7/23/2019 Engineering Vol 56 1893-12-01

1/31

THE DEVELOPMENT OF SOUTH

AFRICAN RAILWAYS.

(Cont inued f rom page

599. )

. WE

ha

Ye

shown

in

a previous article th

at

the cost

of construction in the Cape Colony for single lines

has varied

fr

om a maximum of 15,334l. (Alicedale to

G

rahamst

own) to a

minimum

of 5993l. (Malmesbury

line), the average cost between 8000l. a

nd

9000l. per

mile, and tha.t the average cost in Natal has been

11,153l.,

or

very

nea

rly

the same amount

(10,649l.)

~

I

E N G I N E E RI N G.

eve rything

into consider

a

tion, it

seems

that

future

Basut

o

land, Bechuanaland,

and

Zululand, as

well

exte

nsions and

feeders

s

hould

be built for a s

um

n

ot

as

the central

pr

otectorates, are

not included in this

exceeding 5000l . per mile, in all cases where neither Table, as

they ha

ve no railway interests at present,

la rge ri

vers nor

imp

ort ant hills

or mountains

have and

their

imports and ex ports are more or less

to be d

ea

lt with, and in a

ll

four Gove

rnment systems included in

those of

th

e older colonies. The Table

this will generally be

th

e case in-

the

future. shows that progres s has been on the whole con-

The source of traffic on South African railways

tinued,

though gradual, in both the South African

has so far b

ee

n

principally

conn ected with the colonies. The superiority

of

Natal,

due

to geogra

mineral

w

ealth

of

the

country.

The

vast

majority

phical position, as

an

outlet

for the Transvaal, hHs

of

th

e passenge rs and goods transported have been been assisted by the

relatively

lower duties l

evied

so

far directly or

indirect ly connected

with

the two

1

on

imp

orts thro

ugh

that colony

(5l. to 10l.

per cent.

1.126

249

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li.

FCFI

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b

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+ + - H - H H - H - + 4 - H H - H - - H ~ O D O

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t+t:t:tt::t:ttijjtttlitjj

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t i \ f

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ra -,

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t - t - + + + + r . a ~

~ ~ r ~

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- + - ~ ~

~

~ ~ ~ t i j ~ j

c I l l

...,

7tJ4. N.

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I 350

1

000

1

1

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l a lo

t:l, i r; r

~ H ~ ~ 4 M 4 ~

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I

Alilli

o11 -,

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f . - 1 1 5 0 , 0 0 ( )

-

;

I \ i

1.

11'

1

1

i ~ o ooo

..

ctd valorem),

and

the traffic on its railway system

enhanced

t hereby.

The profits derived fr om the traffic (omitting

tJ:ous.

ofMi l f

12

0 , .

...... (t

rs

]

Jlf 56

7 8 3. <

56

1 8 t/ 23

Rate per Ton per

Mile up

to

Ye

a

as

that

of lin es belonging to

the

Cape eastern syste m

(exclusive of the t wo junction lines), which re

semb

le th em

cl

ose

ly

in

charact

er.

In

criticising

th

e :past cost

it

mu st be remembered that

the

ground covered

by

the lines h

as

included a large

proport ion on all

th

e s ys

tems

of heavy wo

rk,

both

1n surmounting intervenincr

ran

cres of hills and

0 0

mountams, as well as in crossing

the

la rger

riv

ers

of South Africa. (Orange,

Vaal,

&c.), so th at

future

wo

rk

need n

ot

be so h ea

vy

.

Th

e causes of

the

relatively heavier cost of th ese lines hav e been

su fficient ly pointed out in a previous article. The

Kl\roo and Kalakari por tio

ns

of

th

e lin es

cost

under

6 0 0 ~

a mil e (exclusive of rolling stock), and th e

porh

r

ns most r

ece'"l

tly eve n hss Taking

80

o

great mining cent res in

the

interior (Kimberley and

J

ohannesberg). Apart fr om the above, th e o

nly

other impo

rtant article

of

export

affecting th e rail

way traffic has been wool.

The

South African

popu

lation, apart

from

mining, is chiefly engaged in

past

ora

l and

agricultur

al

pursuits, and,

therefore,

not given to travelling, and relative

ly to the

area

of the country, even including "the dusky elements

thereof, is

small. Their products

and

r

eq

uire

m

ents are

also

limit

ed,

so

that in

no

r e

spect

wo

uld

th

ey contribute largely to railway traffic.

Th e general pr ogress of

th

e South

African

colonies

fr

om 1

854

to the p res

ent

t

ime

h

as

been ,

ho\vevcr , n s i d

r ~ b l

as will be seen fr om the

b } f ~ wlich we giv e on page 657.

Colony. Class.

Ca

pe . . First

I

. . Second

1

"

. .

Third

Na tal

. .

Third

"

"

.. Second

. . FirRt

Description .

Fa

n

cy

and

manufa

c

tured

stuff ~ o o d s , furniture,

&o. . .

Manufactu

r

ed ar

t ic

les

colonial

and e i g ~

produ

ce,

&c. . . . .

Raw ma terials, minerals

frui t for export, &o. . :

(Subst

antially sa.me

a.s

Ca.pe first class) . .

Do. Do.

Do. Do.

33(1 400 Be

Miles. Miles. yond.

d . d. d .

6 6i 5 .

0. 21 0.23 0.20

0,09 0.089 1 0.086

6

any distance

61

Do

.

t

5 Do . t

* W

it

h r

ebate of 15, 20 ,

and

83

per cent. for O

rang

e F

re

e S ta

te

and Tr a

ns

vaal tr affic.

. t

t a g : e h a ~ ta ken sup elior geographical position

tn f ramtng t hiS tar1ft' (

=C a

p e t.hlrd C'lass ), but SUujeot t o rebate

or

oO

per c

en t

. for

tr

a

ffi

c.

7/23/2019 Engineering Vol 56 1893-12-01

2/31

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

[DEc. r, 1893

s of position and management) depend

rate of tolls ; second, cost of fuel and

The

tolls on the

South African colonial

are shown on the

pr

evious page.

The cost of fuel and materials has been already

beds

in reducing

the

locomotive expenses on Cape this coal = 1

ton

of South Wales steam coal. The

railways, and the

eastern

system providing acce&s results obtained from Tudwe coal are superior to

to them was eagerly pushed forward to completion the above, both in thickn ess of seams (4 ft . 6 in .) ,

for t

his

express

purpose,

but the result has

be

en, on Iand

in

quality (1f tons Tudwe = 1 ton English), bu t

the whole, disappointing.

The

Cyphergit Mine,

the want

of rail way communication has so far, by

I

TEMS

~

EXPEN

DITV

Hl

L-

-

1 - 1 - l - + ~ + - + + + - + - l l - l - 1 - + + - h + - + - 1

r r a G

15 L.N.

1 - 1 - 1 - + ~ + - + + + - + - l i - I - 1 - +

A - . O

1 2 2 M.W.

I - H f - H r t - 1 H - t + + + - H - l l 5 ,

/GO L .E.

"

IJililr

;;

;.

" v

1770

1--1 . ,

I

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-

-

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Fig.10

T l

I

T

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s d

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1'

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18

Mil.

18Mi

.

14Mil

.

/2Mil.

8M

il.

GMi/.

o/

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..;...+.,

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2M

il

.

160

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11

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TT

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Il

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,

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.

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,...

1 - + - + + + - l

- ~ - H -

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Bp

c

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fi

1.n.s

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24378,012

rJ

7,t

7

54.

517 w

Mll .

7pc

1-

f-

f-

f-

11-

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G

\I..

Mil . Gp

c

818,898M.

820,

419N

.

1

r

;

I

,

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I

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11

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t

.,

I

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:

li

5

Mi/.

5pc

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f - H i - 4 4 - ~

; rr

4

rli l.

4pc ~

1 - H I - H - H + + + + - H r r . t

3,633,85U .

3

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+ffi-

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a

Mil .

2

pc

1 - H - -

~ ~ + - H - - H - ~ ~ - ~

I//

on

IpcM

I

F.lt.

Ftinftes

Ta.usend .

Mit

1741 Figu ren , 242 Ta.bellen, und

za.

hl

rei

che

n Beispiele

n. Du

sseldo

rf

: L .

Schwann.

[ Price

10

ma

tk

s,]

L

OCO

MO

TIVE

AT

THE

'VORLD'S

CO

LO

MBIAN

EXPOSITION.

TnE Canadian Pacific R 'lilway sent to t he

\Vorld

'd

Col um b ian Expo3

ition

a. \ery

handso

me ves

tibul

e train

drawn by

the

locomot ive which we illust rate on pages

662 and G63.

I t

runs on six co

upled

wheels 5 ft. 9 in.

in diameter , and a four-wheeled truck . Th e cy linders

are

J

9 in. in d iamet er

by

24 in. s

troke

, and stand

7

f t. 2 in. aput , ct-ntre to centre. The

dr

ivi ng wheel

base

is 13ft .

3

in. and th e rigid wheel base 6 ft . 9 in,

th

e lead ing pair of driving wheels be in g flangeless to

r

ende

r the passage of

curves

m

ore easy

.

The

truck

wh eel base is 5 ft. 3 in . , and

th

e

to:a

l wheel base

22

ft.

10 in. The boiler is of l

arge

s i

7.e

, th e hea tin g

su rface bein g- in

the

tu be3, 1300.9 square feet ; in

the firebox, 144.4

square

f

eet;

or

total

, 1445.3 squarc

feet.

The

we ight in wo rking order is 125, 000 lb.

Th is

engine was des

ign ed

and bu

ilt under the

di rection of the l

ate

.Mr. D. P reston, mechanical

superintendent

of

th

e

Canad

i

an

Pc1cific

Railway

Com

pa ny . I t will be see n th at th e firebox is o'er the

rear ax te, and

between

the fra mes. Th e forward end

of

the

g r

ate

is sop in g, and th e dump grate is at th e

back

end.

Th e wa ter leg is 3 in .

wide

at

th

e sides

and back , and

3

i n. in fr on t. \Ve give other part i

cul

ars

in tabular f

or

m :

P rincip:1.l D imensions

of

Canad

ian Pac

ific

L ocomotive No. G25.

Cylinders

and

M o

tion

:

Diameter

by stroke .. . ... .. .

Distance apa.rt of ce

nt r

es ... .. .

Stea

m ports .. . .. . .. . .. .

Exhaust ports .. . .. . .. .

Diameter

of piston-r

od

... .. .

IJeng th of conn ect ing -rod ... ...

19 in. by

24

in .

7 ft . 2 in.

lR in. by 1

ht

in.

18 in. by 3 in.

3i in.

9 ft. 4 in .

J

ou

rna.l of co

nn

ecting-rod, lengt.h

by diameter .. . . . .. . in. by

4J

in.

Valves...

.. . . . .. . .. . Delan cAy

balance

V

a.lve

trav

el .. . .. . .. . .. . 6 in.

., lap . .. . .. . .. . in.

Th row of ecce-ntrics... ... . . in.

Wheels

a11d

Frames

:

Dr iving wheels, in number ...

, d iameter over

tyres ... . . .. . . . .. .

G

5 ft . 9 in.

D l iving whe el tyres, width by

th i

ckness .. . . . . .. . 5 in. by 3 in.

1 ri ving wheel tyres (bald), width

by thi c

kn

ess . . . . .. . G n.

by

3 in.

Driving ax le jou1nals, diamett:r

by

ltmgth . . .. . . . .. .

8

in.

by

in.

Truck wheels, number . .. .. . 4

,

d

ia

meter ... ... in .

,

ty pe... ... . . Krupp wrought-

iron disc.

5 in. by

2

in.

ruck e E ~ d t h by

th i

ckness . .

, axle journaha, diameter by

le

ngth

.. . .. . .. .. . 5 in. by 8 in.

Ty pe of

truck

.

.

...

Fi

xe

d wheel

ba

se ...

Driving ,

...

...

...

ru

ck

Total

,

,, of engine

,, , of eng ine

t ender ... ...

Thickness

of frames

'Vidth over frames ...

V

d th between t.yres

...

.

.

...

. .

( L

1.

tera.l moti

7/23/2019 Engineering Vol 56 1893-12-01

11/31

, DECEMBER 1, 1893

I

T R I P L E -

X

P A N S I 0 N E N G I N E S F 0 R T U R I< I S H G U N B 0 A T S

CONSTRUCTED AT

TH

NAVAL ARSENAL, CONSTANT

IN

OPLE.

(FM lJe :riptioll,

ue

POt e 664.)

Fi{/

.2

c

>

Fig l

[MC

) c

) l

-

r

.

--

-

7

,

J I J

Fig.

4

. I

t r ~ F=

Ifg./J.

nu

I

I I

F

F

1

'

t rd 1

ch

cf

f

{

I

7/23/2019 Engineering Vol 56 1893-12-01

12/31

DEc. r, r893l

being 22.758 square

inche

s. The diameter of the dis-

charge

pipe

is

41

. .

Steam is

supph

ed from a double-ended c y l m d n

bo

il

er

with

two furnaces at each end.

Th

e

external

diamet er of the boiler is 9

ft.

in., and the

length

13 ft . 1 0 ~ in. The furnaces are 33 in. in diameter,

outside

m

easure

m

en t

, and

th

e

length

of the g

ra t

e is

4ft . in ., th e t otal heating surface being 40.58 square

feet. Th ere are in all

34.

7 tu bes, all of brass, the ex

t ernal diameter

being

in. an d the

length

4 ft 9 in.

Th e ra.tio of the b eating surface of the

tubes to th

e grate

area is 22.44,

an

d th e ra tio

of grate

area to th e sec

ti onal area. of the tubes 4.64.

Th

e f

eed

pump

has

a

cylinder 3:1 in. in diame ter by

6

in. stroke, and

th

ere is a si

milar

pump

for

bilge

duty, but any

or

both

might be

used for either purpose.

The screw prope

ller,

wh ich ha s th ree blades, is

7ft.

in diamete r, the pi tch b

eing

9

ft.

in. The pr oj ec

ted

area of all the blades is 12. 6 square

feet,

and t he de

Ye

loped

are a.

16 squa re fee t.

THE LATE

MR .

J OHN

BAILEY

DENTON.

Tu E dea th of :Mr.

l:hiley

Denton, which took place

on th e 19th ul t. at Or

clurd

Court, tevenage, removes

from our midst an emine

nt

civil

engineer,

who had

occ

upied

a

pr

ominent position in

the country

for very

many years. H e co

mmenced

life

as

a pupil of L

ord

Dacre's agent at Barton, and though he soon turned

to

civil engineering, yet his ea rly conne c

tion

w ith agricul

tu r

e and

th

e managellle

nt

of P.3tat es gave a bias

to

his

life. Like all

th

e eng

ineers

who

commenced

Jife in

the early part

of

th e century, he

was engaged

for a

time on railway work, bei ng associa ted

with

the

late

Mr. Brassey and Mr. Locke in the construction

of

the

G

reat

N

or t

hern,

the

London

and

So

uth

\Ves

tern

,

th

e Midland, the Oxford and Cambridge,

a.nd th e Hi tch

in

and Royston Rail ways. But in 1842

he opened a new outlet for his

energies

by commencing

an ag ita t ion to ena.ble owners of settled estates t o

drain and improv e th e

ir

properties by means of money

rai

sed

by

mortgage, and

to

c

harge the

land with

th

e

cost of such permane

nt

improvements. This qu ick ly

bore fruit in an Act of Parliament, and und er its pro

visions

Mr

. Denton was occ

upied,

more

or

less, all his

life.

Large numb

ers of

land

owners ra ised

money,

amounting in the aggregate to

seve

ral millions ster

lin g, to be spe

nt

on th e improvement of th eir

and not a. few soug

ht

the ad vice and assist a

nce

of

th

e

subject of this memo

ir

in carrying out

th

e

ir

plans.

Another subject which 1I

r. D

nton

made

pecu

liarly

hi

s

own wa.s

th e purification of sewage by it s applica

tion

to land At a. p eriod when the

subject

was

but

li ttle understood,

he ad vanc

ed

views

which

ha

ve sin

ce

stood

the

test

of time, and he was consulted,

not

on ly

at home, but aho on the contine

nt

s

of Europ

e

and

America. H e

al s:>

t ook

great in t

ere

st in water

sto rage

and supply, and in the

sewage

of towns, his book on

sanitati

on being a standard work.

He also

wrote

torag

a of \Ya.ter,

Village Sanit

ary E conomy,

The Progr

ess

of

Land

Drainage

in Great

Britain,

The Farm Homesteads of England, , &c.

Mr. Denton, who was the senior part

ner

of the firm

th

at

bears his name in Palace-cha.mbers, Westminster,

was for more than fifty

years

a

memb

er

of

the

Institu

tion of Civil Engineers, of

the Sa n

itary In stitute from

i ts commenceme

nt

, and of

many

other sor.ieties. He

was

an

honorary member of

th

e Royal Agricnltur

a.

l

Societies of Ita.Jy,

Norway, Sw

eden, and

Hanover,

and

a Chevalier of the Me

rite

Ag ricole of France. His

funeral was

attended

by a la r

ge

numb

er

of the county

famili es of

Hertford

shire, and by

Messrs.

Critc

hett

and Urantham,

re

presenting

the

In

stitution of Civ

il

Engine

ers .

E N G I N E E R I N

G.

arrived in England was little better than a t oy, wanting

in

all

the mec

hani

cal perfec tions

needful to

success.

I t we

nt

a -begging all

round the

market, as no

one

would look at an apparatus which in vol etl such un

scientific conditions. A happy inspiration, ho.vever,

induced one of its

pr

ese

nt

own ers

to

ta k e up the inven

ti o

n,

and e

ighteen

years of success

ha.ve

de

monstrated

th e wi sdom of the decisiCJn. 'l'

he initial

di scou

ra g

e

ment s were very great, the casting of the body of the

pump

invol

viug

difficulties, Ly r

eas

on of its complexity

and

th

e ri s

ks

caused

by un

equal contraction,

which

few foundries would care to g rapple with. Th ese,

howeve r, were overcome,

and

the

puls

ometer has ta ken

a. place

for

itself

as characteristic

as

th

e centrifugal

pump.

The

comparative

wa

nt

of economy

in the

original machine was compensat

ed

by the au vantages

of eoctreme compactness

and durability,

and, in

spite

of all its faults, th ousands of users ha.ve still an affec

ti

on fo r it.

But

it

did

not rea.ch the fina.l stage of its

uev

elopment

for

a

long time, and p oss

ibly has

not

yet done so ; a great increase in its steam economy

ha s been made, until at las t

th

e repr

oac

h of its

form

er

was t efulness can no longer be brought against it, and

it compares in efficien

cy

with directacting steam

pumps,

without

the loss

of

aoy

of

it s independent

and

valuable

character

ist ic3.

A refer

ence

to

th

e

discu

ss

ion

which t ook pl ace on

October 26 a t

th

e meetin g of

the In

stitutio n of

Mechanic

a.l

E ngineera will s

how that,

in experi

ments made on a number of

pump

s on the South-

\V

est

Railw ays of Russia, Mr.

A.

Borodin found the foot

pounds of work done in

ra i

sing water, for ea ch pound

of steam u

sed

, by

various

forms of

di r

ect .ac

ting

steam

pump

s of s

imil

ar horse-power to the

pu l

someter

experimented on, to vary from 10,760 to H ~ O . A

Grel

pulsomete

r

ha

s

be

en recent

ly

te sted

in

th i

R

co

untry

by

Profes

so

r'.

Hudson Bea.re under

far

from

favou

rable

conditions, a nd gave 13,420 foo

t-pound

s.

We

congratulate

th

e mak

ers

upon a re su lt which Pr o

fessor K ennedy

and

ot hers re

marked

they should

never have expected.

Th

at

our readers may

und

erstand the means

by

whi

ch th e latest success has

been

arrived at, we

append a description

of

th

e cut-off ge ar :

In this new arrangeme

nt

, the steam, instead of

being allowed t o follow the water the entire length

of

th

e

stroke,

is now

cut off at

about half

.s t

roke, and

the

remainder

of

the st ro

ke

is performed by the ex

pansion of the fluid. Th e

means

by wh ich this is

effected a

re

shown in the ann

exe

d view. In place of

the

ordinary

upper valve there is e modified ball va.lve

THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE

A,

and above this

th

ere is fitted a cut-off valve B; these

PULSOMETER

. valves A

and

B correspond with

the main

and

cu t

-off

Tn

E

pulsometer

is

the

dire

ct

des

ce

ndant

of

the

first

va

l ves

us

ed

in

a

Meyer

's

expans

ion

gear

.

The

vahe

machin e in which steam was made to do the work B is so constructed t

hat

its

low er

portion forms

a.

forme

rly

accomplished almost entirely by the labour piston working in the cylinder

C,

the pi ston and valve

of men and animals. \Vhat th e Marquis of \Vorcester being actu a.ted

by the

differences in pr essure within

r

ea.lly

effec

ted

in this direc t

ion

will

probably

rem a in and without

the

cylinder

C ;

this

la t

ter is connected

for ever uncertain ; the first authenticated instance

with

the st eam n.nd pump chambers by m

ea

ns of suit

of any prac

ti

cal use of th e force which has transformed able holes D, D. The action of th e arrangement is as

th

e

world,

is to be found in the

re

cords of Thomas follows: Steam

bein

g turned

on, the diff

erences of

Sav ery 's life and

work.

His

engine for

ra ising sure

ar

e

suc

h

th at the

val.ve B is opened and the s

team

wat

er by fire

wa.

s not only the

first steam

will flow

through

past the

distributin

g valve A into one

pump, but also

th

e first

steam eugine,

yet it was a of the cha.mbers, partly driv

ing

out th e

water;

when

pulsometer to a.ll in te

nt

s and purposes , and it cannot about half of

th

e wa.ter in

th

e chamb

er

ha s been dis

but

be regarded as s tran

ge that this notable invention

charged, the pressure in

the chambe

r C wiJl be suffi

should

have

remained

unheede

d

for over

a century and

cient to lift the valve

B and close the steam opening,

a half, unimproved, sa.ve

in

some details by

Desa

gu- keepin g it closed until the diitributing

valve

A has

Jiers.

I t

was, of cou rse, th e higher steam economy of moved over to this side, thus allowing the remainder

the engines of Newcomen and

'Vatt, and the

enor- of the s troke to be finished by

the

expans

ion

of

the

mously hr5er capacity made po

ssible by the

introduc-

steam

shut

in

the

chamber .

This

ac

tion

continues

tion of th e piston, which eclipsed the Sa.very engine, a.utomatica.lly, the cut-off

valve

B admitting

and

and

releg

a ted it to

th

e limbo of lantern wh eels and cutt

ing

off steam only to the

chamber

left open by the

wooden

water

pi p

es, aud

but

for

Ameri

can enterprise distributing valve.

I t will

be evident

that

this

it

might have remained

ther

e

still.

But

though

an

arrangement

e n t i r ~ l y

precludes

the

possibility of live

a . d v a ~ c e

mad e on the other side

of

~ h e w.ater in

steam

blowing straight into the

rising main

at

the

end

the d1rec

tton

of compactness and automatic a.ctton, the of each stroke as occurs in some badly designed

p1achine- the ma.gic pump

as

it was ca.lled-as it ,

vacuum

pumps. '

66

EXPLOSION

OF

A

GAS CYLINDER T

BRADFORD.

T uE coroner

's

inquiry into

the

fatal

exp

losion

of an

oxygen cylinder

at

Bradford

sta.tion on November 10

was completed on Novemb er 15. The evidence went t o

show tha.t a. boy

nam

ed John Williaru Fuller was se

nt

wi th

two

cy

linders

of gas to meet a train

at

Br&dfor.d

station.

Oa

arriving

th

ere he took one cylinder on hts

shoulder, and dragging the other

with

him, proceeded

down

the

subway leading

to

the

station.

H e

then d r o p ~ e d

the cylinder from his should er to

th

e ground, on. ~ J C h

it exploded, killing th e unfortunate Jad. Th e prtnCJpal

evidence was as follows :

H enry Dalby, 32, Kimberley-atreet, Bradford, opti

cian

'8

ass

istant,

sai d be wa1

in th

e

servi

ce of

Me

ssrs.

Riley

Brothers.

Last Wednesday week, a.bout

tw

e

nty

minutes to six o'clock in the afternoon, he

ordered

tba

deceased to

take two

cylind

ers

to the Exchange

station

in

time for the 6.7 p.m.

train

for Quee

nsbury.

One

cylinder wa.s

painted

red

and

th e other black.

Th

e one

painted red was charged with coal gas, and

the

bl ack one

was

cha

rged with oxygen. Th e cylinders were filled

at

Manche

ster by the Man chester Oxygen Company. The

oxygen

cylinder

had only come in the eame morning. Ho

could not

sa.

y

when

the other came. The cylindt r con

taining oxygen belonged to Meesra. Riley

Br

others. He

was n

ot

ce

rtain

as to

th

e owner

ship

of th e coa.l .ga.s

cylinder. H e gauged

both the

cylinders about four

o'clock th e eame afternoon. He f

ound

that each

cylinder

co

ntained 120 atmos

phere1:1,

which was a. safe ga.uge. He

had knocked th ese cylind

ers

about for years and bad never

ha.d any accident with them.

He

bad been

accust

omEd

to

carry them by

ra

il

a.s

per so

nal

luggage. Each cylinder

weighed

ab

out 25 lb ., a.nd cost about 33s.

J ohn Good man, professor of eng ineering at the

York

s

hire

College, s

a.

id

that

on

th

e p_evious Saturday, in company

with

Mr. MorJey a.nd Mr. Ellis, he inspec

ted

the

fourteen

pieces of

metal

in

the

possession of

Superintendent Paul,

and a so the sound coalgas cylinder . Every piece was

carefulJy examined. Th e fra ctu res in every pa.t t we-re

crysta.Jline-coa.rseJy

crystalline

in the portions of the

bottom and t op of the cylinder, but of finer grain in the

centre. There

wa

s a. peculia.r fracture near the top of

the cylinder, which was different in shap e from any other

fracture.

This might

or

might

not have been

due

to a

flaw

in

the mat

erial.

The

point was a doubtful one.

and

opinions might differ.

The

fra ctu red pieces showed bulg

ing, which might have been done in the accident.

The

thickness of th e metal varied very mu ch over

the

cylinder .

t was impossible to avoid somelitt)e va.riation in making

such cylind

ers

, but he certainly

th

oug

ht

the variation

much grea.ter th an it ought to have been. In a. well

made

cylinder

th

P

va.

ria.tions would

not be

so

gr(at.

The Coroner: W ould

not th

e

varying th i

ckness of the

metal

be a source of weakn ess ?-Witness : Yes

and

no.

f

the th i

nne

st portion was sufficiP

nt

to

bear the pressurP,

the

variation of

the

thickn

ess would be no wea.kners, but

oth

erwi se it would be.

The

of bulging, Mr.

Goodman went on to say , would certainly be greatest

where the metal

wa

s

thinnest. He

took a.wa.y

to

Leeds

two p i e c e ~

of the

broken

cylinder, whi ch he first bad photo

graphed.

Th

e pieces

were

then

c

ut

up into test

pieces

and

subjected to

a.

series of experiments. A eou

nd

cy

lindPr, supplied by Messrs. Ri ley as a. duplicate, was a.leo

handed to him, and thi s he caused

to

be cu t into pieces,

and found it as varia.ble in thickness as

the

one which

was broken. Th ese pieces were also subject(d to experi

ment, and the

witn

ess handed in a. detailed report of the

character of th e t

ests

infii

cte

d a.nd the res

ults

obtained .

Steel

ought

not

to be used of

a. greater

tensi

le

strength

tha.n 32

tons

per squa.re inc

h. T h ~

steel of

th

e cy

linder

in

qu

estion was very

high

indeed

in

tensile

strength. In

sorue

cases it wa..s over

50

tons per square inch. This

in

itse

lf

was not harmful, but it was always considered

that

steel of

very

high tensile strength was very brittle,

and

therefore u n s u i t a b for internal pressure, ef:\pecially when,

a.s

in th e case of

a.n

oxygen

cylinder.

it was likely

to be

subjecb

to

much knocking about. The

steel

actually

used

wa

s, in his op inion,

unsuitable

for the

purpo

se.

The maximum

thickness

of the b

ody

of the dupli

cate cylind

er

was fo

und to

be .

242 in.,

and

the

minimum

was .164 in. In

the cylinder

which burst he found that

the

pieces varied from .172 in. to .205 in . in thickness,

~ g h be might, perhaps, find a th icker piece on exami

na.tlOn.

The Coroner: You have heard the evi dence

that

this

cylinder fell from the

shou

lder of

th

e deceased on

to th

e

concret e floor. D oes

that

exp la.in its bursting

? -

Yes;

after looking

a.t the

figures of

my

experiments, which

show bow ve ry ha.rd and

brittle

th e material is. Although

the

tensi le

strength

is very

great,

it

has very

little

duct ility. f the material used

wer

e good

material,

there

ought not

to

be

th

e slightest danger of

a.n

explosion from

such a. fall on to the floor.

Thi

s

morniog,

before coming

here, I took one of the cylinders

whi

ch

we are

cons

tantly

using a.t the

Yorkshire C o l l ~ g e

a.nd dropped

it 22

ft. 6 in.

on

to

a cas t ron block. Th ere was

no

explosion, and the

cylinder received only a. small dent.

In reply t o further questions, witness

said that

tho

cylinder of which he bad just spokEn was charged with

oxygen

at

th e

tim

e, and it was charged by the same firm

- the Ma n

chester Oxygen Company-which fill

ed

th e

cylinder

that bur

st.

But it

was a cylinder of differe

nt

make to that which

burst.

H e then took a. cylinder

similar

to

the one

he

dropped that morning-

and cut

it up,

a.nd found that

the

thickness was- ma.xrmum .232 in.

a.nd minimum .178 in. A third cylinder was burst by

hydrauli

c pressure,

the

bursting taking pla

ce a.t

between

59

cwt.

and 60 cwt.

per

square inc

h.

Th ese e x ~ ; > e r i m e n t s

c.onfirmed .his opinion

that

. the

material

used m the cy

hnder,

whwh

burst

and

ktlled

the deceased was

im

proper.

The

apnealing of steel reduc

ed

the tensile

-

7/23/2019 Engineering Vol 56 1893-12-01

13/31

666

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

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[D Ec. I , 1893.

:0: : ::a:

=-

m

a

THE

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CENTRIFUGAL

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EXCAVATOR:

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COLUMBIAN

EXPOSITION.

CONS

TRU

CTED

BY

THE

J

ULL

MANUFAC

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RING

C

OM

PAN

Y,

BROOKLYN,

U.S .A.

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or D escription, see P age

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9.

I

,

fndon

and

North-Weste

rn

is

very

extensive in its a i l ; but

inv olves

no new work

of

imp

ortance, the

extent

being due to

the

enumeration

of lands to be pur

chased,

and

of by-ways

or

footpaths to

be

closed.

Several sho rt deviations of line, too,

are

proposed.

The

Midland

R ailway, amongst

other

schemes,

prop

ose a line of a few miles l

ength fr

om Ecclesfield,

in

the

West Riding

of Yorkshire,

pa

ssing

ea.CJtward

a few miles north of the town, but

through

the

parish

of Sh effield,

and thence through

Brightside,

Bierlow,

and

Rotherham

to

Kimber,vorth. By

this

line the Chape

lt

ow n

branch

is connected to

the

Sheffie

ld and

R

otherham branch

of the company's

syatem. The Great

Nort

hern Company seek powers

to construct

several sho

rt length

s of railway in con

nection

with their system

at

Finsbury Park, St.

Mary

's, I slington,

and St.

Mary's, Hornsey,

and in

addition

to extensive purchases of land in various

counties,

they

propose to

purcha

se

the Hunslet

Rail

way Company, to lease the Stamford

and

Essendine

Company,

and to u r c h a ~ e ,

in conjunction

with

the

L ancashire

and

Yorkshue Company, the Hahfax

High Level Rail a y ~

which is

to be

worked

jointlr.

The omnibus''

Bill

of the

North-Eastern

Rail

way Company

s e e ~ s power to made

. a

number

of

lines and works to Improve the

workwg

of several

existing lines. A short line is proposed from the

Dunston

Extension

lin

e,

opened

a few weeks ago,

to Gateshead; and including also a widening and

alteration

of part of

the present

line in Gateshead.

Another junction line is proposed in the parish of

\Vhickham b

et

we

en the

Tanfield

bran

ch and

the

Dunston Extension line. Then th ere is a more

import:1nt

lin

e, which is the outcome of

the

inde

pendent l ine along the

Durham

coast proposed last

year and

again

this year.. The

N

r t h - E a s t ~

proposal is for a

lin

e

starting about

three m1les

fr

om

Hartlepool,

fr

om

the

existing line,

and

passing

throu

gh Th orpe,

Bulme

r , H esled on, Shotton,

E1sington-with-Thorpe,

Litt le Th or

pe

,

H a ~ t ~ o ~ n ,

Dawd

e

n,

and other townships, and finally JOining

the back

branch

of the L o

nd

onderry, Seaham,

and

Sunderland Railway

in Dawden township,

and to

make

such w

orks as

are needful to

convert

part

of the line

in tho

la.st township in to a passenger

line, as well as to

autho

rise agreements

the

North-Eastern Rail

way

and

the. Marquts. of

L

)

ndo

nderry.

Th ere is. f u r ~ h e r a shght .sub.stltu

tional l

ne at

Leeds

; a widenmg o.f the ma1n hne of

the North-Eastern

between

Shtpton and Aln.e ;

and joint lines with

the Midland an

d Lancashire

and Yorkshire, at Whitwood, near

Nor

man on,

and

at Altofts. Bridges

and

f

ootpaths are

proposed

at J a

rr

ow and

Ryhope.

I t is also proposed to

transfer

to

the North-Eastern

.t

he p_owers and

rights

of the Wear

Valley

Extenswn Radw.ay ;

and

to

allow

the North-Eastern to

sell

and

d1sp

ose of

or abandon

the Borou

ghb

ridge

and Ripon

Canal.

The Seaham and Hartlepool line, which_is for the

accommodation of the

new

coalfields In

South

East

Durham,

will find oppositi.on in the

Durham

Coast

Rail

way scheme, aga1n produced for

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

p1rliamentary sanction. A slight change has been

m:1de on the route proposed last year. It will

commence at

West Hartlepo

ol,

and

pass

through

Hart

Warren, Castle Eden, E as ing ton, Hawthorn ,

to Dalton

-le-Dale,

and

then

by

a

junction

on

to

Seaham,

whilst

a

branch

will run to

Sunderland.

There

will be a

junction with

the

North-Eastern

Railway.

A

central station

is to be formed at

Sheffie

ld by

the Manchester, Sheffield,

and

Lincoln

shi re Company, and various lin es will be formed

from the

station linkin

g

up the present suburban

and main lines of the company ; one will extend

from N eepsend

through Eckington

t >

Stave

ley

in

Derbyshire,

in

connection

with

the new Ea.st

and

West

Cross-Country Railway.

Coming now

to

the main rail ways in

the

west,

we find that the Great Western

desire extensive

powers.

In

the first place, they,

in

conjunction

with the Midland, purchase

the

important under

taki

n

ga

of t he

Severn and

W

ye and Severn Bridge

Rl-ilway Company, and a joint committee is to be

appointed

to manage the Bristol P o

rt and

Pier

Railway, the joint

stati

on

there,

and one or two

railways in

the

district. Such amalgamations

are

in some respects

very

satisfactory,

for

where opposing

lin

es work

in uniso

n, advan

tages

result,

although a keen watch has

to be mai

ntained

against

the

co

ns

eque

nc

es of

monopoly.

The Great

\Vestern, however, is im

bued with the spirit

of

ente

rprise.

In

the first

place, they propose several very

short

lines in the

counties of Denbigh

and

Glamorgan, to connect

existing lines together, while connection is also

form ed with the Shrewsbury and Chester Railway

at

\Vr

exham.

In

Wiltshire

there

is

to

be laid

out

fr

om U rchfont to

Westbury

a new line, between

25 and 30 miles

in

length, across

country

, joining

with the Wiltshi,re, Somerset , and Weymouth line.

Th i

s line, branching off the main line before

Devizes is reached, will save a long curve

round

by

Holt

Junction and Tr

owbrid

ge

on

this route

to

Cornwall, the exclusive region of

the Great

Yv

ester

n.

Here refer

ence may

be

made to

the

proposed scheme

of

the

North Cornwall Company, which,

perh

aps,

has the

longest new

lin

e of

any

of those projected,

and

one,

ind

eed, which suggests possibilities of

the

future

division of traffic. This line is worked

by

the

London

and

South-Western,

but

the proposals

directly conne:t the South-Weste

rn

with the

extreme south-western stations of Cornwall, where

the Great

Western,

as we have said, have been

in

sole possession.

This

connection, mean

ti

me, is

over the metals of the South- \

estern

Company.

t

was originally i

ntended by the

Sou

th

Cornwall

Company to

carry

a

lin

e from Camelford and\ade

bridge along

the

side of

the

river which debauches

into Hayle

Bay on

the

Bristol shore of Cornwall.

It

is n

ow

intended,

while car rying

the

line to Wade

bridge, to

strike

from

thence in

a south-westerly

direction to the old city of Truro. At Truro, and

at Kenwyn, where

the

Edles Common is to be

acquired

by

the railway company, junctions will be

made

wit

h the various lines of

the Great Western

-wi th the branch down to Falmo

uth

on the

southern

coast, and with

the

Newham branch of

the

West

Cornwall lin e right through to Penzance.

The little North

Cornwall Company, with its

capital now of only 180,000l., may, therefore,

become a ve

ry important link

for

the

London

and

South- Western Company with

the

Bristol Channel

section of Cvrnwall,

and

also over

the Great

Western

metals to

the southern

shores of

the

extreme

west. Meanwhile the

Great

' Vestern

will improve it s line in Cornwall

by

very extens

iv

e

widening works, necess

itating

the reconstruction of

seven large viaducts with approach embankments,

and the widening of

twenty

bridges in Berks,

Wilts, \Varwick, Stafford, Devon,

and

Co rnwall,

besides other works inci

denta

l to widening opera

tions.

The

se operations, of course, necessitate

larger purchases of land.

The

company also

propose to have a s

hort

lin e

near the

Devon coast,

and

to

use part of the

Plymouth and Dartmo

or

Compa

ny's

line, while

an

extension of

time

is

sought by

the latter company.

The

G r ~ a . t

vV

s t e r n ,

again find another threatened oppos1t10n 1n the

west 'of Wales, where the improved prospect of

Milf

ord Haven,

as a

harb

our for Atlantic liners,

has not only suggested

impr

oved

port c c . o m m o ~ a

tion to which we shall

refer 1n

deahng w1th

maritime

schemes,

but

has

prompted

the incorpora

tion of a company to promote an

exte

nsion of

the Central

\Vales line of

the

Lo

nd

on

and North

\Ve

ste

rn Railway

fr

om Eglywys Cymmyn due west,

almost

in

parallel

line

with

the

main line of the

[DEc.

I,

1893.

Gr

eat Western, to Pembroke

and Pwllcrochan on

the southern s

hore

of the Haven right opposite the

town

of Mi1ford. Part of the way the existiPg

Pembroke and Tenby lin e is used, but for the great

part the line, for the distance of

nearly

fifty mils,

is new, and strikes almost a strai ght westerly

course for Perubroke.

The Scotch 1\nes

are

still at peace, and

there

seems

little

prospect of a r

epetition this

session of

those o

ld

-time vigorously-fought contests

in

the

committee-rooms at Westminster. As a rule,

the

great

lines have in the past encouraged or put

up new

companies

a1

nominally responsible

fo

r

the

tight, but

this

year no quasi

independent

scheme is promoted.

The

Caledonian

and the

North

British

have each omnibus Bills.

'Jh

e

former desire power to

so

alter the

plans of

the

underground rail way which

runs

from the east

t.o the

we st

of Glasgow, that they may have a

much larger station in the

centre

of

the

city, the

idea now being to make

the

cen tral station s

itu

at ed

in Argyle-street,

with an

island platform as well as

with those at the side as usual. Th ree short lin es

to save deto

ur

s

are projectfd, one in

Leith,

another

in Forfar, and

the third near N eilston. The

Forfar and Brechin Rail

way, r

ecent

ly constiucted,

is to be purchased.

The

North British Company

have two

similarly

s

hort

lines, one at

Bathgate

and the othe

r at

Dunfermline

; but in no case

are

the

wo

rks

of importance

or

of

any

special signifi

cance.

Pr

esumably

both

companies have recently

done enough

in the matter

of extension, as witness

recent and prospective additions

to

capital account.

Amongst impor tant district lin

ea

reference may

be made to

the

programme of the Lancashire

and

Yorkshire, which includes a

short

line at

Wake

field, widening works at Bolton

and

Wigan, the

reconstructi on of some bridges, and the purchase of

land for various purposes ; but none of these exten

sio

ns

call for special description.

The

Manchester,

Sheffie

ld

,

and

Lincolnshire Company have

quite

a

number

of new

and

substitutional lines in con

templation, but

these

are

not

of

material

im

port

ance.

So also with the

new cross-co

untry ra i

l

way-the

Lan

cashire, Derbyshire, and East Coast Railway,

where five alterations are indicated, but as in each

case the deviation is confined within

one

parish,

the changes scarce

ly

merit specifying.

About

a

dozen road diversions

are

indicated,

but

these, again,

are

only of local interest.

The Furness

Company,

in the

ir Bill,

are

mostly concerned

about

some new

outfall sewer to be constructed.

The

Cockermouth,

Keswick,

and

Penrith Company

are

going

in

for

a wid ening of the works, which would indicate that

this

lin

e, which

penetrates in

to

the

Lake

District,

is meeting with increasing traffic, notwithstanding

the

tirades

which

are not

infrequently

hurled

at the projector of railways in to t he

grandest

of

n

at

ure's scenes.

Much

of

this

is due to the de

sire to conserve for t he few

the

riches of

nat

.

ure

; but so terribly democratic is the age,

that as soon as

nature

discovers a new wealth

there is more or less of a

rush

to participate

in

the

pleasure which results.

The duty

of the railway

const

ructor

is to meet, if not create,

this

demand,

and

t

hu

s amongst

the

lines projected

year by year

a few are for meeting the desire to visit pretty

spots

and

shrines.

Thus

one finds reason for

the

necessity of

the

line projected from the city of

Birmingham

through North War

Rickshire

to

St

ratf

ord-

up

on-Avon.

From this

lin e a

junction

line wi ll be made from vVootton W a wen to As

ton

Cantlow on

the

G

reat Western

branch line to

Alcester. A company has been formed also to run

a line from the Gr

eat Western

line at Truro,

in

Co

rnwall, northwards for about 20 miles, to join at

Newlyn with a mineral line

runnin

g

into

New

quay, on \Vatergate Bay, on the Bristol Channel.

Another

line to

the

beautiful shores of Devon is

proposed by a new company, whose projected rail

way leaves

the

existing Sidmouth

line

at

Ott

e

ry

St . Mary,

and run

s south-west for a few miles

through

Budleigh to Salterton,

on the

coast.

In

the

south-eastern part of the same county a new

line is to run from Totnes

in

an easterly direction

for

six

or seven miles to Pa ignton,

on the

shores of

Tor Bay, already connected with Torquay. This

scheme seems

under the

care of

the

G

reat

\V

estern

Railway, in whose

territory

it is situated.

Several

independent

rail way lin es hav e been

projected.

The

East Glamorgan Company propose

lines

in

a district which, because of

it

s extensive

coal workings, has already a

great

network of

railways.

The

idea is to

join the Barry

line

at

7/23/2019 Engineering Vol 56 1893-12-01

20/31

Llantrissant with several of the

ot

h

er

lines of

the

district,

the

Rhymney and

Merthyr

Tyd villines,

but in

no case are the rail ways of

an

y g

reat

length.

The

Denbighshire Co

mp

a

ny

is to be inco

rp o-

rated to construct railways

to connect the

borough

of

Wrexham

and Rhosllanerchrugog, and also

with

the Pontcysyllte Railway of the Shropshire Union

R'ilways and Cd.nal Company,

in

the

parish

of

\Vrexham.

The

Taff Vale Railway Company have

one or two short

substitutiona

l lin es,

and

will

widen a short

l e n ~ t h

of

the lthondda

Fach

and

Fawr branches. In

addi

tio n

they

propose the

construction of a tu nn el or subway un der the River

E ly b

et

ween

Penarth

and

Canton, where

at

present

a ferry plies. The Barry R ~ i l w a y propose a

sh

ort

line at Llantris

sa

nt to accommodate some collieries,

and

another

from

Barry

to Sully.

Th

ey

purp

ose

const

ru

cting,

in

conn ection with

this

l

atte

r line,

an

embankment or breakwater 154 yards long along

the foreshore, commencing at the western extremity

of Barry Island .

Exten

sive lands are required for

these and

other

prospective improvements. The

J\1ersey Railway Company have two Bills,

one

de1ling with the

extremely

complicated

question

'of

rates and charges, and in the other they abandon

short lines previously authorised,

and

seek running

powers over the \Virral

Rail

way from Park-s treet,

Birkenhead to Now

Brighton

and West I{irby, as

well as to the old Dock

Station

at Birkenhead.

The

North

Staffordshire Railway Co

mpany prop

ose

the

purchase of

the

L angton, Adderley Green,

and

Bucknall Company, which has a capital of 15,450l.

in preference and debenture 4 per cent. stock. At

pre

sent the

line

is worked by the North tafford

Company, so that

the

change is nominal.

Th

e

, o

uth

Yorkshire

Juncti

on

Rail

way

pr

opose short

lines to connect

with

the

Great Northern and

Great

E3.stern joint rai l vrays at two places.

The only other rail way Bills which call for note

are those for extension of t ime,

in

which works

already

authori

sed must be constructed, and for

financial arrangements. Amongst

the

former

are

the

Exeter,

Teign Valley,

and

Chagfo

rd

Railway,

Easton

and

Church

Hope Railway

to P ort land,

Hull and Barnsley

extens

i

on

li nes, and the Lam

bourn Valley Railway. The financial Bills comprise

one by the T

ottenham and

Forest

Gate

Railway,

who desire

the Tilbury

and Southend Company to

have power to assist with capital ;

the 'Vest Lan

cashire Railway Cordoba

Central

R:1 il way ;

the

Curnwall

mineral lines

; and the

Golden

Valley

Railway in Wales. Several c o m p ~ n i e s too, wish

to abandon

their

schemes,

and

amongst

these are

the

Hull

and North-

\VesternJunction Railway,

the

Worces

ter

and Broom

line,

Shrop'3hire; South

Yorkshire,

and the East and W est Yorkshire

Com

pany's schemes,

and the Brighton,

R

ot

tingdean,

and Newhaven line.

There are several interesting tramway schemes

promoted.

Th

e Lo

ndon

Tramways Company have

decided to continue the cable tramway about

2i

miles

furth

er into t

he country

- from Streatham

Bill

to Strea.tham

Common-and in

view of

the

success

and

popularity of

the present

line, which

extends from Kenningt

on to

Streatham

Hill, the

proposal will be welcomed.

There

have been objec

t.ions raised to the u

se

of the cable tramway by some

what

captious people, who have

carried their

oppo

sition to the

Board

of

Trade,

and at

the termina

tion of one

year's

working examination is to

be

made

into

these objections, which are principally

based on

the

noise

made

by

the

running

of

the

c1ble. We should fancy, even admitting that

there

is a noise,

that

the advantages outweigh this con

sideration. At Croydon, a mile or two further

out, the

Burgh

system is

being augmented by

lines

which,

in

the aggregate,

extend

to

1

milee,

and in

addition p ower is sought

to

construct

lines

in to

Streatham

Hill.

The

line is to be single,

with

loops for passing cars. A contest,

therefore,

seems

to be immin

ent

beLween

the

corporation and

the

London Tramway Compa

ny

for

the

roadway, as

both

schemes overlap for 2 miles. t

is

to

be

hoped

that

some

agreement

will be come tow

he r

eby

the cable line sha

ll

be extended

to

Croydon

at

once.

The West London Company is

to

be

recon

stitute

d,

and it is proposed to have extensive line s through

Acton,

Hammersmith,

and Fulham. An extension

of time for the construction of the Paddin

gto

n

and

Harrow-road

line is

app

lied for.

Extensive

additions are proposed to

the

systems at

Liverp

ool,

at

Bootle,

and

\Valton-on-thc

Hill,

at Bristol,

at

Dudley and Wolverhampton, and

between

the latter

place and

Bilston;

while the Barrow-in-Furness

Corporation propose

an

extensive

system

of single-

E N G I N E E R I N

G

line tramway with passing-places, and

the

Bolton

Corporation seek partly ra.tification for a

lease

e

ntered

into for th e working of the lines. At Hull

part

of

the

present system is to

be transferred

to

the DrypJol and

Marfleet

Steam

Tramways Com

pany, and a new line from :b;ast

to

West Hull is to

be formed. The South Staffordshire Company pro

po

se

lines in \Vest Bromwich

and Handsworth,

while

the

Oxford and

Aylesbury

scheme is revived

and an extension of

time

for

construction

desired.

In the

case of practically all new

lin

es,

power

is

sou

ght to

work

the

lines

not

only

by

a

nimal

haulage,

but

by any tnechanical means.

THE

CAPSIZING

OF A

TORPEDO

BOAT.

THE news that a

torpedo-b

oat of the Royal Navy

had capsized

at

Gibraltar in smooth water was

somewhat u i e t i o g but

further

particulars

which have been

rec

eived

tend

to lessen one's

alarm, as showing that the accident was due to

e x c e p t i o n ~

circumste.nces. t would

appea

r that

the

vessel is

one

of

the

old

type

of second -class

boats built some time between 1880 and 1882, of

which there are, we believe, about

thirty

to thirty

five

in

the Navy.

The

boat that

turned over

is

63

ft

. long a

nd

7ft.

6

in. wide on the water-line, an d

8 ft.

extreme

width.

The maximum

draught was

4 ft. 3 in.

The

b

oat

was

de t

ailed for gun praotice,

and had

a

two-barrell-in. Nordenf

elt

gun

mo

unted

on

the conning-tower. Thore were thirty-three

men on board,

and

of these nineteen

were

on deck,

three being on

the

gun platform round

the

conning

tower, which would be about 3 ft. above

the

deck.

The

sea was qui

te

smooth,

and the

boat

had made

a

few

runs, turning with

helm to

port and

heeling

outwa rds, when,

whilst

turning at full speed,

she Ruddenly

went

over without any

apparent

reason- so suddenly, that one man who was

standing

at

the bottom

of

the

engine-room ladder

was shot

out into

the sea.

In

turning previously

the

boat had he

eled 8 deg. to 10 deg., whic h

appears

a good deal, as

the

deck edge goes

under wat

er at

12 deg. 'fhere was

on

board 1

ton

of

coal and the

feed water. We believe the torpedo gear was in

place, but

did

n

ot contain the

torpedoes.

This

point is, of course, one of considerable importance.

The

engine-room

and after

cabin

hatch

es were open,

the re

st

closed.

Th

e boat, after

turning

clean over,

up-ended

her stern in the

air.

In this

position

she

rema ined ten minutes or so before she sank in

15 fathoms.

Next

day she

was

raised

and

hoist

ed

to

the

cat-head of the

Rodney.

Although

the

matter is serious

enough

as it stands, it is satisfac

tory

to know

that the

more recent boats of

the

class

are not li k

e

ly to

act

in the

same

manner.

These early craft were designed when not quite so

much attention was paid to

safety

as now.

The

torpedo was

then

looked on as a desperate weapon,

and

men

were und

e

rs t

ood to

take their

lives

in

their hands when they

essayed to

use it.

t

was alRo considered

that the great

speed re

quired in

torpedo-boats was only to

be obtained

on

a low

beam

ratio. Th e best was done within

the dimensions to secure stability, but it was pretty

generally

known that the

little

craft

were

not

st rong

in this

point, and

were

to

be

used with

care

accordingly, and

not

as

hack

boats.

The more

modern

second-class torpedo-boats

have

greater

width on

less len

gt

h, being 9 ft. 3 in.

wide and

60ft.

long.

They

have

also a f

oot more freeboard

than the older craft. The metacentric height of these

more powerful boats, fully equipped, is 14

in

., which

may

be considered ample for all putposes

the boat

is

likely to

be

put to. What it is

in the

o

ld boats

we

do

n

ot

know, but it must

be very mueh

less.

The

old

boats are

safe

enough under ordinary

conditions

of service, but they were not designed to carry a

la r

ge number of people on deck.

The

torpedo

armament has also been entirely changed

since

they were

delivered. Nineteen persons was cer

tainly an

excessive deck load,

the

effect of which

in

influencing st a

bility

will

be appreciated when

it

is

stated

that

this

load raises

the

centre of

gravity

about

5

in.,

which is clearly

very

serious

in

so small

a craft, intentionally

of considerable

length rela

tively to beam for the

sake

of securing high speed.

c ~ r t a

i n l y

thirty-three

people ought not to be

allowed on a second-class

boat

of

this

type,

for

though

f

ourtee

n h

appe

n

ed

to

be

below,

there

was

no

reason why all

but fo

ur

or five

should not have

been

on deck.

The

greater

danger

that arises from

a

number

of persons on deck

is that i the boat

gives a quick

and

considerable lurch, such as occurs

when

turning sharply,

every one may

be thrown

down

to

the lower

side,

and thus

carry the heel to

the point of vanishing

stability. The

danger. or

inconvenience

fr

om excessive h

ee

ling

when turnmg

circles

has been

recognised,

and torpedo-boats are

now designed

to

counteract this tendency. This is

effected by adjusting the centre of area of the rudder

so that the reaction of the race deflected

by the

rudder

has

a righting effect. So

far

is

the

tendency

to

heel outwa

rd,

when

t

urning

,

counterbalanced in

this

way, that some

o - b o ~ t s actually

h eel

s

lightly

inwards,

which ha

s a

very

curious effect

to

the unini tiated.

The

older boats, of which the one

sunk

was a

type,

had

n

ot the

arrangement

of

rudder giving this security,

and

the accident

shows that some inquiry

should be made

as to

their

stability, whilst

regulati

o

ns should be enfo

rc

ed

that

they are

n

ot

put to a

test

b

eyond their

powers.

Unhappily,

one

man was

drowned

in this accident.,

but the other thirty-two escaped, which

must be

considered a most f

ortu

nate circumstance.

The

boat is

rep

orted to

have

stood remarkably well

the

severe test

of

being sunk in

15 to

16 fathoms

with

one compartment full of

air, and

also

the rough

usgge of getting her hoisted to the

Rodney. The

bulkheads were deflected

during

lifting,

and

some

rivets loosened in their neighbourhood ; but other

wise, we believe, no

structural damage

wa s

done.

t will

be

remembe

red

that some time

ag

o we

gave

particulars

of the loss of a

torpedo-boat belonging

to

the French

Navy

by

capsizing. In

that

case,

howeve

r, the boat

was running

in

a s

hort sea on

the

beam,

which is a

condition

of service

that

can

hardly be avoided. \Ye can, however, prevent

thirty-three men getting on to a

little

vessel of

about 12 tons

di

splacement,

and

thus

chancing

about

2 tons of weight

being

thrown to leew

ard in

case of a

sudden lurch. In any

event

the accident

calls

for inquiry, and strict instructions should be

given that

they are

not overloaded.

THE DISTRIBUTION OF POWER

FROM

NIAGARA.

IN

ou

r lasL issue we gave

an

account of the elec

tric arrangements now being adopted by the Cataract

Cons

truction

Company

for the

distribution of power

from Niagara. Three

turbines,

each of 5000 horse

power,*

and three

alternate-current

generators,

of

corresponding power,

are

now in course

of

con

struction in America, the former fr

om

the designs

of Messrs. Fa esch and Piccard, of Geneva, and

the latter

fr

om

the

designs

of

Professor

George

Forbes. Th e electric arrangements, as de

scribed

by their author

to the

Institution

of

Electrical Engineers, contain many feature

s that

depart

from

ordinary

usage,

and

which,

as we

forecast in

our

previous article,

have

met wi th

keen criticism .

The

first

night

of the discussion of

the

paper - November

23-was

occupied e

ntirely

by speeches from

t h o s t : ~

that

sit

at

and immediately

around the

council table,

and a n o t h e r - p o ~ s i b J y

two more nig

ht s

- will

be

r

eq

ui r

ed

before the

matter is threshed out. Prof

essor F o

rbes received

quite a chorus of congratulations upon the position

he holds,

and

upon his public

spirit in

puttina forth

his

plans,

and his

reasons for

them,

o ~ e

the

work was finished, or,

ind

eed, well

under

wa.y. Ho

was, however,

very

hotly attacked

up

on

his

choice

of a low frequE-ncy,

and his

reply will

be eagerly

waited for

on

this

point.

Dr.

J .

A.

Fleming

was called

upon

by the

Presi

dent to open the discussion. After complimenting

P r o ~

e s s ~

F orb.es on the

value

of his

paper, and

the

Inst1tut1?n tts

g?od

fortune in receiving

such

a

c o ~ m u n t c a t w n while

t ~ e work

was

in

progress,

he

satd

he would confine

h1s

remarks to

two points

t?e effects

due to c a p ~ c i t y and se

lf-induction of l

ong

lines when worked

wtth

alternating

currents. No

doubt the type of lin.e chosen

had

been fixed upon

to reduce the capac1ty effects. t was most im

portant

to avoid sudden rises of pressure

su

ch as

no insulation

could

withstand.

If u d d e ~ connec

ti

on

and

disconnection

were made between

the

ma

chine and

th e

line, dangerous

electrical

surainas

would

be

set up. These,

however,

could be avoided.

At

D

ep t

ford a method of effecting this had

be

en

devised

by

the

engineer,

Mr. D'Alton

and himself

":hich

had perfectly

succ.eeded

in

ita ~ b j e c t in

r e l a ~

twn

to

large o n e e n t n c

cables

there used, havin

g

a

capaetty

m1crofa

rad per

mile.

The

applian

ces

used comprised a

transformer

havina

its

seco

ndary

capable of

being

closed

through variable non-

. For description and drawings, see ENGINEERING, vol.

hv., page

782

7/23/2019 Engineering Vol 56 1893-12-01

21/31

674

inductive resistance,

the

primary circuit being in

series

with

the main.

This

resistance was

gradually

decreased, less and less of the energy

being

thus

diverted through the transformer, and more and

more

sent

on

to

the line. In breaking

connection

the process was the inverse. All the bad effects

r.ccompanying alternating currents increased with

the

frequency, hence it was advantageous

to reduce

the frequency. The s

peaker highly

appl'oved of

Professor Forbes's plan of introducing an arti

ficial

load when alternators were to be put

in

circuit

in

parallel. This

was

done

at Rome,

where

they had

a

resistance

that

would

absorb

300

horse

power,

the power

of

one machine. I t

was not

done

in any

case in England, he believed. The

breaking of a main fuse was a source of danger.

'Vhat

was wanted

in

place of a fu

se

was an

appliance to put impedance in the circuit, and not

to break it. He would like to know at what dis

tance the main

conductors

would be apart, as

at

20,000 volts there would be a great

tendency

to

arc

across. R eturning again to the subject of fre

quency,

the speaker said it was determined in each

case by the local conditions ; he considered that the

wisdom of low freque