•

APRIL 27, 1900.]

THE DESIGN OF ROTARY CONVERTERS.*

By H. F. P ARSH.ALL, M. INsT. C.E ., and H. M. H oBART.

(Concluded from page 501. )

RUNNING CoNDITIONS FOR RoTARY CoNVERTERS. T HE difference between three-phase and six-phase · ndings as regards t he manner of distribution of

~~e conductors of t he differ ent ph~ses over . t he armature surface, has already been p01nted out 1n a

revious art icle on page 517 of ENGINEERING for botober 27, 1899, and was il_lustrated d_iagr~mm~ti­cally in Fig. 14 of t hat a:r twle: B earmg m mtnd the difference there expla1~ed, 1t sho~ld ~e f~rther noted that the so-called s1x-phase w1nd1n~ gtves a distribution of ~ts armat~re magnet omot1ve force in accordance m th. t he ~1agrams for t he ~agneto­motive force in mductwn motors, wluch wer e shown and explained in an article on page 299 of EriGINEERING, for August 26, 1898. In this -

SERIES ROTARY

E N G I N E E RI N G.

due to absence of con t rol of field excitation , except by means of t he ar mature r eactions .

The choice of as many t urns p er pole-p iece on t he armature, as good constan ts, in other r espects, will permit, is, of course, conducive in all t ypes of rotaries to t he best r esult, from t he standpoint of securing t he r equired magnetomotive force from t he armature with as lit tle idle curren t as possible.

By similar tnethods the magnetomotive for ce r ela­t ions may be analysed from t he phase cha racteristics with load. Under these conditions, i .e., with current deliver ed from the commutator, there are further considerations : The demagnetising influ­ence of t he commutated curren t may be n eglected, as t he brushes r emain at t he n eut ral p oint , and even t he disto1'ting influence upon the magnetic distribut ion, may be consider ed to be substantially offset by t he overlapping enermt componen t of t he incoming altern ating curren t. The main difference a.pp~a.ring in th e analysis of t he phase characterist ic wit h load , is t hat t he energy componen t , except wit h very great weakening or strengthening of t he

535 Magnetising component= J7452 - 6W = 406 am-

peres. . . . . · · 'th T he armature has a suc-cu ou1t smgle wmding '!1 180 total turns, therefore 10 turns per pole-p1ece per phase.

Magnetising current per turn = 4~~ = 135 amperes.

Maximum magnetomotive force per phase = ,J2 x 135 x 10 = 1900 ampere-turns. .

Hence maximum of resultan t magnetomot1ve force of armature per pole-piece = 1. 73 x 1900 = 330() am pare-turns.

3300 Average value over pole· face = ,J

2 = 2300 ampere-

t urns. These ser ve to set up t he same magnetic flux.

t hrough the armature winding, for which 2750 amper e-t urns p er field spool were required. The latt er, however, w~re less favourably situated, t here being much magnetic leakage to b e deducted fr om the init ial flux set up.

" Sttlrging" Ejfect.- R efP-rence has been made to t he "surg ing " effect in r otary converters as being

Jlte. 53. TJtru,P~. 2 SO,tcles. 1001fw.m, 7f:rh.

60v

• •

. 170 r ~'-"' a,t;( ,., ,.rJr ~

·Fie· 54. ROTARY CONVERTER

lW.tlt.oub FiRhL Ex~rv. -2 so

/ ..

fJJO '" ' / ~

~ '/

V V 0

~ 1/

~

./ V

200 V ./

[......-' """" 180

~

~ ~~ Olt/ (,oil rrtrtt~s. 1&0

140

BOO 126" 120 '

~ ::,

~ ~ (/) ..... I1J

"'0 Cl) et ~~

l. ~ Q)

::;2l ~eres t: t [JU If// ~ ~ ~ ~

.. _Antp~Tv.rns FieLL 8ooo1J-O 100

Volt6 orv nfUtlllfu" .. - sso 80 11u- Phas TAr. 7 00 e. rrurn1~

00 76v 60 60

..... 4()

0

20 ~

0 - ~ ~ ~ 100 UO ~ 1~ WO

, !;3.,tl Continuous Current Amperes output from Commutator.

100 ~ ~ -r; ~ ~

~ ~

0

~ I"'"

0 .... • ~

0 zo tU) 60 80 100 120 240 160 180 '»•mJ Continuous Current Amperes output: from Commutator.

article it was shown t hat the three phases. of such a winding exer ted a resultant magnetomoti ve force, whose maximum value is equal to t wo times the maximum value of t he mag netomotive force per phase. But by Figs. 51 and 52, on pages 600 and 501 ante, it has been shown that in the windin~ of t he ordinary three-phase r?ta.ry conver ter (when the windings of t he ?tfferent phases overlap), t his maximum value IS only 1. 73 t imes the magnetomotive force per phase. A six-phaser will, t her efor e, give equally

effective response to field variations wit h but 1. 73 ' 2.00 '

or 87 per cent. as great an incoming current, as will a three-phase rotary converter. This is a distinct advantage, even for t he shunt -wound, and for t he comp?und-wound rotary, b ut it is still mor e impor­tant 1n ~he case of the series r otary, and for the rotary Without ~eld excitation (which will shor tly be dtscussed), smce t he chief objections to t hese 1atter types, relate to t he large incoming curren t

• r:rhe previo113 ar ticles of this series will be found in o~r tssues of September 29, October 13, October 2i November 17, December 8, and December 22 1899 • and of February 9, February 23, and April 20 of the p;esent year,

normal field, will be a. very appreciable compon en t of t he total resultan t incoming alternating curren t . Thus in Fig. 48 (page 499 ante), t he upper curve r epresents the phase characteristic with full-load ou tput of 1100 amperes at 115 Yolts from t h e commutator. At normal field of 2750 ampere­t urns, t he amperes input per collector ring are 1030. Reducing the field excitation to zero in­creases t his incoming curren t to 1290 amperes. The ou t put is 125,000 watts.

The internal losses under these condi tions of full­load ou tput and zero field excita tion, a re approxi­mately as follow :

Total armature C2R loss .. . Bearing and all brush friction Core loss... .. . .. . .. . Brush C2R losses .. . .. .

...

... •••

.. .

5,000 watts 2,700 " 2, 700 " 3,500 "

Total internal loss .. . Watts outpub ... . .. •••

••• 13,900 . .. 125,000 ' '

" Total watts input ... ... 138,900

" Total watts input per phase... ... Voltage per phase .. . . . . .. . E nergy component of current per

phase in armature . . . . . . . .. Observed amperes input per col-

lector ring .. . . . . . . . .. . Observed amperes in armature

winding .. . ... . .. .. .

46, 300 watts 75 volts

616 amperes

1290 "

745 "

chiefly r esp onsible for the d iscrepancy between the observed current inpu t, when t he field is adj usted for minimum inp ut and the en ergy-curren t input . This addit ional curren t is of the nature of an inter­changing current amongst the gen erators and r otary converters. When, in t h e first place, the source of p ower driving the gener ator has not a constant ang ular effor t , t he flywheel may n ot b e sufficient ly large t o make t he ang ula r velocity uniform throughout the r evolut ion.

The rotary converter , t o remain strictly in syn­chronism, must respond p erfectly to t hose changes in angular velocity. Of course it cannot do so per­fectly, so the r esult is that at on e instant, it lags behind by a m ore or less small fract ion of an alternation (dist ance from mid-pole-face p osition), and tak es more current ; t hen it acceler ates m ore r apidly, gains on t h e generator, and s winging too far forward, on account of it s m omen tum, acts, for t he instan t , as a gener ator, r eturning current to the source of i ts s upply. This is the nature of the superposed current above r eferred to.

According to t h e degree of unevenness of the angular speed of the generator, and to t he absolut e and relat i-ve inertia of the moving parts of the aene­rators and rotary con verter s, this superposed s;ing­~g motion may be more or l ess great , and may, e1ther b etween generators and rotary, or between

rotaries, develop into sympath etic swings of con­siderable magnitude, leading, in some case~, to falling out of phase, but more often to serious and rather destructive sparking at the commutator, due to the pulsations. As already pointed out, these troubles may be remedied in practice by employing copper coils or plates specially located between pole-pieces, or more easily, but less economically and effectively, by using wrought-iron pole-pieces of the highest practicable conductivity, with small clearance between pole-face and armature.

Compound- W ound R otcc,ry.-The purpose of t he compounding coil (series winding) has already been set forth (see page 783 of ExGI~EERI~G for Deceln­ber 22, 1899), and it merely remains to st ate that in pra.ctice it has been found to distinctly dimini h the tendency to stability when the '~surging" effect is present to any extent. Nevertheless, it is an aiel to automatic phase regulation, being, of course, more especially valuable where quick changes of load are cons tantly occurring, as in the operation of tramways. For gradually varying load, pure shunt excitation with hand regulat ion is more satisft.Lctory, unless the generator is driven with an extremely uniform angular m otion .

The current delivered from the conunutator of a rotary converter, is never very uniform ; it has always a superposed alternating-current component, which may be readily demonstrated by sending s uch a commutated current through a rea.ctance coil of sufficient inductance, when there may be observed across the terminals of the coil (by an alternating­current voltmeter) a difference of potential many times in excess of the CR drop. Although this is best observed by means of the drop across it, such a r eactance coil tends to eliminate the e variation , and they are much less than when no inductance is in circuit. A compound winding will, t o a certain degree, have this same effect, and while the diffi­culties attending its use are probably partly due to this effect, it should, at the same time, in some measure tend to make the commutated current more free from superposed variations. The series winding is cut out when starting up from the con­tinuous- current side, and this is conveniently accomplished by a double-throw switch, which in one p osition connects the junct ion of t he series winding, and t he negative brushes to the starting rheostat, and in t he other position connects this point with the equalising bar.

Series R ota.ry.- The shunt winding may be dis­pensed wit h altogether, in a rotary converter, t he excitation being supplied by the series winding alone. The conditions, however, are not satisfac­tory, as the excitation is controlled entirely by the load current, and from what we have learned by a study of phase characteristics, such wide varia­tion of excitation cannot be made to give an econo­mical p ower factor for any extended range of load. Curves taken upon a 550-volt, lOO-kilowatt rotary, op erated in this manner, are given in Fig. 53.

R ota1·y withont Field E.ccitation.-A rotary with no field winding, supplies its excitation by virtue of the magnetising effect of the lagging currents flowin g through its armature, and which enter from the collector rings. In Fig. 54 is given a curve of th e alternating-current in terms of the continuous­current output for t he above-mentioned lOO-kilowatt r otary when operated with no field excitation. In t his case, the excitation of the generator wa<5 raised from 5500 ampere-turns per spool, when no amperes were delivered from the commutator of the rotary converter, up to 7000 ampere-turns per spool, at full­load amperes delivered from the commutator of the rotary converter. This served to maintain the com­mutator potential of the rotary, constant at 550 volts, throughout the whole range of load. This increased excitation of the gen erator, was necessary, a3 it also was of only lOO-kilowatt capacity, and the large de­magnetising magnetomoti ve force of t he lagging armature current acting against its own impre sed field, required to be overcome by the increa .. e of field excitation from 5500 to 7000 ampere-turns per spool. Such rotaries without field windings have, however, actually been employed commercially.

The ad vantage of having, for rotaries of this type, a very strong armature, even to the sacrifice of the most favourable values for other conseants, will n ow be clearly seen. The armature winding will thereby be enabled to supply the required magnet01notive force, with less excessive magnetising currents from the source of supply. The use of six collector rings (so-called six-ph ase), has, in t his r esp ect, an advan­tage of 14 per cent., for a given armature and wind­inf', over the ordinary method with three rings .

•

EN G I N E ER I N G.

THE INSTITUTION OF NAVAL ARCHITECTS.

(Concluded from page 511.) PROPELLER SHAFTS.

THE last sitting of the meeting was held on the evening of Friday, April 6, when two papers were down for readiug. These were Loth on propeller shafting, and were di cussed together. The first was by Mr. Roberto Schanzer, of the Terni Steel 'Vorks, Italy, and was on '' Mys terious Fractures of Steel Shafts." The oth er was by Mr. A. Scott Younger, and was entitled " Corrosion and Failure of Pro­peller hafts. " Mr. Schanzer's p !\per we print m full on another page.

Mr. Younger in his paper, which we shall print in full shortly, attempted to account for the extreme corrosion which is found to occur at the ends of the brass liners on tail-end shafts. All were agreed that corrosion occurs just at the end of the liner s, but there was uot t he same unanimity as to its cause. Some say it is due to galvanic action alone ; others that it is caused by galvanic action acting in conjunction with vibration and shock set up by the propeller striking the water ; others, again, that the water at the ends of the liners has a " sawing action ;" whilst more recently the idea has gained ground that corrosion is to be accounted for by the longitudinal stresses set up by the bending of the shaft. The author was of opinion that the theory of galvanic action was wholly inadequate to accoun t for the deteriora­t ion of shafting, but that it might have some effect in aggravating it. Attention is called in the paper to the increased number of accidents of this nature to vessels in ballast with propellers only partially im­mersed, and the a uthor considered that cross bending in altem9.te directions was alone s ufficient to account for the mishaps. He assun1ed a vessel in ballast with a draught of 14ft. and a propeller 17 ft. in diameter. The exact position of the centre of effort of all four blades would be difficult to determine, and would probably vary d uring a revolution. Assuming the worst p osition with two blades vertical, t he bending moment on the shaft due to the two transverse blades would be equal and oppo ite, and might be n eglected. As­suming, further, the vertical blades to be doing half the work, then by a diagram, which will be r epro­duced when the paper is published, it was shown that the centre of effort of the two vertical blades would be about 4 ft. below the centre of the shaft in calm water. The resistance of the ship at 9 knots was estimated at 8 t ons and the weight of the pro­peller 8.2 tons. The shaft was assumed to be fixed at the watertight bulkhead aud merely supported at the after liner, the force representing t he support acting at the cen t re of the after bearing. By cal­culation it was shown that this force was equal to 15 .2 tons . On t hese assumpt ions, which the author only put forward as rough approximations, it was calculated that the bending moment on t he shaft had its max imum value somewhere about the middle of t he after liner, and there was also a point of contrary flexure somewhere between the liners. At the ends of the liners the shaft would not receive the full contribution of strength due to its increased di~meter, and this would have a serious effect. The actual magnitude of the stresses was not grea-t, on]y about 2 tons, but, in view of the shaft haviog to transmit a twisting moment the bending stresses became important, as the shaft must be bent backwards and forwards each revolution, and owing to the change of section the stresses attain t heir maximum values at the ends of the liners . R eference was made to t he variation of these assumed conditions from actual practice.

In order to test his views t he author had made experiments by twisting a number of model shaft-s. They were held at one end in a lathe centre and passed through a well-fitting brass bush, whilst another bearing was } 2 in. slack. An upward for ce was applied at a point cor ­re~ponding to the centre of the boss of the imaginary propeller. The . hafts had enlarged parts turned on t hem corres ponding t o brass liners on tail shafts. The conditions of trial were purposely exaggerated as compared to those which would be proportionately present in actual practice. The results were as follow : Every haft broke at the point indicated by calcul~tion as being m ost severely stressed. The maximum stress per square inch at the point of fracture in the plain shaft was greater than in the linered shaft. The author

[APRIL 2 7, I 900.

concluded by reference to some of the devices in common use for preventing deterioration and b1eak­age of propeller shafts. These were illustrated iu the paper, and will be shown when we publi~h Mr. Younger's contribution in full.

The discussion on th~se t wo papers was opened by Mr. McColl, who said that he had aiyen the subject of propeller shafting_ attention f~ a great number of year . The questwn was a rexed one. On. some point., however, most people were agreed, w~1l~t on others there was great di,·erstty of op1n10n. There was no doubt as to the advantage of continuity of liners, so that everyone would he likely to agree with Mr. Younger's remarks on that point. Mr. Y.ounger h~d described ~ertain experi­ments made, w1th the obJect of producmg fracture in a co~paratively shor~ time, the shaft being heltl in the Jaws of a chuck m a lathe, as above described. R eferring to these experiments, Mr. McColl thought they were not conclush"e as to the effect of bra s liners in causing fracture in actual shafts fitted in ships ; a point which the author wished t o establish. In order to get at true results Mr. M'Coll considered that the stresses should be proportionate to the diameter of the shafts, but this wa not so in the experiments, the stresses being in excess, with shafts of the diameter tried. The liner referred to hy the author and used in his tests would be no thicker than an ordinary condenser tube. No doubt, however, the liner did have an effect in weakening the shaft, but the speaker contended that was more dependent on t he material of which the liner was composed than on the increase of section due to its presence. This he proceeded to .illustrate by means of the black board, first drawing a shaft liner in two lengths, the two parts being butt-jointed together. 'V here t he joint occurred undou btedJy there would be corrosion, but e\7 en after that had occurred if a piece of the liner were removed and its place filled up with an india-rubber ring, then corrosion would cease. That was hown by practice. If, however, ~1r. Younger's theory were correct, the deteri~­rat ion would continue, and the shaft would ulti­mately give way. Other examples .were dedu.ced by the speaker in support of this contentiOn. The author had mentioned, amongst other arrange­ments for protecting the shaft, that of ~tr. McColl. It consisted of shrinking a wrought-Iron band round the shaft a few inches from the end of the liner and then filling in the intervening space with ~hite metal or an india-rubber ring. Mr. McColl said that he had seen many rubber rings taken off, but had never found the results of corrosion beneath them. The author endea­voured to account for corrosion at the .end of. the brass liners, the theory of galvanic actiOn bem.g, he thought, wholly inadequa~ to. account for tt. Cross-bending in alternate duecti.ons was alone sufficient to account for the mtshaps. These opinions Mr. McColl did not share ; for though the a uthor had said that cases had occurred where shafts have broken at the ends of liners, from which the water has been rigidly excluded-thu~, in the author's opinion, showing . that_ galvamc action was not the cause of corroswn-~t ~as by no means certain that water bad bee~ rtgtdly ex­cluded. ~1r. McColl would amend t~1s statement of the writer of t he paper by addmg the ~~r~ "appeared" ; thus making it read, "fro~ w ~c~~ the water appeared to have been exclude · N 0 doubt if the bottom bearings were worn, there would be bending due to .great?r pre sure a; the outer end ; and if gal vamc actwn w~aken~e the shaft, there would be a point a~ whtch t

80 shaft would break owing to bendmg, and h d far Mr. Younger was rigbt. All who t~e followed this question would a~ree th~~ 'd d whole my tery of shaft fail ures mt~ht be 1

."1 e f

into two periods : One prior to the mtroduct10~i: water-ballast steamers, and the other comme~inu~ with the introduction of such vessel , and con d

d D ina the secon in<Y up to the present ay. ur b • e of o. d b ornlous mcreas

Perwd there ha een an en d ~I M Coli was con ·

n~i haps of this nature, an r. ~he method , f vu1ced that the fact was due to h d t water ru·nning the ships. Vessels that a no1 . . . h ft . tact as ono ,ts ballast now retained thetr s a s ID

0 not Th d of course was

in former years. . e anger, rathe; owing to in the water balla~t Itself, but w~s 11 st was needed its absence ; that IS to say, mo:e a a ro eller. in order to uet better immerston for the tp bp .. ]]ll ,.t

o. t have wa er ~ If however, lt was necessary o ~ ld m"ke the

' · he wou ·~ in th? ma~ner now m vogue, d houah that might shaftmg 2::> per cent. larger, an t b

APRIL 27, rgoo.J E N G I N E E R I N G. 537 •

REA VY TURRET LATHE. CON~ TRUCTRD BY THE PRATT AND WRITNEY CO~fPANY, HARTFORD, CONN., U. S.A.

( Fot· Desctiption, see Page 54 7.) -

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not remove the trouble it would put it farther away. The fitting of an outer bearing in the rudder post would shift the difficulty to another place, and he knew of one inRtance of a ship having an outer bearing in which the shaft broke inside the pro­peller boss. In regard to the use of white n1etal, that had been adopted many years ago, specially at the east-coast ports. In conclusion, he did not think it creditable to engineera that t he most im­portant bearing in the whole ship had met with so little attention. What would be said, he asked, if journals in the engine itself were run in bushes not capable of adjustment 1 The whole question needed closer consideration at the hands of marine

• engmeers. Mr. Corry, speaking as a shipowner, said that

in the last vessel in which he was interested, special attention had been paid to the danger of shafting breaking. The shaft in this ship had been made of nickel steel, and the stern gland was of gun-metal. There was 9 ft. of wood lining, and inside that a fixed bearing on a pedestal 2 ft. long. The construction was on the prin­ciple of getting as long a bearing as possiblo. The stern tube was made in two halves so that it could be drawn in without disturbing the shaft, and it was possible to renew the bearing com­pletely. The vessel was of 3000 horse- power, and the shaft was 16 in. in diameter. That was considerably above what would be asked for by the registration societies. A good shaft liner having a bearing inside the stern Lush should not be worn away at all when well lubricated, and a special pump had been devised for forcing oil into the stern gland. An excess of lubricant was insured by pumping it up a pipe, after which it flowed down to the bearing ; the surplus being carried back again to the pump. No doubt the main cause of breakage of shafts was the sending of vessels across the Atlantic with insufficient ballast. He would advocate a compulsory minimum load-line, as well as a compulsory maximum load-line, so that pro­pellers would not be allowed to revolve out of wa~r. He did not object to a plain shaft if pre­c~utwns were observed to keep it thoroughly lubricated. The question of breakage of shafts had been studied very carefully at Lloyd's, and certain conclusions had been arrived at, which, he hoped, would be of service.

Mr. Stromeyer welcomed Mr. Younger's paper, even though the results of the tests were not con­clusive as to the question as to why propeller shafts were grooved close to the liners . He was not a

•

believer in the galvanic origin of these cracks, and at­tributed them to secondary st resses set up wherever a change of form took place. This was a view that was vaguely mentioned by engineers whenever frac­ture took place at sharp corners, but until Mr. Bruhn showed by experiments last year how important t his matter was, attent ion had not been seriously directed to it. Some years ago, on the occasion of the failure of the thrust shaft of the s .s. U mbria, he made a few remarks at t he Institution of E ngineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland as to the mathematics of the subject, and he proposed confining his pre­sen t remarks to t his side of the question. He pointed out that if a corner is absolutely sharp the secondary stresses there would be infinitely great, but t hat no engineer's tool seemed to be sharp

• • --' . --- """"

-~--- ~· -'

T ( l 't A: eta:; 0:.

------- --• -..,.

Fiy.n.

enough to cut such a corner, and even if it did the ductility of the material would prevent the stresses from becoming excessive. He then dealt first of all with the fundamental equation

dX + d T = o. dx dy

where X is the longitudinal stress in the direc­t ion x, and T is the shearing stress, which is both parallel to x and to ·y. This was the equation to which the speaker had drawn attention in his remarks on Mr. Bruhn's paper, and which deter­mined the distribution of the shearing stress in a beam, and would be applicable to the case of a propeller shaft. I t was important to bear in mind that as the only shearing force, not stress, was that due to the weight of the propeller or shaft, and not to the thrust on the blades, however one-sided it

. .

• • I • '

•

. , . •

•

\; l I ( I I

I

•

• •

•

might be, this particular shearing stress, due to t he external shearing force and to the change of form, depended chiefly on the weight of the pro­peller, and by increasing the load on the experi­mental shaft out of all proportion to its size, Mr. Younger was diverging from the correct conditions. He also believed that excessive loading would cause a liner to slip and work loose, and then the influence as regards grooving would be gone. The speaker further pointed out, that as long as a liner did not slip, and so lo11g as it grasped the shaft, and the full coefficient of friction came into play, that there then was, in a linered shaft, the condition of a sharp corner, such as could not be produced by turning one out of the solid. This applied more particularly to the torsional stresses, for up to the extreme length of the liner it assisted the shaft by giving torsional resistance, but beyond the liner the shaft was suddenly reduced, the liner being only effective up to the line where the frictional contact ceased.

Except in N a vier's and other classical works on elasticity, he had never seen it mentioned that a differential equation similar to that previously men­tioned existed between two shearing stresses in the same structure. In fact, even these authorities dealt with the matter in such a way that it was difficult to see their object. Thus, the previous equation, and the one to follow, formed part of a set which expressed the relations existing between the three longitudinal stresses and the six shearing stresses which could possibly act on a parallelepi­pidon. Mr. Stromeyer illustrated his reasoning by means of a diagram which we reproduce. If seven of these stresses were omitted as not affecting the torsion stresses in a. shaft, if d x (in Fig. 10) is parallel to the axis of the shaft, d y parallel to the radius, and d z to the circumference ; then Tr is the torsional shearing stress, while T8 is a shearing stress acting between the various cylindrical layers of the sh~ft. From the figure it would be quite evident that

a T7 _ aT,= O. - -dx dy

This equation showed that in a conical shaft, subjected to torsion, and where naturally the tor­sional stresses increase towards the smaller end, circumferential shearing stresses would be set up which would tend to bend the originally straight radial lines, as indicated in Fig 11. 'Vh~rever there is a corner on such a shaft, this part might be looked upon as a ' ery blunt cone, and the.·e the

•

secondary stresses T, would g-row excessive. They alone, or in combination with the secondary stres. es due to bending, might be the cause of the cracks noticed, not only close to liners, but also in crank fillets. The shape of these cracks, like rose-bits, suggest that the causes which produce them are similar.

Mr. J. Milton was the next speaker. He re­gretted that there were no steelmakers present, as Mr. Schanzer's paper was of a metallurgical character. There was one point, however, on which the author had come to conclusions that would not be supported by a great many engineers. Speaking of the composition of the shaft, he had said that a high percentage of phosphorus was not reached, the mean being 0. 92 per cent. the minimum 0.082, and the maximum 0.101. This Mr. Milton thought was wrongly described as 11ot high in phos­phorus, it being about double what engineers t hink reasonable in shafts . In r egard to Mr. Younger's paper, he considered t hat the thanks of every one were due to the author for agitating the minds of shipowners and engineers on this question of shaft fracture. For years p~t the s ubject had been one of growing importance. It was n ot only n1odern vessels which were troublesome, for he found ships built twenty years ago did not now give satisfaction in this respect, and he concluded that one of t h e causes wa in the way the ships were used, rather than in the ships and shafts themselves. So long as vessels were used in the p resent manner, shafts would give way, let engineers do what they could. R e had been investigating this question a long time, and many of the reports that had come before him were confidential. The author had said t hat during the year a very large num­ber of propeller shafts were condemned. Mr. Milton would state that at Lloyd's they had 76 cases of r en e wals before them in one month, or a proportion of over 900 a year. f these 13 were doubtful as to t h e origin of the defects, but in 63 they were clearly stated. Of the latter, j ust 50 were due to the liners on the shaft. If there had been no liners, or if the liners had been o arranged that there was not any discontinuity, presumably those 50 would not have failed in the way they did. Mr. Younger's C.llculations were not fair assump­tions ; but if he ha.d taken an extreme case, the res ult would have been worse. H e had as. umed the gland to be h eld rigidly in place ; but that was hardly t h e case in practice ; and if the point of de­flection were changed it would considerably modify Mr. Younger's figures. But as h e had s tated, the conditions might have been much exaggerated, for in place of supposing the water line t o be half way up the blade, he might have made the boss almost awash without going beyond what sometimes oc­curred. Attention had been drawn to the stresses which occurr ed at the ends of liners. He could not take Mr. Y ounger's figures as to stresses due t o bending moments, as at the discontinuity at t he liner ends, h e thought the curve rose much more suddenly than was shown. If, however, in place of a sharp corner at the change of section of the shaft the effect were exaggerated by a nick or crack, how very much higher would be t h e effect. It was well known that a nicked bar wa not so strong as one in which the nick was turned out in the lathe, even for steady loads, but every blow of the sea brought irregular s trains on the shafting, and this would emphasise t he evil effect of discon­tinuity. Mr. Younger had forestall ed him in the experiments h e had made wit h model shaft.s, for he, Mr. Milton, had proposed to pursue the same line· of investigation, excepting that he had in­tended to combine tors ion and bending. ''Jointed" liners were often referred to, but i t was desir able to know what was meant. I t was difficult to make a very long continuous liner in one ea t ing. If the liner were butted the effect of a nicked shaft was produced. If a stepped joint were used it was very difficult, if not impossible, to make it good. Thus, if the liner was shrunk on the shaft there would be no certainty that in putting the second length on the stepped part, the overlavping end would fit tightly round the corresponding half 9f the first length , supposing the shaft also were tightly gripped; that is t o say, it would be almost impossible so nicely to proportion the metal as to make both parts fit tightly after shrinking. 'Vith a butt joint the two ends of the liner were sometimes brought together and an attempt was made to burn metal in . That was not a good principle to go upon. If a burned joint were attempted the adjacen t ends of th e t wo

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

liners should be cut boldly away, or rather, not brought together, and t hen plenty of m etal should be run in. I t would thus melt on and make a good joint right down to the shaft. In times gone by he had surveyed a large number of coa ting steamers in w h1ch the outer shaft bear­ing had been fitted into the rudder po t in a way once common, and which was referred to by the author. He had found that the wear on the bearing of the after support wa always sideways, and not up and down ; from which it was apparent that, rather than t h e rudder post u pporting the propeller shaft, the latter was being used as a stiffener for the rudder po t. Mr. Younger said he would make the rudder post strong enough to withstand the stress; but that, the speaker thought, would be a very difficult thing to do. If an outer bearing were to be fitted, be would sooner see two a fter posts, one for the rudder and one for the bear­ing. Mr. Younger believed in a light propeller. That was a good principle to go upon provided the propeller were made strong enough. If manganese bronze were used the screw would be light and strong, but there was then the probability of m ore corrosion. If two metals, one electro-positive and the other electro-negative, were in contact in a cor­rosive fluid, like sea water, corrosion would occur ; and even with the same metal, if on e part became electro-positive to another, due to the presence of heat, wasting would ensue. Thi was shown by the rapid way ballast tanks under boilers wasted. It was noticeable also in a donkey boiler thS\t if there was a place where t he lagging was off, that patch, beingcomparatively cold, did not corrode; again, steam dome if placed near the chimney would always deteriorate more on the chimney side. As a means of keeping water tLway h e believed in a con­tinuous liner; but a shaft without a liner might be a good thing if mean were taken to keep it in thorough order. His experience had been, how­ever, that when owners tried the plan they had sometimes gone back to the usual arrangement. As to material, Mr. Younger bad referred to a " good ingot steel." U nfortunately there was consider­able difference of opinion as to what was good ingot steel for haftmaking purposes. One large tirm of makers who had built up their reputation by supply­ing only the mildest steel, n ow preferred a material of from 32 to 36 tons tensile strength for shaft­making purposes. As to scrap steel, experience had led many marine engineers to consider that the material was not sufficiently ductile for screw shafts, and they preferred either iron or a suit­able ingot steel. It was found that cracks and corrosiC\n would spread wit h great rapidity with scrap steel, and in his opinion there was nothing equal to good fibrous iron. Mr. ~Iilton con­cluded a long and interesting speech by saying he had known one iron shaft to b e in use in a coa t­ing vessel having water ballast for a period of 19! years, and it was only condemned then because it had become bent; it w~s made of Lowmoor iron and wa fitted with a continuous liner. uch ex­amples as this led him to believe in good iron for screw sha fts.

Mr. A. D enny said that the society with which he was connected had attempted to put forwarrl certain rules as to the material for shaftinu, and had been met with a chorus of disapproval. They had, therefore, reverted solely to tests, a a cri­terion of fitn ess, rather than specifying material. He agreed with Mr. Milton t hat the great cause of destruction of shafts was the way ships sailed in ballast trim. This was especially the case with ships of full form whil t bigger pro­pellers increa ed t h e chance of mishap. He had a good deal of sympathy wit h rt1r. 1\iilton'. views as t o the use of iron for shaftin g, and he knew a good many engineers preferred iron shafts to those made of ingot steel. The difficulty was to make sure of getting all iron in scrap, and that pie~es of steel were not included. The best source of supply was the old iron ships that were built before t he steel era, but e\·en then there was no certainty that the ves el had not been repaired with steel at some time. He had tried to persuade the engineering branch of his firm to do away with liners for shafts. They had said they were quite willmg if he would take the risk. That h e did not feel inclined to do. I t was always a question in new departures upon whom the risk ought to fall , but in any case he thought it should not be beyond the skill of engineers to de ign a good bearing for the stern of the ship.

:rt1r. Younger, in replying to the discus ion, said

( PR I L 2 7, 19<)0.

an attemp~ had been made to shrink the liners in the experlllle~tal shafts, but thi had t<> be aban. d~ned. I~ ~p1te of Mr. ?tlcColl's remark , he was still of opm10n ~hat the bonding of the haft did more than corro 10n to produce rupture. • To doubt the t~? metals being brought together would et up cond1t~on th~t would lead to corro ion ; but ucb corro 10n was m p~ et ice the les er eau e of mishap J oints in br~ liners, however well made, were not ti? be trusted. The propeller of a hip had been r1gbtly compared to a vast flywheel carried by an overhung ~earing. N ~ land engineer attempted to run an engme on such hnes, and he considered some means should be devised so that marine engineers were not put in such a difficult po ition. He Wl\8

of opinion, in spite of what had been raid, that a stern-frame could be de 1gned that would carry an outside bearing which would be inde­pendent of any influence of the tres e due to the pres ure of water on the rudder in steering. H e agreed with the spirit of 1\Ir. tromeyer' re· marks, but at t he ame time the o\·crloading of the experimental shafts was a neces ity. ome con· clu _ion had _to be reached within a reasonable pace of hme. Ltfo wa too short to make such experi­ments under normal condition of tress. In speak­ing upon :rt!r. Milton's remarks, he would point out that he considered it fairer not to take an extreme case ; but be regretted to hear ~fr. Milton say he would not proceed with the experiments he, Mr. l\1ilton, had proposed making, because they would be sure to be valuable ; and he, the speaker, recognised that his own tests were by no m~.an con­clusive. He preferred a light propeller, though he had not proposed it should be hghtened to the extent of detracting from the necessary strength ; but he had had in his mind some crews that were absurdly heavy. Certainly no one could complain of the shaft mentioned hy Mr . .Milton t hat had run 19! year , unless it were the hip repairers. He -would, in conclusion, call at­tention to the fact that the po ition of the de­signer of marine engines was very different to that of the d esigner of such structures a bridge , roofs, &c. In t he latter case there were ceruin definite maximum condition to be met, and the engineer could determine his stresses, and then allow a margin of. afety of three, four, or fire times the load as the ea e might be. Such nice calculati(,ns were impo ible with tail-shafts for crew Hteamers, as no one could calculate what the tre es were, and they had still, therefore, to go on the old prin­ciple of trial and error.

CoN<.:Lt:DIN(: Pnof'EEnt c •

This brought the busines of_ the mee~iog t? a conclu ion in reaard to the readmg and d1 cu_ston of papers, and it only remained to prop~ e v~tes of t hanks to the 'ociety of Arts for lending the Institution the lecture theatre as a place of meet­ing; to the council and secretary, for th~ir labour during t he past year; and to the p~c 1de~t-the Earl of Hopetoun - for taking the cbatr durmg the greater part of the meeting. These votes were, of course carried with acclamation, and a mo t uc­cessfui meeting was brought to a conclu ion ..

Before closing our report we would uesll'e to record a feeling of crratification which wa expres~ by many of the m:mbers at the adn~irable manner in which t he proceedings were carrted out. That is n ot a matter in itself tbat would attract at~n­tion at a meet ing of thi. Institution ; but the pomt we wish to emphasise is that the whole of the papers were in the hands of tho ~ members who applied for them before the meetmg commenced, and many of them several days before. lt was owin g to this fact that the lo~g and perhap~ rather ab truse discu ions, on the 1mportant subJeC~ of vibration and fluid resistance were made po tblt It may be that some of our readers wul thm t he speeches by the learned profo rs over-long, and a little dry. These contributions to ~be discus ion have however, an interest and tm· portance more than academical. It may be .rem~m­bered by some t hat when the que tien of ~1~ra~doen was first approached from the mathemattca , certain ''practical" cri~ics failed~ see.the_adr~~t taae of giving so much ttme to an mve tl~ahon t likely in their opinion, to lead to lmporta~ i sues: I t n eeded a very little time to prove ;Ire fallacy of this view. Mr. Yarrow an~ .6 · Tweedie· took up the application of the_ sctentl ~ principles to the de ign of actual engme~, ~n ha"e evolved a system ~rhich has don~bll~r~ t~ any one thing we can thmk of to contn u e

APRIL 27, 1900.] E N G I N E E R I N G. 539

comfort of those who go to sea in modern high- TABLE ered vessels. In the same way we. see Dr.

~~~an, a mathematician f~mous even. In Ca~-

II -Smm COMPARATIVE APPROXIMATE FIGURES OF ELECTRIC LIGHT, PowER, AND T¥:'CTION STATlONS ·IN EunoPEAN CouN'rRIES AND THE UNITED STATES oF AMERIOA AT THE PRESENT AY.

b .Ydae but unexperienced In the practteal apph-rl b ' 1 h. . . <!ation of science to nava arc Itec~ure, g1vmg. an xplanation of the increased effi01ency of b1lge ~eels by a method which. had escap~d men . of

n such acute observatiOn and h1gh attain­eve ts as Sir William White and Mr. Froude. p::bably if Dr. Bryan had turned his attention to this subject a few years ago a good deal of discomfort to sailors and passengers, and a good deal of worry to ship. designers, w?uld have been obviated. The subJect, however, IS one. t oo 111.rge to treat at the end of a repo:t of a me~t1ng, and we only wish to call the attenbot;t of engmeers to the possibility of long and recondite p~pers and speeches containing a good deal . more hght .and leading to practical ends than IS at first sight apparent.

SOME STATISTICS RELATING TO ELECTRIC POWER PRODUCTION.

By PBILIP DAWSON. (Continued from page 435.)

IT is a most important question, not only to get an absolutely certain and .continuous s~pply of energy but also to attempt In every possible way to red~oe the cost of producin~ the sam~. .

As regards the pro.bl~ms Inv?lve~ m tractiOn schemes different cases will reqmre different treat­ment. The cases which generally pres~nt. th~m­selves will briefly be considered, and an In~10at10n given of the line of thought to be pursued In solv­ing the problem of certain, co~stant, and ~~eap supply. The conditions met w1th may be d1v1ded as follows :

Tratm1ua.ys. Tramways in densely populated· cities. Tramw&Y,S in smaller towns. Light ra.1lwa.ys connecting populous industrial centres. Light rail ways connecting country towns and pleasure

resorts. Railways.

Metropolitan and suburban railways. Links between centre of city and railway termini. Long-distance railways: . . . . Light railways connectmg rural d1str1cts to mam hnes.

The system to be supplied, however, does not indicate the design of the generating station and supply system. The c~nditions which govern this may roughly be summarised as below : Large Town, Lalfge Population on Heavy Traffic Lines. Ead of longest line not more than four miles from

supply station. Impossible to locate economically station near centre of

system. Station centrally located with exception of one or two

outlying districts. SrnaU Town, Lighter Traifio.

Station in centre of lines, no very long line. Station in centre of lines with one or two longer

branches.

In the above subdivision it has been supposed that the location of the power-house is not im­posed a p1·io1'i.

Owing to holidays and special circumstances, such as races or games, unexpected overloads are always possible and must be provided for. The load must necessarily be a very fluctuating one, the average being probably in large stations about 75 per cent. of the rated load.

Where continuous -current machines are used, the voltage must be fairly constant, and the maxi­mum variation of speed of the engine must be small, so as, amongst other things, to allow com­pound-wound dynamos to run economically and satllifactorily in parallel.

Where three-phase generators are used, the variation of angular velocity must be very small, a maximum variation of about one-fifth per cent. of angu~ar velocity during one revolution being all that IS generally considered permissible.

The special conditions which maintain in traction wor~ are, therefore, amongst others : Practically contmuous running, and probable and possible very heavy and unforeseen overloads. A. far sh?rter time is available for overhauling the ma­chi~ery than is the case in a lighting station, and as 1t 18 not economical to have very much spare power, .the ma~hinery sho~d be of such a type as to. r~q~1re but httle care and supervision, so as to m~mtse the chances of accident. In a traction stat1on the efficiency of the generating plant is, as as already stated, far more important than for light-

•

•

Total Elec· Area of Total Adtproxi· Station l{ilo· Station Imo. Miles of Single t.rical Station

watts Avail· Number of Capacity Poculation Country mate a.ttnl watts Avail· Track Elec-NAME OF Motor Oars • Investe in COUNTRY. able for able for ta·icnlly A va.ilablo foa· of ountry. in sauare

Running. ~res. Pound&. Lighting nnd Ta·nction. Equipped. all Purposes in Power. Kilowatts.

Great Britain 200,000 40,000 000 2,000 24.0,000 40,000,000 121,115 36,000,000 • • • .

224,000 sa,opo,ooo 211,168 2~,000,000 Germany 170,000 54,000 2,300 6,400 • • • • • 204,146 12,000,000 F,·ance 70,000 26,000 800 1,000 95,000 39,000,000 • • • •

Swi tzerlnnd . . 30,000 7,500 21'10 3SO 87,500 3,000,000 15,469 4,500,000 • • .

11,373 2,100,000 Belgium 15,000 3,000 120 200 18,000 6,(}00,000 • • • •

The whole of Em·ope 400,000 11\) ,000 6,000 9,500 650,000 350,000,000 3,75G,970 85,000,000

U. S. A. 1,200,000 800,000 21,000 138,000 2,000,000 70,000,000 9,581,885 180,000,000 •• • •

• •

TABLE III.-DATA OF CONTINENTAL ELROTRIO TRAM AND RAILWAYS, 1894 TO 1899. • , •

1894. 1895. 1896. 1897. 1898. 1899.

s.. ... ;... s.. . ,.. s.. .,.. s.. . ,..

0 .... 0 •s.. •s.. £ 0 0QI 0 0QI 0 QI .... £ 0QI • • ..... • 0QI 0QI .. - ~ ...> - ~

ra~ 0 • • • :::: ~ ..!.( . ... ~ 0 ,.!Id ..!.( ~13: ...!d ~> 0 ...!d 0 • ... ;s: 0 ..!.( ~ 0 ,

~ e ~0 g ~ 0 ...... 0 ~0 ~0 ~ 0 ~"'!< NAME OF COUNTRY. :a 0 0 :a ~ e ~::ll-4 ~ d~ ~::ll-4 ell. e~ CIS I:~ - .. - t4 .... s.. .... s.. - 0 - H 0 H .... .... 0 ..... .... 0 .... 0 ........ • H H H j;> 0 s:: ........ 0 >. ..... .... . ~ 0 . ;:..., 0 . >, 0 . ;... ~0~:: s.. t-o e s.. - $ d ... .... ~ c s.. .... ,.. - ~ c - .... Ql 0 Ql 0 Ql 0 ..... fll 0 Ql 0 Q.) 0 .... .$ 0 Ql 0 ..... rn o .... .$ 0 . ... fll 0

. .... ~ 0 .J:J• .J:J • .J:l' 0 :lZ .t:J " (,) ~ ·- .t:J • 0 ~· .... .J:l' ~ :.:3 0 · - o.,~ fll sf ~ ~5 fll CIS., ~

~~ fll sf rn al .... e f gJ CIS ~ d ,...fll Ql d.,.s aS ~~ Ql ~=!.d..S e'"' ~=~. d3 Q.) Ql ~=!. d.S ~=!.d s:l.d.S ::sd P.l d ., :;s d - ::sd

~ ~ - ::sd ..... ...., .... d~(J) d~(J) 8 ~u; d ~cn d ~ zo_ zo zo zo ·- d~cn

.... .... :a ::a :a zo :a zo ::a 0 en 0 0 0 0 - •

Great Britaln 70 3000 120 440 20,000 800 560 28,000 1500 900 40,000 2000 • • • • • • • • • • •• •• • • . •

Germany 164 2934 .. 585 5264 632 648 7194 857 1000 10,000 2000 1800 26,000 3100 2300 54,000 5400 •• • • • • I r

~

Austria-Hungary 42 1115 • • 72 1639 129 114 1949 157. 134 2,389 194 169 3,404 243 180 3,60Q ~91 • •

Belgium 5 90 • • 35 1130 48 40 1130 48 56 1,220 73 110 2,415 107 120 3,000 200 • • •• • •

Spain • 12 210 12 210 12 47 •• • • • • •• 600 26 74 600 40 98 930 50 167 2,450 144

Frnnce 68 1796 •• 164 3610 152 211 4490 225 448 8,736 432 626 16,158 664 800 25,000 1000 • • • • • •

Haly . 11 720 28 870 33 62 1890 • • 84 168 5,970 289 212 6,750 311 235 6,600 318 • • • • . .

Bosnia • • •• • • • • • •• • • • • • • • •

Holland • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •• • •

Portugal •• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Roumania . .

• • • • • • • •• • • • • • •

i' Russia • • •• • • •• • • • • • • • • •• • •

Norway and Sweden •• • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Servia • • • • • • •• • • • • •• • • •• • •

Switzerland •• • • • • • • • • • • • • •• • •

ing. Time and labour- saving apparatus finds, therefore, a far better application than would otherwise be the case, and larger capital expendi­ture is justified. Economical engines, both as regards steam consumption, repairs, maintenance, and depreciation are of great importance. Plants originally designed and well adapted for light­ing are therefore often very uneconomical when used to supply power for traction. Combining lighting with an existing traction station may, on the other hand, prove exceedingly successful.

In deciding on the system to be adopted in each particular instance, the relation of power producing expenses, total working expenses, capital expendi­ture and interest and sinking fund, on some of the various possible alternatives must always be most carefully considered and compared. The loca­tion of a power station should, of course, be as nearly situated to the centre of distribution of the whole system as is economically possible, all other things being equal. The ground on which it is located should be easily accessible by rail and water, so as to get fuel quickly and cheaply. A good and copious supply of feed and condensing water should be easily obtainable, and the ground such as not to necessitate heavy expense in sinking the foundations of the various buildings.

Whe.re the station is fairly central, and the lines do not reach much beyond three or four miles from the power-house, continuous-current generators, with boosters to supply the distant and hard-worked lines, may advantageously be used. When the traffic is very intense, and the total power re­quired exceeds from 4000 to 5000 kilowatts, it will generally be found that, as far as Great Britain is concerned, three-phase generators, with sub­stations and rotary converters are to be preferred. Where three-phase plant is used (with few ex­ceptions) no continuous-current generators should be installed, the requisite continuous current being supplied by rotary converters even for use in the station itself, as the reaction of continuous-current generators through the line on to the rotary con­verters may make regulation difficult.

Where the station is centrally situated, but with one or two lines going out a long way, continuous­current generators may be used. One or more polyphase generators, preferably driven by con­tinuous-current motors in the main station, can

•

• • • • • • • • •• • • •• • • 8 250 16 •

•• • • • • • • • • • • •• • • 3 120 8

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 8 90 6

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 37 1,300 92

• • • • •• • • • • • • • • •• 49 2,200 120

• • • • • • • • • • • •

•

•• • • 28 1,150 75

• • • • •• • • • • • • • • • • 12 600 30

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 250 7,600 330

send high-tension currents to rotary converters in sub-stations near the extremities of the outlying lines.

•

In a small system, when the station is centrally located, gas engines, ~riven by water gas made on the premises, and in parallel with accumulators, · may, in·many instances, prove effective, especially where coal is expensive. It is tlie cost of the coar which will indica~e whether in such a case ga·s ·or steam engines are the most advantageous. A gas plant generally costs about 25 per cent. more than a. stea.m plant ; but the coal and wages bill with gas are less than with steam. To decide on whether steam or gas is to be used, the entire cost of production should be compared in both cases with the extra cost of gas due to larger sinking fund and interest added, arising from the· greater capital expenditure required by a gas plant. · :

Where a small plant cannot be l_9cated centrally, a subsidiary battery of accumulators and a booster located in the battel·y· sub-station may prove of great value. ~ ' , ~ · . ~

The nuiD:ber of units for a power plant should be as small as is comp~tible to safe and economical working. Contiriental and American experience has 'led to the' nearly universal adoption of large comparatively slow-speed engines . . •

So much has been said about tractive-power plants because it is believed 'that iri the near' future more. electrical energy. will be supplied· for el.ectric tractiOn than for any other purpose... m this con­nection the Tables, II. and III. given above are interesting.# The first shows how insignificant what we' have done s~ far, is as compared with the amount of work of this des~ription executed in America·. · Ta'king Great Britain and the United States, we find roughly that ·the population of the latter is 75 per cent. greater than that of the former, and its superficial area 30 times greater. The total electrical power for all purposes· is 10 times ·as great, there is an electric railway mileage 20 times as long with 20 times the number of motor cars running. Again, comparing the United States with the whole of Europe, their superficial area is a~out the sa~e. Europe has five ~imes the popula­tiOn of Amenca, and yet the mileage of electric roads in Europe is only 25 per cent. of that exist .. ing in the States, which has seven times as many cars running. The conditions that obtain in the

•

540 E N G I N E E R I N G. [APRIL 27, 1900. -75 AND 80-MILL. FIELD GUNS ON RIGID CARRIAGE AND AUTOMATIC BRAKE .

" ,, \ -.

FU] . 88.

... •

I

~+· - -. I .......

I I I I I - I

/

.......

two countries are totally different, but yet theso figures are interesting. A great deal has been said lately about American competition ; here at least is one reason (as regards electrical machinery) why America has a great advantage over our own manu­fact urers.

(To be cont-ilrllued.)

MODERN FIELD ARTILLERY. ( Contil'ft/ued from page 503.)

THE ScHNEIDEB.-CANET SYsTEMs. As in naval armaments, the importance of quick­

firing fi eld guns has been recognised by their general adoption, increasing calibres, and improved me­chanism, so a similar recognition has been given to the value of the same principles, though under widely different conditions, for field artillery. The older types of guns firing from rigid carriages, and with free recoil, will soon be regarded as obsolete, at all events, by those nations whose armaments are of the modern type. In treating of this special subject, as elaborated by Messrs. Schneider and Canet, we shall have little to say about the gun itself, which in its design, as well as in t he breech mechanism, the developments that have taken place, follow lines very similar to those that have been already described in dealing with the Schneider­Canet ordnance in another series of articles. The principal interest attaches itself to the gradual de­velopment of field mountings, which in their most modern types em body the experimental practice of many years.

To deal with the subject fully, we should there­fore have to embody all the numerous systems which have successively been experimented upon at the Villedieu and H oc proving grounds, and also the results obtained during the experiments. These have been carried on without interruption in the proving-grounds ever since the question of accele­rating the fire of field guns first became a practical one. Of course such an investigation would be of great interest, as it would involve a review in every detail of the constant progress made in the con ­struction of this particular type of ordnance and its mounting. But as this would carry us far beyond available limits, the data we shall give must be limited to describing the designs of a few successive types, with a detailed notice of the 1898 gun and mountings, which embody all the improvements Ruggested by experiment, and carried out up to date.

Previously, however, t o enumerat ing the various systems which Messrs. Schneider and Co. have studied in theory and have experimented upon in practice, it will be well to refer to the conditions they prescribed when they decided to under take the manufact ure of quick-firing fi eld guns and car­riages, and towards the complete realisation of which they have never ceased to work. The result, as already stated, is their 1898 pattern, which fulfils all the conditions required.

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At the commencetnent of the quick-firing field artillery development, two different views generally prevailed; and they seem, even no'~\ to div~de military experts as regards the conditiOns whwh quick-firing field guns should fulfil in service. According to some experts-and these form to-day the lesser number-the new type of carriage, and especially that part on which most part of the changes have been carried out, should not so much be radically different when compared to the older r igid types, but be rather an improvement of the la.tter, such improvements and alterations being mostly in matters of detail, affected, of course, largely by t he progress made in the processes of

FIG. 91.

manufacture of different parts, and by the quality of metals now used. This view would bar the possible application, at least to a considerable degree, of the progress made during late years in t he construction of quick-firing naval gun mountings, especially as regards hydraulic recoil cylinders, which now work most satisfactorily. It may be remarked here that

these same recoil cylinders, when they ·ner~ tfi~~ proposed, had been s~ted by many artt ens be unfit for naval serv1ce. . will-

The o-reatest concession these theorists are . in a to 0 make is the application to Lhe ca~ta~ e ( w0hich would remain, as in the past, . a. ~~f~ e rigid suppor t), of an elastic device, for dunlillS 1 g

APRIL 27, 1900.] E N G I N E E R I N G.

SCHNEIDER-CANET SYSTEMS OF MOUNTING QUICK-FIRING GUNS.

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Fw . 92. 75-MrLLIMETRE Q u i CK-FIRI ·o G u N ON R10ru CARRIASE WITII A u TOMATIC CocNTERWEIOB T BBAHE •

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./ FIO. 95. DIAGRAM SIIOWING GAS RECOIL CBEOK.

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FIG. 96. 7 5- MrLLHIETRE GcN oN C ARRIAGE WITIT Gas RECOIL CrrECK.

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~ecoil, bu~ not absorbing it completely. Sometimes, endeavoured to persuade military authorities to mdeed, this device, which forms the most delicate accept these same theories ; quite recently indeed part ?f the whole mounting, containing as it does a books and pamphlets have been published which certam number of springs, is not expected to act, clai1n to prove clearly the utter impossibility of ex~ept in special cases, and when the ground on making a field gun-carriage that will remain in wht~h the gun is fired, is suited for its working. position during firing. These claims are not based The problem of fi eld gun construction thus inter- on t heoretical objections, but on the alleged trials prete.d becomes comparatively simple of solution, and failures of many proposed systems. The objec­and 1t ~ay easily be conceived that the theories tions so made are scarcely worthy of even passing advocatmg this principle were readily defended by notice ; they are one of the phases t hat always some manufacturers. Certain writers also have I attend on progress, and are only silenced entirely

by the indisputable verdict of results. Thus in the same way the advocates of breechloading for ord­nance were for long proved by t heorists and faddists to be unpractical and altogether wrong, and this not so long ago either; for muzzle-loading guns are unfortunately still to be found in British service But the folly of the objection has been long sine ... demonstrated, as it will be for the advocates of rigid field gun-carriages.

The main argument used by the ·advocates of field guns which fulfil their limited programme, and which has been called "accelerated firing, " il3 to the effect that such guns will prove am ply sufficient after t he firing of a battery has been so regulated, that each gun will fire a maximum of eight rounds per minute. This number of rounds agrees with the results the same advocates have obtained and have prescribed as sufficient. Their argument assumes that the firing methods, fol­lowed with the older type of guns, will also be followed with the new types. This is a fallacy, for it is quite certain that the tactics with quick­firing guns will be widely different from those w hi eh were deemed the best for guns capable of ' ' accelerated " fire.

It may, we think, be reasonably assumed, all other conditions remaining equal, that a battery, each piece of which will be able to fire on emerg­ency, say, 25 rounds a minute without fatigue to the men or undue wear of mechanism, will un­doubtedly have the advantage in all fights against a unit formed of guns, the firing of which is only '' accelerated. '' This cannot be denied, and does not require to be proved in practice; at all events, this verification could only be carried out in actual warfare.

From the commencement, Messrs. Schneider and Co. took these considerations into account ; they attacked the problem in every detail, leaving out none of the difficulties with which it is sur­rounded, and t hey quite early defined the problem they meant to solve, and which may be summarised as follows:

To fire with tho greatest rapidity possible, and with a maximum of precision ; or, in other words, to endeavour to put in a target, the largest number of useful shots in a gh·en time and without excess of fatigue for the gunners, or undue wear of

•

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n1aterial, the ballistic conditions being decided by a majority of members of ordnance technical com­mittees. In carrying out experiments Messrs. Schneider and Co. found t hat these objects could only be obtained when they had fulfilled certain conditions, namely :

(a) Absence of recoil. (b) Complete stability of the carriage plat form. (c) Absence of all necessity for readjusting the

elevation and lateral training of the gun during fire. ·

(d) Mak ing guns and mountings to suit every kind of ground met with in actual service.

The problem thus compressed in a few lines was one of tremendous proportions. How fully it has been solved the following notes will show, as well as by what ser ies of tests and improvements of many kinds, Messrs. Schneider and Co. have pro­duced their 1898 pattern, which fulfils the condi­tions of this programme and can really be styled a quick-firing gun.

Principal 'l'ypes of M ountings f or Schneider-Oanet Quick-Fi1ing Field Gtt.ns.-In the following descrip­tions the systems are grouped together in sets, accord­ing to whether they contain characteristics more or less common to each group. This classification, while it facilitates the review of the progress made, does not accord in every case with the chronological order of the various experiments that have been carried out. Such a chronological order would be difficult to follow, f0r experiments of certain types have frequently been· abandoned for a time and taken up again at a later date, other types having been tested in the interval.

Leaving aside the historical question, this classi­fication will lead in the best way to the desired result, for it will give a clP.ar idea of the designs and tests made by Messrs. Schneider and Co. for establishing a system of field artillery. The de­scriptions will chiefly apply to mountings, reference being made to articles in another series for the im­provements carried out in guns and breech me­chanism.

The first group contains a series of distinct types, in connection with which mechanical devices were used for limiting recoil, to the exclusion of h)· draulic recoil cylinders. Besides, none of these type& em bodied special appliances to shift the gun on its carriage, over small angles, for adjusting lateral training.

80-Millimet?·e (3.149-In.) ffi.~tn and 75 -M illimetre­(2. 952-In.) Gttns on Rigicl Carriage fitted with c~n A utomatic Brake Governed by a Counte1·weight (Figt;. 88 to 94, pages 540 and 541). The following are some general particulars of the SO-millimetre . ' . gun: · Weight of guh · · .. . . .. 425 kilogs. ( 936 lb.)

,, . can:iag~ ... ... 495 , (1091 ,, ) ,, · prOJeCtile ... 5.6 , { 12 ,, )

Muzzle velocity .. .. . ... 490 m. (1608 ft.) Striking energy of projectile 68.5 t.-m. (228 foot-tons).

This type )Vas manufactured in 1887 from the 1878 pat~ern of ;French ar.tillery, in order to devise a system of brake with counterweights, to be used both in the ordin.~ry manner by acting on the car­riage wheels and J;o check recoil during the firing of the gun. I t ha~ been desc~bed a~ length .in the Remce f!.e 4rtiU6-_ie . . A d~scription of t.he counter­weight brake experimented with is given in the following description of the 75-millimetre gun and mounting,on which it_ was ~lso tried. The follow­ing are some particulars of this latter gun :

Weighb of gun ... .:. 322 kilogs. 710 lb.) , carriage .. . . .. 448 , 987 , , ) , projectile . . . 5. 5 , 12 , )

Muzzle velocity .. . .. . 500 m. (1610 ft.) Striking energy of projectile 70 t .-m. (233 foot-tons).

•

The gun is of steel and consists of a tu be of about 32 calibres in length, on which is shrunk a jacket, a t runnion ring, and a wedge coil. The breech-block is made with interrupted screw, and is fitted with a plastic obturator. The carriage is made of steel plates ; the head-plate that joins the two brackets to the axle is of gun-metal and in one piece. The axle is of steel ; its central part is rectangular in section, and it is made with flanges at the angles, whi{}h ~nc.rease its strength. T~e gun­carriage wheels are stmtlar to t hose of the hmber; they are made of oak, with brass naves and steel tyres. The mech~nism for elevating the gun is placed be­tween the brackets ; it consists of a hollow screw. The screw penetrates a nut round which is fi tted a helicoidal toothed wheel ; this engages an endless screw keyed on a shaft which runs through the brackets, and is provided with two hand wheels

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

outside the carriage. By acting on either hand­wheel; the screw is made to turn, thus driving the helicoidal wheel and t he nut, giving to the gun the required elevation. A strap joins the gun to t he screw head, to prevent a too great preponderance of the muzzle.

The brake, which serves to limit recoil during firing, is arranged in the following manner : A shaft made with threads at two places in its central part, is made to revolve in two bushes fixed to the brackets, and is provided with two nuts ; the latter are fitted with two arms jointed to a traction-rod fitted with a screw arrangement to regulate t he tension of the system. Two tie-bars are fixed at one end to the traction-rod, and at the other to the two ends of a crossbar suspended to the carriage and provided with brake shoes. The system is completed by a lever with counterweight, placed on the left-hand side; when the gun is ready for firing the counterweight is raised against the gun trunnion. When the gun is fired, it falls back and causes the shaft on which it is keyed to revolve, and in this action the two nuts separate from each other, thus openiog t he two arms with which they are fitted, and drawing forward the traction-rods and tie-bars, the brake shoes bearing firmly on the wheel tyres. When the round is fired, the lever is brought up again, and the gun can be trained anew. If it is desired to use the brake when the gun is wheeled from one place to another, a rope is t ied to the counterweight and held by one of the gunners, who thus regulate its action on the wheels.

The gun-lim her consists mainly of a frame of steel angles on which the chest is bolted ; it is joined to the axle by means of saddle-plates . The gun-carriage is suspended from it.

75-Millimetre (2. 952-In.) Gun, Long T ype, with Ga3 R ecoil-Clieck, on Mounting Provided with a T1·ai l Spade (Figs. 95 and 96).-The following are some particulars of this gun:

Weight of gun ... ... 360 kilogs. ( 793lb.) , , carriage . .. .. . 540 , (1190 , ) ,, projectile ... 5.2 , ( 11! ,, )

Muzzle velocity .. . .. . 550 m. (1805 ft.) Striking energy of projectile 80 t.·m. (266 ft.-tons).

The gun is fitted with a d~vice called a "gas recoil-check, , which t.akes up part of the propel­ling force of the gases created by the combustion of the powder charge in order to absorb part of the recoil of the gun. This device is funnel­shaped and is fixed to the muzzle ; it is made with a hole slightly larger than the projectile, thus allowing the latter to pass through freely. When a round is fired, a wide cone of gas is emitted, the basis of which is in a line with the muzzle end of the gun. The ga~ strikes against the inside of the recoil check plate, and is forced to the rear ; in doing so, it exerts a considerable pressure on the funnel-shaped device, and tends to draw the gun in the direction of the firing line. This action counteracts that of the recoil and checks it to a certain extent. The carriage is rigid and consists of brackets riveted together; t he trail ends in a fixed spade with bearing trail-plate.

The elevating mechanism consists of a jointed rack, fi tted in a socket under the breech end of the gun ; it gear's with a pinion carried by the carriage bar. The pinion is keyed on the same shaft with a helicoidal wheel, the latter driven by an endless screw is fitted on a shaft with the interposition of Belleville springs ; t hese served to deaden the shocks caused by the firing of the gun.

Experiments made with this gun showed the recoils to be more or less checked by the muzzle device, but the gunners had to stand outside the wheels, not to be inconvenienced by the hot gases that were driven to the rear. Besides, t his ap­paratus alone could noti insure the stability of the gun and did not take up recoil completely.

(To be continued.)

TEXTILE l\1ACHINERY AT THE . PARI EXHIBITION.

AT the present moment it is practically impos­sible to find any group of exhibits that fall within the scope of this journal, in a sufficiently complete condit ion to encourage the commencement of a critical and comparative examination. A very short time will alter the actual state of things, and then the difficulty will be to make anything like an exhaustive review of the vast number of technical exhibits . As we have already intimated, the build­ing devoted to textile industries, was, at the date

[ APRIL 2 7, I 900

of opening, in a less backward condition than most others, and here, at all events, it is possible to commence a profitable examin;ation.

The Text ile Building promises to be one of the highest comm.ercial interest of any on the Champ de !dars, for the md.ustryto which it is devoted, not only 1n ~ngland and 1n F.rance, but also in Germany, the U n1ted States, Belgmm, and Austria has assumed such great proportions in the export r~turns of each country, that machines and processes connected with it, become of greater international interest every year. Each year, too, the range of industries included in the word textile, becomes wider until . . ' 1t comprises, not only yarns and simple tissues made from silk, cotton, fi~x, wool, and other ma­terials, but also a large variety of products from fancy tissues of the most delicate fabrics, to the heaviest fishing nets ; in addition, there are the numerous accessory industries, such as those of designing, dyeing, &c., so that it will be readily understood that an almost infinite variety of ma­chinery is required to prepare for the manufacture of, and to produce, so great a multiplicity of goods.

So far as space and time permit, we propose to examine the manner in which this vast industry is illustrated by the machinery collected at Paris from many nations, and especially to dwell upon such useful novelties and original methods as are there represented. This examination will not have re· ference to the manufactured materials themselves, for that would carry us too far; it is, however, necessary to say a t ew words on the principal systems in use for defining the sizes of yarns, before proceeding to consider the apparatus that naturally calls first for attention, the devices ex­hibited for determining the value 3 of yarns as well as of tissues of all kinds.

In that section of exhibits specially devoted to yarns, the first impression given is one of surprise that there should exist so many systems of counting, not only among different nations, but often in the same country. So great is the confusion created from this cause, that it has been determined to take ad vantage of the present Exhibition to hold an International Congress next autumn for the purpose of discussing the establishment of a standard system of count. This meeting is to be followed by an International Conference to consider the recom· mendations of the Congress, and var~ous Cham~e~ of Commerce consulted on the subJcct have mh· mated their approval, and desire ~ co. o~erate. A few word& on the more important 1terus m the pro· gramme of this Congress ,'fill therefore not be out of

place. . ll d" N Numbaringofyarns-convemen~lyca e . ume-

rotage ,, in French- is an oper.at10n, the obJec.t of which is to determine the th1ckness of a gLven thread and the number or "count , is the figure that d~fines this thickness. In practice there ar.e two methods for arriving at this result ; the one JS applied exclusively to silks, and allows the c?unt to be determined according to the average weJght. oJ a silk skein of constant l~gth: The other, apphe h to all other textile materials, lS based o~ the lengt of thread required to give a constant wetght. ~bus the count defines the relation between the wetght and the length of a thread.. .

The different systems cbtefiy 10 use may b~ very briefly examinee, commencing with silk and wtth t~e French methods. According ~a law dated J uno 1. ~ 1866 the count of a silk yarn lS represented by th

' · k · -oo metres average weight in grammes ot. a 8 em 0 . a 20 long, the mean being established by testmo hus skeins of the same length. But the data t established is of no practical interest to .the manu-

. · or1al to con· facturer accustomed from tliDe 1m~em . f 3

sider the count of the silk on!Y ~ de~Iers 0 8

skein of 400 " aunes, " from 4t5.o to 4J6 m:;:;d Iona in round numbers. From this it has rFes h

o . d d · the renc that in the offietal recor s ma e 10 k . f 500 bureaux of tests, the weights of ~0 s e~~s e~tered metres each in grammes and fractl~ns, a

1 .

on the official forms, while in anothe: eo dumJ? rsls . f th 'ghts mto erne shown the ~educt1~n o ese w~l 0.05313

(the denier 1s considered as equivale~t t? deniers gramme). Then, after the mean num er m dill to of the 500-metre skeins, the count co~r~spon Jing the old 476-metre skein is inserted; 1ft IS ·t~c~~read to this last number tha~ the fineness~ ~r~ler to con­is commercially known tn France. 1 · 1 count vert the legal number into t.he co~~~rCl~ of 476 expressed in deniers, for skems ;.~ided ~~ 0. 05313 metres, the legal value has to ~e. 1 multiplied by gramme the value of the de mer, or nds to 18.82. The result D = 18.82 x t correspo

APRIL 27, 1900.] E N G I N E E R I N G.

the weight of the 500-metre skein, and the weight of the 476-metre skein is obtained by multiply~ng the precedina result by . 952. From the foregomg it will be see

0

n that to convert the old number in deniers d, and reciprocally, we have

classes of silk, as well as to carded wool and to mix­tures of cotton and "silk, the length of hank is 840 yards, and the number is r epresented by the number of hanks per pound; the perimeter of the spool is 1.5 yards. To convert the English into the French equivalent, or the reverse, the rela­tion is :

whence and

d, = .952 X 18.82 t d = 17.92 t t = .568 d.

t being the legal "count."

Passing to materials other than silk, as already said, these are estimated b~ the .length of thr~ad required to produce a certain wetght, or, spea.ktng more generally, the number of skeins of a fixed length to make up a standard weight. But as both the weights and lengths are variable, much confu­sion has resulted, which it is hoped will be re­moved by the unification re~omm~ndations o! the approaching Congress. Pendmg this very desirable result, the work of conversion from one method to

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another is of general practice, and is done on the following lines :

Assuming that in a first system the count of a yarn is N, and the bases of weight and length are P and L, that is to say that N skeins, L long pro­duce the weight P, then if 't(, represent the weight of the length unit of yarn

P = u LN,

whence p u = LN.

In a second system we should also have for a given yarn •

whence

I

p = u' l n,

u'= p. ln

If it is assumed that in each case the value of yam is the saine, then

p - p - - . LN l n

. From this can be deduced the value of one of the numbers when the other is known, as well as the bases of the two systems :

N = P l n. pL

whence

and

F _ 600 gr. x 767.76 metres - -E 453.6 gr. x 1000 metres

F=0.84685 X E

E=l.l8113 X F.

In hemp counts both the metric and the English systems are employed. In the former the weight of the parcel of hemp is uniformly fixed at 10 kilo­grammes ; the number of hanks· subdivided into 10 skeins of 200 metres each, varies according to the count. Thus N.o. 1 containing five large or 50 small skeins, measures 10,000 metres; No. 2 con-

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taining 10 large or 100 small skeins, is 20,000 metres long ; No. 3 containing 15 hanks, or 150 skeins, measures 30,000 metre~ and so on. . .

The system employed for hnen thread 1s ut~­formly English~ in this the thread is wo.und 1~ skeins of 120 metres o~ a spool 2.5 yards m pert­meter. Twelve such skeins form a hank, and 100 hanks make the standard parcel. In French equi­valents the small skAin contains 274 metres, the large skein or hank 3290 metres, and the parcel 329 000 metres. In this system the length is uniform, but the weight varies in an i~verse proportion to th~ nutnber; thus 1~0 sketns of No. 1 weigh 540 kilogrammes; the wetght of No .. 2 is one-half of this, or 270 kilogrammes ; N ?· 3 ,Is one-third and so on. In order to ascertain the weight oi' a parcel the standard weight of a. parcel No. 1 must be divided by the number of the packet being weighed ; for example, 100 skeins of No. 12 weiah 540 + 12 = 45 kilogrammes. The conver­sim~ of the kilogTammetric into the English nume­ration, or the reverse is as follows :

E = 1.666 X K K = 0.60746 X E

In the textile industry there are two principal systems of oounting, the French and the English, for cotton yarns. In the former the count re­presents the number of 1000 metres in a t kilo­gramme ; the perimeter of the spool on which the yarn is wound to form the skein, is 1. 428 metres, that is to say, there are 70 turns per 100 metres. ~ the latter system,· called the cotton scale, applY.­mg, however, not only to cotton, but to some

In the wool standards distinction must bo made between that of combed and that of card~d wool. For the former two systems are 1n

•

543 use, French and English. In fact, there are two French standards, the new and the old. The former expresses the number of t~ousand metres in 1 kilogramme ; the latter-used 1n Ger­many as well as in France- indicates the num~er of skeins of 700, 710, 714, or 720 metres, accordrng to different districts, per half kilogramme. A spool with a perimeter of 1. 44 metres is us~d for windin.g the skein of 720 metres. The English system 1s known as the "worsted scale," and is employed either for plain, combed, or twisted wool yarn; it is represented by the number of small skein.s of 560 yards in 1 lb. weight. To convert the kilo­grammetric standard K equal to the number of thousand metres in a kilogramme, to the old French count the following constants are used, according to whether the small skein of 700, 710, 714, or 720 metres (F, F ' , F ", F'") is used in question :

F = 0.7143 X K K = 1.40 X F F ' = 0. 7042 X K K = 1. 42 X F ' F" = 0. 7002 X K K = 1.428 X F " F "' = 0.6944 X K K = 1.44 X F'"

For the conversion of the kilogram metric count K into English equivalents we have:

whence

and

E _ 453.6 gr. x 1000 metres -K 1000 gr. x 512 metres

E = 0.886 X K

!{ = 1.128 X E.

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•

As examples, a yarn rating as 50,000 metres per kilogramme gives the English count of 44.3, and the English count 40 corresponds to a kilogram­metric length of 45,120 metres. Practically the English count 100 gives 113,000 metres (the exact length is 112,800 metres). For the conversion of the English number E into French numbers F, F', F'', F "', according to whether the lengths of skeins are 700, 710, 714, or 720 metres, the following constants are used :

F = 0.806 X E E = 1.240 X F • F ' = 0. 794 X E E = 1.268 X F

]f" = 0. 790 X E E = 1.265 X }4.," F '" = 0.783 X E E = 1.275 X F"'.

For the counts of carded wool, both the French and English systems are in use. The former as in the last case, depends on the number of thousand metres per kilogramme, but unfortuna.t~ly old methods are also in vogue. Thus there is a special system largely followed at Elbreuf, where the unit of weight is the livre of 500 grammes and the unit of length is 3600 metres (3000 aunes). This con­stitutes the " current pound," and is the basis of the system ; it is divided into quarters of .900 metres and into ''sons " of 90 metres. The mnd­ing spool, the perimeter of which is 1.50 metres, is fitted with a counter, which strikes a bell at each sixtieth revolution; this marks the completion of each small skein of 90 metres. At Sedan there is in use a somewhat similar method, but less com­plicated, in which the standard is the numbe: of skeins of 1256 aunes (about 1500 metres) contamed in the ""pound of 500-grammes. · ·

The English method conforms to that in use for cotton- that is to say, the count is fixed by the number of hanks of 840 yards in a pound. From · this it results that the count 50 (English) of carded wool corresponds to No. 75 of combed wool. With the following constants the kilogramnietric number K is converted into the English numbers and reciprocally : · .

whence

and

E _ 453.6 gr. x 1000 metres -- - r }{, 1000 gr. x 767.76 metres

• • E = 0.590 X K,

K = 1.692 X E . r

• -•

•

Did space permit,, the consi~eration of this in· teresting and complicated subJect could be en­larged to fill a volume. T~e merest outl~e has been attempted in the foregOing paragraphs, w1th the twofold object of showing how necessary are the labours of the cmning unification Congress? and how much ingenuity must h~ve been expended m th.e ~e­vices for rapidly measurmg counts, and determmtng the standards of various classes of yarns. AlrE}ady the Textile Building of the Exhibition contains good examples of this detail in a great industry, and no doubt, as time goes on, those now in place will be supplemented by others. Thus, the Chamber of Commerce of Lyons exhjbits models of the apparatus for testing the condition of silk yarn, a.nd the amount of moisture it contains, that is used

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

ARCHED BR.IDGE ACROSS THE RHINE AT BONN; THE SIDE SPAN. (For Description, see opposite Page.)

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in the public establishment of which the Lyons Chamber of Con1merce has charge.

The leading feature of these apparatus consists of a series of stoves in which the samples of silk to be dried are suspended to the arm of a balance by a thread that passes through the cover of the stove. By this arrangement the weight of the silk can be ascertained at any moment, the process of drying watched and recorded, and the final weights taken, after dessication is complete, the hot-air supply being shut off at the moment of taking this last observation. The progress that has been made is illustrated by a series of reproductions, the first of which dates back to 1840 ; it is shown in the dia­grams, Figs. 1 and 2, and consists of an inverted bell with double sides C, the top being furnished with a cover H. The samples of silk to be dried are suspended in the bell as shown, where they are subjected to a temperature a little ab0ve 100 deg. Cent., sufficient to expel all moisture and reduce the samples to a state of absolute dryness. In this condit ion the absolute weight is obtained by the balance, and the weight of the whole parcel is estimated from the sample. To this absolute weight a certain amount of water it:i added, corresponding to that which exists in commercial samples, and in this w&.y the normal weight is obtained as a b~sis for regulating the conditions of manufacture. In this apparatus it will be seen from the section Fig. 2 that a pipe i8 introduced in the double side of the Lell to rc­cei vc and carry off the steam or moisture that is

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ARCHED BRIDGE ACROSS THE RHINE AT BONN ; T HE FALSE WORK.

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1ibel'ated in t he ~operation of drying. Another form · ·is also exhibited elabora.t~d from the el~mentary -type, in 1853, by MM. Talabot and Perroz; Fig. 3, page 543, illustra.tes this form in which the heated air -coming from a coke fire is le i to the upper part of t he receiver by a series of copper t ubes, and is drawn out from the bottom throu~h an opening connected with a chimney, the air passing through the sample on its way. In 1886 M. Testenoire, the pre<3ent director of the Lyons establishment, introduced, with the co­operation of M. Robin, important improvements in t he drying apparatus ; he replaced the hot-air tubes -with a sleeve, leaving an annular space in the bell, 'Up which the hot air flowed in a larger volume, t hus ·rendering the temperature more uniform, and the operation more rapid. The receiver was also en­

. cased in a non-conducting envelope, and a furnace was added in which coke or coal dust could be ourned. This apparatus, which is exhibited, com­pletes the series of these appliances that need be noticed. In another article we will consider other a pparatus and instruments which are shown in the Buildin~ of Textile Industries, having for their -object the regulating of textile threads and yarns, i)rior to their being made ready for the loom.

(To be continued.)

PIG IN BELGIUl\:r.-The produotion of iron and steel pig i n Belgium in t he first two months of the year was 1,272 219 tons. The corresponding output in the corre­sponding period of 1899 was 1,282, 779 tons, and in the ~rreaponding period of 18.98, 1, 184,395 tons.

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FIG. 87.

ARCHED BRIDGES OVER THE RHINE.* ( Contilnued from page 412.)

THE side arches resemble the main arch. and are like it divided into panels, t welve altogether, each of 7.8 metres (25ft. 7 in. ) length; their number is half t hat of the main arch. Some dimensions of the box girders have already been given in Fig. 45, in our issue of March 30, in juxta­position to those of the main arch. The upper members of the side arch form longitudinal girders of the roadway, and correspond to the inner girders of t he footpath. Girderd, wind bracings, buckle­plates and bearings recall the arrangements of the main arch, on a reduced scale. Figs. 68 to 71 (page 544) show details. The arch over the Rhine embank­ment at Bonn consists of four girders, with eight bearings, and is divided into 10 panels, each S. 25 metres (10ft. 8 in.) in length. The upper booms support the cross girders up to 450 millimetres (17.7 in.) in heigh t, which are connected by the longitudinal girders of the road way ; the buckle plates render any further wind bracing unnecessary.

The artists have exercised their fancy mainly on the brackets, parapets. lanterns, masts of the aerial conductors, and the portal of the wind bracing. That t he dragon should have been marched up in regiments, is not astonishing. The Drachenfels (Dragon's Rock) is the most popular

* The previouA articles appeared in our issues of Feb­ru~ry 9, Ma.l'$>h 16, and March 30.

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prominence of the picturesque, once volcanic Sieben­gebirge (with valuable quarries) situated on the Beuel bank of the Rhine, higher up the river, in sight of Bonn. It may safely be predicted that t he new bridge will guide many a visitor to the Drachenfels, who formerly would not have made Bonn his starting point. The artist, therefore, gave expression to a natural impulse of gratitude in lining the lower edge of t he parapets with dragons. When we examine Fig. 72, we understand, why the race of t he dragons has become extinct. They were all head, teeth, claws, wings, but fearfully scraggy ; like all t ruly voracious creatures, practically bodi­less. The photograph brings out this deficiency, and, further, the amazing development of the ears on the dog-like beads. Over the Rhine embank­ment heraldic griffins take the place of the dragons. A very pleasing use has been made of vines and wine and its poetry, of leaves and flowers, both in the metal and stone works. But we do not admire the senseless grouping of the gay-coloured eagles, lions, and mur~l crowns on t he one portal (Fig. 64, page 406 a.mte ), nor the ships and decorations of the other pnrtR.l which we do not illustrate. The red lion in the blue field underneath the cross with long horizontal and short vertical bars, represents the coat of arms of the municipality of Bonn. The decorations are worked in iron and copper, and, in the portals, are fixed over the rivets : the dra{!ons are iron.

We pass now to the erection of the bridge. The first year was taken up by dredging navigable

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channels, chiefly on t he shall0wer Bonn side, and by building the piers. The abutments were built in the second year, which also saw the main arch completed. After the termination of the second year, in April, 1898, t he side arches had to be put up, the road ways paved, and there remained other work, chiefly for the architect and mason. This general scheme involved one great disadvantage. While the foundations of the piers were being sunk, and the piers raised to about the level of the road­way, the sites had none but river connection with the shore, as the side channels had to be kept open for navigation. The heavy iron pieces arrived by boat, and had to be lifted up and preliminarily joined together on the false work. If the side arches had first been completed the transport difficulties would have been lessened, and the erection of the arch mnch facilitated. But the latter plan would practic~lly have obliged the contractors to finish the four piers simultaneously in one year, and to deal with the superetructure in another year. Many more hands would have been required at one t ime. For these reasons the first scheme was de~ided upon, although its drawbacks were not overlooked.

The steelwork, cleaned and varnished with linseed oil, was temporarily bolted t ogether at the works of the Gute HoffoungRhti.tte, at Sterkrade, where half a main girder could be mounted. The girder was dismounted again and separated into units, suitable for transport by rail or river ; the units were riveted hydraulically and painted with red

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l ead. The false work between the river piers was put up in 1897, and shifted over to the abutments in tThe same year . The diagrams of the false work, Figs. 73 to 86, on our two-page plate, are well worth ~ close inspection. The trans­verse rows of piles for the main arch corres­pond to the girder panels, but are 5 f t . out of the planes of the verticals. Of the seven lon­gitudinal rows of piles, five were driven first, and the two outer r ows, with their struts, added <1.fterwards to increase the stability of the structure. With regard to the normal to the longitudinal axis of the bridge, each single pile was braced to two double piles, about 15 ft. distant, by means of four stringers. The diagt)n al tie-rods, with screw adjust­ment (Fig. 73), belong to pairs of the same longi­tudinal row ; they were attached to collar~ around the h ead and the foot of the piles; the upper collars were bolted down, those below did not require any fixing. Two travellers (Figs. 73 and 75) were moved on I -beams, placed right at the top of the structure, 12 metres (39ft. ) apart. Two waterways had to be kept clear for the river traffic. This necessitated an interesting structure of timber, iron plates, and iron r ods, details of which can be seen in Fig. 78. Special protection had also to be provided for the false work on the up-stream side, as the Rhine currents are very powerful. For this purpose fender courses were pushed at acute angles up-stream from the three divisions of t he false work; Figs. 74 and 77 give particulars o f one of these courses. There will be noticed on each side seven, and counting th e apex, eight groups of t hree piles and struts held together by rings and bolts. Four parallel rows of wires were stretched along the inner inclined struts, and booms were fastened along the outer rows.

The false work of t he side arches (Figs. 79 to 82) was built on the same plan, and was once put to a severe test. During t his period, river steamers were calling at a pier some way above the bridge on the Boon side. On Whit- unday the Humboldt was j ust landing passengers, when, through some accident, the ca.ptain lost control over his boat, which the current swept down upon the fender course. One of the bollards was knocked over, and the wires were broken; this check pre­vented further mischief, although the boat was wedged in between the piles, as indicated in Fig. 80.

The false work supported two main working plat­forms. The lower platform was placed about 2 metres (6t ft.) below the upper edge of the road­way. It had the full width of t he roadway, except near the piers, where it was narrowed down to 8 metres (26! ft.) The staging for the main arch rose with the different panels, which it followed on both sides in a width of 3. 5 metres (11~ ft. ), 0. 7 metres (27. 6 in.) below the lower member of the girder ; these stagings are shown in Figs. 73 and 76. Two revolving jib cranes of 8 tons capacity took the steel work from the boats. Part of the scaf­folding of the Beuel river pier had been left in posi­tion to serve as crane staging. On the Bonn side the one crane had to be put on a special crane bridge, and the other on a staging near the embankment arch . Thus the steel was taken up by one crane, put on a truck and wheeled, and again lifted by the second crane, to be deposited on the working platform. Here the travellers already mentioned came in, these being actuated by winches ; fully loaded with 8 tons, t hese travellers weighed 45 tons each. Figs. 83 to 86 r efer to the false work of the Bonn embankment. In Figs . 73 and 74 it will be seen that the longitudinal axes of the piers do not coincide with the axes of their beton founda­tions ; the reasons for shifting the piers inward have been pointed out.

The main arch erection was carried out in the following manner : The bearings having been fixed in the piers, the firs t two panels were put up wiLh their wind bracings, t he portal at vertical 2, ancl the corresponding part of the roadway, all prelimi­narily pinned and bolted together with t he greatest care. The roadway with its wind bracing was then continued, starting from the portal on the Bonn side, over its whole length, but for the time only in half width of 7.2 metres, leaving the footpaths till later. The auxiliary rails could now be trans­ferred from the staging over to the roadway. The arch girders were t hen advanced simultaneously from both sides with their wind bracing and sus­pension rods. At t he end of the tenth week the A.rch was nearly closed. After careful r e-levelling, exact measurements were taken of the gap, and the closing segments finished in accordance. Thus

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the stage represented in the photograph, after which Fig. 87 has been prepared, was reached at the end of the twelfth week of the erection. The arch closed, the road way supports were so far lowered that tha central part of t he roadway obtained freedom of motion, and that the arch girders could freely yield to temperature stresses without detriment to the ~uspension-rods. The riveting of the arch accomplished as rapidly as pos­sible, the girders were lowered on their bearings. This was the moment when the preliminary wedges of the bearing saddle were replaced by permanent wedges, finished to accurate measurements. The arch had been resting on jacks, standing on the false work, and on wedges driven between the jacks and the verticals of the girder. The wedge were first withdrawn. To watch the effect of the lower­ing of the girder on the piers, accurate le,·els had been sunk into the piers in t he longitudinal axis of the bridge. A deflection of these levels by one division of 3 millimetres signified that the pier had yielded-tilted outward- by 1 millimetre reckoned at the height of the bearing, and by 1.4 millimetre at t he height of the road way. The Bonn pier had already shifted by 6 millimetres (t in.) before letting the arch down, owing to the expansion of the iron. The lowering itself caused a further movement of 3 millimetres during the process, and of 4 milli­metres more during the subsequent 24 hours. This was succeeded by a further gradual yielding of 4 millimet.res extending over the eight months before the completion of the side arch, during whic~ period the pier was exposed to the one·sided t hrust of the main arch. This total tilting of 6 + 3 +4+4 = 17 millimetres (0 .67 in. ) was reduced to 12 millimetres (0.47 in. ) when the side arch had been lowered on its bearing. 'imultaneous ob­servations on the Beuel pier gave lower numerical values.

The paving of roadway with Swedish fir blocks and the asphalting of the footpaths were the last t hings done to the superstructure of the bridge. The iron had after erection again been coated with red lead and two layers of paint, and shines now in a greyish green. The firm of R . Schneider, of Berlin, was represented by engineers Steiner and Gadow, the Gute Hoffnungshutte by the manager of their bridge department, Professor I{rohn, and by engineer Riensberg. The false work was put up by Hanebeck, of Dortmund. The chief architect was Bruno Mohring, who, as we stated in the introduction, participated in the prize design. The sculptor was Brasche ; the models were supplied by Riegelmann, the iron decorations by Hillersr.heidt and Kasbaum, all of Berlin. Mr. Frentzen, who acted as superintending engineer-in·chief to the town , deserves mention also as the author of the technical part of an excellent detailed monograph on the Bonn Bridge, which has guided us in this descriptive notice. The archmological finds have been carefully preserved. Most of them belong to the late Roman age, and contain Roman and German relics, urns, pottery, bones, &c., strangely mixed in peculiar circular pits, sunk about 5 ft. into the alluvial soil. E ight of these pits were fully explored. 1'he absen ce of orna­ments and of coins would tend to indicate that the Roman settlers were not of the wealthy cla s.

(To be rontinued.)

PARI EXHIDITION RAILWAY. '. TnE E s PLANADE DES I JVaLIDE LINE.

U~TIL the present, Pllris has remained without any line of railway that can be called metropolitan. Each of t he great rail way systems of the country possesses an extensive suburban ,·eseetll, whi?h• being to a large extent connected one w1th another, give good railway accommode,Ltion for t he large trafiic in the outskirts of Pllris, and each system owns its own great terminal station in t he French metropolis. But with the exception of the Gare t. Lazare, the terminus of the ' Vestern R ail way system, none of the main lines approach the heart of t he city. The name of the Ceinture R9oil way exactly defines its character and its u eful­n ess ; it encircles t he i ty of P aris, and has since its construction been overtaken by expanding suburbs, but its comparatively remote stations, and the long journeys involved iJ? pa.ssing from one point to another on the oppos1te stde of the belt, prevent the Ceinture from serving efticiently even as an '' outer circle " line.

The growth of P aris, its constantly increasing

[APRIL 27, T 900.

tra.ffic, and the insufficiency in the means of circu­la~wn, have at last made the question of an urban nul way system one of capital necessity. The 1900 E xposition, which will bring vast crowds together, who mus.t be. mov~d t? an~ fro, has greatly stimu­lated actwn 1n this directwn ; certainly this is the case with s:u~h. lines as cou~d be. made to converge on the Exhlb1t10n, and wh1ch wlll therefore facili­tate the movements of the unusual crowds.

There exists at present along the south bauk of the Seine, a railroad that terminates at the Champ de Mars, which, in ordinary times may be regarded almost as a suburb. This line was in­tended to serve the western section of Paris and that portion of the city on the left bank of the Seine; it is known as t he 1\loulineaux R~ilway because it goe3 to a little town of that name ; but in reality its fi rst section, that which runs from the Champ de Mars to the fortifications, and therefore to the Ceinture Railway, was made to serve the 1878 Exhibition by connecting the Champ de Mars during that year to the Ceintur~. By it, trains running on the Ceinture, which has a connection with t he Gare St. Lazare, brought Yisitors rather circuitously and tediou ly to the Exhibition. In­convenient as it was, however, the route was very largely used by visitors, for Paris was still worse provided with means of transit than it is to·day ; the same story was repea.ted at the Paris Exhibition of 1889, in spite of the fact that the tramway system had been greatly increased ; but in consequence of low speeds and relatively long intervals between the running of cars, this means of circulation was very imperfect. During the present year it is ex­pected that the Champ de :Mars Railway will deal with an enormous number of persons, modified and greatly improved as it has been in many ways.

Some years since it was decided to bring the Moulineaux line nearer to the centre of Paris, as far, in fact, as the Esplanade des Invalides, which will play so important a part in this year's Exhibition. I t is true that this location is far from being in the centre of the city, and it will be necessay, at a later date, to continue it so as to form a junction with t he extension of the Or lean Rail way now in pro­gress. But what has been done constitutes a most valuable addi t ion to the means of circulation, for the new station is opposite to the A,·enue des Champs Elysees, which may be regarded almost as a central part of Paris. This extension ~ad been decided on before it was finally determrned that the 1900 Exhibition hould be held; and ;vhen this decision was arrived at, the project assumed larger proportions. The final scheme comprised the con­nection of the new terminus, known as the Gare des Invalicles, with the Gare St. Lazare, by means of a branch, which gave a shorter ro~te than: by f?llow­ing the Ceinture line to the pomt . of JUnctiOn at Moulineaux. The branch, startmg fro~ . t. Lazare, follows the Ceinture line for a certam d1.­tance, but qui ts it to traverse tha~ part of Pans between the Ceinture and the Seme, and aft.er­wards rejoins the Moulineaux line and its extenswn to the Esplanade des Invalides. This rou~e will have the cr reat aclvantacre of relieving the Cemture,

o o . t' h I which is much overcrowded durmg cer am .ours o t he day, because where. it is p~1.rallel wtth the Ceinture the latter will be w1dened, and on leaving it, the new line will carry much of th.e local traffic. For the present year, at all events, 1t ~ar be regarded as a special and independent Exlubl­tion line. The rail way that has been constructed for this special purpose extends fro~ the Es.pla· nade des Invalides, where there lS ~ ~e.rmmal station to the Champ de Mars, where 1t JOlDS the Moulin'eaux line. Visitors coming by the. la~ter can therefore, s top at either of the two p~mctpal centres of the Exhibition. This, however, lS o~y a part of the whole scheme, which is known as t e Courcelles and Champ de l\1ars Rai~way, Courcelles hein<Y the name of the Ceinture statiOn, where there is a. junction with the tracks coming fro'? .the ~are St Lazare The railway is naturally d1v1ded mto tw.o secctio~s-one from Courcellcs to the ~ven;e du Trocadero station; the Eecond, conne?tl~g t

118

station with the Champ de Mars. It 1s m t 1e vicinity of the Trocadero that the line cea~es to be a widenincr of the Ceinture, and takes Its t'~ rout~ tow:rds. the Seine. The rou~e of the: ~~8~ line 1s . hown 1n the general p1an, F1g. 1, pag h' while Fig. 2 is a section of that .Part between t e Courcelles and the 1'rocadero stnhons. d

The works on this line have been heavy, an a~e . T fi t' ha been 10 of much 1nterest. he rst sec 1on . .

charge of ~1 . Rabut, P onts et Cbaussces engmeer, m

APRIL 27, 1900.] • the service of the Wester~ Ra.ilw3:y Company; to him we are indebted f~r mfo.rmatl.on, and for the illustrations accompany1ng thiS a.rttcle. Along t he whole length of t he .sect~on-abo~t ~000 yards -:the work consisted in wtden~ng the ongtnal double hne, either on one or both s1des. For the greater part of the length the tracks are placed, one on each side of the old one, but bet~e~n t he N euilly-Porte­Maillot station (see plan, Ftg . .:>), at the Avenue de la Grand Armee and the station of the Avenue Bois de Boulogoe (see plan, .Fig .. 4), th? two new lines run together. and outstde (1n relatwn to Paris) the old line. Thts arrangement was r endered necessary by local conditions, but when the system is completed,. the traffic wil~ be so arranged t hat t he Oeinture .Railway shall still u~e the two central lines whilst the outer ones w1ll be reserved for the Courcelles and Champ ~e Mars traffic ; t ha:t is to say that all trains runmng towards Auteull and the' Champ de Mars will occupy the in1_1er track, and those o-oing to the Gare St. Lazare w1ll use the outer track. In each of th~ four stations b elong­ing jointly to the Ceinture and the new lines, the two tracks over which trains pass in the same direction will be provided with island platforms, so that passengers will have no difficulty about their route on changing carriages. It is worthy of r e­mark that contrary to the general practice in France th~ English type of raised platforms has been a

1dopted, so that the platform, raised .85

metre (33. 5 in ) above the rails, is ~ractically on .a level with the footboards of the carnages ; there 1s no doubt that this departure from usual custom wi11 be much appreciated, especially during the busy periods of the coming s?mmer. .

\Videning a suburban railway, and espemally widening stations, is a serious matter when the line runs through property so costly as that traverded by the Oeinture, but very fortunately it happened that, almost without exception, t he extra width has been obtained by cutting down t he old slopes and building retaining walls. At stations the conditions were not quite so easy, but here, again, the necessary width was obtained without the purchase of land, by excavating beneath the roadway, and carrying the latter on brackets, which in some cases have an overhang of n early 10 ft. The great difficulty in executing these works lay in the fact that they had to be car­ried on without stopping the traffic, and that special arrangements had to be made for the disposal of the earth removed. The general plan adopted was to load the excavated material into trains of contractors' wagons running on a tem­porary narrow-gauge line, and placed at a level of 6 or 6ft. above the ground. These were emptied into full-sized ballast wagons, standing on sidings previously constructed in convenient places, and at night, after the Ceinture traffic had stopped for a few hours, trains of these ballast wagons were taken over the railway to be used on the embankments of a branch line belonging to the Western Railway Company, in the environs of Paris . The brackets carrying the overhanging road ways r eferred to above, are constructed of reinforced be ton carried on brackets of the same material. I t was found difficult to make the brackets of stone on account of their dimensions; the cost of beton was much less than that of steel framing ; and the general effect is better than if a compound type of structure had been adopted. The beton brackets vary in depth and .thickness with their length ; they are placed a~ diStances of from 7 ft. to 10 ft. according to crrcumstances. Taking one of average proportions we find that it is 1.80 metres (70.87 in.) high, 1.~9 m~tres (59. 66 in.) long, and . 30 metre ( 11.8 in.) mde ; 1ts framework consists of three round bars 1 in. in diameter ; the ends of each of these bars a:e bent round and held, the one to an anchoring gtrder by a round bar 1. 25 in. in diameter and 2 ft. long ; the other, at the outer end of the bracket, is ~ecured by a round bar 1 in. in diameter and 11 ~· long, placed horizontally. This last-named bar lS held by two vertical irons. The lower of the two ro~nd bars in the bracket is supplemented on each s1de by an additional bar, the whole being held tog~ther by stirrup irons . This fra1nework is encased m the beton, and the structure is stiffened by three longitudinal girders ; of these, one is set at the back o~ the retaining wall, a second on the ed~e of the s1de walk nearest the line, and the thud at the outer end of the bracket. The first ?f th~e forms the anchorage of the brackets, and ~built up of four ro~nd bars connected by stirrup trons and embedded 1n the concrete ; the third is

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

used to carry a stone pediment to which an iron fence is secured. The foundation of the side walk is also o f beton, strengthened by r ound bars con­nected to the framework just described. To cmn­plete the connection of the brackets with the retain­ing walls, tooth ed recesses are cut in the face of the latter. The beton employed is n1ade in the proportion of about 600 lb. of cement per cubic yard of coarse sand, of which 40 p er cent. will not pass through a sieve with a . 005 millimetre mesh, and 60 per cent. of gravel varying from .05 millimetre to .15 millimetre. This concrete was well rammed into m ould, the stirrup irons being at first corn pressed by cords, which were afterwards cut, so that when they took their normal position, they still further compressed the beton. The process is that of M. Henuebique.

It was not pnssible to execute all the work in t he firs t section of t he line in open cutting, as several avenues under which the Ceinture passes had to be dealt with, and various types of sections were adopted for these places, varying according to the levels ; these included masonry a rches, reinforced beton, or girder-covered way. At the Avenue de la Grande Armee, on leaving N euilly-Porte Maillet station, a section was adopted having iron plates and g irders under the road way, and reinforced beton to carry the footpaths ; water and other mains gave consiierable trouble, and involved special cons tructions. It was necessary also to re­construct the existing bridges, and on account of the greater span and consequent increased dept h of the girders, the roadway had , in most cases, to be sup­ported on iron plates.

Figs. 5 to 9, pages 548 and 519, are type sections at different parts of the line. Fig. 5 shows the fagade of the Neuilly-Porte-Maillot station, and the arrangement of staircases and platforms ; the new lines are placed outside the old ones. Fig. 6 is a cross­section through the Avenue du B ois de Boulogne station ; in this section the profile of the original work is shown by dotted lines. Fig. 7 is a cross-sec­tion under the Place Pereire, at a point where the line crosses over the Marceau sewage collector; it will be noticed that the old work is in covered way, and the new lines in tunnels, one on each side; Fig. ~, a section under the Avenue des Ternes, shows a somewhat similar construction. Fig. 9 is a sect ion beneath the Avenue du Bois de Boulogne; this shows the Ceinture line on one side, and the two new lines in the tunnel on the other.

(To be continued.) •

HEAVY T U RRET LATHE. vVE illustrate on page 537 a turret lathe of very

exceptional dimensions, which has recently been con­structed by the Pratt and Whitney Company, of Hartford, Connecticut. The machine is designed for work on steel or cast-iron stock, 2! in. to 7~ in. in diameter; and thus its field of work commences where that of the usual type of modern turret lathe comes to an end. For work of such exceptional dimen­sions it is obvious t hat great rigidity is essential; and hence the headstock and bed have, it will be seen, been cast in one t>iece; whilst t he turret slide fits direct ly on to the be<.l, and is therefore firmly held at all points of its travel. A five-step belt cone is used, and the back gearing has a ratio of 11 to 1, the cutting speed intended being 35 ft. per minute. The feed for t he turret can be adjusted at will, to form .008 in . to 1 in. per revolution. This adjustment is obtained through a friction device, and is regulated by the handwheel shown to t he front and left of t he machine. The cross-slides for cutting off or for forming tools are provided with automatic feeds ranging from .007 to .0025 per revolution of spindle. All these feed motions are provided with automatic and adjustable stops, and independent hand feeds.

In the case of the turret slide, this hand feed may be given either by the large spider wheel shown, or by a worm and gear, which is useful in facing work. The thrust of the main spindle, and a lso of the feed shaft, is in eaeh case taken on ball bearing~. The following are some of t he principal dimensions and particulars of the machine, the size of which is in­adequately conveyed by our engraving :

Diameter of bole through spindle ... Largest diameter that chucks will hold Smallest diameter that chucks will hold Length that can be milled . . . . .. Diameter of turret . . . .. . . . . .. . Distance from top of turret slide to centre

of turret hole . . . .. . . .. .. . Distance from top of cut-off slide to centre

of turret hole .. . . . . . .. .. . Diameter of turret hole ... . . . .. . Dimensions of spindle front bearing,

ng in. in diameter . . . . . . . ..

7 . in. 7 .. " 2 ,

10 , 16 ,,

4~"

4~ ,, 3~ ,,

14! in. long

Number of steps on cone ... Diameter of largest step ... Width of belb . .. . .. Ratio of gearing .. . . .. Floor space . .. ... .. .

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Dimensions of co\}ntershaft pulley

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547 5

16 in. 3 ,,

... 11 to 1

... 10ft. by 4ft. 6 in.

... 4-in. face, 14-in. diam.

Revolutions of countershaft per minute 334 Weight of countershaft ... (about) 7000 lb. weight, boxed for export .. . . . . . . . nooo ,

Automatic oil attachments and special tools are provided by the makers when required. The agents for the machine in this country are Messrs. Buck and Hickman, of 2 and 4, Whitechapel·road, London, E.

SOUTH AFRICAN DIAMOND MINING. THE present po3ition of De Beers Consolidated

Mines, Limited, is probably not exactly appreciated. The annual meeting for 1899 was held recently at Kimberley, and was distinguished by one of Mr. Rhodes) brisk cheery speeches ; but nothing was said about the payment of a dividend for the second half of the year. The actual state of affairs is that for the finan cial year ending June 30, 1899, dividends were paid to the amount of 40 per cent. These dividends absorbed 1,579,582l. , and an unappropriated balance of 1, 126, 730l. was carried to the balance sheet. Nothing was said, however, in the directors' report as to the pay­ment of a dividend for the six months ending December 31, 1899. The unappropriated balance of 1, 126, 730l. would have been amply sufficient to provide for another dividend of 20 per cent. , and the reserve fund (which is invested in British consols) stood at the close of June, 1899, ·at 1,179,557l. The financial position of the company is accordingly exceedingly strong ; but at the same time the fact cannot be overlooked that the company has been depri,ed by the war of the profits of nearly six months' working in i ts current financial year. The average yield per load of blue ground at the De Beers and Kimberley mines in the financial year 1898-9 was 0. 71 carat. The average value per carat was l l. 9s. 7d., giving an average value per load of blue ground of ll. Os. lid. At the close of June, 1899, the quantity of blue ground and lumps on the company's floors, including the stock of the Premier mine, was 4,034,816 loads, valued at ls. 6d. per load for the De Beers and Kimberley mines, and ls. per load for the Premier mine. A new contract for the sale of diamonds was entered into with a syndicate for the year from April 1, 1899, at an increased price ; and, "in view of the general prosperity of the world," the directors are sanguine of making an equally favourable contract for 1900-1. During the pas~ year the directors decided to proceed with cold storage accommodation and a dynamite factory. The cold storage was rendered necessary by the loss of cattle by rinderpest. The dynamite factory was neces­sitated by the creation of a European monopoly, which rendered it impossible for De Beers Company to ascer­tain from year to year what price would be demanded for the articl~?, On the completion of its dynamite factory, the De Beers Company will be independent of all European rings, and will have a ready market for any surplus dynamite in Rhodesia and the Trans­vaal. The dynamite factory has been placed under the superintendence of Mr. W. R . Quinam, who has had considerable experience in connection wit h dyna· mite factories in America.

SLIDE-RULE POR ENGINE CALCULATIONS.- We have received from Mr. William J. Goudie, of Crosshill, Glas­gow, a specimen of an ingeniously arranged rule specially devised to facilitate the provisional designing of multiple­expansion steam engines. The instrument contains two slides and two sets of fixed scale8. In all there are fifteen scales, and a number of reference points. By fol­lowing the directions accompanying the rule, the whole of the calculations to fix the general dimensions of a pro­posed triple or quadruple-expansion engine can be found inside of five minutes, and without the exercise of any mental effort. The scales are clearly printed on white paper, and are thus very easily reacl.

THE LATE MR. ANnREw BAROLAY, F .R.A.S., ENGI· NEER, KILMARNOCK.- 'Ve have learned with regret of the death, on the 19th inst., a fter a short illness, of M r. Andrew Barclay, who founded a large engineering works at Kilmarnock, now carried on as a limited liability con­cern. Mr. Barclay, who was 86 years of age, was the son of a millwright, who, it is perhaps interesting to note originated three-ply carpet weaving. The son, therefore' took naturally to engineering, and commenced on hi~ own account, sixty years ago, and built up the Oale­aonia Works, which came to be widely known in con­nection with the manufacture of pumping and winding machinery, ~ving employment to about 700 men. Although they have for so~e time been OWJ?ed by a company, Mr. Barclay contmued as a consultmg engi­neer. He devoted much of his leisure time to a.stro· nomical work, and his mechanical ingenuity found scope in the manufacturing of telescopic and other apparatus. Forty yea.rs ago, .he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Astronom10al SoCiety. He took part also in the admini­strative affairs of his native town, Bind was for a sbort time one of the magistrates.

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NOTES FROM THE UNITED S TATES. few large buyers are now considering the purchase of

. materials so far ahead. The only effect of the repeated predictions of lowering prices is that large con­sumers prefer to run low in stook, and buy from hand to mouth than run the risk they did last year of pur­chasing over a month ahead. It is giYen out to-day

P HILADEI·PBIA, April 18. .T~E iron and steel situation has changed but little

1nthm .the past few days. Rumours are r ife of a weakenmg tendency for summer deliYery, but very

t ha t t he H . C. Frick Company, in conjunction with the Union Steel Company, will erect six enormous blast-furnaces, with a capacity of 600 to 700 tons each on the ~lonongahela River, 30 or 40 miles above Pittsburg. A large steel plant will a]so be erected the1·e. The Uarnegie S teel Company has already entered upon in1provements that will cost 5,000,000 dols., in­cluding, among other things, the erection of a merchant steel milll50 ft . by 600 ft. The new open-hearth mill near Pittsburg will be ready 1 'eptember 1. Steel billets have dropped 1 dol. per ton at Pittsburg, and large contract s are likely to be placed. Most other kinds of material are a t the same level as a week ago. Inquiries are being received for large quantities of structural material and plate, also for merchant bar and sheet iron. The outlook has materially improved within a few days. This fact points to the improba­bility of a permanent decline in pr ices. There is a slight decrease in pig-iron production, owing to the fact that a number of furnaces were unable to obtain a full supply of coke. Last week's coke pro­duction was 216,000 tons. The Transatlantic demand for iron and steel products is impr:>ving, especially in the shape of inquiries. The shipments of pig iron would be much heavier were it able to obtain tonnage at fair prices. Inquiries for pig iron foot up very large, but the general impression of the iron market is that downward prices are more probable than upward, and hence t here is a hand-to-mouth buying in all directions. Produc­t ive capacity, however, seems to be on the increase particularly in iron and steel directions. Acti'e pro~ seoutions are being made for t he railroad building on a very large scale. Very heavy orders for electrical equipment have been placed during t he past few days an_d large. plants have inquiries ~efore them for sup: phes, whiCh .to. all.appeara.nces w~ll tax the~r energies. T.he be~t opmton 1s that the pohcy of buymg will be d1scont1nued shortly, and that large consumers will appear about ~fay 1, a.nd place their contracts for the

550 latter half of the year. It must be remembered that the iron and steel industry is now practically con­trolled by six or eigb t consolidated concerns , and t hat their policy is not dictated by what may happen to­day or to-morrow. Gold and copper mining develop­ments are making groat headway throughout the West. The rush to Cape Nome con t inues. A great deal of American capital is being inve3ted in Mexican mines. Three or four rail roads are to be built wi th a view of de\·eloping mineral resources in that country.

NOTES FROM THE NORTH. GLASGOW, Wednesday.

Glasgow Pig-Iron Ma;rket.- About 10,000 tons were dealt in last Thur.sday forenoon. The tone was quieter and prices were better. Scotch was up 2~d . per ton and hematite iron 3.~d. The market was fiat in the afternoon a.nd a larger bu iness was done, the turnover being esti­mated about 35,000 tons. cotch gave way 3d. per ton from the forenoon clo~e, Cleveland 4~d., and hematite iron 4d. per ton . Tbe settlement prices were : Scotch iron, 74.s. 7~d. per ton ; Clev~land, 77s. 3d. ; hema­tite iron, Cumb3rland and Middlesbrough respective1y, 8!~. 9d. and 87s. 6d. per ton. On the follow­ing forenoon the market was excited. Cablegrams were received from New York, stating that there had been a complete disruption of the billet combjnation, atJd that the tendency of iron prices wag downwards, though iron was scarce. The statements, it was remarked, did not bang together; but, all the same, they led to heavy selling, and prices were weak. Abouli 45,000 tons were dea.lt in. Scotch lost 1s. 3~d. per ton, but at the ]owest point touched there was a fall shown from the top figure recently reached of 4s. 4d. per ton. Cleveland gave way in the forenoon 10~d. per ton, and hematite iron l s. 3i d. per ton. Buyers in the afternoon were offering 73s. 3~d. per t on cash, and sellbrs wanted ~d. more per ton. The settlement prices were: 73s. 3d., 76s . 9d., 833. 4~d., and 86s. per ton. On Monday forenoon the reports received from America as to further sharp reductions in the prices of material there had a. very bad effect on the pie--iron market. Operators for the rise sold freely, and on the whole 25,000 tons of iron changed hands. At the last Scotch iron was down l s. ld. per ton, and Cleveland and bemati te iron respecti ve]y lO~d. and l s. l~d. per ton. In the afternoon the market was rather steadier, the feature being the bidding for bematite iron just at the close of the market, and tbe price rose 3d. p er ton from the forenoon finish. Cleveland iron lost other 3d. per ton, but Scotch was without further change. The sales amounted to 20,000 tons, and Scotch iron was sold down to 71 s. ld. per ton three months fixed. The settle­ment prices were: 723. 3d., 75s. 7~d. , 823. 6d., and 86s. p er ton. T uesday's market was very much better, and price3 were strong, a fair amount of busines.i being done. Scotch iron rose l s. 9d. per ton, Cleve­land ls. 3d., and hemati te iron 1s. 7 d. per ton. There was a distinct recovery from the flatness of Monday, though the cabled ad vices from America were by no means cheering. It was thought, however, that the selling had been overdone. About 20,000 tons were dealt in. Scotch iron rallied 8l d. per too, Cleveland 9d., and hematite iron 7~d. per too. Tbe market was very strong in tbe afternoon, Scotch closing up on the day, Cleveland ls. 3d., and hema­tite iron 1s. 7d. per ton. The turnover for the day amounted to about 40,000 tons, and the settlement prices were: 74s., 7G.i. 10~d., 84s., and 86s. per ton. The pig.iron market was very active this forenoon and nearly 48,000 tons of iron changed hands. Prices were irregular, and there were sharp reactions. At the afternoon market 25,000 tons changed hands, and Scotch iron fell in price. The settlement pnces were: 73s. 7l d ., 7ns. 7~d., 84s. 4~d., and 86s. per ton. The following are the prtees of No. 1 makers' uon : Clyde, 90s. per ton ; Ca1der and Gart­sberrie, 9ls. ; Summerlee, 9ls. 6d. ; Coltness, 93s. 6d. -all the foregoing shipped at Glasgow ; Glengar­nock {sbipped a.tl Ardrossan), 903. ; Sbotts (shipped a.t L ei th), 92s. 6d. ; c~rron (shipped at Grange­mouth). 9ls. per ton. L ast we~k's shipments of pig iron from all Scotch ports were as follow : To Canada, 6!0 tons; to South America, 100 tons; to Australia, 110 t ons; to France, 165 tons; to Italy, 1630 tons ; to Ger­many, 1440 tons; to Holland, 470 tons; to Belgium, 165 tons; to other countries, smaller quantities; and coast­wise, 3115 tons, tbe total shipments being 7908 tons, as compared with 7019 tons in the corresponding week of last year. For tha year up to last ~aturday, the ship­ments amounted to 118, 493 tons, against 80,155 tons for the corresponding portion of last year. The primary cause of the recent fa,ll in prices in the Glasgow pig­iron market is doubtless the unsatisfactory Amencan r eports, and the dreaded ad vent of its formidab]e com­petition. Makers show but li ttle disposition to follow the course of the market, and, being well sold, their quotations remain practical1y unaltered. The furnaces in blast at the close of last week numbered 84, being one more than at the same time last year. The stock of pig iron in Messrs. Connal and Co. 's public warrant stores stood at 159,107 tons yesterday afternoon, as compared with 165,898 tons yesterday week, thus showing an increase for the past week amounting to 6791 tons.

Pig-Iron Stocks-the Great Decrcase.-Pig iron con­tinues to go out of store at an alarming rate, and Connal's stores show a. sma.ller quantity of the raw material avail­able than has been the case since the "boom " and famine days of 1875. In that memorable year Connal's warrant stocks had sunk to 9G, 000 tons ; to· day they are 159,107 tons. Practically litt1e or no iron is goin~ iato store, as makers can more pro6tab1y dispose of the1r manuf..tcturE', and U!l ti l the ~peculati ve price of wa.rran ts su ffi ~ien t ly

E N G I N E E R I N G. exceeds that of the market for consumption, or until a lull appears in trade, there seems to be no prospect of pie-s drifting into the store-houses. The low-water mark m 1875 was succeeded by a rapid flow, and by 1880 Glasgow warrant stocks had swollen to 745,000 tons. Other six years saw them top the million tons, and high tide was reached in 1889, when nearly ll million tons were in Messrs. Connal's stores. After 1889 the quantities fluctuated till 1897, when a steady annual decrea.se set in, and now, as we have seen, the amount is 159,107 tons. The position is interesting, and doubtless but for the American factor, and the a loofness of the general public from the excitements of speculating in warrants-once as lively and as remunerative, or the reverse, as Kaffirs­the price to·day would be much higher than it is.

F inished I ron ar~cl Stcel.-Scotch manufactured iron and steel makers have litt]e fresh to report. The lack of new orders has been more manifest, the sharp set-back in the "peculati ve branch ha viog led to less eagerness to place new work. The set-back has come at a bad time for makers, as consumers were disposed a.t the beginning of the month to accept the inevitable, and give out long-held­back contracts; but now they are once more off, and only a general re]axa.tion of prices will tempb them. The cost is eating into profits to an alarming extent. Indeed, it is hinted that so soon as some of the steel compa.nie8run through their current contracts, they will reduce their run­ning hours of work. Some of the tubemakers, it is said, are importing strips from America at 25.s. to 30:3. per ton under Scotch prices, and it is a lso said that efforts are being put forth to further combine interests; and as recent fusions have left the trade in few hands, this should not be over-difficult.

Olasgow Copper Market.-Practically no business has been done in copper during the week. The price was advanced 103. per ton on Tuesday forenoon, and in the afternoon prices were nominal. 'fo.day the market and prices are merely nominal.

I nstitution of Engineers and Shipbuilde1·s:- The annual meeting of this Institution was held last night-Professor Arcbibald Barr, M. Inst. C.E., presiding in the absence of Dr. Robert Caird, F .R.S.E., president. The Lord Provost of Glasgow and several members of the Town Council were present. Mr. Archibald D enny drew atten­tion to the fact that the University of Glasgow bad, since last meeting, conferred the degree of LL. D., on two members of the Institution, Mr. R obert Caird, president, and Mr. Andrew tewart, who had endowed the chair of Political Economy, and done many other good works. He moved that the congratulations of the Institution be minuted. Mr. Foulis Eeconded, and the proposal was enthusiastica1ly carried. The meeting approved of pro­posals to award the gold medal of the Institution to Dr. Barr for his paper of last session on " Similarity of Structures," and to give awards to Messrs. Mattbie, J ames Weir, and Professor Arnold, of Sheffield, for papers read during the same session. Messrs. A. D enny and William Foulis were elected vice-presidents of the Insti­tution, and Professor Biles, Mr. Chamen, Mr. James Morrison, Mr. C. C. Lindsar., and Mr. J ames W eir were elected members of CounciL The discus_ions on Mr. O'Brien's paper on " A New Balanced Piston Valve," and Mr. Barnett's, on "Typical Racing Yachts," were concluded, and both ~entlemen were thanked for their contributions. 'l'he discussion on Mr. D. Cowan's paper on " W orksbop Administration " was then taken, Mr. H . A . Mavor and other gentlemen taking part in it. Then came an elaborate paper on ., The Main Drainage of Glasgow," by Mr. A. B. JY!acdonald, city engineer. The L ord Provost and two of his colleagues spoke in tbe discussion, which was adjourned to a special meeting, along with JY!r. Cowan's paper.

Shipbuilding Contracts.-Orders for three sailing ships have been placed wi th P ort Glasgow shipbuilders. Messrs. William H amilton and Co. are to build two­one a three-masted steel sailiog ship of 3300 ~ons carrying capacity, and another capable of carrying 5000 tons dead­weight and to have four masts fully rigged. This vessel is about equal in carrying tonnage to tbe Palgrave, built many years ago by Messr.s. William Hamilton and Co., and which wa.s for many years the largest sailing vessel afioat. - Messrs. Russell and Co., P ort Glasgow, are to build a steel sailing ship to carry 5900 tons dead weight. Whether this vessel will be a full-rigged sailing ship or have five masts has not yet been decided. These ships are all for the Anglo-A merican Oil Company, and will be em­ployed in the transit of oil in case from America to ports 10 the Far East .- It may be mentioned, in the absence g(..nerally of orders for sailing ships on the Clyde, that with the foregojng there are now fi ve sailing ships on order with Port Glasgow builders.-Messrs. Robert Duncan are completing a special1y designed schooner for Honolulu owners, and there is another being con­structed in :Messrs. W illiam H amiUon and Co.'s Glen yard.- Messrs. A . Rodger and Co., Port Glasgow, have also orders to build two steamers of large dimen­sions, and one smaller. One of the steamers- the largest ever constructed by this firm-is for Mr. Hugh Hogarth, of Ardrossan and Glasgow.

L ocomotive Contracts.-Messrs. Neilson, Reid, and Co., Hyde Park W orks, have juRt closed a contract for 25 en­gines for the Cape Government Railways, and one for 29 engines for the Burmab State Railways.

NOTES FROM SOUTH YORKSHIRE. SBEFFIET"'D, Wednesday.

She:Uield D istrict Railwap.-His G race, the Du.ke .of Portland, K. G. , wi11 formally open the Sheffield I?Istrwt R 'l.i l wl').y on Monday, :May 21. ThP date of openmg .for puLlic: tratftc will be :mnounced l>y the L ancashtre,

•

[APRIL '2 i, 1900.

Der~yshire, and East Coast Company, who will work the hne, at a later date.

.The N e?U .Vickers-llfaxim Gwn llfotvnting.-The new VICkers-Maxtm .mounting for .12-in. naval guns has suc. ce~f ally passed 1 ~s ~ests, and Will be supplied to all battle· sbtps of the Irresistible type. Owing to the arrangement wb1ch e~a~les the gun t.o be load.ed and fired at a.ny aogl.e, th1s IS the most raptdly workmg heavy gon in the serVIce. ~be new Armstrong 12-in. mounting, tested ab th~ same t1me, has ~lso been approved for use in battle­sht~s of the Formtdable type. It is fitted with an in­gemously combined rammer, which, simultaneously with the loading, cleans the breech by means of a brush.

. Miner~ and the llfidlan.d Railway Company.-A ques. t10n of 1mportance to mmers and other workmen who travel by train to their daily labour came before His Honour ,Judge Raikes at Barnsley last week. Four colliers sued the Midland Railway Company to recover 7s. each damages, they having lost a day's work on December 18, owing, they contended, to the failure of the company to run their 5.15 a m. train from Barnsley to the Carlton JY!ain and Monk Bretton collieries, where plaintiffs were employed. The evidence showed that the men bad taken weekly tickets, a.nd that on the date men· tioned with some 500 others, they went to Barnsley Station with the intention of proceeding to work by the 5.15 a. m. train. The latter, however, bad not arrived ab 6. 30 a. m., and knowing the rule of the collieries that they would not be allowed to de8cend the shaft after 6 o'clock, the men returned home. The submission on the part of the railway company was that there was no contract to carry the men at any particular time, but merely to convey them by a special train. The company, however, paid into Court le. 9d. for a quarter shift. Judgment was reserved.

Messrs. Vickers, Sons, a;nd Maxi?n.-Mr. James H. Boolds, manager to Sir Raylton Dixon and Co., Limited, shipbuilders, Middlesbrough, has accepted the position of manager to Messrs. Vickers, Sons, and Maxim, engi­neers and shipbuilders, Barrow-in-Furness. Mr. Boolds is a son of the late lYir. Henry J. Boolds, who was known as Lloyd's surveyor in the Greenock district. He served his apprenticeship with lYI~srs . Duocan and Co., Port Glasgow.

NOTES FROM CLEVELAND AND THE NORTHERN COUNTIES.

MIDDLESBROUGH, Wednesday. The Cleveland I ron Tracle.-Y esterday the attendance

on 'Change was only small, and there was not very much business doing. At the same time the J?larket ~ho~ed some improvement, and the great scarcity of ptg uon was to a very large extent responsible . for the few transactions recorded. Producers were m no hurry to sell, and expressed great .con~d~nce in the future. There were certainly more mqumes than have b~n reported since the holidays, but buyers and sellers d1d not very readily agree as to rates. ln the early part of the day No. 3 g. m. b. Cleveland pig re.alised 77s. for prompt f.o.b. delivery, and that may be satd to be the general market rate, though towards the cl~se several se1lers advanced their prices to 77s. 6d. Mtddlesbrougb war· rants opened at 76s. ~d., and advanced by. the close to 76s. 9d. cash buyers. No. 1 Cleveland ptg was put all 79s. ; No. 4 foundry, 763.; and gr~y fo~g~, 75s. rbere was practically no east coast hematlte pig 1ron available for sale for this month's delivery, and the market q~ota· tion of 87s. 6d. for Nos. 1, 2, and 3 was purely nomm~l. There was no quotation for Middlesbrough ~ema.tlte warrants. Rubio ore was steady at 21s. ex·sh1p .T~. To-day quotations for makers' iro!l were pretty stmilar to those ruling yesterday. In Middlesbrough wa.rra.~ts there was some fluctl'lation, and they finally closed qUleb at 76s. 4~d. cash buyers. . .

H ematite Pig Iron from Spain.-That hematite p1g Iron is almost unobtainable here is shown by the facp tball importations from Spain are report~. The 8·8{ rtdcii!i chartered by Messrs. Ed ward Harns and Co., .o 1

• h · brough, arrived in the Tees. this ~ve~k from Btlbao Wlt. a. cargo of 2300 tons of hemat1te p1g It'O~ manufacture1d Id Spain, and imported for consumptl.on at Cleve an works. There is no doubt that Sp~ntsh. pr~du~rs with at present in a position to compete 10 thts d1Stnc

1t b

]ocal makers, for they have advantages of ch~per a. .our and freights. It is expected that further ImportatJons will be made.

Manufactured I ron a;ru1, Steel.-~here is not much.new to report of the manufactured tron a~d steel trade:· Work is very plentiful, and orders c~otmube to h cohmed]~ band in a satisfactory manner. Pnc&~, t oug ar quotably altered, have a very strong upwar~ ~en:~11i~: Common iron bars are 9l. !Os.; best bari, 10 · · tr~ and plates, 8l. !Os. ; steel ship-plate~, 8l. 7s. 6d.; and Lr~o~ar steel ship.angles, each 8l. 7s. 6d.-aHllless t~e lur~ils ar~ 2~ per cent. discount for cash. eavy s ee strong at 7l. 15s. net at works.

Coal and Coke.-The fuel trade may be repo;~ th: strong. In gas coal there have bee~ a good !:ies both contracts arranged for the :Metropoltta.n comp 1 . re locally and in other districts. Bunker .coa 1~ dfor plentiful, and from 1Ga. 6d . . to 17s. 6d. ~ q'i~ ~anu· unscreeoed qualities. . There lS no alteration medium facturing coal. Coke m excellent demand, band . t half· blast-furnace qualities delivered here over t e nex year are fully 28s. 6d.

· ========G===l= now 55 000,000 GE~MAN PoPU!,ATJON.- .erm!l0 Y' 1as · at the r&te

inhabitants, and Its populatiOn lS 1?creasmg migra.t~ of 700,000 to 800,000 per annun1. ;re~mn.ns now e much less freely than they formerly dtd.

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APRIL 27, I900.]

NOTES FROM THE SOUTH-WEST. C'ardiff.-The demand for steam coal both for immediate

shipment and for future delivery has continued satisfac· tory, and a large business i_s being done. The best de­scriptions have been ma.kmg 22a. to 22s. 6d. per ton, while secondary qualities have brought 19s. t? 2~3. p<.'\r ton. The demand for house coal has been qmet m con· g()quence of the advance of the season ; No. 3 Rhondda large has made 203. to 223. per ton. As regards iron ore, the bost rubio has been quoted at 20s. to 20s. 6d. per ton.

The" Bulwark" and the "llfontagu."-For s0me weeks the construction of the line-of-battle ship Bulwark, at Devon port, hM been reta.rd~d, owing to t~e non-d.eli very of her side armour: A constgnm.ent of this materta~ has, however now arr1ved, and conatderable progress wtll be made with the ve~sel. A large quantity of materi~l was also delivered at Devon port last week for the new !me-of­battle ship Montagu.

The StcattSca Valley.-Tbe four undertakings engaged in the steel trade are all actively employed. Quotations for tin bars have exhibited a firm t?ne. The foundries and engineering works are on full time. Coal for local condumption has again run short.

The " .Achillcs."-The Lords of Admiralty have decided to prepare for further ser vice the old armonred cruiser Achilles which for me.ny years belonged to the Devonport contingent of the Channel squadron. For twelve yeR.rs she has been ly ing idle at P ortsmouth, and it was con­cluded that she would be sold out of the service. She is, however, to be converted into a flog.ting torpedo dep6b, for which she is well suited; some necessary alterations can be effected for about 7000l. The Achilles was built at Ohatham in 1861.3, at a cost of 469,572l. In 1890 she was reboilered at Key ham at a cost of about 35,000l., with & view to her being employed as a fort guardship, but this proposal was not carried into effect. During the time she was on the effective list, 214,671l. was expended in maintaining her in an efficient state.

TRE St=BZ CaNAL-The transit revenue of the Suez Canal Company in the first quarter of this year amounted to 841,513{. , as compared with 939,49ll. in the corre­sponding period of 1899, and 847,1G2l. in the correspond­ing penod of 1808. The number of ve...~els which passed through the canal to March 31 this year was 816, as com­pared with 865 in the corresponding period of 1899, and 935 in the corresponding period of 1898.

~!AcHINERY AT T HE PARIS Ex.HIBITION.-We have re­ceived from MM. Dunod, the well-known publishers, of 49, Quai des Grand:i Augnstins, Paris, the prospectus of a work on "Machinery at tho Paris Exhibition," by M. G. Eude, the engineer in charge of the installations. This work, which will appear in parts, published at irregular intervals, but to be completed during the ear1 y part of next year, should be of considerable interest and value. The object of the first part, recently published, is to describe the general installations, of which machinery e~hibits will form a part. These installations comprise the production and distribution of steam, and the pro­duction and distribution of power.

THE LATE Sm F n.\NCIS !YL\.RINDIN.-Tbe death of Colonel ir Francis Arthur Marindin, K.C. lU.G., on the 21st. inst. removes a faithful public servant who, in the capacity of Inspecting Officer of Rail ways for the Board of Trade for over twenty years, rendered valuable service towards insuring the high standard of safety attained by British ~ailways. He was born at WeJmonth on lVIay 1, 1838, bemg the second son of the late R ev. S. Marindin of Ohesterton, Shropshire. He was educated at Eton' a~d the Royal ~lita.ry Academy, Woolwioh, being, lik~ hlS fa.ther1 destmed for army service ; but the subject of our bnef note !>referred the engineering side and entered the Royal Engineers in 1864. He served in the East in 1~55-6 •. ~nd was aide-de-camp and private secre­tary to Str \Vtlham Steveneon, Governor of Mauritiu~ from 18.60 to 18~3, and during tha~ period ~as employed on speo1e.l duty 10 Madagascar. H1d next 1mportant im­portant appointmenb was as Adjutant at tbe Chatham Sc~ool of ~itary Engineering, and in 1869 he was ap­pomted Bngade :Major, in 1872 l\fajor, and in 1877 he ~ve~t to the Board of Trade to occupy the position already mdtcated . . In this capacity be had to examine the works on n~w ratlway~,. as well as to inquire into accidents, and hts .adaptabtlity soon proved the appropriateness of t~e cho~ce. In several respects his administration gave nse to Important reforms and public benefits. Thus he brought about the appointment of a Select Commjttee of .the House of Commons, to inquire into the hours of railway.servants by strongly-worded animadversions in oonneotton.with 1\.n inquiry into the death of a guard in 1891 ; .and m connection wtth the Tbirsk accident of the followmg y~ttr, . he strongly advocated the adoption of so!De com~mat10n of mechanical and electncal ap­phanoe wluo? woul~ make such an accident impossible, unless the dr1ver dehberately ran past fixed signal~. He ~lso urged the eng9:gement of rehef signalmen, and the hportance of housmg the men near their work. In 1887 e ~as m~de a C. M. G. as a reward for serv ices in con­

nect,~n wtth the Egyptian State railway · and on the OCC&Ston of the Diamond Jubilee three yeat~a a~o he was Mo~o~d to th~ Kn~gbthood of' the Order. Str 'Franois

armdm marned, m 1860, a daughter of Sir ''' illiam thtevenson, ~{.C. B., . ?n whose personal staff he served

ree ~ears 1~ Mam 1 ttus. He was a strong ad vooate of a.t.b~etic exer~1ee, and his name will always be associated \'\'It the re\'lval of football in this country.

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

MISCELLANEA. AT the monthly meeting of the Ipswich Engineering

Society, held on JYionday evening 1ast, a paper on ''Re­frigeration and the Mechanical Production of Cold," was read by Mr. E. Bruce Ball, A.M.I.M E., special attention being devoted to the carbonic acid gas system.

The Hamburg-American Company intend to run their new 23·knot boat the Deutschland ''for a11 she is worth," having come to the conclusion that it will be more profit­able to do this in spite of the increased wear and tear, than to give her a longer time in port. The D eutsch­lR.nd will therefore sail from Hamburg every three weeks

In their report on the com.position and quality of daily samples of the water supphed to L ondon for the montb anded March 3l, 1900, Sir William Crookes and P rofessor De war state that the bacteriological quality of the London water supply during the last month has been very good on the whole. There was only one occas ion on wb10h one of the filters of the Thames-derived companies gave a higher number of microbes than 200 per cubic centimetre. All the other samples examined were well filtered. the average number of microbes not exceeding 18 in the Thames dederived companies, and being as low as five in the River L ea water from the East L ondon Water Company's mains.

The high-powered petroleum lamps first introduced some 10 or .1~ yea~s ago are proving very us~ful in maintaining a sutfictent hght round the enclosures m which the Boer ~risoners are kept. Whilst giving an excellent illumina­tLOn, these lamps are much more convenient than electric ar~ lamps of correspon.ding power, since th~y require ?et~her dynamo nor engme; and further, the hght given IS of a softer character than the electric, the shadows being much less dense. A number of th~e have been used at Cape Town for the purpose named, and Messrs. A . C. Wells and Co., of 102, 103, and 104, Midland-rond St. Pancras, have just shipped 30 more for use at St. Heiena. Th~se lamps also form part of the equipment of the siege trams.

A paper on "War and Power Traction " was read 1ast Saturday before the Automobile Club by the Right Hon. J. ~- A. Maodonald, CB., commanding the Fourth Bngade. The author held that mechanical traction would do much to reduce transport difficul­ties. In the first place, the roads themselves would be cub up less; and, secondly, the same number of wagons would not occupy half as great a length of road as when drawn by animals. In facti with animal traction the room required for a team often ~xceeded that occupied .by the wagon drawn. Speeds would be increased br, adoptmg motor-cars, so that by an accumulation of the dtfferentadvantagesreferred to, the total timeocoupied in the mt~~rch of a transport train from the start of the first wagon to the arrival of the las t might, he thought be re-duced to about one-fifth of that now required. '

The following meetings are arranged for next week : Thursday, May 3, the. R ontgen Society, at 20, Hanover­square, at 8 p .m. Fnday, May 4, the annual meeting of the Cold Storage and I ce Association, will be held in the E xamination Ha:ll o~ the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons, V1ctona Embankment. The chair wi11 be taken at 11.30 a. m. for the morning, and at 3 p. m. for the afternoon m·eeting. The papers to be read are: "Re­~~nt Res~arches in Refrigeration, " by Mr. G. Halliday.

InsulatiOn and Insulators,'' by l\1r. W. D. A. Bost ::Electric ~ighting of Cold tores,, by Mr. W. B. E tJson:

The Destgn and Construction of Buildings for I ce Factories and Cold Storage," h} lYir. P. Gaskell. In the evening there will be a dinner at the Cafe lVIonico at 7 p . m., whilst on the following day a series of excursions have been arranged for.

The Seagull, torpedo gunboat, Commander H. Grant­Dalton, which is the only ship in the service fitted with the Niolausse water-tube boiler, has concluded a series of nine trials, each of approximately 1000 miles. Four of the runs fe11 short of the required distance, owing to the bad weather. At the four early trials the indicated bor~e-power ranged from 1364 to 1371, and the speed Yaned from 13 to 13.6 knots. The next trial gave a speed of 14.48 k.nots, _with .16ll indic!l'~ed horee·power, but on the followmg trtal, wtth an add1t10nal 20 indicated horse­pow~r, the .speed went up to 14.6. The next trial was earn ed out m ver7 bad weather, and bad to be abandoned when only 856 mlles bad been run; but with 1798 indi­cated horse·po~er the Seagull averaged 15.2 knot6. The next run was m such fine weather that the ship was abl~ ~o COIJ?pl~te the thousand miles, and then with two addttlO~al md1cated horse-power her speed improved by two pomts. At the final tr1al, with 1947 indicated horse· power, the speed .was .16.07 knot~. Throughout the trials only four of the six b01lers were m use and as the engines are oapable o.f 3000 indicate~ horse~power, the actual po~er ~t the tn~1e of the last tnal was, for the number of b01l~rs m use, nmeteen·twentieths of the maximum. The maxtmum coal consumption for the' entire series of trials wo~ks ou.t ab 1. 9 lb. per unit of power per hour for the mam .engmes, and 2lb. for a11 purposes. The Niolausse type of .b01ler h~ be.en shown to possess certain advantages, the oh1ef of wLJO~ lS that anr tube can be quickly removed and ~no~her substttutad, ~bile all the tubes, which are 3! in. m dtameter, are stratgh~. When the trials were begun the lanterne, or end of the tube,· was screwed on, bnt no~ the tu?e and l.a?terne form one solid-drawn piece, which matertally famhtates the substitution of tubes.

. Partio~l.ars of so.me interesting te3ts of the fire-resist­mg quaht~e~ of t_hm partitions have just been published by the B.nt1sh Ftre Prevention Committee. In one set ?f expert !Den~ th.e. partition consisted of matoh-board­mg filled 1n wtth stlu~te cotton, which was t: xpo~ed to a

551 fire of 45 minutes' duration, during which the tempera­ture in the test-room rose from 300 deg. to 1800 deg. F~hr. The partition measured 7 ft. 8~ in. high by 10 ft. Wide. The studs, bead, and sill were of 4 in. by 2 in. yellow pine, and the studs were placed at 14-in. centres, and mortised into the sill. The :Partition was covered on both sides by galvanised nettmg of 1-in. mesh, and ~be space thus enclosed between the studs ~as filled w1t.h silicate cotton carefully ,packed ; the thtokness of th1s packing was therefore 4 m. Finally the partition was completed with !-in. by 6-in. tongued, grooved, and beaded matohboarding nailed to each stud. The silicate cotton, it should· be stated, was very carefully packed, care in this direction having been shown by previous experiments to be ~sential to success. In the present instance the partition resisted well. The internal match­boarding was, of course, destroyed, and the studs were burnt to a depth of ! in.; but the wire netting remained in place, and the packing proved successful in preventing the fire passing through the partition. Another parti­tion tested was one constructed by the Mural and D ecora­tions Syndicate, Limited. This was but 2! in. thick, and was constructed of iron, terra-cotta, and plaster. In spite of i ts thinness this partition proved quite successful in preventing the passage of fire, though the test lasted 1 hour 16 minutes.

The report of Captain M. B. Lloyd, Her :Majesty's In. speotor of Explosives, to the Board of Trade on the fatal explosion at the New Admiralty Harbour Works, Dover, on January 14, has now been published. The explosion occurred after a hole bad been bored for a charge of gun­powder, and was due, in Captain Lloyd's opinion, to the act of one of the men named Merton. This man i'3 found to have lighted a pipe and thrown away the match, which fell on to the bag of powder. Capte..in Lloyd says : "As regards the blame to be attached for the occurrence of this lamentable accident, this, in my opinion, falls first upon the man Merton. Notices are posted up in the works pro­hib~ting smoking during working hours, and though these nottces are not, perhaps, quite so prominent as they might be, still the rule appears to be well known and generally observed by the men. To this man's reckless carelessn~s and gross disobedience of orders must be attributed the chief blame for the accident. But in censuring his con­duct thus severely, I cannob exonerate the contractors from all blame in the matter, and cannot report that they had taken every precaution for the prevention of acci­dents by explosion. The practice of bringing the charges of ~owder down to the benches in cotton bags is one wh~ch ~oul~ ~ot comme~d itself to a careful person, and whiCh I S dlStmctly forb1dden by Special Rule 8 made under the Quarries Act. I am aware that it is questionable ~bether theEe works constitute a quarry within the mean­mg of that Act, but, at the same time, I consider that a. firm of .Messrs. P earson's experience and standing should not wa1~ to be legally coerced into taking such simple preoaut10ns as are enjoined by these special rules. and should have made rules for blasting embodying the inten­tion~ of the Quarry Special Rules, and adapted to the part~oular elMs of work they undertake whethsr railway cuttmg or work of the description they' are now engaged upon at Dover,,

PERSONAL.-Mr. J. M. Dewar, ]ate of ~1:essrs. Mauds· ley, SonE~, and Field, L imited, has been appointed general manager ~o the firru of M~srs. Bow, McLachlan, and Oo., of the Thtstle Works, Patsley.-Messrs. Brown, .Boveri, a~d .eo., and the Parsons Foreign Patents Company, L1m1tHl, have entered into a contract for the manufac­ture and sale for electrical purposes of the well known Parsons steam turbine in the following countries France Germany, R':lssia, ~witzerland, and Italy. Tb~ &ty le of the company 1s, Akt1en-Geselldohaft Hir Dampf· Turbinen System B~own-Boveri- Parsons, with its head office a.tl Baden, Switzerland.

---TR.R INSTITUTION Oi', CIVIL E~OINEERs.-At the annual

meetmg of tb~ Insti.tution of Ct vil Engineers, held on Tu~sday evenmg, Sir Doug1as Fox, prebident, in the chair, the result of the ballot! for the election of officers was decl.ared as follows: Pre&identl, Mr. J ames 1\IIan­sergh ; vtce.presidents, Sir William White, K.C.B .• Mr. Charles Hawksley, Mr. J. C. Hawkshaw, M.A., and Mr. F. W. Webb; other members of council, Mr. Barton (Dundalk), :Mr. Horace Bell, Sir Alexander Binnie, l\1r. B. Hall Blytb, lYI.A. (Edinburgh), Dr. H e-nry Taylor Bovey, M.A. (Montreal), lVIr. U. A. Brereton Mr T Forster Brown (Cardiff), Mr. R. Elltotti Coope; M; G · F. Deacon •. M r. W. R. Galbra.tth, Mr. G. H. Hill, Mr: J. 9· Inglis, Mr. Al~xander I r.atJ, C.I.E (Gorakhpur Indta), Dr. Alexander B. W. Kennedy, Sir J ames K 1tson: Bart., M.P. (~e~ds), Mr. A. G. Lyster (Liverpoo1), Mr. John ~lien M Do.n~ld (Derby), Mr. E. Pri tchard Martin (Dowlats), Mr. Wtlham Matthews, Sir Guilford L. Moles­worth, It.C.I.E., Mr. Alexander Stememz, Mr. Thomas St~w.art (Cap~ Town}, :Mr. John I. Thornyorofb. Mr. vVtllt~m Twattes, M.A. {Melbourne), Profe~or W. G. Unwm, B.~c., and Sir~- Leader Wi11iams (Manchester). The coun01l of the Institution have made the following a~ards f~r papers read and discussed before the Institu­tiOn durmg the past seesion: A George Stephen~on medal and a Telford premium to Sir Lowthian B~ll Bart., LL.D., F .R .S.; Telford medals and premiums t~ ~essrs. H . H. Dalrymple.Hay, B. M. Jenkin F w Btdd~r, and F. D. Fox; a Watt medal and a 'Teiford premiUm to Mr. J . Dewrar.ce ; a Crampton prize to Sir Charles Hartley, and Telford pr~miums to ~le~rs. c. N . Russell and R . A .. Tatton. The presentation of these awards, t?gether .wtth . those for papers which have not b~en subJect to dt~cu~10n and will be announced latter "111 take r·1ace at the maugnra1 meeting of next seesion. '

•

E N G I N E E R I N G. [APRIL 2;, I90Q.

2400 H.-P. WILLAN T THE P l{.I E.t '"HIIiiTI <)N. {'t)Y,'1' RUC1~ l.~ }) }l V ~ 1 1•~ ' 'RL'· \\' ILT .. \ T," •\ ,~.'T J ) J)()l1IN 'O'T Ll\Il1~ J ' J) L' '-.. ( ' l'-1' 1'11 V\ ~' r# ~ l. ~' .c. ""' # .. .1.'1 ' > r I l'\ ) • ' ' .l'u ' f .1.' •, •, ' ~, R ( : B \

WB illustrate on Lhe present page a very fine 'Villans 1 piece. Thus the bed plate iR divided into halves along engine, recently constructed by 1\Jessrs. \ViJla.ns and the line of the crankshaft, the two being bolted Robin on, Limited, of the Vic toria " ' orks, Rugby, together to form the usual oil bath. Each of Lhese and which, coupled direct to a. "" iemens multipolar sections weighs 15 tons. The crank chamber, again, dy namo, is being exhibited in the foreign section of is also di' ided at the lower portion into four pieces, the Electricity Building of the Paris Exhibition, a.nd so as to gi,·e access to the crankshaft, connecting-rods, will be used to supply light and power there. The a.nd <:rossheads, without necessitating the dismantling engin~ is intended to give 2400 horse-power in normal of the engine. The exhaust chamber, however, is in working, but is capable of developing 3000 indicated one piece. The governor is of the firm's usua] centrifugal horse-power on emergencies. Its designed speed is 200 type, but is placed vertically, a.nd is driven by screw revolutions per minute, its weight 120 tons, and it occu- gel-ring from the crankshaft: a plan which has 'been pies a floor space of 31 ft. by 11 ft. 1 in. The engine is of adopted for all the larger s izes of \Villans engines. the central va.hTe pattern, and in general de ignis ideo- The cra.nkshaft is in one piece, the eccentrics being tioa.l with the smaller size of Willans engines, though forged solid on the crankpins, though the shaft for facility of handling, certain portions ar~ made in is 14! in. in diameter at the journals, a.nd weighs two parts, which , in the smaller patterns, are in one about 12 tons. N o flywheel, it will be seen, is sup-

plied with the engine, tho armature of the dyn~mo sen ing for this. Tbe cylinders are arranged t..an em fa hion a.s usual in the Willans engine. Tbe.Y measure 1 I in '30 5r in a.ud 49 in. in diameter by 2:3,.. 10. stroke.

"' • ' 1 ., • ' • t pbere The designed working pressure lS ten a mos re<i The exhaust steam pa se ~o a jet .con~en er s.up~~·o by the \Yorthington Pumpmg Engme Compan) · f similar engines a re, we learn, now. in course o con· struction fot the Glasgow Corporatton.

R .\IL\\ .n ~ IN ~IAXCHt:RIA.-Th~Russo-Cbl~S.~ ... E~~~ Ra1lway, whicb was commenced lD Augustb lOOl The pected to be completed to Po:t Arthur Y 5o loco­lme is being pushed for.wa.~ wtth ene~y,_ s:~tioo of n.ot1 ves being engaged 10 tts construct10n m c:>urse, to a large worktng staff.

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APRIL 27, 1900.] \ •

FOR "ENGINEERING." AGENTS AusTRIA, Vienna: Lehmann and Wentzel, Kartnerstrasae. OAPK ToWN : Qordcn an~ Gotch. EDu"'liUROB · John MenZies and Co., 12, Hanover-street. fR.ANOB, p~ris : Boyveau and Ohevillet, Librairie Etrang~re, 22,

Rnede la Banque; M. Em. Terquem, 31bl.a, Boulevard Haussmann. Also for Advertisements, Agence Ha.vas, 8, Place de la Bourse. (See next column.) .

GBRMANT, Berlin : Messrs. A. Asher and Co., 5'oUnter den Lmden. Frankfurt-am-Main : Me&n'S. G. L. aube and Co. (for

Advertisements). Leipzig : F. A. Brookhaus. Mulhouse: H. Stuckelberier.

oi.Asaow: Willinm Love. lm>IA, Calcutta: Thacker, Spink, and qo.

Bombay: Thacker and Co. , Linuted. ITALY: U. Hoepli, Milan, and n;ny post office. LIVBRPOOL : Mrs. Taylor, Landing Stage. MANCHBSTKR : John Reywood, 143, Deansga.te. NoRWAT, Ohristinnia: Cammenneyers Boghandel, C~Lrl Johans

Qade, 41 and 43. Nsw SoUTH W .u.K.S, Sydney : Turner and Henderson, 16 and 18,

Hunter-st reet. Gordon and Gotch, George-street. QunNsLAND ~OUTD), Brisbane : Gordon and Gotcb.

· NORTH), Townsville : T. Willmett and Co. RoTTBRDAH : • A. Kramer and Son. SOUTH AUSTRALIA, Adelaide: W. C. Rigby. U!>'IBD STATBB, New York: W. H. Wiley, 43, East .19tb·a~re~t.

Chicago : H .. V. Holmes, 44, Lakestde Building .. y1oroRIA .Melbourne : Melville, Mullen, and Slade, 261/264, OolllnB·

11treet.' Gordon and Gotch, Limited, Queen-street.

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CONTENTS. rAGE PASK

The Design of Rotar.r Con· The Mechanical Engineers' verters (Illustrat~d) . . . . 635 Congress at P aria.. . . . . . . 554

The Institution of Naval Uorupulsory Boiler [nspec· Architects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 536 t ion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 554

Some Statistics Relatin~ to The Shipbuilding Boom . . . . 555 Electrical Power Produc· Notes ... . ........ . ..... •• 656 tion ...... ...... .. . . . ... 539 Automatic Railwn.y Coup·

Modern Field Artillery (n· lings .. .. . .. . .. .. .. .. .. .. 557 lustrat.td) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 540 The Flip or Jump of a Gun

Textile Machinery o.t the 1 or Rifle. . . . . . . . . . . . • • . . . • 558 Paris Exhibition ( I llus· Naval Engineers •. .. .. . ... 558 trated) .................. 542 Yacht Measurement ...... 569

Arched Bridges over the A Question of Overtime

P Rhine (1Utt8trattd) . .. .. • 545 Races .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 559 aris Exhibition Railways American Competition • . • • 559 (IUustratd) .. . ... .... . . 546 Our Trade with Canada •••• 659

llf'vy Turret Lathe (R· Naval Architecture .......• 559

S U8trated) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 547 Broken Tail-Shafts .. .. .... 560

ou~b. African Diamond Large F reis.ht Oars on

NMinmg ............. .. .. 547 1 British Ratlways .... .. .. 560 S~ from the United The "Calyx" Drill . . . . . . 560

N tes .. . . .. . . .. .. . . .. .. 619 Launches and Trial Trips .. 560

otes from the ~orth . . .. .. 550 Industrial Notes . . . . . . . . • • 561 Notes from South Yorkshire 550 The Relation between Elec-Notes from Olevel"nd and t ricity and Engineering . . 562

the Northern Counties • • 560 On Mysterious Fractures of ~ftes from the South· West 551 Steel Shafts (fllustrattd) 563

2.~:.anea. · · · · ........ ... 551 Workmen's dompensation

Expa ·~· Willans Triple· Oases .. .. .. . • .. .. .. .. .. 567

. nSJon .E?gine at the Falmouth Art. and Indus-

B Pans. Exh1b1tion (Rlm.) 562 tr ial Exhibition ....•... 568

ubmanne Boats • . • • • . . . . . 553 } " Engineering" Patent Re· cord (IUmtrated). . . . . . . . 569

Wit4 a 'l'wo·Paaa Bnt.Jraving o'f an ARCHED BRIDGE ACROSS 'IHE RHINE .d.T BONN · THE F.d.£SE WORK. ~

E N G I N E E R I N C. •

NOTICE TO CONTINENTAL ADVERTISERS.

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READlNQ o~szs. -Reading CQ.SC! for containing twenty-six numbers of ENGINURING may be h&d of the Publisher or of ~Lny newsagent. Price 6s. each.

NOTICES OF MEETINGS. 0 1\' IL AND MECIIANIC..\L ENOLNEKRS' SOCIETr.-May 3, at eight

o'clock, at the Hotel Victoria, when Professor R. H. Smith, Wh.Sc., A.M.I.O.E., M.I.M.E., will read a. paper on 11 Valve Gears and Valve Diagrams."

SOCIETY OF CIIEMIOAL I NDUSTRY ; LoNDON SKCTION.-Monday, Ma.y 7, at the Chemical Society's Rooms, Burlington House, Picca· dilly. The following paper will be read and discussed: "The Production of Nitrate of Soda in Ohili," by Dr. W. Newton, F.I.C., &o. The meetinlt will commence at 8 p.m.

BRITISH As OCl.\TION OF DRAUGHTSMEN (MANOIIBSTBR BRANCH). ­Thursday, May 3, at eight o'clock, at tbe Deans~ate Hotel, Man· cheater, when a paper on " The Modern Gas Engine" will be read by Mr. J ames Dnnlop, member.

TilE SOUTH WAI,Y.S I NSTITUTE OF ENOINEERS.-Monday, April 30, at three o'clock precisely. Pr~sidential Address, by the President, Mr. Thomas Evens, M. Inst. C.K Papers for discussion : "Deep Pumping at the Elliott Colliery," by Mr. E. M. Bann, M. Inst. O.E. "Pit Head Pulley F.ramings," by Mr. S. A. Everetb. "On the ltelative Positions of Drums and Pulleys in Winding Arrange· ments," by Mr. G. W. Westgarth. "Notes on the Coal Beds of Queensland," by Mr. T. P. Moody, mining engineer. Lewis' Prize Essays, 1899: Fi rst prize, on "Colliery Surface Arrangements," by Mr. S. A. Everelt. Second prize, on " Colliery Surfa~e Ar· rangement.s," by Mr. Ernest II. Thomas. Written remarks in discussion are invited from those who may be unable to be present. The following papers will be taken as rea.d : "Description of the 1\aiping- Coalfield, and Tong Colliery , Tongshan, Tientsin , North China," by Mr. Thomas Webster. "The Chemical Classification of Coal," by Mr. Olarence A. Seyler, B.Sc. , F.I.O. "A Beam Compass for Plotting Surveys," by Mr. Ohg,rles Gregorie.

SOCIETY OP ARTS.-Wednesday, May 2, at 8 p.m. "Some Un· familiar Masterpieces of the Italian School," by Miss Halsey.

TilE L'iSl'ITUTION OF ELECTRICAL ENOll\ERRS.- Thursday, May 3, at 8 p.m., at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Storey's· gate, S. W. If the discussion on Professor Forbes' paper read on April 26 is concluded, the following paper will be read : "The Calculations of Distributing Systems of Elect ric Traction under Bri tish Conditions," by Mr. H . .M. Sayers, Assoc. Member.

ROYAL INSTITUTION OF GREAT BRITArN.-Friday, May 41 at nine o'clock, at Albemarle-street, Piccadilly, W. Professor T. E. Thorpe, LL.D., D.Sc. , Ph.D., F.R.S. , Pres. O.S., M.R.I. Subject, "Pottery and Plumbism." Afternoon lectures next week at three o'clock. - On Tuesday, May 1, Mr. Hugb Robert Mill, D. o. , LL.D., F.R.S.E., on "Studies in British Geography" (Lt>cture 11.). -On Thursday, May 3, Professor Dewar, lti.A., LL.D., F.R. ., M.R.I., on "A Century of Chemistry in the Royal Institution " (Lecture 11.}.-0n aturday, May 5, Professor tanley Lane-Poole, 1\I. A., on " Egypt in the Middle Ages" (Lecture II. ).

ENGINEERING. FRIDAY, APRIL 27, 1900.

UB~IARINE BOAT . lNTERES'r has again been rovived this week in

the subject of submarine boats, owing to t he report that France has decided upon the construction of a large fleet, 100 being given as the number, while the United States Navy authorities have, it is said, come at last to the conclusion to purchase the Hol­land boat aftor many trials and some tergiversation in the naval mind. This uncertainty of opinion is shared by all Governments, excepting only that of France, in which country t he conditions of a na.\'al war are such as to j ustily the under­taking of the risks more or less inseparable from the submersibility of such craft. The idea of sub­marine boats is almost antiquated : but the lack of success in experiments is justification for the pru­dence displayed by our own Admiralty, even al­though naval experts have more than once sounded the alarm, and sternly called upon the Govern­ment to rouse itself fron1 its assumed lethargy. We know very little about the performance and possibilities of submarine boats. What has been available is essentially newspaper talk, and the little that may be accepted is not encouraging. No doubt a great deal of ingenuity and heroic daring have beon displayed. But we want, first of all, to become convinced that submarine boats are useful weapons. Meanwhile, we may strive to devise a primary motor suitable for such a boat, which would be valuable for other purposes as well, for if we are to rely on electric accumulators, we tnay as well suspend the task.

Although it would not be quite accurate to t;ay t hat there has not been advancement towards the solution of the inherent difficulties to submarine navigation, a glance at the successive experiments is not by any means encouraging. It is true that submarine boats ha ye exercised the minds of laymen

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more perhaps than t~ose of . experienced con­structors; t he list of accidents mtght not have been quite so long if the lay ~lement had kept aloof. But submarine boats remain dangerous cra-ft; and if we have had no fatal accidents in recent years, it is largely because we have learned to be careful, and have at least grasped the nature of the pro-blems.

The first submarine boat, indeed, did not drown anybody; but whether or not the great Cornelis van Drebbel actually submerged the boat w~ich he exhibited before J ames I. on the Thames m 1624, is not quite clear. Day did go ~own at. Yarmouth in 1660, and when he repeated hlS experiment, boat and crew failed to reappear. Fulton was more successful: he kept four hours under water in 1801, and exploded a mine at Brest from his boat. Phillips' wooden boat was crushed by the water pressure on Lake Erie, and the same fate .befell Bauf\r's iron boat in 1850 at Kiel ; he and hlS two men had a marvellous escape, being carried up by the huge compressed air- bubble. The boat of McClintock and Howgate, constructed in 1863 for the Confederates in the American Civil War, sank four times, and each time killed its volunteer crew, 32 men in all. All these craft had less than 30 tons displacement, employed water ballast and manual propelling power, and resembled plumply-built fish in their shape.

With the same year, 1863, began the days of the cigar-shaped boats of considerably larger tonnage, fitted with steam, pneumatic, petroleum, or electric power, and sometimes with two separate sets of motors, for motion on the surface and under water. Noteworthy among these are N ordenfelt's four boats, which burned fuel when on the surface, and relied on the heat stored in the boiler when under water. During the last fifteen years another type has come to the front : boats which keep just under the water line, and which are to dive under only in extre1ne cases. To this class belong the boats of Hovgaard, of Peral, and the several craft which Admiral Au be had constructed : the two boats of Goubet, Zede's Gymnote, and the Gustave Zede. France has been most persevering in these endea­vours. Last summer, Romazotti's Morse was launched at Cherbourg ; she is to have two sisters, t he Fran9ais, and the Algerian ; and there is finally Laubert/s Narval, also launched at Cherbourg in October last, fitted with petroleum and electric motors and accumulators, whilst the other French boats mentioned depend entirely upon accumu­lators. Giorli's boat of 1893 is distinguished by three horizontal rudders, one of which is automati­cally adjusted by a pendulum. Finally, t here are the six Holland boats, the last of which is entirely of Mr. Holland's own design. We have described, and illustrated, many of these boats in their days, so that we need not here enter into details.

The flooded boats, which keep awash, just under the water surface, look like torpedo boats. They are spacious enough not to need any compressed air stores for breathing ; and the tube projecting above the water level, provided with a. mirror at an angle of 45 deg., is a help Lo the man at the helm­not much of a help, though, for Lhe elevation is too small to give a proper field of view. In stability these craft ctrc superior to the totally submerged boats, but they sufl:er from many of the drawbacks of submarine boats which are regarded as serious, notably by such an expert as Professor Busley. He is acting President of the newly- formed Schiffbautechnische Gesellschaft, a German naval constructors' institution whose inauguration re­cently was attended with so much eclat, due to the presence of the German Emperor to hear the Pro­fessor 's contribution on this important subject of submarine boats.

Amongst those serious inherent difficulties, Pro­fessor Busley places first the low stability of sub­marine boats. Some people still seen1 to forget that the displacement centre of gravity of a totally sub­merged boat is simply the mass centre of the water displaced, and does not al ter its position whatever inclination the boat may assume. There is no buoyancy. Yet transverse stability and prevention of rolling, is not so difficult to obtain, provided the ~ectio~ of the boat is like that of an egg, poised on 1ts pomt. If w~ use ballast, the centre of gravity of the system wip. be low down, and the displace­ment centre high up . The low longitudinal stability, the tendency to pitching, is the trouble. A man need only step forward to send the nose of the boat down. For this reason the Plongeur of Bourgeois failed, and the length of boats has been

•

•

..

554 r~duc~d again. Goubet has gone furthe t in this duect10n, and his two men always sit in the middle of the boat. Ba~er tried to apply counterpoises, Hol.l~nd. automat1c pumps, to restore longitudinal equilibrium. Nordenfelt did not deprive his boat of all buoyancy, and counteracted its effect by a submerging propeller. The flooded b oats are better off in t his respect . But even in t heir case we notice a reduction in length ; the Zede had a length of 45 metres, t he Morae of 36 metres, the Narval of 34 metres. It has, on the other hand, been point~d out that they are n ot good sea:-going boat~, hardly fit for rough weather ; and theu own designers have proposed t o give them a little freeboard. If we do that we lose the chief advantage of t he submarine boat the immunity against projectiles ; and we may ~rgue ~vhet~er we had not better return to ordinary boats, 1n whiCh we are not tied down to small space and small speed, and all sorts of undesirable condiLions.

Submarine boats remain dangerous to manage. On the average, perhaps, we may construct them strong enough to descend t o a depth of 100 ft. Supposing a boat, moving at the usual speed under water, 8 knots, is to discharge a torpedo. Two men are sent forward; the boat at once inclines 15 deg., and within half a minute it will have arrived in its critical depth. If there is any delay or any fault in the steering gear or in the application ?f safety weights, &c., every second will seriously mcrease the pressure of the water outside. Trials made with the Gymnote, moreover, indicate that E~ubm3.rine boats do not obey t heir horizontal helms with sufficient rapidity. The Gymnote always overshot her mark, and would not keep on a straight course, but described a succession of curve~. Pro­fessor Busley t ried to pull a submarine boat under water ; it could n ot be done when the speed ex­ceeded 4 knots. That all operations near the coast or in shallow water are exceedingly dangerous, need not be emphasised. Camp bell's boat managed to wriggle herself out of the Thames mud again in 1886 ; the accident testified to the nerve and skill of L ord Charles B eresford , and also to his good luck.

These dangers are increased by the exceedingly limited range of sight under water. Light emana­ting from a focus under water will, at a distance of 100 yards, not have the t en-millionth part of its intensity; and not much of the dayligh t penetrates into the water as it is. On a clear day, a diver, 20 ft. below the surface, is hardly able t o see further t han 25 ft. Searchlights would be of lit tle good, and would, moreover, betray the posit ion of the craft. Hence the boat must approach t he ship it wishes to attack very closely ; and if the ship is moving, the case is almost hopeless. o far, we hardly k now of subn1arine boats doing more than 8 knots. The slow speed is largely due to the weight of the batteries, which for a journey of five or six hours would weigh about 6 cwt . per indicated horse-power ; and we appear as far as ever removed from materially diminishing the weight of electric accumulatora.

This low speed, and the short period during which such a boat can be kept in motion without replenishing its charge, limit t he range of action of the submarine boats badly. The Gymnote could make a run of 45 miles at 10 knots, it has been said; most submarine boats have not accomplished so much as that. The submarine boat thus can merely be utilised for the defence of a p )rt, and it is a very expensive means of defence. The Narval is stated to have cost about 30,000Z. Adding a t hird t o this sum, we could construct a torpedo-boat des­troyer of four-fold speed and three-fold displace­ment which may achieve something. Whether a submarine boat would ever escape from a success­ful attack is a very doubtful question. Professor Busley does not dwell upon that point. But if the boat almost has to feel its way up to t he object of attack- because it cannot see to any distance­the chances of escape are decidedly poor.

THE MECHANICAL ENGINEERS' CONGRESS AT PARIS.

As is well known, a long series of Congresses on different subjects will be ~eld at P aris during the coming summer, commencmg soon after the op~n­ing of t he Exhibition, and ext ending nearly to Its close. Among those of special in~erest to ?ur readers v.-ill be that devoted to apphed mechan1es, the programme of which is now comp~ete. Th~ Con­gress has been organised by a committee ha~n:~~ as its President Monsieur H aton de la Goup1lhere.

E N G I N E E R I N G. The organisation consists of four honorary presi­~ents, four honorary members, a complimentary m~ernational committee, and the working com­mlttee. This last-named body comprises, besides the. President, two vice-presidents, and six secre­tanes, among whom we notice Monsieur Gustave Richard, who also acts as treasurer. The Congress will be held from July 19 to 25, next at the Con­servatoire National des Arts et Metiers, 292, R ue Saint Martin, P aris, under the n ominal direction of the Commissioner-General of the Exhibit ion, and t he general r egulations prepared for the other Congresses will apply to this one. The members according to these regulations, will be of four classes :

1. Donors who will have made a contribution of at least 50 francs.

2. Subscribers who qualify by a. payment of 25 francs.

3. Delegates representing French and foreign Governments and public bodies.

4. Honorary members and members of the Inter-national Committee.

The work done by the Congress will corn prise : 1. The general meetings. 2. Meetings of sections. 3. Conferences. 4. Visits to the Exhibition and to various manu­

facturing establishments. Among the rules prepared for the conduct of

business, the two following are worth noting : '' At the general and sectional meetings, after accepted communications, or the r esults of conferences, have been read, m em hers taking part in the discussions will not be allowed to talk more than ten minutes, nor more than t wice during the same discussion, without the special permission of the meeting. Members who have taken part in the discussions should write, and hand to the secretary, a summary of what they said, within 24 hours. F ailing this, the summary prepared by the secretary will be taken as correct. Abstracts of the proceedings at the meetings will be isAued gratuitou ly to m em hers with the least possible delay. Detailed Transac­t ions will be prepared, and issued with a complete­ness that will depend upon the funds at t he dis­posal of the organising committee.

If t he final programme of the Congress be filled, the mem hers will have a busy week. It contains nine items, a summary of which is given below.

1. The .:>rganisation of engineering works. The subheads of this title are-Engineering 'Vorks : the distribution of departments, of labour, and of appli­ances ; mechanical plant ; machine tools ; inter­changeability of parts ; motive power ; transmission ; the reception of material, its inspection, testing, &c.; economy in management; and labour organisa­tion . There are four reporters to this subject : MM. Kreutzberger, Leneveu, Mengin, and Pro­fessor Thurston.

2. The second subject is Engineering Labora­tories ; its subdivisions are : Machines and their installation ; methods of n1echanical testing ; de­scriptions of existing laboratories ; mechanical ter­minology. There are nine reporters to this sub­ject: MM. Bacle, Chabal, Boulvin, Charpy, Deve, Dwelshauvers-Dery, Mangin, Ra.but, and Professor Thurston.

'rhe third subj ect is Mechanical Application of Electricity. This has three reporters : MM. Del­mas, H enry, and Neu.

The fourth subject is a comprehensive one­Transmission of P ower, H oisting Mechanism, and Methods of Transpor t . The subheads of this sub­ject are : Long-distance transmission ; workshop transmission, gearing, changing speeds and revers­ing ; cranes, hoists, travelling bridges, eleYators, &c. ; shop railways; rack railways; aerial t rans­sport ; chain haulage, &c. The repor ters are : MM. Basseres, Lecornu, and Thierry.

The fifth subject is Hydraulic Motors: their con­struction, efficiency, and applications, as well as descriptions of novel types. The reporters are : MM. Ratean and Prazil.

The sixth subject is Sectional Steam Generators, with small and very small elements. The former have been greatly developed since 1889 ; the latter then existed only in an experimental stage. Records of the progress 1n ade will be received, and t he points of construction, circulation, safety, and useful applications will be discussed. The repor ters are : MM. Brillie, Donkin, Sinigaglia, and Walckenaer.

The seventh subject, High- peed Engines and te3m Turbines, comprises discussions on their con­

struction, duty, maintenance, control, resul ts, and

[APRIL 27, 1900.

applications. MM. Lecornu, Lefer, P arsons, Rat~au, and Sosnowski are the reporters of this sect10n.

Various motors are dealt with in the eiaht di vi­sion, such as gas engines, heavy and light oil engines, poor quality gas motors, carbonic acid motors, c ·c. The repor ters are : MM. Die~e 1, Donkin, F orestier, and vVitz.

The last subject will, no doubt, attract con­siderable attention ; it deals with the mechanism of automobiles, a quite new subject since the last Congress. The points for discussion include the design of light and fast motors ; special transmis­sions, pneumatic tyres, non-continuous axles, &c. The repor ters are : MM. Bochet, 'uenot, F orestier, Griffith, Krebs, de la Valette, and Mesnager. Such are the outlines of the programme to be filled in by the Congress when it meets in July. I t is to be hoped that many English engineers will interest themselves in it ; the advantages gained by t<~king part in the discussions, organised visits to the Ex­hibition and to works, the right to t he published Transactions, reduction of fare on French railways going to t he Exhibition, &c., will more than repay t he very modest subscription fee. Those engineers who desire to make written communications on any of the subjects enumerated, should send them to Monsieur Gustave Richard, 44 Rue de Rennes, Paris, who will forward them to the reporters of t he ection to which the communication refers. Monsieur Richard will also afford more detailed information than we have been able to give in this short summary.

CO~IPUL ORY BOILER IN PECTION. THE Boilers Registration and Inspection Bill,

introduced by ir William Houldsworth and other members, and the object of which is, as stated in the memorandum, ' ' to prevent explosions and save human life," differs in some essential points from Mr. F enwick 's Bill, on which we commented in our issue of March 30. I t appears to be framed with a greater regard for the interests and con­venience of the steam user ; and, while allowing him more liberty of action, does not remove from him the responsibility of seeing that his boiler is maintained in safe working condit ion.

The Bill proposes that every boiler, with certain exceptions, shall be periodically examined and cert ified as safe. The examinations are not t o he made, nor are the cert ificates of safety to be granted, by the Board of Trade or by any other depar tment of the Government, but by competent inspectors selected by the owners, the owners being held responsible for t he competency of the inspectors they select. The certificates of safety, granted by the inspectors, are to be forwarded to t he Board of Trade, who, it is proposed, shall keep a register of the examinations made, and issue to t he owners of the boilers certificates of registration in exchange for the certificates of safety. No money is required from P arliament, but the boiler-owner is to pay for the examination of his boiler, and forward the small fee of one shilling to the Board of Trade to meet the expenses of registration . The Bill renders it illegal to work a boiler without a certificate of registration, and penalties are imposed .on ?wne~s for so doing. I t is stated that '• notbmg In this Act shall diminish the responsibility of the owner for the fitness in eYery respect of his boiler, or for the pressure at which it is wotked, or for its general keeping, t reatment, and managemen.t." The Bill includes within its scope of operatiOn " every boiler used on land or afloat in the United Kinudom, or on board any British ship within the territorial waters of the Pnited Kingdom, with the exception of :

" (a) Boilers belonging to or u. ed exclusively in the service of Her Majesty. . .

' ' (b) Boilers used on board steam slu ps certifi­cated by the Board of Trade or by Lloyd,s Reg~s~er of British and Foreign Shipping, or by the Bnt1sh Corporation for the Survey .and Hegistry of S~ip­ping, or by the Bureau VerJtas, or by any society for the registration of shipping that may be approved by the Board of Trade.

"(c) Boilers used by railway companies as loco-motives.

"(d) Boilers used exclusively for domObtic pur· poses in private houses.,

To meet certain circum tances or conditions, a clause provides that "\Vherc the Board of Trado are sati tied t hat, owing to the special character of any boiler or class of boilers, it is expedient that

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APRIL 27, 1906.]

the same should be exempted from all or any of the provisions of this Act, .the Board may ~ake an order exempting such botler or class of b01lers from those provisions or any of them."

The term '' boile~ is stated to n:ean ''an y closed vessel which IS used for ~enerat1ng .ste~m, or for heating wate~ or f~r heating ot~er hquids,

• or into which steam IS admttted for heating, steam­ing, boiling, or other similar purpos~s; and incl~des the setting as well as all the mountmgs and fittmgs with which the boiler is equipped, which are either usual or necessary for its safe working, but does not include any mountings or fittings, pipes, or connections! ly~ng beyond ~!1em: " ,At le~t ~ne steam exammatwn and one ent.rr.e .examt.natwn of the boiler and such other examinatiOns (If any) as may be ~ecessary to ascertain the actual con­dition of the boiler, are to be made within six months before the certificate is granted ; and the certificates are to run for a p~~iod . of ,thirtee~ months from the date of the last enttr~ exami­nation. Provision is made for an extenswn of the certificate where necessary. The B oard. of Trade are to issue an annual report on the working of the Act gi\ring the num1er of boilers examined and by ~\·horn the number of certificates granted and refused the number of examinations made, the service 'in which the boilers are employed, their de­scription and the number of each type, the various pressures at which they are worked, the gross amount of coal consumed, and other particulars. The report is to be presented to free libraries an.d other institutions, and offered for sale to the pubhc at a reasonable price.

The Bill contains numerous clauses, and is lenathy, but the above is an outline of its general pr~ciples. While i~ secures the i~spection of practically every boiler, the owner IS allowed a large measure of freedom in the choice of inspector ; though at the same t ime his responsibility is by no means lessened, but is brought home to him in a manner to which at present he is a stranger. Once a law is passed rendering it illegal to work a boiler without a certificate of registration based on effi­cient examination, a great step will be gained. The owners of exploded boilers have repeatedly urged, in extenuation of, perhaps, a fatal explosion, that there was no law to enforce inspection, and that they were quite ignorant that the boiler was in a dangerous state. Wi th the passing of a Bill such as this, owners would no longer have any possible excuse either for ignorance or for the neglect of due precautions for insuring safety.

Objection will, no doubt, be taken in some qu~rters to the introduction, even in a compara­tively minor degree, of the Board of Trade, and the old familiar illustrat ion of the '' thin end of the wedge" will be sure to come to the front. We do not think, however, that any danger need be ant i­cipated; and it is extremely unlikely that the B oard of Trade would endeavour to secure the inspection of all the boilers in the kingdom being placed under their direct control. The attempt would be too unpopular to succeed. On the other hand, pro­vided that the Board of Trade were willing to undertake the proposed duty of granting certi­ficates of registration in exch9.nge for cer tificates of safety, there is the probability that a fairly har­monious system of working would be secured, and that every boiler would then be brought under an effective but elastic control, which might not be so readily obtainable were the matter left in the hands of county councils, town councils, or other district authorities.

Again, it may be urged that the com patency of the inspector is not secured. Whatever Act of Parliament may be passed it will be extremely diffi­cult;. to compass every point to everybody's satis­factiOn ; and we consider that in the present Bill, ~hough definite arrangements are not specially mtroduced for securing the competency of the in­spector, yet by implication it is distinctly provided f?r. The ~oiler-mvner is responsible for the selec­tiOn ~f the mspector. H e may go to any boiler-in­spectmg association or boiler -insurance company, to a.ny firm o~ engineers or boiler-makers, or to any engmeer, ?oiler-maker, or person pracbically con­versant With the construction and workina of boil~rs. His choice, therefore, can be made from a Wide field, and he would have a fair idea as to w~o was co~petent for the duty of examining his b01ler ; whtle, further, he would have to forward to ~he Board of Trade, when applying for the certificate of registration, a declaration to the effect that he has satisfied himself that '' the inspector

E N G I N E E R I N G. is perfectly competent and fit in every respect to make the examinations and g rant the certificate of safety." A penalty attaches to the owner of a boiler for selecting an incompetent inspector, and a penalty also attaches to an incompetent inspector for giving a certificate of safety. Neither the owner nor the inspector would be likely to ignore this, or to forget that any remissness on th~ir part would be revealed at the B oard of Trade in vestiga­tion under the Boiler E xplosions Act, and t hat they would have to submit to another penalty inflicted by that Court. Even if at the outset one or two explosions should occur, and the inspector was found to have been incompetent, the matter would soon right itself, and exposure and the infliction of a suitable punishment for p roved neglect or fraud would quickly exercise a wholesome influence.

Further, objection may be raised to the definition of a "boiler, " and it may be argued that many steam vessels will be included in the operations of the Bill which, on various grounds, might justly be excluded. It will be noted, however, that t here is a clause which exempts special types of boiler at the discretion of the B oard of Traue, and this might be taken advantage of where desirable or necessary. But in our judgment, any vessel which is liable to explode with disast rous results to life and property should be brought under inspection. Many lives have been lost from the bursting of k iers, tar stills, steam cylinders, chemical pans, and various other vessels; while what are termed "minor " explosions, consisting of the blowing-off of valve chests and manhole doors, or the bursting or fracturing of boiler tubes, have been of frequent occurrence, and have involved loss of life in numerous instances. During the past two years, the Board of Trade have reported on at least 70 such explosions, which caused the death of 30 persons and injury to 37 others. Nearly all these explosions were due to causes which careful and systematic inspection would have pre\'ented. Such cases may, individu­ally, to t hose who do not suffer therefrom, appear to be minor and insignificant'; but the same ele­ment of carelessness and neglect is there at work, just as in the case of explosions attended with greater loss of life, and therefore the argument in favour of inspection applies equally to what we may term steam plant, as well as to steam boilers. The application of an all-round remedy would seem to be essential ; but should the measure at any time be found to be unnecessary in any special depart­ment of industry, or to affect prejudicially any particular type of plant which may be proved to be perfectly safe without inspect ion, no doubt a remedy would be forthcoming. No clause, and no Act of Parliament, is unalterable ; modifications may be made as time and experience dictate.

Sir William Houldsworth's Bill would certainly seem t o be t he best that has yet been laid before Parliament. Though not perfect, it would, we believe, exercise a healthy influence, and tend to the practical extinction of boiler explosions, with the exception, of course, of those due to the care­lessness of inattentive attendants, of whom there is always a percentage. The taxpayer is not further burdened, and there is nothing in the Bill to harass trade or impede progress. No vexatious restric­tions as to special types of boiler or fittings are int roduced. Steam users who are careful, and who already have a competent inspection of their boilers, would be comparatively uninterfered with, and their carefulness would receive an official sanction. The careless steam user who disregards t he safety of his boiler, and risks the lives of his workpeople and the public, would be compelled to take precau­tions; but even in his case he would probably find inspection to be no hardship, but a decided bless­ing. The Bill would be a help to boiler-owners, boiler attendants, inspecting associations, insurance companies, and, indeed, to all interested in the safe and economical use of steam; while those who are now liable to suffer from the effects of preven­tible explosions would receive a degree of protec­tion which they have hitherto not been perntitted to enjoy. Further, there is every r eason to believe that the quality of the inspection would be raised, inasmuch as the inspecting authority would be directly responsible to the boiler-owner and to the

555 or condit ion; while, on t he other hand, there were cases in which the boiler - owners deliberately ignored the suggestions for insuring safety which thAinsurance companies had made. The unfortul?ate existence of keen competition between the vanous insurance companies, leading in some instances to the acceptance of rates which are totally insufficient to provide for effective inspection- though on ~h.e system of "risk " they may help to swell the diVI­dend- would be checked, inasmuch as inspection would then be the central principle in every trans­action, and insurance would be secondary. The various insurance companies, by means of t his Bill, would not only have greater facilit ies given to them for securing the necessary '' ent ire " exam~­nations which, in some instances, they now find It difficult to obtain, but also the means of enforcing the adoption of any recommendations which they may consider it their duty to make for rendering boilers safe. Such recommendat ions are at the present time too often treated with contempt by the boiler owner.

We commend the general principles of this Bill to the careful consideration of the Select Com­mittee. The object in view, viz., the saving of human life, is a good one, aud we do not doubt that this desirable end would be achieved were the proposals of the Bill carried into actual practice.

In a subsequent ar ticle on this subj ect, we shall deal with the remaining two Bill~S recently laid before Parliament, vi~., t he Home Secretary's Fac­tory Bill and the Engines and Boilers (Persons in Oharge) Bill.

THE SHIPBUILDING BOOM. I s the boom in shipbuilding collapsing 1 '!'hat is

a question frequently being asked in all our great industrial centres and on 'Change, for builders have recently made no secret of the paucity of "inq uiries," and s till more of the difficulty of securing orders. It is true that many of the larger firms prefer reticence on this subject pretty much for the same reason as Lord Roberts makes it his business to keep his own counsels about projected movements in South Africa until action renders the plan of campaign obvious, for employers and em­ployed continue unfortunately to wage warfare from the industrial point of view, so that knowledge of new work often proves an incentive to the men to enforce the law of supply and demand. Whether the employers are able to preserve this secrecy is quite &nother affair ; but the point has been urged, at least by the optimist, as a reason for not accept­ing the testimony of the shipbuilder. We have this week, however, the official return by Lloyd,s Re­gistry of Shipping, which is in a position to know the actual facts of the case. Their report indicates that the work actually on hand shows a decrease as compared with three months ago of 46,000 tons; but the falling off had set in early in t he autumn, and the total now is 145,000 tons, or about 10 per cent., less than the highest point reached, which was in December of 1898.

This decrease is not at first sight serious, when taken in conjunction with the fact that it is upon abnormal conditions. The figures of greatest sig­nificance, however, are those indicating the amount of work commenced recently. L9.st year merchant vessels were launched at a rate which made the average output 360,000 tons per quarter. In the three months just ended the vessels c01nmenced only totalled 245,370 tons, whereas fifteen months ago they totalled 430,000 tons. From the re­turn it is clear that new keels are not taking the place of all the vessels launched. It may be taken

Total Under

Construc­tiou.

Tons. Vessels

Oom-menced.

- ----·- --- ------J anuary, 1899 .. April, 1899 . . July, 1899 .. October, 1899 .. January, 1900 . April, 1900 . .

684 597 668 668 638 564

1,401,087 190 1,385,715 179 1,386,367 175 1,347,649 174 1,306,761 175 1,260,422 160

l' er Tons. Oent. of

I Total.

-436,473 31 3~7 ,625 25 346,449 25 307,386 22.8 389,764 26 2!6,370 19.4

Board of Trade. • ince t he Boiler Explosions Act that nine months is a fair average period now for camo into operation, in 1882, cases have been met the preparation of ordinary-sized vessels for launch­with in which the inspection was made by a.ma- ing, nnd if the vessels launched within that period t eurs, and was of a decidedly perfunctory character. are compared with those commenced, it is shown Then, again, other cases have been repor ted in that the work now is less by 81,000 tons than in which boilers, though under insurance companies, September last. The actual state of the case too exploded from grave defects either in construction is made even worse than the figures indicat~, by

..

•

ss6 the fact that much more of the work is now in an advanoed state of construction, for the vessels re­ported as '' commenced " form a steadily decreasing proportion of the total.

It will thus be seen that 18 months ago the volume of work was not only large, but that a. great proportion-about a. third of it- was in the early stages, and represented a much higher labour value. Now barely a fifth of the g reatly reduced total is new work, and although the figures at the beginning of the year show a slight recovery, this is due to the except ional cause of new tonnage being then ordered to take the place as soon as possible of vessels chartered for the conveyan0e of the Army Corps to the Cape. This s udden fillip was not only momentary, but will have an influence in the opposite direction when the troop­ships are relieved from special duty.

The situation n ow is partly due to the difficulty of getting anything like early delivery of ships, and partly to the high prices charged, both for material and labour. Our metal price diagram has from month to month recorded the steady upward move­nlent of most metals, notably steel plates and iron ; and there is the further fact that structural iron- girders and the like- commands 21l. to 22l. per t on, and is even then difficult to get for early delivery. Shipowners therefore pause, and that wisely, before placing at a high price an order which 1nay not be fulfilled until a period when lower con­tract rates prevail. And once this view gets abroad -and it is being repeated by many able to judge -the collapse in the demand for new ships must be pronounced. It would almost appear as if this was the case now. Freights, it is true, are good ; but it is difficult to b e certain that they will continue at a. level sufficient t o meet the larger capital charges consequent upon the high cont ract rates n ow demanded. There is another point of importance in connecliion with the future, and that has refer­ence to large ships . At the recent meeting of the Institution of N aval Architects, i t was made clear that there were limitations to the use of these great liners. Professor Biles point ed out that after a certain p oint was reached, economy in carrying was dependent upon increased draught, and that the class, or cubic capacity, of the freight, was a further element ; while Mr. \iV est, an experi­enced Liverpool naval constructor, took the vie,~,.­that the very large steamships could only find their profitable venue on the Atlantic. The demand for new ships of this service, if this be true, must sooner or la ter be met, with a material reduction in the shipbuilding output . There is n o s uch reduced demand as yet, for 17 vessels are now building which exceed 10,000 t ons; but ther e is a decrease in the number of vessels bet ween 6000 and 10,000 tons in course of construct ion.

In view of the very la rge decrease from the " top " tot al of January, 1899- 145,000 tons-it is not without interest to note how it is distributed throughout the various district s as sho wn by Lloyd's figures given in the accompanying Table:

--~------------- --April, 1900.

------Num ber . T ons.

- --Belfast. .. • • . . 22 185,454 Barrow a11d distr ict .. 10 2,690 Glasgow •• • • 11!) 267,087 Greenock .. • • 55 158,585 Hartlepool & Whitby 23 84,160 Middlesbroug h and

33 108,325 Stock too • • ••

Newcastle • • • • 79 232,168 Sunderland • • 47 162,763 • •

J anuary, 1899.

------ -N b urn er.

21 11

127 66 30

34 83 49

I I

Tons.

184,344 20,S!)5

306,0H 214,859 88,681

99,792 263,913 168,109

It will be seen that every district, excepting Belfast and Middlesbrough, shows a decrease, as compared with the totals for Jan uary, 1899 given in the Table; but in both these instances the work now on hand shows a decrease of some 3000 tons when comparison is made with the tonnage at the beginning of this year. In the case. of B elfast the continued great volume of work. 1s due ~o t~e popularity still of the immen~e lmers, for 1t w1~l be not iced that the average siZe of t h e vessels 1s b etween 8000 and 9000 tons. As to Middles­brough there is a decrease on r ecent totals, al­though the figures show an increase upon Janu~ry, 1899. In the case of Barrow the total. g1ven is of little sianificance as Lloyd's do not Include warship work

0 of which a large amount is on hand

at Vickers' W orks. In Glasgow's figures t he de­crease is ab out Lhe average 10 v er cen t . , and, as

E N G I N E E R I N G. compared with the totals of the two preceding quarters, there is not much change. The yards in the Greenock district have suffered badly, for the steady decrease for 18 months now reaches about 25 p er cent., and, moreover, there have recently been several reconstructions of firms, indicat ing that the past activity has not in all cases meant pros­perity. Hartlepool makes a satisfactory appear­ance on the Table; but the period of greatest activity at that port was in September last, when the total was 96,294 tons, so that here again the average 10 per cent. is n ot far out. On the Tyne the N ewcastle builders have 25,000 tons less than the highest total, reached exactly a. year ago, again about 10 per cent., while at Sunderland in June, 1898, t he tonnage was 194,934 tons, 32,000 tons more than at t he present time. It will thus be seen that the decrease from the period of greatest ac­tivity is widespread and very decided.

It is worth noting, further, that notwithstanding her act ivity at home, Germany has in course of construction in this country 18 vessels of 84,011 tons, while Austria-Hungary is having built 13 of 37,189 tons, and Holland six vessels of 29, 580 tons. The foreign -owned tonnage makes less than 18 per cent. of the t otal merchant work under construction. This does not include foreign warship work, which includes 28 vessels of 68,580 t ons, and here again there is a big decrease, for a year ago we had in British yards 31 foreign warships totalling 109,375 tons, while two years ago the total was nearly double what it now is. Our own warship work, however, more than makes up for this difference, although here there is great difficulty in arriving at a fair conception of the labour value of the t onnage, because everything is included except vessels not actually o fficially t ried. It would be easy to indi­cate several vessels included upon which very little work remains to be done, but without allowing for this we have under construction the following vessels :

Tons. ... .. . 1,260,422 ••• • •• 385,530 • • • ... 68,580

554 merchant vessels of .. . 53 British warships of .. . 28 foreign warships of .. .

Total ... ... ... ... 1, 714,532

A year ago the total was 1,819, 780 tons, so that there is a decrease of 105,000 tons, notwithstanding that British warships account for 61,000 t ons more n ow than a year ago.

NOTE'. NORMAL CELL .•

WHEN normal cells are to be used for standardis­ing galvanometers, and for determining electro­mot ive forces by a compensation method, the r e­sistance of the cell must be accurately known and very small, and the cell m ust further be able t o bear certain rates of discharge ; to which end the curren t den sity n ear t he electrodes must also be :;mall. To a ttain these objects, Emil Bose, of the Univer:;ity of Breslau, has devised a new arrange­ment of Olark and Weston cells, which is illustra ted in the '' ~eitschrift fiir :Elektrochemie. " The glass ,·essel is a desiccator, a cylindrical vessel whose lower half has a smaller diameter than the upper half, and a ledge about half-way up . The amal­gam is placed in a ring-shaped trough resting on that ledge. This trough and the elect rodes can be removed during transpor t . The electrodes consist of glass tubes, passing through the perforated glass cover, filled with mercury and ending in platinum wires which dip into t he mercury or amalgam . Connections are made by inser ting wires into the upper ends of the tubes. With a cell diameter of 12 cen t imetres, and a ring trough 3 cen timetres in widt h, we have an amalgam electrode surface of 80 squar e centimetres, and about the same surface for t he mercury and mercury sulphate which cover the bottom of the vessel. Owing to these large surfaces, the electromotive force of the cell remains very steady. Withdrawing currents r ising in in­tensity to 0.0366 ampere, Bose observed that the electromotive force of a W eston cell did n ot sink by more t han 0. 0033 volt in 60 minutes. I n the case of the Clark cell the loss was smaller still, only 0.0029 volt; but, taking other point~ into consideration, both cells app ear to l>e equally good. The cell fi ts into a water bath or t hermo­stat, and t he arrangement lends i tself also to the construction of n ormal calomel elect rodes. In that case, both tubes dip into calomel and mercury, covering the Lottom of t he cell or con tained in th e

[APRIL 27, r goo. trough. Either electrode tube may be used for measurements, and the other electrode is available for comparison to ascertain the loss of the potential of the respective electrode in use.

THE PROPOSED UNIVERSITY 0 .1<' BIRMI NGHA.ll.

~rom the report of the advisory committee ap ­pomted t o recommend a curriculum for the pro- • posed University of Birmingham, it would appear that our pastors and masters have a t length awakened to the fact that the higher education of the future must to a very large extent be of a utilitarian nature. It is proposed to secure at Birmingham an area of at least 25 acres for the erection of buildings entirely devoted to technology, whilst ~he cost of the freehold, buildings, and equipment 1s expected to reach fully 155, OOOl . In these buildings accommodation will be found for 200 day students, and it is further very wisely recommended that no night classes shall be held, since this class of instruction can very well be afforded in establish­ments of lesser pretentions. In this department of the University there will be five principal chairs, viz., those of Mining, Metallurgy, Engineer­ing, and Trade Chemistry, and a fifth intended for instruction in the non-metallic trades . Assistant­professors, demonstrators, and assistants will bring the t otal teaching staff up t o eighteen, which is, perhaps, rather too few for the number of students expected, and the advanced character of the work it is proposed to accomplish. The full course is to be of four years' duration, and an im­portant innovation is t o be made in the length of the academical year by shortening the vacations . There can be no question that such an establish­ment, if worked on the right lines, should be highly valuabl~, not merely to the district of Birmingham but to the country at large. In Germany the tex­tile schools give the most valuable assistance to the native manufacturers. Should new processes or new dyes be introduced in other countries, these schools with their highly-trained staffs endeavour to find out all about them for the benefit of their compatriots. There is one danger which the Industrial Department of the Birmingham University must take care to avoid, viz., t he risk that in the attempt to make the training given utilitarian, it may be greatly narrowed. Thus the department of trade chemistry must make certain that it turns out chemists, and not mere trade analysts c:..nd the like ; and similarly in the engineering departments, too great specialisation should be avoided. It is to be hoped, too, that employers will be ready to accord juster treatment to graduates from the college than they have commonly done in similar cases in the past . In addition to the Technological Depart­ment, it is further proposed to grant a diploma in commercial matters. There is naturally great diffi­culty in settling a courde for this, but a knowledge of commercial law, the duties and responsibilities of limited liability companies, methods of office organisat ion, and the like, cannot fail to be useful. Other subj ects proposed u.re the theory and prin­ciples of trade unions, associations, trust:s, com­binations and ring::;, and of causes a.fi'ecting success or failure in business. I t is, however, exceedingly doubtful if much that is useful can be taught on these heads, since the fact is that the human factor has in these matters so marked an influence, that ib is impossible to draw safely any .bu.t the m?st general conclusions from the a pno~ data w1th whir' it is necessary to start.

WATCHING AND B ESETTING.

In the case of F armer v. Wilson and Others, which was heard in the Divisional Court on Friday, March 30, an int eresting question arose as to what constitutes watching and besetting. An informa­tion had charged the respondents with acts d01~e, with a view to compelling 37 persons named thercm, to abstain from doing certain acts which they had a legal right to do, e. g., to remain on board the steamship Siren, and. to fulfil . th~ engagem~nts entered into by them w1th the Slupptng FederatiOn. A charae of watching and besetting was also made. It appeared that at the time of the beset t ing charaed, the Siren was lying moored near J arr~w Hake in the Tyne, and was occupied by th Shipping F ederation as a depot for men intending t o serve as seamen on board ships belonging to members of the F ederation, which is an association of shipowners. The engagements between the ~'7 persons and the F ed.eration .were ~ade by "' the1r Federation t hrough 1ts offie1als, bemg bona fide the ser Yan ts and in their constant employment.

~

APRIL 27, r goo.] Neither those officials, nor the Federation, had at any material time a license from the Boa.rd ?f Trade under Section 3 of the Mercha~t Shipping .f\ct, 1894, for the purpose of engagmg or supJ?lyn~g seamen to be entered on board any sh1p . In the United Kingdom, nor were the F ederatiOn or its servants the owner, master, or m~te of any ship, or bona fide the servant and In ~he constant employment of ~he owner, ?r a superm­tendent within that sectiOn. Relymg upon the fact that the Shipping. Federation had oontravell:ed the provisions of Sectwn 3 of the Merchant Ship­ping Act, 1894, the respon~ents alleged th~t the 37 persons on board the Srren we1:e not d01ng an act or fulfilling an employment wh10h they had a legal riaht to do or fulfil, and that therefore S ec­tion t of the Conspiracy and Protect ion of Property Act was not applicable to the c~se. The justices found that there was a besettmg, in fact, with a view to con1pel t~1e 37 p ersons from remaining on board .the Suen and _ful­filling their engagements w1th the FederatiOn ; but were of opinion that inasmuch as the F edera­tion bad contravened Section 3 of the Merchant Shipping Act, the Conspiracy and L aw of Property Act Section 7 did not apply. In the course of his judgment, by which he allowed the appeal and sent the case back to the magistrates to convict, Mr. Justice Day said : ' 4 I am clearly of opinion that the magistrates were wrong. The J.!len en.gaged by the Federation have been beset with a v1ew to compel them to abstain from doing acts which they had a legal right to do. They had a legal right to be upon the ship, to stay there, and to r eceive their wages, if they could get the money. There may have been a breach of the statute by the Federation, but that does not prevent the men from having a legal right to be on the ship. " We cannot doubt the accuracy of this decision. The fact that the Shipping Federat ion may have been employing workmen without statutory authority has clearly no effect upon the right of the workmen to go where they choose. Only last year it was decided in the case of Charnock v. Court ((1899] 2 Ch. 35] that there is nothing in the Conspiracy and Law of Property Act, 1875, to limit its op eration to ~}a?eR habitually frequented by workmen. "Place m­eludes any place where a workmen happens to be, however casually, nor is it limited to places ejusdem gene?·"is with places of business or residence, and it includes public places such as railway ~tations and landing stages. The words "wrongfully and without legal authority," apply to such conduct as will support an action for nuisance at common law, to which proof that the watching or besetting was for purpose of peaceful persuasion would have been a defence. It may, therefore be restrained by injunction.

AUTOMATIC RAILWAY COUPLINGS. ON Monday last a trial was made of the first of

three new trains constructed at the Great Northern Ra.ilway Company's Carriage and Wagon Works at Doncaster. Tne trial was chiefly interesting because the train in question is the first that has been com­pleted in which automat ic couplings have been fitted throughout; but there are other points also well worthy of attention.

In our issue of May 19, 1899, we illustrated and described the arrangement of a combined automatic and non-automatic coupler which bad been devised by Mr. W. S. La.ycock, of Victoria Works, Sheffield. Since that time Mr. Laycock has been working at his invention, and has made several improvements, with the result that the carriage stock of the t rain in ques­tion, and the two others which are to follow it, have been fitted throughout with the combined coupler ; and it may be said at once that the trials were qui te successful, the railway authorities expressing them­selves very satisfied with the result.

It will be remembered that Mr. Laycock adopted a standard automatic coupler of the American Motor Car Builders' Associat ion as the foundat ion of his invention, wisely determining to go on approved lines as far as possible. The details of his arrangement will be seen by reference to our former illustrated notice ; and it will be sufficient here to remind our readers that i~ it ~he !D~in casting or draw head of an automat ic couplmg ts d1v1ded from the stem, and is attached to tl~e hook o~ the usua.l English coupling by means of a p1~. In thts way the drawhead will, when required, swmg down out of the way, so that the shackle, or non-.automatic, coupling can be used; whilst if the auto­matte arrangement is required, the drawhead is held ~ecu~ly in a horizontal position by swinging it up and msertmg the pin in its proper hola. It will also be remembered that an arrangement h4d been devised fQr

• •

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

running back the buffers when the automatic coupling was used, the latter, of course, comprising both the attaching and buffing devices. .

The object aimed at. is naturall~ to give a c~m~e of automatic and ordmary couphng, because 1t 1s necessary t hat a railway carriage should be able t o take its place in any train, and obviously the whole stook of the line cannot be changed at one time. There must, therefore, be a period. when an alternative of either method must be available, supposing the auto­matic coupling is t o be introduced.

The new train is intended for the 10 o'clock dining­car express, and will consist of six oars. The t rain, including engine, was 424 ft. 6 in. in total length, whilst the weight of the coaches was 200 tons. There will be passenger accommodation for 46 first-class and 129 third-class passengers. The first vehicle was a t hird- class carriage with guard's compartment and brake, a lavatory, and three open third compartmenti3. The length is 63 ft ., and t he weight 35 tons. A first­class coach, 60ft. long, followed, having accommoda­t ion for 28 passengers, the weight being 34 tons 18 cwt. A combined first · class and kitchen car was next, t he length of which is 62ft. This will carry 18 first. olass passengers, and weighs 36 tons 13 cwt. Next came two third-class dining cars, each 64ft . 6 in. long, and each with seating accommodat ion for 42 persons, the weight being about 35 tons 9 cwt. each. A luggage brake-van, 45ft. long, and weighing 22 tons 10 cwt., completed the t rain.

The carriages are all in communication with each other by means of vestibules, which work in admirably with the central buffing and automatic coupling, so that a thoroughfare exists from end to end of the train. The vestibules have also been supplied by Mr. Laycock, thPy being on t he Pullman system. The Gold system of st eam heating has been adopted. This has been fully described and illustrat::d in these pages.* The cars are not noticeable for any elaboration of ornamentation, there being, indeed, a pleasant return to the greater simplicity of earlier days, but t he solid comfort of passengers is perhaps more considered than is usual, especially in the matter of room ; whilst the lighting, both natural and artificial, is excellent ; there being clerestory roofs and Spencer's turn-down arrangement for the gas lamps. The general idea of the arrange­ment s adopted is, not so much to give a separate dining-car, as to have a table for each compartment so that passengers can eat their meals without leaving their seats. Many of the tables are, of course, por­table, and a very good arrangement has been de­vised for folding each table out of the way when not needed, whilst the passenger can himself put it in position in the easiest manner without leaving his seat. The automatic locking device for holding the table securely is a particularly neat arrangement. The ventilation is very satisfactory, torpedo ventila­tors being fitted throughout, whilst the lavatory ar­rangements have several new features, such as " auto­matic perfumer," " ozonateurs," " gersapet tes," and other ingenious, though sometimes, to the uninitiat ed, startling refinements of civilisation.

The t rial run was from Doncaster to Grantham and back, but before the start a series of tests of the automatic couplir.gs was carried out. The six coaches were dravn1 up on a siding in the works, a space of a foot or two separating them. A shunting engine was then backed gently in: and the coaches were pushed together, the coupling being effectually performed on every occasion. It is said t hat the automatic device will enable an ordinary carriage to be coupled up wit hout moving it more than a foot, but on this occasion, when on.s trial was made, the travel of the coach was just on 18 in. This was with the shunting engine, which was coupled to the other carriages- it was the last carriage on which the test was made- by a loose three-link chain so that control was far from perfect. At any rate enough was shown t o prove that the interlocking of t he " knuckles " could be effected without the heavy bang that is some­t imes supposed to be necessary for the purpose.

The particular automatic coupling now in use has, it is claimed, several advantages over others that have preceded it. There are no springs for actuating any part of the mechanism, a point that is considered of importance, doubtless with reason. A falling wedge holds the hook or knuckle in the engaging position, and this will remain in place until pulled out. The latter operation naturally releases the coupling, and is performed by means of a chain ·which leads from the drawhead to the side of the carriage, and this enables uncoupling to be done without t he shunter going on to the rails and between the cars. A part of the tests consisted in dividing up the train, and this was done most expeditiously, a pull at the chain freeing the carriages from each other . The next test-or perhaps one should say exhibi tion- was to convert the auto­matic coupling into anon-automatic one and viceve'l·sa. Both these operations were carried out in a few seconds by the man withdrawing the pin and placing it in the locking hole when the drawhead bad fallen to the ver-

• * See EN<HNi ERING, vol. lv., page 190.

•

557 ' tical posit ion, s€> t hat the car became fitted ~or attach·

ment by t he ordinary hook and shackle oouplmg. To .re• place the automatic arrangement for use also occup1ed but a few seconds, and was easily performed by one man.

The trial run was without special incident. The train was drawn by one of Mr. Iv~tt's ne':V four· coupled express engines, No. 990, wh1ch a:ttatned at> times a high speed, but only for compara:t1vely short periods, for there were natura!ly ma:ny s1gnal checks and stops on this much used b1t of hne.. The follow· ing particulars of this type of locomotive may be of interest :

Cylinders .. . ... ... Diameter of driving wheets ... Steam pressure .. . . .. .. . Grate area . .. .. . .. . Heating surface :

Firebox ... . .. ... Tubes . .. . .. • • • .. .

Total ... ... ...

Boiler barrel . . . . .. ... Firebox ... ... ... ... Tubes, 191 in number ... • • •

.. . 19 in. in dia. by 24 in. stroke

. .. 6ft. 7~ in.

. .. 175 lb. sq. in·.

. .. 26! sq. ft.

... 140 ,

... 1302 ,

.. . 1422

... 4 ft. 8 in. in dia.

. .. 8ft. by 4ft. 0~ in. . .. 13 ft. long 2 in.

in dia. Total weight of engine in working

order .. . .. . .. . . .. .. . 58 tons. Total weight of engine and tender... 98 ,

The steady running of these long coaches, all held together and mutually supported by the vestibules, was a notable feature. There were some sections of line over which the r unning seemed hardly so satisfac­tory as over others, a matter which was evidently not due to the rolling stock.

It should be added that three other companies are being supplied . wit h the combined coupling by Mr. Laycock, namely, the North-Eastern, North Brit-ish, and Great Central Rail way Companies.

CATALOGUES.- Messrs. George Cradook and Co., of Wakefield, have sent us a copy of their catalogue of wire ropes and accessories. Included in the letterpress we note detailed directions for splicing rope, whilst amongst the engravings are illustrat10ns of aerial rope ways and suspension bridges erected by the firm.-The Chapman Valve Company, of Indian Orchard, Mass., U.S.A., and of 75, Queen Victoria-street, London, have recently pub­lished an excellently arranged catalogue describing the various forms of sluice valves, throttle valves, hydrants, and seat valv~s made by the company. The valves in question are made for steam and air, as well as for water mains.- Messrs. Ash well andNesbit, Limited, of 12, Great James-street, Bedford·row, have just issued a new pamphlet describing their system of wnrming and ventilat­tion, to which are added illustrations of many important buildings to which this systell! has been su:pphed.-A new catalogue of acetylene generators, punfiers, and fittin~s has been issued by Husson's Safety Acetylene Syndwate, Limited, of 28, Victoria-street, Westminster, London, S.W.- Messrs. Ransomeand Marsball, of Liver­pool, have sent U'3 a copy of their new price list of vertica.l cross tube boilers.-We have received from the British Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company, Limited, of N orfolk-street, W. C., copies of circulars on alternate current motors, and compensators for alternate. current circuits.

GoLD.-The imports of gold into the U nited Kingdom in Maxch were 997,595t., as compared with 2,391,541l. in March, 1899, a.nd 4, 441, 660t. in March, 1898. The aggre­gate imports in the first three months of this year were 8,010,03ll., as compared with 7,022,912l. in the corres­ponding period of 1899, and 9,258,84H. in the correspond­ing period of 1898. The Transvaal War has had a great effect upon the imports of gold from British South .Africa, which only amounted to 78, 77H. in the first three months of this yea.r, while in the first quarter of 1899 they stood at 4,671,029t., and in first quarter of 1898 ab 4,003 994l. The imports of gold from British India have som~whab fallen off this year, having only amounted to March 31 to 199,190l., as compared with 419,310l. in the oorres­pondin~ period of 1899, and 4~3,930t. in the correspond­mg period ?f 1898. . Australasta: would appear to be the gold-producmg reg10n from wh10h the largest supplies are now obtained. The imports from our AntipodE\an settlements to March 31 this year amounted to 1,263 806t., as compared with 1,023,130l. in the fir.st quarter of' 1899, and 1,382,415l. in the first quarter of 1898. The imports of gold have been largely helped up this year by increased receipts from the United States and Germany; but these of course were transmission imports-thab lS gold re­ceived to adjust the balance of trade, or to suit the con­venience of bankers and others. The United States sent us gold in the first quarter of this year to the extent of 2,577,119t., as compared with 3456l. and 25,109l. The receipts from Germany were 1, 764,100l., as compared with 78,698t. and 97,534t. Gold was exported from the United Kingdom. in March to the extent of 1,242,600t., a~ compar~d With 3,041,619t, in March, 1899, and 4,825,249t. m March, 1898. The aggregate exports in the first th~ee months of this year were 3,585,490l., as compar~d wtth 7,000, 737l. and l0,173,480l. In these latter totals the gold exported to British India figured for 1,375,300t., 613,814t., and 737,620t . respectively •

•

•

558 :

THE FLIP OR J UMP OF A GUN OR .RIFLE. Q T o TH~ E ol'.ro.n 01r ENGINEERING. ..,;IR, -Under th18 hea.dmg, Mr. Bridges-Lee has in

rc~urs o,~ t~e 23rd ult., e~pla.ined the "phenomenon' , of JUmp m an academtc m anner. His explanation

r~uces ~ C?mplex m~chanical problem to such very SlJ?lple nrm01ples tha.t 1b becomes a. misnomer to term " Jump 1' a. " h " p enomenon a.t all. U nfortunately, the broblem to ~e solv~d refuses t o obey the simple principles

e ~as a.pphed to tb, and demands a. much closer investi ­~a.tlOn a~d a resort to less obvious laws of motion. In lllustra.t1?n I presen t the ft~llowing p henomena which are suffiClent to prove this assertion. '

1. The _d istribution o~ weight, in relation to the line alo~g ~h10h the ex~lostve force ~ts in propelling the proJectile. and rep~lhng _the breech , 18 very much alike in the ~e~vice magazme rlfle, and in its predecessor, the Martmt-He~u.y. The oen.tre of g ravity of the whole Pystem, or:~ntt~ng tb~ firer, 1s about 1 in. belo w the a.xis of t~e ba:rrelm ~tther rtflP. Neverth~less, the j ump of these nfles 1~ so. dtffere~t ~hat, whereas the former requirP.s correct10n m the Sightmg of about 12 minutes of angle to c~u~teracb a.n 'ltp'llJard j ump of that amount, th~ Mart101-~enry has a well-defined down:wQ/rd j ump of several mmutea.

2. The ~e!vice rifle, with compressed charges of black powder, gtv~ng ~ muzzle velocity of 1850 foot-seconds, h.as about SI X .m1nutes more upward jump than the same nfle when cord1te ammunition giving 2000 foot-seconds is used.

3. 'rhe Service rifle s word -bayonet attached below the ba~rel, on a princ~ple inven ted a~d patented by the w~ter, caus~s the nfle ~o shoot low, and not h igh, as M r. Br~ti~es-Lee s exolanat10n would require.

It 1s not pc ss b~e to_reduce these phenomena to par ticular cases of the explanation put forward by Mr. Bridges-L ee. They are a class of problems involving the application of fore~ of very i~ten~e and short-lived nature, a lmost per­<?USSlve,. t? the m~rt1a of a system whose parts vary widely m. elas~l~I t~ and m. density, and cannot be looked upon as a t all rtgtd m relation to such impulses. The whole time ? f the passage of the bullet through the Ser vice rifle barrel 1B about .0015 second, and in this t ime all the movemen t wh ich affe~ ts the direction of the projectile must take place. This movement is nob visible, a.s is the subsequent la;rge J?Ovement of the. whole rifle, but its effect on the d n·ect10n of the bullet ts plainly enough evident on the target when the correct allowance for it has nob been ascertained , and made in the sigh ts.

Y ours truly, J OHN RIGDY.

S treatham, 8. W ., March 18, 1900.

NAVAL E NGINEERS. To THE E DITOR OF ENGINEERING.

•

E N G I N E E R I N G. a.ge. Mr. B ullen t~en, q ui te rightly, goes on to state that one of the assistants and the chief engineer must devote the ~reater p ortion of their t ime to clerical work -mos~ of 1b wbo!ly unnecessary , let i t here be sa.id - leavmg the engmeer and th ree assis tants to carry ou.t the whole of the responsible d uty below. E ven thts skele ton s taff m ust be denuded of a few of its bo~~, for M!· Morison ~n. b~ pap~r states of . the young a.ss1 ~tant engmeer, on JOmmg h1s fi rot Ahtp, " That he 18 ab~olut~ly ~ost, because he has nob yet learned the pract iCal s~gmficance and bearing of the theoretical kn?wledge. whiCh he has acquired; and he is therefore qutte . d~otd of tha t judumen~, resource, and confidence (the 1tali0s a! e . my own) 'Yhteh can only be created by long and _m tima te acquam tance with the machinery." If the foregom g were 'Y~olly and a:bs~l utely a t~ue s tate­men t of t~e exact cond1t10n of affau s In the engm e-rooms of our ships of war, . then the senior engineer, with his phan.t <?m staff of altststants, would be in a t ruly pit iable cond1t1?n, and our ~eets on the way to the devil. I n fa?t , Su , the tru th IS only half stated, but q ui te uncon­~clOu~ly so. Next to th.e assis~an t engineers there comes, m p omt of ra~k, the chief e!lS'lD.e-room artificers, who. in p011;1t of expenen~e and famihar1 ty with the multifarious d ut10s of an engme-room and s tokehold form what Mr Bullen apt ly calls the ~ ~backbone of t~e department. '; An~ behm? t_hem, ag~m, . come the m ne engine-room art~ficers~JUnior, too Jumor, alas !-for the many and trymg duties they are oftentimes called on to carry out. Bu~ let me for a moment deal with the chief engine-room artt ficers.

That they are entitled to call themse,lves engineers, in the ~ense that the term is understood in the merchant ser vice, I fully contend ; hence my demurring to your te!D?• " tradesmen. " Before an eng ine. room ar ti ficer is ehgible for the position. of a chief engine-room artificer he m ust have ser ved. e1ght_ years, fi ve years of which must ~e ac~ual se!!' ttme. H e must then get a certificate fro_m hlB chtef engmeer! showing t~at he is competen t to take charpe of the engmes and hollers of a small ship. After th1s, he has to pass an examination more difficult than tha t. dem~nded. by the Board of Trade for a second­cla.s~ engm eer s .certificate, before he can become a chief engme-room ar tificer. second-class. A " tradesman " t he chief . e.ngine-r9om art~fi_c~r may be, wi thin your narrow defim t10n of his capab1ht1es, but tha t he is competent to carry out most onero~s anq responsible duties, a glance a t t'l?e current Navy. Lts t w1Jl prove : for therein you will d iscover many ships the machinery of which is in the absolute charge of chief engine-room artificers. But to get back to the Mars. Somehow or t he other she is still afloat, and o.ne of th_e fighting units of the Channel fleet . E ven the n.me engm e-room artificers on board of her are _under~?mg . a similar training to tha t of the "inex­pen enced ~lBtant engineert~, only more so, as every N!l':Y man w1ll und.eratand, and even tually they will a ll be eligible for p~omottpn to a ~igher rating. I hope I have stated suffi01en t Str, on th1s p hase of the q uestion to sho~ that the engine. room arti ficers are-, after a few years' servitude under the Spar tan condi tions which prevail in the Navy, something more than mere " tradesmen ·" and tha t they are competent to take cha.rge, because m'any of them have had charge, or now have charge- and all joint ly share the huge responsibility- morally, I ~ean-of the tremenduous depar tmen t ans werable for the propul­sion nf the ships of our big Navy.

( APRIL 27, 1900. :

no special pension, he beinff scheduled with leading stokers and seamen petty offi cers for this part of his "deferred pay." To level the chief engine-room artificer up i_n the mat~r of pension, he ough t a t least to be treated as lJ ?era.lly as ~ a ~etropoli tan policeman, i. e, he should rece1ve two thirds his average wage per day as a retiring ~llo~ance. Thi~ conceesion, al though the merest a.cb of ~ usttee, would g 1ve a tremendous impetus to the recruit­mg. of these men, and also act as a s timulus in obtaining a higher stamp of men than those that are now joining H er Majesty's Navy. . I h~ve left the question of treatment to the last, as it ~s perha~s t he !DOSt impor tan t, so fa.r a.s its baneful IDfluence 18 felt m de ternng candida tes from flocking to ~be Navy . . By treatment, I mea.n all that is understood m the ~nvuonment of the recruit the momen t he is " under the ~ennant." For all serv~ce purposes be is clB:'saed as a chtef petty officer, but he 1s only reminded of t b1s whe~ told C?f his awful responsibility should any thing under hts nomm~l ~ntrol go wrong;_ otherwise, he is t~eated but very md1fferen t ly by those m authority over him. In this respect his i mmediate, or, as I may caJJ them, his local superiors, have much to answer for. But the whole truth cannot be told here, for the rules of the game must be obser ved. B ut these are the smaller worries of an engine-room artificer's existence, and aa a rule, wash off with the grease; it is t he bigg~r thing~ that are more trying. L et me instance, for example, the recent stoppage of leave of the 25 engine-room artificers of. the Channel squadron, because three of that number fat led to obser ve a Service courtesy in not recogniding the Ad miral in command, and two other officers who were wit_h h im on shore at t he t ime. There is every reason to behave tbab these three men fai led to recog[Jise the offi"ers, as they-the officers-were in mufti . B ut, still, thE-se three were guil ty of a Ser vice offence, and for such should have been admonished. W ell, the obvious thing for the A dmiral to have done was to have bad all the engine-room artificers who were on shore on this occasion mustered on the flagship, and there have ident ified the terrible culprits. T hat was the obvious thing, as I ba.ve stated, but it was not done. Ob, no ! The Admiral made a signal stopping the leave of the 25 ens:ine-room artificers who were on shore at the time, until suoh a period as they-the engine-room artificers-turned base mformers and Aneaks, and so peached on their luckless brethren. Truly, as Mr. Bull en sa. ye, ' 1 It's a way they ha.ve in the Na vy."

T ake, again, the treatment meted out to engine-room artificers a t the Western port a few months ago. Ab this naval depot there is a good deal of boating. W ell, engine room artificers were eo m palled to 11 man " an oa.r alongside of stokers and bluejackets, and made to pull themselves to and fro. This wa.s felt to be very degradmg. and i t was not un ti l a lot of irri tation and friction bad been caused that things were modified somewhat.

At Chatbam, the engine-room artificers a re treated more as jf they were militiamen than responsible me­chanics- (! do not use the word " mili tiaman " in an invidious sense)-for there they are drilled, and faced about, and "nghted about " until they get quite dis­gusted with the Navy, and With everyth ing pertaining to i t. But I have said enough, Sir, to show you why it is the authori ties find such difficulties in securing engme­room ar tificers. They forget, or never seem to understand, thab these men are aU special correepondents, commis­sioned by their shopmates on leaving the training ground, to write home gi vmg all particulars about the ''job, " as they call it. On1y last week, I overheard a young fellow state quite publicly that he had been the meanB of stopping eleven of his old shopmates from joining the N a.vy aa engine-room artificers, &J?d this becau£e of a lit~le pe~ty tyranny on one of the ships of the Channel fleet 1n whiCh he bad been undergoing a course of get ting the "sea babi t.,

I must apologise for the leng th of this lettr:r, bub I think that the position and responsibilities of the engine­room ar tificers deser ve fuller treatment than your article acoorded t hem ; and so I bring my remarks to a close,

.As I h~ve already sta t.ed, the Mars does keep afloat w1th the madequate engme-room staff a.ssi~ned to her. B ut at what a cos t of work, worry, and wearmess on the part of those who " keep things going. " To start wi th the pre-1892 engine-room complements ough t to be re: stored. T~is would m~an an addi tion of 30 per cen t. to the professiOnal and sk1lled staff~ that a re now so terribly overworked, and not 12 per cen t., as M r. Morison states in his otherwise able and lucid paper. This can only be brought about by steady educatiO-nal methods such as tho~e you hao:e adopted, . a:nd by the A dmiralty con­cedmg more hbera.l conditiOns under which engineer officers ser ve than those which a t p resent obtain. The g_rantin~ of execut ive rank rais_es many points of excep­t ional di fficulty, but none, I thmk. that a re insurmount ­able. Writing as I do, with some inside knowledge of the

merely subscri bing myself a A pril 9, 1900. NEW E. R. A.

N avy, I hold it to be absolutely necessary that some T o THE EDITOR or ENGINEERING. drastic changes must be made wi th regard to the status Sm,-The thanks of Naval E ngineers a.re due tN you of the engineer officers of the Navy, i f t hey are to corn- for your uns wer ving and untiring advocacy of their claims. mand a.nd control large numbers of half-disci plined men Thei r t hanks a re also due to M r. D. B. Morison, vice­so as to insure t he safe and reliable working of the de- presiden t of the North-East Coast Insti tution of E ngi­oartment. neers and Sbip!:>Uilders, for hi ~ extremely able paper on . The dif:Bculties 9:'b p resen t being met wi th in secur- " The British Naval E ngineer," read before that Institu­mg suffiCient cand tdates for the artificer's rating are tion. This paper is noticeable, not only for its masterly more easy of solution as they t ranslate themselves in to t reatment of the subject- but also for the fact that i t is terms of pay, pension, and better treatmen t. H ere there the fi rst of its k ind read before a technical institution.

SIR,-The thanks of the whole of the engineering de­partment of the Navy will be most unanimously accorded yo~ for the manner in whic~ you deal wi th , and the space whtch you devote to, the clatms of the Naval Engineers. Y our half-apologet ic tone at the commencement of your leading article was quite unnecessary, for all your readers must realise how vitally important is the question that you have for so many years most strenuously kept in the foref~ont of leading engineering problems. Mr. Morison, too? IS t o be congr~tulate~ on. the mas terly manner in which be handled t h18 most m t rJCate g uestion of personnel be~ore ~he North-~ast Coast InstitutiOn of E ng meers and Shtpbullders. It IS along step towards the consummation of an ideal engineering na val staff, when gentlemen of Mr. M orison's standing in t he engineering world take up the cudgels on behalf of a class who, by the very neces­sity of their position, a re speechless. Excellent as ;rour article is, I must confess to a cer tain amoun t of dJRap­pointment when I perceived the line of demarcation which you had drawn between the engineer officers and the engine-r oom arti ficers. F or all social functions, which take place at the after part of the ship, this dis­tinction is truly obvious; but down below, amidst the whi rr of revolving machinery, it takea a keen and p rac­tised eye to notice the sub tle difference between the classes in quest ion. Referring to the engine-room artificers, you state, "These men, i t must be reruembered, are not engi­neers ; they are excellent artificers, or, as they would be called ashore, 'tradesmen ' ; u.nd though they carry out their often too-onerous duties in an admirable manner, they are not competen t to take charge." The writer of this letter q uite recognises that you had every in tention of being fair, and just when penning the above lines; nor is be inclined to enter in to a philological dis~uisition upon the precise meaning of the word "engineer, ' for with change of la t itude t he term al ters its meaning considerably. In L ondon, the ordinary handicraftsman in an engineering workshop is styled an "engineer ;" whi lst in America, the loc"'moti ve engine driver environs himself within the a ll­em bracing t erm. The gentleruan in charge of the ma­chinery of a penny steamer on the T hames is by courtesy dubbed an "engineer;" and yet y_ou, with the ~est intentions in the world, s tate that the engm e-room art ificers are only " tradesmen." You would apply a similar term to your butcher, baker, and greengrocer. ~urely, we are so~e­th in~ more than those. For ser vice purposes, I qutte adm1b that some easy method of differentiat ion is neces­sary ' for inside t he Navy such dis tinctions are easily und~rstood, but such familiarity outside t he Navy is less excusable. For p roof of this conten t ion ib will not be necessary to seek evidence outside of tha t furnished in your a.dmirahle ar ticle. Y ou take the case of t he Mars, and quoting from M r . Bullen's. booJs "TheW ay they ha ~e in the Navy," you state tha.t m this fi rst -class bat t leship tha t she only carries one fleet engineer, one engineer, and four a siatants, the o 'desb of whom was h ub 23 years of

a.re no inheren t difficul ties, as with the other problem. L et It marks an ep~cb in the naval ens-ineering s~ruggl_e. . me d~al with the question of pay fi rst. T he commencing It is instructive to note, bow-In connection With thiB wage of an engine-room artificer is 5J. 6d. per day, which, struggle-the so-called " imposaibili ties " of one day be­plus allowances, works out at about Gs. per day. Now, come the very easy " possibilities " of the nexb. Take when I merely state that this wage was determined in the case of the modi fication in " relative" rank lately 1883-a. date before the adven t of high pressures, water- made-the " with but after " concession. A few years tu be boilers, and piston speed A of over 1000 ft. per minute ago what is known as " the H ouee," was officially in­- I need nob waste your valuable space by advancing for~ed that for certain reasons it was impossible to die­further a rguments for the necessity of an increase in pense with the " but after " portion of this strange term. wages, ere efficien t bon4-.fide mechanics will rush with T he statemen t caused laughter1 but whether the lau~h per.fer vid patriotism for the position of an engine-room was directed against t he absurdi ty of t he wish to abohsh art1ficer. " but after," or against the reasons given for the neces-

On the question of pension, the Admiralty are now sity for i ts reten tion- was not clear. The cond itions of losing a number of valuable chief engine-room ar ti- the case remain the same now as then, yeb the "im­ficers, simply for the reason t hat no inducements in the possibility " has disappeared, and with a. wave of the shape of augmented pay (6d. per day is all that is now band "but after " is sent adrif t. T he Na.vy is shaken, offered as an inducemen t for a. chief engine-room artificer but sur vives. re-engaging), or su l?stantia! increase to pension, are held .A ~other instance o~ the. ea:sy ~ranaiti?n from the im­out to men to con tmue their services to the Crown. A fcO?Siblo to the poss1blo. 1s mdicated ~n the l~tter on chief engine-room artificer is most shabbily t reattd, so 'Naval E ngineers" wh1ch appeared m your 1esue of fa r as h is pension is concerned. I n poin t of fact, he has . March 30. " L ieutenant " ther e states his opinion that

APRIL 27, 1900.]

"most executive officers recogmse that engineers ehould have the power of punishing their men, in t~e same way, and to the same extent, more or less, as marme officers at

resent." It seems but yesterday that this view-w~en ~ut forward by the engineers-was declared by executive officers to be entirely incompatible with the maintenance of discipline in the Navy.

I appeal t<? "Lieutenant "-whos~ letter marks him out as a broad-mmded officer-whether 1b would not be a good thing if he and others coul~ bri~g the~r brother ~fficers of the executive branch more ~nto hne .wttb the engmeers on the points in question. Hitherto h1s branch has been re­g~rded a.s being mainly i!l opposition . to .the engineers' claims. Radical changes m the org!l'msation of the en­gineer branch are bound to come 10; they have been knocking at the door for y~ars past. They may be on the lines suggested in the engineers' " statement, , or they ma.y be on the lines of the change in the U nited States Navy· but come they will, sooner or later-sooner with the heip of the executive bra~ch, later without it. I p~t it to "Lieutenant," whether 1t would not be more satis­factory for his branch to be in a position to congratulate itself on having helped forward the inevitable change, rather than to have cause to reflect that the needful change hnd forced its way in face of an opposition, which bad produced no useful effect.

I am, yours obediently, NAVAL ENGINEER.

---To THE EDITOR OF ENGINEERING.

Srn,-The thanks of engineers ge~erally are dne ~o you for the admirable report of ~Ir. 1\IIortson's paper, deh vered before the North-East Coast Institution of Erygine.ers and Naval Architects, and also for your own arttcle, 10 your issue of the 6th inst., commenting on the same. Now that influential institution~, like the one referred to, are taking up the ~e ~or fuller recognition of the ~l~ims ?f naval engineers, 1t IS to be hoped that the au thori t1es will see the urgent necessity for car~ying. out somfl important reforms in the whole of the engmeermg department of the Royal Navy, on the lines suggested in your pages, which, by the way, you have so consistently advocated during the oast decade.

Both Mr. Morison's paper, and your own leading article dealing with it, are so uniformly fair and generous, that I am loth to criticise either;. but if I may pe hypercriti.cal for o. brief space, I should hke to deal w1th that port1on of your article wherein you ad vert to the engine-room artificers.

It is curious to observe that most lay speakers, and writers who handle this vexed question, the engineering personnel of th~ R?y.al Na:vy_-fB:ll into the same err?r of making a most mvtdtous distmctlOn between the engmeer officer and the engine· room artificer, as if the latter were a mere automaton standing about on the engine-room platform, awaiting. orders from the former as to. the adjustment of a pau of crank-bead brasses1 or the tram of wheels necessary for cutting a certain p1tch of thread. In this respect you-in your a rticle-sin most grievously. You refer to the engine-room artificers as being mere 11 artificers " or "tradesmen," and not "capable of taking charge." If your strictures applied only to the raw recruits-sa.y, under two years' service-they would be of some force; but, if I understand your statement aright, you intend your remarks to include the whole of the artificer branch, from the artificer engineer to the humblest novice who has just donned the uniform; for you also state that the term "a,rtificer engineer " is a contradiction. Why these invidious distinctions should be made passes my comprehension; for in the service, so far as duty is concerned, there i3 no actual break in the continuity of responsibility between the Fleet Engineer and a chief engine-room artificer, and in many in­stances of an engine.ro?~ artifi?er of six yearo' standin~. For the purpose of g1vmg pomt to thiS letter I Will deal only with chief engine-room artificers, in stating what their real duties and responeibilities are in the engine-rooms and stokebolds of our men - of - wa1·. In the first place, to become an engine-room artificer, a candidate must possess the same q nalifications that the average merchant service engineer possesses on his first going to sea. This point is important, as it tells a~ainst the demarcation theory so easily adopted by well-mten­tioned advocates desirous of improving the lot of Naval EngineerP, but who yet deal an unintentional back-handed blow on those they would otherwise wish to benefit. At starting, then, there is practically little difference between the young mechanic who drifts into the merchant service, and his brother or shopmate who enlists in the N a.vy as an engine-room artificer; but started on their respective ca.ree~, what a wide difference there is in their sn bse­quent training. On the one hand, the merchant en~ineer may pass nearly the whole of his professional life m the comfortable free-from-care ocean tramp, whilst the artificer is buffeted about in every description of fighting ship, from a torpedo boat to a first-class battleship. At the end of two years the merchant engineer finds no diffi­culty in passing the examination which entitles him to a. second·class Board of Trade certificate, when he can, if he likes, join the Royal Naval R eserve as an engineer. On the other hand, the em~ine·room artificer must serve eight years, five years of which must be absolute sea-time, before be is allowed to sit at the examination, which, if he passes, enables him to become a chief engine-room arti­ficer; even then, be must have obtained a certificate show­in~ that ''he is capable of taking ckalrge" of the engines, h:)ll.erJ, and all other ma.cbinery of a small ship. This exami­nattOn, by the way, is in some reRpects much more difficult than the Board of Trd.de examination for a second-cla,gg certificate! for in the one case diagrams are dealt with, both pract10ally and theoretically, and in the other they are not touched at all. So that a. chief engine-rcom nrtificer may, in all respects, be classed with a sec0nd-class

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

certificated engineer in the _mer~han_t service, in so f~r as a knowledge of marine engmeenng 1s concerned; but, m addition, the artificer's peculiar service training gives him the pull over his civil brother; for allied with ~is catholic acquaintanceship with nearly all types of marme engines and boilers, he must have a keen and subtle know­ledge of torpedoes, hydrauli~, air compressors, and the thousand-and-one mechanical appliances which go tow!l'rds the military make. up of a man-of-war. And yet, wrtters in professional organs like your own, never dream of de­smibing the merchant engineer a~ being onlv a "trades­man, " and not "capable of taking charge." The truth is­and the engineer officer 's case can lose nothing by its being told- that for all professional purposes there is little difference between the senior chief engine-room artificers and the engineers. F or years past they have been quite interchangeable; and to be perfectly candid, the writer of this letter is unable to furnish any im~tances where breakdowns to the machinery and boilers have occurred through the substitution of the chief engine­room artificer, for the engineer officer. Chief engine-r0om artificers have sole and absolute charge of the machinery of some vessels up to 2000 indicated horse-power, and this on a foreign station, too. I question if there is a merchant vessel afloat, flying British colours, of similar power, which has only a second·class certificated engineer in charge. It is also a fact that in large battle­ships and cruisers, chief engine-room artificers do. take charge of a watch, relieving an engineer just as if there was no wide gulf between their respective positions. It is also true that, for some years past, chief engine. room artificers have been sent out to large shipbuilding firms to act as aesistant Admiralty overseers; and up to the present so successful has the experiment proved, that the venture is being extended.

It is also worthy of note that the 75 artificer engineers are all e ither in sole charge of gun vessels, or acting a~ assistant engineers in ships of greater horse-power than the one referred to.

And now, Sir, I think I have adduced sufficient evi­dence to uphold the claims of the engine-room artificers for more consideration at the hands of those who profess to speak on their behalf, in articles and speeches such as the two in question. The claims of the engineer officers for i:nore exalted rank are so irresistible that they need no adventitious aid, such as the belittling of their inferiors in rank. The engineer officers as a class a re, I feel quite sure, much too generous to wish exaltation through the debasement of a class, which, after all, as one of the writers whom you quote says, is the "backbone of the department."

I hn ve left untouched the wider question raised in yours and Mr. Morison's articles, viz. , more power or rank for the engineers, as this letter has run to an almost inordinate length already;. but I may add this (and 1 speak with a wide and extensive knowledge of engine­room artificers, and of their hopes and aspirations), that the engineer officers have the best wishes of their subor­dinates in their endeavours to secure more definite rank, as they fully recognise that for disciplinary purposes executive rank is nec~sary for the smooth working of the department.

April 23, 1900. I beg to remain yonrs, &c.,

A. MARSH ALL.

YACHT MEAS URE MENT. To 'l'HE EDITOR OF ENGINJ<:EmNG.

Sm,-In connection with the abstract you gave on _page 472 ante of my paper, read before the Institution of Naval Architects, allow me to add that it is an undeniable fact that S2 ought to represent the stability, because in similar yachts the stability is represented by s imilar dimensions raised to the fourth power; and when the yachts are not similar, it must be the art of the constructor to choose the sail area thus, that S2 represents the stability, and then also the capability for takilng 'U(P the ener·gy of the wind, this thus furnishing an undisputable standard. As sometimes it may be found difficult to enact absolute justice, it is proposed to divide the sail area S into Sn and S 1, where Sn represents the normal sail area, as men­tioned, and SI that part whereby the sail area in ques­tion exceeds the normal sail area, giving SI a reducing coefficient g, smaller than one, makes the sail area of smaller influence. The formula q (S, + U S2:_ is there-

D fore a. milder representation of the just formula q t·

Yours truly, H. C. VOGT.

A QUESTION OF OVERTIME RATES. T o TnE EDITOR Ol!' ENG INEERTNG.

SIR,-Can any of your readers answer the following question "with authority" : I s Good Friday an autho­rised holiday in England for men who are paid by the hour? If it iR, then titters and turners can demand extra pay for working that day; if it is not, then a master would be entitled to JawfuUy dismiss any men who refused to work on Good Friday because no extra pay was offered.

A case of the kind happened in an engineering estab­lishment in L ondon this week. The fitters and turners were requested to work a~ usual on Good Friday. They asked if they were to be paid extra, and on being answered in the negative they demurred and only a few of them turned up.

The question 1s: Were the men legally entitled to extra pay, such as they would have for Sunday or Christ­mas Day ? Has there been any decision in the Courts on this point?

April13, 1900. Yours faithfully,

ENGINEER.

559

Al\IERICAN COMPETITION. To THE EDITOR OF ENGINEERING.

SIR,-y ou have devoted .much o.f your valuable sp~ce to the above qnestion. It IS certamly a. matter of vital importance to the na~ion, and ~t is no.t ~ httle re~arkable that at a time when thts matter IS recei vmg atte_nt10n, that an account of the c0nstruction of the At bar~ Bridge shonld be followed by an account of the C<?nstru_ctlon of ~~e new superstructure for the Tugela Bridge m your :u:sue of January 26, 1900. .

I venture to think that a careful study of your Illustra­tions of these two structures will do more than v_olumes of writing to show whab a hopeless task the Eoghs~ man?­facturers would have to compete with the .Amenc~ns ID bridge construction, unless a radical change lS made 1D the question of design.

The fact that the Patent Shaft and A~letree Comp~ny constructed the bridge for the Tugela. m the short ttme recorded speaks volumes for thei~ resources, but ~hat can be said of the question of des1g o ? V:' e are m formed " that to avoid possible delay it was deCided to make use of the designs shown which were, we are told, prepared two or three years ~go." This speaks volumes for the enterprise and resources of the drawing-office.

How long would it take the drawing-office of one of the American bridge. building firms to prepare a set ef working plans for a bridge of the same size ? I venture to say that m less than 48 hours the drawings would be in the shops and a fair start. made wit? the work. .

Again, as to the question of weigh~, we are m!ormed that each span weighed 105 tons. It Is a ~ood thmg the British Government will have to pay the b1ll, for the cost of the 50 or more, unnecessary tons of material in each span wo~ld be a very serious item if the purchaser '!as obliged to study reasonable {;Conomy, and had the opt10n of, say, an economical American: offer. Then ~he q~es­tion of the enormous number of rtvets to be put m durmg erection, when, as in ~he case of the Tugela ~ridge, time was of the utmost Importance, and gangs of nveters probably difficult to get, is by no means an unimportant matter.

Much more could be said on this subject, but the sum of the matter is this: That if antiquated and unscientific methods are persisted in, English engineers will only have tbemeel ves to thank if our cou~ins in America run them out of the market in the item of bridge construction. On the other hand, there is no reason, with the great re­sources at England's command, why this should be so, and why scientific methods of design and construction should not be adopted.

I have seen btidge work by the best English and American builders, and the quality of both is equally good; but what can be said of the question of design from an economical point of view? Study the illustrations in ENGINEERING of the Atbara and Tugela Bridges, and answer the question.

I am, Sir, yours &c., COLONIAL OBSERVER.

New South Wales, March 17, 1900.

OUR TRADE WITH CANADA. To TEUt EDITOR OF ENGINEERING.

SrR,-Observing the interest you take in Canadian matters, I would point out for the benefit of your numerous readers, that as the Canadian Government has still further increased the preferential rebate in favour of British manufacturers from 25 per cent. to 33! per cent., this offers a. unique opportunity to Briti~h manu­facturers of machinery of all kinds. Very little machi­nery ie manufactured in Canada, and a 33! per cent. rebate enables them to successfully compete with any American manufacturer. The demand for boilers of all kinds, stamp mills, ore cars, belting, drill steel, &c., crushers, buckets, wire cables drills, dynamos, hoisting engines, turbines, &c., extends from Klondy ke to Atlin, throughout British Columbia, which is one vast mineral deposit, to the North-West Territories, and again to Ontario, with great free milling quartz deposits to Quebec and Nova. Scotia. Very large new iron and steel works a re now in contemplation in Eastern Canada. The great collieries of Eastern Canada provide a constant and increasing de­mand for many kinds of machinery. Saw mills, pulp mills, electric power and light works can be supplied now from this side at a good profit. In a recent issue the British Colwrnbic" Bevie1.u published a note from its Toronto editor, which stated that Canadian mining machinery firms a re refusing to guarantee delivery in less than four to six months after order. The importance of this 33i per cent. rebate on the duty is too obvious in view of the immense mining and industrial development of Canada that those who enter the field now will have an immea­surable ad vantage over those who follow later.

Yours faithfully, THE EDITOR, B-rit·ish Colwmbia Review.

London, April 25, 1900.

NAVAL ARCHITECTURE. To fHE EDITOR OF ENGINEERING.

JR,-In an excessively interesting letter which recently appeared in the Glasgow H erald, Professor J. H. Biles advocated theestabhshment of a Chair of Naval Architec­tu~e at the U~1versity of Glasgo,~, and the provision of suitable experimental tanks at _var10us centres of scientific research, whereby the many v1tal problems of designing and of construction that arise in shipbuilding may be more fully tested, and the knowledge thus to be arrived at made ava1lable for the information of all naval designers and buildere. The learned Professor further adverts to the fac~ that v~ry few of such experimental tanks exisb in the U n1ted Kmgdom, and that the area of their usefulness is much restl'Wted by their being practically devoted to

560

me~ting the daily wants of the gentlemen who control theu use, and whose time is so filled up with the require­ments of their ordinary du t.ies as to leave little or no leisure for the investigation of matters which do not force t hemselves on thair attention, or commercially affect their work in hand. Professor Biles instances some of the pro­blems of naval construction which still cry out for definite ascertainment, and he shows the great saving in expendi­ture to be effected and improvements in shipbuilding that may be rapidly arrived a.t, if for the present syatem of patchwork designing and abandoning of yes terday's craft m order to reproduce them in another and unsuspected form in that of tomorrow; even a.n insignificant portion of the money so expended and often wasted, were spent upon the providing of suitable fa cilities for the collection of definite informat ion ascertainable alone by practical experiments, with models of sufficient size to insure the reliability of the results thus to be arrived at. P rofessor Biles' reference to the ' ' ham rock " fiasco is very ap1·opos, and if any of your readers care to realise the pilgrimage of tentattve blundering that yacht designing has slowly waded through during the last quarter of a century, let them visit any yachting centre and inspect some of the numberless specimens of the eccentricities of marine architecture that may be there seen, each one of which­in its day-having purported t o be the best example of scientific perfection of design, and many having. perhaps, posed as champions in the yacht racing world, during the shor t space of time which enabled the designer to appre­ciate some of his late3t errors and to avoid or modify them in his next effort. Such is the system which is strangling yacht racing and filling our shipyards with out-of-date craft. W e have, of courae, certain dogmatic theories of resis tance on which is based our ship-designing effort!:l, but if a tree may be judged by the fruit it bears, such theories sadly need amendment.

Professor Biles further adverts to the improvements that might be got in screw propellers if proper facilities for collecting accurate experimental data were provided; hub a~ experiment~ with various types and developments of types of propellera can best be made in sea-going crafb, and the cos t of manufacturing such propellers is trivial as compared with the benefits that may thereby accrue, in increased speed and decrea~ed coal consumption, it is difficult to account for the comparative neglect of such matters in our great shipbuilding yards ; this is especially puzzling as regards the experi mental investigation carried on at the R oyal N aval establishments; the most vital necessity is sea-going speed ; almost every problem of construction affects, or may affect, such speed. The Naval authorities have practically unlimited money at their dispo3al, and yet we have it, on t he admission of Sir W. White, that "in this country the pressure of work on shipbuilding for the Royal Navy has, for many years past, taxed to the utmost limits the capacity of the Admiralty experimental establishment, so ably super­intended by Mr. R. E. Froude, allowin~ little scope for purely scientific investigations, and makmg it difficult t o deal with the numerous experiments incidental to the design of actual ships." To my mind, this is a confession of the exis tence of a state of affairs which is unpardon­able. On the efficiency of our Fleets, both present and future, practically depen~s the continued exist~nce of our Empire. H olland, Russ1a, Italy, and the Umted S tates have properly equipped experimental escablishments. R ecent experience has shown that the latter country has dis tanced us in yacht construction .. W hat _guarantee h~ve w~ that our navies are nob also bemg qutetly out-bmlt ? But could any indictment of this "conserv~tive" policy of the Admiralty be stronger than that deh vered by the Hon. G. L . Parsons in his paper on "Screw Propellers," which he read a few evenings ago b~for~ the N e.w~astle Association of Students of the Inst1tut10n of C1n l En­gineers, in which he stated that : "'l;riple screws hn.d been coming into favuur for wa~~:nps m ~ost of the large foreign navies • but the Br1o1sh A dmtralty, though t he first to adopt the twin screws on .a large scale, had. not built a singls triple-screw warahtp. The two trtpl~­screwed American commerce destroyers-the Columbta and the Minneapo1h-had been very successful. German and French naval authorities bad largely. adopted t~e t riple screw, so t hey hav~ already been convm0ed of ~he1r superiori ty as they were 1n the case of water-tube boil~rs, long befor~ the British authorities would have any thmg to do with them."

Now take my own case. Some months ago my attention was di~ected to the quest ion of "cavitatioD: " by_ a series of letters that appeared in your journal. I~ IS an tnte~est­ing and ~ighly tmpor~ant subject, and havmg ascertame_d the existmg theones m vog~e ~ end~a voured to test the.u truth as applied t o the ex1stm~ cuc1:1ms~ances of rapid propulsion ; the results of my tnvest1gat10ns were c<;>n­tained in letters which you wer~ good enough to p ubhsh in E NGINEERING, and I therem showed t?at nob only could " cavitation " be procured and local~sed on screw

ro eller blades, so as to increase the effic~ency of such blaaes, but that the pres.ence .of such cav1tat10n would enable the present increasmg p1tch of the scoop propell~r to be lar~ely modified, and t hereby much of the cavi­tation wh1ch now supervenes near the ends of such screws and consequent waste of horae-power to be

· d d I further pointed to the fact that th~ truth ~f~ evi~ws as to the beneficial action of-wha~ mtght be d ~bed <>a " vertical cavitation " as distingutshed from escn """' . . · h -the " horizontal caVl tatwn " that anses w en scoop pro pellers, such as the Thornycroft pro~e~lers, are us~­was, to a large exten ~, sho'Yn by the faethty of p~opulswn which arises in t urbme-dnven era£~ when. !1 h1gh ~haft velocity has been reached, and wh10h . facihty. c~ntmuea

t" l by further increases of shaft veloetty the hm1t of the ~~s~ible area of " vertical cavitation " has been reached. I am of oourse, aware of the t heory of decreased waye­maki'ng res_istance thf\,t hf\.S been advanced as affordms-

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

an explanation of the first stage of this phenomenon, but - so far as I k now - the second stage has hi therto been neither anticipated nor explained. Since the publication of my letters in E NCINEERlNG I have been favoured with a number of communications deal­ing with the matters therein roughly explained, some being favourable to my views, some against, the majority of my correspondents tecognising the great advantages that would accrue if my views as to the action of cavitation were proved to be well founded, and ad­verting to the advisability of having them definitely tested by practical experiments. U nfortunately there are no facilities a t my disposn.l for the carrying out of such tests; it was then suggested to me by a friend who happens to belong to the House of Commons, that I should bnng the matter under the notice of the Admiralty autho­rities; this I did some time ago. As my letter to them has not been returned, I presume that they must have received it; otherwise I have no evidence of that fact, and I do not anticipate getting any until my friend inter­venes. Such is my experience of the present "facilities'' which are available t o the public for the :l.Bcertainment of shipbuilding problems, and of the injury that may be thereby occasioned.

Yours, &c., P. M. STAUNTON.

BROKEN TAIL-SHAFTS. To THE E DITOR OF E NGINEERING.

SIR,-Permit me to offer a suggestion which, though it has no direct bearing on the cause or remedy, may alle­viate the damage.

My proposal is to have a set of s tandard sizes of tail­shafts to sizes agreed on by Lloyd's and the Insurance Corporation. This would entail, no doubt, t he co-opera­tion of ship owners and builders ; but in the event of a breakdown, a shaft could at once be got from the stocks kept at the various ports ; and, indeed, forge men could at slack times forge, rough, and finish a few.

There are, no doubt, difficulties to overcome ; but con­sider the state of affaira-not so long ago-when every engineer had his own set of tap and die~, and every set different. Whitworth set that rig-ht. Can the tail-shafts not be also dealt with on similar hnes ?

Y ours, &c. , Cart F orge, Glasgow. A. E RSKINE MuiRHEAD.

LARGE FREIGHT CARS ON BRITI H RAILWAYS.

To THE EDITOR OF ENGINEERING. StR,-The ~eneral acceptance of the argument that im­

mense reductiOn may be effected in the working expenses of British rail ways by introducing large freight cars may be considered satisfactory to the advocates of the i~nova­tion, but it is disappointmg to obser ve a tendency m the technical press to share the conviction hitherto held by rail way officials to the effect that the d ifficulties opposed to their introduction provide a suffi cient reason for the neglect of earnest endeavour to secure a radical reform in the established methods of rail way working. The argu­ment that traders' consignments of general merchandise average only some 2 tons per vehicle does not apply to the mineral traffic, and as minerals account for 71 per cent. of the total tonnage moved yearly by the rail ways of the United K ingdom, and the rolling stock provided for the carriage is usually entirely dis tinct from that employed for general merchandise, confusion would be avoided by giving separate consideration to the two branches.

The only difficul ty remai!ling in connection ~th mineral traffic is thn.t of termmals, and the prospect1 ve saving in cost of transport .is wit.ho.ut doubt sufficient to justify the cost of remodellmg ex.IStmg arrangements, but traders cannot be expected to .carry out the. necessary alterations when the benefi t Will accrue mamly to the carriers. I have suggest ed elsewhere that encoura~ement to reduce the tare of t heir vehicles might be giVen to private owners of rolling stock by altering the b~is of the charges from the .net to the gross tot;lnage, ~a~mg an equivalent reduction m the rate. Thus 1f the extstmg net load be assumed to be GO per cent. of the gross, the rates when charged on th.e !atter would be r~du.ced by ~O . per cent. in order that similar traffic under stmilar cond1t10ns should yield an equal revenue. The introduct ion ~f high­capacity wagons would then enable t he trader to mcrease his net tonnage by 20 per cent. for the same cost of ~rans­portation; whilst the railways would save one-third of the dead weight to be returned empty, and would h~ve a. gratuitous addition of about 70 per cent. per umt of length to the capacity of their trains and sidings, which would go far towards .solving th~ di~culty of congestion in mineral yards and Impo!tant JUn~tiOns. _

In the case of industrtal estabhshments fi tted wtth t urntables, short wagon lifts and othe~ obsole~e plan~, t he railways might construct a depot m to. which t~eu large wagons would discharge, and from whiCh th~ diffe­rent departments of the works would be supphed by means of small wagons running on the existing rails, or by a system of con veyors.

Timber rails steel beams, &c., are commonly loaded on severai short bolster wagons, which no~ only inyolve an excessive proportion of tare, but whiCh provide a fre_guenb cause of derailment and damage.

The difficulties opposing the introduction of high­capacity rolling stock in this country will certainly be overcome eventually; and i t would be surprising if we find such difficulties, and the interests vested in the existing order of things were accepted by E~glishmen as a valid and satisfactory reason for the cessat~on of effo! t. But it is also cer tain t ha t the demand for hghb and 1~­expensive steel cars, which is now arising from the rail­ways of our colonies and dependencies and from the great

[APRIL 27, 1900.

Euro~n and As~atio rail way systems, m us~ be ~et by A meriCan enterpnse unless works are esta.bhshed m this country to manufacture from suitable standard patterns in large quant ities. I find that a proposal to estab­lish such works is viewed with favour in certain influential quarters, and I shall be glad to hear from engineers and others who may think it advantageous that this important branch of manufacture should be developed within our own shores, and who would be prepared to support a. venture of this description.

Y ours, &c., J. D. T wrNDEBRow, A.M. Inst. C. E.

13, Mosley-street, Newca.stle-upon-Tyne.

THE "CALYX" DRILL. To THE E DITOR OI<' ENGINEERING.

SrR, -Can any of your readers oblige me with the name and address of the makerR of the " Calyx " drill ?

Y oura truly, L ondon, April 24, 1900. B. L.

LAUNCHES AND TRIAL 'rRIPS. THE Alberta, built for the L ondon and South-Western

Railway Company by Messrd. J ohn Brown and Co., at Clydebank, was launched on th9 3rd inst. The vessel is 270 ft. long, by 35 ft. wide, and 15 ft. 9 in. deep to the upper deck. She is generally similar to the Vera, built by the same builders for the L ondon and South-Western R ailway Company, but naturally includes such alterations as the experience with the Vera has suggested. The Alberta is one of a series of high-speed vessels designed by Professor Biles for the London and South-\Vestern Railway Company (for which he is consulting naval archi­tect), which has attained a speed of 19! knots on the measured mile, and which, while being subdivided to float with any two compartments flooded, is well suited to the reqnirements of the Channel service. The horae-power of the machinery is about 5000 indicated.

On April 3 Messrs. William Denny &nd Brothers, Dumbarton, launched the twin-screw steamer Arundel, built by them for the joint ownership of the L ondon, Brighton, and South Coast Railway and the Western R ail way of France. The vessel is in tended to ply between Newhaven and Dieppe, and has been built by them to cope with the increased traffic expected this summer on account of the great Exhibition just opened in Paris. The Arundel is practically a repeat of the Sussex, built four years ago by Messrs. Denny for the same owners. The accommodation consists generally of first-class amidships, second-class aft, and a small space forward for steerage passengers. The first-cla.ss accommodation, which is fitted up in first -class style, consists of a dining saloon on the main deck forward of the funnel casing, two sleeping saloons on the lower deck, with convenient access from dining saloon ; and a number of private cabins and a smoking-room on the promenade deck. The sleeping saloons are arrans-ed, as 18 usual on the Channel vessels, so that they can either be used f~r a. day or night service. The second-class accomm?dat1~n consists of three saloons on the lower deck afb, fimshed 1n plain but comfortable style ; and a smoking-room in a. house abaft the engine casing on the main deck. The promenade deck for about 1~0 ft. is entirely given up to the first -class passengers, while the parb at the end of the promenade deck, as well as the whole of the mai_? ?eck at the aft end at the side of the deckhouse, contammg the companion to the saloons, is given up to s~cond-cla.ss pas. sengers. The machinery will be supphed b.Y ~essrs. D anny and Co., and will be of the latast descr1pt10n, the engines being of the ... chlick balanced type.

On W ednesday, April 4J the fine ~.teel screw oa.rgo steamer Duisburg, which has been bmlt by the Flans­burger Schiffsbau Gesellschaft, Flensbu~g, t o the order of the D eutdch A ustralische Dampfsch1ffs- Gesellachaft, Hamburg, put out to sea for her official tri~l trip. Her principal dimeneions are : L ength 403 ft. 8 .m. ; brea-d.th, 47ft. 8 in. ; depth, 32 ft., wit h a deadwets-ht carrymg capacity of about 6500 tons. The vessel 1s cla.ssed . to Lloyd's highest class, 100 A 1. She has been . fitte~ wtth triple-expansion engines supplied by the engmee~mg de· partment of the fi rm, having cylinders 28! in. ,_ 47i m., ~nd 78 in. in diameter, by 54 in. strok~, stea~ b~mg supphed by four boilers capable of developmg an md10ated horse­power of a. bout 2500: T~is is th.e nint~ of t welve vesaels, and the sixth of mne stster-shtps, whtoh the Flens~urg Company have completed for the D eutsch Austraheche Line.

Messrs. R. Napier and 'ons, Limited, Govan, launched on the 4th inst. a steel screw steamer named Tyne, of about 3150 tons for the Royal Mail Steam P acket Company, L ondon. The new steamer i~ intende~ for thecompant s extra service to the W est Indies and Rtver Plate, and Will carry about 4600 tons deadweight. Th~ general dimen· sions are : L ength between per~ndtoulars, 320 ft. ; bread th, 44ft. 8 in. ; depth, 26 ft. , With a topg9:llant fore· castle, long bridge, and full {>OOp. ~he m9:chmer¥ con. sists of a set of tripl~-expan~10n engmes. w1th . cylinders 23 in. , 38 in., and G2 m. I!l dtameter by 3 .ft. 3 m. stroke, and two single-ended botlers for a workmg pressure of 160 lb.

Messrs. Rnssell and Co. launched from their Green~k yard, on the 13th inst. , the screw steamer Garon~e,. bu~ltl to the order of Messrs. Searnely and Eger, Chns tJama. Dimensions : L ength, 225 ft. ; .breadth, ~4 ft. ; depth, 16 ft. 3 in. ; dead weight carrymg capa~1ty, l GOO tons. Messrs. R oRS and D uncan, Govan, wlll supply the

• engmes.

APRIL 27, 1900.] =

INDUSTRIAL NOTES. TuE state of the labour market, as shown by the

re~urns to the Labour Department of the Board of Trade is again most reassuring. In all the more important industries the employment generally has remained good, the percentage of unemployed mem­bers of trade unions being lower than at any corre­sponding period of any year since l 90. Those returns number in the aggregate 2503, namely. 1716 from employers, 638 from t~~de _uni?ns, anc.l 149 from various other sources. Ihe hoe m t he employ­ment char t, starting from a low level, gradually went up in the t wo first months of the year, now i t has reached as low a level as it did in any month of 1899, and it is still trending downwards towards a lower level.

In the 137 trade unions specially reported on there was an aggregate of 524, 199 members, of whom 11 821 or 2.3 per cent., were repor ted as unemployed, as' codtpared with 2. 9 per cent . in t he previous month, and 2.5 per cent. a year ago. Then only 125 unions, with 494,394 members, sent in returns; now the figures are larger. As the number of uuions reporting increase, so will the figures represent a wider area and a greater number of industries.

The det~iled report3 from the various groups of industries fully bear out the general statement as made above. In the coalmining group employment was very good during the past mont h, better than a year ago, but the average time worked was not quite so much as in the previous mon th, when it reached an exceptionally high figure. At collieries employing 452,368 workpeople the men worked on an average 5.67 days per week, as compared wit h 5.69 days in the previous month, and 5. 62 days a year ago. This high average disposes of the complaint t h&t miners are neglectful of their work. The scarcity of coal does not arise from that cause. It is gratifying to report such steady employment in an industry which is not, even at its best, the most alluring that could be named.

Employment has continued good in the ironstone mining industry, and has again improved, though i t is not quite so good as it was a year ago, from some cause or another. At mines and open works, employ­ing 16,744 persons, the average t ime that winding operations htwe been in progress was 5. 71 days per week, as compared with 5.55 days in t he previous month, and 5. 89 days a year ago.

Employment in the pig-iron industry is still good, but from some cause it shows a slight decline. At the works of the 116 ironmasters making returns, there were 377 furnaces in blast, employing 25,759 men, as compared with 383 furnaces, employing 25,887 workpeople in the previous month, and 380 furnaces, employing 24,918 persons a year ago. The demand for pig iron has not abated, so that there must be some other cause for t he decline.

Employment has further improved in the iron and steel manufactures, and is much better than it was a year ago. At 209 works covered by the returns, t he total volume of employment, taking into account the aggregate numbers employed, and the total number of sh.ifts worked, increased by 2. 3 per cent. , as compared with the previous month, and 5.3 per cent., as com­pared with the corresponding month of last year. This shows that the demand has not diminished for finished material.

In .the tinplate trade employment continues good, and 1s much better t han it was a year ago. There were 420 mills at work, in<:lusive of those manufac­turing black plates, as compared with 418 mills at t he same date last month, and 345 mills a year ago. The number of persons employed is estimated to be about 21,000 persons. After a. long spell of depression there has been a revival.

In the engi~eering and metal trades group employ· ment has contmued good. The proportion of unem­ployed trade union members in the entil·e group wA.s only 2.2 per ceut., as compared with 2. 3 in the previous mo?th, and 2. 4 _Per ?ent·. a yeat· ago.

Employment I S still good in the shipbuilding group of trades. The proportion of unemployed union members was only 2.5 per cent., as compared with 2.9 per cent. in the previous month, and 3.0 per cent. a yea.~ ago. The prospeots indicate a still further reductiOn.

1 ~ the building trades employment is better, fol-

owmg the advent of finer weather. The p roportion of unemployed mem hers in the trades reporting ;~as 2.6 p~r cent. as compared with 3.1 per cent. Th the prev10us month, and l. 6 per cent. a year ago

e prospects for a good season are most encouraging.

The wood-working and furnishing t rades ha,·e im· proved 1 · d ' emp oymenli, m all branches, being now fairly goo · The proportiou of unemployed members wlls

E N G I N E E R I N G. 2.4 per cent., as compared with 6. 9 per cent . in the previous month, and 1.0 per cent. a year ago.

The printing and bookbinding trades have im­proved, and are now fairly employed as a whole, though bookbinders are somewhat slack. The pro­portion of unemployed union members was 3. 6 per cent., as compared with 4.3 per cent. in t he previous month, and 3.3 per cent. a year ago. The war has tended to slacken those branches. In the paper t rade employment has remained good, the proportion of unemployed members of trade unions was 2. 2 per cent. , as compared with 2.3 per cent. in the previous month, and 2. 6 per cent. a year ago.

Employment in the cotton industries is very good in both the spinning and weaving departments. In factories and mills employing about, 83,500 females, 100 per cent . in spinning, and 96 per cent. in weaving were working full t ime. The woollen and worsted branches continue very good on the whole, out there has been a slight decline. The hosiery trades cont_inue to be very good.

Dock labour in London has improved ; it is better than in the previous month, and much better that i t was a year ago.

The number of fresh labour d isputes reported in the month was 40, involving 10,049 workpeople, of whom 8159 were directly and 1890 indirectly affected. The corresponding number in the month previous was 33 disputes, involving 11,357 workpeople, and in the same month of last year 53 disputes, involving 13,827 persons. The most important dispute was that in the pottery trades, affecting about 4000 workpeople, which is still unsettled. Of the other 32 disputes, nine were in t..he building trades, nine in the engineering, ship­building, and metal trades, ten in t he textile t rades, five in coalmining, and six in various other industries. The number of new and old disputes settled in t he month was 38, involving 5691 workpeople ; of these 13 disputes, affecting 2158 persons, were decided in favour of the workers; eight, affecting 886 persons, in favour of the employers, and 16, affecting 2487 persons, were compromised . In one case the dispute, affecting 160 persons, was under consideration at the date of the report as regards cer tain details.

There were changes in the rates of wages affecting about 204,100 workpeople, of which number no fewer t han 198,600 workers obtained advances, averaging 2s. O!d. weekly per head. In all about 5500 suffered decreases in wages averaging l s. ll! d. per head. The net result was an increase of Is. ll! per head all round in the weekly wages of the whole 204,100 workpeople. The principal increases were in the coalmining and iron and steel industries, but about 5000 coalminers in the Forest of Dean suffered a decrease in wages. Changes affecting about 5200 workpeople were pre­ceded by disputes causing a cessation of work, whereas changes affecting 174,650 workpeople took effect under sliding scales, and one, atfecting lOO persons, was settled by arbitration without any stop­page of work. The remaining changes, affecting 24,150 persons were arranged by direct negotiation between the employers and employed or by their re­presentat ives. On the whole, peaceful means were used to obtain t he advantages gained by labour.

The report of t he Boilermakers and Iron Shipbuilders states that there has been a steady falling otf in new contracts since the beginning of the present year. Orders for some classes of vessels have been practically nit. This is attributed to " the exceedingly high prices of material prevailing," both as regards coal, iron, and steel. The report goes on to give examp!es. Coal has advanced 6s. or 7s. per ton. Plates, angles, bars, and rivets have been three times advanced in t he last ~e~ mo~ths ; the d ifferent prices being given, espe01ally of 1ron and steel plates, and other materia l used in the boilermaking, bridge building, and other branches per taining to the trade which this union repre­sen ts. Tht' lessening of orders is not regarded as "a slump in shipbuilding," but only as a temporary slackening due to the causes above given. As regards employment, t he ~lackening is not felt, nor can it be during the present year to auy great extent, as in t he largest districts shipbuilders have a sufficiency of work on hand to carry t hem over t he current year. In corro­boration of this the report notifies that t here is a large demand for full squads of riveters in the Clyde and Belfast districts, sufficient to take up t he surplus labour in less favoured districts. In consequence of the ~lackening off, the council have suspended the order closmg the books, and "all members legitimately out of employment may now sign on home donation " and other benefits. But a discharge note is required certifying cause of non-employment so that the mer~ idlers shall not impose on the f~nds. The total number on the funds was 3350, as compared wit h 3922 in t he month previous. Of the total, 1010 were un­employed, as compared with 1284 in the previous month : 172:2 were on sick benefit, a decrease of 329 · on superannuat ion 618, increase 31. The report con~ tains a list of cc debt cases " and the members are cautioned t hat unless the d~bts are paid, expulsion

561

will be resorted to. This union is strict in all such cases, whether t he debt be due to officers or members of the union, to employers, or to tradespeople, or others.

---The engineering trades throughout Lancashire con·

tinue to be well employed in all branches. The returns of t he trade unions in all t he engineering branches show continued full employment, and the number of unemployed members is decreasing rather t han other· wise. I n the iron trade there has been a wavering tone, in consequence of some American iron having been on offer, though very litt le business has been done to indicate the extent of that competition or its effects. In ~he finished iron branches there has been no material change ; a fair weight of business is coming forward, and makers are firm at full rates. Indeed, most of them are well sold for some time ahead, so that there is little off~ring in t he open market. In the steel t rade an active inquiry is maintained, and here again American competition is said to be begin · ning to be fel t. In t he general branches of t rade em­ployment is e'•idently good, for in branches of trade unions in Manchester , wi th 22,443 members, only 404, or 1. 8 per cent . are sts.ted to be unemployed from all causes, temporary and otherwise. This is a decrease of l.l per cent., as compared with the previous month's returns. In numerous branuhes of Amalgamated Engineers in Lancashire with an aggre­gate of 10,844, only 202 were unemployed from all causes. Notwithstanding this proportion most of the local secretaries describe trade as moderate only. In the Manchester and Salford district engineers, boilermakers, and sheet-metal worker3 report trade as moderate : ironfounders, machine workers, brass finishers, as good ; at Northwich all are busy, at Warrington they are fully emploJed. At Oldham all are busy except in t he textile machine shops, and the plate and machine-moulders, which are said to be slack. At Bolton, Wigan, Chorley, and Bury, a ll branches are moderately well employed. At Black­burn, Burnley, and district, t here is a slackening off, shor t time being resorted to in some instances. On the whole activity prevails; the position being favour­able, and the outlook encouraging.

In the Wolverhampton district the pressure of work in the iron and steel producing industries was and is so great that t he usual Easter holidays were curtailed as much as possible. The decision of the marked bar makers not to increase the basis price had the effect of strengthening confidence to some extent. But the decision only applies to such orders as makers can accept for early delivery, all forward cont racts are de­clined except on the condition that the price to be paid shall be t he current price at the time. The action of the Unmarked Bar Makers' Association indi­cates that if t he present prosperous trade continues the list fi rms will probably declare for a further advance. There is a large demand for common and puddled bars, tube strip, hoops, rods, and galvanised roofing sheets, and as a consequence of t he latter for black ~beets also. Steelmakers are very busy, and q uotat10ns very firm. Generally all branches continue to be fully employed, except where a sufficiency of coal is not ob tainable. Amalgamated E ngineers report trade as only '' moderate" in both of t he branches, but only one man is out of employment, so that it would appear to be very good, a~ it is with ironfounders, boiler­makers, bridge,. all:d girder co~structors, tan}t and gas­holder makers, snuths and stnkers. There 1s material improvement in the cycle t rade, some of the firms work­ing overtime. At Walsall, ~Iadeley, and Coalbt·ook­dale employment is good, except that in the latter place complaint is made of some slackness in foundry work. E~ployment in the ironplate t rade is reported to be qutet a t Wolverhampton, moderate at Bilston and fair at Lye. Complaints as to the high price of fuel and of material are heard, and especially from some of the smaller employers.

In t~e Birmin~hat;n district t here was a good deal of hohday keepmg 1n Easter week, t he business done in the iron and steel t rades being small. I nquiries are reported to be numerous, and many new orders have been placed since quarter-day. Merchant~ it ~oul~ seem, see t he fu~ilit~ of holding back in a~ti­ctpat10n of any reductiOn m the prices of material. T~e complaint is that fuel is difficult to obtain. The pnce of coke has been further advanced. The slump in .the I?ig-iron m~rket in Glasgow has not affected the pnces 1n the M1dlands ; nor would it appear to be likely to do so. All p rices have been firm at the advanced rates. A. btisk inquiry f?r steel is reported, but orders a re subJect to the dehvery of bille ts and blooms, which are said to be very scarce. The general branches of trade are mostly busy in the district. In branches of trade unions with 21,176 members, only 445, or 2.1 per cen~., were repor ted to be unemployed from all causes, bemg about the same proportion as a month ago.

The state of unrest for some t ime past manifest in

•

•

the cotton trades has been of the milJ rather than of the turbulent kind, a result undoubt~dly due to the e;tcellent w ork done by ~he Joint Committee under t~e Brookla~ds agreement. There have.been dissen­tlOns fr~m t1me to ~ime, and~ in a few cases open rupture, but on t he wliole the arrangement has worked s moothly. R ecently a revision of that agreement has been thought to be necessary, and this has led to proposals f~r a more p ermanent form of organisation on the basis of a Board of Conciliation. N otices for advances it~ wages have been given in various branc.;hes, and In some cases concessions have been ma~e: During last week t here was a good deal of act1v1ty, first by t he publication of the reports of t wo of the Operatives' ~ssociati~ns, and t hen by a confer­ence of repres~ntattves of Employers and Operatives on the quest10n of the demand for an increaee in wages. The report of the Amalgamated A ssociation of Card a nd Blo~i_ng-Room Operatives sp eaks of the prosperous condit10n of trade, the concessions in wages made in accordance with the Brook lands agreement, the closing of the mills at 12 noon , on Saturdays, and the new Factory Bill. The Repor t of the Cotton Spinnera a lso refer s to the Brooklands agreement, to la~o?r legislation, and to the progress made by negotiatiOn in matters p ertaining to their branch. of trade. As regards the first named, the r eport declares the agreement to be practically _def~nct. At t~e conference of employers and operatives r epresentatives, held in Manchester on Friday in last week, the a dvance of 5 per cent., as r equested, was conceded, as regards the spinners and others, all round, but t he employers could not see their way clear to give the 10 per cent. asked for to the da tal hands.

The Operat ive House P ainter s in the N orthwich district have been granted an advance of !d. p er hour in wages, with the promise of another ! d. per hour next year. In some other dis tricts there is an upward tendency in the wages of painters-the one branch of the building trades which is somewhat underpaid.

. At a joint meet.ing of the Cleveland mineowners and of the Cleveland miners' representatives held last week the wages of t he miners were advanced llt per cent~ for the next six months.

A strike is r eported of about 8000 miners employed at the Santa P aulina ~fines, n~ar Santander, for higher wages and r educed hours of labour . The men a t the iron works refused to join in the strike, though urged to do so by the miners. At Gijon the litho­graphers are on strike, and some disturbances aro~e there a t t he end of last week.

The strike o f about 800 Italian workmen employed a.t the Cornell Dam, a large engineering undertaking near New York, resulted in some riots last week, and Sergeant D ouglas was shot dead. Another r egiment was sent to the scene to enforce order. It is said that the men were very riotous before the troops wer e sent, a.nd they are still inclined to be demonstrative and disorderly.

E N G I N E E R I N G. (APRIL 27, 1900.

3. The disturbance or undulation of the ~ther. 4. The work done by the generation and maintenance

of elect~c currents in material systems. It w11l smooth our journey over somewhat difficul t

g~ound if I commence by illustrating these principles With some elementary experiments.

currente, but each are S?bject to well-known conditions and ~o Simple mathematical treatment. Each has its own partteui~r sphere of usefulness. Some of the energy is w.asted .m the ~orm of. heat in the conductor, in the dtelectn.c, and . m the u on ; some in the neighbourin~ conduc~m~ ~ama, and some is conveyed away- dissi­pated m l~mit!eas space. ~he ratio of the useful energy to that whtch ts generated 1s known as the efficiency of the system. The steam engine utilises only 15 per cent. of the energy of tbe coal ; the gas engine utilises 25 per cent. of the same energy~ a turbine can utiliee 80 per cent. of the energy of falhng water· but the efficiency of a dynall!o has reached. the.J;Ugh fi~re of 98 per cent.

1. The Deflection of a N eed le.- A small mag-net like that fr~ely pi vote~. in the mariner's compass lB always for~ed ~n.to a pos1t10n at right angles to a conductor mamtatmng: an electric c~x:rent. I am usin~ energy from coa:l burnt m. the electriCity works in Mlllbank-street. It. 1s ~roll;ght m to this building through conducting mains latd m ptpes under the streets in its electrical form and you see how its presence affects the needle. A n el~ctric current is not like currents of air, of water, or of gas. They_ are due to the flow of liquid or gas, and each cur­rent~~ confined to the interior of the pipe conveying the matenal. The so-ca.Jl~d ele~tric current affects not only the COJ:?ducto! that dJrects tt, b~t all t~e surrvunding space, m cludmg any mat!er that 1t contams, and especi­ally the ~ther that filJs It. Y ou have here evidence of the existence of a magnetic field- a field of force of strain and of motion. In fact, a condition of mat~r and th~ ~ther, and not a form of matter.

2. I take a portion of this conductor and wind it around ~bar. of. soft uon. When the current is turned on, the u on 1s Impressed with magnetism. We have made an electx:omagnet. Some of the energy of the electric cur­rent 1s tran~formed in~o it~ magnetic form, and we have powerful eV1dence of duect10n and stress-in fact a mag-nified magnetic field. '

3. W e thus get attraction, repulsion, and we are able to produce rotation and to strike great blows.

4. ~ take two coils of insulated wire, one of which I supenmpose upon the other. I send intermittent electric currents through the one and insert a telephone in the other. A lc:>ud sound is emitted by the telephone, which gradually dies away as I remove the coils away from each other. ~he sound is res~ored in its loudness as I approach the c~>1ls . together agam. H ere we have evidence of re t_h~nc disturbance. The electrical energy in the primary coillB transferred by waves through the ~ther and con­verted. aga~ i~to electric energy in the secondary coil, appeahng m Its sonorous form to our consciousness through the ears.

5. This ~th~ric disturbance is also the accompaniment of spar~s m air. T he sudden rupture of an air gap, the convers1_on of the air into a conductor, i ts immediate restorat~on to an insulator again, si ve sudden periodic undula.t10ns t~ the rether, which, owmg to its inertia, set waves m motiOn that extend to unknown d istances. There is nothing but the air and the ~ther between me and that clock; yet I can control the movements of the clock by producing these sparks.

6. When I direct an electric current through acidulated water, the current breaks up the water into its constituent eleJ?tn~q, O~J:gen .and hydrogen ; and if I insert a bar of white alummmm mto a bath of blue sulphate of copper it .is coated with a thin layer of brown copper. The elec­trteal energy does work upon the water and upon the copper solution, and we have ocular demonstration of the mechanical opera tions ~ffect€d . . 7 .. The work done by an electric current upon matter 18 st1ll further shown by this platinum wire, which I can ~rst make hot, then incandesce to redness, and finally fuse mto drops with the evolution of brilliant white light.

Alternatmg c!lrrents d1ffer m their frequency. Those generated at NJagara pass through eaeh cycle 25 times ~.r second_. The favourite frequency in the U nited Kingdom IS 50, but many installations in the U nited ~tat~s reach as high as 1~0. These frequ~ncies in closed ?Ircu1ts ca!l, h~wever, be Increased to mllbons per second m open ~I.rcutts. I? fact, Maxwell proved the identity of electnetty and hs-ht by showing that they moved through the ~th~r wtth the same velocity-196,400 miles per sec~nd-and m the same undulatory fashion. If the a~t~rnat10ns could be generated with a frequency of 50 btlll?DS of waves per_second we should see electric waves ~ hg~t rays. Electric waves and light waves differ only m. tbeu length. H ertz detected and measured these elec­tnc waves. Attempts have been made to utilise them but so far not with much praetical success. '

'\Yhenever a conductor· is forced through a fixed mag· netic field, so as to cut transversely the linea of for~ of that field, an electromotive force is set up in that con· ductor whic~ varies wi~h the length of the conductor, the number ~f ~mes cut .bY.It, and the rate at which they are cut. Thts lB the pnnciple of the dynamo. Work is done upon the conductor in moving it against the resistance of the field. Energy is thus transformed from its mechanical to its electrical form. At Nia~ara 5000 horse-power are converted by one machine into electric currents of 1500 amperes driven by 2200 volts.

If a condu.ctor itself be free to move, and a magnetic field be proJected through it while it is maintainine- a curre~t, 1t is forced into motio~, and it becomes a rota.tmg machme or motor. The electrte energy of the current is tran~formed into its m~chanical form. Its torque, or turmng moment, depends upon the intensity of the mag­netic field, on the length of the conductor, and on the streng th of the current. This reversibility of the dynamo is of immense commercial value. Max well said it was the greatest invention of the century. Tramcars in our street~, trains on our rail ways, tools in our shops, and mills m our factories are thus worked by: electricity.

Dynamos and motors are subject to laws and conditions so thoroughly well known that exactness is assured and waste reduced to a minimum. There is no more perfect machine than a dynamo. M otors are nearly as good. Electricity as a science·is fascinating to everyone, but it is deeply fascinating to the engineer. The reliability of its laws, the accuracy of its measurements, and the com­pleteness and definiteness of the units to which its measurements are referred, give him confidence in his estimates and a certainty of the performance of his pre­concerted operations. It places in his hands the means of directing the energy out of si~ht in positions known only to himself, and of applying tt with great efficiency a t the exact spot desired. N o magician or poet ever conceived so potent a power within the easy reach of man.

We thus perceive that electricity is purely mechanical in its effects. It requires matter to render it evident to the senses. Its transference is characterised by motion, chiefly undulatory when we consider the ~ther, but par· taking of the most known forms when considering conduc. tors and ineulators. It is therefore essentially a. dynami­cal _agent in the hands of the engineer to C!l.rry out his d ut1es.

A. The Application oj Force.- E lectricity enables the engineer to direct energy to great distances, and there to apply force at his will. Force is that which produces, or tends to produce, motion. I t is the function of the engi­neer to utilise this motion.

B. T he Doing of Work.-The maintenance of an elec­tric current through a conductor means the expenditure of work upon that conductor, and this expenditure of internal work means molecular motion. In solid con­ductors the result is heat. If the current be _gradually increased, this motion is similarly increased. The result is successively incandescen t, white heat, fusion, and dis· ruption.

The r epreEentati ,·es of the Amalgamated Society of Engineers on the north-east coast have addressed a. let ter to the Engineering and Shipbuilder s' Employers' Association asking t hat the application for an advance of wages, which a few weaks ago the master s said they could not conceda, should be reconsidered. The members of the United Kingdom Society of Amal­gamated Smiths and trikers employed in s hipya rds on the Tyne, who asked that, from Saturday last, the wages of smiths should be ad vanced 10 per cent. on time rates, and 7! per cent. on piece rates, and the wages of strikers 10 per cent. on t ime rates, have been informed that t heir r equest cannot be granted.

THE RELATIONS BETWEEN ELECTRICITY AND ENGINEERING.*

By S ir WILLIAlU H ENRY PREECE, K .C.B' F .R.S., · Past-President, Inst. C.E.

THE nineteenth century is distinguished in our profes. sion chiefly by the knowledge we have _o~tained of the constitution of mat ter and of the quaht1es of the ma­terials we utilise for the service of man, of the presence and characteristics of that medium-the re ther-which fills all space, and of the existence, indestructibility, and protean character of that g~ea.t natural source of force, motion, work, and power wh1ch we call energy ..

Electricity is onJr one of many form~ of tb1s energy. It is measureable m weU.defined and accura.t~ly-deter· mined units. I t is produced _and ~ol~, ut1hs~d ~nd wasted. It is therefore somethm~ d~tmctly obJective. It has even been defined by A ct of Pa.rhament.

T here are four great principles underlying the practical applications of elect ricity:

1 T he establishment of a magnetic field. . 2: The establishment of an electric field.

An electric current is by no means so sim{>le a pheno­menon as it name implies. The term itself IS a survival of exploded doctrines. I t is not alone the conductor that has to be considered but the whole circuit, especially its insulating portion or dielectric, and the surrounding medium- the ~ther. The earth also frequently played a very important and essential part. M oreover, the energy takes both the electric and magnetic forms, and one or other is dominant whenever the current is rising or falling or persistent. The rise and fall of lines of electric force produce a magnetic field, and vice versd, the rise and fall of lines of magnetic force produce an electric field . In my experiments I converted this theatre into an electric and magnetic field, and if you posseased an electric sense you would have been conscious of unwonted disturbances. An electric field is that por tion of space which is charac­terised by the presence of lines of electric force; a mag­netic field by lines of magnetic force. Each line mdicates the direction of stress, and the nu m her of lines passing through unit area (one square inch or centimetre) the in­tensity of the stress. Matter through which they pass is in a state of strain; in conductors they produce curren ts; dielectrics a re displaced electrostatically ; magnetic sub­stances, iron, nickel, and cobalt ar~ polarised electromag­netically. T he motion produced is molecular motion­rotation, revolution, or oscillation. Lord Kelvin has very recently shown that an electrified body is set in rotation in one direction if positively excited, and in the other direction if negatively excited by the generation of a mag­netic field around it, and that it will remain in rotation in virtue of its inertia during the existence of the field.

When the current is alternating it is always either rising or fallin g and changins- its direction. The behaviour of alternating is more comphcated than that of continuous

In liquid conductors the motion probably becomes revolution . The result is decomposition by the activity of the centrifugal force overcoming chemical affinity. The atoms fly away in fixed determined lines, and collect at opposite poles.

In gases the transference of electric energy in the form of sparks means dissociation. Compound gases are broken up into their component elements under the same direct­ing influences. Work is done upon the g~ as in the pre· vious instances.

Joule established the law of the relations of current and heat upon a definite and accurate basis.

Faraday developed the · laws of electro-chemi8try with equal exactitude. ·

Professor J. J. Thomson has determined the action of currents on g-ases.

The {>rinciple of work that lies at the very root of the profess10n of the engineer enables all theae operations to be measured in definite mechanical unit!, reducible to the common English standard, the foot-pound, but which the electrical engineer, with greater precision, refers tv the scientific unit of work-the J oule.

C. The Purification of .Llfatter.-The elements and their useful compounds are rarely, ii ever, found pure. Im­purities have to be sifted away. Ore~ raw produce, rocks, and earths have to be subjected to various processes of refining and conversion to extract from them that which is wanted. The electric current by the above operations has proved to be a powerful agent to break up crude mate· rials into their useful and useleas constituents. The electro·chemical industries of the world are vecy exten-

• SlVe. According to Professor Borcbers, the eminent electro­

metallurgist, the world manuf&cture of calcium carbide for the production of acetylene gas is utilising a power equal to 180,000 horse-power; that of the alkalies and the combinations of chlorine for bleaehing, 56,000 horse·

* The "James Forres b " lecture, deliverPAi Institution of Civil Engineers, Apri1 23, 1900.

before the

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power· of aluminium1 27.000 horse-power; of copper, 11 000 'horse-power; ot carborundum, 2600 ~ors~-power; an'd of gold 455 horse-power. Electro-platmg IS one of the staple ~anufactures of Sheffi~ld and of Birmingham. There are nearly 200 firms workmg at the former place, and over 100 at the latter.

The decomposing bath. and the arc furn~e are reyo­lutionising many ind~str1es. Pho~p~orus 1s now bemg produced in England m l~r~e q~ant1t1es f~om 7orundrum, and aluminium from baux1te 1s ex tendn;1g 1~ use an~ being reduced in pri~e. .The Post Office IS usmg ~lumt­nium for telephone o1rouits. I have recommended 1ts use on a very large scale in the interior of Africa, wher~ ~rans­porb is so costly. We can g~t the same conduct.Ivity as with copper with half the we1ght, and at a less priCe, and we oa.n put up a line telegraphicalJy ten times better than of iron for less money·

D T he Annihilation of Space. -The elements of Volta and 'the battery of Gal vani-zinc? copper, and a solutio_n of sulphuric acid-gave a _convement gen~ra.tor of electr:-c currents which could be dtrected along wtres to great dis­tance3 ~nd thus, by establishing magnetic fields1 could defteot needles in such a way as to form the alphao_et nnd so transmit words and, therefore, thought. In wtres of

reat length while the initial speed is that of light, it fakes time f~r the electric waves to rise and fall, so that the number of currents which can be sent per second is limited. Between L ondon and Liverpool the speed of speaking _is _virtuall_y unlimited, but between Ir~land and America It IS restricted by the so-called capa01ty of the cable submerged in the ocean. This capacity absorbs energy and retards the rate of rise and fall of cu~rents. While a. thousand currents per second can be sent m the former cMe, only six per second are available in the latter. .

Nevertheless sitting on the shore of the Atlant1c in Ireland or{e can manipulate a magnetic field in Newfoundiand so as to record simu~taneously on p\per in conventional characters slowly wntten words. Thus we have bridged the ocean and annihilated space. We do this on a smaller scale in our own domestic circles when we press a button and ring a bell in our servants' quarters. The sound of a bell and the drop of an indicator is a. message-" You are wanted in the dra.wing-room.,. ~h~n the button is supplemented by the telephone, as I t 1s m so many houses now, you can speak your message, "\Ve want coals , and thus the servant is saved two journey_s, and you have gained some time. Telegraphy is t~us established in our homes. Ib becomes part of our daily life, not only in o_ur domest~c circles, _but in our urba_n requirements and m our busmess relattons. N ot only 1s speech reproduced, but handwriting also. Town is con­nected With town and nation wi th nation. L ondon and Paris Paris and Berlin, Berlin and Vienna, speak to each other' with clearness and distinctness in ordinary lan­guage. The scattered British Empire is linked together. London and New Zealand are in communication with each other. All the world is joined in one unbroken whole, and we read on our breakfast- tables every morning the events of historv made yesterday arid the present condi­tion of our .friends in every quarter of the world.

The regulation of the ever-growing traffic on our rail­ways and the safety of passengera is secured by similar means. The telegraph not only places the manager of the line in communication with every station upon his system, bot electric signals control the motion of every train. Trains are keptJ apart by a considerable space. Collision would be impossible were the human willmfal­lible; but the world is made up very much of fqols and temporary maniaa We all do at times wha.t we ought nob to do. The annual return of violent deaths is an interesting document. When in England alone 138 persons choke themselve3 at their own tables, and 765 die by faJling downstairs, we must not condemn the ra.ilNay signalman, who is responsible for the death of only 58 in 1898. A railway signal-box is an elec· trical exhibition. Every line is protected by its own electric signal. Every distant outdoor mechanical signal is rep88tted back. The danger signal is locked and cannot be lbwered to '' line clear , until it is unlocked by the train itself or by the distan b signalman. Mr. F. W. \V ebb (Member of Council) is not only working the out­door signals thems elves b1 electrical energy, but he is moving the points and swttches by the same means. So far, the experience gained at Crewe during a. period of about twelve months, from the working of a signal cabin containing ab::mt 60 levna h!ls .been such as to justify confidence and the extension of the system, and some 10 cabinR containing about 1000 levers will be provided. The apparatus has been designed to work in with, as far as possible, the standard signalling apparatus of the London and North-Western Railway. The interlocking frame may be said to be the ordinary mechanical frame in minia­ture, occupying one-third of the space. The levers­abou_t 6 in. i!l length-are placed in two tiers, and are mampulated m the same way as the levers of a mechanical frame, consequently the signalman accustomed to the old type has nothing to learn in the new. T he levera are mechanically looked by means of tappet looking, and they control carbon switches by which the 110-volt electric current is transmitted to the motors.

The objecb of this electric working is pri~arily to ~duce the manual labour of the signalman and enable h1m to pay more attention to the movements outside his cabin; ~noreased speed of working; the removal of obstruottous on the grousd caused by the numerous wire and rod connections ne_cess~tated by the presenb system; and, finally, a reductiOn m the number of signalmen employed.

:,rhus el~trioity adds to the security of life. It sup­p~es the railway man with a new sense, and the engineer With a new power.

The abridgmenb of time necesearily follows from the • • •

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

annihilation of space, but the chief element which ~~ves our time so much is the fact tha t we can, by electnmty, do so much more from one spot. Indeed, in the United States the railway companies complained that their revenue between New York and Chicago suffered through the introduction of the telephone. P eople remained at home and did their business by wire.

lb is very curious, ~hen visiting th_e U nited States, to find that their mormng papers contam extracts from our London evening papers of the same day. One frequently receives messa&"es in Engla~d that were s~nt off to­morrow. This IS due to the difference of longitude.

Wireless telegraphy-or, as it ia better term~d, f.e theric telegraphy- has made but small progress, owm g to the simple fact that the demands for its services are so very few. There is no commercial business in it.

T he fascination of electricity and the sensation of break­ing down space by apparent magical means, have led to much gratuitous ad verti~ement on t~e part of_ the press. I wrote in 1888 "The mfluence which eleotnc currents exert on neighhouring . wires extends t<;> enormou~ di_s­ta.nces, and communications between trams ~nd shi~s. m motion, between armies inside and outside bes1eged 01t1es, between islands and the mainland, has become possible without the aid of wires at all by the induction, which is exerted th rough space itself."

The Posb Office has for 16 years been developing this system. Several extensions are now in hand.

(To be continued.)

ON MYSTERIOUS FRACTURES OF STEEL SHAFTS.*

By Signor R. SoHANZER, C.E ., Terni S teel W orks, Terni, Italy.

THE phenomenon of sudden and unexpected fractures in steel, and particularly in shafts and other steel struc­tures which have been subjected for a considerable-length of time to shocks and vibratory stresses, i~, no doubt, of a most perplexing character, and has, therefore, attracted the attention of many among the most authoritative inves­tigators. Nevertheless, the question is as yet very far from being solved, and many sides of the problem are still lacking satisfactory explanation. In fact, the mysterious fractures alluded to can be said, after all, to represent nothing else than so many cases of more or less marked brittleness, i.e., of a phenomenon which our present knowledge is quite inadequate to account for, except in a very limited number of cases. Moreover, another very star tling feature of the ph-enomenon ought to be noticed; very frequently sudden fractures are produced in steel shafts, as well as in other engineering structures of ~teel which have been accurately tested before use, the ordi­nary physical tests having uniformly pointed to the best quality of metal ; after such a structure ha-s been work­ing continuously for several yeard in the most satisfac­tory manner, fracture suddenly occurs ; no g radual, visible deterioration having afforded any indication of coming danger up to the very moment of the failure. _ In this latter respect the question is very closely related to thab of fatigue, which forms, no doubt, one of the most important and, at the same time, one of the most disputed problems to be met with in the stud' of the resisting pro­perties of metals. In fact, notwithstanding the very valuable work of W ohler, Sn Benjamin Baker, P rofessor W . C. U nwin, and many others, and the recent a.nd ex­tensive research~ of Mr. Thomas Andrews on the dete­rioration of metals by fatigue, the matter can by no means be considered as settled.

To q uote but a. single instance, it is still a disputed question whether vibratory stresses far below the elastic hmit of a given metal may be capable of modifying its microscopic structure ; however, for the purpose of the present paper it is not quita necessary to answer such a question.

There is one fact which cannot be doubted in any case, and that is the unquestionable influence of the pre-exist­ing structure, which may be e~ther favourable, or opposed to the effects of that peculiarly dangerous action which is generally known as fatigue. Moreover, in my --opinion the term fatigue is very frequently considered as an easy way to overcome tlie difficulty of accounting for so-called mysterious fractures. In reality, all""known causes of brittleness are favourable to the deterioratiOn of fatigue. Among such causes the following may be quoted : Ab­normal crystallisation, inducin~ internal stress~ by which the metal is rendered brittle; rmmodera.te size of crystals or grains; sharf junction lines or insufficient cohesion between crysta faces; _layers of various impurities a r­ranged in the intercryatalline spaces; microscopic flaws due to different causes, &c.

The object of the present paper is to describe one more of such ca;uses, viz , a particular brittle structure which I observed ·m a suddenly fractured shaft that was pre­sented to me for examinat ion. To tell the truth, a similar structure has already been mentioned in a paper read before this Institution by one of its most eminent members, M r. A. E. Sea ton, t which contains a very valu­able report by Professor J. 0. Arnold. However, in the shaft now mentioned, the par ticular structure alluded to was to be noted under a qmte characteristic aspect differ­ing in some respects from that described by Professor Arnold. At any rate I could not help remarking a rather startling analogy between the two structures.

. * Paper read before the Institution of Naval A rchitects. t "The Oauses of Mysterious Fractures in the Steel

used by Marine E ngineers as revealed by the Micro­scope." Paper read before the Institution of Naval Architects, March 26, 1896, by Mr. A . E. Seaton Member of Council. '

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-Before stating the re~ul ~s of my own observations, I

shall therefore give a short ab3tract of the rep_ort of P;o­fessor Arnold. 'fha.t will avoid many quot_at1ons w_hwh otherwise could by no means be dispensed With. Bes1d~s the remarks of Professor Arnold are of so great . an m­terest that even those who already kn?w t?em Will ?er­tainly not be sorry to have them agam bnefiy recapitu­lated.

A bstract of the P aper of llfr. A . E. Seaton.-In the report mentioned above Prof~ssor Arn_old state~ the re­sults of the chemical and m1orograph10 analysis . of the shaft, and points out the diffe!ent causes to wh10h the failure of the shaft may be ascr1bed. Such causes are the following:

1. To judge from the appearance of the fracture, the ingot from which the shaft was forged had ''piped " to a cunsiderable exten t.

2. A considerable amount of liq uation had certain1y taken place in the metal, as is to be sten from the chemi­cal analysis, which shows that the carbon in the centre of the shaft is 50 per cent. higher than near the circum­ference. Also, the manganese is higher in the ct-ntr~. The phosphorus and s ulphur of the core are three time~ greater in quantity than at the circumference.

3. Besides, we learn from the chemical analysis that even the mean amount of carbon was far too high in the shaft referred to, which had been specified to be of steel con taining from 0.2 to 0.25 per cen t. of carbon, while the mean amount from the figures of TaLles I. and II. gives nearly 0.4 per cent. of carbon.

Also the amounts of phosphorus, and especially of sul­phur, are far from being sa.tisfactory. T ABLE I.-Sample taken at the Circwmf erence of the Shaft

Examitned by Professor A rnold. Per Cent.

Combined carbon .. . . . . .. . . . . 0. 310 Silicon . . . . .. .. . . . . . . . . . . 0. 037 Manganese . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0. 828 Phm~phorus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0. 058 Sulphur... . . . . .. · .. . ... . .. 0.055

T ABLE !I.- Sample taken at the Ceat1·e of the Shaft Exam,incd by Projes~or Arnold.

P er Cent. Combined carbon . . . . . . . . . . . . 0. 470 Silicon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . :- 0. 031 Manganese . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . 0. 986 Phosphorus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.167 Sulphur . .. ... ... ... . . . 0.150

4. While in ordinary s tet lo t.ha two constituen~ of steel, viz , pear lite (or ·'steel, , a-s ib is termed by Pro­fessor Arnold in the reporb referred to), and ferrite (or ''iron ") are more or less mingled and interlocked with each other, which circumstance, of course, is favourable to the tenacity of steel, in the case of the shaft examined by Professor A rnold the areas of " iron " and "steel , are not interlocked ; and furthermore there are "sharp junc­tion lines between the two constituents," which are ''always liable to rupture under vibratory stresses, be­cause the cohesion or adhesion is inferior t o that of inter­locked constituents."

The structure referred to by Professor Arnold is re­produced on the micrographs appended to the paper of Mr. A. E . Sea:ton ('fransa_ct10ns, vol. xxxvi_1., 1896t plate xxxv.). F1g. 2 (magmfied about 23 dtameterSJ gives a general view of the structure, Fig. 3 (the same st ructure magnified 170 diameters) is better adapted to show the marked separation of constituents and the sharp junction lines alluded to. The same might be said of .Fig. 4 (outside of the shaft, magnified 170 diameters), but it should be noted that in this micro-section the pe~rlite is less in quantity as compared with the ferrite, owmg to the smaller amount of carbon found near the periphery of the shaft.

5. The steel contains a certain amount of su!_phide of iron, whose injurious effects are described by Profe~sor Arnold.

6. As already stated, not only the sulphur, but also the phosphorus, is rather high in the s teel examined by Pro­f~ssor Arnold, v:vhich c~tcumstance, owing to the forma­tiOn of phosphide of u on, renders steel very brittle eaeecially so when under vibratory st resses. '

Before concluding this shor t a os tract I would call atten­tion to two features pointed ..... out by Mr. A. E. Seaton 1n his paper. "'

1. The author lets us know that the shaft in q uestion ha.d-shown "fine hair cracks , on its surface. ~ 2. He further refers to another instance where fissures

originated on the surface had gradually extended inwards. ~he ~ractured surface_ of the latter ~haft is reproduced m Ftg. ~ (TransactiOns, vol. xxxv1i., plate xxxvii.). The draw10g shows a circumferent ial zone of dark sue­faces, which, instead of presenting the granular appear­ance of fractured steel, are quite smooth, owing to the fact that they were not produced by fracture but are due to the spreading of pre-existing cracks, pr~vious to the failure of the shaft.

Results of Exa;mination of a Steel Shaft having stqJ­ported the Flywheel of a P late-R olUng Mtll.-'l'he shaft forming the object of the present paper was supplied about eight years ago by a £rat-class French firm and worked satisfactorily for the whole time, till it was r~moved (some months ago), owing to a deep crack which had suddenly appeared on its surface. -Moreover, the whole surface of one <;>f the necks was covered by very fine hair cracks runnmg very close to each other, parallel to the axis of shaft; these cracks were v~ry ~l~arly seen on the surface of . the shaft ; they . are sttll v1s1b!e on the photograph (F1g. 1}, thou~h I d1d not succeed m reproducing them as clearly as I w1Shed to do.* )

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*Unfortunately, these cracks can hardly be seen in the engraving taken from the said photograph •

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E N G I N E E R I N G. The fractu~e of .the piece showing these hair r k · 1 b · · represented m Ftg. 2, and shows dark smooth cs~~f s lS resem led that of the shaft whlCh I was examming, I

similar to those which were already noticed by 1\Ir AacEes ctould not but find a very startling analogy between the

tu~e seen .in Fig. 4 can be said to be formed of dark and b~1gh~ str1pes alternately, and very elongated, in a given d1rect10n. The da~k stripes .are readily seen to be formed by a ground of f~rn.te on wh1ch small areas of pearlite are very densely d1stn buted; the bright stripes are pure ferrtte.

S t th f t f . . · . w0 cases.

ea on on ~ rac ure o another shaft shown as will b 0 h · · reme~bered , m Fig. A (Transactions vol. xx~vi i plate b n ~de ~ther hanid, a verr 1mportant d1fference was to xxxvu. }. ' ' e th no a once. n the m1crographs of Professor A rnold

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e structure was formed of p1tches of pear lite, irregularly

~w. 4. 0n'3 c f the Firat Five S1mpl~s (P0lished Parallel to Axts of Shaft. Vertic ll Illumination. ~l !lgnified 20 Diameter~ .

Fre-. I. Broken Shaft: Lateral Surface showing Hair Cracks.

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F n:. 5. Diagram showing the Posit ion of 36 amples for Microscopic Examination and 12 ~hm pies for Chemical Analysis.

Fru. 2 Broken Shaft: F ractured Surface. F w . 6. Sample P olished Normal to A xis of Shaft.

:Magnified 20 Diameters .

After thEse prdiminary nmarks, we may pass to the general~ xamination of the shaft, beginning with the

ftiicroscopic Ex<t.rn.ir~ation. -Sam pies were fi rst taken from the broken shaft without any preconceived plan, and with the sole purpose of getting a general idea of the structure of the metal. A segment marked A (see .Fig. 2) was detached from the fractured surface ; the said seg­ment was divided into pieces by fiv~ parallel. cuts, as shown in Fig. 3 ; £naUy, five of the p1eces obtamed were polished on the plane surfaces generated by the saw. These a.s is to be seen from ~'if!. 3, happened to be parall~l to the axis of the shaft. Under ~he. microscope the five sections showed a very characten stte structure, reproduced in Fi~. 4 (magnified 20 diameters).

T he first thing I remarked was th~ pronounced sepa­ration of constituents, the effect of wb1ch upon the restat­ing pro{>Srties of the metal has been already mentioned when discussing the report of Professor A rnold.

It was just this marked separation of ferrite from pea.rlite, which recalled to my mind the aid report, and, considering that the samples referred to by Professor Arnold came from a shaft whose history, in many points,

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Sed::uJn normal/~ a:x.u tlj.J':2.f!::_ .,_ 1,. :I.:L,. &o . cuts of the saw

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5

• '--:-- -- _ __j_ __ ._ _ __.~.. __ L--~

1 2 3 + FH:. 3. D iag ram showing how the First 5 Samp~es were ta ken.

NoTE.-All the micrographs rapresent samples polished with rouge a nd unetched (with the except i0n of the s!lmple shown in Fig. ~0 ), seen under vertical illumination.

d istribut~d upon a gr~und consisting of ferrite. (See Transaction~, vol. xxx vu., 1896 ; plate 35, Figs. 2 and 3).

The appearance of the structure shown in Fig. 4 lS quite different. 'eparation of constituents is to be noted here, as well as in the instance dealt with by Professor Arnold, but it is effected in a different way. The struc-

In both of the structures referred to (viz. , that dealt with by Professor Arnold, and that observed by me) we remark separation of const ituents, shown on a micro-sec­tion by areas of alternately bard and soft metal; this con­dition, forming the common feature of both instances, is, as already remarked, very favourable to brittleness. But

two important differences are to be noted between the two structures : the first relates to the constitution of the bard areas, the second regards their shape. The soft areas are formed in both cases by ferrite ; but the hard areas are formed of pure pearlite in the shaft examined by Professor Amold and of pea.rlite mixed with ferrite in the other instance.

In other word~, the hard area~ are harder in the case

E N G I N E E R I N G. graphs obtained by P rofeesor Arnold, where pearlite forms irregular patches spread out upon a ground formed of ferrite. Ib ought, however, to be stated that the micro­graphs of Professor Arnold represented sections normal to the axis of the shaft, while Fig. 4 is a section parallel to the axis. Now, I think, such a fact can fairly well account for the difference observed. Indeed, supposing that, in the shaft examined by Professor A rnold, pearlite

way as those of P rofessor Arnold, i e. , normally to the tt.xia, would not show the stripes noticed in Fig. 4. Now, the results of microscopic examination proved conclusively that matters lay just as I had anticipated.

Fig. 5* shows the positions of the different samples for microscopic examination, that were all taken in proximity to the fractured surface.

As is to be seen from this diagram, the samples were

Fro. 7. Another Point of the • ame ample. :Magnified 50 Diameters.

F w . 8. Sample N o. 1 (see Fig. 5). * Fm. 9. ample No. 3 (see Fig . !5). ·1· Fw. 10. Sample No. n (see Fig. 5). *

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Fm. 11. ample No. 12 (see Fig. 5). t F ro. 12. ample No. 13 (see F ig. 5). * FIG. 13. Sample No. 15 (see Fig. 5). t FIG. 1-!. ,"ample No. 22 (see Fig. 5). *

Fro. 15. Sample No. 24: (see Fig. 5 ). t FIG. 16. ~ ample No. 26 (see Fig. 5). * Fw. 17. Sample No. 27 (see Fig. 5).1· FIG . 18. Sample No. 34 (see F ig. 5).

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Fro. 19. Sample No. 36 (see Fig. 5).1· FJG. 20. Structure of a. Brittle Plate. S lightly etched with liquorice roots infusion. Magnified 50 Diameter s.

* Polished parallel t o axis of shaft. 1'Iagni fication : 20 diameters . t P olished normal t o axis of shaft . Magnification : 20 diameters.

referred to by P rofessor Arnold than in that examined by me. This first difference is very simply accounted f~r by .the different carbon percentage, which is much btgber m the shaft examined by Professor Arnold. T~e second difference relates to the shape of the areas.

As ts to be seen from Fig. 4, and as will be more com­pletely proved later on, the stripes of alternately bard a~d s~ft metal are all elongated in one and the same direot10n, which is by no means the case with the micro-

was to be found in the shape of solids elongated in the direction of the axis of the shaft, a normal section ought to show the appearance seen in the micrographs of Pro­fessor Arnold, whilst a section parallel to the axis would have shown the hard areas (pure pear lite in that particular instance) in the shape of elongated stripes, preCisely as is the case with the abaft examined by me. On the other hand, if this vie w of the matter be correct, it would be expected that sections from my shaft, taken in the same

grouped three by three, and of the three samples of Each group. One was polished on a plane surface parallel to the axis and to the radius of the shaft>. Anotlier sample was polished on a plane surface parallel to the axis and normal to the radius. Finally, the third was polished normally to the axis of the shaft. Corresponding to each group a sample was taken for chemical analysis.

Microscopic examination showed that between the two first samples of each group (both polished parallel to the axis of the shaft) no eesential difference could be de­tected.

The 24 samples of this class showed a. quite noticeable similarity of structure. The said structure, as I bad ex­pected, IS perfectly analogous to that shown in Fig. 4,

I and it is developed with a quite striking uniformity in all the 24 samples polished parallel to the axis of the shaft.

On the other hand, as I had anticipa ted, in the 12 samples polished normally to the axis of the shaft the parallel stripes are no longer to be seen. There are bright areas formed of pure ferrite, dark areas formed of pearlite mixed with fernte, exactly as in the 24 samples {>reviou~ly alluded to; but neither the dark nor the bright areas assume the shape of elongated stripes, as is to be seen at once from Fig._ 6 (magnified 20 diameters). The bright areas seen in Fig. 6 are nothing else than the transverse sections of the solids (formed of ferrite) whose longitu-

* Fig. 5 represents diagrammatically a cross-section of the shaft, very near to the fractured surface. The thick lines represent the intersections of the polished surfaces of the samples with the plane of the section. The hatched 9uadrangJes repr~sent samples polished normally to the ax1s of the ehafb, t .e. , parallel to the plane of the figure.

566 E .. N G I N E E R I N G. [APRIL 27, 1900.·

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• T AB LE III.-CaEiUICAL ANALY IS OF SAMPLES SHOWN rN F IG. 5.

I

3. I Sector. 2. 1. 4. 5. 6.

s tructure, o~s~rved in the ~haft referred to, could by no means be origmated by fatigue, though it .certainly was favourable to the development of deterioration of fatigue under the prolong~d act10n of vibratory stresses.

L et us now constder the second disease noticed in the shaft: _the high.phosphorus percentage.

- -- Circum-Centre. Centre. ference. Oircum- Centre. ference.

Ciroum- Centre. Circum- Circum- Circum­ference.

I t might. poss1uly_ be advanced. that in both shafts phos­phorus bnttle~ess was the ch1ef cause of the fracture. Phosp~orus brtttleness D?ay certainly have played a parb even With the shaft formmg the objec~ of this pa.per, the phosp~orus contents o~ the la t ter bemg unquestionably exce~I ve, though considerably lower than in the shaft exammed by P rofessor Arnold. But, on the other hand the deleterious mechanical effect of a structure such ~

c 0.160 0.160 •• • • 0. 165 0.170 0.155 bi 0.175 0. 175 • • .. ' I 0.175 0. 199 0.176 s 0.023 0.026 • • • • 0.030 0.027 0.030 Ph 0.083 •• • • 0.100 0 08i 0 099 0.091 Mo 0. 460 0.460 •• • • 0.450 0.450 0.450 I

T ABLE IV.- A nalysis of E ight Samples ta 7cen along a Radius of the Shaft .

Sample.

1 (Centre) 2. . . . 3 .. 4 .. 6 • 6 .. ..

• •

••

• •

• •

• •

• •

• •

• • • •

• •

• •

• •

• •

• •

• •

• • I .. • • • • • •

b (Circumference) ..

. 0. I

0.] 65 I

0.165 0.165 0.165 0.165 6165 0,170 0. 170

Si. I s. Ph. Mn.

0 164 0 038 0.095 0.500 0.175 0.026 0.082 0.500 0.181 0.030 0.090 0.510 0.181 0.023 0.095 0.500 0.181 0.023 0.095 0.500 0.199 0.031 0.0~0 0.5GO 0. 175 0.03~ 0.098 0.500 0.193 I 0.028 0.089 0.610

ference. ference.

0.160 0.160 0.160 0.199 0. 187 0 210 0.028 0.025 0.025 0.094 0.093 0.095 0.450 9.410 0. 450

--

Centre. ference.

0.160 0.16() 0.146 0.176 0.024 0.030 0.0 7 0.101 0. 450 0.450

Centre.

0. 155 0.164 0.025 0.091 0.450

0. 160 0 170 0. 023 0. 100 0.450

C?mposition is ve~y unifo~m; therefore, one of the pos­Sible causes. of fa.tlure whtch was found in the ca~e of the shaft examme~ by P rofessor Arnold, viz., liquation, is totally absent m the present instance.

L et us now consid~r the ot~er cause~ mentioned by Pro· fessor A rnold as ~avmg possibly contnbuted to the failure of the shaft formmg the object of his report. T he carbon perc~n tage of the s haft under examination is very low, yarymg from 0.155 to 0.170, i.e. , fa r lower than that found m the shaft examined by Professor Arnold (from 0.310 to 0.470 per cent.), and even lower than had been specified for the latte~ shaft (0.20 to 0.25 per cen t.). As to the

di.nal sections are rElpresented by F1g. 4. the bright stripes of

has b.een described above, can by no means be ov~rlooked, and lS moreover proved by the presence of the hair cr~cks largely . dealt with in this paper. Therefore, I t hmk that the Impor tance of the stratified structure as a. cause of having induced brittleness in the shaft' re­ferred to, is by no means impaired by the fact that another cau~e of brittleness- viz. , high phosphorus-was present m the same metal. It must, however be recognised that the simultaneous presence of high phosphorus and of the stratified structure is perhaps nob al to~ether fortuitous.

Several of t~ese bright areas or patches of ferrite, with the surroundi.ng ground ~ass, formed, as repeatedly st~ted , of a t;nn:ture C?f fernte and pearlite, are shown in Fig · 7, magmfie~ 50 diameters. This structure is analogous to that of the m10rographs of P rofessor Arnold, the differ­en.ce ~etween the two ~tructures consisting, as already s~Id, m the fact that, m the latter steel, which is con­stderably harder, ~he irre~ular patches are formed by the hard metal ( pearh~e) whlle the ground mass consis ts of t he SC?ft one (ferrite). T he reverse phenomenon takes place m the shah under examination, where the irregular patches are for!lled by the soft metal (ferrite), whilst the gro~nd mass 1s . formed by the hard one (a mix ture of fernte and pearhte).

Figs. 6 and 7 represen t the transverse section of the struc tu re, w.hose longitudina~ section i~ shown in Fig. 4. Thu.s, knowmg both the longttudinal and the transverse sect10n of the structure, we are obli~ed .to ~onclude that th~ metal ?f .the ehaft .under exammat10n lS formed of soltds ~ons1stmg of fernte, elongated in the direction of the ~x1s of the sh~ft and embedded in a harder mass, being a mtxture of fernte and pearlite. ·

sulphur (varymg from 0. 055 to 0.150 per cent. in the shaft ~e~erred to. by. P rofessor .J\.rnold), in the pre~ent in.stance It IS met w1~h m a very satisfactory proportion (minimum 0.023; maxtmum, 0.088; mean amount, 0.027 per centJ The phos~horus is rather high in both metals. Nevertbe­les~, the ht~h percentage of this elem~nt which was found at the _{>enphery of th~ shaft deal t with by Professor A rnold l S never reached m the other shaft, which shows a mean ph?sphorus percentage of 0.092 per cent., the mini­mum bemg 0.082, and the maximum 0.101. Besides, it ~bould be no~ed. t~at phosphor~s. _even in high amoun ts, If! far less preJ~dte.Ial to the res1stmg properties of steel, wh~n evenl~ d1stnbuted all over the mass, than it would ~e If found m the shape of masses of phosphide of iron Irregular!~ scattered throughout t he metal.

C~ncluswns.-From the above comparison of the pro­pertles of the two shafts referred to, it is to be clearly seen tha~ there are but two features common to both metals, viz. :

Fig. 20 (m~gni fied 20 diameters) shows anotherinstanoe of the s tra tified structure described. This appearance wa~ noticed on a series of sa.m plea taken from a steel plate w~10h h~d pr~ved uncommonly brittle. As is to be seen, Fig. 20 lS a fau con fi rmation of the dangerous influence of the stratified structure upon the physical properties of steel. It ought, however, to be remarked that, in the plate alluded to, the phosphorus was also found to be as much as 0.081 per cent .

T o ~um. up the experimental evidence afforded by the exammat10n of the two shafts and the brittle plate dealt with, I think that the three instances mentioned concor­dan tly point to the harmfulness of the stratified struc­ture. ;As regards the influence of phosphorus upon the ~ormat10n of the said structure, there is nothing impossible m such an assumption, though it is very far from being proved hy the few instances quoted. At any rate, it is quite clear that the influence of phosphorus would only a~count for the marked separation of pearlite from fer­rite; whilst the arrangement of the eeparated consti­tuents in parallel stripes would be, of course, attributable to the direction of forging, in the case of shaftA, or of rolling in that of plates . . 1. The unfavourable arrangement of constituents dealt

WIth under 4. 2. ~igh phosphorus. percentage (though in the shaft

examt~ed by me the satd elemen t was far from reaching the h1gh amoun ts met with in the shaft referred to by Prof~ssor A rnold). . .

Before concludmg, I now ask the permission of briefly recapitulating the results arrived at, and the suggestions set forth in this research, which are to the following effect:

.In order .to sho w ;he very remarkable agreement of m1crogra.ph1c results obser ved all over the section of the shaft, I app~nd to this paper a series of micro­g r.aphst representmg 12 of the 36 samples shown in F1g. 5. These 12 samples are reproduced in Figs. 8 to 19 page565. '

L et us begin by considering the first point. T he rea­~ons why ~he un~av~>Urable arrangemen t. of constituents, JUSt men t10ned, IS hable to induce marked brittleness in s teel were very clearly explained by P rofessor Arnold in the paper referred to. Besides, I think it ought to be clear to anybody .tha.t sharp j unction lines between two metals of ver:y d tfferent hardness (which was precisely the c~se both In the shaft examined by me and in that referred to by Profes~or Arnold) must necessa.rily cause

· First, the particular structure de al t with in the present paper was obser ved by me upon 41 samples of a steel shaft suddenly broken. Such structure is always char­ac terised by a marked separation of ferrite and pearlite, the latter gathuing, preferably, in given points of the section, so that areas of different hardness are formed.

Moreover, in the case of samples polished parallel to the axis of the shaft, the said areas take the shape of elongated stripes, parallel to the direotion last mentioned. The latter structure gives rise to hair cracks ruaning in the same direct.ion on the external surface of the shaft.

Chemical Analysis.-Bearing in mind the different points alluded to in the report of Professor Arnold I wan~ed to ascertai~ whether any of the causes which, ' in the mstance de~cnbed by Professor Arnold, had contri­buted to the fulure, were to be met with in the present instance, in addition to the unfavourable arrangeme nt of constituents which we already k now to be a f~atu re com mon to both structures. I therefore wanted in the fi~st pl~ce t? know whethe~ there had been liquation ; w1th thts obJect I took a sen es of samples for chemical analysis, both at the centre and near the circumference in ord~r to ascertain whether the chemical compositio~ was umform throughout the mass.t I further took a series of samples on the whole length of a radius of the frac­tured surface. Microscopic examination had shown the utmost uniformity of structure throughout the whole mass of toe shaft. Now, the following Tables- show than a lso the chemical composition is of the greatest desirable uniformity.

T he p receding Tables clearly show that the chemical

* Microscopic examination could not possibly lead to more concordant results. Indeed, tLe difference of the ~wo structures repre~ented in Figs. 4 and 6 respectively IS no doubt a very s triking one. Now, having examined 24 samples polished parallel to the axis of the shaft, there was not a single one to be found where the structure shown in _Fi.g. 4 would not have beon obser ved in a qui te characterlShc way; fur ther, on examination of the 12 sam ples polished normally to the axis of the shaft, all of them sho . .wed the structure represented in Fig. 6 without a single exception.

t As is to be seen from Fig. 5, the cross-section of the shaft was divided into six sectors. In Plat<>..s C and D micrographs are reproduced of two samples from each sector, i .e., one polished parallel and the other normally to the axis of the shaft. In order to show the uniformi ty of str ucture found from the centre to the periphery of the haft, the two samples are alternately taken both an the

centre, or, both at the periphery of the respective sectors M oreover, in order to show that no diffe rence is to be found u~tween samples polished normally, or parallel to the radius, the samples polished parallel to the axis are alternately selected from either of the said categories. The samples polished normally to the radius happening thus to be always taken from the centre, whilst tho.se p olished parallel to the radius ahva.ys corresponded to the outside of the shaft, this rule was inverted in the last three sectors.

t The shavings for chemical analysis were taken at the hack of the respective sectors in the posi tions, shown in Fig. 5 by small triangles bounded by a dotted line, and marked Ch. 1 to Oh. 12. ·

a tendency of the two metals to slip upon each other under vibratory stresses. In other words the surfaces separating the said two substances of very differen t hard­ness are certainly surfaces of weakness.

Now, suppose that the masses of different hardness of whic~ the metal was seen to be formed, assume the sh~pe of soh~s ap~roxim~tel~ re<:tilinear, and very much elon­gated m a g1 ven direction. Of course, such circumstance can but g reatly increase the brittleness. Moreover in this c.ase the i~tersections of the surface of weakness Just menttoned, w1th tbe external surface of the shaft will approximateJ,r ~oinci~e with the generating lines of the latter, thus g1vmg rlSe to cracks parallel to the axis of the shaft. Now, the existence of t he said cracks as well as the stripes of alternately bard and soft m~tal was proved by the exnmination of the shaft. Moreover we ha~e strong reasons for . supposing that the alter~ate str1pes were present also m the shaft examined by Pro­fessor Arnold (the bard metal being formed of pure pearlite in the latter case). Only they did not appear as the sections examined were all taken normally to th~ axis of the shafb.

Secondly, in the shaft dealt with by Professor Arnold, separation of constituents is likewise observed. The bard areas a re formed of pure pearlite.

As regards the cracks alluded to, they were observed by me, not only on the shaft deal t with, but on two more rolling-mill shafts likewise broken by fatigue. In both cases the cracks were parallel to the axis. A lso, Mr. A. E . Seaton alludes to a broken f:haft showing hair cracks on the surface. It would be interesting to know whether the direction of the cracks WM parallel to the axis also in this instance. T hat would be a confir~a.tion of the preceding statements. opposing the v1ews set forth above are correct , another question arises, which i3 of the utmost practical importance: " \Vhat are t he reasons for the particular .. arrangement of constituents described? " U nfortunately, I fear that an answer to th is question cannot be easily obta.ined at the present stage of our knowledge. I shall, therefore be satisfied with simply making some brief remarks o~ this subject. . :

T he stratified structure could, however, not be detected in the shaft examined by Professor Arnold, no samples polished parallel to the axis having been taken from the same. ·

Thirdly, the stratified st ructure re~erred to was found by me to be q uite distinctly developed in a series of samples taken t rom a very brittle steel plate.

F ourthly, the parallel hair cracks indicative of the strati'fied · structu~e. alluded to were. meb with, not polY.jn the shaft al ready referred to, but in two other rolling­mill shafts which were both broken in a sudden and unexplained manner. In both of the latter shafts the direction of the cracks was found to be paralled to the axi~, exactly as in the case of the shaft previously referred to.

Fif thly, the presence of hair cracks is likewise men­tioned in the ca~e of the two shafts alluded to by l\1r. A. E. Seaton, one of which is t hat examined by Professor Arnold, but be does not state whether such cra~ks were, or were not, parallel to the axis of the respective shafts.

Sixthly, nothing can be said a..~ to whether high amounts of phosphorus are favourable to the development of the particular ddective structure describEd in this paper. Nor can any other cause for the production of such a structure be suggested.

Of cour~e, by the preceding statements I do not mean to aRsert thab the structure descd bed in this paper must necessarily be found in every suddenly fractured shaft, for the possible causes of cet erioration by fatigue are of an exceedingly manifold nature. I t i~, however, qu.ite possible that the structure alluded to should be met w1tb not only in the few instll.nces quoted. The fact that sGch a structure has, up to now, escaped the attention of observers is very easily accounted fur. F i1st of all micro· graphic examination of defect1ve structures is as ytt very fa-r from being pract ised in all s uch caSES where lt would be desirable tu do w. Besides, the most characteristic feature of the phEnomenon, i e , the stratified structure, is noted only on samples polished para11el to the axis of the shaft . P erhaps if the method of examination de­scribed in this paper were adopted in other instances of suddenly fractured shafts, a similar structure v. ould be met wi tb in some c~es.

It could, perhaps, be tl;lought obvious to inquire whether the cause of the particular structure~ obser ved should not be sought for in the act ion of fatig:~. That would imply that the vibratory stresses to which 1 the shaft~ was sub­jected, when working, might probably have caused a rearrangement of the microscopic constituen ts of the steel. That, however, would be quite impossible, as the definite arrangement of ferrite and pearlite is complet€d at Brinell's point V, fa r above any temperature attainable by the metal when working, even if strongly heated by friction.

\Ve are consequently led to conclude that the stutified

A siruilar method of examination ought to be alFo applied to other steel structures, a.s pi~ teP, .rails, ~c. Of course, in the latter case the d1rech on 1D which the

•

APRIL 27, 1900.]

samples are to be polished must be modified according to circumstances.*

This line of research would perhaps prove useful, in order to get further information upon the subject d ealt with in this paper. I am quite aware that experimental evidence is needed before the conclusions set forth m ay be considered as definitive. I, however, a m satisfied with having called attention to a series of observations in order to induce others to direct their researches to the same subject, and in the hope thab such researches will supply new evidence in support of the hy potheses I ventured to advancA in the course of the present paper.

WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION CASES. Re An Arbitration between WilUcvm Stranks {.Appellant)

and Samv.el Gv.lliver and Co., Linnitecl. ( R esponclents).­Tbis case was heard by His Honour Judge Marten on Wednesday, January 17, a t the Aylesbury County Court. It raised a.n interesting question as to what constitut~s a. claim for compensation within the meaning of the Act. It appeared that an arbitration under the W orkmen's Compensation Act, 1897, was by a.n application, dated October 23, 1899, on the p art of Willia.m Stranks, re­quE'sted between him and Samuel Gulliver and Co., L imited, as to th~ amount of compensation p ayable to William Stranks under the said Act in respect of personal injury caused to him by a.n accident arising out of and in the coul'3e of his employment as ca.skma.n under the respondents, of Nos. 13 to 17, Kingsbury, Aylesbury, wine and spirit merchants, on February 9, 1899. At the bearing a preliminary objection was taken on the part of the respondents that the application was out of time. On behalf of the applicant a. notice dated August 3, 1899, and given by him to the respondents b.efore the .expiration of six calendar months after the acCident (which ha ppened on February 9, 1899), was relied upon as being a. clatm for compensation with respect to such accident within Sec­tion 2, sub.section (1), of the W orkmen's Compensation Act, 1897. The notice was as follows:

''To Messrs. Samuel Gulliver and Co., Limited, of Aylesbury, in the county of Buckingham.-!, William Stranks, of Castle-street, Aylesbury, in the county of Buckingham, one of your employes, hereby give you notice that on the 9th day of F ebruary la-st, while in your employ and on your premises, I met with an accident whereby I sustained an injury. The accident happened while I was helping to remove a pipe of wine from a dray by means of a stillion. · In its descent the pipe slipped down the stillion too fast, and, in trying to arrest its pro­gress, my hand was caught between the pipe and the post of the warehouse door, and such accident has rendered two fingers on my right hand permanently useless; and I hereby give you notice that I claim as compensation· from Y.OU in respect of such injury the sum of sixty pounds.­(Signed), William Stranks. Dated this 3rd day of August, 1899." No objection was made as to the sufficiency of notice of the accidenti, and the only question of de termi­nation being whether the above-mentioned document of August 3, 1899, was a claim for compensation within the Act.

In the course of his judgment, after alluding to the facts, His H ononr said: The time limited by the Act for taking proceedings is, by reference to the date of the claim for compensation, which must be made within the six months. It was argued that, if the claim for com­pensation was sufficient to preserve the right, proceedings might be delAyed by t he claimant, so as to prejudice the respondent by possible loss of evidence, or in other ways. It appears to me tha.t, as the Act provides for the settle­ment of the question by arbitration, any person against whom a claim was made migh~, in case of necessity, bring an action for compellin~ the arbitration to be had. This inconvenience may extst in any case in which a. demand is made and not immediately prosecuted. I think that a muoh greater incon venience might b~ felt if it were held that under the A ct not only must the claim be made, but an arbitration must also be sought within the six months. But, at all events, I think that the objectiOn is not sufficient to affect the construc­tion of the Act. ·It was also objected tha.t the claim of a lump sum was inconsistent with a claim under the Act. I observe, however, that under the A ct, Schedule 1, s~ction 13, the respondents mig:ht .apply a fter a cer tain t1me for redemption of the habtlity for the weekly payment by the payment of a. lump sum. I may add that in the case of Bennett v. W ord1e and Co., the L ord Justice Clerk, in describing what would be a proper claim, says (Court of • ession Cases, Fraser, fifth series, vol. i., page 855, see page 857) : ''A claim in the sense of t~e statute means askin~ a. particular snm as compensa­tion for the injuries received ." I think that the claim of a particular sum is convenient, so that the person agains t whom the claim is made may know that be can settle, if he. t~inks fi.t., for that sum. U pon the whole, I am of op1mon that the preliminary objection fails. Therefore, by my award, I declare that the respondents are liable to m~ke compensation to the applicant for the inj ury sus­tamed by him, as stated in his request for arbitration, a.s from December 6, 1899, all compensation to 'Yhich he ~as entitled .up to that day having beeN paid i and I g ive hberty to etther party to apply as he or tney may be

* It has already been remarked that such direction is dependent upon the direction of forging in the case of s~aftll, and rolling in that of plates. R ecent observa­ttons of the writer point to the conclusion that the s trati­fied structure is found also in steel rails. In this case the stripes follow a straighb line only on the web, deviating when t.hey reach the head and bottom, so as to keep approx1mately parallel to the outline of the rail. The results of the observations now mentioned will be pos-sibly published before long. .

•

E :t\ G I ~ E E R I N G. advised; and I order the res{>ondents to pay the costs of and incident to these fnroceedmgs. *

Russell v. H olme.-rhis case was heard by His H onour Judge E dge, at the Clerkenwall County Court. Judg­ment was delivered on F ebruary 20. I t was an applica­tion to revie w the weekly payment of 20s. per week agreed to be paid to the applicant by the respondent under the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1 97. The workman in this case was injured on August 1, 1899, and was wholly incapacitated from following his employment until October 23. Prior to the accident he was work­ing under an agreement of service, by which he had en­gaged to serve the respondent for a period of two years, from October 8, 1898, at a wage of 2t. p er week. After the accident an agreement was come to (nominally with the resp ondent, but really with a.n insurance company with whom the respondent bad insured) that the a ppli­cant should receive 20s. p er week as compensation under the Act during his incapacity. The insurance company paid that sum to the respondent, who paid it to the a ppli­cant; but, in addition, the respondent continued to pay him his full weekly wages of 2l. ; so that up to October 23, when the applicant returned to work, he received 3l. per week , or l l. per week beyond his ordinary wages. It was stated br the respondent that this sum was paid out of compass10n to the applicant, and not as wages ; but a difficulty a,rose as to how far this should be taken into accoun t under Section 1, sub-section 2 of schedule 1 to the Act, in fixing future weekly payments. The re­spondent continued from October 23 to D ecember 30 to pay the applicant at the rate of 2l. per week, but the m surance company declined to pay the 203. per week subsequent to the former date ; and submitted that, as by their p olicy of insurance, they had all the rights as well as the liabilities of the respondent in the matter, and bad the authority of the respondent to use his name in these proceedings, they were absolved from making any further payment to the a pplicant as compensation be­tween those dates.

Mr. P owell appeared for the applicant, and Mr. Scar­lett for the respondent.

In the course of his j udgment, His H onour said: I ought not to recognise the insurance company, as such, in this application, but must treat it a.s if made by the respondent, and must give it the same consideration, and have regard to all the circumstances of the case, as if the respondent wa-s alone seeking te re view the weekly pay­ments. The applicant resumed work on October 23, but was unable, and still continues unable, to do the work he did previous to the accident, which appears to have seriously affected his eyesight. It i~ said, ~nd I have no gro,md for questioning the statement, that for a month afterwards be was not worth much; but he was a.n old and valued servant, and consequently the respondent continued to pay him the 2l . p er week until D ecember 30 last, when he gave applicant notice that be was obli~ed t ) reduce a pplicant's wages to 30s. per week, that bemg wba.t be considered the applicant was able to earn. Consequently, the applicant has, since he returned to work, and up to D ecember 30, continued to receive from the responden t the same wages as he received prior to the accident, and has therefore not suffered any pecuniary lo~s. It may be that he did not earn the whole of the 2l., but bearing in mind that this is an application against the respondent, that he generously give applicant 2l. per week for neorly three months from the date of the accident when he was not earning any­thing, and that I have no e vidence as to his precise earninS' capacity from October 23 to D ecember 30, I do not thmk I ought to make any order upon respondent for payment of any further snm between those dates. From D ecember 30 there is no doubt that the applicant has been unable t o earn what he was able to earn before the accident by 103. per week, and the q ues­tion is whether the weekly payment should be dimi­nished to tha t sum or to some lesser amount. If I reduced the amount to 10s. per week, the applicant would receive the same amount of wages as he received before the accident, and it is submitted by the learned counsel for the respondent that that would be contrary to the policy of the A ct, which contemplates a division of the loss be tween the master and the workman. The word­ing of the Act, Schedule 1, sub-section 1 (b), is somewhat confusing, as it treats of total apd partial incapacity on the same footing; but in either case the Court cannot give more than 50 p er cent. of the workman's average weekly earnings, and not exceeding 20a. per week. If, therefore, this had been an original application under that clause for partial incapacity, I should have been precluded from giving more than 60 per cent. of the appli­cant's weekly earnings ; and in fixing the weekly pay­ment, I should have, under sub·section 2, to have regard to the "difference between the amount of the a.ver:1ge weekly earnings of the workman before the accident and the average amount which h e is able to earn after the accident," &c. In my judgment this shows the inten t ion of the Legislature to be that not more than one-half the loss should be borne by the employer; otherwise this result would follow- that a. workman totally incapaci­tated could only recover one-half his average earmngs, n,ot· exceeding 20~. per week, whilst a workman partially incapacitated only might recover his full wages, as in this ca@e. This being my view of the provisions of the statute, I award that the weekly payment be reduced to 5s. per week as and from D ecember 30 last.

Bradbtvry v. Bedworth Coal and Iron Company.-This was an appeal from His Honour Judge Wightman W ood, sitt ing at Nuneaton. The appeal came on for hearing on Saturday, March 17. It appears that the appellant, Brad­bury, was a collier in the employment of the respondent

• The principle laid down in this case over-ruled by the Court of Appeal.

has n ow been

-

company. While a.t work a.t the colliery on July 28 he received a.n injury to his eye. H e then ceased work, and on August 22 handed a document in the following terms to the responden t's manager : "My wages for the time worked as data.ller (sic) and stallman and header during- the past year have a.\.-eraged 53. 3d. per day, and between~ and 5 days average per week. My cla im upon the company is from Friday, August 12, inclusive." The respondents 11.greed to pay him 12~. a week, and did so for stx weeks. He went back to work on September23 at the same wages as before. He was dismissed on November 16, as the respondents had no further work for him. At the begin. ning of 1899 his eye gave him further trouble, in con. sequence of which he made a fresh application for com. pensation on F e bruary 9, 1899. In answer to this the respondents contended that it was a.n application out of time. The learned County Court Judge found, inter alia, the following facts : (1) Tha t the parties had come to an agreement in set tlement of the claim on August 22, 1898. (2) That the agreement was that the appellant should be paid 1 2:~. a. week to be paid in accordance with the Act, and that he should be in the same position as if a.n award to that amount had been made in his favour. (3) That on September 23 the weekly payment was " reviewed " wi thin the meaning of the Act. (4) That it was not withi n the contemplation of the parties that the incapacity might prove intermittent. He gave judgment for the respondents.

Mr. R . M. Bray, Q.C. , and Mr. Chitty appeared for the appellant, Mr. Ruegg, Q.C., and Mr. F. W. Sher­wood for the respondents.

In the course of his judgment, L ord Justice A. L. Smith said: The short question for our determination in this case is: What constitutes a claim within the mean ing of the Workmen's Compensation Act ? [After alluding to the facts as set oub above, his lordship said.] It is clear that in this case the so.called claim of August 22 wa.s nothing more than an agreement for payment of compensation. Thab is not a. claim within the meaning of the A cb. The appeal must be d ismissed.

L ord Justice Collins a.nd L ord Justice Romer con· curred.

P owell v. The ltfain Colliery C01npany, .LVtnitecl.-This was a.n appeal from an award of the Glamorgonshire County Court Judge. It came on for hearing on ~Iarch 17. The respondent (Powell) was injured in a.n accident on December 21, 1898. On May 2, 1899, he sent a notice claiming compensation and a. request for arbitration on October 4, 1899. The County Court Judge made an a ward in his favour. The sole question was whether "the claim for compensation, which by Section 2, sub-section 1, must be made within six months from the accident meant the filing of a. request. for arbitration, in the County Court, or was satisfied by a notice of claim for compensa­tion being sent by the workman to his employers. The importance of the case lay in the fact tha t no less than five other cases in the list depended upon it.

lVIr. Ruegg, Q.C., and Mr. B ertram appeared for the appellants; Mr. S. T. Evans f0r the respondent.

The Court allowed the appeal, L ord Justice Romer di~senting. In the course of his judgment, A. L. Smith, L.J., said: The question involved in this case is one which has given rise to considerable difference of opinion among the County Court Judges. It seems to me that in fixing the time limit for the claim for com~pen~ation, the Legislaturl\ has follo wed the Employers' Liability A ct, 1880. The difficulty in the present instance arises be. cause the Workmen's Compensation Act prescribes "arbitration " instead of "action." By Section 2, sub­Eection 1, of the A ct of 1897, proceedings for the recovery of compensation under the Act are not maintainable unless ' ' the claim for compensation " is made within six months from the occurence of the accident. Is "the claim for com· pensation " satisfied by a mere notice by the workman to the master that he claimed compensation ? Or does ill mean the initiation of proceedings which set in motion the pro­cedure under which a workman recovers compensation? In my opinion it means the latter. The mea uing of the term "initiation of proceedings" may be gathered from Section 1, sub-section 2 (b), and sub-section 3. The claim for compensation will be made when the workman re. qnires the tribunal to assess compensation. Upon any other view of the matter the claim might be bung up, and the master might be made to pay compensation after the lap se of years. I do nob agree with the sta.temenb that the ma-ster may have the matter settled after he has given notice to the workman. The A ct and the rules and forms have all been drawn with a view to the work· man making a claim against the master. If it was in· tended that the master should institute proceedings the Act would say so in plain t erms. In my opi~ion this appeal shou~d be allowed.

L ord Justice Collins agreed. In the course of his dissenting judgment, L ord Justice

R omer said: The words "claim for co~pensation " are reasonably clear in themselves. There must be a. specific claim for compensation, and it must be a claim under the A ct. The section d oes nob say, " unless proceedings were taken for arbitration." I see no reason for departing from the plain words of the A ct. If a. workman gives a notice to the master, making clear the nature of the injuries and thn.t he intends to seek compensation, that to my mind is a. claim. B efore going to arbitration there must be a. difference in existence, and to make a. diffe· rence th ere must be a. claim of some kind. A claim for compensation wa-s the essence of proceedings under the A ct. In my opinion the County Court Judge was right.

A stay of execution was granted, pending an appeal to the House of L ords.

Osborn v. Vioke1·s, Sons, and JJ.faxim.-This was an appeal from His Honour ,Judge W addy sitting ab the Sheffield Co'::lnty Court, who decided against the appal.

lants ~n a. case arising under the W orkmen's Com­pensa.tJOn Act, .1897. 1'he case was heard in the Court of Appeal on April G. The question involved was the right of the employer to an a.bsolute stay of proceedings under the ~et . by reason of. the default of the workman to submtt himself as requ~red for medical examination. It appeared t~a.t the apphcant met with an accident in the cotus~ of h1s employment, an4 wa'3 atten?~d by the com­pany s doctor, Dr. Innes ~m1th, who v1s1ted him from Mar?h 20 to July 17. Durmg that time, although no pro­ceedmgs had been take~ under the Act. weekly payments were made t o the apphcanb. In July, Dr. Smith thought the man was well enough to resume work which he did He.knocked off.work again on August 13, although Dr: Smtth had certified him to be completely recovered on ,J u~y. 21. On November 24 the applicant instrncted his sob01tors t? com~ence proceedings, and the respondents th~n requued h1m to attend for medical examination. Thts he consented to do on the terms that two doctors should be present, their fe~s being p aid by the company. H~ conte!lded that a previous examination by Dr. Sin­clair Whtte had . been sufficient ~or the purposes of the Acb. The hearmg of the arbitration was fixed for ,J a:nuary 5, 1900, and upon t~at d~y the appellants a.p· phed for a stay of proceedmgs In accordance with Clause 3 of Schedule 1 of the Act. The County Court ~ udge ordered that there should be no stay of proceed­Ings~ but that. th~ respondent should submit himself for medical exa.mmatwn, the respondents to pay ll. ls. for such attendance.

Mr. Ruegg, Q.C., and Mr. Arthur Lims appeared for the appellants, Mr. Israel Davis for the respondent.

The Court allowed the appeal. In ~he courEte of his judgment, Lord Justice Collins said:

In thlB case the workman was injured in the course of his employment, an? was paid a. weekly sum of ll., being 50 per c~nt. of hlB average weekly earnings for a consider­able per10d.

Then came the time when the doctor thought that he ~ad recovered from the effects of the accident. Proceed­m~s for compensa.tion were then commenced, no objection bei~g taken by the masters that there was no notice of acCldent, nor that the claim for compensa.tion was made aft~r the expi~ation of ~ix months from the date of the a~Cldent. [Hts lordshtp refe rred to the material sec­tiOns of the Act an~ conti~lUed. ] .T~e workman having started these proceedmgg w1thout gtvmg notice of action and ~fter th~ six months had. expired, now says that: notwithstandmg that he was m default in nob giving notic~ of the accid~n.t, he can now turn round and allege that It. was a. cond1t10n precedent to his examination by a ~edica.l man that he should have given notice of the accident. To my mind that is an impossible position for the workman to take up. In my view the workman takes proceed~ugs su~je~t to .the right of the masters to insist upon his submtttmg himself to a medical examination as required by Clause 3 of Schedule 1, just as if notice of the accident had been ~iv~n.. ~do nop see that the Co~mty Court Judge had any JUriSdictiOn to Impose the condition that the m9:s ters should pay the fee of the workman's doctor for h1s attendance upon the examination ? I do not. say t.hat there ~ay not be very special circumstances which might make 1t reasonable, and it might be almost necessary on account of the workman's state of health to have the workman's own medical man present ab the examination. N o such case has been made oub here. I think this appeal should be allowed.

Lord Justice Vaughan Williams and L ord ,Justice Romer agreed.

Ellis v. Knott. - This was an appeal from the award of Judge Smyly, Q.C., si tting at the Derby County Court, on an application by the appella.n t to review a weekly payment under the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1897. H was heard in the Court of Appeal on April 7. The respondent was employed hy the appellant as a. machinist. Part of the respondent's duty was to work ab a circular saw. While so working on August 21, 1899, one of his fingers were cut off by ~he saw and two others were in­jured. The average weekly earnings of the respondent were 36s. By an agreement the appellant undertook to make him a weekly payment of 18s. as compensation, such payment to contmue "during the incapa01ty of the respondent, or until such time as the same should have been ended, diminished, or increased according to the pro­visions of the Act." In November, 1899, the appellant offered to take the respondent back into his employment at the same wages as before, but the offer was refused. The appellant then filed a. request for arbitration to re­view the weekly payment under Schedule 1, Clause 12, to the Act. The respondent at this time was earning about lOa. a. week at boot repairing and selling newspapers. The County Court Judge said that, in his opinion, the re­spond£mt could not work at the same employment at which he had worked before the accident, or earn ab that employment the wages he then earned. He was of opinion that he ought not to compel a. man to go back to the employment to which he objected to go, although the employer offered to make things easy and pay him his full wages. He further said that the sums which the re­spondent now earned were, in his opinion, no justifica­tion for reducing his allowance. He accordingly made an award refusing to reduce the weekly allowance.

Mr. W. S. Shaw appeared for the appellant ; Mr. C. C. Scott appeared for the respondent.

The Court dismissed the appeal. L ord Justice Collins said : The County Court Judge's

judgment, coming immediately after the ev.id~nc~ w~s given is capable of no reasonable doubt. Hts findmg 1s that the man was no longer capable of earning the same wages at the same work at ~hich he .was employed. before the accident . That work 18, a.ccordmg to the ev1dence, the only work at which he could as a mechanic earn wages of that amount. H aving lost one of his fingers, and two

E N G I N E E R I N G. other fin~ers being injured, the man was not fib to work a~ the cu cular saw. This was the only work offered to htm by the app~llanb. The finding of the Judge waa, theref~re,. 9: findmg tha:t the r;na.n's earning capacity had been dimm1Shed. Havmg arnved at thab fact, everything else follows, and the amount of the weekly payment was for the J udg~ to 4etermine after giving due effect to all proper con~IderatiOns. The Judge has considered the amoun~ whwh the respondent had been able to earn since the ac01dent.

Lord Justice Vaughan Williams and I..~ord ,Justice R omer concurred.

Stuf!'rt v. N ixon. - This was an appeal from an award of the L 1verpool County Court Judge in proceedings under ~he Workmen's Compensation Act, 1897. Ib waa heard m th~ Court of Appeal on A pril 7. The appellant was the. widow of~ dece~ed workman, who at the time of the ac01dent causmg bts death was a stevedore's laboUier employed by the respondents. The main question was whether the ~ul~ laid down in Sysons v. Andrew Knowles and Sons, Lm;uted (16 T . L. R., 250), applied in cases where the ac01dent caused the death of the workman. It appeared thab the deceased was a. casual labourer and h.ad been employed by the respondents for five day~ con­tmuously.at daily wages. On the fifth day he wa~ killed by an acCident. The County Court Judge held that the Act of 1897, by reason of Schedule 1, Clause 1 (a), did not apply, as the deceased man had onlr been employed for five days. He made an award m favour of the respondents. Since the decision of the County Court Judge, the Court of appeal decided. in the case of Sysons v. Andrew Knowles and Sons, Limited (16 T. L . R., 250), that a workman who had been employed for less than two weeks and was injured did not come within the Act, Schedule 1, Clause 1 (b) not being applicable to such a. case.

Mr. L eslie Scott (Mr .. Joseph Walton, Q.C., with him). for the appellant, argued that as the first part of Clause 1 (a) (i) of Schedule 1, gave compensat ion equal to the workman's ea~nings in the employment of the same ~~player dunn~ the three yeara next preceding the InJU!Y, the maxtmum sum not to exceed 300l., and the mmimum sum to be 150l., cases might arise in which no c~lculation was necessary. In the present case no calcula­tiOn was necessary, as the appellant was entitled to the minimum compensation of 150l. The decision in Sysons v. Andrew Knowles and Sons (10 T. L . R ., 250) turned upon Clause 1 (b) of Schedule 1, where the language was different. The County Court Judge was therefore, wrong upon this point. '

Mr. Ruegg, Q.C., and Mr. A. G. Steel, for the res­pondents, were not called upon.

The Courb dismissed the appeal. ~n the course of his judgment L ord .Tustice Collins

said : This appeal must be dismissed. The question is whether the case of a. labourer, who is employed only for one day, taking an extreme case, and who meets with his d~ath by an accident arising oub of and in the course of bts employment on that day, comes within the Act. In the case of Sysons v. Knowles and Sons, the workman who was injured, but nob killed by an accident, had, at the time of the accident, been employed by the same employer for a period less than two weeks. It is Eaid that the observation~ of the Court in that case upon Clause 1 (a) (i ) are merely obiter dicta. and do not decide the present case, and that the appellant is entitled to compensation to an amount not less than 150l. I arrive at the conclusion, taking all the sections and provisions of the Act together, that the L egislature cannot have intended to introduce labourers of this class into the Act. I do not think that the clause presents any difficulty of construction at all. Its meaning i~ reasonably simple. The first part of Clause 1, which deals with the death of a. workman, contemplates that "the amount of his earnings during the said three years shall be deemed to be 156 times his average weekly earnings during the period of his actual employment under the said employer. " The compensation is based upon the average weekly earnings during the period short of three years. That is subject to this, that the employment must have lasted for at least two weeks. I do not say that it is absolutely neces­sary that the workman must have been employed every day during those two weeks, but the employment must be such as to form the basis for the calculation of average weekly earnings. That is the reasoning adopted by this Court in "Sysons v. Andrew Knowles and Sons." It would be most anomalous to bold that a casual workman who was injured by an accident not resulting in death would not be entitled to any compensat ion, whereas, if the workman diE:~d from the effects of the accident, his dependants would be entitled to compensation. If that were the true view of the statute, a workman who, after an accident, lins-ered for some time between life and death, would durmg that time be in a position in which he would not know whether compensation would eventu­ally be payable or not. In my opinion the case is covered by the decision in "Sysons 'l '. Andrew Knowles and Sons."

Lord Justice V aughan Williams and L ord Justice Romer agreed.

P earce v. L ondon and South-Western Railway Com­pany.-This was an appeal from the award of the Sout h­wark County Court Judge in proceedings under the Workmen's Compensation Acb, 1897. lb was heard im­mediately after the above ease. The appellant was a painter in the employment of Messrs. P erry and Co., builders and contractors, who had entered into a. contract with the respondents, the London and outh-W estern Railway Company, to do such work in the way of alter­ing, repairing, and painting the respondents' stations in the L ondon district as they might be directed to do by the district engineer at a fixed schedule of prices. Messra. Perry and Co. were engaged in reconstructing Hampton

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(APRIL 27, 1900.

Court Station, and t~e . appellant, while employed by bbem on the work, was InJured by an engine belonging to the respondents. The app~lla.nt contended that the respondents, thol;Jgh not his ~mployers, were liable to pay com.pensa.t10n under SectiOn 4 of the Workmen's CompensatiOn Act, 18!.17. The Cou.nty Court Judge held that the respondents were not liable to pay compensation beca?se the building of a. station was "no part of or pro~ cess m ~he trade or business carried on by" the railway company, but was ''merely ancillary or incidental " thereto. He therefore made an award in favour of the respondent~. The proviso to Section 4 of the Workmen's qompensa.t10n Act, 1897, which renders an undertaker ha.ble for injuries sustained by workmen employed by a ?~nt~actor, .unless the work is "ancillary," is as follows:

ThiS sectiOn shall not apply to any contract with any person for the execution by or under such contractor of ~ny work which is mer~ly anciJlary or incidental to, and Is no part of, or process m, the trade or business carried on by such undertakers respectively."

Mr. J . D. Crawford appeared for the appellant.

AM1

r.dJf. L ahwson Wa.lton, Q.C., and Mr. R. B. D. n an , or t e respondents, were not called upon The Court dismissed the appeal. · L ord Justice Collins sai~: In my opinion, the learned

County Court. Judge .was right. It would be difficult to find a. better Ill~strat10n ~ha~ the present of work which w~s merely ancillary or lDCldental to the busin~s of a rail way company as distinguished from work which was part ?f the actu~l bu~iness of the company. It is easy in certam cases to Imagme a contract for work which is part o~ the busi~ess or trade of certain undertakers. But it is difficult to Imas-ine such a contract in the case of a railway comp~ny.. It IS difficult t? imagine a railway company entermg mto a contract with a contractor to work their engines upon their line for them. The business of a rail­w~y com panv is to carry passengers and goods. That is their primary du.ty. The erection of a station was no part of or process m the t~ade or bu~ine~s carried on by a railway company. There IS no obhga.t1on upon a railway com­pany, a.pa.!t from any special obligation assumed by them under their Acts, to place a. station at any intermediate spot on their line. Their trade and business is to carry passengers and goods from one place to another. The construction of the station is not part of the main work ~f the ~ompany, but is merely ancillary or incidental to It. It ts, therefore, " no part of or process in the tra<le or business carried on by" the company. The County Oourt Judge wa~ therefore rig-ht.

Lord Justice Vaughan Wilhams and L ord Justice Romer concurred.

F ALMOUTH ART AND INDUSTRIAL EXHIBITION.

THE sixty-seventh Exhibition of the Royal Cornwa.Jl Polytechnic Society, Falmouth, will be held in the SoCiety's ball and adjoining rooms on August 21 to 25, 1900. Medals, pr izes, and certificates are offered in the section of Ornamental Art under the following heads :

Wood Carving.-High and Low Relief. M etalwork.-Silver, Iron, Brass, Copper, Pewter. P ottery.-Ma.king and Decoration, Modelling in Relief

and Casting, Throwing of Object. Printing.-Printing of Books. Bookbinding.-Workmanship. Design, and Ornament. Leatherwork.-Embossed and Incised. L ace Making.- W ork and Design. Art N eedlework.-Ecclesiastical and other Embroidery,

Applique, &c., Work, and De~i_gn. Design.-Furniture, Wall Hangings, Stained Glass,

Inlay, &c. Also in the section of Mechanics, under the heads of :

Stationary and other motive engines, driven by steam, electricity, or other power; mining machinery and appli­ances; domestic inventions and improvements; naval architecture ; other branches of mechanics ; and essays and scientific papers on lighting, sa.nitation, drainage, mineral veins, .dr~ssing of ores, winding machinery, prevention of overwmdmg.

Also in the departments of Fine Arts. Photography, Natural History, Mineralogy, and Chemistry.

All objects exhibited may be priced for sale, and no charge will be made for space.

These Exhibitions have been held nearly 70 years, and afford the best opportunity for making known the merits of inventions, &c., throughout the West of England. The Society waa founded in 1833, on the initiative of the late Mif?s Anna Maria. Fox and her relatives and friends ; and has ever since done good work and given great encouraee­ment in the directions abo-ve indicated, as well as in others. Lists of prizes, entry form~ and all further information may be obtained from the ::secretary, Mr. Edward Kitto, F .R. Met. Soc., The Observatory, Falmouth.

SouTH AMERICAN NAVIGATION.- The Brazilian Depart­ment of Industry has invited tenders for a river naviga­tion service between Monte Video and Cuya.ba., Matto Grosso. Two journeys per month are required for a term of five years. The service would be assisted by a. subsidy.

DIRECTORY Oh' I NDU TRIAL ASSOCIATIONS.- The Board of Trade has published a "Directory of Industrial Associations, " includin~ employers' associations, trade unions, boards of conciliation and arbitration, and work­men's co-operative societies. It includes nob only the associations themselves, but also, in the case of the em­ployers' societies, the local branches, with the addresses of the secretaries. Th~ price is nd., and the work, which runs to 141 pages, can be obtained through any book-seller.

• APRIL 2 7, I 900.]

"ENGINEERING" ILLUSTRATED PATENT RECORD.

CoMPILED BY W. LLOYD WISE. IRLBOTED ABSTRACTS OF RBOENT PUBLISHED 8PBOIFICATIONB

UNDER THE ACTS 1883-1888. Tht number of vietos given in the Specification D1·altuings is stated

in each caae; wM're none a·re mentiDned, the Specification i$ not illtutrated.

Whtn inventions m·e comntunicatedjrom abroad, the .Names, ci:o., of tM Communicators a·re given in italics.

Copi.u of Speciftations may be obtained at the Patent 0{/ice Sale Brcw.c~, U, So~t>thampton Bttildings, Oha1tcery-lan~. W.C., at tM uniform pnce of Bd.

TM date of the advertisement of the acceptance OJ a complete spec•fication. is, in each case, given aJter the abstract, unless the Patent has been sealed, ·when the date of sea-ling is given •.

A·ny ~rson may at a1~y time 'Within t·wo months from, the date oj the advertiument of the acceptance oJ a complete Specifi,cation, ivt notice at the Patent Office oj oppo8ition to the gran'l.t of a ~a01t 01., anv of th~ ground8 mentioned in the Act.

ELECTRICAL APPARATUS. 4121. W. Best, Leeds. Miners• Safety Lamps.

[2 Pigs.] February 24, 1899.-The burner has a domed crown which deflects a current of air on to the flame of the wick and air inlets on its underside protected by a gauze in such manner that the wick end is entirely enclosed by the gauze and dome, an ex­plosion of gas being confined to the contents of the chamber so formed. The lamp is furnished with a glass chimney supported on a gallery, and having a conical upper portion coming near to the top of the gauze cylinder in ":hi?h it is enclosed, ~nd fl~n~ed outward at its upper end, so that 1t 1s securely held m pos1t1on, dividio~ the gauze enclosure into two separate portions. The burner 1s of earthenware, and through it passes n conductor, the

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upper end of which is situated near the inter ior end of the burner . The wick is also enclosed in a condu~tin~ tube, ~be up~er ~dge of wbioh is cutaway so as to form a J?rOJeCtlDg portion .wh1ch 18 .ben t over the edge of the burner, oppostte ~o the co.nduc~mg term m~ ; the lower por tion of the conductor 1s contam ed 1D a recess m the burner and communication with it is e6ta.blished by means of a condudting·rod terminating in t he base of t he lamp. The air supply enters through boles in the ou ter casing of the laml?, a.nd is directed as an annular deflector through the lower por t10n of the gauze cylinder, and down between the inne~ glass and an outer one enclosing its lower por tion, whence Lbe atr reaches t be flame through the gauze below the domical deflector above re­ferred to. (Accepted March 14, 1900.)

10,164. H. T. Simon, Gottingen. Germany. Inter· ruptor for Electric Currents. [3 Figs.] May 13, 1899.­Tbi.s invention relates to interruptors for electric currents, such o.s are employed with induction coils, and comprises a .liquid resist!\nce inser ted in the primary circuit, the cross·seot10n of

. Z.

-Fig.J.

which is considerably reduced at one poin t. The apparatus, according to one form, consists of a leaden vessel shaped like a tumbler, and closed by a lid of insulat ing material, in the centre of which is fixed a glass tube, con tracted at the lower end, but not completely closed, leaving a small perforation at its lowest.

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E N G I N E E R I N G . point . A piece of lead tube is inserted into the glass tube, and the conductors al'e soldered to the outside of the vessel and the lead tube. Other modificati l ns, in which a perforated partition and a bent tube containin~ an air bubble are substituted for the gla.es tube, are also described. The outer vessel contains dilute sulphuric acid, or other conductive liquid . The operation is stated to be as follows : When the circuit is cloafd, a current is set up in the liquid, which passes from one electrode to the other, and finds but little resistance in tbe Lulk of t he liquid ; though at one or more places the oross·aection of the conducting liquid is so considerably reduced that sufficien t heat is generated to evaporate the liquid , and thus to cause an instantaneous interruption, whereupon evaporation immediately ceases and t he liquid reunites and agam closes the circuit. (..d. ccepted J.lfarch 14, 1900.)

5874. Siemens Brothers and Co., Limited, Londou, and A. S. Schloemer, Old Charlton, Kent. Tele­phones. [4 Figs. ] March 17, 1809.- A telephone t ransmitter and re~eiver are combined with a vibrator of known kind, t he whole forming a single instrument the casing of which is furnished with contact keye, so that it may be held and operated by one band ; the keys making contact for the vibrator, and for the t rana-

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1111 I mitter circuits respectively. Alternative arrangements of the connection~ are illustrated in the d ra\vings filed with the pro\i· sional and complete specifications ; and it is stated that the tele­phone transmitter may in many oases be dispensed with, and that the vib rato1· may be placed inside the casing, either at its lower end, or at the top close to the receiver, the electromagnet of whioh may in this case serve also for the vibrator. (Accepted Ma·rch 14, 1900. )

8358. J. T. Niblett, and M. Sutherland, London. Secondary Battery Elements. [8 Figs.] April 21, 1899. - The terminal plates of an accumulator of the" pasted " t.ype are cast, stamped, or otherwise formed out of thin sheet-metal p lates, and the edges have flanges on one or both sides, forming recep· tacles for the active material. '.rbe metal sheets may be smooth and unperforated, or t hey may be perforated, groo,.red, or corru­gated to secure the more perfect adhesion of the active material, which may be further p rotected by slabs of porous ear thenware fi tting within the flanges. These slabs may also ser ve to separate plates of different polarity, in wbioh case they are preferably ribbed or g rooved to facilitate the circulation of the elect roly te.

Fig.Z. f J

. . J.

Ft1f .1.

The plates are fu rnished with lugs by which several of them may be secured to a. common conductor, and are held together by elastic bands, or by r igid bands and elastic distance-pieces to com­pensate for the expan.sion and contraction wbioh ~cours during the forming and working of the battery. Some mod1fied arrange­ments of t he terminals are descr ibed. The flrst claim is as follows : " An electr ic stora~e or secondary battery element con· sisting of a flanged meta.lhc plate Ol' grid, active material or mater ial to be rendered active on the said plate or g rid, and a porous slab or plate for retaining the active material in position substantially as herein before described." (Accepted M an·ch H, 1900.)

GAS ENGINES, PRODUCERS, HOLDERS, &c.

11,041. 0. Ernst and A. PhUips, Frankfort·on· Maine, Germany. Matertel for Purifying Acety­lene. Ma.y 26, 1899.-Tbis invention relates to the ruanufac· ture of a solid bi~thly porous material suitable f?r use in the purification of acetylene, and composed of t he calcmm or other salt of hypochlorous a-cid , together with one or more substances indifferent to the aotion of acetylene, such as slaked lime, cal· cium carbonate, or calcium chloride. A sludge composed of the hypochlorite and the indifferent substance or s_ubs~nces is dried at suoh a temperature that the hypochlon te 1s not decomposed, t he drying being pre.ferably effeo~ed in vacuo_, a solid but highly porous substance bemg t hus obtamed. Accord10g to one method of preparat ion, bleaching powder, slaked lime, and calcium chloride are stirred with water to a sludge or paste, wbiob is then dried as above described. Other methods of pre­paration a t·e given by way of example. The scope of the inv~ntio.n 1s, however, not strictly limited to these methods of applymg 1t in practice. (Accepted .. harch 21, 1900.)

8119. B. N. Bickerton and B. W. Bradley, Ashton­under-Lyne. Starting Gas Engines. ll Fig.] April22,

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1899.-This invention relates to t he starting of gas engines, wherein firing is effected by means of an ignition tube, and has tor object to enable ignition to be effected when the pressure of the charge is comparatively low. For the ordinary upper SUPJ?Ort for the fi ring tube there is substit uted a valve or cock, which, when open, establishes a tine opening, through which the SJ?en t gases remaining in the fi ring tube after exhaust lllay esoape mto t he open air; or the valve may open into a obamber from which a fine opening communicates with the atmosphere. Accordiog to one arrangement the valve is held down upon its seating by a

screw during t he ordinary running of the engine ; but for start­in~ purposes this screw is loosened, and the valve is thereby ral8ed so as to permit the spent gases to escape by way of a fine opening provided by forming in the upper part of the screw a. narrow recess, and allowing the lower part of the screw to fit sufficiently loosely to permit the gases to blow past. The details may, however, be varied to some extent without departing from tbe invention, a.s, for exnmple, by dispensing with the recess and allowing the entire screw to ftt loosely, so as to allow the gases to blow past it. (Accepted March 14, 1900.)

7219. W.J. Crossley and R. D. Hulley, Manchester. Internal Combustion Motors. [8 Figs.] April 6, 1899.­This inven t ion mainly relates to means for governing internal combustion motors, and for admitting, cont rolling, and spraying oil for their fuel. A motor working on the " Otto" cycle is fur· nisbed with a self-acting admission valve which is opened auto· maticaUy by suction caused by the outward charging stroke of the piston every time that a working stroke is desir­able ; when, however, such working strokes are not desirable, this suction valve is not opened, the exhaust valve being mean­while kep t open so that exhaust gases are drawn back into the

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cylinder, and the g reatly reduced suction fails to overcome t he spring holding the admission valve closed. Tbe inventors state that they are aware that t his mode of governing has been pre­viously used ; but that they are of opinion that the special mechanism which they propose to use is novel. The oil is ad· mitted, controlled, and sprayed by a mushroom valve automati­cally openin~ against a spr ing, t he valve stem works in a bored guide which 18 continuet' close up to the valve, and has a recess supplied with oil, whioh when. t he valv~ opens, .commu~icates with a number of small holes m the gmde, so s1tuated m rela­tion to t he air entering the valve, t hat t he oil is t hereby broken into spray. (Accepted Ma1·ch 14, 1900.)

GUNS AND EXPLOSIVES.

1338. W. Brand, Broxburn, N.B. Cartridges . January 22, 1900.-Car t ridges for r ifles, machine guns, revolvers, and the like are provided with a powder wad of cork lubricated with oil, grease, or vaseline, on hoth aides .of which is fttte~ a thin wad of cardboard, j ute, or other matenal. The wad bemg compressed in the car tridge-case expands on entering the barrel, and, it is stated, passes through the same thoroughly gas-tight; hi~her velocity and greater p enetrating power being thereby at­ta.me.dt while th.e lubric~tion keeps the .barrel cool and i.n good condttion, even m bot ohmatea. The ordmary wads coven ng the oork wad may in blank car t ridges be dispensed with. (.Accepted Al a'rch 14, 1900.)

10,071. B. S. Maxim, London. Explosives. [7 F igs. J May 12 1899.-l t is stated to be well known that the products of suoh e~-plosives as cordite and ballistite consist largely of carbon dioxide wbiob by reason of its density and its great heat rapidly erodes the barrel of a gun. For the purpose of diminishing the erosion due to this cause, a resinous or other bydrocarbonaoeous substance is, according t o this inven tion, used as one of the con· stituents of the explosive, the carbon dioxide being thereby largely reduced to carbon monoxi~e \V ben . the. eA-plosi~e is fir~d . The r esinous substance prefened m pract1ce 1s Amertcan resm, mixed with about one·seventb par t of its weight of lubricating oil. The inventor states that be has discovered by experiment that if gun cotton be mechanically reduced to a very fine condi­tion it3 fibres can be readily incorporated with the resinous mat~rial withou t the use of solvents, and pressed into a solid explosive ma!!P, which burns no fa~ter than that made from dis-

570 soh·ed gun cotton, and very much slower than t hat made from pulped gun cotton; and that by suitably proportioning t he ingredients, the rate of combustion may be readily controlled. A still slower burning powder may be obtained by partly diBBolving the nitrated cotton by means of acetone, nitro-glycerine, or other solvent. The ex.Plosive may be form ed into grains, the outer surface of which 1s thus consolidated by the action of solvents, a

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progressively bu rning powder being thereby produced. Pro­greseive action may also be secu red by making t he explosive into blocks or tablets of various fom1s, in one of which the block has concentric annular depressions in each of its faces, with tapered cavities in the walls of the depressions, those cavities on opposite sides of the block breaking joint with each other. (.A ccepted A'! arch 21, 1900.)

14,717. B.S • ..Maxtm,London. ProjectUes. [8 F igs. ] July 17, 1899.-This invention has reference to projectiles such as "Dum-dum " bullets; wh ich are a.daJ>ted to spread or " mush­room " on impact ; and its chief object 18 to overcome the objec­tion t o the use of these projectiles with cordite or other smokeless powder, owing to the fact that in consequence of the high velocity tmpressed on th~ projectile t he lead filling is expelled from the nickel casing, which is retained in the bore of the gun, renderin~ it useless until the casing has been removed. For this purpose,

a hole with an interna.l tle.nge is formed in the n~se _of t he ni?kel casing and the tla.nge is covered by a metal cap w1thm t he oasmg, which ' when the projectile is subjected to t he pressure of the powd~r ga&es, acts to p revent the spreading or ope~ing of the casing at the nose, without, _however, un~uly retardmg tp.e ex­paMion of the projectile or 1mpact. To msure the eftectl\·e ex­pansion or " mushrooming " of th_e proje9tile ?n impact, t ra!ls­verse slits are formed in the casmg, wh10h shts are filled w1th paraffin wax, or other plastic material. (..Aecepted M arch 21, 1900.)

9481. A. Reichwald, London. (F. Krupp, E ssen, Ger­,nam.v.) Envelope for Charg es for Ordnance. May 6, 1899.- This invention has for object t he manuf~cture fro~ a readily combustible material of an envelope_ or casmg fo! h?ld_mg ordnance charges. The envelope may_ cons1S~ of _a fabnc Slmtlar to that hitherto used, but saturated Wlth a. solut10n of a smok~­less explosive such as nitro-glycerine o_r nitro-cellu~ose ; or. 1t may be an explosive film, prepared by pourmg an explo81 ve s?lut1on such as those above referred to on to a plate, and allow1ng the solvent to evaporate. It is stated t hat both ~orms of env~lope are exceedingly combustible, and have pract1eally no residue, while they possess the further advantages t hat the supplemental charge of black powder h itherto requirtd may be dispensed with, and that there 1s no danger of premature explosion of the s~c­ceeding charge in conseque~ce. of the presence of glowmg particles of uncot1sumed fabr1c m the barrel of the gun. (Ac­cepted Jf arch 21, 1900.)

S'rEAM ENGINES, BOILERS, EVAPORATORS, &c.

6382. J . Murrie , Glasgow, N.B. St ea m Engines. March 24, 1899.-Tbis invention has re~er_ence to comp_ound ~nd multiple-expansion steam engines, a.~d 1t_lB stated that It cons1sts essentially m drying the steam dunng 1ts passage to~ard~ and through t he en~ine by the agency of steam generated m an mde-

endent or auxiliary hoiler, working under a higher p~essure than fhe main boiler, the beat being transferred from the·h1gher to the lower pressure steam by means of t ubular or.~ther h~aters, and the condensed steam flowing back to t he auxilia ry boiler by t~e action of gravity · with the result that t he steam from the mam boiler is less subject to condensation, while the extent of the dry ing or superheating to which it is subjected may be regu~te~ with considerable precision. The auxiliary generator may e o the water-tube type, capable of withstanding a11predssur.~hof f:o~ 1 to ~ tons per square inch ; and it may be t.te Wl sa e Y valves discharging into the main boiler or into t h.e atmosphere. The steam generated in t he auxiliary generator . 1s conveyed to tubular steam driers or superheaters near t?e c~lmders, thro'lfh which t he steam is conducted from the mam boiler to t~e cy n ders, and from one cylinder to another. ~en. st~am 1s gene rated at a. higher pressure than t hat at which 1t 1s consumed

E N G I N E E R I N G. and reduced to working pressure by reducing valves, the auxi­liary generator may be dispensed with, the superheated steam being taken directly from the main generator. The claims are as follow : " 1. In improvements in steam motors, the means of utilising the steam from an auxiliary higher pressed boilu or heater to dry or superheat the steam on its way to the motor, substantially as hereinbefore described . 2. In multi-cylinder steam engines the arrangement of reheating or redrying of t he steam flowing from one cylinder t o another by the agency of steam generated in an independent higher pressed boiler as herein­before described. 3. In steam engines working under a reduced pressure by means of a reducin~ valve located between the gene­rators and t he motor&, the u tllisation of the steam under the initial pressure to dry or superheat the steam on t he low-pressure side of the reducing valve by means of the apparatus substan­tially as bereinbefore described. (.4ccepted M a,rch 14, 1900.)

5742. B. B . Lake, London. (Schaff'elr an d Bt{,denberg. J1a-gdeburg-Buckau, Germany.) Reducing Valve. [1 F ig.] March 16, 1899.-Tbis invention relates to a reducing valve com­prising a pair of concentric valves, t he larger of which is pressed down upon its seat by the full difference between the inlet and outlet pressures. The smaller and inner valve is relieved from pre88Ure, as the dimensions of the aperture wherein its cone or plug is guided at the top and of t he passage of t he valve below are alike, while the spaces above and below the valve commu nicate t hrough a port. Should the pressure at the outlet become slightly reduced, the piston will be forced up by the weight of the lever,

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and the small valve·, being free from pressure, will be opened with out meeting with resistance, admitting steam below t he larg-er valve into a space communicating with the outlet only t hrC?ugh .a very small port in t he latter valve, RO t hat the pressure m th1s space is at first practically equal to that a_t the inlet. The ~arger \'alve being t hus relieved from pressure, rlSes under the act~on ?f the weighted lever. I t is stated that tbe novel ~e~ture cons1s.t~ m the employment of the inner valve, which ~ven m 1t~ final po~1t10n is free from l?ressure, while the larger valve 1s not relieved unt1l the smaller one 1s opened ; and the disadvantages of previously known constructions are pointed out. (A ccepted b[a?·ch 14, 1900. )

9310. A. w. Broughton, Bolton. Pistons. [4 Figs.J May 3, 1899.- This invention is especially designed to eff~ct the lubrication of the lower portion of t he pistons of _honzon~al engines. Both t he piston block and cover a_re furmshe~ w1_th openings to admit steam pressure under the p1ston to reheve 1ts weight, by which the st rain on t he piston-rod and t he we!Lr of t he lower sides of the cylinder and piston are shted to be cons1der­ably reduced. The O!Jenings also serve t o admit the ends of p~pes for conveying oil or lubricant, which is supplied by means of p1pes

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communicating with one or more lubricators on the ?utside of the cylinder. The openings are internally connected w1th a channel along which the lubricant flows by a groove or grooves _cut on the face of the piston block or cover , from w~ence the lubncan~ ftows to the lower surface of the cylinder . . It l8 s.ta~e~ that the lDven­tion is applicable to pistons fitted w1th ant1fr10t1on me~l ~h~es, in which case the openings will pass through the an t tfr1ct1on metal. Grooves may be formed round the piston to allow the lubricant to circulate around it. (Accepted Jfarch 14, 1900.)

11,988. B. B . B erman, Ka rachi, India. ~afety Va lve. (2 Figs.] June 8, 1899.- A safety valve, spe01ally de.

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signed fo r use in connection with higb-preesure steam geoerat?rs comprises a bifurcated steam conduit, the upper ,ends of wh1ch

[ APRIL 27, 1900.

are para.l1el and cylindrical ; one of t hese ends is formed into a valve seat, while the other is fitted with a piston adapted to balance the valve. The valve and piston are suspended from the arms of a beam pivoted at its cent re, and the effective area of the piston 11light ly exceeds t hat of the valve, t he latter being nor­mally maintained on its seat under the pressure due to this excess. The piston is, however, fitted with one or more small governing valves normally fi rmly pressed on their seats by sprii:gs, but lift· ing at a predetermined pressure, thereby reducing the effective area of the piston, so that it is no longer able to maintain the valve on its see.t. By this means the use of a heavy spring is avoided, while the valve is stated to be more readily adjusted and controlled than those hitherto constructed. (Accepted March 21, 1900.)

17,756. C. Vanderbilt, NewYork. U.S.A. Locomotive Boner. [5 Figs.] September 2, 1899.-The locomotive boiler comprises a. shell having a cylindrical and horizonta.lJy disposed barrel section, from the outer end of which the chimney project6, a conical wagon top, and a. firebox section inclined downwardly and rearwardly from the base of the conical top. The firebox has an inclined axis, and is eccentrically suspended in the firebox section by means of links at its forward end, and its open end is

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riveted or otherwise secured to the front sheet of the firebox sec­t ion. The ftues extend from the front end of the fi rebox to an inclined flue-plate having a corrugated rim, and they are so in­clined that they are approximately at right angles to this pl~te. It is stated that by this arrangement the strength of the boller is materially increased, the 11evera.I sections being so formed and connected that the strains due to unequal expansion and con­t raction, steam pressure, and other causes are mjnimised and resisted. (Accepted At arch 14, 1900.)

MISCELLANEOUS.

6014. C. V. Burton, London. Pianofort e H a mmers. [1 F ig.] March 20, 1899.-A metal spring is ~:mrved or shaped t o form a. striking head, and is covered w1th t_elt or ot~er yield in,. material which effects the actual contact w1th t he wrre. The sp~ing is provided with dampiog pieces of felt, ~ecured between its adjacent surfaces, and also between the sprmg a~d the gripping device by which it is retained i_n J?OSitio_n ; the In­terior of the curve of the spring may also be Similarly hoed. The

felt upon the striking face of the hammer !s . in gene~alless in thickness than t hat which conc:titutes the ~t~~mg port10n of _the ord inary hammer ; t he stiffness or ft~xJbihtf of ~be sprmg, rather than t he character of the felt fa~mg, bemg rehe~ upon to determine the quality of the blow delive~ed. . The wir~, when struck by a hammer thus constituted, 1s sa1~ to e!DI~ a full mellow note, any vibrations set up in t he metalh~ port~on of. the hammer being effectually subdued by the felt dampmg pieces above described. (Accepted Jfarch 14, 1900.)

7635. A. R tedtnger, Augsburg, Germa ny. Captive Balloons. [4 Figs.] April ll, 1899.- In air balloon~ composed of a cylinder inclined aga1nst t he horizon, such, for mst.a.nc~, as t hose described in specification No. 19,~78, of 18~6,_ os011lattons may be prevented, not by means of the kite or subs1d1ary balloons therein described, but by means of plane or curved surfaces :1.rranged on both sides of the main body of the ballo~n, aod each having one of its longitudinal sides attached to _the g1rdle or b_elt thereof, whilst the other is connected by a ser1es of c~rds wtth the tackle and ring of the basket and with the holdmg-down

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rope. The length of these surfaces is about four tim~s t~eir width, and they extend at least f~om th~ end of_ the cyhndrtcal main body to the centre of the cyhnder ; m S?me 1n_stanc~s a con­tinuous surface may extend all ~ound the gudl~, m wh1c~ cas.e the connecting cords above ment1oned may be disp~nsed wtth_, 1f the weight of the surfac~ be sufticie~t to preve:nt 1t from_ be10g forced u wards by t he w1nd. The tall_ of the ma1_n balloon IS fur­nished w1th a series of conical cases of hght matenal, open at both ends which form wind catchers, and serve still further to prevent osciliations; such wind-catchers may also be suspended from the basket. (Accepted Jiarch 14, 1900.)

UNITED STATES PATENTS AND PATENT PRAO~OE. Descri tions with illustrations of inventions patent~ 1D. the

United ~tates of America from 1847 to the present tune, a.bd reports of trials of patent Jaw cases in the Unit~ S~a~~s,Bm~~rd~ consulted, gratis, at the offices of ENGINBERING, .,o an , e street, Strand.

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