetually standicg over him;
but they were of opinion that the neglect was persistent,
and in this respect they found the company responsible.
They regretted, further, to find the company to blame
apart from the notion or neglect of their employes. They
found that the company empfoyed some thirty rubber pans,
five steam boilers, and as many as 700 or 800 workpeople,
without ba.vini appointed any person to superintend the
eafe working of the machinery. Mr. Long was doubtless
a good workman, but in the judgment of the Court was
not competent for that duty. There was no real supervision or control, and the absence of this con t rol at least
contributed to the explosion. Therefore the Rubber Tyre
Manufacturing Company were to blame.
Mr. Shakespeare, speaking on behalf of his clients, at
the invitation of Mr. Howard S mith, urged, in mitigation
of the penalty, that the company had compensated the
persons who had been injured, and all claims had
been met.
!VIr. Gough said that the company had rendered the
Board of Trade every possiblEY assistance in the inquiry,
and he therefore only asked for half the costs. The total
expenses of the inq_uiry would be about 120l.
Mr. Howa.rd l:)mtth said that their remarks would have
been more severe had nob the corupany, since the exp!osion, done all in their power to make reparation, as Mr.
Shakespeare bad explained. The Rubber Tyre Company
must pay to the Board of Trade the sum of 60l. H e would
have been glad if the Court bad been able to take a somewhat less stringent view of the matter, but the neglect bad
certainly been of a serious nature.

SMALL SCRE\VS.
Small Screto Gauge. -Report of the British, A ssociation
C01nrnittee, consisting of Sir W. H. PREECE (Chairman),
Lord KELVIN, Sir F. J. BBAMWELL, Sir H. TRUEMAN
\Vooo, ~Iajor General ' VEBBER, Colonel WATKIN,
Lieut. -Colonel CROMPTON, A . STROR, A . L g NEVE
FOSTER,
J. HEWI'I'T, G. K . B. ELPHINSTONE, E .
Rtaa, C. V . BoY , J. ~IAR BALL GoRHAM, 0. P.
CLEMENTS, W. T AYLOR, D r. R T. G LAZEBROOK, and
W. A . PRICE (Secretary), Appointed to Consider bfeans
by wh,ich P1actwal E.ffect can be gitren to tke l_nt~odu~
tion of the Screw Gauge proposed by tke Assoctatton tn

c.

188 t

THE Committee report that the present condition of the

matter submitted to them is as follows:
In the report presented ab the meeting of. the Association which was held ab Bradford in 1900, tt was recommen'ded that the shape of the thre~d of the British
Association screw gauge for the use of Instrument makers
should be altered in t he following particulars for all screw~,
from .1. o. 0 toN o. 11 inclusive.
For Scrcws.-That the designating numbers, pitches,
outside d iameters, and the common angle of 47 ~ deg.
.remain unchanged j but that the top and bottom of the
thread shall be cybndrica.l, showing flats in section, and
that the depth of the t~read shall be ~creased by on~
tenth of the pitch, the dtameter of the sohd core bemg m
consequence diminished by one-fifth of the pitch.
For Nuts.-Thab the designating numbers, the pitches,
the diameters of the clear holes, and the common angle
of 47~ deg. remt~.in unchanged; but that the top and
bottom of the thread shall be cylindrical, showing flats in
sEc~ion , and that the depth
of the thread shall be increased
.
by one-tenth of the pttcb.
The effect of these alterations is as follows:
The threads of the screws and taps are of a very simple
form, being out with a single point tool or grinding wheel,
with straight sides and a flat top, and the top of the
th read is part of a cylinder. Though the form of the
bottom of the thread de pends on the correct grinding of
the end of the tool, g reat accuracy is unimportant, as the
screws and nuts do not come into conta.cb there.
The threads of the nuts and ring gauges will be accurate
in proportion as are the taps used to out them, the edge
of the thread forming the through bole being part of a
cylinder.
The actual differences between the screws and nu ts of
the old form and that recommend r d are so small that it is

believed the old stocks will in practice be interchangeable

LAUNCHES AND TRIAL TRIPS.
wi th the new screws, so that the amount of inconvenience
TaE screw steamer Battenball, wh ich bad been builb for
caused by the change will be exceedingly small.
The British Association aorew gauge ha~ been in use in the Lombard Steamship Company, Linited, of L ondon,
E ngland for seventeen years. Many firms in E ngland by the Blyth Sbipbuildtng Company, Limited, of Blytb,
have originated the threads and constructed gauges for was taken to sea to run her trial trip on Monday, the 7Gb
sale or for their own use, but the difficulty of p roducing inst. The vessel is 206 ft. in length, with a bea~ of 43f. ft.
them is great, and the market obtainable may have been Triple-expansion engines, with cylinders 22 m., .36 m .,
insufficient to induce them to perfect the processes neces- and 59 in. in diameter by 39 in. stroke, together With t wo
sary for making them a..courately interchangeable. In large steel boilers, have been fitted by the North-Eastern
short, the British Association screw gauge of 1884 was of Marine E ogineering Company, Limited, of Wallsend.
too oomplio1ted a form to allow of ita accurate realisation, Notwithstanding the heavy sea running, a good rate of
except ab a cost which has proved prohibitive.
speed wa.a obtained.
That very a-ccurate gauges with rounded threads can be
There was launched on Monday, the 7th inst., by
produced is nob disputed, but the difficulby of doing so
for small screws is very 6reab. The names of three firms Messrs. Roberb Stephenson and Oo., Limited, Hebburnin America, and of one m Germany, have been p roposed on-Tyne, a steel screw steamer, built to the order of
to the Committee as being competent, and probably Messrs. Weidner, Hopkins, and Co., Newcastle. The v~sel
willing, to undertake the production of gauges and tools is of the following dimensions: Length between perpendiof the rounded thread. The Birmingham Small Arms culars, 340 ft., by 47 ft. breadth, by 29 h . 10 in. moulded
Company, who produce interchangeable work on a very depth. The propelling machinery consists of a set of largelarge scale, and to a high degree of perfection, use only size triple-expansion engines, supplied with steam from two
round-topped screws, fitting all over, for bicycle work; single-ended boilers, working at a pressure of 165 lb. per
and Mr. Clements exhibited gauges used by that firm, sg_uare inch. T he machinery is being supplied by ~Ieadre.
illustrating his paper read before the Section ab Bradford. R10bardsons, W estgarth, and Co., Limtted, Sunderland.
This firm does not produce these gauges for sale. The The vessel is named the E lswick House. The guests,
A merican firm of Messrs. Pratb and Whitney have manu- before the launch, had an opportunity of inspecting the
factured a large number of sets of gauges and screwing progress of the large graving dock being made by the
tools for the English Government, but declined to submit> builders, which, on completion, will be the lar~esb on t he
these to the Committee on the ground that they were East Coast, being 700 ft. long by 90 fb. entrance by
nob sufficiently accurate to satisfy us. After long delay, 28 H. 6 in. draught on sill.
they submitted to us three specimens, which were
-Messrs. 'Vm. Simons and Co. , Limited, R enfrew,
reported upon by this Committee at the D over meeting.
Though the best we bad seen, they were distinctly inferior launched from their yard on Monday, the 7th inst., t he
to t he screws used in the ordinary micrometers purchas- first of six steam hopper barge3 under construction to the
able in tool shops, whi ch have threads of the character order of the Lords of the Admiralty, fol' service ab D evonwhich this Committee has recommended for adoption.
port.
The vessel is capable of carrying 600 tone of
While the round thread is only produced satisfactorily dredgings, and is propelled by one pair of compound
by a very few firms, who have made a. special study of surface-condensing engines and one steel cylindrical
this class of work, the Committee believe that the form boiler of sufficient> power to obtain a speed of 9 knots
of thread they have proposed can be made in any fairly- when loaded.
equipped tool-room ; and that this facility in producing
On Tuesday, the 8th inst., the single-deck screw steamer
or obtaining the necessary appliances must very greatly
encourage the maintenance of an accurate standard in Barendrecht, built by Meesrs. R. Cragga and Sons, of
small screws, to promote which has been the object in T ees Dockyard, Middlesbrough, for the Stoomvaarb
the view of the Committee. If, on the other hand, these M aatsoha.ppy de Ma.a.s, of Rotterdam, and having a
tools and gauges are very special, and perhaps costly, ap- capacity of about 5800 tons deadweight on a moderate
pliances, obtained only by the refined procesRes of certam draught, proceeded to sea for her official triale. The
fac&ories, their use in workshops will extend slowly. The veesel registered a speed of 10 knots. The machinery has
Committee aim ab pubting the matter on such a footing been supplied by Messrs. Ricbardsons, Westgarth, and
that the common everyday appliances in the bands of Co., Limited, of Hartlepool, having cylinders 24 in. ,
workmen shall be of a good order of accuracy, and this 38 in., and 64 in. in diameter by 42 in. stroke, steam being
is only possible if they are produced easily and cheaply.
supplied by two large single-ended boilers working ab a
It is n ob suggested by the Committee that the form of pressure of 160 lb. per square inch.
thread recommended is the best for all purposes and for
all sizes of screw[~, and they have expressly excluded sir.es
The trial trip of the s.s. J oh J eansson, recently launched
of screws below No. 11 British Association gauge, which by t he Irvine Shipbuilding and Engineering Coml>&ny,
are produced by pressure and nob by cutting. Their Limited, Irvine, took place on Wednesday, the 9th mst.,
recommendation applies only to the screws used in instru- with satisfactory results, a speed of 9! knots loaded being
ment-making and similar trad es for assembling parts, of attained on the measured mile, being half a knob in excess
which screws a large proportion, perhaps-95 per cent.- of the guaranteed speed. The vessel is 180 ft. between
are of bra.ss. Considerations affecting the use of screws perpendiculars, by 29 ft. by 13 fb. 6 in.. moulded. The
for other purposes have been put before the Committee, vessel has been built to the order of Kalmar Angkva.rns
especially by Mr. Clements in t he case of bicycle and gun Aktie-Holag, Kalmar, has a dead weight carrying capacity
screws, and by Mr. Taylor in the case of lens screws. of 800 tons, and has been specially designed to meet the
These have thrown suggestive light on t he question req uirements of the owners' Continental trade. The
before the Committee, and will be closely considered by machinery has been supplied by Messrs. M cKie and
them if reappointed.
Baxter, Glasgow, the engines being triple-expansion,
S ince the last r eport the Committee's proposals have having cylinders 15 in., 25 in., and 40 in. in diameter by
attracted mu ch attention, bnt no sets of gauges or tools of 27 in. stroke. Steam is suppli ed from a large steel boiler
the new thread have been submitted to them, and so far ab 160 lb. working pressure.
their recommendation has had no practical result. They
-are informed, however, that one firm of manufacturers in
On Monday, the 14th inst., there was launched by the
E ns land is occupied in producing tools aud gauges for Sunderland S hipbuilding Oompany, Limited, a steel screw
their own use, and if they succeed in producing them of steamer, 300 ftJ. between perpendiculars by 38 fb. by
satisfactory accuracy, will submit them to the Committee. 26 ft. 9 in. deep. The main engines are by the N orthMr. 0. P. Clements, the author of a pA.per on Ecrew Eastern Marine E ngineering Company, Limited, Sunderthreads used in bicycles, read before the Section ab Brad- land, and have cylinders 22 in., 36, in., and 60 in. in
ford, has been elected to the Committee.
diameter by 42 in. stroke, steam bemg supplied by two
Mr. W. Ta.ylor, who ha-s taken a. leadin~ part in the large boilers working at a pressure of 180 lb. per square
standardisation of the screws of pho~gra.pbtc lenses, and inch. The vessel ha~ been builb to the order of R. M.
has been in communication with the Committee, has also Sloman Junior's ~Iediterranean line. The steamer was
named Carrara.
been elected a. member.
D r. R. T. Glazebrook has been elected a member of
the Committee.
On M onday, October 14, Messrs. R. Craggs and Sons,
Corresp_ondence has passed between the Committee and Middlesbrough, launched a steel cargo steamer, 335 ft.
D r. R . T. Glazebrook. the Director of the National long, 48! fb. beam, and 24ft. deep. The machinery will
Physical L aboratory, respecting the examination of screw be fitted by Messrs. Rioha.rdsons, Westgartb, and Co.,
gauges, and the following arrangements have been made: Limited, Hartlepool, having cylinders 24 in., 38 in., and
The National Physical Laboratory will ~t;tdertake .to 64 in. in diameter by 42 in. stroke, steam being supplied
examine and to report upon gauges of the Bntl8h Assoma.- by two extra large single-ended boilers, 15 ft. 9 in. in
tion submitted to them.
diameter working ab a. pressure of 160 lb. to the square
The Committee hove applied the grant of 45l. made to inch. The vessel has been d esigned to afford a large cubic
them ab Bradford to the purchase of apparatus for the capacity and to carry about 5200 tons deadweigbtJ. She
examination of gauges by the National .Physical Labora- is being built to the order of the Dale Steamship Company,
tory, and have appoin ted Mr. C. V. Boys, Lient.-Colonel Limited (managers, Messrs. Lucas and Co. ), of Bristol,
Crompton. Dr. R . T. Glazebrook, Mr. W. A . Price, and and on leaving the ways was named Edale.
Colonel Watkin to be a subcommitteefor the expendibure
of the grant. The Committee are of opinion that the
previous grant of 45l., made in 1900, will be insufficient to
EuROPEAN PORTB.-In the course of last year 6414 ships,
purchase the necessary apparatus, and recommend their of an aggregate burthen of 6, 720,150 tons, entered the
reappointmen t, with a grant of 45l.
port of Antwerp; 2110 ships, of an aggregate burtben of
1,812,628 tons, arrived at Amsterdam; 7268 ships, of an
aggregate burthen of 6,580,0~)1 tons, ab Rotterdam; 3843
T RANS-ATLANTIC STEAM NAVJOATlON.-The E nglish ships, of a.n aggregate burthen of 2,494,050 tons, ab
lines of steamers to New York are stated to have suffered Bremen ; 13,102 snipE~, of an ag~regate burtben of
considerably from the competition of the Leyland steamers 8,037,514 tons, at Hamburg; 1475 sbtps, of an aggregate
now belongmg to American capitalists. F reights are very burthen of 1, 059,403 tons, at Bordeaux ; 1971 sbi ps, of an
low and there is no prospect of an improvement. The ~~regate burtben of 1,341,607 ton~ at Dunkirk; 2244
fall' from the maximum freights lately current ranges sh1ps, of an n~gregate burthen of 2,136,262 tons, at Havre;
from 15 to 40 per cent. The great Trans-Atlantic lines 4168 ships, of an aggregate bur then of 4, 630,599 tons, at
have enjoyed a period of prosperity during the last two Marseilles ; and 11,118 ships, of an aggregate burthen of
9,580,854 tonll, at L ondon.
years, hub a reaction has now set in.

LOcT. I g, I gor.

E N G I N E E R I N G.
IIVIPROVED RAPID GROUP-FLASHING
LIGHTS.*
By ALAN BREDNEn, B.So., M . Inst. C.E.
. W I'~H reference to th_e three main features of the lightnmg-~tght system for lighthouses, one of them, mercurial
rota.t10n~ wa.s proposed. by Fresnel in 1825; and another,
that a. hght produces 1ts full effect on the eye in onetenth of a. second, was experimentally de~rmi ned by
Mr. Swan in 1~49.. The third feature, the use of broad
panels, may, .m 1ts separate form, be ascribed to Mr.
~ Stevenson 1n 1855, or perhaps earlier. The oombina~1on of these three fea.tures in ~he lightning-light system
1s due to the late emment ohtef of the French Lightho~se Administration, ~I. E. Bourdelles, doubtless
a.sststed by_ other v~ry able French lighthouse engineers.
~hese engmeer3 latd down the rule, based on observatiOns a.t sea., that for every five seconds of time there ought
~o be at least one of the one-tenth second flashes. That
1s to sa.y,_ that the maximum period admissible in pracbioe
for the smgle-flash lightning-light should be five seconds ;
for the double-flash, 10 seconds ; for the triple-flash 15
seconds, a.~d so on. T?ey a-a~erted. similarly that ~uoh
group-fla.shmg oha.raotertst10s gtven m the stated periods
~ould satisfy .t~e requirements of seamen. The system
atms at obta.m~ng the m~ximum possible power, and
hence the m_axtmum po~~nble range, from a ny lightsource, magmfied by optical agents. Before the light-

two le nses, ~Ius 7.2, the divergence to give one-tenth

second duratiOn of flash a.t the given speed of rotation
plus a.~ angle of 3? deg. within which to raise or lowe~
the eohpser, .a.llowmg one-half seeond for this purpose.
Were such a b1 va.l ve apparatus placed in a.ligh thouse with
~ smaller dead a.ngle than 223.2, the character of the
hght would not be constant. Very few lighthouses, however, have so. ~a.rge a. landward arc as 223 deg., so tbat
the .opportumt1es of using the bivalve apparatus with
undtvided apparatus a.re extremely rare.
To overcome the difficulties inseparable from the singleb~m or double beam apparatus combined with an eolipser,
'Yh10h, . alone or alon~ with a. reflector, cuts off all the
hght Slmulba.neously, 1t occurred to the author to use a.
complete .subdivided eolipser of two or more parts, ea.oh
mo~a.ble mdependently of the others, along with a.n
optt~al apparatus of two or more sides.
'fhis system
requues a screen of two ~arts for a. bivalve apparatus,
one of three pa:rts for a. t~tla.tera.l a.ppa.ra11us, and so on ;
each. lens or s1de of opttcal apparatus having a. screen
spec1al~y attached to and revolving with ib. Each partial
screen 1s made to totally eclipse, when shut, the beam of
~h~ corresponding lens.
All the group-flash charaoterlStiOs ca.n thus be obtained with any one of the bivalve
trilateral, quadr~la.teral, or &o. arrangements, and th~
flashes can be gtven .more co~pactly tha~ one per five
seconds of total penod req u1red by the lightning-light
system.
By combining the lightning-light principle with the

menta of power over the pla.in lightning-light group-flash

beams:9.3 per cent. for the double flash (excess of 164 deg. over
150 deg.) ;
46.4 per cent. for the triple flash (excess of 164 deg
over 112 deg.);
82.2 per cent. for the quadruple flash (excess of 164 deg.
over 90 deg. ) ;
127.7 per cent. for the quintuple flash (excess of 164 deg.
over 72 de g.) ;
173.3 per cent. for the sextuple flash (excess of 164 deg.
over 60 deg. ).
The ~oreg~ing figures, however, must be modified if
oompar1son IS made of the different combinations designed
to revol ve within a Ja.ntern of given diameter. Thus the
appax:atus of Figs. 1, 2, a.nd 3 require a larger spa.ce to
turn m tha.n the apparatus of Fig. 6. Hence apparatus
of focal length greater than that shown in Fig. 6 by ~-~
u
. h
aa
w~ turn m t e space required by the combinations of
FJgs. 1, 2, a.nd 3 ; and the power of the apparatus, Fig. 6,
would be raised by {~~ ) 2, or by 1.34. The forenamed
advantages of 9.3, 46.4, and 82.2 thus become 47.2 97.
a.nd 145. The combinations, however, of Fi~Z~ 4 a~d 5
turn in lees ~pace than tba.t of Fig. 6. Hence the
previous figurAs of 127.7 and 173 3 wonld be reduced to
101 and 83. When, therefore. apparatus turning in equal
spaces are o~msidercd, the enhancements of power of the

LIGHTNING LIGHT APPARATUS .

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TRIPLE

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QUADRUPLE FLASH .

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Fig. 7.

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SIXTUPLE FLASH

.J.

QUINTUPLE FLASH .

SUB-DIVIDED ECLIPSER APPARATUS.

81 - VALVE .

ALL GROUP F LASH CHARACTERISTICS

ning-light system came out, the author had frequently

urged the desirability of using wider panels than those
in current use, notably in 1890, when he proposed the
use of trilateral apparatus: a beautiful, and probably the
first, example of which was to be seen last year exhibited
in Paris by MM. Ba.rbier and Benard. The trilateral
apparatus was proposed by the author as the most powerful one capable of being rotated within a. lantern of
given diameter.
In 1898 Mr. Purves proposed the use of a. revolving
single-beam apparatus, 180 deg. of lens and 180 deg. of
mirror combined with an eolipser, which seemed to promise an improvement on the lightning-light system
without eolipser. There are, however, one or two drawbacks to this combination. Thus the light returned from
the mirror through flame and lens suffers great loss; so
that, instead of giving a. beam of twice the power of the
unaided lens in front, it only gives an additiOnal power
of one-third when an oil burner is used, and still less
with any semi-opaque light-source. Again, this apparatus
gives only on~;} flash per revolution. For the high speed
of one revolution tn five seconds, it gives the doubleflash group in 20 seconds, instead of 10 seconds as required by the lightning-light system. Doubtlesfl, by
using a burner of rather more tha.n twice the usual size,
and by increasing the speed to one revolution in 2i
seconds, the desired double-flash in 10 seconds can be
obtained. But this involves excessive size of burner,
and exoe~sive speed. Mr. Purves proposed also a. bivalve
apparatus combined with a single complete eclipser. This
apparatus, for a. speed of. one revolution in 5 se~onds,
will give the double-flash m 10 seconds. Bub thiS arrangement can only give satisfactory results a.t stations
where the dark a.ro is upwards of about 223.2. This angle
is composed of 180 d eg., the angle between the axes of the
----* Paper read before the International Engineering
Congress, Glasgow, 1901.

Hopkinson system of group-flarsh lights, the power of

these has been greatly increased. The author now ~re
poses to show that, by aid of the complete subdiv1ded
eolipser, the power of the lightning-light group-flash oa.n
in turn be very notably increased. It is admitted that
in a. group-flash characteristic the groups are sufficiently
separated by an eclipse three times longer than the eclipse
occurring between contiguous flashes of a group. Figs. 1
to 5 represent the most powerful lightning-light groupflash optical apparatus obtainable for double, triple, quadruple, quintuple, and sextuple groups of flashes. In these
diagrams dotted lines represent the axes of the flashes,
heavy straight lines the inner sides of the dioptric lenses,
and curved lines passing through the apexes of the obtuse
angles of the oatadioptno prisms represent the catadioptric
portions of the lenses. Allowing that the mirrors shown in
diagrams 1 and 2 give one-third increase of power to the
opposite angles of lens, the effective horizontal angles of
the lenses are seen to be 150 deg., 112 deg., 90 deg.,
72 deg., and 60 deg., for the double, triple, quadruple,
quintuple and sextuple groups respectively.
Fig. 6 represents a bivalve optical apparatus of the
same prin01pal focal length as the apparatus of Fig~. 1
to 5, combined with a screen divided into two parts. The
effective angle of either lens in Fig. 6 is 164 deg. This
angle is not carried to 180 deg., because the partial screens
require to overlap in order that each, when closed, may
out off entirely the light from the corresponding lens.
On this account, optical agents placed in the extreme
angles would be useless. By inserting, however, small
fixed screens in the blank angles of 16 deg., besides using
overlapping partial eolipsers, two lenses of 164 deg. effective angle are available. This bivalve apparatus can give
all the group-flash characteristics. The sa.me luminaries
being used in a.ll the optical combinations of Figs. 1 to 6,
the powers arA pra.otioally proportional to the effective
angles. Hence the beams with the bivalve appamtus
with eubdivided ecl}pser have the following enhance-

TRILATERAL .
ALL GROUP FLASH CHARACTERISTICS

b~valv~ subdivided-eolipser apparatus over the plain ligbt-

nmg-hgbt group-flash apparatus become:47.2 per oenb. for the double flash
97. 0
,
,
triple flash
145.0
,
,, quadruple flash
quintuple fla-sh
101.0
,
,
83.0
,
,
sex tuple fla-ah.
~n Fig: 7 a trilateral apparatus with 3-part subdivided
eolipser IS ehown, of focal length such as to turn in the
spaoe.required by the bivalve apparatus of Fig. 6. The
effeottve angle of lens available is now 106 deg. out of
120 deg. When the power of the beams of such a tril~tera.l. ap~ara.tus is compared with that of the plain
hghtmng-lighb group. flash apparatus capable of rotating
in the same lantern, it is found that the advantage of the
former over the latter amounts to:85.7 per cent. for the double flash
148. 'i
,
,
triple flash
,,
, , quadruple flash
209.0
,
,
quintuple flash
156.2
,
,
sextuple flash
138.0
The foregoing comparisons a.re applicable with sufficient
practical aoournoy for all orders of apparatus.
A suitable speed of. rot~tion for the apparatus of Fig. 6
would be one revolutton m 5 seconds. Supposing ib to
be of the third order, the burner sufficient to gt.ve a. general
mean divergence of 7.2 deg., or a. flash of one-tenth
second, would be the ordinary four-wick burner of 90
millimetres diameter, or the improved Trinity five-wiok
burner. The quadruple flash would then be delivered
thus :-flash 0.1 sec., eclipse 2.4 sec., flash 0.1 sec., eclipse
2.4 sec., flaah 0.1seo., eclipse 2.4 seo., long eclipse 7.4 seo. ;
total period 15 seconds.
The trilateral appa.~atus of Fig. 7 may revolve once in
6 seconds, and the ordmary five-wick burner of 110 millimetres diameter, or the corresponding improved Trinity

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

OcT. 18, 1901.J

B.REBNER'S ECLIPSING MECHANISM FOR LIGHTHOUSES.

Fi1J.8.
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re rrules Uv betweellJ.

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SECTIONAL PL.AN

FOCAL.

THR

PL.AN .

em.a.-

Screerv

Brebner's eubdividP.d eclipsing mechanism fitted to two.sided apparat~1s for producing double-flashing cho.racterisLics as
ft~llow :Flash

1JtJ second.

Eclipse .. 2,'\r ,.
Flash
..
tn ,.
Eclipse . . iT" "
The whole do, lJle fl aehin~ characteristic being presented in each successive period of 10 seconds. The apparatus makes
one complete revoluliion in 6 seconds.

burner, will amply snffioe to give a. flash of one-tenth of a

second. Tbe quadruple flash will now be given thus:flash 0.1 sec., eclipse 1.9 sec., flash 0.1 sec., eclipse 1.9 seo.,
flash 0 1sec., eclipse 1.9 seo., flash 0.1seo., eolipse5.9sec.;
tota.l period 12 sec. If the apparatus of Fig. 3 were made
to revolve once in 12 sec. wioh the same fi ve-wick burner,

given diameter, placed on a. tower of gtven dtameter, a.

trilateral Pubdivided-eclipser apparatus could be lodged,
giving a light three times :t;nor~ po~erfu~ than could be
obtained from the best plam hghtmng-bghb apparat~~
that could be lodged in the ~ame lantern. Further, th1s
flash of triple power (for it has been shown to b~ 209 per
cent. higher) is delivered on a.n average once m 3 sec.,
permitting of bearin~s being taken perfectly well. An
excellent first.order hght, in two group~ of fou r pa.nelP,
ba.s lately been started ab Pendeen It gtves a. quadru ple
flash every 15 sec., somewhat a.s followd :-Flash 0.5 sec.,
eclipse 1.83 sec., flash 0.5 sec., eo1ipse 1.83 sec., flash
0.5 sec., eclipse 1.83 se9. , flas~ 0.5 sec.,, ecli.pse 7.5 sec. A
t rilateral apparatus w1th eohpsera will gtve aboub th~ee
times more power than the Pendeen apparatus, reducmg
the duration of flash to .17 sec. The optioa.l apparatus
will, indeed, cost more, hub n ob the tower, dwellmgs, &c.
Consequently, a complete view of all the oircumstanceE~,
in the au bhor's opimon, shows that in the a.ppara.tu j
represented in Fig. 6, and more especially in that shown
in Fig. 7, there lies a.n improvement important to seamen and appropriate to a time of accelerated speed in
ships.
Ib must not be deduced from anything in this paper
that the author advocates the use of apparatus of novel
focal lengtha; hub it may be noted thall, instead of comparing with the apparatus generally used, others of greater
power, involving no extra. cost for lantern and tower, it
is sometimes better to compare them with others of equal
power tha.b can bA u:~ed with tower and lantern of
diminished cost. Each particular case ca.n be efficiently
treated by the optical engineer. The foregoing ad vanta.~es obtainable from the subdivided eclipser system are
substantially real in practice as well as in theory, although
it may be necessary in some oases to modify the fi~ures
given, which are intended to illustrate the general situation concisely. Full details re~arding all orders of apparatu~ would exceed the scope of this paper, hub the auohor
will have much pleasure in giving fu rther information to
anyone desiring it.
In regard to the working of the eclipser?, trials have
been and are being made by Messrs. Ohance Brothers and
Co. with a. view of obtaining a. smoothly working a.nd
thoroughly reliable mechanism. There is no longer a.ny
doubt that such can be obtained. A drawing, or a mode),
of the complete apparatus and eclipser mechanism wiH
be shown a.t the meeting of the Congress.
I TALIAN RAILWAYS.- The total length of line in operation in I taJy ab the close of 1899 was 9886i miles. The gross
revenue increased six per cent., as compared with 1898,
but the ratio of the working expen se.~ to the traffic
receipts was as high as 71 per cent. The neb return
realised upon the capital expended was only 1. 70 per cent.
per annum, a.nd the State had to make considerable advances in fulfilment of interest guarantees.

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

--t-

fla~h in a third- order a.ppara.tua, makin~ one turn in

12 sec. B ut the comparison shows tJh~t tn a ,lantern of

the oha.raoteristio would be :-Flash 0.32 sec., eclipse

1.68 sec., flash 0.32 sec., eclipse 1.68 sec., flash 0.32 s~ c. ,
eclipse 1.68 sec., flash 0.32 sec., eclipse 5.68 sec.; total
pertod 12 sec. This is no longer a lightning-light cha.ra{}teristic, and the three-wick instead of the five-wick
burner is quite capable of giving the one-tenth of a. second

T HE INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS.-'l'he council of

the Instioution of Civil Engineers have, in addition to the
medals and prizes given for communications discussed at
the meetings of the Ins titution in the last session, made
the following awards in respect of other papers dealt with
in 1900-1901: A Telford medal and a Telford premium to
Reginald Pelha.m Bolton (New York) ; a. W a.tt medal and
a. Telford premium to J. Emerson Dowson (London); a.
George Stephenson medal and a. Telford premium to
W. T. 0. Beckett (Calcutta.); a. Ma.nby premium to E. K.
Scott (London); a Trevithiok premium toT. A. Bearson,
R.N. (L ondon); a. Telford premium to J. A. W. Peacock
(Ta.nta.h, Lower Egypt). For students' papers the awards
a.re: A Miller scholarship (tenable for three years) and
the "Ja.mes Forrest " medal to E. V. Clark, B.Sc.
(London); Miller prizes to C. E. Inglis, B.A. (London ) ;
H. E. Wimperis, B.A. (Cambridge); J. L. Cridia.n
(London); F . K. Peach (London); G. H. Whigha.m
(Glasgow); F. Taylor, B. A. (Manchester); A. C. Walsh
(N ewcastle-on-Tyne) ; a.nd H. 0 . J ones (Manchester).
FRENCH Goons WAGONS.-The French railway companies have nob of late }ears improved their rolling stock
to any degree, a.nd old hea~y wagons, carrying only
6 to 7 tons, are still in use. Until very la tely the best
type of wagons in service on the Eastern of France Railway Company for the transport of heavy goods, such a.s
iron ore, coal, coke, granite, &c. , carried 10 tons only .
Occasionally one would come across a few flat wagon~
mounted on three axles or even on bogies, and capable of
taking 30 tons; but this was an exception. Progress, howeyer, is n<?w. reported in the case ?f the compan~ in questlon, and 1t IS stated tha.b they wtll shortly pub m service
2300 platform wagons of a. new type and of 15 ton~
ca.pacit>y. The frarue is of steel throughout, 23 ft. in
length, with two u nderfra.mes, joined a.t ends by headstooks; the whole strengthened by intermediate stays,
corner plates and gussets. The frame rests on two axles
placed 12 ft. 3~ in. from centre to centre ; a. hand brak~
acts on one wheel only. The flooring of the oar body
consists of oak planks 2 in. thick, and is 202 square feet
in area.. The dead weight of the oar is 6~ tons, the proportion between the bare and useful load being therefore
450 per 1000, a better state of things than that which
rules on most of t he other French rail ways. Besides
these, the company will soon put in service 2200 highsided cars for coal carrying. The inside oa.pa.city will be
850 oubio feet. The flooring of these cars will also be
made of oak planks 2 in. thick ; the sides are to be built
up of deal feather- edged planks 1tlr in. thick. The brake
will be similar to that of the platform cars. The dead.
weight of the oa.r is approximately 7~ tons; the useful
load-with coke-will be 20 tons, giving a. proportion of

373 per 1000 between tare and useful loads.

566

[OcT. 18,

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

1901.

end of each of the sections, into which the plain ends of the sec
GAS ENGINES, PRODUCERS, HOLDERS, &c.
tions fit, the joint being ~ade good by cement. The conduit
~ay be made o~ ceme~t, or cemen t having wire netting or wires
16,627. C. D. Abel, London. (Panhanl. Oomptmy, Paria. )
1mbedded t berem, or 1t may be of iron. The crosssection of t he
conduit may be plain on the interior, or may be provided with Explosion Motor&. [8 Figs.] September 18, 1900.- Tbe
" lanterns " of t he admi98ion valves and tbe covers of the
COMPILED BY
LLOYD WISE.
exhaust valves a r e fitted on the valve boxes in pairs, and each
BRI.JCTED ABBTR.A<11'8 OF REOENT PUBLIBliBD BPEOIFIO.lTIONB
pair is held by a crosshead secur ed by a bolt, in order to faoili

"ENGINEERING" ILLUSTRATED PATENT

RECORD.

w.

. ..

UNDER THE AOTB OF 1888-1888.

The number of views given in the Specificati.on Drawi'll{JS is stated
in each ca.se ; where none are mentioned, the Specifo;ation is
not illustrated.
Where inventions are communicated jrrrm abroad, the Names,
&:c., of the Oommuniootors are given i7l italics.
Copies of Specifications may be obtained at the Patent OJfice Sale
Branch, S5, Southampton Buildings, Olu11ncery-lane, W.C., at
the uniform price of 8d.
The date of the advertisement of the acceptance of a Complete
StJecifiM.ti()'tl is, in each case, giVe?l after the abstract, unle8s the
Patent ha.s been sealed, when the date of sealing is giVe?l .
..4 ny person mav, at any time within two months from the date of
the advertisement of the acceptance of a Complete Specification
give notice at the Patent Office of opposition to the g1a11t of C.:.
Patent on any of the grounds mentioned in the Acts.

EIECTRICAL APPARATUS.
internal longitudinal ribs, or may be divided internally by means
13,538. J. G. Lorraln, London. (P. C. Bu1ns, Chicago, of longitudinal partitions. It ribs 1ue formed, t hey may be so
l ll. , .u.s..A.) Curre~t Arreatera. [7 Pigs.] July 27, 1900. arranged that they serve to partly partition off or keep apart

- TbJS "current -arrestmg or deflecting apparatus for strong and several cables, which may be placed in one and the same conduit.
'sneak ' c urrents of continuing duration" comprises a coil which is (Accepted August 14, 1901.)
rigid when cold, but which readily bends when warm, and one

13,901. A. Wrtght, J. R. Dick, and the Reason

Manufacturing Company, Limited, Brighton. De

mand Indicators. [7 Pigs. ] August 2, 1900.-In electrical
d emand indicators of the kind in which r elative motion between
a liquid and a solid produces a mark upon that part of t he solid

tate the dismount ing and inspection of t he valveP. The exhaust

valve rods are guided by double forks embracing the camshaft on
each side of the cam, t he camshaft heing enclosed in a sheath
open to the crank casing, so a~ to insure the lubrication of the
shaft and bearings. (Accepted .August 7, 1901.)

16,467. C. D. Abel, London. (Panhard Company, Paris.

Explosion Motor-Charging Valves. (3 Figs.] Septem

IJ.S38

ber 15, 1900.-ln order to equalise the speed of motorcar explo

sion engines, according to this invention the cbargiag valve is
adapted to be cont rolled by tbe speed governor, and comprises a

end of which is engaged by a conducting spr ing that disengages

and breaks circuit when t be coil becomes sufficient ly heated by
current to bend under the influence of the pre98ure of the said
spring. The glass cover stops the coil should the sprin~r cause it
to be t hrown out of place. Contributory devices are provided.
(.Accepted August 7, 1901.)

13,539. J. G. Lorraln, London. (P. 0. Burn-s, Chicago,

I ll., U.S..A.) Current Arrester& and Alarms. [7 Figs.)

July 27, 1900.-In this current arr ester, somewhat of the kind which has been immersed in t he liquid, the depth of immersion
described in the Specification No. 13,538 of 1900, the spring is b.earing a c~rt!lin relat.ion to the demand ; according to this inven
tton the sohd JS corrodtble or soluble, and the liquid is corrosive or
S?lvent, but preferably not. so corrosi~e or solvent as to appre
CJably mark or entirely d1ssolve the 1mmersed portion of the
solid in less than a reasonable time. (Accepted August 14, 1901.)

The Edi.son Ore Mtlltng Syndicate, Ll

mtted, London. (T. .A. Edison, Llewellyn Pcvrk, N.J., U.S ..A.) piston moving in a cylinder having lateral holes of graduated
Magnetic Concentrators. [4 Figs.) Augus t 10, 1900.-0na size, t he piston as it is moved in the cylinder covering a nd un
14,354.

a rrangement of an ore concentrator according to this invention covering a less or greater number and area of these holes, so
cc;>mprises a belt having an outstanding flexible edging, and run as to vary the admission of gaseous mixture to the cylinder of
ntog over a magnet pulley capable of producing a. strong mag- the motor. (Accepted Attgust 7, 1901.)
netic field along the middle of that part of t he belt which part ly

1.1

arranged in relation to a contact and alarm circuit in such

manner that when the " beat coil, fli es out and the circuit to be
protected is interrupted, an alarm is sounded. (.Acceptec:l.Atl{JUBt
7, 1901.)

G. Green, Bezhtll, and E. J. Booper,

London. Explosion Englne Valves. [2 Pigs.] August
14,348.

10, 1900.- ln explosion engines and according to t his inven

tion the admission valve for the combustible is distinct from
t he air-admission valve, but is a rranged in th e passage tbrou~ h
which t he air flows to tbe said air-admi98ion valve and in positive
connection therewith in such a manner that when the air valre
opens the gas valve is correspondingly opened to allow the com

P. Loescher, Charlottenberg, Germany.

High-Tension Fuses. [1 Fig.] July 8, 1901.-ln the fuse
13,577.

according to this invention t he fuse wire, which is kept under

tension from one or both ends, passes ~hrough the straight limbs
of a Ttube, whose outstandin~ limb is left open. The tube is
encircles the pulley. Ore Is fed to the sides only of t he belt at a rate
approximately equal to that at which the belt travels. When the
ore is brought by t he belt within the influence of the ma~netic
pulley, centrifugal force t hrows off the nonma.gnetic material,
whilst the magnetic particles a re d1awn towards t he centre of
the belt a nd are carded round and d ischaged when beyond the
influence of t he ma~net. (.Accepted .Augu st 14, 1901.)

1!_,001. J. P. Ball, Oldham.

Motor Switch.
[S Jligs.] October 10, 1900.-An automatic break switob for use

with electromotors, and having a liquid contact, comprises means

!or holding the sw~toh arm out of ~ontact and other means operat
tng eleotromagnettcally and oppostng those first-named for hold
ing th e switch arm in contact while current continues to flow.

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

_____ ., __

bustible t o escape and mingle with t he air passing into t he cylinder t hrough the air valve. An a rrangement which, it is stated, ha9
been found to give good results in p ractice consists in placing t he
etems of t he air and gas valves at a n angle to each other and con
neoting th e two stems by a bell-crank lever, so that any motion of
one valve is communicated to the other. If the two valve stems
a re parallel or substantially parallel, a simple lever pivoted between the two stems and en~aging at its ends with t he said stems
may be employed. (.Accepted .Attgust 14, 1901.)

----

GUNS AND EXPLOSIVES.

17.'181. R. Fiedler, BerUn. Smoke Shells. Ootober 6,

filled around the ends of the wire with granulated fireproof insulating material. When ~he fuse burns out at its. middle, t~e
arcing ends are snatched JOto the granulated matertal, and t hts,
coupled with the explosive effor t produced by the sudden heating
of the air in the tube, is, it is stated, sufficient to extinguish the
arc. (Accepted A.ugust 7, 1901.)

E. J. Kiss, Budapest, Hungary. Cable

Conduit. [5 Figs. ] Ootobet 10, 1900.-A conduit for electric

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

1900. - In order to p rovide smokeless shells with a smoke-pro

ducing substance so t hat the point at which the shell bursts may
be easily observed from th e fi ring battery, or for the making of
small shells to be used for the production of a smoke screen in
front of an enemy's position ; amorphous (red) phosphorus is
added to the shell, preferably being mad e up in cartridge form
and surrounded by explosive. It is stated that the substance
mentioned is very suitable for t he purpose, as it producea a
white smoke of g reat density, and may safely be used, because
it is unaffected by concussion or by t emperatur es below 250 deg
Oent. (.Accepted J1 ugust 14, 1901.)

18,006.

cables according to t his invention comprises a t ubular casing

provided with a longitudinal elot t hrough which t he cable may
be inser ted. The slot has a cover fl tted and p rojeotinS" over and
bt-yond the edge of the conduit and secured in posttion by a
filleting of cement. Tbe conduit may be made in sections, and
the sloli may extend the whole of the length of each section. Tbe
sections are advant ageously joined up by so<'kets formed at one

When t he switch is to be used to out t h e motor out on a cessation of current so that it cannot star t automatically, t he electro
magnet is energised by the main current; but when it is intended
for use as a safety out.out against excessive load or potential an
additional device is used which breaks the derivation circuit of
the magnet on the occurrence of a ny such excess. (.Accepted
A ugttbf 14, 1901.)

UNITED STATES FATENTB AND FATBNT FRAOTIOE.

Descriptions with illustrations of inventions patented in the
United States of America from 1847 to the present time, and
reports of t rials of patent law cases in the United States, may be
consulted, gratis, at t he offices of ENotNRERINO, So and 86, Bedford
street, Strand .