SEPT. 20, 1901.

]
,

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

that the leakage of water would be a source of trouble.

THE INTERNATIONAL ENGINEERING In the Severn Tunnel and in the London tunnels
very little t rouble had been met with from water
CONGRESS AT GLASGOW.
comina throuah the bed, but that could be
(Concluded frorn page H64.)
accou;ted for to a certain extent by the strata
IN preceding issues we have reported the dis- being more or less hori~o~tal ; bu~ one cou~d not
cussions which took place on the first two days be certain as to the conditlOn of thmgs, for In one
of the Engineering Congress in Glasgow. There tunnel upon which he was engaged absolutely no
only remain the discussions on the last day, Thurs- water was met with where a great deal was
day, September. 5th, to complete our account of the expected, and in another instance it was exactly
most successful gathering of the kind ever held in the opposite. As the traffic from Stranraer to
this country. It reflected credit alike on those who Belfast would have to be dealt with by speciallyconceived it, and those who managed it ; and as built locomotives, or special electric engines, the
regards attendance, papers, and discussions, stands question of heavy gl'adients was not of vital importpre-eminent among such meetings.
ance. He thought it would be advisable to go to
the 0areater depth of 150 ft. below the surface. In
SECTION I. RA.ILWA.YS.
two tunnels with which he had been connected
At the meeting of this Section on Thursday, part of the work was through Keuper marl, and a
September 5, 1\ir. John Strain took the chair.
areat deal of trouble had boen experienced from
~ater coming through the joints where it had been
.
TaE IRISH T uNNEL.
hardened by rock being forced up through it. He
A paper on "The Proposed Tunnel between asked whether it would not be wiser to drive the
Scotland and Ireland" was read by Mr. James proposed tunnel in the fonn of t~o t?bes o.r cylinBarton, M.C. Inst. C.E . This paper was pub- dera, something after the f.ashw~ In .which the
lished in abstract on page 335 of our issue of electric railways were now being dr1ven In London.
September 6.
.
He had not gone into t he figures of the strength of
Mr. Mansergh (the President of the Congress) iron and steel lining, but he thought i~ would be
said he had recently been driving 10 or 12 miles in wise to adopt . some such means to get over the
silurian rock, and a good deal of water had been hydrostatic pressure.

met with. He agreed with Mr. Barton that proSir Douglas Fox pointed out that a great deal of
bably under the sea the interstices would be filled the research carried out in connection with this prowith matter which would prevent the water getting posal was due entirely t6 Mr. Barton. The finandown. He thought it was most likely ~hat less cial point was the crucial one, and that need not
water would have to be de~lt with in a tunnel such be now discussed. This was a national work, and
as that described by the author, than in a tunnel he believed the influence produc.e d by the union
nearer the surface. He did not think that the between the two countries would be very great.
drainage heading proposed need be so deep.
Not only were the points proposed by Mr. Barton
Mr. F. W. McOullough (Water Works Engineer, the natural places to cross bet ween the two
Belfast) said that as early as 1890 he had brought countries, but from a commercial point of view the
before the Press in England, Ireland, and Scot- Belfast and Glasgow route was the most important
land a scheme for a proposed tunnel from the north that could be selected. Although at present it was
point of the Island of Magee to Port Patrick, but, suggested that a double tuimel should be adopted,
examining the details of the various routes, he had he thought there was a great deal to be said, and
come to the conclusion that the scheme known as worthy of consideration, as to whether it would not
the Whitehead and Port Patrick was the best. be desirable to adopt somet.hing like the system
Shortly afterwards Mr. Barton, through the papera carried out in the Simplon Tunnel ; that was to
in Belfast, said he was considering the q uestion say, two single tunnels with a heading beof an Irish Channel tunnel scheme between tween them. Mr. Bell's progress of 2 yards per
Ireland and England, and would bring the day, or 10 yards per week, was no doubt very
details before the public; but the editor of _one good with a .small plant; but the whole quesof the papers stated that t he word '' England " tion of speed depended upon there being thoroughly
was a printer's error.
He thought it was good arrangements made as to phnt, and so on.
only fair that any .scheme for crossing the Irish 'rhe Simplon heading, which was being worked in
.Channel should be reasonably compared with any harder material than any silurian, was steadily proother &chemes previously in existence. It was only greasing at the rate of 22 ft. per day ; and he had
after a lapse of ten months that Mr. Barton was reason to believe that ere long that amount per
a'ble to bring the details of his scheme before a day would be increased. With regard to the
meeting called under the presidency of the Lord question of K~uper marl, he had had the pleasure
Mayor of Belfast. Mr. Barton's route was formerly of going down the shaft with Mr. Barton and
given as 26~ miles, but he (the speaker) noticed in examiniog the strata, and he thought it presented
the paper that it had now shrunk to 25t miles. If great facilities for rapid speed . He would have
the latter scheme were adopted, it would have the preferred a little softer material to hav.e to work
effect of bringingthetunnelinto slightly deeper water through, but with the use of a .shield that diffith~n was originally proposed. He held that the culty had been overcome. Basing his calculations
Whitehead and Port Patrick scheme had important upon what he had seen, he estimated that the tunnel
advantages over any other route. The greatest could be completed in about eight or nine years.
depth of water on the Whitehead and Port Patrick . He agreed with Mr. Bell in the great advantage
route was 650 ft. as compared with 450 H. on of having two single tunnels. A 16-H. shield was
Mr. Barton's route. He maintained t hat 1 in 58 was much more portable and easier to deal with than
not an extreme gradient. There were several lines a shield for a double tunnel of 27 ft . or 28 ft. in
in Scotland which worked w.ell with gradients of 1 diameter. He considered the pers01ial reference
in 45. He did not think that the question of by Mr. McCullough to be rather out of place. He
electric traction affected the matter very much. agreed it would have been much pleasanter to have
The geological difficulties to be contended with were been able to construct the tunnel fron1 Donaghadee
greater in Mr. Barton's scheme than they were iu to Port Patrick in a straight line, or even from
the one which he (the speaker) had formerly advo- Blackhead to Stranraer without a curve; but he
cated.
was strongly of opinion from his experience of the
Mr. Leonard Bell (Mourne Water Works) said Mersey and other tunnels that it would be a very
he should like to have some . information as to the risky operation to attempt to cross the chasm
rate of progress t hat might be expected in the which had been ploughed out in the bed of the
wor~. H~ had lately been in charge of ~ome seven Channel. It was far better to adopt the caution Mr.
or eight miles of t unnels on the other s1de of t he Barton had learned from long and mature experi. Channel, and he had very grave doubts as to eoce, and to go down the northern head of the rift.
whether. the work could be proceeded with at the The suggestion of a tunnel from Ireland to England
rate wh~ch the author said he hoped would be or S?otl~nd might take some people's breath away,
acc~mplished.
but It did not frighten engineers. It was only a
Su Douglas Fox asked what rate Mr. Bell had question of length. The work would be different
been able to proceed 1
from that in connection with the Mersey Tunnel
Mr. Bell replied that two yards per day was the where some of the strata were eandstone full of
avera~e for good work. The silurian was a very water. Mr. Bateman, the engineer, said it would
hard Indurated rock, ~nd it wa.s mo.st. difficult to get be impossible to tu1mel under the Mersey because
speedy work out of 1t. In his opinwn the shorter there were very large faults in the sandstone, and
route for the proposed tunnel was a great advantage, that water would come in in such large quantities
and o~ered an opportunity of getting through the that it could not be dealt with. Sir John Fowler
work In reasonable time. He was afraid, however, , in his evidenc~, made the bold statement that i~

..

his opinion no water would be fo~nd in those faults,

and experience had proved his prophecy. He
thought the difficulliies were more senous to co~
template in the case of the Mersey Tun~el than In
the proposed schen1e. Sir Doug.las Fox: th~n
quoted a lett~r which h~d appeared m the T~mes. In
connection with the S1mplon Tunnel, and basn~g
his figures upon those given in that instance, sa.I.d
that two single tunnels in such a scheme as this
would cost 120l. per yard, and he felt satisfied that
the speed of driving the heading would be greater
than that foreshadowed in the paper, and that from
both an encrineering and national point of view the
work would be one of very great importan~e.
Professor Car us-Wilson did not t hink It would
be wise to increase the grades of the existing
design. A grade of 1 in 75 was a much r_nore
serious matter than would appear at first stght.
High speed was no doubt a great feature, but he
need scarcely point out that the suggested speed of
60 miles an hour with a 100-ton train up a grade of
1 in 75 would necessitate a locomotive of much higher
horse-power than was anticipated, and it would not
be economical to attempt it.
Mr. Barton .then replied. He said that Mr.
Mansergh 's observation as to the alter~tion of th~
gradients was only a matter of detatl. At the
public meeting alluded to by Mr. McCullough, the
matter had been placed in the hands of a committ~e
consisting of a nun1ber of members of Parliament
and others, and they had decided to adopt the proposed scheme. But he had no doubt tha~ any
suggestions made either by Mr. McCullough, or anyone else, would receive most careful and patient
consideration. As to Mr. McCullough's suggestion
that there was a shallow point between Whitehead
and a point in Wigtonshire, it had been discovered
that the chart was imperfect, that the full numbe~
of soundings had not been made, and there was no
such point in the dyke which could be crossed at
650 ft., or anything like it. The best electrical
drills that had hitherto been used, and those that
had accomplished the most rapid work, were those
in use in the Sim pion Tunnel.
The Chairman, in moving a vote of thanks to the
author, said that whatever views there might be of
the project, whether pessimistic or optimistic, the
enormous advantages of such a scheme, whether
viewed from a social, political, or commercial
aspect, could not be over-estimated. If the tunnel
was constructed , Ireland would be connected with
Scotland for all practical purposes in the same way
as England was. It would be the readiest means
of cementing the three countries together, and
bring to a successful issue a matter which had
troubled political parties for many years ; in fact,
it would be what he might call an engineers' solution of the Home Rule question.
CHEAPER RAILWAy FARES:
A paper on "Cheaper Railway Fares" was then
read by Mr. Horace Bell, M.I.C.E. This paper is
published in extenso on page 430.
Sir Guilford Moles worth said he bad always had
the opinion that a rail way should not be looked
upon as a money-n1aking machine, but as an instrument for developing the resources of the country,
and he had always urged that policy on the Governments with which he had been connected. Great
difficulty had been experienced in persuading the railways to adopt the policy of low rates. The fares on
the State Railway of India had been reduced to onefifth of a penny per mile with entire success, and
other companies had adopted the same policy, and
an enormous increase in the traffic had resulted.
The State R aUway (Rajputana) was constructed for
political and strateg~cal purposes, and was not expected to pay its working expenses ; but it had
proved ~o be a very remunerative line, and it was due
to the policy of low rates. . In England we were
pla?ed in a. l?eculiar position owing to the policy
whiCh was misnamed '' free trade," which enabled
the foreigner to put produce into the London
markets at lower rates than it could be brouaht
from the Midland Counties. Sir Guilford then
quoted certain memoranda which he addressed to
the _Government of India twenty years ago on this
subJect.
.Sir Willia!l~ Preece said this was a paper on
ra1l way pohtiCs. It was all very well for Sir
Guilford ~Iolesworth to support the governmental
management of rail ways. Their management in
India was rather a sentimental one. In this
count ry the railway companies were great commercial concerns, and must be managed and con-

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

[SEPT.

20, I 90 I.

trolled on financial policies. The question raised and the superstructure built further back under water, which had been partially destroyed, whereas
by the paper was simply one of cheap versus the its shelter. Steel caissons of 833 cubic yards in the case of Zeebrugge there was no protecting
present dear fares, and he rather disagreed with were used, 16 ft. 6 in. below low water. Upon breakwater outside. He asked the authors what
l\1:r. Horace Bell in his estimate of t,he character of this foundation the superstructure was built, protection was proposed against the sea at Zeerail way managers over here. The Americans had formed of two facewalls made of concrete blocks J brugge, especial1y in connection with the outer
made their railways to pay, and some of then1 wore of 39! cubic yards each, and a hearting of rCLpidly- portion of the breakwater, which he was afraid
now t~king up, perhaps, the very worst example setting concrete. This brings the work up to might be subject to attack.
Mr. Vernon Harcourt s~id he had had an op;>orof a hne badly conducted on financial principles, 23 ft. above low tide, and it is protected on the
namely, the Metropolitan District. Mr. Yerkes sea side by a strong parCLpet. Up to December tunity on two occasions of seeing the works at Zeehad the control of that line, and was O'OinO' to show last 150 caissons had been placed in five yeara.
bruggo, and it appeared to him there was a diff~rence
this country how the line could be worked, with re (Yard
With this wa') also read a paper on '' Zeebrugge between the works at Zeebrugge and Bilbao on
to fares, on American principles. Not only would it Harbour Works," by J. Nyssens Hart and L. van account of the diffdrent exposure of the two sites,
be converted into an electrically worked line, but the Gansberghe.
which was, of course, the governing factor with
The port of Zeebrugge is furmed by a curved reg-l.rd to sea works. A breakwater might be made
whole of the system would be worked at one
u~iform fare of 2! d. Nearly every man in the breakwater, and protects the opening to the Bruges perfectly satisfactory on one site, which would be
ratlway world would say that it was absolute non- Ship Canal. The breakwater consists of three por- destroyed on another. The Bilbao breakwater was
sense t:> think that such a railway as that could tions. At the beach there is a solid embankment; a rubble mound and superstructure, but the
b~ ma~e to pay wi.th such a fare ; at any rate, it the second p ortion is an openwork viaduct 1312 ft. ~eebrugge breakwater was practically an upright
was gomg to be tned, and the result remained to long, while the third p)rtion is a solid breakwater wall, which was nndoubtedly the best form of
be seen. There would ba at least a grand object- and quay 5264 fv. long. This last part i~ in two breakwater. With regard to the erosion of the
les3on to railway managers throughout the country, portions. The fir-it consists of a quay with a sea- rubble mound, very early in hi3 professional
and the outcome would be the decision as to what wall on the outside, protecting the filling between career he had occasion to notice that at the
the proper mode should be of working railways, the seawall and the harbour wall, forming the quay. Alderney breakwater, which was at a depth of
whether on high or on low fares. It was not a The second part is a straight length of solid seawall 130 ft. at low water, there was a certain amount of
a mere question of 1s. ve1sw; 2!d. The secret of 1115 ft.long, constituting the outer breakwater. The scour of the rubble mound every winter. One of
American railways was, whether they were worked base of the seawall protecting the quay consists of the speakers had said he believed no breakwater
by electricity or not, the carrying out of three monolithic concrete blocks, weighing 3000 tons, with a rubble mound was likely to stand, but it
principles-rapid transit, cheap fares, and fre- 182 ft. long by 24 fc. 6 in. wide, all their tops was to be hoped that that prediction would not be
quent services, the result being that they were being 1 metre below sea-level. In the outer fulfilled, because last year he saw at I!avre a breakGlasO'OW pos- breakwater the found~ttion blocks are 29.5 ft. wide. water upon a rubble mound protected with conworked more like tramways.
sessed a splendid tramway system. It had grown The tnain body of the wall consists of 55-ton crete blocks, in which the superatru'c ture was
with gigantic steps, and the three principles blocks laid upon the foundation blocks up to founded on low.water level. At Boulogne, he
to which he had referred had been the cause of 22.9 ft. above low-water spriog tides. The toe of thought, the superatructure was rather above lowsuch growth. And so it would be with all our the face of the breakwater is protected from under- water level than otherwise. He should not feel
large railways. If the suburban traffic which did mining by a mound of large blocks of rubble very happy in building a superstructure at, or very
not now pay was worked by electricity, a complete stones, weighing from 6 cw~. to 39 cwt. The near, low-water level if it were exposed to any
revolution would be the result. With American foundation blocks are built of concrete in iron storm. He quite agreed that it was desirable, if
ideas and L ondon and American management the caissons, which remain part of the blocks. The possible, to do away with the parapet, because the
great object-lesson would be given, and the very blocks are built hollow and towed into place. They amount of water coming over a breakwater 5 ft. or
low ebb in which British rail way properties now are then sunk and filled with concrete. The lower 6 ft. above high tide would not do much harm,
were, would probably turn round, and shareholders part of the caissonq has a cutting edge, and the sea though it might damage a high parCLpet. With
who had not touched dividends for some time would bottom is levelled with concrete from hopper regard to the entrance to the port of Bilbao, vessels
be able to feel fat dividends in their pockets from 1 barges. Up to the present four caissons have been came in at an angle, and therefore had not the wave3
the exercise of the principles determined in deposited.
right against their beam. The ~eebrugge harbour
America..
Mr. Fraser, Genoa, said that during his resi- would not have been a desirable form if it had not
The Chairman said the paper was full of good dence in Genoa he happened to be witness of two been to a certain extent sheltered from the east,
sense, and deserving of the serious consideration of storms which affected the breakwater, and he but the land curved round, and the breakwater was
railway managers and shareholders. It brought up exhibited photographs showing the effects of the fairly protected.
Mr. W. H. Hunter had also had the advantage
questions that were in every one's n10uth. All sea in raising blocks weighing 55 tons. The blocks
thought that our railways might be less conserva- were laid on rubble, the top of which was about of inspecting both the works at Bilbao and Zeetive in their administration, and take a lesson in 10 n1etres below high-water. Evidently a number brugge, and he pointed out that at the latter place
many things from our American neighbours. He of the 55-ton blocks had been used as battering the steel caissons were of the most slender conproposed a vote of thanks, which wag carried by rams and completely knocked away the parapet. struction, the very minimUin of n1aterial beiog
acclamation, to the author and to the Honorary H e thought it was a proof, if proof was required, e1nployed. The steel work was stiffened by interSecretary of that Section, Mr. Henry Cooper.
that the use of enormous caissons was indispensable costal bracing, and reinforced by concrete. That
Mr. Hogg (Glasgow) proposed a vote of thanks to overcome the force of the sea.
appeared to him to be a point of considerable
to the Chainnan for presiding, and the proceedings
Mr. J. R. Baterden thought the original depth importance in the construction of the blocks, for it
of the Section terminated.
of the rubble mound below water was 15 fb. at had reduced the cost of the caissons to a minimum.
Bilbao, but M. de Churruca had shown that it was The same thing obtained at Bilbao. He thought
SECTION II. W.A.TERW.A.YS AND MARITIME WORKS. not safe to build the new breakwater at less than it was hardly fair in discussing questions of con16
ft.,
even
under
the
shelter
of
the
old
damaged
crete
blocks
and
matters
of
that
kind
to
forget
the
The third sitting of the Section was held on
Thursday morning, September 5, Sir John Wolfe pier. He thought no single superstructure built work of the late l\1:r. Cunningham, of Dundee, who
in
recent
years
had
escaped
designed
a
novel
system
of
construction
and
flotaupon
a
rubble
mound
Barry, K .C. B., LL. D., F. R. S., presiding.
more or less damage, and he doubted very much tion of concrete blocks without any metal-work or
whether any breakwater now being constructed caisson. He should like to have heard from the
THE CLYDE E sTUARY.
The first paper read was the fol1 owing short com- would long escape danage. The only large sea authors of the papers whether they had had any
munication on ' ' Improvement Works in the Clyde pier which he knew at present being built in the difficulty in deposiGing the blocks. With regard to
Estuary, " by lVIessrs. D. and C. Stevenson. This district on a rubble mound was the one at Peter- the dangers of erosion, on the external side there
paper was printed in extenso on page 382 of our head, the rubble mound being there 32 ft. below was certainly, in his judgment, a peril. He conthe water. With a rubble mound, or blocks, if the sidered there might be a difficulty in founding the
last issue.
Replying to the questions of the Chairman, down scouring of the waves scoured away the toe blocks on an even bed.
Mr. Vernon H arcourt said that to a certain
Mr. D. Stevenson said the rCLdius of curvature of the rubble mound at a certain depth, it would
adopted in the channel was 1200 ft., and the also scour it a way with large blocks; this he extent Mr. Hunter's views were correct, because
bottom width was about 400ft. The cham1el was should imagine would be rather worse, and the he saw the blocks at low water last year, and the
damage more serious. He did not see the necessity, top of the blocks was not an even surface. He
maintaining itself.
except in places where protection was required for rather thought the bed of the sea was not quite so
BILBAO AND ZEEBRUGGE HARBOU RS.
the pier, of taking the roadway at such a great mobile as Mr. Hunter supposed. It was more an
The second paper was one on " Works for height above high-water. It was not only ?ostly indurated silt mixed with sand, and he was
Improving the Bilbao River and Harbour," by M. in construction, but detracted very sen ously assured that the kind of induratecl clay which was
from the stability of the pier, seeing that the the foundation of the caissons was perfectly hard,
Evaristo de Churruca.
The port of the N ervion River, which forms the waves had a very much greater power against and that the protection of the large rubble on the
port of Bilbao, is 85 miles long. The out~r harbour the higher structure than against t~e lower. If a outside of the breakwater would be amply sufficient
is enclosed by t wo breakwater-s ; the west 1s 4757 ft. pier was made a few feet above htgh water, and to prevent scour on their face.
the waves were allowed to flow over it, the effect on
Mr. Hunter said that his experience was that
lonCY,
running
out
from
the
coast
at
right
angles
to
0
the north-west. The eastern breakwater runs in a the material of the harbour would be comparatively indurated clay was a delusion.
The Chairman, in closing the discussion and conwesterly direction for 3610 ft. Between them is little a short distance in. With r egard to the
an entrance 1970 ft. wide, facing north-east. The entrance to the harbour, it seemed to him a very veyina the thanks of the Congres3 to the author-s,
first breakwater is the more important, and rests awkward harbour to enter, as a vessel had to turn said i~ appeared to him that at Bilbao, if it were
not for the protection of the outer mound resulting
on mud and sand. It is built on a mound of con- broadside on to the waves.
M. Mendes Guerreiro, speaking in French, said from the failure of the original work, the new work
crete blocks, of 39 to 65 cubic yards each, and these
rest on a mound of sorted rubble. The building of he had to do with a. harbour at Oporto, where he would run very serious risks of t he rubble mound
the superstructure was commenc.ed in 1891, and had very much the same work to carry out as at being eroded and the superstructure more or less
damaged in 1893 and 1894, when 1t had a. length of Zeebrugge and Bjlbao. e preferred the s~stem destroyed. He thought t he soundings at Bilbao
417 ft. The design was then altered. The l~ose at Bilbao to the system at Zeebrugge, because 1n the were particularly steep, which indicated t hat the
blocks already laid were left as an outer protectwn, first case there "as the protection of the old break- sea stroke must he exceedingly hulvy upon th~

SEPT. 20, I 90 L

works. He had r ecently had before him a. question of the failure of a most important breakwater
ab Tynenwuth, n ear Newcastle. The original design
of t he breakwater, which was some 60 or 60 years
old, was based upon a canon of engineering which was
accepted at that time- that the action of t he waves
on rubble mounds w~s n ot apparent, or o f any imp ortance, w hen t he d epth was from 12 ft. to 15 f t.
belo w l ow water. It was one of t he canons laid down
with very little r eal basis of solid fact, b ut it was
accepted in t ho.se d ays , and t he original breakwater
a.tTynemouth was started at a depth below low water
o f between 12 ft . and 15 it. As time went on it
was recognised that those d epths were insufficient
and the rubble mound, which had been alroady
made, was lowered by dredging operations, first t o
17 ft. , then t o 20 ft., then to 22 fb., then to 24 ft. ,
25 ft., and at last to 27 ft. at t he extremity of t h e
breakwater.
Even at the depth of 27 ft., the
e rosive action of the sea. had been so serious t hat
the pier h ead was
in imminent danger of fallina
.
Ol
and 1arge port10ns o f the breakwater were in a
state of utter ruin. The weight r esting upon the
rubble m ound was practically a monolith of enorm ous size. He found that a vast mass of masonry, which was so beautifully con structed t hat it
all held together in one solid block of upwards of
6000 tons, had been moved or tumbled o ver by t he
sea in consequence of the erosion of the rubble
mound, and it Wtts p ossible at that time for the
d ivers to walk underneath the s uperstructure and
observe the damage. The q uesbion, therefore, was
at what d e pth below low-water the works should
be founded. It was necessary t o rely upon the
equation of the exposure to the prevailing wind
and the steepness of t he soundings . At Tynemouth
the exposure was very long and the soundings particularly steep, so t hat the sea came in with enorm ous power. T o his mind, t he only way to get
a secure foundation was to put t he foundations at
such a d epth as was suitable to the situation in
which they had to be placed. I t was wise to b ear
in mind that in talking of weigh t, what was
meant was weight in air, and n ot weight in water.
' Vhen once a concrete block was tilted or began to
move, the whole condition of things wa.s changed,
and the sea acquired a power over the block which
seemed out of all proportion. The matter of parapets was very seriously considered in the reconstruction of the Tynemouth bre:lkwater, and he
should like very much to have got rid of the parap et altogether ; but in that case it was not a question merely of protecting the promenade, but of
allowing persons to be on the pier in very exposed
weather, and therefore it was decided to reconstruct
the parapet, although in a very much stronger
form.
oF CoasTs.
F our papers on "Recent Improvements in the
Lighting and Buoying of Coasts " were read
together. The firat was by 1\fr. D. Stevenson, who
d ealt with Scotland.
Mr. David A. Stevenson gave a history of the
erection of lighthouse~, beacons, and fog signals. on
the Scottish and I sle of Man Coasts, deahng
specially with the imp!ovem~nt of the last few
years. 'Ve hope to prmt thts paper later . Mr.
Alan Brebner's paper we shall also print in full.
It dealt with the history of t he lightning- flash
system, and suggested an .i~pro ven:ent on it, consisting of a complete subdtvtded echpser of two or
more parts, each mov~blo independently of t he
others alona with an optical apparatus of two or more
sidel3. This :ystem r equires a screen of two parts of a
bi-valve apparatus, one of three sides o~ a t rilateral
apparatus, and so on ; e~ch len~ hav:mg. a screen
specially alt~ohed to and revolvtn~ w1th It. Ei.ch
partial screen is made to totally. echpse, when shut,
t he beam of the corresponding lens . All. the
group-flash characteristics can thus be obta1ned
with any of the arrangements, and t he flashes
can be given m or e compact~y than one . per .five
seconds of t otal p eriod reqUired by the ligh t ningli ~ht system.
The t hird paper, by Baron de Rochemont, deal t
with t he French coasts. This we print o!l page 419.
'' The Present Condition of Lightmg on the
Chinese Coast" was the subject of a paper by Mr.
J. R. Harding, which we print in abstract on page
424 of t h e present issue.
.
M. Ribiere, speaking ~ Fr~nch, considered that
the flashes of quick-flashing bght~ were e9.ually as
good as the ligh ts of lor~g duratwn, wh10.h were
said to be preferred by satl ors. When the Interval
LIGHTING .AND B u oYING

E N G I N E E R I N G.
b etween the :flashes was r educed to five seconds or
less, the sailor saw the light sufficiently well and
continuously to take his bearings . When it was
n eces3ary to wait half a minute or a minute, it was
not so convenient for taking bearings as with
shorter :flashes. With regard to Mr Brebner's
arrangement, the difficulty seemed to be t hat there
was too great an angle between the flashes. He
(M. Ribiere) found it necessary to have something
like four panels for the elecbric light, and four for
the incandescent and oil lights. Mr. Brebner
a ppeared to have a more rapid rate of rotation, and
if it was only applicable to t he smaller lights,
t he economy of his system was considerably reduced.
Mr. Brebner's reply to the crit icisms of M.
Ribiere on his subdivided eclipser system was as
follows : Firstly, the speed of r otation required is
well wit hin the limits of what has been accomplished with ease in apparat us now in use, and
Messrs . Chance Brothers a.nd Co. can show to any
one a third-order subdivided eclipser apparatus
working with perfect s moothness and reg ularity.
Secondly, it was only by introducing t he idea of
small and inextensible luminaries t hat exception
could be taken to his sys tem. Neither incandescent
mantles, h owever, nor oil and gas fl~mes are inext en sible, hence this criticism is wit hout force. As
co mpared with t he twin-light system in favour in
France, which is a m ore convenient, but also a
more costly substitute for t he old British '' biform,,
the subdivided eclipser system will be found to be
a conspicuously econ omical one.
Mr. J. R. Ha.rding ':Vas very much interested in
the possible use of acetylene. He had tried, at
Shanghai, some experiments on a small scale with a
fourth- order light, and as far as they went they
were successful. He obtained from a dealer in
S hanghai a small plant, with a burner though t t o be
80 candle-power. He t ried that burner on several
nights , and on alternate nights tried a mineral oil
burner which he knew to be 72 candle-power, and
he found that t he 80 candle-power acetylene burner
gave at leaat a 100 per cent. better flash than the
72 candle- power mineral oil burner.
M. Ribiere said t hat experiments had been
made with acetylene gas, but the difficulty was
that the flame went down the tube and caused
explosions.
That was obviated by having a
burner with several lit tle tubes, and in that way
the propagation of the flame was stopped by the
smallness of the tubes. The gas was used by an
incandescent mant le, and produced a power which
might be stated as 4 to 2t compared with mineral oil.
H e t hought there was a great future in store for
acetylene gas-burners in lighthouses.
Mr. D. Stevenson said there was one acetylene
installation in t his country, namely, at Grangemouth, and the light had been perfectly successful.
Mr. Harding, replying to some remarks by Mr.
Geddes, agreed that group flashing got over to a
certain extent the objection to the very rapid
flashes. Personally he was r ather in favour of
rapid :flashes, and he was only quoting the opinion
of mariners.
The Chairman said t hat one could not help r ecognising the enormous strides made of late years in
ligh ting the coasts, especially since 1874. Both
the submerged cable and wireless telegraphy were
systems which needed investigation, because foggy
weather and snowstorms were what mariners
dreaded more than anything else. " ' it h r egard
to the p eriods of waves and t he d esignil!g of
lightships to be suitab]e to the waves at pa.rt10ular
places, it was of g reat interest to know that
observation showed the p eriod of the greatest
wave at a particular place was more or less a
standing q uantity, thus enabling the naval a~c~itect
t o so design his vessel as to produce the mmimum
of rolling and agitation.
Votes of thanks were passed to the Chairman,
and to Mr. Vernon Harcourt ; and the work of the
Sect ion then finish ed.

SECTION III. MECHANICAL ENGINEERING.

THE METRIC SYSTEl\!.

marked that it d ealt* with what h e migh t call an

unpopular necessity, namely, the n ecessity of our
manufacturers realising that if they are t o maintain
certain foreign markets, they must adopt the metric
system. Mr. Green wood had dealt with the ma~ter
in a very practical way, and had shown that, if
sufficient time is taken for the change, it can be
made without undue loss to t he firms adopting it.
Mr. W . H . Alien, of B edford, opened the discussion. He said t hat although they had not at
his works adopted the metric system outright,
t hey had made a change from t he ordinary Eng lish
system, and had adopted t he d ecimal division
of the inch. It seemed to him that nothing short
of legislation would force the n ecessary change
upon the count ry ; and the sluggish way in which
the legislat ive machinery had recently been moving
did n ot g ive much hope for parliamentary enactment. lie referred to the prejudice against such
radical changes, and, in speaking of the difficulties
to be met with, recalled the fact that in 1897
The Enginee1 had published a series of replies obtained from almost every county in England, to
show the enormous variety in the system of
measures and names adopted in them, all of which
would make it very difficult to effect any uniform
standard. In their own case they had dt vided the
inch into thousandth parts, and, as an indication of
how readily the workers became acquainted with
the system, he pointed to the fact that after three
months' use, a labourer earning 18s. a week, when
asked by him if t he size of the wire he was working
with was .364, gave the reply: "No, it is decimal
365." He had no sympathy with the stock argument that 10 could only be divided by 2 and 5,
whereas 12 was divisible by 2, 3, 4, and 6.
What
was wanted was something which would be international in its unifqrmity.
Mr. Hans Renold said it was too late in the day
to speak on behalf of the metric system. No one
who had given the slightest attention to the subject failed to r ecognise t hat the change must
eventually be made to the metric system. He had
been educated in Switzerland, and was trained in
the metric system, and when he cd.me to England
he 4ad great trouble with the wretched arrangement
of sixteenths and the like. In 1882 he had adopted
the metric system in his chain manufactory, but as
his works were small he had to yield to the prejudice in favour of the English method. But lately
they had been working to the thousandth of an
inch, dimensions being expressed in decimal figures,
and no difficulty had resulted. He pleaded for a
greater attention in the Board Schools to this
decimal fraction rather than to vulgar fractions.
He was doing a large export trade wit h Germany
and France, and h e found a great economical advantage in adopting the metric system. He did
not think that they could expect much help from
Government, and would be glad if 60 or 100 of
those present would make a resolve to apply the
system and carry out that resolve.
Colonel Huber r eferred t o the work d one on the
Con tinent in connection with the standardisation
of the screw thread, and t he evolving of the I. S .
system which was in use in France, Germany, and
Switzerland, and was now being adopted by Austria
and Russia ; at the same time he pleaded for some
measure of universal application. He thought t he
t ime had passed when any country could stand
alone and claim the right to govern every other
country. The metric system and the metric screw
as adopted on the Continent might not be the best.
but it had the advantage of simplicity, and he hoped
it would yet be adopted also in this country. He
quoted the views of several manufacturers on the
Continent in favour o f the metric screw.
Professor Barr expressed his pleasure at the
thorough treatment of t he subject by Mr. Green
wood, and stated t hat it was his belief that there
was no compromise between the present system in
this country and the adoption of the almost universal metric system. Re mentioned incidentally
that it was largely to the instrumentality of Watt
that the metric system had been adopted on the
Continent, and it was the more surprising that in
this country we had continued in t he old way.
The absence of its adoption was a hindrance to
that standardisation which would enable the parts
of machines to be got in the country where they
He hoped the Institution of
were worked.
Mechanical Engineers would take a strong posi-

This Section was again well attended on Thursday, the 6th inst., t he concluding ~ay of t he ~on
grass, and t he proceedings we~e ag~1n ch~ractensed
by well-sustained and suggestive discusst~ns. M.r.
Willinm H . Maw, as Chairman of the SectiOn, again
presided and in opening the discussion on Mr.
* Mr. Greenwood's paper will be found on page 430 of
Greenw~od's paper on th e metric system, re- the preeent issue.

390

ti?n in the matter ; but was inclined to disagree

Wlt.h Mr. Greenwood as to the period of time
whtch should elapse before the metric system
was made compulsory: twenty years was far
too long . The division of the inch was a most
commendable prelin1inary stage towards the complete transition. The Chairman here asked Pro~essor Barr whether the metric system was adopted
1n the new laboratory work ; to which Professor
Barr replied that it wa'3 not in use : but the
students. were made thoroughly familiar with it.
The Chatrman expressed the view that it would be
a great advantage, especially in the realisation of
their aim, if our future engineers were trained in
the actu~l working ~f the metric system in all
labora:tor1es; and to th1s Professor Barr replied that
the d1fliculty was really in getting the appliances
constructed according to the metric system.
Professor Schroeter strongly commanded the use
of the metric system, and expressed his commiseration with Profes sor Barr and the students who
while they had lel.rned the m etric system, were stili
conde.mned to work with the complicated British
scale 1n the laboratory. Before resuming his seat
he asked leave to express his own gratitude and the
thanks of his colleagues, the other foreio-n delegates
for the splendid reception they had be~n accorded:
and for the hospitality extended to them. He
stated they would carry away with them t he best
remembrances of the Congress in the many suo-gestions which had been made during the di~cussio~s
they had heard.
Mr. F. H. Livens said that they had had the
vlewa of manufacturers engaged in the production
of ~ew specialities a~d new designs where the application of the metnc system was a comparatively
simple matter, but he would like to point out that
it was very difficult to apply the new system
where general work of long standing wa9 carried
out, because of the large number of patterns, templates, and jigs in use, and where, for machines
made years ago, duplicate parts were still required.
It was a serious matter to contemplate the replacing
of these for old machines upon the metric system, and
for this reason a considerable time must be allowed
b efore the met ric system was completely adopted,
because only in new productions and new designs
could it be applied. The old patterns, etc., however, lapsed with time. Most of the firms who
had adopted the metric system had stfl.rted with
new des igns, and the case of Messrs. W illans an~
Robinson was one in point, while Mr. Greenwood's
own firm was adopting it with a sp e~ialty.
He,
personally, was much in favour of the change,
but he recognised the difficulties, and thought that
time must be given to effect the alteration.
Mr. Bryan Donkin suggested that those British
firms which had introduced the metric system might
send their pames to the Secretary, so that some
idea might be formed as to the present extent of
its application in this country.
The Chairman, in closing the discussion, said that
the time did not permit of the points raised by Mr.
Greenwood's paper being dealt with so fully as they
deserved, but he hoped that further written contributions to the discussion would be sent to Mr.
W orthington. As r egarded Professor Schroeter's
kind expression of t he appreciation of their reception by the foreign delegates, he could only say
that any pleasure which they had derived from
attending the Congress was certainly more than
equalled by the pleasure of the other metnbers at
Aeeing them there. He hoped that they would
be able to attend similar meetings on many future

occas10ns.
Mr. Greenwood, in replying to the discussion,
pointed to the international importance of the subject, and to the necessity of the change b eing
made if we are not to be cut out from the trade of
the world. The Government did nothing - never
did anything- until forced to do it, and thus manufacturers must r ecognise the commercial and economical value of the metric system and make the
change for themselves. The term of twenty years
for compulsory adoption suggested in t he paper
had been taken exception to, but it was only a
suggestion and an indication that the proposR.l of
the Chambers of Commerce in favour of two years
was altogether ina~equate. With r efer en?e to the
question of a metric screw thread, h e was 1n favour
of adopting metric measures first, and after that t he
question of the standard screw could be tackled.
1'hey would probably hav~ to follow their Co~
tinental friends as he beheved that the metnc
screw adopted '~as a good comprom~se b etween the

E N G I N E E R I N G.
Whitworth and Sellers standards. He approved
~f t~e division of the inch into thousandths as a prehmlnary measure of educational value, and contended in favour of a free expression of opinion at
such Congresses, and their utilisation for enforcing
the advantages of the system.
TESl'INO MACHINE AT THE J.AUES vVATT
ENGINEERING LABORATORY.

Mr. J. Hartley Wicksteed read the n ext paper

on "The 100-Ton Universal'resting Machine, with
Variable Accmnulator, at the J ames Watt Laboratories, Glasgow University." This paper we publish in full on page 407 of this issue.
Dr. Barr, who was asked by the Chairman to open
the discussion, said that a good many years ago he
committed himself to the opinion that the vertical
machine was better than the horizontal machine,
and he still held that view, but the introduction of
this new t ype of horizontal machine by Mr. Wicksteed afforded so many conveniences, especially in
rapidity of adjustment for different kinds of specimens, that he had come to the conclusion that i ts
handiness was even more important than the slight
advantage that the .vertical arrangement gave as
regards convenience for accurate testing. Moreover, they had in the laboratory a 10-ton vertical
machine, thus affurding a combination which conferred all advantages that a 100-ton vertical machine
could give. The author of the paper had given him
too much credit for t he slight suggestions he had
made, and while regarding the machine as the most
perfect yet built, he felt that it was really the embodiment of the labour of many distinguished engineers
who had made a succession of improvements from
time to time, and he was proud to have in this
machine the outcome of t he cumulative experience
of n ot only Mr. Wicksteed , but of Mr. Arthur
Greenwood, Mr. Kirkaldy, who had worked so long
at testing machines, of Professor Kennedy, of ProfE ssor Unwin, who had done much in perfecting
testing machines, and of Profeesor Elliott. Mr.
Wicksteed stated in the paper that at his (Dr. Ban's)
suggestion the poise-weights rode upon three wheels
instead of four, and he could only wish that more
engineers would adopt this arrangement ; the idea of
geometrical guides in this connection also he was
proud to attribute to the early suggestion of L ord
Kelvin and of his late master and predecessor, the
late Professor Thomson, when he (Dr. Barr) was a
student at Glasgow University.
Mr. Arthur Greenwood, who spoke next, congratulated the author of t h e paper on his return to
the true faith. Vertical machines had long been
in fayour for the reasons stated by Professor Barr,
and he recalled the fact that the first machine made
by his firm, exhibited in t he 1862 Exhibition, made
for the late Mr. Kirkaldy, was of this type, but
they had come to the conclusion that t he vertical
machine imposed limitations upon the size of the
pieces to be tested ; and at works where there were
a great variety of test pieces the ad vantage of t he
horizontal machine, where t here was no such limit,
was recognised quite twenty.fi ve years ago by Mr.
l{irkaldy, and many had since been constructed.
He congratulated Mr. Wicksteed on the introduct ion of the spring for determining the true bearing
of t he weigh-beams, but he doubted whether it
would prove quite satisfactory in t esting the accuracy of the machine, ang felt that it might be convenient to provide an elbow lever so that deadweights could bo used for testing the accuracy.
Professor Unwin was asked by the chairman
also to say a few word s, and remarked that the
first 1nachines he had made wero constructed by
Mr. Wicke,teed, and that at that time he was in
favour of the vertical machine ; but n ow the hori
zontal machine was exceedingly admirable, and at
the same time was very handy, affording the greatest
possibility of making a wide varie~y of tests. Indeed,
he did not think that n. better arrangement than
that described could be arrived at; but, at the
same time, he felt with this, as with many other
thino-s- for instance, with bicycles - it was n ot possible0 to h ave an absolute best. The hydraulic
system had advantages over the lever machine in
some r espects. There was one special advantage
of the h orizontal machine which did not seem to
have been specially noticed, and that was the
absence of limit to the len gth of sp ecimens which
might be dea~t with,. although at t~e same timo a
vertical machine talnng 10-ft. specimens prebably
covered most requirements. As to the ealibration
of the machine, he felt that a special bellcrank
lever wa'3 desirable for applying dead load ; but, in

[S EPT. 20, 1901.

~he

absence of that, the system of springs adopted

In this horizontal machine was possibly t he best.
He recalled a spring machine made for \Voolwich
Arsenal, however, which had not proved quite satisfactory, and ho was inclined to ask Mr. \Vicksteod
why he adopted springs at all. If a rough measure
of elongat ion were wanted, and an approximation
sufficed, it seemed to him t hat a simple straight bar
with the use of a micrometer gauge would give a
better method than any coil of spring, which could
not be accurate enough, or would n ot give an elongation so proportionate to the load. Having obtained
confidence in t he micrometer gauge, he did not see
why it would not measure the accuracy up to the full
100 tons. In the application of testing machines to
laboratory work in colleges we were far behind the
Continent or the United States, where ther e was a
greater variety of work done, and where more time
was devoted to s uch tests than was possible in
workshops. Even in the application of such machines to commercial purposes in workshops, much
more ought to be done than at present ; and Professor Unwin p ointed to the importance of
t horoughly experienced men being engaged in such
works. Indeed, he thought that from the national
point of view we were not working up to our duty
in prosecuting the development of mechanical
science in this direction, and he thought that
the t ime had come when, instead of test pieces,
actual products should be tested so as to ensure
that all the material came up to the standard. He
pointed also to the fact that but few English
members of t he International Association for testing material proposed to attend the meeting at
Zurich, and this was an indication of our lack of
interest in t his important development in workshop practice.
The Chairman said that he thought that such
machines and other appliance s provided in engineering laboratories ought to be utilised more for
research work, and in speaking at the inauguration
of the James Watt Laboratory he had brought
forward this point and s uggested that suitable
selected students should be encouraged to make
use of the laboratory for such purposes. With
regard to the use of a standard bar in place of
springs for measuring the accuracy of a testing
machine, he believed that one of the reasons for
using the spring arrangement was to enabl e the
test to be made with all the beams free, while the
lever was oscillating slightly instead of having t he
exceedingly slight movement which would occur
when a bar was used for testing. A combination
was therefore desirable : if the bar were used as a
means of measuring and the s train was put on the
bar through a spring action, the machine would be
free during the time the extension of the bar was
being measured.
Mr. Wicksteed, in replying, said that it bad been
to him a gratifying discussion, right up to the last
words of the Chairman, who had made an ingenious suggestion for the improvement of t he
method of calib:rating the machine. He quite
agreed with Professor Unwin if the purpose was to
prove the accuracy, but t hat was not quite the
object of the spring. He was indebted to Professor
Barr for recognising t he different workers to wards
the perfection of the testing machine, and he would
like to add anoth er name, that of Mr. Thomas
Trail, formerly the head of t he consultative branch
of the Board of Trade.
:JYir. Wicksteed added t hat many years ago he met
Mr. Trail at the proving station for Lloyd's, Glasgow, when under the superintendence of Mr. Seedhouse. J\1r. Trail had taught him how to prove the
accuracy of a. testing machine by measurement.
Thus, after Mr. Trail had t ried th e sensitiveness of
the machine in the most exact way by pulling t he
sh ort end of the steel yard by a spring balance
attached to a t hread so as to indicate even a quarter
of an ounce, he had the machine taken to pieces
and the parts laid out on n. surface, so that th e
accuracy of all the knife edges might be determined. But while minute errors could bo di-E covered in this way, gross errors in the position of
t he centres migh t pass unnoticed, and. it was to
check such measurements that he Int roduced
the spring arrangement he had described, an
arrclno-ement which would at once expose any such
error bin the fulcrum d istance. H e strongly commended Professor Unwin's idea of actually testing
manufactured art icles rather than test pieces, and
mentioned the fact that some tool-holders which
had been made in connection with machines for
dealing with arn1otu-plates h aving proved un~~t;s -

S EPT. 20, 1 go 1.

factory when constructed of cast steel were

tested in t he machine, and t hose whicl~ came
thro ugh a test of 17 tons pull were passed into
use, alt hough t he remainder were replaced by
forged steel holders.

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

391

altogether from the changes afforded by coned t he Canadian machines, and he was t hus able t o
pulleys.
confirm what the Chairman had said as to their
Mr. Crighton, in r eplying to the discussion, said great excellence. The number being imported into
t hat he was not able to answer a request made by t his count ry was increasing very rapidly. The
J.\;lr. Saxon as to the capital outlay involved in the reapers especially were most carefully designed,
R EGENERATIVE
A ccul\lUIATORs
Fon.
Exna.usT new plant, because t he accounts had not been made and t hey were beautiful machines; the ploughs in
up. Diagrams of engine friction had been taken, excellence compared favourably wit h t hose of
TEA.~I, A TD THE E scAPE OF Sr&Al\I T HitOOG H
and these he would have prepared for the pro- British and American manufacture, and he had no
ORIFICES.
ceedings. He would also add to the proceedi ngs doubt that, notwithstanding competition, the
The next two I?apers taken w~re both by Mons. A. some details as to boiler efficiency.
Canadians would hold the position t hey had
R9.teau, of Pans, t he first b emg entitled "A Note
assumed, and improve upon it.
on a ~egenerative AccUtnulator, and its Application
P NEUJ\IATIC RIVETING.
for Usmg Exhaust Steam,,, while the other described
THE G OV.ERNIN O OF wATER- WHEELS.
The next paper was on "Pneumatic Riveting
"Experiments on the E scape of Steam through and other useful applications of Pneumatic Tools, ,
Mr. E . C. de Segundo contributed the next and
~)rifices. '.' 'Ve sh all reproduce b oth papers in full by Mr. J. C. Taite, London. This paper, which concluding paper on "The Cassel Self-Regulating
1n early IE s ues.
was read by the Secretary, is supplementary to a Water-Wheel, " t his paper dealing with a device
Professor Stodola., of Zurich, made a few obser- comprehensive treatment of the whole subject of which we illustrated and described in a recent
vations, referring to the original idea s uggested by pneumatic tools read at the Institution of Mechani- number of E NCJNEERINO (uide page 768 ante).
M on~. ~at eau,. wheteby . t he steam of an engine cal Engineers some mont hs ago by Mr. E . C. Amos,
Dr. Barr, who was asked by the Chairman to
workmg 1nternnttently m1ght be passed to an accu- and dealt specially with the tools exhibited at work begin the discussion, said t hat t he method of regumulator to effect economy, and he r eaarded i t as at the Glasgow Exhibition, and also with the lation applied to the wheel which was exhibited
of importance, especially in view of th: great com- economy resulting from their application to ship- was certainly interesting and useful where the
p etition of the gas engine. He r emarked t hat they building, locomotives, bridgebuilding, and other saving of water was not aimed at, the problem
all looked forward wit h great interest to t he results work. As we shall reproduce the paper in an being to govern simply the sp eed of t he wheel.
of the practical working of this ingenious arranCYeearly issue, we may pass on to the brief discussion Incidentally he remarked that the Pelton wheel
b
men t .
which followed.
was miscalled, because a Scotchman, Mr. Moore,
n-1r. Bryan Donkin said that t he sh ort descripMr. T. H urry Riches opened t he discussion, who was well known in California in connection
tion of t he appliance scarcely did i ustice to the but remarked t hat he had giYen all data as to the with t he laying of wrought-iron mains, had used
splendid work done by M. Rateau ; and he stated working of pneumatic tools at his establishment such a wheel long before Pelton brought it
t hat fuller details could be found in a paper which when Mr. Amos's paper was r ead. H e was still out in commercial form . He believed that such
had been road at last year 's French Congress by the satisfied with t he working of t he tools, and was wheels would be extensively used because of their
author. I t seemed to him t hat t he accumulator extending t heir use. In t he paper Mr. Taite in- ~implicity as con1pared with t he turbine, and
might be called a heat or caloric flywheel, and the dicated th~1.t *in. rivets were being driven for because they were as economical as the best t urbine.
Institution would be grateful to M. R.ateau if he 4s. 6d. per 100 against 10s. 6d. by hand, but his An important question, however, in many cases
would contribute to t he Institution a subsequent experience was that they had never paid more than was the economy of t he water used ; and in connecpaper giving t he r esults of the application of the 7s. 6d. for hand work. The pneumatic hammer, tion with a system of governing which combined
F-ystem to a 250 indicated horse-power installation while excellent for light enough work, was not quite t his ad vantage, Profes ;or Barr stated that he had
at t he Bruay mines, in the n orth of France.
so satisfactory for heavier rivets ; unless t he rivet been working on this problem, and had taken out
M . Rateau, in replying to the brief discussion, was t horoughly well heated, and the point p roperly a paten t for a variable n ozzle. Mr. Basil ' Vilson,
promised to give fuller details.
cooled, there was a possibility that the rivet would of Belfast, had also patented a similar device a
M. RaLeau's second paper was taken as r ead, the not fill t he hole.
week after his, but quite independently, and, with
Chairman observing t hat t ho subj ect dealt wit h in
Mr. Bell, of t he Great East ern Railway, said his consent, was now work ing on the same lines.
the paper was one to which the a uthor had paid that in the frame of a six-wheel railway carriage, Professor Barr said t hat he had a case surrounding
great atten tion, and in which he had carried out where there were 700 rivets, the hydraulic riveter the nozzle proper, the nozzle b~ing made of indiamuch experimental work. His conclusions there- could not get into corners, and t hus 80 were left to rubber, and the arrangement being such that by adfore were worthy of most car eful examination.
be closed by hand; whereas with the pneumatic mitting more or less water under pressure around
riveter every one could be put in ; and in this way the indiarubber n ozzle, the latter became restricted
P owER REQUI RED TO D RI VE A M ARINE-ENGINE while skilled riveters were req uired in conjunction although still maintaining its circular form . He
WORKS .
with the hydra ulic system, the same labour sufficed did not propose to apply the arrangement to large
The Secretary n ext r ead in brief abstract a. paper with pneumatic tools for putting in all the rivets, heads, but for ordinary purposes it would govern
on t his subject by M essrs. James Crighton and a point which was greatly appreciated at their the flow, effect economy, and maintain t he most
,V. G . Riddell, of GlaFgow, which will be found works.
efficient form of jet. He hoped to continue his
printed in full on page 422.
Mr. C. B. Albree said he had had some experi- research work in connection with the application of
Mr. Saxon opened the discussion, and asked for ence with heavy hammers, and found that the t his system .
Professor Goodman was the next speaker, and at
fuller information as to the friction of t he engines, power was more a q uestion of t he velocity than
as well as of the line shaft, and at the same time the weight of the hammer ; the strength of the the outset remarked that only those who had
advocated t he adoption of fuel economisers, which blow increased wit h the velocity, and t]le velocity worked at this problem of the governing of water
he considered would give a further economy, when was determined by the pressure or by the lengt h wheels had any idea of the real difficulties involved.
the engines described in the paper were worked in of t he stroke ; t he pressures were limited, because ' Nhen t he N iagara power installation was arranged
connec:ion wit h s urface condensers. At present, if t hey were too high, the kick or rebound was so t he most experienced hydraulic engineers were emthe feed-water heaters, as indicated in the paper, great t hat the workman could not hold the tool, so ployed, with the r esul t that t he best apparatus
raised the temperature of the feed to almost boil- that the only al ternative was to use a long stroke possible was got ; yet two years ago when he was
at Niagara he was much disappointed to see all
ing point, whereas his experience showed that, by with moderate pressure.
Mr. Taite, in r eplying to the d iscussion, said t he governors hunting. There were many t urbines
utilising the waste furnace gases in connection with
an economiser, a temperature of 270 deg. was at- that the main object of t he paper was to draw working, and when some wer e up, others were
tained. In r eply to the Chair man, he promised to attention to t he tools at t he Glasgo w Exhibition. down, so that the general result was tolerable ; but
send to t he Secretaries t he r esult of some experi- As to the cost of closing t he ~-in. rivets by hand, each tut bine was doing badly. He had been
ments he himself had made in connection with the the ra te quoted in his paper was supplied to his conducting a long series of experiments on the subfirm. They had actually don e the work with pneu- ject and had prepared a paper for the Institution
friction of line shafting.
J\ir. W. H. Alien, of B edford, said that he had matic tools, and at t he Exhibition they were closing of Mechanical Engineer$, and t herefore thought i t
also made observations of the friction caused by 1!-in. rivets; and he would be glad to meet any was not desirable at that time to enter into details ;
shafting, n ot only at his own works, but at others of the members of the Congress at his pavilion to but these experiments had led him to the concluwh~re facilities had been kindly granted, and see t he work and its r esult. As to the taking up 0f sion that the solution of the problem suggested by
generally t he r esul t was t hat the main shafting the rebound, he might say that the ha.mn1er was P rofessor Barr would n<.t prove satisfactory. Any
was found to absorb 25 per cent. of the original held in a bar with a spherical fittin g so that t he constriction of the nozzle and consequent checking
power, t he countershafting, with its belts, and worker had only to hold the t rigger ; while in ship- of the flow of water in the supply pipe gave rise to
bearings, took another 26 per cent. , whereas the holds he did not even require to do t hat , so t hat a momentary increase of pressure in that pipe ; and
if the supply pipe was long, so that there was a
machines absorbed in friction from 26 to 30 per there was no difficuH.y in r espect of vibration.
large mass of water in motion, this increase of prescent ., so that the useful work done was only from 20
C.ANADU. N AGRI CULTURAL MACHINERY.
sure became very great and would interfere seriously
to 26 per cent. With the object of r educing this
Mr. George Harwood Frost, B .A.Sc., of Ontario, wit h t he action of the method of control s uggested
waste of po wer, he dispensed with the top gear and
countershafting entirely, and adopted a system of n ext r ead in abstract a most suggestive paper by Professor Barr.
Mr. Bryan D onkin asked if Mr. Segundo could
clutchefl, which had proved very Eatisfactory, and descriptive of the splendid collection of agricultural
several manufacturers had since adopted t he system. machinery in the Canadian Section of the Exhibi- give them any information as to the efficiency of
Mr. Bryan D onkin asked the authors if they tion, and this paper we shall r eproduce with the the wheels.
Mr. Segundo, in replying to the discussion, s g,id
illustrations in an early issue. The Chai rman , in
could indicate the boiler efficiency.
Mr. Walker, of 'Vigan, t hought t hat much of moving the customary vote of thanks, took occasion that Dr. Barr's idea for a rubber nozzle was exthe economy had been r ealised, as su$!gesteu in the to r efer to the g reat ingenuity displayed in t he tremely valuable, and he was hopeful about carrying
paper, by the change in the boiler. \ Vhile favour- design of the machines described, and also to the out some tests in connection with it, with Professor
ably disposed towards electric driving, he had great p er severance wit h which Canadian manu- Barr's permission. He quite agreed with what had
found great difficulty in ad~pting it to his own facturers had p erfected these machines. H e advised been said about the name of Pelton being erroworks, and had even had many el ectrical engineers the members to examine the Canadian exhibits, neously applied to such forms of water-wheel, and
at t he works an xious to sohe his difficul ty, this and said that in doing so they would find Mr. in connection with this mentioned that the American
being principally associated w:ith the number of Frost's p~per a most useful g uide. Mr. R. Court- P atents Office had discovered t he idea recorded in
pulleys required for the vanable speeds, apart n ay said that he had had experience of several of 1850. As to the inefficient regulation of the t urbines

392

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

at. Niagara, mentioned by Professor Goodman, he

sa1d that M essrs. Escher, Wyss, and Co. h ad claimed
to ha ve successfully overcome this unsatisfactory
speed regulation by the use of r elief valves somewhat similar to, but n ot, in his view, so simple a~
those he had described in the paper. Professor
Goodman's r e marks were very instructive, but as
the time for adjournment had arrived he would
only say in r eference to them that h e would look
forward with great pleasure to the details which he
proposed t o e mbody in his paper to the Institution.
As t~ the efficiency of the water-wheel, he b elieved
that it had been put at 92 per cent. as the results of
tests at t he Cornell U ni varsity. H e himself h ad
ma~e no expe.riments, but he thought that in
ord1nary practtee 70 or 75 p er cent. miaht b e
attained. He q uite agr eed with Mr. D onkfn that
t~e form of nozzle was a subject wor thy of attentwn, as the best had not yet been arrived at.
Professor Goodman here made the remark that a
group of tests of a P elton wheel at the Yorkshire
College had g iven an 80 per cent. efficiency.
This completed the programme of papers, and
the Chairman then m oved that the t hanks of the
S ection should b e accorded to the Glasaow University Students' Union for the use of their very
suitable hall, in which the meetings had been held.
He added that in concluding their meeting he felt
sure that all present would desire to most heartily
congratulate those on whom the work of organising
the Congress had fallen, on the great s uccess which
had attended their efforts.

SECTION IV. NAVAL ARCHITECTURE AND MARINE

ENGINEERING.
On the third day of the meeting, Thuraday, September 5, the sitting of this Section was renewed in
the Humanity Lecture Thea.tre of ~he U niversity,
Dr. John Inglis occupying the chair.
E QUIPMENT OF w ARSHIPS.
The first p aper taken wa.s by Mr. E. C. Carnt,
the subject being "The M odern Steamboat Equipment of Warships. " This pap er we print in extenso
on page 431.
The discussion on this paper was opened by
Colonel Solainoi, who referred t o the material of
which the boats descri bed by the a uthor were built.
H e said that these lit tle vessels fulfilled a most
useful function in training young officers in the
h andling of vessels. That had some effect on the
material of which they we re constructed. They were
apt to run into landing stages, or ge.t damaged in
other ways, and it was no d oubt true that, if made
of wood, they were more easily repaired by the
ship's carpenter than if t hey we re constructed of
metal. There was this, however, to be considered :
that in action, if t h ese boats were to remain on the
skids, their wooden hulls when struck by shot or
shell would be likely to afford material for dangerous
splinters. So much wa~ this feared that it was
accepted by n aval officera that it would be well to
get rid of their boats before going into action .
That involved considerable complication, for even
in war time m en-of-war could not dispense wit h
b oats altogether. He thought t hat now thero were
so many mech anics on board a wa rship that ordinary
damage t o a steel boat should be able to be repaired
without great d ifficulty.
Professor Biles s aid that n o doubt the steamboat
equipment of war vessels was a subject that h ad
no t r eceived ve ry much attention by t he Instit ution
of Naval Architects, and Mr. Carnt's most interesting p aper was therefore doubly welcome. These
little vessels were, indeed, of considera ble importance, and t heir performance was watched with
interest by n aval architectg, as indicating the
possibilities in d evelopmen t of speed in larger
vessels having high ratio of power to displacement.
One of the most s triking facts to him was the
circumstance that wit h a wooden boat of 60 ft.
lenath as great a speed had been obtained as
wa; reached with a metal b oat. It was well known
that in the smalle r sizes wood en hulls were ligh ter
than those of metal, and in vie w of the fact stated,
it would be interesting to know whe re the line of
demarcation occurred. In the case of sailing
yachts of high speed, they found, for instance,
that modern '' Cup D efenders " were all of metal.
Colonel Soliani had pointed out t he defects of wood
in r eaard to splintering in action. There were,
howe~er, many things in a man-of-war that wo~ld
be undes irable durina an engagement, yet wh1ch
had to be tolerated for the sake of their advanS TEAMBOAT

[SEPT. 20, I 901.

.

tages during peace. It was always a question

what qualit ies should be sacrificed- whether it
was worth r etaining a great ad 'rantage for the
peace p eriod, alth ough it might e n tail some
risk in war.
Splinters from the hulls of
wooden b oats were, however, perhaps not quite
so dangerous as might be though t , and the d amage
to a steel hull might not be so easily repaired after
an action. The ' ' turn about" principle was always
o.ne of con siderable interest, but it was a questwn whet her these boats owed their improved
manoouvring facilities nwst to the cutting away of
dead wood, or to the two rudde rs. In the modern
sailing yacht the principle of cutting away the ends
was carried to an extreme, and these boats turned
with a rapidity that was simply amazing.
In
mak ing a comparison between sailing and stea m
b oats, they could n ot but be struck by the
enormously quicker action of the sailing vessel.
Mr. Carnt p ointed out here that the turning t rials
to which he had made reference were carried out
with a vessel steaming at 16 knots . Professor
Biles added that no d oubt the speed made a great
difference, b ut the q uestion remained whether the
quicker turning was due m ostly to the two rudders,
or to cutting a way t he d ead wood.
Mr. Corner, Chief Engineer to H.M. D ockyard,
Ports mouth, who rose at the invitation of the
Chairman, said that the paper was par ticularly
interesting to him, for he had been largely mixed
up with b oat trials at the early part of the forty
years during which he had been connected with the
R oyal Navy. He had been engaged on one of the
earliest trials carried out with one of these little
st eam vessels. They were a n ovelty t hen, and he
well r emembered the great inte rest excited. On
their return to the dock yard a gallant ad miral of
that day, who probably did not possess all t he
mathematical lore that was now to be acquired at
Greenwich, asked him what speed had been reached.
The reply was, ~'Seven point one eight five four."
"Why, that, "said the admiral, "isexactlythenumber
-.> f feet that are in a mile. " Now we have r eached
sixteen knots. Mr. John Samuel White's connection with these boats had been a very marked one.
He had been associated with Messrs. Bellis and
Co., now B ellis and Morcom, who had made the
machinery; and the country owed a great deal to
all three for the ad vancement made in this branch
of n aval architecture and marine engineering

sctence.
In replying to the discussion, Mr. Ca.rnt said that
the relative merits of wood and steel for the hull
construction of small boats had been well conside.red
by the Admiralty, and the preference had been
given to wood. I t had beon stated that the
Admiralty were creat ing a reserve of 25 per cent.
of boats in excess of the n ormal peace requirements
for ships in the Navy. If a b oat were blown to pieces
in an act ion, no doubt the ship would also be so
crippled that she would have to go to the dockyard
to refit, and a new boat could then be dropped into
place. The question of splinters from wooden hulls
had been fully taken into consideration. His own
opinion was that there would n ot be much probability of heavy splinters. These boat-s had three
skins, and the diagonal construction led him t o
think that they would not splinter badly, but would
get _perforated in the same manner as a steel boat ;
t he different layers of wood in the skin were
securely fasten ed together with some textile fabric
and marine glue bet ween them. At the present
time Messr s. White were building at East Cowes
four steel boats for the Russian Government. They
could build there steel hulls as light as any in t he
world, but they found t hat they could n ot get the
same speed with a metal-built boat as they could
wit h a wooden hull of similar dimensions. He,
like Professor Biles, had seen a good deal of t he
m odern racing yacht, and had been led to consider
h ow far the d ouble rudder a nd the removal of the
dead wood respectively influenced t he turning of
the small steamboats described in th e paper. At
first he was inclined to think t hat the absence of
dead wood was the ruling factor, but he h ad found
that the additional . rudder forward of the main
rudder was a great h elp to precision in steering.
In going astern t his was the case to a nwst marked
degree, t he ''turn-about , boats when r eversed
manoouvring with the g reatest precision. H e had
r ecently built a steamboat in which the d ead wood
was out away, but there was n o forward rudder, and
although the boat steered very well and would t urn
in a very small circle going forward, th ere was an
a bsence of control in going astern. An involuntK'"I.ry

experiment was r ecently made through the carrying a way of the after rud der, an accident that was
not discovered until the boat h ad returned to her

moor1ngs.
Dr. Inglis, in summing up the discussion, said
t hat the excellence of the work done by Mr. John
Samuel White at E ast Cowes in the construction of
hulls, and by Messrs. Bellis and Morcon1 in early
d!lys in m aking machinery, was well known. Thirty
years ago he had become possessed of one of these
little boats, and h ad found then that even a Clyde
engineer could learn something from marine
engines m ad e at Birmingham.
GRA.PHrc ANALYSEs oF SoREw-P.aoPELLER
REAOTIONS.

The next paper taken was a contribution by Mr.

J. Millen A dam, entitled ' ' Graphic Analyses of
Screw-Propeller Re~ctions." This paper we print
in abstract on page 429.
Mr. E . Hall Brown Wd.S t he first speaker. He
said it would need a week, rather than twenty
minutes, to adequately study the paper the author
had presented, but there were some points that
~uggested themselves t o him during the r eading.
I t was generally accepted that the greater part of
the velocity of the propeller race was acquired previously to the water striking t he blade. That ,
however, was apparently n ot the view of Mr.
Adam. The question also arose in connection with
what the author had said whether the ordinary
screw-propeller throws water off at the tips. Mr.
A;:lam appeared to think so, but the speaker's
opinion was t hat such an action did not take place.
If they could judge by the smoke test, the propeller
would draw from t he surrounding fluid at the tip::~
and discharge at the centre. No doubt as the p ropeller race loses in velocity, and pressure increases,
some water must come to the surface, and this
might give colour to the t heory. Whatever might
be t he practical r esult, however, t here could be no
d oubt that the paper r epresented a high intellectual effort, and as a men tal exercise it was m ost
valuable to follow. Mr. Thrupp said he proposed
to study the paper at leisure. He though t it a
pity that in the theory of propellers it was n ot possible to get rid of the expression "negative slip. "
The expression was a contradiction in itself, and
was like speaking of over 100 per cent. efficiency.
Mr. John Scott said he had endeavoured to g ive
practical effect by experiment<:1 on a large scale to
the a uthor's theories. Although something was
done, he reg retted that the experiments had been
interrupted through a cause q uite unconnected with
the propeller. H e had been highly impressed by
th~ figures and arguments Mr. Adam had put before
him. A propeller on his d esign had been nade
and put on a yacht, and from t he r esults obtained
he had come to t he conclusion t hat the form of
screw possessed element3 of design which promised t o
it a considerable fut ure. It was very difficult to come
to an exact conclusion by observing with t he eye the
form of wake ; h e could only say it differed materially from that of an ordinary screw. They had had
two cone propellers made : with the first one there
was much difficulty in going astern ; indeed, all the
power of the engine appeared to be absorbed by
the propeller in creating a vor tex. In the second
propelle r t his diffi culty was overcome.
Mr. Mumford said he h ad made propeller experiments for twenty years, but was afraid he could
not form the same high opinion of the promise of
s uccess for the auth or's propeller as the last speaker
h ad expressed. He had made many experiments
with screws h aving various pitches, but he had
never found one to give an efficien cy higher than
that of t he screw of uniform pitch. The acceleration o f the wake did not occur in the passage of
t he water from the leading to the following edge of
the b lade, but at some distance in front of the
scre w. In r egard to t he expression "negative slip,"
to which Mr. 'rh:upp h ad taken exception, he would
point out that t he phen omen on arose from the fact
that the driving surface was n ot nece3sarily t he
real pitch of t he screw, the effective p itch being
affected by b oth surfaces. This was illustrated b.y
the fact t h'lt with fine pitches negative slip was
more appare nt, as with coarser pitches the disturbing influence was a s maller ra.tio. In regard to
the throwing out of water at the tips of the
blades, there was not so much loss as might be
thought, as there was r eaction on t he propeller
blade through motion being imparted to the water.
In any case, it had been found that trying to
confine the water so as to deli,er it directly

SEPT. 20, 1901.]

astern r esulted in no practical advantage. In

conclusion, he would . ay that in propeller design
it was impossible to depend on t heory alone for
determinin6 r esults, and success could only be
proved by practical experimen t. So far as his experience went, he did not see there was much
hope of higher efficiency being r eached with the
screw propeller.
Mr. Adam, in replying to the discussion, said
that the trouble to which Mr. Scott had referr ed
in connection with reversing arose through insufficient attention being paid to the form of the
back of the blades. He could not agree with Mr.
Mumford that, energy having been imparted to the
water, a propulsive effect would be produced whatever the direction might be in which the particles
were set in motion. Any action not parallel with
the shaft was, to a certain extent, a loss of power.
A NEw FoRM oF PROPELLER.
The last paper read at t he meeting in this Section was a cont ribution by Mr. Schutte, of Bremerhaven, and was entitled " A New Form of Propeller:' Models of t~e propeller wer e exhibi~ed
in the room. It conststed of a boss from whlCh
projected three arms sloping aft. To the extremit ies of each of these arms, p ear -shaped blades were
fitted, the attachment being at a point at t he back
of each blade where the centre or hydraulic pressure occurred. I t was claimed that t he water had
therefore free access to each part of the blade, and
a vacuum would not be formed. The propeller
therefore worked evenly and was free from vibration.
The discussion on this paper was of a very br ief
nature. Mr. Napier pointed out that the screw
desirned by t he author had expanding pitch to an
eno:mous extent. He reminded the meeting that
the form of h ull had an immense influeRce on the
action of the propeller, as was shown by t he difference aimed at in the slip of twin and single screws
respective1y. Mr. Davidson said that a propel.ler
similar to that shown by the author had been tried
some years ago. Mr. Rotta. said that experi.ments
had been made with the screw referred to In the
paper, and wit h one. as n early ~s like as possible,
having blades fitted 1n the ordtnary way. They
had also tried blades with constant pitch, but the
efficiency was not the same.
The meeting of this section was brought to a. close
by yotes of thanks being proposed to Lord Glasgow,
Dr. Ioglis, and Mr. J ohn Scott for presiding during
the meeting. This was proposed by Mr. Napier,
and seconded by Mr. Adams.

SECTION Vll.- MUNICIPAL.

This Section met again 'on Thursday in the Engineering L ecture Theatre, when the Chairman was
again Mr. E . George Mawbey, Leicester.
RECENT TRAMW A.Y PRACTICE.
Mr. Ja.mes More, Jun., M. Inst. C.E., F.R.S.E.,
Edinburgh, r ead a paper on "Recent Tramway
Practice." This paper dealt with electric tramways
and their development during the last five years.
The paper is too long to give in exten '>o, and too
detailed for an abstract ; and we must therefore
pass direct to the discussion. There is the more
reason for doing this because every novelty in
electric tramways has b een fully described in
ENGINEERING and TRAd:riON AND TRANS!InssroN, and
our readers are k ept well informed as to this
branch of their professional work.
Mr. Thomas Hewson, Leeds, in moving a vote
of thanks t o Mr. More, ask ed whether that gentleman had any information as to propositions to
make the central groove in the tramway r ail as it
was laid some years ago in Liverpool, and whether
there was any disposition throughout to country to
recur to that form. T o his mind it had many
advantages. He further would like to know
whether in the tram way world he found any likelihood at present of the introduction of welding the
tramway rails.
Mr. J ohn Price, City Surveyor, Birmingham, in
seconding, noticed that Mr. More laid great stress
upon jointing in the permanent way. Those who
had any knowledge at all of the working of electric
tramways knew that the question of the permanent
way was a very serious one. In fact, some lines
which had been r ecently laid, he understood, were
already giving considerable trouble. At Birmingham they turned one section of the tramways from
the accumulator service to an overhead system.
He advised the company, who were operating it,

393

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

01:

that by doing so, and putting

a four-wheeled
truck instead of the old double bogtes on the old cars,
that the permanen t way would go rapidly to pieces.
It had done so. H e advised them that it would
not last more than six 1nonths, or twelve months
at most. In thr ee months they got orders to r elay
t he whole thing, at considerable expen.s~. He
would like to ask how the cast-welded JOint was
found to work in practice, and w~at ~ould ? e lik~ly
to be the difficulties to be met w1th In deahng w1th
th e permanent way 1 The rail sections now had a
tendency to be very considerably increased, and h e
n oticed in the diagrams in the paper that Mr. More
had taken very much the same lines t hat he hi~
self took when designing a n ew rail for the B irmingham trams. The joint used a.tBirmingham was
something like No. 8 in the diagram ; that was to
say, the fishplates were something li~e those of
No. 8. The cross-section of the new ratls was very
much like No. 2. They found that by getting the
joints doubly bolted, bottom and the sides, they
2.

76 LBS. PER YARD

P~R

YAR D.

3.

83 LBS PER YARD

84LtJS.

described in the paper. They t herefor e adopted a

differentiation in th e thickness of the setts. They
went back to t he 6-in. sett, and they blocked ~p
th e rail to the proper level, and t hen poured .In
the concrete thorouahly rammed it, and got 1 m.
to 1i in. of the rail embedded in the concrete.
U niformity of girder rail would tend yery m~ch
towards the economising of the constructwn of rails,
and that would tend very much to develop and
extend the use of t he tramways, particularly in t he
smaller districts.
Mr. Fowler Leeds, was at a loss to understand why
an engineer si1ould design a r ail like No. 2, ~o. a,
No. 7, or No. 8, because it would be obs.erved m all
those sections the weight of the traffic di~ n ot come
on the centre of the rail, but on one side of t~e
cen tre of the rail. The consequence was that 1n
course of time there n1ust be a biassed pressure,
and the pressure or weight falling more on one side
of the bed than the other, natur ally in course of
time the bed would get ou t of order. H e was rather

:>0 LBS. PER YJlRO

s.

SO L8S PE R YARD.

(J 7 LSS. PR YARO,

(7053)

got a very much stiffer joint ; and after

using that joint for several years, he had
not yet been able to see a. better one. Of
course, no one could be expected to discuss in
detail a paper involving so n1any heads ; but he
should like to say on e word more about the ro1ling
stock. The bogie car, where you had to deal
with a large number of passengers- say, anything
appr oaching fifty- was the best, the only point
against it being the greater consumption of power.
Mr. A. H. Campbell, Eastham, in seconding the
vote of thanks, drew attention to the paragraph
which stated : " The Edinburgh Corporation
cable lines, just being completed, have n ot
so far paid their way, for several avoidable
reasons." That adjective "avoidable" was very
s uggestive, and i t would be instructive and
interesting if 1\fr. More would vouchsafe a
little more specifically what it meant. Those of
them who had had occasion to study the
E dinburgh cable problent knew that there was
a great deal of scientific and legal cont roversy
going on just now as to the working of these
Then, turning to the Table
cable tramways.
where Mr. More gave the r esults of certain
evaporation under different conditions by different
types of boiler, it appeared to Mr. Oa.mpbell that
a. great deal of th e evaporation was exceedingly low,
except at Aberdeen, which appeared enormously
high. Passing to a section of the paper that peculiarly concerned them as tramway engineers, having
the highway interests more particularly at h eart, he
desired a. little fuller information on the different
methods of laying t he rails ; that was to say,
bedding them. Under the heading "Foundation,"
Mr. More r ecounted three methods of b edding
the rails. The first and secon d methods they
had tried, and they had discarded both. The
third method they had not tried, and he did not
think , unless after obtaining more information, he
would be induced to give it a trial. He was still just
as sceptical, and as fearful of the r esults of this third
method as he was by experience of methods either
one or two. In his place they had adopted a.
method different from any of these three. They
embedded the tramway rail into the concrete. The
rail was 6i in. deep. They commenced with 6-in .
setts. That therefore meant that the flange of
the rails had to be tied on the top surface of the
concrete, and the result was that so correctly

surprised at t he last speaker advocating the bedding

of t he rails on such a plan, believing that it would
be liable to put the bedding out of order. The plan
he adopted was to get the sett as near the depth
of the r ail as possible, an d all he did was to lay
the rails on a bed of concrete, put a sn1all sprinkling of sand on the top of t he bottom section of the
rail, and lay the sett flush with t he rail perfectly
level ; and the work was the same to-day as it was
ten years ago. Ther e was no settlement whatever.
The rails were as sound and as secure as ever they
were. In Glasgow they had the opposite experience. There he n oticed, opposite the Asylum,
right away into the country, they were actually
laying with tar macadam. Surely, after thirty
years' experience, they should not commence to lay
tramways with tar macadam.
Mr. Brodie, City Engineer, Liverpool, said he
agreed with the first speaker as a matter of
experien ce with regard to the question of the
depth of setts. They had tried both ways in
Liverpool, and his present opinion was that they
were better to have a shallow sett alongside of the
rail and a good sound concrete b etween the inside
of the said sett and the rail flange. Whether
they liked it or not, in connection with electric
tramways they wou1 d have vibration wherever the
traffic was heavy and continuous. As a matter of
practical experience, t hey found in Liverpool that
a small depth of concrete on the top of the flange
was a distinct advantage in vibration. I t also
prevented the possibility of water getting undern eath th e rails . If water got there in a close
service, they would have tr ouble with their pa. vements .
The Chairman asked Mr. Brodie his experienoe
in the matter of bedding the rails.
Mr. Brodie replied 'that they had the different
methods of bedding. So long as the concrete was
of first-?lass ma.ter~als, prope~ly mixed and properly
propor twn ed, he d1d not th1nk there was much in
the methods of bedding. Of course, where they
had an old concrete, as they had in Liverpool, it was
well that they should get sufficient depth of new
concrete below the' rails and take good care that
the new concrete had the chance of taking a good
grip of the old concrete ~y wetting the latter properly and also by cement.1ng to some extent, laying
a layer of cement on the surface of the old concrete.
A question had been asked with regard to the centre

394

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

[SEPT. 20, I90I.

The con.struction is s~ simple a~ to readily lend itsel

grooved rail, and although he did n ot wish to guard strip nor t h e g uard wire would a fford proper
appear to b e r eplying, he might say t hat h e h ad protection. Possibly everything would go right in t<? ~he des1gn of a mn.chme wherem, under varying con.
d~t10ns of gas production, a more constant rfttio of scrubv~ry great experience in the c~ntre-grooved rail in 99 cases out of 100, but t h e lOOth would come, a nd b.mg surface and gas treated can be obtained. The addiL1verpool! and h e firmly b~lieved, on the whole, it did come in Liverpool on a very stormy night, tiOnal ad vanta~es are small ground space required
an~ p!i.rtl~ularly from the municipal engineer's when the streets we re covere d with snow, and with absence of ruot1ve power, and facility of cleaning.
'
The .Proportioning of plant area to make of gas sug
po1nt of view, that t h e centre - grooved rail was fatal r esults.
a better rail than the side-tread rail.
He
Mr. Price said that in Birmingham t h ey h ad the gcsted m the case of scrubbers can likewise be applied to
purifiers. The minimum area recommended may be taken
did n ot t hink it was good as a matter of policy whole of the telephone wires "bunched." Private at
400 ft. super per million per diem. In tho case of tho
t o have t h e centre-groove rail in one place and a wires, of which t here were only three or four, were typical works thts figure would work out as follows :
side-tread rail. in a~other place ; and t h er efore, all insulated, and the postal tel~ graph people
T ABLE IV.
though l.1e be~Ieved 10 the centre-grooved rail, h e agreed to put them underground.
ha.d advised his corporation to put in the side-tread
A vote of th anks was h ea rtily accorded to Mr.
Calculated Sizes of
Total
A rea. Square
Millions
per
Purifiers at 400 Ft. pEr
r a1l, for he could foresee t he t ime when Liv erpool M ore, who replied on t he discussion .
Feet per Million.
Diem.
Million.
would be connected wi th the districts round about.
-DwELLINGS
FOR
THE
\VoRKING
CLASSES.
Wit~ :egar~ to j oints, t h ey had t ried ra il-welding
400
20 fb. by 100 ft..
6
600
4
20 )) 80
Mr. A. H. Oampbell, East H am, read a paper,
the JOint w1t h a g irder underneath the surface and
667
20 ))
60 ))
8
a number of oth er joints as well. Personaliy he by himself and Mr. W. H . Savage, on "Provieion
1900
20 ))
40 ))
- ___:_
P.referred a g~od weld joint. They h ad some expe- of Dwellings for the Working Classes. "
On t h e motion of Mr. L obley, seconded by Mr.
n ence of b ogie trucks as well as with four-wheel
The author would .ll;tho~n.to an onde::~.vour being mado
ca rs, and while t he maximum traction was an in- Cooper, Wimbledon, he was accorded a h oarty vot e to fix the host cond1t1on for speed of contact and ar&l. in
the purifying plant of gas works, and then to provide
~enious arran gement, h e t h ought it wanted cer tain of thanks.
whereby this mn.y be obtained in reguhtr working
There was a paper on t he agenda by Mr. F. means
1~pro vemen~s . . Ta~en on t h e whole, the b ogie,
within the extreme limits of production.
w1th equa l dist ributiOn of weight, h ad some ad van- W. Mager, on the subject of " Coal-Mining Subsi.
Mr. Hunt was n ot quite clear as to the advantage
dences in Relation to Sewers, " but as the a uthor
tages.
t o b e gained by following t he practice of units advoMr. Thomas Harpur, Cardiff, said the packing did n ot appear, it was taken as read.
cated by Mr. Carpenter. The day before they had
This concluded th e proceedings of the Section.
on t h e rail underneath had a very great deal to d o
had a process b efore them for carbonising in bulk,
- -wit h the ultimate life of the permanent way.
to
some
extent,
took
away
t
he
arguments
in
which,
They were doing at Cardiff practically what the
SECTION VIII.- GAS.
favour of the unit system. There might be some
author suggested.
He h ad n ot m ention ed any
This Section met again on Thursday, t he 5th inst., little ad vantage in t h e scrubber, from the fact that a
meth od of paving except with granite setts, but h e in the Natural History Lecture Theatre.
portion of it was available for repair without putting
r eferred to t he grout ing with bitumen which he
The first paper r ead was by Mr. Charles Oar- t he whole apparatus out of order. They had always
said had been in vogue in L ancashire for twenty penter, and was entitled "The Application of the
y ears, but was n ot known in t.h e sout h. Mr. Unit System of Gas M~nufacture to I ts Purifica- t hought that large areas were conducive to econ omy
Harpur contradicted t h at statement, because that t ion ." The follo wing is an abstract of its conten ts : of manufacture. In the case of purifiers, the
economy of large areas was very marked, although
m ethod of bit.uminous grouting granite paveThe produein~ plants of the large1: t gas works are built
ment had b een m operation in Cardiff, which was up of unit wh1ch hardly vary, except in number, from there was no d oubt but that with large purifiers
the gas did not get so evenly distributed as with
pretty well south, f or upwards of twenty y ears. thoso employed in the smnJlest undertn.king.
purifiers
of
moderate
size
;
and
there,
perhaps,
The tra~ways in Cardiff had b een so grouted for
From the point of view only of carboni~ ing coal, each
that p eriod, and he could nut understand h ow it retor t or unit is independent ; and alone or coupled 'vill Mr. Carpenter's proposal might b e adopted wit h
had taken so long for municipal engineers a nd give its maximum duty. So mnch for t he manufitcture of advantage.
gas. If its J?Urification, either in the wet or dry way, is
Mr. D empster said t hat as nearly every gas works
tramway engineer s to find out t h e superiority of con idered, 1t will be found that the usual conditions are
had differ ent sections of retort s, hydraulic mains,
bituminous grou ting over that of cement, and p ar - quite different. In tl. 5-million cubic feet works, two
&c. , it seemed to him that if a standard of sections
tower scrubbers aro used for the purification from
ticularly in r eference to wood-paving.
could b e adopted, it would be a great advantage.
Mr. J . L obley, Hanley, said h e had used t h e ammonin. ; a liquor scrubber to work up the strength,
He did not see any reason for more than t hree
and
a
water
scrubber
for
tho
la
t
traces.
Accepted
bituminous concrete for t hirty years, and h e fully dimensions would bo 20 ft. in diameter by 70 ft. high.
sections of each size.
agreed wit h what Mr. Harpur had said abo ut it . The wetted surfn.ce would be 527,788 square feet.
Mr. Hyslop, P aisley, did n ot see t hat t h ere was
With regard to packing, he also endorsed Mr.
The following Tltble compares the above figures per any n ecessity for reducing the a rea of scrubbers
Harpur's method of wellra.mming in fine gravel ruil1ion cubic feet made per diem in the case of the 5- in summer time. In his opinion, more trouble and
and ceme nt under the b ottom flange b efore having million cubic feot work for each million between the loss was caused by oYer condensation than in other
t he final concrete laid on to r eceive th e pavement. winter maxinlllm of G millions and the summer minimum depart ments of gas manufacture.
of 2 millions.
Mr. William E. Kenway, Birmingham, spoke
Mr. Wilson, D a wsholm, rath er t h ought that
TA
BLE
I.
-Compa1ison
of
T
owe1
Sc1ubbers
arul
Gas
strongly in approval of t he V ictor joint. which
llfacle.
small units would take up too much room for
had b een adopted by the Birmingham and W olversuccessful application to old works ; in th e matter
h ampton Corporat ion s, and was being taken up by
Total Ares.
Gas Are:t.
Wetted SurfacP. of erecting new works, the idea might be carried
others . This joint did not interfere wit h the Millions per Square Feet per Square Feet per ~quare Feet per out much more economically, and t hus be made to
Diem.
.Million.
Million.
Million.
packing. I t was in no way a soleplate ; it was
simply a twin joint, and it only ca me outside the - -- - - - ---- -1- - - - -- - - - - -- prove valuable.
5
~~
~~
~~f:~~~
Mr.bFdoulis was of c pinion that any rules or data
bottom of th e rail as much as t h e h ead of a bolt.
4
1
105
79
175,929
t
1ey a were, more or le~s, so modified by local
3
If t h ere was a better joint, he should like very
157
118
263,894
circumstances t hat t h ey were of little use in in2
much to see it tried anywhere else.
divid ual cases. His own impression was that they
Mr. Broom did not think it was a good way to
could not have too much area in their purifiers, but
An
alternative
to
tower
scrubbers
is
the
well-known
m ake the 6 in. setts t ight on the fl~nge of the "standard " washer. The wheels of a 5-million machine he was decidedly of opinion, also, tha t th ere was
rail. In St. H elens they us ed only 4-in. cubes . would be 8 ft . outlet diameter by 4 ft. inlet diameter, and a limit to t he economical workin g size of pt,\'ifiers.
They put 6 in. of concrete under t hem, and t h e 12 in. 'vide. 'fhe gas area would therefore be 13.52 sq uare
Mr. Carpenter , in t he course of his reply, added
per
wheel
205,709
ft.,
or
feet
;
and
the
wetted
surface
rails were packed as well as possible. The r esult
t hat the cost of each of the towers was b elow
24,672
square
feet
por
machine
of
twelve
wheels.
so far h ad been very satisfactory. In fact , he
The following Table is on the same lines as the preced- 150l., and that the complete plant, exclusive of
believed t h at repairs would l>e req uired t o t h e ing one for t he tower scr ubber :foundation s and pipes, would come out at about
rails r eally befor e t h ey were r equired t o th e setts.
300l. The weight of each of t he towers was 5! tons,
TA
BLE
II.
-Compa1ison
of
Standa1'Clt
Waslu.'1
'
ancl
Gas
The Chairman invited remarks on overh e1d tracand t he weigh t of the "bundles " was 4 tons.
J.l fade.

tion.
INCLl NED RETORTS.
Mr. Brodie, responding, said th ey had had some
Mean Gas Area. Wetted Surrac('.
Area.
Total
serious accidents in Liverpool, and as a result th e Millions per Square Feft
Mr. W. R . H erring t M. Ins t.. C. E. (Edinbura0 h),
Square Feet
Square Feet
lJiem.
per Million. read a paper en t itled, '' The Constru ction of Inper Million.
Corporation bad entered into negotiations with the
per Mtllion.
p eople interested in the overhead wires, assisting
clined Retort Carbonising Plants," of which t h e
4,934
2.7
8. 6
5
any as regards cos t i n cases where people wer e
6,1 f8
3.4
folluwing is an abstract:
10.7
4
8 ,224
4.6
14.3
there by Parliamentary auth ority, and by treaty or
3
The primary object of the inclined retort is the re12,33\i
6.8
21 5
2
oth erwise where people were trespassing or h ad n o
duction to a minimum of the labour hitherto involYed

righ t . The consequence was t hat, so far as the in the charging and draw ing of conl-gns retorts. There
National Telephone Company was concerned, all
A glance at the second columns of Tables I. and II. are also second My ad vttnb\ges- sueh as the gren.ter prooverhead wires in Liverpool were to-day cabled and shows the very striking difference of practice in the two ducing capacity over a given area of land, economy in
types of v~ sel.. lt appeared worth while to try the construction, &c. Considerable di versity is shown in the
suspend ed f rom steel wires, so t h at t h ere was not experiment of combining to as great an extent as possible outward foam of the different plants existin~ in this
very much possibility of an accident from the tele- the ad vantages of both. A pair of towers were therefore country, as contrasted with the various in tallat1ons upon
phone wires. They h ad not been able to make constructed for a works hn.ving a 2-million win ter and the Con tinent of Europe. A distinct ;ve feature of the
the t elegraph people move q uite so quickly, but 1-million summer load. Each tower wM marle 2~ ft. Continental in tnllations is the length of the retort. The
they had offer ed p ractically to bear t h e t otal square by 26 ft. high, and "packed" wi th iron bundlcs" British pmctice may be said to be 20-ft. retorts, where
buil t up similarly to those used in the "Standard " rua- spaco permi ts of their adoption; whereas on the Continent
cost of putting the telegraph w ires und ergroun d ' chines, bnt rectangular in shapo.
from 3 to 3~ ft. ntetres (10 ft. to 11 ft. 6 in.) is the preand t h ey thought t h ey bad gone as far as
dominant longth of the rotort. )i"rom a labour point of
need b e in that direction. Most of the comparaTABLE III. -Con1-pet1'ison of Towc'r Wa~he1 ancl Gas
view, the operation of charging 11 20-ft. retort with 7 cwt.
of coal is no grettter, and occupie but a few seconds mor<',
t ively few private wires had been removed, and
Made. _
than the charging of a retor t from 12 ft. 6 in. to 13 ft.
there only r emained one or two unprotected teleTotal Area. 1 Gas Area
Wetted Surface. long. It will be highly interesting if Con tinental engiphone wires in Liverpool. Early in connection .Millions per Square Feet per Square Feet per Square Feet per neers will disclose t heir reasons for adhoring to tl.e
wit h t h e tramways in Liverpool t h ey mad e exhausDiem.
Million.
Million.
Million.
shorter retorts.
'fho inclined-rotor t installations at the present tune
t ive experimen ts both with t he guard wire and with
- s. 1- 2. fl- - 6.075 2
may, broadly speaking, be defined as c:om~isting of two
the g uard strip, and also with other arrangements,
1
62
f .1
12.150
distinct types. The best-known type is that having
and h e advised t h e Corporation that neither t h e
H

~ 2

11

-----

___

SEPT. 20,

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

rgo1.]

395

THE

WHITEHEAD

TORPEDO WORKS AT FlUME.

(For Desc1-iption, see Page 398.)

c
-+-- -. -

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

- - - -

-- -

--~

F-Lg .a.
L{}

-.

C>

;"~

0
0

-'

t. _,'

0
C>

lnu.oJ

.sca.le

(J %/lO}

1 )3o

F~ . 4.

t-- -

17

C)

ABBAZIA--

Fig .5.

,..MAIN ROAD ---+FlUME

LEGTIUC

ENTRANCE
COAl

TRAMWAY

STOII~

FOUN

POWCR

RV

,)bus

N ~l

BAY

Nz BAY

YA RO

N~BAY

BOAT

N~S

STORE

BAY

TOOL 1100,.,

MACHtNE TOO
Pll'TTCRN ""A"'""'

CAR PENT

SMtTHS
YARO

CEHRAI. FfTTI

IOFTICS ABOVE/

SH0

CONTR OL 1100...:

FITTING

PATTERN STORE

DDDDDDDD

YARD

,.

continuous coal-storage hoppers (sub-divided or not),

erected above the benches, wit h or wit hout measuring
chambers beneath.
The other distinctive type has one or more coal-storage
hoppers cent ralised; the charging shoot forming also
the measuring chamber, receiving its charge from beneath
the hopper, and t raversing with it to the retorts to be
charged.
The charging ap_pliances, or the means used for conducting the coal m to the mout h of t he retort, have
a most important influence upon the successful working of the system. The- many varieties of coal that
have to be dealt with- from fine dust, wet and dry,
to mixed coal and on to round nuts-has brought
into existence all sorts of devices whereby the charge
can be regulated so as to flow into the retor ts at n.
uniform and even speed, and ensure a perfectly level and
uniform charge throughout the length of the retort. The
author has always preferred to retain 'vithin his re1tch,
figuratively sp~tkin g, tho power of ~end ing t he' charge of
coal direct into the retort and over tho bot tom mouthpiece-stop, and adopt means to govern t he impetus of the
coal by stmple devices to suit all the various conditions of
the physical characteristics of the coal to insure a uniform
charge. 'fo accomplish this, the author found it necessary,
in the first instance, to have some control of t he aperture
or the area of the point of discharge of t he coal from the
measuring chamber. By inserting a sliding val ve in the

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

ro

- ----

--

tOOJUbw
---..-;..;;------ - - - - - - - - - - -- -

base of the measuring chamber, the area can be governed

at will. Separate char~es are empl'oyed for each horizontal row of retorts. E ach row of retorts being on a
different level, necessitates a longer body to each, and
consequently a longer drop for the coal, wi t h its accelerated impetus. T his impetus must be governed ; and
many devices have been introduced to accomplish i t,
most of which are successful so long as a minor degree of
intelligence is excercised in t heir employment. The most
successful device is the compound flap hinged wi thin the
body of the shoot, and adjusted by levers from the outside set at such an angle us to check the impetus b,Y
thinning the stream of descending coal and directing 1t
in to a uniform layer upon the base of the shoe of the
charger. The author has thought t hat it will be advantageouR to have the means of altering t he angle of the
shoe-piece of the shoot, and he has introduced a means of
adjustins- the angle of the shoe.
The ch Rchnrging of the coke from the retor ts cnnnot
cll\,im to be automatic. Tho aut hor is of opinion t hnt
tho cros.~-scction of the retort should he of ~nc h n. form n:;
to permit of t he expansion oj the coal in t he retort rising
without jamming 1tself into the aroh or crown of the
retort, and that t his formation must be con tinued to t he
outer lip of the cast-iron mouthpiece. Further, in the
Gran ton erections he is having an hydraulic or compressed air piston, working in and out of the retort
from t he upper side, arranged wit h an acceler-ating-

-~ - ---

motion, so that the fpiston-head will, UJ?On entering the

retort, star t very slowly, and ~radu ally mmease in S{>eed,
descending from 8 ft. to 10 ft. m to t he retort ; t hus gtving
the charge the necessary impulse to traverse down the
slope of the retor t.
1'he manipulation of the slides of the measuring
chamb.ers, or the valve at the base of the .storage hop~er,
necessttates a very great amount of physteal force. The
author has therefore introduced a small double-acting
hydraulic cylinder and piston bolted to the underside of
the coal-storage hopper, and attached to the sliding valves
g-overning the discharge opening from the hopper. And
m the case of measuring chamhers, t he usual smgle lever
is introduced to actuate the bottom slide. A simple multiple hydraulic valve is fixed upon the stage of the retortbench, and made to work groups of cylinders, in t he case
of the two retort-settings at New-street, Edinburgh. One
multiple valve is made to work six cylinders actuating
six measur ing chambers. It is t he- author's intention
however, to group t hem in to sets of 12. A single strok~
of t he lever permi ts of t he operation of one chamber discharging, and the reversaJ of t he lever aR,ain closing t he
valve of t he chamber and t he hopper. 'I he whole operation requires no more exertion than can be exercised by n.
child.
The accumulation of tar and other condensable matters
in the lip of the lower mouthpieces often renders the
drawing-stage mouthpieces a most unsightly spectacle, as

EN G I N E ER I N G.
well as invo.lving considerable labour i~ the cleanin~ of
the mol;lth)?lCCe , ~evers, and mechamcnl parts. The
a;uthor .1s mtroducmg a traversing screen, resting upon
h g.ht rails l~racketed to the front buckstays, each screon
bemg ~uffie1ently long to span the length of three retorts,
and d1rect .the co~e and .tar, and anything falling from
the ~n:outhpieces, duectly 1nto the shoot conducting the
coke Into the coke-conveyor t rough.
. The great imp~ovements that have been made recently
In the constructiOn of conveyors for the transport..'ttion
of h?t coke rend~r it now possible to introduce these
applianc~ f?r t~e removal of the coke from the retorthouse as 1t IS discharged from the retort-mouthpieces
the trough being placed preferably beneath the floor and
arrangem~nts made therein for the quenching of the' coke
and the Withdrawal of the foul gases and steam through
a duct, and discharging them above the retort-bench
level.
T.he author prefers t he cast-iron trough and rollerchnm tJ1=>~ of C<?nveyort the trough suspended beneath
t he floor J Oist~ bemg entirely covered in on the.drawing~tage level, with portable covers for opening immediately
m front of the retorts to be drawn perforated J?ipes
bein.g fi~ted within the trough, and ~ tap regulatm~ a
section m front of each retort- ettins-. Coke on bemg
~rawn from a gi_ven setting, meets with the '~ater when
It comes oppos1te the next but one setting. By this
means . the steam and products emitted during the
quenchmg o~ th~ coke are drawn through the conveyor
trough, formmg Its own duct, and up vertical shafts at
the ends of the. bench. The traversing screen or shield
should be u .ed m front of the retort to protect the men
from t he direct heat-rays of the discharging coke. It
also acts as a shoot to direct the stream of coke to the
:tprertu~e leading to t?.e coke convey~r beneath.
rhe ll:!lprov~ment In the constructiOn of coke-conveyors
renders It po Ib~e to abandon the stage-floor retort-house
'\}together ; havmg the producer on the inner side or
prefera.bly se~f-containing gas-producers, situated ~t a
convemeut pomt for feeding with coke, and the conducting
of the. fuel gas to the retort-setting through brick-lined
conduits.
The paper concludes with a description of the new
Edinburgh gas works.
Dr. Leybold, Hamburg, called at tention to the
difference in the English aA contrasted with t!le
G erman prd.ctice. In England they used 20-ft.
length retorts ; in Germany about half that length,
from 3i to 4 metres. One of the reasons was that
in longer retorts they did not get an equality of
temperature throughout the length. German coal
was s uperseding, with t hem, English coal for gas
manufacture. With German coal they gasified in
four hours ; with English they could not do it
unde.v six hours. In H amburg they made 17candle gas ; the reason being that they had not
yet finished t heir installation for the incandescent
light ing of the streets. They experienced some
difficulty in using ca nnel coal with inclined
retorts.
Mr. Wilson said that for financial reasons he
had recently, n otwithstanding a predilecti0n in its
favour, had to decide against the erection of an
inclined retort bench. '11he capital cost, he thought,
was n ot compensated for by the saving in wages ;
were it possible to adopt the inclined retort to any
kind of coal, these objections would , to a considerable extent, disappear.
Mr. H elps, Nuneaton , would have liked to have
had particulars of coal used by Mr. Herring, to
obtain the results he gave.
Mr. Howbridge expressed the opinion that Mr.
Herring in his latest installation had gone backwards in several r espects. Mr. Herring had ~aid
in his paper t hat discharge of the coke could not
claim to be automatic. The speaker was afraid
that such was not the general experience. From
his own experience, he should say the discharge
was automatic. Mr. H erring's failure to get it
au tomatic had arisen, he thought, from the charging appliances used.
Mr. Herring, replying to the general discussion,
maintained that the system of inclined retorts had
financial advantages. Re found t hat the carbonising wages at Brentford of 4 66d. in 1892 had been
reduced to 2.17d. in 1900; in Huddersfield the
wage had been reduced from 4.12d. to 2.5d. Supposing he were to save 1s. per ton on his carbonising wages, it meant a total annual saving of
lO,OOOl. They wanted to reduce their wages bill
to the lowest possible limit, and by mechanical
means. There were enough of them present who
knew that inclined r etorts were not automatic in
discharge. They experienced no difficulty in using
cannel coal or shale when properly mixed. They
used Scotch coal only.
Mr. Foulis, in announcing the close of the proceedings, said they must agree that they had had
an exceedingly successful meeting ; in fact, the
m nst successful meeting he could r emember.
Votes of thanks to the University authorities,
the foreign delegates, contributors of papers, t.h e

fSEPT.

20, I 901.

Chairman and the Secretary, having been passed, but he would not like to be misunderstood as to what
the members separated.
he had previously said, apparently, in criticism of
continuous currents; and he did not wish by any
means to suggest t hat the tri-phase system would
SECTION IX.-ELE 1)TRICAL.
always be correct when we had to change over from
B~fore taking up Thursday's programme, t he high-frequency single phases. The Metropolitan
President, Mr. Langdon, made a communication Company, for instance, had put in a two-phase
from the Director of the National Physical Labora- plant, and run first only one of the phases. 'l,ranstory at Bushey House, Bushey Park. Dr. Glaze- formers were not suitable for such changes. As to
brook hopes to open the engineering laboratory, a regulation on combined loads, lamps might be put
ha~l 80 .ft. by 50 ft., by the end of this year. It is on the two legs, letting the angle of the V take
~uilt with a trayeller ; the drawing-offic~ is adjoin- care of itself. Mr. de li, erranti, who was unfortuIng, and the holler sheds are close by. A 60-kilo- nately not present, remained convinced up to the
watt Parsons turbine has been put clown as the main present day that t he monophase system would yet
engine to avoid vibrations so far as p ossible. The rule supreme. He did n ot share this view ; but
first work to be attacked will be that of the Alloys there was a possibility of its turning out correct.
Research Committee ; photomicrographic examina- The complications of the triphase systen1, which
tion of steel rails, the elastic properties of alloys, and were so often talked about, did not exist in
tl~e testing of pressure gauges and steam indicators r eality.
will also form part of the early work. Micrometer
Mr. W. B. Rhodes briefly r eviewed the theomeasuring machines have been ordered. The testing retical advantages of motor generators, synchronous,
of high temperature thermometers and of thermo- and assynchronous motors. As to synchronous
couples will follow.
motors, theory was still a little doubtful.
Mr. Blathy, of Budapes t, thought that this
DISTRIB UTION SYSTEl\IS.
latter question depended very much on cilcumMr. Michael B . Field, of Glasgow, read a paper stances. The motor-generators would be best if
o~ '' The Relative Advantages of Three, Two, and higher tension s than standard tensions had to be
Smgle-Phase Systems for Feeding Low-Tension applied. When tramways had to be driven from
Net works." In the first part, which concerns central stations, he believed in the direct triphase
chiefly tramway work, he spoke as a strong ad- system; the reg ulation was easy, and no loss of
vocate of the triphase system. In the second, energy necessary ; the economy was, at least, as good
which deals with combined distribution of light and as with continuous currents. The Valtelina Railway,
P?wer, or essentially of light, he did not commit 110 kilometres in length, shortly to be opened for
h1mself to any pronounced view.
electric service, replacing the former steam service,
In the discussion, Mr. K olben, of Prague, paid would have passenger trains running at 40 miles,
a tribute to the author for his very excellent paper, and goods trains at 20 miles an hour, with stations
and especially for the very full information on cables. about four miles apart . It seemed to be overlooked
The figures given, he thought, were true, and they also that the torq ue of the electric motor locomotive
demonstrated t he advantages of the triphase was constant, while t hat of a steam engine might
system, which Mr. I{olben himself had always ad- fluctuate in the ratio of 2 to 3. There was no tender
vocated, and which was sure to come out as the final to be pulled , moreover, and the electric locomotive
s urvival, also for combined light and power dis- would dra w at least as much as a steam engine
tribution. F or large and crowded cities, he agreed of equal weight. With r egard to frequency, he
that triphase tram way motor s would not be suited, considered that 42 p eriods was coming more and
but for long-distance lines the triphase system more into favour as t he lowest limit for arc lamps.
would answer. We lost still too much power in li,or incandescence lamps 22 periods would suffice,
regulation, but little headway had been made in and if we put three filaments in the lamp, there
t he United States, as he had already mentioned , was not.hing to prevent us from going down
before the adoption of t he series-parallel system, to 10 cycles. The energy flow in t he triphase
and up till that time the power stations had been system was constant, and that constituted its chief
comparatively too large. As regards frequency, superiori ty over the monophase and biphase
h e thought fifty periods right for combined light systems. Vienna had been single phase ; three
and power. They had adopted that frequency in years ago they had passed over to biphase distriPrague for the distribution of 3000 h orse-power, bution, and, with concentric mains, t wo distinct
all light and power being taken from one central two-phase systems might q uite well be advisable ;
station and one set of bus-bars wit h s ub-stations but t he Continent was fairly unanimous as to the
and a low-tension network. Mr. Field had not triphase system.
shown the direct distribution from the thr.ee ends
Mr. Gerald Stoney, of Newcastle-on-Tyne, quoted
of a secondary network.
a significant case. Messrs. Brown, Hoveri, and
Bot h Mr. Kapp and Mr. Zipernowsky regretted Co. are n ow putting down triphase generators
t hat they had not studied the paper previously.
in one of the Frankfort municipal cent ral stations.
Professor Carhart expressed t he opinion that Mr. Stoney pointed out this change, of which Mr.
they were, in t he United States, more and more Field had not been informed. The author had
coming to the general use of t he triphase system ; not touched upon the advantages of synchronous
t wo phases were but little applied. As regards motor generators as condensers by over-exciting
frequency, we might go below 50 for combined the generator.
light and power. At Buffalo incandescence lamps
Mr. Geipel also emphasised that the complications
burned very steadily on 25-period circuits ; for arc of triphase switchboards were imaginary, since
lights a higher frequency would be desirable. The they had three small s witches instead of two large
continuous-current arc, he would like to add, was ones. We could use lamps of lower voltage on
giving way to alternating arcs run on the triphase three-phase systems, the generators cost much less
system, and open arcs had almost disappeared in than those for single-phase installations, and t he
the United States. He would point out t hat syn- regulation with ]amp loads offered n o difficulties, as
chronous triphase motors were very convenient for he knew from experience.
driving continuous-current generators during the
In his reply, Mr. Field repeated that his remarks
transition period, when plants were changed.
concerned cpiefiy low-tension networks, which Mr.
Mr. Esson thought that it was high time that our Kolben appeared to have overlooked. With regard
ideas on t his question should become crystallised. to t he biphase system, he entirely concurred that
We should r emember that the triphase distribution it offered no advantages, except in special cases,
with a neutral wire was just what the three-wire such as Professor Thompson had spoken of, and
system was for continuous currents as regards the that it suited the Board of Trade r egulations. If
expenditure for copper. Engineers did not appear members would visit the Pinkston central station
to realise this. We were in the United Kingdom in Glasgow, they would convince themsel ves t hat
handicapped by t he single-phase stations of t he there were no complications in triphase systems.
early days. Two phases had been adopted as being How well r otary converters would work, even if
easier and more convenien t for the mains already the engines would not keep in parallel, he had
in existence ; but he felt pretty sure that the last often seen in Glasgow. He quoted a case where
single-phase station put down in Great Britain two generators wen t out of step and were
some years ago would not have any successors. synchronised again, and only one sub-station
circuit went out.
They did not in Glasgow
It would all be tri-phase or continuous current.
Professor Silvanus P. Thompson also thanked recrulate the tension in the generating station, but
t he author for his very valuable tabulation, but he kept i t at constant voltage in the substations.
disagreed with Mr. Esson .in that we should n ot Accumulator charging from r otary converters was
crystallise our ideas. It had been very difliculL to not very convenient, he admitted.
make any headway here against continuous currents,
By the suggestion of Mr. R. K. Gray, who had

SEPT. 20, 1901.]

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

t!lken the chair, t he two next papers by Mr. Ma.vor perfect brush, t he current should s uddenly go down
to zer o ; b ut t here was the time interval, t he comand Mr. Hobart were discussed together.
mutation period, depending upon t h e fringe of field,
l\1oDERN CoMMUTATING DYNAl\10 M ACHINERY, WITH t he pole tips, &c.; and what happened in this
SPEOIAL R EFERENCE TO rHB CoMM UTATING LIMITS. interval nobody r eally had attempted fully to invesUnder the pressure of tim~, Mr. H. M . Hobart, tigate. Mr. Parshall assumed t hat t he current
at present of Berlin, hurried th rough his iQ"Jportant dropped in a kind of alternating-current sine curve.
paper, which we s hall p ublish Jater, at a vflry rapid The carbon brush sheared off the current as in a
rate ; then Mr. H enry A . Mavor, of Glasgo w, fol- valve, and the resistance in the varying area of conlowed wit h his paper on t he
tact played an important part. Much had been
written on commutator construction, but nobody
DESIGN OF C ONTI N UOUS- CURRENT DYNAMOS.
had seemed to have touched on t he engine. Yet
This we hope ..to publish later ; it is not one that we could n ot expect engine build ers to construc t
ca!l well be abstracted. The two papers, he said, engines which would vary t heir speed inrersely as
mtght appear to have been written in combination, to diameters of the dynamos.
as they agreed almost entirely, except as to his
Mr. Chamen, of G lasgow, mentioned that at
formula (4) in which he differed from Mr. Hobat t; P ort Dundas several sets vf 1200 horse-power
but he had not seen Mr. Hobart's paper till t he engines were running at 250 revolut ions, and a large
evening previous, and, in fact, had not had time to Willans engine of 2400 horse-power at 180 revoluassimilate it . It was, no doubt , a very valuable tions. He believed in high speed engines, and his
paper ; but his impression was that many questions experience had convinced him that mechanical
had not been dealt with sufficien tly in detail to t roubles alone preven ted the general adoption of
enable manufacturers to base designs upon it. high-sp eed engines. This, the r eader will find, is
Mr. Hobart's tables were certainly good, and h e very much Mr. H obart's view. The absolutely
ventured to suggest that if hie own-Mr. Mavor'~:~ true running of commutators of high peripheral
- energy factor were introduced into them, the speeds and complete freedom of commutators and
paper would become s till more useful. He was brush supports from vibration, he states, are purely
convinced that notwitsta.nding all that h ad been questions of sufficiently solid and consequently ~x
said, t here was still a field for ingenuity in com- pensive n1echanical construction throughout.
mutator CQnstruction.
He would, for instance,
Mr. W. B. Sayers r eferred to the difficulties of
like to get rid of mica insulation.
standardisation, which Mr. Hobat t himself hld
Mr. Kapp agreed that the continuous current was characterised as involving a stupendous programme
by no means old-fashion ed, and that we had reason of rating. A.s r egards the cause of the trouble in
to occupy ourselves with particulars of design. commutation, he thought we might roughly say that
Mr. Mavor wanted deep slots ; but sometimes flat the commutator did not give the current any g uidslots might be right. For instance, for 1000-volt ance when it falls off, and he further developed the
machines- there was no demand at p resent for diagram which Professor Thompson had drawn.
high er voltages-- deep slots lost too much in insuhColonel Crompton considered Mr. Mavor 's sugtion. We required many sections for the commu- gestion of practical value, while much t hat had been
tators ; and h e would like to draw attention to a written on dynamo design was useless. We had
r ecent type of commutator bal's, which were narrow now learned to keep commutators perfectly smooth
and bent. Mr. Kapp gave an approximate formula and round and steady. In that r espect the adopfor the output of a dynamo simply involving tion of the wheel press process for the construction
dimensions and speed ; the p ower in kilowatts of commutators constit uted a great improvement .
wasP.: He endorsed what Mr. Chamen had said- that we
could
obtain
D.
L
U.
economy only with high peripheral
P . = C. 100 . 100
speeds in engines and dynan1os. That was the one
point,
moreover,
on which we did score in England.
where D and L meant the diameter and the length
In r eplying, Mr. Hobart ackn owledged that M r.
of the armature in centimetres, U t he number of
Mavor
's
formula
(4)
seemed
to
be
very
convenient.
revolutions p er minute, and C was a co-efficienta very elastic co-efficient, he had to admit, as i t The 1000 volts of which Mr. l{app had spoken
varied from 0.6 for small machines of indifferent need not be the limit, so far as constructors were
design t o 2. 6 for well-designed large machines. concerned. The higher the voltage, the easier the
This C also depended on the diameter, the relation design. Mr. L asche had done some good work on
tension members in large alternating rnachines ;
that might be possible also for commutating
being 0.6 + ~
machines. With regard to Professor Thompson's
Professor Carhart contented himself with con- inquiry concerning Table II. , Table VII. congrat ulating the authors on t heir papers.
tained further information. The ratio of reactance
Professor S . P . Thompson was glad to have this voltage to the average voltage he did not himself
opportunity of saying something on continuous regard as of much importance. Th e problems dealcurrent dynamos. H e did not wish to criticise ; ing with the fringe commutating zone were very
the papers were very useful; but he would ask Mr. complicated to follow, but we had not been very
Mavor what his energy factor really meant. In (1) successful in our attempts to improve matters by
it was explained as ergs per second per cubic centi- shaping t he pole corners.
met re per second, and a little lower down '' unit
Mr. Mavor thought that the ratio r eactan ce voltvelocity and unit field" were introduced. If the tage to average elect romotive force was useful,
latter was a slip-( Mr. Mavor at once assented)-we because it included t he average field. He h oped
had in the K simply the amperes passing through that his formula (4) would be found convenien t
the square centimetre of the active belt, reckoning With respect to t he independence and connection
copper and iron together, and it would then not be between engine and dynamo, that question had
very s urprising that manufacturers had come to r eceived far too little consideration. Dynamo
substantially the same values for the energy factor. maker s had had to adapt then1selves to the practice
As Mr. Kapp had given a formula, he migh t remind of the engine builder, and he thought the time had
t he Section of a rough formula proposed by Mr. now come when the engine construotor should study
Steinmetz : the output P is in kilowatts = %/--, th e special desires of the dynamo maker.
Votes of thanks to the U niversity authorities and
where d and l r epr esented r espectively the diameter Professor Gray, and to Mr. IJ~mgdon, t he Chairman,
and the l ength of the core body, and S was a con- brought the very successful proceedings to a constant varying between 2 and 4 for square inch units. clusion.
The speed did not enter into this formula, as it r eferred to a certain approved best speed. Mr. Hobar t 's
THE EXCURSIONS AND VISITS TO WORKS.
Tables and paper, particularly the researches on
the subdivision of a given number of turns in
It is not vossible even to enumerate all the
many slots, were of much value, but he would excursions and visits to works made during the
like to have a little more information concerning Con gress. On each afternoon works sufficiently
the machines of Table II., where n othing was said varied in their nature to suit t he wide interests of
on fluxes and flux densit y in the gaps. The re- t he Uongress were opened to members, while trips
actance voltage was a q uantity we owed to 1\fessrs. were organised to some of t he r omantic spots in
Parshall and. Hobart. This voltage, and its 1atio 'to th e weRt of Scotland, whose scenic charms wer e
the average electromotive for ce, might be useful fortunately display ed in bright sunny weather.
terms as regards commutation, but he was doubtful Friday was entirely given over to en joyment,
whether t he ratio was the proper quantity to be there being four excursions. Edinburgh, with its
considered, because in reversals we depended, not historical associations, and the Forth Bridge, wit h
on average field, but on actual field. If we had a its immen se and impressive prop or tions, claimed

397
the atten tion of a large number; but the Clyde
estuary, as ever, proved the most seductive. One
excursion was by t he Caledonian Company's ste~mer
Duchess of Hamilton, from the famous Broom1elaw
q uay in Glasgow, down t he river whi~h Glafgow
enterprise and capital has dredged, ~nhl t he tow.n
is acknowledged, with, perhaps, a httle of poetlC
licen ce, as a \' sea-girt city. 11 'J.lhe great panorama
of shipbuilding and engineering works along t h e
river proved most impress ive, especially to t~e
foreign guests. The scene was changed when, 1n
slipping past G reenock, t he upper eRtuary, bordered
by fir-clad hills, came within view. 1'he steamer
threaded its way t hrough the Kylea of B ute, and
into some of t he long narrow lochs winding among
the Argyllshire hills, and finally the members, .landing at the head of L och Long, proceeded to dnve to
Tarbet, and taking a steamer down Loch L omond,
r eturned by rail to Gl4sgow.
The other trip was by the P arsons' steam turbine
driven steamer King Ed ward, the machinery of
which was t he principal source of attraction. The
vessel was to have gone into t he lower estuary, but
a fresh breeze suggested as prudent a more pro
tected route, and t hus the vessel went up L och
Fyne, and afterwards up the same lochs in t he
Kyles of Bute as had been t raversed earlier by the
Duchess of Hamilton . The third steamer chartered
was the ever-popular Colum ba, which was r eserved
for the Iron and Steel Institute, and went up to
Inverary.
All the trips added greatly to the
pleasure derived from t he week's congress.
In conclusion, we ofl'er our hearty congratulations
to the promoters on th e splendid s uccess of the
Congress.
We would specially mention the
five me m hers of t he original committee, and the
most active agents t hroughout- Dr. Robert Caird,
Professor Archibald Barr, D. Se., and Messrs. A. S.
Biggart, J. F. Mclntosh, and H. A. Mavor,
as well as Mr. J. D. Cormack, n ow Professor of
M echanical Engineering in the University College,
L ondon, who did great service as general secre
tary, and bore the constant strain of t he heavy
duties involved in organising and carrying to
success a congress uniq ue in its comprehensive
character.
To the London committee much
of the scientific results of the Congress were
due, Sir Douglas Fox, 1\-Ir. James Mansergh,
and Dr. J. H. T. Tudsbery having given most
valuable help. The honorary secretJlries of all
the sections also deserve credit for working so
willingly and energetically- Mr. R. Elliott Cooper
was Secretary for Section I. ; Professor L. F .
V ern on Harcourt for Section II. ; Mr. Edgar
W orthington, B. Se., for Section Ill., Mr.
R. W . Dana for Section IV. ; Mr. Bennett H .
Rrough for Section V .; Mr. J ames Barrow.man for
s~ction VI.; Mr. Thomas Cole for Section VII. ;
Mr. J. W. Helps for Section VIII.; and Mr. W .
G. Macmillan for Section IX. Where so many
contributed enthusiastically and loyally it is im
possible to name aJl who ar e worthy of mention;
but we cannot refrain from referring to the splendid
work done by Mr. James Ro wan in connection with
r eceptions and entertainments; by Mr. Matthew
P aul in the almost her culean task of nding
accommodation for the members of t he Congress
within a city already overcrowded by exhibition
visitors and holiday tourists; and by Dr. Darr in
arranging t he rooms and oth er accommodation for
the meetings at the University, which proved
admirably s uitable and convenient for the Congress.
R usSIAN PORTS.- The H.ussian Government has decidt?d
upon the re-construobion of the ports of St. Petersburg
and Cronstadt. Cronstadb will become strictly a war
porb, and will be closed to mHchanb vessels. St. Peters
burg is to remain a commercial porb. The commercial
port a.b Sevastopol is to be transferred to Tbeodosia.

---

BELGIAN CoAL EXPORTS.-The exporbs of coal from Bel

gium in the first half of this year were 2,108,000 tone, as
compared with 2,468,590 tons in the corresponding period
of 1900. The exports in June figured in these totals for
328,97 4 tons, as oompared wi bh 345h467 tons in June, 1900.
The exports to France figured in t e general total for the
pasb bwo half-years for 1,675, 422 tons and 1,830,469 tons.
FIREPROOF Woon.-The secretary of the U nited States
Navy has approved a reporb of the Board of Na.val Construction recommending a discontinuance of the use of
fireproof wood for decks a.nd for all joiner work below
the protective decks on vesseld having such decks, and on
all vessels below the berth deok. Wood t reated by the
fireproofing process will be ueed, however. in torpedo
boats and torpedoboab destroyers, and will be painted.
In other ships metal will be used in the place of wood
wherever possiblE>.

GI N E ER iN C.

[ SEPT.

20, 196! .

TH E WHITEH EAD TORPEDO WORKS posed at .90 deg., and working on the same crank. 8 millimetres long, with air vessel for 70 atmosTo equah se t he sp eed, which otherwise would have phe~es, and driven by a three-cylinder Brotherhood
AT Fl UME.
const~ntly din;inished wi~h the fall of pressure in engine.

T:S:ESE w~rks were established by Mr. Robert t~ e air re~erv01r, an automatic regulator was p roIn .1876 Norway, Sweden, and Denmark acquired
Whitehead In t he year 1872, at F iume a town of vided whiCh controlled the cut-off of t he engine.
t he n ght to t he use of t he invention and in 1876
36,000 inhabitants, sit uated at t he no~thern exThis torpedo had a speed of 6 to 7 knots at 700 Turkey and Russia. F or the last-rdentioned Gotremity of the Gulf of Quarner o, about 46 miles ycl.rds. Further trials wer e mllde from t he Austrian
sout h-east of Trieste. Mr. Rober t W hitehead was gunboat Gemse in 1867 and 1868. U p to that time vernment torpedoes were constructed not only for
born at Bolton-le-Moors, L ancashire, on J anuary 3 t he depth. of t he torpedo had been controlled by a use from ships, b ut also for coast defe'nce, t hey had
1823, and attended the Grammar Sch ool ther~ hydrostatiC plate only. The t rials made in 1868 a lengt h of 6. 7 metres, and made 17 to 18 knots at
until fourteen years of age. After one year 's pri- showed that something else was necessary, t hat is 1000 metres. P ort ugal adop ted t he weapon in
vate study he began his practical t raining in t he to say, alt hough t he hydtostatic plate gave the tor- 1877, followed shortly aftenvards by Argentina.
shops of M essrs. R. Orrnond and Son, Manchester pedo a good average depth, the variations from Belgium, Chili, and Greece; in 1885 by H olland i~
whe~e his u'?cle, Mr. W. S wifb, was manage/ these depths might be as much as from 0 (torpedo 1891 by the United States, and in 1895 by J apan
Durmg the six years t hat he r emained in t hese on t he sur far.e) to 6 or 8 metres. H er e Mr. 'Vhite- which up to t hen had been sup plied by the Germa~
works, in his spare time he studied assiduously at head brought out t he invention known for so torpedo works of Sch warzkopff and Co. China
hither to s upplied by t he same firm, was the latest
t he Mechanics' Instit ute in Manchester.
many rears as t he '' secret " of the torpedo, t he addition to the list, having ordered dur ing t he
On leaving Man chester , Mr. Whitehead went as one .t~Ing n ecessary to t urn it into a weapon of present year.
draughtsman to t he works of Messrs. Philip Taylor precision as far as its depth-keeping properties
A "\Vhitehead torpedo of the latest type is shown
in Marseilles, t hen known as
in Fig. 2, page 395, and the
the '' F orges eb Chantiers de
following shor t description will
la Mediterranee," of which his

give some idea of the progress

uncle had been appoin ted
mllde since t he historical trials
manager. H ere he remained
in 1866. Beginning at t he forthree years, and in 1847 went
ward end, we have t he " pistol "
to Milan, where he occupied
or percussion firing mechanism
himself in t he construct-ion of
A, consisting of t he striker 1

silk-spinning machinery. H e

(see Fig. 3), armed with

patented several impor tant

'
whiskers"
2
for
insuring
impr ovemen ts in this branch,
engagemen t with the skin of

but was d ebarred by political

t he enemy's vessel, should t he
events from r eaping the ben etorpedo strike a glancing blow.
fit of his inventions, as t he
The head B is formed of phosrevolutionary government anphor
bronze
sheet
1.5
millin ulled the patents gran ted

metres
thick,
and
con
tains
t
he
under the Austrian -tegime.
charge of damp guncotton 3,

F or t he n ext t wo years Mr.

with a dry gun-cotton primer
Whitehead was in the service
4, and a percussion cap 5,
of t he "Austrian Lloyd " in

which last is fired when t he

Trieste, as constructor, after
striker 1 is driven back by the

which he took t he post of

torpedo reaching its target.
manager to t he '' Stabilimento
The head described (" war
T ecnico Triestino " (1\iessrs.
head '') is replaced for exerStr udthoff).
cising p urposes by a head of
In 1858 he accepted the insteel plate some 3 millimetres
vita.tion of a number of Fiume
t hick, t he explosive charge is
capitalists to assist in the founrepresented either by water
dation of a marine engineering
ballast or by a teak dummy
works under t he name of t he
and the "pistol " by a fals~
'' Stabilimento Tecnico Fiupoint of iron, having a transmano. " The new en terprise
verse . hole for receiving t he
rapidly attained great r epute
to w hne when the torpedo is
owing to t he excellence of the
picked up after a run.
marine engines of Mr. WhiteN ext we have t he air vessel
hbad 's construction, most of
C, consisting of a flask of steel
t hem being supplied to th e

capable of supporting the hyAustrian Navy, which was, in

draulic test pressure of 2UO
fact, t he chief supporter of the
atmospheres, to enable a wor kworks. The falling off in t he
ing pr essure of 150 atmosr equirements from t his quarpher es to be carried. The
ter in 1871 was t he forer unner
air vessel is charged by introof t he closing of t he works in
ducing a nozzle in the socket 6,

1872, when Mr . Whitehead

F ig. 4, the air charge being r etook them over in his own
~ained by the check valve 7, or,

name, and founded t he now

In case the torpedo is not rewell-k nown torpedo works. In
quired to be used immediately
t his under taking he was joined
after charging, by the hand
J
by his son- in - law, Count
screw-down valve 8. CommuMR.
R o BE RT WHITEH EAD.

George H oyos, and later by

nication is established between
his eldest son, Mr. J ohn
t he .air vessel an~ t he torpedo
Whitehead.
engme by t he p1pe 9 leading
The history of t he evolution
to t he admission valve D and

of t he Whitehead torpedo may

to t he pressure r egulator E,
be b riefly given as follows :
which is in d irect connection
In the year 1860, Captain
with t he slide-valve chests of
Luppis, of the Austrian Navy, conceived t he idea were concer ned. This invention consisted in the t he engine F . The admission valve D is furnished
of a b oat for coast defence, dirigible from a dis- addition of a pendulum, cont rolling a second pair with a lever 10 which engages with and is thrown
tance, and carrying an explosive charge to be fired of horizontal r udders, so t hat the hydrostatic plate back by a proj ecting bolt in t he impulse tube when
by a con tact device. In 1864: Captain L uppis now govern ed the absolute depth, and the pendu- the torpedo is launched. The t urning back of this
associated himself wit h Mr. ' Vhitehead, so as to lum prevented t he depth line varying appreciably lever admits air to the engine, t he air at high
bring practical mechanical ability to work on his from the horizontal.
pr essure being reduced to working pressure in its
invention . Mr. Whitehead q uickly decided t hat
In July, 1870, Mr. Whitehead made a series of passage through the pressure regulator or reducing
t he idea of a boat steered from the shore was experiments in p resence of t he r epresentatives of valve.
impracticable, and that the only possibility of t he British Admiralty at Sheerness, with such satisWhen the torpedo is fired from an above-water
s uccess was offered by an underwater projectile factory results t hat the Brit ish Government acquired tube, t his operation is actually a little more comindependent f rom t he moment it was launched.
the use of the invention in 1871, as Austria had plicated t han would be supposed from t he above
The first torpedo, as we n ow understand t he word, already done in 1868. This example was followed description, as in t his case t he t hrowing back of
was finished in October, 1866, and is illustrated in in 1872 by France, and in 1873 by Italy and Ger- the air lever 10 may be likened to t he cock ing of
Fig. 1, page 395. It had a diameter of 366 milli- many, with t he proviso, however, from the latter t he hammer of a gun, and t he actual admission of
metres, and a length of 3.36 metres. The total power that the speed of t he torpedo must be b rought air to the engine is effected by t he action of t he
weight was 136 kilogr ammes, and t he explosive up to at least 16 knots for a run of 650 metres. In water on the little plate 11 ("water tripper ")
charge 8 kilogrammes, t he air pressure in t he the course of a year this task was easily accom- when the torpedo takes its first plunge, so t hat
reservoir being 26 atmospheres. The engines were plished, and the torpedo made for t he German Go- t he ' 'water tripper " may stand for t he trigger of the
of t he compound oscillating type, there ~eing o~e vernment running 17 knots for a distance of 760 gun. The object of this supplementary mechanism
high-pressure and one low-pressure cyhnder dis- metres ; t his was a 35-cen timetre torpedo, 6 metres is to avoid t he loss of air and general shaking up

399

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

SEPT. 20, I 90 1 .]

TORPEDO

WHITEHEAD

THE

AT

W011KS

FlUME.

r
I

...

"

..

'.

.,.. ....

6.

FIG.

VIEW OF WoRKS FRou TBE SEA.

~ cl:.:,.

.'

.~

~"'-.._,,"

!.

'

FIG. 13.

'

G ROUP oF HoRI ZONTAL LaTHES

;1

'

'i

...

..

~ i

'

'

....

Fio. 12.

...
.

VERTICAL Do Hr~o MILL Foa ToRPEDO Tu nE~ .

FIG.

14.

GRIN Dit\G OUT AN I MPULSE T UBE .

v. hich would occur were the engine allowed to race admission, cut-off, and exhaust are controlled by a air is led away to t he aftermost extremity of th e

under full pre8sure during the flight of t he t or- valve t o each cylinder, actuated by a cam en the torpedo t hrough the hollow engine shaft 12.
pedo through the air .
engine shaft, with which t hey are kept in close
As we have concerned ourselves up to now with
. The engine F is of t he three-cylinder type ; the contGlct by the pressu1'e of the live a,ir, 'l'he exhaust th9 propellin ~ mechanism of the torpedo, we will

4 00

follow the engine sha.ft t hrough the buoyancy

chamber G t o t he t ail. The shaft is continued
right through t his part, and carries t he left-handed
propeller 1~ ; a sleeye tube turning freely on the
shaft carries the right- handed propeller 14 and
this sleeve t ube is dri ven at the same speed ~s t he
shaft, but in t he opposite direction, by t he n est of
mitre gearing 15. . This arrangement is adopted to
preven t the r otatiOn of the torpedo on its own
axis, which would inevitably occu1' if the t orpedo
wer e driven by a single propeller.
We may n ow consider the r emaining mechanism
of the torpedo,. which consists of two apparatus,
ea?h of equal Impor tance to the propelling machinery, the first controlling the dept h line or vert ical t rajectory of t he torpedo, and the second t he
direction or horizontal trajectory.
_T he .depth mechanism ( "diving gear ") is cont atned In the chamber J abaft the air vessel and
consists of a spring-loaded hydrostatic pisto~ 16
working.in conjunction w_ith a pendulum 17, through
the medlUm of the steermg engine (servomotor) 18
on t he horizontal rudders 19 of t he torpedo. As
before explained, the f unction of t he hydrostatic
~iston is to keep the torpedo at the absolute depth
lme called for by the compression of its spring ;
the pendulum prevents the torpedo taking an excessive angle up or down, and flattens, as one may
say, t he strongly undulating depth line which
would be produced by the action of the hydrostatic plate alone.
The gyroscope steering mechanism K is disposed
in the buoyancy chamber G immediately abaft the
engine bulkhead. This apparatus was invented in
1897 by Mr. L. Obry, engineer, of Trieste, improved
and introduced by Messrs. Whitehead, and n ow
forms an essential part of t he torpedo. I t consists, as its name denotes, of a gyroscope 20 acting through a miniature steering engine 21 on t he
vertical rudders 22 in t he tail. 'rhe gyroscope
wheel is set in rapid rotation by the action of a
spiral spring wound up by hand before la unching
the torpedo, and r eleased by the t hrowing back of
t he air-admission lever ; hence t he moment the
torpedo commences to move in t he impulse t ube,
t he gyroscope wheel is rapidly revolving, and, as is
well known, will continue to revolve in its original
plane of rotation.
Should t he torpedo, therefore, be deflected by its
head striking t he water first (as is usually the case,
for instance, when firing from the beam of a. torpedo boat in motion), or, indeed, from any other
cause, the gyroscope corrects t his deflection by
giving h elm port or starboard, as required.
The success attained by this latest addition to
the torpedo has been phenomenal, so t hat it may
fairly be said that t he gyroscopic steering apparatus
has done for t he direction of the torpedo what t he
combination of hydrostatic plate and pendulum did
for t he depth line.
We give below the principal data of the torpedo
we have been examining:
Diameter ...
...
.. .
...
45 centimetres
.. .
5 metres
L ength, including pistol
Weighb, read y for launching ... 557 ldlogs. (1228 lb.)
Weight of explosive cna.rge
(damp gun-cotton)
.. .
.. . 60 kilo~s. (132.2 lb.)
Capacity of air vessel .. .
.. . 341 htres (12.04
cubic feet)
W orking pressure in air vessel. .. 100 atmos. (1470 lb.
per square inch)
Working pressure in engine ... 35 a.tmos. (514.5 lb.
per equa.re inch)
Diameter of cy tinders of engine
4 in.
(three) ...
.. .
. ..
. ..
3,
Stroke
.. .
...
...
.. .
Pitch of screw- propellers (four
. ..
.. .
. ..
40 ,
blade d) . ..

After this short r eview of t he development of

the torpedo to its present form, we will proceed to
a description of the works of l\1essrs. Whitehead
and Co. at Fiume, of which we give a plan in
Fig. 5 on page 395, and a perspect ive view in Fig. 6
on page 399.
These works have b een almost entirely rebuilt
during t he last few years, and will now compare
favourably with anyt hing to be seen in the U nited
Kingdom.
The foundry is exceptionally lofty and well
lighted, and is served by two powerful travelling
cranes, at present ~orked by hand pow~r, but to
which electricity I S shortly to be a.pphed. For
iron casting a No. 4 Stewart's rapid cupo~a is used,
stationed outside the foundry ; t he casting ladles
are filled from its tapping t rough, which extends
through th e wall. The gr eater _par t of the wo~k of
the foundry consists, however, 1n b1onze cast.mgs,

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

[SEPT. 20, I 901.

versely into carpente~'s shop and smithy (for

boi~ersmiths, coppersmtths, tinsmiths, and bla.cksmtths).
The centre of No. 4 bay is occupied by the control
and tool-rooms- departments railed off by counter
a~d grating.
In tho first-named department all
pie.ces produced in t~e works are carefully gauged,
we1ghed, and otherwise tested before assembling.
Opposite t he foundry is a two-storey buildina
the ground floor of which is t he store and thb~
first fi?or the drawing and other offices ;' the prolongatiOn of _the ground floor of this building to
the harbour IS used as a boat shed, and cont ains
two slips for hauling up the steam launches and
other craft employed in torpedo t rials.
In~h.
Suut h of t his building, and extending some
The steam dynamos each consist of a marine- 50 ~etres (164 ft.) i? to the sea, is t he running
pattern compound ~ngine, surface-condensing, statwn- a platform raised on piles about 8 ft. above
cranks .at 180 deg., cylinders 12.6 in. and 18.9 in. by the water. On this platform are installed the
10.25 In. ~troke, coupled direct to a six-pole torpedo-l~unching frames and impulse t ubes, and
generator w1t h drum armature; electromotive force an o~servmg room for the offi cials engaged in t he
10~ volts, current 800 amperes. The engines were runnmg tests. The whole is roofed ~n (see Fig. 11),
built by Messrs. Ringhoffer, of Schmichow, near and served by an overhead electn c crane. The
Prague, and t he dynamos by Messrs. Siemens, of running range extends due west from t he station,
Budapest.
and rafts are moored at the distances called
The air compressors, four in number, were . for by the particular type of torpedo under test,

and for t hese there is a range of 12 crucible

furnaces, the hot gases from which pass throuah
rec~ngular cast-iron flues in t he cor e and moulddr;ymg chamber before en tering the uptake; in
t his way t he core stove is kept at high temperature
by heat t hat would otherwise be lost.
In t he same building wi t h the foundry is t he
power-house, containing t he main driving engine
t'~o ~team. dynamos for lighting and power trans~
miSSion, air compre~sors, and hydraulic pump and
accumulator for forgmg press. The main engine is of
the vertical marine pattern by Messrs. Shanks of
Ar?roath, tr~ple-expansion surface-condensing, ~ith
cylinders 8i In., 13i in., and 22 in . by 18 in. stroke.
~t is supplied with steam at 150 lb. per square

...

r-

'

'

;.l

..

..

..

. ......

F1a. 11. TnE FLIGHT oF

ToitPEDo.

built in the works ; t hey are of t he vertical type, e.g. , 400 metres, 600 metres, and 800 metres
effecting t he compression in two stages, and each for the usual patterns ; 1000 metres and 2000
capable of f urnishing 550 lit res (19.4 cubic feet) of metres for torpedoes for coast-defence purposes.
A narrow-gauge tramway, with t urntables at all
air at 100 atmospher es (1470 lb. per Equare inch)
crossings, runs through the whole of the works and
pressure per hour.
Adjoining t he power -house is the boiler -r oom, to t he running station. Part icular attention has
where steam is produced by three boilers of novel been. given everywhere to tra~sport arrangements,
construction, one of which was illustrated by us in as will be s~own by the follow~g list of the lifting
and travellmg gear employed 1n t he various bays
ENGINEERING, vol. lxii., page 554.
Externally t he boiler appears to be of the usual of the works. (see views on our t wo-page plate).
No. 1 bay 1s served by three walking jib cranes
Lancashire type, differing only in not being bricked
'
in ; internally t he ordinary corrugated flue is con- capable of handling weights up to 1 ton.
N<?s. 3 and 4 bays (Fig. 10) have a top rail exn ected with a flue of square section placed on edge
and filled with water tubes extending from side to tendmg the whole. leng~h of e~ch bay, joined by
side of the square in cross layers ; that is to say, numerous cross-rails with switches, and havina
the first layer connects t he lower right-hand plate several jockeys supporting chain blocks running o~
to t he upper left.hand plate, the second t he lower them.
Nos. 5 and 6 bays (Fig. 9) are provided each with
l eft-hand plate to the upper right-hand plate, and
so on. The tubes are not staggered, so that there an overhead traveller for 4 tons and one for 1 ton
is a through passage between t he t ubes from end t he smithy with two overhead travellers, each fo~
to end of the flue for cleaning purposes. Two of 1 ton.
Each yard is served by a gantry crane of 4 tons
the boilers are of 200 hor se-power each, the other,
capacity, and the covered en trance to the store is
with single flue, is of 100 horse-power.
From t he boiler-house we pass into the main spanned by a 2-ton overhead t raveller.
In addition to torpedoes, Messrs. Whitehead
shop, a building of six bays, each 7! met.r es
manufacture im p~lse tubes, air compressors, and
(24 ft. 7! in. ) wide and 175 metres (574 ft.) long.
'aking t hese bays as shown on t he plan all other accesson es for the torpedo service, and
(Fig. 5 on page 395), No. 1 is devoted to heavy have also a department devoted to the conturning; No. 2 to light t urni ng, milling, and struction of air and gas corn pressors for scientific
shaping; No. 3 and No. 4 to fitting and assembling and other purposes, t wo-stage compressors for a
torpedoes; No. 5 to fitting and assembling launch- terminal pressure of 200 atmospheres (2940 lb. per
ing tubes, air compr essora, and other accessories, square inch) being t he usual type of these latter.
Some of the ~ools. are illustrated on page 399.
and No. 6 to t he machining of these objects. On
t he south side of the main shop are two bays 7! The tool shown In Fig. 7 on the two-paae plate is
metres wide, 125 metres long, and divided t rans- also worthy of notice. It is a boring lathe for air-

SEPT. 2 0, 1 90 1.]

vessel shells, wher e t he air vessel r otates in

st~adies near each en d, is driven by a hollow
dn ver , and operated on by a massive bor ing snout
at each end ; t he snout is pivoted in t ho middle
and its outward end is guided by a templat~
giving t he desired profile of t he b or e.
The works are lighted entir~ly b.v electr icity,
some 900 glow lamps and 40 arc lamps being
employed. The num ber of workmen exceeds 800.

TH E BRITISH ASSOCIATION.
. I N our la~t issue we briefly referred to t he openIng procoedmgs at th e r ecen t meetin<Y of th e British
Association at Glasgow. As already stated, P rofessor A. W . R ttcker is President t his year and
he del iver ed
'
THE P RESIDENTIAL A DD RESS

in St. Andrew's H all. The address took a wide

r ange, dealing chiefly wit h th e doubts that have of
late b een cast on the soundness of the atomic
t heory. I t would be difficult wit hin the space at
our command to comp ress t h e views expressed in
t he somewhat speculative address without t he risk
of doing inj ustice to t he aut hor ; and , indeed, to
make t he att empt would carry us outside the strict
boundaries of our own proper province. Perhaps
t he safest course will be to quote the concluding
paragraph of t he add ress, in which Professor Riicker
appeared to sum up his conclusions, and refer
t hose of our readers who wish to ].JUrsue t he subj ect furt her to t he proceedings of the Association.
' ' If n o ot her con cep tion of matter is pvssible,"
said th~ President, " t han t hat it consists of distinct physical units-and n o other conception has
b een formulated which does not blurr what are
otherwise clear and definite outlines-if it is certa.in,
as it is, t hat vibrations travel through space which
cannot be propagated by matter, the t wo foundat ions of physical theory are well and t ruly laid. It
may be granted that we have not yet framed a. consistent image either of the nature of t he atoms or of
t he ether in which they exist ; but I have t ried to
show t hat in spite of the tentative nat ure of some
of our t heories, in spite of many outstanding difficulties, t he atomic theoryunifie~:~ so many facts, simplifies so much t hat is complicated, t hat we have a. right
to insist- at all events unt il an equally intelligible
hypothesis is pr oduced- t hat the main structure of
our t heory is true : t hat atoms ar e n ot 1nerely helps
to p uzzle mathematicians, b ut physical r ealities."
The usual vote of thanks to the President for
his address was moved by the L ord Provost of
Glasgow, and seconded by L ord K elvin. The latter
uescribed the at tack on the atomic theory as a
crude recrudescence of neo-berkeleianism, neescience, neo-nihilism, n eo-vita.lism, and n ee-pant heism, which has grown up within t he last ten
years of the nineteent h cen t ury. From t he t ime
when Thomas Thomson in the University of
Glasgow taugh t t he atomic t heory in his lect ures,
t hree year s after he had learned it from Dalton, it
had been felt to b e a r eality, and it would be mere
word-splitting to say we are agnostic in respect of
that t heory.
On t he Thursday morning of the meeting t here
was the usual animated gathering of 1n em hers and
associates, both male and female, in t he R eception
H all befor e the work of t h e Sections commenced.
This year t he Association. has been esl?ecially fo~tu
nate the U niversity a.ffordtng an almos tldeal meetmgpla.c~, where all t he S ections can be accommodated
under practically one roof. :rhe B ute H~ll of the
Universit y formed an admrrable r eceptwn-r oom.
In r egard to numbers t he gathering was, as ant~ci
nated some what disappointing, the attendance bemg
~nde; t wo t housand ; so t hat G lasgow does not compare favourably in its devoti?n to the British Association wit h other centres of Industry, n otably Manchester and N ewca.stle. Indeed, the commercial
metropolis of Scotland has not lived up to its own
r ecord for t he attendance of t he presen t year has
f<:1.llen 'short of that of the last Glasgow meeting
in 1876 by n ot far from a ~housand; and it is even
below t he total of forty-six years ago, w he~ t~e
city had a. far different impor tance to tha~ whic~ 1t
has now attained. This has been a sad disappOintment to patriotic inha~ita.nts of ." t he second oily
in t he kinadom " but , 1f one may Judge by what one
hears, it i: to be easily acco~nted f?r. The d~~
culty of getting accmnmodatwn dunng an Exhibition period, and t he charges of hotel keep ers, have
done much to keep down t he attendance, many
members of t he B ritish Associa.tion- n ot a class

G I N E E R 1 N G.

devoted to brass bands, switch backs, and side

shows-appar en ~ly acting on El rule, which has
something to be said in its favo ur, of n ever
visiting a city which is carrying on a. big exhibition.
.A wise change was made this year in the programme, t he whole-day excursions of T hursday
having been abandoned, whilst more ambitious
t ri ps were arranged for the Saturday of t he
meeting. Of late years the Thursday excursions
have been less and less attended. Most of t he
sections have got through their business on the
Tuesday of the meeting, and even if sittings were
held on t he Wednesday, t hey have been sparsely
attended. There has, t herefore, gen erally been a
dies non-the second W ednesday- for those who
decided to go to t he Thursday excursions, and consequen tly the maj ority returned home. The Association has suffered t hrough attempting too much .
Four days for sittings of sections are quite enough :
t he Thursday and Friday of t he first week and
Monday and Tuesday of the second ; leaving Saturday free for t he pleasure t rips, which are a great
attradion - and quite legitimately so - to the
majority of members. It is to be hoped this new
depart ure will be the rule. There is another reason
why the excursions are n ot so popular as t hey
might be.
M emhers find that sometimes by
going to t he rail way station and taking ordinary
tickets t hey can do the t rip at a smaller cost than
that paid for the Association tickets. Where any
surplus goes to is not generally k nown ; presumably
not into t he coffers of the rail way companies.
There is one other respect in which t he sections
attempt too much and do a great deal too little. The
way in which papers are crowded into the programme prevents t hem from being properly presented and adequately discussed. The great value
of a paper is t hat it should provoke discussion.
In t his way crude opinions and en oneous views
are exposed, whilst sound principles receive
confirmation by eminent authorities. Adequate
discussion, however, needs preparation, and when
n o one knows what pap ers are to be read until
the morning they are presen ted, it is hopeless
t o expect adequate discussions on scientific questions. In order t hat t he British Association may
fulfil its declared function of the advancement
of science - in accordance wit h it s t itle- it is
necessary t hat t he programme of papers should be
prepared some time before t he meeting, and that
means should be taken to inform members as to
the views to be expressed. That means fewer
papers ; but if this were the r ule, we should nwlonger
see authors reading t heir productions to an audience
not numerous enough t0 fill the front bench, and
presidents of sections only anxious to get the whole
thing over, and the business closed.
The British Association has, in t he pas t, done
much great work, and it is still a valuable instit ution, t he decay of which would b e a loss to t he scientific world and a sign of national decadence. I t is
the t hought of how much more it might do- how
much mor e could be secured from the gathering
together of so many eminent in science- that lends
regret to cer tain manifest shor tcomings. They are
defects which a little vigour on the part of the
executive would remove.

THE ENGI NEERI NG S ECTION.

The proceedings in Section G commenced, as
usual, on t he Thursday of the meeting, Sept~mber 11,
by the r eading of the President ial Address. As
already stated in our last issue, Colonel R. E.
Crompton presided over the Engineering Section.
In accordance with custom, we print his address
in full on page 417. The usual vote of t hanks
was briefly proposed by Sir Alexander Binnie and
seconded by Sir Frederick B ramwell.
M E CH ANICAL ExHIBITS AT TH E GLASGow

E XJIIDI'ION.
The first paper on the list was by Mr. D. H .
M01ton, of Glasgow, the subject b eing " ~~ e. Me,:
chanical E xhibits at t he Glasgow Exh1b1t10n.
This was a long and comprehensive paper, which
would form a useful guide to t hose visiting the
E xhibition t he author introducing cer tain sugaesti ve critical remarks from time to time. vVe
have, in these columns, deal t so largely with t he
contents of t he Exhibition t hat we n eed hardly go
.
over t he same ground again.
The paper was not of a nature to lead to dts
cussion. After a few r emarks from Professor
Unwin, in which he spoke of the ability shown by

4 01

the author in dealing with the. subject, a vote of

t hanks was proposed by t he President.
M ARI NE LIGITTS .

Two paper s by Mr. J. R. Wigham were next

read by t he author. The first descri bed a. "Long
Continuous-Burning P etroleum L amp for Buoys
and Beacons." This invent ion was described and
illustrated in our issue of October 12, 1900. It
will be remembered t hat t he chief feature of
novelty is a long wick, which passes over a roller,
t he two ends hanging down. The flame springs
from the part that passes over the r oller, and not
from the ends, as in ordinary lamps . One part
of the wick is conveyed up through an oil-tight
brass t ube, recei ving its supply of oil from t he
reservoir t hrough holes in its sides, and the other
part is brought down t hrough a tube standing
above t he level of the oil in t he lamp. A circular
float is placed in a copper cylinder fixed to t he
bottom of the lamp and filled wit h oil, and to this
float one end of the wick is attached. The oil in
the cylinder is allowed to leak away through a
special valve, and as t he level is lowered, t he float
falls very gradually, tlius causing the wick to
travel over the roller, and so presenting a new
surface to the flame. Some figures as to cost given
by the author were of interest. The consumption of
oil (petroleum) is about half-a-gallon in 24 hours.
At 6d. per gallon this would amount to 3d. per day.
This is inclusive of the oil in t he float chamber
that is allowed to drip away ; but t his, in escaping
into the sea, performs a very useful function in
subduing the wave motion in t he neighbourhood of
the buoy. Naturally t his oil could be saved, and
in t hat case the consumption would be about
one-sixth of a gallon per diem. The light is
intended to be visible for about five or six miles,
and will continue to burn without attendance for
periods up to 90 days if required. This arrangement
for oil-lighting may be compared wit h the compressed-gas system which it is intended to replace.
When the gas, in the latter, is exhausted, it is
necessary to recharge the empty r eser voir of t he
buoy. A boat or steam tender brings a highpressure cylinder con taining the fresh charge of
gas alongside from the works, which are erected
for making t he special kind of gas, and t he charge
is transferred. To refill an oil reservoir and change
t he wick would be a less expen sive and a. simpler
operat ion.
Mr. Wigham's second paper described " A New
Scintillating Light house Light ." After referring to
the almost universal adoption of t he diopt ric system,
the author proceeded to say that in t he case uf fixed
lights the diopt ric apparatus collects by means of a.
central r efracting belt and upper and lower prisms
the vertical rays which fall upon t hem from t he illuminant, and t ransmits t hem with the unrefracted
horizontal rays to every par t of the horizon as a
steady con tinuous light . At tolerably close distances
t he illumination from this arrangement appears
as a pillar of light, of the height of the apparat us
and the breadth of t he illuminan t. In t he case of
r evolving lights, the optical device collects both
t he vertical and the horizontal rays of t he illuminant by means of annular lenses and upper and
lower prisms, and sends them in parallel beams
to t he horizon. E ach of t hese beams is much
more powerful in its effecb t han t he fixed light,
but in order that the whole horizon may be
reached it is necessary that t he lenticular apparatus which transmits them should revolve. As
a consequence t here are intervals of darkness
longer or sh orter in duration, according t o t he
speed of the revolution . Shipnaasters object to
these intervals, because it is difficult to take a
bearing and identify t he ligh t when it shows
itself only for a shor t time, especially as t he
periods of darkness are much longer t han t hose
of light. Ther e is also t he difficulty t hat t he
light never appears in the exact p osition from
which it seems to have disappeared, owing to the
insensible wandering of t he eye during t he interval
of darkness, and t herefor e in thick weather the
recurrence may be entirely invisible. The French
lighthouse author~ties have established what ~re
called f elt eclati?' .h ghthouses, based upon t he _prl_nciple that to obtain t he full _value of any .ar tifiCial
light it is only necessary that It should remam before
t he eye for a. period of one-tenth or one-twelfth
of a second. The r evolving lenticular apparat us is
so constructed as to bring t he focal light to t he eye
for a period of one-tent h of a second, with a r ecurr ence of t he ligh t after an intervA.l of darkness of

402

.E N,G IN E ER I NIG.

ME CH A NI C AL. FILTERS
CONSTRUCTED BY MES8RS.

AT THE GLASGOW EX H I B IT I 0 N .

[SEPT. 20, 1901:

MATHER AND PLATT,

LIMITED, ENGINEERS, SALFORD.

(For Description, see Page 404.)

Fig. 1.

'

I
I

..

. Fig&

..

Prcssaro Ga..9e
mVJ.~

,tO
~

.I.PJ.cs.

0
0

II

'

I
I

...

I
I
I
I

' 1'

.o --

~
I
I
I

'
I

.C)

I
I

I
I
I

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I'
I
I

------>4I
'

.Fig.4.

8 0

SING I.

PRESSURE

FII..T~R

...~~.;(,. o -.~--_:~- - - 6..0

Fig.!J,

--- ----------.t

-.-

6 Rewaslu

6W~hou.t InLet

5 seconds. In the author's scintillating light,

the lenses are so placed with regard to each other,
and are revolved at such a proportioned rate
of speed, that the beams from each of the revolving lenses follow each other so rapidly that the
impression of the :flash of one beam remains on
the retina of the observer's eye till that of the
succeeding beam takes its place, the practical effect
produced being a continuously visible scintillating
light. The lenses do not revolve by means of rollers
on a race-plate, as in the case of ordinary rev:olving
lighthouse lights, but are mounted upon a framing
concentrated on a pivot, and so evenly balanced as
to reduce the friction of the parts to a minimum.
The discussion on Mr. Wigham's two papers was
opened by the Chairman, Colonel Crompton, who
said that the long-burning light appeared to have
points of simplicity as compared to some others.
He had some experience in trying to burn petroleum and would ask the author whether he had
found difficulty through thA gritty particles so
plentifully found in all cheap petroleum.
Professor Barrett, of the Royal College of Science
for Ireland, said he had seen the scintillating light
described. The lamp which the author was showing in the University h~d been placed on the top
of a high tower in Dubhn, and he .ha~ obs~rve~ 1t
from his house. The results of hts 1Qvest1gatwns
were contained in a report, some details contained
in which he gave. From this it would appear t~at
th~ source of light vonsist~d of a rin~, sorqe 13 Jn,

in diameter, of 16 large incandescent gas lights,

with one or more similar burners in the centre of
the ring. At a rate of one complete revolution in
four seconds the interval between the flashes is so
short that the light is never extinguished, and
resembles a brilliant scintillating star. This striking
characteristic Professor Ba.rrett attributes mainly
to the large diameter of the ring of burners
whereby a certain divergence of rays uniform
in all azimuths is produced by each of the
annular lenses. The rapid rotation of the lenses
blends t hese divergent rays into a continuous beam
with superposed scintillations, caused by the more
powerful parallel rays from the lenses. The light
as mounted in Dublin was viewed by Professor
Barrett from his house at Kingstown, a distance
of
miles. At first his eye was at once arrested,
though unaware of . the exact position, the flashing
light asserting it~elf far above the numerous other
lights of the city. Professor Barrett suggested
that by the use of the Morse alphabet the name of
the light could be spelt out, and information thus
conveyed to the mariner as to his position.
Mr. Wigham, in replying to the discussion, said
that sediment in the oil was one of his greatest
troubles, but he had overcome t his by the use of a
filter consisting of thick cotton layers between fine
gauze.

5t

Pressure Explosions., It would be difficult to

give an adequate description of this interesting
instrumen~ wi~hout illust:ations. For the present,
therefore, 1t will be suffiCient to say that the spring
of an ordinary indicator is replaced by a metal
cylinder. The travel of the piston is therefore
limited to the amount allowed by t he elastic compression of the metal. In the case of the records
referred to in the paper, this was about one-thousandth of an inch. A mirror is supported on a
lever, to which the motion of the piston is imparted,
and in this way a ray of light is reflected on to a
rapidly-revolving cylinder; thus recording on a
magnified scale the motion of the piston.
At the conclusion of Mr. Petavel's description,
the Section adjourned until the next day.

RoAD RESISTANCE.
'I he first business on Friday, Septem her 13, in
the Engineering Section, was the reading of the
report of the Committee on Resistance of Road
Vehicles to Traction by Professor Hele-Shaw, Secretary to the Oommittee. This was largely of the
nature of a preliminary report, containing a
forecast of what would be the progress of
the work of the Committee. The subject is
one of great importance, and has been too
long neglected by engineers. It is to be hoped
that the Committee will be able to carry out the
RECORDING HIGH-PRESSURE ExPLOSIONs.
Mr. J. E. Petavel, of Owens College, Manchester, excellent programme sketched out, and that without
next d ~scril;>ed ".'\. Recordin~ !\fanometer for High- delay. The practic~ of rotl}d engineering has not

S EPT. 20 ,

rgot.]

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

CONSTRUCTED

"SCHLEIFMUHLE " EXPRESS PUMP.

EHRHARlYJl AND SEHMER,

BY lVIESS RS.

ENGINEERS,

SOHLEIFMUHLF1, SAARBRUCKEN.

(For Desc1viption, see Pa ge 405 )

I
I

only not advanced during the last three-quarters of

a century, but has actually gone back, and yet
there are few things that more closely and more
frequently affect the comfort and convenience of all
classes of people.
One difficulty that the Committee encountered
at the outset was want of funds. The sum allo
ca.ted to the purpose by the Association, although,
perhaps, as much as was to have been expected,
was altogether too small to enable the work to be
carried on. Ib was concluded that a sum of lOOOl.
was required. It is stated in the report '' the
Committee felt t hat, in view of the great develop
ment of mechanical traction upon roads, the scope
of the report should not merely be limited to experiments on tractive resistance, but would deal
with the effects of vehicles upon road surfaces of
various kinds, and would involve experiments not
only with different kind of tyres, but with varying
loads and speedR and with different types of
vehicles.,,
It was considered, therefore, that the Committee
might look with confidence to substantial pecuniary
support from makers and users of traction engines

and manufacturers of motor vehicles ; and also

from County Councils and local boards. A circular
was drawn up with this end in view, but pending
the consent of the General Committee of the
Association, an application for funds had not been
pressed. Meanwhile, an offer had been received
to lend a motor car to the Committee for an
indefinite period, and it was determined, in
accepting this offer, to proceed at once with a
series of preliminary experiments which would
pave the way for future and more complete
investigations. During the past few months work
has been steadily proceeding upon the motor car.
It is hoped that very shortly new engines for the
car will be ready, and a first series of the experiments may be commenced. These it is proposed to
make with single wheels, having various types of
tyres ; the track for this purpose, in the first place,
will be artificial, consisting of different kinds of
materials laid in troughs or trenches, about 18 in.
or 2ft. in width, so that the dynamometer itself
can be thoroughly tested when the car is running
upon a level surface.
In this way the autographic records obtained for

materials such as sand, wet and dry, loose stones,

artificial projections of cross-pieces of wood of
different sizes, and differently pitched, can be
thoroughly ascertained.
A summary of all work hitherto done in the investigation of road resistances will be prepared by
Dr. Hele-Shaw, and will in itself form a valuable
record.
RoLLING STOCK.

A paper entitled "Railway R olling Stock-Present and Future, 11 was next read by Mr. Norman
D. Macdonald, of Edinburgh. The author divided
the subject of locomotives under the headings
of cylinders, boilers and steam, trouble- saving
devices, wheels and tenders. Judging by the
exhibits at the Paris Exhibition, and from a study
of the technical journals of the world, he concluded
there could be no doubt that the compound locomotive would be the locomotive of the future. At
Paris, one out of our meagre exhibit of four locomot ives was a compound, but in the exhibits of the
rest of t he world compounding held the field easily.
Only one railway in Great Britain, with an odd
exception or two, uses compounds. Whether the
best system of compounding will turn out to be the
De Glehn-of two outside and two inside cylinders,
so much used in France for very fast and heavy
trains- or the American Vauclain, with four
cylinders all outside, which is used on the great
engines especially built for the Atlantic City
flyers, which run at 66.6 miles an hour inclu~
sive, or the V on Borries, Gorlsdorf, or some other
two-cylinder system, the author would not pretend
to guess. It might be we shall come finally to a
four-cylinder tandem compound, now so much used
in Russia, and first tried on the North British and
Great Western Railways. Favourable reference
was made to the Mallet four-cylinder duplex system
used for heavy work. The chief point, the paper
continued, to be considered in a locomotive is the
boiler. Mr. J. F. Mcintosh, of the Caledonian,
has given his great mineral engines 2500 Equare
feet of heating surface. There is room on our

E N G I N E E R I N G.
is 45 miles wide, and its divide 330 ft. above the sea. Nicaragua is a volcano in constant activity, and
This fact, the author considered, has led to the false there are several others.
conclusion as to the easiness of the Nicaragua conThere was no discussion on this contribution, a
struction. The real difficulties are not, however, matter much to be regretted, as the subject is one
on the western side, for the San Juan River, 120 that might with advantage have been further conmiles long, which flows from Lake Nicaragua to the sidered from the opposite point of view ; and the
Atlantic, is not a natural water-way, as is often President having added a few words, the next
supposed ; but, as a matter of fact, there would be paper was taken.
immense difficulties to contend with in constructing
A LEAF ARRESTER FOR WATER SUPPLY.
a canal in the San Juan V alley. It is impossible
to use the lower half of the San Juan for canal
The last paper taken at this sitting was by the
navigation, on account of the immense amount of Earl of Roase, and was entitled "A Leaf Arrester,
sand brought into it by torrential and powerful or Apparatus for Removing Leaves, &c., from a
tributaries coming from the volcanoes of Costa Water Supply. "
The author having recently
Rica. By damming, and thus creating artificial lakes, erected a turbine of 15 horse-power, with 8-ft. fall,
it was proposed to get over these difficulties, and for working an electric light installation at Birr
then only 28 miles of canal navigation would have Oastle, found considerable trouble through leaves,
to be constructed. This plan the Isthmian Canal &c., choking the screen in the water supply. Last
Commission and the Nicaraguan Commission did autumn the output was generally reduced to onenot consider advisable. In the Panama scheme half in the course of half or three-quarters of an
there are 38 miles of canal navigation, to which must hour's working unattended, notwithstanding that
be added 7 miles of deep-water navigation through the area of the screen was nearly 100 square feet.
an artificial lake formed by a dam across the Chagres Accordingly, an apparatus was devised for remedyRiver, at a distance of 15 miles from the Atlantic. ing the evil. It was so s uccessful that the turbine
The Culebra cutting of the Panama route would be would go for a whole day without attention, and
274 ft. to the bottom of the canal, according to the without diminution of output. It consisted of
original state of the ground. The work already done a cylinder of wire gauze of 4 ft. diameter and
leaves 110ft. of excavation to be made. This was 4! ft. in height, set in an opening in a vertical
the greatest difficulty in the construction. On the diaphragm extending across the supply drain, and
other hand, on the Nicaraguan route the cutting revolving twice in a minute or so round a vertical
up to the lake is insignificant, but a deep cutting axis. The current flows through the gauze cylinder
of 297 ft. above the bottom, and others of 218ft. in a horizontal direction. The leaves attach themand 170 ft. would be needed in the valley of the se!ves under pressure of the stream, and are
San Juan, in order to get through the high ridges carried round till they reach the diaphragm, which
projecting into the valley. Thus, in regard to on that side is double, with an intervening space
depth of cutting, the Nicaragua route is less of some 10 in., which is connected with the tailfavourable. The ratio is as 1 to 3 in favour of race. At this point, the current through the gauze
Panama, both in length of canal navigation and being reversed relatively to the cylinder, the leaves
are detached, and are carrried by a portion of the
depth of cutting.
On the question of dams, Mr. Baunu-Varilla water towards the tail-race. Four or five per cent.
quoted the conclusion of the Isthmian Canal Com- of the supply is ample for conveying the leaves;
mission, that the dam in Panama might be of earth probably much less would suffice.
There was no discussion on this paper, and the
or masonry; which indicated that neither its difficulty nor its cost would be extraordinary. The Section adjourned until the Monday following.
Nicaraguan dam would necessitate compressed air
(To be contilnued. )
for putting in the foundations to a depth of 100 ft.
below water-level of the river, and have a total
height of 160 ft. from the crest to the foundation. MECH_lliiOAL FILTERS AT THE GLASGOW
The Commission estimated that eight years would
EXHIBITION.
AMONGST the exhibits of ~fessrs. Math~r and Platt,
be necessary for its construction. What has been
said of the difficulty of regulating the Chagres R iver Limited, of Salford, at Glasgow, are a. couple of the
has, the author stated, been immensely exaggerated. so.called mechanical filters. In filters of this class the
The Commission proposed to build a dam in order cleaning is effected by reversing the direction of the
to form a lake whose normal level would be 85 ft. flow through the apparatus, the wash-water being
run
to waste. A few minutes only are needed for
above the sea. The outlet would be 2000 ft. wide ; the operation.
Such filters, in addition to the ease
and the surface of the lake, combined with the with which they are cleansed, have generally the advandimensions of the outlet, are such that the heaviest tage of compactness, since, if desired, it is possible
floods known would not raise the surface more than to work them at very much higher rates of flow than
6 ft. Nine locks would be necessary in Nicaragua is usual with ordinary open sand filters. The two
and only five in Panama. The level to which ships filters shown by Messrs. Mather and Platt differ in that
would have to be lifted on the Nicaragua route one is provided with a "roughing " bed, in addition to
would be 110 ft. as a maximum, as against 90 ft. the main layer of filtering material, whilst the other is
for Panama. The foundation s of all locks in a. single-contact filter, and is designed to be worked
Panama would be in r ock. Five locks in Nicaragua under pressure, whilst the compound filter aforemenwould be in rock, and the remaining four on foun- tioned works entirely with a graYity head.
This
compound
gravity
filter,
illustrated
by
Figs.
dations believed to be safe. In Nicaragua the and 2, page 402, has been designed with a view to remov-1
winds are exceptionally violent and continuous ; in ing the maximum amount of suspended matter from
Panama the canal would be sheltered. Nicaragua water with a minimum expenditure of labour and cost
having a much greater rainfall, two to two and a-half of upkeep. T~e apparatus consists of a vertical cylintimes that of Panama, the current would be more drical tank divided into two distinct compartments
intense and permanent. The author also stated by an inverted open-ended cone. Above the comthat in the maintenance of depth of water, in the partment formed by the inner wall of the cylindrical
curves necessary, and in the provision of harbours, tank and the outer wall of the invert ed cone, termed
the advantage was with the Panama route. In re- the "separating chamber," is SJlperimposed a finelygard to stability, the important question of seismic perforated .floor bearing a .coarse or ''primary" filtering
disturbance has to be considered. No volcano bed of 9 in. to 12 in. deep, through which the water
exists within a distance of 180 miles from the passes in an upward direction, subsequently flowing
the
central
aperture
into
the
lower
part
of
through
Panama site. Since the early quaternary period, the tank, which is conical in section and forms a
before man appeared on earth, its form has not chamber, containing a fine or "finishing " filtering
been altered. Nicaragua, on the other hand, has bed 3 ft. deep, arranged over a system of gathering
always been the theatre of seismic convulsions. Its nozzles and pipes. Centrifugal motion is imparted
lake was formerly a gulf in the Pacific Ocean, and to the unfiltered water as it enters the "separating
its name is associated with the most terrible out- chamber , by a deflecting inlet, causing the heavier
break recorded in history previously to Krakatoa. suspended particles of floating matter to fall to the
The eruption of the volcano Ooseguina in 1835 bottom of the chamber, whilst the underneath side
lasted 44 hours ; the noise was heard for a distance of the perforated floor carrying the '' primary " filter,
of 1000 miles, and ashes were carried 1400 miles by being continually washed by the circular current, the
the winds. The mass ejected into the air was perforations are kept free from all matter calculated
block them. Thus a free upward flow is maintained
calculated to have covered a surface equivalent to to
through the "primary" filter, and the water is reeight times the surface of France, it s volume being lieved of all matter likely to block the surface of the
equal to 60 cubes, having sides of 1100 ya_rds. Thus, lower or "finishing " filtering bed in the base of the
during 44 hours the volcano may be satd to have cylindrical tank.
.
ejected every six minutes a volume of stone and
The cleansing of the lower filter bed is effected by
ashes equal to the total volume of the prism of the a reversal of the flow of the water, the dirt being
proposed Nicaragua Canal. In the centre of Lake carried off through a. central draining basin situated

SEPT. ~0,

1901.]

immediately aboYe the bed.

The " separating
chamber " is relieved of its accumulated dirt by means
of the drain valve at the b1se of the chamber. The
upper or "primary" filter is cleansed by agitating
the bed whh a. revolving rake as the water flows
upwards through it, the dirt falling into the drain
basin above the lower bed in the inner chamber. The
time occupied in cleansing the filter is from 10 to 15
minutes, and the amount of water expended over the
operation is thus inconsiderable. The filtering medium
consists of the purest quartz crystals suitably graded.
The permanent " sharpness '' and adamantine nature
of these crystals re commend them as the finest known
filtering material, and the beds do not diminish or
deteriorate with years of wear. The rate of flow of
the water entering the filter is automatica-lly regulated by a quick-acting equilibrium valve of special
design. One of the principal features of the filter is
the conical shape of the chamber containing the lower
or "finishing " filter. The falling in of the walls of
the chamber towards the base insures the paseage of
all water through the filtering bed, and prevents the
"creeping " of the slightest percentage of unfiltered
water dov\ln the walls of the chamber, which invariably
occurs were a filter bed is contained within walls of
a vertical tank. In the case of a tank with vertical
walls, the bed is inclined to resolve itself, to a certain
extent, into the form of a column, and unfiltered
liquid ''creeps, down between the walls of the tank
and the peripheral surface of the bed. In this filter,
the area of the surface of the bed being great er than
the area of the base (or outlet) of the fame, there
exists an '' annular angle " of the bed through which
there is little or no current of water passing.
The single-contact pressure filter illustrated by
Figs. 3 and 4 differs in detail, the bed of pure quartz
crystals being contained in a chamber, the walls of
'vhioh are of a conical section, as in the case of the
compound gravity filter. Unfiltered water is distributed over the surface of the filtering bed from the
central basin, and passing down through the bed,
issues in a. purified state from the filtrate valve at the
base. The cleansing of the filter is effected by a
reversal of the flow of the water, the dirt being
carried off through t he central draining basin situated
immediately above the bed. The time occupied in
cleansing this filter is about five minutes. The
conical shape of the chamber containing the bed has
been fully explained in connection with the compound
gravity filter.

E N G I N E E R I N G.
Rurrounding atmosphere. 'I he efficiency of the motor
is 93 per cent. between half and full load and 91 per
cent. between half and one-third of the full load. Its
total weight is 15 tons. As shown i~ the sectional
view of the pumps, each crank has two plung~rs connected with it, that furthest from the crank bemg connected to the crosshead by a couple of side rods.
As one plunger makes its suction stroke the
other makes the discharge stroke, thus balancing
the work done on each half reYolution.
The
plungers work through stuffing boxes, a supply of
lubricant being admitted near th e centre, as shown.
The suction and delivery valves are of the annular
type, the seats being of bronze and the valves themselves of vulcanite. As shown, the delivery valve is
placed directly over the suction valve, and the path of
the water through the pump is very direct. Provision
is made for maintaining the air in the air vessels,
which, as shown, are mounted directly over the
delivery valves.

q uen tly worked for considerable periods at ~ rom 25 per cen b.

to 50 percent. overload. It seems unq ues~10na bly the case
that the Allis engines can expecb no rehef, nor can t hey
be nally adjusted or overhauled b_y the con tra.c.tors
until such period as a Musgrave engme can be got mto

serviCe.
'd
While I oannob sa.y that there seems ~o be any ev.1 ence
of the Allis engines nob being able to w1thstt.t.nd th.1s condition of affairs indefinitely, ib would seem certam that
they are being exposed to an improper~test, and S~<?uld
certainly have all credit for. working under ~ond1b10ns
very different from those whtcb they were destgned a.nd
erected to meet.
Yours trnly,
CITIZEN.
Glaegow, September 16, 1901.

THE Dt~ RR BOILER.

To THE EDITOR OF ENGINEERING.
SIR,-In ENGINEERING of August 30, 1901, page. 296, I
nd a reply of Mr. D tirr to a letter of Mr. R. A. Z1ese, of
Sb. Petersburg; in this reply Mr. D iirr saya that I have
paid him a royalty for the boilers of H.M.S. Bayern.
Permit me to say that I only have paid a royalty for a
detail of the superheater, which by no means would
CITY AND GUILDS OF LONDON INSTITUTE small
have been necessary.
LISTS OF BOOKS.
Yours truly,
To THE EDITOR oF ENGINEERING.
F. ScHIOHAU.
Elbing, September 24, 1901.
Sm,-No one will doubt the great work done by this
Institute, particularly in its technological and manual
training ola,sses. The teaching, however, is not meant to
QUADRUPLE-EXPANSION ENGINES.
be final; indeed, the object of the system of training and
To THE EDITOR OF ENGINEERING.
instruction is rather to create a desire for information on
SIR,-Mr. Salvabore Odando, in your issue of Septechnical matters than to satisfy it. Every int~lligenb
student is well aware that when he has gone through tember 13, alludes to a quadruple-expansion engine con..
the course of training and tuition provided ab this and structed by the well-known firm Fratelli Orlando in 1891,
kindred institutions, his education is just commencing. and which bears considerable resemblance to the engine
He has been told what to do, and why he should do it, exhibited by us at the Glasgow Exhibition. Mr. Orlando
and be has now to ascertain by personal experience how alludes to the undoubted fact that the engines are very
similar except with regard to the valve gear. This parb,
to do it.
I have the programme of the Institute for the coming we may say, is the only part we claim as novel: quadruple
session, and it is full of valuable information; but there is engines, with four cranks set opposite, and each pair ab
a feature of it that is nob at all satisfactory. After the right angles to the other, nob being in any way novel.
syllabus of each subject tau~hb in the Institute a list of The special advantage we claim for our system of valve
"Works of Reference, is g1 ven. They are described as gear is the reducing in the fore-Bind-aft space occupied by
works of reference in the programme, but I find amongst the engine owing to the valves being placed laterally,
them text-bookfl, reference books, trade and technical and the small number of glands; added to which, only
journals, and art handbooks. The lists appear to have one of these, i.e., the high-pressure piston-rod, is exposed
been compiled by someone not fully acquainted with the to the full boiler pressure. We consider this a most imliterature of the industries dealo with, smce some of the portant point when dealing with the very high-pressures
works named are certainly not now standard reference and speeds for w hicb these engines are primarily debooks, and some are even oub of prinb. But the errors of signed.
With regard to Mr. Orlando's fear that the piston
omission are the most serious.
A student who wants to acquire reference and text- valve might " cause inconvenience owing to the difference
books to assist him in mastering the practical details of of the strain in the two slide valves connecbed by the
his trade, should have the best and most up-to-date. In same rod, " we would say that the piston valves as emsome industries the latest published are the best, yet I ployed by us are so balanced that no side thrust can come
find many really useful practical reference books not even on the vn.lve spindle; the spindle, moreover, is made very
THE "SCHLEIFMOHLE" EXPRESS PUMP. mentioned, and in some of the lists there is no mention substantially, and is guided both top and bottom. So far
WE illustrate on page 403 a high-speed pump exhi- made of the very instructive trade journals published. A this arrangement has proved perfectly satisfactory. We
bited at the Glasgow Exhibiti9n by Messrs. Ehrhardt student who is inquiring as to works dealing with the have an engine, the same as that illustrated, but of larger
and Sehmer, of Schleifmiible Saarbrlicken. A demand industry he ha-s chosen to follow must not rely upon the dimensions, having cylinders 5 in., 7! in., 10~ in., and
has arisen of late years for a pump which can be coupled lists given by the compilers of this programme. He will 16 in. in diameter by 7 in. stroke, running at 900 revolutions ab 350 lb. steam pressure. This engine hag now
direct to an electric motor. The gearing necessary be- miss much useful literature if he does.
Yours truly,
been running two seasons and has given absolutely no
tween the motor and pump, when the latter is of the
WM. THOMSON.
trouble, nor has it required repairs or adjustments of any
ordinary type, is noisy and troublesome, and the
32, Bouverie-streeb London, E . C., September 17, 1901. kind.
pump, being run at a low speed, must for a given
Yours faithfully,
output be of considerable size. The Schleifmuhle
for StMPSON, STRICKLAND, AND Co., LTD.,
pump, on the other band, is designed to run at a
HEATING LARGE WORKSHOPS.
Wm. Cross, Managing Director.
speed of 282 strokes per minute, and therefore
To THE EDITOR OF ENGINEERING.
Dartmoutb, S. Devon, September 16, 1901.
thc3 motor coupled to its driving shaft need not
SIR,- Can any of your readers give me particulars of
be of specially large dimensions.
The general the most efficient, economical, and up-to-date system
LONDON PoLYTECHNICs.-Work for the autumn session
construction of the pump is clearly shown in of heating large workshops covering one or two acres ?
Yours truly,
ab the L ondon Polytechnics will soon be under way, and
Fig. 2 on page 403. It will be seen that there
September 12, 1901.
E NQUIRER.
we have received the programmes of a number of these.
are two sets of pumps arranged on opposite sides
Whatever view may be taken as to the ultimate value of
of the electric motor. The latter has been conthese insbitutionll, there can be no question as to their popu
structed by the British Scbuckert Electric Company,
THE GLASGOW CORPORATION
larity. To a limited extent this is no doubt due to the
Limited, of Clun House, Surrey-street, London,
TRAMWAYS.
fact tlhab most of them have a social as well as an educaW. C. It is of t he mu] ti polar type, being wound
To THE EDITOR OF ENGOOERING.
tional side, and form capital clubs in which students can
for 970 amperes at 500 volts. There a re 12 poles,
STR,-Inasmuch as I note, with regret, that my letter meet for recreation. The cla-sses are, however, well
which are cast in one with the two halves of the ring which appeared in your issue of August 30 last has not attended, and, so far as examinations by outside bodies
magnet. Economy of the magnet iron is secured by elicited any answer, either from the Corporation Authori- form a test of efficiency; appear to be successful. Stureducing the iron on the out,s1de face of the magnet ties of Gla~gow, or from the represE\ntatives of the makers dents from the Battersea Polytechnic, we observe obring at each former. The shunt coils are kept on the of the several engines employed in the Glasgow Tramways tained during the year scholarships, exhibitions, and prizes
poles in the usual way by means of pole tips screwed Power Sbation, I have made such further investigation to the amount of 1222l. The secretary is Mr. J oseph Barto the latter. The armature is drum wound and myself as was possible under the circumstances, and wood. At tb9 N ortha.mpbon Institute, St. John Streetfaste ned with two keys direct on the erankshaft of the ~ould ask to be corrected if the fGHowing statements are road, London, E.C., special attention is directed to the
mexact.
subject of, horolagy and the other light mechanical
pump between the main bearings of t he latter. The
It would seem that the first Allis engine was put on crafts whiCh bav~- ~be ~ ~Jerkenwell distrJct as their
commutator consists of 552 hard-drawn copper strips, regul8ir work at the end of May. and the second Allis centre. Ab the Goldsmiblis' Institute, New Cross
the brushes arc of carbon ; the brush gear con- en~ine during the first week of June, since which time S.E., a series of special evening classes on "Engi~
sists of four cast-iron brackets, between which the both engines have been available to run -the full car nearing a.nd Building Industries " has been a-rranged
ring carrying the 12 sets of brushes can be shifted by service.
for. The bead of the Institute, Professor Lineham
The first Musgrave engine was started towards the end M. Inst. C.E., will be responsible for a oourse of lectur~
means of a shaft with two hand wheels, and coupled
by a worm gear to the iron ring. It will be noted of June, but up the present time has not been able to on the "Elementary Theory of Structures." and on "The
that this brush gear, unlike that of many other undertake regular service. The impression seems to be Detailing of Construction of Ironwork." This course it is
makers, leaves the whole of the commutator free and that the makers believe it may be able to undertake a load stated, ~ill. be adapted .to the requirements of candidates
towards the end of October.
for admtsston as asso01a.te members of the Institution of
open to inspection, The armature winding consists of
The two Stewart engines seem to have run on a car Civil Engit;leers.. Obher ol.asses will be held in experia layer of rectangular bars fixed on to the cast- lo~d towB~rd the end of April, a.nd to have been run inter mental engmeermg, for wh10h a. new mechanical laborairon armature core, and connected at both front m1ttently ab light loads till about the beginning of June, tory has just been provided. Further particulars can be
sides by means of bent strips that are passed out- when they were handed back to the makers, for what obta~ned on application to the Secretary, the G oldsmiths'
side and form a grid, through which the air passes ~ould seem to amount to a practical re-construction of Instttute, New Cross, S.E. All three of the above inat a great speed during the operation of the Important ~arts.
~ti~utions are fairly well equipped with laboratories, and
machioe, the consequent cooling being very marked.
Since th1s time .bhey have nob been running on any It 1s to be hoped that the couraes are nob so closely deThe ends of the winding are fixed to their re- regular lead, the power for driving the auxiliaries being voted to examination requirem~nts as to prevent these
spective eommutator bars in an absolutely secure derived from a sub-station a.otuated from the main ourrent laboratories being used for useful research work as well
a~ ~or purp~ses of mere demonstration. We have a sus
way by means of three screws. The whole of the produced by the Allis engines.
h'

d .
J
As it would seem that the Musgra.ve engine has never ~1o1on that m mos~ cas~s the te&<?hing staffs have their
mac me 1S so eslgnecl that aft~r rum;ting continually ~a~en the car l<?ad for .more than a day or two ab the most, t1me so fully ocoup1ed w1bh attendmg to the requirements
on full load, the temperature rtse w1ll never exceed 1t 1s naturally 1mposstble to make any comparisons.
of elemet;ltary students that they have little opportunity
more than from 60 de~. to 65 deg. Fahr. above the , It would eem undoubted that the Allia engines are fre- for oontnbuting to the advanoe of knowledge.

[ SEPT. 20, I ~OT.

ENGIN E -E RI NG.

406
--

.-

-- ---

..-

TESTING MACHINE AT THE JAMES WATT ENGINEERING LABORATORIES.

CONSTRUCTED BY :MESSRS. JOSHUA BUCKTON AND CO., LIMITED, ENGINEERS, LEEDS .

Fif1.2. Jor:key Weight .

'.

A cctw::tlator .

S cw/4.

. .,

Fig.1.

General A rr.;,ngement .
-

I
I

=f~-::-::r::-=---=-:l=~--l---------y
-i ~J
- -:=--:--:-~==========t:t]~
- ::-~-- - f - - - - 1 -- ---I

'

..

Fie-4.

Compression Test .

(CQst-troo column broke

FitJ.3 .

T orsion Apparatus.

~--

:tt

65.5 ton;.)

--- --- --- --- -- - -- ... __ _

-- --- ----- --- --. --- -- . --- -- ..
~-

...

-.
....

11

11

11
11

Fig.6 . Dejlectwn Test .

ii
I

(Beam, tested up to 100 tons upon supports 10 feet a-part, deA~cted

and took a perm:ulent set of ; inch.

bcb,

'

I!

11

11

. .. .

TESTING MACHINE AT GLASGOW

UNIVERSITY.
The 100-Ton U11:iversal T elJting .bfachine, with va1iable
A cctl/T)'I;ulator, at the J ames Watt L aborato?ies, Glasgow

University.*
By MR. J . HARTLEY WIOKSTEED, of L eeds. Vice-President of the Institution, and Vice-Chairman
of the Congress (Section Ill).
THE whole arrangement of the testing machine is show:n
in Fig. 1. The straining frame i.s worked by an hydrauhc
}'am supplied with water from an accumulator. When
the ~alve between the hydraulic cylinder and the accumulator i.s open full bore, a test can be made at the rate
of 100 in. straining per minute, but the valve can _be regulated so as to reduce the speed to a tenth of an m ob per
)uinute. The speed is under easy control th~ough a Wide
range, and it can be altered at pleasure durmg the pro-

* Paper read before the International Engineering

Congress, Glasgow, 1901. Section III.: !vlechanical.

If the hydraulic vah-e wer~ opened full bore, it would not

be possible to adjust the poise-weight so as to keep the
steelyard in equilibrium; but when once the hydrographic
recorder has been calibrated, the poise-weight may be
taken to the extreme end of the steelyard, and a full test
can be made without rocking the steelyard, and the result
obtained from the autograph.
In Ifig. 1, annexed, the testing ma,chine is shown in a
somewhat diagrammatic form, so as to clearly illustrate
the principle of its construction. The machine consists
essentially of a straining system embraced by a weighing
system. The straining system consists of t'he hydraulic
cylinder, ram, and notched frame which slides out, carrying
the straining crosshead A . The weighing syatem consists
of two long P?-rallel rods, with the three crossheads or
weighbridges B, C, and D. This parallel frame floats on
knife-edges. vVhatever force comes upon the weighbridges C and D is communicated throu~h the crosshead
D to the elbow lever E , the fulcrum of which rests on an
* P?oceedli'11{JB of I nstitution of Civil Enginee'rs, vol. anvil at t he back of the hydraulic cylinder. The elbow
le\'~r communicates the force t o the~ ba.ck c~ntre of the
lxxxviii., page 21.

gress of a test. Thus the speed may be slow until the

eln,c;tic limit is reached, and mcreased during the plastic
stage. '!'his facility for varying the speed, to~ether with
the absence of all vibration, makes an hydraulic stmining
gear worked from an accumulator preferable to any other
system. It is due to Dr. Kennedy to state that he ad vocated this system in 1885, and stated in a paper read before the Institution of Civil Engineers,* that, " probably,
the maximum in steadiness, a.s well as of convenience m
working, will be found in some such system."
In fluid connection with the straining cylinder there is
an autographic recorder, which draws a curve produced in
one direction by the pressure in the straining cylinder,
and in any other direction by the strain of the specimen.
Friction in the ram of the recorder is overcome by causing
it to revolve, and the indications of the latter are calibrated from the steelyard of the testing machine, so that
the friction in the main straining ram is accounted for.

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

SEPT. 20, 1901.]

steelyard lever above it. The poise-,veights on the steelyard measure the forces. In tension tests the specimen
(Figs. 8 and 9 subjoined), is placed between A and C. For
compre~i?n. (Fig. 4, page 406) it is placed between A n.nd
~' and~~f 1t 1s pl~ccd between C and Fit is tested in deflection (] tg. o). T ho crosshend A, being movable in t ho
notched frame can be adjusted so as to take lona or short
specin'lens,, either in tensio!l or compression . Upon the
ram thet'e 1s a large nut wh1eh Ctl<n be screwed up ti"'ht to
~he end of the hydraulic cylinder, so as to hold the strainmg frame out for an unlimited time, independent of any
leak-off of the water. Th,is device, which enables one to
keep the load upon a speetmen all through the night or
throu.gh a va<?n.tion, was first introduced for Profe~or
A~cbibald. Elhot~, who .P~lt down the first 100-ton machin~ havmg th1s provunon at the University College
Card1ff.
'
The torsiou apparatus is placed at the back of the main
ful~rum of the lever, as shown in Fig. 3, page 406. It is
entu~ly out of the way, and has no connection with the
~ra~ch.me ex?~Pt through the. torsion specimen itself when
1t lS m pos1t10n. T~e tors10n gear wil~ exe1:t n. twisting
moment of 224,000 m ch-pounds, and wlll twiSt in two a
bar of iron 2! in. in diameter.
~he deflection apparatus is shown on Fig. 5. It has
swwel supports to prevent indentation, and the presserfoot also nas swivelled half-round pieces which spread
the _{)~ssure over 6 in. of surface, while still allowing the
spec1men to bend freely ; so that if the distance between

Fie.6.

''geometrical guide." There are two scales on the steelyard, one for use with the large solid poise, and the other
for use with the variable poise. The poise-weights carry
vernier scales" which, at the suggestion of Dr. Barr are
attached by h~ngos t~ the poi.c;e-weights, and rest by their
own overhangmg we1ght m V-groovos on the scale bar.
This insures that the Yernier scale is always lying close
ur to .the ~n;rks of the mn-in scale, wit11out the possibility
o b~mg mJ urcd from wn.nt of clearance Ly t he vibrn.tions of the steelyard following upon the fracture of a
test -piece.
The accumulator hn.s a variable load, consisting of ten
4-ton slabs, of which it can deposit any number up to
nin~ o~ t~e bas~, and carry up the remainder. The slabs
which 1t 1s desu ed to load on are, at the suggestion of
Dr. Barr, hung from the top weight by three rods. This
arrangement hn.s been adopted, not only on account of its
advantages in connection with the testing machine, but
to enable the accumulator to be used in connection with
other pieces of apparatus, and to increase its value as an
app~ratus upon which efficiency tests u~der a great variety
of cncnmsta1~ces may be m~e. In F1g. 1, page 406, the
accumuh\tor ts shown standing on the floor level but in
the laboratory its foundation is sunk 7 ft.
'
Fig. 6, subjoined, shows a shearing apparatus capable of
dealing with specimens in single shear up to 2 in. ~guare.
The faces of the knives are kept close by a roller wtthout
~ndue friction. When a col~mn ~ being tested, it is
tmportant to prevent the wetghbrtdge B (Fig. 1) from

piece is restrained from wandering away from the centre

line of stress, and with no other friction than that of
smooth rollers on smooth paths which have no direct
pressure upon th~mJ but only that pressure which is due
to unsymmetrical y1elding of the piece.
A horizontal testing machine cannot be verified in the
same simple and direct manner as a vertical machine,
merely by hanging dead weights to the back centre. It
hus to bo proved by careful measurement of the fulcrum
distances ; but in order to ascertain that the fulcrums are
all bearing fairly on thei~; supports with clearance from
any false bearing, the machine can be moved by means
of _powerful springs.
Fig. 8 shows a helical spring 8! in. in diameter, made
of 1! in. in diameter round steel with 21 coils, giving an
elastic stretch of 15 in. with 7i tons. A pair of these
springs may be used yoked together, side by side, for testing bOth the nccuracy and sensibility of the machine up
to 15 tons. Each spring is bung vertically with standard
weights suspended to it, and the extension of the spring
is carefully measured by three pairs of points round the
circle, the springs being then put into the horizontal
mnchino, and stretched until the measurement of the extension round the average of the three places is what it
was when suppor ting the imperial weights; and if the
reading on the steelyard records the same weight, and
retains its sensibility, the machine is proved not to be
riding upon false bearings. In trying these large helical
springs to the utmost capacity, they were loaded until

Fig. 7, R oller Stay.

Blocks f or Single- Shearing Test.

-- .

,.-,------

l_________j
eta

a=rer

l FOOT

,..._-f------------l--.....

T ension T ests (Scale

Fie. 8.

Js znd)

.. ,

Doublcriveted Lap ) oin t . with rivets~ anch diameter

With 8 steel rivets in single s hear, took a permanent set at 46 tons .
and fractured at 90 tons
With 8 Iron rivets in single s hear, took a permanent set at 42 tons .
and fractured at 75 tons .

Sam,e Spring held by end coils.

;.;:::;,..

wavering in any direction, and for this purpose there is a

roller stay, shown in Fig. 7J.... on the arrangement which.
was first put in practice by ur. Kennedy. It is formed
by two brackets bolted to the sides of the ~antry, and
stayed together at the top, so as to form a r1~d framework. The crosshead has planed lugs upon It, and between those lugs and the stay there are both vertical and
horizon tal rollers R. The rollers are held between roller
paths on the lugs and the roller paths on the stay.
The roller paths on the stay are formed at the end of
cylindrical p1eces which fit in bored holes in the stay,
and can be very gradually adjusted forward by screw
bolts made with taper sides, and acting upon thew like
taper cotters. By means of this adjustment the roller
paths are set so that the rollers are just held, free from
shake, between the compre~sion crosshead and stay, and
this is enou~h to restrA.i n the crosshead from wandering
during the light loading at the beginning of a compression
or traverse test. But when the pressure becomes severe,
the rollers are set up in the following manner : It is seen
at the beginning of the test that all the rollers are bearing fairly and uniformly tight between the rollers paths ;
wnen the test has proceeded to a few tons pressure, the
rollers are again felt round by the fingers, and it 'vill
probably be found that the crosshead has begun to bear
hard against the rollers at two sides, and nas left the
rollers at the opposite sides with shake that can be easily
felt. This indicates that the tendency of the crosshead
is to depart from the line which previously brought it in
contact with those rollers ; and in order to restore it, the
rollers that have lost to1ch are not themselves set up, but
the opposite rollers to the slack ones, namely, the rollers
against which the pressure is bearing, are set up until
the crosshead is brought into touch again with the slack
rollers, and thus restored to the position from which it
was tending to depart. This takes up the spring of the
stay, and it will probably not require any more attention
throughout the test. In this way the end of the test

'

the centres of the semicircles is taken, the test is theoretically the same as if the beam were supported on knifeedges at that distance apart, while injury to the section
by too intense local pressure is prevented.
The steGlyard of this machine has an arrangeme11 t of
poise-,veigbts which is a combination of the variable
jockey-weight starting from the centre of the steelyard,
ns introduced by Dr. K ennedy on a 50-ton machine, the
first of this type, which he put down in his laboratory in
'Vestminster, and of the solid poise ranging over both
arms of a double-armed steelyn.rd which the author has
used for many_years. This combination has been arranged
to meet Dr. Barr's desire for a larger scale unit when
measUting light loads, and has the effect of giving the
same scale unit up to 100 tons, which was obtained on
Dr. Kennedy's machine up to 50 tons, without materi ally
lengthening the steelyard. When the machine is being
used for load up to 32 tons, the large poise-weight remains
stationary at the short end of the lever, and acts merely
as a balance-weight to the long end. The variable poise
starts from the centre of the lever, and travels over the
long arm with a scale reading 4 in. to the ton up to
32 tons. This poise-weight, shown at G on Fig. 1,
page 406, has two removable discs, H , Fig. 2, which reduce
1t by half, giving a scale reading of 8 in. to the ton up to
16 tons. When the specimen requires more than 32 tons
of load, this second poise, G, is lifted clear away from the
machme. The balance of the steelyard is not affected,
owing to the latter bein~ lifted off the line of the fulcrum.
The main poise-weight lS then liberated from its fixing to
the steelyard, and engaged with the traversing screw, and
travels over the whole range of the steelyard, giving a
scale readiJ!g of 2 in. to the ton up to 100 tons. At the suggestion of Dr. Barr, these poise-weights xide upon three
wheels, of which the two on one side have flanges working
in a groove in the rail of the steelyard, to keep the poise
from wavering sideways, and a plain single wheel on the
other side to support the poise vertically, thus forming a

Fig. 8.

Helical Sjrring of 1-! inch rouud steel.

.. ___ ___ _

/NS. 1~

~:

they fractured at the hooked ends, exactly as shown on

Fig. 8. This was at 7! tons of load; but when screwed
plu~s were inserted, as shown in the lower view, the
sprrngs would carry 7~ tons without failure, giving an
elastic stretch of 16~ in.
A photograph of the machine taken into position is exhibited.
In conclusion, the author is sensible of the honour of
the selection of his firm's machine for a laboratory bearing
the great name of James Watt, at a University which was
the first to establish a school of engineering in Great
Britain, and for a. professor of such distinguished ability
and so thoroughly skilled in the practice of testing as
Dr. Barr.
ORLEANS AND MANOHESTRR.-A steamship line
from New Orleans to Manchester is being planned. It
is understood that the Illinois Central Railroad Company
is doing all it can to further the scheme.
NEW

THE WATER SoPPLY oF BARROW-IN-FURNEss.-After

hard fights in the H ouse of Lords and in the House of
Commons against considerable opposition, the Barrow
Corporation are to be congratulated on obtaining their
Bill for taking a supply of water from the watershed of
the River Duddon. The Bill has now received the Royal
assent. The scheme is one for taking a supply of
3,000,000 gallons from a point on the Duddon about 17~
miles from Barrow. In order to provide additional
storage accommodation for giving compensation to the
river in times of drought. tlie level of Seathwaite Tarn
is to be raised by a masonry dam so as to enable the corporation to have a reserve of 450 million gallons. The
water is of very fine quality, and is highly suitable for
domestic consumption and trade purposes. The borough
engineer, Mr. W. H . Fox, Assoc. M. Inst. C.E., is the
engineer for the scheme.

E N G I N E E I\. I K G.
NOTES FROM THE UNI'fED STATES.
PHII.ADELPHIA, September 11.
~HE tr~gedy at B~ffalo, N. Y., has not r esulted in any
senous disturbance 1n the steel markets or in financial circles. The situation is well in hand. Produc
tion is not equal to calls, but no serious trouble has
been encountered. Merchants' stocks are virtually
depleted in b!L;s, hoops, tinplate, pipe, and sheets, as
well as skelp uon. The condition in which the steel
industry finds itself has started the discussion of a
policy which, if adopted, would lead to an accumulation of standard requirements to provide for needs in
ca.s e ?f strike: ~hi~ p olicy can, of course, be adopted
w1thm ce~ta1n hm1 ts. Pig iron, billets, merchant
bars of gtven length, sheets, steel rails of given
weight per yard, and other products can be manufactured in advance and piled up in warehouses
and sheds; but much business comes on special ord~rs.
Reports are satisfactory from all quarters. An
enormous volume of material is bsing hurried to
buyers. The inquiries arriving show that t he period
of maximum requirements has not been reached. The
urgency for pipes was never greater. Skelp mills are
unable to look at a good deal of business offered. Steel
billets are quiet at 26 dols. for basic. Users of boiler
tub es a~e deeply ?oncerned over the p ossibilities of
completmg large JObs on hand. The combine sheet
mills are furnishing only a little over one half of their
capacit y. Users of bar iron east and west are trying
to buy more than they need for present wants.
Carbuilders, since September 1, have been called
upon to bid on large rolli ng stock requirements, and
there is corresponding urgency for axles, wheels, and
all appliances entering into car construction. Every
week seems to bring out greater needs among railroads for locomotives, and more locomotive building
capacity will be added with expedition, Open-hearth
steel bars have advanced 3.00 dols. Things will get
decidedly worse unless the combination succeeds in
starting, at least, its idle plants. It is gradually
accumulating non-union labour. Bessemer pig is
I ~ dols. at furnace.
Steel rails 28 dols. at mills
for standard section~. Tramway work of very large
proportions is in sight.

NOTES FROM THE NORTH.

GLASGOW, Wednesday.
Glasgow P ig-Iron Market.-At the forenoon market on
Thursday some 8000 tons of pig iron were dealt in. P rices
were steady, and Cleveland advanced id. per ton. In
the afternoon a good business was done in Scotch and
Cleveland iron, the turnover amounting to about 10,000
tons. Prices were strong, and Scotch finished at 4~d. up
on the day, and Cleveland 1~d. per ton. The settlement
prices were : Scotch, 53.:~. 6d. per ton : Cleveland,
453. 3d. ; Cumberland hematite iron, 60s. 6d. per ton.
In the forenoon on Friday the market was very
quiet, only a.boub 4000 tons being dealt in. Scotch
warrants, after being dealt in at last price, 53s. 10d.
per ton cash, left off ab 53s. 9~d. buyers. In the
afternoon only 2500 tons changed hands, but Scotch recovered 1d. per t on. The market was very idle on Monday
forenoon, only 2000 tons being dealt in, none of which
was Scotoh, which fell1d. per ton ; Cleveland gave way
1~d. per ton. At the afternoon session some 3500 tons
were dealt in, and prices were firmer, Scotch improving
2~d. on the forenoon quotations and Cleveland 1d.
per ton. Cleveland was done ab 453. 1d. per ton for
the end of the year, 1000 tons being sold. The settlement prices were : 53s. 9d per ton, 45s. 1~d. and
60s. per ton. At the forenoon session of the pig-iron
market on Tuesday some 10,000 tons were dealt in.
The iron sold was all Cleveland, which made an advance of 6d. per ton. About 5000 tons, all Cleveland,
were done in the afternoon, the close being 45a. 7~d. per
ton cash with buyer3, showing a gaia on the day of
5d. per ton. Scotch warrants were quoted at 54s. 1d.
per ton cash buyers, being a gaia on the day of
2d. p er ton. The settlement prices were 543., 45s 9d.,
and 603. per ton. The iron " ring " will nob meet
to-morrow, Thuraday, out of respect to the memory
of the _decaa~ed Amecica.n President. Som.e 5000 tons
were dealb in this forenoon in the pig-iron market. The
tone was steady, and Cleveland rose ~d. per ton. Scotch
was marked down 1d. per ton. In the afternoon other
6QOO tons were dealt in, and Scotch closed firm and
Cleveland was steady. One firm bought 7000 tons
of the latter. The settlement prices were : 54s.,
45a. 9d., and G.Os. per ton. The following are the
quotations for Ne;>. 1 -makers' iron: Clyde, 66s. 6d.
per ton; Gartsherrte and Calder, 67a.; Langloa.n, 69.:i. 6d. ,
Summerlee, 703. 6d. : Coltnes1:.1, 72s.-the foregoing all
e)lipped at Glasgow; Glengarnock (shipped at Ardro3san);
66s. ; Shotts (shipped ab Leith), 70s. ; Carron (shipped
at Grangemouth), 67s. 6d. per ton. The upwa.r~ tendency which the market showed last week rece1 ved a.
severe blow when the grave news came of the American
President's death. It certainly bad a depressing effect.
Transactions continue to be almost exclusively in
Cleveland and bema.tite iron. Home consumers, in.
fluenced probab'y by the firmer t one of the warrant
market have been buying more freely, but there
are not' the slightest sign~ of th~ usual autumn demand
e.etting in from the Co.ntment; ~n f!J'ct, Ger~an make~s
are reported to be offeriDg hemat1te Iron here ID competltion with the local makers. The Board of Trade r~turns
show that a serious falling off is taking place ID the

foreign ~hi~ments. There are 81 furnaces in blast, against

82 at this t1me last year. The stock of pig iron in Messrs.
Connal and Co.'s public warrant stores stood at 58,370
tons yesterday afternoon, as compared with 58 370 tons
yesterday week, thus showing for the past ~eek no
change.
Finished Iron and Steel.-Hematite pig iron is easier
than it was. West Coast warrants, whtch recently closed
ab . 61s. per ton, receded to 603. 4d ., makers' iron
be1~g 60.:!. 6d. per ton to 61s., according to brand and
dehvery. East Coast hematite iron is somewhat easier
at 593. per ton, but Scotch is still firm at 633. 6d. to 64s.
psr t on delivered to the local steel works. In the steel
tlrade generally there is a stiffer feeling showing itself.
Angles a~e now being quoted at 5l. 15.3. per ton, less 5 per
cent. dehvered on the Clyde. Marine boiler-plates are
fir!ll ab a~ a~vance of 53. per ton recently pub on the
pn~e, wh10h 1s .now 7l. 153. per ton. Otherwise the quo~atto~~ are w1thoub cbang~, although there are more
mquu1es. Orders are plenttful, so that the mills are well
employed. The rolling mills in the finished iron trade
are also well employed, and prices remain fairly firm.
Sulphate of .Ammonia.-The shipments of sulphate of
!J'mmonia have risen for the year to 99,609 tons, or an
mc~ea.se of 3932 tons over those at the corresponding
per1od of last year. Prices have slightly improved this
week, lOl. 123. 6d. per ton being paid freely. There is a
better inquiry, and sellers are firm.
Shipbuilditng on the Otyde. -Porb Glasgow shipbuildera
are at present well stocked with work, and it is gratifying to know that additional contracts have lately
come to the district. There are several large carriers
under construction in local yards, but one of the
orders j usb placed is for a steg,mer of the three-deck
type, designed to have a carrying power of 8500 tons. The
keel of this steamer, which, by the way, will be the
largest yet built in Port Glasgow, will be laid in one of
the yards ia the centre of the town, that of Messrs.
Robert Dunca.n and Co. -M~srs. Wm. Simons and Co.,
Renfrew, are ho build a third dredger of 1200 tons to the
order of the Natal Government for service ab the port of
Durban. It is thirty years since the same firm first built a.
dredger for the N a.ta.l Government, and they have built
for them quite a number of vessels in that time.
Openi ng of LeadhiUs Railway. -The Lead hills Light
Railway, which has been in course of construction for the
past two years, was thrown open this week for inspection
by the Board of Trade. The inspector, accompanied by
a number of officials of the Caledonian Railway Company, who are the promoters of the enterprise, inspected
the bridges and permanent way. The rail way will be
opened for traffic, ib is expected, in the beginning of next
month. So far, the line has only been carried to Leadhills, and is only about six miles in length, but it will be
continued two miles further to Wanlockb ead, where the
Dukes of Buccleuch have for along time worked the lead
a.nd ail ver oree.

NOTES FROM SOUTH YORKSHIRE .

SHEFFIELD, W ednesday.
Sheffield Manufactwrers and the Corporation.-On
Monday a meeting of the Sheffield Manufacturers' As
soeiation WM held to consider what steps should be
taken in view of the action of the Corporation in
fining local firms for damage caused to the roads
by the removal of heavy castings. The Association
decided to take up the case of Messrs. Moorwood,
Sons, and Co., on whom the Corporation recently made
a demand for a heavy sum in consequence of damage done
to certain streets, and it was further resolved to ask the
Highway Committee of the Corporation to receive a deputation of manufac~urers to discuss the matter generally
with a view of arriving ab an understn.nding by which the
system of fining can be abolished.
Bradfo'r d Electricity Works Extension.-The foundation stones of a new generating station, now in course of
erection for the Electricity Department of the Bradford
Corporation, were formally laid on Friday by Mr. T. H.
Sba.w and Mr. J . Akam, the chairman and vicechairman
of the Electricity Committee. The new works are so
designed that they may be duplicated by building a
secend engine-house. The portion at present bE:ling built
will accommoda.te three engines ha.vmg a total of 6000
horsepower. The electric generators have a capacity
of 1000 kiloswatts. The engineroom will be ca.pable of
containing five units of plant with a. total capacity of
10,000 horse-power, and it is proposed to instal six
boilers. Mr. Shaw pointed out that the work of his
committee had increased more than that of any other.
In 1899 the capital expended was 18,456l. , while in 1900
it was 280,649l., and the number of consumers had risen
from 43 to 1277.
The Yorkshire Dales Railway.-It is officially announced
that the new line of railway, in course of construction
from Skipton to Grassington, is to be the subject of an
application to the Light Ra.ilway Commissioners for permission to extend to Kettlewell. The exact route is not
yet definitely settled, but the co3t of the project is said
to be 25,000/.
South Yorkshire Coal Trade.-There is a feeling of
buoyancy in the coal trade of the district, and an improved
business is being done in a.Jl classes of fuel. After the
restricted output last week, the pits have worked steadily,
:md the coal raised is selling more readily than has been
the case for some time. Prospects for the future are
brighter, and it is expected that the men will have
almost full work for some months. The improved demand
for house qualities is fully maintained, and present prices
have formed the basis of a. good deal of forward busi-

(SErT.

20,

1901.

ness. London and the eastern counties are taking large

tonnages, and the eaU for prompt delivery is proof of the
depletion of merchants' stocks. Best Silkstone make from
13s. to 14~. per. ton, and Barnsley house from lls. to 12s.
per ton. The IDland demand for steam coal has also im.
proved, but the export business is still disappointing.
V alaes are firm, Ba.rnsley bards being quoted ab 9s. to
10e. per ton.. T~ere is now a fulle~ supply of engine fuel,
and Derbysh1ra IS a. keen competltcr for orders of this
class of fuel. Nuts make from 7s. 6d. to 83. 6d. per ton
screened slaok 5s per ton, and pit slack from 2s. 6d. pe;
ton. The coke trade shows a little improvement.
Iron and Steel.- Most of the heavy branches of trade
are characterised by a. more hopeful tone. The armour.
plate departments are being kept fully employed,
although there is nob the pressure there was some time
ago. Indeed it is stated that the time is nob distant
when further specifications will be acceptable. The
armour-plate manufacturers of Sheffield are now in a
position to meet any requirements of the Government.
There is a well.sustained demand for marine forgings of
all kinds, and an improving call for railway material.
Th~ leading railway compll.nies, however, are placing
thetr contracts very ca.ut10usly. The demand for all
classes of iron keeps up well and prices have a hardening
tendency. Buyers find that they cannot do better than
accept makers' quotations, and are placing their contracts
more freely. Hematites are in good supply, but ordinary
forge irons are more difficult to obtain.

NOTES FROM CLEVELAND AND THE

NORTHERN COUNTIES.
MIDDLESBROUGH, Wednesday.
The Oleveland Iron Trade.-Yesterday there was n.
fairly numerous attendance on ' Change, and the market,
on the whole, was almost cheerful, though hematite iron
cheapened. Inquiries were fairly numerous, but the
amount of business actually transacted was not large. One
very gratifying feature, however, was the improvement
noticeable in No. 3 Cleveland pig, the demand for which
was better than it has been of late, and the price of which
was ad,anced by 3d. per ton, notwithstanding that the
production is understood to be still in excess of the
requirements. Sales were recorded ab 453. 6d. for
prompt f.o.b. delivery of No. 3 g.m.b. Cleveland pig
uon, and sellers, as a rule, would not entertain offers
at anything below that figure. Both makers and
merchants realised the foregoing quotation. No. 1
Cleveland pig was steady at 47s. 3d.; No 4 foundry,
44s. ; grey forge, 433. ; mottled, 42s. 9d. ; and white,
42s. 6d. East Coa.sb bematite pig, having been for
some time firm ia price and short in supply, underwent
a. change for the worse, owing to increased output of
bematite on the West Coast and in Scotland, as well as to
some extent in this district. Sellers were ready enough
to accept 59~. 6d. for early delivery of Nos. 1, 2, and 3.
Business was recorded ab that figure, but many buyers
endeavoured to purchase at rather less. Spanish ore was
rather fir~er in price, rubio being quoted 153. 6d. to
16s. ex-sh1p Tees. To-day there was no alteration in
quotations.
M O/f1,ufactured I ron and Steel.-Tbe finished iron and
st~el trades are steady.. Mosb firms are well supplied
w1th work. Common u on bars are 6l. 53. ; steel ship
plates, 6l. 5s. ; iron ship plates, 6l. 17s. 6d. ; and iron and
steel sb~p angles, 5l. 17s. 6d.-allless 2~ per cent. Hea.vy
steel rails are 6l. 10s., and castiron railway chairs 3l. 10s.
-both net cash at works.
. Palmer's Shipbu.ilditng and Ir_on Comp0/(1,y.-Tbe thirty.
s1xth annual report of the d1rectors of Pa.lmer's Shipbuilding and Iron Company, Limited, to be presented
at the ordinary general meeting, to be held ab the
County Hotel, Newcastle-on-Tyne, on Monday, September 23, states that for the year ended June 30 1901
the gross profit, after providing for the cost of ~epair~
and upkeep ~f pla~b, and after making proper allowance for contmgenc1es, amounts to 107,074l. 2d. 6d., to
which must be added the amount brought forward from
~as~ year, 3qt9l. 11s. 3d., making a total of 110,123l. 133. 9d.
Tbts the duectors propose to appropriate as follows
Debenture and loan interest, 977ll. lls. 2d.; dividend at
the rate of 8 per cent. per annum on both preference and
ordinary abates (of. which 2~ per c~nt. ha.s been paid),
48,263l. 8j. ; to wr1te off the extenstons for the year as
sbow.n by .the balance-sheet, 64, 739l. 14~. 11d. (less 20, OOOl.
proVIded m last year'saccount), 44,739l. 14s. lld.; balance
to carry forward, 7348t. 19.3. Sd.; total, 1 tO, 123. 133. 9d.
Messrs. Walker, Maynard, and Oo, 1/zilnited.-Tbe
fi~at .annual report of ~Iessrs. Walker, Ma.ynard, and Co.,
~1m1ted, of. the Red car ~ron Works, Middlesbrough, has
JUSt been Issued, sbowmg the profib on the business
from July 1, 1900, to J una 30, 1901, to have been
25,529l. 14s. 8d. , which the directors recommend should
be applied a.s foll?ws : Interest paid on purchase money.
5035t. 153 . .10d. ; m come-tax, 2464l. 18~. lld. ; directors'
remunerat10n, 2500l.; profit made prior to the in
corporation of the company carried to reserve account
10,845l. 12:i. 2d. ; dividend on preference shares at
the rate of. 6 per cent. per annum, 4632l. 16s. 6d. ;
balance ca~r1ed for~ard, 50l. lls. 3d. Having regard to
the very dt~culb t1me l~tely passed throug h in the iron
trade, the d1rectors constder the results satisfactory. The
works have been fully maintained out of revenue. and
the furnaces have ~e.en k~pt in full operation. Mr. H. W. F.
~olckow, the rettrmg duector, offers himself for re-electlOn. The profit and loss account shows an expenditure of
323,?88l. 11s. 10d. on material, stores, wag~, &c. The
rece1pts have been 3t6,539l. ~33. 9d. for pig iron and ironst<?ne; 1208l. Ss. lld., royalt1~s, rents, haulage. shunting,
sb1pp1ng, &r.; 957l. 9~. 3d. , m~eresb fro!ll investments;

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

SEPT. 20, 1901.]

707l. 7a. ld., profits on investments realised; and fSl . 7s. 6d.,

MISCELLANEA.

transfer fees ; a total income of 349, 418l. 6s. 6d. The balance
sheet shows the oapjtal of the company to be 24.0,000l., consisting of 160,000 six per cent. cumulative preference
shares of 1l .; and 80,000 ordinary shares of ll. fully paid
up. The report will be presented at the annual meeting
of the company to be held in the R oyal Exchange,
Middlesbrough, on the 24th inst.
Ceal and Coke.-Most descriptions of coal keep firm.
Bunkers, however, are a little weaker. Average blastfurnace coke is fully 16s. delivered here.

NOTES FROM THE SOUTH-WEST.

WE notice that applications are invited for the po3t of

Lecturer and Demonstrator in Eleotrioa.l E ngineering a.t
University Oollege, Nottingham, at a salary of 200t. per
annum, to be increased ultimately to 250l. a year. Applications must be received before the 1st proximo, as the
session commences almost immediately.
The electric rail way between Chicago and J oliet, a.
distance of 40 miles, is now almost ready for opening.
The line is laid with seventy-pound rails, and is ballasted
with broken stone. The time taken between termini is to
be 1! hours, and the fare ls. 8d. The oars to be used are
48 ft. long, and will have compartments for luggage and
freight.
The traffic receipts for the week endinu September 8
1 1'
f h u q d K' d
33
f
h
0
on
t e prmOlpa IDes
t e
mte
mg om
amounted to 2,101, 726l., which was earned on 20,153!
miles. For the corresponding week in 1900 the receipt~
of the same lines amounted to 2,064,202&., with 19,885i
miles open. There was thus an increase of 37,524l. in the
receipts, and an increase of 267i in the mileage.

the adoption of a liberal reciprocity treaty with Oanada,

in which special attention should be paid to removing the
present restraint s on the ooa.l trade. On bhe Atlantic
and Pacific coastR, the N orthern States of the U nion
would be best supplied from Oanada, whilsb central
Canada could be best supplied from American coalfields;
so tha.b if bobh parties abolished p resent restriobions on
the traffic, i t should ultimately prove to their mutual advantage.
The Congress of the International Association for
Testing Materials was held at Budapest, on September 9
to 14, under the presidency of P rofessor L . von Tetmajer,
and was largely attended by engineers from all parts of
the world. The delegates present included 4 from England, 41 from Austria, 3 from Belgium, 9 from Denmark,
2 from the U nited States, 36 from France, 152 from Hun
gary, 70 from Germany, 3 from Norway, 12 from Italy,
26 from Ruesia, 1 from R oumania., 3 from Spain, 1 from
Servia, 10 from Switzerland, and 5 from Sweden. After
an inaugural presidential address, and an address of welcome from the Hungarian authorities, a representative of
each country was elected an honorary president of the
Congress, Mr. Bennett' H. Brough being chosen for England, and Professor H. M. Howe for the U nited States.
The other English and American members present were:
Sir William H . Bailey (Manchester), Mr. Bertram Blount
(London), Dr. C. J . Renshaw (Ashton-on-Mersey), and
D r. R. Moldenke (New York). In addition to the various
reports of committees dealing with technical problems,
the following papers dealing with metals were read and
discussed: " On the Measurement of Internal Tension "
oy M. Mesnager (Paris); "On the Forms of Carbon in
Iron " by Baron J tiptner (Leoben) " On Brinell's Resear~hes, " by JY'I r. A. Wahlberg (Stockholm ~ ; "On the
Testing of Metals by Means of Notched Bars, ' by Mr. H .
Le Chatelier (Paris) ; by Mr. G. Charpy (Paris} ; and by
Professor Belelubsky (St. Petersburg); "On Micrographical R esearches on the Deformation of Metals," by
Mr. F. Osrnond (Paris) ; "On Metallog~a.phy, " br Mr.
E . Heyn (Charlottenburg) ; "On the Testmg of Ra1lway
Material," by Mr. E . Vanderheym (Lyons); and " On
the InternatiOn!l-1 Iron &;nd Steel Laboratory," .by P!ofeasor H . W eddmg (Berhn ). Several pape~s deah~g w1th
stone and m_orta~ were also read, and an mtere~tmg leeture on the u~n mdustry of Hungary was dehvered by
Professor Edvt-Illes (Budapest).
Mr. J . C. Turk, who had charge of the erection of the
great viaduct across the Gokteik Gorge in Burmah, on
behalf of the cont ractors, the Pennsyl vania Steel Compa.ny, gives an interesting sketch of the work in a recent
1asue of the World's Work. The approach of the line
from ~angoon is, he ~tates, through most diffioult country.
The liDe on the east side of the Irrawaddy, up to Maymyo,
has gradients of 1 in 25, and there being insufficient room
for curves in some places, switchback reversing stations
ha ve been necessary, the train zigzagging up the hill. At
o~e point the train passes along the edge of a precipice
wtth a sheer droQ_ of 1500 ft. Maymyo, which is
halfway between Rangoon and the Gorge, was, he
~tates, t~n ye~u~ ago. a hornet's nest of dacoits, but
IS now a thrlVIDg village, half European and half
Burmese. In the plains the soldiers of Theba.w, the last
of the kings, are now building better roads than Mr.
Turk has. seen in his native. State of New England, and
the .Pro~,mc~, as a whole, IS the ~oat prosperous of the
Indtan Empue: The wo!k of erect10n was. accomplish.ed
b.Y a staff of thuty Amertoan workmen, assiSted by nat1ve
riveters and labourers. The traveller, with which each
tower and span was in turn erected, was 225ft. long by
60 ft., and had a free ,overhang of 164 ft. It weighed 100
tons, and was erected ID the ~rst place ~>n the eD?bankment
at the ~outh end of the b!1dge. Th1s done, 1b was used
to put m place the materta l of the first of the towers,
whtoh were bolted together ready for the native riveter~.
As soon as the riveting was fairlY: well .advanc~d, the first
span was erected, and the rails latd on 1t for t he
traveller to be moved forward so as to erect the second
tower, ~hen the same series of operations were repeated.
The. na.t1ve workmen, Mr. Turk .says, ar~ go?d at their
~ar~10ular trade~, but can do nothmg outside 1ts narrow
hmits. Bellows men cannot heat a rivet, and a rivet
heat~r cannot s~ng a ~am mer, whilst for rigging up the
stagmgs an entuely different set of men must be employed. As to the English engineers met with, Mr.
Turk says that some few of the subordinates appeared to
rese~tJ the encroachment .of foreig:nera on what they had
pre.vtously hel4 to be theu e~clu~1 ve ground ; but in the
m am the offimals he met With tmpreased him strongly
wit.h their ~plendid traini~g and great ability, and their
amiCable attttude to the U mted States.

Cardi.ff'. -Quotations for steam coal have shown scarcely

any change; the best descriptions have made 18s. 3d. to
18s. 6d. per ton, while secondary qualities have brought
17s. to 17s. 6d. per ton. Household coal has also remained
without variation; No. 3 Rhondda large ha.a brought 16s.
t o 16s. 3d. per ton ; foundry coke ha-s made 19a. to 20s.
per ton; and furnace ditto 16s. 6d. to 17s. 6d. per ton. As
regards iron ore, Rubio has been quoted at 14s. 3d. to
143. 6d. per t on, and Tafna at 15s. to 15s. 6d. per ton.
A monument has just been erected at Dundee to James
T he Electric Light at Plymouth.-The Plymouth Town Bowman Lindsay, a native of the town, who died in 1862,
Council reoeived, on M onday, a. statement on the first and who anticipated ab a very early date many of the
year's working of its electricity undertaking. The figures possibilities of eleobrioity which are now becoming the
common-places of every-day life. H e foretold its use as
showed a deficit of 1319l.
an illumii~ant and as a motor J>Ower. In 1832 he devised
South Wales Coal and Iron.-The quality of coal ex- an
e~eotr1o t~legraph, and m 1834 sug~eated electric
por ted from the five principal Welshports-Cardi.ff, New- weldmg
whilst later he made suggesh ons as to an
port, Swansea, Port 'f albot, and Llanelly - in August Atlantic ;cable
and. as to. wireless telegraphy, the date of
was :-Foreign, 1,473,797 tons ; coastwise, 318,962 tons. the latter suggest10n
bemg 1853. The monument has
The exports of iron and steel from the five ports for the
t aken the form of an ob~lisk, ~~ich was un~eiled on
month were3493 tons; of coke, 8114 tons; and of patent S~turda~
and an oratiOn gtvm~ some partt.cmlars of
fuel 116,951 tons. The aggregate exports of coal from Lmdsay s la.sb,
work was subsequently dehvered by Su W. H .
Cardiff in the first ei~ht months of this year were
10,534,830 tons; from Newport, 2,261,555 tons; from Preece.
L ast week the French Jo'IJ/fflal Officiel published a deSwansea, 1,382,920 tons; from Port Talbot, 266,271 tons;
and from Llanelly, 174,546 tons. The aggregate exports cree settling provisionally the question of the speed of
of iron and steel were :-Cardiff, 20,379 tons; Newport, motor oars. The object of these new regulations is to
19.142 tons; Swansea, 270 tons; and P ort Talbot and prevent such accidents as have of late aroused public
L la.nelly, nil. The aggregate exports of coke were :-Car- opinion in France. The decree does not pretend to forbid
diff, 44,057 tons; Newport, 14,o:u tons; Swansea, 6236 tons; the const~uotion of motor cars capable of making more
Port Tal bob, 7303 tons ; and Llanelly, nil. The aggregate than 30 kilometres per hour (18.64 miles per hour} but for
exports of patent fuel were :-Cardiff, 263,554 tons; New- the time being directs all its a ttention to the pr~blem of
port, 56,656 tons ; S wansea, 304,192 tons; Port TalbotJ, checking exaggerated speed by facilitating the identifies.ti_o~ of n:;totor oars. Henceforth all motor oars are to be
37,231 tons; and Llanelly, nil,
mto two classes-those capable only of. a. speed
The Swam.sea VaUey.-The tinplate trade presents a d1v1ded
under, and those capable of a speed over_, 30 k1lometr~
good tone and employment is generally plentiful. Seven per
hour. T~e latter must always. carry m fronb and m
of the nine mills at Pontarda.we were last week in full the rear,
by mghb as by day, ~ spemal number. The conoperation. The steel trade is also brisk.
struo~or ~mst make a declaratiOn as to the speed of. every
Coal in Pentbrokeshire.-Sinking operations which have ~achine m tended to travel .on French. roads. Racmg on
been carried on for upwards of twelve months ab Card- high ! oads seems to be forbidden, ~ut m the open oo~ntry
makers' Pool, Freystrop, by the Freysbrop Colliery Com- 30 kilometres per hour {18.64 miles :per hour) Will ba
pany, have ab length been successful, a seam of anthracite allowed~ elsewhere not more than 20 ktlometres per hour
ha.viDg been struck at a depth of 65 yards. The vein is (12.43 mllea per hour).
fully 5 fb. in thickness, and has been reached by reopening
A Local Government Board inquiry was held on the
and enlargin~ an old shaft called the American Pit, so 3rd inst. by Mr. F . H. Tullocb, M. Inst. C.E . into an
named from 1ts having been first sunk during the Ameri- application of the Staines Urban District Cou~cil for a
can War in the eighteenth century. A second shaft is loan for the construction of sewage filters which on the
now being sunk. About 70 men are already employed at recommendation of General Carey, R.E.,'past E~gineerthe colliery, and a private line to join the G reat Western in-Chief to the Local Government Board a re to contain
Railway ab J ohnston Station will be preoeeded with at polarite on the sa~e prineiple as the polarite filters at the
once.
Chorley Corpora.t10n Sewage Works. These were laid
S'wansca Corporation Waterworks.-A special meeting down about sev~n years ago, and continne to produce an
of the Swansea Town Council has been held to appoint a effluent of so high a degree of purity that the Local
manager for the completion of the Cray contract by the Government Board have waived their u~ual stipulation
the Council. Mr. Dix, who was appointed, is the chief as to the efBuent from them passing over land. At
engineer to the Swansea dock improvements now being Staine~, although the works have been most carefully
carried out by Mr. NottJ, contr:.'.ctor. H e served nine supervised, ~nd ample tank accommodation provided,
years under Messrs. J . Aird and Son, and six under Mr. yet the unsutta.bl~ nature of the land has given risen to
T. A. Walker, ab Barry and Manchester; and he sub- numerous oomplamts caused by offensive emanations due
sequently carried out reservoir contracts, &c. Mr. Orton, to secondary decomposition of bhe tank effluent when on
who tied with him, was chief engineering assistant to the the.la~d; heno~ it has been found necessary to resort to
Cardiff waterworks engineer, and completed the Cantreff art1fimal filtrat10n through powerfully active oxidising
beds. There was no opposition to the scheme and the
reservoir for the Oa.rdiff Town Council.
at the conclusion of the inquiry, poin~d out to
New Oollitry at Bettws.-During the last two years chai:man,
t~e mspeotor th~ urgent need. of the loan, and the expemore than a. dozen new collieries have been started in the d1ency
of
carrymg
out
the
Improvements
forthwibh
.in
sou ~h crop between Llanharran and Tondu. Most of
order
to avoid further complaints. We are informed by
them are doing well. Another has been sta.rted ab the Inter~ational
Syndicate, of Westminster,
Glannant Bettws, near Tonrlu, close to a colliery pre- the propnetors ofPurifio~tion
Pola.l'lte, that by improved arrangeviously worked by Messr~. Crawshay and Co. Ib is menta whereby the sewage is distributed on to the beds
reported that a good seam of coal has been struck.
by means of automatic revolving sprinklers (CandyWater Su;pply of Teignmoutk .- The Teignmou th Dis tricb Cain ~ patent), ~abour on ~he filters 18 now reduced to
Council has received from the water committee the result pract10ally nothmg.
of the committee'd Ion~ delibera tions on the water su pply
A h hl t
t'
h
h
d
.
question. The comm1ttee recommends that measures of th~gU~i~~der~a~~~ ~~hgC~nad~ ~S.: !~~e!Je1a~~::
should be taken to provide a supply from the Hyner drawn up by Mr. Osborne Howes, Vioe-OhairmaJ' of the
Valley. Mr. C. E. J ones ''discovered , Hyner V alley.
His proposals have been submitted to Mr. Deacon, C. E , Committee appointed by the Boston Chamber of ComHORIZONTAL T uRNING AND BoRING M ACHINE : EBRA
whose report is favourable. Hyner Valley is near the merce to report on this special Q.Uestion. Mr. H owes
declares that the people of the U mted States for many TUM.-Wibh reference to our description of the above
Torq uay reservoirs.
year~ held the opmi?n that t~ey could force Canada to mac~ine on page 37 4 of our last iesue, M essrs. HetheringpettblO';l for annexation by clos1~g to her their markets, in t on mform us that we were in error in fixing 10 ft. 6 in. as
THE BAT.TIC 0ANAL - The number of steamers which the behef that these were essenttal to her prosperity. The the 8mallest standard size of the series of machines made
result has, however, b~en th~t Oanada, compelled to look by the firm, since they make them down to 3ft. swing.
passed through the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal in July was &broad,
has succeeded m find m~ other markets for her pro1355, of an aggregate burthen of 332.950 tonP. The
INDI~ POPti~ATION. -The population of British India
number of steamers carrying cargo was 1041, of an aggre- ductions, so that at the prese~t btme she does not sellenoug.h
gate bur then of 303, 483 tons. The remainder of the to ~he States! as compared With other cu~tomer~, t o make~~ -that 1s, terntory under the direct control of the
steamers which passed through the canal in July were a vttal quest10n whether s~e doe~ bu~IDass w1th the~ ab Anglo-Indian Government and protected native Stabesall. It thus fo!l?ws that, m seekmg 1~proved relatt?ns, a.mou~ted in 1881 to 258,793,514. In 1891, the corren ballast only. .
the part. of pet1tJ10ner falls to the U mted. States, SIDce spondiDg total had risen to 287,223,431. In 1901 it had
--Canada ts a mos~ valuable .market for Amer10an manufac- furpher advanced to 294,266,701. It will be se~n thatJ
PRBSONAL.-We learn that Mr. John Laidlaw, who tures, the goods tmport~d mto that country from over the whtle there was an increase of 33,500,000 between 1881
since the beginning of the year has been the sole pro- southern border amountn~g to about 3l. lOa. a head. The and 1891, the corresponding inorease between 1891 and
prietor of the business carried on by Messra. Watson, attempt to coerce Oanada ~n the manner stat~d,}d:r. ~owe,s 190~ only amounted to about 7,000,000. P lague and
Laidlaw, and Co., Glasgow, has now taken as partners pro.ceeds, really l~ad to Str John ~ac~onald s N atwna.l ' famine have accordingly done their ghastly work. Even
Mr. James Wright Macfarlane and Mr. Andrew Robert pohcy, under wlnch manufact~riDg n>:terests were built ~he reduce~ increase of 7,000,000. during the last ten years
Robertson, who for a. number of years have been con- up ~y means. of heavy proteot1ve .duties and the Tra.ns- ts also subJeCt to the remark that in the course of that
cerned in the management of the businese. The style of contm~mtal h~es ?f the States were parallelled by the j period there was an appreciable acquisition of new
the firm will rem~in unaltered.
Canad1a.n Pactfic hne. Mr. Howes strongly recommends territory.

THE

LIGHTSHIP.

'' S A N D ET T I E"

(For Description, see Baron Quinette de Rochemont's Paper, Page 419.)

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Vmw 01~

No. 2 BAY, LooKING EAsT.

l?ro. 10. Vn.:w

O.l!'

No. 3 BAY, LooKJNO E AST.

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

S EPT. 2 0, 190!.]
. I

AGENTS FOR "ENGINEERING."

TRACTION and TRANSMISSION.

AUSTRIA, Vienna: Lehma nn and Wentzel, Karnt n erstrasse.

(Publi8hed on the first Tuesday in each month.)
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Frankfur t -am-Me.in : Messrs. G. L. Daube and Co. (for
CONTENTS OF No. 6.
Adver t isements).
PAO F.
PAO&
Leipzig : F. A. Brockhaus.
The Law o Electrolysis. By W.
I The DurgdorfThwl Electric RallMulbou se : H. St uckelberger.
Valentlue Ball........ . . . . . . . . . . l
way (Plates V. nnd V I . and Illus.
The E<l\ICI\tlon of the Eleot.rical
tmtlons In Text ) . . . . . . . . . . . 32
GLASGOW : William Love.
Eoglneor. By Dr. J. A. Flomlug,
High Speed Eleotrlo Traction In
INDIA, Calcutta : Thacke r, Spink, and Co.
F.lt. S. (PlAtes I. to IV. aud IllUB
Uor mnny. Dy 0 . Lasohe (PlRtes
Bombay : Thaoker and Co. , L im it ed.
tmtlonalnToxt) .......... ... ... 7
VII. to XVI . and 1llustnltlons
I TALY : U. Hoepli, Milan , and any post office.
Electrom obiles In Pnbllo Service.. 10
in Toxt) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Mun lolpt~l Tmdlng:
Pneuwntio 'l'yres for H etLvy
LIVERPOOL : Mrs. T aylor, Landing Stage.
(d) By the Hon. llobert P.
1 Vehicles. By 'fb. l)unu.. .. . . 60
MANCDBBTKR: John H eywood, 143, Deansgate.
Porter.. .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. 20 .Electricity at the Tangermtmde
NORWAY, Ohr istiania: Cammer meyera, Boghandel, Oarl J oh ans
(c) By n Borough Engineer.. .. 25
S ugnr Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Gade, 41 a nd 43.
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Room 1910, .New York City, horu whom all pa r t iculars and prices
can be obtai ned.

ENGINEERING.
20, 1901.

GERMAN SHIPPING BOUNTIES.

.ADVERTISEMENTS.
The charge for advertisements is t hree shill i n~s for t he fi rst
THERE is n o doubt t hat, of late, a great many
four lines or und er, a nd eightpence for ea{;b addit10nal line. The
line aver ages seven words. Paymen t must accomJ?any all orders t houghtful persons have, by t he inexorable logic
for single adver tisements, otherwise their inser t10n cannot be of facts, been compelled- often much to t heir own
guaranteed. T erms for displayed advertisem ents on th e wr apper
a nd on t he inside pages may be obtained on application. Serial surpr ise and annoyance-to reconsider t he point of
advertisemen ts will be inserted with all practica ble regula r ity, bu t vi~w from which t hey r egard cer tain questions of
a bsolute regularity cannot be g-u aranteed .
political economy. At least a gr eat many of us ar e

Advertisements intended for insertion in the current week's issue must be delivered not later than
5 p.m.on Thursday. Inconsequence ofthenecessity
for going to press ea.r ly with a portion of the edition
alterations for standing Advertisements should be
received not later than 1 p.m. on Wednesday afternoon in each week.

not quite so cock-sure as we on ce wer e t hat t her e

can be n o compr omise, no exception) to certain
well-rounded and complete formulre, of, as it app ear ed, universal application. One of our fa vourites
was that no industry could be brought to a successful issue by St ate aid. That is a fine op en -air
policy; an d we have always been unanimous in our
SUBSCRIPTIONS, HOME AND FOREIGN.
con tempt for " swaddling clothes ;" forgetful t hat
ENGINEERING can b e supplied, direct from t h Publish er, the bulk of civilised humanit y has at on e time been
post free for twelve m onths at t he following r ates, p ayable in so swathed, t o its great comfor t and probable pre
adva nce:servation.
For the United Kingd om ...... ...... .. 1
9 2
, all places abroad :Shipping boun ties have invariably exci ted our
Thin pa per copies . .. .. . . . . 1 16 0
derision. We self-suppor ting Britons r egard them
Thick
,
. . . . . . . . . . 2 0 6
All accounts a re payable to "ENGINEERING," Llmlted. as ineffective pr ops by which t he h elpless for eign er
Cheques sh ould be cr ossed "Union Bank , Cbaring Cross Bra nch." strives to suppor t an industry our own natural
Post Office Orders payable at Bedford-st reet, St rand, W.O.
heritage. As a r ule, doubtless, their practical effect
When F or eign Subscriptions a r e sen t by P ost Office Orders,
in encouraging shipping has been far from propor
advice should be sent to th e P u blisher.
Foreign a nd Colonial Subscriber s r eceiving incomplete copies tional to the money expended, the expectat ions
through newsagen ts a re r equested to communicate t h e fact to
raised, and also, perhaps, to t he fears excited.
t he Publisher, t ogeth er with the agen t's name and address.
Oftices for Publication and Advertisements, Nos. 35 N ever theless, shipping bounties may constitute
one of the questions worth recon sidering-n ot, of
and 36, Bedford Street, Strand, London, W.C.
course, with a view t o our own adoption of t hem ,
TBLBGRAPHIO ADDRBSB- ENGINEBRING, LONDON.
b ut to see how we may possibly be affected through
TBLEPHONB NmtBEn.-3663 Gel'rard.
our rivals abroad.
It is Germany that is making the most deterCONTENTS,

PAGE
PAGE mined bid for a larger share in t he world's shipping
The Int ernational Eng iSelenium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 413 industry, and some interesting figure s bearing on
n ee ring
Cong ress
a.t
C royd on Eleotrio Tram ways
Gla.sJ.!OW . ... ... . ........ 387
and Electric Ligh t ing .. . . 414 the q uestion are given in a r eport r ecently made
The Whitehead T orpedo
Engin eering Valuations ... . 414 by Mr. W. Ward, Consul-General in t hat country.*
Works at F iume ( nlus. ). . 398 Not es .. .. . . . .. . . 415 The report is complete on1y so far as information
The British Association . . .. 401 The British Association
is available, n ot all the figures bearing on the ques!\[echanica.l Filters at t he
(Address of the Presiden t
Glasgow E xhibition (llof t h e Mecha nical Science
tion having been made public. It would appear from
lmt1ated) .. .. .......... 404
Section) .. .... .. .. .. .. .. 417 this publication that the sum paid by the German
The "SobleiCmUhle " E xR ecen t I mprovements in
Government is much smaller than is, we think,
p ress Pump (J llmtrated) 405
t he Lightin~ and BuoyCaty a.nd Gu ild s of Lon i on
iog of t h e Coasts of
generally sup posed. In the y ear 1898 the total
Institute Lists of Books . . 405
Fra nce (lllu8t1ated) . . . . 419
amount of bounties accorded by t he State in GerHeating Large Workshop3 405 Power. R equired t o Dri ve
The Glasgow Corporat ion
a Ma r ine E ng ine Works
many, in t he forn1 of subsidies, to German shipping
Tram ways . . . . .... . . .. 405
(Illustrated) ............ 422 companies for p ostal services was 325, 000l., it
The DUrr Boiler . . . . . . . . . . 405 Vgbting of t he C hinese
Quadruple- Expansion EoCoa~t . . . . . . . . ......... 424 having risen to that sum from a total of 200,000t. in
g ines ..... . .... .. . ....... 405 Indust rial Notes ... .. ... .. 425 1889. These figures, however, do n ot include
Testing Mach in e a.t Olaegow
Th e Correc t Trea t m ent of
U oiveraity (lllustmted).. 406
Steel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 426 65,000l. paid annually by the German P ost Office
Notes from the U nited
Cooling 0J linders of Into t he Hamburg-American and to the Nort h German
States . ... .... .. ..... ... 408 1 t~rnal Com bustion E n- .. Lloyd Companies respect ively for the carriage of
Not es from the North ... . 408
gmes (l llmt1ated) ... .. . 42 ,
mails t o America.
The Dor tmund and Ems
Notes from Sou th York
shire .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 408
Canal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 428
The amounts are certainly n ot overwhelming,
Notes from Cleveland and
Gr aphic An alysEs of Prothe Nort h ern Counties .. 408 I p eller R eactions . ... . .. 429 especially when we are told officially that -the
Not es from t he South-West 409 " Obea.p er R ailway Fa res " 430 German Government consider " t he annual sums
Miscellanea. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409 The Me t rio Sys tem . . . . . . . . 430 to be granted as p ostal subventions in Germany
German Shipping Bount ies 411 The Stea m boat Equipment
Brit ish Columbia n Coa l .... 412
of Warships ...... . . ... 431 cannot be regarded mer ely as a payment for serThe Trade of Kor ea in 1900 413 La unch es and Trial Trips .. 432

With a Two-P agt E ng1 aving of T HE WHITEBBA D

TORPED O WORKS A T F lUME .

* P arliamentary Papers, Commercial No. 4 (1901)

[Cd. 696]. Price 6d.

4 1I
vices r endered, " but that they are " for establishing and s ubsidising German mail steamers between
German ports and Australia, E astern Asia, and
Africa." This was t he declaration made in 1885 by
a Government memor andum submitted to tho
I mperial P arliament with t he Bills p roposing t he
subsidies. The r esults, so far, ar e cha racteristic of
the genius of t he frugal German people, t o get a
very good r eturn ou a very sn1all expendit ure.
There is, however, a. good deal more in favour of
t he Ger man shipbuilder and t he Ger man shipowner; though, unfort unately for th e prospect of
any exact comparison, we are unable to reduce the
addit ional factors to a monetary standard. The
Customs Tar iff Law of 1885 pr ovides certain exemptions and privileges which materia lly affect the
question. For instance, it is enacted that there
shall be no custom s duties on sea-going vessels and
tiYer craft . That is an advance not favourable
t o the German shipbuilder, however gratifying
it might be to the shipowner and trader.
0 wing t o the enterprise of the former, however,
it is becoming of less impor tance as time passes.
Completed vessels are n ot alone exempt, for
there is a long and comprehensive list of articles
that go t owards making up a ship and its equipment t hat are also Uustoms free. These include
materials d estined for the construction, repair, and
equipment of sea-going vessels, including the ordinary ship's gear from ' ' ropes and rigging, anchors,
chains, and sails," down t o '' axes, hammers, nails,
hooks, and other tools. "
An iln porta.nt concession is also made by the
Government in favour of home-b uilt ships by means
of preferential rates on the State rail ways for
mat erial that is to be used in the construction of
vessels. Mr. W ood tells us that since 1895 ' 'a
prefer.ence of 1. 7 pfennig, p~us ~2 pfennigs per ton
p er kilometre, w:as granted In ~eu of the or dinary
r ate of 4. 5 pfe~n1g~ to 3.5 p~ennig.s, plus 12 pfennigs,
on the materials 1n question '1n order to assist
German iron industry and shipbuilding.'"
~n? ther for.m of encouragement to German shipbuilding-again at the exp~nse of the State railways,
or rat her, p erhaps, the freighters who use them- is
given in the shape of preferential rates accorded to
the German East African Line and to the German
Levant Line, both of Hamburg. These two companies are granted "largely reduced rates of carriage ~y all German State railways on goods exported
frorn Inland places of Germany or through bills-oflading eit her to East Africa or to the Levant resp ectively. "
These things are, of course, as economic heresies
to the orthodox protection-hating Briton whose
" orth ~d oxy I~
. , my d ?xy, and heterodoxy, other
people a doxy.
It w1ll be seen, also, how impossible German p olicy would. be in this country,
~here we have no State railways on which to
1mpose th.e . natural burdens of sea carriage, but
even proh1b1t our company-owned lines t o discriminate in freight rates in favour of individuals or
localities.
No doubt on first principles it is unfair and
inexpedient to mak e one person pay for another
P.e~s?n's. requireme~ts ! but in a complex stat e of
c1 V1hsat10n first pnne1ples ll!~Y sometimes with
adyantage be ?ver-ridden. Th~ Hamburg housebuilder m.ay w1th r eason .c omplam a~ having to pay
3. 5 pfe~~1gs for the carriage of a g1ven weight of
steel JOists from Dtisseldorf, whilst his neiohbour, the ship builder, pay s but 1. '7 . pfennigs for
plates and angles ; nevertheless, it may possibly
be expedient for t he State t o countenance the
arran gement. The h ouse must b e built in Germany in any case ; the ship need not be. But
it may be said, if the ship can be bought
German owners from, say, Enoland is it not
better t o let it be built abroad, and to direct
German enterprise into channels where it can be
employed u~der greater natural advantages 1 That ,
no d oubt, 1s a good argument, so far as i t goes ;
~ut ~,ere t~e analogy of ' 'swaddling clothes legislatiOn - wh1eh we naturally resent at home-comes
in. In .1885 t he German ~tean1 shipping industry
was an Infant . By protect10n for a time from t he
keen ~last of British competition- through a little
coss~tm g, a s.hort. pe~iod
nursing which infancy
can JUStly claim- It bids fan~ t o orow t o a. vigorous
youth, even if it has not already reached man's
estl:\te. Whether t hat time has arrived it is for the
G:erma~ people t o d?t ermine ; though from t he vast
d1mens10ns to whiCh the steel manufacturing
industry of the country has grown, and from the
fact that t h e fastest ocean liners in the world are of

b;

o!

412

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

[SEPT.

20, I 901.

German build, it would seem that the '' swaddling of t~e country is seriously crippled is a n1atter that parts of the basins. Similar indications appear
clothes' might be well thrown off (lest they prove possibly the n1anagers of those enterprise3 have again to the west, commencing near the southern
enervating), ,and that German shipbuilding might no~ . been at pains ~o consider ; thinking that boundary, at Princeton, in the Similkameen Valley,
now be nourished on the strong meat of open ~rittsh trade has sufficient flywheel to last their further north on the Tulameen River, near Otter
competition.
time, and a present gain is preferable to prospective Flat, at Gulliford's Ranch, Coutree, Nicola, Stump
If we turn, however, to the German shipping re- profit.
Lakes, North Thompson River, Hat Creek, near
turns, we do not find that the fostering care of the
Those who guide the destinies of the nation, the Marble Canon, and to the unexplored north.
German Government has resulted in as great an however, may be expected to survey a wider In the Hazelton district, around Babine and
increase in shipping as might, perhaps, be expected; horizon; it i~ their duliyto consider what steps should Stewart Lakes, explorations are going on, and
and, indeed, as is, we believe, generally supposed be taken to preserve to our children the heritage surveys for rail ways are being completed to open
to have taken place by the British people. The fact left by our fathers. The solution of the question up a second Kootenay in all its wealth of coal,
is, the building of a few imposing and magnificent is doubtless beset with difficulties, but there are c?pper, l~ad, silver, and gold. Dr. Dawson pre.
vessels, such as the Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse and few problems more worthy of attention. Some- d10ted this twenty years ago. The coal basins
the Deutschland, have strongly impressed the public thing has already been done by the Select Conl- here are said to equal the Crow's Nest basin in
imagination. But if we take in the whole figures, mittee on Steamship Subsidies, which it is to be quantity and quality. Pending the exploitation of
we find that during the last ten years of which we hoped will be re-appointed, so that its labours may these fields, the Crow's Nest coal will do. The
have statistics the increase in German-owned not be altogether lost. It is not, however, from British and American Admiralties are said to have
vessels has been not much more than 300,000 tons ; foreign subsidies tha.t we need fear most ; the great practically proven by hard tests its steam-producing
for the total net registered tonnage in 1889 was enemy is within our gates.
powers, and have agreed to substitute it for Welsh
1, 320,721 tons, whilst in 1898 it was 1, 639,552 tons.
coal, on completion of a railway along the Columbia
These figures are, of course, not large compared
River to Golden, to transmit it to the coast.
to our more imposing totals . The Baltic ports
BRITISH COLUMBIAN COAL.
British Columbia continues to make striking
have shown a considerable decrease, a fact which
CoAL and copper are the two minerals which progress as a mining country.
The annual
makes the progress of the two great North Sea promise to contribute as much as any to the r eport for last year puts the value of all minerals
ports, Hamburg and Bremen, more marked, espe- material wealth of British Columbia in the near obliained at 16,344,751 dols., .a s compared with
cially in regard to steamships.
future. There is cause for satisfaction at the pro- 12,393,131 dols. for 1899 and 10,906,861 dols.
Figures bearing upon the total maritime trade of gress made in gold, silver, and lead production; and for 1898. On the one twelvemonth there is a
Germany are not published, but those relating to on the basis of Geological Survey investigations, slight decrease in placer gold; but this is compenthe two chief ports are available, and these show there is no room to assume that the country has sated for by a very substantial increase in lode
very notable progress. In 1889 there were im- come anywhere near the limits of its capacity in gold, the total yield being 231,089 oz., as comported into Hamburg 93,032,868 cwt. of merchan- respect of any of the three. The futura of pared with 205,560 oz. Silver, too, shows an
dise of a total value of 62,279,038l. The corre- coal, at least, is bound up with the advance of appreciable improvement-3,958,175 oz., comparing
sponding figures in 1898 were 177, 904,5()6 cwt., mining as a whole. But the possibilities of with 2, 939,413 oz., the increase being equal to 39
and 100, 743,506l. The exports from the same production of these two seem to be greater than per cent., attributable principally to the activity
port in 1889 were 47,914,628 cwt., valued at those of the others; and everything points to in South- East Kootenay, which turned out
60,320, 746Z.; in 1898 they amounted to 79,251,066 the likelihood of Canada, chiefly by the aid of 960,411 oz., against 33,516 oz. in the previous
cwt., the value being 74,668,068l. The figures for British Columbia's contribution, attaining a lead- year. Over 90 per cent. of the silver production
Bremen are naturally smaller. In 1889 the im- ing place as a copper producer, with the judicious comes from silver-lead ores, and a rise in the
ports were 27,663,644 cwt., having a value of investment of more capital in its ventures and the quantity of lead obtained was therefore a foregone
21,876, 728l.; ten years later, in 1898, the imports erection of more smelters. Scattered here and conclusion. The figures under this head, in fact,
had grown to 47,510,450 cwt., their value being there about every annual report of the Minister of constitu te one of the features of the year, the out34,072, 99ll. The exports of Bremen for 1889 Mines are references to numerous finds, some at put being 63,358,621 lb., as compared with
were 15,500,534 cwt., of a Vd.lue of 14,338,001l.; least of which must be capable of profitable de- 21,862,436 lb. in 1899. The report says the inand in 1898 they had grown to 24,997,318 cwt., velopments. One of the latest places to claim crease has been brought about " chiefly by the
attention is Copper Mountain Camp, in the energetic il.evelopment of two or three mines in
valued at 19,292,617l.
In the Government return to which reference Siruilkameen district. It is notorious that very Fort Steele Divi~bn," although all the lead-prohas been made, Mr. Ward gives some important little copper will stain a whole mountain side, ducing districts, except Ainsworth, have shown a
and instructive figures, indicating the increase that but the ore in this locality has been found material increase in production. The Slocan Minhas followed upon State assistance, more especially to be ''of great extent." The deposits on ing Division has heretofore always held first place
on those routes practically affected, such as China, Vancouver Island remain virtually untouched, in the list of lead producers, having an output
Japan, and Australia. We have not space to and they, like the ores of Copper Moun- in 1897 of almost 31,000,000 lb.; and although in
quote these here, but we would refer those more tain and other points, are far richer in metal 1899 it fell as low as 16,660,910 lb., it has again
directly interested in the subject to the original than those which have been worked with such increased in 1900 to 19,565,743 lb., a gain over t he
report for details, and will content ourselves with success in the Lake Superior district of the United previous year of 17 per cent. However, the increase
quoting Mr. Ward's final words. "The figures States. The coalfields at present producing are in Fort Staele Division of from 881.167 lb. in 1899
and observations," he sa.ys, "which I have sub- those of Vancouver Island and of the Crow's Nest to 38,495,079 lb. in 1890 has earned for it the right
mitted will sufficiently prov~ that the direct and Pass. The last have been rendered accessible to be considered the lead-producing centre of the
indireot bounties granted by the State to the several only within the last year by the opening of the province. In copper, also, British Columbia is
German steamer lines above referred to have been Crow's Nest Pass Railway, and in the period ux:der making striking progress ; and though it does not
of very valuable use towards d~veloping ~erman review 206,803 tons were produced, of which yet count as a factor of great significance in relatrade with the Levant, East Afnca, Austraha, and 103,231 tons were used for coke- making, leav- tion to the world's supply, there is no denying its
ing a net 103,572 tons. In Vancouver the yield great potentialities. The output was 9, 977,080 lb .
the Far East.
Whether State bount ies, either in the form of was 1,383,376 tons, of which 47,353 tonA in comparison with 7, 722,591 lb. in 1899 and
direct money payment, or of other concessions, were used for coke- making, leaving a net 7,271,678 lb. in 1898. The Rossland ores appear
are going to help or hinder German commerce 1,336,023 tons, and of this 914,183 tons were sent to be pinching out-at any rate, the metallic conat large, and the shipping industry in particular, abroad. The Crow's Nest collieries are good for a tents are much less than they were. The quantity
is a matter that time will give us matter upon much greater output than those of Vancouver; but, shipped in the twelve months increased by 26 per
which to form an estimate ; but whatever as we have said, they have only just begun serious cent., but the average yield was no more than 10 lb.
the result may be, the matter is beyond our shipments, and the company working the seams per ton, against 33 lb. in 1899 ; and as a result the
control.
The ultimate and practical issue of has been suffering from the many inconveniences copper production was less than half that of the
the whole question is, however, chiefly within our incident to all new enterprises of this sort, and the preceding period. The Nelson district also reports
own grasp. If ~he inland German manufacturer property cannot as yet be said to be thoroughly diminished shipments, but this is referred to a
gets from the. State-?wned railw:ay~ a largely equipped : a matter which is, however, gradually temporary suspension of shipments by the largest
preferential freight tariff to the shipping port for being remedied. The estimates of some engineers producer, " pending the installation of new
goods he sells for abroad; whilst on our own rail- place the quantity of coal within this area at machinery, and development of the mine." The
ways obstacles are. put in the way. o~ B:itish 25 billions of tons, which would admit of an situation was saved by t he appearance in the field
products being carried to the co~st ; It 1.s .ev1dent output of 25 million tons a year, or 70,000 for the first time of the Boundary Creek district,
the German will hold a commandmg pos1t10n that tons a day for 1000 years. It is thought, too, which accounted for 5,672,177 lb., and by the
must turn the fortune of trade war, other things that the use of the diamond drill in the valleys activity among the Coast mines, whose yield was
being approximately equal. Again, if Bri~ish ship- will reveal many as yet undiscovered seams. The 2,193,962 lb., an increase of more than 100 per
owners combine and agree to carry fore1gn-made coal in the seams exposed up to the present is very cent. So far, iron counts for nothing in relation to
goods-German or Belgian-to distant lands at a uniform and of excellent quality. It is said to be British Columbia's mineral. It is only mined as a flux
less cost than they will transport British goods from the best coking coal in America, the coke possess- for lead smelting, and we are told that '' the copper
British ports t o the same places, it is also evi~ent ina high calorific power and great crushing strength. and other ores carrying an excess of iron, which
that we put into the hands of our competitors Although only two important districts have been have now been discovered, are rapidly replacing
another powerful weapon by which our home indus- developed, coal is found in many other parts of the this barren flux, with the result that the tonnage
tries can be attacked. Under conditions such as province. Mr. Ronald C. Campbell-Johnston has of iron ore mined is decreasing," the q uantity
these it is but a question of time before the export enumerated the more accessible. To the west, near reported for 1900 being no more than 580 tons.
trade of British -made goods dwindles to small propor- Fairview, in the Okanagan Valley, he says, there But there is plenty of ore of good class which will
no
doubt
be
utilised
in
time
in
the
establishment
are
outlying
indications
at
Swan
(or
Vaseau)
Lake,
tions, unless our manufacturers ea~, by i~genuiliy
an iron manufacturing industry, in conjunction
and skill, provide large compensatiOns .In other at Okanagan Falls, up the north fork of the Kettle of
with
the
coal
of
the
Crow's
Nest
Pass
and
River,
and
into
the
Fire
Valley
and
Okanagan
directions a thing ever growtng more difficult to
other
parts
of
the
province.
That
time
may
districts
around
Whauchope.
In
these
discoveries
accomplish in these times o~ universal know~edgo
not be so remote as is thought probable. The
we
have
the
rims
of
the
coal
basins
cropping
out,
and rapid transit. W~at :vill ?ecome of railway
report refers to the excitement created orer
and
boring
is
now
proceeding
to
locate
the
deeper
companies and steamship lines 1f the export trade

SEPT. 20, 1901.]

the discovery of deposits of magnetic ore, chiefly

in the neighbourhood of the Alberni Canal. The
provincial mineralogist finds that they consist of
extensive surface showings of very good magnetic
ore. The development work was confined mainly
to surface stripping; and while the surface indications were excellent, the depth or permanence of
the deposits had not been proved by any shaft or
sufficient tunnel. Says the writer of the report :
'' Before iron ore will at tain any value on this
coast, it must be proved to exist in sufficient
quantity and under such conditions for cheap
mining as to justify the establishment of an
iron blast - furnace and rolling mill. Such a
plant requires about ten years' supply of ore
absolutely in sight, and such an amount of
ore will never be shown to exist by surface
stripping. It is reported, unofficially, that an
American syndicate has bonded the properties
referred to, and has this past fall sunk shafts and
driven tunnels, 1.which continue to give satisfactory
showings." This is a very large undertaking, and,
as must be expected, work will proceed slowly and
cautiously, so that it will be a couple of years yet
before sufficient knowledge is obtained of the deposits to justify the establishment of iron works.
Still, the enterprise is distinctly one of promise.

THE TRADE OF KOREA IN 1900.

l{oREA, which a short time ago was known as the
''Hermit Kingdom," is rapidly assuming a position
of commercial importance. From the report which
has just been published by the Foreign Office, we
learn that, in spite of t he troubles in China during
the year 1900, the value of the total trade of Korea
not only did not decrease, but actually exceeded
that of any previous year. This result is explained,
to a large extent, by the fact that although the
export of Korean produce to China, which is in
Chinese hands, decreased, and importations of
foreign goods by Uhinese merchants likewise diminished, these disadvantages were more than
counterbalanced by the stimulus given to the exp ort of Korean cereals by the interruption of the
export trade of N ewch wang, and by the demand
for food supplies for the foreign troops employed in
military operations in China.
So far as imports alone are concerned, the figures
for 1900 were exceeded by those for the year 1898,
while the Customs revenue for the year fell short
of that for the year 1897. The large increase in
the trade of 1900, which occurred chiefly under the
heading of exports, may therefore be regarded as the
result rather of exceptional circumstances than of
the normal development of trade. In the year
1895 the total foreign trade of the country was
14,237,161 yen, or 1, 542,359l. sterling, while in
1900 it was 29,016,230 yen, or 2,901,623l. sterling.
The latter sum was made up of 20,453,401 yen,
representing the total foreign imports and exports
to foreign countries, exclusive of gold export ; the
export of gold was 3,633,050 yen, and the coasting
trade 4, 929,719 yen. (The value of the yen during
the year being taken at 2s. 2d.) It will thus be seen
that the trade of Korea has more than doubled
itself in the course of six years, and the increase of
t he trade of 1900 over that of the previous year
was 694,156l. The huge increase under the heading of foreign exports is distributed over the five
principal items of the K orean export trade, namely,
rice, beans, hides, ginseng, and gold, into the details
of which, however, we need not enter.
During the year the increase in the import trade
was very small, as compared with that in exports,
and what in0rease has taken place has not been in
favour of British goods. It is very significant that
while the heading of cotton goods shows an increase
of 14,297l. over the figures for the previous year,
there was a falling-off as regards British importations in the case of shirtings of no less than 59, 069l.,
q,nd in the case of yarn of 3056l.; a small decrease is
!l.lso observable in the item of British sheetings.
J apanese cotton goods, on the other hand, show the
following increase : Shirtings, 1731l. ; sheetings,
30,422l.; other piece goods, 25,676l.; yarn, 11,329l.
The Japanese have imitated the strong native
materials, the pattern and texture of which are
copied so closely that the imported goods are hardly
distinguishable from those of native manufacture.
Japanese shirtings have not only held the place
they gained, but they are threatening to drive
British goods out of the market. Woollen goods,
which are chiefly of British origin, also show a
slight decrease.

E N G I N E E R I N G.
The trade in metals, machinery, and especially
in the appliances of mining, although not yet large,
is rapidly increasing, and the possibilities of the
future are considerable, and it will be well if
British merchants and engineers k oep themselves
informed regarding these, for they are certain to
have many competitors for the trade. While the
importation of American kerosene oil has remained
practically stationary during the year 1900, that of
J apanese kerosene has increased to the extent of
3970l., the principal port of importation for t he
latter oil being Fusan . Reports from that port as
to the quality of the Japanese oil now imported
speak of it as having improved very much of recent
years, although still inferior to the American
article. Sumatra oil, which was formerly imported
to a considerable extent, has now disappeared from
the returns, and the same may be said of Russian
oil. The question of importing the latter oil in
bulk, as is done in many ports in the Far East, is,
however, engaging the attention of a British firm
at Chemulpo ; and if satisfactory arrangements for
its importation and storage in tanks can be made,
it will probably prove a serious rival to both
American and Japanese oil. It may be interesting
to note in this connection that in Korea, as in
Japan, the importation of kerosene oil from the
United States has given rise to a tinplate industry,
which was not previously in existence; the tins in
which the oil is imported furnishing the material
for the tinsmiths.
There was a noticeable increase in the shipping
during the year, and this increase is the more
satisfactory in view of the serious interference
caused by the troubles in China to the regular
movements of the Japanese steamships, which so
largely monopolise the carrying trade of Korea.
As compared with the previous year, the figures
show an increase in sailing ships of 263 vessels,
representing an increase in tonnage of 4125 tons,
and in steamships of 431 vessels, representing an
increase in tonnage of 23,908 ton~. Here, as usual,
Japan still easily holds her own, though a slight
increase is noticeable in Korean shipping.
The Korean Government is slowly organising a
postal and telegraph service. The former is still
in a very rudimentary condition. The total mileage
of telegraph lines now open is 1696 miles, of which
121 miles represent the extension which took place
in 1900. The working of the lines gives general
satisfaction. The total receipts of the Korean
telegraph administration for. the year under review
were 72,443 yen (about 7244l. ), showing an increase
of 21,000 yen (about 2100l.) over those of the

previOus year.
The section of the Soul- Chemulpo Rail way,
between Nodol, the station on the Chemulpo side
of the Han River and Soul, was opened for traffic
on July 8, 1900, and the whole line has since been
in working order. The traffic is not yet very great,
and the surplus income will not go far to pay the
5 per cent. interest on the 700,000 yen of }:)rivate
capital invested, which, under agreement with the
Japanese Government, the shareholders are to
receive before any attempt is made to repay the
loan of 1,800,000 yen (180,000l.) advanced by the
Japanese Government. Although work has not
yet been begun on the Soul-Fusan Railway, the
concession for which was granted to a Japanese
syndicate in 1898, there are indications that in the
near future operations will be commenced. Various
other schemes have been proposed, and it is evident
that the J apauese are determined to take the lead
in the development of the resources of Korea,
which they look upon as supplementary to those
of Japan, and also because they know that t heir
influence in Korea will enable them to make themeel ves felt in the affairs of China.
The development of the Gwendoline Mine, acquired under the Pritchard-Morgan Concession
from the Korean Government, made steady progress
in 1900. The reef, which i3 being worked, contains
up to 20 per cent. pyrites, holding free and combined gold ; and when the works have been a
little more developed, the prospects of satisfactory
returns are good. The U nsan district, over t he
whole of which the company possesses mining
rights, has been shown to contain silver, copper,
and gold deposits, and there are also numerous
places where auriferous gravel is being worked.
Anthracite coal has been found at Tensan, 10
miles north of the Gwendoline Mine, and prospecting shows that the coal seams extend over a large
area. At Tangokae (otherwise known as Kim-song),
where a German syndicate has obtained a gold-

mining concession, prospecting work is still being

carried on, but as yet little practical work has been
done. On the whole, however, the report shows
that Korea is following the example of Japan,
although somewhat slowJy, and before long we may
expect results which will have an important bearing on trade in the Far East.

SELENIUM.
I T is somewhat significant that in the Preliminary
Report lately issued by the Royal Commission on
Arsenic in Beer no mention is made of any possible
part which selenium may have played in the
tragedy enacted in the closing months of last year
in the north of England. The position taken up
by Dr. Tunnicliffe in this matter, although the
analyses which he produced do not appear to have
been disputed, has not, as far as we have been able
to ascertain, gained the support of scientific opinion
generally. At any rate, t he prevailing impression
seems to be that though it is possible that the
selenium detected in some of t he vitriol used in the
manufacture of the brewing sugar may have aided
in producing the subsequent disastrous effects, still
the arsenic was the main factor in all the cases of
illness, and undoubtedly the sole factor in a great
many. Of course, it may turn out that the final
report of the Commissioners will contain references
to points which it is considered advisable to keep
quiet about until some necessary research has been
conducted ; and we certainly do not wish, on the
pre.s ent occasion, to take up any decided position
one way or the other on this selenium question.
Some public prominence, however, having been
attained by selenium in this connection, it seems
of interest to say a word or two as to its ocJurrence
and properties, as, to judge by the remarks we
have heard, the very name was an unknown quantity
to brewers and the public generally until it achieved
its recent prominence in the daily press. A very
brief summary is all that need be given here of
facts which may be gleaned from any text-book on
chemistry ; our space will be more usefully occupied by references to such matters as are scattered
far and wide in scientific literature, and which are
not readily accessible. Selenium exists in two allotropic modifications- the one a black crystalline
powder, and the other a brick-red powder. The
black powder, or metallic selenium, is obtainable as
a granular crystalline mass of 4.5 specific gravity.
The original source from which it was obtained was
the lead selemide found at Olaucthal, in t he Hartz
Mountains, but a more plentiful and modern source
is the Spanish pyrites used in the manufacture of
oil of vitriol, and it is among the acid manufacturera
that the propertie3 and appearance of the element
are best known; that is, as a matter of interest and
not in the way of business, for the very small
amount of selenium which finds employment in the
arts does not act as an inducement to the vitriol
maker to take up its preparation commercially.
The fact is that selenium remains to-day, as of
yore, very much a substance of scientific interest,
and cannot be classed among those elements which
minister in any real capacity to man's needs.
True, its peculiar electrical effects have been taken
advantage of by Mr. Shelford Bidewell in the construction of the photophone, an instrument by
which light is converted into electricity.
But
neither this nor the one other scientific application
which we are aware of, viz., its employment in
connection with certain astronomical instruments,
can be taken as offering sufficient inducement for
the acid manufacturer to take up its preparation
on a commercial scale. An objection, by the way
has been taken by some scientists to the name a~
commonly used, because, although it is common to
talk of metallic selenium, it is really a n on-metallic
element. For this reason the objectors say the termination '' urn, , which is characteristic of the names
of 1netals, is inappropriate, and should give way
to " selenion." It is generally agreed that scientific
nomenclature, having been left so much to the
taste of individual discoverers, is in a son1ewhat
chaotic condition, and could be overhauled and
brought up to date with advantage. However it
is not a matter on which we are disposed to ~ax
eloquent at the present time, and we shall be content with merely drawing attention to the fact that
differences of opinion exist. Of course, in speaking
of the application of this or that chemical substance
for trade purposes, it is not possible to speak too
e;x.actly; a certain amount of reservation is always deSlrable on account of the secrecy which is observed

E N G I N E E R I N G.
ins~ many cases as to what chemicals really enter into

'

(SEPT. 20, 1901.

with electric traction, showed a profit, and the fitted with the necessary equipment and meters,
particular manufactures. We are moved to say this T~amways. Comm~ttee, under the chairmanship of namely : W eston ammeters and voltmeters, British
because of the proposal which was made a year or Str Fredenck Edndge, recommended the Council to Thomson.Houston wattmeters, cut-outs and light
two ago to use selenium as an agent in the produc- lease the working to the British Electric Traction ning arresters, and Elliot recording ammeters
tion of red glass.
vVhether the proposal ever Company for a period, with the option of taking over and voltmeters. Ample space is provided in the
reached the subsequent stage of regular use we are the working at intervals, the first being at the ex- rear of the switchboard, giving access to all the
unable to say, but a strong claim was made out in piration of five years. n nder this agreement-which various connections.
its favour; the use of selenium, both alone and in is somewhat similar to the one adopted for electric
A special power-board is connected to the geneadmixture with cadmium sulphide, obviating, it lighting some years ago-the Corporation provides rator bus-bars. Two negative boosters of 18 and
was said, the necessity of reheating and dipping in the capital and supervises the work of laying the 25 kilowatts capacity respectively deal each with
a colouring mixture in the ordinary process of line, which will be operated by the lessees, who pay two return feeders. There are four feeders from
making red glass. It was in the year 1885 that the interest and sinking fund charges, and purchase the generating station, a return feeder being laid
Dr. Divers, professor of chemistry at Tokio, pointed the necessary current from the Corporation.
in every case side by side with the positive feeder.
out that when seleniferous acid is used in the alkali
The generating plant for traction is located in an By this means the maximum drop in the rails will
manufacture, the rare element passes over into the extension of the electric lighting station of the be under three volts, and it is hoped that there
hydrochloric acid in the form of selenium seleno- Corporation, in Factory-lane, Croydon, and consists will be no trouble whatever through electrolysis.
chloride, which in contact with water decomposes of two 600 horse-power Belliss-British Thomson- This is important, as a large number of lead-sheathed
into elemental selenium, selenious ac~d, and hydro- Houston traction sets, and one 1200 horse-power lighting cables are laid parallel with the route.
chloric acid. This detection of selenium in Japanese Bellies-Electric Construction Company set. The
The generating station is directly connected by
vitriol is interesting, because, presuming that the engines are triple-expansion, working at 180 lb. private wires to all the substations as well as to the
acid was made from local brimstone, it shows that steam pressure; the steam consumption of the switch pillars. Pilot wires are run to the various
whatever safety from arsenic may be experienced smaller sets, with steam at 50 deg. Fahr., super- districts in the town, and all arc lamps, both with
in the use of brimstone instead of pyritic acid, such heat, being 21! lb. per kilowatt at full load, and rectified and with alternating currents, are switched
procedure would prove delusive where freedom from that of the larger sets 20!- lb.
off and on from the generating station by the
selenium was aimed at.
Although we are of
The original station at Factory-lane, Croydon, selector system.
opinion that, as far as the beer epiden1ic was con- contained three Belliss-British Thomson-Houston
The station is completed by a maintenance and
cerned, the case against selenium was not made out, sets of 120 kilowatts each, alternating current. It repair shop, driven electrically.
yet the fact that t he acid made from some brands has been subsequently enlarged by the addition,
Owing to the la0k of water at Croydon, three
of brimstone, at any rate, contain selenium is one at various intervals, of two sets of 250 kilowatts Barnard's cooling towers and ponds have been put
that should not be lost sight of. It may be men- each, and two sets of 500 kilowatts, all alternating down ; also two Carrod's patent water-softeners.
tioned in this connection that it is customary in current, and similar to the three first sets of 120
Every detail has been designed with a view to
pharmaceutical circles in America to test sulphur kilowatts each. These seven sets are now running secure the maximum economy in working, con.
for selenium. The official tes ~ of the Pharma- for lighting purposes. Two steam mains are pro- sist~nt with the highest possible efficiency, and the
copooia is to boil half a grain of sulphur with vided-one in the engine-room and one in the plant throughout is arranged in a. most &ystematio
half a grain of potassium cyanide in water, to filter, boiler-house, and any one of the engines can work manner. It reflects great credit on the Borough of
and add excess of hydrochloric acid to the filtrate. independently of the others, running on the con- Croydon electrical engineer.
In the presence of selenium a reddish coloration is denser or to atmosphere, as may be chosen.
obtained, the delicacy of the test extending, accordWhen the plant was first started, the necessary
ENGINEERING
VALUATIONS.
ing to some authorities, to the detection of 5 ~th of steam was supplied by three Davey-Paxma.n econo( Oontinutd frorn page 178. )
a grain. With regard to the toxic properties of mical boilers, of 6000 lb. evaporation each; and as
STEAM ENGINES, BoiLERs, AND F URNACEs.
selenium, although in the recent rise of the element the station was increased there were added two
TBE principles which rule the depreciation and
into prominence n1any chemists pooh-poohed the similar boilers of equal capacity; one Babcock and
idea that it would give rise to any mischief in this Wilcox boiler of 9000 lb. evaporation, then three valuation of other fixed plant and machinery also
way, the fact of the poisonous nature of the alkaline Babcock and Wilcox boilers of equal capacity to t he largely govern steam engines, boilers, and furnaces.
salts has been clearly established. With regard to first one. Two Danks economical boilers of 9000 lb. Errors affecting boilers and furnaces are easily
detected. Their comparatively rapid rate of decay
this point attention may be directed to the work of evaporation are now being put down.
The complete plant will therefore contain ten in many ins bances, the prominent result of any
Chabrie and Lapicque (Oompt. Rend., page 110),
the researches of those authors proving that sodium sets of engines and generators (seven alternating failure, and the necessity thus forced on the owners
selenite is without doubt an irritant poison. A and three direct-current), and eleven steam boilers, for speedy renovation, compels them, willingly or
subsidiary point to which they draw attention is the the total indicated horse-power being nearly 6000. unwillingly, to recognise the deterioration which has
Two Green's economisers work in conjunction taken place. Indeed, it may be assumed as a general
harmlessness of sulphites as compared with selenites
when injected into the system, on account of the with the boilers. The boiler-house adjoins the rule that where the waste is rapid, and r enewals
imn1ediate transformation of the former into sul- engine-room ; the coal stores are independent necessary at frequent intervals, no great mistake
phates. The fact is not without its importance, entirely of the boiler-house, but are in direct can be made in the amount allowed for depreciaseeing how generally sulphurous acid and its com- communication with it, the boilers being sup- tion, unless it be the result of crass ignorance, or
pounds have come to be used in the brewing plied with coal through trucks which run on intentional endeavour to mislead. But the mistake
industry. As we have said, the present-day appli- a small line. All t he coal is weighed before frequently does occur (most probably through ignor
cations of selenium are neither extensive nor of the consumption in the boilers, and all the feed- ance of the conditions of the trade), when the
The boilers are fed by n1achinery, plant, engines, and boilers are grouped
first importance, and the outlook for its increased water is measured.
use is not bright. No doubt if an increased demand three vVeir feed pumps. (For a description of together in one sum of capital expenditure, and an
arose, the present price of about 6s. per ounce these, see ENGINEERING, vol. lxxi., page 781.) annual percentage, fixed by th e auditors or accounwould experience a r eduction, as there is evidently One of the feed pumps can be worked at high tants, written off a decreasing balance. If the rate
no lack of raw material. As in the case of arsenic, pressure and the two others at low pressure, or all assumed is sufficient to cover the wear and tear of
the attention which has been drawn to the subject t he three as high-pressure pumps. They are con- boilers, it will undoubtedly be more than sufficient
of this article has led to analytical investigations of nected to the two steam mains ; the air pump dis- for lathes and planing machines ; if it is founded
interest and importance, the result of which has charges in an overhead tank, from which the water on the wear of the general machinery, which is
been to put the detection of these bodies in various flows through a Kennedy water meter into the probably the basis the ordinary accountant would
suction, or the feed pumps can be supplied direct adopt, it will be quite inadequate for quickly-wearing
food products on a secure basis.
from the overhead tank or from t he circulation boilers. This is sufficient reason for subdividing
water of the suction 1n~in which supplies the sur- the capital assets into groups ; it may even be
CROYDON ELECTRIC TRAMWAYS
face condensers. Th~ feed pipes are duplicate, deemed reason enough for calculating the waste of
one being connected direct with the boiler, and each machine separately and under due consideraAND ELECTRIC LIGHTING.
tion of the factors which from time to time affect
THE Borou<Yh of Croydon will very shortly open the other with the Green's economisers.
The four Babcock and Wilcox boilers work at a its wear and tear.
to traffic a se;tion of electric tram ways through the
Mr. Ewing Matheson, in his valuable treatise on
pressure
of
180
lb.
per
square
inch,
w
bile
the
main thoroughfare, connecting Norbury and Purley.
"Depreciation of F actories," gives an example
Davey-Paxtnan
boilers
work
at
a
160
lb.
pressure,
This first line is 5} miles in total length, about five
which we venture to transcribe, as it will serve to
of which are with double track. It forms only part and t he feed pumps are so designed that they can illustrate very clearly the differences in the two
of the scheme, further extensions being contem- suit either of these pressures, both direct and methods: "If a well-made non-condensing stathrough the economisers.
plated for the near future.
tionary engine with Lancashire boiler cost, includThe
condensing
plant
is
by
Messrs.
W.
H.
All
en,
The narrowness of the streets in the central part
ing foundations, 500l., it would be prudent to write
Son,
and
Co.,
Limited,
of
Bedford,
and
consists
of
of the town, where the traffic will be greatest,
off 7~ per cent. the first year, and 7~ per cent.
three
sets
of
Edwards
three-throw
air
pumps,
two
forms one of the chief difficulties in th e way of a
annually from the diminishing value, t.his being
centrifugal
pumps,
and
four
surface
condensers.
successful tramway system in Croydon, and has
sufficient if the minor repairs and renewals, such as
On
e
centrifugal
and
two
air
pumps
are
electrically
rendered it necessary to lay down a single track at
new brasses and fire-bars, be paid for out of revenue.
driven
from
the
traction
bus-bars,
and
one
air
the most congested parts. This constitutes a serious
At the end of ten years the book-value will stand
pump
and
one
centrifugal
pump
are
steam
driven.
obstacle to a rapid service; no other course, howat 229l. If, then, the cylinder be rebored, possibly
The
engine-room
is
provided
with
two
overhead
ever, could have been adopted under the circuma new piston supplied, and the boiler renewed by
travellers,
one
of
9
tons,
and
one
of
25
tons,
for
stances but it is hoped that the number of t urnt he insertion of a new furnace, at a total cost of
erection
and
repairs.
It
cont~ins
also
a
t~st
tank
outs pr~vided will enable a satisfactory schedule to
SOl., this sum might be added to the capital value,
for
testing
the
steam
consumptwn
at
any
bme.
be worked.
the depreciation rate of 7! per cent. continuing for
The
tramway
and
lighting
switchboard
is
placed
The Croydon Tramways Company was .formed in
a further five years until the value is reduced to
on
a
raised
platform
in
the
engine-room,
and.con1870 and for a period of about twenty-etght years
209l. A new boiler would probably then be re
tains
four
generator
panels
arranged
for
e1ther
they 'worked a system of horse traction, which did
q uired, costing 200l., and the rate of 7! per cent.
traction
or
lighting,
two
Board
of
Trade
panels,
not give very good general results. It was felt that
go on the renovated value of 409l." It will be
four
feeder
panels,
and
two
booster
panels,
all
some time might e1apse also before the new system,

SEPT. 20, I 901.

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

observed t hat Mr. Matheson makes no deduction

fo! scrap valu~, and for purpo~es of comparison we
will also av01d such dedact10ns. A.ssuming t h e
first b oiler to cost the same amount as t h e second
one, the engine would be valued at 300l. with a
probable life of t hirty years, giving a dep;eciation
of 10l. pe~ annum ; and t he b oiler at 200l., with a
probable hfe of fifteen years, giving a depreciation
of 13l. 6s. 8d . per annum. * The several r esults
may be seen in the following Table :
Mr. Matheeor.&'s Oalculat ionsEo~lne and Boiler.
Period la Use.

engines like locom otives which have many of t heir

parts replaced, and considerable permanent r epairs
done to t hem, before t h ey are finally worn out . It
may b e assu med, as a general principle, that if t he
annual writing-off should n ot be greater in t he
earlier than in the later years, it should certainly
not be less to any considerable extent. The near er
approach which is made to an equal annual amount,
including the expenditure on replacements, the
more correct will be the valuation of the machinery,
O~l oulationa Based on Estimated Periods of U er.

Value, lees
depreciation
at 7! per cent .
per annum.

E ngine ex
peoted to last
30 years.

P uroh \'le
10 years

500

Add r epairs

229

Depreciation, 10 years
a t 10l. p er annum ..

80

idd n e w boiler ..

209

80 years

Add p erma nent r ep1irs

200

409
H6

300

100

--

Depreciation , 6 yeara at
13l. per annum
..
Depreciation, 15 years
at 13l. p er annum . .

De preciation , 10 yeara
at l Sl. 6s. ect. per ann.

133 6 8

Add permanent r epairs

66 13 4
20 0 0

61)

260
66
1ll5

86 13 4

Depreciation, 6 years at
17l. 6s. 8d . per a nn . ..
Add new boiler, t>X
pected to cost, as be
. fore
..
..
..

86 13 4

200 0 0

195

200 0 0
Depreoiation, 15 years
at 13l. 6s. 8d. p er ann.

Now one or two points are deserving of attent ion

in connection with this Table. The reduced values
of the engine and boiler at t he end of ten years
will be : By t he first, or percentage method, 229l. ;
by t he second, 266l. 13s. 4d. At t he end of fifteen
years, 209L. by the first, and 195l. by t he second.
And at the end of thirty years, 126L by t he first
method, whereas by the second ihe book value has
entirely disappeared. I t is evident t hat the fi rst
form gives a n1ore r apid r educt ion of value in t he
earlier years than the second one effects ; but this
advantage disappears as t ime progresses, and is
eventually reversed. But is it really an ad vantage,
or is it r eally correct to imagine t hat the engines
and boilers or other machinery of a factory deteriorate in value during the first few year s of working
at a higher rate than they do in later years 1 I t
must be remembered that here we are n ot dealing
wit h any question of the provision of funds for
repairs or replacements, although such funds are,
by the mere process of writing down present values,
provided for replacement of machines worn out;
yet our immediate object is to ascertain the selling
valtte of a machine as part of a going concern, and
fixed in position ready for working, at any given date.
The probabilities are r ather in favour of increase
of depreciat ion with lapse of time, because, in addition to the ordinary wear and tear, there is the
nearer approach of an improvement being thrown
on the market through the consummation of t he
researches of engineers in various factories all
over t he world.
From this p oint of view it
would seem that equal annual instalments written
off will yield the nearest approach to an equitable
valuation.
The additions for repairs also require a little
more consideration. Were t he engine and boiler
at the end of the first ten years of the value of
266l. 13s. 4d. in a going concern, as shown by the
second method 1 If n ot, then too long a life must
have been accorded them, and the annual writingoff has therefore not been sufficient in amount.
We have estimated the boiler to last for fifteen
years wit hout r eplacement ; but at the end of t~n
years it required repairs in the nature of partial
replacement to th~ extent of 20l . . This we ad~ed
to its value, but d1d not find any mcrease of life ;
the expenditure merely enabled the boiler to be
used for t he term originally anticipated, namely,
fifteen years. In order t herefore to avoid any
balance existing at t he expiration of that period it
was necessary to increase the annual decrement
by 4l. Exactly the same condition arose in the
case of t he engine, where the additional decrement
at the end of ten years was 3l. per annum. It will
readily be seen that an irregularity like this II!ay
assume serious proportions when i t extends over a
large number of machines, or when it includes

* We are here taking Mr. Matheson's estimate of

fifteen years as the assumed life of the Lancashire boiler,

but we need scarcely say that many such boilers, originally well made and properly looked after, have a far
lo!lger life than this.

s. d.

200 0 0

~ 00

30~

15 years

Boiler t>x pected

to last
16 years.

200 0 0

taken as part of a going concern, at any given

period.
The estimation of the proper allowance for t he
depr eciation of steam boilers is a matter which
really r equires careful consideration in each individ ual cas e, as it depends so largely on special
conditions such as whether t he boilers are worked
easily or t o t heir full capacity, t he character of t he
water used, the nature of the supervision exercised,
and so on. We have known well-designed and
well-made boilers ruined in t hree or fo ur years by
improper use, while in other cases we k now of
boilers which have been in use for twen ty years with
comparat ively few repairs, and which are still in
excellen t condit ion. In the case of moderate-sized
or small boilers forming par t of the plant of works
not employing skilled supervision, it is probable
that we over estimated the life of the boiler in the
calculations we have madelin the above Table ; it most
probably would not last fifteen years without some
more extensive r epairs than those us ually charged
to trade account under that head. If it be assumed
that it could last fourteen years without undertaking these r eplacement r epairs, though necessarily
at considerable risk, then the annual deduct ions
will be much nearer equalised ; thus;
s. d.
200 0 0
Ori~inal cost .. .
. ..
. ..
. ..
10 years' depreciation at 14t. 5s. 9d.
142 17 6
per annum...
...
...
...
Value at end of ten years .. .
Add repaira .. .
.. .
.. .

...

Dapreciation, 5 years at 15t. 83. 6d.

per annum ...
...
.. .
. ..

57

2 6

20

0 0

77

2 6

77

2 6

The initial difficulty consists in fixing the period

for which the engine or machine will last without
extensive or replacement repairs being effected.
Such period must be equal to the time it would last
if run to actual destruction under such conditions,
and it must be r e-est imated, on the san1e basis, eR.ch
time such repairs are done to it. A l ocomotive
affords one of the most striking expositions of this
difficulty. During its working life t he wheel tyres
may be renewed three or four tin1es, its boiler shell
twice, and its tubes and firebox three times or more,
whilst t he repainting and minor repairs, considerable
items on such a motor, may be done even more frequently. Again, where such engines are recklessly
or carelessly worked, attended by inefficient drivers
and firemen, and imperfectly cleaned out at night,
and at t he week ends ; where slight r epairs are
scamped, or neglected until some breakdown
compels attent ion, and larger r epairs are either
deferred until too late for much practical good, or
left altogether undon e ; th e working life must
of n ecessity be much shorter than on a carefully managed and fully equipped English railway. The former conditions are those which, unfort unately, rule in many constructive contracts,
on colliery and iron works lines, and in other like
underbakings; and t he en gineer in charge of t hem

must therefore be prepared for widely different

calculations, and make vastly different allowances,
to those which would guide him on a well-conducted
public line. On t he other hand, some public bodies,
such as the officials of the R oyal D ockyards and
Arsenals, or municipal corporations, having no
profit or loss account to present, will from t ime te
t ime effect such extensive r epairs and renewals to
their machinery as to p ractically maintain it at, or
near to, its full purchase value. The diverse
problems t hus presented to t he engineer are ext remely perplexing, and make it impossible to fix
any arbit rary rate applicable to all cases, or even to
all por tions of the plant belonging to the on e firm
or corporation. The r ecor d of the whole of t he
plant in a schedule, each item of which is considered separately, and with due regard t o its o wn
particular circumstances, will, however, r educe
these difficulties to a minimum.
In certain t rades, where legislative enactment,
or the a.uthority of trade unions, limit the hours
of labour, t here is a tendency t,o employ double
shifts, so that some part of the machinery may be
kept at work during the night as well as by day.
Such extra user must be allowed for in estimating
the life of the machinery, and the waste of that life
which has been accomplished; but in the case of
stationary engines and boilers worked under such
condit ions, even more must be allowed for than t he
additional time en1ployed. Where two drivers are
engaged, even under the most favourable circumstances, there will always be sufficient friction and
j ealousy to causa some neglect of t he engines,
whilst the boiler, unless supervised by some controlling authority, will undoubtedly suffer more or less
t hrough want of proper cleaning and examination.
The inspection by insurance companies, n ow so
generally adopted, will not prevent an undue
amount of decay ; it will only prevent t he boiler
being worked when it has pr ematurely arrived at a
dangerous condition.
(To be continued.)

NOTES.
TH& wASTE OF SHIPPING.

A RETURN of vessels of all countries lost or broken

up during t he first half of the present year has now
been issued by Lloyd's R egistry. As usual, t he
British Empire shows the largest loss of steam
t onnage, viz , 42,295 gross tons ; but as t he total
steam tonnage owned in the empire is 12,149,090
tons gross, t he percentage is only 0.35; whilst out
of 8, 192,938 grosR steam tonnage owned by the
r emaining civilised countries of t he world, 46,321
gross tons, or 0.55 per cent., were lost. In taking
the United Kingdom alone a still better showing is
made, since, out of a total of 11,513,759 tons, but
29,448 tons, or 0.26 per cent., had to be r emoved
from t he register. Out of 70 steamships lo~t in t he
'half-year, collisions were responsible for 10, whilst
another 10 have been reported as missing, and 35
as wrecked. Apparently, the loss is g1eatest
amongst t he smaller st eamers, since, whilst t he
average size of steamers of the world, taken as a
whole, is about 1450 tons, the average of those
removed from the Register is 1260. This is, of
course, to be expect ed, as for several reasons new
ships average a greater displacement t han their
predecessors ; and , in facing t he perils of the seas,
have the advantage of youth combined "with all
the latest improvements " in materials and machinery. The loss of sailing ships was much greater
during the half-year than that of steamers, amount ing to 136 vessels out of a total of 10,815 ; but t he
gross tonnage was less, being but 77,776 tons gross.
Speaking roughly, the percentage of loss in sailing
ships is some 2! t imes what it is in t he case of
steamers.
ELECTRI C T RilfW AYS AT CoPENH AGEN.

Few European cities have a more perfect system o

tram ways than Copenhagen, where elect ric working
is now about to be universally adopted. One of the
companies introduced overhead elect ric working a
year or two ago, and the system works admirably;
the other and much larger company depended upon
horse traction, with the exception of one line,
where electric accumulator cars are in use ; but t he
latter have caused much dissatisfaction on account
of the unpleasant smell in t he cars. The company
has been desirous of introducing overhead wires on
all their lines, but the authorities have placed
various obstacles in their way. They want an
underground system in the inner town, on t he one

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

line, where accumulator cars are in use ; but in

the outer town overhead wires may be used. The
company, naturally, wanted to have the overhead
wire system on all the lines; and the corporation has
now abated its demand, inasmuch as the company has
been allowed to substitute overhead wires for the
accumulator system, with the limitation that this
line, in the inner town, had a closed overhead
syst em, which, of course, necessitates double the
number of wires. With regard to the underground
system in the other parts of the inner town, no
altered decision has as yet been arrived at. The
company fights for the overhead system, which is
cheaper both to build and to work ; but the corporation has been afraid of the deteriorating effect
upon the corporation's numerous underground iron
pipes by the return or vagabond currents. Recent
experiences from some 90 German towns tend,
however, to show that the earlier and somewhat
alarming reports from American towns have been
exaggerated.

similar power of accommodating itself to circumstances ; though it is true that the stability
of the famous Bear V alley Dam in California has
b een attributed to an action of this character.
Portland cen1ent morbar was used throughout, better
results being obtained with a mixture of 1 part
cement to 2 sand, than wit h one of 1 part cement
to 3i sand. The armoured concrete was reinforced
with ! in. steel rods, parallel to the height of the
block, arranged along each face at intervals of
2-! in. to 3! in. These were bound together with
a horizontal lacing of !-in. wire. It was noted
that in all cases the lines of cleavage at failure did
not follow the joints of the masonry, but passed
across them as if the structure was homogeneous.
The committee conducting the tests conclude that,
with really first-class workmanship and careful inspection, masonry may be safely loaded far in excess
of what is now usual. We give below averages of
some of the results obtained :
Tons per
8quare Foot.
THE BoARD OF TRADE AND M UNICIPALisM.
Granite ashlar in mortar, 1 pa.rt cement,
2 sand
...
...
. ..
.. .
. ..
520
The Board of Trade has been very tender towards
Concrete, 1 part cement, 5 broken stone
114
the feelings of municipal corporations. It gives
"
1
"
8 "
" .. .
59
them the first offer in the matter of electric lighting
"
1
"
10 "
, . ..
46
and tramways, and it allo ws them years in which
Armoured con~rete, 1 part cemen " 3. 5
to make up their minds. If they announce their
broken stone
.. .
...
...
. ..
250
Clinker brickwork in mortar, 1 part
intention of taking action, it accepts the resolution
cement, 2 sand ...
...
.. .
...
230
for the deed, and sit-s quietly during long periods
Common building brick in mortar, 1 part
of procrastination. But there is a limit to its comcement, 2 sand . ..
...
. ..
. ..
105
plaisance, as the City Council of Newcastle has
lately discovered, for it has overruled their objecTHE TAYLOR-WHITE PROCESS OF TREATING
tion to allow the Newcastle-upon-Tyne Electric
TooL STEEL.
Supply Company, Limited, to extend their threeA recent issue of the Jowrnal of the Franklin
phase power system, which has ~ts head-quarters at I nstit'l);te contains a paper by Mr. Charles Day deNeptune Bank,* into the area which it lights. The scribing the Taylor- White process 0f treating tool
basis of the objection is to be found in a report of Mr. steel. Tools thus treated will stand a yellow heat
W. M. Mordey, who advised the corporation that without losing their temper, and it is possible
the introduction of another system into their area, with them to take cuts at such a speed that the
which had already two systems, would so compli- chips turn blue. The steels used are of the selfcate the situation that it would be extremely diffi- hardening type, which have been in use for many
cult for the corporation to effect a purchase o( the years. The makers of these s teels have, how
supply arrangements when the remaining twent y ever, always cautioned users hot to heat the
years, under the provisional order, expired. The metal above a cherry red in forging it, or the
council therefore determined that, as far as they steel, they stated, would be ruin~d. This s tatecould influence the matter, the citizens ~hould be ment was tested very thoroughly by Messrs.
debarred from the advantages of electric power Taylor and White at the works of the Bethlehem
supply for the next twenty years, in order that they Steel Company, and it was found that, though
might make a cheaper bargain at t.he end of the founded on fact, it did not contain the whole truth
period. This is municipalisation with a vengeance, as to the matter. In short, it appears that certain
for it must be remembered that, according to the Act, of the self-hardening steels, though injured if
the corporation will only have to buy the plant at its heated to and cooled from a temperature between
actual value, without any regard to its earning capa- 1550 deg. and 1700 deg. Fahr., became highly
city, and will probably make a very good purchase. efficient if heated to a still higher point, the maxiThey will succeed to a large business, created at mum efficiency being obtained when the temperagreat cost, absolutely f~r not~ng; a~d .Ye~ b~c~use ture was such that the metal would crumble if
the new supply station IS outside. therr JUri~dtctwn, struck. The Taylor-White process therefore conthey prefer to deprive the city of the advantages of sists in heating the steel to about 2000 deg. Fahr.,
cheap power for years. We are glad that .the ~oar.d and subsequently cooling it in a particular way
of Trade has interfered, and we hope their actiOn IS dependent so mew hat on the class of steel used.
an augury that in the future they will ~_?re often In general, however, the steel heated above
discriminate between the needs of the Citizens and 2000 deg. Fahr. is rapidly cooled down below
the ambitions of the councillors.
1550 deg. in a lead bath, and the cooling is then
finished at a slow rate in a bed of lime. It is then
THE STRENGTH OF MASONRY.
reheated to a temperature of between 700 deg.
A most elaborate series of experiments on and 1240 deg. Fahr., and maintained at this
masonry arches was carried ?u~ some few . years heat for about ten minutes, which is said to still
back by .t he Austrian Asso?Iatwn of Engineers further increase the efficiency of the tool. When
and Architects. These expenments showed pretty finally cooled from this temperature, about I\ in. of
conclusively that the same laws of elasticity were the surface should be removed by grinding, though
applicable to the calculation of masonry arches as this is not. necessary if the surface has been proto metal ones, and thus removed the design of tected during the heat treatment by an approsuch structures from the region of almost pure priate flux. The effects of the treatment exempiricism in which it h.ad been left by p~ev:ioua tend well back from the point of the tool,
investigators. The working stresses pe~miSSible, and it can be ground again and a.gain, until so
however still remained an open questiOn ; and weakened that reforging is needed. In carrying
the Soci~ty accordingly. have suppl~mented their out the heat treatment, it is necessary to regulate
previous work by a series of experiments on the temperatures within narrow limits ; but if this is
strength of different classes of masonry. Blocks done, the results obtained are remarkably uniform.
were prepared of stonework and. concrete, both The steels most suited to the process contain 1 per
ordinary and armoured, and of bnckwork. These cent. of chromium and about 4 per cent. of tungsten;
blocks measured 1 ft. 8 in. by 1 ft. 8 in. by though if very hard metals are to be cut, the
3 ft. 4 in. high, and were cr~ shed in a la~ge chromium may be raised to 3 per cent., and the
hydraulic press, the lo~d at wh1eh the first sxgn tungsten to 6 per cent. or more. In the course of
of failure appeared being noted as well as the the experiments, which have r esulted. in this inteultimate load. A few experiments were made resting process, some 200 tons of forgmgs were out
wit h eccentric loading ; but it was found that the up. The tools pr~pare~ i~ the manner .stated are
ultimate r esistance was practically as gre~t as n ot suited for taking fin1shmg cuts; but If used f?r
when the load was carefully centred. Tl;ts, of heavy roughing cuts, they give remarkable re~ults,
course, has long been known t_o be true In t~e as cutting speeds of 60 ft. to 70 ft. per minute
case of plastic metals, like mild steel ; but It become practicable. Many machine tools, however,
was not thought that masonry had any such are not geared up sufficiently to permit of thiB, as
the belt slips, and in other cases an engine power
* See TBACTION AND TBAl\S!llSSION, August, page 201. which has been quite adequate to the operation qf

[SEPT. 20,

90 t.

a number of lathes at the old rates of output, has

had to be increased to cope with the much greater
production rendered p ossible by the Taylor-White
tools.
STEEL-MAKING AND NAvAL CoNSTRUCTION IN
JAPAN.

From the newspapers received from Japan

we learn that Mr. Wada, the director of the
Imperial Steel Works, at Wakamatsu, recently
ente~tained to dinner, in t he Imperial H otel,
Tokyo, the members of the Japanese Government
and the representatives of the foreign Powers in
Japan, and others who had assisted, either directly
or !ndirec.tly, in founding .the works, for the purpose
of mformmg them regardmg the progress which had
been IQade, and the immediate prospects of the
undertaking. The works were commenced in April,
1896, and in February of this year they made a
partial s tart with the manufacture of pig iron, while
in May they made a beginning wit h the manufacture
of Siemens' steel to the amount of about 40 tons
per day. At the end of June, two of the five rolling
mill plants having been completed, a beginning was
made in the production of medium and small rails
and plates. The rest of the plant is expected to be
completed by the end of this month, and the manufacture of large rails and other heavy materials will
be started at once. .At first some accidents occurred
in the working, arising from the want of experience
of those in charge, but now everything is going
on smoothly, and pig iron was being turned out to
the extent of 100 tons per day, the ore used being
tJ:1at obtained at Kamaishi, Mimasaku and Taya
(China.). In fact, the works have been so placed that
the mineral res0urces of China are as available as
those of Japan, a.nd already the Japanese obtain
considerable supplies of iron ore from China.
Their an1bition evidently is to supply not only their
own wants, but also those of the Chinese. So far,
the experiments at Wakamatsu have proved the
efficiency of the works; and the director is confident
that 90,000 or 100, 000 tons of steel can be produ.ced
in a year when all the arrangements have been
completed and operations are carried out to the
full extent. Moreover, he believed that in a comparatively short time a good profit would be realised
which would give an ample return on the capital
invested. The failure of contractors to finish their
work within the stipulated time had constituted
a serious drawback in making the preliminary
arrangements of the works, but with patience
most of the difficulties had been overcome. In
connection with steel making in Japan it is interesting to note that it is stated, on what seems
to be good authority, that the Japanese Government
is about to launch a scheme of naval development
which will exceed that of 1896, which brought a
considerable number of orders for warships to this
country. It is understood, however, that it is the
ambition of the Government that all the ~:hips
embraced in the new scheme shall be built in the
Government or private yards in Japan, and some
of the works are being extended in view of the
orders which are expected. The steel works also
are to be developed so that they may undertake the
production of armour-plates, but it must take a
considerable time before they can hope to succeed
with the heaviest class of armour-plates. The
reason for the new naval programme is not only
the wish to encourage the manufacture of steel in
Japan, but also to show Russia that Japan is
determined to keep herself in a position to hold her
own should a crisis take place in affairs in the Far
East.
\

CniLIAN RAILWAYs.-The Chilian Government has entered into a contract with Mr. J. Harding for surveys
and plans for a line to the north of Chili. The proposed
line, if carried out, will be about 650 miles in length.
RHODESIAN RAILWAYS.-Projected extensions towards
the Zambesi, Gwelo, Salisbury, and the Gwanda goldfields
have been impeded by the war, and the consequent interruption of communications; large quantities of material
have been detained in Cape Colony. In spite of all difficulties, however, the work has never stood still. The
widening of the line between Rhodesia and Beira had
only commenced ab the outbreak of hostilities. The conversion wa~ accomplished during the war under circumstances of exceptiOnal difficulty and pressure, the line
being at that time the sole channel of supply for the civil
population of Rhodesia; while the Rhodesian Field Force,
under Sir Frederiok Carrington, was entirely de~endent
upon ib for the conveyance of men, horEes, eq_Uipment,
and stores. The earthworks for a line between Salisbury
and Buluwayo have been steadily pushed forward from
both points.

EPT. 20, I 90 I.]

THE BRITISH ASSOOIATION.

Address to the Mechanical Science Section.*
By Colonel R. E. CRo?tiPTON, M. Inst. C. E., P resident
of the Section.
AT this the first m eeting of the British Association in
~he ne'! century I wish to lay beforA you some of the
mterestmg problems presented by recen t developments in
means of locomotion on land which d emand the best
~houghts, J?.Ob on~y of our eng:ineers, but of every one
~nterested m th.e 1mproyement m means of travelling and
m the .more rap1d trans1t of goods.
Durmg the seventy yeara which have passed since the
in troduction of ra il ways, in n early every country passenger
and goods traffic ha~ developed itself to such an extent
that almost every one is interested in these q uestions
an.d of late years our a ttention has not been con fined t~
railways only, but, owing to the invention of the cycle
and motor oar, has also been directed to travel on our
r oad ways, w hioh during the first fifty years of the rail way
era. had somewhat fallen into disuse. I a.m not able
being limited t o the length of this address to d eal with
~any of ~he interesting questions affecting our longdlsta.noe rallway.:~ other than by referring to the probable
early introduction of ra ilways of a new type m tended
t o attain a s peed of 120 m iles per hour and worked by
elect rical power. The rail way race to Scotland of a few
yea.ra bs.ck attracted the attention of the managera of
American and Continental railwaya to railway speed
questions, and we have seen during the last few years
so great improvement i a the speed of the trains and the
comfor t of the passengere in these coun t ries, that it
appears that E ngland has a lready been beaten in the matter
of extreme railway speed, alt hough it is p robable that our
railways still provide a larger number of rapid trains than
eit her the American, German, or French do. But whether
it be in England or in the countries I have mentioned , i t
appears that, a fter aU , the speed-limit of railways of the
present system of constr uction is reached at about 65 or
70 miles p er hour. H igher s peed on level runs has und oubtedly been recorded, but it is not prob~ble that anything greatly in e xcess of 70 miles p er hour will be reached
until our railway m anagers initiate an entirely new
system of construction. 'he high-speed service that is
no w in con templation, n ot only in E ngland but in
America and Germany, intends to attain speeds of o ver 100
miles per ho ur by provid ing electrical means of haulage
sufficient t o propel light brains consisting of one, or, at
the most, a few cars ; and in order to render this service
suocessful 1 to run these light trains ab short intervals of
time, so m effecting this high speed the railways will
give a service which more nearly resembles the tramway
service tha n ou r present system of heavy express trains at
infrequent in tervals. This high-speed service of li~ht
trains at frequent intervals is well suited to electrical
haulage, as it works generating m achinery situated at
fi xed p oints to the best ad vantage and enables the b est
return to be obtained from the necessarily heavy capital
cost of copper in the conductors which transmit the
energy along the length of the line, as ibis evident that
if the speed be sufficient to insure that each section of the
line only carries one running train, the costs of the condoctors will be in proportion to the weight of that train.
Great advances have already been made in adapting
electrioa.l traction to long lengths of railways. The work
already done by Brown, B overi, of B aden, in Switzer land, ab first on the mountain railways and a fterwards on
the Bnrghdorf-Thun full-gauge line, the exp erimental
work of Gan z and Co., of Budapest, and of Siemens and
Halske at Charlottenburg, have already shown that the
p ower problems are nearly all of them solved, so that we
may feel confident that e!ectrical engineers will very
shortly surmount any eowar diffi culties that still remain.
But this high-speed ratlways. problem ab presen.t preset;lts
certain unknown factors wh10h can only be satisfactorily
determined by the a ctual t esting and working of the lines
when carrying passeng~rs. . I re~er tc;> those wh~oh deal
with the increased oscillatiOn, vibratiOn, and nol8e to be
expected from the extreme speeds. These m3.tters must
be met so as to give sufficient comfort and protection to
the pa.saengera, for if passengers are rendered uncomfortable by the extreme speed, the service can never become
p opular, and on this l~t question depend~ the most im~or
tant question of all, VJZ., the extent ~o whtch the ~ravelhng
public are likely t_o make use of a ~1gb-speed ratlway servi ce. In attemptmg t o forecast th1s matter, although we
meet many business men who think it would be an u~
d oubted advantage if the j ourneys between important bu~t
ness centres occupied half t he time they do at present, m
the United Kingdom the~eareo~ly a few jourt;teysofsufficient length t o mak~ savmg pf ttme c;>f great Importance,
but the case is far different m Amenca a nd on the Continent where the business centres are much further apart
than they are h ere.. I, as a~ E ag.lish engineer, fore~ee
thab this t opographical questaon will cause o ur E ngl~sh
engineers to be ab a disadvantage. M compa:red wtth
American and Continental one.s, for 1t app~ara lik~lY. that
the number aud mileage _of htgh speed ratlwa~s IS hkely
t o be far greater in Amer10a. and on the 9ontment than
in the U nited Kingdom. Before I entirely leave .the
subject of very hi~h -speed rail~a~s, a rather our1ous
speculation presents Itself to us: thts 1s, whether the n eed
for rapid communication between t own and t own may
not eventually be supplied by high-speed motor o~rs o.n
roads s,pecially prepayed for them. . Mr. W ~Jls, m h1s
interestmg forecast 1n the Fortn?,{Jhtly Re11te'Wt seems
to think that the time is n <?t fa r distat;tt wnen all
passenger traffic will be earned on sp~mal roads pn
motor oars. That t he advantages of carrymg your. fam1ly
and loading up your belongings ab your own door, ID your

* Read ab the Glasgow Meeting of the British A ssocia tion (Section G).

E N G I N E E R I N G.
own or a hired car, and transport ing them without any of traffic ; and ib appears l ikely that either for the d n.ily
ch ange or handling of your baggage right up to the point transport of workers to and from their homes to places of
where your journey ends, will be so great that even for employment, or for taking great crowds out mto the
comparative long journeys travellers will pre fer it to the country for pleasure purposes, a motor-car service carried
railway, and that our railways will eventua lly be relegated out on well-made ro1ds will compete favourably with,
t o carrying minerals and heavy goods. But, without and in many ways may he preferable t o, tramway

going so far a~ Mr. W ells, it does seem probable that if servwe

only a few passengers roquiro to travel between two
Ib must be remembered tha.b t he laying of tram rails
business centres s uch as Manchester and Liverpool, and not only blocks ordinary traffic, but in our most crowded
to oooupy only half the time from door to door at present streets it introd uces dangers to all wheeled vehicles nob
taken by the railway and the two termi nal cab ndes, it on rails- motor cars and cyclists-by the skidding of the
might be better to provide one of Mr. Wells' improved wheels when they cross the line of rails, and these dangers
roads on which private o wners could run their o wn Oll.rS. are daily causing, and are still likely t o cause, very sen ous
paying toll for the road, and on which a. public service of accidents .
cars would provide for those who did nob own oars themThe increased road and street traffic, and the developselves.
ment of new means of road locomotion, have made impera I n ow propose to deal ab somewhat greater length with tive some modification of our existing system of roadway
wha.t I think is a most importan t problem in locomotion, adm inistration. Cycles, motor oars, and electrical tramvi z. , that caused by the congestion of street traffio in our cars have been invented and put on roads which are
towns, and by t he undoubteddifficulbies whiohexistin carry- maintained and worked exactly a.s they were seventy
ing our workers to and from their homes in the country to years ago at t he commencement of the railway era, when
their places of employment in our t owns. A large pro- the population of the U nited Kingdom was half its
portion of the workers who, during the latter half of the present fig ure, and that of the large towns one. tenth of
last csnbury lived and worked in t he countrY. are no w the presen t figure. During the 150 years previous to the
working in towns, although some of them still live out- rail way era the ancient t ra.oks were gradually improved
side in order to obtain the advantages of lower rents a nd into tolerably efficient roads for coach and wagon traffic ;
of a healthier life for their families, and this last class is but after t1he introduction of railways there was a comlikely to largely increase. Those who have been res pon - plete cessation of impro'\'ement, as fo r 50 years after t he
sible for the enlarging and improvements of our t o wns rail ways started the old roadd were equal to the farmers'
have done so much to make town life preferable to coun- and local traffic which the railways left for them; but for
try life, that the country is gradually being depopulated. the lasb 20 years the roads near to the great towns have
The results we see in the increasing di fficulties which the been inadeq uate, and now that the cyclist and motortown authorit ies fi nd in dealing with the water and sewer- oarist travel over the whole of t he roads of the coun try,
age questions, a nd in the increasing mass of vehicular street the neglect of our ancient roadway system is "ery
traffic, which makes some of our cities veritable pa.nde- apparent.
moniums. Luckily, it seems that we are likely, through
Although the urban populationa have so greatly inthe skill and energy of our engineel'tl, to meet these diffi. creased, the old coaching roads are still the only ones that
cul ties in more than one way. The cycle, which com- exist; no main roads parallel to the old ones, or alternamenced as an amusement and went on as a fashionable tive to them, have ever been made. Towns which are now
craze, has n ow settled do wn into being the poor man'd joined by railways grew out of small ro ws of houses built
horse. The number of our working p opulation that use facing the main road ; in faet, in many cases the road
the cycle for going to and from their work is already very made the town. During the early part of the railway
large and is steadily increasing, and their use of the roads era, when the roads were so little used from coaching fallmust be considered. Then came the motor car, developed ing into disuse, encroachments on the roadway t ook place in
in France to such an amazing extent, and which seems and near the towns, snob roads being now actually narrower
now likely t o be d eveloped to an equal extent in this and less suitable for traffic than in the coaching d ays; so that
country. After many years of objecting t o the use of the these towns which owe their existence to these road ways
overhead trolley system, our town authorities seem now now pub ev~ry impe~ iment and ~indranoe t~ their use by
to have determined that the only way of relieving street the travelhng pubho. What IS needed IS that towns
traffic is by an enormous d evelopment of electrical tram- situated on our main through road3 should prov1de
ways, and on all sides we find the large towns rivalling alternative rou tes, so that through travellers could, if
one another in the extent of the tramway systems which they desired, avoid the crowded streets of the town.
they have either acquired or are laying down for them- One method of providing such relief roads would be
selves. Ib seems opportune now to p oint out that a great by by-laws providing that all building estates should
deal of mischief may accrue by this indiscriminate use set aside land for main roads. The building estates
of tramways; and for those who are considering these which are developed around our great t own s never provide
matters, I bring forwa rd a few facts which arA worthy a roa.d whioh can be used as a main line of thoroughfare,
of n otice. Of course, in new countries, or in new although by their very act of building additional houses
t owns in old countries, where the roads are rough they cause additional congestion to the main roads.
and bad, anything in the nature of a. tramway using They lay out their roads t o obtain quiet for those who
rails is an improvement on a roadway ; but when we live on the estate, and take every possible means to
are dealing with oities which already p ossess well laid- prevent their estate roads from taking a share of the
out and well-paved streets, on which all kinds of wheeled main thoroughfare traffic.
traffic can be carried on with a minimum of rolling resistParliament must take in hand an improved administraance, it seems wrong, from an engineering point of view, tion of our highways by a comprehensive scheme. Far
to break up the surface of these streets for the purpose t oo many a.noienb main line3 of thoroughfare, already too
of laying tramways, and for the following important narrow for the traffic which is on them, are being blocked
reasons : Traffic carried on a road way by vehicles, whether by ha.ving tramways laid on them; these cause t1he devehorse-drawn or by cycle or motor oar, differs from traffic lopment of buildmg estates, which throw additional
car~ied on rails chiefly i.n that the former ve.h icles p~sse~s traffi c on to these thoroughfares. Apart from the roads
an Important power, v1z., that of overtakmg, whtch I S themselves, the complicated conditions of street and road
not possessed by the latter; that is to say, that vehicles on traffic demand ca.reful regulation. Street traffic should be
the plain road surface can overtake a stopping or a slower C3.rried, ad far as possible, by lines of vehicles driven as
vehicle going i? the same directio.n without ~nterfer~ng nea.rly p arallel to one another as possible. The rule of
with other veh10les, whereas on ra1ls the veh10les gomg the road, as it is called, and whtch is embodied in an
one way must always remain in the same relation t o one Act of Parliament, 5 and 6 of William IV., which is
another, so that the speed of vehicles on rails must always commonly called the Highways Act, says that every
be regulated by that of other vehicles going in the same vehicle is to keep as close as possible to the left, or near
direction. Street tramways, for instance, must stop to set side of the road, except when overtaking another vehicle
down and take up passengers; this limits the speed goin~ in the same direction, and then it is to keep to the
average and the num~er ~f vehicles per mile of t~aok, off side of the overtaken vehicle as closely as possible. As
for if there be nob suffiotent mtervals between the veh10lee, a matter of faot, everybody knowa that this rule is habithey would have t o stop and starb nearly .simulta.- tually neglected by drivera, who, whenever they get a
neously. Thus the carrying capacity of the best modern chance, d rive down the centre of the road, so that others
electrical tramway is limited by this want of over- who overtake them dare not do so on the wrong or
taking power. I have made careful inq uiry from n ear side, but must p ass out far to t he off side of the
those who have great experience in tramways, nob only road, and consequently interfere with the traffic coming
in this country, ~u t in America .and on the Cont~nent, in the opposite direction, This neglect of the rule of
and I find that it 1s generaJly.a?mttted that t~e maxu~mm the road causes a great waste of space im mediately
carrying capacity of an eleotrtcal tra.~way m one d~rec behind every vehicle, and is one of the chief causes
tion is 4000 passengers p er hour carried p ast any g1.ven of the limited carrying capacity of the streets in cities
point. I find that a. full-gauge suburban or metro pohtan where the police do not attend to this important matter.
railway, crowded to its fullest extent, cannot carry more Ib can be remedied by the existing p olice regulations
than 12,000 passengers per bout. Now, most ~f us have being adhered to and insisted on by fixed-point con
often seen large crowds taken away from a p o.mt of at- stables, or by constables moving about on motor cars or
traction by omnibuses and horse-drawn vehtcles, and bicycles. Slow-moving and frequently-stopping vehicles
have noticed that the crowded omnibuses almost tonoh are another cause of congested traffi c. A great deal
one another, and yet can go at a fair rate of speed. In might bs done by arranging that during certain hours
this case at e ight miles per hour sp eed 14,000 passengers much of the slower moving traffic is shunted into alterna.tive routes, so as to be kept by itself. A n increase in the
ca.n be carried from a given point per hour.
U p to the present a public motor -oar service has nob speed of the street traffic is desirable; for the faster the
yet been installed of any magnitude to enable. ue to com- vehicles travel the less the street is occupied by them.
pare the carrying capacity of motor-cars w1 t h that of Motor oars can safely travel at 16 miles an hour, and
horse-drawn omnibuses, but owing to the reduced length therefore need only take half the t ime and occupy only
of motor-oars compared with that of omnibuses, and on half the street surface that an omnibus does when travelaccount of their greater speed and greater control, motor- ling at 8 miles per hour. Such high speeds as these,
cars can now be built to deal with great crowds at a.n even which are desirable and p erfectly safe for motor cars,
higher rate per hour than that n ot ed abc;>~e. It app~ars cannot, however, be obtained unless some regulations are
certain, therefore, that although the ~rovJston of eleotr1oal made as to the use of the roadways by foot passengers.
tramways is undoubtedly an eoonom10al means of c~rry There is no rule of the road for foot J?assengers- they
ins- t>a.ssengers, yet these tramways cannot be .la1d m p ass one another on the footpath, or vehtcles in the road
extSting thoroughfares without constderably reducmg the way, just as they please. No driver of a vehicle in the
total roadoarrying capacity a.t times of heavy pressure road who sees a foo b passenger stepping into the road way

'

E N G I N E E R I N G.
can ever tell with certainty what his movements will be.
I b will be no hardship t o foot passengers to insist on their
movements being regulated .
Much has been recently said and written on the suhjeob
of motor oars and motor wagons. Ib is generally admitted that there will be considerable scope for engineering skill and capital in their improvemen t and construction. Ibis by no means an easy problem to pu b into the
hands of the public such a complicated piece of mechanism
as a self-propelled carriage which has, m most oases, to be
managed and driven by men who have had no speoial
mechanical training. Motor oars to be universally successful must be made so as to reduce to a. minimum the
liability to break down; repairs must be limited to the
replacement of worn or damaged parts by other parts,
which must be supplied by the manufacturers so that they
can be readily put in by the unskilled users. That this
can be done is shown by the success and universal use of
typewriters, sewing machines, and bicycles : all of these
are really complicated pieces of mechanism, but they
are now in general use and in everyone's hands. In
these cases, however, the organised manufacture of
machines with thoroughly interchangeable parts, or components as it is the fashion t o call them, has only been
developed after the type of machine had settled d own, and
this up to the present cannot be said of the motor oar or
motor wagon. Up to the present the d evelopment of
these oars ha.s gone on on several lines. The development
in France, which so far has led the world, has been
principally in the direction of the use of light motors
driven by p etrol spirit. A~ain, to France we owe the
flash boiler of Serpolleb, wh10h assists the use of steam
engines for this purpose.
At first sight steam, with the complications of boiler
engine, and condenser, does non appear likely to comp ete favourably with the simpler spirit motor, but for
heavier vehicles, where steady h eavy.pulling power i~ of
importance, up to the present no mternal combust10n
motor has competed with it . The Americans, with t heir
usual skill and power of rapidly organising a new manufacture, have already turned out a very large number of
steam-driven motor oars, which are so largely in use in
unskilled hands that it shows that they have already
solved the problem to some extent.
The directions in which the two classes of motors require further development are, for ohe internal combustion motora, the satisfactory and inodorous use of the
heavier o~, and in this, perhaJ?S, Herr D~esel may help
us with his wonderfully economical motor Improvements
in the clutch mechanism, for with all internal combustion
engines up to the prel:!anb ib has been found impossible to
start the motor when coupled to the driving-wheeh. of
the car and in the case of the stea.m motor the Simplifioa.ti~n of the b~iler, the ~oiler -feed m.echanism,
the inodorous and n01seless burnmg o~ he~vy oils a~ fueJ,
improved condensers, methods of lubncatmg the ptstons
and valves so as to avoid oil passing back to ~he
boiler with the condensed water, and the rende~ng
of all processes of boiler-feed and fuel- f~ed mechamsm
completely n.utoma.tic, so as not to requue the attention of the driver.
On points common .to both
ola.sses, although much has been done, furthet: u;n prove.
ment is required in the methods of tra.nsmittmg the
power from the motor to the driving wheel~. In the
case of the sbea.m cars, where this has beeo done by single
reduction, using oha.in, pin~o~, and sprockets, very efficient and n oiseless transmtssio~ has already b.een obtained, but up t o the present m most of t~e mbernal
combustion engines where more than two cyhnders he.ve
t o be employed i t has been found necessary to arrange
the crankshaft 'of the motor ab right angles to the a ?Cl~ of
the dr iving-wheelll, so that part ?f the transmiSSion
having to be throngh bevel gear, thiS P.ar.t has up .t o t he
presen t always been n oisy. In the proVId mg of n01seless
and efficient chain driving, the manufactur~r of oars ~as
gained greatly by the high de~ree of p~rfect10n to wh10h
these chains bad already attamed ~or bicycle work.
.
The recent great road races which have taken place 10
France, and elsewhere, ha.ve ~hown that the motor oar ?a.n
be driven safely at a very btgh speed, a.lread~ reaohi~g
in some cases 70 miles an hour; but to ren~er th1s oapa01ty
for high speed useful, not only must sps01al roads b~ pro'ded on which these high-speed oars can travel wttboub
d~nger to othera and with ~ea.st slip and ~ear an? tear of
tyres but a great deal reqUires to be done m the tmprovement' of the pneumatic tyres, which at presen~ get excessively h ob, and therefore damaged by_ these btgb-speed
runs. Ab these hie-h speeds t he mechamca.l work ~one on
the material of wh10h th~ outer ?overs of pneumatLC tyres
are composed is ~xoesstvel.Y btgh. It can probably be
duoed by increastng the diameter of the wheels, but, of
~urse, at the cost of inor~ased w~ighb and, to some
tent of stability for the stde stra1ns on the wheels . of
:hese ~ars when s~inging round curves of sharp radlUs
are very great. . .
.
. 1.
t'
.
Another direobton tn wh10h meohamoa mven .10n ts reuired for the wheels of motor oar.s and wag.ons IS a shoe9 0 r roteotion of bard ma.ter1al of eaatly renewable
thg
t~ which can be firmly and safely attached to ~he
0
:~J 0 ( the tyre covers to take the wear and o~ttmg
~~ti~n eo:~used by the driving strain and by the actiOn of
th brakes on sudden stop~.
The lateR. W. Thomson, of E~i!lburgh, ma.d~ good
some 30 years ago in provtdtng steel shoemg for
88
f~~~~iid rubber tyres be then us~d, and the problems of
roviding the same for pneumatic t yres ought to be no
d than those he then successfully encountered.
.
'ltonS: of the topics which has been most st!<?ngly ~IS
d during the last year, has been the P?SttlOn whiCh
~hf:~ountry holds relattve~y to ~ther ?ountrtes as regards
i tJs commercial supremaodyo~nb::Jityne:he~~ ~ft:h~s. wo~lJei~
ears back we were un
..
.
b
. t
~ost branches of mec"tanical engmeermg, ut owmg o

t he huge development of mechanical engineering in

America and Germany, we are certainly being run very
hard by these countriefl, and every one is looking for
means to help us to re~ain our old po'3it!on. In endeavouring to lea.rn from America we see that, although
the workmen in thQ.b country receive higher wages than
they do here, and although the cost of some of the
materials is hi~her th'l.n it is here, their manufacturers
manage to deh ver engines,,' tools, and machinery of a.ll
olasses of excellent quality ab a. price which appears to
ou r manufacturers to be marvellously low. When we
look into the matter we find that the chief difference
between the manufacturer of America and the manufacturer ab homA is that, whether it be steam engines, tools,
agricultural machinery, or eleotd ca.l machinery, the
American invariably manufactures goods in large q uantities to standard patterns, whereas we rarely do so here,
ab any rate t o the same extent. Where we turn out
articles by bhA dozen, the American turns them out by the
hundred. This difference in the extent to which an article
is reduplicated is caused by the Americans having realised
to a. far greater extent tha.n we have the advantage of standardisation of types of machinery. They have felt this so
strongly that we find in America. that work is far more
specialised than it is here, so that a manufacturer, as a
rule, provides himself with a complete outfit of machinery to t urn oub large numbers of one article. He lavishes
his expenditure on special machinery to produce every
part sufficiently accurate to dimension to secure
thorough interohangce.bility i consequently the cost
of erecting or assembling tne parts is far less than
it is here. One reason why the American manufacturer has been able to impose on his purcha.sing
public his own standard types, whereas we have nob
been able to do so, is that very rarely in America does
a. consulting engineer come between the manufacturer
and the user; whereas here it is the fashion for the
majority of purchasers of machinery to engage a consulting engineer to specify and inspect any machinery of
importance. B y this I do nob impute any blame to our
consulting engineer; he considers the requirements of his
cliente, and insists that they are to be adhered to as closely
as possible; to him the facility of the production of
articles in la.rge quantities is of no momen " I n A merica.
it seems to be understood by the purcha~er that it is a
distinct advantage to everyone concerned, both manufacturer and purchaser, that the purchaser should .t o w me
extent give way and modify his requirements so as to
conform with the stand ard patterns turned out by the
manufacturer. Although manufacturers all hope for this
simplification of patterns, yet, for the reasons I have
given, it will be some time before their hope is realised.
But on other matters it is quite possible for manufacturers
to combine so as to obtain some sta.nda.rdisation of parts
which they manufacture, whioh will reduce costs and be
of ad vantage b? everyo~e concerned. Many years ~go
S ir J oseph Whit worth Im~ressed on the world the Importance in mechanical engmeering of extreme accuracy,
and of securing the accurate fit and interchangeability
of parts by standard gauges. But in spite of his idea
being so widely known and taught, how sflldom i b has
been acted upon to the extent that it should be.
We pride ourselves on having all our screws made
of Whibworth standards, and yet how many of the standard bolts and nuts made by different makers fit one
another ? I myself have sat on a. committee of this
Association, which was o~lled together twenty years ago,
with Sir J oseph Whitworth as a. member of It, to fix on
a screw gauge which would be a. satisfactory continuation
of the Whitworbh screw gauge down to the smallest size
of screw used by watchmakers. It has taken all these
years to carry. o.u b t.he lo~oal ou tco~e. of Sir J oseph
Whitworth's on~naltdea, vtz., the .Providm~ of standards
to be deposited m ca.re of a. pubh c aubhonty to act as
standard ~auges of references. The complete interchangeability of parts which I have above re~erred
to and which is so desirable in modern maohmery,
ea.~ of course, be obtained wit hin the limits of one
wo;ks by tha.b works providing and maintaining its own
standards to a su fficient degree of accuracy. But if the
articles be such as watches or bicycles, motor oars, &c.,
it is very desirable that all parts liable to require replacement should be made by all manufacturers to ~ne stands.~
of size and in order tha.t the ~auges requued for thiS
purpose' should all be exaot oop1es of one another, ib is
necessary that they should be refera?le to gauges depo~ited
either with the Board of Trade, or wtbh some body spe01ally
fitted to verify them and maintain their accuracy.
Up to the present the ;Board of ~rade has dealt with
the simple standards of .weight, OlopaCit.Y! and length, ~ut
in other countries N a.btonal Standardtsmg Labora.tortes
have been provided, viz., by the Germans at their Reiohsa.nsbalb ab Charlobtenburg, a.nd with the happiest results;
here a.t last, through the exertion of the Council o~ the
Royal Society, our Government ~as been moved to.gtve a
gra.nb in aid a.nd to co-op~rate wtth the Royal.8oCiety to
establish a N ational Phys1cal Laboratory for thiS count ry.
About ten years a.go Dr. Oliver L~dg~ ga:ve the outlin~s
of a soheme of work for suoh an msbitutlOn. Later S~r
D ouglas Galton, in his. Presidential Address to thts
Association called attent10n to the good work done by the
Germans, a.~d th e crying need that existed for. such an
institution i n this country. The matter has smce progressed. A laboratory is already in exis.tence, and ~ill
soon be ab work, at. Bushey House, r:J;eddmgton. It IS a.
large residence, wh10h was once occup1ed by the late Duke
of Clarenoe and afterwards by the Due .d e Nemoura. I t
will make an admirable laboratory, . a.s tb. has large and
lofty rooms a.nd a va.ulbed basement 10 wh10h work can be
carried on when it is important to secure the observer
against changes of temperature.
The aims of a National Physical L C).bor.atory have
been well pub forward by Dr. Glaz9brcok m a recent

[SEPT.

20, 1901.

lecture a b the Royal Institution, in which he points

out how little science has, u_p to the present, come
to be regarded as a commerma.l factor in our commercial world. The position of manufacturers of all
classes musb be helped and improved by a well
considered series of investigations on the properties of
ma.teria.l1:1, measurements o f forces, and by the careful
standardisation of and granting certificates to measuring
apparatus of all ola.sses. U ntil the question is fairly
faced and studied, fe w manufacturers realise how helpleas individual effort or individual investigations must be,
when compared with comprehensive and continuous
investigations which can be carried on by a national
laboratory so as to deal with the whole of each subjecb
completely and exhaustively, instead of each investigation being limited by the temporary need of each manufacturer or user.
As an example, Dr. Glazebrook showed how much has
been done at J ena, and afterwards at the Reichsanstalb,
in the development of the manufacture of glass used in
a.ll classes of soientifio apparatus. The German ~lass
trade has benefited enormously from t hese investigations.
The microscopic examination of metals, which was begun
by Sorby in 1864, has been much worked ab by individual
investigators in this country; but its fur ther development,
which is probably of enormous importance to arts and
manufactures, is clearly the duty of a National L aboratory. We owe much to the investigations of the Alloys
Research Committee of the Institution of Mechanical
E ngineers; bu b, a.ga.in, this is work for the National
L aboratory. Aa regards the measurement of physical
forces, how little is accurately known of the la.ws
governing air resistance and wind-pressur~, and the
means of meaaurin g them. Who can formulate with any
certainty a law for the air resistances likely to be me b
with ab spseds in excess of eighty miles a.n hour, the
importance of which I have already noticed ?
I have already alluded to the verification, cue, and
maintenance of ordinary standard gauges of accuracy.
In this electrical age the accuracy of electric standards is
of supreme importance.
These are only a few of the directions in which we can
foresee that the establishment of a. N ational Physical
Laboratory will be of the greatest use and assistance
to our country in enabling it to hold its own in scien tific and engmeering matters with its energetic rivals.
The work has been commenced on a small scale, but
ib is to be hoped that its usefulness will become at
once so evident and appreciated th:1.t it will soon be developed so as to be worthy of our country.
L OCOMOTIVES ON RAILWAYS.-The number of lccomo
bives upon the twenty principal English, Welsh, and
Irish railways a.t the close of June this year compared
as follows with the corresponding numb3r of engines
upon the same systems at the close of D ecember, 1900 :
June, 1901. Drc. 1900.
Engines.
Engines.
7J
73
Belfast and Northern Ooun tiea ..
85 t
849
Great Central . .
..
..
..
1,054
t,on
, , Eastern . .
..
..
..
1,260
1,251
11
Nor thern
..
..
..
147
151
,
North ern of Ireland . .
..
2,02i
1,988
\V estern . .
..
..
..
11
261
201
,
Sout hern and Western
..
1,331
1,318
Lancashire and Yorkshire . .
..
494
489
London, Brighton, and Sou th Ooast
733
733
,
and Sou th Western
..
2,485
2,475
,
and North-Western
..
62
62
,
, Tilbury, and Southend ..
89
83
Metropolit an . .
..
..
..
64
54
Distriot
..
..
,.
2,655
2,615
Midland . .
..
..
. .

129
127
Great Western
..
,

2,131
2,121
Nor th-Ea9tern . .
..
..

163
161
North Staffordshire . .
..

728
697
Sout h-Eastern and Ohatham

198
198
T.-ff Vale..
..
..
..

Tota . .
..
..
16,933
16,682
It follows that 251 additional locomotives were placed
upon the 20 systems in the first half of this year. It
should be observed that in the case of the Great Southern
and Western, the considerable increase in the number of
engines returned by that company was due to the absorption of the Waterford, Limerick, and W estern by the
Great Southern and W estern system as from January 1,
1901; the actual expenditure made by the Great Southern
and W eatern for additional engines in the first half of
this year was 9191l. The corresponding expenditure
made by the Great Central in the past six months was
19,890l. ; by the G rea.b Eastern. 32,865l.; by the Great
Northern, 20, 362l. ; by the Great Northern of Ireland, 1l.200l. ; by the Great W estern, 76,566l. ; by the
L ancashire and Yorkshire, 20, 47 ll. ; by the L ondon,
Brighton and South Coa.st, 15,916l.; by the London and
North-Western, 24,568l.; by the ~Ietropolitan, 20,184l. ;
by the Midland, 131,284l. and by the Midland Grea.tl
Western, 5000l. The expenditure made for new engines
by the North-Ea'3tern, the North Staffordshire, and
the South-Eastern and Chatham cannot be given,
as these companies return the outlay for new engines in the expenditure made for new working stook
generally. It will be observed that the ~elfasb and
Norbhern Counties, the L ondon and South-Western, the
L ondon, Tilbury, and Southend, the Metropolitan District, and the T~ff V ale did nob incur any expenditure
for addibiona.l engines for the first half of this year. The
proportion of the additional outlay for locomotives to the
number of new engines placed upon the various sytems
during the past half-year varied, of oour.:~e, in each case,
according to the nature of the new engines builb. The
average cost of the five new Empress type express engines
placed upon the L ondon, Brighton, and South Coast in
t he first half of this yea.r was 3183l.

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

SEPT. 20, 1901.]

RECENT IMPROVEMENTS IN THE LIGHTING AND BUOYING OF THE COASTS OF

FRANCE.*

the ftames ; consequently, the light efficiency diminishes,

whilst the expense is greater, and the servtce more irksome. The illuminating power of lighthouses can therefore only be improved to a slight extent by increasing
the number of wicks.
The adoption of Atier incandescent burners for compressed gas and petroleum vapour has enabled a. great
1mprovement to be effected in practice. Incandescent
lighting by a.cetylene gas will ~roba.bly give even better
results, at any rate, as regards light efficiency ; acetylene
lighting, however, is only at present in its experimental
stage. The trials carried out at the central lighthouse
.w orks have been sufficiently thorough to enable this
method of lighting to he shortly applied to the Chassiron

B y BARON QuiNETTE DE R ooREMONT, Inspecteur-Geneml

des Fonts et Chaussees, Directeur du Service des
Phares, M. Inst. C. E.
THE D epar tment of Li~hthouses and B eacons in Fmnce
under the able ~irectton of the l~te and regretted
~ou~elles, has m~roduced many tmprovements in the
hghtmg and buoymg of coasts. This eminent engineer
gave much attention to all the different branches of the
service, and. in most of them he made improvemen ts,
some of whtch, of considerable importance have since
been adopted in other countries. M. RibH~~, ingenieur
B''f} 1
m
en chef des P on ts et Chaussees, and MM. de J oly a nd
Blondel ingenieurs des P outs et Chaussee on the stnff
of the Central D epartment of Lighthouses ~nd Beacon
r
I
have been valuable assistan ts to Insp ecteur-Gen eral Bour~
0
0
d elles ; and credit is due to them for an important share

in the results that have been obtained.

0
0

'\..
~
One of the chief improvements has been the adoption
.
of j eux eclairs, or lightning lights. With this new device
the ~aximum efficiency of the illuminating apparatus is

obta~ed; ~vhether .the illu.m inant be oil or electricity, it

t

ha gt~en m:Je to qUite a ser1~ of new tyPes of appliances

,,11

used m connect10n ther ewith. Agam, the luminous

'

efficiency of the optical apparatus has been increased by

I'
im{>roving the focal {>recision, and by keeping the charac
,_ -:rtenstic or effective dtvergence within narrow limits. The
!.:.,; ____ ,
-
-generating stations for electric lighthouses, built until
'
' 'o
quite recently on old-fashioned lines, have been brought
'
H;
4

up .to date with all modern improvemen ts. The adoption

of moandescent burners for compressed gas or petroleum

vapour has been a great step in advance. Not only has

the intensity of the light been increased, but a light with

"'
a wick and ordinary mineral oil can now be made to burn

I
continuously night and day for three months, with only

i
'
occasional examination at long intervals of time. These
p ermanent lights can have all the characteristics of super
. '
---m tended occulting or flashing lights. T he adoption of

~- --~1
:
!
!
I;
p ermanent light-s has enabled p oints of secondary import'
I
ance to be lighted under economical conditions, and has
I
q
'
thus efficiently filled a gap in the system o{ maritime
'
illumination. Other permanent lights, in the form of
: I

illuminated buoys fed with oil-~as, have been adopted on

I
an extensive scale, either to m crease the ~rotection at
I
I
'
-
dangerous p oints and as substitutes for certam lightships,

or for lighting windin~ and shifting channels ; also for

supplementing the indications afforded by leading lights

or sector lights, or for pointing out the position of works

in construction at the entrance of harbours.
Investigations have been made to determine in each
j
p articular case the shape, the stability, and the method of
mooring suitable for these buoys ~ and these have led to
ll

the adoption of certain types which have proved satisfactory in practice. Considerable improvements have nlso

been effected in the construction of lightships, for they

'(';::;>
~
~

are now shaped, and the weight distributed, so as to

'
greatly increase their stability. In place, moreover, of
~~ 1 ~\
1\'f
the old catoptric appliances, powerful lenticular apparar-tus, 'vith incandescent gas as an illuminant, are employed
("'\
l
!
~
instead. This apparatus is in the form of a. compound
......
I
~~
,
r;,
!

p endulum with very slow oscillationP, so that it is almost

l
unaffected by the rolling and pitching of the vessel.
r ----.
J
Exp~riments have been made, uncter the most varied conI !
I
ditions, 'vith a view to d etermine the best system of com-.
1\
~:
.....

pressed-air soQnding sifna.ls. These experiments have

/; ~
o I
led to the adoption o definite types, and they have
demonstrated that a.n air pressure of about 2 kilogrammes
(28 lb. p er square inch) is the most suitable for sirens.
These exp eriments have given sati&factory resul~s,. which
!C
have established the contrivances adopted for causmg the
instantaneous action. of sound in si~~Js, situated .at great
distances from the hghthouse contammg the engmes and
(~
the custodians.
r--Atte:ption has also been paid to the various questions
I
~
.....

I. ~
relating tQ the utilisation of lighthouses for nauttcal purp oses. Systematic <?bserva.tlons have .~~n qarri~d out on
atmospheric refractiOn near the honzon, and Its effect
upon the geographical range of lighthouses ; and observae ~
~~
ttons have also been made upon the d epression of the ~ea

~
horizon. Investigations as to the {>recision of leadmg
0
~
m~
lights have also been ta ken up agam, and ha~e led ~
~
~
practical modifications of t~e old .rules govermng . thetr
0
0
establishment. Important mnova t10ns have been mtro~
duced in the construction of isolated works at sea, and
1
~
especially in beacon towers. The Lighthouse D epartment,
tnt>reover responsible for the erection of many remar~able
works, h~s re~ently built seve!al towers of great h etght,

which are of m terest for vanous reasons. Th~ Cou~re

Electri.c Lig!lthouse is a specimen of an economtcal lugh
tower the E ckmiihl Lighthouse is one of the finest works IIII.A.
E.LEGTIH c lt LGULA tOR.
of its kmd; and the lig~thouse now. in cou.rse of construction on Vierge Island wtll be the htghest m the world, as
Lighthouse in the Char~nt~-I~ferie~re. E lectric _light,
its height when finished will be 75 metres (246 ft. ).
which has a far greater mtrmsic br1s-htness ~han meanINCREASE IN THE ILLUMINATING POWER OF LIGHTHOUSES. descent light, has only been ~opted m.th~ thtrteen most
important lighthouses protectm~ the p~m01pal headlands,
The illuminating power of lig-hthouses has been incr~sed on account of the great exp ense It en~atls.
.
.
by (1) Increasing the intrin 1c brightness of the lurmnous
The intrinsic brightness, in a honz~m~l drrect10~, of
sou~e ; (2) greater Eerfectio!l in the manufacture ~f the various systems of lighting employed m hg~thouscs l S as
optica.J..s,tpparatus ; (3) r~ucmg the number of lent10ular follows, expressed in carc~ls per squar~ centtmetre of the
panels. and increas ing then surface and power by employ- mean horizontal focal plane of the lummous source :
ing lightning light~.
.
.
Carcels.*
'be brightness of ~he ~.m fl'?m a lenticular paJ?-el lS
0.35
Burner with mineral oil and 1 wick
.. .
proportionate to the mtnnstc brJghtness <?f the _lurmn_ous
0.50
source at the burner and not to the lummous mtensitY,.
,,
,,
32 wicks
. ks .. .
0.80
WlC
.. .
,
,
The mean intrinsic brightn~ of flames p~oduced ~y otl
0.95
4 wicks .. .
,,
,
lamps increases only to a. sl1ght extent wttb the stze of
1.10
6 wicks ...
,
,
,'
1.18
6 wicks ..d.
,,
Paper read before the International Engineerin~
Incand~cent lighting with compress~
Con~ Glasgow, i901. Section II. ; Waterways an
2.00
t"
oils-as
.
"
Mantim~ '\Vorks,

M:

I
I

oI

1I I
I I
11

I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I

I
I
I
I
I

I
I
11
11

I
I
I
I
I
I
I

I
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I I
I
I

11

-.

_.

'!

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I ' I

11

Incandescent lighting with petroleum

vapour
.. .
...
. ..
...
. ..
Incandescent lighting with acetylene ...
Crater of the electric arc . . .
. ..
. ..
* 1 carcel
9.5 candles.

Carcels.*
2.50

4.00
900.00

The luminous efficiency of the optical apparatus has

been considerably increased within recent years. . ~he
efficiency depends O? ~wo things, ~amel~, focal prec1s~on,
and the chara{}tenst10 or effective dive!Jence. N ew
methods of measuring these have been applied, not only
at the works, but also for testing purposes. It has t~er~
fore been possible to keep allowances for errors wttbin
narrower hmi ts than heretofore. In this manner, and by
renewing or improving their machinery or plant, French
manufacturers have arrived at a very high standard of
excellence in the manufacture of optical apparatus. Even
with such sources of light ns the electric arc or the Atier
burners, it . has been possible to obtain compact and
regular lummous beams.
Experience has shown that there is no advA.ntage in prolonging the duration of the flash beyond one-te~th of a
second which is about the minimum time reqmred for
full ~rception and thut an average interval of five
seconds betwe~n the flashes is sufficient to ena.ble
seamen to get their bearings. J3Y: reducing ~he duration of the flashes, as far as p~sstble to ~he tlJ?le a.c~u
ally required for the full p ercept10n of thetr lummous. mtensity, it has been possible to construct the opttcal
apparatus with a. small number of lenses of large surfs.~,
and consequently of great power. This new optical apparatus is much less bulky and cheaper than t~e corresponding apparatus of the old types. The. penod of
revolution of this apparatus is consequently rapid, occupying only from 5 to 25 second~. This unpre.cedente~ speed,
especially for first-ord~r hghth<;~uses, 1s ob~med by
means of simJ?le mechamcal contri vanc~s and hgbt clockwork mechamsru.
In the case of lights with flash~.s at regula~ inter.vals,
the optical apparafus has even been made w1th a smgle
set of lenses, covering a semicircle in plan the hinder
half of the rays being thrown back into the luminous
beam by a refleoto~. This at:mngement. utilises twothirds of the totalli~ht, and gtves an effi01ency that had
never been attained m flash lights; but, owing. to the
velocity of rotation required, it is neces~ry to gtve the
beam a large horizontal divergence. With two sets of
lenses, each occupying .a semi-circle, half t~e t~tal light
can be utilised; and th1s type of apparatus IS su1ta.ble for
lenses with a long focal distance.
The new tn>e of light, with flashes a.t regular intervals,
does not requtre an apparatus 'vith four sets of lenses,
except for electric lighthouses with a ver.y small luminous
source, or for lighthouses illuminated w1th incandescent
gas and petroleum vapour. Ne~erthele~, as a precautionary measure, the first experiments m France were
carried out with optical apparatus with four pan~ls.
Sinrilar types have been designed for . group-flashmg
lights. The lightning lights are exceedmgly pow~rful,
and within recent years they have been extensively
adopted. They are now too well known to require that
their advantages should be pointed out.
The Table on page 421 shows the increase thA.t has
taken place in the illuminating power of li~htbouses.
Although the inc~e of the intrilll?ic bryghtness ~f t.h e
luminous source exer<?tses the pru~etpal mflue.n~e m m creasing the illuminating power of liglithouses, tt IS nevertheless n P.cessary to consider to some e~tent ~be dimensions of that source. In fact, these dtmens10ns, for a
given focal distance, determine the diverge~ce of th~
luminous beams, and, consequently, the durat10n of the
flashes. The greater the luminous source for. the same
intrinsic brightness, the greater may the focal diStance be,
or the less may be the number of panels ; and the gr.~ter
also is the luminous efficiency for the same focal prectston.
We may therefore expect further i~provements in this
direction resulting in mcreased lummous power by means
of large; incandescent mantles than tho e (0:03. metre
(1.18 in.) in diameter) hitherto in use. The L)ghtnom:e
D epartment inte~ds ~bortly to ~trod~ce mantles 0.045
metre (1. 77 in.} m. dtam~ter, wtth suttable burners for
incandescent hghtmg, etther by petroleum vapour or
acetylene.
EtEOTRIO LIGHTS.

The illuminating power _of electric light~9uses is. so

great that there is no occasion to seek to mcrease tt ;
nevertheless, some imp01:tan~ improve.ments have .been
made in this m~thod of hghtmg. In hghthouses Wlt~ a
single set of optical apparatus, such as those of La H eve
and of the I sland of Yeu, there are three powers of lig~t,
produced b.y currents of 25, 50, and 100 amperes at 45
volts. In bghthouses with a double set of optical apparatus, such ns at E ckmtibl and Creac'h, there are only
two powers produced by currents of 25 Jnd 50 amperes
each. The, powei~ of 25 amper~, with whi~h the efficiency of the optical apparatus lS comparat~vely feeble,
owing to the extreme smalln~ of the hght, 1s only u~ed
during very clear weather. Wtth a double set of ?Pttcal
apparatus, the two arcs of 50 amperes are almost m constant use and absorb the whole power of the two dynamo~
which have hitherto been employP<i.
In order to have one ma.chme in reserve, and also to be
able to couple up both machines and obtain two arcs of
100 amperes for use in t~iok weather, a new typ.e of
diphase alternator of 5.5 kilowatts h8!3 recently ~en ~a
signed and tried. This alternator constSts of an etght-pole
field magnet formed of thin iron sheets, surrounded. by. the
exciting coils ; of an armature also formed of t~m Iron
sheets of three rings and brushes for collecting the
current; and of a continuous-cu~ent exciting dyna~o
which is carried on one of the beanngs. . '.f;be a~a.tur~ 1s
provided with sixtr.-fou~ !P'O<?ves, conta~nmg et~ht wues
of 3.3 millin&etres ~0. 13m.) d1an1eter, arranged ln groups

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

(SEPT. 20, 1901.

of four in parallel. The coiling is arranged in two layers overcome tlie objectionable ' condensation' which occurs
formed by two superposed Windings with a phase differ~ when cmlil gas is used, even at -low pressures, the Pintseh
ence of one-fourth period each containing all the spirals gas, which is already in use for lighting buoys, has been
in series. The two circuits thus closed, terminate in three adopted. This gas can bear a pressure of 10 or 12 kiloinsulated bronze rings, against which three brushes rub, ~rammes (140 lb. to 168lb.) without condensation, so that
capable of receiving a current of 75 amperes without 1t can be stored in small portable reserv0irs.
h~ating or emit~ing sparks. The intermedit~te ring con.The burner (Fig. 2) employed consists of a vertical tube,
st1tutes a pole 1n common. An electromotive force of w1th a Bunsen burner and Alier mantle at the t op; an
at least 85 volts is obtained on these circuits when normally ejector for the compressed gas is placed at the bottom of
excited in open circuit, t he voltage being automatically the tube. For proper comoustion the volume of air supreduced to about 45 volts when there is a 50-amJ?ere cur- pliea to the mantle must be eight times that of the gas~
rent at the regulators. The heating, when working with The pressure of t he gas is 0.16 kilogramme per square
a normal load , does not exceed 40 d eg. Cent. (J.04 deg. centimetre (2.24 lb. per square inch); the rate of consump..
Fahr.) above the temperature of the surrounding air. If tion of gas is 1GO litres (5.65 cubic feet) per hour, anti 4.5
one of the lamps is put out of use, mutual r eaction litres (274.6 cubic inches) per hour per carcel. A regulator
'!:>etween the two circuits does not cause the current supplies the gas at constant _Press~re, so that a lum~ous
m the other lamp to vary more than 10 {>er cent. The source of almost constant m tens1ty can be obtamed,
efficiency when working with a full load lS not less than with occasional instead of constant supervision. This
80 per cent. The exciter is a small Gramme machine system has been adopted for several first-order lighthouses
with a toothed armature, fixed to the same shaft, and (Chassiron, Ile de Sein, Ile de Groix), for the Ar-men
self-exciting when shunt wound. It is easily self- lighthouse out at sea, and for the Ailly lighthouse.
excited ; and by means of a rheostat the electromotive
The nece...~ity o building works for supplying the oil g-as
force of the a.lternator can be easily controlled.
has limited the application of mcandescent gas lightmg
The old pattern of electric arc regulator, which had to a few important lights. The Light house D epartment
only one rod for conveying the current , caused t he carbons therefore has endeavoured, with success. to obta.in the
to burn unsymmetric..'tlly and to produce uneven shadows. same advantages, for a slight outlay, by substituting
T o remedy this, a much lighter and more e~act regulator petroleum vapour for incandescent lighting. The burners
with two symmetrical rods has been d esigned. By em- employed are all made on t he same principle, but their
ploying aluminium, t he weight, which formerly ~exceeded arrangements differ slightly according to the type of
40 kilogrammes (88 lb.), has been reduced by more t han lighting apparatus for which they are intended. This
50 per cent.

.
principle cGmsists in injecting the liquid petroleum into a
Tb'e new r egulator (Fig. 1) c0nsists.of a box with two vaponser, heated by the mantle; the vapour then pnsses
gla..zed sides, whi-ch contains the mechanism. Three . into t he Bunsen burner of the mantle, after mixing with

Jl0.8.

. Fig. 2.

Cape Bear, of the Mont St. Clair, and of the Ile VietgEl,
now in c6urseof construction.
I ncandescent gas lighting, when no special gas works are
r aquired, .is not much more expensive than .lighting ,\rith
a three-wlCk burner; and even when spemal works are
necessary it is more economical than a five-wick burner.
'r he annual expenditure for gas lighting does not exceed
1800 fran cs (72l.) with gas works, or 800 fran cs (32l.) without works; for petroleum vapour lighting it amounts to
650 francs (26l. ). These figures show at a glance the ad.
vantage, from an economical point of view, of the system
of incandescent lighting.
P ERl\fANENT L IGHTS.

The Lighthouse D epartment has taken steps to protect

navigation by illuminating the beacon towers and shoals
out at sea, where the erection of ordinary li~hthouses is
precluded on accoun t of the expense. Tbis has been
carried .out by ~ean~ of small single-wick lights with ordinary mmeral oil, wh1.ch cu.n burn for several months without having to be attended to. The wicks used for this purpose are specially prepared, the surface of the wick being
evenly coated with a thill la.yer of carbonised tar the
operation being termed c?o11tage or cakin~. The iuminous intensity of these lights, which is equ1valent at the
outset to two carcels, diminishes gradually till, at the
end of two months, it is only equal to one carcel. E xcellent results are obtained, but, like all unattended lights
they afford less security to mtvigation than the ordinary
ones. The total consumption of oil, including the waste
from the overflow, is from 35 to 40 grammes (1. 234 oz. to
1.411 oz.) .Per hour. This system of l?ermanent lights was
first applied to a number of fixed lights. It wns subse-

..

Fig.4 .

Fig.6 .

,.

FocaL

I -

.'

-~

oI

jI

I,
l1

-~

.V.

.~,..

,.
'I

FocaL

lt

11
lt

...

~ I(

. .,"

,,.

,.

F..;...-

' FocaL

'

Plane.

~- --rrki:m .

11

...... --+-- --'

FocaL

-r--

-~'-

.,

'

--+:--------,

.App arcctus f'or lnc~. ri '~cenl/

Liglro (TOTn/ .Petrolewrv V"apoznt:

'
~

Iru:a:ndescenb

F(JT

JU77l.O".fiTr

Burner
Vapour.

Irr.candes c.urtJ

1QIS.8.

Petroleiaru Vapour.

~uidino- uprights are fixed to t he box ; the central is

1 solate~ and the two outer ones are connected together
by a 01~ss-piece. These uprights are slit vertically,. n:nd

have brushes which convey the curren t to the slidmg

rods. These bronze rods slide up and down these uprights ; the two o1;1ter rods are connected ~t each extremity by a cross-piece ; the upper cross-p1ece has a
carbon-holder which is designed so as . to enable the ~pper
carbon to be fixed in position; the central ro~ carn.es an
ordinary carbon-holder.- Clockwork mechamsm with a
regulatmg electromagnet moves the rods simultaneously,
and controls the movements of the carbons so that they
are displaced at the same rate as they are burnt. The
lig ht can be shifted up and down; and the lower carbon
can be brought into contact with the upper one at the
moment of lighting.
.
It is by improvements such as have b~~n descnbed t~at
i t is possible to obtain that grea.ter pre01s10n of ~he opt10~l
apparatus which plays such an Important part m electn c
illumination.

I NCANDESCENT LIGHTING WITH COMPRESSED GAS OR

.
P ETROLEUM VAPOUR.

The light given by Aiier mantles, heated by gas to incandescence, has such great intrinsic. brightness, t hat t~e
Lighthouse Department has been mduced to t ry th1s
.
system of illum1na~ion.
Incandescence W1th low-pressure gas only giVes a comparatively feeble intrinsic brightne~. <;Jo~pr~edgn.s must
be used in order to obtain a greater mtnnslC bn~htness t~an
that afforded by the largest petroleum burners m use. W 1th
compressed gas, the qua~tity of g~ supplie~ to tlie man~le,
and the rate of combust10n, vary m pro!>ort10n to the P,lessure; whilst the dimensions of the mcandescent ligJlt
remain unaltered. The temperature of the ~antle and 1ts
intrinsic brightness are therefore gradually m creased. T(!)

'

-
t'-

. _,'

the air required for combustiorr.

In P starting, .the
vaporiser is ' heated by a spirit flame to the required
temperature.
.
.
If the type of optical app~ratus permits,. the vaiP,Ori~er
is made in the form of an mverted U (F1g. 3), w1th 1ts
extremities placed as near as possible to the mantle.
When the optical apparatus does n ot permit of the above
arrangement for the vaporiser, or where a fixed burner is
employed, the optical apparatus being alone movable, .t he
tu be con veying the petroleum is placed against. the
vaporiser (lfig. 4). 'l'he two. tubes thus cast a s~ngle
shadow which can be thrown mto the dark arc of ,.hgbtnmg lights with group flashes, or into the landward ~re in
the case of the old type of apparatus. The adoptwn . of
larger mantles and of vaporisers with flattened tubes, now
on trial, will tend in future to limit the use of burners of
the type represented on Fig. 4. These '!:>m"Ders <?n~y require the addi_tio~ of a petr?le~m reservo1~ of. a mmunum
ca9acity of 4 litres (244 cub1c mches), wh10h 1s connec.ted
w1th another reservoir of at least d9uble the capac1ty~
filled with air at a pressure.of G kilogrammes (84 lb: J
(Fig. 5). A regulator maintam s the pressure of the atr
upon the petroleum to at least 2 kilogrammes (28 lb.j.
The consumption of petroleum is as low as 4 grammes
(0.147 oz.)ler hour per carcel of light intensi~y in the
mantle.
cons~mption. of 5 graii?m.es (0.175 oz.), however is assumed m pract10e, and this 1s much lower than
that' of any lamp hit herto employed.. The total rate of
consumption per hour is therefore 175 g1~amm~s (6.172 oz.).
Petroleum vapour is employed as an illummant for the
lighthouses of Four (Finistere), ofRoches Douvres, and of
t he Grand Cbarpentier, al~ of which are situated out
at sea ; for the le~g lights of Graves, E?t. Georges,
Trezien) and St. Mathieu, and for t he flash-ligh ts of t he
I sland of Batz, of K ermorvan, of Poulains, an~ of Camarat.
This illuminant will also be adopted for the hghthouses of

guentl;t adopted for illuminating the pier-heads of Port

'l'udy (Ile de Groix), of P alais (Belle Ile), of T urballe, of
Cette, etc., which are inacceSsible during rough weather ;
and for illuminating the beacon-towers of 1\IIorees
(situated near the approaches of St. Nazaire), of the Trois
Pierres (entrance of L orient), of the Vinotiere (near
Brest), and of the Vieux-Moines ; also for the lighthouses
of Haut-Banc-du-Nord (lle de R e), and of l'lle Harbour
(Bay of St. Brieuc), which are situated out at sea. This
system has been applied to such an extent that it wn.s
necessary to give these lights all the characteristics of
attended lights. 'his has been effected by adopting the
system of flotation in a mercury bath, employed with
h ghtning lights, which enable the apparatus to be easily
revolved.
"\Vith light optical apparatus, the power req uired for
t he rotation at ordinary speed does n ot exceed 1250
grammes-centimetres (0.09 foot-pound). Consequen tly,
a battery which has only to be rechM'ged at long intervals suffices to rotate the apparatus. This battery
operates a Gramme ring which revol ves between the poles
of two permanen t magnets ; the Gramme rino-, in its turn,
rotates a central Yertical shaft connected wihl; the optical
apparatus. The avernge velocity of rotation is only one
revolution in ten seconds; and owing to tbe very Rlow
speed it is ~ecessary to employ a lM:ge number of very
fine wire cmls of great electnettl resiStance. The apparatus has, conseque!ltly, very little st.ability ~n work.mg ;
and to increase th1s the armature 1s provided w1th a
series of copper rings, in which Foucault currents are set
up havin~ a strengthappro:ximately proportionate to the
sp~ed, whiCh act ~ a sort o.f electao-magnetic. brake. .In
this way the resiStance mcrenses a.utomat10a.Uy mth
the speed; . and .any acciden~al slowing down is
avoided as Immediately t here. IS a tendency to red uce
speed, the resistance is d iruinished to ~ correspond

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

S EPT. 2 0 , 1901.]

421

'

'

THE ILLUMINATING POWER OF FRENCH LIGHTHOUSES.

-------------------------------------------------------~--~--------------------------~--~--------~~------~--------- .
Ligh~hou s e s.

Luminous
Source.

Obaraoteristios.

Width of the
J;anels in Terms of
the Circumference.

Focal Distance.

Date.

Intensity
Light.

or

REMARI<S.

. ------------------ - - - - - -------------- ------- --- - ------ - ---- -- - ------'

LIGIITHOOSES ILLUMINATED WIT H OIL.

Ile de B1tz
Ailly
..
Oon t ls
..
Ohassiron ..
An ~l fer
..

. I White, prolonged 6 lShes, regular (1 min.) ..

. . Burner, 5 wicks . .

m. (86.22 ln.!

..

86.22 1 t
" 36.22 "
, SO.22 , )
" 12.99 " )
BY INOANDRSOENOE.

Ohassiron ..
Ile de Seine
Allly
..
Ile de Batz ..
lie Vierge ..
Qbassiron ..

. . White, prolonged fl ashes, regular (10 secs.)

. Iooandesoent gas
..
,
lightning light, 4 group flashes (26 seas.)
"
"

"

. .'

.,
"

.I

..

,
,.
,

"

,
.,

.,

..

..
.
.

"

,
..

(1 ., ) . .

(30 S( C.) ..
(10 , ) . .
(2o , }. .

,,

..
..
..

(20 "

,
4
,
(2E ,
,
regular (10 secs,) . .
prolonged flashes, regular (10 secs. )

1878
0.92
tt
1t
1878
0. 92
"
"
1878
0. 92
,
6 wicks .. 1891
0. 02
"
"
1894
0. 88
LIGHTHOUSES ILLUMINATED

..

"

,. pelrol<um
,
,
, acetylene

1896
1897
1899
1900 '

1901
1902

0.92 m.
0.92 "
0. 70 "
I)J~2 ,
I 0. 70 ,
0.92 ,

(86.22 in.)
~86.22 " )
27, 66 "
80. 22 ,
(27. 6(3 ,
(36.22 , )

Oarceltl. *

t
t

i
i

Or ~ "o' h

..
..
..
..
..

. . White, prolonged flashes,

..

group flashes (16 sec. ) Elect ric a.ro

,

( LO ,

. . White, lightning light, regular (6 sea. )

..

..

..

..

"

..

(6 , )

2 group flash es ( LO seo.) ..

,
"

..
..
..
..

,
,

1888
1888
1893
1899
1901

0.80
0 80
0. 80
0.80
0.30

m. (11.81

in . ~

,
"
"
"

"
"
.
" )
" )

(11.81
(11. 8 1
(11.81
(11.8t

i
i

*1

90,000
860,000 to 6&0,000
1,000,000 to 2,000,000
1,600,000 to 8,200,000
1,600,000 to 8,200,000

LIGHTSUIPc::.

The Lighthouse Department has within recent years

inaugurated a new d epar t ure in lightship construction . In
the first place it was found that tlie period of oscillation of
t he waves, which materially affects t he stability of a
lightship, is fairly constant at each site of anchorage.
Endeavours were consequently mad e to diminish the
amplitude of oscillation of lightships : 1. By eliminating
synchronism between the period of oscillation of the
lightship and that of the waves acting upon it. 2. By
red ucing the rolling produced by the waves, by the addition of side keels to the vessel. This was done, in 1890
and 1891, on the D yck and Ruyting'en lightships, of 290
and 338 tons displacement respectiVely. The period of
roll of these lightshi ps has been prolonged to four seconds;
whereas the period of oscillation of the waves n,t the site
is two and a half seconds. The period of four seconds
has been an ived at by reducing the leverage of the metacentre in cross-section to less than 0.8 metre (2.624 ft. ),
n,ud also by increasing the tmnsverse moment of inertia
by placing pig-iron ballast ns far di tant as possible from
the longitudinal axis of the ship. The reduction or rapid
cessation of the oscillations is produced by adding three
keels to t he vessel, the central keel being 1 metre (3.28 ft. )
deep, and the side keels 0.75 metre (2.46 ft. ) deep. The
increase of stabili ty t hereby obtained is very marked.
It has been still further increased by designing the other
par ts of the ship so that t he waves have less effect upon
It, and so that a greater force is requi red to incline the
ship to a given angle, than was neces.~ry with former
types of lightships. This hus been obtained by building
recent ligh tships with a reduced section at the water
line, and with a lower centre of gravity, the displacement
and periods of roll remaining the same. The draugh t of
t he vessels has consequently been very much increased;
and t he ballast consists of pieces of cast iron attached to
the central keel outside the vessel.
These arrangemen ts have been tried on two new lightship , the Talais and nouw, which, being less exposed,
could be made smaller than the Ruytingen lightship,
with 100 tons and 130 tons displacement respectively.
':J.1he trials made wi th these vessels confir med all expectations as to their stability, but they also showed that the
Snouw was too small to withstand the waves of the open
sea. H eavy wH,ves swept i ts deck ; and although they
do not affect the vessel's stability, they render the work
of the crew very tryin~. It is proposed, however, to
remedy this by lengthemng t he hull.

Old optical apparatus, first order.

"

,,

"

Double set of new optical apparatus.

Old optical apparatus1 flrat order.
Double set of new opttoal apparatus.
Old optical apparatus, first order.

Double set of optical apparatus.'

'

The information afforded . by these various trials and

experiments has been utilised for the design of the lightshtJ? which is to be n;looied on the "'Sandettie." These
designs have been made by the Cen tral Lighthouse Departn1~nt, assisted by MI~. Teri~, !~l1genieur en' chef de la.
marine (see pag-e~~O). A~e!j,esof observn.tions taken during
three consecutive mon ths '(Ju'ry 11 to Octo'ber 3i, 1900), a t
the site rroposed for the new lightship, show that the
motion o the sea at this point is precisely similar to that
at the anchorage of the Ruytingen lightship, and that the
half period of oscillation of heavy waves is about two and
a half seconds. The principal dimensions of the Ruytingen lightship, which has afforded satisfactory results,
have therefore been taken as a basis, and modified, where
necessary, in accordance with the results of the observations and experimen ts referred to above. The main
dimensions of the vesse1 have, consequently, been fixed as
follow:
Length over all...
...
. .. 35.00 m. (114ft. 10 in. )
vVidth at the water-line
... 6.24 , ( 20 , 5 , )
Depth from deck to bottom of
...
... 5.10 , ( 1G ., 8~, )
hold at centre
Depth from water -line to
bottom of hold at cent re .. . 3. GO , ( 11 , 9 ~ , )
Projection of the keel and
false keel in the middle ... 1.00 , ( 3 , 3 , )
Mean drau~h t, when load ed ... 4.60 , ( 15 , 1 , )
Depth of s1de keels at centre 0.80 , ( 2 , 7~, )
Displacement .'..
.. .
.. .
342 tons
The metacentric leverage transversely is 0.393 metre
(1.29 ft. ), and 30.3Gmetres (99.58 ft. ) longitudinally. The
hull is divided into six compartments by five watertight
partitions across the ship. The two compartment~ at
either end are separated into an upper and a lower
chamber by a wooden deck. The compressed-air reser voirs
for the sounding signal and the gas reservoir for illumination are placed m the third compartment from the bow ;
the boilers, the machinery for the sounding signal, and
the coal bunkers are in the fourth compartmen t. 1'he
crew's quar ters are in the second compartment, and the
officers' quarters are in the fifth. The latter contains
water cisterns of a capacity of 10 tonneaux (2200 gallons).
The end comJ?artments, fore and aft, are used as storeroorus for sails and ropes. 'fhe captain's cabin, the
cliamber for the sounding signal, and the cook's galley
are pln.ced on deck amidships, where the gangways leading down to the four central compartments are also situated. The lantern is canied on a hollow iron mast of
0.75 metre (2.46 ft.) internal diameter; access is provided
by two doors in the mast- one on deck level and another
in the machinery room. The sails consist of a jib and
mainsail, the latter hoisted along an iron uprigh t parallel
to the mast, and of a jigger attached to a special mast .
There are four anchors : a. mushroom anchor weighing
2000 kilogrammes (4400 lb.) two anchors of 700 kilogrammes (1540 lb.) for the catbeads, and a cast -iron sinker

of 120 kilogrammes (2G4.lb. ).

The mooring cables are 0.042 metre (1.654 in.) in diameter. and 300 metres (984 ft.) long. Two steel hawseholes are provided in the bulwarks for the sheet anchors.
Another cylindrical hawse-hole, in the centre of the bow,
connected with the stern slightly above the water -line
when loaded, is provided for mooring the ship. The
lightship has two small lifeboats, 6 metres (19.68 ft.) and
5.75 metres (18.8G ft.) long respectively, provided 'vith
air chambers.
The illuminating portion consists of a swinging optical
apparatus for a. lightning-light, giving out white flashes
at regular intervals of five seconds. The optical apparatus, which has four panels of 0. 25 metre (9.84 in.) focal
distance, is J?rovided at the lower part with a rod carrying
a. counterweight. This rod is fixed by means of a Ca1dan
join t, below the apparatus, in the centre of a horizon tal
ring rolling on steel ball bearings and operated by the
rotating machine. Another counterweight is placed at
the top of the apparatus. This apparatus weil?hs 700 kilogrammes (1540 lb.), and is so designed that Its centre of
gravity is 0.015 metre (0. 591 in. ) below the point of suspension. Under these conditions, t he period of a single
oscillation of the apparatus is about 8 seconds. The
difference between thlS and e. half period of the roll of
the ship is such that the elivergence of the apparatus

"

"

carcel = 9.6 oandle3.

ing exten t. The battery is composed of four or five

Labaude and Chaperon cells of 600 ampere-hours capn.
city, coupled in series. These cells have a f~tir1 y constant
electromotive force of 0. 80 volt n.t the outset ; after a fe,v.
hours the voltage falls to O.G5 volt at the terminals, and
to 0. 60 volt at the end of the discharge. The resistance is
0.04 ohm at the commencement of the dischar~e, and
about double that am0unt a t the end. The capa01ty is at
least 300 watt-hours, with an electromotive force of O.G5
volt. Assuming a rate of consumption of about 0.100
watt-hour per cell (0. 150 a. x 0.65 v.), the discharge will
continue for 3000 hours, or 125 days. As the eloctromo
tive force at the terminals is reduced by about 20 per
cent. from the commencement to the end of the discharge~
cnre must be taken to recharge each cell in rotation, ana
ut stated inter vals. This keeps the electromotive force
fairly constant ; and the speed of the apparatus is only
affected by variatiotlS in the pa.ssi ve resistance. In fact,
t he stabih ty in actual working is such that there is only
a variation of three seconds, more or less, in the ten seconds
arranged for each rovolu tion of the optical apparat us.
'l'lus arrangemen t has been adopted to characterise
occulting lights, such as those of the R oche Mengam
(Goulet de Brest), and of Men-H ir (near P enmarc'h), or
lightning lights with regular flashes, such as those of t he
Ile aint Marcouf, or lightning lights with two or three
group tia hes, such as those on the jetty of the commer
oin1 port of Cherbourg, and those of Ville-es-Mar ten
(groups of two flashes), of the H orai ne d e Brehat, of
\Vttlde, and of Corn-Carhai (groups of three flashes).
T he luminous power of permnnent lights averages 100
C!lrcels for reRular lightning lights, from 85 to GO carcels
for lights witn 6'roups of two or three flashes, and 8
carcels for fixed hghts.

"
"
" apparatus.
Hyper-radiant

.,

"

18,000
26,000
60,000
26,000
60,000
36,000

LIGHTHOUSES
I LLU?lflNATED
DY 'EtROTRIOITY.
1I
I

Oale.Js
Ord \c'h
L\ H~ve
GrizNe7.

Lower and upper mirrors.

Oatadioptlc rJnge.

6,1S2
6,199
4,085
7,000
16,000 to 22,000

"

.'

from the vertical is less than 5 d eg. to 6 deg., and the

illumination is not affected thereby . The illuruinal'\t for
incandescen t ligh ting is compressed oil ga . I t is con-
veyed through a pipe running up the mast, and when it'
reaches the t<.>P. it passes t hrough a mercury joint into a
small tube, which turns exactly at the same rate as t he
apparatus, by means of a train of wheels operated by the
rotating machine. 'fhis small tube is copnect~ by a
rubber pipe to the lower rod of the apparatus, which has
a hole running up the cen tre for the passage of the gas to
the blU'ner. The illuminating vower is 3500 carcels. The
gas is stored in three reservoll'S, which are tested at a
pressure of 8 kilogrammes (112 lb.) ; t wo of the reservoir3
have a capacity of G300 cubic metres (8240 cubic yards),
and the third a capacity of 5200 cubic metres (6801 cub1c
yards).
In addition to the illuminating apparatus, the lightshiJ?
has to be provided 'vith pJant for the sounding signal. This
comprises two boilers with distilling plant, self-condensers,
and air-compressors ; and a single siren worked by compressed air, 'vith reservoirs and accessories. The boilers
and condensers are 'also used for working the steam windlass on board. These bOilers are of the type adop ted for
the 50 horse-power engines of scouting or des,Patch steam
launches of the French Navy ; they have an m ternal firebox, a direct flame, with forced draught by means of a
steam jet into the flue, ~nd a d istilling boiler t ube. The
self-condens~~ have n. s~gle-cylinder steam engine, which
operates an air-{lump, two ~eed pumps, the pumps for the
recuperator of diStilled water_, and the centrifugal pump
for maintaining the circulat10n of t he water. The aircompressing plant co~sists of a . steam engi ne wor king a
compressmg pump with two p1stons, and a pump for
maintaining the circulation of the sea-water. The compressing pumps are designed to work,at will, either at
a pressure of 15 kilogrammes (210 lb.), or at 2 kilogrammes (28 lb. ).
.
The sounding signal is a single-note siren req_uiring 400
litres (14.12 cubic feet) of air p er second; the p1tch of the
note corresponds to 330 vibrations . J?er second. The
rotating maclli?e causes the .siren to eirut a sou~d of th~
seconds' durat10n, alterna.tmg every 90 seconds with a
series of three notes, each of three seconds' duration, 'vith
intervals of three seconds between each note. There are
two reser voirs for storing the necessary air for starting the
apparatus instantaneously ; they have each a capacity of
8150 cubic metres (10,660 cubic yards), and are tested at a
pressure of 15 kilogrammes (210 lb.).
The Sandet tie lightship and accessories will cost
340,000 francs (13, GOOl.). This estimate is arri ved a t as
follows :Francs.
Hull, including cable and
anchor gear, etc.
...
... 225,000 (9000)
Optical
apparatus and gas reser
VOirs
...
..
...
... 33,000 (1320)
Boilers and self-condensers
... 30,000 (1200)
So~nding si~nal appamtus and
tt.u reservol1'3 ...
.. .
22,000 (880)

Air compressor~ ...
...
... 17,000 (680~
Erection, and various items ... 13,000 (520
The crew will consist of a captain and a mate, who will
succeed one another on board every alternate fortnight
12 seamen, eigh t of whom will be on boa.rd and four o~
land, so that each seaman will in t urn spend a month on
board and a fortnight on land; two mechanics to attend
to th~ engines, who will succeed one another on board in
rotat1on every 15 days.
B EACON-TOWERS I N C ONCRETE AND IN N EAT CEMENT.

Apart from the action of the wind, towers which are

very exposed are shaken by heavy waves. This gives rise
t<? the v?-bra tion and. noise. which. are produced by any
violent 1mpact. I t IS qmte logical to consider these
as the effect of the impact of waves upon the tower
because nu appreciable part of the kinetic energy of
the waves has, in a very short interval of time. been
~bsorbed and c~>nverted into molecular work in the tower.
The theory ?f 1mpact tells us, and practice confirms this,
that the res1stance of a body to a shock d epends principally upon its total mass, and also that t he more homogeneous a body is, the greater is its re3istance. Looking

~-------------------- . ------------------------------------

422

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

at the question from this point of view, in which the

essential factor of resistance is the whole mass of the
tower, we find it advisable to build the latter in the form
of a monolith.
Thus, instead of building the most recent French lighthouses at sea with ashlar masonry, the method adopted
h~ ~n to. employ small ~tones set in P ortland .cement,
w1th a facmg of small p10k dressed stones. Stmilarly,
beacon-towers which were formerly built with ashlar
masonry, and subsequently with small stone and ordinary
masonry are now constructed of concrete or of neat
cement deposited within framing. This simplified method
of construction is economical and rapid ; and, ruoreovert
it increases the resistance of the work to the ,principal
stre ses to which it is subjected. When it is advlSa.ble or
necessary to accelerate the work of construction, the ex~ense can even be reduced by employing neat cement.
The framing within which the concrete is deposited, when
the work is done above water, consists of eight cast-iron
corner-pieces, with boards inserted between them. These
corner-pieces are securely bolted together, and form, with
the intermediate planking, a framework sufficiently
stroll~ for secure construction, on condition that the
framtng is raised from time to time a!i the work
prooeeds, and that the p ortion above the deposited
conorete is left as low as possible. All the cornerpieces are identi~l in shape ; they are 0.44 metre
(1. 44 ft.) high, and weigh from 60 to 70 kilogrammes
(132lb. to 154 lb. ). The framing for beacon-towers can
thus be made to any required size with the same plant,
by merely varying the length and spacing of the eight
corner-pieces, and employing intermediate planking of
suitable length.
The cement is deposited under water by means of a sailcloth skip, opening at the bottom. The skip has orifices
which allow the water to enter through the lower p art, as
the cement is deposited. This arrangement enables the
wetted cement to pass out of the skip when it is opened,
without being soaked or washed away by the sea water. Selected blocks of granite, fragments of cast iron, and pieces
of pig iron are solidly imbedded in the centre of the work,
to counterb~ance the comparative lightness of the neat
cement; this increases the total weight of the tower,
without affecting its homogeneity outside the central
portion. Mortar mad e with sand should be used in preference to neat cement for those portions of the work
which are left out of water sufficiently long by the fall of
the tide. Rubble stone and shingle can be added for the
part of masonry above high tide.
The mass of beacon-towers is increased by making them
larger, and by increasing their specific weight. During
recent years the increase in volume has been obtained by
making the towers higher, in preference to increasing
thE:'ir diameter. These beacons are fairly often raised
about 10 metres (33 ft.) above high water, thereby increasing considerabl.Y. their resistance to the action of the
waves and their visibility; and they can, if desirable, be
provided with a p ermanent light. The little towers of
L a Grand Vinotiere and L es Vieux-Moines (Finistere)
hMe been built in this manner.

POWER REQUIRED TO DRIVE A MARINE

ENGINE WORKS.*

(SEPT. 20, 190f.

the work.<) consic:;ted of one marine type boiler workin~ at

80 lb. pressure, and su~plying steam to three vert1cal
compound engines for dnying the machinery, and one vertical compound engine for lighting purposes. The points in
fa vour of so many units were the saving in steam when
running one or two machines at night, which might b~
driven by one of the small engines; and also the fact that
in the event of a breakdown of one engine, the other
parts of the works were not affected.
It was, however, decided to put in one engine capable
of driving and lighting the entire works, and to meet the
difficulty of late work by driving those machines which
experience showed were the most likely to be needed at
night by motors which could be connected 'vith current
f1om the Glasgow Corporation. The engine was made 1o
a simple design, in order to make the fear of a breakdown
very remote. A cylindrical marine boiler, designed to
work under either forced or natural draught, was selected
as the most suitable type, and has proved itself both
economical and reliable. The position of the power
station was fixed to a certain extent by circumstances.
The works are situated in a busy part of the City of
Glasgow, where ground is co~tly and economy of floor
space essential. There is no direct communication with
any railway, so that all material has to be carted to and
from the works. Close proximity to the street was therefore an importaqt factor in settling the position of the
boiler. The position chosen was between the engine and
boiler departments, and as the difference in the floor level
of these departments is about 6ft. , the boil~r was placed
on the lower level, and th~ coal tipped over into a bunker
in front of it {Fig. 1). Th~ ashes were returned by an
hydraulic hoist to a receiver raised above on the higher
level, under which a cart might be filled automatically.
The engine (Fig. 5) was placed as near the boiler

'

' t

,.

Fig.4.

------------,
I '

' 1------"c:;:rl?"
-. L/ =-

By Messrs. J AMES CRIGHTON and W. G. RID DELL,

of Glasgow.
IT is not the intention of the authors to attempt to
describe a model engin~ works or driving plant, but
rather to ~numerate and show the result of a few improvements which have been adopted by the firm with which
they are connected.
About three years ago it was decided to rearrange the
works in a thorough wanner, and to fit up a new pmyer
installation. The works had gradually grown durmg

F&'

Arrtmgtm.t:nb of'.Boil.4r rDI.lL S tokeltol.tt

w9 e

JP ea

ea

'L

.!f'~

upwards of thirty years, and most of the buildings ~ere

in excellent condit1on and in no need of reconstructiOn.
The problem to be solved, th~n was how to lay down an
economical driving plant wh10h would conform to t he
existing conditions, and whic~ would not ~ead to an unnecessary sacrifice. At that trme the mot1 ve power of
In~ernational Engin.eering Congress1 Glasgow1 1901. Sectton Ill. ; Mechamc~l.

* Paper read at the

for phenomenal results did not prevent the weight of the

coal burned at the tests from being apparently less than
the weight passed over the weighbridge. The difference
was sometimes as great As 5 per cent., after deducting coal
used for keeping up fires at night and for lighting fires at
the be~inning of the week. Measuring was therefore
discontinued, and the weight of coal passed over the
weighbridge taken as the amount burned. The water
meter was read at stopping tim~ each Saturday, and
continuous weekly returns sho,ving the cost per 100
gallons of water evaporated were made up from the figures
thus obtained.
The tabulated tests of the boiler were made when the
alterations to the driving plant were incomplete, and the
amount of steam required was greater than is used in
ordinary circumstances. I t is probable, however, t hat,
owing to additions to the works and new machine tools,
the quantity of water evaporated at t hese tests will ultimately be required. Now that all the power in the works
is denved from one engine, less steam is being used, and
the rate of combustion per square foot is less and t he
efficiency slightly &"reater. Notwithstanding this, the
tests taken at the htgher rate of combustion have been
used in this paper as the basis for calculating tbe cost of
power a.c:;, in course of time, t he conditions ,I?revailing at
these tests will be the normal working conditions of the
boiler.
Trials of the boiler were carried out for four consecutive
weeks, with a different kind of coal ~ach week. The co:tl
was tested daily during t he four weeks with a Thomson's
oxygen calorimeter. During t he first week the cheapest
quality of coal which would give the required amount of
steam was used. This cost Ss. 10d. per ton, tt.nd goes by
the local name of "washed singles." It had a low calorific
value of about 10,000 British thermal units per pound.

as poSsible, with t~e crankshaft parallel to two ?f the main

lines of shop shaftmg. Two dynamos were laid do~vn for
lighting and driving purposes, and t~ese a~d the hnes. of
sliafting were connected to the mam engme shaft With
belts, and all so arranged 8:8 to be eas~ly discol?-nected.
Motors were laid down to dn ve all outlymg shaftmg.
The existing conditions having been t reated in a
~eneral way, the dri~ing pl!l'nt will now be. described
m detail. The boiler (Figs. 1 and 4) IS of the
cylindrical marine tyPe, 13 ft_. 6 in. mean ~iameter by
12 ft. 6 in. long, and IS.fitt~d '~th t~ree Mornson suspension furnaces 3 ft. 1 m. Iru:Ide dtameter by 8 ft. long.
The working pre?sure is 200 lb. per square inch. The
firebars are 5 ft. long, and the grate area is 46.2 square
feet. There are three separate combustion chambers
and 316 tubes ~ in. exten~n.l diameter by 8 ft. lo?g.
The total heating surface 1s 2040 square feet, .bemg
44.2 times the grate area. The length . of the c~Imney
above the firebars is 65 ft. A 60-m. fu.n 1s provided to blow air into the furnaces through fronts
of the H owden type, an~ th~ boiler tubes are fit~ed
with retarders. The bo1ler 1s covered all ov.er. w1tp.
non-conducting material, and the lo~s from .radiatiOn 1s
so small that 3 cwt. to 5 cwt. of coal1s suffiment to keep
up t he stea~ pressure d~ning the ni~ht when ~he engit;le
is not working. A Cratg's combu~t10n tester 18 kept m
the boiler-room, by means of wh10h the perce.ntage of
carbonic acid gas in the uptake J?ay be read a:t Sight, a_nd
the air supply reduced to the pomt where effiCiency begms
to decrease. The feed-water is heated by exhaust steam,
and enters the boiler through a Kennedy water meter ~t
a temperature of 205 deg. F ahr. The arrangement lS
shown in Fig. 4.
.
.
Numerous evaporative tests were earned out wtth
differen t ki nds of coal. The coal and ashes were measured,
and the capacity of the measure wns freq~ently tested,
and the water meter was read at regular mtervals. .It
was, however, found that even the fl.b~ence (:)f a des\1;'e

The rate of combustion was fully 40 lb. per squu,re foot of

grate per hour, and when burning thiS quantity great
volumes of black smoke were given off.
"Washed doubles" or " nuts" was the next quality
tried. I t costs l s. per ton more than '' singles," and had
a slightly higher calorific value ; but its evn.porative
power was not worth the extra 1s.
The third test was made with "steam coal triping " at
!Os. 6d. per ton. The great defect of this coal was the
large proportion of fine dust contained in it. An air
pressure of ft in. had to be maintained in the ashpits in
order to burn it quickly enough, and this carried tlie dust
away before it was burned. It lodged in crevices of the
smokebox, where it took fire and did damage.
The fourth and last coal tried was steam coal at 11s. 6d.
This coal had a calorific value of 14,320 British thermal
units, and &"ave all-round satisfactory results. The cost
of eva~orat10n was slihtly higher with this coal th:1n
\vith ' washed singles ' - 7.49d. pet 100 gallons against
7.36d. per 100 gallons, but this was more than saved in
wages. One fireman was able to attend to t he boiler all
day when firing steam coal, but had to be relieved when
firmg singles, t he rate of rombustion being so much higher
with the latter.
In Table I. (page 424), a deduction of 2 tons 'Yas made
iu each case from the weekly coal consumption when
finding the rate of consumption per square foot of grate.
This is the amount used for keeping up ste.1m at night
and lighting the fires at the beginning of the week .
The total weekly consumption wtl.S the weight taken in
finding the other figures. It may be added that, after
allowing for the error in rueasurmg the coal, an equivalent evaporation of 11.5 lb. from and at 212 de~. Fahr.
was frequently maintained for several hours at a time, but
the losses due to stoppages for meal hours and cleaning
fires reduced this to the fi"ures given in the Table. The
grate area of the boiler is 46.2 square feet, and the heating
surface 2,040 squar~ f~et. '.('h~ feed temperature WVrS

... -

THE POWER REQUIRED TO DRIVE MARINE ENGINE WORKS.

"

P4J .2.

F4J . 5 . -Shop &giM.

Arrangement of Pfn.r Home

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205 deg. Fahr., and the steam pressure 200 lb. during all
trials.
The engine (Fis-. 5) is of the vertical double-acting cornp ound type, and lS at present non-condensing. A cooling
tower is being erected, but, owing to its position in the
centre of the works, ili could not be completed sooner

Yrithout disorganising t he establli;hment. The engine

has cylinders 1~ in. and 23 in. in diameter by 21 in.
stroke, and working at 200 lb. pres.<iure per square inch.
The cranks are placed directly opposite each other, and t he
slide-val ves of both engines are actuated by one eccentric
and one valve spindle. At present the ex haust ~team passes

through a receiver to the atmosphere, the receiver being 1 feed pump, and is pumped through a K ennedy water
so constructed that it could be easily converted into a sur- meter direct into the boiler. In the design of the ens-lne,
face condenser when the cooling tower is ready, and this simi_>licity of par ts and ample bearing surface were aimed
is now being done. The feed-water meets the exhaust 1 at, m order to minimise, as far a~ possible, an y risk of
steam in the form of a spray, and is heated to 205 deg. , brea.kdown.
Fahr. It then falls by gravity to the fton.t tank of a W eir's
The two main lines of shafting (Figs. 6 and 7 above)

~
t-.)

E N G I N E E R I N G.
are ~riven direct .by means of belts from pulleys on the main
engme shaft (F1gs. 2 nnd 3, p age 423). Another belt is
t aken from the !fywheel on the engine crankshn,ft to a
co.untershaft, which countershaft in turn drives t he eleotnc generators. The generators a re two in number of
the Soh~ckert type, c!esigned for 110 volts and an output
~f
kilos each, which may be used alternatively for
h ghtmg and _power. From a series of trial it w as found
tliat the engm~ .was develop~g. 147.27 indicated horse~ower when dnVI!lg the e~ectnc lights alone. This represented a D?-eohamcal effi01e!1PY at the generator t erminals
of 0.68, ~vh10h may be conS"!-dered fa~rly good, seeing t hat
the engm~ was . only '':'orking at slightly more than half
lone!, a~d m cludmg, as 1t does, the losses in friction of t he
engme 1tself, dynamo countershaft, and dynamo.

1q

T ABLE

Kind of Oo!ll.

I.

Washed
Steam
Singles Doubles Oo!'l Steam
at
at
Triptng Coal at
ss. 10d. 9s. lOd. at Us. 6d.
10$. 6d.

--

Coal burned per week . . . tons 47.15

46.25
40.4
,.
,
square foot of
grate per hour . . .
lb. 40.6
89.7
84.6
Percentage of ash in coal
..
16
12
16
Total water evaporated per
week
..

..
lb. 716,000 713,300 715,400
Water evaporated per pound
of coal actYal . .
..
lb 6.76
6.88
7.9
Water evaporated per p ound
of ooal from and at 212 deg.
Fahr. ..
..
..
lb.
7.29
8.36
716
Water evaporated per square
foot heating surface . .
lb.
6.58
6.55
6.47
Temperature of uptake
63)
deg. F~br.
685
650
Air pressure in ashplta. .
In.
i
i
i
Oost of carting away ashes
shillings 1().6
88
9.7
Cost of fuel for evaporating
6.99
7.65
7.1
1000 lb. water . .
. . pence
Total cost of 1000 lb. steam, in
oludinlr cost of wakt coal,
and oartaie of asbe&- pence
7.:36
8.02
7.46

87.8
31.4

8
716,0 ~ 0

8.62
9.13

[SEPT. 20, 1901.

t he cost of 1 indicated horse-power will be much further

reduced .
It ~s hop eq that the figures given may help to provide
a ~~lS on whi~h t.o calculate the relative efficiency of the
dnvmg plaut m SlDlilar works.
TADLE !I. -Cost of One I ndicatecLH o1se-P ower p er
of 3000 H ou1s under the Old S ystem.
s.
Coal- 1545 tons at lls. 6d. p er ton
888 7
Wages for s team rn.ising . . .
. ..
176 2
. ,,
engine tending . . .
. ..
104 1
!viam tenn.nce of engines ttnd boilers
80 10
Oil waste and s undry stores
...
23 16
'N ater- 2, 172, 133 gallons n.t 30s. per
32 8
100,000 fallons
. ..
.. .
.. .
Cartage o ashes
.. .
.. .
.. .
11 11

Y ea1

d.
6
0
0
0

0
0

Total . . .
.. .
.. .
.. . 1406 15 G
1406l. 15s. 6d.
l
I H p
8
5
Mean I.H-:-=-P-:-165.2 = per .- per year.

TADLE III. -Cost of One I ndicated H orse-Power pe'r Y e1w

of 3000 H oWl'S Under N ew System,.
Coal- 1360 tons at lls. 6d. per ton
W ages for s team raising . . .
. ..
.,
engine t~nding .. .
.. .
M;amtenance of engme and boiler .. .
01l waste and s undries
...
. ..
W a.ter- 2, 750, 000 gallons at 30s. p er
100, 000 ga.Uons
.. .
.. .
.. .
Cartage of ashes
...
...
. ..

s. d.
782
02
200
25
28

0 0
0 0
0 0

0 0
10 0

41 5 0
10 4 0

6.55
6t7

!
4.4
7.14
7.49

. In order to find the p ower n.bsorbed by the line sha fting

m the works a series of trials was carried out. At t he
first trial only the line shafting and loose pulleys were
run. The machines and countershafts were run along
with the shafting at the second trial, and the finn.l trial
was made with the machines cutting at their normal rate.
The average diameter of the line shafting in the works is
3i in. , and its speed is from 140 to 150 revolutions p er
minute. It runs in white metal self-oiling p edestal bearings,
spaced about 12ft. n.part. The total length of line shn.fting
~n the works (Figs. G and 7} is 2300 ft.r and the weight
1s 37 tons 8 cwt. 2 qr. The engine ind1oated 61.75 indicated horse-power at the first trial, 141 indicated horsepower at the second, and 310 indicated horse-power at
the third. From these p owers it will be seen that the
line shafting absorbs 29.3 E~! cent. of the total power,
the countershafts a nd mac es 67 per cent., and that
only 33 p er cen t . is actually apJ?lied to the cutting tools.
B efore institutin~ u. companson between the old and
n ew systems of driving the works, it may be well to
enumerate briefly the various units which made up the
old ins tallation. These were :
1. A marine type boiler working at a pressure of 80 lb.
p er square inch. The feed water for the boiler was
h eated t o 205 deg. Fahr., as in the new boiler.
2. Three compound n on-condensing engines, indicating
collectively 151.2 indicated horse-power for driving purp oses.
3. One compound non-condensing engine for lighting
purposes, of 64.66 indicated horse-power. The boiler
evapora ted about G. 75 lb. of water p er p ound of coal, and
the e ngines used 43.8 ' lb. of water p er indicated horsep ower p er hour. This gn.ve an average coal consumption
of 6.4 lb. of coalper indicated horse-power. In calculat ing- the cost of a horse-power for a year, the coal used for
ratsing s team for smithy hammers and blowing engines
has not been taken into account, but the steam for electric
lightins. has been charged in each case, as it was almost
impossible to obtain accurate figures without doing so.
The proportion of steam used for smithy hammers was
found ~y working the smithy under' normal cond!tions for
three mghts of 12 hours each. The blower engmcs were
also run at their normal speed during this tes t . It will be
seen that the power for electric lig hting is much greater
in the new than in t he old system, and it may be contended that the great er efficiency of one horse-power in
the n ew syst em of driving is p artly due to t he betterlighted workshops ; but this is a refinement in to which
the scope of t his paper does not permit of investigation.
It now remains to be shown by h ow much the new
syst em is better than the old ; in other words, at h ow
much s maller cost it produces work. Since the power in
o.n engine works is expended in removing material from
rough castings and forgings, a figure may be found by
which different sys tems may be compared ; the system
by which a given weight of material is removed at the
s mallest cost being the most efficient. In order t o make
the grounds of compariso? simi.la r, the c~ttings produced
by machines whose scrap ts not m proport10n t o the power
expended - l'uch as s hearing machine::; ahd band sa~vs
are n ot taken into account, but the we1ght of all turnmgs,
&c.. for a fixed p eriod is divided by the cost of 1 horsepo wer for the same period, and a money value for t he
p ower per t on removed can ~hu~ be obtained. From t he
f<
0 Bowing T ables, III. to V., 1t Wlll be seen that ~h~ cost of
removing 1 t on under t he old sys tem of dnvmg was
5.2l l. and under the n ew system 2.48l., showing a saving
by t he new system of 52 per cent. N otwithstan~ing the
saving, it is clear that wh~n the surface condenser 1s fitted

1178 10 0
1178l. 10s. Od.
l
I H p
4
34
M en.n I.H. -P . 1. 3
per . .- . per annum.
27
TABLE IV. - Olcl System,.
Material removed per annum
...
245 t ons
,
,
perindioated horsep ower p er a nnum ...
...
...
l.Gl ,
Cost of removing 1 t on of mat erial
5.21

=. .

TABLE V .- N ew System,.
!v1aterial removed per annum
...
,,
, , per indicated h orsepower p er annum ...
...
...
Cost of removing 1 ton of material

367 tons
1.74 ,
2.48l.

LIGHTING OF THE CHINESE COAST.*

By Mr. J. R. HARDING, M. Inst. C.E., Engineer-in-Chief
to the Chinese Imperial Maritime Cus toms Service.
THE lighthouse service of C hina is n. department of the
Chinese Imperial Maritime Cus toms, which institution
has, under the able administration of Sir Robert Hart,
become practically the International Civil Service of the
~ountry, embracing 'yithin its comprehensive grasp many
Important undE:'rtakings other than the collection of
revenue.
The pa~r is divided into the following seven sub-headings : 1. Commencement of lighting the coa~t. 2. D escription of the more importn.nt lights in chronological
o:der. 3. The lighting of the Y angtze. 4. ].,og-signalling,
oil s torage, &c. 5. Staff. 6. Buoys and beacons. 7. Construction and maintenance.
1. vVhen Sir Robert Hart first joined the Customs
Service in 1859 the coast was practically unlighted, and
the work of establishing suitable safeguards for shipping
was only commenced in earnest in 1869, in which year
Mr. D. Marr H enderson, M. Inst. C.E ., was appointed
engineer to the Lighthouse D epartment, in which service
he remained until1898.
The designs for most of the lights on the Chinese coast
were prepared by Mr. H enderson, and th eir erection was
carried out under his direction.
2. A brief description is given of all the lights of any
importance on the Chinese coast, and plans of the various
stations accompanied the paper, \vitb a ohn.rt sho,ving
the positions and characteristics of the lights. Among
the most interesting stations are :
B1eake1 P oint, about 30 !lfiles South of Satow.- The
tower, which is 120ft. in heig ht to the lantern vane, was
designed by Mr. G eorge R endel, and consist s of o. wroughtiron cylinder or tube, made in sections and bolted together,
contaming a spiral stairway. The tube is enlarged at
the top to a diameter of 12ft., t o form a s~rvice room,
and to carry the lantern, and it is s tn.yed with eight large
wrought-iron stays, arranged in pairs, braced together,
and secured to anchor bolts embedded in P ortland cement
concrete. The tower was cheap, easily erected, and, what
is even of more importance on the Chinese coast easily
transported and landed. The light is first-order dioptric
white ocoulting, the oocultn.tions being produced by an
iron cylinder of slightly larger diameter than the burner,
n.lternately raised and lowered by a sui tn.ble clockwork.
South CCIIJ?e of Fo1m osa.- Tbe interest attached t o t his
s tation lies m the fact that it was built in a part of the
island inhabited solely by savages, and had, in con sequence, to be fortified. The lantern was protect ed by
steel revolving screens, a nd on the gallery of the tower,
which was of cast iron, n. machine g un was mounted on
racers. R ound the base of the tower wa built a wroughtiron refu ge or fort, communicating by bullet-proof pasRages with all t he rooms in t he keep ers, dwelling-houses.
B oth fort and tower were fitted w1th suitable accommodation for the staff in case of siege, h ad water-tanks in

the ba.sef!lent, and were s upplied with a ~took of provisions.

The stat1on. was further protected by a loop-holed wall
and a dr,y ditch, flanked by two smnll towers or caponieres,
armed with 18-pounder cannon.
Pei-yii-S~n. -A fine hyperadinJ light, floated on mercury, sho~n~ do~ble. flashes every half-minute.
A descnpt10n IS g1ven also of a composite lightship
~10ft. long.by 25 ft. ~m 1 which has been recently built
m Shanghai, a nd which s nows a trip white flash and is
fitted with a p owerful double-noted fog siren, operated
by two 9~ horse-power H ornsby-Aokroyd oil engines.
. 3. r.fhe Yangtze,_ which is probably t he third largest
nver m the world, 1s navigable for deep-drau~ht steamers
up to Hankow, a dis tance of 629 miles ; for hght-draug ht
sten.mers to I ohang, a further dis tance of 370 miles ; and
fo~ special steamers as far as Chungking, another 400
miles, and perhaps even further.
The lighting is carried out with sixthorder lens
ln.nterns, hoist ed on s uitable masts on shore or on native
cra ft fit ted as light boats, and attended to by native light
keepers.
G as b~oys on Pintsohe's syst em are now being provided
for. use 1~ . the Yangtze, and it is hoped that some will
be m pos1t10n early nex t year.
4. F og-signalling is undertaken mostly 'vith cast-iron
cannon, but four of the most important shore s tations
and three of the light-vessels are provided with sirens.
A T able is given showing the average number of hours of
fop; during the year at various points on the coast.
The stations ar~ supplied \vith water by large underg round cisterns, whi ch are filled with rain-water from the
roofs. This system of water supply has been always
found to be J?Ure and sufficient. The mineral oil used for
the burnersr 1s not stored in bulk in tanks, but in its
original tins and cases in s pecially isolated oil s tores. All
the buildings in the Chinese lighthouses are erected at
some d istance from the towers, in order that the latter
may not suffer in cnse of a fire occurring in any of the
quarters.
5. The more important coast lights are in charge of
foreign kee~ers, whose pay ranges from about 18l. to 9l.
a month. '!he river lights are manned by native keepers,
whose monthly pay ranges from 3l. 15s. to 15s.
6. Whis tling bell and ordinary buoys are in use, and
a Wigham 's buoy light has been experimented with. A
considerable number of gas buoys on Pintsche's system
are now under order, and s hould be wa t ching early next
year.
P ortland cement concrete sinkers are now being used to
m?or the buoys \vith, and a re found to be very economiCal. Buoys and beacons a re rul coloured on a uniform
system.
7. The pn.per concludes wit h a description of the
management of the servi~e.J. at the head of which is Sir
R obort H art, Bart., G .C.lV.t.G., the Inspector-General of
Chi!lese <;Justo.ms. T.he engine~ring is carried out by an
engmeer-m-ch1 ef, assiSt ant engmeer, and staff, and the
hydrographical and s urveying work is under the control
of a .coas.t inspector, .the latter .and the engin~er-in-chief
working m consultatiOn regardmg the select10n of sites
for light houses, &c. There are at present ninety-eight
lighthouses, four light-vessels, twenty light-boats, eigbtyeighb.buoys, and seventy-eight beacons under the management of the service, besides seventeen lights on the coast
in the hands of foreig n nations.

CATALOGUES.- M &'srs. J. H. Williams and Co., of

Brooklyn, New York, have issued a small pamphlet illus
trating a large vn.riety of dro_p-forgings both of simple
and of complicated shn.pe, wh10h have been turned out
by the firm since its incorporn.tion. - The E nglish Electric
M an.ufacturing Comp~ny, . Limited, of Preston , L n.ncashi~e, . hn.ve rel?ul?hs~ed m pamphlet form a detailed
descnpttOn of the1r t.ype of electric tramway motor which
originally appeared in the Elect1ioal Review.-Th~ Atlas
Company, Limited, . of 38, L endenhn.U-streot, L ondon
E. C., have sent us n. copy of their new oa.talogue of re:
frigerating n.nd ice-malcing m~chinery. This fir~, we learn,
have also taken up the Sohrmdt system of working engines
'vith superheated st eam.-In connection \vith their exhibit at Glasgow, the General Electric Company, Limited
of L ondon and M anchest er, have issued a small pamphlet
describing the various objects of interest to be seen a t
their stand. These range from a d ynamo and engine
down to electric lighting s undries.-M essrs. J essop and
Appleby Brothers, Limited, of 22, W a lbrook, E. C., have
se~t us a ca;taloguP of the ele~tri.c cranes and hoisting machinery wluch a re now a speCiahty of the firm.-In their
record of recent constructions jus t issued, the Bn.ldwin
L ocomotive Works, of Philndelphia, giv~ a short his tory
of the W ootten firebox, which, more or le...Q,S modified, has
now become so popular in the U ni ted States. Some
of the more recent engines of t his type ha.ve grates
aggregating 50 squnre feet in area, and a h eating s urface
of over 3000 square feet.- 1\!Iessrs. G rahn.m, M orton, and
Co., of Black Bull-street, L eeds, have sen t us a copy of a
new catalogue illustrating conveying plan t erected at
various gas works, factories, a nd electric light and power
stations throughout t he country. --The Hilles n.nd J ones
Company, of Wilmington, D elaware, U .S.A., have issued
a new catn.logue of bridge works and shipyard tool ' .
These include punches, both of the single and multiple
ty pes, hearing machines, and bending and trnightenmg
rolls.- !viessrs. !vlerryweather and Sons, Limited, of 63t
L ong A cre, W. C., hn.ve issued a mall catalogue devotea
to various a pplications of their so-called " India, pump,
whioh is a pattern designed for use wi th hand power. Amongst the recent publications issued by the Briti h
Thomson-H ouston Company, Limited, of 83, Cannon* Abstract of paper read before the International Engi- street, E. C., l\re two dealmg respeoti vely with small
neering Congress, Glasgow, 1901. Section III. : W a ter- direct -current motol':5 and with alternate-current generators.
ways and M aritime 'Vorks.

SEPT. 20, 190!.]

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

. Employment in the gla.s~ trades shows a ;light .fall- ing, and the sub - commit~~e had dealt with a special
TI!E rep ort of the general state of the labour market m~ off when compared wtth last month. Compared case r?fe~red to it. A~J disputes were adjusted withas g1 Yen by the L9.bour Department of the Board of w1th last year there is also a. decline.
out fr1ct10n; a. fact wb1ch speaks volumes in fa vour of
Trade, was based on 2420 returns, na mely 1710 from
the system adopted by the North of England .Board.
Employment in the spinning branch of the cotton There was no change in the rates of wages a.t the last
employera, 586 from trade unions, and 124' from other
sources. ~t states ~hat employment in the past month trade. shows a slight d ec~ine, but is still fair; in the ascertainment, the wages continuing the same to the
shows an u~cre8.e 10 the percentage of unemployed weavmg branch 1t remams slack. Information re- end of the present month. At a recent m~eting of
compared w1th July, but this is largely due tp the uguai s~ecting factories employing about 71,000 women and the Standing Committee the dispute a.t the Consett
~easonal decline in the printing and other trades. The guls shows that 80 P.er cen~. of tbos.e in spinning mills, W orka was considered ; and after both aides bad been
Iron and .coal trades were fully as well employed as in and ~4 per cent. of those m weavmg factories were ~eard-representatives of employers and workmenthe preywus moot~. Compared with a year ago, most workmg in factories giving full employment th~ougb It was agreed that the wages of the men in dispute be
of the Important mdustries show a decline. . During out the month, to be compared with 81 and 65 per reduced 5 per cent. immediately, and a. further 2! per
August there wn.s a. fall of wages affecting a consider- cent. respect~vely, in July, and with 70 and 67 per cent. ~rom the first pay-?ay in October. Reports are
a~le number of coal mioera. In the 142 trade unions cent. respectively a. year ago. Employment in the also gt van of. the meet!Dgs of the ~idland Wages
wtt,h an aggregate membership of 543,971, making re~ wool.len trade is moderate. In the worsted trade it Board, when 1t was de01ded not to cla.tm a reduction
contmues slack. In the hosiery trade it shows a ~ ~o~sidera.tion of the act ion of the operatives in n'o t
turns, 21,025 (or 3.9 per cent. ) were reported a 13 un . further
decline, and is slack.
employed . at the end of. August, compared with 3.4
cltllmmg an advance on a previous occasion. Wages
pe~ cent. ~n July, and w1th 3.0 per cent. in t he 138
the
same
until
October
5,
1901.
remain
. Agricultural labourers have been, generally speakuntOns, With a. ~embership of 534,331, from whioh lOg, well employed during August, chiefly at harvest
returns were receiVed for August, 1900.
The report of the Associated Bla<:ksmiths for the
work. The demand for extra labour for harvest has
c~rrent month stat~s tha~ " 'trade prospects still conand
some
casua.i
however,
been
unusually
small,
In coal-mining employment in the four weeks ended
tmue good, and from ad v1ces received from our branch
Aug ust 24 showed a marked decline in the average labou~ers have been in irregular employment.
correspondents ,the ,<;>utlook 'is encouraging. " It
Durmg the five weeks e~ded August 31, the number fu~ther. states that " new s!Iipbuilding orders are
numb ~r of days wo~ked per . week, as compared with
o!
labourers
employed
da1ly
a
t
all
the
docks
and
prinbemg g1 ven out , and that there is a larger amount of
a year ago, but. an mcrease m the number employed.
A s compared wttb July, there is a. slight increase in Cipal '!harves averaged 16,490, as compared with ton~a.ge un?er construction than there has been at any
In July and 14,993 in the corresponding period pe~wd . d~rm~ the present run of prosperity in the
the. average number of days worked. At collieries a.t a16,652
year ago.
sh1pbw~dmg mdustx:y." "The German and American
wluch 427,068 workpeople were employed, the pits
shi~building is equally good," it adds. Ae regards the
w orked on an average 4.91 d ays p er week during the

four 'veeka ended Aug ust 24, as compared with 5.4.3 . Thi~ty-two fresh disputes bega.n in August, 1901, Umted .St~tes, the r;eport says that shipbuilding yarde
days a. year ago.
u:~volvmg 10,129 workpeople, of whom 6544 were ~re sprmgmg up all along the se(l.boa.rd, eq uipp~d at
In iron-minin~ employment is practically unchanged dtrect~y and 3585 indirectly affected. The corre- 1m~ense cost ~Ith the b~st and Qewest machinery jor
as compared WJtb July. As compared with a year spon.d mg number of disputes in July was 28, in rapid product10n. The rep~r~ J;efers to this as a big
ago there is a. slight increase in the average number of ~olvm~ 8148 workpeople, and in August, 1900, 32, ~pur~. ~~ the race of cqxnpet1t10n. Recurring to hqq~e
Of the disputes in mdustnes, the report ~ta..tes t.ha.t the locomotive
days worked, but a decrease in the number of work- tnvolvmg 9334 workpeople.
people employed. The average number of days Aug.ust, 190~, _three occurred. in ~be building trades, stationary engine, and general machine industries ar~
worked by 121 iron mines a nd open works, at which ten m the mtm.og and qua.rrymg mdustries, eight in busy,, as also are the railway-wagon, bridge building,
14,5 5 workpeople were employed in the four weeks ~he meta.],, engtneeriug, and shipbuilding trades, six a~d Iron-roofing tra.dea. ':'' orkmen generally, espeend e~ August 24, was 5. 62 per week, as compared with m toe textile t rades, and five in other industries. Of Ola.l~y members of the Sm1ths' Union, are urged .to
55 m the four weeks ended July 27 a nd 5.55 days a. the 40 new an~ old dis;r;>u~es, involying 11,134 work- avai~ thems~lves of t~e present prosperity jn trade to
year ago.
people! of whlCh the detimte result 1s reported- nine, put m .full t tme whereve:w: possible, Q.nd .t hus proyide f.or
In the pig-iron industry employment has continued mvolvmg 4237 persons, were decided in favour of the the ramy day which is sure to come. Reference is
to improve, a.ltbo~gh btill much worse than a. year wo~~people; eighteen, involving 3765 persons, in ma~e to the severance of the society from the Trades
ago. R eturns reb.tmg to the works of 115 ironmasters favour of the employers ; and efeven, involving 2732 Umon Congress, after an official connection of twentysix years. The cause was a dispute with another union
show t hat 317 furnaces, employing about 22 100 persons, were compromised.
The cb a nges in ra tes of wages reported during the Smiths refusing to recognise the award of th~
workpeople, were in blast at these works at the 'end
of Aug ust, as compared with 309 at the end of July August affected 103,419 workpeople, and the net Parliamentary Committee. The votes of the members
effect of all the changes was a decrease averaging endorsed this view: only five members voted in favour
and 371 a year ago.
2s. 2d. weekly p,er bead. Of the total number, 2065 of accepting the decision of the Parliamentary Com
mittee.
In iron and steel manufacture employment show3 received advances averaging 1s. 6! d . per week, and
an improvement as compared with a month and with 101,364 sustained decreaees averaging 2~. Zid. per
The report of the Oper~tive Cotton Spinners for the
a year ago. A t 202 works covered by the returns, wee~. The net result of the changes reported in the current month shows a further slight decline in mememploying 79,323 workpeople in the week ended prevtOus month (July) was a decrease averaging bership. On this point the secretary severely blames
August 24, the total volume of employment (taking 1s. lid. per head in the weekly wages of 272,768 work those who, while taking advanbge of what the union
into account both the number employed and the people, and during the corresponding month of last does for them, keep aloof from the association and
number of shifts worked) shows an increase of 0.5 per year (August, 1900) the net result was an advance refuse or neglect to contribute to the funds. It is
cent. as compared with July, and of 2.5 per cent. averaging 2i. 9d. per head in the weekly wages of hint~d th~t the socie~y may have .to take steps to force
333,680 workpeople.
a~ compa.re.d with the correspo1;1ding period a. year ago.
outs1dera m to the umon, by refusmg to work with nonThere
was
no
advance
of
great
importance
in
In the tmplate trade the Improvement shown in
union men, the action of the coalminers being cited as
The
principal
decreases
reported
were
those
August.
July has been fully maintained during August, and
an example to be followed. It is to be hoped that the
n.flecting
93,820
colliery
workers
in
Scotland,
Northumalthough many mills are still not working, employpolicy foreshadowed will not be entered upon, as it
berland,
and
Forest
of
Dean,
4000
shale
miners
in
ment is as good as a. year ago. At the end of August
will evoke a feeling of irritation ; and, perhaps, end in
Scotland,
1,170
steel
workers
in
Cleveland,
and
1,288
349 mills were at work (including those engaged in
dissolving the Joint Committee, which has done, and
trimmers
on
the
Tyne.

coal
the manufacture of blackplat es), compared with 347
is doing, such good work. The united membership is
Changes
affecting
83,820
workpeople
were
arranged
mills at the end of July and 349 a. year ago. The
now 13,648, six fewer than a .month ago, and 644
arbitration
or
conciliation,
and
changes
affecting
by
num ber of workpeople engaged at the mills in operafewer than a. year ago. Twelve cases of dispute bad
1740
workpeople
took
effect
under
sliding
scales.
tion at the end of August is estimated to be about
to be dealt with in the month; in two of these the
Changes
affecting
679
workpeople
only
were
preceded
17,400.
. . .
by disputes causing stoppage of work, and the operativ~s came out on strike, the members being paid
. )
remaining changes, affecting 17,180 workpeopJe, were ll. per week, and 2d. 6d. per child under 13 years of
Employment in the engineering and metal trades ii arranged by direct negotiations between employers age, un til the dispute ends. There were 23 accident
cases in the month, the permanent grant being given
Eca.rcely so good. The percentage of unemployed union and workpeople or their representatives.
in two or three of these cases. There were also ten
members a.t the end of August was 3.5, c~zqp,a.red
with 3.3 in July. The percentage for August, 1900,
The steel strike in America has collapsed, and the cases under the Compensation Act, the claims as to
was 2.8.
Trust h11s won. Some sections of the men, how- which were d uly sent to the employers. In nearly all
In the shipping trades employment has fallen off. ever, still hold out. The attitude of the strikers at instances these are mutually arranged, according to
The percentage of unemployed union members at the !vicKeesport is very thte111tening. They refuse to the scale fixed by the Act. In spite of the increasing
end of August was 3.7, compa red with 3.0 in July, and accept the settlement arranged by Mr. Shaffer, and outlay the fun<;ls have increased by 6lll. 17s. 3d. in
2.1 in August, 1900.
declare that they will neither go to work nor allow the month. The sum of 389l. 13s. 4d. has been' added
Employment in tbe building trades has continued others to resume. The situation is reharded as the to the superannuation fund, which now amounts to
to improve.
The percentage of unemployed union most critical since the strike bega.n. Mr. ShatTer has 2375l. 5s. 4d.
members among carpenters and plumbers at the end not notified the P ittsburgh lodges of tho settlement.
The report of the National Union of Boot and Shoe
of August was 2.7, compared with 3 per cent. in July. A large force of police was in readiness at McKeesport
The p ercentage for August, 1900, was 1.8.
in expectation of an attempt by one party of the Operatives states that there are no signs of better
strikers to prevent a resumption of work. There was trade in this industry. It further states that most
In the furnishing trades employment has still further a. large mob ; but the police measures were effectual, industries, except those connected with shipbuilding,
decliqed. The percentage of unemployed union mem- and the men were disperaed without violence. Five "show a downward tendency." Fortunately, disputes
hers a.t the end of August was 3. 5, compared with thousand men returned to work at the National Tube have been few, and not serious. The only one of mag3.1 per cent. in July and 3 per cent. in August of Company's mills without being molested.
nitude is a.t Ayr, ,in Scotland. The report points out
that the employers and workers are at hopeless varilast year.
The l1onworkers' Jol~J1'nal for the current month ance as to the basis of the dispute. The amounts
Employment in the printing and bookbinding trades
is quiet, as is usual at this season. The percentage of contains a. report of the half-yearly meeting of the vary from 80 to 100 per cent. , according as the stateunemployed union members a.t the end of August was North of England Conciliation and Arbitration Board ments are made by the employers or the workmen.
6. 5, compared with 4 p er cent. in July and 5 6 per for the manufactured iron and steel trade. Both the It adds : "Surely it should not be too big a task for
cent. in August, 1900. Employment in the p1per president and vice-president concurred in stating those ..on the spot to be able, if they so desired, to
trades shows but little change. The percentage of '' that never before in the industrial history of the prove which is right ." The employers state their
unemployed union members at the end of August was country bad the principles of conciliation and arbitra- willingness to pay the same prices, and work on the
2. 7, compared with 2.8 per cent. in July and 3 per tion-of reason and argument-been so widely advo- same conditions, as those of employers in a. neighbourcent. in August, 1900. .In the leather trades employ- cated and adopted as at the present time. " The ing t own; but when the question of quantities arise
ment has continued to fall off. The percentage of un- meeting was congra.ttilated upon the fact that other they widely differ. A dispute in London has brought
employed union members at the end of A ugtist was trades had copied their example in the formation of about a curious complication. The employer is a~d
The Standing Committee bad to be the secretary of the Employers' Association, and
~.9, compared with 2.3 per cent. in July and 2.1 per conciliation boards.
m C? t four times this year up to the date of the meet- also secretary of the Conciliation Board ; and he
r.fmt. in August of last year.

INDUSrRIAL NOTES.

..

'

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

'

ref.uses! it is all?ge.d, to call the latter together. The

union 1ntends, 1t ts said, to make a claim upon the
Guarantee Fund in this matter. The union had once
to pay ; now the officers think that the employers
should. The matter, however, will have to come
before the Arbitration Board before any further steps
can be taken.

The London T 'rades and Labour Gazette, which is

the. org~Jl ~f the ~ondon Trades Council, protests

~gamst bemg led mto the fatal mistake of entering
1nto a long and costly conflict of legal quibbles frittering away the unions' money," and the time ~f those
who conduct the business of the unions. The protest
is opportune. The Trades Congress resolved to fight
a test case. through the Courts, which might be a very
costly affatr, and all the employers' federations of the
country would combine to defend themselves for the
real question at issue would be the right of. pfcketing.
The Loadon T~ades .Council insist upon legislation as
the only way tn whtch matters can be set right. If
the trades onll desire to exercise the right of " obtaini~g or giv~ng tnfor!Dation," there ought to be no great
dtfficulty tn amendmg the law. But men set as pickets
seldom stop at that exact point. This is the real
difficulty in all labour disputes.
Dr. John E. George, of the North-Western University, in the United States, has written an article in
P ublic Policy on the economic conditions of the
machinists' movement for a uniform nine hours' day
throughout the States, with the stipulation that the
old rate of wages shall be paid, or. as he puts it, ten
hours' pay for nine hours' work. The professor thinks
that the economic conditians are such that a uniform
working day and rate of wages is not, at least at present, possible tllloughout the States. But he favours
the growing tendency towards collective bargaining
between employers and workmen, by and through the
ass?ciations respectively representing them. He also
believes that more peaceful methods will prevail in
the future in the settlement of Jabour disputes.

But where can steel users, wishing to avail themselves

of the existing knowledge on the effect that treatment
has on steel, find the principles succinctly stated and
c~early connected with their application in practice ? The
literature on the subject is confined to papers, which
apP.ea! sca.tter.ed over . the proceedings of the different
so~Iet~es, the mformatwn often being expressed only in
~01ent1fic terms, and not clearly pushed to a practical
~esue. H ence the subj ect is not forced on the notice of
men too busy to study . and collect all these, and they
do no.t connect them w1th or apply them to their own
practice.
The objects of this paper are, therefore :
. 1. To h el.I? those wlio handle steel by describing in
Simple practical terms such fixed principles as are known
up to .date, and in what direction they may be applied in
praot10e.
2. To o~ta~ discussion on and information concerning :
(a) Vano~s ~r&4e processes, and
(b) The limitatwns of t he control which maker and
user resP.ectively possess over the properties developed
by matenal.
3. To formulate certain views in order to obtain an
expression .of opinion upon t~em, in. the hope that such
as a re publicly endorsed by this Inst1tute may be hencefo~ward regarded as a standard for makers and users
ahke to refer to. At {>resent, each one sets up his own
standard, viz., exigenCies of trade.
The view referred to are :
(a) As to t he degree of responsibility of maker and
user respectively for normal results obtained; togl\ther
with a classified list of the indications that shall be
accepted as Q.etermining their source.
(b) As to certain tests which material ought and ought
n ot to be reasonably expected to stand after given treatment.
DIAGRA?tl I.- E.tfect of T 1eatment v. Oom,position on
T 'wist T ests in W i1e.

Equal.
Twisting Corresponds with
Composition.

" Quality " of

Steel and

Composition.

THE CORRECT TREATMENT OF STEEL.*

By Mr. C. H. RIDSDALE, F.I.C. (Middlesbrough).
SECTION I.-PRELIMINARY REMARKS.
.
THE ultimate requirement of steelt is that, when manufactur~, it shall in every resp_ect satisfy the purpose for
which it is intended; and .ProVIded it does this thoroughly,
it matters nothing what Its composition is, or how it has
b'een tr~.ated.
If it does not, the questions arise, Why does it not?
Who shall take steps to remedy it ? And, What shall
those steps be ?
Although we are still far from understanding the
causes in detail in every case which may produce a certain
cpnditioO::: in steel, much has been learnt during the last
few years on these questions but (as one correct principle actually practised is worth ten reposing in tl;le brains
of scientific men) how many of those who handle steel
are making full use in practice of what is known as to
the effects of various t reatment? If not, is it not because
our science has not been sufficiently made to face practice,
and should not these subjects be discussed more with
this in view ?
The writer has considered these questions in order to
see how our present knowledge, so far as he knew, was or
could be applied to practice in different manufactures,
and what further investigation was needed next ; and he
offers the following remarks (though with considerable
diffidence) in the hop~ thStt, though they reveal ~o new
facts, they may be of mterest and of some good, 1f only
in showing UJ? some of our deficiencies and limitat ions.
The subject 1S one in which for years he has always
taken the greatest interest, and striven to study impartially; he therefore trusts that, although associated
with steel manufacture, he will not be re!{arded as speaking from a maker's point of view ; he IS only Wishful
that the available knowledge may be t urned to practical
account.
Steelmakers have, Eerhaps, to consider these questions
more, only because, 1f any trouble does occur with the
steel before it is finished, 1t is almost always referred to
them.

Basis of Treatment.
Unequal.
Twistin8: Corresponds wtth Treat
. ment.

A.

Rolling Hardneas
B.
Twisted io
Twisted after was in: "Soft,"
State Re
Hardening not Removed (llS
oeived. Bar
io "A")
E1fect
of
"Med'
H .... ,
deofnt~ Effect
Rolling Remm ar._.,
ot Rolling not moved *
Removed (as in
Remo\ed.
.
B ").

' ra

f'

1\

1\

''Medium H~rd."
ManCar bon. gaoese.
I~
0.25 p.c. O.SOp.o.

1\

c;t

\J

1\
1\

"Soft."
ManC arb on. ganese.
0.10 p.o. 0.40p.o.

'

..

'

The difference in twisting between two members of a pair is a

measure of the effect of the di1ference in composition.
* Requh:ed much leas ~orce to twist than" A," and gave many
more twists before breaktng.

The writer, though endeavourin~ to show by specific

instances how, to the best of his belief, the principles may
be applied or h ow certain effects have been brought about
in practice, does not intend to imply dogmatically that
any given procedure will always produce the same re~mlts;
each particular case must be considered in conjunction
with all the conditions, and these cannot always be maintained constant; so that, though nominally the same1 what
occurs one time may not another. Even if the suggestions made are in some cases impracticable or incorrect,
provided they ser ve as a starting-point, and give rise to
discussion, some good should result.
In describing temperatures, the writer feUtrs he will have
to risk being consid~red old-fashioned, and bringing down
censure on himself from those who advocate oxact temperature as measured by a pyrometer, for not discardimr
such '' obsolete terms " as ' 1 dull red, , '' cheny red, y,
" yellow heat,, &c.* Practical men whose eyes are
trained by experience know what appearance these give
in varying light, such as sunshine, or at night and can
gauge them quite as nearly as the temperatures themselves
can be regulated.
An in~ot furnaceman has to judge the right degree of
heating m all sorts of lights, day and night, at all times
of t he year.
We may know what temperatures we want and what is
right when we see it1 and yet not know the real temperature in degrees centigrade: as we have no means of pyro-

Paper read before the International Engineering

Congress, Glasgow, 1901. Section V. : Iron and Steel.
t The writer in the main has in mind soft steel (such
as he h as dealt with in his previous papers, " Brittleness
in Soft Steel," May, 1898, and "Practical Microscopic
Analysis," August, 1899), though the remarks apply
largely to all steel up to 0.40 per c~nt. or 0.45 per cent.
carbon, and these harder varieti~s are sp ecially mentioned
in p laces. He does not refer to ste~l of any one make or
process.

.
. .
:t It is always desirable, in order to gt ve convmcmg
evidence as to cause, to be able to reproduce the effect
at will from conditio~ of actual pra:ctice. This {for wa~t
of opportunity for mmute obseryatw.n of the datly conditions of practice over a long penod) 1~ may not always be
possible to do, although the gen~ra~ dtrectwn may be suggested. Generally, however, this IS not regarded as suffi.
. .
ciently convincing.
By "treatment " is meant everything which It un?er* When used, they are all referred to as seen in a dull
goes (as contra.distinct to compositwn), whether physical,
light.
thermal, mechanical, &c.

'
eeuu

(SEPT. 20, 1901.

metrically measuring the temperature of a bloom in the

process of rolling.*
We cannot fix exactly what the finishing temperature
should be, either in de~ees centigrade or colour temperature, for steel of any g1ven carbon; as besides the mass of
the section and cooling faciliti~, the purpose for which
w~nted, and hence the degree of rolhng hardness most
suitable1 has to be known.
The stmplest and the only proper way is to let the men
~ho have to judge the temperature in daily practice try
p1eces at t\yo or three varymg temperatures which they
can rec~gnlSe for the!Jlselves), follow them tbrough, and
make stmple mechamcal tests, and then adopt tlie temperature that gives the best results.
A good man will quickly be able to keep to the proper
temperatures. 4 man ~vho cannot is not _fit for tlie job,
as he could not e1ther w1th a pyrometer or 1f told in terms
of colour.
SEO'l'ION II.-THE EFFECT THAT COMPOSITION ANT>
INITIAL TREATMENT HAVE AS 00MPARED WITH SUBSE
QUENT TREATMENT ON THE ULTIMATE PROPERTIES OF
THE STEEL.
A.-Considered Generally, a;nd, 'With Reference to
1.vhat is Possible.
9omposition, and all the treatment that an article re
?elves, each have an effect on it at some period but the
m~ue!lces most powerful in determining 1ts fin~l charac.
tenst10s are frequently the latter processes and these may
completely outweigh all others.
'
I t has been usual in the past, and still is in many
quarters, to consider that tb.e qua.l ities steel p ossesses
are dependent mainlh on its composition so much so that
the t erm " qua1Ity " as become almost synonymous
'
with
" composition;" but recently it has become more and
more appax:ent that this is not; so, and that, except \vithin
n~rrow limits. of .treat.mentt composition plays an insigruficant part m msunng g~ven qualities.t Selection of
the most suitable com.I?osition may slightlv widen the
range of treatment that 1t will bear and yet~ give the required results, but it is not po&~ible to produce a steel
which is impervious to treatment. The maker controls
the initial treatment and the composition but generally
tl?-e influence of those is only transmitte'd a very short
d~tance through the subsequent working-up processes,
bemg: com.Pletely UP.Set on reheating a nd re- rollin!{ ;:t
t~us m or~mary practice a maker can do very little which
w1ll matenally affect the steel after working up. Thus
unless treatment only ha.d a quite minor effect, say 5 pe~
cent. of the total, or unless the effect of the working-up
processes was always definite and fixed, and did not vary
more than 5 per . cent., the maker could not reasonably
be he~d resJ?O.nstbl~ for ~he subsequent behaviour of
matenal~ provided It was nght when sent out by him.
After 1t ~as been further. worked, the only way to set
an approximately true basiS for comparison of the effect
of comJ>osition in pieces in which it differs is first by
reheatmg to redness and letting cool slowly to re~ove
all hardne~ which may have been induced by treatment.
As an mstance, many years ago, when endeavouring
to find whether hard spots in wire were due to local
variation in composition (which never was found to an
~x~ent exceed~ng the p<;>ssibl~ error of analysis), the
w~ter took p1eces of ,:; -m. Wlre rod of "soft" quality,
w1th carbon 0.10 per cent., manganese 0.40 per cent.
hooked them' to others of "medium hard , quality, carbo~
0.25 per cent., manganese 0.80 per cent.t and whilst the
enq of one was held in a vice, twisted tne other. Thus,
wh10hever was the mechanically softer was bound to twist
more than the other (see Diagram 1).
. When the b~is of treatment in each case was equal,
viz. (A) tested m the state as received (with the harden-'
ing ~ffect of rollin~ unremoved); (B) and also after removmg the hardenmg effect by heating as Just described
.
hard , wire
. sh.owed, a.s would be expected,'
the " n;ted mm
less tw1st1 than the " soft , wue (about half). But a piece
of the ' soft " ~re 'vith tlle!I~rdening eff~ct of rolling
u~removed (a:S m A) would. twist the chermcally harder
Wire from wh~ch the hardemng effect of rolling had been
re~ov~d (as . m B) through_ a number of turns, without
hems- Itself m the least twi.Sted. That is to say, rolling
had Imparted greater hardness to the ' 1 soft " wire than
an extra Q.15 _per cent. of carbon and 0.40 per cent. of
manganese, Wl.thout the hardening effect of rolling could
impart to the "harder" wire, though it containe'd alto?:ether double the percentage of hardening bodies that the
'soft '' wire did.

(To be continued.)

. IRRTGA'l'ION ~~THE NILE VALLEY: ERRATUM.-Owing to

Imperfect audition, we regret to state that two errors are
to b~ found in our .report of the discussion on Mr. Willcock s paper, published on page 311 of our issue of September 6last. Thus, the gentleman ~eferred to by MT.'
Vernon Harcourt, was Mr. Russell Aiken and not "Mr
Hakin, ".as. printed; and the source of the Blue Nile i~
Abyssmta IS Lake Tsana, and not ' 1 Sennaar." Similarly
the other lake should be Lake Dembea, and not "Debea.'~
* Jou.trnal of the W est of Scotland Institt~te January
1000, No. 4, containing discussion on A. Campion's pape~
on "T~e Hoot Treatment and Microstructure of Steel."
See wnter's remarks.
t See the writer's paper on "Brittleness in Soft Steel "
Jowrna.l of the Iron a;nd, Steel I nstitu te, 1898, No. 1. The
same p1eces of steel gave various opposite qualities by
treatment only.

.:l: Coarsely crystalline billet on reheating and rolling

y1elded fin~-gramed fibrous rod~, and fine-grained piece
of same billet gave coa.rse-gramed rods according to
treatment.
'.l'he other constituen ts did not differ.

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

SEPT. 20, 1901.]

COOLI NG CYLINDERS OF INTERNAL

COMBUSTION ENGINES.
The Ooolilng 6f the Oyli'fldc1s of High-Speed I nter'flal
O>mbustion Engines, amd its Effot upon the Power
Dew.lopcd. *
By Profe ssor HELE-~nAw, LL.D., F. R .S.
;N response to an invitation to bring some subject which
m1ghb be of interest before the present E ngineering Congres.o, ib occurred to me that there was one whioh, though
ab the presen t tim~ exciting attention chiefly amongst
a.utomobilis ts, has (in the rapid development in the
po~erful!less of small hi~h-spee~ oil and spirit eng-ine3)
a d1reot mterest for engmeers m gt n 3ral. This subj eob
is the overheating of the cylinders, and its prevention.
In c.:>m p~ra.tiyely larg~, slow.running, stationary oil
or gas eng mes 1b ts easy enough t o have a. w~ter-j a oket
with 0ne or t wo fairly large tanks of cooling water; bu t
upon a. motor oar, where weight is a. prime consideration
the matter of. ?Ooling is o.ne whio~ causes great troublf':
and the provts1on for wh1oh h83 mvolved arrangements
of great ingenuity.
In quits small motor vehicle~, such as motor bicycles
and. tnoyole s, and even the small voiburatte- tbat is, with
engmes up to 3 horse-power, the movement of the vehicle
through the air, or the p roY ision of a. revolving fan, is
t aken a dvantage of for the purpose of ooolin~ the cylinders by air, t he cylinders being provided w1th a. em'lll
number of webs for this purpose. In a. French eng ine

hills which may be met even in such a ride as from

Ca.rJisle to the East of Fife.

I have had a similar experience with regard t o my twocylinder New Orleans voiturette. This voitur~tte, in
spite of many defeobs su~h as are bo be foun d .m most
motor oars, is a fast httle oa.r1 and the a.u-co:>led
cylinder!, which have a fan re~ol vmg between th e m, can
in quite cold wea.ther, or even w1th an abnormal amount of
care in hob weather, be made t o run very well. In hob
weather, however, I ha ve experienced so much annoya.nce with the heating of the cylinders upon a long run,
th a t I firs t of all adopted the plan of allowing water to
drop upon the air-cooled cylinder head from a. reservoir
when I found the oy linder was gettiog hot; but afterwards
decided to replace the air-cooled heads w1th water-cooled
heads. Since doing this, I have never had any trouble
whatever with t he heating of the cylinders, or experienced
any diminution in power from this ca.uEe. Oo one of the
hottest days of the year, thi~ voiturette went about a.
hundred miles, and returned a few days later, without
my experienci ng any trouble, ab any rate from this
oause. A n umber of comm unications have reached me
from people who have e vidently expe-rienced trouble
with tho~e ca.rs, asking for d etails of the watfr-oooling
arran~ement; and it m'i.y therefore be interesting
to bn efly describe the details which are illus trated in
a diagrammatic way in Fig. 1. The hollow water-cooled
head, together with valve cha.ml:ers BB. which are in
one solid piece, replace the ordinary ribbed bead and
valve chamber. The hob water rises directly from the

aircooled motors. .H is clear,. on ~ .little consideration.

that the rate at wh10h water IS bo1ltng . off, and no~ the
actual fact tha.b water is in conta.o~ w1th the cyhnder
wa~ls, m us b be largely a measure of mternal heat of the
cylinder. On t~e other band, a.mo?gsb those who ~re
a ccustomed ~ dn ve motor oars, ther~ 18 generally a feehng
that the engm es work best _at a. cerba.m tem~rature, somewhere between that a.tJ wh10h t he water boils off and the
cold state ab w hi oh the engine actually star ts. I have
nob been able to find that there exist any actual data. upon
this subject ; and it seemed to be a. sufficiently important
matter t o be worth making some experiments upon. I
therefore, with the assistance of Mr. G ill. B.Sc., engineering studenb of t he U niverciby Oollege of Liverpool, ex parimented upon the 6 horse-power engine represented in
Fig. 2. This en~ine, which has magnetic electric ignition, was fitted w1th two thermometers: A measuring the
water at entra nce, and B that ab exib. C is a bank which
was used when the water was allowed to remain ab
boiling point; bub otherwise the two pipes \Vere not
connected with the two mainP, a nd the water at exib
kept at the temperature required by allowing a sufficiently
rapid flow of wa ter through the cylinder jacket. D is
the flywheel upon which a. dynamoineter brake act s, so
that the po wer can be accurately tested. A series of five
tria ls were made, four wibh the water ab different ternperaturas, and the fifth with gJycerine oircula.ting in the
cylinder jacket and tank instead of water, t o obtain a.
higher boiling point and a higher temperature of the
cooling liquid.
6

4 775
I

I 3 91

Fi[J.2.

I
I

I
I
I

I
I

OF
.

I
I

I
I

I
I

I
I

11'

(l~oq

COYER

I
I

181'

00

go

Trial

TempP rat ure Temperature

Number.
of Ent ry.
of Exit.
d e~t

1
2
3
4
5*

------

A
0

which I tested a Fhort time ago, four cy lind~rs, nominally

of about 3 horse-power each, revolved ab a high speed in a
horizontal plane round a. fixed crankshaft; and after some
hours' r un in a heated worksho p, it was possible to bear
the hand upon the outside of the coohng ribs of the
cylinders, although upon standing the heat was rapidly
conducted outward~. Cer tain constructional defects in
the engine preveu!e1 the full power being obtained; and
ib cannot be knowo uutil these are remedied whether the
air cooling is really effective in this. type of engine.
With s mall engines air-cooling is fairly effective in
quite cold weather, hub in hot and dry weather (which
is, of cou rse, chiefly the time when motor vehicles are in
requisition) even s mall engin es of little more than 1 horsepower rapidly Lecome heated, with a corresponding falling off in propelling power, ultimate! y stopping alto
gather. No doubt, by careful management in the way of
continual rE>gula.tion in the admission of gas into the carburetter, and great wa.tohfulne~s in taking advantage of
every descent of a. hill to cool the cylinder, and, further,
by being content with a. moderate speed of the engines,
an air-c:>oled cylinder of 2! to 3 horee-power can be kept
cool even upon a fairly hob day. I havP, ho wever, recentJy
had some experience with two tricycle~, one having a.
2f horse-power engine, air-cooled , an d another with a.
water cooled head of the same power, the latter being the
most recenb type of D e Dion motor, in which a small tank
<Jf water is ca.rrifd b ehind the aaddl~, and a small rddiat or t hrough which water circulates by gravita.tioP,
is employed. I have no hesitation in sa.}ing that t he
power developed in the latter case has been very much
g reater than in the forme r i while there is no comparison
whatever in the distance which O!ln be covered on a hot
day by the two m&tohines. t o eay nothing of the satisfaction of being able to 1 ide mile after mile ab a high
speed, without t he sligh test anxiety about climbing any

(1DM.B...__

_ _ _ __

_,

centre of the t op of the cylinder head by the JJipe C, di scharging at the top of the copper cylinder DD; while
the circulation is maintained by the descending water
passing ou b ab the bottom of the CO(>per reset voir by the
pipes E E through a copper coil, whtoh is shown in plan
a t F. The circulation through one cylinder is entirely
separate from that in the other, and <omplete in itself ;
both having, of course, a common reser voir in the copper
cylinder D D, the level of water i n whioh is s ho wn by
m AilDS of a. water gauge H.
It is interesting to notice when the engine starts h ow
a. warm la yer can be felt by putting the band on the to p
of the copJ;>er cylinder, while all the rest of the system
remains qu1te cold ; and how, as the engine continues to
wol'k, the zone of beab travels downwards, showing how
the hob water rises immediately, and remains on the
top, and indicating the perfect nature of the circulation .
lb was on a. large car where I first sa.\v a similar system
of circulation employed by Mr. E st courb, with most
sat i3factory result~.
In view of all the troub!e I have seen, and experienced
myself, with cars in which pumps are used , as they generally are, it seems a pity that oiroulation by m~a.ns of
gravity cannot always be employed.
Both with the tnoyole mf:ntioned and with the above
voiturette, the water on a hob day, during a long run, is
for considerable periods at a. time on the boiL wit hout the
power in any way appearing to appreoia.bJy diminish ;
whereas, on the other hand 1 I have been on larger oars
wher~, owing to the defect1ve working of the pump, the
water was nob oircuJating properly, and a considerable
amount of steam was being formed. In the latter cases
* Pd par read before the International Engineering the .POwer fell off in a. very serious manner, although the
Congre~, G lasgow, 1901. Section Ill. : ]lfeohanioa1.
engme never aotualJy stopped, as I have seen it do with

II
i

21/t

~:JS

Summary of T ests

I
Q

Tbe general result of these trials is given in the following Table and plotte.d in Fig. 3, in whi ch the ordinates
represent brake horse-power (which, it will be seen, under
the best circumstances never exceeded about 4f}, whereas
the abscisue represent the tEmJ?erature of the water ab
exit. I have kept the two sen es of boiling off experiments separate from the other three, hub the plotted
results indicate the same general resulb:

Oo

1!

TEHPERATURE

~--------,~--

Q.

JH
I

I
I

CO

401

I
I

Ftj3

4--q-1

--

F.

66.2
6!.4
6! 4
212.0
263.4

Brake
HorsePower.

Revolution'3.

deg. F.
77.0
131.0
212.0
212.0
263.4

4. 775
4.47
3.9 7

4.17
3.937

1086.3
108! 0
903.0
925.6
906.0

.. Wit h glycerine.
No~. 4 and 5 were boiling-off experiments.

The general nature of these experiments is immediately

obvious, and indicates a. falling-off in brake horse-power as
t he temperature rises, the bra ke horse-power between the
two extremes of temperature havin g fallen from 4. 775 to
3. 93 -a diminution of about 17 per centa.
Each series of experiments represents, roughly speaking, al:out ten observations, and wa~ conducted as carefu lly as p~ssible; bub, at the same time, the difficulties
of maintaining uniformly the t emperature and speed of
the engine were sufficiently great to make it undesirable
to attempt t o produce any mathematical statement from
bhese results; and fur ther and more elaborate experiments will be req uired of tempera.tur~, taken in conjunction with the actual quantity of water used, before any
definite conclusion can be arrived at on this subject. It
is interesting to note that Mr. Dugald Clerk, i n reply
to a letter from me asking for information, appears to
have obtained with a slow-running gas engine blightly
greater ~ffioiency ab the hi gher t emperatures; b ut, of
course, the foregoing experiments only deal with aotua.l
power and not with efficiency.
I have nob a ttempted to discuss the actual cause or
causes of the fallingoff in p ower as the t emperature of
the cylinder rises. Whether this is due t o lubrication
difficulties, or thinnin g of the cylinder lubricant to a
p oint which allows the piston rings to leak, or whether
due to heabing of incoming charge and consequenb weakening of t he mixture, would afford matter for an interesting
discussion.
The advances in the construction of these high-speed
internal combustion engines, and the rapidly increasing
power whioh is being evolved from them, warrants their
careful study. Thus, in the recent Paris-Berlin race
there were several engines upon light mot or vehicles
capable of de veloping more than 50 horse-power with,
in one oaEe at least. a. weight of not more than 10 lb.
per horse power. When it is remembered that this is
nob merely the equi valent of the s team engine but of
the engine and b01ler, i b will no doubt be admitted that
any of the points such as the cooling of the cy linderea,
which is an essenti al feature of the problem, is worthy
of the attention of t his Congress.

E N G I N E E R I N G.
THE DORTMUND AND EMS CANAL.*
By HERR REGIERUNGS AND BAURA't'H HERMANN.
(Concluded from pa_qe 379.)
Looks.-Among these, two de3erve particular notice ;
namely, those a.t Munster and Gleesen, each with a fall
of 6.20 metres (20i ft. ). Both locks have side ponds, in
order to economise the water required for locking, and to
keep this quantity down a.pprox1ma.tely in proportion to
that required for working all the other locks, regardless of
their higher falls. Each of these two looks has two pairs
of side ponds built ab different levels. In the case of theM Unster look the area of a pair of side ponds is one and
a half times the area of tho look chamber, and the saving
of water for looking amounts to 54~ per cent. Each pair
of side p onds of the Gleesen look have the same area as
the look chamber itself, and the saving in water amounts
to 50 p er cent. To save time, however, the flow of water
from the side p onds is shut off when a difference of 15
centimetres (6 in.) is reached between the water levels in
the looks and the side ponds; and the saving in water is
consequently reduced to about 52 and 47 {>er cent. respectively during ordinary working. The paus of side ponds
are arranged symmetrically on either side of the centre
line of the look.
The filling and emptying of the looks is effected by
oulverbs, one on either side, formed in the side walls of
the look, and each having a sectional area. of 3.32 square
metres (35! square feet). Each culvert is connected with
the look chamber by seven pipes, having an aggregate
sectional area of 3.71 square metres (40 square feet). They
are oval in section, and open out into the bottom of the
look chamber, a.nd are fixed ab regular intervals along the
look. Communication between the side pond and oul vert
is effected by cylindrioa,l valves of 1.80 metres (6ft.) diameter. The connection between the culvert a.nd the
high-level or lowlevel reach oa.n be shut off by sluice
gates working on r?llers; the side po~ds can be filled _or
emptied in five m mutes. To do thtt:~, the gates, slmoe
gates, a.nd cylindrical valves are wo~ked by. ele~trio power.
Electricity is generated by a turbme, wh10h m the case
of the Munster lock is driven by the water for looking,
flowing from the upper to the lower reach. The dy_namos
are a,gsisted by an accumulator. The gates are mrcular
carves in plan; ~hey are made _of steel plates, strengtb.ened
by horizontal g1rders and upright framework. The JUnction between the gate and the hollow quoins and pointing
sill is made water-t~ght with strips of ti~ber.
.
The power requtred to work the slmce-gates shuttmg
off the water from the upper reach is 5.2 horse-power; to
open the low-level sluice-gates, 3.4 horae-power ; and to
shut them 7.2 horsepower; to open or shut the lookgates, 6.7 horse-power; and to work the cylindrical valv~,
4.3 horse-power. The same arrangement of culverts With
openings in the bottom of the lock chamber has also been
adopted for the 67-metre (220-ft.) locks, and the 165-metre
(541~-ft) looks for barge-trains, ~hioh W!3re built with
vertical side walls to sa.ve water m lookmg. The long
locks for ba.r~e-tra.ins along the Ems! where the wa~er
used for lookmg h~ not to be restr10t~d, has mass1ve
hea.ds in masonry w1th culverts formed m the walls, but
their cha.mb9ra h~ve sloped sides, pitch~d with blocks of
basalt. To insure the safety of barges m lock cham~ers
with slo.J?ing sides, they are kept off the slopes by vertical
piles, dr1 ven a.lon~ the toe of the slopes and firmly .bra.?ed
~ogether. Experience has already prov~d that th1s ptlework will require constant ~are, and will be yery co3tly
to wa.intain. The construct10n of the gates IS ~he same
in a.ll the locks. The arrangement of the slmce-~ates
working on rollera is also the sa.me everywhere ; ?ut
wherever the fall is small, both look-gates and slmcegates are worked by hand:
.
The averaS!'e time requued for passmg a barge through
a short lock is 16 minutes; and, .on the average, 30
minutea are required for passmg a tram of barges thro~tgh
one of the long locks, including in both cases the ttme
taken for getting into and out of t~e look.
.
Weirs and Slwices. -In the cana.hsed Ems the_ water 1s
held up in four deep-water rea.?hes by need.le wet~P. The
needles are pine spar_s. 9 cet;lbtmetres (3! m.) th10k, and
each of them is provtded w1th t?e neo.~sary hooks, by
means of which it can be placed m positt?n or removed
independently of the other n eedles. Th1s ar~angemenb
ma. be recommended, because the gradual n se of the
waler allows of ample time to remove the needles one by
onAt Herbrum there is a set of six sluices of ~. 5 metres
(28 fb.) span each. The~e. were neces~ary owmg to the
necessity of making pro_vlston fo~ shuttu~g out. the water
in the lower reach, wh10h oocas10na.lly riBes. h1gher than
the water-level in the upper ~ea.~h. The slmces work on
r .:>ws of roller3 , in a manner s1mdar .to that a.do.I?ed on the
Manchester Ship Canal (Stoney s~mces). But m stead of
b aing hung on wire ropes, the slmoe ga_tes on the g.erman
Cd.na.l are worked by a raok and pmton, by wh10h the
d ownward movement can be better ~o.n~rolled.
.
Stop Gates.-For the purpose of d1v.1dmg the canal mto
isolated reaches, stop gates of an enti~ely novel construction have been adopted. It was constdered necessary to
introduce such ga~es, because every embankment of any
t h 'ghb lea.dmg through a. valley, forms a constant
graa eft d"n' ger. and it was originally thought advisable
source
o such
.. lengths
'

t o isolate
on high
emb an k men ts b y ~1acmg
self-acting stop-gates a.t every change from cuttmg to
bank so that at the moment of d_anger the gates should
' " lly confine the emptymg of the canal to the
a.utomautca.
A h
the
reach interceptt~d between two gate3.
a, owever, .
test care was subsequently bestowed upon ma.kmg
fh:~e very lengths perfectly secure, regardless of any

* p

per read before the International Engineering

a
Glasgow 1901 Section I I. : Waterways and
C o n~ress,
'

M.1r1 time W ork3.

expenditure that might thereby be incurred, and a.sthe

method of construction proved entirely successful, there
was no longer any necessity for stop-gates for the isolation
of these lengths. Yet, to provide additional security,
stop-gates were pub in everywhere in conformity with the
original scheme; but it was no longer considered neoesS<.t.ry to make them self-acting. The purpose for which
the stop-gates on the Dortmund and Ems Canal were
adopted was to be able to isolate a canal reach in the
shortest possible time, with a. small expenditure of motive
power. When nob in use, they were nob to interfere in
any way with the navigation. On future canal extensions, especially on reaches of great uninterrupted length,
stop-gates will most probably be placed systematically ab
regular intervals, say about 10 kilometres (6k miles) apart.
Besides their value in preventing serious accidents, and
their ordinary use in dividing the canal into short reaches,
when.in oase of repairs they make it possible to run off the
water from such a short reaoh, stop-gates will also be
found useful on very long and almost straight stretches
of canal, because in sucli a case they can be used for
breaking the swell produced by strong winds blowing
along the oa.nal. Under special conditions, during strong
gales, there is a possibility of the level of the surfaca of
the water being raised as much as a. centimetre in a kilometre (ft in. in a mile). The c:msequences of this might
be serious, and its occurrence should be avoided if possi ble. Another reason for dividing long stretches of canal
into short lengths is for the better control of the
water level in individua.l reaches ab the time of heavy
downpours and floods, when any dangerous rise in
the water level caused by natural drainage can be
prevented by draining off the surplus water from
the canal. At the site selected for a stop-gate, the
canal was enclosed between two parallel vertical wall~,
leaving a passage 18 metres (59 ft.) wide between
them. This passage is closed by a curved steel gate,
consisting of a single skin stiffened a~d strengthened b_y
a. suitable fra.mewotk. When not m use, the gate 1s
swung out of the water (round a horizontal axis), and
stretches like a hood or shield across th~ passa~e formed
by the two parallel walls, and ab a suffi01enb height above
the water to give the necessary headway for ba.r~es p!tssing underneath. It is moved by two arms restmg on a
pair of trunnions revolving in bearings bedded in the
side walls. The arms are prolonged downwards, and
oscillate in slits in the side walls and carry counterweights,
which automatically change their positions while the gate
is being swung round, and thus control its movement.
When the gate is being opened or shut, the whole mass
in motion is always in perfect eq!Jilibrium i~ every position the gate may assume. Vanous experiments were
made with these gates, which gradually led to a m_ore
and more simple construction of the apparatu:~, u~t1l a
form was finally arrived ab of b oth gate and ma.ohmery
for moving the same that perform in a satisfactory manner
the work for which they were designed.
The stop-gates and the machinery for working them
were made by the Gute Hoffnungshlibte of Ste~krade.
Eaoh stop-gate is closed by an attendan~, who .hves on
the spot, and is bound to shut the ~at~ Immedtately ~n
receiving a warning signal, by ~he rmgmg of an ~l~c~r1c
bell, from the inspecting officer m. chat:ge of th~ adJOtmng
canal section. Culverbs are prov1ded m the stde walls of
each stop-gate, by means of which ib is p ossible to adjust
the level of the water in the two reaches separated by
the gate.
Culverts and Syphons.-The watercourses crossing the
canal where it was nob possible to divert them or lead
their 'water into the canal, were carried under the canal,
either with their b~btom levels unaltered wherever there
was enough headway to do so, or otherwise in syphons.
U p to 0 90 metre (3 ft. ) diameter the p~pes un~er the oa~a.l
are of cast iron. and beyond. that SJZ9 of r1veted mtld
steel pla.te3. The !a.rgesb dtameter. was 1.3! metres
(4 ft. 5 in.). Acoordmg to the quantity of. water t? be
discharged, there were ~ev~ral pipes latd stde by s1de;
in one case as many as Six ptpes.
The larger-sized brooks are carried through ~alled culvert:~. The largest of these culverts has a seob10n_al area.
of 59 square metres (635 square feet), and carnes the
River Em3cher under the canal. These walled culverts
were carried out with the utmo3b car~, both as regar~s
materials and workmanship. The shghtest neglect m
this respeob ma.y lea1 to serious interruptions of traffic.
When any slow-setting mortar is used for the masonry,
no water is allowed to pa~s throu~h the culverb 0':1 any
account, not even temporaril y durmg the constru~b1?n of
the works if as in the case of syphons, the water IS hkely
to exerb a~ upward pressure against the arched roof, unless
there is a. sufficient weight of ea.rth and water above the
arch to counteract the upward pressure.
Water Supply for the Oanal.-I~ calculating the_ quantity of water required for feedmg the canal, _1t was
assumed that the loss of water _through eva.pora.t10n and
percolation would amount to 8 htres per second ~or every
kilometre of canal (2.83 gallons per se.cond per mtle) . A;t
the outset, after the canal had been open for traffic, th!s
lvss was found to b e 10.4litre3 (3.68 gallons) or 1.56 cub10
metres (343 gallons) for 150 kilometres (93~ miles) of canal
in round figures. 'fo this quantity had to be added the
amount lost through looking at t~e ~nd lock. Th~ total
amount thus required for replemshmg the canal IS ~up
plied by a. pumping station on the ban~s of the R_1ver
Lippe, where the feed wd.ter has to be rais!3d to a. hetght
of 15.75 metres (51 fb. ). A~ the present t1me there are
three centrifugal pump3 d~1yen by steaf:!l power, eaoh
pump being capable of ra1smg ~.88. cubic metres (194
gallons) per second. Each pump 1s dnven by a ~00 horsepower engine. Although two pumps are suffi01ent to do
the ordinary work, it is proposed _to set up a fourth pump
of the same size as the others, m or~er to ha.ve am_ple
pumping power in reserve for all poss1ble oontmgen01es,

[SEPT. 20, I 90 r.
in case there should be an extraordinary call upon the
pumping p ower, as, for example, in case of having to refill
long lengths of canal which, for some rea~on or other, had
to be emptied. Besides the water supplied by the pumps,
the canal is also fed Ly natural watercouraes, which it ha.s
been possible to utilise for that purpose. Although the
area naturally drained by these watercourses only amounts
to about 60 square kilometres (23.17 square miles), which
is comparatively small, the water derived from this supplementary source forms a valuable addition to the quantity
which has to be pumped. It may be assumed that, on
the average, for four months in the year the quantity
supplied by these watercourses is sufficient t o keep the
canal replenished without pumping. During exceptionally wet seasons especially they a.r~ able to increase considerably the volume of water which can be stored in the
canal to make up for any deficiency in the supply during
the dry season. This oan be done by raising the water
level 50 centimetres (19~ in.) in the two long reaches of
67 and 37 kilometres (41} and 23 miles) respectively. The
summit reach, the water level of which is 70 metres
(230 fb.) above zero, i3 fed from the main reach by two
pumps, each of which can raise 250 litres (55. 3 gallons) per
second. On an average, during the summer monbht:~, the
water lost from the canal through evaporation and percolation amounts to a depth of 27 millimetres (1.063 in. )
daily. As the greatest total loss by evaporation amount3
to 22.3 centimetres (8g in.) during the month of August,
that is, 7.2 millimetres (i'lr in. ) per day, this lea.ves aboub
20 millimetres (t in.) p er day for the a mou nt lost by p ercolation per da.y; which quantiby, it is expected, will
diminish as the canal gets more and more watertight in
the natural course.
O.tf-lets. -In order to drain off any surplus water tbab
may find its way into the oa.nal during extraordinary
hea.vy rains, off-lets have been provided in suitable places,
the positions of which have b een fixed wi bh due regard to
the situations of the stop-gates. The off-let of the
largest size on the midland reach can discharge 13 cubic
metre3 (2861 gallons) per second from the canal into the
River Ems.
All the off-lets together oan drain off
27 cubic metres (5492 gallons) per second from the canal.
The large off-let on the midland reach, in conjunc~ion
with the two stop-gates provided there, proved very
useful on the occasion of a breach of the bank in 1899.
With their hel.J? it was found possible to lower quickly
the water level m the rea.ch lying between the two stopgates in question, having a length of 11kilometres (7 miles),
sufficiently to prevent any serious damage, as the flow
from the breach could be stop~ed in a comparatively
short time. It was found posstble to do this withou t
drawing off any water from the reaches lying beyond
the stop-gates.
Canal P orts.-There are ma.ny ports along the ca.na.l
for the interchange of traffic. There are large ports at
the commencement of the canal at Dortmund, and at its
termination ab Emden. Dortmund has spent 5! million
marks (275, OOOl.) on establishing a port suita.ble for every
kind of traffic. The port is e~pecially well equipped with
t he necessary appliances for loading coal on a large scale.
Before the end of this year Emden will be connected with
the sea by a. well-lighted channel10 metres (33 H.) deep at
high water. To enable large sea-going vessels to load
and unload tha.t cannot pass through the lock on account
of their deep draught, extensive quays and wharves have
been constructed outside the lock, with electric coa.l tips,
goods sheds, and railway branch lines and sidings. In
the inner harbour, with a. depth of water of 6.5 meres
(21! ft.), there ar~ exten~ive quaJ:S and wharves which
will accommodate mdustna.l esta.bhshments of every description. Bonded warehouses also are to be construobed
shortly in the outer harbour. Besides these tlwo large
ports a. dock has b een constructed at Miinster 800 metres
{2625 ft.) long by 60 metres (197ft.) a.ve~age width. There
is also a. large port at the Herne termmus of the canal.
The boats at Dortmund and MUnster have been builb
with a. Government subsidy, but are worked by the municipa.lities of the two towns. There are also ports at Leer
and Pa.penburg for the accommodation of the sea-going
trade. The other ports, especially the greater pa.rt of
the smaller p orts along the canal, are fiscal establishments.
These ports, or rather wha.rves, are formed by widening
out the canal on one side ab the points in question by
a.bont 10 metres (33ft.) for one or more boat-lengths. To
provide berbhage for from four to eight vessels, tria.ngula.rshaped basins have been hollowed out, in which ships
ca.n be swung round. Private owners also are p ermitted
to establish such wharves or docks, with Government
sanction and no charge is made for loading or unloading
cargoes ~t any of these private landing-places. At a.:U
public quays and wharves a charge of t~o, fo~r, or s1x
pfen nig (. 24d., .48d., and . 72d.) per ton 1~ lev ted on all
cargoes, according to the three classes of tar1ff. No vessel
is allowed to load or unload anywhere else along the canal,
except ab a. wharf or in port.
CosT.
The law authorising the construction of the oan<.t.l
sanctioned an expenditure of 64.68 mil lion marks
(3,23!,000l) for the canal. By .a. supplementary .g~d.nt
this sum wa.s sub3equently ra.tsed to 79.43 mtlhons
(3 971 500l.) The firsu grant was sanctioned in 1886, the
w~rk 'was beg un in 1893. and on August 11, 1899, the
ca.nal was opened by the Emperor.
The various items of expenditure was in round figures
as under:
Marks.

Purchase of land . .
..
. . 8.2 million = 410,000
Eutbworks and slopes . .
. . 23.4 " = 1,170,000
Maint!.'nanoe during construc=
66,000
tion
..
..
..
. . 1.S
" = 1,140,000
Looks, bridges, &).
..
. . 22.8
" = 265,000
Subsidiary works, porliB, &c. . . 5.8
" = 65,000
Reservoirs, pumps, &o. .
. . 1.1

"

SEPT. 20, 1901.]

.Marks
Engineering, &c. . .
..
. . 6.8 milllon =
General expenses: Protecting
slopes, clay puddling, and un
foreseen oontingenoles
.. 10 5
=
11

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

340,000
625,000

Total . .
. . 79.4
= 3,970,000
11
This sum .i s for a. length of 252 kilometres (156f mile.q).
The e.xpend1bure was consequently a.boub 316,000 marks
per ktl?metre (25,438l. per mile).
Parttculars of Cost. - One kilometre of a.r tifioial canal
b~tween Herne-Dortmun~ a.nd Gl~esen 359,500 marks per
!ctlo~etre (28,940l. per mtle); 1 ktlometre of ri ver oanalts.attOn between M eppen and Herbrum 176,000 marks per
k1lometre (14!168l. p er mile).
The followmg scliedule of prioes will also be of in teres~:
Purchase of one hectare of land in- Marks.
cludin~ all incidental expenses' .. 4,700=95{. per aore.
One oub1c metre of earthwork including d ressing and sodding' and
soiling slopes . .
..
..
. . 0. 9! = 8 62<1. p. ob yd
Otay-puddling bottom and sides of

1 kilometre of oanal . .
..
. . 65,0:0 = 5232l. per mile.
20,000 = 1610l.
P roteoting slopes per kilom. of canal
to
to
11
30,000 2115

Marks.

Canal lift at Henriohenburg . .

2.6 millions = 130 000
Elcb masonry lock of 67 metres(220 ft.)

available length
..
..
. . 810,000 = 16,000
E \Ob masonry look of 165 metres
(5i2 (t.) available length
..
. _ 500,000 = 25,000
E \ Ob look with masonry bends, but
look-chambers with sloped sides,165
metres (642ft.) long . .
..
. . 35?,000 = 17,600
Each lock with side ponds, with 6.2
metres (20! ft.) fall, and electri ~
working . .
..
..
..
. . 670,000 = 3~,500
.
..
. . 170,000 = 8,600
Each needle weir . .
..
..
. . 3t 0,000 = 17 ,COO
Sluices at Herbrum
. . 650,000 = 32,600
Aqueduct aoross River Lippe . .
.,
11
Stever . .
. . 434,000 = 21,700
,.
,,
Ems . .
. . 900,000 = 46,000
R)ad diversion and crossing under
oanal at Olfen, width of road 8~
metres (i6! ft.)..
..
..
. . 110,000 = 6,500
Oae road-bridge across oanal on steel
girders:
Width of road, 4.6 metres = 14! ft. 25,000 = 1,250
11
6.6
11
= 18 . 28,000 = 1,40:>
"
7.0
" = 28 ..
40,000 = 2,000
8.0
11
= 26! 11 42,000 = 2, LOO
,.
Stop-gates, each . .
..
..
. . 90,000 = 4,500
Pumping station on River Lippe
. . 760,000 = 37,50)
River Inspector's service yard. .
. . 15,000 =
750

of the same tonnage carry their o wn engines. This

latter kind of ora.ft are specially intended for local traffi c
a.nd for carrying better- class goods. For transporting
~eavy mass~, the barge with?ub her own engines will contmue to be 10 demand. No d1fficulby has been experienced
hitherto in towing a train of two and even three large
buges with a. single tug. Another variety of b:n ges,
specially built for service on the new canal, has only a
length of 40 metres (132 ft.) by 7. 5 m~tres (2 l! ft.) beam,
a.~d 1.90 metres (6! ft.) drs.u~ht, Wi t~ a. carrying oapaOlty of about 400 tons. For spe01a.l purpo3es this
kind of craft seems to be also well adapted.
For a.ll cargo boats An average speed of 5 kilometres
(3.1 miles) an hour is prescribed, but single steamers may
on exceptional occasions travel at a ~rea.ter speed by
special permission of the oa.nal authonties. In Ocl.Se of
steamer~, the bottom edge of the scre w mu~b be ab lea.~t
0:75 metre (2~ ft.) above the canal bottom. This precautiOn ha<J been taken in order to prevent any injury t o the
canal bottom, which on embankments with puddled clay
bottoms might have serious consequences.
The use which the sea-going lighters from the North
Sea and the Balbio have made of the oa.nal has been of
sp ecial advantage bo the development of its braffio. Very
soon afber the opening of the canal, a brisk over-sea trade
wa.s developed, especially with Bremen, and also with
Hamburg, besides certain other Baltic p orts as fa.r as
D~m:ig a.nd Memel. The sea-going lighters using the
canal a.re also of two special sizes. The larger ones have
a length of a.bout 60 metres ( 197 f t. ), 8 metres (26! fb.)
beam, a nd are loaded for trips by sea. till their draught
a.mounba to 2.50 metres (8! f t.). After unloading part of
their oargo to make them lighter, and thus to reduce their
draught to 2 metres (6ft. 7 in. ), for the trip up the oanal,
they will still carry from 700 to 800 tons. The smaller
lighters are 40 metres (t3t ft.long), with 7 metres (23 ft .)
beam, and drawing 2 metres (6 ft. 7 in. ), and they oarry
about 400 ton~. All these bar~es carry sailing tackle for
emergencies ; but, under ordma.ry conditions, they are
excl usively towed on their trips across the sea~. In
favourable weather, a tug of 250 to 300 horae-power can
tow li~hters. An average trip from B remen to M Unster
occuptes eight or nine daya, a.nd one from Hamburg to
Miinst3r from ten to fourteen days. The time spent on a.
voyage from the B~ltic p orts depends on the wind and
weather.
Even Duboh and Belgian p orts, e~pecially Rotterdam
and Antwerp, begin now to send traffic into bhe oana.l to
M Unster and D ortmund. The barges used for this purpose are the Dutch coa.sbing and canal vessels called
"tjalken." They travel along the Dutch canals which
a.re in communication with the Dortmund and Ems Canal
ab three points, namely, a.b D elfzyJ. Ha.ren, and Hanekenfaehr via t he Groningen Shio Canal. the H aren and
R eutenbrook Cana,J, a.nd the Ems and V echt Canal.
The principal import good~ carried on t he canal are
timber, corn, and ores. Of the latter, the Swedish ores
from Lulea and Oxelsund occu py the foremost place. The
principal expor t goods carried in mass are iron and coal.
The traffic returns for 1900 show a total of about half a.
mill ion t ons, wh ich figure will probl.bly be d oubled this
year.
In conclusion, the D ortmund and Ems Canal is only
bhe first p ortion of the proposed great canal route
between the Rhine a.nd Elba, and the full valne of the
ne w waterway will only be realised when the whol e propo3ed net work of canals is carried oat. U ntil then, its development will mainly depend upon the further development of bhe por b of Emden, and the improvement of the
route from Emden to the sea. Both the3e schemes are
conceived in a bold spirib, and are being pushed forward
with g reat energy, so that there is a fair prospecb of t heir
bsing
completed this year and brought to a. successful

ADMINISTRATION.
The administration of the canal between Dortmund
a.nd Papenburg, including the branch tJo H erne, a. t otal
length of about 239 kilometres ( 148~ miles), is s ubject to
the authority of the Chief Governor of W estphalia ; that
of the canal belo w Papenburg t o the Government Chief
in Aurich. The navigable portions of the Emi and the
River Hase a.re also subject to the first-named authority.
The portion under the Chief Governor of Westphalia is
diviaed into two sections. each under a divisional Chief
Inspector of R iver and Canal W orks. The upper division, 149 kilometres (92i miles) long, is divided into ten
sub-divisions; the lower division, 89.5 kilometres (55~
m iles) long, into five sub-divisions, each under a. Ri ver
Ins pector.
The annual cost of maintena.nce of the oa.na.l as far as
E mden amounts t o a.boub 800,000 marks (40,000l.), including the sa.laries of the engineering sta.ff. The canal
tolls a.re collected according to three different classes of
tariff. The lengbh a long the Ems between Herbrum and
Emden is toll free. On the re3b of the canal, between
Herbrum a.nd Dorbmund, the follo wing are to be the
charges till A pri11, 1905, for the whole le ngth of 215 kilo- lS3Ue.
metres ( 133i miles) : First-class goods, 50 pfennig, or 6d.
p er ton ; second-class ~oodsz 25 pfennig, or 3d. per t on ;
GRAPIIIC ANALYSES OF PROPELLER
third-class goods, 10 pfenmg, or l i d. per t on. On and
REACTIONS.*
a.fter Aprill, 1905, the tolls to be levied per ton will be
By Mr. J. 1YirLLEN AD.\:U,
70, 59, and 30 pfennig (8. 4d ., 6j., and 3. 6d. ). F 0r shorter
distances the charges are reduced in proportion to the
PART I.
length bra.veraed by the barge3. The toll~ a.re reckoned
AN endeavour is made in the paper to concentrate
on the net c~rgo. Empty barges pa.y for one-tenth of attention on the propeller aud the fluid which passes
their carrying capa.oity on the soa.le charged for third- through it as a. conservative system.
class goods.
A lthough apparently an elementary inquiry, it may be
useful t o examine, and, if possible, to define the reac1viODE OF W ORKING THE TRA}'FIO.
tions produced in a fluid by a rotating scre w.
The difference between the screw pitch and the reAfter mature consideration i t was d ecided, in view of
the uncertainty about the a.moanb of t raffic that might be s ultant ship s peed provides the angle of incidence
expected, nob to adopt ab the outset a.ny kind of central wi thout which no energy would be usefully expended.
This angle of incidence is immediately taken by the
working of the canal traffic-for which purpose eJeotrio
towage wa.~ contemplated-bat to allow the barges to leading edge of t he blade with a. certa.in shook, a.nd a.
navigate freely and use steam tuga. Smaller ora.ft can reduced pressure of the reverse, which a.t high speeds
be towed by horses, :1 towing-path being provided for the results in tip cavitation, a phenomenon appa.rently
similar t o vena contracta. Attempts to a-dopt gaining
purpose.
The cross-seobion of the oa.na.l a.llowa of the p assage of pitches have not been successful, probably because the
barges 67 metres (220 ft. ) long over a.ll, with 8.20 metres radial component is increased thereby, a.nd a.lso because
(27 ft.) beam, and drawing 2 metres (6 ft. 7 in ) of water. a.n acceleration uniform from tip to boss is nob possible
~uoh a cra.fb ha.s a. o1ury ing ca.pacity of about 950 tons. in a. helical vane in which, by oonstruotion, the tip subFor bhe maj ority of new barges, specially built for work- tends a. much smaller angle of rotation than the roob.
A fea.bure of the helical screw, therefore, is its essening on the new ca.nal, these maximum dimensions have
been adopted. The barges were originally built with tia.lly non-e-a.ining pitch, a.nd bhia lat ter element is necesspoonshaped prowa and poops, hub as some difficulty was sary for h1gh effi01enoy. When waves roll on shelving
experienced in steering barges fashioned in this wa.y, rocks a.t low angles, they immediately break in impotent
straig ht posts were subsequently adopted, first a.fb, and foam; hub in several places on our coasts, owing to a diflater both fore and a.ft. The proportion of the area. of ferent formation of rook, the water under similar impulse
the wetted cross-section of the larges t make of barge3 is deflected upwards in a.n unbroken oolumn 30ft. or 40 ft.
to thab of the canal is only 1 : 3 82. It will depend high, and a. little consideration will lead us to deduce
on the experience bo be gained in working bhe traffic the form of surface mosb favourable to the latter result.
A p article escaping from the impact of a. narrow inclined
by towage, whether full use is t o be made still
further of the maximum p ermissible dra.ug hb of 2
* Abstrac~ of p ap er read before the International
metres (6 ft. 7 in.), or whether it will be more advantageous to reduce the draught by c&rrying less cargo. Engineering Congress, Glasgo w, 1901. Section I V . :
Most of the la.rgesb barges are towed by bugs, but soma Na.va.l A rohibeobure a.nd M arine Engineering.

plane- moving uniformly in a straight line ab right

angles to its length-will move according- to Newton's
second law in a straight line, and the dtrection will be
determined by bhe angle of incidence ab fira~ contact, and
will indicate the res ultant direction of the oblique force.
This resultant ma.y, firstly, be resolved into two component force3 : A, at right a ngles to the path of the vane
representing the deflection of the particle, or work done;
and B, pa.rall~l to the p~th, representing the inertia. of
the mass, or wha.b has been erroneously called useless
resistance. If, now, we take account of the length of the
Qlane, we form a. conception of two sheets of force, A and
B, characterised as above.
.
L et nhe inclined plana be pivoted a.b one end a.nd the
free end moved through a.n arc, then the component sheets
become A, parallel with the axis, or for ou r present purpo3e, effective; a.nd B, a.t right angles thereto, tangential
to the aro-but in this case tangential only for an infinite3imal insta.n b of time, a.nd with varying magnitude
falling to nil ab the axis, a.nd each particle in reaction
sbill retains its direction in a straight line. L et the pJane
or vane be t wisted to eo relate the angle of incidence to
the radius, then the force becomes extra tangential, because
every aro is bounded on its outer edge by a n arc whose
a ngle of incidence is somewhat less steep. Remembering
that to compel a mass to describe a. curved path, it must
be acbed on by a. force directed towards the centre of
cur vature, the helical screw possesses no restraining
element opposing tangential and therefore cent rifugal
escape of energy, but adds a. material inducement
thereto.
L et us consider a. rotating disc t o consist of a. sheet of
radii, a.nd a. uniform system of tangents to be superposed
on the same plane and extended to infinity. Then, as a.
com ponent, B ma.y be characterised as a. piano of forces
perpendicular to A, but with a definite direction equivalent to the converse of a. couple. B may now be compared to the case of uniform motion in a circle.
For bhis purpose leb two components of resistance to
the force B be c circu mferential, and d a.b right angles
thereto or diametrical. If d , acting along the ra.dins, be
directed outwards from the centre, the stress wo uld fall
within the circumference of the disc and correspond bo a.
moving force direobed t owa.rd the centre of the circle,
altering the direction but not the magnitude of the velocity, and therefore absorbing no power.
But we have seen that the resultant direction of displacemeu b by the angle of incidence of the helical screw
is extra tangential. d, therefore, ss a. componen t resistance acting along the radius, is directed inwards toward
the centre, and the reaction falling without the circle is
occluded from o.
The value of c, therefore, a-s a. resistance appears t o be
diminished ey the recession of the tangent through ea.oh
quadrant of robation with a definite loss of pressure.
PART II.
Leb an immersed hollow cone be rota.bed in its axis; ib
is obvious no energy will be expended beyond overcoming
skin friction. L et the cone be d ivided and its a.x:is inclined on the plane of division to the axis of rotation
(these axes intersecting a.t the apex); leb the apogee be
the leading edge, a.nd a reactive surface will emerge
having several p eculiar features.
Obviously also the greater th e inclination, as the
perigee approaches the ' ' shaft axis , the more pronounced will be the reactive surface; or, in other words,
the greater wi1l be the potential pitch ratio, yet the apo~ee
edge will continue nil pitch through every phase, ha.vmg
a t angent which is common to a.n arc of gyration.
The pitch lines of a rotating half-cone correspond tJo the
figure of cylinders concent ric to its shaft axis intersecting
the oonio surface, and on development a.re seen to be
symmet rical curves of increasing pitch from zero to
apogee, with equal acceleration, and therefore equal pressure over the wh ole surface.
Every pitch line so defined is identical in form, differing
only in scale of magnitude, a.nd p erfectly eo-related to
the radius, and all contiguous lines produced by a rotary
movement a.re therefore identical in direction, so that the
re3ulting current is homogeneous over the whole surface.
A remarkable feature of these lines-distinguishing
them from those of a helical screw-is that every a.rc is
bounded by an aro who3e angle of incidence is muoh more
steep; so that the theoretical or oylindrioalstream line is
also the p ath of least resistance to a. fluid escaping from
the impa.ot of this surfaco.
The required vane will be found on this surface, and its
position will be rigidly determined by the rf\sp ective
pitches req uired for the leading a.nd follo wing edg~.
PRESSED STEEL CAR. -An order for 10,000 pressed s teel
c ~rs wa.s recently placed with the Pressed St-eel Car Company of Pi ttsburg, by the Baltimore a.nd Ohio Railroad
Cvm pany. About 7000 of the oara have been delivered ,
and the remaining 3000 a.re being turned out at the rate
of 65 per day.
ROLLING STOOK ON THE NORTHERN OF FRANCE RAILWAY.

- In the course of la-st year, two additional com-eound locomotives with tenders were placed upon bhe Northern of
F rance system, as well ns 198 passenger car riages a.nd
1600 trucks and vans of va-rious kinds. The following
additional rolling stook ha.s been in course of construction
this year for the Northern of France Company: 63 compound four-cylinder locomobives, 30 tenders, 15 eightwheel coupled shunting engines, a.nd 3868 trucks and
vans of various kinds . Some express engines specially
ordered by the Northern of France Oompany, to provide
for traffic anticipated in connection with the Paris Exhibition of 1900, proved highly successful ; a.nd the company
has ordered 18 more engines of the same type, subjecb to
a few modifications of detail suggested by experience.

430

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

[SEPT. 20, 1901.

increase the num?er of their railway journeys, and that,

One acknowledged difficulty in carrying oub a general
moreover, an en ttrely new sbrabum of t ravellers would be and considerable reduction i n third-class fares lies in the
By HoRACE BELL, M. Inst. C.E.
reached Ibis further to be remembered thab a develop. want of sufficien t yard and platform accommodation at
ON n o subject is opinion so frequen t ly and strongly m~nb_of passenger t~affi~ is now well understood to bring many of the older principal stations, and especially in
expressed, both in private and in public t han on the With 1t a correspond10g tmprovement in goods traffic.
L ondon, if, as is almosb cer tain, the ~d. per mile fare led
need fo~ c~eaper rail way fares. It cannot' be contended . It is nob overlooked bhab t he settlement of this question to trebling the number of travellers in the third class.
that ~h1s IS mer~ ~ritis~ gr1:1mbling, since, if it means ts no .small m11bber, for it must be t ested fairly, and on a At. many of the smaller stations, as, for ins tance, on the
a.nythmg at all, 1b 1mphes tha.b, on existing cond itions suffi01ently large sciole ; while the experimen t mg.y, or B nghto~ and the South -Eastern and Chatham lines, the
the mass of the p eople ca.nnot afford to t ravel as often ~ per~~ps must~ involve a considerable expen:liture on sg.me .difficulty would be e~perienced, though this diffi.
they would d o on more reasonable terms or in other add1t10nal rolhng stock for ab lea~t m'l.i n lines. The area culty IS, after all, almost entirely one of money, and is one
~ords, on. terms m ?re suited to their ~e.ans.' Th'e question on which the experimen t would seem at firsb most likely that can be met ~adually and tentatively as the demand
IS one n;tamly of thud-class fares, for 1b 1s from this source bo prove successful is on the railwayc1 ser ving the seaboard d~velop~. A simllar hub probably less immediate obstacle
that qutbe 90 per cent. of passenger receipts are derived round L ondon. There lies a field for the enterprising will be found in .the need for a large increase in the rolling
ab the pre~enb da7. .Th~ second class must be regard ed manager such a~ exists nowhere else in the world-a city stook . But neither these nor other difficulties would
as a mon bund m st1tut10n, while the first class is on of, let us say, five millions of sea-loving people at one end, stand in the way for long, when experiment had satismost lines, unre~~nerative, .and is maintained, in great and the Eea at the other. Y et there we find, ab any rate factorily estab1ished that the reduction of fares would be
me }sure, as a p ohttc concessiOn to a small but influential f~r the third-class p assenger, a poor and unpunctual ser- profitable.
body of customer~. The movement in the direction of V1C3 ; a clas3 of rolling stook which, until quite lately, was
one cb~s ~s already well defined. Its complete success, almost the worst in the country; and fares which, t o the
o m pled w1th low fares. on tramways, on omnibus routes, bulk of the p eople, mak e a visit no the seaside a rare
THE METRIC SYSTE M.
and .lately on. the Central L ')ndon R9.il way, affords lu x~ry; . while it should, and could, be the commonest
T he Adoption of the Metric System in our Worksh~ps.
nnmtsta~able s~gns ~f what we are coming to in the n ear hohday Ja unt for the L :mdone r. With fares reduced to a
futur~, 10 ~ervmg nme-tenbhs of the travelling public. halfpenny a mile, with a fast direct ser vice, and with
By Mn. AnTHUR GREENWOOD, of L 9ed3.
Yet, 10 sp1te of these and other obvious indications of ordinarily decent carriages, thousands upon thousg,nd3 of
WrTn the object of obtaining an expression of opinion
changE', our home railways still adhere stubbornly t o the people, who now perhaps go down to the sea once in of those connected with the mechanical engineering
"parliamentary " minimum fare of ld . per mile for all bhe year, would come to regard such a trip with hub little trades now assembled in Congress ab Glasgow, the writer
hub cheap trips and "week-end " excursions, and appa- more hesi tation than those who now fill the Pullman cus has ventured to express his views as to whether the time
rently dtsregard the broad hint which the profitable 0') B~i~h.ton and else where>. What can be more obviously has nob now arrived when some steps should be taken
results ~f these deviatio~s from the standard charge prohibitive to the great lower and lower middle class than towards the adoption in our workshops, in a more or
afford, VJZ . that by reducm g the or~inary fare to, say, a the present ordinary return third-class fares to Brighbon les3 complete form, of the metrical system of weights
!d. p er mileo, they would probably, 1f not ?ertainly, get (8~. 5~.). to D over (12s. ltd.), t o Margate (123. 4d.), or and measuremen ts now generally in use on the Continen t
three p ersons to travel where they now get but one. Hasb10gs ( 10~. ld. )- all ab the inevitable penny a mile, of Europe.
They appear to consider the 1d. a mile a "bed-rock " and and none of the places much more than 70 miles fr vm
Ab th e risk of pos~i bb opposition, he is prepared to
that any depa.rtu re from it is to be regarded m or~ as a London. At a. halfpenny rate, and with an ample service avo w bhab, after a nob inconsiderable experience in
benevol~nb concession, or hazudous, . if nob reckless, of quick through trains, the present p3.ssen~er traffic could international trade, in which he ha3 been p arsonalJy
transactiOn, than a.s sound and lucratl ve busine3s. At probably be quadrupled, m ore especiall.v If facilities for engaged in pushing the sale of British machinery in
the time that the "parliamentary " fare was established ~hrou~h booking were arranged with the District R'l.il way ; foreign cou nt ries, in opposition to machinery made
n ow mo!e than 50 years ago, it was vehemently opposed; mdeed, i b is more than likely that it would pay to make abroad, he would gladly see the ad.:>ption by this country
and mamly on the ground, then largely prevalent that entirely new direct lines- elecbric possibly- for no other of the metric system in i ts ent irety- money, weights,
the "oosb of conveyance " was a fixed figure. It w~s not purpose than to serve a. throutlh passenger traffic between and measurements, as established in France in 1799.
then seen, ~s ib is n ow, th at. far. from being fixed, the L ondon and bhe sea c:>as~. But for the railwayc1 round B sing, moreover, a. Free-Trader in the widest sense of the
cost of t;novmg pa~sengers, or hauhng good!, varies up or L ondon, at least, the ha.lfpenny fare need nob be confi ned word, he would not hesitate to adopt from th e foreigner
? own _w1th the .volume of traffic deal t wish. Every tyro to seaside traffic. It would effec ~ a great development anything t hat is bettsr than can be found at home.
10 _
r ailway p~h~y n ow knows as the alphabet of his of sul?ur ban traffic, more especially on the shorter distances, Possibly there may be some prejudice in favour of the
busmess that tf 1b costs, say, x to move 100 p assengers, it and mdu ce a far greater movemen t of the rural popula- French system arising from the facb of education in that
d.oes nob co3b .5x to m ove 500. The 1d. a mil~ has long tion ~o and from towns and villages from distances of 50 to cou nt ry, now, unfortunately, more than 40 years ago, which
smce been found to spell a nything but ru in. No ra il way 60 mtles from t he met ropolis-a movemenb which is now made a strong impression upon him, in the facility of
manager would for:\. mom ent think of increasing i b. Bat inconsiderable, and which would well repay better atben- learning the metric system as taught in French college!:!,
h ow many of them can see the mine of wealth which lies tion on the p a.rb of rail way m en.
as compared with his earlier exp erience ab school in
waiting for those who wJll materially red uce it ?
Conservatism a ppears to ha the key-note of the p olicy E ngland, in endeavouring to master the British weights
The absence of sydtematic and detailed statistics for of ou r ra ilwt1.y compl.nies. They seem to say: "Our and measures. The former is mastered wi th very little
the ra ilways in the United Kingdom in a large degree officials and our workpeople get their p3.y, the bo.1.rd gets trouble, and is so simple and self-evident that ib remains
a cJounts for the timidity. or, we may call ib, conservatism, ibs fees, and the shareholders their moderately good lastingly impressed upon one'd mind, whilso the latter is
of their management. There are probably bub few of d ividend. What more do you want ?" T he " more" so co mplex and irrational that, although one may suppose
our railway managers who are in a p osition to unhesi- that is wan ted is some attention to the claims of the ib to be possible of aoquis inion, unfor tunately ib does nob
t atingly quote the p rime cost of moving a p assenger or a Britiih public, more regard for the interests of the remain impressed on one's mind, seeing how often in after
t :m of goods, as derived from the operations of any shareholders, some attempb to shak e off old-fashioned life one has to refer to books when it is necessary to make
single year, or could d o more than guess ab t he cost of ideas, and to strike out in new directions. In any such a. calculation ou tside the run of every-day work.
running expenses p er brain-mile; while the outlay per attemp bs they should recollecb thab every small advanIt would possibly be wiser to eliminate from t his
p as3enge r-mile, or p er ton-mile, which would include tage whi ch the third-clas 3 p assenger now has, as com- discussion the q uesbion of money and monetary standards,
charges shown separately for each department, would be pg.red with his position 50 yeara ago, has been simply as being a subject of which we mechanics know little,
t o him no more than as a dream of p erfection, or p erhaps wrung from the companies against their vehement opposi leaving it to be settled by those who make more of it,
as a nightm are of embarrassment. Yet, if we turn to tion, and yeb nob one of these would now think for a and consequently ma.y be assumed bo kno w moreaboub it;
the statistics annually offered for the American rail ways, moment of returning to the old r egime. The "p9.r although it must be admitted tha.t a system which
or, better still, for the Indian railways, we fi nd that for liamen bary" train was discouraged by ma.king it almost enables one t o use the current coins of the realm as
each system, under separate administration, there is an impossi ble for the third-class p assenger to effect any long standard3 of weights and measurements offers a.dvaninvaluable review of i ts yearly operations, in every journey in dayligh t, even although he was ex pected to star .> ta~e~ that the humble mechanic would ab times appreciate.
In the first place ib will be expedient to consider what
d etail, and for each department, and in a form so clear a t cock . crow, and was made bo get out and wait a~ j uncas t o render the results on any one line readily com- tions; though even when his tlrain arrived there might advantage would a ccrue to the mechanical engineering
parable with those of another. It is due in great measure be no room for him. Conveniences of any kind, even for trade of this country by the adoption of the metrical
to these statistics that the rates and f~res on Indian refreshment, were nob even contemplated for this lowly system. If this cou ntry could afford. or if ib were
r ail ways are probably the lowest in the world, a nd n.t type of traveller. Again, when the Midland Company, possible, to build a wall rou nd its Empire, and the
the same time eminently profitable. T aking as an instance in 1872, boldly started to carry third-class pl.ssengers by engi neers were to devote t hemselves si mply to the manuthe East Indian Railway, the figures for 1899 show that all trains, the other companies, especially the G reat facture of engines and machinery required in i ts own
in this year the line carried a t otal of 18~ million pas- Western, lagged behind for a long while ; and even to workshops and factories, neither selling nor desiring to
sengers, of which 17 millions were of th e third or lowest this day the ~outh-E1.stern and Chatham co mp~nies run sell anything outside the Empire, there would be no
class; that the average number of p assengers in a train some trains ei ther with first and second only, or wi th an reason why they should nob continue to muddle on with
of all classes was 228; t he average distan ce travelled was extra charge for third class. Again, the substitu tion of feet. inches, sixteenths, thirty-second3, and hundred61 miles; the cost of hauling one passenger one mile was t wo classes for three, prop:>3ed or advocated by Mr. weights, quarters, pounds, &c., for all time, wasting the
one-eighteenth of a p enny, and the fa re cha.r~ed one-fifth Gladgtone so long ago as 1874, which ha3 alres.dy been energies of the student in endeavouring to co mprehend
of a p enny per mile-all d ebibs incl uded . Now, it may amply proved to be both p olitic and profitable, has not our harlequin system, or rather collection, of standard
bs readily allowed, in comparing the fixed charges {for as yet been adop bed generally, though i t grows slowly. weights and mea.sure3, instead of giving t hem instrucnion
operation only), a nd th s running chargo3 on this line, So ib is with the redu ction of fare3 : the fare and a half, that would be of permanent use to them; and employing
with those of some of our leading E nglish lines, that the and the siogle fare-or. in other wordo, the ~d . p ::r mile hundreds of unprod uctive clerks in our offices when tens
East Indian has some p oint3 in i bs favour; but these, -are already well to the front for trips and excursions, would suffice. Ib would be ou r own afftLir, and our own
after all, are as nothing in face of the fact that if the but for these only; though they sho w without doubt that insular privilege to continue, if we thought fit, a system
a varaga income of the third-class p1ssenger in E ngland full trains ab these rates are distinctly remunera tive. which has been c:mdemned by mos~ nations of the earth,
i i taken, say, at 15l. a month, that of the same class in T here a re, in fact, but f.e w lines on which the a ctual cost and who might probably continue to laugh at our pEcuIndia may b3 taken, and liberally, ab not more than 153. ; of ca.rrying passengers in full tra.ins cJ.n be mu ch more liarities and prej udices. Bub ib may be assum ed t hat the
th a+J is to say, that in order t o induce any passenger than half a ftLrthing p er head p er mile ; yeb, though our Bribish mechanical engineer cannot afford, and has no
traffic ab all, and one thab was worth considering, the rail ways have taught us to travel, they hava n ob learnt desire, t o be content with any such position. He is
Indian rai lways have had to come d own to rates which their own les3on, which i3 to offer the necessn.ry induce. determined to continue the efforts he hM up bo n ow
the E nglish railway manager would have imagined ments t o ex tend the h9.bit. They go on with the same succes~fully made, in spite of what has been lately said
m possible. They have found, ho waver. th a~ by m oving old " penny-a-mile" as if there was divine revelation in and written as to his decadence, to push his manufactures
very large n umbera ab very low fardEI, the result is most the figure. and as if our rail way boards were not men of in every m~i.rket in the world. H e has to meeb oomprofitable; and, in face of such figures a'i n.re given above, busine3S, but mere ornamental pluralists. In some case3, petitora from America, Germany, and France in the
1t is but reasonable to ask whether the l d. a miiA must be if not in many, the boards are h eld down by the inertia. countries of Europe and elsewhere where the metria
co ntinued as the standard fare in the U nited Kingdom, of their managers-as was notoriou31y the case on system is univeraal. Germany ha3 followed the lead
i e., for ordina ry journeys. The re ply might be th9.b t he the Graab W estern, when in the able bu t very con- of the L ati n cou ntries, and has abolished her many
1d. paye, and that any materially lower fare may not servative hands of Gr ieraon. His bype iP, unfortunately, standards of feet, and Austria ha-s done the same>. Russia
Yet againsb this we have the fa ct that fares approxi- still too common ; and for the reason that, by the time continued to honour us for yeara by using onr standards,
mating to a ~d . a mile. or, indeed. less, on the Central a man h as worked up from the bottom of the ladder and still does so to some exten t, hub in Russia before
L ondon, the District Railway, and the Glasgow Tra m- to the p osit ion of manager, he has t oo genera.lly and nob very long the metric system will be as general as it is in
ways are, with large numbers, nob only possible in a unna turally lost his v igour and the spiri t of enterprise, Germany, thanks very largely t o German propaganda
fiscal' l:!ense, but that, in the face of keen competition, ib His policy is t o let wen alone. T he better or the best may in that country. If the British mechanical engineer is
is the only way of getting the traffic. From such facts be lefb to others bo try for. On the other band, there a re t o hold his own in the3e ma.rkebs, it is imperative that he
i b seem~ fair to expecb t hab if the ~d . a mile was adopted d oubtless ma.ny younge r men who, if g iven reasonable should offer ~cods to conform to thei r usages in dimengenerally on Enghsh railways, for all journeys, instead of latitude of action, would soon show than the true policy sions and we1ghb. T he writer would appeal to those
the ld., that thousands, or rather millions, would largely of the administration of a railway is, as much as in any of his engineering colleagues who have doubtless found
other industrial undertaking, to venture, to move forward, themselves in the same desperate position he has found
* Abstrac t of paper read before the Internationa l even if slowly; and t o be con tent, nob merely when they
* Paper read before the International Engineering
Section I. : have met a d emand forced on them, hub when they have
E ngineering Congress, G lasgow, 1901.
introduced facilities which will induce a further demand. Congress, Glasgow, 1901. Section III.: Ni echanica.l.
Railways.

''CHEAPER RAILWAY FARE .''*

SEPT. 20, 190!.]

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

43 1

hir;nself, provided with a. drawing of a.n elaborate ma- of engmeers-foreig.n and British- musb before long see The b:>iler was generally of a. modified locomotive type,
chm e carefull y sc.a.led to 1 in. or 1~ in. to 1 fb., and with the nec~siby, M.ea.nwhilE>, t.hings can go on as they are, although a. returntube boil9r with flattened aides was
proba-bly a ve~y tmp~rfecb kno'!ledge of the la nguage of and proba.bly \ Vhttworth's wtll s urvive as the fittest unti l sometimes used.
the country w~th whteh he desues to transact business, some cong ress establishes a. system which shouid of
Tbe wei~hb of mwb inery with steam up was a bou b
and. end.e~~our10g to answer the numerous questions of ~ourse, be metric in pitch, bub, let us h ope, Whitw~rtb 4 b ns, the mdicated hor.ie-power 30 to 35.
an lnqutsttll~'e an~ int.ellecpu~l foreigner who wants to m form of t hreadThese boats were atta.ched to d ep6~s, and were carried
know the dnD;enstons m m1lllmetrea and weight in kilo
~uoh has been said lately about the m etric system ab se11. by the largest cl a.~s of sbi ps. They were pr incig~ams of pa.rt10ula.r p 1nts o f the machine. U nder such b.em g m~de c~m.P?lS?ry. Pa.t'liamenb hM made i b p ermis- Pfl:llY ~~ed for communicating with the shore, from s hips
ctrcumstances the wonder is tba.t orders coni :l b e obtained a~ble, pn vate mtttatt ve s hould demonstrate thab i b IS pra.o- lymg tn the outer roadsteads of naval purts.
ab all, and con~idering the disadvantage under which btoal and ad va~tageous, and s hould t hen call upon Pa.rliaThey are very useful, durable boa.t s, and most of them
he has sbo'!n hts wa.~es, success i n obtaining orders can m~nb t o make 1b compulsory; but, above all, g1ve time, as ended their careers to wing ligh ter3 of stores, and taking
only ~e constdered a. brtbute to excellence of design. True, wtbh the F rench. It would be a mistake to sa.y two year R wor~ix;tg parties to and from menof-war fitting oub and
expenen ce has ta.ugbb many engaged in Conti nen tal -a p eriod that has been advocated. Twenty yeara would repa1rmg.
trf;\~e t<;> have pl~ns drawn to tenth sca.le, thus somewhat be nearer the per iod in which t o make it compulsory but
The r owing and sailing boats which formed , in addition
mttt~a.tmg t.he ~tfficul ty here alluded t o, but n o one can d.oubless i b would be gener ally adopted long before' that to these steam launches, the equipment of the larger vessels,
p osstbly ma.mta.tn t ha.t the seller'o position would n ot ttme for that best of a ll rea.aons, viz , self inter est.
~nd in the sm1.ller Yessels the entire boat equipment, ha d
have be~n wonderfully improved, and his own a nd his
Ib was suggested ab the commencemen t of this paper to 1~ the me~ntim e been brought to a. high pitch of perfecprospecttv~ purc~aser's t~mpe~ less so~ely tried, bad he leave bhe m onetary standard alone. but a. plea might be tto~, parttcularly as regards the emall sailing lifeboats
be~n proytd~d w1t~ dr~wmga m metn c scale, and wi th advanced t?ab wh~t~ver unib is ul bimately adop ted, it ~htc~ were atta~hed to nea.!lY every s hip in the N avy; and
w e1ghts m~10ated m ktlogrammes instead of tons and may b~ de01mally dtvtded, as ha.s been d on e by pra.cticalJy m bbts connect ton I trust 1t ma.y nob be considered out of
hundredweights.
place for me to men tion the name of Mr. J ohn White,
a.ll nat10ne.
From con~ula.r reports we bear from time to time of
The objecb of this paper is to pub forward a claim for of Cc;>wea, I sle of Wig ht, who had, among other life saving
En~ land losm g orders for hard ware and textile goods, the adoption of the metric sys tem for weights and mea- a pphances for use a.b sea., ma.d e a special study of the
owm g to ma~ufa.cturera nob troubling t o make them in sures, the latter ter m applying also to lineal measu res and manufacture of sailing lifeboats of snob dimensions as t')
accordance. wtth the sta.ndards of other countries, and we surface, and t o measures of capacity. Special standards be ea9ily carried at davits in all classes of ships.
do nob ~es1tate to ~ondemn their want of enterprise and for special ar t icles in particular district3 should be
The~e sailing lifeboats form the first s tep to wards the
old-fash10ned practtce, and point out to them that it is no abolished, and the sale of precious substances and drug~ evolu twn of the modern steam'boab for wa rs hips. The
wo~der that Germans, for instance, who, above all a.t the rate of 5760 grain s to the pound, and steel, b eef next st ep, viz , applying steam na-chinery to t heee
nattans, endeavour to offer goods t o meet the wants of and sugar at 7000 grains, sh ould cease. Civil engineer~ already satisfactory lifeboat bulls, was a.lso taken at Cowes
other. cou n t ries, are obtaining trade that heretofore came should give up expressing i n yards, chains, and furlong&, by Mr. John Samuel WbitP, who carried out in 1864
t o thts country . The wri ter couJd quote numerous cas~~ and adop t a. metre sta.ndard; and our surveyors abandon a series of exp eriments with one of the smaJl Jife'Joats
of orders fr~m France,. Germany, Russia, Japan, and their rods, poles, perches. roods, and acres, and express built und er his fa ther's patent~. o~hers, n o doub b wera
South Amer 10a., that m1ght have come t o England, in- b~emselves m area, and the litre be substituted for gills, 6 bting mach inery to small lightly-built boats a.bo~b the
deed would have come,, bub for ~he reason that the pu r- pmts, quarts, a nd ga.lJons. 8olid cubic mea-sures should same time ; bub the experimen ts above re ferred to had a.
cba.sera preferred buymg macbm ery which ad mittedly be known as steres, and let m echanical engineers adopt definite object, viz., the development of a. steamboat for
wa~ not so good or RO .s uited to their requiremen ts, but the metre and the gram, instead of onr present confusion naval purpo: es, to meet as far a.e possibl e all conditions of
wh10h confor m ed to then metric system. Is it nob there- of quarterinches and sixteenthq, and our pounds a nd service, whether in fine or stormy weather .
fore bey.ond d oubt desirable, from the p oint of view of their p er plexing multiples.
Th~ e?gineers associated wi th Mr. White in car rying
mternat10na.l trade, that engineers sh ould adopt the
.At the. same ~i!Oe these measures sh ould be adopted out bts tdeas were M essrs. BelliEs and Co., of Birmingsystem of their cuatomero ?
wtt h t.hetr Angh01sed Fren ch . names, a nd thus a void the ham, who, up to the year 1889, construcbed the machinery
. It will probab.Jy. b,e advanced that America, who is confusiOn thab has been made m Germany by attem p ting for all the boats built by Mr. White (aboub830 in number ).
hkeJy t o be Buta.m d grea.test competitor in many of to hide the F ren ch origin; and it would be a g raceful act 'fhe results of t hese experiments were embodied in a small
the~e .ma.rket~, still continues the foot and ton stand ard. to perpetuate t he French origin of t he metre sta.ndard steam life-cut ter 24 ft. m lengt h, built for the yacht of the
Th1:J JS car bamly the case, bob she ba.s in addition univer - and nothi~g ~ould be si mpler, than. their adoption of then Marquis of Hastings. This boat attracted th e attensall y .adopted the d ecimal division of inches and tons, G reek d~n vat1 ves . of Deca, Hect~, K tlo, and Myria, for tion of the naval authoritief!, and an order was s-iven to
~nd, .J udgmg from whab appears in American engineer- the multtple of umts, and the L atm ones of Dec1, Cen ti Mr. White to build a. 27-ft. lifecotte r for ser viCe with
' H.~ ~ Sylvia, for surveying work, a. form of boab work
m g Journals, Il;lanufacturers there a re being urged to and Milli, for the di vision of the unit?.
The scienti fic world has adopted the metric system wbtch ts of a. very arduous nature for rowing boate. Tht.
adopt the mebnc system, a nd that if, as is undoubtedly
the c~se, she really int~nds to grapple with the trade of even e nlarging upon i t for cbemica.l and other purpose; bplb was 27 ft. long ; th e boiler pressure, 65 lb.; revoluContmenta l E~rope, 1t may safely be pred icted that of research; a nd having to m eet smaller divisions ib tiOns of engines, 278 per minute ; and the indicated horsebefore long she wtll avail bersslf of t.he additional ad van- has by interna.bional conference a dopted the micro~ as power, 13!. The speed was about 7 knots. When this
ta.ges t o be gained by offering goods made in accordance the onemilliontb part of the metre. L et us follow our boat ~as delivere:d t~ P ortsm outh D ockyard, variou3
scienti fic lead ers in this respecb, a nd also in their adoption exper1ments were earned oub, as she was a new type,
wt th bhe standards of t he destred customers .
of the system of Celsius for our standa rds of heab and with a. vie w t o ascertaining her "lifeboat" qualities.
Assum~ng, then, that for the purpose of foreign trad e
She was allowed to fill from the sea, and in this condition
cold.
the m~tflc system would be of use to m echanical engiIn conclusion, the author would like t o add briefly his she still floated, with mach inery, coal, and crew in place.
neers. 1t becomes necessar y t o determine the difficulties own exp erience of t he m etric system. For the past It wa-s also found impossible to capsize her by ordinary
standing in the way of i ts adoption, and whether these twenty.fiveyeara t he metric calliper gauge has been often mean~. The reliabil ity of these har bour t ests was conare due t o the system itself. This is certainly n ob the qui te as familiar in the t ool-room at the Albion W orks firmed on aotua.l service soon afterwards. Whilst crossca.'3e. as anyone who ha.s tes ted i b mus b a.d mib it is sim- as the inch one, and very little difficul ty has been mc b with ing a bar on the East Coast of Africa she was filled by a.
plicity itself. American and English critics have ad- from the men, who soon learn to work one system as well heavy sea, but did not sink or turn over. The boats of
vanced the plea. tha.b the faulb of the syot~m is the unit; as the other. In the engineering works m Russia, in an A merican ma.n-o' war, which were crossing the bar a.t
the millimetre is boo minu te, the centimetre is nob large which be is interested. both metric and E nglish standards the same t~me, were capsized, the crews being thrown
e nough, and the mebre is too large . and bbab there is are used, and little difficulty is experienced in their joint out of their boats. The Sy1via's boat saved the crew~.
pracbica.Hy no convenient substitute for a foot or for a.n use. In Russia the standard is in a transition stage, and
The next step taken t owards our modern naval steamtnoh. With due respect to the gentlemen who have ex- everything would poinb to the prevalence of t he metric bolt was the building by Mr. White of a 36-fb. einglepressed these objections, they might be placed in tlbe system in a. s hort t1me. At the n ew workshops just com- screw life-pinnace, with a total weight of machinery no t
same categor y a.s a distinguish ed member of the H ouse of pleted at the a ut hor'd works in L eeds, for the manufacture exceedin g 40 cwt. ; this boat was completfd and tried in
Commons tlo whom the writer was endeavouring some of the Da L aval steam turbine, the metric s tandard has 1867. She was call Ad Steam Pinnace No. 2.
years a.go to expla in the simplicity of the metric system, been ado pted in combination with the Whitworth s tanTte rsults were briefly as follows:
and bo w calculation and book keeping generall.v w ould be dard of th read.
...
70 lb .
simplified by its a doption as c:>mpared wi th the present
...
B oiler pressure

.. .
289
system of hundre d we ig hts. qua r ters, pounds ; a nd p ounds,
.. .
R t. volutions
...

31. 29
..
.
shillings and p ence.
His reply was : " What does it
Indicated horsepower ...

THE STEAMBOAT EQUIPMENT OF

8.322
. ..
.. .
ma.bter ? You ca.n have your ready-reck oner for a few pence
...
Speed
.. .
. ..
\V ARSHIPS.
-bbab d oes all tha.b for you." These objections, to the
The Pnginea were vertical, non-condensing, with t.wo
author'd mind, are n ob real, and may be pub do wn to
By E.
CAR~T.
6-in. cy1i.nders by 6-in. abroke, exhausting through a. silencprej udice, a nd tba.t con ser vative feeling so strong in the
To DAY, wh en steam ships are universal in the iog tank i nto the funn el. The boiler was of circular launch
Anglo Sa.xon breast.
The one serious objection is the cost and trouble of navies of the world , it is quite in the proper order of type, with web bottom furnace. She was equn.l in towing
ma king the cha.nge, but this is a. difficulty that can be things t hat some of the s mall craft attached to and carried p ower t o t.he42-ft . service launches of the old type; and with
overcome if tim e is taken to bring about the change. Our by the various classes of warships should be similarly pro- a ll weights on board, and filled w:th sea water, s he sustained
legislators, so long ago as 1864, made its use permissible, p'elled; but in order that the d evelopmen t of the modern afloat tbi1 ty men, whose united effo1ti rushing from aide
a.nd i b is for the leaders in the various trades m ost con- steamboat equi pment of warships may be follow~d, it to side on the thwarts faile d t o capsize her, there being
cerned t o take t he n ext step, a nd cer tainly t o no trade seems n ecessary to refer back to the time when steam was still a. considerable surplus of buoyancy, even when in this
C')ndi tion. These trials had, no doubt, a great influence
is i t so impor tant as to tba.t of the mechanical engineer; in its infancy for warship purposes.
When we consider that before the introd uction of in the selection by t he A dmira lty (of tha b date) of this
and it is for him to attempt its introduction in, at any
type of boa.b for all future steam cutters and pinnacea for
marine
steam
engines,
generations
of
sailors
in
sailing
rate, one of the bran ches of his business that is most conthe Navy; and until1878 these b oats remained the ~ tan
n ected wi th foreign tradE>. It is simply a. question of ships, equipped wi th boats propelled by oa.rs and eailer, d ard for wat ships' s team b~a.ts, slight modifications in
rules, ca.llipera, s t andards, d rillR. a nd reamers, which, had ma.de history, and were able t o execute difficul o over-all dimensions being made from time to time, to Euit
after all, is nob very serioma. The fqui vaJents can be manceuvres in war time, it is quite easy to understand
the requirements of the service. I belie. ve bhere were
made fro m existing standard leading scre ws in lath es by t hat naval men were likely t o be aelf-relia.nb, and in n o some 300 cf them built, and many are still running.
need, so far as they could see, of th e introduction of st eam
means of change-wheels.
In 1878 a. desire for ir:creased E~peed led to two b:>a.ts,
propulsion
either
into
ships
or
boats.
W
hen
we
ad
d
to
The men t ion of screws at once caJla attention to the
each 48 ft. lon(l. being builb, on e twin-fcrew and one
this
spirit
of
self-reliance
their
innate
disl
ke,
due
to
the
most serious par t of th e sue-gested change; but that d iffisiogleEcrew. The engines were cc.mpound ; forced
culty can be easily metl. It would be worse t ba.n foJly to cle1nliness to which they bad been accustomed by y:ars draught on the clm~e stokehold principle was applied to
attempb ab presen t to change the s t andard pitch and form of routine, to soil the spotlessly clean d eoks of the ships the boiler, a s urface conden('er of the inside type was
of screw threads so admirably s tandardised by Whit worth, and t heir n o l ess clean boats by the coal, soot, and ashes fitt ed, the circulating pu m p being worked off the en gine
and so widely adopted, un til a. better standard is agreed which accompanies steam enginfS and boilers, itJ is not a. shafb i n conjun ction w1th an air pump. A considerable
matter of s urprise that t he aJ?plication of steam as the
upon t o put in its place.
increase of power for t he Eame weigh t of machinery wa s
means
of
propulsion
t
o
both
sh1ps
and
boats
made
slow
Mu ch aa one would wish to see bhe metric system
obtained by these meanfj, and th e speed of the boats inprogress
in
the
early
days,
and
that
up
to
t
he
year
1865-6
adopted in its entirety, ib would be well at presen t nob to
creased . The two b:>ata re ferred t o were officially tried
we
find
the
s
team
launches
in
use
in
the
British
N
a.vy
advoca.te any d eparture fro:n the Wbitworth standard
and accepted, w it h results as foJlowa :
were
fe
w,
and
those
few
slow
and
heavy.
T
hey
were
thread. The two systems can and d o work admirably
In Febru~trv. 1880, the twin-screw boat obtained a.
42
ft.
long,
about
11
f
o.
b
Pa.m,
and
had
a.
~peed
of
7~
together side by side in many s hops in France, G ermany,
sreed of 13 39 knots, with a collective in dica.ted horaek
nots
;
the
hulls
were
built
in
the
Royal
D
ockya
rds,
and
R1asia, and Sweden . France has attempted to establish
power of 121.22.
a. metric system of scre ws, and has n o b b een s ucceesful, the machinery was built by fi rms of the s tanding of J ohn
In Augusfl, 1880, the ~ingle- fC e ;v boat obtained a.
Penn,
Maudsla.y
and
Field,
J
.
G.
Reonie,
&c.
for in the maj ority of her s hops the \Vbitworth stand ard
s ~.>eed of 12 148 knots, with an in d ica.ted horsepower of
The
arrangement
of
machinery
was
twin-screw,
one
remains. She, like America., attempted to alter the form
86 9.
engine
bein
g
placed
on
each
s
ide
of
the
boiler
firebox.
of t hread, and ignored the ro unded top and bottom, so
The speed of the "Service steamboab" being now (1880)
admirably established by Whitworth. The scre w quesbrought up to 13 k not s. it was nexb considered, in view
*
P~per
read
before
the
G
lasgow
In
ternational
Engition should be left to be settled, as it must be ere lon g, by
of the development of the Whitehead torpedo ab this
neering
Cong
ress,
1901.
Section
IV.
:
Naval
Architecture
the establis hmen t of an international standard, the result
date, and the advantage which r .1opid p ower of m Slot: ceuvring
and
Marine
Engineering-.
of an internation al cong resP, for which the common sensa

c.

432.

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

[SEPT.

20, I 901.

~ould give a vessel armed with this weapon, how to barge for the Admiral Cvmmander-in-C hief, unless the nection with the ship and b oat-building shops) in the
1~prove these qualities in these fast little pinnaces, with a flagship has no boat-hoisting derrick, as in second-ola.ss direction of their "Quick revolution electric light ma-

Vlew to utilising them in connection with torpedo work.

The ''double-rudder turnabout boat " was evolved and
p1tented by Mr. White; and in 188l 2 a single-screw 48-ft.
b oat fitted with this sys tem was purchased by the Government, and formed part of the boat equipment of H .M.S.
Inflexible in her first commission.
The diect of the turnabout principle is remarkable,
and is readily appreciated by tho3e who witness the
handiness of a boat so fitted ab all rates of speed ejther
ahead or a~ tern.
To reduce the comparison of boats fitted with ordinary
rudders and those fitted with double- balanced rudders,
which form tho turnabout principle, to figures, we will
take the followin g records:

cruisers, when a 32-ft. barge only is carried.

The barges are more ornamental than the pinnaces, and
have no armament fitbings. The other standard '3teamboa.ts are the 32-ft. cutters and 32-fb. barges, 27-ft. cutters
and 23-ft. cutters. These, from the 32fb. boats downwards, greatly resemble the 32ft. lifeboat pinnace built
in 1867 : except that the lifeboat principle IS nob always
followed, although the steamboats of the new ''Victoria
and Albert " are on the old lines, and lifeboats throughoub.
The surveying boats are also lifeboats.
The machinery of the vu.rious sizes of boats has been
brought up to date, the engines compounded, a pipe surface condenser fitted outside the boats ; and a fan worked
by a steel spring belt from the main engines discharges
Type of Boat.
Ordinary.
Turnabout.
air into the asbpits. The boilers are of much the same
Length of boat...
48 ft.
56ft.
type as the 1867 boat~, but, working in conjunction with
Engines ...
...
Single-scre w,
Single.screw condensed water, are more efficient and last longer than
full power
in the old high-pressure days.
To S t arbd. Porb.
The noise of the funnel exhaust, togebher with its
Angle o rudder 40 deg.
40 deg.
45 deg.
occasional shower of sooty waber from the top of the
Full circle time ... 1 m. 2l s. 1 m. 19 s. 28 s. 37 s. funnal, are things of the past.
Number of revoThe establishment of boats of the various classes of
lutions p er circle
508
456
182
177 ships in the British Navy is as follows:
Diameter of circle 170 yard:J 153 yards
126ft.
--- -----------Thus the shorter ordinary boat wishing to turn a. circle
Outtera.
Pinna.ces.
Buges.
at full power requires four times the room to turn in, and
occupies more than twice as long a. time in turning than
I
I the turnabout boat.
56 F t. 40 Ft. tO F t. 32 F t. 32 F t. 27 F t. Z3 F t.
The next departure (in 1883) was to increase the length ----------1--- ---- ---:--- ---- ----1---of the 48-fb. b :>ats to 56 fb., and the beam to 9 fb. 6 in. Fi rat-class battleships
..
..
2
1
(these dimensions bring us to the present day, as the 56-ft. First-class
battlevedette boat is the largest boat carried by first-class ships
ships, if flngship
2
1
1
now), the double-rudder system was retained, a single First-class cruisers 1
1
rcrew was fitted.
"flagship , ..
if
1
1
1
In December, 1883, one of these 56-ft. boats was offi
oially tried on the measured mile in Stokes Bav; the Second -class crui
1
sers
..
..

indicated horse-power developed was 142, and the speed Second-class

crui15.562 knots, with 385 revolu tions p er minute, the boiler
1
1
sers, if flagship
..
pressure was 125 lb. per square inch, and the air pressure in Third-class cruiser
1

stokehold 2. 75 in. of water. 'rhe coal carried was 6 c w~. Torpedo-gunboat
1

..
Sloops
.
.
.
.
This class of boat was known in 1883 as '' Torpedo1

Boats wood." They were fitted with side dropping gear Surveying ships ..
I
I
for Whitehead torpedoe~, and with their relatively high
speed and extreme handiness were not to be despised
With the construction in this country of warships for
when taking part in a night attack.
foreign navies, the question of equipment of steamboats
Torpedo warfare was now attracting ~reat interest, and is brought forward, and we find the Japanese Navy
the steel second-class torpedo- boats built by Messrs. adopting two 16 -knot 56- fb. vedette boats and an
Y arrow and Thornycroft were designed to form part of open boat, as the steamboat equipment for b~e ba ttleship
the steamboat equipment of the firsb.class ironclads, of Mikasa, building at Barrow by Messrs. Vtcker3, Sons,
special torpedo depOt ships, and cruisers of the L eander and Maxim.
type. These little craft, weighing aboub 12 to 14 tonll,
The Russian Government require two 56-ft. vedette
were hoisted into the ships, t o which they were attached boats and two 40-fb. pinnaoes for a vessel building for
by means of specia.lly-arra.~ged denicks and boa~ hoisting them in France. These four boats are of sbeel, and very
engines, and were stowed m crutches on each stde of the fully equipped .
funnel casing.
The Au~trian Government use a 47-fb. wooden turnSteel torpedo-boabs, however, rapidly increased in. size about boat with a speed of 11 knots, and are now adopt
and speed, and were deemed c&pa.ble of accom panym~ a. ing a specially fast wooden vedette boat 56 ft. in length.
fleet ab sea. and as the second-class bo3.bs were nob ButtIn connection with the vessels recently built by Messrs.
able for the'general work of the ships to which they were Armstrong, Mitchell, and Co. for the Japanese Navy,
attached. they were gradually discarded as par~ of the four 56-ft. vedette boo..ts were required.
boat equipment, and wooden boa ts are carne~ mstead;
Messrs. Armstrong, being always in the front where
these aro bette r sea. boats, are all-round workmg boats, speed is wanted, asked us to consider the possibility of
and can do the special service for which the second-class gtving these four boats a speed of 17~ knots under certain
boats were intended.
specified con~itions.
The derricks and boat-hoisting engines originally proThese reqmred careful look ing into, and the final design
vided for the steel second-class torpedo-boats have been became a 56-ft. boat, with a ram bow which increased the
retained and developed, and are now fitted to all cla<!ses water-line length about 9 in.
of ships carrying heavy boats.
,
.
. .
The hull was very carefully lightened consistent with
The experimental 'torpedo-boat wood havmg JUSti- durability where possible, and the total weight of machified her construc bion, the title was allowed to drop out nery kept down to 8 t ons. The engine wa-s c0mpound,
as re aards boats carried by ship3 ; and as ships increased
18 cylindera; a water-tube boiler of our own
with
8~
;
in s~e the 56-ft. dimensions was retained, and the boats
included under the hea d of " Vedette Boa~s. " .
.
From 1883 onward, the progress mnde m manne engi- type, with a working pressure of 190 lb., was fit ted ....
Oa our own private trial the boat gave us an exhibttton
neering and shipbuilding has been reflected on the designs of the small crafo under review. Obanges have of speed that we scarcely hoped for, viz., 19~ knots. The
gradually been made in. t be 56-ft. b oa:t design, the hulls engines developed 320 indicated horse-power ab 565 revo
have been modified, a nfie-proof connm~ tower ha:s ~een lutions without vibration.
A series of progressive trials were carried out with this
fitted forward, the side air-casings. <?r hfeboa:t prmmple
hag been abolished, and the boats d1v1ded up m.to water- first boat, the results of which are plotted on the_ curve
tight compartments by bulkhe ads. The e~gm~s and a ttached on the official trials of the four boats, wtbh the
boilers are cased over, and the boat decked m r1ght ~ft ]oa.d conditions as specified, the means result:J were as
to the cockpit. The i~dicn. ted h<?rse-power has been m - follow:
creased, water-tube boilers sub3t1tuted for ~he locomoI
tive type, and a.s a result the 56-ft. se~VIce vede_tte
Indicated
Revolu
Date.
Speed.
llorse
boat of to-day will travel at 16 kf?-ots, whtle developmg
t ioos.
Power.
250 indicated horae-power, carrymg a. load of twelve
- 548
persons and with 25 cwb. of coal m th~ bunker~:!.
May 2, 1900.
18.322
297
Nos
1
..

The w~ight of machinery with steam up bemg 7. tons
May 2. 1900.
18.1
297
510
2 ..

June 6, 1900.
15 cwt. The turnabout principle has bee~ retam~d,
18.25
302
" 3 ..
538

June 6, 1900.
18.32
292
and this very fast h andy type of boat m1ght easily
" 4 ..
643

"
be called the "hansom cab " of the fleet_, as" compared with the next size, th e ~seful, h~rdworkmg, fourThese four bo1.ts are, we b9lieve, the fastest vedette
wheeler " 40-fb. pinnace. This boat lB a dead ~ood .bo~t
in the world.
.
as distinct from a "turnabout," .has a. spemfied mdt- boats
We are building a similar boat for the Ausbr1an Governcated horse-p ower of 75, and obtams a speed of aboub ment; this will shortly be compltted, and we anticipate
9:t It
knots.
.
d
f
ft
satisfactory results.
is decked in and machmery case ~ver ~s ar .a !15 equally
y ou will notice that even so far back as 186~ the revothe cockpio; the lifeboat principle of a1~-~asmgs IS dts- lu tions of the engines were big~ (278 per ~mute), and
carded except in the forepart, a.baf bthe colhs~on bulkhead;
the boat is however divided into water-tight comparb that they have still increased unt1l at the maximum sp~ed
meni>s by bulkheads' carried right up to. the deck. The of the four boats for the Japanese Navy we are ru~mng
at 565 re volutions per minute, with an open two-cyl~nder
engines run at 500 revolutions, the bmler IS of water-tube compound
engine, with carefully arranged balance we1ghts
type, and is worked under forced 9raug~b on the cl~~ed
two cranka at right angles to. each other.
.
stokehold system, a separate ~an engif?-e bemg fitted. ~be onFamiliarity
and experience w1th such fast.runmng enengines are surfa.ce-condensmg, a pipe condenser bemg ~dnes undoubtedly led Messr~. Belliss and Co. (now Messrs.
laced outside the boat close to the keel. Th~se boats B elliss and Morcom) who as we have seen, constructed
~re fitted with offensive weapons, totpedo-droppmg gear, all the machinery fo; Mr.'White's boats (up to th_e year
and a small gun.
d
1899, when an engine works was started ab Oowes m conIn flagships, a modified 40-fb. pinnace is carne as a

chinery; " a later development of which is closing in the

engine and a.pplyin~ forced lubrication to the bearings,
with a vie w to runnmg for long p eriods a.t a high number
of re volutions without excessive wear and tear. This
class of machinery is doing its work satisfactorily for
electric light ste.tioas and on shipboard; and now a.
30-knot torpedo-boat destroyer, built by the Palmar Shipbuilding Com{>any, of Jarrow-on - Tyne, fitted with a
forced lubricatiOn system, and with engines closed in, is
about to be officially tried in the Solent.
We have looked into this olass of machinery for the fast
vedette boats, and have a design ready for use ; but as we
are already running up to 560 revolutions wibh a.n open
engine, it will probably be some t ime before this number
will need to be increased ; and as the matter of wear and
t ear is hardly one which seriously affects boats with small .
coal supply and rnnning shorb trip~, it becomes a q uestion whether it is necesPa.ry to close in a. small engine and
rnA.ke ib less accessible for examination.
'rhe Admiralty bo3.ts are all builb of te~k, and un.
doubtedly this is a. most serviceable wood for all conditions of service and exposure to tropical weather; but
in a11 the early boats mahogany was invariably used,
and we now prefer it for high -speed boats, as it mak~,
size for size, a lighter hull, and may be considend, for
all practical purposes, equally durable.
As an instance of this, a. g entleman who had come into
possession of one of our old boats, built of m 1hogany
30 years ago, recently asked us to fit new machinery to
her as the hull was perfectly sound.
I a.m afraid this paper must seem, to many of the gentlemen present who are occupied with large undertakings,
rather of the order of Jight literature; bub when we consider that ib is in these fast small craft that future
Admirals who may command enormous fleets first gain
their experience (as "Midshipmen of a. boat " ) of independent command, and learn to handle a vessel under
steam, often in very close quarters, the subject is not. an
unimportant one ; and this 37 years' work, developmg
from a 7-knot 27-fb. steam lifeboat cutter to a. 19 knot
66-ft. vedette boat, has given an up-to-date steamboat
equipment, and the opportunity to :provide for young
Naval officers the best possible school m which to lay the
foundation of those qualiti~ of nerve and rapidity_of
thought and a-ction so essential to the successful carrymg
out of Naval operations.*

LAUNCHES AND TRIAL TRIPS.

ON Saturday, the_31st ult., Messrs. R. qra.ggs and Sons
launched from their T~es dockyard, Mtddlesbrough, a
steel cargo steamer named the Darendrechb, and measuring 341 ft. 3 in. in length over ~11, 47 fb. beam, and
28 ft. 6~ in. depth moulded. The machinery will ba
fitted by Messr~. Richat:dsons, . W estg_arth, and . C~.,
Limited, the cy~mders bemg 24 m., 38 m ., ai?-d 64 m. m
diameter by 42 m. stroke, steam bemg supphed by two
extra large boilers working at a pressure of 160 lb. to the
equare inch.
Messra. Ramage and Ferguson, Limited, shipbuilders,
Leith have just completed the twin-screw tu~ Helen
Peele: for the service of the Royal National Lifeboab
Institution ab Padstow, Cornwall. The v~sel has been
builb to the plans and under the superintendence of Mr.
G. L. Watson, naval architect:, Gl~gow, and is of _the
following dimensions : L ength, 95ft.; breadth, 19 fb. 6 m. ;
and depth moulded, 11 fb. 6 in. The machinery consists
of two sets of compound surface-condensing engineEI,
with cylinders 11 in. and 22 in. in diameter by 15 in.
stroke steam being supplied by a.. boiler working at
100 lb.' pressure. On the trial trip in the Firth of For~h
the guaranteed speed was exceeded by one knot. Oa.ptam
Nepea.n chief inspector of lifeboats, represented the
Royal National Lifeboat Institution at the trials.

ARGENTINE RAILWAYS.-An electric tramway is aboub

to be constructed from Quilnes to Buenos Ayres by
M essrs. Bemberg and Oo. The line will be about 14~
miles in length.
THE Suxz CAN AL.-The transit revenue collected by the
Suez Canal Company in the first e ight months of this
year was 2.671,394l. , as compared with 2,361,51~l. in ~h&
corresponding period of 1900. The number of shtp3 wh10h
passed through the c11nal to .August 31, this _year, 'Yas
2438, as compared with 2266 m the correspondmg penod
of 1900.
B UENOS Ay RES G nEAT SourHRRN R AILWAY.- The Buenos
Ay res Great S outhern Ra..i~ way Ooml?a.ny, ~imite_d, is
pushing forward work as raptd~y as possibl~ 9n 1ts Prm~les
extension, but there is now httle probab1hty of the hne
being opened to Pringles by the close of the year. T~e
line is expected, however, to be opan~d ~p to Fortm
Pavin Station, and perhaps
. beyond, m ttme for the
wheat traffic of the commg season.
GAs AT PAms-rhe revenue ~ollected by ~he Parisian
Company for lightmg and h eatmg by gas tn July was
202, 205l., as compared with 211, 490l. in July, 1900, showing a decrease of 9285l., or 1 39 per cent. The aggregate
revenue collected by the company in the first _seven months
of this year was 1, 937, 1~3l. , as compared . w1 th 1, 966, 945l.
in the corresponding per1od of 1!)00, showmg a decrease of
29,822l., or 1.52 per cent.
* [The paper i~ accompa~ied by seven appendices.
which our space will not perm1t us to reproduce,-Eo. E.]